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 LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON,  N.  J. 
 
 Sectieu.. 
 
 ,2- 
 
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 t: 
 
11.121^:^1    ii:4  iCj  iU  iS  lE  M  itia.  ifl. 
 
LIFE,  DOCTRIJVE,  AND  SUFFERIJTGS 
 
 OK 
 
 OUR  BLESSED  LORD  AND  SAVIOUR 
 
 JESUS    CHRIST, 
 
 AS  RECORDED  BY 
 
 THE  FOUR  EVANGELISTS, 
 
 WITH 
 
 MORAL  REFLECTIONS,  CRITICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS,  AND  EXPLANATORY  NOTES. 
 
 BY  / 
 
 THE    REVEREND    HENRY    RUTTER 
 
 Author  of  the  Key  to  the  Old  Testament,  <S"c. 
 
 THE  SECOND  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  CORRECTED  BY  THE  AUTHOR; 
 
 aiiontftr  lui'tft  Ofltgaut  (SngiabmgEf, 
 
 AND  PUBLISHED  UNDER  THE  PATRONAGE  OF 
 
 THE     RIGHT     REVEREND    VICARS    APOSTOLIC, 
 
 AND  CATHOLIC  CLERGY  IN  THE  VARIOUS  DISTRICTS  OF  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM. 
 
 CONTAINING  : 
 
 I.  THE  EVANGELICAL  HISTORY  BEFORE  JESUS'S  PUBLIC  MINISTRY; 
 
 COMPRISING  THE  SPACE  OF  ABOUT  THIRTY  YEARS. 
 
 II.  THE  TRANSACTIONS  OF  TWELVE   MONTHS,  FRO.M    THE   BEGIN- 
 NING OF  THE  FIRST  PASSOVER  TILL  THE  SECOND. 
 
 III.  THE  TRANS.iCTIONS  OF  TWELVE  .MONTHS,  FRO.M  THE  SECOND 
 TO  THE  THIRD  PASSOVER. 
 
 IV.  AN  .iCCOUNT  OF  CHRIST'S  DISCOURSES  AND  MIRACLES,  FROM 
 THE  THIRD  PASSOVER  TILL  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES  IN 
 THE  SAME  YEAR. 
 
 "  This  is  eternal  life,  that  they  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."     John  xvii.  8. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED  FOR  THE  PROPRIETORS, 
 
 And  Sold  by  THOMAS  KELLY,  17,  Paternoster  Row  ;  G.  LEIGH,  Liverpool  ;  P.  GRANT, 
 
 Glasgow  ;  T.  IRELAND,  Edinburgh  ;  W.  CHALLONER,  Henry  Street,  Dublin  ; 
 
 and  may  be  had  of  all  other  Booksellers  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
 
 MDCCCXXX. 
 
TO 
 
 JESUS   CHRIST, 
 
 IFHO  IS  TRULY  THE  GREAT  HIGH-PRIEST,  HOLY,  INNOCENT,  UNDEFILED, 
 SEPARATED  FROM  SINNERS; 
 
 TO  THE  ONLY  BEGOTTEN  SON, 
 
 JFHO  IS  IN  THE  BOSOM  OF  THE  FATHER,  IN  TFHOM  ARE  HID  ALL  THE 
 TREASURES  OF  JFISDOM  AND  KNOIVLEDGE ; 
 
 TO  THE  LAMB  SLAIN  FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  WORLD, 
 fVHO  HATH  LOVED  US,  AND  WASHED  US  FROM  OUR  SINS  IN  HIS  OIFN  BLOOD  ; 
 
 TO  THE  MEDIATOR  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  BETWEEN  GOD  AND  MAN. 
 
 WHO   HATH   BLOTTED    OUT  THE  HAND-WRITING  OF  THE  DECREE  THAT  WAS 
 
 AGAINST  US; 
 
 TO  THE  REDEEMER  AND  SAVIOUR  OF  ALL  MEN,  ESPECIALLY  THE  FAITHFUL, 
 
 WHO  WILLETH  NOT  THAT  ANY  SHOULD  PERISH,  BUT  THAT  ALL 
 SHOULD  RETURN  TO  PENANCE; 
 
 TO  THE  SUN  OF  JUSTICE,  THE  BRIGHTNESS  OF  THE  FATHER'S  GLORY, 
 WHO    ENLIGHTENETH    EVERY    MAN    THAT    COMETH    INTO     THE     WORLD  ; 
 
 TO  THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS, 
 WHO  HATH  BORNE  OUR  INFIRMITIES  AND  CARRIED  OUR  GRIEFS; 
 
 TO  THE  SHEPHERD  AND  BISHOP  OF  OUR  SOULS, 
 WHO  CAME  TO  SEEK  AND  TO  SAVE  THAT  WHICH  WAS  LOST; 
 THIS  WORK  IS  HUMBLY  DEDICATED 
 
 BY  THE  LEAST  AND  MOST  L'Xff'ORTHT  OF  HIS  MliVISTERS, 
 
 H.R. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 No  subject  can  be  more  instructive,  important,  and  interesting  to  Christians  of 
 every  denomination,  than  the  life  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.     He  is  the  John 
 imi/,  the  truth,  and  the  life.     He  is  the  sure  way,  which  we  must  follow  ;  the  infallible  l^-  ^« 
 truth,  which  we  must  believe  ;  and  the  blessed  life  which  we  hope  to  obtain  hereafter. 
 — What  is  all  the  boasted  learning  of  ancient  or  modern  philosophers,  if  compared 
 with  that  divine  philosophy  which  Jesus  brought  from  heaven  ? — a  philosophy  which 
 does  not  relate  to  the  perishable  things  of  this  life,  but  to  the  attainment  of  eternal 
 felicity  in  the  next. — If  a  treatise  on  botany,  on  the  method  of  improving  a  farm,  or 
 preserving  health,  be  found  so  interesting,  how  much  more  important  ought  we  to 
 deem  the  sacred  book  of  the  Gospel,  wiiich  regards  our  nearest  and  dearest  interests; 
 which  offers  to  all  a  reward  infinitely  superior  to  earthly  riches  ;  which  has  God  for  its 
 author,  salvation  for  its  end,  and  truth,  without  any  mixture  of  error,  for  its  subject? 
 — If  biography  be,  at  all  times,  inviting  and  instructive,  how  much  more  when  it  re- 
 cords the  life  and  actions  of  a  God-man  ;  who  descended  from  heaven  to  be  a  propi- 
 tiation for  our  sins,  to  enlighten  us  by  the  purest  doctrine,  and  to  animate  us,  by  his 
 own  example,  to  the  practice  of  every  virtue  ?   I  have  given  you  an  example,  says  he,  John 
 that  as  I  have  done,  so  you  do  also.     Hence  his  whole  life,  as  St.  Austin  observes,  is  ^^'  ^^ 
 a  continual  instruction  for  the  regulation  of  our  manners,  and  we  sin  only  in  propor- 
 tion as  our  conduct  is  a  deviation  from  what  he  proposes  to  our  imitation. — Since, 
 therefore,  God  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spoke  in  times  past  to  the  Heb.l.  l. 
 fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  last  of  all  spoken  to  us  by  his  Son  ;  since  by  a  voice  from 
 heaven  he  has  expressly  commanded  us  to  hear  him;  let  us  listen  to  this  divine  Master  Mait.  17. 
 with  respect  and  docility :  let  us  learn  his  saving  truths ;  and,  looking  on  him  as  the  ^■ 
 author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  let  us  imitate  his  life  and  manners,  that  we  may  be 
 truly  enlightened  and  delivered  from  all  blindness  of  heart. 
 
 Tlie  following  work  is  intended  to  comprise  a  full  and  complete  history  of  our 
 Lord's  sacred  life  :  this  is  given  in  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  the  narration  being  a 
 compound  text  of  the  four  Evangelists,  with  such  observations  as  tend  to  elucidate 
 what  is  obscure,  to  ascertain  the  time  and  place  of  every  transaction,  to  establish  the 
 series  of  facts,  and  to  reconcile  seeming  contradictions. — The  text  which  is  here  em- 
 ployed as  the  ground-work,  is  that  of  Bishop  Challoner's  edition,  though  we  have 
 frequently  had  recourse  to  Dr.  Witham's  approved  version,  which  occasionally  ex- 
 presses the  sense  with  greater  ease  and  perspicuity. — The  Gospels  have  ever  been 
 esteemed  the  most  excellent  part  of  the  sacred  writings,  because  what  the  law  and  the 
 prophets  only  foretold,  the  Gospel,  says  St.  Austin,  plainly  demonstrates  to  have 
 been  accomplished.  It  is  here  Christ  teaches  us,  not  by  his  prophets,  but  by  his  own 
 divine  mouth,  the  great  lessons  of  faith  and  of  eternal  life  ;  and  the  history  of  his  life 
 is  set  before  us  as  the  most  perfect  pattern  of  sanctity  for  our  imitation,  being 
 
 B 
 
2  PREFACE 
 
 delivered  by  the  sacred  penmen  with  a  certain  dignity  and  simplicity  not  to  be  found  in 
 profane  authors.*  The  dispassionate,  simple,  yet  dignified  manner  in  which  the 
 Evangelists  speak  of  their  divine  Master,  and  of  the  most  sublime  mysteries,  with- 
 out any  pomp  of  diction,  is  admitted  by  unbelievers  themselves,  and  is  justly  to  be 
 considered  as  having  in  it  something  more  than  human.  Not  a  single  word  there- 
 fore of  the  sacred  writers  has  been  omitted,  which  might  render  the  narrative  more 
 complete,  more  intelligible,  or  circumstantial ;  though  the  frequent  transitions  from 
 one  Evangelist  to  another  may  occasionally  detract  from  that  uniformity  of  style  which 
 is  expected  in  historical  composition. — Besides  the  Evangelists,  the  compiler  has 
 freely  availed  himself  of  the  labours  of  other  approved  writers,  and  without  reserve 
 or  citing  their  names,  has  adopted  their  thoughts,  their  sentiments,  and  even  their 
 expressions. — In  explaining  the  sacred  text  he  has  consulted  the  best  interpreters, 
 both  ancient  and  modern  ;  but  without  servilely  attaching  himself  to  any  in  parti- 
 cular. Truth  has  been  his  object,  which  without  system  or  prejudice  he  endeavours, 
 to  the  best  of  his  power,  freely  to  pursue.  Sensible  that  the  word  of  God  is  not  of 
 •2  Pet.  private  interpretation,  he  has  been  cautious  of  advancing  any  thing  of  his  own  ;  choos- 
 1.  20.  j„g.  rather  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  other  approved  authors,  than  to  strike  out  new 
 and  unknown  paths.  Experience  evinces,  that  to  the  proud  and  self-conceited,  holy 
 scripture  is  inaccessible  :  like  the  mysterious  pillar  which  conducted  the  Israelites  in 
 the  desert,  it  diffuses  its  cheering  light  upon  the  truly  humble  of  heart,  while  to  the 
 vain  and  presumptuous  it  turns  its  dark  side  in  punishment  of  their  depraved  dispo- 
 1  Tim.  sitions.  To  the  judgment,  therefore,  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  is  i/«e  ;j///a/-  and 
 3.  15.  ground  of  truth,  the  compiler  professes  the  most  humble  submission.  As  it  is  from 
 the  Catholic  Church  we  received  the  Gospel  pure  and  entire,  so  from  the  same 
 source  we  must  receive  its  true  and  genuine  sense.  The  same  authority  which,  in 
 the  first  ages  of  the  Church,  discriminated  and  proscribed  so  many  false  gospels, -f- 
 has  always  maintained  and  exercised  the  same  right  in  judging  and  proscribing  the 
 false  interpretations  that  have  been  given  to  the  true  Gospel.  A  book  is  solely  to 
 be  estimated  by  the  sense  which  it  contains.  To  receive  from  the  hands  of  the 
 Church  the  book  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  ascribe  to  it  a  false  meaning  which  the 
 Church  reprobates,  is  a  contradiction  :  it  is  in  reality  the  same  as  following  a  false 
 gospel.  If  formerly  the  Church  had  authority  to  reject  false  gospels,  why  has  she 
 not  still  authority  to  reject  the  false  interpretations  imposed  on  the  true  Gospel  by 
 the  private  spirit  of  individuals  ?  The  tradition  of  the  Church,  therefore,  must 
 necessarily  be  our  safest  guide,  and  such  it  was  ever  esteemed  by  the  ancient 
 Fathers  :  tradition  preceded  the  Gospel ;  tradition  dictated  the  Gospel ;  and  tradition 
 still  accompanies  and  explains  the  genuine  sense  of  the  Gospel.  Dr.  Hare,  the 
 learned  Protestant  Bishop  of  Chichester,  published  a  treatise  on  the  difficulties  tchich 
 attend  the  study  of  the  scriptures  in  the  way  of  private  judgment,  in  which  he  shows 
 the  absurdity  of  following  such  a  fallacious  rule,  and  declares  that  "'  the  orthodox 
 faith  does  not  depend  upon  the  scriptures  considered  absolutely  in  themselves,  but 
 
 *  Grave  et  immutabile  Sanctis  t  The  number  of  spurious  or  false  nospels,  ac- 
 
 Pondus  adest  verbis,  et  vocsm  facta  sequuntur.        cording  to  Calmet,  amounted  to  about  fifty. 
 See  below  the  celebrated  testimony  of  Rousseau  in 
 favour  of  Gospel  History. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 as  explained  by  catholic  tradition  handed  down  from  one  orthodox  bishop  to  ano 
 ther,  whose  business  it  was  to  keep  this  sacred  deposit  pure  and  undefiled,  and  to 
 deliver  it  to  his  successor  entire  as  he  received  it."  "  That  the  text  of  holy  writ  is, 
 on  many  accounts,  insufficient  to  be  the  sole  criterion  of  orthodoxy,"  Lord  Boling- 
 broke  allows  to  have  been  shown  by  Catholic  writers.  See  his  5th  letter  on  the  study 
 anl  use  of  history. 
 
 As  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  true  and  proper  interpreter  of  scripture,  (a  truth 
 denied  only  by  sectarists,)  so  those  seem  best  qualified  for  expounding  the  sacred 
 text,  whom  she  reckons  among  her  fathers  and  defenders,  or  who  tread  at  least  in 
 their  footsteps,  and  adhere  to  their  doctrine.  The  holy  Fathers  were  certainly  men  of 
 distinguished  virtue,  genius,  and  learning  :  they  were  raised  up  by  God  for  the  protec- 
 tion of  his  Church  ;  and  therefore  they  are  proposed  to  us  as  the  best  and  safest 
 guides  for  interpreting  the  holy  scripture  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  was  written. 
 In  critical  knowledge,  indeed,  they  may  be  inferior  to  many  of  the  moderns,  nor  do 
 they,  like  them^  affect  a  vain  parade  of  erudition  in  jejune  and  trifling  questions  :  but, 
 instead  of  stopping  at  the  shell,  they  attend  more  to  the  spiritual  sense,  and  as  it  were 
 to  the  kernel  of  the  sacred  text,  and  rightly  judge  that  they  then  attain  the  true  mean- 
 ing, or  rather  the  true  intention  of  the  scriptures,  when  they  apply  them  to 
 the  reformation  of  manners.  Let  not  the  biblical  student,  therefore,  be  deterred  by 
 a  certain  false  delicacy  from  consulting  their  works  :  if  in  these  venerable  authors  he 
 find  some  trifling  blemishes,  which  were  rather  the  faults  of  the  times  than  of  the 
 men,  he  will  find  in  them  likewise  abundance  of  real  excellencies  and  solid  advan- 
 tages, such  as  far  outweigh  their  defects.* 
 
 Such  points  as  relate  merely  to  criticism,  are  discussed  in  the  following  work  with 
 the  utmost  brevity,  and  when  compared  with  others  of  greater  importance,  seem 
 
 *  As  to  Protestants,  they  generally  neglect  the  more  than  once....  that  comparing  the  ancient 
 study  of  the  holy  Fathers,  tor  this  obvious  reason,  times  of  the  Church,  even  those  immediately  sue- 
 that  they  favour  the  Catholic  cause,  and  are  de-  ceeding  the  Apostles,  with  ours,  they  had  better 
 cidedly  in  opposition  to  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  consciences,  but  less  knowledge.  On  the  contrary. 
 Reformation.  We  have  here  the  testimony  and  we  iiave  more  knowledge,  but  less  conscience.  This 
 confession  of  some  of  the  most  learned  and  illus-  is  my  judgment,"  &c.  And  Bishop  Dudilh,  in  his 
 trious  heads  of  the  Protestant  Church.  Luther,  Epistle  to  Beza,  says  :  "  If  that  be  the  truth  which 
 who  began  the  Reformation,  an.  1.^17,  in  the  con-  the  ancient  Fathers  have,  with  one  accord,  pre- 
 clusion of  his  book  against  King  Henry  VIII.  thus  fessed,  it  must  be  owned  that  this  truth  will  be 
 expresses  his  contempt  of  those  old  witnesses  of  the  wholly  on  the  Papists'  side."  See  Mr.  Brereley's 
 Catholic  doctrine:  "  I  don't  concern  myself  what  Protestant  Apology,  Trac.  1.  sect.  3.  We  may, 
 Ambrose,  Austin,  councils,  and  practice  of  ages  say ;  therefore,  fairly  conclude  that,  in  the  chief  points  of 
 — I  know  them  so  well  as  to  have  declared  against  controversy  debated  between  Catholics  and  Protest. 
 Ihem."  Trac.  2.  Ed.  Witemb.  1562.  fol.  847. —  ants,  the  ancient  Fathers  coincide  with  the  former; 
 Calvin  is  equally  free  in  censuring  the  Fathers.  See  and  this  appeared  so  manifest  to  Dr.  Middleton, 
 lib.  2.  c.  2.  §  4.  1.  3.  c.  3.  §  16.  c.  4.  §  30.  c.  5.  §  10.  that  he  frankly  owns,  he  pities  the  Protestants  when 
 1.  4.  c.  12,  &c. — Melancthon  in  1  Cor.  3.  writes  as  he  sees  them  struggling  to  reconcile  the  Fathers  to 
 follows:  "Presently  from  the  beginning  of  the  the  Reformation.  It  is  well  known  that  Daill^ 
 church  the  ancierit  Fathers  obscured  the  doctrine  wrote  his  book  0?i  the  Use  of  the  Fathers,  for  the 
 concerning  the  justice  of  faith,  increased  ceremonies,  purpose  of  invalidating  their  testimony  and  autho- 
 and  devised  peculiar  worships.'' — Peter  Martvr,  rity  in  religious  matters.  We  may,  therefore,  justly 
 one  of  the  chief  instruments  in  the  Reformation  of  conclude  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Warburton  in  his 
 England,  tells  us  :  "  That  in  the  Church  errors  be-  Julian,  p.  1,  "  that  a  sovereign  contempt  for  the 
 gan  immediately  after  the  Apostles'  time,  and  that  authority  of  the  Fathers,  and  no  great  reverence  for 
 therefore,  as  long  as  we  insist  upon  Councils  and  any  other,  is  what  now-a-days  makes  a  Protestant 
 Fathers,  we  shall  be  conversant  in  the  same  errors."  in  fashion." — But  the  learned  Doctor  adds,  that 
 1  de  Volis,  pp.  477,  490.  Hence  Beza  had  the  this  neglect  is  prejudicial  to  religion,  and  still  more 
 arrogance   to  write,  (Ep.  Theol.  I.,)  "  I  have  said  to  learning. 
 
4  PREFACE. 
 
 hardly  to  deserve  our  attention.  For  instance,  to  know  precisely  the  year  in  which 
 Christ  was  born,  how  many  passovers  he  celebrated,  and  other  points  of  a  similar 
 nature,  are  questions  rather  curious  than  useful  ;  they  interest  not  Christians  in 
 general  ;  and  as  they  have  already  exercised  the  learned,  so  they  still  continue  to  elude 
 their  most  laborious  investigations.*  But  what  is  of  infinitely  greater  consequence, 
 and  not  only  useful  but  necessary  for  all,  is  that  we  be  rightly  sensible  of  the  dignity 
 of  the  gospel  history,  and  embrace  it  with  that  respect  and  veneration  which  are  due 
 to  the  word  of  God.  We  must  remember  that  holt/  things  are  for  holi/  persona,  and 
 require  suitable  dispositions  in  those  who  would  derive  from  them  any  spiritual 
 imj)rovement. 
 
 To  read  to  advantage,  therefore,  we  must  observe  the  following  rules,  which  are 
 recommended  to  us  by  spiritual  writers.  In  the  first  place,  we  should  never  fail  to 
 elevate  our  mind  to  God,  to  beg  his  grace  that  our  reading  may  become  fruitful ;  that 
 it  may  penetrate  our  hearts,  and  take  such  root  there,  as  to  render  us  more  fer- 
 vent in  virtue,  more  guarded  against  the  illusions  of  the  world,  and  more  constant  in 
 whatever  may  promote  our  spiritual  advancement  and  perfection.  For  this  end  we 
 Ps.  118.  may  say  with  the  Psalmist,  Open  thou  my  ei/es,  0  Lord,  and  I  will  consider  the  uwi- 
 derfiil  things  of  thy  law  ;  or  the  prayer  taken  out  of  the  Daibj  Companion,  which  is 
 hereafter  set  down.— St.  Austin  (Ep.  ad  Virg.  Dem.)  exhorts  Christians  so  to  read 
 the  holy  scriptures,  as  always  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  words  which  it  contains,  are 
 the  words  of  God,  who  requires  that  we  not  only  know,  but  likewise  fulfil  his  divine 
 law.  Hence,  says  he,  we  must  consider  the  holy  scripture  as  a  looking-glass,  in  which 
 the  soul  beholds  herself,  in  order  to  correct  what  is  evil,  and  to  perfect  what  is  good  : 
 
 for  knowledge  without  works,  will  serve  only  to  accuse  and  condemn  us. Another 
 
 excellent  advice  on  this  subject,  is  to  read  leisurely  ;  seeking  not  so  much  to  learn, 
 as  to  taste  the  things  of  God.  For  the  simple  knowledge  of  the  understanding  is  dry 
 and  barren,  unless  it  warm  the  will,  and  excite  that  fervour  which  alone  can  render 
 our  reading  profitable.  Hence  we  should  not  read  too  much  at  a  time,  lest  instead 
 of  fortifying,  we  should  rather  fatigue  and  tire  the  mind.  For  as  the  nourishment 
 of  the  body  depends  not  upon  the  quantity,  but  upon  the  good  digestion  of  our  food, 
 so  also  the  nourishment  of  the  soul  consists  not  in  reading  much,  but  in  ruminating 
 and  digesting  well  what  we  have  read.  Agreeably  to  this,  a  holy  man  advises  us  to 
 keep  in  our  minds  during  the  whole  day,  some  striking  passage  which  we  have  been 
 reading,  that  by  often  recurring  to  it,  we  may  digest  it  the  better :  and  this  should 
 also  be  something  which  relates  to  our  good  purposes  and  resolutions,  in  order  to 
 strengthen  them,  and  hinder  the  mind  from  distracting  or  dissipating  itself  with  other 
 thoughts.     (Ep.  ad  Fra.  de  Mont.  Dei.)t 
 
 Besides  these  general  directions,  there  are  others  which  more  immediately  refer  to 
 the  subject  of  the  following  work.  The  principal  of  these  is,  to  read  the  life  of 
 Christ  with  a  real  design  of  conforming  our  lives  to  his.  In  this  conformity  consists 
 all   the   sanctity  of  man.     For  God  has  predestinated  us,  says  the  apostle,  to  be 
 
 *  It  has  been  observed  that  Christ,  in  explaininjr  f  This  is  often  quoted  as  St.  Bernard's  but  ap- 
 the  holy  scriptures,  never  touches  on  the  critical  pears  to  be  the  work  of  William,  Abbot  of  St. 
 and  curious  questions  which  employ  the  learned.         Thierry. 
 
PREFACE.  5 
 
 conformable  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  as  ive  have  borne  the  image  of  the  old  man,  in  Rom.  8. 
 following  the  irreg-ular  desires  of  our  flesh,  ice  mat/  bear  the  image  of  the  new  man,  ^^• 
 who  is  Jesus  Christ,  by  framing  our  life  after  the  model  of  his,  and  may  be  able  to  15.  49] 
 say  with  the  same  apostle,  I  live,  no  not  I ;   but  it  is  Jesus  Christ  who  liveth  in  me.  Gal.  i. 
 We  are  not  then  to  read  his  history  out  of  curiosity,  nor  barely  to  know  what  he  has  ^^■ 
 done ;  but  to  learn  from  the  thing-s  which  he  did,  what  we  ourselves  have  to  do.    It 
 concerns  us,  therefore,  to  let  nothing  pass  without  examining  what  profit  it  may  pro- 
 duce, and  what  afiections  it  ought  to  raise  in  us :  for  the  reading  of  our  Saviour's 
 life  should  sometimes  instruct  us,  at  other  times  confound  us,  and  sometimes  again 
 give  us  comfort  and  courage ;  and  lastly,  inspire  us  with  sentiments  of  love,  grati- 
 tude, respect,  joy,  sorrow,  hope,  or  fear,  according  to  the  different  objects  which  it 
 presents  to  our  mind. 
 
 The  whole  life  of  Christ  is  composed  of  miracles,  discourses,  actions,  and  sufferings.* 
 He  wrought  miracles  to  prove  his  divinity,  and  to  relieve  those  who  implored  his 
 assistance.  To  read  these  with  advantage,  we  may  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of 
 those  who  beheld  them,  or  of  those  in  whose  favour  they  were  wrought.  Such  of 
 the  former  as  profited  by  these  prodigies,  believed  in  him  who  wrought  them,  praised 
 and  adored  him,  and  became  his  disciples.  Let  us  do  the  same,  when  we  read  what 
 they  beheld  ;  let  us  adore  Jesus  Christ,  confess  him  to  be  our  God,  make  an  act  of 
 faith  concerning  his  divinity,  and  dedicate  ourselves  entirely  to  his  service,  since  we 
 cannot  honour  him  as  God,  without  paying  him  as  such  our  love  and  obedience. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  let  us  duly  attend  to  the  behaviour  of  those  whose  wants  Jesus 
 Christ  relieved  by  his  miracles.  All  the  bodily  distempers  which  he  cured,  repre- 
 sented the  spiritual  distempers  of  our  souls.  It  is  sin  we  must  consider  as  our 
 spiritual  leprosy,  our  deafness,  our  blindness,  our  palsy,  our  death.  Let  us  do  then 
 for  the  health  of  our  soul,  what  was  done  by  them  for  the  health  of  the  body.  Lei 
 us  present  ourselves  with  them  before  Jesus  Christ ;  let  us  say  to  him  with  the  leper : 
 liord,  if  thou  ivilt,  thou  canst  make  me  whole  ;  with  the  blind  man  :  Open  my  eyes  and 
 give  me  sight,  &c.  Let  us  consider  what  it  is  Jesus  Christ  requires  of  us,  in  order 
 that  he  may  help  us  in  our  infirmities,  by  considering  what  it  was  he  required  of  those 
 who  implored  his  assistance.  Let  us,  in  short,  imitate  the  gratitude,  faith,  love,  and 
 other  affections  expressed  by  those  that  were  miraculously  freed  from  their  miseries  ; 
 considering  what  was  done  by  them,  as  a  figure  of  what  we  ought  to  feel  in  ourselves, 
 for  the  spiritual  graces  which  we  have  received  from  the  same  bountiful  hand. 
 
 The  discourses  of  Jesus  Christ  should  be  read  with  respect ;  and  this  respect  con- 
 sists in  believing,  and  practising  what  he  teaches.  He  is  the  truth,  and  nothing  but 
 this  truth  can  save  us  ;*  and  according  to  its  maxims  we  shall  one  day  be  judged.  It 
 is  our  duty  to  hear  him  as  his  disciples,  and  to  be  persuaded  of  all  he  teaches.  All 
 our  darkness  must  be  laid  open  to  him,  that  he  may  dispel  it,  and  all  our  errors,  that 
 he  may  reform  them.  This  is  to  be  done  by  applying  to  ourselves  every  word  that 
 was  spoken  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  examining  ourselves  upon  what  he  has  said,  that 
 so  we  may  condemn  ourselves,  if  we  find  that  we  have  strayed  from  the  way  he 
 taught,  and  may  reform  our  practice  pursuant  to  his  orders. 
 
 *  Preface  to  the  Life  of  Christ,  translated  from  the  French  by  W.  C,  and  printed  an.  1739. 
 
 C 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 As  his  word  is  the  rule  of  all  justice,  it  is  by  it  we  are  to  judge  of  our  actions  ;  and 
 to  approve  or  blame  them,  as  we  find  them  consonant  or  contrary  to  it.  But,  at  the 
 same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  rule  is  inflexible  and  immutable.  It  will 
 not  bend  to  our  inclinations,  and  it  is  in  vain  for  us  to  pretend  to  force  it,  and  make 
 it  say  what  we  wish.  No  ;  it  is  our  business  to  frame  ourselves  by  it,  and  to  submit  to 
 all  its  decisions.  If  what  it  enjoins  seems  difficult,  we  must  blame  the  corruption  of 
 our  hearts,  and  entreat  Jesus  Christ  to  cure  it  by  his  grace,  that  we  may  cheerfully 
 execute  his  commands.  When  any  thing  in  his  discourses  transcends  our  compre- 
 hension, let  us  address  ourselves  to  him,  and  beg  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  make 
 us  understand  it :  if  the  knowledge  of  it  be  necessary  for  our  salvation,  let  us  have 
 recourse  to  our  pastors,  that  they  may  expound  it  to  us  ;  and  while  we  wait  for  the 
 explication  required,  let  us,  in  the  interim,  feed  on  the  truths  that  are  clear ;  and  by 
 faithfully  observing  what  we  comprehend,  we  may  possibly  deserve  the  knowledge  of 
 what  as  yet  is  beyond  our  reach. 
 
 To  draw  profit  from  the  actions  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  ought  to  be  considered  as  the 
 rule  and  model  of  our  conduct.*  His  actions  are  here  distinguished  from  his  miracles  ; 
 for  the  latter  are  considered  with  relation  to  the  persons  in  whose  favour  he  wrought 
 them,  and  the  former  with  relation  to  ourselves.  He  will  have  us  to  admire  his 
 miracles,  but  he  will  have  us  to  mutate  his  actions  :  we  are  the  persons  he  represents 
 in  liis  own  private  conduct ;  for  this  reason  he  directs  us  to  learn  of  him,  not  to  give 
 sight  to  the  blind,  nor  life  to  the  dead,  but  to  be  meek  and  humble  of  heart.  When 
 he  cures  a  sick  man,  or  feeds  five  thousand  persons  with  five  loaves,  it  is  not  then  in 
 him  that  I  consider  myself,  in  order  to  profit  by  these  miracles,  but  it  is  in  the  sick 
 man  whom  he  cures,  and  in  this  people  whom  he  feeds ;  for  I  am  sick  myself,  and 
 stand  in  need  of  the  spiritual  bread  of  divine  grace ;  so  that  in  the  miracles  of  our 
 Saviour  I  see  what  he  does  for  the  cining  and  feeding  of  my  soul,  as  I  learn  from  the 
 people,  or  from  the  sick,  what  I  am  to  do  in  order  to  obtain  the  graces  which  I  want. 
 But  when  he  joins  with  these  prodigies,  an  action  which  regards  himself  in  particular, 
 it  is  then  that  I  find  myself,  as  it  were,  in  him,  and  may  learn  some  practical  instruc- 
 tion. For  example,  he  forbids  a  sick  man  whom  he  has  cured  to  publish  the  miracle 
 done  in  his  favour  ;  and  he  withdraws  when  the  people  whom  he  had  fed  would  have 
 made  him  their  king.  It  is  in  actions  of  this  kind  that  I  behold  the  pattern  of  my 
 conduct,  and  that  I  must  follow  his  example  in  shunning,  as  he  did,  vain-glory  and 
 ambition. 
 
 The  actions,  therefore,  of  Jesus  Christ  must  be  read  with  the  same  spirit  as  his  dis- 
 courses, i.  e.,  with  an  intention  to  copy  them,  since  we  are  no  less  obliged  to  follow 
 his  example  than  to  obey  his  word.  Whether  he  speaks  or  acts,  it  is  to  show  us  the 
 way  in  which  we  are  to  walk  ;  and  it  is  for  this  same  end,  that  we  ought  to  know  what 
 he  said  and  what  he  did.  Now,  in  the  actions  of  the  Son  of  God,  what  ought  chiefly 
 to  be  considered,  is  the  spirit  with  which  he  acted,  and  the  virtue  which  he  exhibited  ; 
 for  it  is  properly  this  spirit  and  this  virtue  which  we  are  obliged  to  imitate.  He 
 washes  the  feet  of  his  disciples :  the  virtue  wliich  most  eminently  appears  in  this 
 action,  is  humility ;  and  it  is  on  purpose  to  teach  us  to  be  humble,  that  he  thus 
 *  Quia  ipse  Christus  verbum  Dei  est,  etiam  factum  verbi,  verbum  nobis  est. — St.  Auo- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 demeans  himself.  He  eats  with  sinners  :  the  spirit  of  this  conduct  is,  a  spirit  of  charity  ; 
 and  this  charity  he  recommends  to  us,  by  his  example,  more  than  the  outward  sub- 
 stance of  the  action.  Finally,  we  ought  to  study  well  the  affections  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 that  they  may  be  the  rule  of  ours.  For  as  love  is  the  principle  of  all  we  do,  our 
 actions  are  good  or  bad  according  to  the  love  from  which  they  spring.  Our  love  is 
 virtuous,  if  we  love  as  Christ  loved,  and  what  he  loved :  our  love  is  depraved,  if  we 
 love  what  he  did  not  love.  He  loved  not  riches,  nor  glory,  nor  pleasures  ;  on  the 
 contrai-y,  he  despised  all  these  things.  He  shunned  not  poverty,  calumnies,  pains, 
 ignominies,  nor  death  itself.  He  sought  only  the  glory  of  his  Father  ;  and  all  his 
 care  was  to  obey  and  please  him.  In  a  word,  he  loved  nothing  sovereignly  but  God, 
 he  hated  nothing  sovereignly  but  sin  :  he  willingly  deprived  himself  of  all  the  goods 
 of  this  life,  and  had  no  apprehensions  of  its  evils.  This  is  what  he  designed  to  teach 
 us  by  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  and  this  is  what  we  ought  to  consider,  and  imitate 
 throughout  the  whole  of  our  Ufe. 
 
 We  shall  not  insist  on  the  advantages  which  may  be  derived  from  reading  the 
 sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  must  ever  be  looked  upon  as  perfectly  voluntary, 
 and  it  is  advisable  to  consider  them  in  reference  to  the  two  ends  for  wl.ich  he  en- 
 dured them.  And  here,  by  his  sufferings,  we  understand  not  only  the  ill  treatment 
 which  he  received  from  his  enemies,  but  likewise  all  his  abasements  and  human  in- 
 firmities, such  as  infancy,  hunger,  thirst,  weariness,  troubles,  fears,  flights,  repug- 
 nances, and,  in  general,  all  the  other  miseries  which  he  condescended  to  take  upon 
 himself  for  our  instruction. 
 
 He  suffered,  first,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  divine  justice  for  our  crimes  ;  and  though 
 he  was  innocence  and  holiness  itself,  he  underwent  the  pains  due  to  our  sins,  that  so 
 he  might  deliver  us  from  those  eternal  pains  to  which,  by  the  just  judgment  of  God, 
 we  had  been  condemned.  This  view  should  excite  in  us  sentiments  both  of  grati- 
 tude and  of  sorrow ;  of  gratitude  towards  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffers  for  us,  and 
 spares  nothing  to  let  us  know  how  much  he  loves  us  ;  of  sorrow  and  hatred  of  sin, 
 which  could  not  be  expiated  but  by  the  sorrows,  humiliations,  and  death  of  a  God 
 made  man. 
 
 If  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ  be  considered  in  relation  to  the  second  end  for 
 which  he  underwent  them,  i.  e.,  for  our  instruction,  we  may,  in  reading  them,  form 
 some  of  the  following  reflections.  A  Christian  must  persuade  himself  of  the  neces- 
 sity of  suffering  for  attaining  heaven,  when  he  considers  that  it  is  by  this  way  alone 
 our  Saviour  leads  us  thither,  and  first  entered  himself.  Let  him  blush  at  that  soft- 
 ness which  makes  him  avoid  whatever  can  mortify  the  senses,  or  humble  the  mind, 
 when  he  looks  on  the  innocence  of  a  suffering  Jesus,  and  contrasts  it  with  his  own 
 guilt.  The  physician  takes  the  medicine  of  which  he  stands  not  in  need,  and  the 
 patient  rejects  it,  though  it  be  absolutely  necessary  for  his  recovery.  If  a  man  be 
 persecuted,  he  will  find  comfort  in  the  honour  of  being  treated  like  his  Master.  In 
 fine,  by  remarking  exactly  the  whole  conduct  of  the  Son  of  God  in  his  sufferings,  he 
 will  learn  to  sanctify  his  own. 
 
 Jesus  Christ  suffered  on  the  part  of  his  Father,  who,  for  us,  delivered  him  up  to 
 death  •  he  suffered  on  the  part  of  men,  who  repaid  with  ingratitude  all  the  favours 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 which  he  had  done  them,  who  despised  and  slandered  him,  ill  treated  and  nailed  him 
 to  the  cross  :  he  suffered,  in  fine,  by  his  own  free-will,  offering  himself  a  sacrifice  for 
 the  salvation  of  men.  The  submission  with  which  he  drank  the  chalice  presented  by 
 his  Father,  must  teach  us  to  accept,  without  murmuring,  the  crosses  which  God  is 
 pleased  to  send  us,  such  as  diseases,  the  loss  of  our  fortune,  of  our  friends,  relations, 
 &c.  The  meekness  with  which  he  suffered  injuries  from  men,  should  stifle  in  us  all 
 those  motions  of  anger  and  desires  of  revenge,  which  on  receiving  affronts  are  too 
 apt  to  arise  in  our  hearts.  That  ardent  charity,  with  which  he  delivered  himself  up 
 to  all  his  sufferings,  for  his  Father's  glory,  and  for  our  salvation,  teaches  us  how  to 
 sanctify,  by  a  pure  love  of  God,  all  the  voluntary  pains  which  we  enjoin  ourselves 
 with  the  view  of  taming  our  flesh  and  expiating  our  offences.  He  has  taught  us,  by 
 his  example,  to  consider  the  persecutions  of  men  as  ordained  by  God,  and  to  adore 
 his  justice  in  the  most  unjust  treatment  which  we  can  receive  from  them.  He  has 
 taught  us  to  love  our  enemies,  and  not  to  return  evil  for  evil ;  to  pardon  the  injury 
 done  us,  and  to  do  good  for  evil.  He  has  taught  us,  in  fine,  to  comfort  ourselves 
 amid  sufferings,  by  the  prospect  of  that  glory  which  is  to  follow  them.  This  ought 
 to  be  well  observed  in  reading  what  Jesus  Christ  has  suffered  for  us :  we  must  not 
 only  remark,  says  St.  Austin,  what  way  Jesus  Christ  chooses,  but  whither  he  is  going  : 
 He  leads  us  through  a  way  which  is  narrow,  rough,  and  difficult ;  but  he  leads  us  to 
 eternal  glory.  Let  us  follow  him  to  the  very  end  of  his  course  :  he  Uvos  in  abjec- 
 tion, he  dies  in  torments  ;  but  he  rises  after  his  death,  and  ascends  to  heaven,  where 
 he  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  Let  us  never  lose  sight  of  him :  let  us  never 
 separate  his  glory  from  his  sufferings.  If  he  suffers,  let  us  consider  the  happiness 
 he  has  in  view  ;  and  when  we  see  him  in  glory,  let  us  remember  it  was  by  the  cross 
 that  he  arrived  at  it.  What  he  did,  we  ought  to  do  likewise ;  he  calls  us  to  partake 
 of  his  sufferings,  and  likewise  of  his  felicity  :  I  should  rather  have  said,  he  entered 
 himself  as  a  partner  in  our  misery,  in  order  to  make  us  partners  with  him  in  his 
 glory.  In  his  mortal  life  we  behold  the  model  which  we  are  to  follow  in  our  own, 
 and  in  his  life  of  glory,  an  image  of  that  which  he  has  prepared  for  us,  provided  we 
 live  as  he  lived.  For,  as  St.  Cyprian  observes,  (de  Idol,  van.)  Christians  will  one 
 day  be  what  Christ  now  is,  if  they  now  be  what  he  was.  Quod  est  Christus,  hoc 
 erirmis  Christiani,  si  Christum  fiierimiis  imitati. 
 
 ON  HARMONIES  IN  GENERAL, 
 
 AND  ON  THE  METHOD  ADOPTED  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  WORK. 
 
 A  DESIRE  to  know  the  proper  series  of  our  Lord's  transactions,  is  so  just  and  natural, 
 that  it  becomes  a  matter  of  surprise  that  no  English  Harmony  has  yet  been  published 
 for  the  benefit  of  the  Catholics  of  this  country.  This  will  appear  the  more  extra- 
 ordinary, if  we  consider  the  great  advantages  arising  from  works  of  this  nature,  the 
 object  of  which  is  to  arrange  the  gospel  history  in  the  most  clear  and  perspicuous 
 method,  by  bringing  the  several  facts  recorded  in  the  four  Gospels  into  chronological 
 order,  and  by  reconciling  seeming  contradictions.     It  is  obvious   that  each  of  the 
 
ON  HARMONIES. 
 
 Evangelists  has  a  different  order  and  method  from  the  rest :  one  expresses  himself 
 more  clearly  than  another,  or  with  greater  force  ;  another  relates  things  more  in 
 detail ;  one  is  concise,  another  is  diffuse  in  his  narration.  For  instance,  what  is 
 omitted  by  St.  Matthew,  may  be  found  in  St.  John  ;  and  on  the  contrary,  St.  John 
 frequently  passes  over  in  silence  what  St.  Matthew  gives  in  detail.  This  being  ad- 
 mitted, who  can  doubt  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  a  judicious  harmony,  which 
 exhibits  the  four  Evangelists  in  one  point  of  view,  and  collects  their  dispersed  rays, 
 so  that  they  mutually  help  and  elucidate  each  other.* 
 
 If  the  learned  have  manifested  so  much  curiosity  in  ascertaining  every  minute  cir- 
 cumstance relating  to  the  lives  of  kings,  and  other  personages  celebrated  in  history  ; 
 if  natural  affection  has  a  similar  influence  upon  us  with  regard  to  those  persons  whom 
 we  love  and  esteem,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  extend  the  same  spirit  of  investigation  to 
 the  series  and  order  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  our  King,  our  Lawgiver,  and 
 the  only  real  object  worthy  of  our  love  ;  especially  since  he  has  been  pleased  to  com- 
 bine with  the  history  of  his  sacred  life,  that  holy  and  divine  religion  which  he  came 
 to  bestow  on  mankind  ? 
 
 It  is  not  our  intention  to  enter  into  a  further  detail  of  the  many  advantages  to  be 
 derived  from  an  Evangelical  Harmony.  In  a  matter  of  this  kind  it  is  sufficient  to 
 obser\^e,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  object  of  our  researches,  and  that  they  cannot  there- 
 fore be  deemed  altogether  useless,  being  the  natural  consequence  of  that  love  and 
 esteem  which  we  entertain  for  our  Redeemer.  In  effect,  if  St.  Chrysostom  reproached 
 the  Christians  of  his  time,  for  not  knowing  the  names  of  the  twelve  lesser  Prophets 
 of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  number  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles  ;  if  he  condemns  this 
 ignorance  of  his  flock  as  a  sign  of  their  little  devotion,  may  we  not,  with  greater 
 reason,  affirm,  that  the  indifference  of  such  as  refuse  to  learn  the  order  and  series  of 
 Christ's  actions  and  discourses,  is  far  more  reprehensible,  and  implies  a  greater 
 negligence  in  religious  concerns  ? 
 
 By  some  it  may  perhaps  be  alleged,  in  justification  of  their  negligence,  that  if 
 God  had  designed  Christians  to  be  informed  of  the  order  of  Christ's  actions  and  dis- 
 courses, he  would  certainly  have  taken  care,  that  this  order  should  have  been 
 minutely  observed  by  his  Evangelists.  In  answer  to  this,  we  have  only  to  remark 
 with  St.  Austin,  that  Divine  Providence  has  designedly  leflt  some  things  in  obscurity, 
 with  the  view  of  exercising  our  mental  powers  ;  and  that  as  the  discovery  of  these 
 difficulties  is  to  be  the  reward  of  our  own  industry  and  of  our  prayers,  our  pleasure 
 aiising  from  thence  will  increase  in  proportion  to  the  pains  we  have  been  at  in 
 acquiring  such  knowledge. 
 
 This  is  one  reason  assigned  by  St.  Austin  for  the  obscurity  of  the  scripture  in 
 general,  and  it  is  particularly  applicable  to  the  account  which  the  Evan^-elists  have 
 left  us  of  the  hfe  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Holy  Ghost  would  have  us  to  make 
 the  Gospel  the  object  of  our  study  and  of  our  unwearied  labours.  He  does  not  ab- 
 solutely refuse  us  the  knowledge  of  scripture,  but  he  would  have  us  to  testify  by  this 
 our  application,  the  great  esteem  which  we  entertain  for  so  great  a  treasure. 
 
 *  "  The  Evangelists  treating  of  the  same  subject  the  greatest  advantage  may  be  read  in  harmony." 
 do  give  great  hght  to  one  another,  and  I  think  witli     — I^ocke. 
 
10 
 
 ON  HARMONIES. 
 
 With  reo-ard  to  all  the  difficulties  which  occur  in  reconciling'  the  four  Evangelists, 
 we  may  apply  in  general  the  following  remark,  which  St.  Austin  makes  respecting 
 the  apparent  contradiction  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke  concerning  the  genealogy 
 of  Christ,  namely,  that  they  who  are  duly  impressed  with  a  proper  respect  for  the 
 sacred  writings,  are  by  this  very  difficulty  admonished  that  they  contain  hidden  mys- 
 teries the  knowledce  of  which  God  is  pleased  to  communicate  to  those  who  ask  it  in 
 a  proper  manner,  whilst  he  refuses  the  same  knowledge  to  others  who  slight  and  con- 
 temn his  sacred  oracles.  He  willingly  discovers  his  secrets  to  those  who  seek  after 
 them,  but  withholds  them  from  such  as  are  careless  and  fastidious  ,•>  he  lets  those  in 
 who  knock  at  the  door,  and  excludes  those  who  would  force  their  way  in  a  hostile 
 manner.  Hence  it  is  that  the  truly  humble  and  well  disposed  ask  and  obtain  ;  they 
 find  what  they  are  in  (juest  of,  and  have  the  door  opened  which  admits  them  into  the 
 sanctuary.* 
 
 Whilst  therefore  the  proud  and  self-sufficient,  who  deserve  not  to  be  enlightened, 
 are  thus  blinded  by  their  own  fault,  they  who  are  of  a  contrary  disposition,  and  are 
 truly  sincere,  derive  considerable  advantage  from  these  seeming  discrepancies  of  the 
 holy  Gospels  ;  for  they  serve  to  exercise  their  faith,  to  try  their  submission,  and 
 filially,  to  establish  incontestably  the  truth  of  the  Evangelical  History,  by  proving, 
 that  the  Evangelists  did  not  write  in  concert. 
 
 As  the  truth  of  those  things,  which  are  related  in  the  Gospel,  is  supported,  in  part, 
 by  the  testimony  of  the  authors  who  have  committed  them  to  writing,  nothing  was 
 more  important  for  the  confirmation  of  our  faith,  than  to  remove  every  possible  doubt 
 respectino-  the  sincerity  of  these  witnesses.  Now  the  most  natural  suspicion  that 
 could  arise  in  the  mind,  was  that  these  four  persons  had  agreed  among  tl>emselves 
 by  collusion  to  write  a  fabulous  history,  and  to  impose  it  on  the  world  as  a  genuine 
 and  authentic  narrative.  But  such  a  supposition  is  precluded,  and  much  mora  guarded 
 ao-ainst,  by  the  apparent  diversity  which  is  found  in  the  Evangelists,  than  if  the  most 
 perfect  uniformity  had  prevailed  throughout  their  narrative,  in  their  expressions,  their 
 order,  and  their  manner  of  composition.  Truth,  like  honesty,  often  neglects  appear- 
 ances ;  but  hypocrisy  and  imposture  are  always  guarded. 
 
 A  perfect  sameness  might  have  appeared  as  the  effect  of  a  preconcerted  design  ; 
 whereas  such  design  is  completely  refuted  by  the  different  manner  which  they  have 
 adopted  in  their  narration  ;  for  it  is  obvious  that  they  relate  things  just  as  they  oc- 
 curred to  the  mind,  without  any  order  or  relation  to  preceding  accounts.  To  every 
 unprejudiced  person  it  will  clearly  appear  that  the  Evangelists  have  written  with  an 
 admirable  candour  and  simplicity,  without  any  wish  to  deceive,  and  solely  with  the 
 view  of  instructino-  the  world  concerning  those  important  truths,  of  which  they  them- 
 selves were  convinced  with  the  utmost  degree  of  certainty.— However,  as  it  is  highly 
 expedient  to  attempt  an  explanation  of  the  difficulties  which  it  has  pleased  God,  for 
 various  reasons,  should  be  interspersed  in  the  sacred  books,  and  as  those  who  succeed 
 herein    may  justly  hope  for  the  recompense  promised  to  such  as  expound  Wisdom  : 
 
 *  Pie  con-it.antes,  says  the  Saint,  tantoB  auctori-  retur ;  pulsantibus  aperiretur ;  oppug:nantibus  clau- 
 
 tatis  emiiientiam,  latere  ibialiquid  crediderunt  quod  deretur;  petierunt,  quaesierunt,  pulsaverunt,  acce- 
 
 petentibus  daretu'r ;  oblatrantibus  negaretur  a  quae-  perunt,  inveuerunt  et  intraverunt. 
 rentibus   inveniretur ;    reprehendenlibus  subtrahe- 
 
ON  HARMONIES. 
 
 qui  elucidant  me  vitam  aeternam  habebunt  ;*  so  in  like  manner,  althoug-h  it  be  advan- 
 tageous to  religion,  that  the  Gospels  were  written  without  any  certain  order,  or 
 regard  to  chronology,  and  with  apparent  contradictions,  yet  it  must  be  highly  bene- 
 ficial to  reduce  to  their  proper  order  the  events  and  discourses  therein  related,  with 
 the  view  of  forming  a  perfect  idea  of  the  series  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  mention- 
 ing every  thing  in  its  proper  place.  This  is  precisely  the  design  of  all  such  treatises 
 as  bear  the  name  of  Eva7igelical  Harmonies. 
 
 But  there  exists  in  those  who  have  written  upon  this  subject  a  great  diversity  of 
 sentiment,  which  proceeds  from  the  different  methods  they  take  in  collating  the  sacred 
 writers.  There  are  some  harmonists  who  contend  that  the  order  pursued  by  each  of 
 the  Evangelists  is  never  to  be  inverted  on  any  account,  and  therefore  all  they  do,  is 
 to  add  such  things  as  are  mentioned  by  the  other  Evangelists.  Their  motive  for 
 this,  is  because  they  fancy  that  each  of  the  Evangelists  follows  exactly  and  invariably 
 the  order  of  time,  and  this  without  any  deviation  whatever  if  others  again,  thouo-h 
 they  acknowledge  the  sacred  penmen  to  have  neglected  the  order  of  time,  yet  scruple 
 to  adopt  any  other  :  thinking  it  safer  merely  to  point  out  what  is  anticipated  or  men- 
 tioned by  way  of  recapitulation,  than  to  transpose  any  part  of  the  inspired  writings. 
 But  it  is  easy  to  show  how  ill-founded  are  the  scruples  of  the  latter,  and  how  erro- 
 neous the  conjectures  of  the  former. 
 
 The  opinion  that  each  of  the  Evangelists  follows  in  his  narrative,  the  exact  order 
 of  time,  appears  destitute  of  all  probability.  We  except  St.  John,  who  wrote  after 
 the  rest,  and  who  alone  seems  to  have  observed  this  order :  hence,  he  is  the  only 
 one  who  distinguishes  the  time  of  Christ's  ministry  by  the  passovers  and  other  fes- 
 tivals. But  the  others  seem  little  solicitous  in  what  order  they  narrate  the  transactions 
 of  their  divine  Master,  and  therefore  content  themselves  with  marking  down  what 
 they  knew  to  be  true  and  authentic.  Hence  they  often  depart  from  the  natural  order 
 of  time,  either  supplying  what  was  before  omitted,  or  anticipating  what  afterwards 
 came  to  pass.  See  St.  Austin,  lib.  2.  de  Consen.  Evang.  c.  21.:}:  This  is  so  certain, 
 that,  without  the  wildest  suppositions,  it  cannot  be  called  in  question. 
 
 Of  the  three  Evangelists  who  have  made  mention  of  tiie  imprisonment  of  St.  John 
 Baptist,  not  one  of  them  does  it  in  its  proper  place.  St.  Luke,  c.  3.  v.  19.  takes 
 occasion,  from  the  reprehension  of  Herod,  to  anticipate  this  event,  whereas  Matthew 
 and  Mark  place  it  too  far  back,  when  they  speak  of  the  decollation  of  St.  John.  See 
 c.  22.  of  the  following  Harmony. 
 
 Again,  Matthew  and  Mark  do  not  observe  the  same  order  in  describing  the  temp- 
 tations of  our  Lord  ;  so  that  it  unavoidably  follows,  either  that  one  of  them  does  not 
 keep  the  right  order,  or  that  Christ  was  tempted  four  different  times,  and  twice  in 
 tlie  very  same  manner,  which  appears  highly  improbable.  See  c.  15.  of  the 
 Harmony. 
 
 Those  who  consider  the  Gospels  as  methodical  annals,  and  who  therefore  contend 
 that  every  thing  is  in  its  proper  place,  are  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  multiplying 
 
 "  They  that   explain  me   (Wisdom)   shall    have  %  No  historian,  indeed,  can  be  expected  to  relate 
 
 life  everlasting'.  every  thing'  in  the  exact  order  of  time,  unless  he  is 
 
 t  Osiander  is  the  head  and  leader  of  such  har-  writing   a  journal,  which   is  the  most  tedious  and 
 
 monists.  disagreeable  kind  of  history. 
 
 11 
 
12 
 
 ON  HARMONIES. 
 
 and  dividing  into  different  actions  and  miracles,  the  events  which  the  learned  gene- 
 rally believe  to  have  been  the  same  ;  such  as  the  history  of  the  woman  with  a  bloody 
 flux,  of  the  centurion,  of  the  devils  sent  into  the  swine,  to  pass  over  many  others  of  a 
 similar  nature.     See  c.  32,  35,  and  45,  of  the  Harmony. 
 
 As  to  those  who  pay  such  deference  to  the  sacred  text,  that  they  scruple  to  trans- 
 pose the  order  of  the  Evangelists,  they  hereby  deprive  a  harmony  of  one  of  its  chief 
 advantages.  It  must  be  owned  that  each  of  the  Evangelists  follows  an  order  pecu- 
 liar to  himself,  and  not  without  the  particular  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,*  by  whom 
 they  were  inspired  ;  and  to  possess  this  order  entire,  we  have  only  to  read  each  of 
 them  separately  :  but  when  the  question  is  to  harmonize  the  four  Evangelists  into 
 one,  then  it  is  obvious  that  we  ought  to  attend  to  the  real  and  general  order  of  the 
 time  and  of  the  transactions  that  are  there  related,  and  not  to  the  particular  order  of 
 each  Evangelist  separately  considered. 
 
 For  the  same  reason,  when  the  same  thing  is  mentioned  by  different  Evangelists, 
 it  is  better  to  combine  th'e  words  of  each  into  one  complete  and  uninterrupted  narra- 
 tive, than  to  arrange  the  text  of  each  Evangelist  in  distinct  columns,  as  Alan  Cope, 
 Le  Clerc,  Newcome,  Molinseus,  and  others  have  done. 
 
 Wherefore  the  best  method,  in  our  opinion,  of  framing  an  Evangelical  Harmony, 
 and  which  has  been  followed  in  the  work  before  us,  is 
 
 1.  To  assign  to  its  proper  place  whatever  is  to  be  found  in  the  four  Evangelists, 
 and  to  make  such  transpositions  as  are  necessary  for  this  purpose. 
 
 2.  When  the  same  account  is  given  by  different  Evangelists,  to  form  from  all  one 
 continued  narrative,  so  full  and  complete  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  consulting 
 each  of  them  individually. 
 
 3.  In  doing  this,  care  is  taken,  that  it  appear  at  first  sight  from  the  margin, 
 which  of  the  Evangelists  is  made  use  of;  but  the  words  of  the  other  Evangelists  are 
 entirely  omitted,  as  containing  nothing  materially  different  from  what  is  to  be  found 
 in  the  compound  text. 
 
 The  best  Harmony  on  this  plan,  and,  in  our  opinion,  the  least  liable  to  objections, 
 is  that  of  Arnauld,  which  was  printed  an.  1654.  It  was,  indeed,  originally  drawn 
 up  by  the  learned  Jansenius,  bishop  of  Ghent,  and  was  first  published  an.  1549.  It 
 afterwards  received  improvements  from  John  of  Buisson,  and  was  finally  completed 
 by  the  above-mentioned  Doctor,  in  such  manner,  that  he  seems  to  have  left  little  to 
 be  added  by  those  who  come  after  him.  See  the  exceptions  that  have  been  made 
 against  this  Harmony,  refuted  by  Mauduit  in  the  preface  to  his  excellent  Analysis  of 
 the  Gospel,  a  work  of  which  we  have  made  very  considerable  use  in  the  present 
 undertaking.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  Harmony  in 
 question  is,  in  some  instances,  susceptible  of  improvement,  both  in  regard  to  the  dis- 
 tribution of  matter  and  the  arrangement  of  words,  and  accordingly  we  have  made 
 some  few  alterations  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  meet  with  the  approbation  of  the 
 learned. t 
 
 *  Arcano  Spiritus  S.  Consilio  S.  Aug.  de  Cons,  followed   in  harmonizing'  the  four  Gospels. — The 
 
 Evan.  2.  21.  order  of  St.  Matthew,  is,  in  g-eneral,  observed  by 
 
 t  We  shall  here  present  the  readeT  with  a  short  Tatian,  Ammoniiis,  (if  the  works  attributed  to  them 
 
 general  view  of  the  different  systems  that  have  been  be  genuine)  Juvencus,  St.  Austin,  Coniestor,  Guido 
 
INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST 
 
 13 
 
 SHOWING  THE  CONNECTION  THAT  SUBSISTS  BETWEEN  THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS. 
 
 Daily  experience  evinces,  that  the  greater  part  of  Christians  have  a  very  imperfect 
 idea  of  the  obligations  which  they  owe  to  Jesus  their  Redeemer.  The  truth  is,  that 
 they  are  not  rightly  sensible  of  the  miseries  from  which  he  came  to  deliver  them. 
 Previous  therefore  to  the  history  of  man's  redemption,  we  shall  give  that  of  his  fall, 
 by  stating  the  dreadful  evils  into  which  he  was  plunged  by  the  sin  of  our  first 
 parents.  This  account  will  exhibit  a  summary  of  the  whole  economy  of  that  divine 
 revelation,  which  God  was  pleased  to  make  in  favour  of  mankind  :  after  discoverino- 
 to  us  our  miseries,  it  will  show  us  what  Jesus  has  done  for  our  deliverance  ;  and  by 
 being'  made  sensible  how  much  we  were  indebted  to  the  divine  justice  for  our  sins, 
 we  shall  more  easily  concei\'e  what  we  owe  to  his  mercy  for  our  salvation.* 
 
 After  the  creation  of  the  world,!  God  formed  man  to  be  his  representative  in  it, 
 and  adorned  him  with  all  those  gifts  of  mind  and  body,  which  might  qualify  him  for 
 that  exalted  station.  His  soul,  furnished  with  the  most  ample  knowledge  of  things, 
 was  not  assailed  by  any  irregular  motions,  nor  did  the  inferior  appetite  rashly  o-o 
 before  reason,  or  sluggishly  refuse  to  follow  its  commands.  The  tree  of  life  sup- 
 plied him  with  food  of  such  excellent  quality,  as  to  be  capable  of  rendering  him 
 immortal ;  nor  would  he,  in  case  he  had  remained  innocent,  ever  have  experienced 
 
 and  intermixed  by  tlie  copyists.  But  this  is  mere 
 conjecture,  and  contradicts  the  evidence  of  all  the 
 Greek  and  Latin  manuscripts.  I  shall  only  add 
 \vith  Mr.  Marsh,  that  as  St.  Matthew  was  in  gene- 
 ral eye- witness  to  the  facts  which  he  has  recorded 
 in  common  with  St.   Mark   and   St.  Luke,  but  St. 
 
 de  Perpiniano,  Ludolphus,  Gerson,  amonp^  the  an- 
 cients ;  also  by  Jansenius,  bishop  of  Ghent,  the 
 Editors  of  the  Rheniish  Bible,  Beaux-Ami,  Merca- 
 tor,  Arnauld,  Lamy,  Tillemont,  Benijel,  Bertling, 
 Michaelis  and  his  translator  Mr.  Marsh,  among- 
 the  moderns. — 2.  Osiander,  or  as  he  was  called  in 
 German,  Hosmann,  follows  the  present  order   of    Mark   and   St.  Luke  were  not,  it  is  surely   more 
 
 the  four  Evangelists,  taking  it  for  granted  that  all 
 the  facts  recorded  in  the  four  Gospels  are  arranged 
 in  chronological  order.  Hence  he  supposes  that 
 the  same  transactions  and  discourses  took  place 
 twice  or  thrice  in  the  life  of  Christ,  e.  g.  that  two 
 sermons  were  preached  on  the  mount,  one  related 
 by  St.  Matthew,  the  other  by  St.  Luke,  &c.  This 
 plan  is  adopted  by  Molinaeus,  Sandhagen,  Jo.  Rus, 
 
 reasonable  to  expect  chronological  order  in  the 
 former  than  in  the  latter.  It  is  true,  that  wher- 
 ever St.  Matthew  differs  in  his  arrangement  from 
 St.  Mark  or  St.  Luke,  these  two  Evangelists 
 agree  in  their  arrangement  with  each  other.  But 
 this  agreement  affords  no  proof  that  they  have 
 written  in  chronological  order:  for  though  nothing 
 but  an  adherence  to  the  real   succession  of  events 
 
 Hauber,  Busching.     The  harmonies   of  this  kind  could  produce  an  uniformity  of  arrangement  in  the 
 
 are  very  similar  to  each  other. — 3.  Cartwright  and  works  of  two  historians,  who  had   no  connection, 
 
 others  adopt  the  present  order  of  St.  Mark,  trans-  either  mediate  or  immediate,  with  each   other,  vet 
 
 posing  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke. — 4.  In  Usher's  if  either  the  cne  copied  from  the  other,  or  both"  of 
 
 Annals  we  find   a    harmony   by   Dr.    Richardson,  them  drew  from   a  common  source,  their  arrange- 
 
 which  has  been  chiefly  followed  by  later  writers  on  ment  might  be  tlie  same,  and  yet  not  chronologica'I. 
 
 the  subject.     According  to  this,  St.  Matthew  only  Now  that  one  of  these  two   suppositions   must   be 
 
 has  nefflected  the  order  of  time,  which  is  regularly  adopted  with  respect  to   St.   Mark  and  St.  Luke, 
 
 and  constantly  observed  by  the   other  three.     Le  appears  from  the  late  critical  investigations  on  this 
 
 Clerc,  Whiston,  Bedford,  Lightfbot,  Toinard,  Du-  subject.      The   conclusion   is,   that   St.  Matthew's 
 
 pin,  Butini,  Calmet,  &c.  are  of  this  opinion  ;  and  order  ought  to   be  preferred  by  Harmonists,  as  in 
 
 though   they   differ  from   Richardson   and  among  general  more  chronological  than  that  of  the  other 
 
 themselves  in  many  particulars,  yet  they  adhere  to  two  Evangelists. 
 
 the  general  method  which  he  pointed  out. — Whis- 
 ton and  Toinard  assign  as  a  reason,  why  St.  Mat- 
 thew appears  to  be  at  variance  with  the  other 
 Evangelists,  that  the  chapters  in  his  Gospel,  from 
 the  4th  to  the  10th,  have  been  strangely  confounded. 
 
 *  St.  Austin  judged  an  abridgment  of  this  kind 
 extremely  useful.     See  Ep.  137. 1.  de  Cat.  Rud.  &c. 
 
 t  See  Dr.  Hook's  Principia  Religionis  Nat.  et 
 Rev.  t.  2. 
 
14  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 any  pain  or  dissolution.  The  beasts  all  beheld  in  him  the  image  of  the  Divinity, 
 and  the  earth  spontaneously  afforded  him  an  easy  and  pleasant  maintenance,  ade- 
 quate to  all  his  wants  and  pleasures.  Moreover^  he  was  adorned  with  sanctifying 
 grace,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  abode  in  his  soul  as  the  supernatural  principle  of  its 
 interior  and  spiritual  life. 
 
 Such  was  the  happy  state  of  our  first  parents  at  the  beginning  of  the  world  :  but 
 for  a  proof  of  their  obedience  and  virtue,  God  laid  on  them  certain  easy  and  salutary 
 commands,  by  complying  with  which  they  might  merit  new  degrees  of  perfection, 
 and  finally  arrive  at  a  permanent  state  of  supernatural  perfection  and  everlasting 
 happiness.  But  unfortunately  they  obeyed  not  their  Creator,  and  forgetful  of  his 
 divine  favours  and  benefits,  paid  more  regard  to  the  suggestions  of  the  malignant 
 spirit,  addressing  them  in  the  form  of  a  serpent,  than  to  the  admonitions  and  threats 
 of  their  sovereign  Lord.  They  ate  of  the  fatal  fruit,  which  he  had  forbidden  them 
 to  taste,  and  which  he  assured  them  would  prove  deadly  poison  both  to  themselves 
 and  to  their  posterity.  What  was  the  consequence?  As,  in  the  designs  of  a  most 
 pure  and  holy  God,  felicity  and  iniquity  cannot  be  united,  the  flesh,  as  if  contaminated 
 with  mortal  poison,  became  immediately  inflamed  and  disordered  ;  it  excited  at  the 
 same  time  similar  perturbations  in  the  soul  ;  the  mind  was  clouded  with  ignorance  ; 
 sensual  appetites  blindly  impelled  the  soul  without  waiting  for  the  command  of  rea- 
 son, and  this  queen  and  guide  of  life  was  almost  displaced  from  her  seat  by  the 
 violence  of  unruly  desires.  With  original  justice  and  this  happy  state  of  nature 
 man  lost  that  corporeal  majesty  and  dignity  which  he  at  first  possessed,  nor  did  the 
 brute  creation  any  longer  show  respect  to  his  person,  or  pay  attention  to  his  voice. 
 Banished  from  the  garden  of  paradise,  a  garden  planted  by  God's  own  hand,  and 
 teemino-  with  every  production  pleasing  to  the  eye  and  grateful  to  the  taste,  he  was 
 left  to  cultivate  the  barren  earth,  and  to  undergo  all  those  labours  and  sorrows,  to 
 which  we  are  at  present  liable,  and  which,  by  the  subsequent  maUce  of  man,  have 
 been  aggravated,  and  rendered  still  more  afflicting.* 
 
 Man  havino-  thus  fallen,  and  become  obnoxious  to  the  divine  wrath,  was  unable  to 
 satisfy  the  injured  majesty  of  God  ;  nor  could  he  by  any  possible  repentance  recover 
 his  ancient  state  of  happiness.  By  his  disobedience  he  brought  ruin  on  himself  and 
 on  all  his  descendants.  Being  the  common  father  of  all,  he  involved  in  his  misery 
 the  whole  human  race.  We  are  all,  therefore,  heirs  to  his  fault  and  punishment,  as 
 we  should  otherwise  have  been  to  his  innocence  and  felicity.  But  this  was  not  all : 
 for  in  addition  to  this  woful  state  here,  greater  evils  awaited  mankind  hereafter,  and 
 their  immortal  souls  being  released  from  the  body,  were  destined  to  the  eternal  tor- 
 ments of  hell.     Such  was  the  order  first  established  by  God  in  relation  to  Adam ; 
 
 *  Such  was  the  just  punishment  of  the  disobe-  titude  of  hard,   burthensome  commands,   but   im- 
 
 dience    of  our   first  parents.     Whoever,  says   St.  posed    on   him    one    so   very   easy,    and    suitaljle, 
 
 Austin,  looks  U'lon  this  condemnation  to  be  unjust  whereby  he  might  know  who  was  his  Lord,  and 
 
 or  excessive,  knows   not  how  to  weigh  the  malice  might,  by  his  obedience,  deserve  everlasting-  glory ; 
 
 of  a  sin   which  mio-ht  so  easily  have  been  avoided ;  who,  in   fine,  threatened  him  with  eternal  punish- 
 
 and  he  considers  not  sufficiently  how  much  a  crea-  ment,  if  he  dared  to  disobey. — Who  can  express 
 
 ture  deserves,  who  slights  the  orders  of  Ilim  who  how  great  a  crime  it  was  to  go  against  a  positive 
 
 created  him   to   his  own  image,  and  enriched  him  precept  so  easy  in  itself,  and  to  slight  such  terrible 
 
 with  his  'rifts  ;   who  did  not  load  him  willi  a  mul-  menaces? 
 
INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  I5 
 
 such  were  the  fatal  consequences  of  his  transgression,  extending-  not  only  to  himself, 
 but  to  all  his  posterity. 
 
 In  this  lamentable  state  of  misery,  man  again  experienced  the  effects  of  the 
 divine  bounty.  The  Almighty  did  not  suffer  Adam  to  perish  in  his  guilt,  but 
 provided  for  his  salvation  and  that  of  his  descendants  in  a  wonderful  manner.  With- 
 out derogating  from  his  own  sanctity  and  supreme  majesty,  he  effected  this  by  an 
 astonishing  mystery  of  love,  in  which  mercy  and  truth  met  each  other,  and  in  which 
 justice  and  peace  kissed.  In  consideration  of  the  merits  of  a  future  Redeemer,  man 
 was  again  received  into  favour,  and  his  sentence  of  eternal  death  was  exchano-ed  for 
 that  of  a  temporal  exile  only.  By  the  mediation  of  this  Deliverer  anew  covenant 
 was  entered  into,  which  was  truly  a  covenant  of  mercy  on  the  part  of  God,  and 
 grounded  on  the  following  conditions. 
 
 The  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  agreeably  to  his  Father's  will,  as  likewise  to  his 
 own  excessive  charity  for  us,  was  pleased  to  become  our  patron  and  Mediator,  and 
 to  form,  by  assuming  our  nature,  an  alliance  with  the  whole  human  race.     For  this 
 purpose,  he  chose  to  be  born  of  a  pure  Virgin,  and  being  clothed  with  our  flesh,  was 
 thus  enabled  to  offer  to  God,  in  our  behalf,  that  full  and  complete  satisfaction,  of 
 which  sinful  man  was  himself  incapable,  being  by  nature  a  child  of  wrath.    Jesus 
 therefore,  being  made  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  blotted  out  the 
 hand-writing  that  stood  against  us,  despoiled  principalities  and  powers,  and  liberated 
 mankind  from  the  jaws  of  eternal  death.    "  For  hy  a  man  came  death,  and  by  a  man 
 the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  and  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  all  shall  de  made  \b^2\ 
 alive"    Having  thus  purchased  mankind,  not  by  corruptible  gold  and  silver,  but  by 
 his  own  precious  blood,  he  received  from  his  Father  the  full  plenitude  of  power.     In 
 recompense  of  his  bitter  passion,  he  was  exalted  above  all,  and  had  a  name  o-iven 
 him  above  every  other  name,  together  with  supreme  authority  and  jurisdiction  over 
 mankind,  whom  he  had  redeemed  at  so  dear  a  rate.     In  quality  of  our  Redeemer  he 
 became  the  Author  and  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant.     This  covenant  was  ao-reed 
 to  by  the  Almighty  at  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  is  justly  styled  the  covenant  of 
 grace,  because  the  design  of  it  is  to  reconcile  and  unite  God  with  man,  and  man  with 
 God.     On  the  part  of  man,  Jesus  agreed  with  his  Father  to  bestow  on  us  those 
 helps  of  grace  by  which  we  might  worthily  serve  him,  and  by  faith  and  charity  deserve 
 to  be  adopted  as  his  childr-en,  and  so  be  made  co-heirs  with  him  in  his  heavenly 
 kingdom.     And  as  in  consequence  of  our  fall,  we  are  now  liable  to  greater  tempta- 
 tions, and  in  the  practice  of  virtue  experience  greater  difhoulties,  hence  God  was 
 pleased  to  mitigate  the  rigour  of  that  first  law,  which  rendered  sin  on  the  part  of 
 man  irreparable,  and  man  obnoxious  to  everiasting  death.     Our  Mediator  therefor-e 
 stipulated  in  favour  of  sinners  a  supply  of  those  graces  by  which  man  mio-ht  r-epent 
 and  through  him  make  satisfaction  for  his  transgressions :  in  fine,  as  a  reward  and 
 encouragement  of  good  actions,  he  ensured  to  us  the  greatest  recompenses  to  be 
 bestowed  on  us  hereafter  in  heaven.     On  the  other  side,  as  Christ  was  the  Mediator 
 of  God  with  man,  and  as  such  was  to  consult  the  dignity  of  his  injured  Father,  he 
 strictly  enjoined,  by  the  evangelical  law,  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God,  the  most 
 exact  observance  of  natural  religion^  and  that  men  believing  in  him  as  their  Saviour 
 
16  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 and  relying  on  his  merits,  should  have  frequent  recourse  to  God  by  fervent  and 
 humble  supplications.  He  moreover  added  various  precepts  suited  to  the  exigen- 
 cies of  different  times. — Behold  here  a  short  view  of  that  divine  economy  which  God 
 observed  in  regard  of  religion.  We  shall  enter  now  into  a  further  detail  of  its 
 successive  evolutions. 
 
 Soon  after  the  unhappy  fall  of  our  first  parents,  God  was  pleased  to  make  known 
 to  them  the  gracious  designs  which  he  had  conceived  in  their  favour.  He  informed 
 them,  that  from  the  seed  of  the  woman  would  one  day  arise  a  Deliverer,  who  should 
 crush  the  serpent's  head,  should  merit  the  pardon  of  our  transgressions,  and  finally 
 make  us  joint  heirs  with  him  in  his  kingdom  ;  but  with  this  proviso,  that,  on  our 
 part,  we  should  adhere  to  him  by  faith,  and  lead  a  holy  and  godly  life  according  to 
 his  injunctions.  Moreover,  God  promised  that,  in  consideration  of  the  merits  of  this 
 blessed  seed,  he  would  never  be  wanting  to  mankind  ;  and  in  order  that  the  remem- 
 brance of  this  Deliverer  might  be  ever  fresh  in  their  minds,  he  chose  to  be  worshipped 
 by  the  slaying  of  sheep  and  other  beasts  ;  hereby  clearly  signifying  that  it  was  to 
 the  bloody  sacrifice  of  the  immaculate  Lamb,  that  men,  otherwise  devoted  to  death, 
 would  one  day  be  indebted  for  their  deliverance.  Thus  faith  in  a  Redeemer,  and 
 sacrifices  expressive  of  this  fiiith,  comprised  the  whole  of  religion  as  superadded  to 
 that  natural  law,  which,  from  the  beginning,  was  impressed  on  the  heart  of  man  ;  and 
 from  these  two  sources,  though  variously  corrupted,  flowed  all  those  different  reli- 
 gions which  obtained  in  the  pagan  world. 
 
 Happy  would  it  have  been  for  mankind  had  they  showed  a  due  sense  of  gratitude 
 for  this  kindness  of  their  Creator,  and  made  a  proper  use  of  those  divine  helps  which 
 he  offered  them  for  that  purpose.  But  their  conduct  was  the  reverse  •  in  a  short 
 time,  all  flesh  had  corrupted  its  way,  and  so  great  was  the  wickedness  of  the  world, 
 that  the  Almighty  was  provoked  to  execute  on  it  the  most  exemplary  vengeance  by  a 
 general  deluge. 
 
 Noah  being  a  just  man,  was  saved  with  his  family  from  the  common  ruin  in  which 
 the  rest  of  mankind  were  involved.  God  comforted  him  by  his  promises,  and,  by 
 word  of  mouth,  delivered  to  him  and  to  his  children  the  precepts  of  the  law  of  nature, 
 which  he  sanctioned  at  the  same  time  by  his  express  authority.  The  remembrance 
 of  these  precepts  was  ever  preserved  among  the  Hebrews.  But  after  the  deluge,  the 
 mass  of  mankind  fell  again  into  a  forgetfulness  of  the  divine  judgments  and  precepts, 
 and  the  memory  of  them  in  the  space  of  400  years  seemed  almost  obliterated  from 
 their  minds.  Men  began  to  seek  God,  not  with  their  mind,  but  with  their  eyes,  some 
 worshipping  the  sun  and  stars,  others  their  deceased  parents  or  kings,  and  others 
 even  dumb  and  lifeless  idols. 
 
 In  this  state  of  degeneracy,  God  manifested  again  his  goodness  in  the  support  of 
 religion.  He  chose  for  himself  a  peculiar  nation,  and  became,  as  it  were,  its  tutelary 
 and  domestic  God,  ruling  and  governing  it  with  particular  care.  Abraham  was 
 adopted  as  the  father  of  this  chosen  generation  :  God  ordered  him  to  quit  his  family 
 and  country ;  and  such  was  his  providential  care  over  him,  that  in  the  midst  of 
 foreigners  jealous  of  his  prosperity  he  continued  to  increase  in  wealth,  power  and 
 authority.     God  entered  into  a  compact  with  him,  which  was  sanctioned  by  an  oath 
 
INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  17 
 
 and  the  solemn  rite  of  circumcision.  It  is  thus  described  in  the  annals  of  religion : 
 "After  he  (Abraham)  began  to  be  99  years  old,  the  Lord  appeared  to  him :  and  Gen.  17. 
 said  unto  him :  I  am  the  Almighty  God :  walk  before  me  and  be  perfect.  And  I 
 will  make  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and  I  will  multiply  thee  exceedinoly 
 ....  and  thou  shalt  be  the  father  of  many  nations.  .  .  .  and  I  will  make  thee  increase 
 exceedingly,  and  I  will  make  nations  of  thee,  and  kings  shall  come  out  of  thee.  And 
 I  will  estabhsh  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  thy  seed  after  thee 
 m  their  generations,  by  a  perpetual  covenant ;  to  be  a  God  to  thee  and  to  thy  seed 
 after  thee.  And  I  will  give  to  thee  and  to  thy  seed  the  land  of  thy  sojournment,  all 
 the  land  of  Canaan  for  a  perpetual  possession,  and  I  will  be  their  God.  Again  God 
 said  to  Abraham :  and  thou  therefore  shalt  keep  my  covenant,  and  thy  seed  after 
 thee  in  their  generations.  This  is  my  covenant  which  you  shall  observe  between  me 
 and  you,  and  thy  seed  after  thee :  all  the  male-kind  of  you  shall  be  circumcised. 
 And  you  shall  circumcise  the  flesh  of  the  fore-skin,  that  it  may  be  for  a  sio-n  of  the 
 covenant  between  me  and  you.  An  infant  of  eight  days  old  shall  be  circumcised 
 among  you,  every  man-child  in  your  generations  :  he  that  is  born  in  the  house,  as 
 well  as  the  bought  servant,  shall  be  circumcised,  and  whosoever  is  not  of  your  stock. 
 And  my  covenant  shall  be  in  your  flesh  for  a  perpetual  covenant.  The  male,  whose 
 flesh  of  his  fore-skin  shall  not  be  circumcised,  that  soul  shall  be  destroyed  out  of  his 
 people,  because  he  hath  broken  my  covenant."  The  Almighty  afterwards,  on 
 account  of  the  faith  and  obedience  of  Abraham,  renewed  the  same  promises  with  an 
 oath,  in  the  following  words:  "  By  my  own  self  have  I  sworn,  saith  the  Lord,  be-  ^ 
 cause  thou  hast  done  this  thing,  and  hast  not  spared  thy  only-begotten  Son  for  my  16. 
 sake,  I  will  bless  thee  and  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  as  the 
 sand  that  is  by  the  sea-shore  :  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gates  of  their  enemies,  and 
 in  thy  seed  shall  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed.''  This  covenant  was  confirmed 
 to  Isaac  and  Jacob,  nor  did  God  disdain  even  to  be  called  the  God  of  Abraham,  the 
 God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  This  compact  with  Abraham  contained  two 
 parts ;  the  one  temporal,  which  belonged  to  his  carnal  progeny  and  the  land  of 
 Canaau  ;  the  other  spiritual,  which  regarded  the  blessed  seed  and  the  whole  human 
 race. 
 
 As  after  the  death  of  Jacob  this  chosen  people,  under  the  divine  protection,  were 
 to  increase  prodigiously,  and  could  not  exist  without  civil  laws,  it  pleased  the 
 Almighty  in  his  wisdom  to  transport  Jacob  and  his  family  into  the  flourisliino-  kino-- 
 dom  of  Egypt,  where,  without  provoking  the  envy  of  the  neighbouring  nations,  this 
 favourite  race  might  securely  multiply,  for  the  space  of  about  200  years,  and  mioht, 
 at  the  same  time,  enjoy  the  benefit  of  a  regular  government  without  any  civil  consti- 
 tution of  their  own.  But  lest  the  descendants  of  Abraham  should  adopt  the  usao-es 
 and  customs  of  the  idolatrous  Egyptians,  and  lose  the  remembrance  of  the  divine 
 promises,  the  patriarch  Jcicob,  a  little  before  his  death,  minutely  explained  the  nature 
 of  these  promises  to  his  children,  and  foretold  w^hat  would  afterwards  befall  each  of 
 them  in  their  generation.  He  not  only  informed  them  that  their  posterity  should 
 increase  to  a  great  and  independent  people,  but  assured  them  :  "  that  the  sceptre 
 should  not  be  taken  aicaj/  from  Juda,  nor  a  ruler  from  his  thigh,  till  the  Messias  came 
 
 F 
 
Ig  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 the  expectation  of  all  natiom  "  Moreover,  in  token  of  their  future  emigration  from 
 Egypt,  and  to  impress  it  more  deeply  on  their  minds,  Jacob,  by  his  last  will,  en- 
 joined his  children  to  carry  his  body  to  the  sepulchre  of  their  fathers  It  was  with 
 the  same  design,  that  Joseph  also  ordered  his  remains  to  be  carefully  preserved  in 
 Egypt,  in  order  afterwards  to  be  transported  from  thence  by-  his  descendants,  to 
 whom  they  were  to  serve  as  a  striking  monument  of  this  expected  event. 
 
 After  a  lapse  of  about  215  years,  when  the  increasing  multitude  of  the  Israelites 
 had  excited  the  envy  of  the  Egyptians,  and  they  were  now  themselves  in  a  condition 
 to  occupy  the  land  of  Canaan,  God  delivered  his  people  from  servitude  trith  out- 
 stretched arm,  under  the  guidance  of  Moses.  In  this  deliverance,  all  nature  was 
 made  obedient  to  the  voice  of  man.  It  was  then  the  Almighty  not  only  became  the 
 tutelary,  and  as  it  were  the  domestic  God  of  his  people,  but  he  was  pleased  likewise 
 to  take  upon  himself  the  government  of  their  republic.  Being  solemnly  elected  as 
 their  king  by  the  universal  suffrage  of  the  people,  he  formed  with  them  a  compact ; 
 Dcut.  26.  the  conditions  of  which  Moses  has  expressed  in  these  words.  "  Thou  hast  chosen 
 ^^  the  Lord  this  day  to  be  thy  God  [and  governor]  and  to  walk  in  his  ways,  and  keep 
 
 his  ceremonies,  and  precepts,  and  judgments,  and  to  obey  his  command :  and  the 
 Lord  hath  chosen  thee  this  day  to  be  his  peculiar  people,  as  he  hath  spoken  to  thee, 
 and  to  keep  all  his  commandments,  and  to  make  thee  higher  than  all  nations,  which 
 ne  hath  created  to  his  own  praise,  and  name,  and  glory."  After  having  thus  taken 
 upon  himself  the  civil  authority,  God  immediately  proceeded  to  the  exercise  of  his 
 regal  power  :  he  enacted  laws  never  to  be  abrogated  by  man,  he  constituted  judges 
 and  magistrates  as  his  ordinary  vicegerents,  and  reserved  to  himself  the  determina- 
 tion of  more  weighty  and  difficult  questions.  He  was  pleased  moreover  to  display 
 in  the  Jewish  republic  all  the  marks  of  regal  power  ;  a  most  splendid  tabernacle  was 
 erected,  at  the  entrance  of  which,  as  at  the  gates  of  a  royal  palace,  a  constant  guard 
 attended ;  a  certain  number  of  ministers  was  maintained  at  the  public  expense,  and 
 deputed  to  the  service  of  the  king  ;  and  a  tax  was  levied  in  testimony  of  his  supreme 
 authority.  In  short,  God  performed  in  the  midst  of  his  people  all  the  duties  of 
 sovereignty  ;  he  led  their  armies  into  the  field  ;  he  administered  justice  ;  he  distri- 
 buted rewards  and  punishments,  and  manifested  so  peculiar  a  providence  in  their 
 reo-ard,  that  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  the  state  were  attached  to  the  people's  obe- 
 dience and  fidelity  ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  calamity  and  ruin  were  the  unavoid- 
 able consequences  of  their  rebellious  conduct.  It  was  thus  that  God  preserved  the 
 true  religion  amidst  a  stiff-necked  people,  that  was  ever  prone  to  follow  the  general 
 corruption  of  surrounding  nations. 
 
 But  it  must  be  particularly  observed,  that  as  Jesus  Christ  was  the  great  object 
 announced  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  so  all  the  most  remarkable  persons, 
 events  and  ordinances,  were  prefigurative  of  his  person  and  mediation,  and  had 
 relation  to  him  as  the  expected  deliverer  of  mankind.  Hence  in  the  very  foundation 
 of  the  Jewish  republic,  in  the  constitution  of  its  laws,  and  in  every  important  event 
 which  befell  that  people,  all  was  prophetic  of  future  times,  and  a  kind  of  adumbration 
 of  that  more  perfect  law  which  Jesus  was  afterwards  to  establish  in  his  Church. 
 Moreover,  that  notliing   might  be  wanting  to  keep   the  Jews  in  the  constant 
 
INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  19 
 
 expectation  of  this  their  future  deliverer,  God  signified  to  them  that  he  would  raise  up 
 a  prophet  out  of  the  midst  of  their  brethren  like  Moses,  i.  e.  a  prophet  like  him,  like 
 him  the  deliverer  of  his  brethren,  like  him  the  promulgator  of  a  new  law,  like  him 
 the  mediator  of  a  new  covenant,  which  all  were  to  obey.  In  proportion  as  the  time 
 approached  for  the  coming  of  this  great  Prophet,  in  whose  presence  Moses  himself 
 was  to  be  silent,  the  predictions  concerning  him  became  more  clear  and  circum- 
 stantial. God  seemed  wholly  occupied  with  the  prosecution  of  this  grand  object. 
 He  deputed  prophets  from  time  to  time,  to  announce  his  arrival ;  each  of  them 
 pointed  him  out  by  some  particular  feature,  proper  to  make  him  known  at  his 
 appearance.  They  were  so  many  messengers,  sent  before-hand  to  keep  alive  the 
 cherished  hope,  and  they  minutely  foretold  the  various  circumstances  attendino- 
 Christ's  birth,  his  life,  his  death,  and  his  resurrection.  Thus  the  history  of  the 
 Messiah  was  already  written,  and  divulged,  before  he  showed  himself  in  person. 
 
 At  last  the  time  arrived,  when  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  had 
 spoken  to  us  by  his  prophets,  was  now  pleased  to  speak  to  us  by  his  Son.  Accord- 
 ingly, the  Ruler  of  the  temple,  the  Angel  of  the  testament  was  boni  of  a  Viro-in 
 Mother  of  the  race  of  David,  in  the  city  of  Bethlehem  ;  angels  announced  his  birth  to 
 the  shepherds  ;  the  wise  men  of  the  East  were  conducted  to  him  by  an  extraordinary 
 star ;  and  to  the  people  at  large  he  was  pointed  out  by  the  voice  of  John  the  Baptist, 
 as  likewise  by  a  voice  from  heaven  saying :  "  This  u  my  beloved  Son  in  ivhom  I  am 
 icell  pleased,  hear  ye  him."  After  this  authentic  testimony  in  his  favour,  Jesus  entered 
 on  the  functions  of  his  sacred  ministry.  This,  as  foretold  by  the  prophets,  was  three- 
 fold, p/'o/;//e/jcfl/,  regal,  and  sacerdotal.  The  prophetical  character  he  sustained  during 
 the  whole  time  he  conversed  with  men.  In  quality  of  the  great  Prophet,  that  had  been 
 foretold,  he  made  known  to  mankind  the  divine  will ;  by  the  most  evident  miracles  he 
 proved  his  doctrine  to  be  from  God  ;  he  confirmed  it  by  the  most  heroic  acts  of  virtue  • 
 he  sealed  it  with  his  blood ;  and  having  abrogated  the  old  law,  of  which  he  was  the 
 end,  he  substituted  in  its  stead  the  new  law,  which  is  to  endure  for  ever. 
 
 The  sacerdotal  otfice  consisted,  in  offering  up  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sin,  and  in 
 making  intercession  with  God.  Christ  being  a  priest  offered  to  the  Lord  the  most 
 perfect  holocaust,  viz.  the  immaculate  victim  of  his  own  body,  in  which  he  bore  our 
 sins  ;  and  being  fastened  to  the  cross,  he  there  poured  forth  prayers  and  supplications 
 for  us,  being  heard  by  his  Father  on  account  of  his  reverence ;  and  as  he  is  a  priest 
 for  ever  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  so  he  still  continues  the  same  sacrifice 
 of  his  body  and  blood  upon  our  altars,  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine  and 
 ceases  not  in  heaven  to  make  intercession  for  us.  Thus  he  abolished  the  temporary 
 priesthood  of  Aaron,  and  substituted  in  its  stead  that  of  Melchisedec,  to  remain  for 
 ever.  Finally,  after  the  ignominy  of  his  passion,  being  crowned  with  honour  and 
 glory,  and  invested  with  sovereign  power,  he  sanctioned  the  new  law  by  his  royal 
 authority,  he  established  his  church,  appointed  ministers  to  govern  it,  sent  down  upon 
 them  the  Holy  Ghost  and  his  gifts,  and  lastly,  he  will  one  day  come  in  glory  to  judge 
 the  living  and  the  dead. 
 
■20 
 
 ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  AND  REASONABLENESS  OF  THE 
 CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 
 
 After  giving  a  summary  account  of  what  God  has  done  in  favour  of  mankind,  from 
 the  beginning  of  the  world  till  the  gospel  dispensation,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  add 
 here  a  few  of  the  many  strong  arguments  which  justify  the  Christian's  assent  and 
 attachment  to  this  holy  religion  which  Jesus  came  to  establish  upon  earth,  and  which 
 forms  the  most  considerable  part  in  the  following  history  of  his  sacred  life. 
 
 1st,  The  antiquity,  the  perpetuity  and  uniformity  of  this  religion,  bespeak  its 
 divine  origin  ;  2dly,  *  the  truths  which  it  proposes  to  us,  are,  in  themselves,  most 
 just,  equitable  and  beneficial  to  society ;  and,  3dly,  the  motives  of  our  assent  are 
 such  as  ought  to  carry  conviction  to  every  unprejudiced  mind. 
 
 1.  The  antiquity  of  our  religion  is  the  first  argument  that  presents  itself,  and 
 naturally  prepossesses  us  in  its  favour.  I  do  not  deny  that  error  likewise  may  have 
 some  pretensions  to  antiquity ;  for  it  must  be  allowed,  there  are  many  inveterate 
 errors  which  seem  to  dispute  with  religion  this  character  of  truth.  But  whoever 
 carefully  examines  into  these  errors,  will  discover  that  the  antiquity  which  they  boast 
 of  belongs  not  to  them,  but  to  truth  which  preceded  them.  That  in  religious  matters 
 truth  and  antiquity  must  go  together,  appears  from  the  very  nature  of  religion. 
 This  being  the  first  and  most  essential  duty  of  man  to  his  Creator,  must  therefore 
 have  begun  with  man,  and  have  been  coeval  with  the  world.  Antiquity,  therefore, 
 being  a  mark  of  truth,  let  us  see  how  and  whether  it  belong  to  the  christian  insti- 
 tution. With  this  view  let  us  go  back  to  the  most  ancient  writings  that  have  been 
 left  us,  I  mean  to  the  books  of  Moses,  and  there  we  shall  find  the  history  of  religion 
 and  mankind  carried  up  to  its  very  source,  and  delivered  with  such  evident  marks  of 
 truth,  as  are  sufficient  to  convince  any  reasonable  man.  This  celebrated  historian, 
 it  must  be  observed,  is  every  way  deserving  of  credit :  he  speaks  not  as  in  a  corner 
 of  the  earth,  and  as  if  afraid  of  being  detected,  but  in  the  face  of  a  whole  people, 
 not  so  much  for  their  instruction  as  for  the  instruction  of  future  ages.  There  is  not 
 the  least  ground  for  suspecting  his  integrity,  since  had  his  narration  been  fabulous, 
 there  was  not  a  Jew  who  could  not  have  discovered  the  imposture.  With  the  Mosaic 
 account  compare  the  histories  of  the  different  sects  and  superstitions,  which  pre- 
 vailed in  the  world,  after  man  had  begun  to  form  and  create  divinities  for  himself. 
 How  dark,  how  obscure,  how  void  even  of  the  very  semblance  of  truth  do  they  ap- 
 pear !  They  are  only  the  fictions  of  the  poets,  whose  wild  imaginations  passed 
 current  with  a  rude  people  for  divine  truths.  As  well  may  the  ravings  of  Bacchana- 
 lians be  considered  as  a  standard  of  religion  and  morality  as  the  works  of  the 
 heathen  poets.  But  in  the  writings  of  Moses,  what  simplicity,  what  candour,  what 
 evident  marks  of  truth,  do  we  discover  !  He  presents  us  with  a  series  of  facts  which 
 appears  reasonable,  natural,  and  perfectly  consistent  with  itself.  We  here  find  the 
 history  of  religion  beginning  with  that  of  the  world,  before  the  foundation  of  empires, 
 the  building  of  cities,  and  the  invention  of  arts  :  we  behold  man  adoring  the  same 
 
 *  See  Massillon  siir  la  Veriii  de  la  Religion,  and  Dr.  Hook,  vol.  2. 
 
ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.  21 
 
 God  whom  we  adore,  erecting  altars  and  offering  sacrifice  to  him,  expecting  from  him 
 the  reward  of  his  virtue,  or  dreading  the  chastisement  of  his  iniquity.  This  primitive 
 religion  we  see  handed  down  pure  and  inviolate  from  father  to  son  by  the  Patriarchs, 
 till  the  prevalence  of  vice  in  the  world  induced  the  Almighty  to  choose  for  himself  a 
 peculiar  people  to  be  the  depositary  and  guardian  of  his  worship.  This  people  were 
 the  Jews,  to  whom  he  gave  the  law  by  Moses,  which  was  to  subsist  until  the 
 Redeemer  of  the  world,  the  Expectation  of  nations  should  appear,  to  rescue  mankind 
 from  the  slavery  of  Satan,  and  to  enlighten  them  with  the  beams  of  a  more  perfect 
 revelation.  Wherefore  this  first  character  of  truth,  viz.  its  antiquity,  most  justly 
 entitles  rehgion  to  our  greatest  love  and  respect. 
 
 2.  Another  proof  of  the  christian  religion  is  derived  from  its  perpetuity.  Cast  an 
 eye  on  that  infinite  variety  of  sects  and  superstitions  which  have,  at  different  times, 
 succeeded  each  other ;  follow  the  history  of  every  age  and  of  every  nation,  and  you 
 will  find  that  the  different  superstitions  of  each  place  prevailed  but  for  a  time,  and 
 ended  with  the  power  of  their  followers.  Where  are  now  the  gods  of  Emath, 
 Arphad  and  Sepharvain  ?  In  recalling  to  your  mind  the  history  of  the  ancient  con- 
 querors, you  must  observe  that  they  vanquished  the  gods  of  the  people  by  vanquish- 
 ing the  people  themselves,  and  that,  by  destroying  their  dominion,  they  at  the  same 
 time  destroyed  their  religious  worship.  What  a  pleasure  is  it  to  behold  the  true 
 religion  alone  supporting  itself  from  the  beginning,  surviving  the  fate  of  those  who 
 professed  it,  and  braving  the  united  efforts  of  its  adversaries  combined  together  for 
 its  destruction  !  The  preservation  of  this  religion,  which  could  never  be  effaced  from 
 the  earth,  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  any  human  power :  for  all  the  power  of  man  was 
 armed  for  its  destruction,  and  the  faithful  people  of  God  were,  for  the  most  part, 
 in  a  state  of  extreme  weakness  and  persecution.  "  It  was  not  by  the  sword,"  says  Ps.  43. 
 the  Prophet,  "  that  our  fathers  possessed  the  land."  Sometimes  tributary,  some-  ^• 
 times  fugitive  or  groaning  in  captivity,  the  chosen  people  saw  themselves  frequently 
 oppressed  by  the  greatest  monarchies  of  the  world.  Assyria,  Chaldaia,  Babylon,  the 
 three  most  formidable  powers  upon  earth,  successively  meditated  their  ruin,  as  well 
 as  the  extinction  of  their  religion :  but  in  vain.  This  weak  people,  whom  we  behold 
 labouring  under  oppression  in  Egypt,  wandering  in  the  desert,  transported  captives 
 into  distant  provinces,  could  never  be  destroyed  ;  and  while  so  many  other  powerful 
 nations  have  undergone  the  fate  of  all  human  things,  this  small  but  favourite  nation 
 was  still  preserved,  together  with  the  true  worship  of  God,  notwithstanding  all  the 
 efforts  that  were  made  to  abolish  it.  But  whence  could  this  proceed  ?  How  could 
 this  feeble  people  stand  unshaken  and  unsubdued  in  the  midst  of  their  inveterate 
 enemies  ?  How  could  their  rehgion  remain  unimpaired,  in  spite  of  its  persecutors, 
 and  survive  the  confusion  of  so  many  revolutions,  and  the  fall  of  so  many  states  and 
 kingdoms  ?  To  whom  can  we  ascribe  this  wonderful  work  ?  Surely  to  no  other 
 power  but  to  that  of  God  thus  exerting  himself  in  favour  of  his  beloved  people,  and 
 in  support  of  that  divine  religion,  which  he  himself  had  established.  And  since 
 every  invention  of  man  is  mortal  hke  himself,  and  disappears  from  the  earth,  may 
 we  not  hence  conclude  that  rehgion  is  the  work  of  God,  since,  like  him,  it  endures 
 for  ever. 
 
22 
 
 ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 
 
 3.  To  the  antiquity  and  perpetuity  of  religion  we  must  add  its  uniformity.  Every 
 thinf  around  us  is  subject  to  change,  because  every  thing  around  us  partakes  of  the 
 mutability  of  its  origin.  The  work  of  man,  like  himself,  is  weak  and  changeable. 
 Immutability  belongs  only  to  God.  Human  laws  change  according  to  times  and 
 circumstances,  but  not  the  laws  of  God  :  may  we  not  therefore  conclude,  that  since 
 religion  is  immutable,  it  cannot  be  of  human  invention,  but  of  a  divine  and  heavenly 
 origin  ?  This  immutability  is  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  christian  religion.  It 
 does  not  vary  with  the  times  ;  for  it  is  always  the  same :  it  does  not  accommodate 
 itself  to  men's  humours  and  passions,  in  order  to  preserve  its  credit ;  for  it  is  hard  to 
 flesh  and  blood  ;  it  teaches  us  to  deny  ourselves,  to  love  even  our  enemies,  and  to 
 do  good  to  them  that  hate  us.  Its  tenets  are  the  same  in  every  age  :  our  faith  was 
 that  of  our  forefathers,  and  it  will  be  that  of  posterity  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Faith 
 may  indeed  become  more  explicit  by  the  decisions  of  the  Church  ;  and  we  now  see 
 more  clearly  what  are  articles  of  faith,  than  Christians  did  before  the  rise  of  those 
 heresies  which  gave  occasion  to  her  explanations.  But  whatever  was  once  defined 
 as  an  article  of  faith,  was  always  looked  upon  as  of  faith  by  succeeding  generations, 
 and  the  contrary  heresy  condemned  in  spite  of  all  human  efforts  to  support  it.  This 
 constant  uniformity  of  the  christian  religion  is  a  striking  proof  of  its  divinity,  and 
 easily  distinguishes  it  from  all  the  sects  and  superstitions  that  have  been  invented 
 by  man. 
 
 4.  Revelation  is  entitled  to  our  esteem  on  account  of  the  purity  and  sublimity  of 
 its  doctrine.  The  more  we  consider  the  principles  of  this  religion,  the  more  just  and 
 equitable  will  they  appear,  and  the  more  consonant  to  the  idea  which  we  entertain 
 of  the  Supreme  Being.  What  more  noble  sentiments  can  we  form  of  the  Deity  than 
 those  which  religion  inculcates.  A  god  made  of  a  stock  or  a  stone,  a  god  indifferent 
 to  the  good  or  evil  of  mankind,  and  confined  within  himself,  a  god  full  of  imperfec- 
 tions and  follies,  is  not  the  object  of  christian  but  of  pagan  worship.  Where  will 
 you  find  more  sublime  ideas  of  the  power,  of  the  immensity,  of  the  wisdom,  of  the 
 o-oodness,  and  of  the  justice  of  God,  than  what  the  scriptures  afford  ?  If  there  be  a 
 supreme,  eternal  Being  above  us,  in  whom  all  things  live,  he  must  necessarily  be 
 what  the  christian  religion  represents  him.  We  alone  do  not  compare  him  to  the 
 resemblance  of  man  :  we  alone  adore  him  as  a  spirit  without  those  material  veils, 
 which  serve  rather  to  disguise  than  manifest  him  to  us.  We  alone  adore  him  seated 
 above  the  cherubim,  filling  every  thing  by  his  presence,  ruling  every  thing  by  his 
 wisdom,  creating  light  and  darkness,  the  author  of  good,  and  the  punisher  of  evil. 
 We  alone  worship  him  in  the  manner  he  will  be  worshipped,  i.  e.  we  do  not  make 
 his  worship  consist  in  a  multitude  of  victims,  nor  in  any  exterior  forms,  but  in 
 adoration,  in  love,  in  praise,  in  thanksgiving.  Whatever  good  we  possess,  we  refer 
 to  him  as  to  its  principle,  and  we  attribute  vice  to  ourselves,  as  originating  only  in 
 the  corruption  of  the  heart.  In  God  we  expect  to  find  the  recompense  of  our 
 fidelity,  which  is  the  gift  of  his  grace,  or  the  chastisement  of  our  transgressions, 
 which  are  always  the  consequence  of  the  abuse  of  our  liberty.  Can  any  ideas  be 
 conceived  more  worthy  of  the  Supreme  Being  ? 
 
 The  ancient  philosophers  either  debased  man  to  the  brute  creation,  or  exalted  him 
 
ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.  23 
 
 to  a  level  with  the  gods  :  they  either  placed  his  happiness  in  the  base  gratifications 
 of  sense,  or  in  an  imaginary  apathy  and  indifference  incompatible  with  human  na- 
 ture. They  knew  not  the  end  of  his  destination  ;  many  supposed  the  soul  to  die  with 
 the  body,  or  to  pass  successively  into  other  bodies  by  a  perpetual  transmigration. 
 The  christian  religion  alone  teaches  man  the  Author  of  his  existence,  and  the  noble 
 end  for  which  he  was  created ;  it  teaches  him  that  sin  was  the  cause  of  all  those  evils 
 with  which  human  life  is  chequered,  and  of  those  contradictions  which  he  experiences 
 in  himself;  hence  it  evinces  the  necessity  of  a  Redeemer,  who  might  reconcile  us 
 to  our  offended  God,  and  thus  restore  us  to  the  hope  of  that  immortal  bliss  for  which 
 we  were  created,  and  from  which  we  were  fallen.  Thus  by  showing  man  the  happy 
 end  of  his  destination,  and  the  means  of  its  attainment,  religion  raises  him  above  the 
 grovelling  ideas  of  sense,  and,  at  the  same  time,  corrects  and  humbles  his  pride,  by 
 letting  him  see  his  own  infirmity. 
 
 Religion  inspires  us  with  sentiments  not  less  just  and  noble  in  regard  to  our  neigh- 
 bour. Passion  renders  man  deaf  to  the  wants  and  distresses  of  his  fellow-creatures  ; 
 religion  makes  him  consider  them  as  his  own.  Self-love,  shut  up  within  itself,  seeks 
 only  its  own  interest ;  religion  commands  brotherly  love  and  universal  philanthropy, 
 without  exception  of  persons :  it  teaches  us  to  pay  due  submission  to  the  authority 
 which  God  has  placed  over  us,  to  injure  no  man,  to  do  our  duty,  not  through  fear  or 
 shame,  but  from  a  principle  of  conscience,  to  respect  our  masters,  to  bear  with  our 
 equals,  to  be  affable  to  inferiors,  and  to  extend  our  affection  even  to  our  greatest 
 enemies.  In  short,  the  religion  of  Jesus  can  alone  make  true  friends,  faithful  subjects, 
 great  kings,  patient  servants,  honest  ministers,  and  undaunted  soldiers.  It  renders 
 the  faith  of  contracts  inviolable,  ensures  the  peace  of  families,  and  maintains  the 
 tranquillity  of  states :  it  abhors  oppression  and  tyranny,  enmities  and  quarrels,  and 
 all  maimer  of  injustice,  though  only  conceived  in  thought.  ''  Give  me,''  said  here- 
 tofore St.  Austin,  "  a  kingdom  composed  of  subjects  like  these,*  what  peace,  what 
 happiness  would  they  enjoy  !  M^hat  an  image  of  heaven  should  we  behold  here  upon 
 earth  !''  Did  philosophy,  with  all  its  boasted  wisdom,  ever  come  near  any  thing  like 
 this  ?  And  is  it  not  true,  that  if  God  has  spoken  to  men  to  show  them  the  way  of 
 happiness,  it  must  have  been  in  this  kind  of  language  ?  Yes,  the  more  we  examme 
 into  the  christian  religion,  the  more  will  it  appear  worthy  of  its  divine  Author ;  the 
 better  we  shall  discover  its  hidden  beauties  and  excellences.  It  does  not  fear  such 
 an  examination,  but  provokes  it :  it  belongs  only  to  idolatry  to  hide  in  darkness  its 
 abominable  mysteries,  the  more  effectually  to  conceal  the  shame  and  horror  of  them 
 from  the  light  of  day. 
 
 As  to  that  part  of  the  christian  doctrine,  which  contains  mysteries  above  the  reach 
 of  human  comprehension,  whoever  will  attentively  consider  the  nature  of  them,  will 
 find  that  they  could  not  have  been  invented  by  man,  but  must  have  been  revealed  by 
 God  himself     For  example,  Christ's  miraculous  conception,  in  the  womb  of  a  pure 
 
 *  Lord    Rolingbroke    acknowledges    "  that   no  — Again,  "  The   Gospel  is   in   all  cases  one  con- 
 religion  ever  appeared  in  the  world,  whose  natural  tinned  lesson  of  the  strictest  morality,  of  justice,  of 
 tendency  was  so   much   directed   to   promote   tl,c  benevolence,  and  of  universal  charity."     P.  188. 
 peace  and  happiness  of  mankind. "     Vol.  4.  p.  281. 
 
24,  '  ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 
 
 virgin,  is  so  extraordinary  an  event,  that  if  it  did  not  happen  as  recorded  by  the 
 Evangelists,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  how  they  came  to  devise  a  circumstance  so 
 much  out  of  the  common  course  of  nature.  The  same  may  be  said  of  many  other 
 wonderful  circumstances  relating  to  the  life  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  which  could 
 never  have  occurred  to  the  mind  of  man,  unless  they  had  really  been  effected  by  an 
 extraordinary  interposition  of  divine  Providence. 
 
 But  as  the  mysterious  points  of  religion  appear  so  highly  objectionable  to  our 
 modern  Deists  and  Free-thinkers,  and  are  constantly  urged  by  them  as  an  invincible 
 aro-ument  against  the  belief  of  revelation,  let  us  see  whether  such  objections  are 
 founded  in  reason,  and  ought  really  to  prove  an  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  Chris- 
 tianity. As  to  the  maxims  of  morality  taught  by  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  so  agreeable 
 to  reason,  say  our  adversaries,  that,  had  he  confiued  himself  to  them,  mankind  had 
 long  since  professed  themselves  his  disciples  :  a  religion  without  mysteries,  they  add, 
 is  what  ouo-ht  to  be  announced  to  men,  if  we  would  ensure  their  rational  submission. 
 But  are  these  pretenders  to  philosophy  aware,  that  in  requiring  a  religion  without 
 mysteries,  they  require  a  thing  totally  impossible  ?  This  they  will  tind  to  be  the  case, 
 if  they  give  themselves  time  to  reflect  impartially  on  the  subject.  For  let  them  form 
 to  themselves  a  religion  which  is  agreeable  to  their  own  fancy  and  judgment;  it 
 must,  necessarily,  comprise  something  incomprehensible  to  reason,  since  whatever 
 system  of  religion  they  may  adopt,  they  will  certainly  not  exclude  from  it  a  Divine 
 Beino-  existino-  from  eternity.  Now  what  is  there,  I  would  ask,  more  inaccessible  to 
 reason,  and  consequently  a  greater  mystery,  than  eternity  ?  Judge  then  with  how  little 
 reason  they  object  to  the  mysteries  of  our  religion,  since  they  themselves,  with  their 
 natural  religion,  are  compelled  to  bend  to  the  same  yoke.  I  go  further,  and  main- 
 tain that  to  admit  things  which  surpass  our  understanding,  is  so  much  in  the  nature 
 of  our  present  condition,  that  Atheists  themselves  are  not  exempt  from  the  same 
 difficulty.  What  is  more  incomprehensible  than  to  make  blind  hazard,  mere  chance 
 the  author  and  preserver  of  that  beautiful  order  which  displays  itself  in  every  part 
 of  the  universe  ?  But  perhaps  they  would  have  the  world  to  be  eternal  and  self-ex- 
 istent :  admittino-  this  to  be  the  case,  what  will  be  the  consequence  ?  They  will  fall 
 back  aoain  into  the  impenetrable  abyss  of  eternity.  Dr.  Young  tlierefore  says  very 
 justly  : 
 
 Admit  a  God — that  mystery  supreme! 
 
 That  cause  uncaused  !  all  other  wonders  cease  ; 
 
 Deny  him — all  is  mystery  besides  ; 
 
 Millions  of  mysteries  !  each  darker  far 
 
 Than  that  thy  wisdom  would  unwisely  shun. 
 
 So  weak  our  reason,  and  so  great  our  God, 
 
 What  most  surprises  in  the  sacred  page, 
 
 Or  full  as  strange,  or  stranger,  must  be  true. 
 
 Since  mysteries  then  present  themselves  to  us  on  all  sides,  it  must  be  extreme 
 folly  in  man  to  revolt  against  them,  and  to  take  occasion  from  them  of  rejecting  the 
 evidences  of  Christianity.  For  let  man  look  only  into  himself,  and  he  will  there 
 discover  various  mysteries  impenetrable  to  the  greatest  wit.  The  union  of  the  soul 
 with  the  body,  their  mutual  dependence  on  each  other,  the  nature  of  thought,  the 
 
ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.  25 
 
 extent  of  the  memory,  the  mechanism  of  the  senses  ;  even  the  production  of  a  blade 
 of  grass,  the  formation  of  a  mushroom,  are  things  incontestable,  of  which  we  have 
 daily  experience,  and  yet  they  are  enveloped  in  impenetrable  darkness,  and  elude 
 our  most  laborious  researches.  Why  then  should  we  be  surprised  at  findino- 
 mysteries  in  religion,  since  all  nature  is  full  of  them  ?  The  limited  understandino-  of 
 man  meets  with  difficulties  at  every  turn,  and  there  exists  only  God,  whose  infinite 
 knowledge  extends  to  all  things. 
 
 But  there  are  mysteries,  the  enemies  of  religion  reply,  which  God  needed  not  to 
 have  revealed  :  why  make  them  known  to  us,  and  exact  our  submission  to  them  ?  why 
 oblige  us  to  renounce  the  light  of  reason,  and  to  walk  in  the  darkness  of  faith  ?  But 
 who  art  thou,  O  man,  to  demand  of  God  an  account  of  his  conduct  ?  Thou  wishest 
 to  know  why  he  has  done  so  :  It  is  because  he  is  thy  sovereign  Ix)rd  and  Master  ; 
 it  is  because  he  has  a  right  to  require  of  the  understanding,  a  belief  of  things,  which 
 it  does  not  comprehend,  grounded  solely  upon  his  divine  testimony,  in  the  same 
 manner  as  he  has  a  right  to  exact  of  the  will  a  sacrifice  of  our  passions,  in  consequence 
 of  the  promises  he  makes  to  reward  our  fidelity. — Let  us  suppose  that  a  father, 
 distinguished  by  his  prudence  and  affectionate  care  of  his  children,  should  lay  down  a 
 plan  of  conduct  for  the  direction  of  his  son,  without  discovering  the  particular  reasons 
 which  influence  him  on  this  occasion.  Although  the  son  may  be  io-norant  of  his 
 father's  views,  and  may  perhaps  think  that  a  different  plan  of  life  would  be  more 
 suitable  for  him,  yet  he  has  no  difficulty  in  submitting  to  his  maturer  judgment ;  and 
 this  blind  obedience  is  founded  in  reason  and  prudence,  because  it  is  founded  on  the 
 certainty  which  he  has,  that  his  father  loves  him,  that  his  sole  wish  is  to  make  him 
 happy,  that  his  views  are  more  extensive  than  his  own,  and  that,  therefore  he  is 
 better  acquainted  with  the  means  of  procuring  for  him  the  happiness  which  he  seeks. 
 This  comparison  is  very  applicable  to  God,  who  is  not  only  our  father  but  the  best 
 of  fathers,  whose  lights  are  infinitely  superior  to  our  own,  and  who  knows  best  what 
 is  conducive  to  our  happiness.  To  such  a  father  do  we  not  owe  the  most  cheerful 
 and  submissive  obedience?  or  can  we  make  a  better  use  of  our  reason  than  to 
 subject  it  to  his  infinite  wisdom  and  power  ? 
 
 As  to  the  sublime  reasons,  which  might  induce  the  Divine  Wisdom  to  reveal 
 mysteries,  they  may  be  seen  in  the  holy  scriptures.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  show,  that 
 in  case  the  Almighty  had  not  condescended  to  discover  to  us  the  motives  of  his 
 conduct,  it  would  not  have  been  the  less  adorable  on  that  account ;  and  to  evince  by 
 arguments  ad  hominem,  that  the  objections  of  Deists  against  the  mysteries  of  reve- 
 lation, are  unfounded,  since  they  themselves  labour  under  the  same  difficulty  being' 
 equally  at  a  loss  how  to  reconcile  the  phenomena  of  the  natural  and  moral  world 
 with  the  attributes  of  the  Deity.* 
 
 The  following  considerations,  drawn  from  the  nature  of  prophecy  and  the 
 evidence  of  miracles,  add  much  weight  to  the  preceding  arguments.  Prophecy  is 
 the  foreseeing  and  foretelling  of  some  future  event  which  cannot  be  known  from  any 
 
 *  This  argument  ad  hominem  has  not  been  suf-     disarrjied,  a  pamphlet  printed  for  Cadel    an.  1794 
 ficiently  made  use  of  against  Deists,  though  a  most     by  Mr.  Walker, 
 powerful  one  to  silence  their  objections. — See  Deism 
 
 H 
 
26 
 
 ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  TH]!!  CHRISTIANf  RELIGION. 
 
 natural  causes.  Now  there  is  only  an  omniscient  Gud  who  sees  into  futurity,  and 
 infallibly  knows  whatever  will  come  to  pass  ;  and,  therefore,  if  he  has  really  foretold 
 the  o-reat  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  we  ought  to  consider  these  predictions 
 as  means,  which  the  Divine  Wisdom  has  made  use  of,  in  order  to  prepare  mankind 
 to  embrace  them,  and  to  regard  them  as  divine.  That  this  is  matter  of  fact  will 
 appear  from  a  fair  and  impartial  investigation.  Whatever  concerns  Jesus  Christ 
 and  the  religion  he  was  to  establish,  the  circumstances  of  his  birth,  life  and  death, 
 his  resurrection,  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  the  reprobation  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
 propagation  of  the  Christian  Church  throughout  the  universe,  all  these  events  have 
 been  so  clearly  foretold  by  the  Prophets,  that  we  need  not  hesitate  to  say  of  them 
 in  general  what  St.  Jerom  says  in  particular  of  the  prophet  Isaias,  viz.  that  they 
 may  be  considered  rather  as  historians  who  relate  what  is  past,  than  as  prophets  who 
 foretell  thino-s  to  come.  Accordingly  we  find,  says  Mr.  Addison,  that  no  argument 
 made  a  strono-er  impression  on  the  minds  of  learned  heathens  in  the  beginning  of 
 Christianity,  nor  contributed  more  to  strengthen  their  faith  in  the  history  of  our 
 Saviour,  than  the  predictions  relating  to  him  in  the  old  prophetic  writings,  which 
 were  deposited  among  the  hands  of  the  greatest  enemies  to  Christianity,  and  owned 
 by  them  to  have  been  extant  many  ages  before  his  appearance.  These  eminent 
 pagan  converts  were  astonished  to  see  the  whole  history  of  their  Saviour's  life 
 published  before  he  was  born^  and  to  find  that  the  Evangelists  and  Prophets, 
 in  their  accounts  of  the  Messiah,  differed  only  in  point  of  time,  the  one  fore- 
 telling  what  should  happen  to  him,  and  the  other  describing  those  very  particulars 
 as  what  had  actually  happened.  This  our  Saviour  himself  was  pleased  to  make 
 use  of  as  the  strongest  argument  of  his  being  the  promised  Messiah,  and  without 
 it,  would  hardly  have  reconciled  his  disciples  to  the  ignominy  of  his  death,  as 
 appears  in  that  remarkable  passage  which  mentions  his  conversation  with  the  two 
 disciples  going  to  Emmaus  on  the  day  of  his  resurrection.     St.  Luke  xxiv.  13.  to 
 
 the  end. 
 
 The  heathen  converts,  after  having  travelled  through  all  human  learning,  and 
 fortified  their  minds  with  the  knowledge  of  arts  and  sciences,  were  particularly 
 qualified  for  examining  these  prophecies  without  prejudice  or  prepossession.  If  the 
 Jews,  on  the  one  side,  put  an  unnatural  interpretation  on  these  prophecies,  to  evade 
 their  force  in  their  controversies  with  the  Christians ;  or  if  some  Christians  over- 
 strained several  passages  in  their  applications  of  them,  as  it  often  happens  among 
 men  of  the  best  understanding,  when  their  minds  are  heated  with  any  consideration 
 that  bears  a  more  than  ordinary  weight  with  it ;  the  learned  heathens  may  be  looked 
 upon  as  neuters  in  the  matter,  when  all  these  prophecies  were  new  to  them,  and 
 their  education  had  left  the  interpretation  of  them  free  and  indifferent.  Besides 
 these  learned  men  among  the  primitive  Christians,  knew  both,  how  the  Jews,  who  had 
 preceded  our  Saviour,  interpreted  these  predictions,  and  the  several  marks  by  which 
 they  acknowledge  the  Messiah  would  be  discovered,  and  how  those  of  the  Jewish 
 doctors  who  succeeded  him  had  deviated  from  the  interpretations  and  doctrines  of 
 their  forefathers,  on  purpose  to  stifle  their  own  conviction. 
 
 This  set  of  arguments  had  therefore,  says  Mr.  Addison,  an  invincible  force  with 
 
ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  TRE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  27 
 
 those  pag-an  philosophers  who  became  Christians,*  as  we  find  in  most  of  their 
 writings.  They  could  not  disbelieve  our  Saviour's  history,  which  so  exactly  agreed 
 with  every  thing-  that  had  been  written  of  him,  many  ages  before  his  birth,  nor  doubt 
 of  those  circumstances  being  fulfilled  in  him,  which  could  not  be  true  of  any  person 
 that  lived  in  the  world  besides  himself.  This  wrought  the  greatest  confusion  in  the 
 unbelieving  Jews,  and  the  greatest  conviction  in  the  Gentiles,  who  every  where  speak 
 with  astonishment  of  these  truths  they  met  with  in  this  new  magazine  of  learning 
 which  was  opened  to  them^  and  carry  the  point  so  for  as  to  think  whatever  excellent 
 doctrine  they  had  met  with  among  pagan  writers,  had  been  stolen  from  their  con- 
 versation with  the  Jews,  or  from  the  perusal  of  these  writings  which  they  had  in  their 
 custody. -{- 
 
 I  might  here  likewise  advert  to  the  prophecies  which  are  recorded  by  the  Evan- 
 gelists in  the  New  Testament,  the  completion  of  which  so  forcibly  evinces  the  truth 
 of  our  Saviour's  history.  Who  is  not  struck  with  admiration  when  he  considers 
 the  accomplishment  of  that  wonderful  prediction  of  our  Saviour  concerning  the 
 destruction  of  Jerusalem,  i)ronounced  at  a  time  when  there  was  no  likelihood  nor 
 appearance  of  it  ?  I  refer  the  reader  to  Josephus  for  an  account  of  this  extraordinary 
 event,  and  shall  only  observe,  that  whoever,  without  knowing  his  character,  com- 
 pares the  said  account  with  what  our  Saviour  foretold,  would  think  the  historian  had 
 been  a  Christian,  and  that  he  had  nothing  else  in  view  but  to  adjust  the  event  to  the 
 prediction. 
 
 What  shall  I  say  of  that  miraculous  confirmation  of  our  Saviour's  prophecy  which 
 afterwards  took  place,  when  both  Jevvs  and  Pagans  united  all  their  endeavours,  under 
 Julian  the  apostate,  to  baffle  and  folsify  its  completion  ?  The  great  preparations  that 
 were  made  for  rebuilding  the  temple,  with  the  hurricane,  earthquake,  and  eruptions 
 of  fire,  that  destroyed  the  work,  and  terrified  those  emj)loyed  in  the  attempt  from 
 proceeding  in  it,  are  related  by  many  historians  of  the  same  age,  and  the  substance 
 of  the  story  testified  both  by  Pagan  and  Jewish  writers,  as  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  and 
 Zamath-David.  St.  Chrjsostom  in  a  sermon  against  the  Jews  tells  them  this  fact 
 was  then  fresh  in  the  memory  even  of  their  young  men,  that  it  happened  but  20 
 years  ago,  and  that  it  was  attested  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  where  they 
 might  still  see  the  marks  of  it  in  the  rubbish  of  that  work,  from  which  the  Jews  de- 
 sisted through  fear,  and  which  even  Julian  had  not  the  courage  to  carry  on.  See  an 
 authentic  history  of  this  wonderful  event  gathered  from  the  original  records,  and 
 vindicated  against  the  exceptions  of  certain  sceptics,  by  Tillemont,  torn.  7.  p.  409. 
 and  by  the  learned  Mr.  Warburton,  in  his  Julian.  See  likewise  Butler's  SS.  Lives, 
 tom.  3.  in  the  life  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 The  ancient  Christians  were  so  fully  persuaded  of  the  force  of  our  Saviour's  pro- 
 phecies, and  of  the  punishment  which  the  Jews  had  drawn  upon  themselves  and 
 upon  their  children,  by  the  treatment  which  the  Messiah  had  received  at  their  hands, 
 that  they  did  not  doubt  they  would  always  remain  an  abandoned  and  dispersed  people, 
 
 *  Such  as  St.  Justin,   &c.  Dial,   cum  Triphone.  rived  from  the  scriptures,  though  disguised  with 
 
 Grig.  lib.  1.  contra  Cels.  dtc.  fables,  is  fully  proved  by  the   learned  Huet  in  his 
 
 t  That   the  oldest  monuments  of  the  heathen  Denionstrat.  Evang.  Prop.  4.  c.  3.  &c.  • 
 woTld;  and  all  their  ancient  mythology,  were  de- 
 
28  ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 
 
 the  ridicule  and  astonishment  of  the  nations,  as  they  are  to  this  day.  Their  peculiar 
 privilege  of  being  God's  people  was  now  transferred  to  the  body  of  Christians,  to 
 preserve  the  Church  of  Christ  among  all  the  conflicts,  difficulties  and  persecutions, 
 in  which  it  was  engaged,  as  it  had  preserved  the  Jewish  government  and  economy 
 for  so  many  ages,  whilst  it  had  the  same  truth  and  vital  principle  in  it,  notwithstand- 
 ing it  was  so  frequently  in  danger  of  being  utterly  abolished  and  destroyed. 
 
 To  prophecy  we  must  add  the  many  wonderful  and  miraculous  facts  related  in 
 holy  scripture :  these  are  the  credentials  of  its  divine  authority,  the  seal  which  God 
 hath  set  to  his  revealed  will.  The  principal  miracles  here  adverted  to,  were  done  in 
 the  face  of  a  whole  nation  ;  they  were  so  public  and  notorious,  that  the  heathens 
 themselves  did  not  deny  them,  nor  can  they  be  called  in  question  by  any  person  who 
 admits  the  truth  of  historical  monuments.  The  authors,  who  have  committed  these 
 facts  to  writing,  were  holy,  excellent  men,  and  therefore  looidd  not  deceive ;  they 
 were  artless,  illiterate  men,  and  therefore  could  not  plan  the  horrible  and  difficult 
 scheme  of  deluding  mankind.  The  hope  of  gain  did  not  influence  them,  for  they 
 were  self-denying  men,  that  left  all  to  follow  a  Master,  who  "  had  no  where  to  lay 
 his  head  ;"  and  whose  grand  initiating  maxim  was  :  "  except  a  man  forsake  all  that 
 he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  They  were  so  disinterested,  that  they  secured 
 nothing  on  earth,  but  hunger  and  nakedness,  prisons,  racks  and  tortures  ;  which 
 indeed  were  all  that  they  could  and  did  expect  in  consequence  of  Christ's  express 
 declarations.  Neither  was  a  desire  of  honour  the  motive  of  their  actions  ;  for  their 
 Lord  himself  was  treated  with  the  utmost  contempt,  and  had  more  than  once  assured 
 them,  that  they  should  certainly  share  the  same  fate.  Besides,  they  were  humble 
 men,  not  above  working  as  mechanics  for  a  scanty  maintenance,  and  so  little  desirous 
 of  human  regard,  that  they  exposed  to  the  world  the  meanness  of  their  birth  and 
 occupations,  their  great  ignorance  and  scandalous  falls.  Add  to  this,  that  they 
 were  so  many,  and  lived  at  such  a  distance  of  time  and  place  from  each  other,  that 
 had  they  been  impostors,  it  would  have  been  impracticable  for  them  to  contrive  and 
 carry  on  a  forgery  without  being  detected.  And  as  they  neither  could  nor  would 
 deceive  the  world  ;  so  they  neither  could  nor  would  be  deceived  themselves  :  for  they 
 were,  during  days,  months  and  years,  eye  and  ear-uitnesses  of  the  things  which  they 
 relate  ;  and  when  they  had  not  the  fullest  evidence  of  important  facts,  they  insisted 
 upon  new  proofs,  and  even  upon  palpable  demonstrations  ;  as  for  instance,  Thomas 
 John  in  relation  to  our  Lord's  resurrection  :  and  to  leave  us  no  room  to  question  their 
 ^"-  "^^'  sincerity,  most  of  them  joyfully  sealed  the  truth  of  their  doctrines  with  their  own 
 blood.     Have  so  many  and  such  marks  of  veracity  ever  met  in  any  other  authors  ? 
 
 The  testimony  of  the  sacred  penmen  being  thus  established,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
 descend  to  a  particular  detail  of  all  the  miraculous  events  recorded  both  in  the  Old 
 and  New  Testament.  The  Jewish  and  Gospel  dispensation  mutually  support  and 
 confirm  each  other :  the  miracles  of  the  old  law  gave  authority  to  the  prophecies 
 which  announced  a  Mediator  to  come,  and  those  of  the  new  law  evidently  show  that 
 the  said  predictions  are  now  fulfilled,  and  that  God  has  actually  sent  the  Messiah 
 promised  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  As  to  the  miracles  of  the  old  law,  I 
 shall  mention  only  one,  which  is  that  related  by  Moses  when  the  Israelites  passed 
 
ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.  29 
 
 the  Red  Sea.  The  waters,  on  that  occasion,  divided  themselves,  like  a  wall,  on 
 each  side,  and  all  the  Israelites  passed  dry  shod  to  the  opposite  shore.  The  Egyp- 
 tians, intent  on  pursuing  them,  followed  the  same  course  ;  but  the  Lord  looked  into 
 the  camp,  and  instantly  the  whole  army  were  overwhelmed  by  the  waves,  in  so  much 
 that  not  one  of  them  escaped  to  carry  back  to  his  countrymen  the  news  of  so  dreadful 
 a  catastrophe  ;  the  effects  of  which,  as  we  learn  from  the  Pagan  historians  them- 
 selves, were  sensibly  felt  in  Egypt  for  the  space  of  400  years  afterwards.  As  to  the 
 miracles  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testament,  they  were  equally  striking  to  an  asto- 
 nished world.  To  feed  5,000  persons  with  five  fishes  and  two  loaves,  to  raise  to 
 life  one  that  had  been  dead  for  four  days,  to  resuscitate  himself  in  a  still  more  won- 
 derful manner,  to  mount  up  to  heaven  by  his  own  power,  to  send  down  the  Holy 
 Ghost  upon  his  Apostles,  and  to  change  them,  at  once,  into  new  men  ;  these,  and  a 
 multitude  of  other  extraordinary  works,  are  the  prodigies  which  Jesus  wrought  as 
 evidences  of  his  divine  mission.  Mr.  Locke,  whose  accurate  talent  in  reasoning  is 
 so  much  celebrated,  even  by  the  sceptics  and  infidels  of  our  times,  after  having 
 established,  in  the  strongest  manner,  the  truth  of  Christ's  miracles,  goes  on 
 to  observe  that,  "  after  his  resurrection,  he  sent  his  Apostles  amongst  the 
 nations  with  the  same  power  of  working  miracles  ;  and  that  these  were  done  in  all 
 parts  so  frequently,  and  before  so  many  witnesses  of  all  sorts,  in  broad  day-light, 
 tliat  the  enemies  of  Christianity  never  dared  to  deny  them  ;  no,  not  Julian  himself: 
 who  neither  wanted  skill  nor  power  to  inquire  into  the  truth  ;  nor  would  have  failed 
 to  have  proclaimed  and  exposed  it,  if  he  could  have  detected  any  falsehood  in  the 
 history  of  the  Gospel,  or  found  the  least  ground  to  question  the  matter  of  fact  pub- 
 lished by  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  The  number  and  evidence  of  the  miracles  done 
 by  our  Saviour  and  his  followers,  by  the  power  and  force  of  truth,  bore  down  this 
 mighty  emperor  even  in  his  own  dominions :  he  durst  not  deny  so  plain  matter  of 
 fact,  which  being  granted,  the  truth  of  our  Saviour's  doctrine  and  mission,"  says  Mr. 
 Locke,  '*  unavoidably  follows,  notwithstanding  all  the  artful  suggestions  his  wit  could 
 invent  or  malice  offer  to  the  contrary." 
 
 But  let  us  suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  God  should  not  have  displayed  his  sove- 
 reign power  in  working  these  wonders  for  the  confirmation  of  religion ;  would  it 
 not  have  been,  says  St.  Austin,  the  greatest  of  all  miracles,  had  the  world  in  this 
 case  believed  incomprehensible  mysteries,  and  without  any  miracle  subjected  itself  to 
 all  the  painful  duties  which  religion  prescribes?  Does  not  reason  itself  dictate,  that 
 nothing  but  the  plainest  matter  of  fact  could  induce  so  many  thousands  of  prejudiced 
 and  persecuting  Jews  to  embrace  the  humiliating,  self-denying  doctrine  of  the  cross, 
 which  they  so  much  despised  and  abhorred  ;  and  that  nothing  but  the  clearest 
 evidence,  arising  from  undoubted  truth,  could  make  multitudes  of  lawless,  luxurious 
 heathens  believe,  and  follow  a  doctrine  so  repugnant  to  flesh  and  blood  : — at  a  time 
 when  the  profession  of  it  exposed  persons  of  all  ranks  to  the  greatest  contempt  and 
 most  imminent  danger.  Here  the  case  of  the  primitive  Christians  widely  diflfered 
 from  that  of  Mahomet's  followers :  for  these,  in  adhering  to  that  wariike,  violent 
 imposter,  saved  their  lives  and  properties,  or  attained  to  honour  and  riches,  by  their 
 new,  easy,  and  sensual  religion  ;  but  those  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  meek, 
 
 I 
 
30  ON  THE  EXCELLENCY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 
 
 self-denying,  crucified  Jesus,  were  frequently  spoiled  of  their  goods,  and  cruelly  put 
 to  death  ;  or  if  they  escaped  with  their  lives,  were  looked  upon  as  the  very  dregs  of 
 mankind. 
 
 I  repeat  it  therefore  with  confidence,  that  nothing  but  the  evidence  and  certainty 
 of  miracles,  could  have  converted  to  the  religion  of  Jesus,  the  emperors,  whom  it 
 degraded  from  the  rank  of  gods  ;  the  philosophers,  whom  it  convinced  of  ignorance ; 
 the  rich,  whom  it  commanded  to  despise  their  riches ;  the  poor,  whom  it  taught  to 
 love  poverty ;  lastly,  the  great  bulk  of  mankind,  whom  it  obliged  to  renounce  the 
 gratifications  of  sense,  to  love  their  enemies,  and  to  hate  themselves,  by  withdrawino- 
 from  the  pleasures  and  vain  joys  of  this  life.  It  is  truly  astonishing  that  the 
 doctrine  of  a  crucified  God,  which  appeared  folly  to  the  eye  of  reason,  should  not- 
 withstanding prevail  over  all  the  opposition  raised  against  it  on  every  side ;  that 
 however  repugnant  to  man's  darling  passions,  and  preached  only  by  a  few  ignorant 
 and  illiterate  fishermen,  it  should  finally  overthrow  the  temples  of  paganism,  and 
 subject  its  wisest  teachers  and  philosophers  to  a  belief  of  mysteries  incomprehensible 
 to  their  understanding.  Who  does  not  here  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God  operating 
 so  great  a  change  ?  Who  does  not  confess  his  Almighty  Power  effecting,  with  such 
 humble  instruments,  so  wonderful  a  conversion  ?  What  reasonable  man  will  refuse 
 to  admit  a  religion  to  which  the  universe  has  submitted,  and  tJie  divinity  of  which 
 displays  itself  in  such  strange  and  glorious  effects  ? 
 
 It  may,  perhaps,  be  expected  that  I  should  here  advert  to  the  objections  of  modern 
 free-thinkers,  and  subjoin  a  refutation  of  them  ,  but  this  has  been  so  ably  and  so 
 frequently  performed  by  others,  that  a  repetition  of  their  answers  would  be  totally 
 superfluous.  I  shall,  therefore,  content  myself  with  transcribing  the  following  tes- 
 timony of  Rousseau,  the  great  oracle  of  modern  Antichristians,  because  it  is  alone 
 abundantly  sufficient  to  vindicate  the  truth  of  the  Gospel-history,  and  to  silence  all 
 the  trifling  cavils  of  infidel  witlings. 
 
 The  testimony  of  Rousseau  in  favour  of  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  his  Gospel. 
 
 "  I  acknowledge  to  you,  that  the  majesty  of  the  Scripture  strikes  me  with  admi- 
 ration ;  the  sanctity  of  the  Gospel  speaks  to  my  heart.  Peruse  the  works  of  the 
 philosophers,  with  all  their  pomp  of  diction  :  how  mean,  how  contemptible  are  they 
 compared  with  the  Gospel !  Is  it  possible  that  a  book  at  once  so  simple  and  so 
 sublime  should  be  merely  the  work  of  man  ?  Is  it  possible  that  the  sacred  Per- 
 sonage, whose  history  it  contains,  should  be  himself  no  more  than  a  mere  man  ?  Is 
 the  tone  he  assumed,  that  of  an  enthusiast  or  of  an  ambitious  sectary  ?  What 
 sweetness,  what  purity  in  his  manners  !  what  an  affecting  gracefulness  in  his  mode 
 of  instructing !  what  elevation  in  his  maxims !  what  profound  wisdom  in  his  dis- 
 courses !  what  presence  of  mind,  what  subtilty,  what  exactness  in  his  replies  !  how 
 great  the  command  over  his  passions  !  Where  is  the  man,  where  is  the  philosopher, 
 who  could  so  live  and  so  die,  without  weakness  and  without  ostentation  ?  When 
 Plato  describes  his  imaginary  good  man  loaded  with  all  the  shame  of  guilt,  yet 
 meriting  the  highest  rewards  of  virtue,  he  describes  exactly  the  character  of  Jesus 
 Christ ;  the  resemblance  was  so  striking  that  all  the  Fathers  perceived  it. 
 
BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  31 
 
 "  What  prepossession,  what  blindness' must  it  be,  to  compare  the  son  of  Sophro- 
 niscus  [Socrates]  to  the  Son  of  Mary?  What  an  infinite  disproportion  between  one 
 and  the  other?  Socrates  dying  without  pain,  without  ig-nominy,  easily  supports  his 
 character  to  the  last ;  and  if  his  death,  however  easy,  had  not  done  honour  to  his 
 life,  it  might  have  been  doubted,  whether  Socrates,  with  all  his  wisdom  had  been  any 
 thing  more  than  a  vain  sophist.  He  invented,  it  is  said,  the  system  of  morals : 
 others  before  him  had  put  them  in  practice.  He  had  only  therefore  to  say  what  they 
 had  done,  and  to  reduce  their  examples  to  precept.  Aristides  had  been  just,  before 
 Socrates  had  defined  what  justice  was ;  Leonidas  had  died  for  his  country,  before 
 Socrates  declared  patriotism  to  be  a  duty ;  the  Spartans  were  a  sober  people, 
 before  Socrates  recommended  sobriety  ;  Greece  abounded  in  virtuous  men,  before  he 
 had  defined  virtue.  But  where  could  Jesus  learn  among  his  countrymen  that  pure 
 and  sublime  morality,  of  which  he  alone  hath  given  both  precept  and  example?  The 
 most  sublime  wisdom  made  itself  heard  amidst  the  most  bigoted  fanaticism,  and  the 
 simplicity  of  the  most  heroic  virtues  did  honour  to  the  vilest  people  upon  earth. 
 The  death  of  Socrates,  peaceably  philosophizing  with  his  friends,  appears  the  most 
 agreeable  that  could  be  wished  for ;  that  of  Jesus,  expiring  in  the  midst  of  agonizing- 
 pains,  abused,  insulted,  and  accused  by  a  whole  nation,  is  the  most  horrible  that  could 
 be  feared.  Socrates  in  receiving  the  cup  of  poison,  blessed  indeed  the  weeping 
 executioner  who  administered  it ;  but  Jesus,  in  the  midst  of  excruciating  tortures, 
 prayed  for  his  merciless  tormentors.  Yes,  if  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  were 
 those  of  a  Sage,  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  are  those  of  a  God.  Shall  we  say,  the 
 history  of  the  Gospel  is  a  mere  fiction.  Indeed  it  hath  nothing  like  a  fiction  in  it ; 
 on  the  contrary,  the  history  of  Socrates,  which  nobody  presumes  to  doubt,  is  not  so 
 well  attested  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ :  such  a  supposition,  in  fact,  only  shifts  the  diffi- 
 culty without  removing  it.  It  is  more  inconceivable  that  a  number  of  persons  should 
 agree  to  forge  such  a  history,  than  that  one  only  should  furnish  the  subject  of  it. 
 The  Jewish  authors  were  incapable  of  such  diction  and  of  such  moraUty ;  and  the 
 Gospel  hath  such  characters  of  truth,  so  grand,  so  striking,  so  perfectly  inimitable, 
 that  the  inventor  of  such  a  history  would  be  a  greater  object  of  wonder  than  the  hero 
 himself."  (Emil.  t.  3.  p.  165.  Let.  to  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  Eng.  Lond. 
 17G3,  p.  65.) 
 
 Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  or  eloquent  than  this  testimony,  nothing  more 
 glorious  to  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Gospel.  W^hat  a  pity  is  it*,  that  this  paradoxical 
 author  should,  in  other  parts  of  his  writings,  have  endeavoured,  by  his  contradictions, 
 to  destroy  the  effect  of  this  charming  passage ! 
 
 ON 
 THE  GREAT  BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST; 
 
 AND  THE  METHOD  HOW  THIS  IS  TO  BE  PERFORMED. 
 
 The  design  of  the  following  work  is  not  only  to  give  the  literal  sense  of  the  Gospel, 
 a  solution  of  its  principal  difficulties,  and  a  harmony  of  the  four  Evangelists  ;    but 
 
32  BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 likewise  to  add  such  moral  reflections  as  tend  to  nourish  true  piety  and  the  spirit  <'f 
 practical  religion.  On  this  account,  the  life  of  Christ  will  be  found  to  contain  excel- 
 lent subjects  for  pious  meditation,  and  as  such  it  is  recommended  to  Christians  of 
 every  denomination.  Most  persons,  indeed,  have  their  favourite  authors  whom  they 
 read  and  admire  ;  but  certainly  the  Gospel  ought  with  all  Christians  to  have  the  first 
 place,  as  it  sets  before  us  the  sacred  life  and  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  author  and 
 finisher  of  our  faith,  the  ground  and  centre  of  all  religion,  and  our  only  hope.  We 
 do  not,  however,  mean  to  attach  any  blame  whatever  to  those  who  make  use  of  other 
 books,  either  for  their  instruction  or  meditation  ;  but  to  give  them  an  exclusive  j)re- 
 ference  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  would  be  the  same  as  to  prefer  cisterns  tiiat  can  hold 
 no  water  capable  of  satisfying  their  thirst,  before  the  very  fountain  of  living  water 
 sprinoing  up  to  eternal  life.  The  doctrine  of  Christ,  who  there  speaks  to  us  in 
 peison,  infinitely  surpasses  the  doctrine  of  all  others  ;  and  whoever  hath  the  spirit, 
 will  find  therein  a  hidden  manna.*  Nothing,  therefore,  is  more  proper  to  enlighten 
 the  understanding,  or  to  inflame  the  will,  than  to  contemplate  with  a  lively  faith  the 
 life,  doctrine,  passion  and  death  of  the  Son  of  God,  as  transmitted  to  us  by  the 
 Evanoelists.  All  great  masters  of  a  spiritual  life  are  agreed  on  this  point,  and,  wilh 
 St.  Bonaventure,  exceedingly  rec()mmend  frequent  and  assiduous  meditation  on  the 
 life  of  Christ,  as  the  best  means  of  fortifying  the  soul  against  the  vain  and  transitory 
 things  of  this  world,  of  supporting  her  under  crosses  and  tribulations,  and  of  dis- 
 covering to  her  the  snares  and  deceitful  artifices  of  the  devil. f  Whoever  is  conver 
 sant  in  the  spiritual  works  of  this  great  saint,  will  there  see  how  he  dwells  on  this 
 subject,  and  in  how  many  different  points  of  view  he  places  the  life  and  passion  of  our 
 Saviour;  teachiii"  us  in  one  place  to  meditate  upon  it  by  the  hours  of  the  day,  in 
 another  by  the  days  of  the  week,  in  another  reducing  it  to  hymns  and  vocal  prayers, 
 and  in  another  making  it  into  a  tree  of  the  life  of  Christ  crucified.  The  holy  man 
 was  sensible,  on  one  hand,  how  important  this  exercise  is  to  us  ;  and  knowing,  on  the 
 other,  how  various  men's  inclinations  are,  he  therefore  made  as  it  were  so  many 
 different  dishes  of  the  same  spiritual  food. 
 
 Granada,  that  great  master  of  spirituality,  in  his  Memorial  of  a  Christian  Life, 
 teaches  us  how  to  meditate  on  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  excel- 
 lently describes  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  this  holy  exercise.  "  The  contem- 
 plation of  this  admirable  life,"  says  he,  "  is  that  which  above  all  things  enlightens 
 and  clears  our  understanding,  and  gives  us  the  greatest  knowledge  of  God,  which 
 is  the  beoinnino-  of  our  happiness.  The  reason  is,  because  in  this  mortal  life  we  do 
 not  know  God  in  himself  but  by  his  works ;  and  this  knowledge  which  they  convey 
 to  us,  is  so  much  the  more  perfect,  by  how  much  the  works  are  greater  and  more 
 excellent.  Now  it  being  certain,  that  amongst  all  the  works  of  God,  the  greatest 
 is  the  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ,  i.  e.  God's  becoming  man  for  the  sake  of  man  ;  so 
 it  is  this  which  most  plainly  demonstrates  to  us  the  greatness  of  the  divine  perfections, 
 namely,  his  wisdom,  goodness,  charity,  mercy,  justice,  providence,  meekness,  and 
 
 *  A  Kempis,  1.  1.  c.  1.  tiones  et  adversa  fortificat,  contra  hostium  insidias 
 
 t  Jiio-is  et  assidua  vitae  Cliristi  meditatio  contra  et  blandimenta  fallacia  enidit. — S.  Bonav.  1.  Med. 
 vana  el  caduoa  mentcm  roborat,   contra  tribula-     VitiE  Cliristi 
 
BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  33 
 
 other  attributes.      This  is  the   mystical    ladder  which    the  patriarch    Jacob    saw,  Gen.  is. 
 by    which  the  angels    ascended   and   descended,    for  this   is   the    way   by    which 
 spiritual  men  rise  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  descend  also  to  the  knowledge  of 
 themselves. 
 
 "  The  consideration  of  the  life  of  Christ  has  likewise  another  advantage.  It  is 
 universally  beneficial  to  all  sorts  of  persons,  as  well  to  beginners,  as  to  those  who  are 
 more  advanced  in  the  way  of  perfection  :  for  it  is,  in  effect,  the  tree  of  life,  planted 
 in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  the  Church,  which  has  higher  and  lower  branches; 
 the  higher  for  spiritual  souls,  who  may  thus  ascend  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  to  the 
 contemplation  of  his  perfections  ;  and  the  lower  are  for  the  less  advanced,  who  con- 
 tent themselves  with  contemplating  the  greatness  of  Christ's  sufferings,  and  the  enor- 
 mity of  their  sins  which  occasioned  them,  in  order  hereby  to  excite  that  true  sorrow 
 and  hatred  which  they  deserve. 
 
 "  One  of  the  exercises  most  proper  for  a  true  Christian,  is  to  be  near  Christ,  and  to  ^poc. 
 follow  the  Lamb  wheresoever  he  goeth.     This  is  what  the  prophet  Isaiah  teaches,  14. 
 when,  according  to  the  Chaldaic  version,  he  says  that  the  just  and  the  faithful  would 
 he  the  girdle  of  the  reins  of  Christ,  and  would  ahcai/s  ivalk  about  him.     This  is  spiri-  Isai.  11. 
 tually  done  when  the  true  servant  of  Christ  never  departs  from  him,  never  loses  him 
 out  of  sight ;  but  keeps  him  company  in  all  places,  and  meditates  on  all  the  passages 
 of  his  most  holy  life.     For  in  reality  Christ  is  nothing  else  to  those  who  have  a 
 spiritual  sense,  but  a  sweet-smelling  balsam,  (as  he  is  termed  by  the  Spouse  in  the 
 Canticles,)  and  therefore,  in  whatever  passage  of  his  life  you  behold  him,  he  always  Cant.  1. 
 diffuses  an  odour  of  sanctity,  humility,  charity,  devotion,  compassion,  meekness,  and 
 of  all  other  virtues.     Hence  it  is,  that  as  he  who  always  handles  and  carries  about 
 him  perfumes,  always  smells  of  them  ;  so  the  faithful  Christian,  who  is  daily  conver- 
 sant with  Christ,  comes  in  time  to  smell   of  Christ,  that  is,  to  resemble  Christ  in 
 humility,  charity,  patience,  obedience,  and  all  other  virtues." 
 
 Let  us  hear  what  another  devout  author  says  on  this  subject  :*  "  If  you  desire  to 
 be  powerfully  convinced  of  your  sad  state  by  nature  ;  if  to  be  thoroughly  sensible  of 
 God's  hatred  and  punishment  of  sin  ;  if  rightly  to  apprehend  the  excess  of  divine 
 love  in  the  forgiveness  of  it ;  if  graciously  to  be  delivered  from  the  evil  of  unbelief ; 
 if  deeply  to  be  rooted  in  faith  ;  if  to  be  lovingly  filled -with  the  spirit ;  if  to  be  per- 
 fectly cleansed  from  your  corruptions  and  carnal  lusts ;  if  to  be  nobly  enriched  with 
 amiable  virtues  and  graces  ;  if  to  be  most  eminently  enlightened  with  the  knowledge 
 of  the  scriptures  ;  if  gloriously  to  triumph  over  every  enemy  ;  if  to  be  abundantly 
 comforted  ;  if  to  have  your  conversation  devoutly  on  earth  ;  if  frequently  to  feel  com- 
 punction in  your  beds  ;  if  sweetly  to  weep  in  prayer  ;  if  to  be  fervently  inflamed  in 
 meditation  ;  if  to  persevere  in  good  works  ;  if  to  be  replenished  with  spiritual  joy ; 
 if  to  be  carried  up  in  holy  rapture  of  soul ;  if  to  enjoy  the  secret  things  of  God  ;  if  to 
 die  happily  at  last ;  if  to  reign  eternally  in  heaven  :  exercise  yourself  in  the  life 
 and  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  whom  the  Father  sent  into  tlie  world, 
 
 *  Meditations  with  Prayers  on  the  Life  of  our  by  Henry  Lee,  LL.B. — See  likewise  (he  same 
 Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  ascribed  by  some  author  tliroughout  his  celebrated  work  of  the  Fol- 
 to  Thomas  ri  Kempis,  and  translated  into  English     lowing  of  Christ. 
 
 4.  K 
 
34  BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 that  he  might  reconcile  it  to  God,  and  show  forth  to  all  men  a  most  glorious  example 
 of  all  perfection,  and  bring  his  followers  to  an  everlasting  kingdom." 
 
 This  was  always  the  chief  employment  of  the  saints,  who,  as  we  read  in  their  lives, 
 never  failed  to  make  it  their  principal  study  to  meditate  on  the  life  of  Christ.  St. 
 Ignatius,  in  particular,  as  appears  from  his  SpiritKal  Exercises,  was  accustomed  to 
 recommend  it  to  his  followers,  as  the  daily  subject  of  their  pious  reflections,  in  order 
 that  they  might  be  assimilated  to  Jesus  Christ  their  model,  and  might  show  forth  his 
 spirit  in  their  life  and  conversation.* 
 
 As  an  additional  recommendation  of  the  following  work,  it  may  be  proper  to 
 observe,  that  by  reading  three  or  four  chapters  of  it,  every  week,  and  meditating  on 
 them,  the  devout  Christian  may  easily,  in  the  course  of  the  year,  make  himself 
 acquainted  with  the  whole  text  of  the  Gospel,  and  with  all  the  actions,  miracles,  and 
 instructions  of  his  Redeemer,  as  transmitted  to  us  by  the  four  Evangelists.  It  is 
 thus  he  will  be  enabled  to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge  of  our  holy  religion,  and  of 
 the  duties  which  it  prescribes  ;  it  is  thus  he  will  learn  to  know  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
 form  in  his  snul  a  new  spirit  according  to  the  spiiit  of  God  ;  it  is  thus  he  will  undeceive 
 himself  in  regard  to  the  erroneous  notions  of  worldhngs,  and  at  the  same  time  be 
 secured  against  the  weak  superstitions  and  idle  scruples  of  such  as  dishonour  the  cause 
 of  true  piety ;  it  is  thus  he  will  be  filled  with  a  lively  faith  of  divine  truths,  with  a 
 firm  hope  of  eternal  blessings,  and  an  ardent  love  of  his  sovereign  Good  :  in  short,  it  is 
 thus  he  will  be  enabled  to  procure  for  himself  that  true  peace  of  mind  which  surpasses 
 all  understanding,  which  sweetens  our  present  evils,  and  which  alone  can  support  us 
 under  the  various  pressures  and  miseries  of  this  mortal  life. 
 
 Many  persons  complain  of  the  dryness  which  they  experience  in  meditation.  But, 
 without  adverting  to  other  causes,  may  not  this  spiritual  aridity  be  in  part  ascribed 
 to  the  barren  and  abstracted  subjects  of  their  meditation  ;  whereas  here  the  matter 
 is  both  abundant  and  interesting,  and  the  most  sublime  truths  are  accompanied  with 
 such  circumstances  of  time,  place  and  person,  as  tend  very  much  to  fix  the  imagina- 
 tion, and  prevent  that  tediousness  and  disgust  to  which  beginners  are  chiefly  subject. 
 Here  truth  is  presented  in  action,  assuming,  as  it  were,  a  body,  and  making  itself 
 palpable.  Certain  it  is,  that  innumerable  saints  have  found  their  greatest  comfort 
 and  consolation  in  meditating  on  the  Gospel,  and  have  spent  even  whole  nights  in 
 this  holy  exercise,  regretting  the  return  of  day,  which  interrupted  their  sweet  com- 
 munications with  heaven. 
 
 :  But  as  many  Christians  have  imbibed  prejudices  unfavourable  to  meditation,  falsely 
 imao-inino-  it  to  be  something  extremely  difficult,  and  almost  impossible,  it  will  be 
 proper  here  to  show  how  unfounded  these  prejudices  are,  and  to  state  in  what  this 
 holy  exercise  of  meditation  consists.f  By  meditation  we  mean  nothing  else  but  a 
 serious  reflection  upon  the  holy  maxims  of  the   Gospel ;  upon  the  great  and  saving 
 
 *  There  is  an  excellent  work  on  this  subject  by  particularly  attach   ourselves    to   the  words  of  the 
 
 Girandau,   entitled,  CEvangile  Medi/e,   in   8   vol.  sacred  text  as  the  word  of  God,  and  pay  attention 
 
 edited    by  I'Abbe    Duquesne,    of  which    we   have  to  the  words  of  men  only  as  far  as  they  may  be  ne- 
 
 availed  ourselves  in  some  passag-es.     But  his  Me-  ce^sary   to    make    us    understand    those   of    God, 
 
 ditations  are  too   diffuse   to   enter  into  our  plan,  which  are  alone  deserving  our  love  and  affection, 
 and  seem   but  ill  to  accord  with   his   own  advice,         f  See  Nepveu. 
 ■which  he  gives  in  the  preface,  viz.  thkt  we  should 
 
BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  35 
 
 truths  of  faith  ;  upon  our  duties  towards  Almighty  God  ;  upon  the  best  means  of 
 facilitating  and  securing  our  happiness,  or  upon  the  obstacles  that  may  retard  or 
 hinder  our  eternal  felicity.  Now  this  reflection  naturally  produces  good  and  pious 
 desires,  holy  affections,  and  sincere  and  efficacious  resolutions  of  reducing  those  good 
 desires  to  practice,  and  of  executing  all  our  good  designs,  by  the  use  of  those  means 
 which  by  our  reflection  we  find  likely  to  advance  us  in  the  work  of  our  eternal  salva- 
 tion, and  to  help  us  to  overcome  whatever  obstacles  oppose  our  progress.  The 
 necessity  of  this  sort  of  reflection  or  meditation,  in  order  to  salvation,  is  admitted  by 
 the  holy  Fathers  as  a  fundamental  maxim  in  christian  morality.  Hence  St.  Bernard 
 observes,  that  prayer  and  meditation  are  of  equal  necessity  ;  "  for  meditation,"  says 
 he;  "  discovers  what  we  stand  in  need  of,  and  prayer  obtains  from  Almighty  God 
 whatever  we  want;  the  one  shows  us  the  way,  the  other  brings  us  to  our  journey's 
 end.  Meditation  discovers  the  dangers  that  encompass  us  :  prayer  guides  us  safely 
 through  them."* 
 
 If  meditation  be  necessary,  it  is  also  easy,  at  least  to  those  who  have  a  sincere 
 desire  of  their  eternal  salvation  ;  consequently  nothing  is  more  ill-grounded  than  the 
 prejudices  which  people  are  apt  to  entertain  against  this  holy  exercise.  This  will 
 manifestly  appear  if  we  reflect  on  the  nature  of  meditation,  which,  as  we  have  just 
 observed,  consists  in  the  exercise  of  the  three  faculties  of  the  soul,  our  memory, 
 understanding,  and  will;  now  we  have  only  to  apply  these  faculties  to  the  great  affair 
 of  our  salvation,  in  the  same  maimer  as  we  make  use  of  them  in  considering  any 
 affair  that  concerns  our  temporal  interest,  or  worldly  employments. 
 
 A  merchaiit  has  no  difficulty  in  reasoning  and  reflecting  upon  what  interests  his 
 commerce  ;  a  farmer  upon  his  tillage  ;  a  tradesman  upon  his  concerns.  These  per- 
 sons make  frequent  reflections  upon  the  past,  in  order  to  know  what  proved  advan- 
 tageous, and  what  detrimental ;  and  however  deficient  in  genius,  they  easily  discover 
 from  this  retrospective  view,  by  what  means  they  may  in  future  succeed  in  their  busi- 
 ness, and  guard  against  those  accidents  which  by  experience  they  know  to  be  preju- 
 dicial. Now  what  hinders  them  from  doing  the  same  in  the  business  of  their 
 salvation  ?  Why  should  they  not,  in  like  manner,  reflect  upon  what  may  be  useful 
 and  advantageous  to  them,  and  upon  what  on  the  contrary  is  detrimental,  and 
 attended  with  danger  ?  Why  should  they  not  examine  well  the  state  of  their  soul  ? 
 how  it  is  disposed  and  inclined?  and  consider  what  they  ought  in  future  to  pursue, 
 and  what  to  avoid  ?  This  is  all  the  mystery  of  meditation,  which  is,  therefore,  evi- 
 dently within  the  reach  of  the  most  ordinary  capacity,  since  it  is  only  what  the  world 
 daily  practises  with  regard  to  temporal  concerns  ;  it  requires  only  a  good  will  and 
 a  sincere  desire  of  conversing  with  God,  by  thinking  of  him  and  loving  him.  To 
 facilitate  the  exercise  of  it,  and  more  effectually  to  secure  its  incomparable  advantages, 
 the  following  method  of  meditation  is  recommended  by  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  and 
 other  spiritualists. 
 
 1.  Place  yourself  in  the  presence  of  God  by  an  act  of  faith,  whereby  you  know 
 and  believe  him  to  be  every  where  present.     Prostrate  yourself  before  this  sovereign 
 
 *  See  this  Saint's  admirable  booli  on  Consider-  and  in  which  he  sets  this  truth  in  the  most  striking 
 alion,    which    he    dedicated    to    Pope    Eugenius,     light. 
 
36  BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 Lord,  whose  majesty  fills  heaven  and  earth — saying  with  Abraham  :  How  dare  I  speak 
 to  my  God,  ivho  am  but  dust  ami  ashes  ?  Then  make  an  act  of  contrition  for  all  your 
 sins,  these  being  the  greatest  obstacles  in  our  communication  with  God  ;  and  implore 
 with  fei'vour  and  humility  his  light  and  grace,  that  your  soul  may  derive  benefit  from 
 this  important  exercise  of  meditation.     This  is  the  preparation. 
 
 2.  Apply  the  memory  to  call  to  mind  that  christian  truth  or  mystery  upon  which 
 you  intend  to  meditate^  and  think  of  it  seriously,  so  as  to  let  it  sink  deep  into  your 
 soul.     This  is  the  proper  exercise  of  our  memory. 
 
 3.  However  contracted  our  capacity  may  be,  it  is  morally  impossible  but  that  some 
 reflections  vAW  arise  and  present  themselves  to  us  concerning  that  truth,  which  we 
 make  the  subject  of  our  meditation  ;  and  one  reflection  is  sufficient  to  entertain  us,  if 
 we  endeavour  to  relish  and  penetrate  its  meaning :  hence  will  naturally  follow  a 
 retrospection  or  looking  back  upon  ourselves,  which  is  a  kind  of  second  reflection, 
 whereby  we  apply  to  ourselves  that  truth  which  we  before  considered,  in  order  thence 
 to  draw  some  conclusion  for  reforming-  and  better  regulating"  our  manner  and  way  of 
 life.     It  is  thus  we  exercise  our  umlerstamling. 
 
 4.  In  consequence  of  our  understanding  having  made  this  reflection,  and  received 
 this  light,  the  will  must  next  feel  several  emotions  or  affections,  according  to  the 
 several  objects  and  reflections  that  have  occurred.  For  if  those  objects  are  in  them- 
 selves great  and  lovely,  they  will  naturally  excite  in  our  will,  love,  admiration,  grati- 
 tude, desire,  hope,  and  joy :  if  they  are  in  themselves  terrible,  they  will  produce  in 
 our  hearts,  fear,  aversion,  horror,  confusion,  sorrow,  and  repentance.  In  these  acts 
 consists  the  exercise  of  the  will. 
 
 It  is  to  be  observed,  that  these  affections  are  the  principal  part  of  mental  prayer, 
 because  they  touch  and  move  the  heart  in  order  to  our  improvement,  and  hence  they 
 are  chiefly  to  be  insisted  upon.  Whereas  the  noblest  ideas,  the  most  sublime  specu- 
 lations, are  not  only  useless  when  they  excite  no  sentiment  in  the  will,  but  too  often 
 expose  us  to  pride  and  illusion. 
 
 i  5.  From  these  affections  pass  on  to  good  resolutions  of  a  serious  amendment  of 
 your  life,  particularly  with  regard  to  those  failings  to  which  you  are  most  subject ; 
 and  determine  with  yourself  to  begin  immediately  to  put  these  good  resolutions  in 
 practice  on  every  occasion  that  shall  offer. 
 
 Lastly,  After  making  good  resolutions,  offer  them  up  to  God,  and  acknowledge 
 yourself  unable  to  keep  them  without  the  assistance  of  his  grace.  Throw  yourself, 
 therefore,  into  the  arms  of  his  infinite  mercy,  place  your  whole  confidence  in  liim,  and 
 earnestly  beg  of  him,  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  would  perfect  the 
 work  he  has  begun,  and  enable  you,  in  spite  of  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  to 
 adhere  to  your  good  resolutions,  for  the  glory  of  his  holy  name,  and  the  security  of 
 your  eternal  salvation. 
 
 This  is  the  method  of  mental  prayer,  prescribed  by  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  and  other 
 
 o-reat  masters  of  a  spiritual  life,  as  one  of  the  most  important  exercises  of  a  christian 
 
 life,  and  such  as  ought  daily  to  be  performed  by  as  many  as  wish  to  serve  God  in  good 
 
 Jer.  12    earnest.   "  With  desolation,"  says  the  prophet  Jeremy,  "is  all  the  land  made  desolate, 
 
 because  there  is  none  that  considereth  in  the  heart." 
 
BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  37 
 
 Having  explained  the  method  of  mental  prayer,  I  shall,  in  order  to  render  it  still 
 more  easy,  proceed  to  give  some  examples  upon  the  different  subjects  which  it 
 comprises. 
 
 The  subjects  upon  which  we  meditate  may  be  reduced  to  the  following  heads. 
 1.  Historic  facts  that  are  contained  in  holy  scripture,  as  the  conversion  of  Mary 
 Magdalen,  &c.  2.  Moral  truths  of  Christianity ;  for  instance,  the  importance  of  our 
 salvation,  the  necessity  of  repentance,  &c.  3.  The  mysteries  of  our  blessed  Saviour's 
 life  ;  for  example,  his  incarnation,  nativity,  and  passion,  &c.  4.  Maxims  of  the 
 holy  Gospel ;  as  the  following  :  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
 self, and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me,"  &c.  5.  The  parables  of  the  Gospel,  as 
 that  of  the  barren  fig-tree,  &c.  6.  The  actions  or  discourses  of  our  blessed  Saviour  ; 
 e.  g.  his  washing  the  feet  of  his  apostles,  his  sermon  on  the  mount,  &c.  7.  The 
 attributes  and  perfections  of  Almighty  God  ;  as  for  example,  his  infinite  power, 
 mercy,  goodness,  &c.  I  shall  here  subjoin  the  application  of  the  method  which  was 
 given  above,  to  some  of  the  foregoing  subjects  ;  and  first,  to  one  of  the  mysteries  of 
 our  Saviour's  life. 
 
 SUBJECT. 
 
 THE  NATIVITY  OF  OUR  BLESSED  SAVIOUR. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Memory. 
 
 Read  and  consider  what  is  said  hereafter  concerning  this  mystery  in  chap.  8.  of 
 the  following  book  ;  hence  you  will  see  the  poor  and  miserable  lodging  in  which  our 
 Saviour  chose  to  be  born  at  Bethlehem,  where  he  was  laid  in  a  manger  upon  straw, 
 in  great  want  of  all  things,  and  destitute  of  all  human  comfort  and  assistance. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Understanding  ;  or,  Rejlection  upon  this  Mystery. 
 
 He  whom  I  see  in  this  poor  manger  is  God ;  and  if  God,  he  cannot  but  be  infinitely 
 powerful,  and  infinitely  wise.  If  he  be  infinitely  powerful,  nothing  could  force  or 
 oblige  him  to  put  himself  in  so  low,  poor,  and  suffering  a  condition  as  this.  It  must 
 be  then  his  own  free  choice,  to  convince  us  that  he  prefers  this  lowly  condition  to 
 any  other.  And  if  his  wisdom  be  infinite,  he  has  certainly  all  the  knowledge  requisite 
 to  make  a  good  choice,  and  therefore  cannot  be  mistaken.  Whence  it  must  neces- 
 sarily and  evidently  follow,  that  the  state  of  humiliation,  of  poverty,  and  of  sulferino-, 
 which  Jesus  has  preferred  to  all  the  riches  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  is  infallibly 
 the  best,  however  repugnant  to  flesh  and  blood,  and  to  the  received  notions  of 
 worldlings. 
 
 Application  of  thi<i  Refection  ;  or,  the  looking  back  ttpon  ourselves. 
 ■  Have  I  been  hitherto  of  the  same  opinion  and  judgment  with  my  blessed  Saviour 
 in  this  particular?  or,  rather,  have  I  not  been  of  a  quite  contrary  opinion?  Either 
 he  or  I,  then,  must  have  been  deceived:  but  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  be 
 deceived,  seeing  he  is  Eternal  Wisdom,  and  therefore  infiillible.  Wlierefore  it  is  I 
 who  must  certainly  have  been  deluded  ;  I  have  lived  all  this  while  in  a  gross  error. 
 4.  L 
 
38  BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Will. 
 
 The  affections  that  follow  this  reflection  are,  1.  Of  admiration,  to  see  God  himself 
 reduced  to  so  poor  and  low  a  condition,  out  of  piu'e  love  to  us,  and  to  leave  us  an 
 example  for  our  imitation.  2.  Of  love  and  gratitude,  for  so  great  and  wonderful  a 
 goodness.  3.  Of  confusion  and  grief,for  having  lived  so  long  in  a  persuasion 
 contrary  to  that  of  my  Saviour,  condemning  by  my  conduct  his  blessed  choice,  and 
 mispending  the  best  part  of  my  life  in  pursuit  of  those  imaginary  goods  for  which  he 
 always  showed  the  greatest  contempt.  4.  Of  fear,  lest  if  I  do  not  follow  and  imitate 
 my  blessed  Saviour  in  his  humility  and  poverty,  I  shall  lose  that  infinite  happiness  of 
 partaking  one  day  with  him  in  his  everlasting  glory  in  heaven.  5.  Of  a  firm 
 resolution  to  reform  my  conduct  and  manner  of  life,  begging  of  my  dearest  and 
 divine  Jesus,  who  for  my  sake  was  thus  born  in  a  poor  stable,  that  he  would  give  me 
 courage  to  imitate  his  example. 
 
 Second  Application  of  the  same  Method  to  a  Maxim  of  the  Gospel. 
 SUBJECT. 
 
 "  IF  ANY  MAN  WILL  COME  AFTER  ME,  LET  HIM  DENY  HIMSELF,  AND  TAKE  UP  HIS  CROSS 
 AND  FOLLOW  ME."       MATT.   XVI.  14. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Memory. 
 
 Consider  attentively  these  words  in  chap.  66.  of  the  following  work,  and  imagine 
 that  you  hear  your  blessed  Saviour  addressing  this  maxim  to  you  as  well  as  to  his 
 disciples. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Understanding  ;  or,  Reflection  7/pon  this  Maxim. 
 
 We  cannot  be  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  i.  e.  we  cannot  be  true,  good  Christians, 
 unless  we  follow  him  :  and  we  cannot  follow  him,  unless  we  deny  ourselves  and 
 carry  our  cross.  What  is  it  to  deny  ourselves,  but  to  curb  our  own  humour,  to  re- 
 nounce our  inclinations,  desires,  interest,  all  the  disorderly  motions  of  our  heart,  and, 
 in  fine,  to  renounce  all  that  may  prove  dangerous  or  criminal  ?  And  what  is  it  to 
 carry  our  cross,  but  to  tame  our  passions,  to  mortify  our  senses,  and  embrace  things 
 disagreeable  to  flesh  and  blood,  or  at  least  to  bear  willingly  and  with  patience  all 
 afflictions  which  it  shall  please  God  to  lay  upon  us. 
 
 The  Application  of  this  Maxim  ;  or,  the  Retrospection  on  ourselves. 
 
 We  make  profession  of  being  Christians,  and  of  following  Jesus  Christ ;  we  are 
 then  under  an  indispensable  obligation  of  denying  ourselves,  of  daily  carrying  our 
 cross,  since  in  the  judgment  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  the  one  follows  necessarily  from 
 the  other  :  but  do  we  practise  it,  or  rather,  do  we  not  practise  the  reverse  ?  Do  we 
 not  act  continually  according  to  our  own  humour  ?  Do  we  not  yield  to  whatever  is 
 pleasino-  to  our  natural  inclinations  ?  Do  we  not  abhor  and  avoid,  with  all  possible 
 care,  whatever  mortifies  or  puts  any  constraint  upon  our  wills  ?     Do  we  not  run  away 
 
BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  39 
 
 from  the  cross  as  fast  as  we  can,  and  murmur  when  God  sends  us  any  trial  ?  And 
 can  we  call  this  following  Christ,  and  being  a  Christian,  whilst  we  act  quite  contrary 
 to  what  the  name  of  Christian  implies  ? 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Will. 
 The  affections  that  arise  from  these  reflections  are,  1.  Of  astonishment,  to  see  the 
 generality  of  those  who  bear  the  name  of  Christians,  take  so  little  care,  and  attend  so 
 little  to  the  duties  of  a  Christian.  Alas  !  instead  of  following  our  blessed  Saviour, 
 as  they  are  bound  to  do  by  their  baptismal  engagements,  they  endeavour,  in  a  manner, 
 to  oppose  his  doctrine  both  in  their  opinion  and  conduct.  2.  Of  confusion,  to 
 see  that  we  ourselves,  who  have  the  honour  to  bear  the  name  of  Christians,  are  of  the 
 number  of  those  blind  people,  who  dishonour  Christianity  by  a  disorderly  and  sensual 
 life.  \^  3.  Of  grief,  for  having  been  till  now  such  cowardly  betrayers  of  our  profession, 
 such  unfaithful  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  4.  Of  fear,  lest  the  character  of  Christian 
 should  serve  at  the  day  of  judgment  for  our  greater  condemnation  ;  when,  on  the  one 
 side,  the  obligations  annexed  to  so  honourable  a  quality  will  be  manifested  to  us  ; 
 and,  on  the  other,  our  manner  of  life  will  be  discovered  to  have  been  widely  opposite 
 to  those  obligations.  5.  Of  a  firm  resolution  to  fulfil  better  in  future  all  the  duties 
 of  a  true  Christian,  imploring  mercy  'and  pardon  of  our  blessed  Saviour  for  past 
 faults,  and  begging  the  assistance  of  his  holy  grace  for  the  time  to  come,  that  we 
 may  take  up  our  cross  and  carry  it  after  him  with  courage  and  perseverance. 
 
 The  Applicatio7i  of  the  same  Method  to  a  Parable  of  the  Gospel. 
 SUBJECT. 
 
 OF  THE  BARREN  FIG-TREE. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Meinori/. 
 
 Read  and  remember  the  parable  of  the  barren  fig-tree,  as  set  down  in  the  13th 
 chapter  of  St.  Luke,  and  the  87th  of  the  following  work. 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Understanding  ;  or.  Refection  upon  this  Parable. 
 
 The  barren  fig-tree,  that  produced  abundance  of  leaves  but  no  fruit,  is  a  lively 
 representation  of  those  Christians,  who  having  a  fair  outside,  deceive  themselves,  and 
 impose  on  others  by  bearing  no  fruit :  because  they  do  not  apply  themselves  to  works 
 of  charity,  and  to  the  practice  of  other  christian  virtues,  but  lead  lives  not  in  appear- 
 ance disorderly,  yet,  in  effect,  unprofitable  and  barren  of  good  works.  For  not  to 
 do  good,  is  a  great  evil ;  and  hence  the  unprofitable  servant  in  the  Gospel,  was 
 condemned  to  be  cast  into  outward  darkness,  i.  e.  into  hell. 
 
 The  Application  of  this  Reflection  ;  or,  looking  back  upon  ourselves. 
 
 Am  not  I  like  this  barren  fig-tree  ?  Do  I  not  content  myself  with  bearing  a  fair 
 show  of  leaves,  without  having  any  fruit  ?  i.  e.  have  I  not  the  outward  appearance, 
 without  the  real  substance  of  virtue  ?  seeking  the  approbation  and  vain  applause  of 
 men,  who  judge  by  the  outside,  without  taking  due  care  to  please  God,  who  pene- 
 
40  BENEFIT  OF  DEVOUT  MEDITATION  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 trates  the  inmost  recesses  of  my  soul.  Do  I  not  mistake  those  actions  which  are 
 the  effects  of  a  good  natural  disposition,  or  of  a  good  education,  or  which  are  done 
 out  of  human  respect,  to  be  the  real  fruits  of  true  virtue  and  solid  piety  ?  And  does 
 nut  some  secret  vanity,  the  desire  of  preserving  my  reputation,  or  of  being  accounted 
 a  person  of  great  probity,  pass  with  me  for  solid  virtue?  In  fine,  does  not  a  life, 
 winch  is  in  effect  very  unprofitable,  appear  to  me  altogether  innocent? 
 
 The  Exercise  of  the  Will. 
 
 The  affections  that  naturally  arise  from  this  reflection  are,  1.  Of  wonder,  consi 
 dering  the  patience  of  Almighty  God,  who  has  waited  and  borne  with  me  not  only  for 
 three  years,  like  the  master  of  the  fig-tree^  although  instead  of  good  fruit  I  have 
 brought  forth  nothing  but  leaves  ;  but  who  has  likewise  suffered  me  for  many  years 
 to  go  on  in  my  wicked  course  of  life.  2.  Of  confusion  and  sorrow,  for  having  made 
 so  little  use  and  benefit  of  all  that  care  which  his  divine  mercy  has  taken,  in  order  to 
 cultivate  and  improve  me  by  his  multiplied  graces  ;  notwithstanding  which  I  have 
 long  abused  his  wonderful  patience,  and  taken  occasion  from  thence  to  sin  more 
 freely.  3.  Of  fear,  lest  God  to  punish  me  for  not  corresponding  with  his  grace, 
 should  at  last  deprive  me  of  it,  and  pronounce  that  terrible  sentence  against  me : 
 "  Cut  him  down  as  an  unprofitable  tree,  and  cast  him  into  the  fire."  4.  Of  a  firm 
 rcnohdion  to  bring  forth  hereafter  the  fruits  of  good  works,  and  of  such  virtues  as  are 
 suitable  to  my  condition  ;  for  this  purpose  I  will  address  myself  to  my  good  angel, 
 to  beg  his  assistance^  that  I  may  hereafter  improve  more  by  the  care  he  shall  please 
 to  take  of  me,  and  may  correspond  with  those  graces  he  shall  obtain  for  me^  of  the 
 great  Master  of  the  vineyard. 
 
 This  same  method  may  easily  be  applied  to  any  one  of  our  Saviour's  actions  or 
 discourses,  or  to  any  part  of  the  Evangelical  History.  What  is  more  easy  than  to 
 read  a  history,  and  to  make  it  a  subject  of  our  reflections?  What  history  contains 
 more  instructive  and  interesting  matter  than  the  history  of  the  Gospel,  which  exhibits 
 the  life  of  a  God  made  man,  how  he  lived,  acted,  and  conversed  among  us?  More- 
 over, the  things  here  proposed  to  our  consideration,  are  the  very  basis  of  our  religion, 
 the  object  of  our  faith,  the  rule  of  our  conduct,  the  foundation  of  our  hopes,  and  the 
 source  of  that  eternal  felicity  which  we  hereafter  expect. 
 
 It  only  remains  for  me,  to  exhort  the  pious  reader  not  to  be  discouraged  at  the 
 opposition  which  the  devil  never  foils  to  raise  against  mental  prayer,  by  suggesting 
 a  thousand  imaginary  difliculties.  Let  him  be  only  diligent  in  this  important  exercise  ; 
 let  him  continue  to  dig  in  this  evangelical  field  ;  and  he  will  not  fail  at  last  to  discover 
 a  treasure  of  inestimable  value,  such  as  will  abundantly  recompense  him  for  all  his 
 labour. 
 
PRAYERS 
 
 TO  BE  SAID 
 
 BEFORE    AND    AFTER    READING 
 THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 A  PRAYER  BEFORE  READING. 
 
 BE  Thou  ever  adored  and  praised,  O  Lord,  who  not  content  to  instruct  us  by  thy 
 prophets,  hast  vouchsafed  in  person  to  become  our  teacher  and  our  model :  grant 
 us  grace  to  profit  by  thy  heavenly  doctrine,  and  to  imitate  thy  blessed  example.  All 
 that  is  written  of  thee,  dear  Jesus,  in  thy  Gospel,  is  truth  itself;  there  is  nothing  but 
 wisdom  in  thy  actions,  power  and  goodness  in  thy  miracles,  light  and  instruction  in 
 thy  words.  To  whom  shall  we  go,  but  to  thee  who  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life? 
 Assist  me  with  thy  grace,  to  practise  what  thou  commandest,  and  command  what 
 thou  pleasest. 
 
 A  PRAYER  AFTER  READING. 
 
 0  LORD  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  the  living  God,  mercifully  grant  me  grace  to  imitate 
 thy  holy  life  and  conversation,  that  having  thee  for  my  guide,  I  may  never  go  astray 
 after  worldly  vanities ;  but  may  direct  all  my  thoughts,  words,  and  actions  to  thy 
 greater  honour  and  glory :  who  livest  and  reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  one  God,  world  without  end.  Amen. 
 
 A  PRAYER  OF  VENERABLE  BEDE  TO  CHRIST. 
 
 1  BESEECH  thee,  O  good  Jesus,  that  as  thou  hast  mercifully  granted  me  to  find  here 
 the  sweet  words  of  thy  heavenly  wisdom,  so  thou  wouldst  graciously  vouchsafe  to 
 bring  me  hereafter  to  thyself  the  very  fountain  of  all  wisdom,  that  I  may  always 
 behold  thee  face  to  face:  who  livest  and  reignest  God  for  endless  ages.  Amen. 
 
 The  devout  Christian  may  read  likewise  the  Litani/  of  Jesus,  the  Jesus'  Psalter, 
 or  the  Golden  hitany  ;  which  last  briefly  commemorates  the  chief  mysteries  of  our 
 Saviour's  life  and  death.     See  the  Double  Manual. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 PART  I. 
 
 PREFACE  FROM  ST.  LUKE. 
 
 "  Whereas  many  have  endeavoured  to  set  forth  in  order  a  narration  of  the  Luke  1.1. 
 things,  which  have    been    accomplished  amongst  us,"  and   the  truth  of  which  is 
 confirmed  by  the  fullest  evidence,  "  as  they  have  delivered  them  to  us,  who  from  the       2. 
 beginning  were  eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the  word  ;  it  hath  seemed  good  also       3. 
 to  me,  having  diligently  attained  to  all  things  from  the  beginning,  to  write  to  thee,  in 
 order,  most  excellent  Theophilus,  that  thou  mayest  know  the  truth  of  those  things       4. 
 wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed,"  and  mayest  distinguish  them  from  those  inaccurate 
 accounts,  which  either  have  been  already,  or  may  hereafter  be  published  on  this  subject. 
 St.  Luke  does  not  here  specify  the  names  of  those  from  whom  he  received  this 
 narrative  ;  yet  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  B.  V.  Mary  communicated  to  him  what 
 he  has  committed  to  writing  in  the  two  first  chapters,  besides  other  particulars,  since 
 his  authors  were  eye-witnesses,  as  he  expressly  testifies.     It  is  highly  probable  that 
 he  derived  some  information  from  St.  Paul,  whose  disciple  he  was,  and  who  received 
 and  learned  the  gospel,  which  he  preached,  from   the  revelation  of  Jesus   Christ,  Gal.  i. 
 though  he  was  not  himself  an  eye-witness. — That  Theophilus,  to  whom  St.  Luke  ad-  ^^'  ^^• 
 dresses  his  gospel,  was  a  real,  and  not  a  fictitious  person,  is  the  most  probable  opinion, 
 as  appears  from  the  title  of  mosf  Excellent,  which  was  only  applied  to  persons  of  dis- 
 tinguished rank;  nevertheless,  as  the  word  Theophilus  signifies  a  Lover  of  God,  it 
 is,  in  this  sense,  applicable  to  every  true  Christian,  who  may  consider  this  gospel*  as 
 addressed  to  himself,  and  as  containing  the  good  tidings  of  eternal  life. 
 
 CHAPTER  L 
 
 THE  DIVINITY  AND  INCARNATION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.       MARK  I.       JOHN  I. 
 
 Before  we  proceed  to  the  temporal  birth  and  life  of  the  Son  of  God,  it  may  not  be 
 improper  to  give  some  account  of  his  divine  and  eternal  generation.  Men  write  the 
 genealogy  of  the  great  personages  of  the  earth,  to  raise  their  renown  for  the  nobility 
 
 *  The  English  word  gospel  (in  Greek  evav^eXiov  corded   the  life  and  actions   of  our  Saviour,  have 
 
 and  in  Latin  evansfUuin)  pia^nifies,  in  tjeneral,  good  acquired  the  title  of  Evangelists,  or  writers  of  the 
 
 news,  and  by  a  metonymy,  is   used  to  siijiiify  the  Gospel.     The  works  of  this  kind  which  are  received 
 
 history  of  that  (rood  news  of  the  birth  and  life,  the  by  tlie  Church  as  canonical,  are  but  four,  viz.  those 
 
 miracles  and  doctrine,   the   death  and  resurrection  of  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  and  St.  John, 
 
 of  our  Saviour  Christ ;   all  of  which  make  up  the  — See  their  lives  ia  Tillemont,  or  in  Butler's  Lives 
 
 glad  tidings  which  we  call  the  gospel.     From  this  of  the  Saints.^ 
 etymology  of  the  word  the  persons  who  have  re- 
 
44  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  L 
 
 of  their  blood,  and  for  the  great  achievements  of  their  ancestors,  whilst  yet  they  are 
 
 unable  to  disting-uish   themselves  by  their  own  personal  merit.     To  Jesus   Christ 
 
 belong  two  genealogies  and  two  births,  because  he  has  two  natures.     He  is  both  God 
 
 and  man,  and  in  one  only  person,  unites  the  nature  of  God  and  the  nature  of  man. 
 
 As  man,  he  descends  from  a  long  series  of  men,  being  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,  and  of 
 
 the  family  of  David :  as  God,  he  has  only  God  for  his  Father,    being   born  of  him 
 
 before  all  ages,  and  perfectly  equal  to  him.     As  man,  he  is  born  in  time  ;  as  God,  he 
 
 is  born,  and  exists  from  all  eternity.* 
 
 Mark  1.        "  The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,"  according  to  St. 
 
 !•       John,  thus  describes  his  divine  and  eternal  nativity,  and  the  reasons  for  which  he  was 
 
 John  1.    made  man.     "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,-|-  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
 
 1'2,  3.     the  Word  was  God.     This"  Word  "  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.     All  things 
 
 4.  were  made  by  him  :  and  without  him  was  made  nothing  that  was  made.     In  him  was 
 
 5.  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men.     And  the  light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the 
 
 6.  darkness  did  not  comprehend  it.     There  was  a  man  sent  from  God  whose  name  was 
 
 7.  John.     This  man  came  for  a  witness,  to  give  testimony  of  the  light,  that  all  men 
 
 8.  might  believe  through  him.     He  was  not  the  light,  but  was  to  give  testimony  of  the 
 
 9.  light.  The"  Word  "  was  the  true  light,  which  enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
 
 10.  this  world.   He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  him,  and  the  world  knew 
 11,  12.     him  not.     He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not.     But  as  many  as 
 
 received  him,  to  them  he  gave  power  to  be  made  the  sons  of  God,  to  them  that  believe 
 
 13,  in  his  name.     Who  are  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will 
 
 14.  of  man,  but  of  God.  And  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us :  (and 
 we  have  seen  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  the  Father ,)  full 
 of  grace  and  truth." 
 
 Johnl.  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word 
 1.  was  God."  In  these  words  St.  John  describes  the  Son  of  God  by  three  characters 
 expressive  of  his  divinity.  The  first  is  his  eternal  existence  :  "  in  the  begiiming,"  i.  e. 
 before  all  time,  "  was  the  Word,"  the  eternal  Word,  the  increated  Wisdom,  the 
 second  person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  The  second  character  is  his  being  distinct  from 
 God  the  Father,  which  evidently  points  at  a  distinction  of  persons ;  for  a  person  is 
 really  distinct  from  him,  with  whom  he  is.  Now  "  the  Word  was  with  God"  the 
 Father  from  all  eternity,  and  therefore  was  distinct  from  his  person.  But,  lest  this 
 distinction  of  persons  might  convey  an  idea  of  a  diversity  of  nature  or  essence,  and 
 
 *    Due  iiativitatis    Christi    intelli^untur ;     una  led^e  of  itself;  so  may  it  be  with  regard  to  God, 
 
 divina,  altera  humana;  una  per  qiiam  efficeremur,  (as  far  as  human   things   may   be    compared  with 
 
 altera  per  quam  reficeremur:  ambae  mirabiles,  ilia  divine)  liis  eternal  knowledge  of  himself  being  infi- 
 
 sine  matre,   ista  sine  patre. — S.  Aug.  in  Jo.  trac.  nitely  perfect,  there  may  thence  proceed  the  eternal 
 
 12.  58.  ^Ford  of  Gcid,  a  fVord  as  perfect  as  himself,  who 
 
 t  We  may  here  observe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  is  another  person,  and  yet  the  same  God  with  him 
 called  by  the  Evangelist  the  IVord,  i.  e.  the  speech,  who  forms  it.  However  it  is  better,  says  the 
 thought,  or  conception  of  God.  And  this  perhaps  -Roman  Catechism,  to  contemplate  what  faith  pro- 
 is  the  best  comparison  to  express  the  manner  or  poses  to  us  concerning  this  mystery,  and  with  a 
 way  of  his  eternal  generation:  for  as  our  mind,  sincere  heart  to  believe  and  confess  that  Jesus 
 reflecting  on  itself,  forms  there,  and  generates  an  Christ  is  true  God  and  ttue  man  ;  begotten  indeed, 
 image  or  idea  of  itself,  which  image  or  idea  by  an  God,  of  the  Father  before  all  ages  and  genera- 
 divines  is  called  the  word  of  our  mind,  by  which  tions ;  hut,  as  man,  born  in  time  of  his  mother  the 
 it  speaks,  as  I  may  say,  or  expresses  all  its  know-  Virgin  Mary. 
 
Ch.  I.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  45 
 
 lest  under  the  words  two  persons,  we  might  understand  two  Gods,  the  third  character 
 is  his  consubstantiality  with  the  Father,  "  and  the  Word  was  God ;''  consequently 
 the  same  God  as  the  Father  ;  for  there  cannot  be  more  Gods  than  one. — The  Evan- 
 gelist makes  a  short  recapitulation  of  these  three  characters,  by  repeating  that  "  this 
 Word  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.''  He  then  represents  him  as  an  active  cause 
 or  principle  ;  1.  In  the  order  of  nature  :  "  All  things  were  made  by  him,  and  with- 
 out him  was  made  nothing  that  was  made."  Hence  it  clearly  follows,  that  he  is  not 
 a  creature ;  because  all  things  having  been  made  by  him,  if  he  himself  were  made 
 too,  he  must  have  been  made  by  himself,  and,  consequently,  he  would  have  had  a 
 being  before  he  was  made  or  created,  as  we  conceive  a  workman  to  exist  before  his 
 work.  2.  He  represents  the  Word  as  the  principle  of  life  and  light  in  the  order  of 
 grace,  acting  upon  sin  and  darkness  in  order  to  give  light  and  life  to  our  souls.  This 
 occasions  the  Evangelist  to  pass  forward  to  the  incarnate  state  of  the  Word:  "  In 
 him  was  life,"  that  essential  life  which  consists  in  living  wisdom,  in  eternal  truth,  and 
 in  sovereign  justice  ;  the  knowledge  and  love  of  which  constitute  the  true  life  of  man. 
 This  divine  life  assuming  a  visible  body  became  a  light  to  communicate  itself  to  man- 
 kind, by  imparting  to  it  the  knowledge  of  truth,  and  the  love  of  justice  or  sanctity. 
 This  is  "  the  light  that  shineth  in  darkness,"  enlightening  the  eyes  of  men  blinded 
 by  their  passions,  and  plunged  in  the  dark  night  of  error  and  sin.  Christ  diffused 
 on  all  sides  the  rays  of  his  light,  by  the  purity  of  his  doctrine,  by  the  example  of  bis 
 holiness,  and  by  miracles  of  the  most  beneficent  kind.  "  And"  yet  "  the  darkness" 
 which  sin  had  spread  over  the  hearts  of  men  "  did  not  comprehend  it.''  It  was  to 
 prevent  this  abuse  of  the  divine  goodness,  that  "  there  was  a  man  sent  from  God, 
 whose  name  was  John"  the  Baptist.  "  This  man  came  for  a  witness  to  give  testimony 
 of  the  light,  that  all  men  might  beUeve  through  him"  in  this  light.  "  He  was  not 
 the  light"  himself,  "  but  was  to  give  testimony  of  the  light,"  by  erecting  the  standard 
 of  the  Messias,  and  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  such  as  should  receive  him.  "  That" 
 person,  to  whom  he  bore  witness,  "  was  the  true  light,  which  enlighteneth  eveiy  man 
 that  cometh  into  this  world,"  in  different  degree  and  measure,  yet  superabundantly 
 where  no  obstacle  is  set  against  it. 
 
 Although  this  mission  of  John  had  all  the  success,  which  God,  who  cannot  fail  in 
 the  execution  of  his  designs,  had  foreseen  ;  yet  it  met  not  with  that  reception  which 
 might  naturally  have  been  expected.  The  Word  incarnate,  notwithstanding  this 
 testimony  of  John,  was  rejected  by  the  synagogue,  whilst  a  very  small  number  of 
 its  children  acknowledged  him  for  the  Messiah.  This  criminal  indifference  of  the 
 former  is  thus  recorded  by  the  Evangelist,  and  contrasted  with  the  glorious  reward  of 
 the  latter.  "  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  him,"  and  yet  "  the 
 world  knew  him  not ;  he  came  into  his  own"  inheritance,  viz.  the  Jews,  whom  he 
 had  made  his  chosen  people,  "  and  his  own  received  him  not.  But  as  many  as 
 received  him,  he  gave  them  power  to  be  made  the"  adoptive  "  sons  of  God,  to  them 
 that  believe  in  his  name.  Who  are  born,"  by  a  new  spiritual  birth  in  the  sacrament 
 of  baptism,  "  not  of  blood,"  by  circumcision,  as  children  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  ; 
 "  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,"  by  carnal  descent  from  their  parents  ;  "  nor  of  the  will  of  g^,  g 
 man,"  by  human  adoption;  " but  of  God,"  by  faith  and  divine  grace;  who  receives      26. 
 
 5.  N 
 
46  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  IL 
 
 US  for  his  children  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  as  such  sanctifies  us  by  his 
 Rom.  8.  Spirit :  for  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God. 
 ^*-      "  And"  it  was  with  the  view  of  elevating-  man  to  this  dignity,  that  "  the  Word  was 
 made  flesh,"  becoming  man  by  a  ttue  and  real  union  of  the  divine  and  liuman  nature 
 in  one  person,  which  is  the  person  of  God  the  Son,  "  and  he  dwelt  amongst  us,"  in 
 all  meekness  and  humility.     "  And  we  saw  his  glory,"  being  eye-witnesses  to  his 
 miracles,  and  to  the  various  wonderful  actions  of  his  life,  which  truly  displayed  "  the 
 glory  as  of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth." — What  a 
 subject  of  consolation  to  the  faithful  Christian,  that  Christ  has  brought  us  both  truth 
 and  grace  :  truth  to  teach  us  our  duty,  and  grace  to  enable  us  to  practise  it.     More- 
 over, as  he  alone  could  procure  for  us  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  that  interior  justification 
 which  the  law  of  Moses  could  not  give,  in  this  sense,  he  may  truly  be  said  to  have 
 Heb.  10.  possessed  the  fulness  of  truth,  having  completely  fulfilled  all  former  types  and 
 shadows  of  spiritual  blessings,  giving  us  an  inheritance  in  the  celestial  Canaan,  and 
 
 19.      an  entrance  into  the  true  tabernacle  of  heaven. 
 
 CHAPTER  II. 
 
 THE  ANNUNCIATION  AND  CONCEPTION  OF  ST.  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST.    LUKE  I. 
 
 As  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  and  that  of  his  precursor  St.  John  are  interwoven  together, 
 the  natural  order  requires  that  we  should  begin  with  the  history  of  the  latter,  as  behig 
 introductory  to  that  of  the  former.     This  consideration  makes  St.  Luke  relate,  in  the 
 first  place,  the  wonders  that  signalized  the  conception  of  the  holy  Precursor. 
 Luke  1.       "  In  tiie  days  of  Herod''  the  Great,  "  the  king  of  Judea,  there  was  a  certain 
 priest  named  Zachary,  of  the  rank  of  Abia,"  the  eighth  of  the  twenty-four  families, 
 which,  according  to  the  regulation  of  David,*  were  to  serve  by  turns  in  the  temple  : 
 6        "  and  his  wife  was  of  the  daughters  of  Aaron,  and  her  name  Elisabeth.     And  they 
 were  both  just,"  not  only  in  the  sight  of  men,  but  also  "  in  the  sight  of  God,  walk- 
 ing blameless  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord."     This  how- 
 ever does  not  imply  that  they  were  exempt  from  all  lesser  failings,  such  as  are  called 
 venial ;  but  only  from  those  greater  sins  which  would  have  made  them  forfeit  the 
 7.       grace  and  favour  of  God.     "  And  they  had  not  a  son,  because  Elisabeth  was  barren, 
 s.       and  they  were  both  advanced  in  years.     Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  executed  the 
 
 9.  priestly  function  in  the  order  of  his  rank  before  God,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
 priestly  office,  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  offer  up  incense,  when  he  entered  into  the  temple  of 
 the  Lord  (for  the  priests  drew  lots  for  the  different  functions  to  be  weekly  performed 
 
 10.  by  them).     And  all  the  multitude  of  the  people  was  praying  without,"  in  that  part 
 
 11.  of  the  temple  called  the  court  of  the  Israelites  :  '■'  And  an  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
 to  him  standing  on  the  right  side  of  the  altar  of  incense,"  which  would  be  to  the  left 
 
 12.  hand  of  the  officiating  priest ;  "  and  Zachary  seeing  him  was  troubled,  and  fear  seized 
 him  :"  perhaps  the  more  so,  as  it  was  a  common  opinion  amongst  the  Jews  that  death 
 
 13.  would  be  the  consequence  of  seeing  an  angel. t     "  But  the  angel  said  to  him  :  Fear 
 
 *  1  Par.  244.  t  Gen.  xvi.  17.  Chap.  xxii.  15.  Exod.  xx.  19,  &c. 
 
Ch.  ir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  47 
 
 not  Zachary,  for  thy  petition  is  heard"  respecting-  the  coming  of  the  Messias  ;  "  and 
 thy  wife  Elisabeth  shall  bring  forth  to  thee  a  Son,"  who  shall  be  his  precursor;  "and 
 thou  shalt  call  his  name  John,"  which  signifies  Grace,  as  a  happy  presage  that  the 
 reign  of  grace  is  at  hand.     "  And  thou  shalt  have  joy  and  gladness,  and  many  shall      U. 
 rejoice  at  his  birth  ;  for  he  shall  be  great/'  not  only  in  the  estimation  of  men,  who      15. 
 are  easily  deceived,  but  also  "  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  and  he  shall  neither  drink 
 wine  nor  strong  drink,  and  shall  be  replenished  with  the  Holy  Ghost  even  from  his 
 mother's  womb.     And  he  shall  convert  many  of  the  children  of  Israel  to  the  Lord      I6. 
 their  God,"*  by  bringing  them  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ.     "  He  shall  also  go      17 
 before  him  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,"  labouring  with  the  same  zeal  and  fer- 
 vour as  did  that  holy  prophet,  "  that  he  may  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the 
 children/'t  i.  e.  may  recall  back  *'  the  incredulous"  Jews  of  these  later  times,  "  to 
 the  prudence"  and  faith  "  of  the"  ancient  "just ;"  and  may  thus  "  prepare  unto  the 
 Lord  a  perfect  people,"  and  properly  disposed  to  receive  him.     "  And  Zachary,"      jg 
 doubting  the  truth  of  this  promise,  "  said  to  the  angel :  Whereby  shall  I  know  this  ? 
 for  I  am  an  old  man,  and  my  wife  is  advanced  in  years.     And  the  angel  answering      19. 
 said  to  him  :  I  am  Gabriel,"  one  of  the  chief  angels,  "  who  stand  before  God,  and 
 am  sent  to  speak  to  thee,  and  to  bring  thee  these  good  tidings.     And  behold  thou      90 
 shalt  be  dumb,:}:  and  shalt  not  be  able  to  speak  until  the  day  when  these  things  come 
 to  pass,  because  thou  hast  not  believed  my  words  which  shall  be  fulfilled  in  their 
 time.     Now  the  people  were  waiting  for  Zachary,  and  wondered  that  he  staid  so      21. 
 long  in  the  temple  •  and  coming  out  he  could  not  speak  to  them,"  either  to  bless      22. 
 them,  or  to  give  a  reason  of  his  delay,     "  And  they  perceived,"  from  his  agitation 
 and  trouble,  "  that  he  had  had  a  vision  in  the  temple.     And  he  made  signs  to  them, 
 and  remained"  not  only  "  dumb,"  but  deaf  also,  as  appears  from  the  Greek  text,  and 
 from  the  G2d  verse  below,  where  we  find  that  instead  of  speaking  they  rather  made 
 signs  to  him.     "  And  it  came  to  pass  as  soon  as  the  days  of  his  office  were  expired,      93 
 he  departed  to  his  house"  on  the  mountains  of  Judea.     "  And  after  those  days  his      24 
 wife  Elisabeth  conceived  and  kept  herself  private  five  months,"  in  the  uninterrupted 
 exercises  of  piety  and  devotion,  "  saying  :  It  is  thus  the  Lord  hath  done  to  me  in  the 
 days  wherein  he  hath  had  regard  to  take  away  ray  reproach  among  men,"  on  account 
 of  barrenness  :  "  behold  he  has  made  me  fruitful,  at  an  age  when  fecundity  o-enerally 
 becomes  a  subject  of  confusion." 
 
 *  It  is  evident  that  the  Messias,  before  whom  seeing  them   converted  to  Christ,  and  embracing 
 
 St.  .John  was  to  prepare  the  way,  is  the  Lord  and  the  same  faith  and  hope  as  themselves  had,  they 
 
 the   God  of  the  children  of  Israel,  as  appears  by  will  rejoice  and  be  reconciled  to  them.     This  their 
 
 the  context.     Hence,  this   passage  affords  a  proof  conversion  was  begun  in  part  by  St.  John,  and  will 
 
 oi"  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  strong  perhaps,  hereafter  be  completed  by  Elias,  at  the  end  of  the 
 
 and  as  express  as  any  contained  in  the  holy  scrip-  world, 
 
 tures.  I  It  does   not   however   appear    that    Zachary 
 
 t  Abraham,  Moses,  and  the  Prophets  were  dis-  sinned  mortally  on  this  occasion,  because  his  in- 
 pleased,  and  as  it  were  estranged  from  their  rebel-  credulity  proceeded  more  from  a  perturbation  of 
 iious  and  disobedient  children  the  Jews  ;  but  now  mind  than  from  wilful  obstinacy 
 
48  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  [Ch.  III. 
 
 CHAPTER  III. 
 
 THE  ANNUNCIATION  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN,  AND  THE  INCARNATION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 LUKE  I. 
 
 St.  John  was  conceived  after  the  fast  of  the  Expiation,  which  fell  on  the  10th  of  the 
 7th  month,  called  Tisri,  and  which  corresponds  pretty  nearly  to  the  end  of  September 
 and  the  beginning  of  October  :  because  from  the  2  tth  of  September  till  the  2ith  of 
 June,  the  day  of  St.  John's  nativity,  there  are  precisely  nine  months.  It  was  six 
 months  after  his  conception,  that  God  sent  the  same  angel  Gabriel  *  to  negotiate 
 ■with  the  Blessed  Virgin  concerning  the  great  mystery  of  the  incarnation  of  Jesus 
 Christ.  It  is  thus  related  by  St.  Luke. 
 Luke  L        "In  the  Gth  Month,  the  angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  to  a  city  of  Galilee, 
 
 l^-      named  Nazareth, t  to  a  virgin  espoused  to  a  man,  whose  name  was  Joseph,  of  the 
 
 is.  house  of  David  ;  and  the  name  of  the  virgin  was  Mary. J  And  the  angel,"  in  a 
 visible,^  corporeal  form,  '^  entering  in"  respectfully  "  said  to  her:  Hail  full  of  grace, 
 
 ■29.  our  Lord  is  with  thee  :  Blessed  art  thou  among  women.  ||  Which  words  when  she  had 
 heard,  she  was  troubled  at  his  saying,  and  thought  with  herself  what  kind  of  saluta- 
 tion this  should  be,"  that  Ls,  whether  it  was  a  favour  from  God,  or  a  snare  of  the 
 devil.  We  may  admire  her  guarded  conduct  on  this  occasion,  which  shows  that  she 
 possessed  a  degree  of  wisdom  and  strength  of  mind  far  superior  to  that  of  her  sex. 
 
 30.  "  And  the  angel,"  seeing  her  uneasiness,  "  said  to  her  :  Fear  not,  Mary  ;  for  thou 
 hast  found  grace  with  God,"  and  art  blessed  beyond  any  other  woman,  having  the 
 
 *  Gabriel  signifies  the  strenglh  of  (lod;  as  such  ambition,  detraction,  jealousy,  or  envy,  look  up  at 
 
 he  was  proper  to  announce  him  who  is  the  Lord  the  star,  call  on  Mary.     If  anger,  covetousness,  or 
 
 of  Hosts,  and  who  came  to  overthrow  the  powers  lust,  beat  on  the  vessel   of  your  soul,  look  up  on 
 
 of  hell.  Mary.     If  you  bep^in  to  sink   in   the   gulf  of  me- 
 
 t  Nazareth   was   a  city  of  the   Lower   Galilee,  lancholy  and  despair,  think  on  Mary.    In  dangers, 
 
 situated  in   the  south  part  of  that  province,  and  in  distresses,  in  perplexities,  think  on  Mary,  call 
 
 therefore  not  far  from  tlie  confines  of  Samaria  to  on  Mary ;  let  her  not  depart  from  your  mouth  ; 
 
 the  south,  and  nearer  to  the  territories  of  Tyre  and  let  her  not  depart  from  your  heart  ;  and  that  yon 
 
 Sidon  to  the  north-west.    According  to  Mr.  Maun-  may  obtain  the  suffrage  of  her  prayers,  never  de- 
 
 drell's  account,  in  his  journey  from  Aleppo,  it  is  at  part  from  the  example  of  her  conversation." — S. 
 
 ])resent  only  an  inconsiderable  village,  lyitig    in    a  Ber.  horn.  2.  super  Minms  est. 
 kind  of  round  concave  valley,  on  the  top  of  a  high  §  Faeie   rutilans,  veste  coruscans,  incessu  mira- 
 
 hill.     Here  is  a  convent  built  over  the  place  of  the  bilis.     Inter  Sermones  S.  Aug.  195.  Append.  Ed. 
 
 annunciation,   on   the   .spot  where   the   B.   Virgin  Ben. — St.  Thomas  supports  likewise  this  opinion 
 
 received  the  joyful   message  brought  her  by    the  by  the  authority  of  St.  Chrysostom. 
 angel.  II  These  words  make  the  first  part  of  the  Hail 
 
 X  And  the  name  of  the  virgin  was  Mary. — The  Mary,  which  is  hence  called  the  Angelical  Salu- 
 word  Miriam,  or  Mary,  is  expounded  by  St.  Je-  tation.  According  to  Mabillon,  they  were  first 
 rome  from  different  etymologies,  to  signify  in  introduced  into  the  office  of  the  church  by  St. 
 Hebrew,  a  Star  of  the  Sea,  and  in  Chaldaic,  Lady.  Gregory  the  Great,  but  did  not  become  of  general 
 Both  these  names  admirably  agree  to  her  who  is  use  till  after  the  year  1246.  The  second  ])art  of 
 the  "-lorious  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  our  Patroness  this  prayer  is  the  salutation  with  which  St.  Elisa- 
 and  Star  to  direct  vis  in  the  stormy  sea  of  this  beth  received  the  Blessed  Virgin  into  her  house, 
 world.  "  O  you,"  cries  out  St.  Bernard,  "  who  find  when  she  came  to  visit  her.  The  last  part.  Holy 
 yourselves  tossed  in  the  tempests  of  this  world,  Mary,  c^x.  was  added  from  the  great  council  of 
 turn  not  your  eyes  from  the  brightness  of  this  Ephesus,  an.  431,  when  the  Virgin  Mary  was  de- 
 star,  if  ye  would  not  be  overwhelmed  by  storms,  clared  ilfo^Aer  of  God  with  the  joyful  acclamations 
 If  the  winds  of  temptations  rise  ;  if  you  fall  among  of  the  whole  Church  against  the  hcresiarch  Nesto- 
 the  rocks  of  tribulations  ;  look  up  at  the  star,  call  rius — Mabil.  Praef  in  Act.  sebc.  5.  Ben.  Cardinal 
 on  Mary.  If  you  are  tossed  by  the  waves  of  pride.  Bona,  &c. 
 
Ch.  in.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  49 
 
 honour  of  being  raised  to  the  highest  dignity  which  God  could  confer  upon  his  crea- 
 tures.    "  Behold,  thou  shalt  conceive  in  thy  womb,  and  shalt  bring  forth  a  son  ;  and      31. 
 thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus.    He  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the      32. 
 Most  High,  and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the  throne  of  David  his  father 
 [his  maternal  ancestor],  and  he  shall  reign  in  the  house  of  Jacob  for  ever,"  that  is, 
 over  the  Church  of  God  composed  of  Jews  and  Gentiles;  "  and  of  his  kino-dom      33. 
 there  shall  be  no  end." 
 
 Such  are  tlie  characters  of  Christ's  greatness  here  foretold  by  the  ano-el.  He 
 shall  be  great:  1.  In  his  descent  or  origin^  being  truly  the  eternal  Son  of  God. 
 2.  In  his  dignity,  being  the  great  King  that  was  to  reign  over  the  throne  of  his 
 father  David.  Hence,  from  the  first  moment  of  his  conception,  God  conferred  upon 
 him  the  sacred  character  of  the  Messiah,  anciently  promised  to  David  ;  in  this  quality 
 Christ  afterwards  manifested  himself  to  the  world  during  the  course  of  his  ministry ; 
 likewise  after  his  resurrection  and  triumphant  ascension  into  heaven ;  and  such  he 
 will  be  universally  acknowledged  at  the  day  of  judgment.  But  his  kino-dom  is  not 
 of  this  world ;  it  is  only  of  a  spiritual  nature :  he  reigns  over  the  minds  of  men  by 
 faith,  over  their  hearts  by  charity,  and  lastly  he  will  reign  over  all  mankind  for  ever 
 hereafter  either  in  a  state  of  happiness  or  misery,  according  to  each  one's  respective 
 merits.  His  throne  is  called  the  throne  of  David,  because  the  reign  of  David  prefi- 
 gured that  of  the  Messiah.  3.  His  kingdom  extends  not  only  over  a  part  of  the 
 twelve  tribes,  but  over  the  whole  house  of  Jacob,  i.  e.  the  whole  Church  of  God 
 composed  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  viz.  of  the  children  of  Jacob  accordino-  to  the  flesh 
 and  of  the  children  of  Jacob  according  to  the  spirit ;  who  see  God  by  faith,  and  who 
 live  in  hopes  of  seeing  him  face  to  face  hereafter  in  glory.  The  4th  character  of 
 Christ's  kingdom  is  its  duration ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  interrupted  by  captivities,  nor 
 diminished  by  length  of  time,  but,  after  continuing  through  ao-es,  will  endure  to 
 all  eternity. 
 
 But  to  return,  "  Mary,"  attentive  to  the  preservation  of  her  virginity,  which  she  34 
 had  promised  to  God  by  a  vow,*  "  said  to  the  angel :  how  shall  this  be  done,  because 
 I  know  not  man  ;"  for  she  could  form  to  herself  no  idea  of  any  mode  of  conception 
 but  such  as  is  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  which  was  incompatible  with  her  vow. 
 Her  request  therefore  to  the  angel  did  not  proceed  from  any  disbelief,  nor  from  any 
 vain  curiosity,  but  from  a  commendable  prudence,  being  desirous  of  knowing  how 
 she  might  comply  with  the  will  of  God  without  prejudice  to  her  former  eno-ao-ement. 
 "  And  the  angel  answering  said  to  her,"  that  she  had  nothing  to  fear  with  reoard  to  35 
 her  virginity  ;  because  her  conception  was  to  be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost :°"  The 
 Holy  Ghost,"  said  he,  "  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  Hio-h 
 shall  overshadow  thee.  And  therefore  the  Holy"  Fruit  "  which  shall  be  born  of  thee, 
 shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God.f     And,"  as  a  proof  of  what  I  say,  "  behold  thy      36. 
 
 *  This  is  certain  from  the  unanimoas  testimony  St.  Joseph,  who  made  a  similar   vow  at  the  same 
 
 of  the  holy  Fathers.    See  Petavius,  1.  14.  de  Incar.  time. 
 
 c.  4.— The   B.  Virgin   made  this  vow   of  viririnity         f  It  is  to  he   observed  that  this  conversation  of 
 
 before  her  marriage  with  St.  Joseph,   according  to  the   angel  with   the  B.  V.   Mary  turns   entirely  on 
 
 St.  .Austin;   but   according   to    St.  Thomas,   it  was  the   temporal   generation   of  the  divine  Word,  and 
 
 after  her  marriage,  and  with  'he  mutual  consent  of  therefore   to  form  a  perfect  idea  of  Jesus  Christ 
 
 5.  o  ' 
 
50 
 
 37. 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  IIL 
 
 cousin  Elisabeth,  she  also  hath  conceived  a  son  in  her  old  age  :  and  this  is  the  sixth 
 month  to  her,  who  is  called  barren;  because  nothing  shall  be  impossible  to  God." 
 Wherefore  as  he  has  enabled  thy  cousin  to  conceive,  notwithstanding  her  old  age  and 
 barrenness,  so  will  he  render  thee  fruitful  without  any  detriment  to  thy  virginal 
 integrity.  "  And  Mary,"  in  submission  to  God's  will,  without  any  farther  inquiries, 
 expressed  her  full  consent  in  these  humble  but  powerful  words :  "  Behold  the  hand- 
 maid of  the  Lord,  be  it  done  to  me  according  to  thy  word :"  showing  hereby  that  the 
 mystery  of  the  incarnation  was  a  work  that  depended  on  the  omnipotency  of  God,  as 
 did  the  first  creation  of  the  world.  "And  the  angel  departed  from  her,"  full  of 
 astonishment  at  the  wonderful  mystery  which  was  now  accomplished. 
 
 Thus  did  the  Blessed  Virgin,  by  her  happy  assent  to  the  Angel's  proposal,  repair 
 that  unhappy  assent  given  by  the  first  woman  to  the  devil's  suggestion.  For  in  the 
 moment  she  expressed  her  consent,  she  immediately  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost; 
 who  by  his  almighty  power  formed  a  body  out  of  her  purest  blood,  and  created  an 
 immortal  soul  for  that  body  ;  and  this  body  and  soul  were  at  the  same  instant  assumed, 
 and  united  to  the  Eternal  Word,  the  Son  of  God,  the  second  Person  of  the  adorable 
 Trinity.  Thus  was  accomplished  the  great  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  that  mystery 
 of  love  and  mercy  which  had  been  promised  to  mankind  4000  years  before,  which 
 had  been  foretold  by  so  many  prophets,  and  desired  by  so  many  saints.  Thus  God 
 beo-an  to  have  an  adorer  in  man,  who  by  being  hypostatically  united  to  God  the  Son, 
 is  worthy  to  give  infinite  praise  and  glory  ;  and  the  world  a  Mediator  who  is  omni- 
 potent. God  was  made  man,  and  man,  in  the  Divine  Person,  was  made  God,  and 
 the  Viro-in  Mary  was  made  Mother  of  God.  St.  Peter  Chrysologus  thus  briefly 
 expresses  the  fruits  of  this  wonderful  mystery :  "  A  virgin  so  receives  and  contains 
 God  in  the  lodging  of  her  sacred  womb,  as  to  procure  peace  for  the  earth,  glory  for 
 heaven,  salvation  for  the  lost,  life  for  the  dead,  and  an  alliance  of  men  on  earth  with 
 the  blessed  in  heaven." 
 
 It  is  an  ancient  tradition,  as  St.  Austin  observes,  that  this  mystery  was  completed 
 on  the  25th  of  March,  which  is  therefore  kept  a  feast  of  obligation.  Both  the  eastern 
 and  western  churches  celebrate  it  on  this  day,  and  have  done  so,  at  least  ever  since 
 the  5th  century.  This  festival  is  mentioned  by  Pope  Gelasius  I.  in  492.— To  praise 
 the  divine  goodness  for  this  incomprehensible  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  Urban  II., 
 in  the  council  of  Clermont  in  1095,  ordered  the  bell  to  be  rung  every  day  for  the 
 triple  Angelical  Salutation,  called  Angdus  Domini,  at  morning,  noon,  and  night. 
 This  practice  of  devotion  is  highly  proper,  and  still  obtains  in  Catholic  countries : 
 several  Popes  have  recommended  it  to  the  faithful  by  indulgences,  as  John  XXII., 
 Calixtus  III.,  Paul  III.,  &c.  Benedict  XIII.  augmented  these  indulgences  to  those 
 who,  at  the  aforesaid  hours,  shall  devoutly  recite  this  prayer  kneeling. 
 
 both  as  to  his  human  and  divine  nature,  we  must     wanting  to  this  discourse.     See  chap.  i. 
 supply  from  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John  what  is 
 
Ch.  IV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  51 
 
 CHAPTER  IV. 
 
 THE  VISITATION.       LUKE  I. 
 
 1.  Mary  vhiu  "  Now  in  those  days,"  soon  after  the  above-mentioned  embassy,  "  Mary    "gg  * 
 Elisabeth,      rising   up,"   without   considering  her    new    dignity,    or    the  inconve- 
 niences of  the  journey,  "  went  with  speed  into  the  mountainous  country,  to  a  city 
 
 of  Juda,"  which  St.  Luke  does  not  name,  but  which  was  probably  Hebron,  situated 
 in  the  hilly  country  of  Juda,  and  which  with  the  neighbouring  villages  had  been 
 allotted  by  Josue  for  the  habitation  of  the  priests.*  This  place  was  at  the  distance 
 of  about  four  or  five  days'  journey  from  Nazareth. 
 
 As  the  feast  of  the  Passover  was  now  approaching,  it  is  most  likely  that  Joseph 
 accompanied  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  far  as  Jerusalem ;  and  that,  after  the  feast,  he 
 returned  home  to  Nazareth,  whilst  his  spouse  continued  her  journey  alone  to  Hebron. 
 Whether  Joseph  might  decline  to  attend  Mary  to  Hebron  through  fear  of  inconve- 
 nience to  her  relations,  as  her  stay  was  intended  to  be  of  considerable  duration,  or 
 whether  his  trade  might  recall  him  to  Galilee,  does  not  appear  from  scripture :  but 
 it  is  clear  from  the  suspicions  subsequently  entertained  by  him,  that  he  was  not 
 present  at  the  first  interview  between  Mary  and  Elisabeth.  We  remark  on  this 
 occasion,  the  words  of  Elisabeth,  how  expressive  they  are  of  her  great  respect  and 
 veneration  for  Mary,  whilst  the  answer  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  breathes  nothing  on  her 
 part  but  the  most  profound  humility. 
 
 The  Blessed  Virgin  "entered  into  the  house  of  Zachary,  and  saluted  Elisabeth.      4o. 
 And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  Elisabeth  heard  the  salutation  of  Mary,  the  infant,"      41. 
 animated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  a  preternatural  motion,  "  leaped  in  her  womb," 
 showing  thereby  the  early  knowledge  he  had  of  the  presence  of  his  Redeemer  ;t 
 "  and  Elisabeth"  herself  "  was"  likewise  "  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and,"  in      42. 
 terms  of  admiration  and  thanksgiving,  "  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  and  said"  to 
 her  kinswoman  Mary,  "  Blessed  art  thou  amongst  women,  and  blessed  is  the  fruit 
 of  thy  womb.];     And  whence  is  this"  favour  "  to  me,  that  the  mother  of  my  Lord      43. 
 should  come  to  me?     For  behold  as  soon  as  the  voice  of  thy  salutation  sounded  in      44. 
 my  ears,  the  infant  in  my  womb  leaped  for  joy,"  giving-  me  hereby  to  understand, 
 that  thou  bearest  in  thy  womb  the  Son  of  God,  whose  precursor  he  is  to  be.     "  And      45. 
 blessed  art  thou  that,"  without  any  hesitation,  "  hast  believed,  because  those  things 
 shall  be  accomplished  that  were  spoken  to  thee  by  the  Lord. 
 
 2.  Canticle  of  And  Mary  said,"  referring  to  God  alone  the  whole  glory  of  her  46. 
 the  B.F.Mary,  exalted  privilege:  ''My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  47. 
 hath  rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour,  because  he  hath  regarded  the  lowliness  of  his  4S. 
 handmaid,"  in  choosing  me  to  be  the  mother  of  his  Son  ;  "  for  behold  from  henceforth 
 
 *  Josue  xxi.  9.  son,  and  adored  the  Messiah  before  he  was  yet  born. 
 
 t  See  St,  Austin  (Ep.  ad  Dardan)  and   the  an-  J  That  our  B.  Lady  had  conceived,   could  only 
 
 cient  Fathers,  who  agree  that  the  holy  infant  being  be  known  to  Elisabeth  by  revelation,    it  being  not 
 
 cleansed  from  original  sin,  anticipated  the  use  of  rea-  yet  perceptible  to  human  eyes. 
 
52  THE  T.IFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  IV. 
 
 49  all  generations  shall  call  me  blessed  :*  Because  he  that  is  mighty,  hath  done  great 
 
 r,o  thinps  to  me,  and  holy  is  his  name,  and  his  mercy  is  from  generation  unto  genera- 
 
 51.  tion  to  them  that  fear  him.     He  hath  showed  might  in  his  arm  :  he  hath  scattered 
 
 52.  the  proud  in  the  conceit  of  their  heart.     He  hath  put  down  the  mighty  from  their 
 
 53.  seat,  and  those  of  an  humble  condition  he  hatli  exahed.     He  hath  filled  the  hungry 
 .^4.  with  good  things,  and  the  rich  he  hath  sent  empty  away.     He  hath  favoured  his 
 
 servant  Israel,  being  mindful  of  his  mercy.  As  he  spoke  to  our  forefathers  Abraham 
 and  his  seed  for  ever,"  when  he  formed  with  them  that  alliance  described  in  the  17th 
 and  2"2d  chapters  of  Genesis.  "  Now  Mary  staid  with  her  cousin  Elisabeth  about 
 three  months,  and  then  returned  to  her  own  home,"  whether  after  or  before  St. 
 Elisabeth  was  delivered  of  St.  John  is  uncertain.! 
 
 The  above  canticle,  which  is  called  the  Magnificat,  is  the  first  recorded  in  the 
 New  Testament,  and  both  in  dignity  of  sentiment  and  majesty  of  style,  equals  if  not 
 surpasses  all  those  of  the  ancient  prophets.  It  is  daily  recited  by  the  ministers  of 
 God's  church,  as  the  most  perfect  model  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  for  the  incarna- 
 tion of  the  Son  of  God,  and  therefore  cannot  be  too  often  repeated  by  every  grateful 
 Christian.  In  this  canticle  the  B.  Virgin  admirably  displays  the  humble  senliinents 
 which  penetrated  her  soul  even  in  her  highest  exaltation.  Elisabeth  had  by  her 
 praises  extolled  her  above  all  others  of  her  sex,  but  Mary  refers  the  whole  glory  to 
 God  alone;  and,  in  an  ecstasy  of  joy,  breaks  forth  into  the  praises  of  her  bountiful 
 Saviour,  who,  notwithstanding  her  meanness  and  unworthiness,  had  made  choice  of 
 her  to  co-operate  in  so  great  a  work  as  the  redemption  of  man  :  she  confidently 
 asserts  that  on  this  account  her  happiness  would  be  proclaimed  by  all  the  nations  of 
 the  earth.  With  a  grateful  heart  she  admires  the  astonishing  wonders  which  God 
 has  wrouo-ht  in  her  in  this  mystery,  1.  By  uniting  man  to  God  in  the  same  person  ; 
 a  work  incomprehensible  to  the  human  mind:  2.  by  rendering  the  conception  of  his 
 divine  Son,  both  in  his  and  her  regard,  perfectly  holy,  and  exempt  from  all  that 
 corruption  which  is  incident  to  the  origin  of  man :  and  lastly,  by  displaying  his 
 mercy  from  ao-e  to  age  in  favour  of  those  that  fear  him  ;  the  incarnation  being  a 
 mystery  of  mercy,  which  opens  to  them  the  gate  of  heaven,  hitherto  shut  against  all 
 mankind.  Elisabeth  had  congratulated  the  Blessed  Virgin  on  the  firmness  of  her 
 faith  as  the  meritorious  cause  of  her  great  exaltation  ;  Mary  tacitly  refuses  such  con- 
 gratulation from  a  sentiment  of  humility,  by  reminding  her  that  God  had  chosen  her 
 on  this  occasion  for  this  greatest  of  his  worlcs,  because  she  was  the  meanest  of  his 
 
 *  These  words  are  a  prediction  of  that  honour  larly  in  need  of  her  assistance,  would  apparently 
 which  the  CathoHc  Church  in  all  ages  hath  shown  have  been  contrary  both  to  charity  and  ijood  man- 
 to  the  B.  Virn^in.  ners.     By  assisting-  on   this  occasion,  our  Blessed 
 
 +  We  think  it  however  more  probable,  that  she  Lady  had  an  opportunity  of  learning-  two  things  : 
 
 remained  with  St.  Elisabeth  till  after  the   birth  of  1st.  to  praise  and  glorify  God,  who  exempted  her 
 
 St.  John    and  this  is  the  ojiinion   of  Ven.   Bede,  from  all  pain  in  the  birth  of  her  son:  ^dly,  what 
 
 Maldona'tus,    Coraelius   a   Lapide,    &c.      Tamdiu  she  was  to  provide  for  the  swaddling  of  her  infaut- 
 
 mansit   Virn-o,    donee   pra?cursoris,  propter  quam  God,  and   in   what    manner  this  was  to  be  done, 
 
 maxime  vener'at,  nativitatem  viderat.    Bede  in  c.  i.  For  what  time  or  place  ciiuld   be  more  opportune 
 
 Luc.     Indeed  to  have  left  her  cousin  just  at  the  for  such  intbrmatinn,  than  the  birth  of  St,  John  and 
 
 time  of  her  confinement,  when  she  stood  particu-  the  holy  family  of  Zachary  ? 
 
Ch.  IV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 53 
 
 Phil.  2. 
 
 servants  ;  as  he  had  on  former  occasions  displayed  the  strength  of  his  arm  by  crushing 
 the  proud,  and  showing  favour  to  the  humble,  by  raising  up  to  the  throne  those  who 
 were  in  a  low  station  of  life,  and  by  filling  the  poor  with  good  things,  whilst  the  rich 
 he  sent  empty  away.  Thus  had  he  likewise  acted  in  her  regard,  by  choosino-  on  this 
 occasion  for  his  mother  a  poor,  unknown  maid,  preferably  to  all  the  illustrious  persons, 
 however  distinguished  by  their  riches  and  personal  accomplishments.  Lastly,  Mary 
 had  received  from  her  cousin  the  most  hearty  thanks  for  the  honour  of  her  visit ;  but 
 she  answers  that  these  are  due  to  God  alone,  who  at  length  had  been  mindful  of  his 
 mercy,  and  visited  his  people  to  deliver  them  from  the  oppression  of  their  enemies, 
 by  sending  his  Son  according  to  the  promise  which  he  had  made  to  Abraham  and 
 his  posterity  for  ever. 
 
 Whilst  with  the  Church  we  praise  God  for  the  mercies  and  wonders  which  he 
 wrought  in  this  mystery,  we  ought  to  apply  ourselves  to  the  imitation  of  the  virtues 
 of  which  Mary  sets  us  a  perfect  example.     From  her  we  ought  particularly  to  learn 
 the  merit  and  excellency  of  faith,  for  which  she  is  pronounced  blessed  by  St.  Elisabeth. 
 Blessed  art  thou  that  hast  believed.     Faith,  indeed,  is  the  very  foundation  of  salvation, 
 and  nothing  can  supply  the  want  of  it.     "  Without  faith,''  says  the  apostle,  "  it  is 
 impossible  to  please  God."     Now  this  faith  is  not  a  presumptuous  confidence  of  the 
 remission  of  our  sins  and  of  our  justification,  as  some  sectarists  vainly  imagine;  for 
 this  excludes  that  humble  fear  with  which  we  are  taught  to  work  out  our  salvation  :  ^'i'^ 
 but  a  firm  belief  of  all  those  things  which  God  has  revealed  or  promised.     "  Faith,''  ^°™-  ^l- 
 says  the  apostle,  "  is  the  substance   (that  is  the  strong  foundation)  of  things  to  be  „  .  ' 
 hoped  for;  the  evidence  of  things  that  are  not  seen."     These  good  thin  o-s  which  we       \. 
 hope  for  ;  these  truths  unseen,  are  made  as  it  were  visible  to  the  soul  by  faith.     This 
 faith  was  always  the  consolation,  the  support  and  strength  of  the  servants  of  God ;  it 
 was  by  faith  that  Abel  offered  to  God  a  sacrifice  more  excellent  than  that  of  Cain,  and 
 obtained  the  denomination  of  Just ;  it  was  by  faith  that  Henoch  was  translated  without 
 seeing  death ;  it  was  by  faith  that  Abraham  obeyed  the  call  of  God  in  leavino-  his 
 native  land,  and  dwelhng  in  a  strange  country;  it  was  by  faith  that  Sarah,  thouo-h 
 barren  and  advanced  in  age,  received  strength  from  above  to  conceive  and  bring- 
 forth  a  son  ;  it  was  by  faith  that  Moses  renounced  the  honour  of  beino-  the  son  of 
 Pharao's  daughter,  choosing  rather  to  be  afflicted  with  the  people  of  God,  than  to 
 enjoy  the  vain  and  sinful  pleasures  of  a  court;  it  was  by  faith  that  he  celebrated  the 
 passover,  and  made  a  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  by  which  the  first-born  of 
 the  Israelites  were  saved ;  it  was  by  faith  that  the  Israelites  passed  throuo-h  the  Red 
 Sea  as  on  dry  land,  while  the  Egyptians  were  swallowed  up  in  its  waves.     But  if 
 faith  was  such  an  abundant  source  of  happiness  and  glory  to  the  patriarchs  and  saints 
 of  the  first  alliance,  as  the  apostle  thus  shows  in  the  11th  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to 
 the  Hebrews,  we  shall  find  in  the  sequel  of  this  history,  that  those  of  the  new  law  who 
 have  distinguished  themselves  by  an  active  and  lively  faith,  have  been  equally  the 
 favourites  of  heaven.     It  is  by  faith  that  the  paralytic  obtains  of  Christ  the  pardon  of 
 his  sins  and  the  cure  of  his  malady  :   it  is  by  faith  that  the  woman  who  had  laboured 
 for  twelve  years  under  a  cruel  disorder  is  suddenly  cured :  by  faith  those  who  were 
 born  blind  recover  their  sight :  by  faith  the  Cananean  woman  obtains  the  delivery  ol 
 5,  p 
 
54 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  V. 
 
 her  dauo-hter  from  the  power  of  the  devil :  by  faith  the  centurion's  servant  is  snatched 
 from  the  jaws  of  death,  and  restored  to  his  master  :  it  is  by  faith,  working  by  charity, 
 that  the  sinful  woman  of  the  Gospel  washes  the  feet  of  her  divine  Master,  and  obtains 
 tlie  pardon  of  her  sins,  &c.  Hence  faith  is  deservedly  styled  the  treasure  of  God's 
 children,  the  mother  of  good  works,  and  the  source  of  innumerable  graces  and  bless- 
 ings :  it  is  this  which  begins  and  perfects  all  our  meritorious  actions ;  which  saves 
 sinners,  says  St.  Austin,  which  enlightens  the  blind,  which  heals  the  infirm,  which 
 supports  the  faithful,  which  crowns  the  martyr,  which  purifies  the  virgin,  which  sanc- 
 tifies priests,  and  prepares  us  for  the  happy  society  of  the  blessed.* 
 
 Luke  1 
 
 CO. 
 'il. 
 
 64. 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 
 NATIVITY  OF  ST.  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST.       LUKE  I. 
 
 "  Now  Elisabeth's  full  time  of  being  delivered  was  come,  and  she  brought  forth  a 
 57.  son  "  whose  birth  was  attended  with  many  wonderful  circumstances.  "  And  her 
 neighbours  and  kinsfolks  heard  that  the  Lord  had  showed  his  great  mercy  towards 
 her  and  they  congratulated  with  her,"  thus  fulfilling  in  part  what  the  angel  had 
 foretold.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  that  on  the  eighth  day  they  came  to  circumcise  the 
 child,  and  they  called  him  by  his  father's  name  Zachary.  And  his  mother,"  who 
 knew  by  revelation  what  the  angel  had  said  to  her  husband,  "  answering,  said :  Not 
 so,  but  he  shall  be  called  John.f  And  they  said  to  her:  there  is  no  one  of  thy 
 kindred  that  is  called  by  this  name  :"  but  finding  her  determined  on  this  point,  "they 
 made  sio-ns  to  his  father,"  because  he  was  deaf  as  well  as  dumb,  to  signify  "how  he 
 would  have  him  called.  And  demanding  a  writing-table,  he  wrote,  saying  :  John  is 
 his  name.  And  they  all  wondered,"  that  the  parents,  apparently  without  any  previous 
 ao-reement,  should  thus  both  assign  the  same  name,  which  was  totally  foreign  to  their 
 kindred  thence  concluding  it  must  be  the  effect  of  the  divine  interposition.  "  And 
 immediately"  Zachary's  "  mouth  was  opened,  and  he  recovered  his  speech,  and  he 
 spoke  blessino-  God,"  for  his  great  goodness  both  to  himself  and  to  all  mankind,  in 
 visitino-  them  in  the  most  tender  bowels  of  his  mercy.  "  And  a"  prodigious  "  fear 
 came  upon  all  their  neighbours  ;  and  all  these  things  were  noised  abroad  over  all 
 the  mountainous  country  of  Judea;"  viz.  the  apparition  of  the  angel  to  Zachary,  his 
 foretellino- to  him  the  birth  of  the  child,  the  father's  incredulity  and  immediate  punish- 
 ment and  lastly,  the  instantaneous  recovery  both  of  his  voice  and  hearing  ;  an  event 
 which  had  been  witnessed  by  numbers.  "  And  all  who  heard"  these  things  "  laid 
 them  up  in  their  hearts,  saying  :  what  a  child,  think  you,  will  this  be?  for  the  hand 
 of  the  Lord  hath  been  with  him.  And  his  father  Zachary  was  replenished  with  the 
 Holy  Ghost :  and  he  prophesied,  saying : 
 
 ich  of       Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  because  he  hath  visited  and  wrought 
 Zachary.     the  redemption  of  his  people  :  and  he  hath  raised  up  to  us  a  powerful 
 
 *  See  St.  Austin,  Ser.  10.  de  Verb.  Apost.  who  was  to  be  the  precursor  of  that  extraordinary 
 
 t  The  name  of  John  sii^nities  grace,  pity,  mercy;     grace  and  mercy  which  God  designed  for  manliind, 
 arid  was  therefore  very  properly  assigned  to  him     in  the  incarnation  of  his  only  Son  Jesus  Ciirist. 
 
Ch.  v.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  I 
 
 salvation*  in  the  family  of  David  his  servant.     As  he  spoke  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy      70. 
 
 prophets^  who  were  from  the  beginning,  that  he  would  save  us  from  our  enemies,  and      71. 
 
 from  the  hand  of  all  that  hate  us :  to  show  his  mercy  towards  our  fathers,  and  to  be      72. 
 
 mindful  of  his  holy  testament,"  or  covenant,  made  with  them  respecting  the  Messias^      '3. 
 
 "  according  to  the  oath  which  he  swore  to  our  father  Abraham,  that  he  would  grant 
 
 us  ;  that  being  delivered  from  the  hand  of  our"  spiritual  "enemies"  Satan  and  sin,      '-l- 
 
 "  we  may  serve  him"  with  a  free,  generous  love,  "  without  fear,  in  holiness  and 
 justice  before  him,  all  our  days."     Then  addressing  the  young  child  whom  God  had      75. 
 
 given  him,  he  said  :  "  And  thou,  child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Most  High  :      76. 
 
 for  thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his  ways"  in  the  minds  and 
 
 hearts  of  mankind,  "to  give  the  knowledge  of  salvation  [i.  e.  of  the  Messiah]  to  his      77. 
 
 people,  for  the  remission  of  their  sins,  through  the  bowels  of  the  mercy  of  our  God,      78. 
 
 by  which  the  Rising  Light  hath  visited  us  from  on  high  :  to  enlighten  them  that  sit      75. 
 in  the  darkness"  of  error  and  ignorance,  "  and  in  the  shades  of  the  death"  of  sin, 
 
 "  to  direct  our  feet  in  the  ways  of"  true  and  everlasting  "  peace." 
 
 This  canticle  of  Zachary,  which  the  Church  daily  recites  at  Lauds,  may  be  divided 
 into  two  parts.  The  first  contains  a  thanksgiving  for  the  inestimable  benefit  of  the 
 incarnation  :  the  second  is  a  prophecy  which  regards  St.  John  Baptist,  who  was  to 
 prepare  the  world  for  that  great  event.  1.  Zachary  blesses  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
 the  true  Israel,  for  having  vouchsafed  to  visit  his  people,  not  as  formerly  by  means  of 
 his  prophets,  but  by  sending  his  own  divine  Son,  whom  he  clothed  with  our  human 
 nature.  2.  He  glorifies  him  for  having  redeemed  them  from  the  slavery  of  sin,  of  the 
 devil,  of  concupiscence,  and  of  death.  3.  For  having  erected  the  standard  of  salvation, 
 and  established  an  everlasting  kingdom  in  the  house  of  his  servant  David,  i.  e.  in  his 
 holy  Catholic  Church,  in  spite  of  all  the  opposition  from  the  devil,  the  world,  and  the 
 flesh.  He  further  specifies  the  particulars  of  the  infinite  blessing  thus  conferred  upon 
 man,  which  implied  our  deliverance  from  all  evils,  and  our  enjoyment  of  all  o-ood 
 things.  God  had  by  his  prophets  promised  us  salvation  from  all  our  enemies,  both 
 visible  and  invisible :  these  are  the  world  and  the  flesh,  the  devil,  sin,  and  concu- 
 piscence. This  promise  he  now  begins  to  fulfil ;  that  we  may  serve  our  God  without 
 fear,  in  holiness  and  justice  all  our  days.  Without  fear,  because  the  law  of  the 
 gospel  is  a  law  of  love,  and  not  of  servile  fear:  in  holiness,  which  consists  not  in 
 bloody  sacrifices,  nor  in  a  multiplicity  of  outward  ceremonies,  as  in  the  old  law  ;  but 
 in  a  worship  proceeding  from  the  heart,  a  pure  spiritual  worship,  such  as  God,  who  is 
 a  pure  spirit,  demands  of  us  :  injustice,  which  consists  in  a  just  and  uprio-ht  conduct 
 towards  God  and  our  neighbour :  not  merely  in  show  and  words,  like  that  of  the 
 Pharisees,  but  grounded  in  truth  and  sincerity  ;  which  influences  our  actions,  and 
 causes  us  to  observe  all  God's  precepts,  and  to  perform  all  our  duties  in  a  proper 
 manner.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  Zachary  here  expresses  himself  as  if  speakino-  of 
 what  had  already  passed :  this  he  does,  not  only  to  show,  after  the  manner  of  the 
 prophets,  his  certainty  of  what  was  to  come,  but  also  that  the  great  work  of  our  redemp- 
 tion was  now  begun  by  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  and  therefore,  that  the  other 
 parts  belonging  to  it  would  follow,  of  course,  in  order  to  its  perfect  accomplishment. 
 
 *  Liteial'y  the  horn  of  salvation,  the  horn  being-  a  symbol  of  plenty  and  stren"-th. 
 
55  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  V. 
 
 80.  "  And  the  child  grew,  and  was  strengthened  in  spirit,"  as  he  advanced  in  age  ; 
 
 "  and  he  was  in  the  desert  till  the  day  of  his  manifestation  to  Israel,"  when  he  publicly 
 announced  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  in  the  manner  hereafter  related.  The  imme- 
 diate reason  of  his  retiring  into  the  d&sert,  was  probably  the  persecution  of  Herod  • 
 at  least  such  is  the  reason  assigned  by  Peter  of  Alexandria  in  the  6th  general 
 council.*  As  the  son  of  Zachary  was  at  that  time  only  about  seven  months  old,  his 
 miraculous  conception  and  birth  might  afford  grounds  of  suspicion  to  that  tyrant,  and 
 therefore  he  might  easily  have  been  involved  in  the  bloody  decree  of  extermination  ; 
 especially  as  the  hills  of  Judea  were  not  very  far  distant  from  Bethlehem.  It  has 
 been  piously  believed  that  he  was  conducted  into  the  desert  by  his  mother,  and  there 
 fed  by  angels  after  her  death. 
 
 St.  John  lived  in  the  desert  till  the  age  of  30,  and  there  exhibited  a  specimen 
 of  the  eremetical  life  which  was  afterwards  embraced  by  so  many  holy  men.f  He  had 
 neither  scrip  nor  servant,  says  Origen,:}:  nor  so  much  as  a  cottage  to  shelter  himself 
 from  tlie  inclemency  of  the  weather  :  he  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the  exercises  of  holy 
 prayer  and  contemplation,  leading  a  most  austere  penitential  life,§  and  disdaining, 
 as  St.  Jerom  says,  to  behold  worldly  vanities  with  eyes  which  coveted  only  to  see 
 Christ.  How  loudly  does  his  penitential  youth  condemn  those  pretended  Christians, 
 whose  life  is  altogether  worldly,  and  who,  instead  of  curbing  their  inclinations,  and 
 keeping  their  senses  in  due  subjection,  study,  by  softness  and  pleasure,  to  gratify 
 them  on  every  occasion.  We  cannot,  it  is  true,  retire  from  the  world  as  the  Baptist 
 did,  but  we  may  and  ought  to  disengage  our  hearts  from  worldly  vanities  and  plea- 
 sures, and  to  imitate  in  our  closet  his  exercises  in  the  wilderness.  By  holy  retirement 
 and  often  conversing  w-ith  heaven,  the  fascination  of  this  world's  enchantments  will 
 cease,  and  we  shall  see  that  it  has  nothing  which  ought  not  to  be  to  a  christian  heart 
 an  object  of  contempt,  abhorrence,  or  dread.  The  world  is  made  up  of  vanity  and 
 sin :  its  goods  and  enjoyments  are  short-lived  and  uncertain,  and  in  themselves  false 
 and  empty ;  its  pains  real  and  grievous ;  its  promises  treacherous  and  deceitful. 
 Sensible  that  it  is  filled  with  snares  in  every  part,  and  that  its  pleasures  are  fraught 
 with  deadly  poison,  we  must  enter  it  with  a  holy  fear,  converse  in  it  with  watchfulness, 
 and  continually  fortify  our  souls  against  the  infection  of  its  air  by  the  antidotes  of 
 frequent  meditation,  prayer,  and  self-denial.  This  is  what  St.  Francis  of  Salesjl  and 
 other  spiritualists  recommend  to  Christians,  that  so  they  may  live  in  the  world  without 
 being  of  it,  may  use  the  world  as  if  they  used  it  not,  and  may  possess  it  without  being 
 possessed  or  captivated  by  it. 
 
 *  Apud  Labbe,  t.  i.  p.  967.  §   See  a  further  account  of  his  hfe  in  chap.  13. 
 
 t   See  the  Wonders  of  God  in  the  Wilderne-is.  \\  Lib.  4.  Ep.  46. 
 
 %   Horn.  25.  in  Matt. 
 
Ch.  VI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  57 
 
 CHAPTER  VI. 
 
 THE  GENEALOGY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.      MATT.  I.* 
 
 St.  Matthew  intending  in  his  Gospel  to  represent  Jesus  Christ  as  the  promised 
 Messias,  foretold  by  the  prophets,  and  prefigured  in  the  Old  Testament,  begins  by 
 ascertaining  his  dignity  from  his  royal  descent  and  miraculous  birth. 
 
 "  The  book  of  the  generation"  or  of  the  genealogy  of  "Jesus  Christ,"  who  was  Mat.  1. 
 avowedly  to  be  "  the  son  of  David,  the  son  of  Abraham.     Abraham  begot  Isaac,      ^'  ^' 
 and  Isaac  begot  Jacob,  and  Jacob  begot  Judas  and  his  brethren.     And  Judas  beo-ot       3. 
 Phares  and  Zara  of  Thamar,  and  Phares  begot  Esron,  and  Esron  begot  Aram  ;  and 
 Aram  begot  Abinadab,  and  Abinadab  begot  Naasson,  and  Naasson  begot  Salmon  :       4. 
 and  Salmon  begot  Booz  of  Rahab,  and  Booz  begot  Obed  of  Ruth,  and  Obed  begot       .^ 
 Jesse,  and  Jesse  begot  David  the  king.     And  David  the  king  begot   Salomon  of      6. 
 her  that  had  been"  the  wife  ''  of  Urias  ;  and  Salomon  begot  Roboam,  and  Roboam       7. 
 begot  Abias,  Abias  begot  Asa;  and  Asa  begot  Josaphat, and  Josaphat  begot  Joram,       ^ 
 and  Joram  begot  Osias,"  not  immediately  ;  for  three  generations  are  omitted,  as  we 
 find  2  Paralip.  xxii.     There  it  is  said  that  Joram  begot  Ochosias,  and  Ochosias 
 begot  Joas,  and  Joas  begot  Amasias,  and  Amasias  begot  Osias.  This  omission  was  not 
 material  to  St.  Matthew's  design  of  showing  the  Jews  that  Jesus  their  Messias  was  of 
 the  family  of  David  ;  he  being  equally  the  son  or  descendant  of  David,  whether  these 
 three  generations  be  omitted  or  not.     "  And  Osias  begot  Joatham,  and  Joatham       ^• 
 begot   Achaz,   and  Achaz   begot  Ezechias ;  and  Ezechias  begot    Manasses,    and      "^• 
 Manasses  begot  Amon,  and  Amon  begot  Josias ;  and  Josias  begot  Jechonias  and  his      11. 
 brethren  iu  the  transmigration  to  Babylon."     This  Jechonias  is  the  same  who  is  else- 
 were  called  Eliacim  and  Joachim,  whom  Necao  king  of  Egypt  placed  on  the  throne 
 of  Juda.     This  prince  had  a  son  called  Joachim,  surnamed  by  the  prophet  Jechonias 
 and  he  is  the  person  who  was  the  father  of  Salathiel  mentioned  in  the  following  verse. 
 "  And  after  the  transmigration  to  Babylon,  Jechonias  begot  Salathiel,  and   Salathiel      '-• 
 begot  Zorobabel,"  who  obtained  leave  of  Darius  the  king  of  Persia  to  return  back 
 from  Babylon  into  Judea.     "  And  Zorobabel  begot  Abiud,  andAbiud  beo-ot  Eliacim,       13. 
 and  Eliacim  begot  Azor ;  and  Azor  begot  Sadoc,  and  Sadoc  begot  Achim,and  Achim      u. 
 begot  Eliud;  and  Eliud  begot  Eleazar,  and  Eleazar  begot  Mathan,  and  Mathan      i"'. 
 begot  Jacob;  and  Jacob  begot  Joseph  the  husband  of  Mary,t  of  whom  was  born      16. 
 Jesus,  who  is  called  Christ,"  i.  e.  the  Ajiointed,  so  often  and  so  solemnly  promised  by 
 God  to  his  people.     "  So  all  the  generations  from  Abraham  to  David"  are  "  fourteen      17 
 generations,  and  from  David  to  the  transmigration  of  Babylon  fourteen  o-enerations 
 and  from  the  transmigration  of  Babylon  to  Christ"  there  "^are"  also  "fourteen 
 generations."     The  first  class  of  fourteen  begins  with  Abraham,  and  ends  with  David. 
 
 *  See  that  by  St.  Lake,  c.  14.  thinking  that   St.  Joseph  and  the  B.  Virq-in   were 
 
 t  Husband  of  Mary.     So   he   is    again    called  truly  married  at  the  time  of  Christ's  conception, 
 
 verse  19.     But  in  the   19th  verse  we  read:  When  others  that  they  were  only  espoused  or  enn-ao-ed  bv 
 
 Mary  his  Mother  was  espoused  to  Joseph.     These  a  promise  to  marry  afterwards.     The  forrner'seems 
 
 different  expressions  of  being- AiM6«/id  and  espoused  to  be  better  supported  by  the  sacred   text,  and  is 
 
 have    occasioned    different    interpretations,    some  more  generally  received. 
 
 6. 
 
58  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  VII. 
 
 The  second  class  begins  with  Salomon,  and  ends  with  Jechonias.  The  third  class 
 is  supposed  to  begin  with  Salathiel,  and  to  end,  says  St.  Jerom,  with  our  Saviour 
 Christ.  But  thus  we  shall  only  find  in  the  third  class  thirteen  generations,  and  in  all 
 only  forty-one  instead  of  forty-two  persons.  Not  to  mention  other  interpretations, 
 the  conjecture  of  St.  Epiphaiiius  seems  the  most  probable,  that  we  are  to  understand 
 as  mentioned  above  two  Jechoniases,  the  father  and  son,  who  had  the  same  name  ;  so 
 that  the  true  reading  should  be,  Josias  begot  Jechoims  and  his  brethren,  and  Jechonias 
 begot  Jechonias,  and  Jechonias  begot  Salathiel.  Thus  Jechonias  named  in  the  12th 
 verse  is  not  the  same,  but  the  son  of  him  that  was  named  in  the  11th  verse ;  and 
 from  Jechonias  the  son  begins  the  third  class,  and  so  Christ  will  be  the  last  or 
 fourteenth  person  in  that  last  series  or  class. 
 
 There  are  several  difficulties  in  reconciling  this  genealogy  in  St  Matthew  with  that 
 which  St.  Luke  gives  chap.  iii.  ;  but  without  insisting  on  all  the  particulars,  suffice  it 
 to  say,  that  no  one  can  reasonably  doubt  but  that  both  the  Evangelists  copied  from 
 the  genealogical  tables,  as  they  were  then  extant  and  carefully  preserved  by  the  Jews, 
 and  especially  by  those  families  that  were  of  the  tribe  of  Juda  and  of  the  family  of 
 David.  For  if  the  Evangelists  had  either  falsified,  or  made  any  mistake  as  to  these 
 genealogies,  the  Jews  would  undoubtedly  have  objected  this  against  the  Gospels, 
 which  they  never  did.  Tlie  reason  of  this  difference  was  at  that  time  public,  and 
 known  to  every  one,  and  so  was  not  mentioned.  It  seems  most  probable  that 
 St.  Matthew  gives  the  natural,  and  St.  Luke  the  legal  line  of  St.  Joseph,  the  term 
 used  by  the  former  being  genuit,  begot,  which  is  more  expressive  of  the  natural 
 genealogy,  than  that  made  use  of  by  St.  Luke.* 
 
 St.  Chrysostom  takes  notice  of  the  astonishing  mercy  and  humility  of  our  divine 
 Redeemer,  in  this  single  circumstance  of  his  not  disdaining,  for  the  sake  of  sinners, 
 to  choose  a  pedigree  in  which  are  named  several  notorious  characters.  So  much 
 did  he  humble  himself  to  satisfy  for  us  and  to  cure  our  vanity  and  pride  !  Let  us 
 learn  of  him  on  this  occasion,  to  despise  the  vain  parade  of  worldlings,  who  are  so 
 fond  of  displaying  the  long  though  often  imaginary  genealogy  of  their  families ;  and 
 who  are  ever  celebrating  the  glorious  achievements  of  their  ancestors,  whilst  many 
 of  them,  and  perhaps  even  the  most  renowned,  may  have  long  since  augmented  the 
 number  of  the  damned.  Instead  of  glorying  in  the  names  of  such  as  are  accursed  by 
 Tnn  1  Clod,  let  us  rather  rejoice  in  being  the  children  of  our  heavenly  Father  by  a  new 
 15.      birth,  and  the  brothers  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  sinners. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII. 
 
 JOSEPH  IS  ADMONISHED,  BY  AN  ANGEL,  OF  THE  CONCEPTION  OF  CHRIST.       MATT.  I. 
 
 The  Blessed  Virgin  returned  home  to  Nazareth  after  a  stay  of  about  three  months  with 
 her  cousin  Elisabeth  in  the  hilly  country  of  Judea.  Her  pregnancy  now  became  very 
 perceptible  to  St.  Joseph.  But  St.  Matthew  not  having  recorded  each  circumstance 
 which  attended  the  conception  of  Jesus  Christ,  takes  care  to  guard  the  minds  of  his 
 *  For  the  origin  of  this  double  genealogy  amongst  the  Jews,  see  Deut.  xxv.  5,  (i 
 
Ch.VIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  59 
 
 readers  against  all  false  ideas  they  might  otherwise  form  concerning  it ;  and  after 
 remarking  that  Mary  was  become  pregnant  before  she  and  her  husband  Joseph  came 
 together,  adds,  that  this  was  effected  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
 "  Now  the  generation  of  Christ  was  thus.     When  Mary  his  mother  was  espoused  Matt.  1. 
 to  Joseph,  before  they  came  together,  she  was  found  with  child"  by  the  operation      ^^' 
 "  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  without  ceasing  to  be  a  virgin.     "  And  Joseph  her  husband,"      ^^ 
 knowing  her  strict  virtue,  was  surprised  at  this  her  pregnancy,  but  "  beino-  a  just 
 man,  and  not  willing  to  expose  her  to  public  shame,"  by  denouncing  her  to  the 
 judges  as  an  adulteress,  or  giving  her  a  bill  of  divorce,  "  he  had  a  mind  to  dismiss 
 her  privately,"  committing  the  whole  cause  to  God.     Let  us  learn  from  hence  to  be 
 ever  tender  in  all  that  regards  the  reputation  of  our  neighbour,  and  never  to  entertain 
 any  injurious  thoughts  or  suspicions  to  his  prejudice.     We  offend  in  this  respect  only 
 because  we  are  void  of  that  true  charity  and  simplicity  whereof  St.  Joseph  here  sets 
 us  so  eminent  an  example.     "  But  whilst  he  was  thinking  of  these  things,  behold      20. 
 an  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  in  his  sleep,  saying :  Joseph,  son  of  David, 
 fear  not  to  take  Mary  thy  wife ;  for  that  which  is  conceived  in  her,  is"  the  work  "  of 
 the  Holy  Ghost.     And  she  shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus 
 [which  means  a  Saviour']  ;  for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins.     And  all  this 
 was  done  that   it  might  be  fulfilled  what  the  Lord  spoke  by  the  prophet,  saying : 
 Behold  a  virgin*  shall  be  with  child,  and  shall  bring  forth  a  Son :  and  they  shall      -23 
 call  his  name  Emmanuel,  wh  ch  being  interpreted,  is,  God  with  us,''  because  he  shall 
 be  both  God  and  man.     "  And  Joseph  rising  up  from  sleep  did  as  the  ano-el  of  the 
 Lord  commanded  him,  and  took  unto  him  his  wife.     And  he  knew  her  not  till  she 
 brought  forth  her  first  born,"  without  any  detriment  to  her  virginity,  "  and  called 
 his  name  Jesus." 
 
 St.  Jerom  assures  us,  that  St.  Joseph  always  preserved  his  virgin  chastity ;  and  it 
 is  of  faith  that  nothing  contrary  thereto  ever  took  place  with  his  chaste  spouse  the 
 Blessed  Virgin  Mary.f     He  was  given  her  by  heaven  to  be  the  protector  of  her 
 
 *  Behold  a  virgiu,  S)-c.  in  Hebrew  abna,  which  examples  to  show  that  the  word  until  is  often  used 
 signifies  a  virgin.  Let  the  Jews,  says  St.  Jerom,  to  siirnify,  that  such  a  thing  happened  not  till  such 
 show  me  any  place  in  which  the  Hebrew  viordalma  a  time  ;  when  yet  it  would  be  very  false  and  foolish 
 is  applied  to  any  one  that  is  not  a  virgin,  and  I  to  pretend,  that  it  happened  afterwards.  For  ex- 
 will  own  my  ignorance.  Besides,  this  appears  from  ample,  Christ  said  to  his  disciples:  Behold  T  am 
 the  very  circumstances  of  the  text:  for  there  !isigii  with  you  until  the  end  of  the  loorld,  it  would  be 
 or  miracle  is  promised  to  Achaz ;  and  what  miracle  foolish  to  say  that  Christ  would  not  be  with  them 
 would  it  be  for  a  young  woman  to  have  a  child,  afterwards,  and  for  all  eternity.  God  saith  to  his 
 when  she  ceased  to  be  a  virgin  ?  divine  Son  :   Hit  on  my  right  hand,  till  1 7nake  thy 
 
 t  I  know  indeed   that  the  heretic   Helvidius  of  e/ie/ra/e*- /^/oo^sfoo^;  but  will  he  sit  no  lonoer,  after 
 
 old,  and  others  since,  have  started  some  objections  his    enemies    are    subdued  ? — To    the   second    St. 
 
 against  this  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  :  viz.  Jerom  shows  again,   by  examples  from  scripture, 
 
 ].  That  by  the  Gospel  saying  that  St.  Joseph  knew  that  every  one  that  is  first  brought  forth,  is  called 
 
 her  not  till  she  brought  forth  her  first  born  sore,  is  the  fir.it  born,   or  the  first  begotten,  without   any 
 
 implied  that  he  knew  her  afterwards.    2.  That  Christ  reference   to   other   children  afterwards:  thus  the 
 
 would  not   be   called  the  first  born,  unless  others  first  born  are  ordered  to  be  redeemed   in  the  law. 
 
 had  been  born  of  his  mother  afterwards.     3.  That  Thus  an  angel  is   said  to  have   killed   all  the  first 
 
 ■we  read  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ's   brethren  ;  there-  begotten  in  Egypt,  where   doubtless  many  of  them 
 
 fore  Christ  must  have  had  brothers,  and  his  mother  were  the  oidy  begotten.— Finally,   as  to    the  third 
 
 other  sons  after  him.     But  these  trifling  objections  trifling  argument  of  Helvidius,  it  is  evident  that,  in 
 
 have  been  long  ago  refuted  by   St.   Jerom.      In  the  style  of  the  scriptures,  they  tliat  were  no  more 
 
 regard    to   the   first,   this   learned   Doctor    brings  than  cousins,  were  called  brothers  and  sisters. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 24. 
 26. 
 
gQ  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  VIII. 
 
 chastity,  to  secure  her  from  calumnies  in  the  birth  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  to  assist 
 her  in  his  education,  and  in  her  journies,  fatig-ues,  and  persecutions.  We  cannot 
 sufficiently  admire  their  silence  on  this  occasion.  Mary,  although  conscious  of  the 
 anxiety  which  preyed  upon  her  husband's  mind,  yet  ventured  not  to  explain  to  him  the 
 mystery  of  her  pregnancy.  She  deemed  herself  not  warranted  to  attribute  to  her 
 own  person  so  distinguishing  and  extraordinary  a  mark  of  the  divine  favour,  as  was 
 that  of  having  conceived  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  holy  Joseph  was 
 unwilling  on  his  part  to  hint  to  her  the  cause  of  his  anxiety,  lest  the  mention  of  it 
 might  occasion  trouble  and  uneasiness  to  her  delicate  mind.  But  God,  by  thus 
 recordino-  the  disposition  of  St.  Joseph,  and  the  strict  silence  observed  by  both 
 parties,  has  furnislied  us  with  an  uncontrovertible  proof  of  the  spotless  purity  of  the 
 Blessed  Virgin,  and  of  the  divine  origin  of  her  Son.  For  who  will  not  give  credit 
 to  the  testimony  of  a  husband  concerning  the  fidelity  of  his  spouse,  when  after 
 doubting  it,  and  being  on  the  point  of  separating  from  her,  he  is,  on  a  sudden, 
 perfectly  convinced  of  the  purity  of  her  conduct,  and  by  the  most  affectionate  behaviour 
 evinces  that  all  his  doubts  are  entirely  removed  ? 
 
 CHAPTER  VHI. 
 
 THE  NATIVITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. — HIS  CIRCUMCISION.       LUKE  II. 
 
 In  the  detail  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  given  us  by  St.  Luke,  we  may  consider,    1.  The 
 preparations  preceding  it :  2.  The  humiliating  circumstances  attending  it :  3.  The 
 wonders  which  followed  it. 
 Luke  2.        J    Christ         "  Now  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  an  edict  came  out  from'' 
 
 '•  is  born.      the  emperor  Octavius,  here  denominated  "  Caesar  Augustus,  that  the 
 
 whole  world,''  i.  e.  the  whole  Roman  empire,  "  should  be  enrolled,"  with  the  view 
 
 2.  of  ascertaining  its  riches  and  strength.  "  This  first*  enrolment  was  made  by  Cyriuus," 
 otherwise  Publius  Sulpicius  Quirinus,  afterwards  "  president  of  Syria."  But  though 
 on  the  part  of  the  emperor  this  regulation  originated  from  vain  and  political  views, 
 on  the  part  of  God  it  proceeded  from  an  overruling  order  of  his  divine  providence, 
 that  by  this  most  authentic  public  act,  it  might  be  manifest  to  the  whole  world,  that 
 
 .3.  Christ  was  descended  from  the  house  of  David  and  tribe  of  Juda.  "  For  all  went 
 to  be  enrolled,  every  one  to  his  own  city,"  from  whence  he  originally  sprung.     "  And 
 
 4.  Joseph  also  went  up  out  of  Galilee  from  the  city  of  Nazareth-}-  into  Judea,  to  the  city 
 
 5.  of  David,  called  Bethlehem,^  because  he  was  of  the  family  of  David,  to  be  enrolled 
 
 *  This  is  called  \.\\e  first  register,  because  about  lehem  fcalled  by  flie  Jebusites,  who  first  built  it, 
 
 ten  years  afterwards   this  same  Quirinus  caused  a  Ephrata)  should  be  ennobled  by  the  birth  of  Christ, 
 
 second  to  be  made,  when,  after  the  expulsion  and  For  a  description  of  this  place,    see  Adrichomius, 
 
 banishment  of  Archelaus,  Judea  was  made  a  Ro-  and  principally  Quaresimus. — Considering  that  the 
 
 man  province.  ^-  Virg-in  was  now  big  with  child,  we  might  justly 
 
 t  Nazareth   was    situated    about   ninety    miles  wonder  how  she  could  undertake  so  long  a  journey 
 
 north  of  Jerusalem.  ""  foot  (for  we  hear  of  no  other  resource  that  she 
 
 +  Bethlehem   was  a  small  town  situated  on  the  possessed)  were  it  not  presumable,  that  she  carried 
 
 declivity  of  a  hill  in  the  tribe  of  Juda,  about  six  or  without  the  sense  of  any  load  or   uneasiness,  him 
 
 seven  niiles  to  the  south-west  of  Jerusalem.     The  whom  she  had  conceived  without  the  loss   of  her 
 
 prophet  Micheas,  chap.  ii.  2.  had  foretold  that  Beth-  virginity. 
 
Ch.  VIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  61 
 
 with  Mary  his  espoused  wife,  now  big  with  child.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  6. 
 were  there,  her  time  of  being  delivered  was  accomplished ;  and  she  brought  forth  7. 
 her  first"  and  only  "  born  son"  Jesus  Christ ;  and  this  she  did  without  the  pains 
 of  delivery,  remaining  both  in  and  after  his  conception  and  birth  a  pure  virgin.  She 
 stood  in  need  of  no  assistance  usual  to  those  of  her  sex  on  such  occasions  ;  she  herself 
 "  wrapped  him  up  in  swaddling  clothes,"  such  as  her  poverty  had  allowed  her  to 
 prepare ;  "  and,"  forwant  of  a  cradle,  ''  laidhim  in  a  manger"  upon  straw.  The  stable 
 to  which  they  had  resorted  for  shelter,  was  a  cave  made  on  the  side  of  a  rock,  and  accord- 
 ing to  St.  Jerom,  lay  on  the  south  side  of  the  city.*  It  is  a  common  tradition,  that  aix 
 ox  and  an  ass  were  in  it  at  that  time.  This  circumstance  is  not  mentioned  in  holy 
 scripture,  but  is  sujiported  by  the  authority  of  St.  Jerom,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
 St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and  Prudentius,  produced  by  Baronius.  Among  the  moderns 
 this  opinion  is  adopted  by  Graveson,  Honor6  of  St.  Mary,  Sandinus,  Quaresimus, 
 Benedict  XIV.  and  others. f  Joseph  and  Mary  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
 taking  up  with  this  poor  stable,  "  because  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn,"  n, 
 either  on  account  of  the  great  concourse  of  people  there  assembled,  or  by  reason  of 
 their  extreme  poverty,  which  might  prejudice  the  innkeepers  against  them.  Certain 
 it  is,  that  our  Blessed  Redeemer  chose  willingly  to  be  born  in  this  manner  ;  and  tliis 
 he  did  in  order  to  give  us  an  example  of  humility,  poverty,  and  self-denial,  in  oppo- 
 sition to  that  triple  concupiscence  which  reigns  in  the  world,  and  which  is  the  source 
 of  all  our  spiritual  maladies.  For  "  all  that  is  in  the  world  is  the  concupiscence  of  l  Jolm 
 the  tlesh,  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life." — By  the  concu-  "'  ^^' 
 piscence  of  the  flesh  is  meant  the  inordinate  inclination  which  we  have  of  gratifyino- 
 the  senses.  Chnst,  to  encourage  us  to  renounce  this  love  of  sensual  pleasures,  and 
 to  satisfy  his  justice  by  our  own  sufferings,  iiegins  to  suffer  as  soo]i  as  he  beo-ins  to 
 live.  At  his  very  birth  he  exposes  his  delicate  body  to  the  inclemency  of  the  severest 
 season  of  the  year,  to  the  hard  boards  of  the  maiigcr,  and  to  a  privation  of  the  most 
 
 *  Whether  this  cave  was  situated  in  the  town,  or  church  of  St.  Mary  Major  at  Rome,  whither  it  was 
 
 only   in   the    suburbs,   is    a   question    among    the  broug-ht  with  some  stones  cut  out  of  the  rock  in  the 
 
 learned.     Alban  Butler,   who  follows   Serry,   says  cave,  not  in  the  year  352,  as  some  say,  but  in   the 
 
 that  St.  Justin  and  Eusebius  were  of  opinion  that  7th  centnrv,  as   Benedict   XIV.   proves.     (Lib.  4. 
 
 Christ  was   born  without  the  city;  but   this   is   a  de  Canonisa,  pan.  2.)     It  resembles  an  ordinary 
 
 mistake,  as   Sandinus   shows  by   referring   to  the  manger,  is  enclosed  in  a  case  of  massy  silver,  and 
 
 originals.     (Vid.   Hist.  Familia?  Sacrae,  c.  i.)    St.  in  it  lies  an  image  of  a  little  child,  also  of  silver. 
 
 Jerom,  St.  Chrysostom,  Origtn,  and  even  St.  Justin,  On   Christmas-day,  the  holy  crib  is  taken   out  of 
 
 favour  the  opinion  that  Christ  was  born  in  Beth-  the  case  and  exposed  ;  it  is  well  known  how  much 
 
 lehem  ;  and  hence  Casaubon,  (Exer.  2.  in  Bar.  p.  it  excited  the  devotion  of  St.  Jerom,  St.  Paula  and 
 
 143.)  Krausen,  (Diss,  in  Nov.  Test.)  Maldonatus,  others,  when  at  Bethlehem.  (See  St.  Jer.  Ep.  lOS. 
 
 Drexelius,  Sandinus,  Petavius,  &c.   conclude   that  ad  Eustoch.  §  10.) 
 
 this  cave  was  situated  within   the   town   of  Beth-         t  Tillemont,  (n.   5.)   Baillet,   and  some   others, 
 
 lehem.     However,  the  contrary  assertion  is  main-  think  the  opinion,  that  an  ox  or  an  ass  was  in  the 
 
 tained   by   Baronius,   Nat.    Alexander,   Tillemont,  stable,  arose   from   Isaiah  i.  3.  and  Habacuc  iii.  2. 
 
 Calmet,   Honore    of  St.   Mary,   and  Ben.  XIV. —  (which  latter   passage   is   according  to  the  LXX. 
 
 The  cave  on  the  side  of  a  rock  is  about   40   ft-et  "   In    the    midst    of   beasts    thou    shall    be    made 
 
 deep  and  12  wide,   growing   narrow   towards   the  known,")  both  which  passages  the  Fathers  expound 
 
 roof.     To   this    day   there    are   three    convents   of  metaphorically.     But  their  allegorical  exi.lanation 
 
 Latins,  Greeks,  and  Armenians,  all  contiguous,  each  does  not  exclude  the  truth   of  iiistorical  tradition, 
 
 having  their  several  doors  opening  into  the  chapel  but  is  tather  supported  by  it.     How  often   do   the 
 
 of  the  holy  manger      The  holy   manger   itself,  in  Fathers    expound    metaphorically    the    actions    of 
 
 which  Christ  was  laid  at  his  birth,  is  of  wood,  and  Christ  and  the   historical  facts  mentioned  in   the 
 
 is    now    kept  in    a   subterraneous    chapel    in   the  Gospel  ? 
 
 6.  R 
 
62  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  VIIL 
 
 ordinary  conveniences  and  necessaries  of  life. — By  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes  is 
 understood  the  love  of  riches,  the  second  root  of  the  disorders  which  reign  in  the 
 world,  and  the  foundation  of  its  false  maxims.  This  our  Saviour  teaches  us  to  over- 
 come by  a  love  of  poverty,  which  he  here  consecrates  in  his  divine  person,  says  St. 
 Bernard.  Riches,  though  good  in  the  designs  of  Providence,  and  affording  means 
 of  relieving  the  distressed,  are  yet  dangerous,  and,  by  the  sin  of  our  first  parent, 
 
 Prov.  28.  infected  with  a  mortal  poison.  Hence  the  Holy  Ghost  declares  :  "  he  that  maketh 
 liaste  to  be  rich,  shall  not  be  innocent ;"  for  the  desire  of  them  produces  generally 
 a  kind  of  spiritual  fever  which  lays  waste  the  soul,  and  destroys  the  relish  of  heavenly 
 goods.  The  woes,  however,  which  the  Gospel  pronounces  against  the  rich,  do  not 
 fall  on  such  as  are  merely  possessed  of  riches,  but  on  those  who  are  inordinately 
 attached  to  them,  and  who  make  them  the  incentives  and  instruments  of  their 
 passions  and  lusts.  Men  may  be  poor  in  spirit  in  the  midst  of  riches,  of  which  we 
 have  many  examples  in  the  annals  of  the  church  ;  but  this  is  an  extraordinary  grace, 
 and,  therefore,  Christ  recommends  poverty  by  his  own  choice  as  a  more  secure  state, 
 and  better  adapted  to  the  practice  of  the  most  perfect  virtues.  Whilst  Christ  there 
 fore  sets  up  the  standard  of  poverty,  let  none  of  his  followers  boast  of  his  riches ; 
 whilst  our  Lord  and  God  thus  willingly  embraces  the  lowest  state  of  indigence,  let 
 none  of  his  disciples  blush  at  its  humiliations,  or  by  murmuring  and  impatience 
 deprive  himself  of  those  advantages  which  poverty  offers,  of  improving  in  virtue,  and 
 securing  the  riches  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
 
 Pride  being  the  third  principal  source  of  our  disorders,  the  Son  of  God  came  to 
 give  us  an  example  of  humility.  This  was  his  favourite  virtue  which  he  displayed 
 on  all  occasions,  but  particularly  at  the  crib  of  Bethlehem.  Who  is  not  moved  at 
 this  astonishing  humiliation  of  the  Deity,  who  here  divests  himself  of  all  his  glory,  to 
 expiate  our  pride?  While  we  behold  a  God  thus  poor,  and  humbled  below  the 
 meanest  of  his  creatures,  can  ive,  sinners  as  we  are,  entertain  thoughts  of  pride,  vain 
 glory,  and  ambition  ?  What  is  it,  says  St.  Austin,  that  can  cure  our  pride,  if  it  be 
 not  cured  by  this  wonderful  abasement  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 
 
 Luke  -■    Q    Th    h  ^*^^  ^^^  pleased  that  his  Son,  though  born  on  earth  with  so  much 
 
 hcrd<:  at  the  rrib  secrccy,  and  in  a  state  of  the  most  astonishing  humiliation,  should  yet 
 at  Bethlehem.  ^^  acknowledged  by  men,  and  receive  the  first  fruits  of  their  homage  and 
 devotion  upon  his  appearance  among  them.  But  who  are  they  that  are  favoured 
 with  the  honour  of  this  heavenly  call  ?  The  great  ones  of  the  world,  and  renowned 
 sages  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  the  princes  who,  by  their  riches,  power,  and  pomp, 
 seemed  raised  above  the  level  of  their  fellow-creatures,  are  passed  over  on  this  occa- 
 sion. They  are  chosen,  whose  character,  by  their  very  station,  is  simplicity  and 
 humility,  and  whose  obscurity,  poverty,  and  solitude,  removed  them  from  the  prin- 
 cipal dangers  of  worldly  pride,  and  were  most  agreeable  to  that  love  and  spirit  of 
 retiredness,  penance,  and  humility,  which  Christ  came  to  recommend  to  his  followers. 
 8.  These  happy  persons  were  certain  shepherds  who  "  were  in  the  same  country,* 
 watching  and  keeping  the  night  watches  over  their  flock"  against  robbers  and  wolves. 
 
 *  Near  the  tower  Ader,  which  is  situated  between  fed  his  flocks.  Bede  makes  their  number  to  have 
 Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem,  and  near  which  Jacob     been  three,  whilst  others  think  differently. 
 
Cli.  VIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  63 
 
 "  And  behold,"  whilst  the  sensual  and  the  proud  were  reposing-  on  beds  of  down^  or       9. 
 employed  in  pursuits  of  voluptuousness,  vanity,  and  ambition,  "an  angel  of  the  Lord 
 stood  by''  these  humble,  poor  men,  "^  and  the  brig-htness  of  God  shone  round  about 
 them,*  and  they  feared  with  a  g-reat  fear.     And  the  angel  said  to  them  :    Fear  not,      10. 
 for  behold  I  bring-  you  tidings  of  great  joy,  that  shall  be  to  all  the  people  :  For  this      11. 
 day  is  born  to  you  a  Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord,  in  the  city  of  David."     He  is      12. 
 born,  "  and  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you  :  You  shall  find  the  infant  wrapped  in  swad- 
 dling clothes,  and  laid  in  a  manger."     This  is  that  child  who  is  the  Son  of  David, 
 and  the  IVIessias,t  so  long  expected  by  your  fathers,  who  is  to  reign  over  you,  and 
 to  deliver  you  from  all  your  enemies.     We  may  observe  how  the  angel  pointed  out 
 to  the  shepherds  by  what  marks  they  might  know  Jesus  from  all  others    exactly 
 specifying  both  the  place  wherein  they  would  find  him  and  the  manner  of  his  being 
 lodged  ;    and  this  was  a  caution  against  the   doubts  they  might  otherwise  have 
 entertained  on  finding  him  in  so  poor  and  humiliating  a  situation.     What,  therefore, 
 to  their  natural  reasoning  might  have  appeared  sufficient  to  make  them  conclude  that 
 he  was  not  Christ,  or  the  Messiah,  now  convinces  them  of  his  being  such,  because 
 their  faith  and  their  hearts  are  enlightened  from  above.     "  And  suddenly  there  was      13. 
 with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  army,  praising  God"  for  this  transcendent 
 display  of  his  goodness  to  sinful  man,  "  and  saying :  Glory  to  God"  who  dwelleth      14. 
 *'  in  the  highest :  and  on  earth  peace  to  men  of  good  will ;":{:  i.  e.  glory  and  praise 
 are  given  to  God  in  the  highest  heavens  by  all  the  celestial  host,  to  whom  all  those 
 upon  earth  join  their  echoes  of  praise  and  glory.     The  subject  of  this  praise  and 
 glory  is,  that  God  has  blessed  the  earth  with  a  complete  and  everlasting  peace,  in 
 sending  his  only  Son  to  be  born  amongst  us,  in  order  to  effect  our  pardon  and  recon- 
 ciliation, by  that  eternal  alliance  which  he  contracted  with  our  human  nature.    "  And      la. 
 it  came  to  pass  after  the  angels  departed  from  them  into  heaven,"  singing  the  praises 
 of  God,  and  thereby  establishing  the  reality  and  credibility  of  the  embassy  they  were 
 charged  with,  "  the  shepherds  said  one  to  another  :  Let  us  go  over  to  Bethlehem, 
 and  let  us  see  this  word  that  is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  showed  us.     And      16. 
 they  came  with  haste  :  and  they  found  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the  infant  lyino-  in  the 
 manger.     And  seeing"  him  in  this  low  state,  "  they  understood  the  word  which       17. 
 was  spoken  to  them  of  this  child,"  and  published  it  abroad.     "  And  all  that  heard      is. 
 wondered:  and  at  those  things  which  were  told  them  by  the  shepherds.     But"      19. 
 amidst  these  occurrences,  "  Mary"  was  silent  and  "  kept  all  these  words,  ponderino- 
 them  in  her  heart."     In  effect,  the  great  things  which  God  works  in  his  servants 
 
 *  As  a  token  of  the  great  light  which  was  now  in  his  regard,  is  the  spiritual  and  internal  unction 
 
 risen  to  dispel  the  shade  of  death.  of  grace  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  which  the  out- 
 
 t  The  word  Messiah  is  derived  from  tiie  Hebrew  ward  unction  was  only  a.  tigure  and  symbol. 
 Mashac  to  anoint,  and  is  ihe  same  as  'S.pia-oi  the  J  The  present  Greek  text,  as  likewise  the  Codex 
 Anointed  in  Greek,  (t  is  a  name  sometimes  given  Vaticanus,  reads  this  passage,  s:ood  will  to  men  so 
 to  the  kings  and  high-priests  of  the  Hebrews,  who  as  to  make  it  a  third  member  of  the  sentence 
 were  anointed  with  oil.  1  Kings  xi.  5,  &c.  But  and  to  signify  peace  or  pardon  to  the  earth  and' 
 by  way  of  eminence  it  belonged  to  the  sovereign  divine  favour  and  grace  to  men.  However,  several 
 spiritual  Deliverer  and  Saviour  of  mankind,  so  often  of  the  best  Greek  copies,  such  as  the  Codex  Ales- 
 promised  by  God  to  his  people.  Not  that  Christ  andrinus  and  the  Codex  Beza,  are  conformable  to 
 received  any  outward  sensible  unci  ion  ;  and  the  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  sense  is  nearly  the 
 unction  which  the  prophets  and  apostles  speak  of  same. 
 
64.  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  Cli.  VIII. 
 
 naturally  produce  in  them  silence,  astonishment,  and  something  divine,  which  excludes 
 all  expression :  and  so,  in  the  present  instance,  Mary,  unable  to  express  what  she 
 inwardly  felt  in  her  heart,  is  fixed  in  silent  thought  on  her  divine  Son,  catching  atten- 
 tively the  words  that  were  spoken  of  him,  and  laying  them  up  carefully  in  her  heart. 
 
 2C.      f«  And  the  shepherds  returned,  glorifying  and  praising  God  for  all  the  things  they 
 had  heard,  and  seen,  as  it  was  told  unto  them." 
 
 We  may  justly  admire  their  conduct  on  this  occasion,  which  shows  their  ready 
 submission,  their  confidence  in  God,  their  zeal,  their  faith  and  gratitude,  in  the  most 
 amiable  lio-ht.  1.  They  showed  their  prompt  obedience,  by  immediately  following 
 the  voice  which  called  them  to  the  crib  of  Jesus ;  for  without  delay  they  repaired  to 
 Bethlehem,  there  to  witness  the  wonders  which  had  been  described  to  them.  2. 
 They  testified  their  confidence  in  God's  providence,  by  leaving  their  flocks  under 
 his  care  and  protection  during  their  absence,  and  in  so  dangerous  a  time  as  the 
 darkest  part  of  the  night.  3.  By  making  all  possible  haste,  they  showed  their  great 
 zeal  and  devotion  :  and  their  faith  was  equally  manifested,  both  by  assenting  to 
 whatever  the  angel  told  them,  however  contrary  to  all  human  appearance  and  to  the 
 evidence  of  sense,  as  well  as  by  making  an  outward  profession  of  this  belief,  and  by 
 imparting  to  all  their  neighbours  the  knowledge  of  this  divine  Infant,  as  the  Lord 
 and  promised  Messias.  Lastly,  their  gratitude  appears  by  their  praising  and  blessing 
 God  for  allowing  them  to  be  the  witnesses  of  such  wonders.  Let  Christians,  in 
 contemplating  this  mystery,  enter  into  the  same  sentiments  ;  let  them  exult  with  holy 
 joy  in  God  their  Redeemer,  and  pay  to  him  the  just  homages  of  their  adoration, 
 praise,  and  love. 
 Luke  2   3   The  circum-       "  ^"^  ^^^^^  eight  days  were  accomplished  that  the  child  was  to   be 
 
 21-      cision  of  Jesus  circumcised,  his  name  was  called  Jtsiis*  as  he  was  named  by  the  angel, 
 
 Christ.        before  he  was  conceived  in  the  womb"  of  his  mother. 
 
 Circumcision  was  a  sacrament  of  the  old  law,  and  the  first  legal  observance  required 
 
 by  Almighty  God  of  his  chosen  people  the  Jews  ;  and  this  on  two  several  accounts  : 
 
 1.  As  a  distinguishing  mark  between  them  and  the  rest  of  mankind.     2.  Asa  seal 
 
 to  the  covenant  made  between  God  and  their  patriarch  Abraham,  whereby  it  was 
 
 *  We  shall  here   give  a  collection  of  tho  chief  iii.  1.     Holy  One  of  God,  Mark   i.  24.     Jehovah, 
 
 names  and  titles  given  to  Jesus  Christ.     Advocate,  Exod.  vi.  3.     Jesvs,  Matt.  i.  21.     Kins,  Matt.  xxi. 
 
 1  John  ii.  1.     Angel  of  the  CovenaiU,  Mai.  iii.   1.  5,  &c.     Lam6  o/"6^o(/,  John  i.  29.     The  lust  Adam, 
 
 Anointed  or  Chrid,  John  :.  41.     Apostle,  Heb.  iii.  1  Cor.  xv.  45.      Lifsht  of  the  world,  John   ix.  3. 
 
 1.     The  Beginning  of  the  Creation  of  God,  Apnc.  Life,  Johnxiw.  6.     Lionof  the  tribe  of  Juda,  Apoc. 
 
 iii.  14.     Begotten  of  the  Father,  John   i.  14.     Be-  v.  5.     Man,  Acts  xvii.  31,  &c.     Mediator,   1  Tim. 
 
 loved  Son,  E])h.\.  6.   Bishop,  \  Pet.  ii.  2b.  Blessed  ii.  .5.     Messiah,  John   i.    41.     Melchisedech,   Heb. 
 
 and  Mi'^^/y,  1  Tim.  vi.  15.     Brightness  of  the  Fa-  vii.  1.    Passover,  1  Cnr.  v.  7.     Prophet,  L.uke  \\\. 
 
 ther's  Glory,  Heb.  i.  3.     Chosen  Servant,  Matt.  xii.  19.     Propitiation,  1  John  ii.  2.     Prince  of  Peace, 
 
 18.  Co7tsolation  of  Israel,  L.uk'i  a.  b.   Cornerstone,  Isa.  ix.  6.     Power  of  God,  \  Cor.  i.  14.     Ransom, 
 
 Eph.  ii.  20.     Counsellor,   Isa.   ix.  6.     Emmanuel,  1  Tim.  ii.  6.    Redeemer,  Isa.  lix.  20.     Rock,  1  Cor. 
 
 or  God  with  us,  ^Uit.\. -29.     Faithful  iyitneis,i\\t:  x.  4.     Root  of  David,  X\\oc.  ■s.-sM.XQ.     Son  of  God, 
 
 First  begotten  of  the  Dead,  the  Prince  of  the  kings  John    i.   34.     Son  of  tlie  Most  High,   Luke  i.  31. 
 
 of    the   earth,    Apoc.    i.    5.      First-born,    Col.    i.  Son  of  Man,  John  iii.  13.     Spouse.     Son  ofRigh- 
 
 15.     The  First-fruits  of  them  that   sleep,  1  Cor.  teousness,  Ma.lt.  iv.  3.    S'crm'07/r,  Luke  ii.  11.    Shep- 
 
 XV.  20.     First  and   Last,  Rev.  ii.   8.     God,  Rom.  herd,  John  x.   11.      Truth.  John  xiv.  6.       Vine, 
 
 ix.   5.     1   Tim.  iii.    16.    2   Pet.   i.    1.     1   John  v.  John  xv.  1.     Way,  John  xiv.  6.     lVonderful,lsa.. 
 
 20.  &c.     The  Head  of  all  principality.  Col  ii.  10.  ix.  6.  trisdom  of  God,  I  Cor.  i.   14.    IFord  of  God 
 
 Heir  of  all  things,  Heb.  i.  2.     High-Priest,  Heb.  Apoc.  xix.  13.  Word  with  God,  John  i.  1.     Judge. 
 
Ch.  vrir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  55 
 
 stipulated,  on  God's  part,  to  bless  Abraham  and  his  posterity  ;  whilst,  on  their  part, 
 it  implied  a  holy  engagement  to  be  his  people  by  a  strict  conformity  to  his  laws.  It 
 w'as  therefore  a  sacrament  of  initiation  in  the  service  of  God,  and  a  promise  and 
 engagement  to  believe  and  act,  as  he  had  revealed  and  described. 
 
 This  law  of  circumcision  continued  in  force  till  the  death  of  Christ,  and  he  himself 
 was  pleased  to  submit  to  it,  though  without  any  obligation  on  his  part.  This  he  did 
 for  the  following  reasons:  1.  To  put  an  end  in  an  honourable  manner  to  a  divine 
 though  temporary  institution  ;  for  it  became  him,  who  came  to  teach  mankind  obedience 
 to  the  laws  of  God,  io  fulfil  all  justice,  and  therefore  to  be  made  under  the  law,  i.  e. 
 to  be  circumcised,  that  he  might  redeem  them  that  loere  under  the  law,  by  freeing  them 
 from  the  servitude  of  it ;  and  that  those  who  were  in  the  condition  of  servants  before, 
 might  be  set  at  liberty,  and  receive  the  adoption  of  son?  in  baptism,  which,  by  Christ's 
 institution,  succeeded  to  circumcision.  2.  To  prove  the  reali;v  of  his  human  body; 
 which,  however  evident  from  this  and  so  many  other  actions  and  sufferings  of  his  life, 
 was  denied  by  several  ancient  heretics.*  3.  To  prove  himself  not  only  the  Son  of 
 man,  but  of  that  man  in  particular  of  whose  seed  the  Messiah  was  promised;  thus 
 precluding  any  future  objection  that  might  be  raised  by  the  Jews  against  his  divine 
 mission  in  quality  of  Messiah,  under  the  pretence  of  his  being  an  alien.  In  thus 
 qualifying  himself  for  free  conversation  with  his  countrymen,  for  their  own  spiritual 
 advantage,  he  sets  us  all  a  pattern  of  undergoing  voluntarily  several  hardships  and 
 restraints,  which,  though  not  necessary  on  our  own  account,  maybe  of  o-reat  use  to 
 promote  the  good  of  others.  4.  Christ  here  gives  us  an  early  pledge  of  his  love  for  us, 
 of  his  compassion  for  our  miseries,  andof  his  utter  detestation  of  sin.  With  infinite  zeal 
 for  his  Father's  honour,  and  charity  for  us  sinners,  with  infinite  patience  and  the  most 
 profound  humility,  he  now  offered  himself  most  cheerfully  to  his  Father,  to  undero-o 
 whatever  he  was  pleased  to  enjoin  him.  5.  By  this  ceremony  he  humbled  himself  to 
 satisfy  for  our  pride,  and  to  teach  us  the  sincere  spirit  of  humility.  What  greater 
 humiliation  can  be  imagined,  than  for  him,  who  is  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  in  all  thino-s 
 equal  to  his  Father,  to  conceal  these  glorious  titles  under  the  appearance  of  a  sinner  ? 
 What  a  subject  of  confusion  to  us,  who  being  abominable  criminals,  are  ashamed  to  pass 
 for  what  we  are,  and  desire  to  appear  and  be  esteemed  what  we  are  not !  Shall  we 
 not  learn  from  this  example  of  Christ  to  love  humiliations,  especially  as  we  cannot 
 but  acknowledge  that  we  deserve  every  reproach  and  all  manner  of  contempt  from 
 creatures  "?  6.  By  beginning  the  great  work  of  our  salvation  in  the  manner  he  was 
 one  day  to  finish  it ;  suffering  in  his  own  person  the  punishment  of  sin,  to  deliver  us 
 from  both  sin  and  its  punishment,  he  confounds  the  impenitence  of  those  who  will 
 suffer  nothing  for  their  own  sins  ;  and  he  inculcates  the  necessity  of  a  spiritual  circum- 
 cision, whereof  the  external  was  but  the  type  and  figure,  as  the  apostle  puts  us  in 
 mind,  Rom.  ii.  29. 
 
 It  is  manifest  beyond  all  contradiction,  from  several  texts  of  the  Old  Testament  f 
 that  the  Jews  ought  not  to  have  rested  in  the  external  act  alone,  but  should  have 
 aspired  from  the  letter  to  the  spirit,  from  the  carnal  to  a  spiritual  circumcision.    The.se 
 
 *   Manichaeus,  ApoUinarius,  Valentinus,  &c.  f  Deut.  x.  16.   chap.  xxx.  6.  Jer.  iv.  4. 
 
 6.  s  * 
 
g^  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  VIII. 
 
 texts,  at  the  same  time  that  they  set  forth  its  necessity,  describe  it  as  consistin<^  in  a 
 readiness  and  willing-  disposition  to  conform  to  the  will  of  God,  and  submit  to  it, 
 ■when  known,  in  every  particular.  They  consequently  require  a  retrenchment  of  all 
 inordinate  and  superfluous  desires  of  the  soul,  the  keeping-  a  strict  s^uard  and  govern- 
 ment over  ourselves,  a  total  abstinence  from  criminal,  and  a  prudent  reserve  even 
 in  the  lawful  gratifications  of  sense  and  appetite.  If  these  instances  of  spiritual  circum- 
 cision were  required  of  those  under  the  old  law,  how  much  more  will  they  be  required 
 of  us  in  the  new  law,  in  order  to  be  spiritual  children  of  this  faithful  Abraham,  and 
 to  share  in  that  redemption  which  Christ  began  to  purchase  for  us  at  the  expense  of 
 his  blood  ?  We  must  imitate  therefore  our  Lord's  circumcision,  by  circumcising  or 
 cuttino-  off  whatever  inordinate  or  superfluous  desires  reign  in  our  hearts  ;  and  by 
 renouncino-  whatever  holds  us  wedded  to  our  senses,  or  to  the  world.  We  must 
 circumcise  not  only  the  inward,  but  also  the  outward  man  in  our  exterior  senses, 
 which  too  often  prove  occasions  of  offending-  God.  Hence  we  must  restrain  our  eyes 
 from  dangerous  objects  ;  our  ears  from  hearkening-  to  immodest  discourses  and 
 detraction  ;  our  taste  from  intemperance  and  excess  ;  our  tongue  from  all  lying, 
 swearing,  cursing,  or  any  unbecoming  language ;  from  all  flattery  and  dissimulation, 
 from  spe;ikiiig  ill  of  others,  and  from  whatever  may  serve  to  sow  discord  and 
 contention.  In  a  word,  we  must  circumcise  and  cut  off  everything  that  is  contrary  to 
 the  law  of  God,  by  putting  off  the  old  man  and  putting  on  the  new.  Lastly,  we 
 should  cut  off  some  of  our  superfluities  as  to  the  things  of  this  world,  by  giving  tliera 
 to  the  poor  artd  those  who  are  in  want.  If  we  cannot  find  in  our  hearts  to  part  with 
 somethin"-  out  of  our  abundance,  to  assist  those  who  are  in  necessity,  how  shall  we 
 be  willino-  to  shed  our  blood  or  lose  our  lives  for  Christ?  and  yet  this  we  must  do,  if 
 ever  called  to  the  trial,  under  pain  of  being  disowned  and  rejected  by  him.  Let  us 
 therefore  now  circumcise  ourselves  by  works  of  penance,  mortification,  and  self-denial, 
 by  alms-deeds  and  charity  to  the  poor.  In  doing  this,  we  shall  truly  honour  Jesus 
 Christ  in  his  circumcision,  and  shall  experience  him  to  be  truly  the  Saviour  of  our  souls. 
 On  the  day  our  Lord  was  circumcised,*  he  received  the  adorable  name  of  Jemi, 
 a  name  the  most  glorious  and  most  expressive  of  his  saving  power  ;  for  he  came  "  to' 
 Malt  1   save  his  people  from  their  sins."     This  he  effected  by  the  greatest  sufferings  and 
 
 21.      humiliations,  having  "  humbled  himself,"  as  St.  Paul  says,  "  not  only  unto  death,  but 
 
 ■^'^q'  ^'  even  to  the  death   of  the  cross  :  for  which  cause  God  hath   exalted  him,   and  hath 
 
 o-iven  him  a  name  which  is  above  all  names,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
 
 Malt.  28.  should  bow  :"  agreeably  to  what  Christ  says  of  himself,  "  all  power  is  given  unto  me 
 
 *^'      in  heaven  and  in  earth." 
 
 The  devotion  towards  this  sacred  name  of  Jesus  began  with  the  Church  itself. 
 
 *The  Jews  c'enerally  named  their  children  on  the  the  necessary  or  ordinary  minister,  but   (he   father 
 
 day  of  tlieir  circumcision  ;  but  this  was  not  of  pre-  or  mother,  or  any  other  person  could  perform  the 
 
 cept,  as  appears  from  several  instances  of  children  ceremony.   (Gen.  xvii.  Acts  vii.  1  Mac.  i.)   Whence 
 
 named  on  the  day  of  their  birth,  which  could  not  it  is  a  vulgar  error  of  painters  to  represent  Christ 
 
 be  that  of  their   circumcision,  as  an   express   law  circumcised   by  a  priest  in  the  temple;  for  it  was 
 
 required  the  interval  of  eight  days ;  for  the  child  done  in  the  stable  at  Bethlehem,  and  probably  by 
 
 was  presumed  too  weak  to  undergo  the  operation  St.  Joseph,  according  to  St.   Ephrem,  and  with  a 
 
 sooner,  without  danger  of  its  life. — It  seems  like-  sharp  stone,  according  to  St.  Aug.     See  Beu.  XIY. 
 
 ■wise  to  have  been  the  practice  among  the  Jews  for  in  Feslis,  and  Sandiiius. 
 children  to  be  circumcised  at  home,  nor  was  a  priest 
 
Ch.  IX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR,  LORD  JESUS  CHRTST,  g7 
 
 Thia  saving-  name  oug-ht  never  to  be  pronounced  but  with  respect.  From  generation 
 to  generation  parents  have  taught  their  children  to  confide  in  this  holy  name,  and  to 
 repeat  it  with  a  lively  faith,  mixed  with  love,  that  they  may  obtain  the  blessing  of 
 salvation  promised  by  St.  Paul  to  those  who  shall  duly  call  upon  it.  For  in  calling" 
 upon  Jesus,  our  Saviour  God,  we  publicly  declare,  that  through  him  alone,  and  not 
 from  ourselves,  the  grace  of  salvation  comes.  The  name  was  brought  from  heaven 
 by  an  angel,  as  we  have  seen  above  ;  the  Father  himself  gave  it  to  the  divine  Infant, 
 even  before  he  was  conceived  in  the  Virgin's  womb.  It  therefore  is  our  duty  not 
 to  rob  him  of  the  glory  which  he  has  thus  received :  Ave  should  be  careful  not  to 
 hinder  him  from  being  a  Saviour  to  us  :  with  profound  humility  let  us  lay  open  the 
 wounds  of  our  souls  before  him,  that  the  merits  of  his  life  and  death  may  heal  and 
 save  us. 
 
 CHAPTER  IX. 
 
 THE  EPIPHANY,  OR    ADORATION  OF  THE  WISE  MEN.         MATT.   II. 
 
 Scarce  had  the  birth  of  Jesus  been  announced  to  the  Jews  by  an  angel,  when  the 
 unusual  appearance  of  a  star  manifested  it  also  to  the  Gentiles.  The  shepherds,  as 
 the  first  fruits  of  the  Jews,  prefigured  the  indifference  of  that  people,  by  the  little 
 noise  they  m.ade  on  that  occasion ;  whilst  the  wise  men,  who  were  the  first  fruits  of 
 the  Gentiles,  showed  forth  the  happy  efiiects  which  the  coming  of  Christ  would 
 produce  in  the  pagan  world.  These  princes  came  with  pomp  and  splendour ;  they 
 roused  Jerusalem,  and  alarmed  king  Herod,  because  it  was  more  particularly  the 
 conversion  of  the  Gentiles  which  was  to  make  a  noise  in  the  world,  and  to  stir  up 
 against  the  Church  both  the  fury  of  the  people  and  the  policy  of  the  Roman  emperors. 
 
 St.  Matthew,  who  has  omitted  to  detail  the  circum.stances  attending  the  birth  of 
 Jesus  Christ,  has  recorded  at  length  this  great  event  of  the  adoration  paid  to  him  by 
 the  wise  men,  which  he  places  under  the  reign  of  Herod,  who  was  doubly  a  strano-er 
 to  the  Jewish  people,  being  a  Philistine  by  birth,  and  an  Idumean  by  orio-in.  On 
 this  occasion  we  may  observe,  1.  The  courage  of  the  wise  men  :  2.  Their  lively 
 faith  and  devotion :  3.  Their  princely  magnificence :  4.  Their  grateful  obedience 
 to  the  admonition  of  heaven. 
 
 These  magi,  who  are  generally  called  the  three  kings,!  though  the  scripture  is 
 silent  as  to  their  quality  and  number,  were  probably  from  Aram  or  Mesopotamia,  or 
 perhaps  from  Arabia  Felix,]:  all  situated  to  the  east  of  Jerusalem ;  and  as  they  were 
 much  given  to  astrology.  Almighty  God,  by  a  wonderful  condescension,  was  pleased 
 to  instruct  them  by  a  new  star,  probably  of  an  extraordinary  splendour  and  brioht- 
 iiess.     It  could  not  have  been  a  real  star,  i.  e.  one  of  the  fixed,  the  least  or  nearest 
 
 *  There   are  four   different  opinions    as  to  the  "  When  Jesns  was  born,  behold   tliere  came  wise 
 
 time  of  this  event.    .St.  Austin  thinks  that  the  magi  men,"  &c.    See  hivewise  St.  Thomas,  Sandinus,  &c. 
 
 or  wise  men  came  to  Jerusalem  before  the  purifica-  t  They  are   called   by  some   Melchior,    Gasparj 
 
 tion  ;   and  this  seems  likewise  to  be  the  sentiment  Balthasar:  but   these  names,  as  Bollandus  sliows| 
 
 of  the  Church,  which  celebrates  this  great  mystery  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  author,  either  Greek  or 
 
 on  the  12th  day  after  the  birth  of  our  Saviour.  This  Latin,  before  the  12th  century, 
 
 opinion  is  confirmed   by  the  text  of  St.  Matthew  :  I  According  to  St.  Justin  and  Tertullian, 
 
68  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  [Ch.  IX. 
 
 of  wliich  is,  for  distance,  too  remote,  and  for  bulk,  too  enormous  to  point  out  any 
 particular  house  or  city  like  Bethlehem,  as  St.  Chrysostom  well  observes,  who  sup- 
 poses it  to  have  been  an  angel  assuming  that  form.  It  appears  to  have  been  a 
 miraculous  shining  meteor  resembling  a  star,  but  placed  in  the  lower  region  of  our 
 atmosphere  ;  its  motion,  contrary  to  the  ordinary  course  of  the  stars,  performing  the 
 part  of  a  guide  to  these  travellers,  (as  did  the  pillar  of  tiie  to  the  Israelites  in  the 
 desert,)  accommodating  itself  to  their  necessities,  disappearing  or  returning  as  they 
 could  best  dispense  with  its  guidance.* 
 
 In  the  very  night  on  which  Jesus  was  born,  these  magi,  we  may  imagine,  were 
 busied,  perhaps  separately,  in  viewing  the  heavens,  when  suddenly  they  perceived 
 this  extraordinary  phenomenon  appearing  upon  the  confines  of  Judea.  Recalling 
 to  mind  the  prophecy  of  Balaam,  a  celebrated  prophet  of  those  })arts,  they  judged 
 that  so  singular  an  appearance  must  be  the  token  of  the  birth  of  that  king  who, 
 coming  out  of  Judea,  was  to  conquer  all  the  adjoining  countries.  The  prophecy  was 
 Numb,  as  follows  :  "  A  star  shall  rise  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  sceptre  shall  spring  up  from  Israel, 
 ^*"  ^^'  and  shall  strike  the  chiefs  of  Moab,  and  shall  waste  all  the  children  of  Seth.  And 
 he  shall  possess  Idumea :  the  inheritance  of  Seir  shall  come  to  their  enemies." 
 
 These  countries  were  on  the  confines  of  Arabia,  and  as  the  magi  had  always  under- 
 stood this  prophecy  in  a  literal  sense,  (which  however  more  properly  signified  the 
 spiritual  conquests  of  the  Messias,  and  the  conversion  of  all  nations  to  the  faith,) 
 hence  they  reasonably  concluded  that  they  ought  to  make  haste  to  pay  their  homage 
 to  a  king,  to  whom  was  promised  from  above  the  empire  of  the  earth,  hoping  thus 
 to  secure  his  alliance  and  friendship.  But  God  afterwards  enlightened  their  minds 
 concernino-  the  true  sense  of  the  above-mentioned  prophecy.  Their  view  however 
 seemino-  sufficiently  clear,  and  such  as  might  justly  be  supposed  that  of  independent 
 princes  on  a  similar  occasion,  we  are  led  to  consider  the  ancient  opinion  of  their 
 exalted  rank  as  far  from  being  ill-grounded.  Be  that  as  it  may,  by  communicating  to 
 each  other  their  respective  discoveries,  they  agreed  tosetout  together  on  their  journey 
 into  Judea,  which  they  possibly  might  reach  upon  camels  in  the  space  of  five  or 
 six  days.j' 
 Matt.  2.  "  When  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,"  a  town  of  Juda,J  "  in  the  days  of  King 
 ^-       Herod"  the  Great,§  "  behold  there  came"  these  "  wise  men  from  the  east  to  Jeru- 
 
 *  See  St.  Thomas,  P.  3.   Q.  36,  &c.  prince  of  Judea,    Samaria,  and  Idumea.      It  was 
 
 t  See  a  full    account  of  the  magi   in  Prideaux's  under  him   that  Christ  returned  from  Egypt,  Matt. 
 
 Connection,  P.  1.   B.  4.  W.  2-2,      Archelaus  being  banished  by  Augustus  to 
 
 I  To    distinguish    it   from   another    Bethlehem  Vienne  in  Gaul,  in  tlie  15th  year  of  Clirist,  his  ler- 
 
 situated  in  the  tribe  of  Zabulon.  ritory  was  annexed  to   the   province   of  Syria,  and 
 
 §  As  in  the  life  of  Christ  there  is  frequent  men-  put  under  the  direclion  of  Roman  governors.  The 
 tion  of  the  Herods,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  give  first  of  these  was  Coponius,  sent  by  Augustus; 
 some  account  of  them.  Herod  the  Great  was  tiie  the  fifth  was  Pontius  Pihite,  sent  by  Tiberius. 
 son  of  Antipater,  an  Idumean,  and  reigned  in  Judea  Herod  Antipas  was  the  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and 
 during  37  years.  In  his  reign  both  John  the  Perea,  (Luke  iii.  I.)  who  married  Herodias  the 
 Baptist  and  Christ  our  Lord  were  born  :  by  his  wife  of  his  brother  Philip,  and  put  John  the  Bap- 
 orders  the  Innocents  were  slain,  Matt.  ii.  1,  13,  16.  list  to  death.  Matt.  xiv.  4,  10.  He  had  Cliusa  for 
 Luke  i.  5.  Herod  the  Great  divided  his  domi-  liis  steward  or  procurator,  (Luke  xiv.  4,  ID.)  laid 
 nions,  at  his  death,  amongst  his  three  sons,  Arche-  snares  for  Christ,  and  was  called  by  him  the  fox, 
 laus,  Herod  Antipas,  and  Philip;  his  fourth  son  Luke  xiii.  31,  32.  lie  mocked  and  derided  Christ, 
 Herod  Philip  by  Mariamne  having  no  share  of  (Luke  xxiii.  11.)  and  conspired  with  Pilat^;  against 
 territory.     Archelaus,  the  eldest,  was  ethnarch  or  his  disciples,  Acts  iv.  27.     Manahen  had  his  edu- 
 
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Ch.  IX.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 6^ 
 
 i 
 
 salem,  saying :  Where  is  he  that  is  born  king-  of  the  Jews  ?  for  we  have  seen  his  star 
 in  the  east,"  which  announced  his  birth,  "  and  are  come  to  adore  him.  And  kino- 
 Herod,"  who  had  usurped  the  kingdom,  and  was  apprehensive  of  being  deposed, 
 ''  hearing-  this,  was  troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him.  And  assemblino-  too-ether 
 all  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  of  the  people,  he  inquired  of  them  where  Christ 
 should  be  born.  But  they  said  to  him  :  In  Bethlehem  of  Juda.  For  so  it  is  written 
 by  the  prophet"  Micheas  :  "  And  thou  Bethlehem,  the  land  of  Juda,  art  not  the  least 
 of  the  princes  of  Juda,  for  out  of  thee  shall  come  forth  the  Captain,  that  shall  rule  my 
 people  Israel.  Then  Herod  privately  calling  the  wise  men,  learned  diligently  of  them 
 the  time  of  the  star  which  appeared  to  them.  And  sending  them  to  Bethlehem, 
 said  :  Go,  and  dihgently  inquire  after  the  child ;  and  when  you  have  found  him, 
 bring  me  word  again,  that  I  also  may  come  and  adore  him."  This  bore  the 
 appearance  of  an  invitation  to  return  again  to  Jerusalem,  which  at  the  moment  they 
 probably  meant  to  accept.  It  was  undoubtedly  owing  to  the  Divine  Providence, 
 that  this  artful  prince  did  not  accompany  the  wise  men,  and  no  less  so,  that  he 
 omitted  sending  some  confidential  messenger  in  their  company.  The  reason  of  this 
 his  short-sighted  policy  might  perhaps  be  his  apprehension,  lest  the  success  of  the 
 search  might  be  defeated,  were  he  to  attend  it  in  person,  as  he  was  conscious  of 
 the  hatred  and  awe  which  the  people  bore  towards  him  ;  and  the  very  report  of  his 
 journey  into  those  parts,  might  have  been  the  occasion  of  the  Infant's  being  removed 
 into  some  safer  situation.  The  wise  men  "  having  heard  the  king,  went  their  wav, 
 and  behold  the  star,  which  they  had  seen  in  the  east,  went  before  them,  until  it 
 ia.me,  and  stood  over  where  the  child  was.  And  seeing  the  star,  they  rejoiced  with 
 "  ig  great  joy.  And  entering  into  the  house"  pointed  out  to  them  by  this 
 ^us  guide,  "  they  found  the  child,  with  Mary  his  Mother :  and  fallino-  down 
 him,"  not  only  as  a  man  of  supereminent  dignity,  but  also  as  their  God. 
 irly  taught  by  St.  Irenseus,*  Origen,t  St.  Chrysostom,J  &c.  Their  ftiith 
 wise  shaken  at  the  sight  of  his  poverty  and  humble  appearance ;  for  they 
 'been  ; aught  from  above  to  consider  in  a  spiritual  and  not  in  an  earthli/  lioht  the 
 lity  of  this  new-born  King,  and  that  of  the  kingdom  which  he  was  come  to 
 lish.§  So  f,.r  therefore  from  being  shocked  at  his  unkingly  appearance,  their 
 prises  and  gathers  strength  on  the  sight  of  obstacles  which,  humanly  speaking, 
 dd  extinguish  it.  It  captivates  their  understanding;  it  penetrates  these  veils  of 
 rty,  infancy,  weakness  and  abjection  ;  it  casts  them  on  their  faces  as  unworthy  to 
 look  up  to  this  Star,  this  God  of  Jacob  :  they  confess  him,  under  this  disouise,  to  be 
 
 cation  with  this  Herod,  and  is  called  fo'ter-brother 
 to  him,  Acts  xiii.  I. — Philip  tlie  tetrarch  of  Iturea, 
 and  of  the  country  of  Trachonilidis,  (Luke  iii.  L) 
 was,  according  to  some,  the  husband  of  Herodias. 
 See  chap.  xiii.  in  the  note. 
 
 Herod  the  Great's  ijrandchildren  by  his  son 
 Aristobulus,  whom  he  had  put  to  death,  were  Herod 
 kinn'  of  Chalcis,  Agrippa  senior,  and  Herodias. 
 Ag-rippa,  who  was  likewise  called  Herod,  put  to 
 death  James  the  Great,  the  brother  of  John,  cast 
 Peter  the  prince  of  the  apostles  into  prison,  and 
 being  struck   by   an   angel,    expired  eaieii   vp  by 
 
 7. 
 
 worms.  Acts  xii.  2,  4,  23.  His  son  was  A-jrippa 
 the  lounger,  before  whom  St.  Paul  pleaded  his 
 cause  in  chains.  Josephus  mentions,  that  in  the 
 space  of  lUO  years  the  whole  race  of  Herod  was 
 extinct.   Lb.  IS.  Aiitiq.  Judaic,  c.  3. 
 
 *   Lib.  3.  adversus  Hereses,  c.  10. 
 
 t  Lib.  1.  contra  C'elsum,  360. 
 
 X   Hom.  S.  in  Matt. 
 
 §  It  is  the  more  general  opinion  that  thev  found 
 the  divine  Infant  in  the  same  stable  where  "he  was 
 born,  and  not  in  a  more  commodious  dwellin"-,  as 
 some  pretend. 
 
 10. 
 11. 
 
70  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  X. 
 
 the  only  and  eternal  God  :  they  own  the  excess  of  his  goodness  in  becoming-  man, 
 and  the  excess  of  human  misery,  which  required  for  its  relief  so  great  a  humiliation 
 of  the  Lord  of  glory.  St.  Leo  thus  extols  their  faith  and  devotion  :  "  When  a  star 
 had  conducted  them  to  adore  Jesus,  they  did  not  find  him  expelling  devils,  or  raising^ 
 the  dead,  or  restoring  sight  to  the  blind,  or  speech  to  the  dumb,  or  employed  in  any 
 divine  actions ;  but  a  silent  babe,  under  the  care  of  a  solicitous  mother,  giving  no 
 
 11.  sign  of  power,  but  exhUiiting  a  miracle  of  humility." — "  And  opening  their  treasures, 
 they  offered  him  gifts,"  in  token  of  their  homage  :  "  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh." 
 Mysterious  gifts  !  which  on  the  one  hand  referred  to  the  properties  belonging  to  the 
 infant,  and  on  the  other  were  expressive  of  the  disposition  of  their  own  hearts  in  his 
 regard.  In  the  gold  they  presented  a  voluntary  tribute  as  to  a  great  king,  in  the 
 incense  they  ofTered  to  him  a  sacrifice  of  praise  as  to  the  true  God,  and  in  myrrh  they 
 acknowledged  his  having  a  true  human  body  like  ours.*  Tliey  likewise  may  be  con- 
 sidered as  offering  to  him  with  the  gold,  the  affection  of  their  hearts  ;  with  the  incense 
 all  the  respect  and  adoration  their  minds  were  capable  of:  and  with  the  myrrh,  all  their 
 actions  and  siiff"erings  as  men.  It  is  with  the  like  dispositions  we  ought  frequently 
 to  draw  near  in  spirit  to  him,  making  him  an  affectionate  tender  of  our  hearts,  but 
 first  cleansed  by  tears  of  sincere  repentance. 
 
 The  holy  kings  being  about  to  return  home,  God,  who  saw  the  hypocrisy  and 
 malicious  designs  of  Herod,  by  a  particular  intimation,  diverted  them  from  their 
 purpose  of  carrying  back  word  to  Jerusalem  where  the  child  was  to  be  found.      So, 
 
 12.  "  having  received  an  answer  in  their  sleep  that  they  should  not  return  to  Herod,'' 
 leaving  their  affections  with  their  Infant-Saviour,  "  they  went  back  another  way  into 
 their  own  country." 
 
 Herod,  though  equally  suspicious  as  violent  in  his  temper,  yet  seems  not  to  have 
 been  alarmed  at  their  not  returning  back  to  him.  He  was  perhaps  willing  to  believe 
 that  they  had  not  been  successful  in  their  search,  and  therefore  that  they  would  be 
 ashamed  to  pass  again  through  Jerusalem,  where  they  might  naturally  expect  the 
 scoffs  and  railleries  of  his  courtiers  and  of  the  people  :  and  we  may  well  conceive  the 
 tyrant  happy  at  the  moment,  under  the  idea  of  having  escaped  the  censures  of  the 
 public,  by  his  not  having  openly  joined  in  the  fruitless  search.f 
 
 CHAPTER  X. 
 
 THE  PRESENTATION   OF  JESUS  CHRIST  IN  THE  TEMPLE,  AND  THE  PURIFICATION  OF  THE 
 BLESSED  VIRGIN.       MATT.  II.       LUKE  II. 
 
 Gen. 4. 4.  It  appears  from  Abel's  offering  the  firstlings  of  his  flock,  that  Almighty  God,  from 
 the  beginning,  required  the  first  born  of  every  creature  to  be  offered  to  him,  as  to  the 
 
 *  Myrrh  was  anciently  made  use  of  in  the  burial  St.   Chrysostom,   says  they  were   afterwards  bap- 
 
 of  the  dead.  tized  in  Persia  by  St.  Thomas    the    apostle,   and 
 
 t  As  to  the  magi,  it  never  has  been  questioned  became  themselves  preachers  of  the  g-ospel.     Tlieir 
 
 but  that  they  spent  the  rest  of  their   lives  in  the  bodies,  it  is   said,  were   translated   to  Cologne   in 
 
 service  of  God.     The  ancient  author  of  the  imper-  Germany  in  the  12th  century, 
 feet  comment  on  St.  JMatthew,  among  the  works  of 
 
Ch.  X.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  71 
 
 Creator  and  Proprietor  of  all  things.  Men,  more  especially,  were  to  be  consecrated 
 to  God's  service ;  clean  beasts  were  to  be  sacrificed,  the  fat  burnt,  and  the  Hesh 
 given  to  the  priests  :  but  the  unclean  animals  were  to  be  redeemed  for  a  certain  Numb. 
 price,  which  was  g-iven  to  the  priests :  and  the  first  fruits  of  the  earth  and  trees  were 
 to  be  presented  to  the  Lord,  heaved  or  waved  on  the  altar,  and  then  to  be  given  to 
 the  priests.  If  this  regulation  did  not  take  place  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  world, 
 as  is  highly  probable,  it  became  at  least  a  strict  law,  upon  the  Lord's  delivering  all 
 the  first  born  of  man  and  beast  among  the  Israelites  from  the  hand  of  the  destroying 
 angel,  in  the  night  when  he  slew  all  those  of  the  Egyptians.  Thus,  till  the  time  of 
 Moses  and  the  written  law,  the  priesthood  belonged  to  the  first  born,  except  where 
 some  special  election  was  made  of  another,  as  in  the  case  of  Jacob.  Then  it  was  Ex.  19. 
 God  chose  in  their  stead  the  tribe  of  Levi,  as  a  reward  for  their  not  joining  in  the  22. 
 worship  of  the  molten  calf.  Wherefore,  the  tribe  of  Levi  being  consecrated  in  a 
 special  manner  to  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  and  of  the  temple,  God  was  pleased 
 to  exempt  the  first  born  of  the  other  tiibes  from  a  compliance  with  this  injunction,  on 
 condition  of  their  acknowledging  their  former  obligation  to  it.  This  they  did  by 
 being  presented  in  the  temple,  and  redeemed  by  a  sum  of  money,  which  appears  to 
 have  been  five  shekels,  or  about  15s  sterling.* 
 
 There  was  another  law  which  regarded  the  Blessed  Virgin,  ordaining  that  a  woman 
 after  child-birth  should  continue  for  a  certain  time  in  a  state  called  by  that  law 
 unclean  ;  during  which  she  was  not  to  appear  in  public,  iior  presume  to  touch  any 
 thing  consecrated  to  God.  This  term  was  of  forty  days  upon  the  birth  of  a  son,  the 
 time  was  double  for  a  daughter  ;  on  the  expiration  whereof  the  mother  was  to  offer 
 two  animals  in  the  temple,  one  for  a  holocaust  or  burnt-offering  in  lieu  of  her  son, 
 who  by  the  letter  of  the  law  was  devoted,  and  as  it  were  confiscated  to  the  Almighty; 
 the  other  was  for  a  sin-ojfdring,  and  to  be  the  price  of  her  being  cleansed  from  those 
 impurities  which  both  she  and  her  infant  contracted  in  her  child-bearing-.  A  young 
 pigeon  or  turtle-dove  by  way  of  sin-offering,  was  required  of  all,  whether  rich  or  poor ; 
 "Uiid  if  the  party  were  competently  rich,  she  offered  a  lamb  for  the  holocaust,  but  if 
 poor,  she  had  the  option  to  offer  either  two  young  pigeons,  or  two  turtle-doves,  as  it 
 suited  her  convenience. 
 
 As  our  Saviour  had  been  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  his  Blessed  Mother 
 always  remained  a  spotless  Virgin,  it  is  evident  that  they  were  not  subject  to  the  law 
 in  question.     Yet  they  complied  exactly  with  all  the  ordinances  of  it:   1.  To  prevent 
 the  scandal  which  others  might  have  taken  who  were  ignorant  of  their  high  privileges. 
 2.  To  set  before  us  an  example  of  obedience,  and  to  induce  ns  willingly  to  submit 
 to  all  the  laws  of  God  and   his  Church.     Wherefore,  ''after'' the  wise  men  were  Matt.  2. 
 departed,  and  "  the"  forty  ''  days  of"  Mai-y's  "  purification,!  accordino-  to  the  law      1^. 
 of  Moses,  were  accomplished,  they  caiTied"  Jesus  to  Jerusalem  to  present  him  to  the     "22^_  ' 
 Lord  ;  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  r  Eveiy  male  opening  the  womb  shall      03. 
 be  called  holy,"  i.  e.  shall  be  consecrated  'Mo  the  Lord:  and  to  offer  a  sacrifice,      24. 
 according  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  a  pair  of  turtle-doves,  or  two  youno- 
 
 *  See  Levit.  xxvii.  6.  and  Niim.  iii.  47.  A  she-  t  Accnrdiiifj  to  the  Greek  their  purification  ;  for 
 kel,  according  to  Prideaux,  was  equal  to  3s.  of  our  the  law  of  legal  impurity  regarded  the  child  as  well 
 money.  as  the  mother. 
 
72  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [CI,.  X. 
 
 pigeons,"  suitable  to  their  mean  condition.  But  the  Lamb  by  which  all  other  obla- 
 tions were  rendered  acceptable,  the  Blessed  Virgin  carried  in  her  arms,  namely,  her 
 own  divine  Son,  who  now  renewed,  in  a  solemn  and  public  manner,  the  oblation  of 
 himself  to  his  Father,  which  he  had  already  made  privately  in  the  first  moment  of 
 his  incarnation.  With  what  sentiments  did  the  divine  Infant  offer  himself,  on  this 
 occasion,  to  fulfil  in  all  things  the  will  of  his  father!  With  what  love  and  cheerful- 
 ness did  he  submit,  for  our  redemption,  to  all  the  torments  which  he  clearly  foresaw 
 would  follow  this  oblation  !  to  be  whipped,  crowned  with  thorns,  and  ignominiously 
 put  to  death  for  us  !  Every  sacrifice  comprises  two  essential  and  distinct  parts,  the 
 oblation  and  the  immolation.  The  immolation  was  reserved  for  Mount  Calvary  ;  the 
 oblation  is  now  made  in  the  temple.  Between  the  presentation  and  the  crucifixion 
 there  exists  a  close  connection  :  there  is  the  same  victim,  the  same  priest,  the  same 
 God,  the  same  sacrifice :  it  begins  to-day  ;  it  will  then  be  consummated. — In  oHering 
 himself  in  our  behalf  to  his  Father,  Jesus  Christ  does  not  dispense  with  the  offering 
 which  we  are  to  make  of  ourselves.  This  obligation  is  rendered  more  strict  and 
 general.  Let  every  Christian  then  learn  to  offer  himself  with  this  divine  Victim, 
 throuo-h  which  alone  he  can  be  accepted  by  the  Father:  let  him  devote  himself  with 
 all  his  senses  and  faculties  to  the  divine  service,  as  a  liring  sacrifice,  holy  and  well- 
 pleasing  to  God. 
 
 25.  2.  IIoIt/  "  And  behold  there  was  a  man  In  Jerusalem  named  Simeoii,  and  this 
 Simeon,      ^an  was  just  and  devout,  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel :  and  the 
 
 Holy  Ghost  was  in  him."     Whether  he  was  a  priest  or  not  does  not  appear  from 
 
 26.  the  Gospel,  as  Tillemont  observes,  nor  from  the  Fathers.    "  And  he  had  a  revelation 
 from  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  should  not  .see  death  before  he  had  seen  the  Christ  of 
 
 27.  the  Lord :  and  he  came"  moved  "  by  the  spirit  into  the  temple  ;   and  when  his 
 parents  brought  in  the  child  Jesus  to  do  for  him  according  to  the  custom  of  the  law, 
 
 28.  he  also,"  with  great  devotion  and  humility,  "  took  him  into  his  arms,"  as  the  object 
 of  all  his  affections,  "  and  blessed  God  and  said,"  being  now  perfectly  satisfied,  and 
 
 29.  desiring  no  longer  to  see  the  light  of  this  world,  nor  any  creatures  on  earth  :   "  Now 
 
 30.  thou  dost  dismiss  thy  servant,  O  Lord,  according  to  thy  word  in  peace.     Because 
 my  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation,  which  thou  hast  prepared  before  the  face  of  all 
 
 3L      people,"  and  not  for  the  Jews  alone  ;  "  a  light  to  enlighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the 
 glory  of  thy  people  Israel." 
 
 This  canticle  has  two  parts.  In  the  first,  Simeon  blesses  God  for  this  signal 
 favour  in  his  regard  ;  insinuating  that  he  had  long  wished  to  be  taken  out  of  this 
 world,  rather  than  continue  a  spectator  of  the  general  corruption  of  the  Jewish  people, 
 and  particularly  of  the  depravation  which  prevailed  in  the  synagogue  and  in  all 
 Jerusalem.  He  further  expresses  himself  sensible  that  God  had  prolonged  his 
 existence  until  he  should  see  the  Messias,  who  was  to  bring  a  remedy  to  these  evils. 
 He  adds,  that  having  now  witnessed  with  his  eyes  this  Saviour  whom  God  had  sent, 
 and  for  whose  coming  he  had  so  long  sighed,  no  further  wish  remained  to  him, 
 and  therefore  that  he  should  now  die  contented :  accordingly,  after  reminding  God 
 of  the  promise  formerly  made  to  him,  he  acknowledges  its  being  fulfilled,  and 
 expresses  his  hopes  of  quickly  departing  this  life  in  peace. 
 
'^£ ^k^/^/P/A^^/ /'^i/ym^  'ysm^/f^ 
 
Ch.  X.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  73 
 
 In  the  remaining  part  of  this  canticle,  Simeon  declares  the  reason  of  the  great  joy 
 and  satisfaction  he  has  in  leaving  the  world,  viz.  not  merely  this  transient  view  of  the 
 Messias,  but  (speaking  in  the  language  of  the  prophets,  of  future  times  as  if  already 
 passed),  the  certainty  he  is  under,  that  God  has  presented  this  his  Son  to  the  view 
 of  all  nations,  to  be  the  object  of  their  faith  and  worship,  the  foundation  of  their 
 hopes,  the  Mediator  of  their  reconciliation,  the  reparation  of  all  their  losses,  and  the 
 standard  of  their  salvation.  This  his  divine  Son  is  therefore  presented  both  to  the 
 Jews  and  Gentiles  in  a  form  suited  to  their  respective  wants.  The  Gentiles  were 
 plunged  into  the  dark  shades  of  idolatry, — the  Jews  were  the  scorn  and  the  outcast 
 of  all  nations.  To  the  former  he  comes  as  a  light  to  enlighten  them  by  the  true 
 faith,  and  to  the  latter  he  is  a  subject  they  may  glory  in,  before  all  other  nations,  as 
 being  the  favoured  nation,  from  which  the  Saviour  of  the  world  originated,  and  from 
 which  all  others  shall  derive  the  author  of  their  eternal  salvation. 
 
 To  this  first  testimony  in  favour  of  Jesus,  the  holy  Simeon  adds  another  extremely 
 
 afflictino-  to  his  Blessed  Mother.     For  when  "  his  father  and  mother  were  wonderinsf      33. 
 
 ...  ^ 
 
 at  those  things  which  were  spoken  concerning  him,  Simeon,"  as  an  old  man  if  not  as  a      34. 
 
 priest,  "  blessed  them,  and  said  to  Mary  his  mother  :  Behold  this  child  is  set  for  the 
 
 fall  and  for  the  resurrection  of  many  in  Israel,"  according  to  the  good  or  bad  use 
 
 they  make  of  his  graces ;  "  and  for  a  sign  which  shall  be  contradicted"  by  the 
 
 wicked,  who  oppose  his  doctrine  and  the  establishment  of  his  kingdom.     "  And  thv      ^5. 
 
 own  soul  a  sword  shall  pierce,"  when  on  mount  Calvary  thou  shalt  witness  the 
 
 sorrows  of  thy  beloved  Son,  together  with  the  reproaches  and  blasphemies  that  shall 
 
 be  uttered  against  him:  "  that  the  thoughts  of  many  hearts  may  be  revealed,"  and 
 
 disclosed,  when  some  shall  believe,  and  others  remain  hardened  in  their  obstinacy. 
 
 "  And,"  besides  Simeon,  "  there  was  one  Anna  a  prophetess,  the   3.  Aium  ike       35, 
 daughter  of  Phanuel,  of  the  tribe  of  Aser,"  who  likewise  bore  testimony     Prophetess. 
 in  favour  of  Jesus.     "  She  was  far  advanced  in  years,  and  had  lived  with  her  hus- 
 band seven  years  from  her  virginity,"  i.  e.  only  seven  years  in  the  married  state;      37. 
 "  and  she  was  a  widow  until"  about  "  fourscore  and  four  years  :  who  departed  not 
 from  the  temple,  by  fastings  and  prayers  serving  night  and  day."     The  redemption 
 of  the  world  by  the  promised  Messias,  then  much  spoken  of  and  expected,  was  pro- 
 bably the  chief  subject  of  her  devotions,  as  well  as  of  holy  Simeon's  ;  and  St.  Austin 
 is  of  opinion,  that  she  would  not  marry  again,  because  it  was  no  lono-er  the  time  to 
 contribute  to  this  mystery  by  the  married  state,  but  to  serve  God  in  a  more  holy 
 manner  by  purity  and  continency.     "  Now  she,  at  the  same  hour,  comino-  in   con-      ss 
 fessed  to  the  Lord,  and  spoke  of  him  to  all"  of  Jerusalem  "  that  looked  for  the 
 redemption  of  Israel."* 
 
 It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  prophecy  of  Aggens  and  Malachy  was  fulfilled    A^'x.2. 
 when  speaking  of  the  second  temple,  they  declare  that  however  inferior  it  mio-ht  be     ''  ^' 
 to  the  first,  it  shall  be  more  honoured  by  the  presence  of  t/ic  Desired  of  all  nations      ^'^'  ' 
 "  The  Desired  of  all  nations  shall  come,  and  I  will  fill  this  house  with  o-loi-y  saith 
 
 *  It  is  higWy  probable  that  holy  Simeon  and  Church  honours  them  both  in  the  number  of  her 
 Anna  died  soon  after  the  testimony  which  they  g-ave  saints.  The  former  on  the  8lh  of  October  the 
 on  this  occasion  iu  favour  of  Jesus  Christ.     The     latter  on  the  1st  of  September  ' 
 
 7.  u 
 
74  Tin:  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XI. 
 
 the  Lord  of  Hosts Great  shall  be  the  glory  of  this  last  house  more  than  the 
 
 first,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts:  and  in  this  place  I  will  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of 
 Hosts."  The  temple  also  had  been  a  little  before  more  sumptuously  rebuilt  by 
 Herod,  as  it  were  for  the  more  solemn  reception  and  honour  of  this  its  Lord,  though 
 intended  by  Herod  merely  for  his  own  glory  and  vanity.  It  was  begun  to  be 
 repaired  by  him  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  reign,  and  in  the  space  of  about  eight 
 years,  was  finished  as  to  the  body  of  the  house  ;  but  all  the  outworks  and  buildings 
 were  not  finished  till  forty-six  years  afterwards,  which  was  about  the  time  when  our 
 Lord,  after  receiving  baptism  from  John,  began  his  preaching.* 
 
 The  presentation  of  the  child  Jesus  by  his  mother  in  the  temple,  is  an  instruction 
 to  christian  parents  the  most  important  and  essential :  for  as  there  can  be  nothing  in 
 life  more  dear  to  parents  than  their  children,  so  nothing  in  reason  ought  to  engage 
 their  attention  more,  than  to  procure  them  real  happiness.  For  this  reason  it  is 
 their  duty  to  recommend  them  frequently  to  God,  to  pray  devoutly  kn-  them,  and  to 
 put  them  in  the  way  of  obtaining  the  di\  ine  blessing.  Their  innocence  is  a  precious 
 treasure  committed  to  their  care,  of  which  God  will  one  day  demand  an  exact 
 account.  Their  timely  instruction  in  christian  piety  is  a  charge  of  the  utmost  con- 
 sequence, both  to  themselves  and  children  ;  a  charge  which  cannot  duly  be  fulfilled 
 without  steady  application.  A  certain  tenderness  of  feeling,  which  unfortunately 
 leads  some  parents  to  indulge  their  children's  humours,  and  to  flatter  their  pettish 
 inclinations,  is  a  mistaken  fondness;  it  is  but  a  selfish  love,  and  a  real  cruelty  to 
 Prov.  13.  those  whom  they  think  they  love,  according  to  that  oracle  of  the  wisest  of  men  :  "  he 
 ^*'      that  spareth  the  red,  hateth  his  child  ;  but  he  that  loveth,  chastens  him  betimes." 
 
 CHAPTER  XL 
 
 THE  FUGIIT  OF  JESUS  INTO  EGYPT.       MATT.  II.     LUKE  II. 
 
 Luke  2,  "  After"  Mary  and  Joseph  "  had"  thus  "  performed  all  things  accord- 
 
 3^'  car'rkd  into  ing  to  the  law  of  the  Lord,  behold  an  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  in 
 13.  '  ^=M''-  sleep  to  Joseph,  saying  :  Arise  and  take  the  child  and  his  mother,  and 
 fly  into  Egypt :  and  be  there  until  I  shall  tell  thee.  For  it  will  come  to  pass  that 
 Herod  will  seek  the  child  to  destroy  him."  This  sudden  and  unexpected  flight  must 
 have  exposed  this  holy  family  to  many  inconveniences  and  sufferings  in  so  long  a 
 journey,  as  the  greater  part  of  the  way  lay  through  deserts,  and  among  strangers  ; 
 yet  St.  Joseph  alleges  no  excuses,  nor  inquires  when  they  were  to  return,  resigning 
 himself  to  all  the  dispensations  of  Providence.  St.  Chrysostom  observes,  that  God 
 treats  thus  all  his  servants,  sending  them  frequently  trials,,  to  clear  their  hearts  from 
 the  rust  of  self-love;  but,  at  the  same  time,  intermixing  seasons  of  consolation. f 
 "  Joseph,  says  he,  is  anxious  on  seeing  the  Virgin  with  child :  an  angel  removes 
 that  fear;  he  rejoices  at  the  child's  birth,  but  a  great  fear  succeeds  ;  the  furious  king 
 seeks  to  destroy  the  child,  and  the  whole  city  is  in  an  uproar  to  take  away  his  life. 
 
 *  See  John  ii.  20.  t  Horn.  8.  in  Matt. 
 
Ch.  XT.J 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 75 
 
 This  is  followed  by  another  joy,  the  adoration  of  the  mag'i ;  a  new  sorrow  then 
 arises,  he  is  ordered  to  fly  into  a  foreign,  unknown  country,  without  help  or  acquaint- 
 ance." Accordingly  he  "  arose  and  took  the  child  and  his  mother  by  night,  and 
 retired  into  Egypt ;  and  he  was  there"  about  a  year,  i.  e.  "  until  the  death  of  Herod.* 
 That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  the  Lord  spoke  by  the  prophet"  Osee,  chap.  xi.  1. 
 "  saying:  Out  of  E^i/pt  have  I  called  >ni/  Son."-\ — It  is  the  opinion  of  the  holy 
 Fathers,  that  upon  their  entering  Egypt,  at  the  presence  of  the  child  Jesus,  all  the 
 oracles  of  that  superstitious  country  were  struck  dumb,  and  the  statues  of  their  gods 
 trembled,  and  in  some  places  fell  to  the  ground,  according  to  that  of  Isaiah  xix. 
 "  And  Ihe  statues  of  the  Egyptians  shall  be  shaken  in  his  presence."^ 
 
 It  is  believed§  that  the  holy  family  took  up  their  habitation  in  the  town  of  Her- 
 mopolis,  and  to  this  day  is  shown  a  place  called  Malara,  between  Cairus  and 
 Heliopolis,  where  is  a  fountain  in  which  the  holy  Virgin  is  said  to  have  washed 
 the  linen  of  the  infant  Jesus,  and  which  is  held  in  great  veneration  throuo-hout  the 
 whole  country. 
 
 "  Tiien  Herod,"  who  had  informed  himself  of  the  birth  of  the  king  g  xfie  slavh- 
 of  the  Jews  only  with  a  view  to  destroy  him,  "  perceiving  that  he  was  ter  of  ike  Luio- 
 deluded  by  the  wise  men,  was  exceeding  angry,  and  sending  killed  all  '^ '''' 
 
 the  men  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all  the  borders  thereof,  from  two 
 years  old  and  under,|l  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently  inquired  of  the 
 wise  men,"  conceiving  that  this  new-born  king  would  be  in  the  number  of  the  slain. ^ 
 
 *  The  death  of  Herod  happened  four  years 
 before  the  common  aera,  as  appears  from  Josephus. 
 
 t  (In  the  LXX.  ra  rcxva  avTn,  filios  ejus.)  Al- 
 thouffh  these  words  seem  originally  to  refer  to  the 
 Israelites,  yet  as  their  captivity  in  Kg-ypt  was  a 
 figure  of  the  slavery  of  sin,  under  which  all  mankind 
 groaned,  and  as  their  deliverance  by  Moses  was 
 a  figure  of  man's  redemption  by  our  Saviour 
 Christ ;  so  in  a  mystical  and  spiritual  sense  they 
 agree  to  our  Saviour,  who  was  the  Son  of  God  in 
 a  more  appropriate  sense,  than  was  the  people  of 
 Israel. 
 
 X  This  is  affirmed  by  St.  Athan.  1.  de  Incar. 
 Eusebius,  Demon.  Evang.  b.  6.  c.  sJO.  St.  Cyril, 
 Cat.  10.  St.  Amb.  in  Vs.  118.  St.  Jer.  in  Isai. 
 19,  &c.  It  is  not  however  probable,  as  Suarez  ob- 
 serves, that  all  the  statues  of  the  Egyptian  idols 
 fell  down  on  this  occasion,  but  only  some  of  them, 
 especially  where  Christ  dwelt. 
 
 §  Calmet.  But  Sandinus  conjectures  that  Jo- 
 seph would  rather  take  up  his  residence  at  Alexan- 
 dria, where  there  was  a  flourishing  synagogue,  and 
 a  great  concourse  of  Jews. 
 
 11  i.  e.  All  those  who  were  bom  during  the  two 
 years  preceding  the  ap])arition  of  the  star,  which 
 denoted  that  Christ  the  Messias  was  actually  born. 
 It  is  a  mistake,  therefore,  to  imagine  that  the  star 
 appeared  for  two  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 
 We  may  however  infer  from  hence,  that  the  mas- 
 sacre of  the  children  did  not  take  place  immediately 
 after  the  departure  of  the  wise  tneti,  but  that  Herod 
 waited  for  some  time,  and  did  not  take  his  cruel 
 resolution  till  after  the  report  of  Christ's  birth  was 
 
 noised  abroad  in  Jerusalem  after  his  presentation 
 in  the  temple. 
 
 ^  In  Herod  we  see  how  blind  and  how  cruel 
 ambition  is,  which  is  ready  to  sacrifice  every  thing, 
 even  Jesus  Christ,  to  his  views. — The  tyrant  lived 
 not  long  to  enjoy  the  kingdom  which  he  feared  so 
 much  to  lose.  Josephus  calls  him  the  most  exe- 
 crable of  mankind,  and  says  that  fiis  distemper 
 appeared  to  be  a  judgment  upon  him  for  his  crimes. 
 He  laboured  under  a  most  malignant  fever,  attended 
 with  an  asthma,  cramps,  and  contractions  of  the 
 nerves,  together  with  other  most  nauseous  symp- 
 toms. Antijiater,  whom  Herod  his  father  had  cast 
 into  jirisonfor  a  conspiracy  against  his  life,  hearing 
 in  his  dungeon  in  wliat  a  lamentable  condition  he 
 lay  strongly  solicited  his  jailor  to  set  him  at  liberty, 
 hoping  to  obtain  the  crown  ;  but  the  officer  ac- 
 quainted Herod  with  the  whole  affair.  The  tyrant 
 was  so  enraged  by  this  representation,  that  though  in 
 the  very  agonies  of  death,  he  commanded  one  of  his 
 guards  to  slay  Antipater  without  farther  delay.  Not 
 content  with  causing  many  to  be  put  to  barbarous 
 deaths  during  the  course  of  his  malady,  he  com- 
 manded the  .lews  that  were  of  the  principal  rank 
 and  quality,  to  be  shut  up  in  the  circus  at  Jericho, 
 and  gave  orders  to  his  sister  Salome  and  her  hus- 
 band Alexas  to  have  then;  all  massacred  as  soon  as 
 he  sliould  expire,  saying,  that  as  the  Jews  heartily 
 detested  him,  they  would  of  course  rejoice  at  his 
 dejiarture  ;  but  he  would  make  a  general  mouminfr 
 at  his  death.  But  Salome  and  Alexas  were  not 
 wicked  enough  to  become  the  executioners  of  so 
 bloody  a  design,  but  permitted  all  that  were  shut 
 
 16. 
 
76  CIi.  XI.]  TIl^  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST, 
 
 But  what  does  human  prudence  avail  when  counteracted  by  the  wisdom  of  God? — 
 It  is  prohable  that  this  most  barbarous  and  inhuman  order  was  not  executed  by  a 
 sudden  irruption  or  promiscuous  massacre,  as  is  usually  supposed,  and  as  painters 
 choose  to  represent  it,  but  with  some  show  of  a  judiciary  process.  The  soldiers,  led 
 on  by  their  officers,  went  from  house  to  house  with  the  most  recent  and  exact  list  of 
 the  inhabitants,  and  forced  them  to  produce  such  children  as  came  within  the  descrip- 
 tion of  the. bloody  edict.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  military  would  pay 
 attention  to  the  parents'  evidence  as  to  the  age  of  the  children,  otherwise  many  would 
 have  escaped  the  sword.  On  the  contrary,  they  peremptorily  called  for  such  children 
 as  were  within  the  terms  described  to  them,  and  these  they  massacred  in  the  sight  of 
 the  disconsolate  parents. 
 
 17.  "  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by  Jercmias  the  prophet,  sajing:  A 
 
 18.  voice  in  Rama  u-as  heard,  lamcntalion  and  great  mourning:  Rachel  bcicnUing  her 
 children  and  would  not  be  comforted  because  theij  iverc  not."  Rama  is  a  village  not 
 for  from  this  town,  and  the  sepulchre  of  Rachel  was  in  a  field  belonging  to  it.  The 
 slauo-hter  also  was  probably  extended  into  the  neighbouring  tribe  of  Benjamin,  which 
 descended  from  Rachel.  The  prophet,  by  an  excellent  ;)ro.soy;oj;c?a,  attributes  to  Rachel 
 the  cries  and  moanings  of  the  women  of  Bethlehem,  because  her  sepulchre  was  near 
 to  that  city  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem.  The  Ethiopians  in  their  liturgy,  and  the 
 Greeks  in  their  calendar,  count  fourteen  thousand  children  massacred  on  this  occasion  : 
 but  that  number  exceeds  all  bounds,  nor  is  it  confirmed  by  any  authority  of  weight. — 
 These  innocent  victim.s  were  the  flowers  and  the  first  fruits  of  the  martyis,  and  it  was 
 tlieir  peculiar  glorj',  not  only  to  die  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  but  also  in  the  place  of 
 Christ  or  in  his  stead.  How  few  of  them,  perhaps,  if  they  had  lived,  would  have  escaped 
 the  daiio-ers  of  the  world,  which  by  its  maxims  and  example,  bears  every  thing  down 
 before  it  like  an  impetuous  torrent !  What  snares,  what  sins,  what  miseries  were 
 thev  preserved  from  by  this  grace !  With  songs  of  praise  and  love  they  will  never 
 fail  throuo-h  all  eternity,  to  thank  their  Saviour  for  his  infinite  mercy  to  them.  Their 
 io-norant  niotbers  indeed  did  not  know  this,  and  therefore  they  wept  without  comfort : 
 so  Christians  often  lament  as  misfortunes  many  accidents  which,  in  the  designs  of 
 heaven,  are  the  greatest  mercies. 
 
 19  "  But  when  Herod  was  dead,"*  which,  according  to  some  chrono- 
 
 of'jm,r%m  logers,  happened  that  same  year  in  December,  but  more  probably  at  the 
 
 Esypt-         end  of  March  or  the  beginning  of  April  in  the  following  year,  "  behold 
 
 an  ano-el  of  the  Lord,"  most  likely  Gabriel  as  before,  "  appeared  in  sleep  to  Joseph 
 
 ^^"      in  Eo-ypt  saying,  Arise,  and  take  the  child  and  his  mother,  and  go  into  the  land  of 
 
 to   return  to  their  respective  homes."    Hercd  because  the  news  of  botli  massacres  reached  Rome 
 
 died  five  davs  after  he  had  put  his  son  Antipater  about  the  same  time.     See  Josephus,  1.  17.  c.  8,  9, 
 
 to'^death       Macrobius,  an  heathen  writer  of  the  5th  and  10. 
 
 •   relates  that  Augustus,  when  he  had  heard  *  According  to  Sandinus,  &c.,  Herod  died  an. 
 
 tf  Vamon"-  the  chililreii   which  Herod  tiad  com-  U.C.  750,  four  years  before  the  vulgar  sra,  at  the 
 
 J    1  .   \„  cUIn  nnfler  two  vears  old,  his  own  end  of  March,    or    at  latest  at    the  beginniutr  of 
 
 inanded  to  tie  slam  uiuici   i""  J                 '             ,  .      .,                           „           ,         ,            n            .  "   ■,■ 
 
 son  had  been  massacred,   said  :  "  It  is  better  to  be  April,   as  appears  from  Josephus.     Hence  it  will 
 
 H       d'    hon- than  his  son."     By  this  he  alluded  to  follow  that  Joseph,  with  his  family,  remained  about 
 
 thrjevvish Taw  of  not  eating,  and  consequently  not  a  year   in  Egypt.     St.  Epiphanius,  however,   says 
 
 1   ir   n-  suine       Probably  the    historian   imagined  two,  Nicejihorus  three,  others  five,  and  others  again 
 
 the'son  to  have  been   slain  amongst  the  children,  seven  years. 
 
Ch.  XII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  77 
 
 Israel.     For  they  are  dead  who  sought  the  life  of  the  child.     Who  arose  and  took      21. 
 the  child  and  his  mother,  and  came  into  the  land  of  Israel.*     But  hearing  that      22. 
 Archelaus/'  a  cruel  and  jealous  prince,  "  reigned  in  Judea  in  the  room  of  Herod 
 his  fixther,  he  was  afraid  to  go  thither:  and  being  warned  in  sleep,  retired  into  the 
 quarters  of  Galilee,"  then  under  the  dominion  of  his  brother  Herod  Antipas  ;  "  and      23. 
 coming  he  dwelt  in  a  city  called  Nazareth,"  where  the  wonderful  occurrences  attend- 
 ing our  Lord's  birth  were  not  generally  known.     "  That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which 
 was  said  by  the  prophets,  that  he  shall  be  called  a  Nazarite."]'     Such  in  fact  was  our 
 Blessed  Saviour  both  as  to  the  name  and  meaning  of  it ;  for  the  word  Nazarite,  or 
 Nazarene,  signifies  one  separated  from  the  world  and  consecrated  to  God.     Where- 
 fore Christ  was  deservedly  called  so,  as  well  for  taking  up  his  residence  at  Nazareth, 
 as  for  fulfilling  the  signification  of  this  name  by  a  total  separation  from  all  earthly 
 impurities,  and  by  a  perfect  consecration  of  himself  to  God.  J 
 
 CHAPTER  XII. 
 
 JESUS  IS  FOUND  IN  THE  TEMPLE  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  THE  DOCTORS.       LUKE  II. 
 
 "  And  the  child"  Jesus  "  grew,  and  was  strengthened  full  of  wisdom,  and  the  grace  Luke  2. 
 of  God  was  in  him."     Not  that  there  was  any  real  increase  in  those  supereminent      '^^* 
 gifts  which  from  the  first  moment  he  possessed  in  the  fullest  measure ;  but  they  were 
 manifested  outwardly  more  and  more,  as  the  increase  of  his  age  and  new  circum- 
 stances seemed  to  call  for  their  exertion.     Of  this  St.  Luke  has  left  us  a  memorable 
 example  in  the  following  account. 
 
 "  And  his  parents,''  according  to  the  injunction  of  the  law,  '^  went  every  year  to      41. 
 Jerusalem  at  the  solemn  day  of  the  passover,"  to  adore  God  in  his  temple,  and  make 
 their  offering.^     "  And  when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  they  going  up  to  Jerusalem,      42. 
 according  to  the  custom  of  the  feast,"  took  him  with  them,  probably  for  the  first 
 time  ;!l  for  he  could  not  perhaps,  at  an  earlier  age,  have  performed  so  long  a  journey, 
 
 *  Although  St.  Luke  places  the  return  of  Mary  virtue  aud  sanctity  ;  and  as  all  the  prophets  foretold 
 
 and  Joseph  into  Galilee  immediately  after  they  had  that  Christ  should  be  holy,  therefore  St.  Matthew 
 
 accomplished  at  Jerusalem  all  that  the  law  required  does  not  specify  any  one  prophet,  but  cites  them  in 
 
 of  them  ;  yet  what   St.  Matthew  relates  as  to  the  general. 
 
 ause  of  this  retreat  and  of  Joseph's  apprehension,  J  The  return  of  Jesus  out  of  Egypt  is  celebrated 
 
 evinces  that  this  is  to  be  understood  not  of  their  in  the  Roman  Martyrology  on  the  7th  of  January, 
 
 return   from   Judea,   but  from  Egypt,  where  they  See  Bollandus. 
 
 had    taken  refuge  to  escape  the  cruelty  of   Herod.  §  A  similar  law  requires  our  attendance  at  ch\irch 
 
 Hence  we  may  observe  with   St.   Austin,  that  the  on  Sundays  aud  Holidays  ;  and  liow  do  we  comply 
 
 Evangelists    often     relate    things    as    immediately  with  this   duty  ?     Are  we   desirous  of  joining  with 
 
 succeeding  one  another,  though  a  considerable  space  the  faithful   on   these  days,   in   offering  up  to  God 
 
 of  time  may  have  intervened  between  the  transac-  the  great  sacrifice  of  the  new  law  ?    Are  we  willing 
 
 tions.     Sandinus,   &c.   however,  think   that   Mary  to   submit  to  some  temporal  inconvenience  for  the 
 
 aud  Joseph  returned  to  Nazareth  before  their  flight  sake  of  partaking  of  those  spiritual  graces  which 
 
 nto  Egypt.  Christ  has  promised  to  such  as  are  assembled  in 
 
 t  These  words  do  not  occur  in  the  prophetical  his  name  ?  Matt,  xviii.  20. 
 writings  now  extant :  but   many   of  them,    as   St.  ||     Grotius    and  Calniet   observe    that   children 
 
 Chrysostom  observes,    may  have   been   lost.     Ac-  were  not  obliged  by  the  law  till  after  twelve  years 
 
 ording  to  St.  Jerom's  explanation,  the  word  Na-  of  age,  when  they  were  caWe.d  children  of  the  pre- 
 
 zarite,  or  Nazarene,  from  the  Hebrew  iVerfr,  signi-  cept,  Jilii  pracepti. 
 ?ies  separated  and    distinguished  from    others   by 
 
 7.  X 
 
7S  THE  LIFE  or  OUR  LORD  JESUJ  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XII. 
 
 43.  it  being  above  eighty  miles  from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem.  "  The  days  being  now 
 ended,  when  they  were  returning,  the  child  Jesus  remained  in  Jerusalem,  and  his 
 
 44.  parents  knew  it  not.     And  thinking  that  he  was  in  the  company,  they  came  a  day's 
 
 45.  journey,  and"  at  night  "  sought  him  among  their  kindred  and  acquaintance  ;  and  not 
 findiiio-  him  as  they  expected,  they  returned  into  Jerusalem,  seeking  him"  with  heavy 
 hearts,  as  being  uncertain  what  accident  might  have  befallen  him.  Not  that  their 
 feelings  on  this  occasion  argued  any  disbelief  of  his  divinity  ;  but  as  they  knew  that 
 during  the  whole  time  of  his  infancy,  he  had  been  pleased  to  submit  to  all  the  infirmi- 
 ties of  that  tender  age,  so  they  were  carried  away  by  a  natural  tenderness  on  this 
 occasion,  being  unable  to  conceive  for  what  possible  reason  he   should  thus  absent 
 
 46.  himself  from  them.  "  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  after  three  days  they  found  him  in 
 the  temple,  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  hearing  them,  and  asking  them  ques- 
 
 47.  tions.     And  all  that  heard  him  were  astonished  at  his  wisdom  and  his  answers  :  and 
 
 48.  seeino"  him,  they  wondered"  to  find  him  thus  placed  in  so  honourable  a  station  among- 
 the  doctors  of  the  law.  "  And  his  mother  said  to  him  :  Son,  why  hast  thou  done  so 
 to  us  ?     Behold  thy  Father  and  I,  with  grief,  were  seeking  thee.*     And  he  said  to 
 
 49.  them  :  How  is  it  that  you  sought  me?  did  you  not  know,  that  I  must  be  about  my 
 Father's  business  l"  insinuating  that  not  St.  Joseph,  but  only  God,  was  his  Father. 
 These  are  the  first  words  which  the  Evangelists  specify  to  have  been  spoken  by  Jesus 
 and  they  contain  an  important  lesson  for  our  instruction,  which  is  that  of  being  ever 
 
 5*-*-  employed  about  the  business  of  our  heavenly  Father.  "  And  they  understood  not 
 his  word  that  he  spoke  unto  them,"  i.  e.  as  to  the  time  when,  or  the  manner  how,  he 
 intended  to  manifest  himself  to  the  world.  However,  such  was  their  profound 
 reverence  and  respect  for  him,  that  they  asked  no  further  explanation.     And  having 
 
 51.  thus  established  his  independence  in  what  related  to  his  sacred  ministry,  "  he  went 
 down  with  them,  and  came  to  Nazareth,  and  was  subject  to  them,"  paying  them  all 
 filial  attention,  deference,  and  submission.  Astonishing  example  of  humility  and 
 obedience,  which  is  justly  proposed  to  the  imitation  of  youth,  and  of  all  Christians. 
 "  Who,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "  was  subject?  God:  to  whom  ?  to  men.  He  whom 
 the  powers  of  heaven  obey,  was  subject  to  Mary  :  learn  therefore,  man  to  obey,  learn, 
 O  earth,  to  be  subject,  and  thou,  O  dust,  learn  to  submit." — This  short  word  of  the 
 Evangelist  concerning  the  private  life  of  Christ,  comprises  an  abridgement  of  the  whole 
 
 *   Aelred,  our  countrjman,  and  Aiibot  of  Rieval,  ministry  of  tier  Son,  except  at  the  marriage  feast  of 
 
 \n  \\\s  fiermon  on  losing  the  cliildJcs^ii,  isikes  nolice  Cana  in  chap.  18.  and  on  anottier   occasion  wlien 
 
 tliat  this  conduct  to  his  parents,  is  a  true  represen-  she  was  uithout  and  desirous  of  spealiinij  to  him. 
 
 tation  of  that  wliich  he  observes  in  regard   to  our  (See  cliap.  50.)     Though   she  was   the  most  holy 
 
 souls,  whilst  lie  seems  to  withdraw  himself  from  us,  and  the  most  perfect  of  all  pure  creatures,  yet  our 
 
 for  a'shorttime,  in  order  to  make  us  seek  him  the  Lord,  as   St.  Epiphanius   remarks,  (Hier.  78.)  did 
 
 more  earnestly.— We  may  remark,  that  the  Gospel  not  give  her  the  power  of  baptizing,  of  blessing 
 
 represents  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  occasionally  speak-  the  apostles,  or  presiding  over  his  church  on  earth, 
 
 ill"-  with  her  divine  Son,  but  never  St.  Joseph.     On  And  St.  Thomas,  (3  P.  Q.  27.)  Miraculorum  autem 
 
 th?s  occasion  she  does  not  say  to  her  Son :  I  and  usus  sibi  non  competebat  dutn  viveret,  quia  tunc 
 
 thy   father,   but  thy  father  and  I,  because  she  did  temporis  confirmauda   erat  doctrina  Christi  mira- 
 
 not  consider  her  own  dignity,  but  the  order  of  con-  cutis ;  et   ideo  soli  Christo  et  ejus   discipulis,  qui 
 
 jun-al   subjection.     Non  ostendit  sui   uteri  dignila-  erant  bajuli  doctrinae  Christi,  conveniebat  miraeula 
 
 tern,  sed  attendit  ordinem  conjugalem.   St.  Aug.—  facere.     Propter  quod   etiam  de   Joanne  Baptista 
 
 We' may  likewise  observe,  that  no  mention  is  made  dicitur  (Jo.  10.)  quod  signum  fecit  nullum. 
 of  the   Blessed   Virgin  Mary    during   the    sacred 
 
Ch.  XII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  79 
 
 duty  of  a  Christian.  The  spirit  of  religion  is  a  spirit  of  submission, — the  practice  of 
 religion  is  a  practice  of  obedience.  If  we  obey  God,  we  shall  necessarily  comply 
 with  all  religious  duties  ;  if  we  obey  the  superiors  whom  he  has  placed  over  us  in  this 
 world,  we  shall  acquit  ourselves  of  all  the  civil  duties  of  society. — ''  And  his  mother 
 laid  up  all  these  things  in  her  heart,"  that  she  might  nourish  her  piety  by  an  uninter- 
 rupted meditation  of  them,  might  regulate  her  life  conformably  to  them,  and  afterwards 
 be  enabled  to  communicate  them  to  others,  when,  in  due  time,  they  were  to  be 
 announced  throughout  the  world,  by  the  tongues  of  the  Apostles  and  the  pens  of  the 
 Evangelists.  "  And  Jesus  advanced  in  wisdom,  and  age,  and  grace  with  God  and  ^^^ 
 man,"  although,  in  fact,  he  were,  from  the  first  moment  of  his  conception,  equally 
 replenished  with  wisdom  and  grace  in  the  sublimest  degree,  and  in  the  most  perma- 
 nent manner ;  as  the  sun,  though  always  equally  luminous  in  itself,  diffuses  more  and 
 more  the  rays  of  its  brightness  in  proportion  as  it  advances  in  its  mid-day  course. — 
 Such  ought  also  to  be  our  spiritual  course :  as  Ave  advance  in  age,  we  should  advance 
 in  virtue ;  and  though  we  cannot  attain  to  the  summit  of  perfection,  we  should  at 
 least  aspire  to  it,  since  tlie  measure  of  our  recompense  in  the  next  life  will  be  pro- 
 portioned to  that  degree  of  merit  which  we  shall  have  obtained  in  this. 
 
 This  is  all  that  is  to  be  found  in  scripture  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  from  the  time 
 of  his  returning  out  of  Egypt  till  his  baptism,  when  he  was  about  thirty  years  of  age. 
 In  addition  to  which  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  he  did  not  apply  himself  to  letters  ;  and 
 as  his  father  and  mother  were  obliged  by  their  poverty  to  continual  labour,  for  the 
 sake  of  gaining  a  subsistence,*  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  Jesus  worked  along  with 
 them  in  testimony  of  his  humble  obedience  and  subjection.  The  business  which  he 
 and  his  reputed  father  followed,  was  that  of  a  carpenter,  since  the  Jews  called  him  by 
 this  name  ;  and  he  probably  wrought  both  in  iron  and  wood,  agreeably  to  what  St. 
 Justin  says  of  him,  "that  he  made  ploughs  and  yokes  for  oxen.'' — St.  Bridgitf 
 mentions,  that  Christ  divided  his  time  into  three  portions  :  one  for  prayer  and  singing 
 the  praises  of  God;  another  for  manual  labour;  and  the  third  for  relieving  the 
 necessities  of  the  body,  according  to  exact  measure  and  rule.  J  Certain  it  is  that  the 
 holy  family,  Jesus,  Mary  and  Joseph,  living  in  their  poor  cottage,  exhibit  to  us  the 
 most  perfect  model  of  heavenly  conversation  upon  earth. §  How  great  must  have 
 been  the  happiness  of  Mary  and  Joseph  in  thus  enjoying-  the  presence  of  Jesus ; 
 always  burning  with  the  most  ardent  love  for  him  ;  inviolably  attached  to  his  sacred 
 person,  and  always  employed  in  his  service  !  What  must  have  been  their  transports  in 
 beholding  him,  their  devotion  in  listening  to  him,  and  their  joy  in  possessing  him  !  O 
 heavenly  life !  O  anticipation  of  celestial  bliss  !  O  divine  conversation  !  We  may 
 imitate  them,  and  share  some  degree  of  this  advantage,  by  conversing  often  with 
 Jesus,  by  contemplating  his  most  amiable  goodness,  and  by  kindling  in  our  breasts 
 
 *  That  the  parents  of  Jesus  had  possessions  and  fancy  of  Jesus    Christ,  1.  1.   adv.    Hsereses.     St. 
 
 revenues    both   at   Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  is  a  Clirysostom  Hkewise,  in  his  16  Horn,  on  St.  John, 
 
 mere  conjecture,  to  be  found   only  in   Nicephorus,  rejects  as  false  the  miracles  ascribed  to  him  during- 
 
 ).  i.  c.  13. — See  chap.  54.  in  a  note.  that  period  ;  for  these  would  have  drawn  him  forth 
 
 t  In  Regiila  SalvatoriSy  c.  2.  from  that   humble   state  which  he   purposely  made 
 
 I  See  c.  5S.  b.  6.  of  her  Revelations.  choice  of,  in  order  to  live  unnoticed  and  unknown 
 
 §  St  Irenifius  mentions  and  refutes  some  stories  to  mankind  till   the  commencement  of  his  public 
 
 fabricated  by  certain   heretics  in  relation  to  the  in-  ministry. 
 
80 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LOUD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 [Cli.  xin. 
 
 the  fire  of  his  holy  love.  The  effects  of  this  love,  if  it  be  sincere,  will  necessarily 
 appear  in  our  putting  on  his  spirit,  and  imitating  his  example  and  virtues  ;  it  will 
 appear  in  our  studying  to  walk  continually  in  the  divine  presence,  finding  God  every 
 where,  and  esteeming  all  the  time  lost  which  we  do  not  spend  with  God,  or  for  his 
 honour  and  glory.* 
 
 CHAPTER  XIII. 
 
 JOHN  THE  BAPTIST  IN  THE  DESERT.       MATT.  III.    MARK  I.    LUKE  HI. 
 
 LukeS  I  "  Now,"  when  Jesus  was  leading  an  obscure  life  at  Nazareth,  "  in  the  15th  year  of 
 the  reio-n  of  Tiberius  Ca3sar,t  Pontius  Pilate  being  governor  of  Judea"  for  the  Ro- 
 mans  "  and  Hcrod"J  Antipas  "  being  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  Philip  his  brotlier 
 tetrarch  of  Iturea  and  the  country  of  Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias  tetrarch  of  Abilina. 
 2.       Under  the  high  priests  Annas  and  Caiaphas,§  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  made  unto 
 
 *  As  to  St.  Joseph  it  is  generally  believed  that 
 he  departed  this  life  before  Jesus  entered  upon  his 
 public  ministry.  We  cannot  doubt  but  he  had 
 the  happiness  to  be  attended  by  Jesus  and  Mary  in 
 his  last  moments  ;  and  hence  he  is  particularly 
 invoked  for  the  grace  of  a  happy  death  He  pro- 
 bably died  at  Nazareth,  where  he  dwelt  after  his 
 return  from  Egypt.  His  festival  is  kept  on  the 
 19  h  of  March.  Many,  in  imitation  of  Gerson  and 
 St  Teresa,  have  a  particular  devotion  to  this  saint, 
 and  choose  him  for  their  patron.  See  his  life  in 
 Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints,  March  19. 
 
 t  Dating  from  the  time  that  he  was  admiUed 
 to  reign  in  copartnership  with  Augustus,  viz.  an. 
 U  C  764,  of  Christ  16,  of  the  vulgar  a;ia  11.  Au- 
 gustus died  an.  U.  C.  767,  of  Christ  19,  of  the 
 vuln-ar  sera  14.  Hence  it  follows  that  Christ  was 
 bapUzed  an.  U.  C.  779,  in  the  31st  year  of  his  age, 
 and  the  Sfith  of  the  vulgar  a;ra. 
 
 %  Herod,  surnamed  the  Great,  died  detested  by 
 the  Jews  for  his  vices,  oppressions,  and  barbarous 
 cruelty,  by  which  he  had  not  only  contrived  the 
 extinction  of  the  Asmonean  royal  family,  and  cut 
 off  the  most  illustrious  princes  of  the  Jewish  san- 
 hedrim and  nation,  but  also  had  put  to  death  his 
 virtuous  wife  Mariamne  (the  daughter  of  Hircanus, 
 the  last  Asmonean  king)  and  tlie  two  sons  whom 
 he  had  by  her,  Alexander  and  Aristobulus,  and 
 Anlipater  the  eldest  of  his  sons.  He  left  at  his 
 death  (see  chap.  11.  for  a  description  of  it)  at  least 
 four  sons,  Archelaus  and  Herod  Antipas  by  Mal- 
 thace,  Philip  by  Cleopatra,  and  Herod  Philip  by 
 another  Mariamne.  Herod  by  his  will  made  a 
 partition  of  his  dominions  among  three  of  these 
 sons  leavinn-  to  Archelaus  Judea,  Idumea  and  Sa- 
 maria, with  the  title  of  king  ;  to  Philip,  Trachonitis, 
 Auronitis,  Panea  and  Batanea  ;  and  to  Herod  Anti- 
 pas Galilee  and  Perea.  Tliis  disposition  was  con- 
 firmed by  Augustus  with  the  following  limitation 
 that  Archelaus  should  rule  only  with  the  title  of 
 ethnarch,  till  he  should  show  liimself  worthy  to  be 
 
 honoured  with  that  of  king,  which  he  never  obtained. 
 For  inheriting  the  cruelty  of  In's  father,  he  was 
 accused  at  Rome  by  the  Jews  and  Samaritans  of 
 tyranny  and  mal-administration,  and  in  tlie  10th 
 year  of  his  reign,  deposed  by  Augustus,  and  his 
 goods  confiscated.  He  died  in  banishment  at 
 Vienne  in  Gaul. 
 
 Upon  his  deposition  Judea  was  made  part  of  the 
 province  of  Syria,  and  seized  upon  by  the  proconsul 
 Quirinus,  under  whom   Caponius,  a  Roman  of  the 
 equestrian  order,  was  appointed  governor,  with  the 
 title  of  procurator  of  Judea.     Pliilip,   the  tetrarch 
 or  prince   of  Trachonitis,   seems  to  have  been  the 
 honestest  man  of  liis  family :  he  lived  in  the  quiet 
 possession  of  his  small  territory  37  years,  and  died 
 without  issue  in  the  22nd  year  of  Tiberius.     Aris- 
 tobulus,   whom    his   father   Herod  put    to   death, 
 left  a  son  called  Agrippa,  (who  afterwards  obtained 
 the  kingdom    of  Judea)   and   a   daughter  named 
 Herodias,  who  was  married  to  Herod  Philip.     This 
 some  understand    to  be  the  tetrarch    Philip,    but 
 Calmet  and  others  prove  him  to  be  the  fourth  son 
 of  Herod   who   had    no  share  in  the  tetrarcliates, 
 and  who  lived  privately  till  Vespasian's  time,  when 
 being  80  years  old,  he  was  entreated  by  Josephus 
 to  revise  the  books  of  his  history,   which  he  sent 
 him.      This   historian   confirms   our  opinion  :  for 
 speaking  of  the  rape  of  Herodias,  he  says  that  Herod 
 the  tetrarch  went  to  the  house  of  his  brother  Herod, 
 the  son  of  Mariamne  the  daughter  of  Simon   the 
 high-priest.     These    principalities    were  called   te- 
 trarchates,  that  word  signifying  in  Greek  a  fourth 
 part,  the  dominions  of  Herod  being  divided   into 
 four  portions ;  for,  besides   the  three  above-men- 
 tioned, one  Lysanias  was  tetrarch  of  a  small  terri- 
 tory   between    Libanus    and    Anlilebanus,    called 
 Abilina,    as  appears   from   St.   Luke,  ch.  3.     See 
 Calmet,  and  Synops.  Crit.  ibid.     The  Jews  styled 
 some  of  the  tetrarchs  kings. 
 
 §  There  was  probably  but   one  high   priest  at  a 
 time,  and.Caiaplias  had  this  office  and  title  all  the 
 
.s| 
 
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 ■^^ 
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Ch.  Xlir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  81 
 
 John  the  Son  of  Zachary  in  Ihe  desert,"  where  he  had  retired.     Wherefore  we  may 
 here  date  "  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel^"  or  good  news,  "of  Jesus  ,  j,.    ,     ..,     Mark  L 
 Christ  the  Son  of  God,  as  it  is  written  in  Isaias  the  prophet :  Behold  I    and  preaching       ^• 
 send  my  angel  before  thy  face,"  i.  e.  before  thou  enter  upon  thy  public        of  John. 
 ministiy,  "  who  shall  prepare  the  way  before  thee." 
 
 The  detail  of  the  actions  of  the  holy  Precursor  may  be  reduced  to  five  different 
 heads:  1.  His  employment,  viz.  his  preaching- and  baptising.  2.  The  austerity  of 
 his  life.  3.  The  effect  or  fruits  produced  by  his  preaching.  4.  The  particular 
 advice  given  by  him  to  each  state  and  condition  of  life.  5.  The  testimony  borne  by 
 him  repeatedly  in  fiivour  of  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 ''  In  those  days*  came  John  Baptist,  into  all  the  country  about  the  Jordan,  in  the  Matt.s.L 
 desert  of  Judea,  baptising  and  preaching  the  baptism  of  penance  unto  the  remission  \^'^l  ^' 
 of  sins.     And  saying  :  Do  penance,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  Matt.  2! 
 
 This  baptism  of  John  represented  the  manner  in  which  the  souls  of  men  must  be 
 cleansed  from  all  sin  and  vicious  habits,  to  be  made  partakers  of  Christ's  spiritual 
 kingdom,  and  it  was  an  emblem  of  the  interior  effects  of  sincere  repentance.  The 
 Jews  practised  several  religious  washings  of  the  body  as  legal  purifications,  but  none 
 of  these  had  so  great  and  so  mystical  a  signification  as  the  baptism  of  John.  It 
 differed  however  entirely  from  the  great  sacrament  of  baptism,  which  Christ  soon 
 after  instituted,  to  which  it  was  much  inferior  in  virtue  and  efficacy,  and  of  which  it 
 was  a  kind  of  type.  Whence  this  baptism  of  John  is  called  by  the  Fathers  a  kind  of 
 partition  between  the  law  and  the  gospel  ;  it  prepared  men  to  become  Christians, 
 but  it  did  not  make  them  so.  It  was  not  even  conferred  in  the  name  of  Christ,  or  in 
 that  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  had  not  been  as  yet  given. t 
 
 By  the  means  of  St.  John's  preaching  penance,  God  prepared  the  Jews  for  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven,  which  was  now  approaching  ;  not  an  earthly  kingdom,  such  as 
 they  had  figured  to  themselves  on  the  coming  of  the  Messias,  but  that  inward  and 
 spiritual  reign,  which  begins  here  on  earth  by  faith  showing  itself  by  charity  and 
 good  works,  and  which  will  attain  its  utmost  completion  in  heaven  by  the  perfection 
 of  charity  ;  a  reign  which  consists  in  this,  that  Almighty  God  having  throuo-h  Jesus 
 Christ  destroyed  the  empire  of  the  devil  over  the  hearts  of  men,  sovereignly  reio-ns 
 there  in  this  life  by  knowledge  and  love,  and  in  the  next  life  by  the  sight  and 
 enjoyment  of  the  divine  essence,  which  constitutes  our  eternal  happiness. 
 
 The  character  of  a  preacher  is  properly  applicable  to  St.  John  Baptist,  as  the 
 Evangelist  shows  :  "  for  this  is  he,"  says  St.  Matthew,  "  who  was  spoken  of  in  the       3. 
 book  of  the  sayings  of  Isaias  the  prophet,  a  voice  uf  one  crying  in  the  icilderncss  :  ^^^^  ^■ 
 prepare  the  uuiy  of  the  Lord  ;  make  straight  his  paths  ;"  that  is,  correct  every  vicious 
 
 ten  years  that  Pilate  gnverncd  Jiulea.     See  Jose-  Evang-elists,  do  not  denote,  that  what   is   n-oiii!i-  to 
 
 phus,  1.  IS.  Anliq.  c.  3.     Some  indeed  imanine  that  be   mentioned   immediately  follows  what   had  just 
 
 Annas  and   Caiaphas  were   conjointly   high  priests  been  narrated.    They  point' out  indefinitely  a  certain 
 
 this  year;   but  as  Calniet  observes;  it  is  more  likely  time,    or  the   time   when   what   follows    happened, 
 
 that  the  former  preserved  only  the  name  and  quality  For  it   is  certain   that  what  St.  Matthew  mentions 
 
 of  hig-h  priest,  to  which  he  was  justly  entitled,  but  here  did  not  take  place  till  about  30  years  after 
 
 without  exercising-  any  of  its  functions.  what  he  had  just  before  mentioned. 
 
 *  Hence  it  is  clear  that  these,  al  tkut  time,  then,  f  John  vii.  39. 
 in  those  dayx,  ?fc.  which   frequently  occur  in  the 
 
 8.  Y 
 
g2  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XIII. 
 
 disposition  of  your  hearts  that  may  disqualify  you  for  the  coming  of  Christ.  Many 
 of  the  Jews  were  in  a  desponding-  way,  and  had  given  up  all  thoughts  of  his  coming ; 
 others  presuming  upon  their  good  works  were  puffed  up  with  pride  and  vanity, 
 whilst  the  generality  were  guilty  of  hypocrisy,  and,  under  the  cloak  of  an  exterior 
 piety,  concealed  the  greatest  corruption  of  heart :  lastly,  some  who  were  in  the  right 
 way,  were  not  without  vicious  attachments,  which  retarded  their  progress  and 
 advancement  in  virtue.     But  the  prophet  foretells  by  the  mouth  of  St.  John  Baptist, 
 
 5-       that  "every  valley  shall  be  filled  ;  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought  low  ; 
 
 fi'  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  ways  plain.  And  all  flesh 
 shall  see  the  salvation  of  God."  That  is,  by  the  coming  of  the  Saviour  sent  by  God, 
 these  valleys  of  despondency  and  despair  shall  be  tilled  up  ;  these  mountains  of  pride 
 and  hills  of  vanity  shall  be  levelled  ;  these  crooked  ways  of  hypocrisy  shall,  by  a 
 rectitude  of  intention,  be  rendered  straight ;  and  lastly,  these  thorns  shall  be  plucked 
 up,  and  these  clods  of  earth  broken,  viz.  these  anxious  cares  and  solicitudes  fur 
 earthly  goods  shall  yield  to  better  employments,  such  as  truly  deserve  our  attention. 
 It  may  be  remarked,  that  these  are  the  four  great  obstacles  by  which  Christian  piety 
 is,  to  this  day,  retarded  in  its  progress  ;  and  from  these  Jesus  Christ  delivers  those 
 by  his  grace,  who  seek  him  in  a  proper  manner. 
 
 n  TL    1  ,u        The  austerity  of  the  life  of  the  holy  Precursor  added  weight  to  his 
 
 2.  Jnccloln-  ■'  ■  i-     i     ■  i       i       i 
 
 Matt.  4.    ing  and  food  preaching  ;  for  "  John  had  his  garment  of  camel  s  hau-,  and  a  leatliern 
 
 of  John,     gipciie  about  his  loins  :  and  his  food  was"  no  other  than  what  he  found 
 
 in  the  desert,  viz.  "  locusts,"  a  kind  of  large  grasshoppers,  "  and  wild  honey,"  such 
 
 as  abounded  in  Judea,  and  was  to  be  met  with  in  hollow  trees  and  in  the  cavities  of 
 
 rocks,  a  species  of  food  equally  poor  and  insipid,  and  such  as  was  then  the  sustenance 
 
 of  the  most  indigent  classes  of  mankind.* 
 
 This  rif^id  mode  of  lile  was  consonant  with  the  designs  of  Providence,  a-nd  every 
 way  suitable  to  the  calling  of  St.  John.  He  who  preaches  penance,  ought  to  set  the 
 example  of  it  to  his  hearers,  thus  to  convince  them  of  its  necessity  ;  whereas  the 
 Pharisees  were  ever  ready  to  load  sinners  with  the  heaviest  burthens,  whilst  they 
 themselves  refused  to  bear  the  smallest  share.  2.  It  was  necessary  that  he  who  was 
 to  declare  himself  openly  in  favour  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  gain  him  many  disciples, 
 should  render  his  testimony  perfectly  unexceptionable  :  1.  By  his  sanctity,  one  of  the 
 most  ordinary  marks  of  which  is  a  great  austerity  of  life.  2.  By  his  disinterested- 
 ness ;  for  he  who  can  content  himself  with  locusts  and  wild  honey,  can  scarce  be 
 imao-ined  to  seek  the  favour  of  others  by  the  arts  of  flatteiy,  or  by  a  testimony  not 
 founded  on  truth.  3.  By  a  love  of  solitude  :  in  fact,  he  who  has  spent  above  thirty 
 years  in  the  lonesome  recesses  of  a  desert,  cannot  easily  be  suspected  of  deceit  or 
 collusion,  in  bearing  favourable  testimony  to  a  person  unknown  to  him,  though  he 
 were  allied  to  him  in  blood. 
 •M  1^  5  The  fame  of  John's  mission  was  no  sooner  spread  abroad,  than  "  there  went  out 
 Matt.  5.  to  liim  all  the  country  of  Judea,  and  all  they  of  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  country  about 
 
 *  Modern    travellers    assure   us,   that   in    some     cither  fried   in  oil,  or  dried  in  the  sun.     St  John 
 coutitries  liicusts  are   brouglit  to   market   in   large     probably  eat  them  raw. 
 quantities,  but  are  eat  only  by  the  common  people, 
 
Ch.  Xiri.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  83 
 
 the  Jordan,  and  were  baptised  by  him  in  the  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins."  The  6. 
 advice  which  he  gave  varied  according  to  the  different  principles  of  his  hearers,  and 
 was  suited  to  their  several  states  and  conditions  of  hfe.  There  were  amongst  the 
 Jews,  long  before  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  three  distinct  sects.  1.  The  Essenians, 
 whose  faith  and  morals  were  of  all  the  most  irreproachable.  2.  The  Pharisees,* 
 whose  institution  was  in  its  commencement  laudable,  but  which  had  degenerated  into 
 an  uniform  system  of  hypocrisy.  They  paid  a  superstitious  attention  to  astrology, 
 and  thence  were  become  fatalists,  attributing  every  event  to  destiny ;  they  likewise 
 believed  the  transmigration  of  the  souls  of  the  just  into  other  bodies.  In  other 
 respects  they  were  noted  chssemblers,  avaricious,  full  of  ambition,  jealous  of  rank 
 and  precedence,  seekers  of  honour  and  esteem  almost  to  a  degree  of  idolatry  ;  and 
 whilst  they  distinguished  themselves  by  an  exterior  sanctity,  calculated  to  deceive  the 
 vulgar,  they  were  defiled  with  all  kinds  of  secret  crimes.  3.  The  Sadducees,  who, 
 v.s  some  think,  derived  this  name  from  Sadock,  who  lived  300  years  before  Christ, 
 were  professed  unbelievers  with  respect  to  spiritual  beings,  such  as  the  ano-els 
 and  devils,  and  likewise  with  regard  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  resur- 
 rection of  the  body ;  and  their  morals  were  undoubtedly  conformable  to  so  profane  a 
 creed. 
 
 "  And"  St.  John  "  seeing  many  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees    g  ^^.g phari-        ''■ 
 coming  to  his  baptism,  he  said  to  them :    Brood  of  vipers,  who  hath  sees  are  excited 
 shown  you  to  fly  from  the  wrath  that  is  to  come  ?  Bring  forth  there-    '"  '•^;'e"'«««-        8. 
 fore  worthy  fruits  of  penance.     And  say  not  within  yourselves  :  we  have  Abraham       9- 
 for  our  father  :  for  I  tell  you  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  to 
 Abraham,"  in  order  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  promises  he  made  to  this  patriarch  ; 
 and  therefore  you  are  not  to  imagine  that,  on  this  account,  he  will  be  prevented  from 
 punishing  you.     "  For  now  the  axe  is  laid  to  the  root  of  the  trees.     Every  tree,      lo. 
 therefore,  that  doth  not  yield  good  fruit/'  by  true  faith  and  repentance,  "  shall  be  cut 
 down,  and  cast  into  the  fire." 
 
 "  And  the  people,"!  moved  with  his  preaching,  '^  asked  him,  saying :    4.  Thi  admo-  Luke  10. 
 What  then  shall  we  do?  He  answering,  said  to  them  :"  that  they  were  f'?"'  °fj°'"'      n. 
 
 ■  o  J  ^Q  j^fi£  7)1101  ICCIJIS 
 
 to  give  alms  out  of  their  superfluity  :  "  thus,"  says  he,  "  he  that  hath     and  soldiers. 
 two  coats,  let  him  give  to  him  who  hath  none  ;  and  he  that  hath  meat,  let  him  do  in 
 like  manner,"  i.  e.  impart  a  share  thereof  to  those  in  want.     Under  these  acts  of 
 mercy,  all  other  similar  ones  are  of  course  comprised. 
 
 "  And  the  Publicans,"  who  were  the  collectors  of  the  taxes,  "  also  came  to  be      12. 
 baptised,  and  said  to  him:   Master,  what  shall  we  do"  to  be  saved?   "  But  he  said      13. 
 to  tliem,  do"  and  exact  "  nothing  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you"  by  public 
 authority.     "  And  the  soldiers  also  asked  him,  saying  :  and  what  shall  we  do  ?   And      14. 
 
 *  They  are   thought   to  have  taken   their   name  the   greatest   sinners,   such    as   the    Publicans  and 
 
 from  ihe  word  Parasch,  which  sigiu'fies  separation,  women  of  bad  character  ;  for  these  were  converted, 
 
 because  they  were  separated  from  all  others  in  their  and   believed,  whilst  the   Pharisees  remained    har- 
 
 extraordinary  pretences  to  sanctity  and  some  par-  deied  in  their  sins,  reiectinjf  both   Christ  and   St. 
 
 ticular  observances.  John  his  precursor. 
 
 t  i.  e.  The  meaner  sort  of  the  people,  and  even 
 
84 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XIV. 
 
 he  said  to  fliom  :  do  violence  to  no  man,  neither  calumniate  any  man,  and  be  content 
 with  your  pay." 
 15  The  isi  Tesii-  "  And  as  the  people  was  of  opinion,  and  all  were  thinking  in  their 
 monyofJohn  \^Q.J^^  ^f  joj,,,  that  perhaps  he  might  be  the  Christ,"  who  was  then 
 ^'jJmChrM.  expected  by  all  the  nations  of  the  East,*  "  he  answered,"  by  candidly 
 stating  his  own  great  inferiority,  and  that  of  his  baptism,  compared  with  the  future 
 
 .Mau.  1 1,  baptism  of  the   Messias,   "saying  unto  all:    I  indeed  baptise  you  in  water  unto 
 penance,  but  he  that  shall  come  after  me,  is  mightier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not 
 
 Mark?,    worthy  to  carry,"  nor  "  to  stoop  down  and  loose,"  i.  e.  to  do  for  him  the  meanest 
 
 Jlatt.  11.  office.     "  He  shall  baptise  you  in  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  fire"  of  his  divine  love,  in 
 order  to  purify  you  from  your  sins. 
 
 St.  John  then  describes  the  Messias  as  the  sovereign  Judge  of  all  mankind,  under 
 12,  the  figure  or  similitude  of  a  labourer,  "  whose  fan,"  says  he,  *'  is  in  his  hand,  and  he 
 will  thoroughly  cleanse  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  his  barn  ;  but  the  chaflf 
 he  will  burn  with  unquenchable  fire."  The  winnowing  fan  which  separates  the  corn 
 from  the  chaff,  represents  to  us  the  last  judgment,  when  the  elect  will  be  separated 
 from  the  reprobate,  though  in  this  life  they  be  indiscriminately  mingled  together. 
 The  barn  floor  is  the  Church  of  God,  the  granary  is  heaven,  where  the  elect  will  be 
 stored  up  as  excellent  grain  :  the  unquenchable  fire  is  the  fire  of  hell,  into  which  the 
 reprobate  as  chaff  will  be  precipitated,  there  to  burn  in  eternal  flames. 
 
 Luke  13.      These  important  subjects  St.  John  urgently  inculcated  to  his  hearers,  "  and  many 
 other  thinos  exhorting  did  he  preach,"  which  the  Evangelists  have  not  recorded. f 
 
 CHAPTER  XIV. 
 
 THE  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST,  AND  HIS  GENEALOGY  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  LUKE. 
 MATT.  III.       MARK  I.       LUKE  III. 
 
 "M  k  1  "  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,"  i.  e.  towards  the  close  of  St.  John's  mission, 
 y.       it  when  all  the  people  was  baptised,  then  Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  to 
 
 ^''il  ^'  the  Jordan  unto  John,  to  be"  also  "  bapti.sed  by  him."| 
 
 Maik9.       His  desion  herein  was,    1.  To  sanction  the  baptism  of  the  holy  precursor  by  his 
 
 Matt.  13.  ^^^^^  example,  and  to  give  his  approbation  to  the  practice  of  others  who  had  received 
 it.  2.  Not  to  lose  this  occasion  of  humbling  himself,  by  placing  himself  among 
 sinners,  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  their  number,  and  stood  in  need  of  the  baptism  of 
 
 *  This  appears  clear  from  Suetoii.  in  Vespas.  c.  baptised  by  immersion,  since  he  who  ascended  out 
 
 4   Tacitus  Hist.  1.  5.  c.  4.  Joseph,  de  Bello  Jud.  1.  of  the   water,   must  first   have   descended  into  it. 
 
 _■       ,„  And  this  method  of  baplisinp^  by  immersion  was 
 
 t  St   Luke  very  frequently  nerrlects  the  historical  generally  observed   in  the  Church   for  1300  years, 
 
 order  of  events,  as  is  verv   evident  here;  for  he  as  appears  from   the  acts  of  councils  and  ancient 
 
 immediately  adds  the  imprisonment   of  St.   John,  rituals.     It  is  imagined  by  some,  that   in  the  very 
 
 althou<rh  what  is  mentioned  in  the  following  chapter  same  place  of  the  river  Jordan,  where  the  ark  stood 
 
 of  the  baptism  of  Jesus  Christ  must  certainly  have  while  the  Israelites  passed  over,  our  Lord  (the  ark 
 
 happened  previous  to  that  event.  of  the  covenant  of  grace)  was  baptised  by  St  John. 
 
 +  It  is  clear  from  St.  Matthew  that  Christ  was 
 
Ch.  XIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  85 
 
 penance  for  the  remission  of  sins.  3.  It  was  to  sanctify  the  waters^  says  St.  Ambrose, 
 i.  e.  to  give  them  the  virtue  to  cleanse  away  the  sins  of  men  in  the  laver  of  baptism. 
 St.  Austin  and  St.  Thomas  thiiilv  that  he  instituted  then  the  holy  sacrament  of  bap- 
 tism, which  he  soon  after  administered  by  his  apostles,  whom  doubtless  he  had  first 
 baptised  himself.  On  the  present  occasion,  we  may  contemplate,  1.  A  species  of 
 holy  contest  which  took  place  between  the  profound  respect  of  the  Baptist  on  one 
 hand,  and  the  yet  more  admirable  humility  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  other.  2.  The 
 wonders  exhibited  to  the  eyes  of  all  the  by-standers  after  Jesus  Christ  was  baptised. 
 
 "  But  John,"  who  knew  Jesus  by  a  divine  revelation,  and  was  full  of    i.  The  Bap-        ^4 
 awe  and  respect  for  his  sacred  person,  "  was  for  hindering  him,  saying:  '"'»  of  Christ. 
 I  ought  to  be  baptised  by  thee"  who  art  holiness  itself,  "  and  comest  thou  to  me"  a 
 sinful  man.      "  And  Jesus  answering,  said  to  him  •  suffer  it  to  be  so  now.     For  so  it      15. 
 becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  justice,"  i.  e.  to  exercise  and  give  examples  of  all  virtues, 
 amongst  which  humility  is  the  foundation  which  sustains  all  the  rest.     "  Then  he  Mark  9. 
 permitted  him,  and"  so  Jesus  "  was  baptised  by  John  in  the  Jordan,"  on  the  6th  of 
 January,  according  to  the  received  testimony  of  the  ancient  fathers.     "  And  being  Matt.  16. 
 baptised  forthwith  he  came  out  of  the  water,  praying,  and  lo  !  the  heavens  were  -^j"  ^  jg' 
 opened  to  him  ;  and  he  saw  the  spirit  of  God  descending  in  a  bodily  shape  as  a  dove*  Luke  23. 
 upon  him,  and  remaining  on  him;   and  there  came  a  voice  from   heaven,  sayino- :  Mark  10. 
 T/wii  art  7111/  beloved  Son,  in  thee  I  am  well  pleased.'''     According-  to  St.  Matthew  the      n. 
 following  words  were  likewise  addressed  to  St.  John  and  to  all  present :  "  This  is  my  Matt.  17 
 beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 
 
 By  this  audible  declaration,  and  by  the  whole  of  this  awful  scene,  God  acknowledged 
 Jesus  Christ  for  his  own  Son,  in  order  thus  to  afford  a  public  sanction  to  his  sacred 
 ministry.  Investing  him  with  the  high  office  of  Lord  and  Master  of  mankind,  he 
 thus  gave  a  solemn  approbation  of  all  the  doctrine  which  he  was  about  to  teach. 
 Moreover,  God  thus  pointed  out,  in  a  visible  manner,  the  invisible  effects  of  the  bap- 
 tism which  Jesus  Christ  was  about  to  institute.  These  were,  that  he  adopted  for  his 
 children  such  as  were  baptised  ;  that  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  into  their  souls,  and 
 that  heaven  was  opened  to  them.  Lastly,  this  wonderful  scene  afforded  a  clear 
 demonstration  of  the  truth  of  what  Jesus  was  going  to  announce  to  mankind,  viz.  that 
 from  the  time  of  John's  mission,  the  gates  of  heaven,  which  had  been  hitherto  shut, 
 were  now  opened  to  them,  and  that  the  time  was  come  when  the  possession  of  heaven 
 was  to  be  the  reward  of  those  who  should  employ  violence  to  obtain  it. 
 
 "  And  Jesus  beganf"  his  sacred  ministry  "  about  the  age  of  thirty  years,  (being  Luke  23 
 
 *  St.  John  testifies  of  himself,  chap.  i.  34.  that  he  manifestation.  Hence  tlie  precise  year  of  Christ's 
 likewise  saw  this  dove;  and  St.  Chrysost.  is  of  age  cannot  be  ascertained  from  this  place.  About 
 opinion,  that  the  people  saw  it  too,  as  a  testimony  the  nge  of  thiiiy.  Quasi  or  lorjet,  may  be  referred 
 in  favour  of  Jesus  Clirist.  St.  Thomas  and  some  either  to  tlie  end  of  the  twenty-ninth,  or  the  begin- 
 others  have  thought,  that  it  was  a  real  dove ;  others  ning  of  the  thirty-first,  and  does  not  absolutely  ex- 
 conjecture,  with  greater  probability,  that  it  was  only  elude  thirty.  Hence  ditferent  opinions  ;  but  that 
 an  apparent  one.  For  the  text  is  as  a  dove,  stent  of  Usher  and  Lancelot,  who  says  that  Christ  was 
 columha.  Vide  Sandinus,  c.  7.  p.  7.  ed.  Patavi,  thirty-three  or  thirty-four  years  old  when  he  was 
 who  cites  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Austin  as  of  the  same  baptised,  seems  repugnant  to  the  Gospel,  as  well 
 opinion.  as   to  the  testimony  of  the  ancient  Fathers.     See 
 
 t  Was  beginning,  crat  incipiens.  This  beginning  Sandinus,  &c. 
 does  not  refer  to  his  age,  but  to  his  preaching  and 
 
 8.  z 
 
86  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XIV. 
 
 2.  Christ's    as  it  was  supposed)  the  son  of  Joseph,  who  was  of  Heli,  who  was  of 
 
 24.  ^Z7,Un^(T  J^I'^that,  who  was  of  Levi,  who  was  of  Melchi,  who  was  of  Janne,  who 
 
 25.  ,SY.  Luke,     was  of  Joseph,  who  was  of  Malhathias,  who  was  of  Amos,  who  was  of 
 
 26.  Nahiim,  who  was  of  Hesli,  who  was  of  Nagg'e,  who  was  of  Mahath,  who  was  of  Ma- 
 lhathias, who  was  of  Semei,  who  was  of  Joseph,  who  was  of  Juda,  who  was  of  Joanna, 
 
 27.  who  was  of  Resa,  who  was  of  Zorobabel,  who  was  of  Salatbiel,  who  was  of  Neri,  who 
 
 28.  was  of  Melchi,  who  was  of  Addi,  who  was  of  Cosan,  who  was  of  Elmadan,  who  was  of 
 
 29.  Her,  who  was  of  Jesii,  who  was  of  Eliezer,  who  was  of  Joram,  who  was  of  Mathat, 
 
 30.  who  was  of  Levi,  who  was  of  Simeon,  who  was  of  Jnda,  who  was  of  Joseph,  who  was  of 
 
 31.  Jona,  who  was  of  Eliakim,  who  was  of  Melea,  who   was  of  Menna,  who  was  of 
 
 32.  Mathatha,  who  was  of  Nathan,  who  was  of  David,  who  was  of  Jesse,  who  was  of 
 
 33.  Obed,  who  was  of  Booz,  who  was  of  Salmon,  who  was  of  Naasson,  who  was  of 
 Aminadab,  who  was  of  Aram,  who  was  of  Esron,  who  was  of  Phares,  who  was  of 
 
 34.  Juda,  who  was  of  Jacob,  who  was  of  Isaac,  who  was  of  Abraham^  who  was  of  Thare, 
 3&.      who  was  of  Nachor,  who  was  of  Sarng,  who  was  of  Ragau,  who  was  of  Phaleg,  who 
 
 36.  was  of  Heber,  who  was  of  Sale,  who  was  of  Cainan,*  who  was  of  Arphaxad,.  who 
 
 37.  was  of  Sem,  who  was  of  Noe,  who  was  of  Lamech,  who  was  of  Mathusale,  who  was 
 38-      of  Henoch,  who  was  of  Jared,  who  was  of  Malaleel,  who  was  of  Cainan,  who  was  of 
 
 Henos,  who  was  of  Seth,  who  was  of  Adam,  who  was  of  God." 
 
 I  shall  not  enter  into  all  the  difficulties  of  this  genealogy,  which  is  very  diflferent 
 from  that  given  us  by  St.  Matthew,  chap.  i.  St.  Matthew,  who  wrote  his  gospel  for 
 the  Jews,  commences  his  genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ  with  Abraham,  and  traces  it 
 through  forty-two  generations ;  on  the  contrary,  St.  Luke,  who  wrote  for  the  Gen- 
 tiles, began  by  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  ascending  up  to  Adam,  contiiuies  it  through 
 seventy-five  generations.  But  whereas  St.  Matthew  has  given  us  the  genealogy  of 
 St.  Joseph,  St.  Luke  seems  to  have  written  that  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.t 
 Hence  Joseph  is  styled  the  son  of  Heli,  by  reason  of  Mary  his  wife.  For  Heli  by 
 an  abbreviation  is  put  for  Heliachim,  which  with  the  Hebrews  is  the  same  name  as 
 Joachim  the  father  of  Mary ;  whereas  Joseph's  father,  according  to  St.  Matthew, 
 was  called  Jacob. — Others  solve  the  difficulty  in  a  different  manner,  and  affirm,  that 
 both  the  Evangelists  trace  the  genealogy  of  Joseph,  with  this  difference,  that  St. 
 Matthew  makes  him  descend  from  David  by  Salomon,  and  St.  Luke  by  Nathan, 
 another  son,  whom  he  had  by  the  same  Bethsabee.  According  to  them  Matthew 
 gives  his  natural,  and  St.  Luke  his  legal  pedigree.  For  Matthan,  who  descended 
 from  David  by  Salomon,  had  for  his  wife  Estha,  who  was  afterwards  married  to 
 Melchi  or  Mathat  descended  from  David  by  Nathan.  Mathan  had  by  her  Jacob, 
 Melchi  had  Heli ;  wherefore  Jacob  and  Heli  were  uterine  brothers,  i.  e.  had  the  same 
 Dent.  23.  mother.  Heli  dying  without  children,  Jacob,  according  to  the  law,  espoused  his 
 ^-  widow,  in  order  to  raise  up  seed  to  his  brother,  and  had  by  her  Joseph,  who  was  by 
 nature  his  son,  as  St.  Matthew  relates ;  but  according  to  the  law  he  was  the  son  of 
 
 *  Cornel,  a  Lap.  says  it  is  a  chronological   pro-  sense  may  be,  who  was  of  Sale,  viho  is  also  Cainan. 
 
 bleni  whether  the  word  Ciiinan  he  the  true  reading.  Qui  fuit  Sale,  qui  et  Cainan. 
 
 or  whetlier  it  liath  slipl  into  the  text.     Others  con-  t   See   Denis  the    Carthusian,    Cajetaii,    Cor.    a 
 
 jectnre  lliat  Cainan  and   Sale  were   only   difFerent  Lap.  Melehior    Canus,  Barradius,  Genebrard,  &c. 
 names  of  one  and  the  same  peison  ;  so  that  the 
 
Cli.  XV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  Sy 
 
 Heli,  as  mentioned  by  St.  Luke.  This  explanation  is  given  us  by  Julius  Africanus, 
 who  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  in  his  epistles  to  Aristides,  as 
 mav  be  seen  in  Eusebius,  L.  1.  of  his  Eccles.  Hist.  c.  7.  which  explanation  was 
 adopted  by  St.  Jerom,  and  most  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  as  Baronius  observes.* 
 
 The  former  opinion  however,  viz.  that  St.  Luke  gives  us  the  pedigree  of  the 
 Blessed  Virgin,  is  more  generally  received  by  modern  commentators  ;■!■  and  as  to 
 what  St.  Jerom  tells  us,  that  it  was  not  customary  with  the  Jews  to  write  the 
 genealogies  of  women,  it  may  be  answered,  that  on  this  very  account,  St.  Matthew, 
 who  wrote  in  Hebrew,  and  chiefly  for  the  Jews,  had  reason  to  conform  himself  to 
 their  custom,  whereas  St.  Luke,  writing  in  Greek  to  the  converted  Gentiles,  had  a 
 special  reason  for  writing  the  pedigree  of  the  Blesse.l  Virgin  Mary,  Jesus  being 
 truly  her  son,  and  not  the  son  of  Joseph. 
 
 CHAPTER  XV. 
 
 THE  FASTINGS  AND  TEMPTATIONS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.     MATT.  IV.      MARK  I.      LUKE  IV. 
 
 "  And  Jesus  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from  the  Jordan,  and  imrae-  j^ute  4. 
 diately  the"  divine  "  Spirit  drove  him  into  the  desert,":[:  between  the  Black  Sea  and       1- 
 Jericho,  "  to  be  tempted  by  the  devil ;  and  he  was  in  the  desert  forty  days  and  forty  "  Y2 
 nightSj§  and  was  tempted  by  Satan,  and  he  was  with"  wild  '*'  beasts."     The  first  Matt.  4. 
 motive  for  this  total  separation  from  the  world,  was  in  order  to  prepare  himself  for  ,j  V  ,„ 
 the  great  work  which  he  was  about  to  undertake,  viz.  that  of  preaching  the  kingdom 
 of  heaven,  of  establishing  his  Church,  and  of  redeeming  mankind.    By  this  he  teaches 
 all  those  whom  he  was  to  call  afterwards  to  the  same  ministry,  that  they  should  pre- 
 viously retire  into  solitude,  in  order  to  converse  with  God  in  prayer,  and  draw  down 
 the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  themselves  and  their  undertaking.     It  was  by  a  solitude 
 of  forty  years  in  the  country  of  Madian,  that  Moses,  without  knowing  it,  was  prepared 
 for  the  great  designs  of  Almighty  God  in  favour  of  the  Hebrews. — A  second  motive 
 was,  in  some  sort,  to  sanctify  the  desert,  which,  in  future  times,  was  to  be  the  refuge 
 of  so  many  saints  against  the  dangers  of  the  world. — A  third  motive,  according  to 
 
 *  See  Calmet's  Diss,  prefixed  to  St.  Luke  turned  outward.     From   the   top   of  these  hills  of 
 
 t  See  Bullet,  Reponses  Critiques.  desolation,  we  had,  however,  a  delifrhtful  prospect 
 
 I  The  account  which  our  countryman  Mr.  Maun-  of  Arabia,  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  plains  of  Jericho, 
 
 drel  gives  us,  in  his  travels,  concerning  the  desert  into  which  last  we  descended  after  about  five  hours' 
 
 and  high  mountains,  where  our  Lord  was  tempted,  inarch  from  Jerusalem.     As  soon  as  we  vntered  the 
 
 agrees  in  substance  with  what  Adricomius  has  writ-  plains,  we   turned   upon   the  left  hand,  and   ■luino- 
 
 ten  on  this  subject,  in  his  description  of  the  Holy  about  one  hour  that  way,  came  to  the  foot  of  the 
 
 Land,  p.  19,  No.  97.      He  informs  us,  that  in   his  Qnarentania,  (so  called  from  our  Lord's  forty  days' 
 
 journey  from   Jerusalem  to    the  Jordan,   after   he  fast)  whicli   they    say   is   the   mountain   where   the 
 
 passed  over  Mount  Olivet,  he   proceeded  in  an  in-  devil   tempted   him  with  the  visionary  scene   of  all 
 
 tricate  way  among  hills  and  vallies,  and  after  some  the  kingdoms  and  glories  of  the  world.  —  It  is  very 
 
 hours  of  travelling  in  this  sort  of  road,  arrived  at  high  and  steep,  and  its  ascent  not  only  diflicuU  but 
 
 the    mountainous   desert,  into   which   our  Blessed  dangerous." 
 
 Saviour  was  led  by  the  spirit  to  be  tempted  by  the  §  This  number  forty  may  be  called  a  mysterious 
 
 devil.     "  A   miserable  dry  place,"  says  he,  "  con-  number;   it  frequently  occurs  in  scripture,  and,  ac- 
 
 sisting  of  high   rocky  mountains,  so  torn  and  dis-  cording  to  St.  Austin,  ex])re6ses   tlie  v.  hole  course 
 
 ordered,  as  if  the  earth  had   suffered   some  great  of  this  present  life,  as  destined  to  works  of  penance 
 
 convulsion,   in    which   its  very    bowels    had    been  and  the  expiation  of  our  suis. 
 
88  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XV, 
 
 St.  Ambrose,*  was  to  afford  an  opportunity  to  the  devil  of  attacking  him  by  his 
 L.aUe  2.  temptations  in  consequence  of  his  forlorn  and  abandoned  state.  "  And  he  eat 
 nothing-  in  those"  forty  "  days/'  watching-,  praying,  and  fasting  continually  in  this 
 hideous  wilderness,  in  order  to  atone  for  the  intemperance  of  our  first  parents  in 
 Paradise.  It  is  thus  he  instructs  his  followers,  that  fasting  which  weakens  us,  and 
 prayer  which  elevates  us  to  God,  are  the  best  arms  which  we  can  make  use  of 
 dgainst  the  temptations  of  the  devil.  From  the  example  which  Christ  sets  ns  of 
 fa.vting,  St.  Jerom  and  St.  Austin  derive  the  institution  of  the  solemn  fast  of  Lent : 
 and  it  is  strange  that  Protestants  should  condemn  an  observance  which  is  so  agreeable 
 Mutt.  2.  to  scriptuie,  and  to  the  practice  of  all  ages.  "  And  when  he  had  fasted  forty  days 
 and  forty  nights,  he  was  afterwards  hungry,"  hereby  evincing  the  reality  of  his 
 human  nature,  which  after  being  miraculously  supported  during  so  long  a  time,  as 
 Moses  and  Elias  had  been,  was  now  permitted  to  feel  hunger  and  thirst. 
 
 The  weak  and  reduced  state  to  which  Jesus  was  brought  by  fasting,  encouraged  the 
 devil  to  make  his  approaches  and  to  tempt  him  three  different  ways ;  by  which  we 
 are  taught  that  the  enemy  of  mankind  attacks  us  only  through  our  wants  and  weak- 
 nesses ;  or,  in  other  words,  through  our  natural  or  our  inordinate  inclinations 
 
 To  tempt  is,  properly  speaking,  to  endeavour  by  experience  to  come  at  the  know- 
 ledge of  some  truth  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  or  else,  to  try  to  instil  and  communicate 
 the  knowledge  of  it  to  others.  Thus  God  tempts  us  by  those  occasions  or  opportu- 
 nities of  practising-  virtue,  which  he  places  in  our  way,  and  this  he  does  in  order  to 
 make  us  acquainted  with  the  degree  of  strength  or  of  weakness  hidden  within  our 
 hearts.  But  when  the  tiials,  of  themselve.s,  lead  to  evil,  then  to  tempt  is  to  solicit  to 
 sin,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  devil,  who  is  thence  styled  the  tempter  ;  in  this  sense 
 God  tempteth  no  man. 
 
 1.  Jesus  Christ  submitted  to  temptation  with  the  view  of  showing  that  even  the 
 most  perfect  of  God's  works  are  to  be  tried  by  temptation,  as  it  were  to  discover 
 whether  they  are  deserving  that  predilection  which  he  has  shown  them.  It  was 
 fitting  that  Jesus  Christ,  his  master-piece,  should  not,  in  this  respect,  be  more  privi- 
 leged than  the  angels  and  mankind,  and  that  the  victory  of  the  second  Adam  over 
 the  devil  should  compensate  for  the  overthrow  of  the  first  Adam  ;  and  so  restore  to 
 God  that  glory  which  seemed,  in  the  fall  of  the  first  man,  to  have  suffered  some 
 diminution.  2.  All  succeeding  Christians  were  to  be  taught  by  so  illustrious  an 
 example,  that  they  are  unavoidably  to  undergo  the  trial  of  temptations  :  for,  if  the 
 Son  of  God  was  not  exempt  from  temptation,  surely  they,  his  followers,  can  have  no 
 plea  for  such  exemption.  3.  They  were  likewise  to  be  apprized  of  the  temptations 
 which  they  would  not  fail  to  meet  with  after  baptism  ;  or,  which  is  the  same  thing, 
 whenever  they  should  consecrate  themselves,  in  good  earnest,  to  the  love  and  service 
 of  God.  Finally,  it  was  proper  to  teach  them,  by  this  example,  how  they  are  to 
 combat  their  spiritual  enemy,  and  by  what  sort  of  arms  or  weapons  they  may  vanquish 
 his  suo-o-estions.  For  we  may  observe  with  Venerable  Bede  in  his  Commentary  on 
 the  fourth  chapter  of  St.  Luke,  that  the  three  temptations  proposed  by  Satan  to  our 
 Lord,  comprise  the  three  principal  sources  of  all  our  sins,  which  are  sensuality,  pride, 
 
 *  Ut  Diabolum  provocaret,  in  Luctam. 
 
Ch.  XV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  1,0RD  JESUS  CHRIST.  gg 
 
 and  concupiscence ;  according  to  that  of  St.  John,  1  Ep.  xi.  16.  "  all  that  is  in  the 
 world  is,  the  concupiscence  of  the  flesh,  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride 
 of  life." 
 
 "  And  the  tempter,"  i.  e.  the  devil,  probably  in  some  bodily  shape.  The  ut  Temp-  Matt.  3. 
 *'  comino-,  said  to  him  :  if  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,"  according  to  the         tation. 
 recent  testimony  given  thee  at  thy  baptism,   ''  command  that  these  stones  be  made 
 bread"  for  thy  nourishment.     This  was  a  temptation  of  sensuality,  and  the  devil  was 
 likewise  desirous  to  know  in  what  sense  he  had  been  called  the  Son  of  God  by  a  voice 
 from  heaven.     "  And  Jesus  made"  this   "  answer,"  full  of  humility  and  confidence       4. 
 in  God,  "  it  is  written  :  Man  liveth  not  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that 
 proceedeth  from  the  mouth  of  God,"  i.  e.  he  is   supported  by  any  other  thing,  or  in 
 any  other  manner,  as  it  pleaseth  God,  and  therefore  it  is  not  necessary  to   have 
 recourse  to  the  means  here  proposed.     Christ  teaches   us,   by  his  example,  how  to 
 overcome  those  temptations  that  are  founded  on  temporal  necessities,  viz.  by  puttino- 
 our  confidence  and  trust  in  divine  providence. 
 
 "  Then  the  devil  took  him  up*  into  the  holy  city  of  Jerusalem,  and      ^nd  Tempta-       5. 
 set  him  on  the  pinnacle"  or  balustrade   ""  of  the  temple,  and  said  to  tion. 
 
 him  :  if  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,"  and  hast  so  much  confidence  in  his  word,  "  cast       g. 
 thyself  down  ;  for  it  is  written,"  Psalm  xc.  "^  that  he  hath  given  his  angels  charge  of  Luke  10. 
 thee,  that  they  preserve  thee,  and  that  they  shall  bear  thee  up  in  their  hands,  lest      u 
 perhaps  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone." 
 
 This  verse  of  the  Psalter  assures  the  just  man  of  the  protection  of  God  in  all  such 
 dangers  as  are  above  the  reach  of  human  assistance,  and  when  the  hand  of  Provi- 
 dence alone  can  rescue  him :  but  it  by  no  means  promises  this  protection  in  such 
 dangers  as  are  voluntarily  brought  upon  us  from  an  unjustifiable  presumption.  This 
 is  the  crime  which  the  scriptures  call  tempting  God,  and  which  they  severely  con- 
 demn. Accordingly,  in  opposition  to  this  temptation  of  vain  glory  and  pride,  Jesus 
 said  to  him  -.  "  It  is  written  :  thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God,"  Deut.  vi.  16.  Matt.  7. 
 As  if  Christ  had  said  :  I  must  not  work  miracles  out  of  vanity  or  presumption,  and 
 since  I  may  go  from  hence  by  the  stairs,  I  have  no  reason  to  tempt  God,  nor  to  cast 
 myself  down  headlong.t 
 
 Baffled  in  his  second  assault,  "  again  the  devil  tempted  Jesus,  and      sd  Tempta-        8. 
 took  him  up  into  a  very  high  mountain,  and  showed  him,''  as  in  a  land-  ^'"n.         Luke  5. 
 
 scape,  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  in  a  moment  of  time,  and  their  o-lory,  and  i\Iatt.  s. 
 said  to  him  :  all  these  I  will  give  thee,  if  falling  down  thou  wilt  adore  me.     To  thee       9. 
 will  I  give  all  this  power  and  the  glory  of  them,  for  they  are  delivered  to  me,  and  I  Luke  6. 
 give  them  to  whom  I  will.     If  therefore  thou  wilt  adore  me,  they  shall  be  all  thine."       7. 
 This  was  the  third  temptation  proposed  to  our  Lord,  which  is  that  of  cupidity,  as  it 
 
 *  This  is  to  be  understood  literally,  viz.  that  the  no  foundation  in  scripture, 
 devil,  by  the  permissive  [jower  of  God,  really  con-         f  The  order  of  these   two   last   temptations  is 
 
 veyed  Jesus  through  the   air,  up  to  the  summit  of  transposed  in   St.    Luke.     We   have  followed  the 
 
 the  temple.     See  St.  Thomas,  3  Part.  Q.   41.  ac  4.  order    of  St.   Matthew,   because    it   seems  by  his 
 
 ud  7.  and  Caj.  on  Si.  JNIatthew.     Clerk  is   of  opi-  making  use  of  these  particles   then  and  again,  as 
 
 nion,  that  this  happened  only  in  a  dream  or  vision  ;  if  he  meant  to   observe  the  due  order  of  time  in 
 
 but  this   opinion  may,    with    greater  jjropriety,  be  which  these  temptalions  happened, 
 called  a  vision  or  dream  of  his  own   brain,  having 
 
 8.  2a 
 
90  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [(  h.  XVI. 
 
 Matt.  10.  regards  riches,  honours,  or  any  worldly  goods.  "  Then  Jesus  saith  to  him  :  begone 
 Satan,"  and  no  longer  tempt  me  with  the  allurement  of  riches,  dignities,  or  honours. 
 "  For  it  is  written :  the  Lord  thy  God  shalt  thou  adore,  and  him  only  shalt  thou 
 
 Luke  13.  serve.  And  every  temptation  being  ended,  the  devil  departed  from  him  for  a  time,'"* 
 viz.  until  the  period  of  his  passion,  when  by  the  hatred  of  the  Pharisees  and  by  the 
 avarice  and  treachery  of  Judas,  he  found  meum  to  compass  the  death  of  him  whom 
 his  artifices  could  not  corrupt.  Then  it  was  that  the  ministers  of  Satan  tempted  him 
 almost  in  the  same  way :  "  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,"  said  they,  ''  come  down  from 
 the  cross.'' 
 
 Matt.  11.  "^  And  behold  the  angels,"  who  had  been  spectators  of  the  combat  and  of  the 
 victories  of  Jesus,  "  came"  now,  "  and  ministered  to  him,"  bringing  him  such 
 refreshments  as  were  suitable  to  the  exhausted  state  of  his  body. 
 
 The  temptations  which  Jesus  Christ  was  pleased  to  undergo  in  the  wilderness^ 
 have  been  considered  by  bis  followers  as  a  subject  both  of  consolation  and  instruction. 
 By  example  he  has  taught  them  how  to  light  against  their  spiritual  enemies,  and  to 
 conquer  too.  The  struggle  may  be  painful  while  it  lasts,  but  heavenly  comforts  soon 
 succeed.  "  Let  us  love  retirement,"  say  the  holy  fathers,  "  let  us  fast,  and  pray, 
 and  the  devil  caimot  hurt  us."  With  a  lively  faith  let  us  meditate  on  the  word  of 
 God,  and  it  will  furnish  us  with  an  impenetrable  shield  against  the  fiery  darts  of  our 
 enemy.  Let  us  put  our  trust  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  vanquisher  of  his  enemies,  and 
 temptations  will  but  serve  to  strengthen  our  virtues  and  increase  our  crown. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVL 
 
 THE  SUBSEQUENT  TESTIMONV  OF  ST.  JOHM  IN  FAVOUR  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.       JOHN  X. 
 
 On  his  return  from  the  wilderness,  Jesus  passed  some  days  upon  the  banks  of  the 
 Jordan,  thus  affording  to  his  holy  precursor  an  opportunity  of  bearing  testimony  to 
 him  on  several  occasions.  We  have  already  seen  one  instance  of  it,  in  chapter  xiii. 
 Three  others  here  present  themselves. 
 
 2nd  Tesii-        The  second  was  uttered  aloud,  so  as  to  be  heard  at  a  distance,   and 
 
 John  1.        »«o"y-       probably  before  a  numerous  audience.     For  "  John  beareth  witness  of 
 
 ^^'      him,  andcrieth  out,  saying:  this  was  he  of  whom  I  spake:  he  that  shall  come  after 
 
 me,  is  preferred  before  me,  because  he  was  before  me,"  being  from  all  eternity  the 
 
 16.  Son  of  God,  though  born  after  me  in  time.  "  And"  as  he  is  the  source  and  principle 
 of  all  gifts  and  graces,  therefore  "  of  his  fulness  we  have  all  received,  and  grace  for 
 grace,"  i.e.  in  lieu  of  the  exterior  graces  of  the  old  law,  he  has  given  us  abundance 
 
 17.  of  graces  in  the  new  law,  to  some  one  grace,  to  some  another.  "  For  the  law  was 
 given  by  Moses,''  a  mere  man  :  "  but  grace  and  truth,"  signified  by  that  law,  "  were 
 
 18.  brought  by  Jesus  Christ,"  who  is  God  and  man.     "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
 
 *  When  the  devil  fails  in  his  temptations,  and  is  interval  to  return  thanks  to  God  for  havincj  given 
 
 overcome,  he  leaves  us  to  enjoy  our  triumph  :  but  us  the  victory,   and  should  prepare  ourselves  for 
 
 it  is  only  for  a  time  ;  he   retires  only  to  meditate  new  combats  and  temptations,  especially  by  fortify- 
 
 against  us  new  attacks,  and  therefore  we  must  never  lug  and   refreshing   ourselves   with  the   bread    of 
 
 think  ourselves  secure,  but  should  profit  of  that  angels  in  the  holy  communion. 
 
Ch.  XVJ.J  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  91 
 
 time,"  and  therefore  Moses  did  not  see  him  as  he  is  in  himself,  nor  could  make  him 
 known  so  perfectly  as  "  the  only  begotten  Son"  of  God,  "  who  is,"  from  all  eternity, 
 "  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  :  /je"  it  is  who  "  hath  declared  him"  to  us. 
 
 "  Now  this  is  the  third  testimony  of  John,  when  the  Jews  sent  from     3d  Testi-  ^^• 
 
 Jerusalem,  priests  and  Levites  to  him,  to  ask  and  examine  him"  juridically  """y- 
 concerning-  his  person,  his  employment,  and  his  ministry.  They  had  come  to  the 
 resolution  of  instituting  this  inquiry,  in  consequence  of  the  various  and  wonderful 
 circumstances  which,  to  their  astonishment,  were  related  concerning  this  holy  person- 
 age. The  holy  precursor  received  them  with  the  respect  due  to  their  rank,  acknow- 
 ledging in  them  the  authority  of  those  by  whom  they  were  commissioned.  This 
 prudent  conduct  tended  to  gain  still  greater  sanction  to  his  mission.  They  proposed 
 to  him  foiu-  questions,  three  of  which  concerned  him  personally,  the  fourth  regarded 
 his  ministry. 
 
 As  the  Jews  lived  in  the  expectation  of  the  coming  of  the  Messias,  and  of  Elias 
 his  precursor,  they  asked  him  which  of  these  two  he  was  :  "  Who  art  thou?"  said 
 they.  It  does  not  appear,  that  by  this  question  they  sought  to  ensnare  him,  or  obtain 
 a  pretext  for  aspersing  his  character.  Jesus  Christ,  speaking  of  this  deputation, 
 John  V.  33.  gives  no  unfavourable  idea  of  the  purity  of  their  intentions.  This 
 question  clearly  tended  to  discover  whether  or  not  he  were  the  Messias.  John  there- 
 fore left  them  not  a  moment  in  suspense,  "'  and  he  confessed"  in  the  most  express  20 
 terms,  "  and  did  not  deny  ;  and  he  confessed  :   I  am  not  the  Christ." 
 
 True  humility*  cannot  bear  the  very  mention  of  undue  honour,  and  the  higher  applause 
 it  meets  with  among  men,  the  lower  it  sinks  in  a  deep  sense  and  sincere  acknow- 
 ledgment of  its  own  baseness  and  unworthiness  ;  to  God  alone  it  desires  to  give  all 
 praise  and  glory,  for  his  pure,  gratuitous  goodness  and  mercy.  In  these  sentiments 
 St.  John  made  the  above  declaration,  and  lest  they  might  not  have  perfectly  under- 
 stood him,  he  repeated  it  both  afiRrmatively,  by  stating  that  he  was  a  distinct  i  erson 
 from  the  Messias  ;  and  negatively,  by  saying  absolutely,  that  he  was  not  the  Messias. 
 
 ''  And  they  asked  him  :  what  then  ?  art  thou  Elias  ?  and  he  said,  I  am  not.  Art  21 
 thou  a  prophet  ?  and  he  answered  no."  He  was  indeed  Elias  in  spirit,  being  the 
 harbinger  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  in  this  sense  he  is  called  so  by  our  Saviour,  Matt, 
 xi.  14.  He  was  likewise  a  prophet  eminently,  and  more  than  a  prophet,  it  being  his 
 office  not  to  foretell  Christ  at  a  distance,  like  other  prophets,  but  to  point  him  out  now- 
 present  among  men.  But  because  he  was  not  Elias  in  person,  nor  a  prophet  in  the 
 strict  sense  of  the  word,  as  implying  one  who  foretells  things  to  come,  hence  he  rejects 
 these  titles,  and  seems  to  forget  his  dignity  in  every  other  respect,  except  in  that  of 
 discharging  the  obligations  it  lays  upon  him,  and  of  humbling  himself  under  the 
 almighty  and  merciful  hand  of  him  who  had  chosen  and  exalted  him  by  his  grace. 
 
 The  deputies  of  the  Jews  finding  that  they  could  hence  gather  nothing  positive  or 
 satisfactory  to  report  to  the  Sanhedrim,  urged  him  to  declare  in  clear  terms,  who  he 
 really  was.     "  They  said  therefore  unto  him  :  who  art  thou,  that  we  may  give  an      22 
 answer  to  them  that  sent  us?     What  sayest  thou  of  thyself?"     Being  thus  pressed 
 
 *  Non  viilt  se  nee  sua  prsedicai-i,  sed  Deum  in     rit.ate  largitur.     Vide  1.  3.  de  Imit.  c.  54. 
 donis  suis  optat  benedici,  qui  cuucta  ex  nieia  ciia- 
 
92  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  XVI 
 
 23.  to  give  an  account  of  himself,  "  he  said,"  in  a  true  spirit  of  humility :  "  I  am  the 
 voice  of  one  crying-  in  the  wilderness  :  make  straight  the  way  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
 prophet  Isaias  said."  How  admirable  is  the  humility  here  displayed  by  the  Baptist! 
 He  will  net  have  men  entertain  the  least  regard  for  him  ;  but  turns  their  attention 
 entirelv  from  himself,  as  unworthy  to  be  named  or  thought  of,  and  only  bids  them 
 listen  to  the  summons  which  God  sent  them  by  his  mouth.  A  voice  is  no  more  than 
 an  empty  sound  :  it  is  a  mere  nothing.  How^  eloquent  does  sincere  humility  render 
 the  saints  to  express  the  sentiments  of  their  own  nothingness.  Like  the  Baptist, 
 every  preacher  of  God's  word  must  be  penetrated  with  the  most  feeling  sense  of  his 
 own  baseness  ;  must  study  always  to  be  nothing  in  his  own  eyes,  whilst  yet  he 
 exerts  all  his  powers  that  God,  the  great  All,  may  be  known,  loved,  served,  and 
 glorified  by  all  and  in  all.  He  must  be  himself  merely  a  voice,  but  a  voice  of  thun- 
 der, to  awaken  in  all  hearts  a  profound  sense  of  their  spiritual  miseries,  and  of  the 
 duties  which  they  owe  to  God. 
 24  23.  "  "^""^  ^'^^y  ^^^*  were  sent,  were  of  the  Pharisees.  And  they  asked  him,  and  said 
 to  him :  why  then  dost  thou  baptize,  if  t^hou  be  not  the  Christ,  nor  Elias,  nor  a 
 
 26.  prophet?  John  answered  them,  saying:  I  baptise  in  water,"  in  order  to  induce 
 men  to  repentance  ;  "  but  there  hath  stood  one  in  the  midst  of  you,  whom  you  know 
 
 27.  not.  He  it  is  that  is  to  come  after  me,  who  is  preferred  before  me  :  the  latchet  of 
 whose  shoe  I  am  not  worthy  to  loose.''     Having  heard  these  words,  they  returned 
 
 28.  to  Jerusalem  to  report  to  the  great  council  the  result  of  their  inquiries.  "  These 
 things  were  done  in  Bethania,'"*  otherwise  called  Bethabara,  "  beyond  the  Jordan 
 where  John  was  baptising." 
 
 29.  Alh  Tesii-         "  The  next  day  John  saw  Jesus  coming  to  him,"  probably  about  the 
 
 mony.       ^j^g  when  the  lamb  was  sacrificed  in  the  temple,    "  and  he  said''  to 
 
 those  near  him  :  "  behold  the"  true  "  Lamb  of  God  :  behold  him  who  taketh  away 
 
 the  sin  of  the  world  ;"  behold  the  only  Victim  that  can  purify  men  from  their  sins, 
 
 3f)       and  reconcile  them  to  God  !     "  This  is  he  of  whom  I   said  :  after  me  there  cometh 
 
 31.  a  man  who  is  preferred  before  me,  because  he  was  before  me.  And  I  knew  him 
 not"  by  his  outward  appearance,  "but"  only  by  revelation  when  he  came  to  me  to  be 
 baptised  in  the  Jordan,  and  "  that  he  might  be  made  manifest  to  Israel,  therefore 
 
 32.  am  I  come  baptising  in  water, "t  and  preparing  all  to  receive  him.  "  And  John 
 gave  testimony,  saying:  I  saw  the  Spirit  coming  down  as  a  dove  from  heaven,  and 
 he  remained  upon  him.  And  I  knew  him  not :  but  he  who  sent  me  to  baptise  in 
 water,  said  to  me  :  he  upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the  spirit  descending,  and  remaining- 
 
 3j  upon  him,  he  it  is  that  baptiseth  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  saw  then"  that  he  descended 
 upon  Jesus,  "  and"  accordingly  "  I  gave  testimony  that  he  is  the  Son  of  God," 
 because  no  other  than  the  Son  of  God  can  administer  the  bapiism  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 *   According  to  the  Greek  it  is  Bethabara,  i.  e.  mention  in  the  gospel. 
 the  house  of  pnf.ssag-c,  where  the  Jews  perhaps  for-         f  Hence  it  is  evident  tliat  this  must  have  hap- 
 
 merly  passed  over  the  Jordan,  as  mentioned  Jos.  pened   after  the  baptism  and  fast  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 
 iii.      Certain  it  is  that  this  place  is   difterent  from  and  therefore  he  must,  after  his  fast,  have  returned 
 
 Bethania,   the   dwelling    place  of  Lazarus,  which  again  to  the  place  where  John  was  baptising, 
 was  near  to  Jerusalem,  of  which  there  is  frequent 
 
 33. 
 
Ch.  XVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OLR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  93 
 
 CHAPTER  XVII. 
 
 THE  FIRST  CALLING  OF  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.       JOHN  I. 
 
 The  fifth  testimony  given  by  St.  John  in  fovour  of  Jesus  Christ  was  on  the  following 
 day,  and  in  the  presence  of  two  of  his  own  disciples  ;  one  of  whom  was  Andrew  the 
 brother  of  Simon^  who  was  afterwards  named  Peter.  These  various  testimonies  of 
 the  holy  precursor,  were  at  first  necessary  to  procure  disciples  for  JesuSj  who  was 
 yet  unknown  among  the  people. 
 
 "  The  we-ai  day  John  was  standing  again  there"  at  the  time  of  the      j    g^^^  ^^.^^^-^    ^^^-^n  \ 
 evening  sacrifice,   "  and  two  of  his  disciples  ;    and  beholding  Jesus  mony    of   si.      35 
 walking,   he  saith,"  pointing  to  him  :   "  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,"  •^"^"'-  36. 
 
 behold  him  who  alone  is  worthy  of  being  immolated,  who  alone  is  capable  of  satis- 
 fying the  divine  justice  for  the  sins  of  mankind.  "  And  the  two  disciples  heard  him  37. 
 speak,  and  they  followed  Jesus,"  being  desirous  of  a  further  acquaintance  with  a 
 personage  of  whom  their  master  had  said  such  wonderful  things.  "  And  Jesus  38. 
 turning  and  seeing  them  following  him,  saith  to  them  •  what  seek  you  ?  who  said  to 
 him  :  Rabbi,  (which  being  interpreted  is.  Master)  where  dwellest  thou  ?  He  sailh 
 to  them  :  come  and  see.  They  came  and  saw  where  he  abode,  and  they  staid  with  39. 
 him  that  day  :*  now  it  was  about  the  tenth  hour,"  or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
 It  is  the  opinion  of  several  Fathers,  though  not  founded  on  the  sacred  text,  that  they 
 spent  with  Christ  the  whole  night  following.  "  O  how  happy  a  day,  how  happy  a 
 night  did  they  pass  !"  cries  out  St.  Austin  ;  "  who  will  tell  us  what  things  they  then 
 learned  from  the  mouth  of  their  Saviour  ?  Let  us  build  a  dwelling  for  him  in  our 
 hearts,  to  which  he  may  come,  and  where  he  may  converse  with  us."  This  happiness 
 is  enjoyed  by  a  soul  which  opens  her  affections  to  God,  and  receives  the  rays  of 
 his  divine  light  in  heavenly  contemplation.  The  joy  and  comfoit,  which  these 
 two  felt  in  that  conversation,  are  not  to  be  expressed  by  words  :  by  it  they  clearly 
 learned  that  Jesus  was  the  M^ssias  and  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  they 
 resolved  from  that  moment  to  follow  him. 
 
 "  And  Andrew  the  brother  of  Simon  Peter  was  one  of  the  two  who      ^    y^^^  ^^,^       40. 
 had  heard  of  John"  concerning  Christ,  "and  who  had  followed  him."  calling  of  Pder 
 Hence  he  was  the  first  of  his  disciples,  and  is  styled  by  the  Greeks  the  "'"^  ^n^rew. 
 protocld,  or  first  called.     Desirous  of  imparting  to  others  the  infinite  treasure  which 
 he  had  discovered,  "  he  findeth,  first  his  brother  Simon,  and  saith  to  him:  we  have      4i 
 found  the  Messias,  (which  being  interpreted  is,  the  Christ.)     And  he  brought  him  to      43 
 Jesus.     And  Jesus  looking  upon  him,"  before  either  of  the  brothers  had  uttered  a 
 word,  "  said"  to  him :  "  Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  Jona,"  or  John;  "thou  shalt 
 be  called  Cephas,  which  is  interpreted  Peter,"  i.  e.  a  rock.     Christ  now  begins  to 
 
 *  It  seems  they  returned   home    and   followed  yet   they  professed  themselves   his  followers,   and 
 
 their  worldly  occupation  for  some  time,    until  tiiey  frequently  saw  him,  and  so  might  easily  be  specla- 
 
 were  called  a  second  time,  of  which  see  chap.  26.  tors  of  his  miracles  at  the   feast  of  Caua,   and  on 
 
 But  thoun-h  they  were  not  as  yet  adopted   into  the  other  occasions 
 family  of  Christ,  nor  made  his  constant  attendants, 
 
 9  2b 
 
94  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUo  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XVlf. 
 
 Matt.  16.  form  his  Church,  and  points  out  the  foundation  of  it.     ''  Thou  shalt  be  called  Peter," 
 ^^-      I.  e.  thou  shall  be  the  immovable  rock,  on  which  I  will  b\uld  my  church. 
 
 The  Evang-elist  keeps  an  exact  journal  of  the  various  transactions  during'  the 
 
 seven  or  eight  days  after  the  return  of  Jesus  from  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  until  the 
 
 time  when  he  wrought  his  tirst  miracle.     This  he  does,  that  we  may  see  the  prompt 
 
 and  manifest  progress  of  the  work  of  God,  and  the  fruit  of  St.  John  Baptist's  prepa- 
 
 John  1.  rations.      "  On  the  following  day  he  would  go  forth  into  Galilee,"  as  far  as  Cana, 
 
 ^^      a  town  situated  at  the  distance  of  about  ninety  miles  from  Bethabara,  where  he  then 
 
 ...      was.     On  his  way  thither,  "  he  findeth   Philip  :    and  Jesus  saith  to 
 
 44.      of  Philip  and  him :  follow  me.     Now  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,*  the  city  of  Andrew 
 
 Nathaniel.         ^^^^  Peter ;  which  the  Evangelist  remarks,  to  insinuate  to  us  that  they 
 
 were  acquainted  with  one  another,  and  communicated  to  each  other  their  mutual 
 
 45  happiness.  I  n  like  manner  "  Philip  findeth  Nathaniel,"  vvho  was  of  Cana  of  Galilee, 
 "  and  saith  to  him  :  we  have  found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the  prophets 
 did  write,  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph  of  Nazareth."  Philip  here  spoke  of  the  birth  of 
 Jesus,  accordino-  to  the  commoii  opinion,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  at  this 
 time  he  knew  no  otherwise.  It  is  most  likely,  as  before  observed,  that  St.  Joseph 
 was  deceased  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus.  For  as  in 
 his  discourses  he  would  frequently  speak  of  his  Father  as  of  a  person  then  in  exist- 
 ence, the  Jews  would  naturally  have  referred  to  Joseph,  if  living,  what  was  meant 
 by  Jesus  to  be  referred  to  his  eternal  Father ;  aud  this  ambiguity  would  continually 
 have  taken  place  in  discourses  with  the  Jews,  to  their  no  small  perplexity  and 
 embarrassment.     In  reality,   the  evangelical  history  makes  no  mention  of  Joseph 
 
 46  durino-  any  part  of  our  Saviour's  mission.  "  And  Nathaniel,"  who  was  well  versed 
 in  the  scriptures,  "said  to  Philip  :  can  there  be  any  good  from  Nazareth?"  not 
 thinkino-  it  consistent  with  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  that  the  Messiah,  who  was 
 to  be  the  son  of  David,  and  to  be  born  at  Bethlehem,  should  come  from  Nazareth. 
 "  Philip  answered  him  :  come  and  see,"  not  doubting  but,  upon  his  personal 
 acquaintance  with  the  Son  of  God,  he  would  be  as  much  convinced  of  the  truth  as 
 
 47.  he  was  himself.     Nathaniel  complied ;  and  when  "  Jesus  saw  Nathaniel  coming  to 
 
 48.  him,  he  saith  of  him,"  in  his  hearing :  "  behold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  is 
 no  o-uile.  Nathaniel  saith  to  him:  whence  knowest  thou  me?"  To  convince 
 Nathaniel  that  he  had  received  no  knowledge  of  him  through  the  means  of  Philip, 
 "  Jesus  answered,  and  said  to  him:  before  that  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast 
 under  the  fig-tree,  I  saw  thee.f  Nathaniel,"  persuaded  that  God  only,  and  no 
 other,  could  have  beheld  him  in  this  place,  "  answered  him  and  said  :  Rabbi,  thou 
 art  the  Son  of  God ;%  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel."     Philip  had  described  Jesus 
 
 *  There  is  no  mention  of  this  place  in   the  Old  which  abounded  in  fish. 
 Testament  and  the  reason  is,  because,  as  Josephus         t  The  particular  selection  of  this  circiimstance 
 
 tells  ns   it'was  but  a  very  small   villa-e,  until  im-  amon-  others  equally  secret  which   he   misrht  have 
 
 proved  bv  Philip   the  tetrarch,  and  made  a   consi-  mentioned,   makes  it   extremely  probable  tliat  this 
 
 derable    city      Its   original    name  in   the  Hebrew  virtuous  Israelite   was.  at  the  described   moment, 
 
 ton-ue    imports  a  place  of  fishing  or  else  hiniiins.  employed  in  prayer,  or  in  some  other  work  equally 
 
 an.Uorboth  these  exercises  it  was  very  commodiously  pleasing  to  God.      Any  indifferent  action  had  scarce 
 
 situated,  being  in  the  tribe  of  Nei.thali,  a  country  been     deserving    the    attenuon    or    circumstantial 
 
 remarkable   for  its  plenty  of  deer,    (Gen.  iv.  21.)  description  of  Jesus.  ,     .     ,.    .  .v 
 
 and  at  the  north  end  of  the  lake  of  Genesareth,         X  It  is  plain  from  this  and  other  texts,  that  the 
 
 49. 
 
Cli.  XVII.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 unto  him  as  the  son  of  Joseph,  and  at  that  period  the  Trinity  of  Persons  in  God  had 
 not  yet  been  revealed  to  the  generality  of  the  Jews  :  it  appears  therefore  that 
 N.kthaniel  meant  only  to  describe  Jesus  as  the  adopted  Son  of  God,  but  by  an  adop- 
 tion of  a  superexcellent  kind,  and  such  as  was  suitable  to  the  dig-nity  of  the  Messias. 
 The  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  and  natural  filiation  of  Jesus  was  reserved  for 
 St.  Peter.*  "^  Jesus,"  congratulating  with  Nathaniel  for  thus  believing  in  him, 
 *'  answered  and  said  to  hira  :  because  I  said  to  thee  I  saw  thee  under  the  fig-tree,  thou 
 believest:  greater  things  than  these  thou  shalt  see,"  and  more  convincing  proofs  of 
 his  being  the  Messiah.  "  And  he  saith  to  him  :  amen,  amen  I  say  to  you  :  you 
 shall  see  the  heavens  open,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon 
 the  Son  of  Man."-|-  It  does  not  appear  from  the  Gospel  at  what  time  this  promise 
 was  accomplished  :  St.  Chrysostom  thinks  at  Christ's  ascension  ;  others  refer  it  to 
 the  day  of  judgment,  or  to  some  other  occasion.  If  none  of  these  be  deemed 
 satisfactory,  it  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  each  particular  circum,stance  of  our 
 Saviour's  life  and  actions  has  not  been  committed  to  writing  by  the  sacred  Evan- 
 gelists. 
 
 It  is  observed  by  the  holy  Fathers,  that  our  Blessed  Saviour,  however  fiivourable 
 he  might  speak  of  Nathaniel,  did  not  make  him  one  of  his  apostles,:}:  though  seemingly 
 
 51. 
 
 Jews,  before  the  coming'  of  Christ,  were  convinced 
 that  he  was  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  thnngh  they  have 
 denied  it  since  that  time.  For  they  interpreted  as 
 foretold  of  their  Messias,  Psalm  ii.  7,  &c. 
 
 *  Malt.  xvi.  16. 
 
 t  To  ascend  and  descend,  to  co7ne  and  go  (accord- 
 inaf  to  the  Hebrew  manner  of  expression)  denotes 
 a  free  and  familiar  commerce,  and  such,  we  may 
 suppose,  was  the  ministry  of  anf^els  at  our  Saviour's 
 temptation  and  agony,  at  his  resurrection  and 
 ascension.  The  words  however  seem  to  be  a  plain 
 allusion  to  Jacob's  ladder,  (Gen.  xxviii.  12,  13.) 
 on  the  top  of  which  was  the  divine  Majesty,  and 
 the  anjjels  ascending  to  receive  his  commands,  and 
 descending  to  execute  them  :  and  therefore  others 
 have  thought  that  Christ,  by  these  words,  intended 
 to  inform  his  apostles,  that  the  miracles  which  they 
 should  soon  see  him  perform,  would  declare  the 
 divine  Majesty  present  with  hira,  and  giving  him 
 his  commands,  as  clearly  and  manifestly,  as  if  they 
 had  seen  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descend- 
 ing upon  him,  the  Son  of  Man.  It  is  observed  by 
 several,  that  only  Ezechiel  in  the  Old  Testament 
 and  our  Saviour  in  the  New,  are  called  by  this 
 name  ;  that  our  Saviour  is  never  so  called  but  by 
 himself,  and  that  this  is  the  common  appellation 
 he  gives  himself  Ezechiel  was  probably  so  called 
 to  put  him  in  mind  of  his  moital  condition,  though 
 so  frequently  conversing  with  heavenly  beings ; 
 and  o\ir  Saviour  took  upon  him  that  title,  not  only 
 to  distinguish  his  human  from  his  divine  nature, 
 but  likewise  to  express  his  humility  and  mean  con- 
 dition in  taking  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant. 
 Others  however  put  another  construction  upon  this 
 title,  and  think  that  as  the  term  Messiah  (which  is 
 commonly  called  Christ)  was  taken  out  of  Daniel, 
 so  this   other   of  the   Son  of  Man  is  taken  from 
 
 thence  likewise  ;  for  behold  one  like  the  Son  of 
 Man.  says  the  prophet,  came  with  the  clouds  of 
 heaveti,  mid  came  to  the  ancient  of  days,  chap.  vii. 
 13.  and  that  therefore  our  Saviour  did  usually  call 
 himself  so,  in  allusion  to  the  prophecy,  as  well  as 
 to  assert  his  humanity  and  declare  himself  his  Fa- 
 ther's servant,  according  to  the  character  given  of 
 him  by  Isaiah,  c.  xlii.  1.  Agreeably  to  tins  last 
 exposition,  the  Son  of  Man  (Ben  Adam)  and  the 
 Sons  of  Men  (Bene  Ish  I  are  said  to  belong  in  the 
 scripture  language  to  princes  and  great  personasres. 
 Thus  Psalm  iv.  2.  O  ye  sons  of  men,  may  signify, 
 O  ye  rulers  of  the  people.  Psalm  viii.  3.  What  is 
 man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?  or  the  son  of 
 man  (i.  e.  the  greatest  of  men). 
 
 i  Notwithstanding  the  authority  of  the  ancient 
 Fathers,  some  modern  Greeks  pretend  to  say  that 
 Nathaniel  is  the  same  as  St.  Simon  or  some  other 
 apostle.  Rupertus,  Jansenius,  Gavant,  F.  Stilling 
 the  Bollandist,  &c.  take  him  to  have  been  the  same 
 person  with  St.  Bartholomew,  which  is  not  impro- 
 bable. See  Butler's  Saints'  Lives.  St.  Epiphanius 
 says,  that  it  was  he  who  accompanied  Cleophas 
 going  to  Emaus  the  day  of  Christ's  resurrection. 
 The  holy  Fathers  observe,  that  the  apparent  con- 
 tempt of  Jesus  in  not  raising  him  to  the  apostle- 
 ship  did  not  discourage  or  prevent  him  from  assi- 
 duously attending  on  him;  which  shows  his  virtue 
 to  have  been  truly  humble  and  sincere.  We  find  him 
 accompanying  St.  Peter  and  the  other  apostles 
 when  they  went  to  fish  in  the  sea  of  (Jalilee.  (John 
 xxi.  2.)  Except  this  particular  there  is  nothing 
 certain  handed  down  to  us  concerning  him,  either 
 in  scripture  or  ecclesiastical  history.  The  Greeks 
 honour  him  the  22d  of  April,  and  give  him  the  title 
 of  Apostle,  as  they  do  to  all  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
 
ge  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XVIII 
 
 entitled  to  that  distinction,  and  even  qualified  to  hold  the  first  place.  The  reason 
 assigned  by  them  is,  because  he  was  a  man  of  learning-,  and  well  versed  in  the  law. 
 Now  Jesus  Christ,  to  confound  our  pride,  would  not  choose  for  his  apostles  such  as 
 had  human  qualifications  to  recommend  them  to  the  esteem  of  men,  lest  he  might 
 seem  to  have  chosen  them  on  account  of  their  learning  and  accomplishments ;  on 
 the  contrary,  he  made  choice  of  those  for  his  preachers,  who  were  evidently  unquali- 
 fied for  such  a  function,  that  so  it  might  more  manifestly  appear  that  the  fruit  which 
 they  produced,  was  not  from  themselves,  but  the  effect  of  his  divine  grace  and  truth 
 which  spoke  in  them  and  by  them. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVIII. 
 
 CHRIST  ASSISTS  AT  THE  MAKRIAGE-FEAST  OF  CANA.       JOHN  11. 
 
 John  2.1.  "  And  the  third  day"*  after  the  calling  of  Philip  and  Nathaniel,  "  there  was  a  mar- 
 
 2.  riagef  in  CanalJ;  of  Galilee  :  and  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there.  And  Jesus  also  was 
 invited  and  his  disciples  to  the  marriage."  These  disciples  might  be  Philip  and 
 Nathaniel,  Peter  and  Andrew,  and  perhaps  St.  Matthias,  Joseph  Barsabas,  and 
 some  few  others  who  had  followed  our  Lord  from  the  time  of  his  baptism  by  John, 
 (Acts  i.  21.)  Our  Blessed  Saviour  was  pleased  to  assist  at  this  marriage-feast,  in 
 order  to  sanctify,  by  his  presence,  the  marriage  state,  of  which  he  is  the  author 
 and  institutor,  and  on  which  depends  the  propagation  of  mankind.  2.  To  teach  the 
 guests  by  his  example,  and,  perhaps,  by  his  words,  to  rejoice  with  them  that  rejoiced, 
 
 3.  with  a  holy  and  modest  joy  in  the  Lord.  "  And  the  wine  foiling,"  most  probably  in 
 consequence  of  the  unexpected  arrival  of  Jesus  with  his  disciples,  "  the  mother  of 
 Jesus  saith  to  him  :  they  have  no  wine."  This  was  a  modest  suggestion  to  him  on 
 her  part,  that  his  known  benevolence  might  remedy  an  inconvenience  arising  solely 
 from  the  arrival  of  him  and  his  company.  As  this  request,  coming  from  a  mother, 
 seemed  to  lay  a  command  upon  the  son  to  grant  what  was  here  asked,  an  immediate 
 compliance  with  it  would  perhaps  have  had  too  much  the  appearance  of  an  earthly  or 
 
 4.  human  motive  for  the  miracle  which  he  was  about  to  perform,  "  and,"  therefore, 
 "  Jesus  saith  to  her:  woman,  what  is"  that  "  to  me  and  to  thee?  My  hour  is  not 
 yet  come :"  perhaps,  says  St.  Chrysostora,  because  they  were  not  yet  sufficiently 
 sensible  that  wine  was  wanting.  Certain  it  is,  that  Jesus  designed  not  this  as  any 
 personal  rebuke  to  his  blameless  mother,  but  merely  as  a  lesson  to  his  disciples,  that 
 in  the  functions  of  their  ministry,  they  ought  to  pay  no  regard  to  flesh  and  blood. 
 
 5  "  His  mother"  was  far  from  considering  tlie  answer  she  received  as  a  refusal ;  but 
 full  of  confidence  in  his  benevolence,  "  saith  to  tlie  waiters  ;  whatsoever  he  shall  say 
 
 6  to  you,  do  ye.     Now  there  were  six  water-pots  of  stone,  according  to  the  manner  of 
 
 *  According  to   others  the  third  day  after  his         %  To   distinguish  it  from  another  town   of  the 
 departure  fronT  Judea  for  Gahlee.  same   name,  mentioned  Jos.  xix.  28.  belonn-ing  to 
 
 t  iMicephorus  pretends  it  was  the   marriage   of    the  tribe  of  Asher,  not  far  from  the  city  of  Sidon. 
 Simon  surnamed  the  Cananean,  one  of  the  twelve 
 apostles  ;  but  this  is  mere  conjecture. 
 
Ch.  XVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  97 
 
 purification  among  the  Jews,  containing  eacli  two  or  three  measures."    The  measure 
 was  nearly  thirteen  quarts,  and  thus  the  contents  of  the  whole  might  be  between 
 twenty-five  and  thirty  gallons.     "  Jesus  saith  to  them  :  fill  the  water-pots  with  water,       7. 
 and  they  filled  them  up  to  the  brim.     And  Jesus  saith  to  them  ;  draw  out  now,  and       s. 
 carry  to  the  chief  steward  of  the  feast,  and  they  carried  it.     And  when  the  chief      9. 
 steward  had  tasted  the  water  made  wine,  and  knew  not  whence  it  was,  (but  the 
 waiters  knew  who  had  drawn  the  waters)  the  chief  steward  called  the  bridegroom,      10. 
 and  saith  to  him :  every  man  at  first  setteth  forth  good  wine  :  and  when  they  have 
 well  drunk,  then  that  which  is  worse  :  but  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until  now.* 
 This  was  the  beginning  of  the"  public  "  miracles  of  Jesus  which  he  did  in  Cana  of      u 
 Galilee  :  and  hereby  he  manifested  his  glory,  and  his  disciples  believed  in  him,"  i.  e. 
 their  faith  hitherto,  perhaps,  weak,  and  founded  chiefly  on  the  testimony  of  St.  John, 
 was  now  augmented  and  confirmed  by  seeing  this  divine  miracle. 
 
 The  different  sorts  of  wine  that  were  produced  on  this  occasion,  the  one  by 
 the  bridegroom,  and  the  other  by  Jesus  Christ,  mark  the  different  delights  of  a 
 spiritual  an/'  a  worldly  life.  Worldly  pleasures  seem  pleasant  to  the  taste  of  carnal 
 men  ;  they  flatter  the  senses,  they  amuse  and  they  entertain  while  they  last,  but  they 
 last  not  long ;  they  expire  with  life,  and  often  leave  a  bitter  emptiness  behind  them. 
 The  pleasures  of  a  spiritual  life  are  sweetened  by  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
 convey  to  the  soul  an  inexpressible  satisfaction,  a  solid  and  a  lasting  peace,  such  as 
 is  not  to  be  found  in  the  turbulent  joys  of  sinners.  When  a  devout  soul  has  once 
 begun  to  taste  the  sweets  of  such  a  peace,  she  shuts  her  eyes  to  those  objects  which 
 cannot  be  pursued  with  innocence ;  she  reposes  in  the  calm  of  an  upright  con- 
 science, she  keeps  her  last  end  constantly  in  view,  she  relishes  only  the  things  of  God, 
 and  breathes  after  an  happiness  that  shall  never  be  exhausted. 
 
 We  may  likewise  consider  the  above  miraculous  change  made  by  our  Lord  of  water 
 into  wine  (which  was  his  first  miracle)  as  a  prelude  to  another  still  more  miraculous 
 
 *  This  minute  detail  is  recorded,  in  order  to  a  voice  from  heaven.  This  is  my  beloved  Son  :  anc 
 place  the  truth  of  the  miracle  in  the  clearest  light,  third,  he  was  manifested  to  his  disciples  at  Cana  bj 
 Considering-  the  many  witnesses  who  mnst  have  tlie  miraculous  chamTingr  of  water  into  wine.  Where- 
 .seen  the  whole  transaction,  there  conld  be  no  fore  the  Chnrch  celebrates  the  g-eneral  manifesta- 
 deceit  or  colhision  on  the  part  of  Jesus  and  the  tion  of  Christ  effected  by  these  three  miracles, 
 bridegroom.  The  failure  of  the  wine  was  by  no  although  the  two  former  only,  and  not  the  third, 
 means  fictitious,  but  a  real,  thougli  accidental  di.s-  happened  on  that  day.  The  Churcli  indeed  sings 
 tress.  The  parties  were  probably  of  the  middling  in  lier  office,  hodie  viimm  ex  aqua  factum  est  ad 
 class  of  life,  and  had  only  provided  so  much  as  they  miptias  ;  but  as  Haronius  observes,  the  meaning 
 judged  would  suffice  for  the  number  of  persons  is  only,  hodie  ejus  rei  mcBmoria  agilur.  See  like- 
 invited,  so  that  seven  or  eight  supernumerary  wise  Pererius  in  Joan.  c.  ii.  It  is  therefore  a 
 guests  easily  account  for  their  stock  falling  short,  mistake  of  Mr.  Baker,  when  he  supiDoses  this  to  be 
 The  Blessed  Virgin  felt  herself  interested  for  the  ihe  tradition  of  the  Church.  (See  his  Treatise  on 
 new-married  couple,  who  were  probably  related  to  the  Feasts.)  This  event,  as  the  learned  Saiidinus 
 her  in  blood,  and  their  gratitude  for  so  beneficent  and  Cardinal  Gotti  observe,  might  probably  take 
 a  supply  may  be  easily  imagined.  place  about  the  end  of  February  or  the  beginning 
 
 The  Church  celebrates  the  memory  of  this  mira-  of  March,  about  two  months  after  his  baptism, 
 culous  event  on  the  6th  of  January,  not  as  if  it  which  agrees  with  the  Gospel  account :  for  accord- 
 actually  took  place  on  this  day,  but  because  she  inn-  to  St.  John,  ii.  12,  13.  after  the  performance  ot 
 then  celebrates  the  Epiphany  or  Manifestation  of  the  above  miracle  he  staid  a  few  days  at  Caphar- 
 Christ  to  the  world  by  three  several  mysteries.  He  naum,  and  then  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  celebrate 
 was  manifested  and  made  known  to  the  wise  men  the  Passover.  See  Sandinus,  Hist.  Familim 
 of  the  East  by  the  appearance  of  a  miraculous  star :  Sacrce.,  and  Pererius  in  Joau.  c.  ii.  where  he  adopts 
 at  his  baptism  he  was  manifested  to  the  Jews  by  the  same  opinion 
 
 9.  '        2c 
 
98 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XIX. 
 
 change,  which  he  made  at  his  h\st  supper,  and  which  he  will  continue  to  make  by 
 his  ministers  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  I  mean  the  change  of  bread  and  wine  into  his 
 own  body  and  blood.*  With  this  wonderful  miracle  he  daily  honours  the  wedding- 
 feast  of  his  own  espousals  with  our  souls,  in  order  to  communicate  himself  to  us,  and 
 to  unite  us  to  himself.  By  the  means  of  this  communication  he  operates  in  us  another 
 no  less  wonderful  change,  by  which  he  transforms  us  in  a  manner  into  himself.  The 
 corporal  food  we  take  is,  by  the  means  of  our  natural  heat,  daily  changed  into  our 
 flesh  and  blood  ;  but  this  spiritual  food,  Uke  the  fire  which  changes  all  things  into 
 itself,  is  not  changed  into  our  substance,  but  changes  and  transforms  our  souls,  as  it 
 were,  into  its  own  nature,  to  make  them  one  with  this  bread  of  life :  here  by  grace, 
 hereafter  by  o-lory.  Happy  those  Christians  who  prepare  their  hearts  fur  Jesus 
 their  heavenly  spouse,  that  he  may  come  and  dwell  in  them  to  effect  this  miraculous 
 change,  this  blessed  conversion. 
 
 PART  II. 
 
 CHAPTER  XIX 
 
 JESUS  DRIVES  THE  BUYERS  AND  SELLERS  OUT  OF   THE  TEMPLE. f — THE  TEMPLE  OF  HIS 
 BODY  TO  BE  DESTROYED  AND   RAISED  UP  AGAIN.       JOHN  II. 
 
 Jonii  2.  "  After  this  he  went  down  to  Capharnaum,:}:  he  and  his  mother,  and  his  brethren 
 ^■•-  and  his  disciples;  and  they  remained  there  not  many  days.  And  tiie  Passover  of 
 13.      the  Jews  was  at  hand,§  and  Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem,"  where  he  was  to  com- 
 
 *  What  an  ancient  Fnthor  of  the  Church  saitl,  blood  of  Christ,  as  our  Lord  assures  us.  Notwith- 
 to  confirm  the  faithful  of  his  time  in  the  belief  of  standing  therefore  the  sug-gestions  of  sense,  let  faith 
 Christ's  real  presence  in  the  holv  Eucharist,  the  make  lliee  firm  and  sure.  Judge  not  of  the  '.hing 
 same  we  may  now  say  to  tliose  Protestants  who  by  the  taste,  but  be  certain  from  faith,  that  thou 
 contest  the  truth  of  this  sacred  mystery.  "  At  hast  bean  honoured  with  the  g:ift  of  Christ's  body 
 Cana  of  Galilee  Jesus  eliectcd  the  transmutation  of  and  blood,  &c."  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Cat. 
 water  into  wine  by  the  sole  act  of  his  wiil,  and  can  Mystag.  4.  p.  2S2  and  293,  ed.  Oxon. 
 we  not  believe  then  that  lie  changed  wine  into  his  t  He  did  the  same  at  the  conclusion  of  his  mi- 
 blood '—Since  Christ  himself  affirms  this,  and  says  nistry.  See  chap.  110.  on  Matt.  xxi. 
 of  the  bread  :  This  is  my  body,  who  after  this  will  J  As  St  Joiin  says  that  Jesus  remained  not 
 dare  to  doubt  of  it  ?  And  when  the  same  rssures  us  many  days  at  Capharnaum  on  the  jiresent  occasion, 
 and  says  :  This  is  my  blood,  who  can  hesitate  and  we  shall  not  refei  to  it  in  the  following  notes  when 
 say  it 'is  not  his  blood?  Wherefore,  with  all  cer-  we  .speak  of  his  first  and  second  arrival  in  this 
 tain'ty  and  a  firm  belief,  let  us  receive  the  body  and  town  ;  but  shall  reckon  only  from  the  time  when 
 bloocl  of  Christ.  For  under  the  form  of  bread  his  quitting-  Judea,  after  the  imprisonment  of  John  the 
 body  is  given  to  thee,  and  under  the  form  of  wine  Baptist,  he  made  Capharnaum  the  usual  place  of 
 his  blood  ;  that  having  received  the  body  and  blood  his  residence, 
 of  Christ,  thou  mayest  be  made  partaker  with  him         §  This  feast  is  so  well  known,  that  we  need  only 
 
 of  his  body  and  blood.     Thus  we  are  made  co;icor-  remind    our   reader  that   from    the  word   Pasach, 
 
 porcal  and  consaiiguineal  with  Christ,  by  his  body  wliicii  signifies  io  pass  or  leap  over,  the   Jews  gave 
 
 and  blood  bein"-   distributed   through   our  bodies,  the  name  of  Pascha,  or  Passover,  to  that  great  festi- 
 
 Do  not  look  upon  the  bread  and  w^ine  as  bare  and  val  which  was  annually  celebrated  in  coiiime.r.ora- 
 
 common  elements;    for  they  are   the   body  and  tion  of  their  deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  because  the 
 
16. 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  gg 
 
 meiiue  the  functions  of  his  high  ministry  by  a  great  number  of  miracles.  This  time 
 was  the  more  suitable  for  the  purpose,  as  a  large  concourse  of  Jews  usually  1st  Passover* 
 assembled  there  upon  this  occasion,  who  would  not  fail,  on  their  return,  to  spread  far 
 and  near  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the  Messias.  Jesus  being  arrived  at  Jeru- 
 salem, beg-an  his  mission  by  two  different  kinds  of  miracles,  each  of  which  afforded 
 the  strongest  proofs  of  his  divinity.  The  first  of  these  was  the  effect  of  his  great  zeal  for 
 the  g-lory  of  his  heavenly  Father,  and  was  levelled  against  theprofaners  of  the  house  of 
 God  ;   the  second  was  owing  to  his  tender  compassion  to  the  infirmities  of  mankind. 
 
 On  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  he  went  straight  to  the  holy  place,  and       ,   „.    , 
 he  found  in  the  first  courtf  of  "  the  temple  them  that  sold  oxen,  and  pulsion    from      14^ 
 sheep,  and   doves,"  for  the  sacrifices,  "  and  the  changers  of  money ;|:  ''^^  iemple. 
 sitting"  at  their  desks,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  payments  made  between  the  various 
 Jews  coming-  from  distant  parts.     It  is  extremely  probable,  that  the  priests  allowed 
 the  traders  to  bring-  their  several  commodities  into  this  court,  in  order  to  dispose  of 
 them  to  such  persons  as  wished  to  offer  sacrifice,  and  that  by  such  connivance  they 
 reaped  no  small  pecuniary  advantage.     The  zeal  of  Jesus  was  inflamed  at  the  sight 
 of  this  profanation,  "  and  when  he  had  made,  as  it  were,  a  scourge  of  little  cords,       ^~ 
 he  drove  them  all  out  of  the  temple  :  the  sheep  also  and  the  oxen,  and  the  money  of 
 the  changers  he  poured  out,  and  the  tables  he  overthrew."     This  was  a  miracle  truly 
 divine,  and  effected  by   the  majestic  display  of  the  divinity  shining    in  his  coun- 
 tenance.    "  And  to  them  that  sold  doves  he  said :  take  these  things   hence,  and 
 make  not  the  house  of  my  Father  a  house  of  traffia     And  his  disciples  remembered      ^ 
 that  it  was  written,"  Ps.  Ixvii.  "  the  zeal  of  thy  house  hath  eaten  me  up.     The  Jews      is. 
 therefore"  greatly  irritated  at  this  conduct,  "  answered  and  said  to  him  :  what  sign 
 dost  thou  show  unto  us,  seeing  thou  dost  these  things  ?     Jesus  answered  and  said 
 to  them:    Destroy  this  temple,"  §  and  I  will  do  a  miracle  which  will  2.  The  Temple       jg 
 show  by  what  authority  I  have  acted,  for  "  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  '"  ^'  destroyed. 
 
 night  before  their  departure,  the  destroying  angel,  near  at  hand,  the  priests,  for  their  own  profit,  liad 
 
 who  slew  the  first-born   of  the  Egyptians,  passed  permitted   beasts  and  poultry  to  be  brought  within 
 
 over    the   houses    of  the    Israelites,     which    were  this  court,  and  graziers  and   hucksters  to  mix  with 
 
 marked  with  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  killed  the  even-  the  people  at  their  devotions. 
 
 ing  before,  and  for  this  reason  called   the  Paschal  J    Money-changers.    It   was  an  appointment   of 
 
 lamb.     The  feast  itself  began  on  the  14th  day  of  the  law,  that  every  man,  from  twenty  years  old  and 
 
 Nisan,  which  is  the  first  mouth  in  their  sacred,  but  upwards,  should  annually  pay  into  the  treasury  of 
 
 the   seventh    in  their  civil  year  ;   and   answers,   in  the  temple,  in  order  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
 
 part,  to  our  Marcli  and  April ;  but  as  the  Jews  be-  daily  sacrifices,   the  sum  of  half  a  shekel,  (Exod. 
 
 gan  their  days  at  six  in  the  evening,  this  feast  was  xxx.  12,  15.)     This  and  the  voluntary  oblations  of 
 
 to  continue  seven  days  complete,  and  so  ended  on  the  people  of  all   ranks  occasioned  a  necessity  of 
 
 the2Ist  in  the  evening.  changing  greater  coin  into  less,  and  very  often  of 
 
 *  See  the  second,  chap.  37 ;  the  third,  chap.  5S  ;  foreign  coin  into    that    which  was  current   in  the 
 
 the  fourth,  chap.  128.  nation.     Under  the  pretence   therefore  of  having 
 
 t    There   were  three    courts   belonging    to   the  things  near  at  hand,  the  priests  took  the  opportu- 
 
 temple.     The  court  of  the  priests,  where  the  altar  nity  to  gratify  their  covetousness,   by   letting   out 
 
 of  2/ice«sc  stood  ;  the  court  of  the  Israelites,  where  places  to   money-changers,  who,  to  make   up  their 
 
 the  Jews   that    were   clean   and   the   jirostlytes  of  rent,   (which  was  likely   exorbitant)    might  extor' 
 
 justice,  i.  e.  those  who  had  embraced  circumcision  from  those  that  came  to  them,  or  as  Origen  ima 
 
 and  the  law  of  Moses,  met  at  their  devotion  ;   and  gines,   give  them    apyvptov  dSoKifiov,  base  7noney 
 
 the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  where  the  unclean  Jews,  instead  of  good,  and  so  made  the  temple  a  den  of 
 
 and  the  Gentiles  who  owned  the  true  God,  wi.hout  thieves. 
 
 professing    Judaism,   were   permitted   to   worship.  §  The  Jews  had  a  maxim,  or  proverbial   saying, 
 
 Xow  under   the   pretext   of  having-  the   sacrifices  that  the  Sanctuary  of  .Sanctuaries  was  the  Mss- 
 
100  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XX. 
 
 20.      up  again.     The  Jews  then  said :  six  and  forty  years*  was  this  temple  in  building-, 
 .21.      and  wilt  thou  raise  it  up  in  three  days?     But  he  spoke  of  the  temple  of  his  body," 
 
 the  true  temple  of  the  Divinity,  which  was  to  be  raised  up  by  a  glorious  resurrection  ; 
 
 a  greater  miracle  than  would  have  been  the  rebuilding  of  the  material  temple  in  three 
 
 22.  days.  "  When  therefore  he  was  risen  again  from  the  dead,  his  disciples,'  who  were 
 now  equally  in  the  dark  as  to  this  mysterious  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  "  remembered 
 that  he  had  said  this,  and  they  believed  the  scripture  and  the  word  that  Jesus  had 
 said  ;"  being  thoroughly  convinced  that  his  rising  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  was 
 the  accomplishment  of  the  ])rophecy ,  and  that  both  his  resurrection  and  the  pre- 
 diction of  it  were  confirmed  by  tiie  scriptures. 
 
 The  preceding  history  exhibits  a  signal  proof  of  the  zeal  of  Jesus  for  the  glory  of 
 liis  Father,  and  is  the  first  circumstance  attending  the  commencement  of  his  mission 
 at  Jerusalem.  This  was  succeeded  by  numerous  miracles  which  he  wrought  out 
 of  compassion  for  those  who  were  sick.     Of  these  miracles  neither  St.  John  nor  the 
 
 23.  other  Evangelists  have  given  us  the  detail.  "  Now  when  he  was  at  Jerusalem  at 
 the  ])ass()vcr,  upon  the  festival  day,  many  believed  in  his  name,  seeing  the  miracles 
 
 24.  whicli  he  wrought.  But  Jesus  did  not  trust  himself  to  them,  because  he  knew  all 
 men,"  and  saw  clearly  the  inconstancy  of  their  faith,  and  the  evil  disposition  of  their 
 
 25.  hearts,  "  and  because  he  needed  not  that  any  should  give  testimony  of  man,  for  he 
 knew  what  was  in  man."  This  penetrating  knowledge  he  had  of  men's  hearts  and 
 dispositions,  did  not  allow  him,  on  this  occasion,  to  trust  either  his  secrets  or  his 
 person  to  them,  nor  to  prolong  his  stay  at  Jerusalem,  the  time  not  being  yet  come 
 when  he  was  to  die  for  the  redemption  of  the  world. 
 
 CHAPTER  XX. 
 
 THE  DISCOURSE  BETWEEN  JESUS  AND  NICODEMUS.       JOHN  III. 
 
 John  3.  "  And  there  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees  named  Nicodemus,  a  ruler  of  the  Jews. 
 ^•"  This  man  came  to  Jesus  by  night."  The  principal  reason  of  this  cautious  conduct, 
 was  the  apprehension  of  drawing  upon  himself  the  resentment  of  the  Priests  and 
 Pharisees,  who  had  conceived  the  bitterest  hatred  against  Jesus  for  expelling  the 
 buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the  temple,  though  authorized  by  them  in  the  illicit  use  of 
 that  sacred  place.  A  further  reason  was  the  desire  of  saving  his  own  reputation  in 
 the  eyes  of  the  public.  He  sought  from  Jesus  an  explanation  of  such  points  of  doc- 
 trine as  he  had  not  perfectly  understood :  now  to  be  seen  asking  questions,  and 
 receivino-  explanations  from  so  young  a  master,  would  have  been  too  humiliating  a 
 
 siah.  therefore  there  could  be  no  impropriety  and  forty  years:  yet  Josephus,  Antiquities,  1.  15. 
 in  our  Saviour's  calling  his  body  a  temple:  for  c.  14.  tells  us  that  the  whole  was  finished  in  nine 
 if  the  Apostle  calls  our  bodies  the  temple  of  year.s  and  a  half.  But  this  is  to  be  understood  of 
 God,  as  he  does,  1  Cor.  iii.  10.  and  2  Cor.  vi.  16.  the  main  huildinc^  only,  since,  according- to  the  same 
 how'much  more  does  that  title  belong;  to  the  body  author,  1.  20.  c.  8.  several  new  works  and  decora- 
 of  Christ  in  which  ihe  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwelt  tions  were  still  carrying-  on,  and  eighteen  thousand 
 always  and  inseparably  ?  men  employed,  even  to  the  time  that  young  Agrippa 
 *  From  Herod  s  beginning  to  rebuild  the  was  made  king  oi  Judea,  which  was  about  the  six- 
 temple,  to  this  first  Passover  al'ter  our  Saviour's  tieth  year  of  the  Christian  a;ra.  Calmet. 
 baptism,  it  is  agreed  that  the  time  was  exactly  six 
 
Ch.  XX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  101 
 
 trial  for  a  person  of  his  rank,  and  therefore  he  chose  a  time  when  no  one  could  be 
 privy  to  the  consultation. 
 
 The  subject  of  this  interview  between  Jesus   and  Nicodemus,  relates  to  the  first 
 elements  of  the  christian  religion,  which  the  latter  wished  to  learn.     He  introduced 
 the  discourse,  and  addressing  Jesus,  "  said  to  him  :  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art 
 come  a  teacher  from  God  :  for  no  man  can  do  these  signs*  which  thou  dost,  unless 
 God  be  with  him."     Tell  me  therefore,  I  beseech  thee,  what  I  must  do  to  be  saved. 
 "  Jesus  answered,"  by  showing  to  Nicodemus  the  necessity  of  a  second  birth,  "  and       3. 
 said  to  him  :  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  thee,  unless  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see 
 the  kingdom  of  God.     Nicodemus  saith  to  him  :  how  can  a  man  be  born  again  when       4. 
 he  is  old  ?     Can  he  enter  a  second  time  into  his  mother's  womb,  and  bo  born  again  ? 
 Jesus  answered :  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  thee;  unless  a  man  be  born  again"  by  the       5. 
 baptism  "  of  water  and"  by  the  grace  of  "  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
 kingdom  of  God. "f     Our  first  birth,  by  which  our  bodies  are  produced,  is  all  carnal ;       6. 
 for  ''  that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  :"  on  the  contrary,  the  second  birth  of  man 
 is  all  spiritual,  "that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit,"  since  every  productio?)  par- 
 takes of  the  qualities  of  that  by  which  it  is  produced.      "  Wonder  not  that  I  said  to       7 
 thee,  you  must  be  born  again."     This  is  to  be  understood  of  that  spiritual  birth  which 
 alone  can  fit  us  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     As  to  the  manner  of  this  spiritual  birth, 
 it  is  as  hidden  as  the  other  operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God.     "  The  Spirit  breatheth       8. 
 where  he  will,|  and  thou  hearest  his  voice"  from  the  mouth  of  his  ministers  ;  "  but 
 thou  knowest  not  whence  he  comcth,  and  whither  he  goeth  :  so  is  every  one  that  is 
 born  of  the  Spirit."     The  effects  produced  in  him  by  the  holy  Spirit  plainly  show 
 a  great  change  in  him,  and  he  himself  perceives  it ;  but  these  operations  of  the 
 Spirit  are  not  perceptible  to  others :  they  see  not  the  inward  princi[)le  that  makes  hira 
 act,  nor  the  end  to  which  he  tends,  nor  the  goods  which  are  the  objects  of  his  hope. 
 
 "  Nicodemus  answered  and  said  to  him :  how  can  these  things  be  done  ?     Jesus       9. 
 answered  and  said  to  him  :    art  thou  a  master  in    Israel,   and  knowest  not  these      10 
 thiugs,"§   so  clearly  signified  by  the  law;  the  perfection  of  which  consists  in  the 
 interior  renewing  of  the  soul  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost?     "  Amen,  amen  I      n. 
 say  to  thee,  that  we  speak  what  we  know,  and  we  testify  what  we  have  seen,  and  you 
 receive  not  our  testimony.     If  I  have  spoken  to  you   earthly  things"  by  having      12. 
 
 *  Hence  it   appears  that  Jesus  vvroiight  many  Holy  Ghost  to  the  wind,  of  which  men  can  give  so 
 
 miracles  even  the  first  year  of  his  preachini;-,  thougli  little  account,    whence    it    comes   and    whither    it 
 
 not  very  puhlicly  and  amidst  the  crmid.     However,  goes.      Yet  many  others,    as  St.    Austin,   St.  Am- 
 
 few   of  those  which  he    performed   in    Judea   are  larose,   St.  Gregory,  understand  this   expression  of 
 
 noticed  by  the  Evangelists,  as  was  before  observed,  the    Holy  Ghost,  of  whom  it  can  only  be  properly 
 
 t   Uiilt'ss  a  man  be  born  asciin  of  icater  and  the  said,  that  lie  breatheth  where  he  will. 
 Holy  Gliost.     Though  the  word  holy  be  now  v/ant-         §  Many  passages  both  in  the  law  and  the  pro- 
 
 ing  in  all    Greek  copies,    it  is  certainly  the  sense,  phets   implied  this    doctrine   of  regeneration;    for 
 
 The   ancient  Fathers,  and   particularly  St.  Austin,  what  else  can  be  the  meaning  of  the   circumcision 
 
 prove   from   these   words,    the  necessity  of  giving  of  the  heart  commanded  by  Moses,  Dent.  x.  16.  of 
 
 laaptism  to   infants  ;  and   by  Christ's  adding  water  the  renewal  of  a  clean  and  right  spirit  prayed  for 
 
 is  excluded  a  metaphorical  baptism.     See  also  Acts  by  David,  Ps.  1.  of  God's  giving  his  people  a  7iew 
 
 viii.  36.  Acts  x.  47.  and  Titus  iii   5.  heart  and  a  7iew  spirit,  Ezech.  xxxvi.  26.  &c. ;  but 
 
 +   The  Spirit  breatheth  where  he  will.  The  Pro-  Ihe  Pharisees  being  taken  up  uith  their  rites  and 
 
 testant  translation  has  the  wind:  and  so  it  is  ex-  traditions,  paid  little  attention  to  spiritual  things  of 
 
 pounded  by  St.   Chrysostom  and  St.  Cyril  on  this  much  greater  consequence, 
 verse;  as  if  Christ   compared  the  motions   of  the 
 
 9.  2d 
 
102  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XX. 
 
 recourse  to  corporeal  iniag-es,  "  and  you  believe  not ;  how  will  you  believe  if  I  speak 
 to  you  heavenly  things,"  and  in  a  language  suited  to  their  sublime  and  celestial 
 nature?  In  other  words,  if  you  understand  not  when  I  speak  of  baptism  given  by 
 water  in  a  visible  manner,  how  will  you  comprehend  greater  mysteries,  such  as  my 
 descent  from  heaven  and  my  abode  still  there  ?  And  yet  no  other  person  can  inform 
 j3  you  of  these  heavenly  things ;  for  "  no  man  hath  ascended  into  heaven"  to  learn 
 them  "^  but  he  that  descended  from  heaven,"  i.  e.  "  the  Son  of  Man,"  who  being 
 
 14.  likewise  the  Sun  of  God,  "  is"  always  "  in  heaven.*  And"  yet  as  great  as  the  Son 
 of  Man  is,  he  must  die  for  the  sins  of  men ;  for  "  as  Moses  lifted  up  the"  brazen 
 "  serpent  in  the  desert,''  that  they  who  were  bitten  by  the  fiery  serpents,  might 
 behold  it,  and  so  be  cured,  "  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,"  and  fastened  to 
 
 15.  the  cross,  ''  tliat  whosoever  believeth  in  him,"  by  a  faitii  working  by  charity,  "  may  not 
 
 16.  perish,  but  may  have  life  everlasting. t  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  as  to  give  his  only 
 begotten  Son"+  to  be  immolated  on  the  cross,  "  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him,"  as 
 
 17.  the  victim  of  propitiation  for  sin,  "  may  not  perish,  but  may  have  life  everlasting.  For 
 God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world,  to  judge"  and  condemn  "  the  world,  but  that  the 
 
 18.  world  may  be  saved  by  him.  He  that  believeth  in  him"  with  a  lively,  active  faith,  "  is 
 not  judged  ;  but  he  that  doth  not  believe,  is  already  judged"  and  condemned,  by  being 
 obstinate  in  his  incredulity,  and  retrenching  himself  from  the  society  of  Christ  and  his 
 
 19.  church.  "  And  this  is  the  judgment,"  or  cause  of  his  condemnation,  "  because  the 
 light  is  come  into  the  world"  to  teach  men  the  ways  of  justice  and  salvation,  "  and" 
 yet  "  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light ;  for  their  works  were  evil."  They  were 
 necessarily  to  make  their  choice  between  the  pursuit  of  their  former  corrupt  ways 
 and  the  light  which  condemned  them  ;  but  being  attached  both  by  affection  and 
 habit  to  sin,  they  had  not  the  resolution  to  break  their  chains,  and  to  follow  the  light 
 thus  held  out  to  them  ;  and  by  thus  giving  the  preference  to  their  state  of  darkness, 
 thev  have  become  even  more  obdurate  in  evil  than  before,  with  a  more  determined 
 
 20.  hatred  of  that  truth  which  censured  their  conduct.  "  For  every  one  that  doth  evil, 
 hateth  the  light"  which  exposes  his  crimes,  "  and  cometh  not  to  the  light,  that  his 
 works  may  not  be  reproved."     Nothing  is  therefore  more  equitable  than  this  judg- 
 
 *   No  one  hnlh  ascended . .  .but  he  thai  descended  and  all  mankiml  spiritually  wounded  unto  dealli  by 
 
 from   heaven,  the  .Son  of  Man  who    in   in  heaven,  the  devil,  the  ancient  serpent  that  induced  our  first 
 
 These  words    repeated   at  different   times   by    our  parents  to   Iransjjrcss   the  commands  of  God.     3. 
 
 Saviour,  in    their   literal   and  obvious   sense,   show  Between   the    look   which    the   wounded    Hebrews 
 
 that  Christ  was  in  heaven,  and  had  a  being   before  directed  towards  the  brazen   serpent,  and   the  look 
 
 he  was  born  of  the  Virjrin  Mary,  against  the  Cerin-  of  an  active  faith    replete  with  love  and  confidence 
 
 thians  and  others  ;  that  he  descended  from  hcav.n  ;  which  the  faithful  direct  towards  Jesus  Cl'.rist.  And 
 
 that  when  he  was  made  man   and  conversed  with  4.   Between  the  cure  of  such  as  were  wounded  by 
 
 men   on  earth,  he  was  at  the  same  time  in  heaven,  the  fiery  serpents,  and  the  deliverance  or  salvation 
 
 Some  Socinianshere  give  us  their  groundless  fancy,  of  mankind. 
 
 that   Jesus   after    his   baptism    took    a  journey  to         J  He  was  then  his  Son,   his  only -begotten   Son, 
 
 heaven,  and  returned  again  before  his  deatli.     Nor  before   he   sent  him  into   ihe   world.      He  was  not 
 
 yet  would  this  make  him  in  heaven,  when  he  spoke  therefore  his  Son  only  by  the  incarnation,  but  was 
 
 this  to  his  disciples.  his   Son   from   the  beginning,  as  he  was  also   his 
 
 t  The    several    comparisons   here    drawn    are,  TFord  from   all  eternity.     This  was   the   constant 
 
 1.  Between  a  serpent  perfectly  harmless  and  with-  doctrine  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Fathers   against 
 
 out   poison  (the  brazen  serpent)  and  sanctity  itself  the  heresy   of  the  Arians,   that    God  was  always 
 
 clothed   with  the  outward  appearance  of  sin.     2.  Father,  and  the  Son  always  the  eternal  Son  of  the 
 
 Between  the  Hebrews  bitten  by  the  fiery  serpents,  eternal  Father.  See  chap.  1. 
 
Ch.  XXr.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  103 
 
 ment  of  the  Almighty  against  mankind ;  they  may  avoid  it  by  the  means  placed 
 within  their  power;  which  if  they  refuse,  they  can,  in  reason,  blame  none  but  them- 
 selves. "  But,"  on  the  contrary,  "  he  that  doth  truth,"  i.  e.  what  truth  and  justice  21. 
 prescribe,  "  cometh  to  the  light ;"  and  so  far  from  flying  it,  he  examines  daily  all  his 
 actions  by  the  bright  light  of  the  christian  faith,  "  because  they  are  done  in  God," 
 and  are  ever  conformable  to  his  holy  law. 
 
 It  appears  from  this  text,  that  among  the  many  Jews  who  heard  the  several  dis- 
 courses of  Jesus  Christ,  those  only  in  general  believed  in  him,  who  were  persons  of 
 good  morals,  such  as  Nicodemus  in  the  present  instance  :  I  say,  generally  s[)eaking, 
 because  there  were,  doubtless,  many  exceptions.  Nicodemus  was  sincere  in  his 
 search  after  truth  ;  he  found  it,  and  embraced  it.  A  fear  of  what  the  world  would 
 say,  made  him  ashamed  at  first  of  appearing  in  the  company  of  Jesus  Christ  by  day  ; 
 he  came  therefore  to  consult  him  by  night.  However,  he  had  the  courage  afterwards 
 not  only  to  declare  himself  publicly,  but  also  to  plead  for  his  divine  Master  before 
 the  council,  and  to  express  his  disapprobation  of  the  bloody  sentence  which  condemned 
 him  to  the  cross.  Nor  did  he  relent  either  in  his  courage  or  in  his  love  for  Jesus, 
 after  the  ignominy  of  his  passion  ;  he  assisted  Joseph  of  Arimathea  in  taking  down 
 the  sacred  body  from  the  cross  ;  he  helped  to  embalm  and  lay  it  in  the  sepulchre. 
 From  these  progressive  steps,  which  Nicodemus  made  in  the  way  of  virtue,  the  holy 
 Fathers  take  occasion  to  say,  that  we  are  nat  immediately  to  despair  of  those  timid 
 souls,  who  dare  not  at  first  declare  themselves  in  favour  of  the  truth.  Great  allow- 
 ances must  be  made  for  human  weakness  ;  we  must  know  how  to  counsel  the  doubtful, 
 and  commiserate  the  feeble.  Reflection,  perchance,  may  dissipate  their  fears,  and 
 give  them  courage :  in  secret  silence  they  may  consider  the  eternal  truths,  the  grace 
 of  God  may  at  the  same  time  work  within  their  souls  and  inspire  them  with  fortitude, 
 so  that  they  no  longer  fear  or  blush  to  show  themselves  in  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXI. 
 
 THE  SIXTH  TESTIMONY  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST   IN  FAVOUR  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.       JOHN  III. 
 
 "After  these  things"  were  done  at  Jerusalem,  "Jesus  and  his  disciples  came  info  John  3. 
 the  land  of  Judea,"*  not  far  from  the  place  where  John  was  staying,  "and  there  he      ^^• 
 abode  with   them  ;  and"   by  them  "  baptised"  all  such  as  resorted  to  him  for  that 
 purpose.     It  is  extremely  uncertain  under  what  form  of  words  he  and  his  disciples 
 conferred  baptism,  at  a  time  when  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  was  not  expressly 
 revealed. t     ''  And  John  also  was  baptising  in  Ennon  near  Salem,  because  there  was      23. 
 much  water  there,"  which  shows  that  he  baptised  by  immersion;   "and  they  came 
 and  were  baptised.     For  John  was  not  as  yet  cast  into  prison."     The  Evangelist      24. 
 makes  this  remark,  because,  as  the  other  three  Evangelibts  had  omitted  in  their 
 
 *  There  is  no  meiitinn  in  the  Gospel  of  the  par-  in   his  favour.     John's  baptism   of  repentance  for 
 
 ticiilar  place  where  our  Saviour  bei;an  his  baptism,  sinn,   which  was  preparatory  to  his  comiu;;-,  was   to 
 
 but  we  may  presume,  that  he  would  open  the  first  be  succeeded  by  the  baptism  of  remission  of  sins, 
 
 Ecene  of  his  office,  where  his  faithful  forerunner  had  which  Jesus  alone  had  power  to  give.     Calmet. 
 given  such  glorious  and  advantageous  testimonies         t  See  Matt.  xvi. 
 
101 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXL 
 
 Gospels  to  mention  the  particular  actions  of  Jesus,  between  the  time  of  his  fasting  in 
 the  desert  and  the  innprisonment  of  his  precursor,  St.  John's  recital  of  the  many 
 transactions  of  Jesns  in  Judea  durino-  that  interval,  might  otherwise  have  appeared 
 contradictory  to  their  narrative.  This  imprisonment  of  the  hcdy  precursor  was  the 
 conclusion  of  his  mission.  Until  that  event  he  had  continued  without  inlerrujjtion  to 
 baptise,  although  Jesus  was  likewise  baptising  ;  but  his  object  was  solely  that  of 
 gaining  to  his  divine  Master,  not  only  those  who  had  hitherto  ranked  amongst  his 
 own  disciples,  but  also  such  others  as  might  be  induced  to  listen  to  his  exhortations. 
 
 25.  "  And  there  arose  a  question  between  some  of  John's  disciples  and  the  Jews"  who 
 followed  Jesus,  "  concerning  the  purification''  or  baptism  of  Christ,  and  that  of  St. 
 John,  which  of  the  two  was  the  better.     Tiie  Jews  gave  the  preference  to  the  baptism 
 
 26.  of  Jesus,  and  the  disciples  of  John  to  that  of  their  master.  "  And  they  came  to  John, 
 and  said  to  him  :  Rabbi,  he  that  was  with  thee  beyond  the  Jordan,  to  whom  thou 
 gavest  testimony,  behold  he  baptiseth,  and  all  men  come  to  him."  This  statement 
 plainly  implied  a  wish  on  their  part,  that  John  would  declare  his  sentiments  ;  and 
 althouoh  they  did  not  openly  express  this,  he  so  far  understood  their  meaning,  as  to 
 see  clearly  that  they  sought  to  extort  from  him  a  condemnation  of  the  baptism  of 
 Jesus,  with  a  censure  as  well  of  the  person  ciuiferring  it,  as  of  those  who  received  it 
 at  his  hands.  Almighty  God  permitted  this  dispute  and  this  kind  of  jealousy  in  the 
 disciples  of  St.  John,  in  order  to  give  him  an  occasion  of  delivering  the  following 
 
 27.  excellent  instruction.  Wherefore  "  John  answered,  and  said  :  A  man  cannot  receive 
 any  thing  unless  it  be  given  him  from  heaven,"  and  therefore  you  may  presume  that 
 it  is  God  alone  who  gives  him  this  great  number  of  disciples.  The  death  of  self-love 
 and  of  our  own  exaltation  is  implied  in  this  admirable  rule  which  he  here  lays  down 
 as  the  foundation  of  what  he  had  to  observe.  Our  own  self-love,  independently  of 
 every  thing  else,  and  at  whatever  price  it  may  be,  thinks  only  oi  self  imd  of  our  own 
 greatness  ;  but  the  love  of  God,  being  always  humble,  measures  every  thing  by  the 
 will  of  God,  and  seeks  no  elevation  but  inasmuch  as  God  wills  it:  every  other 
 elevation  becomes  not  only  suspicious,  but  even  abominable  to  a  soul  penetrated  with 
 divine  love.     It  is  on  this  foundation  St.  John  proceeds. 
 
 28.  "You  yourselves  do  bear  witness,  that  I  said :  lam  not  the  Christ;  but  that  I 
 am  sent  before  him"  to  dispose  men  in  his  favour:    I  ought  therefore  to  rejoice  that 
 
 29.  all  go  to  him.  For  "  he  that  hath  the  bride  is  the  bridegroom  :  but  the  friend  of 
 the  bridegroom  who  standeth  near  and  hoareth  him,  rejoiceth  with  joy  because  of 
 the  bridegroom's  voice.  This  my  joy  therefore  is  fulfilled"  by  the  glory  of  his 
 miracles,  the  splendour  of  his  name,  and  the  wonderful  things  reported  of  him.  St 
 John  here  describes  Jesus  Christ,  under  a  new  character,  the  most  tender  and  affec- 
 tionate of  all,  viz.  that  of  the  Bridegroom.  In  effect,  by  his  incarnation  he  espoused 
 our  human  nature,  which  was  totally  foreign  to  him  :  he  has  made  it  one  vvitii  him- 
 self:— he  has  espoused  his  holy  Church,  as  an  immortal  Spouse  that  has  neither  spot 
 nor  wrinkle  : — he  has  espousecl  to  himself  holy  souls,  whom  he  loads  with  gifis  in  the 
 enjoyment  of  chaste  delights  :  giving  them  not  only  all  that  he  has,  but  all  that  he 
 is :  his  soul,  his  body,  his  divinity  ;  and  preparing  for  them  hereafter  an  union 
 incomparably  greater  and  more  divine.     Such  is  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ  given 
 
Ch  XXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  IO5 
 
 US  by  St.  John  :  he  is  a  Bridegroom  ever  tender  and  affectionate,  who  shows  his 
 love  by  unheard  of  effects.  And  what  is  the  character  of  John  ?  He  is  the  friend 
 of  the  Bridegroom  who  hears  his  voice  with  joy  ;  i.  e.  not  merely  his  words,  but  also 
 his  wide  spreading-  fame,  the  account  of  his  many  miracles  and  preaching,  and  the 
 universal  astonishment  of  all  who  had  heard  of  his  extraordinary  actions.  Such 
 ought  to  be  the  joy  of  every  Christian  in  hearing  the  voice  of  Jesus  ;  for  this  voice 
 we  may  still  hear  in  his  gospel  ;  and  interiorly  at  the  bottom  of  our  heart  by  those 
 graces  and  inspirations  which  he  communicates  to  our  souls.  ' 
 
 But  let  us  listen  to  St.  John,  who  thus  continued  his  discourse  in  favour  of  this 
 beloved  Bridegroom  :  "  He  must  increase,"  and  rise  more  and  more  in  eminence,      30. 
 not  as  to  his  person,  for  he  is  as  great  and  eminent  as  he  ever  can  be  ;  but  by  the 
 gloiy  of  his  miracles,  by  the  concourse  of  his  disciples,  by  the  extent  of  his  fame,  by 
 the  conversion  of  nations  to  his  faith,  and  by  the  display  of  that  omnipotence  which 
 heaven  and  earth  obey  :  "  but  I,"  on  the  contrary,  "  must  decrease,"  and  return  into 
 the  obscurity  of  my  nothingness.     "  He  that  cometh  from  above  is  above  all,"  and      3l 
 consequently  infinitely  above  me.     "  He  that  is  of  the  earth"  as  I  am,  "  of  the  earth 
 he  is,  and  of  the  earth  he  speaketh,"  i.  e.  he  is   earthly  in  his  nature,  in  his  various 
 qualities,  in  his  habits  of  thinking,  in  his  mode  of  reasoning  and  expressing  himself. 
 "  He  that  cometh  from  heaven,"  as  does  Jesus  Christ,  he  "  is  above  all.     And  what      32. 
 he  hath  seen  and  heard"  in  heaven  "  that  he  testifieth,  and"  yet  "  no  man,"  com- 
 paratively speaking,  "  receiveth  his  testimony.     He  that  hath  received  his  testimony,      33. 
 hath  attested  by  his  seal,  that  God  is  true,"  and  hath  executed  his  promises  concerning 
 the  Messias.     "  For  he  whom  God  hath  sent"  upon  earth  in  the  pers(jn  of  Jesus,      34. 
 "  speaketh  the  words  of  God  :  for  God  doth  not  give"  to  him  "  the  spirit  by  mea- 
 sure," as  formerly  to  the  prophets  ;  but  he  communicates  to  him  the  whole  fulness 
 thereof  as  to  his  own  Son  :  for  "  the  Father  loveth   the  Son"  with  an  infinite  love. 
 "  And  he  hath  given  all  things  into  his  hand.     He  that  believeth  in  the  Son,  hath  life      35. 
 everlasting"  in  hope,  though  not  in  possession  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son,      36. 
 and  is  incredulous  to  his  doctrine,  or  disobedient  to  his  precepts,  "  shall  not  see  life 
 everlasting,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 
 
 This  is  the  last  of  the  several  testimonies  which  John  gave  in  favour  of  Jesus 
 Christ,  subsequent  to  which  we  place  his  imprisonment,  an  event  which  caused  Jesus 
 to  quit  Judea,  and  to  retire  into  Galilee. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXH. 
 
 THE  IMPRISONMENT  OF   ST.  JOHN  THE   BAPTIST.*       MATT.   XIV.    MARK  VI.    LUKE  III. 
 
 John  the  Baptist  had  filled  all  Judea  with  admiration  at  the  holiness  of  his  life  and  Luke  3. 
 doctrine  :  "  but  Herod  the  tetrarch,  when  he  was  reproved  by  him  on  account  of"  his      ^^• 
 
 *  We  place  here  the  imprisonment  of  St.  John,  Jesus  quitted  Judea,    as  his  departure    is    iinme- 
 
 which  Si.  Luke  anticipates,  and  which  St.  Matthew  diately  subjoined    to  it  by  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark 
 
 and   St.  Mark  join   to  his  decollation.     It  is  pro-  and  St.  John.  ' 
 
 bable  that  this  event  took  place  immediately  before 
 
 10  2e 
 
jQg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXIIL 
 
 living  in  the  state  of  adultery  wit'ii  *'  Herodias,  his  brother  Philip's*  wife,  and  of  all 
 
 20.      the  evil  things  which  Herod  did,  also  added  this  to  all  the  rest,  that  he  sent  and 
 
 Mark  6.  apprehended  John  and  bound   him,  and  put   him   into  prison"  in  the  fortress  of 
 
 ^'^-      Macherus,  two  leagues  beyond  the  lake  Asphaltites  upon  the  borders  of  Arabia 
 
 ''3".     '  Petrea,  as  Josephus  informs  us.     Herod  thus  persecuted  the  servant  of  God,  not 
 
 Mark  6.  merely  on  his  own  account,  but  chiefly  for  "  the  sake  of  Herodias."!     But  "  John," 
 
 17,  IS.   ^^i,|,  jjn  intrepid  zeal,  "  said  to  Herod :  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  thy  brother's 
 
 Matt.  14.  wife,"  Levlt.  xvl.  18.     "  And  when  he  would  have  put  him  to  death,  he  feared  the 
 
 Marie  6   peopl^j  because   they  esteemed  him  as  a  prophet.     Now  Herodias  laid  snares  for 
 
 19.  him  :  and  was"  very  "  desirous  to  put  him  to  death,  and  could  not"   at  this  time 
 
 20.  succeed  in  her  sanguinary  purpose.  "  For  Herod,"  though  exasperated  at  his 
 censures,  yet  "  feared  John,  knowing  him  to  be  a  just  and  a  holy  man  •  and  he  kept 
 hlm"J  out  of  respect,  "  and  having  heard  him,  did  many  things"  by  his  advice, 
 "  and  gave  ear  to  him  willingly."  We  are  therefore  to  consider  tlu;  tyrant  as  agi- 
 tated by  sentiments  of  the  most  opposite  nature;  sometimes  respecting  John  as  a 
 saint,  at  other  times  hating  him  as  a  censor ;  so  that  he  found  a  violent  struggle  in 
 his  own  breast,  between  his  veneration  for  the  sanctity  of  the  prophet,  and  the 
 reproaches  of  his  own  conduct ;  to  which  must  be  added  the  clamours  and  artifices 
 of  Herodias,  who  left  nothing  unattempted  to  take  away  the  life  of  him  who  dared  to 
 impeach  her  conduct,  and  disturb  her  criminal  pleasures  and  ambition.  It  is  by  this 
 easy  interpretation  that  the  apparent  contradiction  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark, 
 respecting  the  different  dispositions  of  Herod,  may  be  easily  reconciled. 
 
 12. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXHI. 
 
 JESUS   LEAVES  JUDE\.§ HIS  CONVERSATION  WITH  THE  SAMARITAN  WOMAN. 
 
 MATT.  IV.    MARK  I.    JOHN  IV. 
 
 John  4.  "  When  Jesus  therefore  understood  that  John  was  delivered  up"  by  the  command 
 1-       of  Herod,  he  determined  to  enter  more  publicly  on  his  sacred  mission  :  for  what  he 
 ^''"'  '*■  had  occasionally  hitherto  done  in  Judea,  seems  to  have  been  rather  a  prelude  to  pre- 
 pare the  minds  of  men  to  receive  him,  when  he  should  formally  undertake  the  great 
 
 *  We  find  the  same  name  of  Philip  in  tlie  Greek  of  envy,  had  sutrgested  this  reason  to  Herod,  and 
 of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  ;  but  lie  is  a  different  therefore  they  had  a  g;reat  share  in  his  imprison- 
 person  from  Philip  the  tctrarch  mentioned  by  St.  ment.  In  effect,  his  death  is  attributed  to  them  by 
 Luke,  iii.  1.  He  was  likewise  son  of  Herod  the  Jesus  Christ  himself.  See  chap.  67. 
 Great  by  Mariamne,  danirhter  of  Simon  the  hi^h-  I  <Tvve-,,peL  av-rov,  custodiebat  eum.  The  Pro- 
 priest  ;  Josephus  calls  him  Herod,  which  shows  testant  translation  has,  he  observed  him. 
 that  he  must  have  had  two  names  as  well  as  this  §  St.  Matthew  and  St.  John  seem  to  assig^n 
 Herod  who  put  John  tlie  Baptist  to  death,  and  different  reasons  why  Jesus  retired  into  Galilee  ; 
 who  was  likewise  called  Antipater  or  Antipas.  but  they  agree  in  this,  that  it  was  lest  his  presence 
 See  chap.  13.  Note  p.  155.  might  irritate  the  Pharisees,  who  had  already  pre- 
 
 t  Josephus  mentions  another  reason  for  confining  vailed  with   Herod  to  arrest  St.  John   Baptist,  and 
 
 John    the   Baptist,  viz.  the  fear  of  Herod,  lest  the  who  saw  thai  Jesus  attracted  a  still   greater  num- 
 
 Baptist  by  an  improper  use  of  the  great  credit  and  ber   of  disciples  than   his  precursor.      Hence  we 
 
 authority  which  he  had  obtained  among  the  Jews  cannot  doubt   that  the  Evangelists    speak  of  the 
 
 might  raise  sedition,  and  cause  a  revolution  in  the  one  and  same  departure  of  our  Lord  out  of  Judea. 
 state.     It  seems   probable  that  the  Pharisees,  out 
 
Ch.  XXIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LOUD  JESUS  CHRIST.  107 
 
 office  of  the  promised  Messias.     Wherefore  being-  about  to  occupy  the  i.  Christ  leaves 
 place  of  his  forerunner  St.  John,  he  chose  Galilee  for  the  first  scene  of        Judm. 
 liis  mission,  that  being  the  place  assigned  him  by  the  ancient  prophets. 
 
 A  second  reason  mentioned  by  St.  John  for  his  retiring  into  Galilee,  was  a  motive 
 of  consummate  prudence  ;  for  he  was  well  aware  of  the  jealousy  of  the  Pharisees, 
 who  "  had  heard  that  Jesus  maketh  more  disciples,  and  baptiseth  more  than  John,  John  4.L 
 (though  Jesus  himself  did  not  baptise,  but  his  disciples,"  whom  he  commissioned  to       2. 
 perform  that  sacred  rite,  whilst  he  himself  was  entirely  employed  in  preaching,) 
 wherefore  "  he  left  Judea,  and  departed  again  into  Galilee,"*  in  order  to  remove      3. 
 from  the  eyes  of  the  jealous  Pharisees  a  sight  so  disagreeable  to  their  feelings,  as 
 was  that  of  the  rapid  progress  of  his  doctrine,  and  the  increasing  number  of  his 
 followers ;  a  sight  which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  would  otherwise  have 
 brought  down  upon  him  their  steady  vengeance,  before  the  time  ordained  by  Provi- 
 dence for  the  final  period  of  his  mission. 
 
 "  And"  in  his  way  to  Galilee,  "  he  was  of  necessity  to  pass  through      2.    The  dis-      4. 
 Samaria.t     He  cometh  therefore  to  a  city  of  Samaria  which  is  called  <;°""«  *^(""'««       5 
 
 ^.   ,         ,  If  1        I  •  1      T        I  i       1  •  Jesus   and   the 
 
 Sichar,:}:  near  the   parcel   ot  ground   which  Jacob   gave  to    his  son  Samaritan fVo- 
 Joseph,"  at  the  distance  of  thirty-six  miles  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  '"'^'*- 
 same  place  as  Sichem,  mentioned  in  Genesis  xxxiv.     "  Now  Jacob's  well  was  there.       6. 
 Jesus  therefore  being  wearied  with  his  journey,  sat  just  by  the  well.     It  was  about 
 the  sixth  hour,"  which  answers  to  mid-day.     "^  There  cometh  a  woman  of  Samaria       7. 
 to  draw  water.     Jesus  saith  to  her:  Give  me  to  drink,  (for  his  disciples  were  gone       s. 
 into  the  city  to  buy  food.")     But  in  making  this  request,  his  true   motive  was  to 
 introduce  the  following  conversation  with  her,  which  he  designed  for  the  good  of 
 her  soul.     "  Then  that  Samaritan  woman  saith  to  him :  How  dost  thou,  being  a       9. 
 Jew,  ask  me  to  drink  who  am  a  Samaritan  woman  ?     For  the  Jews  do  not  communi- 
 cate with  the  Samaritans.  §     Jesus  answered  and  said  to  her:  If  thou  didst  know  the      10. 
 gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  give  me  to  drink,  thou  perhaps  wouldst 
 have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living  water."     By  this  g'ift  of 
 living  water  we  are  to  understand  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  quenches  in  our  souls  the 
 
 *  It   may    seem    surprising   that   Jesus   sliould  Naplosa,  and  stands   in  a  narrow  vaHey,  between 
 
 retire  to  Galilee  which  was  under  the  dominion  of  Mount  Garizim  on  the  south,  (at  the  foot  of  which 
 
 Herod.     But  Josephus  (1.  18.  c.  3.  of  his  Antiqui-  it  is  situated)  and   Ebal  on  the  north.     On  Moun 
 
 lies)   removes  this  difficulty  by  observing-,  that   the  Garizim  they  had  once  a  temple  which  seemed  t( 
 
 most  maritime  part  of  Galilee,  where  was  Bethsaida  rival  that  of  Jerusalem,  but  in  the  time  of  the  Mac- 
 
 and    Capharnaum,    did   not   belong  to  Herod,   but  cabees  it  was  destroyed  by  Hyrcanus. 
 to  his  brother  Philip,  and  it  was  to  this  part  Jesus  §  The  chief  reasons   of  this  hatred   against  the 
 
 retired,  as  the  Gospel  informs  us.  Samaritans,  were  these  three  :   1.  The  foreign  ex- 
 
 t  Samaria  is  a  province  of  Palestine,  so  called  traction    of    the     Samaritans,    who    were    chiefly 
 
 from  the  city  of  the  same  name,  that  was  once  the  descended  from  the    Cutheans,  whom   Salmanasar 
 
 capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.     It  lies  exactly  sent  to  Samaria  when  he  carried  away  the  ten  tribes 
 
 between  Judea  to   the   south,   and  Galilee   to  the  into  captivity,   2  Kings  xvi.  9.     2.  The  difference 
 
 north,   and   extends  itself  from  the  Mediterranean  of  their  religion  and  worship  ;  as  that  of  the  Sama- 
 
 Sea  westward,  to  the  river  Jordan  eastward,  taking  ritans  was  a  kind  of  mixture  of  Jewish  and   Pagan 
 
 up   the  most  considerable   part  of  what  formerly  rites.     3.  The  rival  temple  which  the  Samaritans 
 
 belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  and  the  half  tribe  had  built  on  Mount  Garizim,  and  consecrated  to 
 
 of  Manasses  on  the  west  side  of  Jordan.  Jupiter  Olympius,  in  order  to  avoid  the  persecution 
 
 +   Sichar  or  Sichem  was  the  cajjitiri  of  the  coun-  of  Antiochus.  Joseph.  Antiq.  I.  12,  c.  7. 
 try  once  called  Samaria.     At  present  it  is  called 
 
108  'JTHE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  XXIII. 
 
 thirst  of  sensual  pleasures  and  of  perishable  goods,  extinguishes  the  burnings  of 
 concuj)iscence,  waters  the  dryness  of  the  heart  by  sentiments  of  piety,  and  renders 
 the  soul  fiuitful  in  all  kind  of  good  works.  This  is  truly  a  living  water,  both  in  itself 
 and  its  eflfects,  since  the  Holy  Ghost  being  life,  gives  life  to  all  such  souls  as  are  so 
 IL  happy  as  to  receive  him.  "  The  woman,"  understanding  him  literally  of  the  water 
 that  was  in  the  well,  "  saith  to  him  :  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  wherein  to  draw,  and 
 
 12.  the  well  is  deep;  from  whence  then  hast  thou  living  water?     Art  thou  greater  than 
 
 13.  our  Father  Jacob  who  gave  us  the  well,  and  he  drank  thereof  himself,  and  his  chil- 
 dren and  his  cattle.  Jesus  answered,  and  said  to  her,"  that  the  water  he  spoke  of 
 diflfercd  from  other  waters,  and  was  infinitely  more  excellent :  "  Whosoever  drinketh 
 of  this"  common  "  water,"  says  he,  "shall  thirst  again  ;  but  he  that  shall  drink  of 
 
 14.  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  not  thirst  for  ever.  But  the  water  which  I  shall 
 give  him,  shall  become  in  him  a  fountain  of  water,  springing  up  unto  lifeeverhisting." 
 
 Thus  it  is  with  all  the  goods  of  this  world,  of  which  the  waters  we  drink  are  an 
 emblem  or  figure.  They  more  properly  excite  in  us  fresh  desires,  which  are  the 
 thirst  of  the  soul,  than  satiate  ns,  since  the  satisfaction  they  bring  us,  is  only 
 momentary.  On  the  contrary,  he  who  drinks  of  the  water  which  Jesus  offers,  will 
 never  more  suffer  thirst.  For  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  which  consists  the 
 justice  of  this  life,  is  the  commencement  of  that  justice  and  perfection  which  in 
 heaven  will  diffuse  glory  on  the  blessed,  and  abundantly  satisfy  all  their  desires. 
 And  thus  the  water  which  Jesus  is  willing  to  bestow,  is  of  that  nature,  as  to  become 
 in  him  who  drinks  of  it,  a  fountain  or  spring  of  living  water  which  will  never  cease 
 to  flow,  and  which,  according  to  the  nature  of  all  water,  rising  up  to  the  level  of  its 
 source,  will  spring  up  to  eternal  life,  whence  it  draws  its  origin.  Now  how  can 
 they  be  thirsty  who  carry  in  their  bosom  a  never-ceasing  spring-  of  living  water? 
 
 15.  "  The  woman,"  beginning  now  to  understand  that  Jesus  was  speaking  of  a  water 
 far  more  excellent  than  such  as  we  are  accustomed  to,  "  saith  to  hitn  :   Give  me  this 
 
 16.  water,  that  I  may  not  thirst,  nor  come  hither  to  draw.  "  Jesus,"  judging  it  unne- 
 cessary to  add  any  further  explanation  upon  a  subject  she  was  not  yet  capable 
 of  understanding,  "  saith  to  her  :  Go,  call  thy  husband  and  come  hither."  And 
 this  he  said  with  the  view  of  rebuking  her  for  her  wicked  course  of  life,  and  of 
 brininno-  her. to  repentance,  which  was  a  necessary  condition  for  her  receiving  that 
 
 17.  divine  water  of  grace  of  which  he  had  been  speaking.  "  The  woman  answered  and 
 said:  I  have  no  husband,"  which  was  truly  said:  for  the  man  who  had  her,  was 
 either  the  husband  of  another  woman,   or  lived  with  her  in   concubinage,  though 
 
 IS.  vulgarly  reputed  to  be  her  husband.  "  Hence  Jesus  replied  :  thou  hast  said  well : 
 I  have  no  husband.      For  thou  hast  had  five  husbands,*  and  he  whom  thou  now  hast, 
 
 19.  is  not  thy  husband  :  this  thou  hast  said  truly.  The  woman  saith  to  him  :  Sir,  I 
 perceive  thou  art  a  prophet,"  for  he  had  discovered  to  her  such  circumstances  of  her 
 
 *  But  whether  five  successively  and  after  the  them,thatfor her adulteryorsoineother improperbe- 
 dealh  of  oue  another,  or  five  from  whom  she  had  haviour,  they  had  given  her  a  bill  of  divorce.  This 
 been  divorced  for  adultery,  is  not  agreed.  The  seems  more  likely  than  that,  after  the  death  of  five 
 ffreater  part  of  modern  interpreters,  however,  judge  legal  husbands,  she  should  live  in  an  illicit  corn- 
 that  she  had  been  successively  married  to  five  nierce  with  a  sixth  person, 
 several  men,  but  yet  behaved  herself  so  ill  towards 
 
Ch.  XXIir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  109 
 
 past  and  present  life  as  a  stranger  must  naturally  have  been  ignorant  of.  However, 
 without  taking  offence  at  what  Jesus  had  told  her,  she  wished  to  profit  of  the  present 
 opportunity,  and  proposed  to  him  as  a  prophet  a  question  which  at  that  time  was 
 a  subject  of  great  dispute  between  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans.*  It  regarded  the 
 right  place  of  offering  sacrifice.  "  Our  fathers,"  said  she,  "  adored  on  this  moun-  20. 
 tain :  but  you  say,  that  at  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  men  must  adore."  She 
 speaks  of  offering  sacrifice  ;  for  simple  or  mere  adoration  was  never  restrained  to 
 any  particular  place :  her  arguments  tended  to  show  that,  as  Abraham,  Jacob,  and  the 
 ancient  Patriarchs  adored  God  on  mount  Garizim,  which  she  pointed  to,  near  Sichar, 
 and  upon  which  the  Samaritans  had  recently  rebuilt  the  temple  formerly  erected  by 
 Manasses,  and  lately  destroyed  by  John  Hyrcanus,  so  it  was  unreasonable  and  unjusti- 
 fiable in  the  Jews  to  pretend,  contrary  to  the  example  and  authority  of  their  forefathers, 
 that  the  only  place,  where  sacrifice  was  to  be  offered,  was  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 It  was  agreed  upon  by  each  party,  that  sacrifice  should  only  be  offered  up  in  that 
 place  which  the  Lord  had  chosen,  as  prescribed  in  Deut.  xii.  14,  16.  But  the  difficulty 
 consisted  in  ascertaining  which  of  the  two  temples,  viz.  of  Jerusalem,  or  of  Garizim, 
 had  been  the  object  of  God's  choice.  It  is  however  incontestably  true,  that  he  had 
 chosen  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  3  Kings  ix.  3.  2  Paralip.  xvii.  12.  But  the 
 Samaritans  admitted  not  this  authority,  having  rejected  all  the  books  of  the  scripture, 
 except  the  Pentateuch  of  Moses. 
 
 "  Jesus"  condescended  to  rectify  what  the  woman  had  erroneously  inferred,  and      2L 
 "^  saith  to  her  :  Woman  believe  me,  the  hour  cometh,  when  you  shall  neither  on 
 this  mountain,  nor  in  Jerusalem"  only  "  adore  the  Father."     In  the  mean   time, 
 "  you,"  Samaritans,  "adore  that  which  you  knou'  not,"  having  by  your  superstitions      22. 
 corrupted  the  true  worship  of  God;    but  "we  Jews  adore  that  which  we  know," 
 viz.  the  only  true  God,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  he  himself  prescribed  by  his  servant 
 Moses.     "  For  salvation  is  of  the  Jews,"  the  true  Messias  being  promised  to  them. 
 "  But  the  hour  cometh  and  now  is,  when  the  true  adorers,"   i.  e.  Christians,  "shall      23. 
 adore   the   Father  in  spirit  and   truth ;    for  such  doth  the  Father  seek  to  adore 
 him.     God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  who  adore  him  must  adore   him  in  spirit  and  in      24. 
 truth,"  without  being  confined  to  any  one  temple  or  place  ;  and  chiefly  in  spirit, 
 without  such  a  multitude  of  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  as  the  Jews  practised. 
 
 This  adoration  in  spirit  may  be  understood  as  referring  to  that  adoration  which  is 
 peculiar  to  the  new  law,  in  opposition  to  the  old  law  of  Moses,  which  was  carnal  in 
 its  sacrifices,  its  ceremonies,  its  precepts,  and  its  promises  ;  whereas  the  new  law, 
 whilst  it  possesses  something  exterior  in  the  object  of  its  worship,  viz.  the  sacrament 
 of  the  Eucharist,  and  in  the  ceremonies  accompanying  this  sacrifice,  is  yet  inferior 
 and  spiritual  both  in  the  one  and  the  other.     In  the  object  of  its  worship,  for  this 
 
 '-   Josephus  in  his  Antiquities,  I.   13.  c.  6.  gives  prieathood  officiatiiifr    there    throufifhont  all   ages, 
 
 us  the  history  of  a  warm  dispute  between  the  Jews  besides   other   arguments    of  the  like   nature.     In 
 
 and  Samaritans  concerning-  the  schismatical  temple  this  controversy  between  the  Jews  and  Samaritans 
 
 at  Garizim  and  the  true  temple  at  Jerusalem.   Both  the  intelligent  reader    will    observe    some    resem- 
 
 parties    referred   themselves   to  the    arbitration   of  blance   to  that  which   subsists   between    Catholics 
 
 King  Ptolemy  Philometer,  who  gave  judgment  in  and  Protestants.     See  Dr.  Kellison's  Survey  of  the 
 
 favour  of  the  Jews  upon  their  stating  the  antiquiiy  New  Religion,  p.  129. 
 vf  their  temple,  the  uninterrupted  succession  of  the 
 
 10.  2  F 
 
110  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ct..  XXIIL 
 
 is  Jesus  Christ  hidden  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine  ;  and  in  the  con- 
 comitant circumstances  of  it,  for  these  are  acts  of  faith,  adoration,  hope,  and  love, 
 victims  totally  of  a  spiritual  nature. 
 
 This  adoration  in  truth  we  may  likewise  consider  as  put  equally  in  opposition  to 
 those  shadows  and  figures,  which  constituted  the  essential  part  of  the  old  law,  as  well 
 as  to  the  superstitious  errors  which  prevailed  iii  the  worshi|)  of  the  Samaritans  Or, 
 perhaps,  this  adoralion  in  spirit  and  truth,  may  be  considered  as  merely  signifying 
 that  sincerity  wherewith  a  soul  adores  her  God  with  all  her  heart,  without  hypocrisy 
 and  disguise. 
 
 25.  "  The"  Samaritan  "  woman,"  not  understanding  this  sublime  theological  discourse 
 of  Jesus,  "  saith  to  him,"  suspecting  him  perhaps  to  be  the  Messias :  "  1  know  that 
 the  Messias  comcth,  (who  is  called  Christ)  therefore  .when  he  is  come  he  will  tell  us 
 
 26.  all  things"  necessary  to  be  known  by  mankind,  "  Jesus  saith  to  her:  I  am  he  who 
 
 27.  am  speaking  with  thee  :  and  presently  his  disci[)les  came"  with  such  provisions  as 
 they  had  procured,  "  and  they  wondered  that  he  talked  with  the  woman"  contrary  to 
 his  usual  practice,  "  yet  no  one  said  what  seekest  thou,  or  why  talkest  tliou  with  her  ? 
 
 28.  The  woman  therefore,"  now  fully  convinced  of  his  being  the  Messias,  "  left  her 
 water-pots,"  with  all  haste,  "  and  went  her  way  into  the  city,  and  saith  to  the  men 
 
 29.  there  :  Come  and  see  a  man  who  hath  told  me  all  things  that  ever  1  did.     Is  not  he 
 
 30.  the  Christ;  They  went  therefore  out  of  the  city,  and  were  coming  to  him.     In  the 
 
 31.  mean  time,"  as  Jesus  did  not  seem  disposed  to  partake  in  the  provisions  brought 
 
 32.  him,  "  the  disciples  prayed  him,  saying  :  Rabbi,  eat.  But  he  saith  to  them  :  I  have 
 food  to  eat,  which  you  know  not,"  alluding  to  the  conversion  of  the  Samaritans, 
 
 33.  which  he  hungered  and  thirsted  after  more  than  his  corporal  food.  *'  The  disciples 
 therefore"  understanding  him  in  a  literal  sense,  "  said  one  to  another :  hath  any  one 
 
 34.  brought  him  to  eat?  Jesus  saith  to  them  :  my  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
 me,  that  I  may  perfect  his  work  :"  which  was  to  procure  the  salvation  of  souls  by 
 such  means  as  his  Father  had  pointed  out,  and  principally  by  his  preaching  and  doc- 
 trine. He  further  exhorted  his  disciples  to  the  same  function,  by  stating  to  them, 
 that  a  large  field  was  now  open  to  their  zeal,  and  that  therefore  they  were  not  to  say, 
 as  was  usual  with  sluggish  people,  that  there  were  four  months  between  the  seed 
 
 35.  time  and  the  harvest.  "  Do  you  not  say,"  said  he,  "  there  are  yet  four  months,  and 
 then  the  harvest  cometh.  Behold,  I  say  to  you,  lift  up  your  eyes,  and  see  the  coun- 
 tries, for  they  are  quite  ready  for  the  harvest:"  and  at  the  same  time  he  probably 
 pointed  at  the  adjacent  country  which  was  ready  for  the  sickle,  and  an  emblem  or 
 figure  of  the  spiritual  harvest  of  the  numbertess  souls  who  were  prepared  to  receive 
 the  faith  ;  a  specimen  of  whom  they  now  beheld  in  the  crowd  of  persons  flocking  to 
 them  out  of  Sichar. 
 
 He  urged  them  to  work  earnestly  in  this  harvest,  by  exhibiting  to  their  view  the 
 recompense  which  they  had  to  expect.  For  as  the  reaper  is  entitled  to  his  wages,  so 
 would  the  reaper  of  souls  be  undoubtedly  entitled  to  receive  the  reward  of  eternal 
 life  ;  to  which  should  be  added,  the  further  recompense  arising  from  the  joy  and 
 satisfaction  of  gaining  to  God  so  many  souls  as  would  be  converted  by  means  of  their 
 
 36.  preaching  and  apostolic  labours.     "  And  he  that  reapeth,"  says  he,  "  receiveth 
 
Ch.  XXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  m 
 
 wag-es  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life  everlasting  ;  that  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that 
 reapeth  may  rejoice  together.  For  in  this  is  the  saying  true  :  that  it  is  one  man  that  37. 
 soweth,  and  it  is  another  that  reapeth  :  I  have  sent  you  to  reap  that  in  which  you  did  38. 
 not  labour:  others  have  laboured^  and  you  have  entered  into  their  labours."  He 
 alludes  to  the  ancient  patriarchs  and  prophets,  who  had  laboured  with  great  earnest- 
 ness to  instil  into  mankind  the  first  principles  of  faith,  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God, 
 and  the  hope  of  the  Messias,  who  was  to  come,  whilst  his  disciples,  whom  he  now 
 sent  to  baptise,  did  no  more  than  reap,  as  it  were,  the  crop  of  that  land,  which  had 
 neither  been  tilled  nor  sown  by  them. 
 
 "  Now  of  that  city  many  of  the  Samaritans  believed  in  him,  for  the  word  of  the      39. 
 woman  giving  testimony :  that  he  told  me  whatsoever  I  have  done.     So  when  the      40. 
 Samaritans  were  come  to  him,  they  desired  him  that  he  would  stay  there  ;  and  he 
 abode  there  two  days,"  preaching  the  gospel  himself,  whilst  his  disciples  administered 
 baptism.     "  And  many  more  believed  in  him,  because  of  his  words.     And  they  said      41. 
 to  the  woman  :  we  now  believe  not  for  thy  saying,"  but  from  personal  conviction  ;      42. 
 "  for  we  ourselves  have  heard  him,  and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Saviour  of  the 
 world."* 
 
 CHAPTER  XXIV. 
 
 THE  ARRIVAL  OF  JESUS  IN  GALILEE. THE  FAME  OF  HIS    PREVCHING   IS  SPREAD  ABROAD. 
 
 MATT.  IV.      MARK  I.      LUKE  IV.      JOHN  IV. 
 
 "  Now  after  two  days"  stay  in  Sichar,  "'  he  departed  thence,  and  leaving  the  holy  John  4. 
 city  Nazareth,"!"  where  he  had  lived  so  many  years,  he  made  Capharnaum  the  chief  ,.^^'  . 
 place  of  his  residence.     "■  For  Jesus  himself  gave  testimony,|  that  a  prophet  has  no      13. 
 honour  in  his  own  country,"  because  the  people  who  know  his  birth  and  education,  "^"^^  ^• 
 are  generally  prone  to  envy  him  any  superiority  over  them.    Wherefore  "  Jesus  came,  Mark  L 
 and  returned  in  the  power  of  the  spirit  into  Galilee,"  i.  e.  he  made  it  appear  by  many      ^4. 
 evident  and  miraculous  proofs,  that  the  power  and  virtue  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was      14 
 with  him,  and  that  he  was  the  promised  Messiah  ;  for  hitherto  he  had  been,  as  it 
 were,  concealed,  and  had  not  manifested  that  plenitude  of  power  of  which   he  was 
 possessed.     "  And  when  he  was  come  into  Galilee,  the  Galileans  received  him"  Jolm  4. 
 
 4j 
 
 *  It  is  very  probable  that   this  transaction   hap-  Samaritan    woman   for   water    to   allay    his    thirst, 
 
 pened  about  the  harvest  time,  as  Jesus  appears  to  would  not  have  been  so  seasonable  as   in  the  more 
 
 have  drawn  from  the  circumstances  peculiar  to  this  sultry  months  of  the  year. 
 
 season  the  instructions  which  he  prave  to   his  disci-  f  Not  that  Jesus,  on   this  occasion,  had   entered 
 
 pies.      Every   thing  considered,  no  longer  space  of  Nazareth  and  now  quitted  it;  for  hy  his  leaving  the 
 
 time  than  llie  interval  between   the  time  of  Easter  city  (relictacivitate)  we  are  only  to  uiiderstandlljat 
 
 and   that   of  Pentecost,  which   last  was   about   tlie  he  passed  it  hy,  without  revisiting  a  place  where  he 
 
 harvest  time,  can  be  assigned  to  the  event  whicli  had  spent  so  many  of  liis  early  years, 
 
 took  place  between  the  last  mentioned  Passover  and  J  John  gives  the  reason  why  jesus  did  not  n^o  to 
 
 those  which  are  here  recorded.    Those  interpreters,  Nazareth,  alleging   his   Master's   own  word  :    how- 
 
 who  with  A.  Lapide,  untUrstand   in  a   literal  sense  ever  this  ttxtimony  of  Jesus  was  not  given   by  him 
 
 the  lour  months  mentiDtied  in  the  proverb,  and  who  until    a  considerable   time  afterwards  at  Nazareth, 
 
 place   this  journey  in   the  months  of  Decemlier  or  Matt.  xiii.  57.      Hence  it  appears  that  St.  Matthew 
 
 January,  viz.  in  the  depth  of  winter,  do  not  reflect,  and  St  John  .speak  of  the  same  arrival  of  Jesus  in 
 
 that  at  tliat  season,  the   request  he  made  to   the  Galilee. 
 
112  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXIV, 
 
 with  great  honour  and  joy,  "  haviiifj  seen  all  the  things  he  had  done  at  Jerusalem  on 
 the  festival  day,  for  they  also  went  to  the  festival  day,"  as  appointed  by  the  law. 
 
 Matt.  4.  <f  From  that  time  Jesus  began  to  preach  the  Gospel*  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to 
 
 Mark  1.  Say,"  as  John  his  precursor  had  ah-eady  done  :  "  the  time  is  accomplished  and  the 
 14.  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand  :  do  penance  and  believe  the  Gospel,  for  the  kingdom  of 
 j"'    ■  heaven  is  at  hand.     And  the  fame  of  himt  went  out  through  the  whole  country  :  and 
 
 Luke  4.  be  taught  in  their  synagogues, |  and  was  magnified  by  all." 
 
 14,  15.  y^^  ^|.g  ^^^  ^Q  consider  Jesus  Christ  as  beginning  to  exercise  the  office  of  a  divine 
 instructor.  Being  the  eternal  word  of  God,  he  is,  indeed,  of  his  own  nature,  the 
 immediate  teacher  of  all  men  :  because  being  truth  and  wisdom,  this  truth  and  wis- 
 dom ought  to  be  united  to  our  minds,  that  we  may  know  and  love  it,  in  which  con- 
 sists the  reformation  of  man.  However,  as  it  is  the  n:iture  of  man,  at  least  in  his 
 present  fallen  state,  that  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  truths  should  be  preceded  by  an 
 external  instruction,  which  strikes  the  senses,  God,  as  St.  Paul  observes,  Heb.  i.  1. 
 made  use  of  prophets  in  the  old  law  for  this  purpose ;  but  these  prophets  being  oidy 
 men,  obscured  in  some  degree  the  interior  instruction  of  the  word  upon  the  soul. 
 Men  believed  that  they  had  learned  from  man  what  they  could  only  learn  from  God 
 himself:  wherefore  the  eternal  word  and  Son  of  God  was  willing  himself  in  person 
 to  exercise  the  otBce  of  a  teacher,  and  this  not  only  internally,  but  also  in  an  external 
 manner.  This  he  did  by  becoming  man,  and  by  preaching  visibly  and  efficaciously 
 to  men  the  truths  of  salvation.  The  words  that  he  spoke  to  them,  and  which  he 
 caused  afterwards  to  be  written  in  his  Gospel,  were  the  divine  channels  through 
 which  he  has  communicated  his  truths  to  mankind.  And  as  he  spoke  not  only  for  the 
 benefit  of  his  contemporaries,  but  likewise  of  all  succeeding  generations,  the  faithful  of 
 all  ao-es  ouo-ht  to  reo-ard  these  his  words  as  full  of  grace,  and  to  receive  Jesus  Christ 
 for  their  teacher  in  whatever  manner  he  is  pleased  to  instruct  them  :  not  only  by 
 opening  their  hearts  to  his  truths,  but  also  by  pursuing  the  method  he  has  chosen  to 
 communicate  these  truths,  which  is  by  attentively  giving  ear  to  the  words  of  the 
 gospel  promulgated  by  him  for  the  instruction  of  mankind. 
 
 Jesus  Christ  we  may  observe,  did  not,  like  other  men,  prepare  himself  beforehand 
 for  this  office  of  teaching,  nor  would  he  learn  any  thing  from  man,  either  by  instruc- 
 tion or  even  by  conversation  and  experience.     For  which  reason  he  employed  him- 
 
 *  Cluist  be2;an  his  public  preaehiiig  in  tlie  thirty-  Messiah.     Hence  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  St. 
 
 first  year  of  liis  a^e.      Florentinianus  (in  Murtyro.  Luke   speaks  of  tlie  same  return  into  Galilee,  viz. 
 
 Hieronyni.)  intbrnis  us,  paije  476,  that  the  Western  alter  John's  imprisonment. 
 
 Church',  on  the  first  day  of  May,  kejit  a  yearly  com-  J  Jesus  had  not  at  his  first  journey  to  Galilee, 
 
 menioratinn  of  the  beL^innins  of  Christ's  preaching,  tatight  in  this  public  manner,  which  evinces  that  the 
 
 in  like  manner  as  she   celebrated,  on   the   sixth   of  four  Evangelists  speak  of  the  same  abode  of  Jesus 
 
 January,    the    commencement    of  his  miracles    at  in  that  country. — It  would  appear  from  St.  Luke  as 
 
 Cana  in  Gulilee.   Hence  Wandelberlus  says  :  Majas  if  Jesus  inunediately  after  this  went  to  Nazareth; 
 
 prima  sacrat  Chriati  doclrina  calendas.      See  chap,  not  that  he  did  so  in   reality,  but  the  Evanuelist  by 
 
 27.  on  the  method  of  Christ's  preaching.  relating  what  happened  in  the  sequel,  takes  occa- 
 
 t   It  was  at  this  return  of  Jesus  to  Galilee  that  he  sion  from  thence  to  assign  a  reason  why  he  preferred 
 
 began  to  display  the  abundant  power  and  virtue  of  Capharnaum  to  Nazareth,  as  already  related  by  St. 
 
 the    Holy  Spirit,  with  which   he  was   replenished.  Matthew  and  St.  John.     Wherefore  St.  Luke  here 
 
 Hitherto'he  had   shunned   the  notice  of  men,  and  states    the    reason    of  this    preference,    which    the 
 
 only  now  began  in  Galilee  to  preach  before  crowded  former  Evangelists  had  passed  over  in  silence.  See 
 
 audiences,  and  to  exhibit  himself  as  the  promised  chap.  54. 
 
Ch.  XXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  113 
 
 self  till  the  age  of  thirty  in  the  humble  capacity  of  a  carpenter,  in  the  obscure  village 
 of  Nazareth.  Hence  men  had  reason  to  be  amazed  that  he  could  speak  so  know- 
 ingly of  what  he  had  never  learned.  However,  the  Son  of  Man,  destitute  as  he  was 
 of  all  instructions  from  men,  immediately  proposed  to  them  what  had  never  been 
 proposed  by  any  other  man.  He  taught  them  a  doctrine  infinitely  more  elevated^ 
 more  reasonable,  and  more  coherent,  than  all  that  the  philosophers  had  produced  to 
 the  world.  He  spoke  to  them  in  a  language  so  divine,  so  holy,  so  void  of  human 
 passions,  that  it  infinitely  surpassed  the  ideas  of  men.*  He  took  the  only  way  proper 
 to  make  a  reasonable  impression  on  the  multitude,  which  was  to  instruct  them  with 
 authority,  instead  of  persuading  them  by  long  abstruse  reasonings  ;  but  this  authority 
 he  derived  from  certain  and  visible  miracles.  His  moral  lessons,  therefore,  are  not 
 supported  by  argumentation  nor  systematically  arranged,  but  are  positive  commands, 
 comprised  in  a  narrow  compass,  and  suited  to  the  capacity  of  mankind  in  general,  and 
 were  delivered  by  him  with  a  majesty  becoming  a  heavenly  messenger :  wherefore 
 considering-  the  method  he  adopted  for  the  conveyance  of  religious  instruction  to  the 
 world,  we  are  forced  to  confess,  that  of  all  miracles  which  Jesus  Christ  performed  in 
 preaching  the  gospel,  the  gospel  itself  is  the  greatest,  there  being  nothing  more 
 divine,  more  worthy  of  God,  or  more  inimitable  by  men,  than  the  sublimity,  the 
 holiness,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  Whatever  is  done  by  man,  savours  of 
 man  :  but  the  gospel  is  of  another  character.  Man,  i.  e.  the  interest  and  passions 
 of  man  do  not  here  appear,  and  this  is  what  men  could  never  attain  to.  They  do  all 
 •they  can  to  disguise  themselves  ;  but  they  are  easily  seen  through  all  their  disguises. 
 The  words  of  men  proceeding  from  tlieir  limited  understanding,  are  generally 
 addressed  to  those  only  to  whom  they  speak  :  but  it  is  quite  otherwise  with  regard 
 to  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  knew  distinctly  all  those  that  would  read  them  in 
 after  ages  :  he  had  them  present  in  his  mind.  He  addressed  his  words  to  them  in 
 the  precise  time  wherein  he  foresaw  that  they  would  read  and  understand  them  :  and 
 thus  he  truly  spoke  to  them.  To  hear  Jesus  Christ  preach  is  still  in  our  power  :  for 
 when  we  read  the  gospel,  he  therein  speaks  to  us,  and  addresses  his  words  to  us  in  a 
 particular  manner.  How  is  it  possible  then  that  men  should  pay  so  little  regard  to 
 what  Jesus  Christ  hath  spoken  for  them?  We  listen  with  respect  to  what  kings  say, 
 and  think  ourselves  highly  honoured  when  they  vouchsafe  to  speak  to  us  in  particular. 
 No  one  refuses  to  hearken  to  them,  and  yet  we  neglect  to  attend  to  Jesus  Christ,  when 
 he  speaks  to  us  and  instructs  us  in  the  words  of  his  gospel. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXV. 
 
 JESUS  HEALS  THE  RULER  S  SON  WHO  LAY  SICK  AT  CAPHARNAUM.      JOHN  IV. 
 
 Jesus  "  came  again  therefore,"  after  his  return  from  Judea,  "  into  Cana  of  Galilee,  John  4. 
 where  he  made  the  water  wine,''  the  remembrance  of  which  miracle  was  undoubtedly      ^^• 
 still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people.     He  now  wrought  another  miracle  no  less 
 
 *  See  the  testiiuony  of  Rousseau,  Introduction,  p.  59. 
 
 10.  2g 
 
114  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXV. 
 
 wonderful  in  behalf  of  one,  who  was  above  fifty  miles  distant  from  him.  The  circum- 
 stances of  this  miracle,  as  related  to  us  by  St.  John,  point  out  in  Rej^ulus  the  dif- 
 ferent and  imperfect  degrees  of  bis  faith  ;  this,  however  weak  and  wavering  at  first, 
 became  afterwards  perfect  and  entire. 
 
 47.  "  And  there  was  a  certain  Ruler,"*  or  person  of  distinction,  "whose  son  was  sick 
 at  Cai)harnaum.  He  having  heard  that  Jesus  was  come  from  Judea  into  Galilee," 
 and  that  he  had  wrought  some  extraordinary  miracles,  "  went  to  him-|-  and  prayed 
 him  to  come  down  and  heal  his  son  •.  for  he  was  at  the  point  of  death."  It  appears 
 that  this  Ruler  had  already  some  faith  in  Jesus,  or  he  had  not  made  application  to 
 him  in  this  emergency  ;  yet  it  extended  no  further  than  to  consider  him  as  a  holy 
 personage  possessing  the  power  of  healing  in  desperate  cases,  by  the  imposition  of 
 bis  hands  and  by  his  prayers.  Wherefore  he  deemed  it  necessary  for  him  to  be 
 actually  present  to  reheve  the  sick,  and  that  if  they  died,  his  power  in  their  regard 
 was  then  at  an  end. 
 
 48.  "  Jesus  therefore  said  to  him,"  rebuking  him  for  the  weakness  of  his  fixith  :  "  un- 
 less you  see  signs  and  wonders,  you  believe  not ;"  thus  contrasting,  as  it  were,  the 
 conduct  of  the  incredulous  Jews  with  that  of  the  Samaritans,  who  had  lately  beheved 
 in  him,  without  having  witnessed  any  of  his  extraordinary  miracles.  We  may  observe 
 how,  upon  all  occasions,  our  Lord  directs  his  first  care  and  attention  to  the  inlenor, 
 
 49.  before  he  proceeds  to  display  the  external  effects  of  his  power.  *'  The  Ruler"  con- 
 sidered this  reproof  of  Jesus  as  a  kind  of  refusal,  at  least  as  a  delay  ;  and  fearful  lest 
 his  son  should  die  in  the  interval,  "  saith  to  him,"  with  still  more  earnestness  : 
 "  Lord,  come  down  before  that  my  son  die,"  being  fully  prepossessed  with  the  idea, 
 that  were  he  actually  dead  before  the  arrival  of  Jesus,  there  would  then  be  no  further 
 
 50.  hope.  "  Jesus  saith  to  him  :  Go  thy  way,  thy  son  liveth.  The  man  believed  the 
 word  which  Jesus  said  to  him  as  the  word  of  a  projihet,  and  went  his  way  ;"  and  in 
 this  respect  his  faith  was  somewhat  improved.  Satisfied  as  to  the  fact,  he  however 
 still  continued  in  doubt  as  to  the  cause  of  his  son's  recovery,  and  to  be  convinced 
 whether  Jesus  had  himself  performed  the  cure,  or  only  am)ounced  to  him  what  he  saw 
 in  spirit  to  have  been  done,  he  refrained  from  forming  a  decided  judgment,  unlil  he 
 should  know  the  precise  moment  of  his  son's  recovery.     He  therefore  returned  to 
 
 51.  Capharnaum,  "  and  as  he  was  going  down,  his  servants  met  him,  and  they  brought 
 
 52.  word,  sayino-,  that  his  son  lived.  He  asked  therefore  of  them  the  hour  wherein  he 
 o-rew  better,  and  they  said  to  him  :  yesterday  at  the  seventh  hour  [i.  e.  one  o'clock 
 
 53.  in  the  afternoon]  the  fever  left  him.  The  father  therefore  knew  that  it  was  at  the 
 same  hour  that  Jesus  said  to  him  :  thy  son  liveth."  Conceiving  that  neither  accident 
 nor  the  common  course  of  nature  could  have  pioduced  so  exact  a  coincidence  between 
 two  such  very  opposite  circumstances,  as  the  termination  of  a  most  violent  fever,  and 
 the  words  pronounced  by  Jesus,  who  assured  him  of  it,  though  at  the  distance  of 
 more  than  fifty  miles ;  he  reasonably  concluded  that  the  word  of  Jesus  must  have 
 been  the  sole  and  immediate  cause  of  his  son's  cure ;  his  faith  at  once  became  per- 
 
 *  Literallv  Re"-ulns,  in  Greelc  ftaaiXiKoi,  accorJ-  have  Ijeen  subject,  and  in  all  likelihood  was  put 
 
 in"-  to  the  \rabic  version,  an   officer  of  the  king,  over  the  customs. 
 
 He  was  probalily  an  officer  of  Herd  the  tclrarch,  t  Afflictions   are  always  useful  when  they  oblige 
 
 or  rather  of  Philip,  to  whom  Capharnaum  seems  to  us  to  have  recourse  to  Jesus. 
 
Ch.  XXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  115 
 
 feet ;  "  and  he  himself  believed  and  his  whole  family."  Hence  he  no  longer  con- 
 sidered Jesus  merely  as  a  holy  person,  or  as  a  great  prophet,  but  as  the  Messias,  who 
 had  been  for  so  many  ages  expected  by  the  Jews,  and  who  now  invested  with  the 
 power  of  God,  performed  at  the  greatest  distance  such  w^onderful  prodigies  even  by  a 
 single  word. 
 
 "  This  is  again  the  second  miracle  that  Jesus  did,  when  he  came  out  of  Judea  into      51. 
 Galilee." 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XXV. 
 
 ON  THE  GENERAL  METHOD  OF  CHRISt's  PUBLIC  LIFE.  —  HIS  DRESS. THE  M0RTIFIC.\.TI0NS 
 
 ATTEND.\NT  ON   HIS  SACRED  MINISTRY. 
 
 Before  we  proceed  to  the  other  actions  of  Christ's  public  life^  as  detailed  by  the 
 Evangelists,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  add  here  a  few  words  concerning  his  manner 
 of  life  in  g-eneral,  as  well  as  concernino-  his  dress.  That  our  Lord  led  a  common  life 
 as  to  outward  appearance,  seems  evident  from  his  own  words  in  St.  Matthew,  where 
 he  says  :  "  John  came  neither  ealing  nor  drinking,  and  the}/  sai/  he  hath  a  devil.  The  Matt.  11. 
 Son  of  Man  came  ealing  and  drin/cing,  and  thei/  say :  behold  a  glutton  and  a  drinker  of 
 wine."  These  words  evince  that,  as  John's  food  and  drink  were  not  such  as  others 
 made  use  of,  so  on  the  contrary  that  Christ  eat  and  drank  as  the  rest  of  mankind 
 usually  did  in  those  times.  Hence  St.  Chrysostom*  says  of  Christ,  that  he  totally 
 left  to  John  his  precursor  that  penitential  way  of  life  which  is  distinguished  by  extra- 
 ordinary rigours,  whilst  he  himself  refused  not  to  eat  and  drink  at  the  tables  of  pub- 
 licans and  sinners,  in  order  to  convert  them  and  procure  their  salvation.  St.  Austin  f 
 makes  the  same  observation.;!; 
 
 As  to  Christ's  dress,  it  was,  in  all  likelihood,  such  as  was  usually  worn  by  the 
 common  people,  being  neither  sordidly  mean,  nor  particularly  costly.  A  costly  and 
 magnificent  dress  he  despised  as  peculiar  to  the  effeminate  :  for  they  "  who  are  clothed  Mait.  11, 
 in  soft  garments,"  says  Christ  himself,  "are  in  the  houses  of  /tings."  But  if,  on  the  con- 
 trary, his  dress  had  been  particularly  mean,  it  would  not  have  excited  the  avarice  of 
 the  soldiers  who  crucified  him,  nor  have  induced  them  to  cast  lots  for  his  garments. 
 The  garments  most  frequently  mentioned  in  scripture  are  the  tunick  and  cloak,  and 
 we  find  that  the  dress  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  consisted  principally  of  these  two 
 garments.  The  tunick  was  made  wide  to  leave  perfect  liberty  of  motion  at  work. 
 They  wore  it  loose  when  they  were  doing  nothing,  but  tied  it  up  close  with  a  girdle 
 when  they  went  to  work,  or  to  take  a  walk.  Hence  that  common  phrase  in  scripture  : 
 Arise,  gird  thy  loins,  and  do  such  a  thing. — How  many  garments  our  blessed  Saviour 
 wore  does  not  appear  from  the  Evangelists,  but  he  probably,  in  this  respect,  conformed 
 to  the  custom  of  the  meaner  sort  of  people  in  Galilee.     Euthymius^  and  Ferrarius 
 
 *  Hnm.  3S.  in  Mat.  moclum  suhuculae  dico  sane  tunicam  banc  inconsii- 
 
 t  Lib.  16.  contra  Faiistum,  c.  31.  tilem  :   alteriim  aiitem   quo  super  primum    vestie- 
 
 t  See  St.  Thomas,  3  P.  Q.  40.   Ar.  "2.  batur,  et  tertium  ex  eruis  indiiinenliim.     Haiic  vero 
 
 §  Conjcctantes  cra.0  dicimus,  ntc  procul  fortasse  tunicam  e  traditione  Patrum  accepimiis  opus  fuisse 
 
 a!)   eo  quod   congruum    est,  tria   fuisse  universa  :  Dei  Matris  a  superioribus  partibus  conlextum.   Eu- 
 
 unum  quidem  fuisse  tunicam  corpori  applieatam  in  thym.  Comment,  in  Matt.  torn.  19.  Bib.  PP. 
 
116  the:  life  of  our  lord  jesus  christ.  [Ch.  xxv. 
 
 are  of  opinion  that  he  had  three  garments,  which  was  no  nnusiial  thing  with  the 
 Romans,  who,  beside  the  gown  and  tiinick,  wore  under  the  latter  another  woollen 
 covering  next  to  the  skin,  like  our  shirt,  called  indusiiim,  or  subucula.  As  to  that  of 
 Christ,  which  was  seamless,  there  are  three  or  four  diflferent  opinit)us  concernin'i-  it 
 mentioned  by  Sandinus,  p.  83.*  To  us  it  appears  to  have  been  wrought  with  lono- 
 needles  in  the  manner  of  a  net.f — There  is  another  question  on  which  the  holy  Fathers 
 equally  differed,  and  that  is,  whether  Jesus  Christ  wore  shoes.  St.  Jerome  thinks 
 not.:[;  St.  Austin  is  of  a  different  opinion,§  which  he  grounds  on  that  of  St.  Luke, 
 chap.  iii.  16.  where  John  declares  that  he  is  not  worthy  to  unloose  the  latchet  of  his 
 shoes.  This  is  likewise  the  opinion  of  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  of  St.  Antoninus,!! 
 Cajetan,  Toletus,^  Suarez,  Pererius,  Menochius  and  Baldinus.  This  last  author** 
 discusses  this  subject  in  few  words,  and  refutes  the  arguments  of  his  opponents. 
 
 As  to  Christ's  poverty,  it  was  not  so  great  but  that  he  allowed  a  common  purse  fo 
 be  kept  for  the  benefit  of  his  apostles  and  disciples.  This  we  may  certainly  conclude 
 with  St.  Austin  from  the  13th  chapter  of  St.  John,  verse  29.  "  Some  thought,  because 
 Jinlai  had  the  purse,  that  Jesus  had  said  to  him  :  bin/  those  things  loe  stand  in  need  of 
 for  the  festival  day  ;  or  that  he  should  give  something  to  the  poor."  However,  it 
 appears  highly  probable  to  the  most  learned  interpreters,  that  our  blessed  Redeemer 
 might,  on  certain  occasions,  in  the  course  of  his  journies,  be  reduced  to  the  necessity 
 of  begging.  For  he  says  of  himself,  that  he  had  not  where  to  lai/  hi<i  head  ;  and  St. 
 Jeromff  and  St.  Thomas:}::}:  observe,  that  he  seems  not  even  at  Jerusalem  to  have  had 
 a  lodging  place,  since  he  retired  to  the  village  of  IJethania  to  seek  one  at  the  house  of 
 Lazarus  and  his  sisters. 
 
 Although  Jesus  Christ,  during  his  public  ministry,  led  a  common  life  as  to  the 
 exterior,  yet  it  was  far  more  laborious  and  painful  than  is  generally  imaginer!.  To 
 be  convinced  of  this  we  need  only  consider,    1.  That  he  was  so  poor  that,  as  he 
 
 Matt.  8.  himself  says.  He  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.     He  was  obliged  therefore,  for  the 
 ^^'      relief  of  his  necessities,  to  have  recourse  to  the  charity  of  others.     Pious  women 
 
 Luke 8.2.  furnished  him  with  what  he  wanted.     Now  when  one  thus  depends  so  absolutely  on 
 the  charity  of  others  there  ai-e  a  thousand  little  wants  which  must  remain  unsupplied. 
 
 2.  He  had  with  him  a  numerous  attendance,  viz.  the  twelve  apostles,  and  after- 
 wards the  seventy-two  disciples.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  provide  lor  the  necessities 
 of  so  many,  and  Jesus  Christ  felt  the  wants  of  all.  They  went  from  town  to  town 
 without  equipage,  without  provisions,  being  obliged  to  put  up  with  what  conve- 
 niences they  found  ;  so  that  his  ordinary  life  was  like  that  of  the  most  simple 
 peasants. 
 
 3.  Christ  preached,  not  in  churches  where  every  thing  is  properly  arranged,  and 
 every  precaution  taken,  to  prevent  a  minister  being  incommoded  ;  but  in  the  open 
 air,  upon  the  mountains,  in  the  plains,  upon  the  sea-shore,  sitting  in  a  ship,  while 
 the  people  listened  on  the  land  ;  and  this  frequently  more  than  once  in  the  day. 
 
 *  See  chap.  143  of  this  work,  John  23.  note.  ^  Lib.  2.  PcEda.  c.  U. 
 
 t  See  Ferrarius,  de  re  Vestiaria,  P.  i.  1.  3.  **  De  calceo  Antiquo,  c.  26. 
 
 t  Kp.  22.  c.  S.  tt  111  Matt,  c   21. 
 
 §  Ser.  101.  c.  6.  XX  Opusc.  contra  Impugnantes  Rcligionem,  c.  7. 
 
 II  3  Part.  Hi't   tit.  23. 
 
Ch.  XXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  117 
 
 4.  Jesus  made  use  of  no  public  vehicle  for  his  journeys,  but  always  travelled  on 
 foot ;  and  he  must  have  been  almost  continually  on  the  road,  since  he  went  through 
 all  the  villages.  Hence  he  was  exposed  to  all  the  inequalities  of  the  seasons  ;  to 
 the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun  during  summer^  and  to  the  rains  and  winds  of  the 
 winter  ;  all  which  is  unavoidable  to  a  person  who  makes  frequent  journies  on  foot. 
 
 5.  As  to  his  diet,  although  he  eat  what  was  set  before  him,  and  did  not  refuse  the 
 entertainments  of  those  who  invited  him  to  their  houses,  yet  in  all  this  he  practised  the 
 greatest  mortification,  if  not  in  the  quality  of  his  food,  at  least  in  the  manner  in 
 vvhich  he  took  it.  For,  first,  he  never  eat  out  of  greediness,  nor  consequently  sought 
 the  pleasure  of  eating  for  its  own  sake.  Now  where  is  the  man  so  temperate,  as  not 
 to  commit  faults  of  this  nature  ?  As  he  never  passed  the  bounds  of  necessity,  so 
 he  was  never  deceived  in  distinguishing  this  necessity  :  hence  he  never  fell  into  that 
 common  fault  of  mankind,  of  which  St.  Austin  speaks  in  his  Cotifesnom,  lib.  10, 
 c.  3.  where  he  says:  that  the  miserable  soul  is  glad  to  be  ignorant  of  the  precise 
 limits  of  necessity,  that  she  may,  under  this  pretence,  indulge  her  sensuality.  In 
 fine,  mankind  are  too  apt  to  spare  themselves  in  their  labours,  because  they  know 
 not  what  their  bodies  are  capable  of  enduring.  But  Jesus  Christ  always  exerted 
 himself,  as  far  as  it  was  possible  without  setting  any  other  bounds  to  his  labours, 
 than  what  human  weakness  required.  When  therefore  we  see  him  sitting  down  at 
 Jacob's  well,  we  must  suppose  that  his  strength  was  exhausted,  and  that  he  could 
 no  longer  stand  on  his  wearied  legs.  This  point  alone,  in  regard  to  our  Saviour, 
 comprehends  in  it  more  bodily  mortifications  than  are  to  be  found  in  the  lives  of 
 all  the  saints. 
 
 6.  But  all  this  was  nothing  compared  with  the  interior  sufferings  which  Christ 
 underwent  in  his  soul,  during  the  time  of  his  public  ministry.  Men  are  but  little 
 concerned  about  the  faults  and  imperfections  of  other  men.  They  are  sensible  only 
 of  those  which  regard  themselves  in  particular ;  and  even  of  these  they  see  but  a 
 very  small  part.  The  censures  and  defamatory  speeches  of  others  are  concealed 
 from  us,  and  therefore  pass  unnoticed  :  but  the  case  was  very  different  with  regard 
 to  Jesus  Christ :  he  was  perfectly  sensible  of  all  the  faults  of  men  ;  he  deeply  felt 
 bow  much  they  were  displeasing  to  God,  and  he  might  truly  say  with  the  Psalmist, 
 the  reproaches  of  them  that  reproached  thee,  have  fallen  upon  me  :  he  was  not  ignorant  p.^  gg 
 of  their  ingratitude  and  false  judgments  with  respect  to  himself:  he  saw  the  weak-  10. 
 ness  of  his  apostles  and  all  b.is  hearers  :  he  perceived  the  little  use  they  made  of  his 
 word  :  he  saw  them  all  disposed  to  forsake  him  the  first  oppoitunity,  and  this  their 
 disposition,  while  he  was  talking  and  preaching  to  the  people,  was  ever  present  to 
 his  mind,  which  must  have  produced  in  him  a  continual  pain  not  to  be  described. 
 Moreover,  the  ignorance  in  which  men  are  of  the  day  arid  manner  of  their  death, 
 takes  away  the  sense  and  fear  of  it :  they  are  not  affected  with  it,  because  they  do 
 not  think  of  it:  but  Jesus  Christ  knew  all  the  circumstances  of  hrs  death.  He  had 
 always  his  cross  before  his  eyes,  and  made  continual  advances  towards  it.  All  his 
 motions  were  so  many  voluntary  steps  towards  his  cross.  He  knew  that  all  about 
 liim  would  either  forsake  him  at  his  death,  or  even  be  the  promoters  and  authors 
 of  it.     Judge  now  what  little  satisfaction  he  could  have  in  the  world  ;  so  little,  that 
 
 11.  2u 
 
jjg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXVL 
 
 it  hath  been  observed  of  him,  that  he  never  laughed.  Nothing  certainly  ever 
 equalled  the  seriousness  of  his  life,  and  it  is  evident  that  pleasure,  pastime,  or 
 whatever  amuses  the  mind,  had  no  part  in  it.  Thus,  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  admitted 
 of  no  amusement  or  relaxation  :  it  was  always  on  the  stretch,  always  employed 
 about  God,  and  the  miseries  and  wants  of  men  ;  he  gave  that  only  to  nature,  which 
 he  could  not  refuse,  without  destroying  it. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVL 
 
 JESUS  ENTERS  CAPHAUNAUM,      AND  CALLS  PETER,  ANDREW,  JAMES  AND  JOHN. 
 MATT.   IV.   MARK  I.   LUKE  IV.  AND  V. 
 
 Luke  4.    "And"  Jesus  taking  his  departure  from  Cana,  "  went  down,  and  came  and  dwelt  in 
 
 31-      Capharnaum.f  on  the   sea-coast,   a  city  of  Galilee,  in  the  borders  of  Zabulon  and 
 
 13       Nephthali,"  of  very  considerable  extent,  and  much  renowned  for  its  wide  extensive  cora- 
 
 Luke.       merce,  and  for  the  affluence  of  its  inhabitants.   Jesus  chose  this  city  for  his  usual  place 
 
 Alait'T^  of ''fsidence,  as  being  the  metropolis  of  Galilee,  "  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
 
 H.      said  by  Isaias  the  prophet:  the  land  of  Zabulon  and  the  land  of  Nephthalim,  the 
 
 la.      way  of  the  sea,  beyond  the  Jordan,  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles,  the  people  which   sat 
 
 16.      in  darkness  hath  seen  great  light:  and  a  light  is  risen  to  them  who  sat  in  the  region 
 
 of  the  shadow  of  death."     In  effect,  the  people  of  this  country,  hitherto  involved  in 
 
 the  dark  mist  of  error  and  ignorance,  and  sitting  as  it  were  in  the  dark  regions  of 
 
 sin  and  eternal  death,  now  beheld  a  great  light  break  forth  among  them,  a  God 
 
 made  man,  who  came  purposely  to  enlighten  them  with  the  doctrine  of  eternal  life. 
 
 The  disciples  whom  Jesus  had  first  called  to  the  faith  upon  the  banks  of  the 
 Jordan,  had  likewise  followed  him  into  Galilee,  and,  without  doubt,  as  far  as 
 Capharnaum  :  yet  they  were  not  wholly  attached  to  him,  and  therefore  returned 
 again  to  their  usual  course  of  living,  which  was  that  of  fishing.  Jesus  chose  now 
 to  engage  them  entirely  to  his  service,  and  in  the  recital  given  us  by  the  Evangelists, 
 we  may  observe,  1.  Their  vocation,  not  to  the  faith  which  they  had  already  received, 
 but  to  the  apostolic  school  of  Jesus.  2.  An  emblem  or  figure  of  the  employment 
 to  which  they  were  called.  3.  The  reasons  they  had  to  rely  upon  the  providential 
 care  of  Jesus  in  their  behalf. 
 Matt.  4.  \.  The  calling  *' Now  Jesus  walking  near  the  sea  of  Galilee,  saw  two  brothers, 
 18.      y  ^«  ^'■'      "■  Simon  who  is  called  Peter,  and  Andrew  his  brother,  casting  a  net 
 
 drew,      James,   _  '  . 
 
 and  John.         into  the  sea,  (for  they  were  fishers.)     And  going  from  thence  a  little 
 
 *  AltViousjh  St.  Matthew,   chap.   4.  relates  the  passap;e  is  arranged  according  to  the  order  of  St. 
 
 arrival  of  Jesus  Clirist  at  Capharnaum,  and  afler-  Matthew. 
 
 wards  his  calling  Peter,  Andrew,  James  and  John,  t  Lamy,  Lightfoot,  and  Calmet  place  this  city 
 who  dwelt  there,  yet  Ainauld  places  their  vocation  at  the  north-west  side  of  the  lake.  It  is  no  wliere 
 before  the  arrival  of  Jesus  Christ  at  t^apharnaurn,  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  either  under  this 
 as  if  he  had  not  as  yet  entered  the  town,  when  he  or  any  name  like  it,  and,  therefore,  it  was  pro- 
 called  them  at  the  lake  of  Genesareth.  As  it  ap-  bably  one  of  those  towns  wh'ch  the  Jews  built 
 pears,  however,  more  natural  to  suppose  that  Jesus  after  their  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
 Christ  reached  this  town,  before  he  performed  any  Josephus  calls  it  Capharnon. 
 thing  memorable  in  the  neighbourhood,  the  whole 
 
Cli.  XXVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESU  J  CHRIST.  119 
 
 further,  he  saw  two  other  brothers,*  James  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  John  his  brother^  Mark  l. 
 in  a  ship  with  Zebedee  their  father  mending  their  nets.     And  it  came  to  pass,  when  .>,/^'. 
 the  multitudes  pressed  upon  him  to  hear  the  word  of  God,   he  stood  by  the  lake  of      21.  ' 
 Genesareth,t  and  saw"  the  said  "  two  ships  standing-  by  the  hike  :   but  the  fishermen  Luke 5.1 
 were  gone  out  of  them,  and  were  washing  their  nets.  J     And  going  into  one  of  the       3] 
 shi[)s,  which  was   Simon's,   he  desired   him  to  put  off  a  Httle  from   the  land  :  and 
 sitting  he  taught  the  multitudes  out  of  the  ship. 
 
 "  Now  when  he  had  ceased  to  speak,  he  said  to  Simon  launch  out  g  Thcjirsimi-       ^■ 
 into  the  deep,  and   let  down  your  nets   for  a  draught.     And  Simon  raciduus  fish-       5. 
 answering,  said  to  him  :    Master,  we  have  laboured   all  the    night,"  '"^'^ 
 which  is  the  most  favourable  time  for  fishing,   "  and"   yet  "  have  taken  nothing : 
 but  at  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net.     And  when  they  had  done  this,  they  enclosed       6. 
 a  very  great  multitude  of  fishes,  and  their  net  was  breaking.     And   they  beckoned       7. 
 to  their  partners  that  were  in  the   other  ship,  that  they  should  come  and  help  them. 
 And  they  came  and  filled  both  the  ships,  so  that  they  were  almost  sinking.     Which       8. 
 when  Simon   Peter  saw,   he  fell    down  at  Jesus's  knees,  saying,"  with   the  most 
 profound  humility  and  reverence,   "depart  from  me,  for   1  am  a  sinful  man. ||     For      9. 
 he  was   wholly  astonished,    and    all   that   were    with  him,  at  the  draught  of  the 
 fishes   which  they  had   taken.     And  so  were  also   James  and   John    the  sons  of      10. 
 Zebedee,  who  were  Simon's  partners.     And  Jesus  saith  to  Simon  :  Fear  not  ;  from 
 henceforth  thou  shalt  catch  men,"^  not  in  order   to  their  destruction,  but   that  they  Matt.  4. 
 may  enjoy  eternal  life :    ''  and    he    said"  to  Andrew,   conjointly  with  his  brother      1^- 
 Simon,  "  follow  me,  "  and  I  will  make  you  become  fishers  of  men ;  and  presently 
 
 *  It  is  probable,  according  to  A.  Lapirle,  Tiriiuis,  Itian  any  other  sea  ;   uhich   so  far  holds  good,  that 
 
 &c.  that  it  is  the  same  culling-  of  the   i'oiir  Aposlles  this  sea,   above  all   others,  was   honoured  with  the 
 
 ■which   is   mentioned    in   a   cursory   manner  by  St.  divine   i)reseiice   of  our   blessed   Saviour,  while  he 
 
 Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  and    more  in  detail  by  St.  dwelt  at  Capharnaum,  and  even  once  after  he  was 
 
 Luke.      St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  only  relate  that  risen  from  the  dead.     The  lake  lies  upon  a  gravel, 
 
 Jesus  saw,  and  called  the  Aposlles,  wiihout  making  which  m:ikes  its  water  of  a  good  taste   and  colour, 
 
 any  inenlion  either  of  his  preaching  from  ihe  boat,  or  It  is  softer  Ihan  either  fountain  or  river  water,  and 
 
 of  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes.      It  is  from  St.  at  the  same  time  extremely  cold. 
 Luke,  who  gives  a  circumstantial    narrative  ot    the  %   To  reconcile   this  with   St    Matthew  and  St. 
 
 whole  transaction,  that  we  learn    these  particulars.  Mark,    it  must  be  observed   that  the  boats    being 
 
 However.   St.   Austin,  St.    Thomas,    and    Muldo-  brought   to   shore,   the  tishcrs,  as   usual,  were  ein- 
 
 natiis,  &c.  distinguish  the  vocation    mentioned   by  |)loyed  different  ways  ;  some  of  them  were  washing, 
 
 St.  Luke  from   that   described  by  St.  Matthew  and  others    mending  their  nets  ;   whilst  others   cast  in 
 
 St.  Mark.      See  Wouters.  their   nets  again,   desirous  of  trying  whether  they 
 
 t  The  lake  of  Genesareth,  the  sea  of  Galilee,  could   catch   any  thing-  from  the  shore  ;  and  thus 
 
 and  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  are  different  names  which  some  were  in  the  boat  and  the  rest  on  shore, 
 the  Evangeli-ts  give  to  the  same  lake.     According  ^   See  the  second,  chap.  I4S. 
 
 to  Josephus,  it  was  forty  furlongs  in  breadth   and  |l   These  words  of  Peter  are   very  expressive  of 
 
 in  length  one  hundred,  and  was   called  in   the  Old  the   higti   senlimenis   which   he  entertained   of  our 
 
 Testament   the  .tea  of  Ceiiereth,  Numb,   xxxiv.  II.  Lord,  and  of  the  consciousness  which    he   had  of 
 
 Aflerwards  it  was  named  the  sea  of  Galilee,  from  his  own  unvvorthiness.      In  the  same  humble  senti- 
 
 the    province    of  Galilee    in    general,    the   sea   of  nients  the   Centurion  said,  Matt.  viii.  8.   "  Lord,  I 
 
 Tilxrias  from  a  town  of  that  name  standing  on  its  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldst  come   under  my 
 
 western  coast,  and  the  lake  of  Genesareth  from  that  roof;   speak  (Uily  the  word,   and   my  servant  shall 
 
 particular  tract  of  Galilee  whi.-h  bounded  it  a  great  be  healed." 
 
 way  on  the  western   side.     The   river  Jordan  runs  ^  Not  to  kill  them  like  fish,  but  to  give  them  life, 
 
 through    it,    and    stocks   it    with    a    great   variety  the  life  of  grace  and  of  faith.      For  the  Greek  word 
 
 of  fish  of  a  particular  shape,  not  to  be  equalled  in  ^ui'ifwv    signifies   to  lake  alive,  as    such   fish   and 
 
 any  other  place.      It  was  a  common  saying  among  wild  creatures    are    taken  that  are  designed    to  hi 
 
 the  Jens,  that  God   loved   the  sea  of  Galilee  more  put  in  stews  and  parks. 
 
120  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXVI. 
 
 Mark  I.  leavino-  their  nets  they  followed  him.*  And  forthwith  he  called"  the  other  two 
 20.  Ijrothers  James  and  John,  "  and  they  presently  leaving  their  nets  and  iheir  father 
 22.      in   the  ship    with    the   hired  servants,  and  having  brought  their    ships   to   land, 
 
 Mark  I.  leavino-  all  tliino-s,*  thev  followed  him,"  and  became  ever  afterwards  his  constant 
 
 20.  "    ^  n    }  . 
 
 Luke  4.  attendants, 
 ii-  The  pious  reader  may  make  different  reflections  on  the  foregoing  narration.      1. 
 
 Ho  may  consider  the  zeal  and  fervour  of  the  pious  multitude,  who  went  in  crowds  to 
 hear  the  word  of  God,  and,  by  their  example,  may  animate  himself  to  the  same  holy 
 practice.  2.  From  Christ's  entering  into  Peter's  ship  preferably  to  the  other,  he  may 
 learn  where  he  is  to  hear  God's  holy  word  and  receive  his  faith  and  doctrine,  viz. 
 from  Peter's  chair,  signified  by  the  ship.  It  cannot  be  too  often  repeated  to  the 
 faithful  in  these  times,  to  hold  fast,  by  the  anchor  of  faith,  to  Peter's  ship  :  the  vessel 
 of  God's  church  may  indeed  be  assailed  and  tossed  about  with  various  winds  and 
 waves,  yet  all  the  art  and  malice  of  man  can  never  sink  it,  nor  all  the  powers  of  dark- 
 ness prevail  against  it.  3.  By  this  miraculous  draught  of  fishes  Christ  gave  his 
 Apostles  a  type  of  their  wonderful  success  in  the  new  employment  to  which  he  called 
 them,  of  being  fishers  of  men.  But  we  may  observe,  that  previously  to  this  wonder- 
 ful success,  they  had  laboured  all  night  and  caught  nothing.  In  like  manner  Chris- 
 tians often  labour  much  and  to  little  purpose,  because  they  labour  by  night,  i.  e. 
 without  the  light  of  God's  grace,  being  benighted  by  sin  ;  or  because  they  depend 
 more  on  their  own  industry  than  on  the  divine  help  ;  or,  lastly,  because  they  labour 
 for  things  which  deserve  not  their  care,  which  are  not  permanent,  but  vanish  away 
 like  a  shadow.  Of  this  unsatisfactory  nature  are  earthly  things,  when  sought  on  their 
 own  account,  and  without  being  directed  to  God's  honour  and  glory.  This  world, 
 therefore,  may  very  fitly  bo  compared  to  a  sea,  in  which  sinners  and  worldlings  toil 
 and  labour  all  the  night  of  their  mortal  lives  and  catch  nothing.  Their  life  is  truly  a 
 dark  tempestuous  night ;  and  when  that  is  over,  and  the  day  of  eternity  begins  to 
 appear,  then  they  will  see  that  all  their  toils  and  labours  have  been  fruitless  ;  that 
 they  have  laboured  in  vain,  because  they  have  nt)t  laboured  for  eternal  goods. 
 
 4.  We  may  likewise  add,  that  this  wonderful  di'aught  of  fishes  was  a  lesson  to  the 
 disciples  to  place  their  confidence  in  Jesus,  as  to  the  relief  of  their  temporal  wants. 
 By  this  specimen  of  his  omnipotence,  he  would  convince  them,  that  they  might 
 securely  rely  upon  him  for  the  care  of  their  subsistence,  whilst  they  dedicated  them- 
 selves entirely  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  ;  as  they  could  not  fail  of  being 
 abundantly  provided  for  by  him  who,  with  a  single  word,  could  do  whatever  he 
 pleased.  A  similar  confidence  should  be  our  chief  support  amidst  the  dilficulties  and 
 disaj)pointments  of  this  life  :  let  us  cast  all  onr  care  on  the  Lord,  from  a  firm  con- 
 viction that  he  hath  a  care  of  us  ;  and  that  if  we  seek  above  all  things  his  kingdom 
 and  his  justice,  he  will  not  fail  to  bless  our  endeavours,  and  to  provide  for  us  what- 
 ever shall  be  necessary  in  this  our  present  state  of  probation  and  improve, nent. 
 
 ^*  Nihil  dejudicantes,  aut  hiEsitanles,  non  solliciti  undo  viverent,  sine  mora  sequuntur.     St.  Ber.  Ser. 
 2.  de  S.  And. 
 
Ch.  XXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  121 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVII. 
 
 JESUS  PREACHES  TO  THE  PEOPLE,  AND  DELIVERS  A  MAN  POSSESSED  WITH  AN  IMPURE 
 SPIRIT.      MATT.   IV.    MARK  I.    LUKE  IV. 
 
 "  And  forthwith,"  after  this  miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  we  behold  Jesus  "  upon  Mark  1. 
 the  Sabbath  days,*  going-  into  the  synagogues"  of  Capharnaura  with  his  disciples  to      ''^^' 
 perform  the  functions  of  his  ministry.     "  Wherefore,  the  people  being  assembled  as 
 usual,  he  taught  them"t  the  words  of  eternal  life  :  "  and  they  were  astonished  at  his      22 
 doctrine,  for  he  was  teaching  thera  as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the  Scribes. 
 And"  now  an  occasion  presented  itself  to  Jesus  for  proving  the  truth  of  his  doctrine 
 not  merely  by  words  :  "  there  was  in  the  synagogue  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit," 
 who  having  remained  peaceable   during  the  instructions  given  by  Jesus,  began, 
 toward  the  conclusion  of  them,  to  disturb  the  auditory  with  a  hideous  yell.     "  And  Luke  4. 
 he  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  saying  :  let  us  alone,  what  have  we  to  do  with  thee,      ^''• 
 Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  Art  thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?    I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
 Holy  One  of  God."     The  devil  did  not  make  this  public  confession  through  com- 
 pulsion, and  much  less  through  flattery,  but  on  the  contrary,  to  chagrin  Jesus,  who, 
 instead  of  outwardly  proclaiming  his  divinity,  chose  it  should  be,  for  the  present, 
 concealed.     This  he  did,  lest  the  belief  of  his  divinity  being  generally  known,  might 
 prove  an  obstacle  to  his  future  sufferings  and  death.     He  would  have  the  Jews  to  be 
 convinced  of  his  divinity|  chiefly  by  a  natural  consequence,  which  they  might  draw 
 from  his  heavenly  doctrine  and  his  numerous  miracles.     And  therefore  "  Jesus  Mark  l. 
 rebuked"  the  evil  spirit  on  this  occasion,  "  and  threatened  him,  saying:   Speak  no      -^■ 
 more  and  go  out  of  the  man  :  and  the  unclean  spirit"  used  his  utmost  endeavours  to      26. 
 maintain  his  hold,  "  tearing  him,  and  crying  out  with  a  loud  voice.     And  when  the  Luke  4. 
 devil  had  thrown  him  into  the  midst,  he  went  out  of  him,  and  hurt  him  not  at  all.      ^^• 
 And  there  came  fear  upon  all  ;"  for  ''  they  were  struck  with  astonishment,  so  that  they      36. 
 asked  one  another,  savins: :  What  meaneth  this?  what  new  doctrine  is  this.§     For  ^'^''i^  ^• 
 
 •'      °  2/. 
 
 *  Hence  we  may  infer  that  although  the  stay  of  differ  as  to  the  length  of  time  employed  by  Christ 
 
 Jesus  at  Capharnaum  was  of  no  long  duration,  as  in  the  ministry  of  the  word.     It  is  most  probable 
 
 appears  from  chapter  xxix.,  yet  it  must  have  been  that  he  spent  about  three  years  in  announcing  to  the 
 
 for  some  weeks,  as  he  taught  there  on  the  Sabbath  world  his  heavenly  doctrine.     In  the  first  year  of 
 
 daya.  his  preaching  he  seems  not  to   have   met  with   any 
 
 t  It  appears  from  this  and  other  places  (see  Acts  great  opposition,  and  on  this  account,  it  may  have 
 
 xiii.  15.)  that  persons  of  known  gravity  and  erudi-  been  called  by  the  prophet  Isaius  (Ixi.  2.)  Ihe  ac- 
 
 tion  were  allowed  to  read  and  preach  to  the  people,  ceplabie  year.     Sandinus. 
 
 I  Tum  quia  rectius  judicabat  hop  ostendere  factis,  Christ  did  not  preach  to  the  Gentiles,  as  appears 
 
 quam  praedicare  verbis,  facta  eniin  satis  declarabant  from   St.  Matthew  xv.  24.   "  I  was  not  sent  hut  to 
 
 ipsum  esse  verum   Messiam,  tum  ne  pra;dicatione  the  sheep  that  are  lost  of  the  house  of  Israel."    The 
 
 impediretur  ejus  passio.     Estius  in  Lucam,  c.  9.  conversion  of  the  former  he  reserved   for  his  apos- 
 
 §  It  is  observed  by  St.  Justin  (.^pol.  i.  54.)  that  ties,  after  his  passion  and  resurrection.  St.  Clement 
 
 the    discourses    of  Jesus    were    short  and  concise  (1.  6.  Strom.)  says,  that  Christ  likewise  preached  to 
 
 {iSpax^'''   "■'I'  avvTofioc    rap'  uvtS  \o~/oi  '■/e'lovaaii'.')  those   who  were  in  hell,  (qui  erant  aptid   inferos) 
 
 St.  Chrysostom  (Horn.  48.  on   St.   Matthew)  says  founding  his  opinion  on  these  words  of  St.  Peter, 
 
 that    Christ   accommodated   his   preaching   to  his  Ep.  L  chap.  iii.  19.    Coming  he  preached   to   those 
 
 hearers,  and  to  his  subject,  vot6  fiei>  avToii  Tta\v-  spirits  that  loere  in  prison.     But  the  common  and 
 
 lefov  oiaXe'/erni,  izore  ce  v^Tj\oTepor,  noununquam  true  interpretation  of  this  place  seems  to  be,  that  the 
 
 condescendens  ipsis  crassius,  ut  iladicam,  nonnun-  soul  of  Christ,  after  its   separation  from  the  body, 
 
 quam  ut  res  petit,  sublimius  loquitur.   The  ancients  and  before  the  resurrection,  descended  to  a  place  i:i 
 
 11.  2i 
 
[-22  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXVUL 
 
 Luke  4.  with  authority"  and  power,  "  he  lays  his  commands  on  the  unclean  spirits,  and  they 
 ^^-  obey  him,  and"  immediately  "  they  go  out"  however  reluctantly.  "  And  the  fame 
 28.      of  him  was  spread  forthwith  over  all  the  country  of  Galilee." 
 
 We  may  observe  on  this  and  other  occasions,  that  one  of  the  many  striking- circum- 
 stances in  the  history  of  Jesus,  was  the  great  authority  that  he  assumed,  and  the 
 dig-nified  manner  with  which  he  uniformly  spoke  and  acted,  exceeding  that  of  any 
 prophet  that  had  preceded  him.  As  to  the  particular  subjects  of  his  discourses  on 
 the  present  occasion,  although  the  Evangelists  do  not  specify  them,  we  may  reason- 
 ably suppose  that  they  were  such  portions  of  the  sacred  writings  as  were  usually  read 
 to  the  people,  whereof  we  shall  see  an  instance  in  what  he  did  at  Nazareth  :  his 
 hearers  were  in  raptures  of  admiration  at  his  doctrine,- so  different  from  that  of  their 
 teilchers,  both  in  substance  and  the  mode  of  delivery  ;  for  his  doctrine  was  us  solid 
 as  theirs  was  frivolous  and  superBcial.  In  lieu  of  phaiisaical  traditions,  he  taught 
 the  rules  of  the  purest  morality  :  as  for  instance,  that  without  a  change  of  heart  and 
 conduct  repentance  was  of  no  avail ;  that  the  worship  and  adoration  of  God  consisted 
 principally  in  loving  him  above  all  things  ;  that  our  exterior  actions  are  only  so  far 
 meritorious,  as  they  proceed  from  a  principle  of  sincere  charity  and  a  right  intention  ; 
 all  which  maxims  uere  unknown  to  the  generality  of  the  Doctors  and  Pharisees. 
 
 The  contrast  between  the  manner  and  beliaviour  of  Jesus  and  that  of  the  Jewish 
 teachers  was  not  less  striking.  He  invariably  spoke  in  the  tone  of  a  lawgiver,  who 
 does  not  merely  publish  the  will  of  others,  but  makes  laws  himself  to  regulate  the 
 whole  duty  of  man.  He  expressed  himself  with  a  degree  of  majesty,  which  com- 
 manded the  veneration  of  all  persons,  with  a  grace  which  gained  their  affections,  and 
 with  a  force  and  efficacy  which  almost  ensured  their  obedience.  Lastly,  he  supported 
 the  truth  of  his  doctrine  by  the  most  perfect  propriety  of  conduct  in  every  particular, 
 and  by  the  most  wonderful  miracles.  The  Jewish  teachers  were  evidently  inferior  to 
 him  in  all  these  respects  :  mere  interpreters  of  the  law  of  Moses,  they  went  no  further 
 than  to  explain  its  meaning  by  traditions  of  human  invention,  destitute  of  every 
 merit,  of  elegance,  of  solidity,  of  perspicuity,  and  of  religious  unction. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVni. 
 
 THE  CURE   OK  PETEk's  MOTHER-IN-LAW.*      MATT.   VIII.    MARK  I.    LUKE  IV, 
 
 As  Jesus  commenced  the  first  day  of  his  public  ministry  by  a  display  of  his  miracu- 
 
 the  inforinr  parts   of  the  earth,  calleil   hell  in  the  to  the  infernal  spirits,  inasmuch  as  on  tliis  occasion 
 
 Apostles' creed,  and  sometimes  Abraham's  bosom,  or  he  manifested  and  displayed  to  them  his  power  and 
 
 Limbus  Patruni,  a  place  of  rest,  where  the  souls  of  divinity.    Ipsa  pra;dicatio  nihil  aliud  intelligi  potest 
 
 the    patriarchs,   prophets,  and  .just   men   were   de-  quam  manil'eslatio  Divinitatis  ejus,  qn<o  maiiilestata 
 
 tained,  as  it  were,  in  prison.     To  tliese   .spirits  he  est  infernahbus  per  virtnosum  descensum  Christi  ad 
 
 preached,  i.  e.  he  broua;ht   tliem  Uiis  happy   news,  inferos.     St.  Thomas,  3  P.  Q.  52.  Ar.  2.      See  St. 
 
 that  I'.e  who  was  their  Redeemer  was  now  come  to  Austin,  Ep.  16+,  alias  99. 
 
 be  tlieir  Deliverer,  and  that  at  liis  glorious  ascen-         *  It  appears  from   St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke,  that 
 
 sion,  they  should  enter  with   him   into   heaven,  the  the  cure  of  Peter's  mother-in-law,  and  of  the  other 
 
 ■rate's  of  which   had  been  hitherto  shut  against  all  sick  here  mentioned,  happened  after  the  preceding 
 
 mankind. He  may  likewise  be  said  to  have  preached  narration,  and  probably  on  the  same  day.     But  SU 
 
Ch.XXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  jgj} 
 
 Ions  powers,  so  he  was  pleased  to  close  it  with  similar  proofs  of  his  divinity.  The 
 Evang-elists  have  entered  into  a  minute  detail  of  one  of  these  miracles  ;  the  others 
 they  have  related  only  in  general  terms. 
 
 "  And  immediately  going  out  of  the  synagogue,  they  came  into  the  house  of  Simon  Murk  I. 
 and  Andrew,  with  James  and  John."     From  this  verse  it  appears  that  these  two      ~^- 
 brothers,  although  natives  of  Bethsaida,  had  settled  at  Capharnaum  ;  probably  for 
 the  greater  convenience  of  exercising  their  trade  of  fishing,  which  was  more  produc- 
 tive there  than  at  Bethsaida,  and  because  Peter  had  married  a  person  of  that  place. 
 "  And  when  Jesus  was  come  into  Peter's  house,  he  saw  his  wife's  mother  lying  sick,"  Matt.  s. 
 
 for  she  was  "  seized  with   a  great  fever,  and   forthwith  they  tell  him   of  her,   and  t  Y'  , 
 
 .  .  JLuke  4. 
 
 entreated  him  in  favour  of  her  :  and  coming  to  her  he  lifted  her  up,  taking-  her  by  the      3S. 
 hand  ;  and  standing  over  her  he  commanded  the  fever  to  leave  her,  and  immediately  ^^'"'"''  ^* 
 the  fever  left  her,  and  she  arose  and  ministered  unto  them  ;"  for  no  length  of  time  was  Luke  t. 
 necessary  for  the  recovery  of  her  strength,  as  is  usual  after  a  severe  illness,  and      ^^• 
 particularly  with  persons  advanced  in  years.  "  ^y. 
 
 "  And  when  it  was  evening,  after  sun-set,  they  brought  to  him  many  that  were  ^^'^"'^e  4. 
 possessed  with  the  devil,"  and  "  all  they  that  had  any  sick  with  divers  diseases,  ^^l.^^.^  j 
 brought  them  to  him.     And  all  the  city  was  assembled  together  at  the  door,"  to      3]. 
 witness  so  extraordinary  a  sight.     "  But  he  laying  his  hands  on  every  one  of  them,      j"'  ^" 
 healed  them  ;  and  he  cast  out  many  devils  with  his  word,  and  all  that  were  sick  he  Mark  l. 
 healed.     That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  saying:  n.^^' 
 he  took  our  infirmities,  and  bore  our  diseases.     And  the  devils  went  out  from  many,      15*. 
 crying  and  saying  :  thou  art  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  rebuking  them,  he  suffered  them  -'^"'^'^  "^* 
 not  to  speak,  for  they  knew  that   he   was  Christ."*     The  Pharisees  afterwards  jiark  I. 
 
 33. 
 
 Matthew  does  not  observe   this  order:  for  having  text.    See  INIatt.  iv.  24.  and  x.  1.  ISIark  i.  34.  Luke  -'-'"'^^  4. 
 
 related  that  Jesus,  alter  liis  sermon  on  the  mount,  iv.  41.  where  a  manifest  distinction  is  made  bet«etii        ""-** 
 
 entered   Capharnaum,  and   healed  the   Centurion's  tlie  cure  of  diseases  and  the  casting' out  of  devils.        '^^' 
 
 servant,  he  hence  takes   occasion  to   mention  this  See   Rondet's   Dissertaiion  in   the  new  Latin  and 
 
 and  the  other  miracles  which   he  had  omitted,  and  French  Bible. — No  one  can  doubt  of  the  existence 
 
 which  Jesus  had  wrought  at  his  first  coming  to  of  evil  spirits,  who  believes  the  sacred  oracics  to  he 
 
 Capharnaum.  true.     By  them  we  are  intbi  nied  that  the  devils  fell 
 
 ■*  Although  it  may  appear  from  this  text,  as  well  from  a  state  of  justice  and  sanctitv,  by  ihcir  own 
 
 as  from  St.  Mark  i.  34.  that  the   devil   really  knew  malice   and  sin,  and  that   in   punishment   thereof, 
 
 our  Saviour  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  yet  the  best  inter-  they  were  hurled  dosvn  from  their  seats,  and  con- 
 
 preters  are  of  opinion,  that  he  had  not  a  perfect  and  demned   to   liell,  2  Peter  ii.  4.      Whilst  some  were 
 
 certain  knowledge  of  our  Lord's  divinity,  till   after  immediately  confined  to  those  dungeon.s,  otiiers  are 
 
 his   resurrection  from   the  dead;   fur  otherwise,  as  left  more  at  large  nnlil    the  day  of  judgment;   and 
 
 St.  Paul  (ells  us,  he  would  never  have  cnicijied  the  in  the  mean  time,  their  torments  seern  less  grievous. 
 
 Lord  of^lory,  1  Cor.  ii.     The  state  of  humiliation  Matt.  viii.  29.  31.  8ie.  See  Petavius,  Tr.  rfe  .^«^'efe. 
 
 ■which   he  chose,  the  obscurity  in   which   he   lived,  — These  fiends  are   called  the  princes  of  darkness, 
 
 and  the  perstcutions  which  he  snlTertd  wiltiout  re-  of  the  air,  and  of  the  world,  Ephcs.  ii.  1,  2.  and  vi. 
 
 sistancc,  deceived  tlic  devil,  and  kept  him  in   some  12.  Matt.  xii.  22.  Luke  ix.  1.    They  differ  in  their 
 
 degree  of  suspense.     Moreover  his  hatred  of  Christ,  ranks  in  a  kind   of  hierarchy,  and  some  are  worse 
 
 wliom  he  considered  as  his  declared  enemy,  might  than  others.  Matt.  xii.  24.  Epiies.  vi.  12,  &c.   Their 
 
 probably  blind   him  so  far  as  to  consider  his   de-  prince  is  sometimes  called  Lucifer,  at  other  times 
 
 struction  absolutely  necessary  for  the   securing  of  Belial,  i.  e.  the  evil   one;  or  rather,  according   to 
 
 his  own  usurped  kingdom.     Mede,  Lardner,  Far-  St.  Jerom,  the   rebel  :    also  Satan,    or  the   e/iemy, 
 
 mer,  and  other  moderns,  would  willingly  persuade  and  Belzebub  from  the  chief  idol  of  the  Aec:ironiles, 
 
 us,  that  the  devils  which  here  and  elsewhere  are  said  &c.     The   rage,    malice,  and   envy    of  the   de\jls 
 
 to  have   been  cast  out,    were  only  certain   bodily  against   man   are    imjjlacahle ;     and    their   natural 
 
 diseases  which  Jesus  cured.     But   this  is  a  forced  subtilly   and  strength  are  very   great,   as  appears 
 
 construction,  obviously    repugnant   to   the    sacred  from  the  perfection  of  their  being,  which  is  purely 
 
12-t  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXIX. 
 
 attributed  the  expulsion  of  devils  to  a  collusion  between  them  and  Jesus  :  but  this 
 calumny  is  here  amply  refuted  beforehand,  by  the  compulsory  manner  in  which  Jesus 
 obliges  them  to  give  up  the  hold  which  they  possessed,  and  to  be  silent  concerning 
 him.  However,  the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies  respecting  Christ,  and  the 
 plain  and  explicit  testimony  of  the  devils  his  enemies,  were  incontestable  proofs  that 
 he  was  the  Messiah  promised  in  the  law. 
 
 CH.\PTER  XXIX. 
 
 JESUS  RETIRES  INTO  THE  DESERT,  AND  AFTERWARDS  PREACHES  IN  GALILEE.* 
 MATT.   IV.       MARK  I.       LUKE    IV. 
 
 Jesus  here  affords  us  an  example,  1.  Of  prudence,  teaching  us  to  foresee  such 
 obstacles  and  impediments  as  we  may  have  to  encounter  in  tlie  way  of  salvation. 
 2.  Of  a  proper  firmness  in  not  allowing  ourselves  to  be  diverted  from  our  religious 
 purposes  by  any  pretext  whatever.  3.  Of  an  unremitting  application  to  all  those 
 duties  which  God  requires  of  us  in  our  respective  situations  of  life. 
 
 On  the  following  dav,  Jesus  foreseeing  that  those  who  had  been  witnesses  to  his 
 
 miracles,  would  use  every  effort  to  detain  him  among  them,  thought  proper  to  avoid 
 
 :Mark  1.  th^ir  importunity  ;  "  and  rising  very  early,  went  forth  into  a  desert  place,  and  there 
 
 33-  he  prayed,"  not  on  his  own  account,  but  to  teach  us  what  we  ought  to  do,  and  to 
 eno-age  us,  by  his  own  practice,  to  a  strict  observance  of  our  morning  exercise. 
 
 3(5       "  And  Simon  and  they  that  were  with   him  followed  after  him  ;  and  when  they  had 
 
 37.      found  him,  they  said  to  him  :  All  seek,  thee  ;  and  he  sailh  to  them  :   Let  us  go  into 
 
 ^^'      the  neighbouring  towns  and  cities,  that  I  may  preach  there  also,  for  to  this  purpose 
 Luke  4   am  I  come"  from  Capharnaum.     "And  the  multitude  sought  him,  and  came  unto 
 
 42.  him  ;  and  they  stayed  him  that  he  should  not  depart  from  them,"  either  out  of 
 apprehension  that  he  intended  to  fix  his  residence  elsewhere,  or  from  their  being  so 
 struck  with  admiration  of  him,  as  not  willingly  to  be  separated  from  him,  even  for 
 
 43       the  shortest  period  of  time.     "  To  whom  he  said  ;  to  other  cities  also  I  must  preach 
 Matt.  4.  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  for  to  this  end  am  I  sent.     And  Jesus  went  about  all  Galilee, f 
 
 23.      teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  healing 
 
 spiritual,  and  from  examples  where   God  sufiFered  and  possessions  ofthe  devil,  the  Church  lias  instituted 
 
 them  more  remarkably  to  exert  their  power,  as  in  and  always  practised  exorcisms  and  blessings, 
 hurryinn;  the  swine  into  the  lake,  killing  the  seven         *  As    St.    Mark   and    St.    Luke    join    together 
 
 first  hu'sbands  of  Sara,   &c.     Although    Satan   be  Christ's    retreat  into   the   desert  with  his  journey 
 
 bound  and  his  power  much  curbed  by  the  triumph  through    Galilee,  we  cannot   doubt  but  they  both 
 
 of  Christ  over  liim,  yet  he  is  permitted  by  God  to  happened  before  the  reprimand  given  to  the  Scribe, 
 
 continue,   in   some  degree,  the  mischievous   infJu-  as  mentioned  in  the  following  chapter.     St.  Mat- 
 
 ence  of  his  malice  against  men,  especially  such  as  thew,  however,  connects  it  with  what  we  have  just 
 
 are   wicked.      He  is   even   allowed  sometimes   to  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
 torment  them  by  corporal  possessions  and    obses-         t  This  was  a  provir.ce  of  Palestine  which  con- 
 
 sions.     In  the  former  case  he  seizes   on   some  of  tained  the  tribes  of  Issachar,  Zabulon,  Nephthali, 
 
 the   corporal   organs   or  senses  ;  in   the  latter,  he  and  Aser  towards  the  north,  with  part  of  Dan  and 
 
 represents  certain  images  as  present  to  the  eyes  or  Perea  beyond  the  Jordan.     It  was   generally   di- 
 
 imagination  with  an  invincible  obstinacy.     This  is  vided   into  two   parts,   the    Upper  and   the  Lower 
 
 confirmed  by  the   testimony  and  experience  of  all  Galilee:     the    former    was  called    Galilee  of    the 
 
 ages  and   nations.     Against  the  malignant  efforts  Gentiles,  Matt.  iv.  15.  either  because  it  was  chiefly 
 
Ch.  XXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  |23 
 
 all  manner  of  sickness  and  every  infirmity  among-  the  people,  and  casting  out  devils. 
 And  his  fame  went  throughout  all  Syria  ;  and  they  presented  to  him  all  sick  people  Mark  1. 
 that  were  taken  with  divers  diseases  and  torments,  and  such  as  were  possessed  by      ^^■ 
 devils,  and  lunatics,  and  those  that  had  the  palsy,  and  he  cured  them."  24 
 
 Although  the  power  of  Jesus  equally  extended  to  all  supernatural  works,  yet  we 
 may  observe,  that  he  gave  a  decided  preference  to  such  miracles  as  tended  to  relieve 
 mankind  from  pain  and  sickness  ;  omitting  others  which  would  merely  have  occasioned 
 fear,or  excited  curiosity  in  the  spectators.  Both  these  kinds  of  miracles,  indeed,  would 
 have  equally  testified  the  truth  of  his  doctrine,  and  have  vouched  for  his  omnipo- 
 tence ;  but  the  former  species  of  miracles  more  completely  answered  to  his  name  of 
 Jesus,  which  means  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  2.  As  the  object  of  Christ's  mission 
 was  to  deliver  souls  from  the  tyranny  of  the  devil,  from  the  disorders  of  their 
 passions,  and  from  the  death  of  their  sins,  so  he  acted  more  conformably  with  this 
 office,  by  expeUing  the  devil  from  the  bodies  of  them  that  were  possessed,  by  healing 
 such  as  were  sick,  and  by  raising  the  dead  to  life :  for  all  these  are  expressive 
 emblems  or  figures  of  the  various  diseased  states  of  the  soul  of  man.  3.  The  design 
 of  Christ's  coming  was  to  impart  his  graces  to  men  at  present,  with  a  promise  of 
 their  future  glory  and  happiness  :  now  the  healing  of  their  bodies  was  an  earnest  of 
 the  effect  of  grace  in  healing  their  souls  ;  the  temporal  benefits  which  he  bestowed, 
 were  pledges  of  eternal  goods  ;  and  this  humane  and  beneficent  line  of  conduct  was 
 better  adapted  to  win  the  love  and  confidence  of  mankind,  than  the  most  unheard-of 
 and  extraordinary  prodigies. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXX. 
 
 THREE  MEN  ARE  REPROVED  BY  JESUS.*      :\LA.TT.  VIII.       LUKE  IX. 
 
 "When  Jesus  had  ended  his  circuit  about  Galilee,  he  found  himself  near  to  the  sea 
 which  takes  its  name  from  that  country.     "■  And  seeing  the  great  multitudes  about 
 him,  he  gave  orders"  to  his  disciples  "  to  pass  over  the  water,"  in  order  to  disengage    "is", 
 himself  from  their  importunity.     He  had  likewise  in  view  the  deliverance  of" two 
 possessed  persons,  whom  the  devil  tormented  in  an  extraordinary  manner.     "  And 
 it  came  to  pass  as  they  walked  in  the  way.t  a  certain  Scribe  came  and  said  to  him  :      ^7. 
 Master,  I  will  follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  shalt  go."     One  of  the  disciples  of  ^'''""  ^' 
 Jesus  made  a  similar  offer  of  his  service  :  and  to  these  we  add  a  third,  in  order  that, 
 
 possessed  by  the   Gentiles  with  Jews  interspersed  necessary  to  interrupt  the  narrative  of  St.  Mark 
 
 an-.on^  them  ;   or  rather,  because  it  bordered  upon  and  St.  Luke. 
 
 Gentile  nations,   such   as  the  Piienicians,  Syrians,  f  St.  Luke  speaks  of  the  way  that  led  to  Jeru- 
 
 and  Arabians.     The   whole   country,  according  to  salein,  and  ne  cannot  doubt  that  one  or  other   of 
 
 Josepluis,  was  fruitful,  being-  well  cultivated  by  an  these  tl-.ree  events  (probably  the   third)  took   place 
 
 industrious  and  laborious  people.  when  Jesus  was  on  his   road   thither.     But   as  the 
 
 *  We  here  resume  the  narration  of  St.  Matthew,  Evangel'st  takes  occasion   to    mention  the  rebuke 
 
 who  connects  together  this  rebuke  uiven  by  Jesus  to  made  by  Jesus  to  the  Scribe  in  his  way  to  the  sea, 
 
 the  storm   appeased,  and  the  legion   of  devils  that  we  did'  not    think  proper   to   separate  these  three 
 
 were  driven  into  the  swine,  in  such  a  manner  that  reproofs,  though  in  fact  they  happened  in  different 
 
 they  cannot  well   be   separated.     It  was   therefore  times  and  places. 
 
 11-  2k 
 
 Matt.  8. 
 
 Luke  9 
 
 19 
 
20. 
 
 126  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXL 
 
 in  one  view,  may  be  seen  the  various  rebukes  g-iven  by  Jesus  to  different  persons, 
 according  to  their  respective  and  different  dispositions.  Of  these  persons  the  first 
 here  mentioned  was  the  Scribe,  who  had  his  mind  filled  with  the  ideas  of  the  temporal 
 king-dom  of  the  Messiah  :  he  therefore  made  a  tender  of  his  service,  merely  with  a 
 view  to  his  own  aggrandizement  in  the  world.  But  Jesus  discovers  his  interested 
 views,  "  and  saith  to  him  :  the  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests, 
 but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ;"  hereby  signifying  the  terms 
 upon  which  he  might  be  admitted  among  his  followers,  and  the  treatment  he  was 
 to  expect  in  his  society.  Upon  this,  the  Doctor  of  the  law,  as  may  be  easily  con- 
 jectured, retired  immediately  from  his  company,  not  a  little  disappointed  in  the 
 expectations  which  he  had  conceived  of  improving  his  worldly  fortune. 
 
 The  second  of  these,  according  to  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  was  St.  Philip,  who 
 
 was  already  in  the  number  of  Christ's  disciples.     Jesus  willing  to  attach  him  still 
 
 21.      more  to  his  service,  "  said  to  him  :  follow  me.     But  he  replied:  Lord,  let  me  first 
 
 22-      go  and  bury  my  father,"  just  now  dead.     "  But  Jesus  said  to  him  :  follow"  thou 
 
 "  me,  and  let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,"  i.  e.  let  men  of  the  world  who  are  spiritually 
 
 dead  in    sin,  bury  those  who  are   dead  both  corporally  and  spiritually.       By  this 
 
 answer  we  are  taught  that  of  two  incompatible  duties,  we  should  always  prefer  that 
 
 which  is  most  essentially  necessary,  and  that  which  regards  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
 
 salvation  of  souls.before  that  which  is  m^fcly  of  a  temporal  nature.  Moreover,  it  is  but 
 
 reasonable  to  lay  aside  such  duties  as  can  be  performed  by  others,  when  we  are  called 
 
 to  the  performance  of  duties  which  individually  belong  to  us,  and  to  our  state  and  calling. 
 
 I,uke9.       "  And  another,"  viz.  the  third  person,*  "  said  :  I  will  follow  thee.  Lord,  but  let 
 
 61.  mc  first  take  my  leave  of  them  that  are  at  my  house,"  and  dispose  of  my  effects. 
 
 62.  "  Jesus  said  to  him  :  no  man  putting  his  hand  to  the  ploughf  and  looking  back,  is 
 fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God."  If  then  you  desire  to  gain  admittance  there,  let  not 
 worldly  cares  engross  your  intention. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXL 
 
 CHRIST   APPE.^SES  A  VIOLENT  STORM.I       MATT.  VIII.    MARK  IV.    LUKE  VIII. 
 
 X.ul<e  8.  "  Os?i  certain  day,  when  evening  was  come,  he  went  into  the  boat,  and  his  disciples 
 22.  followed  him,  and  he  said  to  them  ;  let  us  go  over  to  the  other  side  of  the  lake. 
 35!      And  sending  away  the  multitude,"  they  launched  forth  into  the  deep,  "  and  there 
 
 *  ATro-a^a<T$ai  to«  els  toi>  o7k6i/  /lo,  which  may  worldly   concerns  ;    but   in   the   languajre    of  the 
 
 be  understood  either  of  persons  or   things,  as  we  apostie.  forgetting  those  things  that  are  behind,  and 
 
 have  >;ivtii  it  alxive.  stretching  forth  himaelf  to   those  which  are  before, 
 
 t  To  put  the  hand  to  the  jiloiigh,  is  a  proverbial  he  should  press  forv^nrd  towards  the  mark,  for  the 
 
 sayins:  to  di  note  the   beginnin;!;  of  any  enterprise,  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God   in    Christ  Jesus, 
 
 This  nnr  Saviour  applies  to  spiritual   husbandry,  Phil.  iii.  13. 
 
 and    thereby  gives  ns  to   understand,   that,  as   lie         J  It  is  clear  that  the  three   Evangelists  speak  of 
 
 who  undertakes  to  plough,  sliould  not  look  behind  the  same  storm,  because  in  each  the  object  of  Christ's 
 
 him,  lest  he  make  his  furrows  crooked  or  unequal ;  passage  is  the  same,  viz.  to  the   country  of  Gene- 
 
 so  he  that  engages  in  the  ministry  of  the   gospel,  sareth,  where  the  devils  were  driven  into  a  herd   of 
 
 should  not  suffer  himself  to  be   encumbered  with  swine. 
 
Ch.  XXXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  127 
 
 were  other  ships,"  wliich  accompanied  and  served  to  transport  part  of  the  crowd  that  Luke  8. 
 had  followed  him.     In  this  passage  across  the  sea  of  Galilee,  we  behold,  first,  in  ^.^^' . 
 regard  to  the  apostles,  the  weakness  and  timidity  of  human  nature  ;  and  secondly,      35. 
 the  commanding  power  which  Jesus  exerted  over  the  elements. 
 
 "  Aiid  when  tliey  were  sailing,"  he  slept,  being  extremely  fatigued  by  his  journey.and  Luke  8. 
 by  continually  preaching  to  the  people.    ''And  behold  a  great  tempest  arose  in  the  sea,  -^^^^  „ 
 and  there  came  clown  a"  prodigious  "  storm  of  wind  upon  the  lake,  and  the  waves  beat      24. 
 into  the  ship,  so  that  the  boat  was  covered"  with  them,  "  and  was  filled  with  water,  and  ^"itf  ^' 
 they  were  in"  immediate  "  danger"  of  sinking,  "  and  he  was  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  Mark  4. 
 ship,  sleeping  upon  a  pillow.  And  they  came  to  him,  and  awaked  him,  saying  :  Master,      ^7. 
 doth  it  not  concern  thee,  that  we  perish.    Lord  save  us,  we  perish."  Their  minds  were  Li^tg  g 
 in  the  present  moment,  it  seems,  no  less  agitated  by  fear  than  the  sea  was  agitated      23. 
 by  the  winds.     "  And  Jesus  saith  to  them  :  Why  are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of  little  faith.  ^  gg"^   ' 
 Then  rising  up,  he  rebuked  the  wind  and  the  rage  of  the  water,  and  said  to  the  sea  :  Matt.  8. 
 Peace,  be  still,  and  the  wind  ceased,  and  there  was  made  a  great  calm.     And"  again  ,r~^"  , 
 
 •*  .  .  iViarK  4. 
 
 rebuking  them  for  their  want  of  confidence  in  his  protection,   "  he  said  to  them  :      38. 
 Why  are  you  fearful?  Have  you  not  faith?  Where  is"  now  "  your  faith,''  that  faith  ^^^'l*  ^' 
 which  you  flattered  yourself  was  proof  against  all  trials  and  difficulties  ?     "  And  the  Matt.  8. 
 men"  in  the  ship  "  wondered,  and  feared  exceedingly  ;  and  they  said  one  to  another :      ^6. 
 Who  is  this  that  coiTimandeth  the  winds  and  the  sea?*  for  they  obey  him"  as  their      39 
 Lord  and  Master.  4o. 
 
 The  holy  Fathers  explain  this  historical  narration  in  an  allegorical  sense,  and  con-       35 
 template  herein  this  busy  agitated  world  under  the  figure  of  the  sea  ;  under  the  Matt.  8. 
 figure  of  the  vessel  they  view  the  Church,  always  tossed  about  and  subject  to  severe  jyjar^'4 
 trials  permitted  by  the  Almighty ;  the  sudden  storm  they  consider  as  the  figure  of  the      40, 
 persecutions  of  tyrants  and  wicked  men  ;  in  the  sleep  of  Jesus,  they  view  the  patience  ^"^^^  ^' 
 and  forbearance  of  God  for  a  certain  time  ;  in  the  cries  of  the  alarmed  disciples,  the  Matt.  s. 
 earnest  prayers  of  the  faithful ;  in  the  awakening  of  Jesus,  the  succour  afforded  by      "•''• 
 him  to  his  suffering  Church ;  and  in  the  ensuing  calm,  the  never-ending  peace  of  a 
 happy  eternity. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXH. 
 
 JESUS  EXPELS  A  LEGION   OF  DEVILS,|  AND  PERMITS  A  HERD  OF  SWINE  TO  BE  PRECIPI- 
 TATED INTO  THE  SEA.      MATT.  VIII.    MARK  V.    LUKE  VIII. 
 
 When  the  storm  was  now  quelled,  Jesus  and  his  disciples  having  passed  the  night 
 
 *  The  stilliupr  of  the  raging  sea  was  so  peculiar  St.  Luke  only  of  one.     The  difficulty  is  thus  solved 
 
 a  prerog-ative  of  God,  (Ps.  xc.  9    Ps.  cviii.  25,  29.)  by  St.  Austin,  (1.  2.  de  Consen.  Evan;,^  c.  24.)  viz. 
 
 that  it  is  no  way  surprisinij,  that  our  Saviour's  dis-  that  Mark  and  Luke  only  make  mention  of  one,  as 
 
 ciples  and  others  should  be  convinced  of  a  divine  being  more  generally  known  and  particularly  friijht- 
 
 power  residing  in  him  who  was  able  to  effect  this  ful  in  the  neighbourhood.     As  to  the  country  ot^the 
 
 by  a  single  word.  Gerasens,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  in  the  G"reek  of 
 
 t  The  three   Evangelists  agree  in  the   expulsion  St.  Matthew,  they  are  called  Gergesenes,  from   the 
 
 of  the  legion   of  devils,   except  that   St.    Madhew  celebrated   town   of  Gergesa  beyond   the  Jordan; 
 
 makes  mention  of  two  demoniacs,  and  St.  Mark  and  but  in  the  Greek  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  thev  are 
 
Mark  5. 
 
 Mark  5. 
 3, 
 
 128  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXII. 
 
 Mark  5.  upoii  the  sca,  "  came"  the  next  morning  "^  over  the  strait  of  the  sea  into  the  country 
 '•  of  tlie  Gerasens,"  which  is  situated  in  the  tribe  of  Manasses,  "  and  which  is  over 
 against  Galilee."  A  remarkable  instance  was  here  displayed,  1.  Of  the  implacable 
 enmity  which  the  devils  bear  to  mankind.  2.  Of  the  merciful  protection  of  Jesus 
 against  their  malicious  efforts.  3.  Of  the  black  ingratitude  of  mankind  towards 
 Jesus. — The  fury  of  the  devils  had  expelled  two  men  from  all  civil  society ;  the 
 mercy  of  Jesus  expelled  these  wicked  sj)irits  from  this  unjust  possession  ;  and  the 
 ingratitude  of  the  Gadarians  expelled  Jesus  from  their  territories. 
 ,    .  ,    •      /.      "  And  as  he  went  out  of  the  ship  and  came  to  land,  there  met  him 
 
 1.  A  legion  of  t  ' 
 
 devils  is  expel-  two"  men  "  that  were  possessed  with  devils,  coming  out  of  the  sepul- 
 
 Lnke  8.  hd.  chres,  exceeding  fierce,  so  that  none  could  pass  that  way.  And  behold/' 
 
 Matt.  8.  one  of  them  in  particular,  "  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit,  who  was  possessed  now 
 
 28.      for  a  long  time,"  was  to  all  a  frightful  object,  "  and  he  wore  no  clothes,  neither  did 
 
 Luice  8    ^'^  abide  in  a  house,  but  had  his  dwelling  in  the  tombs,"  which  being  out  of  the  city, 
 
 27.      and  built  in  the  form  of  vaulted  caverns,  were  a  fit  habitation  for  the  unclean  spirits 
 
 that  possessed  him.    "  And  no  man  could  bind  him,  not  even  with  chains :    for 
 
 4.  having  been  often  bound  with  fetters  and  chains,  he  had  burst  the  chains  and  broken 
 
 5.  the  fetters  in  pieces,  and  no  one  could  tame  him.  And  he  was  always  day  and 
 night  in  the  monuments  and  in  the  mountains,  crying,  and  cutting  himself  with 
 stones."  Thus  there  was  never  perhaps  seen  a  more  horrid  object^  nor  one  more 
 deserving  pity.  He  truly  exhibited  a  lively  rei)resentation  of  the  cruel  tyranny  which 
 the  devils  are  permitted  to  exercise  in  this  life  over  sinners,  and  of  that  which  they 
 
 6.  will  for  ever  exercise  over  them  in  the  next  world.  "  And  seeing  Jesus  afar  off,  he 
 Luke  8.  ^a„  jj„^  fgii  ^oyfn  before  him,  and  adored  him,"  acknowledging  by  this  mark  of 
 Mark  5.  respect  the  superior  power  of  Jesus,  against  which  he  and  his  numberless  associates 
 
 6-  could  make  no  resistance.  "  And  crying  out  with  a  loud  voice,  he  said  :  what  have 
 28*^  ^'  I  to  do  with  thee,  Jesus,  Son  of  the  most  High  God  ?  Art  thou  come  hither  to  tor- 
 Matt.  8.  ment  us  before  the  time?*  I  adjure  thee,  by  God,  that  thou  torment  me  not.  But 
 he  commanded  the  unclean  spirit  to  go  out  of  the  man,  and  asked  him,  saying: 
 
 7.  What  is  thy  name  ?  But  he  said  to  him  :  my  name  is  Legion,!  for  we  are  many, 
 Q        because,"  in  effect,  "  many  devils  had  entered  into  him.    And  he  besought  him  much, 
 
 Luke  8.  that  he  would  not  drive  him  away  out  of  the  country,  and  command  him  to  go  into 
 
 ,,^*j'-      the  abyss"  of  hell.     It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  city  of  Gadara  was  yet  immersed  in 
 
 10.      idolatry,  as  appears  from  Josephus,  and  therefore  the  odour  of  its  sacrifices  offered 
 
 Luke  8   ^f)  devils,  could  not  fail  of  being  highly  grateful  to  them.    Moreover,  it  is  the  greatest 
 
 pleasure  of  these  wicked  spirits  to  continue  here  among  mankind  in  order  to  tempt 
 
 them  to  sin,  and  thus  involve  them  in  their  own  miserable  damnation. 
 
 called  Gadarenians  from  Gadara,  which   is  at  no  *  That  is  before  the  time  of  the   last  judgment, 
 
 great  distance  from  Gergesa  or  Gerasa,  both  places  when  the  devils  are  to  be  eternally  punished,  or  as 
 
 beins'    situated    within  "the    district   of  Decapolis.  the  scripture  expresses  it,  to  be  cast  into  the  lake  of 
 
 Wherefore,  as  it  is  of  the  same  country  Uie  Evan-  Jire  and  brimstone  for  ever. 
 
 gelists   speak,  sometimes   by  one  name,  sometimes  t  Legion   is    a  military  term,    and    according  to 
 
 by  another,  the  Vulgate  as  well   as   several   Greek  St.  Jerom   in   (Matt,  xxvii.)  and  Vegetius   (de  re 
 
 MSS.   make  use  of  the   same  name  of  Gerasens  Militari,  1.  2.  c.  2.)  comprised  six  thousand  men. 
 throughout. 
 
 29. 
 Mark  5 
 
 30. 
 
Ch.  XXXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  Jgg 
 
 "  And  there  was  not  far  from*  them,  near  the  mountain,  a  great      .^   y/^^s^j-^g  Matt.  8. 
 
 herd  of  swine  feeding-:  and  all  the  spirits  besought  him  that  he  would  arc  precipitated      30. 
 
 suffer  them  to  enter  into  them  ;  saying,  if  thou  cast  us  out  hence,  send  "''°  ''"^  '^"-        ^^^2.  ^ 
 
 us  [i.  e.  permit  us  to  go]  into  the  herd  of  swine"  there  grazing,  "  that  we  may  enter  IMatt.  8. 
 
 into  them  :''  a  most  humiliating  petition  this  on  the  part  of  those  sublime  spirits,  who  ^j^^^j.'  ^ 
 
 had  heretofore  aspired  to  the  throne  of  God.     "  And  Jesus  immediately  gave  them      12. 
 
 leave,"  that  by  abandoning  these  swine  to  the  fury  of  the  devils,  he  might  show  men  t.|/^'q 
 
 the  great  favour  he  did  them,  in  delivering  them  from  the  tyranny  of  these  evil      32! 
 
 spirits.  "  And  he  said  to  them,  go  ;  and  the  unclean  spirits  going  out  entered  into  the  ^^^^^  ^• 
 
 swine,  and  the  whole  herd  ran  violently  down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea,  being  about  Matt.  8. 
 
 two  thousand,  and  were  stifled,  and"  thus  "  they  perished  in  the  waters.     Which      32- 
 
 when  they  that  fed  them  saw  done,  they  fled"  in  great  haste,  "  and  carried  the  news      \^ 
 
 into  the  city,  and  into  the  fields  and  villages.     And  they  told  every  thing,"  in  order  Matt.  8. 
 
 to  their  own  vindication,  "as  also  concerning  those  who  had  been  possessed  with  Lyj^'go 
 
 devils,"  how  their  deliverance  had  been  the  true  cause  of  the  catastrophe.     "  And"      34. 
 
 many  went  forth  to  see  what  was  done,  and  they  came  to  Jesus  ;  and  found  the  man,    ^"'  ^* 
 
 out  of  whom  the  devils  had  departed,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  clothed  and  in  his  Markand 
 
 right  mind,  and  they  were  afraid.     And  they,  who  had  seen"  it,  "  told  them  how  it  J^'^^^' 
 
 had  been  done  to  him  that  had  the  devil,"  and  "  how  he  had  been  delivered  from  the      33. 
 
 legion,"  and  also  "  concerning'  the  swine.     And  behold  the  whole  city  went  out  to  ^"'^^  ^• 
 
 .  35 
 
 meet  Jesus,  and  when  they  saw  him,"  very  ungrateful  for  the  favour  he  had  done      35 
 
 to  their  distressed  countrymen,  they  "  besought  him  that  he  would      3.  TheGera-  Mark  5. 
 
 depart  from  their  coast,  for  they  were  taken  with  great  fear:"  appre-  "f^  <^l/''-\<^  J^sus       6. 
 
 ,         .  {•  [■      ^  ■  ■  •  ■  .  jrom  their  C0U71-  ijuke  o. 
 
 hensive  perhaps  of  yet  further  disasters  either  in  their  goods  or  in  their  try.  36. 
 
 persons.t     "  And  he  going  into  a  ship,  returned  back  again,"  having  thus  executed     Ye  ^' 
 what  had  been  the  object  of  his  journey  :  "  and  when  he  went  into  the  ship,  he  that  Matt.  8. 
 had  been  troubled  with  the  devil,  began  to  beseech  him  that  he  might  remain  with      ^^' 
 him.     And  Jesus"  considering  his  late  condition  as  a  kind  of  irregu-      4.  Jesus  does      37. 
 larity,  "  admitted  him  not"  into  the  number  of  his  disciples  :   "  but  "°'  p^mit  the  Mark  5. 
 
 •  I      r  ^  man  to  accom-        jg 
 
 said  to  him  :  Go  into  thy  house  to  thy  friends,  and  tell  them,  how  great  pany  him.  19] 
 
 things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  thee,  and"  how  "  he  hath  had  compassion  on  thee. 
 And  he,"  full  of  gratitude,  "  went  through  the  whole  city,  and  began  to  publish  in  Luke  8. 
 Decapolis,  how  great  things  Jesus  had  done  for  him,  and  all  persons  admired''  his  „,^^  , 
 
 ,,.,,.  ^  Mark  5 
 
 wonderful  narrative.  20^ 
 
 *  In  the  Greek   it  is  ijv  Je  fiaKpav,  erat  autem  kind.     We  cannot  but  pity  the  wretched  blindness 
 
 \ongc  ;  but  it  reads  better  with  a  negative,  as  in  the  of  the  Gerasens  in  drivinp-  .Tesus  from  their  coasts. 
 
 Vulgate,  and  this  Beza  himself  acknowledges.  As  a  just  judgment  of  God,  their  city  was  the  first 
 
 t  It  is  observed  that  all  Christ's  miracles,  except  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans  in  the  fatal 
 
 this  and  the  blasted  fig-tree,  were  of  the  beneficent  war  under  Vespasian. 
 
 12 
 
 2l 
 
130  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXIII 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
 
 JESUS  CURES  A  MAN  SICK  OF  THE  PALSY.*      MATT.  IX.    MARK  V.  AND  II. 
 LUKE  VIII.    AND  V. 
 
 Mark .5. 21.  "  And  wlicii  Jcsus  had  Tcpassed  the  water  in  the  ship,  a  great  multitude  assembled 
 Luke 8. 40.  together  unto  him,  and  received  him"  with  joy,  "  for  they  were  all  waitino-  for  hira. 
 Mark  2.1.  And  hc  again  entered  Capharnaum,"  which  St.   Matthew  styles  his   own  country, 
 2.       because  he  had  chosen  it  for  his  more  ordinary  place  of  residence.     "  And  it  came 
 to  pass  on  a  certain  day,  it  being  heard  that  he  was  in  the  house,  many  came  too-e- 
 Luke5.i7.  ther,  so  that  there  was  no  room,  not  even  at  the  door,  as  he  sat  teaching ;  and  the 
 Pharisees  and  Doctors  of  the  law  were"  also  "  sitting  by,  who  had  come  out  of  every 
 town  of  Galilee,  and  Judea,  and  from  Jerusalem,"  to  hear  and  judge  of  his  doctrine. 
 Mark  2.3.  "  And  he  spoke  to  them  the  word  of  God,  and  the  power  of  the  Lord  was  for  healino- 
 Luke  5. 17.  them" t  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  applied  to  him  under  their  several  maladies.     On 
 this  occasion,  the  faith  of  a  man  afflicted  with  the  palsy  claims  particularly  our  atten- 
 tion ;  for  in  recompense  of  this  faith  he  received  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  as  well 
 as  the  perfect  cure  of  his  disorder. 
 
 18.  "  And  behold  some  men  brought  a  man  who  was  ill  of  the  palsy.J  lying  in  a  bed, 
 Malk2.3.  carried  by  four,  and  they  sought  means  to  bring  him  in,  and  to  lay  him  before  hira  : 
 LukeS.  13.  aijj  when  they  could  not  find  by  what  way  they  might  bring  him,  because  of  the  mul- 
 
 19.  titnde,  they  went  up  upon  the  roof,"  which,  as  usual  in  the  East,  was  almost  flat,  and 
 Luke  5. 19.  surrounded  by  a  balustrade  ;  "  and  they  uncovered  the  roof  where  he  was,  and  open- 
 Li^etig.  i"o  '*'  through  the  tiles  they  let  down  the  bed  wherein  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy  lay, 
 Matf^g  "  '"^^  ^''^  midst  before  Jesus,  who  having  seen  their  faith,  said  to"  him  :  "  be  of  good 
 Mark  2. 6.  couragB,  SOU,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee.     And  there  were  some  of  the  Scribes  sitting 
 
 Luke,  there  and  Pharisees  ;"  who  "  began  to  think  in  their  hearts,  saying  within  themselves  : 
 Mark  2.  ?!  Why  doth  this  man  speak  thus  ?  Who  is  this,  who  speaketh  blasphemies  ?  Who  can 
 jj^'^j^g'g'- forgive  sins,  but  God  alone  ?  He  blasphemeth.§  Which  Jesus  presently  knowing 
 Mark  2. 8.  \yy  jjig  spirit,  that  they  so  thought  within  themselves,  he  saith  to  them  :  Why  think 
 Mark  2. 9.  you  these  thiiigs  in  your  hearts  ?  Why  think  you  evil  in  your  hearts  ?  Which  is  easier 
 
 *  The  history  of  the  paralytic  seems  to  claim  a         f  The  relative  them  (eos)  is  to  be  referred  not  to 
 
 place  here,  because  St.  Matthew  joins  it  with   his  the  Pharisees,  but  to  the  people  of  the  country.     A 
 
 own  callinoj,  with  the  dispute   concerning  fasting,  similar  mode  of  expression  frequently  occurs.     See 
 
 and  the  coming  of  Jairus  to  Jesus,  in  such  a  man-  chap.  39.  Matt.  ver.  9.  chap.  36.  ver.  L  and  chap, 
 
 ner  that  the  cure  of  the  paralytic  immediately  fol-  76.  John  ver.  44. 
 
 lows  the  expulsion  of  devils,  as  related  above,  and  \  This  distemper  is  reckoned  above  the  power  of 
 the  arrival  of  Jairus  must  necessarily  have  been  at  medicine  to  remove,  and  yet  our  Saviour  cured  it 
 the  conclusion  of  the  dispute  concerning  fasting;  several  times  merely  by  a  word, 
 for  St.  Matthew  says  :  As  he  was  speaking  these  §  Blasphemy  means  any  unworthy  and  injurious 
 things,  behold  a  ruler  of  the  synagogue  came,  Sfc.  language  concerning  God's  nature  or  attributes,  as 
 What  gave  occasion  to  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  to  when  we  ascribe  to  him  such  qualities  as  are  re- 
 place the  history  of  Jairus  immediately  after  that  of  pugnant  to  him,  or  rob  him  of  those  which  are 
 the  herd  of  swine,  as  if  he  found  Jesus  at  the  mo-  essential  to  his  divinity,  e.  g.  to  ascribe  to  God  the 
 ment  of  his  landing,  was  this,  that  he  afterwards  infirmities  of  man,  or  to  man  the  perfections  of 
 did  in  reality  find  him  on  the  same  shore,  as  ap-  God.  This  is  the  nature  of  the  sin,  the  punishment 
 pears  from  St.  Mark,  who  says  before  relating  the  of  which,  under  the  old  law,  was  stoning  without 
 history  of  Jaicus,  that  Jesus  was  nigh  unto  the  sea,  the  gates  of  the  city.  Lev.  xxiv.  15,  16. 
 
Cli.  XXXIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  131 
 
 to  say  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy :  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee/*  or  to  say,  arise,  take  up 
 thy  bed  and  walk."     Although  these  two  efforts  of  power,  in  point  of  difficulty,  be 
 nearly  equal,  yet  there  is  this  difference  between  them,  that  the  cure  of  the  palsy  is  a 
 thing  which  strikes  the  senses,  and  in  which  no  one  can  be  imposed  upon  :  whereas 
 in  the  former  case,  the  object,  which  is  the  remission  of  sins,  is  not  visible  to  the 
 human  eye,  and  therefore  deception  is  more  easy.     But  the  person  who  can  perform 
 the  second  effect,  which  is  obvious  to  the  senses,  ought  to  be  implicitly  credited 
 when  he  attributes  to  himself  the  former  power,  viz.  that  of  forgiving  sins,  which 
 is  in  itself  invisible.     Wherefore,  to  convince  them,  that  ho  being  the  Son  of  Man, 
 had  a  real  and  effectual  power  of  forgiving  sins,  he  undertakes  to  cure  the  sick  man 
 in  their  presence.     "  But  that  you  may  know,"  says  he,  "  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath      lo. 
 power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  he  saith  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy  :  I  say  to  thee,  arise,      ii. 
 take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  into  thy  house."     The  paralytic  obeyed  the  command  of  Luke  5. 
 Jesus,  "  and  immediately  rising  up  before  them,  he  took  up  the  bed  in  which  he  lay,      ^^• 
 and  went  away  in  the  sight  of  all.     And  the  multitude  seeing  it,  feared,  and  all  were      Ts. 
 astonished,  and  they  glc rifled  God,"  that  gave  such  power  to  men.     "■  And  they  Matt.9.8. 
 were  filled  with  fear,  saying:  we  have  seen  wonderful  things  to  day,"  and  "  never     \q^' 
 before  saw  the  like"  to  them.  iviatt.g.s. 
 
 We  may  observe  in  the  above-mentioned  cure,  that  Jesus  enjoined  the  paralytic  ^"i^g  ^' 
 three  things,  which  were  naturally  impossible  to  him  in  his  debilitated  state.  The  first  Mark  2. 
 was  that  of  standing  upright ;  the  second  was  to  take  his  bed  upon  his  back  ;  and  ^^* 
 Jest  this  might  be  considered  as  a  passing  effort  of  nature,  the  third  was  to  walk 
 away  thus  loaded  to  his  own  home.  These  three  circumstances  or  gradations  risino- 
 one  above  the  other,  I  mean  health,  strength,  and  labour,  rendered  his  cure  indispu- 
 table, and  were  consequently  an  evident  demonstration  of  the  remission  of  his  sins, 
 which  being  inward  was  not  to  be  perceived  by  the  eye.  In  like  manner  we  may 
 remark,  that  these  three  circumstances  which  served  as  proofs  both  of  the  corporal 
 and  spiritual  cure  of  this  paralytic,  are  still,  in  our  regard,  the  most  unerring  marks  of 
 our  sins  being  forgiven.  A  spiritual  palsy  is  a  habit  of  vice  ;  the  soul  is  cured  of 
 this  malady  by  a  renewal  of  the  love  of  God  ;  this  renewed  strength  is  shown  in  the 
 sinner's  subduing  his  passions,  and  applying  himself  to  the  practice  of  good  works. 
 Wherefore  to  be  restored  to  health  in  a  spiritual  sense,  the  sinner  must  be  raised  up 
 from  the  palsy  of  sin,  which  affects  the  soul ;  by  the  love  of  God  he  is  to  be  restored 
 to  life,  and  replaced  again  in  the  state  of  grace.  The  strength  which  he  now  regains 
 will  enable  him  to  carry  that  bed  which  previously  carried  him,  i.  e.  he  will  now 
 become  master  of  those  passions  which  have  hitherto  tyrannized  over  him ;  and 
 lastly,  he  will  be  enabled  to  set  his  hands  to  work  by  the  daily  and  laborious  practice 
 of  Cliristian  duties. 
 
 *  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  Christ  in  curing  the     friveness  of  their  sins.    See  Saint  Tiiomas,  3d  Part, 
 sick  of  their  bodily  distempers,  generally  imparted     Q.  44.  Ar.  3. 
 to  them  likewise  the  health  of  the  soul,  by  the  for- 
 
LiiUe  5. 
 
 •27. 
 
 Mark  2. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 Matt.  9. 
 
 9. 
 
 laike  5. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 132  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXIV. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
 
 JESUS  CALLS  MATTHEW,  EATS  WITH   PUBLICANS  AND  SINNERS,   AND  VINDICATES  HIS 
 DISCIPLES  IN  NOT  FASTING.      MATT.   IX.    MARK  II.    LUKE  V. 
 
 The  gospel  here  places  before  us  Jesus,  1.  Calling-  a  publican  to  the  apostleship  ;  2. 
 Justifying  his  own  conduct  against  such  as  censured  it ;  3.  Justifying  his  disciples 
 against  the  misrepresentations  of  those  who  envied  their  happiness.  We  shall  view 
 him  never  losing  sight  of  the  mercy  and  compassion  so  congenial  to  his  character, 
 either  whilst  he  confers  the  highest  dignity  in  the  Church  upon  a  person  who  by 
 merit  had  no  claim  to  it,  or  whilst  he  shuts  the  mouth  of  calumny,  and  condescends 
 to  justify  his  own  personal  conduct  against  the  attacks  of  envy  and  ignorance. 
 
 "  And  after  these  things,  he  went  forth  again  to  the  sea  side,"  not  so  much  to  take 
 the  air  after  his  fatigue,  as  to  perform  a  work  of  mercy  which  he  had  in  view.  "  And 
 all  the  multitude  came  to  him,  and  he  taught  them"  as  usual  the  way  of  salvation. 
 "  And  as  he  was  passing  by"  the  quay  "  he  saw  Levi  the  son  of  Alpheus,  a  pub- 
 lican," or  tax-gatherer  by  profession.*  He  was  likewise  "  called  Matthew,"  and 
 was  "  sitting  at  the  custom-house ;  and"  Jesus  "  saith  to  him  :  Follow  me.  And 
 havino-  left  all,  he  rose  up  and  followed  him."  Without  doubt  he  had  often  before 
 heard  Jesus  preach,  and  had  been  charmed  with  his  doctrine  ;  and  St.  Jerom  is  of 
 opinion,  that  a  certain  amiable  brightness  and  air  of  majesty  which  shone  in  the 
 countenance  of  our  divine  Redeemer,  pierced  his  soul  on  this  occasion,  and  strongly 
 attracted  him  to  his  service. f  It  is  probable  that  Jesus  allowed  him  previously  to 
 settle  his  accounts  Vt'ith  his  employers,  not  to  afford  to  the  Pharisees  a  cause  of 
 calumniating-  him  on  the  subject  of  taxes,  which  however  was  afterwards  made  a 
 29.  principal  accusation  against  him.  "  And  Levi,"  considering  himself  highly  honoured 
 in  being  called  to  be  one  of  Christ's  disciples,  ''  made  him  a  great  feast  in  his  house," 
 MM.  9  to  testify  his  gratitude  and  joy.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  as  he  was  at  table  in  the 
 ,,^*^-      house,  behold  many  publicans  and  sinners  came  and  were  at  table  with  Jesus  and  his 
 
 15.  disciples  ;  for  there  were  many  that  followed  him."     Of  these  some  were  probably 
 Matthew's  friends,  whom  he  invited  with  the  hope  that  by  our  Saviour's  divine  con- 
 
 16.  versation,  they  might  also  be  converted,  "  And  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees 
 Luke  5.  seeing  that  he  ate  with  publicans  and  sinners,  murmured,  saying  to  his  disciples : 
 Mark  2.  Why  do  you  eat  and  drink  with  publicans  and  sinners?  and  why  doth  your  master" 
 
 1^-  likewise  "  eat  and  drink"  with  them  ?  "  Jesus  hearing  this,  answering  said  to  them  : 
 Matt.  9.  They  who  are  in  health  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  who  are  ill.     Go  and  learn 
 
 13.^    what  means  this  saying"  of  holy  scripture;  "  I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacritice," 
 
 and  then  you  will  know  why  I  eat  with  publicans,  and  that  in  this  I  only  do  the  will 
 
 Luke  5.  of  my  Father  who  sent  me  principally  for  them  :  "  for  I  came  not  to  call  the  just, 
 
 ^^-      but  sinners  to  repentance." 
 
 *    Tliey   who    followed   the   profession    of  tax-         t  But  the  great  cause  of  his  wonoerful  conver- 
 
 gatherers    were,   as    such,   detested  by   the  Jews,  sion  was,  as   Bede   remarks,  that  when  he   called 
 
 bein!j  the  agents  or  commissaries   of  the  Roman  him  outwardly  by  his  word,  at  the  same   time   he 
 
 kiiishts  ;  hence  for  a  Jew  to  act  this  part  against  moved  him  inwardly  by  the  invisible  instinct  of  his 
 
 his  ecuntrymen,  was  considered  infamous.  grace. 
 
 Osee  6. 
 6. 
 
Cli.  XXXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  ]33 
 
 Commerce  with  idolaters  was  forbidden  the  Jews,  for  fear  of  the  contagion  of  vice 
 by  evil  company.  This  law  the  prond  Pharisees  extended  not  only  beyond  its 
 bounds,  but  even  against  the  essential  laws  of  charity,  the  first  among  the  divine 
 precepts.  Yet  this  nicety  they  called  the  strict  observance  of  the  law,  on  which  they 
 prided  themselves ;  whereas  in  the  sight  of  God  it  was  hypocrisy  and  pride,  which 
 degraded  their  pretended  righteousness  beneath  the  state  of  the  most  scandalous  sin- 
 ners. They  scorned  to  converse  with  sinners  even  for  the  sake  of  reclaiming  them, 
 which  the  law  however,  so  far  from  forbidding,  required  as  the  first  and  most  excel- 
 lent of  its  precepts.  Christ  came  from  heaven,  and  clothed  himself  with  our  mortality, 
 through  the  most  tender  compassion  for  sinners:  he  burned  continually  with  the 
 most  ardent  thirst  for  their  salvation  ;  and  it  was  his  greatest  delight  to  converse  with 
 those  that  were  sunk  in  the  deepest  abyss,  in  order  to  bring  them  to  repentance  and 
 salvation.  How  affectionately  he  cherished,  and  how  tenderly  he  received  those  that 
 were  sincerely  converted  to  him,  he  has  expressed  by  the  most  affecting  parables ;  and 
 of  this  St.  Matthew  is,  among  others,  an  admirable  instance. 
 
 Our  Blessed  Saviour  having  proved  to  the  Pharisees  how  irreproachable  his  con- 
 duct was  with  regard  to  this  intercourse  with  sinners,  they  made  a  second  attack 
 upon  him,  by  laying  to  his  charge  the  good  cheer  of  his  disciples,  which  they  con- 
 trasted with  his  saying,  that  he  was  come  to  call  sinners  to  repentance ;  thus  endea- 
 vouring to  show  that  his  actions  did  not  correspond  with  his  words.  Of  the  good 
 cheer  in  question,  they  had  a  recent  proof  in  the  plentiful  feast  given  by  St.  Matthew, 
 at  which  Jesus  and  his  disciples  assisted.  Nothing  could  be  more  artful  than  their 
 policy  in  this  instance.  On  the  former  occasion  they  had  addressed  themselves  to 
 his  disciples  and  not  to  Jesus  ;  here  they  do  not  appear  as  the  chief  accusing  parties, 
 but  bring  forward  in  their  stead  the  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist,  with  whom  they 
 made  a  common  cause,  and  who  seem  to  have  taken  umbrage  at  the  feast  given  by  a 
 Publican.  This  accounts  for  St.  Matthew  attributing  the  attack  in  question  to  the 
 disciples  of  John,  whilst  St.  Luke  considers  the  Pharisees  as  the  authors  of  it,  and 
 St.  Mark  places  it  to  both  parties,  it  being  evident  that  the  disciples  of  John  acted 
 chiefly  at  the  instigation  of  the  Pharisees. 
 
 "  Then  came  to  him  the  disciples  of  John,"  viz.  at  his  departure  out  of  Matthew's   j^j^tt.  9. 
 
 house,  "  and  likewise  the  Pharisees  who  used  to  fast,  saving- :  Why  do  the  disciples      14. 
 
 of  John  fast  frequently,  and  practise  praying,  and  likewise  those  of  the  Pharisees  :      jg 
 
 but  thine  eat  and  drink,  and  fast  not  ?  Jesus  answered  them  :  Can  vou  make  the  Luke  5. 
 
 33 
 children  of  the  bridegroom*  fast?    Can  the  companions  of  the  bridegroom  mourn,  as  ,j^  ^.2 
 
 long  as  the  bridegroom   is  with  them?"  No,  certainly:   "  as  long  as  they  have  the      19. 
 
 bridegroom  with  them,  they  cannot  fast :"  so  as  long  as  I  am  with  my  disciples,  they      .^^  ^" 
 
 cannot  fast  and  weep.     "  But  the  days  will  come  when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  Matt.  9. 
 
 from  them"  by  death,  "  and  then  they  shall  fast  in  those  days."     Jesus  became  the  ,,'''• 
 
 »  •'  ^  _  Murk  2, 
 
 bridegroom  of  the  Church  by  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  his  nuptials  contiinied  19 
 during  the  three  years  of  his  mission,  and  in  heaven  they  will  be  consummated  for  all  20. 
 eternity. 
 
 *  The  Baptist  ill  his  discourse  to  his  disciples  had     with  great  propriety,  here  designedly  makes   the 
 compared  our  Saviour  to  a  bridegroom,  and  himself    same  allusion. 
 to  his  friend,  John  iii.  29,  and  therefore  our  Saviour, 
 
 12.  2  M 
 
134  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXV. 
 
 Liike  5.       "  And  he  proposed  to  them"  also  this  "  similitude.     No  maij  puttetli  u  piece," 
 ^^'      taken  "  from  a  new  coat  into  an  old  coat ;  for  so  he  both  breaketh  the  new,  and  the 
 
 Matt  9.  patch  from  the  new  suiteth  not  with  the  old  :  for  it  taketh  away  the  fulness  tliereof 
 fnim  the  garment,  and  there  is  made  a  greater  rent."  This  comparison  of  the  old 
 garment  represents  the  disciples  of  Jesus  as  yet  accustomed  to  the  life  of  the  old 
 man.  The  piece  of  new  cloth  represents  the  fasts  and  austerities  of  the  new  law. 
 The  holes  in  the  garment  which  would  be  rendered  wider,  represent  the  bad  eifects 
 which  would  have  ensued  to  his  disciples  from  imposing  new  rigours  on  them  in  their 
 present  weak  state,  tending  more  to  discourage  than  to  increase  their  fervour. 
 
 Jesus  next  draws  a  comparison  from  the  conduct  observed  by  those  persons  who 
 
 Luke  5.  manage  the  vintages.  "  No  one,"  says  he,  "  puttetli  new  wine  into  old  casks,"  made 
 ^^-  of  leather  or  skin,  "  for  so  the  new  wine"  fermenting  "  breaketh  the  casks,  and  it 
 will  be  spilled,  and  the  casks  lost,"  which  miglit  otherwise  have  served  for  old  wine. 
 Thus  it  was  with  the  disciples  of  Jesus  in  respect  to  the  austerities  of  the  new  law  : 
 they  were,  at  that  period,  no  more  suited  to  undergo  rigours  than  old  and  half-worn 
 vessels  were  calculated  for  the  holding  of  wine,  which  from  its  newness  was  in  a  state 
 of  fermentation.  As  wine  in  this  state  would  inevitably  burst  asunder  these  old  ves- 
 sels, so  austerities  and  fasts,  to  any  great  excess,  would  have  caused  the  disciples  in 
 
 38.  their  actual  feeble  state,  to  abandon  their  new  undertaking.  "  But  new  wine,"  says 
 Christ,  "  is  to  be  put  into  new  casks,  and  both  will  be  preserved :"  so  in  like  manner 
 let  my  disciples  be  first  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  then  they  will  be  enabled 
 
 39.  to  undergo  the  greatest  rigours  of  penance.  "  And  no  one  that  drinketh  old  wine, 
 hath  presently  a  mind  to  new  :  for  he  says;  the  old  is  better."  This  last  comparison 
 is  drawn  from  the  medical  science,  and  from  that  care  which  each  man  takes  of  his 
 own  health.  They  who  are  in  the  habit  of  using  aged  wine  for  their  beverage,  do  not 
 willingly  change  it  for  new,  the  former  being  deemed  more  wholesome  from  its  being 
 riper  and  less  heady.  This  aged  wine  represents  to  us  the  Old  Testament,  which 
 was  proportioned  to  the  weak  state  of  the  Jews,  who  were  chiefly  influenced  by  ser- 
 vile principles  :  but  the  new  wine  is  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  inebriating  the  heart 
 with  a  love  which  despises  death,  which  pays  no  regard  to  the  ties  of  blood  or  of 
 friendship  in  opposition  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  wliich  undertakes  things  impossible 
 to  mere  human  nature.  The  disciples  habituated  to  the  wine  of  the  old  law,  were 
 not  yet  sufficiently  strong  to  bear  the  new  wine  of  the  gospel. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXV. 
 
 JAIRUS    COMES  TO  JESVS.' — A  WOMAN  IS   CURED   OF  AN  INVETERATE   ISSUE   OF  BLOOD. 
 
 THE  DAUGHTER  OF  JAIRUS  IS  RAISED  TO   LIFE.     MATT.  IX.    MARK  V.    LUKE  Vlll. 
 
 Matt.  9.  Tjjj.  scene  which  is  the  subject  of  the  preceding  chapter,  took  place  upon  the  bor- 
 
 Mark  5.   ders  of  the  Lake  Tiberias  :  and  "  as  he  was  speaking  these  things  to  them,  nigh 
 
 ■21-      unto  the  sea,  behold  there  came  a  man  whose  name  was  Jairus  ;  and  he  was  a  ruler 
 
 41    '  of  the  synagogue"  at  Capharnaum :  "  he  came  up"  to  Jesus,  "^  and  seeing  him. 
 
Ch.  XXXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  jg5 
 
 falleth  down  at  his  feet,  and  adored  him,  beseeching  him  that  he  would  come  into  his  Matthew. 
 house,  for  he  had  an  only  daughter  almost  twelve  years  old,  and  she  was  dying  :  and  R^j^htw 
 he  besought  him  much,  saying  :  my  daughter  is  at  the  point  of  death  ;  but  come,  lay  i-"i<«8.4i. 
 thy  hand  upon  her,  that  she  may  be  safe,  and  may  live.  And  Jesus  rising  up  went  Mark  5. 23. 
 with  him,  and  a  great  multitude  followed  him,  with  his  disciples;  and  it  happened  Mark 5. 23.' 
 as  he  went,  that  he  was  thronged  by  the  multitude  :  and  behold  a  woman,  who  was  Mark5!24; 
 troubled  with  an  issue  of  blood  twelve  years,  and  had  suffered  much  from  many  phy-  Luke8'4^'' 
 sicians,  and  had  bestowed  all  her  substance  on"  them,  "  and  could  not  be  healed  by  Matt.  9. 20. 
 
 ■'    Mark  5.  26. 
 
 any,  so  that  she  was  nothing  better  but  rather  worse,  when  she  had  heard  of  Jesus,  Luke  s.  43! 
 
 came  in  the  crowd  behind  him,  and  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment.     For  she  said    '"27."  ' 
 
 within  herself:  if  I  shall  touch  only  his  garment,  I  shall  be  healed  ;  and  forthwith  ^''"21!' ^'^' 
 
 the  fountain  of  her  blood  was  dried  up,  and  she  felt  in  her  body  that  she  was  healed 
 
 of  the  evil.*     And  immediately  Jesus  knowing  in  himself  the  virtue  that  had  pro- Mark  5. 29. 
 
 ceeded  from  him,  turning  to  the  multitude,  said  :  who  has  touched  my  garments  ?  L^tf  g  45 
 
 who  is  it  that  touched  me  ?t    And  all  denying,  Peter  and  they  that  were  with  him, 
 
 said ;  Master,  the  multitudes  throng  and  press  thee,  and  dost  thou  say,  who  touched 
 
 me  ?  And  Jesus  said :  somebody  hath  touched  me,  for  I  know  that  virtue  is  gone  out      4c. 
 
 from  me  :  and  he  looked  about  to  see  her  who  had  done  this,  and  the  woman  seeino-  ?^T'^o  'J^ 
 
 that  she  was  not  hid,  fearing  and  trembling,  knowing  what  was  done  in  her,  came  and  -^^'^5.33 
 
 ^  ,  ^  *-*  Luke  8. 47 
 
 fell  down  before  his  feet,  and  told  him  all  the  truth,  and  declared  before  all  the  people  Waiks.ss. 
 for  what  cause  she  had  touched  him,  and  how  she  was  immediately  healed.     But  Matt.  9. 22 
 Jesus  seeing  her,  said :  be  of  good  heart,  daughter,  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole  :  Ma^g^li 
 go  in  peace,  and  be  thou  healed  of  this  disease ;  and  the  woman  was  made  whole 
 from  that  hour.":}: 
 
 We  may  justly  admire  the  profound  humility  of  this  woman  in  not  daring-  to  speak 
 to  Christ ;  whilst  at  the  same  time  we  should  learn  to  imitate  her  great  faith  and 
 confidence  in  thus  believing  that  the  bare  touching  of  Christ's  garment  would  restore 
 her  to  perfect  health. 
 
 "  As  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  cometh  one  to  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  saying  Luke  s.  49. 
 to  him  ;  thy  daughter  is  dead :  why  dost  thou  tj'ouble  the  master  any  further  ?  But  Mark  5. 35. 
 Jesus  having  heard  the  word  that  was  spoken,  saith  to  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,"  LvJ^es.  so. 
 who  was  the  father  of  the  maid  ;  ''  fear  not,  believe  only,  and  she  shall  be  safe.  And  Mark  5. 37. 
 he  admitted  not  any  man  to  follow  him,  but  Peter,  and  James,  and  John  the  brother 
 of  James,"  his  beloved  disciples.  ''  And  when  Jesus  was  come  into  the  house  of  the  Matt.  9.23. 
 ruler,  and  saw  the  minstrels^  and  the  multitude  making  a  rout,"  as  was  usual  on  Mark  5. 33, 
 
 *  In  gratitude  for  this   miraculous  cure  she   is  as  well  as  by  those  in  St.  Mark,  "  be  thou  whole  of 
 
 said  afterwards  to   have  erected   a  brazen   statue,  this  disease,"  Jesus  did  not  work  her  cure,  but  ra- 
 
 represenling   Christ  her  benefactor,  on  which  see  ther  confirmed  it,  and  in  some  measure,  assured  her 
 
 Chap.  153,  and   Euseb.  1.  7.  c.  18.   of  his  Church  that  her  disorder  should  not  return. 
 History.  §  In  the  books  of  the  Old  Tc-^tament  we  find  no 
 
 _  t  The  reason  why  Jesus  put  this  question  was  to  mention  made  of  any  mtisical  instruments  employed 
 
 disclose  to  the  people  the  greatness  of  the  miracle,  in  funerals.     We  read   indeed  of  a  good   deal  of 
 
 which,  without  this  exaniinaliou,   might   not   have  mourning  for  the  dead,  of  mourners  hired  on  ])ur- 
 
 been   ob--erved  :    it   tended    likewise    to    show   the  pose,  and  of  the  dismal  ditties  which  they  sung,  lo 
 
 strength  and  virtue  of  the  woman's  faith.  excite  sorrow  in  otliers  :  but  the  use  of  music  was 
 
 I  Not  at  the  hour  when  Jesus  spoke,  but  when  reckoned  incongruous  for  so  sad  and  solemn  an 
 
 she  had  touched  him.     Wherefore,  by  these  words,  occasion.    Among  iieathen  authors  there  is  frequent 
 
136  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHllIST.  [Ch.  XXXVL 
 
 Matt.9. 24.  such  occasions,*  "  and  the  people  weeping-  and  wailing  much,  he  said  to  them  :  why 
 Mark,     do  you  make  this  ado,  and  weep?  Give  place,  for  the  girl  is  not  dead,  butsleepelh,"j- 
 
 meaning-  that  she  was  not  to  remain  dead,  but  was  presently  to  return  to  life,  as  if  she 
 Lukes.53.  had  only  been  asleep.  "And  they  laughed  him  to  scorn,  knowing-  that  she  was 
 Lu"e  8,  si!  dead  :  but  he  having-  put  them  all  out,  suffered  not  any  man  to  go  in  with  him,  but 
 Matt  9.40.  Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and  the  father  and  mother  of  the  maiden,  and  entereth 
 Mark  5.41:  in  where  the  damsel  was  lying,"  and  "  taking  her  by  the  hand,  ciied  out,  saying: 
 Luke  8.53.  Xabitha  cumi,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  damsel,  I  say  to  thee  arise ;  and  her  spirit 
 
 returned,  and  she  rose  immediately,  and  he  bid  them  give  her'to  eat,  and  she  walked," 
 Mark  5.42.  for  "  shc  was  twclve  years  old  :  and  they,  her  parents,  were  astonished  with  a  great 
 Marks.4'1:  astonishment,  and  he  charged  them  strictly  that  no  man  should  know  it,  and  the 
 
 fame  hereof  went  abroad  into  all  that  country." 
 
 Wait.  9. 
 
 30. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
 
 JESUS  GIVETH  SIGHT  TO  TWO  BUND  MEN,  AND  HEALS  A  DUMB  MAN  POSSESSED 
 BY   A  DEVIL.      MATT.   IX. 
 
 t.  9.2r.  "  And  as  Jesus  passed  from  thence"  to  his  own  habitation,  "  there  followed  him  two 
 blind  men,  crying  out  and  saying  ;  have  mercy  on  ns,  O  Son  of  David."  This  was 
 no  other  than  a  public  confession  of  his  being  the  Messiah,  to  whom  the  voice  of  the 
 people  had  ever  exclusively  consecrated  the  title  of  Son  of  David.  However,  Jesus 
 not  choosing  to  cure  them  in  public,  he  continued  to  go  forward,  without  making  any 
 reply  ;  and  they,  not  considering  this  as  a  refusal,  found  means  to  follow  him  to  his 
 
 28.  dwellino-.  This  short  trial  of  their  faith  evinced  its  firmness  and  constancy.  "  And 
 when  he  was  come  to  the  house,  the  blind  men  came  in  to  him  ;  and  Jesus,"  moved 
 with  compassion,  "  saith  to  them:  Do  you  believe  that  I  can  do  this  unto  you? 
 
 29-  They  say  to  him  :  yea,  Lord."  Thus  acknowledging  his  sovereign  power.  "  Then 
 he  touched  their  eyes,  saying  :  according  to  your  faith,  be  it  done  unto  you.  And 
 their  eyes  were"  instantly  "opened,  and  Jesus  strictly  charged  them,  saying:  see 
 that  no  man  know  this.  But  they  going  out,"  and  following  the  impulse  of  their 
 gratitude,  "  spread  his  fame  abroad  in  all  that  country." 
 
 It  is  sufficiently  obvious  that  this  injunction  of  silence  which  Jesus  laid  on  (hose 
 
 mention  made  of  it  as  a  ih'ma:  Ion;?  in  use.  both  with  *  The  custom  of  assembling  together  to  the  place 
 
 the  Greeks  and   Romans  ;   and   therefore    we   may  where   persons  have  lately  expired,  and   bewailing 
 
 presume  that  from  these  nations  the  Jews  borrowed  them   in   a  noisy   manner,   is  still   retained   in    the 
 
 and  adopteil  it  into  their  funeral  ceremonies.     That  East,  and   seems  to   be   considered   as  an  honour 
 
 among  them  it  was  in  use  in  our  Saviour's  time,  at  done  to  the  deceased.     See  Chardin. 
 
 least  among  persons  of  high  rank,  is  plain  from  the  t  In  several  places  of  the  New  Testament,  death 
 
 passage  now  before  us,  as  well  as  from  Josephns,  is  called  a  sleep.  Johnii.  11.   Acts  vii.  60.    I  Cor. 
 
 who   speaks  of  it  as  an  established  custom  in  his  xv.  6.  &c.  and  therefore  our    Saviour  only   makes 
 
 time;  and  it  seems  afterwards  to  have  grown  into  a  use   of  this   word    of  a  softer  signification,  not  so 
 
 kind  of  superstitious  use,  because  the  rabbins  enjoin  much  wilh  the  design   of  imposing   upon   those   to 
 
 that  none  even  of  the  meaner  sort  should,  at  the  whom  he  directed  his  speech,  as  to  testify  his  great 
 
 funeral  of  a  wife,  have  fewer  than  two  flutes,  be-  humility  and  modesty,  in  thus  desiring  to  conceal 
 
 sides  the  voices  of  old  women.  bis  divine  power. 
 
Ch.  XXXVr.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  j3j 
 
 whom  he  cured  of  their  several  infirmities^  was  no  wise  obligatory  before  God,  as 
 Calvin  supposes  ;  because  the  parties  did  not  consider  it  as  an  absolute  prohibition, 
 but  ascribed  it  merely  to  his  modesty  and  extreme  humility.  In  this  resucct  his 
 conduct  is  a  lesson  to  all  his  followers,  to  beware  of  vain-glory ;  for  thouo-h  Jesus 
 himself  was  utterly  incapable  of  this  vice,  he  knew  it  was  our  most  dangerous  enemy. 
 
 "  And  when  they  were  gone  out"  of  the  house,  "  behold  they  brought  him  a  dumb  39. 
 man,  possessed  with  a  devil ;  and  after  the  devil  was  cast  out,  the  dumb  man  spoke,  33. 
 and  the  multitude  wondered,  saying :  never  was  the  like  seen  in  Israel."  Whereby 
 they  meant  to  say  that  God  had  never  yet  sent  to  them  a  prophet  who  cured  all  sorts 
 of  diseases  with  so  great  a  display  of  power,  or  with  such  facility,  or  who  had  driven 
 out  all  sorts  of  devils  with  an  authority  so  absolute,  as  Jesus  had  done  in  their  pre- 
 sence. These  were  the  sentiments  entertained  by  those  vvho  viewed  the  miracles  of 
 Jesus  in  a  proper  light,  and  as  highly  conducive  to  God's  glory  and  to  the  common 
 benefit  of  mankind. 
 
 "  But  the  Pharisees,"  imagining  that  his  miracles  derogated  from  their  credit  and  34. 
 reputation  amongst  the  people,  spoke  of  them  in  a  very  different  manner,  and  "  said, 
 by  the  prince  of  devils  he  castetli  out  devils."  This  their  idea  originated  from  a 
 principle  that  is  admitted  by  theologians,  viz.  that  there  exists  a  subordination  amono- 
 the  infernal  spirits  ;  and  that  under  one  supreme  chief  who  exercises  a  general  sway, 
 there  continues  to  be  the  same  gradation  of  authority  which  subsisted  amongst  them 
 before  their  fall.  Thus,  the  Pharisees  maintained  that  Jesus  expelled  the  devils  from 
 the  bodies  of  possessed  persons,  not  by  a  divine  power,  but  by  the  art  of  magic, 
 because  they  supposed  that  by  making  a  compact  with  the  prince  of  the  devils,  he 
 had  obtained  a  supreme  power  over  all  the  inferior  departments.  Of  this  their 
 blasphemous  calumny,  Jesus  takes  no  notice  at  present,  because  they  probably  threw 
 it  out  in  a  slight  manner,  and  so  as  to  make  little  or  no  impression  upon  the  minds 
 of  the  people ;  but  when  at  a  subsequent  period,  they  repeat  it  to  him  in  the  face  of 
 the  public,  then  it  will  be  seen  with  what  force  and  perspicuity  he  will  expose  the 
 futility  of  so  ill-grounded  an  objection.* 
 
 *  See  Chap,  xlix. 
 
 12.  2n 
 
J38  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  LCli.  XXXVIL 
 
 PART  III. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVIL 
 
 CHRIST  CURES  A  MAN  WHO  HAD  BEEN  INFIRM  FOR  THIRTY-EIGHT  YEARS,  AND  BY  SEVERAL 
 ARGUMENTS  JUSTIFIES  THIS  MIRACLE  AND  HIS  MISSION  IN  GENERAL.      ST.  JOHN  V. 
 
 John  5.   "After  these  things,  there  was  a  festival  day*  of  the  Jews,  "viz.  the  Passover,  "  and 
 ^'       2nd.  PassoverA'  Jesiis  went  up  to  Jerusalem"  with  his  disciples  to  celebrate  it,  agreeably 
 
 2.  to  what  the  law  commanded,  Deut.  xvi.  "  Now  there  is."}:  at  Jerusalem,"  near  to  the 
 sheep  gate  (so  called  because  the  sheep  destined  for  the  victims  were  brought  that 
 way),  "  a  pond  called  Probatica,"  where  the  entrails  of  sheep  and  beasts  oflered  in 
 sacrifice  were  washed,  which  in  "  Hebrew,"  or  Syriac,  '"  is  called  Bethsaida,"§  or 
 rather  Bethesda,  which  means  a  house  of  mercy,  from  the  cures  performed  there; 
 *'  having  five  porches"  or  galleries  for  the  convenience  of  the  sick  who  flocked  thither 
 
 3.  from  all  parts  as  to  a  great  hospital.     "  In  these  lay  a  great  multitude  of  sick,  of 
 
 4.  blind,  of  lame,  of  withered,"  impatiently  "  waiting  for  the  motion  of  the  water  :  for  an 
 angel  of  the  Lord  descended  at  certain  times  into  the  pond,  and  the  water  was 
 moved  :  and  he  that  went  down  first  into  the  j)ond,  after  the  motion  of  the  water,  was 
 made  whole  of  whatsoever  infirmity  he  lay  under." 
 
 The  circumstance  of  only  one  person's  being  cured  out  of  so  numereus  a  concourse 
 of  such  objects  usually  attending  there,  is  a  clear  proof  that  so  extraordinary  an  effect 
 was  not  natural,  as  Dr.  Hammond  imagines,  but  produced  by  some  supernatural 
 cause ;  since  a  medical  quality  in  the  water,  of  whatever  nature  it  might  be,  could  not 
 rationally  be  supposed  limited  to  a  single  object,  but  would  of  course  have  benefited 
 a  greater  number.  It  is  therefore  to  be  deemed  no  other  than  a  supernatural  virtue 
 imparted  to  this  water  by  the  Almighty,  the  effect  thereof  being  of  momentaneous 
 duration,  and  precisely  attached  to  the  very  instant  that  the  water  was  put  in  motion 
 by  the  angel. 
 
 It  being  a  matter  of  absolute  uncertainty  at  what  particular  time  the  angel  would 
 produce  this  effect  by  the  motion  of  the  water,  the  diseased  necessarily  kept  their  sta- 
 
 *  By  this /es^/iY// (lay  is  generally  understood  the  |  Some  Greek  MSS.   liave  was.     In   efFect,  St. 
 
 o-reat  solemnity  of  the  Passover,  and  this  was  the  John  did  not  write  his   Gospel   till   several   years 
 
 second  from  the  commencement  of  Christ's  minis-  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
 try.    We  find  this  solemnity  mentioned  by  the  very  §  Mr.  Maundrell,  in  his  travels,  p.  107.  informs 
 
 same    name    in    St.   Matthew,  chap.    xxvi.   5.    and  us,  that  when   he   was   at   Jerusalem,  he  saw   still 
 
 chap,  xxvii.  15.    in   St.  Mark  xiv.  2.  and  xv.  6.  and  remaining  what  was  reputed  the  pool  of  Bethsaida, 
 
 in  St.  Luke  xxiii.  17.    Those  who  limit  the  time  of  whereof  he  gives   the   particular   dimensions,  and 
 
 Christ's  preaching  to  three  Passovers,  will   have  it  tells  us  that  at  its  west  end  there  seem  to  be  some 
 
 thai  St.  John  does  not  here  speak  of  the  Passover,  old  arches,  not  unlike  to  the  porches  in  which  sat 
 
 but  of  some  other  festival  day.  the  lame  and   blind,  &c.    mentioned   here  by  St. 
 
 t  See  the  first,  chap,  xix  ;  the  third,  chap.  Iviii ;  John. 
 tl;e  fourth,  chap,  cxxviii. 
 
Ch.  XXXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  139 
 
 tioiis  with  o-reat  anxiety  under  the  adjoining-  galleries.  Yet,  under  this  g-eneral  state 
 of  uncertainty,  it  was  usual,  we  may  suppose,  for  the  angel  to  descend  repeatedly 
 during  the  course  of  the  year,  and  perhaps  frequently  in  every  month,  lest  otherwise 
 the  patience  of  these  distressed  objects  should  be  put  to  too  severe  a  trial.  Had 
 they  previously  known  the  precise  moment,  no  further  attendance  would  have  been 
 requisite,  except  at  the  stated  periods  ;  but  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  they  should 
 purchase  the  regaining  of  their  health,  by  a  compliance  with  conditions  which  were 
 attended  with  some  degree  of  tediousness,  and  with  no  small  trial  of  their  patience. 
 
 "  And,  amongst  other  diseased  and  crippled  objects,"  there  was  a  certain  man       5- 
 there  that  had  been  eight  and  thirty  years   under  his  infirmity.*     Him,  when  Jesus       6- 
 saw  lying  and  knew  that  he  had  been  now  a  long  time,  he  saith  to  him,"  to  excite  his 
 faith  and  hope  :   "  Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?  The  infirm  man,"  conceiving  that  by       '^' 
 this  question,  Jesus  meant  no  more  than  to  express  his  pity  and  surprise  at  his  mise- 
 rable condition,  when  so  near  to  this  health-giving  pond,  "  answered  him :  Sir^  I 
 have  no  man,  when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the  pond.     For  whilst  I  am 
 coming-,  another  goeth  down  before  me.     Jesus  saith  to  him  :  arise,  take  up  thy  bed       8. 
 and  walk.     And  immediately  the  man  was  made  whole,  and  he  took  up  his  bed  and       9. 
 walked,"  thus  exhibiting  a  substantial  proof  of  his  being-  perfectly  cured :  "and  it      10- 
 was  the  sabbath-day.     The  Jews  therefore  said  to  him  that  was  healed  :  it  is  the 
 sabbath,  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  take  up  thy  bed.  [Ex.  xx.  10.  Jer.  xvii.  24.]      H.' 
 He  answered  them  :  he  that  made  me  whole,  said  to  me  :  take  up  thy  bed  and 
 walk  ;"  and  surely  he  that  could  heal  me  with  a  word  must  be  a  prophet,  and  there- 
 fore must  have  authority  to  bid   me  do  this.      "  They  asked  him  therefore  :  who  is      12. 
 that  man  who  .?aid  to  thee,  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk  I    But  he  who  was  healed,  knew      13. 
 not  who  he  was  ;  for  Jesus  went  aside  from  the  multitude  standing  in  the  place,''  to 
 shun  their  applause,  and  lest  he  should  add  fresh  fuel  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Pharisees. 
 "  Afterwards  Jesus  findeth  him  in  the  temple,"  giving  thanks  to  God,  "  and  saith  to      14.. 
 him :  Behold  thou  art  made  whole,  sin  no  more,  lest  some  worse  thing  happen  to 
 thee,"t  for  thy  insensibility  and  contempt  of  this  mercy.     "  This  man,''  actuated  by      15- 
 a  sentiment  of  gratitude  towards  his  benefactor,  "  went  his  way,  and  told  the  Jews 
 that  it  was  Jesus  who  had  made  him  whole.     Tliereupon  the  Jews,"  instead  of  bein"-      16. 
 touched  with  respect  for  the  author  of  so  great  a  miracle,  "  persecuted  Jesus,"  and 
 endeavoured  to  put  him  to  death,  "  because  he  did  these  things  on  the  sabbath.    But      17. 
 Jesus  answered  them, "  and  justified  his  conduct  by  various  arguments  ;  first,  by  the 
 example  of  his  heavenly  Father:  "  My  Father,''  says  he,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
 world,  "  worketh  until  now,"  and  the  rest  he  entered  upon  after  the  creation,  and 
 which  he  was  pleased  to  honour  by  that  of  the  sabbath,  is  no  hinderance  to  the 
 operations  of  his  power  in  the  preservation  of  his  works,  nor  to  the  operations  of  his 
 
 *  The  word  aaeeveia,  vvliich  we  render  iiifinnily  fessioii,  and  show  how  careful  he  oug-ht  to  bt  ii!<l  lo 
 
 CT  weakness,  IS   indeed  a  general  name  for  ahnost  relapse  into  his  former  sins.     For,  as  St.  Chrysos- 
 
 all  distempers  ;  but  here  it  is  limited  in  its  signifi-  torn  observes,    "  He   is   unworthy  ot   mcrcv.'who 
 
 cation,  and   seems  to  denote  what  we  call  a  con-  after  pardon  sins  ag-ain  ;  he  is  innvonhy  of  health, 
 
 firmed  pals-y.  who  being  cured,  makes   hiuisell'  sick   again  ;   nor 
 
 t  These  words  are   applicable  to  every  penitent  does  he  deserve  to  be  c-leiinsed,  who  after  grace  de- 
 
 sinner,  when  he  returns  from  the  tribunal  of  cou-  files  himself  again."  Tom.  2.  d,-  Lapsu  prlmi  horn. 
 
140  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  XXXVIL 
 
 grace  in  tlie  sanctification  of  souls,  ''  and  I  work  also"  with  him,  being-  one  and  the 
 same  in  nature  and  substance  with  him  ;  nay,  even  as  man  I  do  nothing-  but  what  is 
 
 18.  conformable  to  his  will,  and  therefore  I  do  not  violate  the  Sabbath.  "■  For  this  rea- 
 son then  the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  because  he  did  not  only  break  the 
 Sabbath,  but  also  said  God  was  his  father,  making  himself  equal  to  God"  in  one 
 undivided  nature.  "  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  to  them,"  confirming  still 
 further  the  indivisible  unity  of  action  subsisting  between  him  and  his  heavenly  Father : 
 
 19.  "  Amen,  amen,  I  say  unto  you  ;  the  Son  cannot  do  any  thing  of  himself,  but  what  he 
 sees  his  Father  doing  :  for  what  things  soever  he  doth,  these  the  Son  also  does  in  like 
 
 20.  manner:  for  the  Father  loveth  the  Son"  with  an  infinite  love,  "and''  therefore 
 sboweth  him  all  things  which  himself  doth,  communicating  to  him  with  his  divine 
 nature  his  wisdom  and  power  :  "  and  greater  works  than  these  will  he  show,  that  you 
 
 21.  may  wonder,"  and  admire  the  power  which  he  hath  given  him.  "  For  as  the  Father 
 raiseth  up  the  dead  and  giveth  life :  so  the  Son  also  giveth  life  to  whom  he  will,"  as 
 well  the  life  of  the  body  to  such  as  are  dead,  as  the  life  of  the  soul  to  those  who  have 
 lost  it  by  sin.     And  this  power  the  Father  hath  given  him,  because  he  hath  made 
 
 22  him  judge  over  all  men.  "  For  neither  doth  the  Father  judge  any  man"  in  a  visible 
 manner  :  "  but  hath  given  all  judgment  to  the  Son,"  who  at  the  end  of  the  world 
 will  return  in  his  human  body  as  the  ostensible  judge  of  all  mankind:  and  this  he 
 
 23.  hath  done,  "  that  all  men  may  honour  the  Son,  as  they  honour  the  Father  :  he  who 
 honoureth  not  the  Son,  honoureth  not  the  Father  who  hath  sent  him  ;"  and  therefore 
 it  is  in  vain  that  you  pretend  to  honour  God,  whilst  you  dishonour  me  his  Son  whom 
 he  hath  sent  to  you,  in  order  to  bring  you  to  eternal  life. 
 
 Jesus  now  proceeds  to  particularize  those  stupendous  works  which  the  Father  will 
 give  him  to  perform  with  regard  to  the  raising  of  the  dead  to  life.  These  he  reduces 
 under  three  heads.  The  first  is  the  spiritual  resurrection,  whereby  a  soul  rises  from 
 the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  grace,  and  this  he  attests  with  the  solemn  asseveration 
 of  an  oath.     "Amen,  amen,  I  say  unto  you,  that  he  who  heareth  my  word  and 
 
 24.  believeth  him  that  sent  me,  hath"  a  title  to  "  life  everlasting,  and  he  fixlleth  not  into" 
 that  condemnation  which  awaits  sinners,  but  is  "  passed  from  the  death  of  sin"  to 
 "  the  life''  of  grace,  and  will  one  day  pass  from  the  corruption  of  a  grave  to  incor- 
 ruptible and  eternal  glory. 
 
 The  second  of  these  works,  is  the  raising  of  the  dead  to  life  corporally,  which  he 
 distinguishes  into  two  parts ;  viz.  the  resurrection  of  individuals,  and  that  of  mankind 
 in  general.*  He  begins  by  the  resurrection  of  individuals.  "  Amen,  amen,  I  say  unto 
 you,  that  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
 
 25.  of  God,  and  they  that  hear  shall  live."  This  was  shortly  after  realized  in  the  persons 
 of  the  young  man  of  Nairn  and  of  Lazarus.  "  For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself," 
 
 26.  proceeding  from  no  other  person,  "  so  he  hath  given  to  the  Son  also  to  have  life  in 
 himself,"  because  the  Son  in  the  same  eternity  always  proceeded  and  proceeds  from 
 him  so  as  to  be  equal  in  all  perfections,  and  has  life  within  himself,  in  such  sort  as  to 
 be  a  source  or  fountain  of  life  to  others.     ''  And  he  hath  given  him  power  to  execute 
 
 27.  judgment,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man/'  and  as  such  is  appointed  judge  of  the  world. 
 
 *  Acts  xvii.  31. 
 
Ch.  XXXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  14,1 
 
 But  the  third  work,  viz.  that  of  the  general  resurrection  and  judgment,  is  still  more 
 stupendous,  and  therefore  Christ  says  :  "  Wonder  not  at  this,  which  I   have  just      28. 
 mentioned  ;  for  the  hour  cometh  wherein"  not  these  few  only,  "  but  all  that  are  in 
 the  graves,  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God.     And  they  that  have  done  good      29. 
 things,  shall  come  forth  unto  the  resurrection  of  life  :  but  they  that  have  done  evil, 
 unto  the  resurrection  of  judgment." 
 
 Jesus  here  concludes  this  wonderful  justification  of  his  conduct  against  the  cavils  of 
 the  Jews,  who  taxed  him  with  a  violation  of  the  Sabbath  ;  and  from  the  principles  he 
 has  here  established,  he  draws  this  conclusion :  that  both  in  this  instance  and  in  every 
 other  action  he  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  because  he  forms  no  judgment,  nor 
 executes  any  design  but  according  as  he  hears,  viz.  according  to  the  injunctions  of 
 his  heavenly  Father,  which  he  fails  not  to  observe.  "  I  cannot  of  myself,"  says  he, 
 ''  do  any  thing.  As  I  hear,  so  I  judge  :  and  my  judgment  is  just,  because  I  seek  30. 
 not  my  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,"  who  is  sovereign  wisdom  and 
 justice. 
 
 These  last-mentioned  words  concerning  his  Father  who  sent  him,  lead  him  now  to 
 a  justification  of  his  mission,  which  forms  the  second  part  of  this  discourse,  and  is  the 
 chief  subject  of  this  dispute  with  the  Jews.  For  if  the  certainty  of  his  mission  from 
 God  be  once  clearly  established,  nothing  ought  then  to  have  prevented  his  being 
 acknowledged  as  the  expected  Messiah.  In  order,  therefore,  to  establish  it,  he  pro- 
 duces various  testimonies,  viz.  the  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist,  that  of  the  voice  of 
 his  Father,  that  of  the  Scriptures  in  general,  and  lastly  the  testimony  of  Moses  in 
 particular. 
 
 Jesus  lays  no  stress  upon  the  testimony  he  bears  to  himself    Hence  he  says  :  "  If     31. 
 I  bear  testimony  concerning  myself,  my  testimony  is  not"  such  as  to  be  admitted  by 
 you  as  "  true,"  that  is,  as  legal,  or  admissible  in  a  court  of  judicature.     "  Theie  is      32. 
 another  that  giveth  testimony  concerning  me,"  to  wit,  "  John  the  Baptist,  and  I 
 know  that  the  testimony  which  he  giveth  of  me  is  true"  and  authentic.   In  effect,  "  you      33. 
 sent  to  John"  yourselves,  "  to  know  from  his  own  mouth  whether  or  not  he  were  the 
 Messias,"  hereby  evincing  your  readiness  to  receive  him  in  that  character,  had  he 
 chosen  to  attribute  it  to  himself:  "  and  he  gave  testimony  to  the  truth"  of  my  being 
 the  Messiah.     "  But  I  receive  not  testimony  from  man,"  as  if  necessary  for  my  jus-      34. 
 tification  :  "  but  I   say  these  things  that  you"  by  believing  his  testimony,  "  may  be 
 satisfied,"  by  that  faith  which  he  exhorted  you  to  have  in  me  as  the  promised  Mes- 
 siah.    "  He  was  a  lamp  burning"  with  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  "^  shining"  to      35. 
 the  edification  of  men   by  the  doctrine   he  preached  and  by  the  example  he  held 
 forth  to  all  of  a  penitential  life.      "  And  you  were  willing  for  a  time  to  rejoice  in  his 
 light,"  acknowledging-  him  as  a  prophet  and  a  just  man,  and  therefore  I  may  reason- 
 ably allege  his  testimony  in  my  favour.     ''  But  I  have  a  greater  testimony  than      36. 
 that  of  John.     For  the  works  which  my  Father  hath  given  me  to  accomplish,  the 
 very  works  themselves  which  I  do"  by  the  sovereign  power  which  he  hath  communi- 
 cated to  me,  "  give  testimony  of  me,  that  the"  eternal  "  Father  hath  sent  me.     And      37. 
 the  Father  himself  who  hath  sent  me,  hath  given  testimony  of  me,"  on  the  banks  of 
 the  Jordan,   "  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  :    this  is  my  beloved  Son  ;"  but 
 13.  2o 
 
142  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXVIL 
 
 "  neither  have  you  heard  his  voice  at  any  time,  nor  seen  his  shape  :  and  even  his" 
 
 38.  written  "  word  you  have  not  remaining  in  you,  because  you  believe  not  him  whom 
 
 39.  he  hiith  sent."  This  subject  he  proceeds  to  explain  more  fully.  "  Search*  (or  you 
 search)  the  Scriptures,  for  in  tiiem  you  think  to  have  life  everlasting,  and  the  same 
 are  they  that  give  testimony  concerning  me,"  as  being  that  life  and  the  way  that  leads 
 
 40.  to  it.  ''  And"  having  a  veil  over  your  eyes  which  blinds  you,  "  you  will  not  come 
 to  me,"  so  clearly  pointed  out  by  the  Scriptures ;  "  that  you  may  have  life"  promised 
 to  those  who  believe  in  me. 
 
 By  his  insight  into  the  hearts  of  the  Jews,  Jesus  perceived  that  these  several  testi- 
 monies in  his  favour  only  caused  them  to  conclude  him  to  be  a  person  ambitious  of 
 honour,  and  one  who  sought  to  pass  for  the  Messias.  He  anticipates  this  their 
 objection,  by  declaring  that  whatever  he  has  hitherto  said  in  his  own  favour,  was  by 
 no  means  said  with  a  view  to  gain  their  esteem,  but  purely  for  the  honour  of  God. 
 
 41.  "I  receive  not  glory  from  men,"  says  he,  "  but"  this  I  cannot  say  of  you  :  for  "  I 
 
 42.  know"  with  sorrow,  "  that  you  have  not  the  love  of  God  in  you."  He  here  gives  the 
 reasons  why  they  do  not  receive  him  and  his  doctrine  ;  because  they  are  "  void  of  the 
 love  of  God,  full  of  self-love,  envy,  pride,  desirous  of  praise  and  glory  from  one 
 
 43.  another."  Hence  he  says  :  "  I  am  come  in  the  name  of  my  Father,  and  you  receive 
 me  not :  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,"  without  any  evidence  of  divine 
 authority,  such  as  Barchochebas  or  even  Antichrist  himself,  "  him  you  will  receive. 
 
 44.  But"  how  can  you  believe  me  and  my  doctrine,  so  humiliating  to  human  pride,  you, 
 "  who"  are  eager  only  to  "  receive  glory  one  from  another  :  and  the  glory  which  is 
 
 45.  from  God  alone,"  and  which  truly  merits  your  care,  you  *'  do  not  seek."  However, 
 "  think  not  I  will  accuse  you  to  the  Father."  I  shall  not  need  to  do  it.  "  There  is 
 one  that  accuseth  you,"  even  "  Moses  in  whom  you"  now  vainly  "  put  your  trust;" 
 
 46.  because  you  do  not  believe  in  what  he  told  you.  '*  For  if  you  did  believe  Moses,  you 
 would  also  indeed  believe  ine :  for  he  hath  written  concerning  me"  that  celebrated 
 prophecy  of  Deut.  viii.  1.5.  "  The  Lord  will  raise  up  to  thee  a  prophet  of  thy  nation 
 and  of  thy  brethren  like  unto  me  :   him  thou  shalt  hear.     But  if  you  do  not  believe 
 
 47.  Ms  writings,"  for  whom  you  profess  so  great  respect,  "  how  will  you  believe  my 
 words"  whom  you  so  much  contemn  as  a  person  without  authority,  and  a  violator 
 of  the  law. 
 
 It  is  proper  here  to  remark,  that  these  testimonies  in  favour  of  Jesus  rise  gradually 
 one  above  another,  and  appear  more  and  more  forcible.  Thus  the  testimony  of 
 John  the  Baptist,  to  whom  the  Jews  had  listened  as  to  an  oracle,  added  weight  and 
 authority  to  what  Jesus  had  said  of  himself.     Yet,  although  the  Jews,  in  every  other 
 
 *  The   Greek   word,  wliich   is  epeware,  scruta-  selves  in  it.     In  this  sense  it  has  been  understood 
 
 mini,  ought  to  be  rendered,  you  search,  in  the  in-  by   several  ancient  fathers,  as  the  learned  Estius 
 
 dicative    mood    instead    of  the    imperative.     This  observes.     Wherefore,  it  is  not  a  command  for  all 
 
 appears  clearly  from  the  context  and  mode  of  arg'u-  to  read  the  Scriptures,  as  Protestants  imagine,  but 
 
 mentation  made  use  of:  whereas  the  sense  is  but  a  reproach  to  the  Pharisees,  that  reading  the  Scrip- 
 
 il!   supported    when   translated  in   the   imperative,  tures  a.s  they  did,  and   thinking  to  find  everlasting^ 
 
 "  Stttdy  ye  the  Scriptures ;  for  you  Jirmly  believe  life  in  them,  they  would  not  receive  him  to  whom 
 
 and  hope  to  find  in  them  eternal  life."     Tliis  hope  all  those   Scriptures  gave   testimony,  and  through 
 
 is  the  cause  and  motive  which  leads  to  this  study  ;  whom  alone  they  could  have  that  true  life, 
 and  eternal  life  is  the  end  they  propose  to  them- 
 
Ch.  XXXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  143 
 
 instance,  admire  John  the  Baptist,  yet  his  favourable  testimony  of  Jesus  they  receive 
 with  suspicion,  and  accuse  him  of  partiality.  He  must  therefore  proceed  to  a  third 
 testimony  in  his  favour,  viz.  that  of  his  own  miraculous  works,  which  is  rather 
 the  testimony  of  God  himself,  and  therefore  not  to  be  suspected  of  partiality  or 
 flattery,  and  which  invincibly  proves  that  God,  the  author  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  is 
 also  the  author  of  his  mission.  But  yet  God  appears  not  herein  visible  to  their  eyes, 
 and  therefore  these  miracles,  coming  from  a  quarter  so  odious  to  the  Jews,  are  liable 
 to  exceptions.  To  obviate  this,  Almighty  God  gives  previously  a  fourth  testimony  in 
 favour  of  Jesus  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  as  from  the  dwelling  place  of  His  Majesty. 
 But  it  may  be  asked,  who  are  they  who  heard  this  voice  ?  The  Jews  pretend,  that 
 they  themselves  heard  it  not.  However,  they  cannot  but  receive  with  respect  the 
 fifth  testimony,  which  is  that  of  the  Scriptures,  and  particularly  that  of  Moses,  who 
 promised  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  at  the  time  when  Jesus  actually  appeared.  But 
 still  this  testimony,  however  clear  it  may  seem,  is  not  sufficient  for  the  unbelieving 
 Jews,  any  more  than  the  preceding  ones  ;  and  hence  may  be  drawn  a  proof  of  their 
 subsequent  reprobation.  They  pay  no  regard  to  Jesus  himself,  nor  to  John  the 
 Baptist,  nor  to  the  evidence  of  miracles,  nor  to  the  voice  of  God,  nor  to  the  Scrip- 
 tures, nor  even  to  Moses  himself :  their  case  therefore  is  desperate,  and  they  are  not 
 to  be  converted. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVHI. 
 
 JESUS  VINDICATES  HIS  DISCIPLES  FOR  PLUCKING  EARS  OF  CORN  ON  THE  SABBATH  DAY. 
 MATT.   XII.       MARK  II.       LUKE  VI. 
 
 "  At  that  time  Jesus,"  in  his  return  from  Jerusalem  to  Galilee,  "  went  through  the  siatt.  12 
 corn  fields  on  the  Sabbath-day,  called  the  second -first  Sabbath  ;*  and  his  disciples   ,  ^• 
 being  hungry,  began,  as  they  went  along,  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn  and  to  eat,  rub-  ]\ja,.i^  2 
 bing  them  in  their  hands.     And  some  of  the  Pharisees  seeing  them,  said  to  him  :      23. 
 behold  thy  disciples  do  that  which  is  not  lawful  to  do  on  the  Sabbath-day."     The       j' 
 crime  here  alleo-ed  agfainst  them,  was  not  the  gatherinsf  and  rubbing  of  a  few  ears  Luke  6. 
 of  corn,  (this  being  allowed,  Deut.  xxiii.  25.)  but  the  doing  it  on  a  Sabbath-day,  .^^^^^  j^ 
 when  the  law  forbade  even  the  preparing  of  victuals  ;  much  more  this  plucking  ears       2. 
 of  corn,  which  was  considered  as  a  kind  of  reaping,  according  to  Maimonides.  "  And  Luke  6. 
 Jesus  answering  them,  said,"  in  defence  of  his  disciples  :"  have  you  never  read  what 
 
 *  St.   Chrysostom    (Horn.  40.  in  Matt.)  is    of  pened  when  corn  was  ripe  in  Palestine,     To  under- 
 
 opinion  that  this  means  a  double  feast,  by  which  stand  tliis,  we   must   observe  that  the   Jews  had 
 
 we  may  understand  either  a  Sabbath  and  another  three  feasts  called  rrpuna,  i.  e.  great,  solemn  feasts, 
 
 feast  concurring  on  the  same  day,  or  a  Sabbath  and  The   1st  was  that  of  the  Passover,  with  the  sevea 
 
 a  feast  immediately  succeeding  each  other.     Theo-  days  of  unleavened  bread  (called  -wpunoTzpu'-ov,  pri- 
 
 phylactus  coincides  with  St.  Chrysostom,  and  adds,  morum-primum   i.  e.   the   first-first   Sabbath)  :  the 
 
 that  the  latter  day  on  which  they  were  to  rest,  was  2d  was  the  great  feast  of  Pentecost  (Jcv-epo-zpivTov, 
 
 called  the  second-first.     Modern  interpreters  have  primorum-secnndum,  the  second- first  Sabbath)  :  the 
 
 adopted  other  expositions,  of  which  the  most  plau-  3d  was   the  feast  of  tabernacles  {rpnovpunov,  pri- 
 
 sible   seems  to   be,   that  the   second- first   Sabbath  morum-tertium,  the  third-first  or  great  Sabbath), 
 refers  to  the   feast  of  Pentecost,  which  also  hap- 
 
144  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XXXVIIL 
 
 Mark  2.  David  did,  when  he  was  under  a  necessity,  and  was  hungry  himself,  and  they  that 
 
 ofi       were  with  him?  How  he  went  into  the  house  of  God,"  which  was  then  at  Nobe, 
 
 Luke  6.  "  under  Abiathar*  the  high-priest,  and  took  and  eat  the  bread  of  proposition,  and 
 
 4.  prave  it  to  them  that  were  with  him,  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  eat,  nor  for 
 
 Matt.  12  .  . 
 
 4I   "'  them  that  were  with  him,  but  for  the  priests  only." 
 
 The  second  argument  employed  by  Christ  to  justify  his'disciples,  is  taken  from  the 
 work  performed  by  the  priests  in  preparing  and  offering  the  sacrifices  of  the  temple. 
 
 5.  "  Or  have  you  not  read  in  the  law,"  said  he,  "  that  on  the  Sabbath-days,  the  priests 
 
 6.  in  the  temple  break  the  Sabbath,  and  are  without  blame  ?  But  I  tell  you  that  there  is 
 here  a  greater  than  the  temple,"  viz.  the  Lord  and  God  who  is  there  adored,  and 
 therefore  that  may  be  done  for  him  without  crime,  which  is  done  for  the  temple 
 without  the  smallest  difficulty. 
 
 The  third  reason  is  taken  from  the  preference  which  is  due  to  an  action  of  charity 
 and  of  natural  right,  before  outward  observances  of  religion,  which  are  only  of  posi- 
 
 7.  tive  law.  "  And  if  you  knew,"  said  he,  "  what  this  meaneth,  I  will  have  nierci/  and 
 not  sacrifice,"  Osee  vi.  6.  you  would  never  have  condemned  the  innocent,  but  sus- 
 pended your  rash  judgments  respecting  my  disciples,  and  would  have  preferred 
 tenderness  and  condescension  in  their  regard  to  a  multiplicity  of  sacrifices  offered  ia 
 the  temple. 
 
 Ma:k  2.       "  And,"  as  a  fourth  reason,  he  said  to  them  :  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, 
 ^^'      and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."     Since  therefore,  in  the  concurrence  of  two  incom- 
 patible precepts,  we  must  give  the  preference  to  that  which  is  the  end  and  object  of 
 the  other,  in  the  present  instance,  we  must  prefer  the  preservation  of  life  to  the 
 observation  of  the  Sabbath. 
 
 The  fifth  and  last  argument  is  drawn  from  the  authority  of  Jesus  himself,  who  being 
 
 the  institutor  and  master  of  the  Sabbath,  had  on  this  occasion  dispensed  his  disciples 
 
 28.      from  the  strict  observance  of  it.     "  Therefore,"  says  he,  "  the  Son  of  manf  is  Lord 
 
 even  of  the  Sabbath,"  and  in  cases  which  concern  the  welfare  of  mankind,  has  power 
 
 to  mitigate  the  exact  observance  required  by  the  law. 
 
 :  The  bread  of  proposition,  or  shew-bread,  here  referred  to  by  Christ,  was  so  called, 
 
 not  because  it  was  set  upon  the  golden  table  which  was  in  the  sanctuary,  but  because 
 it  was  placed  before  the  Lord,  that  is,  not  far  from  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  which 
 was  the  symbol  of  his  more  immediate  presence.  These  loaves  were  twelve,  corre- 
 sponding to  the  number  of  the  twelve  tribes :  they  were  made  four-square,  covered 
 with  leaves  of  gold,  and  were  set  six  and  six,  one  upon  another  in  two  heaps^  at  each 
 
 *   The  high-iniest,   to    whom   David    addressed  called  them  by  the  name  of  the  ino4   remarkable 
 
 himself,  is   named  Achimelec   in    the  first   book  of  person  or  thin;"-  spoken  of  in  them.      For  instance. 
 
 King's,  chap.  xxi.    Some  answer  that  the  father  and  Rom.  ii.2.     In    Eliax,    means   the   chapter  called 
 
 son  bore  these  two  names  of  Achimelec  and  Abia-  Elias. 
 
 Ihar,  which  they  attempt  to  prove  from  the  second  t  (irotius  conceives  that  this  phrase  has  here  no 
 book  of  Kings,  8.  19.  and  from  the  1st  of  Paral.  peculiar  relation  to  Christ,  but  only  signifies  man  in 
 24.  3.  Others  say  that  Abiathar,  son  of  Achimelec,  general.  But  Dr.  Hammond,  Lightfoot,  and  others, 
 was  present,  and  sanctioned  the  action  of  his  father,  with  more  probability  contend  that  it  refers  to  him 
 thus  making  it  his  own.  Finally,  others  contend  who  is  the  Son  of  Man  by  way  of  excellence,  be- 
 that  it  ought  to  liave  been  translated  in  the  chapter  cause  it  refers  to  him  in  all  other  places  of  the  New 
 called  Abiathar,  instead  of  under  Abiathar.  For  Testament. 
 the  Jewrs  divided  the  Scripture  into  portions,  and 
 
Ch.  XXXIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  145 
 
 end  of  the  table :  they  remained  there  for  a  whole  week,  when  they  were  replaced  by 
 twelve  fresh  ones,  made,  like  them,  of  the  finest  flour,  tempered  with  oil.  Upon  the 
 uppermost  loaf  of  each  heap  stood  a  vessel  smoking  with  the  sweetest  incense.  The 
 stale  bread,  at  the  week's  end,  was,  according-  to  God's  order,  eaten  by  the  priests 
 witliin  the  sanctuary  ;  nor  was  it  lawful  for  any  other  person  to  partake  of  it.  This 
 ofi'ering  of  the  shew-bread  was  a  continual  sacrifice,  as  the  holy  fathers  observe,  and 
 by  it  the  children  of  Israel  expressed  their  gratitude,  and  acknowledged  their  depend- 
 ence on  God  for  the  blessings  they  enjoyed.  The  like  acts  of  gratitude  are  not  less 
 pleasing  to  God  now,  than  they  were  then ;  and  with  far  greater  reason  does  he 
 expect  them  from  us  Christians,  as  the  blessings  we  have  received  are  infinitely  more 
 precious.  Among  the  many  spiritual  blessings  which  are  peculiar  to  us,  and  which 
 were  not  granted  to  the  carnal  Jews,  we  have  received  a  more  excellent  kind  of  shew- 
 bread,  viz.  Jesus  Christ  himself  in  the  holy  Eucharist.  This  is  the  heavenly  and 
 living  bread,  prefigured  by  the  shew-bread  in  the  temple,  which  is  daily  offered  in 
 the  christian  church  in  thanksgiving  to  God  for  all  his  benefits  spiritual  and  temporal, 
 and  for  this  reason  it  is  specified  by  the  name  of  the  holy  Eucharist.  Nor  is  it  only 
 the  tribute  of  thanksgiving  which  we  pay  to  God  ;  it  is  also  the  pledge  of  God's  / 
 
 special  love  to  us,  and  a  standing  memorial  of  all  his  other  wonders.     The  partici- 
 pation of  this  heavenly  bread  is  not  now-a-days  restrained  to  priests  only  ;  it  is  ex-  , 
 tended  to  all  and  each  of  the  faithful,  that  being  animated  with  the  same  spirit,  and 
 nourished  with  the  same  divine  food,  we  may  all  live  and  form  one  body  in  Christ 
 Jesus  our  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
 
 JESUS    HEALS    THE    WITHERED    HAND    ON     THE     SABBATH-DAY. THE     DESIGNS     OF    THE 
 
 PHARISEES  AND  HERODIANS  AGAINST  HIM. HIS  MIRACLES  AND  MILDNESS.     MATT.  XII. 
 
 MARK  III.      LUKE   VI. 
 
 To  this  complaint  concerning  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath  the  Evangelist  adds 
 another  which  had  relation  to  the  same  subject.     "  When"  our  Lord  "  had  passed  Malt.  12. 
 from  thence,"  he  pursued  his  journey  till  he  reached  Galilee.     "  And  it  came  to  ^^^^  ^ 
 pass  on  another  Sabbath,  that  he  entered  the  synagogue"  at  Capharnaum,  "  and       e. 
 taught"  the  people  according  to  his  custom.     "  And  there  was  a  man     j  c/irist  heals      ''• 
 whose   right    hand   was  withered.     And  the    Scribes   and  Pharisees     the  Kithmd 
 watched  if  he  would  heal  on  the  Sabbath,  that  they  might  find  a"  fresh  '""'^" 
 
 "  accusation  against  him.     And  they  asked  him,  saying :    Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Matt.  12. 
 Sabbath-days?"  This  question  they  proposed  merely  "  that  they  might  accuse  him."      ''-'• 
 For  they  thought  within  themselves,  if  he  should  answer  in  the  negative,  that  it  was 
 not  lawfiii,  he  would  then  be  considered  as  rigid  and  unfeeling  for  the  necessities  of 
 others ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  shoidd  assert  it  to  be  lawful,  that  he  would  then 
 pass  for  a  violator  of  the  Sabbath.     "  But  he  knew  their"  secret  "  thoughts  ;  and  L^j^g  g 
 said  to  the  man  who  had  the  witliered  hand  :  Arise  and  stand  forth  in  the  midst ;  and       8. 
 rising  he  stood  forth"  that  all  present  might  be  witnesses  to  the  cure  which  Jesus  was 
 13.  2r 
 
146  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  [Cli.  X7iXIX. 
 
 9.       going-  to  perform  in  his  behalf.    "Then  Jesus  said  to  them  :  I  ask  you,  if  it  be  lawful 
 on  the  Sabbath  to  do  good  or  to  do  evil,  to  save  life  or  to  destroy  it?"     For  there  is 
 no  medium  between  good  and  evil  when  our  neighbour  is  under  any  pressing  neces- 
 MarkS.  sity  ;  it  being  sinful  not  to  relieve  him,  if  it  be  in  our  power.     "  But  fhey  held  their 
 peace/'  being  unable  to  make  any  reply  but  such  as  would  pronounce  their  own  con- 
 demnation.    Had  they  answered,  that  it  was  unlawful  on  the  Sabbath  to  do  a  good 
 action,  or  to  save  the  life  of  our  neighbour,  they  would  have  deservedly  incurred 
 the  censure  even  of  the  whole  synagogue  ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  they  admitted  the 
 lawfulness  of  doing  good  on  the  Sabbath-day,  their  question  required  no  further 
 answer,  since  to  heal  a  sick  person  was  manifestly  a  good  work.     But  to  bring  con- 
 Matt.  12.  viction  still  more  to  their  minds,  "  Jesus  said  to  them  :    What  man  shall  there  be 
 ^'-      among  you  that  hath  one  sheep,  and  if  the  s^ame  fall  into  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath-day 
 12.      will  he  not  take  hold  of  it  and  lift  it  up  ?    How  much  better  is  a  man  than  a  sheep  ? 
 Mark  3.  Therefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  a  good  deed  on  the  Sabbath-days.     And  looking  round 
 _   ^'  „   about  at  them  with  anger,  being  grieved  for  the  blindness  of  their  hearts,  he  said  to 
 10.      the  man :    Stretch  forth  thy  hand :  and  he  stretched  it  forth,  and  his  hand  was 
 Matt.  12.  restored  to  health,  even  as  the  other  :*  and  they  were  filled  with  madness.    And  the 
 2  TkeDetiens    Pharisees  going  out  immediately  made  a  consultation  with  the  Hero- 
 Luke  6.  of  the  Phari-  diaus  against  him,  how  they  might  destroy  him.     And  Jesus  knowing 
 M^V  q  "^^^  '*'  ''^t"'^<i  f™"^  thence  with  his  disciples  to  the  sea,  and  a  great  multi- 
 
 6.       tude  followed  him  from  Galilee  and  Judea,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from  Idumea^f 
 Matt.  12.  and  f,.Qfjj  beyond  the  Jordan  ;  and  they  about  Tyre  and  Sidon,  a  great  multitude, 
 Mark  3.  hearing  the  things  which  he  did,  came  to  him.     And  he  spoke  to  his  disciples,  that 
 '''•  8.     a  small  ship  should  wait  on  him,  because  of  the  multitude,  lest  they  should  throng 
 him.     For  he  healed  many,  so  that  they  pressed  upon  him  to  touch  him,  as  many  as 
 Matt.  12.  had  distempers :  and  he  healed  them  all  ;  and  he  charged  them  that  they  should  not 
 ^^*      make  him  known,"  in  order  to  give  us  a  lesson  of  humility,  and  to  spare  the  Phari- 
 sees the  additional  vexation  and  rancour  which  each  of  his  cures  would  have  caused 
 Mark  3.  in  their  minds.    "  And  the  unclean  spirits  when  they  saw  him  fell  down  before  him  ;  and 
 \^-      they  cried,  saying  :  thou  art  the  Son  of  God  :"  and  he  strictly  charged  them  that  they 
 should  not  make  him  known,  in  order  to  avoid  the  further  irritation  of  his  implacable 
 enemies.     By  this  remarkable  instance  of  his  meekness  and  goodness,  we  may  learn 
 how  far  charity  should  make  us  guard  against  the  malice  of  those  who  take  scandal 
 at  our  good  actions.     We  must  not,  out  of  deference  to  the  weakness  of  our  neigh- 
 
 *  St.  Matthew  connects  with  this  miracle  the  tion  of  tlie  Edomites,  Mount  Seir;  bnt  rather  of 
 cure  of  the  man  who  was  blind  and  dumb,  which  that  southern  part  of  the  province  of  Judea,  which 
 however  did  not  take  place  in  this  retreat,  but  in  a  durinf;:  the  ca])tivity  of  the  Jews  at  Babylon,  being 
 house  when  the  Pharisees  were  present.  See  the  left  destitute,  or  not  sulhciently  inhabited  by  its 
 title  of  chap.  49.  St.  Matthew  having  mentioned  natives,  seems  to  have  been  possessed  by  the  neigh- 
 this  miracle,  takes  occasion  to  narrate  others  that  bouriug  Idiuni'ans.  These  Idumeans  being-  after- 
 Christ  performed  on  his  second  return  from  Judea.  wards  conquered  by  the  Maccabees,  chose  rather 
 N.  B.  That  the  particle  tunc,  (hen,  and  such  like,  to  embrace  the  Jewish  religion,  than  to  quit  the 
 do  not  abvays  relate  to  what  immediately  goes  be-  habitations  occupied  by  them  :  and  though  as  pro- 
 fore.  We  have  already  made  this  observation  in  selytes,  they  were  incorporated  into  tlie  body  of 
 the  second  note  on  chap.  13.  the  Jewish  nation,  yet  that  tract   of  Judea  which 
 
 t  Idurnea.    Though   this  be   no   more    than    a  they  inhabited,  did  not  lose  the  name   of  Idumea 
 
 Greek  name  derived  from  the  Hebrew  Edom,  yet  which  had  been  derived  from  them,   but   retained 
 
 it  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the  original  habita-  it  for  a  considerable  time  afterwards. 
 
Ch.  XL.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUU  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  1  \J 
 
 bour,  omit  a  g'ood  action  ;  but  we  may  hide  and  conceal  from  him  the  knowledge  of 
 it,  after  the  example  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer.     All  these  things  happened,  "  that  Matt.  12. 
 it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  Isaiah  the  prophet,"  chap.  xlii.  v.  1.  con-      ^''• 
 cerning-  the  election,  the  employment,   and  the   behaviour  of  the  Blessed   Jesus, 
 *'  saying  :  behold  my  servant  whom  I  have  chosen"  among  all  others,  "my  beloved      18. 
 in  whom  my  soul  hath  been  well  pleased  ;  I  will  put  my  spirit  upon  him,  and  he  will 
 show  judgment  to  the  Gentiles."     In  effect,  Jesus  published  the  divine  ordinances, 
 that  is,  the  new  law,  not  only  for  the  Jewish  people  as   Moses  did,  but  for  all  the 
 nations  of  the  earth  ;  and  this  office  of  legislator  he  performed  not  only  by  his  own 
 preaching,  but  by  that  of  his  apo,stles  :  he  will  likewise  sit  as  judge  at  the  last  day, 
 and  exercise  justice  and  judgment  over  all  mankind.     To  fit  him  for  this  high  employ- 
 ment, God  poured  forth  upon  him  the  full  plenitude  of  his  spirit,  and  his  3.  The  ?neekness 
 whole  comportinent  bespoke  an  invariable  meekness  and  condescension,       ofJcsus. 
 according  to  that  of  the  same  prophet :  ''he  shall  not  contend"*  with  his  enemies,  "  nor      19. 
 cry  out"  as  they  who  quarrel,  "  neither  shall  any  man  hear  his  voice"  aloud  in  the 
 streets :  "  the  bruised  reed  he  shall  not  break,  and  smoking  flax  he  shall  not  extinguish,"      20. 
 but  shall  treat  infirm  souls  with  incredible  tenderness  and  meekness,  supporting  those 
 •who  are  under  temptation  and  on  the  point  of  falling,  and  cherishing  in  others  that 
 small  spark  of  divine  love  which  yet  remains  after  their  fall,  and  which  discovers 
 itself  outwardly  by  sig-hs,  in  some  degree  analogous  to  the  faint  smoke  which  is 
 emitted  after  the  flame  is  extinguished.     These  weak  desires  of  conversion,  these 
 small  rcMnains  of  warmth,  he  will  nourish  in  them,  till  he  lights  up  again  in  their  souls 
 the  flame  of  justice  and  divine  love.     In  this  exercise  of  inexhaustible  goodness  he 
 will  persevere  to  the  end  of  time,  even  "  till  he  send  forth  judgment  unto  victory,"  by      21. 
 making  his  gospel  triumph  over  all  his  enemies.     And  in  the  mean  time,  ''  in  his 
 name  the"  converted  "  Gentiles  shall  hope,"  looking  up  to  him  as  the  author  of  their 
 salvation  and  happiness. 
 
 CHAPTER  XL. 
 
 THE  ELECTION  OF  THE  TWELVE  APOSTLES. f      MATT.  IV.  AND  V.     M.\.RK,  III.      LUKE  VI. 
 
 "'  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days  that"  Jesus  went  out,  and  much  peoplej'  ful-  Luke  6. 
 lowed  him  from  Galilee,  and  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from  Judea,  ^i.^^^t' 4 
 and  from  be)ond  the  Jordan  ;  and  seeing  the  multitudes,  he  went  up  into  a  moun-      25. 
 tain,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  be  mount  Thabor,  about  five  or  six  leagues  to  ^'Y'  ^' 
 the  north  of  Capharnaum.      Designing  now  to  make  a  solemn  election  of  his  twelve 
 Apostles,  and  to  give  them  an  abstract  or  summary  of  the  doctrine  which  they  were 
 to  preach  to  the  world,  he  previously  retired  "  to  pray,  and  passed  the  whole  night 
 
 *  He  will  not  contend.  These  words  do  not  occur         +  What  St.  Matthew  has  already  related  by  an. 
 
 in  the  prophet,  but  are  added  by  St.   Matthew  to  ticipation    coiicerninEr    the    crowds    that    followed 
 
 express  the  sense  more  fully.  Christ,  is  here  inserted  in  its  proper  place  ;   so  that 
 
 t  Sandinus  places  this  event  in  the  second  year  this  is  to  he  considered  as  a  kind  of  recapitulatioa 
 
 of  Christ's  preaching-,  of  his   a^e  thirty-two,   and  of  what  in   the  foregoing  chapter  has   been  men- 
 
 the  election  of  his  seventy-two  disciples  in  the  fol-  tioned  from  St.  Matthew  himself. 
 lowing  year. 
 
148 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 [Ch.  XL. 
 
 Luke  6 
 
 13. 
 Mark  3, 
 
 13. 
 Luke  6. 
 
 13. 
 IMark  3. 
 
 14. 
 Luke  6. 
 
 13. 
 Mark  3. 
 
 14. 
 Luke  6. 
 
 13. 
 Mark  3. 
 
 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 IS. 
 Luke  4. 
 
 15. 
 
 IG. 
 
 in  prayer  to  God"  teaching'  us  hereby  how  assiduous  all  ought  to  be  in  prayer  before 
 any  important  undertaking,  and  leaving-  to  bishops  in  particular  an  example  what 
 they  are  to  do  in  Ihe  great  and  momentous  atfair  of  ordaining  and  appointing  persons 
 to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel.  "  And  when  day  was  come,  he  called  him  whom  he 
 would  himself  of  his  own  di.sciples.  "  And  they  came  to  him,  and  he  chose  twelve 
 of  them,"  with  an  audible  and  distinct  voice,  "  and  made  that,"  these  "  twelve,'' 
 according  to  the  number  of  these  patriarchs,  "  should  be  with  him"  as  his  constant 
 attendants,  in  order  that  he  might  train  them  up  to  the  high  ministry,  for  which  they 
 were  destined  ;  "  whom  he  also  named  Apostles,*  that  he  might  send  them"  in  due 
 time,  "  to  preach,"  after  having  been  first  witnesses  of  his  words  and  actions.  "  And 
 he  gave  them  power  to  heal  sicknesses,  and  to  cast  out  devils,"  in  order  thus  to 
 prove  bv  the  authority  of  miracles  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  they  taught.  "  And  to 
 Simon  he  gave  the  name  Ptttr,"  which  means  a  rock  ;  (this  was  the  second  time 
 he  had  done  it  :)  "  And"  he  called  "  James  the  Son  of  Zebedee  and  John  the  bro- 
 ther of  James,  and  he  named  them  J3o«/Jc/-ge?,  which  is  Sons  of  Thunder,"  to  express 
 their  future  zeal  in  preaching  the  Gospel  :'!"  "  And  Andrew,  and  Philip,  and  Bartho- 
 lomew,J  and  Matthew,  and  Thomas,§  and  James  of  Alpheus,  and  Simon  who  is 
 called  Zelotes,"!!  perhaps  for  his  singular  zeal  in  the  cause  of  God  and  religion. 
 ''  And  Jude  the  brother  of  James,  and  Judas  Iscariot,"  called  so  from  a  village  near 
 Samaria,  "  who  was  the  traitor."  This,  according  to  St.  IMark,  is  the  order  wherein 
 the  Apostles  were  called  by  Jesus.  St.  Luke  differs  only  in  two  particulars.  He 
 joins  Andrew  with  Peter  his  brother,  and  places  Judas  Thaddeus  immediately  before 
 Judas  Iscariot.U 
 
 *  The  word  Apostle  (aTroffxoXos)  sifjnifies  an 
 ejivoy,  and  was  a  name  given  by  the  Jews  to  any 
 messenger  in  general,  but  more  especially  to  such 
 persons  as  were  sent  by  the  High-priest  and  heads 
 of  the  people  to  collect  the  tithes  and  other  dues 
 belonging  to  the  temple  or  synagogues,  or  to  carry 
 their  orders  or  mandates  to  the  cities  and  provinces, 
 when  any  affair  relaling  to  religion  was  transacted  ; 
 and  to  this  custom  St.  Paul  seems  to  allude,  when 
 he  styles  himself  o/i  Apostle  7iol  of  man,  neilhtr  by 
 man,  but  of  Jesus  Christ,  Gal.  i.  1.  But  though 
 our  Saviour  adopted  this  word  from  the  Jews,  yet 
 he  raised  it  to  a  much  higher  and  more  honourable 
 signification  ;  for  himself  declares  that  he  sent  out 
 his  Apostles,  even  as  his  Fathsr  hud  sent  him. 
 John  XX.  21.  i.  e.  with  a  full  commission  to  act  in 
 his  stead,  as  he  did  with  regard  to  his  Father :  and 
 accordingly  we  may  observe,  that,  as  Ihe  Father 
 gave  judgment  to  the  Son,  John  v.  22.  so,  in  effect, 
 the  Son  gives  judgment  to  his  Apostles,  Matt.  ix. 
 28.  and  Luke  xxii.  30.  That  as  the  father  gave  the 
 Son  power  to  forgive  sins  tipon  earth.  Matt.  ix.  6. 
 so  the  Son  gives  power  to  the  Apostles  also  to 
 remit  sins  upon  earth,  John  xx.  23.  That  as  the 
 Son's  privilege  is  to  sit  down  with  his  Father  on  his 
 throne,  so  the  Son  allows  his  Apostles  the  same 
 honour  of  sitting  with  him  on  thrones.  Matt.  ix.  28. 
 and  that  as  the  Father  gave  the  Son  to  be  the 
 foundation  or  corner-stone  of  the  Church,  Matt. 
 xxi.  42.  so.  the  Son  gave  the  Apostles  to  be  the 
 
 foundations  upon  a  foundation,  Christ  being  the 
 chief  corner-stone,  Ephes.  ii.  20.  Apocal.  xxi.  14. 
 
 t  Of  this  they  gave  an  early  instance  in  their  de- 
 sire to  call  down  fire  from  heaven,  to  consume  the 
 Samaritans,  Luke  ix.  54,  and  in  the  Acts  of  the 
 Apostles  we  find  that  Peter,  James,  and  John  are 
 the  chief  actors  and  .speakers  in  the  defence  and 
 propagation  of  the  Gospel. 
 
 X  This  is  not  his  proper  but  patronymical  name, 
 and  imports  only  the  son  of  Tholomew,  or  Tolmia, 
 so  that  we  are  still  at  a  loss  for  his  personal  name, 
 unless  we  admit  of  the  probable  conjecture,  that  he 
 was  indeed  no  other  than  Nathanael.  See  chapter 
 17.  in  the  note. 
 
 §  This  in  Hebrew  or  Syriac  signifies  a  twin,  and 
 so  is  the  same  with  Didyjnus,  that  other  name 
 whereby  this  Apostle  is  sometimes  called. 
 
 II  In  the  Greek  it  is  Kai'avtujs,  either  from  Cana, 
 a  town  of  Galilee,  or  from  the  Hebrew  word  Canna, 
 which  signifies  zeal,  as  St.  Luke  seems  to  insinuate. 
 In  this  case,  KarnriTiyc  and  ZrjXwjrji  are  ))erfectly 
 the  same,  just  as  Cephas  and  Peter,  Tabilha  and 
 Dorcas. 
 
 ^  St.  Mark,  who  omits  many  things,  immediately 
 subjoins  to  the  election  of  the  Apostles,  the  return 
 of  Christ  into  the  house,  where  he  cured  the  de- 
 moniac. But  this  cure  did  not  take  place  the  first 
 but  the  second  time  that  Jesus  entered  into  the 
 house,  when  he  returned  from  Judea.  See  chap.  49. 
 
Ch.  XLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  149 
 
 It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Apostles  were  not  now  actually  sent,  but  only  chosen 
 and  appointed  in  order  to  be  sent  hereafter.  Their  mission  is  described  in  chap.  56. 
 It  is,  however,  probable  that  they  received  on  this  occasion  a  power  of  healing  the 
 sick,  which  was  full  and  complete  of  itself,  though  it  was  not  till  afterwards  that  they 
 were  commissioned  to  exercise  this  power. 
 
 "  And  Jesus  coming  down  with  them  stood  in  a  plain  place,"  which  formed  a      17. 
 part  of  the  descent ;  "  and  the  company  of  his  disciples,  and  a  very  great  multitude 
 of  people  from  all  Judea  and  Jerusalem  and  the  sea  coast  both  of  Tyre  and  Sidon 
 were  come  to  hear  him,  and  to  be  healed  of  their  diseases.     And  they  that  were      18. 
 troubled  with  unclean  spirits  were  cured.     And  tlie  multitude  sought  to  touch  him,      19. 
 for  virtue  went  out  from  him  and  healed  all."     By  these  miracles  a  full  sanction  was 
 given  to  the  doctrine  which  he  was  about  to  preach.    He  then  sat  down  on  the  edge 
 of  the  mount,  so  as  to  be  seen  and  heard  at  a  distance,  ''  and  lifting  up  his  eyes  on      20. 
 his  disciples,  and  opening-  his  mouth,  he  taught  them/'  ranged  in  a  circle  around     ^2'   ' 
 him,  but  so  as  to  be  heard  by  the  people  in  the  adjoining  plain.*     He  now  began 
 that  divine  discourse  usually  styled  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  is  justly  con- 
 sidered as  an  abstract  of  all  Christian  moralitv.f 
 
 Matt.  3 
 3. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLI. 
 
 Christ's  sebmon  on  the  mount,    matt.  v.    luke  vi. 
 
 This  admirable  sermon  may  be  divided  into  three  parts,  viz.  the  exordium,  the  body 
 of  the  discourse,  and  the  conchision.     The  exordium  comprises  the  following  eio-ht 
 beatitudes,  which  Christ  taught  the  multitude,  "  saying  :  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit ; 
 for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Blessed  are  the  meek ;  for  they  shall  y^^  ^^-..^^  beaii-       '*• 
 possess  the  land.     Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  :  for  they  shall  be  com-  ludes.  5. 
 
 forted.  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  justice  ;  for  they  shall  have  their       7* 
 
 *  Christ,  as  appears  from  St.  Matthew  and  St.  cured  likewise  the  sick,  charging  them  at  the  same 
 
 Luke,  directed  the  chief  part  of  liis  discourse  to  his  time  not  to  make  him  known;  lie  then,  towards  the 
 
 disciples;   but  from  what  St.   Luke   relates   at  the  evening,  quitted   the  multitude,    and   retired   to   a 
 
 end  of  tliis  discourse,  we  cannot  doubt  of  its  being  mountain  to  pray.     The  morning  after  he  called  to 
 
 heard  likewise  by  the  jjeople.  him  his  disciples,  and  from  amongst   them   chose 
 
 t  All  agree  that  St.  Matthew  anticipates  the  his  twelve  Apostles.  Then  descending  with  them, 
 sermon  on  the  mount,  in  order  thus  to  prefix  the  they  found  at  the  foot  of  the  mountainthe  greatest 
 doctrine  of  Christ  to  the  account  of  his  miracles ;  part  of  the  people  who  had  followed  him  tlie  day 
 for  we  cannot  doubt  that  tlie  discourse  on  the  before.  St.  Matthew  says  that  Christ  asceiid/d 
 mount,  which  is  mentioned  by  St.  Matthew,  is  the  the  mountain  and  aat  down  to  teach  the  people, 
 same  as  that  recorded  by  St.  Luke.  The  begin-  while  St.  Luke  affirms  that  he  descended  and  stood 
 ning,  the  middle,  and  the  conclusion  correspond  to  in  a  plain  place.  But  here  is  no  contradiction,  for 
 each  other.  If  St.  Matthew  mentions  some  par-  he  first  ascended  to  the  top  of  the  inuinUaiii,  and 
 ticulars  omitted  by  St.  Luke,  it  is  because  his  de-  then  descended  to  an  even  plain,  whicli  formed  part 
 sign  was  to  collect  together  several  instructious,  of  the  descent.  Here  he  stood  for  a  uhile  and 
 which  Jesus  delivered  on  different  occasions,  and  cured  the  sick,  as  is  mentioned  by  St.  Luke  ;  but 
 thase,  for  the  most  part,  are  to  be  found  in  other  afterwards,  according  to  the  relation  of  St.  Mat- 
 places  of  St.  Luke.  It  is  here  to  he  observed,  that  thew,  he  sat  down,  which  was  tlie  usual  posture  of 
 Christ,  in  order  to  avoid  the  press  of  people,  retired  the  Jewish  Doctors.  Such  is  the  explanation  of  SU 
 to  the  sea-shore,  taught  them  out  of  the  ship,  and  Austin. 
 
 13.  2  Q 
 
150  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  [Ch.  XH. 
 
 8.  fill.     Blessed  are  the  merciful ;  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy.     Blessed  are  the  clean 
 
 9.  of  heart ;  for  they  shall  see  God.     Blessed  are  the  peace-makers  ;    for  they  shall 
 
 10.  be  called  the  children  of  God.  Blessed  are  they  that  suffer  persecution  for  justice 
 sake  ;  for  theirs  is  die  kingdom  of  heaven." 
 
 Since  all  men  aim'  at  happiness,  but,  for  the  most  part,  unfortunately  deceive 
 themselves  in  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  attained,  Jesus  begins  this  discourse  by 
 showing  both  in  what  true  happiness  consists,  and  by  what  means  it  is  to  be  acquired. 
 He  describes  the  happiness  of  eternity  as  the  object  of  all  others  the  most  deserving 
 our  attention,  and  makes  the  happiness  of  this  life  to  consist  in  the  general  means 
 that  may  lead  us  to  it ;  for  certainly,  the  only  real  and  solid  happiness  of  mankind 
 here,  is  that  of  being  in  the  direct  road  to  a  happy  eternity  hereafter. 
 
 Now  the  general  means  which  are  proper  to  conduct  us  to  eternal  felicity,  and 
 which  also  constitute  our  real  happiness  even  in  this  life,  he  reduces  under  two  heads ; 
 to  suffer  evil,  and  to  do  good  ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  be  patient  and  innocent.  Pa- 
 tience comprises  four  beatitudes,  which  are  poverty  of  spirit,  mounting,  hunger  and 
 thirst  after  justice,  and  persecution.  Innocence  includes  the  other  four,  mee/iiiess, 
 mercy,  cleanness  of  heart,  and  the  love  of  peace.  To  all  these  he  promises  the 
 reward  of  eternal  felicity,  which  however  he  expresses  in  different  terms,  according 
 to  the  nature  of  the  virtue  to  be  rewarded.  These  we  proceed  now  to  explain  in 
 Matt.  5.  the  order  obsei  ved  by  the  Evangelists.    1.  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit  ;  for  theirs 
 
 ^-  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'"  Jesus  declares  all  those  happy  even  in  this  life,  who  are 
 poor  in  spirit,  or  in  heart  and  affection.  In  this  beatitude  are  comprised  all  those 
 who,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  voluntarily  abandon  their  worldly  possessions  ; — 
 likewise  all  who,  being  born  to  a  state  of  poverty,  or  reduced  to  it  by  acciderit,  humbly 
 submit  to  their  lot  without  envying  a  more  affluent  state.  Lastly,  all  tho  e  who, 
 thouo-h  abounding  in  worldly  goods,  yet  place  not  therein  their  confidence  or  affection, 
 but  are  ever  ready  to  part  with  them,  when  the  will  of  God  calls  for  this  sacrifice  at 
 their  hands.  The  former,  who  are  really  poor,  as  well  as  the  latter,  who  are  oidy  so 
 in  spirit,  enjoy  happiness  even  in  this  life,  because  though  they  be  here  in  indigence, 
 or  willing  to  be  reduced  to  it  if  God  so  decree,  yet  as  the  kingdom  of  heaven  with 
 all  its  riches  belongs  to  them,  their  well-founded  claim  is  deservedly  considered  as 
 the  source  of  solid  happiness. 
 
 *.  2.    "  Blessed  are  the  meek  ;   for  they  shall  possess  the  land."   Jesus  here  declares 
 
 all  those  to  be  happy  who  are  meek,  i.  e.  who  far  from  offending  their  neighbour,  or 
 doing  him  any  harm,  bend  to  the  oppression  of  others,  without  even  resisting  such 
 as  are  manifestly  unjust.  These  are  happy  ;  because  if  their  meekness  exposes  them 
 to  be  ill  treated  and  driven  from  their  possessions  by  the  ambition  and  rapacity  of 
 others,  heaven,  upon  that  title,  becomes  their  due,  as  their  own  land  and  inheritance. 
 
 5.  3.   "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  ;    for  they  shall  be  comforted."     He  declares 
 
 those  to  be  happy,  who  are  sorrowful  according  to  God,  who  shed  tears  in  his  sight 
 for  their  own  transgressions  and  for  those  of  others  ;  or,  who  lament  the  spiritual 
 miseries  and  dangers  of  this  life  ;  a  life  which  they  view  in  no  other  light  than  as  a 
 banishment  from  their  true  country  ;  or,  who  bewail  before  God  the  public  calamities 
 which  take  place  in  the  world,  or  the  particular  evils^  whether  temporal  or  spiritual. 
 
Ch.  XLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  J5j 
 
 to  which  individuals  of  all  ranks  are  subject.  Persons  of  this  description  are 
 deservedly  declared  happy^  because  heaven  is  their  assured  reward,  which  is  here 
 pointed  out  under  the  title  of  comfort  in  their  afflictions. 
 
 4.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  justice  ;*  for  they  shall  be  filled."       6. 
 He  declares  all  those  to  be  happy  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  justice,  i.  e.  who 
 earnestly  desire  and  pray  that  justice  and  order  may  reign  both  in  themselves  and 
 others.     This  desire  makes  us  pray  that  the  name  of  God  may  be  sanctified,  that  his 
 kingdom  may  come,  and  his  blessed  will  be  accomplished  by  all  mankind.     These 
 
 are  happy  in  the  assurance  they  have,  that  their  virtuous  wishes  will  one  day  be  com- 
 pletely satisfied,  when  sin  being  destroyed  even  in  its  very  source,  which  is  concu- 
 piscence, God  alone  shall  reign  all  in  all,  and  fill  them  with  a  torrent  of  spiritual 
 delights. 
 
 5.  "  Blessed  are  the  merciful ;  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."    He  declares  all  those       7 
 to  be  happy  who  are  merciful,  viz.  they  who  show  a  compassionate  tenderness  towards 
 
 the  miseries  and  wants  of  their  neighbours,  and  who,  if  his  miseries  be  corporal, 
 readily  afford  him  such  helps  as  are  proportioned  to  his  wants  and  to  their  own 
 means  ;  or,  if  of  a  spiritual  nature,  they  endeavour  to  reform  him  by  their  instruc- 
 tions, or  at  least  by  their  example  give  proofs  of  their  merciful  disposition,  by  for- 
 giving injuries,  or  by  fulfilling  other  duties  of  charity.  These  are  happy,  because  a 
 promise  is  here  made  to  them,  that  heaven  will  one  day  be  bestowed  upon  them  as 
 their  crown  and  reward,  and  as  a  wonderful  instance  of  God's  gratuitous  mercy. 
 
 6.  "■  Blessed  are  the  clean  of  heart ;  for  they  shall  see  God."  He  declares  those 
 to  be  happy  whose  hearts  are  clean,  and  disengaged  from  all  inordinate  love  of  crea- 
 tures :  this  cleanness  extends  itself  from  the  heart  to  the  whole  man  ;  it  shows  itself 
 in  the  body  by  a  chastity  of  manners,  in  the  soul  by  a  general  mortification  of  the 
 passions,  in  the  will  by  simplicity  and  an  upright  intention,  and  in  the  mind  by  a 
 rejection  of  all  sinful  thoughts.  Persons  of  this  description  are  happy,  because  being 
 divested  of  all  inordinate  affections  to  creatures,  which  like  clouds  obstruct  their  sio-ht, 
 they  shall  one  day  see  God  face  to  face  in  his  glory. 
 
 7.  "  Blessed  are  the  peace-makers  ;  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 
 He  declares  peace-makers  happy,  i.  e,  all  such  as  love  peace,  and  procure  it  both  to 
 themselves  and  others  ;  who  are  ever  ready,  by  making  the  first  advances,  to  seek  a 
 reconciliation  with  others,  and  to  grant  forgiveness  to  those  who  solicit  for  it,  by 
 readily  consenting  to  an  oblivion  of  past  differences.  These  are  happy,  because  even 
 in  this  life  they  are  the  children  of  God,  who  is  the  God  of  peace,  and  they  will  be 
 infinitely  more  so  hereafter  in  heaven,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  eternal  peace. 
 
 8.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  suffer  persecution  for  justice  sake  :  for  theirs  is  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven."  He  declares  those  happy  who  suffer  persecution,  not  like  the 
 wicked,  in  punishment  of  their  crimes,  but  for  justice  and  truth,  i.  e.  for  their  faith 
 and  virtue ;  who  suffer,  in  a  good  cause,  the  loss  of  their  country  and  friends  by 
 
 *  They  who  understand  this  hunger  and  thirst  in  is  not  mentioned,  is  favourable  to  tliis  iiiterprela- 
 
 a    Hteral    sense,    supply  the   word   propter  before  tion.     However,  this  would  limit   the  beatitude  to 
 
 jiisiitiam,  i.  e.  021  account  of  or  for  the  cause  of  jus-  those  who  suffer  hunger  and  thirst  in  a  just  cause, 
 
 iice,  as  is  frequently  done  in  the  Greek  language,  which  yet  appears  too  contracted  a  sense,  and  is 
 
 The  paiallel  text  of  St,  Luke  vi.  2L  where  justice  implied  suflBciently  in  the  eighth  beatitude. 
 
152  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLL 
 
 banishment ;  the  loss  of  their  honour,  by  marks  of  infamy  ;  the  loss  of  their  goods, 
 by  forfeiture  ;  of  their  liberty,  by  imprisonment ;  of  their  health  by  torments  of  their 
 bodies,  or  members  by  mutilation  ;  finally,  who  suffer  the  loss  of  their  very  lives,  by 
 martyrdom.  Happy  are  these,  because  after  having  fought  in  the  cause  of  truth, 
 heaven  is  justly  their  due ; — their  acquired  kingdom,  the  subject  of  their  triumph  and 
 of  their  glory. 
 
 The  lust  beatitude  being  the  most  important,  Jesus  enters  into  a  more  minute 
 
 explanation  of  it,  and  thus  encourages  his  disciples  and  followers  when  suffering  in 
 
 Luke  c.  his  cause.     "  Blessed  shall  you  be  when  men  shall  hate  you,  when  they  shall  sepa- 
 
 ^"^'      rate  you"  from  your  friends  and  country  by  banishment  and  imprisonment,  "  and 
 
 shall  reproach  you"  for  being  Christians  and  Catholics,  "  and  cast  out  your  name  as 
 
 Matt.  5.  p^,jj^  |-^^j,  ^i^g  g^j^  qJ-  ]y[.,,)'g  gake ;  and  persecute  you,  and  speak  all  that  is  evil  against 
 
 Luke  6.  you  untruly  for  my  sake.     Be  glad  in  that  day  and  rejoice  :   for  behold  your  reward 
 
 '^^-      is  o-reat  in  heaven.      For  according  to  these  things  did  their  fathers  persecute  the 
 
 Matt.  5.  prophets  that  were  before  you,"  and  the  part  you  have  in  their  sufTeriiigs  will  entitle 
 
 12-      you  to  share  likewise  in  their  glory. 
 
 To  display  this  doctrine  in  yet  a  stronger  light,  Jesus  contrasts  the  persons  thus 
 
 declared  happy  under  four  of  these  beatitudes,  with  four  other  descriptions  of  men,  to 
 
 Luke  5.  whom  he  denounces  eternal  misery.     "  But  wo  to  you"  says  he,   "  that  are  rich"  in 
 
 '^^       your  hearts,  whether  really  possessed  of  riches  or  only  so  in  desire  ;  "  because  you 
 
 25.  have  your  consolation,"  such  as  it  is,  here  in  this  world.  "  Wo  to  you  that  are 
 filled,"  and  make  good  cheer  the  sole  object  of  your  pursuit:  "  for  you  shdl  hunger" 
 eternally  hereafter.  "  Wo  to  you  that  now  laugh,"  and  pass  your  time  in  vain  plea- 
 sures and  amusements  :  "  for  you  shall  mourn  and  weep,"  hereafter  without  ceasing. 
 
 26.  •'  Wo  to  you,"  ministers,  "  when  men  shall  bless"  and  applaud  you  "  for  preaching 
 to  them  erroneous  doctrines  ;  for  according  to  these  things  did  their  fathers  to  the 
 false  prophets,"  who  pleased  them  with  easy  and  novel  doctrines,  such  as  were  no 
 less  pernicious  to  the  souls  of  men  than  they  were  flattering  to  their  passions. 
 
 What  we  have  hitherto  given  of  Christ's  sermon,  appertains  to  the  exordium,  and 
 merits  our  most  serious  consideration. 
 
 A  coniimia-        This  discourse,  as  hinted  above,  is  chiefly  addressed  to  the  Apostles, 
 
 tinn  of  the  Ser-  ^^hom  Jesus  had  recently  chosen,  in  order  to  instil  into  them,  and  all 
 
 "^Mount/      succeeding  pastors  of  the  Church,  a  right  sense  of  the  great  duties 
 
 belongino-  to  their  ministry  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  it  refers  to  all  the  faithful  in 
 
 general. 
 
 Jesus  first  considers  the  apostles  and  pastors  of  his  Church  as  possessing  the  qua- 
 lities suitable  to  the  employment  for  which  they  were  destined,  as  instructors  of 
 mankind.     They  are  to  instruct  others  by  word  and  example. 
 
 *  In  the  continuation  of  this  discourse,  St.  Mat-  trine,  though  delivered   at  different  times   and   in 
 
 thew  relates  many  thing's  which  are  mentioned  both  different  places.      However,  as  it   is  likewise   pro- 
 
 by  St.  Mark  anil    St.    Luke  in   different   jilaces  of  bable,  that  Jesus  frequently  repeated  the  same  in- 
 
 their  respective  gospels.     It  is  probable  that  St.  structions,  many  of  them  are  left  in  the  same  order 
 
 Luke  relates  soml;  things  by  recapitulation,  and  St.  in  which  they  occur  in  the  other  Evangelists.    But, 
 
 Matthew  others  by  anticipation.    The  design  which  not  to  interrupt  the  series  of  this  excellent  sermon, 
 
 the  last  Evangelist  seems  to  have  had  in  view,  was  I  have  thought   proper   to   make   some   insertions 
 
 to  give  here  a''  summary  of  the  whole  gospel  doc-  here,  as  that  from  the  12th  chapter  of  St.  Luke. 
 
Ch.  XLL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  153 
 
 ''  You  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,"  says  he,  "  intended  to  preserve     Christ's  disci-  Matt.  5, 
 men  from  the  corruption  of  sin,  and  to  make  thera  relish  the  truths  of  Pj^^  ^^*  -J"^^  "/     ^^• 
 salvation.     But  if  the  salt  lose  its  savour,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted?  ac  u^kt  of  the 
 It  is  good  for  nothing  any  more,  but  to  be  cast  out  and  to  be  trodden  on  worW. 
 by  man."    So  it  will  be  with  you,  if  you  let  your  faith  and  charity  grow  cold,  in  which 
 is  all  your  force  ;  you  will  fall  into  contempt,  and  be  deservedly  rejected  by  God, 
 and  trampled  upon  by  the  world.     "  You  are  the  light  of  the  world  by  your  doctrine      14. 
 and  example,  and,  as  a  city  seated  on  a  mountain  cannot  be  hid,"*  so  neither  can 
 you  in  this  eminent  station  in  which  you  are  placed.     What  Christ  here  says  of  his 
 Apostles  is  said  likewise  of  his  Church,  which  they  represented.     No  object  indeed 
 ought  to  be  more  visible  than  that  society  which  was  to  erect  the  standard  of  faith  as 
 a   signal  for  all  nations  to  resort  to ;  otherwise,  how  could  they,  who,  in  this  exile, 
 sincerely  seek  the  road  to  their  heavenly  country,  distinguish  the  true  teachers  and 
 guides  who  are  appointed  to  direct  them  in  that  road,  and  point  out  the  numberless 
 errors  that  surround  it.     This  society  can  be  only  that  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which 
 has  always  been  visible,  by  a  regular  succession  of  bishops  and  priests  succeeding  one 
 another,  through  every  age  to  the  present  time.     "  Neither  do  men  light  a  candle      15. 
 and  put  it  under  a  bushel,  but  upon  a  candlestick,  that  it  may  shine  to  all  that  are  in 
 the  house.     So,"  in  like  manner,  to  answer  the  design  of  God  in  your  regard,  "  let      16. 
 your  light,"  the  light  of  virtue  and  piety,  "shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your 
 good  works,  and"  hence  "  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven.     This  precept  is  by 
 no  means  contrary  to  that  which  he  afterwards  enjoins,  of  hiding  our  good  works. 
 He  is  here  principally  forming  pastors  for  his  church,  who,  being  persons  in  public 
 office,  must  consequently  be  exposed  to  the  view  of  all ;  whereas  in  the  place  referred 
 to,  he  instructs  the  fiiithful  in  their  private  capacities,  whose  duties  in  this  respect  are 
 of  a  different  nature.     Or  rather,  we  may  say  with  St.  Gregory,  that  both  pastors 
 and  people  are  here  commanded  to  let  their  light  shine  before  men  by  good  works, 
 but  below  they  are  cautioned  not  to  seek  in  the  performance  of  them  human  applause, 
 but  solely  the  glory  of  God.     "  Whatever  we  do,  let  us  do  it,"  says  he,  so  "  as  not 
 to  seek  or  desire  human  applause.     Let  the  good  work  be  done  publicly,  but  so  that 
 the  intention  may  be  secret :  thus  we  may  by  our  good  works  give  example  to  others, 
 and  excite  them  to  do  the  same ;  and  yet,  by  our  pure  intention  of  seeking  only  to 
 please  God,  desire  they  should  be  known  only  to  him." — (St.  Greg.  horn.  ii.  in 
 Evang.)  Jesus  next  answers  the  objections  which  might  be  urged  against  the  preceding 
 doctrine.     "  Do  not  imagine,"  says  he,  "  that,"  in  giving  these  new  instructions,  "  I      17. 
 am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets  :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,      jj^  ^^^^^ 
 but  to  fulfil  them."     For  as  to  the  moral  precepts  of  the  law,  these  to  thstroy  but  to 
 I  elucidate  by  pointing  out  their  extent,  by  adding  what  is  wantiiio-  to  -^"^^  '''*  '""'• 
 their  perfection,  and  by  bestowing  the  graces  necessary  for  their  observance.     As  to 
 the  ceremonial  precepts  of  the  law,  I  bring  the  truth  and  reality,  of  which  they  were 
 but  figures ;  and  thus,  instead  of  annulling,  I  rather  fulfil  them.     "  For,  amen,  I       l^. 
 
 *  See  Si.  Austin  (lib.  3.  contra  lit.  Petil.),  where  in  the  mountains  of  Sion  ;  because  you  are  not  in 
 he  refuics  the  Donatists,  who,  like  the  Protestants,  the  city  set  upon  a  hill ;  which  hastliis  certain  sign, 
 took  refuge  in  an  invisible  church.     "  You  are  not     that  it  cannot  be  hid." 
 
 14.  2r 
 
154  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLL 
 
 say  unto  you,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass"  away,  "  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  not  pass 
 of  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled"  which  it  contains,  both  in  the  complete  verification  of 
 its  figures,  as  well  as  by  a  perfect  compliance  with  all  its  precepts.  This  shows  that 
 all  the  fig-ures  of  the  old  law,  i.  e.  of  the  Old  Testament,  began  to  be  accomplished 
 only  at  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  end  and  object  of  the  law.  From  this 
 necessary  fulfilment  of  the  law  he  draws  two  conclusions.     The  first  is  against  those 
 
 19.  who  annul  the  letter  of  the  law.  "  He,  therefore,  that  shall  break  one  of  these  least 
 commandments,  and  shall  so  teach  men,  shall  be  called  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of 
 heaven,  from  which  he  shall  be  for  ever  excluded.  But  they  that  do  and  teach"  all 
 that  the  law  ordains,  "  shall  be  called  great  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The  second 
 conclusion  he  draws  against  those  who,  observing  the  letter  of  the  law,  destroyed  the 
 spirit  of  it,  which  was  the  case  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees :  but  Christ  assures  us 
 
 20.  that  this  their  practice  will  be  no  excuse  for  us,  if  we  imitate  them.  ''  For  I  tell  you" 
 says  he,  "  unless  your  justice  abound  more  than  that  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
 you  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  This  last  conclusion  opens  to 
 Jesus  a  wide  field,  and  he  thence  takes  occasion  to  enter  into  a  more  circumstantial 
 detail  of  such  precepts  as  he  judges  proper  to  add  to  the  express  letter  of  the  law, 
 and  to  point  out  such  parts  as  were  defective,  both  in  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
 Pharisees,  especially  with  relation  to  murder,  adultery,  perjury,  revenge,  and  what 
 regards  the  love  of  our  neighbour.      1st.  In  regard  to  murder,  Christ  says  to  his 
 
 22.  hearers  :  "  You  have  heard,  that  it  was  said  to  them  of  old  ;  thou  shalt  not  kill,  and 
 whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment.  But  I  say  to  you,  that  not 
 only  he  who  murders,  but  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother,"  without  cause,* 
 "  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment"  appointed  for  lesser  oflences.  "  And  whoso- 
 ever shall  say  to  his  brother,  raca,"  or  any  other  injurious  word,  "  shall  be  in  danger 
 of  the  council,"  or  sanhedrim,  which  consisted  of  seventy-two  persons,  where  the 
 hio-hest  causes  were  tried.      "  And  whosoever  shall  say  thou  fool,"  with  contempt, 
 
 23.  spite,  or  malice,  "  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell  fire.t  If  therefore  thou  offer  thy  gift  at 
 the  altar  (and  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  a  Christian  about  to  receive  the  sacred  body 
 
 24.  of  Clirist),  and  there  thou  remember  that  thy  brother  hath  any  thing  against  thee, 
 leave  there  thy  offering  before  the  altar,  and  go  first  to  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,:}: 
 
 Luke  12.  and  then  coming  thou  shalt  offer  thy  gift.     And  when  thou  goest  with  thy  adversary 
 ^^-      to  the  ruler,  make  an  agreement  speedily,  whilst  thou  art  in  the  way"  of  this  life, 
 
 25.  "  and  endeavour  to  be  delivered  from  him,  lest  perhaps  he  draw  thee  to  the  judge, 
 Luke  12.  and  the  nidge  deliver  thee  to  the  officer,  and  the  officer  cast  thee  into  prison,"  either 
 
 59,'  of  purgatory  or  hell.  "  I  say  to  thee  thou  shalt  not  go  out  thence,  until  thou  pay  the 
 very  la^t  mite."§  We  may  consider  the  present  life  as  a  way  in  which  we  are 
 travelling  towards  eternity.  Our  adversary  is  an  evil  conscience,  which  reproaches 
 us  with  our  guilt,  or  it  may  be  the  divine  justice  which  demands  vengeance  of  it. 
 
 *  These  words  are  found  in  almost  all  the  Greek     ever  since),  to  express  the  fire  and  punishments  of 
 
 MSS.  l'^"- 
 
 t  Gr.  Gehenna  of  fire.     Gehennon  was  the  val-         X  The  meaning  is  not  that  we  are  bound  always 
 
 ley   of  Hinnon,  near  to  Jerusalem,  where  human  to  go  personally  to  the  offended  party,  but  that  we 
 
 victims  were  burnt  in  honour  of  the  idol  Molocli.  be  willing  in  mind  and  heart  to  be  reconciled,  to 
 
 In  that  place  was  a  perpetual  fire,  on  which  account  forgive  every  one,  and  to  seek  peace  witli  all  men, 
 it  is  made  use  of  by  our  Saviour  (as  it  has  been  §  This  was  a  small  brass  coin. 
 
C„.  XLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  I55 
 
 God  himself  is  the  Judge.     If  therefore  we  do  not  satisfy  our  adversary^  by  true 
 repentance,  during  this  life,  while  we  are  in  the  way,  when  we  come  to  die,  and  are 
 presented  before  the  judge,  we  shall  be  condemned  to  the  prison  of  purgatory  or  of 
 hell,  where  we  must  remain  till  by  our  sufferings  we  have  fully  satisfied  the  divine 
 justice  for  the  debt  we  owe,  even  to  the  last  farthing.    Jesus  now  passes  to  the  sixth 
 commandment,  which  the  Pharisees  restrained  to  the  outward  action  itself.     "  You  Matt.  5. 
 have  heard,"  says  he,  "  that  it  was  said  to  them  of  old  :   thou  shalt  not  commit      ^^' 
 adultery:  but  I  say  to  you,"  that  this  extends  likewise  to  sinful  desires,  and  ''  that      -28. 
 whosoever  shall  look  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath  already  committed  adultery 
 with  her  in  his  heart."     Under  the  sense  of  seeing  Christ  comprises  all  the  steps  and 
 incitements  which  lead  to  sin  :  and  under  the  word  adultery,  all  other  sins  of  impurity. 
 "  And  if  thy  right  eye  scandalize  thee,"  and  become  an  occasion  of  sin,  "  pluck  it  out      29. 
 and  cast  it  from  thee  :  for  it  is  expedient  for  thee,  that  one  of  thy  members  should 
 perish,  rather  than  the  whole  body  be  cast  into  hell :  and  if  thy  right  hand  scandalize      30. 
 thee,"  and  cause  thee  to  sin,    "  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  from  thee  :  for  it  is  expedient 
 for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  rather  than  that  the  whole  body  go 
 into  hell."     Here,  by  the  hand  and  the  eye,  the  dearest  and  most  necessary  parts  of 
 the  body,  Christ  understands  all  those  persons,  even  the  nearest  and  dearest  of  our 
 connections,  who  are  the  occasion  of  sin  ;  and  he  commands  us  to  break  off  all  com- 
 munication with  such  as  these  without  delay  or  demur.     "  It  hath  also  been  said  :      3'- 
 whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  let  him  give  her  a  bill  of  divorce,"  or  a  writing  by 
 which  he  declares  that  he  repudiates  her,  and  gives  her  full  liberty  of  taking  another 
 husband.    "  But  I  say  to  you,  that  whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  excepting  for  the      32. 
 cause  of  fornication,  maketh  her  to  commit  adultery  :  and  he  that  shall  marry  her  that 
 is  put  away,  committeth  adultery."     This  sentence  has  two  parts,  in  reference  to  the 
 law  of  divorce,  as  explained  by  the  Pharisees.     1.  Christ  allows  a  separation  from 
 bed  and  board,  but  only  in  the  case  of  adultery,  whereas  the  Pharisees  extended  the 
 lawfulness  of  it  to  many  capricious  and  fanciful  cases.     2.  After  admitting  the  law- 
 fulness of  a  divorce  in  the  above-mentioned  case,  the  bond  of  marriage  still  remains 
 undissolved ;  for  what  God  has  joined  no  man  can  separate  ;  whereas  the  Jews,  after 
 having  repudiated  their  wives,  scrupled  not  to  marry  again,  allowing  likewise  to  their 
 former  wives  a  similar  liberty.     The  text  indeed,  in  St.  Matthew  xix.  6.  is  somewhat 
 obscure,  but  the  ambiguity  is  removed,  and  the  true  sense  ascertained,  by  this  and 
 other  clear  and  decisive  texts  of  Scripture  on  this  subject.*     Hence  the  Church  of 
 God  has  never  understood  the  above  exception  as  implying  a  dissolution  of  the  bund 
 of  marriage,  or  as  in  any  respect  allowing  the  innocent  party  to  marry  again,  but,  on 
 the  contrary,  has  condemned,  in  the  strongest  terms,  those  who  teach  a  different 
 doctrine.     If  any  one,  says  the  council  of  Trent,!  shall  say  that  the  Church  is  mis- 
 taken, in  having  taught  and  in  teaching,  according  to  the  evangelical  and  apostolical 
 doctrine,  that  the  bond  of  marriage  cannot  be  dissolved  by  the  adultery  of  either  of 
 the  parties,  and  that  both,  or  even  the  innocent  party,  who  gave  no  cause  to  the 
 adultery,  cannot  contract  another  marriage  whilst  the  other  party  is  alive  and  that  he 
 
 *  St.  Matt.  xix.  9.    St.  Luke  xvi.  18.    St.    Paul         t  Sess.  21.  can.  7. 
 Rom.  vii. 
 
i56  T"E  LIFE  OF  OUll  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLI. 
 
 is  guilty  of  adultery,  who,  putting'  away  the  adulteress,  marries  another,  as  is  also  she 
 who,  leaving  the  adulterer,  marries  anothei',  let  him  be  anathema. 
 
 Jesus  now  proceeds  to  the  subject  of  oaths,  and  condemns  the  rash,  hasty  use 
 
 33.  which  the  Jews  made  of  them.     "  Again  you  have  heard  that  it  was  said  to  them  of 
 
 old :  thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but  thou  shalt  perform  thy  oaths 
 
 34.  "  °    "■       to  the  Lord.     But  I  say  to  you  not  to  swear  at  all,"  except  in  an  im- 
 
 35.  portant  and  necessary  case,  "  neither  by  heaven,  for  it  is  the  throne  of  God,  nor  by 
 the  earth,  for  it  is  his  footstool ;  nor  by  Jerusalem,  for  it  is  the  city  of  the  great 
 
 3e.  King,"  the  seat  of  his  empire  and  religious  worship.  "  Neither  shalt  thou  swear  by 
 thy  head,  because  thou  canst  not  make  one  hair  white  or  black:"  and  so  of  other 
 creatures,  we  are  forbid  to  swear  by  them,  because  of  the  near  connection  which 
 
 37.  exists  between  them  and  their  Creator.  "  But  let  your  speech,"  says  Christ,  "  be 
 yes,  yes;  no,  no ;  and  that  which  is  over  and  above  these  proceedeth  from  evil," 
 i.  e.  from  the  bad  dispositions  of  men's  hearts,  of  whom  some  are  mistrustful  and 
 incredulous,  others  are  liars  and  dissemblers.  He  condemns  not  oaths  in  themselves, 
 nor  says  they  arc  evil ;  but  only  that  they  spring  from  an  evil  principle.  This  suffices 
 to  render  them  unlawful  when  unnecessary,  and  to  justify  them  where  necessity  calls 
 for  them.  For  there  are  some  things,  the  origin  of  which  may  be  vicious,  and  the 
 use  nevertheless  innocent  and  harmless.  Our  Blessed  Lord  having  enforced  the 
 reverence  which  we  ought  to  bear  towards  God,  and  also  towards  his  creatures,  in 
 the  use  of  oaths,  and  having  likewise  recommended  simplicity  and  moderation  in  our 
 conversation,  proceeds  to  some  other  precepts  regarding  our  carriage  to  our  neigh- 
 bour, such  as  were  also  misinterpreted  by  the  Pharisees,  and  transgressed  in  common 
 
 38.  practice.  He  says  to  them  :  "  You  have  heard  it  has  been  said  :  an  eye  for  an  eye, 
 and  a  looth  for  a  tooth  ;"*  from  whence  your  doctors  have  inferred,  that  revenge  is 
 
 39.  allowable  in  proportion  to  the  injury  received.  "  But  I  say  to  you  not  to  resist  evil," 
 
 Against    re-  by  revenging  yourself  of  him  who  hath  done  evil  to  you  ;  "  but  if  one 
 
 ^Q       venge,  and   on  strikes  thee  ou  the  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  also  the  other.     And  if  a 
 
 neighZztf  and  man  wiU  contend  with  thee  in  judgment,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let  go 
 
 enemies.  thy  cloak  also  unto  him,"  rather  than  enter  into  litigation,  "  because 
 
 the  o-reatest  loss  is  that  of  peace  and  mutual  charity."  Butwemust  not  conclude  from 
 
 hence   that  it  is  unlawful  for  the  injured  party  to  have  recourse  to  the  laws  when  he 
 
 cannot  otherwise  have  justice  done  him ;  for  if  this  were  the  case,  the  public  good  of 
 
 society,  as  well  as  of  private  individuals,  would  be  materially  affected.     What  our 
 
 Lord  therefore  designed  to  inculcate  in  the  present  instance,  was  a  general  lesson  of 
 
 meekness  and  patience  under  injuries,  in  opposition  to  a  revengeful  disposition  and 
 
 41.      rio-orous  retaliation  of  every  wrong.     He  thus  proceeds  :  "  And  whosoever  will  force 
 
 thee  one  mile,"  to  help  him  on  his  journey,  "  go  with  him  other  two,"  rather  than 
 
 Luke  6.  lose  thy  patience  and  be  wanting  in  charity.     "  Give  to  every  one  that  asketh  thee," 
 
 30       when  in  re;d  necessity,  "  and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee,  turn  not  away. 
 
 ^^""l^^  ^'  And  of  him  that  taketh  away  thy  goods,  demand  them  not  again,"  in  the  courts  of 
 
 Luke  6.  justice,  with  the  view  of  inflicting  punishment  on  him.    "  And  as  you  would  that  men 
 
 3j'      should  do  to  you,  do  you  also  to  them  in  like  mannei." 
 
 *  Ex.  xxi.  24.  Lev.  xxxiv.  20. 
 
Ch.  XLII]  "         THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  ]  57 
 
 After  having  thus  discoursed  concerning'  revenge,  Jesus  is  led  by  the  affinity  of  the 
 subject  to  treat  of  the  necessity  of  suppressing  all  hatred.     "  You  have  heard,"  says  Matt.  ^. 
 he,  "  that  it  hath  been  said  :  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  and  hate  thy  enemy.*      ^^• 
 But"  this  latter  part  is  only  a  false  gloss  which  the  doctors  have  added  to  the  law  : 
 "  I  say  to  you,  love  your  enemies,"  bless  them  that  curse  you,  "  do  good  to  them  that      44. 
 hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  persecute  and  calumniate  you,  that  you  may  be  the 
 children  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  who  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  upon  the  good  and      45. 
 bad,  and  raineth  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust."    It  is  only  by  thus  imitating  his  good- 
 ness, that  you  can  hope  one  day  to  partake  of  his  glory.     "  For  if  you  love  them  that      46. 
 love  you,  what  reward  shall  you  have ;    do  not  even  the  Publicans  the  same  ?    Even  Luke  6. 
 sinners  love  those  that  love  them,  and  if  ye  do  good  to  them  who  do  good  to  you,      p- 
 what  thanks"  are  due  "to  you?  for  sinners  also  do  this  :  and  if  you  lend  to  them,  of     34I 
 whom  you  hope  to  receive,  what  thanks"  or  reward,  "  are"  due  "  to  you?  for  sinners 
 also  lend  to  sinners,  that  they  may  receive  an  equivalent.     And  if  you  salute  your  Matt.  5. 
 brethren  only,  what  do  you  more  ?  do  not  also  the  heathens  the  same  ?  But  love  ye      '*''• 
 your  enemies,  do  good  and  lend"  lo  the  necessitous,  "  hoping  for  nothing  thereby;      35^ 
 and  your  reward  shall  be  great,  and  you  shall  be  the  sons  of  the  Most  High :  for  he 
 is  kind  to  the  unthankful  and  to  the  evil.     Be  ye  therefore  merciful,  as  your  Father      36. 
 also  is  merciful.     Be  you  perfect,  as  also  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect,"  that  is.  Matt.  5. 
 be  always  tending  to  perfection ;  and  this  will  appear  in  your  meekness,  in  jour      ■*-• 
 goodness  and  charity  ;  and  above  all,  in  a  profound  humility,  which  alone  can  ensure 
 to  you  the  merit  of  your  good  works. — These  sublime  lessons  of  our  Lord,  thougli 
 not  strictly  obligatory  in  all  cases,  are  equally  conducive  to  our  happiness  as  to  our 
 perfection.     If  we  follow  them  in  the  practice  of  our  lives,  we  shall,  by  a  little  suffer- 
 ing, always  preserve  a  firm  peace  and  tranquillity  of  mind,  whilst  resistance  and  con- 
 tention terminate  only  in  hatred  and  desires  of  revenge.    Beside,  we  shall  frequentlv, 
 by  our  forbearance  and  condescension,  gain  over  our  brother,i*  and  thus  receive 
 voluntarily  from  him  that  recompense  and  compensation  which  violent  measures  could 
 never  obtain  :  at  least,  this  we  are  sure  of,  that  our  heavenly  Father  will  one  day 
 abundantly  recompense  us  for  all  those  sufferings  wdiich  we  now  submit  to  for  his 
 sake,  and  with  the  intention  of  preserving  mutual  peace  and  concord.     Lastly,  these 
 heroic  practices  of  humility  and  patience,  as  they  show  a  contempt  of  earthly  things, 
 as  not  worth  contending  for,  so  they  evince  a  desire  of  sutFering  in  conformity  to  our 
 crucified  Lord,  and  will  therefore,  by  a  perfect  Christian,  be  considered  rather  as 
 favours  to  be  embraced,  than  as  evils  to  be  avoided. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLII. 
 
 CONTINUATION   OF  THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT. OF  ALMS-DEEDS,  PRAYER,  AND 
 
 FASTING,  &C.    MATT.  VI. 
 
 Our  Lord,  having  thus  expounded  the  true  extent  of  several  precepts,  proceeds 
 further  to  instruct  his  Apostles,  and  all  his  followers,  in  the  right  manner  of  perform- 
 
 *  Lev.  xis.  18.  f  Matt,  xviii.  15. 
 
 U.  2s 
 
158  THE  LIFE  0¥  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIL 
 
 ing  their  g-ood  works  in  general,  especially  those  three  great  Christian  duties  of 
 prayer,  alms-deeds,  and  fasting.  The  Pharisees,  it  seems,  vitiated  all  their  good 
 works  by  doing  them  from  human  motives,  and  merely  out  of  vanity  and  ostentation. 
 Our  Blessed  Saviour  therefore  cautions  his  Apostles  and  followers  against  this  defec- 
 tive and  mercenary  intention,  lest  by  it  they  lose  the  fruit  of  all  their  good  actions. 
 Matt.  6.  "  Take  heed,"  says  he,  "  that  you  do  not  your  justice  ;"*  that  is,  your  good  works, 
 •'  before  men,  to  be  seen  by  them,  otherwise  you  shall  not  have  a  reward  of  your 
 Father  who  is  in  heaven ;"  for  he  recompenses  only  in  the  next  life  what  is  done  for 
 
 2.  his  sake  in  this.    "  Therefore,  when  thou  dost  an  alms-deed,  sound  not 
 a  trumpet  before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogues  and  in 
 
 the  streets,  that  they  may  be  honoured  by  men.     Amen,  I  say  to  you,  they  have 
 
 3.  received  their  reward.  But  when  thou  givest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what 
 thy  right  hand  doth  ;"  that  is,  observe  an  inviolable  secrecy  in  regard  to  others,  and 
 
 4.  even,  if  it  were  possible,  with  regard  to  thyself.  "  That  thy  alms  may  be  in  private, 
 and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  private,  will  repay  thee"  before  men  and  angels  at  the 
 last  day. 
 
 Having  thus  described  the  right  method  of  giving  alms-deeds,  Jesus  next  proceeds 
 to  the  subject  of  prayer,  and  corrects  two  abuses ;  the  first  of  which  was  common  to 
 
 5.  the  Pharisees,  and  the  other  to  the  heathens.     "  And  when  ye  pray," 
 ''"^"''        said  he,  "  you  shall  not  be  as  the  hypocrites,  that  love  to  stand  and  pray 
 
 in  the  synagogues  and  corners  of  the  streets,  that  they  may  be  seen  by  men  :  Amen, 
 
 6.  I  say  to  you,  they  have  received  their  reward.  But  thou,  when  thou  shalt  pray,  enter 
 into  thy  chamber,  and  having  shut  the  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  in  secret:  and  thy 
 Father  who  seeth  in  secret,  will  repay  thee"  before  all.  Jesus  here  finds  fault  with 
 that  depraved  intention  in  praying,  which  originates  from  a  desire  of  attracting  the 
 notice  and  admiration  of  men,  but  by  no  means  does  he  blame  public  prayers,  such 
 as  are  offered  up  to  God  in  places  set  apart  for  the  divine  worship.  Such  public 
 prayers  have  ever  been  the  practice  both  of  the  Jews  and  Christians;  and  certainly, 
 to  join  in  prayer  with  a  whole  congregation,  cannot  be  said  to  attract  the  notice  or 
 
 7.  admiration  of  individuals.  Our  Lord  then  proceeds  in  the  following  manner  :  "  And 
 when  thou  art  praying,  speak  not  much  as  the  heathens,  for  they  think  they  are  heard 
 
 8-  by  reason  of  their  speaking  rauch-t  Be  not  therefore  like  to  them,  for  your  Father 
 knoweth  what  is  needful  for  you  before  you  ask  him."  This  admonition  relates  to  the 
 Pagans,  who,  in  an  infinite  multiplicity  of  words  and  flowing  language,  displayed  their 
 miseries  and  wants,  and  reasoned  with  the  Divinity  upon  the  subject  of  their  requests, 
 painting  them  in  the  most  lively  colours,  as  if  they  would  instruct  God  respecting 
 
 *  E\ti)/ioavfr]i',  your  alniK,  which  seems  to  be  Luke  vi.  12.     He  prayed  in  private  houses,  Matt, 
 
 the  sense  in  this  place.     Some  Greek  copies  have  xix.  13.   Luke  xi.  1.      He   prayed   before  the  elec- 
 
 ^iKatoavviiv,  yovr  justice,;  but  the   sense   appears  tion  of  his  Apostles,  Luke  vi.  12.     He  prayed  pre- 
 
 the  same,  for'alms  are  amoMgt  the  works  of  justice,  viously  to  the   performance   of  his   miracles,   Mutt. 
 
 t  Jesus  recommends,  by  his    own   example,  the  xiv.  l!*.  Jolin  vi.  11.     He  prayed  after  baptism  and 
 
 frequent  use  of  prayer.     For  he  undertook  nothing,  before   his   transfiguration,   Luke  iii.  21.   c.   ix.  a8. 
 
 and   did  nothing,    without    previously    having    re-  He   prayed  in   the  garden.  Matt.  xxvi.  36.  39.  42. 
 
 course  to  it.      He  jjraycd  in  the  temple,   Luke  xix.  44.     In  short,  when  and  where  did  lie  not  pray  i' — 
 
 47.     He  prayed  in  the  desert,  Mark  i.  35.  Luke  v.  Pouget,  t.  2.  p.  52 L 
 16.     He  prayed  in  the  mountains,  Matt.  xiv.  23. 
 
Ch.  XLII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  159 
 
 their  necessities,  and  obtain  redress  by  the  display  of  their  eloquence.  However,  we 
 must  not  imagine  that  Christ  here  condemns  long-  prayers  in  thenoselves,  since  he 
 himself,  for  our  instruction,  was  accustomed  to  pass  whole  nights  in  prayer  ;  it  is  only 
 against  vain  and  idle  repetitions,  void  of  the  spirit  of  devotion,  that  he  here  cautions 
 us.  The  Greek  word  signifies  to  babble  or  trifle.  In  lieu  of  this  erroneous  practice, 
 he  substitutes  a  perfect  model  of  prayers,  which  in  few  words  comprises  all  that  we 
 should  ask  of  God,  and  places  each  thing  to  be  asked  for  in  its  proper  rank.  "  You 
 shall  pray  therefore  in  this  manner,"  says  he  :  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hal-  S. 
 lowed  be  thy  name.  Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  10- 
 Give  us  this  day  our  supersubstantial  bread  :*  and  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  |l« 
 our  debtors.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil,  amen."t  is! 
 This  prayer,  fvhich  is  called  by  Tertullian  a  Summary  of  the  whole  Gospel,  and  by 
 St.  Cyprian,  a  Compendium  of  heavenly  Doctrines,  is  truly  the  prayer  of  the  children 
 of  God,  and  may  be  divided  into  a  preface  and  a  recital  of  our  several  wants  and 
 petitions.  In  the  preface  we  mention  the  two  foundations  upon  which  the  success  of 
 our  petitions  is  grounded :  the  first  is  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  which  we  sup- 
 plicantly  acknowledge,  by  styling  him  our  Father :  the  second  is  his  infinite  power, 
 which  we  profess  by  adding,  that  he  dwells  in  heaven  ;  and  these  two  attributes  of 
 God,  viz.  his  goodness  and  his  power,  we  consider  as  necessary  for  obtaining  the 
 effect  of  our  prayers  :  for  what  could  we  expect  from  the  goodness  of  God,  unless  it 
 were  omnipotent,  or  from  his  power,  unless  it  were  accompanied  with  mercy  ? 
 
 Of  the  seven  petitions  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  three  first  refer  to  the  glory  of 
 God,  the  four  others  to  our  own  wants. 
 
 1.  We  petition  for  the  increase  of  God's  glory,  when  we  ask  that  his  name  may 
 be  hallowed ;  that  is,  that  he  may  be  known,  feared,  loved,  and  adored  by  us,  and 
 by  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ;  not  merely  by  words  of  praise  and  homage,  but  chiefly 
 by  a  purity  and  holiness  of  life,  which  give  glory  to  his  holy  name.  For  as  the 
 innocent  and  virtuous  lives  of  Christians  redound  to  the  glory  of  God  by  the  im[)res- 
 sion  they  make  on  those  who  witness  them  ;  so  on  the  contrary,  when  their  lives  are 
 wicked,  they  occasion  God's  holy  name  to  be  blasphemed  by  infidels. 
 
 2.  We  petition  for  the  increase  of  God's  glory,  when  we  beg  that  his  kingdom 
 may  come  to  be  established  throughout  the  world.  This  kingdom  is  begun  at  piesent 
 in  our  souls  by  grace,  and  will  be  perfected  hereafter  in  glory,  when  Christ  shall  have 
 vanquished  all  his  enemies,  and  shall  reign  triumphant  over  his  elect  for  all  eternity. 
 
 3.  We  petition  for  the  increase  of  God's  glory,  when  we  ask  of  him,  that  his  will, 
 
 *   So  it  is  at  present  in  the  Latin  text,  yet  tlie  t  None  of  the  Latin  fathers  make  mention  of  the 
 
 same  Greek  word  in  St.   Luke   is  translated   daily  ^diA\l\ox\  \n  \.\\e  Greek,  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and 
 
 bread,  as  we  say  it  in  our  Lord's  prayer,  and  as  it  the  power,  and  the  glory  for  ever,  Amen.    They  are 
 
 used  to  be  said  in  the  second  or  third  aije,  according  not  cited  by  any  Gr.  writer  belbre  St.  Chrysostom, 
 
 to  Tertullian  and  St.  Cyprian.      Perhaps  the  Latin  as   even   Grotius  takes  notice,  nor   are  they  to  be 
 
 Word  snpersubstantialis,  may  bear  the  same  sense  found  in  the  Arabic,  nor  in  the  Vatican  Greek  copy, 
 
 as  daily  bread,  or  the  bread  of  which  we  daily  stand  nor  in  the  Cambridge  MSS.  as  Dr.  Wells  observes. 
 
 in  need,  and   which  is  daily  added  to  maintain  and  Hence  it  seems  certain,  that  they  were  taken  from 
 
 support  tlie  fiubstance  of  our  bodies  :  or   rather,  we  the  Greek  liturgies,  beini;  onlv  a  |;i()us  conclusion 
 
 may  understand  it  of  tlie  supernatural  bread  of  the  or  doxol.igy,  similar  to  the  Glory  be   to  the  Father, 
 
 blessed  eucharist,  the  true  bread  of  life  which  nou-  &c.  which  was  added  to  the  end  ot  each  psalm, 
 rishes  our  souls. 
 
IGO  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIL 
 
 which  is  declared  to  us  in  his  commandments,  in  his  counsels  and  prohibitions,  may 
 be  as  perfectly  obeyed  upon  earth  by  us  and  by  all  mankiudj  as  it  is  by  the  angels  in 
 heaven  ;  a  petition  which  pre-supposes  the  necessity  of  God's  grace,  to  enable  us  to 
 perform  whatever  is  pleasing  to  him. 
 
 4.  As  to  our  several  wants  and  necessities,  we  first  petition  for  our  corporal  food, 
 but  we  ask  for  nothing  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  our  sustenance.  As  to  our  souls^ 
 we  ask  for  the  bread  of  truth,  of  grace,  and  of  the  word  of  God,  and  both  for  our 
 bodies  and  our  souls  we  ask  for  the  bread  of  the  holy  Eucharist,  that  is,  the  sacred 
 body  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  support  and  nourishment  of  our  soids  here,  as  well  as 
 the  pledge  and  germ  of  our  future  resurrection  to  glory  hereafter. 
 
 5.  In  the  fifth  petition,  we  beg  that  our  debts,  that  is,  our  sins  and  offences,  may 
 be  remitted  to  us,  that  we  may  be  reinstated  in  God's  grace,  wliich  either  totally  or 
 in  part  we  have  lost  by  sin  ;  and  in  order  to  prevail  with  God  to  grant  our  request, 
 we  profess  our  readiness  to  comply  with  the  condition  he  requires  of  us,  wliich 
 is  that  of  previously  granting  a  full  forgiveness  to  all  such  as  have  trespassed 
 against  us. 
 
 6.  After  praying  to  be  delivered  from  past,  we  next  beg  to  be  preserved  from 
 future  sins,  and  to  be  victorious  over  all  the  temptations  of  the  devil,  the  world,  and 
 the  flesh. 
 
 7.  Lastly,  we  pray  to  be  delivered  from  all  those  evils  which  are  the  just  punish- 
 ment of  sin,  whether  they  regard  body  or  soul,  this  world  or  the  next.  Hence,  as  to 
 this  life,  we  beg  of  God  to  grant  us  mercy  of  those  scourges  which  we  have  reason  to 
 apprehend  from  his  justly  provoked  anger  ;  as  to  the  next  life,  we  pray  that  he 
 would  not  give  us  up  to  those  evil  spirits,  who  are  the  ministers  and  executioners  of 
 his  justice.  Jesus  then  repeats  the  condition  on  which  we  may  hope  to  receive  for- 
 giveness of  our  sins,  thereby  to  confirm  more  forcibly  what  he  had  asserted  above. 
 
 14.  "  For  if  you  forgive  others  their  offences,"  says  he,  "  your  heavenly  Father  will  also 
 
 15.  forgive  you  your  sins.  But  if  you  will  not  pardon  men,  neither  w  ill  your  Father  par- 
 don you  your  sins.  Jesus  next  proceeds  to  the  subject  of  fasting,  and  he  directs  his 
 disciples  to  lay  aside  that  appearance  of  grief  and  sadness  which  the  Pharisees  affected 
 
 IQ  on  their  fasting  days.     "  And  when  you  fast,"  says  he,  "  be  not  as  the 
 
 °'       hypocrites  sad ;    for  they  disfigure  their  faces  that  they  may  appear 
 
 17       unto  men  to  fast.     Amen,  I  say  to  you,  they  have  received  their  reward.     But  thou, 
 
 18.      when  thou  fastest,  anoint  thy  head,  and  wash  thy  face,"  as  on  other  days,  "  that  thou 
 
 appear  not  to  men  to  fast,  but  to  thy  Father  who  is  in  secret.     And  thy  Father  who 
 
 seeth  in  secret,  will  repay  thee,"  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world. 
 
 Jesus  having  thus  given  us  rules  for  the  more  perfect  performance  of  the  three 
 
 good  works  of  prayer,  alms-deeds,  and  fasting,  by  directing  us  to  seek  in  them  God's 
 
 glory  instead  of  human  applause,  next  proceeds  to  rectify  the  erroneous  sentiments 
 
 and  principles  of  mankind,  respecting  riches,  the  motives  of  our  actions,  worldly 
 
 10.  ^  solicitude,  and  rash  iudgments.     As  to  riches  he  says  :  "  Lay  not  up 
 
 Laying  up  '  i  i  i  j         i      '  ^i  i 
 
 treasures  in     to  yourselves  treasures  on  earth  :  where  the  rust  and  moths  consume,  and 
 
 2^  heaven.        where  thieves  break  through  and  steal.     But"  by  distributing  your 
 
 wealth  to  the  poor  and  employing  it  in  good  works  "  lay  up  to  yourself  treasures  in 
 
Ch.XLir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  Ig] 
 
 heaven  ;  where  neither  the  rust  nor  the  moth  doth  consume ;  and  where  thieves  do  not 
 break  through  nor  steal."     This  precept  of  Jesus  is  grounded  on  the  principle,  that 
 mankind  ought  to  lay,  up  eternal  treasures,  on  which  they  may  subsist  for  ever,  and 
 that  it  is  the  height  of  imprudence  in  immortal  beings  to  provide  no  otherwise  for 
 their  eternal  subsistence,  than  by  treasuring  up  goods  of  the  most  perishable  nature. 
 — A  second  reason  is  drawn  from  the  danger  of  attaching  our  hearts  to  earthly  pur- 
 suits.   "  For  where  thy  treasure  is,"  says  Christ,  "  there  is  thy  heart  also."   In  effect,      2L 
 experience  shows,  that  they  who  hoard  up  earthly  treasures,  think  of  nothing  but  of 
 the  earth,  and  with  difficulty  raise  up  their  minds  to  objects  more  deserving  their 
 esteem  ;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  sucli  as  lay  up  treasures  in  heaven,  form  no  wishes 
 but  for  heaven,  where  all  that  is  dear  and  precious  to  them  is  kept  in  the  manner  of 
 a  sacred  deposit  for  their  eternal  benefit.     Jesus,  then,  desirous  to  make  us  under- 
 stand how  important  it  is  to  act  with  a  pure  intention,  makes  use  of  this  comparison : 
 "  the  light  of  thy  body  is  thy  eye.     If  thy  eye  be"  pure  and  "  single,  thy  whole      22. 
 body  shall  be  lightsome  ;  but  if  thy  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body  shall  j^  upright  in-      23. 
 be  darksome."     In  this  figure,  the  eye,  which  enlightens  us,  is  the  in-        teniion. 
 tentioii  which  we  form,  and  wiiich  is  either  good  or  bad  ;  if  it  be  good  and  direct  us 
 to  the  end  by  lawful  means,  then  the  whole  body  of  the  action  and  our  whole  lives 
 become  holy  and  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God.     On  the  contrary,  if  the  end  and 
 intention  be  evil,  in  vain  do  we  employ  such  means  as  are  lawful ;  the  whole  body  of 
 the  action  will  be  vicious  in  the  sight  of  God,  because  the  evil  which  it  contains,  cor- 
 rupts that  part  which  would  otherwise  have  been  good,  and  the  good  part  does  not 
 rectify  what  is  vicious  in  its  nature. — Hence  he  proceeds  to  show  how  corrupt  and 
 vitiated  that  action  must  be  which  is  bad  in  itself,  and  which  moreover  proceeds  from 
 a  bad  motive  and  intention.     If  then  the  light  that  is  in  thee,  be  darkness  ;"  says  he, 
 "  the  darkness  itself  how  great  shall  it  be?"     In  other  words,  how  extremely  vitiated 
 must  that  action  be,  which,  in  its  own  nature,  is  vicious,  and  which  likewise  originates 
 from  a  depraved  motive  or  intention  ?     "  Take  heed  therefore  that  the  light  which  Luke  IL 
 is  in  thee  be  not  darkness.    "  If  then  thy  whole  body  be  lightsome,  having-  no  part  of     ^^' 
 darkness  ;  the  whole  shall  be  lightsome,  and  as  a  bright  lamp  that  enlightens  thee." 
 That  is,  take  heed  lest  that  which  you  take  for  light,  viz.  for  the  principle  of  your 
 conduct,  be  not  darkness  itself,  and  the  result  of  false  maxims.    But,  on  the  contrary, 
 if  your  whole  body,  if  all  that  you  are,  your  mind,  your  will,  your  senses,  and  your 
 prevailing  inclination,  be  so  enlightened  by  the  beams  of  justice  and  of  rectitude, 
 that  concupiscence  mingles  nothing  of  its  darkness  and  corruption,  then  all  which 
 shows  itself  outwardly,  will  be  lightsome  :  the  thoughts,  the  desires,  intentions,  words, 
 and  actions  will  all  partake  of  that  same  light  of  justice,  and  this  single  eye  will 
 enlighten  you  in  a  manner  as  clear  as  if  a  burning  lamp  shone  before  all  your  steps. 
 
 Jesus  now  proposes  another  argument  against  the  inordinate  love  of  riches.    "  No  Matt.  6. 
 man  can  serve  two"  opposite  "  masters.     For  either  he  will  hate  the  one  and  love      24. 
 the  other:  or  he  will  sustain  the  one  and  despise  the  other."     Thus  " you  cannot 
 serve  God  and  Mammon  :"*  for  their  commands  are  diametrically  opposite.     God 
 enjoins  us  not  to  hoard  up  riches,  but  to  make  good  use  of  them,  whilst,  on  the  con- 
 
 *  Mammon  was  the  god  of  riches  among  the  heathens.     Tert. 
 
 14.  2t 
 
162  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  i.OIlD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLII. 
 
 trary,  avarice  leads  us  to  disobey  and  despise  God  for  the  sake  of  filling  our  coffers. 
 It  is  evident  tliat  two  extremes  so  opposite  to  each  olher  cannot  liuth  be  complied 
 with.     Hence  he  concludes  that  we  must  not  be  solicitous  even  for  the  wants  of  this 
 
 25.  present  life,  which  are  the  usual  pretexts  by  which  men  cover  their  avarice.  "  There- 
 Agaiimi  world-   f^re  I  Say  to  you  :  be  not  solicitous  for  your  life  what  you  shall  eat,  nor 
 
 ty  solid  tilde,  for  the  body  what  you  shall  put  on.  Is  not  your  life  more  Ihaii  your 
 meat  and  your  body  more  than  your  raiment."*  Wherefore  he  who  has  gi\eii  you 
 life,  will  not  refuse  you  meat,  and  he  who  has  given  you  a  body,  will  not  deny  you 
 
 26.  raiment.  "  Behold  the  birds  of  the  air,  for  they  neither  sow,  neither  do  they  reap, 
 nor  gather  into  barns  ;  and  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them.  Are  not  you"  his 
 children  "  of  much  more  value  than  they  ?"    Wherefore  fear  not  lest  he  should 
 
 27.  abandon  you.     "  And"  moreover  what  will  this  fear  avail  you?    For  "  wiiieh  of  you 
 
 28.  by  taking  thought,  can  add  to  his  stature  one  cubit  ?  and  for  raiment,  why  are  you 
 solicitous  ?  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow,  tliey  labour  not,  neither  do 
 
 29.  they  s|)in  :   But  I  say  to  you,  that  not  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory,  was  arrayed  as 
 
 30.  one  of  these.  And  if  the  grass  of  the  field,  which  is  to-day,  and  to-morrow  is  cast 
 into  the  oven,  God  doth  so  clothe  :  how  much  more  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ?     Be  ye 
 
 31.  not  solicitous  therefore,  saying  :  What  shall  we  eat,  or  what  shall  we  drink,  or  where- 
 
 32.  with  shall  we  be  clothed?  For  after  all  these  things  do  the  heathens  seek,"  as  having 
 no  faith  or  knowledge  of  divine  providence.  But  do  you  banish  such  anxiety  and 
 disquietude:   "  for  the  Father  knoweth  that  you  have  need  of  all  these  things,"  and 
 
 33.  his  paternal  goodness  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  in  want  of  them.  "  Seek  therefore 
 first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  justice,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  to  you. 
 
 34.  Be  not  therefore  solicitous  for  t(j-morrow,  for  the  morrow  will  be  solicitous  for  itself. 
 Sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof;"  and  hence  you  must  not,  by  vain  disquie- 
 tudes, torment  yourselves  with  the  apprehension  of  future  evils,  which  you  suffer  not 
 at  present,  and  which  perhaps  you  will  never  have  to  suffer.  In  this  instruction 
 Christ  condemns  not  a  reasonable  foresight  as  to  the  wants  and  necessaries  of  life, 
 but  only  forbids  that  anxious  and  restless  solicitude  which  takes  the  alarm  at  eveiy 
 thing,  which  trusts  not  in  providence,  but  in  all  things  relies  solely  u[)on  its  ovvn  ever 
 watchful  endeavours. 
 
 As  there  is  a  natural  propensity  in  man  to  censure  and  condemn  the  actions  of 
 
 others,  Jesus  cautions  us  against  this  uncharitable  disposition  ;  contrasting  it  with  the 
 
 virtue  of  charity,  which  by  a  commendable  gradation  begins  with  carefully  avoiding 
 
 all  possible  injury  to  our  neighbour,  and  ends  with  doing  him  all  the  good  in  our 
 
 Luke  6.  power.     "  Judge  not,"  says  Christ,  "  and  you  shall  not  be  judged;  condemn  not, 
 
 ^'^-      and  you  shall  not  be  condemned  ;  forgive,  and  you  shall  be  forgiven.     For  with 
 
 A<'ainsi  rash    what  judgment  you  have  judged,  you  shall  be  judged;  and  with  what 
 
 judgment.      measure  you  have  measured,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again."     This 
 
 rule,  which  God  will  most  certainly  follow,  ought  surely  to  restrain  that  liberty  which 
 
 we  so  often  take  of  rashly  judging  and  condemning  others.     On  the  contrary,  be 
 
 *  Our  Lord  shows  us  that  even   the  necessaries     a  better  life  ;  if  ihey  do  not,  they  are  sinful,  and  as 
 of  life  are  to  be  sought  after  with  such  iiidifTerence     destructive  as  any  other  sins  or  sinful  pleasures. 
 as  shall  leave  us  time  and  thought  for  providing  for 
 
Ch.  XLIIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUJ  CHRIST.  163 
 
 liberal  to  your  neighbours  ;  freely  give  to  the  necessitous,  "  and  it  shall  be  given  to 
 you  :  good  measure  and  pressed  down,  and  shaken  together,  and  running  over  shall 
 they  give  uito  your  bosom.     And  he  spoke  also  to  them  a  similitude,"  to  show  the      39. 
 arrogant  presumption  of  the  Pharisees,  and  of  those  ignorant  persons  who  set  them- 
 selves for  teachers  of  mankind,  and  delude  the  people  by  their  false  maxims.    "  Can 
 the  blind  lead  the  blind?  Do  not  they  both  fall  into  the  ditch?"  And  he  confirmed 
 this  by  another  proverb  no  less  common  than  the  preceding  one,  viz     "  The  disciple      ^0. 
 is  not  above  his  master :  but  every  one  shall  be  perfect  if  he  be  as  his  master  ;"  show- 
 ing that  those  who  followed  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  as  their  teachers,  were  not 
 likely  to  have  better  sentiments  and  principles  than  they  had.    "  And  why.seest  thou      41. 
 the  mote  in  thy  brother's  eye,"  i.  e.  a  small  defect  in  his  morals  :  "  but  the  beam 
 that  is  in  thine  own  eye,"  a  great  enormous  crime  in  thy  own  interior,  "  thou  consi- 
 derest  not.     Or  how  canst  thou  say  to  thy  brother  :  Brother,  let  me  pull  the  mote  out      42. 
 of  thy  eye,  when  thou  thyself  seest  not  the  beam  in  thine  own  eye.     Hypocrite,  cast 
 first  the  beam  out  of  thy  own  eye :  and  then  shalt  thou  see  cleaily  to  take  out  the 
 mote  from  thy  brother's  eye."     Correct  first  thy  own  greater  faults,  and  then  think 
 of  censuring  the  less  failings  of  others  ;  cure  thyself  of  that  insatiable  avarice,  of  that 
 lurking  pride,  of  that  base  jealousy,  of  those  secret  unclean  practices,  and  thou  wilt 
 more  clearly  see  and  be  better  qualified  to  direct  thy  brother,  and  point  out  to  him 
 his  smaller  faults  and  transgressions. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLIIL 
 
 FURTHER  CONTINUATION  OF  THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT.      MATT.   VII.    LUKE  VI.   AND  VII. 
 
 The  conclusion  of  this  divine  discourse  consists  of  an  exhortation  to  a  life  of  piety, 
 and  contains  several  advices,  some  of  which  chiefly  regard  pastors,  others  indiscrimi- 
 nately all  the  faithful  in  general. 
 
 First,  Jesus  cautions  all  pastors,  and  such  as  preach  the  Gospel,  not        ,     . 
 
 ,.,,  ».  '^  Against  the 
 
 to  subject  the  holy  mysteries  of  religion  to  the  scoffs  and  derision  of  the    profanation  of 
 impious,  nor  by  that  means  expose  their  own  persons  to  danger  of   ''"'^^  things. 
 being  contemned  and  persecuted  by  them.     "  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  to  the  Matt.  7. 
 dogs  ;"*  says  he,  "  neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine,  lest  perhaps  they  trample      ^• 
 them  under  their  feet,  and  turning  upon  you,  they  tear  you." 
 
 Jesus  next  gives  various  instructions  to  the  rest  of  the  faithful,  relative  to  the 
 working  out  their  salvation,  and  they  are  such  as  naturally  result  from  the  doctrine 
 which  he  has  hitherto  set  forth.    Of  these  some  regard  the  means  of  salvation,  others 
 treat  concerning  the  obstacles  to  it.     The  first  means  is  prayer,  of    9.  He  recom- 
 which  he  says:  "  Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you:  seek  and  you  shall    mends  prayer.       7. 
 find  :  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you,"  expressing  hereby  the  great  success  to 
 
 *  Sacraments  are  nnt  for  such  as,  like  dogs,  are  continually  returning-  to  tlieir  former  .sins,  or  like 
 swine  wallowing  in  impurity. 
 
104  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIH. 
 
 8.  be  expected  from  earnest  and  fervent  prayer.  "  For  every  one  that  asketh,"  says 
 he,  "  receiveth  ;  and  he  that  seeketh^  findeth  ;  and  to  him  that  knocketh,  it  shall  be 
 
 9.  opened.     Or  what  man  is  there  among-  you,  of  whom  his  son  shall  ask  bread,  will  he 
 
 10.  reach  him  a  stone  ?  Or  if  he  shall  ask  a  fish,  will  he  reach  him  a  serpent  ?  If  you  then 
 
 11.  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much  more  will  your 
 Father  who  is  in  heaven,  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  him,"  in  a  proper  manner. 
 
 The  second  means  of  salvation,  is  a  strict  equity  and  uprightness  in  regard  to  our 
 neighbour,  arising  from  a  happy  mixture  of  charity  and  justice,  in  which  consists  the 
 
 12.  very  essence  of  the  Evangelical  doctrine.  "  All  things  therefore,"  says  he,  "  what- 
 soever you  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  you  also  to  them  ;  for  this  is  the  law 
 and  the  prophets."  He  however  supposes,  as  a  necessary  condition,  that  the  inten- 
 tion as  well  as  the  action  itself  be  virtuous,  and  proceed  from  a  motive  of  divine  love. 
 
 The  third  means  of  salvation  is  to  enter  by  the  narrow  gate  and  to  walk  in  the 
 3  He    h  -t    narrow  way,  in  opposition  to  the  easy  broad  way  of  the  world.    "Enter 
 
 13.  cth  to  enter  at  ye  in  at  the  narrow  gate  :  for  N'lide  is  the  gate  and  broad  is  the  way 
 the  strait  gate,  ^j^.^^  ig^deth  to  destruction,  and  many  there  are  who  go  in  thereat." 
 This  implies,  that  in  our  general  conduct  throughout  life,  as  well  as  in  each  individual 
 action,  where  any  doubt  arises,  we  should  uniformly  resolve  upon  that  which  is  most 
 just,  holy,  and  the  safest  in  ])ractice.  We  must  here  remark,  that  in  the  scripture 
 style,  to  walk,  means  to  live  ;  the  way  wherein  we  walk,  is  the  life  we  lead  ;  the  gate 
 through  which  we  enter,  is  the  first  commencement  of  our  lives.  Jesus  styles  the 
 way  which  he  directs  us  to  follow,  the  narroni  way,  and  it  is  rendered  such  by  the 
 narrow  and  confined  limits  of  the  divine  law ;  for  as  on  the  one  hand,  this  law  is 
 uniform  and  inflexible  in  its  decisions,  so  on  the  other,  the  constant  obseivance  of 
 them  is  extremely  difficult,  owing  to  the  bent  of  our  natural  corruption,  which  draws 
 us  with  great  violence  to  a  life  free  from  constraint.     It  is  this  extreme  difficulty 
 
 14.  which  causes  Jesus  to  cry  out,  as  it  were,  in  astonishment :  "  How  narrow  is  the  gate, 
 and  strait  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  life,  and  few  there  are  tluit  find  it !"  On  the  contrary, 
 by  the  broad  road  and  the  wide  gate,  is  meant  that  liberty  which  mankind  allow  them- 
 selves of  following  all  the  corrupt  inclinations  of  nature,  as  well  in  those  instances 
 where  they  are  implicitly  followed  without  a  thought  or  a  scruple,  as  in  others,  where,  in 
 order  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  sin,  a  fallacious  casuistry  is  invented,  purposely 
 calculated  to  flatter  such  consciences  as  are  not  unwilling  to  be  deceived. 
 
 .   _  ,  Hence  the  fourth  means  of  salvation  is,  carefully  to  avoid  false  pro- 
 
 4.  To  beware  '  .      •'  i     i     •     r  i 
 
 of  false  j)ro-   pliets  or  teachers,  who  by  their  erroneous  doctrmes  lead  then-  followers 
 y^*^'*-  into  the  broad  road  of  perdition.     Jesus  describes  briefly  the  danger 
 
 there  is  of  being  deceived  by  the  outward  show  of  piety,  and,  at  the  same  time,  gives 
 
 15.  marks  whereby  they  are  to  be  known.  ''  Beware  of  false  prophets,  who  come  to  you 
 in  the  clothino-  of  sheep,"  i.  e.  putting  on  the  outward  garb  of  truth  and  virtue,  such 
 as  a  o-reat  zeal  for  the  scriptures,  a  meekness  of  speech,  abundance  of  consoling 
 words,  and  assurances  of  salvation,  together  with  a  recommendation  of  good  works  : 
 "  but"  notwithstanding  this  outward  show,  "  inwardly  they  are  ravenous  wolves," 
 havino-  no  other  view  but  to  devour  the  flock  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  enticing  the  sheep 
 out  of  the  fold,  i.  e.  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
 
Ch,  XLIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  165 
 
 He  now  gives  to  his  disciples  a  certain  mark  whereby  to  discern  these  wclves.    This 
 is,  to  examine  them  not  merely  by  the  doctrine  they  outwardly  announce,  since  the 
 truth  of  this  very  doctrine  is  the  subject  in  question,  nor  yet  by  their  individual  actions, 
 however  apparently  virtuous  ;  for  these  being-  a  part  of  the  wolves'  clothing,  may 
 easily  impose  upon  the  simple  and  well-meaning  Christian  ;  but  by  the  fruits  and 
 effects  of  their  doctrine,  which  are  ever  false  and  leading  to  damnation.     In  effect, 
 no  heresy  has  yet  started  up  which  has  not  occasioned  schisms  in  the  Church,  raised 
 the  flames  of  war  in  the  state,  introduced  a  depravity  of  morals,  made  divisions  in 
 private  families,  and  frequently  spread  desolation  throughout  the  Christian  world. 
 Hence  our  Blessed  Saviour  says  :  "^  By  their  fruits  you  shall  know  them  :  for  there      is. 
 is  no  good  tree  that  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit,  nor  an  evil  tree  that  bringeth  forth  good      ^g^  ^" 
 fruit.    For  every  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.    For  men  do  not  gather  figs  from  thorns,      44. 
 nor  from  a  bramble  bush  do  they  gather  the  grape  .''  Even  so  every  good  tree  bringeth  Matt.  7. 
 forth  good  fruit,  and  the  evil  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.     A  good  tree  cannot  bring      J^" 
 forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  an  evil  tree  bring-  forth  good  fruit.     Every  tree  that      19. 
 bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  shall  be  cut  down,  and  shall  be  cast  into  the  fire. 
 Wherefore  by  their  fruit  you  shall  know  them.     A  good  man  out  of  the  treasure  of     20. 
 his  heart  bringeth  forth  that  which  is  good  ;  and  an  evil  man  out  of  the  evil  treasure  ^""]j'^  ^' 
 bringeth  forth  that  which  is  evil ;  for  out  of  the  ulninfl.-nce  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
 speaketh." 
 
 The  fifth  means  of  salvation  is,  to  unite  a  sound  faith  with  good     ^  ^^^^  works 
 works;  and  Jesus  here  describes  the  different  lot  of  those  who  have  to  be  joined  wick 
 faith  alone  without  good  works,  and  of  such  as  unite  them  both  together.  "  ^°undfaiih. 
 To  the  former  he  says  :  "  And  why  do  you  call  me  Lord,  Lord :  and  do  not  the      45. 
 things  which  I  say  ?    Not  every  one  that  saith  to  me  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  Matt.  7. 
 kingdom  of  heaven  :  but  he"  only  "  that  doth  the  will  of  mv  Father  who  is  in  heaven,      21. 
 he  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day  :  Lord,      22. 
 Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  cast  out  devils  in  thy  name,  and  done 
 many  miracles  in  thy  name  ?    And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you ;      23. 
 depart  from  me  you  that  work  iniquity  :"  words  which  ought  to  make  all  those  pastors 
 tremble  with  a  salutary  fear,  who  having  cast  out  devils,  either  from  the  souls  of  the 
 faithful  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism  and  penance,  or  from  their  bodies  by  exorcism, 
 yet  neglect  to  labour  sincerely  in  the  sanctification  of  their  own  souls. 
 
 But  the  lot  of  those  persons  who  support  their  faith  by  good  works,  is  very  different 
 from  that  of  the  former ;  and  Jesus  paints  their  prudent  conduct  and  constancy  by  a 
 comparison  with  which  he  closes  this  long  discourse.    "  Every  one  that      g.   The  wise  Lui;e  s 
 Cometh  to  me  and  heareth  my  words,  and  doth  them,  I  will  show  you  ^^"-  Guilds  his      47. 
 to  whom  he  is  like.     He  is  like  to  a  wise  man  who  building  a  house,  the  foolish  man      4S. 
 digged  deep,  and  laid  the  foundation  upon  a  rock  ;  and  an  inundation  °"  *'""^-  "Mm.  7. 
 
 coming,  the  torrent  beat  against  that  house,  but  could  not  shake  it.     And  the  rain  Luke  6. 
 fell,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  they  beat  upon  that  house,  and  it      ^^• 
 fell  not,  for  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock."     In  this  parable,  the  foundation  of  the     '25 
 building  is,  a  true  faith  in  Jesus  Christ;  to  erect  a  building  upon  this  foundation,  is 
 to  do  as  well  as  to  believe  ;  it  is  to  join  the  performance  of  good  works  to  a  soimd 
 
 15  2u 
 
"igg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIV. 
 
 faith.  The  winds  which  blow  are  those  trials  which  we  undergo  from  the  defamatory 
 or  abusive  language  of  our  adversaries,  from  unjust  laws,  unlawful  commands,  threats, 
 promises,  or  verdicts  affecting  our  reputation.  The  rains  are  the  begiiming  of  per- 
 secutions :  torrents  and  floods  represent  popular  tumults  and  persecutions  venting 
 themselves  with  great  violence  upon  the  innocent  in  a  variety  of  torments,  even  unto 
 death.  The  trial  of  the  last  day  will  consist  in  that  fire  which  will  consume  and  purify 
 the  world  in  lieu  of  the  winds,  storms,  and  floods.  In  vain  will  all  these  fall  upon 
 that  man  whose  faith  shall  be  firmly  established  by  good  works.  He  then  views 
 unmoved  and  unhurt  the  violence  of  the  storm  directed  against  him. 
 
 Jesus  now  contrasts  the  happiness  of  such  a  Christian  with  the  miserable  condition 
 
 26.  of  one  who  listens  indeed  to  his  words,  but  reduces  them  not  to  practice.  "  And  every 
 one  that   heareth  these  my  words  and  doth  them  not,  shall  be  like  a  foolisli  man  that 
 
 Luke  6.  built  his  house  upon  the  sand,  without  a  foundation,  and  the  rain  fell,  and  the  floods 
 Mau!  7.  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  they  beat  upon  that  house,  and  it  fell,  and  great  was 
 
 27.  the  fall  thereof:"  because  the  faith  of  this  man  being  destitute  of  good  works,  had 
 nothino-to  defend  it  from  the  temptations  and  trials  assaulting  it,  it  consequently  can- 
 not stand  the  trying  fire  of  the  last  judgment  ;  and  hence,  notwithstanding  his  faith, 
 
 28.  such  a  one  must  eternally  perish.     "  And  it  came  to  pass  when  Jesus  had  finished 
 LiikeT.l.  ^jjggg  discourses  in  the  hearing  of  the  people,  they  were  struck  with  admiration  at  his 
 
 28.      doctrine.*    For  he  taught  them  as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as  their  Scribes  and 
 ^^-      Pharisees,"  who  depended  upon  the  art  of  reasoning  and  human  literature. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLIV. 
 
 Matt. 8.1. 
 
 Matt.8.2 
 Luke  5. 
 
 Matt.8.2 
 Mark  1 
 
 CHRIST  CLEANSES  A  LEPER,')"  AND  RETIRES  INTO  THE  WILDERNESS  TO  PRAY. 
 MATT.    VIU.      MARK  I.      LUKE  V. 
 
 "  And  when  Jesus  was  come  down  from  the  mountain,  great  multitudes  followed  him  ; 
 
 Luke  5.  and  it  came  to  pass  when  he  was  in|  a  certain  city,"  named  Caphai  naum,  "  behold  a 
 
 12.      man  full  of  leprosy,  came,  and  falling  on  his  face  adored  him,  beseeching  him  ;  and 
 
 ike  5    kneeling  down,  he  said  to  him  •.  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean."  This 
 
 12.      prayer,  though  short,  admirably  expresses  the  sentiments  which  ought  to  animate  us 
 
 ark^f  when  we  address  ourselves  to  the  Almighty :  it  is  humble  and  modest,  as  appears  by 
 
 40.      the  leper's  suppliant  posture.     It  proceeds  from  a  strong  faith,  which  acknowledges 
 
 Mait.8.2.  ^jjg  omnipotence  of  Jesus  in  the  cure  of  all  diseases.     Lastly,  his  request  is  not 
 
 peremptory  but  conditional :  he  makes  the  success  thereof  to  depend,  not  upon  the 
 
 merit  of  his  own  faith,  nor  on  the  urgency  of  his  prayer,  but  entirely  on  the  will  of 
 
 *  May  this  excellent  abridirment  of  thy  doctrine,  have  observed  the  time  and  order  of  this   traiisac- 
 
 O  Jesus  !  be  the  rule  of  my  manners,  and  the  pat-  tion,  viz.  after  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  the  other 
 
 tern  of  my  life.     Amen.  two  anticipate  it. 
 
 t  As  the  three  Evangelists  relate  the  cure  of  a  |  That  is,  when   he   was  just  entering  Caphar- 
 
 leper  nearly  in  the  same  words  and  with  the  same  n.ium,  for  lepers  were  not  allowed  to  enter  into  any 
 
 circumstances,  we  may  conclude  that  they  speak  of  city, 
 the   same  miracle.     St.   Matthew  alone  seems   to 
 
Ch.  XLV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  jgy 
 
 Jesus :    If  thou  unit,  thou  canst  make  me  clean.     The  success  which  attended  this 
 petition  is  an  encouragement  for  us  to  pray  with  the  hke  dispositions.     "  And  Jesus  Mark  1 
 having  compassion  on  him,  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  touching  him"  without  fear      '^^• 
 of  uncleanuess,  "  said  :  I   will,  be  thou  made  clean.     And  when   he   had   spoken,      42. 
 immediately  the  leprosy  departed  from  him,  and  he  was  made  clean  :  and,  threatening      43. 
 him,  he  forthwith  sent  him  away,"  lest  his  long-er  stay  might  attract  the  notice  of  the 
 by-standers  :  and  to  caution  us  still  more  against  vanity  and  ostentation,  ''  he  charged  Luke  5. 
 him,"  saying:  "  see  thou  tell  no  one,  but  go  show  thyself  to  the  high-priest,*  as  the  ,,  ^^•. 
 law  prescribes,  and  offer,"  in  acknowledgment,  "  for  thy  cleansing,  the  things  that      44. 
 Moses  commanded,  for  a  testimony  to"  convince  "  them,"  that  all  power  is  given  to 
 me  from  God  as  the  promised  Messiah,  and  that  I  make  use  of  this  power  for  the 
 accomplishment  of  the  law.     "  And  he  being  gone  out,"  no  longer  thought  himself     45. 
 bound  to  the  secrecy  which  his  benefactor  had  recommended,  but  from  motives  of 
 gratitude,  "  began  to  publish  and  blaze  abroad  the  word  ;  and  his  fame  was  the  more  Luke  5, 
 spread  about,  so  that  he  could  not  openly  go  into  the  city^  but  was  without  in  desert  „  '^• 
 places,  and  they  flocked  to  him  from  all  sides,  to  hear  and  to  be  healed  by  him  of     45. 
 their  infirmities  ;  and  he  retired"  farther  "  into  the  desert  and  prayed."  Luke  5. 
 
 While  we  admire,  on  this  occasion,  the  goodness  and  power  of  Jesus  exerted  in  iq 
 favour  of  an  unfortunate  leper,  let  us  remember  that  he  is  equally  ready  to  heal  the 
 leprosy  of  the  soul,  as  he  was  formerly  to  heal  that  of  the  body.  The  leprosy  of  the 
 soul  is  sin  ;  and  if  we  desire  to  be  cured  of  it,  we  must  apply  to  Jesus  with  faith,  with 
 confidence,  and  with  an  humble  and  contrite  heart.  He  has  instituted  the  sacrament 
 of  penance,  and  given  power  to  the  priests  of  the  new  law,  to  judge  of  this  spiritual 
 leprosy,  as  it  belonged  formerly  to  the  Jewish  priests  to  take  cognizance  of  corporal 
 leprosy.  The  power  of  Catholic  priests  is  even  more  extensive  than  was  that  of  the 
 Jewish  ministers  :  these  were  only  to  witness  the  cure,  the  former  are  to  effect  it  by 
 the  power  which  Christ  left  to  his  Church,  when  he  said  :  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven,  &c." 
 
 CHAPTER  XLV. 
 
 JESUS  ADMIRES  THE  LIVELY  FAITH  OF  THE  CENTURION, f  AND  RESTORES  TO  HEALTH  HIS 
 ABSENT  SERVANT.      MATT.   VIII.      LUKE  VII. 
 
 "  And  when  he  had  entered  Capharnaum,  the  servant  of  a  centurion,:]:  who  was  dear  Matt.8.5. 
 to  him,  was  ready  to  die  ;  and  when  he  had  heard  of  Jesus,  he  sent  unto  him  the  Luke 7.2. 
 ancients  of  the  Jews,  desiring  him  to  come  and  heal  his  servant,  saying  :   Lord,  my  Matt.8.6. 
 
 *  By  the  hi^h-priest  we  are  to   understand,  not  St.  Matthew  says,  that  the  centurion  came  beseech- 
 
 the  chief  hi£rh-])riest,  but  only  him  who,  at  that  time,  iiig,  &c.  is  not  to  be  understood  as  if  he   actually 
 
 was  charp^ed  vvitli   the   office  of  examiuinaf  lepers,  came  himself  to  beseech  Jesus:  this  he  did  only  by 
 
 The  officiating'  priests  are  sometimes  styled  liigh-  others;   first,  by  the  ancients  of  the  Jews,  and  then 
 
 priests  by  the  Evang-elists.     See  likewise  Lev.  xiii.  by  his  friends;   fur  he  tliought  himself  unworthy  lo 
 
 2,  3.  &c.     The  Greek  has  only  lo  the  priest.  go  to  Jesus  in  person.  Vide  S.  Aug.  1.  2.  de  Cons. 
 
 t  Some  interpreters  pretend  that  the  history  of  the  Evanj.  c.  20. 
 centurion   mentioned   by   St.   Matthew   is  ditlerent  J  A  centurion  was  an  officer  who  had  the  com- 
 
 from  that  of  St.  Luke;   but  to  us  there  appear  not  maud  of  100  men,  and  was  much  of  the  same  rank 
 
 sufficient  grounds  for  this  opinion.    Wherefore  what  as  one  of  our  captains. 
 
J68  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLVL 
 
 Luke7.4.  servant  lieth  at  home  sick  of  the  palsy,  and  is  grievously  tormented.    And  when  they 
 
 5-       came  to  Jesus,  they  besought  him  earnestly,  saying  to  him  :  he  is  worthy  that  thou 
 
 Matt.8.7.  shouldst  do  this  for  him  ;  for  he  loveth  our  nation,  and  hath  built  us  a  synagogue. 
 
 uke7.6.  ^^j  j^g^g  g^j^j^ .  J  ^^jjj  ^^j^g  ^j^^  j^g^j  j^jj^      ^,jj  Jesus  went  with  them  :  and  when 
 
 he  was  not  far  from  the  house,  the  centurion  sent  his  friends  to  him,  saying  :  Lord, 
 give  not  thyself  this  trouble ;  for  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldst  enter  under  my 
 
 7.  roof.  For  which  reason  neither  did  I  esteem  myself  vvorthy  to  come  to  thee :  but 
 Matt.  8.  command  with  a  word  only,  and  my  servant  will  be  healed :  for  I,"  though  ''  a  man 
 
 ^'  subject  to  authority,"  yet  "  having  under  me  soldiers,  I  say  to  one :  go,  and  he 
 goeth  ;  and  to  another  ;  come,  and  he  cometh  ;  and  to  my  servant ;  do  this,  and  he 
 doth  it."  If  I  therefore,  though  merely  a  subaltern  officer,  am  so  readily  obeyed, 
 both  by  soldiers  and  servants,  how  much  more  will  obedience  be  paid  to  your  com- 
 
 9.  mands,  who  art  the  Lord  of  all  things.  "  Which  Jesus  hearing,  wondered ;  and 
 turning  about  to  the  multitude  that  followed  him,  he  said  :  Amen,  I  say  to  you,  I  have 
 not  found  so  great  a  fi\ith  in  Israel."  Tlien  taking  occasion,  from  this  circumstance, 
 of  a  stranger  and  a  Gentile  becoming  one  of  his  believers,  Jesus  announced  to  his 
 hearers  two  future  events  infinitely  more  astonishing  :  these  were,  first,  the  conversion 
 
 11.  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  faitli,  and  second,  the  reprobation  of  the  Jews.  "  And  I  say  to 
 you,  that  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
 
 12.  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  the  children  of  the  kingdom," 
 that  is,  the  Jews  to  whom  belonged  the  heavenly  kingdom,  on  account  of  their  descent 
 from  the  patriarchs,  their  vocation  and  the  divine  promises,  "  shall  be  cast  out  into 
 
 13.  exterior  darkness.  There  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  And  Jesus  said 
 to  the  centurion,"*  by  his  deputies ;  "  go,  and  as  thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it  done  to 
 
 Luke  7.  thee  :  and  the  servant  was  healed  at  the  same  hour.     And  they  who  were  sent,  being 
 ^^-      returned  to  the  house,  ft)und  the  servant  whole  who  had  been  sick." 
 
 The  words  of  the  centurion,  by  which  he  owned  himself  not  worthy  of  a  visit  from 
 Jesus  Christ,  have  been  adopted  by  the  Church,  as  expressive  of  the  humble  and 
 devout  sentiments  which  ought  to  animate  us,  when  about  to  receive  a  visit  from 
 Jesus  Christ  in  the  holy  communion.  For  many  ages  they  have  been  consecrated  to 
 this  solemn  purpose,  and  ought,  by  every  communicant,  to  be  repeated  together  with 
 the  priest.  Happy  those  who,  like  the  centurion,  repeat  them  with  sentiments  of  the 
 most  lively  faith,  of  the  most  profound  humility,  and  of  the  firmest  confidence  in  the 
 power  and  goodness  of  Jesus. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVI. 
 
 CHRIST  RAISETH  TO  LIFE  THE  WIDOw's  SON  AT  N.\1M.      LUKE  VII. 
 
 Luke  7.  "  ^"^^  '^  came  to  pass  afterwards,  that  he  went  into  a  city  that  is  called  Naim,"  from 
 11.      its  pleasantness,  situated  upon  the  edge  of  the  torrent  at  Cison,  not  far  from  Nazareth 
 
 *  We  here  interrupt  ihe  relation  of  St.  Matthew,  second  return  from  Judea,  he  resumes  (he  narrative 
 who  follows  not  the  order  of  time.  Haviiify  men-  of  wiiat  passed  immediately  after  his  first  return 
 tioned  what  happened  at  Capharnaum,  after  Christ's     until  his  second  arrival  in  Judea. 
 
Ch.  XLVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  Igg 
 
 and  Mount  Thabor  ;  "  and  there  went  with  him  his  disciples,  and  a  great  multitude. 
 And  when  he  came  nigh  to  the  gate  of  the  city,  beliold  a  dead  man  was  carried  out"      12. 
 to  be  buried ;   (for  in  those  times  they  usually  buried  without  the  walls  of  towns,  in 
 order  to  avoid  the  legal  uncleanness,  as  well  as  the  unwholesomeness  of  the  contrary 
 practice.)     He  had  been  snatched  away  in  the  flower  of  his  youth,  was  "  the  only 
 son  of  his  mother  :  and  she  was  a  widow,  and  a  great  multitude  of  the  city  was  with 
 her.     Whom,  when  the  Lord  had  seen,"  overwhelmed  with  grief,  and  bathed  in      13. 
 tears,  "  being*  moved  with  mercy  towards  her,  he  said  to  her,  weep  not.     And  he      14. 
 came  near  and  touched  the  bier :  and  they  that  carried  it,  stood  still,  and  he  said  : 
 young  man,  I  say  to  thee,  arise.     And  he  that  was  dead  sat  up,  and  began  to  speak,      15. 
 and  he  gave  him  to  his  mother.    And  there  came  a"  religious  "  fear  on  them  all,  and      16. 
 they  glorified  God,  saying ;  a  great  prophet  is  risen  amongst  us,  and  God  has  visited 
 his  people.*     And  this  rumour  of  him  w-ent  forth  throughout  all  Judea,  and  through- 
 out all  the  country  round  about." 
 
 The  holy  fathers  consider  the  sorrow  which  the  mother  displayed  on  this  occasion 
 for  the  death  of  an  only  son,  as  a  figure  of  that  tender  love  which  the  Church  has  for 
 her  children.  With  the  warmest  affection  she  embraces  each  one  in  particular,  as  if 
 he  were  the  only  one,  and  with  the  hopes  of  seeing  them  hereafter  raised  to  eternal 
 life,  consoles  herself  amidst  the  cares  and  afflictions  that  must  necessarily  befall  her 
 in  this  vale  of  tears.  The  spiritual  death  of  many  of  them  is  a  subject  to  her  of  con- 
 tinual sorrow.  With  a  heavy  heart  she  sees  her  thoughtless  children  snatched  from 
 her  arms  by  unruly  passions,  and  hurried  away  by  a  train  of  sins  towards  the  fathom- 
 less abyss.  She  mourns  their  misfortune,  and  implores  the  pity  of  her  heavenly 
 Spouse,  that  he  may  raise  them  again  by  his  powerful  grace.  With  that  hope  she 
 comforts  herself  in  her  afflictions,  and  with  a  longing  desire  expects  the  hour  which  is 
 to  restore  her  repenting  sons  to  life  again.  The  repentance  of  a  sinner  gives  joy  not 
 only  to  the  Church  on  earth,  but  also  to  the  saints  and  angels  who  are  in  heaven  : 
 for  there  is  joy  in  heaven  upon  the  repentance  of  everij  sinner. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVn. 
 
 JESUS  GIVKS  TESTIMONY  IN  FAVOUR  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. f     MATT.  XI.      LUKE  VII. 
 
 1.  The  depu- 
 
 The  fame  of  Christ's  miracles  was  spread  abroad,  and  had  reached 
 
 even  the  prison  of  Macheron,  where  John  the  Baptist  was  under  con-  tatlon  "of  "jo/m 
 
 finement.     '"  For  his  disciples  told  him  of  all  these  thinars"  which  *°  ^'"'"''  Luke  7, 
 
 IS. 
 *  la  these  words  the  people  of  Nairn  seem  to         f  Agreeably  to  the  order  of  St.  Luke,  we  insert 
 
 aeknowledne  Jesus  for  the  Messiah,  or  that  great  here  the  deputation  of  St.  John  to  Jesus.    Not  only 
 
 prophet  whom  Moses   had  promised  to  the  Jews,  this  deputation,  but  even  the  decollation  of  St.  John 
 
 saying  :  "  the  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  must  have  preceded  the  mission  of  the  apostles,  as 
 
 a  prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy  brethren,  will  be  seen  in  chap.  Iv.     But  St.   Matthew,  who 
 
 like  unto  me,  unto  him   shall  ye  hearken."  Deut.  anticipates  the  mission,  has  immediately  subjoined 
 
 xviii.  15.     For  they   describe   this  propliet  in   the  to  it  the  legation, 
 very  same  terms  that  Zachary,  the  father  of  John 
 Baptist,  makes  use  of  to  denote  the  Messiah  :  the 
 Lord  hath  visited  his  people,  Luke  i.  68. 
 
 15.  2x 
 
170  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLVIL 
 
 Matt.  11.  Jesus  had  done,  and  not  without  visible  marks  of  jealousy  and  emulation.     "  Now 
 
 ^"       when  John  had  heard  these"  wonderful ''  works  of  Christ,  sending-  two  of  his  disciples, 
 
 he  said  to  him  :  art  thou  he  that  art  to  come,  or  look  we  for  another?"     The  design 
 
 of  John  on  this  occasion,  was  to  cure  his  disciples  of  their  prepossessions  against 
 
 Jesus,  and  to  convince  them  that  he  was  the  Messiah  whom  they  expected.     He  was 
 
 Luke  7.  the  more  desirous  of  this,  as  he  foresaw  that  his  own  death  was  now  at  hand.    "■  And 
 
 20 
 
 when  the  men  were  come  unto  him,  they  said  :  John  the  Baptist  hath  sent  us  to  thee, 
 saying :  art  thou  he  that  art  to  come,  or  look  we  for  another  ?"  Instead  of  giving  a  di- 
 21.  rect  answer,  Jesus  referred  them  to  the  plain  evidence  of  his  actions  and  miracles.  For, 
 "  in  that  same  hour,  he  cured  many  of  their  diseases,  and  hurts,  and  evil  spirits  ;  and  to 
 many  that  were  blind  he  gave  sight.  And"  then  "  answering"  the  disciples  of  John, 
 "  he  said  to  them  :  go  and  relate  to  John  what  you  have  heard  and  seen  :  the  blind 
 see,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  made  clean,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  rise  again, 
 to  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached,"  and  even  with  more  success  than  to  the  rich.* 
 As  a  particular  rebuke  to  these  deputies  who,  out  of  jealousy,  censured  many  of  his 
 actions,  and  indeed  the  whole  tenour  of  his  conduct,  Jesus  added  :  "  and  blessed  is  he 
 whosoever  shall  not  be  scandalized  in  me."  The  whole  of  what  Jesus  said  on  this 
 occasion,  was  not  only  an  answer  to  the  question  proposed,  whether  he  were  the  pro- 
 mised Messiah ;  it  was  also  a  decisive  proof  of  it,  since  by  establishing  the  certainty 
 of  his  miracles,  it  unanswerably  applied  to  him  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  concerning 
 the  Messiah.!  It  was,  in  fact,  equivalent  to  an  answer  couched  in  the  following 
 terms  :  go  and  relate  to  your  master  John  the  Baptist,  that  with  your  own  eyes  you 
 have  seen  fulfilled  by  me  all  those  wonderful  things  foretold  by  the  prophets  concerning 
 the  Messiah. 
 
 24.  2.  The  praises        "  And  when  the  messengers  of  John  were  departed,  he  began  to  speak 
 
 of  John.  to  the  multitudes  concerning  John  :"  this  he  did  in  the  highest  terms  of 
 commendation,  lest  the  present  deputation  sent  by  John  might  weaken  in  their  minds 
 the  testimony  which  he  had  formerly  given  in  his  favour.  Jesus  therefore  pronounced 
 a  public  eulogium  of  his  precursor,  both  on  account  of  his  own  em.inent  virtues,  and 
 the  high  quality  of  his  employment.  His  virtues  were,  first,  an  unshaken  firmness  of 
 mind,  which  did  not  dispose  him  to  retract  the  high  testimonies  he  had  borne  in  his 
 favour  ;  and  secondly,  a  wonderful  austerity  of  life.  As  to  the  first,  Jesus  asked  his 
 hearers  :  "  What  went  you  out  into  the  desert  to  see?  a  reed  shaken  with  the  wind?" 
 In  other  words,  was  he  a  person  of  a  fickle,  irresolute  temper,  one  who  varied  his 
 opinion  with  the  times  ?  The  contrary  was  clearly  established  by  the  actual  situation 
 of  John,  at  the  moment  when  Jesus  was  speaking.  The  unshaken  firmness  of  his 
 mind  had  brought  upon  him  the  persecution  which  he  now  suffered  from  the  tyranny 
 of  Herod,  whose  incestuous  marriage  he  could  not  be  induced  to  appcove.     Jesus 
 
 25.  goes  on  thus  to  inquire  of  them  :  "  But  what  went  you  out  to  see?  a  man  clothed 
 in  soft  garments?     Behold,  they  that  are  in  costly  apparel,^  and  live  delicately,  are" 
 
 *  The  reason  of  this  difference  is,  that  the  faith  found  in  the  poorer  class,  than  in  those  of  higher 
 
 and  hope  of  eternal  goods  require   in   those  who  rank  and  more  opulent  fortunes.     A  Lapide. 
 
 receive  them,  humility,  docility,  and  a  mortification  t  Isaiah  xxxv.  45. 
 
 of  the  passions;  which  virtues  are  more  generally  J  This  luxury  in  apparel  and  high  living,  is  no* 
 
Ch.  XLVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  171 
 
 not  like  John  in  the  wilderness,  but  "  in  the  houses  of  kings."     Jesus  next  proceeds 
 to  consider  the  high  office  of  St.  John  as  his  precursor.     "  But  what  went  you  out  to      26. 
 see  ?  a  prophet  ?  Yea,  I  say  to  you,  and  more  than  a  prophet.     For  this  is  he  of  Matt.  11. 
 whom  it  is  written :  behold  I  send  my  angel  before  thy  face,  who  shall  prepare  thy      ^^ 
 way  before  thee.     Amen,  I  say  to  you,  there  has  not  risen  among  them  that  are  bora      11. 
 of  women  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist."     This  comparison,  as  appears  from  St. 
 Luke,  is  solely  made  betwixt  him  and  the  ancient  prophets,  and  signiQes  that  John, 
 as  the  immediate  precursor  of  the  Messiah,  was  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  of  them. 
 But  Jesus  adds,  speaking  of  himself  in  the  third  person  :  "  Yet  he  that  is  lesser"  than 
 John,  and  as  it  were  his  junior,   "■  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  greater  than  he."* 
 This  is  what  John  himself  had  acknowledged  at  two  different  times.     He  that  shall 
 come  after  me,  is  preferred  before  me.   [John,  c.  i.  v.  15.]    Jesus  then  proceeds  as 
 follows :  "  From  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  until  now,  the  kingdom  of  heaven      12. 
 suffers  violence,  and  those  that  use  violence  bear  it  away."     Whereas,  before  his 
 time,  and  during  the  whole  period  of  the  prophets,  heaven  was  shut,  now  it  is  opened, 
 and  since  the  time  of  John's  preaching  repentance,  it  is  offered  to  all  men  who  will 
 do  violence  to  themselves  by  the  mortification  of  their  passions.     Now,  therefore,  is 
 the  time  appointed  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies.    "  For  all  the  prophets      13. 
 and  the  law  only  prophesied  until  John  ;"  that  is,  they  only  promised  at  a  distance 
 the  good  things  which  were  to  come :    but  since  John's  mission,  these  prophetic 
 promises  begin  to  be  fulfilled  :  he  has  announced  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  be  at 
 hand,  and  has  pointed  out  Jesus,  who  is  the  King  and  Lord  of  it.     "  And  if  you  will      14. 
 receive  it,"  and  will  attentively  consider  the  rigour  of  John's  penance,  the  fervour  of 
 his  zeal,  the  force  of  his  preaching-^  and  all  the  other  circumstances  of  his  life,  "  you 
 will  acknowledge  that  he  is  Elias  that  is  to  come,"  in  order  to  announce  the  first 
 coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  to  prepare  mankind  for  his  reception.  And  as  the  quality 
 here  ascribed  to  St.  John  is  merely  allegorical,  inasmuch  as  he  is  the  figure  or  image 
 of  the  real  Elias,  whose  coming  at  the  end  of  the  world  is  foretold  by  Malachi,  Jesus 
 adds  :  "  he  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear,"  and  understand  this  mystical  Ian-      15. 
 guage.    "  And  all  the  people"  in  general,  "  and  the  Publicans  hearing,      3    y^^  Luke  7. 
 
 praised  the  justice  of  God,  being  baptised  with  John's  baptism  ;"  that  verse  judgments      ^^■ 
 is,  they  admired  the  wonderful  conduct  of  the  Almighty  in  appointino-  °f  ^^'^  Pkan- 
 
 •'  D      .'  rr  o    sees  concerning 
 
 a  precursor  or  forerunner  before  the  first,  as  well  as  before  the  last  John  and 
 coming  of  the  Messiah,  purposely  to  prepare  mankind  for  those  great  ^^''"'• 
 events,  and  to  render  them  more  fit  to  receive  him  by  means  of  a  sincere  repentance. 
 '•  But  the  Pharisees  and  the  doctors  of  the  law  despised  the  designs  of  God  toward     30. 
 themselves,  not  being  baptised  by  him.    And  the  Lord  said  :  whereunto  shall  I  liken      31. 
 the  men  of  this  generation  ?  and  to  whom  are  they  like  ?    They  are  like  to  children      32. 
 sitting  in  the  market-place,  who  calling  out  to  their  companions"  that  were  averse  to  "  ^"7  ^^ 
 join  with  them  in  their  various  games  and  pastimes,  taxed  them  with  ill-nature, 
 saying  :  "  we  have  piped  to  you,  and  you  have  not  danced  ;  we  have  lamented,  and 
 
 now  confined  to  courts ;  it  is  unrortunately  but  too  heaven  than  John  the  Baptist:  but  the  diflBculty 
 
 prevalent  in  all  ranks  and  conditions.  vanishes  if  we   place   the  comma  after  the   word 
 
 *  The  difficulty  of  this  passagre   is,  that  Jesus  lesser,  and  read  it  thus:    He  that  is  letter,  in  the 
 
 •jparently  avows  himself  less  in  the  kingdom  of  kingdcnn  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he. 
 
172  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [CI..  XLYII. 
 
 you  have  not  mourned."    This  appears  to  have  been  a  proverb  among-  children  at  that 
 
 time^  and  to  have  been  taken  from  them  ;  and  nothing  can  be  more  apposite,  than  the 
 
 Luke  7.  application  of  it  by  Christ  in  the  present  instance.     "  For  John  the  Baptist,"  says  he, 
 
 34*  *'  came  neither  eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine  :  and  you  say  he  hath  a  devil.  The  son 
 of  man  is  come  eating  and  drinking,"  as  others  ;  "^  and  you  say  :  behold  a  man  that  is  a 
 
 ^^-  glutton,  and  a  driuker  of  wine,  a  friend  of  Publicans  and  sinners.  And"  yet,  in  this 
 severity  of  John's  manners,  and  in  this  humane  condescension  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
 ""  wisdom"  of  God  "  is  justified"  or  approved  and  acknowledged  to  be  equitable  "  by 
 all  her  children,"  that  is,  by  all  those  who  are  truly  wise  and  disposed  to  see  and. 
 receive  truth ;  while  others  remain  obstinate  in  their  bliudness,  and  refuse  to  believe 
 in  Christ.  To  the  truly  wise  it  will  apj)ear  the  effect  of  an  all-wise  Providence,  that 
 the  forerunner  of  Jesus  should  openly  profess  the  practice  of  an  extraordinary 
 austerity,  in  order  to  give  a  greater  sanction  to  that  testimony  he  was  to  bear,  and  to 
 render  it  perfectly  unexceptionable.  It  will  equally  appear  to  be  a  wise  appointment 
 of  the  same  Providence,  that  Jesus  should  lead  a  life  by  no  means  extraordinarily 
 Matt.  11.  ^  Christ  re-  '"'o^*^''  '"  order  thereby  to  attract  mankind  to  his  service.  "  Then," 
 proaches  ihe.  im-  taking  occasion,  from  this  impenitence  of  the  Pliarisees,  "  he  beg-an  to 
 peniieiitcitie.tof  fgp(.Qach  the  cities"  of  Galilee,  "  in  which  a  great  many  of  his  miracles 
 saida,  and  Ca-  were  wrought,  because  they  had  not  done  penance,"  but  were  shame- 
 phariiaian.  f^,i]y  ungrateful  for  all  his  favours.  To  Corozain,  Bethsaida,  and 
 Capharnaum,  he  in  particular  denounced  the  greatest  of  woes  in  the  following  terms. 
 
 21.  "  "wtq  Iq  (i,(jg  Corozain,  wo  to  thee  Bethsaida  ;  for  if  in  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  been 
 wrought  the  miracles  that  have  been  wrought  in  you,"  though  Pagan  cities,  "  they 
 
 ^2-      had  long  ago  done  penance  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.*     But  I  say  unto  you,  it  shall 
 
 ^^  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  you.  And  thou 
 Capharnaum,  shalt  thou,"  by  thy  riches  and  luxury,  "  be  exalted  up  to  the  very  sky  ?" 
 No,  "  thou  shalt  go  down  even  unto  hell ;-{~  for  if  the  miracles  had  been  done  in 
 Sodom  that  have  been  wrought  in  thee,"  however  infamous  for  its  abominations,  "  it 
 
 24.  might  have  remained"  entire  "  even  until  this  day.:}:  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  it 
 shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  thee." 
 From  hence  we  may  learu  how  dangerous  it  is  to  resist  the  divine  graces,  and  to 
 abuse  those  favourable  opportunities  which  Providence  affords  us,  of  improving 
 ourselves  in  virtue,  and  of  securing  our  eternal  .salvation. 
 
 *  St.  Luke  inserts  these  reproaches  in  the  dis-  Capharnaum  is  at  present  so  far  from  being'  the 
 course  which  Jesus  made  to  his  seventy-two  disci-  metropolis  of  all  Galilee,  as  formerly,  that  it  con- 
 pies,  and  which  will  lie  found  iu  chap.  79  ;  ])erhaps  sisted  lonpf  since  of  only  six  poor  fishermen's  cot- 
 they  occurred  to  his  mind  in  consequence  of  those  tages:  and  modern  travellers  assure  us  that  it  is 
 words  of  Christ  to  the  seventy-two,  that  it  would  now  totally  desolate.  See  Le  Brune's  Travels. 
 he  more  tolerable  for  the  Sodomites  than  for  the  city  %  What  follows  here  in  St.  Matthew  concerning' 
 which  shoidd  not  receive  the7n.  It  appears  more  the  mysteries  which  are  hidden  from  the  wise  ones, 
 probable  that  St.  Matthew  here  relates  them  iu  occurs  in  St.  Luke  after  Christ's  discourse  to 
 their  proper  place,  when  Jesus  was  yet  in  Galilee,  the  seventy-two  disciples,  and  with  this  indication 
 and  as  it  seems  at  Capharnaum,  since  he  attacks  of  time;  at  that  very  hour  he  rejoiced.  We  have 
 this  city  in  the  most  pointed  manner.  However,  as  therefore  transferred  to  that  place  the  words  of  St. 
 Christ  may  have  repeated  the  same  comminations  on  Matthew,  who,  as  observed  above,  does  not  intena 
 different  occasions,  they  are  likewise  given  in  chap. 79.  by  the  particle  at  that  time,  to  point  out  the  precise 
 
 t  Agreeably  to  this  "Senunciation  of  our  Lord,  period  of  a  transaction. 
 
Ch.  XLVIIL] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 173 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVIII. 
 
 MAR\  MAGDALEN  ANOINTS  THE  FEET  OF  JESUS*     LUKE  VII. 
 
 Whilst  Jesus  was  yet  in  Galilee,  and  probably  at  Nairn,  where  he  lately  had  raised 
 to  life  the  widow's  son,  he  was  invited  to  dinner  by  a  certain  Pharisee  called  Simon, 
 who  seems  to  have  lived  in  the  same  town,  or  some  neighbouring-  city,  as  Calmet 
 shows.  Our  Lord  was  pleased  to  accept  this  invitation  to  confound  the  pride  of  the 
 Pharisees,  and  chiefly  that  he  might  manifest  the  power  of  his  grace  in  the  wonderful 
 conversion  of  an  abandoned  woman,  who  has  ever  since  been  considered  as  a  most 
 encouraging  example  and  model  of  true  penitence  to  all  succeeding  generations.  St. 
 Luke  gives  us  the  following  account  of  this  illustrious  penitent.  "  A  certain  Pharisee 
 desired  Jesus  that  he  would  eat  with  him  ;  and  being  entered  into  the  Pharisee's 
 house,  he  was  at  table.  And  behold  a  woman  who  was  in  the  city  a  sinner,  as  soon 
 as  she  knew  that  he  was  at  table  in  the  Pharisee's  house,  brought  an  alabaster  box 
 of  ointment,  and  standing  behind  at  his  feet,t  she  began  to  wash  his  feet  with  tears. 
 
 *  We  place  here  the  history  of  the  sinful  woman, 
 as  most  harmonists  have  done  before  us.  If  how- 
 ever she  be  the  same  person  as  Mary  the  sister  of 
 Lazarus,  this  event  must  have  happened  at  a  dif- 
 ferent time  and  place.  For  Jesus  was  now  in 
 Galilee,  whereas  the  sister  of  Lazarus  dwelt  in 
 Bethania,  near  to  Jerusalem.  In  this  supposition 
 St.  Luke  has  not  placed  this  history  in  due  order 
 of  time,  but  anticipated  it  as  an  illustrious  example 
 of  penance,  aL>;reeably  to  what  Christ  said  of  sinners 
 and  Publicans  being  converted  and  baptized,  whilst 
 the  Pharisees  remained  hardened  in  their  sins.  See 
 c.  56,  likewise  c.  108.  But  whether  this  woman, 
 whom  St.  Luke  here  calls  a  sinner,  be  the  same  as 
 Mary  Magdalen,  and  as  Mary  of  Bethania,  sister 
 of  IMartha  and  Lazarus,  (Jolm  xi.  2.  cap.  xii.  1. 
 Mark  xiv.  3.  Matt.  xxvi.  6.)  is  an  ancient  celebrated 
 question,  which  must  ever  remain  undetermined, 
 because  nothing-  appears  demonstrative  from  the 
 Sacred  Text,  or  from  the  authority  of  the  ancient 
 fathers.  Many  grave  authors  refer  all  that  is  men- 
 tioned in  the  Gospel  to  one  and  the  same  person, 
 and  this,  after  St.  Gregory's  time,  appears  to  have 
 been  the  more  common  opinion  down  to  the  16th 
 century.  On  this  side  are  Baronius,  Jansenius  of 
 Ghent,  Maldonatus,  Nat.  Alexander  Lami,  Mau- 
 duit,  Solier  the  Bollandist.*  But  St.  Ambrose,  St. 
 Jer.  St.  Augustin,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  leave  the 
 question  undecided.  Others  think  these  were  three 
 distinct  persons  ;  as  Causaubon,  Estius,  Bulanger, 
 Turrian,  Tillemont,  Hammond,  &c.  Others  are 
 only  for  two  Marys,  distinguishing  Mary  Magdalen 
 from  Mary  the  sister  of  Lazarus  .and  Martha,  and 
 
 *  The  faculty  of  Paris  likewise  approved  this 
 opinion,  an.  1521,  as  most  agreeable  to  the  Gospel 
 and  the  established  usage  of  the  Church. 
 
 15. 
 
 Luke  7 
 36. 
 
 37. 
 
 this  opinion  we  have  adopted  as  the  most  plausible, 
 with  St.  Chrysostom  (Hom.  61.  in  .Joan.)  St.  Je- 
 rome (in  Matt,  xxvi.)  Soihard,  Calmet,  &c.  For 
 Magdalen  attended  Christ  the  last  year  of  his  life, 
 and  seems  to  have  followed  him  from  Galilee  to 
 Jerusalem,  when  he  came  up  to  the  Passover,  (see 
 Matt,  xxvii.  56,  57.  Mark  xv.  40,  41.)  at  which 
 time  the  sister  of  Lazarus  was  with  her  brother  and 
 Martha  at  Bethania.  (John  xi.  1.)  Moreover  these 
 two  women  seem  to  be  distinctly  characterized,  the 
 one  being  called  Magdalen,  and  being  ranked 
 among  the  women  that  followed  Jesus  from  Gali- 
 lee, the  other  being  every  where  called  the  sister  of 
 Lazarus.  But  St.  Irenaeus,  Origen,  and  St.  Chry- 
 sostom, &c.  no  where  distinguish  the  penitent  men- 
 tioned in  this  chapter  from  INIagdalen.  And  St. 
 Luke  having  here  mentioned  the  conversion  of  the 
 sinful  woman  in  the  next  chapter,  subjoins,  that 
 certain  women  who  had  been  delivered  by  him  from 
 evil  spirits  and  infirmities,  followed  him,  and 
 amongst  these  lie  names  Mary  Magdalen ;  whence 
 it  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  penitent 
 and  Magdalen  are  the  same  person.  In  the  Roman 
 Breviary  indeed,  on  the  feast  of  Mary  Magdalen, 
 the  history  of  all  these  three  is  given,  and  placed, 
 as  it  were,  in  one  point  of  view,  as  if  they  belonged 
 to  one  and  the  same  person ;  but  this  is  only  for 
 our  greater  edification  and  instruction.  And  the 
 offices  are  distinct  in  the  Breviaries  of  Paris,  Or- 
 leans, Vienne,  Cluni,  &c.  See  on  this  subject  Cal- 
 met's  Disser.  Mauduit,  Baronius  ad  an.  32.  §  17. 
 BoUandus,  July  22. 
 
 t  In  this  she  acted  as  a  servant;  for  servants 
 formerly  stood  behind,  at  their  master's  feet  when 
 at  table,  to  receive  their  commands.  See  Seneca 
 de  Beneficis,  I.  3.  c.  27.  Martial,  1.  3.  epigram.  23. 
 Christ  conformed  to  the  prevailing  custom  of  the 
 
 2y 
 
 38. 
 
174  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLVIIL 
 
 and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head,  and  anointed  them  with  ointment."   (The 
 Greeks  and  Romans  used  likewise  sweet  scented  perfumes  at  banquets.) 
 
 Behold  here^  in  the  conduct  of  Magdalen,  the  perfect  model  of  a  true  penitent. 
 From  her  heart  she  detested  the  past  irregularities  of  her  life  ;  she  was  penetrated 
 with  shame  and  confusion  for  them,  and  placing  herself  behind  Jesus,  prostrate  on  the 
 ground  at  his  feet,  she  judged  herself  unworthy  of  appearing  before  him.  She 
 expressed  her  sorrow  for  her  past  crimes,  and  made  a  kind  of  public  confession  of 
 them,  by  shedding  abundance  of  tears,  which  flowed  from  a  contrite  heart.  She  does 
 her  utmost  to  satisfy  for  them,  and  now  defaces  or  consecrates  to  penance  whatever 
 had  formerly  been  an  instrument  of  sin  :  her  eyes,  which  had  been  full  of  dangerous 
 charms,  are  now  converted  into  fountains  of  tears  to  cleanse  the  stains  of  her  soul. 
 Her  hair,  once  dressed  in  tresses  and  curls  to  ensnare  souls,  now  hangs  loose  and 
 dishevelled,  and  serves  for  a  towel  to  wipe  our  Lord's  feet.  She  kisses  his  feet  as  a 
 public  declaration  of  that  chaste  and  holy  love  which  now  burned  within  her,  as  like- 
 wise to  draw  down  upon  her  the  grace  of  reconciliation,  which  the  Scripture  calls  the 
 kiss  of  peace.  Lastly,  she  pours  out  upon  the  feet  of  Jesus  the  vessel  of  sweet  per- 
 fumes, the  odour  of  which  quickly  spread  through  the  whole  room,  intimating  hereby 
 her  firm  intention  of  being  as  careful  for  the  future  to  spread  abroad  the  sweet  odour 
 of  her  virtues,  as  she  had  hitherto  been  intent  upon  the  destruction  of  souls  by  her 
 scandalous  life.  Moreover  by  thus  affectionately  pouring  out  her  perfumes,  formerly 
 the  incentives  of  vice,  she  makes  an  offering  as  it  were  of  her  worldly  goods,  and 
 showed  the  future  use  she  meant  to  apply  them  to,  viz.  the  relief  of  the  poor,  here 
 represented  by  the  feet  of  Jesus.  In  like  manner  every  true  penitent  must  consecrate 
 his  riches  to  Christ  in  the  poor,  which  are  his  feet :  he  must  employ  his  eyes  in  tears, 
 and  his  lips  in  supplications  for  mercy,  and  must  make  all  that  serve  to  charity  and 
 mortification,  which  before  was  subservient  to  his  inordinate  self-love.  These  exterior 
 offerings  must  be  accompanied  with  the  interior  sacrifice  of  the  heart,  with  an  humble 
 confidence  in  the  divine  mercy,  with  a  lively  faith  and  ardent  love.  It  is  thus  a 
 sinner  may  approach  to  Jesus  and  be  reconciled  to  him. 
 
 Let  us  now  see  the  reception  which  this  humble  penitent  met  with  from  our 
 Redeemer.  He  had  himself  inspired  her  with  these  just  dispositions,  and  was  come 
 to  the  Pharisee's  banquet,  exulting  with  holy  joy,  from  the  foreknowledge  he  had  of 
 her  conversion  :  for  the  main  spring  of  all  he  did  and  suffered  on  earth,  was  an  insa- 
 tiable thirst  for  the  salvation  of  sinners ;  this  brought  him  down  from  heaven,  and  was 
 not  to  be  satisfied  but  by  his  sufferings  on  the  cross,  and  by  the  last  drop  of  his  blood 
 there  poured  out  for  them.  In  these  sentiments  he  had  before  testified,  that  it  was 
 his  delight  to  converse  with  sinners,  out  of  compassion  for  their  miseries,  and  in 
 order  that  he  might  draw  them  out  of  that  gulf  into  which  they  had  blindly  plunged 
 
 Jews  ill  his  time,  which  was  not  to  sit  at  table  as  Calcio  aniiquo,  c.   11.  and  Juliatn   Nigronum  de 
 
 we  do,  but  to  lean  or  lie  down  on  couches  raised  Caliga,  c.  2.     After  washing  Christ's  feet  with  her 
 
 from  the  ground,  each  of  which  held  three  persons,  tears,  Magdalen  wiped  ihem  with  her  hair,  in  which 
 
 whose  heads  were  directed  towards  the  table  in  the  she  demeaned  herself  below  servants,  for  they  were 
 
 centre,  whilst  their  feet  ])iojected  into  the  room,  sometimes  accustomed  to  wipe  with  their  hair  their 
 
 Christ  was  likewise  barefooted  on  this  occasion,  master's  hands,  whereas  she  wipes  the  feet  also. — 
 
 having  put  off  his  shoes  and  stockings,  according  See  Petron.  Satyr.  Atrem. 
 to  the  custom  of  those  times.     See  Balduinu'n  de 
 
Ch.  XLVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  ]75 
 
 themselves.     But  "  the  Pharisee  who  had  invited  him,  seeing  it,  said  within  himself:      39. 
 this  man,  if  he  were  a  prophet,  would  know  who  and  what  kind  of  woman  this  is  that 
 toucheth  him,  that  she  is  a  sinner,"  and  consequently  he  would  not  allow  her  to 
 approach  him  in  this  manner.  It  was  pride  that  betrayed  the  Pharisee  on  this  occasion 
 into  rash  judgment,  and  made  him  condemn  as  a  grievous  sinner  one  who  was  truly 
 penitent.     The  bame  unhappy  pride  made  him  likewise  blasphemously  censui ;  the 
 goodness  and  mercy  of  our  Redeemer.     "  And  Jesus,"  in  his  own  defence,  meekly      40 
 spoke  the  following  parable  ;  and  "  said  to  him  :   Simon,  I  have  something  to  say  to 
 thee  :  he  replied  ;  speak,  Master.   There  were  two  debtors  to  a  certain  creditor :  the      41. 
 one  owed  him  500  Roman  pence,"  about  9  pounds,   "  the  other  50,"  or  about  19      42. 
 shillings,  "  and  they  having  not  wherewith  to  pay,  he  forgave  both  of  them  :  which 
 of  them  loved  him  more  ?   Simon  answered  and  said  :  I  presume,  he  to  whom  he  for-      43. 
 gave  more.     And  he  said  to  him  :  thou  hast  judged  rightly."     Then  Jesus  showed, 
 that  under  the  title  of  the  usurer  he  had  represented  himself;  because  he  in  fact 
 places  out  to  each  individual  those  graces  and  talents  which  he  expects  should  be 
 improved,  and  made  to  fructify,  that  he  may  receive  the  produce  with  usury.     Under 
 the  names  of  the  two  debtors  therefore  he  described  the  Pharisee  and  the  woman  in 
 question,  each  under  the  proportional  share  of  a  debt  for  which  they  stood  bound  to 
 his  justice,  and  consequently  as  she,  from  the  sins  of  her  past  life,  laboured  under  a 
 load  of  debt,  ten  times  greater  than  he  did,  so  her  gratitude  in  loving  God  was  so 
 much  the  greater  in  proportion  as  more  was  forgiven  her.     "  And  turning-  to  the      44. 
 woman,  he  said  unto  Simon  :  dost  thou  see  this  woman,"  all  bathed  in  tears  ?     "  I 
 came  into  thy  house,  thou  didst  not  give  me  water  for  my  feet ;  but  she  hath  watered 
 my  feet  with  tears,  and  with  her  hair  hath  wiped  them.     Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss  ;      45. 
 but  she,  since  she  came  in,  hath  not  ceased  to  kiss  my  feet.     Thou  hast  not  anointed      46. 
 my  head  with  oil ;  but  she  hath  anointed  my  feet  with  ointment.     Wherefore  I  say      47. 
 to  thee  :  many  sins  are  forgiven  her,  because  she  hath  loved  much  :*  but  that  person 
 to  whom  less  is  forgiven,  loveth  less.     And  he  said  to  her :  thy  sins  are  forgiven      48. 
 thee.     And  they  who  were  at  table  together,  began  to  say  within  themselves  :  who      49. 
 is  this  that  even  forgiveth  sins  ?t     And  he  said  to  the  woman  :  thy  faith  hath  saved      50 
 thee  :  go  in  peace."     Mercy  is  the  property  and  the  favourite  attribute  of  our  divine 
 Redeemer-     Hence  he  assures  this  humble  sinner  that  her  offences  were  cancelled, 
 and  that  her  lively  faith,  animated  by  ardent  charity,  which  drew  from  her  eyes  tears 
 of  repentance,  had  saved  her,  and  ensured  to  her  that  solid  and  happy  peace  which  is 
 the  fruit  of  true  repentance.     The  same  motive  of  gratitude  by  which  Magdalen  was 
 actuated  for  the  grace  of  her  conversion,  ought  to  have  no  less  weight  with  those  who 
 by  God's  singular  grace  have  always  preserved  their  innocence.     For  whether  God 
 shows  mercy  by  pardoning  sins,  or  by  preventing  them  in  us,  we  are  totally  indebted 
 to  him  for  the  grace  which  we  receive.     Upon  this  grand  principle,  St.   Austin 
 addresses  the  Pharisee  who  despised  this  holy  penitent  in  the  following  words  :  "  O 
 
 *  Some  interpreters  understand  these  words,  that  is  undoubtedly   true  ;    but    the    first    seems    most 
 
 much  was  forgiven  this  penitent,  because  her  love  agreeable  to  the  context,  as  A  Lapide  shows, 
 and  sorrow  were  great  and  sincere  :  others  take  the         t  Thus  profane  people  speak  when  they  deny  that 
 
 meaning  to  be,  that  gratitude  would  make  her,  after  power  which  Christ  has  committed  to  his  Church  to 
 
 this  mercy,  more  fervent  in  love.    Each  interpreter  forgive  sins. 
 
J76  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIX. 
 
 Pharisee !  to  say  you  are  less  indebted  to  the  divine  mercy,  because  less  was  furg-iven 
 you,  is  a  capital  ingratitude  and  pride.  For  by  whom  were  you  preserved  from  those 
 crimes  yon  did  not  commit?  One  who  hath  sinned  much  stands  indebted  for  the 
 gracious  pardon  of  exceeding-  great  debts  :  another  who  hath  sinned  less,  owes  to 
 God  the  benefit  that  he  hath  not  defiled  himself  with  grievous  sins.  You  have  not 
 falle'A  into  adultery :  but  God  saith  to  you  :  it  is  owing  to  me,  who  governed  and 
 protected  you.  If  no  tempter  ever  enticed  you,  this  was  the  etFect  of  my  special  care 
 and  providence  in  your  favour.  If  you  escaped  the  dangerous  occasions  from  time 
 and  place,  this  likewise  was  ordained  by  me.  Perhaps  a  temptation  and  an  oppor- 
 tunity of  sinning  occurred :  yet  I  withheld  you  by  wholesome  fear,  that  you  did  not 
 consent  to  the  evil.  You  are  indebted  to  me  for  your  preservation  from  all  the 
 crimes  which  you  did  not  commit :  for  there  is  no  sin  that  one  committeth,  which 
 another  might  not  commit,  if  he  were  not  preserved  by  him  who  made  him." 
 
 CHAPTER  XLIX. 
 
 JESUS  HEALS  A  POSSESSED  PERSON  WHO  WAS  BLIND  AND  DUMB.*      MATT.   XII. 
 MARK  III.      LUKE  XI. 
 
 Marks.  20.  "  And  Jesus  and  his  disciples  came  to  a  house,"  which  was  probably  Peter's  at 
 
 Capharnaum,  "  and  the  multitude  cometh  together  again"  to  hear  the  word  of  salva- 
 
 21.      tion,  "  so  that  they  could  not  so  much  as  eat  bread.     And  when  his  own  people," 
 
 who  probably  were  his  cousins  or  citizens  from  Nazareth  who  did  not  believe  in  him, 
 
 *'  had  heard  of  it,  they  went  out  to  lay  hold  on  liim  :  for  they  said  ;  he  is  gone  mad." 
 
 It  is  not  however  certain  who  said  this,  whether  his  friends  or  enemies  :  if  the  latter, 
 
 perhaps  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  might  call  him  a  madman,  because  he  blamed 
 
 their  vices,  and  preached  with  such  extraordinary  zeal :  if  it  be  referred  to  his  friends, 
 
 they  might  endeavour  to  lay  hold  of  him,  to  extricate  him  from  the  troublesome 
 
 importunity  of  the  crowd,  not  as  if  Jesus  had  lost  his  reason,  but  as  if  in  danger  of 
 
 faintingt  for  want  of  food,  and  the  close  suffocating  air  that  was  occasioned  by  the 
 
 Matt.12.22.  great  concourse  of  people.     "  Then  was  offered  to  him  one  possessed  with  a  devil, 
 
 Lukeii.i4.  blind  and  dumb  ;  and  he  cast  out  the  devil  and  healed  him,  so  that  he  spoke  and 
 
 Matt.1'2.23.  saw.     And  all  the  multitude  were  amazed  and  said :  is  not  this  the  Son  of  David," 
 
 24.       and  the  Messias  who  is  to  be  born  of  his  race  ?  ''  But  the  Pharisees  hearing  it  said  : 
 
 Maik3.22.  this  man  casteth  not  out  devils  but  by  Beelzebub  the  Prince  of  the  devils.     And  the 
 
 *  See  the  first  dumb  demoniac,  chap.  36.  the  it  has  any  connection  with  what  goes  before.     See 
 
 third  chap.  68.  chap.  82.  note. 
 
 With  this  history  St.  Matthew  resumes  his  nar-  t    The    Greek    word   confirms    this    conjecture 
 
 ration  of  what  happened  after  Jesus  had  returned  a  c^einij :   it  occurs  Gen.  xiv.  26.  Jos.  ii.  11.  Isa.  vii. 
 
 second  time  from  Judea  into  fialilee.     For  as  we  2. — He  is  transported  too  far.    Dr.  Doddridge. — 
 
 mentioned  above,   chap.   39.   this  Evangelist  had  To  lay  hold  on  him,  xpcnijaat  uvtov,  i.  e.  oxKov, 
 
 anticipated  several  particulars  without  observing  the  according  to  some  authors,  who  say  that   Christ's 
 
 order  of  lime.     St.  Luke,  on  the  contrary,  relates  friends  went  out  of  the  house  where  he  was,  to  stop 
 
 this  event  too  far  back,  viz.  after  the  mission  of  the  the  multitude,  and  to  tell  them  that  he  fainted  for 
 
 seventy  two  disciples  •  but  without  insinuating  that  want  of  food. 
 
Ch.  XLIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  jyy 
 
 Scribes  who  were  come  down  from  Jerusalem  said  :  he  hath  Beelzebub,  and  by  the  Luke  1 1. 
 
 prince  of  devils  he  casteth  out  devils.*     And  others  tempting  asked  of  him  a  sign    ^^'  ^'^• 
 
 from  heaven.     But  he  seeing  their  thoughts,  after  he  had  called  them  together,  he  Mark  3. 
 
 said  to  them  in  parables,"  refuting  these  their  blasphemous  calumnies :    "  Every      ~^- 
 
 kingdom  divided  against  itself  sliall  be  made  desolate,  and  every  city  or  house  divided      05. 
 
 against  itself  shall  not  stand.     How  then  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan?    And  if  Satan  Marks. 
 
 cast  out  Satan"  by  my  ministry,  as  you  pretend,  "  he  is  divided  against  himself;  and      23. 
 
 .'.  .  „  M'ltt  I^ 
 
 if  Satan  be  divided  against  himself,  how  shall  his  kingdom  stand?"    Since   "  if  a     'jjg  "' 
 
 kingdom  be  divided  against  itself,  that  kingdom  cannot  stand.     And  if  a  house  be  Luke  11. 
 
 divided  against  itself,  that  house  cannot  stand.     If  Satan  then  be  risen  up  against  Mirk  3 
 
 himself,  he  is  divided  and  cannot  stand,  but  is  brought  to  an  end.     How  then  shall  24,25,26, 
 
 his  kingdom  stand  ?     Because  you  say  that  through  Beelzebub  I  cast  out  devils.      ^e  ^^ 
 
 Now  if  I  cast  out  devils  by  Beelzebub,  bv  whom  do  your  children  cast  them  out  ?"f  Luke  11. 
 
 You  will  undoubtedly  answer  by  the  spirit  of  God.     "  Therefore  they  shall  be  your      J^' 
 
 judges,"  and  condemn  you  for  attributing  to  the  devil  in  my  regard,  what  in  them 
 
 you  acknowledge  to  come  from  the  spirit  of  God,    "  Now  if  I  in  the  finger  of  God,"      20. 
 
 that  is,  "  by  the  spirit  of  God  cast  out  devils,"  as  you  would  allow,  were  you  but  im-  Matt.  12. 
 
 partial,  "  then  is  the  kingdom  of  God"  announced  and  "  come  upon  you  ;"  since  it  is 
 
 for  the  establishing  this  truth  that  I  have  performed  all  these  miracles,  whereof  you 
 
 have  been  witnesses. 
 
 The  Pharisees  urged  against  Jesus,  that  the  devils  drove  out  each  other  when  he 
 
 gave  the  word  of  command ;  and  this  they  pretended  was  done  by  a  sort  of  collusion 
 
 amongst  themselves,  in  order,  by  this  artful  manoeuvre,  to  ensure  to  him  esteem  and 
 
 credit  amongst  mankind.     It  is  perhaps  in  this  manner  that  antichrist  one  day  may 
 
 be  enabled  to  drive  out  devils.     But  our  Lord  shows  clearly,  that  the  idea  of  such  a 
 
 collusion  is  in  the  present  instance  futile  in  the  extreme,  by  the  high  tone  of  authority 
 
 whereby  he  enforces  their  obedience  to  his  commands.    They  disputed,  if  one  may  be 
 
 allowed  the  expression,  every  inch  of  ground  with  him,  unwilling-  to  quit  their  hold 
 
 without  absolute  and  irresistible  compulsion.     Jesus  explains  this  by  the  comparison 
 
 of  an  armed  man  who  continues  in  possession  of  his  strong  hold,  till  he  be  overcome 
 
 by  another  of  superior  force.  "And  how  can  any  one  enter  into  the  house  of  a  strong      29. 
 
 man,  and  plunder  his  goods,  unless  he  first  bind  the  strong  man  ?  and  then  he  shall 
 
 plunder  his  house."     For  "  when  a  strong  man,"  and  "  armed,  guardeth  his  court,  Luke  11. 
 
 *  Tlie  Pharisees  were  afraid  lest  the  greatness  of  they  cast  out   devils   in  the  name   of  Beelzebub. 
 
 Ciu'ist's  miraeles  and  the  excellence  of  his  doctrine  Others  ag-ain,with  more  probability,  exj)lain  this  of 
 
 shuuld  put  an   end  to  their  credit    and  authority  the  Jewish  exorcists,  \vho,  according  to  Josejihus, 
 
 among  the  people.     Hence  their  calumnies  against  had  learned  from  King  Solomon  the  method  of  dis- 
 
 him.  possessing   demoniacs,   by  invoking-  the   name   of 
 
 Although   St.  Mark  makes   no   mention   of  the  God.     The  same  may  be  gathered  from  St.  Justin 
 
 possessed   person  that  was  blind  and  dumb,  yet  it  Martyr  and  Origen  against  Celsus.   Had  the  former 
 
 appears  by  these  and  the  following  words  which  he  been   Christ's  meaning  the  same  objection  would 
 
 relates   together  with  St.  Matthew  and  St.   Luke,  have    held   good  against  liis  disciples   as  against 
 
 that  he  had  the  same  history  in  view.  liimself :  and  hence  in  another  place  he  acknow- 
 
 t  Some  undeisland  this  of  the  Apostles,  others  ledges    their    calumniating    his   disciples,    in    like 
 
 of  the  friends  of  these  Doctors  of  the  law  who  were  manner  as  they  had  calumniated  him.    Ij  Ihey  have 
 
 in  the  number  of  Christ's  disciples,  though  not  ad-  named  the   Master  oj^  i/ic  family  Beelzebub,  how 
 
 mitted  into  the  coUea-e  of  the  Apostles,  and  whom  7nuch  more,  also  his  servanls. 
 these  Doctors  dmst  not  calumniate  so  far  as  to  say 
 
 16.  2z 
 
178  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIX. 
 
 22.  the  tliiiifis  of  which  he  is  possessed  are  safe.  But  if  a  stronger  than  he  come  upon 
 him  and  overcome  him^  he  will  take  away  all  his  armour  wherein  he  trusted^  and 
 distribute  his  spoils." 
 
 Under  this  figure  is  represented  the  war  which  Jesus  continually  wages  with  his 
 enemy  the  devil,  here  denominated  the  strong  man.  The  hold  or  fortress  possessed 
 by  the  devil,  is  each  soul  that  is  enslaved  to  him  by  sin :  over  every  such  soul  he 
 enjoys  a  peaceable  and  undisturbed  possession,  so  long  as  no  resistance  is  made 
 against  him.  The  means  which  he  employs  for  his  security  and  defence,  are  tempta- 
 tions, the  allurements  of  pleasure,  bad  habits,  and  inveterate  customs.  The  spoils 
 and  trophies  which  he  has  acquired  over  these  unhappy  victims,  refer  to  the  victories 
 which  he  has  gained  over  their  wills  by  their  inordinate  self-love,  over  their  minds  by 
 the  illusion  of  error,  over  their  hearts  by  all  the  passions  of  concupiscence,  and  over 
 their  senses  by  the  attractions  of  pleasure.  The  other  armed  man  stronger  than  the 
 former,  and  by  whom  he  is  overthrown,  is  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  throws  his  enemy  to 
 the  ground  and  disarms  him,  by  banishing  or  defeating  all  his  temptations,  by  chang- 
 ino-  in  the  sinner  a  taste  for  pleasures  and  diversions  into  a  salutary  fear  of  God  and 
 a  sorrow  for  past  sins,  and  by  breaking  asunder  the  bonds  of  long  contracted  habits  of 
 vice.  Lastly,  he  divides  his  spoils  by  reducing  once  more  to  order  the  several  powers 
 and  senses  of  man  ;  for  he  brings  him  to  submit  his  mind  to  God  by  faith,  his  will  to 
 the  influence  of  divine  grace,  his  heart  to  the  guidance  of  the  superior  will,  his  pas- 
 sions to  reason,  and  each  power  to  that  particular  virtue  by  which  it  ought  to  be 
 directed.  But  how  is  all  this  to  be  effected,  unless  he  enters  into  the  house  of  the 
 strono-  one,  viz.  into  the  soul  of  him  who  is  a  slave  to  the  devil,  in  order  thus  to  bind 
 him  fast  in  chains  ?  Now  this  he  performs  before  their  eyes,  when  he  expels  the  devil 
 from  the  bodies  and  souls  of  possessed  persons,  since  he  delivers  none  of  these  cor- 
 porally, without  at  the  same  time  spiritually  converting  them  to  God. 
 
 Jesus  Christ  next  proceeds  to  inform  his  followers,  that  in  this  warfare  with  the 
 devil,  no  neutrality  is  allowed,  but  that  each  one  must  either  espouse  his  party  or  that 
 
 23.  of  his  adversary.  "  He  that  is  not  with  me,"  says  Christ,  "  is  against  me  ;  and  he 
 that  gathereth  not  with  me,  scattereth."  But  the  Pharisees  he  accuses  not  only  of 
 refusing  to  labour  with  him,  but  even  of  blaspheming  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
 their  attributing  to  the  devil  those  miracles  which  he  evidently  wrought  by  the  Spirit 
 of  God.     This  is  impugning  the  known  truth,  which  certainly  was  the  greatest  of 
 
 Matt.  12.  crimes,  as  Christ  shows  in  the  following  words.     "  Therefore  I  say  to  you,*  that  all 
 ,,^V  „    sins  shall  be  forgfiven  unto  the  sons  of  men,  and  the  blasphemies  wherewith  they  shall 
 
 jVi'vrlc  3 
 
 2S.      blaspheme  :  but  the  blasphemy  of  the  Spirit  shall  not  be  forgiven.     And  whosoever 
 
 :Matt.  12.  sj,aii  speak  a  word  against  the  Son  of  Man,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him  :  but  he  that 
 
 3:)."      shall  speak  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world 
 
 *  We  have  followed  licre  the  order  of  St.  ]\Iat-  Luke  has  it.     Likeuise,  wlicn  Jes.is  had  said  lliat 
 
 thew,    and   transposed    some  verses   of  St.   Luke,  Jonas  was  a  sign  to  the  Ninevites,  it  ^9  'imre  pro 
 
 bccanse  the  sequel  is  better  supported  in  tlie  former  bable  that  he  immediately  added  the  comparison  of 
 
 than   in  the  laUer :    for  it  is   more  likely  that  the  the  Ninevites,  and  the  accusation   they  will   bring- 
 
 Scribes  and  Pharisees  demanded  a  sign  or  prodigy  against  the  Jews  at  the  day  of  judgment,  as  in  St. 
 
 after  Christ's  severe  reprimand  of  their  blasphemy,  MaUhew,  rather  than  speak  of  the  Queen  of  the 
 
 as  mentioned  by  St.  Matthew,  than  before  it  as  St.  South,  as  St.  Luke  relates  it. 
 
Ch.  XLIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  jyg 
 
 nor  in  the  world  to  come.  But  he  shall  be  guilty  of  an  everlasting-  sin,"  and  this  Marks, 
 "  because  they  said:  he  hath  an  unclean  spirit."  In  this  blasphemy  of  the  Pharisees,  "^^• 
 who  affirmed  that  Christ  was  actuated  by  an  impure  spirit,  and  by  that  means  worked 
 miracles,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost  were  both  equally  concerned.  It  seems 
 however  that  Jesus  was  willing  to  forgive  that  share  of  the  crime  which  regarded 
 himself,  because  it  seemed  more  excusable  in  them  to  entertain  these  unjust  senti- 
 ments in  regard  to  a  man  whom  they  often  saw  conversing  with  sinners;  but  that 
 part  of  the  crime  which  is  directed  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  which  can  only  be 
 the  effect  of  a  voluntary  blindness  and  a  consummate  malice,  he  represents  as  irremis- 
 sible,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  pardon.  This,  as  St.  Austin  takes  notice,  is  one  of 
 the  most  obscure  passages  in  the  scripture.  St.  Chrysostom  expounds  these  words, 
 shall  not  he  forgiven  them,  to  imply  no  more  than  shall  scarce  or  seldom  be  forgiven, 
 i.  e.  it  is  very  hard  for  such  sinners  to  return  to  God  by  a  true  and  sincere  repentance 
 and  conversion  :  so  that  this  sentence  is  similar  to  that,  Matt.  xix.  26.  where  Christ 
 seems  to  call  it  an  impossible  thing  for  a  rich  man  to  be  saved.  In  the  same  place 
 St.  Chrysostom  tells  us,  that  some  of  those  who  had  blasphemed  against  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  repented  and  had  their  sins  forgiven  them. — St.  Austin,  by  this  blasphemy 
 against  the  Spirit,  understands  the  sin  of  final  impenitence,  by  which  an  obstinate 
 sinner  refuseth  to  be  converted,  and  therefore  lives  and  dies  hardened  in  his  sins. 
 
 The  Pharisees,  through  the  inveteracy  of  their  rancour  against  Jesus,  condemned 
 his  person  whilst  they  were  forced  to  approve  his  beneficent  works  which  were  done 
 in  favour  of  the  sick  and  infirm.     He  wishes  them  therefore  not  to  make  a  separate 
 cause  betwixt  the  tree  and  its  fruit,  but  to  own  the  tree  to  be  good,  since  they  avow 
 the  fruit  to  be  so ;  or  otherwise  to  say  that  the  fruit  is  evil,  if  they  will  maintain  that 
 the  tree  is  bad.     "  Either  make  the  tree  good/'  says  he,  "  and  its  fruit  good ;  or  Matt.  12. 
 make  the  tree  evil,  and  its  fruit  evil.     For  by  the  fruit  the  tree  is  known."    But  why      ^^' 
 be  surprised  at  yoiu-  ill-founded  censures  and  blasphemies  ;   "  O  generation  of  vipers,      34. 
 how  can  you  speak  good  things^  whereas  you  are  evil  ?  for  out  of  the  abundance  of 
 the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh."     In  effect,   "  a  good  man  out  of  a  good  treasure      35. 
 bringeth  forth  good  things,  and  an  evil  man  out  of  an  evil  treasure  bringeth  forth 
 evil  things.     But  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  loord*  that  men  shall  speak,  they      36. 
 shall  render  an  account  for  it  in  the  day  of  judgment :"  and  how  much  more  shall 
 you  for  your  calumnies  and  blasphemies  against  me  ?  "  For  by  thy  words  thou  shalt      37. 
 be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  condemned.     Then  some  of  the  Scribes      38. 
 and  Pharisees  answered  him,  saying:  Master,  we  would  see  a  sign  from  thee,"  and 
 some  extraordinary  miracle  which  may  ascertain  that  thou  art  sent  by  God  and  actest 
 
 by  his  spirit.     "  And  as  the  multitudes  flocked  together,  he  said  to  them:    This^^'^^H- 
 
 ....  o  '  29 
 
 generation  is  a  wicked  generation  :  an  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  a  sign.  Matt.  12 
 and  a  sign  shall  not  be  given  it,  but  the  sign  of  Jonas  the  prophet.     For  as  Jonas      39. 
 was  in  the  whale's  f  belly  three  days  and  three  nights,  J  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be      ^'^' 
 
 *  An  idle  word  is  that  wliicli  neither  profits  the  fish,  and  some  are   of  opinion  that  it   was  not  a 
 
 speakernor  hearer :  for  obscene  words,  or  meanings,  whale,  whose  gullet  is  too  narrow,  but  rather  a  dog- 
 
 thougli  vulgarly  culled  idle,   are  generally  deadly  fish  that  swallowed  up  Jonas. 
 
 sins.     See  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  part  3.  chap.  27.  +  These  words  are  not  to  be  taken  rig.)rously  tor 
 
 -    t  The  word  in  the  original  signifies  any  great  three  whole  days  and  three   whole  nights,  but  for 
 
180  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XLIX. 
 
 Luke  II.  in  the  heart  of  the  earth  three  days  and  three  nights,"  and  then  come  forth  full  of  life. 
 38.  i,  Yor  as  Jonas  was  a  sign  to  the  Ninevites,  so  shall  the  Son  ef  Man  also  be  to  this 
 generation."  In  effect,  there  never  was  wrought  a  miracle  either  more  divine  or  more 
 inimitable,  than  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  this  was  notified  to  the  Jews  in 
 a  manner  neither  to  be  suspected  nor  objected  to :  and  yet^  it  made  no  greater  im- 
 pression on  this  infidel  nation,  than  the  other  miracles  he  had  already  performed  in 
 
 Matt.  12  their  presence.  Hence  he  says  :  "  The  men  of  Nineve  *  shall  rise  in  judgment  with 
 ^^'  this  generation,  and  shall  condemn  it ;  because  they  did  penance  at  the  preaching  of 
 Jonas,"  a  person  foreign  to  them  ;  who  without  working  miracles  in  their  sight,  came 
 to  announce  an  event  equally  unwelcome  and  improbable,  viz.  the  entire  ruin  and 
 destruction  of  their  city  ;  yet  they  listened  to  his  admonition  and  did  penance  for  their 
 sins  :  "  And  behold  a  greater  than  Jonas  here,"  and  they  will  not  hearken  to  him. 
 4-2.  "  The  Queen  of  the  South  f  shall  rise  in  judgment  with  this  generation  and  shall 
 condemn  it,  because  she,"  though  invested  with  the  government  of  an  extensive  em- 
 pire, "  came  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  and  behold 
 a  greater  than  Solomon  is  here,"  and  yet  they  despise  his  words,  Jesus  now 
 denounces  against  the  Pharisees  the  dreadful  judgment  that  actually  hangs  over  their 
 heads  in  punishment  of  their  ingratitude  and  unbelief;  and  this  he  does  under  the 
 
 43.  figure  of  the  possessed  person  whom  he  had  recently  delivered.  "  When,"  by  means 
 of  baptism,  or  the  sacrament  of  penance,  "  an  unclean  spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man," 
 to  make  room  for  the  grace  of  God,  "  he  walketh  through  dry  places,  seeking  rest, 
 and  he  findeth  none,"  because  he  maketh  it  to  consist  in  the  ruin  of  souls  dear  to 
 
 44.  God,  "  Then  saith  lie  :  I  will  return  into  my  house  from  whence  I  came  out :  and 
 coming  he  findeth  it  empty"  and  void  of  those  passions  he  had  excited  there; 
 "  swept"  and  cleansed  from  its  former  filth  of  sin  ;  "  and  garnished"  with  the  graces 
 
 45.  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  Then"  finding  himself  not  sufficiently  strong  to  enter  into  a 
 place  so  well  fortified,  "  he  goeth  and  taketh  with  him  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked 
 than  himself,  and  they  enter  in  and  dwell  there :  and  the  last  state  of  that  man  is 
 made  worse  than  the  first,"  both  by  the  greater  number  of  spirits  that  get  possession, 
 and  by  their  particular  care  to  maintain  their  hold.  Now  so  shall  it  be  to  this  most 
 wicked  race  of  people,  and  to  obdurate  and  impenitent  sinners,  who,  after  receiving 
 innumerable  graces  from  God,  and  most  ungratefully  abusing  them_,  shall  be  delivered 
 up  to  the  devil,  to  be  eternally  possessed  by  him. 
 
 part  of  three  natural  days,  from  whicli,  in  common  and  the  eye  being  simple,  mentioned  by  St.  Mat- 
 computation,  the  uights  used  not  to  be  separated,  thevv  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  St.  Augusline, 
 We  have  an  instance  of  this,  Esther  iv.  16.  where  (de  Cous.  Evanp-.  1.  2.  c.  39.)  is  of  opinion  tiiat  St. 
 the  Jews  were  ordered  to  fast  with  her  three  days  Luke  may  supply  liere  what  was  omitted  by  St, 
 and  ^/icce  Ji/jAfo;  and  yet,  chap.  V.  1.  Esther,  after  Matthew,  and  indeed  perhaps  Christ  may  liave 
 part  of  three  days,  went  to  the  King. — ^I'he  super-  repeated  these  sentences  on  different  occasions.  In 
 natural  darkness  that  followed  Christ's  death,  may  this  case  they  may  be  applied  to  the  corrupt  and 
 perhaps  be  reckoned  the  first  night,  and  the  sue-  prejudiced  judgments  of  the  Pharisees  concerning 
 ceeding  light  the  end  of  the  first  day.  Christ. 
 
 *  This  city,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  have         t  ■•  e.  of  Sheba,  or  Saba,  a  province  of  Arabia 
 
 been  built  by  Nimrod,  was  situated  upon  the  river  Felix,  lying  to  the  south  of  Judea,  and  on  the  ex- 
 
 Tio-ris,  and  was  famous  for  being  the  metropolis  of  treme  part  of  the  continent,  and  being  bounded  by 
 
 Ihe'As'ssrian  empire.  the  sea,  is  therefore  said  to  be  the  utmost  part  of 
 
 St.  Luke,  after  speaking  of  the   Ninevites,  sub-  the  earth, 
 joins  three  verses  concerning  the  lamp  of  the  body 
 
Ch.L.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  Jg] 
 
 CHAPTER  L. 
 
 THE  EXCLAMATION  OF  A  WOMAN  CONCERNING  JESUS.*       HIS  MOTHER  AND   BRETHREN 
 DESIRE  TO  SEE  HIM.      MATT.   XII.      MARK  III.      LUKE  XI.  AND  VIII. 
 
 This  chapter  contains,  1.  The  praises  given  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  with 
 reference  to  her  divine  Son.  2.  Her  tender  care  for  his  health.  3.  The  communi- 
 cation of  her  maternity  to  the  faithful. 
 
 "  And  it  came  to  pass  as  he  spoke  these  things,  a  certain  woman  from  the  crowd  Luken.27. 
 lifting  up  her  voice,"  in  raptures  of  admiration  at  his  doctrine,  and  regardless  of  the 
 displeasure  of  the  Pharisees,  "  said  to  him  :  blessed  is  the  womb  that  bore  thee,  and 
 the  breasts  that  gave  thee  suck."  This  was  a  high  encomium  publicly  bestowed  upon 
 the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  which  chiefly  redounded  upon  him,  who  was  the  subject  and 
 occasion  of  it ;  for  it  is  not  probable  she  could  have  in  view  the  mystery  of  the  incar- 
 nation, which  was  at  that  period  unknown  even  to  the  Apostles  themselves. 
 
 Jesus,  pleased  with  this  instance  of  fortitude  in  a  woman,  who  alone  seemed  to  side 
 with  him  against  the  Pharisees,  ensured  to  her  in  return  a  share  of  that  happiness 
 Avhich  she  apparently  envied  in  his  mother.     Since   she  would  undoubtedly  have 
 esteemed  herself  most  happy  to  have  been  the  mother  of  such  a  son  as  he  was,  he 
 now  assured  her  she  might  become  still  more  happy  than  if  he  were  her  son,  because 
 those  above  all  others  are  to  be  deemed  happy,  who,  like  her,  heard  the  word  of  God 
 and  religiously  observed  it.     "  But  he  said  :  yea,  rather  blessed  are  they  who  hear      2S. 
 the  word  of  God,  and  keep  it."    This   sentence  by  no  means  derogates  from  that 
 inestimable  happiness  which  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  enjoys  as  the  mother  of  God 
 and  which,  as  she  herself  foretold,  is  acknowledged  by  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
 Still  less  does  it  imply  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  did  not  carefully  observe  and  fulfil  the 
 word  of  God.     It  precisely  compares  the  happiness  of  her  maternity  to  a  diflTerent 
 kind  of  happiness,  still  more  important,  which  was  then  proposed  to  mankind,  and 
 which  Mary  likewise  possessed  more  fully  than  any  other  creature.     "  As  he  was  yet  Matt.i2  49. 
 speaking  to  the  multitudes"  on  this  subject,   "  behold  his  mother  and  his  brethren 
 stood  without,  seeking  to  speak  to  him.     And  they  could  not  come  at  him  for  the  Luke  8.19. 
 crowd  :  and,  standing  widiout,  they  sent  in  to  call  him,  and  the  multitudes  sat  about  ^^^'l^'.^^' 
 him,  and  it  was  told  him  :  behold  thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  stand  without,  seek-  Luke  s.  20. 
 ing  thee,"  and  "  desiring  to  see  thee.     And,  answering  them,  he  said  :  who  is  my  Luke^s"  20! 
 mother  and  my  brethren  ?  And  looking  round  on  those  that  sat  about  him,  and  stretch-  Mark  3.33. 
 ing  out  his  hand  towards  his  disciples,  he  said  :  behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren  :  Matuiag. 
 for  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father,  that  is  in  heaven,  he  is  my  brother,      ^*'- 
 
 *  II  is  clear  that  this  exclamatinii  of  the  woman  expressly  adds,  tiiat  they  came  uhilst  he  was  yet 
 
 is  to  be  placed  here,  and  that  it  was  followed  im-  sj)eaking  to  the  people ;  morenver,  the  word  ivithoiit, 
 
 mediately   after   by   the   arrival   of  the  mother  and  employed  by  all  the  Evangelists,   sufficiently  indi- 
 
 brethren  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  only  because  St.  Mat-  cates  that  Jesus  was  yet  in  the  house.     We   must 
 
 thew  and  St.  Mark  relate  this  as  happening-  before  therefore  conclude,   that  St.  Luke,  who  relates   it 
 
 he   left  the  house,   and  subjoin  it  to  what  imme-  after  the  parable  of  the  sower,  does  not  observe  the 
 
 diately  precedes,  but  likewise  because  St.  IMatthew  due  order  of  time. 
 
 16.  3  a 
 
182  T'^'^  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LI. 
 
 Luke  8.  and  sister^  and  mother :  My  mother  and  my  brethren  are  they  who  hear  the  word  of 
 ^^'  God  and  comply  with  it."*  It  may  be  presumed,  though  not  mentioned  by  the 
 Evano-elists,  that  after  this  speech,  Jesus  followed  his  holy  mother  and  his  brethren_, 
 according  to  their  desire. 
 
 By  the  words  here  spoken,  Jesns  meant  not  to  disown  or  to  express  any  disregard 
 towards  his  mother  and  his  brethren,  as  if  tliey  had  given  him  any  cause  of  displea- 
 sure, by  appearing  in  their  poor  and  humble  state  before  so  numerous  a  meeting ; 
 neither  does  he  complain  of  being  unseasonably  interrupted.  He  is  far  from,  check- 
 ing them  as  having  brought  themselves  forward  to  the  public  view,  in  the  light  of 
 persons  connected  with  so  great  a  man  :  nor  does  he  give  any  sharp  answer  to  him 
 who  had  mentioned  their  being  at  the  door.  Those  are  all  fdse  notions  which  have 
 been  attributed  to  the  Son  of  God,  without  the  least  regard  to  truth. 
 
 The  whole  mystery  in  what  is  here  said,  is  that  Jesus,  who  turned  every  common 
 occurrence  of  life  to  a  spiritual  sense,  employs  the  same  figure  on  the  present  occasion. 
 Between  the  new  world,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  this  material  globe, 
 there  exists  a  certain  analogy  observable  in  it?  several  parts.  This  new  world  has 
 its  earth,  which  is  the  church  ;  its  sun,  which  is  Jesus  Christ,  or  truth  itself;  its  living 
 spring  of  water,  which  is  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  its  fire,  which  is  divine  love; 
 its  fishery  and  seed,  which  are  the  sermons  of  its  ministers ;  its  harvest,  which  is  the 
 conversion  of  souls  to  God. 
 
 The  same  may  be  said  with  reference  to  kindred.  In  the  common  language  of  the 
 world,  the  mother  of  Jesus  is  she  who  conceived  and  bore  him  in  her  womb,  and  in 
 this  sense  he  has  no  brothers.  But  in  a  spiritual  and  divine  sense,  the  mother  of 
 Jesus  is  that  soul  which  conceives  him  by  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and  which  brings 
 him  forth  by  the  practice  of  all  manner  of  good  works.  In  this  sense  he  has  as  many 
 brothers  and  sisters  as  there  are  individuals  of  the  faithful  who  partake  of  that  same 
 spirit,  whereof  he  possesses  the  fulness,  and  who  are  to  share  with  him  the  same 
 heavenly  inheritance.  Thus  when  Jesus  Christ  asks  who  is  his  mother,  and  who  are 
 his  brethren,  he  speaks  not  as  the  Son  of  man,  but  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  as  the 
 word  of  his  eternal  Father. 
 
 ?  CHAPTER  LI. 
 
 DIFFERENT  PARABLES  ARE  PROPOSED  BY  OUR  LORD.f      MATT.  XIII.      MARK  IV. 
 LUKE  Vlll.  AND  XIII. 
 
 Luke  9.4.  "  And  when  the  same  day,"  in  the  afternoon  at  Capharnaum,  "  a  very  great  multi- 
 MuU.  13.  ^^jg  y^rjjg  gathered  together,  and  hastened  out  of  the  cities  unto  him,  Jesus  going 
 
 *  St  Luke  and  St.  Mark  agree  here  in  relating,  he  subjoins  the  arrival  of  Mary  and  the  brethren  of 
 
 before  they  speak  of  the  mission,   several  things  Christ,  which   St.  Mark  had   given   in   its    proper 
 
 which  they  had  omitted,  and  which  are  given  above,  place,  and  afterwards  the   tempest,  &c.  as  in   St. 
 
 chap.  xxxi.  xxxii.  and  XXXV.    But  they  differ  in  this,  Mark. 
 
 that  St.  Mark  mentions   several  parables,  and  St.         t  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  subjoin  the  follow- 
 
 Luke  only  one,  viz.  that  of  the  sower,  after  which  ing  parables  to  what  goes  before,  and  the  first 
 
Ch.  LI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  18-5 
 
 out  of  file  house,"  where  he  hud  been  taking-  some  refreshment,  "  sat  by  the  sea  side.       4. 
 And  again  he  began  to  teach,  and  great  multitudes  were  gathered  together  unto  him,  ^^""^j'-  ^^- 
 so  that  he  went  up  into  a  boat,"  in  order  to  be  more  easily  heard  by  them,  "  and  .Mark4.L 
 there  sat,"  whilst  "  all  the  people  was  about  the  sea  side,  on  the  land.     And  he  ^^^^^-  ^^^ 
 tausht  them  many  things,"  concerning  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  "  in  parables."  Maik4.I. 
 
 Of  these  parables,  the  first  explains  the  different  success  of  the  word  of  God,  2. 
 accordino-  ^o  the  different  dispositions  of  those  who  hear  it.  The  second  shows  in 
 what  manner  erroneous  doctrines  are  mingled  with  the  truth,  and  so  produce  heresies. 
 The  third  describes  the  almost  imperceptible  ste[)S  by  which  souls  are  converted  to 
 God,  and  arrive  at  eternal  salvation.  The  fourth  and  fifth  show  the  activity  of  the 
 doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  extent  of  the  Church  throughout  the  world.  The 
 sixth  and  seventh  lay  open  to  us  the  very  lucrative  commerce  or  trade  in  which  per- 
 fect souls  are  eng-aged,  in  order  to  attain  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  eighth  lepre- 
 sents  to  us  the  mixture  of  the  good  and  bad  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  during  this 
 life,  and  their  eternal  separation  at  the  day  of  judgment. 
 
 All  these  parables  were  spoken  by  Jesus  on  the  same  day,  but  the  five  first  were 
 addressed  only  to  the  people  assembled  on  the  sea-shore;    the  other  three  were 
 added  by  him  when  alone  with  the  apostles  in  the  house,  and  are  in  some  measure 
 explanations  of  the  preceding  ones.     "  Wherefore  Jesus  said  unto  them  in  his  doc-       2. 
 trine,"  as  follows:    "  Hear  ye  ;  behold  the  sower  went  out  to  sow  his  3. 
 
 seed.     And  as  he  sowed,  some  fell  by  the  road  side,  and  it  was  trodden     ^jl/J^  ^^,^^^,.^       "^^   ' 
 down,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  came  and  eat  it  up  ;  and  other  some  fell  Mark4.4. 
 
 upon  stony  ground,  where  it  had  not  much  earth  ;  and  when  the  sun  was  risen,  it  was  j ^^^^^g 
 scorched,  because  it  had  no  moisture,"  and  hence  "  it  withered  away  ;  and  other  Mark4.G. 
 some  fell  among  thorns,  and  the  thorns  growing  up  with  it  choaked  it,  and  it  yielded  h^'^f  ?"I' 
 no  fruit :  and  some  fell  upon  gpod  ground,  and  brought  forth  fruit,  that  grew  up  and       g 
 increased"  to  maturity,  '^  and  yielded  one  thirty,  another  sixty,  and  another  a  hun- 
 dred" fold.     "  Saying  these  tilings,  he  cried  out:  he  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  LiikeS.8. 
 hear  ;"  that  is,  he  who  has  received  from  God  a  spirit  of  understanding  and  docility, 
 let  him  profit  of  what  is  here  said.     This  parable  shows  the  various  obstacles  which 
 render  fruitless  the  word  of  God  in  those  that  hear  it,  and  the  happy  effects  it  pro- 
 duces in  others,  according  to  their  various  dispositions.     "  Another  parable  he  pro-  ]\Iatt.  l.t. 
 posed  to  them,"  to  explain  how  heresies  spring  up  from  a  corruption  of  the  true  faith, 
 "  saying:  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  that  is,  the  Church  of  Christ,  '^  is  likened  to  a 
 man  that  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field  ;  but  while  men  were  asleep,  his  25. 
 
 enemy  came  and  over-sowed  cockle  among-  the  wheat,  and  went  his     Thf  parable 
 
 ■'  °  fy  ike  tares. 
 
 way.     And  when  the  blade  was  sprung  up,  and  had  brought  forth  26. 
 
 fruit,  then  appeared  also  the  cockle.     And  the  servants  of  the  good  man  of  the  liouse      27. 
 
 agrees  very  well  with  what  Christ  has  just  said  of  them  when  in  the  house.  Tunc  dimissis  (urbis 
 about  hearing  the  word  of  God  ;  but  St.  Luke  venit  in  donium.  (Matt.  xiii.  36.)  St.  Matthew  how- 
 places  this  parable  immediately  after  the  second  ever  interrupts  the  course  of  these  parables,  and 
 journey  through  Galilee,  which  he  anticipates.  Jesus  anticipates,  after  the  first  of  them,  the  request  of  the 
 Christ  successively  proposed  four  parables  to  the  disciples  to  have  it  explained,  whereas,  according  to 
 people,  and  then  dismissed  them  ;  and  being  now  St.  Mark,  this  explanation  did  not  take  place  till 
 retired  with  his  disciple?,  he  unfolded  the  meaning  when  alone  in  the  liouse :  cum  esuct  singularis. 
 
ISi  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LI. 
 
 coining,  said  to  him  :  Sir,  didst  thou  not  sow  good  seed  in  thy  field  ?  Whence  then 
 -3-      has  it  coclile  ?  And  he  said  to  them  :  an  enemy  hath  done  this.     And  the  servants 
 
 29.  said  to  him  :  wilt  thou  that  we  go  and  gather  it  up  ?    And  he  said  :  no,  lest  perhaps 
 
 30.  gathering  up  the  cockle,  you  root  up  the  wheat  also  together  with  it.  Suffer  both  to 
 grow  until  the  harvest,  and  in  the  time  of  the  harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers : 
 gather  up  first  the  cockle,  and  bind  it  into  bundles  to  burn,  but  tlie  wheat  gather  ye 
 into  the  barn." 
 
 Jesus  added  a  third  parable,  to  represent  to  his  hearers,  that  the  word  of  God  fails 
 
 not  to  fructify,  independently  of  the  preacher,  and  that  its  progress  is  certain,  although 
 
 Mark  4. 26.  imperceptible  to  the  outward  eye.     "  And  he  said  :  so  is  the  kingdom 
 
 27.  -     *" ,  "f  °"\  of  God,  as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  into  the  earth,  and  should  sleep 
 
 0/   (rod  likened  '  /  r 
 
 to  the  seed  which  and  rise,  night  and  day,  and  the  seed  should  spring  and  grow   up, 
 
 28.  groweth  imper-  ^^.j^ijg^  j^^  knoweth  not  how.     For  the  earth  of  itself  bringeth  forth  fruit, 
 
 first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  afterwards  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  And 
 when  the  fruit  is  brought  forth,  immediately  he  putteth  in  the  sickle,  because  the 
 harvest  is  come." 
 
 The  fourth  parable  represents  the  astonishing-  progress  of  the  evangelical  doctrine, 
 which  in  a  short  space  of  time  spread  throughout  the  whole  globe,  in  spite  of  all  the 
 Matt.i3.3i.  powers  of  earth  and  hell  combined  against  it.  "  Another  parable  he  proposed  to 
 Mark 4. 30.  them^  sayiug  :  to  what  shall  we  liken  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  or  to  what  parable  shall 
 Matt.13.31.  y^^  parable  ^^^  compare  it  ?  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  gram  of  mustard 
 Mark  4.31.  of  (he  mustard  seed,  which  a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his  field,  which  is  the  least  indeed 
 Matt  13.32.       ■  of  all  sccds  *  that  are  in  the  earth  ;  and  when  it  has  been  sown,  it 
 
 Mavk4.32.  groweth  up  and  becometh  greater  than  all  the  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  and 
 Mhtt.13.32.  shootelh  out  great  branches ;    so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  come  and  dwell  in  the 
 33.      branches  thereof     Another  parable,"t  being  the  fifth,  "  he  spoke  to  them,"  as  a 
 
 *  The  Jews  u-^ed  to  say  :  "  as  small  as  a.  grain  the  true  state  of  thinajs.     2.  As  the  Jews  were  ill- 
 
 of  mustard  seed,"  to  express  a  very  small  thing;  and  disposed  to  receive  the  great  truths  which   Jesus 
 
 Christ  uses  this  exjjression  in  the  same  sense,  as  if  Christ  announced,  he  frequently  veiled  his  instruc- 
 
 he  ha.d  said,  which  is  one  of  the  smallest  seeds.  tions  under  similitudes  or  parables:  he  addressed 
 
 t  Hence  it  is  probable  that  Jesus  spoke  all  these  himself  to  his  hearers  in  a  manner  suitable  to  their 
 parables  at  the  same  time.  There  are  different  state  and  condition  ;  that  is  to  say,  not  always  ac- 
 significations  of  the  word  parable  in  the  writings  of  cording  to  the  capacity  of  their  understanding,  but 
 the  Old  and  New  Testament.  It  is  sometimes  used  according  to  the  disposition  of  their  heart.  One  of 
 for  elevated  and  instructive  poetry,  sometimes  for  the  Evangelists  expressly  remarks,  that  in  private 
 weighty  instruction  in  general,  without  poetical  he  unfolded  the  sense  of  his  parables  to  his  disci- 
 ornaments.  It  also  signifies  a  proverbial  saying,  pies,  who  were  more  teachable  and  better  disposed 
 and  frequently  a  short  comparison  or  similitude,  to  profit  of  his  instructions.  Consequently,  they 
 Lastly,  it  occurs  for  a  continued  relation  of  feigned  who  received  nc  benefit  from  his  discourses,  for 
 but  possible  facts,  bearing  a  general  correspondence  want  of  understanding  them,  could  impute  it  solely 
 to  the  circumstances  of  those  for  whose  instruction  to  themselves,  since  he  was  ready  to  explain  their 
 it  was  designed.  Several  reasons  may  be  assigned  meaning  to  such  as  desired  it.  Finally,  a  third 
 why  our  Lord  made  use  of  parables  :  1.  They  suited  motive  that  induced  Jesus  Christ  to  speak  in  para- 
 the  turn  and  manner  of  the  Eastern  nations,  who  bles,  and  which  is  pointed  out  by  St.  Matthew,  was 
 delighted  in  having  their  imagination  struck  with  the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies.  For  one  of 
 the  boldest  figures  and  the  most  glowing  imagery ;  the  characteristics  of  the  Messiah,  was  that  he 
 and  we  may  observe,  that  the  prophetical  style  in  would  express  himself  in  this  parabolical  manner, 
 general  abounds  with  figure  and  allegory.  The  and  Jesus  Christ  was  pleased  that  the  most  minute 
 lively  imagination  of  the  Orientals  made  them  relish  circumstance  should  be  fulfilled  in  his  person,  in 
 these  figurative  expressions,  which  awaken  the  at-  order  that  the  resemblance  between  him  and  the  an- 
 tention  and  exercise  the  imderstanding,  in  order  to  cient  prophets  in  their  manner  of  instructing,  might 
 trace  out  the  resemblance  between  the  fiction  and  lead  the  Jews  to  consider  him  as  the  great  prophet 
 
^1^  j^„^  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  185 
 
 further  representation  of  the  same  wonderful  fruitfuhiess  of  the  Gospel :    "The 
 kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  leaven  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in     ^^^^  ^^ 
 
 three  measures  of  meal,  until  the  whole  was  leavened.    All  these  things    ^^  ^^^  ^,.„^.^„ 
 Jesus  spoke  in  parables  to  the  multitudes/'  and  the  subjects  of  them  he 
 drew  from  various  things  most  familiar  to  their  usual  habits  of  hfe.     "And  with  MarK  4. 
 many  such  parables  he  spoke  to  them  the  word"  of  God,  "  according  as  they  vvere      34. 
 able  to  hear;  and  without  parables  he  did  not  speak  unto  them.     That  it  might  be  Matu  13. 
 fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet,*  saying  :  I  ^^■ill  open  my  mouth  in  para-      35^ 
 bles  I  will  utter  all  things  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.     But  apart,  he  Mad.  4. 
 explained  all  things  to  his  disciples,"  as  we  shall  see  in  the  sequel.f 
 
 CHAPTER  LIT. 
 
 THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  SOWER  IS  EXPLAINED.      MATT.  XIII.      MARK  IV.      LUKE  VIII. 
 
 "  Then  having  sent  away  the  multitudes,  he  came  into  the  house  •  and  when  he  was  Matt  13. 
 alone,  the  twelve  that  were  with  him  asked  him  :  why  speakest  thou  to  them  in  para-   ^^^^^  ^  4 
 bles'''  Who  answered  and  said  to  them  :  because  to  you,"  who  believe  in  me,  "  it  is      34. 
 aiven  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  to  them"  who  are  Matt.  13. 
 Tncredulous,  and  who  harden  their  hearts,  this  favour  "  is  not  given.     For  he  that      u. 
 hath"  already,  "  to  him  shall  be  given"  more,  "  and  he  shall  abound  :  but  he  that      12. 
 hath  not,  from' him  shall  be  taken  away  that  also  which  he  hath.     Therefore  do  I       13. 
 speak  to  them  in  parables  :  because  seeing  they  see  not,  and  hearing  they  hear  not, 
 neither  do  they  understand,"  as  they  might  and  ought;  but  shut  their  eyes  agi>mst 
 the  lights  that  are  offered  them.     Wherefore,  "  to  you,"  my  disciples,  "  it  is  given  Luke  8. 
 to  know  the  mystery  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;"  that  is,  the  secret  doctrines  relating  to 
 the  Gospel-kingdom,  "  but  to  the  rest,  that  are  without,  all  things  are  done  in  para-  Mark  4. 
 bles  that  t  seeing  they  may  see  and  not  perceive,  and  hearing  they  may  hear  and  not      ^.^■ 
 understand :  lest°at  any  tfme  they  should  be  converted  and  their  sins  should  be  for- 
 o-iven  them."    This  passage  is  taken  from  the  prophet  Isaiah,  chap.  vi.  ver.  9.  where 
 he  is  ordered  to  foretell  the  obstinate  blindness  of  the  Jews,  in  refusing  to  receive 
 and  believe  in  their  Messiah.     It  is  likewise  cited  in  different  places  of  the  New 
 Testament,  in  all  which  we  must  detest  the  false  imputation  of  those  sectaries  who, 
 not  without  heresy  and  blasphemy,  would  have  God  to  be  the  author  and  cause  of 
 sin.     When  therefore  it  is  said  in  Isaiah  vi.  9. :  blind  the  heart  of  this  people,  Sec.  the 
 
 foretold  by  Moses.     Certain  it  is,  that  this  lively  *  Psalm  Ixxvii.                               . ,      •     «.   at    t 
 
 and  affecting  mode  of  instruction  by  parable  is  cal  t  As  to  what  follows  these  parables  ,n  St.  Mark 
 
 culated  to   make  deep    impressions  on   the   mind,  and  St.  Luke,  see  the  note  at  the  end  of  chap   aO. 
 
 T     re  are  few  Christiins  but  will  always  dwell  with  J  That  (ut,  .ua  ox.-.)  and  the  .nfi.nt.ve  mood  are 
 
 Mnn-ular  deli-Ht   and  improvement  on  our  Lord's  frequently  used  to  express  what  will   actually  hap- 
 
 pa^ables:  their  imagination,  warmed  with  the  beauty  pen,   and    not   formal   intention   and  design       See 
 
 of  the  imao-es,  mo>e  easily  retains  them;  and  they  Matt.  .1.  13.  iv.  14.   Luke  ix.  45.   xi.  oO.  John  x.i. 
 
 will  ever  be  regarded  as  striking  lessons  of  religion  38.  Matt.  x.  34,  35.  &c. 
 
 and  moral  instruction. 
 
 16.  ^« 
 
185  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LII. 
 
 prophet  is  only  commanded  to /ore fe/Z  their  bUndness,  of  which,  by  their  wilful  obsti- 
 nacy, they  were  the  true  cause.  In  like  manner,  when  we  read  in  St.  Mark,  that  to 
 those  who  are  without,  all  things  are  done  in  parables,  that  seeing  thet/  may  see  and  not 
 perceive,  &c.  the  particle  that,  as  in  other  places,  does  not  signify  the  cause  nor  the 
 end,  but  only  the  event,  and  the  consequence  of  what  would  happen  by  the  wilful 
 blindness  of  the  Jews,  and  the  just  permission  of  God.  It  is  in  this  sense  oidy  that 
 Matt.  13.  "  tlie  prophecy  of  Isaiah,"  describing  their  voluntary  blindness,  and  the  punishment 
 
 14.  thereof,  "  is  fulfilled  in  them,  who  saith  :  by  hearing  you  shall  hear  and  shall  not 
 
 15.  understand,  and  seeing  you  shall  see  and  shall  not  perceive.  For  the  heart  of  this 
 people  is  grown  gross,  and  with  their  ears  they  have  been  dull  of  hearing,  and  their 
 eyes  they  have  shut :  lest  at  any  time  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with 
 their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal 
 them."  St.  Matthew  here  expounds  to  us  the  words  of  the  prophet  (for  they  are 
 somewhat  different  in  Isaiah),  and  by  them  it  clearly  appears,  as  mentioned  above, 
 that  the  Jews  were  the  cause  of  their  own  blindness,  and  had,  by  their  obstinacy,  ren- 
 dered themselves  unworthy  of  particular  lights  from  God.  The  heart  of  this  people,  says 
 he,  is  become  stupid,  and  they  have  shut  their  eyes.  The  Jews,  therefore,  shut  their 
 own  eyes,  hardened  their  own  hearts,  which  God  only  permitted.*  By  those  loho  are 
 out,  we  may  understand  all  heretics  who  are  out  of  the  body  of  Christ's  visible  Church, 
 and  all  such  carnal  Christians  as  are  void  of  charity,  which  is  her  life  and  soul.  With 
 regard  to  both  these,  the  Scriptures  and  the  whole  of  religion  are  veiled  under  the 
 
 16.  obscurity  of  parables.  "  But"  in  respect  to  the  Apostles,  the  case  was  very  different, 
 and  Jesus  felicitates  them  on  their  singular  happiness  of  being  his  disciples : 
 "  blessed  are  your  eyes,"  says  he,  "  because  they  see"  my  actions,  my  miracles,  and 
 
 17       my  whole  life,  "  and  your  ears,  because  they  hear"  my  heavenly  doctrine.     "  For 
 
 amen,  I  say  to  you  :  many  prophets  and  just  men  have  desired  to  see  the  things  that 
 
 you  see,  and  have  not  seen  them,  and  to  hear  the  things  that  you  hear,  and  have  not 
 
 Luke  8.  heard  them.     And  his  disciples"  further  "  asked  him  what  this  parable  might  be. 
 
 ®-       And  he  said  to  them,"  with  apparent  surprise:  "  are  you  ignorant  of  this  parable? 
 
 ^3.   '  and  how  shall  you  know  all"  the  other  "  parables,"  which  are  still  more  difficult  ? 
 
 Matt.  13.  "  Hear  you,  theref  )re,  the  parable  of  the  sower.    The  seed  is  the  word  of  God.    The 
 
 18.      sower  is  he  that  soweth  the  word,"  by  preaching  and  instruction  ;  and  this  seed 
 
 Luke  8.  ^^[jg^j^  ypgi^  fyjjj.  different  kinds  of  soil,  which  represent  four  different  sorts  of  persons. 
 
 The  first  are  such  as  continue  obdurate  in  vice :  the  second  are  such  as  are  unsteady 
 
 and  inconstant  in  their  good  resolutions :  the  third  such  as  are  absorbed  in  the  cares 
 
 and  pleasures  of  this  life  :   the  fourth  such  as  have  every  proper  disposition   for 
 
 receiving  the  word  of  God  with  fruit. 
 
 Christ  now  proceeds  to  describe  the  characters  of  these  four  different  sorts  of  per- 
 
 Mark  4.  sons  in  relation  to  the  subject  in  question.     Of  the  first,  he  says  :  "  These  are  they 
 
 1^-      by  the  way  side,  where  the  word  of  the  kingdom  is  sown,  and  as  soon  as  they  have 
 
 Mau  13  heard"  it,  "  immediately  cometh  the  wicked  one,  Satan,  and  catcheth,  and  taketh 
 
 19-      away  the  word  that  was  sown  in  their  hearts,  lest  believing  they  should  be  saved." 
 
 Wherefore  they  here  are  represented  by  the  high  way,  whose  heart  by  long  habits  of 
 
 *  See  Rom.  ix.  18.  &c. 
 
 Mark  4. 
 15. 
 
Ch.  LIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  187 
 
 vice,  is  hardened  like  a  beaten  path,  without  being  broken  and  ploughed,  as  it  were,  Luke  8. 
 by  remorse  and  repentance  for  their  sins.  When  souls  of  this  description  hear  the  '-• 
 divine  word,  the  evil  spirit,  like  a  bird  of  prey,  presently  makes  his  attack  upon  them, 
 and  drawing  their  attention  to  the  former  objects  of  their  passions,  robs  them  of  the 
 words  of  life  which  had  been  sown  in  their  hearts,  lest  by  ruminating  upon  them,  and 
 giving  them  time  to  make  a  due  impression,  they  should  think  seriously  of  a  change, 
 and  break  loose  from  the  fetters  of  their  vicious  habits. 
 
 Christ  next  tells  his  disciples,  who  are  represented  by  the  rocky  or  stony  ground. 
 "  And  these  likewise  are  they,"  says  he,  "  that  are  sown  on  the  stony  ground,  who,  Mark  4. 
 when  they  have  heard  the  word,  immediately  receive  it  with  joy,"  and,  as  a  proof  of      16. 
 their  earnestness,  form  a  thousand  good  resolutions,  and  even  perform  some  good 
 works,  which  are  analogous  to  the  first  appearance  of  the  growing  corn.     But  unfor- 
 tunately "  they  have  no  root  in  themselves,  and  when  tribulation  and  persecution 
 arise  on  the  account  of  the  word,  they  are  presently  scandalized.     For  they  believe  Luke  S. 
 for  a  while,  and  in  time  of  temptation,  they  fall  away."     This  temptation  or  persecu-      ^^• 
 lion  is  to  them  as  a  scorching  sun,  which  parches  up  and  consumes  all  the  moisture  of 
 their  sprouting  virtue ;  their  courage  and  resolution  fail  them  in  the  time  of  difficulty; 
 their  devotion  is  at  an  end,  and  they  no  longer  choose,  at  this  price,  to  follow  the 
 maxims  of  their  divine  Master.     "  And  others  there  are,"  says  Christ,  speaking  of  Mark  4. 
 the  third  sort,  "  who  are  sown  among  thorns:  these  are  they  that  hear  the  word"      l^- 
 with  a  heart  tolerably  prepared  ;  "  but  the  cares  of  this  world,  and  the  deceitfulness      19. 
 of  riches,  and  the  pleasures  of  this  life,  and  the  lust  after  other  things,  entering  in,  •'-''y^^  ^• 
 choke  the  word,"  as  so  many  thorns  and  briars  ;  "  and"  thus  "  it  is  made  fruitless ;"  Mark  4. 
 for  the  soul  divided  amongst  so  many  vain  or  trifling  objects,  becomes  unable  to      ^^" 
 attend  seriously  to  christian  duties,  and  so  forfeits  that  fruitfulness  of  virtue  with  which 
 she  would  otherwise  have  been  blessed.     Thus  all  the  obstacles  which  destroy  the 
 fruit  of  God's  word  in  the  soul  of  man,  may  be  reduced  to  hardness  of  heart,  an 
 inconstancy  of  mind,  and  a  dissipation  of  the  soul,  incompatible  with  a  virtuous  life. 
 But  let  us  now  see  who  are  represented  by  the  good  soil,  which  produces  fruit  even 
 to  a  hundred  fold  :    for  this  is  an  emblem  of  what  we  should  all  endeavour  to  be. 
 "  These  are  they,"  says  Christ,  "  who  are  sown  upon  good  ground,  who,  in  a  good      20. 
 and  very  good  heart,"  that  is,  in  a  heart  softened  by  grace,  ploughed  up  and  har-  ^^^^  8- 
 rowed  by  penance,  cleansed  from  the  noxious  weeds  of  irregular  passions  and  idle 
 amusements,  "  hearing  the  word,  receive  it,  keep  it,"  by  allowing  it  to  sink  deep  in  Mark  4. 
 their  hearts,  "  and  bring  forth  fruit  in  patience,"  some  in  greater,  some  in  smaller      '^^^ 
 quantity,  according  to  their  respective  progress  in  virtue  ;  "  the  one  an  hundred  fold,      15. 
 and  another  sixty,  and  another  thirty."     Jesus  then  pointed  out  to  his  Apostles  the  ^'"^^^  4. 
 object  which  he  had  in  view  in  their  instruction  ;  viz.  the  future  instruction  of  others  ; 
 for  by  teachin.g  them,  he  acted  as  a  person  does  who  lights  a  candle.    "  Now  no  man  Luke  8. 
 lighting  a  candle,  covereth  it  with  a  vessel,  or  putteth  it  under  a  bed  :  but  setteth  it      ^^• 
 upon  a  candlestick,  that  they  who  come  in  may  see  the  light."     Thus  Jesus  did  not 
 impart  these  lights  to  them  with  the  view  that  they  should  bury  them  in  silence : 
 "  For  there  is  not  any  thing  secret,"  says  he,  in  these  my  instructions,  "  that  shall      17, 
 not  be  made  manifest,  nor  hidden  that  shall  not  be  known,  and  come  abroad"  through 
 
Igg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LIII. 
 
 Mark  4.  your  means.    "  If  any  man  hath  ears  to  hear  let  him  hear.    Take  heed  therefore  how 
 ,  ^^"      you  hear,"  my  word,  that  you  may  practise  it,  and  may  be  able  one  day  to  preach  and 
 18.      announce  it  to  the  world  in  all  its  purity,  without  disguise  or  alteration.     "  In  what 
 Mark  4.  measure  you  shall  mete"  to  others,  "  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again,  and  more 
 shall  be  given  to  you."     Fresh  lights  shall  be  imparted  to  you  from  above,  in  pro- 
 portion as,  like  faithful  ministers  of  God's  word,  you  shall  freely  communicate  to  others 
 Luke  s.  what  you  have  already  received.     "  For  whoever  hath^  to  him  shall  be  given,  and 
 'P\      whosoever  hath  not"  that  which  he  might  and  ought  to  have,  "  that  also  which  he 
 
 JMa.rk 
 
 Luke 8.  hath/'  and  which  he  thinketh  he  hath,  ''  shall  be  taken  away  from  him."  This  cer- 
 ^^-  tainly  ought  to  be  a  subject  of  great  fear  and  apprehension  to  all  negligent  Christians, 
 since  the  graces  and  favours  which  they  have  received  from  God,  will,  if  abused,  only 
 add  to  then-  future  condemnation.  We  may  here  observe  with  St.  Austin,  that  they 
 who  receive  favours  from  God,  without  making  a  pro[)er  use  of  them,  may  be  said 
 not  to  have  them,  although  they  be  not  in  fact  deprived  of  them,  because  they  make 
 no  more  use  of  them,  than  if  they  had  thein  not.* 
 
 88. 
 
 CHAPTER  LIII. 
 
 EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PARABLES  CONTINUED,  AND  OTHER  PARABLES  PROPOSED. 
 
 M.\TT.  XIU. 
 
 MaU.  13.  "  His  disciples"  having  been  thus  fully  instructed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  parable 
 
 36.  of  the  sower,  "  came  to  him,  saying  :  Expound  to  us  the  parable  of  the 
 
 37.  of  the  tares  ex-  cockle  of  the  field.  Who  made  answer  and  said  to  them  :  He  that 
 plained.  soweth  the  good  seed,  is  the  Son  of  Man,"  i.  e.  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
 who  durino-  the  course  of  his  mortal  life,  preached  the  doctrine  of  truth,  which  is  the 
 seed  of  eternal  life  :  "  and  the  field  is  the  world :  and  the  good  seed  are  the  children 
 of  the  kino-dom"  of  heaven,  because  the  doctrine  of  truth  reduced  to  practice,  is  what 
 
 39  makes  saints  :  "  and  the  cockle  are  the  children  of  the  wicked  one,  ;  and  the  enemy 
 that  sowed  them  is  the  devil,"  who  whilst  pastors  are  lulled  asleep,  spxead  the  tares 
 of  error  and  sin  amongst  a  great  number  of  Christians.  These  falling  from  the  state 
 of  o-race,  or  becoming  heretics,  are  yet  mingled  with  the  rest  of  the  faithful  in  the 
 same  outward  profession  of  Christianity,  in  like  manner  as  the  good  corn  and  the 
 cockle  are  mingled  together  in  the  same  field.  As  therefore  the  good  seed  is  the  true 
 doctrine  of  the  gospel,  the  cockle  seems  to  represent  more  properly  the  errors  o*" 
 herefics  than  the  vices  of  wicked  Christians.  But  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world , 
 and  the  reapers  are  the  angels,  who  ask  permission  to  extirpate  the  wicked  even  in 
 this  life :  but  since  this  extermination  was  not  to  be  effected  by  supernatural  scourges, 
 such  as  those  inflicted  upon  the  first  born  children  of  the  Egyptians  and  upon  the 
 soldiers  of  Sennacherib,  but  by  natural  and  general  means  of  destruction,  such  as 
 wars,  plagues,  famines,  which  affect  the  good  indiscriminately  with  the  wicked,  there- 
 
 *  See  the  parablts  of  the  talents,  chap.  125.  and  St.  Austin  de  verbis  Apos.   Ser.  vii.  chap.  4  and  5. 
 
Cli.  LIIT.l  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  ]89 
 
 fore  Jesiis  withholds  his  consent  to  this  severe  but  merited   punishment,  lest  the 
 virtuous  should  be  involved  in  the  same  evil  with  the  wicked.     On  the  contrary,  he 
 thinks  fit  to  allow  the  good  corn  and  the  weeds  to  grow  up  together,  viz.  the  faithful 
 and  heretics,  the  good  and  the  bad,  to  live  together  until  the  harvest  time,  which  will 
 be  at  the  general  resurrection  ;  and  this  he  does  in  order  to  exercise  the  patience  of 
 the  faithful,  and  to  give  the  wicked  full  leisure  to  repent.     At  that  period  the  ano-els, 
 here  represented  by  the  reapers,  will  make  a  due  separation.     "  Even  as  cockle      -10. 
 therefore  is  gathered  up,  and  burnt  with  fire,  so  shall  it  be  at  the  end  of  the  world. 
 The  Sou  of  Man  shall  send  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his  kino-dom  all      41. 
 scandal  and  them  that  work  iniquity,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire  :  there      42. 
 shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.     Then  shall  the  just  shine  as  the  sun  in  the      43. 
 kingdom  of  their  Father.     He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear,"  and  be  con- 
 vinced that  there  is  nothing  which  he  ought  not  willingly  to  do  in  order  to  avoid  those 
 eternal  flames,  and  to  obtain  this  heavenly  kingdom.     Our  blessed  Saviour  does  not 
 seem  to  have  explained  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  parables  in  a  similar  manner  as 
 the  two  former  :  we  shall  however  suggest  upon  each  a  few  reflections  according  to 
 the  method  hitherto  pursued. 
 
 The  third  parable  of  the  seed  that  springs  up  imperceptibly  ought  to 
 be  a  subject  of  great  joy  to  all  such  persons  as  labour  for  the  good  of  tion  of  thl^seld 
 souls,  since  it  plainly  shows,  that  their  labours  are  not  to  be  deemed  Winging  ^P 
 unprofitable  because  the  desired  fruit  of  them  does  not  immediately  '"'P^'^'-'^^y- 
 appear.  A  certain  period  of  time  is  usually  required /o/-  the  operations  of  grace,  as 
 ivell  as  for  those  of  nature  ;  and  hence  the  word  of  God  may  fitly  be  compared  with 
 the  seed  sown  in  the  earth,  both  as  to  its  secret  and  imperceptible  growth,  as  like- 
 wise to  the  progressive  stages  of  the  effect  produced. 
 
 1.  The  word  of  God,  when  sown  in  a  well-disposed  heart,  acts  in  the  same  manner 
 as  the  seed  in  a  favourable  soil :  it  shoots  and  expands  itself  imperceptibly,  whilst 
 the  preacher,  who  is  the  spiritual  sower,  knows  and  thinks  nothing  of  its  progress. 
 2.  In  like  manner  as  the  seed  in  the  earth  produces  successively  the  stalk,  the  ear, 
 and  the  grain  of  corn,  thus  also  does  the  spiritual  seed  of  God's  word,  by  a  similar 
 gradation,  effect  the  salvation  of  a  well-disposed  hearer.  Good  desires,  a  disrelish 
 for  the  follies  and  vanities  of  the  world,  sentiments  of  compunction,  a  firm  faith  in 
 God,  and  a  hope  in  his  promises,  may  be  called  the  stalk  of  the  new  growing  corn, 
 whilst  good  works,  and  the  victoiy  which  the  soul  gains  oVer  her  passions  and  the 
 temptations  of  the  devil,  may  be  styled  the  ears  of  the  corn.  The  perfection  of  divine 
 love  and  final  i)erseveraiice  denote  the  corn  in  its  most  perfect  state  of  maturity : 
 and  then  God  makes  his  harvest,  i.  e.  he  sends  a  happy  death  to  his  elect,  and  gathers 
 them  into  his  heavenly  granaiy. 
 
 The  fourth  and  fifth  parables  have  the  same  meanino-  in  relation  to      ^,  ,, 
 
 ~,    •,,■•,11.,  ''  ^he    paralUe 
 
 Lhnst  s  spiritual  kingdom,  and  represent  to  us  the  force  and  activity  of  of  the  mmtard- 
 his  evangelical  doctrine.  Under  the  figure  of  the  mustard- seed,  which  '""^  ^rplained. 
 is  one  of  the  smallest  of  grains,  is  represented  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ  in  his 
 Church  :  for  in  the  beginning  this  was  small,  mean,  and  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of 
 the  world.  If  we  take  a  view  of  the  first  establishment  of  this  kingdom,  we  find  it  to 
 17.  3  c 
 
]90  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [CI..  LIII. 
 
 have  been  effected  by  a  few  poor  fishermen,  utterly  destitute  of  those  adviuitages 
 which  mig-ht  recommend  them  to  the  world  ;  we  behold  the  very  Founder  himself  of 
 this  king-dom  an  object  of  contempt,  rejected  and  condemned  to  a  disgraceful  cross, 
 while  his  fundamental  principles  are  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the  maxims  of  human 
 pride.  For  instance,  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  of  the  universal  corruption  of  human 
 nature,  and  the  necessity  of  mortifying  our  inclinations  and  passions ;  all  these  and 
 such  like  truths  are  so  contrary  to  the  pride  of  man,  that  they  naturally  place  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  gospel  among  the  lowest  and  most  despicable  of  sciences,  according  to 
 human  sense.  In  all  this,  therefore,  we  find  the  resemblance  of  the  mustard-seed, 
 small,  mean,  and  inconsiderable  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  In  spite,  however,  of  these 
 obstacles,  we  observe  that  this  little  grain,  after  being  buried,  as  it  were,  in  the  earth, 
 quickly  sprung  up,  and  even  grew  into  a  large  tree,  which  spread  its  branches  far 
 and  near,  affording  shelter  to  the  birds  of  the  air,  i.  e.  to  all  those  souls  who  aspired 
 after  the  happiness  of  heaven.  For  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  spread  itself  far  and 
 near,  even  to  the  utmost  extent  of  the  inhabited  globe,  and  quickly  produced  thousands 
 of  martyrs  and  other  saints  of  all  states  and  conditions,  with  inimmerable  examples 
 of  the  most  heroic  virtues,  such  as  none  of  the  schools  or  sects  of  the  philosophers,  or 
 any  of  the  ancient  or  modern  sages  of  the  world,  with  all  their  learning  and  eloquence, 
 could  ever  attain.  Thus  has  the  Church  of  Christ  infinitely  surpassed  in  extent, 
 duration,  solidity,  and  splendour,  every  sect  which  either  has  or  may  arise  in  the 
 world. 
 ^,  ,,       The  parable  of  the  leaven,  we  have  observed,  has  the  same  tendency 
 
 The    parable  r  ,ii-i-  i  irr-  ci 
 
 of  the  leaven  cjc-  with  that  of  the  mustard-seed,  winch  is  to  show  the  efficacy  of  the 
 pounded.  gospel.    For  as  the  leaven,  though  in  a  small  quantity,  affects  the  whole 
 
 mass  of  flour,  changes  and  ferments  the  dough  by  its  activity,  and  by  its  sourness 
 makes  it  to  rise  up  and  become  lighter  and  more  savoury  and  proper  for  digestion, 
 so  as  to  be  wholesome  bread  for  the  food,  nourishment,  and  support  of  man  ;  so  in 
 like  manner  the  gospel  of  Christ,  preached  by  a  few  of  his  disciples,  changes  and 
 ferments  the  whole  world,  penetrates  the  hearts  of  men  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
 thus  makes  them  grateful  to  him,  and  elevates  them  from  temporal  to  heavenly 
 thino-s.— The  woman  that  takes  and  hides  the  leaven  represents  the  Church,  or, 
 according  to  St.  Austin,*  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God. 
 
 It  is  probable  that  the  three  ensuing  parables  were  spoken  by  Christ  to  his  apostles 
 in  the  house,  immediately  after  his  having  explained  the  parable  of  the  cockle  weed. 
 For  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  seem  to  have  concluded  the  parables  addressed  to 
 the  multitude  by  those  words,  "  and  idthont  parables  he  did  not  speak  to  them." 
 
 The  sixth  and  seventh  parables  represent  the  inestimable  value  of  the  doctrine  of 
 
 the  gospel,  under  the  figure  of  a  treasure  hidden  in  a  field,  and  of  a  pearl  of  great 
 
 .,  ^,  ,,    worth  hidden  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.     "  The  kingdom  of  heaven," 
 
 ^*'  The   parable  ,  ,  •  i  i        ■  n  ^  t       \  ■  i. 
 
 of  the  hidden  said  Christ,  "  is  like  unto  a  treasure  hidden  in  a  held,  which  a  man 
 treasure.  having  found,  hid  it"  again  in  a  secure  place,  "  and  for  joy  thereof 
 
 goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he  hath  and  buyeth  the  field."  In  like  manner  he  who,  by 
 the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  has  found  out  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  ought  to  be  willing 
 
 *  L.  i.  Ques.  Evan 
 
Cli.  LIV]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  XQJ 
 
 to  sell  all  his  temporal  goods,  and  to  give  even  his  very  life,  rather  than  to  let  slip 
 
 this  fortunate  purchase  which  is   to  secure  to  him   eternal  joys  hereafter.     For      45. 
 
 "  ag-ain  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  merchant  seeking-  good 
 
 pearls,  who  when  he  had  found  one  pearl  of  great  price  went  his  way,      areatmid         46. 
 
 and  sold  all  that  he  had,  and  bought  it."     Wherefore  do  you  buy  in 
 
 like  manner,  even  at  the  expense  of  all  that  you  possess,  that  eternal  kingdom  which 
 
 faith  discovers  to  you,  but  which  you  cannot  obtain  without  the  practice  of  good 
 
 works.     "^  Again,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  net  cast  into  the  o/  thend  cast      47. 
 
 sea,  and  gathering  together  all  kinds  of  fishes.     Which  when  it  was     «'«'"  ihe  sea.        ^g 
 
 filled,  they  drew  out,  and  sitting-  by  the  shore,  they  chose  out  the  good  into  vessels, 
 
 but  the  bad  they  cast  forth." 
 
 The  eighth  parable  represents  to  us  this  important  truth,  that  it  suffices  not  to  sal- 
 vation to  profess  the  true  faith  and  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  unless  we  regulate  our 
 lives  by  its  precepts.     The  sea  represents  the  world,  the  fishing  is  the  preaching  of 
 the  gospel,  the  net  is  the  Church,  the  fish  of  all  sorts  caught  in  the  net  are  good  and 
 bad  men  of  all  nations,  who  enter  into  the  Church.    When  the  net  is  full,  it  is  drawn 
 upon  the  shore,  where  its  contents  are  examined  :  "  So  shall  it  be"  with  the  Church      49. 
 "  at  the  end  of  the  world.     The  angels  shall  go  out  and  shall  separate  the  vvicked 
 from  amongst  the  just,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire  :  there  shall  be      50. 
 weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.     Have  ye  understood  all  these  things  .'"  said  Jesus      51. 
 to  them.     "  They  say  to  him,  yes.     He  said  unto  them,"  intimating  that  these  his      52. 
 instructions  were  not  meant  solely  for  themselves,  but  for  the  good  of  others,  "  there- 
 fore every  Scribe  instructed  in  the"  laws  of  the  "  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  like  to  a  man 
 who  is  a  householder,  who  bringeth  forth  out  of  his  treasure  new  things  and  old," 
 and  distributes  them  to  his  children  according  to  their  several  wants :  so  also  a  pastor 
 of  souls,  well  versed  in  the  heavenly  science  of  salvation,  unfolds  to  his  flock  the 
 spiritual  treasures  of  faith,  according  to  their  capacity  ;   throwing  light  upon  the 
 mysteries  of  the  New  Testament  by  the  figures  of  the  Old,  and  displaying  the  novel 
 truths  of  grace,  by  pointing  out  their  analogy  with  the  ordinary  works  of  nature. 
 
 CHAPTER  LTV. 
 
 JESUS  PREACHES  AT   NAZARETH.*      MATT.   XIII.      MARK  VI.      LUKE  IV. 
 
 "■  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jesns  had  finished  these  parables,  he  passed  from  Matt.  13. 
 thence  ;"t  that  is,   from  Capharnaum  and  the  adjoining  places,    "  and  came  to      53. 
 Nazareth,:}:  his  own  country,  where  he  was  brought  up  ;  and  his  disciples  followed  ^^iq  ^" 
 
 *  It  has  heen  remarked  above,  chap.  24.  that  St.  From  this  time  he  seems   not  to  have  dwelt  any 
 
 Luke  anticipated  vvliat  is  here  said  by  St.  Matthew  more  a;  Capharnaum,  thouffh  he  occasionally  passed 
 
 and  St.  Mark,  concerning'   Na^ai.gth,   on  that  ac-  through  it,  as  he  did  throiin-h  other  towns,  'nilhout 
 
 count  omitting  it  in  this  part  of  his  gospel,  he  pro-  making  any  considerable  stay. 
 ceeds  to  the  mission  of  the  Apostles.  J  From  these  words  of  St  Luke,  according  to  his 
 
 T  Meaning  Capharnanm  and  the  adjacent  places,  custom,  and  what  follows,  ver.  23,  concerning  the 
 
 where  he  had  spoken  the  above-mentioned  parables,  great  things  done  in  Capharnaum,  it  is  clear"  that 
 
192  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LIV. 
 
 Matt.  13.  him."     He  had  delayed  this  journey  purposely  to  allow  the  fame  he  had  acquired  by 
 J  ^^•  .    so  many  miracles,  to  reach  that  place  before  him,  in  order  to  ensure  to  his  doctrine  a 
 
 16.  more  favourable  reception  amongst  his  countrymen.  Had  he  shown  himself  amono-st 
 Mark  6.  (jjg,^  ^t  an  earlier  stage  of  his  ministry,  they  would  doubtless  have  refused  even  to  listen 
 Luke  4.  to  him.    "  And  he  went  into  the  synagogue,  according  to  his  custom,  on  the  Sabbath- 
 
 1^-      day,  and  he  rose  up  *  to  read,"  as  was  usual  with  those  who  had  any  thing  to  impart  to 
 
 17.  the  audience.  "  And  the  book  of  Isaias  the  prophet  was  delivered  unto  him  :  and  as 
 he  unfolded  the  book,  he  found  the  place  where  it  was  written"  concerning  his  own  divine 
 
 18.  mission  and  employment,  f  "  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  wherefore  he  hath 
 anointed  me"  by  the  unction  of  the  Holy  Ghost  "  as  by  a  holy  balsam  :  he  hath  sent 
 me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor,"  rather  than  to  the  rich,  who  are  generally  less 
 disposed  to  receive  it,  being  too  much  attached  to  earthly  objects,  and  "  to  heal  the 
 
 19.  contrite  of  heart"  of  their  deep  and  deadly  wounds  occasioned  by  sin  :  "  to  preach 
 deliverance  to  the  captives,"  groaning  under  the  slavery  of  the  devil,  "  and  siglit  to 
 the  blind,"  hitherto  plunged  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  error;  "  to  set  at 
 
 -  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,"  as  a  general 
 jubilee,  wherein  God  is  pleased,  out  of  his  pure  mercy,  to  remit  to  mankind  their 
 debts,  and  to  release  them  from  the  slavery  of  sin,  by  reinstating  them  in  their  former 
 liberty  of  the  children  of  God;  "and  the  day  of  retribution,":}:  when  God  shall 
 render  to  every  one  according  to  his  works,  and  be  revenged  of  all  his  enemies. 
 
 20.  u  ^,jj  when  he  had  folded  the  book,  he  restored  it  to  the  minister  and  sat  down  ;  and 
 the  eyes  of  all  the  synagogue  were  fixed  upon  him,"  eagerly  expecting  he  would 
 
 Maik62.  explain  these  words.     "  And  he  began  to  teach"  and  "  to  say  to  them  :  this  day  is 
 
 .,1^      fulfilled  this  scripture  in  your  ears,"  alluding  not  merely  to  the  action  he  was  engaged 
 
 Mark  6.2  in,  but  to  every  thing  he  had  done  since  the  commencement  of  his  ministry.     "  And 
 
 ^^^^  "*■      m,      ,    ■       manv  hearino-  him  were"  at  first  "  in  admiration  at  his  doctrine,  and  all 
 
 22.  The  admira-  J  =  \ 
 
 iionandenvyof  gave  testimony  to  him,  and  wondered  at  the  word  of  grace  that  pro- 
 
 the  Nazareaiis.   qq(,^q([  from  his  mouth."     But  these  flattering  testimonies,  which  the 
 
 force  of  truth  drew  from  their  mouths,  were  quickly  succeeded  by  a  spirit  of  envy 
 
 Matt.  13  which  yet  lurked  within   their  breasts.     Hence  murmuring  to  each  other,  "  they 
 
 Mark6  2  said:  how  came  this  man  by  this  wisdom  and  miracles?   how  came  this  man  by 
 
 all    these   things  ?    and   what  Avisdom    is    this    that    is  given    to  him,   and   such 
 
 mighty   works  as   are   wrought  by   his    hands?"     They  then   began   to   sum    up 
 
 3.       every  particular  circumstance  of  his  life  which  might  any  ways  tend  to  lessen  him 
 
 in  the  esteem  of  the  public.     "  Is  not  this,"  said  they,  "  the  carpenter  ?     Is  not 
 
 this  event  did  not  happen  in   the  time  and  order  pliment  of  reading  the   portion    of  Scripture  ap- 
 
 mentioned  by  St.  Luke;   for  Jesus  was  only  then  jjointed  for  the  day.  Acts  xiii.  15.     This  was  read 
 
 beginning  to  teach  in  public,  nor  had  he  performed  in  Hebrew,  and  then  expounded  in  Chaldaic. 
 
 any  thing  at  Capharnaum.    It  seems  that  St.  Luke  t  Isa.  vi.  1. 
 
 transposes   this  account,  in  order  to  assign   some  %  Isaias  in  this  place  speaks  of  himself  as  a  figure 
 
 cause  why  Jesus,  in  preference  to  Nazareth,  took  of  the  Messias.     The  captivity  of  Babylon,  which 
 
 up  his  habitation  at  Capharnaum,  of  which  he  was  was  the  literal  object  of  this  prophecy,  was  a  figure 
 
 about  to  speak.  of  the  state  of  mankind  ;   the  return  from  this  cap- 
 
 *  Though  every  synagogue  had  a  settled  reader,  tivity  announced  by  Isaiah,  and  procured  by  Cyrus, 
 
 to  whom  was  allowed  an  annual  stipend,  yet  when  represented  the  redemption  of  man,  accomplished 
 
 any  grave  or  learned  person   came  in,  especially  if  by  Jesus  Christ. 
 a  stranger,  it  was  customary  to  make  him  the  com- 
 
Ch.LTV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  I93 
 
 this  the  carpenter's*  son  ?  Is  not  this  the  son  of  Joseph  ?  Is  not  his  mother  called  Matt.  13. 
 Mary?  and  his  brethren  James  and  Joseph,  and  Simon  and  Jude  ;t  and  his  sisters,"  .  ^^• 
 that  is,  his  cousins,  "  are  they  not  all  with  us  ?    Whence  therefore  hath  he  all  these      22. 
 things?  And  they  were  scandalized  in  his  reg-ard,"  the  meanness  of  his  temporal  ^^l';  ^^• 
 birth  preventing  them  from  acknowledging-  his  divine  greatness.  50! 
 
 We  cannot  but  be  surprised  at  the  blindness  and  stupidity  of  these  Nazareans,      ^''• 
 who  carried  their  evil  disposition  against  Jesus  so  far  as  to  doubt  even  the  truth  of 
 his  miracles ;  and  hence  they  wished  him,  for  the  clearing  up  of  their  doubts,  to  per- 
 form in  their  presence  some  of  those  wonderful  works  which  public  report  stated  him 
 to  have  performed  at  Capharnaum.     "  But  Jesus  said  to  them,"  anticipating  the      57. 
 request  they  were  about  to  make  :  "  Doubtless  you  will  say  to  me  this  .    Luke  4. 
 
 .  ,„..-..,.,.  J    ji  •  1  1  1        A  prophet  is        oq 
 
 similitude :  Physician  heal  thyself:  as  great  things  as  we  have  heard  tci/hout  honour 
 done  in  Capharnaum,  do  also  here  in  thy  own  country."  But  he  de-  inhisowncouji- 
 clined  giving  them  this  satisfaction  :  "  and  he  said  :  Amen,  I  say  to    '^^'  24. 
 
 you,  that  no  prophet  is  accepted  of  in  his  own  country.^  A  prophet  is  not  without  Mark  6. 
 honour  but  in  his  own  country,  and  in  his  own  house,  and  among  his  own  kindred."  '^• 
 The  fact  is,  they  do  not  easily  divest  themselves  of  the  impressions  which  they  have 
 imbibed  of  his  person  from  his  childhood ;  and  moreover,  they  are  often  actuated  by 
 a  secret  envy  against  those  who  assume  any  superiority  over  them,  considering  their 
 elevation  as  a  reproach  to  their  own  obscurity.  Wherefore,  as  miracles  are  to  be 
 wrought  with  a  view  to  the  conversion  of  souls,  a  prophet  will  be  less  inclined  to 
 work  them  in  his  native  place,  where  they  are  less  attended  to,  than  in  distant  parts, 
 where  there  is  a  better  prospect  of  success. 
 
 A  second  reason  assigned  by  (Jhrist  for  this  his  refusal,  is  drawn  from  the  usual 
 conduct  of  Providence.  A  prophet  sent  by  God  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  follows 
 not,  in  the  exercise  of  this  high  employment,  the  bent  of  his  own  inclinations  or  views : 
 
 *  The  Greek  word  (TeKT«'i'),as  well  as  the  Latin  of  Jesus,  is  .James  the  less,  one  of  the  twelve  Apos- 
 
 (artifex),  Kignifies  in  general  a  workman  either  in  ties;  and  Jude,  the  brother  of  James,  is  St.  Jude, 
 
 wood,  metal,  or  stone.     But  the  common  belief  of  author  of  the  canonical  Epistle,  and  likewise  one  of 
 
 the  faithful   is  what  our  translation  has   specified,  the  twelve.     Our  Blessed  Lady  was  the  only  child 
 
 viz.   that  Joseph  was  a  carpenter,  which  may  be  of  Joachim   and    Ann  ;     consequently    iNlary,    the 
 
 confirmed  by  what  Theodoret  relates.  Lib.  .3.  Hist,  mother  of  James,  Joseph,  Simon,  and  Jude,    was 
 
 chap,  xviii.  of  one  Libanius,  under  Julian  the  apos-  not  her  sister,  as  some  pretend.   St.  John  Damascen 
 
 tate.     The  latter  asking   scornfully   what  the   car-  speaks  of  St.  Ann  as  having  been  a  long  time  bar- 
 
 penter's  son  was  doing  at  that  time,  the  holy  man  ren  without  children,  and  that,  like  Ann  tlie  mother 
 
 made  him  this  smart  reply,  that  he  was  making  a  of  Samuel,  she  obtained,  by  her  fervent  prayers,  and 
 
 coffin  for  Julian,  who,  accordingly,  was  killed  not  those  of  Joachim  her  husband,  the  ever-immaculate 
 
 long  after.  Virgin,  who    bore    the    Son   of  God    made    man. 
 
 1  These  four,  James,  Joseph,  Simon,  and  Jude,  There  is   not  the  least  probability  that  Mary,  the 
 
 called  here  the  brethren  of  Christ,  were  children  of  wife  of  Alpheus,  was  the  sister  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
 
 Alpheus,  who  is   likewise  called  Cleophas,  and  of  Mary,  by  Joachim  and  Ann  :  for  it  was  never  cus- 
 
 Mary,  whom  St.  John  (chap.  xix.  ver.  25.)  calls  the  tomary  to  call  two  sisters  by  the  same  name.     See 
 
 sister,   in    other   words    the   cousin  of  Mary,    the  Perelius  (Proleg.  in  Evang.  Joan.),  where  he  says, 
 
 mother   of  Jesus.     Some  interpreters    think    that  that  according  to  ancient  and  approved  histories, 
 
 Alpheus  was  the  brother  of  Joseph,  in  which  sup-  St.  Ann  brought  forth  the  Blessed  Virgin  when  she 
 
 position  these  four  disciples  would  have  been  ap-  was  sixty  years  of  age. 
 
 parently  related   to  Jesus   Christ,  by    the  father's  +  This  v,ay  a  common  proverb  among  other  na- 
 
 side,  although  really  so  on  that  of  the  mother.    But  tions  as  well  as  the  Jews,  and  therefore  Aristides 
 
 of  this  nothing  can  be  positively  asserted.   In  Scrip-  used  to  say  :  fhat  a  philosopher  was  never  worse 
 
 ture  the  name  of  brother  and  sister  are  taken  in  a  than  at  home.     Grolius  on  Matthew, 
 very  wide  and  extend"d  sense.    James,  the  brother 
 
 17.  3  c 
 
194  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LV. 
 
 he  seeks  not  to  draw  from  the  talent  intrusted  to  him,  a  subject  of  applause,  or  any 
 return  of  gratitude  to  himself:  he  goes  whithersoever  God  sends  him,  even  into  the 
 most  distant  regions,  and  his  scene  of  action  is  precisely  where  Providence  marks  it 
 out  to  him.  In  proof  of  these  Jesus  quotes  two  instances  in  the  Old  Testament,  the 
 Luke  4.  one  of  Elias,  the  other  of  Eliseus.  "  In  truth,  I  say  to  you,  there  were  many"  indi- 
 ^^*      gent  "  widows  in  the  days  of  Elias  in  Israel,  when  heaven  was  shut  up  three  years 
 
 26.  and  six  months,  when  there  was  a  great  famine  throughout  all  the  earth  ;*  and  to 
 none  of  them  was  Elias  sent  but  to  Sarepta,"  a  small  village  in  the  country  "  of 
 Sidon,  to  a  widow  woman,"  that  he  might  bestow  on  this  stranger,  in  preference  to 
 his  own  countrymen,  the  necessary  succours  of  which  she  stood  in  need.     "  And 
 
 27.  there  were  many  lepers  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Eliseus  the  prophet :  and  none  of 
 them  was  cleansed  but  Naaman  the  Syrian,"  and  a  Gentile. 
 
 From  these  two  examples  he  left  them  to  infer,  that  if  in  the  distribution  of 
 miracles  the  Almighty  had  here  given  the  preference  to  such  persons  as  were 
 strangers  and  Gentiles,  rather  than  to  his  own  people,  they  should  not  wonder  that 
 he  had  fixed  his  residence  at  Capharnaum,  a  city  indeed  with  which  he  had  no  pre- 
 vious connection,  but  to  which  God  had  directed  him  rather  than  to  Nazareth, 
 although  the  latter  were  more  properly  his  own  country ;  and  they  should  wonder 
 less  upon  this  account,  because  on  this  occasion  he  had  only  preferred  to  their  town 
 another  city  of  Judea,  in  every  point  of  view  more  considerable  than  Nazareth. 
 
 28.  "  And  all  they  in  the  synagogue  hearing  these  things,"  and  knowing  he  meant  by 
 
 these  examples  to  reproach  them  with  their  incredulity,  "  were  filled 
 
 ^^-      tnmeT'arTcf-  ^'^'^'^  anger.  And  they  rose  up  and  thrust  him  out  of  the  city ;  and  they 
 
 fended  at  him,  brought  him  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  whereon  their  city  was  built,  that 
 
 30.      ""'^^^''^  '"*'''  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong.     But  he,"  compassionating  their 
 
 blindness,  prevented  so  horrid  a  deed,  and  "  passing  through  the  midst 
 
 of  them,  went  his  way,"  either  by  making  himself  invisible,  or  by  striking  them  with 
 
 a  stupor,  which  affected  their  senses  to  such  a  degree,  that  they  no  longer  knew  what 
 
 Mark  6.  they  did.     "  And  he  could  not"  be  induced  to  "  do  any  miracles  there,  only  that  he 
 
 5-       cured  a  few  that  were  sick,  laying  his  hands  upon  them  :  and  he  wondered  because  of 
 
 their  unbelief." 
 
 CHAPTER  LV. 
 
 THE  DKATH  OF  ST.  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST.      MATT.   XIV,      MARK  VI. 
 
 St.  John  had  been  now  imprisoned  at  Macheronj  about  a  year,  at  the  solicitation  of 
 Herodias,  and  would  probably  before  this  have  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  her  vindictive 
 cruelty,  had  it  not  been  for  the  personal  respect  which  Herod  entertained  for  him, 
 and  the  great  holiness  of  his  life.     These  in  some  measure  counterbalanced,  in  the 
 
 *  3  Kings  xvii.  beyond  the  lake  Asphaltites,  upon  the  borders  of 
 
 1"  The  castle  of  Macherus,  where,  according  to     Arabia  Petrea. 
 Josephus,  St.  John  was  confined,  was  two  leagues 
 
-^h  LV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  195 
 
 mind  of  that  prince,  the  efforts  of  this  wicked  woman,  who  insatiably  thirsted  after 
 his  blood      At  length,  however,  an  opportunity  offered   itself  which  completely 
 answered  her  wishes.     This  was  the  festivity  of  Herod's  birth-day,  which  gave 
 occasion  to  the  death  of  St.  John,  as  related  by  the  Evangelists,  in  the  following 
 manner.     "  And  when  a  convenient  day  was  come,"  for  the  design  of  Herodias,  to  Mark  6. 
 wit  "  Herod's  birth-day,  Herod  made  a  supper  for  the  princes  and  tribunes,  and    ^^'^ 
 chief  men  of  Galilee."    Herein  he  conformed  to  a  custom  established  by  the  Pagans,  Mark  6. 
 who  not  extendincr  their  hopes  beyond  this  life  (where  they  placed  all  their  happiness),      ^  • 
 usually  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  their  entrance  into  the  world  with  the  greatest 
 profusion  and  conviviality.      "  And  when"  Salome  "  the  daughter  of  the  same      22. 
 Herodias,"  and  Philip,  "  had  come  in"  to  the  banqueting  room,  "  and  had  danced, 
 and  pleased  Herod  and  them  that  were  at  table  with  him,  the  king  said  to  the 
 damsel  •  ask  of  me  what  thou  wilt,  and  I  will  give  it  to  thee.*    And  he  swore  to  her :      23. 
 whatsoever  thou  shalt  ask,  I  will  give  thee,  though  it  be  the  half  of  my  kingdom.! 
 Who,"  judging  herself  unequal,  through  her  age,  to  give  a  proper  answer  to  so  un-      24. 
 limited  an  offer,  ran  in  haste,  and  "  when  she  was  gone  out,  said  to  her  mother, 
 what  shall  I  ask  ?     But  she,"  glad  of  so  favourable  an  opportunity  of  compassing  the 
 death  of  him  whom  she  had  so  long  viewed  as  her  greatest  enemy,  "  said"  to  her 
 daughter,  without  the  least  hesitation  ;  ask  for  "  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.    Who      25. 
 when  she  was  returned  immediately  with  haste  to  the  king,"  in  order  not  to  lose  the 
 present  moment  of  her  favour  with  him,  "  she  asked,  saying :  I  will  that  forthwith 
 thou  give  me  in  a  dish  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.     And  the  king  was  struck  sad"      26. 
 at  so ''extraordinary  a  request,  and,  it  seems,  even  hesitated  for  a  short  time  what  to 
 do  ;  "  yet,  because  of  his"  inconsiderate  "  oath,^  and  because  of  them  that  were  with 
 him  at  table,"  who  espoused  her  cause,  "  he  would  not  displease  her.     But  sending 
 an  executioner,  he  commanded  that  his  head  should  be  brought  in  a  dish.     And  he      27. 
 beheaded  him  in  the  prison, "§  without  allowing  him  so  much  as  the  formality  of  a 
 trial :  "  and  brought  his  head  in  a  dish,  and  gave  it  to  the  damsel,  and  the  damsel      28. 
 gave  it  to  her  mother,"  who,  as  St.  Jerom  relates,  made  it  her  pastime  to  pierce  the 
 sacred  tongue  with  a  bodkin,  as  Fulvia  did  Cicero's.     Thus  the  birth-day  festival  of 
 Herod  Antipas  was  stained  with  the  blood  of  him,  than  whom,  according  to  truth 
 itself,  a  greater  had  not  risen  among  those  born  of  women  ;  and  his  head  was  made 
 the  reward  of  a  young  girl's  agility  in  dancing  :  but  to  John  himself  this  scene  was 
 the  festival  of  his  birth  to  a  happy  eternity,  and  the  loss  of  his  life  was  rewarded  by 
 an  eternal  crown  of  glory.     This  happened  about  two  years  and  three  months  after 
 his  entrance  upon  his  public  ministry,  about  the  time  of  the  paschal  solemnity,  a  year 
 before  the  death  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer,  "  which  his  disciples  hearing,  came,  and      29. 
 
 *   From   this  instance  St.  Ambrose   and   other  mitted  by  all   theolo2:ians,  that  no  oath  can  be  a 
 
 saints  take  occasion  to  show  the  dangerous  conse-  bond  of  iniquity,  to  oblige  any  one  to  do  what  God 
 
 quences  of  a  passion  for  dancing,  and  the  depravity  forbids, 
 
 from  which  it  often  takes  its  rise.  §  It  is  uncertain  at  what  time  St.  John  was  be- 
 
 t  An  oHer  like  this  we  find  was   made  by  As-  headed;  but  this  event  must  certainly  have  taken 
 
 suerus  to  queen  Esther,  chap.  v.  3.  place  between  the  deputation  sent  by  hira  to  Jesus, 
 
 X   It  is  in  vain  that  Herod  alleged  his  oath  on  chap.  47.   and  the  conjecture  of  Herod  conccrnmg 
 
 this  occasion  :  this  was  certainly  unjust,  and  there-  our  Lord,  chap.  57. 
 fore  it  could  not   bind  hira.     It  is  a  principle  ad- 
 
196  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  [Ch.  LVI. 
 
 Matt.  14.  took  his  body,  and  laid  it  in  a  tomb,  and  came  and  told  Jesus"  the  melancholy  event. 
 ^^'  Great  misfortunes  afterwards  befell  Herod  and  his  family,  in  punishment  for  this 
 horrid  murder.  His  army  was  soon  after  cut  to  pieces  by  Aretas,  king  of  Arabia 
 Petrea,  his  lawful  wife's  father,  who,  in  revenge  for  Herod's  dismissing  his  daughter 
 to  make  place  for  Herodias,  invaded  his  territories,  and  made  himself  master  of  the 
 castle  of  Macherus.  He  was  likewise  deprived  of  his  tetrarchate  by  Caligula  ;  his 
 goods  were  confiscated ;  and  he  himself  banished,  with  Herodias,  to  Lyons  in  Gaul, 
 where  they  both  died  in  great  misery,  as  Josephus  assures  us.  Book  18.  chap.  67. 
 
 CHAPTER  LVI. 
 
 THE  SECOND  JOURNEY  OF  JESUS  INTO  GALILEE.*     HIS  COMMISSION  AND  CHARGE  TO  THE 
 TWELVE  APOSTLES. i"      MATT.  IX.  AND  X.      MARK  VI,      LUKE  VIII.  AND  IX. 
 
 The  Evangelists  here  relate  two  distinct  missions  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel : 
 
 the  first  was  performed  by  Jesus  in  person  ;  the  second  by  his  twelve  Apostles. 
 
 LulceS.l.  "  And  it  came  to  pass,"  after  the  decollation  of  John  the  Baptist,  that  "  Jesus  went 
 
 Matt.  9.  about  all  the  cities  and  towns"  of  Galilee,  "  teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and 
 
 ^^'      preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  healing  every  disease  and  every  infirmity," 
 
 thus  to  establish  the  truth  of  his  doctrines.     It  is  probable,  that  he  embraced  the 
 
 opportunity  of  St.  John's  martyrdom,  to  add  to  the  number  of  his  own  disciples  all 
 
 such  as  had  been  attached  to  the  precursor,  as  these  were  now,  by  their  master's 
 
 Luke  8.  death,  left  without  a  teacher.     "  And.the  twelve  were  with  him,"  in  order  that  he 
 
 1        mi'Tht  thus  inure  them  by  his  example  to  the  arduous  duties  of  the  apostleship,  and 
 
 teach  them  in  what  manner  they  were  successfully  to  labour  for  the  conversion  of 
 
 2.  souls.  "  And  certain  women"  likewise  accompanied  him,  "  who  had  been  healed  of 
 evil  spirits  and  infirmities  ;"  among  whom  were  "  Mary  who  is  called  Magdalen,  out 
 
 3,  of  whom  seven  devils  were  gone  forth.  And  Joanna  the  wife  of  Chusa,  Herod's 
 steward,  and  Susanna  and  many  others,  J  who  ministered  unto  him  of  their  sub- 
 stance," and  defrayed  the  expenses  unavoidable  in  his  several  journies.  This  their 
 attendance  on  liim  was,  at  that  time,  by  no  means  a  subject  of  scandal  to  any  in 
 Judea,  because,  as  St,  Jerom  observes  on  St.  Matthew,  chap.  27,  it  was  an  usual 
 thino-  to  see  women  contributing  by  their  riches  to  the  maintenance  of  those  who  were 
 their  o-uides  in  things  appertaining  to  piety  and  religion.     Jesus  was  also  followed  by 
 
 Matt.  9.  o-reat  crowds  of  people;  "  and  seeing  the  multitudes"  were  eager  to  follow  and  listen 
 ^^-      to  him,  "  he  had  compassion  on  them,  because  they  were  distressed  and  lying"  along 
 
 *  See  the  first,  chap.  29.  journey  into  Galilee,   inserts,  before  the  mission  of 
 
 t  It  is  probable  that  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  the  Apostles,  several  histories  and  parables  which 
 
 St.  Luke  speak  of  the  same  journey  of  Jesus  into  happened  long  before,  beginning  with  the  parable 
 
 Galilee  from  their  using  the  same  phraseology.  We  of  the  sower.      See  the  note  at  the  end  of  chap.  50. 
 follow  St.  Mark  in  placing  it  here,  before  the  mis-  +   The  Blessed  Virgin  is  not  mentioned  among 
 
 sion  of  the  Apostles  which  immediately  follows  it ;  these  holy  women,  though   she  was  probably  the 
 
 for  St.  Matthew  has  anticipated  both  the  one  and  individual    companion    of  our    Saviour  in  all   his 
 
 the  other,  and  St.  Luke  having  begun  to  relate  the  journies. 
 
Ch.  LVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  I97 
 
 the  road  sides,  "  like  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd.     Then  he  saith  to  his  disciples  ;      37 
 
 the  harvest  indeed  is  great,  but  the  labourers  are  few  :  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of     38 
 
 the  harvest  that  he  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest.    Then  calling      ^    ^^  ^^^^^^  Luke9.L 
 
 together  the  twelve  Apostles,"  he  gave  them  the  necessary  documents*  his  twelve  apos- 
 
 for  their  entering  upon  this  harvest:   1.  By  investing  them  with  fresh  '''^*" 
 
 powers  for  that  purpose.     2.  By  giving  them  proper  directions  for  their  making  a 
 
 due  use  thereof. 
 
 1.  He  invested  them  with  a  double  power,  viz.   "  he  gave  them  power  and       I. 
 authority  over  all  devils;  and  to  heal  all   manner  of  diseases,  and  all  manner  of^^"-  ^^• 
 infirmities."     These  miraculous  powers  were  in  some  measure  necessary  for  the  suc- 
 cess of  their  mission,  in  order  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  eloquence,  riches,  talents, 
 and  all  other  human  means  which  were  wanting  to  them.     ''  And  he  began  to  send  Mark6.7. 
 them  two  and  two,"  arranged  in  proper  order.     "  And  the  names  of  the  twelve  Matt.  10. 
 Apostles  are  these :  the  first  Simon  who  is  called  Peter,  and  Andrew  his  brother,       ^■ 
 James  the  son  of  Zebedee,t  and  John  his  brother,  Philip  and  Bartholomew,  Thomas       3. 
 and  Matthew  the  publican,  and  James  the  son  of  Alpheus,  and  Thaddeus,  Simon  the       4. 
 Cananean,  and  Judas  Iscariot  who  also  betrayed  him.     These  twelve  Jesus  sent"  into 
 the  different  parts  of  the  country  "  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  and  to  heal  the  Luke  9. 
 sick."     But  in  sending  his  apostles  as  his  ambassadors,  Jesus  delivered  to  them 
 various  instructions,  such  as  were  proper  for  their  conduct  not  only  in  this  instance, 
 but  in  all  their  future  missions  ;  and  which  might  serve  likewise,  in  some  degree,  for 
 all  succeeding  apostolic  missionaries  throughout  the  world.     These   instruction s^! 
 consist  principally  in  precautions.     1.  Against  such  obstacles  as  might  impede  the 
 success  of  their  preaching.     2.  Against  all  anxiety  respecting  their  future  wants. 
 3.  Against  the  persecutions  which  their  preaching  would  draw  down  upon  them. 
 
 The  first  obstacle  to  be  guarded  against,  was  not  to  prejudice  the  Jews  against  the 
 gospel,  by  preaching  it  to  the  Gentiles  and  Samaritans.     Wherefore  Jesus  sent  the 
 twelve,  giving  them  these  commands :  "■  Go  ye  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  Matt.  10 
 and  into  the  cities  of  the  Samaritans  enter  ye  not.     But  go  ye  rather  to  the  lost  sheep       ^■ 
 of  the  house  of  Israel. "§     The  second  obstacle  of  which  they  were  to  beware,  was 
 
 *  It  was  net  on  this  occasion  that  he  constituted  +  St.  Thomas  restrains  the  precepts  here  giren  to 
 
 them  his  Apostles  ;  they  had  before  received  their  the  Apostles  to  the  time  of  their  present  mission 
 
 authority  and   the  power  of  working  miracles,   as  among  the  Jews.  '  ' 
 
 appears  from  St.  Mark.     St.  Mattliew,  though  he         §  The  Apostles  were  first  sent  to  the  Jews,  be- 
 
 anticipates  this  mission,  insinuates  the  same  thing,  cause  they  were  the  children  of  the  kiiigdo?n,  JIatt. 
 
 For  without  making  mention  of  their  election,  he  viii.  12.  to  whom  the  promise  of  the  Messiah  was 
 
 says,  the  names  of  the  twelve  Apostles  are  these,  made,  Gen.  xvii.  1.  and  of  u-hom  as  concerning  the 
 
 It  is  however  probable  that  they  received  on  this  Jlesh  he  came,  Rom.  ix.  5.  and  therefore  it  was  the 
 
 occasion  a  still  more  ample  power  of  healing  and  divine  will,  that  they  should  be  first  honoured  with 
 
 casting  out  devils.     It  is  here  to  be  observed,  that  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  alone  enjoy  the 
 
 the  Apostles  did  not  make  use  of  their  power  be-  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  disciples  whilst  he 
 
 fore  they  were  sent  by  Christ.  continued  on  eartii.     But  upon  their  rejecting  so 
 
 t  James  the  Son  of  Zebedee,  called  James  the  great  a  salvation,  the  commission  of  the  Apostles 
 
 Greater,  put  to  death  by  Herod,  Ac's  xii.  2.     He  was  enlarged.     For  it  was  necessary,  says  St.  Peter 
 
 was  brother  to  Joim  the  Evangelist.     The   other  to  ihe  Jews,  that  the  word  of  God  should  first  have 
 
 James  was  called   the  Lesser;  also   James  of  Al-  been  spoken  to  you,  but  seeing  you  put  it  jrom  you, 
 
 pheus,   and   the  brother   of  our  Lord,    Bishop   of  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life, 
 
 Jerusalem,   martyred  there  about  the   year  61. —  lo  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles,  Acts  xiii.  46. 
 Greek.  Lebbffius,  the  same  with  ThaJdanis  amongst  '  ' 
 
 the  Hebrews.     See  chap.  143. 
 
 17.  3  E 
 
198  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LVI. 
 
 avarice.  Hence  Christ  enforces  the  contrary  spirit  of  disinterestedness  to  so  great  an 
 extent,  as  absolutely  to  debar  his  Apostles  from  every  species  of  profit  and  indul- 
 Mark  6.  gence  which  has  the  appearance  of  personal  ease  and  convenience.     "  And  he  com- 
 
 s. 
 
 manded  them  that  they  should  take  nothing  for  the  way,  but  a  staff 
 
 2  Heiti-slructs  ... 
 
 hisAposUescon-  Only,"  to  walk  with,  "  no  scrip"  for  their  provisions,  "  no  bread,  nor 
 
 9.       cerning poverty,  money  in  their  purse.     But  to  be  shod  with  sandals"  only,  such  as  they 
 
 Luke.  then  wore,  "  and  that  they  should  not  put  on  tvTO  coats.   And  he  said  to 
 
 Matt.  10.  them  :  Do  not  possess  gold  nor  silver,  nor  money  in  your  purses :  no  scrip  for  your 
 
 fy      journies,  nor  two  coats,  nor  shoes,  nor  a  staff"*  to  defend  yourselves.     In  lieu  of 
 
 these  conveniences  place  your  trust  in  Providence.    Receive  no  kind  of  acknowledg- 
 
 7.t     ment  for  your  labours.     "  And  going  preach,  saying:  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
 
 8.       hand.     Heal  the  sick,  raise  the  dead,  cleanse  the  lepers,  cast  out  devils."     By  these 
 
 miracles,  give  proof  that  your  mission  is  founded  upon  truth,  and  that  your  doctrine  is 
 
 from  God.     But,  above  all,  as  "  you  have  received  gratis,  give  gratis,"  because  this 
 
 divine  power  being  the  pure  gift  of  God's  grace,  it  is  not  to  be  acquired  by  any 
 
 earthly  bribe  or  human  consideration,  and  it  is  no  less  than  the  highest  indignity  to 
 
 act  herein  as  in  a  temporal  concern,  or  worldly  transaction. 
 
 2.  Jesus  in  the  next  place  cautions  his  Apostles  against  all  anxiety  about  their  own 
 
 wants  and  necessities.    This  advice  was  the  more  necessary,  since  after  an  injunctioa 
 
 of  so  perfect  a  disinterestedness,  they  might  naturally  ask  how  they  were  to  subsist 
 
 during  their  evangelical  labours.     This  demand  he  anticipates  by  saying,  that  they 
 
 were  entitled  to  a  maintenance  from  those  who  should  reap  the  benefit  of  their 
 
 10.      labours.     "  For  the  workman,"  said  he,  "  is  worthy  of  his  meat.     And  into  what- 
 
 ^^-      soever  city  or  town  you  shall  enter,  inquire- who  in  it  is  worthy"  to  lodge  you,  lest 
 
 otherwise  the  sacredness  of  your  character  be  any  ways  lessened  in  the  eyes  of  the 
 
 world,  by  the  unworthiness  of  the  persons  with  whom  you  take  up   your  abode. 
 
 Luke  9.  "  And  whatsoever  house  you  shall  enter  into,  abide  there,  and  depart  not  from  thence" 
 
 4-       without  o-ood  reason,  lest  you  incur  the  imputation  of  fickleness  or  of  a  blameable 
 
 Matt.  10.  nicety.     "  And  when  you  come  into  the  house,  salute  it,X  saying  :  peace  be  to  this 
 
 Jo'      house.     And  if  that  house  be  worthy,  your  peace  shall  come  upon  it ;  but  if  it  be  not 
 
 worthy,  your  peace  shall  return  to  you,"  and  you  will  have  this  comfort,  that  you 
 
 14.      have  discharged  your  duty.     "  And  whosoever  shall  not  receive  you,  nor  hear  your 
 
 Luke  9.  words  ;  going  forth  out  of  that  house  or  city,  shake  off  the  dust  from  your  feet,§  for  a 
 
 ^-       testimony  against  them."     1.  That  the  word  of  truth  has  actually  been  announced  to 
 
 *  \or  a  sia/r,  yet  St.  Mark  says,  b^d  a  staff  only.  t  The  words  in  St.  Matthew  are  here  transposed. 
 
 Astaffraaysfrvefor  two   purposes,  cither  for  de-  %   The    Greek  has   o"ly  salute   them:    the   rest 
 
 fence  or  for  a  support.     Thi  first  is  forbidden  in  seems  to  have  been  added  from  St.  Luke,  where  he 
 
 St   Matthew,  the  second  is  allowed  in  St.  Mark.—  relates  the  mi.ssion  of  the   seventy-two    disciples, 
 
 mr  two  coats,  nor  shots,  i.  e.  provide  not  yourselves  chap.  79.  in  order  to  connect  it  more  easily  with 
 
 with  a  coat  for  a  change  as  the  rich  do,  but  do  like  what  follows  concerning  peace.     The  Greek  word 
 
 poor  people,  who  have   only  what    is   necessary  :  aazjtt,7aaOe,  salute,  is  put  here  to  imply  all  happi- 
 
 reo-ard  not  whether  you  have  a  staff  or  not.     The  ness  and  prosperity. 
 
 delio-n  of  Jesus  Christ  in  these  admonitions  was  to  §  As  this  sentence  is  found  in  other  places,  we 
 
 teach  his  ministers  to  trust  in  divine  providence,  and  must  conclude  that  Jesus  made  use  oi  it  repeatedly 
 
 to  beware  of  covetousness.    Wherefore  the  end  and  on  dilFerent  occasions,  or  that  Matthew  here,  as  in 
 
 spirit  of  these  precepts  was  perpetual,  though  the  other  places,  collects   together  several  things   be- 
 
 precepts  themselves,  as   to  the  letter,  were    only  longing  to  the  same  subject, 
 temporary. 
 
Ch.  LVr.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  199 
 
 them,  and  that  they  cannot  plead  ignorance  of  it :  2.  That  they  have  rejected  the 
 word  of  truth  with  insolence,  by  refusing  to  receive  those  who  announced  it :  and  3. 
 That  they  have  now  unavoidably  to  expect  the  dreadful  anathema  of  God's  judgment, 
 who  will  not  fail  to  avenge  the  contempt  shown  to  his  holy  word.  Jesus  adds,  with 
 a  solemn  asseveration  :  '^  Amen  I  say  to  you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  Matt.  10. 
 of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  that  city."  This  declaration  ^^■ 
 is  o-rounded  :  1.  Upon  the  insult  they  offered  to  God  by  refusing  to  receive  those 
 whom  he  sends :  2.  Upon  the  remorse  and  anguish  they  shall  experience  for  having 
 thus  rejected  the  proffered  means  of  salvation  :  3.  Upon  the  contempt  with  which 
 they  treated  miracles,  which  are  the  voice  of  God  and  proofs  of  his  doctrine  ;  for 
 these  are  the  aogravations  of  guilt  which  the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  stand 
 not  cliarged  with. 
 
 3.  Jesus  forewarned  his  Apostles  of  the  persecutions  which  they  had  to  expect, 
 and  against  which  they  were  to  arm  themselves  by  meekness,  prudence,  simplicity, 
 fortitude,  and  resignation.  "  Behold,"  says  he,  "  I  send  you  as  sheep  ^  ^^  ^.^^^  16. 
 in  the  midst  of  wolves  :  be  ye  therefore  wise  as  serpents,  and  simple  as  warns  them  of 
 doves."  These  two  virtues  are  to  be  blended  in  such  a  manner,  that  per^^'^^tions. 
 neither  of  them  be  carried  to  excess.  Prudence  without  simplicity  degenerates  into 
 artfulness  and  cunning,  whilst  simplicity  destitute  of  prudence  may  easily  become 
 stupidity  and  folly.  But  when  united,  they  impart  mutual  advantages  to  each  other ; 
 prudence  becomes  commendable,  and  simplicity  enlightened. 
 
 Jesus  then  proceeds  to  point  out  various  occasions  in  which  the  practice  of  these 
 virtues  will  be  called  for.     1.  Prudence  will  be  highly  necessary  to  them  in  the 
 various  dangers  to  which  they  will  be  exposed  from  their  necessary  intercourse  with 
 mankind ;  wherefore  he  advises  them  to  be  ever  upon  their  guard  in  the  exercise  of 
 their  functions.     "  But  beware  of  men,"  says  he,  who  are  themselves  those  wolves      17 
 into  the  midst  of  which  I  send  you :    "  For  they  will  deliver  you  up  in  councils,  and 
 they  will  scourge  you  in  their  synagogues  :  and  you  shall  be  brought  before  governors      18. 
 and  before  kings  for  my  sake,"  in  order  to  be  "  for  a  testimony  to  them  and  to  the 
 Gentiles"  of  the  care  I  have  taken  to  announce  to  them  the  doctrine  of  salvation; 
 and  of  the  obstinacy  with  which  they  have  rejected  it.     "  But  when  they  shall  deliver      19. 
 you  up,  take  no  thought  how  or  what  to  speak :  for  it  shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour 
 what  to  speak.     For"  on  these  occasions,  when  ray  honour  is  at  stake,  and  you  are      20. 
 supporting  my  interests,  "  it  is  not"  properly  "  you  that  speak,  but"  rather  "  the  spirit 
 of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you,"  enlightening  your  minds  and  suggesting  such 
 words  as  are  suitable  to  the  occasion.     But  these  are  not  the  only  trials  you  will  have 
 to  undergo ;  for  "  the  brother  also  shall  deliver  up  the  brother  to  death,  and  the      21. 
 father  the  son ;  and  the  children  shall  rise  up  against  their  parents,  and  shall  put 
 them  to  death."     Thus  you  will  see  your  nearest  relations  become  your  greatest 
 enemies.     "  And  you  shall  be  hated  by  all  men  for  my  name's  sake  ;  bat"  amidst      22. 
 all  these  persecutions  lose  not  courage,  remembering  the  inestimable  value  of  that 
 eternal  salvation  which  is  to  be  gained  by  patient  suffering,  and  that  "  he"  only 
 "  that  shall  persevere  to  the  end,  shall  be  saved.     And  when  they  shall  persecute      23. 
 you  in  this  city,  flee  into  another."     This  conduct,  which  is  directed  by  a  principle  of 
 
200  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LVI. 
 
 self-preservation,  has  indeed  many  advantages :  it  tends  to  save  the  lives  of  the 
 ministers  of  God's  word ;  it  obviates  the  commission  of  crimes  in  the  persecutors 
 themselves^  and  it  is  the  means  by  which  the  christian  faith  may  be  spread  through 
 distant  provinces,  which  thus  find  life  and  salvation  in  consequence  of  the  blind  fury 
 of  others.     Nor  were  they  to  fear  lest  places  of  refuge  should  be  wanting  to  them. 
 
 23.  "  Amen  I  say  to  you,  you  shall  not  finish*  preaching  through  all  the  cities  of  Israel 
 till  the  Son  of  Man  come"  to  execute  vengeance  on  your  persecutors. 
 
 2.  With  regard  to  the  virtue  of  simplicity,  Jesus  shows  how  extremely  useful  this 
 will  be  to  his  Apostles,  in  order  to  their  readily  submitting  to  the  will  of  providence, 
 which  permits  these  persecutions   to  befall  them.     Amongst  the  various  reasons 
 
 24.  alleged  for  this  purpose,  the  first  is  drawn  from  his  own  example.     "  The  disciple 
 25       is  not  above  the  master,  nor  the  servant  above  the  Lord.    It  is  enough  for  the  disciple 
 
 that  he  be  as  his  master,  and  the  servant  as  his  Lord.  If  they  have  called  the  good 
 man  of  the  house  Beelzebub,"  the  prince  of  devils,  "  how  much  more  them  of  his 
 
 26.  household  .'  Therefore  fear  them  not :"  all  the  evils  they  can  make  you 
 gests  motives^f  suffer,  will  only  serve  to  render  you  more  conformable  to  your  divine 
 coinfort  4-  con-  Master,  and  more  glorious  before  men  ;  "  for  nothing  is  covered  that 
 sanqj.  ^\iQ[\  not  be  revealed,  nor  hid  that  shall  not  be  known,"  and  therefore 
 the  justice  of  your  cause,  the  innocence  of  your  life,  and  the  truth  of  your  words,  shall 
 one  day  be  made  manifest  in  the  sight  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  your  adversaries  be 
 
 27.  covered  with  confusion.  "  That  which  I  tell  you  in  the  dark,  speak  ye  in  the  light, 
 and  that  which  you  hear  in  your  ear,  preach  ye  upon  the  house  top,"t  in  order  to 
 convince  mankind  that  it  is  the  pure  truth  alone  which  you  announce,  and  that  there- 
 fore it  is  in  vain  to  calumniate  the  christian  religion  as  a  mystery  of  darkness  and 
 
 28.  abomination.  "  And  fear  ye  not  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  are  not  able  to  kill  the 
 soul ;  but  rather  fear  him  that  can  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell."  Where- 
 fore, under  the  absolute  necessity  of  espousing  the  cause  of  God  or  that  of  the  world, 
 at  open  war  with  each  other,  we  cannot  hesitate  what  choice  to  make,  seeing  there  is 
 this  essential  or  rather  infinite  difference  between  them,  that  the  world  can  only  kill 
 the  body,  which  is  otherwise  mortal  and  soon  to  die,  whilst  on  the  other  hand  God  can 
 punish  both  body  and  soul  in  eternal  flames.  Moreover,  if  you  suffer  any  thing  for 
 the  sake  of  God,  think  not  that  your  sufferings  are  unknown  to  him,  or  that  they  will 
 
 29.  go  unrewarded.     "  Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing  ?  and  not  one  of  them 
 
 30.  shall  fall  to  the  ground  without  your  Father.     But,"  as  to  you,  "  the  very  hairs  of 
 
 31.  your  head  are  all  numbered.  Fear  not  therefore,  better  are  you  than  many  spar- 
 rows," and  your  heavenly  Father  will  be  far  more  attentive  to  all  that  concerns  you. 
 I  will  engage  him  myself  to  recompense  you  abundantly  for  all  that  you  may  do  for 
 
 32.  me.     "  Every  one  therefore  that  shall  confess  me  before  men,  I  will  also  confess  hira 
 
 *  According  to  St.  Austin,  (1. 1.  contra  Gauden-         t  The  houses  were  low,  and  the  tops  of  them 
 
 tium,  c.  18.)  and  Rupert,  Christ  does  not  here  di-  were  flat,  with  windows  open  to  the  inner  court, 
 
 rect  his  discourse  solely  to  his  Apostles,  but  to  all  and    obstructed    by    lattice    on  the   outside.     The 
 
 succcedinp:   apostolic   missioners  ;    so  that  by  the  house  top  was  the  place  for  seeing  or  proclaiming 
 
 cities  of  Ixrael  we  are  to  understand  not  only  the  any  thing, 
 cities   of  Palestine,  but  the  cities  of  the  spiritual 
 Israel. 
 
Ch,  LVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  201 
 
 before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.     But  he  that  shall  deny  me  before  men,  I  will      33. 
 also  deny  him  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."     As  to  the  rest,  "  think  not  that      34. 
 I  came  to  send  peace  upon  earth:  I  came  not  to  send  peace,"  such  as  carnal  men 
 desire,  "  but  the  sword,"  and  therefore  this  warfare  in  which  ray  disciples  will  be 
 eno-ao-ed,  is  no  way  contrary  to  the  design  I  had  in  coming  into  the  world.    "  I  came      35. 
 to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother,  and 
 the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law.     And  a  man's  enemies  shall  be  they      36. 
 of  his  own  household.     He"  therefore,  "  that  loveth  fother  or  mother  more  than      37. 
 me,  is  not  worthy  of  me,"  either  to  bear  my  name,  to  be  a  member  of  my  mystical 
 body,  or  to  partake  of  my  rewards  ;  "  and  he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than 
 me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."     Who  but  a  God  could  utter  this  sublime  language,  such 
 as  had  never  been  used  before  by  any  prophet  or  apostle  ?  I  say  more,  "  he  that      38. 
 taketh  not  up  his  cross  and  foUoweth  me,"  in  my  sufferings  and  death,  "  is  not 
 worthy  of  me."     This  condition  may  appear  hard  to  such  as  love  this  present  life  ; 
 but  let  them  know,  that  "  he  that  findeth  his  life"  in  this  world  at  the  expense  of  his      39. 
 faith,  "  shall  lose  it"  for  ever  in  the  next :  "  and  he  that  shall  lose  his  life"  in  this 
 world,  "  shall  find  it"  again  hereafter  in  a  much  greater  degree  of  happiness  and 
 perfection  for  all  eternity.     But  not  only  the  Apostles  are  to  be  rewarded,  but  like- 
 wise all  those  who  by  their  influence  and  concurrence  shall  contribute  to  the  establish- 
 ment of  the  gospel.     Christ  insinuates  to  his  disciples,  that  there  shall  always  be 
 found  charitable  persons  who  will  afford  them  harbour  and  protection,  and  as  an 
 encouragement  to  such  he  declares  that  what  is  done  to  them  is  done  to  himself. 
 '^  He  that  receiveth  you,"  says  he,  "  receiveth  me,  and  he  that  receiveth  me,  receiveth      40. 
 him  that  sent  me.     He  that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall      41. 
 receive  the  reward  of  a  prophet ;  and  he  that  receiveth  a  just  man  in  the  name  of  a 
 just  man,  shall  receive  the  reward  of  a  just  man.    And  whosoever  shall  give  to  drink      42. 
 to  one  of  these  little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name"  and  quality  "  of  a 
 disciple,  amen  I  say  to  you,  he  shall  not  lose  his  reward."     It  is  in  vain  therefore, 
 says  St.  Jerom,  for  any  one  to  dispense  himself  from  giving  alms,  by  alleging  his 
 poverty,   since  Christ  here  promises  that  the  smallest  benefaction   or  assistance 
 bestowed  on  the  indigent  with  a  proper  intention,  shall  not  go  unrewarded.     "  And  I^latt.  11. 
 it  came  to  pass  when  Jesus  had  made  an  end  of  giving  these  precepts  to  his  twelve 
 disciples,"  they  departed  agreeably  to  his  orders,  to  announce  the  gospel,  whilst 
 "  he  himself  passed  from  thence  to  teach  and  preach  in  their  cities.     And  going  out  Luke  8. 
 they  went  about  through  the"  lesser  "  towns  preaching  the  gospel,  and  healing  every       ^' 
 where.     And  they  preached  that  men  should  do  penance.     And  they  cast  out  many  Mark  6. 
 devils,  and  anointed  with  oil*   many  that  were  sick   and  healed  them  "  by  this      ^^" 
 
 13. 
 
 *  It  was  usual  with  the  Jews  to  prescribe  oil  as  tion  :  but  the  contrary  opinion  is  {generally  received 
 
 a  proper  thing  to  anoint  the  sick  ;  but  its  virtue,  in  among  divines,  as  more  conformable  to  the  Council 
 
 the  present  instance,  when  used  by  the  Apostles,  of  Trent,  sess.  14.     However,  the  miraculous  gift 
 
 was  not  natural  hut  supernatural,  and  derived  from  of  healing  the  sick  with  oil  which  Christ  conferred 
 
 him  who  sent  them,  because  this  unction  always  on  the  Apostles,  was  a  prelude  or  gradual  prepara- 
 
 produced  a  certain  and  constant  cure  in  those  who  tion  to  the  dignity  to  which  he  raised  this  unction, 
 
 were  anointed.     It  is  the  opinion  of  Bede,  Theo-  when  he  established  it  a  perpetual  rite  in  his  holy 
 
 ph;lactus,  Lyranus,  and  others,  that  Christ,  on  this  Church.     Of  this  St  James  says:  (chap.  v.  14,  15.) 
 
 occasion,  instituted  the  sacrament  of  extreme  unc-  "  Is  any  man  sick  among  you?  let  him  bring  in  the 
 
 18.  3f 
 
202  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LVIL 
 
 paHicular  circumstance  showing  that  they  were  inferior  to  their  divine  Master,  who 
 cured  the  infirm  with  a  single  word,  or  simply  by  his  touch. 
 
 CHAPTER  LVII. 
 
 THE    INCREASING    REPUTATION    OF   JESUS.      HIS    RETREAT    INTO    THE     DESERT AND    HIS 
 
 MULTIPLICATION  OF  FIVE  LOAVES.      MATT.  XIV.      MARK  VI.      LUKE  IX.     JOHN  VI. 
 
 Matt.  14.  "  At  that  time  Herod  the  tetrarch  heard  the  fame  of  Jesus,"  and  "  of 
 
 1.  1.  Herod's  ^jj  ^j^jpofs  that  were  done  by  him ;  for  his  name  was  made  manifest." 
 Luke  9.   optnionofjesus.  »  ,      i        ,  i  i      r    i  •      .      i         ,x  -i     .    i 
 
 7.  That  this  prmce  had  not  sooner  heard  ot  Jesus,  is  to  be  attributed 
 
 Mark  6.  either  to  the  usual  indifference  with  which  princes  frequently  listen  to  any  thing-  con- 
 cerning religion  and  piety,  or  else  to  the  unavoidable  occupations  which  engrossed 
 his  whole  attention  during  the  war  he  was  then  engaged  in  against  Aretas  his  father- 
 Luke  9.  in-law.     "  And"  Herod   "  was  in  a  doubt"  concerning  this  new  prophet,  who  was 
 now  so  much  the  subject  of  discourse  in  Galilee  ;  and  the  more  so,  because  his  cour- 
 tiers were  divided  into  different  opinions.     For  "  it  was  said  by  some,"  probably  of 
 Mark  6.  the  Pharisees  :  "  John  the  Baptist  is  risen  again  from  the  dead,  and  therefore  mighty 
 T  ^^'n  o  vvorks  show  forth  themselves  in  him.     But  by  other  some,  that  Elias  hath  appeared, 
 Mark  6.  and  by  others,  that  one  of  the  old  prophets  was  risen  again  :  but  others     believed 
 1^-      Jesus  to  be  a  new  prophet,  and  "  said :  he  is  a  prophet  like  one  of  the"  ancient 
 16.      "  prophets.     Which  Herod  hearing,  said  :  John  I  have  beheaded,  but  who  is  this  of 
 Luke  9.  „,hom  I  hear  such  things?"     And  as  tyrants  easily  believe  that  to  be  real  which 
 they  are  in  dread  of,  he  rather  leaned  to  the  opinion  of  those  who  judged  the  person 
 in  question  to  be  John  the  Baptist  risen  again  from  the  dead ;  especially  as  his  con- 
 science charged  him  with  having  put  him  to  death  unjustly.    On  this  accouut  he  was 
 not  without  apprehension,  lest  God  might  now  have  invested  him  with  siitticient 
 powers  to  take  full  revenge  for  his  cruelty  against  him :  "  and  he  therefore  sought  to 
 see  him,"  iu  order  to  ascertain  by  his  features  whether  he  were  really  the  person. 
 Matt.  14.  "  And,"  in  this  state  of  uncertainty,  "  he  said  to  his  servants,  this  is  John  the  Baptist 
 
 2.  whom  I  beheaded :  he  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  therefore  mighty  works  show  forth 
 ^Yq  ^'  themselves  in  him.  Which"  apprehension  of  Herod,  "  when  Jesus  had  heard,  he 
 Matt.'l4.  retired  from  thence  ;"  not  with  the  view  of  flying  from  him,  since  he  returned  even  the 
 
 following  day  to  Capharnaum,  but  purposely  that  the  news  of  his  retreat  miglit  lessen 
 the  tyrant's  fears,  and  at  the  same  time  afford  to  his  disciples,  now  returned  from 
 
 priests  of  the  church,  and  let  them  pray  over  him,  fdising  up  of  the   sick  man,  and  the  remission  of 
 
 anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the   Lord,  sins.     3.  It  is  not  mentioned  as  a  passing  rite,  but 
 
 and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man,  and  instituted   as   a    permanent,   perpetual    ordinance; 
 
 the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up;  and  if  he  be  in  sins,  and  therefore  it  has  always  been  received  and  prac- 
 
 they  shall  be  forgiven  him."     Here  we  see  extreme  tised  in  the  Catholic  Church  as  an  universal  divme 
 
 unction  explained  at  large,  and  the  practice   of  it  law   and   holy  sacrament,  provided  for  us  by  our 
 
 enforced  in  the  clearest  terms,  as  of  a  sacrament  of  merciful   Redeemer,  as  a  means  of  fortifymg   our 
 
 the  new  law.     Here    is    a    visible    sign,    viz.    the  souls  in  sickness  against  the  attacks  and  snares  ot 
 
 anointing  of  the  sick  man  and  the  prayer  of  faith,  our  spiritual  enemies,  and  of  preparing  us  for  our 
 
 2.  The  promise  of  grace  conferred  by  it,  viz.  the  great  and  last  passage  out  of  this  life  to  eternity. 
 
 2. 
 13. 
 
Ch.  LVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  203 
 
 their  mission,  a  short  respite  from  their  labours,  as  insinuated  by  St.  Mark  and  St. 
 Luke.     "  And  the  apostles  coming  tog-ether  unto  Jesus,  related  to  him  all  things  Mark 6.  so. 
 that  they  had  done  and  taught.     And  he  said  to  them  :  come  apart  into  a  desert      31. 
 place,  and  rest  a  little  :  for  there  were  many  coming  and  going,  and  they  had  not  so 
 much  as  time  to  eat.     And  taking  them,  and  going  up  into  a  ship,  they      ^   j^^^^^  ^^  Luke  9.  lo. 
 went  into  a  desert  place  apart,  which  belongeth  to  Bethsaida  :*  over  tires  into  ike  de- j^^l^  9.  lo. 
 the  sea  of  Galilee.f  which  is  that  of  Tiberias  :    and  they  saw  them  '"'^-  Ske.k 
 
 ffoino-  away,  and  many  knew  it :  and  they  ran  flocking  thither  on  foot  from  all  the 
 cities  and  were  there  before  them.     And  a  great  multitude  followed  him,  because  John  6. 2. 
 they  saw  the  miracles  which  he  did  on  them  that  were  diseased.     He  therefore  went       3. 
 up  into  a  mountain,  and  there  he  sat  with  his  disciples.     Now  the  Passover,  the       4. 
 festival  of  the  Jews,  was  near  at  hand,"  being  the  third  since  the  commencement  of  Luk^g  j^' 
 our  Saviour's  public  ministry.     "  And  Jesus  going  out  saw  a  great  multitude,  and  he  iMark6.34. 
 had  compassion  on  them,  because  they  were  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd,  and  he  Mattiiu! 
 received  them"  with  kindness,   "  and  began  to  teach  them  many  things  of  the  Mlrkeiss! 
 kino-dom  of  God,  and  healed  their  sick,  and  them  who  were  in  need  of  healing.     And 
 when  the  day  was  now  for  spent,  his  disciples  came  to  him,  saying  :  this  is  a  desert  *^^-^g*  }|- 
 place,  and  the  hour  is  now  past,  send  them  away,  that  going  into  the  next  s.Thefveloaves.t 
 villages  and  towns,  they  may  buy  themselves  meat  to  eat.  But  Jesus  said  to  them  :  they  Matt.i4.i6. 
 have  no  need  to  go  :  give  you  them  to  eat.  And  they  said  to  him,"  ironically  :§  "  let  us  Marke.sr. 
 go  and  buy  bread  for  200  pence,"  or  about  forty  shillings, ||   "  and  we  will  give  them 
 to  eat:"  this  was  probably  said  by  Judas  Iscariot.     However,  "^  when  Jesus  had  John 6. 5 
 lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  seen  that  a  very  great  multitude  cometh  to  him,  he  said  to 
 Philip,"  a  good,  kind,  and  compassionate  man,  "  whence  shall  we  buy  bread  that  they 
 may  eat  ;1I  and  this  he  said  to  try  him,"  whether  in  this  emergency  he  would  recur  to       6. 
 his  omnipotent  providence  ;  "  for  he  himself  knew  what  he  would  do.     Philip,"  how-       7. 
 ever,  had  no  such  thought,  but  instantly  ''  answered  him :  two  hundred  pennyworth 
 of  bread  is  not  sufficient  for  them,  that  every  one  may  take  a  little.     But  he  saith  to  Mark  6. 38. 
 
 *  It  was  called  the  desert  of  Bethsaida,  not  be-  Galilee  during  the  third  Passover,  he  relates  pretty 
 
 cause  it  was  on   the  same   side  as  the  town,  but  fully  his  transactions  during-  that  time, 
 opposite  to  it,  the  sea  intervening.    Wherefore  those  J   On  the  multiplication  of  the  seven  loaves,  see 
 
 who  saw  Jesus  setting  out  immediately,  concluded  chap.  63. 
 
 that  I'.e  was  going  to  that  desert  where  they  could         §  Some  think  this  was  not  said  ironically,  but 
 
 not  follow  him  on   foot,  but  by  going  round  the  that  their  common  purse  might  have  contained  this 
 
 northern    extremity    of  the  lake.      There,   having  sum,  arising  from  the  liberality  of  friends  ;  and  that 
 
 passed  the  Jordan,  either  in  boats  or  by  a  bridge,  the  Apostles  on  this  occasion  were  ready  generously 
 
 they  made  such  haste  as  to  arrive  at  this  place  be-  to  employ  it  all,  not   indeed  to  satisfy  so  great  a 
 
 fore  Jesus,  as  St.  Mark  relates,  chap.  vi.  ver.  33.  multitude,  because  it  was  not  sufficient,  but  merely 
 
 whilst   others,  who  were   not  so   expeditious,  fol-  to  help  them  a  little  in  their  pressing  necessity. 
 lowed  after,  according  to  St.  Matthew,  St.  Luke,         ||  According  to  some  authors,  each  piece  called 
 
 and  St.  John  ;  so  that  there  is  no  contradiction  in  a  denarius,  was  about  seven  pence  halfpenny  of  our 
 
 the  Evangelists.  money. 
 
 t  St.  John  does  not  usually  relate  what  is  men-         %   Our  Lord  first  said,  not  adverting  as  it  were 
 
 tioned   by   the   other  Evangelists,  especially  what  to  the  difficulty,  and  to  so  large  a  multitude,  give 
 
 happened  in  Galilee.   If  he  does  it  on  this  occasion,  them  to  eat :  but  afterwards  considering  and  urging, 
 
 it  is  in  order  to  introduce  the  subject  of  the  hea-  as  it  were,  the  difficulty,  and  accommodating  him- 
 
 venly  bread,  which  begins  in  this  chapter,  ver.  37.  self  to  the  weakness  and  admiration  of  his  disciples. 
 
 Moreover  it  seems  that  he  had  particularly  in  view  he  says,  whence  shall  we  buy  bread?  So  there  is 
 
 to  describe  the  different  Passovers  during  the  time  no  contradiction, 
 of  Christ's  preaching.     As   he  therefore  staid   in 
 
204  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LVII. 
 
 John  fi,  8.  them :  how  many  loaves  have  you  ?  Go  and  see  *  and  when  they  knew,  one  of  his 
 9.  disciples,  Andrew,  the  brother  of  Simon  Peter,  saith  to  him  :  there  is  a  boy  here  that 
 Luke  9. 13.  hath  five  barley  loaves  and  two  fishes  ;  but  what  are  these  amongst  so  many  ?  unless 
 Mat/.u  18.  perhaps  we  should  g-o  and  buy  food  for  all  this  multitude.  Now  there  were  about 
 Markc.39.  J^^.g  thousaud  mcu.  And  he  said  to  his  disciples,  bring-  them  hither  to  me  ;  and  he 
 commanded  them  that  they  should  make  them  all  sit  down  by  companies  upon  the 
 John  6. 10.  green  grass."  For  "  there  was  much  grass  in  the  place  ;  and  they  did  so  ;  and  he 
 f"^^"  lij-  made  them  all  sit  down  in  ranks  by  hundreds  and  by  fifties,"  that  the  number  might 
 
 Mark  f>.  .10.  -  i      i  i 
 
 Johac.io.be  more  easily  ascertained,  and  the  people  more  regularly  served.     "  The  men 
 
 ji,\tu  6*  if' therefore  sat  down  in  number  about  five  thousand.     And"  Jesus  "  taking  the  five 
 
 Luke  9. 16.  loaves  and  the  two  fishes,  he  looked  up  to  heaven,  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,* 
 
 johiiG.  iL  blessed  them  and  broke  the  loaves,  and  distributed  to  his  disciples  to  set  before  the 
 
 "      "  '  multitude.     And  the  disciples"  gave  "  to  the  multitudes  that  were  sat  down.f     In 
 
 like  manner  also  of  the  fishes,  he  divided  among  them  all,  as  much  as  they  would ; 
 
 and  they  did  all  eat  and  were  filled," 
 
 This  miraculous  multiplication  of  the  loaves  was  effected  partly  in  the  hands  of 
 Jesus,  when  he  broke  them,  and  partly  in  the  hands  of  his  disciples  when  they  dis- 
 tributed them  to  the  people ;  so  that  this  wonderful  event  happened  without  any 
 outward  show,  and  perhaps  without  being  observed  by  the  generahty  of  those  who 
 were  benefited  by  it.  It  is  in  the  breast  of  him  alone  who  was  the  cause  of  this 
 multiplication,  to  say  how  it  was  effected ;  but  it  appears  from  the  context,  that 
 Christ  did  not  on  this  occasion  form  neic  loaves,  or  new  fishes,  in  the  hands  of  the 
 Apostles  as  they  were  distributing  them,  because  it  is  here  affirmed  that  the  two 
 fishes  he  divided  amongst  than  all,  as  he  did  the  five  barley  loaves,  which  would  be 
 false  if  he  had  either  formed  new  fishes  or  loaves,  or  the  angels  supplied  others 
 invisibly. 
 
 To  render  this  miracle  still  more  conspicuous,  Jesus  was  pleased  to  make  it  appeal 
 
 V  to  the  eyes  of  all,  that  he  had  not  only  supplied  their  present  wants,  but  that  a  con- 
 
 john  G.  I'j.  siderable  overplus  was  remaining.     "  And  when  they  were  filled,  he  said  to  his 
 
 disciples  :  Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  lest  they  be  lost,"  hereby  insinuating 
 
 13.      that  charity  is  perfectly  consistent  with  frugality.     "  They  gathered  up  therefore, 
 
 and  filled  twelve  baskets  with  the  fragments  of  the  five  barley  loaves,  which  remained 
 
 Marks. 43.  over  and  above  to  them  that  had  eaten,  and  of  the  fishes  ;"  which  was  in  tact  a  much 
 
 Matt.14.21.  larger  quantity  than  was  at  first  set  before  our  Lord  to  divide.     "  And  the  number 
 
 of  those  that  did  eat  was  five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children,"  who 
 
 John  6. 14.  might  possibly  amount  to  an  equal  number.     "  Now  those  men  when  they  had  seen 
 
 what  a  miracle  Jesus  had  done,  said  :  this  is  the  prophet  indeed"  like  unto  Moses, 
 
 "  that  is  to  come  into  the  world"  as  foretold  by  him  :  for  as  the  people  of  God  were 
 
 miraculously  fed  by  Moses  in  the  desert,  so  likewise  had  Jesus,  in  this  instance,  fed 
 
 them  in  a  manner  no  less  wonderful  and  miraculous. 
 
 *  In  imitation  of  Jesus  giving  thanks  on  this         t   In  the  Green  there  is  a  small  addition,  viz.  to 
 
 occasion,   let  Christians  learn  to  do  the   same  at  the  disciples  and  the  disciples  to  them  that  were  set 
 
 their  meals,  beaiiing  of  God  that  his  gifts  niay  be  down.     The   Syriac  and  some  Greek  copies  agvep 
 
 sanctified  for  th'eir  use.  with  the  Vulgate. 
 
Ch.  LVIIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  205 
 
 PART  IV. 
 
 CHAPTER  LVIIl. 
 
 JESUS  RETIRES  AGAIN  TO  THE  MOUNTAIN.      HE  WALKS  UPON   THE    SEA— AND  HEALS  ALL 
 THAT  ARE  SICK.     MATT.  XIV.     MARK  VI.      JOHN  VI. 
 
 On  this  occasion  Jesus  gives  us  a  lesson  to  fly  honours  and  dignities  ;  TheThirdPass- 
 for  he  fled  into  the  mountain  himself  «/o?i<3,  and  rendered  himself  invi-  over* 
 sible  to  frustrate  the  people's  design  of  making  him  king.  As  God  i  Christ  re- 
 indeed,  he  always  was  and  will  be  King  and  Sovereign  of  the  whole  '^^^^J^^  '^' 
 creation  ;  as  man,  he  is  also  King,  but  not  of  this  world :  we  pray  for 
 his  kingdom  to  come,  when  all  his  enemies  will  be  put  under  his  footstool.  2.  He 
 here  displays  his  empire  over  the  sea,  by  treading  under  his  feet  the  pride  of  that 
 raging  element.  3.  He  shows  his  absolute  power  over  the  human  body,  by  healing 
 various  diseases. 
 
 "  Jesus  therefore,  when  he  perceived  that  they  would  come  to  take  him  by  force,  John  6. 
 and  make  him  king,"  prevented  the  execution  of  their  design,  and  thereby  spared      15- 
 both  the  Romans  and  Herod  Antipas  those  jealous  fears  of  a  rival  in  empire,  which 
 they  would  otherwise  have  experienced.     Had  he  permitted  this  attempt,  the  news 
 of  it  would  have  quickly  spread  far  and  near  ;  and,  in  a  matter  of  such  delicacy,  it 
 would  have  been  difficult  for  him  to  clear  himself  from  the  suspicion  of  abetting  their 
 designs.     It  was  certainly  easier  to  prevent  them  :  and,  by  so  doing,  he  effectually 
 refut'ed  beforehand  the  folse  accusations  which  were  afterwards  brought  against  him 
 before  Pilate,  of  raising  a  sedition  among  the  people  in  his  favour.     Wherefore  "  he  Mark  6. 
 immediately  obliged  his  disciples  to  go  into  the  ship,  that  they  might  go  before  him      45. 
 over  the  water  to  the  city  of  Bethsaida,t  whilst  he  dismissed  the  people  ;  and  when  John  6. 
 evening  was  come,^  his  disciples  went  down  to  the  sea,  and  when  they  had  gone  up      l^- 
 
 *  See  the  first,  chap.  19.— the  second,  chap.  37.  them  going  to  Capharnaum.    N.  B,  Bethsaida  was, 
 lj,e  (ouitli,  chap.  128.  accorditip;   to   some  authors,   situated  on   the  east 
 
 t  The  Apostles  were  in  a  dexert  place  helongiiig  side  of  the  lake,  and  Capharnaum  on  the  west,  as 
 to  Bethsaida,  which  probably  was  divided  from  it  appears  from  Josephus.  (Ant.  lib.  18.  c.  3.)  But 
 by  some  bay  or  creek  that  ran  out  into  the  land:  as  St.  John  (chap.  xii.  21.)  speaks  of  Bethsaida  in 
 and  Christ  now  only  ordered  them  to  pass  over  this  Galilee,  there  can  be  no  manner  of  inconvenience 
 creek,  to  the  cily  of  Bethsaida;  where  he  might  in  supposing:  two  cities  of  the  same  name,  because 
 afterwards  have  joined  them,  when  he  had  sent  the  word  Bethsaida,  signifying  a  house  of  Jishing, 
 awav  the  people.  But  in  their  passage  thither,  a  there  might  be  one  on  each  side  of  the  lake. 
 great  storm  arose,  and  they  were  driven,  by  a  con-  J  The  same  expression  occurs  in  the  preceding 
 trary  wind,  into  the  midst  of  the  i-ea,  towards  Ca-  chapter  (Matt.  xiv.  l,^.)  and  before  the  multiplica- 
 pharnaum.  Or  probably,  when  they  found  the  ti(ui  of  the  loaves  :  and  as  this  happened  some 
 wind  so  violent,  they  were  afraid  of  being  ship-  hours  before  the  retreat  of  Jesus  Christ,  here  men- 
 wrecked,  if  they  came  near  the  shore,  and  therefore  tioned  by  St.  John,  it  is  manifest  that  the  Jews 
 rowed  oiit  to  sea.  This  reconciles  the  seeming  dis-  reckoned  two  evenings.  The  first  began  when  the 
 agreement  between  St.  Mark  and  St.  John,  when,  sun  was  declining,  that  is,  about  three  in  the  after 
 notwii.hstanding  the  direction  Christ  had  given  his  noon,  and  the  second  after  sunset, 
 disciples  to  go  before  him  to  Bethsaida,  we  find 
 
 is.  3g 
 
206  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LVIIL 
 
 17.       into  a  ship,  they  went  over  the  sea  to  Capharnaum.    And"  Jesus  "  having-  dismissed 
 jotm6^?5.  the  multitude,  fled  again  into  the  mountain  himself  alone,  to  pray;  and  it  was  now 
 jihn  e'  f?  dark,  and  Jesus  was  not  come  unto"  his  disciples  :    '  but  the  boat,  in  the  midst  of 
 Matt.14.24.  the  sea,  was  tossed  with  waves,  and  himself  alone"  remained  "  on  the  land.     And 
 the  sea  arose,  by  reason  of  a  great  wind  that  blew."     This  extraordinary  agitation  of 
 the  waters  was  purposely  caused  by  Jesus,  with  the  view  of  trying  their  faith  and 
 Mark  6. 48.  Confidence  in  him  during  his  absence.     At  length,  "  seeing  them  labouring  in  row- 
 ing, for  the  wind  was"  much  "  against  them,  about  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night/'  or 
 three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  "  he  cometh  to  them,  walking  upon  the 
 Johns.  19.  ^■^^o^j^e'^ej**  ^^^-     ^^^16"  they  had  rowed  therefore  twenty-five  or  thirty  furlongs," 
 Mark  6.48.  Hot  much  above  three  miles,  "  they  see  Jesus  walking  upon  the  sea, 
 
 49.      and  drawing  nigh  to  the  ship  ;  and  he  would  have  passed  by  them.  But  they  seeing 
 him  walking  upon  the  sea,  thought  it  was  an  apparition,"  and,  according  to  the  mis- 
 taken notion  of  sea-faring  persons,  considering  this  as  ominous  of  their  approaching 
 Matt.i4.2c.  shipwreck,  "  were  troubled  ;  and  they  cried  out  for  fear,  saying:  it  is  an  apparition. 
 Mark6.50.  For  they  all  saw  him,"  the  moon  being  tlien  at  the  full,  but  without  affording  suffi- 
 cient light  to  distinguish  him  by  his  features.     "  And  immediately  Jesus  spoke  to 
 them,  and  said :  have  a  good  heart,  it  is  I,  fear  not."     On  hearing  his  voice,  they 
 Matt.14.23.  instantly  knew  him,  and  regained  their  former  Iranqnillity  of  mind.     "  And  Peter," 
 full  of  faith  and  love,  "  making  answer,  said  :  Lord,  if  *  it  be  thou,  bid  me  come  to 
 29.  thee  upon  the  waters.    And  he  said  :  come.     And  Peter  coming  down 
 
 ^^-      upoti'^the  water    '^"^  of  the  boat,  walked  upon  the  water  to  come  to  Jesus.     But  seeing 
 the  wind  strong,"  which  probably  changed  suddenly,  and  drove  the 
 waves  against  him,  "  he  was  afraid :    and  wlien  he  began  to  sink,  he  cried  out, 
 31.      saying  :  Lord,  save  me.     And  immediately  Jesus,  stretching  forth  his  hand,  took 
 John  6. 21.  hold  of  him,  and  said  to  him  :  O  thou  of  little  faitli,t  why  didst  thou  doubt?    They 
 Mark 6.51.  were  willing  therefore  to  take  Jesus  into  the  ship,  and  he  went  h}»  to 
 
 Matt.14.32.  into   the  ship,  them  into  the  ship.     And  when  they  were  come  into  the  ship,  the  wind 
 Mark 6.51.  "nd     appeases  ceased  ;  and  they  were  far  more  astonished  within  themselves  :  for  they 
 ^  *  •        understood  not  concerning  the  loaves  ;  for  their  heart  was  blinded," 
 otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  so  surprised  on  this  occasion,  if  they  had 
 Matt.14.33.  reflected  on  the  greatness  of  that  miracle.     "  And  they  that  were  in  the  boat,  came 
 Joiiu6. 21.  and  adored  him,  saying  :  indeed  thou  art  the  Son  of  God.    And  presently  the  ship," 
 MarkG.53.  by  a  new  miracle,  "  was  at  the  land  to  which  they  were  going.     And  when  they 
 had  passed  over,  they  came  into  the  land  of  Genesareth,":|:  about  twelve  miles  from 
 
 *  Peter,  by  saying  if,  did  not  doubt  in  faith,  as  a  sudden,  indeliberate   human  fear,  which   abated 
 
 Calvin  pretends ;  nor  was   he  pruilty  of  any  arro-  something  of  his  confidence.     By  his   confidence 
 
 gance,  in  praying  our  Lord  to  bid  him  come  to  him  in  God,  we  learn  what  we  can  do  by  the   divine 
 
 upon  the  waters,  as  others  conjecture  ;  for  our  Lord  assistance;   and   by   his  fear,  what  weareofour- 
 
 granted  his  request,  which  he  would  not  have  done,  selves  :  also,  that  no  one  receives  from   Gi)d   the 
 
 had  it  proceeded  from  arrogance  or  presumption,  strength  he  stands  in  need  of,  but  he  who  feels, 
 
 or   been    accompanied  with  a  wavering   in    faith,  that  of  himself  he  is  entirely  without  strength,  ac- 
 
 Thus  St.  Jerom  end  St.  Hilary.  cording  to  the  reflection  of  St.  Austin.    (Ser.  76.) 
 
 t  Great  must  have  been  the  faith  of  Peter,  who  |   Christ  did  not  land  directly  at  Capharnaum, 
 
 believed  liimself  to  be  able  to  do  what  Christ  did,  but.  according  to  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  first 
 
 and  with  his  assistance  to  walk  or.  the  raging  wa-  passed   through  Genesareth,   and    might   pcrnaps 
 
 ters ;  nevertheless,  he  was  afterwards  seized  with  reach  Capharnaum  about  mid-day. 
 
Ch.  LIX.]                         THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  g07 
 
 Bethsaida,  '*  and  set  to  the  shore.     And  when  they  were  gone  out  of  the  ship,  the      64. 
 
 men  of  that  place  immediately  knew  him:  and  running-  through  that  whole  country,  55. 
 they  began  to  carry  about  on  beds  those  who  were  ill,  where  they  heard 
 
 he  was ;  and  they  brought  to  him  all  that  were  diseased,  and  whither-    "''  if^gli^k"^  Matt.  14. 
 
 soever  he  entered,  into  towns,  or  into  villages,  or  cities,  they  laid  the  ^^^  ^ 
 
 sick  in  the  streets,  and  besought  him  that  they  might  touch  but  the  hem  of  his  56. 
 garment ;  and  as  many  as  touched  him  were  healed." 
 
 CHAPTER  LIX 
 
 THE  DISCOURSE  OF  JESUS  CONCERNING  THE  HEAVENLY  BREAD. JOHN  VI. 
 
 "  The  next  day,"  after  the  miraculous  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and      ,    „  ,,    .    john  &. 
 fishes,  "  the  multitude  that  stood  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  saw  that  Jesus  Ckrid  is      22. 
 there  was  no  other  ship  there  but"  that  "  one"  wherein  the  disciples  f'heworkofGod. 
 crossed  the  sea,  "  and  that  Jesus  had  not  entered  into  the  ship  with"  them,  "  but 
 that  his  disciples  were  gone  away  alone.     But  other  ships  came  in  from  Tiberias      23. 
 nigh  unto  the  place  where  they  had  eaten  the  bread,  the  Lord  giving  thanks.  When      24. 
 therefore  the  multitude,"  after  waiting  some  time,  "  saw  that  Jesus  was  not  there,  nor 
 his  disciples,  they  took  shipping"  in  the  said  vessels,  "  and  came  to  Capharnaum 
 seeking  for  Jesus.     And  when  they  had  found  him,  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  they      25. 
 said  to  him  :  Rabbi,  when  earnest  thou  hither?  Jesus,"  without  paying  any  regard  to      26.' 
 this  question,  "  answered  them  and  said :  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you,  you  seek  me, 
 not  because  you  have  seen  miracles,"  and  are  thereby  induced  to  believe  in  me ; 
 "  but  you  seek  me"  merely  "  because  you  did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled,"  and 
 hence  you  are  led  to  expect  a  continuance  of  supernatural  refreshment.  "  Labour  not      27. 
 for  the  meat  which  perisheth,*   but  for  that  which  endureth  unto  life  everlasting, 
 which  the  Son  of  man  will  give  you ;  for  him  hath  God  the  Father  sealed,"  and 
 sanctioned,  as  it  were,  by  letters  patent  attested  by  as  many  seals  as  he  has  wrought 
 miracles  in  your  presence.     "  They  said  therefore  unto  him,  what  shall  we  do  that      28. 
 we  may  work  the  works  of  God,"  and  obtain  of  him  eternal  life  ?  "  Jesus  answered      29. 
 and  said  to  them  :  this  is  the  work  of  God,"  which  he  requires  of  you,  '•■  that  you 
 believe  in  him  whom  he  hath  sent,"  to  be  your  Master,  your  Lawgiver,  the  Mediator 
 of  your  salvation,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.     They  readily 
 understood,  that  in  saying  this,  he  spoke  concerning  himself.     "  They     g  r      ch  ■  t      30. 
 said  therefore  to  him  :  what  sign  therefore  dost  thou  show,  that  we  may  is  the  bread  of 
 see  and  believe  thee"  to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Messiah  ?  And  ^«''^'"'- 
 foreseeing  that  he  might  with  great  propriety  allege  the  recent  miracle  of  feeding 
 five  thousand  persons  with  five  loaves,  they  anticipate  this  obvious  answer,  by  con- 
 trasting it  with  what  Moses  performed  in  the  desert.     It  is  true,  say  they,  that  you 
 have  once  fed  five  thousand  persons  with  five  loaves  :  but  "  our  fathers,"  to  the  num- 
 
 *  That  is,  according  to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  labour  not  so  mucli  for  earthly  as  for  heavenly  things. 
 
208  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LIX. 
 
 31.  ber  of  600,000,  "  did  eat,"  not  for  once,  but  during  forty  years,  "  manna  in  the 
 desert ;"  a  species  of  food  this,  infinitely  superior  to  barley  bread,  "  as  it  is  written  : 
 
 32.  he  gave  them  bread  from  heavea  to  eat.  Then  Jesus  said  to  them  :  Amen,  amen  I 
 suy  to  you,  Moses  gave  you  not  bread  from  heaven  ;"  the  manna  only  came  from  the 
 clouds,  and  was  called  the  bread  from  heaven,  because  it  was  a  figure  of  it :    ''  but 
 
 33.  my  Father  giveth  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven.  For  the  bread  of  God  is  that 
 which  Cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  to  the  world ;"  that  is,  a  life  of 
 immortality  and  eternal  happiness  to  all  who  worthily  receive  it. 
 
 From  these  words  the  Jews  fancied  to  themselves  a  kind  of  real  bread  more 
 
 delicious  than  the  manna,  which  they  were  to  enjoy  during  the  whole  course  of  their 
 
 31.      lives.     "  They  said  therefore  unto  him  :    Lord,  give  us  always  this  bread.     And 
 
 35.  Jesus  said  to  them  :  I  am  the  bread  of  life,  he  that  cometh  to  me  shall  not  hunger, 
 and  he  that  believeth  in  me  shall  never  thirst."* 
 
 At  the  moment  when  Jesus  styled  himself  the  bread  of  heaven,  the  Jews,  it  seems, 
 gave  evident  marks,  by  their  countenances,  that  they  did  not  believe  him.    He  there- 
 
 36.  fore  added:  "  But  I  said  unto  you"  already,  "that  you  also  have  seen  me,"  and 
 witnessed  my  miracles,  "  and  you  believe  not."  But,  in  order  to  pique  their  jealousy 
 upon  this  occasion,  he  declares  to  them,  that  there  will  always  be  persons  who  will 
 believe  in  him,  and  who,  by  a  persevering  fiiith,  will  find  in  him  their  eternal  salva- 
 tion.    This  his  meaning  he  expresses  in  a  more  circumscribed  manner,  by  saying 
 
 3".  that  he  will  not  expel  them  from  his  house.     If  you  do  not  believe  in 
 
 are  "ivmi^Je-  1"^,  it  is  because  you  are  not  of  the  number  of  those  whom  my 
 sua  Christ  shall  Father  hath  given  me,  for  "  all  that  the  Father  giveth  me,  shall  come 
 no  pens  .         ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  j^j^  ^j^,^^  cometh  to  me,"  by  an  humble  and  sincere  faith,  "  I 
 
 3S.      will  not  cast  out.     Because  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  my  own  will,  but 
 
 39.  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.  Now  this  is  the  will  of  the  Father  who  sent  me,  that 
 of  all  that  he  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  again  in  the 
 
 40.  last  day,"  to  live  eternally  with  me.  "  And  this  is  the  will  of  my  Father  that  sent 
 me,  that  every  one  who  seeth  the  Son"  with  the  eyes  of  faith,  ''and  believeth  in  him, 
 may  have  life  everlasting,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  in  the  last  day,"  to  enter  into  a 
 
 41.  o-lorious  and  incorruptible  life.  "  The  Jews  therefore,"  instead  of 
 God  Teachdh,  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  to  be  of  the  haj)py  number  of  those 
 come   to  Jesus  vvhom  his  Father  had  given  him,  "  murmured  at  him,  because  he  had 
 
 43       ^^"*''  said:  I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven.     And  they 
 
 said,"  refuting  as  it  were  this  his  assertion  :  "  Is  not  this  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph, 
 whose  father  and  mother  we  know  ?  how  then  saith  he,  I  came  down  from  heaven  ? 
 
 43.  Jesus  therefore  answered  and  said  to  them  :  murmur  not  among  yourselves  ;  no  man 
 
 44.  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father  who  hath  sent  me  draw  him,"  by  his  special 
 
 45.  o-race,  "  and  I  will  raise  him  up  in  the  last  day.  It  is  written  in  the  prophets"  con- 
 cerning those  who  should  believe  in  me,  "  and  thei/  shall  all  be  taught  of  God. 
 Every  one"  therefore  "  that  hath  heard  of  the  Father,  and  hath  learned"  of  him  who 
 
 46.  I  am,  "  cometh  to  me"  by  faith  and  obedience.  "  Not  that  any  man  hath  seen  the 
 Father,  but  he  who  is"  born  "  of  God:  he"  indeed  "  hath  seen  the  Father."     As 
 
 *  The  terms  of  coming  to  him,  and  believing  in  him,  are  synonymous. 
 
Ch.  LIX.]  THE  LIFE    OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  209 
 
 to  others,  when  the  Scripture  says  they  are  taught  of  God,  this  is  to  be  understood  of  an 
 interior  spiritual  instruction,  which  takes  place  in  the  soul,  and  does  not  fall  under  the 
 senses ;  but  which  is  not  the  less  real  on  that  account,  because  it  is  the  heart  which 
 hears  the  voice  of  this  invisible  teacher.  "  Amen,  amen  I  say  unto  you"  again,  "  he  47. 
 that  believeth  in  me  hath  everlasting  life."  It  is  thus  Christ  concludes  this  first  part 
 of  his  discourse,  which  treats  of  faith  as  a  necessary  condition  required  by  him  from 
 mankind,  previously  to  his  imparting  to  them  his  heavenly  bread,  wliich  lasts 
 for  ever 
 
 After  having  thus  stated  the  necessity  of  divine  faith  in  those  who 
 wish  to  partake  of  this  heavenly  bread,  Jesus  proceeds  to  the  second       'eucharhi  ^ 
 part  of  his  discourse,  in  which  he  fully  explains  what  that  bread  of  life 
 is,  which  he  is  about  to  impart  to  mankind  in  the  mystery  of  the  holy  eucharist.      He 
 therefore  again  declares,  first,  that  he  himself  is  the  bread  of  eternal  life,  and  men- 
 tions the  several  properties  peculiar  to  it :  secondly,  he  applies  to  his  own  person 
 and  to  his  own  flesh  the  idea  of  this  bread,  such  as  he  has  defined  it.     Beginning 
 with  the  former  of  these,  he  says  :  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life.     Your  fathers  did  eat      48. 
 manna  in  the  desert,  and  are  dead  ;"  but  "  this  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from      ^^' 
 heaven,  that  if  any  man  eat  of  it,"  with  a  lively  and  active  faith,  "  he  may  not  die. 
 I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven,"  to  give  life  to  the  world.      51. 
 "  If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever  :  and  the  bread  that  I  will  give"      52. 
 at  my  last  supper,  "  is  my  flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world."* 
 
 The  Jews  already  greatly  scandalized  at  Jesus  for  his  having  styled  himself  the 
 living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven,  were  now  much  more  so,  on  hearing 
 these  last  words,  which  conveyed  to  their  minds,  in  their  plain  obvious  sense,  that 
 Jesus  would  really  give  to  them  his  own  flesh  to  eat ;  but  with  regard  to  the  manner 
 in  which  he  was  to  give  it,  they  falsely  represented  to  themselves  that  he  was  to  out 
 his  body  in  pieces  and  distribute  it  amongst  them  in  a  bloody  state,  the  very  idea  of 
 which  struck  them  with  horror  and  disgust.     "  The  Jews  therefore  strove  amongst      53. 
 themselves,  saying:  how  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat?  Then  Jesus  said  to      54. 
 them,"  in  order  to  confirm  the  notion  they  had  formed  of  a  real  eating  of  his  body, 
 and  to  remove  all  metaphorical  interpretation  of  his  words  :  "  Amen,  amen  I  say 
 unto  you,  unless  you  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood,  you  shall 
 not  have  life  in  you."     But  "  he  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath      55. 
 everlasting  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.    For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,      56. 
 and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.!     He  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,      57. 
 abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,"  as  food  abideth  in  him  who  takes  it.     "  As  the  living      58. 
 Father  hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the  Father,"  a  divine  life,  always  proceeding  from 
 him,  "  so  he  that  eateth  me,"  first,  by  faith,  by  believing  in  me,  and  secondly,  by  a  real 
 manducation  of  my  body  and  blood  in  the  holy  communion,  "the  same  also  shall  live 
 by  me.     This  is"  truly  "  the  bread  that  came  down  from  heaven,  not  as  your  fathers      59. 
 
 *  Compare  the  words  here  spoken  with  those  he  holy  fathers  have  always  explained  this  6th  chap, 
 
 delivered  at  his  last  supper,  and  you  will   see   that  of  St.  John,  as  spoken  of  the  blessed  sacrament. 
 
 what  he  promises   here   was   then   fulfilled,  when  t   How  could  this  be  so,  if  what  he  gives  in  the 
 
 taking:  the  bread,  and  dislributina:  it,  he  says  :  "  this  blessed  sacrament  be  nothing  but  a  bit  of  bread,  as 
 
 is  my  body,  which  is  given  for  you."     Hence  the  Protestants  pretend  ? 
 
 18,  3  H 
 
210  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LIX. 
 
 did  eat  manna,*  and  are  dead  :  he  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live  for  ever  ;"  for  his 
 soul  shall  live  here  by  a  life  of  justice,  and  hereafter  by  a  life  of  glory  ;  and  his  body 
 likewise  shall  be  raised  up  to  a  blessed  immortality  in  the  day  of  the  general  resur- 
 
 60.  g  ^^^  ^^__  rection.  "  These  things  he  said  teaching  in  the  synagogue  m  Caphar- 
 ples  are  scan-  naum,"  in  the  midst  of  a  very  numerous  assembly,  whereof  a  part 
 
 61.  dalizcd.  consisted  of  those  whom  he  had  recently  fed  in  the  desert.  "  Many 
 therefore  of  his  disciples  hearing  it,  said:  this  saying  is  hard,  and  who  can  hear  it? 
 
 62.  But  Jesus  knowing  in  himself  that  his  disciples  murmured  at  this,  said  to  them  :  doth 
 this  scandalize  you,"  and  appear  unworthy  of  your  belief  in  the  present  state  of  things, 
 
 63.  whilst  I  am  with  you?  "  If  then  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  ascending  up"  into 
 heaven,  "  where  he  was  before,"  how  will  you  then  believe  that  he  can  give  you  his 
 flesh,  when  become  glorious  and  immortal,  and  elevated  to  the  right  hand  of  God  ? 
 For  it  is  much  easier  to  conceive  that  a  thing  present  may  be  eaten,  than  to  conceive 
 the  same  of  a  thing  absent  and  invisible  to  all  our  senses. 
 
 Christ  next  rebukes  them  for  presuming  to  judge  of  his  words  by  the  testimony  of 
 
 64.  their  senses,  and  by  their  carnal  and  gross  imagination.  On  the  contrary,  "  it  is  the 
 spirit,"  said  he,  "  that  quickeneth  rf  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing  ;"  for  it  cannot  pene- 
 trate these  sublime  mysteries.  "  The  words  that  I  have  spoken  to  you  are  spirit  and 
 life,"  and  therefore,  to  understand  them,  you  must  be  animated  with  the  spirit  of 
 
 65.  God,  and  live  the  life  of  faith.  "  But  there  are  some  of  you  that"  have  not  this 
 spirit,  and  live  not  this  life,  and  so  "  believe  not.  For  Jesus  knew  from  the  begin- 
 ning who  they,  were  that  did  not  believe,  and  who  he  was  that  would  betray  him. 
 
 66.  And  he  said  :  therefore  did  I  say  to  you,  that  no  man  can  come  to  me,"  by  an  humble 
 
 67.  and  firm  faith,  "  unless  it  be  given  him  by  my  Father.  After  this  many  of  his 
 disciples  went  back  :  and  walked  no  more  with  him."  Our  Saviour,  who  saw  them 
 thus  abandon  him,  and  most  feelingly  resented  their  eternal  loss,  did  not  offer  to  call 
 them  back  again  :  and  yet  this  he  would  most  certainly  have  done,  if  they  had  been 
 under  a  mistake  only  in  regard  to  his  meaning  ;  a  mistake  to  which  he  himself  had 
 o-iven  rise,  by  his  manner  of  speaking.  It  is  indeed  difficult  to  imagine,  that  Jesus 
 would  thus  let  his  own  disciples  leave  him,  and  run  headlong  to  perdition,  when  a 
 few  words  on  his  part  would  have  been  sufficient  to  undeceive  them,  if  they  had  oidv 
 mistaken  his  meaning.  If  this  had  been  the  case,  he  had  only  to  tell  them  that  he 
 meant  no  more  by  all  his  discourse,  than  that  they  should  believe  in  him.  But  no, 
 this  was  not  aU  :  these  disciples  had  heard  his  whole  discourse,  and  were  well 
 assured,  from  the  plain  and  obvious  meaning  of  his  words,  that  he  promised  to  give 
 them  his  real  flesh  to  be  their  food  ;  and  not  being  able  to  understand  how  this  could 
 be,  they  were  scandalized  at  it,  and  followed  the  example  of  the  other  unbelieving 
 Jews.     What  a  striking  likeness  is  observable  between  Protestants  and  these  incre- 
 
 *  Can  a  bare  figure  he  more  excellent  than  the  to  express  all  the  operalious  of  God  within  us.     It 
 
 manna,   which   was    a    most   admirable    figure    of  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth,  the  flesh  profiteth  no- 
 
 Christ  in  many  of  its  properties  ?  or  can  a  bit  of  thing  ;  or  in  other  words  :  as  it  is  the  spirit  which 
 
 mere  bread,  taken  only  in  remembrance  of  Christ,  gives  life,  and  the  flesh  without  it  is  a  senseless 
 
 be  supposed  to  be  a  food  by  which  we  shall  live  for  lump  of  clay,  so  a  firm  faith  in  the  words  which  I 
 
 ever}  have  spoken,  gives   spirit  and  life  to  a  christian 
 
 t  To  quicken,  is  a  phrase  usual  in  the  Scriptures  soul. 
 
Ch.  LIX]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  gJl 
 
 dulous  Jews,  who  said,  on  this  occasion,  how  can  he  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  ?  Or 
 rather,  the  former  are  much  more  blaraeable  than  the  Jews,  since  against  the  words 
 of  Scripture,  against  the  unanimous  consent  and  authority  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
 all  ages  and  parts  of  the  world,  they  refuse  to  believe  his  real  presence,  and  have 
 nothing  to  say,  but  with  the  obdurate  Capharnaites,  hovo  can  this  be  done  ?  Their 
 answers  and  objections  are  reducible  to  this,  when  they  tell  us  that  the  real  presence 
 contradicts  their  senses,  their  reason,  and  that  they  know  it  to  be  false.  But  let  us 
 now  see  how  differently  the  apostles  acted  on  this  occasion. 
 
 When  the  apostate  disciples  had  now  withdrawn  themselves,  "  then  68 
 
 Jesus  said  to  the  twelve:  will  you  also  go  away?"     Here  again  we  adherence  of  (ke 
 have  another  clear  proof  of  the  real  presence.     The  twelve  had  heard  Apostles  to 
 all  that  passed ;  they  had  seen  the  Jews  strive  amongst  themselves, 
 and  the  disciples  murmur  and  leave  their  Master  ;  they  understood  what  he  said  in 
 the  same  literal  sense  the  others  had  done  ;  it  could  indeed  bear  no  other  meaning  ; 
 but  when  Jesus  put  the  above  question  to  them,  leaving-  them  to  their  free  choice, 
 whether  to  follow  him  or  withdraw  themselves,  "  Simon  Peter  answered  him  :  Lord,      69. 
 to  whom  shall  we  go  ?     Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.     And  we  have  believed      70. 
 and  have  known  that  thou  art  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  "  God,"  and  therefore 
 able  to  make  good  thy  words,  however  hard  and  difficult  they  may  appear  to  others. 
 Admire  here  the  noble  simplicity  of  their  faith,  they  believe  the  words  of  their  Master 
 •without  the  least  hesitation  ;  they  look  upon  them  as  the  words  of  eternal  life  ;  they 
 believe  them  in  that  very  meaning  in  which  the  others  had  refused  to  believe  them  ; 
 they  believe  them  as  containing  a  promise  of  giving  them  his  real  flesh  to  eat,  and 
 his  real  blood  to  drink  ;  and  they  believe  with  a  most  firm  and  sincere  faith,  for  this 
 plain  but  noble  reason,  because  he  is  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  absolutely  inca- 
 pable of  deceiving  his  creatures,  and  whose  almighty  power  is  perfectly  able  to  fulfil 
 his  word,  and  to  perform  the  promise  which  he  here  made  them. 
 
 Judas,  however,  it  would  seem,  did  not  acquiesce  in  the  above  public  avowal  made 
 by  Peter,  and  yet  he  resigned  not  his  apostleship,  nor  did  he  withdraw  from  the 
 company  of  Jesus,  as  some  of  the  disciples  had  done.  He  found  his  advantage  in 
 carrying  the  common  purse,  and  in  being  the  bearer  of  the  alms  bestowed  upon  his 
 brethren.  Knowing  perfectly  this  his  inward  disposition,  "  Jesus  answered  them,"  71. 
 with  some  restriction  to  the  public  profession  which  Peter  had  just  made  in  the  name 
 of  his  brethren  ;  and  excepting  Judas,  yet  without  naming  him,  he  said  :  "  Have  not 
 I  chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil,"  through  avarice  and  incredulity  ? 
 '■'  Now  he  meant  Judas  Iscariot,  the  son  of  Simon,  for  he  it  was  that  was  to  betray  72. 
 hira,  being  one  of  the  twelve." 
 
2]  2  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LX. 
 
 CHAPTER  LX. 
 
 THE  PHARISEES  COMPLAIN  THAT  THE  DISCIPLES  EAT  WITH  UNWASHED  HANDS  :  CHRIST, 
 IN  HIS  TURN,  REPROACHES  THEM  WITH  VIOLATING  THE  LAW  OF  GOD,  ON  ACCOUNT  OF 
 THEIR  HU.MAN  TRADITIONS,  AND  SHOWS  THAT  TRUE  PURITY  IS  NOT  MERELY  EXTERNAL, 
 BUT  SEATED  IN  THE  HEART.      MATT.   XV.      MARK  VII.      lOHN  VII. 
 
 It  has  been  remarked  above  by  St.  John,  c.  vi.  ver.  4,  that  when  Jesus  withdrew 
 into  the  desert  of  Bethsaida,  the  Passover  was  near  at  hand.  We  are  therefore 
 naturally  led  to  expect  that,  after  the  discourse  concerning  the  eucharist,  this  evan- 
 gelist would  relate,  as  usual,  his  journey  to  Jerusalem,  there  to  keep  the  paschal 
 festival.  Bat  he  rather  gives  us  to  understand  that  he  did  not  ascend  thither  on  this 
 occasion,  on  account  of  the  imminent  danger  which  would  have  threatened  iiis  life.* 
 John  7.  "  After  these  things  Jesus  walked  through  Galilee  ;  for  he  would  not  walk  through 
 j^^Jj^  ^  Judea,  because  the  Jews  sought  to  kill  him.  And  the  Pharisees,"  seeing  he  did  not 
 ^\.  '  make  his  appearance  during  the  festival,  "  assemble  unto  him,"  in  Galilee,  "  and 
 some  of  the  Scribes  coming  from  Jerusalem,"  join  them.  They  had  not,  it  seems, 
 any  intention  at  present  of  seizing  on  his  person,  but  only  of  examining  more  nar- 
 rowly into  his  doctrine  and  actions,  that  they  might  be  better  prepared  to  criminate 
 him  on  some  future  occasion.  On  meeting  with  Jesus,  therefore,  they  enter  into  an 
 altercation  with  him,  on  the  frivolous  subject  of  his  disciples  eating  with  unwashed 
 hands ;  whilst  he,  in  his  turn,  justly  reproaches  them  with  guilt  in  a  matter  of  the 
 hio-hest  concern,  and  justifies  both  himself  and  his  disciples,  as  to  the  pretended 
 
 2.  crime  laid  to  their  charge.    "  And  when  they  had  seen  some  of  his  disciples  eat  bread 
 
 3.  with  common,  that  is,  with  unwashed  hands,  they  found  fliult.  For  the  Pharisees, 
 and  all  the  Jews,  eat  not  without  often  washing  their  hands,  holding  the  tradition  of 
 
 4.  the  ancients  :  and  when  they  come  from  the  market,  unless  they  be  washed,  they  eat 
 not:  and  many  other  things  there  are  that  have  been  delivered  to  them  to  observe, 
 the  washings  of  cups,  and  of  pots,  and  of  brazen  vessels,  and  of  beds,"  or  couches,  on 
 which  they  reclined  at  meals,  according  to  the  custom  of  those  times.  These  tradi- 
 tions! were  glosses  or  explanations  of  the  law  made  by  their  forefathers,  and  were 
 called  the  oral  law,  because  they  came  by  tradition,  not  being  given  in  writing,  as 
 was  the  law  of  Moses.  The  Jews  in  general  professed  as  much  respect  for  these 
 traditions  as  for  the  law  of  Moses,  except  the  sect  of  the  Caraites,  who  did  not  admit 
 
 5.  traditions.     "  And  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes,"  under  this  false  notion  of  the  obliga- 
 
 *  Some  interpreters  are  of  a  different  opinion,  Judas  composed  a  book  of  them,  called  the  Afi's/iHo; 
 
 and   say  that  Jesus  went  on  this  occasion  to  Jeru-  that  is,  the  second  law,  which   is  indeed   the  most 
 
 salem,  in  order  to  celebrate  the  Passover.     But  we  ancient  collection  of  tradi'.ions  that  the  Jews  have, 
 
 follow  the   sentiment  of  St.  Thomas  (in  chap.  6.  Three  hundred  years  after   R.  Jonathan   meeting 
 
 Joan.),  which  is  more  agreeable  to  the  text  of  St.  with  more  traditions,  compiled  them  into  a  largjer 
 
 John.     At  least,  if  Jesus  ascended  to  Jerusalem,  volume;  and  100  years  later,  another  Rabbi  made 
 
 his  stay  there  must  have  been  very  short.  a  collection  of  such  as  were  found  among  the  Jews 
 
 t  The   traditions  here  alluded  to  were  collected  who  remained  at  Babylon.     These  two  are  a  kind 
 
 in  seventy-two  books,  and  composed  the  Cabbala  ;  of  supplement  and  explication  of  the  Mhhna,  one 
 
 they  were  kept,  it  is  said,  by  Gamaliel  and  other  of  which  is  called  the   Talmud  of  Jerusalem,  and 
 
 heads   of  the   Sanhedrim,  until  the  destruction   of  the  other  of  Babylon,  and  it  is  by  them  the  Jews 
 
 Jerusalem.      About    120    years   after    this.   Rabbi  are  still  governed  in  ecclesiastical  matters. 
 
Ch.  LX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  213 
 
 lion  of  such  traditionary  practices,  coming-  to  see  Jesus,  "  asked  him,  saying  :  why  Matt.  15. 
 do  thy  disciples  transgress  the  tradition  of  the  ancients  ?  for  they  wash  not  their       ^* 
 hands  wlien  they  eat  bread.     But  he  answering,  said  to  them,"  by  way  of  just  retor-       3. 
 tion  :  "  why  do  you  also  transgress  the  commandment  of  God  for  your  tradition  ?  For       4. 
 God  said  :  honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother ;  and  he  that  shall  curse  father  or 
 mother,  let  him  be  punished  with  death.    But  you  say :  whosoever  shall  say  to  his  ftither       5. 
 or  mother,"  when  applying  for  relief  under  the  pressure  of  want,  "  whatsoever  corban  Mark  7. 
 (which  is  a  gift)  proceedeth  from  me,  shall  profit  thee ;"  in  other  words  :  I  have  con- 
 secrated to  God  all  that  share  of  my  goods  which  I  could  otherwise  have  imparted  to 
 you,  and  I  am  in  duty  bound  to  give  the  preference  to  God  in  the  disposal  of  my 
 property,  whilst  you  will  not  fail  to  reap  a  spiritual  advantage  equally  with  me  in  all 
 such   offerings  to  the  Deity.     Whoever,  tlierefore,  said  the  Pharisees,  shall  thus 
 address  his  indigent  parents,  he  is  no  longer  bound  to  attend  to  their  wants,  "  and  Matt.  15. 
 he  shall  not"  be  obliged  to  "  honour  his  father  and  mother,"  by  relieving  them. 
 "  And  further,  you  suffer  him  not  to  do  any  thing"  more  "  for  his  father  or  mother,  Mark  7. 
 
 makinof  void  the  word  of  God,  and  the  commandment  of  God,  by  your  own  tradition      12- 
 
 .  ...  Matt.  15 
 
 which  you  have  given  forth."     Jesus  reproached  them  likewise  with  many  other       g', 
 
 similar  traditions,  equally  founded  upon  injustice,  which  are  not  particularized  by  Mark  7. 
 the  Evangehsts.     "  And  many  other  things,"  says  he,  "^you  do  like  to  these." 
 
 Considering  then  the  Pharisees  and  the  doctors  of  the  law  as  living  in  the  con- 
 stant habit  of  hypocrisy,  or  rather  of  an  insatiable  avarice,  disguised  under  the  false 
 cloak  of  religion,  Jesus  applied  to  them  the  prophecy  of  Isaias  :    "  Hypocrites,"  said  Matt.  15. 
 he  to  them.,  "  well  hath  Isaias  prophesied  of  you,  "  saying:  this  people,  honoiireth  me.        ' 
 with  their  lips :  but  their  heart  is  far  from  me.     And  in  vain  do  they  icorship  me,  Mark7.7. 
 teaching"  not  the  law  of  God,  but  the  "  doctrines  and  precepts  of  men  :*  for  leaving  the       8. 
 commandment  of  God,  you  hold  the  tradition  of  men,  the  washing  of  pots  and  of 
 cups :  and  many  other  things  you  do  like  to  these,"  equally  vain  and  insigniticant. 
 '*  And  he  said  to  them,"  condemning  in  a  vein  of  irony  these  their  ill  regulated  prac-       9, 
 tices  of  religion  ;  "  finely  done,  you  make  void  the  commandment  of  God,  that  you 
 may  keep  your  own  traditions"  with  the  greater  punctuality,  as  if  they  were  more 
 perfect  than  the  laws  of  the  decalogue.     "  And  again,  calling  the  people,  he  said  to      14. 
 them  :  hear  me  all  of  you  and  understand.     There  is  nothing  from  without  a  man,      15, 
 
 *  It  is  evident  that  Christ  here  speaks  of  such  his  first  Epistles,  about  twenty  years  after  Christ's 
 doctrines,  preceptfi,  and  traditions  as  were  contrary  ascension,  tells  the  Thessalonians,  (I  Thess.  i.  8.) 
 to  the  law  of  God,  or  of  nature,  as  that  of  neglect-  that  their  faith  was  spread  in  every  place,  so  that 
 ing  parents  under  pretence  of  giving  to  God,  or  it  was  not  necessary  for  him  to  add  any  thing. 
 such  at  least  as  were  vain  and  frivolous,  as  that  of  And  again  he  orders  them  to  stand  fait  and  hold 
 often  washing  hands.  No  one,  therefore,  can  from  the  traditions  which  they  liad  been  taught,  whe- 
 hence  conclude  that  all  traditions  or  doctrines  de-  ther  by  word  of  mouth,  or  by  epistles.  (2  Thess.  ii. 
 livered  from  one  age  to  another,  that  have  been  14.)  It  is  equally  groundless  to  pretend  from  hence, 
 constantly  taught  and  delivered  in  the  Catholic  that  the  precepts  of  the  Church  in  matters  of  disci- 
 Church,  to  which  Christ  promised  the  assistance  of  pline,  are  not  binding  and  obligatory,  for  Christ 
 the  spirit  of  truth,  are  to  be  rejected  as  void  of  liimself  hath  commanded  all  to  hear  and  obey  the 
 authority.  Christ  himself  delivered  his  doctrines  by  Church,  and  its  lawful  pastors.  These,  indeed, 
 preaching  to  his  disciples,  with  whom  he  promised  may  be  called  precepts  of  men,  but  they  are  pre- 
 to  be  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  the  disciples,  by  cepts  of  men  invested  with  power  and  authority 
 preaching  and  teaching,  delivered  them  to  others;  from  God,  and  of  whom  Christ  himself  said,  Luke 
 none  of  them  wrote  till  many  years  after  the  Chris-  x.  16.  "  He  that  hears  you  hears  me,  and  he  that 
 tian  religion  was  founded;  and  St.  Paul,  in  one  of  despiseth  you  despiseth  me." 
 
 19.  3 1 
 
214  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LX. 
 
 that  entering  into  him  can  defile  him :  but  the  things  which  proceed  from  a  man, 
 16.  those  are  they  that  defile  a  man.  If  any  man  hath  ears  to  ear,  let  him  hear."  He 
 entered  not  into  any  further  explication  of  this  subject  before  the  Pharisees,  because 
 they  were  undeserving  of  it,  and  thus  the  obscurity  of  his  words  afforded  them  an 
 Matt  15.  ample  field  for  their  censures.  "  Then  came  his  disciples,  and  said  to  him :  dost 
 thou  know  that  the  Pharisees,  when  they  heard  this  word,  were  scandalized."  They 
 hereby  insinuated,  that  on  his  part  it  might  not  be  improper  to  soften  what  to  them 
 appeared  harsh  in  his  decision,  in  order  thereby  to  appease  the  minds  of  the  Pharisees, 
 apparently  much  irritated,  especially  as  by  their  weight  and  authority  they  might 
 
 13.  become  very  formidable  enemies  to  him.  "  But  he  answering"  to  this  suggestion, 
 which  was  grounded  on  human  policy,  "  said,"  that  nothing  was  to  be  apprehended 
 from  the  power  and  malice  of  the  Pharisees,  because  tlicir  sect  would  be  extremely 
 short-lived  if  compared  with  the  religion  which  he  was  come  to  establish.  This  is 
 the  meaning  of  the  figurative  expression  employed  by  him,  when  he  said  :  "  every 
 plant,"  that  is,  every  doctrine,  "  which  my  Father  hath  not  planted,  shall  be 
 rooted  up." 
 
 He  further  answered,  that  they  need  not  be  anxious  concerning  the  Pharisees,  nor 
 
 14.  their  dl  founded  scruples :  "  Let  them  alone,"  said  he  :  "  they  are  blind,  and  leaders 
 of  the  blind.     And  if  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  both  fall  into  the  pit." 
 
 By  this  answer  we  are  taught  that  we  are  not  to  be  troubled  at  the  scandal  which 
 some  persons  lightly  take  at  our  conduct,  and  even  at  our  good  works,  whilst  the  real 
 cause  of  such  scandal  is  soleli/  in  themselves ;  that  is,  in  the  malice  of  their  own 
 hearts  :  but  we  are  at  the  same  time  taught  to  act  with  prudence  and  discretion 
 towards  such  persons  as  are  weak,  and  who,  being  innocently  shocked  at  the  apparent 
 novelty  of  our  words  or  actions,  require  only  a  proper  explanation  to  rectify  their 
 misconceptions.  Jesus  Christ  is  a  striking  example  of  this,  in  the  difference  of  his 
 behaviour  on  this  occasion  towards  the  Pharisees  and  towards  his  own  disciples,  who, 
 Mark  7.  to  all  appearance,  were  equally  scandalized.  "  And  when  he  was  come  into  the 
 M  ^''\<\  ^'^"^6  ^''°™  ^^^  multitude,  his  disciples  asked  him  the  parable.     And  Peter,"  in  the 
 
 15.  name  of  t-he  rest,  "  said:  expound  to  us  this  parable.     But  he  said,"  surprised  as  it 
 Mark  7.  were  at  their  stupidity,  "  are  you  also  yet  without  understanding,"  and  "  so  void  of 
 
 '^-  knowledge?"  The.i  he  condescended  to  explain  the  subject  to  them  as  follows: 
 "  understand  you  not  that  every  thing  from  without,  entering  into  a  man,  cannot 
 
 19.  defile  him,*  because  it  entereth  not  into  his  heart,"  nor  into  the  blood,  which  by  cir- 
 culation passes  through  the  heart,  "  but  goeth  into  the  belly,"  whence  it  is  separated 
 from  the  other  parts  of  the  food,  "  and  goeth  out"  by  the  usual  way  "  into  the  privy, 
 purging  all  meats."     Jesus  had  not  here  an  idea  of  alluding  to  what  might  vitiate  or 
 
 ♦Matt.  XV.  11.    What  entereth  into  the  mouth,  bidJen  fruit,  it  was  not  the   apple  which   entered 
 
 &c.     We   must   sincerely  pity   those   wlio  blindly  into  the  mouth,  but  the  disobedience  to  the  law  of 
 
 pretend  from  hence,  that  to  eat  flesh  meat  on  fast-  God  which  defiled   liim.     If  a  man  make  himself 
 
 ing  days  cannot  defile  a  man.     It  is  not  any  un-  drunk  with  this  same  plea,  that  what  enters  by  the 
 
 cleanness  in  the  meat  itself,  as  the  Manicheans  pre-  mouth.  &c.  is  not  the  answer  obvious,  that  it  is  not 
 
 tended,  which  defiles  the  soul ;  but  it  is  a  contempt  the  wine,  but  the  intemperance,  contrary  to  the  law 
 
 aud  disoiedwice  of  the  laws  of  the  Church,  which,  of  God,    which   defileth   him.     As   St.  Paul    .says, 
 
 on  such  occasions,  defile  the  consciences   of  the  1  Cor.  vi.  10.    "  drunkards  shall  not  possess  the 
 
 transgressors.     And  thus,  when  Adam  ate  the  for-  kingdom  of  God." 
 
Matt.  15. 
 
 Ch.  LXI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  glS 
 
 infect  the  blood,  but  only  to  that  which  mioht  defile  the  soul  in  the  eyes  of  God  ;  yet 
 as  the  Apostles,  who  understood  him  in  a  gross  and  material  sense,  erroneously  con- 
 founded these  two  meanings,  it  became  necessary  to  instance  this  process  of  nature, 
 in  order  to  make  it  understood  by  the  Apostles,  that  our  food  cannot  possibly  defile 
 the  soul.  "  And,"  therefore,  to  rectify  still  more  their  ideas,  "  he  told  them  the 
 things  which  proceed  out  of  the  mouth,  come  forth  from  the  heart ;  and  those  things,"  ^g 
 says  he,  "  defile  a  man  :  for  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  man,  proceed  evil  thoughts,  Mark  7. 
 adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  false  testimonies,  covetousness,  wickedness,  _.  ^l. 
 
 ,  ,         ,  •  1        r     1-   1  »  11      1  .,  Matt.  15. 
 
 deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride,  ioohshness.     All  these  evd      19. 
 thino-s  come  from  within,"  and  "  these  are  the  things  that  defile  a  man  :  but  to  eat  Mark  7. 
 
 o  ,  ,,  22. 
 
 with  unwashed  hands  doth  nut  defile  a  man.  23. 
 
 Matt.  IS. 
 20. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXI. 
 
 THE  CANANEAN  \VOMA.N.      MATT.  XV.      MARK  VII. 
 
 "  And  Jesus  went  from  thence,"  i.  e.  from  Galilee,  "  and  retired  into  the  coasts  of  Mark  7. 
 Tyre  and  Sidon  ;*  and  entering  into  a  house,  he  would  that  no  man  should  know  it,      ^** 
 and  he  could  not  be  hid.     For  a  woman  of  Canaan,  who  came  out  of  those  coasts,"      ^^- 
 and  "  whose  daughter  had  an  unclean  spirit,  as  soon  as  she  heard  of  him,"  came,     ^22.  "" 
 and  "  crying  out,  said  to  him"t  as  he  was  entering  the  house  :  "  have  mercy  on  me,  Mark  7. 
 O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David  :  my  daughter  is  grievously  troubled  by  a  devil.     Jesus  -^i^^'i^ 
 answered  her  not  a  word;  and  his  disciples  came  and  besought  him"  in  her  favour,      22. 
 ''  saying :  send  her  away,  for  she  crieth  after  us.     And  he  answering,  said  :  I  was      H?* 
 not  sent  but  to  the  sheep  that  are  lost  of  the  house  of  Israel,"  and  not  to  the  Gentiles 
 whose  conversion  to  the  faith  is  reserved  for  a  future  period.     "  But  she,"  not  dis-      25. 
 couraged,  "  came  in  and  fell  down  at  his  feet,  [for  the  woman  was  a  Gentile,^  a  ^%^  '^' 
 Syrophoenician  born]   and  adored  him,  saying :   Lord  help  me  :  and  she  besought  Matt.  15. 
 him,"  in  this  posture  of  profound  adoration,  that  he  would  cast  forth  the  devil  out  M^t7 
 of  her  daughter.     "  Who  answering  said  to  her :    Suffer  first  the  children  to  be      26. 
 filled  :  for  it  is  not  good  to  take  the  bread  of  the  children,  and  cast  it  to  the  dogs,"      ^'^• 
 
 *  Tyre    and    Sidon    were   both    seated    on   the         f   It  is  probable  that  the  woman  first  cried  out 
 
 Mediterranean  sea,  about  twenty  miles  distant  from  before  the  door,  and  assembled  a  crowd,  and  then 
 
 each   other,   and    the  country   adjoining^  to   them,  went  into  the  house. 
 
 which   lay  to  the  west  and   north   of  Galilee,  was  +   She  is  called  eWrjvi?,  (i.  e.  Graeca)  Syrophoe- 
 
 called  the  coast  or  territories  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  nician,  and  Cananean  ;  eWrjvii,  on  account  of  her 
 
 The  old  inhabitants  of  this  tract  were  descendants  relig'ion,    which    was    Pagan,   Syrophcenician    and 
 
 of  Canaan,  (for  Sidon  was  his  eldest  son,)  and  con-  Cananean  as  to  her  country.     The   Hebrews  nave 
 
 tinued   in  possession   of  it  much  longer  than  they  the  nnme  of  Cananean  to  those  who  inhabited  Tyre 
 
 did  of  any  other  part  of  the  country.     The  Greeks  and  Sidon,  and  the  neighbouring  coast,  Num.  xiii. 
 
 called  it  Phoenicia,  and   when  by  right  of  conquest  30,  &c.  and  the  Greeks  called  them  Syrophoenicians, 
 
 it  became  a  province   of  Syria,  it  took  the  name  of  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Phoenicians  of  Africa 
 
 Syrophcenicia ;    and    hence   the    woman    who    St.  who  were  a  colony  of  them. 
 Matthew  calls  a  Canaanite  is  by  St.  Mark  styled  a 
 Syrophoenician  and  Gentile,  as  being  both  by  reli- 
 gion and  language  a  Greek. 
 
216  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXIL 
 
 i.  e.  to  the  Gentiles,  who  are  frequently  in  scripture  called  dogs,  on  account  of  their 
 
 28.  barefaced  impiety  in  publicly  prostituting  themselves  to  the  worship  of  idols.  "  But 
 she,"  notwithstanding  this  refusal,  did  not  despair  of  success,  and  preserving  both 
 her  temper  and  her  hopes,  at  length  obtained  the  object  of  her  request  by  meaivs  of 
 an  answer  equally  acute  and  humble,  which  our  Lord  himself  suggested  to  her  :  for 
 allowing  the  justice  of  Christ's  observation,  "  she  answered  and  said,"  taking  advaii- 
 
 28,      tage  of  it :  "  Yea,  Lord,  for  the  whelps  also  eat,  under  the  table,  of  the  crums  of 
 
 Matt.  15.  Q^Q  children  that  fall  from  the  table  of  their  masters."     May  it  therefore  be  granted 
 
 to  us  Gentiles  to  gather  a  small  part  of  this  abundance  of  graces  which  you  diffuse 
 
 28.      amongst  the  Jews.     "  Then  Jesus,"  overcome  as  it  were  by  her  pious  importunity, 
 
 "  answering,  said  to  her :  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith  :  be  it  done  to  thee  as  thou 
 
 Mark  7.  wilt.     For  this"  thy  "  saying,"  so  full  of  faith  and  humility,  "  go  thy  way,  the  devil 
 
 Matt  15  '^  g'one  out  of  thy  daughter.     And"  accordingly  "  her  daughter  was  cured  from  that 
 
 28.      hour.     And  when  she  was  come  into  her  house,  she  found  the  girl  lying  upon  the 
 
 ^(j  ^"  bed,  and  that  the  devil  was  gone  out." 
 
 Our  Blessed  Saviour,  says  St.  Chrysostom,  refused  at  first  to  listen  to  the  petition 
 of  this  Cananean  woman,  that  by  her  example  he  might  instruct  us,  with  what  faith, 
 humility,  and  perseverance  we  ought  to  pray.  To  make  his  servants  the  more  sen- 
 sible of  his  mercy,  and  the  more  eager  to  obtain  it,  he  often  seems  to  pay  no  attention 
 to  their  prayers,  till  he  has  exercised  them  in  the  virtues  of  humility  and  patience. 
 Ask,  says  he,  and  you  shall  receive ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXH. 
 
 CHRIST  CURES   A  DEAF  AND  DUMB  PERSON,  AS  ALSO  MANY   OTHER  SICK  PEOPLE. 
 MATT.  XV.      MARK  VII. 
 
 Matt.  15.  "  And  when  Jesus  had  passed  away  from  thence,  going  out  of  the  coasts  of  Tyre,  he 
 ,^^^"      came  by  Sidon  to  the  sea  of  Galilee,  through  the  midst  of  the  coast  of  Decapolis." 
 
 31.  '  This  district  was   so  called,  because   it  comprised  ten   cities,  some  of  which   were 
 
 situated  on  the  east,  and  others  on  the  west  of  the  river  Jordan.  The  first  and  prin- 
 cipal city  was  Scythopolis,  and  the  rest,  according  to  Pliny,  were  Philadelphia, 
 Raphana,  Gadara,  Hippos,  Dion,  Pella,  Gerasa,  Canatha,  and  Damascus,  although 
 
 32.  others  reckon  them  diflferently.  "  And  they  bring  to  Jesus  one  deaf  and  dumb,"  or, 
 as  it  is  in  the  Greek,  one  who  had  an  impediment  in  his  speech  ;  "  and  they  besought 
 him  that  he  would  lay  his  hand  upon  him,"  in  order  to  his  cure.  In  healing  this 
 man  Jesus  made  use  of  various  exterior  ceremonies,  and  in  so  doing  he  has  fiilly 
 authorized  the  use  which  the  Catholic  Church  makes  of  ceremonies  in  the  admiiiis- 
 
 33.  tration  of  the  holy  sacraments.     "  And  having  taken  him  aside  from  the  crowd,  he 
 
 34.  put  his  fingers  in  his  ears,  and  spitting  he  touched  his  tongue  :  and  looking  up  to 
 heaven  he  groaned,  and  he  said  to  him  :  Ephphetha,  which  is"  in  the  Syriac  lan- 
 
 35.  guage,  "  be  thou  opened.     And  immediately  his  ears  were  opened,  and  the  string  of 
 
Ch.  LXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  gjjg 
 
 his  tong-ue  was  loosed,  and  he  spoke  rig-ht.     And  he  charged  them  that  they  should      36 
 tell  no  man  :  but  the  more  he  charged  them  against  it,  so  much  the  more  did  they 
 publish  it.     And  so  much  the  more  did  they  wonder^  saying,  he  hath  done  all  things      37. 
 well ;  he  hath  made  the  deaf  to  hear,  and  the  dumb  to  speak." 
 
 It  is  to  be  observed  that  all  these  actions,  as  performed  by  Jesus,  were  mysterious, 
 and  represented  to  succeeding  ages  the  difficulty  there  is  in  restoring  sight  to  such 
 minds  as  are  spiritually  bhnd,  or  hearing  to  such  as  are  become  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
 God  :  it  is  with  a  view  to  this  mysterious  sense  that  the  Church  has,  in  imitation  of 
 Christ,  adopted  these  as  part  of  her  ceremonies  in  the  administration  of  the  sacrament 
 of  baptism. 
 
 1.  In  performing  this  cure,  Jesus  separated  the  dumb  person  from  the  crowd, 
 thereby  to  represent  to  us  the  banishment  of  the  first  man  out  of  paradise,  after  his 
 sin.  In  like  manner,  the  Church  separates  the  catechumens,  or  those  that  are  to  be 
 baptized,  from  the  rest  of  the  faithful,  by  causing  them  to  remain  at  the  door  of  tlie 
 church  or  chapel.  2.  Jesus  put  his  fingers  into  the  ears  of  the  deaf  man,  and  touched 
 his  tongue  witli  his  spittle.  Thus,  in  conferring  baptism,  the  priest  touches  with  iiis 
 spittle  the  ears  of  the  person  to  be  baptized,  these  being  the  organs  by  which  faith 
 and  instruction  are  to  be  conveyed  to  him  :  he  also  puts  a  little  salt  into  his  mouth, 
 as  it  were  to  make  his  taste  more  susceptible  of  the  sweetness  of  God's  command- 
 ments, and  of  the  mysteries  of  Jesus  Christ ;  likewise  to  impart  to  him  by  the  salt,  ■ 
 which  is  an  emblem  of  wisdom,  a  wise  discernment  of  truth  from  falsehood,  and  thus 
 to  season  his  soul  against  the  corruption  of  sin.  S.  Jesus  looked  up  to  hea\cu  and 
 sighed,  as  it  were  to  lament  the  spiritual  deafness  of  mankind,  who,  unless  spiritually 
 assisted  from  above,  neither  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  nor  to  the  law  of  nature.  Thus 
 also  the  priest  breathes  three  times  upon  the  face  of  the  child  to  be  baptized,  in  order, 
 by  this  species  of  sighing,  to  drive  away  from  him  the  wicked  spirit  which  renders 
 him  deaf  and  dumb.  4.  Jesus  commanded  the  ears  of  the  dumb  man  to  be  opened. 
 Thus  the  priest  using  the  same  word  of  command,  Ephphetlia,  enjoins  the  mind  and 
 heart  to  expand  them.selves,  so  as  to  receive  the  instructions  which  will  be  given  ;  and 
 each  individual  Christian  should  consider  this  word  of  command,  be  thou  opened,  as 
 again  repeated  to  him  as  often  as  he  hears  explained  the  mysteries  and  morality  of 
 the  gospel.  From  this  example  of  Christ  we  may  learn,  that  these  sacred  cere- 
 monies employed  in  baptism  most  justly  claim  our  respect  and  veneration,  both  on 
 account  of  the  ends  for  which  they  are  used,  the  sacred  truths  and  instructions  which 
 they  represent,  and  on  account  of  the  authority  by  which  they  are  instituted.  With 
 good  reason,  therefore,  the  Church  in  the  general  Council  of  Trent  condemns  all 
 those  who  shall  presume  to  say  that  it  is  lawful  to  despise  or  ridicule,  or  by  private 
 authority  to  alter  or  change  these  or  any  of  the  received  and  approved  ceremonies  of 
 the  Church.* 
 
 Now  when  Jesus  had  wrought  the  above-mentioned  cure,  "  going  up  into  a  moun-  ]Matt.  15. 
 tain  he  sat  there.     And  there  came  to  him  great  multitudes,  having  with  them  the      ^f,- 
 dumb,  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  maimed,  and  many  others  :  and  they  cast  them  down 
 
 *  Sess.  7.  Can.  17. 
 
 19.  a  K 
 
 30. 
 
213  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXIIL 
 
 31.      at  his  feet,  and  he  healed  them.     So  that  the  multitude  marvelled,  seeing  the  dumb 
 speak,  the  lame  walk,  the  blind  see  :  and  they  glorified  the  God  of  Israel." 
 
 CHAPTER  LXIIL 
 
 JESUS  FEEDS  FODR  THOUSAND  AND  UPWARDS  WITH  SEVEM  LOAVES  AND  A  FEW  SMALL 
 FISHES.*      MATT.  XV.      MARK  VUl. 
 
 This  multitude  of  people  continued  with  Jesus  three  whole  days,  being  still  eager 
 to  hear  his  instructions,  and  attracted  likewise  by  the  greatness  of  his  miracles. 
 Seeing  their  attachment  to  him,  he  displayed  in  their  behalf,  first,  his  liitFierly  care  of 
 them,  and  secondly,  his  divine  power.     By  the  former,  he  gave  proofs  of  his  being 
 the  Saviour  of  man.  and  by  the  latter,  of  his  possessing  a  sovereign  control  over  the 
 Matt.  15.  works  of  the  creation.     "  And  Jesus  in  those  days  again,  when  there  was  a  great 
 29-      multitude"  with  him  "  and  had  nothing  to  eat,  having  called  his  disciples  together, 
 2^       said  to  them  :  I  have  compassion  on  the  multitude  ;  for  behold  they  have  now  been 
 Matt.  15.  with  me  three  days,  and  have  nothing  to  eat,  and  I  will  not  send  them  away  fasting, 
 "^v"  q  ^^st  they  faint  hi  the  way  :  for  some  of  them  are  come  from  afar  off."     He  thus  gave 
 '  ' '  his  disciples  a  sufficient  insight  into  his  intention,  by  showing  the  necessity  of  his 
 4.       working  a  miracle  upon  this  occasion.     "  And  his  disciples,"  as  if  not  remembering 
 what  Jesus  had  done  before  on  a  similar  emergency,  "  answered  him  :  from  whence 
 Malt.  15.  can  any  one  fill  them  here  with  bread  in  the  wilderness?   Whence  then  can  we  get 
 3^'      so  many  loaves  in  the  desert  as  to  fill  so  great  a  multitude  ?     And  Jesus  said  to 
 35.      them  :  how  many  loaves  have  you  ?   But  they  said  seven,  and  a  few  little  fishes.  And 
 MarkS.6.  he  commanded  the  people  to  place  themselves  on  the  ground.    And  taking  the  seven 
 loaves,  giving  thanks  to  his  heavenly  Father,"  for  that  providential  care  with  which 
 he  supplies  our  wants,  even  in  a  miraculous  manner  when  necessary  for  us,  "  he 
 broke,  and  gave   to  his  disciples  to  set  before   them,  and  they  set  them  before 
 7.       the  people.     And  they  had  a  few  little  fishes  ;   and  he  blessed  them,  and  corn- 
 Matt.  15.  manded  them  to   be   set  before  them.     And  they   all  eat   and  were  filled :    and 
 ^^'      they  took  up  seven  baskets  of  what  remained  of  the  fragments,"  to  intimate  that  God 
 38       recompenses  with  a  liberal  hand  the  alms  that  are  given  for  his  sake.    '^  And  they  that 
 did  eat  were  four  thousand  men,  besides  children  and  women,"  who  probably  amounted 
 Mark 8.9.  to  as  many  more.     "  And  he  sent  them  away,  and  immediately  going  up  into  a  ship 
 Mark  15  ^^^^^  ^^^  disciplcs,"  in  order  to  prevent  their  following  him,  "  he  came  into  the  parts 
 39.      of  Dalmanutha,  into  the  territories  of  Magedan,"t  on  the  east  coast  of  the  sea  of 
 Galilee,  between  Gerasa  and  Corozain. 
 
 *  See  chap.  57.  for  the  first  multiplication  of  the  diffarcntly  called  by  either  of  the  two  names.    Here 
 
 loaves.  is  still  at  this  pre.sent  day,  a  Medan  or  fair,  which 
 
 t  In  the   Greek   it  is   Ua'/inXa  :    but  the  best  is  held  near  the  lake  Phiala,  near  the  source  of  the 
 
 copies  have  lsla-ia?,av,  and  it  appears  from  St.  Jerom  Jordan.     Egesippus    calls   it   Melda   or    Meldm, 
 
 and  St.  Austin,  that  this  was  the  ancient  reading,  which  may  possibly  have  been  changed  into  Da!- 
 
 St.    Mark    has   Dalmanutha,   because    these    t^o  manutha.     See  Calmet,  and  Reland.     Palajst.  1.  1. 
 
 places,  Magadan    or    Magedan   and    Dalmanutha  c.  41.  p.  246. 
 were  in  the  same  country,  which  therefore  wa.s  in- 
 
Ch.  LXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  gi9 
 
 The  miracle  here  wrought  by  Christ  in  feeding  so  great  a  multitude,  was  unques- 
 tionably a  wonderful  effect  of  his  power ;  yet,  as  St.  Austin  observes,  it  was  not  a 
 o-reater  work  than  what  he  continually  performed  for  the  subsistence  and  nourishment  of 
 the  whole  human  race.  Whether  God  at  once  multiplies  in  his  own  hands  a  few- 
 loaves,  and  makes  them  capable  of  satisfying  four  thousand  persons ;  or  by  the 
 o-eneral  laws  of  nature  which  he  has  established,  multiplies  the  seed  in  the  earth  for 
 the  food  of  mankind,  the  miracle,  says  this  holy  Father,  is  the  same,  ami  an  effect  of 
 the  same  Almighty  power.  However,  though  both  these  works  are  equally  the 
 effects  of  Omnipotence,  we  are  nevertheless  very  differently  affected  by  them=  The 
 extraordinary  works  which  God  is  pleased  occasionally  to  display,  never  fail  to  make 
 a  lively  impression  on  us,  because  we  there  discover  his  immediate  power  exerting 
 itself  in  an  unusual  manner  ;  whilst  the  constant  and  daily  operations  of  the  same 
 power  in  the  ordinary  productions  of  nature  pass  unnoticed,  because  we  refer  them 
 merely  to  secondary  causes  ;  not  reflecting  on  the  primary  cause  which  first  esta- 
 blished these  laws,  and  which  continually  preserves  them  in  their  course.  While  the 
 beneficent  hand  of  Providence  daily  employs  in  our  service  innumerable  physical 
 causes  we  pay  no  regard  to  them ;  with  the  most  shameful  indifference  we  behold  all 
 the  elements  of  nature  rendered  subservient  to  our  wants ;  but  reason  and  faith 
 should  correct  this  mistake,  and  convince  us,  that  God  is  equally  great,  equally 
 deserving  of  our  praise  and  adoration,  whether  he  gives  laws  to  nature  for  our  sub- 
 sistence, or  suspends  those  laws  for  our  instruction.  We  are  no  less  indebted  to  the 
 bounty  of  his  providence  for  the  helps  which  we  receive  by  the  ordinary  course  of 
 secondary  causes,  than  if  they  were  immediately  conferred  upon  us  by  the  miraculous 
 exertions  of  Omnipotence.  The  fertility  of  the  holy  land  was  a  benefit  equally  great 
 as  the  manna  of  the  desert. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXIV. 
 
 JESUS  REPROVES  THE  PHARISEES  FOR  REQUIRING  A  SIGN  IN  THE  HEAVENS,  AND  CAUTIONS 
 HIS  DISCIPLES  AGAINST   HYPOCRISY.*       MATT.  XVI.      MARK  VIII.      LUKE  XII. 
 
 "  And  there  came  to  him  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,"  persons  widely  different  Mati.  16. 
 from  each  other  in  their  religious  sentiments,  but  united  in  their  design  of  persecuting       ^* 
 Jesus.    "  And  they  began  to  question  with  him,  asking  him  to  show  them  a  sign  from  Mark  8. 
 heaven."     This  they  did  by  way  of"  tempting  him."     They  mistrusted,  it  seems,  all  lyfj/'jg 
 such  miracles  as  Jesus  had  hitherto  wrought,  by  touching  the  parties  whom  he  healed ;       l.     ' 
 and  they  grounded  their  incredulity  upon  the  false  notion,  that  miracles  of  this  kind    Mark, 
 might  be  merely  the  effect  of  some  occult  quality.     But  they  considered  other  mira- 
 cles less  suspicious  and  objectionable,  which  were  effected  by  a  single  word  upoa 
 distant  objects,  exposed  to  public  view  in  the  heavens  or  the  clouds 
 
 Jesus  so  far  condescended  to  them  as  to  propose  two  signs  excellently  well  adapted 
 
 *  See  their  first  request,  chap.  xlix.  6. 
 
2^20  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXIV. 
 
 to  the  nature  of  their  religious  tenets^  and  to  prove  his  divine  mission.  1.  The  Pha- 
 risees were  remarkable  for  observintr  the  times  and  seasons,  and  hence  formed  their 
 conjectures  of  future  events  :  to  these  he  held  forth  the  fulfilling  of  the  ancient 
 prophecies  as  a  sign  in  his  regard  which  became  every  day  more  and  more  apparent. 
 2.  The  Sadducees  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body  :  to  these  he  gave,  as  a  sign, 
 his  own  future  resurrection,  prefigured  by  that  of  Jonas,  who  came  alive  out  of  the 
 whale's  belly.  But  to  both  these  descriptions  of  persons,  he  absolutely  refused  to 
 give  any  present  sign,  such  as  was  the  object  of  their  unbelieving  curiosity. 
 
 He  began  by  referring  the  Pharisees  to  the  signs  already  discernible  of  the  time  of 
 the  Messiah's  coming  into  the  world,  and  he  took  advantage  of  their  known  or  pre- 
 tended abilities  in  prognosticating  natural  events,  to  reproach  them  for  their  igno- 
 rance with  regard  to  that  most  happy  period  which  the  scriptures  so  clearly  described 
 
 Matt.  16.  and  pointed  out.     "  But  he  answered  and  said  to  them  :  When  it  is  evening  you 
 ^*       say  :  it  will  be  fair  weather,  for  the  sky  is  red  :  And  in  the  morning,  to-day  there  will 
 
 Luke  12.  be  a  storm,  for  the  sky  is  red  and  lowering.     When  you  see  a  cloud  rising  from  the 
 
 ^*       west,*  presently  you  say  :  a  shower  is  coming,  and  so  it  happeneth  :t  And  when  you 
 
 56!      see  the  south  wind  blow,  you  say  :  there  will  be  heat ;  and  it  cometh  to  pass.     You 
 
 hypocrites,  you  know  how  to  discern  the  face  of  the  heaven  and  of  the  earth,"  from 
 
 Matt.  16.  the  different  signs  in  the  clouds,  "  and  can  you  not  know  the  signs  of  the  times," 
 '•  and  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  pointed  out  by  the  prophets,  whereof  many  are 
 already  fulfilled,  and  others  on  the  point  of  being  so.  These  signs  were,  1 .  The 
 translation  of  the  sovereignty  or  sceptre  of  Juda  to  foreign  princes.  2.  The  accom- 
 plishment of  the  seventy  weeks  of  years  prophesied  by  Daniel,  amounting  in  the  whole 
 to  four  hundred  and  ninety  years,  the  end  of  which  was  now  drawing  nigh.  3.  The 
 miraculous  powers  attributed  to  the  Messiah  by  the  prophets,  and  which  Jesus  had 
 
 Luke  12.  so  frequently  exerted  in  their  presence.  "  And  why,  even  of  yourselves,"  said  he, 
 ^^"  "■  do  you  not  judge  that  which  is  just,"  and  instead  of  fruitlessly  requesting  fresh 
 signs,  why  do  you  not  make  a  proper  use  of  your  sagacity,  so  successful  in  natural 
 things,  to  form  a  more  equitable  judgment  in  my  regard?  He  thus  insinuated,  that 
 so  fiir  from  asking  for  fresh  signs,  which  in  their  respect  were  totally  unnecessary, 
 they  ought  rather  to  blame  their  past  neglect,  in  not  duly  studying  the  ancient  signs 
 which  foretold  the  coming  of  the  Messiah ;  or  they  ought  to  blame  their  present 
 voluntary  blindness  in  shutting  their  eyes  to  all  these  signs  ;  or  finally,  their  own 
 malignant  disposition,  in  ex[)lainiiig  away,  by  false  interpretations,  these  prophecies 
 concerning  the  Messiah,  which  were  purposely  designed  by  the  Almighty  for  their 
 
 Mark  8.  guidance  and  direction.     "  And  sighing  deeply  in  spirit,"  at  their  unaccountable  con- 
 1^-      duct,  "  he  saith :  why  doth  this  generation  ask  a  sign  ?  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you,  a 
 
 Matt.  16.  wicked  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign  :  and  a  sign  shall  not  be  given 
 4-       it,  but  the  sign  of  Jonas  the  prophet."     The  meaning  of  this  is,  that  his  future  resur- 
 rection from  the  dead,  which  would  take  place  three  days  after  his  death,  was  pre- 
 
 *  In  Palestine,  the  Mediterranean  sea,  which  is  t  St.  Luke  relates  this  \vit!iout  any  designation 
 to  the  west,  brought  on  clouds  and  rain  ;  but  the  either  of  time  or  place,  we  have  therefore  here  in- 
 south  wind  blowino-  from  the  hot  countries  of  serted  it  on  accoiuit  of  tl'.e  connection  it  has  with 
 Arabia  and  Egypt,  produced  extraordinary  heats.  what  is  taken  from  St.  Matthew. 
 
Ch.  LXIV.]  ,  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  221 
 
 figured  by  the  resurrection  of  Jonas,  who  was  buried  during  three  days  m  a  whale's 
 belly  ;  and  the  accomplishment  of  this  miraculous  prodigy  would  prove  to  them  the 
 divine  origin  of  his  person  and  of  his  mission,  and  ought  to  have  particular  weight 
 witli  the  Sadducees,  who  admitted  neither  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  nor  the 
 immortality  of  the  soul.  "  And  he  left  them  and  went  away.  And  leaving  them  he  Mark  s. 
 went  up  again  into  the  ship,  and  passed  to  the  other  side  of  the  water.      ^  Th  h  ^^ 
 
 And  when  his  disciples  were  come  over  the  water,  they  had  forgotten  of  the  Phari-  Matt.  16 
 to  take  bread  ;  and  they  had  but  one  loaf  with  them  in  the  ship.     And  ''''"*•  -^^^[^  g 
 
 he"  taking  every  occasion  to  instruct  them,  "  charged  them,  saying:  take  heed  and      14. 
 beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  and  of  the  leaven  of  Herod.  ,,  ^^.^ 
 
 31citt.  16. 
 
 But  they"  no  sooner  heard  him  say  this,  than  they  recollected  their  having  omitted       e. 
 to  make  provision  for  their  passage,  and  they  "  thought  within  themselves,  saying  :  ^^^""j^  ^* 
 because  we  have  taken  no  bread,"  therefore  be  gives  us  this  caution.  Mau.  16. 
 
 In  this  they  committed  two  faults.   1.  By  a  false  interpretation  they  explained  literalb/       7. 
 what  Jesns  had  said  figuratively  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and   Sadducees,  and 
 through  a  blamable  stupidity  imagined  that  he  thus  forbad  them  to  eat  with  persons  of 
 those  two  sects,  or  to  buy  bread  of  such  as  were  attached  to  them.  2.  It  seems  that  they 
 became  unreasonably  alarmed  in  this  emergency,  showing  thereby  a  diffidence  in 
 Jesus,  such  as  was  extremely  unsuitable  to  their  apostolical  character.     "  Which"  iMmk  8. 
 secret  thoughts  "  Jesus  knowing,  saith  to  them  :  why  do  you  think  within  yourselves,      ^^■ 
 O  ye  of  little  faith,  for  that  you  have  no  bread  ?  do  you  not  yet  know  nor  understand  ? 
 Have  you  still  your  heart  blinded?  Having  eyes,  see  you  not?  and  having  ears,  hear      ts 
 you- not?"     Having  thus  rebuked  them  for  their  want  of  knowledge  and  penetration, 
 he  further  upbraids  them  with  their  want  of  faith  and  confidence  in  him.     "  Neither 
 do  you  remember,"  said  he,  "  when  I  broke  the  five  loaves  among  five  thousand,      19. 
 how  many  baskets  full  of  fragments  took  ye  up  ?    They  said  to  him  twelve.     When      20. 
 also  the  seven  loaves  among  four  thousand,  how  many  baskets  of  fragments  took  ye 
 up  ?  And  they  said  to  him  seven.     And  he  said  to  them  :  how,  do  you  not  yet  under-      21. 
 stand  that  it  was  not  concerning  bread  I  said  to  vou:  beware  of  the  leaven  oi  the  Matt.  16 
 Pharisees  and  Sadducees?"     He,  however,  explained  no  further  what  he  had  said      ^"^• 
 here,  but  left  them  to  guess  at  his  meaning.     "  Then,"  at  length,  "  they  understood 
 that  he  said  not  that  they  should  beware  of  the  leaven  of  bread,  but  of  the  doctrine 
 of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees;"  because  the  nature  of  it  Avas  to  cause  in  the  mind 
 the  same  effects  as  leaven  in  the  dough  ;  that  is,  sourness  and  fermentation  ;  in  other 
 words,  anger,  ambition,  pride,  and  hypocrisy.     Such  indeed  were  the  effects  ensuing 
 from  their  pharisaical  traditions,  some  of  which  were  empty  and  vain,  whilst  others, 
 so  far  from  promoting  true  piety,  were  directly  contrary  to  the  law  of  God.   As  to  the 
 doctrines  of  the  Sadducees  or  Herodians,  they  tended,  like  those  of  modern  free- 
 thinkers, to  subvert  all  religion,  by  cutting  off  all  hopes  of  happiness  in  a  future 
 state. 
 
 19. 
 
22. 
 23. 
 
 222  TKE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXV. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXV. 
 
 JESUS  GIVES  SIGHT  TO  THE  BLIND  MAN  OF  BETHSAIDA.      MARK  VIII. 
 
 ■Mark  8.  "  And,"  On  their  landing-,  "  they  came  to  Beths;iida,  and  they  bring  to  him  a  blind 
 man,  and  they  besought  him  that  he  would  tnucli  him.  And  taking  the  blind  man  by 
 the  hand,  he  led  him  out  of  the  town,"  which  appears  from  the  Evangelists  to  have 
 been  a  small  place,  and  not  surrounded  with  walls :  "and  spitting  upon  his  eyes, 
 laying  his  hands  on  him,  he  asked  him  if  he  saw  any  thing ;  and  looking  up,  he  said : 
 24.  I  see  men  as  it  were  trees  walking.  After  that  again  he  laid  his  hands  npon  his  eyes, 
 ?g'  and  he  began  to  see,  and  was  restored,  so  that  he  saw  all  things  clearly.  And  he 
 sent  him  into  his  house,  saying :  go  into  thy  house,  and  if  thou  enter  into  the  town, 
 tell  nobody." 
 
 In  this  blind  man  we  may  behold  a  figure  of  the  spiritual  blindness  which  is  caused 
 by  sin,  and  particularly  by  the  vice  of  infidelity.  In  this  deplorable  state  the  bright 
 rays  of  revelation  no  longer  strike  the  understanding ;  the  cerlainti/  of  death,  the 
 ri"'onr  of  God's  judgments,  the  eterniti/  of  hcWs  tormentft,  and  the  other  terrible  truths 
 of  religion,  make  no  impression ;  the  most  consoling  articles  of  faith,  such  as  the 
 benefit  of  redemption,  the  contemplation  of  the  divine  mercy,  the  hope  of  an  eternal 
 reward,  excite  no  emotion,  no  sentiment  whatever.  These  men,  whom  Job  calls 
 rebels  to  the  light,  are  in  the  midst  of  religion,  like  the  blind  man  in  the  midst  of 
 nature :  they  are  surrounded  by  its  wonders,  and  enjoy  them  not :  their  soul,  blinded 
 and  insensible,  no  longer  receives  any  impression  of  confidence  or  hope,  of  fear  or  of 
 love.  But  amid  these  traits  of  resemblance  between  corporal  and  spiritual  blindness, 
 there  is  one  difference,  which  is  still  more  deplorable.  He  who  is  deprived  of  the 
 light  of  the  body,  is  sensible  at  least  of  his  loss :  knowing  his  unhappy  state,  he  is 
 desirous  to  be  delivered  from  it ;  and  if  he  hears  of  any  remedy  likely  to  prove 
 eflScacious,  he  seeks  eagerly  to  procure  it  with  the  utmost  impatience.  With  regard 
 to  him  who  is  spiritually  blind,  the  case  is  just  the  reverse :  he  does  not  know  his 
 miserable  situation  ;  he  loses  all  sense  of  his  misfortune :  he  calls  good  evil,  as  the 
 prophet  Isaiah  says,  and  evil  good :  that  darkness  in  which  he  is  bewildered,  he 
 takes  to  be  light,  and  that  light  which  you  show  him,  he  considers  as  darkness.  He 
 views  as  his  happiness  what  is  the  extremity  of  his  misery,  and  instead  of  desiring  an 
 end  of  his  blindness,  he  fears  whatever  may  witlidraw  him  from  it.  The  first  grace 
 of  conversion  which  we  should  solicit  for  a  soul  in  this  state,  is,  that  she  may  know 
 her  miserable  situation,  and  be  inspired  with  an  ardent  desire  other  deliverance  from 
 it.  Let  us  often  beseech  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  light  of  the  world,  to  enlighten 
 those  who  are  thus  sitting  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  that  they  may 
 direct  their  feet  into  the  way  of  peace.  The  conversion  of  such  a  sinner  is  a  great 
 ■work  :  to  change  a  corrupt  heart,  not  less  power  is  necessary  than  to  change  the 
 order  of  nature.  The  cure  of  spiritual  disorders  is  a  prodigy  of  grace,  in  like  manner 
 as  the  sudden  cure  of  corporal  infirmities,  is  an  effect  of  Omnipotence. 
 
Ch.  LXVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  223 
 
 CHAPTER  LXVI. 
 
 ST.  Peter's  public  confession  of  jesus  christ — his  primacy — he  is  rebuked  by 
 
 OUR    LORD,    WHO,  FOR    THE    FIRST    TIME,  FORETELLS    HIS    DEATH,  AND    TEACHES    THE 
 NECESSITY  OF  CARRYING  ODR  CROSS.      MATT.  XVl.      MARK  VIII.      LUKE   IX. 
 
 "  And  Jesus,"   departing'  from  Bethsaida,  "  came  into  the  quarters  of  CjEsarea  Matt  16 
 Philippi,"*  a  city  so  named  to  distinguish  it  from  another  Csesarea,  situated  on  the      ^^■ 
 Mediterranean  ;   "  and  it  came  to  pass,  that  he  sought  a  retired  place  for  prayer,  and  Luke  9. 
 as  he  was  alone  praying-  (his  disciples  were  also  with  him),"  he  recommended  to  his      *^* 
 heavenly  Father  both  the  important  choice  he  was  going  to  make  of  St.  Peter  to  be 
 the  supreme  head  of  his  Church,  as  likewise  the  success  of  the  communication  he  was 
 about  to  make  to  all  his  apostles  in  general  concerning  his  approachino-  death. 
 "  And"  after  this  "  Jesus  went  out,  and  his  disciples,  into  the  towns  of  Csesarea  Mark  8. 
 Philippi ;"  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  entered  into  Csesarea  itself     In  all  this      27. 
 country  infidelity  almost  universally  prevailed,  and  Christ  foresaw  he  should  have 
 few  or  no  followers.     Wherefore  it  was  on  this  occasion  when  he  was  now  no  longer 
 embarrassed  by  the  surrounding  multitudes,  that  he  chose  to  impart  to  Peter  his 
 design  of  raising  him  to  the  first  and  most  exalted  dignity  in  his  Church.    To  prepare 
 him  for  this  communication,  he  first  required  of  him,  by  an  act  of  faith,  an  avowal  or 
 confession  of  his  divinity,  and  of  his  being  the  Son  of  God.     After  this  he  imparted 
 to  his  apostles  for  the  first  time  the  intelligence  of  his  approaching  death  :  and  lastly, 
 he  declared  to  them,  and  to  all  his  followers,  the  necessity  which  each  of  them  would 
 be  under  of  sharing  in  his  sufferings  and  death,  by  carrying  their  respective  crosses, 
 and  leading  a  mortified  life. 
 
 When  therefore  Jesus  had  ended  his  prayer,  they  pursued  their  journey;  ''  and  in  Mark  8. 
 the  way  he  asked  his  disciples,  saying  to  them  :  whom  do  men  say  that  „,  27. 
 
 the  Son  of  man  is?  But  they  said :  some  John  the  Baptist,"t  rhen  fission   of   St.     ^Js     ' 
 again  to  life,  "  and  other  some  Elias,  and  others  Jeremias  (from  his  ^'^^^^-  14- 
 
 great  zeal  and  courage  in  reproving  the  vices  of  the  Pharisees),  and  others  say  that  Luke  9. 
 one  of  the  former  prophets  is  risen  again.    Then  he  saith  to  them  :  but  whom  do  you      19- 
 say  that  I  am  ?     Simon  Peter,"  full  of  faith  and  zeal  above  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  ^^99!  ^' 
 "  answered"  both  for  himself  and  them,  "  and  said  :  thou  art  Christ  the  Son  of  the  Matt.  16. 
 hving  God,"  not  by  an  adoptive  fihation  (which  had  already  been  ascribed  to  him  by      ^^' 
 
 *  It  was  usually  called,  by  heathen  writers.  Pa-  siah,  and  anoint  him  when  he  came ;  and  therefore, 
 
 neas,  i'rom  the  adjoiniuff  spring  Paneuni,  or  Panium,  notwithstanding   his   doctrine    and    miracles,   they 
 
 which  is  commonly  taken  for  the  fountain-head  of  could  not  conceive  him  to  be  the  Messiah,  so  long 
 
 Jordan.  as   his  mean   appearance  was  contrary  to  their  ex- 
 
 t  Those  who  held  that  Jesus  was  John  the  Bap-  pectations :  and  those  who  thought  him  to  be  Jere- 
 
 tist  risen  from  the  dead,  were  of  the  same  opinion  mias,  probably  espoused  the   sentiment  of  some  of 
 
 with  Herod  the  tetrarch  (Matt.  xiv.  2.),  and  seem  their  doctors,  which  was  founded  on  the  high  cha- 
 
 to  have  imbibed  the  notion  of  the  Pharisees,  who,  racter  which  God  gives  him.     "  Belbre  I   formed 
 
 according  to  Josepluis,  used   to   say,  that  a  good  thee   in  the  bell\',  I    knew   thee,   and   before   thou 
 
 man  migkl  easily  return  to  Ufi  again.    Those  who  wast  out  of  the  womb,  I  sanctified  thee,  and  I  or- 
 
 took  liim  for  Elias,  adopted  the  general  opinion  of  dained  thee  a.  prophet  to  tlie  nations."     Jer.  1.  5. 
 the  nation,  that  Elias  was  to  come  before  the  Mes- 
 
224  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXVI. 
 
 those  who  had  hitherto  styled  him  the  Son  of  God),  but  by  a  real  and  natural  filia- 
 17.         2    y^      ^._  tion.*     "  And  Jesus  answering,  said  to  him  •  blessed  art  thou  Simon 
 
 macyofsi.Pc-  Bar-jona :  because  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee;  but 
 
 '^''-  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,"  and  who  hath  imparted  to  thee  this  im- 
 
 is.      portant  secret,  by  means  of  a  supernatural  light.     "  And  I  say  to  thee  :  that  thou 
 
 art  Peter  t  (or  rock),  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church  :  and  the  gates  of 
 IS.      hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.     And  1  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
 
 heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven, 
 
 and  whatsoever  thou  shall  loose  on  earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven."     Thus 
 
 did  Jesus  reward  the  public  confession  of  St.  Peter. 
 
 1.  As  the  latter  had  openly  named  him  the  Christ  or  the  Messiah,  so  he  now  con- 
 firmed to  him  the  new  name  of  Peter,  which  lie  had  already  given  him,  assuring  him 
 that  thenceforth  he  should  be  a  firm  stone  or  rock  (which  the  name  of  Peter  imports), 
 and  that  upon  this  rock,  as  a  solid  foundation,  he  would  build  his  Church.  In  effect, 
 the  Church  being  a  visible  edifice,  the  parts  of  whi(;h  are  mutually  connected  together 
 by  various  bands,  it  became  necessarv  that  the  whole  should  be  erected  upon  a  solid 
 and  visible  foundation,  upon  which  the  several  component  parts  resting-  securely, 
 should  jointly  form  what  is  styled  the  hierarchy  of  the  Church.  Moreover,  as  the 
 Church  of  Christ  was  to  be  a  permanent  edifice,  and  to  last  to  the  end  of  time,  this 
 privilege  of  being  the  foundation  stone  was  attached  to  all  the  successors  of  St.  Peter. 
 
 2.  He  rewarded  the  confession  of  St.  Peter,  by  promising  to  this  his  Church  a 
 dnration  equal  to  that  of  the  world,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  its  enemies:  these 
 enemies  are  principallv  the  authors  of  schisms  and  heresies;  and  they  may  fitly  be 
 .styled  the  gates  of  hell,  because  to  this  place  they  lead  all  those  who  blindly  and 
 obstinately  take  them  for  their  guides.  And  tiiough  these  gates  of  hell  shall  wage 
 an  uninterrupted  war  against  the  Church  until  the  end  of  time,  yet  Christ  here  solemnly 
 declares,  that  they  shall  never  prevail  against  it,  so  far  as  to  destroy  or  annihilate  it, 
 but  that  it  shall  continue  unmoved  through  all  ages. 
 
 3.  He  added,  as  a  further  reward,  the  promise  of  bestowing  upon  Peter  the  keys 
 of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  assuring-  him,  that  whatever  he  should  bind  upon  earth, 
 should  be  bound  also  in  heaven,  and  that  whatever  he  should  loose  upon  earth,  should 
 akso  be  loosed  in  heaven.  This  promise  extends  not  merely  to  the  power  of  remit- 
 ting or  retaining  sins,  which  was  common  to  the  other  Apostles,  but  likewise  to  the 
 sovereign  power  and  authority  of  governing  the  Church,  with  a  view  to  the  spiritual 
 
 *  See  the  mysteries  compriserl  in  this  illustrious  Rev.  iii.  7.     Dr.  Whitby's  exposition  of  St.  Matt, 
 
 confession  of  St.   Peter,  in  Abr^ge  de  la   S.  Bible,  xvi.  IS.  is  as  follows:  '•  As  a  suitable  return  to  thy 
 
 p.  1-27.  confession,   I    say  also   to   thee,   that   thou   art  by 
 
 t  Thou  art  Peter  (or  rock),  and  upon  this  rock  name  Peter,  that  is  a  rock  :  and  vpon  Ihee,  who  art 
 
 •(that  is,  upon  thee)  /  will  build  my  Church,  &c.  thii  rock,  I  will  build  my  Church,  and   I  will  give 
 
 This  is  the  literal  and  genuine  exposition  of  this  to  thee  the   keys   of  the  kingdom   of  heaven,  the 
 
 passag-e,    as    Dr.    Whitby,    a    learned    Protestant  power  of  making  laws  to  govern  my  Church.'  T.  1. 
 
 divine,  and  a  violent   adversary  of  the    Church   of  p.  143.     Dr.  Hammond,  another  Protestant  divine, 
 
 Rome,  has  proved,  by   several  arguments   drawn  expounds  it  in  the   same  manner.     And  p.  92,  he 
 
 from  the  text.    And  the  following  promise,  ver.  19.  sa\s  :  "  What   is  here  meant  by  the  keys,  is  best 
 
 of  giving  to  St.  Peter  the  keys  of  the  Church,  or  of  understood  by  Isaiah  xxii.  22.   where   they  signify 
 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  a  farther  confirmation  of  ruling  the  whole  family  or  house  of  the  king  :  and 
 
 it.     For  keys,  in  the  Scripture  style,  denote  govern-  this  being  by  Christ  accommodated  to  the  Church, 
 
 mmt,  or  the  chief  stewardship,   as   Isa.   xxii.   22.  denotes  the  power  of  governing  it." 
 
Ch.  LXVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  225 
 
 good  of  souls,  and  to  their  acquiring  eternal  happiness.  This  power  was  the  more 
 necessary  for  the  perfect  administration  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  without  it 
 many  of  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  faithful  would  not  have  been  sufficiently  provided 
 for.  Moreover,  as  St.  Peter  was  not  to  be  immortal,  and  as  the  same  spiritual 
 wants  which  existed  during  his  life,  would  subsist  after  its  termination,  it  is  clear  to 
 every  impartial  person,  that  this  high  privilege  was  not  merely  personal,  but  was  to 
 be  handed  down  to  all  future  successors  of  St.  Peter. 
 
 "  Then"  Jesus  not  choosing  that  this  confession  of  faith  pronounced  by  St.  Peter,      20. 
 should  at  that  period  be  divulged,  "  he  commanded  his  disciples,  and  he  strictly  Mark  8. 
 charo-ed  them  that  they  should  not  tell  any  man  of  him,  that  he  was  Jesus  the  Christ."  .,  ff'',„ 
 And  hence  it  appears  that  durmg  the  contniuance  of  his  ministry,  neither  he  nor  his      20. 
 Apostles  clearly  announced  to  the  people  this  great  article  bf  faith,  but  left  it  to  be 
 inferred  from  his  heavenly  doctrines  and  surprising  miracles.     For  whilst  Jesus  fre- 
 quently styled  God  his  Father,  the  miracles  he  performed  loudly  proclaimed  him  to 
 be  truly  the  Son  of  God. 
 
 The  reason  why  he  withheld  from  the  public  this  article  of  our  creed,  the  belief  of 
 which  the  Apostles  afterwards  strictly  required  from  those  on  whom  they  conferred 
 baptism,  was  lest  it  might  prove  a  hinderance  to  his  death  ;  for  as  the  Jews  believed 
 their  Messiah  to  be  immortal,  those  who  might  have  placed  their  belief  in  Jesus  as 
 such,  would  never  have  acquiesced  in  his  being  condemned  to  death  ;  or  if  they  could 
 not  have  prevented  it,  they  would  instantly  have  renounced  him  as  their  Messiah. 
 Hence  they  whose  conjectures  the  Apostles  reported  concerning  his  person,  believed 
 him  to  be  either  John  the  Baptist,  Elias,  or  Jeremias,  or  some  other  of  the  ancient 
 prophets  :  but  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of  them  had  formed  the  idea  of  his  being 
 the  Christ,  which  is  a  certain  proof  that  Jesus  had  not  yet  been  announced  to  them 
 under  that  quality.     "  From  that  time  Jesus  began  to  show  to  his  dis-  21. 
 
 ciples,"  thus  prepared  for  the  unwelcome  intelligence,  "that  the  Son  for'thefirsttime    Mark, 
 of  man  must  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  suffer  many  things,  and  be  rejected  foretells  his       Matt.  16. 
 by  the  ancients,  and  by  the  high-priests,  and  the  Scribes,  and  be  killed :     ^     '  Mark"  s. 
 
 and  after  three  days  rise  again.     And  he  spoke  the  word  openly,"  and  without  any      ^'• 
 of  those  figurative  ways  of  speech,  not  unusual  in  his  other  discourses      "  And  Matt'  16. 
 Peter,"  glowing)  with  zeal  and  affection  towards  Jesus,  and  feeling  an    4.  He  rebukes       ^~' 
 additional   confidence   from   the  dignity   recently   conferred   on   him,  ^^^'^>'- 
 
 "taking  him"  aside,  "^  began  to  rebuke  him,  saying  :   Lord,  be  it  far  from  thee; 
 this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.     Who  turning  about"  again,  '•  and  seeing  the  disciples,  Mark  s. 
 threatened  Peter,  saying:  go  behind  me,  Satan,  thou  art  a  scandal  to  me,  because      ^^■ 
 thou  savourest  not  the  things  that  are  of  God,  but  the  things  that  are  of  men."     He  ^^23.^°" 
 styles  him  Satan,  which  word  signitics  an  enemy,  because  he,  however  unknowingly 
 or  innocently,  raised  an  opposition  against  the  will  of  God,  against  the  glory  of  Jesus, 
 against  the  redemption  of  mankind,  and  against  the  destruction  of  the  devil's  king- 
 dom ;  for  all  these  things  were  to  be  effected  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus. 
 These  severe  heads  of  accusation  against  Peter,  are  all  comprised  in  this  one,  that 
 he  had  no  savour  or  relish  for  the  things  of  God,  but  only  for  the  things  of  this 
 world ;  and  that  in  consequence  of  such  a  relish,  he  was  led  to  avoid  ignominy, 
 
 20.  3  .M 
 
296  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXVT. 
 
 suffering;s,  and  deaths  which  yet  are  the  means  made  use  of  by  the  Almighty,  for  the 
 Malt.  16.     g  jj^  ^^^j^,^  salvation  of  mankind.     "  Then  Jesus,  calling  the  multitude  too-ether 
 M^l  8    '^"^  ^"  ''"'^'"  "^^'^  ^'^  disciples,  said  to  all  :  if  any  man  will  come  after  me,"  and  be 
 34.      ^'«"»"''  '■'^'■'ly  xay  disciple,  "  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and 
 ^'!,o®  ^'  the  hope  of  a  follow  me."     Here  are  three  conditions  which  Christ  requires  of  all  his 
 future  reward,    followers:  1 .  They  must  deny  themselves  ;  that  is,  renounce  their  own 
 will  in  every  thing  which  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God  :  they  must  be  willing  to  part 
 with  their  goods,  their  honour,  their  reputation,  and  even  life  itself,  when  God's  ser- 
 vice is  concerned.     2.  They  m.ust  daily  carry  their  cross,  which  alhides  to  the  species 
 of  death  which  Jesus  underwent  for  us ;  that  is,  they  must  bear  with  patience  and 
 resignation  all  such  afflictions  and  sufferings  as  God  shall  please  to  send  them,  but 
 particularly  those  which  the  world  shall  inflict  upon  them  for  his  holy  name,  or  for 
 adhering  to  his  holy  law.     3.  Each  one  must  follow  Jesus,  carrying  his  cross,  and 
 must  walk  in  his  footsteps  by  an  imitation  of  his  virtues ;  that  is,  we  must  live  up  to 
 the  faith  we  profess,  and  have  Jesus  and  his  sacred  passion  ever  before  our  eyes 
 
 He  further  assigns  two  reasons  for  our  complying  with  the  above-mentioned  condi- 
 tions.    The  first  is,  that  when  the  defence  or  the  practice  of  our  religion  is  in 
 Mark  s.  question,  then  an  attachment  to  life  is  fatal  to  our  eternal  salvation.     "  For  whoso- 
 ^^"      ever,"  says  he,   "  will  save  his"  temporal  "  life,  shall  lose  it"  for  eternity.     The 
 second  reason  is  drawn  from  that  infinite  happiness  which  will  most  assuredly  he  the 
 reward  of  a  death  suffered  for  the  sake  of  Jesus.     "^  And  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life 
 for  my  sake  and  the  gospel,"  a  life  of  itself  frail  and  perishable,  and  of  a  most  uncertain 
 tenure,  "  shall  save  it"  in  the  next  world  in  an  immortal  and  infinitely  more  perfect 
 state.     He  then  explains  the  first  of  these  reasons,  and  adds  greatly  to  its  force,  by 
 allowing,  in  the  manner  of  a  supposition,  that  a  man,  by  renouncing  his  belief  in  him, 
 may  not  only  save  his  lile,  but  even  gain  thereby  the  dominion  and  possession  of  the 
 whole  world.     Yet  he  declares  such  a  person   to  be  not  the  less  miserable  and 
 .36.      unhappy  :  "  For  what  will  it  profit  a  man,"  says  lie,  "  if  he  gain  the  whole  world, 
 .   37.      and  suffer  the  loss  of  his"  immortal  "  soul  ?  or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange 
 Luke  9.  for  his  soul?     For  he  that  shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words,  in  this  adulte- 
 ,,"",„    rous  and  sinful  g-eneration,  of  him  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  ashamed,  when  he  shall 
 
 Mark  9.  .  o  •     !->     i  i     c    i      i  i» 
 
 3S.  come  in  his  majesty,  and  that  of  his  Father,  and  of  the  holy  angels.  T  For  the  Son  of 
 Liike  9.  jjj^j^  gj^jjj]  pome  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  his  angels,  and  then  will  he  render  to 
 Man.  16.  every  man  according  to  his  works.     And  he  said  to  them  :  Amen  I  say  to  you,  that 
 
 27-      there  are  some  of  them  that  stand  here,  who  shall  not  taste  death  till  they  see  the 
 
 Mark  8  .  ... 
 
 39.  kingdom  of  God  coming  in  power,"  and  "  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his 
 Matt.  16.  king-dom."  As  these  last  words  cannot  be  understood  of  the  last  coming-  of  Jesus, 
 some  understand  them  of  the  glory  which  he  received  by  his  resurrection,  others  of 
 the  glorious  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  throughout  the  world,  by 
 the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  But  others,  with  greater  probability,  refer  them  to  his 
 transfiguration,  an  account  of  which  is  immediately  subjoined  by  the  Evangelists. 
 This  promise  of  a  transitory  view  of  his  glory,  he  was  induced  to  make,  first,  to  prove 
 what  he  had  just  asserted,  viz.  that  he  should  one  day  come,  in  all  the  glory  of  his 
 Father,  to  judge  each  man  according  to  his  works ;    secondly,  to  afford   by  this 
 
—^^^^^W' 
 
 o/ile/  (:iymm/z^4i/idA<7??y 
 
 ^fAR^c  IX  ?  d 
 
Ch.  LXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  227 
 
 glorious  scene,  some  consolation  to  his  Apostles,  who  had  heard  not  without  the 
 greatest  emotions  of  grief,  the  prediction  of  his  approaching  death,  and  the  necessity 
 they  were  under  of  following  him. 
 
 28. 
 Matt.  17. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXVII. 
 
 THE  TRANSFIGURATION  OF  CHRIST.      MATT.  XVII.      MARK  IX.      LUKE  IX. 
 
 Jesus  delayed  not  long  the  execution  of  the  promise  which  he  had  made  of  manifest- 
 incr  his  glory.     After  a  very  short  interval,  during  which  nothing   remarkable  is 
 mentioned,  his  transfiguration  took  place  in  the  following  manner,  as  related  by  three 
 of  the  Evangelists.     "  And  it  came  to  pass  about  eight  days  *  after  these  words,  that  Luke  9, 
 he  took  unto  him  Peter,  and  James,  and  Johnf  his  brother:  and  he  led  them  up 
 into  a  high   mountain  apart."     This,  by  tradition,  is  thought  to  be  mount  Thabor,;];    ""'i 
 which  is  exceedingly  high  and  beautiful,  rising  something  like  a  sugar  loaf,  in  a  vast 
 plain,  and  was  anciently  covered  with  green  trees  and  shrubs.     It  is  situated  in  the 
 midst  of  the  lower  Galilee,  according-  to  St.  Jerom,  almost  at  an  equal  distance  from 
 the  Mediterranean  and  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  and  about  sixty  miles  from  Csesarea, 
 where  the  promise  of  his  transfiguration  had  been  made.     Wherefore  ''he  went  up"  Luke  9. 
 with  these  three  favourite  disciples,  "  into"  this  "  mountain  to  pray:  and  whilst  he      ^^• 
 prayed,  the  shape  of  his  countenance  was  altered,"  not  by  a  change  of  his  features, 
 but  by  the  shining  light  and  majesty  of  his  glory.     "  And  he  was  transfigured  before  Matt.  17. 
 them,  and  his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  garments,"  being  penetrated  with  ^  ^• 
 those  brilliant  rays  of  light,  "  became  shining  and  exceeding  white  as  snow,  so  as  no 
 fuller  on  earth  can  make"  equally  "  white."     He  thus  appeared  entirely  transfigured 
 by  a  miracle,  which  was  itself  but  the  interruption  of  a  still  greater  miracle.     For  this 
 effulgent  glory  with  which  Jesus  was  clothed  for  a  few  moments,  was  only  the  natural 
 effect  of  the  union  of  the  Divinity  with  his  human  nature.     It  hadl^een  suspended, 
 not  without  a  degree  of  violence,  from  the  first  moment  of  his  incarnation,  and  this 
 suspension  was  in  fact  a  much  greater  prodigy  than  that  eclipse  of  the  sun  which 
 happened  at  his  death,  and  which  continued  three  whole  hjjurs.     On  the  present 
 
 *  St.  Matthew  says  six  days,  not  reckoning  the  +  Mr.  Maundrel  informs  us,  that  on   tlie   top  of 
 
 day  of  the  promise,  nor  the  day  of  the  transfigura-  mount  Thabor  are   three  grottoes,  made  to   repre- 
 
 tion  itself,  whilst  St.  Luke  takes  both  those   days  sent  the  three  tabernacles  wliich  St.  Peter  proposed 
 
 into  the   account,  and  so  calls  the   interval  aboitl  to  erect  when  transported  with   the  "-lory  of  the 
 
 eight  days:  w<rct  7;  «c'^ai  oktw,  the  word  licrei  imply-  transfiguration.     Journey  from  Aleppo  to   Jcru- 
 
 ing  that  the  number  here  mentioned  is  nut  exact,  salem,p.  112.    He  observes,  that  the  ascent  is  very 
 
 as  may  be  seen  in  IMatt.  xiv.  21.  Lukei.  56.  iii.  23.  difficult,  but  that  the  beautiful  prospect  from  it  well 
 
 xxiii.  44.   John  iv.  6.  six.  14.  &c.     St.  Jerom  and  rewards  the  labour  of  ascending  it ;   "  for  it  is  im- 
 
 St.  Cyril.  possible,"  says  lie,  "  for  the  eye  of  man  to  behold 
 
 ^•  Peter,  as  being  the  head  of  the  Apostolic  Col-  any  greater  gratification  of  this  nature."    Le  Brune 
 
 lege,  James,  as  being  the  first  of  the  Apostles  who  makes  the  same  observation,  and  places  Thabor  at 
 
 was  to  shed  his  blood  for  the  faith,  John,  as  being  the  distance  of  about  twelve  miles  from  the  sea  of 
 
 to  survive  the  rest,  and  to  transmit  to  posterity  the  Galilee,  and  eight  from  Nazareth. 
 particulars  of  this  glorious  mystery. 
 
228  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXVIL 
 
 occasion  therefore  Jesus  allowed  a  few  of  the  rays  of  his  glory  to  appear  outwardly, 
 which  at  other  times  he  suppressed  under  the  veil  of  his  humility. 
 
 The  end  or  object  proposed  by  Jesus  in  the  exhibition  of  this  mystery,  was  that  of 
 giving  testimony  to  two  fundamental  truths  of  religion.  Firsts  to  his  being  the  Son 
 of  God,  which  Peter  had  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren  lately  confessed.  Second, 
 to  the  certainty  of  his  approaching  passion  and  death,  which  he  had  recently  imparted 
 to  them,  but  which  Peter,  actuated  by  a  zeal  for  his  Master,  had  opposed  to  the 
 utmost  of  his  power.  A  third  motive  was  to  fortify  the  minds  of  his  Apostles  against 
 the  fear  of  persecutions,  by  giving  them  here  a  glimpse  of  that  glory  they  might 
 expect  hereafter. 
 
 The  first  witness  to  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  divine  filiation  of  Jesus,  was  Jesus 
 
 himself,  clothed  by  his  heavenly  Father  with  that  eflulgence  of  glory  which  was  due 
 
 to  the  only  Son  of  God.     The  two  witnesses  who  vouched  for  the  certainty  of  his 
 
 approaching  death,  were  the  two  most  celebrated  prophets  of  the  old  law.     For 
 
 Luke  9.  "  behold  two  men  were  talking  with  him,  and  they  were  Moses  and  Elias,*  appe;ir- 
 
 3j*      ing  in  majesty.     And  they  spoke  of  his"  painful  "  decease  that  he  should  accomplish 
 in  Jerusalem,"  this  being  the  end  of  the  law  and  the  accomplishment  of  all  the 
 
 3-2.      ancient  prophecies.  "  But  Peter,  and  they  that  were  with  him,  were,"  at  first,  "  heavy 
 
 with  sleep,"  it  being  night,  "  and  v.aking,"  in  conse(]uence  of  the  shining  rays  of 
 
 light  which  struck  their  eyes,  "  they  saw  his  glory,  and  the  two  men  that  stood  with  him  : 
 
 Mark  9.  and  they  were  talking  with  Jesus."    These  they  distinguished  to  be  Moses  and  Elias, 
 
 ^'       either  by  a  divine  inspiration,  or  by  some  part  of  their  discourse  which  discovered 
 who  they  were.     The  reason  of  this  apparition,  was  doubtless  to  reconcile  the  minds 
 of  these  disciples  to  that  event  which  had  so  greatly  scandalized  them,  I  mean  the 
 death  of  Jesus,  by  giving  it  all  the  weight  and  sanction  of  the  law  and  of  the  pro- 
 Luke  9.  phets,  here  represented  by  Moses  and  Elias.     "  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  as  they 
 
 ^^       were  departing  from  him,  Peter,"  in  raptures  of  admiration  and  joy  at  the  grandeur 
 
 ''4'.     '  of  the  scene,  "  saith  to  Jesus  :  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  :  if  thou  wilt,  let  us 
 
 make  here  three  tabernacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias  : 
 
 ]\Iark9.&.  for  he  knew  notlHiat  he  said:"  otherwise  he  would  never  have  desired  that  for  the 
 
 present  time  of  trial  on  earth,  which  is  reserved  only  for  heaven  :  neither  would  he 
 
 have  contented  himself  with  beholding  only  the  glorified  humanity  of  Christ,  since 
 
 this  transient  sight  can  bear  no  proportion  to  the  beatific  vision  and  contemplation  of 
 
 the  Divinity  itself     C^  the  present  occasion  he  tasted  only  a  single  drop,  as  it  were, 
 
 of  that  overflowing  river  which  inebriates  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  all  its  blessed 
 
 inhabitants  :  yet  was  he  so  transported  by  it,  as  to  desire  nothing  more  than  a  con- 
 
 Mait.  IV.  tinuance  of  it.     "  And  as  he  was  yet  speaking,  behold  a  bright  cloud  overshadowed 
 
 ^-  them,"  apparently  in  the  shape  of  a  tent  or  pavilion.  The  Almighty,  it  seems,  was 
 pleased  thus  to  fulfil  the  wish  of  Peter,  thereby  to  show  that  he  himself  is  the  tent  or 
 pavilion,  under  the  shade  of  which  the  blessed  shall  dwell  for  ever  ;  for  at  the  same 
 
 *   It  is  a  question  among  interpreters  wliether  same  is  to  be  said  of  Moses,   according:  to  Tertul- 
 
 Moses    on  this  occasion,  appeared  in  his  own  or  in  lian,  Orip:en,  Irenaens,  and  St.  Austin.    See  Suarez, 
 
 an  assumed  aerial  body.    As  to  Elias.  they  all  agree  3.  P.  1.  45.  Disput.  22.     But  St.  Tliomas,  Salme- 
 
 that  he  really  appeared  in  his  own  body:  and  the  ron,  and  Lyranus,  are  of  a  dillerent  opuuon. 
 
Ch.  LXVIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  229 
 
 moment  the  two  prophets  ascended  in  the  air,  and  darting  into  this  cloud,  vanished 
 from  the  sight  of  the  three  Apostles  ;  "  and  they  were  afraid,  when  they  en-      2.  A  voice      I-^kc  9. 
 tered  into  the  cloud.  And  lo  !  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud,  saying :  this  is  my  fiom  thcdoud.  ^^^^'^■^^^ 
 beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  :  hear  ye  him."  This  was  no  other  than  the       5. 
 eternal  Father,  who  thus  acknowledged  Jesus  for  his  only  begotten  Son,  and  sanctioned 
 the  confession  which  Peter  had  made  concerning  him,  authorizing  likewise  his  whole 
 doctrine,  and  commanding  us  to  listen  to  it  with  all  docility  and  respect.     "  And  Luke  9. 
 whilst  the  voice  was  uttered,  Jesus  was  found  alone,"  so  that  no  doubt  could  arise  as      ^*'' 
 to  which  of  the  three  this  sublime  testimony  referred.     "  And  the  disciples  hearing,  Mau.  17. 
 fell  upon  their  face,  and  were  very  much  afraid.     And  Jesus,"  observing  their  con-       In- 
 fusion, "  came  and  touched  them,  and  said  to  them  :  arise,  and  fear  not.     And  they       s! 
 lifting  up  their  eyes,  and  immediately  looking  about  saw  no  man,  any  more  but  Jesus  ^^^^'^  ^• 
 only  \vith  them,"  in  his  usual  form.     "  And  as  they  came  down  from  the  mountain,       g' 
 he  charged  them  not  to  tell  any  man  what  things  they  had  seen,  till  the  Son  of  man 
 shall  be  risen  again  from  the  dead."     The  probable  motive  of  this  injunction  was, 
 that  so  wonderful  an  event  might  not  be  exposed  to  the  incredulity  and  rash  censures 
 of  the  Pharisees,  who  hated  Jesus,  and  were  ever  disposed  to  calumniate  and  misre- 
 present even  his  most  evident  miracles,  as  we  have  seen  above,  chap.  49,  &c.    Jesus 
 would  likewise  teach  his  followers  to  love  the  closest  secrecy  in  all  spiritual  graces 
 and  favours.     "  And  they  kept  the  word  to  themselves,  mquiring  one  of  another       9 
 what  this  should  mean,"  which  Jesus  had  said  on  this  occasion,  "  u^hcn  he  shall  be 
 risenfrom  the  dead."*   They,  however,  ventured  not  to  ask  him  any  further  explana- 
 tion, under  the  apprehension  of  hearing  what  might  prove  extremely  unpleasant  to 
 the  affectionate  feelings  which  they  entertained  for  their  divine  Master. 
 After  having  here  seen  Elias,  the  three  Apostles  could  not  but  recall 
 to  mind  what  they  had  always  heard  respecting  that  prophet,  and  which  siructshis''dild- 
 now  appeared  not  easily  reconcileable  with  what  they  had  just  wit-  pies  concerning 
 nessed ;    for   instead   of  performing  the  office  of  precursor  to  the   r^.  ^'""""ff  °j 
 Messiah,  and  walking  before  him,  as  they  had  been  taught  to  expect, 
 
 they  had  now  seen  him  withdraw  himself  with  Moses  :  "  and"  therefore  "  his  disci-  Matt.  17. 
 pies,"  in  order  to  clear  up  this  difficultv,  "  asked"  Jesus,  "  saying  :  why  then  do  the  ^^• 
 Pharisees  and  Scribes  say  that  Elias  must  come  first?    But  he  answering"  to  their      10. 
 request,  entered  into  an  explanation  of  that  text  of  the  prophet  Malachy,  by  distin-      H- 
 guishing  his  two  comings.     In  regard  to  the  second,  which  would  be  at  the  end  of 
 the  world,  he  confirmed  the  opinion  of  the  Pharisees  with  respect  to  Elias,  and  "  said 
 to  them  :   Elias  indeed  shall  come"  before  the  last  judgment ;  and  '•'  when  he  shall  Marks 
 come  first,  he  shall  restore  all  things,"  by  causing  the  Jews  to  enter  into  the  bosom      ^^' 
 of  the  Churchy  in  the  same  manner  as  Enoc  will  cause  the  strayed  Gentiles  to  return 
 
 *  Beiii!3fjaiight  out  of  the   law,  that  Christ  was  when  Christ  died,  their  hopes  died  with  him  :  we 
 
 to   abide  fur  ever,   John  xii.   34,  and   that   of  his  trusted  that  it   had  been   he   who   should  have  re- 
 
 Mngdom  there  should  be  no  end,  Luke  i.  33,  they  deemed  Israel   (Luke  xxiv.  21.),  but  at  his  resur- 
 
 conld  not  tell  how  to  reconcile  his  death,  which  was  rection  they  revived  again,  which  made  them  ask : 
 
 to  precede  his  resurrection,  to  the  predictions  of  the  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel. 
 
 ])roplu'ts,  and  their  own   conceptions  of  liis  tern-  Acts  i,  6. 
 poral  kingdom ;  and  therefore  we  may  observe,  that 
 
 20.   ■  3n 
 
230  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LXVIIL 
 
 to  it ;  and  thus  will  be  formed,  by  a  happy  coalition,  one  only  people  :  "  and  as  it  is 
 written  of  the  Son  of  man  that  he  must  suffer  many  thing-s  and  be  despised,"  so  Elias 
 will  have  to  undergo  the  same  sufferinfrs  and  indignities. 
 
 But  as  to  the  stress  which  the  Pharisees  laid  upon  this  non-appearance  of  Elias, 
 that  Jesus  was  not  Christ  nor  the  Messiah,  he  answered,  that  in  this  particular  they 
 confounded  his  first  coming-,  in  which  Elias  was  not  to  appear,  with  his  second 
 coming,  which  is  certainly  to  be  preceded  by  that  prophet.  But  since  they  were  so 
 resolved  to  make  this  circumstance  the  criterion  of  their  behef  in  him,  as  if  each  time 
 of  his  coming  was  to  be  preceded  by  an  Elias,  Jesus  declared  to  them,  that  even  in 
 this  supposition  they  were  without  excuse,  since  Elias  was  come  and  had  already 
 Matt.  17.  fulfilled  the  office  of  forerunner  to  his  first  coming.  "  But  I  say  to  you,"  added 
 Christ,  "  that  Elias  is  already  come,  and  they  knew  him  not,  but  have  done  unto  him 
 13.  whatsoever  they  had  a  mind.  So  also  the  Son  of  man  shall  suffer  from  them.*  Then 
 the  disciples  understood  that  he  spake  to  them  of  John  the  Baptist,"  who  came  pos- 
 sessing the  spirit  as  well  as  the  power  of  Elias  :  that  is,  with  an  ardent  zeal  of  stirring 
 up  mankind  to  repentance,  though,  in  fact,  he  was  a  very  different  person.  This 
 mysterious  transfiguration  of  our  Lord,  was  one  of  the  means  which  he  made  use  of 
 to  confirm  the  faith  of  his  Apostles,  and  to  convince  them,  in  a  manner  the  most  sen- 
 sible, of  his  Divinity  ;  and,  in  effect,  St.  Peter  has  mentioned  it  in  one  of  his  Epistles, 
 as  a  convincing  evidence  of  that  eternal  truth. t  Jesus  Christ  by  exhibiting  to  his 
 favourite  Apostles  the  figure  of  a  glorified  body,  was  pleased  to  give  them  a  foresight 
 of  that  happy  change  which  the  bodies  of  his  elect  shall  put  on  at  the  general  resur- 
 rection. By  that  he  inspired  them  with  fresh  zeal  in  his  service,  animated  them  with 
 new  courage  to  undertake  and  suffer  great  things  for  his  holy  name,  and  showed  them 
 how  transcendent  is  the  glory  of  that  supernatural  happiness  which  shall  rcv/ard  the 
 light  and  momentary  tribulations  of  this  present  life. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXVIIL 
 
 JESUS  CURES  A  PERSON  BOTH  LUNATIC  AND  DUMB. J      MATT.  XVII.     MARK  IX.      LUKE  IX 
 
 LuKe  9.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  the  day  following,  when  they  came  down  from  the  mountain, 
 
 ,,  ^^\        ,  rp,„  j^      there  met  him  a  great  multitude  ;  and  when  he  was  come  to  his  disci- 
 Matt.  17.       1-  IneApos-  «  ' 
 
 14.       ties  cannot  cure  ples,  he  saw  a  great  crowd  about  them,  and  the  Scribes  disputing  with 
 
 Mark  9.  htm.  them.     And  presently  all  the  people  seeing  Jesus  was  astonished  and 
 
 13"      struck  with  fear,"  probably  at  the  appearance  of  majesty  which  yet  remained  visible 
 
 1^-      in  his  countenance  after  his  recent  transfiguration  ;  "  and  running  to  him,  they  saluted 
 
 *  Hence  we  may  infer,  that  the  Scribes  and  Pha-  the  former,  as  the  instigators  of  St.  John's  death ; 
 
 risees  contributed  by  their  councils  to  the  death  of  the  latter,  of  that  of  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 St.   John   the   Baptist.     Some   indeed    suppose   a  f  2  Peter  i.  16,  17,  IS. 
 
 nominative  case  understood  ;  viz.  the  Jews,  which  |  See  the  fiist  dumb  demoniac,  chap.  36,  and  the 
 
 would  comprise  both  Uerod  and  the  chiefs  of  Gali-  second,  chap.  49. 
 lee,  as  well  as  the  priests  and  doctors  of  the  law ; 
 
Ch.  LXVllI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  231 
 
 him.     And  he  asked  them  :  what  do  you  dispute  about  among-  yourselves  ?"     He       js. 
 seems  here  to  have  arrived  at  a  seasonable  moment,  to  rescue  his  disciples  from  the 
 confusion  they  were  under  at  the  ill  success  they  had  met  with  in  exorcising-  a  pos- 
 sessed person.     We  may  observe  how  their  unsuccessful  endeavours  are  supplied  by  Luke 9^ 38. 
 the  omnipotence  of  Jesus,  who  attributes  their  failure  to  the  want  of  faith,  of  prayer,  Marks  le! 
 and  of  fasting-.     "  And  behold  there  came  to  him  a  man,  one  of  the  multitude,"  who  Luke  n.'so'. 
 "  falling  down  on  his  knees  before  him,  said:  Master,  I  have  brought  ray  son,  having  Lukeoisg! 
 a  dumb  spirit,  for  he  is  a  lunatic,*  and  sufFereth  much:  for  he  falleth  often  into  the  Mark 9.17. 
 
 *■  •         1     1  •  1  -  1  Luke  9. 39. 
 
 fire,  and  often  into  the  water;  and  a  spu-it  seizeth  him,  who,  wheresoever  he  taketh  Matt.17.15. 
 him,  dasheth  him,  and  he  suddenly  crieth  out,  and  he  foameth,  and  gnasheth  with    Varii. 
 his  teeth,  and  pineth  away,  and  bruising  him,  he  hardly  departeth  from  him  :  and  I  Luke  9'!  ss! 
 brought  him  to  thy  disciples,  and  desired,  and  spoke  to"  them  "  to  cast  him  out,  and  *iatU7.i4. 
 they  could  not  cure  him."  Wherefore, ''  I  beseech  thee  look  upon  my  son,  because  he  is 
 my  only  one  :"  yes,  "  Lord,  have  pity  on  my  son.     Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  : 
 O  unbelieving   and  perverse  generation,  how  long  shall   I   be  with  2.  He  U  cured 
 you?  how  long- shall  I  suffer  YOU  ?  Bring- him  hither  to  me.    And  they       by  Christ.      Mark 9  19. 
 
 .  .  .  ...  Luke  9. 42. 
 
 brought  him,  and  as  he  was  coming  to  him,  when  he  had  seen  him,  immediately  the  Mark  9. 19! 
 spirit  troubled  him,"  and  "'  threw  him  down  and  tore  him  ;  and  being  thrown  down  M^arkg.ig'. 
 upon  the  ground,  he  rolled  about  foaming-.   And"  Jesus,  to  convince  the  bystanders  of      ^''- 
 the  violence  of  the  disorder,  as  well  as  of  the  difficulty  of  the  cure,  "  asked  his  Father 
 how  long  time  is  it  since  this  has  happened  unto  him  ?  But  he  said  from  his  infancy  ;       2L 
 and  oftentimes  hath  he  cast  him  into  the  fire,  and  into  the  waters,  to  destroy  him  ;  but  if 
 thou  canst  do  any  thing,  help  us,  taking  pity  on  us.     Jesus,"  who  had  healed  many       22. 
 sick  persons,  independently  of  their  faith,  chose,  in  this  instance,  to  insist  on  it  as  a 
 previous  condition,  before  he  complied  with  his  request.     Wherefore  he  "  saith  to 
 him  :  if  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.     And  imme-       23. 
 diately  the  father  of  the  boy  crying  out,  with  tears,  said :  I  do  believe,  Lord  ;  help 
 my  unbelief,"  and  supply  the  deficiency  of  my  faith.     "  And  when  Jesus  saw  the      24. 
 multitude  running  together,  he  threatened  the  unclean  spirit,  saying  to  him  :  deaf 
 and  dumb  spirit,  I  command  thee,  go  out  of  him  :  and  enter  not  any  more  into  him  ; 
 and  crying  out  and  greatly  tearing  him,  he  went  out  of  him  ;  and  he  became  as  dead,       25. 
 so  that  many  said,  he  is  dead  ;  but  Jesus  taking  him  by  the  hand,  lifted  him  up,  and       26. 
 he  arose,  and  the  child  was  cured  from  that  hour  ;  and  he  restored  him  to  his  father,  Matt  17.17 
 and  all  were  astonished  at  the  mighty  power  of  God.     And  when  he  was  come  into    "  44^'  '^' 
 the  house,  then  came  the  disciples  to  Jesus  secretly,  and,"  apprehensive  lest  they  ^jj^'^^j';^^''- 
 might  have  forfeited  the  gift  of  working  miracles  through  their  own  misconduct, 
 '' asked  him  :  why  couIJ  not  we  cast  him  out?  Jesus  said  to  them:  Mark  9. 27. 
 
 because  of  your  unbelief.     The  Apostles  said  to  the  Lord  :  increase  cy  of  faiih,  of^^^l^\ 
 our  faith. t      And  the  Lord  said  :   if  you  had  (\iith  like  to  a  grain  o{  i»-nyer,  and  6. 
 
 mustard  seed  you  might  say  to  this  mulberry  tree,  be  thou  rooted  up,         '"' 
 
 *  It  appears  fioin  all  the  symptoms  here  men-  changes  of  the  moon.     Hence  the   Greek  work  is 
 
 t.ionerl,  sncli   as  being-   convulsed,    foaminjf  at  the  ae\i)vui^Q-;ai,  from  (TeXijin/,  the  71100/1,  and   answers 
 
 nioulh,  falling'  into  the  fire,  &c.  that  he  was  rather  exactly  to  the  Enirlish  lunatic,  from  luna. 
 
 epileptic  than  lunatic.     Both  distempers  indeed  lie  f  St.  Luke  does  not  mention  these  words  here, 
 
 in   the    brain,   and  depend    more  or   less    on    the  because  he  speaks  only  of  the  miracle  without  touch- 
 
232  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LOUD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXIX. 
 
 Matt.  17.  and  be  thou  transplanted  into  the  sea ;  and  it  would  obey  you.     Amen  I  say  to  you" 
 
 ^^'      again,  "  if  you  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  you  shall  say,"  even  "  to  this 
 
 mountain"*  before  you  (pointing  to  mount  Thabor),  "  remove  from  hence  thither, 
 
 and  it  shall  remove  ;  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  to  you,"  which  the  glory  of 
 
 God  and  the  salvation  of  souls  shall  call  for  at  your  hands.     Besides  a  want  of  faith, 
 
 Christ  assigned  a  second  cause  of  their  ill  success,  and  that  was  their  neglecting  to 
 
 Mark  9.  fest  and  pray.     "  But  this  kind,"  said  he,  "  is  not  to  be  cast  out  but  by  prayer  and 
 
 ^^'      fastinof." 
 
 CHAPTER  LXIX. 
 
 JEStJS,  A  SECOND  TIME,  FORETELLS  HIS  DEATH,  AND  PAYS  THE  TRIBUTE  OF  T\VO  DRACHMAS. 
 MATT.  XVII.      MARK  IX.      LUKE   IX. 
 
 Mark  9.  "  And  departing  from  thence,"  that  is,  from  the  small  town  which  is  situated  at  the 
 
 ^^'       1.  Jesus  fore-    ^^^^  ^^  mount  Thabor,  and  which  by  some  is  called  Cheseleth-Thabor, 
 
 tells  his  death.   Jesus  turned  his  whole  thoughts  to  mount  Calvary,  which  was  to  be  the 
 
 scene  of  a  transfiguration  very  different  from  the  preceding  one.     His  mind  being 
 
 now  intent  upon  going,  without  loss  of  time,  into  Judea,  there  to  complete  the  end 
 
 and  design  of  his  mission,  "  they  passed  through  Galilee,  and  he  would  not  that  any 
 
 man  should  know  it,"  and  directed  his  route  principally  through  such  places  as  he 
 
 Matt.  17.  had  not  before  visited.     "  And  when  they  were  conversing  together  in  Galilee,  and 
 
 1.^0   ^^'^O'  ""^  wondered  at  all  the  things  he  did,  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  lay  you  up  in 
 
 44       your  heartsf  these  words,  that  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  betrayed  into  the  hands  of 
 
 Mark  9.  rnen,  and  thev  shall  kill  him,  and  after  that  he  is  killed,  he  shall  rise  ajjain  the 
 
 30.  .  '  o 
 
 third  day." 
 
 This  unwelcome  intelligence  he  imparted  to  them  whilst  yet  in  Galilee,  where  every 
 one  was  in  Ihe  greatest  admiration  at  the  wonders  he  had  wrought,  in  order  thus  to 
 prevent  the  objection  which  his  enemies  might  have  alleged,  of  his  having  foretold 
 his  death  only  upon  his  arrival  in  Judea,  when  he  could  not  but  perceive  the  marked 
 Luke  9.  antipathy  of  the  Jews  against  his  person.     "  But  the  Apostles  understood  not  this 
 ^^-      word,  and  it  was  hid   from   them,   so   that  they   perceived  it   not."     Their  firm 
 belief  that  he  was  the  Messiah,  and  consequently  immortal  as  they  imagined,  ren- 
 dered his  death,  in  their  eyes,  a  mystery  of  the  greatest  obscurity,  which  they  could 
 Matt.  17.  not  fathom  ;  "  and  they  were  afraid  to  ask  him  concerning  this  word  :  and  they  were? 
 ""■      troubled  exceedingly"  at  this  declaration,  which  seemed  to  forebode  something  very 
 23.      unpleasant  to  their  feelings,  and  unfortunate  to  their  divine  Master.   "  And  when  they 
 
 iiiiT  on  what  Christ  said  in  the  house  on  that  occa-  from   St.   Paul,   1  Cor.  xiii.  2.  and  from  what  tlie 
 
 sion  ;   but  he  places  these  words  among  many  other  saints  have  done  on  certain  occasions.  See  Butlers 
 
 instructions  which  Jesus  gave  to  his  Apostles,  and  lile  of  St.  Greg.  Thauinaturgus.    VVe  may  likewise 
 
 which  seem  to  have  no  relation  to  each  other.  The  say  with  St.  Jerom,  that  these  mountains  signify 
 
 propriety  therefore  of  inserting  them  in  this  place,  the  most  difficult  things. 
 
 will  be  manifest  to  the  intelligent  reader.  t  Eis  tu  iTto  in  auribus;  that   is,  let  them   sink 
 
 *  This  may  be  understood  literally,  as  appears  i/ilo  your  ears.    Mark  these  words  diligently.    Geit. 
 
Ch.  LXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  233 
 
 were  come  to  Capharnaum,"  which  place  Jesus  now  visited  for  the  last  time,  and 
 probably  for  the  purpose  of  finally  settling  his  affairs,  "  they  that  received  the 
 didrachmas"  for  the  repairs  of  the  temple,  ''  came  to  Peter,  and  said  to  him  :  doth  24. 
 not  your  Master  pay  the  didrachma,  or  tribute  money?  he  said  :  yes."  This  seems 
 to  imply,  that  the  payment  of  this  tribute  was  omitted  or  evaded  by  many.  ''  And 
 when  he  was  come  into  the  house,  Jesus  prevented  him,  saying  :  what  is  thy  opinion, 
 Simon  ?  The  kings  of  the  earth,  of  whom  do  they  receive  tribute  or  custom?  of  their 
 own  children,  or  of  strangers  ?  And  he  said,  of  strangers.  Jesus  said  to  him  :  then  25 
 the  children  are  free." 
 
 The  argument  here  made  use  of  by  our  divine  Master  is  as  follows  :        2.  Jems 
 the  money  collected  for  the  use  of  the  temple,  is,  properly  speaking,  a     pays  tribute. 
 tribute  which  God  imposes  for  the  reparation  of  his  own  house,  and  which,  as  such, 
 is  to  be  collected  after  the  manner  of  other  tributes.     Now  the  kings  of  the  earth 
 exact  no  tribute  from  their  own  children  or  near  connections,  but  only  from  their  sub- 
 jects and  those  that  are  not  of  their  household.     Therefore,  in  the  present  instance, 
 God  will  not  exact  this  tribute  from  his  only  Son,  but  will  exempt  him  from  it,  toge- 
 ther with  his  disciples.     "  But  that  we  may  not  scandalize  them,"  added  Jesus,  "  go      26. 
 to  the  sea,  and  cast  in  a  hook  :  and  that  fish  which  shall  first  come  up,  take ;  and 
 when  thou  hast  opened  its  mouth,  thou  shalt  find  a  stater  :  take  that  and  give  it  to 
 them  for  me  and  thee."     This  tribute  was  collected  per  head  throughout  Judea,  for 
 the  repairs  of  the  temple,  and  amounted  for  each  person  that  was  twenty  years  old,  to 
 a  piece  of  silver  of  the  weight  of  two  drachmas,  about  fifteen-pence  English.  A  stater, 
 or  shekel,  was  equivalent  to  two  didrachmas,  or  four  drachmas,  and  was  the  tribute 
 to  be  paid  for  two  persons,  being  about  two  shilling  and  sixpence  of  our  money. 
 
 We  may  learn  from  this  example  of  Christ  our  Lord,  to  forego  occasionally  our 
 strict  rig-hts,  so  far  as  to  suffer  some  temporal  loss,  in  order  thereby  to  prevent  or  do 
 away  any  ill-founded  scandal  which  weak  persons  might  otherwise  take,  even  from 
 our  most  innocent  actions. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXX. 
 
 THE  FIRST  DISPUTE  AMONG  THE  APOSTLES  CONCERNING  PRIMACY SCANDAL  TO  BE 
 
 AVOIDED.*       MATT.  XVIII.      MARK  IX.      LUKE  IX. 
 
 Whilst  they  were  upon  their  road  into  Judea,  an  altercation  toak  place  amono-  the 
 Apostles,  which  afforded  Jesus  an  opportunity  of  giving  them,  and  all  succeedino- 
 Christians,  several  important  lessons,  such  as  might  regulate  their  conduct,  both  with 
 regard  to  themselves  and  to  their  neighbours.  1.  Contempt,  in  our  own  reo-ard  we 
 are  to  consider  our  just  due,  and  are  therefore  to  sit  down  in  the  lowest  place.  2. 
 With  regard  to  our  neighbour,  our  duty  is  to  bear  patiently  with  him  if  troublesome. 
 3.  If  he  be  weak  in  faith,  to  avoid  giving  him  scandal,  4.  If  unjust,  we  must  mildly 
 reprove  his  conduct  by  fraternal  correction.     5.  If  he  acknowledge  his  fault,  we  are 
 
 *  See  the  second,  in  chap.  132, 
 
 20.  3  o 
 
234  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXX. 
 
 to  forgive  what  is  past.  These  different  points  are  treated  of  in  this  and  the 
 following  chapter. 
 
 No  part  of  the  foregoing  prediction  of  Jesus  concerning  what  was  to  befall  him, 
 
 seems  to  have  struck  the  Apostles  more  forcibly  than  that  of  his  future  resurrection. 
 
 This  they  failed  not  to  interpret  of  his  entering  into  the  full  possession  of  his  temporal 
 
 Luke  9.  kingdom.     "  And"  hence  "  there  entered  a  thought  into  them  which 
 
 ^^'  ilcs  dispute"!-  of  them  should  be  greater"  in  this  new  and  glorious  state  which  they 
 bout  superio-  figured  to  themselves.  Each  one,  it  seems,  aimed  at  the  possession  of 
 "  ^'  the  first  dignities,  and  urged  with  earnestness  the  superiority  of  his 
 
 respective  claim.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  them  stated  their  being  first  called  by 
 Jesus,  whilst  others,  such  as  James  the  Less,  Simon  and  Jude,  with  great  plausibility, 
 might  ground  their  claims  upon  their  near  connection  in  blood  with  their  Master  and 
 future  King.  Some,  it  is  likely,  boasted  of  their  having  been  intrusted  by  him  with 
 the  most  important  secrets  ;  these  were  James  the  Greater,  and  John,  and  the  latter 
 would  not  fail  to  allege  in  his  own  behalf  the  particular  alTeclion  shown  to  him  on  all 
 occasions  by  his  Master.  Lastly,  Peter,*  in  whom  most  of  the  preceding  claims  also 
 concentered  equally  with  the  rest,  was  peculiarly  distinguished  by  that  promise  of 
 the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  which  Jesus  had  made  to  him  nt)t  long  before. 
 Thev  were  thus  deeply  engaged  in  conversation  upon  this  topic  amongst  themselves : 
 
 '^''-      "  But  Jesus,"  though  "  seeing  the  thoughts  of  their  hearts,  did  not  interrupt  them 
 Marls  9.  until  they  reached  Capharnaum,  whither  they  were  going.     And  when  they  were  in 
 
 03"  the  house,  he  asked  tliem  :  what  did  you  treat  of  in  the  way  ?  But  they"  were 
 ashamed  at  the  recollection  of  what  had  passed,  and  "  held  their  peace  ;  for  in  the 
 
 3i-      wav  they  had  disputed  among  themselves  which  of  them  should  be  the  greatest.    And 
 
 sitting  down"  as  it  were  to  decide  their  differences  by  his  authority,  "  he  called  the 
 
 Matt.  18.  twelve."     Wherefore,  "  at  that  hour  the  disciples,"  who  had  been  silent  before,  and 
 
 ^'       were  now  compelled  to  speak,  "  came  to  Jesus,"  and  interrogated  him  only  in 
 
 general,  instead  of  enforcing  each  their  personal  pretensions,  "  saying:  who  thinkest 
 
 Mark  9.  thou  is  the  ofreater  in  the  kincrdora  of  heaven  .'  He  saith  to  them  :  if 
 
 9  4  S   ticsus  wro*  ~  ~ 
 
 *      poses    a    little  any  man  desire  to  be  first,  he  shall  be  the  last  of  all,  and  the  minister  of 
 Matt.  IS.  '■^'■'^^  as  a  pat-  ^^jj      ^„j  calling  to  him  a  httle  child,"  perhaps  three  or  four  years  old, 
 Luke  9    c"'"e  and'"hu-  "  he  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  by  him,  whom  when  he  had  em- 
 '  47.   ■  viilily.  braced,  he  saith  to  them,"  proposing  him  as  a  model  of  humility  to 
 
 ^35^  ^"  those  who  were  disputing  concerning  the  first  rank  in  the  kingdom  :  "  Amen  I  say 
 Matt.'l8.  to  you,  unless  you  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  you  shall  not  enter 
 ^-       into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;"  for  it  is  destined  only  for  those  who  resemble  these 
 4-       little  ones  in  innocence  and  humility.     "  Whosoever  therefore  shall  humble  himself 
 as  this  little  child,  he  is  greater  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  because  more  conform- 
 able to  me  here  on  earth.     In  effect,  these  humble  souls  who  are  li^itle  in  their  own 
 Maik  9.  eyes,  are  so  dear,  and  so  closely  united  to  me,  that  "  whosoever  shall  receive  one 
 ^^'      such  child  as  this,  in  my  name,  receiveth  me,  and  whosoever  shall  receive  me, 
 Luke  9,  receiveth  not  me,  but  him  that  sent  me.     For  he  that  is  the  lesser  amongst  you,"  by 
 48. 
 
 *  Calmet  supposes  Peter  not  to  have  been  with  them  on  this  occasion,  but  to  have  gone  before  them 
 with  his  Master  to  Capharnaum. 
 
Ch.  LXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  235 
 
 humility,  "  he  is  the  greater"  in  my  heavenly  kingdom,     "  And  John  answering,      49. 
 said  :  Master,"  if  thou  receivest  thus  all  whatever  is  done  in  thy  name,  we  have  been 
 guilty  of  a  fault :  for  "  we  saw  a  certain  man  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name,  and  we 
 forbad  him,  because  he  foUoweth  not  with  us,  and  is  not  of  the  number  of  thy  disci- 
 ples.    And  Jesus,"  repressing  his  indiscreet  zeal,  "  said  to  him  :  do  not  forbid  him  :      50. 
 for  there  is  no  man  that  doth  a  miracle  in  my  name,  and  can  soon  speak  ill  of  me  ;"  ■^^'^^^  ^ 
 on  the  contraiy,  he  cannot  fail  to  confess  that  power,  by  virtue  of  which  he  worketh 
 miracles.     Wherefore  no  longer  oppose  those  who  act  in  my  name,  although  they 
 are  not  with  you.     "  For  he  that  is  not  against  you  is  for  you  ;"  and  with  greater      39 
 reason,  he  who  labours  with  you  in  destroying  the  power  of  the  devil,  is  to  be  con- 
 sidered as  favourable  to  you  ;  and  shall  accordingly  receive  the  reward  of  his  labour, 
 however  small  it  may  be-     "  For  whosoever  shall  give  you  to  drink  a  cup  of  water      40. 
 in  my  name,  because  you  belong  to  Christ,  amen  I  say  to  you,  he  shall  not  lose  his 
 reward."     He  leaves  them  therefore  to  infer,  that  this  exorcist  whom  they  had  repri- 
 manded, was  rather  to  be  rewarded,  since  by  driving  out  the  devils  in  the  name  of 
 Jesus,  he  had  promoted  his  honour  and  advanced  his  interest. 
 
 Jesus  now  proceeds  to  treat  of  the  sin  of  scandal.,  which  consists  in  3.  Scandal  to  be 
 giving  occasion  to  another's  sin,  by  bad  example,  evil  advice,  or  any        avoided. 
 other  means.     In  few  words  he  shows  the  enormity  of  this  sin,  the  almost  unavoid- 
 able necessity  of  its  being  committed,  considering  the  weakness  and  wickedness  of  the 
 world  ;  the  eternal  punishment  due  to  it ;  and  lastly,  he  points  out  proper  remedies 
 against  it.    "  And  whosoever,"  says  he,  describing  the  enormity  of  this  crime,  "  shall  Matt.  i8» 
 scandalize  one  of  these  little  ones  that  believe  in  me,"  either  by  evil  example,  advice,       ^• 
 or  encouragement,  "  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill-stone*  were  hanged  about  his  Luke  17» 
 neck,  and  he  cast  into  the  sea,  than  that  he  should  scandalize  one  of  these  little  ones.       '^' 
 Take  heed,"  therefore,  "  to  yourselves."  So  dreadful  a  menace  most  certainly  calls  for 
 all  our  care  and  attention,  lest  by  our  words  or  actions  we  become  a  stumbling-block  to 
 others,  by  drawing  them  into  sin.     "  And  he  said  to  his  disciples :  wo  to  the  world 
 because  of  scandals.     It  is  impossible,"  indeed,  "  that  scandals  should  not  come,"     Matt, 
 so  great  is  the  corruption  of  the  world  and  the  frailty  of  those  who  live  in  it.  Where-    ^"'^^• 
 fore,  '' it  must  needs  be  that  scandals  come."     As  it  is  almost  unavoidable  for  a     Matt 
 person,  how  healthy  soever  he  may  be,  to  live  in  company  with  others  infected  with 
 the  plague,  without  receiving  the  infection,  so  is  it  equally  dangerous  to  associate 
 with  the  wicked ;  for  they  will  almost  inevitably,  by  their  words  or  actions,  communi- 
 cate to  others  the  malice  of  their  heart.     "  But  nevertheless,"  says  Christ,  "  wo  to 
 that  man  by  whom  the  scandal  cometh :"  and  then  he  proceeds  to  describe  the 
 punishments  he  may  expect  in  another  life,  in  the  following  terms  :  "  And  if  thy  rio-ht  Mark  9 
 hand  scandalize  thee,  cut  it  off:  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed,  than      ^^• 
 having  two  hands,  to  go  into  hell  into  unquenchable  fire,  where  their  worm,"  or 
 remorse  of  conscience,  "  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  extinguished.     And  if  thy  foot      44. 
 scandalize  thee,"  by  carrying  thee  into  bad  company,  and  to  forbidden  pleasures, 
 
 *  Grotius  is  of  opinion,  that  tlie  mill-stone  about  in  use  amonir  the  Jews.  Among-  the  Greeks  this 
 the  neck  alludes  to  a  custom  of  drowning  amon^  was  tlie  ancient  punishment  (ov sacrilegious  persons, 
 the  Syrians,  and  St.  Jerom  thinks  it  was  likewise     according  to  Diodorus  Siculus. 
 
236  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [CIi.  LXX. 
 
 "  cut  it  off:  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  lame  into  everlasting  life,  than  having-  two 
 
 45.  feet  to  be  cast  into  the  hell  of  unquenchable  fire,  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and 
 
 46.  the  fire  is  not  extinguished.  And  if  thy  eye  scandalize  thee,  pluck  it  out :  it  is  better 
 for  thee  with  one  eye  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  than  having  two  eyes  to  be 
 
 48.  cast  into  hell  fire,  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  extinguished.  For 
 everyone  of"  them  "  shall  be  salted  with  fire,  and  every  victim  shall  be  salted  with 
 salt."  In  these  last  words  he  represents  the  damned  as  victims  burning  td  the  glory 
 of  God's  justice,  and  as  such  they  must  be  prepared  with  the  same  ceremonies  as 
 were  all  other  victims.  Now  every  victim  the  law  commanded  to  be  salted*  And 
 thus,  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  their  situation,  the  damned  must  likewise  be  salted,  and 
 it  is  this  singular  quality  or  property  of  hell-fire,  which,  by  constantly  renewing  the 
 substance  it  devours,  constitutes  the  eternity  of  their  punishment. 
 
 Jesus  now  offers  to  them  a  resource  against  this  dreadful  evil  of  scandal,  and  he 
 finds  it  again  in  the  nature  of  salt,  which  is  an  emblem  of  true  wisdom,  which  should 
 render  them  incorruptible  in  their  morals,  as  that  of  hell  renders,  the  damned  incor- 
 ruptible in  their  torments.  In  this  sense  he  declares,  that  "  salt  is  good,"  because, 
 as  it  rendered  the  victims  agreeable  to  God,  so  true  wisdom,  represented  by  it,  pre- 
 serves our  souls  from  tlie  corruption  of  sin,  and  makes  them  pleasing  in  the  divine 
 sight:  "  but  if  the  salt,"  says  he,  "become  unsavoury,  wherewith  will  you  season 
 it?"  As  nothing  will  restore  it,  when  corrupted,  to  its  original  efficacy,  so  if  they, 
 vpho  by  their  calling  are  designed  to  counteract  the  natural  tendency  of  mankind  to 
 corruption,  become  themselves  equally  corrupt,  through  a  vain  emulation  for  grandeur 
 and  preferment,  w  ith  what  other  salt  can  these  be  restored  to  their  sound  state  ? 
 Wherefore  "  have  salt  in  you"  which  is  good ;  labour  for  that  true  wisdom  of  which 
 it  is  the  emblem  ;  and  "  have  peace  among  you,"  by  means  of  this  divine  wisdom, 
 and  by  avoiding  carefully  these  empty  disputes  concerning  preeminence,  which  can 
 only  serve  to  create  mischief  and  dissension. 
 
 Finally,  Christ  suggests  the  remedy  to  be  applied  to  this  evil  of  scandal,  both  b}- 
 those  who  have  given  it,  and  by  others  who  have  received  it.  To  the  latter  he  points 
 out  the  necessity  of  breaking  off  all  connections  with  those  who  give  scandal,  how- 
 ever near  and  dear  they  may  be  to  us ;  for  he  declares  we  must  part  even  with  a 
 hand,  a  foot,  or  one  of  our  eyes,  if  they  become  to  us  an  occasion  of  sin  ;  it  being 
 infinitely  more  eligible  to  enter  iiito  eternal  life  blind  or  lame,  than  for  the  sake  of 
 these  members  to  be  cast  into  hell,  into  that  dreadful  fire  which  will  never  be 
 extinguished. 
 
 As  to  the  authors  of  scandal,  the  remedy  for  them  is  to  entertain  a  great  esteem 
 
 and  religious  respect  even  for  the  least  of  those  who  believe  in  Jesus ;  for  the  ruin 
 
 caused  by  scandals  is  owing  to  the  little  esteem  and  regard  men  have  for  souls,  as  if 
 
 their  eternal  loss  were  not  chargeable  on  those  who  occasion  it  by  tiieir  bad  example. 
 
 Matt  18      .    T  -t.r  Wherefore  to  inspire  the  respect  for  the  souls  of  others,  Christ  says  : 
 
 '     ,  •  ^^'       4.  Little  ones  r  ^         ,  ..    ,  x-i       t  i 
 
 10-  not  to  be  de-  "  see  that  you  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones.  For  I  say  to  you, 
 spised.  jjj^t  ^{^gi,.  angelsi"  in  heaven  always  see  the  face  of  my  Father  who  is  in 
 
 *  Levit.  ii.  13.  of  i^race,  has  a  particular  angel  to  watch  over  hiui. 
 
 t  It  is  certain  that  every  good  man,  iu  the  state     and  solicit  his   well   being.     The   most   eminent 
 
Ch.  LXX.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 237 
 
 heaven."  Jesus  leaves  us  to  infer,  that  since  the  ang'els  are  thus  deeply  interested 
 in  the  preservation  of  the  souls  confided  to  their  care,  they  will  certainly  not  allow  the 
 authors  of  their  damnation  to  go  unpunished,  but  will  loudly  call  for  vengeance  upon 
 them  at  the  tribunal  of  God. 
 
 A  second  reason  for  esteeming  these  souls  is,  that  after  their  beinn:      .  ^, 
 
 °  =       .  5.  The  para- 
 
 lost  by  sin,  Jesus  came  down  purposely  to  seek  them,  and  to  withdraw  bit  of  the  hun- 
 
 them  from  their  errors.     "  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  save  that  '^''^'^  ^^^'^P- 
 
 which  was  lost."     Since  the  object  of  his  incarnation  and  death  was  the  salvation  of 
 
 souls,  how  can  it  be  supposed  that  he  will  not  take  vengeance  on  those  who  frustrate 
 
 the  fruits  of  his  sufferings,  by  causing  the  damnation  of  those  for  whom  he  died  ? 
 
 Jesus  explains  this  infinite  love  which  he  bears  to  the  souls  of  mankind,  by  the 
 
 example  of  a  shepherd.     "  What  think  you,"  says  he,  "  if  a  man  have  a  hundred 
 
 sheep,  and  one  of  them  should  go  astray,  doth  he  not  leave  the  ninety-nine  in  the 
 
 mountains,*  and  go  to  seek  that  which  is  gone  astray  ?    And  if  it  happen  that  he 
 
 find  it :  amen  I  say  to  you,  he  rejoiceth  the  more  for  that  than  for  the  ninety-nine  that 
 
 went  not  astray  ;"  because  in  its  regard  he  has  a  particular  subject  of  joy  which  the 
 
 others  afford  not,  viz.  that  of  having  found  it  again  when  lost  and  gone  astray.     The 
 
 application  of  this  allegory  is  obvious.     Jesus  is  the  shepherd,  who,  leaving  his  flock 
 
 13. 
 
 among  the  Fathers  affirm  the  same  even  with  re- 
 gard to  sinners  and  infidels,  which  is  strongly 
 supported  by  t'le  authority  of  Scripture.  To  this 
 purpose  Abraham  tells  his  servan',  travelling  to 
 Mesopotamia:  "  the  Lord  will  send  his  angel  with 
 thee  and  will  direct  thy  way."  Gen  xxiv.  40.  The 
 patriarch  .Jacob  makes  mention  of  liis  good  angel, 
 who  had  redeeined  him  from  all  evil,  and  prays  the 
 same  protection  to  his  children.  "  The  angel  that 
 delivered  me  from  all  evils,  bless  these  boys."  Gen. 
 xlviii.  16.  Judith  said:  "  his  angel  hath  been  my 
 keeper,  both  going  hence,  and  abiding  there,  and 
 returning  from  thence."  Juditii  xiii.  20.  The  Psalm- 
 ist assures  us,  "  he  hath  given  his  angels  charge 
 over  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways."  Psa.  xc.  1 1. 
 And  in  another  place ;  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord  shall 
 encamp  round  about  them  that  fear  him,  and  he 
 shall  deliver  them."  Psa.  xxxiii.  8. 
 
 We  may  well  admire  the  excess  of  God's  good- 
 ness and  wonderful  condescension  in  thus  com- 
 manding  his  highest  spirits  to  watch  over  and  guard 
 us  miserable  sinners.  "  Who  is  he,"  says  St.  Ber- 
 nard,* "  that  hath  given  this  charge  ?  to  whom, 
 and  of  whom,  hath  he  given  this  order?  and  what 
 is  its  import  ?  Let  us  seriously  consider  and  weigh 
 every  jiart  of  this  mystery.  Who  is  he  that  hath 
 given  this  charge?  The  Lord  of  angels  whom  they 
 obey.  The  Supreme  Majesty  of  God  hath  laid  a 
 command  upon  the  angels,  and  his  own  angels, 
 those  sublime,  those  happy  spirils  who  approach  so 
 near  his  Divine  Majesty,  his  own  domestics:  and 
 it  is  th.'  care  of  thee,  that  by  this  sacred  command, 
 he  hath  intrusted  to  them.  What  art  thou  ?  Is 
 not  man  rottenness,  corruption,  and  the  food  of 
 worms?  But  what  dost  thou  think  he   hath  cora- 
 
 21. 
 
 *  Ser.  12.  in  Psa.  xc.  p.  662. 
 
 manded  them  concerning  thee  ?  That  they  guard 
 thee;  that  they  keep  thee  in  all  their  ways  :  nor  do 
 they  loiter :  they  even  bear  thee  up  in  their  hands, 
 as  it  were,  lest  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone," 
 
 The  same  holy  father  observes,  that  we  owe  to 
 our  guardian  angel  great  reverence,  devotion,  and 
 confidence  :  "  reverence,"  says  he,  "  for  his  pre- 
 sence, devotion  for  his  charity,  and  confidence  in 
 his  watchfulness.  Penetrated  with  awe,  walk  al- 
 ways with  circumspection,  remembering  the  pre- 
 sence of  angels,  to  whom  you  are  given  in  charge 
 in  all  your  ways.  In  every  apartment,  in  every 
 closet,  in  every  corner,  pay  a  respect  to  your  angel. 
 Dare  you  do  before  him  what  you  durst  not  com- 
 mit if  I  sav/  you."  It  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian 
 to  recommend  himself  daily  to  the  protection  of  his 
 good  angel.  "  Though  we  are  weak,"  says  the 
 same  holy  father,  "  and  our  condition  low,  and 
 though  so  long  and  dangerous  a  way  lies  before  us, 
 what  can  we  fear  under  so  great  guardians  ?  As 
 often  as  any  tribulation  or  violent  temptation  assails 
 you,  implore  your  guardian,  your  guide,  your  as- 
 sistant in  tribulation,  and  in  all  times  of  need." 
 To  deserve  his  protection,  we  must  above  all  things 
 avoid  sin  ;  for  "  as  smoke  chases  away  bees,  and 
 stench  doves,  so  the  ordure  of  sin  driveth  away  the 
 angel,  the  keeper  of  life,"  says  St.  Basil,  Hom.  in 
 Psa.  xxxiii. 
 
 *  In  the  Greek  it  is  dubious  whether  the  shep- 
 herd leaves  the  ninety-nine  in  the  mountains,  or 
 whether  he  himself  goeth  into  tlie  mountains  in 
 quest  of  the  lost  sheep.  The  Syriac  and  Vulgate 
 follow  the  former  sense,  which  is  confirmed  by  St. 
 Luke,  chap.  xv.  4.  when  he  speaks  of  the  ninety- 
 nine  being  left  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  Others  adopt 
 the  latter  sense,  as  more  agreeable  to  the  Greek. 
 
 3p 
 
238  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LXXI. 
 
 behind  him  in  heaven^  that  is,  innumerable  armies  of  ang-els,  came  down  upon  earth 
 purposely  to  seek  after  one  lost  sheep,  viz.  our  human  nature,  gone  astray,  and  lost  by 
 the  sin  of  our  first  parents  ;  and  it  is  from  this  redemption  or  reparation  of  mankind 
 effected  by  himself  at  the  dear  price  of  his  own  sufferings  and  death,  that  he  feels  a 
 greater  degree  of  joy  than  from  the  faithful  perseverance  of  the  angels  in  heaven. 
 14.  "  In  like  manner,"  says  Christ,  we  may  infer,  that  "  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father 
 who  is  in  heaven,  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish  :"  since,  to  effect  their 
 salvation,  he  sent  down  even  his  only  Son  into  the  world ;  and  consequently  he  will 
 not  fail  to  take  just  vengeance  upon  all  those  who,  by  their  bad  example,  contribute 
 to  frustrate  his  most  gracious  designs 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXI. 
 
 FRATERNAL  CORRECTION — THE  KEYS  PROMISED — INJURIES  TO  BE  FORGIVEN WE  ARE  TO 
 
 CONSIDER  OURSELVES  AS  USELESS  SERVANTS.      MATT.  XVIII.      LUKE  XVII. 
 
 After  having  treated  of  the  sin  of  scandal  as  an  offence  which  regards  the  spiritual 
 goods  of  grace  and  salvation,  the  connection  of  Christ's  discourse  seemed  to  require, 
 that  he  should  next  treat  of  injuries  which  we  receive  either  in  our  repntation  or  in 
 our  corporal  goods,  whether  such  injuries  originate  from  incousiderateness,  frailty,  or 
 malice.     These  are  what  he  touches  upon  in  the  sequel. 
 
 After  supposing  the  necessity  of  reparation  on  the  part  of  the  aggressor,  Jesus 
 
 establishes  the  obligation  of  forgiving  the  injury  on  the  part  of  the  person  aggrieved, 
 
 liuke  17.     ,    _,        ,     in  the  following  terms.     "'  Look  well  to  yourselves  :  if  thy  brother  sin 
 
 „  1.  The  order  »  ,     i      i  •  i    -r  i         i  r       • 
 
 offraii-rnalcor-  against  thee,"  go  and      rebuke  him  ;  and  if  he  do  penance,  forgive 
 4.       redion.  him"  the  injury  he  has  committed.     "  And  if  he  sin  against  tliee  seven 
 
 times  in  a  day,  and  seven  times  in  a  day  be  converted  unto  thee,  saying  :  I  repent : 
 forgive  him."  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  repent  not  of  his  fault,  but  continue  obstinate 
 in  his  malice,  he  then  stands  in  need  of  the  correction  of  a  third  person,  in  order  to 
 extricate  him  from  his  criminal  state.  For  we  may  observe  that  there  are  three 
 degrees  of  correction,  all  of  them  equally  proceeding  from  a  spirit  of  charity  and  zeal 
 for  the  offending  party,  and  divested  of  all  rancour  and  revenge ;  yet  each  of  them 
 distino-uished  by  a  different  degree  of  severity.  The  first  degree  is  mentioned  above, 
 which  is  that  the  injured  party  must  speak  to  his  aggressor  privateli/,  and  remind  him 
 Matt.  18.  of  the  injury  received.  "  Go,"  says  Christ,  "  and  rebuke  him  between  thee  and  him 
 *^*  alone."  This  first  step  is  the  most  pacific  and  conciliating  ;  for  whilst  it  tends  to  the 
 correction  of  the  fault,  it  spares  the  confusion  which  a  more  public  reprimand  would 
 cause  to  the  ao-gressor,  and  thus  affords  no  plea  for  his  obstinately  justifying  a  bad 
 action,  which  perhaps  the  presence  of  others  might  urge  him  to  do.  "  If  he  shall 
 hear  thee,"  and  attend  to  this  mild  correction,  "  thou  shalt  gain  thy  brother"  to  God, 
 to  thyself,  and  to  himself,  who  would  otherwise  have  been  lost  in  all  these  several 
 respects. 
 
Gh.  LXXI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  239 
 
 The  second  degree  is,  that,  "  if  he  will  not  hear  thee,"  through  a  spirit  of  rancour  16. 
 and  obstinacy,  thou  give  him  a  second  correction  ;  and  in  this  case,  "  take  with  thee 
 one  or  two  more"  persons  of  respectability,  "  that  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  wit- 
 nesses every  word  may  stand."  These  are  not  called  in  to  prove  his  fault,  which 
 may  perhaps  have  been  a  secret,  or  at  least  not  known  to  them,  in  which  case  they 
 could  bear  no  testimony  against  him.  Moreover,  what  need  of  the  testimony  of 
 others,  when  the  aggressor  himself  must  be  conscious  of  the  injury  which  he  has 
 done?  They  are  therefore  appealed  to,  not  as  witnesses  to  prove  the  injury  com- 
 mitted, but  as  friends  to  give  a  sanction  to  the  plaintiff's  cause  by  the  weight  of  their 
 authority,  and  to  effect  a  reconciliation  by  their  persuasive  arguments ;  or  otherwise, 
 to  bear  witness  in  the  face  of  the  Church,  that  every  thing  has  been  done  which 
 charity  required  ;  and  that  if  all  this  prove  ineffectual,  it  now  belongs  to  the  Church 
 to  take  up  the  cause. 
 
 The  third  degree  of  correction  therefore  becomes  necessary,  when  the  offender 
 refuses  to  listen  to  you,  or  to  the  witnesses  called  in  :  for,  "if  he  will  not  hear  them,"  17. 
 says  Christ,  "  tell  the  Church,"  or  that  prelate  who  in  your  regard  is  the  representa- 
 tive of  the  Church,  and  who  by  canonical  admonitions,  must  urge  him  to  give  you 
 due  satisfaction.  "^  And  if  he  will  not  hear  the  Church,"  speaking  to  him  through 
 the  voice  of  its  pastor,  "  let  him  be  to  thee  as  the  heathen  and  the  publican  ;"  that 
 is,  as  a  person  with  whom,  after  such  solemn  denunciation,  all  religious  communi- 
 cation and  intimacy  must  cease ;  that  so  this  mark  of  infamy  may  tend  to  heal  this 
 disordered  sheep,  or  at  least  preserve  the  rest  of  the  flock  from  the  contagion  of  his 
 example.  But  lest  public  and  obstinate  sinners  might  treat  the  sen-  o.  The  keys 
 tence  of  their  pastors  with  contempt,  Jesus  here  most  solemnly  engages  promised. 
 to  ratify  whatever  they  shall  decree.  "  Amen  I  say  to  you,  whatsoever  you  shall  18. 
 bind  upon  earth,"  either  in  the  tribunal  of  penance,  or  in  the  outward  court  of  eccle- 
 siastical polity,  "  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven  :  and  whatsoever  you  shall  loose 
 upon  earth,"  by  the  sentence  of  absolution,  "  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven."  These 
 two  important  branches  of  ecclesiastical  power  are  justly  to  be  considered  as  powerful 
 means  of  bringing  sinners  to  repentance ;  the  former,  by  intimidating-  them  under  the 
 dread  of  being  for  ever  cut  off  from  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  account  of  obstinacy, 
 and  the  latter,  by  attracting  them  to  their  duty,  through  a  desire  and  well-grounded 
 hope  of  being  thus  reinstated  in  grace,  and  of  recovering  their  former  rank  in  the 
 Church. 
 
 What  Christ  adds,  is  a  confirmation  of  the  preceding  promise.  For  to  show  more 
 forcibly,  that  the  sentences  thus  pronounced  upon  earth  will  be  ratified  in  heaven,  he 
 assures  them,  that  even  exclusive  of  their  judicial  decisions  in  council,  he  will  comply 
 likewise  with  the  vows  and  prayers  of  two  or  three  individuals.  "  Again  I  say  to  19. 
 you,  that  if  two  of  you  shall  agree  npon  earth  concerning  any  thing  whatsoever  they 
 shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  by  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  For  where  there  20. 
 are  two  or  three  gathered  together  in  mi/  name,  there  I  am  in  the  midst  of  them  :" 
 and  Peter  was  forcibly  struck  with  what  Jesus  had  decided  concerning  our  treatment 
 of  an  offending  brother,  which  was  to  pardon  him  upon  his  repentance,  though  he 
 should  offend  us  seven  times  a  day.    A  condescension  of  this  extent  appeared  to  him 
 
240  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LXXL 
 
 21.  somewhat  unreasonable,  and  beyond  all  bounds.  "  Then  Peter  came  to  him,  and 
 said:  Lord,  how  often  shall  my  brother  offend  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him?  till 
 
 22.  seven  times?  Jesus  saith  to  him  :  I  say  not  to  thee  till  seven  times,  but  till  seventy 
 tiipes  seven  times  ;"  which  shows  that  we  must  forgive  the  offences  of  our  brethren  to 
 an  unlimited  extent. 
 
 To  point  out  more  clearly  the  truth  and  equity  of  this  decision,  Jesus 
 
 '^3-      ble  ofaling'^n-  spoke  to  his  disciples  the  following  parable.     "  Therefore  is  the  king- 
 
 mitting  his  ser-  (Jom  of  heaven  likened  to  a  king,  who  would  take  an  account  of  his 
 
 24.  """  *  '  '■  servants.  And  when  he  had  begun  to  take  the  account,  one  was 
 brought  to  him  that  owed  him  ten  thousand  talents,"*  that  is,  an  immense  sum : 
 
 25.  "  and  as  he  had  not  wherewith  to  pay  it,  his  lord  commanded  that,"  according  to  the 
 custom  of  those  times,  "  he  should  be  sold,  and  his  wife  and  children,  and  all  that  he 
 
 26.  had,  and  payment  to  be  made.  But  the  man,"  convinced  of  the  justice  of  the  sen- 
 tence, and  knowing  he  had  nothing  to  hope  for  but  from  the  mercy  and  clemency 
 of  his  lord,  "  fallino-  down,  besought  him,  saying  :  have  patience  with  me  and  I  will 
 
 27.  pay  thee  all.     And  the  lord  of  that  servant  being  moved  with  pity,  let  him  go  and 
 
 28.  foro-ave  him  the  debt.  But  when  that  servant  was  gone  out,  he  found  one  of  his 
 fellow-servants  that  owed  him"  the  trifling  debt  of  "  a  hundred  pence,  and  laying  hold 
 
 29.  of  him  he  throttled  him,  saying :  pay  what  thou  owest.  And  his  fellow-servant 
 falling  down,  besought  him,  saying  :  have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  j)ay  thee  all. 
 
 30.  And  he  would  not :  but  went  and  cast  him  into  prison  till  he  paid  the  debt.     Now 
 
 31.  his  fellow-servants  seeing  what  was  done,  were  very  much  grieved,  and  they  came 
 
 32.  and  told  their  master  all  that  was  done.     Then  his  lord  called  him,  and  said  to  him  : 
 
 33.  thou  wicked  servant,  I  forgave  thee  all  the  debt  because  thou  besoughtest  me,  shonldst 
 not  Ihou  then  have  had  compassion  also  on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  cora- 
 
 34.  passion  on  thee  ?     And  his  lord  being  angry  delivered  him  to  the  torturer  until  he 
 
 35.  paid  all  the  debt.  So  also  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do  to  you,  if  you  forgive  not 
 every  one  his  brother  from  your  hearts." 
 
 The  foreo-oing  parable  represents  to  us  the  severity  with  which  God  will  scrutinize 
 our  conduct  towards  our  neighbour.  Divesting  it  of  the  metaphorical  imagery  of 
 farmers,  debtors,  and  sales,  we  may  here  consider  a  vindictive  person  under  four 
 various  circumstances  :  1.  Under  the  weight  of  innumerable  sins  committed  against 
 Almighty  God.  2.  As  having  been  gratuitously  admitted  to  a  reconciliation  with 
 his  offended  majesty.  3.  As  guilty  of  the  blackest  ingratitude.  4.  As  suffering  the 
 just  and  rigorous  chastisement  of  his  crimes. 
 
 1.  The  Almiffhty,  in  his  high  council  of  heaven,  contemplates  the  various  conduct 
 of  mankind  as  reported  to  him  by  the  angels  whom  he  has  commissioned  to  watch 
 over  his  creatures.  On  this  report  depends  the  lengthening  or  the  shortening  of 
 man's  days,  as  appears  from  the  book  of  Job,  and  the  3d  of  King.s,  chap.  xxii. 
 Wherefore,  before  this  divine  tribunal,  a  report  is  laid  of  a  man  overwhelmed  with  an 
 
 *  Whi-h  in  our  monev,  according  to  some  an-  as  liis  fellow-servant  owed  him.  "Whereas  the  hun- 
 thors  amount  to  one  miilion  eight  humlred  and  dred  pence  that  his  fellow-servant  was  nulebtcd  to 
 seventy-five  thousand  pounds  sterling;  that  is,  him,  was  but  three  pounds  two  shillings  and  six- 
 seven  "hundred  and  forty  thousand  times  as  much  pence. 
 
Ch.  LXXr.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  241 
 
 enormous  load  of  crimes,  without  any  desire  or  endeavour  to  satisfy  for  the  same  ;  in 
 conformity  with  the  divine  justice,  he  is  in  due  course  condemned  to  forfeit  his  life, 
 both  for  time  and  eternity  ;  his  body,  here  represented  as  his  wife,  is  to  be  delivered 
 over  to  the  worms,  and  all  his  works,  which  are  considered  as  his  children,  are 
 adjudged  to  the  devil.  He  is  then  personally  cited  before  God's  tribunal,  by  the 
 summons  of  a  dangerous  sickness,  which  in  a  few  days  reduces  him  to  the  last 
 extremity. 
 
 2.  Placed  in  so  critical  a  situation  upon  the  bed  of  sorrow,  this  man,  now  at  the 
 feet  of  his  offended  Judge,  requests  most  earnestly,  and  with  floods  of  tears,  to  be 
 indulged  with  a  respite,  in  order  to  do  penance  for  his  sins.  He  fails  not  to  make 
 the  most  solemn  promises  of  amending  his  life,  and  of  satisfying  for  his  past  crimes  : 
 his  sorrow  for  these  is  so  great,  and  his  tears  so  abundant,  that  the  Almighty  is 
 touched  with  compassion  ;  he  forgives  him  his  sins,  and  prolongs  his  life. 
 
 3.  This  favoured  criminal  has  scarcely  recovered  from  his  sickness,  when,  on  meet- 
 ing a  person  from  whom  he  formerly  received  some  injury  or  affront,  all  his  former 
 rancour  returns  ;  and  without  listening  to  the  voice  of  reason  or  of  gratitude,  he  gives 
 vent  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  vengeance.  All  good  people  who  witness  this  cruel 
 and  inhuman  conduct,  are  shocked  at  it ;  the  angels  denounce  it  before  the  judg- 
 ment seat  of  God;  and  the  devils  eagerly  paint  it  with  the  highest  colours  of 
 exaggeration. 
 
 4.  The  Almighty  deservedly  strikes  the  culprit  by  a  sudden  death,  and  brings  him 
 before  his  tribunal  :  "  wicked  servant,"  says  he  to  him,  ''  I  had  pardoned  all  thy 
 transgressions,  being  moved  by  thy  prayers  and  tears,  oughtest  not  thou  to  have 
 done  the  same  to  thy  brother?  especially  as  the  injury  thou  hadst  received  at  his 
 hands  was  trifling ;  nay,  even  nothing  when  compared  with  the  offences  which  thou 
 hadst  committed  against  me :  in  forgiving  these  I  set  thee  an  example  which  thou 
 oughtest  to  have  imitated  in  pardoning  thy  brother."  To  this  deserved  reproof  he 
 can  make  no  reply,  and  God  delivers  him  into  the  hands  of  his  ministers,  by  them  to 
 be  tormented  until  he  shall  completely  satisfy  the  Divine  justice,  that  is,  for  all 
 eternity. 
 
 The  followers  of  Jesus  might  perchance  flatter  themselves,  that  after  so  great  an 
 effort  of  virtue  as  that  of  pardoning  injuries,  nothmg  more  would  be  requiied  of 
 them,     Jesus  however  undeceives  us  in  this  respect,  by  an  example  drawn  from  our 
 own  conduct  in  the  ordinary  occurrences  of  life.     "  But  which  of  you  having  a  ser-  Luj^g  17 
 vant  ploughing  or  feeding  cattle,  will  say  to  him  when  he  is  come      4    ou     bt       '' 
 from  the  field :    immediately  go,  sit  down  to  meat.*     And  will  not  services  are  iL-       8. 
 rather  say  to  him  :  make  ready  my  supper,  and  gird  thyself,  and  serve  ''^**- 
 me,  whilst  I  eat  and  drink ;  and  afterwards  thou  shalt  eat  and  drink  ?  Doth  he  thank       9, 
 
 *  We  have  here  added  these  words  from  St.  viz.  of  scandal,  in  the  preceding:  ciiapter ;  the  se- 
 Luke,  not  with  any  certainty  that  this  is  their  pro-  cond,  concerning  fraternal  correction  in  this  chapter 
 per  place,  but  because  they  unite  very  well  with  71  ;  the  third,  on  the  efficacy  of  faith,  chap.  68.) 
 v;iiat  goes  before  from  St.  Matthew.  St.  Luke  we  thought  it  proper  to  place  the  fourth  here,  espe- 
 mentions  them  in  his  17th  chapter,  together  with  cially  as  the  history  of  the  ten  lepers,  which  imme- 
 three  other  instructions  of  Christ,  without  seeming  diately  follows  this  in  St.  Luke,  is  given  here  like- 
 to  observe  any  particular  order.  Wherefore,  as  we  wise  in  chap.  73 
 have  already  givan  the  three  first  instructions,  (first, 
 
 21.  3q 
 
242  T'lK  I-IFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIS'l.  [CI..  LXXII. 
 
 10.  that  servant  for  doing  the  things  which  he  commanded  him  ?  I  think  not.  So  you 
 also,"  when  you  have  forgiven  injuries  from  your  hearts,  and  returned  good  for  evil, 
 which  I  may  compare  to  tilling  the  soil  and  feeding  the  cattle,  yet  must  you  not 
 expect  that  God  will  be  satisfied  with  your  conduct,  if  you  omit  other  essential  duties. 
 No,  you  must  follow  the  example  of  this  servant,  who,  after  having  worked  during  the 
 dav,  had  yet  to  prepare  and  attend  at  his  master's  table ;  in  like  manner  you  must 
 continue  to  do  good  works,  which  are,  as  it  were,  a  meat  highly  pleasing  to  God, 
 who  is  your  heavenly  Master  ;  and  therefore  "  when  you  shall  have  done  all  things 
 that  are  commanded  you,  say:  we  are  unprofitable  servants,  we  have  done  that 
 which  we  ought  to  do."  I  say  unprofitable  servants,  not  in  your  own  regard,  but  in 
 respect  of  God,  who  stands  not  in  need  of  your  services,  and  who  can  easily  have 
 that  performed  by  others  which  he  is  pleased  to  require  at  your  hands. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXII. 
 
 JESUS  CHRIST  DEP.VRTS  FROM  GALILEE.*      MATT.   XIX.      MARK  X.      JOHN  VII. 
 
 Jesus  delivered  the  discourse  of  the  preceding  chapter  to  his  Apostles  at  Caphar- 
 naum,  and  probably  in  the  house  of  Peter's  mother-in-law.  He  had  now  constantly 
 resided  in  Galilee,  and  had  only  shownhimself  at  Jerusalem  during  very  short  periods 
 of  time,  viz.  on  his  being  summoned  thither  by  the  stated  solemn  festivals.  His  rela- 
 tions and  family  connections  were  displeased  at  his  not  showing  himself  more  in 
 Judea,  where,  according  to  their  ideas,  he  would  have  gained  more  credit  to  himself, 
 and  reflected  more  honour  upon  them,  than  in  a  distant  province.  As  therefore  the 
 feast  of  the  Tents  was  now  approaching,  which  was  one  of  the  three  festivals  when 
 the  Jews  were  obliged  by  the  law  to  appear  before  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem,  they 
 embraced  that  opportunity  to  press  Jesus,  by  various  reasons,  to  quit  his  obscure 
 Mau.  19.  residence  in  Galilee  and  exchange  it  for  Judea.     "  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jesus 
 
 1-       had  ended  these  words  the  feast  of  the  Jews  called  the  Tabernacles  was  at  hand. 
 ^°^2  "''  And  his  brethren,"  that  is,  his  kindred,  "  said  to  him  :  pass  from  hence  and  go  into 
 
 3.  Judea  ;  that  thy  disciples  also  may  see  thy"  wonderful  "  works  which  thou  dost :  for 
 there  is  no  man  that  doth  any  thing  in  secret,  and  he  himself  seeketh  to  be  known 
 openly.  If"  then  "  thou  do  these"  wonderful  "things,  manifest  thyself  to  the  world," 
 by  doing  them  at  Jerusalem,  where  the  Jews,  assembled  from  all  parts,  will  be  wit- 
 nesses of  them,  and  will  not  fail  to  spread  the  report  thereof  throughout  the  whole 
 world. 
 
 Under  the  cloak  of  these  plausible  reasons,  they  concealed  the  strong  desire  they 
 
 *  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  at  the   conchision  Galilee  to  Jerusalem  for  the  feast  of  the  Tents  or 
 
 of  this  chap,  and  likewise  chap.  89,  say  that  Jesus  Tabernacles,  and  that  it  was  from  thence  he  passed 
 
 retired  from  Galilee,  and  went  to  the  confines  of  to  the  confines  of  Jndea  alter  the  dedication  of  the 
 
 Judea  beyond   the  Jordan;   but  not  immediately,  altar  of  holocausts, 
 for  it  appears  from  St.  John  that  Jesus  went  from 
 
 4. 
 
Ch.  LXXIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  243 
 
 had  of  raisino-  their  own  names  from  obscurity  by  the  fame  of  his  miracles.     *'  For"       5. 
 these  "  his  brethren  did  not  believe  in  him"  in  a  proper  manner,  so  as  to  relish  his 
 maxims  of  humility  and  modesty ;  and  as  they  were  not  persuaded  of  his  being-  the 
 Son  of  God,  they  concluded  that  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  esteem  of  men.    "  Then       6. 
 Jesus  said  to  them  :  My  time  is  not  yet  come"  for  going  to  Jerusalem.     For,  in  the 
 present  moment,  it  behoved  Christ  to  absent  himself  from  that  city  on  account  of  the 
 many  enemies  whom  he  had  raised  against  himself  by  his  preaching.     Since  in  his 
 doctrines  he  uniformly  condemned  the  practices  of  the  world,  as  leading  to  damnation, 
 he  was  become  the  object  of  its  hatred  ;  and  therefore  it  became  necessary  that  he 
 should  take  certain  precautions  respecting  his  journey  to  Jerusalem.     "  But  your 
 time,"  said  Christ  to  his  relations,  "  is  always  ready.     The  world  cannot  hate  you,       7. 
 but  me  it  hateth,  because  I  give  testimony  of  it,  that  the  works  thereof  are  evil.     Go       8. 
 you  up  to  this  festival,  but  I  go  not  up  to  this  festival  day"  as  yet :  "  because  my  time 
 is  not  yet  accomplished."     Tiiese  words  afforded  his  relations  sufficient  reason  to 
 conclude,  that  his  going  thither  would  be  attended  with  great  danger  to  his  person  ; 
 and  we  may  hence  conjecture,  that  the  Jews  had  formed  some  design  against  him,  as 
 soon  as  he  should  appear  in  Jerusalem.      "  When  he  had  said  these  things,  he  him-       9. 
 self  staid"  behind  "  in  Galilee,"  for  a  few  days,  in  order  that  thereby  his  entry  into 
 Jerusalem  might  not  take  place  until  about  the  midst  of  the  festival,  which  lasted 
 durino-  eio-ht  davs.     "  But  after  his  brethren  were  gone  up,  then  he  also  departed      10. 
 from  Galilee,  and  went  up  to  the  feast,  not  openly,  but  as  it  were  in  secret,"  that  he  '     j'     : 
 might  not  provoke  the  malice  of  his  enemies.     Thus,  we  see  that  Christ  was  pleased  ji/m.  r. 
 to  avoid  persecution,  not  by  interposing  his  power,  but  by  withdrawing  himself  till 
 God's  appointed  time  was  come  ;  to  teach  us  to  wait  for  that  time  also  which  ho  shall 
 ordain,  and  not  rashly  to  expose  ourselves  to  dangers. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXIII. 
 
 CHRIST  HEALS  TEN   LEPERS.       LUKE  XVII. 
 
 "  And  it  came  to  pass  as  he  was  going  to  Jerusalem,  he  went  through  the  midst  of  l  ke  17. 
 Samaria  and  Galilee.     And  as  he  entered  into  a  certain  town"  on  the  borders  Oi      j^* 
 these  two  provinces,  ''  there  met  him  ten  men  that  were  lepers."    Of  these  nine  were 
 Jews  and  one  a  Samaritan ;  and  notwithstanding  their  natural  antipathy  and  differ- 
 ence as  to  points  of  religion,  they  were  travelling  together,  being  all  afflicted  with  a 
 similar  grievous  disorder,  and  all  equally  in  search  of  relief.     "  Who"  therefore 
 seeing  Jesus  passing  by,  "  stood  afar  off,"  out  of  respect,  and  lest  they  should  com- 
 municate their  contagious  uncleanness  to  others.     '^  And  they  lifted  up  their  voice,      13. 
 saying,"  in  a  suppliant  manner :  "  Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy  upon  us.     Whom      14. 
 when  he  saw,  he  said  :  Go  show  yourselves  to  the  priests ;"  for  these  were  authorized 
 by  the  law  to  judge  of  the  leprosy,  and  to  restore  such  as  were  cured  to  their  former 
 rank  in  society,  after  various  expiations  and  sacrifices.     Jesus  by  thus  sending  thera 
 
244  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXIIL 
 
 to  the  priests  previously  to  their  being-  healed,  would  try  their  faith  and  submission. 
 
 15.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  as  they  went,  they  were  made  clean.     And  one  of  them,  when 
 
 16.  he  saw  that  he  was  made  clean,  went  back  with  a  loud  voice  glorifying-  God.  And 
 he  fell  on  his  face  before  his  feet,  giving-  thanks;  and  this  was  a  Samaritan."  The 
 other   nine   persons   pursued  their  journey  without  returning  to  their  benefactor. 
 
 !"•  "  And  Jesus  answering,  said  :  Were  not  ten  made  clean?  There  is  no  one  found  to 
 return  and  give  thanks  to  God,  but  this  stranger,"  of  whom  it  was  less  to  be  expected 
 than  of  the  Jews,  who  were  the  children  of  Abraham  and  of  the  patriarchs. 
 
 In  these  few  words  he  displays  their  ingratitude.  1.  By  stating  the  benefit 
 received  in  an  equal  degree  by  all  the  ten  lepers,  who  consequently  ought  to  have 
 showed  an  equal  gratitude  towards  their  common  benefactor.  2.  By  remarking  the 
 different  condition  of  their  persons  ;  for  as  these  nine  were  Jews,  they  ought,  as  such, 
 to  have  been  more  enhghtencd,  more  religious,  and  more  sensible  of  the  Awours 
 received  from  God  than  a  Samaritan,  who  however  siupassed  them  in  these  several 
 
 19.  quahties.  "  And"  Jesus  "  said  to  him  :  Arise,  go  thy  way  ;  for  thy  faith  hath  made 
 thee  whole."  These  words  were  applied  more  to  the  healing  of  his  soul,  hitherto 
 infected  with  the  leprosy  of  schism  and  of  sins,  than  to  that  of  his  body,  which  had 
 been  already  healed. 
 
 In  the  person  of  this  Samaritan  we  behold  a  model  of  gratitude  worthy  of  our 
 imitation.  The  moment  he  is  delivered  from  his  misfortune,  he  is  actuated  by  the 
 most  lively  sense  of  the  benefit  conferred  on  him.  In  returning  thanks  to  his  bene- 
 factor, the  Evangelist  remarks,  he  also  glorified  God,  whom  he  acknowledged  to  be 
 the  author  of  his  cure.  Gratitude  is  a  pleasing  virtue,  and  the  characteristic  of  a 
 good  heart;  and  nothing  can  be  more  just  and  natural  than  a  proper  sense  of  our 
 obligations  to  those  who  assist  us  in  our  wants,  whether  corporal  or  spiritual.  But 
 in  testifying  our  acknowledgments  to  those  who  relieve  us  in  our  necessities,  who 
 comfort  us  in  our  afflictions,  who  counsel  us  in  our  doubts,  who  admonish  us  of  our 
 defects,  we  ought  to  raise  our  views  higher,  and  remember  the  Father  of  light,  from 
 whom  every  good  and  perfect  gift  is  derived.  Men  are  but  the  instruments  of  divine 
 munificence,  the  channels  through  which  God's  graces  flow  into  o\n-  souls.  When 
 man  confers  on  us  a  benefit,  let  us  remember  that  it  was  God  who  inspired  him  with 
 the  thought,  who  gave  him  the  will,  and  who  furnished  him  with  the  means  of  reliev- 
 ing us.  As  God  is  our  principal  benefactor,  to  him  our  thanks  are  principally  due ; 
 our  gratitude  ought  to  commence  with  him  and  terminate  in  him.  This  debt  of 
 gratitude  with  which  we  stand  charged  towards  him,  is  in  proportion  to  the  immber 
 and  greatness  of  the  favours  which  we  have  received.  Our  existence  was  the  first  of 
 these  benefits,  and  ever  since  he  has  not  ceased  to  load  us  with  new  favours,  either 
 immediately  by  himself,  or  indirectly  by  the  means  of  others.  In  the  order  of  nature, 
 of  fortune,  and  of  grace,  what  is  there  which  we  have  not  received  ?*  But  if  grati- 
 tude be  a  general  obligation  incumbent  upon  all,  it  is  particularly  required  of  those 
 who,  by  the  divine  goodness,  have  been  delivered  from  the  slate  of  sin,  and  re-esta- 
 blished in  the  state  of  grace  ;  who  of  enemies  of  God,  are  become  his  friends,  and  who 
 after  being  covered  with  the  hideous  leprosy  of  sin,  have  been  happily  cleansed  from 
 
 *  1  Cor.  iv.  7. 
 
Ch.  LXXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  245 
 
 it  by  repentance.  Tlie  remission  of  one  sin  is  so  great  a  favour,  that  we  cannot 
 sufficiently  return  thanks  for  it :  the  less  we  merit  such  a  benefit,  the  more  lively 
 ougiit  to  be  our  sense  of  gratitude.  By  our  crimes  we  had  provoked  the  anger  of 
 the  Lord,  and  in  return  he  displayed  in  our  favour  his  choicest  mercies  ;  to  our 
 greatest  injuries  he  opposed  the  greatest  benefits  :  his  clemency  surpassed  our  ingra- 
 titude. What  title,  what  right  had  we  to  this  unspeakable  benefit  of  our  reconcilia- 
 tion ?  Why  have  we  been  the  fortunate  objects  of  his  mercy  preferably  to  so  many 
 others  who  have  been  the  objects  of  his  severest  justice  ?  In  reflecting  on  their 
 deplorable  lot,  let  us  remember  that  it  might  have  been  our  own.  Where  should  we 
 now  have  been,  had  God  exercised  upon  us  equally  as  upon  them  his  just  rigours  ? 
 How  many  miserable  souls  are  now  weeping  and  lamenting  in  the  torments  of  hell, 
 for  sins  less  heinous  than  those  which  we  ourselves  have  committed  ?  From  that 
 dreadful  abyss  we  have  been  delivered  by  the  divine  goodness :  the  same  hand  which 
 might  have  precipitated  us  down  beloWj  has  raised  us  up,  and  instead  of  inflicting 
 on  us  the  punishment  which  we  deserved,  has  guided  \is  into  the  secure  path  of 
 repentance.  From  the  prospect  therefore  of  the  most  alarming  torments  we  have 
 passed  to  the  hope  of  the  inost  exalted  felicity.  Such  are  the  unspeakable  obligations 
 which  we  lie  under  to  the  divine  goodness  ;  and  can  we,  in  return  for  so  many 
 unmerited  favours,  refuse  God  the  small  offering  of  a  grateful  and  affectionate  heart? 
 
 PART  V. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXIV. 
 
 THE  FEAST  OF  THE  TABERNACLES.  JOHN  VII. 
 
 The  feast  of  the  Tabernacles  or  Tents,  which  was  one  of  the  three  i  j , 
 great  annual  festivals,  was  celebrated  upon  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  preaches  in  the 
 seventh  month  Tizri,  that  is,  at  the  full  moon  of  the  said  month,  in  temple. 
 commemoration  of  the  Israelites  sojourning  in  the  wilderness,  and  living  in  tents  for 
 the  space  of  forty  years.  Our  Saviour  assisted  at  this  festival,  and  remained  in 
 Judea  or  its  vicinity  the  six  following  months,  until  the  ensuing  Passover,  when  he 
 was  to  suffer  death  ;  and  he  seems  not  to  have  returned  any  more  into  Galilee  until 
 after  his  resurrection. 
 
 The  various  miraculous  cures  which  he  performed  upon  diseased  persons  on  the 
 sabbath  day,  particularly  that  of  the  paralytic  at  the  fish  pond,  which  happened 
 eighteen  months  before  ;  his  conversing  with  publicans  and  sinners  ;  and  other  sup- 
 posed crimes  of  a  similar  nature,  had  alienated  from  him  the  minds  of  the  principal 
 persons  in  Jerusalem,  who  had  a  greater  degree  of  pride  and  stiffness  than  the 
 
 21.  3  R 
 
246  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXIV. 
 
 John  7.  Galileans.     "  The  Jews,  therefore,"  of  this  description,  "  sought  him  on  the  festival 
 
 I2'      day,  and  said,  where  is  he?     And  there  was  much  murmuring-  among  the  multitude 
 
 concerning  him.     For  some  said :  He  is  a  good  man.     And  others  said,  No  :  but 
 
 13.  he  seduccth  the  people.  Yet  no  man  spoke  openly  of  him"  to  defend  his  cause, 
 "  for  fear  of  the  Jews."     By  his  not  appearing  in  public,  he  allowed  this  first  f(,T- 
 
 14.  ment  to  subside.  "  Now  about  the  midst  of  the  feast,"  which  lasted  eight  days 
 "  Jesus  went  into  the  temple,  and  taught :  and"  he  did  this  in  so  masterly  a  manner, 
 that  "  the  Jews  wondered,  saying- :  how  doth  this  man  know  letters,'"  that  is,  the 
 holy  scriptures,  "having  never  learned"  them ?  The  priests  thus  expressed  their 
 astonishment  at  his  having  acquired  so  profound  a  knowledge  in  the  scriptures,  and 
 the  mysteries  contained  in  them,  since  they  had  never  witnessed  him  amongst  the 
 number  of  their  disciples.  They  were  decidedly  of  opinion,  that  he  could  not  have 
 stored  up  so  great  a  fund  of  learning-  by  his  own  private  study  and  application,  much 
 less  by  any  other  school  but  their  own,  since  in  no  other  part  of  Judea  was  the  scrip- 
 tural science  publicly  taught.  Jesus,  although  he  might  not  have  heard  what  they 
 said  amongst  themselves  upon  this  subject,  yet  gave  a  sufficient  answer  to  their 
 objection.  1 .  By  establishing  the  truth  of  his  doctrines.  2.  By  justifying  the 
 miracle  which  he  had  w  rought  at  the  pond.  3.  By  proving  that  the  several  tokens 
 or  marks  by  which  the  Messiah  was  to  be  distinguished,  concentred  in  his  person. 
 
 The  truth  of  his  doctrine  he  established  upon  the  strength  of  the  three  following 
 reasons.  1.  The  authority  of  his  heavenly  Father.  2.  The  personal  experience 
 and  conviction  of  his  hearers,  to  which  he  appealed.     3.  His  own   disinterestedness. 
 
 16.  Wherefore,  on  this  occasion,  "  Jesus  answered  them  and  said :  My  doctrine  is  not 
 
 17.  mine,"  that  is,  the  invention  of  my  own  fancy,  "  but  his  that  sent  me.  If  any  man 
 will  do  the  will  of  him,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether 
 I  speak  of  myself :"  for  he  shall  find  in  it  so  much  light  and  equity,  he  shall  taste  so 
 much  comfort  and  sweetness  in  his  soul,  that  he  shall  no  longer  entertain  the  least 
 
 18.  doubt  as  to  God's  being  the  sole  author  of  it.  "  He  that  speaketh  of  himself,"  and 
 uttereth  his  own  devices  without  being  sent  by  God,  "  seeketh  his  own  glory,"  and 
 is  to  be  esteemed  an  impostor :  "  but  he  that  seeketh"  only  "  the  glory  of  him  that 
 sent  him,  he  is  true  ;  and  there  is  no  injustice"  or  deceit  "  in  him."  He  now  pro- 
 ceeds to  justify  the  miraculous  cures  which  he  had  wrought  on  the  sabbath,  especially 
 that  which  he  had  performed  at  the  fish  pond  ;  and  which  had  so  irritated  the  Scribes 
 and  Pharisees,  that  they  formed  the  design  of  putting-  him  to  death  as  a  violator  of 
 the  law.     Upon  this  subject  he  brings  an  unanswerable  argument  in  his  favour  from 
 
 19.  their  own  individual  conduct.  "  Did  not  Moses,"  said  he  to  them,  "  give  you  the 
 law"  of  the  sabbath  ?  "  and  yet  none  of  you  keepeth"  the  letter  of  "  the  law  ;"  for 
 you  make  no  scruple  of  giving  circumcision  on  the  sabbath  day,  and  of  healing  the 
 
 20.  person  who  has  received  it.  "  Mliy  seek  you"  then  "  to  kill  me,"  because  1  have 
 healed  a  man  on  the  sabbath  day  ?  "  The  multitude,"  far  from  entertaining  so  bad 
 a  design  against  Jesus,  were  hurt  at  this  reproach  ;  to  which  they  '•  answered  and 
 said  :  thou  hast  a  devil"  that  suggests  such  a  thought,  "  who  seeketh  to  kill  thee? 
 
 21.  Jlesus  answered  and  said  to  them  :  one  work  I  have  done"  on  the  sabbath,  "  and 
 2-2.      you  all  wonder"  at  it  to  this  day,  as  if  I  had  been  guilty  of  a  crime.     ''  Moses  gave 
 
Ch.  LXXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  247 
 
 you  circumcision,  (not  that  it  is  of  Moses  but  of  the  fathers)  and  on  the  sabbath-day 
 
 you  circumcise  a  man,"  in  obedience  to  this  law.     "  If,"  therefore,  "  a  man  receive      23. 
 
 circumcision  on  the  sabbath-day,"  and  they  labour  to  heal  the  wound  inflicted  by 
 
 this  rite,  yet  "  so  that  the  law  of  Moses  be  not  broken,  are  you  angry  at  me  because 
 
 I  have  healed  the  whole  man  on  the  sabbath-day?    Judge  not   according  to  the      24. 
 
 appearance"  and  according  to  your  prejudices,  "  but"  with  equity  and  candour  "  give 
 
 a  just  judgment." 
 
 Nothing  could  be  alleged  in  reply  to  the  preceding  argument,  and  consequently 
 all  remained  silent.     "  Some  therefore  of  Jerusalem,"  well  aware  of  the  rancorous      25. 
 disposition  of  the  principal  Jews  against  the  person  of  Jesus,  "  said :      ^   ^^^  ^^^^ 
 Is  not  this  he,  whom  they   seek  to  kill?    And  behold  he  speaketh  differ  in  their      26. 
 openly"  in  the  temple  itself,  "  and  they  say  nothing  to  him :  are  our  scntime,iU     of 
 chief  men  convinced  indeed  that  he  is  the  Christ?    But"  others,  who        '  27. 
 
 pretended  to  a  more  profound  knowledge  of  the  law,  declared,  that  he  could  not  be 
 the  Messiah.  '•  We  know  this  man,"  said  they,  "  whence  he  is  ;  but  when  the 
 Christ  Cometh,  no  man  knoweth  whence  he  is."  He  will  appear  on  a  sudden  before 
 the  eyes  of  mankind,  as  if  he  had  dropped  from  the  heavens,  and  in  so  secret  a 
 manner,  that  no  one  shall  know  either  his  parents  or  his  fomily  connections.  Now 
 the  parents  of  this  person  who  gives  himself  for  the  Messiah  we  know  perfectly  well, 
 and  therefore  we  may  conclude  that  he  has  not  the  proper  mark  of  his  being  what  he 
 pretends.  This  their  false  supposition  probably  arose  from  a  mistaken  interpretation 
 of  certain  texts  which  alluded  to  the  divine  origin  of  the  Messiah,  such  as  that  of 
 Isaiah,  chapter  liii.  Who  shall  declare  his  generation  ;  and  that  of  Micheas,  chapter  v. 
 His  going  forth  is  from  the  beginning,  from  the  dai/s  of  eternity,  "  Jesus  therefore,"  28. 
 knowing  what  they  said  of  him,  and  judging  the  objection  to  be  of  some  consequence, 
 "  cried  out  in  the  temple  leaching  and  saying  :"  What,  "  you  both  know  me,"  you 
 say,  "  and  you  know  whence  I  am  ?  and"  yet  "  I  am  not  come  of  myself,"  nor  do  I 
 derive  my  origin  from  that  person  whom  you  suppose  my  fother :  "  but  he  that  sent 
 me  is  true,"  just,  and  faithful,  "  whom  you  know  not,"  otherwise  you  might  naturally 
 conclude  that  the  person  sent  by  him  is  so  likewise.  "  I  know  him  because  I  am  29. 
 from  him,"  being  born  of  him  from  all  eternity,  "  and  he  hath  sent  me"  to  you,  to 
 accomplish  the  promises  made  to  your  fathers.  Hence  he  left  them  to  infer,  that  even 
 according  to  the  principles  which  they  themselves  had  established,  he  had  that  distin- 
 guishing mark  of  the  Messiah  which  consisted  in  being  descended  from  an  unknown 
 origin.  The  Pharisees  were  still  more  irritated  at  these  words,  and  "  they  sought  30. 
 therefore  to  apprehend  him  ;  and  no  man  laid  hands  on  him,  because  his  hour  was  31. 
 not  yet  come.  But  of  the  people*  many  believed  in  him,  and  said:  When  the 
 Christ  Cometh,  shall  he  do  more  miracles  than  these  which  this  man  doth  ?"  why  then 
 should  we  refuse  to  acknowledge  him  as  the  Messiah  ?  "  The  Pharisees  heard  the  32. 
 people  muttering  these  things  concerning  them  :  and  the  rulers  and  3.  The  rulers 
 Pharisees,"  fearful  lest  their  example  should  be  followed  by  others,  '""^  "f'V''  /" 
 
 '  r  J  '   apprehend    Je- 
 
 "  sent  ministers  to  apprehend  him.     Jesus  therefore   said  to  them  :  sus.  33. 
 
 *  We  may  observe  how  very  differently  our  Lord's     positions  of  those  that  heard  him,  viz.  according  to 
 doctrint;  was  received  according  to  the  dilferentdis-     the  good  or  bad  n-round  where  the  seed  was  sowu. 
 
.218  THE  LIFii  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXIV, 
 
 34       Yet  a  little  while  I  am  with  you  :  and  then  I  go  to  him  that  sent  me.     Yon  shall 
 
 35.  seek  me,  and  shall  not  find  me  :  and  where  I  am,  thither  you  cannot  come.  The 
 Jews  therefore  said  among  themselves  :  Whither  will  he  go  that  we  shall  not 
 find  him?  will  he  go  to  the  dispersed  among  the  Gentiles,  and  teach  the  Gentiles? 
 
 36.  What  is  the  meaning  of  what  he  said:  You  shall  seek  me,  and  shall  not  find  me: 
 
 37.  and  where  I  am  you  cannot  come.  And  on  the  last  and  great  day  of  the  festival, 
 Jesus  stood"  in  the  midst  of  the  temple,  "  and  cried  out,  saying  :  If  any  man  thirst, 
 let  him  come  to  me  and  drink,"  that  is,  let  him  come  to  me  with  a  sincere  faith,  and 
 he  shall  not  fail  to  drink  so  as  to  have  all  his  desires  and  longings  after  truth  com- 
 
 38.  pletely  satisfied.  "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  as  the  scripture  saith,*  rivers  of  living 
 water  shall  flow  from  out  of  him,"  and  shall  thus  be  imparted  to  others.  In  other 
 words,  he  shall  pour  forth  torrents  of  the  words  of  salvation,  which  shall  be  diffused 
 in  copious  streams  over  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  so  as  to  produce  in  them  a  similar 
 
 39.  faith  and  a  similar  attachment  to  the  truth.  "  Now  this  he  said  of  the"  holy 
 "  Spirit  which  they  should  receive  who  believed  in  him :  for  as  yet  the  Spirit  was  not 
 
 40.  given,  because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified"  by  his  ascension  into  heaven.     "  Of  this 
 
 41.  .   n.  .    multitude  therefore,  when  they  had  heard  these  words  of  his,  some 
 4.  Divers  opi-  '  i        /-.  i  •  i    i  •      •       i       /- 1 
 
 nioiis    of    the  said:  this  is  the  prophet  indeed.     Others  said  this  is  the  Christ:  but 
 
 Jews  respeciing  ^q^q  g^ij  ;  Doth  the  Christ  come  out  of  Galilee  ?  Doth  not  the  scrip- 
 
 hl7fl,       J\  icod€-  . 
 
 mus  takes  his  ture  say  :  that  Christ  cometh  out  of  the  seed  of  David,  and  from  Beth- 
 
 43.  P'"'^-  lehem  where  David  was  born.     So  there  arose  a  dissension  among  the 
 
 44.  people  because  of  him  ;  and  some  of  them  would  have  apprehended  him  :  but  no 
 43.      man  laid  hands  on  him.     The  ministers  therefore,"  who  had  been  sent  to  arrest  him, 
 
 46.  "  came  to  the  Chief  Priests  and  the  Pharisees.  And  they  said  to  them  :  why  have 
 you  not  brought  him  .'  The  ministers  answered  :  Never  did  man  speak  like  this  man," 
 
 47.  with  so  much  grace,  strength,  and  authority.      "  The  Pharisees,  therefore,  answered 
 43.      them  :  are  you  also  seduced  ?  Hath  any  one  of  the  rulers  believed  in  him,  or  of  the 
 
 Pharisees?"  which  they  said,  thus  contrasting  the  example  of  persons  both  grave 
 
 49.  and  learned  in  the  law  with  the  ignorant  people.  ''  But  this  multitude,"  said  they, 
 "  that  knovveth  not  the  law,  are  accursed,"  and  utterly  incompetent  to  judge  in  a  case 
 
 50.  of  such  nicety.  "  Nicodemus,  (he  that  came  to  Jesus  by  night,)  who  was  one  of 
 them,"  not  a  little  nettled  at  this  reproach  of  ignorance,  "  said  to  them  :  Doth  our 
 law  judge  any  man,  unless  it  first  hear  him  and  know  what  he  doth?"  He  thus 
 with  great  force  of  argument,  and  with  perfect  safety  to  himself,  defended  the  cause 
 of  Jesus,  by  alleging  in  his  favour  merely  the  claims  of  natural  equity,  such  as  an 
 accused  person  has  a  right  to  expect  even  from  his  inveterate  enemies,  and  much 
 more  from  his  judges.  They  however  refused  to  listen  to  so  fair  a  plea,  but  an- 
 swered and  said  :  "art  thou  also  a  Galilean  ?  Search  the  scriptures,  and  see  that  out ' 
 of  Galilee  a  prophet  riseth  not."t     The  meeting  after  this  was  shortly  broken  up, 
 
 53.      "  and  every  man  returned  to  his  own  house." 
 
 *  Joel  ii.  28.  Ezech.  xxxvi.  15.    Isa.  lii.  own  ignorance  of  the   Scriptures;  for  Jonas  was 
 
 t  'I'liey   probably  allude   to   the   great  prophet,      certainly   from   Galilee,    being    a   native    of  Gelh- 
 proinised  to  their  forefathers,  or  they  show  their     Opher,  in  the  tribe  of  Zabulon,  4  Kings  xiv.  25. 
 
C.i.  LXXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  249 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXV. 
 
 THE  ADULTEIIESS  IS  SUFFERED  TO  GO  UNCONDEMNED.     JOHN  VIII. 
 
 "  And  Jesus  going  out  of  the  templej  went  unto  mount  Olivet,"  so  called  from  the  joim  s. 
 olives  wherewith  it  abounded,  and  there  passed  the  night  with  his  disciples.     As  this       ^• 
 place  was  at  the  distance  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Jerusalem,  and  consequently 
 not  farther  off  than  it  was  lawful  to  travel  on  the  Sabbath-day,  he  chose  it  for  his 
 ordinary  place  of  resort,  and  it  was  here  that  Judas  betrayed  him.     "  And  early  in       2 
 the  morning*  he  came  again  into  the  temple,  and  all  the  people  came  to  him,  and 
 sitting  down  he  taught  them"  the  way  of  salvation.     Whilst  thus  employed  he  was 
 interrupted  by  a  criminal  suit  that  was  brought  before  him  ;  and  such  was  his  admi- 
 rable decision  on  the  occasion,  that  the  accusers,  though  supported  by  the  law,  were 
 yet  confounded  by  truth  itself,  whilst  the  guilty  party,  though  condemned  by  law,  was 
 nevertheless  set  at  liberty  by  her  own  accusers.     "  And  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees       3. 
 bring  unto  him  a  woman  taken  in  adultery,"  who  had  probably  been  cited  by  her 
 injured  husband  before  their  tribunal ;    "  and  they  set  her  in  the  midst"  of  the 
 assembly  :  "  and  said  to  him,  Master,  this  woman  was  even  now  taken  in  adultery.       4. 
 Now  Moses  in  the  law,  commanded  us  to  stone  such  a  one  :  but  what  sayest  thou  ?       &• 
 And  this  they  said  tempting  him,  that  they  might  accuse  him."    For  if  he  condemned       6. 
 this  woman  to  death,  they  flattered  themselves  that  he  would  forfeit  that  popularity 
 which  his  mild  and  humane  conduct  had  hitherto  gained  him  ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he 
 should  absolve  her  from  the  guilt  as  well  as  the  punishment  of  her  crime,  which  was 
 what  they  wished  and  expected  from  his  known  mild  and  compassionate  character, 
 in  this  case  they  would  have  the  fairest  handle  to  convict  him  of  a  violation  of  the 
 law  of  Moses,  and  this  violation  would  ever  afterwards  serve  as  an  unanswerable 
 argument  against  those  persons  who  supported  his  cause.     On   this  account,  an 
 adulteress  woman  was  more  suitable  to  their  purpose  than  the  man  who  debauched 
 her,  because  his  conduct  being  more  odious,  they  might  have  been  apprehensive  lest 
 Jesus  should  leave  him  to  all  the  severity  of  the  law.     "  But  Jesus,  bowing  himself 
 down,"  as  it  were  declining  to  decide  in  so  odious  a  cause,  "wrote  with  his  finoer 
 upon  the  ground"  certain  characters,  the  purport  of  which  is  unknown. f     "  When       7. 
 therefore  they  continued  asking  him,  he  raised  himself  up,  and  said  to  them,"  with  a 
 circumspection  which  showed  he  was  aware  of  their  malicious  designs  :  "  he  that  is 
 without  sin  among  you,  let  him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her.     And  again  stooping  down,       s. 
 he  wrote  on  the  ground,"  as  it  were  to  give  them  an  opportunity  of  retiring  and  of 
 thus  avoiding  the  confusion  which  they  deserved. J     This  wonderful  sentence  pro- 
 
 *  What  a  pattern  is  this  to   his  ministers!     He  not  fount!  in  the  greater  part  of  our  present  Greek 
 
 thoujrht  the  very  nijrht  too  long.  copies,  nor  in  the  commentaries  of  St.  Chrysostom 
 
 t  St.  Ambrose,  Ep.  26.  sect.  13.   is  of  opinion,  or  St.   Cyril ;    but  St.  Jerom,  1.  2.   contra  Pelag. 
 
 that  he  wrote  these   words,  or  at  least  to  the  same  says  it  was  found  in  many  both  Latin  and   Greek 
 
 effect:  "  why  seest  thou  the  mote  in  thy  brother's  copies.     And  St.  Ambrose,  Ep.  52.  speaks  of  it  as 
 
 eye ;  but  the  beam  that  is  in  thy  own  eye  thou  con-  having  always  been   famous   in   the   Church.     St. 
 
 siderest  not."  Augukin  expounds  it,  trac.  33.  in  St.  John,  lib.  2. 
 
 J  This  passage  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery  is  de  Adulterinis  Conjugiis,  chap.  7.  and  severely  con- 
 
 22.  3  s 
 
250  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXV. 
 
 nounced  by  Jesus,  whilst  it  preserved  to  the  law  of  Moses  its  due  authority,  formed 
 a  happy  union  of  the  most  impartial  justice  with  the  most  unbounded  mercy  ;  it  found 
 out  the  means  of  saving  this  guilty  woman  in  the  very  crimes  of  her  accusers  ;  it 
 overwhelmed  them  with  shame,  whilst,  in  the  main,  it  was  a  decision  in  their  favour ; 
 and  lastly,  whilst  it  allowed  them  to  inflict  the  punishment  appointed  for  adultery,  it 
 yet  tied  up  their  hands  from  inflicting  it,  since,  in  case  of  her  suffering  death,  they 
 who  deserved  a  similar  punishment,  were  certainly  excluded  from  being  her  execu- 
 
 9-  tioners.  "  But  they  hearing  this"  unexpected  answer,  and  fearing  lest  Jesus  might 
 now  proceed  to  give  such  further  detail  of  their  own  sinful  lives  as  might  fill  them 
 with  confusion,  "  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  at  the  eldest,"  whose  vicious  habits 
 in  this  respect  would  have  met  with  the  least  indulgence  at  the  tribunal  of  the  public  : 
 "  and  Jesus  alone  remained,  and  the  woman  standing  in  the  midst"  of  the  people, 
 
 ^^-  her  accusers  beino-  gone  out.  "  Jesus  then  raising  himself  up,  said  to  her :  woman, 
 where  are  they  that  accused  thee?  hath  no  one  condemned  thee?  (i.  e.  judiciously) 
 
 ^^'  Who  replied:  no  one,  Lord.  And  Jesus  said:  neither  will  I  condemn  thee."* 
 Thus  he  foro-ave  her  the  punishment  she  had  deserved  ;  but  to  show  that  in  pardon- 
 ing her  guilt,  he  meant  not  to  give  a  sanction  to  her  crime,  he  added,  "  go,  and  now 
 sin  no  more."  By  this  example,  our  blessed  Saviour  teaches  us  to  look  into  our- 
 selves, and  to  examine  our  own  conduct,  rather  than  censure  that  of  our  neighbour. 
 With  respect  to  others,  men  oftentimes  have  a  horror  of  those  gross  sins  that  strike 
 their  senses,  and  take  no  notice  of  their  own  internal  sins,  which  are  perhaps  more 
 heinous  in  the  eyes  of  a  pure  spirit.  Instead  of  harshly  condemning  the  faults  of 
 others,  let  us  humble  our  souls  before  God,  by  whose  mercy  we  have  hitherto  been 
 preserved  from  falling  into  sins  still  more  enormous  ;  which,  considering  the  insta- 
 bility of  our  hearts,  we  know  not  how  soon  it  may  be  our  misfortune  to  commit.  If 
 we  expect  to  be  treated  with  lenity  in  our  misfortunes,  we  should  not  forget  to  show 
 that  lenity  to  others.  Lenity  is  one  of  the  most  effectual  methods  to  make  the  delin- 
 quent seiisible  of  his  fault.  The  lenity  that  Jesus  Christ  showed  on  this  occasion, 
 had,  without  doubt,  a  more  salutary  effect  upon  the  adulteress's  mind,  than  all  the 
 severity  of  the  Mosaic  law.  It  is  the  spirit  of  lenity  and  charity  which  the  Cliurch, 
 in  imitation  of  her  Spouse,  has  adopted  with  regard  to  her  children.  She  turns  her 
 back  upon  none,  however  grievous  their  sins  may  be,  she  beholds  them  with  the  eye 
 of  a  tender  mother,  she  invites  them  to  their  christian  duties  ;  she  stands  with  open 
 arms  to  receive  the  penitent,  and  absolves  them  from  their  guilt,  the  moment  she  is 
 assured  of  the  sincerity  of  their  repentance. 
 
 de-mis    those   (as    modicce  fidei)   who    had   taken  *  It  is  believed  that  the  crime  of  this  woman  was 
 
 offence  at  this  history.     It  is  cited  by  St.  Gregory  extenuated  by  some   peculiar   circumstances   well 
 
 (lib.  1.  Mor.  c.  10.)  and  received  as  genuine  by  the  known  to  our  Saviour  ;  and  moreover  he  was  not 
 
 Catholic  Church.  come  now  ia  judge,  but  to  «are  sinners. 
 
John 
 
 Ch.  LXXVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  J1::SUS  CHRLST.  251 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXVI. 
 
 JESUS  PREACHES  AGAIN  IN  THE  TEMPLE,   AND  JUSTIFIES  HIS  DOCTRINE  AGAINST  THE 
 PHARISEES.      JOHN  VIII. 
 
 The  scene  just  recited  had  interrupted  tiie  discourse  which  Jesus  was  making  to  the 
 people  :  he  now,  therefore,  resumed  it.     Herein  we  may  remark,   1.  The  testimony 
 which  he  bore  concerning  his  own  person  :  2.  The  terrible  menaces  with  which  he 
 threatened  the  Jews :  3.  The  reproaches  which  he  made  to  them  as  the  degenerate 
 descendants  of  Abraham:    4.  The  answers  which  he  gave  to  their  blasphemies^ 
 *■■■  Again,  tlierefore,  Jesus  spoke  to  them,  saying :    I  am  the  light  of      i.  j,,, ,„„,„,,,      ^.-^ 
 the  world,"  by  my  doctrine  and  the  example  of  my  life,  in  order  to    tesiimony     of 
 conduct  those  souls  to  life,  who  before  were  involved  in  darkness  :     '^'""'(/^ 
 "  he"  therefore  "  that  foUoweth  me,"  by  believing  my  words,  and  by  imitating  my 
 actions,  "  walketh  not  in"  the  "  darkness"  of  error  and  vice,  "  but  shall  have  the 
 light  of  life ;"  that  is,  he  shall  be  truly  enlightened,  and  safely  conducted  to  a  life  of 
 eternal  happiness,  by  means  of  that  life  of  true  justice  which  now  causes  him  tndj/  to 
 live  in  the  eyes  of  God.     "  The  Pharisees  therefore  said  to  hira  :  thou  givest  testi-      13. 
 monyof  thyself :  thy  testimony  is  not  true,"  and  ought  not  to  be  admitted  as  such.  In 
 answer  to  this  plausible  objection,  Jesus  gives  them  to  understand,  that  after  so  many 
 proofs  of  his  divinity,  by  the  wonderful  miracles  which  he  had  wrought,  the  testimony 
 he  bears  in  his  own  behalf,  is  perfectly  admissible ;  because  the  maxim,  that  a  man 
 is  a  suspected  witness  in  his  own  case,  is  out  of  the  question  in  his  regard,  since  he 
 as  God  was  incapable  of  deceit.     "  Jesus"  therefore  "  answered  and  said  to  them:      14. 
 although  I  give  testimony  of  myself,  my  testimony  is  true :  for  I  know  whence  I 
 came,"  and  that  my  origin  is  from  God,  by  an  eternal  generation,  "  and  whither  I 
 go,"  viz.  that  I  am,  after  the  end  or  termination  of  this  my  mission,  to  return  again 
 to  the  bosom  of  God,  to  sit  at  his  right  hand,  to  enjoy  his  glory,  and  to  draw  thither 
 all  such  persons  as  shall  be  obedient  to  him  •.  "  but  you  know  not  whence  I  come,  or 
 whither  I  go,"  the  light  of  your  senses  not  reaching  to  such  sublime  mysteries  ;  and 
 hence  you  receive  not  my  testimony.    "  You  judge"  of  me  "  according-  to  the  flesh,"      15. 
 and  merely  by  outward  appearances ;  "  I  judge  not  any  man"  in  this  manner.  "  And      1^- 
 if  I  judge"  of  myself,  "  my  judgment  is  true  ;  because  I  am  not  alone,  but  I  and  the 
 Father  that  sent  me  :"  it  is  he  who  authorizes,  by  his  testimony,  that  which  I  bear 
 of  myself:  "  and  in  your  law  it  is  written,  that  the  testimony  of  two  men  is  true.*      17. 
 And"  since  "  I  am  one  that  give  testimony  of  myself,  and  the  Father  that  sent  me      18. 
 giveth  testimony  of  me"  likewise,  therefore  our  testimony  is  true  according  to  the 
 law,  and  you  are  obliged  to  admit  it  as  such.     If,  in  the  present  instance,  Jesus  were 
 merely  a  common  man,  these  two  witnesses  could  be  considered  in  no  other  light  than 
 as  one  ;  and,  on  that  supposition,  the  argument  here  adduced  would  be  inconclusive,         -j 
 since  in  the  testimony  which  he  bears  to  himself,  he  who  gives  evidence,  and  who  is 
 the  object  of  that  evidence,  would  be  precisely  one  and  the  same  person  ;  which 
 
 *  Deut.  xvii.  6. 
 
25-2  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXVL 
 
 would  render  tlie  testimony  of  no  avail  by  that  rule  which  Jesus  himself  had  acknow- 
 ledged. But  there  being  in  Jesus  two  natures  perfectly  distinct,  he  here  as  God 
 gives  testimony  to  himself  as  man,  viz.  that  he  is  in  this  quality  the  visible  light  of 
 the  world,  without  indicating  thereby  a  diversity  of  persons.  Thus,  perhaps,  there  is 
 no  text  in  the  Scripture  which  more  clearly  refutes  the  two  heresies  of  Euticlies  and 
 of  Nestorius  than  this  before  us.  The  first  of  these,  which  confounded  the  two 
 natures,  is  hereby  shown  to  be  false,  because  he  who  bears  testimony  must,  in  some 
 respect,  be  different  from  him  to  whom  he  bears  testimony.  The  second,  viz.  the 
 heresy  of  Nestorius,  which  asserted  that  in  Jesus  there  was  a  multiplicity  of  persons, 
 is  refuted  by  Jesus's  bearing  testimony  to  himself,  so  that  he  who  bears  the 
 testimony,  and  he  who  receives  it,  are  one  and  the  same  person. 
 
 The  Jews  feigned  a  desire  of  seeing  his  Father,  under  the  jjretext,  that  being 
 already  acquainted  with  one  of  the  witnesses,  viz.  himself,  they  now  required  only  to 
 1^-  see  the  other  witness,  in  order  to  have  a  full  and  entire  conviction.  "  They  said 
 therefore  to  him  :  where  is  thy  Father,"  that  we  may  receive  his  testimony  ? 
 "  Jesus,"  well  aware  of  their  duplicity,  "  answered  :  neither  me  do  you  know  nor 
 my  Father;  if  you  did  know  me"  to  be  his  Son,  proceeding  from  him  by  an  eternal 
 
 20.  generation,  "  perhaps  you  would  know  my  Father  also.  These  words  Jesus  spoke 
 in  the  treasury,  teaching  in  the  temple,"  and  surrounded  by  a  great  multitude  of  his 
 enemies  ;  "  and"  yet  "  no  man  laid  hands  on  him,  because  his  hour  was  not  yet 
 
 21.  come."  when  he  was  to  be  delivered  into  their  custody.  "  Jesus  then"  finding  that 
 2.  He  threatens  his  instructions  were   little   attended   to,  proceeded   to  utter  terrible 
 
 the  Jews.  rnenaces  against  the  Jews,  and  he  "again  said  to  them:  I  go"  from 
 you  [alluding  to  his  approaching  death,  of  which  they  were  to  be  the  authors  and 
 perpetrators],  "  and  you  shall  seek  me"  without  being  able  to  find  me,  "  and"  thus 
 "  you  shall  die  in  your  sins."*  For  "  whither  I  go  you  cannot  come,"  viz.  to  the 
 22  eternal  mansions  above.  "  The  Jews  therefore  said  :  will  he  kill  himself,  because  he 
 said:  whither  I  go  you  cannot  come  ;"  hereby  implying  that  they  would  be  loth  to 
 
 23.  follow  him  in  so  rash  an  action.  "  And  he  said  to  them  :  you  are  from  beneath," 
 and  have  no  other  ideas  or  inclinations  but  such  as  are  earthly :  "  I  am  from  above  : 
 
 24.  you  are  of  this  world,  I  am  not  of  this  world.  Therefore  1  said  to  you,  that  you 
 shall  die  in  your  sins.     For  if  you  believe  not  that  I  am  he,  you  shall  die  in  your 
 
 25.  sins,"  since  you  can  only  be  delivered  from  them  by  a  true  faith  in  me.    "  They  said 
 
 3  Christ  as-  ^^'^''^'ore  to  him,"  on  hearing  this  menace:  ''  who  art  thou?  Jesus 
 serfs  his  own  said  to  them:"  I  am  "  the  beginninof,"  the  cause,  and  author  of  all 
 divinity.  things,  who  am  now  become  man,  and  who  also  speak  unto  you  ;  and 
 
 this  is  what  I  said  at  the  beginning,  that  you  are  to  believe  in  me  in  order  to  be 
 
 26.  delivered  from  your  sins.  "  Many  things  I  have  to  speak  and  to  judge  of  you,  but" 
 I  shall  at  present  content  myself  with  saying  :  "  he  that  sent  me  is  true"  and  just  in 
 his  judgments  :  "  and"  that  "  the  things  I  have  heard  of  him,  these  same  I  speak  in 
 
 27.  the  world  ;"  so  that  in  resisting  my  words,  vou  resist  truth  itself.  "  And  they  under- 
 stood not  that  he  called  God  his  Father.     Jesus  therefore,"  coming  to  the  question 
 
 *  This  terrible  threat  of  Christ  against  the  im-  wlio,  Hke  tliem,  harden  their  hearts,  and  resist 
 penitent  Jews,  should   make   all   sinners  tretn^'e,     God's  gracious  calls  and  inspirations. 
 
Ch.  LXXVL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  353 
 
 they  had  proposed  to  him,  viz.  who  he  was,  ''  said  to  them :  when  you  shall  have 
 lifted  up  the  Son  of  man"  on  the  cross,  and  he  shall  be  risen  ag-ain,  "  then  shall  you 
 know  that  I  am  he,  and  that  I  do"  and  say  "  nothing  of  myself;  but  as  the  Father 
 hath  tang-ht  me,  these  things  I  speak.    And  he  that  sent  me  is  with  me,  and  he  hath      29. 
 not  left  me  alone :  for  I  do  always  the  things  that  please  him."     Hence  he  plainly 
 showed  that  their  ideas  of  him  were  erroneous,  since  they  represented  him  to  their 
 imagination  as  an  enemy  of  God,  and  as  a  possessed  person,  who  spoke  and  acted 
 under  the  immediate  impulse  and  direction  of  the  devil.     "  When  he  spake  these      30. 
 things  many  believed  in  him.     And"  then  Jesus,  to  encourage  them  to  persevere  in 
 this  faith,  "  said  to  those  Jews  who  believed  in  him  :  if  you  continue"  firm  "  in  my      31. 
 word,  you  shall  be  my  disciples  indeed.     And  you  shall  know  the  truth"  more  and      32. 
 more,  in  proportion  as  you  shall  act  conformably  to  its  injunctions  ;  "  and  the  truth," 
 thus  revealed  to  you,  "  shall  make  you  free."     They  amongst  his  hearers  who  yet 
 remained  incredulous,  were  particularly  offended  at  these  last  words  of  Jesus,  which 
 implied  that  they  were  in  a  state  of  slavery,  and  "■  they  answered  him  :  we  are  the      33. 
 seed  of  Abraham,  and  we  have  never  been  slaves  to  any  man  :  how  sayest  thou,  you 
 shall  be  free?"     They  here  appear  to  have  forgotten  that  their  ancestors,  who  were 
 equally  of  the  race  of  Abraham,  had  long  been  slaves  in  Egypt  and  Assyria.  "  Jesus      34. 
 answered  them,"  and  confirmed  what  he  had  insinuated  as  to  their  slavery  :  "  Amen, 
 amen  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  committeth  sin  is  a  slave  to  sin  ;"  as  therefore 
 you  fall  into  sins  of  various  kinds,  according  to  your  depraved  inclinations,  hence  it 
 follows  that  you  are  slaves  to  your  respective  sinful  habits.   "  Now  he  that  is  a  slave,      35. 
 abideth  not  in  the  house"  of  his  master  "  for  ever ;"  for  he  is  either  driven  from  it,  as 
 was  Agar  with  her  son,  or  is  transferred  over  to  other  masters  ;  (insinuating  hereby, 
 that  they  would  one  day  be  driven  from  the  kingdom  of  God  ;)  "  but  the  Son"  of  the 
 family  "  abideth  for  ever"  under  his  paternal  roof     "  If  therefore  the  Son  shall      36. 
 make  you  free,  you  shall  be  free  indeed ;"  not  by  enjoying  a  mere  civil  liberty  which 
 you  boast  of,  but  a  liberty  of  the  soul,  which  consists  not  in  serving  either  concupis- 
 cence, which  reigns  in  you,  or  the  devil,  who  adds  fuel  to  it,  but  in  serving  God 
 alone,  your  heavenly  Father,  who  will  render  you  for  ever  happy  in  the  mansions  of 
 eternal  bliss.     "  I  know,"  as  well  as  you,  "  that  you  are  the  children  of  Abraham ;       37 
 but"   I  know  likewise  that  you  are  the  slaves  of  sin,  since  "  you  seek  to  kill  me, 
 because  my  word  hath  no  place  in  you."     In  announcing  to  you  the  truth,  "  I      38. 
 speak  that  which  I  have  seen  with  my  Father ;  and  you,"  in  being  desirous  of  put- 
 ting me  to  death,   "  do  the  things  that  you  have  seen  with  your  father.     They      39. 
 answered,"  in  a  fierce  and  peremptory  manner,  "  and  said  to  him  :  Abraham  is  our 
 father.     Jesus  saith  to  them  :  if  you  be  the  children  of  Abraham,  do  ye  the  works  of 
 Abraham  ;"  imitate  his  faith  and  holy  life.     "  But  now  you  seek  to  kill      a   He    f  t        ■*''• 
 a  man,  who  hath  spoken  the  truth  to  you,  which  I  have  heard  from  thdr vainloast 
 God:  this  Abraham  did  not,"  and  therefore  you  are  by  no  means  the  "f  be'."g  Abra- 
 true  children  of  Abraham.     "  You  do  the  works  of  your  father,"  who  the  children  of     41. 
 is  of  a  very  different  description  from  Abraham.     They  now  under-  ^"'^• 
 stood  that  Jesus  spoke  not  of  a  filiation  according  to  the  flesli,  but  rather  of  a 
 spiritual  generation,  such  as  showed  itself  by  a  similarity  of  manners  ;  and  as  the 
 22.  3t 
 
254  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  LXXVL 
 
 crime  of  idolatry  is  in  the  language  of  Scripture  a  spiritual  adultery,  which  the 
 unfaithful  soul  is  guilty  of  against  God  her  lawful  Spouse,  they  declared  in  few 
 words,  that  they  were  not  the  fruit  of  a  sacrilegious  union  of  this  description,  and 
 had  not  been  trained  up  to  idolatry  either  by  the  words  or  by  the  example  of  their 
 fathers.     "  They  said  therefore  to  him  :  we  are  not  born  of  fornication  ;  we  have  one 
 
 42.  Father,  even  God.  Jesus  therefore  said  to  them :  if  God  were  your  Father,  you 
 would  indeed   love  me ;  for  from  God  I  proceeded  and  came  :  for  I  came  not  of 
 
 43.  myself,  but  he  sent  me.  Why  do  you  not  know  my  speech,"  it  being  only  natural 
 that  one  brother  should  know  another  by  his  accent  and  tone  of  voice,  as  well  as  by 
 his  features  ?  The  reason  is,  '^  because  you  cannot  hear  my  word"  with  patience,  on 
 account  of  your  hatred  of  me,  though  I  speak  truly  the  word  of  God.     Therefore, 
 
 44.  "  you  are  of  your  fiither  the  devil,"  both  in  mind  and  in  the  resemblance  of  your 
 actions  ;  "  and  the  desires  of  your  father  you  will  do.  He  was  a  murderer  from  the 
 beginning-,"  by  drawing  our  fur.t  parents  into  sin,  and  so  occasioning  their  death  and 
 that  of  all  their  posterity  ;  and  you  are  so,  in  my  regard,  by  seeking  to  take  away 
 my  life :  "  and"  moreover,  "  he  stood  not  in  the  truth.''  This  is  manifest,  because 
 since  his  fall  truth  is  not  in  him,  but  totally  discarded  from  his  mind.  "  When  he 
 speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own  ;  for  he  is  a  liar,  and  the  father  thereof. 
 
 45.  But"  you  are  his  children  •  for  '*  if  I  say  the  truth"  to  you,  "  you  believe  me  not," 
 
 46.  and  onlv  conceive  a  horror  for  my  sacred  doctrines.  But  "  which  of  you  shall  con- 
 vince me  of  sin,"  or  of  any  falsehood?  "  If"  therefore,  "  I  say  the  truth  to  you, 
 why  do  you  not  believe  me  ?"     Is  it  not  because  you  are  the  children  of  the  devil, 
 
 47.  and  as  such  hate  the  truth  that  is  announced  to  you?  "  He  that  is"  the  child  "  of 
 God,  heareth  the  words  of  God,"  not  only  with  his  corporal  ears,  but  with  those  of 
 his  heart,  considering  them  as  the  food  and  sustenance  of  his  spiritual  life.     "  There- 
 
 4S,      fore  you  hear  them  not,  because  you  are  not"  the  children  of  God.     "  The  Jews 
 
 5.  Christ  re-  therefore,"  touched  to  the  quick  by  these  reproaches,  "  answered  and 
 
 proves  the  bias-  g^j^j  ^q  j^j^-,  .  Jq  ,^ot  we  say  wcll,  that  thou  art  a  Samaritan,"  that  is, 
 
 who  attempt  to  an  enemy  of  God's  people,  "  and  hast  a  devil"  that  inspires  thee  with 
 
 49.  i>tone  him.  these  sentiments  ?  "  Jesus  answered,"  with  great  mildness  :  "  I  have 
 not  a  devil:  but  I  honour  my  Father,"  by  referring  all  the  glory  of  my  actions  to 
 him  as  to  their  principal  cause  and  author  :  "  and  you  have  dishonoured  me,"  and 
 
 50.  have  made  my  work  the  subject  of  derision  and  animosity  against  me.  "  But  I  seek 
 not  ray  own  glory :  there  is  one  to  seek  it  and  judge"  all  your  shameful  outrages. 
 
 Having  thus  replied  to  the  several  objections  which  they  had  urged  against  him, 
 Jesus  resumes  his  discourse  in  favour  of  those  who  should  remain  steadfast  in  his 
 doctrine,  and  having  already  promised  them  true,  spiritual  liberty,  he  adds  what  they 
 
 51.  may  further  expect  from  such  fidelity  in  his  service.  "  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you  : 
 if  any  man  keep  my  word,  he  shall  not  see  death  for  ever  ;"  that  is,  the  death  of  the 
 
 52.  soul,  but  shall  escape  that  eternal  misery  prepared  for  the  incredulous.  "  Tlie  Jews 
 therefore,"  understanding  it  of  the  death  of  the  body,  "  said :  now  we  know  that  thou 
 hast  a"  familiar  "  devil,"  which  causes  thee  to  hold  out  so  delusive  a  promise.  "  Abra- 
 ham is  dead,  and  the  prophets,  and  thou  sayest :  if  any  man  keep  my  word,  he  shall 
 
 53.  not  taste  death  for  ever.     Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Abraham,  who  is  dead  ? 
 
Cli.  LXXVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  255 
 
 and  the  prophets"  too  "■  are"  long-  since  "  dead.  Whom  dost  thou  make  thyself?  54. 
 Jesus  answered:  if  I  glorify  myself"  as  man,  "  my  glory  is  nothing,"  and  you  would 
 have  reason  to  reject  it.  But  "  it  is  my  Father  that  glorifieth  me,"  by  communicat- 
 ing to  me  his  power,  "  of  whom  you  say  that  he  is  your  God.  And"  yet  "  you  have  55. 
 not  known  him  :  but  I  know  him  ;  and  if  I  shall  say  that  I  know  him  not,  I  shall  be 
 like  to  yon  a  liar :  but  I  do  know  him,  and  do  keep  his  word/'  and  observe  his 
 commandments  with  the  greatest  punctuality.  As  to  what  you  ask  me,  whether  I  56. 
 am  greater  than  Abraham,  I  shall  only  say,  that  "  Abraham  your  father  rejoiced  that 
 he  might  see  my  day,"  the  day  of  my  coming  upon  earth,  as  likewise  the  day  of  my 
 glory,  when  I  shall  sit  as  judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead;  "  and  he  saw  it*  and 
 was  glad.  The  Jews  therefore  said  to  him  :  thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  and  hast  57. 
 thou  seen  Abraham  ?  Jesus  said  to  them  :  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you,  before  Abra-  58. 
 ham  was  made,  I  am,"  for  as  God  1  existed  from  all  eternity.  "They  took  up  stones  59- 
 therefore  to  cast  at  him :  but  Jesus,"  before  they  could  execute  their  cruel  design, 
 "  hid  himself"  in  the  crowd,  "  and  went  out  of  the  temple,"  thus  to  escape  their 
 fury.  In  all  probability  he  went,  according  to  custom,  to  pass  the  night  on  mount 
 Olivet.  While  we  admire  the  great  meekness  and  forbearance  which  Jesus  evinced 
 on  this  occasion,  we  may  le?rn,  from  the  conduct  of  the  Jews,  the  danger  of  abandon- 
 ing ourselves  to  passion  and  prejudice.  Nothing  is  more  difticult  than  to  carry  con- 
 viction to  a  prejudiced  mind.  If  a  person,  labouring  under  this  misfortune,  act  from 
 conscience,  he  does  not  see  his  error  ;  if  he  be  not  sincere,  he  desires  not  to  see  it. 
 He  either  believes  himself  to  be  in  the  way  of  truth,  or  he  has  no  inclination  to  walk 
 in  that  way  ;  and  what  first  led  him  astray,  still  withholds  him  from  the  right  path. 
 But  if  his  prevention  and  error  regard  religions  objects,  they  become  stronger,  and 
 are  the  more  irremediable,  as  being  frequently  the  just  punishment  of  an  angry  God, 
 Penal  blindness  is  the  effect  of  voluntary  blindness.  When  man  repeatedly  shuts 
 his  eyes  to  the  lights  of  God,  he  is,  in  return,  abandoned  by  God,  and  becomes  the 
 victim  of  his  own  folly  :  God  permits  that  his  eyes  should  be  no  longer  open  to  those 
 heavenly  truths  which  he  impiously  rejected.  This,  no  doubt,  is  the  true  cause  of 
 that  astonishing  blindness  and  obstinacy  observable  in  the  enemies  of  our  holy 
 religion  :  they  have  before  their  eyes  evident  proofs  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  ;  they 
 have  the  greatest  authority  in  the  world  to  direct  them,  viz.  the  visible  authority  of 
 the  Universal  Church,  besides  other  motives  of  credibility  ;  and  yet  with  pertinacity 
 they  refuse  to  believe  in  revelation,  or  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  Catholic 
 Church.  In  vain  we  seek  for  the  principle  of  their  error  in  the  weakness  or  capri- 
 ciousness  of  the  human  mind  ;  with  greater  probability  we  may  refer  it  to  the  just 
 
 *  In  a  prophetic  spirit  Abraham  beheld  the  day  Are  we  duly  sensible  of  the  inestimable  advantage 
 
 of  Jesus  Christ.     His  lively  faith  merited  for  him  in  being'  thus  enlightened  by  him  ;   in  having  been 
 
 the  lionour  of  becoming  the  father  of  him  in  whom  born,  not  in  past  ages,  when  Jesus  was  not  known, 
 
 all   nations  were  to  be   blessed.     (Gen.  xxii.  IS.)  nor  in  countries  where  his  religion  has  not   been 
 
 This  distant  anticipated  view  was  alone   sutlicient  preached?    God  has  placed  us  in  the  bosom  of  his 
 
 to  fill  tile  holy  patriarch  with  joy.     Willi  regard  to  lioly  Catholic  Church  ;  he  has  instructed  us  in  the 
 
 us  Christians,  it  is  not  at  some  future  and  distant  great  truths  of  religion  :  let  us  l)e  thankful  for  such 
 
 period  of  time  that  we  see  this  happy  day  :  Jesus  a  privilege,  and  let  us  testify  our  gratitude  in  the 
 
 is  come :  we  have  seen  the  glory  of  the   only   be-  manner  which  is  most  agreeable  to  him,  that  is,  by 
 
 gotten  Son  ;  we  enjoy  the  presence  of  this  great  profiting  as  we  ought,  of  such  unspeakable  benefits. 
 Sun  of  justice ;    he   continues   to  shine    upon  us. 
 
256  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXVIL 
 
 judgment  of  God.  The  truth  is,  that  for  the  sake  of  worldly  interest  or  sensual 
 gratification,  they  fondly  cherish  their  errors  ;  hence,  by  the  justice  of  God,  they  are 
 abandoned  to  them. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXVIL 
 
 JESUS  GIVES  SIGHT  TO  A  MAN  BORN  BLIND.      JOHN  IX. 
 
 John  9.  "  And  Jesus  passing  by"  the  next  day,  gave  a  fresh  proof  of  his  divine  power,  by 
 
 ^-  curing  a  man  who  had  been  blind  from  his  very  birth.  In  performing  this  miracle^ 
 he  employed  such  means,  as  in  the  common  course  of  nature,  ought  rather  to  have 
 caused  than  removed  blindness.  The  doctors  of  the  law  and  the  Pharisees,  instead 
 of  being  enlightened,  were  still  more  blinded  by  this  miracle.  The  blind  man,  after 
 recovering  his  sight,  was  able  to  confound,  though  not  to  cure  their  strange  blindness. 
 Ahid       Wherefore  Jesus  returning  to  the  city  the  day  following,  "  saw  a 
 
 ^'  man  receives  his  man  who  was  blind  from  his  birth.  And  his  disciples  asked  him: 
 ^^S^t-  Rabbi,  who  hath  sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  should  be 
 
 born  blind?"  This  question,  according  to  St.  Cyril  and  Origen,  may  possibly  have 
 originated  from  the  absurd  opinion  taught  by  some  of  the  Pharisees,  that  the  souls  of 
 virtuous  persons,  on  their  decease,  pass  into  other  bodies,  and  appear  again  in  the 
 world  by  a  second  birth,  and  under  a  new  name;  in  this  sense  the  above  question 
 implied  that  this  blind  man  might,  previous  to  his  birth,  have  been  guilty  of  some 
 actual  sin,  whilst  his  soul  animated  a  body  distinct  from  that  which  now  appeared 
 before  them  in  a  state  of  blindness.  With  regard  to  the  parents  of  the  blind  man, 
 the  question  here  addressed  to  Jesus,  was  grounded  upon  that  text  of  Exodus  (xx.  5.) 
 which  describes  the  Almighty  as  revenging  the  sins  of  parents  upon  their  children  to 
 the  third  and  fourth  generation.     It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  original  sin  was  here 
 
 3-  entirely  out  of  the  question,  though  in  fact  all  our  evils  originate  from  it.  "  Jesus 
 answered  :  neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his  parents;  but  that  the  works"  and 
 
 ''•  power  "  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in  him."  For  "  I  must  work  the  works  of 
 him  that  sent  me,  whilst  it  is  day :  the  night"  of  death  "  cometh  when  no  man  can 
 
 ^  work.  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world,"  and  therefore  it 
 behoves  me  to  give  light  to  this  blind  man,  as  a  lively  representation  that  I   give 
 
 G.  spiritual  light  to  the  souls  of  men  blinded  by  sin.  "  When  he  had  said  these  words, 
 he  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the  spittle,  and  spread  the  clay  upon  his 
 
 7.  eyes,  and  said  to  him  :  go  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloe,  which  is  interpreted,  sent.     He 
 
 8.  went  therefore,  and  washed,  and  he  came  seeing.  The  neighbours  therefore,  and 
 thev  who  had  seen  him  before,  being  a  beggar,  said :  is  not  this  he  that  sat  and 
 
 9.  bego-ed  ?  Some  said  :  this  is  he.     But  others  said  :  no,  but  he  is  like  him.     But  he 
 1^'-      said  :    I  am  he.     They  said  therefore  to  him  :   how  were  thy  eyes  opened  ?     He 
 11.      answered,"  with  great  candour  and  simplicity,  for  as  yet  he  did  not  know  his  bene- 
 factor to  be  God  :   "  that  man  who  is  called  Jesus,  made  clay  and  anointed  my  eyes, 
 
Ch.  LXXVII )  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  357 
 
 and  said  to  me  :  go  to  the  pool  of  Siloe  and  wash  :  and  I  went,  I  washed,  and  I  see. 
 And  they  said  to  him  :  where  is  he?     He  saith  :  I  know  not.     They      ^      jj^     .^      12. 
 bring-  him  that  had  been  blind  to  the  Pharisees.     Now  it  was  the  broushi   to  the      \^- 
 Sabbath,  when   Jesus  made  the  clay  and  opened  his  eyes.     Again     '^'"■''*'"''-  ^^ 
 
 therefore  the  Pharisees  asked  him  :  how  he  had  received  his  sight.     But  he  said  to 
 them  :  he  put  clay  upon  my  eyes,  and  I  washed,  and  I  see."     It  is  somewhat  plea- 
 sant to  observe  the  emotions  caused  by  this  palpable  miracle  in  the  minds  of  the 
 Pharisees,  who  now  were  at  a  loss  to  find  a  plausible  pretext  for  condemning  it. 
 They  were  divided  into  a  variety  of  opinions  on  the  subject.    '•'  Some  therefore  of  the      le 
 Pharisees  said  :  this  man  is  not  of  God,  who  keepeth  not  the  Sabbath.     But  others 
 said  :  how  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such  miracles  1*     They  say  therefore  to  the      17. 
 blind  man  again,"  feigning  to  refer  the  decision  to  him:  "  what  sayest  thou  of  him 
 that  hath  opened  thy  eyes?"     They  flattered  themselves  that  his   answer  might 
 afford  them  some  grounds  for  invalidating  the  truth  of  the  miracle,  if  he  did  not 
 express  a  due  esteem  for  his  miraculous  cure,  or  if,  overawed  by  the  great  number  of 
 the  enemies  of  Jesus  in  the  council  before  vvhich  he  stood,  he  should  not  dare  to  make 
 an  express  declaration  in  his  favour.     "  He,"  however,  "  replied,"  without  fear  or 
 hesitation  :    "  he  is  a  prophet.     The  Jews  then,"  suspecting  a  collusion  between      is. 
 them,  "  did  not  believe  concerning-  him,  that  he  had  been  blind  and  had  received  his 
 sight,  until  they  called  the  parents  of  him  that  now  saw^  and  as^ked  them,  saying:  is      39. 
 this  your  son,  who  you  say  was  born  blind  ?   How  then  doth  he  now  see  ?     His      20 
 parents  answered  them  and  said  :  we  know  that  this  is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born 
 blind.     But  how  he  now  seeth,  we  know  not :  or  who  hath  opened  his  eyes,  we  know      21. 
 not.     Ask  himself,  he  is  of  age,  let  him  speak  for  himself     These  things  his  parents      22. 
 said,  because  they  feared  the  Jews  ;  for  the  Jews  had  already  agreed  among  them- 
 selves, that  if  any  man  should  confess  him  to  be  Christ,  he  should  be"  excommuni- 
 cated and  "  put  out  of  the  synagogue  ;i'  therefore  did  his  parents  say  :  he  is  of  age,       23 
 ask  him."     After  the  evidence  thus  given  by  the  parents  of  the  man,  the  council  had 
 sufficient  reason  to  be  satisfied  as  to  the  certainty  of  the  fact :  they  however  gave  not 
 the  point  up  without  a  further  investigation.     "  They  therefore  called      3.  The  Pha-      24. 
 the  man  again  that  had  been  blind,  and  said  to  him :  give  glory  to  7'*^'    "''''   "f' 
 God,"  who  is  here  present,  and  in  whose  sight  thou  speakest.     But  'comtnunicate 
 they  waited  not  for  his  answer,  and  suggested  to  him  that  he  ought  now  *''"• 
 to  avow  his  having  obtained  his  eye-sight  by  some  other  means,  and  to  confess  to  the 
 
 •  This  shows  that  reason  alone  is  not  a  sufficient  commerce  :  and  the  third,  shammatha  or  excision, 
 
 guide.     Here  are  two  sorts  of  people,  both  endued  which  removed  him  from  all  hopes  of  returning  to 
 
 witli  reason,  who  make  two  very  different  inferences,  the  synagogue  anymore.      But  Selden  maintains. 
 
 But  so  it  will   ever  be,  while  men  have  diflerent  that  these  three  terms,  niddiii,  cherem,  and  sham- 
 
 interests  and  passions.     How  much  these  blind  the  math,    are    sometimes   synoiiytnous,   and    that   the 
 
 understanding,  while  they  impel   the  will,  we  have  Jews,  properly  speaking,  never  had  more  than  two 
 
 a  striking  instance  here  in  the  Jews.  sorts  of  excommunication,  the  greater  and  the  less; 
 
 t  The  general  opinion  is,  that  among  the  .Tews  though  most  are  agreed  that  it  was  the  greater  sort 
 
 there  were  three  kinds  of  excommunication  ;  that  of  excommunication   which  the  sanhedrim  threat- 
 
 the  first   was   called    niddui,   that    is,  separation,  ened  to  any  one   that  should  confess  Jesus  to   be 
 
 which  lasted  for  thirty  days,  and  separated  the  per-  the  Christ,  because  the  parents  of  the  blind   man 
 
 son  from  all  things  holy :    the  second  was  calle.l  were  so  fearful  of  it,  that  they  durst  not  speak  out. 
 
 sherem   or  execration,  which   excluded   the   person  — Calmet. 
 from  the  synagogue,  and  deprived  him  of  all  civil 
 
 22.  3  u 
 
27 
 
 258  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXVIL 
 
 world  that  Jesus  had  prevailed  upon  him,  by  unlawful  means,  to  declare  him  the 
 author  of  the  cure.  "  We  know,"  said  they,  "  that  this  man  is  a  sinner,"  and  con- 
 sequently he  cannot  have  performed  a  miraculous  cure.     The  man,  who  saw  not  the 
 
 25.  depth  of  their  malicious  artifice,  only  confirmed  what  he  had  before  ass(?rted :  ''  he 
 said  therefore  to  them  :  if  he  be  a  suiiier  I  know  not :  one  thing  I  know,  that  whereas 
 I  was  blind,  now  I  see  ;"  and  therefore  am  bound,  by  every  tie  of  gratitude,  to  give 
 glory  to  God,  by  thus  openly  confessing  the  truth. 
 
 As  this  honest  bluntness  of  the  man  disconcerted  all  their  schemes,  they  had 
 recourse  to  another  expedient.  They  began  to  cross-examine  him,  hoping  thereby 
 to  lead  him  into  some  contradiction,  and  of  course  to  invalidate  his  testimony. 
 
 26.  "  They  said  therefore  to  him  :  what  did  he  to  thee  ?  how  did  he  open  thy  eyes  ?  He 
 answered  them  :  I  have  told  you  already,  and  you  have  heard  :*  why  would  you  hear 
 it  again  ?"  Thus,  instead,  of  giving  them  a  direct  answer  to  their  question,  lest  they 
 should  twist  his  words  to  a  wrong  sense,  he  reproached  them  for  their  want  of  under- 
 standing, and  of  attention  to  what  he  had  so  plainly  related.  He  even  went  so  far 
 as  to  turn  them  to  ridicule.  *'  Will  you  also,"  said  he  to  them,  "  become  bis  disci- 
 ples," that  you  are  so  desirous  of  having  a  repetition  of  what  you  have  already 
 heard  ?     Nothing  in  nature  could  have  been  more  cutting  to  the  proud  and  haughty 
 
 28.  Pharisees,  than  the  very  shadow  of  such  a  suspicion.     "They  reviled  him  therefore, 
 
 29.  and  said  :  be  thou  his  disciple  ;  but  we  are  the  disciples  of  Moses.  We  know  that 
 God  spoke  to  Moses  :t  but  as  to  this  man,  we  know  not  whence  he  is,"  nor  who  sent 
 him,  nor  from  whence  he  derives  his  doctrines,  or  that  authority   which  he  arrogates 
 
 30.  to  himself  in  teaching.  "  The  man  answered,"  with  a  wonderful  presence  of  mind, 
 "  and  said  to  them  :  why,  herein  is  a  wonderful  thing,  that  you,"  with  all  your  learn- 
 
 31.  ing,  "  know  not  from  whence  he  is,  and  he  hath  opened  my  eyes.  Now  we  know  -. 
 that  God  does  not  hear  sinners,"  so  i\s  to  grant  them  this  power  of  working  miracles  I 
 in  confirmation  of  error  :   "  but  if  a  man  be  a  worshipper  of  God  and  perform  his 
 
 3-2.      will,  him  he  heareth.      From  the  beginning  of  the  world  it  hath  not  been  heard,  tiiat 
 
 33.      any  man  hath  opened  the  eyes  of  one  born  blind.      Unless  this  man  were  ol  God,  he  ■ 
 
 could  not  do  any  thing"  of  this  wonderful  nature.     As  no  satisfactory  answer  could  I 
 
 31.      be  found  to  this  reasoning,  "  they  answered"  it  with  abusive  language,  "  and  said:  I 
 
 thou  wast  wholly  born  in  sin,"  as  appears  by  the  blindness  in  which  thou  wast  born,  ' 
 
 "  and  dost  thou  teach  us?    And  they"  instantly  "  cast  him  out,"  thinking  thus  to 
 35.  .         have  given  a  sufficient  answer  to  his  argument.    "  Jesus  heard  that  they 
 
 ceived  by  Jesvs,  had"  thus  "  cast  him  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  when  he  had  found 
 3C,       and     confesses  hirn,  he  said :  dost  thou  believe  in  the  Son  of  God  .'     He  answered  and 
 
 37.  '""■  said  :  who  is  he,  Lord,  that  I  may  believe  in  him  ?  And  Jesus  said  to 
 
 38.  him  :  thou  hast  both  seen  him^  and  it  is  he  that  talketh  with  thee.     And  he  said :  I 
 
 *  Gr.     And  ye  did  not  hear.  rule  therefore  did  not  ouncern  Jesus  Christ.    They 
 
 t  It  is  true,  the  Jews  had  a  rule  (Deut.  xiii.  1.)  should  have  known  likewise  that  Moses  had  said, 
 
 not  to  receive  a  prophet  who  should  lead  them  to  De\it.  xviii.  15.   that  Gud  would  raise  up  a  prophet 
 
 idolatry,  or  from  the  God   who   brought  tlium  out  like  unto  himself,  and   that   tliey  should   hear   and 
 
 of  Ei^ypt,  though  he  should  work  miracles.     But  obey  him.     They  knew  that  there  had  been  no  such 
 
 then  Jesus  Christ  asserted  the  honour  of  the  God  prophet    since   Moses,   until   Christ   came    amojify 
 
 of  Israel,  pleaded  for  his  law  in  the  true  sense  of  it,  them,  doing  greater  signs  and  wonders  than  even 
 
 wrought  miracles  greater  than  Moses,  &c.     That  Moses  himself  had  doiie_ 
 
Ch.  LXXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  259 
 
 believe.  Lord :  and  falling  down  he  adored  him"  with  that  sort  of  adoration  which 
 is  due  to  God  alone.  "  And  Jesus  said,"  with  a  happy  allusion  to  his  late  blind-  39. 
 ness,  and  to  that  clear  light  which  he  now  enjoyed  :  "  I  am  come  unto  judgment  into 
 this  world,  that  they  who  see  not,  may  see :  and  they  who  see,  may  become  blind  ;" 
 in  other  words,  that  humble  and  simple  persoiis,  such  as  honestly  avow  their  igno- 
 rance, may  become  enlightened  by  the  light  of  the  true  faith,  whilst  they  who  flatter 
 themselves  with  the  idea  of  being  the  most  enlightened  and  above  instruction,  become 
 blind  by  their  own  darkness.  "  And  some  of  the  Pharisees  who  were  with  him  40. 
 heard"  these  words,  and  rightly  judging  that  they  were  levelled  at  them,  "  they  said 
 unto  him  :  are  we  also  blind?  Jesus  said  to  them  :  if  you  were  blind,"  and  suffi-  41. 
 ciently  humble  to  acknowledge  your  ignorance,  "  you  would  not  be  liable  to  sin,"* 
 because  you  would  then  seek  the  truth  with  sincerity,  and  the  truth  would  not  fail  to 
 enlighten  you :  "  but  now  that  you  say,  we  see/'  and  boast  of  your  knowledge  and 
 wisdom,  "  your  sin  remaineth,"  because  this  presumption  hinders  you  from  seeking 
 after  the  light  which  is  necessary  for  you  ;  falsely  imagining  that  you  have  no  need 
 of  it.  Thrice  happy,  say  the  holy  Fathers,  was  the  man  who  through  his  corporal 
 blindness  discovered  the  true  light  which  enlightens  every  man  who  cometh  into  this 
 world.  He  became  not  the  adorer  only,  but  also  the  defender  of  Jesus  Christ  against 
 his  enemies ;  unshaken  by  their  threats,  he  boldly  declared  the  truth,  and  silenced 
 their  captions  arguments  against  it.  The  Jews  cast  him  out  of  their  synagogue  ;  but 
 Jesus  received  him  into  his  communion,  and  made  his  heart  the  living  temple  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost.  We  see  by  this  instance,  that  wicked  men,  according  to  the  just  judg- 
 ment of  God,  are  hardened  by  those  very  things  which  are  suiEcient  to  convince  the 
 humble  and  sincere.  We  see  likewise  that  an  unlearned  man,  who  has  truth  on  his 
 side,  is  able  sometimes  to  baffle  the  most  learned  opponents ;  for  by  the  foolishness 
 of  men,  God  is  pleased  to  confound  the  wisdom  of  the  wise. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXVIII. 
 
 CHRIST  DECLARES  HIMSELF  TO  BE  THE  TRUE  SHEPHERD.      JOHN  X. 
 
 In  the  following  discourse  Jesus  pointed  out  the   several  essential 
 
 differences  between  a  thief  and  a  true  shepherd,  and  then  showed  his  fire'nce  bliwmi 
 
 just  claim  to  the  character  of  the  latter.  «  f^ief  and  a 
 
 The  first  difference  is  in  the  manner  of  election  to  the  office  of  guard-  *  ^^  '^'''^' 
 ing  the  sheep.     "  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you ;  he  that  entereth  not  by  the  door,"  John  lo. 
 that  is,  by  a  canonical  election  or  promotion,  "  into  the  sheepfold,  but  climbeth  up       ^' 
 by  another  way,"  by  a  window,  or  through  a  breach  in  the  wall,  viz.  by  means  of 
 injustice,  or  fraudulent  and  simoniacal  practices,  such  as  favour  or  partiality,  or  by 
 making  presents,  all  which  are  manifest  infringements  of  the  established  rules,  ''  the 
 
 *  Si  vos  caecos  adverteretis,  si  vos  cebcos  diceretis,  ad  raedicum  curieretis.     Aug.  Tract.  44,  in  Joan. 
 
2QQ  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXVIII 
 
 2.  same  is  a  tiiief  and  a  robber.  But  he  that  entereth  in  by  the  door"  of  a  regular 
 appointment,  "  is  the  shepherd  of  the  sheep." 
 
 3.  The  second  difference  is,  that  "  to  him  the  porter  openeth,"  viz.  the  Holy  Ghost 
 opens  the  door  to  the  true  shepherd^  and  allows  him  access  into  the  sheepfold,  as 
 being-  called  thereto  by  God,  who  holds  the  door  open  to  him  in  all  his  enterprises, 
 and  facilitates  the  execution  of  them  by  his  divine  assistance.  He  leaves  it  to  be 
 inferred,  that  neither  God,  nor  a  call  from  God,  opens  the  door  to  the  thief  and  the 
 robber :  the  thief  enters  in  only  by  fraud  and  imposition,  and  the  robber  enters  in 
 by  high  birth,  riches,  or  influence. 
 
 3.  The  third  difference  is,  that  the  true  shepherd  is  known  by  his  sheep,  "  and  the 
 
 sheep  hear  his  voice,"  which  they  readily  distinguish  from  all  other  voices  ;  because 
 a  soul  enli<'-htened  from  above,  and  imbued  with  a  relish  for  the  truth,  easily  knows 
 its  pastor  by  the  conformity  of  his  doctrine  with  that  which  she  has  already  received. 
 He  thus  hints  to  the  Pharisees,  that  they  must  not  wonder  if  many  of  the  Jews,  after 
 the  example  of  the  blind  man,  should  refuse  to  listen  to  them  as  to  their  masters, 
 and  should  rather  attach  themselves  to  him,  and  become  hearers  of  his  word :  the 
 reason  of  which  preference  is,  that  they  distinguish  his  voice,  and  are  attracted  by 
 the  (ruth,  which  they  find  not  in  the  discourses  of  the  Pharisees. 
 
 The  fourth  difference  is,  that  the  true  shepherd  knows,  "  and  calleth  his  own 
 sheep  by  name,"  to  see,  as  it  were,  that  none  be  wanting.  He  applies  himself  to 
 the  wants  of  all  in  general,  and.  of  each  in  particular,  evincing  an  equal  care  of  all. 
 It  is  far  otherwise  with  the  thief,  who,  as  the  sheep  know  him  not,  so  likewise  he 
 knows  not  them,  cares  not  for  their  wants,  nor  diseases,  and  so  thinks  not  of  apply- 
 ing the  remedies  suited  to  them  ;  in  short,  he  allows  them  to  perish,  and  is 
 indifferent  to  their  loss. 
 
 The  fifth  difference  is,  that  the  true  shepherd  "  leadeth  them  out"  into  wholesome 
 pastures  ;  that  is,  nourishes  them  with  sound  and  orthodox  doctrines,  and  causes 
 them  to  drink  of  the  pure  waters  of  truth;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  the  thief  leads 
 the  sheep  to  be  butchered,  or  if  perhaps  he  leads  them  to  the  pasture,  he  pays  no 
 attention  whether  they  feed  upon  poisonous  herbs,  or  quench  their  thirst  with  infected 
 waters. 
 
 4  The  sixth  difference  is,  that  the  true  shepherd  "  when  he  hath  led  out  his  own 
 
 sheep,  o-oeth  before  them"  as  their  guide.  He  is  the  first  to  comply  with  all  God's 
 commandments  or  counsels,  thus  proposing  himself  as  a  pattern  for  their  imitation  ; 
 nor  does  he  point  out  any  thing  to  be  done  by  them,  but  what  he  is  the  first  to  per- 
 form himself.     "  And  the  sheep"  therefore  "  follow  him,  because  they  know  his 
 
 5.  voice,"  which  is  the  voice  of  truth.  "  But  a  stranger  they  follow  not,  but  fly  from 
 him,  because  they  know  not  the  voice  of  strangers,"  which  is  ever  the  voice  of  error 
 
 6.  and  deceit.  "  This  proverb  Jesus  spoke  to  them,"  in  order  to  show  that  he  was  the 
 true  Pastor  of  God's  sheep,  the  Guide  and  Conductor  of  his  people :  "  but  they 
 understood  not  what  he  spoke  to  them."  He  now  condescends  to  make  the  appli- 
 cation of  it,  both  with  regard  to  himself  and  to  the  false  teachers  who  had  gone 
 before  him  ;  classing  among  the  latter  all  such  false  prophets  as  had  intruded  them- 
 selves into  the  office  of  conducting  the  people  of  God.     In  this  number  he  includes 
 
Ch.  LXXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  26] 
 
 the  Pharisees  of  the  present  time,  who,  although  the  lawful  successors  of  Moses,  had 
 now  become  false  shepherds,  by  refusing-  to  acknowledge  that  Messiah  whom  Moses 
 had  foretold.     "  Jesus  therefore  said  to  them  again,"  and  with  the  solemn  assevera-       7. 
 tion  of  an  oath :  "  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you,  I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep,"  by  which 
 men  may  enter  into  the  shee[)fold  of  the  Cliurch,  by  faith  in  my  name.     I  am  like- 
 wise the  door  of  all  true  shepherds,  because  all  such  are  invested  with  my  authority, 
 either  by  an  extraordinary  and  immediate  mission,  as  my  apostles,  or  by  a  regular 
 mission  derived  from  them,  such  as  will  descend  to  all  their  lawful  successors  to  the 
 end  of  the  world.     But  "  all  others,  as  many  as  have  come"  without  a  legal  mission       8. 
 and  authority,  "  are  thieves  and  robbers,  and  the  shee[)  hear  them  not.     I  am  the 
 door"  of  salvation  :  ''  by  me  if  any  one  enter  in"  to  the  Church,  either  as  one  of  the       9. 
 sheep  by  faith,  or  as  a  shepherd  by  a  lawful  vocation,  "^  he  shall  be  saved  :  and  he 
 shall  go  in  and  out,  and  shall  find  pastures"  of  wholesome  food.     "  The  thief  cometh      to. 
 for  no  other  end  but  to  steal,  to  kill,  and  to  destroy,"  by  the  poison  of  false  doctrines. 
 "  I  am  come  that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  more  abundantly"  now  under 
 the  gospel  than  under  the  law. 
 
 Jesus  then  proceeded  to  apj)ly  to  his  own  person  the  several  peculiar  marks  of  the 
 good  shepherd  contained  in  this  parable,  pointing  out  the  two  characteristics  which 
 in  a  particular  manner  distinguish  him  from  the  hireling.     "  I  am  the      ^    The  sood       ^^' 
 good  shepherd,"*  says  he.     "  The  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  shepherd     and 
 his  sheep,"  if  necessary  to  defend  them  against  wolves,  that  iS;,  against  '^^  ^"'''"S"- 
 false  teachers,  who  preach  up  heresy  and  schism.     "  But  the  hireling,"  or  mercenary      12. 
 pastor,  "  and  he  that  is  not  the  shepherd,  whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  seeth  the 
 wolf  coming,  and  leaveth  the  sheep,  and  flieth :  and  the  wolf  catcheth  and  scattereth 
 the  sheep.     A]id  the  hireling  flieth  because  he  is  a  hireling;  and  he  hath  no  care      13. 
 for  the  sheep  :"  but  feeds  them  with  a  view  only  to  his  own  profit,  without  any  prin- 
 ciple   of  affection    towards  his   master,   or   any  desire   or   zeal   for   the   good    of 
 the  flock.     "  I  am  the  good  shepherd,  and  I  know  mine,  and  mine  know  me,  as      14.. 
 
 *  It  must  be  observed,  that  in  ancient  tin:ies  men  our  gracious   Saviour,  so  there  is  something  in  the 
 
 of  the  greatest  qv\ality  and  substance  made  it  their  nature  and  disposition  of  sheep,  something  so  inno- 
 
 business  to  look  after  tlieir  flocks,  not  thinking  such  cent  and   inoffensive,  so  peaceable   and   gentle,   so 
 
 an    employment    below    them.       Hence    probably  patient  and  submissive,  so  honest  and  undesigning, 
 
 came  the  Ireciuent  metaphor   of  styling  kings  the  as  carries  a  near  resemblance  to  that  simplicity  and 
 
 .shepherds  of  their  people.     Wherefore  the  ancient  probity,  that  modesty  and  humility,  that  quietness 
 
 projjhets  very  properly  describe  the  JSIessiah  in  the  and  submission  vvhich  are  the  characteristic  quali- 
 
 character  of  a  shepherd,  and  our  Saviour  here  ap-  ties  of  Christ's  disciples.     It  is  likewise  to  be  ob- 
 
 plies    the   same   character   to   himself,   thereby    to  served,  that  the  shepherd's  art  in  managing    his 
 
 represent  his  government  of  the  Church,  and  ten-  shee])  was  different  in  the   Eastern  countries  from 
 
 der  concern  for  mankind  :  he  shall  feed  his  flock  that  which  prevails  among  us.      Hence  we  read  of 
 
 lilc  a  shepherd  ;  he  shall  gather  the  lambs  with  his  his  going  before,  leading,  and  calling  his  sheep,  and 
 
 arms,  and  carry  (hem  in  his  bosom;  shall  seek  that  of  iheir  following,  and  knowing  his  voice,  whereas 
 
 which  was  lost,  and  bring  again  that  which  was  our  shepherds  g'o  after  and  drive  their  sheep  before 
 
 driven  aivay ;  shall  bind  up  that  which  was  broken,  them.     In  a  moral  sense,  these  several  expressions 
 
 and  strengthen  that  tohich   was  weak,  and  gently  denote  that  Christ  receives  into  the  number  of  his 
 
 lead  them  that  are  with  young.  Isa.  xl.  11.    Ezek.  disciples  all  those  humble  and  obedient  souls  that 
 
 xxxiv.  16.     These   are  all   lively  emblems  of  our  come  to  him  in   the  spirit  of  meekness,  and  not 
 
 Lord's  pastoral  care,  and  of  the  various  methods  only  in  the  clothing,  but  with  the  real  qualities  of 
 
 employed  by  him,  to  promote  our  eternal  salvation,  his  sheep. 
 And  as  the  character  of  shepherd  is  well  suited  to 
 
 23.  3x 
 
262  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  [Ch.  LXXIX. 
 
 15.  Z.Christ  will  the  Father  knoweth  me,  and  I  know  the  Father;  and"  as  this  mutual 
 his  Ufefor^his  knovvledg-e  produces  in  us  an  infinite  love,  so  this  affectionate  know- 
 sheep.  ledge  which  I  have  for  my  sheep,  inspires  me  with  so  great  a  love  for 
 
 16.  them,  that  "  I  lay  down  my  life  for  my  sheep.  And  other  sheep  I  have,"  distinct 
 from  this  little  flock  in  Judea,  and  scattered  amongst  the  Gentiles  :  "  them  also  1 
 must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice"  calhng  them  to  the  true  faith  ;  "  and 
 there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd,"  for  the  Jewish  people  and  the  Gentile 
 
 l'.  world  shall  coalesce  together,  and  form  but  one  common  church.  "  Therefore  doth 
 the  Father  love  me :  because  I  lay  down  my  life"  for  the  sheep  ;  and  this  I  do  only 
 for  a  short  time,  "  that  I  may  take  it  up  again"  by  a  glorious  resurrection.     And  I 
 
 18.  lay  it  down  freely  and  of  my  own  accord ;  for  "  no  man  taketh  it  away  from  me"  by 
 force :  "  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself  and  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  1  have 
 power  to  take  it  up  again."  Thus  am  I  equally  free  both  in  suffering  death  and  in 
 rising  again  to  life  ;   and  "  this  commandment,"  or  commission,  "  have  I  received  of 
 
 19.  my  Father.     A  dissension  rose  again  among  the  Jews  by  reason  of  these  words,  and 
 21*      many  of  them  said  :  he  hath  a  devil  and  is  mad,  why  do  you  hear  him  ?  Others  said  : 
 
 these  are  not  the  words  of  one  that  hath  a  devil.     Can  the  devil  open  the  eyes  of 
 the  blind  ?" 
 
 We  may  here  remark  the  difference  which  Jesus  Christ  points  out  between  the 
 several  descriptions  of  spiritual  guides.  Some  of  these  are  wolves,  whilst  others  are 
 thieves  and  robbers  ;  a  third  sort  are  hirelings,  and  a  fourth  are  the  true  shepherds  of 
 souls.  The  wolves  and  the  robbers,  it  seems,  pursue  a  similar  line  of  conduct ;  for 
 they  both  hate  and  destroy  the  sheep.  The  hirelings,  instead  of  loving  the  flock,  love 
 only  themselves.  It  is  the  good  shepherds  who  alone  truly  love  their  flock,  and 
 bestow  on  it,  after  the  example  of  Christ,  the  whole  of  their  care  and  attention. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXIX 
 
 CHRIST  SENDS  THE  SEVENTY-TWO  DISCIPLES  TO  WORK  MIRACLES  AND  TO  PREACH.* 
 MATT.  XI.     LUKE  X. 
 
 1.  Christ  sends  It  was  but  reasonable  that  the  faith  should  be  preached  to  Judea,  as 
 
 ^o  ^''^'^^  **— H*^*  ^^^^^  ^^  *°  Galilee,  and  therefore,  "  after  these  things,  the  Lord  ap- 
 
 "  1. '     directioiis  to       pointed  also  other  seventy-two :  J  and  he  sent  them  two  and  two,'' 
 
 them.t  that  one  might  be  a  help  and  comfort  to  the  other,  and  their  testimony 
 
 *  It  cannot  be  ascertained  at  what  precise  time  venty-two,  because  he  knew  by  tradition  that  this 
 this  mission  took  place.  It  is,  however,  probable,  was  the  true  number.  It  was  usual  with  the 
 that  between  the  feast  of  the  Tents  and  the  Dedi-  Hebrews  to  put  a  round  number,  e.g.  seventy,  when 
 cation,  Jesu.s  remained  in  Judea,  and  that  in  this  it  was  well  known  the  real  number  was  seventy- 
 interval  he  sent  the  seventy-two  disciples  to  sow  two.  Hence  they  are  called  the  seventy  inter- 
 the  seeds  of  the  gospel  in  those  places  of  Judea,  preters,  though  it  be  certain  that  the  exact  number 
 and  its  vicinity,  where  he  had  not  yet  preached.  was  seventy-two. 
 
 t  See  chap.  47.  The  seventy-two  disciples  whom  Christ  sent  be- 
 
 I  Most   Greek  copies,  and  the  Syriac  version,  fore  him,  were  inferior  to  the  twelve  apostles,  and 
 
 have   seventy:    but   the   Latin  interpreter  has   se-  are  the  prototypes  of  those  inferior  ministers  in  the 
 
Ch.  LXXIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  263 
 
 of  greater  force.  They  were  sent  "  before  him,"  in  order  to  prepare  the  way^  "  into 
 every  city  and  place"  of  Jiidea,  "^  whither  he  himself  was  to  come;"  each  division 
 having  a-determinate  district  allotted  it.  In  the  recital  of  this  transaction,  we  are  to 
 remark,  I.  The  instructions  he  gave  to  these  missionaries.  2.  The  good  success  of 
 their  labours.     3.  The  thanks  which  Jesus  gave  to  his  Father  for  their  success. 
 
 Before  their  departure,  he  addressed  to  them  a  discourse,  wherein  he  first  points 
 out  the  proper  disposition  of  mind  which  they  ought  to  possess,  with  regard  to  their 
 future  employment,  viz.  that  they  should  be  animated  with  a  burning  zeal  for  the 
 salvation  of  souls,  and  should  consequently  beseech  the  master  or  lord  of  the  harvest 
 to  provide  labourers  for  so  great  a  work.  "  And  he  said  to  them  :  the  harvest  2. 
 indeed  is  great,  but  the  labourers  are  few.  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
 that  he  send  labourers  into  his  harvest.  Go :  behold  I  send  you  as  lambs  among'  3. 
 wolves,"  that  is,  unarmed,  defenceless,  and  unprepared  to  resist  the  numerous 
 enemies  you  will  have  to  encounter. 
 
 He  then  gives  them  various  instructions  proper  for  their  intended  mission,  and 
 which  are  nearly  similar  to  those  which  he  before  gave  to  his  Apostles.     "  Carry,"       4. 
 says  he,   "  neither  purse"  for  money,  "  nor  scrip"  for  superfluous  clothing,  "  nor 
 shoes,"  besides  those  on  your  feet,  "and  salute  no  man  by  the  way."  because  your 
 mission  is  not  an  atfair  of  worldly  business,  and  therefore  nothing  temporal  should 
 stop  you  from  announcing  the  kingdom  of  God.     "  Into  whatsoever  house  you  enter,       5. 
 first  say:  peace  be  to  this  house;  and  if  a  son  of  peace  be  there,"  that  is,  a  person       6, 
 well  disposed  and  worthy  of  peace  and  benediction,  "  your  peace  shall  rest  upon 
 him  ;  but  if  not,  it  shall  return  to  you,"  to  be  given  to  some  more  worthy  person. 
 "  And  make  your  abode  in  the  same  house,  eating  and  drinking  such  things  as  they       7. 
 have  :  for  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,"  and  your  subsistence  is  the  least  thing 
 you  can  receive  from  those  to  whom  you  announce  the  gospel.     "  Remove  not  from 
 house  to  house,"  lest  you  deservedly  incur  the  imputation  of  a  blameable  delicacy, 
 and  of  an  impatient  temper.     "  And  into  whatsoever  city  you  shall  enter,  and  they       8. 
 receive  you,  eat  such  things  as   are  set  before  you,"  without  making  any  further 
 demands.     "  And"  in  return  for  such  hospitality,  "  heal  the  sick  that  are  therein,  and       9. 
 say  to  them,"  by  way  of  consolation  :  ''  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you," 
 for  faith  is  the  foundation  of  salvation.     "  But  into  whatsoever  city  you  enter,  and      10. 
 they  receive  you  not,  going  forth  into  the  streets  thereof,  say  :  even  the  very  dust  of      11. 
 your  city  that  cleaveth  to  us,  we  wipe  off  against  you,"  to  show  that  we  will  have  no 
 communication  with  you.     "  Yet  know  this,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand," 
 and  his  truth  is  announced  to  you,  and  therefore  you  cannot  allege  the  plea  of  igno- 
 rance in  extenuation  of  your  guilt.     "  I  say  to  you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  at  that      12. 
 day,"  when  God  shall  render  to  every  one  according  to  his  works,  "  for  Sodom, 
 than  for  that  city.*     Wo  unto  thee  Corozain,  wo  unto  thee  Bethsaida ;  for  if  the      ^3 
 miracles  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  have  been  wrought  in  you,  they 
 had  long  since  done  penance  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.     But  it  shall  be  more  tolerable      14. 
 
 Church,  who,  with  due  subordinalion  to  their  epis-  *  This  ouijht  to    be  a   warninjr  to   Christians, 
 
 copal  superiors,  have  their  share  in  the  work  of  the  who  will   receive  the  severest   punishment,  if  they 
 
 holy   ministry   according  to  the   rank   and  power  improve  not   by  the  instructions  of  Christ's   niinis- 
 
 which  is  given  th°m.  ters. 
 
254  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXIX. 
 
 15.  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  you.  And  thou  Capharnaum, 
 exalted  even  to  heaven,"  by  thy  pride  and  ambition,  "  shalt  be  phing-ed  even  into 
 hell,"  because  it  is  God  himself  thou  hast  rejected,  in  rejecting  those  whom  he  has 
 
 16.  sent  to  thee.  For  "  he  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me :  and  he  that  despisetli  you 
 despiseth  me:  and  he  that  despiseth  me,  despiseth  him  that  sent  me.  '     This  is  an 
 
 2.  The  72  re-  aggravation   of    guilt    not   laid   to  the    charge   either  of  Sodom  or 
 
 j7_      turn  with  juy :  Qomorrah.     "And  the  seventy-two  disciples,"  after  the   term  of  their 
 
 </«'w^«  w/(a*  mission   was    expired,    "returned    with    joy"   at   the  happy   success 
 
 thiy  are  to  re-  of  their    labours,  "  saying :    Lord,    the    devils  also  are    subject   to 
 
 18.  •^°"^^"  us,"  when  we  speak  to  them  "  in  thy  name.  And  he  said  to  them: 
 I  saw,"  at  the  beginning  of  the  world,  "  Satan,  like  lightning,  foiling  from  heaven," 
 in   punishment  of  his  vain  complacency  in  the  gifts  with  which  God   had  enriched 
 
 19.  him.  Be  therefore  on  your  guard :  "  behold  I  have  given  you  power  to  tread 
 upon  serpents  and  scorpions,"  whereby  are  represented  the  devil  and  his  agents, 
 
 20.  "  and  upon  all  the  power  of  the  enemy,  and  nothing  shall  hurt  you.  But  yet" 
 be  not  vain  of  this  advantage,  and  "  rejoice  not  in  this,  that  spirits  are  subject 
 unto  you :  but  rejoice  in  tliis,  that  your  names  are  written  in  heaven,"  and  in  the 
 
 21  3  Christ  thayiks  book  of  life.  "  In  the  same  hour  he  rejoiced  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
 his  Father  for  said :  I  confess  to  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because 
 \heGipTtothe  thou  hast  hidden  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast 
 simple  only,  revealed  them"  to  the  humble  and  "  to  little  ones.  Yea,  Father,  for  so 
 it  hath  seemed  o-ood  in  thy  sight."'  These  expressions  sufficiently  pointed  out  to  his 
 disciples,  that  they  ought  not  to  attribute  to  their  own  merits  the  new  power  with 
 which  they  had  been  invested.  But  this  justice,  by  which  the  proud  are  left  in  their 
 blindness,  and  this  mercy,  by  which  the  humble  arc  enlightened  to  salvation,  are 
 
 22.  equally  to  be  ascribed  to  the  Son  as  well  as  to  tiie  Father.  Hence  Christ  adds  :  "  All 
 things  are  delivered  to  me  by  my  Father,"  the  great  as  well  as  the  little,  the  wise  as 
 well  as  the  unwise :  "  and  no  one  knowefh   who  the  Son  is,  but  the  Father  ;   and 
 
 23.  who  the  Father  is,  but  the  Son,  and  to  whom  the  Son  shall  reveal  him.  And  turning 
 to  his  disciples,  he  said,"  congratulating  with  them  for  the  happiness  which  they 
 
 24.  enjoyed  :  "  blessed  are  your  eyes  that  see  the  things  which  you  see.  For  I  say  to 
 you,  that  many  prophets  and  kings  have  desired  to  see  the  things  that  you  see, 
 and  have  not  seen  them ;  and  to  hear  the  things  you  hear,  and  have  not  heard 
 
 Matt.  11.    A.ChrUVsyoke  them."      Then  he  addressed  the  following  sweet  invitation  to  those 
 
 28.  is  sweet.        who  stood  round  him,  and  in  general  to  mankind:  "  Come  to  me  all 
 
 29.  YOU  that  labour"  under  the  miseries  of  this  life,  "  and  are  burdened"  with  the  weight 
 of  your  sins,  and  of  your  passions,  "  and  I  will  refresh  you."  For  this  purpose, 
 "  take  up  my  yoke  upon  you,"  which  consists  in  the  love  of  God  and  in  the  love  of 
 the  cross;  "  and  learn  of  me,  because  I  am  meek  and  humble  of  heart,  and"  thus 
 
 30.  only  "  you  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  sweet  and  my  burden 
 lio-ht"  to  them  who  love  me ;  and  they  who  fervently  practise  my  law,  shall  find 
 therein  a  bidden  manna  superior  to  all  earthly  gratifications. 
 
Ch.  LXXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  265 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXX. 
 
 THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN.      LUKE  X. 
 
 Is  the  two  questions  which  are  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  Jesus  first  teaches  us,  that 
 the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbour  is  a  necessary  condition  for  the  attaining  of 
 eternal  life :    and  secondly,  that  our  neighbours  are  all  mankind  who  enjoy  one 
 common  nature  with  ourselves.     "  And  behold  a  certain  lawyer  stood  up,  tempting  Lute  10. 
 him  and  saying :  what  shall  I  do  to  possess  eternal  life  ?     But  he  said  to  him  :  What      25. 
 is  written  in  the  law?  how  readest  thou  ?     He  answering  said  t  Thou      i.  The  love  of     27,' 
 shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart,  and  with  thy  whole  Godandofoiir 
 soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind:  and  thy  neigh-  ""^'  ""'' 
 hour  as  thyself.*     And  he  said  to  him  :  Thou  hast  answered  right :  this  do  and  thou      28. 
 shalt  live"  eternally.    ''  But  he  willing  to  justify  himself,"  as  if  he  had  a  sincere  desire      29. 
 of  being  instructed  in  the  precepts  of  the  law,  in  order  to  observe  them,  "  said  to 
 Jesus:  And  who  is  my  neighbour?"     This  was,  at  that  time,  a  subject  of  great 
 controversy  among  the  Jews,  because  that  law  which  merely  said  :  tJiou  shalt  love  thy 
 friend  as  thyself, ^  had  afforded  a  plea  to  the  Pharisees  for  superadding  as  a  necessary 
 consequence :  therefore  it  is  laufiil  to  hate  an  enemy.     Hence  it  remained  to  be 
 determined  by  Jesus  what  was  the  import  of  the  word  neighbour,  and  whether  it 
 equally  comprised  relations  and  others  that  were  not  so,  strangers  equally  with  our 
 countrymen,   our  enemies  as  well   as  our  friends.      ''  And  Jesus  answerinp-"  the      30. 
 lawjer,  related  to  him  a  parable,  which  from  its  being  so  circumstantial  botii  as  to 
 places    and   persons,    has   greatly   the   appearance   of   a    real   historic   fact.      In 
 confirmation  of    this  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  road  which   leads  from  Jeru- 
 salem to  Jericho,  was  much  infested  by  robbers,   and  that  there  was  in  particular 
 a  certain    valley   named  Adomin,    noted    for   the   frequent   murders      <,  yy^^      .^_      3g 
 committed  there  upon   passengers.     ''  A  certain   man,"  said  Jesus,  hk  of  the  Sa- 
 "  went    down    from  Jerusalem    to    Jericho,"     about   seven  leagues  '""''''^'"• 
 distant,    "  and  fell  among  robbers,  who  also  stripped  him,  and  having   wounded 
 him,  went  away  leaving  him  half  dead.     And  it  chanced  that  a  certain  priest  went      3]. 
 down  the  same  way,  and  seeing  him,  passed  by.     In  like  manner  also  a  Levite, 
 when  he  was  near  the  place,  and  saw  him,  passed  by."     Thus  these  two  ministers  of 
 the  temple  carried  their  inhumanity  so  far  as  to  turn  their  back  upon  a  person  of  their 
 own  country,  of  their  own  city  and  religion,  even  when  languishing  under  the  greatest 
 distress.     "  But  a  certain  Samaritan  being  on  his  journey,  came  near  him,  and      33. 
 seeing  him,  was  moved  with  compassion,"  and  dismounting  from  his  horse,  "  and      34. 
 going  up  to  him,"  he  immediately  began  to  aflford  him  every  assistance  in  his  power: 
 "  he  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine."     For,  according  to  the  custom 
 of  these  times,  a  traveller  carried  with  him  such  articles  of  food  as  these  for  the 
 convenience  of  his  journey,  and  this  mixture  of  wine  and  oil  was  an  application 
 highly  proper  for  the  poor  man's  wounds,  in  order  both  to  cleanse  them  from  all 
 
 *  Deut.  vi.  5.  ■)■  Lev.  xix.  18. 
 
 23  3y 
 
266  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXL 
 
 corruption,  or  the  clotted  blood,  by  the  acidity  of  the  wine,  and  likewise  to  foment 
 and  soften  them  by  the  healing  sweetness  of  the  oil.  ''  And  seltino-  him  upon  his  own 
 beast,"  in  the  best  manner  he  was  able,  "  he  brought  him  to  an  inn  and  took  care 
 of  him,"  by  procuring  for  him,  at  his  own  cost,  every  proper  medical  assistance. 
 
 35.  "  And"  to  leave  nothing  short,  he  extended  his  charity  to  the  providing  even  for  his 
 future  wants  ;  for  being  obliged  to  pursue  his  journey,  "  the  next  day"  when  he 
 departed,*  "  he  took  out  two  pieces,!  and  gave  to  the  host,  and  said :  Take  care  of 
 him,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  spend  over  and  above,  I  at  my  return  will  repay 
 
 36.  thee."     After  this  recital  Jesus  addressing  the  lawyer,  asked  him  :  "  Which  of  these 
 37       three  in  thy  opinion  was  neighbour  to  him  that  fell  among  robbers  ?     But  he  said  : 
 
 He  that  showed  mercy  to  him.  And  Jesus  said  to  him :  Go,  and  do  thou  in  like 
 manner."  That  is,  learn  from  the  example  of  this  Samaritan,  who  in  the  person  of 
 a  Jew  assisted  a  stranger,  a  declared  enemy  of  his  religion,  but  in  a  state  of  extreme 
 distress,  learn,  I  say,  not  to  limit  the  quality  of  neighbour  to  your  own  kindred,  con- 
 nections, friends,  country,  or  even  religion,  but  to  consider  as  your  neighbour  all 
 mankind,  of  wliatever  country  or  relipion,  when  in  a  state  of  present  or  impending 
 want  and  distress. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXI. 
 
 JESUS  COMMENDS  MARv's  ATTENTION  TO  HIS  DOCTRINE  IN  PREFERENCE  TO  MARTHa's 
 BUSY  CARE  TO  ENTERTAIN  HIM.      LUKE  X. 
 
 Luke  10.  "  Now  it  came  to  pass  as  they  went"  towards  Jerusalem,  "  that  he  entered  into  a 
 ^^-      certain  town"  called  Bethania,  which  was  only  about  two  miles  from  that  city,  "  and 
 
 39.  a  certain  woman  named  Martha  received  him  into  her  house.  And  she  had  a" 
 younger  "  sister  called  Mary."  Upon  this  occasion,  Jesus  gave  a  decision  of  no 
 small  importance  concerning  the  respective  merit  of  an  active  and  of  a  contempla- 
 tive hfe,  here  represented  by  these  two  sisters.  Whilst  Martha  was  extremely  busy 
 in  preparing  all  things  necessary  for  the  reception  of  her  distinguished  visitor  and  his 
 holy  company,  which  probably  consisted  of  his  twelve  Apostles,  Jesus,  in  order  to 
 profit  of  this  interval  of  time,  began,  as  usual,  to  discourse  with  them  concerning  the 
 kingdom  of  God.  To  listen  to  his  heavenly  doctrine  was  the  chief  delight  not  only 
 of  them  but  of  Mary,  "  who  sitting"  therefore  "  at  the  Lord's  feet,  heard  his  words" 
 
 40.  with  the  most  religious  attention.  "  But  Martha  was  busy  about  much  serving," 
 and  considered  it  as  a  hardship  to  be  thus  left  alone.  "  Who"  therefore  "  stood,  and 
 said,"  sweetly  complaining  :  "  Lord,  hast  thou  no  concern  that  my  sister  has  left 
 
 *  KvcXOicv.  bef(jre   they  became  subject    to   the   Greeks    and 
 
 t  Twopence.     The  crjvupiov,  which  we  render  a  Romans  ;   so  that  in  this  sense,  what  the  Samaritan 
 
 penny,  was  a  kind  of   Roman  coin,   much   about  gave  the  host  amounted  to   about  five   shillings, 
 
 sevenpence  of  our  money.     In  the  New  Testament,  w  hich  is  more  consistent  with  the  rest  of  liis  cha- 
 
 (for  it  never  occurs  in  the  Old)  it  is  usually  put  for  racter,  than  that  he  should  leave  only  so  small   a 
 
 a  piece  of  money  in  general,  that  is,  for  a  shekel,  sum. 
 which  was  the  most  common  coin  among-  the  Jews 
 
Ch.  LXXXir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  267 
 
 ixie  alone  to  serve  ?  Speak  to  her  therefore,  that  she"  rise  up  and  "  help  me.  And  41. 
 the  Lord,"  though  well  pleased  with  the  affectionate  solicitude  of  Martha,  yet  acting- 
 here  the  part  of  a  disinterested  judge,  became  the  advocate  of  Mary,  and  "  answer- 
 ing, said  to  her"  sister:  "Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  solicitous  and  art  troubled 
 about  many  things,"  and  in  preparing  many  superfluous  dishes:  one  is  sufficient, 
 and  in  reality  "  but  one  thing  is  necessary,"  and  that  is  to  love  and  serve  God  and  42. 
 to  labour  for  eternity.  "  Mary,"  in  keeping  herself  near  to  me,  in  order  to  nourish 
 her  soul  with  my  heavenly  doctrine,  "  hath  chosen  the  best  part,  which  shall  not  be 
 taken  from  her ;"  for  pious  contemplation  is  the  novitiate  of  heaven,  where  it  shall 
 for  ever  continue  the  sweet  and  uninterrupted  occupation  of  the  blessed. — We  must 
 not  however  infer,  that  it  is  lawful  to  abandon  the  functions  of  active  life,  or  neglect 
 the  duties  of  our  state,  in  order  to  give  ourselves  up  entirely  to  prayer  and  contem- 
 plation. The  most  perfect  life  is  that  which  unites  action  and  contemplation 
 together ;  such  was  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  his  Apostles,  and  such  is  the  life 
 of  ecclesiastics  employed  in  the  sacred  ministry,  whose  state  therefore  is  more  perfect 
 and  meritorious  than  that  of  religious,  who  live  abstracted  from  the  world  in  the 
 constant  exercises  of  prayer  and  contemplation.  In  like  manner  every  good 
 Christian,  with  respect  to  that  state  of  life  in  which  Providence  has  placed  him,  must 
 endeavour  to  combine  action  with  contemplation,  that  while  the  necessary  duties  of 
 his  station  are  not  neglected,  he  may  find  time  to  raise  up  his  soul  to  God,  and  unite 
 himself  to  him  by  prayer  and  meditation.  We  must  ever  reflect,  that  the  saltation 
 of  our  souls  is  the  o?je  thing  necessary,  and  whatever  draws  our  attention  from  this 
 necessary  business,  should  be  either  carefully  avoided,  or  made  subordinate  to  it.  By 
 a  pure  intention,  we  must  sanctify  the  exterior  actions  of  our  calling;  we  must 
 join  the  two  sisters  together ;  the  activity  of  Martha  and  the  prayer  of  Mary  should 
 be  our  alternate  exercise.  Thus  we  shall  always  keep  the  essential  point  in  view  ; 
 thus  only  shall  we  happily  succeed  in  that  one,  that  important,  and  that  necessary 
 affair  for  which  we  were  created. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXII. 
 
 CHRIST  TEACHES  HIS  DISCIPLES  HOW  TO  PRAY.       LUKE  XI. 
 
 "  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  as  Jesus  was  in  a  certain  place  praying,  ]  r/jp  Xq^^,  Luke  II. 
 when  he  ceased,  one  of  his  disciples,"  who  had  refrained  throuo-h  Prayer  accord-  1 
 respect  from  interrupting  him,  "  said  to  him:  Lord  teach  us  to  pray,  '■"S  >■<' ^i- Luke. 
 as  John  also  taught  his  disciples."  Jesus  had  already  delivered  to  his  hearers  a 
 form  of  prayer,  in  his  sermon  upon  the  mountain,  but  he  here  repeats  it  in  behalf 
 of  several  of  his  disciples,  who  probably  had  not  been  then  present,  and  according 
 to  the  original  Greek  text,  he  repeats  it  nearly  in  the  same  terms,  and  precisely  in 
 the  same  number  of  petitions  :  but  in  the  vulgatc  the  third  petition  is  wanting, 
 which  regards  the  accomplishment  of  God's  will,  as  like-vise  the  seventh,  by  which 
 we  pray  to  be  delivered  from   all  evil:  the  purport  of  these  however  is  comprised  in 
 
2Q8  "^'^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^"^^  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXII. 
 
 the  preceding-  petitions.     It  is  difficult  to  say  by  what  accident  this  variation  has 
 taken  place  betwixt  the  Greek  text  and  the  Latin  vulgate.* 
 
 At  the  request  of  the  above-mentioned  disciple,  Jesus  pointed  out  to  his  followers, 
 1.  The  things  which  in  general  we  must  ask  of  Almighty  God.  2.  The  essential 
 condition  of  perseverance  to  render  prayer  efficacious.  3.  The  nature  of  our  par- 
 2.  ticular  request,  "  And  he  said  to  them  :  when  you  pray,  say  :  Father,"  who  art  in 
 heaven  :  "  hallowed  be  thy  name :  thy  kingdom  come  :"  thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
 as  it  is  in  heaven  :  "  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread ;  and  forgive  us  our  sins,  for 
 we  also  forgive  every  one  that  is  indebted  to  us  :  and  lead  us  not  into  temptation," 
 but  deliver  us  from  evil. 
 
 What  we  pray  for  may  be  classed  under  two  general  heads,  viz.  the  glory  of  God 
 and  the  necessities  of  mankind  :  we  begin  with  the  former  of  these  as  justly  claiming 
 the  first  place,  and  in  the  first  three  petitions  express  our  ardent  wishes  for  whatever 
 may  promote  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  accomplishment  of  his  divine 
 will.  In  the  remaining  petitions  we  pray  for  our  own  wants,  for  the  forgiveness  of 
 sins,  for  the  avoiding  of  dangers,  and  the  deliverance  from  all  evils,  whether  temporal 
 or  eternal.  Wherefore,  by  the  first  petition  we  are  taught  to  ask  of  God  the  sancti- 
 fication  of  his  holy  name  throughout  the  whole  world,  viz.  that  all  mankind  may 
 know  and  adore  him  as  the  author  of  their  being  and  of  their  happiness,  and  may 
 live  in  such  manner  as  to  show,  by  the  regularity  of  their  good  conduct,  that  the 
 God  whom  they  adore  is  infinitely  holy. 
 
 By  the  second  petition,  we  ask  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  viz.  for  the  forwarding  or 
 hastening  of  that  eternal  kingdom  in  which  God  will  reign  over  all  his  creatures ; 
 over  his  saints  in  glory,  over  the  reprobate  by  his  justice,  and  over  all  creatures  by 
 reducing  them  to  a  state  of  eternal  permanency. 
 
 By  the  third  petition,  we  beg  that  the  will  of  God,  as  signified  to  us  in  his 
 commandments,  in  his  counsels,  and  dispensations,  may  be  exactly  fulfilled  by  us 
 here  upon  earth,  as  it  is  by  the  angels  in  heaven. 
 
 By  the  fourth,  we  ask  for  the  relief  of  all  our  wants  both  of  body  and  soul,  that  is, 
 we  beg  for  the  food  necessary  for  the  support  of  our  corporal  life,  and  particularly 
 for  the  word  of  God,  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  above  all,  for  the  sacred  food 
 of  Christ's  body  in  the  holy  Eucharist,  in  order  to  nourish  the  life  of  our  souls. 
 
 By  the  fifth  petition,  we  ask  for  the  remission  of  the  debts  which  we  owe  to  God, 
 
 that  as  we,  for  his  sake,  forgive  the  debts  of  others  against  us,  and  banish  from  our 
 
 minds  all  resentment  of  the  wrongs  we  suffer,  so  we  beseech  God  to  cancel  the  stains 
 
 of  sin   in  our  souls,  and  mercifully  to  forget  the  offences  which  we  may  have 
 
 '     committed  against  him. 
 
 By  the  sixth,  we  ask  not  indeed  for  a  total  exemption  from  temptation,  which  is 
 often  necessary  for  us,  to  try  us,  to  make  us  know  ourselves,  to  purify  us,  and  to 
 humble  our  pride ;  but  we  beseech  God  not  to  suffer  us  to  yield  to  temptation, 
 either  by  a  deliberate  consent  of  our  will,  or  by  an  outward  commission  of  the  sinful 
 act. 
 
 By  the  seventh  petition,  we  ask  to  be  freed  from  all  those  evils  which  afflict  us, 
 
 *  See  St.  Augustin,  wlio  takes  notice  of  this  difTerence,  Enclijr.  c.  1. 
 
Ch.  LXXXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  269 
 
 whether  temporal  or  spiritual,  whether  arising  from  the  temptations  of  the  devil,  the 
 alluring  baits  of  concui)iscence,  or  from  the  consequences  of  that  human  frailty  to 
 which,  of  ourselves,  we  are  ever  subject. 
 
 After  thus  prescribing  the  form  of  prayer,  and  of  several  things  to  g.  Perseve- 
 be  asked  for  in  prayer,  Jesus  proceeds  to  point  out  the  necessary  con-  ranee  in  prayer 
 dition  for  rendering  it  efficacious.  This  is  perseverance,  the  necessity  ly°'"/iTp arable 
 and  efficacy  of  which  he  shows  by  a  parable  or  apposite  comparison,  of  an  imporiu- 
 ''  And  he  said  to  them  :  Which  of  you  shall  have  a  friend,  and  shall  «««^' Z"""^-  5. 
 
 go  to  him  at  midnight,  and  shall  say  to  him,  friend,  lend  me  three  loaves  :  because       6. 
 a  friend  of  mine  is  come  off  his  journey  to  me,  and  I  have  not  what  to  set  before 
 him.     And  he  from  within  should  answer  and  say  :  Trouble  me  not,  the  door  is  now       7. 
 shut,"  and  cannot  be  opened  at  so  unseasonable  an  hour,  "  and  my  children  are"  asleep 
 "  with  me  in  bed.     I  cannot  rise  and  give  thee.     Yet  if  he  shall  continue  knocking,       8. 
 I  say  to  you,  although  he  will  not  rise  and  give  him,  because  he  is  his  friend,  yet 
 because  of  his  importunity,  he  will  rise  and  give  him  as  many  as  he  needeth." 
 
 Our  divine  Saviour  now  proceeds  to  make  the  application   as  follows  :  God  is 
 infinitely  more  liberal  and  merciful  than  mankind ;  "  and"  therefore  "  I  say  to  you,       9. 
 ask,  and   it  shall  be  given  you ;  seek,  and  you  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be      10. 
 opened  to  you.     For  every  one  that  asketh"  with  humility,  "  receiveth;   and  he  that 
 seeketh"  with  fervour,  "  findeth  ;  and  to  him  that  knocketh"  with  perseverance,  "  it 
 shall  be  opened." 
 
 As  to  our  particular  requests,  Jesus  points  out  the  nature  of  them  indirectly,  by 
 specifying  such  things  as  he  never  grants  to  his  children,  as  well  as  other  things 
 which  he  never  refuses  to  them.     What  they  ask  for  must  neither  be  useless  nor 
 indifferent,  as  stones,  nor  dangerous,  as  serpents,  nor  fatal  to  their  lives,  as  scor- 
 pions.    All  these  things  are  instanced  as  improper  subjects  of  oiu-  prayers.     The 
 things  to  be  asked  for  ought,  on  the  contrary,  to  be  either  necessary  to  us,  as  bread, 
 useful,  as  fish,  or  wholesome  and  serviceable  to  ns,  as  eggs ;  all  which  several  articles 
 are  granted  accordingly.     "  And  which  of  you,"  said  he,  "  if  he  ask  his  father  bread,      n. 
 will  he  give  him  a  stone,  or  if  a  fish,  will  he,  instead  of  a  fish,  give  him  a  serpent?       12, 
 Or  if  he  shall  ask  an  e^g,  will  he  reach  him  a  scorpion.     If  then  you  being  evil,      13. 
 know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much  more  will  your  Father  from 
 heaven  give  the  good  spirit  to  them  that  ask  him." — Hence  it  appears,  that  this 
 holy  Spirit,  or  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  that  one  thing  truly  advantageous,  wholesome 
 and  necessary,  which  it  behoves  all  Christians  to  ask  incessantly  of  Almighty  God,* 
 because  he  brings  with  him  all  other  gifts. 
 
 *  St.  Luke  after  this  subjoins  the  history  of  the     doctrine,  nliich  he  proceeds  to  relate  in  the  follow- 
 demoniac  that  was  dumb ;    perhaps,   because  on     ing  chapters.      See  c.  49. 
 this  occasion  many  things  were  said  concerning 
 
 23.  3z 
 
270  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXIIL 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXIII. 
 
 JESUS  PRONOUNCES  SEVERAL  WOES  AGAINST  THE  SCRIBES  AND  PHARISEES.*    MATT.  XXIII. 
 
 LUKE  XI. 
 
 Luke  II.  "  And"  on  a  certain  day,  "  as  he  was  speaking,  a  certain  Pharisee  prayed  him  that 
 ^'^'  he  would  dine  with  him."  Several  of  the  same  sect,  and  also  of  the  Scribes,  were 
 in  like  manner  invited.  Being-  desirous  of  a  favourable  opportunity  of  announcino- 
 to  them  several  truths  which  he  did  not  judge  proper  to  be  spoken  in  public,  Jesus 
 readily  accepted  the  invitation,  "  and  going  in,  sat  down  to  eat"  without  observing 
 38.  the  previous  ceremony  of  washing  his  hands.  "  And  the  Pharisee"  marvelled,  and 
 "  began  to  say,  thinking  within  himself,  why  he  was  not  washed  before  dinner." 
 Jesus,  who  read  his  thoughts,  began  a  discourse,  which  he  directed  both  to  the 
 Scribes  and  Pharisees.  In  the  first  part  of  it  he  condemns,  in  vehement  language, 
 the  principal  vices  of  the  Pharisees,  viz.  their  hypocrisy,  their  false  devotion,  their 
 boundless  ambition,  their  insatiable  avarice,  their  false  zeal,  their  ignorance  in 
 deciding  upon  cases  of  conscience ;  and  lastly,  he  resumes  again  the  subject  of  their 
 hypocrisy,  but  considered  in  a  different  point  of  view. 
 
 First,  he  begins  by  stating  their  usual  practice  of  washing  repeatedly,  during  their 
 meals,  the  cups  and  platters  when  brought  to  them,  under  the  apprehension  lest  these 
 might,  by  the  hands  of  some  unclean  attendants,  have  contracted  a  legal  uncleanness, 
 which  would  be  communicated  to  them  ;  and  thence  he  takes  occasion,  in  a  pleasant 
 manner,  to  compare  them  to  these  very  utensils.  For  mankind  are,  as  it  were,  the 
 cups  and  dishes  in  which  religious  worship  is  offered  up  to  the  Almighty.  The  body 
 is  the  outside,  the  inside  is  the  soul ;  and,  as  dishes  contain  in  the  inside,  which  is 
 concave,  such  meats  as  are  served  up  to  table,  so  likewise  it  is  the  interior  part  of 
 man,  to  wit,  his  heart  and  soul,  which  contain  those  spiritual  meats  which  religion 
 1.  Tniernal  Presents  to  the  Almighty.  Jesus  therefore  reproaches  the  Pharisees 
 purity  recom-  for  their  scrupulous  care  in  cleansing  the  outside  of  their  cups  and 
 '"^""^  ■  dishes,  viz.  their  body,  by  frequent  washings,  and  for  affecting,  in  the 
 
 eyes  of  the  world,  a  great  appearance  of  sanctity,  whilst  they  were  careless  as  to  the 
 
 *  This  invitation  of  the  Pharisee  is  subjoined  by  at  different  times,  or  St.  Matthew,  according  to 
 St.  Luke  to  the  dispute  which  was  occasioned  by  custom,  must  have  added  them  to  otlier  words  of 
 the  expulsion  of  a  devil,  mentioned  in  ch;ip.  49,  our  Saviour,  which  thou!i;h  spoken  on  another 
 but  not  in  such  a  njanner  as  to  indicate  any  order  occasion,  had  some  connection  with  the  same  sub- 
 or  connection  between  the  one  and  the  other.  For  ject.  For  what  St.  Luke  relates,  as  giving  occa- 
 St.  Luke  does  not  say,  as  St.  Augustin  observes,  sion  to  these  reproaches  of  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
 whilst  he  was  speaking  these  things,  but  whilst  sees,  and  what  he  add^  in  the  end,  that  when  he 
 he  was  speaking,  to  signify  only  that  on  a  certain  said  these  things  the  Pharisees  be^an  to  dispute 
 occasion,  when  Jcsus  was  instructing  the  people,  a  earnestly,  &c.  sufficiently  show  that"  he  relates  the 
 Pharisee  invited  him  to  dinner.  Wherefore  the  time  matter  in  its  proper  place.  For  this  reason,  we 
 and  place  of  this  transaction  are  uncertain.  What  have  here  annexed  the  woes  which  are  to  be  found 
 is  related  here  by  St.  Luke,  as  having  been  said  by  in  St.  Matthew,  because  they  serve  mutually  to 
 our  Saviour  to  the  Pharisees  in  the  time  of  dinner,  illustrate  each  other  :  but  it  was  found  necessary  to 
 occurs  in  the  23d  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  but  as  change  the  order  of  some  verses  in  the  last  Evan- 
 having  been  said  at  another  time  and  place;  so  gelist,  in  order  that  they  might  harmonize  better 
 that  Christ  must  either  have  repeated  these  things  with  the  text  of  St.  Luke. 
 
Ch.  LXXXin.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  271 
 
 inside,  that  is,  the  bottom  of  tlieir  heart  and  conscience,  which  they  left  in  a  most 
 filthy  state,  and  highly  unworthy  of  being  presented  to  God.     "  And  the  Lord  said,       9. 
 now  you  Pharisees  make  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but  your 
 inside  is  full  of  rapine  and  iniquity :"  yes,  "  inwardly  you  are  full  of  extortion,"  Malt.  23. 
 excess,*  "  and  uncleanness.     Ye  fools,  did  not  he  that  made  that  which  is  without,  l^^^ '^j 
 make  also  that  which  is  within  ?     Thou  blind  Pharisee,  first  make  clean  the  inside  of      40. 
 the  cup  and  of  the  dish,  that  the  outside"  also  "  may  become  clean  :"  and  the  more  ^^^"g^^- 
 so,  because  God,  who  created  both,  considers  the  soul  as  his  greatest  work,  and  her 
 acts  of  religion  as  the  most  acceptable  part  of  the  worship  offered  to  him.     For  as 
 the  impurity  of  the  body  defiles  the  soul,  so  also  does  the  purity  of  the  soul  commu- 
 nicate itself  to  the  body,  to  render  it  truly  pure  and  undefiled.     "  But  of  what  you  Luke  IL 
 have  give  alms,"  in  proportion  to  your  substance :  "  and  behold  all  things  are  clean 
 to  you."     Christ  here  prescribes  the  means  whereby  they  may  cleanse  their  souls 
 from  the  stain  of  sin,  which  is,  after  making  restitution  of  their  ill-acquired  goods,  to 
 give  alms  according  to  their  abilities.     By  their  doing  this,  all  things  will  become 
 clean  to  them,  and  they  shall  be  cleansed  both  within  and  without,  that  is,  in  their 
 body  and  in  their  soul,  so  as  to  offer  an  acceptable  worship  to  the  Almighty.     Not 
 that  alms  are  of  themselves  sufficient  to  effect  this  purity  in  the  wicked,  such  as  the 
 Pharisees  were ;  but  they  obtain  of  God,  through  the  prayers  of  the  poor,  that  true 
 faith  and  repentance  by  which  the  soul  is  purified  from  her  guilt. 
 
 The  second  vice  which  Jesus  condemns  in  the  Pharisees,  and  for      g    j^^^^  ^_ 
 which  he  threatens  them  with  everlasting  wo,  is  their  false  devotion,  gainst  the  Pha- 
 which  vitiated  even  their  most  religious  practices.     On  the  one  hand,  "■"^'^'■ 
 they  were  foolishly  scrupulous    in  trifles,   whilst   on  the    other   they  followed  the 
 most  relaxed  casuistry  in  matters  of  the  greatest  importance.     "  But  wo  to  you      42. 
 Pharisees,"  said  Christ,  "  because  you  tithe  mint  and  rue,  and  anise,  and  cumin,     ''gj  ~  ' 
 and  every  herb,  and  have  left  the  weightier  things  of  the  law,"  wherein  its  very  Luke  11. 
 sinrit    and  soul   consists.      These  are   "judgment,"   or  that  strict  justice   which  ^^^^^'^^ 
 each  one  owes  to  his  neighbour,   "and  mercy,"   or  that  assistance  which  is  due      23. 
 to   him,  and  which  is  aflforded  him  by  good  counsel,  and  by  real  and  effective 
 helps  when  in  our  power,  "'  and  faith,"  or  honesty  in  our  dealings  with  him,  and 
 fidelity  in  our  promises  ;  "  and"  lastly,  "  the  charity"  or  love  "^  of  God,"  for  whose  Lu^e  n. 
 sake  we  must  perform  all  our  actions,  which  likewise  comprises  faith,  or  a  belief  in      42. 
 his  words,  and  a  firm  hope  in  his  promises.     "^  Now  these  things,"  said  Jesus,  "  you 
 ought  to  have  done,"  as  being  the  very  foundation  on  which  all  religion  is  built,  and 
 without  which  it  cannot  subsist,  "  and,"  at  the  same  time,  "  not  to  leave  undone  the 
 other  less  considerable  duties.     Blind  guides,  who  strain  out  a  gnat,t  and  swallow  a  Matt.  23, 
 camel ;"  for  whilst  you  are   scrupulously  attached  to  the  most  unimportant  works 
 of  supererogation,   you  violate,  without  difficulty,    the  most  essential   precepts  of 
 God's  law 
 
 Thirdly,  he  reproaches  them  for  their  ambition,  in  vainly  contesting-  for  the  first 
 rank,  and  in  eagerly  grasping   at  the  empty   satisfaction  of    being    respectfully 
 
 *  Gr.  excess.  of  struiniiig  all  the  liquor  tlicy  drauk  for  fear  of 
 
 t  Our  Lord  alludes  to  a  custom  the  Jews  had    flies,  which  they  accounted  unclean. 
 
272  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXIIL 
 
 Luke  11.  addressed  in  public  places.     "  Wo  to  you  Pharisees,  because  you   love  the  up])er- 
 ^2-      most  seats  in  the  synagogues,  and  salutations  in  the  market-place." 
 
 Matt.  23.  Fourthly,  he  reproaches  them  for  their  avaricious  conduct  towards  widows.  "  Wo 
 to  you  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  because  you  devour  the  houses  of  widows, 
 praying  long  prayers ;  for  this  you  shall  receive  the  greater  judgment."  It  being- 
 usual,  from  the  most  remote  antiquity,  to  pray  in  the  synagogues  for  the  souls  of  the 
 deceased,  as  appears  from  the  second  book  of  Machab.  xii.  hence  widows  failed  not 
 to  recommend  their  departed  husbands  to  the  prayers  of  the  Pharisees,  who,  on  that 
 account,  exacted  such  exorbitant  sums,  that  the  circumstances  of  these  poor  persons 
 were  thereby  greatly  impaired.  This  was  a  species  of  inhumanity  of  the  blackest  hue, 
 it  being  aggravated  by  the  affliction  and  desolation  of  the  parties  thus  op[)ressed. 
 Moreover,  the  long  prayers  used  by  the  Pharisees  on  these  occasions,  were  no  other 
 than  a  specious  pretext  to  satisfy  their  avarice,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  piety  and 
 the  weakness  of  these  women,  who  having  now  the  entire  disposal  of  their  own  goods, 
 not  unfrequently  reduced  themselves  to  indigence,  in  order  to  enrich  these  trafficking 
 ministers  of  the  sanctuary.  In  this  their  hypocrisy  was  notorious,  and  Jesus  declares 
 that  their  condemnation  shall  be  the  more  severe,  because  they  have  abused  so  holy 
 a  thing  as  prayer,  and  have  changed  a  charitable  institution  into  a  pecuniary 
 contract. 
 
 Fifthly,  he  rebukes  their  false  zeal  and  fruitless  labours  for  the  propagation  of  the 
 15.  Jewish  religion.  "  Wo  to  you,"  says  he,  "  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  because 
 you  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,"*  that  is,  to  induce  a  Pagan  to 
 become  a  Jew,  "  and  when  he  is  become  one,  you  make  him  the  child  of  hell  doubly 
 more  than  yourselves  ;"  because  ye  are  so  far  from  giving  the  true  meaning  and 
 design  of  religion,  and  leading  him  to  true  piety,  that  ye  corrupt,  by  false  notions, 
 his  natural  notions  of  good  and  evil,  and  persuade  liim  that  the  greatest  crimes 
 are  expiated  by  mere  external  purifications.  This  their  zeal  was  in  itself 
 laudable,  nor  is  it  here  blamed :  but  they  are  reproached  because  the  conversions 
 wrought  by  them  had  no  other  effect  than  to  render  the  persons  converted  more 
 wicked  than  before,  or,  as  it  is  more  strongly  expressed,  more  deserving  of  hell-fire 
 than  the  Pharisees  themselves,  even  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one.  Jesus  does 
 not  explain  the  manner  by  which  these  proselytes  were  rendered  worse  than  the 
 Pharisees  their  masters  ;  but  it  would  appear,  that  upon  their  conversion  to  the 
 Jewish  faith,  they  did  not  change  their  manners  with  their  creed,  but  being  scan- 
 dalized by  the  hypocrisy  and  bad  example  of  their  instructors,  or  disgusted  at  the 
 heavy  yoke  of  the  law,  joined  with  the  human  traditions  of  the  Pharisees,  relapsed 
 again  into  idolatry,  and  thus  added  apostacy  to  all  the  other  crimes  of  the  Pharisees. 
 Thus  Estius,  Major,  Dyonisius,  &c. 
 
 *  A  proselyte.  Perhaps  this  is  meant  of  (lie  they  themselves.  To  tlie  same  purpose  is  what 
 proselytes  of  the  Pharisees  in  particular,  for  they  Justin  Martyr  said  to  Trypho  the  Jew  :"  Your  pro- 
 were  extremely  zealous  in  n-etting;  men  over  to  their  selytes  do  not  only  dishelieve  Christ's  doctrine,  but 
 party.  And  as,  in  point  of  ill  example,  the  disciple  are  twice  more  blasphemous  against  him  than 
 commonly  outdoes  the  master,  Jesus  Christ  had  yourselves  are  ;"  undoubtedly,  witli  the  view  of 
 therefore  reason  to  say,  that  the  jjroselytes  of  the  convincing  the  world  of  the  sincerity  of  their  con- 
 Pharisees  were  twice  more  worthy  of  Gehenna  than  version. 
 
Ch.  LXXXIIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  373 
 
 Sixthly,  he  taxes  them  with  a  consummate  ignorance  in  their  casuistical  decisions  ; 
 describing  them  as  guides  labouring  under  an  inveterate  blindness.  It  was  one  of 
 the  most  difficult  points  in  those  days,  to  decide  whether  or  not  a  person  were  bound 
 in  conscience  to  perform  all  such  promises  as  he  had  made  to  his  neighbour,  under 
 the  sacred  obligation  of  an  oath.  The  oath  most  frequently  adopted  by  the  Jews, 
 was  that  of  swearing  by  the  temple  and  by  the  altar,  both  of  which  being  consecrated 
 to  God  by  the  constant  performance  of  religious  rites,  the  Almighty  was  thereby 
 called  upon  to  witness  the  truth  of  the  thing  sworn  to,  and  consequently  the  violation 
 of  such  oath  was  looked  upon  as  so  much  the  more  criminal.     ; 
 
 However,  the  Pharisees,  when  consulted  as  to  the  criminality  of  a  breach  of  tliis 
 nature,  failed  not  to  answer,  that  whosoever  swore  only  by  the  temple,  was  under  no 
 obligation  of  performing  his  promise  ;  but  that  the  contrary  was  the  case,  if  he  had 
 sworn  by  the  gold  of  the  temple.     It  is  to  be  observed,  that  a  good  part  of  what  was 
 offered  on  the  altar,  and  given  to  the  treasury  of  the  temple,  fell  to  the  share  of  the 
 Jewish  priests,  and  therefore  it  not  being  their  interest  to  have  such  promises  or  oaths 
 dispensed  with,  hence  they  gave  the  above  ridiculous  decision,  which  Christ  here 
 rejects,  as  replete  with  folly  and  blindness.     "  Wo  to  you  blind  guides,"  said  he,      16. 
 "  that  say,  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  temple  it  is  nothing  :  but  he  that  shall 
 swear  by  the  gold  of  the  temple  is  a  debtor.     Foolish  and  blind  as  you  are  ;  for      17. 
 whether  is  greater^  the  gold,  or  the  temple  that  sanctifieth  the  gold  ;  and  whosoever      is. 
 shall  swear  by  the  altar  it  is  nothing,"  you  say  :  "  but  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the 
 gift  that  is  upon  it  becomes  a  debtor.     Blind  as  you  are  :  for  whether  is  greater,  the      19. 
 gift,  or  the  altar  that  sanctifieth  the  gift  ?     He  therefore  that  sweareth  by  the  altar,      20. 
 sweareth  by  it  and  by  all  things  that  are  upon  it.     And  whosoever  shall  swear  by      21. 
 the  temple,  sweareth  by  it  and  by  him  that  dwelleth  in  it.     And  he  that  sweareth  by      22. 
 heaven,  sweareth  by  the  throne  of  God  and  by  him  that  sitteth  thereon."     Therefore 
 you  Pharisees  make  a  foolish  and  unwarrantable  distinction,  or  separation,  between 
 such  things  as  are  of  themselves  inseparable.     This  mode  of  reasoning  made  use  of 
 by  Jesus,  clearly  shows  that  God  is  concerned,  not  only  when  we  mention  his  sacred 
 and  adorable  name  in  express  terms,  but  likewise  when  we  do  it  implicitly,  that  is, 
 when  we  swear  by  any  part  of  the  creation,  either  because  it  is  the  work  of  his  hands, 
 or  particularly  consecrated  to  his  service. 
 
 Lastly,  Christ  again  condemns  their  hypocrisy,*  in  hiding  a  criminal  soul  under 
 the  outward  show  of  virtue,  by  justly  comparing  them  to  sepulchral  monuments. 
 "  Wo  to  you,"  says  he,  "because  you  are  as  sepulchres  which  appear  not,"  and  Luke  11. 
 over  which  men  walking,  perceive  them  not,  as  being  covered  with  sfrass.     "  Wo  to      '*^- 
 
 •  .  Matt  33 
 
 you  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites:  because  you  are  like  to  whitened t  sepul-     '27." 
 chres,  which  outwardly  appear  to  men  beautiful,  but  within  are  full  of  dead  men's 
 
 *  The  vices  of  the   Scribes   and  Pharisees  are  of  reproof.     5.  To  be  liarsh  to  others,  and  ready  to 
 
 frequently  to  be  found  in  Christians.     The  several  impose  on  them  what  they  do  not  observe   them- 
 
 characters  of  those  that  act  by  the  spirit  of  a  Pha-  selves,  &c. 
 
 risee  and  a  hypocrite,  are,    1.  To  be  exact  in  trifles.  f  The  Jews,  lest  they  should  be  defiled  by  touch- 
 2.  To  be  fond  of  distinction  and  esteem.     3.  To  ing  the  sepulchres,  white-washed  them  on  the  out- 
 be  content  with  an  external  piety.     4.  To  entertain  side,  in  order  to  distinguish  them. 
 a  high  opinion  of  themselves,  and  to  be  impatient 
 
 24.  4  a 
 
274  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXIII 
 
 2S.      bones,  and  of  all  filthiness.    So  you  also  outwardly  appear  to  men  just ;  but  inwardly 
 
 yon  are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity." 
 
 Luke  11.  These   reproaches  and  woes  were  addressed  to  the  Pharisees:  but 
 
 ^'''      ^'  Ze'scfiber^  "  ^'"^  of  ^^^  lawyers/'  feeling  tliat  some  of  these  were  applicable  to 
 
 himself  and  his  brethren,  "  answering-  saith  to  him  :   Master,  in  saying 
 
 these  things  thou  reproachest  us  also."     He  thus  brought  upon  himself,  and  upon 
 
 all  his  brethren,  the  anathemas  pronounced  against  them  in  this  second  part  of  the 
 
 discourse.     Jesus  accordingly  taxes  them  with  partiality,  in  explaining  the  various 
 
 duties  belonging  to  the  several  conditions  of  life  ;  secondly,  with  their  evil  designs 
 
 which  he  knew  they  had  formed  against  his  life  ;  thirdly,  with  being  a  hinderance  to 
 
 the  salvation  of  others. 
 
 In  the  first  place  Jesus  censures  their  indiscreet  severity  towards  the  people,  and  the 
 unbounded  licentiousness  in  which  they  indulged  themselves  ;  two  extremes  directly 
 
 46.  opposite  to  the  character  of  good  pastors  of  souls,  "  But  he  said  :  wo  to  you  lawyers 
 also,  because  you  load  men  with  burdens,"  that  is,  with  a  variety  of  difficult  and 
 perplexing  precepts,  "  which  they  cannot  bear ;  and  you  yourselves  touch  not  those 
 burdens  with  one  of  your  fingers."  Secondly,  Jesus  condemns  the  malicious  and 
 sanguinary  spirit  with  which  they  persecuted  all  those  who  announced  the  truth  to 
 them.     Of  this  guilt  he  convicts  them  from  their  own  deeds,  and  foretells,  in  the  fol- 
 
 47.  lowing  words,  the  dreadful  effects  which  will  ensue.     "  Wo  to  you  who  build  uj)  the 
 29  ^^' tombs  of  the  prophets  and  adorn  the  monuments  of  the  just,"  and  who  make  it 
 
 Luke  11.  appear  by  your  actions,  that  "  yoiu-  fathers  killed  them.     And  you  say  :  if  we  had 
 
 ^^-      been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  would  not  have  been  partakers  with  them  in  the 
 
 30.      blood  of  the  prophets.     Truly  you  bear  witness,  that  you  consent  to  the  deeds  of 
 
 Luke  11.  yQjjr  fathers :  for  they  indeed  killed  them,  and  you  build  their  sepulchres,"  not  to 
 
 repair  the  injury  done  to  them,  but  to  hide  the  evil  disposition  of  your  heart :  for  you 
 
 Matt.  23.  are  animated  with  the  same  spirit  as  your  fathers.     "  Fill  ye  up  then  the  measure 
 
 of"  the  crimes  of  "  your  fathers,"  by  putting  to  death  him  whom  ihe  prophets  have 
 
 33.      announced,  as  this  is  what  you  are  resolved  upon  in  your  hearts.     "  You  serpents, 
 
 generation  of  vipers,  how  will  you  tlee  from  the  condemnation  of  hell,"  you  who  so 
 
 well  imitate  the  malice  of  your  fathers,  who  are  already  ingulphed  in  that  place  of 
 
 Luke.    YyQ?    <«  Yqy  ^^1i[s  cause  the  wisdom  of  God  said,"  speaking  of  you  :  "  behold,  I  send 
 
 Luke  'is.  to  you  prophets,  and  apostles,  and  wise  men,  and  scribes,"  as  I  sent  to  your  fathers, 
 
 49-       ''  and  some  of  thetn  you  will  put  to  death,  and  crucify,  and  some  you  will  scourge  in 
 
 34  "  ■  your  synagogues,  and  persecute  from  city  to  city.     That  upon  you  may  come  all  the 
 
 35.      just  blood  that  hath  been  shed  upon  the  earth,"  and  "  that  the  blood  of  all  the  pro- 
 
 "50       phets  which   was  shed  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  may  be  required  of  this 
 
 Matt.  23.  generation,  from  the  blood  of  Abel  the  just,  evea  to  the  blood  of  Zacharias,  the  son 
 
 3g'      of  Barachias,  whom  you  killed  between  the  temple  and  the  altar.     Amen  I  say  to 
 
 Luke,    you,  it  shall  be  required  of  this  generation  :"  yes,  ''  all  these  things  shall  come  upon 
 
 '^'^"-    this"  very  "  generation,"  in  vengeance  of  past  crimes. 
 
 This  is  an  express  and  clear  prophecy  of  the  ensuing  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  of 
 the  consequent  desolation  of  all  Judea,  which  began  thirty-three  years  after  this 
 period,  a  space  of  time  which  does  not  exceed  the  duration  of  one  generation.     It  is 
 
Ch.  LXXXrV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  375 
 
 not  to  be  imagined  that  the  Jews  to  whom  Christ  spoke,  would  be  punished  for 
 crimes  which  they  themselves  did  not  commit,  nor  be  more  severely  punished  than 
 they  deserved  :  but  he  speaks  of  the  Jewish  people,  which  by  putting  to  de;\th  their 
 Messiah,  should  shortly  fill  up  the  number  of  their  sins,  so  that  God  would  destroy 
 their  whole  nation,  as  if  the  blood  of  Abel  and  of  the  prophets  came  upon  them  at 
 once.* 
 
 The  Zacharias  here  mentioned  is,  according  to  many  of  the  ancients,  the  father  of 
 St.  John  the  Baptist.  Others,  with  more  probability,  think  it  was  Zachary,  the  son  of 
 Joiada,  who,  preaching  to  the  people,  was  stoned  to  death  in  the  very  place  where 
 Christ  was  speaking. f  It  is  supposed  that  Joiada  had  the  name  also  of  Barachias  ; 
 and  St.  Jerom  tells  us,  that  in  an  ancient  copy  of  St.  Matthew,  called  the  Gospel  of 
 the  Nazarenes,  he  found  this  Zacharias  called  the  son  of  Joiadas.  Many  of  the 
 moderns  suppose  Jesus  Christ  here  foretells  the  death  of  Zacharias,  the  son  of  Baruch, 
 or  Barachias,  who  was  put  to  death  in  the  temple  by  the  ftiction  of  zealots,  a  little 
 before  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans.  J 
 
 Lastly,  Jesus  condemns  the  abuse  they  made  of  their  authority  to  the  ruin  of  souls. 
 "  Wo  to  you  lawyers,"  said  he,  "  for  you  have  taken  away  the  key  of  knowledge,"    Luke, 
 of  salvation,  and  instead  of  opening,  "  you  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men.  Matt.  23. 
 by  your  words  and  example  :  for  you  yourselves  do  not  enter  in/'  since  you  refuse      ^^• 
 to  believe  in  him  who  is  the  way,  *'  and  those  that  are  going  in,  you  suffer  not  to 
 enter,"  by  preventing  the  well-disposed  from  believing  in  me.     "  And  as  he  was  Lui^e  11. 
 saying  these  things  to  them,  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers  began  vehemently  to  urge      53. 
 him,  and  to  stop  his  mouth  with  many  questions,  lying  in  wait  for  him_,  and  seeking      54. 
 to  catch  something  from  his  words,  that  they  might  accuse  him." 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXIV. 
 
 CHRIST  TEACHES  HIS  DISCIPLES  TO  AVOID  HYPOCRISY,  AND  TO  PUBLISH  HIS  DOCTRINE 
 WITHOUT  FEAR.       LUKE  XII. 
 
 When  Jesus  remained  in  Judea,  he  was  followed  by  the  people  in  like  manner  as  he 
 had  been  in  Galilee.  "  And  when"  on  a  certain  day  very  "  great  multitudes  stood  Luke  12. 
 about  him,  so  that  they  trod  one  upon  another,  he  began  to  say  to  his  disciples,"  ^• 
 and  to  caution  them  against  the  two  vices  of  hypocrisy  and  timidity  ;  each  of  which 
 insensibly  leads  into  the  other.  For  it  is  usual  with  persons  under  the  load  of  per- 
 secution to  dissemble,  by  pretending  a  conformity  to  the  opinions  and  manners  of 
 others ;  whilst  on  the  contrary,  whoever  is  above  this  criminal  condescension,  must 
 expect  to  draw  upon  himself  the  persecution  of  those  who  liold  different  principles. 
 Christ  therefore  said  to  his  disciples,  "  beware  ye  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees, 
 which  is  hypocrisy  ;"  for  this,  like  a  poison,  taints  all  their  actions.  This  advice  he 
 grounds  upon  the  vanity  and  emptiness  of  such  worldly  prudence,  since  although  for 
 
 *  See  Maldonat.  f  See  2  Chroii.  xxiv.  20.  |  See  Josephus,  de  Bell.  Jud.  1.  3.  c.  1. 
 
276 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXIV. 
 
 a  time  it  may  conceal  a  habit  of  vice  under  the  cloak  of  apparent  piety,  yet  this  dis- 
 
 2.  o-uise  shall  one  day  be  torn  off.     "  For  there  is  nothing-  covered,"  says  he,  "  that 
 
 3.  shall  not  be  revealed :  nor  hidden,  that  shall  not  be  known.  For  whatsoever  things 
 you  have  spoken  in  darkness,  shall  be  published  in  the  liglit,  and  that  which  you  have 
 spoken  in  the  ear  in  closets,  shall  be  preached  on  the  house  tops."  This  is  what  will 
 happen  particularly  at  the  day  of  judgment,  when  the  records  of  our  actions,  which 
 are  shut  up  during  this  life,  shall  be  opened,  and  the  most  secret  recesses  of  our 
 consciences  shall  be  exposed  to  the  eyes  of  all  mankind. 
 
 Jesus  chose  to  caution  his  disciples  against  hypocrisy,  in  the  hearing  of  this  great 
 multitude,  purposely  to  root  out  of  their  minds  the  high  opinion  they  had  conceived 
 of  the  sanctity  of  the  Pharisees,  which  was  no  small  hinderance  to  their  believing 
 
 in  him. 
 
 He  now  arms  his  disciples  against  a  dread  of  persecution,  against  all  anxiety  and 
 solicitude  as  to  their  future  lot,  and  against  the  difficulty  they  may  find  in  confessing 
 his  name  before  men.     He  points  out  to  them  what  they  are  to  despise,  and  what 
 
 4.  thev  are  to  fear.  "  And  I  say  to  you  my  friends,"  detain  not  in  captivity  the  truth 
 which  1  have  confided  to  you,  but  announce  it  with  intrepidity  ;  "  be  not  afraid  of 
 
 5.  them  who  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  \\3  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will 
 show  you  whom  you  should  fear  :  fear  ye  him  who  after  he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to 
 cast  into  hell"  for  all  eternity.     "  Yes,  I  say  to  you,  fear  him." 
 
 This  precept  concerning  the  contempt  of  death,  might  raise  in  the  minds  of  his 
 disciples  some  degree  of  anxiety  as  to  their  future  state.  For,  after  all,  there  is 
 nothing  more  dear  to  us  than  life.  To  remove  all  disquietude  on  this  subject,  Jesus 
 engages,  that  whatsoever  they  shall  lose  for  his  sake,  shall  be  faithfully  restored  to 
 them,  and  that  the  very  hairs  of  their  head  are  numbered,  to  the  end  that  not  one  of 
 them  may  be  lost  to  them.  He  gives  a  further  proof  why  they  should  rely  with  con- 
 fidence on  the  providence  of  God,  by  instancing  the  tender  care  which  he  has  over 
 
 6.  even  the  smallest  parts  of  the  creation.     "  Are  not  five  sparrows,"  says  he,  "  sold 
 
 7.  for  two  farthings,  and  not  one  of  them  is  forgotten  before  God  ?"  Yes,  "  the  very 
 hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered :  fear  not  therefore"  lest  God  should  forget  you : 
 
 8.  "  you  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows.  And  I  say  to  you,  whosoever  shall 
 confess  me  before  men,  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  also  confess  before  the  angels  of 
 
 9.  God.  But  he  that  shall  deny  me  before  men,"  in  word  or  deed,  "  shall  be  denied 
 before  the  angels  of  God."  Therefore  the  confidence  of  being  so  gloriously  acknow- 
 ledged by  your  divine  Master,  and  the  apprehension  of  experiencing  so  dreadful  a 
 confusion  on  the  other  hand,  ought  to  strengthen  you  to  undergo  death  for  my  sake. 
 
 This  denying  or  renouncing  of  Jesus  consists  either  in  speaking  erroneously  against 
 the  Son  of  man,  by  considering  him  as  a  mere  man,  and  in  this  case  it  is  a  pardon- 
 able crime,  because  such  a  person  may  be  better  instructed  and  prevailed  on  to 
 embrace  the  truth  :  or  it  consists  in  blaspheming  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  is, 
 when  a  person  renounces  his  faith  against  the  conviction  of  his  own  conscience,  and 
 perseveres  to  the  end  in  impugning  the  known  truth,  in  which  case  his  sin  will  not 
 
 10.  be  foro-iven.  Therefore,  says  Christ,  ''  whosoever  speaketh  a  word  against  the  Son 
 of  Man,"  and  refuses  to  acknowledge  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  because  he  sees  him 
 
Ch.  LXXXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  277 
 
 acting-  merely  as  man,  "  it  shall  be  forgiven  him,"  in  as  much  as  he  is  deluded  by  his 
 senses  :  "  but  to  him  that  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost,"  by  ascribing 
 the  miracles  of  the  Son  of  Man  to  an  evil  spirit,  "  it  shall  not  be  forgiven,"  because 
 this  can  only  be  the  effect  of  a  voluntary  blindness,  which  leads  to  final  impenitence. 
 Lastly,  Jesus  considers  the  probable  embarrassment  of  his  disciples,  destitute  as 
 they  were  of  learning  and  ability,  when  called  upon  to  make  a  public  confession  of 
 him,  to  answer  interrogatories,  and  justify  their  conduct.     He  therefore  relieves  them 
 from  all  anxiety  on  this  head,  by  assuring  them,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  would  not  fail 
 to  suggest  to  them  whatever  might  be  suitable  on  those  trying  occasions.     "  And      H. 
 when  they  shall  bring  you,"  said  he,  "  into  the  synagogues,  and  to  magistrates  and 
 powers,  be  not  solicitous  how  or  what  you  shall  answer,  or  what  you  shall  say.     For      12. 
 the  Holy  Ghost  shall  teach  you,  in  the  same  hour,  what  you  must  say,"  for  my  honour 
 and  glory,  and  in  vindication  of  your  sacred  character. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXV. 
 
 CHRIST  WARNS  HIS  FOLLOWERS  AGAINST  SOLICITUDE  FOR  RICHES,  FOOD,  AND  RAIMENT. 
 
 LUKE  XII. 
 
 Jesus  w^as  yet  speaKing,  "  and  one  of  the  multitude  said  to  him  :  Master,  speak  to  Hike  12. 
 my  brother,  that  he  divide  the  inheritance  with  me,"  as  being  my  undoubted  rio-ht.       13. 
 He  desired  Jesus  therefore,  as  the  protector  of  the  oppressed,  to  act  the  part  of  a 
 referee,  and  to  make  a  just  partition  betwixt  them.     '''  But"  Jesus,  who  on  all  occa-      h. 
 sions  preached  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  recommended  a  sovereign  contempt  of  all 
 worldly  conoerns,  refused  to  interfere  in  this  business,  and  "  he  said  to  him  :  Man, 
 who  hath  appointed  me  judge  or  divider  over  you?"     However,  by  way  of  compen- 
 sation for  this  refusal,  he  inculcated,  in  the  following  discourse,  two  truths  of  great 
 importance  :  first,  that  worldly  riches  are  frail  and  perishable :  secondly,  that  we 
 must  banish  from  our  minds  all  solicitude  even  concerning  such  things  as  are  neces- 
 sary to  us.     "  And  he  said  to  them,"  adverting  particularly  to  him  who  15. 
 was  the  unjust  detainer  of  the  other's  property,   "  take   heed   and  manic/wbo^t 
 beware  of  all  covetousness :  for  a  man's  life  does  not  consist  in  the  ed  in  his  multi- 
 abundance  of  things  which  he  possesseth,"  which  is  the  usual  pretext  l^^^^'i  ^^ores. 
 of  the  avaricious,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  depends  solely  on  God's  will,  by  whom  our 
 life  is  either  prolonged  or  shortened  as  he  pleases.     "  And,"  to  prove  the  truth  of      16. 
 this,  "  he  spoke  a  similitude  to  them,  saying  :  The  land  of  a  certain  rich  man  brought 
 forth  plenty  of  fruits.     And  he  thought  within  himself,  saying:  what  shall  I  do,      17. 
 because  my  barns  and  granaries  are  too  small,  and  I  have  no  room  where  to  lay  up 
 my  fruits?"     Had  he,  on  this  occasion,  consulted  the  dictates  of  charity,  he  would 
 not  have  been  at  a  loss  what  to  do  with  his  immense  crop  ;  his  barns  would  have 
 been  sufhciently  large  :  but  he  chose  to  follow  the  cravings  of  avarice.     "  And  he 
 said  :  this  will  I  do  :  I  will  pull  down  my  barns,  and  will  build  greater,  and  thither      18. 
 I  will  store  up  all  things  that  are  grown  to  me  and  my  goods.     And  I  will  say  to  my      19. 
 24.                                                                                              4  B 
 
278  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXV. 
 
 soul :  tliou  hast,  my  soul,  great  plenty  of  goods,  laid  up  for  many  years,  be  at  ease, 
 
 20.      eat,  drink,"  and  "  make  good  cheer.*     But,"  to  his  cost,  this  delusive  security  was 
 
 soon  interrupted,  "  God  said  to  him,"  probably  by  the  dreadful  voice  of  an  apoplectic 
 
 fit,  or  other  mortal  disease:  "  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  is  required  of  thee  ;  and 
 
 ■21-      the  things  thou  hast  provided,  whose  shall  they  be  ?    Thus  it  is  with  him  that  heapeth 
 
 up  treasures  to  himself,  and  is  not  rich  towards  God,"  that  is,  who  has  not  laid  up  a 
 
 treasure  in  heaven  by  charity  and  good  works.     Such  persons  lead   their  lives  in 
 
 o-ood  things,  says  holy  Job,  and  in  a  moment  they  descend  into  hell.     From  the 
 
 preceding  example,  Jesus  draws  a  proper  argument  to  prove  that  it 
 
 z.Jf'earejiot  j^gj^Qypg  ,jg  to  banish  from  our  minds  all  excessive  solicitude  even  for 
 
 to  be  uver-anx-  it    *     j  i  -j         i  •      i-      ■    i 
 
 22.  ious  about  the  the  necessaries  of  this  life.  And  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  therefore  I 
 provisions     of  g.jy  ^^  y^^^  }jg  ^^^  solicitous  for  your  life,  what  you  shall  eat,  nor  for 
 
 23.  your  body  what  you  shall  put  on.:}:  The  life  is  more  than  meat,  and  the 
 body  is  more  than  raiment."  He  therefore  who  has  bestowed  upon  you  your  life  and 
 body  will,  no  doubt,  provide  food  for  the  maintenance  of  the  one  and  clothing  for  the 
 
 24.  other.  "  Consider  the  ravens,  for  they  sow  not,  neither  do  they  reap,  neither  have 
 they  store-houses  nor  barns,  and  God  feedeth  them,  how  much  more  valuable  are  you 
 than  they?"    He  proves  the  inutility  of  all  this  solicitude  by  the  following  argument. 
 
 25.  "  And  which  of  you,  by  taking  thought,  can  add  to  his  stature  one  cubit?     If  then 
 ^^'      you  be  not  able  to  do  so  much  as  the  least  thing"  of  this  nature  by  the  utmost  effort 
 
 of  your  care  and  anxiety,  "  why  are  you  solicitous  for  the  rest,"  which  is  still  less 
 within  your  reach,  and  concerning  which  your  reliance  must  be  solely  upon  an  all- 
 powerful  Providence.     He  proves  how  vain  and  fruitless  is  all  solicitude  about  our 
 
 27.  raiment,  by  instancing  the  various  flowers  which  deck  the  face  of  nature.  "  Consider 
 the  lilies"  of  the  field  "  how  they  grow  ;  they  labour  not,  neither  do  they  spin  :  but  I 
 
 28.  say  to  you,  not  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory,  was  clothed  like  one  of  these.  Now  if 
 God  clothe  in  this  manner  the  grass  that  is  to  day  in  the  field,  and  to-morrow  is  cast 
 
 29.  into  the  oven,  how  much  more  yon,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ?  Be  not  you  then  concerned 
 what  you  shall  eit,  or  what  you  shall  drink,  and  be  not  elevated  on  high  §  on  account 
 of  your  plenty,"  nor  yet  distracted  with  various  thoughts  and  cares   how  to  live. 
 
 30.  "  For  all  these  things  do  the  nations  of  the  world  seek  after,"  that  is,  worldlings  who 
 think  of  this  world  only,  without  hoping  for  another :  "  but  your  heavenly  Father 
 knoweth  that  you  have  need  of  these  things,"  and  you  ought  not  to  distrust  his  all- 
 
 31.  bountiful  Providence.  "^  But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  |i  and  his  justice," 
 by  being  assiduous  in  good  works,  which  render  men  just  in  the  eyes  of  God,  "  and 
 all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you"  over  and  above.  Lastly,  Jesus  proves  the 
 inutility  of  solicitude  and  anxious  cares,  by  (he  promise  which  God  has  made  of  a 
 gift  infinitely  more  valuable  ;  and  this  gift  is  a  kingdom  of  infinite  greatness  iuid 
 
 *  A  soft  and  voluptuous  life  is  too  often  the  con-  sense.     St.  Austin   thus  expounds   it :    "  Do  not 
 
 sequence  of  riches  and  plenty.  value  yourselves  I'or  the  plenty  and  variety  of  your 
 
 t  See  chap.  42.  No.  14.  on  this  important  subject,  victuals."     But  the  other  sense  is  more  ag-reeahie 
 
 X  The  concern  of  Christ   to  establish  our  trust  to  the  context, 
 and  dependence  upon  God,  shows  that  it  is  a  rare  ||  The  practice  of  the  world  is  directly  contrary 
 
 as  well  as  a  necessary  duty.  to  this;   they  first  seek  for  riches,  &c.  and   leave 
 
 §   The  Greek  text  maybe  understood   in  either  the  care  of  their  souls  to  an  uncertain  futurity. 
 
Ch.  LXXXVL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  279 
 
 duration.     "  Fear  not,  little  flock/'  saith  he,  "  for  it  hath  pleased  the  Father  to  give      32. 
 you  a  king-dom  ;"  and  how  unlikely  therefore  is  it^  that  he  will  refuse  you  those  earthly 
 commodities  which  are  necessary  for  the  support  of  life.     Jesus  here  styles  the  elect 
 a  small  flock,  when  compared  with  the  great  number  of  the  reprobate,*  and  advises 
 the  faithful,  instead  of  being  anxious  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  to  sell  even  their 
 worldly  goods,  and  to  give  the  price  to  the  poor,  in  expectation  of  an  eternal  king- 
 dom hereafter.     "  Sell  what  you  possess,"  says  he,  "  and  give  alms.     Make  to  your-      33. 
 selves  bags,  which  grow  not  old,  a  treasure  in  heaven  which  faileth  not :  where  no 
 thief  approaclieth,  nor  moth  consumeth,"  as  it  happens  frequently  to  earthly  treasures 
 and   valuables.     "  For  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also  ;"      34. 
 because  as  the  heart  is  uniformly  attached  to  what  it  loves  and  there  fixes  its  afliec- 
 tion,  so  if  your  treasure  be  in  heaven,  there  also  will  your  hearts  be  fixed  by  a  love 
 superior  to  all  earthly  considerations  ;  and  hence  by  a  constant  meditation  of  eternal 
 things,  you  shall  be  diseng-aged  from  a  multiplicity  of  anxious  cares  and  vanities, 
 which  are  inseparable  from  a  love  of  earthly  and  perishable  goods. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXVI. 
 
 JESDS  EXHORTS  HIS  FOLLOWERS,  AND  ESPECIALLY  HIS  MINISTERS,  TO  BE  ALWAYS  READY 
 FOR  HIS  COMING.      MATT,  XXIV.      LUKE  XII. 
 
 To  all  his  followers  Christ  says:  "  Let  your  loins  be  girtf  and  your  garments  Luke  12. 
 tucked  up,"  in  order  to  be  ever  ready  for  immediate  action,  "  and  lamps  burning  in  ^^ 
 your  hands,"  as  it  were  to  receive  your  master  on  his  return  home.  This  girding  of 
 our  loins,  and  having  lamps  burning  in  our  hands,  are  figurative  expressions  which 
 in  a  spiritual  sense  convey  a  very  instructive  lesson.  By  the  girding  of  our  loins 
 Christ  requires  a  temperance  so  exact,  as  to  bridle  all  our  passions,  to  mortify  our 
 senses,  and  to  restrain  them  from  whatever  may  be  contrary  to  the  law  of  God. 
 2dly,  By  the  lighted  lamps  he  requires  the  constant  practice  of  all  virtues,  which  may 
 shine  forth  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  edification  of  our  neighbours.  3dly,  He 
 requires  moreover  a  constant  watchfulness  in  his  followers,  which  implies  a  proper 
 attention  to  the  respective  duties  of  their  calling,  lest  they  give  way  to  remissness, 
 or  be  sui-prised  by  sudden  and  unlooked-for  temptation.  This  watchfulness  consists 
 principally  in  an  habitual  attention  to  the  divine  presence,  so  as  ever  to  have  the  law 
 of  God  before  our  eyes  in  all  our  actions,  that  we  may  steer  clear  of  that  fiital  security 
 which  gives  encouragement  to  sin,  error,  and  delusion,  and  which,  strictly  speaking, 
 
 *  Of  this  proportion  we  may  form  some  idea,  by  Christian  aera  we  set  aside  all  idolaters,  infidels, 
 considerinpc  that  of  the  four  thousand  years  which  heretics,  schismatics,  children  dyinir  without  bap- 
 preceded  the  birth  of  Christ,  two  thousand  passed  tisni,  and  Christians  of  wicked  lives,  we  shall 
 in  the  dark  mist  of  ignorance  and  sin,  mankind  fol-  undoubtedly  find  the  number  of  the  elect  reduced 
 lowing   the    corrupt   inclinations   of  nature  :    two  to  a  very  small  comjiass. 
 
 thousand   again  passed   under  the  law,  which  was         f  A  comparison  taken  from   the  custom  of  the 
 
 barren  of  itself  and  ineflricacious  as  to  the  salvation  eastern  people,  who  girded  np  their  long  garments 
 
 of  mankind  ;   and  if  in  the  succeeding  ages  of  the  when  they  went  about  any  business. 
 
280  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXVI. 
 
 36.  may  be  called  the  sleep  of  death.  "  And  you  yourselves,"  says  Jesus,  be  ever  ready, 
 "  like  to  men  who/'  during  night,  "  wait  for  their  Lord,  when  he  shall  return  from 
 the  wedding"  feast :  "  that  when  .he  cometh  and  knocketh,  they  may  open  to  him 
 immediately."  Jesus  Christ  is  in  heaven  ;  there  in  company  with  the  saints  he 
 already  celebrates  the  banquet  of  his  nuptials.  His  return  with  respect  to  mankind 
 in  general,  will  be  at  the  day  of  judgment,  and  he  will  previously  knock  at  the  door 
 of  this  world  by  the  various  scourges  and  signs  which  shall  precede  the  last  day. 
 But  with  regard  to  each  individual,  this  return  of  Jesus  is  the  moment  of  our  depar- 
 ture out  of  this  life,  when  we  are  immediately  to  be  judged.  Jesus  knocks  at  our  door 
 when  he  strikes  us  with  a  mortal  sickness  ;  and  we  open  it  to  him  when  we  receive 
 with  resignation  and  joy,  not  only  our  illness,  but  death  itself,  which  places  us  in  his 
 presence.     Christ  next  proceeds  to  state  the  reward  of  such  as  watch  in  this  manner, 
 
 3"-  saying  :  "  Blessed  are  those  servants,  whom  the  Lord  when  he  cometh,  shall  find 
 watching.  Amen  I  say  to  you,  that  he  will  gird  himself,  and  make  them  sit  down  to 
 meat,  and  passing,"  as  a  servant  before  them,  "  he  will  minister  to  them"  all  things 
 
 36.  requisite  for  their  spiritual  refreshment  and  joy.  "  And  if  he  shall  come  in  the 
 second  watch,  or  if  ho  shall  come  in  the  third  watch,  and  find  them  so,  blessed  are 
 those  servants."  All  this  is  a  continuation  of  the  same  metaphor.  The  four  watches 
 of  the  night  are  the  different  stages  of  human  life.  The  second  and  the  third  watch 
 are  youth  and  manhood,  when  habits  of  vice  are  most  freely  indulged.  Those  persons 
 who  shall  have  been  watchful  over  themselves,  during  these  two  critical  periods, 
 shall  be  seated  at  the  table  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  is,  they  shall  be  made  partakers  of 
 all  the  delights  of  the  blessed,  which  Jesus  Christ  himself  will  communicate  to  their 
 souls  for  eternity. 
 
 The  strict  obligation  of  our  being  thus  constantly  watchful  is  founded  upon  the 
 Matt.  24.  uncertainty  of  the  time  of  our  Lord's  return.      "  *  Watch  ye  therefore,"  says  Christ, 
 
 .o'  "  because  you  know  not  at  what  hour  your  Lord  will  come.  But  this  know  ye,  that 
 if  the  good-man  of  the  house  knew  at  what  hour  the  thief  would  come,  he  would 
 
 44.  certainly  watch,  and  would  not  suffer  his  house  to  be  broken  open.  Wherefore  be 
 ye  also  ready,  because  at  what  hour  you  know  not,  the  Son  of  Man  will  come."  By 
 this  we  are  to  understand,  that  if  mankind  were  certain  as  to  the  hour  and  moment 
 of  their  death,  they  would  have  some  plea  for  passing  the  rest  of  their  lives  in  a  total 
 forgetfulness  of  judgment :  but  as  the  case  is  far  otherwise,  and  they  are  entirely 
 ignorant  of  the  day  and  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  will  come  to  judge  them,  it 
 extremely  behoves  them  not  to  suffer  themselves  to  be  lulled  to  sleep  by  sinful  pas- 
 sions, but  to  be  ever  ready  to  appear  before  him  to  give  an  account  of  their  actions. 
 This  is  that  true  Christian  watchfulness  so  often  inculcated  to  us  in  the  Gospel. 
 Luke  V2  "  And  Peter,"  greatly  struck  with  these  words,  "  said  to  him  :  Lord,  dost  thou  speak 
 
 ^2  this  parable  to  us"  only,  "  or  likewise  to  all  ?  And  the  Lord"  intimated  that  he 
 addressed  himself  to  all,  although  principally  to  his  ministers,  who  are  the  siqier- 
 
 *  It  has  been  already  frequently  remarked,  that  jilace  here  what  he  says  of  the  good  and  bad  ser 
 
 it  is  usual  with  St.  Matthew  to  join  tog-ether  several  vant  in  the  discourse  of  Jesus  Christ  touching  the 
 
 doctrinal    instructions   though   given    at    dill'erent  last  judgment,  because  it  has  a  perfect  affinity  with 
 
 times  and  places.     Hence  it  was  judged  proper  to  what  is  here  given  from  St.  Luke. 
 
Ch.  LXXXVL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  281 
 
 iiitendants  of  the  house  of  God:  lie  therefore  said  :  "  Who,  thinkest  thou,  is  the 
 Aiithful  and  wise  steward,  -whom  his  Lord  setteth  over  his  family,  to  give  them  tiieir 
 measure  of  wheat"  and  victuals  "  in  due  season  ?"  is  it  not  he  who  is  thus  watchful  ? 
 This  metaphorical  expression  of  the  faithful  steward  is  taken  from  the  manners  of 
 those  times,  when  the  steward  of  the  house  was  appointed  to  distribute  monthly  to 
 the  other  servants  the  quantity  of  flour  apportioned  to  each  individual  for  his  main- 
 tenance. In  a  moral  sense,  instructions,  the  holy  sacraments,  and  the  word  of  God, 
 are  the  spiritual  food  and  nourishment  which  a  good  steward  is  to  distribute  to  those 
 under  his  care  :  he  is  to  he  faithful  in  the  administration  of  these  spiritual  goods,  and 
 not  to  stjuander  them  away  on  the  unworthy,  by  meanly  condescending  to  their 
 importunity  :  he  is  to  be  vnse,  and  with  a  steady  prudence  to  find  out  and  embrace 
 such  means  as  are  most  conducive  to  the  salvation  of  souls.  Such  a  one  however  is 
 rare,  and  this  is  strongly  implied  by  the  question  asked  by  Jesus :  Who  thinkest  thou 
 is  the  faithful  and  loise  steward  ?  In  other  words,  where  is  he  to  be  found  ?  He  further 
 shows  the  abundant  happiness  prepared  for  a  servant  of  this  description,  if  his  master 
 on  his  return  shall  find  him  thus  employed  in  the  business  assigned  to  him.  "^  Blessed  Matt-  24. 
 is  that  servant,  whom  when  his  Lord  shall  come,  he  shall  find  so  doing.  Amen  I  47' 
 say  to  you,  he  shall  place  him  over  all  his  goods,"  in  that  supreme  degree  of  happi- 
 ness which  is  reserved  for  holy  bishops  and  pastors  of  souls. 
 
 With  regard  to  the  bad  and  unfaithful  servant,  Jesus  shows  whence    2.  The  nicked 
 his  misconduct  arises,  viz.  from  the  blind  and  fatal  security  in  which  he        sen-ant. 
 lives.     Hence  considering  that  his  master  is  not  likely  soon  to  return,  and  that  he 
 himself  is  as  yet  in  the  prime  of  life  and  in  perfect  health,  he  flatters  himself  with  the 
 hopes  of  a  long  life,  and  of  having  time  enough  to  repent  of  all  his  vicious  habits 
 previously  to  his  being  summoned  before  the  sovereign  Judge.    "  But"  Christ  points      48. 
 out  the  fatal  effects  of  this  security  ;  for  "  if  that  evil  servant  shall  say  in  his  heart  Luke  12. 
 my  Lord  is  long-  a  coming  ;  and  shall  begin  to  strike  his  fellow  servants,  and  to  eat,      ''''■ 
 and  to  drink,  and  be  drunk  with  drunkards,"  that  is,  shall  follow  his  own  sensual  Matt.  24. 
 passions  and  lusts,  "  the  Lord  of  that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day  that  he  hopeth       Ij" 
 not,  and  at  an  hour  that  he  knoweth  not,  and  shall  separate  hira,"  that  is,  depose 
 him  from  his  office,  or  according  to  the  Greek,  shall  cut  him  asunder  by  separating 
 his  soul  from  his  body  :    "  and  appoint  his  portion  with  hypocrites"  and  "  with  Luke  12. 
 unbelievers  :  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth."     Christ  however  makes  ,,  '^^\,. 
 a  material  distinction  between  the  various  degrees  of  guilt  which  is  incurred  by  those      51. 
 who  shall  have  sinned  through  passion  or  malice,  and  those  who  shall  have  done 
 wrong  through  ignorance.     "  And  that  servant,"  says  he,  "  who  knew  the  will  of  his  Luke  12. 
 Lord  and  prepared  not  himself,  and  did  not  according  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten      ^'^ 
 with  many  stripes.     But  he  that  knew  not,  and  did  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be      4S, 
 beaten  with  few  stripes.*     And  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  much  shall  be 
 required  ;  and  they  shall  demand  more  of  him,  to  whom  they  recommend  much." 
 Thus  the  degree  of  punishment  which  is  to  be  inflicted  upon  wicked  and  negligent 
 Christians  and  pastors,  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  light  and  knowledge  imparted  to 
 them  from  above,  and  according  to  the  use  they  have  made  of  those  talents  entrusted 
 
 *  Ignorance  when  it  prueeetls  from  u  peiiou's  own  fuult,  does  not  e.\cuse,  but  only  diminishes  the  fault. 
 
 i.4.  4  c 
 
282  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXVIL 
 
 to  them  for  their  own  advancement  in  virtue^  as  well  as  that  of  others.  But  as  the 
 good  use  to  be  made  of  these  talents  depends  upon  the  degree  of  charity  or  of  the 
 love  of  God  which  inflames  our  hearts,  and  which  was  to  be  merited  for  us  by  the 
 death  of  Jesus,  he  here  declares  that  he  is  come  to  spread  throughout  the  world  his 
 40.      fire  of  divine  charity.     "  I  am  come,"  says  he,  "  to  cast  fire*  on  the  earth,  and  what 
 
 50.  will  I,  but  that  it  be  kindled  ?  And  I  have  a  baptism  wherewith  I  am  to  be  baptized," 
 viz.  the  baptism  of  my  blood:  "  and  how  am  I  straitened  until  it  be  accomplished" 
 for  the  salvation  of  mankind?     Be  not  surprised  at  this  allusion  to  fire  and  blood  : 
 
 51.  or,-         "  Think  ve  that  I  am  come  to  give  peace  on  earth?  I  tell  you  no,  but 
 
 3.    Difiswns  J  1  /•      1     n         •  1 
 
 53.  on  account  of  separation.  For  there  shall  be  from  henceforth  five  m  one  house 
 53  the  Gospel.  divided  ;  three  ao-ainst  two,  and  two  against  three.  The  father  shall 
 be  divided  against  the  son,  and  the  son  against  the  father  ;  the  mother  against  the 
 daughter,  and  the  daughter  against  the  mother;  the  mother-in-law  against  the 
 daughter-in-law,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  the  mother-in-law.''  This,  how- 
 ever unnatural  it  may  at  first  appear,  may  easily  be  explained,  if  we  consider  how 
 the  Gospel  being  received  by  some  and  rejected  by  others,  would  produce  all  these 
 divisions  in  the  Gentile  world.  Thus,  when  the  faith  of  Christ  was  announced  to  a 
 family  consisting  of  five  persons,  three  of  these  might  embrace  it,  the  other  two  con- 
 tinuing in  their  infidelity ;  and  therefore  they  would  be  completely  divided  amongst 
 themselves.  The  three  who  embraced  Christianity  would  view  with  horror  the 
 obstinacv  of  the  two  Pagans,  while  the  latter  would  not  fail  to  vent  their  rage  against 
 the  former,  even  perhaps  so  far  as  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  their  blood. 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXVII. 
 
 CHRIST  SHOWS  THE  NECESSITY  OF  DOING  PENANCE THE   PAR.\BLE  OF  THE  BARREN 
 
 FIG  THEE.      LUKE  XIII. 
 
 Luke  13.  "  And  there  were  present  at  that  very  time  some  that  told  him  of  the  Galileans, 
 ^-  whose  blood  Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices."  It  is  not  easy  to  guess  who 
 these  were,  nor  for  what  reason  Pilate  thus  slaughtered  them.  The  most  probable 
 conjecture  is,  that  they  were  some  of  the  seditious  followers  of  Judas  the  Galilean, 
 who  denied  that  God's  people  were  to  pay  taxes ;  and  it  is  thought  that  some  of 
 them,  coming  to  offer  sacrifice  in  the  temple,  Pilate  caused  them  to  be  slain  at  that 
 very  time,  so  that  their  blood  was  mixed  with  their  sacrifices.'*  From  this  tragical 
 event,  Jesus  sought  to  excite  his  hearers  to  repentance.  He  shows  the  pressing 
 necessity  of  it  by  two  examples  of  sudden  and  unexpected  death  ;  and  secondly,  by 
 the  bounds  which  God  has  fixed  to  his  mercy. 
 
 1.  The  necessity  of  immediate  repentance  appears  from  the  uncertainty  of  death, 
 
 *  By  this  Jire  Tertullian  and  others  understand         t  See  Josephus,  1,  18.  Antiq.  c.  1.  and  2. 
 the  fire  of  trials  and  persecutions,  which  perhaps  is 
 equally  if  not  more  agreeable  to  the  context. 
 
Ch.  LXXXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  2^3 
 
 which  surprises  sinners  in  the  midst  of  their  crimes,  without  allowing  them  the  oppor- 
 tunity of  doing-  penance.  Hence  it  must  be  considered  as  the  part  of  true  prudence 
 not  to  defer  our  repentance,  since  it  is  the  only  plank  to  save  us  after  suffering'  ship- 
 wreck of  our  innocence.  We  ought,  with  the  greatest  eagerness,  to  seize  hold  of  this 
 necessary  plank,  and  never  to  let  it  go:  for  since  there  is  not  a  single  hour  of  our 
 lives  wherein  death  may  not  surprise  us,  we  should  not,  by  a  foolish  confidence,  risk 
 our  salvation,  though  for  the  shortest  period  of  time. 
 
 That  death  may  unexpectedly  surprise  us,  appears  evident  from  the  example  of 
 these  Galileans,  who  purposing  to  offer  sacrifice  to  God  in  the  temple,  were  them- 
 selves immolated   as   victims ;    and   secondly,   from    the   example  of  the  eighteen 
 inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  who  were  suddenly  crushed  to  death  by  the  fall  of  a  tower 
 near  the  fish-pond  of  Siloe,  or  near  the  spring  of  water  which  rising  at  the  foot  of 
 Mount  Sion,  feeds  that  pond.     In  effect,  nothing  could  be  more  sudden  and  unfore 
 seen  than  these  two  kinds  of  death.     But  as  these  were  very  extraordinary  events, 
 and  not  in  the  usual  course  of  things,  mankind  might  possibly  consider  them  as  a 
 particular  chastisement,  inflicted  solely  upon  those  individuals,  in  punishment  of  some 
 very  enormous  crimes,  and  by  this  their  interpretation  of  the  designs  of  providence, 
 they  might  conclude,  that  the  punishment  of  such  persons  did  not  apply  to  them,  who 
 were  innocent  of  their  crimes.     Jesus  refuted  this  objection,  "  and  answering,  said       2. 
 to  them  :  think  you  that  these  Galileans  were  sinners  above  all  the  men  of  Galilee, 
 because  they  suffered  such  things?     No,  I  say  to  you  :   unless  you  do  penance,  you       3- 
 shall  all  perish  in  like  manner.*     Or  those  eighteen  upon  whom  fell  the  tower  in       4. 
 Siloe  and  killed  them,  think  you  that  these  also  were  trespassers  above  all  the  men 
 that  dwell  in  Jerusalem  ?     No,  I  say  to  you  :   but  except  you  do  penance,  you  shall       5. 
 all  likewise  perish."     This  prophecy  was  fulfilled  at  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  and 
 there  seemed  to  be  even  a  coincidence  of  circumstances  in  the  maimer  of  their  punish- 
 ment, which  deserves  attention,  inasmuch  as  they  perished  either  by  the   sword  of 
 the  Romans,  as  did  these  poor  Galileans,  or  they  were  overwhelmed  in  the  ruins  of 
 their  city,  as  those  eighteen  had  been  crushed  to  death  by  the  falling  of  the  tower 
 of  Siloe. 
 
 2.  Jesus  proceeded  to  prove  still  further,  the  necessity  of  repentance,  by  stating 
 that  God's  patience,  in  tolerating  the  greatest  sinners,  is  limited  to  a  certain  term, 
 after  which  it  gives  place  to  his  justice.    To  unfold  this  truth,  "  he  spoke  this  parable :       ^■ 
 A  certain  man  had  a  fig-tree  planted  in  his  vineyard,  and  he  came  seeking  fruit  on 
 it,  and  found  none.     And  he  said  to  the  dresser  of  the  vineyard  :  behold,  for  these       ^• 
 
 *  This  prediction  of  our  Saviour   \ipon  the  im-  polluted  with  slaughter ;  the  priests  were   slain  in 
 
 penitent  Jews,  was  afterwards  completely  verified  ;  the  exercise  of  their  functions ;  many  who  came  to 
 
 for  Josephus  informs   us,  that  under   the  govern-  worship,  fdl  before  their  sacrifices ;  the  dead  bodies 
 
 ment  of  Cumanus  twenty  tlmusand  of  them   were  of  strangers  and  natives  were  promiscuojisly  heaped 
 
 destroyed  about  the   temple,  (Antiq.  lib.  20.  c.  4.)  together,  and  the  altar  defiled   with  their  blood,  (de 
 
 That  upon  the  admission  of  the  Idumeans  into  the  Bel.  Jud.  1.  6.  c.  1.)  That  upon  the  Romans  takinpr 
 
 city,  eight   thousand  and  five  hundred  of  the  high-  posses:iion   of  the   city  and    lemple,    mountains  of 
 
 priest's  party  were  slain,  insomuch  that  there  was  a  dead  bodies  were  piled  vp  about  the  altar  ;  streams 
 
 flood  of  blood  quite   round   the   temple,    (de   Bello  of  blood  ran  down  the  steps  of  the  temple  ;  several 
 
 Jud.  1.  4.  c.  7.)     That  in  consequence  of  the  three-  were   destroyed   by   the  fall   of  towers,  and   others 
 
 fold  faction  that  happened  in  Jerusalem  before    the  suffocated    in   the   ruins   of  the   galleries   over   the 
 
 siege  of  the  Romans,  the  temple  was  every  where  porches,  (de  Bel.  Jud.  1.  7.  c.  10.) 
 
234  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cb.  LXXXVII. 
 
 three  vears  I  come  seeking  fruit  on  this  fig--tree,  and  I  find  none.     Cut  it  down 
 
 S.       therefore  ;  «hv  cumbereth  it  the  ground  .'     But  he  answering,  said  to  him  :  Lord, 
 
 9.       let  it  alone  this  year  also,  until  I  dig  about  it,  and  dung  it.  And  then  if  it  bear  fruit," 
 
 well  and  g-ood :  "  but  if  not.  then  after  that  thou  shiUt  cut  it  down."     Jesus  left  them 
 
 to  make  the  application  of  this  parable  to  themselves,  and  retired. 
 
 In  effect,  this  application  is  easily  made,  both  with  reg-ard  to  Jews  and  Christians. 
 The  vinevard  of  the  Lord  is  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  consisting  of  the  twelve  tribes, 
 or  it  is  his  Church  gathered  out  of  all  nations.  The  tig-tree  is  the  city  of  Jerusdem, 
 a  city  as  much  raised  above  the  level  of  other  cities,  as  the  fig-tree  is  above  the  humble 
 vine.  The  circumstances  to  be  observed  in  regard  to  this  tree,  are  its  long  continued 
 barrenness  ;  secondlv,  the  long  patience  in  the  owner  or  proprietor  of  it ;  and  thirdly, 
 its  being  finallv  condemned  to  the  tlames. 
 
 Wherefore  Almightv  God  sent  his  Son  as  the  dresser  or  pruner  of  this  vineyard, 
 to  bring  into  cultivation  the  Jewish  land,  and  especially  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  when 
 now  behold !  this  is  the  third  year,  wherein  he  has  fruitlessly  laboured  in  so  ungrateful 
 a  soil.  Therefore,  on  finding  that  no  amendment  is  to  be  expected,  the  Almighty 
 issues  out  his  orders  to  Jesus  Christ  to  root  it  up.  However,  the  dresser  of  the  vine- 
 yard, pleading  in  behalf  of  the  condemned  tree,  obtains  from  the  master  a  respite  of 
 another  vear,  in  order  thus  to  make  a  fresh  attempt  to  render  it  fruitful,  by  means  of 
 trenching  and  manuring  the  soil  around  it.  Thus  Jesus  Christ  obtained  of  his 
 heavenly  Father  the  further  trial  of  a  fourth  year,  at^er  the  three  first  years  of  his 
 ministn-,  in  order,  during  this  time,  to  preach  the  word  of  God  to  the  city  of 
 Jerusalem  before  its  final  destruction.  This  he  performed  during  the  three  months 
 of  this  his  last  vear,  and  his  Apostles  continued  to  do  the  same  after  his  ascension 
 and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
 3.  But  the  subsequent  words  of  the  dresser  to  the  master  of  the  vineyard,  that  if 
 this  last  effort  to  render  it  fruitful  should  prove  abortive,  he  might  then  cause  it  to  be 
 cut  down  and  condemned  to  the  flames,  are  a  prophecy,  that  the  city  of  Jerusalem, 
 after  having  ill-treated,  expelled,  or  killed  those  of  the  faithful,  who  endeavoured  to 
 cultivate  it  bv  their  preaching  and  the  sanctity  of  their  lives,  should  be  abandoned 
 bv  Almio-hty  God,  to  a  spirit  of  rebellion,  to  continual  seditions,  and  finally,  to  the 
 destructive  arms  of  the  Roman  people.  In  fact,  these  events  began  to  take  place 
 verv  soon  after  the  persecution  of  the  Church,  and  were  completely  verified  in  the 
 seventv-seventh  year  of  the  Christian  aera. 
 
 But  this  parable  is  applicable  to  Christians  as  well  as  to  the  Jews.  For  this 
 barren  fior-tree  is  a  lively  figure  of  a  mere  believing  Christian,  who,  though  he  be 
 planted  in  the  vinevard  of  Christ's  Church,  by  baptism  and  faith,  and  watered  with 
 manv  graces  and  favours,  as  Jerusalem  was :  yet  his  faith  being  dead  and  barren, 
 yields  no  fi-uit  of  good  works.  However,  .\lmighty  God,  the  great  Master  of  the 
 vinevard,  looks  vearly  for  fruit  fi"om  him,  and  if,  after  long  expectation,  he  finds  none, 
 he  resolves  at  length  to  cat  him  down,  as  an  incumbrance  in  his  Church,  which  is 
 apt  even  to  infect  others  that  are  sound,  and  bear  fruit  in  due  season.  But  upon  the 
 earnest  supplications  of  some  of  his  chosen  servants,  the  execution  of  this  dreadful 
 sentence  is  deferred  for  some  time,  in  hopes  of  his  bearing  fruit.     In  the  mean  time. 
 
Ch.  LXXXVm.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  285 
 
 the  dresser  of  the  \Inevard  trenches  and  manures  the  soil  about  it ;  that  is,  he  uses 
 all  necessary  care,  bv  the  private  admonitions,  or  public  exhortations,  of  his  ministers, 
 to  put  him  in  mind  of  his  dangerous  situation^  and  of  the  necessity  of  bringing  forth 
 the  fruits  of  good  works ;  but  if  all  this  care  proves  abortive,  and  he  still  continue 
 barren,  nothing  remains  but  that  the  decreed  sentence  of  divine  justice  take  place, 
 and  he  be  condemned  to  everlasting  flames.  Let  each  one,  therefore,  apply  the 
 parable  to  himself,  and  examine  how  far  he  is  concerned  in  even.-  part  of  it :  that  so 
 bv  a  speedv  amendment  of  life,  and  by  worthy  fruits  of  repentance,  he  may  prevent 
 the  fatal  stroke  of  divine  justice,  and  may  thus  escape  the  punishment  justly  due  to 
 his  crimes ;  for  there  is  no  alternative  for  us,  but  either  repentance  or  damnation 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXVIII. 
 
 CHRIST  HEALS  THE  CROOKED  WOMAN  ON  THE  SABEATH-DAV.      LUKE  XIII, 
 
 "  And  Jesus  was  teaching  in  their  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and  behold  there  was  Luke  13. 
 
 a  woman  who  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen  years  :  and  she  was  bent  down,      1®. 
 
 neither  could  she  look  upwards  at  all.     Whom  when  Jesus  saw,  he  called  her  unto      12' 
 
 him,  and  said  to  her  :  woman,  thou  art  delivered  from  thy  infirmity.     And  he  laid      13. 
 
 his  hands  upon  her,  and  immediately  she  was  made  straight,  and  glorified  God"  for 
 
 so  unexpected  a  blessing.     "'  And  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  being  angiv  that      U. 
 
 Jesus  had  healed  on  the  Sabbath-day,"'  and  likewise  jealous  of  his  superior  fame, 
 
 "  answering,  said  to  the  multitude :  six  days  there  are  wherein  you  ought  to  work. 
 
 In  them  therefore  come  and  be  healed,  and  not  on  the  Sabbath-dav,'  which  by  the 
 
 law  is  dedicated  to  rest.     Jesus  took  to  himself  the  rebuke  thus  addressed  by  the 
 
 ruler  to  the  audience,  and  in  answer  put  him  to  confusion,  by  contrasting  what  had 
 
 been  done  in  favour  of  this  woman  in  a  single  instance,  with  what  was  performed  by 
 
 the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  and  the  people  at  large,  in  behalf  of  the  meanest  animals 
 
 every  day  of  the  week,  without  excepting  the    Sabbath   itself.     Wherefore  "^  the      15. 
 
 Lord  answering,  said  ;  ye  hypocrites,  doth  not  even,-  one  of  you,  on  the  Sabbath-dav, 
 
 loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  manger  and  lead  them  to  water  ?'  and  if  vou  do  this 
 
 to  ease  a  beast  of  pain,  '•'  ought  not  this  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  has      16 
 
 bound  for  eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the  Sabbath-dav."* 
 
 In  these  few  words  we  may  notice  four  separate  arguments  in  justification  of  the 
 conduct  of  Jesus,  each  of  which  was  a  sufficient  answer  to  whatever  objections  the 
 rulers  of  the  synagogue  could  allege  against  him. 
 
 L  If  we  consider  who  it  is  that  is  here  relieved,  we  find  it  to  be  a  woman  and  a 
 faithful  daughter  of  Abraham,  both  according  to  the  flesh  and  according  to  the  spirit 
 With  how  much  more  reason  may  it  be  deemed  lawful  to  aflford  rehef  to  one  of  this 
 
 *  Tliis  shows  us  that  the  duties  of  justice  and  charity  are  always  in  season,  and  that  we  ou^ht  to  omit 
 no  opportunity  of  performuig  them. 
 
 25.  4d 
 
286  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXVIIL 
 
 description,  than  to  one  of  the  meanest  of  animals,  to  relieve  which  is  acknowledged 
 to  be  an  act  of  humanity. 
 
 2.  If  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  bodily  infirmity  which  here  met  with  relief,  we  may 
 argue,  that  if  it  be  lawful  to  relieve  brute  animals  in  their  natural  and  healthy  state, 
 it  must  be  si  ill  more  allowable  to  deliver  this  miserable  woman  from  the  oppressive 
 yoke  of  the  devil. 
 
 3.  If  we  examine  the  duration  of  the  infirmity,  we  may  justly  infer,  that  if  it  be 
 lawful  to  release  a  brute  animal,  which  has  been  under  restraint  only  for  a  few  hours, 
 with  how  much  more  reason  is  it  allowable  to  loose  a  woman  who  has  been  held  in 
 captivity  by  the  devil  during  the  space  of  eighteen  years. 
 
 4.  If  we  consider  the  action  itself,  and  the  means  employed,  we  must  conclude, 
 that  if  it  be  lawful  to  the  Jewish  people  to  luitie  their  animals  on  the  Sabbath-day, 
 and  to  lead  them  out  to  water,  it  must  be  in  a  greater  degree  allowable  to  Jesus  to 
 address  himself  to  a  human  creature  in  misery,  and  to  lay  his  hands  upon  her  head  ; 
 both  of  which  are  less  servile  actions,  than  those  which  the  Jews  constantly  practised 
 
 17.      without  scruple.     "  And  when  he  said  these  things,  all  his  enemies  were  ashamed, 
 and  all  the  people  rejoiced  for  all  the  things  that  were  gloiiously  done  by  him." 
 
 This  crooked  woman  may  be  considered  as  a  lively  figure  of  a  soul  bent  and 
 bowed  down  to  earthly  things,  and  held  captive  by  the  devil  in  the  chains  of  sin.  A 
 soul  thus  enslaved,  is  infirm  indeed  as  to  all  that  is  good,  and  instead  of  resisting  the 
 enemies  of  her  salvation,  she  shamefully  yields  to  all  their  temptations  ;  transgresses 
 the  commandments  of  God,  and  falls  frequently  into  the  most  enormous  crimes. 
 Hence,  immersed  in  carnal  pursuits,  all  her  affections  are  earthly,  she  will  not,  and 
 cannot,  look  upwards  to  behold  heavenly  things,  to  think  on  her  Creator,  to  consider 
 his  terrible  judgments,  and  prepare  for  eternity  ;  so  that  slie  resembles  those  wicked 
 libidinous  old  men  mentioned  in  Daniel,  who  turned  away  their  eyes  not  to  look  up  to 
 heaven,  nor  remember  the  just  judgment  of  God.  However,  Christ,  as  in  the  present 
 instance,  sometimes  beholds  a  soul  in  this  miserable  condition  with  an  eye  of  com- 
 passion ;  he  prevents  her  with  his  graces  ;  and  by  internal  inspirations,  or  the 
 external  word  of  his  ministers,  calls  her  to  him,  in  order  to  be  converted  and  cured, 
 by  true  repentance,  of  her  spiritual  infirmity.  For  this  [)nrpose  he  lays  his  hand  on 
 her,  that  is,  he  imparts  to  her  spiritual  help  ;  and  she  is  quickly  raised  up  and 
 enabled  to  see,  love,  and  contemplate  eternal  things ;  and  being  thus  made  sensible 
 of  her  past  dangerous  and  sinful  state,  she  blesses  her  God  with  a  grateful  heart,  and 
 serves  him  ever  after  with  so  much  the  greater  fervour  and  love,  by  how  much  his 
 mercy  and  goodness  have  been  more  conspicuous  in  her  regard. 
 
Ch.  LXXXIX.l  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  287 
 
 CHAPTER  LXXXIX. 
 
 THE  DEDICATION   OF  THE  ALTAR  OF  HOLOCAUSTS.*      MATT.   XIX.      MARK  X.      JOHN  X. 
 
 "'  Now  it  was  the  feast  of  the  Dedication  at  Jerusalem."     This  festival       j    j.^^  ,      john  lo 
 was  appointed  by  Judas  Machabajus,  in  commemoration  of  his  having-  of  Christ  perish      -2. 
 re-established  the  altar  of  Holocausts,  which  had  been   proflmed  with  ""'• 
 the  most  abominable  sacrifices  by  Antiochus,  surnamed  the  Illuslrious.     The  day 
 fixed  for  this  festival  was  the  2oth  of  the  month  Casleu,  which  corresponds  with  our 
 month  of  November  or  December.     This  solemnity  Jesus  chose  to  honour  with  his 
 presence,  "  and"  as  "^  it  was  winter,  and"  the  weather  cold,   "  Jesus,"  for  the  sake      23. 
 of  warmth,  "  walked  in  the  temple  in  Solomon's  porch.     The  Jews  therefore  came      24. 
 round  about  him,"  and  endeavoured,  by  their  importunity,  to  extort  an  explicit 
 avowal  of  his  being-  the  Messiah.     Since  a  declaration  of  this  sort  was  considered  by 
 them  as  tantamount  to  his  proclaiming  himself  king  of  the  Jews,  they  eagerly  wished 
 for  so  plausible  a  pretext  for  seizing  upon  him  and  delivering  him  up  as  guilty  of 
 high  treason.     In  order  to  draw  him  into  this  snare,  they  feigned  a  wish  that  he 
 might  be  their  long  expected  Messiah,  pretending  that  they  were  ready  to  acknow- 
 ledge him  under  that  quality,  if  he  would  but  authorize  them  so  to  do,  by  his  own 
 explicit  declaration.     Therefore  they  earnestly  entreated  him  to  remove  all  uncer- 
 tainty on  this  subject,  "  and  said  to  him  :  how  long  dost  thou  keep  our  minds  in 
 suspense?  If  thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly. "f 
 
 Jesus  saw  into  the  bottom  of  their  hearts,  and  refused  to  make  the  open  declaration 
 requested  of  him.  This  he  chose  to  postpone  until  he  should  be  brought  before 
 Caiphas  and  Pilate,,  a  short  time  previous  to  his  death.  He  however  justified  himself 
 from  the  blasphemy  which  they  falsely  imputed  to  him,  and  afterwards  withdrew 
 himself  from  their  fury,  by  repairing  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  Jordan.  "  Where-  25. 
 fore,"  to  the  question  whether  or  not  he  were  the  Messiah,  "  Jesus  answered  them  : 
 I  speak  to  you,"  and  have  already  told  you,  "  and  you  beUeve  not ;  the  works  that  I 
 do,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  they  give  testimony  of  me,"  and  proclaim  to  the  world 
 my  real  character  and  quality.  "  But  you  do  not  believe,  because  you  are  not  of  my  26. 
 sheep,"  refusing  to  believe  in  me,  and  to  follow  my  doctrine,  by  your  own  wilful 
 blindness.     "  My  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  T  know  them"  from  all  eternity,  by  a      27. 
 
 *  This  appears  to  be  the  proper  place  for  insert-  Evangelists  speak   of  the  same  place  where  John 
 
 ing  what  happened  during  the  feast   of  the  dedica-  had  baptized. 
 
 lion,  after  which,  as  St.  John  observes,  Jesus  went         t  St.  John   the  Baptist  had   told  them   several 
 
 beyond  the  Jordan  :  for  what  follows  in   St.  Luke,  times  who  Jesus  was.     See  Jo.  c.  1.     He  himself 
 
 as  said  by  the  Pharisees  to  Christ:  go  away  and  had  not  ojily  owned  it  in  plain  terms  to  the  Sama- 
 
 depart   from   hence,  for  Herod  has  a  mind  to  put  ritan   woman,   Jo.   c.    26.    but    he    had    frequently 
 
 thee  to  death,  could  not  have  taken  place  in  Judea,  delivered  this  truth  openly  to  them,  that  he  came 
 
 •where    Herod    had  no  jurisdiction,  but  in   Perea,  from  heaven ;   that  he  was  sent  into  the  world,  that 
 
 which  is  beyond  the  Jordan  and  in  the  dominions  all  men  should  be  saved  by  believina:  in  him  ;   that 
 
 of  Herod.     This  is  tlie  same  place  indicated  by  St.  he  was  the  Son  of  God  and  one  with  the  Father. 
 
 Matthew   and   St.   Mark,    when   they   say  that  he  Hence  they  easily  perceived  that  he  made  himself 
 
 came  to  the  confines  of  Judea,  beyond  the  Jordan  ;  God  :  but  they  would  have  him  declare  it  again  in 
 
 not  with  regard  to  Galilee,  but   to  Judea,  as  ap-  express  words,  that  they  might  accuse  him. 
 pears  from  St.  John ;    for  it  is  clear  that  all   the 
 
^88  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  LXXXIX. 
 
 particular  love  and  affection,  "  and  they  follow  me"  as  their  shepherd,  obeying-  my 
 precepts,  and  imitating-  those  brig-ht  examples  of  virtue  which  I  set  before  them. 
 
 28.  "■  And  I  give  them  life  everlasting;  and  they  shall  not  perish  for  ever,  and  no  man 
 shall  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand."  He  speaks  here  of  his  elect,  of  those  whom  he 
 calls  by  a  special  providence  and  mercy,  and  whom  he  blesses  with  more  than 
 ordinary  graces,  and  with  the  gift  of  final  perseverance.  Their  salvation  is  certain, 
 not  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  known  to  them,  since  they  live  only  in  a  firm  hope  of 
 it,  which  is  ever  accompanied  with  a  salutary  fear ;  but  this  certainty  is  owing  to 
 the  power  and  efficacy  of  divine  grace,  which  renders  them  victorious  over  all  their 
 enemies  ;  over  the  devil  and  his  wicked  suggestions  ;  over  the  world,  its  frowns  and 
 its  smiles,  and  over  their  own  frail  nature,  ever  liable  to  sin  and  corruption.     He 
 
 29.  proceeds  to  prove  this  in  fiivour  of  his  elect,  by  the  following  argument :  "  That 
 which  my  Father  hath  given  me,"  by  begetting  me  from  all  eternity,  as  his  only  con- 
 substantial  Son,  "is  greater  than  all"*  created  things:  '' and"  as  "  no  man  can 
 snatch  them  out  of  the  hand  of  my  Father,"  so  neither  can  any  one  snatch  them  out 
 
 30.  of  mine ;  for  "  I  and  the  Father  are  one"  thing,  not  by  an  union  of  affection  only,  but 
 
 31.  ,  r„,  o  one  in  nature,  substance,  power,  and  all  other  absolute  perfections.  "The 
 
 2.lnerageoj  '  .  .  . 
 
 the  Jews  against  Jews  then"  rightly  understanding  that  Jesus  attributed  to  himself  the 
 Jmis  Christ.  Almighty  power  of  God,  by  liaving  the  same  nature  with  him,  "  took  up 
 stones  that  they  might  stone  him,"  as  guilty  of  blasphemy.  However,  that  same  divine 
 power  which  was  the  object  of  their  rage,  hindered  them  from  putting  their  evil 
 
 32.  designs  into  execution.  "  Jesus  answered  them  :  many  good  works  I  have  showed 
 you  from  my  Father,"  in  a  continued  scries  of  favours  and  blessing,  "  for  which  of 
 
 33.  those  works  do  you  stone  me?  The  Jews  answered  him:  it  is  not  for  any  good 
 work  we  are  for  stoning  thee,  but  for  blasphemy,  and  because  tliat  thou  being  man, 
 makest  thyself  God."t  This  their  calumnious  imputation  of  blasphemy  was  the 
 more  atrocious,  as  originating,  first,  from  the  infinite  mercy  of  the  Father,  who, 
 instead  of  sending  a  common  man  to  redeem  mankind,  had  deputed  his  only  begotten 
 Son  upon  earth  ;  and  secondly,  from  the  infinite  humiliation  of  the  Son,  who  laying 
 aside  all  his  glory,  had  hidden  his  divine  nature  under  the  obscure  veil  of  our  human 
 flesh.  These  were  incomprehensible  mysteries,  it  is  true,  but  then  the  miracles 
 wrought  by  Jesus  sufficiently  attested  their  credibility,  and  ought  to  have  carried 
 
 34.  conviction  to  their  minds.  "  Jesus  answered  them,"  by  quoting  the  sixth  verse  of 
 the  eighty-first  Psalm,  "  is  it  not  written  in  your  law  :  I  said,  t/ou  are  Gods  ?"  God 
 himself  here  speaks  to  judges  and  magistrates,  whom  he  thus  establishes  as  gods 
 over  their  equals,  by  the  share  which  he  imparts  to  them  of  his  power  and  justice. 
 
 35       "  Now,  if  he  called  them  gods,  to  whom  the  word  of  God  was  spoken,"  though  mere 
 
 35.  sinful  men  ;  "  and  the  Scripture  cannot  be  made  void,"  nor  assert  an  untruth,  "  do 
 
 *  We  may  look  upon  this  as  the  true  reading,  on  t  Tlie  Jews,  says  St.  Austin,  understood  well 
 
 the  authority  of  St.  Jer.  St.  Ilil.   St.  Anib.  St.  Aul;-.     enough  what  tlie  Arians,   Unitarians,  &c.  will  not 
 &c.     The  ancient  fathers  moke  use  of  these  words,      understand,  that  from   Christ's  words   it  followed, 
 to  show  the  eternal  procession  of  the   Son  from  the     that  he  was  one  and  the  same  God  with  the  eternal 
 Father,  and  that  they  are  one  in  nature,  substance.     Father, 
 power,  &c.     The  readinn;  in   the  ordinary   Greek 
 copies  is  different:  My  Father,  who  gave  mc  them 
 (the  sheep),  is  greater  than  all 
 
Ch.  XC]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  289 
 
 you  say  of  him  whom  the  Father  hath  sanctified,"  (by  communicating  to  Iiim  all  his 
 holiness,  "  and"  whom  he  hath  "  sent  into  the  world"  as  the  source  and  model  of  the 
 sanctity  of  all  men)  :  "  thou  blasphemest.  because  I  said,  I  am  the  Son  of  God  ?*    If     37. 
 I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  me  not.     But  if  I  do,  though  you  will  not      3S. 
 believe  me,"  and  my  word,  which  is  truth  itself,  "  believe"  at  least  "  the  works," 
 these  wonderful  works  which  I  perform  in  your  presence  :  "  that  you  may  know  and 
 believe  that  the  Father  is  in  me,  and  I  in  the  Father,"  so  that  we  have  one  and  the  same 
 nature,  one  and  the  same  will,  one  and  the  same  power.     "  They  sought  therefore"      39. 
 once  more  "  to  take  him,  and  he  escaped  out  of  their  hands,"  either  by  making  him- 
 self invisible,  or  preventing,  by  his  divine  power,  the  execution  of  their  designs. 
 "  And  he  went  away  again,"  till  their  rage  should  subside,  "  into  the  confines  of      40. 
 Judea,  beyond  the  Jordan,  into  that  place  where  John  was  baptizing  first,"  viz.  ^^^^'j-  ^^■ 
 Bethabara;    "  and  there  he  abode.     And  great  multitudes  flock  to     3,  chrisiheah  John  lo. 
 him  ao-ain,  and  he  tauo-ht  them  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do,  and  he  the  sick  beyond      'tO- 
 
 4JTI  Altitt    19 
 
 healed  them  there,  and  they  said :  John  indeed  did  no  sign  :  but  all  ^"'  «'"'■«««■  "  2'.  ' 
 things  whatsoever  John  said  of  this  man  were  true,"  as  appears  by  the  miracles  which  Mark  10. 
 he  has  wrought  before  our  eyes.    We  ought  therefore  to  receive  the  testimony  which  j^j^jj]  ^g_ 
 
 John  gave  of  him,  as  to  his  being  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Messiah.     This  reasoning 
 
 Jc 
 42. 
 
 made  an  impression  on  their  minds,  '•'  and  many  believed  in  him."  "  ^"^     ' 
 
 CHAPTER  XC. 
 
 THE  INDISSOLUBLE  BOND  OF  MARRIAGE THE  EXCELLENCE  OF  VIRGINITY.       MATT.   XIX. 
 
 MARK  X.      LUKE  XVI. 
 
 The  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of  divorces  was  a  subject  of  great  1.  Divorces 
 debate  in  those  times.  Some,  who  were  of  the  school  of  Hillel,  con-  unlawful. 
 tended  that  a  divorce  was  lawful  if  a  wife  were  no  longer  agreeable  to  her  husband  ; 
 founding  their  opinion  on  those  words  of  the  law,  if  she  hath  not  found  favour  in 
 /lis  ei/es.  On  the  contrary,  others,  of  the  school  of  Shammai,  required  a  just  and  law- 
 ful cause  for  a  divorce,  which  could  be  no  other  than  the  crime  of  adultery.  Propter 
 aliquam  fwditatem. 
 
 The  Pharisees  were  desirous  of  obtaining  the  sentiments  of  Jesus  upon  this  im- 
 portant question,  hoping  perhaps  they  should  be  able  from  his  answer  to  render  him 
 unpopular  either  with  the  male  sex,  if  he  confined  within  just  bounds  the  unrestrained 
 
 *  Christ  here  stops  the  mouths  of  the  Jews,  by  otlier  saints,  given  to  him  as  man.     But  secondly, 
 
 an   argfumeni  which  they  could  not  answer,   that  he  adds  at  the   same  time,  and  confirms  what  he 
 
 sometimes   they   were   railed   n-ods   who   acted    by  had  often  told  them,  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God 
 
 God's  authority.    But  then  he  immediately  declares  sent  into  the  world,  that  his  works  show  that  he  ivas 
 
 that  it  is  not  in  this  sense   only  that  he   is  God.  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  him.    By  this  they 
 
 First,  because  he  has  been  sanctified  by  the  Father,  saw  that  he  was  far  from  recalling  or  contradicting 
 
 which  St.   Austin  and  others   understand  of  that  what  he  had  said  before  :    and  therefore,  vcr.  39, 
 
 infinite  sanctification  which  he  has   necessarily,  by  they   sought  to  apprehend   him,   and   put  him   to 
 
 iduays    proceeding  from   the   Father.     Others  ex-  death,  as  guilty  of  blasphemy. 
 j)ouiid  it  of  a  greater  sanctity  and  grace,  above  all 
 
 25.  4  E 
 
290  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  fCh.  XC. 
 
 liberty  which  they  assumed  of  repudiating^  their  wives,  or  with  the  women,  if  he  saiic- 
 
 Matt.  19.  tioned  by  any  mark  of  his  approbation  this  odious  practice  of  the  men.    "  And  there 
 
 ^-       came  to  him  the  Pharisees,  tempting  him,  and  saying- :  is  it  hawful  for  a  man  to  put 
 
 away  his  wife  for  every  cause"  whatever,  frivolous  or  substantial,  just  or  unjust? 
 
 Mai-k  10.  <<  gy^  j,g  answering,"  condemned  these  divorces;  first,  in  themselves  ;  secondly,  in 
 
 their  consequences,  or  the  new  engagements  to  which  they  give  occasion  ;  thirdly, 
 
 indirectly,  by  giving  his  blessing  to  children  who  were  the  fruits  of  a  lawful  union, 
 
 Jesus  therefore  at  first,  as  it  were  to  rid  himself  of  so  unpleasant  a  question,  referred 
 
 the  Pharisees  to  the  law  of  Moses  for  a  decision  of  the  case  proposed  :  but  in  reality 
 
 it  was  to  have  an  opi)ortunity  of  explaining  to  them  a  law  wliieh  they  widely  perverted 
 
 3.  from  the  original  intention  of  the  law-giver.     "  He  theiefore  saith  to  them  :  what 
 
 4.  did  Moses  command  you  ?  Who  said :    Moses  gave  permission  to  write  a  bill  of 
 divorce,  and  to  put  her  away,"  without  any  kind  of  restriction,  or  assigning  any 
 
 5.  cause.     "  To  whom  Jesus  answered,  and  said,"  reprobating  this  their  vague  unre- 
 Matt.  19.  strained  liberty  :  "  have  ye  not  read  that  he  who  made  mun  from  the  beginning  made 
 
 them  a  7nale  and  'a  female  ?"  He  created  not  a  multiplicity  of  women  for  one  man, 
 either  to  join  them  to  him  in  marriage  at  the  same  time,  or  to  allow  him  to  change 
 them  successively  according  to  his  fancy,  whilst  on  the  contrary,  in  the  brute  creation 
 he  created  several  females  for  one  male,  with  a  view  to  the  more  speedy  multiplication 
 of  their  species.  The  state  of  marriage  therefore  should  be  regulated  with  a  reference 
 to  this  first  model,  consequently  admits  not  amongst  the  faithful  a  plurality  of  wives, 
 either  at  one  and  the  same  time,  or  successively,  by  divorcing  one  after  another. 
 This  answer,  derived  from  the  original  state  of  things,  that  is,  from  God's  creating 
 only  one  woman  for  the  first  man,  resolves  not  fully  the  question  proposed  to  Jesus  ; 
 but  he  chose  to  begin  here,  by  showing  the  design  of  the  Almighty  in  the  first 
 institution  of  marriage. 
 
 The  second  reason  is  taken  from  the  marked  preference  which  a  man  is  bound  to 
 give  to  his  wife  in  all  occurrences  of  life,  a  preference  above  every  other  person  or 
 thing  in  the  world.  Of  all  our  connections  one  of  the  nearest  must  be  that  of  a  child 
 with  his  parents,  to  whom,  under  God,  he  owes  his  birth  and  education,  and  whom 
 he  is  bound  to  assist  in  his  turn,  when  labouring  under  poveity  and  want.  Yet, 
 ever  since  the  first  woman  was  taken  from  the  side  of  man,  the  latter  no  sooner  con- 
 tracts a  matrimonial  alliance,  than  he  must,  in  preference  to  his  parents,  inseparably 
 
 5.  attach  himself  to  the  company  of  his  wife  :  "  and"  therefore  "  Christ  said:  for  this 
 
 6,  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  two 
 shall  be  one  flesh."*  Therefore  now  they  are  not  two,  but  "  one  flesh,"  and  to  be 
 esteemed  as  one  person.  This  their  unity  is  evidenced  by  considering  the  origin  of 
 woman.  She  was  not  formed  of  the  earth  as  man  was,  but  from  a  part  of  man's 
 body,  which  afforded  the  materials  whence  she  was  made ;  and  consequently  when 
 Adam  was  married  to  Eve,  he  considered  her  as  no  other  than  as  a  part  of  himself  to 
 which  he  was  now  reunited.  This  first  matrimonial  union  is  the  model  of  all  suc- 
 ceeding marriages ;  there  consequently  exists  no  union  more  strictly  binding  than 
 the  union  of  marriage,  which  raav  be  said  to  effect  even  an  unity  of  persons.     This 
 
 *  Genesis. 
 
Ch.XC]  THE  LIFEOF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  291 
 
 unity  is  farther  proved,  by  considering'  the  union  of  sentiment  caused  by  conjugal 
 love,  and  the  union  of  tliat  individual  society  which  they  contract  for  life.  Upon  the 
 strengtli  of  these  accumulated  reasons,  Jesus  concludes  :  "  What  therefore  God 
 hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder."  The  Pharisees,  who  approved  not 
 this  decision,  but  who  yet  had  no  reply  to  offer  in  opposition  to  the  fixed  laws  of 
 nature,  endeavoured  now  to  shelter  themselves  under  the  authority  of  Moses.  "  They  7. 
 say  to  him  :  why  then  did  Moses  command  to  give  a  bill  of  divorce  and  to  put 
 away?"  The  objection  here  alleged  is  captions  in  the  extreme,  since  Moses  had 
 merely  permitted  or  tolerated  divorces,  requiring  as  a  necessary  condition  the  act  of 
 repudiation  to  be  delivered  in  writing  to  the  divorced  party.  But  the  Pharisees  laid 
 the  stress  of  the  commandment  upon  the  divorce  itself  equally  as  upon  the  condition 
 required,  viz.  the  deed  or  writing  attending  such  divorce.  Jesus,  in  plain  terms, 
 discriminates  that  which  they  thus  confounded  together.  "  He  said  to  them :  8. 
 because  Moses,  by  reason  of  the  hardness  of  your  heart,  permitted  you  to  put  away 
 your  wives  :"  but  by  no  means  commanded  you,  and  this  he  did  to  obviate  greater 
 evils,  it  being  evidently  much  better  that  husbands  should  separate  from  their  wives 
 than  destroy  them  by  poison,  or  any  other  way.  "  But  from  the  beginning  it  was 
 not  so,"  since  God  allowed  not  Adam,  or  any  of  the  ancient  patriarchs,  to  dismiss 
 their  wives ;  insinuating  hereby,  that  from  this  time  forwards  he  would  reduce  the 
 laws  of  marriage  to  their  primitive  state.  Jesus  adds,  that  the  repudiating  of  a  wife, 
 and  the  marrying  of  another,  are  here  to  be  considered  as  two  very  distinct  things.*  9. 
 "  And  I  say  to  you,  that  whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornica- 
 tion, and  shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery  :  and  he  that  shall  marry  her  that 
 is  put  away,  committeth  adultery."  As  for  the  divorce,  he  declares  this  to  be  allow- 
 able only  when  a  wife  has  committed  adultery,  because  in  this  case  she  herself  has 
 first  commenced  the  separation  by  her  infidelity  to  her  husband,  which  he  only  com- 
 pletes by  proceeding  to  the  allowed  divorce.  But  as  to  a  fresh  marriage  in  conse- 
 quence thereof,  he  declares,  that  whosoever  marries  a  woman,  after  having  repudiated 
 his  former  wife,  or  marries  a  woman  repudiated  by  her  husband,  is  guilty  of  adultery, 
 because  a  divorce  by  no  means  breaks  asunder  the  bond  of  marriage,  but  merely 
 puts  an  end  or  termination  to  the  society  of  the  married  couple.  We  are  therefore 
 to  understand  these  words,  except  it  be  for  fornication,  as  an  exception  from  the 
 general  prohibition  of  divorces,  but  by  no  means  as  approving  of  a  fresh  marriage  :  for 
 although  adultery  committed  by  a  wife  may  authorize  a  divorce,  yet  neither  that 
 crime,  nor  any  other,  can  give  a  sanction  to  the  second  marriage  of  a  husband  during 
 the  life  of  his  wife,  nor  legitimate  any  marriage  which  she  may  contract  during  the 
 life  of  her  first  husband.  This  is  an  explicit  answer  to  the  question  proposed  by  the 
 Pharisees.  For  as  the  desire  of  a  second  marriage  was  the  real  motive  which  caused 
 these  divorces  to  be  so  frequent  amongst  the  Jews,  Jesus  makes  it  appear  very  clearly, 
 that  if  it  be  not  allowable  to  marry  a  second  wife,  the  first  being  yet  alive,  even  when 
 the  reason  of  a  divorce  is  strictly  just  and  lawful,  it  must  be  still  more  unlawful  to 
 contract  a  second  marriage,  when  the  divorce  originates  from  frivolous  and  insuffi- 
 
 *  Whether  in  the  old  law.  the  man  who  was  divorced  from   his  wife,  could  lawfullv  marry  another 
 woman,  is  a  dispute  among-  divines. 
 
292  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XC. 
 
 Mark  10.  cient  motives,  and  when  it  is  consequently  unjust  in  the  extreme.     "And  in  the 
 ^^'      house  again  his  disciples,"  greatly  surprised  at  this  decision,  "  asked  him  concerning 
 
 11.  the  same  thing.  And  he  saith  to  them:  whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife  and 
 Luke  16.  marry  another,  committeth  adultery  against  her.  And  he  that  marrieth  her  that  is 
 Mark  10  P"^  ^^^^y  ^''°'"  ^^^''  husband  committeth  adultery.     And  if  the  wife  shall  put  away  her 
 
 12.  husband,  and  be  married  to  another,  she  committeth  adultery."  Here  is  a  definitive 
 sentence  passed  against  all  marriages  subsequent  to  and  grounded  upon  a  divorce, 
 and  whatever  difficulty  there  may  be  in  St.  Matthew,  it  is  here  done  away  by  the 
 
 Matt.  19.  2.  virginiiy  parallel  texts  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke.  "  His  disciples"  hearing 
 recommended,  (his,  "  say  unto  him  :  if  the  case  of  a  man  with  his  wife  be  so,"  that  the 
 bond  between  them  be  indissoluble,  "  it  is  expedient  not  to  marry,"  intimating  that 
 the  effect  of  such  a  prohibition  might  be  no  small  hinderance  to  the  propagation  of 
 
 11.  the  human  race.  ''  Who  said  to  them,"  that  this  effect  was  not  to  be  apprehended, 
 because  "  all  men  take  not  this  word,"*  that  is,  relish  not  the  happiness  of  perpetual 
 
 12.  continency,  "  but  they  to  whom  it  is  given"  from  above  :  "  For  there  are  eunuchs  who 
 were  born  so  from  their  mother's  womb,  and  there  are  eunuchs  who  were  made  so 
 by  man,  and  there  are  eunuchs  who  have  made  themselves  eunuchs,"  by  renouncing 
 all  carnal  pleasures,  "  for"  the  obtaining  of  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  that  can 
 take  it,  let  him  take  it,"  that  is,  let  those  persons  embrace  a  state  of  perfect  con- 
 tinency who  have  strength  to  keep  it.  By  which  words  he  plainly  indicates  that  a 
 state  of  perpetual  continency,  previous  to  a  vohmtary  engagement  thereto,  is  entirely 
 optional,  and  by  no  means  obligatory  ;  and  likewise,  that  they  who  embrace  it  either 
 because  of  some  vow  which  they  have  made,  or  from  a  principle  of  aiming  at  greater 
 perfection,  undertake  a  work  highly  commendable  and  meritorious. 
 
 13-  "  Then  were  little  children  presented  to  him,  also  infants,  that  he 
 
 Luke  18        3.  Little  cfiit-  *  ,/ 
 
 15     '  dren  brought  to  might  touch  them,"  and  "  lay  his  hands  upon  them  and  pray    for  then- 
 
 Matt.  19.  •^^*"*  Christ.       spiritual  good.  This  was  a  proof  of  the  faith  of  the  people,  who  concluded 
 
 that  the  same  hands  which  could  restore  instantaneous  health  to  the  sick,  must  neces- 
 
 Luke  IS.  sarily  impart  every  good  to  such  children  as  they  should  touch.     "  Which  when  the 
 
 Mark  10  ^isciples  saw,  they  rebuked  those  that  brought  them,"  as  if  making  too  free  with 
 
 13.  their  divine  Master,  and  requesting  of  him  what,  in  their  ideas,  was  beneath  his 
 
 14.  dignity.  "  Whom  when  Jesus  saw,"  he  blamed  their  conduct ;  and  to  show  to  the 
 world  that  his  assertions  in  praise  of  virginity  were  not  meant  by  him  as  derogatory 
 from  the  holiness  of  the  marriage  state,  he  chose,  by  giving  his  blessing  to  these 
 little  ones,  to  bestow  a  signal  mark  of  his  approbation  of  that  state  of  life  which  had 
 
 Luke  18.  given  them  birth.     Wherefore,   "  calling  them  together,  he  was  much  displeased, 
 
 ^^'      and  saith  to  them  :  suffer  the  little  children  to  come  imto  me,  and  forbid  them  not : 
 
 for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God,"  of  such  as  imitate  their  huinility,  their  simplicity 
 
 17.      of  mind  and  heart,  and  innocency  of  their  manners.     "  Amen  I  say  to  you,  whosoever 
 
 shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  a  little  child,  shall  not  enter  into  it."    By 
 
 *  To  translate  this  as  Protestants  do,  nil  cannot  one  that  asketh  and  prayeth  for  the  grace  of  God, 
 
 take  or  cannot  receive  this  word,  is   neither  con-  as  St.  Jerom  and  St.  Chrysostom  take  notice  on 
 
 formable  to  the  Latin  nor  to  ihe  Greek  text.     To  this  place, 
 be  able  to  live  singly  and  chastely,  is  given  to  every 
 
Ch.  XCL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  293 
 
 which  words  he  gives  us  to  understand,  that  a  confidence  in  our  own  strength,  in  our 
 
 own  free-will,  and  in  our  own  merits,  is  an  invincible  obstacle  to  salvation,  there 
 
 being  an  infinite  disproportion  between  the  smallness  of  our  merits,  and  the  greatness 
 
 of  eternal  glory.     '*  And  embracing-  them,  and  laying  his  hands  upon  them,    he  MaA  lo. 
 
 blessed  them.*     And  when  he  had"  thus  "  imposed  hands  upon  them,  he  departed  Matt.19.15. 
 
 from  thence." 
 
 CHAPTER  XCL 
 
 JESUS  SHOWS  THE  DANGER  OF  RICHES,   AND  PROMISES  GREAT  REWARDS  TO  THOSE  WHO 
 FORSAKE  ALL  TO  FOLLOW  HIM.      MATT.   XIX.      MARK  X.       LUKE  XVIII. 
 
 "  Now  when  he  was  gone  out  into  the  road,  a  certain  man,"  who  was  a  ruler,  Markio.17. 
 "  running  up  and  kneeling  before  him,  asked  him,  and  said  :  Good  Master,  what  Maikioliz! 
 shall  I  do,  that  I  may  receive  everlasting  life  ?"    He  here  appears  to  have  considered  Mavkio  17! 
 Jesus  in  no  other  light  than  as  a  holy,  and  respectable  personage.     "  And  Jesus,"       is. 
 in  order  to  rectify  his  misconception,  "  said  to  him :   Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?('  Matt.i9.i7. 
 Why  dost  thon  talk  of  good?     None  is"  essentially  "  good  but  one,  that  is  God."  Maikio.is. 
 By  this  reply,  the  young  man  was  given  to  understand,  that  if  he  were  sincere  he 
 ought  to  con.sider  him  also  as  God,  and  not  to  separate  in  him  goodness  from  the 
 divmity,  they  being  in  his  regard  inseparable.     The  rem.iinder  of  this  chapter  shows, 
 1.  The  duties  incumbent  on  the  rich.     2.  The  dangers  which  attend  riches.     3.  The 
 advantages  of  voluntary  poverty. 
 
 J .  Jesus  particularizes  two  sorts  of  good  works  which  this  young  man  should  per- 
 form for  obtaining  the  object  he  had  in  view.     The  first  are  works  of  obligation  or 
 precept ;  the  second  are  works  of  counsel  only,  with  the  view  of  attaining  to  greater 
 perfection.     "  And,"  with  regard  to  the  former,  Jesus  said  :  "  If  you  will  enter  into  Matt.19.17 
 life,  keep  the  commandments."     The  youth  having-  nothing  to  reproach  himself  with 
 on  this  head,   "  said  to  him  :  Which  ?"  expecting  doubtless  to  receive  some  new       is. 
 precepts  from  one  whom  he  viewed  as  a  new  teacher  among  the  Jews.     "  And  Jesus  Lukfisao. 
 said  :  Thou  knowest  the  commandments  :  thou  shalt  not  kill :  thou  shalt  not  commit 
 adultery  :  thou  shalt  not  steal  :  thon  shalt  not  bear  false  witness.     Do  no  fraud  ;  Mavkio.io. 
 honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother;  and  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  '  ""Ijo;' 
 The  young  man,"  with  a  degree  of  confidence,  "  saith  to  him  ;  Master,  all  these  jJ^t^^g.^Q* 
 things    I   have  observed  from   my   youth:    what  is  yet  wanting  to  me?    Which  Lukei^ 21. 
 when  Jesus  heard,  looking  on  him"  with  an  eye  of  complacency,  "  he  loved  him"  Luk>;i8.i!2! 
 
 *  Hi'iice  probably  arose  the  ancient  custom  of         t  In  the  text  we  have  given  bolli  answers,  bc- 
 
 presentinj  children  to  bishops  and  priests  to  receive  cause  as  the   young-  man  addressed  Jesus  Christ 
 
 their  blessini!:.     Nicephorus  tells  us,  that  the  cele-  with  the  title  of  Good  Mader,  and   likewise  asked 
 
 bra  ed  St.  Ignatius,  afterwards  bishop  of  Antioch,  him,  what  good    he  was  to   do?    therefore  Jesus, 
 
 was  one  of  these   children  who   received   Christ's  according  to  some  interpreters,  returned  two  dis- 
 
 blessing-  on  this  occasion.  tinct  answers. 
 
 25.  4  F 
 
294  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCI. 
 
 Matt.19.21.  with  a  more  tender  affection,  "  and  said  to  liiin :  Yet  one  thing  is  wanting  to  thee  ; 
 MMkio2i'  if  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go,  sell  all  things  whatsoever  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor, 
 and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven,  and  come,  follow  me."     The  young  man 
 was  not  aware  of  the  inordinate  attachment  which  he  had  to  the  things  of  this  world, 
 nor  did  he  know  the  extent  of  that  charity  which  the  rich  owe  as  a  strict  duty  to  the 
 poor  and  indigent.     In  calling  for  this  entire  sacrifice  of  his  worldly  goods,  Jesus 
 brought  this  his  virtue  to  a  severe  trial,  not  indeed  as  if  it  were  absolutely  necessary 
 to  enable  him  to  keep  the  commandments,  but  only  as  the  means  of  keeping  them 
 with  greater  facility  and  perfection.     I  say  with  greater  Hicility  and  perfection,  for 
 this  renunciation  of  earthly  goods  removes   the  chief  obstacles  of  divine  charity, 
 which  are  anxious  cares  and  solicitudes  for  this  world  ;  it  cuts  off  the  abuse  of  riches^ 
 and  even  the  power  of  abusing  them  ;  and  consequently  it  extirpates  the  very  root,  as 
 it  were,  of  all  sin,  which  is  an  inordinate  attachment  to  the  things  of  this  world. 
 Thus  we  see  that  evangelical  perfection  essentially  consists  in  the  perfect  observance 
 of  God's  commandments,  and  that  this  fidelity  to  our  duty  is  greatly  assisted  by  em- 
 bracing not  only  voluntary  poverty,  but  also  the  other  counsels  given  to  us  in  the 
 Matti9.22.  Gospels,  such  as  perpetual  chastity  and  entire  obedience.     "  And  when  the  young 
 Maxkio.22.  ^^^^  j^^^  heard  this  word,  being  struck  sad  at  the  saying,  he  went  away  sorrowful, 
 Lukei8.24.         The  salva-  ^^^'  '^^  ^^^^  gvei^t  possessions.   And  Jesus  seeing  him  become  sorrowful, 
 Markio.23.  Hon  of  the  rich  looking  about,  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  how  hardly  shall  they  that  have 
 Matt.19.23.  difficult.  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  !.  Amen  I  say  to  you,  that  a  rich 
 
 Markio.24.  man  shall  hardly  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  the  disciples  were  astonished 
 Matt.19.24.  at  his  words.  But  Jesus  again  answering,  saith  to  them  :  Again  I  say  to  you,  chil- 
 Markio.24.  dren,  how  hard  is  it  for  them  who  trust  in  riches,  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God ! 
 25.  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle*  than  for  a  rich  man  to 
 Markio.2c'.  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  when  they  had  heard  this,  the  disciples  wou- 
 Matt.19.25.  ^gj.^j  the  more,  saying  among  themselves:  Who  then  can  be  saved?"  For  all 
 men  either  possess  riches  or  desire  to  possess  them. 
 
 The  dangers  which  attend  on  riches  and  affluence  arise  from  the  several  evils  and 
 temptations  which  are  occasioned  by  them.  1.  Riches  impose  on  the  possessor  the 
 greatest  duties  of  charity  towards  the  indigent.  2.  They  are  no  small  impediment 
 to  his  discharging  those  duties,  by  naturally  inspiring  him  with  an  eagerness  both  to 
 keep  what  he  has,  and  to  add  thereto  by  care  and  parsimony.  3.  They  not  only 
 inflame  the  passions,  but  also  supply  the  means  of  indulging  them.  4.  They  insen- 
 sibly fill  him  with  pride,  self-love,  a  confidence  in  his  own  strength,  a  forgetfulness  of 
 God,  together  with  a  contempt  for  his  equals,  and  a  spirit  of  insolence  even  to  those 
 who  are  above  him.  Finally,  experience  evinces  that  many,  when  under  the  necessity 
 of  losing  either  their  worldly  goods  or  their  souls,  blindly  sacrifice  their  conscience 
 and  eternal  happiness,  to  this  base  passion  for  perishable  riches. 
 
 These  and  such  like  considerations  arising  from  the  words  of  Christ,  weighed  so 
 powerfully  with  the  Apostles,  that  they  considered  the  salvation  of  rich  worldings  as 
 
 t  This  might  be  a  common  sayiiip;  to  signify  a     rope  ;    but  in  the  Greek  it  is  KafiijXov,  a  camel. 
 I  nine:  almost   impossible   or   exceedingly  difficult,     which  is  different  from  mifuXoi,  a  eabie. 
 Several  moderns  here  understand  a  cable  or  ship- 
 
CI..  XCI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  295 
 
 next  to  impossible;    "  and  Jesus  looking  on  them,"  witli  a  more  indulgent  eye,  Mark  lo. 
 "  saitli  to  them :  With  men  this  is  impossible,  but  not  with  God  :  for  all  things  that  ^i^J\g 
 are  impossible  with  men,  are  possible  with  God."     He  who  is  the  master  of  man's      26. 
 heart,  can  easily  disengage  it  from  its  greatest  attachments.    Wherefore  this  implies  ^^"^^  ^°- 
 not,  that  God  can  or  will  save  the  rich  whilst  they  continue  enslaved  to  their  riches,  Luke  18. 
 and  to  all  those  habits  of  vice,  which  are  frequently  the  concomitants  of  affluence  ;  but      ^7. 
 that  God  by  his  all-powerful  grace,  can  withdrav/  the  rich  from  the  abuse  and  cor- 
 ruption which  usually  follow  affluence,  by  infusing  into  their  minds  the  virtues  of 
 charity  and  humility,  and  all  those  other  virtues  in  which  they  are  so  generally 
 deficient.     However,  whilst  God  gives  wealth  and  opulent  estates  to  thousands,  to 
 very  few  does  he  give  at  the  same  time  the  spirit  of  poverty,  and  the  right  use  of 
 riches.     "  Then  Peter  answering"  for  himself  and  his  brethren,   "  said  to  him :  Matt.  19 
 behold  we  have  left  all  things,  and  have  followed  thee,  what  therefore     ^  The  reward      ^''' 
 shall  we  have,"  seeing  we  have  thus  observed  the  coiuisel  thou  hast  of  leaving   all 
 given  to  this  young  man  ?     "  And  Jesus  said  to  them  :  Amen  I  say  to  J°''  '^^''"'-  28. 
 
 you,  that  you  who  have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  man  shall 
 sit  on  the  seat  of  his  majesty,  you  also  shall  sit  on  twelve  seats,  judging  the  twelve 
 tribes  of  Israel ;"  that  is,  all  Christian  nations  who  compose  the  true  Israel  of  God, 
 and  who  are  prefigured  or  represented  by  the  twelve  tribes  of  the  Jewish  people. 
 What  is  here  said  has  no  reference  to  the  judging  of  infidels,  because  having  never 
 embraced  the  Christian  faith,  or  having  afterwards  relinquished  it,  they  are  already 
 judged. 
 
 The  reward  here  held  out  to  the  Apostles,  is  to  be  considered  as  peculiar  to  them- 
 selves at  the  day  of  judgment :  but  with  regard  to  that  other  recompense  which  they 
 are  to  receive  even  in  this  life,  this  is  not  limited  solely  to  them,  but  promised  to  all 
 those  who  shall  imitate  their  example.     "  And  there  is  no  man,"  says  Christ,  "  who  Mark  10 
 hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or      29. 
 lands,  for  my  sake,  and  for  the  gospel,  who  shall  not  receive  an  hundred  times  as      30. 
 much  now  in  this  time  ;  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children, 
 and  lands,  with  persecutions  :*  and  in  the  world  to  come,  life  everlasting."     This 
 promise  has  been  literally  accomplished  :    1.  When  the  faithful  that  were  in  affluence, 
 sold  all  their  possessions  and  brought  the  amount  to  the  Apostles,  to  be  employed  by 
 them  for  the  common  maintenance  of  the  indigent  members  in  the  infant  Church. 
 2.  By  that  charitable  and  hospitable  disposition  which  prevailed  amongst  the  faithful, 
 even  to  that  degree  that  all  things  were  common  among  them  ;  each  one's  necessities 
 being  supplied  from  the  common  stock.    3.  By  that  unity  of  religion  which  rendered 
 all  the  first  Christians^  as  brethren  to  each  other,  through  a  spirit  of  mutual  charity, 
 
 *  This  is  added  by  St.  Mark,  lest  we  should  property  for  Christ's  sake,  and  driven  from  their 
 imagine,  that  Christ  promises  here  a  temporal  native  land,  have  found  in  this  country  a  secure 
 felicity.  He  does  not  promise  sensual  delights,  but  asylum.  In  the  English,  though  of  a  ditferent 
 interior  consolations,  the  peace  of  a  good  con-  reli:>ion,  they  have  experienced  the  affection  of 
 science,  and  spiritual  gifts  and  graces,  which  are  fathers  and  mothers,  of  brothers  and  sisters  ;  they 
 far  more  valualjle  than  all  temporal  goods. — It  may  have  been  admitted  into  their  houses,  and  enter- 
 here  be  remarked  how  wonderfully  the  promises  of  tained  at  their  tables  with  a  liberality  truly  noble 
 Christ  have  been  verified  in  favour  of  so  many  and  characteristic  of  Britons 
 French  ecclesiastics,  who,  after  being  stript  of  their 
 
296  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCIL 
 
 and  consequently  as  ready,  as  their  nearest  relatives  could  have  been,  to  supply  each 
 other's  wants,  accordingr  to  their  several  ages  and  employments  in  the  Church.  4. 
 This  is  moreover  accomplished  in  the  present  times,  when,  with  the  view  of  seeking 
 greater  perfection^  Christians  abandon  their  goods  and  houses,  their  parents  and 
 friends,  and  enter  into  a  religious  order,  where  the  number  of  their  friends  and  goods 
 are,  properly  speaking,  multiplied  an  hundred  fold. 
 
 Jesus  declares,  that  besides  the  preceding  promise,  they  shall  receive  in  the  next 
 31.  world  everlasting  life :  "  But"  he  adds,  that  "  many  that  are  first"  here,  "  shall  be 
 last,  and  the  last  first."  As  if  he  had  said  to  the  Apostles  ;  perhaps  you  may  have 
 some  difficulty  to  persuade  yourselves  that  a  small  number  of  poor  fishermen,  such  as 
 yon  are,  will  ever  be  placed  as  judges  over  all  the  great  ones,  the  wise  men,  and  the 
 kings  of  the  earth.  But  I  here  assure  you,  that  many  who  take  pride  in  this  life  from 
 their  high  qualities  and  superior  rank,  shall  be  reckoned  as  nothing  in  the  next  life, 
 since  they  shall  be  excluded  from  eternal  happiness :  whilst  they,  who  now  in  the 
 eyes  of  worldings  are  even  humbled  to  the  dust  and  dirt  of  the  earth,  shall  then  be 
 exulted  and  raised  infinitely  above  the  heads  of  their  proud  oppressors'in  this  world. 
 
 CHAPTER  XCII. 
 
 THE  LABOURERS  OF  THE  VINEYARD.     MATT.  XX. 
 
 The  immediate  design  of  the  following  parable  was  to  show  that  the  Gentiles^  though 
 called  later  than  the  Jews,  would  be  equally  made  partakers  with  them  of  God's 
 promises.  In  a  manner  no  less  clear  and  natural,  it  expresses  the  goodness  of  God 
 in  calling  mankind  to  his  service,  in  every  age  since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and 
 in  every  part  of  the  life  of  man  ;  pointing  out  at  the  same  time,  the  different  conduct 
 Matt.  20.  of  the  Almighty  respecting  the  choice  which  he  makes  of  his  elect.  ''  The  kingdom 
 ^'       of  heaven,"  that  is,  the  Church  of  Christ,  "  is  like  to  a  householder,  who  went  out 
 
 2.  .  early  in  the  morning  to  hire  labourers  into  his  vineyard  ;  and  having  agreed  with  the 
 
 3.  labourers  for  a  penny*  a  day,  he  sent  them  into  his  vineyard.     And  going  out  about 
 the  third  hour,"t  that  is,  between  eight  and  nine,  "  he  saw  others  standing  in  the 
 
 4-       market  place  idle  :  and  he  said  to  them  :  go  you  also  into  my  vineyard,  and  I  will 
 ^.       give  you  what  shall  be  just,|  and  they  went  their  way.    And  again  he  went  out  about 
 
 ■"  *   A  Roman  penny  (denarius)  was  about  seven-  of  this  time  was  called  the  third  hour.     The  next 
 
 pence  half-penny  in  our  money.     It  is  put  here  for  great  hour  was  from  that  time  till  mid-day,  called 
 
 the  usual  hire  of  a  day-labourer.  the  sixth  hour.      The  following' great  hour  contained 
 
 t   As   the   Jews  divided   their  nights   into  four  half  of  the  time  betwixt  noon  and  the  setting  of  (lie 
 
 watches,  each  watch  comprehending  three  hours  ;  sun,  the  end   of  which  was  called  the  ninth  hour, 
 
 so  they   divided  the  day  into   four  greater   hours,  'lihe  fourth  great  hour  comprehended  the  last  tlirce 
 
 from   sun-rise  to   sun-set,  and  each  of  these  great  lesser  hours,  remaining  till   sun-set,  so  that  at  the 
 
 hours   contained   three   lesser  hours  ;    so   that   the  end  of  the  eleventh   hour  mentioned  here,  ver.  6. 
 
 whole   dav,  from   sunrise  to   sunset,   consisted  of  began  the  last  lesser  hour  of  the  twelve  hours  of  the 
 
 twelve  unequal  hours,  as  also  did  the  night.     The  day,  of  which  our  Saviour  said  :  }o.  \\.Q.  are  there 
 
 first  of  tlip  great  hours  (comprehending  the  three  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day? 
 
 first  lesser  hours)  contained  half  of  the  space  be-  +    The  prospect  of  reward   therefore  is  a   good 
 
 twixlthe  rising  of  the  sun  and  mid-day,  and  the  end  motive,  authorized  by  Christ  himself. 
 
]6. 
 
 Ch.  XCII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CFIRIST.  297 
 
 the  sixth"  hour,  which  lasted  from  eleven  o'clock  till  mid-day,  "  and"  likewise  about 
 ''the  ninth  hour,"  which  is  from  two  to  three  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  "  he  did  in 
 like  manner.     But  about  the  eleventh  hour,"  which  answers  to  the  hour  between  four       6. 
 and  five,  ''  he  went  out  and  found  others  standing-,  and  he  saith  to  them  :   why  stand 
 you  here  all  the  day  idle  ?     They  say  to  him,  because  no  man  hath  hired  us  :*  he       7. 
 saith  to  them  :  go  you  also  into  my  vineyard.     And  when  the  evening  was  come,  the       8. 
 lord  of  the  vineyard  saith  to  his  steward  :  call  the  labourers  and  pay  them  their  hire, 
 beginning  from  the  last,  and  so  on  to  the  first.     When  therefore  they  came  who  had       9. 
 come  about  the  eleventh  hour,  they  received  every  man  a  penny.     But  when  the  first      10. 
 also  came,  they  thought  that  they  should  receive  more :    but  they  received  also  a 
 penny  a  piece.     And  receiving  it  they  murmured  against  the  master  of  the  house,      H. 
 saying- :  these  last  have  worked  but  one  hour,  and  thou  hast  made  them  equal  to  us,       12- 
 who  have  borne  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the  heats.     But  he  answering,  said  to  one      13. 
 of  them  :  friend,  I  do  thee  no  wrong :  didst  not  thou  agree  with  me  for  a  peimy"  a 
 day  ?     "  Take  what  is  thine  and  go  thy  way  :t  it  is  my  will  to  give  to  this  last  even      ^^■ 
 as  to  thee.     Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  as  I  will"  with  my  money,  and  this  without      ^^• 
 exciting  thy  jealousy  ?    "  Is  thy  eye  evil  because  I  am"  thus  "  good"  and  generous  ? 
 "  So,"  at  the  day  of  jndg-ment,  "  shall  the  last"  in  this  world  "  be  the  first,  and" 
 those  that  have  been  "  the  first"  here  on  earth,  shall  be  "  last  in  the  kingdom  of 
 heaven  ;"  that  is,  they  shall  be  for  ever  excluded  from  it :  this,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will 
 be  the  misfortune  of  far  the  greater  number;   "  for  many  are  called"  by  faith,  "  but 
 few  are  chosen"  and  admitted  into  glory,  because  they  do  not  persevere  in  the  grace 
 and  love  of  God. 
 
 The  foregoing  is  the  shell  of  the  parable,  which  is  easily  explained,  if  we  set  aside 
 the  various  times  or  hours  in  which  the  father  of  the  family  went  out  to  hire  labourers. 
 
 The  father,  or  master  of  the  family,  is  God  himself,  the  public  place  is  the  world, 
 where,  previous  to  a  call  from  God,  each  one  is  idle  and  doing  nothing  to  the  pur- 
 pose. The  vineyard  is  the  Church  of  God,  in  which  each  vine  is  every  faithful  soul ; 
 the  labourers  are  mankind  in  general.  The  hiring-  of  the  labourers  is  the  calling  of 
 mankind  into  the  Church  by  faith,  which  is  a  gift  of  God.  The  various  hours  of 
 hiring  are  the  different  periods  in  which  men  are  so  called.  The  work  performed  in 
 the  vineyard  consists  in  the  endeavours  used  by  the  Apostles,  and  their  successors,  to 
 plant  the  faith  in  the  souls  of  the  faithful ;  it  refers  likewise  to  the  care  which  each 
 one  takes  in  the  cultivation  of  his  own  soul  by  the  diligent  practice  of  virtue ;  the 
 penny,  bestowed  as  the  price  of  labour,  represents  eternal  life,  or  the  kingdom  of 
 heaven:  the  steward,  or  overseer  of  the  labourers,  is  Jesus  Christ  himself:  the 
 evening,  when  the  labourers  are  paid  for  their  work,  is  the  end  of  the  world,  for  at  the 
 general  resurrection  each  one  shall  be  rewarded  according  to  his  works. 
 
 By  the  daj/  of  labour,  many,  with  St.  Gregory,  understand  all  the  time  from  the 
 creation  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  so  the  third  hour  is  reckoned  from  Adam  to 
 Noe  :  the  sixth  from  Noe  to  Abraham  :  the  ninth,  from  Abraham  to  Moses  :  the 
 eleventh,  from  Moses  to  Christ's  coming:  and  the  time  from  Christ  to  the  end  of  the 
 
 *  All  Christians  are  called  (that  is,  put  into  the  t  A  Christian,  truly  humble,  is  ever  satisfied 
 way  of  salvation)  at  their  baptism.  with  his  lot,  without  envying  that  of  others. 
 
 S6.  4g 
 
298  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  [Ch.  XCIL 
 
 world  is  the  twelfth  hour,  of  which  St.  John  says  :*  my  children,  it  is  the  last  hour. 
 Other  interpreters,  by  the  dm/,  understand  human  life,  and  by  the  different  hours, 
 infancy,  youth,  the  age  of  manhood,  old  age,  and  finally,  by  the  last  hour,  decrepit  age, 
 in  all  which  periods  God  calls  us  to  labour  in  his  service. 
 
 Mauduit  g-ives  another  explanation  of  this  dai/  0/ labour,  referring  it  to  that  space 
 of  time  which  will  intervene  between  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  end  of  the 
 world.  In  this  view,  the  different  hours  of  it  represent  the  different  missions  which 
 have  taken  place  for  the  conversion  of  infidels  in  various  parts  of  the  globe,  and 
 which  will  continue  through  the  course  of  all  succeeding  ages.  Thus  the  first  going 
 out  may  signify  the  sending  of  the  twelve  Apostles,  or  of  other  apostolic  men,  who 
 preached  the  faith  throughout  the  world  in  the  first  age.  The  second  going  out, 
 which  took  place  at  the  third  hour,  may  denote  the  mission  which  St.  Fabian,  Pope, 
 sent  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century  into  Pagan  Gaul,  where  we  find  St.  Satur- 
 ninus  directed  to  Toulouse,  St.  Gatian  to  Tours,  St.  Denys  to  Paris,  and  many  others. 
 The  third  going  out,  at  the  sixth  hour,  is  perhaps  the  mission  which  St.  Gregory, 
 Pope,  sent  here  to  England,  towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  age,  when  St.  Austin  and 
 St.  Melitus  were  deputed  for  that  purpose :  or  perhaps  it  is  that  mission  which  St. 
 Boniface  undertook  in  lower  Germany,  by  the  command  of  Pope  Gregory  II.  at  the 
 commencement  of  the  eighth  century.  The  fourth  going  out,  which  was  at  the  ninth 
 hour,  corresponds  witli  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  towards  the  middle  of  the 
 sixteenth  century,  as  well  as  with  all  the  succeeding  missions  in  11x2  East  and  West 
 Indies. t  Lastly,  if  it  be  allowable  to  offer  a  plausible  explanation  of  prophecies  not 
 yet  accomplished,  the  fiftli  going  out,  which  is  at  the  eleventh  hour,  may  possibly  be 
 realized,  when  the  gospel  shall  be  preached  to  those  nations  that  have  apostatized 
 from  Christianity,  as  likewise  to  those  that  have  been  lately  and  are  still  to  be  dis- 
 covered. This  last  mission  is  foretold  in  the  Apocalypse,  by  the  representation  of  an 
 angel  flying  towards  the  south,  hadiig  the  eternal  gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  ait 
 upon  the  earth,  &c. 
 
 We  may  here  take  notice  with  St.  Chrysostom,  that  in  parables  all  parts  are  not 
 significant,  some  things  being  said  as  mere  ornaments  of  discourse  :  such  are  the 
 murmurings  here  mentioned  which  cannot  be  found  in  heaven  ;  nor  can  men  pretend 
 they  are  not  hired  into  God's  service:  for  to  all  God  has  given  lights  and  graces. 
 and  has  promised  heaven  as  a  recompense  of  their  fidelity.  The  rewards  in  heaven 
 are  also  different,  and  they  who  are  last  called,  if  they  labour  with  greater  fervour, 
 may  deserve  a  greater  reward  than  others  who  were  called  before  them. 
 
 *  1  John  ii.  18. 
 
 t  See  in  Mr.  Butler's  SS.  Lives  an  account  of  the  labours  of  the  above  apostolic  missionaries. 
 
Ch.  XCIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  299 
 
 CHAPTER  XCIII. 
 
 CHRIST  HEALS  THE  DROPSY,  AND  RECOMMENDS  HUMILITY  AND  HOSPITALITY  TO  THE 
 POOR PARABLE  OF  THE  GREAT  SUPPER.      LUKE  XIV. 
 
 "  And  it  came  to  pass  when  Jesus  went  into  the  house  of  one  of  the  chief  of  the  Luke  14 
 Pharisees  on  the  Sabbatli-day,  to  eat  bread,  that  they  watched  him."     On   this       ^' 
 occasion  we  behold  Jesus  working-  a  miracle  in  the  cure  of  a  man  sick  of  a  dropsy. 
 2.  Givino-  sublime  instructions  to  all  the  company,  as  well  as  to  the  master  of  the 
 house.     3.  Addressing  to  them  a  parable  descriptive  of  the  glory  of  heaven.     "  And       2. 
 behold  there  was  a  certain  man  before  him  that  had  the  dropsy,  and    i.  Christ  heals      3. 
 Jesiis  answering,  spoke  to  the  lawyers  and  Pharisees,  saying:    is  it       the  dropsy. 
 lawfid  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath-day?     But  they  held  their  peace  ;"  not  being  willing      4. 
 eitliei'  to  give  a  sanction  to  that  which  they  had  hitherto  uniformly  condemned,  or  to 
 pass  an  absolute  sentence  of  condemnation  against  what  they  well  knew  him  capable 
 of  justifying  by  invincible  arguments.     "  But  he  taking  him"  by  the  hand,  thus  to 
 remove  all  doubt  of  the  author  of  his  cure,  "  healed  him,  and  sent  him  away"  per- 
 fectly sound.     "  And  answering  them,  he  said,"  in  justification  of  the  miracle:       5. 
 "  which  of  you  shall  have  an  ass  or  an  ox  fall  into  a  pit,  and  will  not  immediately 
 draw  him  out  on  the  Sabbath-day,  though  with  much  toil  and  labour?"    He  hence  left 
 tliem  to  ip.fer,  that  if  it  were  allowable  to  save  the  life  of  an  animal  on  that  day,  though 
 with  considerable  trouble,  how  much  more  so  to  restore  health  to  a  sick  man  on  the 
 present  occasion,  especially  since  a  word,  or  a  mere  touch  of  the  hand,  was  sufficient 
 to  effect  his  cure.     "And  they  could  not  answer  him  to  these  things."     And  each       6. 
 one  being  now  seated  at  table,  Jesus  took  an  opportunity  to  give  them  two  important 
 instructions,  one  of  which  recommended  to  the  guests  there  present  the  virtue  of 
 humility,  the  other  the  virtue  of  charity,  which  last  was  more  particularly  addressed 
 to  the  master  of  the  house  by  whom  he  had  been  invited. 
 
 "  And  he  spoke  a  parable  also  to  them  that  were  invited,  marking      g     y^^^  l^^^^       7. 
 how  they  chose  the  first  seats  at  the  table,  saying  to  them  :  when  thou  place  to  be  cho- 
 art  invited  to  a  wedding,  sit  not  down  in  the  first  place,  lest  perhaps  *"''  8. 
 
 one  more  honourable  than  thou  be  invited  by  him,  and  he  that  invited  thee  and  him       tf. 
 come  and  say  to  thee  :  give  this  man  place,  and  then  thou  begin  with  shame  to  take 
 the  lowest  place  ;"  for  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  others,  who  are  already 
 seated,  should  relinquish  for  thee  their  several  stations  at  the  table.     "  But  when      10 
 thou  art  invited,  go  sit  down  in  the  lowest  place :  that  when  he  who  invited  thee 
 Cometh,  he  may  say  to  thee,  friend,*  go  up  higher.     Then  shalt  thou  have  glory 
 before  them  that  sit  at  table  with  thee  ;  because  every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall      11. 
 be  humbled,  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted."     Thus,  after  curing  a 
 man  swelled  with  a  watery  disorder,  Jesus  administers  a  remedy  to  such  as  were 
 puffed  up  with  pride.    Of  these  two  disorders,  that  of  the  mind,  which  may  be  termed 
 a  spiritual  dropsy,  is  fi\r  more  difficult  to  be  cured.     Our  blessed  Lord,  sensible  how 
 
 *  This  may  be  one,  tlio;igli  not  the  chief  motive.  Phil.  iv.  8. 
 
2QQ  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCllI. 
 
 deficient  the  Pharisees  were  in  interior  humility,  advises  them  to  practise  at  least 
 that  which  is  exterior,  and  which  consists  in  offices  of  civility  and  condescension  to 
 our  neighbour.  To  persuade  them,  he  urges  as  an  argument,  that  this  conduct  is 
 the  very  means  of  preserving  that  credit  and  reputation  of  which  they  were  so  ambi- 
 tious, since  it  ever  reflects  a  greater  discredit  to  be  displaced  from  an  honourable 
 station,  than  it  brings  honour  to  us  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  have  attained  to  it. 
 Moreover,  this  apparent  modesty  and  backward  conduct,  which  induces  us  to  sit 
 down  in  the  lowest  place,  may  justly  be  considered  as  a  leading  step  to  bring  us 
 forward  to  a  true  and  genuine  humility. 
 3.  The  poor  Having  thus  recommended  the  practice  of  humility,  Jesus  now  gives 
 
 to  be  invited.    ^  lesson  of  prudence  to  his  guest-master,  by  advising  him  to  employ 
 
 12.  his  riches  in  favour  of  the  poor,  and  with  a  view  to  his  own  eternal  happiness.  "  And 
 he  said  to  him  also  that  had  invited  him  :  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper, 
 call  not  thy  friends,*  nor  thy  brethren,  nor  thy  kinsmen,  nor  thy  neighbours  who  are 
 rich  :  lest  perhaps  they  also  invite  thee  again,  and  a  recompense  be  made  to  thee. 
 
 13.  But  when  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  and  the  blind, 
 
 14.  and  thou  shalt  be  blessed,  because  they  have  not  wherewith  to  make  thee  recompense  : 
 
 15.  for  recompense  shall  be  made  thee  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  When  one  of  them 
 that  sat  at  table  with  him,  had  heard  these  things,  he  said  to  him  :  blessed  is  he  that 
 
 16.  shall  eat  bread  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  But"  Jesus  answered  him  by  the  following 
 parable,  which  tended  to  show  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the 
 higher  classes  among  the  Jews  would,  by  their  own  fault,  be  excluded  from  that 
 
 4    T/ig  „reat     heavenly  banquet.     And  "  he  said  to  him  :  a  certain   rich  man  made  a 
 
 17.  supper.-\  oreat  supper,  and  invited  many.  And  he  sent  his  servant  at  the  hour 
 of  supper  to  say  to  them  that  were  invited,  that  they  should  come,  for  now  all  things 
 
 18.  are  ready.  And  they  began  all  at  once  to  make  excuse.  The  first  said  to  him,  I 
 have  bought  a  farm,  and  I  must  needs  J  go  out  and  see  it,  I  pray  thee  hold  me 
 
 19.  excused.     And  another  said,  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go  to  try  them  : 
 
 20.  I  pray  thee  hold  me  excused.     And  another  said,  I  have  married  a  wife,  and  there- 
 
 21.  fore  I  cannot  come.  And  the  servant  returning  told  these  things  to  his  lord.  Then 
 the  master  of  the  house  being  angry,  said  to  his  servant ;  go  out  quickly  into  the 
 streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  hither  the  poor  and  the  feeble,  and  the 
 
 22.  blind  and  the  lame.     And  the  servant  said  :  lord,  it  is  done  as  thou  hast  commanded, 
 
 23.  and  yet  there  is  room.     And  the  lord  said  to  the  servant :  go  out  into  the  highways 
 
 24.  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled.  But  I  say 
 unto  you,  that  none  of  those  men  that  were  invited  shall  taste  of  my  supper." 
 
 The  plain  import  of  this  parable  was,  that  the  chiefs  and  main  body  of  the  Jews 
 •would  be  rejected  for  their  obstinacy,  while  the  most  despicable  part  of  them  in  the 
 
 *  Christ  does  not  forbid  us  by  this  to  invite  our  t  See  on  the  same  subject,  chap.  114. 
 
 friends,  our  neighbours,  &c.  ;   but  he   would  have  J  Here  is  a  necessity  made   of  that   which    pro- 
 
 us  call  the  poor  as  well   as  them.     While  the  rich  ceeds  only  from  our  passions  and  corrupt  affections, 
 
 feast,  the  poor  must  not  fast.      Or   perhaps   it  may  No  business  is  innocent,  when  it  hinders  us   horn 
 
 mean,    that   no   reward   is   to   be   expected,    except  taking  care  of  our  souls, 
 when    such  things  are  done  through  a   motive  of 
 charity. 
 
Ch.  XCIV]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  301 
 
 streets  and  lanes,  together  with  the  still  more  despised  Gentiles  in  the  highways  and 
 hedges,  would  be  called  in  by  faith  to  partake  of  the  eternal  banquet  of  heaven. 
 Accordingly,  the  poorer  sort  of  Jews,  whom,  according  to  the  prophets,  Jesus  was 
 sent  to  instruct,  were  almost  the  only  followers  whom  he  had  whilst  here  upon  earth  ; 
 and  after  his  resurrection  he  sent  his  Apostles  and  their  successors  to  the  despised 
 Gentiles,  in  order  to  compel  them,  by  the  invincible  force  of  miracks,  of  prayers,  of 
 threats,  and  of  martyrdom,  to  abandon  the  false  religion  of  their  forefathers,  and  thus 
 gain  possession  of  those  places  in  heaven  of  which  the  Jews,  by  their  obduracy,  had 
 rendered  themselves  unworthy. 
 
 This  parable,  however,  is  no  less  applicable  to  Christians  than  to  the  Jews.  The 
 eternal  happiness  of  heaven  is  here  compared  to  a  great  banquet,  because  the  fruition 
 of  the  Divinity  will  hereafter  so  fully  content  the  desires  of  man's  heart,  as  to  leave 
 nothino-  further  to  be  desired  :  it  is  called  likewise  a  supper,  because  each  individual 
 will  partake  of  it  only  at  the  close  of  life,  and  the  aggregate  number  of  the  elect  only 
 at  the  end  of  the  world,  when  this  supper  is  to  be  followed  by  everlasting  rest  and 
 quiet.  This  happiness  of  heaven  is  designed  by  Almighty  God  for  all  mankind,  and 
 therefore  he  sends  his  servants,  the  ministers  of  his  word,  to  invite  us  all  to  this 
 celestial  banquet,  in  the  most  pressing  manner,  because  all  things  are  ready  and 
 waiting  our  attendance.  But  the  bulk  of  mankind  pay  little  attention  to  so  kind  an 
 invitation  :  they  all,  says  the  parable,  began  to  excuse  themselves.  One  said,  that  he 
 had  bought  a  farm  and  must  needs  go  to  see  it ;  another  that  he  had  bought  some 
 oxen  and  was  going  to  try  them  ;  the  third  made  answer,  that  he  had  married  a  wife 
 and  could  not  come.  This  is  a  Uvely  representation  of  all  those  worldly-minded 
 Christians,  who  are  so  taken  up  with  the  affairs  and  pleasures  of  this  life  as  to  neg- 
 lect the  happiness  of  heaven  and  the  eternal  salvation  of  their  souls. — But  we  may 
 observe,  that  these  several  pretences  which  keep  numberless  Christians  from  the 
 service  of  God,  will  be  of  no  avail  hereafter  with  Christ,  and  therefore  he  declares 
 that  none  of  them  shall  taste  his  supper.  His  mercy,  thus  abused,  will  give  way  to 
 justice  ;  he  will  call  in  others  to  fill  up  the  number  of  his  guests  ;  and  he  will  make 
 them  eternally  happy  with  him  in  heaven,  whilst  on  the  former  he  will  exercise  the 
 rigour  of  his  just  judgments  for  all  eternity. 
 
 CHAPTER  XCIV. 
 
 CHRIST  TEACHES  THAT  ALL  THINGS  ARE  TO  BE  RENOUNCED  FOR  HIS  SAKE.      LUKE  XIV. 
 
 "  And"  on  a  certain  day  ''  there  went  great  multitudes  with  him,"  and  being  well  Luke  14 
 aware  that  the  generality  of  them  were  enslaved  to  their  evil  inclinations  and  passions,      23. 
 without  any  design  of  changing  their  lives,  he  addressed  himself  to  them,  and  pointed 
 out,   1.  The  conditions  required  of  all  his  followers;*    2.  The  reasons  upon  which 
 
 *  It  was  likewise  a  custom  of  the  Jewish  Doctors  to  lay  before  their  proselytes  what  inconvenience 
 would  attend  the  embracing  of  their  religion. 
 
 26.  4  H 
 
302  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  XCIV. 
 
 these  conditions  were  grounded  ;  3.  The  proper  character  of  his  true  as  well  as  false 
 
 26.  disciples.  Wherefore,  "  turning  he  said  to  them  :  If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate 
 not  *  his  father  and  mother,  and  wife  and  children,  and  brethren  and  sisters,  and 
 moreover  his  own  life,"  so  as  to  be  disposed  to  lose  all  these  things,  rather  than  offend 
 
 27.  me,  "  he  cannot  be  my  disciple.  And  whosoever  doth  not  carry  his  cross,  and  come 
 after  me,"  by  an  imitation  of  my  patience  in  labours  and  sufferings,  "  cannot  be  my 
 disciple."  The  cross  which  Christ  adverts  to,  consists,  1.  In  the  long  intestine  war 
 which  we  must  wage  against  our  passions  and  lusts  ;  2.  In  the  mortification  o'f  our 
 sensual  appetites  ;  3.  In  patiently  suffering  the  pains  and  difficulties  attached  to  our 
 state  and  condition  of  life,  together  with  all  the  infirmities  of  our  body,  all  the  afflic- 
 tions sent  us  by  Providence,  and  all  the  contradictions  and  displeasures  which  may 
 originate  from  our  necessary  intercourse  with  mankind.  Christ  hints  that  we  are  not 
 inconsiderately  to  enrol  ourselves  in  his  service,  but  previously  to  view  the  difficulties 
 which  we  shall  have  to  encounter,  and  the  obligations  which  he  requires  of  his  fol- 
 lowers.    This  is  what  prudence  alone  would  dictate  in  regard  to  all  other  under- 
 
 28.  takings.  "  For  which  of  you,"  says  Christ,  "  having  a  mind  to  build  a  tower,  doth 
 not  first  sit  down  and  reckon  the  charges  that  are  necessary  whether  he  hath  enough 
 
 29.  to  finish  it.     Lest  after  he  hath  laid  the  foundation,  and  is  not  able  to  perfect  it,  all 
 
 30.  that  see  it  begin  to  mock  him,  saying  :  this  man  began  to  build,  and  was  not  able 
 to  finish." 
 
 In  this  comparison  is  contained  the  following  argumentation.  To  carry  our  cross, 
 so  as  to  attain  to  the  summit  of  Christian  perfection,  is  an  undertaking  of  much 
 greater  difficulty  than  to  build  a  tower  from  the  foundation.  Now  no  one  is  so  incon- 
 siderate as  to  undertake  the  latter  without  duly  calculating  whether  he  hath  where- 
 with to  complete  it.  It  therefore  behoves  every  one  who  is  engaged  to  carry  his  cross 
 in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  consider  well  his  strength,  and  to  examine  whether 
 he  be  able  to  bear  its  weight  to  the  end,  under  whatever  form  it  may  be  laid  upon 
 him ;  lest,  after  having  undertaken  it,  he  may  find  it  too  troublesome,  and  on  that 
 account  throw  it  down,  and  desert  the  cause  of  his  Master  ;  thus  making  himself  the 
 laughing  stock  of  all  the  devils  and  condemned  infidels  in  hell,  who  will  reproach  him 
 with  having  laid  the  foundation  of  salvation  without  being  able  to  complete  the 
 edifice.     To  this  raillery  must  all  bad  Christians  be  exposed  for  eternity. 
 
 Christ  now  proceeds  to  a  second  comparison  illustrative  of  the  same  subject,  as 
 
 31.  follows.  "  Or  what  king  going  to  engage  in  a  war  against  another  king,  doth  not 
 first  sit  down,  and  think  whether  he  be  able  with  ten  thousand,  to  meet  him  that  with 
 
 32.  twenty  thousand  cometh  against  him.  Or  else,  whilst  the  other  is  yet  afar  off,  sending 
 an  embassy,  he  desireth  conditions  of  peace." 
 
 From  this  comparison  results  the  following  argument.  By  embracing  the  Christian 
 religion^  we  declare  war  against  all  the  powers  of  hell,  against  the  world,  and  against 
 ourselves  ;  we  become  liable  to  be  opposed  by  our  nearest  connections,  by  our 
 parents,  wife,  children,  brethren,  sisters,  relations,  and  friends  ;  a  species  of  warfare 
 much  longer  and  more  irreconcileable  than  a  war  between  two  neighbouring  sove- 
 reigns of  unequal  forces.  Now  of  these  two  sovereigns^  he  that  is  the  least  powerful 
 *  Hate  not,  that  is,  Love  not  less.  Gen.  xxix.  31.  Rom.  ix.  13. 
 
Ch.  XCV.]  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  3O3 
 
 would  certainly  be  careful  to  avoid  risking  a  battle  in  which  he  foresaw  that  his  small 
 army  must  infallibly  be  overthrown.  It  therefore  behoves  us  in  like  manner,  either 
 not  to  enrol  ourselves  in  the  army  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  after  being  enlisted  in  his 
 service,  courageously  to  renounce  our  nearest  and  dearest  relatives  and  connections, 
 ■when  they  prove  hostile  to  our  spiritual  interest,  and  seek  to  withdraw  us  from  our 
 duty.  ''  So  likewise  every  one  of  you  that  doth  not  renounce  all  that  he  possesseth,"  33. 
 and  is  not  disposed  to  abandon  all  for  the  love  of  me,  "  cannot  be  my  disciple."  As 
 a  further  elucidation  of  the  real  character  of  true  and  false  disciples.  Jesus  compares 
 them  with  salt.  1.  In  its  state  of  perfection  ;  and  2.  In  its  corrupted  state.  In  like  34. 
 manner  as  "  salt  is  good,"  whilst  it  retains  its  strength  and  virtue,  so  nothin"-  is 
 greater  and  more  estimable  than  the  character  of  a  Christian,  who  performs  whatever 
 his  religion  enjoins.  He  is  as  salt  with  respect  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  whom,  bv  the 
 force  of  his  example,  he  preserves  from  being  tainted  by  vicious  habits.  "  But  if  the 
 salt  shall  lose  its  virtue,  wherewith  shall  it  be  seasoned  ?"  It  becomes  absolutely 
 useless.  "  It  is  neither  profitable  for  the  land  nor  for  the  dunghill,  but  shall  be  cast  35. 
 out"  of  doors  to  be  trodden  under  foot  by  passengers.  Thus  it  will  be  with  the  disci- 
 ples of  Jesus,  when  they  give  way  to  the  corruption  of  sin,  by  abandoning  the  rules 
 of  a  Christian  life.  They  are  thenceforwards  useless  both  to  their  neighbours  and  to 
 themselves,  and  have  nothing  to  expect  but  to  be  expelled  from  the  society  of  the 
 good,  and  consigned  to  the  flames  of  hell.  This  forewarning  being  a  subject  of  the 
 greatest  importance,  Jesus  exhorts  them  to  reflect  on  it  duly  :  "  he  that  hath  ears  to 
 hear,"  says  he,  "  let  him  hear,"  and  carefully  lay  this  up  in  his  heart. 
 
 CHAPTER  XCV. 
 
 VARIOUS  PARABLES  RESPECTING  THE  CONVERSION  OF  SINNERS,  VIZ.  THE  LOST  SHEEP, 
 THE  DRACHMA,  AND  THE  PRODIGAL  CHILD.      LL'KE  XV. 
 
 "  Now  the  publicans,"  a  class  of  people  odious  and  infomous  amongst  the  Jews,  and  Luke  15. 
 likewise  sinners  in  general,  were  the  foremost  to  follow  Jesus,  and  they  ''  drew  near       ^* 
 unto  him  to  hear  him.     And  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes  murmured^  saying  :  this  man       2. 
 receiveth  sinners,  and  eateth  with  them."     Hence  they  inferred  that  Jesus  must  be 
 equally  unclean  and  profane  with  those  whom  he  thus  appeared  to  countenance.     He 
 justified  his  conduct  by  three  parables,  vv'hich  all  tended  to  show  the  great  joy  caused 
 in  heaven  by  the  conversion  of  sinners.     The  first  represents  them  under  the  fioure 
 of  a  strayed  sheep,  the  second  under  that  of  a  piece  of  money  which  is  lost,  the  third 
 under  that  of  a  debauched  young  man. 
 
 First,  in  regard  to  the  lost  sheep,  Christ  "  spoke  to  them  a  parable  3. 
 
 saying  :  What  man  of  you  that  hath  an  hundred  sheep  :  and  if  he  shall  ^'  '^^' ^"'^ '^''"P-       ^ 
 lose  one  of  them,  doth  he  not  leave  the  ninety-nine  in  the  desert,  and  go  after  that 
 which  was  lost  until  he  find  it :  and  when  he  hath  found  it,  lay  it  upon  his  shoulders       5. 
 rejoicing:    and  coming   home  call  together  his   friends  and   neighbours,  sayino- :       6. 
 
304  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCV. 
 
 Rejoice  with  me,  because  I  have  found  my  sheep  that  was  lost  ?"  In  this  parable 
 the  strayed  sheep  represents  each  individual  who  by  sin  is  lost  and  separateJ  from 
 God:  the  ninety-nine  sheep  are  the  just  who  have  remained  steady  in  the  paths  of 
 virtue ;  the  shepherd  is  Jesus  Christ.  He  here  leaves  it  to  the  Pharisees  to  make 
 the  application,  which  is  easily  done  :  for  if  it  be  commendable  in  the  shepherd  to  go 
 in  quest  of  a  lost  sheep,  and  to  bring-  it  again  to  the  fold  on  his  shoulders  with  every 
 demonstration  of  joy,  how  could  the  Pharisees,  with  any  colour  of  equity,  condemn 
 the  conduct  of  Jesus  in  associating  with  persons  of  a  wicked  life,  with  no  other  view 
 than  to  bring  them  back  from  their  strayed  paths,  since  each  of  their  souls  was 
 infinitely  more  precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  than  whole  flocks  of  sheep  in  regard  of 
 the  shepherd  ?  in  such  an  undertaking,  how  could  they  consistently  blame  the  chari- 
 table condescension  with  which  he  bears  their  infirmities  and  stoops  to  their  weakness, 
 so  as  even  to  eat  at  their  table  ?    Jesus  farther  declares  the  joy  occasioned  in  heaven 
 
 7.  by  the  repentance  of  such  sinners.  "  I  say  to  you,  that  even  so  there  shall  be  joy  in 
 heaven  upon  one  sinner  that  doth  penance,  more  than  upon  ninety-nine  just  who 
 need  not  penance."  Whosoever  therefore,  after  the  example  of  Jesus,  uses  his 
 endeavours  to  bring  about  the  conversion  of  siiniers,  so  far  from  contracting  any 
 share  of  their  impurity  or  profaneness,  performs,  on  the  contrary,  a  work  most 
 pleasing  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  of  his  holy  angels.  However,  the  joy  here  spoken 
 of  in  consequence  of  the  conversion  of  a  sinner,  does  not  imply  that  God  prefers  one 
 converted  sinner  to  many  holy  persons,  who  have  continued  steadfast  to  their  duty  ; 
 but  only  that  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  affords  to  the  aiigels  of  heaven  a  new  and 
 peculiar  subject  of  joy,  such  as  they  do  not  experience  from  the  perseverance  of 
 the  just. 
 2.  The  drachma       The  second  parable  is  drawn  from  the  comparison  of  a  lost  piece  of 
 
 g  found.         money.     "  For  what  woman  having  ?c« /«eces  of  ?«o?/ey,  if  she  lose  one 
 
 piece,  doth  she  not  light  a  candle,  and  sweep  the  house,  and  seek  diligently  until  she 
 
 9.  find  it  ?  And  when  she  hath  found  it,  call  together  her  friends  and  neighbours, 
 saying:  Rejoice  with  me,  because  I  have  found  the  piece  I  had  lost?"*  We  are 
 liere  to  reflect  how  deficient  the  comparison  is  between  a  small  piece  of  money  and 
 the  infinite  worth  of  a  great  number  of  souls,  which  are  stamped  with  the  image  of 
 God,  and  yet  totally  lost  by  sin.  If  therefore  no  blame  attach  to  this  woman,  for  her 
 assiduity  in  searching  after  what  was  lost,  how  much  less  ought  Jesus  to  be  censured 
 for  employing  in  the  search  of  lost  souls  his  cares,  his  labours,  his  humiliations,  his 
 fatigues,  and  for  testifying  his  extreme  joy,  when  his  endeavours  are  crowned  with 
 success.     This  he  leaves  to  the  reflections  of  the  Pharisees,  and  concludes  with  these 
 
 10,  words  :  "  So  I  say  to  you,  there  shall  be  joy  before  the  angels  of  God  upon  one 
 sinner  doing  penance." 
 
 *  God  esteems   the  souls  of  men  as  far  more  the  tlivine  and  rational  life,  a  life  of  goodness  and 
 
 precious  than  all  the  treasures  of  tlie  world.     They  wisdom  for  one  of    sin  and  sensuality,  then  they 
 
 are  made   and  formed  by  his  own   hand,  impressed  are  lost,  lost  to  themselves,  lost  to  God.    Then  this 
 
 with  his   own   image  and  superscription,  and  from  coin   is    debased,   the    impression    obliterated    and 
 
 that   stamp    which    carries    a    resemblance   to  the  gone,   and  that  piece,  of  money,  as   to   the    worth 
 
 Kinn-  of  the  whole  world,  derive   all  their  value,  and  use  of  it,  is   as  if  it  were  no  longer  in  being-. 
 But  when  they  abandon   God's   laws  and  forsake 
 
CIi.  XCV.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST 
 
 305 
 
 The  third  parable,  which  places  before  our  eyes  a  youn^  man  of  3.  The  prodigal 
 debauched  life,  displays  in  the  most  amiable  light  the  infinite  goodness  «"''• 
 
 and  gentleness  of  God,  in  pardoning  and  receiving  the  most  abandoned  sinners  into 
 favour,  upon  their  sincere  repentance.     "  And  Jesus  said  :  a  certain  man  had  two      11. 
 sons,*  and  the  younger  of  them  said  to  his  father :  father,  give  me  that  portion  of  the      12. 
 estate  which  falleth  to  me.     And  he  divided  the  estate  between  them.f     And  not      13. 
 many  days  after,  the  younger  son,  having  gathered  all  together,  went  abroad  into  a  fat 
 country,:}:  and  there  wasted  his  substance,  living  riotously. §     And  after  he  had  spent      14. 
 all,  there  came  a  great  famine  in  that  country,  and  he  began  to  be  in  want.|l     And      15. 
 he  went  and  put  himself  under  a  citizen  of  that  country ;  and  he  sent  him  into  his 
 farm  to  feed  swine.     And  he  would  fain  have  filled  his  belly  with  the  husks  which      16. 
 the  swine  ate :  and  nobody  gave  him  ani/  thing  else.     And  entering  into  himself,  he      17. 
 said :  how  many  hired  servants  in  my  father's  house  abound  in  bread,  and  I  here 
 perish  with  hunger  ?     I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  say  to  him  :  father,  I      18. 
 have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee  :  I  am  not  now  worthy  to  be  called  thy      19. 
 son  :  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants. U     And  rising  up,  he  came  to  his  father:      20. 
 and  when  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw  him,  and  was  moved  with  compas- 
 sion, and  running  to  him,  fell  upon  his  neck  and  kissed  him.    And  the  son  said  to  him  :      21. 
 father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee ;  I  am  not  now  worthy  to  be 
 called  thy  son.     And  the  father,"  without  upbraiding  him,  "  said  to  his  servants:      22. 
 bring  forth  quickly  the  first  robe,  and  put  it  on  him ;  and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand, 
 and  shoes  on  his  feet ;  and  bring  hither  the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it,  and  let  us  eat  and      23. 
 make  merry  ;  because  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  is  come  to  life  again  ;  was  lost,  and      24. 
 is  found.     And  they  began  to  be  merry.     Now  his  eldest  son  was  in  the  field,  and      25. 
 
 *  This  we  may  understand  to  be  the  Almighty, 
 who  by  creation  is  the  common  Father  both  of  the 
 Jews  and  of  the  Gentiles.  By  the  elder  son  may 
 be  understood  the  Jewish  people,  who  for  a  long 
 time  had  been  chosen  to  serve  God,  and  by  the 
 younger  son  the  Gentiles,  who  for  so  many  ages 
 had  run  blindly  on  in  their  idolatry  and  vices.  In 
 the  prodigal  we  have  a  lively  picture  of  the  misera- 
 ble condition  of  the  Gentiles  before  the  coming  of 
 Jesus  Christ.  1.  They  were  in  a  state  of  banish- 
 ment from  their  father's  house.  2.  They  constantly 
 wandered  from  one  vague  system  of  religion  to 
 another.  3.  They  were  stiipped  of  all  the  riches 
 of  grace.  4.  They  were  insatiable  in  their  thirst 
 after  the  pleasures,  grandeur,  and  riches  of  this 
 world.  5.  They  were  reduced  so  low  as  to  seek 
 for  their  supreme  happiness  in  the  gratification  of 
 their  sensual  appetiles.  In  this  miserable  and  for- 
 lorn condition,  the  Father  of  mercies  cast  an  eye 
 of  comjiassion  on  them,  he  ran  forth  to  meet  them 
 when  as  yet  at  a  great  distance,  favouring'  them 
 with  his  lights  and  graces  to  see  their  wretched 
 state  and  to  be  converted  to  him.  In  short,  by 
 baptism  they  were  re-established  in  the  high  quality 
 of  God's  children,  and  nothiuir  reniiined  for  them 
 but  to  nniuish  and  preserve  this  divine  life,  by  par- 
 taking of  the  sacrifice  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
 
 26. 
 
 Christ  slain  for  them  upon  the  cross,  and  placed 
 upon  the  altar  to  be  the  Ibod  of  the  faithlul. 
 
 The  second  part  of  this  parable,  in  the  conduct 
 of  the  elder  brother,  represents,  in  lively  colours, 
 the  opposition  which  the  Jewish  people  raised 
 aguinst  the  reconciliation  of  the  Gentiles,  an  oppo- 
 sition which  displayed  itself  in  their  blind  ignorance 
 and  in  their  angry  complaints.  For  they  were  at 
 a  loss  to  conceive  how  God  could  condescend  to 
 call  these  idolaters  to  the  faith,  and  even  refused  to 
 associate  with  such  persons  as  had  any  communi- 
 cation with  them.  In  the  twenty-second  chapter 
 of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  have  instances  of 
 this  antipathy  to  the  Gentiles,  which  carried  them 
 beyond  all  bounds,  almost  to  fury  and  madness. 
 
 t  This  God  does  in  distributing  to  each  indi- 
 vidual the  different  measure  of  temporal  and  spi- 
 ritual blessings. 
 
 I  Which  is  the  case  with  every  sinner  who  de- 
 parts far  from  God. 
 
 §  Thus  we  are  apt  to  abuse  the  favours  of  God. 
 
 II  A  lively  figure  of  a  sinner  stripped  of  all  the 
 goods  of  grace  and  merit. 
 
 <^  Such  is  the  humble  disposition  of  a  true  pent- 
 tent,  who  has  wearied  himself  in  the  ways  of  vice 
 and  impiety.  I  will  arise,  so  must  the  sinner  quit 
 the  sad  life  he  is  engaged  in. 
 
 4i 
 
306  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCVI 
 
 26.  when  he  came  and  drew  near  to  the  house,  he  heard  music  and  dancing ;  and  he 
 
 27.  called  one  of  the  servants,  and  asked  what  these  things  meant.  And  he  said  to  him  : 
 thy  brother  is  come,  and  thy  father  hath  killed  the  fatted  calf,  because  he  hath  received 
 
 28.  him  safe.     And  he  was  ang-ry,*  and  would  not  go  in.     His  father  therefore  going 
 
 29.  out  began  to  entreat  him.  And  he  answering,  said  to  his  father  :  behold,  for  so  many 
 years  do  I  serve  thee,  and  I  have  never  transgressed  thy  commandment,  and  yet  thou 
 
 30.  hast  never  given  me  a  kid  to  make  merry  with  my  friends.  But  as  soon  as  this  thy 
 son  is  come,  who  has  spent  his  fortune  with  harlots,  thou  hast  killed  the  fatted  calf. 
 
 31.  And  he  said  to  him  :  son,  thou  art  always  with  me,  and  all  I  have  is  thine  by  right 
 
 32.  of  birth.  But  it  was  fit  that  we  should  make  merry  and  be  glad,  for  this  thy  brother 
 was  dead,  and  is  come  to  life  again ;  he  was  lost,  and  is  found."  All  these  figures 
 are  verified  in  the  conversion  of  a  penitent  sinner.  The  Almighty,  as  a  tender  father, 
 first  excites  in  him  a  desire  of  repentance  ;  he  sees  him  whilst  yet  a  great  icaj/  off  in 
 his  naked  and  forlorn  condition,  and  is  touched  with  pity  and  compassion  for  him  ; 
 he  runs  out  to  meet  him  ;  he  lovingly  receives  him  into  his  embraces ;  he  clothes 
 him  again  as  his  son  with  the  sacred  robe  of  justifying  grace ;  he  puts  a  ring  of  great 
 value  on  his  finger,  as  it  were  a  pledge  of  the  Holy  Ghost  dwelling  within  him,  as  in 
 his  temple,  and  as  an  assurance  of  the  grace  necessary  for  his  remaining  steadfast  in 
 that  fidelity  which  he  renews  to  his  heavenly  Father ;  for  a  ring  has  ever  been  con- 
 sidered as  the  emblematical  seal  of  a  faithftil  and  sincere  mind.  He  causes  shoes  to 
 be  put  on  his  feet,  by  which  is  signified  a  protecting  grace,  to  enable  him  to  bridle  his 
 passions  and  to  fortify  his  soul  against  all  scandals  which  may  cause  him  to  stumble. 
 He  orders  the  fatted  calf  to  be  killed,  that  is,  he  admits  him  to  the  divine  banquet  of 
 the  body  and  blood  of  his  only  Son,  and  causes  his  heavenly  court  to  celebrate  a 
 feast  of  joy  for  his  happy  conversion :  in  short,  he  restores  him  completely  to  the 
 honour  and  dignity  of  his  child,  and  to  all  the  ornaments  of  virtue  and  grace  which 
 he  had  forfeited  by  sin.  What  an  encouragement  is  this  to  every  poor  sinner  to  quit 
 the  husks  of  swine,  and  to  run  to  the  embraces  of  so  merciful  a  Father  !  If  he  only 
 repent  like  the  prodigal  son,  for  having  left  his  Father's  house,  he  shall  meet  with  the 
 same  kind  reception,  and  shall  like  him  rejoice  to  see  himself  restored  to  his  former 
 state  of  grace  and  friendship.  To  the  passing  confusion  which  may  attend  an  humble 
 confession  of  his  guilt,  will  succeed  a  peace  and  pleasing  joy,  far  superior  to  all  the 
 sinful  enjoyments  of  the  world. 
 
 CHAPTER  XCVI. 
 
 THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  UNJUST  STEWARD.      LUKE  XVI. 
 
 To  the  parable  of  the  repenting  profligate,  Jesus  added  another,  by  which  we  are  all 
 taught  how  to  redeem  by  alms  the  punishment  justly  due  to  our  sins.  It  is  particularly 
 
 *  And  so  were  the  Pharisees  (whom  he  here    when  the  Gentiles  were  converted  and  made  fellow 
 reproves)  for  his  receiving  sinners  with  so  much     heirs  with  them, 
 compassion ;    and  so  were  the  Jews  afterwards. 
 
Ch.  XCVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  307 
 
 applicable  to  the  rich,  here  represented  under  the  figure  of  a  steward  who  superin- 
 tends his  master's  affairs,  and  collects  his  rents.     One  of  this  description  he  con- 
 siders, 1.  In  his  bad  manag-ement  and  treacherous  breach  of  the  trust  reposed  in  him 
 2.  In  reo-ard  to  his  shrewd  policy  towards  his  master's  tenants,  whom   he  thus 
 engages  to  receive  him,  after  his  disgrace  and  dismissal.     "  And  he  said  to  his  Luke  16. 
 disciples  :  there  was  a  certain  rich  man  who  had  a  steward :  and  an  ill  report  was 
 brought  to  him  concerning  him,  that  he  had  wasted  his  goods.     And  he  called  him,       2. 
 and  said  to  him  :  what  is  this  I  hear  of  thee?   Give  au  account  of  thy  stewardship  ; 
 for  now  thou  canst  be  steward  no  longer.    And  the  steward  said  within  himself,  what       3. 
 shall  I  do,  because  my  lord  taketh  away  the  stewardship  ?  To  dig  I  am  not  able  :  to       4. 
 beg  I  am  ashamed.     I  know  what  I  will  do,  that  when  I  shall  be  removed  from  the 
 stewardship,  they  may  receive  me  into  their  houses.     Therefore  galling  together       &• 
 every  one  of  his  lord's  debtors,  he  said  to  the  first :  how  much  dost  thou  owe  ray 
 lord?  But  he  said  an  hundred  barrels*  of  oil,  and  he  said  to  him,  take  thy  bill  and       6. 
 sit  down  quickly  and  write  fifty.     Then  he  said  to  another  :  and  how  much  dost  thou       ''■ 
 owe  ?   Who  said  an  hundred  quarters  of  wheat.     He  said  to  him  :  take  thy  bill  and 
 write  eighty"  paid,  so  that  twenty  only  will  remain.    "  And  the  lord  commended  the       ^■ 
 unjust  steward,"  not  for  his  infidelity,  but  "that  he  had  done  prudently,"  in  providing 
 for  himself  against  the  the  evil  day :  "  for  the  children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in 
 their  generation,"  that  is,  in  their  temporal  concerns,  "  than  the  children  of  light," 
 in  the  affair  of  salvation.! 
 
 The  application  of  this  parable  is  veiy  obvious,  for  we  are  all  stewards  of  the 
 Almighty,  who  has  intrusted  to  us  the  care  of  his  goods,  and  we  act  the  part  of 
 faithless  and  unjust  stewards,  when  we  employ  the  talents  of  mind  or  body,  of  nature 
 or  of  grace,  intrusted  to  us  to  any  other  purpose  than  that  of  the  divine  glory :  if  there' 
 fore  we  have  wasted  the  goods  of  our  great  Master,  we  have  reason  to  apprehend 
 that  he  will  quickly  call  us  to  an  account  and  deprive  us  of  our  stewardship.  Those 
 words  in  the  parable,  give  an  account  of  thy  stewardship,  are  therefore  addressed  to 
 every  one  of  us,  and  we  know  not  how  soon  we  may  be  called  to  a  dreadful  examina- 
 tion, on  the  issue  of  which  eternity  depends.  However,  this  parable  seems  to  be 
 more  particularly  designed  for  the  rich,  because  they  are  more  properly  styled  and 
 considered  as  the  stewards  of  the  Almighty,  as  having  received  from  him  in  trust  a 
 much  larger  portion  of  earthly  goods :  and  although  by  human  laws  men  are  allowed 
 to  be  the  absolute  and  indisputable  proprietors  of  these  goods,  yet  with  respect  to 
 God,  they  are  not  masters  but  only  stewards  and  dispensers,  and  will  one  day  most 
 certainly  be  called  to  a  strict  account  as  to  the  use  which  they  shall  have  made  of  all 
 temporal  blessings.  Wherefore,  in  reference  to  the  above  parable,  let  us  consider  a 
 person  in  affluence  who  has  grown  old  in  the  enjoyment  of  worldly  honours  and  plea- 
 sures, and  who  finds  himself  at  the  eve  of  being-  stript  of  all  by  approaching  death. 
 Sensible  of  his  past  misconduct  and  of  the  impending  rigour  of  divine  justice,  he 
 
 *  The  word  hatus,  in  the  original,  contains  nine  what  is  here  mentioned  must  have  actually  taken 
 
 gallons  three  quarts.     See  Ezec.  45.  place  in  his  time  between  a  person  of  property  and 
 
 t  This  remark  of  Jesus  respecting  the  superior  Iiis  steward  :  for  otherwise  this  comparison  between 
 
 prudence  of  worldlings  in  their  temporal  concerns  their  different  way  of  acting  would  have   been  to 
 
 ever  the  children  of  light,  leads  iis  to  believe  that  no  purpose. 
 
308  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCVI. 
 
 beo-ins  now  seriously  to  look  out  for  some  means  of  provision  for  the  life  to  come.    Of 
 these  expedients  three  occur  to  his  perplexed  mind. 
 
 The  first  is,  to  chastise  his  body  by  salutary  works  of  penance.  But  his  advanced 
 acre,  the  weakness  of  his  delicate,  and  hitherto  pampered  frame,  and  his  frequent 
 infirmities,  are  an  insuperable  bar  to  this  measure.  The  second  is,  relatively  to  the 
 ancient  discipline  of  the  Church,  to  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  faithful  at  the 
 entrance  of  the  church,  publicly  to  confess  his  past  crimes,  and  to  beseech  the 
 ministers  of  God  to  intercede  in  his  behalf  at  the  throne  of  mercy.  This  implies,  in 
 the  style  of  those  times,  a  ready  compliance  with  all  the  humiliating  forms  of  public 
 penance,  as  enjoined  by  the  ancient  canons,  when  sinners  were  required  to  remain 
 prostrate  before  the  church  door  at  the  feet  of  the  faithful,  to  attend  the  catechetical 
 instructions  with  the  neophytes  and  catechumens,  and  to  depart  out  of  the  church 
 before  the  commencement  of  the  solemn  parts  of  the  mass.  The  unavoidable  shame 
 which  this  would  occasion,  renders  such  a  penance  impracticable  to  his  nice  feelings. 
 Thirdly  and  lastly,  he  considers  within  himself  that  he  is  possessed  of  great  riches, 
 and  although  they  are  only  a  trust  confided  to  his  care,  he  rightly  judges  that  he  can 
 employ  them  to  no  better  purpose  than  to  disarm  the  divine  justice,  by  freely  distri- 
 buting them  to  the  poor  ;  thus  hoping,  as  it  were,  artfully  to  gain  admission  to  eternal 
 happiness.  He  therefore  inquires  diligently  into  the  wants  of  the  poor,  and  readily 
 relieves  them  by  a  charitable  distribution  of  his  wealth.  The  Almighty  cannot  but 
 applaud  the  wise  policy  of  this  rich  man,  in  thus  skreenijig  himself  iVom  the  rigour  of 
 his  justice,  by  imposing,  as  it  were,  upon  his  Providence,  that  is,  by  a  wise  distribution 
 of  the  worldly  goods  which  his  Providence  intrusted  to  his  care.  Wherefore  from 
 the  preceding   parable,  Jesus  infers  the  necessity  of  alms-deeds  in  these  words  : 
 
 9.  "  And  I  say  to  you:  make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the  mammon  of  iniquity,"  pour 
 forth  your  riches  into  the  bosom  of  the  poor,  "  that  when  you  shall  fail,  they  may 
 receive  you  into  eternal  mansions."  Mammon  is  a  Syriac  word  for  riches,  and  they 
 are  called  unjust  and  iniquitous,  not  of  themselves,  but  because  they  are  many  times 
 the  occasion  of  unjust  dealings,  and  of  all  kinds  of  vice.  Besides  they  are  unjust  in 
 their  false  promises,  since  they  hold  out  the  prospect  of  a  happiness  which  they  can- 
 not realize.  Secondly,  In  their  appearance,  because  they  appear  as  true  and  solid 
 blessings,  whilst  they  are  false  and  deceitful.  Thirdly,  In  the  use  to  be  made  of 
 them  ;  for  in  this  we  consider  ourselves  as  free  from  all  control  under  the  idea  of 
 our  being  absolute  proprietors,  whilst  in  truth,  we  are  but  trustees  and  distributors 
 subordinate  to  the  designs  of  an  all-wise  Providence.  Moreover  we  are  to  consider 
 alms-deeds  as  a  trial  and  proof  of  our  fidelity  to  God  in  small  things,  and  that  he  is 
 ever  ready  to  commit  to  our  trust  riches  of  mu-;h  greater  value,  if  he  finds  us  faithful 
 in  the  distribution  of  temporal  goods.  Riches,  as  we  have  above  observed,  are 
 defective  in  many  respects ;  they  are  likewise  treacherous  and  foreign  to  our  main 
 purpose  and  concern.  However,  it  is  to  be  fairly  presumed,  as  Christ  observes, 
 "  that  he  who  is  faithtiil  in  that  which  is  least,  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  greater :  and 
 he  who  is  unjust  in  that  which  is  little,  is  unjust  also  in  that  which  is  greater,"  since 
 if  he  has  given  way  to  a  small  temptation,  he  cannot  be  expected  to  resist  others  of 
 
 11.      greater  force  and  violence.     "If  then,"  says  Christ,  "you  have  not  been  faithful 
 
Ch.  XCVII]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.      ,  ^09 
 
 in  the"  distribution  of  "  unjust  mammon  :  who  will  trust  you  with  the"  only  "  true" 
 riches,  the  spiritual  riches  of  divine  grace  ?  "  And  if  you  have  not  been  faithful  in  12. 
 that  which  is  another's  (for  such  we  may  call  worldly  wealth,  which  daily  passeth 
 from  one  to  another),  who  will  give  you  that  which  is  your  own,"  that  is^  how  can 
 you  in  this  case  hope  that  God  will  bestow  upon  you  his  spiritual  riches  and  gifts, 
 which  if  rightly  managed,  will  be  your  own  for  eternity?  In  effect,  the  improper 
 use  which  we  make  of  the  former,  renders  us  unworthy  of  the  latter,  and  our  noto- 
 rious unfaithfulness  in  lesser  matters,  is  more  than  a  presumptive  proof,  that  we 
 shall  be  equally  unfaithful  in  trusts  of  greater  consequence. — Moreover  we  may 
 observe,  that  a  neglect  of  alms  implies  the  absence  of  a  truly  Christian  spirit,  since 
 the  duty  of  giving  alms  is  never  omitted,  but  through  a  blamable  attachment  to 
 worldly  goods.  He  who  is  inordinately  attached  to  his  riches  makes  them  his  idol, 
 and  considers  them  as  his  God :  iience  Christ  lays  down  this  maxim  :  "  No  servant  13. 
 can  serve  two  masters,  for  either  he  will  hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other :  or  he  will 
 hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other.  You  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon.  Now  li- 
 the Pharisees,  who  were  covetous,  heard  all  these  things,  and  they  derided  him. 
 And  he,"  knowing  the  dark  recesses  of  their  hearts,  "  said  to  them  :  You  are  they  IS 
 who  justify  yourselves  before  men,"  by  an  appearance  of  sanctity  and  disinterested- 
 ness ;  "  but  God  knoweth  your  hearts"  to  be  tainted  with  sordid  avarice.  "  For 
 that  which  is  high"  and  plausible  "  to  men,  is  an  abomination  before  God."  They 
 might  perchance  answer  this  accusation  by  alleging,  that  the  law  of  Moses  held  out 
 worldly  goods  as  a  reward  to  those  who  were  faithful  observers  of  it.  To  this  Jesus 
 replies,  that  "  the  law  and  the  prophets  were"  in  force,  "  until  John"  the  Baptist,  le. 
 and  consequently  till  then,  earthly  goods  were  promised  to  men  as  figures  of  heavenly 
 ones  which  they  were  to  look  for :  but  "  from  that  time  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
 preached"  without  shadow  or  figure,  "  and  every  one"  who  aspires  to  it,  "  striveth 
 with  violence  for  it,"  by  mortifying  his  passions  and  renouncing  all  attachment  to  his 
 worldly  goods.  The  Pharisees  might  hence  imagine  that  the  gospel  was  contrary  to 
 the  law.  By  no  means,  added  Jesus,  "  and  it  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to  pass  17. 
 than  for  one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail  of  its  accomplishment."  The  truth  is,  that  the 
 worldly  riches,  promised  by  the  law,  were  no  more  than  shadows  and  figurative  pro- 
 mises, the  real  object  of  which  were  the  solid  riches  of  heaven  before  mentioned, 
 which  alone  can  make  us  happy  and  completely  satisfy  the  heart  of  man. 
 
 CHAPTER  XCVH. 
 
 THE  RICH  GLUTTON  AND  LAZARUS.     LUKE  XVI. 
 
 In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  the  great  advantages  of  riches,  when  well 
 
 employed  in  works  of  mercy,  in  this  we  may  behold  the  endless  misery  which  follows 
 
 the  abuse  of  them.     "  There  was  a  certain  rich  man  who  was  clothed  in  purple  and   ''"^g 
 
 fine  linen,  and  feasted  sumptuously  every  day.     And  there  was  a  certain  beggar      20. 
 27.  ...  ^^ 
 
310  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LOUD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  XCVII 
 
 21.  named  Lazarus*  who  la)'  at  his  gate  full  of  sores,  desiring  to  be  filled  with  the 
 crumbs  that  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table,  and  no  man  did  give  him  ;  moreover  the 
 dogs  came  and  licked  his  sores,"  which  he  patiently  permitted,  being  perfectly  con- 
 tent with  whatever  comfort  it  pleased  God  to  send  him  in  his  sufferings.  Thus  with 
 the  utmost  patience  Lazarus  resigned  himself  to  his  forlorn  condition  ;  he  made  no 
 complaint  against  the  Providence  of  God,  nor  did  he  murmur  at  the  unkind  .treat- 
 
 22.  ment  wiiich  he  received  from  man.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  begoar  died, 
 and  was  carried  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom,"  that  is,  into  that  particular 
 place  of  rest,  where  the  souls  of  the  patriarchs  and  of  all  the  just  remained,  till 
 Christ,  by  his  death,  should  open  heaven  to  them,  and  with  them  ascend  triumphant 
 into  glory.     Such  was  the  favourable  lot  of  Lazarus  when  death  put  an  end  to  his 
 
 23.  sufferings.  "  And  the  rich  man  also  died  ;  and  he  was  buried  in  hell.f  And  liftino- 
 up  his  eyes,  when  he  was  in  torments,  he  saw/'  in  a  kind  of  vision,  "  Abraham  afar 
 
 24.  off,  and  Lazarus"  now  happy  in  his  bosom.  "  And  he  cried  and  said  :  Father 
 Abraham  have  mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  tino-er 
 
 25.  in  water  to  cool  my  tongue,  for  I  am  tormented  in  this  flame. |  And  Abraham  said 
 to  him  :  Son,  remember  that  thou  didst  receive  good  things  §  in  thy  life-time  and 
 likewise  Lazarus  evil  things.    But"  here  the  scene  is  reversed,  "  now  he  is  comforted 
 
 26.  and  thou  art  tormented  ;  and  besides  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  fixed  a  oreat 
 chaos,"  separating  the  just  from  the  reprobate,  "  so  that  they  who  would  pass  from 
 
 27.  hence  to  you,  cannot,  nor  from  thence  come  hither.     And  he  said  :  then,  father,  I 
 
 28.  beseech  thee  that  thou  wouldst  send  him  to  my  father's  house,  for  I  have  five  bre- 
 thren, that  he  may  testify  to  them'"  the  reality  and  importance  of  this  invisible  world, 
 "  lest  they  also  come  into  this  place  of  torments  ;"  for  he  apprehended,  it  seems,  lest 
 the  future  damnation  of  his  brethren,  occasioned  in  part  by  his  bad  example,  might 
 
 29.  be  a  sensible  addition  to  his  torments.     "  And  Abraham  said  to  him  :    They  have 
 
 30.  Moses  and  the  prophets"  for  their  instruction  :  "  let  them  hear  them.  But  he  said  : 
 No,  Father  Abraham,  but  if  one  went  to  them  from  the  dead^  they  will  do  penance. 
 
 31.  And  he  said  to  him  :  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they 
 believe,  if  one  rise  again  from  the  dead;"||  because  such  a  one  could  come  with  no 
 greater  authority,  could  deliver  no  better  motives  to  repentance,  nor  give  any  greater 
 assurance  of  the  truth.     Whence  we  may  conclude,  that  they  who  pay  no  regard  to 
 
 *   That  this  is  no  parable,  but  a  real   fact,  is         J   If  we  reflect  ihat  it  is  the  soul  alone  which  in 
 
 affirmed  by  St.  Ambrose,  (in  hunc  locum)  Tertul-  the  body  feels  all  the  impressions  of  pleasure  or 
 
 lian  (1.  de  an.  c.  7.),  &c.   which  is   liliewise   suffi-  pain  arising  from  external  objects,  it  will  easily  be 
 
 ciently  evident  from  the  context.     For  the  beggar  conceived  that,   after  the   separation   of  soul   and 
 
 is  specified  by  name,  viz.  Lazarus  ;   if  the  rich  man  body,    the    Almighty    may    equally    excite    in    the 
 
 be  not  mentioned,  it  is  to  sigiiily  that  his  name  is  former  the  same  sensations  which  it  received  from 
 
 blotted  out  of  the  book  of  life:  moreover  he  tells  outward  objects  whilst  here  united  to  the  body. 
 Abraham  that  he  has  five  brothers,  who  were  pro-  §  We  see   here  that  to  expose  a  man  to  eternal 
 
 bably  still   living  at  the  very  time  when  our  Lord  misery,  nothing  more  is  required  than  to  enjoy  all 
 
 spoke  this,  theretbre  to  save  their  honour,  he  named  the  good  tilings  of  this  world  according  to  ids  own 
 
 not  their  brother  who  was  burning  in  hell.  will. 
 
 t  Tliis  shows  that  instantly  after  death  the  souls  ||   St.  Luke  here  inserts  four  instructions  which 
 
 of  the  just  made  perfect  are  carried  by  angels  into  have  no   connection  with   each  other,   and  which 
 
 the  place  of  their  eternal  repose,  whilst  the  souls  of  therefore  we  have  given  above  in  different  places, 
 
 the  wicked  are  dragged  by  devils  into  the  abyss  of  See  note  on  chapter  71, 
 hell. 
 
Ch.  XCVIIl]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  311 
 
 an  authority,  so  sacred  and  so  universally  acknowledged  as  that  of  Moses  and  the 
 proph'ets,  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  would  be  equally  inattentive  and  callous  to  the 
 testimony  of  a  dead  person,  raised  again  to  life,  by  pronouncing  him  either  a  phantom 
 or  an  impostor.  But  although  we  suppose  them  convinced  of  his  resurrection,  yet 
 still  their  obdurate  and  habitual  attachment  to  a  voluptuous  life,  would  be  more 
 powerful  to  detain  them  in  the  same  evil  course,  than  the  exhortations  of  a  man  risen 
 from  the  dead,  would  have  influence  to  induce  them  to  a  change  of  life  and  manners. 
 The  impenitence  of  many  who  saw  another  Lazarus  raised  from  the  dead,  and  the 
 wickedness  of  the  soldiers  who  were  witnesses  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  who 
 yet,  on  that  very  day,  suffered  themselves  to  be  hired  to  bear  false  testimony  against 
 it,  are  most  striking  illustrations  of  this  truth. 
 
 The  above  instructive  history  deserves  the  serious  attention  both  of  the  rich  and 
 the  poor.  The  former  may  learn  from  it  the  dreadful  consequences  to  be  apprehended 
 from  riches,  when  made  subservient  to  sensuality,  luxury,  and  ambition  ;  and  the 
 latter  are  taught,  by  the  example  of  Lazarus,  to  make  their  poverty  and  sufferings, 
 however  grievous  to  nature,  instrumental  to  their  future  happiness,  by  bearing  them 
 with  patience  and  resignation  to  the  will  of  heaven. 
 
 CHAPTER  XCVIIL 
 
 THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  WICKED  JUDGE,  AND  OF  THE  IMPORTUNATE  WIDOW.*   LUKE  XVIII. 
 
 Prayer  being  the  preservative  of  our  faith  and  of  our  religion,  Jesus  Christ  proposed 
 a  parable,  or  rather  related  the  history  of  a  real  event,  to  recommend  to  us  perse- 
 verance in  this  holy  exercise.  "  And  he  spoke  a  parable  to  them  that  we  ought  Luke  is. 
 always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint,"  or  be  weary  at  our  devotions.  This  precept  o.  ^' 
 praying  always,  does  not  consist  in  a  multiplicity  of  vocal  prayers  to  be  recited  at  all 
 hours  upon  our  knees  :  for  in  this  sense  it  would  be  incompatible  with  other  essential 
 duties.  What  is  here  recommended  to  us  is  to  walk  always  in  the  presence  of  God 
 by  a  spirit  of  prayer,  of  love,  and  of  attachment  to  his  divine  Majesty,  and  frequently 
 to  lament,  with  inward  sighs,  our  daily  offences  against  him  ;  all  which  may  be  done 
 in  the  midst  of  our  occupations.  It  is  thus  the  saints  understood  and  practised  this 
 precept,  and  thus  they  became  saints. 
 
 This  parable  places  before  our  eyes,  1.  A  judge,  noted  for  the  injustice  of  his 
 decisions;  2.  The  same  judge  prevailed  upon  by  dint  of  prayers  and  entreaties. 
 The  conclusion  is  obvious,  that  the  Almighty,  who  is  ever  just  and  merciful,  will,  by 
 our  perseverant  prayers,  be  far  more  easily  prevailed  upon  to  grant  us  the  effect  of 
 our  petitions.  Wherefore,  Jesus  thus  addressed  his  hearers,  "  saying  :  There  was  a  2. 
 judge  in  a  certain  city,  who  neither  feared  God  nor  regarded  man,"  being  above 
 every  check  both  of  conscience  and  of  honour.  By  his  profligate  conduct,  it  plainly 
 appears,  that  he  was  a  Sadducee  in  his  creed,  and  as  such  believed  his  soul  to  be 
 
 *  See  on  this  subject  chap.  82.  No.  2 
 
312  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  XCIX. 
 
 mortal ;    and  therefore  he  had  no  dread  of  the  divine  vengeance  after  this  life, 
 
 3  but  sacrificed  all  to  his  present  personal  interest.  "  And  there  was  a  certain  widow 
 in  that  city,"  unjustly  oppressed  by  the  overbearing  conduct  of  a  powerful  opponent. 
 She  was  destitute,  it  seems,  of  every  means  to  secure  in  her  favour  the  above-men- 
 tioned judge,  since  she  possessed  neither  personal  influence,  riches,  nor  credit ;  and 
 consequently  had  no  prospect  of  gaining-  his  interest  either  through  fear  or  hope. 
 Therefore,  depending  solely  upon  the  justice  of  her  cause,  "  she  came  to  him  saying  : 
 
 4  Avenge  me*  of  my  adversary.  And  he  would  not  for  a  long  time"  pay  any 
 attention  to  her.     "  But  afterwards,"  finding  her  absolutely  troublesome,  he  resolved 
 
 5.  to  rid  himself  of  her  importunity,  by  deciding  the  cause  in  her  favour ;  and  "  he  said 
 within  himself:  Although  I  fear  not  God,  nor  regard  man,  yet  because  this  widow  is 
 troublesome  to  me,  I  will  avenge  her,  lest  continually  coming,  she  tire  me  out  with 
 
 6-  reproaches. t  And  the  Lord  said  :  Hear  what  the  unjust  judge  saith"  on  this  occa- 
 sion, actuated  neither  by  a  dread  of  the   divine  vengeance,   nor  by  any  human 
 
 ''■  influence,  but  merely  in  consequence  of  the  woman's  unceasing  importunity.  "  And 
 will  not  God,"  who  is  so  just  and  merciful,  and  so  willing  to  listen  to  the  prayers  of 
 the  oppressed,  "  revenge  his  elect,  who  cry  to  him  day  and  night  in  their  distress  ? 
 
 8.  and  will  he  have  patience  in  their  regard  ?  I  say  to  you,  that  he  will  quickly  revenge 
 them,"  and  rescue  them  from  all  their  enemies. 
 
 This  has  probably  a  particular  reference  to  the  latter  end  of  the  world,  when  the 
 faithful  shall  be  oppressed  by  all  manner  of  persecutions  ;  and  therefore  it  is  then 
 they  should  redouble  their  fervent  prayers  for  God's  help  and  protection.  But  since 
 the  number  of  believers  will  be  but  small  comparatively  with  the  infinite  number  of 
 apostates,  Jesus  insinuates,  from  the  great  want  of  faith  at  that  period,  the  consequent 
 neglect  of  prayer,  which  is  founded  on  f;\ith.  "  But  the  Son  of  Man,"  says  he, 
 "  coming,  will  he  find,  think  you,  faith  on  earth?"  An  expression  descriptive  of 
 the  extreme  rarity  of  that  perfect  faith  which  is  necessary  for  perseverance  in  prayer. 
 In  effect,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  present  alarming  state  of  infidelity  in  the  world, 
 and  from  the  seeming  indifference  with  which  Christians  perform  the  great  duty  of 
 prayer,  is  there  not  reason  to  fear  that  mankind  are  fast  approaching  to  that  general 
 apostasy  from  the  faith  here  foretold  by  our  Blessed  Redeemer  ? 
 
 CHAPTER  XCIX. 
 
 THE  PHARISEE  AND  THE  PUBLICAN.      LUKE  XVIII. 
 
 After  having  declared  perseverance  to  be  one  of  the  principal  conditions  which 
 ought  to  accompany  our  prayer,  Jesus  proceeds  to  state  another  condition  not  less 
 
 *  That  is,  do' me  justice.     It  is  a  Hebraism.  these  were  succeeded  by  reproaches,  and  reproaches 
 
 t   SuEjillet  me,  Gr.  VTrioirid^i]  f-ic,  which   implies  by  injurious  lan;i-uafje,  he  feigns  to  be  under  some 
 
 even  blows ;    and  might  have  been   said  by    tlie  degree  of  apprehension,  lest  at  length  she  should 
 
 judge  in  a  sort  of  jocular  manner:  for  observing  proceed  to  an  open  assault  against  his  person, 
 that  her  entreaties  ended  in  complaints,  and  that 
 
Ch.XCIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  313 
 
 necessary,  viz.  humility  and  diffidence  in  our  own  merits.     "  And"  therefore,   '  to  Luke  18. 
 some  who  trusted  in  themselves  as  just  and  despised  others,  he  spoke  this  parable,"       ^• 
 which  yet  has  the  appearance  of  a  real  history.    "  Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple      10. 
 to  pray ;  the  one  a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a  Publican."     These,  it  will  appear,  were 
 widely  distinguished  from  each  other :    1.  In  the  opinion  which  they  conceived  of 
 their  respective  merits  ;  2.  In  the  object  of  their  prayers  ;  3.  In  the  success  of  their 
 petitions.     "  The  Pharisee  standing"  upright,  "  prayed  thus  within  himself:  O  God,      H- 
 I  give  thee  thanks  that  1  am  not  as  the  rest  of  men,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers, 
 as  also  is  this  Publican.     I  fast  twice  in  a  week  :  I  give  tithe  of  all  that  I  possess."      12- 
 Whilst  the  Pharisee  was  thus  sounding  his  own  praises,  "  the  Publican  standing      13. 
 afar  off,"  in  the  outer  court  allotted  to  the  Gentiles,  "  would  not  so  much  as  lift  up 
 his  eyes  towards  heaven,  but  struck  his  breast,  saying  :  O  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a 
 sinner."    Who  would  not  have  imagined  from  outward  appearances,  that  the  former 
 of  these  was  about  to  be  loaded  with  blessings  by  the  Almighty,  as  being  a  model  of 
 sanctity  ;  and  the  latter  consigned  to  eternal  flames  as  a  profligate  convicted  by  his 
 own  confession  ?     Jesus  however  pronounces  a  very  different  sentence,  declaring  that 
 it  is  not  the  Pharisee  but  the  humble  Publican  who  is  absolved  from  his  crimes.     "  I 
 say  to  you,  this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other  :  because 
 every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  humbled,  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall 
 be  exalted." 
 
 Let  us  learn  from  this  example  the  necessity  of  humility,  and  the  dreadful  conse- 
 quences of  trusting  in  ourselves  as  just,  or  of  despising  others.  Those  that  are  truly 
 just,  are  far  from  thinking  themselves  so  ;  they  are  far  from  glorying  in  themselves ; 
 far  from  attributing  any  thing  of  good  to  themselves.  In  the  judgment  which  they 
 make  of  themselves,  they  always  sit  doion,  according  to  the  rule  of  their  great  Master, 
 in  the  lowest  place :  their  eyes  are  open  to  their  own  defects,  and  shut  to  those  of 
 others,  at  least  where  their  duty  does  not  require  their  inspection  and  correction 
 of  them.  They  are  convinced  that  they  have  nothing  in  themselves  to  which  they 
 can  trust,  and  that  it  is  only  owing  to  God's  great  mercy,  that  they  have  not  been 
 guilty  of  the  most  enormous  crimes  ;  and  therefore  they  never  presume  to  despise  any 
 one,  not  even  the  most  scandalous  sinner,  lest  they  should  be  found  worse  than  him 
 in  the  sight  of  God,  through  their  pride  and  self-conceit,  crimes  which  they  know  to 
 be  an  abomination  to  the  Lord. 
 
 If  we  examine  the  prayer  of  the  Pharisee,  we  find  it  full  of  nothing  but  of  this 
 pride  and  self-conceit,  which  was  the  cause  of  his  condemnation.  He  neither  craved 
 mercy  nor  grace  of  God  :  he  asked  for  nothing,  because  he  considered  himself  to  be 
 rich  and  wealthy,  and  not  to  stand  in  need  of  any  thing  ;  whilst  in  reality,  through 
 his  pride,  he  was  wretched  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.*  His 
 whole  prayer  was  only  an  enumeration  of  his  own  good  works,  with  a  censure  upon 
 the  rest  of  men,  and  a  condemnation  of  the  poor  Publican  :  and  as  he  asked  for 
 nothing,  so  he  obtained  nothing,  but  only  carried  home  with  him  his  own  condemna- 
 tion. On  the  contrary,  the  Publican  sets  before  us  a  very  different  example.  He 
 has  a  true  sense  of  his  sins,  and  of  what  he  has  deserved  for  them  :  and  therefore  he 
 
 *  Apoc.  iii.  17. 
 
 27.  4l 
 
314  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  C. 
 
 condemns  himself  as  unworthy  to  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  or  to  come  near  to  the 
 altar  of  God  :  but  standing  afar  off,  with  his  countenance  humbly  cast  down  upon 
 the  ground,  he  strikes  his  breast,  saying-:  "  O  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 
 Now  this  profound  humilily,  this  great  sense  of  sorrow  and  contrition  for  his  sins, 
 which  accompanied  his  prayer,  was  what  rendered  it  acceptable  to  God  ;  it  procured 
 him  a  favourable  audience,  and  a  ready  discharge  from  all  his  sins ;  and  he  went 
 home  justified  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  highly  pleasing  to  him,  whilst  the  proud 
 Pharisee,  who  was  so  vain  and  conceited  of  his  own  good  works,  met  with  nothing 
 but  contempt  and  humiliation  ;  for  God  "  resists  the  proud,  and  gives  his  grace  to 
 the  humble."* 
 
 CHAPTER  C. 
 
 CHRIST  SHOWS  THE  SPIRITUAL  NATURE  OF  HIS  KINGDOM. f      LUKE  XVII. 
 
 Jesus  here  states  to  the  Pharisees  the  wide  difference  between  his  kingdom  and  that 
 of  Antichrist.  His  is  all  interior  and  spiritual,  whilst  that  of  Antichrist  is  earthly  and 
 Luke  17.  tyrannical.  Wherefore,  "  being  asked  by  the  Pharisees  when  the  kingdom  of  God 
 ^-  should  come?  he  answered  them,  and  said  :  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  so  as 
 21.  to  be  observed.  Neither  shall  they  say  :  behold  he  is  here,  behold  he  is  there  :  for 
 lo  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you,"  and  the  blessings  of  it  you  may  now  enjoy  by 
 believing  in  him  whom  God  hath  sent  to  announce  to  you  his  will.  The  Pharisees 
 had  frequently  heard  Jesus  declare,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  at  hand,  and  they 
 now  requested  him  to  specify  the  precise  period  of  time  when  this  great  revolution 
 would  take  place.  They  were  prepossessed  with  the  idea  of  a  temporal  and  glorious 
 sovereignty  which  the  Messiah  would  establish  in  the  world,  and  this  idea  the  Jews 
 retain  to  the  present  day  ;  in  consequence  of  which  they  flatter  themselves  with  the 
 expectation  of  reigning  over  all  other  nations.  But  in  announcing  the  approach  of 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven,  Jesus  had  no  other  kingdom  in  contemplation,  but  that 
 interior  one  which  God  possesses  in  the  souls  of  the  just,  after  destroying  there  the 
 empire  of  the  devil,  by  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  and  by  the  infusion  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost ;  in  other  words,  by  faith  and  charity,  he  reigns  triumphantly  in  the  hearts  of 
 all  his  elect.  This  kingdom  by  which  he  reigns  is  in  reality  the  same  in  this  life  as 
 it  will  be  in  the  life  to  come,  with  this  sole  difference,  that  here  it  is  only  begun,  and 
 hereafter  it  will  be  perfected  and  consummated  in  glory. 
 
 Wherefore  to  the  question  proposed  by  the  Pharisees,  Jesus  replied,  that  his 
 kingdom  was  not  discernible  by  any  outward  marks  of  power  and  splendour,  such  as 
 
 *  James  iv.  6.  of  his  coming  to   destroy  the  Jews,  the  great  ene- 
 
 t  What  Christ  says  here  of  his  kins^dom  and  mies    of  his   reiprn.      Christ    clearly    foretold    the 
 
 coming,  many  authors  refer  to  the  last  judgment;  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  destruction  of  the 
 
 others,   with   more  probability,   explain   it    of  the  world  at  the  last  judgment.     The  accomplishment 
 
 kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  established  throughout  the  of  the  first  prophecy  is  a  striking  confirmation  of 
 
 world  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  ;  as  likewise  the  second. 
 
Ch.  CI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  3I5 
 
 they  expected ;  nor  was  it  to  be  preceded  by  any  visible,  extraordinary  signs  to 
 point  out  his  coming.  It  was  to  be  wholly  spiritual,  invisible,  and  interior.  But 
 this  empire  of  Christ  within  us  is  not  the  less  real  because  it  is  concealed  from  human 
 view  ;  it  extends  itself  over  the  whole  man,  both  as  to  soul  and  body  ;  its  throne  is 
 the  heart  or  will  of  man  ;  its  sovereign  law  is  love  and  charity  ;  its  orders  or  com- 
 mands are  the  efficacious  graces  and  inspirations  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  its  subjects  are 
 the  several  powers  of  the  soul,  particularly  our  understanding,  our  will,  and  our  cor- 
 poreal senses  ;  the  war  that  is  carried  on  in  this  empire  is  betwixt  our  passions  and 
 our  reason,  the  service  required  of  us,  is  the  performance  of  good  works,  the  rebellions 
 that  arise  in  it  are  our  several  temptations  and  sins;  and  lastly,  the  total  overthrow 
 of  the  state,  is  an  entire  apostasy  from  the  law  and  service  of  God. 
 
 Jesus  then  "  said  to  his  disciples,"  in  order  to  engage  them  to  profit  now  of  their      22. 
 present  happiness  in  possessing  him,  "  the  days  will  come  when  you  shall  desire  to 
 see  one  day  of  the  Son  of  man,"  such  as  you  now  enjoy,  "  and  you  shall  not  see  it. 
 And  they  Avill  say  to  you  :  see  here"  the  Messiah,  "  and  see  there  ;  but  go  ye  not      23. 
 after  nor  follow  them  ;  for  as  lightning  flashing"  suddenly  "  from  under  one  part  of  the      24. 
 heavens,  shineth"  instantly  "  on  those  things  that  are  under  the  heavens ;  so  shall 
 the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be  in  his  day  ;"  he  will  come  suddenly  with  a  splen- 
 dour and  majesty  that  will  surprise  the  whole  world.    "  But  first  he  must  suffer  many      25. 
 things  and  be  rejected  by  this"  blind  "  generation,"*  and  the  passion  and  death  he 
 will  undergo  as  to  his  natuml  body,  is  a  presage  of  the  passion  or  severe  trial  which 
 his  mystical  body,  the  Church,  will  have  likewise  to  undergo  in  the  last  age  of  the 
 world. 
 
 CHAPTER  CI. 
 
 JESUS  EXHORTS  HIS  FOLLOWERS  TO  STRIVE  TO  ENTER  IN   AT  THE  NARROW  GATE. 
 
 LUKE  XIII. 
 
 Jesus  was  yet  in  Perea,t  which  with  respect  to  Judea,  is  situated  on  the  ( ther  side 
 of  the  Jordan.     "  And  he  went  through  the  cities  and  towns,  teaching  and  making  i,uke  13 
 his  journey  towards  Jerusalem  :  and  a  certain  man  said  to  him:  Lord,    ].  The.  narrow       ^^■ 
 are  they  few  that  are  saved?"     Jesus  gave  no  precise  answer  to  this  S"^'^- 
 
 question,  which  was  rather  curious  than  useful ;  "  but  he  said  to  them"  that  accom- 
 panied  him  on  this  occasion  :  "  Strive  to  enter  by  the  narrow  gate  :|  for  many,  I  say      34. 
 
 *  What  follows  in   St.  Luke  occurs  likewise  in  or  on  the  east  side  of  that  river.     It  was  bounded, 
 
 St.  Matt.   xxiv.  37.   and  as  if  pronounced  in  a  dif-  according'  to  Josephus,  to  the  west  by  Jordan,  to 
 
 ferent  place  and  on  a  different  occasion.     St.  Luke  the  east  by  Philadelphia,  to  the  north  by  Pella,  and 
 
 probably  anticipates  it,   as   being  somewhat   con-  to    the    south    by   Macheron,   and    was   a    fruitful 
 
 nected    with  what  he   had  before   mentioned.     It  country. 
 
 must  likewise  be  observed,  that  Christ  might  repeat  |   By  this  narrow  gate  he   means   that  we   must 
 
 the  same  thing  on  different  occasions.  lead  a  life  conliirmable  to  the  gospel,  which  points 
 
 t  Perea  is  derived  from  the  Greek   word  ttc/joi/  out  our  respective  duties,  and  restr:iiiis  within  pro- 
 
 heyond,  and  signities  the  country  beyond  Jordan,  per  limits  our  natural  and  depraved  inclinations. 
 
31Q  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CL 
 
 to  yon,  shall  seek  to  enter  and  shall  not  be  able,"  because  they  seek  not  in  good 
 
 25.  earnest,  and  never  sincerely  renounce  their  evil  inclinations  and  passions.  "  But 
 when  the  Master  of  the  house  shall  have  entered  into"  his  heavenly  mansions,  "  and 
 shall  shut  to  the  door,  you  shall  begin  to  stand  without,  and  knock  at  the  door, 
 saying  :  Lord,  open  to  us.    A.nd  he  answering,  shall  say  to  you  :  I  know  not  whence 
 
 26.  you  are.     Then  you  shall  begin  to  say  :  we  have  eaten  and  drunk  in  thy  presence, 
 
 27.  and  thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets,     And  he  shall  say  to  you  :  1  know  not  whence 
 
 28.  you  are  :  depart  from  me  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity.  There  shall  be  weeping  and 
 gnashing  of  teeth,  when  you  shall  see  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  all  the 
 prophets,  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  yourselves  thrust  out,"  though  their  natural 
 descendants  and  the  presumptive  heirs  of  the  same  heavenly  kingdom,  inasmuch  as 
 you  are  the  lawful  successors  to  that  holy  land  of  promise  which  was  a  figure  or 
 
 29.  representation  of  the  celestial  mansions.  "  And  there  shall  come  from  the  east,  and 
 the  west,  and  the  north,  and  the  south  :  and  they  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom  of 
 God,"  whilst  you,  who  are,  as  it  were,  the  natural  heirs,  shall  be  for  ever  excluded. 
 
 30.  "  And  behold  they  that  are"  now  "  last,"  to  wit,  the  uncircumcised  Gentiles,  "  shall 
 be  first,  and  they"  who  "  are  first"  now  "  shall  be  last :"  he  speaks  of  the  Jews  as 
 being  the  people  of  God,  and  insinuates  that  the  most  illustrious  among  them,  such 
 as  the  Pharisees,  the  doctors  of  the  law,  and  the  priests,  would  be  cast  out  amongst 
 the  reprobate.  All  this,  though  directly  addressed  to  the  Jewish  people,  is  no  less 
 applicable  to  such  Christians  as,  by  their  wicked  and  unprofitable  lives,  merit  an 
 exclusion  from  heaven.  These  indeed  may,  in  their  own  behalf,  remonstrate  to  Jesus 
 Christ  that  they  have  eaten  and  drunk  at  his  table,  by  having  partaken  of  the  adora- 
 ble sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood,  and  that  tliey  have  been  hearers  of  his  divine 
 discourses,  when  his  holy  word  has  been  announced  to  them  by  ministers  duly  sent 
 by  him  for  their  instruction.  But  they  will  doubtless  have  no  better  success  to  look 
 for  from  this  their  fruitless  remonstrance,  than  what  the  Jews  are  here  taught  to 
 expect,  if,  like  them,  they  neglect  the  essential  duties  of  that  holy  religion  which 
 Christ  came  to  establish  upon  earth. 
 
 31.  2  J  p.  ^.^^  "  The  same  day  there  came"  to  Jesus  "  some  of  the  Pharisees,  say- 
 destined  to  die  ing  to  him  :  depart  and  get  thee  from  hence ;  for  Herod  has  a  mind 
 tn  Jerusalem.  ^^  Y\\\  thee."  It  is  probable  that  these  Pharisees,  being  irritated 
 against  Jesus  on  account  of  the  severe  censures  which  he  had  levelled  against  their 
 wicked  lives,  had  solicited  this  prince  thus  cruelly  to  enforce  his  authority  against  a 
 person  otherwise  indifferent  to  him,  as  appears  from  the  inactive  part  he  afterwards 
 took  during  his  passion,  when  Jesus  being  brought  before  him,  he  showed  not  the 
 least  desire  of  accelerating  his  death.  From  the  answer  which  Jesus  gave  to  this 
 message,  it  appears  that  Herod  condescended  merely  to  the  importunity  of  the 
 Pharisees,  in  allowing  them  to  make  use  of  his  name  and  authority,  in  order  to 
 intimidate  and  expel  him  from  his  dominions. 
 
 32.  When  this  peremptory  message  was  brought  to  Jesus,  "  he  said  to  them  :  go  and 
 tell  that  fox,*  behold  I  cast  out  devils,  and  perform  cures  to-day  and  to-morrovv,t 
 
 *  Jesus  here  describes  Herod  under  the  title  of    timidity,   two    characters   very   distinijuishable    in 
 fox,  an  animal  remarkable  both  for  cunning  and     that  prince.  t  Tliat  is,  for  a  short  time. 
 
Ch.  ClI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  317 
 
 and  the  third  day  I  am  consummated"*  by  death.     "  Nevertheless  I  must  walk  to-      33. 
 day  and  to-morrow :  and  the  day  following,"  till  I  arrive  at  Jerusalem:  "because 
 it  cannot  be  that  a  prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem."! 
 
 From  the  topic  of  his  approaching  death,  Jesus  takes  occasion  to  reproach  the  city 
 of  Jerusalem  with  its  ingratitude,  and  to  denounce  against  it  the  most  dreadful 
 menaces.  "  Jerusalem^  Jerusalem,  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  that  34. 
 are  sent  to  thee !  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children,  as  the  bird  doth  her 
 brood  under 'her  wings,:};  and  thou  wouldst  not?  Behold,"  in  punishment  of  your  35. 
 ingratitude  in  rejecting  me,  "  your  house  shall  be  left  to  you  desolate,"  and  aban- 
 doned by  the  Almighty,  and  so  even  to  the  end ;  "  and  I  say  to  you,  that  you  shall 
 not  see  me  till  the  time  come,  when  you"  shall  own  me  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  "  shall 
 say  :  Blessed  is  he  that  comcth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."§ 
 
 CHAPTER  CII. 
 
 JESUS  RAISES  LAZARUS  TO  LIFE,  AFTER  HE  H.\D  BEEN  DEAD  FOUR  DAYS,     JOHN  XI. 
 
 At  the  same  time  that  Herod  sent  an  order  for  Jesus  to  quit  his  dominions,  a  subject 
 of  a  particular  nature  recalled  him  into  Judea.     For  "there  was  a  certain  man  sick  John  11 
 named  Lazarus,  of  Bethania,  of  the  town  of  Mary  and  Martha  her  sister.   (And  Mary       ^ 
 was  she  that  anointed  the  Lord  with  ointment,  and  wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair ; 
 whose  brother  Lazarus  was  sick.)"     St.  John  gives  so  exact  and  minute  a  detail  of 
 this  transaction,  as  to  stamp  the  most  evident  marks  of  truth  on  every  part  of  his 
 narration.     He  states,  1.  The  reality  of  Lazarus's  death,  as  he  had  been  dead  four 
 days.     2.  The  incontestable  miracle  of  his  being  raised  again  to  life,  to  the  full  con- 
 viction of  all  present.     "  His  sisters  therefore  sent  to  him,  saying  :  Lord,  behold  he       3. 
 whom  thou  lovest  is  sick.     And  Jesus  hearing  it,  said  to  them  :  this  1.  The  death  of      4. 
 sickness  is  not  unto  death,"  because  ultimately  to  terminate  in  life :       Lazarus. 
 "  but"  is  ordained  "  for  the  glory  of  God,"  viz.  that  "  the  Son  of  God  may  be 
 glorified  by  it.     Now  Jesus  loved  Martha  and  her  sister  Mary,  and   Lazarus;"       5. 
 which  observation  is  made  by  the  evangelist,  lest  the  delay  of  his  journey  should  be 
 imputed  to  any  motive  of  indifference  or  disregard  on  the  part  of  Jesus.      "  Having        6. 
 therefore  heard  that  he  was  sick,  he  still  remained  in  the  same  place  two  days,"  as  it 
 were  to  allow  time  for  the  fatal  event  of  his  death  to  take  place,  or  rather  that  after 
 his  death  had  actually  happened,  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  working  a  miracle 
 
 *  In  like  manner,  wlien  we  are  in  tlie  way  of  our  in  Perea,  and  again  after  his  trinmphant  entry  into 
 
 duly,  we  ouiiht  to  fear  nothinp;.  Jerusalem,  as  we  tind  in  St.  Matt,  xxiii.  37. 
 
 t  Not  that  all  the  prophets  suffered  in  Jerusalem,  §  Tliis   prophecy   cannot   solely   be    referred    to 
 
 though  many  did  ;  and  it  is  rather  a  ])ro])hecy,  that  Christ's  public  entry  into  Jerusalem,  when  the  peo- 
 
 lie  himself,  the  great   Projihet   and  their  Messiah,  pie  made  the  air  ring  witli  these  words  of  the  117th 
 
 should  be  put  to  deatli  at  Jerusalem.  Ps.  because  previous   to   this  event  he  was  at  Be- 
 
 i    It  appears  that   CUiri^t  said  this  on  two  dif-  thania,  and  was  there  seen  by  many  of  tlie  inhabit- 
 
 ferent  occasions  ;  here,  as  mentioned  by  St.  Luke,  ants  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  come  to  meet  hira. 
 
 27.  4  M 
 
318  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CIL 
 
 7.  even  of  greater  magnitude  than  that  which  was  required  at  his  hands.     "  And  after 
 
 8.  that,  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  let  us  go  into  Judea  again.*  The  disciples  replied : 
 Rabbi,  but  just  now  the  Jews  sought  to  stone  thee,  and  goest  thou  thither  again? 
 
 9.  Jesus  answered  :  are  there  not  twelve  hours  of  the  day  ?  If  a  man  walk  in  the  day 
 
 10.  time,  he  stumbleth  not,  because  he  seeth  the  light  of  this  world :  but  if  he  walk  in  the 
 night,  he  stumbleth,  because  the  hght  is  not  with  him.''^  By  this  metaphorical 
 language  he  gave  them  to  understand,  that  the  time  of  his  life  was  regulated  by  his 
 Father,  and  that  till  night,  that  is,  till  the  hour  of  his  death  was  come,  he  had  nothing 
 
 11.  to  apprehend  from  his  enemies.  "  These  things  he  spoke,  and  afterwards  said  to 
 them  :  Lazarus  our  friend  sleepeth  ;  but  I  go  that  I  may  awake  him  out  of  sleep," 
 intimating  that  he  could  as  easily  raise  him  from  the  dead,  as  wake  him  out  of  sleep. 
 
 12.  "  His  disciples  therefore  said  :  Lord,  if  he  sleep,  he  will  be  safe,"  considering  this  as 
 
 13.  a  favourable  symptom  of  his  recovery.     '•  But  Jesus  spoke  of  his  death  :  and  they 
 
 14.  thought  that  he  spoke  of  his"  natural  "  rest  by  sleeping.     Then  Jesus  said  to  them 
 15-      in  plain  terms  :  Lazarus  is  dead  :  and  I  am  glad  for  your  sakes,  that  I  was  not  there, 
 
 that"  seeing  the  miracle  which  I  am  going  to  perform,  by  raising  him  to  life,  "  you 
 may  believe"  more  firmly  that  I  am  the  Son  of  God :  "  but  let  us  go  to  him"  without 
 
 16.  further  delay.  "  Thomas  therefore,  who  is  called  Didymus,"  seeing  that  his  brethren 
 showed  no  inclination  to  obey  this  proposal,  "  said  to  his  fellow-disciples,"  with  a 
 fortitude  of  mind  worthy  of  himself  and  of  every  follower  of  Jesus  Christ :  "  let  us 
 
 ^'^'  2.  The  dis.  ^'^°  S*^  ^'^'^^  "'^  ^^^^J  ^'^  ^^^^'^  ^i''"'  J^sus  therefore  came  and  found," 
 course  of  Jesus  upon  his  arrival  in  Bethania,  "  that  he  had  been  four  days  already  in 
 
 18.  ""       "'"   °'      the  monument.     (Now  Bethania  X  was  near  to  Jerusalem,  about  fifteen 
 
 19.  furlongs  off),  that  is,  about  two  miles  east  of  it.  "  And  many  of  the  Jews  were 
 come  to  Martha  and  Mary,  to  comfort  them  concerning  their  brotlier."  Providence 
 likewise  seemed  purposely  to  have  directed  them  thither  with  a  view  to  their  being 
 
 20.  witnesses  of  the  wonderful  event  about  to  take  place.  "  Martha  therefore,  when  she 
 heard  that  Jesus  was  come  went  to  meet  him,  but  Mary  sat  at  home,"  paying  due 
 
 21.  attention  to  her  compassionate  visitors.  "  Martha  then  said  to  Jesus  :  Lord,  if  thou 
 hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died."  Which  words  do  not  imply  any  want 
 of  faith  or  confidence  in  Jesus,  but  express  merely  her  liarmless  sensibility  in  lament- 
 ing that  her  brother's  sickness  had  most  unseasonably  happened  at  a  time  when  he 
 
 22.  was  far  distant :  hence  she  added :  "  but  now  also  I  know,  that  whatsoever  thou 
 
 23.  wilt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give  it  to  thee.     Jesus  saith  to  her  :  thy  brother  shall  rise 
 
 24.  again  :  Martha"  observing,  that  no  precise  time  was  mentioned  for  this,  whether  it 
 should  be  now  or  only  at  the  general  resurrection,  dared  not  to  interpret  this  promise 
 as  if  immediately  to  take  place,  and  therefore  "  saith  to  him  :  I  know  that  he  will  rise 
 
 25.  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day.     Jesus"  now  explained  to  her  in  what 
 
 *  It  hence  appears  that  Jesus,  after  the  feast  of  |  According  to  Mr.  Maundrell,  it  is  at  present 
 
 the  Dedication,  chap.  89.  retired  from  Judea,  and  but  a  very  small  village.    At  the  first  entrance  into 
 
 that  these  words,  beyond  the  Jordan,  are  to  be  un-  it  there  is  an   old  ruin,  which   they  call  Lazarus's 
 
 derslood  relatively  to  Judea,  and  not  with  respect  castle,  supposed  to  have  been   the   mansion-house 
 
 to  Galilee.  where  he  and  his  sisters  lived.     At  the  bottom  of  a 
 
 t   Life  is  of  no   account  to  him  who  thinks  of  small  descent,  not  far  from   the  castle,  you  see  his 
 
 nothing-  so  much  as  doing  the  will  of  God.  sepulchre,  which  the  Turks  hold  in  great  veneration. 
 
Ch.  CII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  319 
 
 manner  the  event  was  to  happen  ;  but  previously  he  required  of  her  a  distinct  pro- 
 fession of  faith^  that  he  was  the  source  and  author  of  the  general  resurrection  as  to  the 
 bodies  of  mankind,  as  well  as  of  eternal  life  with  respect  to  their  souls  ;  and  he 
 "  said  to  her  :  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  ;  he  that  believeth  in  me,  although 
 he  be  dead  shall  live.     And  every  one  that  liveth,  and  believeth  in  me,  shall  not  die      26. 
 for  ever ;"  speaking  not  of  that  corporeal  or  transitory  death  which  her  brother, 
 thouo-h  his  fiiithful  follower,  had  experienced,  but  of  the  eternal  death  of  the  soul. 
 He  then  asked  Martha:  "  believest  thou  this?    She,"  breaking  out  into  an  act  of     27. 
 perfect  faith,  "  saith  to  him :  yes,  Lord,  I  have  believed  that  thou  art  Christ  the  Son 
 of  the  livino-  God,  who  art  come  into  this  world."     In  this  act  of  faith  was  comprised 
 a  full  assent  to  every  other  article  :  but  as  yet  she  received  no  positive  assurance  of 
 the  speedy  resurrection  of  her  brother  to  life.    "  And  having  said  these    3.  Mary  and       28. 
 words,   she  went  and  called  her  sister  Mary  privately,  saying:    the      Chnstweep. 
 Master  is  come,  and  calleth  for  thee.    As  soon  as  she  heard  this,  she  rose  up  quickly,      29. 
 and  cometh  to  him.     For  Jesus  was  not  yet  come  into  the  town  :  but  he  was  still  in      30. 
 that  place  where  Martha  had  met  him  :"  for,  to  obviate  every  suspiciion  of  collusion 
 respecting  Lazarus,  he  chose  that  the  Jews  should  be  witnesses  of  his  entrance  into 
 Bethania,  and  of  every  part  of  the  ensuing  transaction.     "  The  Jews  therefore  who      31 
 were  with  her  in  the  house  and  comforted  her,  when  they  saw  that  Mary  rose  up 
 speedilv,  and  went  out,  followed  her,  saying :   she  goeth  to  the  monument  to  weep 
 there  ;"  for  this  was  the  custom  of  those  times.     ''  Mary  then,  when  she  was  come      32. 
 where  Jesus  was,  seeing  him,  fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  saith  to  him  :  Lord,  hadst 
 thou  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.*     Jesus  therefore,  when  he  saw  her  weep-      33. 
 ing,  and  the  Jews  that  were  come  with  her  weeping,  groaned  in  spirit,  and  troubled 
 himself;"  for  as  Christ  was  truly  man,  he  had  the  atfections  and  passions  of  human 
 nature ;  yet  so  that  he  was  master  even  of  the  first  motions,  which  could  not  raise  in 
 him  any  involuntary  disturbance  or  disorderly  inclinations. f    He  permitted  therefore, 
 or  rather  as  it  is  said,  raised  within  himself  these  affections  of  grief  and  compassion 
 in  common  with  all  present  on  this  occasion,  "  and  said  :  where  have  you  laid  him  ?      34. 
 They  answer,  come.  Lord,  and  see ;  and  Jesus  wept:"  thus  giving  them  a  mark  of     35. 
 his  human  nature,  when  he  was  going  to  give  them  a  proof  of  his  divinity.     *'  The      36. 
 Jews  therefore  said  :  behold  how  he  loved  him  !     But  some  of  them  said  :  could  not      37. 
 he  that  opened  the  eyes  of  the  man  born  blind,  have  caused  that  this  man  should  not 
 die?"     This  their  remark  could  only  proceed  from  an  absolute  conviction  of  his 
 being  dead,  and  the  impossibility   of  his  being  now  raised  to   life.    4  Lazarus  is 
 "  Jesus  therefore  again  groaning  in  himself,  cometh  to  the  sepulchre  ;     '>-ciise.d  to  life.       gg^ 
 now  it  was  a  vault"  excavated  in  the  earth,  "  and  a  stone  was  laid  over  it.:}:     Jesus      39. 
 
 *  Lazarus,  according  to   St.  Epiphanius  (Haer.  cubits  lonp;  and  four  broad,  in  which   eight  other 
 
 63.),  was   now  thirty  years  old,  and  lived  other  Httle  cells  or  niches  (or,  as  some  say,  thirteen)  were 
 
 thirty  after  being  restored  to  life  by  Christ.  usually  made,  as  so  many  distinct  receptacles  for  the 
 
 t    Ubi    enim    summa   potestas    est,    secundum  bodies  that  were  to  be  laid  in  them.    The  mouth  or 
 
 voluntatis  nutum  tractatur  infirmitas.     Aug-.  Trac.  entrance  of  this  vault  was  closed  with  a  large  stone, 
 
 49.    in    Joan.     Turbaris    tu    nolens    turbalus    est  which,  whenever  ihey   buried   any,  was   removed ; 
 
 Christus,  quia  voluit,  &c.  and  our  Saviour  here  ordered  the  removal   of  that 
 
 X  The  common  form  of  a  6!(Ma/ pZace  among  the  which  lay  upon  Lazarus,  to  make  the  miracle   ap- 
 
 ancient  Jews,  was  a  vault  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  six  pear    the    more    evident,   because   it   would   have 
 
320  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CIIL 
 
 saith :  take  away  the  stone  :  Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,"  imagining- 
 that  he  sought  only  to  soothe  his  feehngs,  by  taking  a  hist  farewell  of  the  remains  of 
 his  beloved  friend,  remonstrated,  and  "  saith  to  him  :  Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh  ; 
 
 40.  for  he  has  been  four  days.    Jesus  saith  to  her :  did  not  I  say  to  thee,  that  if  thou 
 
 41.  wouldst  believe,  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God  ?  They  took  therefore  the  stone 
 away"  from  the  place  where  the  dead  was  laid,  "  and  Jesus  lifting  up  his  eyes,  said: 
 
 42.  Father,  I  give  thee  thanks  that  thou  hast  heard  me.  And  I  knew  that  thou  dost 
 always  hear  me,  but  because  of  the  people  who  stand  about  have  I  said  it ;  thai  they 
 
 43.  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me"  into  the  world.     "  When  he  had  said  these 
 
 44.  words,  he  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice  :  Lazarus,  come  forth.  And  presently  he  that 
 had  been  dead  came  forth  bound  feet  and  hands  with  winding  bands,  and  his  face 
 was  bound  about  with  a  napkin :  Jesus  said  to  them  loose  him,  and  let  him  go.* 
 
 45.  Many  therefore  of  the  Jews  who  were  come  to  Mary  and  Martha,  and  had  seen  the" 
 
 46.  extraordinary  "  things  that  Jesus  did,  believed  in  him.  But  some  of  them,"  remain- 
 ing obstinate  in  their  incredulity  and  perverse  dispositions,  "  went"  in  haste  "  to  the 
 Pharisees,  and  told  them  the  things  that  Jesus  had  done."t 
 
 The  holy  fiUhers  consider  this  resurrection  of  Lazarus  as  a  figure  of  the  spiritual 
 resurrection  of  a  soul  from  the  state  of  sin.  Jesus  Christ  approaches  the  sinner  by 
 his  holy  grace ;  he  calls  upon  him  by  his  holy  word ;  he  excites  in  him  a  sincere 
 reo-ret  of  his  past  sins ;  he  animates  him  with  a  strong  purpose  of  amendment, 
 by  the  infusion  of  his  holy  spirit ;  he  unbinds  him  by  the  power  which  he  has  given 
 to  the  ministers  of  his  holy  Church,  and  bids  him  go  to  lead  a  new  life.  Such  is  the 
 wonderful  work  which  the  Saviour  of  our  souls  produceth  in  the  order  of  grace. 
 The  tears,  the  sighs,  the  groans  and  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus, 
 indicate  the  difficulty  there  is  in  resuscitating  a  soul  that  has  been  long  dead  by  a 
 habit  of  mortal  sin.  But  however  great  the  difficulty  may  be,  the  sinner  who  is 
 desirous  of  life,  and  willing  to  concur,  ought  never  to  despair,  when  he  considers 
 tlie  power  of  his  Physician,  and  the  goodness  of  his  Redeemer. 
 
 CHAPTER  CIIL 
 
 THE  FIRST  COUNCIL  HELD  BY  THE  PHARISEES  AGAINST  JESUS.      JOHN  XI.    LUKE  IX. 
 
 John  11   "  The  chief  priests  therefore,  and  the  Pharisees,"  were  no  sooner  informed  of  the 
 '*'^'      wonderful  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  than  they  "  gathered  a  council,"  consisting  of 
 
 looked  more  like  an  apparition  than  a  resurrection,  t  Jesus  wrought  this  miracle,  as  it  were,  at  the 
 had  Lazarus  come  forth  when  the  door  of  his  very  gates  of  Jerusalem,  reserviug  it  for  ttie  last, 
 sepulchre  was  so  firmly  shut.  purposely  to  take  away  every  shadow  of  excuse 
 *  St.  Austin  (Ser.  44.  de  verbis  Don.)  and  St.  from  the  Jews.  For  its  public  notoriety  left  not 
 Greg.  (Horn.  20.  in  Evang.)  consider  Lazarus  tlie  smallest  handle  to  their  usual  chicane  or  cavil- 
 here  as  an  emblem  or  figure  of  a  sinner  who  is  ling,  by  which  they  had  endeavoured  to  explaii, 
 indeed  spiritually  restored  to  life  by  contrition,  but  away  his  former  miracles 
 still  to  be  loosed  from  the  bands  of  his  guilt  by  the 
 absolution  of  Chiist's  ministers 
 
Ch.  cm.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  321 
 
 seventy-two  persons,  "  and  said"  to  one  another  :  "  what  are  we  a  doing?"  why  are 
 we  so  slow  and  remiss  in  our  proceedings,  "  for  this  man  doth  many  miracles  ?*  If  48. 
 we  let  him  go,  all  will  believe  in  him,"  as  their  expected  king  and  Messiah,  "  and  the 
 Romans,"  supposing  that  we  are  setting  up  a  king  in  opposition  to  them,  "  will 
 come  and  take  away  our  place  and  nation."  These  were  the  reasons  of  policy  which 
 induced  them  to  get  rid  of  Jesus,  and  they  were  in  fact  real  prophecies  of  what  was  to 
 happen  to  them  in  consequence  of  putting  him  to  death. 
 
 From  the  following  decision  of  Caiphas,  it  appears  that  some  few  \.  The  prophecy 
 declared  themselves  in  favour  of  Jesus  :  at  least  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  of  Caiphas.  , 
 that  Nicodemus,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  Gamaliel,  espoused  his  cause :  they  pro- 
 bably urged  in  his  favour,  that  he  was  void  of  ambition,  that  the  power  he  had 
 repeatedly  shown,  bespoke  its  divine  origin,  and  that  he  had  ever  made  the  public 
 good  his  primary  object  and  concern  ;  moreover,  they  would  urge,  that  if  these 
 arguments  were  not  admitted,  his  adversaries  must  at  least  place  in  the  scales,  the 
 innocence  of  his  life  and  manners,  and  his  being  unaccused  of  any  crime  ;  and  that 
 to  condemn  him  to  death  without  proof  of  guilt,  would  of  itself  be  the  greatest  of 
 crimes.  "  But  one  of  them,  naimed  Caiphas,  being  the  high  priest  that  year,"  who  49. 
 had  therefore  to  collect  the  votes  of  the  council,  opposed  every  argument  urged  in 
 favour  of  Jesus,  and  "  said  to  them  :  you  know  nothing"  of  the  real  state  of  the  case, 
 "  neither  do  you  consider,  that  it  is  expedient  for  you  that  one  man  should  die  for  50. 
 the  people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not."t 
 
 These  words  of  Caiphas  had  a  double  meaning ;  one,  in  the  intention  of  Caiphas, 
 which  was  wicked  and  abominable,  as  implying  that  the  safety  of  the  commonwealth 
 was  to  be  secured  even  by  means  the  most  unjust  and  unwarrantable,  such  as  the 
 shedding  of  innocent  blood ;  and  another,  designed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was 
 divine  and  prophetic,  as  implying  that  it  was  highly  advantageous  that  one  man 
 should  suffer  death,  in  order  to  redeem  all  mankind  from  eternal  perdition.     "  And"      51. 
 in  "  this"  sense  "  he  spoke  not  of  himself :  but  being  the  high  priest  of  that  year,  he 
 prophesied  that  Jesus  should  die  for  the  nation"  of  the  Jews.     "  And  not  only  for"      52. 
 this  "  nation,  but  to  gather  together  in  one"  body  "  the  children  of  God,  that  were 
 dispersed"  through  the  world.     "  From  that  day,  therefore,  they  devised"  how  "  to      53. 
 put  him  to  death.     Wherefore  Jesus  walked  no  more  openly  among  2.  Jems  retires      ^^■ 
 the  Jews,  but  he  went  into  a  country  near  the  desert,  into  a  city  that  is     ^°  Ephraim. 
 called  Ephrem  :"  but  in  the  Greek  it  is  called  Ephraim,^  which  some  think  to  be 
 Ephron,  in  the  tribe  of  Juda,  while  others,  with  greater  probability,  place  it  in  the 
 tribe  of  Ephraim,  about  twenty  miles  to  the  north  of  Jerusalem  :  "  and  there  he 
 abode"  for  some  space  of  time,  "  with  his  disciples."     This  example  of  Jesus,  in 
 withdrawing  from  persecution,  has  been  a  sanction  to  the  faithful  in  succeeding  ages, 
 to  consult  their  safety  by  flight  in  times  of  danger  and  persecution.     "  And  the      53. 
 
 *  This   is   a  dreadful   instance  of  the   effect  of  cause,  as  St.  Thomas  observes,  the  Holy  Ghost  did 
 
 prejudice,  obstinacy,  malice,  &c.  not  enlighten   his   understanding'  or  influence  his 
 
 t    Vide    quanta    sit    virtus    spiritus    sancti.      A  will,  but  solely  directed  his  tonfjue. 
 mente  mala  voluit  verba   proferri  prophetica.     St.  J  Ephrem  is  found  in  some  Greek  copies,  as  like- 
 
 Chrysos.    64.    in    Joan.      Hence    it    follows,   that  wise  in  Nonus. 
 Caiphas  was  not  strictly  and  truly  a  prophet,  be- 
 
 28.  4n 
 
322  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Gh.  CIIL 
 
 Passover  of  the  Jews  was  at  hand,  and  many  from  the  country  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
 
 before  the  Passover,  to  purify  themselves"*  from  such  legal  impurities    as  they 
 
 might  have  contracted.     Of  the  several  species  of  these  impurities,  there  were  some 
 
 which  rendered  persons  unclean  during  eight  days,  and  which  therefore,  had  they  not 
 
 duly  purified  themselves,  would  have  prevented  their  partaking  of  the  paschal  lamb 
 
 until  the  succeeding  month,  agreeably  to  what  Moses  ordained. f     Many  of  these 
 
 56.      persons  were  greatly  attached  to  Jesus,  and  "  they  sought  therefore  for"  him,  "  and 
 
 discoursed  one  with  another,  standing  in  the  temple :    What  think  you"  can  have 
 
 prevented  him,  "  that  he  is  not  come  to  the  festival-day?     And  the  chief  priests  and 
 
 Pharisees  had  given  orders,  that  if  any  one  should  know  where  he  was,  he  should 
 
 Luke  9.     3.  He  reproves  givG  uotice,  that  they  might  apprehend  him.     And  it  came  to  pass, 
 
 •      thejiery  ~^^]- °f  when  the  days  of  his  assumption"!  out  of  this  world  ''  were  accom- 
 
 againsi  the  Sa-  plishiug,  he  steadfastly  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem,"  viewing  with 
 
 maritans.  ^M  undaunted  courage  that  death  which  he  foresaw  there  awaited  him. 
 
 52.  "  And  he  sent  messengers  before  him"  into  those  places  through  which  he  was  to 
 pass,  "and  going  they  entered  into  a  city  of  the  Samaritans  to  prepare"  the  neces- 
 
 53.  saries  of  life  "  for  him"  and  his  followers.  "  But  they  received  them  not,  because  his 
 face  was"  evidently  "  of  one  going  to  Jerusalem,"  for  the  celebration  of  the  Passover  ; 
 which  they  considered  as  a  high  affront  offered  to  their  temple  upon  mount  Garisem, 
 where  they  imagined  the  feasts  and  ceremonies  of  religion  ought  to  be  performed 
 
 54.  instead  of  Jerusalem.  "  And  when  his  disciples,  James  and  John,  had  seen  this"  in- 
 hospitable treatment,  they  resented  it  more  than  the  others,  and  "  they  said  :  Lord,  wilt 
 thou  that  we  command  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  and  consume  them,"  in  a 
 manner  similar  to  that  of  Elias  §  when  he  punished  the  soldiers  of  the  king  of  Israel? 
 
 55.  *'  And  turning  about  he  rebuked  them,  saying  :  You  know  not  of  what  spirit  you 
 are,"  and  that  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  which  you  ought  to  follow,  is  the  spirit  of 
 
 i>6.  mercy,  mildness,  and  forbearance.  "  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  destroy  souls, 
 but  to  save"  them.  "  And  they  went  into  another  town,"  which  afforded  them  a 
 more  humane  and  hospitable  reception. 
 
 *  Much  more  oug'ht  Christians  to  purify  them-  that  to  g:o  to  Jerusalem  from  Ephrem,  where  Jesus 
 
 selves  before  the  Christian   Passover ;  this  should  was   staying;,   the  direct  road  is  not  throuj^h   Sa- 
 
 be  the  chief  business  of  Lent.  maria  :   but  our  Lord  may  have  had  several  reasons 
 
 t  Numb.  ix.  10.  for  not  tal<infif  the  great  high  road.     St.  Luke  hav- 
 
 I   We  place  here  what  St.  Luke  has  anticipated  ing-  mentioned  two  important  admonitions  of  Christ 
 
 concerning  the  rejection  of  .Tesus   by  the   Samari-  to  his  disciples,  the  one  against  ambition,  the  other 
 
 tans.     These  words,  when  the  days  of  his  assump-  against  envy,  might  perliaps   think  this    a  proper 
 
 tion  were  fulfilled,  indicate  that  there  was  no  great  occasion  for  adding  a  third  against  revenge,  without 
 
 interval  between  this  journey  of  Jesus  and  his  death,  observing  the  oriler  of  time, 
 
 which   was   the   beginning  of  what  is   called    his         §  In  the  Greek  as  Elias  did.     This  might  seem 
 
 assumption,  that  is,  of  his  return   to  his   Father,  a  marginal   note   introduced   into  the   text,  if  not 
 
 Moreover,  St.  Luke,  by  these  words,  he  steadfastly  supported   by  the  Arabic   and   Syriac,   as  also  by 
 
 set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  seems  to  insinuate  Terlullian,  who  must  have  thus  read  it,  as  appears 
 
 the  fortitude  and  alacrity  with   v^hich  he   went   to  from    his  answer   to   Marcion,   who   objected    this 
 
 suffer  death.     It  must  however  be  acknowledged,  passage. 
 
Ch.  CIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  323 
 
 CHAPTER  CIV. 
 
 JESUS,  THE  THIRD  TIME,  FORETELLS  HIS  DEATH* THE  AMBITIOUS  REQUEST  OF  THE  TWO 
 
 SONS  OF  ZEBEDEE.      MATT.  XX.      MARK  X.      LUKE  XVIII. 
 
 Whilst  "  they  were  in  the  way,  going  up  to  Jerusalem,"  their  conversation  turned  Mark  10. 
 upon  two  very  different  topics  :  the  first  was  the  prediction  which  Jesus  made  to  his      ^^- 
 Apostles  of  his  approaching  sufferings  and  death ;  the  second  was  the  ambitious 
 request  of  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee.     "  And  Jesus  went  before  them,  and  they  were 
 astonished"  at  his  intrepidity  and  resolution  in  thus  going  into  the  midst  of  his 
 enemies  :  "  and  following"  after  him,  they  "  were  afraid,"  and  full  of  apprehensions. 
 "  And  taking  again  the  twelve  disciples  apart,  he  began  to  tell  them  the  things  ^att.  20. 
 that  should  befall  him  ;  and  said  to  them  :  Behold  we  go  up  to  Jeru-  i.  Christ  fore-      17- 
 salem,  and  all  things  shall  be  accomplished  which  were  written  by  the  '*''*  *"  death,  ^^^^  '^^ 
 prophets  concerning  the  Son  of  Man.     For  he  shall  be  deli\ered  to  the  chief  priests,      3L 
 and  to  the  scribes  and  ancients,  and  they  shall  condemn  him  to  death,  and  shall    ^^^^ 
 deliver  him  to  the  Gentiles,  to  be  mocked,  and  scourged,  and  crucified."      Yes,  jyj^^.  go 
 "  he  shall  be  mocked,  and  scourged,  and  spit  upon :  and  after  they  have  scourged      19. 
 him,  they  will  put  him  to  death,  and  the  third  day  he  shall  rise  again"  to  enter -^"^l^^" 
 into  his  glory.     "  And  they  understood  none  of  these  things,"  because,  like  the 
 rest  of  the  Jews,  they  were  fully  prepossessed  with  the  idea  that  the   Messiah 
 would  be  immortal.     "  The  meaning,"  therefore,  "  of  these  words  was  hid  from 
 them,  and  they  did  not  conceive  the  things  that  were  spoken."    But  the  motive 
 of  Jesus,  in  delivering  this  prediction,  was  to  convince  them,  when,  on  a  future  day, 
 they  should  recollect  all  that  was  past,  that  his  passion  and  death,  so  far  from  sur- 
 prising him  unawares,  had  been  ever  present  before  his  eyes,  and  that  he  had  fore- 
 seen and  foretold  to  them  the  most  material  circumstances  concerning  it. 
 
 "  Then  came  to  him"  Salome,  "  the  mother  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,      ^  y^^  reouest  Matt  20 
 with  her  sons,  adoring  him"  upon  her  knees,   "  and  asking  some  of  the  two  sons      20. 
 thing  of  him;"  for  as  they  had  heard  Jesus  mention  his  resurrection,   °f  ^'^^'^dee. 
 they  judged  that  his  reign  was  at  hand,  and  were  therefore  ambitious  of  securing  to 
 themselves  the  first  dignities  in  his  kingdom.    "  Who  said  to  her  :  What  wilt  thou  ?      21, 
 She  t  saith  to  him  :  say  that  these  my  two  sons  may  sit,  the  one  on  thy  right  hand, 
 and  the  other  on  thy  left  in  thy  kingdom.     And  Jesus"  without  taking  notice  of  the      22. 
 mother,  who  made  this  request  in  behalf  of  her  sons,  "  answering,  said  to  them  : 
 You  know  not  what  you  ask."     In  effect,  carried  away  by  a  spirit  of  ambition,  they 
 erroneously  figured  to  themselves  some  high  and  lucrative  post  in  an  earthly  or  tem- 
 poral kingdom,  and  this  at  a  time  when  they  should  have  been  preparing  themselves 
 
 *   See  the  first  prediction,  chap.  66.  No.  3.   the  said  to  have  done  what  they  desired   their  mother 
 
 second,  chap.  69.  No.  1.  to  do  for  them,  and  hence  Christ  directed   his  an- 
 
 t  In  St.  Mark  x.  35.  we  find  that  the  sons  them-  swer  to  them.     A  similar  way  of  speaking  occurs 
 
 selves  made  this  petition.     Both  the  sons  and  the  in  the  history  of  the  centurion,  chap.  45. 
 mother  might  make  it,  at  least  the  sons  may  be 
 
324 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 [Ch.  CIV. 
 
 39. 
 
 40. 
 
 for  conflicts  and  battles,  after  the  example  of  their  Lord  and  Master  now  going  to  a 
 Mark  10.  diso-raceful  cross.     Jesus,  therefore,  adverting  to  his  sufferings,  said  to  them  :  "  Can 
 you  drink  the  chalice*  that  I  shall  drink?  or  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  where- 
 with I  am  baptized  ?    But  they  said  to  him,"  without  fully  comprehending  the  import 
 of  his  words  :  "  We  can.     And  Jesus  saith  to  them  :  You  shall  indeed  drink  of  the 
 chalice  that  I  drink  of,  and  with  the  baptism  wherewith  I  am  baptized,  you  shall  be 
 baptized.!    But  to  sit  on  my  right  hand  or  on  my  left,  is  not  mine,"  as  man,  "  to  give 
 Matt.  20.  Iq  you/'  especially  whilst  in  these  dispositions  of  pride  and  ambition  ;  "  but  to  them 
 for  whom  it  is  prepared  by  my  Father.     And  the"  other  "  ten"  apostles  ''  hearing 
 Mark  10.  it,  were  moved  with  indignation  against  the  two  brethren  James  and  John.    But  Jesus 
 Matt  20  called  them  to  him,"  and  explained  the  true  nature  of  those  dignities  and  offices  of 
 25.      his  kingdom,  which  they  had  erroneously  conceived  to  be  of  a  temporal  nature,  assur- 
 ing them  that  there  was  a  wide  difference  betwixt  the  dignities  of  his  kingdom  and 
 those  of  this  world,  both  in  regard  to  the  persons  enjoying  these  dignities  and  the 
 use  which  they  made  of  their  authority.     "  And  he  said  :  You  know,  that  the  princes 
 of  the  Gentiles  J  lord  it  over  them/'  in  an  arbitrary  and  despotic  manner,  "  and  they 
 
 25. 
 
 *  The  cup  or  chalice  is  a  metaphor  sij^iiifyin^ 
 Christ's  sufferings  and  death.  See  Ps.  x.  17.  Ixxiv. 
 9.  Isai.  li.  17. 
 
 t  St.  James  was  the  first  apostle  that  suffered 
 martyrdom  at  Jerusalem,  Acts  xii.  2.  and  St.  John 
 was  put  into  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil  and  banished 
 into  Patmos. 
 
 J  Although  Christ  condemns  here  the  tyrannical 
 abuse  of  power,  yet  no  inference  can  be  justly  drawn 
 from  his  words  against  the  due  exercise  of  power, 
 either  in  church  or  state.  To  be  convinced  of  this, 
 in  opposition  to  the  levellmg  system  of  modern 
 times,  we  need  only  to  consider  the  nature  and 
 foundation  both  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  dominion. 
 It  is  obvious  that  civil  society  cannot  subsist  with- 
 out civil  government ;  the  end  of  which  is  to  pro- 
 vide for  the  public  good  and  the  security  of  each 
 individual.  For  what  is  civil  society,  but  an  asso- 
 ciation of  mankind  under  some  government  for  the 
 sake  of  public  tranquillity  and  of  public  happiness? 
 What  is  anarchy,  but  the  vice  opposite  to  civil 
 society — a  want  of  order,  a  state  without  magis- 
 tracy ?  Before  the  establishment  of  civil  govern 
 ment,  man  might  pretend  to  the  enjoyment  of  a 
 savage,  wild  kind  of  liberty — a  liberty  without 
 security,  without  property,  without  any  certain 
 dominion.  But  in  such  a  state  of  nature  it  is  evi- 
 dent that  mankind  must  live  in  a  constant  state  of 
 warfare,  each  one  claiming  or  contesting  whatever 
 he  pleases ;  for  reason  here  is  of  no  avail,  as  every 
 one  calls  his  own  passion  or  inclination  the  right 
 of  nature  and  of  reason,  consequently  every  thing, 
 in  such  a  state,  must  be  unsettled,  changeable,  and 
 determined  only  by  force.  Nor  does  force  give  any 
 permanent  security,  since  he  who  is  strongest  to- 
 day may  to-morrow  be  obliged  to  yield  to  superior 
 power.  Hence  arises  the  necessity  of  man's  enter- 
 ing into  society,  and  of  submitting  to  some  kind  of 
 civil  government ;  and  in  proportion  to  this  neces- 
 sity, is  every  person  obliged  to  obey  the  supreme 
 
 power  of  the  state,  whatever  may  be  the  established 
 form  of  its  government.  Religion  being  the  friend 
 of  order,  instead  of  destroying,  most  powerfully 
 confirms  this  law  of  nature,  and  teaches  that  sub- 
 mission is  due  to  the  constituted  powers  of  every 
 lawful  government.  In  establishing  Christianity 
 our  Saviour  made  no  alteration  in  the  constitution 
 of  civil  society  ;  he  left  the  Christian  magistrate  in 
 possession  of  his  temporal  power — still  bearing  the 
 sword  for  tho  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the 
 defence  of  those  M'Ao  rfo  well..  Hence  the  apostle 
 declares,  (Rom.  xiii.  2.)  that  civil  government  is 
 the  ordinance  of  God,  and  that  they  who  resist  it, 
 purchase  to  themselves  damnation.  Ecclesiastical 
 dominion  is  no  less  agreeable  both  to  reason  and 
 revelation.  It  is  indeed  obvious,  that  a  church 
 cannot  subsist  without  ecclesiastical  government, 
 any  more  than  civil  society  without  civil  govern- 
 ment. Hence,  among  the  gifts  distributed  for  the 
 use  of  the  Church,  we  find  that  mention  is  made 
 of  governments,  (1  Cor.  xii.  28.)  and  of  those  who 
 are  set  over  us  in  the  Lord,  (I  Thess.  v.  12.)  to  whom 
 we  must  yield  obedience  and  submit  ourselves, 
 (Heb.  xiii.  7,  17.)  Hence  we  read  that  the  apos- 
 tles had  the  rod  (I  Cor.  iv.  21.)  and  power  given 
 by  the  Lord  to  deliver  to  Satan  (1  Cor.  v.  5.)  and 
 revenge  all  disobedience,  (2  Cor.  x.  6.)  We  must 
 not  however  imagine,  that  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
 government  are  precisely  on  the  same  footing,  be- 
 cause both  are  derived  from  God,  or  that  Christians 
 are  perfectly  free  to  choose  any  kind  of  church 
 government,  and  to  adapt  it  to  that  of  the  state, 
 whether  this  be  monarchic,  aristocratic,  or  demo- 
 cratical.  This  indeed  is  the  doctrine  of  Hoadly, 
 Balguy,  and  others,  though  certainly  repugnant  to 
 scripture  and  contradicted  by  the  practice  of  all 
 ages.  That  Christ  appointed  in  the  Christian 
 Church  a  certain  form  of  administration,  or  Jized 
 system  of  government,  cannot  be  doubted,  since  we 
 find  that  he  most  carefully  made  this  kind  of  pro- 
 
ch.  crv.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 325 
 
 who  are  greater,  exercise  power  over  them,"  their  chief  law  being-  their  own  will. 
 
 "  It  shall  not  be  so  among  you,  but  whosoever  will  be  the  greater  among  you,  let      -26. 
 
 him  be  your  minister,"  because  he  is  to  consider  the  salvation  of  his  brethren  as  the 
 
 sole  end  of  his  actions.     "  And  whosoever  will  be  first  among  you,  shall  be  the  Mark  10. 
 
 servant  of  all,"  and  as  such  must  make  his  will  and  desires  bend  to  the  spiritual      "^^ 
 
 necessities  of  others.     Jesus  then  enforces  this  doctrine  by  his  own  example  :  "  For      45. 
 
 even  the  Son  of  Man,"  says  he,  though  greater  than  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  "  is 
 
 not  come  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  redemption 
 
 for  many,"*  like  to  a  slave  who  should  sacrifice  his  own  life  to  save  the  life  of  his 
 
 master. 
 
 The  holy  Fathers  take  occasion,  from  the  example  of  St.  James  and  St.  John,  to 
 caution  us  against  ambition  and  the  desire  of  worldly  honours.  In  effect,  if  these 
 two  apostles,  though  trained  up  for  three  years  in  the  school  of  Christ,  were  still 
 infected  with  this  leaven  of  self-esteem  and  applause,  it  is  recorded  as  a  warning  for 
 us,  lest  this  subtle  evil  should  find  its  way,  with  far  greater  ease,  into  our  unguarded 
 souls.  We  should  ever  remember  what  Christ  tells  his  apostles  on  this  occasion, 
 viz.  that  we  know  not  what  we  ask  for,  when  we  solicit  honours,  preferments,  and 
 such  like  temporal  goods,  which  instead  of  bringing  us  nearer  to  our  God,  are  too  apt 
 to  carry  us  away  from  him.  Let  us  first  drink  with  Christ  of  the  chalice  of  his  pas- 
 sion, let  us  take  up  our  cross  and  follow  him,  and  thus  we  shall  prove  ourselves  to  be 
 his  true  disciples,  and  as  such  be  entitled  to  sit  down  with  him  on  his  throne,  to  reio-n 
 eternally  with  him  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
 
 vision  even  for  the  temporary  svnapjocjuc  of  the 
 Jews.  (See  Ex.  xl.  13,  14,  15.  Numb.'xx.  26.  iii. 
 32.  Deut.  xvii.  12.  2  Chron.  xix.  11.)  And  that 
 this  form  was  episcopal  the  apostle  assures  us, 
 Acts  XX.  where  speaking  of  bishops,  he  says,  that 
 they  are  placed  over  the  Church  for  the  express 
 purpose  of  governing  it.  Accordingly  we  find  that 
 wherever  the  apostles  founded  clnirches  they  or- 
 dained bishops  to  preside  in  them,  that  these 
 bishops,  so  ordained,  consecrated  olliers,  and  that 
 thus,  during  eighteen  centuries,  they  have  without 
 any  interruption  perpetuated  themselves  down  to 
 the  present  time.  The  episco)ial  government  there- 
 fore is  !i  divine  and  not  a  human  institution  ;  it 
 derives  its  authority  immediately  from  God  ; 
 whereas  in  the  system  of  Hoadly  and  other  moderns, 
 the  meane--t  officer  in  the  state  receives  his  uutlio- 
 rily  from  God  equally  with  those  who  exercise  tlie 
 most  sacred  functions  of  the  ecclesiastical  ministry. 
 It  must  likewise  lie  observed,  that  Christ  did  not 
 trust  his  apostles  with  an  equal  share  of  power  for 
 the  government  of  his  Church:  it  was  to  St.  Peter 
 
 he  committed  his  ivhole  flock,  both  lambs  and  sheep 
 without  exception  ;  it  was  to  him  and  to  his  suc- 
 cessors, he  gave  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
 in  order  that  a  head,  bring  appointed,  there  might 
 be  no  room  for  schiwi,  says  St.  Jerom.  (Cont. 
 Jovin.  1.  2.)  Such  was  the  establislied  form  of 
 government  which  Christ  left  to  his  Church,  and 
 such  it  will  always  continue  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
 Hence  wc  may  infer  the  greatness  of  that  crime 
 which  seeks  to  overthrow  this  sacred  establishment 
 of  Christ.  For  if  rebellion  be  the  highest  otTence 
 committed  against  a  state,  as  most  certainly  it  is, 
 since  no  law  can  subsist  without  the  authority  of 
 magistrates  to  support  it ;  and  the  general  peace 
 and  liberties  of  a  people  are  evidently  endann-ered 
 when  this  authority  is  destroyed  ;  so  we  may  easily 
 judge  how  grievous  must  be  the  crime  of  spiritual 
 rebellion,  which  resists  the  authority  of  church 
 governors,  and  thus  strikes  at  the  ruin  of  Christ's 
 sacred  hierarchy. 
 
 *  That  is  for  all,  in  the  scripture  style.     See  St. 
 Paul,  1  Tim.  ii.  6. 
 
 28. 
 
 4o 
 
326  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CV. 
 
 CHAPTER  CV. 
 
 THE  CONVERSION  OF  ZACHEUS.*     MARK  X.      LUKE  XIX. 
 
 Luke  19.  "  And  they  came  to  Jericho,"  followed  by  an  immense  concourse  of  people ;  ''  and 
 2*  entering,  he  walked  through"  the  town.  "  And  behold  there  was  a  man  named 
 Zacheus,  who  was  the  chief  of  the  Publicans,!  and  he  was  rich."  We  are  here  to 
 take  notice  of  three  different  steps  in  the  conversion  of  this  opulent  worldling  which 
 deserves  our  attention.  These  were,  1.  An  ardent  desire  of  seeing  Jesus  ;  2.  The 
 honourable  reception  which  he  gave  him  in  his  house  ;  3.  The  cheerful  and  complete 
 
 3.  restitution  which  he  made  of  all  his  ill-acquired  property.  "  Zacheus"  having  never 
 yet  beheld  Jesus,  "  he  sought,"  on  this  occasion,  "  to  see"  him,  "  who  he  was  ;  and 
 
 4.  he  could  not  for  the  crowd,  because  he  was  low  of  stature.  And  running  before, 
 he  climbed  up  into  a  sycamore  tree,  that  he  might  see  him  ;  for  he  was  to  pass  that 
 
 5.  way.  And  when  Jesus  was  come  to  the  place,  looking  up,  he  saw  him,  and  said  to 
 him,  Zacheus,  make  haste  and  come  down  :  for  this  day  I  must  abide  in  thy  house. 
 
 6.  And  he  made  haste,  and  came  down,  and  received  him  with  joy.     And  when  all  saw 
 
 7.  it,  they  murmured,  saying,  that  he  was  gone  to  be  a  guest  with  a  man  that  was  a 
 
 8.  sinner.  But  Zacheus,"  who  doubtless  heard  these  several  murmurs  of  the  people 
 ao-ainst  the  choice  of  Jesus,  was  desirous  of  showing  that  he  was  not  undeserving  of 
 the  honour  conferred  upon  him,  and  upon  the  spot  pledged  himself  to  the  per- 
 formance of  two  acts,  the  one  of  a  perfect  charity,  the  other  of  justice  and  restitution, 
 but  in  a  superior  degree,  and  greatly  beyond  what  could  be  expected  from  him. 
 Wherefore,  "  standing  he  said  to  the  Lord :  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I 
 give  to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have  wronged  any  man  of  any  thing,  I  restore  him  four 
 fold."  There  was  no  obligation  of  making  so  superabundant  a  satisfaction,  but 
 Zacheus  voluntarily  chose  to  allay  the  remorse  of  his  conscience  by  following  literally 
 the  precept;}:  which  required  for  every  sheep  stolen  the  restitution  of  four  others  to 
 the  injured  party.  Moreover,  as  Zacheus  could  not  know  the  several  individuals, 
 whom  in  the  course  of  his  profession  he  might  have  wronged,  he  could  no  otherwise 
 execute  his  design  than  by  openly  announcing  it  to  the  public  :  which,  as  on  the  one 
 hand,  it  was  a  severe  humiliation  to  him,  so  on  the  other,  it  exposed  him  not  a  little 
 to  the  almost  certain  chance  of  hav*ing  much  more  claimed  of  him  than  what  he  really 
 
 9.  owed.  "  Jesus,"  pleased  with  this  perfect  and  disinterested  sacrifice  which  he  now 
 made  of  his  worldly  interests  which  had  been  hitherto  his  predominant  passion,  "  said 
 to  him  :  this  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house ;  because  he  also  is  a  son  of 
 Abraham,"  and  is  now  become  a  true  imitator  of  the  faith  and  justice  of  that  holy 
 patriarch.     He  added,  that  they  were  not  to  be  surprised  if  God  granted  this  favour 
 
 *  As   the  miracle  of  the  blind  m.in,  which  St.  valion  of  the  rich  is  :  here  he  shows  how  possible 
 
 Luke  places  before  the  history  of  Zacheus,  appears  their  salva'iou  is  bv  his  grace.     A   publican  was  a 
 
 to  be  tlie  same  with  that  mentioned  by  St.  Maltliew  farmer  of  the  customs,    not   a  collector,  as    some 
 
 and  St.  Mark,  we  must  conclude  that  St.  Luke  an-  falsely  imagine  ;  for  these  were  called  vorlatores, 
 
 ticipates  tliat  event.     See  chap.  107.  such  as  brought  them  to  the  farmers. 
 
 t  Our  Lord  told  us  above,  how  difficult  the  sal-         \  Exod.  xxii. 
 
Ch.  CVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  3-27 
 
 to  a  sinner,  such  as  he  had  been  :  "  For  the  Son  of  man,"  says  he,  "  is  come  to  seek      lo. 
 and  to  save  that  which  was  lost"  by  sin. — Hence  the  greatest  sinners  need  not 
 despair,  since  God  himself  seeks  to  save  them. 
 
 CHAPTER  CVI. 
 
 PARABLE  OF    A   NOBLEMAN,  WHO   GOING   A   LONG  JOURNEY  *    LEFT    DIFFERENT   SUMS    OF 
 MONEY  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  HIS  SERVANTS  TO  TRADE  WITH  IN  HIS  ABSENCE.     LUKE  XIX. 
 
 "  As  they  were"  attentively  "  hearing  these  things,"  Jesus  "  added  and  spoke  a  Luke  19. 
 parable,  because  he  was  nigh  to  Jerusalem,  and  because  they  imagined  that  the  ^^■ 
 kingdom  of  God  would"  there  "  immediately  be  manifested"  with  pomp  and  splen- 
 dour.   "  He  said  therefore,"  with  the  view  of  rectifying  their  mistake,  and  convincing  12. 
 them  that  their  expectations  were  not  to  be  fulfilled  until  after  a  considerable  period  : 
 "  A  certain  nobleman  went  into  a  far  country,  to  take  possession  of  a  kingdom, f 
 and"  afterwards  "  to  return.     And  having  called  ten  of  his  servants,  he  gave  to  13. 
 them  ten"  sums  of  money, %  "  and  said  to  them  :  traffic  with  them  till  I  come  back. 
 But  his  citizens  hated  him  :  and  sent  a  message  after  him,  saying :  we  will  not  have  14. 
 this  man  to  reign  over  us.     And  it  happened  that  he  returned  after  he  had  received  15. 
 his  kingdom  :  and  he  commanded  his  servants  to  be  called,  to  whom  he  had  given 
 money,  that  he  might  know  how  much  every  one  had  acquired  by  traffic.     Now  the  lo. 
 6rst  came  and  said  :  Lord,  thy  money  hath  made  ten  times  as  much.     And  he  said  to  17. 
 hira  :  well  done  good  servant,  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a  little,  thou  shalt 
 have  power  over  ten  cities.    And  another  came  and  said  :   Lord,  thy  money  hath  made  is. 
 five  times  as  much.     And  to  this  man  he  said  :  be  thou  also  over  five  cities.     And  19. 
 another  came  and  said :  behold  here  thy  piece  of  money,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  20. 
 a  napkin,"  for  fear  of  losing  it :  "  for  I  feared  thee,  because  thou  art  a  severe  man  ;  21. 
 thou  takest  up  what  thou  didst  not  lay  down,  and  thou  reapest  what  thou  didst  not 
 sow.     He  saith  to  him  :  Out  of  thy  own  mouth  I  judge  thee,  thou  wicked  servant.  22. 
 Thou  didst  know,  that  I  am  a  severe  man,  taking  up  what  I  have  not  laid  down,  and 
 reaping  what  I  have  not  sown.    And  why  didst  thou  not  give  my  money  to  the  bank,  23. 
 that  I  at  my  return  might  have  exacted  it  with  usury  ?     And  he  said  to  them  that  24. 
 stood  by  :  Take  the  money  from  him,  and  give  it  to  him  that  hath  ten  such  pieces. 
 And  they  said  to  him  :   Lord,  he  hath  ten  pieces"  already.     "  But  I  say  to  you,  that  25. 
 to  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  abound  :  §  but  from  him  that  hath  ^^' 
 not,  even  what  he  hath  shall  be  taken  from  him.    Now  as  for  those  my  enemies,  who  27. 
 
 *  See  chap.  96.  because,  as  Dr.  Witham   observes,   this  <?ives  the 
 
 t  Jesus  speaks  to  the  Jews   agreeably  to  what  English  reader  a  false  notion,  the  Romanmna  not 
 
 took  place  amongst  them  in  his  time.    Their  kings  corresponHing   to  our  pound;   for   it    was    twelve 
 
 depended  on  the  Romans,  and  were  obliged  to  go  to  ounce-,  and  an  half,   which,  according  to  five  shil- 
 
 Rome  lo  receive  there  the  kingdom  from  the  hand  lings  the  ounce,  is  three  pounds  two  "shillings  and 
 
 of  the  emperor.  sixpence. 
 
 X  Each  of  these  pieces  was  called  a  vina.     But  §  Et  abundabit.    This  word  is  not  in  the  Greek, 
 
 I  have  not  translated  pounds  as  others  usually  do,  but  is  found  in  St.  Matt.  xiii.  12.  and  xxv.  29. 
 
328  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CVL 
 
 would  not  have  me  reign  over  them,  bring  them  hither,  and  kill  them  before  rae. 
 28,  And  having  spoke  these  things,  he  led  the  way  going  up  to  Jerusalem  :"  for  he  was 
 impelled  by  a  holy  ardour  to  consammate  there  his  saeritice  for  the  redemption  of  the 
 world. 
 
 In  this  parable  Jesus  represents  himself  under  the  character  of  a  person  distin- 
 guished by  his  high  birth  and  sovereign  dignity,  who  departs  into  a  far  distant  coun- 
 try, there  to  be  confirmed  in  the  possession  of  a  newly  acquired  kingdom.  This  dis- 
 tant country  is  no  other  than  heaven,  into  which  Jesus  entered  at  his  ascension  to 
 take  possession  of  that  sovereignty,  which  he  exercises  over  all  creatures,  until  the 
 period  of  his  return,  which  will  be  the  day  of  judgment.  Previous  to  his  departure 
 he  calls  his  servants,  and  divides  amongst  them-  sums  of  money,  with  a  charge  to 
 improve  them  to  the  best  advantage  during  his  absence.  By  these  ten  servants  are 
 represented  the  generality  of  Christians  who,  independently  of  this  trust  or  loan,  are 
 already  engaged  in  the  service  of  Christ.  These  sums  of  money  are  the  various 
 gifts  or  gratuitous  graces,  placed  in  their  hands,  for  the  purpose  of  being  employed  in 
 the  service  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls. 
 
 Soon  after  the  departure  of  this  prince  into  a  distant  country,  his  servants  forget- 
 ting- the  fidelity  they  owed  him,  sent  a  deputation  of  some  of  their  members  to  inform 
 him  that  thcnceforwards  they  renounced  him  as  their  sovereign.  The  truth,  here 
 disguised  under  this  figurative  embassy,  was  realized  soon  after  in  that  persecution 
 which  the  Jews,  the  decided  enemies  of  Jesus,  raised  against  his  Church  immediately 
 on  his  quitting  the  world.  They  loudly  proclaimed  before  Pilate,  that  they  did  not 
 acknowledge  him  for  their  king,  and  that  they  would  have  no  other  king  than  Cesar : 
 moreover,  the  several  martyrs  who  were  put  to  death  by  the  synagogue,  were  as  so 
 many  persons  dispatched  by  them  to  announce  their  determination  of  rejecting  Jesus 
 as  their  Sovereign. 
 
 The  account  demanded  by  this  prince  from  his  servants,  as  to  the  treasure  intrusted 
 to  their  care,  is  no  other  than  the  strict  reckoning  which  at  the  day  of  judgment  will 
 be  exacted  from  all  Christians,  as  to  the  use  which  they  have  made  of  God's  spiritual 
 treasures  and  graces.  When  our  Lord  shall  come  to  judge  mankind,  he  will  then 
 abundantly  reward  those  that  shall  have  employed  his  gifts  in  a  manner  agreeable  to 
 his  intentions ;  but  he  will  punish  with  rigour  and  justice  those  who,  like  the  wicked 
 servant,  shall  have  misemployed  or  abused  them.  The  excuse  of  this  wicked  servant 
 for  hiding  his  money  in  a  napkin,  viz.  the  extreme  severity  of  his  master  in  exacting 
 what  was  his  due,  is  figurative  of  those  idle  excuses  and  pretexts  which  negligent 
 Christians  allege  for  not  complying  with  the  duties  and  obligations  of  their  holy 
 religion.  They  may  urge  in  their  excuse  the  severity  of  Christ's  law,  which  requires 
 from  the  revengeful  the  forgiveness  of  injuries,  from  the  dissolute  the  practice  of 
 continency  and  chastity,  from  the  rich  the  exercise  of  charity  and  alms-deeds,  and 
 from  the  unjust  an  exact  and  perfect  restitution  of  ill-gotten  goods.  But  this  very 
 severity  of  the  divine  law,  instead  of  being  a  cloak  for  their  negligent  conduct,  should, 
 on  the  contrary,  make  them  more  diligent  and  fervent  in  the  performance  <jf  every 
 Christian  duty  ;  otherwise  Christ  will  say  to  them  as  he  did  to  the  wicked  servant ; 
 "  out  of  thy  own  mouth  I  judge  thee,  thou  evil  servant :  thou  knewest  that  I  was  an 
 
Ch.  evil  1  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  329 
 
 austere  man,  taking  up  what  1  laid  not  down,  and  reaping  that  which  I  did  not  sow, 
 and  behold  !  instead  of  making  this  deposit  to  fructify  by  thy  labour  and  industry,  thou 
 hast  shamefully  buried  it  in  a  napkin."  The  prince  condemns  this  bad  servant  to 
 lose  what  had  been  intrusted  in  his  hands,  and  orders  it  to  be  given  to  that  servant 
 who  by  his  industry  had  acquired  ten  times  as  much  :  and  this  decision  is  founded  on 
 the  most  equitable  principles,  that  he  who  by  his  industry  and  labour  has  gained 
 something,  is  well  entitled  to  receive  a  further  reward,  whilst  on  the  other  hand,  he 
 who  by  his  negligence  has  not  that  which  he  ought  to  have,  deserves  to  have  even 
 that  little  taken  from  him  which  yet  remains  in  his  hands. 
 
 The  last  circumstance  recorded  in  this  parable,  is  the  punishment  inflicted  by  this 
 prince  upon  those  rebellious  subjects  who  refused  to  acknowledge  him  for  their  sove- 
 reign. He  causes  them  to  be  put  to  death  in  his  presence.  This  is  a  representa- 
 tion of  that  eternal  death  to  which  the  infidel  Jews  and  impious  Christians  shall  be 
 condemned  by  Jesus  Christ  at  the  last  day,  when  in  company  with  devils  they  will  be 
 cast  into  the  abyss  of  hell,  to  burn  there  for  all  eternity. 
 
 CHAPTER  CVII. 
 
 THE  TWO  BUND  MEN  NEAR  JERICHO.      MATT.  XX.      MARK  X.      LUKE  XVIII. 
 
 On  the  following  day,  "  as"  Jesus  "  went  out  of  Jericho  with  his  disciples,  and  a  Mark  10 
 very  great  multitude,  Bartimeus  the  bhnd  man,  the  son  of  Timeiis,  sat  by  the  way-      '^''* 
 side  begging,"  in  company  with  another  person  who  laboured  under  a  similar  mis- 
 fortune.    St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  speak  only  of  one  of  them,  named  Bartimeus,  as 
 being  the  most  noted,  but  St.  Matthew  mentions  both.     That  the  three  Evangelists 
 relate  the  same  miracle,  appears  from  the  circumstances  agreeing  together.     We 
 have  given  the  narration  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  in  relation  only  to  Bartimeus,  it 
 being  more  circumstantial  than  that  of  St.  Matthew.*     We  may  admire  on   this 
 occasion,   I.  The  great  faith  of  these  blind  men.     2.  Their  firmness  and  constancy. 
 3.   Their  gratitude  towards  their  benefactor.     "  And  when"  Bartimeus  "  heard  the  Luke  is. 
 multitude  passing  by,  he  asked  what  this  meant,  and  they  told  him  that  Jesus  of     ^^' 
 Nazareth  was  passing  by  :  who,  when  he  had  heard  that  it  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Mark  lo. 
 
 47. 
 
 *  They  who  pretend  that  the  history  given  by  draw  nigh,  even  with  the  preposition  ei9,  does  not 
 St.  liuke,  chap.  18.  is  different  from  that  of  the  always  imply  motion  to  a  place,  but  frequently  only 
 other  Evangelists,  ground  their  opinion  only  on  distance,  and  that  therefore  it  might  be  translated, 
 this,  that  according  to  St.  Luke,  Jesus  was  draw-  when  he  was  near  Jericho,  or  in  the  coiijineii  of 
 ing  near  to  Jericho,  whereas,  according  to  St.  Jericho;  and  it  is  in  this  sense  the  Evangelist 
 Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  he  was  going  out  of  makes  use  of  the  word  in  the  following  chap.  xix. 
 Jericho.  Some  reconcile  this  by  saying,  that  St.  ver.  29.  (of  this  history  109.)  i^s  yyyta-cv  eis- 
 Luke  marks  only  the  place  where  the  blind  man  BijO/payyj  Kai  'RtjOauiav  cum  appropinquaret  ad  Beth- 
 first  began  to  cry  out,  and  that  his  cure  being  phage  et  liethaniam,  that  is,  when  he  was  near  to 
 delayed,  he  again  put  himself,  with  anoiher  blind  those  places,  for  he  had  already  passed  Bethania. 
 man,  in  the  way  of  Jesus,  who  called  and  healed  Theophylactus,  Maldonaius,  A.  Lapide,  &c.  agree 
 both.  Others  with  greater  probability,  make  an-  svith  us,  that  the  Evangelists  speak  of  the  same 
 swer,  that  the  word  i'^^ii^etv  appropinquare,  or  to  history. 
 
 28.  4p 
 
330  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CVIIL 
 
 beoan  to  crv  out,  and  to  say  :  Jesus,  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.     And  they 
 
 Luke  18.  that  went  before  rebuked  him,"  alleg-ing-  that  Jesus  was  yet  at  a  distance,  and  that  it 
 
 ^^-      was  needless  for  him  thus  to  tire  himself  and  the  passengers  with  his  incessant  noise. 
 
 Mark  10.  And  many  of  the  succeeding  crowd  ''  charged  him"  likewise  "  to  hold  his  peace." 
 
 48-      But  he  was  loath  to  believe  implicitly  what  tliey  said,  and  being  apprehensive  lest 
 
 Jesus  should  pass  by  without  taking  notice  of  him  in  his  misery,  "  he  cried  a  great 
 
 49.      deal  the  more  :  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.     And  Jesus  standing  still,  com- 
 
 Luke  18.  jijij^nded  him  to  be  called,  and  to  be  brought  to  him.     And  they  call  the  blind  man, 
 
 Mark  10.  Saying  to  him  :  be  easy,  take  courage  ;  ari-e,  he  calleth  thee.     Who,  casting  off  his 
 
 ^^-      garment,  leaped  up,  and  came  to  him.     And  when  he  was  come  near,  Jesus  asked 
 
 Luke  18.  him,  saying  :  what  wilt  thou  that  I  do  to  thee  ?     But  he  said  :  Lord,  that  I  may  see. 
 
 41-      And  Jesus"  full  of  compassion,  "said  to  him:  receive  thy  sight:  go  thy  way,  thy 
 
 Mark  10.  faith  hath  made  thee  whole.     And  immediately  he  saw,  and  followed  him  in  the  way, 
 
 52.      glorifying  God.     And  all  the  people"  likewise  "  when  they  saw  it,  gave  praise 
 
 to  God." 
 
 In  this  blind  man  we  behold  an  image  of  that  spiritual  blindness  which  is  caused 
 by  sin,  and  which  is  a  far  more  deplorable  evil  than  corporeal  blindness.  Unfor- 
 tunately, however,  it  is  but  little  noticed  or  apprehended  by  the  generality  of  man- 
 kind.. Let  a  person  lose  the  eyes  of  his  body,  says  St.  Austin,  and  all  bewail  his 
 misfortune ;  but  provided  he  abound  in  worldly  riches  and  pleasures,  he  may  lose  the 
 spiritual  eye-sight  of  his  soul,  and  be  nevertheless  esteemed  and  envied  as  if  he  were 
 the  happiest  of  men.  If,  however,  we  judge  of  things  according  to  the  infallible 
 word  of  God,  we  shall  consider  the  inward  blindness  of  a  sinner  to  be  a  much  greater 
 evil  than  any  exterior  blindness  that  can  befall  him  ;  this  last  is  only  a  privation  of  the 
 light  of  day,  and  the  other  is  a  privation  of  the  light  of  grace  and  of  glory.  The 
 light  of  this  world  is  indeed  grateful  and  pleasant  to  behold  ;  but  though  a  great 
 blessing,  it  is  only  what  we  have  in  common  witli  the  brute  creation  ;  it  serves  only 
 to  distinguish  material  objects.  But  the  light  which  Christ  communicates  to  the  soul, 
 enables  us  to  know  God  and  his  sacred  truths,  to  discern  good  from  evil,  and  to  dis- 
 tinguish the  way  of  salvation  from  that  of  damnation  ;  in  short,  it  is  this  light  which 
 elevates  us  above  all  inferior  creatures,  which  dissipates  the  spiritual  darkness  caused 
 by  sin  and  our  unruly  passions,  and  which  alone  can  bring  us  to  the  true  light  of 
 eternal  glory. 
 
 CHAPTER  CVIII. 
 
 THE  SECOND*  ANOINTING  OF  THE  FEET  OF  JESUS. f      MATT.  XXVI.      MARK  XIV. 
 JOHN  XI.  AND  XII. 
 
 John  11  Whilst  Jesus  was  in  retirement  at  Ephraim,  "  the  chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees 
 ^^'      had  given  orders,  that  if  any  man  knew  where  he  was  he  should  give  notice,  that 
 
 ""  See  the  first,  chap.  48.  murmuring'  of  the  Apostles,  and  their  correction  by 
 
 The  place,  the  time,  the  kind  of  perfume,  the     Jesus,  make  it  highly  probable  that  tlie  three  E\an- 
 
Ch.  CVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  331 
 
 thev  might  apprehend  him."     Jesus  was  fully  aware  of  this,  and  to  save  them  the 
 trouble  of  a  further  search,  he  now  voluntarily  threw  himself  in  their  way,  and  thereby 
 placed  it  in  their  power  to  execute,  if  they  durst,  their  evil  designs  against  him. 
 "  Jesus  therefore,  six  days  before  the  Passover,"  that  is,  on  the  Saturday,*  "'  came  John  12. 
 to  Bethania,  where  Lazarus  was,  he  that  had  been  dead,  whom  Jesus  raised  to  life,  jj^^^'  gg 
 And  they  made  him  a  supper  there,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper.     And  Martha       6, 
 served"  on  this  occasion,  as  was  her  usual  manner:   '■  but  Lazarus  was  one  of  them  ^°^^  ^^^ 
 that  were  at  table  with  him,"  and  thus  gave  sufficient  proofs  as  to  the  reality  of  his 
 being  raised  to  life.     "  Mary  therefore,"  to  contribute  her  share  to  the  honour  and       3. 
 respect  shown  to  Jesus  on  this  occasion,  "  took  a  pound  of  ointment  of  right  spike- 
 nard,! of  great  price,  and  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and''  this  she  did  after  having 
 previously  wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair.     And  "  breaking  the  alabaster  box,"  either  Mark  14. 
 from  a  desire  of  employing  every  drop  of  the  perfume  in  this  laudable  purpose,  or 
 else  to  avoid  loss  of  time,  "  she  poured  it  on  his  head  as  he  was  at  table.     And  the  Matt.  26. 
 house  was  filled  with  the  odour  of  the  ointment."  t  ,     ,„ 
 
 John  12. 
 
 Various  reasons  may  be  alleged  as  influencing  Mary  in  this  action,  of  which  some  3. 
 are  natural,  others  mysterious  or  prophetical.  Of  the  former  kind  are,  1.  The  ardent 
 love  which  she  entertained  for  Jesus,  for  whose  sake  she  would  have  sacrificed  not 
 only  the  most  costly  perfumes,  but  even  her  very  life.  2.  Her  gratitude  for  the 
 favours  conferred  upon  her  by  Jesus,  as  likewise  upon  her  brother  Lazarus,  whom  he 
 had  raised  to  life  after  having  been  buried  during  four  days.  3.  Her  religious  wor- 
 ship of  Jesus,  whom  she  firmly  believed  to  be  the  only  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour 
 of  the  world.  It  was  to  tender  to  him  the  supreme  homage  of  her  adoration,  that 
 prostrate  at  his  feet  she  offered  the  sacrifice  of  her  perfumes,  an  offering  which  was 
 far  more  pleasing  to  him  on  account  of  the  devotion  which  accompanied  it,  than  for 
 the  fragrancy  which  it  diffused  through  the  whole  house. 
 
 The  mysterious  or  prophetical  reasons  above  alluded  to,  will  appear    2.  Judas  mur 
 in  the  sequel  from  the  words  of  Christ,  where  he  justifies  the  conduct  mun  at  the  cost. 
 
 of  Marv.     "  And  the  disciples,"  being  present  on  this  occasion,  and  "  seeing"  Matt.  26. 
 
 8. 
 
 gelists  speak  of  the  same  supper,  and  of  the  snme  the  Passover,  which  that  year  fell  on  the  Friday, 
 anointinp^.  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  as  St.  Moreover,  John  says,  chap.  xii.  ver.  12.  that  Christ, 
 Austin  observes,  do  not  relate  this  in  due  order  of  on  the  Ibllowing-  day,  went  to  Jerusalem  ridiuaf  on 
 time,  but  allerwards  recapitulate  it,  in  order  to  an  ass  :  now  as  this  happened  on  a  Sunday, 
 assign  a  cause  for  the  treachery  of  Judas,  viz.  his  he  must  ha\e  come  to  Betliania  on  the  Sabbath- 
 indignation  at  not  liaving  been  able  to  avail  himself  day. 
 
 of  the  value  of  this  perlume.     St.  John  places  this         t  That  is,  ex  spicis  nardi,  which  was  held  in  the 
 
 history  in  its  proper  order,  and,  as  usual,  adds  some  highest  estimation   amongst  the  Jews.     St.   Mark 
 
 circumstances   omitted   by  others,  as   the   name   of  and  St.  John,  in  the   Greek   have   tticttikj;?,  which 
 
 ttie  woman,  who  was  called  Mary,  sister  of  Lazarus,  some  will  have  to  be  the  same  as  awiKaTiji  spicala. 
 
 See  chap.  48  and  56.  This  nard,  or  spikenard,  is  a  plant  that  grows  in 
 
 *   Some   interpreters,   with    Cajetan.   Jansenins,  the  Ii-dies,  with  a  very  slender  root,  a  stalk  small 
 
 and    others,   are    of  opinion   that   Christ    came   to  and  long,  and  several  ears  or  spikes  even  with   the 
 
 Bethania  on  the  Friday,  referring  the  Passover  of  ground,  from  whence  it  has  the  name  of  spikenard, 
 
 which  St.  John   speaks   to  Thursday  evening  :   hut  The  Indian  iiard,  if  true  and  genuine,  must  bo  of  a 
 
 we  have  ibllovved  the  opinion  of  St.  Thomas,  Theo-  yellowish   colour,    inclining   towards   purple,    with 
 
 phylactus,   Rupertus,   &c.  which  is  more  agreeable  long  s|)ikes,  and  the  bristles  of  its  spikes  large  and 
 
 to  the  context,  and  to  the   series  of  Christ's  trans-  odoriferous.     Of  the  blade  or  spike  of  this   nard, 
 
 actions.      For  it  is  more  probable  that  St.  John,  by  the  ancients  were  used  to  make  a  peri'unie  of  great 
 
 the  Passover  means,  as  usual,  the  festival   day  of  esteem  and  value. 
 
332  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CVIII, 
 
 what  was  done  "  were  angry,  and  said  :  why  was  this  waste  of  the  ointment  made  ? 
 Mark  14.  for  this  ointment  might  have  been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred  pence,"  nearly 
 |-       equivalent  to  nine  guineas,  "  and  given  to  the  poor  :  and  they  murmured  against 
 John  12.  her,"*  especially  "  one  of  his  disciples,  Judas  Iscariot,"  Simon's  son,  "  he  that  was 
 ^-       about  to  betray  him  ;"  and  he  "  said  :  why  was  not  this  ointment  sold  for  three 
 6.'       hundred  pence,  and  given  to  the  poor?     Now  he  said  this,  not  because  he  cared  for 
 the  poor,  but  because"  in  fact  "  he  was  a  thief,"  and  so  under  the  cloak  of  a  pre- 
 tended zeal  for  them,  was  pleading  the  cause  of  his  own  avarice  ;  ''  for  having  the 
 purse,  he  carried  the  things  that  were  put  therein,"  and  thus  wished  for  an  oppor- 
 tunity of  secreting  a  part  to  his  own  private  use.     Mary,  we  may  imagine,  was  not  a 
 little  perplexed  at  the  blame  thus  cast  upon  her ;  yet  she  chose  to  place  her  cause  in 
 the  hands  of  Jesus,  to  whom  in  fact  it  belonged,  since  by  allowing  the  perfume  to  be 
 Matt.  26.  thus  used  upon  his  person,  he  had  tacitly  approved  of  the  action  itself.     Wherefore, 
 
 T  Z^',,  "  Jesus  knowing-"  the  murmurs  of  his  disciples,  "  said  to  them  :  why  do  you  trouble 
 John  12.  ^  .  CI-  •  ■  <•    1  1 
 
 7.       this  woman  ?     Let  her  alone"  ni  the  use  of  this  precious  ouitment,      that  she  may 
 
 keep  it  against  the  day  of  my  burial  ;"t  intimating  hereby,  that  in  this  action,  she  had 
 
 Mark  14.  in  view  to  perform  towards  him  the  last  offices  of  her  esteem  and  affection.     "  She 
 
 hath,"  says  Christ,  "  wrought  a  good  work  upon  me  ;  for  the  poor  you  have  always 
 
 with  you,  and  whensoever  you  will  you  may  do  them  good,  but  me  you  have  not 
 
 s.       always.     What  she  had"  in  her  power,  "  she  hath  done"  for  me.    "  For  in  pouring 
 
 M    k"i4  *'''^  ointment  upon  my  body,  she  is  come  before-hand  to  anoint  my  body  for  the 
 
 a       biuial,"  and  to  render  me  an  honour  during  life  which  she  will  not  have  an  oppor- 
 
 9.       tunity  of  showing  me  after  death.  ;|;     "  Amen  I  say  to  you,  wheresoever  this  gospel 
 
 shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  that  also  which  she  hath  done  shall  be  told  for 
 
 a  memorial  of  her"  respect  towards  my  person,  highly  redounding  to  her  honour.     Of 
 
 this  prophecy  we  witness  the  accomplishment  whenever  we  hear  this  portion  of  the 
 
 gospel  read  at  the  mass.     As  Jesus  remained  in  Bethania  during  the  Sabbath-day, 
 
 John  12.  "  a  great  multitude  therefore  of  the  Jews  knew  that  he  was  there,"  and  hastened  to 
 
 ^'       him  :  "  but  they  came  not  for  Jesus's  sake  only,  but"  from  a  motive  of  curiosity,  "  that 
 
 they  might  see  Lazarus  whom  he  had  raised  from  the  dead." 
 
 This  wonderful  miracle  of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  so  well  attested  as  to  all  its 
 circumstances,  was  proof  against  all  the  calumnies  of  the  chief  priests.     As  they 
 
 *   It  may  be  said,  that  several  were  filled  with  this  for  the  day  of  my  burial.     Other  copies  agree 
 
 indignation  on  this  occasion,  but  chiefly  Judas,  for  with  the  Latin.     It  was  a  custom  in  these  eastern 
 
 the  reason  assigned   by   St.  John  ;    hence,  in  the  countries  for  the  bodies  of  kings  and  great  persons 
 
 context  we  have  placed  both  the  words  of  St.  Mark  to  be  embalmed  at  their  funerals  witii  odours  and 
 
 and  St.  John,  though  not  without  some  repetition,  sweet  perfumes;  and  in  allusion  to  it,  our  Saviour 
 
 However,  it  is  mure  probable,  upon  the  whole,  that  here  declares  of  Mary,  that  to  testify  her  faith  in 
 
 Judas  alone  remonstrated  in   a  clamorous  manner  him   as  her   King  and  Lord,  she  had,  as  it  were, 
 
 against  this  profusion  of  ointment,  as  mentioned  beforehand  embalmed  his  body  with  precious  oint- 
 
 by  St.  John,  and  that   St.  Matthew  and   St.  Mark  nient  for  his  burial. 
 
 attribute  to  the  disciples  in  general  what  was  done  J  This  is  the  reason  full  of  mystery  which  caused 
 
 in  fact  only  by   one  of  them,   by  a  figure  called  Mary  to  embalm  the  body  of  Jesus  before-hand  in 
 
 synecdochen,  as  when  it  is  said  that  the  thieves  on  the   manner  she   had   now  done.     For   the   Holy 
 
 the  cross  blasphemed   against  Jesus,   which   may  Ghost  inspired  her  thus  to  perform  this  pious  office 
 
 be  understood  only  of  one  of  them.  towards  him  in  his  life-time,  which,  on  account  or 
 
 +  In  most  Greek  copies  it   is  cis  ti;i»   i],uepav  ts  his  resurrection,  he  knew  would  be  impossible  for 
 
 ei/To0<oO|ti«  fia  7er>]p^icev  avjo,   she  hath   reserved  her  to  execute  al'ter  his  death. 
 
Ch.  CIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  333 
 
 could  not  invalidate  it  by  alleging  either  natural  causes,  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath, 
 the  uncertainty  of  the  fact,  or  any  other  objection,  hence  their  censorious  disposition 
 was,  in  this  instance,  completely  disarmed.  The  very  appearance  of  Lazarus 
 amounted  to  a  demonstration  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  hence  many  were 
 induced  to  desert  the  party  of  the  Pharisees,  to  attach  themselves  to  him.  In  hopes, 
 therefore,  of  blotting  out  all  traces  of  an  event  so  prejudicial  to  their  cause,  "  the  lo. 
 chief  priests  consulted  how  to  kill  Lazarus,  because  many  of  the  Jews,  on  his  account,  ll, 
 went  off,  and  believed  in  Jesus."  But  the  Almighty  allowed  them  not  to  execute 
 their  design,  which  was  as  foolish  as  it  was  wicked  :  for  if  Christ  could  raise  him  to 
 life  from  a  natural  death,  says  St.  Austin,  he  could  surely,  with  equal  ease,  have 
 restored  him  to  life  when  murdered  by  them.  It  is  an  ancient  tradition,  as  we  have 
 already  remarked,  that  Lazarus  lived  thirty  years  after  our  Saviour's  death. 
 
 CHAPTER  CIX. 
 
 THE  TRIUMPHAL  ENTRY  OF  JESUS    INTO  JERUSALEM.      MATT.  XXI.      MARK  XI.      LUKE  XIX. 
 
 JOHN   XII. 
 
 "  And  on  the  following  day,"  viz.  the  first  day  of  the  week,  which  answers  to  our  john  19. 
 Sunday,  Jesus  departed  from  Bethania  together  with  his  disciples,  to  make  his  solemn       12- 
 entry  into  Jerusalem  in  quality  of  the  Messiah.     And  as  in  order  to  fulfil  the  ancient 
 figures,  he  chose  that  very  night  for  the  institution  of  the  passover  of  the  new  law, 
 which  was  set  aside  for  the  immolation  of  the  paschal  lamb  in  the  old  law,  and  that 
 very  day  for  the  redemption  of  the  world,  in  which  God's  people  had  formerly  been 
 redeemed  from  their  Egyptian  bondage,  so  was  he  also  pleased  to  make  his  entry 
 into  Jerusalem,  in  order  to  his  sacrifice,  on  the  very  day  on  which  by  the  appointment 
 of  the  law  *  the  lamb  was  brought  there  to  be  sacrificed  at  the  passover.     Of  this 
 scene  the  chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees  would  undoubtedly  be  spectators.    "  When  Matt.  21, 
 they  drew  nigh  to  Jerusalem,  and  were  come  to"  the  mid-way  between  Bethania       ^• 
 (which  he  had  just  quitted)  and  "  Bethphage,"!  a  small  village  of  the  priests  at  the 
 foot  of  "  the  mountain  called  of  Olives,":}:  towards  the  east,  "  then  Jesus  sends  two 
 
 *  Exod  xii.  3.  12.     Mr.  Maundrell  tells  us,  that  he  and  his  com- 
 
 t   See  note  on   chap.    107.     They   had  quitted  pany  going  out  of  .Jerusalem  at  St.  Stephen's  g-ate, 
 
 Bethania,  where  Jesus  had   lodged  tlie  preceding  and  crossing  the  valley  of  Josaphat,  began  imme- 
 
 day,  but  were  not  arrived  at  Bethphage:  this  name  diately  to  ascend  the   mountain  ;  that  being  about 
 
 signifies  the  house  of  figs  and  dates,  and  was  pro-  two-thirds   of  the   way    up,   they  came   to    certain 
 
 bably  called  so  from  the  several  kinds  of  these  trees  grottos  cut  with  iutiicale  windings  and  caverns  un- 
 
 tliat  n-rew  there.  der  ground,  which  were  called  the  Sepulchres  of  the 
 
 X   This  place,  doubtless,  had  its  name  from  the  Prophets,  that  a  liule  higher  up  were  twelve  arched 
 
 great  number  of  olive-trees  that  grew  upon  it.      It  vaults  under  ground,  standing   side  by   side,   and 
 
 lay  a  liitle   wi(hout  Jerusalem,  on  the   east  side,  built   in   memory   of  the   apostles  who  are  said  to 
 
 about  five   furlongs  from   the   city,  says  Josephus,  have  compiled  their  creed  in  this  place  ;   that  sixty 
 
 but  he  must  be  Hiiderstond  of  the  very'nearest  part  paces  higher  they  cime  to  the   place  where  Christ 
 
 of  it,   since   St.   Luke   makes  the  distance  to  be   a  is  said  to  have  uttered  his  prophecy  concerning  the 
 
 Sabbath  day's  jourTiey,  that  is,  eight  furlongs,  or  a  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  a  little  on  the 
 
 mile,  unless  we  suppose  he  means   the  summit  of  right   hand    to  another,  where   he  is   said   to   have 
 
 the  hill  from  which  our  Saviour  ascended,  Acts  i.  dictated,  a  second  time,  the  Lord's   Prayer  to   his 
 
 ■2\)  4q 
 
334  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CIX. 
 
 Mark  11.1.  of  his  dlsciples,"  probably  Peter  and  John,  "  and  saith  to  them  :  Go  into  the  village 
 Matt^2i  2  that  is  over  against  you,  and  immediately  at  your  coming  in  thither  you  shall  find  an 
 m"''oi'2  1  Christ smds  ^^^  ^'^*^'  ^""^  ^  ^^^^  ^^'^h  her  upon  which  no  man  hath  yet  sat.*  Loose 
 Lukei9  3i.  <a;o  of  his  disci-  them  and  bring  them  to  me  ;  and  if  any  man  shall  ask  you  :  Why  do 
 ■"■pies  Jor  a  colt,    y^^  jgose  him  ?  Say  ye  that  the  Lord  hath  need  of  them,  and  forthwith 
 
 4.  he  will  let  them  go.     Now  all  this  was  done  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
 
 5.  spoken  by  the  prophet"  Zachary,  "  saying :  tell  ye  tiie  daughter  of  Sion  :  behold, 
 thy  king  cometh  to  thee,  meek,  and  sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt  the  foal  of  her 
 that  is  used  to  the  yoke." 
 
 The  daughter  of  Sion  here  spoken  of  is  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  she  is  informed 
 that  her  king,  her  expected  Messiah,  would  come  to  her  in  a  style  widely  different 
 from  that  of  earthly  kings.  They  are  proud  and  haughty,  whilst  he,  on  the  contrary, 
 is  full  of  meekness ;  they  treat  their  subjects  with  harshness  and  severity,  he  rules  his 
 people  with  equal  goodness  and  justice  ;  they  are  carried  about  in  the  most  magni- 
 ficent vehicles,  he  is  mounted  on  an  ass,  the  emblem  of  mildness  and  simplicity ;  the 
 rest  of  his  equipage  in  every  respect  corresponds  with  the  meanness  of  the  animal  he 
 
 6.  rides  upon.  "  And  the  disciples  going  did  as  Jesus  commanded  them.  And  going 
 their  way  they  found  the"  ass  and  "  colt  tied  before  the  gate  without  at  the  meeting 
 
 Luke,    of  two  ways,  and  they  loosed  him.     And  as  they  were  loosing  the  colt,  the  owners 
 Mark  i:. 6.  thereof  said  to  them  :  What  are  you  doing  to  loose  the  colt?  Who  said  to  them,  as 
 
 liuke  19  31  JO  7 
 
 Mark  11. 6.  Jesus  had  commanded  them,  because  the  Lord  hath  need  of  them,  and  they  let  him 
 Lukei9.35.'  go  with  them.     And  they  brought  the  ass  and  the  colt  to  Jesus.     And  they  lay  their 
 
 garments  on"  the  back  of  the  young  ass,  as  a  species  of  saddle,  and  having  thus 
 Matt.21.7.  rendered  the  riding  upon  it  more  commodious  and  becoming,  "  they  made  him  sit 
 
 thereon." 
 „   „,  .  But  however  mean  and  humble  the  equipage  of  Jesus  was  in  this  his»- 
 
 2.  Christ  en-  i      •  i  i  .  ,  •   i     i 
 
 terstriumphani-  entry,  yet  nothing  could  be  more  glorious  than  the  reception  which  he 
 ly  into  Jerusa-  j^et  with  from  the  people.     It  was  far  superior  to  any  earthly  pomp 
 exhibited  to  crowned  heads  :  for  the  homage  they  receive  from  their 
 subjects  is  often  the  effect  of  compulsion  ;  it  is  extorted  by  the  strong  hand  of  des- 
 potism, and  the  praises  offered  to  them  are  only  flattery,  in  which  the  heart  takes  no 
 part ;  but  in  the  present  triumphant  entry  of  Jesus,  the  acclamations  of  the  people 
 were  perfectly  voluntary,   and  the  genuine  effusions  of  a  free  and  willing  mind. 
 John  12.12.  Wherefore  "^  a  great  multitude  that  was  come  to  the  festival  day,  when  they  had 
 heard  that  Jesus  was  coming  to  Jerusalem,"  regardless  of  the  animosity  and  indig- 
 13.      nation  of  the  Pharisees,  "  took  branches  of  palm-trees,  and  went  forth  to  meet  him, 
 and  cried  :  Hosanna,'!"  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  King 
 
 disciples;  that  somewhat  liiglier,  is  the  cave  of  a  St.  Jerome   reprobates,  without  sufficient  reason, 
 
 saint  called   Pelagia;   a  little   below   that,   a  pillar  the  opinion  of  those   who   think   that   Christ  rode 
 
 denotinn-  the  place  where  an  ani>;el  gave  the  Blessed  upon  the  ass  as  well  as  on  the  colt,  in  Matt.  xxi. 
 
 Virgin  three  days  warning  of  her  death,  and  at  the  f  This  word  Hosanna  was  an  acclamation  much 
 
 top  of  all  the  place  of  our  Blessed  Lord's  ascension,  in  use  with  the  Jews,  and  when  applied  to   God,  it 
 
 See  chap.  150.  in. the  note.  meant,  save  ?/s,  we  beseech  thee;  or   if  applied   to 
 
 *  This  colt  which  had  never  been  used,  repre-  their  sovereign  prince,  it  corresponded  to  the  words  : 
 
 sented  the  people   of  the  Gentiles,  to  whom   God  God  sav  the  king. 
 had  not  given  a  written  law,  as  ho  had  to  the  Jews. 
 
Ch.  CrX;]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  335 
 
 of  Israel.     As  it  is  written,*  fear  not  daugliter  of  Sion  :  behold  thy  king  cometli      14 
 sitting- on  an  ass's  colt.     These  things  his  disciples  did  not  l<now  at  the  first,  but      ^^■ 
 when  Jesus  was  glorified,  then  they  remembered,  that  these  things  were  written  of 
 him,  and  that  they  had  done  these  things  to  him,"  for  the  literal  accomplishment  of 
 this  prophecy.     *'  And  a  very  great  multitude  spread  their  garments  in  tiie  way.  Matt.  21. 
 and  olliers  cut  boughs  from  the"  olive  "  trees,  and  strewed  them  in  the  way,"  yet  in       *^- 
 such  manner  as  not  to  obstruct  the  passage.     "  And  when  he  was  now  coming  near  Luke  19. 
 the  descent  of  mount  Olivet, f  the  whole  multitude  of  his  disciples,";];  transported  as      ^^• 
 it  were  out  of  themselves,  "  began  with  joy  to  praise  God  with  a  loud  voice  for  all  the 
 mighty  works  they  had  seen,  saying  :  Blessed  be  the  king  who  cometh  in  the  name      38. 
 of  the  Lord,  peace  in  heaven  and  glory  on  high.     And  the  multitudes      3  yy^g  ^^^i^_  Matt.  21. 
 that  went  before  and  that  followed,"  answered  these  acclamations  by  mationn  of  the       ^■ 
 similar  effusions  of  joy,  and  they  ''  cried  out  saying :  Hosanna  to  the  ^^°^  '^' 
 Son  of  David  :  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.     Blessed  be  the  Mark  11, 
 kingdom  of  our  father  David  that  cometh :  Hosannah  in  the  highest."     It  appears      ^'■^• 
 that  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  this  occasion,  secretly  inspired'^  their  tongues,  and,  through 
 their  means,  caused  loud  thanks  to  be  offered  to  Jesus  for  an  approaching  blessing 
 of  which  as  yet  they  had  no  conception  ;  a  blessing  consisting  in  the  ignominious 
 death  which  he  was  about  to  suffer  for  their  sakes.     If  therefore  the  genuine  effusions 
 of  the  heart  can  alone  render  applause  truly  valuable,  never  was  a  triumph  more 
 honourable  to  the  object  of  it  than  was  this  present  triumph  of  Jesus,  although  it 
 outwardly  displayed  nothing  but  humility  and  meanness.     The  Pharisees  viewed  this 
 scene  in  a  very  different  light.     Whilst  "  the  multitude  therefore  gave  testimony,"  John  12. 
 viz.  the  same  multitude  "  that  was  with  him  when  he  called  Lazarus  out  of  the  grave, 
 and  raised  him  from  the  dead,"  (and  it  was  for  this  reason  also  that  the  multitude      '8. 
 •^''came  to  meet  him,  because  they  had  heard  that  he  had  done  this  miracle,)  "  the 
 Pharisees"  were  beyond  expression  filled  with  jealousy  at  what  they   4.  The  envy  of 
 witnessed,  and  "therefore  said  among  themselves:    Do  you  see  that    the  Pharisees.       ^^ 
 we  prevail  nothing  ?  Behold  the  whole  world,"   in  open  violation  of  our  authority, 
 "  is  gone  after  him." 
 
 However,  it  would  have  been,  in  the  present  moment,  extremely  unsafe  to  lay 
 hands  on  Jesus,  whilst  so  well  guarded  by  the  affections  of  the  people,  and  therefore 
 all  that  the  Pharisees  thought  proper  to  do  was  that  '*  some  of"  them  "from  amongst 
 the  multitude,  said  to  him,"  in  jnild  terms  :  "  Master,  rebuke  thy  disciples.  To  Luke  19. 
 whom  he  said  :  I  say  to  you  that  if  these  should  hold  their  peace,  the"  very  "  stones" 
 in  the  high  way  jj  will  supply  their  place,  and  "  will  cry  out"  in  my  praise.  The 
 Pharisees,  tlierefore,  prudently  refrained  from  violent  measures,  but  failed  not  to 
 treasure  up  in  their  minds  the  acclamations  which  they  had  witnessed,  intending  in 
 
 *  Zacliary  ix.  9.  tioned   by   St.  Matthew,   St.  Mark,  and   St.  John, 
 
 t  Uclweeii  this  mount  and  the  city  of  Jerusalem  and  tlierefore  we  have  placed  in  the  context  the  ac- 
 
 there    lay    iiolliiun;  hut    the  valley   of  Jehosaphat,  dainations  of  both. 
 
 throii;;li  which  ran  the  brook  Cedron. — Calmet.  §  See  the  church  office  for  the  hlerisinsf  of  palms. 
 
 :j:  Viz.  those  who  moved  by  llie  miracles  of  Christ  ||  This  seems  to  have  been  a   proverbial    expres- 
 
 had  to  hiwed   hiui  (ioin  Galilee.      Hence  they   ap-  .sion,   and    sipjnifies    no   more    than    ihat   God   was 
 
 pear  to  have  heen  dilferent  from   the   crowds  men-  determined  to  glorify  our  Saviour  on  that  day. 
 
 39. 
 40. 
 
336 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  [Ch.  CX. 
 
 due  time  and  place  to  make  them  a  subject  of  accusation  against  him.     But  as  for 
 5.  Christ  weeps  Jesus,  in  the  midst  of  this  triumph,  he  entertained  thoughts  widely 
 
 41.  over  Jerusalem,  different  from  those  of  the  applauding  multitude.  For  "  when  he 
 drew  near"  to  Jerusalem,  "  seeing  the  city,"  and  considering  its  obstinate  blindness, 
 
 42.  "  he  wept  over  it,  saying:  if  thou  also  hadst  known,  and  that  in  this  thy  day,  the 
 
 43.  things  that  are  to  thy  peace ;  but  now  they  are  hidden  from  thy  eyes. 
 j>redidionofthe  For  the  days  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  thy  enemies  shall  cast  a  trench 
 destruction    of  about  thee,  and  compass  thee  round  and  straiten  thee  on  every  side^ 
 
 44.  J>:rusalem.*  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^j^^  ground,  and  thy  children  who  are  in  thee,  and 
 they  shall  not  leave  in  thee  a  stone  upon  a  stone,  because  thou  hast  not  known  the 
 time  of  thy  visitation."  All  these  evils  which  Christ  has  described  as  impending  over 
 this  miserable  city,  took  place  accordingly,  about  thirty-eight  years  afterwards,  when 
 the  Romans  besieged  Jerusalem  and  levelled  it  with  the  ground.  Christ  foretells 
 that  they  would  cast  a  trench  around  it :  this  refers  to  the  line  of  circumvallation 
 which  Titus  caused  to  be  drawn  at  about  a  mile  distance,  and  which  passed  by  mount 
 Olivet.  He  moreover  encompassed  and  straitened  it  on  all  sides,  as  here  foretold 
 by  Christ,  when  by  means  of  his  whole  army,  he  built  a  wall  of  thirty-nine  furlongs 
 quite  round  the  city  in  the  short  space  of  three  days,  which  prevented  all  ingress  and 
 egress,  and  thus  occasioned  a  dreadful  famine.  Jesus  moreover  added,  that  the 
 enemy  would  totally  destroy  the  city  and  its  inhabitants,  which  was  exactly  fulfilled 
 in  the  taking  of  Jerusalem ;  for  according  to  Josephus,t  whose  authority,  in  this 
 respect,  cannot  be  called  in  question,  eleven  hundred  thousand  Jews  perished  on  this 
 occasion  ;  and  excepting  three  towers  which  Titus  spared  as  a  specimen  to  all  future 
 ages  of  the  beauty  of  this  city,  it  was  completely  ruined,  and  the  very  ground  ploughed 
 out  on  which  it  stood.  And  all  this,  as  Christ  declares,  was  in  consequence  of  its 
 not  having  known  the  time  when  God  visited  it  by  his  Son  during  the  three  years  of 
 his  ministry  in  Judea. 
 
 CHAPTER  CX. 
 
 JESUS  DUIVES  THE  BUYERS  AND  SELLERS  OUT  OF  THE  TEMPLE  A  SECOND  TIME. J 
 
 MATT.   XXI.      MARK  XI.  LUKE  XIX.      JOHN   XII. 
 
 Matt.  21.  "  And  when  he  had  entered  Jerusalem"  by  the  golden  gate  which  looks  towards  the 
 
 10.      east,  and  which  was  not  far  distant  from  the  temple,  "  the  whole  city  was  moved 
 
 *  See  the  first,  c.  101.     No.  2.  t  See  the  first,  c.  19. 
 
 t  De  bc'llo,  1.  6.  c.  13,  &c.     The  argument  for  The  expulsion  of  the  sellers  out  of  the  temple 
 
 the  truth  of  Christianity  whiuh  is  taken  fioin  the  by  Christ   happened  the  same  day  that  he  entered 
 
 history  of  the  destruction   of  Jerusalem  as  related  Jerusalem   iu   triumph,  according'  to  St.    Matthew 
 
 by  Josephus,  compared  with  our   Saviour's  predic-  and   St.  Luke,  for  wliat  the  former  mentions,  verse 
 
 tion  of  that  event,  has  always  been  considered  as  15.   of   the   children  crying    out    Hosaniia,   seems 
 
 one   of  the  strongest,  which   can  be  urged,  either  clearly  to  belong  to  this  day.      Wherefore  we  must 
 
 a"-ainst  the  Jews   in   particular,  or   against  unbe-  conclude   that   St.   Mark,  who  seems  to  refer  this 
 
 lievers   in   n-eneral.     See   Lardner's    Collection    of  event  to  the   second  day,  recapitulates   what   took 
 
 Jewish  and  Heathen  Testimonies,  vol.  i.  chap.  3.  place  the  day  before.     See  St.   Austin,   1.   2.   De 
 
Ch.  ex.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  337 
 
 saying  :  Who  is  this?  And  the  people  said  :  This  is  Jesus  the  prophet  from  Naza-  U. 
 reth  of  Galilee."  Hence  it  appears  that  the  crowds  of  people  who  had  thus  honour- 
 ably attended  Jesus,  were  not  so  much  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  as  of  Galilee  or  of 
 some  other  province  ;  and  probably  those  persons,  who  had  witnessed  the  resurrec- 
 tion of  Lazarus,  and  a  few  of  the  Pharisees,  composed  the  chief  part  of  such  as  came 
 out  of  the  city  on  this  occasion.  The  procession  terminated  at  the  temple,  when 
 Jesus  dismounting-  from  the  colt,  made  his  solemn  entry  into  it  as  into  his  Fatlier's 
 house,  in  quality  of  High  Priest  and  master  of  this  place  of  worship.  Of  his 
 authority  he  gave  the  most  miraculous  proof  by  his  zeal  against  those  who  profaned 
 it.  For  upon  his  entering  into  the  first  court,  called  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  or  of 
 the  unclean,  he  found  it  occupied  by  a  fair  or  market  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  all 
 sorts  of  victims  suitable  to  the  various  kinds  of  sacrifices  required  by  the  law,  more 
 especially  those  that  were  in  the  greatest  demand  at  this  season  of  the  ]iaschal  fes- 
 tival, such  as  lambs,  kids,  and  doves,  which  those  Jews  who  came  from  distant  parts, 
 could  not  conveniently  bring  with  them.  In  former  times  this  species  of  merchan- 
 dize was  sold  in  the  city,  or  in  the  neighbouring  villages,  and  not  in  the  temple :  but 
 the  priests  had  thought  proper  to  consult  at  once  both  their  own  private  advantage 
 and  the  convenience  of  the  public,  by  allowing  this  trade  to  be  carried  on  in  the  first 
 court  of  the  temple,  which  was  of  considerable  extent.  They  likewise  permitted  the 
 money  changers  to  fix  their  station  there,  whose  trade  was  necessarily  connected  with 
 other  species  of  traffic ;  and  they  derived  no  inconsiderable  profit  from  the  rents 
 arising  from  the  space  thus  occupied  by  them.  "  And  when"  Jesus  "  was  entered  Mark  11 
 into  the  temple,"  he  was  struck  with  the  indignity  here  offered  to  the  Deity ;  ^^" 
 and  viewing  the  holy  place  thus  turned  into  a  common  market,  he  was  ^ 
 
 immediately  inflamed  with  divine   zeal.      Taking,  therefore,  a  scourge  the  buyers  and 
 into  his  hands,  "  he  beo-an  to  cast  out  them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the  sclkm  out  of  the 
 
 .        temple. 
 
 temple,  and  overthrew  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  the  chairs 
 of  them  that  sold  doves.  And  he  suffered  not  that  any  man  should  carry  a  vessel  ^® 
 through  the  temple."  St.  Jerome  justly  considers  it  as  one  of  Christ's  greatest  mira- 
 cles, that  he  should  singly  be  able  to  disperse  so  great  a  concoiu'se  of  people,  even 
 in  the  presence  of  those  very  priests  who  gave  a  sanction  to  their  profanation.  It 
 may  well  be  presumed,  that  the  bright  rays*  of  the  Majesty  which  darted  from  his 
 eyes  on  this  occasion,  gave  an  irresistible  splendour  to  his  featares,  and  effected  that 
 which  was  otherwise  beyond  the  power  of  any  single  individual. 
 
 Jesus  justified  this  action  by  the  authority  of  the  prophets  Isaiah  and  Jeremy  ;  the 
 former  of  whom  points  out  the  particular  destination  of  God's  temple,  and  the  latter 
 describes  the  abuse  which  is  made  of  it  by  profanation,  and  by  all  manner  of  crimes. 
 "  And  he  taught,  saying  to  them  :   Is  it  not  written  :  my  house  shall  be  called  the      17. 
 house  of  prayer  to  all  nations"  in  their  necessities  ?    "^  But  you  have  made  it  a  den  of 
 
 Cons.   Evan.   c.   6S.     Hence  the  narration    of  St.  a  distinction  of  the  several  clays.    Jloieover  Cajetan 
 
 Mark  has  been  somewhat  ehaajjed.      Some  persons  thinks   that   Christ  cast  out  (he  bnyei  s  and  sellers 
 
 hov.ever,  as  A  Lapide  and  Tirinus,  are  of  opinion,  on  both  days,  that  is,  on  Sunday  and  Monday, 
 that  St.  Matthew  and   St.   Lnke    have   anticipated  *   Igneum  cnim  quoddam  atque  siderenm  radia- 
 
 this  history,  and  that  St.  Mark   alone  folloivs  the  bat  ex  ociilis  ejus,  et  divinitatis  majestas  lucebat  in 
 
 true  order  of  things,  since  he  alone  expressly  makes  facie. — St.  Hier. 
 
 29.  4r 
 
338  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CX. 
 
 thieves  "  bv  the  many  injustices,  deceits,  and  perjuries,  committed  by  those  who  trade 
 
 18.      there  under  your  sanction  and  authority.     "^  Which"  cutting-  reproaches  "  when  the 
 
 chief  priests  and  the  scribes  had  heard,  they  sought"  still  more  "  how  they  might 
 
 destroy  him  :  for  they  feared  him  because  the  whole  multitude  was  in  admiration  at 
 
 his  doctrine." 
 
 2  Chr'st  After  this  instance  of  justice,  Jesus  next  displayed  an  example  of 
 
 Matt.  21,  the  blind  and  mercy  and  compassion.     For  "  there  came  to  him  the  blind  and  the 
 
 14.  lame.  j^^j^g  -^^  ^\^q  temple,  and  he  healed  them."  This  gave  occasion  to  the 
 children  who  were  present  to  cause  the  whole  temple  to  resound  afresh  with  their 
 joyful  acclamations,  crying  out  aloud  :    Hosaima,  praise  and  glory  to  the  Son   of 
 
 15.  David,  to  the  king  of  Israel.  "  And  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  seeing  the 
 wonderful  things  that  he  did,  and  the  children  crying  in  the  temple,  and  saying  : 
 Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,  were  moved  with  indignation,  and  said  to  him  : 
 
 16.  Hearest  thou  what  they  say  ?  And  Jesus  said  to  them  :  Yes,  have  you  never  read" 
 that  verse  of  the  eighth  psalm,  "  out  of  the  mouth  of  infants  and  of  sucklings  thou  hast 
 perfected  praise  ?"*  Jesiis  hereby  insinuated,  that  it  was  truly  the  divine  Spirit  which 
 opened  the  mouth  of  these  little  children  to  sound  forth  his  praise,  and  that  these 
 little  acclamations  were  wholly  unsolicited  on  his  part. 
 
 John  12.  r^  .  ■        "  Now  there  were  some  Gentiles  1   among  them  who  came  up"  to 
 
 20  3.       Certain  c      ■      i     i  rm  r 
 
 21.'  Greeks  desire  to  Jerusalem  "  to  adore  on  the  festival  day.  These  therefore  came  to 
 see  Christ.  Philip,  who  was  of  Bethsaida  of  Galilee,"  perhaps  as  to  a  person 
 
 22.  known  to  them,  living  in  Syro-Phenicia,  "  and  they  desired  him  saying :  Sir,  we 
 would  willingly  see  Jesus.  Philip,"  deeming  the  request  a  matter  of  some  difficulty, 
 "  Cometh  and  telleth  Andrew,"  his  senior  in  the  apostleship  :  "  again  Andrew  and 
 Philip  told  it  to  Jesus,"  who  viewing  in  this  small  number  of  Gentiles,  as  it  were  the 
 first-fruits  of  all  the  Gentile  world  that  in  future  ages  would  believe  in  him,  readily 
 
 23.  ,    r       y       consented  to  allow  them  access  to  his  person.     '•  And  Jesus  answered 
 
 \.  Jesus  Jore-  i  i  /•  hit  i 
 
 tells  his  gloriji-  them  saving :  the  hour  is  come  that  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified" 
 cation.  y^y  ^jjg  f^jll^  Qf  glj  nations.     But  as  this  their  conversion  was  not  to  be 
 
 24.  effected  till  after  his  death,  he  added,  ''  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you  :  unless  the  grain 
 of  wheat  falling  into  the  ground  die,  it  remaineth  there  alone  :  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth 
 forth  much  fruit :"  even  so  after  my  death,  shall  I  have  much  fruit  among  the 
 Gentiles,  by  my  apostles,  sent  to  instruct  and  baptize  all  nations.     And  in  this  my 
 
 25.  disciples  must  be  ready  to  follow  my  example  ;  for,  "  he  that  loveth  his"  temporal 
 "  life"  so  far  as  to  preserve  it  at  the  expense  of  justice,  or  of  truth,  or  of  conscience, 
 by  unlawful  gratifications,  "  shall  lose  it"  infallibly  for  all  eternity :  "  and  he  that 
 hateth  his  life  in  this  world,"  so  as  to  be  ready  to  forfeit  it  for  the  sake  of  truth  and 
 of  justice,  "  preserveth  it  unto  life  everlasting."  He  exhorteth  his  disciples  to  make 
 this  greatest  effort  of  Christian  courage  by  holding  out  to  them  the  immensity  of  the 
 
 *  It  is  plain  from  this  and  many  other  texts,  that  and   served  the   one   true  God,  as   Cornelius   did, 
 
 we  ought  to  read  the  Old  Testament  with  an  eje  Acts  x.  but  did  not  submit  themselves  to   circum- 
 
 to  Christ  who  was  the  end  of  the  law.  cision,  and  the  other  Jewish  rites  and  ceremonies. 
 
 t  These  either  were  proselytes  who  had   been  These  could  only  enter  into  that  part  of  the  temple 
 
 Gentiles,  and  now  had  embraced   the  Jewish  law,  called  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles. 
 or  they  were  such  amongst  the  Gentiles  who  owned 
 
Ch.  ex.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  339 
 
 reward  which  they  were  to  receive.     "  If  any  man,"  therefore,  says  he,  "  minister  to      26. 
 me,"  and  desires  to  be  of  the  number  of  my  disciples,  "  let  him  follow  me"  even 
 unto  death  ;  "  and"  then  "  where  I  am,  there  also  shall  my  minister  be."     For  ''  if 
 any  man"  thus  "  minister  to  me"  at  the  hazard  of  his  own  life,  "  him  will  my  Father 
 honour"  with  an  eternal  crown  of  glory  in  heaven.* 
 
 At  the  mention  of  his  approaching  death,  Jesus  chose  to  humble  himself  so  far  as 
 to  give  an  instance  of  the  weakness  of  nature,  by  allowing  dread  and  apprehension 
 to  take  possession  of  his  soul.  "  Now  my  soul  is  troubled,"  said  he.  For  although  27. 
 he  encouraged  us  to  a  contempt  of  death,  yet  he  dissembled  not  the  agitation  of  mind 
 which  he  felt  at  the  prospect  of  it,  but  allowed  it  to  be  publicly  noticed  from  a  motive 
 both  of  humility  and  prudence.  By  thus  participating  the  common  weakness  of 
 mankind,  he  chose  to  show  that  himself  was  not  exempt  from  the  natural  horror 
 which  we  all  have  of  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body  ;  and  that  when  he 
 exacted  from  us  this  submission  as  a  necessary  point  of  our  duty,  he  was  himself 
 fully  sensible  of  the  extent  and  rigour  of  such  a  sacrifice.  He  even  by  his  own  con- 
 duct, pointed  out  how  far  his  disciples  might  lawfully  endeavour  to  avoid  death,  and 
 that  was  by  addressing  themselves  to  God  under  this  severe  pressure  of  the  mind,  and 
 praying  to  be  delivered  from  the  impending  danger.  "  And  what  shall  I  say?"  he  2'' 
 exclaimed :  to  whom  shall  I  have  recourse?  It  is  to  thee,  "  Father,  save  me  from 
 this  hour." 
 
 Christ  taught  them  by  his  example  to  overcome  the  natural  horror  and  dread  of 
 death,  to  suppress  the  sentiments  of  nature,  and  to  ask  merely  of  God,  that  he  would 
 be  pleased  to  glorify  his  name  by  the  sacrifice  of  their  lives,  under  the  firm  persua- 
 sion, that  it  was  God  himself,  who,  by  a  particular  providence,  placed  them  under  the 
 necessity  of  undergoing  this  trial.  "  But  for  this  cause,"  said  he,  "  I  came  into  this  28. 
 hour.  Father,  glorify  thy  name"  by  my  sufferings  and  death;  may  they  serve  to 
 restore  to  thee  that  glory  of  which  sin  robbed  thee ;  to  make  known  to"  men  the 
 severity  of  thy  justice,  and  likewise  the  excess  of  thy  love.  "  A  voice  then  came 
 from  heaven,"  to  show  that  his  prayer  was  heard,  saying  :  "  I  have  both  glorified  it" 
 already  by  the  many  miracles  thou  hast  done  in  my  name,  "  and  will  glorify  it  again" 
 by  thy  resurrection,  by  the  faith  of  all  nations  who  shall  believe  in  thee,  and  by  the 
 glory  resulting  from  thy  death. 
 
 "The  multitude  therefore  that  stood  and  heard"  a  certain  indistinct  noise,  "said      29. 
 that  it  thundered  :  others,"  who  heard  an  inarticulate  sound,  "  said :  an  angel  spoke 
 to  him.     Jesus  answered  and  said:   This  voice  came  not  because  of  me,"  as  it  were      30. 
 to  satisfy  me  of  the  divine  f\ivour,  or  to  comfort  me  against  the  fear  of  death  :   ^'  but 
 for  your  sakes,"  that  you  may  believe  in  me,  and  may  understand  that  "  now  is  the      31. 
 judgment  of  the  world,"  which  is  about  to  be  delivered  from  the  tyranny  of  the  devil, 
 •'  now  shall  the  princes  of  this  world  be  cast  out.     And  /,  if  I  be  lifted      ^    Christ  to      ^^' 
 up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  things  to  myself;"  that  is,  by  faith  and  be  glorified  hy 
 love.     "  (Now  this  he  said,  signifying  what  death  he  should  die)."  ''^«^''°''«-  33. 
 
 Thus  Christ  declares  the  very  different  judgment  of  God  in  regard  to  the  devil,  now 
 to  be  vanquished  and  cast  forth,  and  of  the  world,  now  to  be  freed  from  his  tyranny 
 
 *  Apoc.  iii.  21. 
 
340  THE  LFFE  OF  OUR  LOUD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CX. 
 
 and  drawn  to  Christ.  By  this  efficacious  attraction  he  would  siguify  the  power  of  his 
 grace,  the  strong  opposition  to  be  raised  by  the  devil  against  the  conversion  of  man- 
 kind, and  the  weakness  of  human  nature  which  stood  in  need  of  being  thus  drawii  to 
 34.  Jesus  Christ.  "The  multitude,"  perceiving  from  the  words  of  Christ  that  he  spoke 
 of  his  death,  "  answered  him  :  We  have  heard  out  of  the  law,  that  Christ  abideth 
 for  ever,  and  how  sayest  thou  :  The  Son  of  Man  must  be  lifted  up?  Who  is  this 
 Son  of  Man,"  that  is  thus  to  suffer?  intimating  that  he  could  not  be  the  Messiah,  if 
 it  related  to  him.  "  Jesus"  did  not  think  projjcr  at  the  present  moment  to  explain 
 himself  more  fully  :  he  "  therefore"  only  "  said  to  them,"  as  an  inducement  for  them 
 to  believe  in  him  :  "  Yet  a  little  while,  the  light  is  among  you.  Walk  while  you 
 have  the  light,  that  the  darkness  overtake  you  not.      .\nd  he  that  walketh  in  dark- 
 
 36.  ness,  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth.  Whilst  you  have  the  light,  believe  in  the  light, 
 that  you  may  be  the  children  of  light,"  that  is,  the  children  of  God  himself,  to  which 
 
 6  The  Mind-  '^'o'^  honour  a  firm  and  ready  faith  is  the  best  and  surest  guide.  "  These 
 ness  and  ohdu-  things  Jcsus  spoko,  and  he  went  away,  and  hid  himself  from  them," 
 racy  of  ihe  Jews,  bg^ausc  the  liarducss  of  their  hearts  and  the  blindness  of  their  under- 
 standing rendered  them  unworthy  of  enjoying  any  longer  his  divine  presence  and 
 
 37.  conversation.  "  And  whereas  he  had  done  so  many  miracles  before  {hem,  they 
 believed  not  in  him."  But  lest  this  their  obstinate  incredulity  might  scandalize  the 
 Gentiles,  the  Evangelist  remarks,  that  nothing  happened  in  their  regard  but  what 
 
 38.  had  bcL'u  foretold,  "  that  the  saying  of  Isaiah*  the  prophet  might  be  fulfilled  which 
 he  said,"  speaking  in  the  person  of  the  Messiah  :  "  Lord,  who  hath  believed  our 
 hearing?  and  to  whom  hath  the  arm  of  the  Lord  been  revealed?"  for  the  Jews  would 
 not  acknowledge  him,  either  in  the  wisdom  of  his  words,  or  in  the  power  of  his  works. 
 St.  Paul  quotes  the  same  passagef  on  the  same  subject.  St.  John  points  out  from 
 Isaiah  the  cause  of  this  astonishing  incredulity,  viz.  the  blindness  of  their  minds  and 
 
 89.      the  obstinacy  of  their  will.     "  Therefore,"  says  he,  "  they  could  not  believe  because 
 
 40.  Isaiah  said  again  :  he  hath  blinded  their  eyes  and  hardened  their  heart,  that  they 
 should  not  see  with  their  eyes,  nor  understand  with  their  heart  and  be  converted, 
 and  I  should  heal  them."  These  eflfects  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  malice  yf  their  will 
 as  to  the  natural  and  inunediate  cause,  to  the  seduction  of  the  infernal  fiend  who 
 tempted  them,  and  lastly,  to  the  just  judgment  of  God,  who,  in  punishment  of  their 
 crimes,  so  far  left  them  in  their  darkness,  as  not  to  remove  the  obstacles  which  shut 
 out  the  liglit  from  their  eyes. 
 
 Lest  the  meaning  of  these  words  should  be  applied  to  some  other  event,  the 
 
 41.  Evangelist  adds :  "These  things  said  Isaiah"  of  the  Messiah,  "  when  he  saw  his 
 glory  and  spoke  of  him."  For  this  chapter  represents  to  us,  under  a  sensible,  but 
 sublime  and  glorious  figure,  the  holy  Trinity,  of  which  Jesus  is  the  second  person. 
 His  divine  mission  into  this  world  is  likewise  treated  of,  and  when  the  Father,  with 
 ajiparent  concern,  seeks  out  whom  to  send,  the  prophet  who  here  represents  the 
 Son,  ofTers  himself  in  his  name,  and  declares  his  readiness  to  assume  our  human 
 flesh  for  that  purpose. 
 
 In  relating  this  general  incredulity  of  the  Jews,  the  Evangelist  makes  an  excep- 
 
 *  Isai,  liii.  1.  t  Rom.  x.  15. 
 
Ch.CXI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  341 
 
 tion  of  some  individuals.     "  However,"  says  he,  '■'  many  of  the  chief  men  also      42. 
 believed  in  him  :  but  because  of  the  Pharisees  they  did  not  confess  him,  that  they 
 might  not  be  cast  out  of  the  synagogue  :  for  they  loved  the  glory  of  men  more  than      43. 
 the  glory  of  God  ;"  that  is,  they  preferred  the  retaining  of  an  honourable  rank 
 amongst  mankind  to  the  gaining  of  true  glory,  which  is  according  to  God,  and  with 
 which  he  would  infallibly  have  rewarded  them  in  the  most  ample  manner.     Thus  it 
 appears,  that  the  glory  of  men,  and  other  temporal  considerations  are  the  great 
 obstacles   which  hinder  mankind  from  seeking  and  embracing  the  truth.     "  But      44. 
 Jesus"  making  his  appearance  again  in  the  temple,  cried  out  against  7.  An  exhorta- 
 these  timid  converts  and  the  incredulous  Pharisees,  "  and  said :  he     ''""  ^o /«''''• 
 that  believeth  in  me  doth  not  believe  in  me"  only,  "  but  in  him"  also  ''that  sent  rae. 
 And  he  that  seeth  me"  with  the  eyes  of  faith,  such  as  I  really  am,  viz.  according  to      45. 
 my  situation  and  divine  nature,  "  seeth  him  that  sent  me,"  we  having  one  and  the 
 same  essence.     "  I  the"  eternal  ''  light  am  come  into  the  world,  that  whosoever      45. 
 believeth  in  me  may  not  remain  in  the  darkness"  of  error  and  sin.     "And  if  any      47. 
 man"  after  this  "  hear  my  words,  and  keep  them  not,  I  do  not  judge  him  :  for  I  came 
 not  to  judge  the  world"  at  present,  "  but  to  save  the  world."     He  must  not  however 
 flatter  himself  that  he  shall  remain  unpunished :  for  "  he  that  despiseth  rae  and      48. 
 receiveth  not  my  words,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him.     The  word  that  I  have  spoken 
 the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day,"  and  shall  condemn  him  for  having  rejected 
 this  divine  light.     "  For  I  have  not  spoken"  merely  "^  of  myself,"  without  com-      49. 
 mission  from  above  :  "  but  the  Father  who  sent  me  he  gave  me  commandment  what 
 I  should  say,  and  what  I  should  speak.     And  I  know  that  his  commandment  is"  a      50. 
 sure  guide  ''  to  life  everlasting  :  what  things  therefore  I  speak,  as  the  Father  hath 
 ordered  me,  so  do  1  speak,"  and  he  that  despises  them  despises  the  words  of  God, 
 and  renounces  that  eternal  life  which  is  offered  him.    "  And  having  viewed  all  about,  Mark  11. 
 when  the  hour  of  evening  was  (?ome,  leaving  them,  he  went  out  of  the  city  into      ^^' 
 Bethania,"  as  usual,  "  with  the  twelve"  Apostles,  "  and  remained  there."  '    17. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXI. 
 
 JESUS  CURSES  THE  BARREN  FIG-TREE,  AND  E.VHORTS  HIS  DISCIPLES  TO  FAITH  IN  PRAYER, 
 AND  TO  FORGIVE  THEIR  ENEMIES.      MATT.  XXI.      MARK  XI.      LUKE  XIX. 
 
 ''  And  the  next  day,  when  they  came  out  from  Bethania,  returning  into  the  city,  lie  Mark  11. 
 was  hungry.     And  when  he  had  seen  afar  off  a  fio-tree,  bv  the  wav-side,  having-      ^'^• 
 leaves  upon  it,  he  came"  to  see,  "  if  perhaps  he  might  find  any  thing  upon  it.    And      ig. 
 when  he  was  come  to  it,  he  found  nothing-  but  leaves  :  for  it  was  not  the  time  for  Mi"'l^  H- 
 
 ■  13 
 
 figs."*     This  hunger,  though  real  and  pressing,  was  not  without  a  mysterious  mean-    j^j^^ 
 ing,  and  afforded  him  an  opportunity  of  drawing  from  this  fig-tree  a  subject  of  Mark  11. 
 instruction  both  lo  the  Jews  and  to  all  his  disciples. 
 
 *  But  there  is  no  time  nor  season  at  whicli  the  servants  of  God  can  be  excused  from  bringing'  forth 
 the  fruits  of  good  works. 
 
 29.  4  s 
 
34,2  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CM 
 
 ,  _,  . ,  In  reofard  to  the  first,  it  was  a  menace,  or  ratiier  a  prediction  of  the 
 
 I.  Christ  curses  ^  '  i      r    i  i  i        t-<       i 
 
 14.      the  barren  Jig-  reprobation  of  the  Jews  until  the  end  of  the  world,     ror  he  cursed  the 
 Matt.  21.  tree.  fig-tree,  and  "  said  to  it :  may  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  henceforward  for 
 
 Mark  11.  ever;  and  his  disciples  heard  it,  and  immediately  the  fig-tree  withered  away." 
 
 14-  It  is  certain  both  that  Jesus  was  not  deceived  in  regard  to  this  fig-tree,  when  going 
 
 T9.  up  to  it  he  discovered  no  fruit,  and  that  the  tree  itself  could  not  merit  so  severe  an 
 anathema.  Yet,  however  harmless  in  its  own  nature,  it  was  culpable  relatively  to 
 the  nation  which  it  represented  ;  for  the  whole  transaction  was  no  other  than  a  pro- 
 phetic parable.  By  the  fig-tree  was  represented  the  Jewish  synagogue  ;  the  hunger 
 of  Jesus  was  a  figure  of  his  extreme  desire  of  finding  it  productive  of  good  works, 
 such  as  would  be  answerable  to  the  great  pains  which  he  had  taken  in  its  cultivation 
 during  the  space  of  more  than  three  years.  The  leaves  of  the  fig-tree  were  those 
 pompous  words  of  the  ancient  law,  the  temple,  the  ceremonies,  sacrifices,  traditions, 
 and  all  the  outward  form  of  worship  upon  which  the  Jews  plumed  themselves,  and 
 claimed  merit  in  the  sight  of  God,  in  proportion  as  they  conceived  themselves  dis- 
 tino-uished  above  all  other  nations.  Yet  all  this  exterior  show  was  void  of  good 
 VForks,  the  only  valuable  produce  of  the  tree.  By  the  withering  of  the  tree,  which 
 followed  the  imprecation  of  Jesus,  are  represented  the  reprobation  and  utter  barren- 
 ness of  the  synagogue,  which  to  this  day  remains  as  an  useless,  barren  trunk,  bearing 
 no  fruit  to  eternal  life. 
 Mark  11.  "  And  they  came  again  to  Jerusalem,  and"  Jesus  "  was  teaching 
 
 Luke  19  in   the  ternple.  daily  in  the  temple.     And  the  chief  priests  and  the  Scribes,*  and  the 
 
 47.  The  enry  of  the  rulers  of  the  people,"    having  now  no  longer  to  search  after  him, 
 
 48.  '^*^'^*'  "  sought  to  destroy  him:  and  they  found  not  what  to  do  to  him;  for 
 all  the  people  was  very  attentive  to  hear  him,"  and  seemed  disposed  to  repel  by 
 
 Mark  11.  force  any  violence  they  might  offer  to  his  person.     "  And  when  evening  was  come, 
 
 ^'      he  went  forth  out  of  the  city,  and  when  they  passed  by  in  the  morning,  they  saw  the 
 
 Matt.  21.  fig-tree  dried  up  from  the  roots.     And  the  disciples  seeing  it,  wondered,  saying:  how 
 
 -^  ^°-      soon  it  hath  withered  away.f     And  Peter  remembering"  the  words  spoken  by  Jesus, 
 
 21.    '  ''  said  to  him  :  Rabbi,  behold  the  fig-tree  which  thou  didst  curse  is  withered  away." 
 
 o  ^1     ^  From  the  circumstance  of  this  withered  tree,  Jesus  took  occasion  to 
 
 3.  Ihe  e_ffica- 
 
 cy  of  faith  and  hold  forth  to  his  disciples  an  example  of  the  all-powerful  efficacy  of 
 
 28.      prayer.  f^j^j^  ^^^^  confidence  in  God.     "  And  Jesus  answering,  saith  to  them  : 
 
 Matt.  21.  have  ye  faith  of  God  ?    Amen  I  say  to  you,  if  you  shall  have  fi^ith  and  stagger  not, 
 
 Mark  11  y""  ^^^^  ""^^  °"'y  ^^  *^^^  ^^  ^^^  fig-tree,  but  also  whosoever  shall  say  to  this  moun- 
 
 23.      tain  :  be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,  and  shall  not  stagger  in  his 
 
 *  St.  Mark  mentions  tlie  same  evil   designs  of  preaching,  than  on  the  day  when  he  expelled  them 
 
 the  Scribes  against  Jesus  in  the  preceding  chapter,  from  the  temple. 
 
 and    immediately    after   their   expulsion    from   the  t  St.  Matthew,  ver.  20.  mentions  this  surprise  o( 
 
 temple,  with  this  connection  of  words,  ivhich  when  the  disciples,  as  expressed   immediately  alter  the 
 
 the  high  priests  had  heard.     But  as  they  continued  curse   of  the    fig-tree  ;    but   it   is   clear   from   St 
 
 to  entertain  the  same  inveterate  animosity  against  Mark  that  they  did  not  notice  its  withering  till  the 
 
 Jesus,  St.  Luke  insinuates  by  these  words,  he  was  following  morning.     We  may  therefore    infer  that 
 
 daily  teaching  in  the  temple,  that   they  were   no  it  took  place  imperceptibly,  without  being  imme- 
 
 less  actively  employed   in  carrying  on  their  con-  diately  observed, 
 spiracy  during  the  following  days  when  Jesus  was 
 
CTi.  CXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  343 
 
 heart,  but  believe  that  whatsoever  he  saith  shall  be  done,  it  shall  be  done  unto  him. 
 Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  all  things  whatsoever  you  ask  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  24. 
 you  shall  receive,  and  they  shall  come  unto  you."  This  promise,  which  is  only  in 
 general  terms,  necessarily  implies  a  restriction,  though  it  be  not  here  expressed, 
 viz.  that  the  thing  asked  for  be  such  as  may  tend  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
 salvation  of  souls. 
 
 Besides  this  immovable  constancy  in  faith  and  confidence  in  God,  which  admits  of 
 no  hesitation  or  doubt,  Jesus  requires  of  them  another  condition  no  less  indispensably 
 necessary,  and  that  is  an  entire  forgiveness  of  injuries.     "  And  when  you  shall  stand      25. 
 to  pray,"  says  he,  "  forgive,  if  you  have  ought  against  any  man  ;  that  your  Father, 
 who  is  in  heaven,  may  forgive  you  your  sins.     But  if  you  will  not  forgive,  neither  will      26. 
 your  Father,  who  is  in  heaven,  forgive  you  your  sins." 
 
 CHAPTER  CXII. 
 
 CHRIST   JUSTIFIES    HIS   AUTHORITY    AGAINST   THE    SCRIBES   AND    ELDERS,  BY  A    QUESTION 
 
 WHICH     HE    PROPOSES    CONCERNING    JOHN's    BAPTISM THE    PARABLE    OF    TWO    SONS 
 
 WHOM    THEIR    FATHER    SENT    TO    LABOUR    IN    HIS    VINEYARD.      MATT.  XXI.      MARK  XI. 
 LUKE  XX. 
 
 "  And  in  the  day-time  he  was  teaching  in  the  temple:  but  at  night  going  out,  he  Luke  21. 
 abode  in  the  mount  that  is  called  Olivet.     And  all  the  people  came  early  in  the      ^g* 
 morning  to  him  in  the  temple  to  hear  him.     And  it  came  to  pass  that  on  one  of  the  Luke  ao. 
 days,"  which  was  Tuesday,  "  when  he  was  come  into  the  temple,  and  was  walking"       *• 
 there,  teaching  the  multitudes,  he  was  soon  after  interrupted  by  some  of  the  principal      21. 
 persons  amongst  the  Jews,  and  the  day  was  chiefly  spent  in  a  variety  of  disputes  and  ^^^"''^  H- 
 questions  which  passed  between  them.     The  several  subjects  treated  of  were,    1. 
 His  mission.     2.  Various  reproaches,  accusations,  and  threats,  which  he  disguised 
 under  the  veil  of  parables.     3.  A  question  regarding  the  duties  we  owe  to  society. 
 4.  The  discussion  of  a  controverted  point  relating  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
 Wherefore,  ''  as  he  was  teaching  the  people  in  the  temple,  and  preach-      j    y^^^  j^^^  Luke  20. 
 ing  the  gospel,  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  with  the  ancients  met  qvesUon  Christ's 
 together,"  and  "  came  and  spoke  to  him,  saying:    tell  us  by  what  ""'^"rj^i/.  2. 
 
 power  thou   dost  these  things,"   such  as  preaching  to  the  people,  receiving  the    Mark, 
 honours  due  only  to  the  Messiah,  making  a  triumphal  entry  into  the  temple,  and 
 driving  thence  all  the  victims  destined  for  the  various  sacrifices  ?  "  Who  hath  given      28. 
 thee  this  authority  that  thou  shouldst  do  these  things  ?"*  This  question  was  grounded 
 
 *  "  It  was  a  resonable  demand,"  says  Dr.  Bar-  works    he    had   not   vouched  the    divinity    of  his 
 
 row  (of  Supremacy,  p.  49.),  "  which  was  made  to  authority,  it  had  been  no  sin  to  disbelieve  or  reject 
 
 our  Saviovu-:  tell  us  by  what  authority  thou  dost  him."     St.  John  v.  ver.  31,  36.   chap.  x.  ver.  25, 
 
 these  things,  or  who  is  he  that  gave  tliee  tliis  au-  37.   chap.  xv.  ver.  22,  24.     This  principle,  which 
 
 thority?  And  the  reasonableness  of  it  our  Lord  did  supposes  in  pastors  the  necessity  of  a  lawful   mis- 
 
 often  avow,  declaring  that  if  by   his  doctrine  and  sion,  was  formerly,  and  may  still  be  triumphantly 
 
30. 
 
 344  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXIL 
 
 upon  the  justly  received  principle,  that  no  man  can  give  to  himself  the  authority  of 
 the  ministry,  but  mnst  receive  it  either  immediately  from  God  or  from  lawful  superiors, 
 who  derive  their  authority  in  a  regular  manner  from  tliose  who  were  originally  com- 
 missioned by  God.  Hence  they  meant  to  infer,  that  Jesus  had  incurred  both  the 
 guilt  of  schism  and  of  sedition,  by  thus  intruding  himself,  without  a  lawful  mission, 
 into  an  office  to  which  none  but  the  Messiah  could  have  pretensions.  This  objection 
 Jesus  had  already  answered  before-hand,  proving  incontestably  by  miracles,  which 
 are  the  voice  of  God,  that  he  was  sent  immediately  from  God.  Hence  he  says  :* 
 "  If  I  had  not  done  among  them  the  works  which  no  other  man  did,  they  had  not  had 
 sin."  He  now  desires  that  they  should  solve  the  objection  themselves,  by  answering' 
 29.      a  question  of  a  similar  nature,  concerning  John  the  Baptist.  "  And  Jesus  answering-, 
 
 ^Ti  ^^  ^^^^  *°  ^^'^"^  •  ^  ^^^'^  '^^^^  ^"^  ^^"'^  *°  ^^^  y°"'  "'"'^'^  if  you  shall  tell  me,  I  also  will 
 
 25.      tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things.     The  baptism  of  John,"  together  with 
 
 his  preaching  and  doctrine,   "  from  whence  was  it  ?    from  heaven  or  from  men  ? 
 
 Mark  I.  Answer  me."  In  f\ict,  had  they  avowed  that  John  was  sent  by  the  Almighty,  they 
 would  have  fully  answered  the  question  which  they  proposed  to  Jesus,  since  from 
 this  acknowledgment  of  John's  divine  mission,  he  could  most  justly  have  inferred, 
 that  therefore  his  own  was  stamped  with  the  same  divine  authority ;  because  John 
 himself  had  given  to  it  the  most  public  testimony.  The  consequence  here  inferred 
 rests  upon  this  unanswerable  argument,  that  a  mission,  if  uncertain  or  contested,  as 
 his  mission  was  in  the  present  instance,  ought  justly  to  be  deemed  as  coming  from 
 God,  when  avowedly  acknowledged  and  approved  as  such  by  a  man  whom  God  sent 
 and  authorized.  Now  John  the  Baptist  was  that  person  sent  by  God,  and  upon 
 their  acknowledged  opinion  of  this  holy  personage,  the  whole  arginnent  rests.  The 
 Pharisees  foresaw  the  advantage  to  be  derived  in  favour  of  Jesus,  were  they  to  avow 
 
 uifi^etl   against    Lulher,   Calvin,  Tiiulal,   Cranmer,  derived  this  ordinary  power.     Were  they  Catholics 
 
 and   all   the   other  first   reformers  of  the  Catholic  or   Protestants  ?     I   presume  not   Protestants,   be- 
 
 Church.    For  whence,  said  the  Catholics,  did  these  cause   they  cannot  name   any  such   who  commis- 
 
 innovators  derive  their  mission  ?  Who  sent  them  to  sioned   them   to  preach  :    not  Catholics  ;    because 
 
 preach  ?   Who  gave  them  authority  to  reform  and  the  religion  which  Luther  and   his  reforming  l)re- 
 
 alter  the  whole  state  of  God's  Church  ?    Let  ihem  thren  endeavoured  to  propagate  was  a  new  religion 
 
 show   their    commission    for   this    purpose,    either  directly  o])posite  to  that  of  Catholics,  and  therefore 
 
 ordinary  or  extraordinary.    If  it  be  pretended  that  could  not  be  taught  in  virtue   of  any  commission 
 
 they   had    an    extraordinary    mission    immediately  from  Catholics. 
 
 derived  from   God,  why   did  they  not  show   their         If  it  be  urged  that  Luther  liad  received  his  orders 
 
 credentials  stamped  with  the  broad  seal  of  heaven  ;  in  the  Catholic  Church,  it  is  easily  answered  that 
 
 that  is,  why  did   they  not    by  clear   and    evident  this  could  not  authorize  him  to  commence  preacher 
 
 miracles,  such  as  Christ  and  his  apostles  wrought,  and  teacher  of  another  religion,  any  more  than  the 
 
 attest  their  being  thus  extraordinarily  commissioned  orders  which  Mr.  Whiston  or  Mr.  Wesley   might 
 
 for  the   extraordinary    work    of  the    reformation  ?  receive    in    the    Protestant    Church    of    England, 
 
 Without  such  proofs  as  these  no  pretensions  to  an  could  authorize  them  to  teach  a  doctrine  anathe- 
 
 extraordinary  mission,  in  opposition  to /Ac  or(f(««r^  matized  by  that  Church.     The  same  answer  holds 
 
 Church  authority,  established  both  by  the  words  good   against  Cranmer  and  all  other  heretics  who, 
 
 and  miracles  of  Christ,  can  be  received.  Otherwise  after   receiving   orders    in     the    Catholic    Church, 
 
 every  fanatic  or  enthusiast  may  at  his  pleasure  pre-  separated    from    her,    and    pretended     to    reform 
 
 tend  a  call  from  lieaven,    and  upon    this   pretext  her    faith.     For    it   is   evident   to   common    sense, 
 
 preach  up  his  own   dreams  for  the  pure  word  of  that  the  bare  receiving  of  orders   in  the   Church 
 
 God,    in    contempt   of  all    authority,    whether   of  brings  with  it  a  greater  obligation  of  obedience  to 
 
 Church  or  state.     If  it  be  said  that  the  mission  her  decrees,  not  any  commission  to  question   her 
 
 of  the  first  reformers  was  ordinary,  and  derived  to  authority,  preach  down  her  doctrine,  or  contemn 
 
 them  by  the  ministry  of  men,  it  behoves  them  to  her  decisions, 
 point  out  what  men  these  were  from   whom  they         *  John  xv.  24. 
 
Ch.  CXri.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  34.5 
 
 tlieir  approbation  of  John,  and  likewise  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  for  themselves, 
 should  they  make  him  the  object  of  their  censure.     "  But  they  thought  within  them-  M»t*-  2L 
 selves,  saying  :  if  we  shall  s;\y  from  heaven,  he  will  say  to  us  :  why  then  did  you  not      26' 
 believe  him  ?     But  if  we  shall  say  from  men,  we  are  afraid  of  the  multitude  ;  the  I-'ii'<e  20. 
 whole  people  will  stone  us:  for  they  are  persuaded  that  John  was  a  prophet.     For  j^j^^i^' ^  j 
 all  men , counted  John  that  he  was  a  prophet  indeed.     And  answering  Jesus,  they      32. 
 ■said:  that  they  knew  not  whence  he  was."     In  return  for  this  evasive  conduct,  ■'^"'"-^  ^^' 
 *^^  Jesus  also  replied  :  neither  do  I  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things."  s. 
 
 But  previously  to  his  changing  the  subject  of  debate,  he  chose  to      9  -ri , 
 draw  from  it  an  argument  of  no  small  confusion  to  the  Pharisees,  by  bh  of  the  two 
 reproaching  them  that  they  had,  by  their  contempt  of  the  baptism  and  *°'"- 
 preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  made  it  fully  appear,  that  all  their  pretended  justice 
 and  boasted  obedience  to  God's  law  were  false  and  imaginary.     ^A'llerefore  "  he  Mark  12. 
 began  to  speak  to  them  in  parables,"  and  asked  their  opinion  upon  the  following 
 case  :  "  But  what  think  you  ?  A  certain  man  had  two  sons,  and  coming  to  the  first.  Matt.  21 
 he  said  :  son,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard  :  and  he  answering,  said  :   I  will  not.      ^a 
 But  afterwards  being  moved  with  repentance,  he  went.     And  coming  to  the  other,  he      30. 
 said  in  like  manner  :  and  he  answering,  said:  I  go,  Sir,  and  he  went  not.     Which      ^^' 
 of  the  two  did  the  f\\ther"s  will  ?     They  say  to  him  :  the  first."     Without  enterino- 
 into  a  further  explication  of  the  parable,  "  Jesus  saith  to  them:  Amen  I  say  to  you, 
 that  the  publicans  and  the  harlots  shall  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you,"  who 
 pretend  to  guide  others  to  it.     For  of  these  two  sons,  the  one  is  a  figure  of  professed 
 wicked  livers,  the  other  of  the  Pharisees.     The  former  were  sinners  in  earnest,  and 
 made  no  difficulty  openly  to  avow  their  being  so  :  the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  carried 
 the  outward  garb  of  a  devout  life,  and  made  a  public  profession  of  piety.     Upon  the 
 former,  God  lays  his  injunctions  to  work  in  his  vineyard,  viz.  to  bring  their  souls  into 
 a  due  state  of  cultivation  by  repentance ;  and  to  this  summons  they  declare,  by  the 
 whole  course  of  their  sinful  life,  that  they  pay  no  regard.     Afterwards,  however, 
 touched  by  the  example  and  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  as  by  the  voice  of  God, 
 they  turned  from  their  evil  ways,  and  did  sincere  penance.     God  lays  a  similar 
 injunction  upon  the  Pharisees,  who  constantly  promise  to  obey  him.     All  their  out- 
 ward show  of  piety  and  professions  of  sanctity  seem    as  it  were  to  say :  I  go,  Sir ; 
 yet  they  remain  precisely  in  the  same  state,  and  their  obedience  goes  not  beyond 
 their  lips.     "  For  John,"  said  Christ,  ''  came  to  you"  from  God,  leading  a  peniten-      ^'^• 
 tial  and  irreproachable  life,  "  in  the  way  of  justice,  and  you  did  not  believe  in  him," 
 or  follow  his  example :  "  but  the  publicans  and  harlots  believed  in  him,"  and  obeyed 
 his  injunctions.     "  But  you  seeing  it,"  yet  "  did  not  afterwards  repent,  that  you 
 might  believe  in  him,"  and  this  is  a  just  subject  of  reproach  against  you,  which 
 clearly  evinces  that  all  your  pretended  justice  and  virtue  are  founded  on  deceit  and 
 illusion. 
 
 30.  4t 
 
34G  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXIIL 
 
 CHAPTER  CXIIL 
 
 THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  VINEYARD  LET  OUT  TO  WICKED  HUSBANDMEN.      MATT.  XXI. 
 MARK  XII.       LUKE  XX. 
 
 L. 
 In  a  second  parable  Jesus  lays  to  the  charoe  of  the  Pharisees  the  parricide  which  they 
 
 long  had  in  contemplation,  and  which  they  had  already  perpetrated  in  their  hearts. 
 Herein  we  may  observe,  1.  The  great  things  which  God  had  done  in  favour  of  the 
 Jews.  2.  The  great  outrages  which  they  in  return  committed  against  his  divine 
 Majesty.  3.  The  terrible  vengeance  which  God  denounces  against  them  for  their 
 ingi'atitude. 
 Luke 20.9.     ,  ™.   ,  ...  ''  And"  Jesus  "began  to  speak  to  the  people:    Hear  ve  another 
 
 Matt 2 133        I- -Ine  lelting  o  i  r      i  j 
 
 '  out  of  ike  vine-  parable:  there  was  a  man^  an  householder^  who  planted  a  vineyard, 
 y""'-  and  made  a  hedge  round  about  it,  and  dug  in  it  a  press,  and  built  a 
 
 tower,  and  let  it  out  to  husbandmen,  and  went  into  a  strange  land  for  a  long  time. 
 Luke 20. 9.  And  when  the  time  of  the  fruits  drew  nigh,  he  sent  a  servant  to  receive  of  the  fruits 
 Marki2.2!of  the  vineyard  from  these  husbandmen:  who  having  laid  hands  on  him,  beat  him, 
 LukJioii  '^'*d  sent  him  away.     And  again  he  sent  to  them  another  servant:  but  they  beat  him 
 ^M"'k"^'  ^Iso,"  and  ''  stoned  and  wounded"  him  "  in  the  head  ;  and  treating  him  reproach- 
 Luke,    fully,  sent  him  away  empty.    And  again  he  sent  a  third,  and  they  wounded  him  also, 
 Matf.21.39.' and  cast  him  out,  and  killed  him.     Again  he  sent  other  servants  more  than  the  for- 
 i.uke2o'i3.'  mer  :  and  they  did  to  them  in  like  manner :  some  they  beat,  others  they  killed.  Then 
 the  lord  of  the  vineyard  said  :  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  will  send  my  beloved  son  :  it  may 
 Marki2.G.  be,  wlicu  they  see  him,  they  w'ill  reverence  him.     Therefore  having  yet  one  son  most 
 Matt.2i.33.  dear  to  him,  he  also  sent  him  unto  them,  last  of  all,  saying  :  they  will  reverence  my  son. 
 Matt  2r38.  But  the  husbaudmeu  seeing  the  son,  said  to  one  another  ;  this  is  the  heir,  come  let 
 ^^'      us  kill  him,  and  we  shall  have  his  inheritance  :  and  taking  him,  they  cast  him  forth 
 
 40.  out  of  the  vineyard,  and  killed  him.     When  therefore  the  lord  of  the  vineyard  shall 
 
 41.  come,  what  will  he  do  to  those  husbandmen  ?  They  say  to  him  :  he  will  bring  those 
 evil  men  to  an  evil  end  :  and  will  let  out  his  vineyard  to  other  husbandmen,  that  shall 
 
 42.  render  him  the  fruit  in  due  season.*     Jesus  saith  to  them:"  yes,  "he 
 Luke,    cation  of  the  pa-  will  come"  himself,  "  and  will  destroy  these  husbandmen,  and  will  give 
 
 ' ''"^'^-  his  vineyard  to  others.    Which  they  hearing,  said  to  him  :   God  forbid" 
 
 this  misfortune  should  happen  to  us.     For  they  saw  very  well  that  this  parable  was 
 
 17.      addressed  to  them,     "  But  he  looking  on  them,  said :    what  is  this  then  that  is 
 
 Matt.21.42.  written  ?  The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  the  same  is  become  the  head  of  the 
 
 *  To  reconcile  what  appears  contrary  in  St.  bring  those  evil  men  to  an  evil  end.  And  as  Jesus 
 Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  we  must  observe  with  St.  approved  and  confirmed  this  answer,  the  priests, 
 Austin,  lib.  2.  de  Cons.  Evang'.  chap.  70.  that  this  wiio  saw  the  scope  of  the  parable,  said  :  God  for- 
 parable  was  not  only  spoken  to  those  who  had  bid;  viz.  that  we  should  have  any  desire  of  put- 
 questioned  him  by  what  authority  he  taught  the  ting  to  death  the  heir  of  the  family,  and  drawing 
 people,  but  likewise  to  the  people  themselves,  as  upon  ourselves  destruction.  What  follows  in  St. 
 St.  Luke  tells  us  in  express  terms.  It  was  there-  Matthew  plainly  evinces  that  the  priests  contra- 
 fore  some  of  the  people  who  were  well-disposed  dieted  this  parable  of  our  Lord, 
 towards  our  Saviour,  who  said  to  him :   he  will 
 
Ch.  CXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  3J.7 
 
 corner.     By  the  Lord  this  has  been  done^  and  it  is  wonderful  in  our  eyes,"  to  see 
 him  whom  you  rejected  as  a  seducer  thus  made  the  Saviour  of  the  Gentile  world. 
 ''  Therefore  I  say  to  you,  that  the  Ivingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and  shall      43. 
 be  given  to  a  nation  yielding-  the  fruits  thereof.     And  whosoever  shall,"  by  scandal      44. 
 or  incredulity,  "  fall  on  this  stone,  shall  be  broken"  him.self,  without  damaging  it  in 
 any  manner,  and  yet  though  mortally  bruised,  his  cure  may  be  effected  by  a  sincere 
 repentance.     "  But  on  whomsoever  it  shall  fall,"  with  all  its  weight,  which  shall 
 happen  at  the  last  day,  ''  it  shall  grind  him  to  powder,"  without  the  least  hope  of 
 recovery.     "  And  when  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  had  heard  his  parables,  they      45. 
 knew  that  he  spoke  this  parable  to  them  :  and  seeking  to  lay  hands  on  him  the  same  MatMfjn! 
 hour,  they  feared  the  multitudes,  because  they  held  him  as  a  prophet."  MatrIiV'4'; 
 
 This  parable  is  immediately  addressed  to  the  Jews,  whom  our  blessed  Saviour 
 reproaches  with  their  long  and  tedious  ingratitude  to  God  ;  signifying  to  them  the 
 dreadful  judgments  they  were  about  to  draw  down  upon  themselves  by  this  horrible 
 abuse  of  the  divine  favours.  But  it  contains  a  no  less  instructive  lesson  for  Christians, 
 who  considering  what  Christ  has  done  for  them  in  establishing  his  Church,  that 
 mysterious  vineyard,  which  he  has  planted  and  watered  with  his  blood,  have  reason 
 to  dread  no  less  than  the  .lews,  the  terrible  effects  of  his  indignation,  if  they  abuse 
 the  graces  conferred  upon  them,  and  rendered  not  fruit  in  due  season.  The  kingdom 
 of  God  shall  be  taken  from  them  as  it  was  from  the  Jews,  and  given  to  a  nation  yield- 
 ing the  fruits  thereof.  In  effect,  what  the  Jews  have  suffered  for  their  wickedness 
 and  ingratitude,  has  also  been  the  fate  of  many  Christian  kingdoms  and  states,  and 
 the  moui'nful  lot  of  many  once  flourishing  churches,  whose  candlesticks  are  removed 
 and  light  extinct.  The  same  conduct  God  observes  towards  particular  persons,  in 
 punishment  of  their  repeatedly  abusing  his  graces  ;  he  at  last  withdraws  them,  and 
 leaves  them  to  themselves,  and  to  the  miserable  consequences  of  this  merited 
 privation  of  grace. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXIV. 
 
 THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  KING's  SON.*      MATT.  XXII. 
 
 After  the  heavy  accusation  brought  against  the  })riests  and  Scribes,  Jesus  concluded 
 his  discourse  by  a  parable  addressed  to  all  who  persevere  in  their  incredulity.  In 
 its  three  several  parts  it  describes  the  reprobation  of  the  Jews,  the  calling-  of  the 
 Gentiles  to  the  faith,  and  the  fin-al  judgment  both  of  the  one  and  the  other.  "  And^iatt.22. 1. 
 Jesus  answering,  spoke  again  in  parables  to  them,  saying  :  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  •^•• 
 likened  to  a  king  who  made  a  marriage/c'«s<  for  his  son."  For  the  Son  of  God  came 
 down  from  heaven  to  wed  to  himself  our  hiunan  nature  by  the  mystery  of  his  incar- 
 nation, and  every  faithful  soul  in  particular,  by  a  happy  union  of  grace  and  love. 
 This  union  is  begun  here  on  earth  by  faith  ;  it  is  cemented  by  charity  in  all  such  as 
 are  united  to  Christ,  and  will  be  consummated  and  made  perpetual  hereafter  by  the 
 
 *  See  on  this  subject,  chap.  93. 
 
348  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXIV. 
 
 3.  eternal  enjoyment  of  Christ  in  his  heavenly  kingdom.*  "  And  he  sent  his  servants  lo 
 call  them  that  were  invited  to  the  marriage."  This  God  did  in  regard  to  the  Jews 
 by  the  prophets,  by  John  the  Ba})tist,  and  even  by  Jesus  Christ  himself,  "  and"  yet 
 
 4-  "  they  would  not  come.  Again  he  sent  other  servants,  saying  :  tell  them  that  were 
 invited  :  behold  I  have  prepared  my  dinner^  my  beeves  and  fatlings  are  killed,  and 
 all  things  are  ready :  come  ye  to  the  marriage."  After  the  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ 
 into  heaven,  the  king  in  the  parable  sent  other  servants  in  greater  nnmber^  viz.  his 
 Apostles  and  disciples,  to  inform  the  invited  Jews  that  the  banquet  was  ready ; 
 because  the  Christian  religion  being-  established^  the  way  to  eternal  happiness  was  laid 
 open  to  mankind  :  that  his  beeves  and  fatlings  were  now  killed,  viz.  that  the  Messiah 
 had  been  put  to  death,  was  risen  again,  and  now  placed  on  the  table  of  the  altar,  to 
 be  really  and  truly  eaten  in  all  the  sacrifices  that  should  be  offered  up  to  God  until  the 
 end  of  time,  because  his  flesh  thus  raised  again  to  life  and  immortality,  is  the  only 
 true  sacrifice  of  the  new  law  which  succeeds  to  all  the  ancient  victims  of  the  temple. 
 This  is  described  under  the  idea  of  beeves  and  fatlings.  Lastly,  he  adds,  that  all 
 things  were  now  ready  for  their  sanctification,  and  that  they  had  only  to  enter  into 
 
 5.  the  Church,  and  to  sit  down  at  the  table  of  the  nuptial  banquet.  "  But  they  neg- 
 lected" this  invitation,  so  full  of  love  and  affection,  "  and  went  their  ways,  one  to  his 
 farm,  and  another  to  his  merchandize,"  according  to  the  various  calls  of  their  pre- 
 
 6.  vailing  passions  and  worldly  engagements.  *'  And  the  rest  laid  hands  on  his  servants, 
 
 7.  and  having  treated  them  contumeliously,  put  them  to  death.  But  when  the  king  had 
 lieard  it,  he  was  angry,  and  sending  his  armies,"  under  Vespasian  and  Titus,  "  he 
 destroyed  those  murderers  and  burnt  their  city."'|" 
 
 When  the  Jews,  through  their  own  obstinacy,  were  thus  reprobated,  God  called 
 
 8.  the  Gentiles  to  occupy  their  places.     "  Then  saith  he  to  the  servants  :  the  marriage 
 
 9.  indeed  is  ready ;  but  they  that  were  invited  were  not  worthy  :  go  therefore  into  the 
 10       highways,  and  as  many  as  you  shall  find,  call  to  the  marriage.     And   his  servants 
 
 going  forth  into  the  ways,  gathered  together  all  that  they  found,  both  bad  and  good : 
 and  the  marriage  was  filled  with  guests."  This  has  been  done  by  the  Apostles  and 
 their  successors  in  every  age  :  they  have  carried  the  gospel  successively  to  all  nations, 
 and  gathered  together  in  the  Cliurch,  which  is  the  banqueting  room,  all  whom  they 
 met,  good  and  bad,  worthy  and  unworthy,  as  appeals  by  the  sequel.  Thus  all  the 
 tables  were  filled  with  guests  who  seated  themselves  to  partake  of  the  feast.  But  lest 
 the  Gentiles  should  falsely  imagine,  that  to  be  admitted  to  this  eternal  banquet, 
 which  begins  in  this  life  by  failh  in  Jesus  Christ,  nothing  more  was  required  than  to 
 have  accepted  the  invitation,  the  king  is  described  as  entering  into  the  banqueting 
 room,  in  order  to  view  and  examine  the  several  guests.  This  is  what  God  will  do 
 11.  by  his  divine  Son  at  the  day  of  judgment.  "  And  the  king  went  in  to  see  the  guests, 
 and  he  saw  there  a  man  who  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment."  By  this  one  man  are 
 represented  all  wicked  Christians  who,  after  having  entered  into  the  Church  by  Aiitli 
 in  Jesus  Christ,  have  not  been  careful  to  clothe  themselves  with  the  works  of  justice 
 and  charity,  which  their  faith  should  naturally  produce.     As  a  ragged  and  unbe- 
 
 *  St.  Hilary,  St.  Jerom,  St.  Gregory,  &c. 
 
 t  God  sooner  or  luter  takes  vengeance  on  such  as  despise  his  word  or  persecute  his  ministers. 
 
Ch.  CXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  349 
 
 coming-  dress  in  persons  invited  to  a  marriage  feast  would  be  deemed  an  affront  to 
 those  who  gave  the  invitation,  so  also  nothing  can  he  more  unworthy  of  the  holiness 
 of  the  Christian  religion,  than  the  wicked  lives  of  its  professors.     "  And  the  king,"      12. 
 addressing  himself  to  this  rash  and  inconsiderate  person,  "  saith  to  him  :  friend,  how 
 earnest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  on  a  wedding  garment?    But  he  was  silent/'  being 
 convicted  by  the  testimony  of  his  own  conscience ;  an  image  of  that  confusion  which 
 awaits  every  impenitent  sinner  at  the  awful  tribunal  of  the  allseeing  Judge.     "  Then      13. 
 the  king  said  to  the  waiters  :  bind  his  hands  and  feet,  and  cast  him  into  the  exterior 
 darkness.     There  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.     For  many  are  called,       14. 
 but  few  are  chosen  :"  many  are  called  to  enter  into  the  Church  by  faith,  but  few  are 
 chosen  to  enter  heaven,  because  they  strive  not  by  good  works  to  make  their  calling 
 and  election  sure. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXV. 
 
 IN  ANSWER  TO  THE  ENSNA.KIXG  QUESTION  OF  THE  PHARISEES,  CHRIST  TEACHES  US  TO 
 GIVE  TO  CESAR  WHAT  IS  C/ESAR'S,  AND  TO  GOD  W'HAT  BELONGS  TO  GOD.  MATT.  XXII. 
 MARK  XII.      LUKE  XX. 
 
 The  third  conference,  which  Jesus  had  with  the  Jews,  relates  to  the  political  or  civil 
 conduct  of  mankind,  as  directed  and  influenced  by  religion  ;  a  subject  the  more 
 delicate,  as  it  regards  one  of  the  most  essential  rights  of  the  state  under  wliicli  we 
 live.  After  having  taken  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  reduced  Judea  into  a  Roman 
 province,  Pompey  imposed  a  tax  upon  the  Jews,  which,  if  not  in  the  shape  of  an 
 annual  tribute,  was  paid  however  by  compulsory  subsidies,  such  as  the  wants  of  the 
 republic  called  for.  But  in  the  second  numbering  of  the  Jewish  people,  exacted  by 
 Augustus,  in  which  Quirinus  was  the  acting  magistrate,  the  Emperor  changed  this 
 casual  contribution  into  a  certain  fixed  annual  tax  to  be  levied  by  capitation  ;  and 
 this  was  paid  in  a  particular  species  of  coin  bearing  the  name  and  portrait  of  the 
 reigning  Emperor.  The  Jews  considered  this  tax  as  a  badge  of  slavery,  and  one 
 Judas,  of  the  province  of  Galilee,  brought  himself  forward  in  opposition  to  it,  de- 
 claring it  to  be  unworthy  of  a  free  people  who  adored  the  true  God,  to  pay  tribute  to 
 strangers  and  idolaters.  Although  his  efforts  and  those  of  his  followers  were  at  that 
 time  suppressed  by  violent  measures,  yet  the  doctrine  he  broached,  far  from  expiring 
 with  him,  continued  to  be  eagerly  patronized  by  the  people  at  large.  On  this  occasion, 
 "  then,  the  Pharisees  g^oina:"  to  a  small  distance,  "  consulted  amongf  themselves  how  Matt.  22. 
 
 ,,  •        •  1,  ■  •  15 
 
 to  ensnare"  Jesus  "  in  his  speech."  They  flattered  themselves  that  being  a  Galilean, 
 he  would  adopt  the  general  opinion  of  his  countrymen  in  opposition  to  earthly  poten- 
 tates, or  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  gave  not  into  their  way  of  thinking,  they  fully  hoped 
 to  be  able  to  render  him  odious  to  the  people  as  a  favourer  of  the  hated  capitation 
 tax  :  and  having  once  obtained  this  end,  they  would  then  be  able,  without  any  danger 
 of  opposition,  to  seize  upon  his  person.  "  And  watching  him,  they  sent  treacherous  Luke  20. 
 men  who  should  feign  themselves  just."  These  were  "  some  of  the  Pharisees"  and  ^o. 
 30.  4u 
 
350  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXV. 
 
 Marki2.i3.  tlic'ir  disciples,  accompanied  likewise  "  with  the  Herodians,"  or  courtiers  of  Herod, 
 
 who  were  known  advocates  and  supporters  of  the  tax  in  question.     As  these  were 
 
 entire  strangers  to  Jesus,  the  Pharisees  imagined  that  they  would  be  received  by  him 
 
 13.      without  suspicion.     Their  great  aim  was  "  to  take  hold  of  him  in  his  discourse,"  on 
 
 his  letting  fall  any  expression  against  the  law,  or  reflecting  upon  the  sovereign  ; 
 
 Luke20.23.  "  that"  SO  "  they  might  afterwards  deliver  him  up"  as  a  delinquent  "  to  the  authority 
 
 and  power  of  the  Governor."     Thus  we  may  ob.serve  the  blackest  malice  on  one  side, 
 
 disguised  under  expressions  of  flattery,  and  a  clear  sighted  wisdom  on  the  other, 
 
 resting  its  defence  only  on  an  open  and  upright  sincerity.     These  emissaries  entered 
 
 upon  their  task,  by  assuming  a  most  modest  and  backward  appearance,  with  all  the 
 
 21.      exterior  garb  of  persons  well  affected  towards  Jesus.    "  And  they  asked  him,  saying : 
 
 Matt.22,16.  Master,  we  know  that  thou  art  sincere,"  and  "  that  thou  speakest  and  teachest 
 
 Markl2  u!  Hghtly,  and  thou  dost  not  respect  any  person,  and  carest  not  for  any  man ;  for  thou 
 
 Matt.22.17.  regardest  not  the  person  of  men,  but  teachest  the  way  of  God  in  truth.     Tell  us 
 
 therefore  what  dost  thou  think  ?   Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  or  shall  we  not 
 
 Matt22,i8.  o-ive  it  ?"  insinuating-  hereby,  that  their  ow  n  ideas  leaned  towards  the  negative.   "  But 
 
 JIarkl2  15  o  J  ■  ...  .  ° 
 
 Matthew.' Jesus  kuowiug  their  wickedness,"  and  "  their  wiliness,  saith  to  them  :  Why  do  ye 
 tempt  me,  ye  hypocrites,"  to  act  in  violation  of  the  submission  which  is  due  to  the 
 
 Aiarki2i5.  sovcrcign  power  of  the  state?  "  Show  me  the  coin  of  the  tribute,  that  I  may  see  it. 
 
 Luke2o.24."  Aiul  they  offered  him  a  penny.  And  Jesus  saith  to  them  :  Whose  image  and 
 inscription  is  this  ?  They  answering,  said  to  him  :  Caesar's.  And  he  said  to  them  : 
 Render  therefore  to  Ca3sar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  to  God,  the  things  that 
 are  God's."  By  which  expression  he  plainly  determines  in  opposition  to  the  error  of 
 Judas  the  Galilean,  that  the  duties  of  a  subject  towards  his  sovereign  are  by  no 
 means  derogatory  from  or  incompatible  with  the  duties  of  religion  which  we  owe  to 
 God;  that  we  may  acquit  ourselves  equally  of  both  without  prejudice  to  our  con- 
 scienoe,  and  that  it  is  even  our  duty  to  pay  such  taxes  as  are  imposed  for  the 
 exigences  of  the  state.  For,  in  this  instance,  Jesus  declares  not  only  that  we  may, 
 but  we  ought  to  give  to  Ca)sar  his  due ;  and  that  so  far  from  its  being  unlawful,  as 
 alleged  by  certain  seditious  persons,  it  is  a  strict  religious  obligation,  on  the  part  of 
 
 Matt.22.22.  evcry  subject,  to  pay  what  is  by  lawful  authority  demanded  of  him.  "  And  hearing 
 this,  they  could  not  reprehend  his  words  before  the  people  :  and  wondering  at  his" 
 judicious  "  answer,  they  held  their  peace,  and  leaving  him  went  their  way."* 
 
 *   Altlioupjh  Christ  clearly  establishes  here  the  magistrates,  independent  of  the  Pope :  no  doctrine 
 
 strict  obligation  of  payini^  to  Caesar  what  belongs  so    divine   as   that   which  exalts  the  ecclesiastical 
 
 to  CoDsar,  to  the  confusion  of  his  very  enemies,  yet  autiiority  above  the  civil,  not  only  in  spiritual  niat- 
 
 we    shall    find    thein    hereafter    bringing    forward  ters,   but  in  secular.     Nay,   the   very   pinnacle  of 
 
 against  hiin  the  charge  of  disloyalty,  as  if  he  forbade  orthodoxy  with  those  gentlemen  is,  that  the  lawful 
 
 tribute  to  be  paid  to  Cajsar,  Luke  xxiii.  9.     In  like  commands  of  the  civil  magistrate  do  not  bind  the 
 
 manner,  in  spite  of  the  most  explicit  declarations  of  conscience  :     that   our   only   motive   to   obedience 
 
 the    Catholic    Church  respecting  her  loyalty   and  here,  is  prudence,  for  fear  of  the  temporal  purish- 
 
 subjection  to  temporal  powers,  her  enemies  fail  not  ment  denounced  by  him  ;  and  that  if  we  have  the 
 
 to  calumniate  her  doctrine,  as  inimical  to  the  state  address    to    elude    his    vigilance,    and    escape    the 
 
 and  subversive  of  due  subordination.     Dr.  Camp-  punishment,  our  disobedience  is  no  sin  in  the  sight 
 
 bell,    in    his    Lectures   on    Ecclesiastical    History,  of  God."     So  far  the  Doctor,  and  I  may  add  nearly 
 
 speaking  of  the  tenets  of  Catholics,  is  not  afraid  to  in  liis  own  words,  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  thing 
 
 say :  "  That  no  heresy  lias  appeared   so  damnable  to  be  more  flatly  contradictory  to  the   doctrine  of 
 
 as  that  which  ascribes  any   kind  of  authority   to  the  Catholic  Church  than  this  injurious  imputation: 
 
CU.  CXVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  351 
 
 CHAPTER  CXVI. 
 
 CHRIST  CONFUTES  THE  SADDUCEES,  WHO  QUESTIONED  HIM  CONCERNING  THE 
 RESURRECTION.      MATT.  XXII.      MARK  XII.     LUKE  XX. 
 
 The  fourth  point  of  discussion  proposed  to  Jesus,  was  a  controverted   i.  tIw  wife  of 
 article  of  belief  concernino^  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  which  was  not  '-'^''^"  brothers. 
 admitted  by  the  Sadducees.     For  on  "that  same  day  there  came  to  him  some  of  Matt.  22. 
 the  Sadducees,  who  deny  that  there  is  any  resurrection,  and  they  asked  him,  saying  :     ^^^'go 
 Master,  Moses  wrote  unto  us,  if  any  man's  brother  die  having  a  wife,  and  he  leave      27. 
 no  children,  that  his  brother  should  take  her  to  wife,  and  raise  up  seed  unto  his      "^'^• 
 brother,"  to  inherit  his  name  and  property.     Now  upon  the  strength  of  this  regula-      29. 
 tion  they  stated  the  following  supposed  case.  "  There  were  seven  brothers"  amongst     Matt. 
 us  :  "  and  the  first  took  a  wife  and  died  without  sons.     And  the  next  took  her,  and  ^""'^^"^^" 
 he  died  without  a  son.     And  the  third  took  her  :  and  all  the  seven  in  like  manner,      31. 
 and  they  left  no  seed,  and  died.     Last  of  all  died  also  the  woman.     At  the  resurrec-      |~- 
 tion,  therefore,  whose  wife  of  the  seven  shall  she  be?  For  they  all  had  her  to  wife."  Mati.  22 
 If  she  be  adjudged  to  the  eldest,  the  other  six  will  be  wronged;  for  having  succes-      ^S. 
 sively  married  her  equally  with  the  eldest,  they  have  apparently  a  similar  claim 
 with  him.     Now  it  is  a  thing  unheard  of,  as  well  as  unnatural  and  unseemly,  that  she 
 should  continue  to  be  at  once  the  wife  of  the  seven  brethren  together.     Hence  they 
 boldly  concluded  it  to  be  a  clear  consequence,  that  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  a 
 thing  impossible,  and  as  such  absolutely  incredible. 
 
 It  would  have  sufficed  for  their  argument  had  they  made  a  supposition  of  only  two 
 brethren  marrying  successively  the  same  wife  :  but  it  better  suited  their  purpose  of 
 turning  the  resurrection  of  the  body  to  ridicule,  to  state  the  circumstance  of  the  seven 
 brethren  disputing  together  in  the  other  world  for  the  wife  they  had  married  in 
 succession,  and  pleading  against  each  other  the  merits  of  their  respective  claims. 
 
 With  a  view  more  fullv  to  refute  their  error,  Jesus  traces  it  to  its      ^  _, 
 
 :"  ,     .  1      I        c    1  •  1      /•       2.  The  condi- 
 
 source,  and  taxes  them  with  ignorance  both  of  the  scriptures,  and  ot  tionofthehk: 
 
 the  infinite  extent  of  God's  omnipotence.  He  begins  with  stating  the  "i  afier  there- 
 wide  difference  there  is  between  the  state  of  things  in  this  mortal  life, 
 and  in  that  which  is  to  come.  In  the  present  state  of  things  marriage  is  necessary, 
 and  was  designed  by  the  Almighty,  as  a  resource  to  repair  the  losses  occasioned  by 
 the  mortality  of  mankind.  But  hereafter,  when  they  shall  become  immortal,  like  the 
 angels,  they  shall  stand  no  longer  in  need  of  it,  and  the  propagation  of  their  species 
 
 will  be  perfectly  unnecessary.     "  And  Jesus  answering  saith  to  them :  Do  ye  not  Blark  12. 
 
 24. 
 
 for  she  has  always  taught  with  the  great  Apostle  ever  to  silence  any  such  calumnious  charge.     "  Be 
 
 St.   Paul,   the   strict   religious  obligation  of  being  careful,"  says  he,  "  that  those,  whose  instruction  in 
 
 subject   to  temporal   powers,  not   only  for  fear  of  the  law  of  the  gospel  is  committed  to  your  charge 
 
 their  wrath,  but  for  conscience  sake.     I  appeal  to  be  made  sensible  from  their  very  infancy  of  their 
 
 her  councils,  catechisms,  pulpits,  and  spiritual  books  sacred  obligation  of  loyalty  to  their  kings,  of  re- 
 
 of  direction.     The  following  authority  and  public  spect  to  their  authority,  and  of  submission  to  their 
 
 declaration  of  Clement  XIV.   addressed  to  all  the  laws,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience  sake," 
 
 Catholic  Bishops  of  the  Christian  world,  ought  for  &c. 
 
352  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXVII. 
 
 25.      therefore  err,  because  ye  know  not  the  scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God  ?    For  when 
 
 Luke  20.  they  shall  rise  again  from  the  dead,  they  shall  neither  marry  nor  be  married  :   but  are 
 
 as  angels  in  heaven.     The  children  of  this  world  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage, 
 
 35.  but  they  that  shall  be  accounted  worthy  of  that  world,  and  of  the  resurrection  from 
 
 36.  the  dead,  shall  neither  be  married  nor  take  wives.  Nor  can  they  die  any  more  :  for 
 they  are  equal  to  the  angels,  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the 
 resurrection,"  and  as  such  their  life  will  be  wholly  spiritual,  exempt  from  all  passions, 
 and  secure  of  a  blessed  immortality,  which  will  render  marriage  entirely  unnecessary. 
 
 3  The  resurrec-       J^sus  now  proceeded  to  prove  from   scripture  the  doctrine  of  the 
 Hon  proved  from  resurrection.     To  enter  into  the  force  of  his  arguments  we  must  recall 
 the  scripture.       to  mind,  that  the  principal  error  of  the  Sadducees  was  their  denying 
 the  immortality  of  the  soul,  whence  they  inferred  as  a  natural  consequence,  that  thei'e- 
 fore  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  a  thing  impossible.     Jesus  establishes  the  cer- 
 tainty of  the  former,  in  order  thence  to  infer  as  a  necessary  consequence^  the  possi- 
 bility of  the  latter.     To  this  purpose  he  employs  the  following  reasoning.     The  soul 
 is  immortal,  and  subsists  after  its  separation  from  the  body.     No  reason  therefore 
 can  be  brought  why  the  dead  should  not  rise  again.     For  what  is  the  resurrection  of 
 the  body  but  the  re-union  of  the  soul  with  the  body,  the  spiritual  with  the  corporeal 
 Luke  20.  part  of  man?     "  Now  that  the  dead  rise  again,"  said  he,  "  Moses  also  showed  at 
 ^^'      the"  burning  "  bush ;"  for  "have  you  not  read,  that  which  was  spoken  by  God, 
 Matt.  22.  saying  to  you :   I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
 T  ?^'r>^  Jacob  ?"*     Now  "  he  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,"  no  one  calling  himself  Lord  or 
 
 Luke  20.     .  ..-,,, 
 
 38.      king  of  creatures  destroyed  and  annihilated,  "  but  of  the  living;  for  all,"  even  the 
 
 dead,  "  live  to  him,"  as  to  their  souls  at  present,  which  will  be  hereafter  united 
 
 Mark  12.  again  to  their  bodies.     "  You,  therefore,  do  greatly  err"  in  supposing  the  patriarchs 
 
 ^^'  to  be  no  longer  in  a  state  of  existence,  and  capable  of  serving  the  Most  High.  "  And 
 Luke  20.  some  of  the  Scribes  answering,  said  to  him  :  Master,  thou  hast  said  well  :  and  the 
 TVT  ?.^'t,  multitude  hearing  it  were  in  admiration  at  his  doctrine,"  and  expressed  their  astonish- 
 
 Matt.  22.  °  ri  • 
 
 33.      ment  at  the  readiness,  clearness,  solidity,  and  acuteness  of  his  answers. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXVH. 
 
 THE  GREAT  COMMANDMENT  OF  DIVINE  LOVE.      MATT.   XXII.       MARK  XII.      LUKE  XX. 
 
 Matt.  22.  "  But  the  Pharisees  hearing  that  he  had  silenced  the  Sadducees,  came  together," 
 
 and  consulted  how  they  might  ensnare  him  without  incurring  a  similar  disgrace. 
 
 Mark  12.  "  And  there  came  one  of  the  Scribes,  a  Doctor  of  the  law,  tempting  him  ;"  for  "  he 
 
 ■«»  ^^'n-.  had  heard  them  reasoning  together ;  and  seeing  that  Jesus  had  answered  them,  he 
 
 35.      asked  him"  another  question,  in  order  to  make  a  further  trial  of  his  knowledge. 
 
 *  Christ  might  have  made  use  of  otlier  texts  of  "  Many  of  those  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth 
 
 scripture   to  prove  tlie   resurrection    of  tlie   body,  shall   awake,"  &c.  but  he   chose  rather  to   quote 
 
 Such    as  that   of  Isaiah  xxvi.     "  Tliy  dead  men  the  authority  of  Moses,  as   it  was  from    him  the 
 
 shall  live,  my  slain  shall  rise  again  ;"  and  Dan  xii.  Sadducees  had  taken  their  objection. 
 
Ch.  CXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  353 
 
 "  Master,"  said  he,  "  wliicli  is  the  great  commandment  of  the  law,"  and  "  the  first  Mark  12. 
 commandment  of  all  ?     And  Jesus  answered  him  :  The  first  commandment  is"  that  •^i^^'22 
 of  Deuteronomy,*  "  Hear,  O  Israel :  the  Lord  thy  God  is  one  God  ;  and"  therefore      36. 
 "  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart,  and  with  thy  whole  soul,  '^^^^  ^'^■ 
 and  with  thy  whole  mind,  and  with  thy  whole  strength.     This  is  the  greatest  and  the      30! 
 first  commandment."  Matt  22. 
 
 In  these  few  words  we  see  expressed  the  motives  which  call  for  our  love  of  God, 
 the  manner  how  we  are  to  love  him,  and  the  measure  or  extent  of  this  love. 
 
 I .  Of  these  motives  the  first  is  drawn  from  the  name  of  God,  which  in  Hebrew 
 signifies  the  first  Being,  the  sovereign  Good,  the  principle  and  source  of  all  being 
 and  of  all  good,  and  consequently  most  amiable  on  his  own  account,  and  solely 
 deserving  of  being  infinitely  loved  by  us. 
 
 The  second  arises  from  the  term  ihi/  God,  which  refers  to  the  true  people  of  Israel, 
 and  shows  the  marked  distinction  with  which  he  had  honoured  them,  by  acting  as 
 their  God  in  a  most  particular  manner,  in  choosing  them  for  his  own  peculiar  people, 
 adopting  them  as  his  children,  and  distinguishing  them  by  his  favours,  preferably  to 
 all  the  other  nations  of  the  world.  This  motive  ought  likewise  the  more  powerfully 
 to  induce  Christians  to  love  God,  as  the  utmost  they  can  do  for  him  must  fall 
 infinitely  short  of  that  immense  love  whicli  he  has  first  most  gratuitously  testified  in 
 their  regard. 
 
 The  third  motive  arises  from  the  term  Lord,  which  implies,  that  God  having,  in 
 consequence  of  his  supreme  dominion  over  mankind,  an  undoubted  right  to  require  of 
 them  whatever  he  pleases,  yet  contents  himself  with  claiming  solely  their  love. 
 
 II.  The  manner  of  our  loving  God  ought  to  be  suitable  to  the  God  of  truth.  He 
 requires  us  to  love  him  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts,  with  a  true,  sincere,  and 
 solid  love;  a  love  w-hich  penetrating  inwardly  our  souls  with  the  tenderest  sentiments 
 of  affection,  shows  itself  likewise  outwardly  in  the  whole  tenour  of  our  life.  For  he 
 who  loves  God  with  his  lips  only,  and  not  with  his  heart,  is  a  liar  and  a  hypocrite  ; 
 and  he  who  loves  God  merely  with  his  heart  and  not  with  his  hands,  by  not  giving 
 proof  of  his  love  in  the  practice  of  good  works,  is  a  sluggard  who  basely  keeps  truth 
 in  captivity  ;  and  he  who  loves  God  with  his  hands  and  not  with  his  heart,  by  doing 
 ■without  relish  or  atfection  for  God  that  which  God  commands,  is  either  a  Jew  dreading 
 the  severity  of  punishment,  or  a  philosopher  foolishly  ambitious  of  human  applause. 
 
 III.  The  extent  of  divine  love  may  be  estimated  by  considering  the  unity  of  that 
 God  who  commands  us  to  love  him  with  our  whole  heart.  There  being  but  one 
 God,  to  him  we  must  dedicate  all  the  love  and  affection  of  which  we  are  capable ; 
 and  we  may  form  some  idea  of  this  sovereign  love  thus  enjoined  us,  by  contrasting 
 it  with  a  heart  either  divided  amongst  various  objects,  or  cold  and  tepid  in  its  love. 
 
 The  unity  of  God  cannot  suffer  a  divided  heart ;  it  calls  for  the  heart  whole  and 
 entire  :  it  does  not  allow  us  to  divide  our  love  between  God  and  creatures,  because 
 v/hatever  share  we  impart  to  created  objects,  of  so  much  we  defraud  Almighty  God. 
 Yet  there  being  persons  whom  God  himself,  by  his  law,  requires  us  to  love,  this  love, 
 without  dividing  our  hearts,  must  be  referred  only  to  that  love  which  we  bear  to  God  ; 
 
 *  Deut.  vi.  4. 
 30.  4  X 
 
354  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXVIL 
 
 in  the  same  manner  as  a  small  rivulet,  which  branches  off  from  a  large  river,  hastens, 
 after  a  long-  circuit,  to  rejoin  the  waters  from  which  it  had  separated,  and  even  adds 
 thereto  those  small  streams  which  it  may  have  collected  in  its  course. 
 
 Secondly,  The  measure  of  the  love  of  God  is  estimated  by  the  infinite  perfections 
 of  God,  and  especially  by  his  goodness  ;  and  it  requires,  that  we  love  him  tcilhout 
 measure.  This  infinite  goodness  calls  foronr  whole  heart,  and  this  without  reserve. 
 It  requires  that  we  employ  ourselves  entirely  in  the  love  of  God,  by  dedicating  to  that 
 love  our  whole  being,  the  powers  of  our  soul,  the  senses  of  our  body,  our  thoughts, 
 words,  and  actions ;  or,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  commandment,  we  are  called 
 upon  to  love  God  with  our  whole  heart,  that  is,  with  the  entire  bent  of  our  will,  with 
 our  whole  mind,  by  submitting  our  reason  with  all  its  lights  to  the  principles  of  faith  ; 
 with  all  our  soul,  by  keeping  all  our  passions  within  the  bounds  of  justice  ;  with  all 
 our  power,  by  referring  to  him  the  use  of  our  senses  and  the  execution  of  all  our 
 designs. 
 
 In  our  present  state  however  this  love  which  is  required  of  us  must  needs  be 
 defective  in  several  respects,  because  it  is  not  a  love  infinite  in  itself  and  worthy  of 
 God,  such  as  the  love  which  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  human  nature,  bore  to  his  heavenly 
 Father  :  nor  is  it  a  love  which  shows  itself  by  continual  and  uninterrupted  acts,  like 
 that  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  nor  a  love  exempt  from  all  concupiscence,  as  was  the 
 love  of  Adam  in  his  happy  state  of  original  innocence. 
 Mutt.  To  this  greatest  of  all  commandments  Jesus  added  a  second.  "  And  the  second," 
 said  he,  "  is  like  to  this  :  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  He  styles  this 
 commandment  like  to  the  first,  both  in  the  thing  commanded,  which  is  love,  and  in 
 its  extent,  since  this  comprises  all  the  precepts  of  the  second  table,  as  the  former 
 commandment  comprised  all  the  precepts  of  the  first.  To  these  two  commandments 
 Mark,   he  gives  a  decided  preference  over  all  others.     "  There  is  no  other  commandment 
 
 Mutt.  22.  greater  than  these.     On  these  two  commandments  depend  the  whole  law  and  the 
 ^^'      prophets,"  because  all  the  injunctions  of  the  law  and  the  prophets  are  here  virtually 
 
 Mark  12.  included.     "  And  the  scribe,  '  repeating  and  highly  approving  the  answer  of  Jesus, 
 
 32.  ii  gjjjj  Iq  i^Ji^^  .   Well,  Master,  thou  hast  said  in  truth,  that  there  is  one  God,  and  there 
 
 33.  is  no  other  besides  him.  And  that  he  is  to  be  loved  with  the  whole  heart,  and  with  the 
 whole  mind,  and  with  the  whole  soul,  and  with  the  whole  strength  :  and  that  to  love 
 one's  neighbour  as  one's  self  is  a  greater  thing  than  all  holocausts  and  sacrifices. 
 
 34.  And  Jesus  seing  that  he  had  answered  him  wisely,"  and  was  now  open  to  conviction, 
 though  at  first  indisposed  against  him,  "  said  to  him.  Thou  art  not  far  from  the 
 kingdom  of  God."  But  he  had  not  it  seems  as  yet  attained  to  it,  because  he  knew 
 not  him  who,  by  his  sufferings,  was  to  merit  for  us  the  infusion  of  this  love  ;  and  he 
 falsely  imagined  that  the  giving-  this  preference  to  God  before  ourselves  and  all 
 created  objects,  was  a  thing  possible  to  human  nature  in  its  present  state  of  corriip- 
 
 Luke  20.  tlon^  unassisted  by  the  grace  of  God.     "  And  no  man  after  that  durst  ask  him  any 
 more  questions." 
 
Ch.  CXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  355 
 
 CHAPTER  CXVIII. 
 
 CHRIST  PROPOSES  TO  THE  PHARISEES  A  DIFFICULT  QUESTION  CONCERNING    THE  MESSIAH. 
 MATT.  XXII.      MARK  XII.      LUKE  XX. 
 
 "  And  the  Pharisees  being-"  yet  "  gathered  together,  Jesus  asked  them"  a  question  Watt.  :?2. 
 concerning  the  Messiah  ; — a  question  which  was  the  most  proper  to  remove  from 
 their  minds  the  bad  impression  they  had  conceived  at  his  styling  himself  the  true 
 Son  of  God,  as  if  this  were  a  blasphemous  contradiction  of  the  Unity  of  God,  and 
 incompatible  with  the  mean  condition  of  man.  Jesus  shows,  under  the  authority  of 
 the  Scriptures,  that  the  Messiah  was  not  merely  a  man,  but  also  the  real  Son  of  God, 
 and  thus  he  took  away  the  pretext  they  might  otherwise  have  had  to  oppose  his  claim 
 to  that  sublime  title.  Wherefore  Jesus,  after  the  many  questions  which  had  been 
 put  to  him,  thus  interrogated  the  Pharisees  in  his  turn,  "  saying  :  what  think  you  of  41 
 Christ?  Whose  son  is  he?  They  say  to  him,  David's."  For  it  was  the  general 
 belief  of  all  the  Jews,  that  the  Messiah  would  be  a  lineal  descendant  of  David  ;  that 
 he  would  gather  together  the  Jews  dispersed  throughout  the  world;  that  he  would 
 restore  to  them  their  former  liberty ;  restore  the  kingdom  of  David  his  father,  then 
 under  the  power  of  the  Romans,  and  extend  it,  by  the  conquest  of  all  nations, 
 throughout  the  whole  world. 
 
 In  opposition  to  this  reply  of  the  Pharisees,  "  Jesus  answering,  said,  teaching  in  Jlark  12. 
 the  temple  :  how  do  ye  Scribes  say,  that  Christ  is  the  son  of  David  ?*     For  David      ^^• 
 himself,"  taught  "  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  doth  in  spirit  call  him  Lord,  saying  :  in  the  Matt.  22. 
 book  of  Psalms, •(•  The  Lord  said  to  mi/  Lord,  that  is,  God  said  to  the  Messiah :  sit      ^3. 
 thou  onnij/  right  hand  till  I  make  thy  e/iemies  my  footstool.'''     Now  a  father  styles  not      42." 
 his  son  his  lord.     "If  David  then  calleth  him  Lord,  how  is  he  his  son?"     This  Matt.  22. 
 objection,  on  the  part  of  Jesus,  totally  disconcerted  them  :  ''  and  no  man  was  able      ^^■ 
 to  answer  him   a  word  :  neither  durst  any  man  from  that  day  ask  him  any  more 
 questions:  and  a  great  multitude  heard  him  gladly,"  and  were  charmed  with  his  Mark  12. 
 discourses.  ^^• 
 
 The  solution  of  the  above  difficulty,  proposed  by  our  Lord,  consisted  in  giving-  two 
 natures  to  the  Messiah,  viz.  the  nature  of  man,  according  to  which  David  was  his 
 father,  and  the  nature  of  God,  according  to  which  he  was  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
 Lord  of  David.  Under  this  quality  he  had  a  just  claim  to  sit  at  the  right  hand  of 
 God,  that  is,  to  possess  the  same  glory,  majesty,  and  sovereignty  with  God  himself, 
 being  one  and  the  same  God  with  his  eternal  Father. 
 
 *  St.  Matthew 'relates  this  as  havinp;  been  said  same  in  itself:    but  it  is  uncertain   which  of  tlie 
 
 to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  but  according  to  St.  Evangehsts    has  given  us   the   very  terms   which 
 
 Mark  and  St.  Luke,  it  would  appear  as  if  it  had  Christ  made  use  of  on  this  occasion. 
 
 been  said  to  the  people  likewise.    The  thing  is  the  t  Ps.  cix.  1. 
 
356  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  fCh.  CXIX. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXIX. 
 
 CHRIST  EXHORTS  THE  JEWS  TO  OBSERVE  THE  DOCTRINE,  BUT    NOT    TO    FOLLOW    THE    EVIL 
 EXAMPLE  OF  THE  SCRIBES  AND  PHARISEES.      MATT.  XXIII.      MARK  XII.      LUKE  XX. 
 
 Having  thus,  in  various  instances,  exbibited  proofs  of  his  divine  wisdom^  Jesus  pro- 
 ceeded to  lay  down  rules  to  the  people  by  which  they  were  to  regulate  their  esteem 
 for  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees ;  at  the  same  time  pointing  out  the  various  degrees  of 
 honour  and  respect  to  be  shown  to  his  own  ministers. 
 
 Lest  the  good  opinion,  entertained  by  the  people  in  favour  of  the  Pharisees,  should 
 
 induce  them  to  imitate  their  vices,  and  so  involve  them  in  the  same  damnation,  Jesus 
 
 restrains  their  authority  within  its  just  limits,  by  directing  his  hearers  to  consider  in 
 
 them  two  distinct  personages  or  characters,  viz.  that  of  superiors  or  teachers,  and 
 
 Matt.  23.  that  of  private  individuals.     "^  Then  Jesns  spoke  to  the  multitudes  and  to  his  disci- 
 
 *•  .^  pies,  saying  to  them,"  in  his  doctrine:   "  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  have  sat  on  the 
 
 33.  "'  chair  of  Moses,"  and  have  succeeded  to  his  authority  of  governing  the  people  of 
 
 Matt.  23.  QqJ^  jji^j  instructing  them  in  his  law.     In  this  light,  respect  and  obedience  are  due 
 
 to  their  lawful  authority,  because  Moses,  or  rather  God  himself,  speaks  through  their 
 
 3.  mouths.  "  All  things,  therefore,  whatsoever  they  shall  say  to  you,"  if  not  expressly 
 contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  ''  observe  and  do.  But"  with  reg-ard  to  their  private 
 capacity  as  individuals,  the  case  is  widely  different,  and  therefore,  "  according  to 
 their  works  do  ye  not."  This  advice  is  the  more  necessary,  as  mankind  ai-e  more 
 inclined  to  follow  the  example  of  their  teachers  than  to  practise  what  they  prescribe  ; 
 and  hence,  whatever  the  people  see  done  by  their  superiors,  they  are  apt  to  consider 
 it  as  allowable  in  themselves  ;  because  they  presume  that  actions  proceed  more  from 
 the  real  sentiments  of  their  hearts,  than  their  words  and  studied  discourses. 
 
 1.  The  vices  of      Jesus  gives  various  reasons  why  they  should  not  imitate  the  conduct 
 
 4.  the  Scribes.  q(  ^|jg  Scribes  and  Pharisees.  "  For  they  say  and  do  not,"  says  he, 
 "  for  they  bind  heavy  and  insupportable  burthens,  and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders  : 
 but  with  a  finger  of  their  own  they  will  not  move  them ;"  that  is^  to  the  precepts  and 
 ceremonies  of  the  law  they  add  a  load  of  human  traditions,  which  by  their  multi- 
 plicity, their  inevitable  perplexity,  the  exaggerated  interpretations  given  to  them,  and 
 their  enforced  severity,  become  insupportable  to  others,  whilst  they  dispense  with 
 
 "5.       themselves  from  paying  the  least  regard  to  them.     "  And  all  their  works  they  do  to 
 
 be  seen  by  men,"  such  as   alms-deeds,  fasting,  prayer,   payment  of  tythes,   &c. 
 
 Mark  12.  "  Beware  of  the  Scribes  who  love  to  walk  in  long  robes  ;  for  they  make  their  phylac- 
 
 ^^-      teries*  broad,  and  enlarge  their  fringes."    These  i)hYlacteries  were  bands  or  scrolls 
 
 5'^     '  of  parchment,  on  which  were  written  some  sentences  of  the  law,  which  the  Jews  were 
 
 accustomed  to  fiisten  on  their  foreheads  or  their  arms,  to  put  them  in  mind  of  their 
 
 duty.     Thus  they  interpreted  those  words  of  Deut.  vi.  8.   Thou  shah  tie  them  as  a 
 
 *  These  phylacteries  (that  is,  observatories)  were  xiii.  ver.  3  to  10.  ;  secondly,  Exod.  xiii.  ver.  11.  to 
 four  paragraphs  of  the  law  written  in  two  parch-  16. ;  thirdly,  Deut.  vi.  ver.  4.  to  9. ;  fourtlily,  Deut. 
 ments  :  the  paragraphs  were  these  :    first,  Exod.     xi.  ver.  13. 
 
Ch.  CXX]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  357 
 
 sign  on  thy  hand,  &c.     The  use  of  these  pliylacteries  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
 general  amongst  the  Jews,  but  was  piincipally  confined  to  those  \vho  made  profes- 
 sion of  greater  piety  and  devotion.     Our  Saviour  here  blames  the  hypocrisy  and 
 vanity  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees^  who  aflfected  to  have  them  larger  than  others,  as 
 well  as  the  fringes  which  the  Jews  wore  on  their  garments.     Jesus  added :  "  they       6. 
 love  salutations  in  the  market-place,  and  the  first  chairs  in  the  synagogues,  and  the    ^^^  ^^' 
 chief  rooms  at  feasts,  and  to  be  called  by  men  Rabbi,"  or  Master  :  "  who  devour  the  Matt.  23. 
 houses  of  widows,  under  the  pretence  of  long  prayers"  for  their  deceased  husbands.*       ''• 
 Jesus  adds,  in  reference  to  the  Pharisees,  that  "  they  shall  receive  greater  damnation"      40. 
 for  thus  abusing  so  holy  a  thing  as  prayer,  merely  to  serve  the  purposes  of  their 
 avarice.     And  then  cautioning  his  disciples  against  affecting  titles  and  honourable 
 distinctions,  he  says  :  "  but  be  not  you  called  Rabbi.     For  one  is  your      ^    ^^^^   ^^^^  Matt.  23, 
 Master,  and  all  you  are  brethren.     And  call  none  your  Father  upon  Master,andone       ^ 
 earth,  for  one  is  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven.     Neither  be  ye  called  ^'''"^'■-  10. 
 
 Mastei's :  for  one  is  your  Master,  Christ."  However,  as  subordination  is  equally 
 necessary  in  the  Church  as  in  every  other  well-regulated  community,  Jesus,  after 
 supposing  this,  directs,  that  he  who  is  in  the  highest  station  shall  yet  consider  himself 
 as  the  servant  of  the  rest :  "  he  that  is  the  greatest  amongst  you,"  says  he,  "  shall  be  H. 
 your  servant.  And  whosoever  shall  exalt  himself,  shall  be  humbled,"  either  in  this  12. 
 life  by  his  fellow-creatures,  or  in  the  world  to  come  by  the  just  judgment  of  the 
 Almighty  ;  "  and  he  that  shall  humble  himself,  shall  be  exalted,  "f 
 
 CHAPTER  CXX. 
 
 CHRIST  VALUES  THE  WIDOW's  TWO  MITES  ABOVE  ALL  THE  GIFTS  OF  THE  RICH. 
 MARK  XII.       LUKE  XXI. 
 
 After  these  various  disputes  and  discourses  with  the  Pharisees  and  others,  "■  Jesus"  Mark  12. 
 reposed  hiuiself  a  little  by  "  sitting"  down  "  over  against  the  treasury,"  which  was      ^^^ 
 in  a  hall  near  to  the  gate  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  temple,  at  the  place  where  the 
 two  sexes  took  different  roads  to  go  to  their  respective  courts,  which  were  separately 
 allotted  to  them.    As  it  was  his  usual  practice  to  draw  subjects  of  instruction  from  all, 
 even  the  most  minute  circuiristances,  "  he  beheld"  attentively  "  how  the  people  cast  Luke  21. 
 money"  and  "^  gifts  into  the  treasury"  for  the  support  of  the  temple.     "  And  many  jyjj^^i^'  ^2. 
 that  were  rich  cast  in  much :  and  he  saw  also  a  certain  poor  widow  casting  in  two      4i. 
 
 *   The  words  of  Christ  probably  alUide   to   the  by  widows  than  the  rest  of  the  female  sex,  unless  it 
 
 avaricious  practice  of  the   Pharisees    in   regard   to  were  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  tlieir  dying 
 
 praying  for  the  dead,  since  it  does  not  appear  how  husbands. 
 
 or  on  what  pretext  they  could   drain  the   purses  of  f   After  this  St.  Matthew  recapitulates  the  many 
 
 widows  by   long  prayers,    unless  we  suppose  that  woes  denounced  by  Jesus  against  the  Scribes  and 
 
 these  widows  had  stipulated  for  the  recital  of  such  Pharisees.  See  chap.  83.     Others  suppose  that  he 
 
 prajers  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  assign  a  reason  why  the  may  have  repeated  them  on  this  o-casion. 
 prayers  of  the  Pharisees  should  be  desired  more 
 
 31.  1y 
 
353  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXI 
 
 Liiiie2i.2.  brass  mites,*  wliicli  is  a  fartliing-"  of  Rom;iii  money  ;  being  the  fruit  either  of  her 
 Marki2.42.  ,^^,,,]jj|  j^bonr,  or  perhaps  of  her  begging,  but  u  hicli  she  freely  g<\\e  on  this  occasion, 
 
 43.  not  to  appear  before  God  empty-handed.  "  And  calling  his  disciples  together,  he 
 saith  to  them  :  Amen  I  say  to  you,  this  poor  widow  hath  cast  in  more  than  all  they 
 
 44.  who  have  cast  into  the  treasury.  For  all  they  did  cast  in  of  their  abundance:  but 
 she  out  of  her  poverty  hath  put  in  all  she  had,  even  lier  whole  living,"  without 
 reserving  any  thing  for  her  future  subsistence.  And  therefore,  whether  the  gift  itself 
 be  considered,  the  circumstances  of  the  giver,  or  the  disposition  of  her  heart,  she  may 
 justly  be  declared  to  have  i^erformcd  a  more  meritorious  action  than  others  who  gave 
 alms  to  a  much  greater  amount.  What  a  comfort  is  it  to  the  poor,  that  they  can  be 
 more  charitable  than  the  rich  ! 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXI. 
 
 THE  THIRD  PREDICTIONt  OF  CHRIST  CONCERNING  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM. 
 MATT.   XXIV.       M.\UK  XUI.      LUKE  XXI. 
 
 Halt. 2-4. 1.  I.  Third  pre-  It  was  uow  hitc,  wheu  "  Jcsus,  being  come  out  of  the  temple,  was 
 iverthrowofihe  §'°'"^8'  a^'ay"  to  mouut  Olivet,  where  he  passed  the  night.     And  "  his 
 
 UxVa2\.b.  ic7npk.  disciples  came  to  show  him  the  buildings  of  the  temple:    and  some 
 
 'saying  of  the  temple,  that  it  was  adorned  with  goodly  stones  and  gifts,  one  of  the 
 disciples  saith  to  him :  Master,  behold  what  manner  of  stones  and  what  buildings 
 are  here."  And  in  reality,  according  to  the  historian  Josephus,  the  stones  of  which 
 the  temple  was  built,  were  equal  in  whiteness  and  hardness  to  alabaster,  and  were  of 
 the  immense  dimension  of  twenty  cubits  long  by  twelve  in  breadth,  and  eight  in 
 depth  :  some  of  them  were  even  of  the  length  of  forty-five  cubits.  As  to  its  treasures, 
 the  spoils  taken  from  the  enemies  of  the  Jevt'ish  nation,  during  many  ages,  added 
 very  greatly  to  the  immense  riches  which  were  lodged  there  from  its  first  foundation. 
 It  seemed  as  if  the  disciples  wished  on  this  occasion  to  divert  their  Master's  attention 
 from  the  many  serious  subjects  in  which  he  had,  during  the  whole  day,  been  engaged. 
 "  Jesus"  seized  this  opportunity  to  confirm,  in  yet  stronger  terms,  the  prediction 
 
 Mrttt,  21.2.  which  he  had  uttered  on  the  day  of  his  solemn  entry  into  Jerusalem,  and  "  answering, 
 Jiltthewr  said  to  them :  do  you  see  all  these  thinsfs  ?  all  these  crreat  buildino-s?  Amen  I  sav  to 
 Matthew.'  yo^  •  t'i6  days  will  come  in  which  there  shall  not  be  left  here  a  stone  upon  a  stone. 
 
 Matt. 24. 2.  that  shall  not  be  destroyed."  This  was  exactly  verified  at  the  taking  of  Jerusalem, 
 when,  contrary  to  the  orders  of  Titus,  the  temple  was  bui'nt  and  reduced  to  ashes  ; 
 and  afterwards,  in  order  to  destroy  the  small  remaining  vestiges  of  it,  when  Julian 
 the  apostate  attempted  to  rebuild  the  temple,  in  despite  of  Christianity,  the  very 
 
 *  This  may  be  understood  two  ways  :  first,  either  tarcli  in  his  life  of  Cicero,  quadra/is  minimum  erat 
 
 that    the   two    pieces    together   make    a   farthing,  in  ninnmorum  gencre,  eralque  id.  pars  a&^is. 
 which  is  according  to  the  Syriac  ;   or  secondly,  tliat         t  See  the  first,  cliap.  101.  No^  2.  and  the  second, 
 
 each   piece  was  of  the  value  of  a  farthing,  which  chap.  109.  No.  5,  6. 
 appears  more  probable,  because,  according  to  PIu- 
 
Cii.  CXXL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  359 
 
 foundations  were  torn  np,  and  cast  out  by  an  earthquake,  and  the  workmen  burnt  to 
 death  by  thimes  which  issued  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth.*     "  And  when  he  was       3. 
 sitting-  on  mount  Ohvet,  over  against  the  temple,  the"  four  "  disciples,"      „  p,-,.?  «■     Ai^.u.f. 
 whom  he  distinguished  by  more  particular  maiks  of  affection,  "  viz.  the  evils  to  be- 
 Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and  Andrew,  came  to  him  privately,  and  f"l^  J'^rusalem.  Matki^.s. 
 asked  him  apart,  saying :  Master,  tell  us  when  these  things  shall  happen  ;  and  what  M"arki3!4! 
 shall  be  the  sign  when  all  these  things  shall  begin  to  be  fulfilled?  and  what  shall  be  '*^*"^'*-^- 
 the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  consummation  of  the  world  ?" 
 
 We  must  carefully  observe,  with  St,  Jerom,  that  three  questions  are  here  joined 
 together,  though  very  distinct  from  each  other.  1.  Concerning  the  destruction  of 
 the  temple.  2.  By  whats/gvi  they  might  know  that  the  evils  here  denounced  ao-ainst 
 the  temple,  the  city,  and  the  whole  nation,  were  near  at  hand.  3.  What  sion  would 
 precede  his  second  coming  at  the  end  of  the  world  ?  Jesus  answers  not  precisely  to 
 the  first  question  of  his  disciples  ;  but  contents  himself  with  stating,  in  answer  to  the 
 other  questions,  the  general  signs  which  were  to  precede  the  destruction  of  the  city 
 and  temple,  as  also  the  desolation  of  the  Church  by  Antichrist  at  the  end  of  the  world. 
 To  the  last  of  these  questions  he  gives  a  more  precise  and  direct  answer,  as  beino-  the 
 principal,  and  indeed  the  only  question  in  which  the  Church  was  essentially  concerned. 
 Yet  as  the  destruction  of  the  temple  was  a  figure  of  the  desolation  of  the  Church, 
 which  is  the  true  temple  in  which  God  is  served,  it  so  happens,  that  the  signs  pre- 
 ceding both  these  events  coincide  in  a  great  measure  with  each  other ;  or  rather,  that 
 these  signs,  however  distinct  in  themselves,  are  explained  in  the  same  terms,  differ- 
 ing only  in  the  two  following  particulars.  1.  These  expressions  do  not  always  so 
 well  apply  to  the  signs  of  the  figure  (that  is,  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple),  as  they 
 do  to  the  signs  of  the  event  represented  thereby  (viz.  the  desolation  of  the  Church 
 towards  the  end  of  the  world).  2.  These  doubtful  or  equivocal  expressions  are  only 
 continued  to  a  certain  point,  after  which  the  signs  are  so  clearly  and  pointedly  deter- 
 mined to  the  principal  event  thus  prefigured,  viz.  to  the  desolation  of  the  Church,  as 
 to  require  even  a  forced  interpretation,  to  apply  them  to  the  desolation  of  the  temple. 
 In  this  prophecy  therefore  we  are  to  distinguish,  1 .  The  signs  which  are  applicable 
 to  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  temple,  as  well  as  to  the  desolation  of  the  Church 
 at  the  end  of  the  world  ;  and  2.  The  signs  which  refer  solely  to  the  desolation  of  the 
 Church  at  the  latter  period. 
 
 The  first  sign  common  to  both  these  events,  is  the  seduction  of  many  souls  from 
 the  true  faith  by  herciies.  "  And  Jesus  answering,  said  to  them :  take  heed  that  '^ 
 no  man  seduce  you  ;  for  many  will  come  in  my  name,  saying  :  I  am  Christ,"  (or  at 
 least  a  minister  of  Christ  to  teach  his  doctrine),  whilst  in  fact  they  maintain  a  variety 
 of  errors  condemned  by  the  Church,  "  and  they  will  seduce  many,  and  the  time  is  at  Luke  21.8. 
 hand  :  go  ye  not  therefore  after  them."  If  this  be  referred  to  the  first  desolation 
 antecedent  to  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  various  impostors  might  heie  be 
 enumerated  who  deceived  the  unbelieving  Jews.     Of  this  description  was  Theodas  ;t 
 
 *  The  exact  accomplishment  of  Christ's  propliecy  destruction  of  the  world  at  the  last  day,  as  we  have 
 
 concerning  the  destruction  of  the  temple   of  Jeru-  already  observed, 
 
 salem,  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  striking  proof  f  Acts  v.  36. 
 of  the  truth  of  what  he  foretells  concerning  the 
 
3f,0  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXX'I. 
 
 also  a  certain  Eg^yptian,  who  persuaded  four  thousand  men  to  break  into  open  rebel- 
 lion ;  *  besides  several  others  recorded  by  Josephus,  though  not  expressly  named  by 
 him.  But  as  these  impostors  did  not  deceive  any  of  the  faithful,  the  prediction  which 
 Christ  here  makes  in  regard  to  the  Church,  seems  rather  to  allude  to  other  impostors, 
 such  as  Simon  Magus,  Menander,  &c.  who  engaged  several  Christians  on  that  side. 
 To  these  we  may  add  the  heresiarchs  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who,  by  spreading- 
 their  erroneous  tenets,  seduced  many,  and  thus  paved  the  way  for  that  great  apostacy 
 which  will  take  place  at  the  cad  of  the  world. 
 
 The  second  sign  common  to  both  these  events  shall  be  wars,  rumours  of  wars,  and 
 
 9.       seditions  :  "  and  when  you  shall  hear  of  wars  and  seditions,"  says  Christ,  "  and  rumours 
 
 Matthew,  of  wars,  SCO  that  ye  be  not  troubled.    Fear  ye  not ;  for  such  things  must  needs  be. 
 
 hXe'^'.s.  These  things  must  first  come  to  pass  ;  but  the  end  is  not  yet  presently."     In  reality, 
 
 previous  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  from  the  year  66  to  70,  when  the  city  was  taken 
 
 and  pillaged,  Judea  exhibited  a  constant  scene  of  revolt,  sedition,  and  bloodshed,  a 
 
 ptfrticular  detail  of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  history  of  Josephus.    But  as  the  theatre 
 
 of  war  was  only  in  one  individual  nation  and  country,  one  city  fighting  against  another  ; 
 
 or,  at  most,  one  province  against  another  province,  the  remainder  of  this  prediction 
 
 is  not  so  applicable  to  tliat  period  as  it  is  to  those  wars  which  are  declared  to  be  the 
 
 forerunners  of  the  end  of  the  world,  when  whole  nations  and  kingdoms  will  rise  up 
 
 10.  against  each  other.     "  Then,  said  he  to  them,  nations  shall  rise  against  nation,  and 
 
 11.  kingdom  against  kingdom.  And  there  shall  be  great  earthquakes  in  divers  places,  and 
 pestilences,  and  famines,  and  terrors  from  heaven,  and  there  shall  be  great  sig-ns." 
 
 This  is  the  third  sign,  consisting  in  many  extraordinary  revolutions  of  nature, 
 astonishing  earthquakes,  plagues,  famines,  and  likewise  most  alarming  appearances 
 and  prodigies  in  the  heavens.  These  prognostics  we  may  apply  in  part  to  the  ruin 
 of  Jerusalem,  as  appears  from  Acts  xi.  ver.  28.  Josephus,  lib.  20.  Antiq.  cap.  2.  and 
 3.  likewise  lib.  7.  de  Bell.  Jud.  cap.  12.  Eusebius,  lib.  3.  Hist.  cap.  8.  However, 
 they  more  immediately  relate  to  the  end  of  the  world,  which  will  unquestionably  be 
 preceded  by  the  scourges  of  pestilence  and  famine  (the  usual  attendants  of  war),  as 
 also  by  earthquakes,  many  of  which  are  described  in  the  Apocalypse.  The  Almighty, 
 after  having  punished  mankind  by  the  mutual  cruelties  which  they  will  inflict  upon 
 each  other  in  the  most  bloody  wars,  will  subsequently  strike  them  with  the  severe 
 scourges  of  his  vengeance,  which  shall  be  to  all  the  world  as  certain  prognostics  of 
 
 Matt. 24.8.  its  approaching  dissolution.     "  Now  all  these  things,"  says  Christ,  ''  are"  but  "  the 
 beginnings  of"  more  dreadful  "  sorrows." 
 
 3  A  A  mcoi-  The  fourth  sign  common  to  both  these  events,  shall  be  the  persecu- 
 fidence  ill  perse-  tion  rai.sed  against  the  Church,  and  this  being  the  cause  of  the  pre- 
 culions.  ceding  signs,   must  in  the  nature  of  things  go  before  them.     This 
 
 Luke2i.i2.  persecution  will  be  two-fold  ;  it  will  regard  both  body  and  soul.     ''  But  before  all 
 these  things,"  says  Christ,  "  they  will  lay  their  hands  on  you,  and  persecute  you, 
 
 Murk  13.9.  delivering  you  up  to  the  synagogues  and  into  prisons:  but  look  to  yourselves  ;  for 
 
 they  shall  deliver  you  up  to  councils,  and  in  the  synagogues  you  shall  be  beaten,  and 
 
 Luke,    you  shall  stand  before  governors  and  kings  for  my  name's  sake.    And  it  shall  happen 
 
 *  Acts  xxi,  38. 
 
Ch.  CXXI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  ggj 
 
 unto  yor.  for  a  testimony"  against  your  persecutors,  viz.  that  salvation  and  the  doctrines 
 leading-  to  it  have  been  tendered  to  them,  and  obstinately  rejected.  All  this  hap- 
 pened to  the  Apostles  previous  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  to  the  martyrs  in 
 subsequent  times;  and  a  similar  persecution,  attended  perhaps  with  additional 
 severity,  will  probably  be  the  lot  of  the  faithful  towards  the  end  of  the  world. 
 
 Jesus  next  arms  his  disciples  against  all  dread  of  their  enemies.     "  Lay  it  up  Lukf2i.i4. 
 therefore,"  says  he,  "  in  your  hearts,  when  they  shall  lead  you,  and  deliver  you  up, 
 not  to  meditate  before  how  you  shall  answer.     But  whatsoever  shall  be  given  to  you  Mavki3.11. 
 in  that  hour"  from  above,  "  that  speak  ye.    For  I  will  give  you  a  mouth  and  wisdom,  Luke2i.i5. 
 "vvhich  all  your  ad\ersaries  shall  not  be  able  to  resist  and  gainsay.     For  it  is  not  you  Maiki.3.11. 
 that  speak,  but  the  Holy  Ghost.     And  the  brother  shall  betray  his  brother  unto       12. 
 death,  and  the  father  his  son  ;  and  children  shall  rise  up  against  the  parents,  and 
 shall  work  their  death.     And  you  shall  be  betrayed,  to  be  afflicted  by  your  parents  Luku2i.iG. 
 and  brethren,  and  kinsmen  and  friends:  and  some  of  vou  thev  shall  put  to  death  :  Matt.24.9. 
 
 .  Luke'^l  H 
 
 and  you  shall  be  hated  by  all  men  for  my  name's  sake.     But  a  hair  of  your  head       17. 
 shall  not  perish,"  as  it  shall  be  amply  restored  to  you  at  the  last  and  general  resur-       '^' 
 rection.     "  And  then  shall  many  be  scandalized,  and  shall  betray  one  another:  and  Matt24.io. 
 shall  hate  one  another.     And  many  false  prophets  shall  rise  and  shall  seduce  many  ; 
 and  because  iniquity  hath  abounded,  the  charity  of  men  shall  grow  cold,"  when  a 
 door  will  be  opened  to  all  wickedness,  so  that  like  a  deluge  it  shall  spread  on  every 
 side.     "  But  he  that,"  in  the  midst  of  this  trying  and  afflicting  scene,  shall  bear  up 
 against  the  scandals  which  surround  him,  against  the  errors  which  he  sees  spread  far 
 and  near,  and  against  the  persecutions  which  rage  on  all  sides,  and  "  shall  persevere 
 to  the  end,  he  shall  be  saved,"  and  shall  be  crowned  with  glory.     But  in  the  mean  LukL-ti.ia. 
 time,  "  in  your  patience  you  shall  possess  your  souls  "     A  part  of  this  prediction  was 
 undoubtedly  accomplished  with  regard  to  the  faithful  in  the  first  persecutions,  raised 
 by  the  Jews  against  the  infant  Christian  Church  ;  but  the  entire  and  literal  completion 
 of  it  is  reserved  for  the  latter  times. 
 
 "  And,"  as  a  fifth  sign,  "  this  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  the  Matt.24.i-1. 
 whole  world  for  a  testimony  to  all  nations,"  that  God  has  communicated  the  doctrine 
 of  salvation  to  them  with  a  free  offer  of  his  heavenly  kingdom  ;  "  and  then  shall  the 
 consummation  come."  But  it  may  be  asked,  what  consummation  or  end  is  here 
 meant  ?  If,  with  St.  Chrysostom,  we  understand  it  of  the  final  destruction  of  Jeru- 
 salem and  of  the  temple,  it  will  in  reality  be  found,  that  previous  to  that  event,  which 
 happened  in  the  seventieth  year  of  the  Christian  eera,  the  Apostles  had  announced  the 
 gospel  throughout  the  world,  as  St.  Paul  writes,  Rom.  x.  But  I  scy  :  have  thci/  (the 
 Jews)  not  heard?  Yes  verily,  their  sound  hath  gone  forth  into  all  the  earth,  and  their 
 words  unto  the  end  of  the  whole  world.  He  also  witnesses,  Coloss.  i.  6.  that  the 
 gospel  is  in  the  ichole  icorld  ;  and  ver.  23.  the  gospel  which  i/ou  have  heard,  ichich  is 
 preached  in  all  the  creation  that  is  under  heaven.  However,  although  to  justify  these 
 expressions,  it  suffices  that  the  gospel  had  been  announced  throughout  the  major  pai-t 
 of  the  known  world,  yet  it  appears  not  to  have  been  so  spread  at  that  period,  as  to 
 justify  its  being  said,  in  the  strict  sense  and  utmost  latitude  of  the  words,  that  the 
 whole  extent  of  the  universe  had  then  partaken  of  this  signal  favour.    If,  on  the  con- 
 
 31.  4z 
 
3G2  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRLST.  [Ch.  CXXI, 
 
 trary,  with  St.  Jerom^  we  refer  these  words  to  the  end  of  the  world,  we  see,  in  these 
 our  later  times,  the  light  of  the  gospel  conveyed  to  America,  a  portion  of  the  globe 
 which  the  Apostles  did  not  visit.  There  is  moreover  the  greatest  probability  that, 
 before  the  end  of  the  world,  the  southern  parts  of  the  globe,  and  all  those  nations  in 
 general  which  are  now  in  the  darkness  of  infidelity,  will  be  enlightened  with  the  true 
 faith,  or,  at  leasts  that  previous  to  that  period,  the  true  faith  will  have  been  announced 
 to  them. 
 
 .    rr.      ■  Jesus  next  proceeds  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  as  an  infallible  prog- 
 
 4.   1/ie  siege  r  •  «      i      i  i       e> 
 
 Lute  21.  and  destruction  nostic  of  its  approaching  desolation.  "  And  when  you  shall  see  Jern- 
 of  Jerusalem,  galem  compassed  about  with  an  army,  then  know  that  the  desolation 
 Mau.  24.  thereof  is  at  hand.  When,  therefore,  you  shall  see  the  abomination  of  desolation, 
 j^^^^j.  which  was  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,*  standing  where  it  ought  not,"  that  is,  in 
 the  holy  place,  "  he  that  readeth  let  him  understand."  The  abomination  here  alluded 
 to  most  probably  means  the  horrible  prodmation  of  the  temple  caused  by  the  false 
 zealots,  who  were  divided  into  three  factions  against  each  other,  and  by  whom  even 
 the  two  sanctuaries  were  most  shockingly  polluted.  Others  expound  this  of  the 
 standards  of  the  heathen  Roman  army,  on  which  were  impressed  the  images  of  cer- 
 tain emperors  who  had  been  ranked  in  the  number  of  the  gods,  and  which  were 
 adored  by  the  soldiers.  Titus  caused  these  standards  to  be  elevated  on  high  in  his 
 camp,  to  oppose  them  as  a  kind  of  temple  to  that  of  Jerusalem,  and  after  he  had 
 entered  the  city,  they  were  placed  on  the  ruins  of  the  temple,  and  the  soldiers  offered 
 sacrifice  to  them,  as  mentioned  by  Josephus.  But  with  regard  to  the  end  of  the 
 world,  we  may  explain  this  abomination  (which  is  followed  by  desolation)  of  that 
 great  apostacy  foretold  by  St.  Paul,  who  viewing  it  with  respect  to  the  apostatising- 
 Christians,  styles  it  a  revolt, -[  and  with  respect  to  God,  a  cutting  off,  as  being  a  just 
 punishment  npon  those  Gentiles  who  shall  not  have  continued  steadfast  in  a  state  of 
 grace  and  virtue,  so  as  to  answer  the  expectations  of  the  Almighty,  by  whom  they 
 have  been  so  highly  favoured. ;j: 
 
 In  consequence  of  this  abomination  of  desolation,  and  the  dreadful  persecution 
 
 Luke  21.  which  follows  it,  Jesus  advises  the  faithful  to  seek  their  safety  by  flight.     "  Then  let 
 
 21-      those  who  are  in  Judea,§  flee  to  the  mountains  :    and  those  who  are  in  the  midst 
 
 Mark  13.  thereof,  depart  out ;  and  those  who  are  in  the  countries,  not  enter  into  it.     And  let 
 
 1^-      him  that  is  on  the  house  top,  not  come  down  into  the  house :  \\  neither  let  him  go  in, 
 
 16.      to  take  any  thing  out  of  the  house.     And  let  him  that  shall  be  in  the  field,  not  turn 
 
 Luke  17.  back  to  take  up  his  garment.     Remember  Lot's  wife,"  who,  in  punishment  of  her 
 
 ^~-      looking  back  at  Sodom,  not  without  some  regret  at  its  destruction,  was  instantly 
 
 33.      changed  into  a  pillar  of  salt.     "  Whosoever,"  by  worldly  precautions,  "  shall  seek 
 
 to  save  his  life,  shall  lose  it,"  by  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies:  "  and  who- 
 
 *  Chap.  ix.  ver.  27.  the  city  of  Pella,   situated   in  Traconitis,  on   the 
 
 t  2  Thess.  ii.  further  side  of  the   Jordan,   and  subject  to    king 
 
 X  Rom.  xi.  22.  Agrippa,  an  ally  of  the  Romans. 
 §  St.  Austin  says  (in  his  SO.  Ep  )  that  Christ  ||  Tlie  Jews  had  usually  stairs  on  the  outside  of 
 
 here  enjoins  the  faithful  to  save  themselves   by  a  their  houses,  and  therefore  there  was  no  occasion 
 
 precipitate  flight,  and  he  adds,  that  agreeably  to  to  throvi'  themselves  from  the  roof,  as  Mauduit,  &c. 
 
 this  injunction  the  first  Christians  quitted  Jerusalem  seem  to  suppose. 
 
 and  the  neighbouring  country,  and  took  refuge  in 
 
ch.  cxxr.1 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 3G.3 
 
 soever  shall  lose  it,"  by  forsaking  all  the  conveniences  of  life,  '^  shall  preserve  it," 
 because  divine  Providence  will  extend  his  all-wise  care  and  prelection  over  him. 
 '  But  pray  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  or  on  the  Sabbath.*  For  these  are 
 the  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things  may  be  fulfilled  that  are  written.  But  wo  to 
 them  tliat  are  with  child  and  give  suck  in  those  days  ;  for  in  those  days  shall  be  such 
 tribulations  as  were  not  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  which  God  created,  until 
 now,  neither  shall  be.t  For  there  shall  be  great  distress  in  the  land,  and  wrath  upon 
 this  people.  And  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword :  and  shall  be  led  away 
 captives  into  all  nations  :  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  by  the  Gentiles,  till 
 the  times  of  the  nations  shall  be  fulfilled.  And  unless  the  Lord  had  shortened  the  Jlaiki3.20 
 days,  no  flesh  should  be  saved  --X  but  for  the  sake  of  the  elect  which  he  hath  chosen, 
 he  hath  shortened  the  days;"  that  is,  unless  these  days  of  vengeance  on  the  Jews, 
 which  will  begin  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  continue  with  more  or  less  violence 
 till  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  had  been  shortened  in  their  favour,  not  one 
 
 Matt.24.20. 
 Lukel7.2'2. 
 
 23. 
 MarkI3.19. 
 
 Lukel7.23. 
 24. 
 
 *  Thai  is,  according  to  St.  Austin  (Quaes.  Evang. 
 lib.  1.  q.  37.),  pray  to  God,  the  disposer  of  all 
 things,  that  nothing  ou  this  occasion  may  be  a 
 hinderance  to  you  ;  for  winter,  rain,  and  cold,  and 
 the  Sabbath,  are  inconvenient  for  travelling.  The 
 law  of  the  Sabbath,  indeed,  which  allowed  only  a 
 journey  of  one  mile  and  a  half,  did  not  oblige,  in 
 the  case  of  necessity,  when  life  was  in  danger  :  but 
 many  of  the  Jews  did  not  admit  this  exception,  and 
 few  of  the  converted  Jews  conceived  themselves 
 free  from  the  obligation  of  the  Sabbath  before  the 
 destruction  of  Jerusalem.  St  Austin  likewise  ex- 
 plains these  words  iu  a  moral  sense :  let  no  one  on 
 that  day  be  found  oppressed  with  sadness,  or  dissi- 
 pated witl)  joy  on  account  of  temporal  goods,  the  loss 
 or  enjoyment  of  which  is  to  be  reckoned  as  nothing. 
 
 t  It  appears  by  St.  Luke,  that  this  is  to  be  un- 
 derstood of  the  ruin  and  desolation  of  the  Jews,  as 
 St.  Austin  remarks  (Ep.  80).  The  miseries  which 
 overwhelmed  that  obstinate  people,  and  of  which 
 Josephus  has  left  us  a  circumstantial  account, 
 appear  almost  incredible.  Within  the  town  there 
 was  nothing  but  murder,  faction,  famine,  and  the 
 plague  ;  and  without,  all  was  destroyed  by  fire  and 
 the  sword.  See  Josephus.  However,  all  that  is 
 here  said  of  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the 
 temple,  may  be  easily  applied  to  the  last  ages,  and 
 therefore  it  is  considered  by  many  as  a  figure  only 
 of  what  will  be  realized  at  the  end  of  the  world. 
 
 J  This  may  be  explained  in  a  more  general 
 sense,  as  relating  to  the  persecution  of  Antichrist, 
 which  will  be  dreadful  beyond  descrijjtiou,  and 
 executed  in  every  part  of  the  world.  The  time 
 however  allowed  to  him  and  his  bloody  agents,  io 
 tread  underfoot  the  holy  city,*  that  is,  the  Church 
 of  Christ,  will  not  extend  heyond  forty-two  months, 
 or  three  years  and  a  lialf.  This  space  of  time 
 Christ  has  set  apart  to  purify  his  Church,  and  to 
 try  his  servants  ;  and  therefore  he  allows  them  lo 
 fall  under  the  power  of  this  merciless  tyrant  :  and 
 il  was  given  unto  Jiim,  says  St.  John,  speaking  of 
 
 this  event,  to  make  war  with  the  saints,  and  io  over- 
 come Ihem*  We  are  admonished  of  the  same  by 
 the  prophet  Daniel,  chap.  vii.  ver.  21.  /  beheld, 
 says  he,  and  to  that  horn,  Antichrist,  tnade  war 
 against  the  saints,  and  prevailed  over  them.  And 
 again  :  and  he  shall  speak  words  against  the  Most 
 High,  and  shall  crush  the  saints  of  the  Most  High, 
 ....and  they  shall  be  delivered  into  his  hands  until 
 a  time,  and  times,  and  a  halftime,\  that  is,  a  year, 
 two  years,  and  half  a  year,  or  three  years  and  a 
 half,  which  agrees  with  St.  John.  St.  Austin, 
 speaking  of  this  dreadful  period,  says  :  "  this  per- 
 secution will  be  the  last ;  it  will  happen  towards 
 the  approach  of  the  last  judgment,  and  will  fall 
 upon  the  Church  in  every  part  of  the  world  ;  that 
 is,  the  whole  city  of  Christ  will  be  persecuted  by 
 the  whole  city  of  the  devil,  as  far  as  both  are  ex- 
 tended upon  the  earth.  (De  Civit.  lib.  xx.  cap.  11.) 
 The  barbarous  tortures  employ  ed  in  the  primitive 
 persecutions  by  Nero,  Domitian,  Dioclesian,  &e. 
 will  now  be  revived,  and  even  exceeded  by  the 
 cruelties  of  this  last  persecution.  But  happily, 
 amidst  this  trightful  prospect,  there  shines  a  ray  of 
 comfort:  for  these  extreme  difficulties  and  rigorous 
 trials,  this  war  and  slaughter,  which  if  continued 
 would  sweep  away  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  shall 
 be  shortened,  as  our  Saviour  inforins  us,  that  is, 
 contracted  to  three  years  and  a  half,  yb;-  the  sake  of 
 the  elect,  or  out  of  regard  for  his  laithful  and  be- 
 loved servants  ;  and  then  he  himself  v.iU  descend 
 from  heaven,  and  as  St.  Paul  tells  us,  will  kill  that 
 wicked  man  Antichrist  with  the  breath  oi' hismoutk, 
 and  shall  destroy  him  with  the  brightness  of  his 
 coming.  Various  have  been  the  sentiineuts  both  of 
 the  ancients  and  moderns  concerning  this  final 
 period,  but  the  most  prevailing  opinion  fixes  it 
 about  the  end  of  six  thousand  years.  This,  how- 
 ever, is  totally  uncertain,  and  as  to  the  precise  day 
 of  judgment,  our  blessed  Saviour  assures  us,  that 
 no  man  knowtth,  neither  the  angels  in  heaven,  nor 
 the  Son,  but  the  Father. 
 
 '  Apoc  xi.  2. 
 
 Apoc.  xiii.  7. 
 
 t  Dun.  V.  25. 
 
362 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXII. 
 
 w  le  would  have  been  saved  (literally  all  fe^h,  that  is,  the  last  remains  of 
 
 ^  ivonid  have  been  exterminated)  :  but  for  the  sake  of  the  elect  whom  he 
 
 from  the  remnant  of  this  people,  these  days  will  be  shortened. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXII. 
 
 JESUS  CHRIST  FORETELLS  THE  SIGxNS  AND  EVENTS  PREVIOUS  TO  HIS  LAST  COMING. 
 MATT.  XXIV.      MARK  XIII.      LUKE  XXI. 
 
 After  having  thus  described  the  desolation  of  the  Church,  Jesus  proceeds  to  speak 
 \  F  Is  C/rists  '^°''^  directly  of  Antichrist  and  of  the  end  of  the  world.     Foretelling 
 aiid  false  pro-  the  coming  of  Antichrist,  he  warns  the  Christians  of  the  latter  ages  to 
 Matt.  24.  ■P^'^'''-  be  upon  their  guard  against  seduction.    *"  Then  if  any  man  shall  say 
 
 ^^"      to  you  :  lo  here  is  Christ,  or  there  :  do  not  believe  him.     For  there  shall  arise  false 
 Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  they  shall  show  great  signs  and  wonders,  in  so  much 
 Mark  13.  as  to  deceive  (if  possible)  even  the  elect.     Take  you  heed,  therefore,  behold  I  have 
 23-      foretold  you  all  things.     If  therefore  they  shall   say  to  you  ;  behold  he  is  in  the 
 ^26."  "  desert ;  go  ye  not  out :  behold  he  is  in  inner  rooms,  believe  it  not.     For  as  lightning 
 Cometh  out  of  the  east  and  appeareth  even  into  the  west;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of 
 the  Son  of  Man  be,"  lor  he  will  immediately  appear  in  all  his  glory,  and  will  destroy 
 the  wicked  as  a  thunderbolt  which  follows  the  flash  of  lightning  almost  instanta- 
 neously.    "  Wheresoever  the  body"  *  of  Christ  "  shall  be,"  that  adorable  victim, 
 immolated  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  "  there  also  shall  the"  elect  as  spiritual 
 "  eagles,"  accustomed  to  feed   on   his  sacred   flesh,  "  be  gathered  together"  with 
 incredible  swiftness.    To  this  St.  Paul  seems  to  allude  where  he  says :  '  We  shall  be 
 caught  up  together  in  the  clouds  to  meet  Christ  in  the  air,  and  so  shall  we  be  always 
 Matt,     with  the  Lord.'t    "  And  immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days,  there  shall  be 
 Luke  21.  gjgi^g  ju  ^jij,  g^jj,^  j^jjj  j„  iijg  moon,  and  in  the  stars :  the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and 
 Man.  24.  the  moon"  of  course,  "  shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall"  apparently  "'fall 
 ~^-      from  heaven,"  because  their  light  shall  be  extinguished  ;  "and  the  powers  of  heaven 
 Luke  21.  2.  Prodigies  in  shall  be  moved, "X  '^"^  shaken  to  their  very  foundations.     "  And  upon 
 23.         ihc  heavens,      (he  earth  distress  of  nations  by  reason  of  the  confusion  of  the  roaring  of 
 
 *  Others,  as  Mauduit,  understand  by  the   body  the  heavens  represent  by  their  shaking  the  waver- 
 
 (in  Greek  Tnwiia,  a  carcass)  ihe  soul   of  a  repro-  inp;  of  Christians   hitherto   steadfast   in   the    faith, 
 
 bate,  and  by  tlie  eagles  the  deviks,  who   are  ever  By  the  powers  of  heaveti,  Estius  understands  the 
 
 ready  to  seize  on  their  destined  prey.  devils  in  llie  air,  but  Tirinus  with  more  probability, 
 
 t  1  Thess.  iv.  16.  the  powers,  tlie  foundations  or  hinges  as  it  were  of 
 
 +    St.  Austin   (Ep.  SO.)  gives  us  an  allegorical  the  heavens,  all  which  will  exhibit  by  their  disorder 
 
 explanation   of  what  is   liere  said  of  the  sun  and  dreadful  symptoms  of  an  expiring  world.    We  must 
 
 mom.     The   sun   denotes  Jesus  Christ,  the  moon  observe  that  these  signs  will  be  6f/o?e  and  not  «/l;er 
 
 the  Church,  which  will  appear  as  involved  in  dark-  the    general    resurrection,    as    St.  Jerom   and   St. 
 
 ness  on  account  of  the  dreadful  persecution   raised  Clirysostom  seem  to  have  thought.     This  appears 
 
 against  the  faithful.     The  stars  that  fall,  are  the  from  Luke  xxi.  26.   and  from  Joel  ii.  31.     See  A. 
 
 just  overcome  by  this  severe  trial.     The  powers  of  Lapide. 
 
Ch.  CXXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  30,j 
 
 the  sea  and  of  (he  waves  :  men  witlieritig-  away  for  fear  and  expectation  of  what  sliall      :20. 
 come  npon  tlie  whole  world.     And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  Matt.  24. 
 heaven,"  that  is,  the  cross  shining  brighter  than  the  snn  :  "  and  then  shall  all  tribes      ^ '" 
 of  the  earth  mourn  ;  and  then  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds 
 of  heaven  with  much  power  and  majesty.     And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  a      3L 
 trumpet  and  a  great  voice  :  and  they  shall  gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four 
 Avinds,  from  the  furthest  parts  of  the  heavens  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  them.     But  Luke  2L 
 when  these  thinsrs  begin  to  come  to  pass,  look  up  and  lift  up  your  ,       ^  ^°' 
 
 111  "  1  i-        •        .  1         1         A      1  1  1       i     S  3  Joy  of  (he 
 
 heads  :  because  your  redemption  is  at  hand.     And  he  spoke  to  them  a  faithful  at  the      29. 
 similitude/'  pointing  out,  in  general  terms,  the  time  of  his  last  coming,  civproachoftke 
 ''  See  the  fig-tree,  when  the  branch  thereof  is  now  tender,  and  the    ""^  "'"  """"  "      Mark, 
 leaves  are  come  forth  ;  and  the  same  as  to  all  the"  other  ''  trees,  when  they  now     Luke, 
 shoot  forth  their  fruit,  you  know  that  summer  is  nigh.     So  you  also,  when  you  shall  Slatt.  21. 
 see  these  things  come  to  pass,  know  ye,  that  it  is  very  nigh,  even  at  the  doors,"  and    ,^^^"|^ 
 "  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand.     Amen  I  say  to  you,  that  this  generation"  of  Luke  2L 
 the  faithful  "  shall  not  pass  until  all  these  things  be  done.    Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  ,,  ^}\„ 
 
 1111  "       \tT  •  1  1  •  •  Mark  13. 
 
 away,  but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away.  We  must  consider  this  promise  as  a  30. 
 solemn  and  explicit  assurance  given  to  his  Church,  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  heresies  ^^• 
 and  persecutions  foretold  above,  it  shall  infallibly  continue  until  the  end  of  the  world, 
 and  even  that  the  heavens  and  the  earth  will  sooner  pass  away  than  this  his  Church 
 shall  fail.  "  But  of  that  day  or  hour,"  says  Christ,  "  no  man  knoweth,  neither  the  32. 
 angels  in  heaven,  nor  the  Son,  but  the  Father."  As  a  check  to  the  fruitless  curiosity 
 of  those  who  wish  to  know  the  precise  day  and  hour  of  the  last  coming  of  Jesus  Christ 
 (the  signs  of  which  are  given  above  in  general  terms)  he  here  declares  this  secret  to 
 be  tmknown  not  only  to  all  mankind  and  to  the  angels  in  heaven,  but  even  to  the  Son 
 of  Man  himself,  considered  merely  as  to  his  human  nature.  It  is  however  certain, 
 that  Jesus  Christ,  even  as  man,  knew  the  day  of  judg-ment  and  all  things  to  come,  by 
 a  knowledge  inseparable  from  the  union  of  his  human  natiu'e  with  the  divine  person  ;* 
 and  to  attribute  any  ignorance  to  Christ,  would  be  the  error  of  the  Agnodai.  But 
 though  as  man  he  knew  the  day  of  judgment,  yet  this  knowledge  was  not  due  to  him 
 rtv  he  was  man,  or  because  he  teas  man,  but  because  he  was  God  as  well  as  man.  "  In 
 natura  quidem  hnmanitatis  novit  diem  et  horam,  non  e.v  natura  humanitalis  novit : 
 ideo  scientiam  quam  ex  natura  humana  non  habuit,  in  qua  cum  aiigelis  creatura  fuit. 
 banc  se  cum  angelis  habere  denegavit."!"  The  holy  Fathers,  in  answer  to  the  Arians 
 who  objected  this  passage,  reply,  that  Christ  here  speaks  to  his  disciples  only  as  he 
 was  the  embassador  of  his  Father,  and  so  he  is  said  only  to  know  what  he  is  to  make 
 known  to  men.  He  is  said  not  to  know,  says  St.  Augustin,  what  he  will  not  make 
 known  to  others. 
 
 Jesus  proceeds  to  describe  the  extreme  surprise  and  astonishment  of  ^  ^^^  vnex- 
 mankind  at  his  last  coming,  which  he  explains  by  two  apposite  figures  pected  d'simc- 
 drawn  from  the  Old  Testament.     "  And  as"  it  ims  "  in  the  days  of  '""'  /  ''''         Matt. 
 
 ■VI        )i  .!  •  Wicked. 
 
 Noe,"  says  he,  "  so  shall  also  the"  second  "  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man 
 
 be.     For  as  in  the  days  before  the  flood,  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying 
 
 *  See  Colos?.  ii.  3.  t  St.  Grc-ir  1.  S.  Ep.  42. 
 
 31  OK 
 
28. 
 29. 
 
 365  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXXIIL 
 
 and  g-iving  in  marriage,  even  till  that  day  in  which  Noe  entered  into  the  ark  ;  and 
 
 they  knew  not  till  the  flood  came,  and  took  them  all  away.     So  also  shall  the  coming 
 
 Luke  17.  of  the  Son  of  Man  be.     Likewise  as  it  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  Lot :  they  did  eat 
 
 and  drink,  they  bought  and  sold,  they  planted  and  built.     And  in  the  day  that  Lot 
 
 went  out  of  Sodom,  it  rained  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven,  and  destroyed  them  all. 
 
 30.      Even  thus  shall  it  be  in  the  day  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  revealed ;"  he  will 
 
 come  to  judge  the  world  when  least  expected,  and  will  render  to  every  one  accord- 
 
 34.  ing-  to  his  works.     "  I  say  to  you  :  in  that  night  there  shall  be  two 
 
 5.  One  person       a  i    n  i  i       '.  r      i 
 
 35-      taken    another  men  in  one  bed  :  the  one  shall  be  taken    lor  heaven,  "  and  the  other 
 
 ^''ft-  left"  for  hell.     "  Two  women  shall  be  grinding  together,  the  one  shall 
 
 be  taken"  in  like  manner,  "  and  the  other  shall  be  loft :  two  men  shall  be  in  the 
 
 3fi.      field,  the  one  shall"  also  "  be  taken,  and  the  other  shall  be  left.     They  answering-, 
 
 37.      say  to  him:  where  Lord"  shall  these  things  come  to  pass?  "  Who  said  to  them  : 
 
 wheresoever  the  body"  of  the  Son  of  Man  "  shall  be,"  thither  will  "  men"  as  quick 
 
 "  as  eagles  be  gathered  together"  at  the  resurrection,  to  hear  from  his  month  the 
 
 judgment  he  will  pronounce,  and  to  receive  at  his  hands  either  the  recompense  or  the 
 
 punishment  which  they  shall  have  merited  by  their  works. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXin. 
 
 MEDITATION,  WATCHFULNESS,  AND  PRAYER  RECOMMENDED.      MARK  XIII.      LUKE  XXI. 
 
 From  the  uncertainty  and  ignorance  of  the  time  when  these  great  events  are  to  take 
 place,  Jesus  draws  three  consequences  of  extreme  importance  to  all  succeeding 
 Christians,  but  more  especially  to  those  of  the  latter  ages  of  the  world. 
 
 The  first  is,  constantly  to  meditate  upon  these  serious  truths.     The  second,  to  be 
 ever  watchful  over  ourselves,  lest  our  hearts  become  attached  to  the  empty  toys  of 
 this  world,  the  paltry  pleasures  of  the  table,  or  be  oppressed  by  the  cares  and  solici- 
 tudes of  this  life.     Thirdly,  he  exhorts  us  to  join  to  this  watchfulness  a  constancy  in 
 Mark  13.  prayer.     "  Take  heed,"  says  he,  "  watch  and  pray,  for  ye  know  not  when  the  time 
 ^^\^     is.     Take  heed  to  yourselves,  lest  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  surfeiting  and 
 34.~     drunkenness,  and  the  cares  of  this  life,  and  that  day  come  upon  you  suddenly.     For 
 as  a  snare  shall  it  come  upon  all  that  sit  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.     Watch 
 ye,  therefore,  praying  at  all  times,  that  you  may  be  accounted  worthy  to  escape  all 
 these  things  that  are  to  come,  and  to  stand"  with  confidence  "  before  the  Son  of 
 Man."     He  particularly  insists  on  watchfulness,  and  says  that  he  shall  act  in  our 
 Mark  13.  regard,  "  even  as  a  man  who  going  into  a  far  country,  left  his  house  and  gave 
 3-*-      authority  to  his  servants  over  every  work,  and  commanded  the  porter  to  watch" 
 faithfully  until  his  return,  that  so  by  his  authority  he  might  prevent  the  other  servants 
 from  being  idle,  the  slaves  and  bondsmen  from  running  away,  strangers  from  being 
 admitted  to  interrupt  their  work  ;  and  lastly,  that  he  might  prevent  all  robbers  and 
 thieves  from  breaking  into  his  premises. 
 
Ch.  CXXIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  307 
 
 The  man  who  is  here  represented  as  taking-  a  distant  journey  is  Jesus  Christ,  who 
 has  ascended  into  heaven.  His  house  is  the  Church,  in  wljich  there  are  various 
 offices  and  employments  :  these  he  has  distributed  amongst  his  servants,  constituting- 
 some  as  bishops,  others  as  pastors  and  preachers  of  his  holy  word,  with  that  regular 
 subordination  and  authority  which  are  necessary  for  the  duly  performing  of  the  various 
 functions  of  the  ministry.  This  distribution  is  general,  and  there  is  not  an  individual 
 member  of  the  house  of  God,  however  mean  and  contemptible,  to  whom  Jesus  Christ 
 has  not  intrusted  some  office  in  relation  to  his  brethren,  though  it  extend  no  further 
 than  the  obligation  of  giving  them  ediflcation  by  a  holy  life.  It  is  highly  probable 
 that  the  porter  here  represented  as  holding  the  keys  of  the  house,  is  no  other  than 
 the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  who  is  established  over  the  other  officers  or  bishops, 
 purposely  to  take  care  that  none  of  them  neglect  their  respective  duties,  and  that 
 nothing  either  go  out  or  come  into  the  house  which  may  tend  to  corrupt  those  who 
 are  the  members  of  Christ's  family.  From  this  comparison  Jesus  infers  the  necessity 
 of  watchfulness.  "  Watch  ye  therefore,  for  ye  know  not  when  the  Lord  of  the  house  35. 
 Cometh,  whether  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock  crowing,"  (about  three  or  four 
 o'clock)  "  or  in  the  morning"  at  sun-rise  :  "  lest  when  he  comes  on  a  sudden,  he  36. 
 finds  you  sleeping,"  that  is,  neglecting  your  duties,  indulging  habits  of  idleness,  or 
 oppressed  with  tiie  cares  and  solicitudes  of  this  world.  "  And  what  I  say  to  you,  I  37. 
 say  to  all.  Watch." 
 
 If  it  be  asked,  why  Jesus  Christ  here  requires  of  all  a  constant  watchfulness,  since 
 it  seems  to  regard  such  only  as  shall  live  in  times  immediately  preceding  his  last 
 coming,  and  not  others  who  having  long  before  ended  their  mortal  course,  shall  no 
 longer  be  within  the  possibility  of  being  surprised  by  him  ?  St.  Austin,  in  his 
 eightieth  letter,  makes  answer,  that  to  each  individual  Christian,  the  day  of  his  death 
 is  the  day  of  Christ's  second  coming,  and  that  in  whatever  state  a  person  shall  be 
 found  at  his  departure  out  of  this  world,  in  that  he  shall  be  judged  at  the  last  day, 
 because  when  once  separated  from  the  body,  the  soul  continues  in  the  same  state 
 without  alteration.  Whence  it  matters  little,  whether  our  sotd  be  judged  at  the  first 
 leaving  the  body,  or  at  the  distance  of  many  centuries,  since  her  lot  will  depend  solely 
 on  the  state  in  which  she  is  found  at  the  precise  moment  of  her  leaving  this  world. 
 This  consideration  should  oblige  every  Christian  to  be  always  watchful  over  himself, 
 and  to  keep  his  conscience  pure,  lest  he  be  surprised  unawares  by  the  coming  of  Jesus 
 Christ,  since,  from  the  uncertain  tenure  of  human  life,  it  must  be  a  profound  secret, 
 whether  his  master  will  return  in  the  evening,  at  midnight,  at  the  cock  crowing,  or  at 
 sunrise  :  or,  in  other  words,  whether  death  will  siu-prise  him  in  old  age,  in  manhood, 
 or  in  youth ;  in  any  of  which  a  surprise  must  be  equally  fatal,  and  attended  with 
 endless  misery. 
 
268  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [CJi,  CXXIV. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXIV. 
 
 PARABLE   OF  THE  TEN   VIRGINS.      MATT.   XXV.     _ 
 
 In  this  parable,  iiiuler  the  figure  of  ten  virgins,  Jesus  describes  the  state  of  all  the 
 faithful  ill  this  mortal  pilgrimage.  By  the  bridegroom  we  are  to  understand  our 
 Saviour  Christy  by  the  bride,  his  Chiu-ch,  by  the  virgins,  the  faithful  in  general,  and 
 by  the  oil  in  their  lamps,  the  necessary  qualifications  of  grace  and  charity  joined  with 
 Matt.  23,  divine  faith.  "  Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  God,"  said  Christ,  "  be  like  to  ten  virgins, 
 o"       who  taking  their  lamps,  went  out  to  meet  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride.*     And  five 
 
 3.  of  them  were  foolish  and  five  wise.     But  the  five  foolish  having  taken  their  lamps,  did 
 
 4.  not  take  oil  with  them.     But  the  wise  took  oilf  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps. 
 5-       And  the  bridegroom  making  delay,  they  all  slumbered  and  slept.    And  at  midnight:^: 
 
 an  outcry  was  made :  Behold  the  bridegroom  cometh,  go  ye  forth  to  meet  him. 
 7.  Then  all  those  virgins  arose  and  trimmed  their  lamps.  And  the  foolish  said  to  the 
 g        wise  :  give  us  of  your  oil,  for  our  lamps  are  gone  out.     The  wise  answered,  saying  : 
 
 lest  perhaps  there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  for  you,  go  you  rather  to  them  that  sell, 
 
 10.  and  buy  for  yourselves.     Now  whilst  they  went  to  buy,  the  bridegroom  came  :  and 
 
 11.  they  that  were  readv,  went  in  with  him  to  the  marriage,  and  the  door  was  shut.     But 
 U.      at  last  came  also  the  other  virgins,  saying :    Lord,   Lord,  open  to  us.     But  he 
 
 answering  said  :  Amen  I  say  to  you,  I  know  you  not." 
 
 In  this  parable,  under  the  figure  of  virgins,  are  represented  all  the  faithful  during 
 their  mortal  pilgrimage.  Their  souls  are  virgins  with  respect  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
 which  is  pure  and  exempt  from  all  corruption  of  error :  they  are  appointed  to  go 
 forth  with  their  lamps  to  meet  the  bridegroom,  because  their  business  is  to  walk  by 
 the  light  of  (liith,  and  to  be  always  ready  for  the  coming  of  Christ  their  heavenly 
 bridegroom.  The  lamps  with  which  they  are  furnished  are  to  be  kept  burning  with 
 the  oil  of  such  good  works  as  the  gospel  recommends.  Where  this  oil  is  wanting 
 the  lamps  are  extinguished,  because /««7/t  idlhout  good  works  is  dead.  The  unwise  or 
 the  foolish  souls  are  such  as  content  themselves  with  an  outward  profession  of  the 
 faith,  and  with  a  certain  exterior  show  of  decency  in  their  morals,  without  giving 
 themselves  any  concern  about  the  love  of  God  and  the  practice  of  solid  piety. 
 Whilst  persons  of  this  description  are  satisfied  with  an  apparent  piety,  and  with  the 
 performance  of  such  works  as  serve  only  to  gain  the  empty  applause  of  mankind, 
 wise  souls,  on  the  contrary,  not  content  with  a  fair  outside  which  may  please  the  eyes 
 
 *  It  may  be  proper  to  describe  the  custom  to  abode.     Modern  travellers  inform  us,  that  amonnrst 
 
 which  our  Saviour  seemK   here  to   allude.     When  the    eastern    people,    especially  the   Persians,  this 
 
 the  bridegroom  was  to  bring  liome  his  bride  (which  mode  still  prevails  of  conducting  the  bride   home 
 
 was  generally  the  conclusive  ceremony,  and   done  with  lamps  and  lighted  torches. 
 
 in  the  night  time)  the  young  v/omen   of  the  town,  f  That  is,  laid  up  in  store  for  themselves  a  good 
 
 in  order  to  do  her  honour,  went  to   meet  her  with  foundation  of  works. 
 
 lighted  lamps:   she  too  had  her  companions  and  J;  To  show  that  he  will  come  when  least  expected, 
 servants    attending   her    from    Iicr    own    place    of 
 
Ch.  CXXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  369 
 
 of  men',  are  ever  careful  fo  treasure  up  a  store  of  good  works,  such  as  are  truly 
 acceptable  to  God,  and  meritorious  of  eternal  life. 
 
 The  delay  of  the  bridegroom  represents  the  time  of  this  life,  and  even  the  whole 
 course  of  succeeding  ages  to  the  day  of  judgment,  when  Christ,  the  heavenly  bride- 
 groom, will  return.  During  this  interval  the  virgins  not  only  slumber,  but  also 
 give  themselves  entirely  up  to  sleep.  The  slumber  which  precedes  the  sleep  of  the 
 expecting  virgins,  represents  those  sicknesses  which  precede  death,  and  their  sleep  is 
 death  itself,  from  which  they  will  be  awakened  at  the  general  resurrection  of  man- 
 kind. The  sleep,  therefore,  here  described,  is  not  to  be  understood  of  a  blamable 
 drowsiness  contrasted  with  the  watchfulness  which  our  Lord  recommends  iu  the  close 
 of  this  parable,  because  even  the  wise  virgins  slumber  and  sleep  equally  with  the 
 unwise,  nor  are  they  censured  for  so  doing. 
 
 At  midnight  a  sudden  and  great  cry  awakens  these  virgms,  who  are  summoned  to 
 go  forth  and  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  This  denotes  the  sound  of  the  last  trumpet, 
 which  will  summon  the  dead  to  arise  from  the  sleep  of  death  and  to  appear  before 
 Jesus  Christ.  Thus  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  represented  by  the  awakening  of 
 the  virgins ;  and  the  wise  as  well  as  the  unwise  prepare  their  lamps,  that  is,  Ihey 
 pass  over  in  review  the  several  actions  of  their  respective  lives,  of  which  they  are 
 instantly  to  give  a  strict  account  to  the  sovereign  Judge.  But  the  foolish  souls,  sen- 
 sible that  the  faint  light  of  human  applause,  which  in  this  life  added  a  lustre  to  their 
 actions,  is  now  going  to  be  extinguished  in  the  great  day  of  God's  justice,  and  that 
 the  false  glitter  of  an  apparent  virtue  cannot  stand  the  test  of  the  judgment  of  truth, 
 would  willingly  obtain  by  any  means  a  supply  of  oil  from  the  other  more  wise  souls,  .t,j 
 that  is,  a  portion  of  their  meritorious  good  works,  upon  the  principle  of  the  com- 
 munion of  saints,  which  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  indul- 
 gcncies  is  established.  But  the  time  for  obtaining  such  indulgencies  is  now  past; 
 and  repentance  and  sorrow  come  too  late,  and  nothing  is  to  be  expected  but  a  strict 
 and  just  retribution  to  each  one  according  to  his  works.  These  foolish  virgins  there- 
 fore, who  have  neglected  to  provide  themselves  in  time  with  the  oil  of  good  works, 
 will  have  no  resource  left,  but  will  condemn  their  extreme  folly  in  not  having  made 
 the  necessary  preparation  for  so  important  an  emergency.  The  bridegroom  comes 
 and  takes  along  with  him  to  his  wedding  feast  such  only  as  he  finds  ready,  ajid 
 against  the  rest  the  door  is  shut,  never,  never  to  be  opened.  The  conclusion  is 
 obvious,  that  it  extremely  behoves  ns  all  to  be  watchful  and  earnest  in  the  practice  of 
 good  works,  and  not  to  postpone  them  to  distant  times  which  are  not  in  our  power ; 
 because  nothing  is  so  uncertain  as  the  hour  of  death,  which  in  our  regard  is  the  time  of 
 Christ's  coming  to  decide  our  eternal  lot.  "  IVatc/i  yt  therefore,''  says  Christ,  12. 
 "  because,  you  know  ml  the  day  nor  the  hour." 
 
 32.  5  b 
 
370  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST  [Ch.  CXXV 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXV. 
 
 THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  TEN  TALENTS.*   MATT.  XXV. 
 
 The  design  of  this  parable  is  to  show  the  necessity  we  lie  under  of  labouring-  in  good 
 
 Matt.  25.  earnest,  each  one  according  to  his  talent  and  employment.     "A  man,"  says  our 
 
 Lord,    ''  being  about  to  take  a  journey   into   a  foreign   country,   called   his   ser- 
 
 15.  vants  and  delivered  to  them  his  goods.  And  to  one  he  gave  five  talents,  and  to 
 another  two,  and  to  another  one  ;  to  every  one  according  to  his  respective  capacity, 
 and  immediately  he  took  his  journey."  The  man  here  spoken  of,  represents  Jesus 
 Christ  our  Lord,  who  by  his  ascension  is  gone  to  heaven.  But  ascending  on  high  he 
 gave  gifts  to  men  ;'\  for  he  has  plentifully  distributed  his  goods  and  talents  among 
 his  servants,  to  the  end  that  they  may  trade  with  them,  and  improve  the  stock  during 
 the  time  of  his  absence,  till  he  shall  come  again  and  take  an  account  of  their  good  or 
 evil  management  of  their  trust.  All  that  we  have  either  as  to  soul  or  body,  nature 
 or  grace,  is  derived  from  him,  and  deposited  in  our  hands  as  a  kind  of  talents  for 
 which  we  are,  one  day,  to  be  accountable. 
 
 We  are  next  to  consider  the  different  use  which  these  servants  made  of  their 
 
 16.  master's  money.     For  "  he  that  received  the  five  talents,  went  his  way  and  traded 
 
 17.  with  the  same,  and  gained  other  five.     And  in  like  manner  he  that  received  two 
 
 18.  gained  other   two.     But  he  that  received  the  one,  going   his  way   dug  into   the 
 
 19.  earth  and  hid  his  Lords  money.     But  after  a  long  time  the  Lord  of  these  servants 
 
 20.  came  and  reckoned  with  them.  And  he  that  had  received  the  five  talents  coming, 
 brought  other  five  talents,  saying :    Lord,  thou  didst  deliver  to  me  five  talents, 
 
 21.  behold  I  have  gained  other  five  over  and  above.  His  Lord  said  to  him  :  Well  done 
 good  and  faithful  servant,  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 
 
 22.  place  thee  over  many  things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord,  And  he  also  that 
 had  received  the  two  talents,  came  and  said  :  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  two  talents  to 
 
 23.  me  :  behold  I  have  gained  other  two.  The  Lord  said  to  him  :  Well  done  good  and 
 faithful  servant,  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  place  thee 
 
 24.  over  many  things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.  But  he  that  had  received 
 the  one  talent,  came  and  said  :  Lord,  I  know  that  thou  art  a  hard  man,  thou  reapest 
 
 25.  where  thou  hast  not  sown,  and  thou  gatherest  where  thou  hast  not  strewed.  And 
 being  afraid,  I  went  and  hid  thy  talent  in  the  earth  :  behold  here  thou  hast  that  which 
 
 26.  is  thine.     And  his  Lord  answering,  said  to  him  :  Wicked  and  slothful  servant,  thou 
 
 27.  didst  know  that  I  reap  where  I  sow  not,  and  gather  where  I  have  not  strewed  :  thou 
 ought  therefore  to  have  committed  the  money  to  the  bankers,  and,  at  my  return,  I 
 
 28.  should  have  received  my  own  with  usury.     Take  ye  therefore  the  talent  from  him, 
 
 29.  and  give  it  to  him  that  hath  ten  talents.     For  to  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  gi\  en, 
 
 *  This   parable  has   a  great   affinity  with  that  time,  in  a  different  place,  and  on  a  different  occa» 
 
 mentioned  by  St.  Luke,  chap,  106.  concerning  the  sion.  It  differs  likewise  as  to  certain  circiunstances 
 
 ten  pounds  or  marks,  and  the  scope  of  both  is  much  A  talent  is  187/.  10s, 
 the  same.     This  however  was  spoken  at  a  different         f  Eph.  iv.  8. 
 
CI,.  CXXVI]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  371 
 
 and  lie  shall  abound  :*  but  from  him  that  hath  not,"  what  he  ought  to  have,  "  that 
 also  which  he  seemeth  to  have  shall  be  taken  away.     And  the  unprofitable  servant      30. 
 cast  ye  out  into  the  exterior  darkness"  of  hell.    "  There  shall  be  weeping  and  gnash- 
 ing of  teeth." 
 
 The  condemnation  and  punishment  of  this  slothful  servant  is  a  striking  warning  to 
 all  those  Christians  who  having  received  talents,  that  is,  gifts,  graces,  or  advantages 
 of  any  kind,  from  God,  do  not  employ  them  to  his  greater  honour  and  glory,  and  to 
 their  own  and  their  neighbour's  improvement,  but  through  sloth  and  indolence  let 
 them  lie  unregarded,  and  as  it  were  hidden  and  buried  in  the  earth,  even  in  this 
 unhappy  earth  of  the  world  and  the  flesh,  which  engage  ail  their  thoughts  and  their 
 affections,  more  than  the  honour  and  glory  of  their  Lord,  or  the  eternal  welfiire  of 
 their  own  souls. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXVI. 
 
 A  DESCRIPTION   OF  THE  LAST  JUDGMENT.      MATT.  XXV.      LUKE  XXI. 
 
 The  foregoing  parables  manifestly  tend  to  excite  in  us  the  most  earnest  watchfulness, 
 under  the  just  apprehension  of  the  strict  account  which  hereafter  we  must  give  of  our 
 respective  talents.  Jesus,  therefore,  naturally  concluded  these  parables  by  a  descrip- 
 tion of  that  tremendous  day  which  succeeds  the  final  reckoning,  and  which  will 
 unalterably  fix  our  abode  either  in  eternal  happiness  or  in  eternal  misery.  In  this 
 description  we  are  to  remark,  1.  The  preparations  for  this  awful  scene;  2.  The  sen- 
 tence pronounced  by  the  Judge  ;  3.  The  execution  of  this  sentence. 
 
 "  And  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  majesty,  and  all  his  angels  with  Matt.  25 
 him,"  as  the  ministers  of  his  justice,  "  then  shall  he  sit  upon"  a  bright  cloud  as  "  the      ^^" 
 seat  of  his  majesty  ;  and  all  nations,"  by  the  ministry  of  angels,  "  shall  be  gathered      32. 
 together  before  him,"  as  the  sovereign  Ruler  and  Judge  of  all  mankind.     This  scene 
 will  pi-obably  take  place  near  Jerusalem,  in  the  valley  of  Josaphat,-f  which  adjoins  to 
 mount  Olivet,  where  Jesus  began  to  suffer,  and  whence  he  ascended  glorious  into 
 heaven.     Hence  the  two  angels  who,  on  that  occasion,  appeared  to  the  Apostles, 
 assured  them  that  he  would  come  again  from  heaven,  in  the  same  manner  as  they 
 had  seen  him  at  his  ascension.     On  that  final  day  the  Judge  "  shall  separate  them 
 one  from  another,"  that  is,  the  elect  from  the  reprobate,  in  the  same  manner  "  as  the 
 shepherd,"  in  the  evening,  "  separates  the  sheep  from  the  goats,"  which  during  the 
 day  have  ranged  in  the  same  pastures.     "  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right      33, 
 hand,  but  the  goats  on  his  left ;"  that  is,  he  will  cause  the  just  to  be  taken  up  into 
 the  clouds  to  meet  him,  as  described  by  St.  Paul,|  and  leave  the  reprobate  upon  the 
 earth,  to  receive  their  eternal  doom.     We  are  therefore  to  consider  the  terms  of  the 
 right  hand  and  of  the  left,  as  metaphors  ;  the  former  of  which  is  designed  to  give  us 
 
 *  This  shows  that  God  never  requires  of  men  t  Joel  "i-  -■ 
 
 more  than  he  has  enabled  them  to  perCorin.  J  1  Tiiess.  iv.  16. 
 
372 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXYI. 
 
 the  idea  of  a  disting-uished  rank,  the  latter  that  of  a  place  of  malediction.  The 
 reprobate  are  described  under  the  character  of  goats,  a  wanton,  unclean,  and 
 impetuous  animal ;  the  elect  under  that  of  sheep,  on  account  of  their  patience^  tlieir 
 
 34.  mildness,  their  simplicity,  and  their  innocence.  "  Then  shall  the  King,"  seated  on 
 his  throne,  "  say  to  them  that  shall  be  on  his  right  hand,"  with  a  serene  counte- 
 nance :  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  possess  you  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
 
 35.  you,"  as  your  inheritance,  "  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  For  I  was  hungry, 
 and  you  gave  me  to  eat :  I  was  thirsty,  and  you  gave  me  to  drink  :  I  was  a  stranger, 
 
 36.  and  you  took  me  in  :  naked,  and  you  covered  me :  sick,  and  you  visited  me  :  I  was 
 in  prison,  and  you  came  to  me."  In  assigning  the  reason  why  the  elect  are  put  in 
 possession  of  this  eternal  kingdom,  Jesus  mentions  only  one  species  of  good  works, 
 viz.  the  works  of  mercy,  though  others  may  be  equally  meritorious :  for  the  means  of 
 salvation  are  not  precisely  the  same  for  all  the  saints ;  some  are  saved  by  poverty, 
 others  by  solitude,  and  each  by  that  virtue  which  he  shall  have  piactised  in  the 
 greatest  degree  of  perfection.  This  description  of  the  last  judgment  seems  therefore 
 particularly  to  be  addressed  to  Christians  engaged  in  the  cares  of  the  world,  whose 
 
 37.  salvation  principally  depends  on  the  practice  of  the  works  of  mercy.  "  Then  shall 
 the  just  answer  him,  saying:  Lord,  when  did  we  see  thee  hungry  and  fed  thee? 
 
 38.  thirsty  and  gave  thee  drink?  and  when  did  we  see  thee  a  stranger  and  took  thee  in? 
 
 39.  or  naked  and  covered  thee  ?  or  when  did  we  see  thee  sick  or  in  prison  and  came  to 
 
 40.  thee?  And  the  king  answering,  shall  say  to  them  :  Amen  I  say  to  you,  as  long  as 
 you  did  it  to  one  of  these  my  least  brethren,"  your  fellow  Christians,  "  you  did  it  to 
 me."*  The  question  here  proposed  by  the  elect  to  their  Judge,  and  his  reply,  are 
 thus  painted  in  words  adapted  to  their  ideas,  and  are  meant  only  to  describe  the 
 thoughts  of  profound  admiration  and  astonishment  which  will  fill  the  elect  on  account 
 of  this  goodness  of  Jesus,  in  vouchsafing  to  consider  whatever  they  have  done  to  the 
 
 41.  poor  as  done  to  himself  "  Then  he  shall  say  to  them  also  that  shall  be  on  his  left 
 hand,"  with  fire  in  his  eyes,  and  terror  in  his  countenance :  "  Depart  from  me,  ye 
 cursed,"  and  hated  of  God,  "■  into  everlasting  fire,  which  was  prepared  for  the  devil 
 and  his  angels."  The  fire  of  hell  was  not,  properly  speaking,  enkindled  for  the 
 punishment  of  the  human  race,  man  was  created  subsequently  to  the  lall  and  to  the 
 damnation  of  the  rebel  angels  ;  and  though  he  imitated  their  prevarication,  yet  by  the 
 blood  of  Jesus  he  has  been  redeemed  from  eternal  punishment.  If  many,  notwith- 
 standing, are  yet  condemned  to  never-ending  flames,  they  are  punished  under  the 
 quality  of  slaves  of  the  devil ;  for  as  they  have  wilfully  followed  his  rebellious 
 example,  they  must  expect  to  share  with  him  in  his  punishment.  The  reason  assigned 
 by  the  Judge  for  this  dreadful  sentence  of  damnation,  is,  that  they  have  neglected 
 those  works  of  mercy  which  they  ought  to  have  performed  towards  Jesus  Christ,  in 
 
 42.  the  persons  of  his  necessitous  members.  "  For  I  was  hungry,"  he  will  say  to  them, 
 ''  and  you  gave  me  not  to  eat  if  I  was  thirsty,  and  you  gave  me  not  to  drink  :  I  was 
 
 *  Can  there  be  a  more  forcible  motive  to  charity,  to  them,  and  that  others  may  have  an  opportunity 
 
 than  that  the  Son  of  God,  should  accept  all   good  of  showing  their  love  for  him,  and   that  we   may 
 
 offices  done  to  the  afflicted  as  done  to  himself?  make  amends  for  our  sins  by  our  alms. 
 
 t  Christ  suSe'-s  his  members  to  want,  in  mercy 
 
Ch.  CXXVIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  373 
 
 a  stranger,  and  you  took  me  not  in  :  naked,  and  you  covered  me  not :  sick  and  in      43. 
 prison,  and  you  did  not  visit  me.     Then  they  also  shall  answer  him,  saying:  Lord,      44. 
 when  did  we  see  thee  hungry,  or  thirsty,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison, 
 and  did  not  minister  to  thee  ?"  Hence  they  will  plead,  that  this  is  a  calumnious 
 charge,  and  ought  not  to  operate  towards  their  condemnation.     "  Then  he  shall      45. 
 answer  them,"  Ly  a  voice  which  shall  speak  to  the  inmost  recesses  of  their  con- 
 sciences, "  saying  :  Amen  1  say  to  you,  in  as  much  as  you  did  it  not  to  one  of  these 
 least,  neither  have  you  done  it  to  me." 
 
 There  will,  doubtless,  be  an  infinite  nmnber  of  other  crimes  not  here  noticed  by 
 Jesus,  which  v^ill  draw  down  upon  sinners  the  terrible  sentence  of  damnation.  He 
 here  only  alleges  the  neglect  of  one  sort  of  good  works,  as  an  inducement  to  us  to  be 
 zealous  in  the  practice  of  them ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  gives  us  sufficient  grounds 
 to  argue  with  ourselves  in  the  words  of  St.  Austin.  If  a  mere  neglect  of  the  works 
 of  mercy  will  occasion  the  damnation  of  numberless  Christians,  what  will  be  the 
 sentence  pronounced  against  those  who  are  guilty  of  so  many  positive  flagrant  crimes? 
 If  they,  who  have  neglected  to  aflibrd  assistance  to  their  distressed  neighbour,  will 
 most  assuredly  be  condemned  to  the  flames  of  hell,  how  can  others  expect  to  escape 
 these  flames  who  shall  have  committed  against  their  neighbour  the  greatest  outrages? 
 The  sentence  shall  no  sooner  be  pronounced  than  executed,  "  and  these"  wicked  46. 
 wretches  "  shall  go  into  everlasting  punishment :  but  the  just  into  live  everlasting." 
 Yes,  the  reprobate  shall  be  consigned  to  everlasting  burnings  ;  the  abyss  of  hell 
 shall  open  under  their  feet,  and  they  shall  be  precipitated  into  it,  surrounded  by  those 
 raging  flames  which  shall  have  consumed  the  whole  material  world.  Whilst,  on  the 
 contrary,  the  elect  shall  follow  Jesus  Christ  to  everlasting  glory,  and  with  him  shall 
 enjoy  for  ever  the  kingdom  of  his  Father. 
 
 On  a  recapitulation  of  this  long  discourse,  we  may  observe,  that  in  the  first  place 
 it  treats  of  those  wars  and  persecutions  which  are  to  happen  in  the  latter  ages  of  the 
 world  ;  that  it  then  proceeds  to  describe  the  heresies  and  schisms  among  Christians  ; 
 the  general  propagation  of  the  gospel ;  the  great  apostasy  at  the  time  of  Antichrist  ; 
 lastly,  it  concludes  with  the  grand  scene  of  the  day  of  judgment.  Thus  these  events 
 are  intimately  connected  with  each  other,  and  all  materially  regard  the  Church  of 
 Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXVH. 
 
 THE  SECOND  COUNCIL*  HELD  BY  THE  JEWS  AG.UNST  JESUS.     MATT.  XXVI.      MARK  XIV. 
 
 LUKE  XXII. 
 
 "  Now  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  which  is  called  the  Passover,      ]■  The  chief  ^^^^^^_ 
 was  at  hand,  and  it  was  to  be  after  two  days.     And  the  chief  priests  ^i^oy^\o  dlstroy       '* 
 and  Scribes,"  more  and  more  irritated  against  Jesus  by  the  parables  Christ.  ^"j      ' 
 
 *  This   meeting   was    011    the  Wednesday,   and     Jews  decreed  his  death,  hence  arose,  accordiiia^  to 
 because  on  this  day  Judas   sold   Christ,  and  the     St.  Austin  (Ep.  36.  t.  3.  p.  SO.),  the  ancient  custom 
 
 3-2.  5  c 
 
374  THE  LIFE  OF  uUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXVIL 
 
 which  he  had  spoken  on  the  preceding  day,  "  sought  how  they  might,  by"  some 
 Matt.26.1.  "  artful  contrivance,  seize  him  and  put  him  to  death.     And  it  came  to  pass,  that 
 
 2.  when  Jesus  had  finished  all  these  discourses,  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  you  know 
 that  after  two  days  is  to  be  the  Passover,  and"  during  this  solemnity,  "  the  Son  of 
 
 3.  Man  shall  be  delivered  up  to  be  crucified.     Then  were  gathered  together  the  chief 
 priests  and  the  elders  of  the  people  into  the  court  of  the  high  priest  who  was  called 
 
 4.  Caiphas  :  and  they  consulted  together,  that  by  suotlety,  they  might  apprehend  Jesus 
 Lute  22. 2.  and  put  him  to  death.  But  they  feared  the  people,"  who  considered  him  as  a  great 
 Matt. 26. 5.  prophet,  "  and  they  said,  not  on  a  festival-day,  lest  perhaps  a  tumult  should  happen 
 
 amongst  the  people."*     But  this  was  over-ruled,  when  Judas  informed  them  how  he 
 „    T  J  could  and  wo\ild  nut  him  into  their  hands  on  Thursday  night.    Where- 
 
 2.   Judas  a-  '  i  i  i     •      i     •  -. 
 
 Luke  22.3.  g^recs  to  betray  fore,  at  a  time  highly  favourable  to  their  designs,  "  batan  entered  into 
 
 Jems.  Judas,  surnamed  Iscariot,  one  of  the  twelve"  Apostles,  and  suggested 
 
 to  him  the  certain  reward  he  might  obtain  of  the  sanhedrim,  by  delivering  up  Jesus 
 
 Maiku.io.  into  their  hands.     With  this  view  "  Judas  went  to  the  chief  priests  that  he  might 
 
 Luke  22. 4.  betrav  him  to  them.     And  he  discoursed  with"  them  "  and  the  magistrates,  how  he 
 
 Matt26.i3.  might"  effect  this  without  any  seditious  disturbance  among  the  people.     "  And  he 
 
 Marku.n.  said  to  them  :  what  will  you  give  me,  and  I  will  deliver  him  up  to  you  ?     Who  hear- 
 
 Maithew.  ing  it,  were  glad,  and"  willingly  "  promised  to  give  him  money.     And  they  agreed 
 
 with  him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,"  which  is  about  three  pounds  fifteen  shillings  of 
 
 our  money,  and  which  was  the  price  of  a  slave,  as  appears  from  Exodus  xxi.  32. 
 
 This  sum,  though  small,  might  be  sufficient  to  buy  the  potter's  field,  as  mentioned 
 
 hereafter,  because  it  is  probable  this  field  was  in  the  most  wretched  condition,  and  the 
 
 Luke22.G.  best  of  the  soil  had  been  taken  out  of  it.     "  Wherefore  Judas"  promised  "'  to  deliver 
 
 Matt.26.16.  up  to  them  his  Master  for  this  trifling  consideration.     "  And  from  that  time  he 
 
 Luke  22. 6.  sought  for  an  opportunity  to  betray  him  in  the  absence  of  the  multitude."     Judas  was 
 
 influenced  to  undertake  this  horrid  treachery  by  a  variety  of  motives,  but  chiefly  by 
 
 that  of  avarice.     He  judged  it  a  favourable  opportunity  to  indemnify  himself  for  what 
 
 he  considered  as  a  real  and  weighty  loss,  when  the  precious  ointment  was  poured  out 
 
 upon  Jesus  at  the  feast  of  Bethania ;  and  to  secure  this  indemnification,  he  scrupled 
 
 not  to  contract  for  the  life  of  him  who  had  been  the  object  of  this  pious  profusion. 
 
 As  to  the  remorse  of  conscience  which  must  necessarily  have  attended  so  foul  an 
 
 ingratitude,  Judas  most  probably  would  endeavour  to  smother  it  by  the  reflection, 
 
 that  although  he  might  betray  Jesus  into  the  tiands  of  his  enemies,  he  would  yet  be 
 
 able  to  escape  from  them  with  ease,  as  he  had  witnessed  upon  former  occasions  at 
 
 Nazareth  and  m  the  temple.     Hence  he  was  willing  to  believe,  that  the  blood  of 
 
 Jesus  would  not  be  laid  to  his  charge,  whilst  at  the  same  time  he  might  safely  reap 
 
 the  profits  of  his  treachery  to  both  parties,  viz.  to  Jesus,  by  shamefully  betraying  him, 
 
 and  to  the  Jews,  by  their  obtaining  possession  of  a  person,  who,  in  all  probability, 
 
 of  fasting  on   Wednesdays.      It  was  a  still   more  *   St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  place  after  this  the 
 
 general  custom  to  fast  on  Fridays,  because  on  that  feast  of  Bethania  :  but  this  they  do  by  recapilula- 
 
 day  Jesus  sutfered  death  for  our  redemption.     This  tion,  becau.se  this  was  the  occasion  of  Judas's  be- 
 
 latter  custom  prevailed  in  England  till  the   year  traying  our  Lord. 
 1777. 
 
Ch,  CXXVIII.l 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 375 
 
 would  not  fail  to  escape  from  them.  Few  look  upon  the  sin  of  covetousness  to  be  so 
 great  and  dangerous  as  it  really  iS;,  }et  here  we  see  it  was  the  occasion  of  the  greatest 
 sin  that  ever  was  committed. 
 
 PART  VI. 
 
 CONTAINING  THE  ACTIONS  AND  DISCOURSES  OF  CHRIST,  FROM  THE  FOURTH  PASSOVER 
 HIS  TRIUMPHANT  ASCENSION  INTO  HEAVEN. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXVIII. 
 
 THE  PASCHAL  SUPPER.      MATT.  XXVI.      MARK  XIV.      LUKE  XXII. 
 
 The  ensuing  Thursday  was  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  Moon,  the  eve  of  the  Passover, 
 
 on  which,  according  to  the  law,  the  paschal  lamb  was  to  be  sacrificed,  as  is  clear  from 
 
 the  three  Evangelists,  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke.     "And  on  the  first  Mau.26.i. 
 
 day  of  the  azimes,"  or  of  unleavened  bread,  "  on  which  it  was  necessary  that  theMattieli! 
 
 Passover  should  be  killed,  the  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying :  whither  w-ilt  thou  ^'"''i'*i2. 
 
 that  we  go  and  prepare  for  thee  to  eat  the  Passover?!     And  he  sendeth  Peter  and  Lite 22. 8. 
 
 *  See  the  first  Passover,  chap.  19;  the  second, 
 chap.  37  ;  the  third,  chap.  58. — The  first  was  after 
 the  marria2;e  feast  of  Cana,  in  Ihe  31st  year  of 
 Christ,  26  of  the  vulg-ar  aera,  779th  from  the  foun- 
 dation of  Rome. — The  second,  third,  and  fourth, 
 succeeded  each  other  in  the  three  followinn-  years. 
 The  first  three  are  mentioned  only  by  St.  John,  in 
 chap.  ii.  13.  chap.  v.  1.  chap.  vi.  1.  Tlie  fourtli  is 
 mentioned  by  all  the  Evangelists,  Matt.  xxvi.  17. 
 Mark  xiv.  12.  Luke  xxii.  1.  John  xii.  1.  and  chap. 
 xiii.  1.  Wherefore,  as  Baroniiis  observes  (ad  an. 
 34,  §  146.)  it  is  now  generally  acknowledged  by 
 the  moderns,  that  from  the  baptism  of  Christ  to 
 the  time  of  his  death,  four  Passovers  intervened. 
 IrensEus  indeed  mentions  only  three,  because  his 
 object  was  merely  to  refute  those  who  limited  the 
 time  of  Christ's  preaching  to  one  year.  It  is  a 
 mistake,  as  St.  Austin  observes  (in  Joan.  Trac. 
 55.),  to  derive  Pascha  from  the  Greek  word 
 iraax^i-v,  to  suffer;  it  is  certainly  taken  from  the 
 Hebrew,  and  signifies  a  passing  by,  or  passing  over. 
 Yet  it  must  also  be  observed,  that  this  same  word 
 pascha,  or  Passover,  has  ditferent  significations.  It 
 is  used  sometimes  for  the  paschal  lamb  that  was 
 sacrificed,  Luke  xxii.  7. ;  elsewhere  for  the  first 
 day  of  the  paschal  feast  and  solemnity,  which  lasted 
 seven  days.  Matt.  xxvi.  2.  Ezech.  xlv.  21.  Again, 
 for   the   Sabbath-day  that    happened   within    the 
 
 seven  days  of  the  solemnity,  Jo.  xix.  14.  and  also 
 for  all  the  sacrifices  made  during  the  seven  days' 
 feast. 
 
 t  With  regard  to  this  fourth  and  last  Passover 
 there  exists  among  the  learned  a  great  diversity  of 
 sentiment.  The  first  and  most  generally  received 
 opinion  is,  that  Christ  ate  the  paschal  lamb  with 
 his  disciples  on  Thursday  in  the  evening,  the  24th 
 of  March,  and  then  instituted  the  holy  sacrament  of 
 the  Eucharist,  the  night  before  he  sutfered  death. 
 The  second  opinion,  adopted  by  the  modern  Greeks, 
 to  justify  their  custom  of  celebrating  with  leavened 
 bread,  supposes  that  Christ,  foreseeing  his  death, 
 celebrated  the  Passover,  and  consequently  instituted 
 the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  the  day  previous  to 
 tile  appointment  of  the  law,  when  the  Jews  were 
 allowed  to  eat  leavened  bread.  The  third  is  of 
 those  who  acknowledge,  indeed,  that  Christ  cele- 
 brated on  the  day  appointed  by  the  law,  but  assert 
 that  the  Passover  was  this  year  transferred  by  the 
 Jews  to  the  following  day  of  the  Sabbath.  This  is 
 the  opinion  of  Paul  of  Burgos,  Paul  of  Middle- 
 bourg,  Grotius,  Cornel.  Jansenius,  Scaliger,  Estius, 
 Mauduit,  &c.  The  fourth  is  of  those  who  pretend 
 that  Christ  wholly  omitted  the  legal  or  paschal  sup- 
 per, and  instituted  only  the  eucharistic  supper,  by 
 the  consecration  and  distribution  of  his  body  and 
 blood.     This  last  opinion  was  first  started  by  Mar- 
 
376 
 
 Markl4.13 
 
 Luke22.10. 
 Markl4.14, 
 Luke'22.n. 
 Matt.2fi.lS. 
 Markl4.U. 
 Luke22.11. 
 Markl415. 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 [Ch.  CXXVIII. 
 
 IHatt,2G.19. 
 Mark  14. 17. 
 Luke22.14. 
 
 15. 
 16. 
 
 Jolin,  saying  :  go  and  prepare  for  us  the  Passover,  tnat  we  may  eat.  But  they  said  : 
 where  wilt  thou  that  we  prepare  ?  And  he  said  to  them  :  go  ye  into  the  city,  and 
 behold  at  your  entering  into"  it  "  a  man  shall  meet  you  carrying  a  pitcher  of  water  : 
 follow  him  to  the  house  which  he  goeth  into.  And  wherever  he  shall  enter,  say  to 
 the  good  man  of  the  house :  the  Master  saith  to  thee,  my  time  is  near  at  hand,  with 
 thee  I  make  the  Passover  with  my  disciples  :  where  is  an  eating  room,  or  guest- 
 chamber,  where  I  may  eat  the  Passover  with  my  disciples  ?  And  he  will  show  you 
 a  large  dining-room  furnished,  and  there  prepare  ye  for  us."  The  Evangelists  pru- 
 dently suppress  the  name  of  the  person^  who  was  probably  then  living,  lest  he  and  his 
 family  might  on  that  account  be  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  Jews.  "  And  his  disci- 
 ples went  their  way,  and  came  into  the  city,  and  they  found  as  he  had  told  them,  and 
 they  prepared  the  Passover,  as  Jesus  appointed  to  them.  And  when  the  evening 
 was  come,  he  cometh  with  the  twelve,  and  when  the  hour  was  come,"  viz.  at  sunset, 
 "  he  placed  himself  at  table*  and  the  twelve  with  him.  And  he  said  to  them  :  with 
 desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this"  Jewish  "  Passover  with  you,  before  I  auffer.  For 
 I  say  to  you,  that  from  this  time  I  will  not  eat  it,  till  it  be  fulfilled"  by  the  real  Passover 
 "  in  the  kingdom  of  God."  He  here  alludes  to  the  masterpiece  of  his  power  and 
 of  his  love  for  mankind,  viz.  the  institution  of  the  adorable  mystery  of  the  holy 
 
 cion  tlie  heretic,  and  is  condemnod  by  Epiphanius 
 (Haer.  42.)  It  was  again  broached  by  Philoponiis, 
 an  abettor  of  the  Eiitychian  heresy,  in  tlie  sixth 
 age,  and  after  being  laid  aside  for  many  years,  was 
 revived  in  the  beginning  of  tlie  seventeenth  century 
 by  Vecciiietli,  who  on  that  acroiint  was,  by  order 
 of  the  inquisition,  larown  into  prison,  where  he 
 remained  for  many  years.  This  opinion  was  con- 
 sidered as  repugnant  to  the  truth  of  holy  scripture, 
 to  the  authority  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  doctrine 
 of  the  fathers,  as  is  mentioned  by  Janus  Nicius 
 Enrythrsus,  part  i.  num.  114.  At  Rome  it  is  still 
 held  in  detestation,  and  iu  France  and  Spain  is 
 rejected  as  bordering  upon  heresy.  See  Witasse, 
 Dr.  of  Sorbon,  and  Su  irez  in  3  P.  D.  Thomce,  t.  2. 
 disp.  40.  where  lie  condemns  it  too  dogmatically  in 
 these  words :  haec  senlentia  est  plane  hoeretica. 
 Lamy,  however,  ventured  afterwards  to  maintain 
 the  same  opinion  in  liis  Evangelical  Harmony,  and 
 was  followed  by  Thoynard  and  Calmet.  Their 
 arguments  have  been  abundantly  refuted  by  several 
 learned  men,  viz.  by  Graveson,  in  his  Dissertation 
 on  the  mysteries  and  years  of  Christ,  by  Honore  of 
 St.  Mary,  torn.  2.  by  Tillemont,  and  lastly,  by 
 Plamyoen,  who  has  expressly  written  against  Cal- 
 met. See  also  Benedict  14.  in  his  treatise  on  the 
 feasts  of  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 The  first  opinion  is  here  adopted  as  the  most 
 ancient,  and  the  most  generally  held  by  the  holy 
 fathers  both  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  as 
 Calmet  himself  acknowledges.  See  Origen  in  his 
 35th  treatise  on  St.  Matt.  St.  Chrysostom,  horn. 
 85.  on  St.  Matt,  and  hom.  82.  on  St.  John,  whose 
 sentiment,  according  to  Photius  (Biblioth.  cod. 
 116.),  was  universally  followed  by  the  Greek 
 Church.     Whence    it    appears,    that    the    modern 
 
 Greeks  have  ignorantly  receded  from  the  ancient 
 usage  of  their  church,  under  the  pretence  that 
 Christ  anticipated  the  day  of  the  Passover  pre- 
 scribed by  the  law.  As  to  the  Latin  fathers,  see 
 St  Jcrom  on  the  26th  chap,  of  St.  Matt.  St.  Austin, 
 36.  c.  13  and  without  referring  to  the  other  fathers, 
 the  council  of  Trent,  sess.  22.  chap  1.  where, 
 speaking  of  the  institution  of  the  holy  sacrifice  of 
 the  mass,  it  declares,  that  "  after  celebrating  the 
 ancient  Passover,  immolated  by  the  children  of 
 Israel,  in  memory  of  their  going  out  of  Egypt, 
 Christ  instituted  the  new  Passover,  viz.  himself  to 
 be  offered  under  visible  signs,  in  memory  of  his 
 going  out  of  this  world  to  his  Father."  Hence  the 
 Church  sings  in  the  Pange  lingua: 
 
 'Twas  on  that  ev'ning,  when  the  last 
 And  most  mysterious  supper  past  ; 
 When  Christ  with  his  disciples  sat. 
 To  close  the  law  with  legal  meat ; 
 Then  to  the  twelve  himself  bestowed 
 With  his  own  hands  to  be  their  food. 
 
 In  St.  John  there  are  two  or  three  difficulties 
 relating  to  this  subject,  which  will  be  explained  in 
 their  proper  places. 
 
 *  Literally  laid  down  in  a  leaning  or  lying  pos- 
 ture. According  to  the  Thalmudists,  it  was  a 
 matter  of  indifference  whether  the  paschal  supper 
 was  eat  in  a  sitting  or  standing  posture  ;  and  there- 
 fore no  argument  can  be  drawn  from  this  circum- 
 stance against  our  liOrd's  eating  the  paschal  sup- 
 per. Besides,  he  might  stand  when  eating  the 
 paschal  lamb,  and  eat  the  rest  of  the  supper  on  a 
 couch,  as  was  the  usual  custom  of  the  Jews.  See 
 Luke,  chap.  vii.  John,  chap.  xiii.  and  chap.  xxi. 
 
Ch.  CXXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  377 
 
 Eucharist,  and  the  meaning  is,  that  this  was  the  last  Jewish  Passover  which  he 
 should  eat  with  his  disciples  before  he  realized  the  figurative  lamb  by  the  true  one, 
 that  is,  himself,  which  he  was  about  to  substitute  in  its  place.  After  the  paschal 
 lamb  was  eaten  in  due  form,  "  Jesus  having-  taken  the  chalice,"  according  to  the  17. 
 usual  custom,  "  gave  thanks"  to  his  heavenly  Father,  because  the  time  of  shadows 
 and  figures  was  now  passed  away,  and  having  tasted  it,  he  gave  it  to  his  disciples, 
 "  and  said  :  take  and  divide  it  among  you.*  For  I  say  to  you,  that  I  will  not  drink 
 of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  till  the  kingdom  of  God  come  ;"  that  is,  this  was  the  last 
 time  Christ  wo\ild  drink  wine,  till  the  kingdom  of  God  should  appear  by  the 
 miraculous  change  of  wine  into  his  own  sacred  blood,  this  being  in  reality  one  of  the 
 most  astonishing  instances  of  the  power  and  controul  of  the  Almighty  over  the  crea- 
 tion. In  these  words,  therefore,  is  implied  a  promise  of  the  holy  Eucharist,  which 
 Jesus  is  now  about  to  fulfil,  after  the  previous  ceremony  of  washing  his  Apostles' 
 feet. 
 
 The  Jewish  Pa-sover  was  the  most  solemn  rite  of  the  old  law,  appointed  by  God  as 
 a  lasting  monument  of  the  deliverance  of  his  people  from  the  destroying  angel,  and 
 the  cruel  slavery  of  Pharaoh  .f  The  Israelites  were  directed  to  offer  in  sacrifice  an 
 unspotted  lamb,  and  to  sprinkle  their  dpor-posts  with  the  blood  of  the  victim,  as  a 
 sign  for  the  exterminating  angel  to  pass  over  their  houses,  while  he  slew  every  first- 
 born in  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  first-born  of  Pharaoh  who  sat  on  the  throne,  unto 
 the  first-born  of  the  captive  woman  that  was  in  prison.  After  this  last  plague,  the 
 stubborn  heart  of  Pharaoh  relented  ;  dreading  the  total  extermination  of  his  people, 
 he  hastened  the  departure  of  the  Israelites  out,  of  Egypt  with  all  possible  expedition. 
 Amid  the  general  desolation  of  that  night  (for  there  was  not  an  Egyptian  house  with- 
 out a  dead  body),  the  Israelites  were  preserved  unhurt,  owing  to  the  blood  of  the 
 paschal  lamb.  This  was  a  great  mystery,  says  St.  Chrysostom,  an  admirable  figure 
 of  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  Lamb  of  God,  who  was  to  be  otTered  up  in  sacrifice  for  our 
 redemption  from  sin  and  hell,  and  with  the  sprinkling  of  whose  blood  our  souls  are 
 rescued  from  the  slavery  of  the  infernal  Pharaoh,  and  from  the  second  and  eternal 
 death.  Christ  our  Passover  is  sacrificed  for  us,  says  St.  Paul.|  When  God  ordered 
 the  Israelites  to  sprinkle  the  blood  of  the  lamb  upon  their  door-posts,  it  was  not  from 
 any  need  he  had  of  this  sensible  mark  to  discover  the  victims  of  his  wrath  ;  it  was 
 solely  with  the  view  of  signifying,  that  the  blood  of  the  true  Lamb  would  be  the  dis- 
 tinguishing character  or  mark  to  discriminate  the  children  of  Israel,  whom  he  ap- 
 pointed to  save,  from  the  children  of  Egypt,  who  are  devoted  to  destruction.  Let  us 
 therefore,  with  St.  Panl,§  bear  about  in  our  body  the  dying  of  Jesus,  and  the  im- 
 pression of  his  blood,  if  we  would  escape  the  divine  wrath  and  the  infernal  destroying- 
 angel  that  seeks  our  ruin. — Every  thing  in  the  paschal  lamb  was  mysterious  and 
 prophetical.     A  bone  was  not  to  be  broken,  and  they  brake  not  the  legs  of  Jesus 
 
 *  By   these  words  Jesus   did  not  inslilute   the  supped,  he  sai<i :   "  this  is  the  chalice  of  the  New 
 
 Ho'y  Eucharist,  as  St.  Austin  conjectures,  but  only  Testament  in   my  blood   which   shall   be   shed  for 
 
 concluded  tiie  paschal  su]5per  ;   for  the  same  Evan-  you." 
 
 gelist,  St.  Luke,  speaking  a  little  below  of  the  con-  t  See  Exodus,  chap.  xiv. 
 
 secratinn  of  the  chalice,  viz.  ver.  ^O.  says:  in  like  J  1  Cor.  v.  7. 
 
 manner  also  "  taking"    the  chalici-,  after  he  had  §  2  Cor.  iv.  10. 
 
 3-2 
 
378  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXIX. 
 
 Christ  on  the  cross.*  The  lamb  was  to  be  without  blemish,  to  express  the  perfect 
 sanctity  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  immaculate  Lamb  of  God.  The  paschal  lamb  was  to  be 
 sacrificed  and  eaten,  because  Christ  was  to  suffer  and  die  for  us  ;  and  unless  we  eat 
 his  flesh,  we  shall  have  no  life  in  us.  The  door-posts  of  the  Israelites  were  to  be 
 sprinkled  with  blood,  that  the  destroying  anoel  might  pass  over  them,  for  with  the 
 blood  of  Christ  our  souls  are  to  be  purified,  that  sin  and  death  may  not  prevail 
 against  us.  In  every  house  was  eaten  a  whole  lamb,  and  Christ  at  communion  is 
 received  whole  and  entire  by  every  faithful  soul. — From  the  manner  in  which  the 
 paschal  lamb  was  to  be  eaten,  we  may  learn  the  dispositions  of  soul  in  which  we 
 ought  to  come  to  the  Christian  Passover.  The  lamb  was  roasted  with  fire,  to  express 
 that  fire  of  divine  charity  wilh  which  we  are  to  approach  to  Christ  in  the  holy 
 mysteries  : — it  was  eaten  with  unleavened  bread  ;  therefore,  says  the  Apostle,t  "let 
 us  feast  not  with  the  old  leaven,  nor  with  the  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness,  but 
 with  the  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth."  The  bitter  herbs,  prescribed  for 
 eatino-  the  paschal  lamb,  signify  that  wholesome  bitterness  of  repentance  and  contri- 
 tion for  sin  with  which  we  are  to  come  to  the  Lamb  of  God.  The  loins  girt,  and  feet 
 shod,  denote  the  girding  up  of  the  loins  of  our  soul,  by  resolutely  restraining  our 
 passions  and  lusts,  and  that  our  feet,  that  is,  the  affections  of  the  soul,  are  to  be  shod 
 with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace,'|  that  is,  with  a  readiness  of  heart  to  fol- 
 low in  all  things  the  rules  of  the  gospel,  as  the  only  way  to  true  peace.  The  staff  in 
 the  hand  shows  that  we  are  to  reckon  ourselves  as  pilgrims  in  this  world,  who  have 
 no  lasting  dwelling  place  here,  and  that  therefore  we  are  to  make  the  best  of  our  way 
 to  our  true  countrv,  the  heavenly  Canaan. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXIX. 
 
 JESUS  WASHES  THE  FEET  OF  HIS  APOSTLES, §     JOHN  XIII. 
 
 Of  the  four  Evangelists,  St.  John  is  the  only  one  who  relates  the  washing  of  the 
 John  13.  Apostles'  feet,  preparatory  to  the  institution  of  the  holy  Eucharist.  This  was  on  the 
 evening  ''  before  the  festival-day  of  the  Passover,"  when  "  Jesus  knowing  that  his 
 hour  was  come  that  he  should  pass  out  of  this  world  to  the  Father,  having  loved  his 
 own  who  were  in  the  world,  he  loved  them  unto  the  end,"  leaving  them  in  the 
 blessed  sacrament  which  he  was  going  to  institute,  and  which  breathes  nothing  but 
 
 *  Jo.  xix.  33.  unleavened  bread   and  wild  lettuce.     The  second 
 
 t  1  Cor.  V.  8.  WES  the  usual  or  ordinary  supper;  for  as  the  lamb 
 
 +  Eph.  iv.  15.  was  not  a  sufficient  supper  for  any  great  number 
 
 §  This  washing  of  the  feet  took  place  before  the  of  persons,   who    sometimes   amounted  to   twenty, 
 
 institution  of  the  Eucharist.     The  Jews  made  two  and  could   not  be  less   than  ten,  it  was  followed  by 
 
 suppers  at  thi;  festival  of  the  Passover:  the  first  the  usual  supper.     It  was  after  this  second  supper 
 
 was  ceremonial,   at  which,  according  to  the  ordi-  that  Christ  washed  his  disciples'  feet,  previously  to 
 
 nance  of  the  law,  the  paschal  lamb  was  e;rten  with  the  institution  of  the  holy  Eucharist. 
 
(  //?  •  y///7r//'/  //v/.>///////  ///''—   ^/. 1(7,1 
 
 / 
 
 ;>•/  , 
 
 joBXjm.s.t 
 
Ch.  CXXIX]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  379 
 
 love,  an  eternal  monument  of  liis  most  tender  affection.     "  And"  therefore,  "  when       2. 
 supper  was  done,"  in  which  he  ate  the  typic  paschal  lamb  with  his  disciples,  ("  the 
 devil  having-  now  put  into  the  heart  of  Judas  Iscariut,  the  son  of  Simon,  to  betray 
 him)  ;. knowing-  that  the  Father  had  given  him  all  things  into  his  hands,  and  that  he       3. 
 came  from  God,  and  g-oeth  to  God"  again,  with  a  full  and  absolute  power  to  dispose 
 of  all  things,  he  resolves  upon  the  peiformance  of  that  master-piece  of  his  power  and 
 goodness,  the  institution  of  the  blessed  Eucharist ;  and  with  the  view  of  preparing  his 
 disciples  for  the  worthily  receiving  of  so  august  a  sacrament,  "  he  riseth  from  supper,       4 
 and  layeth  aside  his"  upper  "  garments,  and  having  taken  a  towel,  girded  himself," 
 after  the  manner  of  a  servant.     "  After  that,  he  putteth  water  into  a  bason,  and  began       5. 
 to  wash  the  feet  of  his  disciples,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  towel  wherewith  he  w-as 
 girded."      In  this  transaction  we  may  observe  how  Jesus  enforces  the  necessity  of 
 the  purification  of  our  interior,  and  recommends,  by  his  own  example,  the  practice  of 
 charity  and  of  humility  to  all  his  followers.    The  necessity  of  this  purification  appears 
 from  the  tenour  of  his  discourse  with  Peter.  "  He  cometh  therefore,"  first,  "to  Simon       6. 
 Peter,  and  Peter  saith  to  him  :   Lord,  dost  thou  wash  my  feet?     Jesus  answered  and       7. 
 said  to  him  :  what  I  do,  thou   knowest  not"  the  meaning  of  "  now,  but  thou  shalt 
 know  hereafter.*     Peter,"  struck  at  such  an  humiliating-  condescension,  "  saith  to       8. 
 him  :  thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet.     Jesus  answered  him  :  if  I  wash  thee  not,  thou 
 shalt  have  no  part  with  me."     It  is  thus  that  Jesus  describes  the  communion  of  his 
 body  and  blood,  or  the  holy  Eucharist ;  and  the  purport  of  his  words  is,  that  as  Peter 
 was  not  in  that  due  state  of  preparation  requisite  for  worthily  receiving  this  august 
 sacrament,   so,   unless    he    submitted   to   the   required    purification,   emblematically 
 figured  by  the  washing  of  his  feet,  he  should  be  debarred  from  partaking  of  that 
 sacred   mysterv.     ''  Simon  Peter,"  although   he  did   not   yet  fully  comprehend  the       9. 
 meaning  of  what  Jesus  proposed  to  him,  vvas,  however,  sensible  that  this  washing  of 
 his  feet  was  something-  mysterious,  and   therefore  declares  his  full  assent  to  it,  and 
 "  saith  to  him  :  Lord,  not  only  my  feet,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head.     Jesus      lo. 
 saith  to  him  :  he  that  is  washed"  in  a  bath,  "  needeth  not  but  to  wash  his  feet"  at 
 coming  out,  "  being  clean  all  over :"  it  is  the  dust  alone,  unavoidably  adhering  to  his 
 feet  by  his  touching  the  ground,  which  must  be  shaken  off,  or  cleansed  away  ;  in 
 other  words,  the  soul,  which  is  in  the  state  of  righteousness,  however  just  she  may 
 be,  yet  stands  in  need  of  grace,  as  of  a  living  water,  to  purify  the  heart  and  affections 
 from  that  dust  or  dirt  which  is  unavoidably  contracted  in  our  commerce  with  the 
 world.     Jesus  then  added  :  "  and  you  are  clean,  but  not  all.     For  he  knew  who  he      ll. 
 was  that  would  betray  him  ;  therefore  he  said  :  you  are  not  all  clean.     Then,  after      12. 
 he  had  washed  their  feet,  and  taken  his  garments,  being  set  down  again,"  he  endea- 
 voured to  make  them  sensible  of  the  advantages  and  fruits  to  be  derived  from  this 
 humble  ceremony  which  he  had  just  performed.     The  first  fruit  to  be  gathered  from 
 it,  was  an  imitation  of  his  humility,  of  which  he  gave  tliem  so  striking  an  example  ; 
 and  "  he  said  to  them  :  know  you  what  I  have  done  to  you  ?  You  call  me  Master  and      13. 
 
 *  We  cannot  at  present  understand  the  reason     we  shal!  know  them  all  to  be  righteous,  reasonable, 
 of  all   God's  commands  and  revelations  :  it  is  suf-      and  necessary  to  be  believed,  adored,  and  obeyed, 
 licient  lor  us  to  know,  that  a  time  will  come  when 
 
380  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXIX. 
 
 14.  Lord,  and  you  say  well ;  for  so  I  am.     If  then  I,  being  your  Lord  and  Master,  have 
 
 15.  washed  your  feet,  you  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet.  For  I  have  given  you  an 
 example,  that  as  I  have  done  to  you,  so  you  do  also."*  This  is  not  to  be  understood 
 as  extending  merely  to  the  outward  ceremony  of  washing  the  feet  of  our  brethren  ; 
 but  is  likewise  complied  with  in  a  spiritual  sense,  when  we  pardon  them  the  faults 
 which  they  commit  against  us,  and  when  by  our  prayers,  our  advice,  our  fraternal 
 corrections,  and  especially  by  the  example  of  a  virtuous  life,  we  contribute  all  in  our 
 power  to  cleanse  the  affections  and  meliorate  the  conduct  of  each  other.    He  confirms 
 
 ^^-  the  reason  drawn  from  his  own  example  in  these  terms  :  "  Amen  I  say  to  you  :  the 
 servant  is  not  greater  than  liis  Lord  :  neither  is  the  apostle  greater  than  he  that  sent 
 him."  Since  therefore,  in  this  instance,  I  your  Lord  and  Master  have  so  far  hum- 
 bled myself  as  to  perform  towards  you  my  servants  and  Apostles,  an  office  of  so  mean 
 and  humble  a  nature  as  that  of  washing  your  feet,  how  can  you,  my  disciples,  with 
 propriety  refuse  to  perform  a  similar  office  to  each  other,  or  consider  yourselves 
 
 17.  debased  by  so  doing  ?  lie  adds,  by  way  of  conclusion  :  "  if  you  know  these  things, 
 you  shall  be  blessed  if  you  do  them  ;"  for  the  knowledge  of  virtue,  without  the  prac- 
 
 18.  tice,  avails  nothing.  Then  making  an  exception  as  to  the  traitor  Judas,  he  said  :  "  I 
 speak  not  of  you  all :  I  know  whom  I  have  chosen"  for  eternal  happiness  :  "  but"  I 
 tolerate  others  of  a  different  description,  "  that  the  Scriptures  may  be  fulfilled :  he 
 that  eateth  mj/  bread  imth  me,  shall  lift  up  his  heel  against  ?ne."j  Jesus  had  hitherto 
 fulfilled  that  part  of  the  prophecy  which  regarded  his  conduct  towards  Judas,  in 
 having  given  him  his  bread  and  maintenance  ;  but  he  is  now  about  to  extend  his 
 bounty  to  him  infinitely  further,  and  lu  heap  coals  upon  his  head,  by  imparting  to  him 
 his  own  sacred  body  for  food,  in  company  with  the  other  Apostles.  He  shall  lift  up 
 his  heel ;  this  being  the  most  distant  part  of  the  body,  represents  the  last  stroke 
 which  Judas  was  then  meditating  to  inflict  upon  him  at  parting,  as  a  farewell  blow, 
 which  was  no  less  than  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
 
 19.  Jesus  calls  the  attention  of  his  disciples  to  this  prediction  :  "At  present,"  says  he, 
 "  I  tell  you  before  it  comes  to  pass  :  tliat  when  it  shall  come  to  pass,  you  may  believe 
 that  I  am  he,"  viz.  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  eternal  wisdom  of  the  Father.  He 
 would  hereby  convince  them  that  he  was  not  taken  by  surprise,  though  at  the  moment 
 they  did  not  understand  what  he  had  exi)ressed  only  in  general  terms. 
 
 As  to  the  silence  of  St.  John,  respecting  the  institution  of  the  holy  Eucharist,  it 
 may  easily  be  accounted  for,  from  the  circumstance  of  its  having  been  sufficiently 
 recorded  by  the  other  Evangelists.     Yet  he  gives  us  the  recital  of  Christ's  washing 
 
 t  This  passarje  shows  that  the  holv  Scripture  is  an  example  that  you  should  do  what  I  have  done  to 
 
 to  be  understood  according-  to  the  sense  and  tradi-  you.     Exclusive   therefore  of  the  practice  and   tra- 
 
 tion  of  the  Catholic  Church.      How  shall  a  person,  dition  of  the  Church,  this  washing-  of  feet  "  would 
 
 who  is  guided  onlj'  by  the  words  of  Scripture,  dis-  have  been  looked  upon  as  a  standing-  sacrament  in 
 
 tinguish  between  </jis  and  the  precept  for  celebratiuEf  the  Church  of  Christ,"  as   bishop   VVilson   adniils. 
 
 the  holy  Eucharist?    Why,  may  ye  say,  sliotild  one  The  truth   of  il  is,  that,  however  Protestants  may 
 
 be  observed  and  not  the  other?    In  both  cases  the  decry  tradition,  they  cannot  totally  discard  it,  and 
 
 command  seems  equally  positive  and  equally  clear,  are  forced  to  have  recourse  to  it  upon  some  occasions. 
 
 The  words :  do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,  seem  says  Dr.  Brett.     See  his  treatise,  Tradition  Neces- 
 
 not  to  imply  a  stronger  precept  than  these  ;  you  sary. 
 
 ought  to  wash  one  another  s  feet ;  I  have  given  you  t  Ps.  .xl.  10. 
 
Ch.  CXXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  ygl 
 
 the  feet  of  his  Apostles,  as  a  preparation  for  this  divine  sacrament :  at  least  this  is 
 the  most  easy  and  rational  construction  we  can  give  to  tlie  above  ceremony,  and  to 
 the  several  circumstances  preceding  it. 
 
 The  second  fruit  to  be  gathered  from  the  ceremony  of  washing  the  feet  of  the 
 Apostles,  concerns  principally  the  ministers  or  pastors  of  the  Church.  For  as  Christ 
 washed  their  feet  to  dispose  them  for  the  communion  of  his  body  and  blood,  he  clearly 
 gives  them  to  understand,  that  they  should  voluntarily  offer  themselves  to  the  office 
 of  cleansing  the  faithful  from  their  sins,  by  the  sacrament  of  penance,  before  they 
 impart  to  them  the  sacred  mysteries.  With  a  view  to  this  duty,  he  tells  them  that 
 he  has  set  the  example  which  it  behoves  them  to  imitate. 
 
 The  third  fruit  to  be  derived  from  this  ceremony,  regards  all  the  faithful  in  general, 
 who  may  hence  learn  to  preserve  their  baptismal  innocence  with  the  greatest  care  ; 
 but  if,  previously  to  their  approaching  to  the  heavenly  banquet  of  Christ's  sacred 
 body,  they  contract  some  spiritual  stains  to  be  washed  away  in  the  sacrament  of 
 p?nance,  the.se  stains,  like  those  of  the  Apostles,  should  only  be  in  the  nature  of  a 
 little  dirt  or  dust,  which  our  feet  unavoidably  contract ;  that  is,  they  are  to  be  but 
 sligiit  veni.d  faiills,  such  as  are  inevitable  in  our  commerce  with  the  world,  and  not 
 like  that  base  perfidy  and  treason  of  Judas,  who,  though  in  the  state  of  mortal  sin, 
 and  just  on  the  point  of  betraying  Jesus  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  yet  impiously 
 dared  to  partake  of  his  precious  body  and  blood,  in  company  with  the  other 
 Apostles. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXX. 
 
 CHRIST  INSTITUTES  THE  HOLY  EUCHARIST.      MATT.   XXVI.      MARK  XIV.     'LUKE  XXII. 
 
 After  eating  the  paschal  lamb  and  washing  his  disciples'  feet,  Jesus  proceeded  to  the 
 institution  of  the  holy  Eucharist :   and  this  he  did,   "  whilst  they  were"  yet  "  at  Matt.  26 
 supper,"  in  order  that  the  truth  or  reality  might  succeed  to  the  figure  in  one  and  the 
 same  banquet.     He  chose,  moreover,  to  conclude  the  last  supper  with  this  divine 
 sacrament,  in  order  more  deeply  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  his  dis-       j    y^^  ^^ 
 ciples  the  remembrance  of  so  singular  a  favour.     "  Jesus,"  therefore,  secration  of  the 
 "  took"  into  his  sacred  and  venerable  hands  unleavened  "  bread,"  this  ^'"'^''^^• 
 only  being  at  hand,  and  what  the  law  prescribed  to  be  eaten  with  the  paschal  lamb.* 
 "  And"  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,f  "  he  gave  thanks":};  to  his  heavenly  Father  for 
 
 *  Exod.  xli.  many  other  names,  such  as  the  Christian  sacrifice, 
 
 t   This   circumstance    we   learn    from    tradition,  or  sacred  Host,  because   it   contains   Jesus   Christ, 
 
 See  the  liturgies  of  St.  James,  St.  Basil,  &c.  the  host  or  victim  who  was  slain  and  offered  for  us. 
 
 X  Hence  the  holy  sacrament  is  called  the  Eiic/ia-  It  is  called  the  blessed  and  the  holy  sacrament,  by 
 
 rist,  which  in  Greek  sinnifies  thanksgiving,  both  in  reason  of  its  supreme  excellence;  the  sacrament  of 
 
 reference   to   the   tlianksniving  of   Christ   on    this  the  altar,  because  performed   upon  the  altar ;   the 
 
 occasion,  as  likewise  to  that  grateful  thanksgiving  holy  table,  because  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  spiritual 
 
 with  which  we  are  always  to  receive  this  wonderful  feast,  in  which  Christ   nourishes  us  with  his  own 
 
 pledge  of  our  redemption.      This   sacrament  has  body  and  blood  ;  the  holy  communion,  because  by 
 
 33.  5e 
 
382 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 [Ch.  cxxx. 
 
 the  almighty  power  bestowed  on  him  over  all  created  things^  so  as  to  render  them 
 subservient  to  his  greatest  mysteries ;  "  and"  holding  the  bread  in  his  hands,  '•  he 
 blessed  it"  by  some  particular  form  or  gesture,  to  engage  the  attention  of  his  disci- 
 ples to  what  he  was  going  to  perform,  "  and  he  broke"  it  into  thirteen  pieces,  for 
 that  was  the  number  at  table  ;  or  perhaps  he  might  break  off  a  portion  or  share,  as 
 he  distributed  it  to  each ;  which  he  might  the  more  easily  do,  as  the  unleavened 
 bread  was  made  in  a  flat  shape  ;  "  and  he  gave  to  his  disciples"  there  present,  not 
 Luke  22,  excepting  even  Judas,*  '^  and  said  :   Take  ye  and  eat:"  for  "  This  is  my  Body  t 
 
 19. 
 
 it  Jesus  Christ  communicates  and  unites  himself  to  them  his  flesli  to  eat,  that  same  flesh  which  he  was 
 
 us,  and  we,   as   his   members,   are   united  to   one  to  deliver  up  for  the  life  of  the  world.     He  on  that 
 
 another  by  this  bond  of  charity  ;  the  viaticum,  be-  occasion  confirmed,  with  a  remarkable  emphasis  of 
 
 cause   it  strengthens  us  in  our  earthly  pilgrimas-e,  expression,  the  reality  of  this  manducation,  assuring; 
 
 and  at  the  hour  of  death  unites  us  to  Jesus  Christ  them,  that  his  Jlesh  was  meat  indeed,  and  his  blood 
 
 our  liijht,  our  guide,  and  our  strength  in   the  way  drink  indeed  ;    and   when  some   were   shocked  at 
 
 to  eternity.     But  none  of  these  various  names,  nor  such  a  proposal,  he   still  insisted  that  unless   they 
 
 all   of  them  together,  can  adequately  express  the  ate  his  flesli  they  sliould  have  no  life  in  them  ;  the 
 
 innumerable  excellencies  of  tliis  adorable  mystery,  possibility  of  it  he  evinced  from  his  divine  power. 
 
 It  is   here    Christ   has   displayed,   in    a    wonderful  and   his   miraculous    ascension   into   heaven  ;    the 
 
 manner,  his  infinite  wisdom,  his  infinite  power,  and  necessity  of  it  he  established  by  permitting  those  to 
 
 the  riches  of  his  love.     The  Church  calls  it  the  per-  abandon    him   who  refused   to  believe  it;   and  the 
 
 petual  pledge  of  our  Saviour's  passion,  the  abridg- 
 ment of  his  sacred  mysteries,  the  greatest  of  all  his 
 miracles,  our  singular  comfort  in  his  absence,  and 
 the  accomplishment  of  the  greatest  figures  of  the 
 old    law.      Christ    would  not   institute    this    sacra- 
 
 belief  of  it  he  enforced  on  the  minds  of  his  disciples 
 from  the  consideration  that  he  their  teacher  was  the 
 Son  of  God  and  the  author  of  their  eternal  salva- 
 tion. The  Apostles  were  deeply  imjiressed  with 
 these  tlioughts  previous   to  the   institution  of  the 
 
 ment  in  the  beginning  of  his  ministry :  he  would  Holy  Eucharist:  consequently,  when  they  beheld 
 
 first  prepare  his   disciples  for  the  belief  of  it,  by  Jesus  Christ,  just  before  his  death,  take  bread  into 
 
 trwuing  water  into  wine,  and  performing  innumera-  his    sacred   hands;    when,    after    blessing  it    with 
 
 ble  other  miracles  before  them  during  the  course  of  solemnity,  they  heard   him   say:    Take,  eat,  this  is 
 
 his  ministry.  my  body  which  shall  be  given  fir  you  ;  they  must 
 
 *  This  is  the  received  opinion  of  all  the   holy  necessarily   have  concluded,  that  it  was   truly  his 
 
 Fathers,  if  we  except   St.  Hilary.     Dominus  tradi-  body  which  he  now  gave  them  to  eat,  according  to 
 
 torem  suum   tania  patientia  pertulit,  ut  ei  Eucha-  his  former  promise.     And   though  their  reason  or 
 
 ristiam,  Sicut  caeteris  Apostolis,  traderet.     St.  Aug.  senses  might  have  started  difficulties,  yet  all   these 
 
 Trac.  62.  in  Joan.  were  obviated  by  their  belief  of  his  being  God,  and 
 
 N.  B.    In   speaking  of  the  real   presence  in  the  consequently   able  to  do  whatever  he  pleased,  and 
 
 Eucharist,  Catholics  hold  that  Christ  is  corporally  to  make  good  whatever  he  said.     Moreover,  if  we 
 
 and  substantially  present,  but  noi  carnally ;  that  consult  tradition,  we  shall   find  that  the  Greek   as 
 
 is,  not  in  that  gross,  natural,  and  sensible  manner  well  as  the  Latin  church,  has  uniformly  declareil  in 
 
 in  which  Protestants  misrepresent  our  doctrine.  favour  of  the  literal  sense  of  Christ's  words,  as  may 
 
 t  These  words  are  so  plain,  that  it  is  difficult  to  be  seen  at  large  in  Bellarmine,  Perron,  and  other 
 imagine  others  more  expressive  of  Christ's  real  controvertists.  The  learned  author  of  the  Pcrpe- 
 presence  in  the  holy  sacrament.  The  force  and  tuite  de  la  fii,  and  his  continuator  Renaudot  in 
 import  of  them  will  however  appear  in  a  still  the  two  additional  volumes,  have  invincibly  demon- 
 stronger  light,  if  we  consider  the  formal  promise  strated  that  the  belief  of  all  the  oriental  Christians 
 which  Jesus  had  made  to  his  disciples,  as  related  by  perfectly  coincides  with  that  of  the  Catholic  Church 
 St.  John,*  (see  chap.  59.)  viz.  that  he  would  give  respecting  the   real    presence.     This   point  seems 
 
 *  If  Protestants,  in  opposition  to  the  primitive 
 Fathers,  deny  the  connection  of  the  sixth  chapter 
 of  St.  John  with  the  institution,  it  is  "from  the 
 fear  of  giving  advantage  to  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
 siantiation,"  says  Dr.  Clever  the  Bishop  of  Bangor. 
 — Dr.  Porteus,  in  hia  Lecture  on  the  twenty-sixth 
 chanter  of  St.  Matthew  affirms,  that  "  nothing  is 
 more  evident  than  that  these  words  of  Christ,  This 
 is  my  body,  signify.  This  represents  my  body."  But 
 I  appeal  to  the  impartial  reader,  whether  a  bit  of 
 bread  evidently  and  naturally  represents  the  body 
 
 of  a  man.  Moreover,  how  does  this  confidence  of 
 assertion  accord  with  the  general  belief  of  Christen- 
 dom, four  parts  in  five  of  which  understand  the 
 words  of  Christ  not  in  the  figurative  but  the  literal 
 sense.  It  is  in  vain,  therefore,  to  pretend  the  evi- 
 deuce  of  Christ's  words  in  favour  of  such  an  asse*- 
 tion.  In  fact,  "whilst  the  institution  is  considered 
 as  a  memorial  only,  nothing  can  well  be  further 
 from  being  plain,"  says  Dr.  Clever,  the  Bishop  of 
 Bangor,  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Lord's  supper. 
 
Ch.  CXXX.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 which  is  given  for  you  ;"  that  is,  which  will  be  oft'ered  up  for  you  in  sacrifice  upon  the 
 cross,  or  which  is  now  offered  up  and  distributed  to  you.  This  second  meaning-  is 
 more  conformable  to  the  Greek  text  of  St.  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
 (chap.  xi.  24.  To  utts^  vfj-wv  xAwjasvov,  quod  pro  vobis  frangitur,)  that  which  is  now 
 broken  to  be  given  to  you.  But  the  former  sense  agrees  better  with  the  vulgate 
 (quod  pro  vobis  tradetur),  which  shall  be  delivered  for  you.  Jesus  then  empowered 
 his  disciples  and  their  successors  to  perform  the  self-same  thing  which  he  had  done, 
 with  a  grateful  sense  and  lively  remembrance  of  his  sufferings  for  them.  "  Do  * 
 this,"  said  he,  "  for  a  commemoration  of  me;"t  that  is,  as  often  as,  in  imitation  of 
 
 383 
 
 now  to  be  so  well  ascertained,  th:it  obstinacy  or 
 in-norance  can  alone  call  it  in  question.  Dr.  Philip 
 Nicolai,  thongfh  a  Protest;int,  candidly  acknow- 
 ledges in  his  first  book  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ, 
 page  22,  "  that  not  only  the  churches  of  the  Greeks, 
 but  also  the  Russians,  and  the  Georgians,  and  the 
 Armenians,  and  the  Judeans,  and  the  Ethiopians, 
 as  many  of  them  as  believe  in  Christ,  hold  the  true 
 and  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the 
 Lord,"  &c.  This  general  agreement  among  so 
 many  churches  of  the  Christian  world,  atTords  the 
 strongest  evidence  against  Seeker  and  other  Pro- 
 testants, who  pretend  that  the  doctrine  of  the  real 
 presence  is  a  mere  innovation  which  was  not  started 
 till  seven  hundred  years  after  Christ's  death.  For 
 how  will  their  supposition  accord  with  the  belief  of 
 the  Nestorians  and  Eutychians,  who  were  separated 
 from  the  Church  of  Rome  long  before  that  period, 
 and  who  are  found  to  agree  exactly  with  Catholics 
 concerning  this  important  point  ?  This  alone  forms 
 a  decisive  proof  against  the  figurative  sense  adopted 
 by  the  Sacramentarians,  and  evhices  that  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  real  presence  was  always  the  doctrine 
 of  the  Church,  and  derived  by  tradition  from  the 
 Apostles  themselves.  It  is,  indeed,  inconceivable 
 how  this  belief  of  the  real  presence  could  ever  have 
 gained  admittance  in  the  Christian  world,  had  it 
 not  been  received  from  the  beginning  as  a  doctrine 
 revealed  from  Jesus  Christ,  and  delivered  by  him 
 with  the  other  revealed  truths  to  his  Apostles.  For 
 in  the  supposition  of  Protestants,  that  the  doctrine 
 of  the  real  presence  was  an  innovation  first  broached 
 in  the  fifth,  sixth,  or  seventh  century,  (for  they  do 
 not  agree  among  themselves,)  it  must  certainly,  at 
 its  first  commencement,  have  appeared  to  have  been 
 a  new  doctrine,  as  never  having  been  heard  of  be- 
 fore ;  consequently  it  must  have  been  considered 
 as  false  anrl  heretical,  being  diametrically  opposite 
 to  what  all  the  Christian  world  are  supposed  to 
 have  firmly  believed  as  a  revealed  truth  ;  it  must 
 have  appeared  even  as  a  dangerous  heresy,  because 
 dire(!tly  leading  to  idolatry,  and  teaching  that  they 
 ought  to  adore  as  God,  what  they  and  all  their  pre- 
 decessors, from  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  believed 
 to  be  nothing  hut  bread  and  wine.  Lastly,  it  must 
 have  been  looked  upon  as  altogether  incredible, 
 because  conlrary  to  the  testimonv  of  the  senses, 
 and  directly  opposite  to  that  faith  which  is  supposed 
 to   have  obtained  among  all  Christians.     If  at  all 
 
 times,  as  we  learn  from  ecclesiastical  history,  the 
 least  innovation,  the  slightest  departure  from  the 
 received  tenets,  occasioned  disputes  and  contests, 
 if  every  heresy,  however  obscure  or  speculative,  was 
 combated  at  its  first  appearance,  can  we  imagine 
 that  this  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  which  in- 
 volved in  its  nature  a  point  of  daily  practice  as  well 
 as  of  faith,  which  proposed  to  Christians,  as  an 
 object  of  inward  and  outward  adoration,  what  in 
 their  former  estimation  it  was  idolatrous  to  adore, 
 can  we  imagine,  I  say,  that  so  important  a  doctrine, 
 without  noise  or  disturbance,  gently  insinuated  itself 
 into  the  minds  of  all  Christians,  and  that  no  histo- 
 rian either  perceived  it  in  himself  or  others,  to 
 transmit  the  account  of  it  to  posterity?  Can  they 
 who  believe  this,  find  any  difficulty  in  believing 
 mysteries  of  any  kind  whatever,  that  of  transub- 
 stantiation  not  excepted  ? 
 
 *  The  ancient  and  universal  practice  of  the 
 Church  in  mingling  a  little  water  with  the  wine,  is 
 probably  derived  from  the  example  of  Christ,  since 
 it  has  always  been  observed  from  the  days  of  the 
 Apostles.  See  St.  Justin,  Apol.  3.  St.  Irenseus,  1. 
 5.  c.  2.  St.  Cyprian,  Ep.  63.  ad  CebcII,  &c.  The 
 scripture  however  neither  mentions  the  water  nor 
 the  wine,  but  only  that  he  gave  them  the  cup. 
 Those  who  have  written  on  the  sacred  liturgy  ob- 
 serve, that  this  mixture  of  water  and  wine  is  de- 
 signed to  represent,  1.  The  union  of  the  human 
 and  divine  nature  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God. 
 2  The  union  of  the  faithful  with  Christ  their  head. 
 3.  The  water  and  blood  which  flowed  from  the  side 
 of  Christ. 
 
 t  Hence  Protestants  pretend  that  Christ's  body 
 and  blood  are  not  really  and  substantially  present 
 in  the  Eucharist.  But  the  futility  of  this  objection 
 will  manifestly  appear,  if  we  consider  that  ihe  Eu- 
 charist, as  believed  by  Catholics,  is  a  much  more 
 lively  remembrance  of  Christ,  than  as  held  by  Pro- 
 testants. For  Catholics  who  hold  transubstautiation 
 and  the  real  presence,  and  who  firmly  believe  that 
 as  often  as  they  partake  of  this  sacrament,  they 
 really  receive  the  same  body  of  Christ  that  was 
 crucified  for  them,  the  same  blood  of  Christ  that 
 was  shed  for  their  redemption,  do  certainly  renew 
 in  themselves  the  remembrance  of  our  Saviour's 
 death  and  passion  with  more  lively  sentiments  of 
 devotion  than  Protestants,  who  believe  that  they 
 receive  only  a  little  biead  and  wine  in  their  natural 
 
384  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXXX'. 
 
 me,  you  consecrate  bread  and  wine  into  my  body  and  blood,  do  it  with  a  o-rateful 
 remembrance  of  my  passion  and  death.  And  this  injunction  extends  to  all  ao-es,  for 
 as  often,  says  the  apostle,  (1  Cor.  xi.  26.)  as  you  shall  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this 
 chalice,  you  shall  show  the  death  of  the  Lord,  until  he  come  again  to  judge  the  world. 
 Luke  22.  ^  The  conse-  J^^us  "  in  like  manner,  taking  the  chalice  after  he  had  supped,"  pro- 
 Matt  26  '^™'"'«  o/  '^«  ceeded  to  the  consecration  of  the  wine.     St.  Luke  had  omitted  the 
 
 27.  "'"  "^'-'-  circumstance  of  the  time  in  the  recital  of  the  consecration  of  the  bread, 
 but  he  here  states  it  to  show,  that  the  eating  of  the  paschal  supper,  according  to  the 
 old  law,  was  now  terminated,  and  that  in  its  stead  he  instituted  the  great  sacrament 
 
 Matt.  26.  and  sacrifice  of  his  body  and  blood.     Jesus  then  "  gave  thanks"  to  his  heavenly 
 ^'''      Father,  and  blessed  the  chalice,*  hereby  indicating  that  the  effect  to  be  produced 
 upon  the  wine  was  distinct  from  that  which  he  wrought  upon  the  bread.     To  show 
 his  union  with  all  the  members  of  his  mystical  body,  Christ  partook  first  of  the  con- 
 secrated cup,t  as  he  had  done  already  of  the  consecrated  Host :  he  then  "  gave  to 
 
 28.  them,  saying:  Drink  ye  all  of  this,:}:  for  this  is  my  blood,"  and  the  seal  "  of  the 
 New  Testament"  (or  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood)  "  which  shall  be  shed  for 
 many  to  the  remission  of  sins:"  to  which  we  must  add  these  words  recorded  by  St. 
 
 Luke  22.  Luke,  which  were  unquestionably  spoken  by  Jesus  Christ:  "  This  is  the  chalice,  the 
 ^'^'  New  Testament  in  my  blood, §  which  shall  be  shed  for  you"  on  the  cross,  as  the 
 ransom  to  be  paid  for  the  redemption  of  the  world.  In  the  Greek,  this  is  expressed 
 by  the  present  tense,  and  refers  to  the  cup  ;  so  that  the  exact  and  literal  translation 
 would  be,  ivhich  cup  is  shed  for  you  ;  hence  it  is  proved,  that  the  blood  of  the  New 
 Testament  was  then  really  and  truly  in  the  chalice,  and  that  the  effusion  of  the 
 
 Mark  14.  chalice  into  the  mouths  of  the  Apostles,  was  a  real  and  perfect  sacrifice.     "  And  they 
 
 substance  in   remembrance  of  liim.     The  outward  For  when  Moses  s«i(! :  fhi.'^  is  ike  blood  of  the  Tes- 
 
 forms    of  bread    and   wine    which    remain   in    the  <«7ne«^  (Heb.  ix.  20.)  he  did  not  speak  of  blond  in 
 
 Euciiarist,  are  chiefly  designed  to  signify  or  repre-  figure,  but  of  tlie    true   and  real  blood  of  animals 
 
 sent  to  us  three  things,  viz.  1.  r/iePassio/j  of  Christ,  which   had   been   poured   into   the  basins.      In  like 
 
 of  which   they    are  the   remembrance ;    2iidly,   the  manner,  when   our  Lord,  at  his  last  supper,   said  : 
 
 body  and  blood  of  Christ  really  present,  of  which  this  cup  or  chalice  is  the  New  Testament  in  mi/ blood, 
 
 they  are  the  veil ;  3dly,  Everlasting  life,  of  which  he  speaks  of  his  true  and  real  blood  which  was  then 
 
 they  are  the  pledge.  in  the  cup:  for  as  the  old  covenant  was  made  in 
 
 *  The  chalice,  made  use  of  on  this  occasion,  is  the  blood  of  the  ancient   victims,  so  was  the  new 
 
 said  by  Bede,  or  whosoever  was  the  author  of  the  made   in   the   blood   of  Christ.     Now  let  ns,  for  a 
 
 book  On  holy  Places,  (chap.  2.)  to  have   been   of  moment,  suppose  with   the  Sacramentariaus,   that 
 
 silver,  with  two  handles,  and   to   have  been  kept  at  instead   of  the  .sacred  blood  of  Christ,  theie    was 
 
 Jerusalem  in  his  time.      See  Baronius  ad  an.  34.  only  wine,  it  will  then  follow,  that  Christ  made  his 
 
 t  Ipse  conviva  et  convivium,  ipse  comedcns  et  covenant,  not   in  his  own  blood,  but   merely   in   a 
 
 qui  comedetur.    St.  Jer.  Ep.  ad  Hedib.  figiu-e   of  if,    just   as   Moses   had   done.     For   the 
 
 I  It  would  seem  from  the  text  of  St.  Mark  as  it  blood  of  the  victims  in  which  the  old  covenant  was 
 
 Christ  said   these  words  which   follow,  not  before  made,  under  Moses,  was  confessedly  a  figure  of  the 
 
 but  after  the  Apostles  had  drank  :  but  it  was  cer-  blood  of  Christ,  and  even  a  more  expressiic  figure 
 
 tainly  otherwise,    as  is  clear  from  St.   Paul,   who  than  wine.    Consequently,  in  this  sup|)osilion  of  the 
 
 gives  a  more  circumstantial  account  of  this  sacred  figurative  sense,  the   essential    difference    between 
 
 institution,    which   he    says  he  received   from    our  the  new  and  old  covenant  is  done  away,  the  eucha- 
 
 Lord  himself   See  1  Cor.  xi.  25.  ristic  cup  has  nothing  superior  to  the  Mosaic  rite, 
 
 §  'i'his  is  a  beaulil'ul  and  striking  allusion  to  what  and  that  blood  whicli  Christ  declares  to  be  his  own 
 
 Moses  did  at  tlie  institution  of  the  Israelitic  cove-  blood,  and  which,  he  says,  is  shed  for  the  remission 
 
 nant,    when   pouring   the    blood    of  viclim.s    into  of  sins,  is  not  in  reality  the  blood   of  Christ,  any 
 
 basins,  he  said  :  behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  more  than   the   blood   of  bulls  jnd  goats,    which 
 
 Exod.  xxiv.   S.     This   furnishes  therefore   another  could  not  take  away  sins,  Heb.  x.  4. 
 strong  argument  in   favour  of  the  real   presence. 
 
Ch.  CXXX.l 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 385 
 
 29. 
 
 all  drank  of  it,  '*  not  excepting  even  Judas.  Jesus  now  declared  to  thenij  that  as 
 this  was  the  first  time  of  his  drinking  his  blood  with  them,  so  likewise  it  would  be 
 the  last  time  until  after  his  resurrection.  "  And  I  say  to  you,  I  will  not  drink  from  Matt.  26. 
 henceforwards  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine"  (meaning  his  own  blood,  he  being  the  true 
 vine,  as  he  is  about  to  inform  them),  "  until  that  day  when,"  being  renewed  by  my 
 resurrection,  "  I  shall  drink  it  with  you  new  in  the  kingdom  of  ray  Father  i"!  or 
 perhaps  he  gives  them  to  understand,  that  the  blessed  Eucharist,  which  they  had 
 just  received,  was  in  the  nature  of  a  foretaste  which  would  hereafter  be  followed  by  a 
 new,  glorious,  and  eternal  banquet,  prepared  for  them  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
 
 In  confirmation  of  what  has  been  noticed  above,  respecting  this  great  mystery  of 
 the  Eucharist,  we  may  observe  how  every  circumstance  relating  to  its  institution, 
 manifestly  tends  to  prove  the  real  presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  his  words  are  to 
 be  taken  in  their  obvious  and  literal  sense. — The,  time,  of  the  institution  ;  it  was  that 
 very  night  when  Jesus,  for  the  last  time,  addresses  his  Apostles,  previous  to  his 
 undergoing  a  cruel  death.  A  time  when  all  persons  are  disposed  to  speak  in  the 
 most  clear  and  unequivocal  manner. — The  situation  of  Jesus  Christ ;  in  respect  to 
 his  Apostles,  he  is  a  tender  father,  who  makes  his  last  will  and  testament.  This 
 should  ever  be  done  in  the  plainest  terms.  Does  a  wise  man  recur,  on  such  an 
 occasion,  to  unusual  figures  of  speech  ?  Does  he  say,  for  instance,  that  he  bequeathes 
 a  diamond,  when  he  intends  to  bequeath  only  the  figure  or  representation  of  a 
 
 *  That  is,  all  the  Apostles.  The  Blessed  Virgin 
 was  not  present  on  this  occasion,  as  Tillcmont  ob- 
 serves, from  the  authority  of  St.  Austin.  This 
 appears  also  from  the  Evangelists,  who  make  men- 
 tion only  of  the  twelve.  No  argument  can  be 
 decKiced,  therefore,  from  this  text,  to  prove  the 
 necessity  of  communicating-  in  both  kinds.  To 
 receive  the  blessed  sacrament  under  one  or  both 
 kinds,  has  always  been  considered  by  tlie  Church 
 as  a  point  of  mere  discipline,  and  therefore  it  has 
 varied  according  to  the  exigencies  of  time,  ])lace, 
 and  persons.  See  in  tlie  Essay  for  Calholic  Com- 
 munion, the  acknowledgments  of  Protestants  on 
 this  head.  We  must  observe,  that  the  lioiy  Eu- 
 charist is  both  a  sacrament  and  a  sacrifice.  As  a 
 sacrifice,  it  is  an  offering  made  to  God,  which  must 
 always  be  performed  under  both  kinds,  for  the 
 mystical  representation  of  Christ's  death:  as  a 
 sacrament,  it  may  be  administered  to  the  faithful 
 under  one  or  both  kinds,  as  the  Church  thinks 
 proper,  without  any  injury  to  the  receiver;  for  the 
 body  of  Christ  cannot  now  be  received  without  his 
 blood,  nor  his  blood  without  his  body:  conse- 
 quently, whoever  receives  under  one  kind,  receives 
 as  much  as  if  he  received  under  both,  that  is, 
 he  receives  Christ  whole  and  entire,  true  God  ami 
 true  man. 
 
 t  From  St.  Luke  it  appears,  that  Jesus  said  this 
 immediately  after  the  paschal  supper,  before  the 
 consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine:  but,  after  the 
 example  of  St.  Austin,  we  have  not  lliought  proper 
 to  transpose  the  order  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark, 
 who  place  it  likewise  after  the  consecration  of  tlie 
 
 33. 
 
 chalice.  According  to  Mauduit,  Toinard,  and 
 others,  these  words  were  spoken  at  two  different 
 periods  :  1.  As  a  notification  to  his  disciples,  that 
 he  would  no  more  drink  wine  until  the  establish- 
 ment of  the  kingdom  of  God,  or  in  other  words, 
 until  the  institution  of  the  blessed  Eucharist;  and 
 2.  To  denote,  that  he  would  not  again  drink  his 
 blood  with  them  before  his  resurrection,  which  is 
 also  the  time  of  God's  kingdom.  According  to  this 
 opinion,  which  we  have  adopted,  Christ  called  his 
 blood  the  fruit  of  tlie  vine,  Ijecause  he  gave  them 
 his  blood  under  the  appearance  of  wine,  as  St.  Paul 
 calls  the  body  of  Christ  bread,  because  given  under 
 the  appearance  of  bread.  1  Cor.  .\i.  26. — N.  B. 
 Jesus  Christ,  in  consecrating  the  bread  and  wine 
 into  his  body  and  blood,  made  use  of  the  same 
 words  which  have  been  employed  ever  since  by  his 
 ministers,  viz.  This  is  my  body,  &c.  See  Tertullian 
 (lib.  4.  adversus  Marcionem,  cap.  40.),  St.  Thomas 
 (3  P.  Q.  7S.  Ar.  1.),  and  the  council  of  Trent,  sess. 
 13.  chap.  1.  Mauduit  however,  with  some  few 
 others,  falsely  supposes,  that  our  Lord  previously, 
 by  his  hidden  blessing,  performed  this  miraculous 
 change.  In  the  form  of  consecration  used  by  the 
 Catholic  Church,  there  is  used  the  conjunction  for, 
 which,  according  to  St.  Thomas,  may  have  been 
 derived  from  tradition — shall  be  shed  for  m.\\y. 
 St.  Luke  and  Si.  Paul,  instead  of  many,  say  for 
 you,  and  both  are  joined  in  the  canon  of  the  mass. 
 St.  Eu.hymius  observes,  that  for  many,  has  the 
 same  meaning  as  for  all  mankind ;  for  the  new 
 alliance  was  made  with  all,  the  former  with  tlie 
 Jews  only. 
 
 5f 
 
3g(5  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXX 
 
 diamond  ? — The  quality  of  Jesus  Christ ;  he  is  a  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
 who  is  to  form  an  eternal  alliance.  Such  an  alliance,  we  may  well  suppose,  would 
 be  expressed  in  the  clearest  language. — The  very  action  itself  which  Jesus  Christ 
 performs ;  it  is  a  most  sacred  and  solemn  rite,  which  is  to  last  to  the  end  of  the 
 world.  The  least  ambiguity,  therefore,  would  be  attended  with  the  most  dangerous 
 Consequences. — Jesus  Christ,  the  sovereign  Pontiff,  is  perfectly  holy  ;  he  has  in 
 abomination  every  species  of  false  and  idolatrous  worship.  Yet  might  he  not  be 
 justly  charged  with  having  given  occasion  to  it,  if  on  this  solemn  occasion,  he  had 
 delivered  himself  in  obscure,  figurative  terms,  which  he  foresaw  would  be  misunder- 
 stood by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  Christian  world  ? — The  affection  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 manifested  on  this  occasion :  he  testifies  the  most  ardent  love  for  his  children  ;  he 
 bestows  on  tliem  the  greatest  of  benefits  ;  having  loved  hii  own,  he  loved  them  to  the 
 end*  His  power  is  not  inferior  to  his  love  ;  knowing  that  the  Father  hath  given  him 
 all  things  into  his  hands.]'  To  such  Almighty  power  nothing  can  seem  hard  or  im- 
 possible. But  the  very  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  simple,  clear,  and  perfectly  adapted 
 to  the  great  action  which  he  was  performing,  alone  furnish  the  strongest  proof 
 imaginable,  especially  if  their  connection  be  considered  with  what  he  was  going  to  do 
 and  suffer  for  mankind.  This  is  mi/  bodi/  which  shall  be  delivered  for  you,  and  con- 
 sequently my  true  and  real  body,  about  to  be  crucified,  and  not  a  figure  of  it.  This 
 is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  shall  be  shed  for  many  on  the  cross.  Admit- 
 ting that  Christ  intended  to  give  us  his  body  and  blood,  could  he  have  made  use  of 
 words  more  clear  and  perspicuous  than  these :  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood  ? 
 How  tlien  will  those  Christians  dare  to  present  themselves  before  the  awful  tribunal 
 of  Jesus  Christ,  who,  with  the  unbelieving  Capharnaites,  refuse  to  give  credit  to  his 
 words  ?  He  positively  declares  :  This  is  my  body,  and  they  boldly  deny  it,  and 
 maintain  it  to  be  only  the  figure  and  representation  of  it.  A  Catholic,  on  the  con- 
 trary, may  confidently  say  to  his  Judge,  with  simplicity  :  O  Eternal  Truth  !  I  have 
 believed  what  you  declared  by  three  Evangelists,  and  by  St.  Paul :  This  is  my  body, 
 this  is  my  blood.  I  have  believed  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ ;  I  have  believed  the 
 Church,  the  Spouse  of  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  is  truth  itself;  the  Church  is  the 
 'pillar  of  truth.  I  am,  therefore,  perfectly  satisfied  and  assured  that  my  faith  is  right 
 and  this  faith  I  will  boldly  confess  before  the  Sovereign  Judge  of  the  living  and 
 dead. 
 
 It  may  not  be  improper  to  subjoin  here  a  short  account  of  the  feast  of  Corpus 
 Christi,  which  is  kept  in  honour  of  tliis  great  mystery  of  the  holy  Eucharist.  The 
 Church,  indeed,  always  celebrated  with  solemn  thanksgiving,  the  institution  of  this 
 adorable  sacrament  on  Maundy  Thursday  in  Holy  Week  ;  but  as  that  time  v. 
 mostly  employed  in  commemorating  the  sufferings  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  it  was 
 judged  expedient  to  appoint  a  proper  solemn  festival  in  honour  of  so  adorable  a 
 mystery.  This  feast  began  first  to  be  celebrated  in  the  diocese  of  Liege,  in  the  year 
 1246,  and  was  afterwards  extended  to  the  whole  Church,  by  Pupe  Urban  IV.  who, 
 in  his  bull,  dated  an.  1262,  fixed  it  on  the  Thursday  after  Trinity  Sunday ;  com- 
 manding it  to  be  observed  with  a  solemnity  equal '  o  the  four  great  festivals  of  the 
 
 *  St.  John  xiii.  I.  t  St.  John  xiii.  3. 
 
Ch.  CXXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  38? 
 
 year.  After  extolling-  the  immensity  of  God's  love,  and  the  riches  of  his  bounty,  as 
 displayed  in  this  sacred  mystery,  he  exhorts  all  the  faithful,  by  their  extraordinary 
 devotion  on  this  day,  to  repair,  if  possible,  the  blasphemies  of  heretics  against  it,  and 
 to  make  amends  for  all  former  tepidity  in  assisting  at  mass,  or  in  receiving-  the  holy 
 communion.  It  is  certainly  incumbent  on  all  true  lovers  of  Christ,  to  testify  the 
 o-rateful  sense  which  they  entertain  of  this  wonderful  institution,  and  especially  on  this 
 day,  to  make  all  possible  atonement  to  his  most  amiable  injured  charity.  With  the 
 same  view  let  us,  at  other  times,  frequently  unite  ourselves  to  the  choirs  of  angels 
 who  render  to  Jesus  continual  respect  and  adoration  in  this  holy  sacrament ;  let  us 
 approach  the  holy  communion  with  the  most  lively  devotion  ;  let  us  ever  assist  at 
 the  sacrifice  of  tlie  mass  with  the  g-reatest  fervour  and  assiduity  ;  let  us  visit  and 
 adore  Christ  on  the  altar  as  on  his  throne  of  mercy  ;  and  let  us  ever  behave  in  his 
 sanctuary  with  the  most  awful  respect  and  reverence;  saluting-  devoutly  the  holy 
 sacrament  with  these  or  similar  aspirations  of  love  and  praise  :  "  May  Christ  be  ever 
 adored  and  praised  in  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the  altar." 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  CXXX. 
 
 As  the  Holy  Eucharist  contains  the  most  material  points  of  controversy,  now  agitated 
 between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  the  following-  observations  are  subjoined  with  the 
 view  of  elucidating-  the  Catholic  doctrine,  and  obviating  the  prejudices  and  misrepre- 
 sentations suggested  against  It,  either  by  ignorance  or  malevolence.  In  the  foregoing 
 chapter,  the  real  and  substantial  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
 under  the  appearance  of  bread  and  wine,  has  been  proved  by  the  words  of  the  insti- 
 tution, as  well  as  by  the  authority  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Church  in  all  ages  down 
 to  the  present  time.  It  remains,  that  we  now  examine  the  other  points  of  Catholic 
 faith  respecting  this  mystery  ;  and  it  will  be  found,  that  they  flow  from  the  foregoing 
 doctrine  as  its  necessary  consequences. 
 
 I.  The  adoration  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist.  I  shall  not  dwell  on  this  point,  since 
 the  most  learned  and  intelligent  of  our  adversaries  have  long  since  acknowledged 
 that  those  who  are  persuaded  of  the  real  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Eucharist, 
 may  and  ought  to  pay  him  their  adorations.  For  as  Mr.  Thorndike  justly  observes, 
 (Epil.  1.  b.  c.  30.)  "  I  suppose  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  may  be  adored  where- 
 soever they  are.  I  do  believe  it  was  so  practised  and  done  in  the  ancient  Church." 
 See  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  (Cat.  5  mystag:)  Gregory  Nazianzen,  (in  Or.  fun.  Soror. 
 Greg.)  "  The  angels  minister  at  the  table,  the  King  of  heaven  is  present,  therefore 
 ado}-e  and  commimicate,"  says  St.  Chrysostom,  (Hom.  3.  in  Ep.  ad  Eph.)  I  can- 
 not quit  this  subject  without  adverting  to  the  calumnious  charge  brought  against 
 Catholics  by  the  late  Archbishop  Seeker  in  his  thirty-sixth  Lecture  on  the  Church 
 Catechism.  After  several  ungenerous  misrepresentations  of  the  doctrine  of  Catholics, 
 he  asserts,  that  to  erroneous  belief  they  have  added  "  idolatrous  practice :  worship- 
 
3S8  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXX. 
 
 ping-  on  tlieir  knees  a  piece  of  bread  for  the  Son  of  God.  Nor  are  they  content  to 
 do  this  themselves,  but  with  most  unchristian  cruelty,  curse  and  murder  those  who 
 refuse  it."  Let  us  coolly  and  impartially  examine  whether  this  horrid  imputation  be 
 well  founded.  The  Doctor  admits  in  the  same  place,  that  Catholics  firmly  believe 
 the  bread  and  wine  to  be  turned  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Now  whether 
 they  are  right  or  wrong  in  this  their  belief,  it  is  evident  that  the  object  of  their 
 worship  is  not  a  bit  of  bread,  but  Christ  himself,  the  author  and  finisher  of  their 
 foith,  who  died  for  their  sins,  and  rose  again  for  their  justification  ;  consequently  their 
 act  of  adoration  cannot  be  idolatry.  For  as  the  learned  Bishop  Taylor  observes,  in 
 his  Liberty  of  prophesi/ing.  Sec.  20.  Num.  26.  "  Idolatry  is  forsaking  the  true  God, 
 and  giving  divine  worship  to  a  creature  or  an  idol,  that  is,  to  an  imaginary  God. 
 Now  it  is  evident,  that  the  object  of  their  (the  Catholics)  adoration,  in  the  blessed 
 sacrament,  is  the  only  true  and  eternal  God,  hypostatically  joined  with  his  holy 
 humanity,  which  hinnanity  they  believe  actually  present  under  the  veil  of  the  sacra- 
 mental signs.  And  if  they  thought  him  not  present,  they  are  so  far  from  worship- 
 ping the  bread  in  this  case,  that  themselves  profess  it  to  be  idolatry  so  to  do  :  which 
 is  a  demonstration,  that  the  soul  has  nothing  in  it  that  is  idolatrous ;  the  will  has 
 nothing  in  it,  but  what  is  a  great  enemy  to  idolatry ;  and  nothing  burns  in  hell  but 
 proper  will."  This  is  the  judgment  of  a  Protestant  prelate,  "  who,"  as  Knox  says, 
 "  stands  among  the  divines  of  England,  like  Shakespeare  among  the  poets,  in  proud 
 pre-eminence ;"  and  who  in  candour,  generosity,  and  liberality  of  sentiment,  is  cer- 
 tainly not  inferior  to  the  above-mentioned  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
 
 2.  The  doctrine  of  tramubstantialion  may  likewise  be  inferred  as  a  necessary  con- 
 sequence of  the  real  presence.  For  by  transubstantiation  we  mean  nothing  else  but 
 a  change  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  the  outward 
 form  of  bread  and  wine  still  remaining  unaltered  for  the  exercise  and  merit  of  our 
 faith.  Now  if  the  words  of  Christ's  institution  imply  a  real  and  substantial  presence 
 of  his  body  and  blood,  as  we  have  already  proved,  the  bread  and  wine  must  cither 
 be  changed  or  remain  together  with  his  body  and  blood,  as  the  Lutherans  maintain. 
 But  this  latter  supposition  is  inconsistent  with  the  obvious  meaning  of  Christ's  words. 
 For,  in  taking  the  bread  into  his  hands,  he  did  not  say:  here  is  my  body,  but  tins  is 
 my  body,  which  nothing  but  a  substantial  change  of  the  bread  could  make  really  and 
 literally  true  :  because  the  word  this,  pointing  precisely  at  what  he  held  in  his  hand, 
 viz.  bread,  if  it  continued  bread  after,  as  it  was  before  the  words  of  consecration,  the 
 proposition  would  have  been  absolutely  false.  This  change  the  Catholic  Church  has 
 thought  fit  to  express  by  the  word  Transubstantiation,  and  those  who  reject  tliis  term, 
 because  not  found  in  the  scripture,  ought,  for  the  same  reason,  to  reject  such  words 
 as  the  Trinity,  Incarnation,  or  Consnbstantiality ,  which  no  where  occur  in  the  sacred 
 writings.  Archbishop  Seeker,  with  several  other  Protestants,  goes  so  far  as  to  deny 
 the  possibility  of  transubstantiation.  But  this  is,  in  fact,  denying  the  omnipotent 
 power  of  God,  since  it  denies  God  the  power  of  destroying  a  bit  of  bread  and  of 
 concealing  a  human  body  under  its  appearance.  What  rashness  is  it  in  man  thus  to 
 set  limits  to  the  power  of  the  Almighty  I  Most  assuredly,  as  St.  Ambrose  reasons, 
 the  same  infinite  power  which  made  all  things  out  of  nothing,  can  change  one  thing 
 
Ch.  CXXX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  389 
 
 into  another,  and  as  easily  reproduce  the  same  body  in  a  different  place,  as  it  can 
 destroy  any  created  body  and  produce  the  same  again.     The  mystery  of  transub- 
 stantiation,*  it  is  true,  surpasses  the  contracted  limits  of  our  understanding  ;  so  does 
 the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  and  of  the  Incarnation  :  but  the  difficulties  arising  from 
 their  incomprehensible  nature,  ought   to   have  no  weight  with  sincere  Christians 
 against  the  positive  word  of  God.      "  It  is  certainly  highly  unreasonable  to  deny 
 our  assent  to  the  truth  of  any  thing,  or  the  reality  of  its  existence,  merely  because  the 
 manner  of  its  existing  is  unknown,"  says  CoUyer  in  his   Sacred  Interpreter.     For 
 "  the  works  of  God,"  says  St.  Gregory,  (Hom.  26.  in  Evang.)  "  would  not  be  the 
 subject  of  our  wonder,  if  they  could  be  comprehended  by  our  reason  ;  nor  has  that 
 faith  any  merit,  where  it  has  experience  to  demonstrate  it."     Shall  vain  and  self- 
 conceited  Sciolists  pretend  to  penetrate  the  deep  things  of  God,  when  the  most 
 common  operations  of  nature  are  obscure  to  us,  and  elude  the  investigation  even  of 
 the  greatest  philosophers?    In  religious  matters,  "the  bare  testimony  of  revelation," 
 says  Mr.  Locke,  "  challenges  the  highest  degree  of  our  assent,  whether  the  thing 
 proposed  agree  or  disagree  with  common  experience  and  the  ordinary  course  of 
 things."  (Conduct  of  the  Human  Understanding,  p.  384-,  ed.  1695.)  See  Leibnitz's 
 Preliminary  Discourse  to  his  Theodicca,  where  he  shows  the  conformity  of  faith  with 
 reason,  and  admits  the  possibility  of  the  real  presence  in  the  Lutheran  sense,  which 
 is  certainly  liable  to  the  pretended  absurdities  and  contradictions  which  are  imputed 
 to  transubstantiation.     With  respect  to  this  last  article,  the  famous  Descartes  has 
 formally  declared,  that  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with  sound  philosophy  ;  and  the  same 
 is  shown  by  Varignon,  another  celebrated  natural  philosopher,  in  an  express  disser- 
 tation which  he  wrote  to  prove,  that  a  material  being,  however  small,  is  capable  of 
 containing  a  human  body.     If  the  reader  is  not  satisfied  with  these  authorities,  he 
 may  consult  Lignac's  work,  entitled.  The  Possibilili/  of  a  Corporeal  Presence  in  several 
 places  at  the  same  time,  or  that  of  Caprinai,  who  shows  that  the  same  kind  of  argu- 
 ments which  demonstrate  Christ's  divinity  against  the  Socinians,  equally  prove  his 
 real  presence  in  the  Eucharist  against  the  Sacramentarians.      Vel  Chrislus  est  in 
 Eucharistia,  vel  non  est  Dens,  is  the  title  of  his  dissertation.     See  likewise  the  Bishop 
 of  Boulogne's  Pastoral  Charge.     But  we  need  not  recur  to  the  authority  of  philoso- 
 phers, or  of  divines.     Considering  that  mankind  know  little  or  nothing  concerning 
 the  nature  and  qualities  of  a  glorified  body,  especially  of  the  glorified  body  of  Christ 
 united  in  one  person  with  the  Divinity,  it  must  argue  the  greatest  presumption  in  any 
 one.  absolutely  to  deny  the  possibilitij  of  its  existing  in   different  places  at  the  same 
 time,  or  of  its  being  contained  in  so  small  a  space  as  that  of  the  Host,  or  the  smallest 
 sensible  particle  of  it.     As  to  the  question,  How  this  can  be  ?  it  is  more  becoming 
 an  infidel  than  a  Christian,  when  we  are  speaking  of  a  God  to  whom  nothing  is  im- 
 possible, and  who  would  not  be  God,  if  he  could  not  do  infinitely  more  than  we  can 
 conceive.     It  is  like  the  Jewisn  question,  St.  John  vi.  52.    How  can  this  man  give  us 
 
 *  Tlie  manner  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  Eucha-  manner  of  presence  is  unaccountahk  and  pasljind- 
 
 rist,  as  understand  by  the  Church  of  England,  is  ing  otil,  not  to  be  searched  and  |)ried  into  by  reason 
 
 equally  an  incomprehcmihle  mystery,  as  Dr.  Cosin  but    believed    by  fai/k.      It    is    incomprehensible, 
 
 acknowledges.     "  We  confess,"  says  he,  "  that  this  known  only  to  God,"  p.  34 
 
 33.  '  5g 
 
ggQ  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXXX. 
 
 his  flesh  to  eat  7  As  if  the  power  of  God  were  not  as  incomprehensible  as  himself, 
 and  as  if  it  were  not  the  height  of  folly  to  pretend  to  fathom  its  immense  depth  by 
 human  reason.  The  pretended  contradictions,  therefore,  which  are  alleged  against 
 this  mystery,  deserve  not  the  smallest  consideration,  when  we  have  on  our  side  the 
 express  words  of  Christ,  the  authority  of  the  holy  Fathers,  and  the  unerring  voice  of 
 the  whole  Catholic  Church.  To  say  that  transubstantiation  contains  \iain  and  tvidmt 
 contradictions,  is  to  say  that  four  parts  in  five  of  Christendom  are  absolute  idiots. 
 For  a  lilam  evident  contradiction  must  certainly  appear  so  to  every  man  of  common 
 sense  who  considers  it.  Who,  for  instance,  does  not  see  at  first  sight  a  contradiction 
 and  absurdity  in  the  assertion,  that  two  and  two  make  ten  ?  And  yet  there  have  been 
 thousands  of  philosophers  and  theologians,  and  are  at  this  day  thousands  eminent 
 for  their  good  sense,  learning,  and  piety,  who  cannot  see  the  smallest  contradiction 
 in  transubstantiation,  but  firmly  believe  it  as  a  divine  truth.  Either  then  we  must 
 say,  that  all  these  are  absolute  idiots  who  cannot  perceive  a  plain,  evident  contradic- 
 tion ;  or  we  must  conclude  that  these  objected  contradictions  are  not  really  plain 
 and  evident,  but  only  represented  as  such  by  persons  who  are  deeply  prepossessed 
 with  their  own  notions  and  contrary  systems.  As  to  the  trite  argument  against 
 transubstantiation,  taken  from  the  contradiction  it  has  to  our  senses,  which  has  been 
 so  magnified  by  Tillotson  and  others,  let  it  be  examined  by  the  standard  of  reason, 
 scripture,  and  tradition,  and  it  will  be  found  extremely  weak,  and  totally  undeserving 
 of  that  stress  which  has  been  laid  on  it.  For  it  supposes,  that  we  must  be  universally 
 guided  by  the  impressions  of  sense ;  which  however  will  be  found  repugnant  to  faith, 
 to  reason,  and  to  experience.  For  then  we  must  conclude,  that  he  who  appeared  to 
 3oshua  and  to  the  women  in  the  monument,  was  a  man,  though  the  scripture  says, 
 he  was  an  angel ;  that  the  sun  and  stars  are  not  bigger  than  the  earth  ;  and  that  a 
 siraight  stick,  by  being  put  into  the  water,  is  bent.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally 
 absurd  to  suppose  that,  because  we  cannot  believe  our  senses  in  evert/  thing,  there- 
 fore we  must  believe  them  in  nothing.  For  since  God  has  given  us  senses  to  direct 
 in  some  measure  our  judgment,  we  may  and  ought  to  rely  on  their  infurination, 
 unless  either  our  senses  themselves,  or  reason,  or  fiiith,  correct  their  mistake.  But 
 if  reason  or  experience  may  ever  be  allowed  to  over-rule  their  misinformation,  as  is 
 often  the  case,  we  cannot  surely  refiise  to  pay  the  same  deference  to  the  revelation  of 
 God,  when  it  tells  us  that  such  or  such  a  thing  is  not  what  it  appears  to  our  senses. 
 In  short,  we  have  so  many  instances  of  this  in  the  scripture,  that,  as  it  is  ridiculous 
 to  say,  we  must  believe  our  senses  in  nothing,  so  it  is  impious  to  say,  we  must  believe 
 them  in  every  thing.  Let  us  hear  how  St.  Chrysostom  reasons  on  this  subject. 
 "  Let  us,"  says  he,  "  always  believe  God  and  not  contradict  him,  though  what  he 
 says  seems  to  contradict  both  our  thoughts  and  our  senses.  For  his  words  cannot 
 deceive  us,  but  our  senses  may  be  easily  deceived.  He  never  errs,  but  these  are  often 
 mistaken.  Since,  therefore,  he  says,  this  is  my  body,  let  us  be  fully  persuaded  of  it. 
 How  many  say  now,  Oh  that  I  could  see  him  in  his  own  shape !  or  his  clothes,  or 
 any  thing  about  him.  Believe  me,  you  see  him,  you  touch  him,  you  eat  him.  You 
 would  be  content  to  see  his  clothes,  and  he  lets  you  not  only  see  him,  but  also  to 
 touch  him,  and  eat  him,  and  receive  him  within  you."  (Horn.  83.  in  Matt.)  From 
 
Cli.  CXXX]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  39^ 
 
 this  quotation  we  clearly  see  what  St.  Chrysostom,  that  enlightened  Doctor  of  cmti- 
 quilij,  thoug-ht  of  the  arguments  drawn  from  a  supposed  contradiction  of  our  senses 
 and  understanding,  and  of  the  real  presence  and  transubstantiation. 
 
 3.  The  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is  also  virtually  included  in  that  of  the  real  presence ; 
 for  the  Mass  consists  in  doing  what  Christ  performed  at  his  last  supper,  that  is,  in 
 the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and  the 
 offering  up  of  the  same  body  and  blood  to  God  by  the  ministry  of  the  priest  for  a 
 perpetual  memorial  of  Christ's  sacrifice  upon  the  cross,  and  a  continuation  of  the  same 
 till  the  end  of  the  world.  Now,  admitting  the  real  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  upon 
 our  altar,  under  the  sacramental  veils  of  bread  and  wine,  we  cannot  doubt  but  that 
 it  is  an  offering  highly  acceptable  to  God  in  all  respects,  under  which  the  fruits  of 
 our  redemption  are  applied  to  mankind.  For  how  can  Jesus  Christ  be  unacceptable 
 to  his  Father  ?  and  how  could  the  fruits  of  his  passion  be  applied  more  effectually 
 than  by  himself?  I  know  indeed  that  this  doctrine  of  Christ's  offering  himself  daily 
 on  the  altar,  is  called  by  some  Protestants  "  the  directest  contradiction  that  can  be, 
 not  only  to  common  sense,  but  also  to  scripture,  which  expressly  says,  that  he  was 
 not  to  be  offered  often  ;  for  then  must  he  often  have  sujfered  ;  but  hath  appeared  once 
 to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself."  (Seeker's  Lect.  on  the  Catechism.)  But 
 it  is  obvious  the  Apostle  speaks  there  of  his  offering  himself  in  a  bloody  manner,  by 
 dying  for  the  redemption  of  the  world.  This  was  to  be  but  once,  since  he  could  but 
 once  pay  the  ransom  which  God  demanded.  But  since  he  is  our  high  priest  for  ever, 
 according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  he  offers  himself  daily  for  us  in  an  unbloody 
 manner ;  not  to  redeem  us  again,  but  to  apply  by  this,  as  by  other  means  appointed 
 by  him,  the  price  of  our  redemption.  Moreover,  since  Protestants  themselves  do  not 
 think  they  offend  Jesus  Christ  by  offering  him  to  God  as  present  to  their  faith,  what 
 repugnance  could  they  have  to  offer  him  up  as  truly  present  did  they  believe  him  to 
 be  so  in  reality?  Hence,  as  Bossuet  observes,  this  mighty  dispute  of  the  sacrifice 
 of  the  mass,  which  has  filled  so  many  volumes,  and  occasioned  so  many  invectives 
 against  Catholics,  might  justly  be  reduced  to  the  real  presence  alone,  of  which  it  is 
 a  natural  consequence,  as  he  clearly  shows  in  his  Exposition  of  the  Catholic  Faith. 
 We  exhort  therefore  all  sincere  Protestants  to  weigh  attentively  the  grounds  on 
 which  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence  is  established,  without  being  discouraged  by 
 the  difficulties  which  sense  and  human  reason  may  suggest  to  the  contrary  ; — diffi- 
 culties which  ought  to  have  less  weight  against  the  real  presence,  than  those  uro-ed 
 by  Deists  and  Socinians  against  the  mysteries  of  the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation. 
 For  that  there  should  be  three  persons  in  the  Godhead  ;  that  these  should  be  really 
 distinct,  so  that  we  can  with  truth  affirm  of  the  one  what  we  cannot  say  of  the  others ; 
 and  yet  that  all  three  should  be  but  one  and  the  self-same  God,  are  mvsteries 
 infinitely  superior  to  human  reason,  and  which  seem  directly  contrary  to  its  princi- 
 ples. Again,  that  this  divine,  uncreated,  self-existent  nature  should  be  so  intimately 
 united  with  the  created,  finite,  and  mortal  nature  of  man,  that  both  these  opposite 
 natures  should  exist  in  one  and  the  same  person ;  and  that  in  consequence  of  this 
 union,  a  God-Man  should  truly  suffer  and  die,  is  so  opposite  to  all  the  ideas  of  human 
 reason,  that  it  was  a  scandal  to  the  Jews,  and  a  stumbling  block  to  the  Gentiles,  and 
 
392  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXX. 
 
 is  to  this  clay  a  matter  of  ridicule  to  Free-tliinkers  and  Deists.  Now,  since  Protes- 
 tants believe  these  truths,  notwithstanding;  the  apparent  absurdities  they  seem  to 
 involve,  and  despise  the  absurdities  urged  against  the  positive  revelation  of  these 
 mysteries  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  why  should  they  not  equally  receive  the  doctrine  of 
 the  real  presence,  in  spite  of  its  apparent  difficulties,  since  it  is  more  clearly  taught, 
 and  expressly  revealed  in  Scripture,  than  the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation.  Let  us 
 hear  the  testimony  of  Luther  himself  on  this  subject  (Ep.  ad  Argent.).  "  I  could 
 wish,"  says  he,  "  with  all  my  heart,  that  any  one  could  persuade  me,  that  there  is 
 nothing  in  the  Eucharist  but  bread  and  wine.  I  have  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  on 
 this  account,  but  all  in  vain  ;  the  text  is  too  clear."  Again,  in  speaking  of  the 
 Sacraraentarians  who  deny  the  real  presence,  he  says :  "  the  devil  seems  to  have 
 mocked  mankind  in  proposing  to  them  a  heresy  so  ridiculous  and  contrary  to  Scrip- 
 ture as  is  that  of  the  Zuinglians."  (Op.  Luth.  Defens.  Verb.  Con.)  It  is  the  remark 
 of  Bossuet,  "■  that  God  has  permitted  the  Lutherans  to  adhere  to  the  belief  of  the 
 real  presence  as  well  as  we ;  and  that  he  has  also  permitted  the  Calvinists  should 
 declare  that  this  doctrine  has  no  poison  in  it  ;  that  it  does  not  subvert  the  foundations 
 of  salvation  and  faith  ;  and  that  it  ought  not  to  break  communion  between  brethren. 
 Moreover,  the  same  Providence  has  permitted  the  Calvinists  to  allow,  that  supposing 
 these  words,  this  is  my  bodt/,  are  to  be  taken  in  a  literal  sense,  the  Catholics  reason 
 better  and  more  consequentially  than  the  Lutherans."  These  concessions,  on  the 
 part  of  adversaries,  are  highly  fiivourable  to  the  Catholic  cause.  The  learned  Grotius 
 also  candidly  confesses,  "  that  inany  disputers  understand  well  enough  the  sense  of 
 the  ancient  church,  and  of  the  present  Greek  and  Latin  :  but  they  dissemble  it,  that 
 they  may  have  matter  for  declamation  among  those  who  are  guided  more  by  their 
 outward  than  their  inward  senses."     See  his  Vote  for  Peace,  p.  92. 
 
 As  to  the  Church  of  England,  it  is  certain  that  the  name  and  sacrifice  of  the  mass 
 were  introduced  into  this  country  together  with  Christianity  itself,  at  the  end  of  the 
 sixth  age.  See  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History,  1.  4  and  5.  It  is  no  less  certain,  that 
 the  belief  of  the  real  presence  continued  from  that  time  to  be  received  and  professed 
 by  the  kings,  lords,  and  commons  of  this  realm,  till  after  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
 teenth century.  It  is  also  well  known,  that  in  the  articles  of  religion  drawn  up  by 
 King  Henry  the  Eighth,  who  first  constituted  himself  head  of  the  English  Church,  it 
 is  expressly  declared,  that  in  the  Eucharist,  under  the  forms  of  bread  and  wine,  the 
 very  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ  are  received  ;  and  in  this  doctrine  the  king  ordered  in 
 his  will,  that  his  son  Edward  the  Sixth  should  be  educated.  Moreover,  the  Church 
 of  England  positively  asserts  in  her  catechism,  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
 are  verih/  and  indeed  taken  and  received  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper;  are 
 not  these  words,  verilj/  and  indeed,  equally  expressive  of  the  real  presence,  with 
 those  used  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  viz.  verc  &  realitcr.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that 
 these  words,  verily  and  indeed,  must  be  understood  of  the  bodi/,  as  distinguished  from 
 Its  fruits  and  benefits,  which  make  the  subject  of  the  next  question  :  the  Church  also 
 requires  of  her  ministers  to  signify  the  same,  in  the  very  act  of  distributing  it ;  l/ie 
 body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  given  for  thee  ;  the  blood,  which  ivas  shed 
 for  thee.  Sec.     Dr.  Heylin,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Life  of  Archbishop  Laud,  shows 
 
Ch.  CXXX.J  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  393 
 
 that  these  words  which  stood  first  in  the  Liturgy  of  Edward  Sixth,  were  afterwards, 
 when  ZuingUanism  obtained,  expunged  as  approaching  too  near  to  the  Cathohc 
 doctrine,  and  then  again  restored  to  the  present  Liturgy  in  the  time  of  Ehzabeth. 
 The  re:^son  of  this  we  learn  from  Burnet,  in  his  History  of  the  Reformation,  viz. 
 because  it  was  resolved  upon,  that  the  Articles  and  Liturgy  should  be  so  framed  as 
 to  suit  the  consciences  of  Protestants  who  believed  in  the  real  presence,  amongst 
 whom  was  the  Queen  herself.  For  the  same  reason,  the  passage  in  the  twenty-ninth 
 Article  of  Edward  Sixth,  which  declared  that  the  body  of  Christ,  being  now  in  heaven, 
 cannot  be  also  in  the  sacrament,  was  suppressed  in  the  corresponding  twenty-eighth 
 Article  of  Elizabeth.  Accordingly,  it  appears  from  Mr.  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical 
 Polity  (1.  5.),  that  the  belief  of  transubstantiation  was  one  of  the  received  opinions  in 
 his  time,  an  opinion  which  he  thought  by  no  means  reprehensible.  The  reader  is 
 referred  to  the  Essai/  for  Catholic  Communion  ;  where  he  will  find  the  sentiments  of 
 many  eminent  Protestant  bishops  on  this  important  subject,  viz.  of  Montague, 
 Forbes,  Bilson,  Ridley,  Laud,  Kenn,  &c.  all  of  whom  openly  acknowledge  the  real 
 presence  with  Catholics,  though  they  disagree  about  the  manner.  The  last  mentioned 
 prelate  thus  expresses  himself  in  his  Exposition  of  the  Church  Catechism,  licensed 
 an.  1685  :  "  O  God  incarnate,  how  thou  canst  give  us  thy  flesh  to  eat,  and  thy  blood 
 to  drink ;  how  thy  flesh  is  meat  indeed  !  how  thou,  n^ho  art  in  heaven,  art  present  on 
 the  altar,  I  can  by  no  means  explain.  But  I  firmly  believe  it  all,  because  thou  hast 
 said  it.  And  I  firmly  rely  on  thy  love,  and  on  thy  omnipotence,  to  make  good  thy 
 word,  though  the  manner  of  doing  it  I  cannot  comprehend."  In  later  editions,  how- 
 ever, this  passage  has  undergone  alterations  more  conformable  to  the  principles  of 
 Calvinists. 
 
 Let  me  here  ask  what  ought  to  be  the  conclusion  of  a  sincere,  dispassionate  Pro- 
 testant, when  he  sees  this  obnoxious  tenet  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  by  some 
 warm,  malevolent,  or  ignorant  writers,  is  stigmatized  as  impious,  unlawful,  contrary 
 to  the  word  of  God,  and  to  the  common  sense  and  reason  of  all  mankind,  acknow- 
 ledged to  be  true,  lawful,  and  innocent  by  many  others,  eminent  for  their  learnino- 
 and  moderation,  no  less  than  for  their  dignity  and  situation  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
 land ?  But  that  an  explicit  declaration  against  this  doctrine  of  transubstantiation 
 should  afterwards  be  deemed  a  necessary  qualification  for  every  Catholic,  previous  to 
 his  being  admitted  into  any  office,  civil  or  military,  must  to  every  impartial  man 
 appear  somewhat  extraordinary,  especially  in  a  country  which  professes  the  most 
 unlimited  toleration  in  religious  matters. — However  hostile  the  present  Church  of 
 England  may  avow  herself  to  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  it  is  extremely 
 difficult  to  know  what  she  herself  holds  respecting  this  important  question.  This 
 difficulty  arises  in  part  from  the  discordant  and  opposite  sentiments  which  her  minis- 
 ters and  prelates  entertain  among  themselves  with  regard  to  this  mystery.  See  Dr. 
 Milner's  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  8lh,  wherein  he  shows  that  the  Socinian 
 scheme  (as  it  is  called  by  the  present  Bishop  of  Bangor),  has  been  adopted  by  Bishop 
 Hoadly,  Dr.  Balguy,  &c.  To  iniderstand  this,  it  must  be  here  observed,  that  in 
 opposition  to  the  established  doctrine  both  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Church,  as  proved 
 above,  our  modern  reformers  have  devised  three  principal  ways  of  expressing  a 
 
 34.  0  H 
 
394  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXX. 
 
 presence  of  Christ  in  the  holy  sacrament.  1.  That  of  the  Lutherans,  who  maintain 
 the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  as  real,  proper,  and  substantial,  as  Catholics 
 do  ;  but  deny  an  exclusion  of  bread.  For  bread,  say  they,  remains  as  before,  but  to 
 and  with  it  the  body  of  our  Lord  is  united,  and  this,  as  it  were,  hypostatically.  2. 
 That  of  the  Zuinglians,  Socinians,  &c.  who  admit  nothing-  real  in  the  sacrament. 
 The  presence,  according  to  them,  is  only  figurative  or  imaginary :  as  we  see  bread 
 broken  and  eaten,  &c.  so  we  ought  to  call  to  mind  that  Christ's  body  was  crucified 
 for  us  ;  and  that  by  faith  (or  a  strong  fancy)  we  are  made  partakers  of  the  benefit  of 
 Christian  redemption.  The  third  opinion  is  that  of  Calvin,  who  says  (on  1  Cor.  xi. 
 24.),  "  that  in  the  holy  sacrament  our  Lord  offers  us  not  only  the  benefit  of  his  death 
 and  resurrection,  but  the  very  body  itself  in  which  he  died  and  rose  again  :  so  that 
 this  presence  is  supposed  to  be  a  substantial  presence,  but  after  a  spiritual  manner 
 — a  presence  not  to  all,  but  to  the  worthy  receiver,  offered  perhaps  to  the  unworthy, 
 but  partaken  of  only  by  the  worthy."  From  the  statement  of  Dr.  Cosin,  in  his  history 
 of  transubstantiation,  it  would  seem,  that  this  opinion  of  Calvin  coincides  with  the 
 doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England.  See  Hawarden's  True  Church  of  Christ,  Part- 
 8d,  p.  144.  In  this  well  founded  supposition,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England 
 contains  a  much  greater  mystery  than  transubstantiation  itself;  and  not  only  a 
 mystery,  but  an  absolute  impossibility.  For  what  can  be  more  evidently  vnpo';sible, 
 than  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  should  be  only  in  heaven,  and  yet  reallij  and 
 substantially  present  to  the  soul  and  body  of  the  worthy  receiver  who  is  not  in 
 heaven  ?    In  this  case,  we  may  fairly  say  with  Dryden, 
 
 The  literal  sense  is  hard  to  flesh  and  blood  : 
 But  nonsense  never  can  be  understood. 
 
 The  opinion  of  Luther,  however  false,  is  perfectly  intelligible  ;  so  is  that  of  Zuin- 
 glius  ;  but  this  of  Calvin,  adopted  by  English  Protestants,  is  repugnant  to  common 
 sense,  and  was  probably  intended  to  suit  with  any  sect,  according  to  circumstances. 
 See  Bossuet's  Exposition  of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  where  he  contrasts  the  Calvinistic 
 system  of  the  real  presence  with  that  of  Catholics,  and  shows  that  they  cannot,  in 
 their  own  principles,  give  a  plain,  consistent,  and  satisfactory  account  of  their  doc- 
 trine, but  are  unavoidably  betrayed  into  contradictions  and  absurdities.  While  the 
 language  on  both  sides  is  nearly  similar,  the  difference  is,  that  Catholics  mean  what 
 they  say,  and  the  Calvinists  do  not. 
 
 I  shall  conclude  this  article  with  a  citation  from  Erasmus,  an  author  justly  cele- 
 brated for  his  elegant  taste  and  extensive  erudition,  and  who  lived  at  a  time  when 
 this  important  controversy  was  carried  on  with  great  warmth  by  the  first  reformers. 
 In  a  letter,  dated  an.  1530,  and  addressed  to  Balthasar,  bishop  of  Hildeshem,  this 
 eminent  scholar  avows  his  sentiments  respecting  the  real  presence,  lamenting,  at  the 
 sam.e  time,  that  what  Christ  left  us  as  the  strictest  bond  of  unity  and  love,  should, 
 by  the  artifice  of  the  devil,  prove  the  occasion  of  so  much  animosity  and  discord 
 in  the  Christian  world.  He  speaks  with  great  elogium  of  Guitmund  and  Alger,  who, 
 in  the  eleventh  century,  had,  both  by  argument  and  authority,  solidly  confuted  the 
 heresy  of  Berengarius,  and  declares  that  his  faith  in  this  mystery,  of  which  he  never 
 
Ch.  CXXXI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  395 
 
 doubted,  was  much  confirmed  by  reading  their  excellent  works.  We  cannot  suppose 
 Erasmus  unacquainted  with  the  arguments  and  difficulties  urged  by  the  Sacramenta- 
 rians  ;  but  in  opposition  to  them,  he  adverts  to  the  express  words  of  Christ  in  the 
 Gospel,  thifi  is  mi/  body,  and  to  the  testimony  of  St.  Paul,  who  hath  the  same  words, 
 with  this  declaration,  that  whoever  eateth  and  drinktth  unworthily,  is  guilty  of  the  body 
 and  blood  of  Christ  ; — he  refers  to  the  holy  fathers,  whose  authority  is  justly  admitted 
 by  the  Church  ; — lastly,  he  refers  to  the  uniform  decision  of  councils,  and  to  the 
 general  consent  of  the  Christian  world,  which  has  ever  believed,  that  in  the  Eucharist 
 is  contained  the  very  substance  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  Cum 
 igitur,"  says  he,  "  tam  evidens  habeamus  a  Christo  et  Paulo  testimonium,  cum  per 
 hos  viros  (Guitraundum  et  Algerem)  evidentissime  declaratum  sit,  priscos  ecclesice 
 doctores,  quibus  non  sine  causa  tantum  auctoritatis  tribuit  Ecclesia,  concorditer 
 sensisse  in  Eucharistia  esse  veram  substantiam  corporis  et  sanguinis  Dominici ;  cum 
 his  omnibus  accesserit  synodorum  constans  authoritas,  tantusque  populi  Christiani 
 consensus,  simus  et  nos  Concordes  in  tam  coelesti  mysterio,  et  hie  sub  senigmate 
 edamus  de  pane  et  calice  Domini,  donee  aliter  edamus  et  libamus  in  regno  Dei. 
 Utinam  autem,  qui  Berengariun  secuti  sunt  errantem,  sequantur  et  penitentem,  atque 
 horum  etiam  error  Ecclesiae  cedat  feliciter." — As  to  the  solution  of  various  questions 
 which  arise  out  of  this  mystery,  as  how  transubstantiation  is  effected,  how  accidents 
 can  subsist  without  their  subject,  &c.  he  would  have  us  reflect  on  the  Almighty 
 power  of  God,  to  whom  nothing  is  impossible,  and  on  the  wonderful  qualities  of  a 
 glorified  body,  especially  the  glorified  body  of  Christ.  "  Breviter  adversus  omnes 
 humanae  cogitationis  scrupulos  occurrat  nobis  primum  immensa  Dei  potentia,  cui 
 nihil  impossibile,  delude  quam  inestimabiles  sint  dotes  corporis  glorificati,  praecipue 
 Domini  Jesu.  Superest  igitur  ut  quod  sufficientur  persuasum  est,  digne  celebremus, 
 et  quod  credimus,  ipsa  re  nos  credere  declaremus,  &c." — The  intelligent  reader  may 
 easily  apply  to  other  controversies  the  principles  here  recognized  by  Erasmus  for 
 deciding  the  question  of  the  Eucharist,  viz.  Scripture  and  the  authority  and  tradition 
 of  the  Church. — For  further  information  on  this  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
 following  work,  printed  an.  1800,  entitled,  A  Vindication  of  the  Doctrine  of  the 
 Catholic  Church  concerning  the  Eucharist.  See,  also,  my  late  Tract,  on  the  Blessed 
 Eucharist,  published  in  1829. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXI. 
 
 JESUS  POINTS  OUT  THE  TRAITOR  JUDAS,  WHO  WITHDRAWS  HIMSELF.'^      MATT.  XXVI. 
 MARK  XIV.      LUKE  XXII.      JOHN  XIII. 
 
 Previously  to  his  changing  the  subject  of  his  discourse,  Jesus  declared,  that  who- 
 ever received  an  Apostle,  did,  by  so  doing,  receive  himself,  and  moreover,  that 
 
 *  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  place  Christ's  pre-     and  St.  John  after,  the  institution  of  the  blessed 
 diction  of  the  treason  of  Judas  before,  St.  Luke     Eucharist.    We  have  followed  the  last  Evangelists, 
 
ggg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXI, 
 
 whoever  received  him,  as  they  had  recently  done  in  the  holy  communion,  received 
 John  13.  at  the  same  time  his  heavenly  Father  that  sent  him.     "  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you, 
 ^°'      he  that  receiveth  vi'homsoever  I  send,  receiveth  me  :  and  he  that  receiveth  me, 
 receiveth  him  that  sent  me,"  because  my  Father  and  I  are  one  and  the  same  thing-. 
 
 He  had  hitherto  spoken  of  the  treason  of  Judas,  in  terms  which  were  not  perfectly 
 understood  by  any  present,  except  perhaps  by  Judas  himself.  He  now  resumes  the 
 subject  with  the  view  of  making  an  impression  on  the  mind  of  that  hardened  wretch, 
 were  he  susceptible  of  remorse,  in  order  that  he  might  change  his  black  design  on 
 findino-  himself  discovered.  Secondly,  Jesus  would  remove  from  the  minds  of  his 
 other  disciples  all  grounds  of  suspecting  that  he  had  been  betrayed  by  Judas 
 unawares,  or  that  the  fatal  consequences  following  from  that  treason  were  involuntary 
 and  beyond  his  power  to  prevent.  He  therefore  lays  open  the  intended  treason  in 
 clear  and  express  terms,  and  at  the  same  time  points  out,  in  secret  only,-  the  person  of 
 the  concealed  traitor. 
 21.  ,       ,  "  When  Jesus  had  said  these  things,  he  was  troubled  in  spirit,"  con- 
 
 1     Jesus  TOVB-  . 
 
 Mis  his  being  sidering  both  the  crime  which  Judas  was  about  to  commit,  and  the  cruel 
 
 Mark  14.  beirayed.  ^q.^^\^  ^yi^ich  himself  was  going  to  suffer.    "  And  he  testified"  his  grief 
 
 Luke '9-5  "'^^"  *W  were  at  table  and  eating ;  "  and  he  said  :  behold  the  hand  of  him  that 
 
 '21.'"'  betrayeth  me  is  with  me  on  the  table.     Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you  :  one  of  you,  that 
 
 Mark  14.  g^^g^h  with  me,  shall  betray  me.     The  disciples  therefore  looked  one  upon  another, 
 
 Joh.i  '13.  doubting  of  whom  he  spoke.     And  they  being  very  much  troubled,  began  every  one 
 
 ~'~-      to  say  :  is  it  I,  Lord  ?  But  he,"  unwilling  to  discover  the  traitor,  "  answering,  said  : 
 
 %.~  '  one  of  the  twelve,  that  dippeih  his  hand  with  me  in  the  dish,  he  shall  betray  me." 
 
 Mark  14.  -pj^jg  circumstance  being  common  to  all  present,  pointed  at  no  one  in  particular :  to 
 
 Matt,     this  he  further  added  the  reason  of  his  declining  to  name  him  aloud,  which  was  the 
 
 obedience  he  owed  to  the  commands  of  his  heavenly  Father,  in  compliance  with 
 
 which  he  chose  to  submit  patiently  to  every  humiliating  and  painful  circumstance  of 
 
 his  approaching  passion,  and  thus  literally  to  fulfil  all  things  which  had  been  written 
 
 Matt.  26.  of  him.     "  The  Son  of  man  indeed,"  said  he,  "  goeth"  to  death,  "  as  it  is  written  of 
 
 ~^-      him  ;  but  wo  to  that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  betrayed.    It  were  better 
 
 23.      for  him,  if  that  man  had  not  been  born.*     And  Judas  that  betrayed  him,"  fearful  of 
 
 discovering  himself  by  remaining  any  longer  silent,  "  answering,  said"  as  the  rest : 
 
 is  it  I,  Rabbi  ?     He  saith  to  him,"  but  in  so  low  a  tone  of  voice  as  not  to  be  heard  by 
 
 any  person  present,  "  thou  hast  said  it." 
 
 The  disciples  finding  that  they  did  not  succeed  in  extorting  a  satisfactory  answer 
 
 Luke  2-2.  f'"om  Jesus,  "  began  to  enquire  among  themselves,  which  of  them  it  was  that  should 
 
 23.       do  this  thing."     Especially  Peter,  we  may  imagine,  would  interrogate  the  rest,  per- 
 
 thouffh  it  be  highly  probable  that  Jesus   foretold  washed  his  feet,  he  had  declared   that  one  of  his 
 
 this  Treachery  of  his  Apostle  three  ditferent  times,  disciples  would  betray  him,  he  here  threatens  him 
 
 as   Thoynard,   Sandinus,   and   Ben.   xiv.   observe,  with  eternal  damnation  ;   but  all  this  is  ineffectual, 
 
 1.  At  the  ben-inning  of  supper,  as  mentioned  Matt,  and  makes  no  impression  on  Judas  on  account  of 
 
 xxvi.  21.  Mark  xiv.  18.     2.  After  washing  the  feet  the  hardness  of  his    heart.     In  like  manner  God 
 
 of  his   disciples,   John  xiii.  IS.     3.  After  he  had  often   gives   sinners   warning ;    but   on   account  of 
 
 instituted  the  holy  Eucharist,  Luke  xxii.  21.  their  hard  and  impenitent  heart,  he  finally  abandons 
 
 *  Christ  had  admitted  Judas  to  his  table,  he  had  them  to  themselves. 
 
Ch.  CXXXr.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  397 
 
 haps  with  some  degree  of  asperity,  under  the  hopes  of  discovering-  tlie  culprit  by 
 causing  him  to  contradict  himself  in  his  answers.  In  this,  however,  they  were  yet 
 unsuccessful,  and  they  entertained  the  less  suspicion  of  Judas,  on  account  of  the  con- 
 fidence which  Jesus  reposed  in  him  ;  for  he  had  intrusted  him  with  the  custody  of 
 such  alms  as  were  bestowed  upon  them.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  Judas  enjoyed 
 the  reputation  of  a  person  of  tried  fidelity. 
 
 At  length,  Peter,  extremely  impatient  to  discover  the  secret,  took  2.  Jesus  points 
 advantage  of  the  situation  which  he  and  John  enjoyed  at  the  table.    °"'  '^e  traitor. 
 "  Now  there  was  leaning  on  Jesus's  bosom  one  of  his  disciples,  whom  Jesus  loved"  John  13 
 on  account  of  his  eminent  chastity.     "  Simon  Peter  therefore  beckoned  to  him,  and      ~^- 
 said  to  him  :  who  is  it  of  whom  he  speaketh  ?  When  therefore  he  leaned  down  upon      05! 
 the  breast  of  Jesus,*  he  saith  to  him  :   Lord,  who  is  it?     Jesus  answered,"  in  a  low      26. 
 voice,  but  with  an  injunction  not  to  publish  it:  "it  is  he  to  whom  I  shall  reach 
 bread  dipped. '("     And  when  he  had  dipped  the  bread,  he  gave  it  to  Judas  Iscariot,      27. 
 the  son  of  Simon."     This  mark  of  distinction  tended  to  remove  still  farther  any  sus- 
 picions which  the  Apostles  might  otherwise  have  entertained  to  the  disadvantage 
 of  Judas.    Thus  Peter,  greatly  to  his  disappointment,  receiving  no  answer  from  John, 
 continued  as  much  in  the  dark  as  before.     "  And  after"  Judas  had  taken  "  the 
 morsel,  Satan  entered  into  him,"  and  taking  fuller  possession  of  his  heart,  urged 
 him  on  to  the  execution  of  his  horrid  design.     "  And  Jesus"  seeing  him  resolutely 
 determined  upon  it,  "  said  to  him"  in  a  mild  manner:  "  that  which  thou  dost,  do 
 quickly.":];     This  was  by  no  means  an  injunction  to  commit  the  crime  already  con- 
 ceived in  his  heart,  but  merely  an  intimation  of  his  readiness  to  suffer  death.     "^  Now      2S. 
 no  man  at  the  table  knew  to  what  purpose  he  said  this  unto  him.    For  29. 
 
 some  thought,  because  Judas  had  the  purse,  that  Jesus  had  said  to  him  :     '   ""^'''^  "'^^' 
 buy  those  things  which  we  have  need  of  for  the  festival-day,  or  that  he  should  give 
 something  to  the  poor.§     He  therefore,  having  received  the  morsel,  went  out  imme-      30. 
 diately"  full   of  indignation;    "  and  it  was  night,"  perhaps  about   nine  o'clock. 
 ''  When  he  therefore  was  gone  out,  Jesus"  seeing,  that  by  this  first  step  of  Judas,  his 
 passion  and  death  were  at  hand,  and  that  they  were  soon  to  be  followed  by  a  olorious 
 resurrection,  "  said  :  now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified,  and  God  is  glorified  in  him.      31. 
 If  God  be  glorified  in  him,"  by  his  doctrine,  his  miracles,  his  humiliations  and  suffer-      32. 
 ings,  "  God  will  also  glorify  him  in  himself,"  by  his  triumph  over  sin  and  the  devil, 
 according  to  the  promise  made  to  him  in  the  temple  by  the  voice  from  above :  "  and 
 immediately  will  he  glorify  him,"  first,  by  his  resurrection,  and  afterwards  by  exalt- 
 ing him  to  eternal  happiness  in  heaven. — Let  Christians  learn  from  the  example  of 
 Christ,  that  if  they  would  be  glorified  with  him  in  heaven,  they  must  first  glorify  God 
 here  on  earth,  by  humility,  by  patience,  and  the  practice  of  good  works. 
 
 *  In  the  Greek  it  is  falling  down  071  the  breast  conseciuently  to  Jiidus.     See  St.  Aug.  trac.  62,  in 
 
 of  Jesus,  as  a  person   may  do  in  great  concern  or  Joan. 
 
 trouble  of  mind.      Hence  the  term  here  employed         +   Vox  hasc  non  jubentis  est   sed  sinentis,  uon 
 
 (e77c-ecwv)  is  different  from  that  in  ver.  23.  (ava-  tre|]idi   sed  parati,   says   St.  Leo.   Ser.  7,  de  Pas- 
 
 *re/ufi'os.)  sione. 
 
 t  This  was  not  the  holy  Eucharist  which  Jesus         §  Let  Christians  here  learn  that  a  feast  is  a  pro- 
 had   already  distributed  to   all  the  Apostles,   and  per  time  to  express  their  care  for  the  poor. 
 
 ^4.  5 1 
 
ggg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXIL 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXII. 
 
 THE  SECOND  ALTERCATION  OF  THE  APOSTLES  CONCERNING  PRIMACY PETER's  DENIAL 
 
 IS  FORETOLD.*      LUKE  XXII.      JOHN  XIII.      MATT.  XXVI.      MARK  XIV. 
 
 1.  The  second  As  Christ  had  just  signified  that  he  was  soon  to  quit  the  world,  and  to 
 dispute  of  the  j^g  crlorified  in  the  kingfdom  of  his  Father,  the  Apostles  took  occasion  to 
 
 Apostles    about  »  ^  .  •  ji  ■  ^     »      i     i 
 
 Luke  22.  superiority.  renew  their  former  altercation  concerning-  the  primacy.  And  there 
 was  a  strife  amongst  them  which  of  them  seemed  to  be  greatest."  Jesus  endeavoured 
 to  restore  peace  and  unanimity  amongst  them,  1.  By  explaining  the  nature  of  the 
 employments  and  dignities  of  his  spiritual  kingdom  in  this  world ;  2.  By  promising 
 them  so  perfect  an  equality  both  of  honour  and  of  happiness  in  heaven,  as  would  not 
 
 25.  fail  to  satisfy  their  most  sanguine  wishes.  "  And  he  said  to  them,"  as  he  had  done 
 on  a  former  occasion  :  "  The  kings  of  the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them,  and  they  that 
 have  power  over  them  are  called  benefactors,"  and  are  looked  up  to  as  such  by 
 
 26.  others,  when  at  the  same  time  they  feel  the  weight  of  their  authority.  "  Let  it  not 
 be  so  with  you  :  but  he  that  is  greatest  amongst  you,  let  him  be  as  the  least,  and  he 
 that  is  the  chief,  as  he  that  serveth."     Of  this  conduct  Jesus  holds  forth  his  own 
 
 27.  personal  example  as  an  instance:  "For  which/'  says  he,  "is  greater,  he  that 
 sitteth  at  table  or  he  that  serveth?  Is  not  he  that  sitteth  at  table?  But  I  am  in  the 
 midst  of  you  as  he  that  serveth,"  and  ministereth  to  all  your  wants,  and  so  must  yoa 
 be  content  to  serve  one  another.  He  next  speaks  with  due  praise  of  their  steadfast- 
 ness in  his  service  ;    and  in  lieu  of  temporal  dignities,  promises  them  an  ample 
 
 28.  reward  hereafter.     "  And  you,"  said  he,  "  are  they  who  have  continued  with  me  in 
 
 29.  my  temptations"  and  troubles  ;  and  in  recompense  of  your  fidelity  "  I  dispose  to  you 
 
 30.  as  my  Father  hath  disposed  to  me,  a  kingdom  :  that  you  may  eat  and  drink  at  my 
 table  in  my  kingdom,  and  may  sit  upon  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel," 
 that  is,  the  spiritual  Israel,  or  the  whole  Church  of  God.  Hence  he  left  them  to  infer, 
 that  their  present  altercation  concerning  superiority  was  needless,  and  their  mutual 
 jealousy  of  each  other  ill-founded.  Yet,  lest  they  should  be  puffed  up  with  this 
 acknowledgment  of  their  fidelity,  Jesus  humbled  them  by  stating  two  exceptions,  the 
 first  of  which  concerned  them  all  as  a  body,  the  second  regarded  Peter  individually. 
 
 Matt.  26.  "  Then  Jesus  saith  to  them  :  All  you  shall  be  scandalized  in  me  this  night.  For  it 
 is  written  rf  I  will  strike  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the  flock  shall  be  dispersed." 
 Their  fault  in  this  instance  was  not  so  much  in  flying  away,  as  in  the  principle  or 
 motive  which  induced  them  to  do  so,  and  which  consisted  in  an  excessive  attachment 
 to  this  life,  and  in  a  want  of  that  faith  and  hope  which  they  had  placed  in  him.  He 
 however  added  as  a  subject  of  consolation,  that  he  would  not  fail  to  gather  them 
 32.  together.  "  But  after  I  shall  be  risen  again,"  said  he,  "  I  w^ill  go  before  you  into 
 Galilee." 
 The  idea  of  being  classed  with  the  other  Apostles  under  the  same  description  of 
 
 *  See  the  first,  chap.  73.  t  Zach.  xiii.  7. 
 
Ch.  CXXXII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  399 
 
 cowardice  and  weakness  g-ave  offence  to  Peter,  and  he  became  eager  to  show  his 
 Master  how  little  this  was  applicable  to  him  individually.     "  And  answering,  he      33. 
 said  to  him :   Although  all  shall  be  scandalized  in  thee^  I  will  never  be  scanda- 
 lized.     And  the  Lord,"  repressing  this  blamable  self-confidence,  said  :     .,  p,  • .  Luke  22. 
 Simon,  Simon,  behold  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  for  Peters  faith.      ^^' 
 sift  you  as  wheat,"  that  is,  may  toss  you  about  with  troubles  to  shake  ^"^  ?"^^'''  "  "'^"^ 
 your  faith.     "  But  I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not :             r      e/i .      ^^ 
 and  thou  being  once  converted,  confirm  thy  brethren."    Then  leaving  Peter  to  guess 
 at  the  meaning  of  these  words,  which  as  yet  he  understood  not  perfectlv,  Jesus 
 addressed  himself  to  the  others  in  the  most  affectionate  terms,  offering  them  some 
 consolation  under  the  disgrace  which  he  had  just  foretold  to  them.     "  My  little  chil-  John  13. 
 dren,"  said  he,  "  yet  awhile  I  am  with  you.     You  shall  seek  me,  and  as  I  said  to  the 
 Jews,  whither  I  go,  you  cannot  come  ;  so  I  say  it  also  to  you"  in  your  present  weak 
 and  timid  state  of  mind.     What  I  chiefly  recommend  to  you  is  a  spirit  of  mutual 
 charity.     Yes,  "  a  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  you  love  one  another  as      34. 
 I  have  loved  you ;"  that  is,  with  a  spiritual  love  and  affection,  even  so  as  after  my 
 example  to  prefer  the  salvation  of  your  brethren  before  your  own  life.     Wherefore 
 see  "  that  you  also  love  one  another"  in  like  manner.     "  By  this  shall  all  men  know      33. 
 that  you  are  my  disciples,  if  you  have  love  one  for  another.     Peter,"  3.  peter's  pre-      36. 
 feeling  yet  rather  hurt  at  the  doubt  which  Jesus  seemed  to  have  of  his       sumption. 
 fidelity  and  attachment,  "  saith  to  him  :  Lord,  whither  goest  thou  ?"  for  he  wished 
 to  have  a  further  explanation  as  to  what  he  had  asserted  of  their  not  being  able  to 
 accompany  him.     "  Jesus  answered"  as  before;  "whither  I  go,  thou  canst  not 
 follow  me  now,  but  thou  shalt  hereafter.     Peter,"  full  of  sentiments  of  love  and      37." 
 attachment  towards  Jesus,  but  not  yet  sensible  of  his  own  weakness,  nor  conscious 
 how  much  more  deeply  the  love  of  life  was  rooted  in  his  heart,  ''  saith  to  him" 
 resolutely :  "  \^''hy  caimot  I  follow  thee  now  ?  Lord,  I  am  ready  to  go  with  thee  both  Luke  22. 
 into  prison  and  to  death:  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  thee.     Jesus  an-  i.Peter's denial  joYij^'i^- 
 swered  him  :  wilt  thou  lay  down  thy  life  for  me  ?  Amen,  amen  I  say       foretold.        37^  35. 
 to  thee :  Peter,  the  cock  shall  not  crow  this  day,  till  thou  thrice  deniest  that  thou  ^"33  ^'^' 
 knovvest  me."     Yes,  I  say,  "  to-day  even  in  this  night,  before  the  cock  crows  twice,  Mark'u. 
 thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice."     But  notwithstanding  this  explicit  declaration  of  his  ^^"'^2' 
 approaching  weakness,  Peter  became  not  more  diffident  of  himself :  he  even  "  spoke  '    35. 
 the  more  vehemently :  Yea,  though  I  should  die  with  thee,  I  will  not  deny  thee.  ^^^^  ^^' 
 And  in  like  manner  said  all  the  disciples,"  resolving  not  to  be  behind  hand  with 
 Peter  in  their  professions  of  courage  and  fidelity.     Yet  when  the  hour  of  trial  came 
 they  proved  equally  weak,  and  were  no  less  intimidated  than  Peter. 
 What  a  striking  picture  of  human  weakness.     Jesus  now  proceeded  to  his  Apostles  to 
 inform  them  of  those  dangers  to  which,  by  following  him,  they  were  P^^^i^e    scrips 
 exposed.     He  first  recalled  to  their  recollection  the  time  when  he  sent 
 them  as  missionaries  destitute  of  every  necessary  of  life :  "  And  he  said  to  them  :      35. 
 Wlien  I  sent  you  without  purse,  and  scrip,  and  shoes,  did  you  want  any  thing? 
 But  they  said  nothing" ;"  because  on  that  occasion  such  as  were  well  disposed  towards      36. 
 Jesus  had  joyfully  received  them  into  their  houses,  and  abundantly  supplied  them 
 
400  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXIIL 
 
 with  every  necessary  assistance.  But  be  now  assured  them,  that  in  tliis  second 
 separation  from  him,  which  was  drawing  nigh,  the  state  of  tilings  would,  in  their 
 reoard,  be  very  different.  "  Then  he  said  unto  them  :  But  now  he  that  bath  a  purse, 
 let  him  take  it,  and  likewise  a  scrip,  and  he  that  hath  not,  let  him  sell  his  coat  and 
 
 37.  buy  a  sword.*  For  I  say  to  you  that  this,  that  is  written,  must  yet  be  fulHlled  in  me, 
 and  with  the  wicked  was  he  reckoned.-\  For  the  things  concerning  me  have  an  end." 
 He  then  forewarns  them,  that  as  himself  should  shortly  be  condemned  to  die  as  a 
 thief  or  a  robber,  so  in  like  manner  they,  as  his  followers,  must  expect  to  meet  with 
 a  similar  treatment.  In  fiict,  the  Pharisees  had  given  orders  that  the  eleven  Apostles 
 should  be  seized  together  with  Jesus,  hoping  thus  at  once  to  annihilate  what  they 
 
 3S.  styled  a  new  sect,  in  its  very  origin,  and  as  it  were  in  its  very  cradle.  "  But"  the 
 Apostles  "  said :  Lord,  behold  here  are  two  swords.  And  he  said  to  them  :  it  is 
 enouoh"  to  explain  my  meaning,  thereby  intimating  that  he  did  not  speak  in  a  literal 
 sense,  for  if  it  were  necessary  to  fight,  not  twelve  swords  would  have  been  sufficient. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXIIL 
 
 CHRIST  S  DISCOURSE  AFTER  THE  LAST  SUPPER — HE  COMFORTS  HIS  APOSTLES PROFESSES 
 
 HIMSELF    THE    WAY,  THE    TRUTH,   AND  THE    LIFE REQUIRES    LOVE    AND    OBEDIENCE 
 
 PRO.MISES  THE  HOLY  GHOST  THE  COMFORTER.      JOHN  XIV. 
 
 The  three  following  chapters  contain  the  incomparable  discourse  which  Jesus  had 
 with  his  Apostles  after  his  last  supper.  Tliey  were  under  no  small  agitation  of  mind 
 upon  several  accounts,  and  were  particularly  hurt  by  Christ's  declaring  the  impossi- 
 bility of  their  following  him.  This  declaration  comprised  all,  not  excepting  evea 
 Peter,  the  most  fearless  and  intrepid  among  them.  They  were  apprehensive  of 
 losing  him  entirely,  and  with  him  all  the  fruits  of  their  past  labours  and  their  most 
 flattering  hopes.  Christ,  therefore,  begins  by  dissipating  their  groundless  fears  and 
 rectifying  their  misconception  of  things  ;  and  as  this  originated  in  their  being  accus- 
 tomed to  view  him  in  no  other  light  than  as  a  common  man,  he  exhorts  them  to 
 believe  in  him  with  a  faith  equally  strong  with  that  by  which  they  believe  in  God 
 himself,  and  thus  to  fix  the  eyes  of  their  soul  upon  his  divine  nature  and  the  un- 
 changeable certainty  of  his  promises.  This  he  holds  out  to  them  as  the  only  remedy 
 or  safe-guard  against  their  desponding  thoughts  in  the  present  trying  moment. 
 John  14.  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  says  he,  "  you  believe  in  God,"  and  put  your  trust 
 ^        in  him,  "  believe  also"  and  trust  "  in  me  his  only  and  co-equal  Son,"  and  be  assured 
 
 *  These   are  figurative  expressions,  such  as  the  scrip,  a  purse,  and   a  sword,  to  defend  their  lives, 
 
 prophets   frequently   made   use   of,  and  they   only  However,  from   the  sequel   it  is  clear,   tliat   Peter 
 
 sigiiifv,  in  a  lively   maimer,  the   great  danger  and  understood    him    in    a    literal    sense,    and    accord- 
 
 perseculion  to  which  the  Apostles  were  going  to  ingly  armed  himself  with  a  sword,  fully  determined 
 
 be  exposed.     This  danger  was  so  great  that  if.they  to  resist  any  violence  which  might  be  offered  to  his 
 
 were  to  consult  their  ]iersonal  safety  by  human  pre-  Master's  person, 
 cautions,  they  should   provide  themselves   with  a         f  Isa.  lii.  12. 
 
5. 
 
 Ch.CXXXIir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  401 
 
 of  the  effect  of  my  promises  in  your  favour.  "  In  my  Father's  house  there  are  many  2. 
 mansions/'*  sufficient  for  you  all.  "  If  not  I  would  have  told  you,"  that  you  need 
 not  expect  a  place  in  my  kingdom  :  but  be  assured  that  you  shall  dwell  there  with 
 me,  "  because  I  go  to  prepare  you  a  place.  And  if  I  shall  go,  and  prepare  a  place 
 for  you,  I  will  come  again"  in  due  time,  "  and  will  take  you  to  myself,  that  where  I  am, 
 you  also  may  be,"  and  may  receive  with  me  the  reward  of  eternal  happiness  in  my 
 "kino-dom.  "  And  whither  I  go,  you  know,  and  the  way  you  know.  Thomas  saith  to  4 
 him.  Lord,  we  know  not  whither  thou  goest,  and  how  can  we  know  the  way  ?"  They 
 knew  it,  says  St.  Austin,']  but  they  did  not  know  that  they  knew  it.  They  knew  their 
 Master  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  was  the  way  :  they  also  knew,  tliat  is,  believed  the  king- 
 dom of  heaven,  but  they  knew  not  that  he  was  returning  thither  ;  for  as  yet  tlieir 
 imaginations  were  fixed  on  a  temporal  kingdom.  "  Jesus  saith  to  him :  I  am  the  6. 
 way"  by  my  doctrine  and  example,  "  and  the  truth"  by  my  promises,  "  and  the  life" 
 by  Ihe  graces  I  offer  and  give.  Wherefore,"  no  one  cometh  to  the  Father,  but  by 
 me,"  by  believing  in  my  doctrine,  by  following  my  example,  and  by  applying  to  him- 
 self the  merits  of  my  passion  and  death.  "If  you  had  known  me"  more  per-  7. 
 fectly  "^  you  would  doubtless  have  known  my  Father  also,"  he  being  one  with  me. 
 "  and  from  henceforth,"  after  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  you  shall  know  him" 
 with  a  more  perfect  knowledge;  "  and  you  have  seen  him"  by  the  faith  which  you 
 have  had  in  me.  "  Philip  saith  to  him,"  with  a  holy  eagerness:  "  Lord,  show  us  8. 
 the  Father,  and  it  is  enough  for  us.  Jesus  saith  to  him  :  so  long  a  time  have  I  been  9. 
 with  you,"  teaching  you  who  I  am  both  by  my  words  and  actions,  "  and  have  you  not 
 known  me?"  If  you  beheld  me  and  my  divine  nature  with  the  eyes  of  faith,  in  seeing- 
 me  you  would  see  the  Father  also.  Yes,  "  Philip,  he  that  seeth  me,  seeth  also  the 
 Father:"  that  is,  whoever  sees  or  knows  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  knows  with 
 equal  certainty  that  God  is  the  Father  of  Jesus,  all  correlatives  being  inseparable  in 
 their  nature  and  in  the  idea  we  form  of  them  :  so  that  he  who  sees  or  knows  by  faith 
 who  Jesus  is,  cannot  but  know  that  Jesus  is  one  with  his  eternal  Father,  not  one  per- 
 son, as  the  Sabellians  fancied,  but  one  in  nature  and  substance.  The  ancient  Fathers 
 take  notice  against  the  Arians,  that  these  words  and  others  that  follow  in  this  chapter 
 could  not  be  true  if  Christ  were  no  more  than  a  creature,  though  ever  so  perfect ; 
 there  being  an  infinite  distance  betwixt  God  and  the  highest  of  his  creatures.  Where 
 fore  Christ  thus  expresses  his  astonishment  at  Philip's  request :  "  How  sayest  thou, 
 show  us  the  Father  ?  Do  you  not  believe  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  10. 
 me?"  since  we  have  the  same  essence,  the  same  wisdom,  and  the  same  power. 
 Hence  "  the  words  that  I  speak  to  you,  I  speak  not  of  myself,"  and  what  I  do,  I  do 
 it  not  of  myself  "  But  the  Father  who  abideth  in  me,  he  doth  the  works.  Do  you  ii. 
 not  believe  that  I  am"  thus  "  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me  ?"  If  you  believe  12. 
 it  not  on  account  of  my  words,  "  believe  at  least  on  account  of  the  W'Orks  themselves," 
 which  so  clearly  prove  it :  "  Amen,  amen  I  say  to  you:  he  that  believeth  in  me,  the 
 works  that  I  do,  he  also  shall  do,  and  greater  than  these  shall  he  do  :  because  I  go  to      13. 
 
 *  These  mansions  are  suitable  to  the  desfrees  of     Let  us  therefore  endeavour  to  be  eminent  in  grace, 
 piety  which  Christians  shall  arrive  at  in  this  world,     that  we  may  be  eminent  in  glory. 
 
 t  Tract.  69. 
 
 34.  5  k 
 
402 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXIIL 
 
 the  Father,  and  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do  ;  that 
 the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son."  Christ  speaks  of  the  greatness  of  visible 
 miracles,  and  tells  his  Apostles,  that  after  his  ascension  they  shall  be  enabled  even  to 
 do  oreater  miracles  than  those  which  he  has  yet  shown  to  the  world.  This  power  he 
 communicated  to  his  disciples,  in  order  that  they  might  be  enabled  to  convert  the 
 world ;  and  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  miracles  was  the  very  conversion  of  an  idola- 
 trous world.     And  to  show  that  his  power  was  the  same  with  that  of  his  Father,  he 
 
 j4  adds  :  "  If  you  shall  ask  me"  also  "  any  thing  in  my  name,  that  will 
 
 thdr^lhldlenZ  I  ^0."  As  a  further  subject  of  consolation,  Christ  assures  his  Apos- 
 as  a  proof  of  ties,  that  if  they  loved  him,  and  showed  this  love  by  keeping  his  cora- 
 ^^""^liler'  tliem  mandments,  he  would  send  them  another  comforter  besides  himself, 
 
 j5_      the    Spirit    of  viz.  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  or  the  Holy  Ghost.     "  If  you  love  me,"  says 
 
 16.  ^'■"^'''  he,  "  keep  my  commandments.  And  I  will  ask  the  Father,  and  he 
 will  send  you  another  Paraclete,*  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for  ever,"t  and  this 
 
 17.  comforter  shall  be  "  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  whom  the  world,"  being  carnal  and  earthly- 
 minded,  "  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth  him  not,  nor  knoweth  him  :  but  you  shall 
 know  him,  because  he  shall  abide  with  you,"  not  in  a  corporeal  visible  manner,  as  I 
 have  done,  but  he  "  shall  be  in  you"  in  a  manner  altogether  spiritual  and  divine,  as 
 
 18.  the  spirit  of  your  spirit,  and  as  the  soul  of  your  soul.     Likewise,  "  I"  myself  "  will 
 
 19.  not  leave  you  orphans  :  I  will  come  to  you"  again,  after  my  resurrection.  "  Yet  a 
 while,  and  the  world  seeth  me  no  more,  but  you  shall  see  me,  because  I  live"  after 
 
 20.  my  death,  "  and  you  shall  live"  with  me.  "  In  that  day,  when  I  am  risen  again, 
 you  shall  know,  that  I  am  in  my  Father"  by  the  unity  of  one  and  the  same  nature, 
 "  and  that  you"  are  "  in  me"  as  members  of  my  body,  "  and  I  in  you"  as  the  head 
 united  to  its  members,  and  sanctifying  you  with  my  holy  Spirit.  But  to  obtain  this 
 knowledge,  and  in  gratitude  for  so  great  a  blessing,  you  must  love  me,  and  give 
 
 21.  proof  of  your  love  by  obeying  my  injunctions.  For  ''  he  that  hath  my  command- 
 ments and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me.     And  he  that  lovelh  me,  shall  be 
 
 22.  loved  by  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him.  Judas 
 saith  to  him,  (not  he  called  Iscariot)  Lord,  what  is  the  reason  that  thou  art  about  to 
 manifest  thyself  to  us,  and  not  to  the  world?"  For  this  Apostle  imagined  that  the 
 Messiah  would  manifest  his  glory  as  a  temporal  king,  not  to  them  only,  but  to  all  the 
 world.  But  Christ  informs  him,  that  he  spoke  only  of  a  manifestation  of  his  love  to 
 those  that  loved  him,  and  therefore  that  the  world  was  unqualified  for  such  a  divine 
 manifestation,  being  seated  in  wickedness,  and  an  enemy  to  what  fits  souls  for  a 
 fellowship  with  heaven.  Wherefore,  as  those  only  who  truly  love  him  are  to  be 
 honoured  with  his  familiar  converse,  and  admitted  to  intimate  communications  of 
 grace  and  favour,  it  was  easy  to  assign  a  reason  for  the  distinction  which  he  made 
 between  them  and  the  world,  viz.  their  love  for  him  on  the  one  side,  and  the  world's 
 
 23.  hatred  and  indifference  on  the  other.     Hence  "  Jesus  answered"  Judas,  "  and  said 
 
 *  The  word  Paraclete  signifies  both  an  advocate  the  Holy  Ghost  will  remain  with  the  Pastors  of  the 
 
 and  a  comforter.  Church    for  ever,  to   protect   and   preserve    them 
 
 i  What  greater  comfort,  what  greater  security  for  Bgainst  all  heresies  and  errors. 
 the  faithful,  than  to  have  this  divine  promise,  that 
 
CIi.  CXXXIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  403 
 
 to  him ;  If  any  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  vvord,  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
 and  we  will  come  to  him"  with  a  fresh  increase  of  g-races  and  blessings,  "  and  will 
 make  our  abode  with  him.     He  that  loveth  me  not,  keepeth  not  my  words  :  and  the      24. 
 word  that  you  have  heard,  is  not  mine,  but  the  Father's  who  sent  me.    These  things      25. 
 have  I  spoken  abiding  with  you.     But  the  Paraclete,  the  Holy  Ghost,  26. 
 
 whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  will  teach  you  all  things,  ^./f^'^^  J  ^JJ 
 and  will  suggest  all  things  to  you,  whatsoever  I  shall  have  said  to  you,"  them  all  things. 
 in  order  that  you  may  be  able  to  understand  and  practise  them.  In  ^^  ^^^^  '''""* 
 the  mean  time  I  bequeath  you  my  peace :  "  Peace  I  leave  to  you,  my  27. 
 
 peace  I  give  unto  you  :  not  as  the  world  giveth  it,  do  I  give  it  to  you."  The  peace 
 of  the  world  is  ever  false  and  deceitful  like  itself ;  my  peace  is  true  and  permanent : 
 I  do  not  give  it,  in  the  usual  manner  of  the  world,  by  empty,  unmeaning  speeches 
 and  wishes,  but  by  sohd  and  efficacious  wishes ;  lastly,  my  peace  is  not  such  as  the 
 world  usually  wishes  to  its  followers,  viz.  the  enjoyment  of  health,  a  long  life,  the 
 gratification  of  sensual  pleasures ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  consists  in  the  spiritual 
 blessings  of  grace  here  and  eternal  enjoyment  of  glory  hereafter. 
 
 The  Apostles  seem  to  have  been  most  sensibly  affected  with  this  last  farewell,  even 
 to  the  shedding  of  tears,  and  thereupon  Jesus  exhorted  them  by  no  means  to  give 
 way  to  immoderate  grief:  ''  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  nor  let  ii  be  afraid," 
 says  he,  "  you  have  heard  that  I  said  to  you ;  I  go  and  I  come  to  you  again.     In      2S. 
 case  you  loved  me"  truly,  instead  of  being  afflicted  as  you  are,  "  you  would  doubtless 
 be  glad  that  I  go  to  the  Father,  because  the  Father  is  greater  than  I"  as  man,  and 
 will  make  ray  humanity  partaker  of  that  glory  which  belongs  to  me  as  God.     "  And      29. 
 now  I  have  told  you  before  it  come  to  pass,  that  when  it  shall  have  come  to  pass, 
 you  may  believe,"  and  that  seeing  me  ascend  up  into  heaven,  you  may  be  assured 
 that  I  go  to  take  possession  of  that  glory  which  belongs  to  me  as  the  Son  of  God. 
 "  Now  I  will  not  speak  many  things  with  you.     For  the  prince  of  this  world,"  that      30. 
 is  the  devil,  "  cometh"  to  exercise  all  his  fury  against  me,  "  and"  yet  "■  in  me  he 
 hath  not  any  thing"  that  belongs  to  him.     "  But"  I  abandon  myself  to  his  rage,      31. 
 "  that  the  world  may  know  that  I  love  the  Father,  and  that  I  do  as  the  Father  hath 
 commanded  me,"  though  at  the  expense  of  my  honour  and  life.     "  Arise,  let  us  go 
 hence,"  and  wait  courageously  the  arrival  of  our  enemies.     "  And  when  they  had  Mark  14. 
 said  an  hymn,*  they  went  forth  towards  the  mount  of  Olives."  ~  ' 
 
 *  The   hymn,  here  alluded  to,  may  signify  no  their  feasts.    Our  countryman  Alcuin  is  of  opinion, 
 
 more  than  an  act  of  thanlisgivinj  which  was  sung  that  this  hymn  is  no  other  than  what  is  contained 
 
 by  Christ  and  his  Apostles.     Some  will  have  it  to  in  the  17th  chapter  of  St.  John.     See  his  letter  on 
 
 have    been    Hallel   which    was    composed    of   six  this  subject  addressed  to  Charles   the   Great,  who 
 
 eucharistical   Psalms,  beginning  about  the    I12th  had  expressed  his  surprise  at  the  Evangelists  hav- 
 
 Psalm,  Laudate  Piieri  Goininum,  and  concluding  ing   omitted   this   hymn.— The   word  v/ivtjaavrev 
 
 with  the  117th:  for  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  implies  that  it  was  sung, 
 sing  these  in  thanksgiving  at   the   conclusion  of 
 
404  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXIV. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXIV. 
 
 CONTINUATION  OF  OUR  SAVIOUr's  DISCOURSE  AFTER  HIS  LAST  SUPPER.*     JOHN  XV. 
 
 l.JesusChrist  After  having'  thus  comforted  his  disciples,  and  armed  them  against 
 
 declares  himself  ^^    immoderate  sorrow  on  account  of  his  death,  Jesus  now  proceeds  to 
 
 the    vine,    and        ■'  ,  •  i  -i       r  i 
 
 that  we  are  the  caution  them  against  other  evils  ot  more  dangerous  consequence,  viz. 
 
 branches.  ^^  inconstancy  in  faith,  a  coldness  in  charity,  and  a  want  of  patience 
 
 and  longanimity  under  persecution.  He  exhorts  them  to  keep  themselves,  even 
 during  his  absence,  closely  united  to  him,  by  means  of  ftiith  and  of  love.  Hence  he 
 compares  himself  to  a  vine,  his  Father  to  a  husbandman,  or  dresser  of  vines,  and  his 
 disciples  to  the  branches  of  this  vine.  He  styles  himself  the  true  vine,  because  he 
 more  fully  influences  the  faithful^  who  are  the  members  of  his  body,  than  the  vine 
 influences  and  nourishes  its  branches.  With  regard  to  the  vine,  it  is  requisite  that 
 the  branch  should  remain  united  with  the  stock  ;  likewise,  that  it  be  not  barren,  but 
 produce  fruit ;  and  lastly,  that  it  produce  fruit  plentifully.  Thus  it  ought  to  be  with 
 regard  to  Christians,  who  adhere  to  Christ  through  faith.  Those  branches  which  are 
 united  to  him,  and  yet  produce  not  the  fruit  of  good  works,  will  infallibly  be  cut  off 
 from  the  stock  by  the  Father,  as  useless  wood.  This  separation  is  sometimes  effected 
 by  heresy  and  schism,  into  which  God  permits  these  useless  Christians  to  fall,  and 
 sometimes  by  the  stroke  of  death  which  he  inflicts  upon  them.  Those  branches 
 which  already  bear  fruit,  the  Father  will  prune ;  and  by  lopping  off  all  superfluous 
 wood,  will  render  them  still  more  fruitful.  This  pruning  is  performed  by  secret 
 inspirations,  by  sicknesses,  and  other  afflictions ;  and  sometimes  by  the  sharp  knife 
 of  persecutions,  which  serve  to  purify  well-meaning  souls  from  the  empty  amusements 
 of  this  world. 
 John  15.  "  I  ^iiti  the  true  vine,"  says  Jesus  Christ,  those  that  believe  in  me  are  the  branches, 
 '■  "  and  my  Father  is  the  husbandman.  Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit,  he 
 will  take  away ;  and  every  one  that  beareth  fruit,  he  will  purge  it,  that  it  may  bring 
 forth  more  fruit."  Applying  this  comparison  to  his  disciples,  Jesus  acknowledges 
 them  to  be  already  dressed  and  pruned  branches,  in  as  much  as  their  minds  were  dis- 
 engaged from  worldly  superfluities.  It  remained  that  they  .should  bear  fruit  in  great 
 plenty,  and  to  effect  this  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  abide  immovably  in  him, 
 and  he  in  them.     To  this  union  he  urgently  exhorts  them,  by  describing  the  great 
 
 3.  advantages  which  would  thence  accrue  to  them.  "  Now  you  are  clean,"  says  he, 
 and  like  to  pruned  branches,  ''  by  reason  of  the  word  which  I  have  spoken  to  you," 
 and  which  you  have  received.     It  only  remains  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  greater  abun- 
 
 4.  dance.  For  this  purpose  "  abide  in  me  and  I  in  you."  For  "  as  the  branch  cannot 
 bear  fruit  of  itself,  unless  it  abide  in  the  vine,  so  neither  can  you,  unless  you  abide  in 
 
 *   Calmet  is  of  opinion,  that  Christ  continued  things,  he  went  out,  &c.  must  be  understood  of  his 
 
 these  discourses  in  his  way  to  Gethsemani,  which  i^oing   out  of  the   town,  or   of  passing   over   the 
 
 is  highly  probable ;    so   that  what  is  said  below,  torrent, 
 chap.   137,  No.  1.     IVhen  Jesus  had   said   these 
 
Ch.  CXXXIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  405 
 
 me.     I  am  the  vine,  you  the  branches  :  he  that  abideth  in  me"  by  faith,  "  and   I  in       5, 
 him"  by  grace,  "  the  same  beareth  much  fruit:  for  without  me  you  can  do  nothing" 
 meritorious  of  a  reward  in  heaven.    And  therefore  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
 you  remain  invariably  attached  to  me.     "  If  any  one  abide  not  in  me,  he  shall  be  cast       6. 
 forth  as  an"  useless  "  branch,  and  shall  wither,  and  they  shall  gather  him  up,  and 
 cast  him  into  the  fire"  of  hell,  '^  and"  there  "  he  shall  burn"  eternally  without  being 
 consumed.     And,  on  the  contrary,  "  if  you  abide  in  me"  by  a  lively  faith,  ''  and  my       7. 
 words  abide  in  you"  by  an  ardent  charity,  which  may  make  you  fruitful  in  all  good 
 works,  "  you  shall  ask  whatever  you  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you,"  provided  it 
 be  for  the  greater  glory  of  God.     For  as  the  vine-dresser  glories  in  the  abundance 
 which  his  vine  produces,  so  "  in  this  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  you  bring  forth       8. 
 very  much  fruit,  and  become  my"  true  '*  disciples,"  by  following  my  doctrine  and 
 imitating  the  holiness  of  my  life. 
 
 Jesus  now  proceeds  to  caution  his  followers  against  allowing  their  2.  Perseverance 
 charity  to  grow  cold,  during  his  absence,  either  in  regard  to  himself  or      '"  chanty. 
 their  neighbour.     With  regard  to  himself,  he  says  that  their  love  towards  him  ought 
 to  be  constant,  like  that  love  which  he  entertained  for  them,  and  which  was  copied 
 from  that  love  which  his  Father  had  borne  towards  him  his  Son.     "  As  the  Father       9. 
 hath  loved  me,  I  also  have  loved  you  :  abide  in  my  love,"  as  I  abide  in  the  love  of 
 my  Father,    "  If  you  keep  my  commandments,  you  shall  abide  in  my  love,  as  I  also      10. 
 have  kept  my  Father's  commandments,  and  do  abide  in  his  love.     These  things  have      11, 
 I  spoken  to  you,  that"  you  may  practise  them,  and  that  thus  "  my  joy  may  be  in  you" 
 as  my  true  followers,  "  and"  that  "  your  joy"  in  me  "  may  be  filled,"  and  may  go  on 
 increasing  to  the  end.     With  regard  to  your  neighbour,  "  this  is  my  commandment,      12. 
 that  you  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you."     Now  "  greater  love  than  this  no      13. 
 man  hath,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends,"  which  is  what  I  am  about  to 
 do  for  you.     "  You  are,"  therefore,  truly  "  my  friends,  if  you  do  the  things  that  I      14. 
 command  you,"  and  if  you  love  your  brethren  so  as  to  be  willing  to  give  your  life 
 for  them.     "  I  will  not  now  call  you  servants  :  for  the  servant  knoweth  not  what  his      15. 
 Lord  doth.     But  I  have  called  you  friends ;  because  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
 heard  of  my  Father  *  I   have  made  known  to  you,"  by  laying  open  to  you  his 
 designs  in  my  regard,  and  the  graces  which  he  purposes  to  impart  to  you.     Yet,  lest 
 this  glorious  title  of  being  his  intimate  friends,  should  become  a  subject  of  vain  glory, 
 our  Saviour  reminds  his  disciples,  that  it  is  not  they  themselves  who  have  first  chosen 
 to  attach  themselves  to  him,  but  that  it  is  he;himself  who  has  distinguished  them  by 
 his  own  free  choice.    "  You  have  not  chosen  me,"  says  he:  *^' but  I  have  chosen  you,      ]§. 
 and  have  appointed  you  that  you  should  go"  and  declare  the  will  of  God  to  the 
 world ;  "  and  should  bring  forth"  much  and  lasting  "  fruit"  in  the  conversion  uf 
 souls,  "  and"  that  "  your  fruit  should  remain"  even  to  the  end,  by  the  constant  pro- 
 fession and  practice  of  true  virtue  and  religion.     In  the  pei-formance  of  this  work, 
 
 *  We  can  only  understand  these  words,  as  St.  tliem  in  the  next  chapter,  ver.  12.  I  have  yet  many 
 
 Chrysostom  takes  notice,  of  all  things  which  they  things  to  say  to  you,  but  you  cannot  bear  them 
 
 were  capable  of  luiJerstaudiiig',  or  which    it  was  7iotv. 
 proper  to  communicate  to  them;  for  Christ  tells 
 
 35.  5l 
 
406  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXIV. 
 
 labour  assiduously,  so  as  to  merit  "  that  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  of  the  Father  in 
 
 17.  my  name,  he  may  give  it  you.  These  things  I  command  you"  again,  "  that  you  love 
 one  another"  with  a  sincere,  mutual  affection,  so  as  to  be  willing  even  to  die  for  each 
 other,  as  I  am  going  to  do  for  you." 
 
 3  The  world  J^sus,  in  the  next  place,  cautions  his  Apostles  against  all  excessive 
 an  enemy  of  the  dread  of  persecution  ;  which  he  does  by  holding  out  to  them  his  own 
 
 18.  /"■^'■^M-  example  of  suffering  and  fortitude.     "  If  the  world  hate  you,  know  ye 
 
 19.  that  it  hath  hated  me  before  you.  If  you  had  been  of  the  world,  the  world  would 
 love  its  own  :  but  because  you  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the 
 
 20.  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you.  Remember  my  word  that  I  said  to  you.  The 
 servant  is  not  greater  than  his  master.  If  they  have  persecuted  me,  they  will  also 
 persecute  you.  If  they  have  kept  ray  word,  they  will  keep  yours  also.  But,"  what 
 ought  to  comfort  you  under  all  your  sufferings,  is  the  justice  of  your  cause,  and  the 
 
 21.  injustice  of  your  persecutors,  for  "  all  these  things  they  will  do  to  you,"  not  on 
 account  of  any  misdemeanour,  but  "  for  my  name's  sake,"  and  in  hatred  of  my  person, 
 "  because  they  know  not  him  that  sent  me."     But  this  their  ignorance  does  not 
 
 22.  excuse  them.  It  is  true,  that  "  if  I  had  not  come,  and  spoken  to  them"  plainly  con- 
 cerning my  divinity,  "  they  would  not  have  sin :  but  now  they  have  no  excuse  for 
 their  sin,"  and  their  incredulity  can  only  be  the  effect  of  wilful  blindness  and  prepos- 
 
 23.  session  against  me.     Now  "  he  that  hateth  me,  hateth  my  Father  also,"  who  is  God. 
 
 24.  Moreover,  "  if  I  had  not  done  amongst  them  the"  miraculous  "  works  that  no  other 
 man  hath  done,  they  would  not  have  sin"  in  disbelieving  and  rejecting  me :  "  but 
 now  they  have  both  seen  '  the  miracles  which  I  have  done  in  their  favour,  "  and"  yet 
 "  they  have  hated  both  me  and  my  Father,"  which  shows  their  obstinate  and  habitual 
 
 25-  wickedness.  But  this  hath  so  happened,  "  that  the  word  may  be  fulfilled  which  is 
 written  in  their  law  :   TJiei/  have  hated  me  icithout  cause."  * 
 
 He  further  strengthens  them  against  the  dread  of  persecution,  by  promising  to  send 
 them  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  would  oppose  the  weight  of  his  testi- 
 mony to  the  calumnies  of  the  Jews,  and  show,  by  various  ways,  that  Jesus  was  the 
 Son  of  God  and  the  promised  Messiah,  by  the  voice  of  his  numerous  disciples,  by 
 the  many  miracles  which  they  would  work  in  his  name,  and  by  the  conversion  of  great 
 numbers  of  his  declared  enemies,  who  would  avow  their  conviction,  and  embrace  his 
 
 26.  holy  religion.  "  But  when  the  Paraclete  cometh  whom  I  will  send  you  from  the 
 Father,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  proceeds  from  the  Father,  he  shall  give  testimony  of 
 me,"   and  with  wonderful  efficacy,  shall  cause   my  doctrine  to  be  acknowledged 
 
 27.  throughout  the  world,  "  And  you"  also,  though  now  so  weak  and  fearful,  ''  shall 
 give  testimony"  of  me  and  of  my  divinity,  because  you  are  with  me  "  from  the  begin- 
 ning" of  my  preaching,  and  have  witnessed,  both  in  my  words  and  actions,  a  wisdom 
 and  power  truly  divine. 
 
 Having  armed  his  Apostles  with  zeal  and  courage  by  these  powerful  motives,  Jesus 
 now  at  length  foretells  to  them  more  in  particular  the  persecutions  which  they  would 
 have  to  undergo ;  lest  by  coming  upon  them  unexpectedly,  they  might  occasion  in 
 their  minds  the  greater  trouble  and  anxiety. 
 
 *  Ps.  xxiv.  19. 
 
Ch.  CXXXV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  407 
 
 "  These  things  have  I  spoken  to  you,"  says  he,  "  that  you  may  not     ^  christfore-  "^"^'^  ^^• 
 be  scandalized.     They  will  put  you  out  of  the  synagogues :  moreover  warns  his  fol-       ]; 
 the  hour  cometh,"  when  their  blindness  will  be  so  great,  "  that  whoso-  1°^"' "/  ?""'«- 
 ever  killeth  you,  will  think  that  he  doth  a  service  to  God.*     And  these  '  3. 
 
 things  will  they  do  to  you,  because  they  have  not  known  the  Father  nor  me.  But  4. 
 these  things  I  have  told  you,  that  when  the  hour  shall  come,  you  may  remember  that 
 I  told  you  of  them,"  and  may  thus  find,  even  in  your  sufferings  themselves,  the 
 source  of  your  patience  and  consolation,  by  reflecting  that  you  suffer  for  a  God  who 
 knows  them,  who  foretold  them  to  you,  and  who  will  hereafter  abundantly  recompense 
 all  your  crosses.  "  But  I  told  not  these  things  from  the  beginning,  because  I  was  5. 
 with  you  ;"  and  as  they  were  to  come  to  pass  only  after  my  decease,  it  would  have 
 occasioned  you  unnecessary  trouble  and  sorrow  before  the  time. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXV. 
 
 A  SECOND  CONTINUATION  OF  CHRIST's  DISCOURSE.      JOHN  XVI. 
 
 Jesus  being  about  to  return  to  his  Father,  in  order  to  soften  the  afflic-     \.  Christ  com- 
 tion  which  this  intelliffence  would  naturally  convey  to  his  Apostles,  /'""'f  ^"  '^P°^- 
 
 °  •  .  ,  ^  ties  by  a  promise 
 
 represents  his  departure  under  the  hgure  of  an  ordinary  journey,  and  of    the    Holy 
 expresses  his  surprise,  that  they  did  not,  as  is  usual  amongst  intimate  Ghost. 
 friends,  more  particularly  inquire  into  the  motive  of  his  journey,  the  nature  of  his 
 employment  when  with  his  Father^  and  the  benefits  which  would  thence  accrue  to 
 him.     He  gently  rebukes  them,  that  instead  of  evincing  so  laudable  a  curiosity,  they 
 allow  themselves  to  be  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  first  communication  of  his 
 departure.  "  And  now,"  says  he^  "  I  go  to  him  that  sent  me,  and  none  of  you  asketh  John  16 
 me,  whither  goest  thou  ?     But  because  I  have  spoken  these  things,  sorrow  hath       ^* 
 filled  your  heart."     We  cannot  sufficiently  admire  the  sweet  and  humane  conduct  of 
 our  Saviour,  in  thus  endeavouring  to  soothe  the  affliction  of  his  disciples,  whilst  he 
 himself  was  actually  on  the  way  to  suffer  a  cruel  and  ignominious  death. 
 
 He  then  adverts  to  the  reasons  which  rendered  his  departure  necessary.     "  But       7. 
 I  tell  you  the  truth,"  says  he,  "  it  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go :  for  if  I  go  not,  the 
 Paraclete  will   not   come   to  you :    but  if  I   go,  I    will  send   him  to   you.     And       8. 
 when  he  is  come,  he  will  convince  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  justice,  and  of  judg- 
 mentf     Of  sin,"  which  the  Jews  and  all  obstinate  unbelievers  commit;  "  because       9. 
 they  have  not  believed  in  me,"  after  so   many  miracles,  and  so  many  pressing 
 motives,  that  ought  to  induce  them  to  submit  to  the  Christian  faith  :  "  and  of"      10 
 the  "justice"  of  my  cause  and  of  my  innocence,  a  certain  proof  of  which  will  be, 
 
 *  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  a  man  may  sin  very         *   Of  sin  :  of  the  sjeneral  corruption  of  human 
 
 ECrievously,  though   he   follow   the  dictates  of  liis  nature  in  Adam.     Of  justice :  of  the  reparation  of 
 
 conscience  when  erroneous.    The  Jews  did  so,  and  our  nature  in  Christ  by  his  grace.     Of  judgment: 
 
 St.  Paul  likewise.  of  the  just  condemnation  of  sin  and  sinners. 
 
408 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXV, 
 
 "  because  I  o-o  to  the  Father,"  and  ascend  to  eternal  glory,  "  and  you  shall  see  me  no 
 
 11.  longer"  upon  earth,  being  seated  at  his  right  hand  in  heaven  :  "  and  of"  the  "  judg- 
 ment" or  condemnation  of  the  world ;  "  becaui^e  the  prince  of  this  world  is  already 
 judo-ed,"  is  stripped  of  his  usurped  empire  over  mankind^  and  condemned  to  eternal 
 flames  ;  and  therefore  all  those  that  are  enslaved  to  him  by  sin,  can  expect  no  other 
 treatment  than  to  be  involved  in  the  same  damnation.  These  considerations,  so 
 glorious  for  Jesus,  should  not  only  have  induced  his  disciples  to  consent  to  his  depar- 
 ture, but  even  to  have  hastened,  if  possible,  an  event  which  tended  so  much  to  the 
 advancement  of  his  glory. 
 
 With  reo-ard  to  the  Apostles  themselves,  their  state  of  weakness  and  ignorance 
 prevented  him  from  imparting  to  them  at  present  many  other  things  which  they 
 
 12.  would  know  afterwards,  when  he  should  send  down  his  holy  Spirit  upon  them.     "  I 
 
 13.  have  yet  many  things  to  say  to  you,  but  you  cannot  bear  them  now.  But  when  he,  the 
 Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,"  he  will  fortify  you  against  the  severest  trials,  "  and  will 
 teach  you"  and  the  Church  "  all  truth:  for  he  shall  not  speak  from  himself"  only, 
 because  he  is  not  from  himself,  but  proceedeth  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  "  but 
 what  things  soever  he  shall  hear"*  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  "  he  shall  speak, 
 and  the  things  that  are  come,  he  shall  show  you,"  so  as  to  make  you  perfectly  under- 
 
 14.  stand  my  gospel  in  the  spiritual  design  of  it.  "  He  shall  glorify  me"  by  publishing 
 it  throughout  the  world,  "  because  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  to  you. 
 
 15.  All  things  whatsoever  the  Father  hath,  are  minc.f  Therefore  I  said,  that  he  shall 
 receive  of  mine  and  show  it  to  you." 
 
 2.  Promise  of      Jesus  once  more  bids  them  farewell,  informing  them,  that  shortly  they 
 eternal  joy.      ^\^^\\  \q^q  gight  of  him,  but  that  soon  afterwards  they  shall  again  see 
 
 16.  him  risen  from  the  dead.     "  A  little  while,"  says  he,  "  and  now  you  shall  not  see  me : 
 
 17.  and  again  a  little  while  and  you  shall  see  me :  because  I  go  to  the  Father.  Then 
 some  of  his  disciples  said,"  in  alow  voice,  "  one  to  another  :  "  what  is  this  that  he 
 saith  to  us :  a  little  while,  and  you  shall  not  see  me  :  and  again  a  little  while,  and  you 
 
 18.  shall  see  me,  and,  because  I  go  to  the  Father  ?     They  said  therefore  :  what  is  this 
 
 19.  that  he  saith:  a  little  while?  we  know  not  what  he  speaketh.  And  Jesus,"  without 
 having  heard  them,  "  knew  that  they  had  a  mind  to  ask  him,  and  he  said  to  them  : 
 of  this  do  you  inquire  among  yourselves,  because  I  said  :  a  little  while,  and  you  shall 
 
 20.  not  see  me  ;  and  again,  a  little  while,  and  you  shall  see  me.:}:     Amen,  amen  I  say  to 
 
 *  His  hearinc,  says  St.  Austin,  is  his  kno\vlecla:e,  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  that  he  receives 
 
 and  his  knowledge  is  his  essence  or  being,  which  and  has  the   same  perfections  ;    so   that   here   are 
 
 from  eternity  is  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.    The  plainly  distinguished  the  three  persons  of  the  ever 
 
 like  expressions  are  applied  to  the  Son,  as  proceed-  blessed  Trinity. 
 
 ing  from  the  Father.     John  v.  30.  and  viii.  16.  &c.  I  St.  Austin  says,  Trac.  101,  that  by  the  first 
 
 Obs.  That  the  Holy  Gho<;t  is  here  spoken  of  as  a  little  while  may  be  understood  also  the  short  time 
 
 person  distinct  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  :   and  till  Christ's  ascension,  and  by  the  latter  lillle  while 
 
 the    Son   as   distinct   from    the   Father  and    Holy  the  short  time  that  the  i^postles  were  to  live  in  this 
 
 Ghost,  in  the  following  verses.  world  ;     after    which    they    should   see   and   enjoy 
 
 t   The  obvious  sense  of  these  words  shows  that  Christ  for  ever  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  and  this 
 
 the  Son   hath   the  same  nature  and  the  same  sub-  exposition  seems  to  agree  better  with  the  tollowing 
 
 stance  as  the  Father,  and  that  he  is  one  and  the  promise:    your  sorrojv  shall  be  turned   into  joy, 
 
 same   God   with  him.     And   by   Christ's   adding  :  chiefly  at  the  end  of  your  mortal   life  :  then  shall 
 
 therefore  he  (the  Holy  Ghost)  shall  receive  of  mine,  you  have  joy  never  to  be  taken  from  you. 
 we  are  taught  that  the  third  person  proceeds  both 
 
Ch.  CXXXV.]  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  4O9 
 
 you,  that  you  shall  lament  and  weep,  and  the  world  shall  rejoice  :  and  you  shall  be 
 made  sorrowful,  but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy.     A  woman  when  she  is  in      21. 
 labour  hath  sorrow,  because  her  hour  is  come  ;  but  when  she  hath  brought  forth  the 
 childj  she  remembereth  no  more  the  anguish  for  joy  that  a  man  is  born  into  the 
 world."     The  pains  of  child-bearing-,  however  sharp,  are  transient^  and  are  followed 
 by  a  lasting  joy.     "  So  also"  it  shall  be  in  your  regard;  "  you  now  indeed  have      22. 
 sorrow,"  because  the  hour  is  come  when  I  am  to  be  separated  from  you  by  death. 
 "  But  I  will  see  you  again,"  after  my  resurrection,  "  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and 
 your  joy  no  one  shall  take  from  you.*     And  in  that  day  you  shall  not"  need  to  "^  ask      :23. 
 me  any  thing  ;"  but  you  shall  perfectly  understand  by  the  event,  the  meaning-  of  this 
 little  ic/iile  which  now  seems  so  involved  in  mystery.     "  Amen,  amen      3    ^y^^       _ 
 I  say  to  you  :  if  you  ask  the  Father  any  thing  in  my  name,  he  will  give  mise  of  favours 
 it  to  you-t     Hitherto  you  have  not  asked  any  thing  in  my  name/'  by  fionitlitFatlur.      ^^ 
 the  merits  of  me  your  Mediator  and  Redeemer  :  J   "  ask  and  you  shall  receive,  that 
 your  joy  may  be  complete,"  by  the  present  satisfiiction  you  will  have  in  receiving  the 
 effect  of  your  prayers,  and  by  the  hope  you  will  conceive  of  obtaining  one  day  the 
 accomplishment  of  all  your  desires.     "These  things  I  have  spoken  to  you  in  pro-      23, 
 verbs  ;  the  hour  coraeth  when  I  will  no  more  speak  to  you  in  proverbs,  but  will 
 speak  to  you  openly  concerning  the  Father. §    In  that  day  you  shall  ask  in  my  name :      26. 
 and  I  say  not  to  you,  that  I,"  though  your  Redeemer  and  Advocate,  "  will  ask  the 
 Father  for  you.     For  the  Father  himself  loveth  you,  because  you  have  loved  me,  and      27. 
 have  believed  that  I  came  out  from  God."     In  effect,   "■  I  came  forth  from  the 
 Father,"  as  begotten  of  him  from  all  eternity,  "  and  am  come  into  the  world"  in  order      23. 
 to  redeem  it  from  sin  and  hell  :  "  and,  '  as  man,  "  I  go  to  the  Father,"  with  whom  I 
 am,  and  have  always  been  as  God.     "  His  disciples  say  to  him:  behold  now  thou      29. 
 speakest  plainly,  and  usest  no  proverb.     Now  we  know  that  thou  knowest  all  things,"      30. 
 being  more  and  more  confirmed  that  thou  ait  the  Messiah,  the  true  Son  of  God, 
 "  and  thou  needest  not  that  any  man  should  ask  thee.     By  this  we  believe  that  thou 
 comest  forth  from  God.||   Jesus  answered  them  :  do  you  now  believe  ?  Behold  the  hour      31. 
 is  at  hand,  and  it  is  now  come,  that  you  shall  be  scattered  every  man  to  his  home,      '^^'^• 
 and  leave  me  alone  :  and"  yet  "  I  am  not  alone,  because  the  Father  is  with  me," 
 and  will  not  abandon  me.     "  These  things  I  have  spoken  to  you,"  not  by  way  of      33. 
 reproaching  you  for  your  future  infidelity,  but  "  that  in  me  you  may  have  peace,"^ 
 protection,  and  comfort,  amidst  the  evils  that  await  you  :  for  "  in  the  world  you  shall 
 meet  with  distress  ;  but  be  of  good  courage,  I  have  overcome  the  world,"  and  by  ray 
 
 *   Whereas  the  sinner  lias  no  joy,  but  what  may         §  This  he  did  during- ihe  forty  days  which  inter- 
 soon  be  taken  from  him.  vened  betwixt  his  resurrection  and  his  ascension. 
 
 t  Whatever  graces  and  assistances  you  stand  in  ||    Yet  St.   Chrysostom,   St.  Cyril,   and  St.  Au- 
 
 need  of,  ask  them  in  my  name,  as  I  am  your  chief  gnstin  take  notice  that  their  faith  was  but  imperfect 
 
 Mediator,  through  wliose  merits  all  shall  be  granted  till  after  Christ's  resurrection  and  the  coming  of  the 
 
 you.     This  is  the  constant  practice  of  the  Catholic  Holy  Ghost,  and   therefore  Christ  answered  them  : 
 
 Church,  to   ask  for  all   graces  througti    our  Lord  Do  you  now  believe  ?     The  hour  is  coming,  &c. 
 Jesus  C/irist.  ^  The  peace  which  Christ  leaves   with  his  ser- 
 
 l  They  were  not  yet,  says  St.  Cyril,  acquainted  vants  does  not  consist  in  having  no   afflictions,  but 
 
 with  this  manner  of  praying  and  petitioning,  as  in  enabling  us  to  overcome  them,  to   rejoice   in 
 
 they  were  afterwards.  them,  &c. 
 
 35.  5  M 
 
410 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXVL 
 
 victory  over  it,  have  merited  for  you  the  graces  necessary  that  you  likewise  may 
 overcome  it  yourselves,  and  may  thus  obtain  an  eternal  crown  of  glory. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXVI. 
 
 THE  PRAYER  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  BEFORE  HIS  PASSION.     JOHN  XVII. 
 
 John  17.  I  jjg  j-ais  "  These  things  Jesus  spoke,  and  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  said" 
 1-  that  he  himself  the  following  prayer,  which  is  divided  into  three  parts.  In  the  first,  he 
 mayheglnrijied  p,.ays  for  himself;  in  tlie  second,  for  his  Apostles  ;  in  the  third,  for  all 
 the  elect.  He  spoke  it  aloud  for  the  instruction  of  his  Apostles,  and  the  beloved 
 disciple  has  recorded  it  for  the  instruction,  comfort,  and  consolation  of  the  whole 
 Church.  "  Father,  the  hour"  of  my  death  "  is  come,  glorify  thy  Son"  by  raising 
 him  again  to  life,  "  that  thy  Son  may"  reciprocally  "  glorify  thee,"  by  making  thee 
 
 2.  known  and  adored  throughout  the  earth.  "  As  thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all 
 flesh,*  that  he  may  give  eternal  life  to  all  whom  thou  hast  given  him,"  so  exalt  him 
 to  that  state  in  which  he  may  exercise  that  power,  by  bringing  many  to  the  faith,  and 
 
 3.  by  fitting  them  for  eternal  life.  "  Now  this  is"  the  way  to  "  eternal  life,  that  they 
 know  thee  the  only  true  God,"  in  opposition  to  those  false  gods  they  now  ignorantly 
 worship,  "  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent  into  the  world"!  as  the  Saviour  of 
 
 4.  mankind.     "  I  have  glorified  thee  upon  the  earth,"  by  my  preaching  and  miracles  : 
 5-       "  I  have  accomplished  the"  great  "  work"  of  man's  sanctification,  "  which  thou 
 
 gavest  me  to  do :  and  now,  O  Father,  glorify  me  with  thyself,"  by  exalting  my 
 human  nature  to  thy  right  hand,  and  by  crow-ning  mc  "  with  that  glory  which,"  as 
 to  my  divine  nature,  "  I  had  with  thee,  before  the  warld  was." 
 2.  Jesus  prays  Jesus  having  thus  prayed  for  himself  as  man,  next  intercedes  for  his 
 ^  for  his  Apostles.  Apostles,  as  the  faithful  ministers  of  his  word.  "I  have  manifested 
 thy  name  to  the  men  whom  thou  hast  given  me,"  and  have  separated  them  from 
 "  out  of  the  world.  Thine  they  were"  by  creation,  "  and  thou  gavest  them  to  me" 
 for  my  disciples,  "  and  they  have  kept  thy  word,"  which  I  announced  to  them  as 
 
 *   He  speaks  of  himself  as  made  mau  and  the         f  The  Arians  pretended  from  these  words,  that 
 
 Redeemer  of  mankind :    if  we  ask,  who  are   they  the  Father  only  is  the  true  God.     St.  Austin  and 
 
 who  in  this  sense  are  said  to  be  given  to  Christ  ?  others  answer,  that  the  sense  and  construction  is  : 
 
 the  answer  is,  that  only  the  elect  or  predestinate  that  they  may  know  thee,  and  also  Jesus  Christ  thy 
 
 are   given    to   him   by   a   special    and    uncommon  Son  whom  thou  hast  sent,  to   be  the  only  true  God. 
 
 mercy.     In  tliis  sense  St.  Austin  says  (Trac.  111.),  We   may  also  observe   with    St.  Chrysostom   and 
 
 "  They  are  not  said  to  be  given,  to  whom  he  shall  others,  that  the  Father  is  here  called  the  only  true 
 
 not  give  life  everlasting."     Yet  not  only  the  elect,  God,  not  to  exclude  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 
 but  all   believers,   nay  all  men  whatever  may  be  who  are  the  same  one  true  God  with  the  Father, 
 
 said  to  be  given  to  him,  in  as  much  as  by  his  com-  but  only  to  exclude  the  false  gods  of  the  Gentiles, 
 
 ing  to  redeem  all,  sufficient  helps  and  means  are  Let    the    Socinians  take  notice,   that  in  the   Hist, 
 
 offered  to  all  men,  by  which  they  may  be  saved,  and  .Jo.  v.  20.  as  well  as  in  other  places,  the  Son  of 
 
 in   as   much   as   Christ  came,   sutfered,   died,  and  God,  Jesus  Christ,  is  expressly  called  the  tnu'  God, 
 
 otfered  up  his   death  for  all  men.     See  2  Cor.  v.  even  with  the  Greek  article,  upon  which  they  com- 
 
 15,  &c.  monly  lay  so  great  a  stress. 
 
Ch.  CXXXVL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUa  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  411 
 
 coming  from  thee.     "  Now  they  have  known,  that  all  thing's  which  thou  hast  given       7. 
 me."  and  authorized  me  to  say  and  do,  "  are  from  thee.     For  the  words  which  thou       8. 
 gavest  me,  I  have  given"  and  declared  "  to  them  ;  and  they  have  received  them" 
 as  thine  with  the  greatest  docility  :  "  and  have  known  for  certain,  that  I  came  forth 
 from  thee,"  as  thy  only  and  eternal  begotten  Son,  '^  and  they  have  believed  that  thou 
 didst  send  me"  into  the  world  as  the  promised  Messiah  whom  they  expected.     "  I       9. 
 pray,"  therefore,  "  for  them"  efficaciously  :  "  I  pray  not,"  in  this  address,  "  for"  the 
 wicked  and  reprobate  part  of  '■'  the  world,"  *  whose  principle  is  a  love  of  pleasure, 
 "  but  for  them  whom  thou  hast  given  me"  as  my  disciples,  who  are  dear  to  me, 
 "  because  they  are  thine.    And  all  my  things  are  thine,  and  thine  are  mine :"  f  hence      10. 
 those  whom  thou  hast  given  me  are  both  thine  and  mine,  which  engages  me  doubly 
 to  pray  for  them.     "  And"  moreover  as  "  I  am  glorified  in  them"  by  their  faith  in 
 me,  and  by  the  ready  obedience  which  they  have  paid  to  my  words,  so  this  is  an 
 additional  motive  for  interesting  myself  in  their  preservation.     "  And  now  I  am  not      H- 
 in  the  world"  to  watch  over  them  in  a  visible  manner,  "  but  these  are  in  the  world, 
 and  I  come  to  thee.     Holy  Father,  keep"  and  protect  "  them"  during  my  absence, 
 "  in  thy  name,  whom  thon  hast  given  me,"  and  who  always  belong  to  thee :  preserve 
 them  in  the  union  of  faith  and  of  charity,  "  that  they  may  be  one"|  m  mind  and  heart, 
 "  as  we  also  are"  one  in  nature  and  substance.     "  Whilst  I  was  with  them"  in  the      12- 
 world,  •'  I  kept  them  in  thy  name.     Those  whom  thou  gavest  me,  have  I  kept,  and 
 none  of  them  is  lost,  but  the  son  of  perdition,"  the  perfidious  Judas,  by  his  own  fault, 
 "  that  the  Scripture  may  be  fulfilled. §     And  now  I  come  to  thee  :  and  these  things      13. 
 I  speak  in  the  world"  in  the  presence  of  my  disciples,  "  that  they  may  have  my  joy 
 filled  in  themselves,"  by  their  firm  hope  of  being  partakers  of  the  same  happiness 
 with  myself.     "  I  have  given  them  thy  word,"  which  they  received  with  faith  and      14. 
 with  courage:  "  and  the  world  hath  hated  them,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world, 
 as  I  also  am  not  of  the  world."     However,  "  I  pray  not  that  thou  take  them  avvay      t3. 
 out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  preserve  them  from  evil,"  so  as  to  come  off  victorious 
 over  all  the  temptations  and  persecutions  which  the  devil  and  the  world  shall  raise 
 against  them.     "They  are  not  of  the  world,  as  I  also  am  not  of  the  world  ;"  and      ]6. 
 hence  they  are  better  disposed  to  receive  the  impressions  of  thy  grace  and  sanctity. 
 '•  Sanctify  them,"  therefore,  "  in  truth,"  communicate  to  them  a  true  sanctity,  in  order      17. 
 to  fit  them  for  the  sublime  employ  of  announcing  "  thy  word,"  which  "  is  truth"  itself. 
 For  "  as  thou  hast  sent  me  into  the  world"  to  announce  thy  truth  to  men,  "  so  I  also      18. 
 have  sent  them"  for  the  same  end.     '^  And  I  sanctify  myself  for  them,"  by  devoting      19. 
 
 *  Christ  here  prays  for  special  graces  and  assist-         %  When  we  consider  how  earnestly  Christ  prays 
 
 ances  to  enable  his   Apostles   to    discharge    their  here  for  the  wh%  of  his  Church,  we  may  conclude 
 
 duty.     Yet  we  m\ist  take  notice,  that  ver.  20,  he  it  to  be  a  matter  of  great  importance,  and  that  to 
 
 j)ra\s  for  all  those  who  should  believe  in  him.     He  break  this  unity  by  schism,  must  be  a  grievous 
 
 also  prayed,  Luke  xxiii.  34.  for  all,  even  for  those  offence  against  him.     Kence  the  dissolvers  of  this 
 
 who  crucified  him.     Father,  firgive  them,  for  they  unity,  they  who  separate  tliemselves  from  the  true 
 
 k?tow  not  what  they  do.  faith,  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  are  stigmatized 
 
 t  They  must  needs  be  equal,  says  St.  Austin,  to  by  the  beloved  disciple  with  the  name  of  Antichrists, 
 
 whom  all  things  equally  belong,  and  all  persons,  that  is,  enemies  of  Christ  and  liis  Church,  and  as 
 
 On  which  words  St.  Chrysostom  also  says,  Horn,  forerunners  of  the  great  Antichrist. 
 81.   Do  you  see  the  equality  between  the  Father         §  Ps.  cviii.  S. 
 and  Son  ? 
 
412  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXVl 
 
 and  offering  myself  in  sacrifice  for  them  :  "  that  they  also  may  be  sanctified  in  truth," 
 and  may  become  worthy  ministers  and  martyrs  of  thy  truth. 
 „  ^  Havinof  thus  prayed  for  his  Apostles,  Jesus  now  prays  for  the  elect  in 
 
 3.  Jesus  prays  ^  i  •    ■  ■        n 
 
 for  the  salvation  general,  who  througli  their  mniistry  were  ni  all  succeeding  ages  to  be- 
 ofall  the  elect,  jjg^g  j,^  |^jjjj_  j,^  w^^^\y  behalf,  he  asks  for  two  favours  of  the  highest 
 import,  one  of  which  regarded  this  life,  the  other  the  world  to  come. 
 
 He  prays  first,  that  they  may  be  all  one,  and  that  by  the  unity  of  the  same  faith  and 
 charity  they  may  avoid  schism  and  heresy  ;  the  former  being  a  breach  of  charity,  and 
 the  latter  a  division  of  faith.  He  solicits  for  them  this  union,  in  honour  and  imitation 
 of  that  union  which  subsists  reciprocally  between  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  in  order 
 that  this  inviolable  unity  of  doctrine  and  of  love  among  the  faithful,  may  convijice  the 
 infidel  world,  that  the  Father  has  sent  him  into  the  world  :  it  being  impossible  that  so 
 many  different  persons  should  agree  in  the  same  sentiments,  so  opposite  to  those  of 
 corrupt  nature,  had  they  not  imbibed  them  from  one  and  the  same  source  of  truth. 
 
 He  adds  that,  to  effect  this  union  of  the  ftiithful,  which  is  in  some  sort  a  representa- 
 tion of  the  unity  of  the  divine  persons,  he  has  made  them  partakei's  of  his  divinity  by 
 the  mystery  of  his  body  and  blood,  which  unites  into  one  mystical  body  all  the  faithful, 
 since  they  all  feed  here  upon  one  and  the  same  divine  food.  For  Jesus  being  in  them 
 by  his  own  proper  flesh,  and  his  Father  being  in  him,  by  his  divine  nature  which  is 
 united  to  his  flesh  by  a  personal  union,  hence  the  Father  is  in  all  the  faithful  by  means 
 of  the  Son,  and  all  the  faithful  are  united  to  the  Father  by  the  Son,  and  thus  attain  to 
 the  most  perfect  union  imaginable. 
 
 20.  "  Nor  do  I  pray  for  them  only"  (speaking  of  his  Apostles),  "  but  for  those  also, 
 
 21.  who  through  their  word"  and  ministry  "  shall  believe  in  me  :  that  they  all  may  be 
 one"  by  the  unity  of  the  same  spirit,  of  the  same  faith,  and  of  the  same  charity  ;  and 
 that,  "  as  thou  Father"  art  "  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  they  also  may  be  one  in  us,  that" 
 so  "  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  has  sent  me"  as  the  true  Messiah,  by  beholding 
 the  union  which  my  disciples  will  have  amongst  themselves,  and  the  society  thou  art 
 
 22.  pleased  they  should  have  with  thee.  "  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me,"  as 
 Mediator  and  head  of  the  Church,  "  I  have  given  to  them,"  by  communicating  to 
 them  at  baptism  that  grace  and  holiness  which  makes  me  glorious,  and  by  giving 
 them  for  their  food  my  own  flesh  united  to  the  divinity  which  I  received  from  thee, 
 "  that  they  may  be  one"  with  us,  "  as  we  also,"  thou  and  I,  "  are  one."     For  by 
 
 23.  thus  nourishing  them  with  my  own  flesh,  "  I"  am  "  in  them,  and"  as  "  thou"  art 
 always  "  in  me,"  thou  art  likewise  in  them  with  me,  "  that  they  may  be  perfectly 
 united"  among  themselves  in  one  body,  as  thou  and  I  are  one,  "and  that  the  world 
 may  know"  and  be  convinced  by  this  our  concord,  that  I  and  they  act  by  thy  commis- 
 sion, "  and  that  thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved  them"  as  members  of  my  mystical 
 body,  as  "  thou  also  hast  loved  me,"  eternally  and  unchangeably. 
 
 The  second  favour  which  Jesus  asks  of  his  Father  in  behalf  of  the  faithful,  is  that 
 
 24.  they  may  be  partakers  with  him  of  everlasting  glory  in  heaven.  "  Father,"  says  he, 
 "  I  will"  and  desire,  "  that  where  I  am,  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  may  be 
 with  me,  that  they  may  see"  and  enjoy  "  my  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me"  from  all 
 eternity  as  God,  and  to  which  thou  predestinatest  me  as  man,  "  because  thou  hast 
 
Ch.  CXXXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  413 
 
 loved  me  before  the  creation  of  the  world."  O  "  just  Father,"  who  reiiderest  to  25. 
 every  one  according-  to  his  works,  "  the  world"  will  have  no  part  in  this  glory, 
 because  it  "  hath  not  known  thee  :  but  I  have  known  thee,  and  these  have  known" 
 and  believed,  "  that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And  I  have  made  known  thy  name"  and  26. 
 divine  nature  "  to  them,  and  will  make  it  known"  still  more  and  more,  by  manifesting 
 thy  goodness  and  the  tender  bowels  of  thy  mercy  in  their  regard,  "  that  the  love 
 wherewith  thou  hast  loved  me,  may  be"  also  "  in  them,  and"  that  "  I"  likewise  may 
 be  "  in  them"  by  grace  and  the  communion  of  my  body  and  blood  :  for  in  thus  pos- 
 sessing me,  in  whom  thou  hast  placed  all  thy  affection,  they  will  themselves  become 
 objects  of  thy  love,  and  by  being  united  to  me  as  to  their  head,  they  will  be  entitled 
 to  share  with  me  in  my  glory. 
 
 In  this  excellent  prayer  we  see  the  great  zeal  which  our  Lord  had  for  his  Father's 
 glory,  and  the  certain  reward  which  was  to  be  the  effect  of  his  sufferings.  Let  his 
 example  animate  us  to  labour  with  similar  zeal  for  God's  honour  and  glory,  in  hopes 
 of  sharing  in  that  glory  which  he  has  prepared  for  all  his  fliithful  servants. — 2.  We 
 see  the  great  love  which  Christ  bore  to  his  disciples.  With  what  warmth  and  ten- 
 derness does  he  recommend  them  to  the  protection  of  his  heavenly  Father  !  The 
 event  showed  the  efficacy  of  his  prayer ;  since  except  Judas,  whose  infidelity  he  had 
 foretold,  they  all  persevered  in  the  truth,  and  with  wonderful  courage  and  patience, 
 propagated  it  throughout  the  world. — 3.  We  see  how  dear  the  faithful  are  to  Christ, 
 how  affectionately  he  prays  for  their  unity  and  concord,  and  how  desirous  he  is  of 
 making  them  partakers  with  him  of  eternal  glory. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXVII. 
 
 THE  PASSION   OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.      MATT.   XXVI.      MARK  XIV.      LUKE  XXII, 
 
 JOHN  XVIII. 
 
 "  When  Jesus  had  spoken  these  things,  he  went  out  with  his  disciples      L  The  sad-  john  18. 
 over  the  brook  Cedron,"  which  runs  at  the  foot  of  mount  Olivet,  to  the  l/^g  garden  o/ 
 east  of  Jerusalem,  and  is  said  to  be  six  or  seven  feet  broad.     David,  Gethsemani. 
 who  was  a  figure  of  Jesus  Christ,  passed  likewise  this  torrent  in  great  trouble,  when 
 he  fled  from  his  rebellious  son  Absalom.     "  And  he  went,  according  to  his  custom,  to  j^uke  22. 
 the  mountain  of  Olives  ;  and  his  disciples  also  followed  him.     Then  Jesus  cometh      39. 
 with  them  into  a  village  called  Gethsemani,  where  there  was  a  garden,  into  which  he      35  ~ 
 and  his  disciples  entered.     (And  Judas  who  betrayed  him,  knew  the  place  ;  because  John  J  8. 
 Jesus  had  often  resorted  thither  together  with  his  disciples.)"    This  we  may  consider       .," 
 as  the  first  step  of  our  blessed  Lord  towards  his  approaching  passion,  every  minute 
 circumstance  of  which  tended  to  show  to  the  fullest  conviction,  1.  That  he  suffered 
 voluntarily  and  without  compulsion  ;  2.  That  being  perfectly  innocent,  his  sufferings 
 were  absolutely  unmerited  on  his  part;    3.  That  his  love  for  mankind  was  the  sole 
 cause  of  all  his  sufferings.     Throughout  the  whole  of  his  sacred  passion,  as  will 
 35.  5  N 
 
.n «  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXVII. 
 
 evidently  appear  from  the  sequel,  he  has  clearly  evinced  this  his  perfect  liberty,  his 
 innocence,  and  his  love  for  us.  Thus  with  regard  to  his  suffering  voluntarily,  we 
 need  no  other  proof  than  his  resorting  knowingly  to  a  place  often  frequented  by  him, 
 and  consequently  well  known  to  Judas,  who  he  was  well  aware  intended  to  betray  him. 
 In  fact  he  went  purposely  where  he  knew  his  enemies  would  search  for  him,  thus  to 
 spare  them  the  trouble  of  a  more  tedious  pursuit. 
 
 The  seizure  of  Jesus  was  preceded  by  his  sadness  in  the  garden,  his  prayer  to  his 
 
 heavenly  Father,  and  the  drowsiness  of  the  Apostles.     Upon  his  entering  into  the 
 
 Matt.  26.  garden,  "  he  said  to  his  disciples :  Sit  you  here,  till  I  go  and  pray  yonder,"  (teaching 
 
 ^^-      us  hereby  to  seek  retirement  and  solitude  when  we  converse  with  God  in  prayer), 
 
 Luke  22.  and  he  added,  "  pray"  likewise  yourselves,  "  lest  you  enter  into  temptation;"  but 
 
 ^^'      they  neo-lected  this  advice  and  were  soon  overcome,  shamefully  abandoning  their 
 
 Master.     It  was  moreover,  on  the  part  of  Jesus,  the  effect  of  a  tender  condescension 
 
 to  the  weakness  of  his  Apostles,  that  made  him  withdraw  himself  from  them  on  this 
 
 occasion,  in  order  thus  to  hide  from  them  the  sight  of  that  mortal  sadness,  which  was 
 
 about  to  affect  him  in  so  surprising  a  manner,  and  which,  in  their  present  state,  would 
 
 Mark  14.  probably  have  been  to  them  a  subject  of  scandal.     "  And  he  taketh  with  him  Peter, 
 
 33.      James,  and  John,"  who  had  before  been  witnesses  of  his  glorious  transfiguration,  and 
 
 Matt.  26.  whom  he  knew  to  be  more  able  than  the  rest  to  bear  so  severe  a  trial  ;  "  and  he  began 
 
 37.      to  fear,  and  to  be  heavy,  to  be  sorrowful  and  sad."     Christ  our  Redeemer  permitted, 
 
 on  this  occasion,  his  human  nature  to  be  seized  with  all  this  fear  and  anguish  ;   I.  To 
 
 show  that  he  was  true  man  like  us,  and  liable  to  all  our  infirmities,  sin  only  excepted  ; 
 
 a  truth  which  was  one  day  to  be  called  in  question  by  the  Manichees  and  ApoUinarists. 
 
 2.  Having  charged  himself  with  our  sins,  he  would  submit  to  all  the  humiliations  and 
 pains  due  to  them,  and  so  suffer  both  in  his  soul  and  body.  3.  It  was  to  comfort  the 
 weakest  of  his  followers,  and  by  his  voluntary  sadness,  teach  them  that  their  involun- 
 tary sadness  and  fear  at  the  approach  of  death,  or  of  any  other  calamity,  is  not  sinful, 
 provided  they,  like  him,  submit  their  natural  repugnance  to  the  will  of  God.  4.  It 
 was  to  show  the  great  excess  of  his  sufferings,  the  bare  representation  of  which  was 
 sufficient  to  cast  him  into  a  mortal  agony  and  produce  these  strange  effects  in  his 
 body.  Wherefore,  he  excited  in  his  heart  three  various  sensations  of  the  most  poig- 
 nant nature,  viz.  1.  A  most  lively  fear  and  dread;  2.  A  most  afflicting  sadness; 
 
 3.  An  affection  of  mind,  which  cannot  better  be  described  than  as  a  total  desolation 
 of  the  soul  which  sees  itself  ready  to  be  overwhelmed  by  some  great  and  unavoidable 
 misfortune.  The  alarming  prospect  of  the  most  cruel  sufferings  which  the  mind  of 
 Jesus  now  represented  to  his  flesh,  affected  it  with  a  panic  so  violent,  as  to  cause  all  his 
 blood  to  rush  towards  his  heart ;  but  the  determined  resolution  of  his  will  to  suffer, 
 caused  him  to  view  this  death  as  now  actually  before  his  eyes  ;  and  under  this  cer- 
 tainty, his  fear  was  changed  into  a  sadness  of  heart  beyond  the  reach  of  all  human 
 comfort.  In  a  word,  these  two  sensations  jointly  concurred  to  bring  his  whole  sacred 
 humanity  to  the  lowest  degree  of  desolation,  in  which  his  body  became  overwhelmed 
 with  affliction  at  the  approaching  necessity  of  suffering  a  painful  and  ignominious 
 death,  and  his  soul  no  less  shuddered  at  the  share  she  was  unavoidably  to  have  in  the 
 sufferings  of  her  guiltless  partner. 
 
Ch.CXXXVir.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  4I5 
 
 "  Then"  intimating-  to  his  three  disciples  the  great  inward  agony  .        Matt.  26. 
 
 which  he  underwent,  "  he  saith  to  them :  My  soul  is  sorrowful  even  to  agony  of  srief  ^^' 
 death  :  stay  here  and  watch  with  me.  And  having  gone  a  little  further,  redoubles  his  39. 
 he  himself  was  withdrawn  from  them  the  length  of  a  stone's  cast,"  in  P^"y'^^'  "41     ' 
 
 order  to  conceal  from  them  the  severity  of  his  conflict ;  "  and  kneeling  down  he      42. 
 prayed,*  saying :  Father,  if  thou  wilt,  remove  this  cup  from  me  :  nevertheless  not  my 
 will  but  thine  be  done.     And"  to  teach  us  not  to  disdain  help  from  any  of  God's      43. 
 creatures,  however  inferior  in  dignity,   "  an  angel  appeared  to  him  from  heaven, 
 strengthening  him"  corporally,  that  his  sufferings  might  not  terminate  here,  though 
 nature  was  brought  to  the  last  extremity,  and  was  dissolving  herself  in  a  mortal  sweat : 
 this  angel  strengthened  him  likewise  spiritually,  by  encouraging  him  to  suffer  from 
 the  motives  of  God's  honour  and  glory,  and  the  salvation  of  innumerable  souls. 
 "  And  Jesus  fell  flat  on  the  ground  upon  his  f;\ce,t  praying ;  and  being  in  an  agony,    Mark. 
 he  prayed  the  longer;"  not  that  he  had  any  need  of  prayer  himself,  but  to  teach  us,  ^^^"-26. 
 by  his  example,  to  be  particularly  instant  in  our  supplications  when  beset  with  the 
 greatest  difficulties.     "  And  he  prayed  with  a  strong  cry  and  tears,;]:  that,  if  it  were  Mark  14. 
 possible,  the  hour  might  pass  from  him,  saying  :  Oh,  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,§  ^^^i^q 
 let  this  cup II  pass  from  me:  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt.     All  things      39. 
 are  possible  to  thee,  take  away  this  cup  from  me,  but  not  what  I  will,  but  what  thou  ^^^^^  ^'^^ 
 wilt.     And"  during  this  conflict  betwixt  his  rational  faculty  accepting  of  death,  and  Luke  22. 
 his  inferior  nature  seeking  to  be  relieved  from  it,  "  his  sweat  was  as  drops  tricklino-      44. 
 down  upon  the  ground,"  though  in  a  very  cold  evening,  as  appears  from  their  makino- 
 a  fire  in  the  high  priest's  hall.U     Owing  to  the  violence  of  this  combat  which  passed 
 within  him,  the  blood  which  had  flowed  collectively  to  the  heart  was  now  impetuously 
 forced  back  to  the  extremities,  and  forcing  its  way  through  the  pores  of  the  body, 
 came  forth  in  large  drops  so  as  to  bedew  the  ground  on  which  he  lay  prostrate. 
 
 We  may  here  look  upon  Jesus  as  the  forlorn  and  accursed  goat  which  was  turned 
 away  into  the  wilderness :  for  he  was  made  a  curse  for  us,  says  the  Apostle,**  going 
 into  this  solitude  with  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  laid  upon  his  head,  and  all  the 
 vengeance  of  his  Father's  wrath  due  to  them,  now  as  it  were  pursuing  him. 
 
 "  And  when  he  rose  up  from  prayer,  and  was  come  to  his  disciples,  3.  The  Apostles     45. 
 he  found  them  asleep  through  grief.     And  he  said  to  them  :  Why  ^^'^^P-  45. 
 
 sleep  you?  arise  and  pray,  lest  you  enter  into  temptation.     And  he  saith  to  Peter,"  Mark  14. 
 
 47. 
 
 *  It  is  probable  that  Jesus  first  knelt  down  to  cerning  it ;  4.  With  the  divine  decree  which  from 
 
 pray  as  mentioned  by   St.  Luke ;  but  that   after-  all  eternity  determined  his  death  ;   5.  With  the  sal. 
 
 wards,  as  he  redoubled  his  prayer,  he  lay  prostrate  vatinii   of  all  the  elect  which  depended   upon  the 
 
 on  the  ground,  as  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  relate,  death  of  their  Redeemer.    All  this  was  to  be  recou- 
 
 t  Shall  a  sinner  after  this  think  any  posture  too  ciled  with  the  exemption  here  requested  by  Christ, 
 
 humble  or  troublesome  ?  And   yet  however  diflficult  it  may  appear,  it   is  all 
 
 X  Heb.  V.  included  in  this  universal   proposition  :  all  things 
 
 §    The   condition  upon  which    he  requests   his  are  possible   to  thee.     From   hence  we  may  form 
 
 petition  to  be  granted  was  if  it  were  possible,  viz.  if  some  idea  of  the  divine  omnipotence, 
 
 his  life   could  be  preserved  consi'^tently,   1.  With  ||  Under  the  name  of  cup  or  chalice  the  Hebrews 
 
 all  the  ancient  types  and  figures  which  pointed  out  understand  afflictions  and  calamities.  Matt.  xx.  22. 
 
 his  death  ;  2.  With  all  the  prophecies  which  fore-  Isai.  li.  17.   Ps.  x.  7.  and  Ixxiv.  9.  &c. 
 
 told  it ;  3.  With  the  various  predictions  which  him-  %  jMark  xiv.  54. 
 
 self  had  made  to  the  Apostles  and  to  the  Jews  con-  **  Gal.  iii.  13. 
 
416 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXXXVIL 
 
 jiatt;26.40.  who  bad  expressed  so  much  zeal  and  resolution:  "  Simon,  sleepest  thou  ?  V\  liat, 
 
 41.  could  you  not  watch  one  hour  with  me?  Watch  yc  and  pray,  that  you  enter  not  into 
 temptation.  The  spirit  indeed  is  willing"  and  ready  even  to  suffer  death  when  the 
 danger  is  at  a  distance  ;  "  but"  in  the  midst  of  danger,  and  when  death  shows  itself 
 at  hand,  "  the  flesh  is  weak,"  presently  disavows  the  resolution  of  the  spirit,  and  makes 
 
 Marki4.39.  it  an  uuwilling  partaker  of  its  weakness.     ''  And  going  away  again,"  oppressed  with 
 
 Matt.2G.42.  grief,  "  he  prayed,  saying  the  same  words :  My  Father,  if  this  chalice  may  not  pass 
 43.      away,  but  I  must  drink  it,  thy  will  be  done.     And  he  cometh  again,  and  findeth  them 
 
 Marki4.40.  sleeping ;  for  their  eyes  were  heavy.  And  they  knew  not  what  to  answer  him,"  like 
 to  those  three  comforters  of  Job,  who  sat  down  by  him  in  a  deep  silence  without  open- 
 
 Matt.26.44.  iug  their  mouth.  "  And  leaving  them  he  went  again,  and  prayed  the  third  time, 
 saying  the  self-same  words,"  in  all  which  he  would  leave  us  a  perfect  example  of 
 perseverance  in  prayer,  and  of  resignation  and  acquiescence  under  all  the  appoint- 
 
 Marki4.4i.  mcuts  of  hcaveii.  "■  And  he  cometh  the  third  time,  and  saith  to  them  :  Sleep  now, 
 and  take  your  rest :"  for  seeing  his  disciples  heavy  and  overcome  by  sleep,  instead 
 of  using  harshness,  he  with  great  compassion,  bid  them  sleep  and  rest  themselves  : 
 but  their  rest  was  not  long :  for  a  while  after  he  awakened  them,  saying :  "  It  is 
 enouo-h  :  the  hour  is  come  ;  behold  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  betrayed  into  the  hands 
 
 42.  of  sinners.  Rise  up,  let  us  go  ;  behold  he  that  will  betray  me,  is  at  hand.  And 
 Matt^6.47.  4  j„^^,  jg  while  he  was  yet  speaking,  behold  Judas,  one  of  the  twelve,  having 
 John  18.3.  irayn  Jesus  with  taken"  for  greater  security  "  a  band  of  soldiers"  consisting  of  555  men, 
 Matt.26.47. '^  *"*•  "  and  servants  from  the  High-priest  and  the  Pharisees,  cometh  thither, 
 John  13. 3.  and  with  him  a  great  multitude  with  swords  and  clubs,  with  lanterns  and  torches,* 
 
 sent  from  the  chief-priests  and  elders  of  the  people."     As  Jesus  was  unknown  to  the 
 
 Romans,  and  as  the  servants  themselves,  although  they  had  frequently  seen  him, 
 
 Marki4.44.  might  perhaps  mistake  his  person,  "  he  that  betrayed  him,  had  given  them  a  sign, 
 
 saying  :  Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss,  that  is  he"  whom  you  seek,  "  lay  hold  on  him, 
 
 and  lead  him  away  carefully  :"  thus  insinuating  that  after  he  should  once,  acciirding 
 
 to  the  terms  of  his  agreement,  have  pointed  him  out  to  their  notice,  he  would  no 
 
 longer  be  answerable  for  his  person  ;  a  caution  which  to  him  seemed  highly  necessary, 
 
 as  he  might  again  make  his  escape  out  of  their  hands,  as  he  had  already  done  at 
 
 Nazareth.     Moreover,  as  the  soldiers  had  orders  to  seize  likewise  the  Apostles,  it 
 
 behoved  them  carefully  to  secure  the  gates  of  the  garden,  lest  any  of  them  should 
 
 escape  under  the  opportunity  of  a  full  moon-shine.     In  pursuance  therefore  of  tliis 
 
 concerted  plan,  Judas,  "  when  he  was  come"  to  the  place,   "  went  before  them, 
 
 Matt.26.49.  and  forthwith  coming  to  Jesus,  to  kiss  him,  he  said  :  Hail  Rabbi,"  a  kind  of  saluta- 
 
 Luke22.47.  tioii  couimou  with  the  Jews  ;  "  and"  then  ''  kissed  him.    Jesus"  with  his  usual  kind- 
 
 ^^^'so!'^"'  ness,  to  teach  us  to  preserve  charity  with  our  greatest  enemies,  "  said  to  him  :  Friend, 
 
 whereto  art  thou  come?"  in  other  words,  to  what  strange  and  wicked  purpose  dost 
 
 thou  here  take  advantage  of  thy  easy  access  to  my  person  ?     Then  with  a  sweetness 
 
 capable  of  touching  any  heart  that  was  not  totally  obdurate,  he  adds  :  "■  Judas,  is  it 
 
 *  It  was  now  full  moon,  yet  they  bring  torches     obscured  with  clouds,  and  the  place  whither  they 
 that  they  might  be  sure  to  find  him  out,  if  he  should     were  going  was  shaded  with  trees. 
 hide  himself  any  where ;  besides  the  sky  might  be 
 
Ch.  CXXXVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  417 
 
 with  a  kiss  *  thou  betrayest  the  Son  of  Man  ?"  that  isj  the  Son  of  God  who  to  save  Luke  2?. 
 thee  became  the  Son  of  Man.t     "  Therefore  Jesus  knowing-  all  thino's  that  were  to  ,  ,'*^,„ 
 
 '  .  .  Jolm   IS. 
 
 come  upon  him,  went  forwards"  towards  the  crowd,  "  and  said  to  them"  with  great       4. 
 majesty :  "  Whom  seek  ye  ?    They  answered  him^  Jesus  of  Nazareth.     Jesus  satth       5. 
 to  them  :  I  am  he.   Judas  also,  that  betrayed  him,  stood  with  them.  As      ^   ^^^^  j^^^       6. 
 soon  therefore  as  he  had  said  to  them  I  am  he,"  as  if  it  had  been  the  fall  back  upon 
 terrible  name  Jehovah  in  Exodus,  "  they  went  backward,"  like  persons  ^^^  S>'°'i"<i- 
 thunderstruck,  "  and  fell  to  the  ground  ;"  by  which  he  showed  them  his  all  powerful 
 Godhead,  and  that  he  suffered  only  because  it  was  his  will.:}:     But  they  paid  no 
 attention  to  this  wonderful  miracle  of  his  [)ower.   "  Again,  therefore,  he  asked  them  :       7. 
 Whom  seek  ye?  And  they  said  :  Jesus  of  Nazareth.     Jesus  answered:  I  have  told       8. 
 you  that  I  am  he.     If  therefore  you  seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way,"  which  implied 
 a  prohibition  not  to  seize  on  any  of  his  Apostles,  "  that  the  word  might  be  fulfilled       9- 
 which  he  said  :    Of  those  whom  thou   hast  given  me,  I  have  not  lost  any  one ;" 
 mystically  signifying  that  his  sufferings  were  to  be  our  ransom,  and  his  apprehension 
 our  freedom. 
 
 "  Then  they,"  who  accompanied  Judas,  "  drew  near,  and  laid  hands  Matt.  26. 
 
 on  Jesus,  and  held  him.'^     And  they  that  were  about  him,"  that  is,  the  the'hish-priesVs  t  ^^'00 
 disciples,  "  seeing  what  would  follow,  said  to  him  :  Lord,  shall  we  >«^^'vant  cut  off"     49 
 strike  with  the  sword  ?  Then  Simon  Peter,  one  of  those  who  were  with  '  '^°'^"  ^'^^ 
 
 Jesus,"  without  waiting  for  an  answer,  "  stretching  forth  his  hand,  drew  his  sword,  jMatt.  26. 
 and  struck  the  servant  of  the  hig-h-priest,  and  cut  off  his  right  ear,  and  the  name  of     ^^^ 
 the  servant  was  Malchus.  1|  10. 
 
 The  above  question  and  the  subsequent  stroke  given  to  the  high-priest's  servant, 
 
 are  by  three  of  the  Evangelists  attributed  to  one  of  the  disciples,  without  naming  him  : 
 
 for  Peter  being  yet  living  when  they  wrote  their  gospels,  he  might  have  been  liable  to 
 
 prosecution  on  the  part  of  the  chief  priest  for  this  opposition  to  his  authority,  had  the 
 
 fact  been  brought  home  to  him  by  the  unanswerable  evidence  of  these  his  brethren. 
 
 But  as  St.  John  wrote  his  gospel  at  the  period  of  about  twenty-nine  years  posterior 
 
 to  the  death  of  Peter,  he  judged  it  proper  to  make  us  acquainted  with  this  instance 
 
 of  his  dauntless  courage,  in  standing  up  singly  in  defence  of  his  Master,  against  a 
 
 Roman  cohort  of  555  men,  assisted  by  the  servants  of  the  priests,  who  formed  no 
 
 small  addition  to  the  armed  band.     "  But  Jesus"  checked  this  impetuous  ardour  of  Luke  22. 
 
 his  Apostle,  and  "  answering  said :  Forbear,  no  more.     And  when  he  had  touched      ^^' 
 
 his  ear,  he  healed  it ;"  for  he  was  unwilling  to  give  the  least  cause  of  complaint  to 
 
 his  enemies.     "  Then  Jesus  said  to  Peter :  Put  up  thy  sword  into  the  scabbard  ;  for  John  is. 
 
 all  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  with  the  sword  :"  that  is,  if  by  their  own  private  ,,  ^^' 
 
 •'  "^  Matt.  26. 
 
 52. 
 
 *  Will  not  this  condemn  those  who  cannot  bear     liberty  of  acting,  but  only  so  as  to  make  themselves 
 
 the  presence  even  of  a  repenting-  enemy.  masters   of  his  person,  and  prevent  his   escaping 
 
 t  Jesus  usually  styled   himself  by  this  name,  to  from  them. 
 
 shovv^   the   state   of  humiliation   to   which  he  had         ||  Malchus  had  probably  behaved  on  this  occa- 
 
 reduced  himself  for  our  sake.  sion,  with   some   peculiar  insolence.     He   is  siip- 
 
 X  Isai.  Ivii.  30.  posed  even  to  be  one  of  those  servants  who  smote 
 
 §   Either  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  relate  this  Christ  upon  the  face,  after  a  miraculous  power  had 
 
 by  anticipation,  or  the  meaning  is,  that  they  held  been  exerted  in  his  favour. 
 
 him  in  such  a  manner,  as  not  to  deprive  him  of  all 
 
 36.  5o 
 
^,g  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXVIL 
 
 authority  they  have  recourse  to  the  sword  and  shed  human  blood,  they  deserve  to 
 perish,  as  the  law  ordains.*     Moreover,  that  they  generally  do  perish,  and  sooner  or 
 later  are  overtaken  by  divine  justice,  is  affirmed  by  many  instances  of  divine  ven- 
 geance on  those  who  have  imbrued  their  hands  in  human  blood.     As  to  his  own 
 person,  Jesus  declares  that  he  stands  not  in  need  of  any  such  protection  or  force. 
 53.      "  Thinkest  thou,"  said  he,  "  that  I  cannot  ask  my  Father,  and  he  will  give  me  pre- 
 John  18.11.  sently  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels. f     The  chalice,  which  my  Father  hath 
 Matt.26.54.  o-iven  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?     How  then  shall  the  scriptures  be  fulfilled,"  which 
 John  18.12.  declare  that  so  it  must  be  done  ?     Then  the  band,  and  the  tribune,  and  the  servants 
 Watt.26.55.  of  the  Jews,  took  Jesus,  and  bound  him.     In  that  same  hour  Jesus"  reproached  them 
 Luke22.52.  for  their  seizing  him  in  this  manner,  and  "  said  to  the  chief  priests  and  magistrates 
 of  the  temple,  and  the  ancients  that  were  come  to  him  :  Are  you  come  out  as  it  were 
 Matt.26.55.  ao^ainst  a  thief,  with  swords  and  clubs  to  apprehend  me  ?  I  sat  daily  with  you  teaching 
 Luie22.53.  in  the  temple,  and  you  laid  not  hands  on  me.     But  this  is  your  hour,  and  the  power 
 of  darkness. "^:     He  thus  warned  them  not  to  consider  his  seizure  as  the  eifect  of 
 their  schemes,  or  of  their  force,  but  to  attribute  it  to  the  decrees  of  the  Almighty, 
 Matt.26.56.  For  "  all  this  was  done  that  the  scriptures  of  the  prophets  might  be  fulfilled.     Then 
 Mark  14.  ^^.^  jisciples  Icaviug  him,  all  fled  away,"  and  Peter  with  the  rest ;  hereby  justifying 
 the  prediction  of  Jesus  concerning  the  general  dispersion.     However,  we  may  con- 
 sider it  as  miraculous,  that  eleven  persons  should  effect  their  escape  from  five  or  six 
 hundred  men  who  had  been  commissioned  to  seize  them  ;  and  this  appears  the  more 
 
 51.  wonderful  by  the  following  circumstance,  which  took  place  on  the  occasion.  "  A 
 certain  young  man,"  probably  much  attached  to  Jesus,  "  followed  him,  having  a  linen 
 cloth  cast  about  his  naked  body,  and"  on  his  being  noticed  by  some  of  the  crowd, 
 
 52.  «  they  laid  hold  on  him.  But  he  casting  off  the  linen  cloth,  fled  from  them,  naked." 
 and  so  escaped  to  his  own  house.  It  is  not  known  who  this  young  man  was.  He 
 does  not  appear  to  have  been  St.  John  or  St.  James,  as  some  have  imagined,  but 
 rather  some  person  from  the  village  of  Gethsemani,  v.ho  upon  the  noise  came  hastily 
 out  of  bed  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  St.  Mark  mentions  this  particular,  to  insinuate 
 the  singular  protection  of  Jesus  over  his  Apostles,  who  made  their  escape  on  this 
 occasion,  though  within  the  inclosure  of  the  garden,  and  notwithstanding  the  orders 
 given  by  the  high-priests  to  apprehend  them.  The  truth  was,  that  Christ  had  for- 
 bidden the  Jews  to  molest  his  disciples,  and  thus  had  first  bound  fast  thdr  hands  before 
 he  allowed  his  own  to  be  confined. 
 
 In  considering  the  passion  of  Christ  the  pious  Christian  may  occasionally  attend  to 
 the  following  particulars. 
 
 I.  Who  is  he  that  suffers  ?  It  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  word  and  wisdom  of  the  eternal 
 Father,  who  is  innocence  itself. — 2.  What  is  it  that  he  suffers  ?  A  bloody  sweat, 
 whipping  at  the  pillar,  crowning  with  thorns,  every  species  of  insult  and  outrage,  and 
 finally,  the  death  of  the  cross. — 3.  Why  does  he  suffer  so  great  ignominies  and  tor- 
 
 *  Gen.  ix.  6.  this  our  Saviour   means  no  more   than   a  great 
 
 t   These  would  amount  at  least  to  seventy-two  number, 
 thousand  angels,  a  great  army  indeed  of  heavenly         %  The  wicked  are  frequently  spurred  on  by  the 
 
 spirits  against  one  company  of  soldiers :    but  in  powers  of  hell. 
 
Ch.  CXXXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  419 
 
 ments  ?  For  our  salvation  and  the  sins  of  all  mankind :  if  he  had  not  suffered,  we 
 must  all  have  been  condemned  to  eternal  torments. — 4.  From  ivhom  does  he  suffer 
 all  this  ?  From  his  own  countrymen  whom  he  so  tenderly  loved. — 5.  At  what  period 
 of  life  did  he  suffer  ?  In  the  very  flower  of  his  ag-e.— 6.  Where  did  he  suffer?  In  the 
 most  public  place,  exposed  to  the  view  of  all ;  for  all  were  to  benefit  by  his  sufferings, 
 if  they  made  a  proper  use  of  them. — 7.  How  is  it  possible  that  he  should  submit  to 
 all  these  sufferings  ?  He  himself  alone  knows  the  extent  of  his  motives  and  views  in 
 making-  this  astonishing  sacrifice.  We  may  however  affirm,  that  he  was  influenced 
 on  this  occasion  by  his  great  love  for  his  Father's  honour  which  had  been  violated  by 
 sin,  and  by  his  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  which  could  only  be  effected  by  his 
 infinite  merits.  Yes,  it  was  this  divine  charity  which  induced  him  to  become  man,  to 
 be  circumcised  as  a  sinner,  and  finally  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  on  a  disgrace- 
 ful cross. — 8.  The  principal  virtues  which  he  displayed  in  his  sufferings,  were  his 
 meekness,  his  humility,  his  patience,  his  zeal  and  courage ;  and  these  he  chiefly 
 recommends  to  his  followers. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXVni. 
 
 JESUS  IS  EXAMINED  AND  JUDGED  EY  CAIPHAS.      MATT.  XXVI.      MARK  XIV.      LUKE  XXII. 
 
 JOHN  XVIII. 
 
 Having  thus  given  substantial  proof  of  his  perfect  liberty  in  regard  to  every  circum- 
 stance of  his  seizure,  and  consequently  of  his  subsequent  passion,  Jesus  next  evinces 
 his  innocence  in  a  triumphant  manner  before  three  several  tribunals.  The  first  was 
 that  of  Caiphas,  where  he  was  condemned  :  the  second  was  that  of  Herod,  where  he 
 was  discharged  as  guiltless :  the  third  was  that  of  Pilate,  where,  though  pronounced 
 guiltless,  he  was  condemned  to  an  ignominious  death. 
 
 "  And  they  led  him  away  to  Annas  first  ;*  for  he  was  father-in-law  to      ^    ^^  ^.^  ^^^  john  18 
 Caiphas,  who  was  the  high  priest  of  that  year.     Now  Caiphas  was  he  before    Annas      13. 
 who  had  given  the  counself  to  the  Jews :  that  it  was  expedient  that  one  ""■'^  Caiphas. 
 man  should  die  for  the  people."     From  Annas  "  they  led  him  to  Caiphas  the  high-  Matt.  -26. 
 priest,  where  all  the  priests,  and  the  Scribes,  and  the  ancients  were  assembled      '^]^- 
 together.     And  Peter  followed  him  afar  off,"  actuated  at  the  same  time  by  love  and      53. 
 fear :  the  love  he  bore  Jesus  urged  him  on,  and  the  apprehension  of  death  hindered  ^1^^"-  26- 
 him  from  a  nearer  approach  to  his  person,  now  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies  :  "  and  John  is. 
 so  did  another  disciple  follow  on  this  occasion,  and  that  disciple  was  known  to  the      15. 
 
 *  Jesus  was  first  brought  before  Annas  (who  by  of  Caiphas,  which  St.  John  suflSciently  indicates,  by 
 
 Josephus  is  called  Ananus),  whose  house  was  per-  expressly  saying,  that  Caiphas  was  the  high-priest 
 
 haps  in  the  way  ;  or  to  gratify  the  old  man  with  the  for  that  year. 
 
 sight  of  so  remarkable  a  person  now  a  prisoner  and  t  This  is  added  to  show,  that  he  was  Christ's  in- 
 
 in   chains.     But   nothing  was  done   against   him  veterate  enemy,  and  therefore  would  be   solicitous 
 
 there  ;  for  what  St.  John  mentions  as  done  by  the  to  have  his  own  project  take  effect 
 high-priest,  is  not  to  be  understood  of  Annas,  but 
 
420  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXVIII. 
 
 high-priest,  and  went  with  Jesus  into  the  palace  of  the  high-priest.  But  Peter  stood 
 16.  at  the  door  without.  Then  the  other  disciple  who  was  known  to  the  high-priest, 
 Marki4.54.  went  out  aiid  spoke  to  the  portress,  and  brought  in  Peter :  and  when  they  had 
 Luke22.55.  kindled  a  fire  in  the  midst  of  the  hall,  and  were  sitting  about  it,  Peter  was  in  the 
 Matf2fi  58.  midst  of  them,  at  the  fire,  and  warmed  himself,  that  he  might  see  the  end.  The  high- 
 John  18.19.  p^jpg|.  ^i^gjj^"  instead  of  producing  a  charge  against  Jesus,  and  hearing  his  defence, 
 "  asked"  him  "  of  his  disciples  and  of  his  doctrine,"  two  subjects  which  he  was  par- 
 ticularly earnest  to  investigate,  in  hopes  of  extorting  something  that  might  tend  to 
 criminate  him.  He  asked,  therefore,  by  what  authority  he  formed  to  himself  disci- 
 ples, and  what  was  the  doctrine  he  taught  them  :  but  these  two  questions  are  visibly 
 reducible  to  one,  viz.  to  that  of  his  doctrine  :  for  he  who  teaches  nothing  but  the  truth, 
 is  evidently  authorized  by  all  laws  to  form  to  himself  disciples.  This  consideration 
 caused  Jesus  to  combine  the  question  concerning  his  disciples,  with  the  question  con- 
 cerning the  truth  of  his  doctrine ;  and  for  the  justification  of  the  latter,  he  referred 
 himself  to  the  testimony  of  living  witnesses.  On  a  subject  of  this  nature,  he  said 
 that  the  high-priest  ought  to  have  interrogated  others  rather  than  himself:  1.  Because 
 in  this  examination  the  point  was  not  concerning  his  present  sentiments,  for  which  he 
 was  not  accountable  to  any  man,  but  concerning  the  doctrine  which  he  had  hitherto 
 announced  to  the  world,  and  whether  it  was  such  as  to  justify  his  being  seized  and 
 punished.  Now  every  assurance,  which  he  might  give  of  having  taught  sound  and 
 orthridox  doctrine,  would  avail  nothing  towards  his  justification  in  the  eyes  of  his 
 accusers  ;  the  evidence  of  the  accused  party  not  being  admissible  in  his  own  behalf. 
 It  was  not  therefore  to  himself  they  should  appeal,  but  to  the  evidence  of  those  who 
 had  heard  his  doctrine,  and  who  could  give  them  the  minutest  information  concerning 
 his  principles. 
 
 But  perhaps  the  high-priest  might  allege,  that  he  broached  his  doctrine  in  private 
 by  night,  or  to  such  disciples  only  as  could  be  depended  upon  for  their  secrecy.     To 
 
 20.  this  "  Jesus  answered  him  :  I  have  spoken  openly  to  the  world  :  I  have  always  taught 
 in  the  synagogue,  and  in  the  temple,  whither  all  the  Jews  resort,  and  in  secret  I  have 
 
 21.  spoken  nothing.     Why  askest  thou  me  ?     Ask  them  who  have  heard  what  I  have 
 2.  Jesus  is  struck  spoken    to    them:    behold    they   know   what    things   I    have   said," 
 
 ore  the  face,  and  therefore,  if  I  have  been  faulty  in  sowing  errors,  or  plotting 
 sedition,  you  may  have  enow  to  bear  witness  of  it,  and  upon  their  legal  testimony, 
 may  proceed  to  acquit  or  condemn  me.     Nothing  could  be  more  reasonable  or  more 
 
 22.  in  rule  than  this  answer.     "  And"  yet,  "  when  he  had  said  these  things,  one  of  the 
 officers  standing  by,  gave  Jesus  a  blow,  saying :  answerest  thou  to  the  high-priest 
 
 23.  so?  Jesus"  meekly  "  answered  him:  if  I  have  spoken  evil,  give  testimony  of  the 
 evil,"  and  leave  the  vindication  of  it  to  the  judge  :  "  but  if  well,  why  strikest  thou 
 
 24.  me?"*     This  happened  in  the  house  of  Caiphas  the  high  priest;  for  "  Annas"  had 
 "  sent  him  bound"  |  there,  as  mentioned  above. 
 
 *  It  appears  from  this  defence  which  Jesus  makes  t  St.   John  has  7ni.«7  fir  miserat.     It  is  to  be 
 
 for  himself,  that  we  are  not  to  understand  literally  observed,  that  the  Hebrews  made   no   use  of  the 
 
 his  precept  of  turning  the  other  cheek  to  him  that  pripterpluperfect  tense  in  their  verbs.     Hence  they 
 
 smites  vs,  since  instead  of  this,  we  find  him  modestly  wrote  venerunt  for  veneraut,  misit  for  miserat. 
 vindicating  the  innocency  of  his  words. 
 
Ch.  CXXXVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  421 
 
 After  having  failed  in  the  attempt  to  draw  Jesus  into  a  snare  by  the      3  p^j^^^  ^-^^ 
 above  captious  interrogation,  "  the  chief  priests  and  the  whole  council"  nesses    against  jiatt.ce.so. 
 found  themselves  under  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  the  evidence      '™^' 
 of  others,  agreeably  to  what  he  himself  had  sugg.ested  to  them.     And  they  "  sought 
 false  witness  against  Jesus,  that  they  might  put  him  to  death.    And  they  found  none"      eo. 
 sufficient,  "  whereas  many  false  witnesses  had  come  in  ;"  a  circumstance  which 
 decidedly  proves  the  innocence  of  Jesus.     "  For  many  bore  false  witness  against  Marku.se. 
 him,  and  their  evidence  did  not  agree"  together,  as  it  usually  happens  on  such  occasions. 
 '  Unjust  witnesses  have  risen  up  against  me,'  says  the  Psalmist,  '  and  iniquity  hath 
 lied  to  itself.'*    "  And  last  of  all  there  came  two  false  witnesses,  and  rising  up,  they  Matt.266o. 
 bore  fidse  witness  against  him,  saying:  we  have  heard  him  say  :  I  am  able  to  destroy  ^^'^'^g'^'^^' 
 the  temple  of  God,  and  after  three  days  to  rebuild  it ;  I  will  destroy  this  temple  made  ^{'''tusa" 
 with  hands,  and  within  three  days  I  will  build  another,  not  made  with  hands.     And      59, 
 their  testimony  did  not  agree,"  nor  was  it  sufficient  for  his  condemnation.     The  one 
 witnessed,  that  he  said  absolutely  he  would  destroy  it,  dcstruam :  the  other,  that  he 
 could  or  was  able  to  destroy  it,  possum  destritere :  whereas  his  words  were  neither 
 destruam  nor  possum  destruere  ;    but  solvite,  destroy  you  this  temple.     Moreover 
 Christ  spoke  of  the  temple  of  his  body,  as  being  the  temple  of  the  divinity,  and  they 
 of  the  material  temple  at  Jerusalem.     It  is  likewise  probable,  that  they  made  other 
 additions  and  folse  constructions  not  mentioned  by  the  Evangelists.    "  And  the  high-       eo. 
 priest  rising  up  in  the  midst,  asked  Jesus,  saying :  answerest  thou  nothing  to  the 
 things  laid  to  thy  charge  by  these  men  ?"   (As  if  he  had  forgotten,  that  for  the  last 
 words  which  he  spoke  in  his  own  defence,  he  had  suffered  him  to  be  struck  on  the 
 face.)     "  But  he  held  his  peace  and  answered  nothing-,"  and  that  for  many  reasons :       ei. 
 1.  Because  their  testimony  contradicting  and  destroying  itself,  needed  no  further 
 confutation.     2.  Because  he  foresaw  his  speaking  would  have  no  good  effect  upon 
 his  malicious  accusers  and  judges,  but  would  rather  serve  to  increase  their  guilt.     3. 
 To  show  the  perfect  moderation  and  mastery  of  his  passions,  and  a  most  entire  resig- 
 nation to  his  Father's  will,  '  leaving  us  an  example,'  as  St.  Peter  says,  '  that  we 
 should  follow  his  steps.'  f 
 
 We  may  be  at  a  loss  to  guess  the  reason  why  the  priests  and  Pharisees,  who  had 
 long  resolved  to  compass  the  destruction  of  Jesus,  should  now  affect  to  be  so  scrupu- 
 lous as  to  the  formality  of  such  juridical  depositions  as  might  appear  to  the  world 
 neither  inconsistent  with  truth,  nor  altogether  frivolous.  But  the  truth  is,  1.  They 
 were  under  the  necessity  of  preserving  at  least  the  outward  appearance  of  moderation 
 and  decorum,  and  in  so  doing-,  their  character  in  the  public  opinion  was  in  some 
 degree  concerned.  They  were  consequently  interested  in  assuming  rather  the 
 appearance  of  avenging  their  religious  rites,  than  of  being  the  oppressors  of  inno- 
 cence. Thus,  their  fixed  hatred  of  Jesus  was  absolutely  to  be  cloaked  under  the 
 plausible  garb  of  a  zeal  for  public  justice,  and  under  the  apparent  tenderness  of  a 
 candid  juridical  trial.  2.  They  were  sensible,  that  Pilate  would  not  readily  condemn 
 a  person  of  such  public  fame  as  Jesus  to  death,  upon  the  evidence  of  frivolous  and 
 unsupported  testimony,  and  that  to  proceed  to  such  extremity,  he  would  clearly 
 
 *  Psalm  xxvi.  12.  t  1  Peter  ii.  23. 
 
 36.  5  p 
 
63. 
 64. 
 
 422  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXXXVIIL 
 
 require  more  solid  grounds  than  a  simple  transgression  of  their  traditions,  or  a  mere 
 contempt  of  their  ceremonies. 
 
 We  may,  from  the  text  of  St.  Luke,  gather  that  the  principal  persons  amongst 
 the  Jews,  who  acted  as  the  accusers  of  Jesus,  finding,  that  in  consequence  of  the 
 contradictory  testimony  of  the  witnesses,  they  could  now  allege  nothing  more  to  his 
 disadvantage,  withdrew  during  the  remainder  of  the  night,  for  the  purpose  both  of 
 taking  their  necessary  rest,  and  of  gaining  further  time  to  plot  his  destruction  by 
 means  of  fresh  accusations.  Perhaps,  with  a  view  of  being  nearer  the  council  room, 
 they  might  pass  the  night  in  the  house  of  Caiphas,  to  be  in  readiness  the  following 
 day,  to  finish  this  important  business  which  they  had  left  incomplete.  In  the  interim, 
 Luke  22.  they  placed  Jesus  in  the  custody  of  their  servants,  "  and  the  men  that  held  him, 
 mocked  him,*  and  struck  him"  with  their  fists,  and  plucked  off  his  hair.f  "  And 
 they  blindfolded  him,  and  smote  his  face.  And  they  asked  him,  saying  :  prophesy 
 65-  who  is  he  that  struck  thee  ?  And  blaspheming,  many  other  things  they  said  against 
 him,"  loading  him  with  every  species  of  insult  which  their  own  malice,  and  that  of 
 the  devil  could  suggest. 
 
 66.  "  And  as  soon  as  it  was  day,  the  ancients  of  the  people,  and  the 
 miiiation    and  chief  priests  and  Scribes  met  together,  and  brought  him"  again  "  before 
 condemnation     ^q\y  council,  saying  :  if  thou  be  Christ,  tell  us:"  they  purposely  con- 
 certed this  unanimous  request,  as  most  likely  to  obtain  a  reply  from 
 
 him,  which,  if  it  proved  to  be  in  the  affirmative,  they  would  instantly  deem  a  sufficient 
 
 67.  plea  for  their  condemning  him  to  death.  "  And  he  replied  :  if  I  should  tell  you,  you 
 63.  would  not  believe  me,  and  if"  to  prove  it,  "  I  ask  you"  any  thing,  "  you  will  not 
 69-  answer  me,  nor  dismiss  me.  But  hereafter  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  sitting  at  the 
 70.      right  hand  of  the  power  of  God.     They  all  then  said :  art  thou  therefore  the  Son  of 
 
 God?  Who  said  :  you  say  it,  for  I  am."  Which  the  Jews  considered  as  a  modest 
 Mark  14.  yvay  of  affirming  any  thing  relating  to  their  own  commendation.  "  Again  the  high- 
 Matt.  26.  priest  asked  of  him,  and  said  to  him  :  art  thou  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  blessed  God  ? 
 
 63.  I  adjure  thee,  by  the  living  God,:}:  that  thou  tell  us,  if  thou  art  Christ  the  Son  of  God. 
 
 64.  Jesus,"  out  of  reverence  to  that  sacred  name,  "  replied :  thou  hast  said  it,  I  am 
 really  so."  It  is  true,  the  condition  in  which  you  see  me  at  present,  bears  no  propor- 
 tion to  that  high  and  sublime  dignity  ;  "  nevertheless,  I  say  to  you,  hereafter"  the 
 day  will  come,  when  "  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
 power  of  God,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  This  David  and  Daniel  had 
 foretold  of  the  Messiah. § 
 
 Jesus  here  spoke  of  the  day  of  judgment,  when  these  iniquitous  judges  will  be 
 brought  to  appear  before  him,  and  when,  with  their  own  eyes,  they  shall  behold  him 
 in  all  his  glory  and  majesty.     He  thus  contrasted  his  future  glory  with  his  present 
 
 *  We  do  honour  to  the  name  of  Christ,  when  we  viii.  31,  32.    Numbers  v.  19.   1  Thess.  v.  27.     The 
 
 follow  his  example,  and  suffer  injuries  without  up-  person    thus    interrogated,  was   obliged    to   speak 
 
 braiding  and  complaints.  truth,  and  in  all  doubtful  cases,  his   confession   or 
 
 t  Isaiah  1.  6.  denial  was   decisive,  either  to  acquit  or  condemn 
 
 X  This  method  of  adjuring  persons  by  the  living  him      Calmet. 
 
 God,  was  sometimes  practised  in  the  Jewish  courts,  §  Ps.  cix.  1.    Daniel  vii.  13. 
 'when  in  want  of  some  other  evidence.  See  1  Kings 
 
Luke  22. 
 71. 
 
 Ch.  CXXXIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  423 
 
 state  of  humiliation,  and  the  sentence  which  he  will  there  pronounce  against  them, 
 
 with  that  sentence  which  they  now  so  unjustly  meditated  to  pronounce  against  him. 
 
 He  likewise  made  this  public  avowal,  as  an  example  to  all  succeeding  martyrs,  he 
 
 being  the  first  to  lay  down  his  life  in  support  of  that  fundamental  truth  which  they 
 
 aflerwards  maintained  at  the  expense  of  their  lives.     "  Then  the  high-priest  rent      65. 
 
 his  garments,*  saying :  he  hath  blasphemed :  what  need  we  any  more  witnesses  ? 
 
 Behold  now  you  have  heard  the  blasphemy"  against  God,  whose  Son  he  calls  himself. 
 
 "  What  is  your  opinion?  But  they  answered  and  said  :  he  is  guilty  of  death.     What      66 
 
 need  we  any  further  testimony  ?  For  we  ourselves  have  heard  it  from  his  own  mouth 
 
 Who  all  condemned  him  to  be  guiltv  of  death.     Then  some  besran  to       -     ,         •  Mark  14. 
 
 .  .  '•      Jesus      IS 
 
 spit  in  his  face,"  which  was  the  greatest  note  of  infamy  and  disgrace  spit  vpon  and  ,,    %-; 
 amongst  the  Jews,f  "  and  to  cover  his  face,  and  to  buffet  him.     And  *"™^'^'^-  67 
 
 others  struck  his  face  with  the  palms  of  their  hands,  saying :  prophesy  unto  us,  O  Mark. 
 Christ,  who  is  he  that  struck  thee  ?  And  the  servants,"  joining  their  masters  in  this  Mark. 
 inhuman  treatment,  "  struck  him"  also  "  with  the  palms  of  their  hands,"  to  perplex 
 him  as  it  were  by  their  united  blows,  had  he,  in  compliance  with  tlieir  taunting  sug- 
 gestions, been  inclined  to  name  his  tormentors.  All  these  things  were  foretold  of  the 
 Messiah  by  David  in  the  Psalms,  and  by  the  prophets,  especially  Isaiah.;};  Let  us 
 compassionate  our  blessed  Lord  under  these  his  sufferings,  and  in  opposition  to  this 
 cruel  malice  of  his  enemies,  let  his  followers  cry  out  with  the  angel  in  the  Apocalypse, 
 Thou  art  worthy,  0  Lord,  to  receive  poicer  and  dimnity,  honour  and  glory,  for  ever 
 and  ever. 
 
 We  must  not  confound  the  insults  here  offered  to  Jesus  with  those  of  the  preced- 
 ing night.  The  latter  are,  by  the  sacred  text,  attributed  to  the  servants  who  held 
 Jesus  in  custody :  the  men  that  held  him.  Whereas  the  insults  in  the  morning  were 
 the  act  and  deed  of  those  very  judges  who  had  just  condemned  him  to  death,  some  of 
 whom  began  to  spit  upon  him.  Hence  St.  Mark,  speaking  of  these  last  insults, 
 carefully  distinguishes  between  the  part  of  the  masters  and  that  of  their  servants,  by 
 adding  that,  after  some  of  the  former  had  began  to  spit  upou  him,  the  servants  also 
 smote  him  upon  the  face. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXXXIX. 
 
 Peter's  denial  and  repentance,    matt.  xxvi.    mark  xiv.    luke  xxh.    john  xviii. 
 
 Let  us  now  return  to  the  garden  of  Olives,  to  trace  the  particulars  of  what  happened 
 to  Peter.     After  surrendering  his  sword  into  the  hands  of  some  other  person,  he 
 
 *  This  was  usual  with  the  eastern  nations,   in  but  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  so  qualified  that 
 
 order  to  express  their  horror  on  any  particular  oc-  precept,   as  to  allow  him  to  rend  his  clothes  at  the 
 
 casions.    It  was  however  forbidden  the  high-priest,  bottom,  though  he  was  not  permitted  to  do  it  from 
 
 not  only  as  to  his  sacerdotal  vestments,  but  also  as  the  top  to  the  breast, 
 
 to  his  other  garments.  Lev.  xxi.  10.  because  he  was  t  See  Deut.  xxv.  9. 
 
 not  to  appear  before  God  in  the  habit  of  a  mourner :  j  See  chap.  1.  6.  chap.  liii.  2.,  &c. 
 
424  THE  LIFE  OP  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXXXIX. 
 
 followed  Jesus  at  a  distance,  as  we  have  seen  above,  in  company  with  another  dis- 
 ciple* who  was  known  to  the  high-priest,  and  who  procured  his  admission  into  the 
 Marki4.66.  court  where  Jesus  was  undergfoina-  his  examination.     *'  Now  when  Peter  was  in  the 
 
 John  18.17.  .'?''  ,-11-1  -..ij.  i 
 
 Marki467.  court  below,  OHC  of  the  maid-servants  of  the  lugh-pnest,  that  was  portress,  came  ; 
 
 "and  when  she  had  seen  Peter  warming  himself,  and  had  looked  at  him,  she  said"  to 
 
 all  those  who  were  there  present :  "  this  man  also  was  with  him."     Then  addressing 
 
 ^?^'!i«i^•  herself  to  Peter  himself,  she  added  :  "  art  not  thou  also  one  of  this  man's  disciples  ? 
 
 Matt.26.69.  •  t->         i  • 
 
 70.  Thou  also  wast  with  Jesus  the  Galilean.     But  he  denied  before  them 
 
 Luke'J2.57.     Firsl  denial.        ,,  .  -,  ,.  ,        f  ,  f  \  •       ^^      ■    t        , 
 
 Marki4.68.  all,  sayuig  :  woman,  1  know  him  not.     1  am  not  one  oi  his  aisciples,f 
 
 I  neither  know,  nor  understand  what  thou  sayest."  This  he  said  under  the  conviction 
 
 John  18.18.  of  her  not  being  able  to  bring  proof  of  her  assertion.  "  Now  the  servants  and 
 ministers  stood  at  a  fire  of  coals,  because  it  was  cold,;];  and  warmed  themselves. 
 And  with  them  was  Peter  also  standing  and  warming  himself."  Sensible  however 
 of  his  being  now  discovered,  and  of  its  being  therefore  unsafe  for  him  to  remain  there 
 
 Marki4,68.  any  longer,  he  resolved  to  depart  from  the  place.  And"  \vith  this  view  "  he  went 
 forth  before  the  court,  and  the  cock  crew"  for  the  first  time.    Unfortunately  for  Peter, 
 
 Matt26.7i.  "  as  he  went  out  of  the  gate,  another  maid  saw  him,  and"  taking  particular  notice  of 
 him,  "  she  saith  to  them  that  were  there:  this  man  also"  (pointing  to  Peter)  "  was 
 with  Jesus  of  Nazareth. "§  This  unexpected  challenge  of  his  person  caused  him  to 
 alter  his  plan,  and  to  return  again,  lest  he  should  seem  to  fly  as  conscious  of  the 
 truth  of  the  accusation.  He  probably  too  was  afraid,  lest  the  portres.s,  who  recollected 
 his  features,  should  now  refuse  to  open  the  door  to  him,  whence  his  attempting  to 
 escape  might  be  construed  as  an  avowal  of  what  was  laid  to  his  charge.  He  deemed 
 it  therefore  the  most  prudent  measure,  in  the  present  emergency,  to  replace  himself 
 among  the  servants,  as  it  were  to  warm  himself,  and  thus  openly  to  brave  the  accusa- 
 
 Luke22,58.  „       ,  ,    .  ,     tion.     "  And  after  a  little  while,  another  seeino-  him  standing  and 
 
 Accond  aemal.  ...  ir.-ii  pimi  -i 
 
 John  18.-5.  warming  himself,  said  :  thou  also  art  one  of  them.       The  others  joined 
 
 in  the  same  question,  and  "  they  said  therefore  to  him  :  art  not  thou  also  one  of  his 
 Maiki4.70.  disciples  ?  But  he  denied  again  with  an  oath,  and  said,  I  am  not :  I  do  not  know 
 JohiiT8!25!  the  man.  After  the  space  as  it  were  of  one  hour,  another  man,  one  of  the  serv'ants 
 Joiin  18.26'.  of  the  high-priest,  a  kinsman  to  him  whose  ear  Peter  cut  off,  affirmed  it,  saying  :  of 
 Joimi82n'  ^  ^'""t^  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^s  ^'^o  ^'t'^  ^™'  f*^''  ^^  's  ^'so  a  Galilean.  Did  not  I  see 
 M'''ki47o"  ^^^  "^  ^^  garden  with  him  ?    And"  now  "  they  that  stood  by,  came  and  said  to 
 
 *  It  is  not  known  who   this  disciple  was  that  informs  us,  that  there  might  be  frost  and  snow  at 
 
 introduced  Peter  ;  we  may  however  ascertain  three  the  time  of  the  Passover,  and  it  was  no  uncommon 
 
 circumstances  conceminfr  liim  :   L  That  he  was  not  tiiiiinf  for  great   dews   to  fall   at  that  lime,  which 
 
 St.  John,  as  some  have  imagined,  nor  one  of  the  would  make  the  air  cold  until  the  sun  had  exiialed 
 
 twelve  Apostles,  since  he  was  known  and   held  in  them. 
 
 some   estimation  by  the  high-priast.     2.  That  on         §  Peter  did  not  go  out  of  the  house,  but  out  of 
 
 the  same  account  he  was  a  disciple  of  Jesus  only  in  tlic  hall,  where  he  returned  again  soon  afterwards, 
 
 private,  as  was  Nicodemus  and  others  ;  otherwise  For,  as  it  is  clear  from  St.  Mark,  that  Peter  went 
 
 he  would  have  been   in   equal  danger  with  Peter  out  of  the  hall,  and  from  St.  John,  that  he  was  still 
 
 from  such  a  connection.     3.  That  he  must  have  at  the  fire  when  he  denied  Jesus  the  second  time, 
 
 been  a  person  of  some  distinction,  by  his  rank  or  we  must  suppose,  that  at  Peter's  going  out  of  the 
 
 fortune.  hall,  a  servant  maid  said  to  those  that  were  there, 
 
 t  So  saith  every  one  who  obeys  not  his  gospel.  "  This  man  also  was  with  Jesus  of  Nazarelh.'' 
 
 I  The  Jews  themselves  allow,  as  Dr.  Lightfoot 
 
Ch.  CXL.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  425 
 
 Peter:  surely  thou  also  art  one  of  them  ;   for  even  thy  speech  doth  discover  thee," 
 
 that  "thou  art  a  Galilean.     Aarain  therefore  Peter  denied,  and  he     ,,,.,,.,    Johni8.27. 
 
 =       .  Third  denial. 
 
 began  to  curse  and  to  swear,     sayuig-:    "  i  know  not  this  man  of  Marki4.ri. 
 
 whom  you  speak.     I  know  not  what  thou  sayest ;  and  immediately  as  he  was  yet 
 
 sneakincf,  the  cock  crew  ao-ain.    And  the  Lord  turnino-  looked  at  Peter,"  and  touched  Marki4.r2. 
 
 I  o'  o  ^  '  Luke22  61 
 
 his  heart  with  a  stronof  and  efficacious  orrace.     •'''  And  Peter  remembered  the  word  Marku/i 
 of  the  Lord,  as  he  had  said  ;  before  the  cock  crow  twice,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice  ;       «-  •  - 
 and  going'  out  he  wept  bitterly"  for  his  fault,  a  practice  which  he  is  said  ever  after- 
 wards to  have  observed,  as  often  as  he  heard  the  cock  crow.     Hence  he  has  ever 
 been  considered  as  the  model  of  all  true  penitents. 
 
 In  this  history  we  must  distinctly  consider  the  several  denials  of  Peter  by  the 
 separate  times  of  his  being  attacked  upon  this  subject,  and  not  by  the  precise 
 number  of  words  spoken  by  him.  Now  the  servants  returned  to  the  charge  against 
 him  three  different  times,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  at  each  time  many 
 answers  passed  on  both  sides.  We  may  observe  on  this  occasion,  how  easily  one 
 fall  draws  on  another,  and  generally  a  deeper,  as  in  the  present  case.  Peter's  first 
 denial  was  a  simple  untruth  ;  the  second  was  an  untruth,  but  corroborated  with  an 
 oath;  which  is  called  perjury;  the  third  added  to  perjury,  horrible  imprecations 
 ag-ainst  himself. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXL. 
 
 JESUS  IS  DELIVERED  UP  TO  PILATE THE  DEATH  OF  JUDAS.      MATT,  XXVII.      MARK  XV. 
 
 LUKE   XXIII.      JOHN  XVIII. 
 
 *'  Now  in  the  morning  early,  the  chief  priests  with  the  ancients  and  the      j     j^^^^^    ^^  Mark  15.1. 
 scribes,"  after  they  had  wreaked  their  vengeance  upon  Jesus  by  the  given  up  to  Pi- 
 vilest  treatment  of  his  person,  "took  councd  against  him,  that  they  '"'''•  Matt.  27. 1. 
 
 might  put  him  to  death  ;"  for  they  could  not  execute  this  themselves,  as  the  power 
 of  life  and  death  had  been  taken  from  them  about  three  years  before.  Besides,  they 
 were  glad  to  throw  upon  another  person  the  odium  of  a  crime,  of  which  in  fact  they 
 were  certainly  guilty.  As  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  to  have  an  equal  share  in  the 
 benefit  of  Christ's  death,  so  were  they  likewise  in  the  inflicting  of  it ;  that  as  all 
 receive  the  mercy  of  being  saved  by  his  blood,  so  none  should  be  freed  from  the  guilt 
 of  shedding  it. 
 
 ''  And  the  whole  multitude  of  them  rising  up,  brought  him  bound  from  Caiphas  Luke  23.1. 
 into  the  palace  of  the  Pra;tor,  and  delivered  him  to  Pontius  Pilate  the  Governor,"  f^^il^^', 
 not  so  much  to  examine  whether  he  were  guilty,  as  to  ratify  the  sentence  of  death 
 which  they  had  already  pronounced  against  him.     "  And  they  entered  not  into  the 
 palace"  or  court  of  the  Governor,  he  being  a  heathen,  '''  that  they  might  not  be 
 defiled,  but  might  eat  the  passover.* 
 
 St.  John  does  not  here  speak  of  the  paschal     eaten  the  night  before.     This  word  passover  corn- 
 lamb,  which  the  Jews  as  well  as  our  Saviour  had    prehends  not  only  the  paschal  solemnity  of  the 
 
 36.  5  Q 
 
^2Q  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXL. 
 
 Matt.  27.  2.  The  death  of      "  Then  Judas  who  betrayed  him,  seeing  that  he  was  condemned, 
 
 3.  Judas.         repenting-  himself,  brought  back  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief 
 
 4.  priests  and  the  ancients,  saying  :  I  have  sinned  in  betraying  innocent  blood.  But 
 they  said :  What  is  that  to  us?  look  thou  to  it."  He  had  all  along  hoped,  that,  by  a 
 miracle,  Jesus  would  escape  from  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  as  he  had  done  on 
 former  occasions  ;  but  being  disappointed  in  this  hope,  (which  indeed  Jesus  had 
 sufficiently  precluded  by  declaring,  on  the  preceding  evening,  that  the  Son  of  Man 
 was  then  finishing  the  course  which  had  been  assigned  to  him,)  his  mind  sunk  ;  he 
 was  overwhelmed  with  insupportable  anguish,  and  at  last  reduced  to  a  state  of  the 
 
 5.  utmost  despair.  "  And  casting  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the  temple,  he  departed  :* 
 and  went  and  hanged  himself  with  a  halter,  and  being  hanged,!  he  burst  asunder  in 
 
 6.  the  midst  and  all  his  bowels  gushed  out.|  But,"  after  the  death  of  Judas,  "  the  chief 
 priests  having  taken  the  pieces  of  silver,  said  :  It  is  not  lawful  to  put  them  into  the 
 
 7.  corbona,"  or  treasury  of  the  temple,  "  because  it  is  the  price  of  blood.  And  after 
 they  had  consulted  together,  they  bought  with  them  the  potter's  field,"  which,  was 
 out  of  the  city  to  the  south,  "  in  order  to  be  a  burying  place  for  strangers,"  espe- 
 cially for  the  Roman  soldiers,  who  had  hitherto  been  interred  in  the  common  burying 
 place  of  the  Jews,  which  was  considered  as  a  great  abomination.  Thus  the  price  of 
 Jesus's  blood  was  employed  to  the  advantage  of  the  Gentiles,  and  "  for  this  cause  that 
 
 9.  field  was  called  Haceldama,  that  is,  t!ie  field  of  blood,§  even  to  this  day.  Then  was 
 fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by  Jeremy  ||  the  prophet,  saying  :  And  they  took" 
 (from  Judas)  "  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  price  of  him  that  was  valued"  at  that 
 sum,  "  whom  they  prized  of  the  children  of  Israel,"  by  agreeing  with  Judas  for  that 
 
 IQ  purpose.  "  And  they  gave  them  for  the  potter's  field,  as  the  Lord  appointed,"  or 
 decreed  for  me.  This  is  the  sense  of  the  prophecy,  the  words  being  abridged  in  the 
 gospel. 
 
 The  cause  which  brought  Judas  to  this  unhappy  end,  was  no  other  than  the  love 
 of  money.  This  was  his  predominant  passion.  This  he  indulged  at  first  in  small 
 injustices,  by  the  opportunity  of  carrying  the  common  purse  ;  and  as  he  neglected  to 
 
 lamb,  but  also  all  the  sacrifices  that  were  to  be  veneration  it  has  obtained  among  Christians.  It 
 eaten  with  unleavened  bread  during  the  seven  days  is  a  small  plat  of  ground,  not  above  300  yards  long 
 of  the  paschal  solemnity,  as  appears  from  different  and  about  15  yai'ds  broad.  A  little  below  (he  holy 
 passages  of  scripture,  as  Deut.  xvi.  2.  "  Thou  shall  Jield  is  shown  an  intricate  cave  or  sepulchre  con- 
 offer  up  the  phase  or  passover  to  the  Lord  of  sheep  sisting  of  several  rooms,  one  within  another,  ia 
 and  oxen,"  and  2  Paral.  xxxv.  S.  It  was  therefore  which  the  Apostles  are  said  to  have  hid  themselves, 
 of  these  paschal  sacrifices  in  general,  and  not  of  when  they  forsook  their  Master  and  fled. — Well's 
 the  paschal  lamb,  that  the  priests  designed  to  par-  Geography  of  the  New  Testament, 
 take,  and  on  that  account  refused  to  enter  into  the  ||  Jeremy  is  now  found  in  all  the  Latin  copies, 
 palace  of  Pilate.     See  Tillemont  against  Lami.  and  is  the  general  reading  in  the  Greek,  whereas 
 
 *    A  man   may  see   his   sin,  abhor  it,  confess  it,  the  passage  is  found  Zachary  xi.  12.      Some  judge 
 
 and  yet  be  a  false  penitent  as  Judas  was.  it  to  have  been  in  some  writing  now  lost  of  Jeremy, 
 
 t  Though  the  Greek  word  may  sometimes  signify  for  St.  Jerom  says,  he  found  it  in  a  writing  of 
 a  suffocation  of  grief,  yet  it  signifies  also  to  be  Jeremy  which  was  not  canonical.  Others  conjee- 
 strangled  with  a  rope,  as  translated  by  Erasmus,  ture  that  Zachary  had  the  name  of  Jeremy,  or  that 
 So  it  is  in  the  ancient  Syriac  version,  and  the  same  St.  Matthew  put  neither  Jeremy  nor  Zachary,  but 
 Greek  word  is  made  use  of,  2  Kings  xvii.  as  to  simply  the  prophet,  as  he  usually  does,  and  that 
 Achitophel's  death.  the  name  of  Jeremy  crept  into  the  text.     For  it  is 
 
 X  Acts  i.  18.  not  in  the  Svriac,  dnd  St.  Austin  affirms,  that  it 
 
 §  At  present  it  is  named  the  holy  field,  from  the  was  not  in  several  Latin  copies. 
 
Ch.  CXLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  427 
 
 mortify  his  evil  inclinations,  they  insensibly  gained  ground  upon  him,  till  they  intro- 
 duced Satan  into  the  possession  of  his  whole  soul,  and  so  prevailed  upon  him  to 
 betray  and  sell  his  Lord  and  Master.  What  an  instructive  lesson  is  this  for  us  to 
 beware  of  our  passions,  and  to  stifle  them  betimes,  lest  they  grow  headstrong  by 
 beitig  neglected  in  the  beginning.  Especially  we  should  take  care  of  that  cheating 
 vice,  avarice,  the  source  of  innumerable  evils  ;  which  so  insensibly  poisons  the  mind, 
 that  few  or  none  are  willing  to  think  themselves  infected  with  it.  Hence  how  many 
 pretexts  and  pretences  are  made  use  of  to  cloak  the  evil !  How  many  ways  of 
 palliating  even  frauds,  injustices,  usuries,  and  other  crimes^  to  the  ruin  of  innumerable 
 souls  ! 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLI. 
 
 JESUS  IS  ACCUSED  BEFORE  PIIATE,  WHO  SENDS  HIM  TO  HEROD.     MATT.  XXVII.     MARK  XV, 
 
 LUKE  XXIII.      JOHN  XVIII. 
 
 "  Pilate,  therefore,"  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  vain  scruple  of  l.  Jesus  is  ac- John  18 
 the  Jews,  "  went  out  to  them,  and  said  :    What  accusation  bring  you         cused.  29 
 
 against  this  man  ?     They  answered,  and  said  to  him  :    If  he  were  not  a  malefactor      30. 
 we  would  not  have  delivered  him  up  to  thee  ;"  as  if  their  will  were  a  certain  and 
 infallible  rule  of  justice,  and  that  he  ought  by  no  means  to  call  in  question  the  guilt 
 of  a  man  condemned  by  judges  of  such  strict  impartiality.     "  Pilate  therefore  said  to      31. 
 them  :  Take  him  you,  and  judge  him  according  to  your  law.     The  Jews,  therefore, 
 said  to  him  :  It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put  any  man  to  death.    That  the  word  of  Jesus      32. 
 might  be  fulfilled,  which  he  said  signifying  what  death  he  should  die  :"  for  had  the 
 Jews  condemned  him  according  to  the  law,  they  could  have  sentenced  him  to  no  other 
 capital  punishment  but  that  of  being  stoned  to  death,  whereas  if  Pilate  decreed  him  to 
 die,  it  would  be  by  the  cross,  in  conformity  with  the  usual  practice  of  the  Romans. 
 
 The  Jews,  finding  that  the  Governor  was  unwilling  to  condemn  Jesus  on  their 
 bare  report,  or  to' decide  without  giving  him  an  impartial  hearing,  "  began  to  accuse 
 him"  on  three  various  heads,  "  saying  :  W^e  have  found  this  man  perverting  our 
 nation"  by  dangerous  novelties,  "  and  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,*  and  pre- 
 tending to  be  Christ  the  king."  This  last  was  a  capital  crime  against  the  Roman 
 people,  when  claimed  in  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the  Emperor. 
 
 Pilate  instantly  saw  that  these  imputed  crimes  were  mere  inventions      „     r 
 
 •'  '■  .  2.    Jesus     IS 
 
 of  calumny,  and  therefore  began  to  consider  by  what  means  he  could  examined  by  Pi- 
 
 deliver  Jesus  out  of  their  hands.     For  this  purpose  lie  made  use  of  '"'*'• 
 
 three  very  different  expedients :  the  first  of  wliich  was  consistent  with  reason  and 
 
 *  A  manifest  falsehood,  see  Matthew  xxii.     We  not  concern  himself;    and   therefore   they  forged 
 
 may  observe  that  our  Lord's  accusers,  when  they  such  accusations  against  him  as  they  thought  might 
 
 came  before  Pilate,  said  nothing  of  his   pretended  make  him  odious    and   suspected   to  the    Roman 
 
 blasphemy,  his  destruction  of  the  temjile,  or  viola,  government,  and  ob'ige  Pilate  to  be  severe  against 
 
 tion  of  the  law  of  Moses,  because  these  were  ques-  him. 
 tions  with  which  the  Governor  they  knew   would 
 
428  .    THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXLI. 
 
 justice  ;  the  second,  in  the  highest  degree  ignominious  ;  and  the  third,  an  instance  of 
 the  most  barbarous  cruelty. 
 
 Pilate  began  by  a  juridical  investigation  of  the  crimes  imputed  to  Jesus,  which  he 
 did  first  in  his  own  judicial  capacity,  and  afterwards  by  means  of  Herod.  Of  tlie 
 three  chief  heads  of  accusation,  he  laid  no  great  stress  upon  that  of  his  liaving- 
 seduced  the  people,  which  supposed  crime  he  considered  as  not  within  his  jurisdiction. 
 He  seemed  to  pay  no  greater  regard  to  that  of  iiis  having  opposed  tlie  gathering  of 
 the  tributes,  which  had  never  been  made  the  subject  of  complaint  by  the  Publicans 
 or  tax-gatherers,  as  most  certainly  would  have  been  the  case,  had  it  been  well  founded. 
 His  assumed  quality  of  king  attracted  Pilate's  whole  attention,  and  the  importance  of 
 33.  the  subject  naturally  led  him  to  sift  it  to  the  bottom.  "  Pilate,  therefore,  went  into 
 Matt.  27.  i^i^g  jj.^jj  jj2.^ifj  j^jjj  calbd  Jesus."    And  Jesus  stood  before  the  Governor  as  a  criminal, 
 
 11.  o  '  ' 
 
 John  18.  with  his  hands  tied  :  "  and  the  Governor  asked  him,  saying  :    Art  thou  the  king  of 
 
 ^'**      the  Jews  ?  Jesus,"  who  could  not  have  heard  from  the  hall  what  the  Jews  had  said 
 
 to  Pilate  against  him,  "  answered  :  Sayest  thou  this  of  thyself,  or  have  others  told  it 
 
 thee   of  me?"     Thus    insinuating   that   it   came   from   his   malicious   adversaries. 
 
 35.  "  Pilate  answered,"  somewhat  peevishly,  "  am  I  a  Jew?  Thy  own  nation  and  the 
 chief  priests  have  delivered  thee  up  to  me.  What  hast  thou  done  ?"  He  thus  gave 
 him  to  understand,  that  the  question  he  had  proposed  in  his  official  capacity, 
 originated  not  from  any  curiosity  on  his  part,  but  that  since  the  chief  magistrates  had 
 delivered  him  up  as  a  person  affecting  royalty,  he  now  sought  for  information  on  the 
 subject,  in  order  that  being  apprized  of  what  he  had  to  say  in  his  own  defence,  he 
 
 36.  might  be  enabled  to  pass  judgment  with  the  greater  impartiality.  "  Jesus  answered," 
 and  explained  the  nature  of  that  kingdom  which  he  claimed  as  his  own,  in  such  a 
 manner  as  to  do  away  at  once  all  grounds  of  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  Roman 
 emperor:  "  My  kingdom,"  says  he,  "  is  not  of  this  world,"*  and  therefore  no  wise 
 prejudicial  to  Cgcsar's  authority  :  it  is  a  spiritual  kingdom  of  which  the  minds  of  men 
 are  the  uncontrouled  and  voluntary  subjects.  "  If  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world, 
 my  servants  would  certainly  strive"  to  defend  me  with  an  armed  force,  so  "that  I 
 
 37.  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews  :  but  now  my  kingdom  is  not  from  hence.  Pilate 
 therefore  said  to  him:  Art  thou  a  king  then  ?  Jesus"  modestly  "answered:  Thou 
 sayest  that  I  am  a  king.  For  this  was  I  born,  and  for  this  came  I  into  the  world,  that 
 I  should  give  testimony  to  the  truth"  of  God,  and  establish  his  worship  among  men. 
 "  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth,  heareth  my  voice,"  whether  speaking  to  him  out- 
 wardly by  preaching,  or  by  admonishing  him  inwardly  by  secret  inspirations.  Hence 
 it  clearly  appeared  that,  though  he  were  a  king,  this  ought  not  to  alarm  the  jealousy 
 of  Caesar.  In  fact,  the  subjects  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom  are  no  other  than  the 
 hearts  and  wills  of  mankind,  his  absolute  orders  are  the  efficacious  attractions  of 
 
 *  Some  heretics   and  modern  innovators  have  "  Give  ear  ye  Jews  and  Gentiles,  ye  men  of  hii^h 
 
 made  a  handle  of  these  words  of  Christ,  and  have  and  low  degree.  My  kingdom,  is  not  of  this  world: 
 
 drawn  from  them   inferences  inimical  to  that  au-  nevertheless,  as  I  am  a  king,  I  therefore  have  my 
 
 thority  which  he  left  with  his  Church   for  the  cor-  own  kingdom,  my  own  ministers,  my  own  officers, 
 
 rection  of  error  and  the  regulation  of  ecclesiastical  and  my  own  system  of  government.     Be  not  afraid 
 
 discipline.     St.  . Austin  introduces  dur  Saviour  com-  that    I    should    obstruct   your   government." — St. 
 
 menting  upon  his  own  text  in  the  following  manner :  Aug.  Trac.  15.  in  Joan. 
 
Ch.  CXLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  429 
 
 grace,  and  the  obedience  and  subjection  he  requires  are  the  persuasion  of  the  mind 
 
 and  the  consent  of  the  will  to  believe  and  practise  what  he  commands.     "  Pilate,"      3S. 
 
 not  perfectly  understanding  this  explanation  of  Jesus  concerning  truth,  "  saith  to 
 
 him  :  What  is  the  truth  ?  And  when  he  had  said  this,"  apparently  without  waiting 
 
 for  any  answer,  "  he  went  out  again- to  the  Jews,  and  said  to  the  chief  priests  and  to  Luke  23.4. 
 
 the  people  :  I  find  no  cause,"  or  crime,  "  in  this  man."    We  here  view  Pilate  in  the 
 
 favourable  light  of  a  judge  pleading  the  cause  of  the  accused  party  before  his  accusers, 
 
 and  what  is  extraordinary,  a  Pagan  judge  acting  ihe  part  of  an  advocate  in  behalf  of 
 
 a  Jewish  king,  whom  he  endeavours  to  screen  from  the  malevolence  of  his  own 
 
 subjects. 
 
 "  And  when  Jesus  was  accused  by  the  chief  priests  and  ancients  in  many  things,  Matt.27.1'2. 
 he  answered  nothing.     Pilate  again  asked  him,  saying :    Dost  thou  not  hear,  how  MattVna! 
 great  testimonies  they  allege  against  thee  ?  Answerest  thou  nothing  ?   Behold  in  M^t^l^t" 
 how  many  things  they  accuse  thee.     But  Jesus  still  answered  nothing  to  any  word,  Markis.i. 
 so  that  the  governor  wondered  very  much,"  tliat  one  who  had  the  appearance  of  a  Matt.27.14. 
 sober  rational  man,  not  devoid  of  eloquence,  and  openly  favoured  by  his  judge,  should 
 yet,  though  attacked  by  his  mortal  enemies,  refuse  to  plead  in  his  own  defence,  and 
 that  he  should  possess  the  greatest  peace  and  tranquillity  of  soul  under  their  heaviest 
 accusations. 
 
 We  must  here  consider  the  silence  of  Jesus  as  a  further  convincing  proof  of  the 
 perfect  freedom  with  which  he  offered  himself  to  suffer  death  for  us  ;  and  the  favour- 
 able disposition  which  Pilate  showed  towards  him  is  deservedly  to  be  deemed  as  an 
 illustrious  attestation  of  his  innocence.  Let  not  this  silence  of  Jesus  be  a  subject  of 
 wonder :  he  had  previously  planned  the  whole  of  his  conduct  with  regard  to  the 
 various  questions  which  should  be  put  to  him.  As  to  such  truths  as  would  render 
 him  unpopular,  these  he  would  avow  as  being  likely  to  forward  his  condemnation, 
 yet  so  that  he  cautiously  purifies  them  of  that  venom  infused  into  them  by  the  mis- 
 representations of  the  Jews.  But,  on  the  contrary,  if  the  subjects  alleged  against 
 him  were  mere  calumnies,  to  these  he  resolved  to  make  no  reply,  but  to  leave  his 
 cause  to  the  discernment  of  his  judge  ;  a  judge  being,  in  fact,  more  deeply  interested 
 not  to  pronounce  sentence  against  an  innocent  person,  than  is  the  innocent  person  to 
 defend  his  own  life.  Lastly,  he  resolved  to  observe  a  similar  silence,  where  the 
 questions  addressed  to  him  had  no  material  reference  to  the  charges  of  guilt  imputed 
 to  him. 
 
 The  priests  and  scribes  could  not  but  observe,  that  Pilate  was  3.  Jesus  is  sent 
 favourably  disposed  towards  Jesus:  "but,"  on  that  account,  "they  io  Herod.  ^^^623.5. 
 were  more  earnest,  saying :  He  stirreth  up  the  people  teaching  all  over  Judea,* 
 begimiing  from  Galilee,"  first,  the  outskirts  of  the  country  and  noted  for  rebellions, 
 and  so  coming  up  "  to  this  place  :"  alluding  perhaps  to  his  last  triumphal  entry  into 
 the  city  on  Palm-Sunday.  "  And  Pilate  hearing  of  Galilee,  asked  if  he  were  a  man  c. 
 of  Galilee.     And  as  soon  as  he  perceived  that  he  was  of  Herod's  jurisdiction,  he  sent       7. 
 
 *  Cleaning  by  Jiiilea  the  kingdom  of  Herod  Ileiod  Anlipas,  the  son  of  Herod  the  Great,  was  at 
 divided  into  tetrarchates.  Pilate's  government  did  this  time  king-  or  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  Jesus  was 
 not  extend    to    Galilee,    it   included   Judea   only,     consequently  his  sut)ject. 
 
 37.  5  R 
 
430 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLII 
 
 him  away  to  Herod,  who  was  also  at  Jerusalem  in  those  days"  on  account  of  the 
 Passover.  Pilate  was  perhaps  desirous  to  rid  himself  of  this  unpleasant  business 
 with  as  little  displeasure  to  the  Jews  as  possible ;  and  probably  forwarded  to  Herod 
 every  deposition  of  the  evidence  which  had  been  hitherto  made  relatively  to  this  cause. 
 
 8.  "  Now  Herod  seeing  Jesus  was  very  glad  :  for  he  had  been  desirous  a  long  time  to 
 see  him,  because  he  had  heard  many  things  of  him,  and  hoped  to  see  some  miracle 
 done  by  him."  But  Jesus,  ready  and  liberal  as  he  was  to  exert  his  power  in  favour 
 of  the  poor  and  afflicted,  would  not  gratify  the  tyrant's  curiosity  on  this  occasion,  nor 
 
 9.  do  any  thing  to  inclnie  him  to  set  him  at  liberty.  "  He  put  then  many  questions  to 
 him  :  but  he  answered  him  nothing,"  being  perfectly  resigned  to  his  Father's  will, 
 and  thirsting  only  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  which  was  to  be  effected  by  his 
 
 10.  sufferings  and  death.  "  And  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  who  had  followed 
 IL  Jesus,  stood  by  earnestly  accusing  him.  But  Herod*  with  his  guard  despised  him," 
 iudo-ino-  from  his  silence,  that  he  was  unable  to  answer  for  himself;  and  to  show  that 
 the  idea  which  he  formed  of  his  royalty  was  more  the  subject  of  laughter  than  of  any 
 serious  apprehension,  "  he  with  scorn  clothed  him  in  a  white  garment,  and  sent  him 
 back  to  Pilate,"  the  people  deriding  and  hooting  at  him  as  he  passed  along,  accord- 
 ing to  that  of  the  thirty-first  Psalm,  verse  8.  '  All  they  that  saw  me  have  laughed 
 12.  me  to  scorn  :  they  have  spoken  with  the  lips,  and  wagged  the  head.'  "  And  Herod 
 and  Pilate  were  made  friends  that  same  day ;  for  before  they  were  enemies  to  one 
 another."!  This  reconciliation  of  a  Pagan  with  a  Jew,  denoted  the  reconciliation 
 about  to  be  effected  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  between  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  who  were 
 thus  to  be  united  into  one  people  and  one  body  ;  for  he  is  our  peace,  says  the 
 Apostle,:}:  ivho  hath  made  both  one,  breaking  down  the  middle  loall  of  partition. 
 
 We  behold  on  this  occasion  Jesus  Christ,  the  eternal  Wisdom  of  the  Father, 
 treated  by  the  world  as  a  fool,  and  the  great  King  of  heaven  and  earth  abused  as  a 
 mock  king,  and  an  idle  pretender  to  royalty.  Let  us  at  least  who  are  his  followers 
 ever  acknowledge  him  for  the  true  king  of  our  hearts,  and  embrace  his  doctrine  as 
 the  true  wisdom  of  God,  however  contradicted  by  men  and  hidden  by  them  under  the 
 fool's  coat  which  they  endeavour  to  throw  over  it  by  their  scoffs  and  ludicrous  misre- 
 presentations. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLII. 
 
 THE  JEWS  PREFER  BARABBAS   TO  JESUS  ;    HE  IS  SCOURGED  AT  THE  PILLAR.     MATT.  XXVII. 
 MARK  XV.      LUKE  XXIII.      JOHN  XVIII.  AND  XIX. 
 
 As  soon  as  Jesus  was  brought  back  to  the  proetorium,  Pilate  drew  every  favourable 
 argument  in  his  power  from  the  two  separate  examinations  which  he  had  undergone  ; 
 
 *  Herod  was  afterwards,  bv  divine  justice,  ejected  difference    between    them,   was    the    massacre    by 
 
 from  his  government,  and  died  miserably  in  exile  Pilate  of  some  Galileans  at  Jerusalem  in  the  time 
 
 and  dissjrace.  of  the  passover,  Luke  xiii.  1. 
 
 t  It  is  generally  thought  that  the  cause  of  this  %  Eph.  ii.  14. 
 
Ch.CXLII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  431 
 
 "  and  calling'  together  the  chief  priests,  and  the  magistrates,  and  the  people,  he  said  Luke  23. 
 to  them :  you  have  presented  to  me  this  man,  as  one  pen^erting  the  people,  and      }^' 
 behold,  examining  him  before  you,  I  find  no  cause  in  him  as  to  those  things  which 
 you  lay  to  his  charge :  nor  hath  Herod :  for  I  remitted  you  to  him  :  and  behold,      15. 
 nothing  has  been  done  against  him,  as  if  he  deserved  death.     When  therefore  I      16. 
 have  chastised  him,  I  will  release  him. 
 
 "  Now  upon  the  solemn  day"  of  the  Passover,  "  the  governor  was  j  p■^^^^  ^^^^  Matt.  27. 
 accustomed,  and  was  obliged  to  set  at  liberty  one  prisoner,  whom  they  deavours  to  re-  L„jjg*23 
 should  desire  to  have,"  in  memory  of  their  being  delivered  on  that  day  ^^"^'^  ^'^'""'-  17. 
 
 from  the  slavery  of  Egypt,  and  the  sword  of  the  destroying  angel :  "  and  be  had  then  ^^'^J*^^'''* 
 a  notorious  prisoner  that  was  called  Barabbas,  a  robber,  who  was  put  in  prison  with      16 
 some  seditious  men,  who  in  the  sedition  had  committed  murder."     Pilate  judged  "^"'Vl  ^^' 
 this  wretch  to  be  extremely  suitable  to  his  purpose  of  liberating  Jesus,  as  he  was  Mark  15 
 deservedly  held  in  great  horror  by  the  people ;  and  the  more  so,  because  in  all  pre-       '^■ 
 ceding  instances  it  was  a  condition  generally  acknowledged,  that  the  prisoner  whose 
 enlargement  they  solicited,  ought  to  have  some  ftwourable  trait  in  his  character,  or 
 some  mitigating  circumstance  in  his  guilt,  to  render  him  a  proper  object  of  mercy. 
 "  The  multitude,  therefore,  being  gathered  together,  they  began  to  desire,"  that  Matt.  27. 
 Pilate  would  do,  "  as  he  had  ever  done  to  them,"  and  pardon  a  culprit  at  their  inter-      ^^' 
 cession,  a  fixvour  which  they  considered  as  a  matter  of  right.    "  Pilate  saith  to  them  :  John  18. 
 I  find  no  cause  at  all  in"  Jesus.     "  But  you  have  a  custom,  that  I  should  release  one      ^^' 
 unto  you  at  the  Passover  :  will  you  therefore  that  I  release  unto  you  the  Kino-  of  the 
 Jews  ?  Whom  will  you  that  I  release  to  you,  Barabbas  or  Jesus  who  is  called  Christ  ?  Matt.  27. 
 For  he  knew  that  the  chief  priests  had  delivered  him  up  out  of  envy  :"*  but  he  never      ^'^- 
 
 Mark  15 
 
 imagined  they  would  carry  their  resentment  so  far,  as  to  prefer  a  man  guilty  of  sedi-      lo. 
 tion  and  murder,  before  an  innocent  person.     At  the  same  time  it  is  manifest,  that 
 however  well-intentioned  the  measure  might  have  been  for  rescuing  Jesus  from  an 
 ignominious  death,  it  yet  was  highly  derogatory  to  him,  to  be  indebted  for  his  life  to 
 the  infamous  Barabbas  ;  and  no  less  unjust  in  Pilate  to  risk,  by  this  comparison,  his 
 being  postponed  to  one  who  was  avowedly  branded  with  the  very  worst  of  crimes. 
 "  And  as  he  was  sitting  on  the  judgment  seat,  his  wife  sent  to  him,     9  pi  ,>    ,y  Matt  27 
 saying:  have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  just  man.     For  I  have  sends  him  word      IS- 
 suffered  many  things  tliis  day  in  a  dream  on  his  account."!     This  un-  °-^^'^''  dream. 
 expected  event  more  and  more  confirmed  the  governor  in  his  former  resolution  of 
 rescuing  Jesus  from  the  bloody  designs  of  his  enemies :  "  but  the  chief  priests  and      20. 
 ancients,"  by  their  authority  and  persuasions,   "moved  the  people"  to  petition,  Mark  15. 
 
 U. 
 
 *  Since  envy  is  a  vice  which  put  Jesus  Christ  to  opinion,  as  St.  Athan.  t.  1.  p.  163,  Origen,  Hil.  &c. 
 
 death,  how  watchful  should  all  Christians  be  anainst  who  say  that  it  proceeded  from  Almiffhty  God,  not 
 
 every  decree  of  that  sin.     See   St.  Chrys.   Horn,  with  the  design  of  delivering  Jesus,  but  of  attest- 
 
 40.  in  Matt.  ing  in   this  public  manner  his   innocence   by   the 
 
 t   Baronius  cites  St.   Ignatius,  in  his  Epistle  to  voice  of  a  person  who  could  not  be  supposed  in  the 
 
 St.  Polycarp,  amongst  those  who  believe  tliis  dream  least  interested  in  ])leacling  his  cause.     Accordino- 
 
 of  Pilate's  wife,   to  proceed  from  the  devil,  with  a  to  Nicephorus,  1.  1.  e.  30.   her  name  was  Procule, 
 
 view  to  prevent  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  and   she    is    said   afterwards   to   have   believed   in 
 
 which  he  began  to  apprehend  the  overthrow  of  his  Christ,  and  is  honoured  by  the  Greeks  amongst  the 
 
 empire ;  but  most  other  Fathers  are  of  a  contrary  saints. 
 
432  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXLIL 
 
 Matt.27.20.  "  lliat  he  would  rather  release  Barabbas  to  them,  and  destroy  Jesus  ;"  representing 
 
 perhaps  his  pretended  blasphemies  and  violations  of  the  Mosaic  law  as  much  more 
 
 21.      heinous  and  dangerous  to  the  nation,  than  the  guilt  of  Barabbas.    "  And  the  governor 
 
 answering,  said  to  them"  again  :  "  whether  of  the  two  will  you  have 
 
 Luie23.i8.  crfesoftheJm's  *«  be  released  unto  you  ?    But  the  whole  multitude  together  cried  out, 
 
 Mark,    agai/id  Jesus  in  saving:    away  with  this  man,  and  release  unto  us  Barabbas.     And 
 
 M-o'ir  nf  Da-  pjjj^^g  aofain  answerino; ,  saith  to  them,  desiring  to  release  Jesus  :  What 
 
 raboas.  o  ^  r    i        t 
 
 Matt27.22.  will  you  then  that  I  do  to  the  knig  of  the  Jews,  who  is  called  Christ  ? 
 
 Lukessii.'  But  they  again  cried  out,"  callous  to  all  the  feelings  of  tenderness  :  "  crucify  him, 
 crucify  him."  Pilate  however,  yet  persevering  in  his  merciful  intention,  "  said  to 
 them  the  third  time,  why,  what  evil  hath  this  man  done  ?     I  find  no  cause  of  death 
 
 •  Matthew,  in  him.     I  will  therefore  chastise  him  and  let  him  go.     But  they  cried  out  the  more, 
 with  loud  voices,  requiring  that  he  might  be  crucified  ;  and  their  voices  prevailed." 
 At  this  period  the  fortitude  which  Pilate  had  hitherto  evinced,  seemed  visibly  to 
 give  way.     He  now  began  to  think  of  employing  the  third  measure 
 ing  at  the  pillar,  which  had  previously  occurred  to  his  mind  for  diverting  the  Jews  from 
 crowning  with  their  sanguinary  purpose,  but  which,  for  its  cruelty,  he  had  not  yet 
 orns,  Cjc.         thought  proper  to  put  in  execution.     He  wished  to  compound  with  this 
 stubborn  and  seditious  people,  who  loudly  called  out  for  the  immediate  execution  of 
 Jesus :  he  offered  to  concede  to  them  so  much  of  their  request  as  would  allow  him  to 
 retain  only  that  small  and  miserable  portion  of  life  which  would  remain  to  him  after  a 
 most  cruel  and  bloody  scourging.     To  avoid  putting  him  to  death,  he  condemned 
 him  to  a  punishment  which,  without  taking  away  his  life,  he  judged  might  be  suffi- 
 cient to  satisfy  the  rage  of  the  Jews.     Yet  what  a  most  crying  injustice  !  what  cruel 
 pity  was  this  in  Pilate,  thus  to  inflict  so  severe  a  punishment  on  the  innocent,  in  order 
 
 Joiin  19. 1.  to  satisfy  the  furious  rage  of  an  infatuated  populace  !  "  Then  Pilate  took  Jesus,  and 
 scourged  him"  at'a  pillar,  in  the  most  cruel  manner.  Of  the  severity  of  this  punish- 
 ment we  may  form  some  idea,  1.  From  the  character  of  those  by  whom  it  was 
 inflicted,  who  being  Pagans  would  show  no  mercy  to  Jewish  delinquents :  2.  From 
 the  end  or  view  which  the  governor  proposed  to  himself  by  this  cruel  treatment, 
 which  was  to  soften  the  barbarous  hearts  of  the  Jews  towards  Jesus,  which  could  not 
 have  been  eflfected  but  by  a  scourging  unusually  severe.  It  therefore  became  neces- 
 sary for  this  purjjose  to  reduce  him  to  a  condition  truly  pitiable,  such  as  might  inspire 
 
 MarkiJ.iG.  Gven  their  stony  hearts  with  compassion.  "  The  soldiers.,"  who  attended  during  this 
 inhuman  scene,  and  were  the  ministers  of  it,  were  not  yet  satisfied  :  but  afterwards 
 
 Matt.27.28.  "  led  him  into  the  court  of  the  palace,  and  gathered  together  unto  him  the  whole 
 
 29.      band,"  consisting  of  about  655,  "  and  stripping  him,  Aey  put  a  scarlet  cloak  about 
 
 him,  and  platting  a  crown  of  thorns,  they  put  it  upon  his  head,  and  a  reed  in  his  right 
 
 MarkiD.18.  hand,"  to  make  him  like  a  king  as  Herod  had  done.    "  And  bowing  the  knee  before 
 
 John  19.3.  him,  they  mocked  him,  and  began  to  salute  him"  by  way  of  his  inauguration,  "  and 
 coming  to  him,  they  said  :  Hail,  king  of  the  Jews,  and  they  gave  him  blows  ;  and 
 
 Matki5.i9.  they  struck  his  head  with  a  reed  :  and  they  spit  on  him,  and  bowing  their  knees,  they 
 worshipped  him."  We  abhor  this  cruel  barbarity  of  the  Jews,  which  however  is 
 imitated  by  numbers  of  Christians,  who  while  they  pretend  to  adore  Jesus  Christ  as 
 
Matt.  in?/.  .■  '■ 
 
Ch.  CXLII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JKSUS  CHRIST.  433 
 
 their  Lord,  yet  mock  at  him  now  reigning-  in  heaven^  by  violating  his  most  sacred 
 laws,  and  despising-  his  commandments.     "  Pilate  therefore  went  forth  again,  and,"  John  19. 
 after  this  cruel  and  bloody  flagellation  of  Jesus,   "  saith  to  them  :     5.  Behold  the        ^' 
 behold  I  bring-  him  forth  unto  you,  that  you  may  know  that  I  find  no  '"'^"• 
 
 cause  in  him.    (Jesus  therefore  went  forth  bearing-  the  crown  of  thorns  and  the  purple       5- 
 garment),  and  he  saith  to  them,"  not  doubting  but  that  the  sight  of  so  lamentable  a 
 spectacle  would  melt  their  stony  hearts  into  pity  and  remorse  :   "  behold  the  man  !" 
 See  this  rueful  spectacle  of  suffering  innocence,  and  at  length  show  him  some  com- 
 passion.    By  this  public  exhibition  of  his  person  in  so  wretched  a  state^  Pilate  made 
 an  open  avowal  of  his  own  injustice  in  inflicting  such  cruelties  upon  one,  against  whom 
 no  other  crime  could  be  alleged  but  that  of  having  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the 
 chief  priests ;  and  he  hence  lefl;  them  to  conclude,  that  had  he  found  Jesus  guilty  of 
 any  crimes  deserving  of  punishment,  he,  on  his  part,  would  not  have  sought  to  screen 
 him  from  justice.    But  this  wicked  judge  reaped  not  the  fruit  which  he  expected  fronn 
 this  barbarous  measure.     After  having  so  far  complied  with  their  sanguinary  request, 
 as  to  imbrue  his  hands  in  Christ's  innocent  blood,  he  was  less  able  to  withstand  their 
 further  attacks.     Tliey  considered  this  acquiescence  on  his  part  in  no  other  light  than 
 as  a  j)ledge  of  his  further  compliance  with  their  demands.     "  When  the  chief  priests,       6. 
 therefore,  and  the  servants  had  seen"  Jesus  coming  forward  on  the  platform,  fearing 
 lest  so  affecting  a  spectacle  should  mollify  the  hardened  hearts  of  the  people  in  his 
 behalf,  "  they  cried  out"  in  a  tumultuous  manner,  "  saying  :  crucify  him,  crucify  him. 
 Pilate  saith  to  them  :  take  him  you,  and  crucify  him  ;  for  I  find  no  cause  in  him. 
 The  Jews  answered  him  :  we  have  a  law,  and  according  to  the  law  he  ought  to  die,       7. 
 because  he  made  himself  the  Son  of  God.     When  Pilate  heard  these  words,  he  was       8. 
 more  afraid,"  lest  perhaps  he  should  be  of  the  progeny  of  the  gods  as  the  Romans 
 fancied  their  heroes  to  be  ;  for  considering  the  miracles  he  had  wrought,  his  indif- 
 ference for  life,  his  invincible  patience  in  sufferings,  he  might  thence  be  induced  to 
 conclude,  that  there  was  in  Jesus  some  divine  quality,  which  his  enemies  now  wrong- 
 fully sought  to  lay  to  his  charge  as  a  crime  of  the  greatest  magnitude.     "  And  he       9. 
 entered  into  the  hall  again,  and  said  to  Jesus  :  whence  art  thou,"  that  is,  of  what 
 race,  human  or  divine?     "  But  Jesus  gave  him  no  answer,"  because  the  question 
 was  irrelevant  to  the  accusation  brought  against  him.     "  Pilate  therefore  saith  to      10. 
 him  :  speakest  thou  not  to  me?  Knowest  thou  not,  that  I  have  power  to  crucify  thee, 
 and  that  I  have  power  to  release  thee  ?    Jesus  answered  :  thou  wouldst  not  have  any      H. 
 power  at  all  against  me,  unless  it  were  given  thee  from  above  :  therefore  he  who 
 delivered  me  to  thee,  hath  the  greater  sin  ;"  thus  gently  insinuating  that  Providence 
 had  made  use  of  the  vices  and  passions  of  men  to  deliver  him  up  into  his  hands,  and 
 though  he  were  more  excusable  than  they  on  account  of  his  ignorance,  yet  that  he 
 must  be  accountable  for  any  abuse  of  his  power.     "  From  thenceforth  Pilate"  gave      12. 
 still  more  evident  marks  that  he  "  sought  to  release  him  :  but  the  Jews"  fully  sensible 
 of  the  weak  side  of  the  praetor,  "  cried  out,  saying  :  if  thou  release  this  man,  thou 
 art  not  Cgesar's  friend  ;    for  every  one  that  maketh  himself  a  king,      g     j,,,,^^    ^-^ 
 speak eth  against  Caesar."     Upon  hearing  this,  the  unhappy  judge  gave  given  up  to  be 
 way,  as  if  thunderstruck  at  these  fatal  words.    At  once  the  avowed  inno-  '^""^v"^  • 
 37.  5  s 
 
.„i  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLIL 
 
 cence  of  Jesus,  bis  own  regard  for  justice,  and  every  other  consideration,  vanished 
 from  before  his  eyes.  His  thoughts  were  engrossed  with  the  dread  of  the  emperor 
 Tiberius,  the  most  jealous  of  men,  and  of  the  malice  of  the  Jews,  who  would  not  fail 
 to  accuse  him  before  that  prince  of  having  spared  the  life  of  one  who  had  declared 
 himself  the  king  of  the  Jews, 
 
 Pilate,  however,  under  this  agitation  and  perplexity  of  mind,  went  so  far  as  to  make 
 one  more  effort  to  save  the  life  of  Jesus,  which  yet  proved  equally  unsuccessful  with 
 the  former.  For,  "  w^hen  he  had  heard  these  words,  he  brought  Jesus  forth  and  sat 
 down  in  the  judgment  seat,  in  the  place  that  is  called  Lilhostrotos,  and  in  Hebrew 
 li.  Gabbatha  :*  and  it  was  the  day  of  preparation  for  the  Passover,  about  the  sixth 
 hour,"  or  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  at  noon  ;  "  and  he  saith  to  the  Jews," 
 in  order  to  awaken  in  them  sentiments  of  humanity  and  of  love  towards  their  Messiah, 
 then  suffering  before  their  eyes  in  the  most  pitiable  state  :  "  Behold  your  King"  in 
 the  outward  oaib  of  the  most  forlorn  and  miserable  of  human  beings  !  Where  then 
 is  your  love  for  him  ?  Where  your  compassion  for  the  misery  of  your  fellow-crea- 
 15.  ture?  "  But  they  still  cried  out:  away  with  him,  away  with  him,  crucify  him." 
 We  are  struck  with  such  unfeeling,  barbarous  usage :  but  let  us  ever  bear  in  mind, 
 that  it  was  our  sins  that  cried  out  still  more  loudly  than  the  Jews,  crucifi/  him,  crucify 
 him,  since  Ihey  wei-e,  in  (iict,  the  true  cause  of  all  his  sufferings. 
 
 "Pilate  saith  to"  these  hard-hearted  "Jews:  shall  I"  be  guilty  of  so  black  a 
 parricide,  as  to  "  crucify  your  king  ?     The  cliief  priests  answered  :  we  have  no  king 
 but  Cjesar,"  thus  renouncing  their  Messiah,  notwitlislanding  all  the  wonderful  proofs 
 Malt.  27.  which  he  had  given  them  of  his  mission.     "  And  Pilate,  seeing  that  he  prevailed 
 ""*■      notliing,  but  that  rather  a  tumult  was  made,  taking  water,  washed  his  hands]  before 
 the  people,  saying:  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just  man  :  look  you  to  it :" 
 as  if  this  vain  ceremony  and  verbal  declaration  were  sufficient  to  clear  him,  in  the 
 sight  of  the  great  and  just  Judge,  from  the  guilt  of  concurring  to  the  death  of  the 
 25.      innocent  Jesus.     "^  And  all  the  people  answering,  said :  his  blood  be  upon  us  and 
 upon  our  children."     (Thus  drawing  down  both  upon  themselves  and  their  whole 
 nation  a  malediction,  the  dreadful  effect  of  which  has  been,  is  still,  and  will  be  visible 
 to  the  whole  earth,  until  they  shall  adore  as  their  God  him  whom  they  crucified  as  the 
 enemy  of  God.) 
 Mark  14.      "  So  Pilate,"  at  length  tired,  out,  "  and  wilUng  to  satisfy  the  people,  gave  sen- 
 Luke  23.  ^g,^(,g  ^\^g^^^  it  should  be  as  they  required.     And  he  released  to  them"  their  precious 
 as,      choice  "  Barabbas,  who   for  murder  and  sedition  had  been  cast  into  prison,  whom 
 they  had  desired  :  but  Jesus  he  delivered  up  to  their  will,  to  be  crucified  ;"  yet  he  did 
 not  allow  a  repetition  of  the  scourging  which  was  always  inflicted  previously  to  the 
 
 *   Gabbatha,  in  the  Syriao,  (for  that  is  tlie  lau-  f  This  washing  of  hci)id--,\\\lha  design  to  denote 
 
 nuaTe    whicli    was    then    commonly    Sjjoken,    and     innoccncy,  was  common  both  to  .Jew.s  and  Gentiles, 
 which  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  call  He-     because   the   element  of  water  naturally   signifies 
 ^       brfW,)    signities   an    elevation ;   and  therefore  the     purity   and   cleanness.     See   Ps.   xxvii.  6.  Virgil's 
 place   where   Pilate  had  his  tribunal  erected,  was     iEueid,  ii.  var.  718. 
 probably  a  terrace,  a  gallery  or  balcony,  belonging 
 to  his  palace,  and  paved  with   stoue  or  marble,  as 
 the  word  Xidoarp^uToi  imports. 
 
Ch.  CXLIIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  435 
 
 execution  of  a  criminal,  because  Jesus  had  already  undergone  the  severity  of  this 
 punishment,  executed  upon  him  in  the  most  cruel  manner. 
 
 Thus  ended  all  the  resistance  of  Pilate,  who,  instead  of  bearing  in  mind  that  he 
 held  in  his  hands  the  power  of  Caesar  to  support  justice  and  innocence,  now  basely 
 sacrificed  them  both  to  his  own  temporal  advantage.  To  defend  the  innocent  Jesus 
 against  his  declared  enemies,  he  ought  to  have  run  every  risk,  of  the  displeasure  of 
 Tiberius,  and  of  the  rage  of  the  Jewish  people,  trusting  to  God  for  his  protection  in 
 so  good  and  glorious  a  cause  ;  since  it  can  never  be  lawful  tn  do  an  unjust  action, 
 though  with  the  view  of  procuring  the  greatest  good,  or  of  preventing  the  greatest 
 evils.  However,  his  repeated  endeavours  to  rescue  Jesus  were  not  entirely  useless  ; 
 for  though  they  did  not  serve  to  exculpate  Pilate  in  the  sight  of  God,  they  evinced 
 at  least  the  innocence  of  Jesus,  and  placed  it  in  so  clear  a  light,  that  even  his  subse- 
 quent condemnation  rendered  it  more  conspicuous.  It  is  impossible,  indeed,  that 
 innocence  can  ever  appear  in  stronger  colours,  than  when  the  party  accused  is 
 declared  innocent,  even  by  the  very  judge  who  condemns  him  to  death. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLHI. 
 
 THE  CRUCIFI.KION  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS.*      MATT.  XXVII.      MARK  XV.      LUKE  XXIII. 
 
 JOHN  XIX. 
 
 We  have  now  to  consider  the  sequel  of  this  doleful  scene  under  the  two  following 
 heads:  1.  The  sufferings  which  Jesus  underwent  on  his  crucifixion:  2.  The  igno- 
 minies which  accompanied  his  sufferings.  The  former  consisted  in  carrying  his  cross, 
 and  in  being-  nailed  to  it ;  the  latter  in  his  being  crucified  in  a  state  of  nakedness  and 
 dereliction  ;  exposed  to  the  insulting  scoff's  of  all  descriptions  of  persons,  viz.  Jews, 
 Gentiles,  the  chief  priests,  the  thieves,  and  a  numerous  band  of  soldiers. 
 
 "  And  they  took  Jesus,  and  after  they  had  mocked  him,  they  took  off  the  purple  John  1!). 
 from  him,  and  put  his  own  garments  on  him,"  either  with  a  view  to  make  Jesus  more  ,r   ,'  ,r 
 
 ...  •  1     I  1     •     1  •  -1  ■     1-  Mark  15. 
 
 distinguishable  in  his  usual  dress,  or  to  establish  more  indisputably  the  i.  j^j^j  carry-      20. 
 
 claim  they  had  to  them  on  his  being  put  to  death.     "  And  bearing  his     ">S  his  cross.    Jo'i"  l^- 
 
 own  cross,"  that  is,  thetranverse  part  of  it,  as  was  the  custom  for  men  condemned 
 
 to  be  crucified,   "  he  went  forth  to  that  place,  which  is  called  Calvary  (that  is  of 
 
 skulls,  perhaps,  says  St.  Jerom,  from  the  skulls  of  persons  executed  and  buried  there' 
 
 but  in  Hebrew  Golgotha."     Several  ancient  writers,  as  Tertullian,  Origen,  St.  Atlia 
 
 nasius,  &c.  affirm  that  Adam  was  buried  there  :  some  also  say,  that  a   part  of  this 
 
 mountain  called  IMoria,  was  the  place  where  Abraham  was  about  to  sacrifice  his  son 
 
 Isaac,  the  type  of  our  Lord.     "  And  as  they  were  leading"  Jesus  to  execution,  his  Luke  23. 
 
 strength  failed  him,  and  they  were  obliged  to  ease  him  of  his  heavy  load.     "  They      ~^' 
 
 *  In  this  chapter  we  have  been  oblin;ed  to  trans-     ferent  order.     The  narration  of  St.  Jolin  has  been 
 pose   the  texts   of  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.     fullowed,  because  it  appeurs  the  most  natural. 
 Luke,  because  they  relate  the  same  thing  in  a  dif- 
 
436  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLIII. 
 
 Matt.27.32.  found  a  man  of  Cyrene,"  in  Lybia,  "  named  Simon,  the  father  of  Alexander  and  of 
 Ma'Mrs''  Rufiis,"  afterwards  two  illustrious  Christians,  "  coming  out  of  the  country.*  Him 
 Luiij23.26.  ^i^gy  forced  to  take  up  his  cross  ;  and  they  laid"  it  "  upon  him  to  carry  after  Jesus  :" 
 by  which  it  was  signified  to  all  his  followers,  that  he  was  not  to  bear  his  cross  alone, 
 but  that  they  also  must  bear  it  after  him  without  repining  or  complaint.  The  chief 
 priests  and  scribes  made  it  a  point  of  duty  to  give  their  personal  attendance  during 
 the  whole  of  this  scene,  judging  it  proper  and  political  on  their  part  to  see  Jesus 
 expire  upon  the  cross,  lest  perhaps  the  Roman  Governor,  whom  they  considered  as 
 greatly  inclined  to  favour  him,  should  deceive  them   by  substituting   some  other 
 
 27.  individual  in  his  stead.  "  And  there  followed  him"  likewise  "  a 
 anrf  lamlTtZ  gi'eat  crowd  of  people  and  of  women,  who  bewailed  and  lamented  for 
 thnsoftke  wo-  him"  amidst  so  many  stony-hearted  Jews,  that  thirsted  only  after  his 
 '"''"•  blood.  Amongst  these  were  probably  those  Galilean  women,  who  had 
 formerly  waited  on  and  ministered  to  him,  and  his  beloved  Mary  and  Martha,  whose 
 great  affection  had  doubtless  overcome  their  fears  on  this  occasion  to  follow  their 
 
 28.  Lord  in  this  his  last  journey.  "  And  Jesus  turning  towards  them,"  and  knowing  the 
 numberless  woes  impending  over  his  devoted  country,  "  said :  Daughters  of  Jeru- 
 
 29.  salem,  weep  not  over  me,  but  weep  over  yourselves  and  over  your  children.  For 
 behold  the  day  shall  come,  in  which  it  shall  be  said  :   Happy  they  that  are  barren,  and 
 
 30.  the  wombs  that  bare  not,  and  the  breasts  that  have  not  given  suck.'l'     Tlien  shall 
 
 31.  they  begin  to  say  to  the  mountains  fall  upon  us,  and  to  the  hills,  cover  us.:}:  For  if 
 they  do  these  things  in  the  green  wood,  what  will  be  done  in  the  dry?"  (that  is,  if  I, 
 who  am  innocent,  and  who  suffer  for  the  expiation  of  others  sins,  am  thus  treated, 
 what  may  impenitent  sinners  themselves  expect  to  suffer,  when  they  shall  be  punished 
 
 Miuki5.2-2,  according  to  the  rigour  of  divine  justice?)     "  And  with  him  were  led  also  two  other 
 
 malefactors  to  be  put  to  death.    And  they  bring  Jesus  into  the  place  called  Golgotha, 
 
 which  being  interpreted  is  the  place   of  Calvary,"  or  of  skulls,  which  was  out  of 
 
 Jerusalem  to  the  north-west, §  to  show  that  Jesus  Christ  was  sacrificed  for  the  whole 
 
 23.       world,  and  not  for  the  Jews  only.     "  And  they  gave  him  to  drink  wine  mingled  with 
 
 Matt.27.34.  myrrh"  or  gall,  thus  changing  a  drink,  which  common  pity  had  provided  for  the  con- 
 solation and  refreshment  of  condemned  persons,  into  a  nauseous  bitterness  not  to  be  ' 
 endured  ;  "  and  when  he  had  tasted  he  would  not  drink,"  being  determined  to  submit 
 
 *  Many  of  the  moderns  will  h.ive  it  tliat  he  was  figure  and  quality,  to  eat  her  own  sucking  child  : 
 a  Jew,  from  Cyrene  in  Ljbia,  and  that  being  a  upon  which,  says  Joseplius,  "  the  dread  of  famine 
 known  friend  to  Jesus,  he  was  compelled  by  the  made  men  weary  of  their  lives,  and  the  living  en- 
 soldiers  to  carry  his  cross,  at  the  instigation  of  the  v(ed  the  dead  that  were  taken  away  before  the 
 Jews.  Painters  represent  him  as  bearing  only  the  extremity  came  to  this  height."  De  bello  Jud.  1. 
 hind  part  of  the  cross,  and  Jesus  the  fore  part ;  but  7.  c.  8. 
 
 according  to  the  Fathers,  he  bore  the  whole  of  it  to  %   A  proverbial  expression   to    denote   the   utter 
 
 mount  Calvary.  despair  when  they  see  unavoidable  calamities  com- 
 
 t  This  they  undoubtedly  had  occasion  to  think  ing  upon  them.     See  the  prophet  Osee,  x.  8.     Ac- 
 
 at    the  siege   of  Jerusalem,   and  during   the  war  cordingly  Josephus  relates  of  the  Jews,  that  after 
 
 against  the   Romans,  not  only   on  account  of  the  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  many  of  them  hid   them- 
 
 loss  of  their  children,  and  the  sale  of  such  as  were  selves  in  vaults  and  sepulchres,  and  there  perished 
 
 under    seventeen   lor   bondslaves,   but   chiefly    on  rather  than  surrender  to  the  Romans.   Ibid, 
 
 account  of  that  famine  in  Jerusalem,  which  forced  §  Mount  Calvary  at  present  makes  a  part  of  poor 
 
 Mary  the  daughter  of  Eleazar,  a  woman  of  some  modern  Jerusalem. 
 
Ch.  CXLIIL]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  437 
 
 to  the  death  of  the  cross,  without  any  alleviation  of  its  pains,  and  without  shrinking 
 
 from  any  part  of  its  horrors.*     "  There  they  crucified  him,  and  with  him  two  others,  Johni9.i8. 
 
 robbers,  one  on  the  risrhi,  and  the  other  on  the  left,  and  Jesus  in  the      „      t 
 
 o      '  '  d.      Jesus      IS 
 
 midst,"   as    if   he   had  been   the   greatest  malefactor   of   the   three.  7iailed    to    the 
 "  And"  thus  "^  the  scripture  was  fulfilled  which  saith :  and  with  the  "''^^'  L.ike23.33. 
 
 wicked  he  was  reputed.     And  Jesus  said  :  Father,  forgive  them  ;  for  they  know  not  jiaikisias! 
 what  they  do  ;"  thus  teaching  us,  by  his  example,  to  love  onr  greatest  enemies,  and  ^'^^'^-^■'^-^• 
 to  do  good  to  them  that  hate  and  persecute  us.     "  Pilate  wrote  also  an      ^  puates  in-  J"'i"i9 19 
 inscription,"  in  great  legible  characters,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  scription  on  the 
 Romans,  "and  put  it  upon  the  cross"  of  Jesus,  "over  his  head,"  ''''°'*"  Matt2727 
 
 denoting  his  name,  his  country,  and  the  cause  for  which  he  suffered.  "  And  it  was  •''^''°"''^- 
 written,  Jesus  of  Na::areth  king  of  the  Jews  ;"  it  being  the  divine  pleasure  that  with- 
 out any  of  their  false  glosses,  it  should  now  be  published  to  their  shame,  who  he  was, 
 and  how  unjustly  betrayed  by  them,  viz.  the  only  Son  of  the  King  of  heaven,  Jesus 
 their  Messiah,  sent  with  the  gospel  of  everlasting  happiness  and  peace,  to  reign  over 
 them  for  ever  ;  and  by  them  thus  deserted,  rejected,  and  crucified.  ''  This  inscription  20. 
 many  of  the  Jews  read  ;  because  the  place,  where  Jesus  was  crucified,  was  nigh  to 
 the  city,"  and  distant  only  about  2.50  paces  :  "  and  it  was  written  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
 and  Latin,"  that  in  the  great  concourse  of  strang-ers  from  all  parts  to  the  paschal 
 solemnity,  it  might  be  understood  by  them  all.  "  The  chief  priests,  therefore,  of  the  21. 
 Jews,"  resenting  this  title,  which  in  plain  terms,  affirmed  Jesus  to  be  their  king,  and 
 consequently  themselves  to  be  his  betrayers  and  crucifiers,  "  said  to  Pilate  :  write  not 
 the  king  of  the  Jews,  but  that  he  said  :  I  am  the  king  of  the  Jews.  Pilate  answered"  22. 
 somewhat  sullenly:  "  what  I  have  written,  I  have  written,"  and  so  it  must  stand. 
 He  appears  purposely  to  have  couched  the  inscription  in  these  terms,  for  the  follow- 
 ing reasons:  1.  Having  now  by  the  death  of  Jesus  no  farther  cause  to  dread  the 
 jealousy  of  Tiberius,  he  was  pleased  with  an  opportunity  of  restoring-  to  him  that 
 honour  of  which  he  had  so  unjustly  deprived  him,  by  sanctioning  the  high  title  which 
 his  followers  had  given  to  him.  2.  Piqued  at  the  violence  with  which  the  Jews  had 
 extorted  from  him  the  condemnation  of  Jesus,  he  felt  some  degree  of  satisfaction  in 
 fixing  upon  the  whole  Jewish  nation  a  mark  of  shame  and  infamy,  since  by  this  inde- 
 lible monument  they  were  described  as  having  crucified  their  own  king.  The  third 
 reason,  wliich  was  beyond  the  depth  of  Pilate's  understanding,  was,  that  accordino- 
 to  the  prophecies,  the  king  of  the  Jews  was  to  sufTer  death  on  a  cross,  and  that  there- 
 fore the  true  cause,  on  the  part  of  God,  why  Jesus  was  nailed  to  a  cross,  was  pre- 
 cisely because  he  was  really  the  king  of  the  Jews.  Hence  Almighty  God,  who  had 
 suggested  to  the  mind  of  Pilate  the  very  terms  of  this  descriptive  title,  allowed  him 
 not  to  consent  to  its  being  altered. 
 -   "  When  the  soldiers  had  crucified  Jesus,  they  took  his  garments  (of  which  they       23. 
 
 *  According  to  St.  Austin,  venerable  Bede,  and  called  gall  from  its  bitterness.     In   the  Protestant 
 
 others,  St.  Matt,   xxvii.  27.  and  St.  Mark  xv.  23.  version,  for  wine  we  read  vinegar,  which  is  an-ree- 
 
 speak   of  the  same  beverage  ;    so   that   what  the  able  to  the  original  Greek  copies :  but  other  Greek 
 
 former  calls  wine  mingled  with  gall,  the   latter  ex-  copies,   which   St.   Jerom   and  St.    Hilary   follow, 
 
 presses   by  wine   mingled  with  myrrh ;    it   being  have  wine  as  we  read  in  the  vulgate 
 
 37.  '  5  T 
 
^gg  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLIII. 
 
 Marki5'24.  mtidc  fouT  \rArts,  to  every  soldier  a  part),  and  also  his  coat ;  casting' 
 
 John  19.23.  dwri   cji  Toll  lots  iipou  them,   what  every  man  should  take.     Now  the  coat  was 
 forihegaimenis  without  seaui,  woven  all  over,"  and  therefore  they  considered  that  it 
 2^       "-^ ■'**'"'■  could  not  be  divided  without  rendering-  it  useless.*     "  They  said  there- 
 
 fore one  to  another :  let  us  not  cut  it,  but  cast  lots  for  it,  whose  it  shall  be  ;  that  the 
 Scripture  might  be  fulfilled,  saying :  they  parted  my  garments  among  them  :  and 
 Matt.2r.36.  upon  my  vesture  they  have  cast  lots.f  And  the  soldiers  indeed  did  these  things, 
 and"  then  "  sat  down"  on  the  ground,  ''  and  watched  him,"  either  to  prevent  any 
 attempt  for  rescuing  Jesus  from  the  cross,  or  perhaps  to  hinder  the  Jews  from  tearing 
 away  the  inscription  or  title  which  had  been  affixed  to  it.  The  holy  fixthers  observe, 
 that  as  God  would  not  suffer  the  enemies  of  Christ  to  break  a  bone  of  him,  so  neither 
 would  he  permit  them  to  tear  his  seamless  coat :  this  they  consider  as  a  type  of  his 
 Church,  which  can  never  admit  of  division  by  schism,  and  therefore  such  as  offer  to 
 tear  its  unity,  cease  to  be  members  of  it,  as  St.  Austin  observes. 
 35-  6.  The  bias-       "  And  they  that  passed  by  blasphemed  him,  wagging  their  heads,  and 
 
 40.       phemous  insuUs  saying :  vah,  thou  that  destroyest  the  temple  of  God,  and  in  three  davs 
 and  'rukrT^a-  bulkiest  it  up  again,  save  thy  own  self:  if  thou  be  the  Son  of  God, 
 gainstJesus.       come  down  from  the  cross."     Observe  their  blindness  thus  to  reproach 
 him  with  that  very  crime  which  they  themselves  were  actually  perpetrating  against  his 
 x.uke23.35.  persou.     "  Now  the  people  stood  looking  on,  and  the  rulers  with  them  :   in  like 
 MarHsjl;  manlier  also  the  chief  priests,  with  the  Scribes  and  ancients,  mocking,  said  one  to 
 Matt.27.42.  anothcr  :  he  saved  others,  himself  he  cannot  save.     If  he  be  the  King  of  Israel,  let 
 Luke23.35.  him  coiiic  dowii  from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe  in  him.     He  saved  others,  let 
 3iarki5.32.  him  savc  himself,  if  he  be  Christ  the  chosen  of  God  :  let  Christ  the  King  of  Israel 
 Jiatt.2;.43.  come  down  now  from  the  cross,  that  we  may  see  and  believe :  he  trusted  in  God,  let 
 him  deliver  him  now,  if  he  is  pleased  with  him  ;  for  he  said :  I  am  the  Son  of  God. 
 Luke23  36.  And  the  soldiers  also  made  sport  with  him,  coming  and  offering  him  vinegar;  and 
 37.       saying:  if  thou  be  the  King  of  the  Jews,  save  thyself.     And  the  self-same  thing  the 
 Luke23.39.  thievcs  also  that  were  crucified  X   "ith  him,  reproached  him.     And  one  of  these 
 robbers  blasphemed  him,  saying  :  if  thou  be  Christ,  save  thyself  and  us."     The  blas- 
 -    f/ie  iwo     phemy  consisted  either  in  his  concluding  that  he  was  not  the  Christ, 
 thieves.         from  the  low  state  to  which  he  saw  him  now  reduced,  or  rather  in 
 taxing  hlra  if  he  were  really  the  Christ  or  the  Messiah,  and  the  Son  of  God,  with  an 
 extreme  folly  and  weakness  of  mind,  to  allow  himself  to  be  thus  fastened  to  the  cross. 
 
 *   Our    Saviour's   garments,   we  may   imagine,  t  Psalm  ,\.xi. 
 were  such  as  the  meaner  people  of  Galilee  and  his  t  Some,  with  the  view  of  ilisliiiguishing  Christ's 
 disciples  wore  :  viz.  an  outer  loose  garment,  having  suH'erings  from  those  of  the  two  thieves,   pretend 
 at  the  bottom  four  skirts  (See  Deut.  xxii.  12.),  and  tliat  the  latter  were  fastened  to  the  cross  with  cords, 
 a  coat  closer   to   his  body,  which,  it  appears,  was  and  not  with  nails;   but  this  is  false,  for  the  same 
 knitted  all  in  one   piece,  as  waistcoats  frequently  term  is  made  use  of  in   the  gospel ;   and  when  tlie 
 are,     Perhaps  this  latter,  agreeably  to  an  ancient  three  crosses  were  found,  there  was  need  of  a  mi- 
 tradition,  might  have  been  the  work  of  his  poor  racle  to  distinguish  that  which  belonged   to  Jesus, 
 mother,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  for  securing  him  the  which   would  not  have  been  the  case  in  the  above 
 more  effectually  against  the  cold,  because  he  often  supposition, 
 lodged  abroad  at  nights,  not  having  where  to  lay 
 his  head.     See  Euthymius   in  Evang.  Matt.  torn. 
 19.  Bib.  Patrum. 
 
\:^y//^   CA/^r/A /■//•//   .' 
 
Ch.  CXLHI.]  THE  LIFE  or  OUR  LORD  J KSUS  CHRIST.  439 
 
 "  But.  Uic  other,"  on  the  ncrht  hand  of  Christ,*  whose  heart  God  had  touched,  amidst  40. 
 so  many  bhisphemies,  to  o-lopify  and  confess  our  Lord,  "  answering,  rebuked  him,  and 
 said  :  neither  dost  thou  fear  God"  any  more  than  the  others,  biaspheminf,  in  a 
 similar  manner,  him  whom  they  blaspheme :  but  "  seeing^  thou  art  under  the  same 
 condemnation"  as  he  is,  thou  outrhtest  therefore  to  be  the  more  compassionate  to  his 
 sufferings,  as  thou  must  be  sensible  of  the  grievousncss  of  thy  own.  Moreover,  in 
 tliis  similarity  of  punishment,  there  exi'-'s  an  infinite  difference  betwixt  the  cause  of 
 his  sufferings  and  ours.  "  And  we  indeed  justly,  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  41. 
 our  deeds:  but  this  man  hath  done  no  evil.  And  he  said  to  Jesus,"  as  it  were  to 
 atone  for  the  blasphemies  of  his  companion  :  '•  Lord,  remember  me,"  the  companion 
 of  thy  cross,  and  thy  fellow-sufferer,  "  when  thou  shall  come  into  thy  kingdom." 
 
 '['hese  words  display,  first,  a  consummate  charity  and  love  of  Jesus,  together  with 
 an  intrepid  zeal,  in  maintaining  his  cause  at  a  time  when  his  enemies  were  venting 
 tiieir  rage  against  him,  and  when  he  was  deserted  even  by  his  friends. f  2.  A 
 becoming-  liberty,  with  regard  to  his  companion,  whom  he  boldly  rebuked  for  his 
 blasphemies.  3.  An  humble  and  sincere  acknowledgment  of  his  own  crimes,  in  the 
 hearing  of  all  present.  4.  A  voluntary  acceptance  of  his  own  sufferings  and  of  his 
 approaching  death  in  a  spirit  of  penance,  which  in  effect  changed  the  punishment  of 
 liis  crimes  into  an  expiatory  sacrifice.  5.  A  firm  hope  of  pardon,  of  which  heat  the 
 L-nme  time  acknowledged  himself  undeserving.  0.  An  implicit  belief  as  well  of  the 
 innocence  as  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  at  a  time  when  the  world  was  treating  him  as 
 (lie  greatest  of  malefactors.  7.  A  public  avowal  of  his  expectation  of  Christ's  future 
 kingdom,  at  a  time  when,  as  a  worm  of  the  earth,  he  was  trodden  under  foot  by  man- 
 kind. "  And  Jesus,"  in  reward  of  this  his  heroic  profession  of  faith,  "  sai'l  to  him  :  43. 
 Amen  I  say  to  thee,  this  day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  paradise;"  that  is,  in  a  place 
 of  rest  and  happiness  with  the  souls  of  the  just ;  hereby  granting  him  a  full  discharge 
 from  all  his  sins,  both  as  to  their  guilt  and  punishment,  and  ensuring  to  him  imme- 
 diately after  death,  the  happy  society  of  the  saints^  whose  limbo  was  now  made  a 
 paradise,  by  our  Lord's  going  there.  Thus  did  Jesus  from  his  cross  as  from  his 
 tribunal,  begin  to  act  the  part  of  a  just  judge  towards  these  tw^o  criminals,  by 
 absolving  the  one  on  account  of  his  faith  and  repentance,^  and  by  condemning  the 
 other  for  his  blasphemy  and  impenitence. 
 
 "  Now  there  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  his  mother,"  who  had  fol- 
 lowed him  from  Jerusalem,  experiencing  now  the  truth  of  what  Simeon  jyicndi  /?;<  mo- 
 had  foretold,  viz.  that  a  sword  of  grief  should  pierce  her  heart.     Yet,  ''''''' '"  "''''"'■ 
 
 *    See   St.    Hilary,    chap.   3.3,   in   St.   Matthew,  Austin,  1.  1.  <le  Aiiinia,  cap.  9.   but  not  in  the  .strict 
 
 GofTridus  Vindocinensis,  ser.   10.    St.   Aun;ustin   in  sense  of  the  word,  because  he  did  not  die  for  the 
 
 Joan.  trac.   31,   and   St.    Leo   tlie   Great,   ser.   !i3.  name    of   Christ,    but    lor    liis    own    past    crimes, 
 
 chap.  I.     He  was  converted  whilst  liang'ing'  on  the  "  Two  tliinrrs   are  requisite   for  marlyrdoui,'  says 
 
 cross,  and  before  he  witnessed  the  prodigies  which  St.  Bonaven.  in  4  Sent.  dist.  4.  part.  2.  "  aji/st  will, 
 
 took    place    at    Christ's   death.     St.  Leo,  ser.  51.  and  ajv.sl  cause,"  &c.     Some   call  him   Dimas,  or 
 
 Whether  he   first  joined  in  npbraidinp^  Christ  with  Dinmas,  but  this  name  does  not  occur  in  the  niar- 
 
 his  companion,   is   a  question   atnonp^  interpreters  tyroloa;y. 
 
 and  (he  holy  fathers  ;  accordinpf  to  A  Lapide,  most  |    According'  to  St.   Leo,  ser.  51.  chap.  i.   this 
 
 of  the  Latin  fathers  hold  the  nen;ative.  thief  had  been  a  hi<Thwayman,  and  St.  (irei^ory  the 
 
 t  The  5ood  thief  is  called  a  martyr  by  St.  Jerom,  Great  adds  (1.  8.  Moralium),  that  he  had  slain  his 
 
 Ep.  13,  by  St.  Hi.'ary,  I.  10.  dc  Triuitate,  by  St.  brother. 
 
440  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLIIL 
 
 ill  her  extreme  affliction  she  gave  proof  of  a  courag-e  truly  vvorthy  of  the  mother  of  a 
 Man-God,  being  fearless  of  danger  amidst  the  insults  of  a  tumultuous  mob.  There 
 was  present  likewise  "  her  sister  Mary,"  spouse  "  of  Cleophas,  and  Mary  Mao-dalen. 
 
 26.  When  Jesus  therefore  had  seen  his  mother,  and  the  disciple"  John  "  standing-  by, 
 whom  he  loved,  he  saith  to  his  mother,"  compassionating-  her  sorrow:  "  Woman, 
 behold  thy  son."  Oh  !  what  an  exchange,  cries  out  St.  Bernard,  John  is  substituted 
 in  the  place  of  Jesus,  the  servant  in  the  place  of  his  Lord,  the  disciple  in  the  place  of 
 
 27.  the  Master,  the  son  of  Zebedee  in  the  place  of  the  Son  of  God.  "  After  that  he  saith 
 to  the  disciple  :  behold  thy  mother.  And  from  that  time  the  disciple  took  her  to  his 
 own"  home,  and  treated  her  with  all  that  dutiful  attention  which  is  due  from  a  son  to 
 his  mother.  This  mutual  exchange,  however  disproportioned  in  regard  of  Mary^ 
 was  extremely  honourable  to  John,  and  a  well  deserved  reward  of  his  courao-e  and 
 fidelity.  For  when  all  his  brethren  fled  away,  or  hid  themselves  through  feai-,  he 
 alone  seems  to  have  had  the  courage  to  show  himself  near  the  cross  with  the  blessed 
 Mother  of  Jesus,  and  to  have  remained  there  till  he  saw  him  give  up  the  ghost.  We 
 may  remark  on  this  occasion,  that  Christ  sets  an  example  to  all  dutiful  children,  how 
 attentive  they  ought  to  be  to  honour  and  provide  for  their  parents  in  all  their 
 necessities, 
 
 Luke  23.      ,^    Darkncf:^       "  ^""^^  '*•  "'"^^  about  the  sixth  hour,  and  there  was  darkness  over  all 
 
 overspreads  tlie  the  earth,  till  the  ninth  hour,"  that  is,  from  mid-day  till  three  o'clock. 
 
 4J-      ""  '■  *■'  And  the  sun,"  sympathizing  as  it  were  with  its  Lord,  and  covering 
 
 its  face  at  such  a  horrid  parricide,  "  was  darkened,"*  at  a  time  when  incapable  of 
 
 any  natural  eclipse,  the  moon  being  now  at  the  full,  and  at  its  greatest  distance  : 
 
 Matt.  27,  "  and  about  the  ninth  hour,"  or  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  "  Jesus  cried  with  a 
 loud  voice,  saying  :  Eli,  Eli,  lamma  sabacthani?  that  is,  my  God,  my  God,  why 
 hast  thou  forsaken  me?"t     This  is  the  beginning  of  the  -ilst  Psalm,  and  Jesus,  by 
 
 *  Whether  this  darkness  was  confined  to  the  land  this  is  recorded  to  have  lasted  no  less  tl\an  three 
 of  Judea,  or  extended  itself  much  further,  even  over  full  hours.  Matt,  xxvii.  45.  According  to  Suidas, 
 the  whole  hemisphere  where  it  happened,  is  a  ques-  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  wlio  was  then  at  Helio- 
 tion  wherein  the  ancients  and  moderns  are  not  so  polls  in  Egypt,  ohserving  this  surprisinn;  ])heno. 
 well  agreed.  Origen,  Maldonatus,  and  some  others,  menon,  declared  to  his  friend  Apolloplianus,  "either 
 are  of  the  former  opinion  ;  but  the  majority  difl'er  that  the  Author  of  nature  was  suffering,  or  that  the 
 from  them,  and  for  this  they  quote  the  positive  machine  of  the  universe  was  dissolving  and  falling 
 declaration  of  the  Evangelists,  affirming  that  this  to  ruin."  Others  assign  him  different  expressions 
 darkness  extende<i  itself  over  all  the  earth;  they  on  Ihis  occasion.  See  Calmet's  Dissertation  on 
 likewise  quote  the  authority  of  Thalhis  and  Phlegon,  this  subject,  or  Tillemont,  note  35,  on  the  Life  of 
 the  famous  astronomer  under  the  emperor  Trajan,  Christ,  p.  449.  This  outward  darkness  was  very 
 who  says,  that  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  202nd  expressive  of  that  spiritual  darkness  which  then 
 Olympiad  (which  is  supposed  to  be  that  of  the  hung  over  the  Jews,  and  still  blinds  them  in  so 
 death  of  Christ),  there  was  a   total  eclipse  of  the  extraordinary  a  manner. 
 
 sun,   insomuch   that  at  noon-day  the   stars   were  t  As  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
 
 plainly  to  be  seen.*     It  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  chap.   5.  says   that  Christ  otlijred  prayers   with   a 
 
 common  eclipses  the  sun's  total  darkness  can  con-  great  cry  and  tears,  hence  we  may  conclude   with 
 
 tinue  but  twelve  or  fifteen  minutes  at  raost,  whereas  St.  Thomas,  that  he  shed  tears  when   hanging   on 
 
 the  cross,  not  for  himself  but  for  us  who  were  to 
 
 •  Thallus  and  Phlegon  are  cited  by  Eusebius.  be  benefited  by  his  sufferings.  St.  Chrysostom 
 This  event  was  likewise  recorded  in  the  archives  of  observes,  Hom.  6.  on  St.  Matt,  that  Christ  wept 
 the  Roman  empire,  as  appears  from  the  apology  of  on  other  occasions  (Jo.  ix.  35.  Luke  xix.  41.),  but 
 rertullian,  as  likewise  in  the  journals  of  the  Clii  that  he  was  never  known  to  laugh  nor  even  to 
 nese.     See  Lettres  ^difiantes.  smile. 
 
 46. 
 
Cli.  CXLIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  441 
 
 speaking  these  words  alond,  would  show  to  tlie  world  that  the  whole  Psalm  is  pro- 
 phetic of  him,  which  will  indeed  appear  sufficiently  manifest,  if  we  consider  how 
 exactly  he  verified  every  part  of  it  by  his  actions  and  sufferings.  "  And  some  of  47. 
 them  that  stood  there,  and  heard  these  words,  said :  this  man  calleth  for  Elias," 
 judging  so  from  the  similitude  of  the  word  Eloi  :  for  they  did  not  understand 
 Hebrew. 
 
 "   Afterwards,  Jesus   knowino-  that   all   thing's    were   now  accom-     m  r-         ■  Joim  19.23. 
 
 °  f  10.  /  inesaris 
 
 plished,  that  the  Scripture  maybe  fulfilled,  he  saith,  I  thirst,"  which  offered  to  Jesus. 
 
 was  the  natural  elTect  of  the  almost  entire  effusion  of  his  sacred  blood,      ^^  expires. 
 
 and  of  the  extreme  violence  of  his  torture :  but  this  thirst  was  likewise  mysterious, 
 
 and  denoted  the  vehement  thirst  which  he  had  for  the  salvation  of  souls.     "  Now      29. 
 
 there  stood'  a  vessel  with  vinegar,  and  immediately  one  of  them  running,  took  a  Matt.27.-i8. 
 
 sponge  and  filled  it  with  vinegar,  and  put  it  on  a  reed,"  which  St.  John  calls  a  stalk  Marki3.36. 
 
 of  hyssop,  "  and  gave  him  to  drink,"  as  a  restorative  to  his  faintness,  or  to  revive 
 
 his  almost  exhausted  vital  spirits  ;  ""  saying,  stay,  let  us  see  if  Elias  come  to  take  him 
 
 down  :  ,and  the  others  said"  in  like  manner.     "  When  Jesus  therefore  had  taken  the  Matt  27.49. 
 
 vinegar,  he  said  :  it  is  consummated,"  all  the  prophecies  relating  to  my  life  and "'"''" ^'■'^"' 
 
 death  are  now  fulfilled;  "  and  again  crying  with  a  loud  voice,"  such  as  evinced  to  Matt.2r.50. 
 
 the  world,  that  he  died  through  love  towards  mankind,  and  not  through  a  failure  of 
 
 the  powers  of  nature,  "  he  said:  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit  :*  and  Luke23.4G. 
 
 saying  these  words,  and  bowing  down  his  head,  he  gave  up  the  ghost." 
 
 ^'  And  behold,"  at  the  same  moment,  "  the"  inner  ''  veil  of  the  temple      n    The  pro-  Matt  27.51. 
 was  rent  in  two  from  the  top  even  to  the  bottom,"tto  show  that  all  the  (ligks  attending 
 former  typical  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaical  law  were  at  an  end,  and  that    "   "'  '" 
 the  road  to  heaven,  the  true  sanctuary,  which  since  the  transgression  of  our  forefather 
 Adam  had  been  shut,  was  now  again  open  to  mankind  ;  "  and  the  earth  quaked,":}: 
 
 '   *  We  may  here  ttike   notice   of  the   seven  last  proved  liis  divinity  ;  for  with  a  loud  void  lie  cried 
 
 words    or    sentences    « hich    Christ    spoke  on   the  out :  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit, 
 
 cross.      1.   He   prayed   for   his  enemies  and  those  LiJce  xxiii.  46.    By  which  we  are  taught  with  what 
 
 that  put  hi[n  to  death,  Luke  xxiii.  34  :  Father, for-  earnestness  we  are  to  commend  ourselves  to  God 
 
 give   them,  for   they  know  not   what   they  do.     2.  when  brought  to  the  last  extremity  of  life. 
 His   mercy  called  the  g-ood  thief:  this  day  shalt         t  There  were  two  veils  in  the  temple,  as  Jose- 
 
 thou  he  with  me  in  paradise,  Luke  xxiii.  43.  3.  phus  informs  us  (1.  5.  de  Bello  Judaico,  c.  5.)  ; 
 As  a  model  of  filial  piety  lie  recommended  his  mo-  the  one  before  the  holy  place,  the  other  before  the 
 Iher  to  his  beloved  disci|)le,  and  the  same  disciple  holy  of  holies.  The  ancients  are  not  agreed  which 
 to  his  mother:  IVoman,  behold  thy  son,  behold  thy  of  these  was  rent  in  two.  It  was  the  inward  veil 
 mother,  Jo.  xix.  26.  4.  To  express  his  violent  according  to  St.  Leo,  St.  Cyril  of  Alex,  whicli  is 
 sufferings,  he  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice  :  My  confirmed  by  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  He- 
 God,  my  God,  why  had  thou  forsaken  me.  Matt,  brews,  chapter  x.  • 
 sxvii.  46.  which  he  uttered  with  a  perfect  confi-  |  Some  are  of  opinion  that  this  was  the  same 
 deuce  aud  assurance  in  the  assistance  of  God,  as  earthquake  that  happened  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius 
 appears  from  what  he  immediately  adds,  recom-  Ctesar,  and  was  the  greatest  thai  ever  was  known 
 mending  his  spirit  into  the  hands  of  his  Father,  in  the  memory  of  man.  Both  Pliny  and  Macro- 
 The  filth  sentence  was,  /  thirst,  to  let  us  know  the  bins  make  mention  of  it,  and  the  latter  informs  us, 
 violent  thirst  of  his  exhausted  body,  and  the  spi-  that  it  destroyed  no  less  than  twelve  cities  in  Asia, 
 ritual  thirst  he  felt  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  The  But  Origen  and  others  think  that  the  present  earth- 
 sixth  sentence  was:  It  is  consummated,  Jo.  xix.  quake  ati'ected  only  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  and 
 30.  that  is,  the  work  of  man's  redemption,  and  all  the  parts  specified  in  the  sacred  text,  viz.  the  veil, 
 the  prophecies  and  decrees  of  heaven  concerning  the  ground,  the  rocks,  the  tombs,  &c.  Nor  does 
 me  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  are  now  accomplislied.  it  seem  improbable  that  this  prodigy  was  shown 
 The  seventh  and  last  sentence,  as  well  as  the  fourth,  particularly  in  this  place,  to  foretell  the  destruclioi 
 
 38.  5u 
 
4^  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLITL 
 
 as  if  lo  express  its  horror  of  the  crime  committed  in  the  crucifixion  of  its  Lord  and 
 52       Master  ;   "  and  the  rocks  were  rent,"  as  it  were  throup^h  grief  at  the  horrid  scene, 
 particularly  that  of  mount  Calvary  where  our  Lord  suffered  ;  the  cleft  of  which,  as 
 travellers  inform  us,  may  be  seen  at  this  day.     "  This  cleft/'  says  Mr.  Maundrell,  p. 
 73,  "as  to  what  now  appears  of  it,  is  about  a  span  wide,  at  its  upper  part,  and  two 
 deep  ;  after  which  it  closes,  but  it  opens  again  below,  and  runs  down  to  an  unknown 
 depth  in  the  earth.     That  this  rent  was  made  by  the  earthquake,  there  is  only  tradi- 
 tion to  prove ;  but  that  it  is  not  counterfeited  by  any  art,  the  sense  and  reason  of 
 every  one  that  sees  it,  may  convince  him.     For  the  sides  of  it  fit  like  two  tallies  to 
 each  other,  and  yet  it  runs  into  such  intricate  windings,  as  could  not  well  be  counter- 
 feited by  art,  nor  performed  by  any  instrument." — Mr.  Shaw,  who  in  his  travels 
 seems  to  have  examined  every  thing  with  the  eyes  of  a  philosopher,  assures  us,  that 
 this  aperture  in  the  rock  of  mount  Cidvary  is  a  miracle  which  never  fails  to  excite  in 
 the  beholder  an  emotion  of  astonishment  and  religious  awe. — Mr.  Millar,  in  his 
 history  of  the  Propagation  of  Chrislianiti/,  makes  mention  of  a  Deist,  a  man  of  talent 
 and  well  skilled  in  mathematics,  who,  after  a  careful  examination  of  this  memorable 
 cleft,  was  converted  to  Christianity.     For  the  fissure,  he  observed,  was  directly  con- 
 trary to  that  which  takes  place  in  ordinary  eaithquakes,  not  being  according  to  the 
 veins  and  weakest  part  of  the  rock.     He  therefore  concluded  that  this  was  super- 
 natural, and  alone  sufficient  to  prove  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  Christ.     "  And  the 
 graves  were  opened,"  as  it  were  to  show  that  death  was  now  destroyed  by  the  death 
 of  Jesus,  and  that  his  death  was  now  become  the  principle  of  life,  in  token  of  which 
 53.       "  many  bodies  of  saints  that  had  slept  arose,*  and  coming  out  of  the  tombs  after  his 
 Marki5.39.  resurrcctiou,  came  into  the  holy  city,  and  appeared  to  many.     And  the  centurion 
 Markilsg!  who  stood  over  against  him,  seeing  what  was  done,"  and  that  Jesus  had  given  up 
 the  ghost,  crying  out  in  this  manner,  which  was  extremely  different  from  that  of 
 persons  crucified,  whose  voice  and   strength  fail  them  by  degrees  through  loss  of 
 blood,  until  at  length  they  expire,  as  if  swooning  away ;  reflecting,  I  say,  upon  all 
 Luke23.47.  these  circumstauces,  he  "  glorified  God,  saying"  to  all  present,  "  truly  this  was  a 
 Matt.2;!54]  just  man  :  indeed  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God.     And  they  that  were  with  him 
 watchinof  Jesus,  having  seen  the  earthquake,  and  the  things  that  were  done,  were 
 Luke23.4S.  greatly  afraid,  saying  :  indeed  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God.     And  all  the  multitude 
 of  those  who  were  present  at  this  spectacle  (the  chief  priests  are  not  mentioned),  and 
 saw  the  things  that  happened,  returned  knocking  their  breasts"  through  sorrow  and 
 49.      regret  for  the  horrid  deed  in  which  they  had  concurred.     "  And  all  his  acquaint- 
 ance stood  at  a  distance,  and"  so  did  ''  the  women  that  had  followed  him  from 
 Marki5.40.  Galilee,  beholding  these  things.     Amongst  whom  was  Mary  Magdalen,  and  Mary 
 Matt.27.5G,  the  mother  of  James  the  Less  and  of  Joseph,  and  Salome,  mother  of  the  sons  of 
 
 of  the  Jewish  temple  and  its  worship,  on  account  of  (Coloss.  i.  18.),  and  the  first  fruits  of  them  that 
 
 that   people's   strange   incredulity  and   impiety  in  sleep,  (1  Cor.  xv.  20.),  most  commentators   are  of 
 
 crucifying  the  Lord  o//(/t;.  opinion,  that  though  several   tombs   were   opened, 
 
 *  N.  B.  They  did  not  rise  again  till  after  Christ's  as  soon  as  our   Saviour   expired,  yet  none  of  the 
 
 resurrection,  Christ  being  the  first-fruits  of  them  saints  arose,  until  he  himself  fii-st  returned  from  the 
 
 that  slept.   1   Cor.  xv.  20,  23.     And   as   St.    Paul  grave.     Origen,  St.  Jeroni,  Bede,  &c. 
 styles  our  Saviour  the  JtrH-born  from  the  dead, 
 
Ch.  CXLIV]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST;  44,3 
 
 Zebedee,  who  also  when  he  was  in  Galilee  followed  him,  ministering-  to  him  ;  and  Mark  15. 
 many  other  women  that  came  up  with  him  to  Jerusalem"  accompanied  him  on  this      ^'" 
 mournful  occasion_,  though  their  names  are  not  recorded  in  the  g-ospel. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLIV. 
 
 THE  SIDE  OF  JESUS  IS  OPENED  WITH  A  SPEAR — HE  IS  LAID  IN  THE  SEPULCHRE. 
 MATT.  XXVII.      MARK  XV.      LUKE  XXIII.      JOHN  XIX. 
 
 "  The  Jews  then  (because  it  was  the  day  of  preparation)  that  the  bodies  mig-ht  not  John  19. 
 remain  upon  the  cross  on  the  Sabbath  (for"  on  account  of  the  passover,  "  that  was  a      ^^• 
 most  solemn  Sabbath-day)   desired  Pilate  that  their  leg's  might  be  broken"  in  order 
 to  hasten  their  death,  "  that"  afterwards  "  they  mig-ht  be  taken  away."     They  were 
 in  this  actuated  by  the  idea  that  the  sanctity  and  joy  of  the  day  would  be  sullied  and 
 damped  by  the  doleful  sight  of  human  bodies  hanging-  upon  the  cross,  which  was  like- 
 wise strictly  forbidden  in  Deut.  xxi.  22.  where  it  is  enjoined  that  the  bodies   of 
 executed  criminals  shall  not  remain  all  night  on  the  cross,  but  shall  be  buried  on  the 
 very  day  of  their  execution,  before  sun-set.     ''  The  soldiers,  therefore,  came  ;  and      32. 
 they  broke  the  legs  of  the  first,  and  also  of  the  other  who  was  crucified  with  him. 
 But  when  they  came  to  Jesus,  and  saw  that  he  was  dead  already,  they  broke  not  his      33. 
 legs,"  as  it  would  have  been  to  no  purpose.  "  But  one  of  the  soldiers"*     i  ch  ■  e    w       3*- 
 wantonly  "  opened  his"  right  "  sidef  with  a  spear,  and  presently  there  is  pierced  with  a 
 came  blood  and  water"  in  two  distinct  streams  ;  for  otherwise  by  reason  ^P^"-^- 
 of  the  strong  tincture  of  blood,  the  water  could  not  have  been  discerned,  if  mingled 
 with  it.     This  circumstance  we  can  view  in  no  other  light  than  as  a  miracle,  it  beino- 
 certain,  that  in  all  dead  bodies  the  blood  speedily  congeals  or  coagulates  after  death, 
 neither  is  the  humour  nor  liquid  contained  in  the  pericardium  like  to  natural  water 
 either  in  colour  or  taste.     These  two  circumstances  of  the  water  and  blood  may  like- 
 wise be  considered  as  mysterious  ;  in  as  much  as  they  lively  repi-esent  the  two  sacra- 
 ments, left  by  our  Lord  to  his  Church,  for  the  cleansing  of  sin^  and  the  commemora- 
 tion of  his  death.     These  are  the  sacrament  of  baptism  by  which  we  are  reo-enerated 
 to  the  life  of  grace,  and  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  which  affords  nourishment 
 suitable  to  that  life  which  we  receive  in  baptism.    In  this  sense  therefore  we  may  say, 
 
 *  He  was  afterwards  called  Longinus,  perhaps  t  It  was  only  Christ's  right  side  that  was 
 from  X07XV.  or  lancea,  that  is,  the /ance  with  which  opened  with  a  spear,  acoordirig  to  Bede  (in  le 
 he  opened  Christ's  side,  and  being- converted  to  the  Regiim  Quaes.  12.)  St.  Bernard  (ser.  7.  in  Psal. 
 faith,  suffered  martyrdom  in  Cappadocia.  See  Mar-  Qui  liabitat),  St.  Bonav.  in  his  Life  of  Christ,  c.  80. 
 tyrologium  Romannm  Idilus  Martii,  and  BoUan-  Innocent  III.  and  St.  Brid^it,  1.  7.  of  her  Kevela- 
 dus.  However  Baronius  and  Tillemont  make  but  tion  :  but  Lucas  Brugensis,  a  writer  of  the  four- 
 little  account  of  his  acts.  Painters  generally  repre-  tcenth  century,  pretends  it  was  his  left  side,  and 
 sent  Longinus  as  on  horseback,  but  most  authors  Prudenlius  tliat  both  his  sides  were  pierced 
 think  he  was  a  foot  soldier,  because  a  spear,  or  through, 
 short  pike,  was  one  part  of  the  armour  belonging 
 to  the  Roman  infantry. 
 
444  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLIV. 
 
 that  as  Eve  was  formed  out  of  Adam's  side  when  lying  asleep,  so  by  the  water  and 
 blood  issuino-  from  the  side  of  Christ,  lying  in  the  sleep  of  death,  was  formed  in  these 
 two  sacraments,  his  Spouse  the  Catholic  Church :  she  is  regenerated  in  the  one  by 
 Christ's  spirit,  and  nourished  in  the  other  with  his  grace ;  she  is  redeemed  by  the 
 shedding  of  blood,  and  cleansed  by  the  water  of  baptism. 
 
 Hence  St.  John,  a  spectator  and  diligent  observer  of  all  that  passed,  takes  par 
 ticular  notice  of  this  miracle,  and  establishes  the  truth  of  it  by  the  testimony  of  his 
 
 35.  own  eyes,  and  the  most  thorough  conviction  of  its  reality  in  these  words,  '"  And  he 
 that  saw  it  hath  given  testimony,  and  his  testimony  is  true.  And  he  knoweth 
 that  he  saith  true,  that  you  also  may  believe."  He  farther  confirms  it  from  the 
 coincidence  or  agreement  of  this  event  with  the  prophecies  which  foretold  that  the 
 
 36.  executioners  should  pierce  his  sacred  body,  but  not  break  a  bone.  "  For  these  were 
 done,"  says  St.  John,  "  tl;at  the  scripture  might  be  fulfilled  :  You  shall  not  break  a 
 lone  of  him,"*  which  was  spoken  indeed  of  the  paschal  lamb,  but  which  prefigured 
 that  the  bones  of  Jesus,  the  true  lamb  of  God,  should  not  be  broken  upon  the  cross  : 
 
 37.  "  and  again  another  scripture  sayeth  :    Thei/  shall  look  on  him  whom  tlia/  2)ierced.-\ 
 Mavki542      "  Wheii  eveuiug  was  come  (because  it  was  the  Parasceve,  that  is,  the  day  before 
 ¥.^^\'^l-^.l'     «    T      1.    ^  the  Sabbath)  there  came  a  certain  rich  man  named  Joseph,  a  noble 
 
 Markl5  43'       2.   Joseph   of  '  _  i       i        • 
 
 Lukc23.50.  ^rmaZAeafteffs  couHscllor,  and  a  good  and  just  man.      (Ihe  same  had  given  no  con- 
 Chrid's     body  g^j^j.  j.^  ^j^^j,.  counsels  and  proceedings)  he  was  of  Arimathea,  a  city  of 
 
 and    huvicn    it^  .  .  . 
 
 52.      asshted  by  Ni-  Judea,  who  also  himself  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God.     This  man," 
 Marki5.43.  codemiis.  therefore,  though  heretofore  too  timorous  in  declaring  for  Christ,  "  went 
 
 Mar"ki47o!  i"  boldly  to  Pilate,  and  (being  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  but  in  private  for  fear  of  the  Jews) 
 Markislt  begged  the  body  of  Jesus,  desiring  Pilate  that  he  might  take  it  away.     But  Pilate 
 wondered  that  he  should  be  already  dead  :"  for  it  not  uufrequeutly  happened,  that  per- 
 sons crucified  lived  full  two  days  upon  the  cross.     "  And  sending  for  the  centurion," 
 45.      from  the  fortress  Antonio,  "  he  asked  him,  if  he  were  already  dead;  and  when  he 
 had  understood  it  from  the  centurion,  he  gave  the  body  to  Joseph,"  not  refusing  him 
 Matt.27.53.  a  dcceut  burial,  whom  he  had  always  esteemed  an  innocent  person.     "  And"  there- 
 '  fore  "  he  commanded  that  it  should  be  delivered.     He  came  therefore  and  took  the 
 39.      body  of  Jesus."     For  the  greater  honour  of  our  Lord's  funeral,  "  there  came  also 
 Nicodemus,  he  that  had  come  to  Jesus  by  night  at  first,"  and  who  had  likewise 
 spoken  in  his  defence  in  the  council,  "  bringing  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about 
 Maiki5.46.  a  hundred  pounds  weight.     And  Joseph  buying  fine  linen,  and  taking  him   down, 
 Matthew,  wrapped  him  up  in  a  clean  linen  cloth.     They  took  therefore  the  body,  and  bound  it 
 ■  in  linen  cloths  with  spices,  as  it  is  the  custom  of  the  Jews  to  bury."     In  this  office 
 we  may  imagine  these  great  persons  were  assisted  by  the  blessed  mother  of  our  Lord 
 
 41.  and  St.  John,  who  relates  this  more  in  detail  than  the  other  Evangelists,  "  And 
 there  was  in  the  place,  where  he  was  crucified,  a  garden  ;  and  in  the  garden  a  new 
 
 42.  monument,!  wherein  no  man  yet  had  been  laid.     There  by  reason  of  the  day  of 
 
 *  Exod.  xii.  46.  sepulchre  shall  be  glorious.    On  the  rij^ht  side  from 
 
 t  Zachary  xii.  10.  the  entrance,   the    sacred   body   of  onr  Lord   was 
 
 I  The  holy  sepulchre  remains  to  this  day,  and  is  placed  with  his  head  towards  the  west.     See  Mark 
 
 continually  visited  by  a  great  number  of  Christians,  xvi.  5.  compared  with  Jo.  xx. 
 
 r.ccording  to  that  prophecy  of  Isa.  xi.  10.   And  his 
 
t  ^  C<//^^v//^'^//  ^/ 
 
 MAJ'r  xxwii.  fc 
 
i 
 
Ch.  CXLIV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  445 
 
 preparation  among  the  Jews,"  Joseph  attended  by  this  small  train  of  mourners,  "  laid  Mait.  27. 
 it  in  his  own  new  monument  hard  by,  which  he  had  hewed  out  in  a  rock.     And  he      ,^^\q 
 rolled  a  great  stone*  to  the  door  of  the  monument,"  to  prevent  any  violation  of  the      43. 
 place,  or  of  the  body,  and  likewise  to  secure  the  costly  linen  clothes  and  spices  that 
 had  been  bestowed  upon  it,  "  and"  then  "  went  his  way.     And  that  was  the  day  of  Luke  23. 
 preparation,  and  the  Sabbath  diew  near.     And  the  women  that  had  come  with  him      ^*- 
 from  Galilee,  following-  after,"  viz.  "  Mary  Magdalen  and  the  other  Mary,"  were  Matt.  27. 
 "  sitting  over  against  the  sepulchre,"  and  when  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  came  forth      6L 
 from  it,  previous  to  tlieir  rolling  the  great  stone,  they  entered  in,  and  "  saw  the    "55 
 monument,  and  how  his  body  was  laid.     And  returning,  they  prepared  perfumes  and 
 ointments  :  and  they  rested  on  the  Sabbath  according  to  the  precept"  of  the  law. 
 
 In  the  recital  of  these  various  circumstances  we  observe  so  many  striking  proofs  of 
 the  death  of  Jesus,  that  it  is  placed  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  and  therefore 
 we  do  not  find  that  it  was  ever  called  in  question  by  any  of  the  unbelieving  Jews. 
 As  to  his  resurrection,  the  proofs  of  it  also  begin  to  appear,  1.  From  the  shape  and 
 structure  of  this  monument :  for  it  was  so  disposed  by  divine  Providence,  that  this 
 should  be  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  lest  otherwise  there  should  have  been  grounds 
 for  supposing  the  body  of  Jesus  to  have  been  stolen  away,  either  by  undermining  the 
 foimdations,  by  perforating  the  walls,  or  by  opening  the  roof,  all  which  must  have 
 been  humanly  impossible  in  a  place  of  this  description.  It  was  further  so  disposed 
 by  divine  Providence,  that  this  monument  should  never  have  been  used  before,  and 
 therefore  as  the  body  of  Christ  was  the  first  placed  there,  this  circumstance  precluded 
 the  possibility  of  any  other  body's  being  mistaken  for  his,  as  might  have  been  pre- 
 tended, in  case  other  bodies  had  been  entombed  in  the  same  monument. 
 
 The  second  proof  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  arises  from  the  extraor-    3  ^  g„ard  is 
 dinary   precautions    which    his   declared    enemies    employed   on    this  set  over  the  se- 
 occasion.     He  had  so  repeatedly  foretold  to  his  disciples  his  future  P"^'^^''^- 
 lesurrection,  and  it  had,  in  so  many  instances,  been  the  subject  of  conversation,  that 
 the  particulars  of  so  interesting  a  prediction  had  at  length  reached  the  ears  of  his 
 adversaries  the  high-priests  and  Pharisees,  and  now  recurred  to  their  minds  in  the 
 most  striking  manner,  at  a  time  when  the  disciples  themselves  had  lost  all  recollection 
 of  them.     Accordingly  they  resolved  to  lose  no  time  in  taking  proper  measures, 
 "  and  the  next  day  which  followed  the  day  of  preparation,  the  chief  priests  and  the      62 
 Pharisees  came  together  to  Pilate,  saying :    Sir,  we  have  remembered  that  that      63 
 seducer  said,  while  he  was  yet  alive  :  after  three  days  I  will  rise  again.     Command      64. 
 therefore  the  sepulchre  to  be  guarded  until  the  third  day,  lest  his  disciples  come  and 
 steal  him  away,  and  say  to  the  people :  he  is  risen  from  the  dead ;  so  the  last  error 
 
 *  According  to  the  descfiption  of  those  that  have  sepulchre  is  still  remaininf^  even  to  this  day,  and 
 
 seen  it,  it  is  a  kind  of  small  chamber  almost  square  according  to  Mr.   Mauudrell,  is  two  yards  and   a 
 
 within;   the  height  of  which  from  top  to  bottom,  is  quarter  long,  one  broad,  and   one   thick:    but  the 
 
 eight  feet  and  an  inch  ;  its  length  six   feet   and  an  particular  parts  of  it  are  not  visible,  being  all   in- 
 
 inch,  and  its  breadth  fifteen  feet  and  ten  inches,  crusted  over  with  white  marble,  except  in  five  or 
 
 Its  entrance  or  vestibule,  which  looks  towards  the  six  little  places,  where  it  is  left  bare,  to  receive  the 
 
 east,  is  but  four  feet  high,  and  two  feet  four  inches  kisses    and    other   devotions    of  pilgrims.      Mark 
 
 wide.     The  place  within,  where  our  Lord's  body  Luke's  voyage  to   Asia  Minor,   v.  2.   p.   12.   and 
 
 was  laid,  takes  up  a  whole  side  of  the  cave.     The  Maundrell's  journey  from  Aleppo  to  Jerusalem, 
 ston-       hich  was  laid   to  secure  the   door  of  the 
 
 cP  5  X 
 
446 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLIV. 
 
 shall  be  worse  than  the  first."  This  was  the  plea  which  the  Pharisees  held  forth  to 
 Pilate  for  his  o-ranting  their  request :  but  nothing-,  in  fact,  could  be  more  frivolous. 
 For  what  interest  could  the  disciples  have  in  establishing  the  glory  and  immortality 
 of  one,  by  whom  they  themselves  would  have  been  grossly  deceived  ?  What  motive 
 could  induce  persons  of  their  description,  of  the  lowest  ranks  in  society,  without 
 learnino-,  credit,  or  support,  to  attempt  by  a  series  of  concerted  falsehoods  to  impose 
 on  their  countrymen,  in  behalf  of  a  man  publicly  put  to  death,  without  the  smallest 
 prospect  of  deriving  any  advantage  from  such  an  imposture  ?  On  the  contrary,  as 
 they  had  hitlierto  exposed  themselves  to  the  hatred  of  the  whole  nation  upon  his 
 account,  it  was  very  natural,  after  being  thus  imposed  upon  themselves,  that,  instead 
 of  supporting  his  interest  any  longer,  they  should  now  give  him  up,  and  declare  to 
 the  mao-istrates  that  he  was  an  impostor, — a  testimony  which  the  whole  synagogue 
 would  have  received  with  general  applause,  and  which  would  have  gained  the  affec- 
 tion and  esteem  of  the  people  ;  whereas  by  publishing  his  resurrection  they  had 
 nothino-  to  look  for  but  the  most  rigorous  torments,  persecutions,  and  death  itself. 
 
 Wherefore  the  real  motive  which  influenced  the  high-priests  on  this  occasion,  was 
 probably  the  apprehension  lest  this  prediction  of  Christ's  resurrection  should  actually 
 be  verified.  The  wonderful  prodigies  which  took  place  at  his  death,  and  especially 
 the  opening  of  the  graves,  might  very  naturally  appear  as  preludes  to  what  he  had 
 so  often  foretold.  It  is  true,  they  had  no  idea  but  of  a  temporary,  passing  resur- 
 rection, like  to  that  of  Lazarus,  which  they  had  witnessed:  yet  they  judged  that  a 
 possible  event  of  this  nature  might  be  attended  with  the  most  serious  consequences. 
 Hence  it  is  hio-hly  probable,  that  they  gave  on  this  occasion  their  own  most  express 
 and  particular  injunctions  to  the  soldiers,  to  put  Jesus  to  death  by  all  means,  and  to 
 secure  his  body  in  the  monument  in  case  he  should  make  any  attempt  to  escape  from 
 their  custody.  For,  as  it  is  certain  they  formed  a  similar  murderous  design  against 
 the  life  of  Lazarus,  whose  resurrection  occasioned  many  to  believe  in  Jesus,  we  may 
 well  suppose  they  would,  in  the  present  crisis,  take  similar  steps  against  Jesus,  with  a 
 view  of  totally  annihilating  a  religion  which  he  had  began  to  establish  on  the  ruins  of 
 
 65.  their  own.     Wherefore  upon  their  petitioning  for  an  armed  force,   "  Pilate  said  to 
 
 66.  them  :  You  have  a  guard :  go,  guard  it,  as  you  know.  And  they  departing,  made 
 the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the  stone"  at  the  entrance  of  the  monument  with  the 
 public  seal  of  the  government,  "  and  setting  guards"  at  the  vestibule,  with  proper 
 instructions  for  their  conduct.  It  was  impossible  tor  the  Pharisees  to  adopt  measures 
 better  calculated  to  establish  the  certainty  of  Jesus's  resurrection  beyond  the  reach 
 of  all  suspicion,  and  in  thus  taking  away  from  themselves  and  others  every  plea  or 
 pretext  for  calling  this  miraculous  event  in  question,  they  afford  the  most  reasonable 
 and  convincing  grounds  for  all  well-intentioned  and  unprejudiced  minds,  to  place  an 
 implicit  belief  in  the  certainty  of  the  fact.  Thus  by  divine  Providence  were  all  the 
 precautions  of  the  high-priests  turned  against  themselves,  and  served  to  render  the 
 resurrection  of  our  Lord  much  more  certain,  since  this  very  guard  became  the  first 
 witnesses  of  it,  and  announced  it  to  the  high-priests  themselves  ;  thus  precluding 
 every  pretence,  which  otherwise  they  might  have  had  of  saying,  that  his  body  had 
 been  stolen  awav. 
 
If^rrg^i  oCii^J 
 
 ■^-^^v 
 
Ch.  CXLV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  447 
 
 But  whilst  our  blessed  Lord's  body  was  now  at  rest  in  the  sepulchre,  his  glorious 
 soul,  which  was  never  separated  from  the  Deity,  and  was  now  attended  on  by  mul- 
 titudes of  angels,  descended  into  hell,  and  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth,  and  of  his 
 kingdom,  in  order^  as  the  triumphant  conqueror  over  the  powers  of  darkness,  to 
 announce  comfort  and  deliverance  to  such  imprisoned  souls  as  were  capable  of  the 
 mercy  and  favours  of  his  passion,  according  to  that  of  the  prophet  Zachary  ix.  11. 
 Thou  also,  hj  the  blood  of  thy  testament,  hath  sent  forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit 
 wherein  is  no  icater. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLV. 
 
 THE  HISTORY   OF  CHIdST's  RESURRECTION.*      MATT.   XXVIII.      MARK  XVI.      LUKE  XXIV. 
 
 JOHN  XX. 
 
 "  In  the  night  of  the  Sabbath,  towards  the  dawning  on  the  first  day  of      \,Theu-omni  Matt. 28.  i. 
 
 the  week,"  which  corresponds  to  our  Sunday,  "  Mary  Magdalen,  and  go  to  the  sejntl-  Markie.i. 
 
 Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  Salome,  bought  perfumes,  that  coming  ''  '*' 
 
 they  might  anoint  Jesus  ;"  for  the  Sabbath  had  obliged  them  to  leave  tlie  embalming 
 
 of  his  body  imperfect  on  the  Friday.  "  And  very  early  in  the  morning,"  they  set  out,       2. 
 
 "  it  being  yet  dark,"  and  "  they  come  to  the  monument,  the  sun  being  now  risen,  John  20.  i. 
 
 bringing  the  perfumes  they  had  prepared  ;  and  they  said  one  to  another  :  who  shall  Like  jj.r.' 
 
 roll  us  back  the  stone  from  the  door  of  the  monument  ?"     They  were  not  aware,  it  '^^"'^  "'•■^■ 
 
 seems,  of  its  being  secured  by  the  public  seal,  and  guarded  by  a  band  cf  soldiers. 
 
 They  were  on  the  road,  when  "  behold  there  was  a  great  earthquake,"  as  there  had  Matt. 23. 2. 
 
 been  before  at  our  Lord's  death.    "  For  an  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven, 
 
 *   The  liistory  of  Christ's  resurrection  is  not  a  women  as  they  were  returning  from  the  sepulchre, 
 
 little  obscure  and  perplexed,  but  may  be  explained  and  bade  them  go   and  relate  to   his   disciples   the 
 
 in   the   following   manner  :     Mary   and    the    other  same  joyful  event.     They  did  so,  Mary  confirming 
 
 women   came  to   the   sepulchre  very  early  in  the  their  testimony  by  her  own :  but  they  rejected  both 
 
 morning  ;    but   found   that    the   stone    was  rolled  the  one  and  the  other  as  a  dream  and  the  eliect  of 
 
 awav,  and  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  gone.    Upon  their   weak   imagination.     This    seems    to   be    the 
 
 this   Magdalen  runs  back  to  Peter  and  John,  and  right  order,  and  the  periilexity  arises  from  inter- 
 
 teils  them  what  had  happened;  and  they,  to  satisfy  preters   not    having   sufficiently  distinguished    the 
 
 themselves  of  the  truth  of  her  report,  hasten  to  the  different  appearances  of  the  angels,  and  from  their 
 
 sepulchre,  and  not  finding  the  body  of  Jesus,  went  not   considering  Magdalen  apart  from  the  rest  of 
 
 away  again.     In  the  mean  time  the  other  women  the  other  women. 
 
 stay  at   the   sepulchre,  wondeiing  at  this   strange         St.    Matthew   (xxvii.   53.)   informs    us,  that    at 
 
 event,  whilst  Magdalen  in  the  garden  is  still  seek-  Christ's  resurrection  many  bodies  of  saints  arose, 
 
 ing  for  the  object  of  her  aftection.    Then  follows  the  and  coming  out  of  the  tombs  appeared  to  many 
 
 vision  of  angels  sitting  iqion  the  stone,  and  within  in   the  city.      It   is   a   question   with   the    learned, 
 
 the  sepulchre,  speaking  to  the  women,  and  assuring  whether    these  bodies   became    now   immortal,    or 
 
 them  of  the  reality  of  Christ's  resurrection.     These  died  again  and  returned  to  corruption.   St.  Thomas 
 
 angels  had  appeared  likewise  to  Magdalen,  as  she  (3  P.   Q.   53.  Ar.  3.),  after  Weighino-    the   reasons 
 
 wept,  and  looked  into  the  sepulchre :   but  she  took  on  both  sides,  thinks  it  far  more  probable  that  they 
 
 them  for  strangers,  and  left  them,   to  withdraw  a  slept   again   iu    their   graves,  waiting  the  general 
 
 little   from  the   sepulchre.     Then   it  was  she  saw  resurrection.     St.  Chrysostom   (Horn.   4t).  in  1  ad 
 
 Jesus  in   the   habit   and  form  of  a  gardener,  who  Cor.),  Theodoret,  and  St.  Austin,  are  of  the  same 
 
 made  himself  known  to  her,  and  sent  her  to  an-  opinion,  as  likewise  Calmet  in  his  Dissertation  on 
 
 nounce  to  his  afflicted  Apostles  the  happy  tidings  this  subject, 
 of  his  resurrection.    Jesus  likawise  appeared  to  the 
 
448  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLV. 
 
 and  coming  rolled  back  the  stone,  and  sat  upon  it."     But,  according  to  the  holy 
 fathers,  our  Lord's  glorions  body  had  already  passed  through  the  monument,  when 
 
 3.  yet  shut  up  and  sealed.      "■  And  the  aspect"  of  the  angel  "  was  as  lightning,  and  his 
 
 4.  apparel"  white  "  as  snow.  And  for  fear  of  him,  tiie  guards  were  struck  with  terror, 
 and  became  as  if  they  had  been  dead."  However,  the  angel  spared  the  lives  of  the 
 soldiers,  in  order  that  they  might  vouch  for  the  trntli  of  what  they  had  seen.  In  fact, 
 their  death  would  have  given  the  Jews  a  specious  pretext  for  asserting,  that  the  dis- 
 ciples of  Jesus  had  surprised  the  guards  whilst  asleep,  and  after  having  massacred 
 them  in  that  defenceless  state,  had  stolen  away  the  body  without  opposition.     In  the 
 
 Mark  16.  mean  time  the  women*  were  approaching,  "  and  looking  saw  the  stone  rolled  back, 
 ■*•       for  it  was  very  great."     To  them,  however,  the  angel  who  sat  thereon  was  perfectly 
 5        invisible  ;  "  and  entering  into  the  sepulchre,  they  found  not  the  body  of  the  Lord 
 Luke  24,  Jgg^,g_     Mary  Magdalen  ran  therefore,  and  comcth  to  Simon  Peter,  and  to  the  other 
 Jc.lm  20,  disciple"  John,  "  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  saith  to  them  :  they  have  taken  away  the 
 ^-       Lord  out  of  the  sepulchre,  and  we  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him.     Peter  there- 
 fore went  onl,  and  that  other  disciple,  and  they  came  to  the  sepulchre. 
 ■*•       Joliii    run  "^"in  And  they  both  ran  together,  and  that  other  disciple,"  being  younger, 
 
 5.  haste  to  the  se-  "  (jjj  out-run  Peter,  and  came  first  to  the  sepulchre.  And  when  he 
 ^'"^"^^'  stooped  down,  he  saw  the  linen  clothes  lying"  decently  wrapped  up, 
 
 6.  "  but  yet  he  went  not  in.  Then  cometh  Simon  Peter  following  him,  and  went  into  the 
 sepulchre,  and  saw  the  linen  cloths"  (the  only  prey  a  robber  would  have  looked  after) 
 
 7.  "  lying,  and  the  napkin,  that  had  been  about  his  head,  not  lying  with  the  linen  cloths, 
 but  apart,  wrapt  up  into  one  place ;"  that  is,  folded  up  as  it  had  been  when  upon  our 
 
 8.  Lord's  head.  "  Then  that  other  disciple  also  went  in,  who  came  first  to  the  sepul- 
 chre :  and  he  saw"  that  Jesus  was  not  there,  "  and"  so  "  believed,"  as  Magdalen 
 
 9-  had  conjectured,  that  his  body  had  been  taken  away.     "   For  as  yet  they  knew  not 
 
 10-  the  Scriptures,  tliat  he  must  rise  again  from  the  dead.  These  disciples  therefore 
 Luke  24.  went  away  ao-ain  to  their  home,"  Peter  "  wondering  in  himself  at  that  which  was  come 
 Jolm  20.  to  pass.     But  Mary  stood  at  the  sepulchre  without,  weeping.     Now  as  she  was 
 
 II.      weepincT,  she  stooped  down,  and  looked  into  the  sepulchre  :  and  she  saw  two  angels 
 
 ^"'      in  white,  sitting  one  at  the  head,  and  one  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had 
 
 been  laid,"  as  if  paying  a  particular  reverence  to  the  very  place  where  his  sacred 
 
 13.  body  had  been  deposited.  "  They  say  to  her:  woman,  why  weepest  thou?  She" 
 taking  them  for  strangers,  "  saith  to  them  :  because  they  have  taken  away  my  Lord, 
 
 14.  and  f  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him.  When  she  had  said  this,  she  turned  her- 
 self back,"  and  went  into  the  other  parts  of  the  garden,  there  to  extend  her  eager 
 
 3.  Christ  ap-  researches,  whilst  the  other  women  remained  near  to  the  monument. 
 
 Mark  16  ''^'^"  -^"^  ;'°  "  ^"^  '  ^^^"^  "  hdng  risen  early,t  the  first  day  of  the  week,  appeared 
 
 ^^9-       i^r^  ^lagda-  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  Magdalen,  out  of  whom  he  had  cast  seven  devils,  and  she 
 
 *  II  does  not  appear,  as  Maldonatiis  observes,  of  Nyssa,   St.    Cyril    of  Alexandria,    Euthymiiis, 
 
 that  the  Blessed  Virsrin  was  one  of  them,  though  whilst  others,  with   greater  probability,  say   it  was 
 
 St'  Gre"-   of  Nyssa  supposes  that  she  was.  later,  and  eariy  in  the  morning:  St.  Cyprian,  St. 
 
 t  The  holy  fathers  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  pre-  Hilary,    St.    Ambrose,    St.    Austin,    St.   Leo,    St.- 
 
 cise  hour  of  Christ's  resurrection  ;  some  thinking  Thomas,  &c. 
 that  it  was  the  hour  after   midnight,  as  St.  Greg. 
 
Ch.  CXLV.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  aaq 
 
 saw  Jesus   standing  :  and"  yet  "  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.     Jesus  saith  to  her  :  Johnio.u. 
 woman,  why  weepest  thou?    whom  seekest  thou?    She  thinking  that  it  was  the       '^" 
 gardener,  saith  to  him,"  under  the  idea  that  he  might  have  thrown  out  the  body  of 
 one  executed  as  a  pubhc  criminal :  "  Sir,  if  thou  hast  taken  him  hence,  tell  me  where 
 thou  hast  laid  him,  and  I  will  take  him  away."     Upon  his  making  no  reply,  she 
 turned  away  from  him,  as  she  had  done  from  the  two  angels.     "  Jesus,"  overcome  as       ifi- 
 it  were  with  tenderness,  "  saith  to  her:  Mary.    She  turning,"  and  ravished  with  joy, 
 "  saith  to  him  :  Rabboni  (which  is  to  say  Master),"  is  it  you  my  dear  Lord?  and 
 then  probably  fell  prostrate  to  adore  him,  and  kiss  his  feet.     "  Jesus  saith  to  her:      it. 
 touch  me  not,"  that  is,  thou  needest  not  hang  about  me  at  present  in  this  earnest 
 manner,  as  if  thou  wert  never  to  see  me  more  :  "  for  I  have  not  yet  ascended  to  my 
 Father,"  and  so  thou  wilt  have  time  enough  to  testify  thy  love  for  me  :  "  but  ^o  to 
 my  brethren"  (for  so  he  now  styles  his  disciples),  "  and  say  to  them  :  I  ascend  to 
 my  Father  and  your  Father,  to  my  God  and  your  God  ;"  thus  banishing  from  their 
 minds  the  conceit  of  any  temporal  sceptre,  and  raising  them  to  a  celestial  throne 
 above.     "  Mary  Magdalen  cometh,  and  telleth  the  disciples  that  had  been  with  him,"      la 
 and  "  were"  now  "  mourning  and  weeping  :  I  have  seen  the  Lord,*  and  these  things  Markioio. 
 he  said  to  me.     And  they  hearing  that  he  was  alive,  and  had  been  seen  by  her,  did  Ma!rkl&n! 
 not  believe,"  tacitly  accusing  her  of  taking  a  phantom  for  a  reality. 
 
 "  And  it  came  to  pass  as"  the  other  women,  who  had  re-entered  into     4.  Angek  an-  Lukci^.a. 
 the  vestibule  of  the  monument,  "  were  astonished  in  their  mind  at  this,  ^°h"rwomen  the 
 behold  two  men  stood  by  them  in  shining  apparel,  and  as  they  were  resurrecUon  of 
 afraid,  and  bowed  down  their  faces  to  the  ground,"  the  angels  "  said  to     '"'*' 
 them  :  why  seek  you  him  who  is  living  among  the  dead  ?     He  is  not  here ;  for  he  is  Matt. 28.6. 
 risen,  as  he  said.     Remember  how  he  spoke  to  you,  when  he  was  yet  in  Galilee,    "*-''■''■ 
 saying:  that  the  Son  of  Man  must  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men,  and  be       7. 
 crucified,  and  the  third  day  rise  again.    Come  and  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  was  Matt 28. 6. 
 laid  ;  and  going  quickly,  tell  his  disciples,  and"  especially  "  Pcter,t  that  he  is  risen  :       7. 
 and  behold  he  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee.     There  you  shall  see  him,  as  he  told  Ma[t' 28. 7! 
 you.     Behold  I  have  foretold  it  to  you."     This  injunction  comprised  all  the  disciples,  '**"''  "'•^" 
 who  being  then  more  than  five  hundred  in  number,  could  not  have  assembled  in 
 Judea,  almost  under  the  eyes  of  the  chief  priests,  without  giving  umbrage  to  Pilate, 
 who  would  not  fail  to  consider  so  numerous  a  concourse  as  a  proof  of  the  existence  of 
 some  dangerous  plot  against  the  established  government.     With  a  view  therefore  to 
 the  safety  of  his  disciples,  Jesus  was  pleased  to  appoint  Galilee  as  the  place  of  giving 
 them  a  personal  meeting.     "  And  they  called  to  mind  his  words.     And  they  went  Luke  24. 8. 
 
 *  We  may  observe  with  the  holy  fathers,  that  after  his  re.surrection.     See  St.  Ambrose  (1.  de  Vir- 
 
 Christ   first  appears  to  women   after  liis  resurrec-  ginitate,  1.  ul.  c.  3.),  the  Ab.  Rupert,  Maldonatus, 
 
 tiuii,  thus  lionouring  that  sex  which  liad  been   dis-  Suarez,  &e.     However,  the  learned  Estius  is  of  a 
 
 afraced   by   the  serpent's   treachery.     As   man  had  diHerent  opinion,  on  account  of  the  express  testi- 
 
 tallen  by  the  female  sex,  so  he  was  to  l)e  restored  moiiy  of  St.  Mark,  chap.  xvi.  9. 
 by  the  female   sex  ;  and  as  a  virgin   had  brought         t  The  reason  why  they  are  ordered  to  announce 
 
 forth  Christ,  so  a  woman  was  the  first  to  announce  Christ's  resurrection   to  Peter  in  particular,  is  be- 
 
 his  resurrection.     Although  the  Scripture  be  silent  cause  he  was  the  chief  of  the  Apostles.     Petrum  ab 
 
 as  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  yet   it  is  piously  believed  aliis  discijjulis  ut  praecipimm  segregat,  ac  ob  excel- 
 
 tliat  she  was  the  first  to  whom  Christ  appeared  lentiam  nominal  ilium  pra;  aliis.     Theophilactus. 
 
 38.  5y 
 
4gQ  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLV. 
 
 Mark  16.  quickly  out  of  the  monument  with  fear  and  great  joy,  running  to  tell  his  disciples, 
 
 ^-       and  they  said  nothing-  to  any  man"  in  the  way  ;  "■  for  they  were  afraid. 
 Matt.  28.     5.  The  second       "  And  behold  Jesus  met  them,  saying  :  hail,  and  they  came  near,  and 
 
 9.  appearance    of  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^f  j^jg  j-gg^^  ^^^  adored  him"  with  the  most  profound  reve- 
 
 10.  the  women.         rence.     '^  Then  Jesus  saith  to  them:    be   not  afraid.     Go,  tell   my 
 Luke  24.  brethren  that  they  go  into  Galilee,  there  they  shall  see  me.     And  being  returned 
 
 ^'       from  the  monument,  they  told  all  these  things  to  the  eleven,  and  to  all  the  rest"  of 
 
 10.  the  disciples.  "  Now  it  was  Mary  Magdalen  and  Joanna,"  who  was  wife  to  Chusa, 
 Herod's  steward,  "  and  Mary"  the  mother  "  of  James,  and  the  others,  who  were 
 
 11-  with  them,  that  told  these  things  to  the  Apostles,  and  these  words  seemed  to  them  as 
 an  idle  fancy,  and  they  did  not  believe  them." 
 
 Although  the  testimony  here  given  by  these  pious  women,  might  have  been 
 excepted  against  by  the  Jews,  on  account  of  their  sex,  which  is  usually  taxed  with 
 credulity  and  weakness  of  mind,  as  also  on  account  of  their  known  afifection  and 
 attachment  to  Jesus,  yet  it  was  entitled  to  belief  on  the  part  of  the  Apostles.  With 
 these  the  objection  of  sex  ought  to  have  had  no  weight,  from  the  circumstance  of  the 
 witnesses  being  numerous ;  who  therefore  could  not  all  be  deceived  by  an  illusion.- 
 Besides,  the  parties  were  unanimous  in  the  recital  of  the  circumstances,  which  unani- 
 mity could  not  possibly  have  happened,  were  it  not  founded  in  truth.  As  a  further 
 argument  in  their  favour,  they  were  persons  of  an  approved  judgment  and  true  virtue, 
 greatly  above  the  generality  of  their  sex.  This  should  have  placed  them  even  above 
 the  suspicion  of  having  feigned  a  fabulous  recital  so  circumstantial  in  all  its  parts. 
 With  regard  to  their  known  attachment  and  atFection  to  Jesus,  this,  with  the  Apostles, 
 who  were  no  less  attached  to  him,  ought  to  have  been  no  objection  against  the  credi- 
 bility of  their  evidence.  However,  the  indifferent,  or  rather  the  harsh  reception  which 
 their  deposition  met  with  from  the  Apostles,  ultimately  vouched  in  favour  of  the  truth. 
 For  in  proportion  as  the  Apostles  were  backward  in  surrendering  their  belief,  on  the 
 strength  of  the  evidence  iu  (]uestion,  in  an  equal  degree  were  they  decided  and  con- 
 firmed in  opinion  afterwards,  when  being  ultimately  convinced  of  the  resurrection  of 
 Jesus,  they  boldly,  and  without  fear,  announced  it  to  the  Jews  and  to  all  nations  of 
 the  earth,  even  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives. 
 Matt.  28.  6.  The  Jews  "  When"  the  women  "  were  gone,  behold  some  of  the  guards,"  who 
 consuU  how  to  \^^^  probably  retired  to  some  place  for  a  while  to  consult  what  to  say, 
 port  of  Christ's  ^"^  how  to  act  ou  the  occasion,  "  came  into  the  city,  and  related  to  the 
 
 1-2  resurrection.  chief  priests  all  that  had  happened.  And  they  being  assembled  with 
 the  elders,  having  consulted  together,  gave  a  large  sum  of  money  to  the  soldiers, 
 
 13.  saying:  do  you  give  out,  that  his  disciples  came  in  the  night,  and  stole  him  away, 
 
 14.  while  we  were  asleep.  And  if  this  be  heard  by  the  governor,  we  will  pacify  him,  and 
 make  you  secure,"  for  it  was  no  less  than  death  for  a  soldier  to  allow  himself  to  be 
 
 15.  overcome  by  sleep  when  on  guard.  "  So  they  having  taken  the  money,  did  as  they 
 were  instructed,  and  this  report  has  been  spread  abroad,"  and  still  prevails  "  amongst 
 the  Jews,  even  until  this  day."  But  what  can  be  more  inconsistent  than  such  a  story, 
 or  more  improbable  in  all  its  circumstances  ? 
 
 For,  1.  If  the  guards  were  asleep,  what  could  they  see  in  that  state  ?  if  they  could 
 
Ch.  CXLV.3  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  451 
 
 see  nothing-,  what  could  they  vouch  for  ?  2.  Through  what  aperture  could  the  dis- 
 ciples steal  away  the  sacred  body  of  Jesus  ?  To  the  monument  no  other  access  could 
 be  had  but  through  the  door,  which  was  guarded  by  the  soldiers  :  in  every  other 
 direction  it  was  an  impenetrable  rock :  how  could  they  convey  it  away  through  the 
 door,  without  awakening  the  soldiers,  by  the  unavoidable  noise  which  they  must  have 
 occasioned,  as  well  by  removing  the  immense  stone,  as  by  carrying  off  the  body  ? 
 3.  How  extremely  improbable  is  it  that  the  disciples,  who  were,  at  that  very  time,  so 
 cowardly  and  timorous,  should  attempt  an  undertaking  of  this  kind,  to  their  own 
 certain  ruin  if  detected,  and  without  hopes  of  advantage  if  it  could  have  succeeded  ? 
 Again,  did  the  poor  disciples  conduct  themselves  as  authors  of  such  a  plot  would  cer- 
 tainly have  done?  Artless  in  their  words  and  actions,  they  took  no  precautions  what- 
 ever. As  persons  conscious  of  no  fraud  or  guile,  they  remained  in  Jerusalem  a  week 
 or  more,  after  the  report  of  their  having  stolen  their  Master's  body  was  spread  over 
 the  city  ;  and,  in  about  a  month  after,  returned  thither  again,  boldly  asserting  to  the 
 face  of  their  powerful  enemies,  that  God  had  raised  from  the  dead  that  same  Jesus 
 ichom  ihey  had  crucified.  The  learned  doctors  and  priests  of  the  Jews,  the  jealous 
 guardians  of  their  church  and  state,  heard  this  without  laying  to  their  charge  the  theft 
 of  their  Master's  body,  which  they  would  certainly  have  done  if  they  had  believed  it 
 true.  This  account  of  Christ's  resurrection  is  indeed  given  by  the  Apostles  and  dis- 
 ciples, but  it  is  contradicted  by  none  ;  it  is  confirmed  by  miracles  acknowledged  both 
 by  Jews  and  Pagans,  and  by  the  progress  which  Christianity  made  at  that  time  in 
 Jerusalem  ;  which  alone  is  a  sufficient  demonstration,  that  no  proof  of  any  cheat  was, 
 or  could  be  produced.  All  possibility  of  an  imposture  is  farther  banished  by  the 
 sincerity  and  sanctity  of  the  Apostles  and  disciples,  which  appear  in  their  writings 
 and  in  their  whole  conduct ;  also  by  the  miraculous  change  wrought  in  them  by  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  by  which  they,  who  were  before  so  timorous,  "  gave  testimony  to  the 
 resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  with  the  greatest  courage  ;"  confirming  tliis  testimony 
 during  their  whole  lives,  amidst  all  threats,  dangers,  and  hardships,  and  sealing  it, 
 at  their  death,  with  their  blood.  Could  one,  much  more  could  so  many  witnesses 
 have  all  maintained  this  point  with  so  much  constancy,  and  even  with  the  loss  of  their 
 lives,  had  it  been  a  known  cheat?  Especially  if  we  consider  that  riches  and  honours 
 would  have  been  their  certain  recompense,  had  they  made  known  to  the  Pharisees  an 
 imposture  of  this  kind. 
 
452  THE  LIFE  or  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXLVl. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLVI. 
 
 THE  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  APPARITION  OF  JESUS.*      MARK  XVI.      LUKE  XXIV. 
 
 Mark  16.      1.  The  fourth  "  After  that"  Jesus  "'  sbowed  himself  in  another  shape  to  two  of  them 
 
 12.  apparition    of  walking  the  same  day  to  a  town  called  Emmaus.t  which  was  sixty  fur- 
 Luke  24.  Jesus  was  to  the  .  ,,,!,•         i       ,  ,  -i       <i  r  i  i        '>  ^     ii  /       <<    »      i 
 
 13.  disciples   going  'ongs^    that  IS,  about  two  miles     irom  Jerusalem    to  the  west.    "  And 
 
 14.  to  Emmaus.        they  were  talking  together  of  all  these  things  that  had  happened"  in 
 
 15.  regard  to  Jesus.    "  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  were  talking  and  reasoning  together, 
 
 16.  Jesus  himself  coming  up,  went  along  with  them.     But  their  eyes  were  hindered,"  by 
 
 17.  a  divine  power,  "  that  they  should  not  know  him.     And  he  said  to  them  :  what  are 
 
 18.  these  discourses  that  you  hold  one  with  another  as  you  walk,  and  are  sad?  And  one 
 of  them,  whose  name  was  Cleophas"  (and  who  was  the  reputed  uncle  of  Christ, 
 being  St.  Joseph's  brother,  and  father  of  St.  Simeon,  St.  James  the  Less,  St.  Jude 
 and  Joseph  or  Joses),  "  answering,  said  to  him:  art  thou  only  a  stranger  in  Jeru- 
 salem, and  hast  not  known  the  things  that  have  been  done  there  in  these  days?  And 
 
 19-      he  said  to  them  :  what  things  ?     And  they  said,  concerning  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who 
 
 2'^'      was  a  prophet  mighty  in  work  and  word,  before  God  and  all  the  people ;  and  how 
 
 our  chief  priests  and  rulers  delivered  him  to  be  condemned  to  death,  and  crucified 
 
 21.  him.  But  we  hoped  that  it  was  he  who  should  have  redeemed  Israel,"  as  he  promised, 
 and  as  his  miracles  gave  room  to  conclude.  "  And  now,  besides  all  this,  to-day  is 
 the  third  day  since  these  things  were  done,"  and  there  is  no  appearance  of  him. 
 
 22.  "  Moreover,  some  women  also  of  our  company  have  terrified  us,  who,  before  it  was 
 
 23.  light,  were  at  the  monument,  and  not  iinding  his  body,  came,  saying,  that  they  had 
 
 24.  also  seen  a  vision  of  angels,  who  say,  that  he  is  alive.  And  some  of  our  people  went 
 to  the  sepulchre,  and  found  it  as  the  women  had  said :  but  him  they  found  not." 
 
 After  having-  patiently  listened  to  the   two  disciples,  who  had  in   this   manner 
 accounted  for  their  incredulity  concerning  his  resurrection,  Jesus  "^  then  said  to  them  : 
 
 25.  O  foolish  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  in  all  things  which  the  prophets  have  spoken.  J 
 
 26.  Ought  not  Christ,"  according  to  the  Scriptures,  "  to  have  suffered  rhese  things,  and 
 ■27.      so  to  enter  into  his  glory  ?§     And  beginning  from  Moses,  and  all  the  prophets,  he 
 
 expounded  to  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  that  were  concerning  him,"  viz. 
 
 *   The  next  apparition  of  our  Lord  was  to  St.  ferent  times,  by  different  persons,  who  coiikl  have 
 
 Peter;  but  though  it  happened  before  that  made  to  no   correspondence  with  one  another.     Some  <le- 
 
 the  disciples  going  to   Emmaus,  yet  they   are   so  scribing  the  person  of  the  Messiah,  some  the  very 
 
 connected  together  in   the   narration  of  St.  Luke,  miracles  he  should  work  (Isaiah  xxxv.  5.)  ;   others 
 
 that  they  could   not  be  placed   separately  in    their  the  evil  treatment  he  should  meet  wilh  ;   others  his 
 
 proper  order,  as  will  appear  from  the  context.  death,  &c.  ;   others  the  glories  of  his  kingdom.      So 
 
 t    A    small    town   since  culled  Nicopolis.     The  that  no   impostor  could   possibly  tell  what  part  to 
 
 house  of  Cleophas  was  afterwards  consecrated  into  act  if  he  had  a  mind.     He  must  not  only  have  laid 
 
 a  church  by  St.  Paula,  as  we  learn  from  St.  Jerom,  down  his  life,  but  he  must  have  risen  from  the  dead. 
 Ep.  27.  c.  3.  §  Tliis  being  the  way  to  salvation  to  the  whole 
 
 I   By  this  we  learn  the  irresistible  proof  which  Church,  the  members,  as  well  as  the   head,  must 
 
 prophecy  gives  to  the  truth  of  Christianity.    These  suffer.      In  vain  would  men  find  out  an  easier  way 
 
 prophecies  were  written  many  ages  betbre,  at  dif-  to  heaven ;  no  cross,  no  crown. 
 
Ch.  CXLVI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  453 
 
 how  all  the  legal  sacrifices  were  only  types  of  the  oblation  of  the  Messiah,  and  of  the 
 expiation  of  sin  by  his  blood.     He  probably  brought  to  their  recollection  Abraham 
 offering  his  son  Isaac  as  a  representation  of  the  only  Son  of  God  being  offered  up  by 
 his  eternal  Father,  besides  many  other  types  of  him,  as  the  paschal  lamb,  the  brazen 
 serpent  which  Moses  raised  up  in  the  desert,  that  all  who  looked  with  faith  upon  it 
 might  be  healed  ;  Jonas  lying  three  days  in  the  whale's  belly,  and  afterwards  cast  on 
 shore.     To  these  he  might  add  the  descriptions  of  his  passion  to  be  found  in  Isaiah, 
 and  the  21st  Psalm,  and  likewise  in  other  places  ;  for,  in  fact,  the  whole  history  and 
 all  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  chiefly  prefigured  and  represented  the  great 
 mystery  of  man's  redemption,  as  effected  by  the  labours  and  sufferings  of  the  Son 
 of  God.     Whilst  Christ  was  thus  instructing  them,  "  they  drew  near  to  the  town      28. 
 whither  they  were  going;  and  he  made  a  show  to  go  further,"  and  would  certainly 
 have  done  so,  had  they  not  hindered  him  by  their  affectionate  importunity.     "  But      29 
 they  constrained  him,  saying :  stay  with  ns,  because  it  is  towards  evening,  and  the 
 day  is  now  far  spent,  and  he  went  in  with  them.     And  it  came  to  pass,  while  he  was      30. 
 at  table  with  them,  he  took  bread,  and  blessed  and  broke  and  gave  it  to  them;"  this 
 many  of  the  ancients  understand  of  the  blessed  Eucharist,*  which  he  distributed  to 
 them  under  one  kind  alone.      "  And  their  eyes  were  opened,"  probably  by  a  virtue      3'- 
 attached  to  these  sacred  mysteries,  "  and  they  knew  him  ;  and  he  vanished  out  of  their 
 sight.     And  they  said  to  each  other:  was  not  our  heart  burning  within  us  whilst  he      32. 
 was  speaking  to  us  in  the  way,  and  opened  to  us  the  Scriptures?" 
 
 By  his  thus  instantly  disappearing,  they  concluded  it  to  be  his  intention,  that  they 
 should  go  and  communicate  the  happy  tidings  of  his  resurrection  to  his  disconsolate 
 brethren ;  "  and  rising  up  the  same  hour,  they  returned  back  to  Jerusalem  :  and      33. 
 they  found  the  eleveni"  gathered  together,  and  those  that  were  with  them,  saying : 
 the  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  hath  appeared  to  Simon  :"  but  neither  the  3.  Apparition       34. 
 time  nor  the  particulars  of  this  appearance  to  Peter  are  recorded  by  the        '"  Peter. 
 Evangelists.     However,  the  Apostles,  as  Mr.  West  observes,:}:  seem  to  have  laid  a 
 greater  stress  upon  it  than  upon  all  those  related  by  the  women.     Cleophas  and  his 
 companion  then  related  their  story,  "  and  they  told  what  things  were  done  in  the  way,      35. 
 and  how  they  knew  him  in  the  breaking  of  bread."     But  "  neither  did  they"  still  Mark  16, 
 "  give  credit  to  them,"  notwithstanding  this  accumulated  evidence  of  Christ's  resurrec-      '3. 
 tion  ;  which  we  are  only  to  understand  of  some  of  the  disciples  who,  from  our  Lord's 
 presently  vanishing  from  the  women,  from  St.  Peter,  and  lastly,  from  these  two  at 
 Emmaus,  concluded  that  it  was  only  some  spirit  appearing  in  his  likeness.     The 
 same  idea  they  seem  also  to  have  had,  when  our  Lord  appeared  to  themselves.^ 
 
 From  the  circumstances  of  this  history,  we  may  gather  how  agreeable  to  Christ  are 
 the  conversations  of  his  followers  on  pious  and  religious  subjects.     No  subject  is 
 
 *  Estius,  Jansenius,  and  Calmet,  are   of  a  dif-  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  Gilbert  West, 
 
 ferent  opinion.     Bellar.  and  Nat.  Alexander  leave  p.  118.     Euthymius  had   made   the  same   remark 
 
 the  qnestion  undecided.  long  before.     Comparing^  the  testimony  of  the  wo- 
 
 t   It  is  thus  the  Evangelists  style  the  apostolic  men  and  that  of  St.  Peter,  he  says:  sane  hi's  non 
 
 college  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Jesus,  although  est  habita  fides.     Petro  vero   tanquam  summo  ac 
 
 Thomas  v/as  not  present  on  the  occasion.  principi  caeterorum  credit um  est. 
 
 {   Observations  on  the  History  and  Evidences  of        %  Luke  xxiv.  37. 
 
 39.  3z 
 
•454 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXLVII. 
 
 SO  worthy  of  a  Christian's  thoughts,  as  what  God  has  done  and  suffered  for  us ;  and 
 if  we  entertain  a  due  sense  of  our  Redeemer's  love,  we  shall  not  be  backward  to 
 express  our  gratitude  ;  for  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh. 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLVII. 
 
 THE  FIFTH  AND  SIXTH  APPARITIONS  OF  JESUS  TO  THE  ELEVEN.      MARK  XVI.      LUKE  XXIV. 
 
 JOHN  XX. 
 
 The  next  proof  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  arises  from  his  appearing  to  the  Apostles 
 assembled  together.  Here  we  find  the  necessary  conditions  for  pronouncing  it  deci- 
 sive. 1.  We  find  the  Apostles  previously  diffident  and  incredulous  even  to  an  unac- 
 countable degree.  2.  The  fact  of  Jesus's  appearing  to  the  Apostles  is  established 
 with  the  utmost  certainty  of  evidence.  3.  These  Apostles  now  become  so  thoroughly 
 convinced  of  the  resurrection,  that  they  announce  it  to  the  whole  world,  and  afterwards 
 seal  their  testimony  with  their  blood.  As  the  testimony  of  enemies  is  of  great  weight, 
 so  is  likewise  the  conviction  of  persons  who  declare  their  assent  to  a  certain  fact 
 against  which  they  have  hitherto  been  decidedly  prepossessed.  We  must  therefore 
 lay  no  small  stress  on  the  testimony  of  the  Apostles  in  favour  of  Christ's  resurrection, 
 since  they  were  previously  so  incredulous,  as  to  resist  every  argument  offered  in  its 
 support.  Under  this  unbelieving  disposition  of  mind,  their  divine  Master  brought 
 them,  by  slow  degrees,  and  as  it  were  step  by  step,  to  acknowledge  the  truth  of  this 
 wonderful  event.  The  first  information  respecting  it  was  conveyed  to  them  by  cer- 
 tain women  ;  but  this  seems  to  have  made  but  little  or  no  impression  on  their  minds. 
 Again,  he  sends  to  them  Peter  and  the  two  disciples  who  had  travelled  to  Emmaus  ; 
 but  their  evidence  met  with  little  more  credit  than  the  preceding.  He  now  appears 
 to  them  in  person,  allows  them  to  touch  him  ;  he  eats  in  their  presence,  and  thus 
 obviates  all  their  objections. 
 Luke24.36.  „        "  Now  whilst  they  Were  Speaking,"  and  debating  "  these  things,  at 
 
 Marki6.i4.  apparition     to  length,"  that  iSj  late  that  same  day,  "  the  first  of  the  week,  he  appeared 
 ■  -  the  eleven.  j^  ^j^g  eleven  as  they  were  at  table,  and  the  doors  shut,"*  and  fast 
 
 locked  "  for  fear  of  the  Jews."     On  this  occasion,  "  Jesus  came  and  stood  in  the 
 midst"  of  them,  "  and  said  to  them  :  Peace  be  to  you/'  (the  usual  and  ancient  saluta- 
 Luke24.36.  tiou  of  the  Jcws)  "  It  is  I,  fear  not :  and  he  upbraided  them  with  their  incredulity 
 ^  "        ■  and  hardness  of  heart,  because  they  did  not  believe  them  who  had  seen  him  after  he 
 Luke24.37.  had  riscu  again.     But  they  being  troubled  and  affrighted,  supposed  that  they  saw  a 
 spirit ;"  doubtless  from  the  idea  that  no  corporeal  being  could  have  access  to  them, 
 38.       shut  up  as  they  were  in  a  private  chambei.     "  And  he  said  to  them  :  Why  are  you 
 
 *  Moli  corporis,  ubi  divinitas  erat,  ostia  clausa     poluit,  quo  nascente  virgrinitas  matris  inviolata  per- 
 non  obstiterunt ;  ille  quippe  non  eis  apertis,  intrare     inansit.     St.  Aug.  Trac.  in  Joan, 
 
CIi.  CXLVII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  455 
 
 troubled,  and  why  do  thoughts  arise  in  your  hearts  ?  See  my  hands  and  my  feet,  that      39. 
 
 it  is  I  myself:  handle  me  and  see :  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  you  see 
 
 me  to  have.     And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  showed  them  his  hands  and  his  feet,"      40. 
 
 with  the  marks  of  the  nails  which  had  fastened  him  to  the  cross,  "  and  his  side"  that  John  20. 
 
 had  been  pierced.     "  The  disciples^  therefore,  were  glad  when  they  saw  the  Lord,  t  ^j^  '^^ 
 
 But  while  they  yet  believed  not"  with  an  entire  conviction,  "  and  wondered  for  joy,"      41. 
 
 their  minds  fluctuating  with  different  sensations  of  mistrust,  of  admiration,  and  of  joy, 
 
 "  he  said  :  have  you  here  any  thing  to  eat  ?     And  they  offered  him  a  piece  of  a      42. 
 
 broiled  fish,  and  a  honey-comb.     And  when  he  had  eaten  before  them,  taking  the      43. 
 
 remains  he  gave  to  them,"  as  a  farther  proof  of  his  having  eaten  some  of  it.* 
 
 As  by  their  incredulous  disposition,  they  had  rejected  the  peace  which  he  first 
 imparted  to  them,  "  he"  now  "  said  to  them  again :    Peace  be  unto  you.     As  my  John  20 
 Father  sent  me"  to  labour  for  the  salvation  of  men,  "  I  also  send  you"  for  the  same 
 end,  and  authorize  you  to  witness  the  things  you  have  seen,  and  heard  from  me. 
 "  When  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  upon  them"  with  his  most  sacred  mouth,  which      22. 
 was  a  figure  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  proceeds  by  way  of  inspiration,  "  and  he  said  to 
 them"  the  following  words,  which  have  ever  since  been  used  by  the  Church  in  the 
 ordination  of  her  ministers:  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sins  you  shall  for-      23. 
 give,t  they  are  forgiven  them,  and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  retained." 
 At  his  last  supper,  four  days  before,  he  had  given  to  his  Apostles  and  their  successors 
 the  power  of  consecrating  his  body  and  blood  in  the  sacrament  of  the  holy  Eucharist ; 
 and  here  he  gave  them  power  to  forgive  sins  in  the  sacrament  of  penance,  and  thereby 
 completed  their  sacerdotal  character.     "  But  Thomas,  who  is  called  Didymus,  one      24. 
 of  the  twelve,  was  not  with  them  when  Jesus  came  ;"  yet  he  doubtless  received  the 
 like  power  of  forgiving  sins  either  at  this  time  or  afterwards.     "  The  other  disciples,      25 
 therefore,  said  to  him"  on  his  return :  "  We  have  seen  the  Lord."    He  immediately 
 asked,  if  they  had  actually  touched  him,  so  as  to  be  certain  of  its  being  no  imaginary 
 phantom,  and  "  he  said  to  them  :  except  I  shall  see  in  his  liands  the  print  of  the 
 nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the  place  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  hand  into  his  side,  I 
 will  not  believe."     These  conditions  were  certainly  highly  unreasonable  on  the  part 
 of  Thomas  :  for  what  could  be  more  absurd,  than  not  only  to  refuse  to  believe  a  fact 
 
 *  Christ  was  pleased  to  eat  after  his  resurrection,  tant  common  prayer-book  in  the  Visitation  of  the 
 not  to  satisfy  any  hunger,  of  which  liis  body  was  Sick. —  JFIiose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  re- 
 incapable,  but  to  prove  that  his  body  was  truly  tained :  by  which  we  see  that  to  priests  is  g-iven  a 
 raised,  and  that  himself  was  really  present.  power  to  be  exercised,  not   only  by  forgiving-,  but 
 
 t  These  words  clearly  express  the  power  of  for-  also  by  retaining  :  not  only  by  absolving  and  loos- 
 giving  sins,  which  as  God  he  gave  to  his  Apostles  ing,  but  also  by  binding,  by  refusing  or  deferrinn- 
 and  to  their  successors  the  bishops  and  priests  of  absolution,  according  to  the  dispositions  that  are 
 his  Church.  They  forgive  sins  in  his  name,  as  his  found  in  sinners,  when  they  accuse  themselves  of 
 ministers  and  instruments,  even  though  they  are  their  sins.  From  hence  must  needs  follow  an  obli- 
 sinners  themselves.  For  in  this  they  act  not  by  gation  on  the  sinner's  part,  to  declare  and  confess 
 their  own  power,  nor  in  their  own  name,  but  in  the  their  sins  in  particular  to  the  ministers  of  God,  who 
 name  of  God,  who,  as  the  principal  cause,  only  can  are  appointed  the  spiritual  judges  and  physicians  of 
 remit  sins.  This  is,  even  by  Protestants,  generally  their  soul.  A  judge  must  know  the  cause  and  a 
 allowed  to  be  done  in  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  as  physician  the  distemper,  the  one  to  pronounce  a 
 to  the  remission  of  original  sin  :  and  the  Catholic  just  sentence,  the  other  to  prescribe  a  suitable 
 Church  has  always  held  the  same  of  God's  minis-  remedy, 
 ters  in  the  sacrament  of  penance.     See  the  Protes- 
 
456 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLVIL 
 
 on  tbe  testimony  of  others,  but  also  to  require  the  evidence  both  of  the  sight  and 
 touch?  However,  it  pleased  our  blessed  Saviour  to  satisfy  this  incredulous  disciple, 
 2.  The  sixth  by  affording  him  both  an  ocular  and  manual  proof  of  the  truth  ;  and  this, 
 apparition  to  accordino-  to  St.  Austin,*  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  he  chose  to  retain 
 26-  Thorn  fs^tein's  ^he  marks  of  his  sacred  wounds.  Wherefore,  "  after  eight  days,"  when 
 present.  "  his  disciples  Were  again  within,  and  Thomas  with  them,  Jesus  cometh, 
 
 27.  the  door  being  shut,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  said  :  Peace  be  unto  you.  Then 
 he  saith  to  Thomas,"  with  a  most  gracious  condescendance  to  his  weakness:  "  put 
 in  thy  finger  hither,  and  view  my  hands,  and  bring  hither  thy  hand,  and  put  it  into 
 
 28.  my  side,  and  be  not  incredulous  but  faithful.'!"  Thomas,"  who  was  doubtless  much 
 confounded  at  such  an  appearance,  and  now  by  divine  grace  more  than  convinced  of 
 his  error,  "  answered  and  said  to  him  :  My  Lord  and  my  God  ;"|  thus  acknowledg- 
 ing more  than  these  scars  evidenced  to  him,  not  only  the  resurrection  of  his  true 
 
 29.  body,  but  the  divinity  of  his  person  which  effected  it.  "  Jesus  said  to  him  :  Because 
 thou  hast  seen  me,  Thomas,  thou  hast  believed ;  happy  they  who  have  not  seen,  and 
 have  believed,"  because  they  shall  receive  a  recompense  proportioned  to  the  merit  of 
 their  faith,  which  consists  in  believing  what  we  do  not  see.  Jesus  here  alluded  not 
 to  the  other  Apostles,  who,  in  t'nis  respect,  greatly  resembled  Thomas,  but  to  all 
 those,  who  in  future  ages,  should,  by  means  of  their  preaching,  believe  in  him,  with- 
 
 30.  out  having  seen  him  personally  as  the  Apostles.     "  Jesus  did  likewise  many  other 
 
 31.  miracles  in  the  sight  of  his  disciples,  which  are  not  written  in  this  book  :  but  these 
 are  written  that  you  may  believe,  that  Jesus  is  Christ  the  Son  of  God,"  foretold  by 
 the  prophets,  "  and  that  believing  you  may  have  life  in  his  name,"  the  life  of  grace 
 here,  and  eternal  life  hereafter  in  heaven. 
 
 After  the  above  manifestation  we  find  no  scruple  or  difficulty  left  in  the  minds  of 
 any  of  the  Apostles ;  and  Almighty  God  permitted  their  former  incredulity  to  furnish 
 additional  proofs  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  to  establish  its  belief  more  efTectually 
 in  the  hearts  of  all  mankind.  In  reality,  all  possible  doubts  on  this  subject,  all 
 objections  which  can  be  raised  against  it,  have  been  here  anticipated  by  the  Apostles, 
 who  in  our  stead  experienced  all  those  difficulties  which  we  could  have  felt.  Nothing 
 therefore  can  be  more  equitable  than  that  we  should  own  ourselves  convinced  of  the 
 truth  of  the  resurrection,  in  as  perfect  a  manner  as  the  Apostles  did,  and  that  under 
 the  weight  of  their  authority,  we  should  believe  those  mysteries,  which  they  believed 
 not  until  convinced  by  the  most  unexceptionable  evidence. 
 
 *  Nunquid  non  poterat  Dominus   sine  cicatri-  answers,  that  our  Lord  could  make  liis  body  pal- 
 
 cibus  resurgere  ?  sed  in  corde  discipuloruin  vulnera  pable  or  not   palpable,  visible  or  invisible,   as   he 
 
 noverat,  propter  quae  sananda  cicatrices  in  corpora  pleased.     In   talibus  rebus  tola  ratio  fact!  est  po- 
 
 suo  servaverat.  tentia  facientis,  says  St.  Austin. 
 
 t  It  does  not  appear  from  the  Evangelist  that  St.  X  What  can  be  more  clear  and  explicit  against 
 
 Thomas  went  and  touched  Christ's  body;    but  it  the  Socinians  than  this  testimony  of  Thomas  for 
 
 is  more  probable  that  he  did  as  he  was  ordered,  as  the  divinity  of  Christ?     Hence  we  find  it  strongly 
 
 St.  Austin   and  other  Fathers   observe.    But  how  urged  by  St.   Hilary  against   the  Arians,  1.   7.  de 
 
 could  the  glorified  body  of  Christ  be  palpable,  which  Trin. 
 had  entered  in,  the  door  being  shut.   St.  Chrysostom 
 
^<'... 
 
 <    ^/<v^?<.:cJj  /Wc-A'/a/f/^. 
 
 .r,'nx..\x:vf.^-!. 
 
Ch.  CXLVIII.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  457 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLVIII. 
 
 THE  SEVENTH  APPARITION  OF  JESUSj  VIZ.  BY  THE  SEA-SIDE.      JOHN  XXI. 
 
 "  Afterwards  Jesus  showed  himself  ao^ain  to  his  disciples,  near  the       ,     ^,  John  21. 
 
 "  .  '  \.    Ine     se-         -. 
 
 lake  of  Tiberias,  and  he  manifested  himself  after  this  manner.     There  cond    7niracu-       ^ 
 were  tosrether  Simon  Peter,  and  Thomas  who  is  called  Didymus,  and  '°'f  dmughi  of 
 
 '  nshcs. 
 
 Nathaniel  who  was  of  Cana  in  Galilee,  and  the  Sons  of  Zebedee,  and 
 two  other  of  his  disciples,"  in  all  seven.     These  two  last  some  expositors  conjecture 
 to  have  been  St.  Andrew,  Peter's  brother,  and  St.  Philip  his  fellow  townsman. 
 "  Simon  Peter  saith  to  them :  I  am  g'oing  a  fishing.     They  reply  :  We  also  come       3. 
 with  thee.     They  went  forth,  and  entered  into  the  ship,  and  that  night,  they  took 
 nothing.     Now  when  it  was  morning,  Jesus  stood  on  the  shore,  '  as  it  had  happened       4. 
 before  to  Peter  at  our  Lord's  first  calling  him  from  his  trade :  "  yet  the  disciples 
 knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.     Jesus  then  said  to  them :  Young-  men,  have  you  any       5. 
 thing  to  eat  ?"  as  if  intending  to  buy  some  fish  of  them.    "  They  answered  him  :  No.       6. 
 He  saith  to  them  :   Cast  the  net  on  the  right  side  of  the  boat,  and  you  will  find. 
 They  cast  therefore  ;  and  now  they  were  not  able  to  draw  it  by  reason  of  the  multi- 
 tude of  fishes,"  which  was  an  earnest  of  their  future  success  in  fishing  after  men. 
 "  The  disciple  then,  whom  Jesus  loved,  saith  to  Peter  :  it  is  the  Lord.   Simon  Peter,       7. 
 when  he  had  heard  that  it  was  the  Lord,  girded  his  vest  about  him,  (for  he  was 
 stripped)  and  cast  himself  into  the  sea,"  moved  by  an  extraordinary  fervour  and  love 
 for  his  Master.     "  But  the  other  disciples  came  in  the  boat  (for  they  were  not  ftu-       s. 
 from  the  land,  but  only  about  200  cubits)  drawing  the  net  with  the  fishes.     As  soon       9, 
 then  as  they  came  to  land,  they  saw  coals  burning,  and  a  fish  laid  thereon,  and  bread," 
 all  miraculously  provided  by  Christ  for  their  refreshment.     "  Jesus  saith  to  them  :       iO- 
 Bring  hither  of  the  fishes  you  have  now  caught,"  viz.  make  such  addition  as  is  neces- 
 .sary  to  what  is  already  prepared,  since  this  is  designed  merely  to  allay  the  first  crav- 
 ings of  your  hunger,  and  will  not  afford  a  snfiicient  meal  for  seven  persons. 
 
 In  obedience  to  the  commands  of  Jesus,  "  Simon  Peter  ivent  up,  and  drew  the  net      II. 
 to  land  full  of  great  fishes,  one  hundred  and  fifty-three.     And  though  there  was  so 
 great  a  quantity,  the  net  was  not  broken.     Jesus  saith  to  them:  Come  and  dine,"      12. 
 since  your  long  fatigue  during  the  night  must  have  rendered  refreshment  extremely 
 necessary  to  you. 
 
 They  sat  down  on  the  ground  for  that  purpose,  "  and  none  of  those  that  were 
 eating,  durst  ask  him  :  Who  art  thou?"  It  is  probable  that  he  appeared  to  them 
 with  a  countenance  different  and  brighter  than  before  his  death,  and  more  full  of 
 majesty ;  yet  "  knowing  that  it  was  the  Lord,"  by  his  features  and  voice,  they  were 
 ■ashamed  to  ask  or  doubt  of  it.     "  And  Jesus  cometh  and  taketh  bread  and  giveth  it      13. 
 
 *  See  the  first,  chapter  26. 
 
 39.  G  A 
 
458  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CXLVIIl. 
 
 14.  to  them,  and  fish  in  like  manner.  This  was  now  the  third  time*  that  Jesus  appeared 
 to  his  disciples,"  in  any  numerous  assembly  of  them,  "  after  he  had  risen  from  the 
 dead,"  the  first  being  on  the  day  of  his  resurrection  ;  the  second,  eight  days 
 afterwards. 
 
 15.  "^  When  therefore  they  had  dined,  Jesus,"  whose  usual  manner  was 
 commends    the  to  transfer  the  discourse  to  spiritual  matters,  "  saith  to  Simon  Peter : 
 care  of  his  flock  Simon  the  son  of  John,  lovest  thou  me  more  than  these?     He"  mo- 
 destly  "  answered :    Yes,    Lord ;    thou   knowest  that  I  love  thee," 
 
 declinmg  to  compare  himself  with  others  :  "  he  saith  to  him  :  Feed  my  lambs,"  as 
 
 16.  I  the  chief  pastor  am  now  quitting  the  world.  "  He  saith  to  him  again  :  Simon  the 
 son  of  John,  lovest  thou  me  ?    He  saith  to  him  :  Yes,  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  love 
 
 17.  thee.  He  saith  to  him  :  Feed  my  lambs.  He  saith  to  him  a  third  time,"  that  he 
 might,  as  it  were,  reverse  and  atone  for  his  three  former  denials  by  a  three-fold  con- 
 fession of  his  affection  :  "  Simon  the  son  of  John,  lovest  thou  me  ?  Peter  was 
 troubled,  because  he  said  to  him  the  third  time,  lovest  thou  me  ?"  For  it  seemed  as 
 if  he  suspected  the  sincerity  of  his  former  protestations.  "  And  he  said  to  him  :  Lord, 
 thou  knowest  all  things,"  and  all  hearts,  "  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee.  He  saith 
 to  him :  Feed  my  sheep,"t  hereby  showing  that  all  his  flock  both  lambs  and  sheep, 
 young  and  old,  people  and  their  pastors,  were  committed  to  his  government  and 
 jurisdiction.  Jesus  conferred  not  this  post  of  eminence  and  of  important  trust  upon 
 Peter  in  a  clandestine  manner,  but  in  the  presence  of  several  witnesses,  and  even  of 
 his  principal  Apostles  ;  that  all  they  who  had  been  scandalized  by  his  fall,  might  now 
 be  no  less  edified  by  his  confession,  and  might  see  that  his  former  appointment  to  the 
 primacy  of  the  Church  was  not  invalidated  by  his  subsequent  prevarication,  but  was 
 now  confirmed  and  established  in  the  most  public  and  authentic  manner. 
 
 „   ^,  After  our  Lord  had  thus  confirmed  Peter  as  the  chief  steward  and 
 
 3.  Tlie  mar-  pi-,  iii,  i  ij  -ji'  i  -i 
 
 tyrdom  of  Peter  servant  ol  his  household,  he  was  pleased  to  acquamt  him  also  v.'ita 
 
 foretold  by  Je-  ^vhat  trials  he  was  afterwards  to  undergo  for  his  sake,  that  so  he  might 
 
 be  the  better  prepared  for  his  future  martyrdom.     Wherefore  he  thus 
 
 18.  proceeded  :  "  Amen,  amen  I  say  unto  thee,  when  thou  wast  younger,  thou  didst  gird, 
 and  didst  walk  where  thou  wouldst ;  but  when  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shalt  stretch 
 
 19.  thy  hands,  and  another  shall  gird  thee,  and  lead  thee  wliither  thou  wouldst  not.  And 
 this  he  said  signifying  by  what  death  he  should  glorify  God,"  viz.  by  the  death  of 
 
 *  This  may  be  referred  to  the  number  of  days,  xvi.  18.  and  which  the  Catholic  Church  has  always 
 
 as  St.  Austin  observes.     For  he  first  appeared  to  reverenced  and  acknowledged   in  the  successors  of 
 
 different  persons  on  the  very  day  of  his  resurrec-  St.  Peter  over  all  Christian  Churches.     Hence  St. 
 
 lion;  secondly,  eight  days  afterwards;  and  then  a  Cyprian,  Ep.  53.  writina:  to   Pope  Cornelius,  calls 
 
 third  time.  Rome   the  chair  of  SI.  Peter,  and   tlie   Principal 
 
 t    To  feed,  in  the  style  of  the  holy  Scripture,  is  Church,  frotii  which  the   unity   of  priesthood   is 
 
 to  guide,  rule,  and  govern.    "  First  Christ  intrusted  risen.     In  the  second   age  we  have   the  following 
 
 him  with  his  lambs,"  says  St.  Eucherius,  Bishdp  of  testimony  of  St.  Irenaeus.     "  By  apostolical  tradi- 
 
 Lyons,   "  next  with  his  sheep  ;   because  he   made  tion,  which  the  Roman  bishops  liave  preserved,  all 
 
 him   not  only  the  shepherd  but  the   shepherd   of  separatists  are  confounded.     For   to   this  Clinrch, 
 
 shepherds.    Peter  rules  both  subjects  and  prelates  !  by  reason  of  its  more  powerful  principality,  it  is 
 
 He  is  therefore  sheplierd  over  all.''     On  this  occa-  necessary  that  all  churches  have  recourse."    L.  3.  c. 
 
 sion  therefore  Christ  gave  to  St.  Peter  that  supreme  3.    Let  us  remember  that  "  Peter  remains  and  lives 
 
 spiritual  power  which  he  had  promised  him.  Matt,  in  his  successors.''     St.  Leo,  Ser.  2. 
 
Ch.  CXLIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  459 
 
 the  cross,  which  accordingly  happened  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Nero,  and  before  St. 
 John  wrote  his  gospel.     "  And  when"  Jesus  "  had  spoke  this,"  he  arose  from  the 
 place  where  he  was  seated,  and  to  exhort  Peter  to  aim  at  the  realizing  of  the  great 
 love  which  he  had  expressed,  "  he  saith  to  him  :  Follow  me,"  that  is,  follow  the 
 example  I  have  given  to  thee,  since  henceforth  thou  wilt  have  to  tread  in  my  foot- 
 steps.    "   Peter,"  theiefore,  accompanied   our  Lord  walking  on  the  shore,   and      20. 
 "  turning  saw  that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  following,  who  also,  at  the  supper, 
 leaned  on  his  breast,  and  said  :  Lord,  who  is  he  that  shall  betray  thee  ?     Him  there-      21. 
 fore  when  Peter  had  seen,  he  saith  to  Jesus  :  And  what  will  become  of  this  man  ?" 
 being  anxious  to  know  what  was  to  happen  to  his  friend.     "Jesus  saith  to  him,"      22. 
 repressing  his  curiosity  :  "  So  *  I  will  have  him  to  remain  till  I  come,  what  is  it  to 
 thee?"     It  is  thy  duty  and  concern  to  follow  me.     "  This  saying  therefore,"  which      23. 
 was  capable  of  admitting  of  different  senses,  "  went  abroad  among  the  brethren,  that 
 that  disciple  should  not  die.     And  Jesus  did  not  say  to  him  :  He  shall  not  die,  but  so 
 I  will  have  him  to  remain  till  I  come,  what  is  it  to  thee.     This  is  that  disciple,t  who      24 
 beareth  testimony  to  these  things,  and  hath  written  these  things  ;  and  we  know  that 
 his  testimony  is  true." 
 
 CHAPTER  CXLIX. 
 
 THE  EIGHTH,  NINTH,  AND  TENTH  APPARITIONS  OF  JESUS.  J      M.\TT.  XXVIIl.      MARK  XVI. 
 LUKE  XXIV.      ACTS  I.      I  COR.  XV. 
 
 The  ano^el  at  the  sepulchre,  and  Christ  himself,  as  well  before  as  after      ,   ,,,     .  .., 
 °         .  *  '  1.  The  eighth 
 
 his  resurrection,  had  foretold  that  he  would  go  before,  and  would  mani-  apparition    of 
 fest  himself  to  his  disciples  in  Galilee.     It  was  there  he  had  lived  about  •'^"'"^  '"^«^''««- 
 
 *  In  the  Greek  it  is  :  If  I  will  have  him  to  re-  a  mountain  in  Galilee,  from  that  spoken  of  by  St. 
 
 main,  and   this  is  the  true  reading  according  to  Luke  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
 
 Estiiis  and  Jansenius  of  Ghent,  authorized  by  many  ties,  which  immediately  preceded  his  ascension  ;  for 
 
 Latin  copies.     Christ  here  signifies,  in  an  obscure  this  last  did  not  take  place  in  Galilee,  but  near  to 
 
 manner,  that  John  should  not,  like  Peter,  die  a  vio-  Jerusalem.     We  annex  to  this  last  apparition  what 
 
 lent  death,  but  should  pass  out  of  this  life  by  a  St.  Matthew,   St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke  relate  of  the 
 
 natinal  dissolution.     But  others  refer  these  words  words  of  .Jesus  Christ,  although  it  be  more  proba- 
 
 of  Christ  to  his  coming  to  destroy  Jerusalem,  an  ble  that  ihev  are  only  the  substance  and  an  abrido-- 
 
 epoch  which  St.  John  survived.  ment  of  all'the  discourses  which   he   had  with  lus 
 
 t  Some  conjecture  that  these  words  were  added  disciples  durhig  the  forty  days  that  he  appeared  to 
 
 by   the  Chinch   of  Ephesus,   to  point   out  to   the  them  after  his  resurrection.     In   order  to  have  a 
 
 whole   Church   that  John  was  the   author  of  this  more  complete  history  of  Christ's  apparitions  and 
 
 evangelical  history,  and  to  record  tlieir  own  assent  of  his  ascension  into  heaven,  it  was  necessary  to 
 
 to  this  his  testimony  by  their  signature.     But  the  have  recourse  to  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the 
 
 ancient   Fathers,   St.  Chr;/sostom,    St.    Cyril,    St.  Apostles,  and  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  St.  Paul's  first 
 
 Austin,  expound  them  as  they  do  the  rest,  without  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.     St.  Austin  says  (1.  3. 
 
 any   such  remark.     Nor  is  it  unusual  for  a  person  de  Cons.  Evang.  c.  25.)  that  there  are  ten  appari- 
 
 to  write  of  himself  as  of  a  third  person.    It  is  what  tions    of  our   Lord   recorded   in    the   four   Evan- 
 
 St.  John  hath  done  bel'ore.  Chap.  xix.  35.  gelists,  which  he  specifies  :  but  Maldonatus,  on  the 
 
 t  We  must  necessarily  distinguish  the  apparition  ■28th  cliap.  of  St.   MaUhew,  enumerates   thirteen, 
 
 mentioned  by  St.  Matthew,  and  which  happened  on  See  Lambertinus  de  Serv.  Dei  Beatif.  1.  3.  c.  50. 
 
,jQjj  THE  l.ltii  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Cli.  CXLIV 
 
 thirty  years,  had  wrought  the  major  part  of  his  miracles,  had  formed  the  far  gieato'st 
 part  of  his  disciples,  and  was  most  known.     There  he  could  likewise  manifest  hiiii 
 self  to  a  much  greater  number  of  followers,  without  giving  any  umbrage  to  Pilate  and 
 the  ruling  powers,  who  would  probably  have  been  alarmed,  had  a  numerous  concourse 
 of  people  assembled  together  in  Judea,  and  at  a  sinall  distance  from  Jerusalem. 
 Matt.  28.  Wherefore  "  the  eleven  disciples,"  and  others,  "  went  into  Galilee,  to  a  mountain 
 ^^'      where  Jesus  had  appointed  them,"  and  which  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
 mount  Thabor,  on  which  he  was  transfigured,  a  most  beautiful  hill,  which  is  exactly 
 ICor.  15.  round,  and  accessible  oidy  on  one  side.     Here  "  he  was  seen  by  more  than  five 
 M  w'sft  hundred  brethren  at  once:  and  seeing  him,  they  adored  him:  but  some  doubted," 
 17.    '  that  is,  they  had  formerly  entertained  doubts,  and  particularly  St.  Thomas.     But  now 
 ever.y  remainder  of  doubt  was  dissipated  by  the  splendour  of  his  presence:  and  they 
 returned  to  their  respective  homes,  effectually  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  resur- 
 rection which  they  were  in  future  to  announce  to  the  whole  world,  and  to  seal  with 
 their  blood. 
 ICor.  15.     2.  The  ninth       "  After  that  he  was  seen  by  James,"*  but  neither  the  time  nor  place 
 7.       apparition,  viz.  ^re  mentioned,  "  then  by  all  the  Apostles,"  probably  the  day  of  his 
 
 to   James,  and  .  i.i  i  .         i-ii  jiii  ■,     r 
 
 the  tenth  in  Je-  ascension,  and  at  Jerusalem,  to  which  place  tliey  had  now  returned,  for 
 
 Matt,  28.  Tusalem.  the  feast  of  Pentecost.     "  And  Jesus  approaching,  spoke  to  them,  and 
 
 ig'      said  :  all  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.     Going  therefore  into  the 
 
 Mark  16.  whole  world,  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  that  is,  to  all  mankind,  as  beintr, 
 
 notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  nations  and  of  tongues,  the  work  of  the  same  God, 
 
 and  created  for  one  and  the  same  end,  viz.  that  of  enjoying  eternal  happiness  ;  and 
 
 Matt.  28.  moreover,  redeemed  by  the  same  price  of  Christ's  precious  blood.     "  Teach  ye  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  I  have  commanded  you." 
 
 Christ  here,  in  a  few  words,  describes  the  functions  of  the  apostleship  under  three 
 
 heads.    Of  these,  the  first  is  preaching  ;  the  second  is  the  administration  of  baptism, 
 
 under  which  term  is  comprised  the  power  of  a,dministering  all  the  other  sacraments  ; 
 
 the  third  is.  the  duty  of  instructing  the  faithful  in  all  proper  rules  of  conduct  as  to  their 
 
 life  and  manners.     He  requires  them  to  teach  mankind  both  by  words  and  example, 
 
 to  observe  all  the  precepts  which  he  had  dictated,  and  to  do  all  things  enjoined  by 
 
 the  gospel  as  necessary  for  eternal  life.     Under  this  head  is  comprised  the  power  of 
 
 establishing  ecclesiastical  laws  and  ordinances,  and  of  enforcing  the  observance  of 
 
 them  by  spiritual  censures. 
 
 Christ  next  points  out  the  happiness  of  those  who  shall  believe  in  him  by  their 
 ministry,  and  the  misery  of  those  who  remain  in  their  infidelity  ;  likewise  the  various 
 gratuitous  and  extraordinary  favours  to  be  imparted  to  the  faithful  in  the  infiincy  of 
 the  Church,  with  a  view  to  draw  unbelievers  to  its  standard,  which  in  subsequent 
 ages  were  more  sparingly  bestowed,  and  only  upon  those  whom  God  was  pleased  to 
 distinguish  for  their  extraordinary  sanctity. 
 
 *   Viz.   by  James  the  Less,  the  brother  of  our     Thninas  observes,  in  reward  of  his  great  love  and 
 Lord,  and  bishop  of  Jerusalem.     Our  Blessed  Sa-     aflection. 
 viour  jirobably    showed    him    this   favour,   as    St. 
 
CIi.  CXLIX.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  461 
 
 Over  and  above  these  marks  of  his  favour,  he  adds  a  most  solemn  promise  to  his 
 Church  in  the  persons  of  his  Apostles,  of  abiding  visibly  with  it  to  the  end  of  time, 
 by  a  presence  which  will  show  itself  in  a  constant  protection  and  support,  by  the  pre- 
 sence of  his  Spirit  in  a  constant  guidance  of  his  Church,  and  even  by  a  corporal 
 presence  in  the  adorable  sacrament  of  the  altar.  This  solemn  promise  necessarily 
 implies  the  perpetuity  and  visibility  of  his  Church  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
 
 "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,"  says  Christ,   "  shall  be  saved :    but  he  ^^^rk  16. 
 that  believeth  not,  shall  be  condemned.     And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that      17* 
 believe.     In  my  name  they  shall  cast  out  devils :  they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues," 
 which  they  never  learned:  "they  shall  take  up  serpents/'  without  any  prejudice; 
 "  and  if  they  shall  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them  :  they  shall  lay 
 their  hands  upon  the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover.*     And  behold  I  am  with  you/'  Matt.  28. 
 and  your  successors,  "  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.f     And  a^^j"']'  4 
 eating  together  with  them,;];  he  commanded  them  that  they  should  not      3    j,^^    ^^^ 
 depart  from  Jerusalem,§  but  should  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father,  7nise  of  sending 
 which  you  have  heard/'  saith  he,  "  by  my  mouth.     For  John  indeed  the  Holy  Ghost.      ^ 
 baptized  with  water,  but  you  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  not  many  days 
 hence,"  that  is,  cleansed  and  sanctified  by  the  plentiful  graces  he  shall  pour  upon 
 you.     "  And  he  said  to  diem  :  these  are  the  v.ords  that  I  spoke  to  you,  when  I  was  Lul<e  24. 
 yet  with  you,  that  all  things  must  needs  be  fuUilled  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
 Moses,  and  in  the  Prophets,  and  Psalms  concerning  me.   Then  he  opened  their  mindsjl      -i^. 
 that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures,"  pointing  out  such  particular  texts  as 
 related  to  himself    What  enlarged  views,  may  we  suppose,  now  presented  themselves 
 to  their  understandings,  relative  to  God's  infinite  love  and  wisdom  in  the  redemption 
 of  man  through  Jesus  Christ.     Their  eyes,  which  before  rested  in  the  letter,  unable 
 to  see  aught  but  the  typic  histories,  now  saw  through  them,  and  felt  their  spiril,  like 
 a  new-born  day,  breaking  in   upon   their  hearts,  showing  Christ  unto  them,   and 
 inflaming  them  with  his  love.     "  And  he  said  to  them  :  thus  it  is  written,  and  thus      46. 
 
 *  The  gospel  was  at  first  confirmed  by  miracles;  ration  of  some  parts  of  the  Old  Testament.     For 
 
 and   still  a  lively  faith  of  its  truths  will  produce  how  could  such  things  be  there  written  concerninaf 
 
 wonderful  effects.     It  puts  the  power  of  God  into  Christ    before-hand,   unless  the   writers   had   been 
 
 the  hands  of  men;    it  casts  out  the  devil  of  sin;  divinely  inspired  :   but  speaking:  generally  of  all  the 
 
 caiiseth   them   to   speak  the  language  of  heaven  ;  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  we  cannot 
 
 cures  the  corruption  and  venom  of  our  hearts,  and  be  fully  assured  of  their  divine  inspiration,  except 
 
 all  the  disorders  that  proceed  from  sin.  from  the  testimony  and  authority  of  the  Catholic 
 
 t   So   long,   therefore,  there  must   be  a   visible  Church,  whicli  was   founded  by   Christ,   and  ap- 
 
 Church,  under  the  protection  and  guidance  of  Christ  pointed  by  him  to  be  our  guide  in  spiritual  matters, 
 
 its  invisible  head.  St.  Augustin,  one  of  the  most   sublime  and   acute 
 
 J  In  some  Greek  copies,  being  assembled  together,  geniuses  that  ever  existed,  declares  that  he  tfou/d 
 
 §  Without  this  positive  command,  the  Apostles  not  believe  the  gospels  themselves,  unless  the  authority 
 
 would  by  no   means  have   chosen   to  continue  at  of  the  Church  compelled  him  to  it.   (Cont.   Epis. 
 
 Jerusalem,  now  reeking  with  the   blood   of  their  Fund.  c.  4.)  This  authority  of  the  Church  is  often 
 
 divine  Master.     But  Jerusalem  is  the  place  chosen  strangely  misrepresented  by  Protestants,  as  if  we 
 
 by  Christ  for  the  pouring  forth  of  his  holy  spirit  considered  it  equal  to  the  authority  of  God  himself, 
 
 upon  his  Apostles,  because  there  was  the  greatest  The  truth  is,  wc  make  an  infinite  difference  between 
 
 company  of  spectators  to  bear  witness  to  so  extra-  the  authority  of  God,  who  alone  makes  anicles  of 
 
 ordinary  an  event ;  and  as  ttere  had  been  the  scenes  faith  by  revealing  them,  and  tlie  authority  of  the 
 
 of  his  greatest  humiliations,  so  he  was  pleased  to  Church,  commissioned  by  him  to  declare  and  make 
 
 show  forth  there  liis  power  and  glory.  them  known  to  the  faithlul. 
 
 II  These  words  of  Christ  evince  the  divine  inspi- 
 
 39.  6  b 
 
^g2  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CL. 
 
 47.  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer  and  to  rise  again  from  the  dead  tlie  third  day  ;  and  that 
 penance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name,  among-  all  nations, 
 
 48.  beo-innino-  at  Jerusalem.     And  you  are  witnesses  of  these  things;  and"  in  order 
 
 49.  that  you  may  have  courage  to  publish  them,  "  I  will  send  the  promise  of  my  Father 
 upon  you  :  but  stay  you  in  the  city  till  you  be  endued  with"  this  "  power  from  above. 
 
 Acts  1.6.  Now  they  who  were  met  together,"  still  prepossessed  with  the  notion  which  they  had 
 lono-  entertained  of  the  temporal  kingdom  of  Israel,  "  asked  of  him,  saying:   Lord, 
 
 7.  wilt  thou  at  this  time  re-establish  the  kingdom  of  Israel  ?  And  he  said  to  them," 
 checkino-  their  inordinate  curiosity  :  "  it  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  moments 
 
 8.  Avhich  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power.  But  you  shall  receive  the  power  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  coming  upon  you,  and  you  shall  be  witnesses  to  me"  of  my  doctrine,  of 
 my  divinity,  of  my  incarnation  and  resurrection  "  in  Jerusalem/  and  in  all  Judea,  and 
 Samaria,  and  even  to  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth." 
 
 CHAPTER  CL. 
 
 THE  ASCENSION  OF  JESUS  INTO  HEAVEN.      MARK  XVI.      UJKE  XXIV.      JOHN  XXI. 
 
 ACTS  I. 
 
 We  now  come  to  the  conclusion  of  the  evangelical  history,  which  terminates  with  the 
 ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  into  heaven.     He  had  finished  the  work  for  which  he  came 
 down  from  heaven  and  dwelt  among  us.     He  had  enlightened  the  world  by  his  doc- 
 trine, and  redeemed  it  by  his  death  :  by  his  miracles  he  had  confirmed  the  truth  of  his 
 revealed  religion  ;  he  had  established  his  Church  which  he  commands  us  to  hear  ; 
 he  had  promised  to  assist  this  Church  with  the  spirit  of  truth,  to  the  end  of  ages  ;  he 
 had  appointed  his  vicar  as  an  universal  pastor,  to  preside  over  the  Church  in  his 
 name,  and  to  feed  his  flock,  both  sheep  and  lambs,  in  his  absence ;  nothing  more 
 remained  than  to  take  possession  of  that  seat  of  bliss  which  he  had  merited  for  his  own 
 sacred  humanity  and  for  us.     Therefore,  on  the  fortieth  day  after  his  resurrection 
 Luke  -24.  from  the  dead,  "  he  led"  his  disciples  "  as  far  as  Bethania,"*  at  the  foot  of  mount 
 .,  ^^-      Olivet,  about  fifteen  furlongs  from  Jerusalem  ;  "  and  after  he  had  spoken  to  them,"t 
 '  19.      and  given  them  his  last  instructions,  "  while  they  looked  on,  was  raised  up  into 
 Actsl.9.  j,gjjyg„^  and  lifting  up  his  hands  he  blessed  them,  and  it  came  to  pass  whilst  he 
 
 *  Bethania  stood  on  the  remotest  part  of  mount  tin(e,  1.  2.  p.  449,  and  1.  1.  c.  52.  p.  337.  Beth- 
 Olivet,  toward  the  botlnm  on  the  descent.  The  phage  and  Bethania  were  two  villag-es  situated  or. 
 mountain  itself,  or  its  summit,  was  a  Sabbath  day's  the  ascent  of  mount  Olivet:  the  former  was  nearer 
 journey  from  the  city,  which  seems  to  have  admit-  the  city,  and  belon^jed  to  the  priests.  See  chap, 
 ted  some  latitude  in  different  places,  but  to  have  109,  in  the  note  on  Matt.  xxi.  1. 
 generallv  been  about  eight  furlongs,  or  one  of  our  t  Eusebius,  in  h.is  life  of  Constantine  (1.  3.  c. 
 measured  miles.  Josephus  (de  Bell.  Jud.  1.  5.  c.  43.)  mentions  it  as  a  tradition  amongst  the  j)i  imi- 
 8.)  counts  only  six  furlongs  from  moimt  Olivet  to  tive  Christians,  that  Christ  gave  the  holy  myste- 
 the  city,  but  must  speak  of  its  first  ascent,  or  its  ries  to  his  disciples  in  a  cave  on  the  mountain, 
 foot  toward  the  city.     See  Reland  de  locis  Pales-  before  he  ascended  into  heaven. 
 
Ch.  CL.] 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 blessed  them,  that  he  departed  from  them,*  and  was"  by  his  own  power,  gradually 
 "  carried  up  into  heaven,"  about  mid-day,t  as  we  learn  from  tradition  :J  "  and  a" 
 bright  "  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight."  This  cloud  was  expressive  of  glory, 
 and  by  it  we  may  understand  the  attendance  of  angels  who  received  and  accompa- 
 nied him  to  heaven. §  "  And  he  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God"  the  Father,|| 
 being,  as  he  always  was,  and  ever  will  be,  the  same  consubstantial  and  co-eternal 
 God  with  him  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  one  and  the  same  divine  nature,  and  at  the 
 same  time  our  Advocate,  our  High  Priest  and  Mediator,  as  man.  "  And  while  they 
 were"  attentively  "  beholding  him  going  up  to  heaven,  behold  two  men  stood  by 
 them  in  white  garments.  Who  also  said  :  ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  you  looking 
 up  to  heaven,"  in  astonishment  at  this  stupendous  miracle  never  before  seen  ?  "  This 
 Jesus  who  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven  shall  so  come,  as  you  have  seen  him 
 going  into  heaven  ;"  thus  giving  them  a  positive  assurance  of  his  second  coming, 
 viz.  at  the  last  day,  tojudge  the  living  and  the  dead.*[     And  the  Apostles  "  having 
 
 463 
 
 Mark  16. 
 
 19. 
 Luke  24 
 
 50. 
 
 Mark  16. 
 20. 
 
 Acts  1. 10. 
 11. 
 
 Luke  24. 
 52. 
 
 ■»  Several  fathers  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  eighth,  and 
 all  succeeding'  ages,  and  modern  travellers,  assure 
 us  that  the  prints  of  Christ's  feet  remain  in  the  liard 
 rock  in  the  place  where  he  last  stood  on  earth,  and 
 have  ever  been  devoutly  visited  by  pious  pilgrims, 
 at  least  ever  since  the  fourth  century.  "  There  re- 
 main the  prints  of  his  footsteps,"  says  St.  Austin ; 
 "  they  are  now  adored  where  he  stood  last  on 
 earth,  on  the  spot  whence  he  ascended  into  heaven." 
 The  same  is  affirmed  by  St.  Optatus,  1.  6.  p.  55. 
 St.  Paulinas,  Ep.  31.  ad  Sever.  St.  Sulpicius 
 Severus,  I.  2.  c.  48.  p.  152. ;  the  ancient  and  accu- 
 rate author  of  the  book  07i  the  Hebrew  places  among 
 the  works  of  St.  Jerom,  Bede,  (1.  de  Locis  Sanctis,) 
 and  modern  travellers,  quoted  by  Roswoide,  (not 
 in  St.  Paulin.,)  Muratori,  (ib.)  Tillemont,  (t.  i.  p. 
 54,)  &c.  Hence,  Casaubon,  (Exer.  16.  in  Bar.)  a 
 learned  Protestant  critic,  calls  it  a  wonder  well 
 deserving  credit.  St.  Paulinus  and  St.  Sulpicius 
 Severus  tell  us  the  spot  could  never  be  covered 
 with  any  pavement,  though  this  had  often  been 
 attempted :  also,  that  no  violence  had  been  able 
 to  efface  these  vestiges.  This  will  appear  the  more 
 wonderful,  if  we  consider  that  the  Roman  army, 
 v-hen  Titus  besieged  the  city,  was  encamped  upon 
 mount  Olivet,  and  that  the  empress  Helena  built  a 
 ehurch  upon  this  very  spot,  as  Eusebius  relates. 
 Thus  was  literally  accomplislied  that  prophecy  of 
 Zachary  xiv.  4.  His  feet  shall  stand  ii.i  that  day 
 vpon  the  mount  of  Olives,  which  is  over  against 
 Jerusalem  toward  the  east. 
 
 A  learned  modern  critic  pretends  to  prove,  from 
 the  authorities  of  the  prophets  and  the  fathers,  that 
 Christ  ascended  towards  the  cast,  and  that  h's 
 coming  ag-ain  will  be  in  like  manner  from  the  east. 
 See  Mr.  Gregory's  notes  under  this  titk  ;  Oriens 
 nomen  ejus.  But  it  is-  not  clear,  tliat  the  east,  or 
 the  rising  sun,  is  not  applied  to  Christ  in  a  meta- 
 phorical sense.  Moreover,  those  who  have  visited 
 the  holy  places  affirm,  that  the  prints  of  Christ's 
 feel  are  turned  towards  the  west,  and  therefore 
 Christ,  in  ascending   up  to  heaven,  must  have  re- 
 
 garded not  the  east,  but  the  west,  viz.  the  favoured 
 nations  of  Europe, 
 t  Fifth  of  May. 
 
 I  Apostolical  Constit.  I.  5.  c.  19. 
 
 §  Thus,  I  will  appear  in  the  cloud,  Lev.  xvi.  2. 
 means  from  between  the  two  cherubims.  Ex.  xxv. 
 22.  See  Interpreters. — St.  Mark,  chap.  xvi.  ver. 
 14,  19.  mentions  only  the  Apostles  as  witnesses  of 
 Christ's  ascension  ;  it  is,  however,  most  probable 
 that  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  likewise  present  on 
 this  occasion,  as  well  as  others  mentioned  in  Acts 
 i.  14. 
 
 II  By  these  words  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that 
 Jesus  is  confined  to  that  particular  posture  of  his 
 body,  or  that  the  Father  has  any  hands  or  any 
 human  shape;  for  God  is  a  pure  incorporeal  and 
 all  perfect  spirit.  The  image  of  God,  as  he  is  in 
 himself,  comes  not  within  the  reach  of  our  mortal 
 senses.  When  the  Scripture,  therefore,  speaks  of 
 God,  it  uses  such  an  imagery  of  language  as  is 
 adapted  to  our  senses,  that  it  may  thereby  convey 
 to  us  some  imperfect  knowledge  of  those  sublime 
 mysteries  which  are  ineffable  in  themselves  and  in- 
 comprehensible to  our  weak  understanding.  Thus 
 we  are  informed  that  Jesus  Christ  sits  at  the  right 
 hand  of  God  the  Fatlier  Almightj',  to  signify,  that, 
 as  man,  our  Lord  is  raised  to  that  heiglit  of 
 glory,  and  to  that  supreme  beatitude,  than  which 
 there  is  nothing  higher  and  nothing  greater  in  the 
 whole  bliss  of  heaven  ;  and  that  he  moreover  holds 
 the  same  sovereign  dominion  with  the  Father  over 
 all  creatures ;  because,  as  God,  he  is  equal  to  the 
 Father  in  power,  in  wisdom,  and  in  all  perfection. 
 See  Ponget,  p.  256.  ed.  in  fbl. 
 
 %  It  is  highly  probable  that  his  descent  will  be 
 in  tliis  very  place  from  whence  he  ascended,  as 
 appe  irs  from  the  last  chapter  of  Zachary,  ver.  3,  4, 
 5.  where  it  is  s-iid :  the  Lord  shall  come,  and  all 
 the  saints  with  him,  and  shall  Jight  against  the 
 7ia(ions,  and  his  feet  shall  stand  upon  the  mount  of 
 Olives,  which  in  before  Jerusalem  and  the  valley  of 
 Jehosophat  on  the  east,     i'his  mountain,  it  is  said. 
 
464  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CLL 
 
 adored"  Jesus,  "  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joy,"  as  well  for  the  incomparable 
 g-lory  conferred  on  their  divine  Master,  as  also  for  his  promised  return  to  make  tiram 
 partakers  of  it ;  which  perhaps  they  apprehended  much  nearer  at  hand  than  it  really 
 Actsl.12.  was.     So  they  went  back  cheerfully  "  from  the  mount  that  is  called  Olivet,  which  is 
 nigh  Jerusalem  within  a  Sabbath's  journey,"  or  about  one  of  our  measured  miles  : 
 Lulce  24.  "  and  they  were  constantly  in  the  temple  praismg  and  blessing  God.    Amen.      But" 
 M— f  16  ^^^^^  receiving  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  they  going  forth  preached  every  where,  the  Lord 
 20.    '  working  withal/'  in  an  invisible  manner  by  his  grace,  "  and'-'  exteriorly  by  "  con- 
 John  21.  firming  the  word  with  miracles  that  followed.*     But  there  are  also  many  other"  won- 
 ^^-      derful  "  things  that  Jesus  did"  upon  earth,  "  which  if  they  were  written  in  particular, 
 the  world  itself,  I  think,  would  not  be  able  to  contain  the  books  that  should  be 
 written."     This  hyperbolical  expression,  not  unusual  in  holy  Scripture,  signifies  that 
 a  very  great  number  of  things  which  Christ  said  and  did  have  not  been  recorded  ia 
 the  gospel.     It  may,  perhaps,  likewise  denote,  that  the  limited  understanding  of 
 mankind  would  not  be  able  to  embrace  or  comprehend  so  extensive  a  recital  as  the 
 several  wonders,  performed  by  our  Blessed  Redeemer,  would  necessarily  require. f 
 This  is  an  abridgment  of  what  the  Son  of  God  incarnate  has  done  and  suffered  in 
 order  to  deliver  us  from  sin  and  hell,  and  teach  us  the  way  to  everlasting  happiness. 
 It  only  remains  that  we  co-operate  on  our  part  with  his  merciful  designs,  and  show 
 ourselves  to  be  his  true  followers,  by  walking  in  that  way  which  he  has  pointed  out 
 to  us  by  his  own  example,  as  well  as  by  his  heavenly  doctrine.     Wherefore,  deni/- 
 ing  imgodlijiess  and  worldly  desires,  we  shoidd  live  soberly,  and  justly,  and  godly  in  this 
 world,  looking  for  the  blessed  hope  and  coming  of  the  glory  of  the  great  God  and  our 
 Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all 
 iniquity,  and  might  cleanse  to  himself  a  people  acceptable,  a  pursuer  of  good  ivorh.'l 
 
 CHAPTER  CLI. 
 
 THE  GLORIOUS  LIFE  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  IN  HEAVEN. 
 
 It  is  a  great  subject  of  consolation  to  reflect,  that  the  same  glorious  life  into  which 
 Jesus  entered  by  his  ascension,  is  destined  also  for  his  followers.^  For  he  acquainted 
 his  Apostles,  that  he  v.ent  to  prepare  a  place  for  them ;  and  St.  Paul  assures  us,]] 
 
 shall  be  divided  in   the  midst  by  a  terrible  earth-  was  first  the  theatre  of  his  sufferings  and  igno- 
 
 quake,  like  to  that  in  the  time  of  Ozias,  to  make  as  minies  ? 
 
 it  were  a  plain  and  level  way  through  it  for  the  *  For  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  establish- 
 
 concourse  of  the  multitudes  thither.     See  Zachary  ment  of  Christianity,  see  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
 
 xiv.  4,  5,  &c.  Joel  iii.  J 1,  12,  &o.  where  it  is  like-  and  Fleury's  Church  History. 
 
 wise   said,  that  the  Lord  will  come  down  with  his  t  St.  Austin  in  Joan.  trac.  124. 
 
 mighty  ones,  and  will  gather  all  nations  and  bring  J  Ep.  to  Titus,  ch.  ii.  12. 
 
 them  down  to  the  valley  of  Jehosophat,  and  that  §  Life  of  Christ,  translated  from  the  French,  and 
 
 there  he   will   sit  to  judge   them  ail  round  about,  printed  in  liie  year  1739. 
 
 In  effect,  what   place   more   proper  than  this  for  ||  Heb,  vi.  19,  20. 
 
 the  triumph  and  glory   of  our   Lord,   seeing    it 
 
Ch.  CLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  405 
 
 that  for  us  he  entered  heaven  as  our  forerunner,  that  we  may  follow  him  from  this 
 time  forward  by  hope,  and  that  this  hope  is  to  serve  us  as  a  strong^  and  sure  anchor 
 in  the  various  agitations  of  this  mortal  life. 
 
 As  for  the  life  which  Jesus  Christ  enjoys  in  heaven,  although  the  Gospel  repre- 
 sents him  as  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  in  order  to  express  that  happy  state  of 
 perfect  rest  which,  as  man,  he  enjoys  in  the  highest  place  of  heaven,  yet  this  rest  is 
 no  impediment  to  his  interesting  himself  in  our  behalf  In  effect,  as  he  came  upon 
 earth,  not  only  to  merit  the  glory  of  his  sacred  humanity,  but  likewise  to  work  the 
 salvation  of  all  true  believers  ;  if  at  present  there  be  nothing  more  for  him  to  do  here 
 on  earth,  he  has  still  to  act  for  the  salvation  of  his  saints,  till  all  of  them  are  entered 
 into  the  participation  of  his  glory.  In  heaven,  therefore,  he  finishes  this  great  work 
 of  man's  redemption,  which  he  began  on  earth.  Though  he  be  in  heaven,  he  is  still 
 the  head  of  the  Church  here  on  earth,  as  the  Apostle  calls  him,*  and  in  this  quality 
 he  governs  her  by  the  pastors  he  gives  her  ;  enlightens  her  by  his  doctors  ;  sanctifies 
 her  by  his  sacraments  ;  protects  her  by  the  succours  of  his  grace,  and  gives  her  life 
 by  his  spirit. 
 
 It  is  there  that  he  prays  incessantly  for  us,  and  as  our  Advocate]'  pleads  our  cause 
 before  his  Father ;  as  our  Mediator  he  offers  him  our  prayers,  and  obtains  for  us 
 those  graces  which  we  ask  ;  and  as  our  High  Priest  and  Victim  offers  daily  that  same 
 blood  which  he  once  shed  on  the  cross  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Hence  St. 
 John|  beheld  him  in  heaven  under  the  figure  of  a  lamb  slain,  and  laid  on  the  altar 
 which  is  before  the  throne  of  God.  He  is  there  as  on  a  throne  of  grace  and  mercy, 
 that  we  may  have  recourse  to  him  for  seasonable  aid,  and  may  obtain  the  remission 
 of  our  sins,  before  he  appears  on  the  throne  of  his  justice,  to  judge  the  world.§ 
 
 In  fine,  it  is  from  heaven  that  he  calls  upon  us  to  contemplate  that  glory  which  by 
 the  shedding  of  his  blood  he  has  merited  for  himself  and  for  us  ;  and  he  desires  that 
 the  view  of  those  eternal  goods  which  he  has  prepared  for  us,  should  give  us  a  con- 
 tempt of  all  earthly  things,  and  should  incite  us  to  follow  him  in  the  way  he  has  traced 
 out  for  us  both  by  his  doctrine  and  holy  example.  To  this  effect,  St.  Paul,  in  his 
 Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, j)  makes  the  following  exhortation,  which  expresses  the 
 advantage  we  ought  to  make  of  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 
 "  Having  therefore,  brethren,  a  confidence  of  entering  into  the  heavenly  sanctuary 
 by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  in  following  this  new  way  which  he  has  traced  out  for  us  in 
 his  own  flesh  ;  and  having  a  high-priest  established  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us 
 draw  near  with  a  true  heart,  in  the  full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts  sprinkled 
 from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies  washed  with  the  clean  water"  of  baptism. 
 "  Let  us  continue  firm  and  immovable  in  our  faith,  and  in  the  hope  of  that  glory 
 which  he  has  promised  us,  since  he  is  faithful  in  his  promises.  And  that  we  may 
 deserve  it,  let  us  consider  one  another  to  provoke  unto  charity  and  to  good  works, 
 and  so  much  the  more,  as  you  see  the  last  day  approaching.  For  if  we  sin  wilfully, 
 after  having  received  the  knowledge  of  truth,  what  can  we  expect  but  a  terrible  judg- 
 
 *  Ephes.  i.  20.  and  iv.  13.  §  Heb.  iv.  16. 
 
 t  1  Jo.  ii.  1.  II  Heb.  X.  19,  &e. 
 
 t  Apoc.  V.  6. 
 
 40.  •  6  c 
 
.466 
 
 THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  [Ch.  CLL 
 
 ment,  and  the  rag-e  of  that  avenging-  fire  which  shall  consume  the  adversaries  of  God? 
 A  man  who  had  broken  the  law  of  Moses,  was  without  mercy  condemned  to  die :  how 
 much  more  do  you  think  will  he  deserve  punishments  in  the  new  law,  who  hath 
 trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  esteemed  the  blood  ot  the  covenant 
 unclean  with  which  he  was  sanctified"  in  baptism,  "  and  who  hath  oflfered  an  affront 
 to  the  spirit  of  grace  ?  For  we  know  who  hath  said  :  vengeance  belongeth  to  me, 
 and  I  will  repay.  It  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  l\xll  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."* 
 Conclu-  This  living  God  of  whom  St.  Paul  speaks,  is  the  very  same  person  whom  we  have 
 *'°'^-  seen  in  this  history  dying  on  the  cross  for  the  salvation  of  men.  He  was  judged ; 
 but  he  will  judge  in  his  turn,  and  judge  us  both  respecting  the  instructions  which  he 
 has  given  us,  and  the  examples  which  he  has  left  us  in  his  mortal  life.  He  lived 
 subject  to  our  miseries,  and  suffered  death,  which  was  the  punishment  of  sin  ;  but  he 
 rose  again  glorified,  and  entered  into  the  possession  of  eternal  happiness.  He  was 
 first  what  we  are,  that  we  may  one  day  be  what  he  is.  If  we  imitate  his  life  and 
 death,  we  shall  follow  him  in  his  resurrection  and  glory.  But  we  must  not  pretend 
 to  the  happiness  which  he  now  enjoys,  unless  we  merit  it  as  he  did,  and  unless  we 
 walk  in  the  same  way  in  which  he  walked  to  arrive  at  it. 
 
 If,  on  the  contrary,  we  neglect  to  obey  his  laws,  and  to  imitate  his  actions,  we  not 
 only  renounce  tlie  glory  to  which  he  calls  us,  but  moreover  consign  ourselves  to  ever- 
 lasting torments.  For  there  are  but  two  ways  ;  one  which  leads  to  life,  and  the 
 other  to  death  ;  and  whoever  is  not  in  the  first,  by  a  necessary  consequence  walks  in 
 the  last. 
 
 Jesus  Christ  is  himself  the  way  that  leads  to  heaven  ;  and  we  walk  by  him  when 
 we  practise  the  truths  which  he  has  taught,  and  make  his  life  the  model  of  ours.  To 
 live  otherwise  than  he  lived,  is  not  to  follow  him,  but  to  go  astray  and  lose  ourselves. 
 This  is  a  point  of  the  utmost  importance,  which  is  generally  too  little  considered. 
 Men  examine  not  the  way  they  tread,  but  still  pursue  it,  and  at  the  end  of  their 
 course  they  find  themselves  ingulphed  in  the  precipice,  because  they  have  followed 
 the  track  which  leads  to  it. 
 
 To  prevent  so  dreadful  a  misfortune.  Christians  can  do  nothing  more  important  to 
 their  salvation,  than  to  meditate  continually  on  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  considering  it 
 as  a  glass  in  which  they  are  to  discover  their  defects  and  blemishes.  They  must  con- 
 sider Jesus  Christ  on  earth  as  their  guide  and  their  light,  comparing  what  they  do 
 with  what  he  did  and  taught ;  and  must  confess  they  are  in  darkness  and  out  of  the 
 way,  when  their  conduct  bears  not  a  due  conformity  to  his  example  or  his  precepts. 
 They  must  consider  him  in  heaven  as  the  end  to  which  they  ought  continually  to 
 aspire,  in  order  that,  amidst  the  fatigues  and  difficulties  of  the  narrow  way,  they  may 
 be  animated  by  tlie  prospect  of  the  glory  which  he  has  promised.  Finally,  they  must 
 think  continually  on  his  first  and  second  coming.  The  first  has  taught  them  the  pre- 
 paration which  they  ought  to  make  for  the  second,  since  in  the  latter  they  will  be 
 judged  by  the  instructions  given  them  in  the  former.     No  plea  shall  be  then  allowed 
 
 *  See  the  Author's  "  Explanation  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,"  which  may  be  considered 
 as  an  appendix  to  the  present  work. 
 
Ch.  CLI.]  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  467 
 
 from  the  customs,  examples,  and  false  notions  of  the  world,  by  a  Judge  who  has 
 forewarned  them  that  he  will  judge  them  by  the  doctrine  which  himself  has  taught, 
 and  by  the  life  he  led  and  proposed  as  the  model  of  theirs. 
 
 To  appear  therefore  with  confidence  before  him  in  that  great  day  when  he  shall 
 judge  all  men,  let  us  listen  to  the  admonition  given  us  by  his  beloved  disciple.  "  And 
 now  little  children  abide  in  him,  that  when  he  shall  appear  we  may  have  confidence, 
 and  not  be  confounded  by  him  at  his  coming."*  And  to  know  what  it  is  to  abide  in 
 Jesns  Christ,  let  us  seriously  consider  these  other  words  of  the  same  St.  John  :  "  He 
 that  says  he  abides  in  Jesus  Christ,  ought  himself  to  walk  even  as  he  has  walked."! 
 
 *  1  John  ii.  2S.  t  1  John  ii.  6. 
 
 END  OF  THE  SIXTH   AND  LAST  PART. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER  I. 
 
 ON  THE  INSTRUMENTS  OF  CHRIST's  PASSION  AND  DEATH. 
 
 As  the  sacred  passion  of  Christ  is  the  source  of  all  oiir  happiness  and  good,  so  the 
 instruments  of  it  are  justly  considered  as  objects  of  our  respect  ana  veneration.  "  If 
 the  ark,"  says  St.  Jerom,  "  was  held  in  such  high  veneration  among  the  Jews,  how 
 much  more  ought  Christians  to  respect  the  wood  of  tlie  cross,  whereon  our  Saviour 
 offered  himself  a  bleeding  victim  for  our  sins."  By  devoutly  respecting  the  instru- 
 ments of  Christ's  passion,  we  profess  our  faith  in  him  who  suffered  for  us,  we  excite 
 our  hope  in  his  merits  enkindle  his  love  in  our  breasts,  and  renew  the  grateful  remem- 
 brance of  his  death.  We  shall,  therefore,  subjoin  the  following  account  respecting^ 
 these  sacred  instruments,  by  which  our  Redeemer  triumphed  over  sin  and  the  devil, 
 and  purchased  for  us  mercy,  grace,  and  salvation. 
 
 1.   The  Pillar  at  lohich  our  Lord  icas  scourged* 
 
 This  was  anciently  kept  at  Jerusalem  with  other  holy  relics  on  mount  Sion,  as 
 mentioned  by  St.  Gregory  of  Toin-s,f  venerable  Bede,:j:  St.  Prudentius,§  and  St. 
 Jerom. II  It  remained  in  the  same  place  till  the  thirteenth  century,  when  it  was 
 brought  to  Rome  by  Cardinal  John  Columna,  Apostolic  Legate  in  the  East,  under 
 Pope  Honorius  III.  anno  1213.  It  was  placed  in  a  little  chapel  in  the  church  of 
 St.  Praxedes,  and  is  still  shown  there  through  iron  rails.  The  pillar  is  of  grey,  or 
 black  and  white  marble,  one  foot  and  a  half  long,  or  two  Italian  feet,  and  one  foot 
 diameter  at  the  bottom,  and  eight  inches  at  the  top,  where  is  an  iron  ring  to  which 
 criminals  were  tied.  Some  think  it  only  the  upper  part  of  the  pillar,  mentioned 
 by  St.  Jerom  ;  but  others,  with  more  probability,  maintain  it  to  be  entire,  as  there 
 appear  no  marks  of  a  fracture.  The  Jews  scourged  criminals  first  on  the  back  ;  then 
 often  on  the  belly,  and  also  on  both  sides  :  which  seems  likewise  to  have  been  the- 
 Roman  custom. 
 
 *  We  here  transcribe  from  Mr.  Butler,  as  his  J  In  Liicum,  c.  23. 
 
 account  coincides  with  that  of  Sandinus  and  others.  §  In  Eiichir. 
 
 t  L.  i.  de  glor.  mart.  c.  7.  |  Ep.  27. 
 
Ch.  I.] 
 
 APPENDIX.  469 
 
 2.  The.  Crown  of  Thorns. 
 
 What  kind  of  thorns  these  were,  is  a  question  amongst  the  learned  :*  they  were 
 platted  together  so  as  entirely  to  cover  the  top  of  Christ's  head,  like  a  cap,  and  not 
 merely  as  a  wreath  or  fillet  to  bind  the  temples  or  forehead.  St.  Bridgit  in  the  fourth 
 book  of  her  Revelations,  chap.  40.  says,  that  this  "  thorny  crown  was  pressed  down 
 upon  his  head,  reaching  to  the  middle  of  the  forehead."  It  was  given  by  the  Emperor 
 Baldwin  II.  to  St.  Lewis  as  to  his  cousin  and  great  benefactor,  when  the  city  of  Con- 
 stantinople was  no  longer  considered  as  a  place  of  security  against  the  Saracens  and 
 Greeks  ;  also  in  gratitude  for  his  extraordinary  contributions  to  the  defence  of  the 
 Eastern  empire  and  the  holy  places.  St.  Lewis  afterwards  in  requital  voluntarily 
 paid  off  a  loan  which  that  emperor  had  borrowed  of  the  Venetians.  William  of 
 Nangis,  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  and  other  French  historians  of  that  time,  relate  how 
 this  sacred  treasure  was,  with  great  devotion,  carried  in  a  sealed  case,  by  holy 
 religious  men,  by  the  way  of  Venice  into  France.  St.  Lewis,  with  the  Queen  mother, 
 his  brothers,  and  many  prelates  and  princes  met  it  five  leagues  beyond  Sens.  The 
 pious  king  and  Robert  of  Artois,  his  second  brother,  being  barefoot  and  in  their  shirts, 
 carried  it  into  that  city,  to  the  cathedral  of  St.  Stephen,  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
 procession  bathed  in  tears,  which  the  sentiments  of  gratitude  and  religion  drew  from 
 their  eyes.  It  was  thence  conveyed  to  Paris,  where  it  was  received  with  extraordi- 
 nary solemnity.  St.  Lewis  built  for  its  reception  the  holy  chapel  as  it  is  called,  and 
 annexed  thereto  a  rich  foundation  of  a  chapter  of  canons.  Some  thorns  have  been 
 distributed  from  this  treasure  to  other  churches,  and  some  have  been  made  in 
 imitation  of  them.     They  are  for  the  most  part  very  long. 
 
 3.  The,  Form  of  our  Saviour  s  Cross. 
 To  understand  the  form  of  our  Redeemer's  cross,  we  must  observe,  that  there  are 
 some  crosses  that  have  only  three  extremities,  in  the  shape  of  a  Roman  T,  or  crutch. 
 This  is  sometimes  called  St.  Anthony's  cross  ;  there  is  another  kind  of  cross,  which 
 is  called  St.  Andrew's  cross,  made  of  two  equal  pieces  of  wood,  obliquely  crossing  one 
 another  in  the  middle,  after  the  manner  of  a  Roman  X.  The  reason  why  this  is 
 termed  St.  Andrew's  cross,  is  because  he  is  said  to  have  been  crucified  on  a  cross  of 
 this  description.  The  third  kind  of  cross  is  this  t,  and  is  commonly  made  use  of  in 
 our  churches,  from  the  resemblance  it  is  supposed  to  have  with  the  cross  on  which 
 Christ  died,  I  know  indeed  that  St.  Jerom  and  Tertullian  seem  to  insinuate  that  this 
 cross  was  in  the  shape  of  the  Roman  T ;  but  they  must  be  understood  as  speaking  of 
 it  separated  from  the  title,  which  was  a  board  elevated  in  the  middle.  Hence  St. 
 Justin, t  St.  Irenaeus,|  and  others  mentioned  by  Gretzer,  speak  of  the  cross  as  having 
 four  ends  or  extremities ;  one  fixed  in  the  earth,  two  formed  by  the  cross  beams  to 
 which  his  arms  were  nailed,  and  the  fourth  raised  in  the  middle  by  the  title,  which 
 
 *   "  Corona  fuit  de  juncis  marinis  sicut  etiam  who    had    also    seen    ttie    crown    of    thorns    at 
 
 •vidimus  in  Thesauris  Reels  Francorum."     Diiran-  Paris. 
 
 dus   (in   Rationale   Off.  \  6.  c.  77.)   But   this    is  f  Dial,  cum  Tryphone,  §  91.  p.  188. 
 
 denied  bv  Martinus  de  Rio  (Lee.  9.  de  Pasiione)  J  L.  2.  adversus  Hareses,  c.  42. 
 
 40.    '  G  D 
 
470  APPENDIX.  [Cli.  r. 
 
 must  have  been  twelve  inches  long.*  This  seems  likewise  to  be  confirmed  by  what 
 St.  Paul  says  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  ch.  iii.  18.  when  he  describes  four 
 dimensions  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  viz.  its  breadth,  its  length,  its  height,  and  its  depth. 
 In  this  sense  St.  Austin  likewise  explains  it,  considering  the  height  to  be  that  piece 
 of  wood  which  is  elevated  above  the  transverse  beam  which  makes  its  breadth.'!" 
 
 It  is  dubious  of  what  kind  of  wood  the  cross  of  our  Saviour  was  formed.  According 
 to  Lipsius  and  Roeca  it  was  of  oak  ;  for  this  abounded  in  Judea,  and  the  particles  of 
 this  sacred  wood  which  have  been  cut  off  confirm  the  conjecture.  Gretzer  however 
 is  of  a  different  opinion. 
 
 Nothing  appears  in  the  ancient  fathers  to  ascertain  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
 holy  cross.     It  was  probably  of  the  usual  size,  and  such  as  was  prepared  for  persons 
 of  mean  rank.     For  otherwise  Christ  could  not  have  carried  it,  exhausted  as  he  was 
 '    with  the  loss  of  blood,  and  spent  with  fatigue  and  ill  treatment, 
 
 4.  The  Discorcri/  of  the  Cross 
 
 Is  kept  on  the  3d  of  May,  and  is  a  festival  in  memory  of  this  holy  cross  being  found 
 by  St.  Helen  in  the  year  326,  about  180  years  after  it  had  been  buried  by  the 
 Heathens.  For  out  of  an  aversion  to  Cliristianity,  they  had  done  all  in  their  power 
 to  conceal  the  place  where  it  lay,  and  where  our  Saviour  was  buried.  They  had 
 therefore  heaped  upon  his  sepulchre  a  great  quantity  of  stones  and  rubbish,  besides 
 buildiiio-  a  temple  to  Venus  ;  that  those  who  came  thither  to  adore  him,  might  seem 
 to  pay  their  worsliip  to  a  marble  idol  representing  this  hxhe  deity.  They  had,  more- 
 over, erected  a  statue  to  Jupiter  in  the  place  where  our  Saviour  rose  from  the  dead, 
 as  we  are  informed  by  St.  Jerom ;  which  figure  continued  there  from  the  Emperor 
 Adrian's  time  to  Constantine's  reign.  The  precautions  of  the  persecutors  evidently 
 show  the  veneration  which  Christians  must  have  paid  from  the  beginning  to  the 
 instruments  of  our  redemption.  Helena,  Constantine's  mother,  being  inspired  with  a 
 great  desire  to  find  the  identical  cross  on  which  Christ  had  suffered  for  our  sins,  came 
 to  Jerusalem,  and  consulted  all  those  whom  she  thought  likely  to  assist  her  in  com- 
 passing her  pious  design.  She  was  by  them  credibly  informed,  that  if  she  could  find 
 out  the  sepulchre,  she  would  likewise  find  out  the  instruments  of  the  punishment ;  it 
 being  always  a  custom  among  the  Jews  to  make  a  great  hole  near  the  place  where  the 
 body  of  the  criminal  was  buried,  and  to  throw  into  it  whatever  belonged  to  his 
 execution ;  looking  upon  all  these  things  as  detestable  objects,  and  which  for  that 
 reason  ought  to  be  removed  out  of  sight.  The  pious  Empress,  therefore,  ordered 
 the  profane  building  to  be  pulled  down,  the  statues  to  be  broken  in  pieces,  and  the 
 rubbish  to  be  removed  ;  and  upon  digging  to  a  great  depth,  they  discovered  the 
 holy  sepulchre,  and  near  it  three  crosses ;  also  the  nails  which  had  pierced  our 
 Saviour's  body,  and  the  title  which  had  been  affixed  to  his  cross.  'By  this  discovery  ' 
 they  understood  that  one  of  the  three  crosses  was  that  which  they  were  in  quest  of, 
 and  that  the  other  two  belonged  to  the  two  malefactors  between  whom  our  Saviour 
 had  beeii  crucified.     But  as  the  title  was  found  separate  from  the  cross,  a  difficulty 
 
 *  See  Lipsius  de  Cruce,  1.  3.  c.  14.  f  Ep.  147.  alias  133. 
 
Ch.  I.]  APPENDIX.  ^1 
 
 remained  to  distinf^uish  which  of  the  three  was  that  cross  on  which  our  divine 
 Redeemer  had  consummated  his  sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  In  this  per- 
 plexity, the  holy  Bishop  Macarius^  knowing  that  one  of  the  principal  ladies  of  the 
 city  lay  extremely  ill,  suggested  to  the  Empress  to  cause  the  three  crosses  to  be 
 carried  to  the  sick  person,  not  doubting  but  God  would  discover  which  was  the 
 cross  they  sought  for.  This  being  done,  St.  Mscarius  prayed  that  God  would 
 have  regard  to  their  faith,  and  after  his  prayer,  applied  the  crosses  singly  to  the 
 patient  who  was  immediately  and  perfectly  recovered  by  the  touch  of  one  of  the 
 crosses,  the  other  two  having  been  tried  without  effect.  St.  Helen,  full  of  joy  for 
 having  found  the  treasure  which  she  had  so  earnestly  sought,  and  so  highly  esteemed, 
 built  a  church  on  the  spot,  and  lodged  it  there  with  great  veneration,  having  provided 
 an  extraordinary  rich  case  for  it.  She  afterwards  carried  part  of  it  to  the  Emperor 
 Constantine,  then  at  Constantinople,  who  received  it  with  gi-eat  veneration  :*  another 
 part  she  sent,  or  rather  carried  to  Rome  to  be  placed  in  the  Church  which  she  built 
 there,  under  the  name  of  the  Koli/  Cross  of  tlenisakm,  where  it  remains  to  this  day. 
 The  title  was  sent  by  St.  Helen  to  the  same  church  in  Rome,  and  deposited  on  the 
 top  of  an  arch,  where  it  was  found  in  a  case  of  lead  in  1492,  as  may  be  read  at  leno-th 
 in  Bozius.f  The  inscription  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  is  in  red  letters,  and 
 the  wood  was  whitened.  Thus  it  was  in  1492,  but  these  colours  are  since  faded. 
 Also  the  words  Jesus  and  Jiulwornm  are  eaten  away  :  the  board  is  nine,  but  must  have 
 been  twelve  inches  long.  The  main  part  of  tlie  cross  St.  Helen  inclosed  in  a  silver 
 shrine,  and  committed  to  the  care  of  St.  Macarius,  that  it  might  be  delivered  down 
 to  posterity  as  an  object  of  veneration.  It  was  accordingly  kept  with  singular  respect 
 in  the  magnificent  church  which  she  and  her  son  built  at  Jerusalem,  and  was  shown 
 publicly  to  the  people  at  Easter.  This  stately  church  was  hence  called  the  Basilic 
 of  the  holy  Cross  ;  it  was  also-called  the  church  of  the  Sepulchre,  or  of  the  Resurrec- 
 tion, though  this  was  properly  the  title  only  of  the  holy  chapel  which  stood  over  the 
 sepulchre  or  cavern  in  which  our  Saviour  was  buried,  which  was  in  the  garden  adjoin- 
 ing to  mount  Calvary ;  so  that  tliis  great  church  covered  the  sepulchre,  and  was 
 extended  so  far  on  mount  Calvary  as  also  to  include  the  rock  Golgotha,  and  the  very 
 place  where  the  cross  of  Christ  stood  at  his  crucifixion.  This  extensive  buildino-  was 
 inclosed  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  when  that  city  was  rebuilt ^i  The  findino-  of 
 the  cross  by  St.  Helen  happened  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  326,  in  the  twenty-first  year 
 of  Constantine's  reign,  the  thirteenth  of  the  Pontificate  of  Sylvester,  and  the  first 
 after  the  Council  of  Nice. 
 
 5.  The  Nails. 
 
 As  to  the  Nails  with  whi:h  Christ  was  fastened  to  the  cross,  they  were  found  too-e- 
 
 *  It  »as  out  of  a  religious  respect  to  the  sacred  related  by  St.  Cyril  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Emperor 
 
 instrument  of  the  deatii  of  Christ,  that  Constan-  Constantius,  by  St.  Ambrose  in  his  funeral  oration 
 
 tine,   in   the   twentieth   year  of  his   reign,  forbade  on   the   death  of  Theodosius,  by  Rufinus,   1.  i.  St. 
 
 the  cross  to  be  used  in   the   punishment  of  male-  Chrysostom,  &c.  who  lived  in  the  same  aire.     It  is  « 
 
 factors  in   any  part  of  his   dominions,  which  has  therefore   strange   how  James   Basnage  could   so 
 
 been    observed    ever   since  throughout   all   Chris-  far  forget  them,  as  to  say  (hat  Gregory  of  Tours  is 
 
 tendom.  the  first  of  those  who  have  spoken  of  it.     Hist,  de 
 
 t  Tr.  de  Cruce,  1.  i.  c.  2.  Imp.  1.  6.  c.  14. 
 
 X  This  history  of  the  discovery  of  the  cross  is 
 
472 
 
 APPENDIX.  [Ch.  L 
 
 tlier  with  the  cross,  as  before  observed.  It  seeems  most  probable,  that  four  nails* 
 were  made  use  of  in  Christ's  crucifixion  ;  two  for  his  hands  and  two  for  his  feed, 
 thouo-h  some  pretend  that  the  latter  were  fastened  across  with  one.  The  Romans 
 fixed  little  broad  pieces  of  wood  on  the  crosses  of  malefactors  for  the  feet  to  rest 
 upon,  as  Pliny  mentions,  and  this  was  probably  observed  in  regard  to  our  Saviour's 
 cross.  One  of  these  nails  St.  Helen  threw  into  the  Adriatic  Sea,  to  lay  a  violent 
 storm  in  which  she  was  in  danger  of  perishing,  and  which,  according  to  St.  Gregory 
 of  Tours,  immediately  ceased.  Perhaps,  as  Gretzer  observes,  it  was  not  thrown  into 
 the  sea  irrecoverably,  but  only  held  under  water.  For  it  is  not  likely  that  St.  Helen 
 would  be  willing  totally  to  deprive  herself  and  others  of  so  great  a  treasure  ;  and  this 
 explanation  St.  Gregory  himself  seems  to  insinuate-!  St.  Ambrose  X  and  others 
 testify,  that  her  son  Constantine  the  Great,  fixed  another  nail  in  a  rich  diadem  of 
 pearls  which  he  wore  on  the  most  solemn  occasions  ;  and  that  for  a  protection  he  set  a 
 third  in  a  costly  bridle  which  he  used.  This  bridle,  and  the  sacred  nails,  were  pre- 
 served at  Constantinople  with  great  respect  till  550,  when  they  were  brought  to  Rome, 
 and  probably  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  who  was  then  legate  at  Constantinople,  to 
 Constantine  Tiberius  Augustus  ;  for  it  appears  that  he  returned  to  Rome  an.  580,  as 
 Baronius  shows,  loaden  with  gifts,  that  is,  with  sacred  relics.  Calvin  pretends  to 
 reckon  fourteen  or  fifteen  nails,  held  for  genuine ;  but  names  some  never  heard  of 
 but  by  himself.  Some  multiplication  §  of  these  nails  has  sprung  from  the  filings  of 
 that  precious  relic  put  into  other  nails  made  like  it.  The  true  nail,  kept  at  Rome, 
 in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Cross,  has  been  manifestly  filed,  and  is  now  without  a 
 point,  as  may  be  seen  in  all  pictures  of  it.  St.  Charles  Borroma3o,  a  prelate  most 
 rigorous  in  the  approbation  of  relics,  had  many  nails  made  like  that  which  is  kept  at 
 Milan,  and  distributed  them  after  they  had  touched  the  holy  nail.  He  gave  one  as  a 
 relic  to  king  Philip  II.  These  are  all  like  that  at  Rome.  St.  Gregory  the  Great  also, 
 and  other  ancient  Popes,  sent  filings  of  the  chains  of  St.  Peter  as  relics,  and  occa- 
 sionally put  something  of  them  into  other  chains  made  like  them.|| 
 
 6.  The  lioly  Lance, 
 
 Which  opened  Christ's  sacred  side,  is  kept  at  Rome,  but  wants  the  point.  Andrew 
 of  Crete,  who  lived  in  the  seventh  century,^  says  that  it  was  burieJ  together  with  the 
 cross.  At  least  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,**  and  venerable  Bede,tt  testify,  that  in  their 
 time  it  was  kept  at  Jerusalem.  For  fear  of  the  Saracens  it  was  buried  privately  at 
 Antioch,  in  which  city  it  was  found  under  ground,  an.  109,  and  wrought  many  mira- 
 cles, as  Robert  the  monk  J;}:  and  many  eye-witnesses  testify.  It  was  carried  first  to 
 Jerusalem,  and  soon  after  to  Constantinople.     At  the  time  this  city  was  taken  by 
 
 *  So  Innocent  III.  affirms,  St.  Bridgit  Rev.  1.  i.  ||    See    on    this    subject   Lucas   Tudensis,    who 
 
 c.  10   and  the  most  learned  amongst  the  ancients  flourished    an.    1236.   1.   2.    adversus    Albigenses 
 
 and  moderns.    See  Ben.  14.  c.  11. 
 
 t  Deponi  jubet  in  Pelagus.  %  De  Exal.  Crucis. 
 
 X  De  Ob.  Theod.  **  L.  de  Glor.  Mart.  c.  17. 
 
 §  To  the   number  of  twenty-five.     See  Justus         ft  De  Loc.  Sane.  c.  2. 
 Fontaniiius  in   Disser.  de  Corona  Ferrea  Lango-         tX  L-  7. 
 bardorum,  an.  1717. 
 
C!i.  II.]  APPENDIX.  473 
 
 Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  the  emperor  Baldwin  II.  sent  the  point  of  it  to  Venice  as  a 
 pledge  for  a  loan  of  money.  St.  Lewis,  king  of  France,  redeemed  this  relic,  by 
 paying  ofiF  the  sum  for  which  it  lay  in  pledge,  and  caused  it  to  be  conveyed  to  Paris, 
 where  it  is  still  kept  in  the  holj/  chapel.  The  rest  of  the  lance  remained  at  Constan- 
 tinople after  the  Turks  had  taken  that  city,  till  in  1492  the  Sultan  Bajazet  sent  it  by 
 an  ambassador  in  a  rich  beautiful  case  to  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  adding,  that  the  point 
 w  as  in  the  possession  of  the  king  of  France. 
 
 7.  The  holy  Sponge, 
 
 Made  use  of  at  our  Lord's  crucifixion,  is  shown  at  Rome  in  the  church  of  St.  John 
 Lateran,  tinged  with  blood,  and  held  in  great  veneration.  For  while  the  malefactor 
 hung  bleeding  on  the  cross,  it  was  usual,  by  means  of  a  sponge,  to  apply  vinegar  to 
 his  wounds,  that  by  its  astringent  quality  it  might  serve  to  staunch  the  blood  in  some 
 degree,  and  prevent  the  criminal  being  put  out  of  his  pain  by  death  sooner  than  was 
 intended. 
 
 The  Blood  of  Christ, 
 
 Which  is  kept  in  some  places,  and  especially  at  Mantua,  seems  to  be  what  has 
 sometimes  issued  from  the  miraculous  bleeding  of  some  crucifix,*  when  pierced  in 
 derision  by  Jews  or  Pagans  ;  instances  of  which  are  recorded  in  authentic  histories. 
 
 Assiduous  meditation  on  the  passion  of  Christ  is  the  great  school  of  Christian  per- 
 fection ;  the  Saints  found  in  it  their  comfort  and  their  joy  ;  here  they  feasted  their 
 souls  with  the  sweet  fruits  of  love  and  devotion,  learned  to  die  to  themselves,  and 
 entered  into  the  sentiments  of  Christ  crucified.  Happy  those  Christians  who,  like  St. 
 Paul,  gloiy  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  who  can  truly  say  with  him,  that  the  world  is 
 crucified  to  them^  and  they  to  the  world. f 
 
 CHAPTER  II. 
 
 ON  Christ's  person. 
 
 "W^HETHER  our  Saviour's  figure  was  comely  and  beautiful,  or  deformed  and  unseemly, 
 has  been  a  celebrated  question  among  the  learned,  both  of  ancient  and  modern  times. 
 Between  the  two  opinions  there  is  a  middle  way,  which  to  us  seems  to  approach 
 nearest  to  truth,  and  which  is  adopted  by  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  Calmet,  and  others. 
 There  is  a  certain  kind  of  beauty  which  is  worldly,  carnal,  and  effemiiiate  :  this  did 
 not  become  Jesus  Christ,  and  cannot  with  propriety,  be  ascribed  to  him.  Such  kind 
 of  beauty  does  not  accord  with  what  the  Scriptures  relate  of  our  Saviour's  penitential, 
 
 *  Sansjuis  autein  ille.  qui  in  quibusdam  Ecclesiis     gine   Cliristi   percussa.    St.  Thos.   3.  p.    54.  a.  2. 
 proreliquiis  conservatur,  non  fliixit  de  latoce  Christi,     ad.  3. 
 sed  mivaculose   dicitur  effluxisse  de  quadam  ima-         t  Ep.  to  the  Gal.  vi.  14. 
 
 40.  6e 
 
474  APPENDIX.  [Ch.  II 
 
 laborious,  poor,  and  mortified  life  ;  it  is  repugnant  to  that  quality  of  man  of  sorrows 
 which  he  assumed  to  expiate  and  atone  for  tlie  sins  of  the  world.  But,  on  the  other 
 hand,  to  pretend  that  he  was  deformed,  ill-favoured,  of  an  austere,  forbidding  coun- 
 tenance, is  to  draw  a  picture  highly  unbecoming  the  sacred  humanity  of  the  Son  of 
 God,  and  totally  unfounded  in  sacred  Scripture.  The  ancients  who  were  of  this 
 opinion,  ground  it  merely  on  certain  passages  of  Scripture,  which  manifestly  refer  to 
 the  time  of  his  passion,  when  oppressed  with  sorrows,  and  covered  with  ignominies. 
 But  St.  Jerom  and  St.  Chrysostom  were,  on  the  contrary,  persuaded,  that  a  certain 
 splendour  and  brightness  distinguished  the  countenance  of  our  Saviour,  and  inspired 
 all  his  beholders  with  love  and  respect.*  At  least  we  may  reasonably  suppose  with 
 St.  Thomas,  that  Christ  possessed  that  kind  of  corporeal  beauty  which  arises  from 
 reo-ular,  manly  features,  and  that  he  displayed  a  ccrUiin  air  of  comeliness  and  dignity 
 which  impressed  the  spectators  with  affection  and  reverence.f 
 
 ISicephorus  CaUistus  says,  that  St.  Luke  took  the  portraits  of  our  Saviour,  of  his 
 blessed  Mother,  and  his  Apostles,  and  that  their  pictures  were  thus  disseminated 
 throuo-h  the  world.  He  gives,  in  the  following  terms,  the  description  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 such  as  he  had  received  it  from  the  ancients  :  "  lie  had  a  very  comely  face  ;  his 
 stature  was  seven  feet;!];  his  hair  flaxen,  not  very  thick  but  curling;  his  eyebrows 
 were  black,  and  nearly  semicircular ;  his  eyes  large,  lively,  and  yellowish,  and  there- 
 fore uncommonly  beautiful ;  his  nose  long ;  his  beard  auburn,  and  rather  short. 
 But  the  hair  of  his  head  he  wore  very  long,  having  never  had  it  shaved  nor  touched 
 by  any  hand,  save  that  of  his  blessed  Mother  in  his  infancy  :  he  carried  his  neck  not 
 stiff  and  upright,  but  somewhat  inclined  :  his  complexion  was  of  a  pale  cast,  and  his 
 face  was  neither  round  nor  pointed,  but  like  that  of  his  Mother,  rather  long  and 
 beautified  with  vermilion.  One  saw  gravity,  prudence,  sweetness,  and  mildness 
 painted  in  his  countenance ;  in  short,  he  resembled  altogether  his  divine  and  spotless 
 Mother."  So  far  Nicephorus,  a  writer,  it  is  true,  who,  in  point  of  antiquity  and 
 authority,  is  of  no  great  weight,  yet  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  some  curious 
 anecdotes  not  now  to  be  found  in  other  authors. §     With  regard  to  Christ's  person, 
 
 *   St.  Jer.   c.  9.  in  Matt,  likewise  Ep.  140.  St.  to  advertise  the  senate  and  people  of  such  material 
 
 Chrysos.  horn.  28.  in  Matt.  things  as  liappcned  in  their  provinces,  in   the  days 
 
 t  Assumpsisse  Christum  ])crfectam  corporis  pul-  of    the     emperor    Tiheriu .,    Lentulus,    who     was 
 
 chiiludinem,  quam  in  corpore  hnniano  ac  virili  esse  governor  of  Judea,  is  reported  to   have   sent   tlie 
 
 oportebat,  sine  causa  ac  teinere  negare  ausus  est  foliowing  epistle   to  the  senate  concerning-  our  Sa- 
 
 Michael  Medina.     Suarez  in  3.  p.  D.  Tho.  vionr  :  '•  There  ajipearcd  in  these  our  days  a  man 
 
 %  Vavasor,  in  his  book  on  tin-  Jigtt re  of  Christ,  c.  of  great  virtue,  named   Jesus   Christ,  who  is  still 
 
 3.  §  5.  is  of  opinion  that  Nicephorus  erroneously  living  among  us.     By  the  people  he  is  received  as- 
 
 substitutes  in  this  place  seven  for  six  feet;  for  the  a  prophet  of  truth  ;   but  his  own  disciples  call  him 
 
 last  occurs  in  Epiphanius,  whom  Nicephorus  pre-  the  Son  of  God.      He   raiseth  the  dead,  and  cureth 
 
 tends  to  follow.  all  manner  of  diseases :  a  man   somewhat  tall  and 
 
 §  There  is  found  likewise  a  very  particular  de-  comely,  with  a  very  reverend  countenance,  such  as 
 
 Rcription  of  our  Saviour's  person,  in  a  letter  of  one  the  beholders  may  both  love  and  fear:     His  hair  is 
 
 Publius  Lentulus  to  Tiberius  Ca;sar,  which  Fabri-  of  the  colour  of  a  ripe  chestnut,  plain  to  his  ears, 
 
 cius  gives  in  his  Apocryphal  Code  of  the  New  Tes-  whence  downwards  it  is  lighter,  curling,  and  wav- 
 
 tament,  t.  1.  p.  302.      It  is  not  mentioned  by  any  ing  about  his  shoulders.    In  the  middle  of  liis  head 
 
 ancient  writer,  and  is  therefore  considered  by  the  a  seam  parteth  his  lovely  tresses,  after  the  manner 
 
 learned  as  a  forgery.     I  shall,  however,  subjoin  it  of  the  Nazarites;  his  forehead   is  plain  and  very 
 
 for  the  sake  of  those  who  may  be  curious  to  peruse  it.  delicate;  his  face  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  beauti- 
 
 It  being  the  usual  custom  of  Roman  governors  fied  with  a  lovjly  red;    his  nose  and  mouth   of 
 
Ch.  III.]  APPENDIX.  475 
 
 he  declares  that  he  received  his  information  from  the  ancients,  and  though  he  does 
 not  specify  from  which  of  them  in  particular,  yet,  since  Eusebius^  in  his  Church  His- 
 tory,* relates  that  the  pictures  of  Christ  were  religiously  preserved  down  to  his  time, 
 it  is  not  improbable  that  some  of  these  may  have  been  handed  down  to  after-ages.f 
 and  may  have  given  occasion  to  the  above  description.  As,  however,  nothing  certain 
 occurs  in  history  concerning  the  person  of  Christ,  we  shall  conclude  our  remarks  on 
 this  subject,  by  observing  withTiUemont,  that  if  the  knowledge  of  this  particular  had 
 been  necessary,  it  would  unquestionably  have  been  communicated  to  us  by  the  channel 
 either  of  Scripture  or  tradition.  Instead  of  employing  our  thoughts,  therefore,  on 
 the  form  of  Christ's  body,  it  will  be  a  much  more  profitable  exercise  of  our  piety  to 
 study  how  we  may  render  our  souls  conformable  to  his.  It  is  no  part  of  our  duty  to 
 bring  our  corporeal  appearance  to  the  likeness  of  his,  and  therefore,  to  know  what 
 this  was  is  not  material.  With  the  form  of  his  mind  we  are  sufficiently  acquainted 
 from  holy  Scripture,  and  it  is  by  humble  and  fervent  prayer  we  may  obtain  grace 
 and  strength  to  form  our  lives  upon  his  actions  and  precepts.  On  this  resem- 
 blance depends  the  perfection  of  a  Christian  life :  for  they  whom  God  has  predes- 
 tinated to  eternal  glory,  are  first  to  be  conformable  to  the  image  of  /«'.■  Son  ;X  that  as 
 ihei/  have  borne  the  image  of  the  old  man,  by  following  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  they 
 may  bear  the  image  of  the  new  n!a?i,  Jesus  Christ,  the  model  of  all  sanctity  and  perfec- 
 tion. Let  us  therefore  regulate  our  whole  conduct,  both  interior  and  exterior, 
 according  to  the  model  which  Jesus  Christ  has  left  us  ;  let  us  animate  all  our  actions 
 and  virtues  with  his  spirit ;  let  us  perform  them  in  union  with  the  actions  and  virtues 
 which  he  exercised  when  here  on  earth.  Thus  shall  we  trace  in  ourselves  his  sacred 
 image,  our  most  indifferent  actions  will  be  ennobled  and  acquire  a  new  degree  of 
 merit,  and  by  being  done  in  Jesus,  for  Jesus,  and  with  Jesus,  will  become  in  some 
 measure  the  very  actions  of  Jesus  Christ ;  so  that  we  may  say  with  the  Apostle :  I 
 live  ;  no,  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.§ 
 
 CHAPTER  III. 
 
 ON  THE  STATUE  ERECTED  TO  CHRIST  IN  THE  CITY  OF  PANEAS,   OR  C.ESAREA  PHIUPPI. 
 
 We  have  seen  above  \\  how  a  woman  who  had  been  diseased  with  an  unnatural  flux 
 of  blood  for  twelve  years,  was  miraculously  cured  by  touching  only  the  hem  of  our 
 
 charminjy  symmetry  ;  his  beard  thickish,  in  colour  he  is  a  man,  for  his   singular  beauty,  surpassing 
 
 like  his  hair,  not  very  lonir.  but  Corked  in  the  mid-  the  children  of  men." 
 
 die  ;  his  look  is  very  innocent  and  mature  ;   his  eyes  *  B.  7.  c.  18. 
 
 grey,  clear  and  quick.     In  reproving  lie  is  terrible,  t  See  Nat.  Alexander,  saec.  2.  Disser.  8.  Francis 
 
 in  admonishing  courteous  and  (air  spoken,  pleasant  Vavasor  dc  Forma  Chrisli,  and  Calmet's  Disserta- 
 
 and  g-rave  in  conversation.     Many  have  seen  him  tion  on  the  same  subject. 
 
 weep;  none  remember  tliat  he  ever  laughed:  his  %  Rom.  viii.  29. 
 
 body  is  straight  and  well  proportioned  :   his  hands  §  Gal.  ii.  20. 
 
 and  arms  most  delectable  to  behold ;   in  speaking  {|  Chap.  35. 
 
 he  is  very  temperate,  modest,  and  wise ;  in  short. 
 
476  APPENDIX.  [Ch.  IIL 
 
 Saviour's  garment.  In  return  for  so  great  a  favour,  she  is  said  to  have  eveded  at 
 Paneas,  where  she  lived,  two  brass  statues,  one  of  Christ,  the  other  of  herself,  in  order 
 thus  to  hand  down  to  posterity  the  memory  of  so  signal  an  event,  as  well  as  to  testify 
 her  gratitude  to  her  divine  Benefactor.  Eusebius  *  relates  this  as  highly  deserving  of 
 credit,  and  says  that  he  has  seen  these  statues  with  his  own  eyes.  His  account  is  : 
 "  that  by  the  gate  of  this  woman's  house  was  erected  a  brass  statue,  bearing  the 
 effigy  of  a  woman  upon  her  knees,  in  the  posture  of  a  suppliant ;  that  opposite  to 
 her  there  stood  the  effigy  of  a  man  in  brass,  intended  for  our  Saviour,  stretching  out 
 his  hand  to  the  woman  ;  that  at  the  foot  of  this  statue  an  unknown  plant  was  said  to 
 spring  up,  which  reaching  to  the  border  of  his  garment,  became  an  effectual  remedy 
 against  diseases.  Nor  is  it  extraordinary,"  adds  the  historian,  "  that  Gentiles  should 
 have  done  this  to  our  Saviour,  in  return  for  so  signal  a  benefit,  because  it  was  usual 
 with  them  indiscriminately  to  bestow  these  honours  upon  all  those  to  whom  they  were 
 indebted  for  extraordinary  favours."  St.  Asterius  likewise,  who  wrote  about  the  year 
 ■100,  mentions  this  brazen  statue,  erected  in  honour  of  Christ,  which,  he  says,  ranained 
 for  mani/  years,  in  order  to  silence  and  confute  those  who  should  dare  to  give  the  lie  to 
 the  Evangelists.  Moreover,  Rufinus,t  Philostorgius,:}:  Zozomen,§  &c.,||  make 
 mention  of  this  same  statue,  which  continued  at  Paneas  till  the  year  of  Christ  362, 
 when,  as  Sozomen  relates,  Julian  the  apostate  removed  it,  and  in  its  place  substituted 
 his  oivn. 
 
 I  am  not  ignorant  that  this  account,  apparently  so  well  authenticated,  is  rejected 
 by  some  authors,  especially  by  those  who  are  enemies  to  sacred  images.^     They 
 
 *  Euseb.  1.  7.  Hist.  Eccl.  c.  18.  whether  every  part  of  the  above-mentioned  decla- 
 
 t  L.  7.  c  14.  ration  does  not  manifestly  discriminate  Catholics 
 
 J  L.  7.  c.  3.  from  Heathens  :   the  latter  believed  a  divine   virtue 
 
 §  L.  5.  c.  21.  in  their  idols,  placed  their  hope  in  them,  prayed 
 
 II  See  Sandinus,  c.  IS.  p.  254.  Hist.  Fam.  Sacrae.  and  offered   sacrifice   to   them;    all   this  CathoHcs 
 
 ^    To    obviate    the    misrepresentations    of    the  consider  as   expressly  forbidden,   with   respect   to 
 
 ignorant  or  malevolent,  we  shall  here  state  the  doc-  holy  images,  and  ascribe  to  them  no  other  virtue 
 
 trine  of  the  Catholic  Church  respecting  holy  images,  but  that  of  exciting  in  us  the  remembrance  of  those 
 
 as  declared  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  sess.  25.  "The  they   represent.     Although    the  first  reformers,  to 
 
 images  of  Christ  and  of  his  Virgin  Mother,  and  of  justify  their  schismatical  separation  from  the   Ca- 
 
 olher  saints,  are  to  be  had  and  retained,  especially  tholic    Church,   accused   her    of  idolatry,   yet    this 
 
 in  churches,  and  a  due  honour  and  veneration   are  injurious   charge  is   now   abandoned  by  the  more 
 
 to  be  given  them  ;  noi  ihvA  any  divinity  or  virtue  is  moderate  Protestants  as  ill   founded,  and  directly 
 
 believed  to  be  in  them,  for  which   they  are  to  be  contrary  to  the  principles  of  Catholics.     For  what 
 
 honoured,  or   that  any  prayer    in   to   be  made   to  is  idolatry  but  giving  divine  honour  and   service  to 
 
 them,   or  that   any   confidence   is   to  be  placed   in  an  idol   or  false  god?   and  is   not  this  idol  worship 
 
 them,  as  was  formerly  done   by  the   heathens   who  as   much   condemned   by   Catholics   as  by   Protes- 
 
 placed  their  hope  in  idols;   but  because  the  honour  tants?     We  acknowledge  one  only  true  and  living 
 
 which  is   given   them  is  referred  to   the  originals  God    in    three    persons,    Father,    Son,    and    Holy 
 
 which  they  represent;  so  that  by  the  images  which  Ghost  :  to  him  alone  do  we  offer  sacrifice,  or  any 
 
 we  kiss,  and  before  which  we  uncover  our  heads  or  other   divine   honours:    him   alone   we   profess   to 
 
 kneel,  we   adore    Christ,  and   venerate    his   saints  adore  in    spirit   and  truth:   whatever  else  we  reli- 
 
 whose  likeness  they  represent."      Notwithstanding  giously  honour,  either  in   heaven   or  on   earth,  we 
 
 this   explicit  declaration.   Archbishop   Seeker  has  honour  it  for  his  sake,  and  for  the  relation  it  has  to 
 
 thought  fit  to  renew  against  the  Catholic  Church  him  :  and  so  far  are  we  from  encourauing  idolatry, 
 
 the  odious  and  antiquated  charge  of  idolatry.     "If  that  it  has  been,  in  a  great  measure,  banished  out 
 
 any  excuses  or  distinclions,"  says  he,  '•  will  acquit  of  the  world  by  the  labours  and  preaching  of  the 
 
 the  Papists  of  transgressing  it  (the  commandment  Catholic  Church  alone.    As  to  the  images  of  Christ 
 
 against  idolatry),  the  same  wUl  acquit  the  ancient  and   his  saints,  Protestants  themselves   agree  with 
 
 Jews  and    heathens    also."     (Lecture    19.   on   the  us,  that  they  may  be  properly  used  for  the  instruc-. 
 
 Catechism.)     But  I  appeal  to  the  impartial  reader,  tiou  of  the  ignoraut,  ajad  the  exciting  of  devotio«k 
 
Ch.  IV.]  ArPENDIX.  477 
 
 pretend  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  gospel,  which  represents  the  woman  as  having  spent 
 all  she  had,  and  therefore  they  infer  that  she  must  have  been  totally  unable  to  erect 
 two  such  costly  statues.  But  Ihe  obvious  sense  of  the  sacred  te.vt  does  not  imply 
 that  she  had  absolutely  reduced  herself  to  beggary,  but  only  that  she  had  been  at  a 
 Yery  considerable  expense  in  consulting  physicians,  and  all  to  no  purpose.  Besides, 
 supposing  this  to  have  been  the  case,  she  might,  after  the  recovery  of  her  health, 
 restore  her  shattered  fortune^  and  acquire  wealth  for  such  an  undertaking.  More- 
 over, if  she  herself  were  unable,  some  of  her  relatives  or  friends  in  the  town  might 
 possibly  have  assisted  her  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  remem- 
 brance of  so  miraculous  an  event.  Another  objection  brought  forward  against  this 
 account  is,  that  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  both  bitter  enemies  to  Christianity^  would  not 
 have  allowed  this  statue  of  Christ  to  have  so  long  remained  as  a  monument  against 
 themselves.  But  perhaps  the  persecutors  might  not  know  this  to  be  the  image  of 
 Christ,  certain  it  is,  that  the  Almighty,  if  he  had  pleased  to  preserve  so  illustrious  a 
 monument  in  confirmation  of  the  truth,  could  easily  have  diverted  their  attention  from 
 destroying  it ;  and  therefore,  according  to  the  rules  of  sound  ciiticism,  the  express 
 and  positive  testimony  of  Eusebius,  and  of  so  many  other  ancient  authors,  ought  not 
 to  be  set  aside  by  such  mere  negatite  arguments. 
 
 CHAPTER  IV. 
 
 ON  THE  MIRACULOUS  LIKENESSES  OR  PRINTS  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 There  are  three  of  these  portraits  which  claim  our  attention.  'The  first  is  that  which 
 Christ  is  said  to  have  sent  to  Abgar,  king  of  Edessa,  who  was  very  desirous  of  seeing 
 him.  The  second  is  the  print  of  the  holy  face,  called  Veronica.  The  third  is  the  hohf 
 linen  which  served  at  his  burial,  and  which  exhibits  the  image  of  one  lying  in  the 
 sepulchre.  These  three  are  not  by  all  admitted  as  genuine,  though  the  arguments  in 
 their  fiwour  seem  to  be  of  considerable  weight.  For  respecting  the  first,  there  is 
 mention  made  of  the  print,  sent  by  Christ  to  Abgar,  in  the  Acts  of  Samona  and 
 Guria,  Martyrs  of  Edessa,  which  were  written  an.  306,  not  long  after  their  death. 
 
 See  Bishop  Montan;ue,  Gagger,  p.  300.  and  p.  318.  manner  the  love,  respect,  and  honour  we  have  for 
 where  he  says :  "  The  pictures  of  Christ,  the  Christ,  makes  us  respect  and  honour  his  pictures 
 Blessed  Virgin,  and  saints,  may  be  made,  had  in  as  representing  him  to  us,  and  the  cross  as  the 
 houses,  set  up  in  churches  ;  the  Protestants  use  memorial  of  his  sufferings.  Moreover,  it  will  be 
 them,  they  despise  them  not;  respect  and  honour  impossible  for  Protestants  to  clear  themselves  of 
 may  be  given  them ;  the  Protestants  do  it,  and  use  idolatry,  in  showing  honour  and  respect  to  the 
 them  for  helps  of  devotion."  In  reality,  as  conjugal  7iame  of  Jesus,  to  the  gospel,  &c.  if  they  rank  us 
 love  makes  a  man  not  only  love  his  wife,  but  also  with  Heathens,  for  showing  the  same  kind  of 
 her  picture  ;  as  the  respect  and  honour  we  have  for  honour  and  respect  to  holy  images.  For  is  not  the 
 our  king,  makes  us  respect  and  honour  the  presence  sacred  name  of  Jesus,  when  pronounced,  the  same 
 chamber  and  chair  of  state  ;  as  the  love  we  have  to  the  ear  that  the  image  is  to  the  eye,  and  there- 
 for God,  makes  us  love  his  house,  his  altar,  and  fore,  whatever  reverence  is  given  to  the  one,  may 
 other  things  belonging  to  his  service;    so   in   like  as  lawfully  be  given  to  the  other  ? 
 
 41.  6f 
 
478  APPENDIX.  [Ch.  IV.. 
 
 and  are  approved  of  by  Baillet.  Ag'ain,  Evagrius  *  makes  mention  of  this  image 
 from  Procopius,  a  writer  of  the  sixth  age,  and  calls  it  Bbotevxtov,  that  is,  made  by 
 God:  Nicephorus  Callistiis,t  although  younger  than  Evagrius,  yet  seems  to  refer  to 
 a  more  ancient  testimony  than  that  of  Procopius,  viz.  the  records  and  archives  of 
 the  city  of  Edessa.  In  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  age,  there  is  mention  made  o, 
 this  same  image  by  Theophilactus  Simocatta,:}:  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth, 
 by  St.  John  Damascen  and  Gregory  II.  At  the  conclusion  of  which  century,.  Adrian 
 I.§  and  the  second  Council  of  Nice  (being  the  seventh  General  Council)  allege  the 
 testimony  of  this  same  image  to  refute  the  Iconoclasts.  In  the  following  age  Haymo, 
 bishop  of  Halberstadt,!!  after  mentioning  the  letter  of  Abgar  to  our  Lord,  adds,  that 
 the  latter  returned  him  an  answer,  and  witli  it  his  print  or  image.  To  these  may  be 
 added  many  Greek  authors  of  note,  such  as  George  Cedrenus,  Michael  Glycas, 
 Photius,  Zonara,  John  Caropalata,  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  and  others,  adduced 
 by  Gretzer,  and  by  Austin  Calcagniims,  in  his  Historical  Observations  on  the  image  of 
 Edessa.  The  testimony  of  so  great  a  number  of  vouchers  seems  justly  entitled  to 
 some  degree  of  credit.  It  is  true,  that  all  these  writers  do  not  agree  as  to  the  origin 
 of  this  print  or  likeness,  as  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  observes  in  speaking  of  its 
 translation  to  Constantinople :  but  they  agree  at  least  as  to  the  substance  of  the 
 history,  acknowledging  that  Christ  miraciilijusly  imprinted  the  form  of  his  face  on  a 
 piece  of  linen,  and  sent  it  to  Abgar.  They  differ  as  to  certain  circumstances  and  as 
 to  the  precise  time  ;  but  with  regard  to  a  fact,  it  matters  little  whether  it  was  done 
 sooner  or  later.^ 
 
 The  principal  argument  adduced  by  those  who  reject  this  impression  of  Christ,  is 
 the  silence  of  Eusebius,  who,  in  speaking  of  Christ's  letter**  to  Abgar,  takes  no 
 notice  of  this  famous  image.  But  in  answer  to  this,  it  must  be  observed,  that  the 
 silence  of  one  or  two  writers  concerning  a  particular  fact,  is  not  sufficient  to  set  aside 
 the  express  testimony  of  many  others  who  admit  it.  Besides,  a  reason  may  be  assigned 
 why  Eusebius  did  not  speak  of  this  image  of  Christ  at  Edessa  ;  for  it  is  well  known 
 that  he  was  an  Arian,  and  one  of  those  who  maintained  what  was  afterwards  defended 
 by  Eutiches  with  greater  violence,  that  the  flesh  of  Christ  was  transformed  into  the 
 divinity;  and  that  therefore  it  was  not  to  be  described,  or  delineated  by  any  image  or 
 representation.  This  was  observed  of  him  by  the  deacon  Epiphanlus  ;  ft  ^"d  '^  like- 
 wise appears  from  the  letter  of  Eusebius  himself  to  Constantia,  the  wife  of  the 
 emperor  Licinius ;  for  when  this  empress  requested  of  him  that  he  would  send  her 
 the  image  of  Christ  our  Saviour,  he  answered,  that  her  request  could  not  be  complied 
 with;  for  though  Christ  had  two  natures,  viz.  his  divine  and  human  nature,  yet 
 neither  of  them  could  be  represented  by  any  image :  not  his  divine  nature,  which 
 no  one  can   conceive  in  mind,   and  much  less    express    with  a  pencil :    not   his 
 
 *  L.  4.  Hist.  Eccles.  c.  27.  desiderii   tiii  fervorem  refripjeres,   et  quod  de  me 
 
 +  L  2.  c.  7.  audisti,  impossibile  nequa  qi;am  fieri  exisumes.'' 
 
 +  L.  2.  Hist.  c.  3.  II  L.  2.  c.  5. 
 
 §  In  Ep.  ad  Carol.  Magnum  pro  Synodo  Nicona         ^  See  this  account  of  Constantine  Porphyroge- 
 
 II.  apud  Labbe,  torn.  *(.     "  Quod  si  faciem  meam  nitus  in  Surius,  the  15th  of  Aug-, 
 corporaliler  cernere  cupis,  en  tibi  vultus  I  jei  spe-         *'~  Ii.  i.  Hist.  e.  13. 
 ciem  transformatam  in  linteo  dirigo,  per  |uam  et         tt  Act.  6.  of  the  second  Council  of  Nice. 
 
Ch.  IV]  APPENDIX.  479 
 
 human  nature,  the  mortaUty  of  which  was  totally  absorbed  by  the  glory  of  the 
 divinity.* 
 
 But  Eusebius,  it  is  said,  makes  mention  of  the  statue  erected  to  Christ  at  Paneas 
 by  the  woman  cured  of  a  bloody  flux.     True  ;  but  he  does  this  in  such  a  manner  as  ^ 
 
 to  show  that  he  was  averse  to  the  images  of  Christ ;  for  he  says  that  this  woman  was 
 a  Gentile^  and  that  what  she  did  on  this  occasion,  was  after  the  manner  and  example 
 of  the  Gentiles. 
 
 But  to  pursue  the  history  of  this  image  or  likeness,  it  is  said,  that  after  Abgar  had 
 received  it  from  Christ  with  all  the  honour  which  so  great  a  present  deserved,  he 
 ornamented  it  with  gold,  and  placed  it  over  the  gate  of  the  city,  that  it  might  thus 
 be  exposed  to  tlie  public  view  and  veneration  of  all,  with  this  inscription  engraved  on 
 a  golden  label :  "  Christ  God,  he  who  hopes  in  thee,  will  not  be  confounded."  This 
 monument  remained  at  Edessa  till  the  944th  year  of  Christ,  when  it  was  removed  by 
 the  emperor  Constantine  VIII.  and  translated  to  Constantinople,  where  it  was  placed 
 in  the  temple  of  Phares,  says  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  for  the  glory  of  the 
 faithful,  for  the  defence  of  the  emperors,  and  the  safeguard  of  the  whole  city  and  of  the 
 Christian  world.  The  day  of  this  translation,  which  was  the  lOtli  of  August,  was 
 yearly  celebrated  by  the  Greeks,  as  appears  from  their  menology  :  at  last,  by  the 
 singular  providence  of  God,  this  sacred  image  was  brought  to  Rome,  the  seat  and 
 centre  of  the  Christian  religion,  where  it  is  still  preserved  in  the  church  of  St.  Sil- 
 vester, says  Baronius,  ad  an.  994,  who,  however,  does  not  mention  the  tinse  nor 
 occasion  of  this  translation.  Austin  Justinianus  f  relates,  that  it  was  brought  into 
 Italy  by  Leonardus  of  Montaldus,  Duke  of  Genoa  ;  it  being  given  him  as  a  present 
 by  the  emperor  of  Constantinople.:}: 
 
 Second,  as  to  the  print  of  the  holy  face  of  our  Saviour,  called  Veronica,  it  is  a  pious 
 tradition,  says  Benedict  XIV.  that  a  devout  woman  wiped  with  her  handkerchief  his 
 divine  face,  covered  with  sweat  and  blood,  when,  in  his  way  to  mount  Calvary,  he 
 fainted  under  the  load  of  his  cross ;  and  that  Christ  impressed  on  it  the  image  of  his 
 sacred  face.  According  to  Mabillon,  Tillemont,  Papebroc,  and  Nat.  Alexander,  it  was 
 called  Veronica,  or  true  image  of  our  Lord's  face,  from  vera  and  iconica,  a  word  used 
 by  St.  Gregory  of  Tonrs,§  for  an  image,  and  which  is  derived  from  the  Greek  word 
 stxov ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  this  same  name  Veronica,  was  given  to  the 
 devout  woman  who  presented  this  linen  doth  to  our  Redeemer.  Her  former  name, 
 according  to  Baronius,  was  Berenice. 
 
 This  print  of  our  Lord's  face,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  truest  representation  of 
 him,  is  mentioned  by  St.  Methodius, ||  bishop  of  Tyre,  as  may  be  seen  in  Marianus 
 Scotus.H  likewise  by  Peter,  a  monk  of  Cassino,  who  died  an.  1140,  in  his  MS.  book 
 of  the  holy  places,**  also  by  Matthew  of  Westminster,!'!"  under  Inn.  III.  who  died  in 
 1216.     The  testimonies  of  other  writers  and  Popes  may  be  seen  in  Gretzer,  c.  17. 
 
 *  See  Lab.  t.  7.  Cone.  p.  494.  and  Karduin,  t.  4.  ||  See  this  testimony  of  St.  Methodius,  defended 
 
 p.  406.  by  .Sandiiuis  against  Serry,  &c.  p.  ii68. 
 t  L.  4.  Annal.  Reip.  Genuens.  ad  an.  1334.  %  L.  2.  Chronic,  ad  an.  Christi  39. 
 
 t  See  Sandinus.  **  Apud  Mabillon,  t.  1.  Musei  Italica. 
 
 §  Vit.  Patr.  c.  12.  tt  Flore.s  Hist. 
 
480 
 
 APPENDlJi.  [Ch.  IV. 
 
 Ano-ustin  Culcagninus,  and  Berti.*  The  arguments  of  Serry,t  and  others  who  reject 
 this  relic,  are  merely  negative,  and  ought  not  to  invalidate  the  positive  testimonies  of 
 so  many  respectable  writers  in  its  favour.^  This  print  of  the  holy  face  was  translated 
 to  Rome  in  the  time  of  the  emperor  Tiberius,  as  mentioned  by  Peter,  a  monk  of 
 Cassius,§  and  in  a  MS.  history  of  this  translation  preserved  in  the  Vatican  library; 
 and  it  is  still  kept  in  St.  Peter's  church  with  singular  veneration.  A  copy  of  it  was 
 sent  to  the  Cistercian  nunnery  at  Montreuil,  as  a  present  by  Urban  IV.  to  his  sister, 
 beino-  a  nun  there.  See  his  Letter  to  them  in  Chifflet,  "  De  Linteis  Seimkhralibus , 
 c.  34."  where  he  thus  writes  :  "  Wherefore,  we  beseech  you,  that  out  of  respect  to 
 him  whom  it  represents,  you  will  receive  it  as  the  true  Veronica,  or  his  true  image 
 and  portrait."     This  letter  was  dated  1249. 
 
 3.  The  sacred  S'uidon  or  linen  Cloth  made  use  of  in  the  burial  of  our  Saviour. 
 It  was  customary  with  the  Jews  to  bury  the  dead  in  linen,  with  winding-bands. 
 This  appears  from  the  history  of  Lazarus,  given  by  St.  John,  c.  xi.  44.  He  that  had 
 been  dead,  came  forth  bound  feet  and  hands  idlh  ivinding-bands,  aJid  his  face  tied  tcith 
 a  napkin.  Josephus  of  Arimathea  and  Nicodemus  buried  our  Lord  in  the  same 
 manner,  as  appears  from  chap.  144.  Hence  Peter,  after  Chri.st's  resurrection, 
 enterino-  the  sepulchre,  saw  the  linen  cloths  lying,  and  the  napkin  that  had 
 been  about  his  head.H  Wherefore  the  sindon,  or  linen  cloth,  in  which  our  Lord's 
 body  was  wrapped,  exhibits  the  image  of  the  same  body,  impressed  partly  in  blood, 
 partly  in  the  liquor  of  the  spices  and  perfumes  with  which  it  was  anointed.  The 
 linen  appears  to  be  thick  and  coarse,  and  is  said  to  be  twelve  feet  long  and  three 
 broad.  It  was  so  spread  under  the  body  of  Christ  as  to  cover  it  entirely  from  head 
 to  foot.  It  was  long  kept  at  Jerusalem,  and  was  brought  from  thence  to  Chambery 
 in  Savoy,  and  placed  in  a  chapel  magnificently  adorned,  from  whence  it  was  trans- 
 lated to  Turin,1I  where  it  is  still  preserved  with  great  veneration.  That  it  is  the  very 
 same  linen  cloth  which  served  at  our  Lord's  funeral  is  affirmed  by  several  Popes, 
 mentioned  by  Sandinus  in  his  History  of  the  Sacred  Family,  p.  276.** 
 
 *  T.  5.  de  Theologicis  Disciplinis,  1.  29.  c.  ult.         %  Tins  translation  took  place  an.  1578,  by  order 
 
 n.  5.  of  the    Duke    Eminaiiue!    Pliilibert.     For  under- 
 
 t  This  author  is  mistaken,  Avhere  he  says  that  standing  that  S.  Charles  Borromaeus  had  resolved 
 
 Marianus  Scotus  was  the  first  who  <;ave  this  liistory  to  g-o  on  foot  to  Chambery  in  honour  of  this   relic, 
 
 ill  his  Chronicle;  for  it  is  mentioned  by  Constan-  he  ordered  it  to  be  brought  to  Turin  to  save  him  so 
 
 tine  Porphyrpgenitus,  who  lived  a  whole  century  fatiguing  a  journey.     See  this  saint's  life  by  Peter 
 
 before.  Giussano,    a   priest    of    the    congregation   of   the 
 
 +  See  Bollandus,  4th  of  February.  Oblates  at  Milan,  1.  5.  c.  5. 
 
 §  Apud  Mabillon,  t.  i.  Mus.  Italica.  **  See  Chifflet  "  de  Lentus  Sepul."  and  Ben.  H 
 
 II  John  XX.  6,  7.  1.  4.  de  Canoniz.  SS.  part.  2.  c.  30.  No.  14. 
 
Ch.  v.]  APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 
 ON  THE  WRITINGS  AND  REMARKABLE  SAYINGS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 When  our  blessed  Lord  appeared  on  earth  to  teach  mankind  the  truth  of  salvation, 
 he  was  pleased  to  do  this  only  by  word  of  mouth.  As  he  himself  did  not  commit  to 
 writing  any  part  of  his  divine  doctrine,  so  neither  does  he  appear  to  have  left  any 
 injunction  of  this  kind  to  his  Apostles  :  they  seem  not  to  have  entertained  the  most 
 distant  idea  of  drawing  up  in  writing-  a  complete  body  of  sacred  doctrine  to  be 
 delivered  down  to  posterity  as  the  only  rule  of  faith.  It  is  a  fact  perfectly  well 
 known,  that  the  Gospels  were  not  penned  during  the  life-time  of  Christ,  but  a  con- 
 siderable time  afterwards,  and  on  different  occasions,  as  the  particular  necessities  of 
 certain  churches  or  of  individuals  seemed  to  require.  The  Gospel  was  generally 
 preached,  and  numerous  churches  were  founded  before  any  writing  whatever  of  the 
 New  Testament  made  its  appearance  among  the  faithful.  Even  St.  Matthew,  the 
 first  of  the  Evangelists,  did  not  write,  till  he  had  for  some  years  preached  the  Gospel 
 in  Judea,  after  the  ascension  of  Christ.  Being  about  to  depart  from  thence  to  plant 
 Christianity  in  foreign  nations,*  he  undertook  about  the  year  41  or  42,t  to  write  his 
 Gospel,  to  satisfy  those  converts  of  Palestine  whom  he  had  first  brought  over  by  his 
 preaching  to  the  Christian  faith.  This  circumstance  is  worthy  of  remark,  and  deserves 
 the  particular  attention  of  all  sincere  Protestants,  because  it  evinces,  1.  lliat  when 
 Christianity  began,  the  holy  Scripture  was  not  the  sole  and  only  rule  of  Christian 
 faith,  as  sectarists  pretend.;};    2.  It  evinces  that  before  the  Gospels  were  written,  the 
 
 *  See  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  1.  3.  c.  24.  verted  points,  rejects  the  authority  of  this  numerous 
 t  Accordinpf  to  Dr.  I.ardner,  St.  Matthew  did  and  respectable  society,  deriving;  a  lawful  mission 
 not  write  his  Gospel  till  about  the  year  64,  but  the  and  continual  succession  from  the  Apostles- 
 learned  Michaelis  inclines  to  think  about  the  year  warded  on  every  side  with  the  writings  of  the  holy 
 41,  in  which  he  is  supported  by  Eusebius.  Fathers,  as  with  a  thousand  bucklers  and  shields 
 J  The  important  question  respecting  the  rule  of  of  mighty  men  ;  with  many  thousands  of  martyrs, 
 faith,  is  frequently  misrepresented  by  Protestants,  and  with  unquestionable  miracles,  to  follow  his 
 The  main  point  of  dispute  is  not,  whether  Chris-  own  private  judgment,  such  a  one  may  have  an 
 tians  are  to  ground  their  faith  immediately  on  the  opinion  that  his  faith  is  right,  but  no  certainly 
 word  of  God  as  principally  contained  in  holy  scrip-  whatever.  Nay,  he  cannot  reasonably  even  think 
 lure  ;  for  this  is  equally  admitted  both  by  Catholics  he  is  right ;  for  those  who  follow  the]r  own  inter- 
 and  Protestants;  but  it  is,  which  is  the  most  as-  pretation  as  their  rule,  are  ))erpetually  disa^reeiuff 
 sured  and  certain  means  of  ascertaining  the  true  among  themselves,  and  giving  the  most  contrary 
 sense  of  God's  word,  that  is,  whether  it  be  more  and  even  contradictory  interpretations  to  the  same 
 rational  for  each  individual  to  follow  his  own  pri-  text.  The  very  same  persons  not  unfrequently 
 vale  interpretation  of  the  scripture,  as  Protestants  alter  their  opinion  about  the  sense  they  put  on 
 affirm,  or  to  be  guided  by  the  judgment  of  the  scripture;  and  what  they  believe  to  be  tlie  true 
 universal  Church,  as  is  the  practice  of  Catholics,  sense  today,  they  reject  as  false  to-morrow,  bein"- 
 This  great  ar.d  fundamental  question  of  controversy  continually  earned  about  with,  evei-y  wind  of  doc- 
 is  easily  decided.  For  although  the  scripture  had  trine.  Hence  Bishop  Beveridge,  one  of  the  most 
 not  manifestly  referred  us  to  the  pastors  of  the  learned  and  distinguished  prelates  of  the  Church 
 Church,  and  required  our  submission  to  them,  does  of  England,  adverting  to  what  St.  Peter  says  of  the 
 not  coumion  sense  revolt  at  the  idea  of  an  indi-  destructive  nature  of  Aerwj/,*  declares  that  it  strikes 
 vidual  setting  up  his  own  private  judgment  in  him  with  fear  and  apprehension,  "  lest,"  says  he, 
 opposition  to  that  of  the  most  learned  and  illus- 
 trious society  upon  earth  ?    Whoever,   iu  contro-  *  2  Peter  ii.  1. 
 
 41.  Go 
 
 431 
 
4g.2  APPENDIX.  [Ch.  V. 
 
 first  Christians  had  already  a  true  and  saving-  faith,  and  not  only  those  who  received 
 it  by  the  mouth  of  infallible  directors,  such  as  Christ  and  his  Apostles ;  but  also 
 those  who  received  it  by  that  of  private,  and,  in  their  own  capacity,  fallible  pastors 
 and  teachers :  such  as  the  Deacons  might  be,*'  Philip, f  Ananias,|  Barnabas,  anf' 
 innumerable  others.  Moreover,  it  does  not  appear  that  even  the  Apostles  themselves 
 were  infallible  guides  during  the  mortal  life  of  their  divine  Master.  3.  The  above 
 observation  proves,  that  a  certain  true  and  saving  faith  may  be  effectually  conveyed 
 to  others  by  tradilio?t,  though  each  individual  pastor  be  not  infallible.  For  what  was- 
 actually  the  case  in  the  beginning  of  the  Church  with  regard  to  many  Christians, 
 must  sure  be  admitted  as  still  possible;  nay,  it  is  still  the  condition  of  most  young- 
 people  in  Christendom,  who  are  generally  instructed  in  the  most  necessary  points  of 
 Christianity  before  they  read  or  know  any  thing  of  the  Bible.  If  it  be  asked,  what 
 infallible  rule  of  their  belief  can  these  children  have  ?  I  answer,  the  very  same  which 
 the  first  Christians  had  when  converted  by  the  preaching  of  St.  Philip,  St.  Stephen, 
 and  the  other  disciples  ;  that  is,  they  have  the  same  doctrine  for  their  rule  which 
 Christ  delivered  by  word  of  mouth,  and  confirmed  by  miracles :  for  this  being  truly 
 and  credibly  related  to  them,  secures  their  faith,  and  is  an  infallible  rule  of  it. 
 
 The  reader,  it  is  hoped,  will  excuse  this  digression  which,  in  a  religious  view,  is 
 highly  important.  To  return  to  Christ,  although  it  must  be  allowed  that  he  left  no 
 account  in  writing,  either  of  his  own  sacred  life,  or  of  his  divine  doctrine,  yet  this  by 
 no  means  implies,  that  he  never  writ  occasionally  in  answer  to  the  queries  of  parti- 
 cular persons.  Accordingly  we  find  that  many  judicious  critics  consider  as  genuine, 
 the  letter  which  our  Lord  is  said  to  have  returned  to  Abgar,  king  of  Edessa.  This 
 prince,  according  to  the  records  kept  in  the  church  of  Edessa,  had  written  to  Christ 
 to  invite  him  into  his  kingdom,  with  the  view  of  being  cured  by  him  of  a  distemper, 
 which  is  thought  by  Procopius  to  have  been  the  gout.  Jesus,  whose  personal  mission 
 was  confined  to  Judea,  did  not  comply  with  this  king's  request,  but  is  said  to  have 
 written  the  following  letter.  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Abgarus,  for  believing  in  me,  with- 
 out having  seen  me.  For  it  is  written  of  me,  that  they  who  shall  have  seen  me, 
 would  not  believe  in  me,  and  that  those  who  shall  not  have  seen  me,  would  believe 
 and  so  receive  life.  As  to  thy  request,  that  I  would  come  and  see  thee,  these  are  to 
 acquaint  thee,  that  I  must  accomplish  here  all  things  for  which  I  am  sent,  and  then 
 return  to  him  who  sent  me.  But  when  I  am  departed,  I  will  send  one  of  my  disciples 
 to  thee,  that  he  may  heal  thee  of  thy  disorder,  and  give  life  to  thee  and  to  them  that 
 are  with  thee." 
 
 Eusebius  §  tells  us,  that  he  transcribed  this  letter,  and  the  whole  account  from  the 
 l)ublic  records  of  the  city  of  Edessa  :  Count  Darius  makes  mention  of  it  in  a  letter 
 
 '•  lhroiip;h  the  weaJcnesx  of  my  own  judgment,  and  tors  whom   Christ  has  left  as  guides,  that  we  may 
 
 the  dtceiii  'jfmy  own  heart,  prowpted  by  the  secret  not  be  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine, 
 
 ivorkiii^s  of  the  prince  of  darkness,  myself  should  and   whom    lie    promised  to  assist  with  his  holy 
 
 be    betrayed   into    such    damnable   heresies  which  Spirit  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
 
 have  swift  destruction  attendinpf  them."  Thesaurus,  *  Acts  vi.  5. 
 
 Theolooius,  ver.  4.  p.  288.     With  this  uncertainty  f  Acts  viii.  35, 
 
 of  Protestants  compare   the  happy  security  of  Ca-  t  Acts  ix.  10. 
 
 Ihiilics,  who  adhere  to  that  Church  which  is   the  §  Hist.  1,  i.  c.  13.  p.  36.  ed.  Cantab. 
 
 mUar  and  ground  of  truth;  who  follow  those  pas-- 
 
Ch.  v.]  APPENDIX.  483 
 
 to  St.  Austin :  St.  Ephretn,*  Deacon  of  Edessa,  and  who  probably  never  saw  the 
 history  of  Eusebius,  cites  this  epistle  as  universally  received  ;  Procopius,  Evagrius, 
 St.  John  Damascen,  and  innumerable  others  admit  its  authenticity.! 
 
 Some  modern  Deists  have  made  it  a  question,  whether  our  Saviour  was  able  either 
 to  read  or  Avrite.  But  in  this  they  discover  only  their  gross  ignorance  of  the  sacred 
 history,  which  expressly  mentions  that  Christ  lorote'l.  twice  on  the  ground.  § 
 
 Another  proof  of  Christ's  ability  to  read,  occurs  in  Luke  iv.  6.  which  likewise 
 proves  that  he  knew  Hebrew,  at  that  time  a  learned  language  among  the  Jews,  as 
 the  Latin  is  among  us.  For  then,  as  at  present,  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  read 
 the  sacred  scriptures  in  the  Hebrew  only,  and  afterwards  explained  them  in  the  vulgar 
 tongue,  which  was  Syriac  or  Syro-Chaldee. 
 
 As  to  the  remarkable  sayings  of  Christ,  besides  those  already  mentioned  in  the 
 Gospels,  there  is  only  one  to  be  found  in  the  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
 is  cited  by  St.  Paul  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  verse  35. 
 It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive  ;  the  meaning  of  which  is  sufficiently  obvious  : 
 for  to  give  is  a  proof  of  abundance,  to  receive,-  is  an  argument  of  want  ;  to  give  is  to 
 imitate  God's  goodness  and  liberality,  who  gives  to  all,  and  in  return  receives 
 nothing.  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  mentions  some  words  of  Christ 
 relating  to  the  institution  of  the  blessed  Eucharist,  which  are  not  in  the  Evangelists. 
 We  shall  not  speak  here  of  the  words  which  were  addressed  from  heaven  to  St.  Paul 
 at  his  conversion,  and  to  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse. 
 
 The  following  sentences  are  by  the  holy  Fathers  attributed  likewise  to  Christ  our 
 Lord  ;  "  If  you  should  be  gathered  together  in  my  bosom,  and  yet  refuse  to  do  what 
 I  command,  I  will  cast  you  off,  and  say  to  you  :  Begone  from  me,  I  know  not  whence 
 you  are,  ye  workers  of  iniquity. "||  St.  Irenasus  ascribes  to  Jesus  Christ  the  following 
 words,  without  explaining  them  ;  "  I  have  often  desired  to  hear  these  discourses,  but 
 no  person  was  at  hand  to  recite  them."5[  "  In  whatever  things  I  shall  find  you 
 engaged  at  my  coming,  for  the  same  will  I  judge  you."**  "  Ask  for  such  things  as 
 are  great,tt  and  little  things  shall  be  given  you."  "  I  have  been  infirm  for  the  sake 
 of  the  infirm,  I  have  been  hungry  for  the  sake  of  the  hungry,  and  for  the  thirsty  have 
 I  suffered  thirst."^:};  "  Be  good  bankers,"§§  to  signify  that  we  ought  as  carefully  to 
 discern  truth  from  falsehood,  as  bankers  do  gold  from  base  metal.  We  meet  with 
 other  sayings  of  our  divine  Redeemer  in  ancient  apocryphal  Gospels,  which  may, 
 perhaps,  have  been  handed  down  by  those  who  received  them  from  his  sacred  mouth  ;|||| 
 but  they  are  far  from  having  the  same  authority  with  such  as  are  found  in  the  canonical 
 
 *    St.    Ephrem.   in   Testam.   t.  2.  p.   235.   ed.  and  not  perceive  the  beam  in  thy  own  ?"    Others 
 
 Vatic.  conjecture  differently. 
 
 t  Among  the  moderns,  Tillemont,  Reading,  Jos.         §  See  John,  c.  8. 
 Simon  Assemani,  Grabe,  Mamachi,  Baronius,  &e.  ||  St.  Clement,  Ep.  2.  ad  Cor.  c.  4. 
 
 But  on  the  other  side,  Erasmus,  Coster,  Melchior         ^  St.  Irenaeus  adversus  Hsreses,  c.  7. 
 Cano,  Bellarmin,  Du  Pin,  Nat.  Alexander,  Rivet,         **  St.  Justin  in  Dial,  cum  Tryphone,  §  47. 
 Hornbeck,  the  younger  Spauheim,  &c.   reject  it  as         tt  St.  Clement  of  Alex.  li.  1.  Storm, 
 couiitert'eit.  %%  Oriiren  Comment,  in  Matt, 
 
 t  What  he  wrote  on  this  occasion  is  impossible         §§  St.  Jerom. 
 to  ascertain  ;  perhaps,  says  St.  Ambrose,  tlie   fol-  |{{|  See  a  collection  of  these  in  Grabe,  t.  1.  Spice- 
 
 lowinp:  sentence,  or  at  least  to  the  same  effect:  legi,  p.  25.  and  in  Fabricius,  Cod.  Apocri.  N.  Testa. 
 
 "  Wliy  dost  thou  see  a  mote  in  thy  brother's  eye,  part  1. 
 
4SI,  APPENDIX.  [Ch.  Vr. 
 
 scriptures,  which  alone  are  sanctioned  by  the  Church  as  divinely  inspired,  and  which 
 have  been  carefully  preserved  by  tradition  and  transmitted  down  to  the  present  time 
 .  throug-h  a  lapse  of  1800  years. 
 
 CHAPTER  VI. 
 
 ON  THE  TESTIMONIES  GIVEN  BY  PROFANE  WRITERS  TO  THE  HISTORY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.* 
 
 However  wonderful  and  miraculous  the  history  of  Jesus  may  appear,  there  are  many 
 reasons,  says  Mr.  Addison,  why  we  are  not  to  expect  that  the  particulars  of  it  should 
 be  noticed  by  those  eminent  Pagan  writers  who  were  his  contemporaries.!  Sup- 
 posing the  things  relating  to  Christ  be  ever  so  true,  they  would  not  naturally  gain 
 credit  with  the  heathen  world,  before  the  report  of  them  had  been  examined  and  duly 
 ascertained  by  judicious  persons,  who  by  considering  the  several  circumstances,  attes- 
 tations, and  characters  of  those  concerned  in  them,  might  prudently  determine  how 
 far  they  were  deserving  of  belief.  Besides,  the  Jews  were  branded  not  only  for 
 superstitions  different  from  all  the  religions  of  the  Pagan  world,  but  in  ■  a  particular 
 manner  ridiculed  for  being  a  credulous  people ;  so  that  all  accounts  of  miracles,  per- 
 formed in  that  country,  were  by  persons  of  sense  and  learning  deemed  false  and 
 frivolous.  We  may  further  observe,  that  the  ordinal  y  practice  of  magic  in  those 
 times,  with  the  many  pretended  prodigies,  divinations,  apparitions,  and  local  miracles 
 among  the  Heathens,  would  render  them  less  attentive  to  such  reports  from  Judea, 
 till  they  had  time  to  weigh  the  nature,  the  occasion,  and  the  end  of  our  Saviour's 
 miracles,  and  were  awakened  by  many  surprising  events  to  investigate  matters  of 
 such  a  wonderful  nature.  We  are  indeed  told  by  St.  Matthew,  that  the  fame  of  our 
 Saviour,  during  his  life,  went  through  all  Syria,  and  that  there  followed  him  great 
 multitudes  of  people  from  Galilee,  Judea,  Decapolis,  Idumea,  from  beyond  the 
 Jordan,  and  from  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Now  had  there  been  any  historians  of  those 
 times  and  places,  we  might  reasonably  have  expected  to  have  seen  in  them  some 
 account  of  those  wonderful  transactions  in  Judea  ;  but  there  is  not  extant  a  single 
 author  of  that  age,  who  lived  in  any  of  those  countries.  How  many  books  have 
 perished  in  which  possibly  there  might  have  been  mention  of  our  Saviour?  Look 
 among  the  Romans,  how  few  of  their  writings  are  come  down  to  our  times  ?     In  the 
 
 *  See  on  this  subject  Bullet's  Hisloire  de  VEla-  over-ruled   here,  that  this  history  might  receive  na 
 
 blissement  du  Chrisdaiiisme,  tiree  den  seuls  auteurs  alter«tion  from  corrupt  men,  and  such  as   advance 
 
 Jiiifx    et  Pa'iens  ;    also  Lardiier    On    Jewish    and  indillerently  both  truth  and  falsehood,  but  be  coa- 
 
 Healhfn  testimonies,  and   Addison's  Evidences   of  fined  within  its  own  mysteries  ;  for  being  separated 
 
 the  Christian  Religion.  from  worldly  concerns,  and   not  to  be   treated  b\it 
 
 tThis  silence  in  the  Heathen  writers  concerning  with  awe  and  reverence,  it  ought  to  have  nothing 
 
 Christ,  is  ascribed  by  Sulpicius  Severus  to  a  parti-  common  with  other  writings.    And,  indeed, it  would 
 
 cular  and  superior  disposition  of  divine  Providence,  have  been   the  highest  indignity,  that  these  sacred 
 
 "  Let  it  not  seem  strange,"  says  he,  "  that  the  facts  matters  sliould  only  have   served  as  an  occasional 
 
 contained  in  holy  writ,  are  not  mentioned  by  pro-  subject  to  writers,  who  were  bent  on  other  viewa 
 
 faue  writers  :  a  superior  disposition  of  Providence  and  other  pursuits,"     Hist.  Sac.  I.  2, 
 
Ch.  VI.]  APPENDIX.  485 
 
 space  of  two  years  from  our  Saviour's  birth,  when  there  was  such  a  multitude  of 
 ■veriters  of  every  description,  how  small  is  the  number  of  authors  that  have  made  their 
 .vay  to  the  present  age  ?  One  authentic  record,  and  that  the  most  authentic  heathen 
 record,  we  are  pretty  sure  is  lost.  I  mean  the  account  sent  by  the  Governor  of 
 ludea,  under  whom  our  Saviour  was  judged,  condemned,  and  crucified.  For  it  was 
 the  custom,  as  Eusebius  observes,  in  the  Roman  Empire,  as  it  is  to  this  day  in  all 
 the  g-overnments  of  the  world,  to  require  from  the  prefects  and  viceroys  of  distant 
 provinces  a  summary  relation  of  every  thing  remarkable  in  their  administration. 
 That  Pontius  Pilate,  in  his  account,  would  have  touched  on  so  extraordinary  an  event 
 in  Judea  is  not  to  be  doubted,  and  that  he  actually  did  so  we  learn  from  St.  Justin 
 Martyr,  who  lived  about  one  hundred  years  after  our  Saviour's  death,  and  resided, 
 made  con  veils,  and  suffered  martyrdom  at  Rome.  There  he  disputed  with  philoso- 
 phers, and  particularly  with  Crescens  the  Cynic,  who  could  easily  have  detected,  and 
 would  not  fail  to  have  exposed  him,  had  he  quoted  a  record  not  in  being,  or  made 
 from  it  any  false  citation.  Would  this  great  apologist  have  challenged  Crescens  to 
 dispute  the  cause  of  Christianity  before  the  Roman  Senate,  had  he  forged  such  an 
 evidence  ?  or  would  Crescens  have  refused  the  challenge,  could  he  have  triumphed 
 over  him  in  the  detection  of  such  a  forgery?  To  which  we  must  add,  that  the  apology 
 which  appeals  to  this  record,  was  presented  to  a  learned  Emperor,  and  to  the  whole 
 body  of  the  Roman  Senate.  This  father  in  his  apology,  speaking  of  the  death  and 
 sufferings  of  our  Saviour,  refers  the  Emperor  for  the  truth  of  what  he  says,  to  the  acts 
 of  Pontius  Pilate,  which  I  have  here  mentioned.  Tertullian,  who  wrote  his  apology 
 about  fifty  years  after  St.  Justin,  doubtless  referred  to  the  same  record,  when  he  tells 
 the  governor  of  Rome,  that  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  having  received  an  account  out  of 
 Syria  of  the  divine  person  who  had  appeared  in  that  country,  paid  him  a  particular 
 regard,  and  threatened  to  punish  any  who  should  accuse  the  Christians ;  nay,  that 
 the  Emperor  would  have  adopted  him  among  the  deities  whom  they  worshipped,  had 
 not  the  Senate  refused  to  come  into  his  proposal.  Tertullian,  who  gives  us  this 
 history,  was  not  only  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  age,  but  what  adds  greater 
 weight  to  his  authority,  was  eminently  skilful  and  well  read  in  the  laws  of  the  Roman 
 empire.  Nor  can  it  be  said,  that  Tertullian  grounded  his  quotation  upon  the 
 authority  of  St.  Justin,  because  he  mixes  with  it  matters  of  fact  which  are  not  related 
 by  that  author.  As  for  the  acts  of  Pilate  now  extant,  they  are  rejected  as  spurious 
 by  the  learned,  though  had  there  not  been  a  true  and  authentic  record  of  this  nature, 
 they  probably  never  would  have  been  forged.     So  far  Mr.  Addison. 
 
 Before  we  proceed  to  the  undoubted  authorities  extant  in  Pagan  writers,  let  us 
 first  consider  the  celebrated  testimony  of  Josephus  concerning  Christ,  which  occurs 
 in  the  eighteenth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  ch.  4.  and  is  as  follows:  "  At  the  same 
 time  there  appeared  in  Judea  an  extraordinary  person  called  Jesus,  if  it  be  lawful  to 
 call  him  a  man.  He  was  a  famous  worker  of  miracles,  a  teacher  of  those  who  were 
 desirous  of  receiving  the  truth  in  simplicity,  and  brought  over  to  him  many  disciples, 
 both  Jews  and  Gentiles.     This  was  *  the  Christ,  whom  Pilate,  at  the  accusation  of 
 
 *  "O  xpf^To?  ovTos  ijv,  credebatur  esse  Christus,  to  be  the  Christ.  But  this  difference  is  immalerial, 
 juxta  interpretationem  St,  Hier.     He  was  bdiaved     as  lillemont  observes,  p.  583.  for  since  Josephus 
 
 41.  6h 
 
486 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [Ch.  vr. 
 
 the  princes  and  great  men  of  the  nation,  delivered  up  to  the  ignominious  punishment 
 of  the  cross,  notwithstanding  which  those  who  first  loved  him  did  not  forsake  him. 
 He'sppeared  to  them  alive  again  the  third  day  after  his  crucifixion,  which  the  divine 
 prophets  had  foretold,  together  with  numberless  other  wonders  concerning  him.  And 
 thence,  to  this  day,  there  is  a  set  of  people,  who  bear,  from  him,  the  name  of  Chris- 
 tians, as  owning  him  for  their  head,  Lord,  and  Master."  This  testimony  is  urged  by 
 Eusebius*  against  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  was  admitted  as  genuine  by  St.  Jerora, 
 Rufinus,  and  other  ecclesiastical  writers  till  the  sixteenth  century.  Blondel  was  one 
 of  the  first  who  called  in  question  its  authenticity,  and  he  has  been  followed  by  Tan- 
 quil,  Faber,  Capel,  Osiander,  Montacutius,  Gifanius,  Lardner,  and  others ;  whose 
 reasons  however  are  rather  conjectures  than  proofs,  as  Valois  observes.  Its  authen- 
 ticity is  defended  by  Huet,  Valois,  Natalis  Alexander,  Pagi,  Baronius,  Bellarmine, 
 Tillemont,  Ceillier,  Cave,  Usher,  Grotius,  and  other  eminent  critics,  who  are  sup- 
 ported by  the  authority  of  the  ancients,  as  may  be  seen  in  Maynard's  Josephus,  p. 
 533.  See  also  Bryant's  Vindiciae  Flavianae,  and  Dr.  Forster's  Dissertation  on  this 
 subject.  Certain  it  is  that  all  the  manuscript  copies  of  Josephus  contain  the  passage 
 in  question  ;  nor  do  we  discover  that  any  ancient  author,  from  Josephus  to  Gifanius, 
 suspected  it  to  be  an  interpolation,  or  esteemed  it  any  otherwise  than,  as  an  authority 
 truly  certain  and  undeniable.  To  this  must  be  added  the  advantageous  testimonies 
 which  Josephus  has  left  concerning  John  the  Baptist  t  and  St.  James  iX  '^'"o™  hence  it 
 is  probable  that  he  would  also  bear  favourable  testimony  to  Christ  their  head  and 
 
 allows  that  he  was  foretold  by  the  prophets,  (which 
 he  does  even  in  the  Latin  version  of  this  Father,) 
 he  ought  necessarily  to  have  believed  him  to  be  the 
 Messiah.  I  shall  not  dwell  on  the  testimony  which 
 was  borne  to  our  Lord's  character  during  his  life 
 by  his  enemies  the  Jews.  Numberless  instances  of 
 their  favourable  concessions  have  already  appeared 
 in  the  course  of  the  Evangelical  history.  Kven 
 when  they  absurdly  and  bhispliemously  ascribed  his 
 miracles  to  Satan,  by  that  very  calumny  of  resolv- 
 ing them  into  the  power  of  a  superior  evil  being, 
 they  allowed  their  reality  and  greatness.  When  the 
 later  Jews  attribute  our  Lord's  miracles  to  his 
 stealth  of  a  secret  name  deposited  in  the  temple,  or 
 to  magical  arts  brought  out  of  Egypt,  they  grant 
 that  miracles  were  actually  wrought  by  him.  As 
 to  the  perverse  interpretation  which  they  put  on 
 them,  the  vanity  and  emptiness  of  it  has  been 
 already  exposed  by  Christ  himself      Sec.  49. 
 
 *  Dem.  Ev.  1.  3.  c.  5. 
 
 t  Jos.  Ant.  1.  1*.  c.  7.  Blondel  affects  to  doubt 
 the  autheiilicity  of  this  passage,  but  offers  no  solid 
 reason  whatever  against  it. 
 
 J  L.  20.  c.  8.  This  passage  of  Josephus,  in 
 which  he  mentions  Christ  as  a  well-known  clia- 
 racter,  has  never  yet  been  disputed.  Speaking  of 
 St.  James  the  Just,  he  says,  that  he  was  the  bro- 
 ther T8  XeyofievB  xP'"'"''  °f  him  that  was  called 
 Christ.  Indeed  that  there  formerly  flourished  in 
 Judea  an  extraordinary  person  called  .Jesus  Christ 
 is  a  fact  better  supported  and  authenticated,   than 
 
 that  there  lived  such  men  as  Cyrus,  Alexander,  and 
 Julius  Caesar:  for  there  remain  fewer  historical 
 monuments  to  attest  the  existence  of  the  latter  than 
 of  the  former.  As  certainly  as  Christianity  is  now 
 existing  in  the  world,  so  certainly  did  its  Founder 
 and  Publisher  some  time  exist.  The  public  monu- 
 ments which  the  renowned  heroes  of  antiquity  left 
 behind,  are  long  since  perished :  the  ma;;niticent 
 palaces  they  have  built,  the  superb  structures  they 
 reared,  the  grand  temples  and  mausoleums  they 
 erected,  are  now  no  more.  Few  remaining  visible 
 traces  are  left  of  the  battles  they  fought,  of  the  em- 
 pires they  established,  of  the  laws  they  enacted,  and 
 of  the  universal  devastation  which  they  once  spread 
 around  them.  But  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  that 
 spiritual  empire  of  religion  which  he  founded,  there 
 remains  the  most  striking  memorials  in  every  re- 
 public and  kingdom  of  Europe.  The  religious 
 instiiutions  universally  regarded,  the  religious  so- 
 lemnities universally  celebrated,  necessarily  imply  a 
 cause  and  reason  to  which  they  owe  their  origin, 
 and  suppose  a  date  from  which  they  commenced. 
 All  national  usages  are  public  monuments  of  facts; 
 they  are  standing  proofs  through  all  successive 
 times,  that  the  persons  whose  memory  they  embalm, 
 once  actually  existtd.  The  custom  uni\  ersally  ob- 
 served of  solemnizing  the  nativity,  death,  resurrec- 
 tion, and  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  alone  suffi- 
 cient to  prove  that  there  existed  such  a  personage, 
 who  gave  his  name  to  a  new  society,  from  him 
 denominated  Christians. 
 
Ch.  VI.]  APPENDIX.  ^g7 
 
 leader.  Baronius  also  takes  notice  of  a  manuscript  translation  of  Josephns  in  Hebrew 
 kept  at  Rome,  which  was  consulted  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  authenticity  of 
 this  passage ;  but  it  had  been  manifestly  erased  out  of  it ;  doubtless  by  the  Jews,  as 
 bearing  too  hard  on  that  incredulous  nation.*     In  confirmation  of  this,  we  may 
 remark,  that  the  Jews  have  ever  shown  a  marked  contempt  for  this  historian,  thouo-h 
 indisputably  the  best  they  have  had,  if  we  except  the  sacred  penmen.    For  a  solution 
 of  the  difficulties  brought  against  this  passage,  see  Huet,  (Dem.  Evang.  Prop.  3.) 
 The  chief  objection  is,  that  this  encomium  upon  the  character  and  miracles  of  Christ 
 is  so  extraordinary,  that  Josephus  must  have  been  a  Christian  to  write  in  this  manner. 
 This  mode  of  argumentation,  however,  is  not  very  conclusive-     It  is  the  love  of  truth 
 and  not  the  bare  knowledge  of  it  which  constitutes  a  Christian.     By  a  similar  way  of 
 reasoning  it  may  possibly  be  denied  hereafter,  that  Rousseau  composed  the  beautiful 
 eulogium  f  which  he  has  left  us  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Gospel.     The  inconsistency 
 of  Josephus  is  not  more  striking  than  that  of  the  philosopher  of  Geneva.      Did  we 
 accurately  know  the  religious  principles  of  Josephus,  the  present  difficulty  raio-ht 
 perhaps   be   easily  solved.     It  is  well  known  that  this  historian  referred  to   the 
 Emperor  Vespasian  what  the  prophets  had  foretold  concerning  the  Messiah.     Since 
 he  was  able  to  reconcile  so  profane  an  idea  with  the  exterior  profession  of  the  Jewish 
 religion,  why  might  he  not  believe  the  truth  of  Christ's  miracles,  and  even  of  his 
 resurrection,  without  having  the  courage  to  declare  himself  a  follower  of  his  perse- 
 cuted religion  ?     With  too  much  sincerity  to  disavow  the  truth  of  what  he  perfectly 
 knew  to  be  matter  of  fact,  he  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  worldly  politicians, 
 who,  as  the  Gospel  says,  love  the  glory  of  men  more  than  the  glonj  of  God.     The 
 matter,  however,  is  immaterial ;  for  in  the  supposition  that  the  passage  in  question 
 is  not  from  the  pen  of  Josephus,  his  very  silence  will  prove  equally  favom-able  to 
 the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  above  testimony.     For  admitting  that  the  Jewish 
 historian  never  touches  on  Jesus  Christ  and  his  miracles,  such  silence  must  certainly 
 be  deemed  very  extraordinary.     Whether  the  history  of  Christ's  miracles  be  true  or 
 flilse,  certain  it  is,  that  in  those  times  of  which  Josephns  has  left  us  a  detailed  narra- 
 tive, there  existed  at  Jerusalem  a  man  who  made  a  considerable  noise  durino-  his  life 
 and  who,  after  his  death,  gave  his  name  to  a  sect  or  society  which  was  established  on 
 the  ruins  of  the  Mosaic  law.    At  the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  Christ  and  his  followers 
 were  so  well  known  as  to  attract  the  notice  even  of  the  heathen  historians  ;  for  both 
 Suetonius  and  Tacitus  make  mention  of  them  in  their  histories  of  the  Roman  empire. 
 What  reason  then  can  be  assigned  why  Josephus,  who  wrote  a  particular  hi.story  of 
 the  Jews,  should  not  speak  of  so  celebrated  a  personage  as  Jesus  Christ,  who  was 
 born,  who  lived,  and  died  in  Judea,  and  whose  doctrine  produced  there  a  shock  which 
 then  began  to  be  felt  at  Rome  itself,  and  in  every  part  of  the  empire.     Whilst  Jose- 
 phus carefully  enumerates  so  many  false  Messiahs,  whose  sectaries  were  immediately 
 crushed,  how  comes  it,  that  he  says  nothing  of  Jesus  Christ  who  had  first  assumed 
 that  quality,  and  whose  pretensions,  supported  by  a  growing  party,  had  even  then 
 excited  the  most  alarming  sensations  for  the  religion  of  the  coinitry  ?  Will  it  be  said, 
 
 *  See  Ittigius  Prolegom.   and  Cavt's   Historia  f  See  the  introduction,  p.  30. 
 
 Lit.  V.  2. 
 
^gg  APPENDIX.  [Ch.  VI. 
 
 that  Josephus  did  not  know,  or  at  least  that  he  despised,  as  fabulous,  the  accounts 
 which  the  Christians  propagated  concerning  their  Master?  The  history  of  Jesus, 
 whether  true  or  false,  was  too  public  for  Josephus  to  be  ignorant  of  it ;  and  however 
 fabulous  it  mioht  have  appeared  to  him,  he  could  not  despise  it  as  below  his  notice, 
 since  it  was  already  become  the  principle  of  an  extraordinary  revolution.  As  a  Jew, 
 as  a  priest,  as  an  historian,  Josephus  was  every  way  obliged  to  disabuse  his  contem- 
 poraries and  posterity  ;  in  every  point  of  view  he  was  bound  to  declare  his  sentiments, 
 however  unfavourable  to  the  character  of  Jesus.  But  on  the  contrary,  if  persuaded 
 of  the  truth  of  Christ's  miracles,  he  wanted  courage  to  avow  his  conviction  for  fear  of 
 displeasing  the  Jews  and  Romans,  in  this  case,  every  consideration  imperiously 
 dictated  the  most  absolute  silence.  With  respect  to  facts,  so  important  and  so 
 intimately  connected  with  the  history  he  was  writing,  the  silence  of  Josephus  must 
 appear  an  affected,  interested  silence,  which  therefore  speaks  as  loudly  in  favour  of 
 Jesus,  as  the  very  testimony  in  question. 
 
 Let  us  now  return  to  those  Pagan  writers  who  are  allowed  to  have  touched  on  the 
 history  of  our  Saviour,  and  we  shall  find  that  such  facts  are  mentioned  by  them  as  it 
 was  reasonable  to  expect  they  should  know,  observe,  and  transmit  to  posterity.  That 
 Auo-ustus  Cassar  had  ordered  the  whole  empire  to  be  censed  or  taxed,  which  brought 
 our  Saviour's  reputed  parents  to  Bethlehem,  is  mentioned  by  several  Roman  histo- 
 rians, as  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  Dion.  That  a  great  light,  or  a  neio  star  appeared  in 
 the  east,  which  directed  the  wise  men  to  our  Saviour,  is  recorded  by  Chalcidius  in  his 
 commentary  on  Plato.  That  Herod  the  king  of  Palestine  made  a  great  slaughter  of 
 innocent  children,  without  sparing  even  his  own  son,  is  confirmed  by  Macrobius. 
 That  our  Saviour  had  been  in  Egypt  is  acknowledged  by  Celsus,*  who  pretends  that 
 he  learned  there  the  arts  of  magic.  Moreover,  this  philosopher  mentions  many  other 
 circumstances  relating  to  the  history  of  Christ ;  indeed  so  many,  that  an  abstract  of 
 the  Christian  history  might  almost  be  taken  from  the  very  fragments  of  his  book  pre- 
 served by  Origen :  nor  does  he  ever  pretend  to  dispute  the  real  existence  of  our 
 Saviour,  or  the  truth  of  the  facts  recorded  by  the  Evangelists.  Porphyry  also,  though 
 an  inveterate  enemy  to  Christianity,  not  only  allowed  the  existence  of  Christ,  but 
 honoured  him  as  a  most  wise  and  pious  man,  whom  the  gods  had  translated  into 
 heaven. t  What  testimony,  adds  this  historian,  would  you  deem  more  valid  and 
 credible  than  the  attestation  of  an  enemy  ?  In  this  we  may  admire  the  Providence 
 of  God,  who  has  turned  the  pens  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Christianity  against 
 themselves,  as  he  formerly  obliged  Balaam  to  bless  his  people,  though  he  went  out 
 with  the  express  design  of  cursing  them.;}:  That  manj/  miraculous  cures  and  works 
 out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature  were  lorought  by  Jesus  is  confessed  by  Hierocles  ^ 
 
 *  Celsus  lived  about  A.  D.  176.  Apollonius  Tyanseus,   of  which  absurd  blasphemy 
 
 t"  Euseb.  Dem.  Evani^.  1.  3.  Eiisebiiis  of  Caesarea  published  an  ample  confuta- 
 
 J    Theodoret  de  Curan.    Grascorum    affectibus,  tion.     As  to  Julian  the  apostate,  he  made   use   of 
 
 ].  3.  every  expedient  to  discredit   Christianity,  and  had 
 
 §   In  his  work  which  he  composed  at^ainst  the  the  advantage  of  perfectly  knowing:  its  doctrine,  and 
 
 Christians,  about  A.  D.  303,  entitled  PhilaUthes,  in  whatever  the   philosophers  and  Jewish  or  Pajfan 
 
 which  he  repeats  the  slanders  of  Celsus  and  Por-  historians  could  furnish  against  it,  yet  he  was  not 
 
 phyry,  and  draws  a  supposed  parallel  between  the  able  to  object  any  thing  deserving  a  serious  regard, 
 
 miracles  of  Christ  and  the  pretended  miracles  of  or  that  could  be  considered  as  a  solid  apology  for 
 
Ch.  Vr.]  APPENDIX. 
 
 and  Julian  the  apostate,  who  Hved  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century.  That  at 
 the  time  when  our  Saviour  died,  there  was  a  miraculous  darlcness  and  a  great  earth- 
 quake is  recorded  by  Phlegon,  a  Pagan  and  freeman  to  Adrian  the  Emperor.  For 
 the  truth  of  this  event  Tertullian,  in  his  apology,  refers  the  Romans  to  their  public 
 registers.     Eum  mundi  casum  in  archivis  vestris  habetis. 
 
 Neither  Arriau  nor  Appian  speak  of  Jesus  Christ ;  nor  was  it  to  be  expected.  The 
 former  describes  the  wars  of  Alexander,  and  so  by  his  subject  was  otherwise  enoao-ed  : 
 the  latter  has  omitted  Judea  in  the  description  which  he  has  left  of  the  Roman  empire. 
 From  the  total  silence  of  Plutarch  we  may  infer  that  he  had  not  the  courage  to  speak 
 well  of  the  Christians,  and  was  unwilling  to  calumniate  them,  as  St.  Austin  remarks 
 of  Seneca.  iElius  Lampridius,  in  his  life  of  Alexander  Severus,  writes  as  follows  : 
 "  every  morning,  when  at  liberty,  he  performed  his  devotions  in  his  oratory,  where 
 he  kept  the  principal  gods,  the  greatest  heroes,  and  most  holy  personages  ;  amono- 
 whom  were  Apollonius,  Chrht,  Abraham,  and  Orpheus,  together  with  the  imaoes  of 
 his  ancestors."  And  chap.  40.  "  He  had  a  design  of  building  a  temple  for  Christ, 
 and  of  enrolling  him  among  the  gods,  which  Adrian  is  said  likewise  to  have  intended  ' 
 when  he  gave  orders  for  building  in  all  cities  temples  without  any  idols,  and  which 
 are  therefore  called  Adrian's  temples.  He  did  this  with  the  view  of  dedicatino- 
 them  to  Christ,  but  was  prevented  by  the  priests,  who  remonstrated  ao-ainst  it 
 from  the  apprehension  of  all  becoming  Christians,  and  abandonino-  the  tcm'5les 
 of  the  gods." 
 
 Suetonius  and  Tacitus  make  mention  of  Christ  and  his  religion,  but  in  a  manner 
 which  evinces  the  inveterate  prejudices  which  they  entertained  against  Christianity. 
 Suetonius,  in  his  life  of  Claudius,  c.  25.  says :  "  that  he  expelled  from  Rome  the 
 Jews  who,  on  account  of  Christ,*  raised  commotions  in  that  city."  The  historian  here 
 evidently  refers  to  the  Christians,  who  were  considered  as  a  branch  of  the  Jews, 
 because  the  founders  and  first  teachers  of  Christianity  were  by  birtli  of  that  nation. 
 
 In  Nero's  time,  which  was  little  more  than  thirty  years  after  our  Savioiu's  cruci- 
 fixion, Tacitus,  in  his  annals, t  makes  mention  of  the  violent  death  which  Christ  had 
 suffered;  that  he  flourished  under  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  and  that  Pilate  was  then 
 procurator  of  Judea.  He  says  there  was  a  "  great  multitude  of  Christians"  in  Rome, 
 and  gives  a  circumstantial  and  shocking  account  of  the  ingenious  torments  and  excffc- 
 ciating  deaths  to  which  they  were  subjected  %  by  Nero,  who  imputed  to  them  the 
 conflagration  at  Rome,  with  the  view  of  vindicating  himself.  His  words  are  :  "  Nero 
 to  divert  the  suspicion  of  his  having  set  Rome  on  fire,§   inflicted  the  most  exquisite 
 
 his    apostacy.     St.    Gregory   Nazianzen,    and    St.  that  the  heathens  often  called   our  Saviour  Chrsst 
 
 Cyril,  answered  his  cavils.    It  is  happy  for  religion,  instead  of  Christ,  through  mistake,  and  not  by  way 
 
 that  the  objections  of  this  antichristian   Emperor  of  reproach, 
 
 have  been  transmitted  down  to  our  times  :  other-  t  L.  15.  c.  44. 
 
 wise  some  might  iiave  imagined  them  to  be  counter  +  Mullitudo  ingens.  Pereuntibus  addita  hidibria 
 
 evidence    for   rejecting    the    Gospel    history  :    but  ut  ferarem  tergis  contecti  laniatu  canum  interirent', 
 
 nothing  more  betrays  the  weakness  of  infidelity,  or  aut  crucibus  affixi,  aut  fiammati,  atque   ubi  iXek- 
 
 strengthens  more  the  cause  of  Christianity,  than  the  cisset,  in  usum  nocturni  luminis  uterentur. 
 
 concessions  of  these  early  enemies  in  favour  of  its  §  Tillemont,  Crevier,  and  other  judicious  critics, 
 
 authenticity.  make  no  doubt  but  Nero  himself  was  tlic  a\ithor  of 
 
 *    See    Rossal's    Dissertation,    Be    Chrisio  per  this   conflagration.     Suetonius  and   Dion   Cassius 
 
 errorem  in  Chresluin  comnuitato,  where  he  shows,  positivelv    charge   him    with   it.     Tacitus     indeed 
 
 4-2.  '  6i  '  ' 
 
 489 
 
490 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [Ch.  VI. 
 
 tortures  on  those  men  who,  under  the  vulgar  appellation  of  Christians,  were  already 
 detested  for  their  crimes.  They  derive  their  name  and  origin  from  Christ,  who,  in 
 the  reign  of  Tiberius,  had  suffered  death  by  the  sentence  of  tlie  procurator  Pontius 
 Pilate."  It  is  evident  that  this  historian,  so  exact  and  judicious  on  other  occa- 
 sions, had  never  been  at  the  pains  of  examining  into  the  religion  of  Christians, 
 and  therefore  he  repeats  the  calumnies  which  had  been  disseminated  among  the 
 people  by  their  enemies.  How  much  more  amiable  a  picture  does  Pliny  give  of  the 
 purity  and  sanctity  of  their  manners,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Emperor  Trajan, 
 and  written  an.  104,  that  is,  within  four  years  after  the  death  of  St.  John.  "  It  was 
 their  custom,"  says  he,  "  to  meet  before  light,  on  a  stated  day,  and  mutually  to 
 recite  a  hymn  to  Christ  as  God,*  binding  themselves,  by  a  solemn  oath,  not  for  the 
 purpose  of  any  thing  wicked,  but,  on  the  contrary,  never  to  be  guilty  of  any  fraud, 
 of  any  theft,  or  of  any  debauchery  ;  never  to  falsify  their  word ;  never  to  deny  a 
 trust,  when  they  were  called  upon  to  deliver  it  up."  Li.  10.  Epist.  97. f 
 
 I  shall  close  this  article  with  the  following  account  of  the  death  of  Pan,  from 
 Plutarch's  Treatise  (De  defectu  Oraculorum),  especially  as  Eusebius  has  transcribed 
 it  at  full  length  in  one  of  his  principal  works.     It  rests  on  the  authority  of  -Sllmilian, 
 
 doubts  whether  the  fire  was  owinp;  to  uccitlcnt  or  to 
 the  wickedness  of  the  prince;  but  by  a  circum- 
 stance which  he  mentions,  it  appears  tliat  tlie  flame 
 was  at  least  kept  up  and  ahowed  to  spread  for 
 several  days  by  the  tyrant's  order.  It  is  surpris- 
 in<r  that  Gibbon,  in  his  liistory  of  the  Decline  and 
 Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  chap.  16.  should 
 attempt  to  vindicate  Nero  from  this  imputation, 
 contrary  to  the  testimony  of  the  Roman  Historians. 
 Hereby  he  manifestly  betrays  his  partiality  in  favour 
 of  the  most  execrable  tyrant  that  ever  disgraced  a 
 throne,  and,  at  the  same  time,  an  \mcommon  pre- 
 judice against  the  professors  of  Christianity,  the 
 innocent  victims  of  that  prince's  rage. 
 
 *  We  have  here  a  strong  and  convincing  testi- 
 mony against  the  Socinians  and  Unitarians.  The 
 testimony  of  a  most  respectable  heathen  magistrate, 
 a  man  of  sense  and  learning,  and  who  derived  his 
 information  not  from  hearsay,  but  from  tlie  confes- 
 sion of  Christians  themselves,  who  had  yielded  to 
 the  violence  of  the  persecution,  that  the  primitive 
 Christians  adored  Christ  as  God;  certainly  not  a 
 ?netaphorical  God,  which  would  have  been  the 
 heiglit  of  wickedness  and  absurdity. 
 
 t  I  might  here  advert  to  another  list  of  heathen 
 ■writers,  viz.  those  who  were  at  first  Heathens,  and 
 afterwards  became  Christians.  For  their  testimo- 
 nies are  certam.  ,■  to  be  looked  upon  equally,  if  not 
 more  authentic,  than  if  they  had  remained  Pagans. 
 But  for  brevity's  sake,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr. 
 Addison's  Evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion,  sec- 
 tion 3.  &c.  The  external  evidence  arising  from  so 
 many  Jewish  and  Heathen  testimonies,  tends  much 
 to  illustrate  and  confirm  the  truth  of  the  gospel 
 history;  but  its  own  !«<i'r/iai  evidence  affords  the 
 strongest  argument  in  support  of  Christianity.  No 
 evidence,  however,  is  sufficient  to  convince  our 
 modern  free-thinkers,  and  the  reason  is  obvious, 
 
 because  they  will  not  be  convinced.  They  are,  in 
 general,  light,  easy,  self-confident  young  men,  who 
 pursue  pleasure  more  than  truth,  and  seem  to  have 
 no  moral  end  in  view.  Persons  of  this  description 
 cannot  be  supposed  to  iiave  any  predilection  for 
 what  relates  to  a  spiritual  world,  or  indeed  for  any 
 thing  but  what  concerns  the  interests  and  enjoy- 
 ments of  the  ])resent  life.  When  we  reflect  how 
 they  live,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  it  is  not 
 reason  which  I  hey  follow,  since  they  live  in  a  per- 
 petual contradiction  to  the  first  principles  of  it,  but 
 the  gratification  of  their  passions  ;  their  incredidity 
 proceeds  merely  from  a  spirit  of  libertinism,  and  a 
 desire  of  submitting  to  as  few  obligations  as  possi- 
 ble :  in  other  words,  it  is  not  so  much  a  freedom 
 of  thinking  which  they  aim  at,  as  a  freedom  of 
 living,  and  of  doing  what  they  please,  without  the 
 control  of  God's  law  or  the  lear  of  eternal  punish- 
 ment. For  the  truth  of  this  observation  I  appeal 
 to  experience  ;  for  you  seldom  find  a  man  loose  in 
 his  jirinciplcs,  who  is  not  so  in  his  manners.  There 
 may  possibly  be  now  and  then  an  instance  of  some 
 cold  phlegmatic  m;in  who  sets  up  for  overturning 
 religion,  merely  for  the  sake  of  contradiction,  or  to 
 get  himself  a  name  by  it;  without  the  design  of 
 indulging  his  own  appetites  in  so  doing;  but  this 
 is  a  rare  case;  such  generally  being  those  whovialk 
 after  their  own  lusts,  and  have  no  pretensions  to 
 excellence  either  in  moral  or  theological  science. 
 "  The  writings  of  several  of  the  more  distinguished 
 of  tiie  modern  unbelievers,"  says  Dr.  Priestley, 
 "  show  the  spirit  with  which  they  write  ;  that,  for 
 the  most  part,  their  works  consist  of  sarcastic  wit, 
 popular  declamation,  and  vague  intemperate  railing 
 at  priests  and  priestcraft,  without  any  regard  to 
 historical  truth."  See  his  discourses  on  revealed 
 religion,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 
 
cii.  vrr.]  APPENDIX.  491 
 
 professor  of  eloquence^  who,  with  many  others,  had  heard  it  from  his  father  Epithersis, 
 an  ocular  witness  of  the  whole  transaction.  This  Epithersis  related,  that  going-,  with 
 many  others,  on  board  a  ship  bound  for  Italy,  when  he  was  near  the  island  of  Paxes, 
 one  of  the  Echinades  at  the  entrance  of  the  gulf  of  Corinth,  a  voice  was  heard 
 calling  on  Thamus  the  captain  of  the  ship.  Thamus  having  answered,  the  voice  said 
 to  him,  that  when  arrived  at  Pelodes  (which  is  the  port  of  Buthrotus  in  Epirns),  he 
 was  to  give  notice  of  the  death  of  the  great  Pan.  (This  Pan,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
 was  considered  as  one  of  the  principal  heathen  deities.)  Upon  hearing  this,  all  on 
 board  were  filled  with  consternation,  and  after  some  deliberation  it  was  determined 
 that  Thamus  should  give  the  required  notice,  in  case  the  wind  failed  him  when  oppo- 
 site to  Pelodes.  On  their  arrival  there,  it  being  a  perfect  calm,  Thamus  cried  out 
 to  those  on  the  shore,  that  the  great  Pan  was  dead.  He  no  sooner  said  this,  than 
 cries  were  heard  as  of  a  number  of  persons  bitterly  lamenting  and  expressing 
 the  utmost  astonishment  at  the  event.  The  passengers  arrive  at  Rome  and  make 
 public  this  extraordinary  circumstance  ;  Tiberius,  tlie  reigning  emperor,  having-  heard 
 from  Thamus  himself  the  whole  account,  judged  it  worthy  of  credit.  Several  writers 
 are  of  opinion,  as  Baronius  observes,  that  this  Pan,  so  highly  honoured  by  the 
 Pagans  as  the  great  Author  of  Nature,  was  Jesus  Christ  himself;  his  death,  they  say, 
 was  thus  lamented  by  the  devils,  because  it  involved  the  destraction  of  their  empire. 
 Tliis  opinion  is  adopted  by  Huet,*  Gretzer,t  Natalis  Alex.,;}:  and  Montacutius.  i^ 
 On  the  contrary,  Tillemont,  in  his  abridged  Life  of  Christ,  p.  47,  following  Eusebius, 
 by  the  great  Pan,  understands  the  prince  of  devils,  whose  reign  and  empire  were 
 destroyed  by  the  death  of  Christ ;  it  being-,  says  he,  more  glorious  and  triumphant  for 
 Jesus  Christ  that  the  devil  should  thus  acknowledge  himself  overthrown,  and  to  have 
 received  from  the  cross  a  deadly  wound.  Others  again,  as  Dalus,  Hunore,  &c.  doubt 
 the  truth  of  the  whole  history,  which  they  say,  appears  to  be  of  the  fiibulous  kind. 
 Baronius  likewise  leaves  the  matter  undecided. 
 
 CHAPTER  Vn. 
 
 ON  THE  YEARS  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 There  are  three  questions  respecting  the  years  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  tlie  determination 
 of  which  depends  the  true  meaning  of  several  texts  in  the  gospel  and  the  prophets. 
 The  first  question  regards  the  year  of  Christ's  birth  ;  the  second,  that  of  his  baptism  ; 
 and  the  third,  that  of  his  death.  These  three  epochs  are  intimately  connected 
 with  each  other.  If  two  of  them  be  ascertained,  we  easily  find  out  the  third ; 
 ai'd  even  from  the  knowledge  of  one,  we  may  pretty  confidently  pronounce  of  the 
 other  two. 
 
 *  Prop.  9.  Dem.  Evang.  c.  136.  §  4  +  In  Hist.  Eccl.  saec.  i. 
 
 t  Li.  i.  de  Cruce,  c.  33.  §  T.  i.  Orig.  Eccles.  part.  2. 
 
493 
 
 APPENDIX.  [Cli.  Vir. 
 
 It  appears  that  the  ancients  generally  determined  the  years  of  Christ  by  the  epoch 
 of  his  baptism  ;  and  the  epoch  of  his  baptism  by  the  testimony  of  St.  Luke,  concern- 
 ino-  the  commencement  of  the  mission  of  St.  John  tlie  Baptist.  From  the  same 
 Evano-elist  they  learned  that  Jesus  was  then  about  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age,  and 
 they  concluded  that  he  lived  fifteen  years  under  Tiberius,,  and  fifteen  under  Augustus. 
 They  placed  the  birth  of  Christ  therefore  two  years  before  the  vulgar  oera  ;*  and  as  to 
 the  year  of  his  death,  some  made  it  to  coincide  with  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius, 
 others  with  the  seventeenth,  and  others  witli  the  eighteenth. 
 
 Amono-  the  moderns,  some  determine  the  years  of  Christ  by  the  epoch  of  his  birth, 
 and  this  epoch  they  regulate  by  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  respecting  the  duration  of 
 Herod's  reign.f  OthersJ  determine  the  years  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  solely  by  the  epoch 
 of  his  birth,  but  likewise  by  that  of  his  death.  The  epoch  of  his  birth  they  determine 
 by  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  and  the  epoch  of  his  death  by  astronomical  calculations, 
 by  the  testimony  of  Phlegon  the  historian,  and  by  Daniel's  prophecy  respecting  the 
 seventy  weeks.  Others  again  compute  the  years  of  Christ  solely  by  the  epoch  of  his 
 death,  which  they  determine  by  astronomical  calculations,  by  the  testimony  of 
 Phleoon,  and  the  prophecy  of  Daniel.  This  is  the  system  of  Labbe,  Grandani,  and 
 others. 
 
 After  this  general  view  of  the  various  sentiments  of  ancient  and  modern  chrono- 
 loo-ists,  it  may  perhaps  be  expected  that  I  should  enter  into  a  detailed  examination 
 of  the  several  difficulties  to  which  inquiries  of  this  nature  are  liable  :  but  such  chro- 
 nological discussions  would  carry  me  too  far,  nor  could  I  pretend,  without  the  imputa- 
 tion of  vanity,  to  throw  any  new  light  on  a  subject  which  has  in  vain  been  attempted 
 by  men  of  far  superior  learning  and  judgment.  The  reader  may  consult  the  Chrono- 
 logical Dissertation  of  Rondet  in  the  Bible  de  Voice.  This  author  attempts  to 
 prove,  1.  That  the  death  of  Christ  happened  in  the  thirty-third  year  of  the  vulgar 
 aera  :  2.  That  his  baptism  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirtieth  year  of  the  vulgar  a^ra  : 
 3.  That  his  birth  was  at  the  conclusion  of  the  year  which  precedes  the  first  of  the 
 vulgar  aera.  In  opposition  to  this  system,  the  reader  may  examine  what  the  learned 
 Kepler  has  adduced  in  a  work  on  this  subject,  where  he  says,  that  he  has  demonstrated 
 that  our  Saviour  was  born  full  five  years  before  the  commencement  of  the  vulgar 
 aera.     "  Demonstratum  puto  natum  esse  Jesura  Christum  cinque  solidis  annis  ante 
 
 *  The  vulgar  or  common  sru,  whence  we  date  Christ  two  years  before  the  vulgar  £era,  his  baptism 
 the  year  of  Christ's  birth,  does  not  begin  with  the  in  the  twenty-eighth,  and  his  death  in  the  lliiity- 
 year  4000,  but  five  Cull  years  later,  and  with  the  first  year  of  the  vulgar  cera.  They  each  of  them 
 first  of  January  following,  as  Kepler  shows:  for  admit  but  three  Passovers.  Decker  places  the  birth 
 example,  the  present  year,  which  is  commonly  called  of  our  Saviour  four  years  before  the  vulgar  a;ra, 
 1831,  from  the  birth  of  Christ,  is,  in  fact,  1836.  his  baptism  iu  the  twenty-eighth,  and  his  death  in 
 This  mistake  was  owing  to  Dionysius  Exiguus,  the  thirty-first:  he  admitted  four  Passovers. 
 who  first  introduced  this  eera,  and  who  erroneously  {  Usher  places  the  birth  of  Christ  four  years 
 began  it  five  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ  ;  but  it  before  the  vulgar  sera,  his  baptism  in  the  twenty- 
 is  now  become  so  general,  that  it  could  not  be  seventh,  and  his  death  in  the  thirty-third  year  of 
 changed  without  the  greatest  confusion  of  all  the  same  epoch.  This  is  agreeable  to  Lancelot's 
 ancient  monuments.  calcidation.      Toinard  and   Calmet  place  the  death 
 
 t  Pezron  places  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ   four  of  Herod  in  the  third  year  before  the  vulgar  sera, 
 
 years   before  the  vulgar  sera,  his  baptism  in   the  and  conclude  that  the  birth  of  Christ  preceded  the 
 
 twenty-seventh,  and  his  death  in  the  twenty-ninth  common  aera  three  years  and  eight  days, 
 of  the  vulgar  sera.     Plumyoen  places  the   birth  of 
 
A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  OUR  SAVIOURS  LIFE. 
 
 principium  eerae  hodiernge."  As  this  opinion  of  Kepler,  though  it  cannot  be  perhaps 
 demomlraticely  proved,  has  nevertheless  been  considered  by  many  of  the  learned  as 
 extremely  well  founded,  we  have  adopted  it  in  the  present  work,  as  will  appear  from 
 the  foUowinor  chronologrical  table  of  Sandinus. 
 
 493 
 
 ears  of  the 
 
 Years  o 
 
 world. 
 
 Rome. 
 
 3985 
 
 733 
 
 39S6 
 
 734 
 
 39S9 
 
 737 
 
 3997 
 
 745 
 
 ;bri»t. 
 
 the  vol.  sra. 
 
 16 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR'S  LIFE,  CHIEFLY  FROM  SANDINUS. 
 
 The  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  tlie  8th  of  December. 
 The  Nativity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  8th  of  September. 
 Her  Presentation  in  llie  temjile  in  the  third  year  of  her  age. 
 According  to  Cedrenus,  Joachim  died  at  the   age   of  80   years, 
 and  Ann  at  the  age  of  79. 
 
 3999  747       The  angel  Gabriel  announces  to  Zachary,  that  his  wife   Eliza- 
 
 beth will  bring  forth  a  son.  She  conceives  after  the  month  of 
 September,  ch.  2. 
 
 4000  74S       The  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  2-3th  of  March,  ch.  3. 
 
 The  Blessed  Virgin  goes  to  visit  her  cousin  Elizabeth,  ch.  4. 
 
 The  Nativity  of  John  tlie  Baptist,  the  24th  of  June,  ch.  5.  Christ. 
 
 Christ  our  Lord  is   born  about  the  year  of  the  world  4000,  the  1 
 
 25th  of  December,  in  the  days  of  king  Herod,  and  the  consu- 
 late of  C.  Lselins  Balbiis,  and  C.  Antistius  Veter,*  ch.  8. 
 
 4001  749        The  first  year  of  Christ  to  the  25t!i  of  December.      On  the  first 
 
 of  January  he  is  circumcised,  ch.  S.  art.  3.  On  the  6th  he  is 
 adored  by  the  i\Iagi,  ch.  9.  He  is  presented  in  the  temple  on 
 the  2d  of  February,  the  day  of  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed 
 Virgin,  ch.  10.  Joseph  leaving  Bethleheiri,  flies  into  Egypt 
 with  the  child  and  his  inother,  ch.  11.  Ilerod  orders  all  the 
 male  children  under  two  years  old  to  be  slain,  cli.  11. 
 
 Herod  dies,  Archelaus  his  son  reigns  in  his  place. 
 
 Joseph  returns  out  of  Egypt. 
 
 The  Nativity  of  Christ  our  Lord  is  this  year,  according  to  the 
 vulgar  aera,  the  25th  of  December.  This  ;cra  however  is 
 reckoned  from  the  beginning  of  Janu:iry  following. 
 
 The  first  Year  of  the  vulgar  ajra. 
 
 Christ  in  his  twelfth  year  came  with  his  parents  from  Nazareth 
 to  Jerusalem,  and  remained  there  for  three  days,  ch.  12. 
 From  this  year  of  Christ  to  his  thirtieth  year,  nothing  occurs 
 concerning  him  in  l.oly  scripture.  St  Luke,  ch.  ii.  51,  52. 
 only  mentions  that  Jesus  came  to  Nazareth  with  his  parents, 
 and  was  subject  to  them,  and  that  he  advanced  in  wisdom  and 
 age,  and  in  grace  before  God  and  men,  ch.  12. 
 
 4030  778       John,  in  the  fifteenth  Year  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  began  to  7>reac/t  <Ae       30  25 
 
 baptism  of  penance  ;  dated  not  from  the  death  of  Augustus, 
 but  from  the  time  when  the  Roman  senate  decreed  Tiberius 
 should  be  associated  with  him  in  the  empire, t  ch.  13. 
 
 4031  779       Christ  our  Lord  was  baptized  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius       31  26 
 
 the  Emperor,  in  the  consulate  of  Cn.  Cornelius  Lentulus 
 Gaetulicus  and  C.  Calvesius  Sabinus,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
 31st  year  of  his  age,  ch.  14. 
 
 *  We  follow  the  most  celebrated  chronologists  in  reckon-         f  Or  as  Paterculus  expresses  it,  (1.  2.  c.  121.)     "  Ut 
 
 ing  the  year  of  the  world  according  to  tlie  Hebrew  text  Eequum  ei  jus  in  omnibus  provinciis  exceriibusque  esset, 
 
 and  the  Vulgate.     As  to  the  month  and  day  nf  our  Sa-  quam  erat  ipsi  .'\ugu5to,"  viz.  from  tlie  744  U.  C.     Pagi 
 
 viours  birth,  the  universal  Church,  both  Latin  and  Greek,  ad  an.  32.  writes:    "  Lucam  de  an.  15.  Imperii  Procon- 
 
 ate  agreed  in  fixing  it  on  the  25ih  of  December,  which,  sulaiis  Tiherii,  non  veto  de  an.    Imperii  ejus  Augustii 
 
 according  to  some   authors,  fell  that  year  on  a  Sunday,  intelligendum   anliqui  docuerunt."     See   Graveson  and 
 
 See  Labbe,  t.  6.  Cone.  p.  1207.  Honore  of  St.  Mary,  t.  3. 
 
 42.  Gk 
 
 4002 
 
 750 
 
 4005 
 
 753 
 
 4006 
 
 754 
 
 4012 
 
 760 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 Years  of  Ih. 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
^^^  A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR'S  LIFE. 
 
 V,  „-.  «f  ti.^        v.'qr^  nf  Years  of        Years  of  tbe 
 
 1  tars  oi  me         ii.iisui  nt,^;^*  »..i    _« 
 
 world  Rome.  Chriiit.  vill.  am. 
 
 4031  779       After  receivinir  baptism  from  John,  he  retires  into  a  desert,  and       31  26 
 
 fasts  dnrinpf  forty  days,  ch.  15. 
 At  the  end  of  February  or  the  beginning  of  March  he  changed 
 
 water   into   wine   at  the  marriage  feast  of  Cana  of  Galilee, 
 
 ch.  18. 
 He  celebrates  the  first  passover,  ch.  19. 
 By  the   command  of  Herod  Antipas,  John  is  cast  into  prison, 
 
 ch.  22. 
 Christ  more  publicly  undertakes  the  office  of  preaching  to  the 
 
 Jews. 
 
 4032  780       The  second  year  of  Christ's  preaching.  32  27 
 
 He  celebrates  the  second  passover. 
 He  chooses  12  Apostles,  ch.  40. 
 
 4033  781       The  third  year  of  Christ's  preaching.  33  28 
 
 He  celebrates  the  third  passover. 
 He  chooses  72  disciples,  ch.  79. 
 
 4034  782       The   Sunday  or  first  day  of  the  week,  which  was  the  20th  of       34  29 
 
 March,  he  enters  Jerusalem  in  a  triumphal  manner,  riding 
 on  an  ass,  ch.  109.  In  the  beginning  of  that  week,  he  went 
 daily  into  the  temple,  and  in  the  evenings  returned  to  Bethania, 
 to  prav  in  the  garden  of  Oetliseuiani,  Luke  xxi.  38,  &c. 
 
 On  Wednesday  the  23d  of  March,  Judas  makes  an  agreement 
 with  the  Chief  Priests  to  deliver  Jesus  to  them  for  a  sum  of 
 money,  ch.  127. 
 
 On  Thursday,  Christ  sent  his  disciples  in  the  afternoon  to  pre- 
 pare the  paschal  lamb,  which  had  been  ottered  in  the  temple  : 
 this  he  eat  with  his  twelve  .Apostles.  He,  after  sun-set,  washed 
 their  feet,  John  xiii.  ch.  129.  After  supper  he  instituted  the 
 blessed  Sacrament  and  .sacrilice  of  his  body  and  blood,  ch.  130. 
 
 He  gave  his  Apostles  those  excellent  instructions  set  down  by 
 St.  John,  ch.  xiv.  17. 
 
 The  same  night,  viz.  the  24th  of  March,  after  praying  tliree 
 different  times,  he  is,  by  Judas,  betrayed  and  seized  in  the 
 garden  of  Gethsemani,  ch.  137. 
 
 He  is  led  first  to  Annas  and  then  to  Caiphas,  ch.  138. 
 
 On  Friday  morning,  being  the  2.')th  of  March,  the  Jews  deliver 
 him  up  to  Pilate,  who  declares  him  innocent ;  yet  afterwards, 
 apprehensive  of  the  displeasure  of  Caesar,  condemns  him  to 
 the  death  of  the  cross  about  nine  o'clock,  ch.  140.  et  seq. 
 
 Jesus  is  crucified  about  noon  on  the  25th  of  March,  in  the 
 eighteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  from  the  time  of  his 
 being  associated  with  Augustus  in  the  general  government  of 
 the  provinces,  under  the  consulate  of  the  two  Gemini,*  ch,  143. 
 
 *  As  TertuUian,  (advers.  Jud.  c.  8.)  St.  Austin,  (1.  18.  year  1551,  and  which  is  preserved  in  the  Vatican  library, 
 
 de  Civ.  c.  54.)  Victor  Aquitanus,  (in  Chron.)  Lactantius,  As   to   the   moderns,  Henry   Philippi,  (in   Quiestionibus 
 
 (1.  4.  Inst.  c.  10.)  St.  Prosper,  the  Liberian  Calendar,  and  Chronologicis  de  an.  Nativ,  et  Passi.  Chrisli,  c.  19.)  enu- 
 
 many  other  old  calendars  testify.  See  Berti,  (Diss.  Hist.  6.)  merates  above  thirty  eminent  writers  in  favour  of  lliis 
 
 Tfiere  have  been  various  opinions  concerning  the  day  opinion.     It  is  objected  to  it,  that  it  does  not  agree  with 
 
 of  the  month  on  which  our  Saviour  suffered.     We  have  tlie  astronomical  cycles  :  but  these  have  been  often  altered, 
 
 adopted  that  which  places  his  death  on  Friday  the  25th  nor  do  we  know  what  cycles  the  Jews  followed.    Samuel 
 
 of  March,  and  the   15th  of  the  lunar  month  Nisan  ;  for  Petit  demonstrates  them  to  have  been  confused,  especially 
 
 this  is  supported  by  the  authority  of  the  most  ancient  after  Herod  had   introduced  the  Roman  correclion-and 
 
 Fathers.     See  the  foregoing  citations,  to  which  we  may  calendar,  nor  do  we  know  hovp  the  Jews  reconciled  to  it 
 
 add  Bede,  (de  Ratione  Temporum,  c.  45.)  St.  Isidore,  their  lunar  month  Nisan.     Their  manner  of  observing  the 
 
 d.  6.  Etymol.  c.  17.)  Cassidorus,  (in  Chron.)     The   old  new    moon,   as   described   by  Laray,    and    their   leader, 
 
 Roman  Martyrology  by  Rosvveid.    Hence  Benedict  XIV.  demonstrates  them  not  to  have  been  nice  in  the  cycles, 
 
 calls  it,  "  An  ancient  and  constant  tradition,"  and  Hen-  See  Honore  of  St.  Mary,  (t.  2.  Diss.  1.)  where  he  shows 
 
 schinius  refers  to  twenty-four  manuscript  martyrologies  that  these  astronomical  tables,  on  which  so  much  stress  is 
 
 which  he  had  seen  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  all  of  laid,  contradict  each  other,  and  therefore  that  nothing 
 
 which  uniformly  agree  in  fixing  the  death  of  Christen  the  certain  can  be  proved  from  them.     The  learned  Petavius 
 
 25th  of  March.     In  confirmation  of  that,  Benedict  XIV.  had  before  made  the  same  observation,  (1.  12.  c.  11.  de 
 
 mentions  also  the  paschal  cycle  of  St.  Hippolytus,  Martyr,  Doclrina  Temporum)  "  Desinant  igitur,"  says  he,  "  Chro- 
 
 engraved  on  marble,  an.  222.  which  was  dug  up  near  the  nologi,  in  anno   dieque  passionis   cruendo,   mathemati- 
 
 church  of  St.  Laurence  without  the  walls  of  Home,  in  the  corum  calculis,  noviluniorum  et  plenilunioruni  mmutis  ac 
 
PRINCIPAL  MIRACLES  OF  JESUS.-  495 
 
 Yfars  or  lUe        Years  of  Years  of        Years  of  the 
 
 worlJ.  Rome.  Christ.  vul.  aera. 
 
 4034  782       At  Christ's   Crucifixion   darkness  covered  the    earth  from  the       34  '49 
 
 sixth  to  the  ninth  hour,  tliat  is,  from  twelve  till  three  in  the 
 
 afternoon. 
 Jesns  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years  and  three   months. 
 
 He  was   buried  the  same  day,  according  to  the  manner  of 
 
 the  Jews,  ch.  144. 
 On  the  third  day  after  his  death,  which  was  Sunday  the  27th  of 
 
 March,  early  in  the  morning  he  raised  himself  to  life  again, 
 
 ch.  14  5.     On  the  day  of  his  resurrection  he  appeared  five 
 
 different  times. 
 The  eighth  day  after  his  resurrection,  the  3d  of  April,  he  again 
 
 manit'ested  himself  to  his  disciples,  and  presented  his  wounds 
 
 to  be  handled  by  Thomas,  ch.  147. 
 Forty  days  after  his  resurrection  he  again  appeared  to  his  disci- 
 ples, whom  he  led  forth   to  mount  Olivet,  and  from  thence 
 
 ascended  into  heaven,  in  their  sight,  on  the  5th  of  May,  ch  150. 
 On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  which  was  tlie  fifteenth  of  the  same 
 
 month,  he  sent  down  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  his  disciples  in  a 
 
 visible  manner.  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  ch.  2. 
 
 THE  PRINCIPAL  MIRACLES  OF  JESUS  ARRANGED  IN  CHRONOLOGICAL  ORDER. 
 
 Places.  Cliap. 
 
 '  Turns  water  into  wine Cana.  IS 
 
 Cures  the  ruler's  son  of  Capharnaum Ditto.  25 
 
 Causes  a  miraculous  draught  of  fishes Sea  of  Galilee.  26 
 
 Delivers  a  man  possessed  with  an  unclean  spirit Capharnaum.  27 
 
 Heals  Peter's  mother-in-law  of  a  fever Ditto.  28 
 
 Appeases  a  violent  storm Sea  of  Galilee.  31 
 
 Cures  the  demoniacs  of  Gadara,  or  Gergesa Gadara.  32 
 
 Cures  a  man  of  the  palsy Capharnaum.  33 
 
 Cures  a  woman  diseased  with  a  flux  of  blood   Ditto.  35 
 
 Restores  to  life  the  daughter  of  Jairus Ditto.  ib. 
 
 Restores  to  sight  two  blind  men Ditto.  3S 
 
 Heals  a  dumb  man  possessed  by  a  devil Ditto.  ib. 
 
 Cures  an  infirm  man  at  Bethsaida , Jerusalem.  37 
 
 Cures  a  man  with  a  withered  hand Capharnaum.  39 
 
 Cleanses  a  leper Ditto.  44 
 
 Heals  the  centurion's  servant — Raises  to  life  the  widow's  son Nairn.  45,  46 
 
 Feeds  miraculously  5,000  men  with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes Decapolis.  57 
 
 Walks  upon  the  sea,  and  enables  Peter  to  do  the  same,  calms  the  tempest.  Sea  of  Galilee. 
 
 and  heals  the  sick Genesareth.  58 
 
 Heals  the  daughter  of  the  Cananean  woman Near  Tyre.  61 
 
 Cures  a  man  who  was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  many  other= Decapolis.  62 
 
 Feeds  miraculously  4,000  men  with  seven  loaves  and  a  few  fishes Ditto.  63 
 
 Gives  sig-ht  to  a  blind  man Bethsaida  65 
 
 Cures  a  boy  possessed  with  a  dumb  spirit Thabor.  68 
 
 Cleanses  ten  lepers Samaria.  73 
 
 Heals  an  infirm  woman Galilee.  88 
 
 Cures  a  dropsy Ditto.  91 
 
 Raises  Lazarus  to  life Bethania.  102 
 
 Cures  two  blind  men Jericho.  107 
 
 Casts  out  the  buyers  and  sellers Jerusalem.  1 10 
 
 Blasts  the  barren  fig-tree Olivet.  Ill 
 
 Makes  the  officers  and  people  to  fall  before  him Gelhsemani,  137 
 
 Heals  the  ear  of  INIalchus Ditto.  ib. 
 
 Causes  a  miraculous  draught  of  fishes Sea  of  Galilee.  148 
 
 scnipulosis  ratiociniis  sibi  ac  lectoribus  suis  negotium     niensis  et  ante  hunc  Abulensis,  post  vero  Joan.  Lucidi 
 facessere.     Quo  in  genere  nimia  sane  rt^nayix,  curiosilas     atqiie  Scaligeri. 
 quorumdara  extitit,  sed  imprimis  Pauli.     Fero  Sempro- 
 
496 
 
 PRIiMCIPAL  DISCOURSES  OF  JESUS. 
 
 THE  PRINCIPAL  DISCOURSES  OF  JESUS  ARRANGED  IN  CHRONOLOGICAL  ORDER 
 
 Pla<-es.  Chup. 
 
 Conversation  with  Nicodemus Jerusalem.  20 
 
 Conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman   Sichar.  23 
 
 Vindication  of  his  disciples  for  not  fasting Capharnaiim.  34 
 
 Vindication  of  himself  and  of  his  mission Jerusalem.  37 
 
 Vindication  of  his  disciples  for  plucking- ears  of  corn  on  the  Sabbath-day Galilee.  38 
 
 Vindication  of  himself  for  healing  the  withered  hand  on  the  Sabbath-day Galilee.  39 
 
 Sermon  on  the  mount Thabor.  41,  42,  43 
 
 Denunciations  against  Corozain,  &c Galilee.  47 
 
 Refutation   of  the   blasphemous   calumny  of  the  Jews,  that  he   wrought 
 
 miracles  by  the  agency  of  Beelzebub Capharnaum.  49 
 
 Instructions  to  the  Apostles Galilee.  5G 
 
 Discourse  concerning  the  heavenly  bread Capharnaum.  59 
 
 Discourse  respecting  internal  purity Ditto.  60 
 
 Discourse  against  giving  or  taking  scandal Ditto.  70 
 
 Discourse  concerning  fraternal  correction Ditto.  71 
 
 Discourse  at  the  foast  of  Tabernacles Jerusalem.  74 
 
 Discourse  on  occasion  of  the  adulterous  woman    Ditto.  ?."> 
 
 Discourse  respecting  the  qualities  of  his  sheep Ditto.  78 
 
 Instructions  addressed  to  the  seventy  disciples Peroea.  79 
 
 Denunciations  against  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees Ditto.  83 
 
 Discourse  against  the  fear  of  death Ditto.  84 
 
 Discourse  against  worldly  prudence  and  solicitude Ditto.  85 
 
 Discourse  respecting  the  necessity  of  self-denial 92 
 
 Discourse  on  the  bond  of  matrimony,  and  in  favour  of  virginity 95 
 
 Discourse  on  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  the  sudden  destruction  of  the  wicked 97 
 
 Discourse  on  the  salvation  of  the  rich,  and  the  happiness  of  leaving  all  for  Christ 100 
 
 Conversation  of  Christ  with  INIartha 102 
 
 Exhortation  to  faith  in  opposition  to  the  incredulity  of  the  Jews 110 
 
 Discourse  respecting  the  lawfulness  of  his  mission 112 
 
 Discourse  on  the  first  and  greatest  commandment 117 
 
 Discourse  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem • 121 
 
 Discourse  concerning  the  sufferings  of  his  Apostles ib. 
 
 Discourse  concerning  watchfulness 123 
 
 Discourse  concerning  his  last  coming 12G 
 
 Conversation  with  Peter  on  occasion  of  washing  his  feet 129 
 
 Discourse  concerning  superiority 132 
 
 Consolatory  discourse  to  his  Apostles  after  the  last  supper 133 
 
 Continuation  of  the  above  discourse  in  the  way  to  Gethsemani 134 
 
 Another  continuation 135 
 
 Discourse  to  the  disciples  before  his  ascension 149 
 
 THE  CHIEF  PARABLES  OF  JESUS  ARRANGED  IN  CHRONOLOGICAL  ORDER. 
 
 'U 
 
 Places, 
 r  T«'o  debtors 
 
 Sower   Capharnaum, 
 
 Tares Ditto. 
 
 Seed  si)r!n<5ing  up  imperceptibly  Ditto. 
 
 Grain  of  mustard  seed Ditto. 
 
 Leaven Ditto. 
 
 Found  treasure Ditto. 
 
 Precious  pearl Ditto. 
 
 Net Ditto. 
 
 Hundred  sheep Ditto. 
 
 Samaritans Near  Jericho.  80 
 
 Ricli  glutton Galilee.  S5 
 
 Sei*vants  who  waited  for  theii  Lord  Galilee.  86 
 
 .  Lost  sheep , Ditto.  93 
 
 hap. 
 
 Explainec 
 in  Chap. 
 
 51 
 
 52 
 
 51 
 
 53 
 
 51 
 
 53 
 
 51 
 
 53 
 
 51 
 
 53 
 
 53 
 
 53 
 
 53 
 
 70 
 
 Places. 
 '  Lost  piece  of  money Galilee 
 
 Prodigal  son Ditto. 
 
 Dishonest  steward Ditto. 
 
 Rich  man  and  Lazarus Ditto. 
 
 l-'njust  judge Peraea. 
 
 _      Pharisee  and  Publican Ditto. 
 
 °  J  Labourers  in  the  vineyard Ditto. 
 
 — '  Pounds Jericho. 
 
 Barren  fig-tree   Jerusalem. 
 
 Two  sons Ditto. 
 
 Vineyard Ditto. 
 
 Marriage  feast Ditto. 
 
 Ten  Virgins Ditto. 
 
 Talents Ditto. 
 
 Cliap. 
 
 93 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 97 
 
 98 
 
 99 
 101 
 106 
 111 
 113 
 113 
 114 
 124 
 125 
 
TABLE  OF  THE  GOSPELS 
 
 SUNDAYS,  HOLIDAYS,  AND  OTHER  PARTICULAR  DAYS 
 THROUGHOUT  THE  YEAR. 
 
 6^*  The  Eist  number  indicates  the  Chapter,  and  the  second  the  Article  of  the  Life  of  Christ. 
 
 GOSPELS. 
 
 1  Sunday. 
 
 2  Sunday. 
 
 3  Sunday. 
 
 Wednesday. 
 Friday. 
 Saturday. 
 4  Sunday. 
 Christmas-Eve. 
 
 ADVENT. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 THERE  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  Luke  xxi.  25,  33 122 
 
 When  John  in  prison  had  heard.  Matt.  xi.  2,  10 4/ 
 
 Tlie  Jews  sent  Priests  and  Levites  from  Jerusalem,  John  i. 
 
 19,  28 16 
 
 EMBER-DAYS. 
 
 The  angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from  God,  Luke  i.  26,  38 3 
 
 Mary  rising  up,  went  in  haste,  Luke  i.  39,  47 4 
 
 As  on  the  Sunday  following. 
 
 In  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  Luke  iii.  1,  6.  13 
 When  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  espoused,  Matt.  i.  18, 
 
 21. 7 
 
 CHRISTMAS-DAY. 
 
 1  Mass.                         A  decree  was  published  by  Augustus  Caesar,  Luke  ii.  I,  li.  8 
 
 2  Mass.                         The  shepherds  said  one  to  another,  Luke  ii.  15,  20 8 
 
 3  Mass.                         In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  John  i.  14 1 
 
 S.  Stephen.                   Behold  I  send  to  you  prophets,  Matt,  xxiii.  34,  39 83 
 
 S.  John                         Jesus  said  to  Peter,  follow  me,  John  xxi.  29,  24 148 
 
 Holy  Innocents.           An  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  Joseph,  Matt.  ii.  13,  18.  11 
 
 S.ThomasCanterbury.  I  am  the  good  pastor,  John  x.  1 1,  16 7^ 
 
 Sunday  within  the       Joseph  and    Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  wondered  at  the 
 
 Octave.                          things  that  were  said  of  him,  Luke  ii.  33,  40 10 
 
 S.  Sylvester.                 Let  your  loins  be  girt,  Luke  xii.  35, 40 86 
 
 New  Year,  or  Cir-       After  eight  days  were  expired,  &c.,  Luke  ii.  21,  22  ..<... .  8 
 
 cumcision. 
 
 42.  6L 
 
 Art. 
 
498  TABLE  OF  GOSPELS  IN  LENT. 
 
 Chap.     Art. 
 
 Octave  of  Christmas.  The  shepherds  said  one  to  another,  Luke  ii.  15,  20 8       2 
 
 Vigils  of  Epiphany.     When  Herod  was  dead,  Matt.  ii.  19,  23 11       3 
 
 Epiphany.                    When  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  Matt.  ii.  1,  12 9 
 
 1  Sunday.                     When  Jesus  was  twelve  years  old,  Luke  ii.  42,  52 12 
 
 Octave  of  Epiphany.   John  saw  Jesus  coming  to  him,  John  i.  29,  34 16       3 
 
 2  Sunday  after  the       There  was  a  marriage  at  Cana,  John  ii.  1,  11   IS 
 
 Epiphany. 
 
 Holy  Name.                 After  eight  days  were  expired,  Luke  ii.  21,  22 8       3 
 
 3  Sunday.  When  Jesus  was  come   down  from  the  mountain,  a  very 
 
 great  multitude,  Matt.  viii.  1,  13 45 
 
 4  Sunday.                     Jesus  going  into  a  ship,  his  disciples,  Matt.  viii.  23,  27  ... .  31 
 
 5  Sunday.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  man  who  sowed  good 
 
 seed,  &c  ,  Matt.  xiii.  24,  30 52 
 
 6  Sunday.                     The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  51     4  and 
 
 Matt.  xiii.  31,  35 53      3 
 
 Septuagesima.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  master  of  a  family  who 
 
 went,  &c.,  Matt.  xx.  1,  16 92 
 
 Sexagesima.                 A  very  great  multitude  coming  together,  Luke  viii.  4,  15  . ..  52    1,  2,  3 
 
 Quinquagesima.           Jesus  taking  aside  tlie  twelve  Apostles,  Luke  xviii.  31,  43  .  107       1 
 
 Ash-Wednesday.          When  you  fast,  ]\Iatt.  vi.  16, 21 42       3 
 
 Thursday.                     When  Jesus  had  entered  into  Capharnaum,  Matt.  viii.  5,  13  45 
 
 Friday.                          You  have  heard  that  it  was  said,  Matt.  v.  43,  4 41       5 
 
 Saturday.                      It  being  late  in  the  evening  the  ship,  Mark  iv.  47,  56 58 
 
 1  Sunday  in  Lent.        Jesus  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into,  &c.,  Matt.  iv.  1,  II 15 
 
 Monday                        When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come,  &c..  Matt.  xxv.  31   ....  126 
 
 Tuesday.                       When  Jesus  was  come  into  Jerusalem,  Malt.  xxi.  10,  17  .  . .  HO       1 
 
 Ember- Wednesday.     Master  we  would  see  a  sign,  Matt.  xii.  38 49       6 
 
 Thursday.                     Jesus  going  thence  went  towards  Tyre,  Matt,  xv,  21,  28  . ..  62 
 
 Ember- Friday.             There  was  a  festival  of  the  Jews,  John  v.  1,  15 37.      I 
 
 Ember-Saturday.          Jesus  took  Peter,  James,  and  John,  Matt.  xvii.  1,  9 &/        1 
 
 2  Sunday  in  Lent.       Jesus  took  Peter,  James,  and  John,  Matt.  xvii.  1,9 6"     1,  2 
 
 Monday.                       1  go  and  you  shall  seek  me,  John  viii.  21,  29 7^       2 
 
 Tuesday.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  in  the  chair  of  Moses,  Matt. 
 
 xxiii.  1,  12 119       1 
 
 Wednesday.                  Jesus  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  Matt.  xx.  17, 28 104       1 
 
 Thursday.                     There  was  a  certain  rich  man,  Luke  xvi.  19,  31 97 
 
 Friday.  There  was  a  certain  householder  who  planted  a  vineyard  and 
 
 hedged  it,  Matt.  xxi.  33,  46 113       2 
 
 Saturday.                      A  certain  man  had  two  sons,  Luke  xv.  11 95       3 
 
 3  Sunday  in  Lent.        Jesus  was  casting  out  a  devil,  Luke  xi.  14,  28 49       1 
 
 Monday.                       Physician,  cure  thyself,  Luke  iv.  23, 30 54       3 
 
 Tuesday.                       If  thy  brother  offend  against  thee,  Matt,  xviii.  15,  22 71       1 
 
 Wednesday.                   Why  do  thy  disciples  transgress,  Matt.  xv.  1,  20 60       1 
 
 Thursday.                     Jesus  goiiig  out  of  the  synagogue,  Luke  iv.  38,  44 28 
 
 Friday.                          Jesus  came  to  a  city  of  Samaria,  John  iv.  5,  42 23       2 
 
 Saturday.                      Jesus  went  to  Mount  Olivet,  John  viii.  1,  11 7^ 
 
 4  Sunday  in  Lent.       Jesus  crossed  over  the  sea  of  Galilee,  John  vi.  1,  15 58       2 
 
 ]\Ionday.                       The  Passover  of  the  Jews  was  near,  John  ii.  13,  25 19       1 
 
 Tuesday.                        The  festival  day  being  now  half  spent,  John  vii.  14,  31  .  .  74       1 
 
TABLE  OF  GOSPELS  IN  PASCHAL  TIME. 
 
 Wednesday.  Jesus  passing  by,  saw  a  man  that  had  been  bom  blind,  John 
 
 ix.1,38 77 
 
 Thursday.                     Jesus  went  into  a  city  called  Nairn,  Luke  vii.  1 1   16 46 
 
 Friday.                          There  was  a  certain  man  sick  called  Lazarus,  John  xi.  1,  45.  ]02 
 
 Saturday.                      I  am  the  light  of  the  world,  John  viii.  12,  20 76 
 
 Passion-Sunday.          M'hich  of  you  will  convict  me  of  sin,  John  viii.  46,  59. ...  76 
 
 Monday.                       The  Rulers  and  Pharisees  sent  ofBcers,  John  vii.  32,  39  . .  74 
 
 Tuesday.                       Jesus  went  into  Galilee,  John  vii.  1,13 60 
 
 Wednesday.  ■    The  feast  of  Dedication  was  kept  at  Jerusalem,  John  x.  22, 
 
 38  ; 89 
 
 Thursday.                     One  of  the  Pharisees  asked  Jesus  to  eat,  Luke  vii.  36,  50.  38 
 
 Friday.                          The  Chief  Priests  and  Pharisees  assembled,  John  xi.  47,54.  103 
 
 The  Seven  Dolours.     There  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  his  mother,  John  xix.  25, 27-  143 
 
 Saturday.                      The  Chief  Priests  consulted  to  kill  Lazarus,  John  xii.  10,  36.  108 
 
 Palm-Sunday.              When  the  Lord  drew  nigh  unto  Jerusalem,  Matt.  xxi.  1,10.  109 
 
 The  Passion.  You  know  that  after  two  days  the  Passover,  Matt.  xxvi.  2.  137 
 ]\Ionday.                        Six  days  before  the  Passover,  Jesus  came,  &c.,  John  xii.  1, 
 
 9 108 
 
 Tuesday  Passion.  After  two  days  was  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  Mark  xiv.  1 . .  137 
 AA'eduesday  Passion.    The  feast  of  unleavened  bread  which  is  called.  Sec,  Luke 
 
 xxii.  I 137 
 
 Maundy  Thursday.      Before  the  festival  of  the  Passover,  Jesus,  &c.,  John  xiii.  1, 
 
 15 129 
 
 Good-Friday.               Jesus  went  out  with  his  disciples,  John  xviii.  1 137 
 
 Holy  Saturday.  Li  the  evening  of  the  Sabbath  which  dawneth,  Matt,  xxviii. 
 
 1,7 1^5 
 
 499 
 
 Chap.   Art. 
 
 EASTER. 
 
 Sunday.  Mary  Magdalen  and  Mary  the  mother  of,  &c.,  Mark  xvi.  1, 
 
 7 143 
 
 Monday.  Two  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  went  that  day,  Luke  xxiv.  13, 
 
 35 146      1 
 
 Tuesday.                       Jesus  stood  in  the  .midst  of  his  disciples,  Luke  xxiv.  36,  46  14"       2 
 
 Wednesday.                 Jesus  showed  himself  again  to  his  disciples,  John  xxi.  1,  J  4  148       1 
 
 Thursday.                     Mar)'  stood  without  at  the  sepulchre,  John  xx.  12,  18 1-15       3 
 
 Friday.  The  eleven  disciples  w-ent  away  into  Galilee,  Matt,  xxviii. 
 
 16 149       1 
 
 Saturday.                      The  first  day  of  the  week  Mary  Magdalen,  John  xx.  1,  9  . .  145       1 
 
 Low-Sunday.               The  same  day,  it  being  the  first  day,  John  xx.  19 147       1 
 
 AFTER  EASTER. 
 
 2  Sunday.                    I  am  the  good  shepherd,  John  x.  11,  16 78       2 
 
 3  Simday.                     A  iittle  while,  and  now  you  shall  not  see,  John  xvi.  16,22  135       3 
 
 4  Sunday.                     I  am  going  to  him  that  sent  me,  John  xvi.  5,  14 135       1 
 
 5  Sunday.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  to  you  :  if  you  ask,  &c.,  John  xvi.  23, 
 
 30 135      2 
 
500 
 
 Monday  and  Tuesday 
 
 Ascension  Eve, 
 
 Ascension. 
 
 6  Sunday. 
 
 Whitsun-Eve. 
 
 Whit-Sunday. 
 
 Whit-Monday. 
 
 Whit-Tuesday. 
 
 Ember- Wednesday. 
 
 Thursday. 
 Friday. 
 Saturday. 
 Trinity  Sunday. 
 
 1  Sunday. 
 Corpus  Christi. 
 
 2  Sunday. 
 
 3  Sunday. 
 
 4  Sunday. 
 
 5  Sunday. 
 
 6  Sunday. 
 
 7  Sunday. 
 
 8  Sunday. 
 
 9  Sunday. 
 
 10  Sunday. 
 
 11  Sunday. 
 
 12  Sunday. 
 
 13  Sunday. 
 
 14  Sunday. 
 
 15  Sunday. 
 
 16  Sunday. 
 
 17  Sunday. 
 Ember-Wednesday 
 
 in  September. 
 Ember-Friday. 
 
 Ember-Saturday. 
 
 18  Sunday. 
 
 19  Sunday. 
 
 20  Sunday. 
 
 21  Sunday. 
 
 TABLE  OF  GOSPELS  AFTER  PENTECOST. 
 ROGATION. 
 
 Chap.      Art. 
 
 Which  of  you  shall  have  a  friend,  Luke  xi.  5,  13 82       2 
 
 Jesus  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  John  xvii.  1,  11 136       1 
 
 Jesus  appeared  to  the  eleven,  Mark  xvi.  14 147       I 
 
 When  the  Paraclete  cometh,  John  xv.  26 134       3 
 
 If  you  love  me  keep  my  commandments,  John  xiv.  15,  21.  135       2 
 
 If  any  one  love  me,  he  will  keep,  &c.,  John  xiv.  23,  31  ....  133       2 
 
 God  hath  so  loved  the  world,  John  iii.  16,  21 20       2 
 
 He  that  entereth  not  by  the  door,  John  x.  1,  10 78        I 
 
 No  man  can  come  to  me  unless  the  Father,  &c.,  John  vi.  44, 
 
 52 59      4 
 
 Jesus  calling  together  the  twelve  disciples,  Luke  ix.  1,6.,  37      2 
 
 It  came  to  pass  on  a  certain  day,  &c.,  Luke  v.  17,  26 33       1 
 
 Jesus  rising  up  to  go  out  of  the  synagogue,  Luke  iv.  38, 44.  28       1 
 
 All  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is,  &c..  Matt,  xxviii.  18.  149       2 
 
 AFTER  PENTECOST. 
 
 Be  ye  merciful,  as  your  Father  also,  &c.,  Luke  vi.  36, 42  . .  42       6 
 
 My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  John  vi.  56,  59 59       5 
 
 A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  Luke  xiv.  16,  24 93       4 
 
 The  Publicans  and  Sinners  drew  near  to  Jesus,  Luke  xv.  1, 
 
 10 95       1 
 
 Wjien  the  people  pressed  on  Jesus,  Luke  v.  1, 1 1 26       2 
 
 Except  your  justice  exceed  that  of.  Matt.  v.  20,  24 41       1 
 
 W^hen  there  was  a  great  multitude,  Mark  viii.  1,9 63 
 
 Beware  of  false  prophets,  who  come,  &c..  Matt  vii.  15, 21 . .  43       4 
 
 There  was  a  certain  rich  man,  who,  &c.,  Luke  xvi.  1, 19. . .  96       1 
 
 As  Jesus  drew  near  to  Jerusalem,  Luke  xix.  41,  47    109       5 
 
 Jesus  spoke  this  parable  to  certain  men,  Luke  xviii.  9, 14  .  .  99 
 
 Jesus  going  out  from  the  borders  of  Tyre,  Mark  vii.  31,37  62 
 Blessed  are  the  eyes  that  see  the  things,  &c.,  Luke  x.  23, 
 
 37 79      3 
 
 As  Jesus  went  to  Jerusalem,  he  passed,  &c.,  Luke  xvii.  11, 
 
 19 73 
 
 No  man  can  serve  two  masters.  Matt.  vi.  24,  33 42       6 
 
 Jesus  went  into  a  city  called  Nairn,  Luke  vii.  11, 16 46 
 
 When  Jesus  went  into  the  house  of,  &c.,  Luke  xiv.  1,  11  .  .  93       1 
 
 And  one  of  them  a  Doctor  of  the  law.  Matt.  xxii.  34 117 
 
 Master  I  have  brought  to  thee  my  son,  Mark  ix.  16,  28  . . .  68 
 
 One  of  the  Pharisees  asked  Jesus  to  eat  with  him,  Luke  vii. 
 
 36 38 
 
 A  certain  man  had  a  fig-tree,  Luke  xiii.  6,  17 87 
 
 Jesus  getting  into  a  boat,  Matt.  ix.  1,  8 33       1 
 
 The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  king,  &c..  Matt.  xxii. 
 
 1,  14 '. 114 
 
 There  was  a  certain  ruler,  whose  son,  &c.  John  iv.  46,  53. . .  25 
 
 The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  king,  Matt,  xviii.  23 71       3 
 
TABLL  OF  GOSPELS  FOR  PARTICULAR  FEASTS.  50I 
 
 Chap.      Art. 
 
 22  Sunday.  The  Pharisees  went  and  consulted  together,  Matt.  xxii.  15, 
 
 21 115 
 
 23  Sunday.  As  Jesus  was  speaking  to  the  mukitude,  Matt.  i.x.  18,  26. .       35       1 
 
 24  Sunday.  When  you  shall  see  the  abomination,  Matt.  xxiv.  15,  35.  . .      121       4 
 
 If  there  be  more  than  24  Sundays  after  Pentecost,  the  Gospels  are  taken  from  the  3,  4,  5,  or 
 6  Sunday  after  the  Epiphany. 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 29  Vigil  of  S.  Andrew. Jesus  was  standing  with  two  of  his  disciples,  John  i.  35.  ...        17 
 
 30  S.  Andrew.  Jesus  walking  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  Mat.  iv.  18,  22 26       2 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 8  Conception.  The  book  of  the  genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ,  Matt.  i.  16   .  . .         6 
 
 21  S.  Thomas.  Thomas  one  of  the  twelve  who  was  called,  John  xx.  24  . . .      147       2 
 
 JANUARY. 
 
 25  Conversion  of  S.     Behold  we  have  left  all  things,  Matt.  xix.  27 91       2 
 
 Paul. 
 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 2  Purification.  When  the  days  ot  the  Purification,  Luke  ii.  22,  32 10       1 
 
 24  S.  Mathias.  I  give  thee  thanks,  O  Father,  Lord  of,  &c.  Matt.  xi.  25,  30       79      3 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 19  S.  Joseph.  When  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  was,  &c.  Matt.  i.  18.  ...       87 
 
 25  Annunciation.         The  angel  Gabriel  was  sent,  Luke  i.  26 3 
 
 APRIL. 
 25  S,  Mark.  The  Lord  appointed  also  other  seventy-two,  Luke  x.  1,  9. .       79      2 
 
 MAY. 
 
 I  SS.  Philip  &  James.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  John  xiv.  1,  13 133       1 
 
 3  Invocation  of  the      There  was  a  man  one  of  the  Pharisees,  John  iii.  I,  16 20 
 
 Cross. 
 
 4  S.  Monica.  Jesus  went  into  a  city  called  Nairn,  Luke  vii.  11 46 
 
 6  S.  John  at  the  Latin  The  mother  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  Matt.  xx.  20,  23 104       2 
 
 Gate. 
 8  Apparition  of  S.     Who  thinkest  thou  is  the  greatest,  Matt,  xviii.  1,  10 /O       1 
 
 Michael. 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 II  S.  Barnaby.  Behold  I  send  you  as  sheep.  Matt.  x.  16,  22 56       4 
 
 23  Vigil  of  S.  John.    In  the  davs  of  Herod  king  of  Judea,  Luke  i.  5,  17   2 
 
 43.  ■  6  M 
 
502  TABLE  OF  GOSPELS  FOR  PARTICULAR  FEASTS. 
 
 Chap.     Art. 
 
 24  S.  John  Baptist.      Elizabeth's  time  of  being  delivered  was,  &c.  Luke  i.  57  .  . .  5 
 
 28  Vif-il  of  SS.  Peter  Jesus  said  to  Simon  Peter,  John  xxi.  15,  19 148 
 
 and  Paul. 
 
 29  SS.  Peter  &  Paul.  Jesus  came  into  the  parts  of  Caesarea,  Matt.  xvi.  13 66       1 
 
 30  Commemoration  Behold  I  send  you  as  sheep.  Malt.  x.  16 66       4 
 
 of  S.  Paul. 
 
 JULY. 
 
 2  Visitation.                 Mary  rising  up  in  those  days,  Luke  i.  .39    4 
 
 20  S.  Jerome  Emilian.  Some  little  children  were  presented   Matt.  xix.  13,  22  ... .  90 
 
 22  S.Mary  Magdalen.  One  of  the  Pharisees  asked  Jesus  to  eat,  Luke  vii.  36 48 
 
 25  S.  James.                The  mother  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  Matt.  xx.  23 104       2 
 
 26  S.  Anne.                 The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  treasure,  Matt.  xiii.  44, 52.  53       4 
 
 AUGUST. 
 
 6  Transfiguration.        Jesus  took  Peter  and  James  and  John,  Matt.  xvii.  1 67       1 
 
 9  Vigil.                         If  any  one  will  come  after  me,  Matt.  xvi.  24 66       5 
 
 10  S.  Lawrence.          Unless  the  grain  of  wheat,  John  xii.  24 100       4 
 
 14  Vin-il.                       A  certain  woman  from  the  crowd,  Luke  xi.  27,  28 50 
 
 15  Assumption.            Jesus  entered  into  a  certain  village,  Luke  x.  38 81 
 
 Sunday,  within  the     The  book  of  the  genealogy,  Matt.  i.  I 0 
 
 Octave.   S.  Joachim. 
 
 24  S.  Bartholomew.    Jesus  went  up  into  a  mountain,  Luke  vi.  12 40       1 
 
 25  S.  Lewis.                 A  certain  nobleman  went  into,  &c.  Luke  xix.  12 106 
 
 29    Decollation    S.      Herod  sent  and  apprehended  John,  Mark  vi.  17 22 
 
 John  Baptist. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 8  Nativity   of  the      The  book  of  the  genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ.  Matt.  i.  1 6 
 
 Blessed  Virgin. 
 
 Name  of  the  Blessed  Luke  i.  26 3 
 
 Virgin. 
 
 14  Exaltation  of  the    Now  is  the  judgment  of  the  world,  John  xii.  31 100       3 
 
 Cross. 
 
 20  Vigil.                       Jesus  saw  a  Publican  called  Levi,  Luke  v.  27 34       1 
 
 21  S.  Matthew             Jesus  saw  a  man  sitting  in  the.  Matt.  ix.  9 34       1 
 
 29  Dedication  of  S.     The  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying,   Matt,  xviii.  1 JO       1 
 
 ISIichael. 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 2  Angel-guardians.      Matt,  xviii.  1 70 
 
 4  S.  Fra-ncis.                 I  give  thanks  to  Thee,  O  Father,  Matt.  xi.  25,  30 79       3 
 
 9  S.  Dionysius.            Beware  ye  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  Luke  xii.  1 84 
 
 18  S.  Luke.                  The  Lord  appointed  also  other  seventy-two,  Luke  x.  1.9  . .  79       2 
 
 27  Vigil.                        I  am  the  true  vine,  John  xv.  1,7 134       1 
 
 28  SS.  Simon  and       These  things  1  command  you,  John  xv.  17,  23 134       3 
 
 Jude, 
 
 31  Vigil.                       Jesas  coming  down  from  the,  Luke  vi.  17 40       2 
 
TABLE  OF  GOSPELS  FOR  THE  COMMON  OF  SAINTS.  305 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 Chap.     Art. 
 
 1  All  Saints.  Jesus  seeing  the  multitudes,  Matt.  v.  1,  12 41        1 
 
 2  All  Souls.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  to  you,  John  V.  25,  29 37       2 
 
 lis.  Martin.  No  man  lighteth  a  candle,  Luke  .\i.  33,  36 41       8 
 
 21  Presentation  of  the  A  certain  woman  from  the  crowd,  Luke  xi.  27 50 
 
 Blessed  Virgin. 
 
 27  S.  Gregory  Thau-  Have  faith  in  God,  Mark  .\i.  22 Ill       3 
 
 maturgus. 
 
 Vigil  of  Apostles.  This  is  my  commandment,  John  xv.  12 134       2 
 
 The  Commemora-  If  any  one  come  after  me  and  hate  not,  Luke  xiv.  26 94 
 
 tion  of  I  Martyr. 
 
 And  Bishop.  If  any  man  will  come  after  me.  Matt.  xvi.  24 66       5 
 
 Of  a  Martyr,  not  a  Do  not  think  that  I  come  to  send  peace.  Matt.  x.  34  > 56 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 Ofa  Martyr  in  paschal  I  am  the  true  vine,  John  xv.  1 134       I 
 
 time. 
 
 Of  many  Martyrs.  I  am  the  vine  :  you  are  the  branches,  John  xv.  5 134       2 
 
 Of    many    Martyrs,  When  you  shall  hear  of  wars  and  seditions,  Luke  xxi.  9,  19.     121       2 
 
 after  paschal  time. 
 
 Ditto,  Jesus  going  down  from  the  mountain,  Luke  vi.  17.  23  ....        40 
 
 Ditto.  As  Jesus  was  sitting  on  mount  Olivet,  Matt,  xxi  v.  3,  14  . . .      121       2 
 
 Ofa  Confessor  and  A  man  going  to  a  far  country,  Matt.  xxv.  17 125 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 Ditto.  Watch  ye  therefore,  because  you  know  not,  &c.  Malt.  xxiv. 
 
 42 86       2 
 
 Ofa  Doctor.  You  are  the  salt  of  the  earth.  Matt.  v.  13 41        1 
 
 Of  a  Confessor,  not  Let  your  loins  be  girt,  Luke  xii.  35 86       2 
 
 a  Bishop. 
 
 Ditto.  Fear  not  little  flock,  Luke  xii.  32,  34 85       2 
 
 Of  Abbots.  Behold  we  have  left  all  things.  Matt.  xix.  27 91       2 
 
 Of  a  Virgin  and  The  kingdom  of  heaven  shall  be  like  to  ten  virgins,  Matt. 
 
 Martyr.  xxv.  1 124 
 
 Ditto.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  treasure.  Matt.  xiii.  44.       53       4 
 
 Of  a  Virgin  not  a  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like,  &c.  Matt.  xiii.  44 53       4 
 
 INIartyr. 
 
 Of  holy  Women.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to,  &c.  Matt.  xiii.  44  ... .        53       4 
 
 Of  the  Dedication.  Jesus  entering  in,  walked,  Luke  xix.  1,  10 109 
 
 Of  the  Blessed  When  the  Paraclete  shall  come,  John  xxxv.  26 133       1 
 
 Trinity. 
 
 Of  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  any  one  loves  me,  John  xiv.  23 133       3 
 
 Of   the    Holy    Eu-  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  John  vi.  36 59       5 
 
 charist. 
 
 Of  the  Holy  Cross.  Jesus  took  the  twelve  disciples.  Matt.  xx.  17 104       1 
 
 Of  the  Passion.  Jesus  knowing  that  all  things,  Luke  xix.  28 143     10 
 
 Of  the  Blessed  Virgin  The  angel  Gabriel  was  sent,  Luke  i.  26,  3 3 
 
 in  Advent. 
 
 Ditto  from  the  Na-  The  shepherds  said  one  to  another,  Luke  ii.  15,  20 8       2 
 
 tivity. 
 
504 
 
 Of  the  B.V.  from  the 
 
 Purification. 
 Ditto  from  the 
 
 Passion. 
 Of  the  angels. 
 Of  SS.  Peter  and 
 
 Paul. 
 For  the  sick. 
 For  the  bridegroom, 
 
 &c. 
 
 For  the  Dead. 
 Day  of  death  or  burial, 
 On  an  anniversary. 
 For  travellers. 
 For  removing  schism. 
 In  any  necessity. 
 Against  pagans. 
 For  the  remission  of 
 
 sins. 
 In  time  of  war. 
 For  peace. 
 Time  of  plague  or 
 
 mortality. 
 
 TABLE  OF  GOSPELS  FOR  VOTIVE  MASSES. 
 
 Ch.ip.     .'\rt. 
 
 A  certain  woman  from  the  crowd,  Luke  xi.  27  .  •  • £0 
 
 There  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus,  John  xi.K.  25 143       S 
 
 Jesus  saw  Nathaniel,  John  i.  47 17       2 
 
 Behold  we  have  left  all  things.  Matt.  xix.  27 91 
 
 When  Jesus  had  entered  into  Capharnaum,  Matt.  viii.  5. . .  45 
 
 The  Pharisees  came  to  Jesus  tempting  him,  Matt.  xix.  3,  6  90       1 
 
 Martha  said  to  Jesus :  Lord,  if  thou,  &c.,  John  xi.  21 ,  27  .  102  1 
 
 All  that  the  Father  giveth  me,  John  vi.  37,  40 59  3 
 
 Going  preach,  saying,  Matt.  x.  7 ^6  3 
 
 Jesus  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  John  xvii.  11 136  2 
 
 Have  faith  in  God,  Mark  xi.  22 Ill  3 
 
 Which  of  you  shall  have  a  friend,  Luke  xi.  5 82  2 
 
 Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  to  you,  Luke  xi.  9 82  2 
 
 Tell  us  when  these  things  shall  be.  Matt.  xxiv.  3 121  2 
 
 The  same  day,  it  being  tlie  first  day,  John  xx.  19 147  1 
 
 Jesus  going  out  of  the  synagogue,  Luke  iv.  38,  44 28 
 
 THE  END 
 
 London :  Piinled  by  \V.  Clowes,  Staraford-strect. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pace 
 
 PREFACE 1 
 
 On  Harmonies  in  general,  and  on  the  method  adopted  in  the  following  work 8 
 
 Introduction  to  the  Life  of  Christ,  &c 13 
 
 On  the  excellency  of  the  Christian  Religion   20 
 
 Benefit  of  devout  meditation  on  the  Life  of  Christ 31 
 
 Prayers  to  be  said  before  and  after  reading  the  Life  of  Christ 41 
 
 Preface  from  St.  Luke,  Luke  i.  1 43 
 
 Chapter  I, — The  Divinity  and  Incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ,  Mark  i.  1,  John  i.  1 43 
 
 Chapter  II.— The  Annunciation  and  Conception  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Luke  i.  5 46 
 
 Chapter  III. — The  Annunciation  and  Incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ,  Luke  i.  26 48 
 
 Chapter  IV  — The  Visitation. 
 
 1 .  Marj'  visits  Elizabeth,  Luke  i.  39 51 
 
 2.  The  Canticle  of  Mary,  Luke  i.  46 51 
 
 Chapter  V. — The  Nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Luke  i.  57 54 
 
 2.  The  Canticle  of  Zachary,  Luke  i.  67 54 
 
 Chapter  VI. — The  genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ  according  to  St.  Matthew,  Matt.  i.  I 57 
 
 Chapter  VII. — Joseph  is  admonished  by  an  angel  of  Christ's  Conception,  IMatt.  i.  IB 58 
 
 Chapter  VIII. — The  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Circumcision. 
 
 1.  Christ  is  born,  Luke  ii.  1 60 
 
 2.  The  Shepherds  at  the  crib  of  Bethlehem,  Luke  ii.  8 62 
 
 3.  The  Circumcision,  Luke  ii.  21 64 
 
 Chapter  IX. — The  Epiphany,  Matt.  ii.  I 67 
 
 Chapter  X. — The  Presentation  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  temple 70 
 
 1.  The  Purification  of  the  B.  V.  M.,  Luke  ii.  22 71 
 
 2.  Holy  Simeon,  Luke  ii.  25   72 
 
 3.  Anna  the  prophetess,  Luke  ii.  36 73 
 
 Chapter  XL — The  Flight  of  Jesus  into  Egypt. 
 
 1.  The  Flight  of  Jesus  into  Egypt,  Matt.  ii.  13 74 
 
 2.  The  Slaughter  of  the  Innocents,  Matt.  ii.  16 75 
 
 3.  The  Retuin  of  Jesus  from  Egypt,  ]\Iatt.  ii.  19 76 
 
 Chapter  XII. — Jesus  is  found  in  the  temple,  Luke  ii.  39 77 
 
 43.  a 
 
ji  CONTENTS, 
 
 Paqb 
 
 Chapter  XIII. John  Baptist  in  the  desert,  Matt.  iii.  1 ,  Mark  i.  1,  Luke  iii.  1 80 
 
 1.  The  baptism  and  preaching  of  John,  Matt.  iii.  1,  Mark  i.  1,  Luke 
 
 iii.  1   81 
 
 2.  The  clothing  and  food  of  John,  Matt.  iii.  4,  Mark  i.  6 82 
 
 3.  The  Pharisees  are  excited  to  repentance,  Luke  iii.  7 83 
 
 4.  The  admonitions  of  John  to  the  publicans  and  soldiers,  Matt.  iii.  7, 
 
 Luke  iii.  10 83 
 
 5.  John's  first  testimony  in  favour  of  Jesus  Christ,  Matt.  iii.  II,  Mark  i. 
 
 7,  Luke  iii.  15 84 
 
 Ch.vpter  XIV. — The  Baptism  of  Jesus  Clirist  and  his  genealogy  according  to  St.  Luke  ...  84 
 
 1 .  The  Baptism  of  Christ,  Matt.  iii.  13,  Mark  i.  9 85 
 
 2.  His  genealogy  according  to  St.  Luke,  Luke  iii.  23 86 
 
 Cii.\PTER  XV. — The  fasting  and  temptations  of  Christ  in  the  desert.  Matt.  iv.  1,  Mark  i.  12, 
 
 Luke  iv.  1 87 
 
 2.  The  first  temptation.  Matt.  iv.  3,  Luke  iv.  3 89 
 
 3.  The  second  temptation,  Malt.  iv.  5,  Luke  iv.  9 89 
 
 4.  The  third  temptation.  Matt.  iv.  8,  Luke  iv.  5 89 
 
 Ch.^pter  XVI. — The  subsequent  testimonies  of  John  in  favour  of  Jesus  Christ 90 
 
 1.  The  second  testimony,  John  i.  15 90 
 
 2.  The  third  testimony,  John  i.  19 91 
 
 3.  The  fourth  testimony,  John  i.  29 92 
 
 Chapter  XVII. — The  first  calling  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ 93 
 
 1 .  The  filth  testimony  of  St.  John,  John  i.  35 93 
 
 2.  The  first  calling  of  Peter  and  Andrew,  John  i.  40 93 
 
 3.  Of  Philip  and  Nathanael,  John  i.  43 94 
 
 Chapter  XVIII. — The  Marriage  feast  of  Cana,  John  ii.  1 96 
 
 THE  FIRST  PASSOVER. 
 
 Chapter  XIX. — Jesus  drives  the  buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the  temple. — The  temple  of  his 
 
 body  to  be  destroyed 98 
 
 1.  The  first  expulsion  from  the  temple,  John  ii.  12 99 
 
 2.  The  temple  to  be  destroyed,  John  ii.  19 99 
 
 Chapter  XX. — ^The  discourse  between  Jesus  and  Nicodemus,  John  iii.  1 100 
 
 Chapter  XXI. — The  sixth  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist,  John  iii.  22 103 
 
 Chapter  XXII.— The  imprisonment  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Matt.  xiv.  13,  Mark  vi.  17, 
 
 Luke  iii.  19 105 
 
 Chapter  XXIII. — Jesus  leaves  Judea 106 
 
 His  conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman.  Matt.  iv.  12,  Mark  i.  14, 
 
 John  iv.  1 107 
 
 Chapter  XXIV. — The  arrival  of  Jesus  in  Galilee. — The  fame  of  his  preaching  is  spread 
 
 abroad,  Matt.  iv.  13,  Mark  i.  1 4,  Luke  iv.  14,  John  iv.  43 Ill 
 
CONTENTS.  !»• 
 
 Pags 
 
 Chapter  XXV. — Jesus  heals  the  ruler's  son  at  Capharnaum,  John  iv.  46 113 
 
 Appendix    to  chapter  25. — On  Christ's  public  life. — His  dress. — The 
 
 mortification  attendant  on  his  ministry 115 
 
 Chapter  XXVI. — Jesus  enters  Capharnaum,  and  calls  Peter,  Andrew,  James,  and  John, 
 
 Matt.  iv.  13,  Mark  i.  16.  Luke  v.  1   118 
 
 1.  The  calling  of  Peter,  Andrew,  James,  and  John,  Matt.  iv.  19,  Mark 
 
 i.  17,  Lukev.  11 118 
 
 2.  The  first  miraculous  fishing,  Luke  v.  4   119 
 
 Chapter  XXVII. — Jesus  preaches  to  the  people,  and  delivers  a  man  possessed  with  an 
 
 unclean  spirit,  Matt.  iv.  13,  Mark  i.  21,  Luke  iv.  31 121 
 
 Chapter  XXVIII.— The  cure  of  Peter's  mother-in-law.  Matt.  viii.  14,  Mark  i.  29,  Luke  iv, 
 
 38 122 
 
 Chapter  XXIX. — Jesus  retires  into  the  desert,  and  afterwards  preaches  in  Galilee,  Matt. 
 
 iv.  23,  Mark  i.  34,  35,  Luke  iv.  42 124 
 
 Chapter  XXX. — Three  men  are  reproved  by  Jesus,  Matt.  viii.  18,  Luke  ix.  57 125 
 
 Chapter  XXXI. — Christ  appeases  a  violent  storm,  Matt.  viii.  24,  Mark  iv.  35,  Luke  viii. 
 
 22 126 
 
 Chapter  XXXII. — Jesus  expels  a  legion  of  devils,  and  permits  a  herd  of  swine  to  be  pre- 
 cipitated into  the  sea. 
 
 1.  A  legion  of  devils  is  expelled,  Matt.  viii.  28,  Mark  v.  2,   Luke  viii. 
 
 28 128 
 
 2.  The  swine  are  precipitated  into  the  sea,  Matt.  viii.  30,  Mark  v.  13, 
 
 Luke  viii.  33 129 
 
 3.  The  Gerasens  drive  Jesus  from  their  country,  Luke  viii.  32 129 
 
 4.  Jesus  does  not  permit  the  man  whom  he  had  cured  to  accompany 
 
 him,Markv.l9 129 
 
 Chapter  XXXIII. — Jesus  cures  a  man  sick  of  the  palsy,  Matt.  ix.  2,  Mark  v.  and  ii., 
 
 Luke  viii.  and  v 130 
 
 Chapter  XXXIV. — Jesus  calls  Matthew,  eats  with  publicans  and  sinners,  and  vindicates  his 
 
 disciples  for  not  fasting.  Matt.  ix.  9,  Mark  ii.  13,  Luke  v.  27 132 
 
 Chapter  XXXV. — Jairus  comes  to  Jesus,  Matt.  ix.  18,  23,  Mark  v.  21,  Luke  viii.  41. — 
 A  woman  is  cured  of  an  inveterate  issue  of  blood.  Matt.  ix.  20, 
 Mark  V.  26. — The  daughter  of  Jairus  is  raised  to  life,  Matt.  ix.  23, 
 Mark  v.  35,  Luke  viii.  49 134 
 
 Chapter  XXXVI. — Jesus  gives  sight  to  two  blind  men,  and  heals  a  dumb  man  possessed 
 
 by  a  devil,  Matt.  ix.  27,32 136 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE  SECOND  PASSOVER. 
 
 Pagb 
 Chapter  XXXVII. — Jesus  cures  a  sick  man  on  the  Sabbath,  and  by  several  arguments 
 
 justifies  this  miracle,  and  his  mission  in  general,  John  v.  1 138 
 
 Chapter  XXXVIII. — Jesus  vindicates  his  disciples,  who  jilucked  ears  of  corn  on  the  Sab- 
 bath-day, Matt.  xii.  1,  Mark  ii.  23,  Luke  vi.  I 143 
 
 Chapter  XXXIX. — Jesus  heals  a  withered  hand  on  the  Sabbath,  Matt.  xii.  9,  Mark  iii.  1, 
 
 Luke  vi.6 145 
 
 2.  The   designs    of  the  Pharisees  and  Herodians  against   him. — His 
 
 miracles.  Matt.  xii.  14,  Mark  iii.  6 146 
 
 3.  His  meekness.  Matt.  xii.  19    147 
 
 He  is  the  hope  of  the  Gentiles 14/ 
 
 Chapter  XL. — The  election  of  the  twelve  Apostles,  Matt.  iv.  and  v.,  Mark  iii.  13,  Luke  vi. 
 
 12 147 
 
 Chapter  XLI. — Christ's  Sermon  on  the  mount.  Matt.  v.  Luke  vi.  20 149 
 
 1.  The  eight  beatitudes.— Woes  to  the  rich,  Matt,  v.  2,  Luke  vi.  20  . . .   149 
 
 2.  Christ's  disciples   are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  tlie  light  of  the  world, 
 
 Matt.  v.  13 153 
 
 3.  Christ  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil  the  law,  Matt.  v.  17 153 
 
 4.  On  oaths.  Matt.  v.  33 156 
 
 5.  Against  revenge. — On  the  love  of  our  enemies,  Matt.  v.  38,  Luke  vi. 
 
 30 156 
 
 Chapter  XLII. — Continuation  of  the  Sermon  on  the  mount. 
 
 1.  Of  alms  deeds.  Matt.  vi.  1 158 
 
 2.  Of  prayer,  Matt.  vi.  5 158 
 
 3.  Of  fasting,  Matt.  vi.  16' 160 
 
 4.  Of  laying  up  treasures  in  heaven,  Matt.  vi.  19 160 
 
 5.  Of  an  upright  intention,  Matt.  vi.  22 161 
 
 6.  Against  worldly  solicitude.  Matt.  vi.  25 162 
 
 7-  Against  rash  judgment,  Luke  vi.  37 162 
 
 Chapter  XLIII. — Further  continuation  of  the  Sermon  on  the  mount. 
 
 1.  Against  the  profanation  of  holy  things,  Matt.  vii.  6 163 
 
 2.  He  recommends  prayer,  Matt.  vii.  7 163 
 
 3.  We  are  to  enter  in  at  the  narrow  gate.  Matt.  vii.  13 164 
 
 4.  To  beware  of  false  prophets,  Matt.  vii.  15 164 
 
 5.  Good  works  to  be  joined  to  a  sound  faith.  Matt.  vii.  21,  Luke  vi.  45  165 
 
 6.  The  wise  man  builds  his  house  on  a  rock,  the  foolish  man  on  sand. 
 
 Matt.  vii.  24,  Luke  vi.  47 165 
 
 Chapter  XLIV. — Christ  cleanses  a  leper.  Matt.  viii.  1,  Mark  i.  40,  Luke  v.  12 166 
 
 Chapter  XLV. — Christ  heals  the  centurion's  servant,  Matt.  viii.  5,  Luke  vii.  2 167 
 
 Chapter  XLVI. — ^The  widow's  son  at  Naim  is  raised  to  life,  Luke  vii.  11 168 
 
 Chapter  XLVIl. — Jesus  gives  testimony  in  favour  of  John  the  Baptist. 
 
 1.  The  deputation  of  John  to  Jesus,  Matt.  xi.  2,  Luke  vii.  19 169 
 
CONTENTS.  V 
 
 Page 
 
 2.  The  praises  of  John,  Matt.  xi.  7,  Luke  vii.  24    I7O 
 
 3.  The  perverse  judgments  of  the  Pharisees  concerning  John  and  Christ, 
 
 Matt.  xi.  16,  Luke  vii.  29 IJl 
 
 4.  Christ  reproaches  the  impenitent  cities,  Matt.  xi.  20,  Luke  x.  13  . . .    1/2 
 
 Ch.vpter  XLVIII. — Mary  Magdalen  anoints  the  feet  of  Jesus,  Luke  vii.  36 1/3 
 
 Cn.^PTER  XLIX, — Jesus  heals  a  possessed  person  both  blind  and  dumb,  Matt.  xii.  22,  Mark 
 
 iii.  20,  Luke  xi.  14 I76 
 
 1.  A  demoniac  blind  and  lame.  Matt.  xii.  22,  Mark  iii.  20,  Luke  xi.  14.    I76 
 
 2.  Satan  cannot  be  divided  against  himself.  Matt.  xii.  24,  Mark  iii.  27, 
 
 Luke  xi.  15 177 
 
 3.  The  strong  armed  man.  Matt.  xii.  29,  Mark  iii.  28.  Luke  xi.  21 177 
 
 4.  Danger  of  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  Matt.  xii.  31 17S 
 
 5.  The  tree  to  be  known  by  its  fruits — an  idle  word,  Matt.  xii.  33 I7O 
 
 6.  The  sign  of  Jonas,  Matt.  xii.  38,  Luke  xi.  29 180 
 
 7.  The  Ninevites,  Matt.  xii.  41 180 
 
 8.  The  queen  of  Saba,  INIatt.  xii.  42,  Luke  xi.  31 180 
 
 9.  The  parable  of  the  unclean  spirit  returning  again,  Matt.  xii.  43,  Luke 
 
 xii.  24 180 
 
 Chapter  L. — The  exclamation  of  a  woman  concerning  Jesus. — His  Mother  and  Brethren 
 
 desire  to  see  him.  Matt.  xii.  46,  Mark  iii.  31,  Luke  xi.  27 181 
 
 Chapter  LI. — Different  parables  are  proposed  by  our  Lord,  Matt,  xiii ,  Mark  iv.,   Luke 
 
 viii.  4 182 
 
 1.  The  parable  of  the  sower.  Matt.  xiii.  1 ,  Mark  iv.  1 183 
 
 2.  The  parable  of  the  tares.  Matt.  xiii.  24 183 
 
 3.  The  parable  of  tlie  seed  growing  imperceptibly,  Mark  iv.  26 184 
 
 4.  The  parable  of  the  mustard  seed.  Matt.  xiii.  31,  l\Iark  iv.  30,  Luke 
 
 xiii.  18 184 
 
 5.  The  parable  of  the  leaven.  Matt.  xiii.  33,  Mark  iv.  31 185 
 
 Chapter  Lll. — The  parable  of  the  seed  explained.  Matt,  xiii.,  Mark  iv.,  Luke  viii 185 
 
 1.  Christ  shows  why  he  spoke  in  parables.  Matt.  xiii.  10,  Mark  iv.  10  .  .  185 
 
 2.  He  applies  a  prophecy  of  Isaiah  to  the  Jews,  Matt.  xiii.  14 185 
 
 3.  He  explains  the  parable  of  the  sower,  Matt.  xiii.  18,  Mark  iv.  13, 
 
 Luke  viii.  11 186 
 
 4.  Nothing  secret  which  shall  not  be  made  known. — Measure  for  mea- 
 
 sure, Mark  iv.  31,  Luke  viii.  16 187 
 
 Chapter  LIII. — Christ  continues  the  explanation  of  the  parables,  and  proposes  others, 
 Matt.  xiii. 
 
 1.  Christ  explains  the  parable  of  the  tares,  Matt.  xiii.  36 188 
 
 2.  An  exposition  of  the  seed  growing  secretly 189 
 
 3.  An  exposition  of  the  mustard  seed 189 
 
 4.  An  exposition  of  the  leaven   190 
 
 5.  The  parable  of  the  hidden  treasure— Of  the  pearls,  Matt.  xiii.  44 190 
 
 6.  The  parable  of  the  net  cast  into  the  sea.  Matt.  xiii.  47 191 
 
 7.  Of  the  householder  who  brings  forth  out  of  his  treasure  new  things 
 
 and  old,  Matt.  xiii.  52 191 
 
 43.  b 
 
vi  CONTENTS. 
 
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 Chapter  LIV. — Jesus  preaches  at  Nazareth. 
 
 1.  Christ  goes  to  Nazareth — reads  Isaiah,  Matt.  xiii.  53,  Mark  vi.  1, 
 
 Luke  iv.  16 191 
 
 2.  The  admiration  of  the  Nazareans,  Matt.  xiii.  54,  Markvi.2,  Lukeiv. 
 
 22 192 
 
 3.  A  prophet  without  honour  in  his  o>Yn  country,  Matt.  xiii.  SJ,  Mark 
 
 vi.  4,  Luke  iv.  23 193 
 
 4.  The  fury  of  the  Jews  against  Christ. — Their  increduhty,  Matt.  xiii.  58, 
 
 Markvi.  5,  Luke  iv.  28 194 
 
 Chapter  LV.— The  death  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Matt.  xiv.  6,  Mark  vi.  21 194 
 
 Chapter  LVl. — The  second  journey  of  Jesus  into  Galilee. — His  commission  and  charge  to 
 
 the  twelve  Apostles. 
 
 1.  The  second  journey  of  Jesus  into  Galilee,  Matt.  ix.  35,  Mark  vi.  6, 
 
 Luke  viii.  1 196 
 
 2.  The  mission  of  the  twelve  Apostles,  Matt.  x.  1,  Mark  vi.  7.  Luke 
 
 ix.  1 .' 197 
 
 3.  Christ  instructs  them  concerning  poverty,  &c.  Matt.  x.  5,  Markvi.  8, 
 
 Luke  ix.  3 198 
 
 4.  He  forewarns  them  of  persecutions.  Matt.  x.  16 199 
 
 5.  He  suggests  motives  of  comfort  and  constancy,  Matt.  x.  26,  Luke  ix. 
 
 6 200 
 
 6.  The  Apostles  preach  and  anoint  the  sick,  Malt.  xi.  1,  Mark  vi.  12  . .  201 
 Chapter  LVII. — The  reputation  of  Jesus  is  extended  far  and  near. — His  retreat  into  the 
 
 desert. — His  multiplication  of  five  loaves. 
 
 1.  Herod's  opinion  of  Jesus,  and  desire  to  see  him.  Matt.  xiv.  1,  Mark 
 
 vi.  14,  Luke  ix.  7 .  202 
 
 2.  Christ  retires  into  the  desert.  Matt.  xiv.  13,  Markvi.  30,  Luke  ix.  10, 
 
 John  vi.  1 203 
 
 3.  He  feeds  five  thousand  men  with  five   loaves  and  two  fishes,  Matt. 
 
 xiv.  15,  Mark  vi.  35,  Luke  ix.  12,  John  vi.  5 204 
 
 THE  THIRD  PASSOVER. 
 
 Chapter  LVllI. — Jesus  retires  aj;ain  to  the  mountain. — He  walks  upon  the  sea,  and  heals 
 all  that  are  sick. 
 
 1.  Jesus  retires  again  to  the  mountain.  Matt.  xiv.  22,  Mark  vi.  45,  John 
 
 vi.  15 205 
 
 2.  Jesus  walks  upon  the  sea.  Matt.  xiv.  25,  Mark  vi.  48,  John  vi.  19  . . .  206 
 
 3.  Peter  desires  to  walk  on  the  sea.  Matt.  xiv.  28 206 
 
 4.  Jesus  enters  into  the  ship  and  appeases  the  tempest.  Matt.  xiv.  32, 
 
 Mark  vi.  51,  John  vi.  21 206 
 
 5.  He  heals  great  numbers  of  people.  Matt.  xiv.  34,  Mark  vi.  63 20/ 
 
CONTENTS.  VU 
 
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 Chapter  LIX. — The  discourse  of  Jesus  concerning  the  heavenly  bread. 
 
 1.  Faith  in  Christ  is  the  work  of  God,  John  vi.  22 207 
 
 2.  Jesus  is  the  bread  of  heaven,  John  vi.  30 207 
 
 3.  Those  who  are  given  to  Christ  perish  not,  John  vi.  39 208 
 
 4.  They  whom  God  teaches  come  to  Christ,  John  vi.  45 208 
 
 5.  The  holy  Eucharist,  John  vi.  48 209 
 
 6.  The  disciples  are  scandalized,  John  vi.  60 210 
 
 7.  The  adherence  and  faith  of  the  Apostles,  John  vi.  68   211 
 
 Chapter  LX. — Christ  vindicates  his  disciples  for  eating  with  unwashed  hands. 
 
 1.  The  complaints  of  the  Pharisees,  Matt.  xv.  1,  Mark  vii.  1,  John  vii. 
 
 1 212 
 
 2.  Their  human  traditions   contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  Matt.  xv.  3, 
 
 Mark  vii.  6 213 
 
 3.  Nothing  from  without  defiles  a  man,  Matt.  xv.  10,  Mark  vii.  14  ....  214 
 
 Chapter  LXI. — The  Cananean  woman.  Matt.  xv.  21,  Mark  vii.  24    215 
 
 Chapter  LXII. — Christ  cures  a  deaf  and  dumb  man,  and  many  others  who  were  sick,  Matt. 
 
 XV.  29,  Mark  vii.  32 216 
 
 Chapter  LXIIl. — Jesus  feeds  four  thousand  men  with  seven  loaves  and  a  few  fishes,  Matt. 
 
 XV.  32,  Mark  viii.  1 218 
 
 Chapter  LXIV. — Jesus  reproves  the  Pharisees  for  requiring  a  sign,  and  cautions  his  dis- 
 ciples against  hypocrisy. 
 
 1.  The  second  request  of  the  Pharisees  for  a  sign.  Matt.  xvi.  1,  Mark 
 
 viii.  11,  Luke  xii.  54 219 
 
 2.  The  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  Matt.  xvi.  5,  Mark  viii.  13 221 
 
 Chapter  LXV. — The  blind  man  of  Bethsaida,  Mark  viii.  22 222 
 
 Chapter  LXVI. — The  confession  of  St.  Peter. — He  is  rebuked  by  our  Lord 223 
 
 1.  The  confession   of  Peter,   Matt.   xvi.    13,   Mark  viii.  27,  Luke  ix. 
 
 18 223 
 
 2.  The  primacy  of  Peter,  Matt.  xvi.  1"  Mark  viii.  30,  Luke  ix.  21 224 
 
 .3.  Christ's  first  prediction  of  his  death,  Matt.  xvi.  21,  Mark  viii.  31, 
 
 Luke  ix.  22 = 225 
 
 4.  He  rebukes  Peter  for  being  offended  at  that  saying.  Matt.  xvi.  22, 
 
 Mark  viii.  32 225 
 
 5.  He  shows  the  necessity  of  taking  up  the  cross,  Matt.  xvi.  24,  Mark 
 
 viii.  34,  Luke  ix.  23 226 
 
 Chapter  LXVII. — The  transfiguration  of  our  Lord    227 
 
 1.  Christ  is  transfigured  in  prayer,  Matt.  xvii.  1,  Mark  ix.  1,  Luke  ix. 
 
 28 227 
 
 2.  A  voice  from  the  cloud,  Matt.  xvii.  5,  Mark  ix.  6,  Luke  ix.  34    229 
 
 3.  Concerning  the   future   coming  of  Elias,  Matt.  xvii.  10,  Mark  ix. 
 
 10    229 
 
 Chapter  LXVIII. — ^Jesus  cures  a  person  both  lunatic  and  dumb 230 
 
 1.  The  Apostles  cannot  cure  him.  Matt.  xvii.  14,  Mark  ix.  13,  Luke  ix. 
 
 37 230 
 
 2.  He  is  cured  by  Christ,  Matt.  xvii.  16,  Mark  ix.  18,  Luke  ix.  41 231 
 
Yiii  CONTENTS. 
 
 3.  The  efficacy  of  faith,  of  prayer,  and  of  fasting,  Matt.  xvii.  18,  Mark 
 
 ix.  27,  Luke  xvii.  5 231 
 
 Chapter  LXIX. — Jesus  again  foretells  his  death,  and  pays  the  tribute  of  two  drachmas. 
 
 1.  Jesus  foretells  his  death,  Matt.  xvii.  21,  Mark  ix.  29,  Luke  ix.  44.  . .   232 
 2. — Pays  tribute  by  a  miracle,  Matt.  xvii.  23 233 
 
 Chapter  LXX. — The  first  dispute    of  the   Apostles   about   superiority, — Scandal    to    be 
 
 avoided 233 
 
 1.  The  Apostles  dispute  about  superiority,  Matt,  xviii.  1,  Mark  ix.  32, 
 
 Luke  ix.  46 234 
 
 2.  Christ  recommends  humility,  Matt,  xviii.  2,  Mark  ix.  35,  Luke  ix. 
 
 47 234 
 
 3.  He  who  is  not  against  us  is  for  us,  Matt,  xviii.  6,  Mark  ix.  37,  Luke 
 
 ix.  49 235 
 
 4.  Scandal  to  be  avoided,  ISLark  ix.  41,  Luke  xvii.  1 235 
 
 5.  We  are  not  to  despise  any  believer,  Matt,  xviii.  10 236 
 
 6.  The  parable  of  the  lost  sheep.  Matt,  xviii.  11   237 
 
 Chapter  LXXI. — Fraternal  correction. — The  keys  promised. — Injuries  to  be  forgiven. 
 
 1.  The  order  of  fraternal  correction,  Matt,  xviii.  15,  Luke  xvii.  3 238 
 
 2.  The  power  of  binding  and  loosing  promised.  Matt,  xviii   18 239 
 
 3.  The  parable  of  a  king  remitting  his  servant's  debt.  Matt,  xviii.  21    . .   240 
 
 4.  We  are  to  consider  ourselves  as  useless  servants,  Luke  xvii.  7  •  •  -  •  •  •   241 
 
 Chapter  LXXII. — Christ  departs  from  Galilee,  Matt.  xix.  1,  John  vii.  2 242 
 
 Chapter  LXXIII. — Christ  heals  ten  lepers,  Luke  xvii.  11 243 
 
 Chapter  LXXIV. — The  feast  of  the  Tabernacles. 
 
 1 .  Jesus  preaches  in  the  temple,  John  vii.  11    24.^ 
 
 2.  The  Jews  differ  in  opinion  concerning  him,  John  vii.  25 -  I7 
 
 3.  Officers  are  sent  to  apprehend  Jesus,  John  vii.  32 247 
 
 4.  The   various  opinions   of  the   people   respecting  him. — Nicodemus 
 
 pleads  in  his  favour,  John  vii.  40 248 
 
 Chapter  LXXV. — Christ's  behaviour  towards  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  John  viii.  1  . .   24'.) 
 
 Chapter  LXXVI. — Christ  preaches  again  in  the  temple,  and  justifies  his  doctrine 251 
 
 1.  Christ  gives  testimony  of  himself,  John  viii.  12   2.51 
 
 2.  His  threats  against  the  Jews,  John  viii.  21 252 
 
 3.  He  asserts  his  own  divinity,  John  viii.  25 252 
 
 4.  Refutes  their  vain  boast  of  being  .Abraham's  seed,  John  viii.  39 253 
 
 5.  Reproves  the  blasphemous  Jews,  who  attempt  to  stone  him,  John  viii. 
 
 48 254 
 
 Chapter  LXXVII. — Jesus  gives  sight  to  a  man  born  blind ; 256 
 
 1 .  He  is  cured  by  Jesus,  John  ix.  1 256 
 
 2.  He  is  brought  to  the  Pharisees,  John  ix.  13 257 
 
 3.  The  Pharisees  are  offended  and  excommunicate  him,  John  ix.  24  . ..   257 
 
 4.  He  is  received  by  Christ,  and  confesses  him,  John  ix.  35 258 
 
 Chapter  LXXVIII. — Christ  declares  himself  to  be  the  good  Shepherd. 
 
 1.  The  difference  between  a  thief  and  a  shepherd,  John  x.  1 259 
 
CONTENTS.  IX 
 
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 2.  The  good  shepherd  and  the  hireling,  Jolin  x.  11 261 
 
 3.  Christ  will  freely  lay  down  his  life  for  his  sheep,  John  x.  14 262 
 
 Chapter  LXXIX. — The  mission  of  the  seventy-two  disciples. 
 
 1.  Their  election  and  mission. — Christ's  admonition  to  them,  Luke  x. 
 
 1 262 
 
 2.  The  return  of  the  seventy-two  disciples,  Luke  x.  1/ 264 
 
 3.  The  mysteries  of  the  gospel  concealed  from  the  wise,  Matt.  xi.  25, 
 
 Lnke.x.21 264 
 
 4.  The  yoke  of  Christ  is  sweet,  ]\Iatt.  xi.  28 264 
 
 Chapter  LXXX. — The  good  Samaritan. 
 
 1.  We  are  to  love  God  and  our  neighbour,  Luke  x.  25 265 
 
 2.  The  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan,  Luke  x.  29 265 
 
 Chapter  LXXXI. — Martha  and  Mary,  Luke  x.  38 266 
 
 Chapter  LXXXI  I. — Christ  teaches  his  disciples  how  to  pray. 
 
 1.  The  Lord's  prayer,  according  to  St.  Luke  xi.  1 267 
 
 2.  Perseverance  in  prayer,  Luke  xi.  5 269 
 
 Chapter  LXXXIIL — Jesus  pronounces  divers  woes  against  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  ....  2*0 
 
 1.  Internal  purity  recommended,  Matt,  xxiii.  25,  Luke  xi.  37 270 
 
 2.  Woes  against  the  Pharisees,  Matt,  xxiii.  23,  Luke  xi.  42 271 
 
 3.  AVoes  against  the  Scribes,  Matt,  xxiii.  29,  Luke  xi.  45 274 
 
 Chapter  LXXXIV. — Christ  teaches  his  disciples  to  avoid  hypocrisy  and  to  preach  his  doc- 
 trine without  fear,  Luke  xii.  1 275 
 
 Chapter  LXXXV. — Christ  warns  his  followers  against  solicitude  for  riches,  food,  and 
 
 clothes 277 
 
 1.  The  rich  man  boasting  in  his  stores,  Luke  xii.  13 277 
 
 2.  We  are  not  to  be  over  an.xious  for  temporal  things,  Luke  xii.  22  ... .  278 
 
 Chapter  LXXX VI. — Christ  exhorts  to  diligence  and  watchfulness 279 
 
 1.  The  good  and  faithful  servant,  Matt.  xxiv.  42,  Luke  xii.  35 280 
 
 2.  The  wicked  servant,  Matt.  xxiv.  48,  Luke  xii.  45 281 
 
 3.  Domestic  divisions  on  account  of  the  gospel,  Luke  xii.  49 282 
 
 Chapter  LXXXVII. — ^The  necessity  of  doing  penance. — Tlie  parable  of  the  barren  fig- 
 tree,  Luke  xiii.  1   282 
 
 Chapter  LXXXVIII. — The  crooked  woman,  Luke  xiii.  10 285 
 
 Chapter  LXXXIX. — The  dedication  of  the  alta'-  of  Holocausts. 
 
 1.  The  sheep  of  Christ  perish  not,  John  x.  22 287 
 
 2.  The  rage  of  the  Jews  against  Christ,  Luke  x.  31 288 
 
 3.  The  cure  and  conversion  of  several  beyond  the  Jordan,  Matt.  xix.  1, 
 
 Luke  X.  40 289 
 
 Chapter  XC. — The  indissoluble  bond  of  marriage. — Virginity  recommended. 
 
 1.  Divorces  unlawful,  Matt.  xix.  3,  Mark  x.  2,  Luke  xvi.  18 289 
 
 2.  Virginity  commended,  Matt.  xix.  10 292 
 
 3.  Little  children  brought  to  Jesus  Christ 292 
 
 Chapter  XCI. — Christ  shows  the  danger  of  riches 293 
 
 44.  c 
 
X  CONTENTS. 
 
 Paoe 
 
 1.  The  salvation  of  the  rich  is  difficult,  Matt.  xix.  17,  Mark  x.  IJ,  Luke 
 
 xviii.  24 294 
 
 2.  The  rewaid  of  those  who  leave  all  for  Christ,  Matt,  xix,  27,  Mark  x. 
 
 18,  Luke  xviii.  28 .., 295 
 
 Chapter  XCII. — The  labourers  of  the  vineyacd,  Matt.  xx.  L 296 
 
 Chapter  XCIII. — Christ  heals  the  dropsy,  aud  recommends  humility  and  hospitality  to  the 
 poor. — Parable  of  the  great  supper; 
 
 ,....,...,  2  .  Chrisr  heals  the  dropsy,  Lutexiv.  1 299 
 
 '  '  '    2.  The  last  place  to  be  chosen,  Luke  xiv.  7 299 
 
 3.  The  poor  to  be  invited,  Luke  xiv.  12 , ,.- 300 
 
 4..  The  great  supper,  Luke  xiv.  15 300 
 
 CHAPtEtt  XCI V. — Christ  teaches  that  all  things  are  to  be  renounced  for  his  sake,  Luke  xiv. 
 
 25... .... 301 
 
 Chapter  XCV. — Various  parables  respecting  the  conversion  of  sinners. 
 
 1.  The  lost  sheep,  Luke  XV.  2 303 
 
 2.  Drachma  found,  Luke  xv.  8 304 
 
 3.  The  prodigal  son,  Luke  xv.  II 305 
 
 CHAPrEK  XCVL — The  parable  of  the  unjust  steward. 
 
 1.  The  parable  of  the  unjust  steward,  Luke  xvi.  1 307 
 
 2.  He  who  is  faithful  in  small  matters,  will  likewise  be  faithful  in  greater 
 
 ones.     We  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon,  Luke  xvi.  10 308 . 
 
 Chapter  XCVII. — ^The  rich  Glutton  and  Lazarus,  Luke  r\'i.  19 309 
 
 Chapter  XCVIII. — The  parable  of  the  wicked  judge,  and  the  importunate  widow,  Luke 
 
 xviii.  1 311 
 
 Chapter  XCIX.— The  Pharisee  and  the  Publican,  xviii.  9 312 
 
 Chapter  C. — Christ  shows  the  spiritual  nature  of  his  kingdom,  Luke  xvii.  20 314 
 
 Chapter  CI.-^The  narrow  gate,  Luke  xiii.  22 315 
 
 2.  Christ,  like  the  other  prophets,  must  die  in  Jerusalem,  Matt,  xxiii.  3, 
 
 Lvjjie  xiii.  31  31G 
 
 Chapter  CII. — Jesus  raises  Lazarus  from  the  dead. 
 
 1.  The  death  of  Lazarus  in  the  absence  of  Christ,  John  xi.  I 317 
 
 2.  The  discourse  of  Christ  with  Mary,  John  xi.  17 318 
 
 ■  3,  Mary  and  Christ  weep,  John  xi.  28 31& 
 
 4.  Lazarus  is  raised  from  the  dead,  John  xi.  38 319 
 
 Chap'I«»  CIII.'^The  first  council  held  by  the  Pharisees  against  Jesus. 
 
 1..  The  prophecy  of  Caiphas,  John  xi.  47    320 
 
 2.  The  retreat  of  Jesus  to  Ephrem,  John  xi.  54 321 
 
 3.  He  reproves  the  fiery  zeal  of  James  and  John  against  the  Samaritans 
 
 who  would  not  receive  him,  Luke  ix.  51 322 
 
 Chapter  CLV.^— Jesus  the  third  time  foretells  his  death. — ^The  ambitious  request  of  the  sons 
 •      ....  of  Zebedee. 
 
 1.  Christ  foretells  his  death,  Matt.  xx.  17,  Mark  x.  32,  Luke  xviii.  31 . .   323 
 
 2.  The  request  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  Matt.  xx.  20,  Mark  x.  35 323^ 
 
CONTENTS.  XI 
 
 Paoe 
 
 Chapter  CV.— The  conversion  of  Zacheus,  Mark  x.  46,  Luke  xix.  1 326 
 
 Chapter  CVI  —The  parable  of  the  servants  trading  with  iliflerent  sums  of  money,  Luke 
 
 xix   11    327 
 
 Chapter  CVIL— The  two  blind  men  near  Jericho,  Luke  xviii.  31 329 
 
 Chapter  CVIIL — The  second  anointing  of  the  feet  of  Jesus. 
 
 1 .  Mary  anoints  Jesus,  Matt.  xxvi.  6,  Mark  xiv.  3,  John  xii.  1 331 
 
 2.  The  murmur  of  the  disciples,  particularly  of  Judas  Iscariot,  Matt. 
 
 xxvi.  8,  Mark  xiv.  4,  .John  xii.  4 331 
 
 3.  The  chief  priests  consult  how  to  kill  Lazarus,  John  xii.  9 332 
 
 Chapter  CIX. — The  triumphal  entry  of  Jesus  into  Jerusalem. 
 
 1.  A  colt  is  provided  for  Jesus,  Matt.  xxi.  1,  Mark  xi.  1,  Luke  xix.  29, 
 
 John  xii.  12 334 
 
 2.  His  trmmphant  entry  into  Jerusalem,  Matt.  xxi.  7,  Mark  xi.  7i  Luke 
 
 xix.  35,  John  xii.  12 334 
 
 3.  The  acclamations  of  the  people,  Matt.  xxi.  9,  Mark  xi.  9,  Luke  xix. 
 
 37 335 
 
 4.  The  envy  of  the  Pharisees,  Luke  xix.  39,  John  xii.  17 335 
 
 5.  Christ  weeps  over  Jerusalem,  Luke  xix.  41 836 
 
 6.  Second  prediction  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 336 
 
 Chapter  CX. — Christ  again  drives  the  buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the  temple. 
 
 1.  Christ  drives  the  buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the  temple,  Matt.  xxi.  10, 
 
 Mark  xi.  11,  Luke  xix.  45 337 
 
 2.  He  cures  the  blind  and  the  lame,  Matt.  xxi.  14 338 
 
 3.  Certain  Greelre  desire  Christ,  John  xii.  20 338 
 
 4.  Christ  foretells  his  glorification,  John  xii.  23 338 
 
 5.  That  he  is  to  be  glorified  by  the  cross,  John  xii.  30 339 
 
 6.  The  blindness  and  obduracy  of  the  Jews,  John  xii.  37 340 
 
 7.  An  exhortation  to  faith,  Matt.  xxi.  17,  Markxi.  I,  John  xii.  44 341 
 
 Chapter  CXI. — ^The  withered  fig-tree. — Faith. — Prayer. 
 
 1.  Christ  curses  the  barren  fig-tree.  Matt.  xxi.  18,  Mark  xi.  12 342 
 
 2.  He  teaches  in  the  temple.— The  envy  of  the  priests,  Mark  xi.  15. 
 
 Luke  xix  47 342 
 
 3.  The  efficacy  of  faith  and  prayer,  Matt.  xxi.  20,  Mark  xi.  21 342 
 
 Chapter  CXII. — Jesus  silences  the  priests  and  elders,  who  questioned  his  authority. — The 
 
 parable  of  the  two  sons  ordered  into  the  vineyard 343 
 
 1.  The  priests  ask  by  what  authority  he  acted.  Matt.  xxi.  23,  Mark  xi. 
 
 27,  Luke  XX.  1 343 
 
 2.  The  parable  of  the  two  sons  ordered  into  the  vineyard,  Matt.  xxi. 
 
 28 345 
 
 Chapter  CXIII. — The  parable  of  the  unjust  and  cruel  husbandmen 346 
 
 1.  The  letting  out  of  the  vineyard.  Matt.  xxi.  33,  Mark  xii.  l,Luke  xx. 
 
 9 346 
 
 2.  The  application  of  the  parable  to  the  Jews,  Matt.  xxi.  42,  Mark  xii. 
 
 10,  Luke  XX.  17 346 
 
 Chapter  CXIV. — The  parable  of  the  marriage  of  the  king's  son,  Matt.  xxii.  1 347 
 
XU  CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Chapter  CXV. — Christ  teaches  us  to  give  to  Csesar  what  is  Caesar's,  and  to  God  what 
 
 belongs  to  God,  Matt.  xxii.  15,  Mark  xii.  12,  Luke  xx.  20 349 
 
 Chapter  CXVI. — Christ  confutes  the  Sadducees. 
 
 1.  The  wife  of  the  brothers,  Matt.   xxii.  23,  Mark  xii.  18,  Luke  xx. 
 
 27 351 
 
 2.  The  condition  of  the  blessed  after  the  resurrection,  Matt.  xxii.  29, 
 
 Mark  xii.  24,  Luke  xx.  34 351 
 
 3.  The  resurrection  proved  from  scripture,  Matt.  xxii.  31,  Mark  xii.  26, 
 
 Luke  XX.  37 352 
 
 Chapter  CXVII. — The  great  commandment  of  divine  love.  Matt.  xxii.  34,  Mark  xii.  28, 
 
 Luke  XX.  40 352 
 
 Chapter  CXVllI. — Christ  proposes  a  difficult  question  to  the  Pharisees  concerning  the 
 
 Messiah,  Matt.  x.\ii.  41,  Mark  xii.  35,  Luke  xx.  41 355 
 
 Chapter  CXIX. — Christ  exhorts  the  Jews  to  attend  to  the  doctors  of  the  law,  but  not  to 
 
 follow  their  evil  example , 356 
 
 1.  The    vices   of  the  scribes.  Matt,  xxiii.   1,   Mark  xii.  38,  Luke  xx. 
 
 45 356 
 
 2.  Christ  cautions  us  against  the  affectation  of  honourable  distinctions. 
 
 — But  one  Master  and  one  Father,  Matt,  xxiii.  8 357 
 
 Chapter  CXX. — The  widow's  two  mites,  Mark  xii.  41,  Luke  xxi.  1 3.57 
 
 Chapter  CXXI. — The  third  prediction  of  Christ  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 1.  Prediction  of  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  Matt.  xxiv.  1,  Mark  xiii.  1, 
 
 John  xxi.  5 , 358 
 
 2.  Presages  of  the  evils  which  were  to  befall  Jerusalem,  Matt.  xxiv.  3, 
 
 Mark  xiii.  3,  Luke  xxi.  7 359 
 
 3.  Confidence  in   persecutions,  Matt.  xxiv.  9,  Mark  xiii.  9,  Luke  xxi. 
 
 12 3G0 
 
 4.  The  siege  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Matt.  xxiv.  15,  Mark  xiii. 
 
 14,  Luke  xxi.  20 3G2 
 
 Chapter  CXXII. — Christ  foretells  the  signs  of  his  last  coming 364 
 
 1.  False  Christs  and  false  prophets,  Matt.  xxiv.  23,  Mark  xiii.  21 364 
 
 2.  Prodigies  in  the  heavens,  Matt.  xxiv.  29,  Mark  xiii.  24,  Luke  xxi. 
 
 27 364 
 
 3.  Joy  of  the  faithful  at  the  approach  of  the  last  judgment,  Matt.  xxiv. 
 
 32,  Mark  xiii.  28,  Luke  xxi.  28 364 
 
 4.  The  sudden  destruction  of  the  wicked.  Matt.  xxiv.  37,  Luke  xvii. 
 
 26 364 
 
 5.  One  person  will  be  taken,  and  another  left,  Matt.  xxiv.  40,  Luke  xvii. 
 
 34 365 
 
 Chapter  CXXIII.— Meditation,  Watchfulness,  and  Prayer,  Mark  xii.  33,  Luke  xxi.  34  . .   366 
 
 Chapter  CXXIV.— The  parable  of  the  ten  virgins,  Matt.  xxv.  I 368 
 
 Chapter  CXXV.— The  parable  of  the  talents.  Matt.  xxv.  14 370 
 
 Chapter  CXXVI.— The  last  judgment.  Matt,  xxv.  31,  Luke  xxi.  37    37I 
 
CONTENTS.  XlU 
 
 Faqk 
 
 Chapter  CXXVII. — The  second  council  held  against  Jesus. 
 
 1.  The  priests  consult  how  to  destroy  Jesus,  Matt.  xxvi.  1,  Mark  xiv.  1, 
 
 Lukexxii.  1 373 
 
 2.  Judas  makes  an  agreement  to  betray  his  Lord,  Matt.  xxvi.  14,  Mark 
 
 xiv.  20,  Lukexxii.  3 374 
 
 THE  FOURTH  PASSOVER, 
 
 Chapter  CXXVIIL — The  paschal  supper,  Matt.  xxvi.  17,  Mark  xiv.  12,  Lukexxii.  8. . . .  375 
 
 Ch.^pter  CXXIX. — Jesus  washes  the  feet  of  his  apostles,  John  xiii.  1 3/8 
 
 Chapter  CXXX. — The  institution  of  the  holy  Eucharist. 
 
 1.  The  consecration  of  the  bread,  Matt.  xxvi.  26,  Mark  xiv.  22,  Luke 
 
 xxii.  19   381 
 
 2.  The  consecration  of  the  chalice,  Matt.  xxvi.  27,  Luke  xxii.  20 384 
 
 Appendix  to  Chapter  CXXX.,  On  the  Blessed  Eucharist 387 
 
 Chapter  CXXXI. — Jesus  points  out  the  traitor  Judas,  who  withdraws  himself 395 
 
 1.  Jesus  foretells  that  he  shall  be  betrayed.  Matt.  xxvi.  2,  Mark  xiv.  18, 
 
 Luke  xxii.  21,  John  xiii.  16 396 
 
 2.  He  points  out  the  traitor,  Luke  xxii.  23,  John  xiii.  23 397 
 
 3.  Judac  withdraws  himself,  Matt.  xxvi.  30,  Mark  xiv.  26,  John  xiii. 
 
 27 397 
 
 Chapter  CXXXII. — The  second  dispute  of  the  apostles  concerning  superiority. — Jesus 
 foretells  Peter's  denial. 
 
 1 .  The  second  altercation  about  primacy     398 
 
 2.  Christ  prays  for  the  faith  of  Peter. — Gives  a  commandment     399 
 
 3.  The  presumption  of  Peter 399 
 
 4.  His  denial  is  foretold   399 
 
 5.  Christ  orders  his  apostles  to  provide  themselves  with  scrips,  swords, 
 
 &c 399 
 
 Chapter  CXXXIIl. — The  discourse  of  Christ  after  the  last  supper. 
 
 1.  He  comforts  his  apostles,  John  xiv.  1 400 
 
 2.  He  requires  their  obedience  as  a  proof  of  their  love,  and  promises 
 
 them  the  spirit  of  truth,  John  xiv.  15 402 
 
 3.  That  the  Holy  Ghost  would  teach  them  all  things. — Christ  gives  them 
 
 his  peace,  John  xiv.  25 403 
 
 Chapter  CXXXIV. — The  continuation  of  Christ's  discourse. 
 
 1.  Christ  is  the  vine,  we  are  the  branches,  John  xv.  1 404 
 
 2.  Perseverance  in  charity,  John  xv.  9 405 
 
 3.  The  world  is  an  enemy  of  the  faithful,  John  xv.  17 406 
 
 4.  Christ  forewarns  his  followers  of  persecutions,  John  xvi.  1 407 
 
 Chapter  CXXXV. — A  second  continuation  of  Christ's  discourse. 
 
 1.  Christ  comforts  his  apostles,  by  promising  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  John 
 
 xvi.  5  407 
 
 '1  d 
 
xiv  CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 2.  Christ  comforts  his  apostles,  by  a  pTomise  of  eternal  joys,  John  xvi. 
 
 16 408 
 
 3.  Christ  comfoits  his  apostles,  by  a  promise  of  fe.vours  from  the  Father, 
 
 John  xvi.  23 409 
 
 Ch.uter  CXXXVI.— The  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ  after  the  last  supper. 
 
 1.  He  prays  for  his  own  glorification,  John  xvii.  1 410 
 
 2.  He  prays  for  the  salvation  of  his  apostles,  John  xvii.  6 410 
 
 3.  He  prays  for  the  salvation  of  all  his  elect,  John  xvii.  20 412 
 
 Chapter  CXXXVII.— The  Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 1.  The  sadness  of  Jesus  in  the  garden,  Matt.  xxvi.  36,  Mark  xiv.  32, 
 
 Lulce  xxii.  39,  John  xviii.  1 413 
 
 .  2.  In  his  agony  he  redoubles  his  prayer.  Matt.  xxvi.  39,  Mark  xiv.  35, 
 
 Luke  xxii.  41 415 
 
 3.  The  apostles  sleep,  Matt.  xxvi.  40,  Mark  xiv.  37,  Luke  xxii.  45 415 
 
 4.  Judas   betrays  his  Lord   with  a  kiss.  Matt.  xxvi.  47,  Mark  xiv.  43, 
 
 Luke  xxii.  47,  John  xviii.  3 416 
 
 5.  The  Jews  fall  down  before  Christ,  John  xviii.  4 4I7 
 
 6.  Peter  cuts  off  Malchus's  ear,  Matt.  xxvi.  50,  Mark  xiv.  46,  Luke  xxii. 
 
 49,  John  xviii  10 417 
 
 7.  Christ  reproaches  the  Jews,  and  then  submits  himself  to  his  enemies. 
 
 Matt.  xxvi.  55,  Mark  xiv.  48,  Luke  xxii.  52 418 
 
 Chapter  CXXXVIII. — Jesus  is  examined  and  judged  by  Caiphas. 
 
 1.  Jesus  is  led  before  Annas  and  Caiphas,  Matt.  xxvi.  57,  Mark  xiv.  53, 
 
 Luke  xxii.  54,  John  xviii.  12 419 
 
 2.  He  is  struck  on  the  face  by  one  of  the  officers,  John  xviii.  19 420 
 
 3.  False  witnesses  against  Jesus,  Matt.  xxvi.  59,  Mark  xiv.  55 421 
 
 4.  The  examination  and  condemnation  of  Jesus,  Matt.  xxvi.  63,  Mark 
 
 xiv.  62,  Luke  xxii.  66 422 
 
 5.  Jesus  is  spit  upon  and  insulted,  Matt.  xxvi.  67,  Mark  xiv.  65,  Luke 
 
 xxii.  63 423 
 
 Chapter  CXXXIX. — Peter's  denial  and  repentance. 
 
 1.  First  denial.  Matt.  xxvi.  69,  Mark  xiv.  66,  Luke  xxii.  56,  John  xviii. 
 
 17 424 
 
 2.  Second  denial,  ]\Iatt.  xxvi.  71,  Mark  xiv.  69,  Luke  xxii.  58,  John 
 
 xviii.  25 424 
 
 3.  The  third  denial.  Malt.  .xxvi.  73,  Mark  xiv.  70,  Luke  xxii.  59,  John 
 
 xviii.  26 425 
 
 Chapter  CXL. — Jesus  is  delivered  up  to  Pilate. — The  death  of  Judas. 
 
 1.  Jesus  is  given  up  to  Pilate,  Matt,  xxvii.  1,  Mark  xv.  1,  Luke  xxiii.   1, 
 
 John  xviiL  28 425 
 
 2.  Judas  hangs  himself.  Matt,  xxvii.  3 426 
 
 Chapter  CXLL — Jesus  is  accused  before  Pilate. 
 
 1.  Jesus  is  accused,  Luke  xxiii.  2,  John  xviii.  29 , 427 
 
 2.  He  is  examined  by  Pilate,  Matt,  xxvii.  11,  Mark  xv.  2,  Luke  xxiii.  3, 
 
 John  xviii.  33 427 
 
CONTENTS.  ^'9: 
 
 PiGB 
 
 3.  He  is  sent  to  Herod,  Luke  xxiii.  5 429 
 
 Chapter  CXLU.— Barabbas  is  preferred  to  Jesus,  ■ivho  is  scourged  at  the  pillar,  and  con- 
 demned        430 
 
 1 .  Pilate  endeavours  to  release  Christ,  Matt,  xxvii.  15,  Mark  xv.  6,  Luke 
 
 xxiii.  13,  John  xviii.  39 431 
 
 2.  Pilate's  wife  sends  him  word  of  her  dream.  Matt,  xxvii.  18 431 
 
 3.  Barabbas  is  preferred  to  Christ,  Matt,  xxvii.  19,  Mark  xv.  11,  Luke 
 
 ' xxiii.  18,  John  xviii.  40 ;.-  ^^^ 
 
 -4.  Jesus  is  scourged  at  the  pillar,  crowned  with  thorns,  &c.  Matt,  xxvii. 
 
 27,  Mark  XV.  16,  John  xix.  1 432 
 
 5.  Behold  the  man,  John  xix.  4 _•   433 
 
 6.  Jesus  is  delivered  up  to  be  crucified.  Matt,  xxvii.  24,  Mark  xv.  15, 
 
 Luke  xxiii.  42,  John  xix.  13 433 
 
 Cu.KPTER  CXLIII.— The  crucifixion  and  death  of  Jesus 435 
 
 1.  Jesus  carries  his  cross.  Matt,  xxvii.  31,  Mark  xv.  20,  Luke  xxiii.  26, 
 
 John  xix.  16 435 
 
 2.  The  lamentations  of  the  women,  Luke  xxiii.  2/ 436 
 
 3.  Jesus  is  nailed  to  the  cross. — Prays  for  his  murderers,  Matt,  xxvii. 
 
 33,  Mark  xv.  22,  Luke  xxiii.  32,  John  xix.  18 437 
 
 4.  The  inscription  which  Pilate  orders  to  be  set  up  over  Jesus,  Matt. 
 
 xxvii.  37,  Mark  xv.  26,  Luke  xxiii.  38,  John  xix.  19 437 
 
 5.  The  soldiers  cast  lots  for  his  vesture,  Matt,  xxvii.  35,  Mark  xv.  24, 
 
 Luke  xxiii.  34,  John  xix.  23 438 
 
 6.  The  blasphemous  insults  of  the  people  and  rulers,  Matt,  xxvii.  39, 
 
 Mark  xv.  29,  Luke  xxiii.  35 438 
 
 7.  The  two  thieves.  Matt,  xxvii.  44,  Mark  xv.  32,  Luke  xxiii.  39 438 
 
 8.  Jesus  commends  his  mother  to  John's  care,  John  xix.  28 439 
 
 9.  Darkness  overspreads  the  earth,  Matt,  xxvii.  45,  Mark  xv.  33,  Luke 
 
 xxiii.  44 
 
 440 
 
 10.  Vinegar  is  offered  to  Jesus.— He  expires,  Matt,  xxvii.  48,  Mark  xv. 
 
 36,''Luke  xxiii.  46,  John  xix.  28 441 
 
 11.  The  prodijjies  attending  his  death,  Matt,  xxvii.  51,  Markxv.  38,  Luke 
 
 xxiii.  45 4:41 
 
 Chapter    CXLIV.— The   side   of  Jesus    is   opened  with   a  spear.  — He   is  laid   in    the 
 sepulchre. 
 
 1.  Christ's  side  is  pierced  with  a  spear,  John  xix.  31 443 
 
 2.  Joseph  of  Arimathea  begs  Christ's  body,  and  buries  it,  assisted  by 
 
 Nicodemus,  Matt,  xxvii.  57,  Mark  xv.  43,  Luke  xxiii.  50,  John  xix. 
 
 38 : 444 
 
 3.  The  priests  procure  a  guard  for  the  sepulchre.  Matt,  xxvii.  63 445 
 
 Cn.\PTER  CXLV. — The  history  of  Christ's  resurrection. 
 
 1.  The  women  go  to  the  .sepulchre.  Matt,  xxviii.  1,  Mark  xvi.  1,  Luke 
 
 xxiv.  1 ,  John  xx.  1    44/ 
 
 2.  Peter  and  John  run  to  the  sepulchre,  Luke  xxiv.  12,  John  xx.  3 448 
 
 3.  Christ  appears  to  Mary  Magdalen,  Mark  xvi.  9,  John  xx.  12 448 
 
Xvi  CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 4.  The  angels  inform  the  other  women  that  Christ  is  risen,  Matt,  xxviii. 
 
 5,  Luke  xxiv.  4  449 
 
 5.  Christ's  second  appearance  was  to  the  women,  Matt,  xxviii.  9,  Mark 
 
 xvi.  6 450 
 
 6.  The  guards  are  bribed  to  deny  the  resurrection,  Matt,  xxviii.  11  ....   450 
 
 Chapter  CXLVI. — The  third  and  fourth  aj)parition  of  Jesus. 
 
 1.  The  fourth  apparition  to  Cleophas,  &c.   Mark  xvi.  13,  Luke  xxiv. 
 
 13 452 
 
 2.  The  third  apparition  was  to  Peter,  Luke  xxiv.  33 453 
 
 Chapter  CXLVII. — The  fifth  and  sixth  apparition  of  Jesus  to  the  eleven 454 
 
 1.  Christ  appears  to  his  apostles,  and  eats  with  them,  Mark  xvi.  14, 
 
 Luke  xxiv.  36,  John  xx.  19 455 
 
 2.  Thomas's  incredulity,  John  xx.  24 455 
 
 3.  The  sixth  apparition  to  the  apostles. — Thomas  is  convinced,  John  xx. 
 
 24 456 
 
 Chapter  CXLVIII. — The  seventh  apparition  of  Jesus,  viz.  by  the  sea-side. 
 
 1.  The  second  miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  John  xxi.  1 4.57 
 
 2.  Christ  intrusts  to  Peter  the  charge  of  his  flock,  John  xxi.  15    458 
 
 3.  Jesus  foretells  Peter's  martyrdom,  John  xxi.  18 458 
 
 Chapter  CXLIX. — The  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  apparition  of  Jesus. 
 
 1.  The  eighth  apparition  of  Jesus  in  Galilee,  Matt,  xxviii.  16 459 
 
 2.  The  ninth  to  James  ; — the  tenth  at  Jerusalem,  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  Mark 
 
 xvi.  15 460 
 
 3.  Christ  promises  to  send  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  Luke  xxiv.  44 461 
 
 Chapter  CL. — The  ascension  of  Jesus  into  heaven,  Mark  xvi.  19,  Luke  xxiv.  50,  John 
 
 xxi.  25 462 
 
 Chapter  CLI. — The  glorious  life  of  Jesus  Christ  in  heaven 464 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Chapter  I. — On  the  Instruments  of  Christ's  passion  and  death 468 
 
 1.  The  pillar  at  which  our  Lord  was  scourged 468 
 
 2.  The  crown  of  thorns 469 
 
 3.  The  form  of  our  Saviour's  cross 469 
 
 4.  The  Invention  of  the  cross 470 
 
 5.  The  nails 471 
 
 6.  The  holy  lance 472 
 
 7.  The  holy  sponge 472 
 
 8.  The  blood  of  Christ 472 
 
 Chapter  II. — On  Christ's  Person 473 
 
 Chapter  III. — On  the  statue  erected  to  Christ  in  the  city  of  Paneas,  or  Csesarea  Philippi   .  475 
 
 Chapter  IV. — On  the  miraculous  likenesses  or  prints  of  Christ ^11 
 
CONTENTS.  xvii 
 
 r'  ■\T  Page 
 
 Chapter  \  —On  the  writings  and  remarkable  sayings  of  Jesus  Christ    481 
 
 Chapter  VI.— On  the  testimonies  given  by  profane  authors  to  the  history  of  Jesus  Christ.  484 
 
 Chapter  VII.— On  the  years  of  Christ 4gj 
 
 A  Chronological  Table  of  our  Saviour's  life,  chiefly  from  Sandinus 493 
 
 The  principal  miracles  of  Jesus  arranged  in  Chronological  order 495 
 
 The  principal  discourses  of  Jesus,  ditto 496 
 
 The  chief  parables  of  Jesus,  ditto 497 
 
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