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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE CHRIST
THE SON OF GOD
Volume I.

Ntfjtl obatat.

A. FIVEZ, S.T.L. Censor Deputatus.

Emprtmatur : THOMAS S. PRESTON, V.G.
Neo Eboraci, die 27, Junii, 1890.

LONGMANS, GREEN 8c CO.

THE CHRIST
THE SON OF GOD

A LIFE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR
JESUS CHRIST

By THE ABBE CONSTANT FOUARD
SCransIateB from tfjt JFiftfj Hftttton toitij tije author's aanctinn
By GEORGE F. X. GRIFFITH
SSEitf) an Iittwrtmctum
By CARDINAL MANNING
Volume I.

NEW YORK AND LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1891

Copyright, 1890,
By George F. X. Griffith.

Mp<? 63
mA

JSnibetsits ^ress:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.

INTRODUCTION.

The knowledge of French is so widely diffused in English
society that publishers wisely refuse to undertake to print
translations from the French, excepting only works of
science or of special value. Nevertheless Messrs.
Longman have very wisely undertaken to publish an
English translation of " La Vie de N. S. Jesus Christ " by
Abbe- Fouard, Professor of Theology in Eouen. Such
a work will be read by multitudes who do not command
a knowledge of the French language.
This singularly able and excellent work can need no
commendation. It is already in its fifth'edition. When
i-t first appeared it had the commendation of the late
Cardinal de Bonnechose, Archbishop of Rouen, who well
described it as uniting "the consolations of piety with
the explanations of true science on the text of Scripture."
In 1881 Leo XIII. sent his benediction to the author,
and many cardinals and a large number of the bishops
of France gave it their approbation.
Abbe" Fouard describes his book in these words:
"This Life of Jesus is an act of -faith." By a deliberate
judgment he refused to admit both controversy and

vi INTRODUCTION.
criticism. He would not prefix even an introduction
establishing the authenticity of the Gospels. Nevertheless
he has given in the notes to his preface a brief summary
of those who have attacked the books of the New
Testament, and those who have defended them, together
with a long list of authors, French, English, and German,
on which his history is founded.
Throughout the whole course of his work abundant
notes are found at the foot of the page to interpret the
text, and to illustrate the events recorded, by extensive
researches made by himself in his pilgrimage to the
Holy Land.
Abbe- Fouard calls attention to a fact which appears
seldom to be borne in mind. He says it was only in
the Middle Ages that men began to write the life of our
Lord. From the beginning until then the living and
Divine tradition of faith, in which the name, the person,
the character, the words, and the works of our Divine
Saviour pervaded the Christian world, was enough to
draw the hearts' of men to Himself. The uninspired
writers, founding themselves upon the living consciousness
of the faith, wrote of their Divine Master as of a Person
to whom they bore a personal relation. They interpreted
the Scriptures of the New Testament as it were in His
presence and by the memory of His own teaching. Their
baptismal creed, which came to them " by hearing,'' filled
them with " the word of Christ " and the knowledge of
His mind, — for instance, the Homilies of Saint John
Chrysostom in the East, and of Saint Augustin in the
West. Their teaching was not historical, but didactic and

INTRODUCTION. Vll
devotional, of which the Catena Aurea of Saint Thomas is
a full proof.
The intellectual state of the following ages took an
historical form. Then began the compilation of the life
of our Lord. Jansenius of Ghent, Salmeron, Tillemont,
Caluiet, and De Ligny began to reduce the sacred history
to chronological order. From that day to this the life of
our Lord has been elaborated more and more in the way of
history ; until at last some men, ceasing to realize their
personal relation to a Living Person, have come to regard
Him as an historical person, to whom they owe no duty,
or as a mythical person who never existed.
Not so among those who inherit the living and Divine
consciousness which animated the early ages of the faith.
The name, the person, the character, the words, and the
works of our Divine Master have ever been perpetuated in
the daily life of those who adore Him in the unity of the
faith. The history of Abbe" Fouard unites the sacred
narrative of the three-and-thirty years of our Saviour's
earthly life with the living consciousness of faith, in which
the mutual personal relation and the mutual personal love
of the Divine Master and His Disciples are as living and
sustaining at this day as they were when He ascended
into Heaven. To all such this Life of Our Lord will be
a golden book. HENRY EDWARD CARDINAL MANNING.

PREFACE.

HP HIS Life of Jesus is an Act of Faith. We have had no in-
-1 tention of pursuing through these pages a controversy in
which so many minds have been matched since the opening of
our century ; we only desire to make the Saviour better known
and loved. Surely the times are propitious ; for the Gospels,
combated at a thousand points, have triumphed over their
critics. The attacking party and the defenders alike appear
exhausted. What is left for this our generation, unless it be to
avail ourselves of the inspired Witnesses and by drawing from
them an account of the actions of Jesus, demonstrate that He,
Whose death some have published to the world, lives still, is
indeed the very Life itself 1
Yet since such a throng of writers have already essayed the
same plan, any attempt to rewrite the life of the Saviour after
them may seem superfluous. Our excuse is in the sublimity of
its Subject, which no study can encompass wholly ; for the
Divinity of the Christ is the object of eternal contemplation, and
as in every age His Humanity appears under new features, so it
will always demand a different portraiture. This is why we
have so many Narratives, which, one after another, have sketched
that Figure, Whose proper lineaments we need but recall to
mind, in order to perceive all that these great writers leave still
to be attempted.
The Gospels, explained by their pastors, sufficed the faithful
in the first ages of Christianity. The Saviour's daily life on
earth, the places and the dates of his wondrous deeds, were still

x PREFACE.
too memorable, too vividly impressed upon their minds, for need
of any reminder to refresh their memory. It was by dying for
Him that these heroic generations confessed the Lord Jesus.
Yet, even then, error had endeavored to deface the figure of the
Divine Master, and the apocryphal gospels show to what a state
it would have degraded Him. To dispel these visionary mists
it was only necessary to confront them with the Witnesses of the
doings of the Christ. This task was imposed upon Tatian of
Syria in the second century, upon Ammonias in the third, upon
Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth. By arranging the Evangelists'
Record of the facts, in their order of occurrence, they composed
therefrom a Harmony of the Gospels.1
Some of the Fathers followed this example, but the majority
among them were busied rather in interpreting the Doctrine of
the Saviour, and it was only in the Middle Ages that lives of
Jesus began to be written. Even at that period the historians
meditate more than they describe. Only read the "Chain of
Gold " by Saint Thomas, the " Holy Eminences " attributed to
the Seraphic Doctor, the austere pages of Ludolphe le Chartreux ;
everywhere you feel the flame of love which feeds at their heart ;
it seems as though these men, for whom the body exists no
longer, could not study the Saviour by any light save that of
Tabor. Giotto has painted this transfigured Christ on the walls
of Assisi, and we see him there, even as the Middle Ages adored
Him, permitting the streaming rays of His Divinity to escape
and irradiate His body, His head crowned with a glory as mag
nificent when suffering the scourges of the executioners as in the
triumph of the Resurrection. It was indeed a figure which was
typical of those ages of faith and charity, more absorbed in imi
tating that Model, than anxious to set forth its details in the
cold light of day.
In the centuries that followed the life of Jesus assumed a more
1 A Harmony or Concordance is the name given to the various works in
which expositors endeavor to reconcile the Evangelists' Narratives, and
dispose the events in chronological order. Those cited above are the first
efforts of this description of which there is any record extant ; others
in great number have succeeded them. The most noteworthy will be
found elsewhere, in the list of works of which we have availed ourselves.

PREFACE. xi
doctrinal shape. Jansenius of Ghent, Salmeron, Tillemont, and
Calmet enriched their commentaries with treasures of erudition ;
unhappily they did not base their researches upon a Narrative,
which would make the life of the Saviour natural and effective.
Pere de Ligny profited by the labors of his predecessors ; but
like them he neglected the rules of art, and contented himself
with arranging the Gospel texts in their chronological order,
merely inserting the glosses requisite to preserve the connection.
Even after his work the History of Jesus Christ remained still
unwritten. But while these expositors crowded into their pages the tra
ditions of eighteen centuries, the Reformation, after having over
turned the faith of our fathers in Germany, began to undermine
its very foundations. The Holy Books, though for a long time
revered, were in their turn assaulted by Error ; authenticity, in
spiration, veracity, all were called in question.1 Strauss came to
consider Jesus as a fabulous personage ; Baur treats the Gospel
as a legend, resting upon an historical foundation, but fanciful
and imaginary so far as its wonders are concerned. Such ven
turesome essays among ancient beliefs could not fail to attract
the genius of Frenchmen, lovers of clearness and light, and it
only needed the artistic and imaginative skill of M. Renan to
lend a certain glitter to their inventions.
Their success was not, however, lasting. England, always
severely serious in the domain of Science, treated this work,
which had so astonished us, as a Romance. Germany smiled to
see that we were taking theories already refuted by them, for
the final verdict of exegetical criticism.2 To-day what remains
of the scandal to which it gave rise? No doctrine, no new
1 See La Bible et les de"couvertes modernes, par M. Vigouroux, pretre
de Saint-Sulpice, t. I. : Esquisse de Vhistoire du rationalisme biblique en
Allemaqne. 2 "The Work as it is composed," writes Ewald, "reflects little credit
upon the Country which produced it, and could scarcely have had its
origin among other surroundings than those in which it was conceived."
" M. Renan's book," adds Keim, "is more than anything else a Parisian
production, — a superficial compound ; it is of no moment to the scholar,
who will find nothing in it adapted to his use." (See M. Renan, Refute
par les rationalistes allemands, par Mgr. Meignan. )

Xll PREFACE.
school ; only one more name to write under that of Colsus,
Marcion, and all the rest, who for eighteen centuries have at
tacked the Godhead in Jesus Christ. Like so many others, this
last assault has been fruitless, the figment has faded away, —
yet only to give place to theories more formidable, as they are
more specious and sophistical.
Scorning Tradition, which might have enlightened them, these
hardy expositors would have us accept the Gospels as Apostolic
teaching augmented and disfigured by the addition of a new
body of texts in the course of years. To their apprehension the
sacred Writings are not therefore a History, made from the
original, but a compilation from a succession of narratives ; and
nothing could be more ingenious, yet at the same time more ar
bitrary, than their innumerable speculations, which are always
at variance with each other, as they vainly strive to point out
what were, after all, the original features of the Books we possess
to-day. We can see toward what end these innovators are
working. By rejecting any settled dates for the Gospels, they in
fact destroy all their authority : for what credence could be ac
corded to a confused collection of reminiscences, jotted down by
a thousand various hands and in epochs most at variance in spirit.
Concede this point and there would be an end of all certitude as
regards the Life of Jesus. Indeed all powers that lie deepest
down in the Christian heart have risen in defence of the Heav
enly Message. Marvels of erudition have been accomplished,
and the Protestant churches, whence sprung the evil, have not
been the last in exorcising it. Even in the judgment of liberal
investigation, truth rests on the side of Tradition ; our Gos
pels are still regarded as the work of those, who either saw
the Master Himself, or heard His Apostles. Written by the
Spirit of God, independently of each other, they shine forth in
the white light of truth with a radiance which nothing can
obscure. We shall be forgiven for not restating here the proofs which
have put the authenticity and veracity of this Record beyond
cavil or suspicion ; one volume would not be enough to contain
them. Our wisest course was to refer the reader to the apolo-

PREFACE. xiii
gists who have triumphantly defended them,1 and pursue the
plan which we have indicated above : to gather from the Gospels
a History of Jesus, — comparing the four holy Witnesses in order
to show how their Narratives, varying as they do in form, inten
tion, and origin, nevertheless explain and confirm each other.
To attain this object, let us see what guides we shall follow.
The first and most trustworthy of all is the Gospel itself. We
possess it in the very language which the sacred Historians
employed,2 and one must read it in the original tongue to appre
ciate all its charms ; but it is quite as necessary not to neglect
the Versions which were composed from the first ages ; for,
1 See the Introductions written by Hug, Adalbert Maier, and Reith-
mayr ; Tholuck, The Credibility of the Evangelical History ; the English
works of Norton and Westcott ; in France, De la Oroyance due a V liiian-
gile, by M. Wallon, and Les Evanc/iles, by Mgr. Meignan. Bossuet was
content to dismiss the question with a few lines, — "that great concourse
of. different nations who received and translated the Holy Books agree both
as to their date and as to their Authors. The Pagans never contradicted
Tradition on this point. Neither Celsus, who attacked the sacred Books
almost at the outset of Christianity, nor Julian the Apostate, although he
neither ignored nor neglected anything whereby he might discredit them,
nor has any other Pagan ever suggested the idea that they were of suppo
sititious origin. On the contrary, one and all have credited them with the
same authorship as the Christians. The heretics of olden times, although
the authority of these same Books was oppressive to them, dared not
assert that they were not the words of the Disciples of our Lord. Some of
these heretics, moreover, had witnessed the beginnings of the Church, and
had seen the Books of the Gospel written beneath their own eyes ; thus
any deception which could possibly have insinuated itself would have been
brought to light too promptly to succeed. It is true that after the Apostles'
death, and when the Church had already penetrated into all lands, Mar-
cion and Manes, always the most daring as they were the most ignorant
among the heretics, . . . dared to say that three of the Gospels were for
geries. . . . But what proofs did they advance ? Only visions ; not one
positive fact. ... To invalidate the good faith of the Church, it was con
sidered requisite for them to have possession of some original documents
differing from hers, or some other ascertainable proof. Summoned to pro
duce such proof, they and their disciples were silent, and by their silence
have left an indubitable evidence that in the second century of Chris
tianity, in which they wrote, there was not even an indication of unreli
ability, nor the least supposition which could be brought forward against
the Tradition of the Church " (Discours sur THistoire universale, iie partie,
c. xxvii.). 2 We do not even except the First Gospel, for it appears most likely to
us that the Greek Version from S. Matthew's original Aramean was made
by the Apostle himself.

XIV PREFACE.
while they enlighten us as to the original meaning of the text,
they enable us at the same time to decide between different
readings. Every one know.s, indeed, that there are no longer
any Greek Manuscripts of the first three centuries, and that the
oldest copies are ODly duplicates, made three hundred years
after the epoch in which the Evangelists lived.1 During that
long period of transmission, different readings were multiplied,
yet viewed as a guarantee of the genuineness of the original,
no evidence equals the translations written by disciples of the
Apostles, because they give us a faithful reflection of the Greek
Gospels, as they were known at the birth of the Church.3
1 Not to overload these notes with details, we shall not mention any
readings besides those given by the five most ancient and most important
Manuscripts : The Codex Sinai'ticus (S), found by Tischendorf in the Mon
astery of Sinai in 1859 ; this Manuscript dates back to the fourth century.
The Codex Vaticanus (B), belonging to the same period as the preceding,
is preserved in the library of the Vatican. The Codex Alexandrinus (A),
sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril Lucar, to Charles I., in
1628, and kept ever since in the British Museum. The Codex Ephrsemi
(C). The parchment of this manuscript had been washed sufficiently to
receive the text of S. Ephrem's Works ; hence the name. The ancient text
has been restored, and it forms one of the treasures of the National Library.
The Codex Beza, or Cantabrigiensis (D), given by Beza to the University
of Cambridge. These last three manuscripts date back to the fifth
century. As regards these Codices, consult Reithmayr's Introduction, and
Scrivener's Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, pp. 76-
103. 2 We mean by this the most ancient Versions, which are the following :
The Italic, a Latin translation of the first century ; two of the Syriac Ver
sions, the Peshito (The Simple), composed at the beginning of the second
century, and the Cureton, so named from the Canon of Westminster, who
discovered it among the Syriac manuscripts of the British Museum. The
latter Version, in which some believe we possess the original Aramean of
S. Matthew, is older than the Peshito, and consequently goes back to the
very days of the Apostles. Important as these first translations are, no
one among them equals the Vulgate. We know what careful zeal S. Jerome
brought to its composition, taking every advantage of his predecessors' la.
bors, and referring to the most ancient manuscripts in the Greek text, in
order to revise and correct the Italic ; so that it is with perfect justice that
the Church, having declared it authentic in every respect, accords it the
same authority as to an original in everything which concerns faith and
morals. In addition, we shall quote from the Coptic, Ethiopian, and Gothic
Versions, done in the fourth century, with the Armenian, which dates from
the fifth. (See, as to these Versions, the Manuel Biblique, par Vabbi F.
Vigouroux, t. I. pp. 137-193 ; Reithmayr's Introduction, and Les ittvdc's
Publiques, parl'abbe Le Hir, t. I. p. 251.)

PREFACE XV
Upon this question it is equally incumbent upon us to con
sult the first Fathers ; their preaching, as it is little more than a
commentary upon the Good Tidings, reproduces the Gospel for
us, almost in its entirety, and, consequently we can reconstruct
from their Homilies so many Versions antedating any which we
know to-day. But it is principally because they explain holy
Writ that they must ever remain our teachers. No research, no
science, however profound it may be, can supply us with what
they then possessed, — the actual world as Jesus found it, the
self-same aspect of localities and affairs, and further still, their
opportunities for daily intercourse with those of the faithful,
who, having lived in the society of the Apostles, could relate
their instructions. All these circumstances once taken into con
sideration, lend such tremendous weight to the teaching of the
Fathers that even Protestant theologians have been struck by it.
They declare that " To evade or contravene that common belief
which existed among them would be foolish and unavailing, it
would be to struggle against the resistless rnsh of a torrent."1
We have purposely employed the phraseology of Waterland and
Bull ; although the evidence of liberal investigation, it is no
less uncompromising than the rulings of the Council of Trent.2
Accordingly we shall endeavor to follow Tradition closely in
interpreting those words of the Saviour which are the immovable
foundation of Christian Dogma. Here there is no room for novel
ties, for Truth is unchangeable. Yet it is not enough, in a Life
of the Christ, to set forth the Evangelical Doctrine ; it is neces
sary to describe the places where the years of the Saviour's life
were spent ; to learn from contemporary history what thoughts
then occupied men's minds, what manner of people they were
among whom Jesus lived. Upon these points the Gospels are
1 " It is absurd to imagine that all the Churches should combine in the
same error, and conspire together to corrupt the doctrine of Christ."
(Dr. Waterland, On the Use and Value of Ecclesiastical Antiquity.
Works, vol. v., pp. 253-383.) "But I have and always shall have a
religious scruple in interpreting the Holy Scriptures against the stream of
all the fathers and ancient doctors" (Bull, Defensio fidei Niccence, I. 1, 9-
Oxford Translation).
2 Concilium Tridentinum, sessio quarta.

XVI PREFACE.
sparing of detail ; written for readers of their own era who had
under their very eyes the life of the Orient, they are constantly
making allusions to customs differing widely from ours, and sup
pose that their readers are familiar with manners to which we
indeed are more or less strangers. This is the vanished world
it behoves us to re-habilitate here, in order that the Gospel may
be understood as it was in the day of its appearance.
Just now it would seem that everything is ripe for such a res
toration of the past. Never has the East been better known ; the
Aramaic Paraphrases, the traditions contained in the Talmud and
the Jewish writers have been tediously conned over ; Egypt and
Assyria, which traced such deep marks upon the monuments of
Judea, have at last revealed the secrets of their institutions ; in a
word, the knowledge of Hebrew antiquities has become as entire
and intelligible to our generation as the archaeology of Greece and
Rome. At the same time learned achievements in Chronology,
based upon astronomical calculations, have established the dates
for us, even to the month and the day. Who does not see the
advantages offered by such vast stores of knowledge ? We cannot
even set down here the long array of authors whose works we
have examined, and to whom we have been indebted. A list of
those by whose labors we have profited most is placed in the front
of this Volume, and it will show that we have borrowed much
from Germany and England. Nevertheless, however highly we
may have esteemed our predecessors, we have been studious to
refer to original sources and to accept nothing except upon
trustworthy testimony.
An inestimable advantage has been accorded us, above and
beyond all these others, — one which has enabled us to make the
places in which the Saviour lived better known and realized.
Surrounded by friends who lent us a cooperation which was as
intelligent and sympathetic as it was kindly, we traversed the
Holy Land, "from Dan to Beer-Sheba," from Gaza to Libanus,
following the Master step by step, over those hilltops which
were the witnesses of His birth, into the valley of the shadow of
death, wherein He faced temptation ; and along the borders of
the lake which He loved. On every hand we have seen the

PREFACE. xvii
same world which met the eyes of Jesus, — the cities, whose
gates still close so soon as ever the first torchlight flares up in
the deepening twilight to dispel the darkness from their dwell
ings ; the troops of dogs overrunning the deserted streets, still
venturing to lick the beggar's body as he lies yonder by the rich
man's threshold ; the pomp and ceremony of the marriage-feasts,
the banqueting-hall, with the wedding-guests reclining on purple
and fine linen ; the wail of the mourners, the clamor of their
lamentations mingling with the shrill notes of the flutes ; and as
we enter each town we still hear the plaintive monotone of the
blind man's appeal, while the leper still attracts attention to his
malady by piercing moans ; thence to the Desert of Jericho, —
the lonely track winding over wild and gloomy heights, where
the Bedouin, gaunt and hollow-eyed with hunger, now as then
lies in wait for the traveller who may fall within his reach. In
the Gospels all these pictures are indicated in a line, by a single
stroke ; it is only when viewed under the Eastern sky that they
regain their fresh colors, in their clear native atmosphere.
It will be asked what rules we have observed in settling the
relationship of the Narratives. Saint Luke has given us the
order of events connected with the Childhood of Jesus ; Saint
John, those which bear upon the beginnings of His Ministry. In
deed, the latter often goes so far as to mention the day and hour.
Unfortunately, his testimony leaves much untold concerning the
whole public life, or at least he only furnishes us with striking
incidents, evidently selected with the design of setting forth the
Divinity of the Saviour in higher relief. We must recur to the
Synoptical Writers1 to discover the sequence of events. Cer
tainly, no research could require more careful handling ; for the
Evangelists, as their name implies, are bearers of Good News, —
Glad Tidings,2 — and in telling it to the world the Apostles have
endeavored, not so much to give us a complete chronicle, accom
panied with precise dates, as simply to show forth in Jesus the
1 This name has been applied to the first three Evangelists, because
their narratives agree in general arrangement, and may be taken in at a
glance. S. John has adopted an entirely different method.
2 'Eiayyi'Xt.ov, from ev, "well," and ayyiWeiv, "to announce."
vol. I. — b

XVH1 PRE FA CE.
Christ Whom they adored. Saint Matthew thinks of Him only
as the Royal Messiah ; to Saint Mark, He lives, the Son of God;
as Saint Luke sees Him, He is the Saviour of the world. Each,
absorbed in his own one view of the Fact Divine, recounts only
what bears particularly upon his controlling thought.
In fact, Saint Matthew resolutely sacrifices chronology by
attempting to associate marvellous occurrences more effectively,
which actually took place under very different circumstances, and
to this end connects parables which, without doubt, the Christ
did not utter in the same discourse. The object of the Evangelist
in grouping the doctrines, miracles, and parables of the Saviour is
to mass the streaming rays of light in which the Life of Jesus
gleamed upon his sight, and by thus concentrating events render
them of a more radiant glory.
Saint Mark and Saint Luke have not neglected the succession
. of occurrences to such a marked degree. In fact the latter, in
so many words, announces that it is his intention to conform his
Narrative to their order. "Since so' many," he says in his Pro
logue, "have undertaken to compose a narrative of the things
believed among us 1 in the manner in which those transmitted
them to us who from the beginning did themselves witness them,
and have been ministers of the Word, so I likewise, after having
followed the course of all these things from their earliest outset,2
have conceived the plan of recounting these matters to you in
their order,8 most excellent Theophilus,4 that thus you may be
better able to recognize the truth of that which has been taught
1 The Vulgate translates ireir\ripo(j>op-ny.ii'oiv by "qua? in nobis completae
sunt rerum ; " but the Greek text, the Syriac Version, and the intei-preta-
tion of many Fathers, allow us to give this word the more exact sense of,
"matters firmly accepted and believed by us."
2"Av<o6ev ¦ " Alte petito principio." Jansenius Yprentius, Telraleu-
chus. 3 Kaffe^rjs signifies in this passage, as commonly elsewhere in the Greek
language, "observing the order of events" (Thucydides, ii. 1, 5, 26). It
is the sense usually given to the word by S. Luke (vii. 11 ; Acts xxi. 1 ;
xxv. 17 ; xxvii. 18), as well as that demanded by the connection of ideas.
(See Tischendorf, Synopsis Eoangelica, xiv.)
4 The title Kpancrre would indicate that Theophilus was of high rank
(Arts xxiii. 26 ; xxiv. 3 ; xxvi. 2) ; but neither Scripture nor Tradition
makes us any better acquainted with this noble personage.

PREFACE. XIX
you." These words clearly denote Saint Luke's intention to
leave Theophilus, not simply an authentic record of the preach
ing of the Apostles, but furthermore, to construct a work in
accordance with the rules of history. Wherefore, to insure per
fect confidence in his work, he reminds him that he has been a
careful student of the facts, that he has set them forth from their
inception, with great exactness and in the order in which they
took place. Hence he is fittest to be our guide in the dispo
sition of events chronicled by the three synoptical writers, and
we shall follow him with all the more confidence from the fact
that his Narrative is generally in harmony with that of Saint
Mark. We know too well what difficulties this question of chronology
presents to think of insisting on the arrangement which we have
adopted for this Life of the Lord. The main duty was to set
some certain date for the principal events ; for even if it could
be proved that such and such miracles, or certain words of the
Master, occurred a few weeks earlier or later, variances of this
nature would affect the arrangement of His History very little.
As to the minor events, whose order still remains subject to dif
ference of opinion, we have thought it best to adopt what seemed
the most reasonable construction, referring, in the Notes and
Appendices, to the arguments which supported our preference.
In spite of all the care taken by our untiring friends in cor
recting this effort, more than one error has undoubtedly escaped
our notice, and the work must still remain unworthy of its Sub
ject. We have no other ground for hoping well of it beyond the
knowledge of its fidelity to Tradition, whose voice, growing more
eloquent as it comes down the ages, is now without a rival in its
office as Interpreter of the Saviour's words and deeds. God grant
that it may have lost nothing of its force by coming from our
lips. May its mighty truth touch men's hearts and revive therein
their faith in Jesus. More than ever is the aid of that Divine
Master now needed, for the latter years of the century grow daily
more threatening. A secret disquiet alarms the most steadfast
natures; an increasing license is disturbing men's minds, as the
divisions of society become every day more apparent. The Christ

XX PREFACE.
is no longer among them, to console the poor and wretched
ones, who, bent beneath their burdens, still angrily spurn his
loving-kindness, while the rich and powerful call sadly for a
Deliverer. For salvation, for help, they can turn nowhere but
unto Jesus. Upon Him depends all that this world, all that our
country has still to hope for or expect. Shattered and broken,
menaced on every side, she shall surely rise again upon that day,
when, with her children all re-united in the Christ, she shall
have but one heart, one mind, one soul, in the sight of God.
May our humble efforts be not altogether ineffectual in speed
ing that regeneration for which all hearts are longing. It is
the single purpose of this Book, and the sole glory we could
desire for it.
Boisguittaume (Institution Join-Lambert),
25 Decembre, 1879.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST.

Alpord. The Greek Testament, sixth edition. London, 1868.
Ambrose (S.). Patrologie Latine de Migae, t. xv.-xvii.
Andrews. The Life of Our Lord upon the Earth. London, 1863.
Anger. Synopsis Evangeliorum, cum locis qui supersunt parallelia
litterarum et traditionum Irenseo antiquiorum. Lipsiae, 1851.
Augustine (S.). Opera, Edition Gaume, t. iii. v.
Bactjez et Vigouroux. Manuel Biblique. Paris, 1880.
Baronius. Annales Ecclesiastici, t. i. Parisiis.
Bede. Patrologie latine, t. xcii.
Bengel. Gnomon Novi Testamenti. Stuttgartise, 1860.
Bingham. Origines Eeclesiasticae. Halse, 1724.
Bisping. Erkliirung des Evangelmms nach Matthseus. Munster, 1867.
Bonaventure (S.). Meditationes Vitse Christi, editio Lugdun., 1668,
t. vi.
Bossuet. M6ditations sur l'Evangile. — Elevations sur les Mysteres,
edit. Vives, t. vi. et vii.
Bougaud. Le Christianisme et les temps presents. Paris, 1875.
Buxtorp. Synagoga Judaica. Basilese, 1661.
 Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum et Rabbinicum. Basileae, 1639.
Calmet. Dictionnaire de la Bible. Paris, 1730.
 Commentaire litteral sur tous les livres de l'Aneien et du Nou-
veau Testament. Paris, 1714.
Caspari. Chronologische geographische Einleitung in das Leben Jesu
Christi. Hamburg, 1869.
Chrysostom (S. John). Opera, edit. Gaume, t. vi.-viii.
Clement op Alexandria. Patrologie grecque, t. viii., ix.
Coleridge. The Public Life of Our Lord. London, 1874, 1875.
Corluy. Commentarius in Evangelium S. Joannis. Gandavi, 1880.
Cornelius a Lapide. Commentaria, edit. Vives. Paris, 1858.

xxii BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST.
Cyprian (S.). Patrologie latine, t. iv.
Cyril of Alexandria (S.). Patrologie grecque, t. lxxii.-lxxiv.
Cyril or Jerusalem (S.). Patrologie grecque, t. xxxiii.
Danko. Historia Revelationis Divinte Novi Testamenti. Yindoboua;,
1867.
Davidson. Introduction to the New Testament. London, 1868.
Dehaut. L'livangile medite, deTendu et explique\ Paris, 1875.
Delitzsch. Jesus uud Hillel. Erlangen, 1867.
 Ein Tag in Capernaum. Leipzig, 1873.
 Jiidisches Haudwerkerleben zur Zeit Jesu. Erlangen, 1869.
Derenbourg. Essai sur l'histoire et la geographic de la Palestine,
d'apres les Thalmuds. Paris, 18f 7.
Didymus. Patrologie grecque, t. xxxix.
Dillmann. Das Buck Henoch. Leipzig, 1853.
Dollinger. Paganisme et Judaisme. Bruxelles, 1858.
Dupanloup (M^). Histoire de N.-S. Jesus-Christ. Paris, 1872.
Ebrard. The Gospel History. Edinburgh, 1863.
 Ecce Homo. London, 1866.
i_ELLicoTT. Historical Lectures on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
London, 1868.
Epiphanius. Patrologie grecque, t. xli -xliii.
Erasmus. Annotationes in Novum Testamentum. Bale, 1516.
Eusebius. Patrologie grecque, t. xx., xxiv.
Eutiiymius Zigabenus. Patrologie grecque, t. cxxix.
Ewald. Geschichte. Gottingen, 1866.
 Die drei ersten Evangelien. Gottingen, 1870.
Eaber. Bethlehem. London, 1865.
'Parrar. Life of Christ. London, 1874.
Fillion. Evangile selon S. Matthieu et S. Marc, 1878, 1879 ; flans la
Bible de Lethielleux. Paris.
Foisset. Histoire de Jesus-Christ. Paris, 1863.
Eriedlieb. Archaologie der Leidensgesohichte unsers Herrn Jesu
Christi. Bonn, 1543.
Geikte. The Life and Words of Christ. London, 1877.
Gregory the Great (S.). Patrologie latine, t. lxxvi., lxxix.
Greswell. Harmonia Evangelica. Oxford, 1840.
Grinpield. Novum Testamentum Grsecum ; editio Hellemstiea. Lon
don, 1843.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST. xxiii
Grinpield. Scholia Hellenistica in Novum Testamentum. Loudon,
1848.
Grotius. Annotationes in Novum Testamentum. Paris, 1644.
Guerin. Description geograpliique, liistorique et arolieologique de la
Palestine. — Judee. — Samarie. Paris, 1868-1875.
Hase. Das Leben Jesu. Leipzig, 1835
Hengstenberg. Commentary on the Gospel of S. John. Edinburgh,
1871.
 Christology of the Old Testament. Edinburgh, 1871.
 Vorlesungcn iiber die Leidensgesohichte. Leipzig, 1875.
Hervey. On the Genealogies of Our Lord. Cambridge, 1853.
Hilary (S.). Patrologie latine, t. ix.
Hug. Einleitung in die Schriften des Neuen Testaments. Stuttgart,
1847.
Irenjsus (S.). Patrologie grecque, t. vii.
Jahn. Archseologia Biblica. Oxford, 1836.
Jansenius Gandentius. Concordia Evangelica. Lugduni, 1684.
Jansenius Yprentius. Tetrateuchus. Avenione, 1853.
Jerome (S.). Patrologie latine, t. xxvi., xxix., xxx.
Josephus. Opera, edit. Didot. Paris, 1845-1847.
Jost. Gesohichte des Judenthums. Leipzig, 1857.
Justin (S.). Patrologie grecque, t. vi.
Kitto. Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. Edinburgh, 1869.
Lange. Life of Christ. Edinburgh, 1864.
 Commentar iiber Matthaus, Markus, Johannes. Bielefeld, 1860.
Langen. Die letzten Lebenstage Jesu.
Leo (S.). Patrologie latine, t. liv.
Lievin de Ham me. Guide indicateur des sanctuaires et lieux his-
toriques de la terre sainte. Louvain, 1876.
Lightfoot. Horee Hebrai'cee. Oxford, 1859.
Ligny (de). Histoire de la vie de Jesus-Christ. Paris, 1830.
Lucas Brugentius. Commentarius in Evangelia. Anvers, 1606.
Lucke. Commentar iiber das Evangelium des Johannes. Bonn,
1840.
Ludolphe le Chartreux. Vita Christi e sacris Evangeliis saneto-
rumque Patrum fontibus derivata. Strasbourg, 1474.
Lutiiardt. Das Johanneische Evangelium. Niirnberg, 1853.

xxiv BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST.
Maldonatus. Commentarii in iv Evangelistas. Lutetise Parisiorum,
1629.
Mauduit. L'Evangile analyst. Paris, 1843.
Meignan (M^). Les Evangiles. Bar-le-Duc, 1S64.
Memain. Etudes chronologiques pour I'histoire de N.-S J6sus-Christ.
Paris, 1867.
Messmer. Erklarung des Johannes Evangeliums. Innsbruck, 1860.
Meyer. Kritish exegetischer Commentar iiber das Neue Testament.
Gottingen, 1S58.
Mill. Observations on the attempted application of pantheistic prin
ciples to the theory and historic criticism of the Gospel. Cambridge,
1861.
Milman. History of Christianity. London, 1867
 History of the Jews. London, 1866.
Murray. Handbook for Syria and Palestine.
Neander. Das Leben Jesu Christi. Hamburg, 1845.
Olshausen. Biblischer Commentar. Kcenigsberg, 1830.
Oostebzee. Das Evangelium nach Lukas. Bielefeld, 1867.
Origen. Patrologie grecque, t. xiii., xiv.
Patrizi. De Evangeliis libri tres. Priburgi Brisgoviae, 1853.
 In Marcum Commentarium. Romse, 1862.
 In Joannem Commentarium. Romse, 1857.
Philo. Opera omnia. Lipsise, 1828.
Pressense (de). Jesus-Christ, son temps, sa vie, son ceuvre. Paris.
Reithmayr. Introduction aux livres du Nouveau Testament, traduc
tion du P. de Valroger. Paris, 1861.
Reland. Antiquitates Sacra?. Utrecht, 1712.
Renan. Les Origines du ehristianisme. Paris.
Robinson. Biblical Researches in Palestine. London, 1867.
•  Harmony of the Pour Gospels. Boston, 1845.
 Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh, 1876.
Routh. Reliquiae Sacra. Oxford, 1846.
Sacy (de). La sainte Bible en latin et en francais, avec des explica
tions du sens littoral et du sens spirituel. Paris, 1804.
Salmeron. Commentarius in Evangelia et Acta. Colonise, 1602.
Schegg. Sechs Biioher des Lebens Jesu. Freiburg in Breisgau, 1875.
Schoettgen. Horse Hebra'icse et Talmudicae. Dresden und Leipzig,
1733.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST. xxv
Scrivener. Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament.
Cambridge, 1861.
Sepp. Das Leben Jesu. Regensburg, 1865.
Smith. Dictionary of the Bible. Loudon, 1863.
Stanley. Sinai and Palestine. London, 1866.
Stappper. Idees religieuses des Juifs au temps de Notre-Seigneur.
Paris, 1878.
Tertullian. Patrologie latine, t. i., ii.
Thilo. Codex Apooryphus Novi Testamenti. Leipzig, 1832.
Tholuck. Philologisch-tlieologische Auslegung der Bergpredigt.
Hamburg, 1835.
 ¦ Commentar zum Evangelium Joannis. Hamburg, 1844.
Thomas Aquinas (S.). Catena Aurea in iv Evangelia. Paris, 1636.
Thomson. The Land and The Book. London, 1863.
Tillemont. Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire eccl6siastique. Paris,
1693.
Tischendorp. Evangelia Apocrypha. Leipzig, 1876.
 ¦ Synopsis Evangelica. Leipzig, 1871.
Tobler. Topographie von Jerusalem. Berlin, 1854.
Trench. Notes on the Parables. London, 1841.
 Notes on the Miracles. London, 1847.
 Studies on the Gospel. London, 1867.
 Synonyms of the New Testament. London, 1871.
Variot. Les Evangiles Apocryphes. Paris, 1878.
Veuillot (L.). Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ. Paris, 1864.
Wahl. Clavis Novi Testamenti. Lipsise, 1843.
Wallon. De la Croyance due a, 1'Evangile. Paris, 1866.
 ¦ Vie de N.-S. Jesus-Christ. Paris, 1865.
 Les saints Evangiles, traduction tiree de Bossuet. Paris, 1863,
Westcott. Introduction to the Study of the Gospels. London, 1867.
 A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New
Testament. London, 1870.
Wieseler. Chronologische Synopse der Vier Evangelien. Hamburg,
1843,
Winer. Biblisches Realworterbuch. Leipzig, 1847.
 Grammatik der Neutestamentlichen Sprachidioms. Leipzig,
1867.
Wordsworth. The New Testament of Our Lord. London, 1870.

THE TRANSLATOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.

* I ""HE only words contained in Monsieur Fouard's Fifth Edi-
¦*¦ tion which we have omitted here come under the heading,
Avant-Propos de la Seeoude Edition, — a short page and a half
in length, in recognition of the popular and critical welcome the
work had received, and as an acknowledgment of indebtedness
to the prelates and professors whose counsels and corrections had
helped largely toward perfecting later editions, but most of all
for an expression of gratitude to that princely Scholar, Leo XIII.,
whose Brief of April 2, 1881, conferred upon our Author the
Apostolic benediction, with the Theologian's congratulations.
Besides the Holy Father, many Cardinals and ecclesiastics have
testified to their delight at the learning and faith, which indeed
have made their impression upon every reader of this Life, from
the humblest Christian to the great servant of God and God's
people, under whose patronage we are happy in being able to
place this translation.
A word of explanation on some technical points may be of
service to the student. Bossuet's translation of the Gospels was
preferred by the Abbe* Fouard, because, as he says, "though
oftentimes full of archaisms and curious felicities of speech, yet,
since it is always luminous, and the work of a genius, it conveys
the Master's meaning better than any other." Here the method
to be followed by the interpreter was fixed beyond cavil by his
original. The Author is well known on the Continent as a Hel
lenist, and his helpful re-settings of the hallowed sentences are
not the least valuable feature of his periods, which bear their

xxviii THE TRANSLATOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.
burthen of erudition so happily. A cursory comparison will
demonstrate the impossibility of making any received English
Version take the place of our Author's illuminations of ancient
Codices. But Professor Fouard is eminent also as a Hebraist ; hence, in
some instances, he has not hesitated to revise the spelling of
proper names, in consonance with our fuller understanding of their
derivation and significance ; for the more familiar names, how
ever, he retains the usual Vulgate form. Doubtless he lays as
little stress upon such technical divergences as do all who set the
matter higher than the manner. But here, as everywhere else,
needless to say, our sole aim has been to find the fairest equiva
lent of the original form. Perhaps we may be pardoned for
adding that we have been far from desiring to introduce strange
forms into the present orthographical chaos, which to-day offers
us such differences as Nabuchodonosor and Nebuchadnezzar, to
dismay the Catholic or non-Catholic layman.
Finally, it would betoken something like ingratitude to let this
edition go out without a word of recognition for its many well-
wishers : for, after the Abbe* Fouard himself, whose unvarying
courtesy has contributed toward making our toil altogether a pleas
ure, this Book stands to the Very Reverend Thomas S. Campbell,
S. J., and to other dear friends of his Company, in relations much
like that of a son to his home and kinsfolk ; while, continuing
the figure, our translation has the honor of claiming as its God
father and Mentor that ripe scholar and theologian, the Reverend
Professor Fivez, of the New York Provincial Seminary. To his
self-sacrificing interest and generosity we owe it that no greater
blunders have been committed than now, perchance, and despite
all such affectionate pains, must meet the eyes of our indulgent
reader.

G. F. X. G.

Day of St. Anthony of Padua,
St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, N. Y.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VOLUME I.

Page
Introduction by Cardinal Manning  . v
Author's Preface . . . .  ix
Bibliographical List . .  xxi
The Translator's Advertisement  xxvii

HBoofe jFtrsft.
THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
CHAPTER I.
JDDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS.
Decline of the Machabees. — Reign of Herod the Great. — The San-
hedrin : its constitution ; its authority in the time of Herod. —
Jewish sects : Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes. — Erroneous ideas
among the Jews concerning the Messiah. — The true Messiah
foretold in the Scriptures1,  3
CHAPTER II.
THE BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR.
I. The Vision op Zachary.
Youttah, Zachary 's abode. — The Sacrifice of Perfumes. — Appear
ance of the Angel Gabriel. — Elizabeth conceives a son ... 17

XXX TABLE OF CONTENTS.
II. The Circumcision op John the Baptist. paob
Ceremonies of Circumcision. — The name John given him by Zach
ary. — The Renedictus ...  2-i

CHAPTER III.
THE INCARNATION.
I. The Annunciation.
Mary betrothed to Joseph. — Appearance of the Angel Gabriel in the
home at Nazareth. — The Angelical Salutation. — The Word
made flesh  28
II. The Visitation.
Journey from Nazareth to Youttah. — Mary in the dwelling of Eliz
abeth. — The Magnificat .  35
CHAPTER IV.
the nativity.
I. The Appearance of the Angel to Joseph. — The
Census of Quirinius.
Joseph's misgivings. — An Angel of the Lord appears to him. —
Joseph marries Mary. — The numbering of the Roman Empire
ordered by Augustus, completed in Judea by Quirinius. — The
. Genealogical Tables of Bethlehem. — Genealogy of the parents of
Jesus  39
II. The Nativity.
The Inn at Bethlehem. — The Cave. — Birth of Jesus  46
III. The Adoration of the Shepherds.
Appearance of the Angelic hosts. — Gloria in cxcelsis. — The Shep
herds worship Jesus in His crib .  51
IV. The Circumcision and the Presentation in the
Temple.
Jesus circumcised on the eighth day. — The Name of Jesus. — Mary's
Purification. — The old man Simeon. — Nunc Dimittis. — Anna
the Prophetess . . . . . .  54

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxi
CHAPTER V
THE epiphany.
I. The Magi. PAnK
The Magi of Persian origin ; their beliefs. —Appearance of the Star.
— The Magi in Jerusalem ; Herod's perturbation. — The Adora
tion of the Magi  _ gj
II. The Plight into Egypt and the Holy Innocents.
Secret departure of the Magi. — The Holy Family in Egypt. —
Massacre of the Holy Innocents. — Testimony of Macrobius. —
Herod's death. — Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth ... 68

CHAPTER VI.

L--

JESUS AT NAZARETH.
I. The Childhood op Jesus.
Interior development of Jesus. — Jesus in the arms of Mary. — Galilee
of the Gentiles. — Nazareth  77
II. Jesus among the Doctors.
Route from Nazareth to Jerusalem. — The Galileans' caravans  The
Child Jesus among the Doctors  81
III. Hidden Life op Jesus at Nazareth.
Jesus in the Carpenter's shop at Nazareth. — Home life of the Holy
Family. — The Lord's brethren  86

HBooft g>econ&.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
CHAPTER I.
the epoch and the localities in which jes-cs exercised his
ministry.
Period in which John Baptist appeared. — Principal epochs in the
life of Jesus. — The territory wherein Jesns preached. — Govern
ment of Judea in the time of Jesus  ... 93

xxxii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. Pagk
"John's Desert.' — The two Precursors. — John Baptist's preaching.
— Baptism of Jesus  106
CHAPTER III.
THE TEMPTATION.
Jesus impelled into the wilderness by the Holy Ghost. — Mystery
involved in a God's being tempted. — The threefold Temptation . 120
CHAPTER IV.
JOHN BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY, AND THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS.
The Sanhedrin's Embassy. — John's testimony. — The Voice crying
in the wilderness. — The Lamb of God. — Calling of the first
disciples  •  129
CHAPTER V.
THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES AT CANA.
Ceremonies of Jewish weddings. — Mary at the wedding in Cana. —
The water changed into wine. — The first Sign given by Jesus . 140

^ CHAPTER VI.
/ GENESARETH.
The Lake and Plain of Genesarcth. — Cities of the Lake : Tiberias,
Capharnaum, Bethsaida, Chorozain  148

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxiii
Boote £t)ttD.
FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST PASCH IN THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
I. The Hucksters driven from the Temple. Page
Jesus' first sojourn at Capharnaum. — Merchants and money-changers
expelled from the porches. — A Temple destroyed and rebuilt in
three days  163
II. Nicodemus.
The second birth. — The breath of the Spirit. — The things of
Heaven. — The Light and the darkness  169
CHAPTER II.
JOHN BAPTIST'S LAST TESTIMONY.
Ministry of Jesus in Judea. — Baptism performed by the disciples of
Jesus. — Discussion between John's disciples and the Jews con
cerning the purifications. — Renewed testimony from the Fore
runner. — Sinful union of Herod Antipas with Herodias. — John
Baptist imprisoned in the fortress of Maeheronte  175
CHAPTER III.
THE SAMARITAN.
Sichem. — The woman of Samaria. — The Spring of living water. —
The true worshippers. — Jesus and the Samaritans  186
CHAPTER IV.*
JESUS DRIVEN OUT OF NAZARETH.
Jesus in Galilee. — Outward appearance of Jesus. — The Jewish syna
gogues. — Jesus driven from .the synagogue at Nazareth. — The
child of the officer of Capharnaum  197
vol. i. — c

XXXIV TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
THE FIRST ACTS DURING THE MINISTRY OF JESUS IN GALILEE.
I. The Calling of the First Disciples. page
Jesus makes His home at Capharnaum. — Calling of the sons of Jonas
and of Zebedee  208
II. A Sabbath Day at Capharnaum.
A possessed person healed in the synagogue. — Simon's mother-in-
law. — Numberless cures on the Sabbath evening  211
III. The Miraculous Draught of Pishes. — Healing of
a Leper.
Jesus at Bethsaida. — The miraculous draught of fishes, symbol of
the Apostles' ministry. — First mission trip into Galilee. — Heal-
iDgofaleper  217
IV. Healing of a Paralytic
The Sanhedrin's spies. — Paralytic healed by Jesus  222
V. The Calling of Levi.
The publicans. — Their business hateful to the Jews. — Levi joins
the company of Jesus  225

HBoofe iFourtl).
SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
CHAPTER I.
THE SECOND PASCHAL SEASON IN THE MINISTRY OP JESUS.
I. The Pool op Bethesda.
The paralytic at the pool of Bethesda. —Jesus and the Sanhedrin-
Councillors. — Jesus accused of violating the Sabbatic prescriptions 231

TABLE OF CONTENTS. < xxxv
II. A Sabbath Walk through the Fields. page
The disciples pluck ears of corn on the Sabbath. — David and the
Loaves of Proposition. — The Sabbath made for man, not man for
the Sabbath  237
III. The Man with the Withered Hand.
Jesus in the synagogue cures a. man with a withered hand. — The
Sanhedrin's spies make common cause with the Herodiaus. —
Jesus withdraws to escape their attacks  242

CHAPTER II.
THE TWELVE APOSTLES.
Jesus upon the heights of Kourn Hattin . — He chooses the Twelve
Apostles. — Character of each  246
CHAPTER III.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
Scope and character of the Sermon. — The Beatitudes. — The Ancient
Law and the New. — The Lord's Prayer. — Trust in God. — Con
clusion of the Master's discourse  259
CHAPTER IV.
CAPHARNAUM AND NAIM.
I. The Centurion of Capharnaum.
Rare qualities of the Centurion of Capharnaum. — Jesus heals his
servant  2/4
II. The Son of the Widow of Naim.
Nairn. — Funeral rites in Jewry. — Jesus heals the widow's son . . 278
III. The Message sent by John the Baptist.
John's disciples as deputies before Jesus, — The miracles as Signs of
the Christ. — John more than a Prophet. — The least in God's
Kingdom greater than John  280

xxx vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page
IV. The Sinful Woman at the Banquet given by Simon.
Jesus among the Pharisees. — The sinner at the Master's feet. — The
two debtors. — The Magdalene in Jewish and Christian Tradition 285

CHAPTER V.
THE PARABLES.
Second mission into Galilee. — The holy women. — The Mother and
brothers of Jesus. — Beelzebub. — The sin against the Holy Spirit.
— Change in the Master's teaching. — Parables of the Kingdom
of God  293

CHAPTER VI.
MIRACLES DONE IN GERGESA AND CAPHARNAUM.
I. The Possessed Creatures of Gergesa.
The tempest stilled. — The possessed men. — The herd of swine . . 308
II. The Banquet given by Levi — The Woman with the Issue
of Blood. — The Daughter op Ja'irus.
Publicans and sinners. — John's disciples. — Healing of a woman
with an issue of blood. — The daughter of Jairus  313
CHAPTER VII.
THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES.  DEATH OF THE PRECURSOR,
I. The Mission of the Apostles.
Third mission-journey into Galilee. — Jesus at Nazareth. — Duties
of the Apostles. — Their Mission  323
II. Death of John the Baptist.
John in prison at Macheronte. — Celebration of Herod's birthday. 
Herorlias and Salome. — The Baptist put to death. — Herod's
remorseful terrors. — Jesus withdraws to the domain of Philip . 330

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxvii
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BREAD OF LIFE.
I. The Multiplication of the Loaves. page
Bethsaida-Julias. — Multiplication of the five loaves and the two
fishes. — Jesus alone on the mountain-top. — The Apostles over
taken by storm. — Jesus walking on the waves of the Lake. —
Manifold cures iu the laud of Genesareth  336
II. The Promise of the Eucharist.
Jesus in the synagogue at Capharnaum. — Manna and the Bread of
Heaven. — Murmurings among the people of Capharnaum. —
Jesus the Bread of Life. — To eat the Flesh and to drink the
Blood of the Christ. — The disciples scandalized. — Peter's
protestation of the Faith of the Twelve  344

#PJpenDtr.
I. Jerusalem and the Temple ......... 357
II. The "Word" of Saint John  362
III. The Genealogies of the Gospel  373
IV. The Star op the Magi  382
V. The Brethren of the Lord  383
VI. The Samaritans  3SG
VII. The Festival in the Fifth Chapter op Saint John . 389
VIII. The Pool of Bethesda  391

Map of Judea in the Time of our Lord Jesus Christ Frontispiece
Map op the Lake of Genesareth . . 148

BOOK FIKST.

THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.

VOL. I. — 1

RATA AOTKAN.
d. XS , M.
Ei7rcv 8k Mapiaii 7rpos rov dyyeXov • Htos wtoi tovto, tTret
av&pa. 6v ytvuMTKio ;
Kal o/iroKpiOeli 6 ayyeAos eiircv avrfj • Tlvev/ia aytov eire\evo"eTai
iirl ai Kal ovva//.is 'Yij/lo-tov i?ruTKia.(r£i croc • S16 Kal to -yevvui/ievoi'
"Ayiov KA^o-erai YIOS 0EOY.

€f>e 3lnger£ Cegtimonp,

^4nc£ Mary said to the Angel : How shall this be done,
because I know not man ?
Then answering the Angel said : " The Holy Spirit shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall over
shadow thee; and therefore also The Holy which shall be
born of Thee shall be called THE SON OF GOD.

SAINT LUKE.
i. 34, 36.

THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD.

3Soofe JFtrSt.
THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.

CHAPTEE I.
JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS.
Judea in the time of the Christ was despoiled of all her
splendor. The Machabees, pontiffs and kings of Israel
during one century, had in that time seen their glories
vanish, together with their virtues. The power, so nobly
exercised by Judas and his brothers, degenerated into
despotism under their successors ; their religious zeal
became ambition ; and the concord which had existed
among the sons of Mathathias gave place to such pro
found divisions that, sixty-six years before the Christian
era, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, two brothers sprung
from this illustrious stock, were compelled to invoke
the arbitration of Pompey to adjust their feuds and dis
sensions. The Eoman general, already master of Syria,
solemnly adjudged their differences at Damascus, and
pronounced in favor of Hyrcanus. Eesorting to arms,
Aristobulus hazarded a desperate defence from the Moun
tain of the Temple ; but in vain, — defeat was inevitable.
Hyrcanus remained sovereign of Judea, but under the au
thority of the governors of Syria and with the simple title

4 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
of Ethnarch. Jerusalem for the first time saw the eagles
within her walls. Pompey crossed the threshold of the
Holy of Holies, and gazed in astonishment upon that Sanc
tuary, devoid of idol or image. The sovereignty of Juda
had run its course ; the servitude of Israel was begun.
Very soon Hyrcanus lost even the shadow of command
which had been spared him. Caesar, the conqueror of
Pompey, united Palestine to the kingdom of Edom, and
gave the government of these countries to an Idumean
of noble race, Antipater. Phasael and Herod, two sons
of this prince, lent him their aid in the administration of
affairs, — one assuming the government of Galilee, the
other that of Judea ; but their united efforts were ineffec
tual for the maintaining of a peace of any long duration.
A descendant of the Machabees, Aristobulus, the brother of
Hyrcanus, made his escape from Eome, where he was held
as a captive, and essayed to regain the throne of his fathers,
aided by his sons, Alexander and Antigonus. The arms of
the last-named prince alone achieved any success ; he
made Phasael prisoner, and constrained him to take his
own life. Herod, more fortunate than his brother, eluded
their conqueror, hurried to Eome, and was declared by the
senate King of Judea. After three years of conflict, the
victorious Latin legions reestablished his rule in Jeru
salem. This was in the year 37 before Jesus Christ.
The patronage of Eome, which never belied its promises,
Herod's own native genius for ruling, his union with
Mariamne, the daughter of Hyrcanus, their former eth
narch, — all seemed to insure him a tranquil reign. Yet
the Idumean found in his nationality, his unhoped-for suc
cesses, his own restless and suspicious nature, too many
sources of disquiet to permit of any peaceable enjoyment
of his power. He could take no repose while a remnant
of the Machabean line remained alive. Two princes of
that family, as well as his father-in-law, — Hyrcanus him
self, broken down by years and misfortunes, — were the
first victims of Herod's distrust ; then came the turn of
Mariamne, the only one of his wives whom he had really
loved ; and finally, neither the two children he had had by

JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 5
her, nor Antipater (son of Doris, and his first-born) were
spared the penalty of such suspicions. Only the death of
the tyrant could set a limit to these cruelties.
In vain did Herod beautify Judea with splendid monu
ments, in order to divert attention from the bloody trag
edies which encrimsoned his marble palaces. To the Jews,
his vast amphitheatres were the scenes of spectacles as
detestable as they were abhorrent. The Baths and the
Porticos introduced novel customs ; and the Eoman eagle
which spread its wings within the Temple profaned its
sanctity. During thirty-four years the prince wearied
himself in fruitless endeavors to make the people forget his
origin and their servitude. Everything did but remind this
nation, shuddering under his yoke, that the sceptre had
indeed passed from the sons of Jacob to those of Esau.
Amid this universal demolition of Judaic institutions,
one body alone withstood the tempests and retained its
authority ; this was the Sanhedrin, — the National Coun
cil, established by Moses according to some, while accord
ing to others it was first convened after the Captivity.
The ascendency which the prophets and doctors possessed
over the people in those days of exile, the absence of the
priests and of all external surroundings of their worship,
the debasement into which the royal family had fallen
after the return from Babylon, the difficulties surrounding
any political and religious restoration, — all these consider
ations had led the Jews to' regard this sovereign assembly
as a substitute for the Monarchy.
The functions of the Sanhedrin were to interpret the
Law, to adjudge more important cases, and to exercise an
exact surveillance over the administration of affairs. Hence
it became at one and the same time Parliament, High
Court of Justice, and the supreme resort of instruction in
Judea.1 Its seventy-one 2 members represented the three
1 Josephus, Antiquitates, xiv. 9, 3 ; Sanhedrin, 19.
2 Jewish writers do not agree as to the number composing the body of
the Sanhedrin. The majority suppose that there were seventy-one mem
bers for a lasting memorial of that first Council of Israel, in which seventy
elders took part, together with Moses, who presided over their delibera-

6 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
classes of the nation : the Priests (that is to say, the chiefs
of the twenty-four sacerdotal classes), with whom were as
sociated, under Herod and the Eomans, the Pontiffs (who
were in this manner deprived of any temporal authority
by their foreign masters) ; and the Scribes, as doctors and
interpreters of the Law ; together with the Ancients, chosen
from among the elders of each tribe and family.
During four hundred years the authority of this Council
had remained absolute. Herod was the first to sap its
strength ; but shrewd as he showed himself in usurping all
other powers, he could not entirely cripple the Sanhedrin.
That mighty assembly continued its sittings in the very
face of the tyrant, and survived his dynasty ; for we see it,
under the Eomans, asserting its right to settle all questions
of doctrine, to administer justice, and to direct in secret
the movements of the people.
This, then, is the poor ghost of authority to which the
power of Israel was finally reduced ; yet what must be said
of the deterioration of religion and manners ? The last of
the Machabees had allowed the Pontificate to be dishonored
by permitting the Scribes to assume a predominant influence.
Eelinquished to these doctors, so zealous to discuss in their
elaborate commentaries the most trivial minutiae, the laws
became mere matter for futile argument; and the numer
ous Sects, each one arrogating to itself the right of interpret
ing the Law, furnish a most striking proof of the decline
of Israel. The fame of three of these great parties has
lived up to this day, — the Pharisees, Sadducees, and
Essenes , and (according to the testimony of Josephus l)
to be acquainted with this trio is to understand the ethics
and the morals of all their contemporaries.
Whatever uncertainty we may feel as to the origin of
Pharisaism, we believe its sources should be sought in
tions. Others, however, would raise the number to seventy-two ; these do
not include Moses with the seventy Councillors, but hold that the other
two representatives were Eldad and Medad, upon whom the Spirit of the
Lord descended, when in company with the Seventy (Num. xi. 16-30).
Selden, De Synedriis, lib. ii. cap. iv.
1 Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, ii. 8, 2.

JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 7
that isolation which the Law of Jehovah imposed upon
the Jews as a nation. To shun contact with idolatrous
peoples, in order to preserve the worship of God in its
purity, was one of the precepts constantly reiterated by
Moses and the Prophets. On the return from Babylon,
Esdras and Nehemiah insisted upon this point with all the
more earnestness because the defences which they could
erect about the Holy Land were so feeble and so frequently
infringed upon. This exclusiveness became a duty still
more rigorous when the Syrian kings made apostasy
obligatory, and when the High Priests Menelaus and
Alcimus betrayed the faith by becoming the allies of their
persecutors. All the generous hearts that Israel could
count upon henceforth entrenched themselves in their
despair, forming a band of picked souls whose zeal pro
cured them the name of the Pietists, — the Assideans.1
Under the leadership of Mathathias and his sons these
children of Abraham had proved themselves invincible.
Nothing was wanting of all that goes to make true hero
ism, — austere, indomitable courage, a noble scorn of death,
a living faith in the God who was their Protector, and in
the Angels, who were their ministers and His. But peace
once reestablished, this impetuous virtue knew not how
to restrain itself ; zeal developed into fanaticism ; the love
of fatherland gradually narrowed into a hatred of strangers ;
to fly from their impure contact became a law for these
Assideans, — a law which they desired to impose upon all
Israel. From this, in fact, came the Aramaic name of
Parousch,2 Pharisee (that is to say, a Separatist), which was
given them by those Jews who opposed their teachings.
Neither the Machabees nor the priests who surrounded
them folloVed the Pharisees in these views. Obliged to
maintain political relations with other countries, yielding
moreover to the attractions of power and wealth, the new
princes of Judea rejected the maxims prescribed by these
zealots; they confined their observance to the letter of the
i D'TDH, 1 Mach. ii. 42.
2 D'tSfolS, From the root t^S, to separate.

8 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
law, to the sedacha} so highly praised in the holy Books,
and it was from this trait that they got the name of Sad
ducees (or The Just), to whom they were fond of likening
themselves. Such, in the days of the Machabees, were the
diverse tendencies of the Pharisees and Sadducees ; let us
see how far they had developed their theories at the time
of the birth of Jesus.
Each proceeded along the downward path it had marked
out for itself. The Pontiff kings and the chiefs of the
sacerdotal body fortified themselves in their holdings, en
deavoring, in the administration of public business, to
conserve their tottering forces by intrigue and shrewdly-
planned alliances ; while, with the neighboring nations, they
maintained their reciprocal relations with more rigor in
proportion as the independence of Judea began to be more
generally menaced. From this habitual intercourse with
the Pagan world the faith of the Sadducees grew weaker,
and the Epicurean doctrines, which so largely obtained at
Eome, attained an influence over them also. If they really
retained their belief in the Creator, God, they did not con
cede to Him any active participation in the government of
the world. " The Law once given to the people," they
said, " Jehovah withdrew into the repose of Eternity, and
abandoned man to his own free-will, unchecked and un
heeded." 2 Very soon they came to deny the Immortality
of the Soul, the Resurrection of the body, and the exist
ence of the Angels.3 Priests of Jehovah, for the most part,
they still continued to observe the laws, and acquitted
themselves of their sacred functions ; but, even so, they
railed against the scrupulosity of the zealots.
" The Pharisees," they would say ironically, " torment
themselves to no purpose in this life of ours, since they will
gain nothing for their pains in this world or any other." *
The laxity of this aristocracy, full of disdain for the
people and of friendly toleration for the Gentiles, had
1 nplX, righteousness.
2 Josephus, Bellum Judalcum, ii. 8, 14 ; Antiquitates, xiii. 5, 9.
8 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 1, 4.
i Aboth of Rabbi Nathan, v.

JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 9
been at all times a scandal to the Pharisees, who there
fore showed themselves the more ardent to protect the
orthodoxy which was thus threatened. According to the
Eabbinical expression, they multiplied "hedge after hedge"
about the Law, and would have had their prescriptions as
strictly obligatory upon all as were the Precepts of the
Lord. To lend some show of reason to their pretensions,
they asserted that there was no Commandment of which
Moses had not given an oral interpretation. To collect
these traditions and from them to construct a complement
to the entire Mosaical ordinance, became their aim. Col
leges of learned doctors were formed to enter into the
minutiae of these Eules, and the people who, since the
Captivity, had ceased to understand the original Hebrew x
of the holy Books, received these decisions as the words
of God himself. The instruction which they received from
the Pharisee-Scribes is, therefore, at this epoch, all the
religion that Israel retained; to discover what that Doc
trine was, it suffices simply to open the Talmud.2
No speculative theology, no considerations concerning
the Divine Being, or the Soul, or the end of man, or the
things of Eternity ; only ardent discussions as to puerile
observances ; scrupulosity as to what was lawful pushed
to the last extreme of absurdity, while but faintly and
infrequently does some inspired sentence recall the God
of Horeb and Sinai. Past all doubt the Pharisees guarded
the Law of their God most faithfully; yet, in that Law,
the exact payment of Tithes, interminable Ablutions, and
especially the observance of the Sabbath, absorbed all their
attention. It would be useless to enumerate the one thou
sand two hundred and seventy-nine Rules which a Jew
must have always before his eyes, if he would not violate
1 2 Esdras, viii.
2 It was not until the sixth century that, through the efforts of Rabbi
Kabina and Rabbi Jose, who were at the head of the Schools of Sora and
Pumpadita, the Talmud was given to the world "in an available form ; but
in the year 166 we find Rabbi Simon, the son of Gamaliel, already begin
ning to collect the materials for that vast compilation. The traditions
and the precepts then put in writing, had up to that time been transmitted
by word of mouth in the Jewish schools.

10 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
the " Quiescence of Sanctity," — the Precepts ordained for
the conduct of guests at public banquets, the innumerable
Contaminations to which all were declared to be exposed.
Such a yoke as this was intolerable ; the Sadducees
threw it off openly, the Scribes resigned themselves to en
during it, merely for the sake of appearances ; but, for the
most part, under their religious exterior, they concealed
nothing but bigotry and hypocrisy. The Talmudic writers
have torn the mask from the true features of the Pharisa
ism of their times ; nothing could be imagined more mind-
deadening and wretched in its effects than the Eules
observed by these zealots, in order to regulate their com
portment and to overawe the masses. And so we see them,
presently, in order to give an added gravity to their car
riage, shortening their steps so that their feet might always
meet in their mincing gait. Again, that they might never
look upon a woman, some kept their eyes so obstinately
fixed upon the ground as often to result in sudden col
lisions with the walls, while others, preserving a still more
exact modesty, enveloped their heads in sacks and walked
the streets like blind men.1
If disposed to believe that these are but satirical ex
aggerations, that this picture overdoes the reality, you
need only turn over a few pages of the Talmud to discover
how far hypocrisy was elaborated into a practical science.
Eead the ten chapters devoted to the " Eroubin," that is,
the expedients to which it was permissible to resort in
evading the Law, in the event of its becoming too incon
venient. For example, the " Sabbatic Eest " forbade the
transporting of any load or burden further than two thou
sand cubits. In order to double this measure, it was enough
to have deposited some food, the night before, at the fur
thest point in the legal distance. By this act a presumptive
domicile was conferred, from which it was allowed to pro
ceed again for another two thousand cubits in any direc
tion.2 Should the Pharisee perceive that one of his animals
1 Tab rad of Babylon, Sotah, 22 b ; Talmud of Jerusalem, Berachot, ix.
2 Es A sur I'hiitoire et la giographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Thai-
muds, tar J. Derenbourg, p. 143.

JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 11
was about to die, he was permitted to kill the creature,
without violating the holy Sabbath Eest, provided he swal
lowed a morsel, of the size of an olive, taken from the
beast's carcass, thus indicating that he had been obliged to
butcher it for nourishment. It was allowable for him to
buy and sell also; the only precaution he must observe
was not to pay until the morrow.1 We would not venture
to add to this list the licentious excesses tolerated by the
Eabbis, merely on condition that they were concealed
under an impenetrable mask of secrecy.2
Is it necessary to mention the fact that, however wide
spread among the masses was this decadence, there were
many noble exceptions still to be found in Israel, many
Scribes who were worthy descendants of the Assideans, true
heirs of their faith and virtues. The Gospels speak the
praises of more than one,3 the Talmud names still others, and,
among the first of .all, stands Hillel. His poverty, borne
with such dignified serenity, his steadfast, unswerving
constancy, his zeal, his charity have rendered him justly
celebrated. It was he, indeed, who instructed the contem
poraries of Jesus in maxims almost Christian in spirit: —
" Love and strive after peace."
" Love mankind and reconcile it to the Law."
" He who magnifies his own worth debases it."
" What am I, if I neglect my soul ? If I have no care
for it, who will take care of it for me ? If I do not think
of these things now, when shall I do so ?"4
Dazzled by his epigram matical brilliancy, many have
unreasonably exalted this Rabbi by attempting to make
him an historical peer of the Christ. They forget that
Hillel never accomplished anything which can be com
pared to the works of the Saviour.5 Like the other Doc-
1 Essai sur I'histoire et la giographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Thai-
muds, par J. Derenbourg, p. 144.
2 Talmud of Babylon, Kiddouschin, 40 a ; Chagigah, 16 a.
8 John iii. 1 ; xiii. 42 ; xix. 38 ; Mark xv. 43 ; Luke xxiii. 51.
iAboth, i. 11,14.
6 "Hillel will never pass for the true founder of Christianity. In
Ethics, as in Art, words count for nothing, deeds are everything." (Renan,
Vie de Jtsus, v. )

12 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
tors of his day, while commentating upon the Pharisaic
laws, he confined his efforts to making that yoke bearable,
and spoke only in the schools of Jerusalem to a small
group of chosen disciples. Indeed he even shared in the
disdain of the Scribes for the poor and humble; this
haughty saying comes from him : " No man without edu
cation can escape evil-doing; no man of the common
people has ever attained unto piety." 1 In a word, Hillel
was an illustrious Scribe, Jesus is God. Between such
there is no comparison possible.
And finally, we have still to speak of the strangest of
all the Jewish sects, — the Essenes. On the western
borders of the Dead Sea, where the streams of Engedi
empty into the lake, a verdant oasis gladdens the eye,
wearied with those desert stretches of land, devastated by
the fire of divine retribution. In its green recesses there
lived (quoting the words of Pliny) " an eternal people,
where there was never any one born." 2 No woman, no
child, was ever found among them ; youths only were ad
mitted, and only after long probation. The Essene, on
the day of his reception, received the white garment in
which he was robed at all the repasts of the community,
the towel-cloth needed for his numerous ablutions, and an
instrument which served as axe or spade, and designed for
cutting and digging trenches and sewers, in which all ref-
1 McCaul, Old Paths, p. 6, 158, etc. What a difference between the
Saviour's teaching and the puerile trifles which Hillel discusses ! One of
his celebrated discourses deals with this weighty question : " Is it lawful
to eat an egg which a hen has laid during a feast day, when this feast falls
upon a Sabbath ? " Actually this inquiry seemed so serious to the Rabbis
of the period that a whole Treatise in the Talmud has taken its name from
it (The Egg Book, Betsa). Even when Hillel's teaching is most admi
rable, it is too often incomplete and unsatisfactory. The most gracious of
all his maxims (borrowed from Leviticus xix. 18), "Whatsoever thou
wouldst not desire for thyself, do it not unto thy neighbor," omits all duties
which man owes to his God, for the great Rabbi immediately adds : " In
this lieth all the Law, the rest is naught but a commentary upon it."
(Sabbath, 31 a). We have purposely kept the Rabbi's weak points in the
background, — such strange decisions, for instance, as the one in which he
declares that a husband may disown his wife on the most, frivolous pretexts,
as that of serving him with a badly cooked meal. (Oittin, 90.)
2 Pliny, Historia Naturalis, v. 15.

JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 13
use was buried with the greatest care, lest by any unclean-
ness they should sully the purity of the sun's rays. A
rigorous discipline was imposed upon all ; absolute obedi
ence, perpetual abstinence and mortification were obliga
tory ; their only punishment was excommunication, by
which the condemned man was constrained to live upon
herbs, and thus die slowly of hunger.
What were the hopes, what were the fanatic dreams
which could sustain the Essene in his rude life"! It is
hard indeed to tell, for a terrible law sealed their lips and
on the rack of torture they refused to expose their mys
teries. All that any one knows to-day is that they wor
shipped the Sun ; that they believed, like the Pythagoreans,
in an ethereal soul, which is, for a time, confined within
the body. Their aversion to the sacrifices of the Temple,
and for the flesh of animals, their linen vestments, their
prohibition of speech, all remind one of the Orphics J
whom Plato knew. Yet what was, in reality, the teaching
of this Sect ? No one can say with any certainty, for it
was not long-lived, and it kept its secret to the end invi
olate. However, it matters little or nothing so far as it
affects the history of Jewish religions, since the doctrine
of these ascetics was never popular ; being confined to the
initiated, it had but a feeble influence upon the general
populace of Israel.
If we wish to understand the feelings and thoughts of
these average Jews, we must look to the writings of that
period. So, listen to this paragraph, found in the Book of
Enoch : " In those days there shall be a wondrous change
for the elect. The light of day shall shine for them with
out shadow and without night ; all majesty, all honor shall
attend upon them. In those days the earth shall render
up every treasure which she possesses ; the Kingdom of
Death also, Hell itself, and all that has been intrusted unto
them . . . The elect shall build their dwelling within a
land of delights ; a new Temple shall be erected for the
Great King, more spacious, more resplendent than the
1 Pauly, Real Encyclopcedie : Orpheus.

14 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
first, and all the flocks of the earth shall be led thither
unto sacrifice." " In that place," pursues the author of
these Messianic dreams, " I see a never-failing fountain of
justice, whence flow innumerable streams of wisdom on
every side, and all those who have thirst shall come hither
and drink. . . . From over that new Earth the ancient
heavens shall fade away, to give place unto another heaven,
wherein the stars shall give forth sevenfold more light
than before ; and thenceforth the innumerable days shall
succeed each other in an happiness that shall know
no end." 1
Their Sybilline Oracles have added to this description,
so flattering to the senses, further promises of a felicity
more terrestrial still. "The people of the Mighty God
shall bathe in seas of gold and of silver, their garments
shall be of purple ; all lands and oceans shall pour their
treasures at their feet, and the Saints shall reign amid
unceasing delights. The tiger shall graze side by side
with the kid ; the olive tree shall be crowned with imper
ishable fruits ; milk, whiter than the snow, shall spring
up from the fountains, and the young child shall play
with the asp and the serpent without fear." 2 It would be
easy to multiply quotations. The Fourth Book of Esdras,
the Psalms of Solomon, the Jewish writers of Alexandria,
bear witness everywhere to the same longings; every
where we find these dreams of a people aspiring to a
higher destiny, to a fuller fruition, yet looking for it only
amid the things of earth and from temporal pleasures.
All, indeed, as we have pointed out, did not partake of
these material sentiments. In this degenerate people, in
the midst of this carnal Israel, the spiritual Israel was still
alive, a chosen band, predestined to be of the Kingdom of
the Christ, holy souls who, by piously pondering the in
spired truths, had therein discovered the proper lineaments
1 Das Buck Henoch, iibersetzt von Dillmann, xc, xci.
2 These quotations are taken from the Third Book of the Oracles, which,
with the exception of a few fragments (v. 1-96, 818-828, etc.), go as far
back as the times of the Machabees (Oracula Sibyllina, edition of Alex
andria, ii. p. 318).

JUDEA IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 15
of the picture which Prophecy had painted ol the true
Messiah. In the very hour of man's fall God had declared to
Adam that One should be born of the seed of the woman ;
and thereafter He set apart, from the race of Sem, one
people, of the stock of Abraham, and from that people one
tribe, — the tribe of Juda,1 — from which was to be born
the Messiah.
That mysterious Figure stands forth still more clearly,
more perspicuously, as the years hasten on toward the
realizing of all expectation of Him. As Moses sees Him,
He is a Prophet, his equal in power ; in David's eyes He
is a King, His Son, heir to his glories, as well as his mis
fortunes.2 His very Name is discovered to the Psalmist ;
this King of all times to come and of the timeless Eter
nity is to be called the Anointed of God, the Christ, the
Messiah.3 One after another the Prophets added each a
line to the limning of this portraiture which foreshadowed
the advent of Divinity. Bethlehem is to be His birth
place, Galilee His native land, a Virgin His Mother.4 He
will preach the Good News to the pure and humble of
heart. He will enter Sion mounted upon the foal of an
ass.5 He shall be despised and rejected, led to the slaugh
ter as a Lamb ; His vestments shall be parted, lots shall
be cast for His tunic, His hands and His feet pierced ;
vinegar shall moisten His lips.6 Yet shall He become
subject to the malefactor's death only that He may show
forth the glory of His Resurrection ; His soul snatched
from the deep pit, and His body from corruption, that
He may seat Himself upon the right hand of Jehovah,
henceforth to reign forever in the world of human hearts.7
Prophecy had been advanced to this point of certainty
when Malachy appeared, the last of the Seers. It was he
i Gen. iii. 15 ; ix. 26 ; xii. 3 ; xlix. 8.
9 Deut. xviii. 18 ; 2 Kings vii. 13 ; 3 Kings xi. 34 ; Psal., passim.
* Ps. xliv. 8.
4 Mich. v. 2 ; Is. ix. 1-7 ; vii. 14 j lxi. 1.
6 Zach. ix. 9 ; Is. liii. 3, 7.
6 Ps. xxi. 19 ; xxi. 17 ; lxviii. 22.
? Is. xi. 10 ; Ps. xv. 10 ; cix. 1.

16 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
who finished the painting, by his foretelling of the pre
cursor of Jesus. This Herald of the Messiah would arise
from among the children of Levi; so then the Prophet
fixes his gaze upon that tribe. If he scourges the vices of
the priesthood, their scandalous alliances with the daugh
ters of Gentiles ; if he proclaims a New Sacrifice, offered
from the rising unto the setting of the sun,1 and casts aside
as worthless the defiled oblations of Israel, it is to prefigure
the Forerunner, as he was to separate himself from the
Levites, going forth before the face of the Messiah, pre
paring the way for Him : '' Presently shall He come to
His Temple, the Saviour whom you seek, and the Angel
of the Testament whom you desire. Behold, He coineth,
sayeth the Lord of Hosts." 2
Such was the Messiah for Whom all true Israelites
waited in expectation ; such the Precursor, . to be sent
before Him, and of whose birth Saint Luke will give us
the account. » Mai. ii. 1-11 ; i. 10-12. 2 Id. iii. 1.

CHAPTEE II.
THE BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR.
I. The Vision of Zachary.
Luke i. 5-25.
For four centuries the world had waited for the fulfil
ment of these Prophecies. The reign of Herod had almost
reached its end; and the old king, beginning at last to
realize that he was descending slowly, surely to the tomb,
stands out a lonely figure in the palace which his blood
stained hands had made so bare and empty. Uneasy
forebodings disturbed the souls of men. Suddenly from
Jerusalem, and from the Temple,1 a voice broke the silence
of suspense in words that spoke deliverance and salvation.
Among the many Levites of that time, there was a
priest named Zachary, of the family of Abia, the eighth of
the divisions2 which, by turns, took part in the divine
1 We speak of the holy City and the Temple in this Life of Jesus so
very often, that some description of them seems necessary. It will be
found in Appendix I.
2 'Ef tyryiepias : Luke xv. "Eicpiyiepla (properly, the ministry of each
day) in this connection refers to the religious services performed during
the week by the priesthood, divided into twenty-four classes, together with
the company of Levites who were employed in their allotted functions.
This arrangement was instituted by David, who left the rank of each class
to be decided by lot (1 Par. xxiv. 5; 2 Par. xxiii. 5 ; Josephus, Antiqui
tates, vii. 11). The Captivity had, it is true, disturbed this order, since
only four of the sacerdotal Families returned from Babylon ; but their
members were distributed once more into twenty-four classes, and each
group kept its primitive title as if it were composed of the actual descend
ants of that Levite whose name it bore. Thus the sacred ministry was
restored in the same form which it had at the foundation of the Temple
(1 Esdras, ii. 36-62 ; Lightfoot, Horoe Hebraicce, in Luc. 1, 5).
vol. I. — 2

18 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
service. Eeduced as they were upon the return from
captivity, the sons of Levi were not slow to increase in
number; and thus they were soon forced to seek resi
dences outside of Jerusalem, in the ancient sacerdotal
cities.1 Hebron and Youttah2 had seen their levitical pop
ulation returning to the old homes, and it was probably
the latter of these towns s which was the dwelling-place of
Zachary. Situated to the south of Hebron, and at some
considerable distance from it, Youttah stretches along the
slope of a hill, in the heart of the mountains of Juda. In
this retreat Zachary lived with his wife Elizabeth, who was
also of the sacerdotal tribe. The sequestered pair "were
just in the sight of God, and walked without reproach in
the commandments and laws of the Lord." i Yet they found
1 Following their ancient customs, the Levites intrusted with the per
formance of the sacred music resided in villages near the city (2 Esdr. xii.
28 ; 1 Paral. ix. 16) ; but the priests, whose ministry only called them
to the Temple twice a year, lived at a distance, in the sacerdotal cities
of Juda.
2 Josue, xv. 55 ; xxi. 16.
8 Luke i. 39. The tradition which gives Hebron as the home of Zachary
only goes back to the ninth century (Ada Sanctorum, xxiv. junii) ; and,
further, there is little likelihood that S. Luke, if he were speaking of
such a well-known town, would have employed so vague a term as "the
city of Juda." Whenever he uses this expression he adds the name of
the place as well : 7r6Xis Nafap^r (Luke ii. 4) ; iroXts 'loirwn (Acts xi. 5,
etc.). 'IoiiSa is in all probability only a softened pronunciation of the
Hebrew 'Ioiira Youttah (iipV), for the Greek 8 is frequently used where
the Hebrew has 0. This hypothesis, first proposed by Reland, has been
adopted by the majority of modern critics, among others by P. Patrizi (De
Evangeliis, lib. iii. diss. x. cap. i. ), and Robinson (Biblical Researches, i. 494,
note ; 206, note). On the other hand, M. Gue'rin (Judee, tome i. chap. 5)
and Frere Lievin (Guide Indicateur), following certain local traditions,
have preferred to locate the birthplace of the Baptist near to Jerusalem,
and so have fixed upon Ain Karim, which has the Desert of John and the
Monastery of Mar Zacharia in the vicinity. But to our mind these vague
indications are not enough to outweigh the authority of the ancient tra
ditions, which give the region about Hebron as his native country.
* Luke i. 6. 'EiroXal, the precepts of the natural law, confirmed by the
decalogue (Rom. vii. 8, 13) ; SiKaiibimra, the positive precepts added to
the law of nature (Rom. ii. 26 ; viii. 4). 'Afipadp. e(f>6\a£e ras ivroXds pov
xal tol SiKaidipara p.ov (Gen. xxvi. 5). This distinction, though it is the
only one which can be drawn between these two terms, is nevertheless
neither very certain nor always reliable ; it is enough to read over Psalm
cxviii. in order to be convinced that they were often to be regarded as
synonymous expressions.

BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR. 19
their piety put to a severe test ; for, childless while they
were both far advanced in age, they had finally lost all
hope of God's ever blessing them by raising up offspring
to the barren daughter of Levi.
The time drew round for Zachary to join his associates of
the Class of Abia, and to fulfil his functions in the Temple ;
he therefore took his way to Jerusalem. Each Class was
accustomed to decide the division of the various offices by
lot ; that of Incense- Burner fell to the husband of Eliza
beth.1 It was the highest of all the sacerdotal duties, and
was performed with a solemnity of ritual which it behoves
us to describe more in detail.
The altar of gold, whereon was offered the sacrifice of
perfumes, stood in the midst of the Holy Place, between
the Seven-branched Candlestick and the Table of the Bread
of Proposition; only a single veil separated it from the
Holy of Holies, despoiled in Zachary's time of its Ark of
the Covenant. Everything about the Sanctuary must be
made ready beforehand, — -the flames of the lamps trimmed
and brightened, the ashes removed from the altar, and a
fresh fire enkindled upon it before the entrance of the priest.
Upon his appearance all stood aside, and the people, crowd
ing back beneath the porches, prayed there in silence.2
The officiating Minister alone advanced within the Holy
Place, and, at a signal given by a prince of the priesthood,
must cast the precious perfumes upon the flame ; then,
having bowed down before the Holy of Holies, he receded
slowly, stepping backwards, that he might not turn his
face away from the altar. A bell gave warning of his
withdrawal and the Benediction which he bestowed upon
the people.3 Immediately Levites intoned the sacred
hymns, and the music of the Temple, combining with their
voices, formed a symphony so powerful (the Eabbinical
writers say) that it could be heard in Jericho.4
Although this ceremonial was observed twice every day,
i Luke i. 9.
2 Luke i. 10. Tamid, 3, 6, 9 ; 6, 1 ; loma, 5, 1, etc.
8 Num. vi. 24-26.
4 Lightfoot, fforce Hebra'icm, in Luc. i.

20 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
— in the morning and at evening, — the Jews never assisted
thereat without a secret tremor of anxiety ; for the priest,
who entered within the Sanctuary, was their Eepresenta-
tive, and the incense burned beneath his hands was for
a figure of the prayers of all. Should Jehovah reject his
offering, if He should strike him to the earth for some legal
impurity, then indeed would Israel be overwhelmed by the
same blow. It was from this cause the impatience of the
crowd arose, and the promptitude with which the Minister
acquitted himself of his functions, that he might not pro
long the general emotion.
But on this day these fears were quickened to terror ; for
Zachary tarried much longer than the wonted time in the
Holy Place.1 He appeared at last, trembling, dumb ; his
lips so suddenly sealed, his gesticulations, his agitation, all
declared that some portentous spectacle had burst upon his
sight. Did he write down his marvellous vision at once ?
The sacred text would not seem to imply as much. " He
remained dumb," 2 it says ; as if it would signify that his
heart, as well as his tongue, refused to reveal immediately
the celestial apparition, or that he would await that hour
for disclosing it in which God Himself would open his lips.
This, then, is what Zachary at last made known.
He was about to enter within when, to the right of the
altar from which arose white clouds of incense, of a sudden
an Angel appeared. Seeing this, terror overwhelmed the
priest ; but the Angel spoke to him : 3 —
" Fear not at all, Zachary ! Your prayer is heard ; your
wife Elizabeth shall conceive a son, and you shall give him
the name of John. This child shall be your joy and your
delight, and the multitude shall rejoice at his nativity.
For he shall be great before the Lord ; he shall not drink
of wine nor of aught that doth inebriate, and he shall be
filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.
He shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord
their God ; and he himself shall walk before Him 4 in the
1 Luke i. 21. 2 Luke i. 22. 8 Luke i. 11-17.
^'Eywiruiv airov, that is to say, Kvplou toC 6eo0 airuv: before the Lord
God.

BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR. 21
spirit and might 1 of Elias ; that he may turn the hearts of
the fathers unto the children,2 the unbelieving unto the
wisdom of the righteous,3 and prepare for the Lord a perfect
people." Malachy, whose prediction the Angel here recalls, had
foretold that two Forerunners should herald the Messiah's
appearance : one, John the Baptist, was to announce His
first Advent;4 Elias, the other Envoy of Heaven, in the
latter days of the world, shall descend from his chariot of
fire to prepare men for the return of the Christ.5 Yet in
- spite of the diversity of their missions, John was to be
1 Awd/wi, the power, not of working miracles, for this S. John seems
not to have possessed (John x. 41), but the mighty force of his example
and the commanding efficacy of his speech.
2 Malach. iv. 6. That power of drawing together the hearts of men,
which prophecy reserves to Elias, does not mean merely reconciliation
and peace between families, as Meyer would have it (Handbuch iiber das
Evangelium des LuTcas, in loco) and Alford with him (Greek Testa
ment, in loco) ; it signifies such faith as that of Abraham, and the
mighty power of those first fathers of Israel living again in their chil
dren. By reminding us of the law given upon Horeb, Malachy shows
clearly that he has these holy Patriarchs in mind : more than this, the
Angel, after having quoted the first words of the Prophet, " He shall turn
the hearts of the fathers unto the children," proceeds to explain what was
to be the nature of this reconciliation : "He shall bring back the unbe
lieving to wisdom, and thus he shall prepare for the Lord a people made
ready for His coming." Hence it was to be the duty of Elias, as it was
the Mission of his prototype John, to arouse the fervor of olden days in
the hearts of Israel. "Est sensus, ut etiam filii sic intelligant legem, id
est Judsei, quemadmodum patres earn intellexerunt, id est prophetee, in
quibus erat et ipse Moyses" (S. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, xx. 29).
8 $p6ini<ns, the practical innate sense of justice, which makes us do what
seems right and good to us.
4 " Behold I send My Angel before Me, and he shall prepare the way.
Presently shall He come unto His Temple, the Saviour whom you seek,
and the Angel of the Testament whom you desire. Behold He cometh,
saith the Lord of Hosts" (Malach. iii. 1).
6 " Remember the law of Moses, My servant, which I have given you
upon Horeb. Behold, I send you Elias the Prophet, before the day of the
Lord, the great and dreadful Day; and he shall turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children, and the heart of the children to their parents,
lest I eome and strike the earth with anathema" (Malach. iv. 4, 6). Evi
dently the Prophet is speaking here of the last days of the world and the
coming of Elias, and by using the words of this second prophecy in speak
ing of John Baptist the Angel Gabriel would foretell how closely the lat
ter, by the holiness of his life, was to bear before the eyes of the world
the perfect likeness of the Thesbite.

22 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
another Elias, because in him would be enkindled the very
soul of the Thesbite,- — the same strong spirit, the same
glowing genius,- — a fiery nature which should lead captive
the sons of Israel by word and example, and bring them
back to the virtues of their fathers. Engrossed in the con
templation of so perfect a resemblance, the Jews had never,
in their thoughts of them, separated these two forerunners
of the Messiah.
God did not demand of Zachary a more illuminated in
tuition, nor that he should foresee clearly everything that
the Angel's announcement implied ; all that was required
of him was that he should believe implicitly in the Mes
sage, however mysterious it might seem. Too haughty for
such simple faith, the Levite still demurred ; he dared to
demand a sign before he would yield any credence to the
divine communication.
" How shall I know the truth of these words ? " he
answered. " I am old, and my wife is advanced in
age." To overcome and dissipate this incredulity, the Angel
deigned to disclose his own dignity.
" I am Gabriel," 1 he said, " one of the ministering Spirits,
standing ever in the presence of God, whom the Lord has
sent to speak to you and to announce to you these good
tidings. Look you, therefore, you shall be dumb and shall
not be able to speak until the day wherein these things
shall take place, because you have not believed my words,
which shall be accomplished in their time."
Zachary must needs have humbled himself under the
hand which chastised him. He retreated from the sanc
tuary dumb ; only by his signs of awe and terror could he
respond to the breathless throng, now quite disquieted by
his long delay, and at once all the people knew that he
had seen a vision in the Temple.
1 Gabriel, *7N "13J, the man of God. It would seem as if the Almighty
had made this Prince of the Angels the special Minister of that which we call
the greatest work of the Godhead, — the Incarnation. It was he who
was sent to Daniel to announce the near Advent of the Saint of saints (Dan.
ix. 21-24) ; and it was he who was soon to be sent to Mary.

BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR. 23
The days of his ministry being fulfilled,1 he betook him
self to his home. A little later Elizabeth, his wife, con
ceived, and for five months secluded herself, " because," as
she said, " the Lord hath dealt thus with me, since he has
willed to take away my reproach among men." Nothing
could be more natural than this desire to retreat from the
world. It was but seemly, indeed, to prevent the curi
osity and malice of rumor from busying itself with such a
marvel as was this unhoped-for conception.

II. The Circumcision of John the Baptist.
Luke i. 57-80.
" The time being come for Elizabeth to be delivered,2 she
brought forth a son ; and her neighbors and kinsfolk being
made aware that God had manifested His mercy towards
her, shared in her joy, and on the eighth day they all
gathered unto the circumcision of the infant."
This consecration to the God of Abraham was celebrated
in every family with solemn festivity. Ten witnesses sur
rounded the child ; while the father, or some other of the
relatives present, made with an instrument of stone the
bloody incision.3 Zachary did not perform the sacred rite
in person, for his moveless lips could not pronounce the
benedictions incidental to it. So also, when at the close of
the ceremony they desired, according to ancient custom, to
confer a name upon the child,4 and would have called him
Zachary after the father, the latter neither heard nor
comprehended.5 1 Luke i. 23-25. 2 Luke i. 57-59.
3 Buxtorf, Synagoga Jiidaica, cap. iii. ; Otho, Lexicon Rabbinicum,
p. 133.
4 Luke i. 59-63. Children receive their names after circumcision, in
memory of the events which took place at the institution of this rite. At
that time Abram and Sarai changed their names to Abraham and Sara
(Gen. xvii. ).
5 Zachary was deaf as well as dumb ; Ai^uei/ee nu><p6s (Luke i. 22).
Ka<pos means a deaf-mute.

24 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
Elizabeth, however, withstood them. " No," she said ;
" he shall be called John."
" But," it was objected, " none of your kindred bear that
name." She persisted none the less in her design. Turning to
ward the father, who stood before them a mute and wist
ful spectator of this scene, she asked him by signs what
name he wished to give the child.
Zachary, taking up his tablets, wrote thereon, " John is
his name." l
Then, while they were still filled with astonishment,
suddenly the lips of the old man were opened, his tongue
was loosed, and he spoke aloud in thanksgiving to the
Lord.2 At this prodigy their wondering delight gave place
to fear and awe. From that dwelling, endeared to God,
the thrill of emotion spread swiftly throughout the sur
rounding country ; so that shortly, among the mountains
of Juda, nothing else was spoken of beside these marvels ;
'and those who heard the tale treasured it up in thoughtful
silence, musing in their breasts, " What an one, think ye,
shall this child be ? " For the hand of God was upon
him. With his hearing and speech Zachary recovered the
divine favor, and, filled with the Spirit, he prophesied.
As sung every night in our churches, the Hymn of the
holy old man is like an echo of the ancient prophecies of
Israel. Jehovah visits His people to save them from their
enemies, — from the hand of those who hate them ; the
Eedemption is revealed unto the eyes of this Levite, even
as the dying Moses beheld it,3 and as Ezechiel4 and count
less others had represented it, — mighty and resistless as
1 The name John is an expression which signifies Grace, or Mercy of
Jehovah, JJrjiiT ; in the Septuagint 'luavdv (1 Par. vi. 9 ; xii. 4, etc.),
from P', Jah, an abbreviated form of Jehovah, and HJn, grace. The names
of Zachary and Elizabeth have a like mystical meaning. Zachary reminds
us that Jehovah is mindful of His people "OJ, to remember ; !T, Jehovah.
Elizabeth alludes to the covenant of God ; m, God ; and }!2V>, to swear.
2 Luke i. 63-67.
8 Deut. xxxiii. 17.
1 Ezech. xxix. 21.

BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR. 25
the horned frontal of the savage beast which spreads terror
round about its path. Yet, beneath this rude imagery —
the last vestiges of an almost vanished era — there is a
tenderer tone which predominates withal. The salvation of
Israel is no longer that whicli the carnal-minded Jews had
fancied, — the triumph of their race, the joys and riches of
this world. It is Salvation in righteousness and holiness,
won by penitence and the remission of sins. The God of
Zachary is no longer a Jehovah who, as He moves among
men, sows horror and death about Him, but a God with
bowels of merciful compassion, shining upon the world like
a holy, beneficent Light. It is as if, very different from
the mornings of earth, this marvellous Orient, this great
New Dawn, would be made visible, not on the horizon, but
on high, within the heavens,1 thus to make it manifest to
the world that He came, not to consume it with the scorch
ing heats of noontide, but to spread about His pathway the
pure light of a clear, cloudless daybreak. Hence, though
Jewish in its form, this chant is essentially Christian.
Struck with its beauty in the original Aramean, Saint Luke
sought to reproduce, not only the thoughts, but the figures
as well, foreign as they are to the genius of the Greek
tongue. To this fact is due the obscurity and, at the same
time, the peculiar charm of this Hymn : —
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He hath looked down upon His people,
and hath wrought their Kedemption ; 2
He hath raised up, in the house of David His son,
an invincible power (as it were an Horn8),
to be our Salvation :
1 'AvaroXr) i% iifova (Luke i. 78).
2 Luke i. 68-79. Airptna-iv, a moral deliverance rather than the politi
cal enfranchisement of the new Israel.
8 Ktpas ; it is a metaphor suggested by the nature of certain wild animals,
which are weak and defenceless if robbed of their horns and antlers, but,
armed with those weapons, are so terrible when they stand at bay. "This
majestic and awe-inspiring phrase, as it is used in Scripture, expresses a
splendor, and at the same time an incomparable strength, whereby the
enemy is to be scattered and dismayed" (Bossuet, FHe"vations sur les mys-
teres, xve semaine, iiie eleVation). K4pas (rarriplas, the genitive form,

26 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
(according to that which He hath promised us,
by the mouth of the holy Prophets,
from the beginning of Time ;)
a Salvation 1 whereby He will preserve us
from our enemies,
out of the hands of them that hate us :
for the accomplishment of His Loving-Kindness
unto our fathers ;
and as a remembrance 8 of His holy Covenant,
the Oath 3 which He swore to Abraham our father ;
so that, delivered from the hands of our enemies,
and freed from fear, we may worship Him,
in righteousness and holiness 4 in His sight,
even all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called
the Prophet of the Most High.
Thou shalt walk before the Lord,
to prepare His ways,
to declare 5 unto His people Salvation,
in the pardon of their sins,
pardon through the bowels 6 of mercy
of our God :
which has the force of a word in apposition : a Horn, a Power, which is
to be our Salvation ( Winer, Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Sprachid-
ioms, 1867, par. 59, 8).
1 liur-nplav may be made to depend on iXdXnae • however, it would seem
to be more natural to consider Kadiis kt\ . . as a parenthesis, and
(Twrqpiav as the development of this thought: "A Horn, a Salvation,
. . . whose peculiar property it is to deliver us from our enemies."
2 noi7)(rcu . . . koX p.v7ia$TJvai : these two infinitives depend upon awryplav,
and thus declare the design of God in working out our salvation.
8 "OpKOf, in apposition to Siad^K-qs, is put in the accusative because of
the position of 6V in the sentence : "The Testament of God to our fathers,
that is, the Covenant He once made with them."
4 The entire moral and religious restoration of God's people is em
bodied in those two words ; oaibr-ns bestows a divine consecration upon
5tKato<ro'p'n. ° Tou Sovvai . . . indicates the end to which John was to look while he
was thus preparing the ways of the Lord, — spreading the knowledge of sal
vation, and proclaiming that this salvation was to consist in a washing away
of all sins.
6 Aia. <Tir\dyx"a must not be separated from the preceding phrase, (v d<ptau
apapTiSm, the remission of sins accorded us by His tender mercies, any
more than from the following phrase : iv oU i-n-evKifaro, . . . that is, the
bowels of compassion begotten in the Orient.

BIRTH OF THE PRECURSOR. 27
whereby a Star, rising 1 to the heights of heaven,
hath visited us ;
illumining them that sit in the shadow
and in the darkness of death,
leading our steps within the paths of peace.
The halo which overhung the cradle of John might not
last in all its early splendor ; for the design of God was, in
silence and in solitude, to form of him the greatest of the
children of men. The glorified dwelling-place of Zachary
disappears immediately from our range of vision. All that
we know is that God's Spirit came upon the Baptist even
in his childhood and impelled him to retire to the Desert.
" The child grew," says Saint Luke,2 " and his soul was
strengthened, and he was in the Desert until the day of his
manifestation in Israel."
1 'AkotoXi) is the word by which the Septuagint generally trans
lates riDY, " a branch," "an offshoot," whatever springs up, darts out, or
gushes forth, and hence the streaming rays of light ; here, in all proba
bility, it refers to the Star of Jacob (Num. xxiv. 17), or, better still, to
the Sun of Truth appearing unexpectedly, not upon the horizon, but beam
ing from the summit of the great arch of heaven : ef vtf/ovs. " The true
Daybreak will come upon us from the high celestial places, inasmuch as it
cometh from the Bosom of the Father to enlighten our souls " (Bossuet,
Elevations sur les mysteres, xve semaine, iii« elevation).
2 Luke i. 80.

CHAPTEE III.
THE INCARNATION.
I. The Annunciation.
Luke i. 26-38 ; John i. 1-18.
Six months after the conception of John,1 Gabriel re
ceived of God a new Mission. This time it was neither to
the Temple nor to the holy city that he must needs betake
himself, but to Nazareth, — an obscure village of Galilee.
He was sent thither to a young kinswoman of Elizabeth,
named Mary,2 who was betrothed to a descendant of the
House of David called Joseph. Sprung likewise from the
seed of the Great King,3 she was, according to the testi-
1 Luke i. 26.
2 Mary was of the Tribe of Juda (Luke i. 32), and Elizabeth was a
daughter of Aaron (Luke i. 5). To understand how they could be cousins
(Luke i. 36), although belonging to different tribes, we need only suppose
that their mothers were sisters and of the tribe of Juda ; and hence one
might have married one of the Levites, whereas the other found a husband
in her own Family. There was no law forbidding the Levites to take
wives from other tribes ; the High Priest was the only one who could
wed none but the daughter of a levite (Philo, De Monarchia, ii. 11 ;
Exod. vi. 23).
8 Nowhere in the Gospel is it distinctly asserted that Mary was a
descendant of David ; nevertheless it leaves us to understand as much.
For Jesus, indeed, was bom of her, not by any human commerce, but by
the operation of a Divine Mystery (Matt. i. 18 ; Luke i. 34); therefore
He is, properly speaking, her Son, and hers alone. Now, this her Son is
called by S. Matthew the Son of David (Matt. i. 1 ; compare S. Paul,
Rom. i. 3) ; very evidently this can only be understood to mean that
Mary was likewise a daughter of the Great King. The most ancient
Fathers are unanimous upon this point, and the apocryphal gospels took
the same view (S. Justin, Adversus Tryphonem, 23, 45, 100 ; S. Irenseus,

THE INCARNATION. 29
mony of Tradition, the daughter of Joachim and Anna,1
and had but one sister, named, like herself, Mary. Her
parents, being deprived of male offspring, had been forced,
in order to insure the legal transmission of their property,
to affiance the two sisters to two young men of the same
lineage.2 We do not know what combination of circumstances had
banished these descendants of the kings of Israel from
Bethlehem, the home of their family ; yet we must believe
that, sharing in the destiuies of their race, they had all
fallen into poverty and obscurity ; for neither their ances
try nor the prophecies which promised the throne to a Son
of David awoke the morbid suspicions of Herod. The lives
of the betrothed pair in the retired village of Nazareth
were passed in complete separation from each other, and in
a state bordering upon destitution. Joseph was a car
penter ; Mary worked, as he did, with her hands.3 Thus,
then, it was an humble dwelling-place, this cottage of
Joachim and Anna, which the Angel from Heaven visited ;
for, in accordance with the custom of the daughters of
Juda, Mary was expected to seclude herself in the pri
vacy of her home from the day on which her troth was
plighted. But it was not merely for these few days that Mary had
hoped to shelter her virginity within that lowly retire
ment. A light, which never before shone upon the
mothers of Israel, had discovered to her the value of per-.
Adversus Hcereses, 3, 21, 5 ; Julius Africanus, Epistola ad Aristidem,
etc. ; Protevangelium Jacobi, 10). The Testament of the Twelve Fathers
is the only one which differs from the others ; this last makes the Messiah
born of Juda and Levi. It is hard to understand how Ewald, with only
this solitary and untrustworthy authority, can hold that Jesus belonged
to the Tribe of Levi.
1 See Dom Calmct, Dictionnaire de la Bible : Joachim.
2 This hypothesis, founded upon the well-known law contained in
Numbers (xxxvi. 6), is the only one by which we can explain why Mary,
despite her intention to preserve her Virginity, came to be betrothed to
S. Joseph.
3 Matt. xiii. 55. "An ancient tradition tells us that she too earned
her own daily bread by daily toils ; this is why Jesus is called by the
most ancient of the Fathers 'fabri et qunsstuaria? Filius.' " (Bossuet,
Elevations sur les mysteres, xiie semaine, Ire elevation.)

30 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
petual continence, and she was resolved never to know
man.1 How was she to reconcile this inspiration from
Heaven with the promise made for her by her parents ?
It was a period of perplexity and an agonizing ordeal, this
to which Mary was subjected from the time of her be
trothal, and it was destined to cause her an even more
profound trouble on the day of the Angelical Message.2
A little to the westward of Nazareth there is a fountain
which bears the name of Mary. The Greeks have erected
close at hand their Church of the Annunciation. The)'
hold that the Angel uttered his salutation to the Virgin on
that spot, when at evening she had set out from the vil
lage on her way thither to draw water. This legend, taken
from the Proto-gospel of Saint James, is not based upon
any reliable foundation, and Christian art is more truly
inspired when it represents the Virgin as kneeling in the
privacy of her chamber at the hour in which the Angel
appeared to her.3
Doubtless by those same vows of chastity she had has
tened the day of the coming of the Messiah, when the
celestial messenger appeared before her eyes 4 and said :
1 The question asked by Mary, "How may this happen, since I know
not man ? " has no meaning at all unless we suppose that she had formed
a steadfast resolution to remain a virgin; for certainly she had only In
look forward to the near fulfilment of her plighted troth, and thus her
natural motherhood would be the accomplishment of the Angel's Mes
sage. It was only a reasonable conclusion which the Fathers drew from
Mary's own words, that she had consecrated her Virginity to Heaven.
(S. Augustine, De Virginitatc, 4, etc.)
2 Here we follow the opinion of P. Patrizi (De Evangeliis, lib. i. diss.
xv. cap. ii.), and with him we think that by these words S. Matthew-
means to have us understand that Mary was only affianced at the time of
the Annunciation : M-vnarevSel^-ns . . . irplv ^ avveXdelv avrofc ... (i. 18)
. . . Aieyepdels 5£ d'luxTTjtp . . . 7ra/>^\a/3f ttjv yvvaiKa. airrov . . . (i. 24).
In fact, the reason given by Christian antiquity for the marriage of the
Virgin was the necessity by which she would be bound to preserve her
honor as Mother of the King; but in olden times would it not be
thought enough to know that she was betrothed when Jesus was con
ceived? S. Hilary (in Mutt. i. ), S. Epiphanius (Hcer. lxxviii. par. 8),
S. Jerome (in Matt. i. ), and S. John Chrysostom (Horn. iv. 2, in Matt. )
have all held the latter view, and their opinion seems to be the most
plausible one.
8 M<re\6dv. (Luke i. 28.)
4 Luke i. 28-33.

THE INCARNATION. 31
'' Hail, full of grace,1 the Lord is with you ; you are blessed
among all women." 2
Yet, having heard this, she was troubled at his saying,
and she thought within herself what could be the meaning
of such a salutation. But the Angel resumed : —
" Fear not at all, Mary ; you have found grace in God's
sight. And behold you shall conceive in your womb and
shall bear a Son, and you shall give Him the name of
Jesus. He shall be great, and He shall be called the Son
of the Most-High, and the Lord God shall give to Him the
throne of David His father: He shall reign eternally in
the house of Jacob, and of His Kingdom there shall be no
end." Mary had meditated much upon the Prophecies ; she
could not therefore mistake the purport of the Angel's
announcement. This child, Son of the Most-High, King
and Saviour of men for all eternity, — this could only
be the Messiah; and to her was to accrue the honor of
bringing forth the Desired of Days. But the daughter
of David had resolved to remain a Virgin for God's
sake, and despite this promise that she should be the
Mother of a God she continued steadfast in her inspired
design. Unable to make the Angel's words harmonize with this
1 Exegetical critics of the Protestant persuasion, in their anxiety to pre
vent any cultus of Mary, generally render the word Kexa.pi.Tup.ivri by "thou
who hast found favor with God ;" but the translation in the Vulgate,
"gratia plena," is that given by a majority of the versions and by the
Latin Fathers. The Church has never feared that this interpretation
would give any occasion for superstitious worship ; she has always known
how to mark with perfect clearness the difference between the plenitude of
grace which is in Jesus, and that which the Holy Bible attributes to Mary
and to the Saints (Acts vi. 8). "Very different is the fulness of power
which is in the waters at the fountain-head from the plenitude possessed
by the streams and channels which draw their life from it." (Maldonatus,
in Taic. i. 29.)
2 EdXoyqp.ivri may signify, "blessed beyond all women," or "proclaimed
blessed by all women." The first sense, which is the one adopted by the
Vulgate, seems more natural. Tischendorf suppresses this member of the
sentence, and in fact it is not to be found in his Manuscript of Sinai, nor
in that of the Vatican ; but since it is in the text of the Latin and Syriac
versions, and in the manuscripts of Alexandria, Ephraim, and Beza, we
surely have grave reasons for retaining it.

32 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
vow, " How may this be," she replied,1 " since I know not
man ? "
Gabriel immediately enlightened her. " The Holy Ghost
shall come upon you," he said, "and the Power of the
Most-High shall enfold you within His Shadow ; therefore
it is that the Holy One which shall be born of you shall
be called the Son of God. And behold your cousin Eliza
beth also has conceived a son in her old age ; and it is now
the sixth month for her who is called barren, because
nothing is impossible unto God."
This was sufficient to insure Mary's entire abandonment
to the Will of the Almighty. She bowed down before the
Seraphic Messenger : " I am the handmaid of the Lord,"
she said ; " let it be done unto me according to Thy word."
And forthwith the Angel withdrew from her sight.
What happened then in the little house of Nazareth ?
In one line John has expressed the unspeakable thought :
"The Word was made flesh, and took up its habitation
with us." 2 The Word, — that is to say, the Eternal and
substantial Utterance of God, His own, and only Son : " A
Son who was not born at the commandment of His Father,
but Who, by puissance and by plenitude, flashed forth from
His Bosom, God of God, Light of Light." 3
Of the Word we can learn little enough from the first
three Evangelists ; so intent are they upon tracing the foot
steps upon earth of the God made Man that they speak of
His Divine nature but rarely ; 4 yet this is not at all the case
with John.5 The beloved Disciple of Jesus had drawn from
the heart of His Master a relish and a perception of the
1 Luke i. 34-38.
2 John i. 14.
8 S. Basil, Oralio de Fide, Horn. xxv.
4 "The other three Evangelists, albeit they had walked the earth with
the man-God, have said but little of His Divinity ; but this man [John],
as though it irked him to walk the earth, as if even at this, the very out
set of his speaking, the heavens had thundered, hath raised himself not
only above our world, . . . but above all the hosts of Angels . . .
and, finding his way to Him by Whom all things are made, sayeth: In the
beginning was the Word." (S. Augustine, in Joannem, tract, xxxvi. 1.)
5 The doctrine of the Word of S. John and the origin of this term is
considered in Appendix II.

THE INCARNATION. 33
highest Mysteries. So when, following Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, he took up his pen to write " that which his
eyes had seen, his ears heard, that which his hauds had
touched of the Word of life,"1 stifled in the thick atmos
phere of the lower world of thought, he spurns the air
with strong eagle-pinions, and rising far aloft above the
earth and the heavens, he penetrates to the Throne of Him
Whose life he would recount. From those fearful heights
his first word rang forth like a peal of thunder upon the
ears of the Christians of Ephesus, who knelt in prayer and
fasting round about him.2
" In the beginning was the Word,
" And the Word was with God,
" And the Word was God ;
" He it is Who was with God in the beginning.
" All tilings have been made by Him, and without Him
is nothing made that has been made.
" In Him was the life, and the life was the Light of men.3
" And the Word was made flesh," adds Saint John ; that
is to say, has formed unto Himself a body out of the most
pure blood of Mary, — the Eternal Father has produced,
1 1 Johni. 1.
~ 2 " Ecclesiastica narrat historia, cum a patribus Joannes cogeretur
ut scriberet, ita facturum se respondisse, si, indicto jejunio, in com
mune omnes Deuni deprecarentur ; quo expleto, revelatione saturatus,
in illud procemium ecelo veniens eructavit : ' In principio erat Verbum.' "
(S. Jerome, in Matthazum, Procemium; Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, vi.
14 ; Fragment de Muratori.)
8 John i. 1-4. In the Bosom of God the Light is Life because the
divine Attributes are only the different aspects of one only and infinite
Action of the Godhead. Far away in those unfathomable depths the Life
hath robed Itself in splendor, wherefore it is the Light and the Truth.
Several of the Fathers, among the rest S. Justin (in Joan., Tractatus
i. 16-18), punctuate this passage differently: "All things that have been
made are the Life which is in Him, and that Life is the Light of men ; "
that is to say, all creatures, before they were called into existence, were
contemplated and foreseen by the Word. Therefore, in their conception
(when they were the perfect models of imperfect things) they formed the
subject of His high Counsels, and thus by partaking of His thoughts, they
also had part in Him, even as He is ; they were like Him, the Life Itself.
The masterpiece of the artist only exists in the intelligence which has-
conceived it ; for canvas and marble cannot convey the contemplated ideal.
So it is with created things : they can find their completion only in that
Eternal Thought, wherein everything is Life and the Light of Life.
vol. i. — 3

34 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
in the bosom of the Virgin, that same Son whom He has,
from all eternity, begotten within His own Bosom. In
that all-happy moment, this blood, this virginal body
found itself pervaded and absorbed by God : " The Word
was made flesh, that the flesh might become God."1
And this union was not to be transitory ; for the purpose
of the Word is to consummate His union with man, " to
dwell amongst us," "to pitch His tent2 in our midst,"
which is the force of the words used in the original text.
This last word of the Evangelist carries an allusion to the
luminous cloud which had enveloped the Tabernacle long
ago to show that Jehovah sojourned in the midst of His
people.3 In the time of Jesus, the sanctuary of Herod
was empty of its Ark of the Covenant, nor did its curtain of
glory any more screen the Holy Eeceptacle. John shows
how the Word did take up its abode in the midst of Israel,
of a truth. " He has pitched His Tent in our midst," he
says, " and we have seen His glory," not blazing by brilliant
intervals, as did that of the ancient Cloud, but streaming
upon the world in rays of splendor, which are the efful
gence of grace and truth, — Grace, by which we mean the
Life divine that animates our souls ; Truth, by which we
mean the Light of God that illuminates them.
" We have all received of this fulness," he pursues ; 4 " a
1 John i. 14, " Verbum caro factum est, ut caro fieret Deus.''
(S. Ambrose.)
2 "EaKfywaev. (John i. 14.)
3 The pavilion for the Ark was hardly finished when this Cloud dis
appeared (Exod. xl. 32; Num. ix. 15). On the day when the Temple was
dedicated, we again see the same Cloud streaming with rays of glory, and
awful to behold: " Neither could the priests enter there any longer, nor
acquit themselves of their functions, by reason of the Cloud, because the
Glory of Jehovah had filled the holy House, and Solomon cried out :
Jehovah hath said that He would pitch His tent in a Cloud." (3 Kings
viii. 10-12.) And then, when this ceremony was concluded, the Divine
Vapor was no more visible from without its Tabernacle, and yet all Israel
knew that it still abode within the Holy of Holies, between the Cherubim
which overshadow the propitiatory with their wings, and that so Jehovah
continued to make His habitation in that mysterious Cloud until the day
when Nahuchodonosor destroyed the Temple.
4 John i. 10-18. " Interposito breviter Joannis testimonio, pergit de-
clarare illam quam dixerat plenitudinem gratia? et veritatis." (Jansenius
Yprentius, in Joan. i. 15.)

THE INCARNATION. 35
grace more abounding has succeeded the ancient gifts l of
Jehovah to the Jews." " Moses did but give us the Law,
we have gained grace and truth by Jesus Christ. Moses
had never beheld Jehovah save through the splendrous
mists of Siuai, — for never has any one seen God ; He, the
one and only Son (the only-begotten God,2 according to
another reading), — He who, in the Bosom of God,3 exists
in His very Presence, — He alone can declare to us, of
Himself, what He is."
Such, in the eyes of Saint John, was the Salvation
which the Son of Mary came to accomplish. The Truth
must, then, at Its Incarnation, illumine the eyes long
blinded to the light;4 grace must flow in cleansing streams
there where sin had soiled the very springs of our natural
life ;5 and the Word, embodied in our flesh, must repair the
ruined handiwork of the Creative Word, of the Word
Which was in the beginning.

II. The Visitation.
Luke i. 39-56.
In those days Mary, rising up, went in haste toward
the mountainous country, to the city of Youttah.6 What
1 " Gratiam pro gratia." "The New Covenant in place of the ancient
alliance." This interpretation, which is also that of the Greek Fathers,
seems to us the most natural one. The different meanings given to this
passage may be seen in Father Corluy's work. (Commentarius in Evan
gelium Joannis, p. 36.)
2 The reading p.ovoyevT]s ViSs is to be found in the Latin versions, in the
Syraic of Cureton, and in the majority of manuscripts, as well as in the
Latin Fathers. But the other form, p,ovoyevi)s Qe6s, has also an imposing
array of authorities, — the manuscripts of the Vatican and Sinai, the
Codex Ephrsemi, the Peshito, S. Theodotus, S. Epiphanus, and Didymus.
3 '0 &v eis top koKttov does not mean : " He Who reposes in the Bosom of
the Father," iv t$ k6\ttij1. On the contrary, the preposition els with the
accusative signifies that the Word is living, operating within the Bosom of
the Father, begotten by Him, and ceaselessly turning back upon this Its
Well-spring of Life.
4 'A\i}0eia (John i. 17), as opposed to rb 0us (i. 4).
5 Xdpis (John i. 17), as opposed to fwi) (i. 4).
0 Luke i. 39. See above, p. 22.

36 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
prompted her to undertake so long a journey ? — one so
unusual, too, when we recall how strict was the seclusion
which custom had imposed upon a young Jewess after her
betrothal ? 1 Are we to believe that Joseph, having had
knowledge of Mary's state, rejected her, and that she
sought consolation in the society of Elizabeth, as well as
escape from the hard-heartedness of men ; 2 or, better still,
was she not led by a longing to unburden her heart, which
was now overbrimming with its new gladness, and so
sought the company of a soul capable of understanding
her ? Elizabeth shared with her in these bountiful bless
ings of the Lord; thus she had been designated by the
Angel as Mary's natural confidant. Was there not in all
this an adequate motive for the Virgin's disregard of those
rigorous Jewish customs ?
It took only a few days for Mary to go from Nazareth
to Youttah.3 She traversed Judea, screening herself be
neath the veil of a humility already perfect, — indeed, so
forgetful was she of the eminence to which she had been
elevated over all Creation, that she gladly humbled herself
thus, in order to discourse with her kinswoman of the
divine honors vouchsafed to them. Wherefore, so soon as
Elizabeth heard Mary's salutation within her dwelling, the
child leaped within her, and revealed to her the Presence
of the Incarnate God.4
" You are blessed from among all women," she cried out,
" and the Fruit of your womb is blessed. And whence
is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come
unto me ? "
This knowledge of the secrets of Heaven Elizabeth owed
to the Precursor, who was aroused within the maternal
' Philo, De Spccialibns I.ngibus, iii. 31 ; Ketoubot, vii. 6.
2 This hypothesis has been adopted by Lange, who has made a poet
ical use of it in his Vie dr. Jesus; but it is hardly probable that Mary
would have departed so far from her usual maidenly reserve as to
confide the secret of her motherhood to Joseph, and certainly there was
no occasion for her to do so just at this time, and before her journey
southward. 3 ITrom Nazareth to Hebron is generally called a five days' journey.
4 Luke i. 40-45.

THE VISITATION. 37
bosom, that so he might salute Jesus ; this is what she
declared, adding, —
" So soon as the voice of your salutation came to my
ears, the child that I bear leaped in my breast." Then,
reflecting upou the incredulity and chastisement of her
husband, which set the serene faith of Mary in so much
higher relief, —
" Blessed," she cried, " is she who hath believed that
the word which the Lord hath spoken to her shall be
accomplished." 1
Amid these transports of surprise and joy Mary remained
calm and recollected ; her lips opened at last, but it was to
praise God for this new largess of His bounty toward
her, for His providence toward the world, for His mer
ciful goodness to all Israel ; these three ideas sustain the
burden of the whole Magnificat.2
" My soul doth glorify the Lord,
and my spirit3 is made exceeding glad
in God my Saviour.
Because He hath regarded the lowliness
of His handmaid :
and behold all generations
shall proclaim me Blessed.
For the All-Powerful hath done great things to me :
and Holy is His Name ;
and His mercy reacheth from age to age,
unto those who fear Him."
Turning from the marvellous effects of the Eternal
Holiness, the Love Eternal, in her regard, Mary's glance
sweeps over the world ; it seems to her flashing vision as
1 Elsewhere S. Luke gives this same sense to 6V1 (Acts xxvii. 25).
The Vulgate translates it differently: " Beata, qu:e credidisti, quoniam
perlicientur ea qua; dicta sunt tibi a Domino." " Blessed art thou who
hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken
to thee by the Lord."
2 Luke i. 40-55.
8 tyvxv is the soul considered in its relations to the body whereby
it gives it life. rLvev/£a, on the other hand, is used to designate its
immaterial and more elevated attributes.

38 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
lying prostrate at the feet of that Almighty One, Whom
she knew she was soon to bring forth unto it.
" He hath showed forth the Might of His arm,
He hath scattered those who were proudly elated
in the thoughts of their hearts.
He casteth the powerful headlong from their thrones,
and hath lifted up the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with food,
and sent away the rich with empty hands."
This great upheaval in human destinies must result in
the triumph of the veritable Israel, and in this thought
the sacred Canticle finds its final note of joy.
" He hath taken under His protection
Israel, His servant,
Being mindful of His mercies to Abraham
and to His people, from generation to generation."
Nor need we marvel at the sight of Mary pouring forth
her feeling under this poetic form. In the East, where
song is the natural expression of every emotion, only a
few thoughts are requisite to the development of a poem.
Inspired simply by the remembrance of the hymns of
Israel,1 and by the grace of which she was the spotless
Vessel, the Virgin, uplifted upon the wings of the Divine
Spirit, drew from her enraptured soul the measure of this
Canticle, as simple as it is sublime.2
1 P. Patrizi (De Evongeliis, lib. iii. dissert, xi. ) has collected the pas
sages in the Old Testament which Mary may have had in mind when she
broke forth into her Canticle of joy. Nothing could show better how
she had grown up with the knowledge of the holy books ; for almost every
phrase which she uses had been already consecrated by association with
the revealed word.
2 It is the opinion of some modern critics that the Magnificat is but a
poetical abridgment of such conversations as took place during those
months which Mary passed with her kinsfolk. Thus their simple words
were finally transformed into a Song, which of course would be religiously
preserved in a family like that of Zachary, and so would come to the
knowledge of S. Luke. This supposition seems to us as uncalled for as it
certainly is unnecessary.

CHAPTEE IV.
THE NATIVITY.

I. The Appearance of the Angel to Joseph. — The
Census of Quirinius.
Matt. i. 18-25 ; Luke ii. 1-15.
After nearly three months passed in her cousin's home,
Mary returned to Nazareth.1 That she was soon to be a
mother was, of course, at once made known, and Joseph
was made acquainted with the bitterest of all human
sorrows.2 He could not hesitate as to the duty of repu
diating this affianced maiden, whom honor would not per
mit him to retain ; yet, as " he was just," and knew the
severity of the Law towards the sinning woman, he resolved
to spare Mary.3 The betrothment, considered among Jews
as sacred as the marriage tie, like it could be broken by
divorce ; 4 but although the Act of Separation was public in
its nature, yet, in certain cases, usage allowed of its being
drawn up in secret.5 Joseph chose this plan, which was
1 Luke i. 36.
2 Matt. i. 18, 19.
3 Did the laws which ordered that the sinful wife be put away and pub
licly denounced also apply to the faithless betrothed ? There are good
reasons for doubting it ; however, public opinion appears to have obliged a
lover to renounce an unfaithful maiden. (Selden, Uxor Ebraica, lib. iii.
cap. xviii.)
4 Selden, Uxor Ebr., lib. ii. cap. i. ; lib. iii. cap. xviii.
6 There cannot be any question here of a public divorce, for Joseph's
intention was not to defame the character of Mary (Matt. i. 19). So too
there is little likelihood that Joseph could have contemplated a separation
by common consent and without letters of divorce, since the Law formally

40 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
at the same time in accordance with his duty and his
grief. But while he was sadly pondering this step the Angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said to him,1
" Joseph, son of David, be not afraid to take unto you
Mary, your espoused ; for That which is born in her is of
the Holy Spirit. She shall bring forth a Son, and you
shall give to Him the name of Jesus2 (which means a
Saviour) ; He it is Who shall save His people from their
sins." " This," adds Saint Matthew,3 " was done to ac
complish what the Lord had said by 'the mouth of the
Prophet:"4 "Behold a Virgin shall conceive in her womb,
and shall bring forth a Son, and He shall be called5
Emmanuel, that is, God with us."6
When Joseph had arisen from his sleep, he had no
other thought beyond the desire to fulfil the command of
the Angel. He was eager to repair the unmerited outrage
Mary had suffered in his thoughts. Nuptial ceremonies at
forbade any such course (Deut. xxiv. 1). All he wished was to acquit
himself of the legal formalities, and as secretly as possible." Now, although
the deed of divorce was ostensibly a public act (Ewald, Altcrthumer,
p. 224), there is nothing to show that it could not be effected privately,
and Abarbanel supposes that under certain circumstances the cause for
breaking off the covenanted union was not disclosed. (Buxtorf, De
Divortio. j
1 Matt. i. 20, 21.
2 'ItjctoCs is the same name as Jehoshua, JJtJJUT, in the Law and the
prophecies ; Jeshoua, IW1., in the hagiographies. The name signifies " the
Salvation of the Lord." (See Philo, De Mutatione nominum, par. 21.)
8 Matt. i. 22, 23.
4 Isaias vii. 14. In regard to this prophecy, and particularly as to the
real meaning of the word 7V3iy, consult Les trois grands propheles, par
M. Le Hir, pp. 58-80, and the same writer's Etudes bibliques, t. i.
pp. 64-67.
6 Ka\i<rov<nv. The Hebrew has HK'pp. '.' Verbum Carath, quod omnes
interpretati sunt Vocabis, potest intelligi et Vocabit ; quod ipsa scilicet
virgo quae concipiet et pariet, hoc Christum appellatura sit nomine."
(S. Jerome, in loco.)
&'Ep.p.avovrj\, "God with us," 7X UBy. Nowhere do we read that
Jesus was ever called by this name ; hence we can only look upon it "as
one of those mystical titles which the Prophets give in a spiritual sense, in
order to express certain effects of the divine power, without any consequent
necessity that the person thus described use it as his surname." (Bossuet,
Elevations sur les mysteres, xvi<= semaine, ive elevation. )

THE NATIVITY. 41
once ushered the young spouse into his house, but " he knew
her not," pursues the sacred text, " until the day wherein
she brought forth a Son x and gave to Him the name of
Jesus." Not that after His birth Joseph ceased to respect
the virginal temple in which Jesus was incarnate. Chris
tian tradition has always shrunk with horror from the
thought that Mary, whose taintless blood had mingled
with the blood of a God, could ever have forfeited the
purity of God's Tabernacle, the habitation of His over
shadowing cloud, and the Ark of the Lord. Saint Mat
thew's only thought here was to emphasize the miraculous
nature of her maiden Motherhood, and to declare the ful
filment of Isaiah's prediction that " a Virgin shall conceive
and bring forth a Son." 2
Nazareth, which was to be the abode of Jesus for many
long years, did not witness His birth. The prophecies had
reserved that glory for Bethlehem ; and the whole world,
at the destined hour of His birth, was disturbed, that these
predictions might be accomplished. " In those days," says
the sacred text,3 "an enrollment of the empire brought
Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the edict which pre
scribed it emanating from Augustus." This prince, at that
time, held the whole world in his sovereign grasp. The
adopted son of Caesar, he had inherited his projects, and
of these the most considerable and wide-reaching in its
consequences consisted in a registration of the Eoman
world.4 This general taking of statistics was to include a
valuation of all the resources of the provinces, and a reap
portionment of the tax-list. Interrupted for a while, the
work of Csesar was pushed forward again by Augustus,
1 The majority of the versions (Vulgate, Peshito, Ethiopian, Arme
nian) give the text : rbv Tlbv airys rbv TrpoirbroKov, which we find in the
Codex Ephraemi and that of Beza. The Syriac of Cureton and the manu
scripts of the Vatican and of Sinai have simply k'ramv Tl6v. Theophylactus
and Euthymius, who have the reading wparoroKov, also add that invaluable
commentary wp&ros Kal p.6vos, "first and only."
2 Matt. i. 22, 25.
8 Luke ii. 1, 2.
4 According to jEthicus Ister (Cosmographia), the decree of the Senate
which ordered this work dated as far back as the consulate of Julius
Caesar and Anthony, 44 B. u. Compare Orosus, lib. i. 2.

42 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
who, besides a description of the various lands, added a
recapitulation of their subjects. Twenty Commissioners,
whose probity had recommended them to the favor of the
prince, were despatched into the countries which bore the
yoke of obedience to him,1 and there they devoted twenty-
five years to this work.2 The result was inscribed by the
hand of Augustus himself, in a Book called by Suetonius,
" Statistics of the Empire." 3 " It was," says Tacitus, " a
pictorial reflection of the imperial acquisitions ; herein
one might see how many of the citizens and of the allies
were under arms, the number of fleets, kingdoms, prov
inces, the revenues from tribute and toll gatherers, an esti
mate of necessary expenditures as well as of perquisites." 4
In what year did the decretal for this universal census
become operative ? It is difficult to decide. The three
censuses attributed to Augustus upon the bas-relief at An-
cyrus 5 seem to refer simply to the regular numbering of the
people of Eome, made by the Censors once every five years.
Apparently Augustus promulgated this edict when, feeling
himself to be at last absolute master of the Empire, he
forthwith devoted all his energies to its consolidation.6
1 Suidas, Lexicon, 'Airoypa^y. Cassiodorus, Variarum, lib. iii. 52.
2 jEthicus tells us that it lasted twenty-four or twenty-five years. See
Ritschl, Vcrmessung der Romischen Reichs, and Egger, Examen des His
torians oV Augusts, p. 50.
3 Suetonius, Augustus, 101 : " Breviarium imperii."
4 Tacitus, Annates, i. 11. Dion Cassius, lvi. 33.
5 Augustus had commanded that a representation of his mighty deeds,
as written out by himself, should be graven upon brass about the base of
his mausoleum in the Field of Mars (Suetonius, Augustus, 101). The
town of Ancyrus had this inscription copied upon marble, and placed it in
the temple which it raised to the god Augustus. These last tables, very
much mutilated, have come down to us. The matter is clearly explained
in the Exploration arcMologique of MM. Perrot and Guillaume, and in
Mommsen's Res gestce dim Augusti.
6 M. Wallon (De la Croyance due d, I'Evangile, partie ii. c. ii) has
proved that the silence of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dionysius Cassius, does
not invalidate the existence of this edict, and that the testimony of the
land-surveyors of Cassiodorus and Suidas implies some such Act. We will
only cite this passage from Frontinus: " Huic addendse sunt mensura
limitum et terminorum ex libris Augusti et Neronis Csesarum : sed et
Balbi mensoris, qui, temporibus Augusti, omnium provinciarum et civi-
tatum formas et mensuras compertas in commentarios retulit, et legem
agrariam per universitatem provinciarum distinxit et declaravit."

THE NATIVITY. 43
Even the allied kingdoms must needs make this act of
submission, and Saint Luke informs us that its perform
ance was brought about in Judea at the time in which
Jesus was bom.1 "This first enrolling," he adds, "was
made by Quirinius, Governor of Syria ; " 2 in other words it
was made authoritative by Saturninus, as Tertullian tells
us ; 3 was continued under his successor Varus ; and hence
it could not have been consummated until the time when
Quiriuius first took in hand the government of Syria.4
Ten years later this same distinguished ex-consul, hav
ing been despatched to Judea to reduce it to the condition
of a Eoman province, found himself obliged to rectify his
earlier efforts, and to make a new census in order definitely
to regulate the tribute. From this fact comes the care
with which Saint Luke would distinguish between the two
enrolments.5 If the first has left fewer traces among Jew-
1 It has been asked how this census, ordered by Augustus, could be
made to apply to a kingdom which had kept its autonomy and its king.
To understand this we must remember that the States so allied to Rome
were considered as part of the Empire (Suetonius, Augustus, 48 ; Strabo,
xvii. ; Tacitus, Annates, i. 11 ; vi. 41), and that Judea in particular was
kept under Augustus's personal direction. After being subjugated and
made liable to tribute by Pompey, it owed the shadow of liberty which it
still possessed to Herod's shrewd political address. This prince was at
first protected by Octavius, as he had been by Caesar; but his excesses, and
the war which he declared on his own responsibility against the king of
Arabia, drew from the Emperor that severe admonition: " Hitherto I have
treated you as a friend ; henceforth I shall treat you as a subject " (Jose
phus, Antiquitates, xvi. 9, 3). In this way he was informed that Judea
would be reduced to a Roman province ; after that announcement, what
else was to be expected but that Augustus would extend the schedule to
include this country, if only as a preliminary step to a more complete
subjugation ?
3 Luke ii. 2.
3 Tertullian, Adoersus Marcionem, iv. 19.
4 The researches of Zumpt and of Mommsen have finally established the
fact that Quirinius was twice Governor of Syria at the time of Herod's
death (750), and ten years later, as is expressly told us by Josephus
(Antiquitates, xvii. 13, 5 ; xviii. 1, 1 et 2, 1. See Mommsen, Res gestae
divi Augusti, and Zumpt, De Syria Romano, provincia, pp. 97, 98).
6 Josephus, without mentioning this first muster in so many words,
seems to allude to it, however : "Six thousand Pharisees," says he, "re
fused to swear, when all Judea took the oath of fidelity to Caesar Augustus
and to the interests of the king." And he adds that the names of the
nonjurors were brought to Herod, who fined them (Josephus, Antiquitates,

44 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
ish annals, and caused no such bloody revolts l as did the
second, it is because it was merely a description of the
peoples and their goods, involving neither any levy of
taxes nor military service ;2 but most of all is it due to the
fact that Herod was still alive, and, by shrewd political
address, was able to manipulate the workings of this en
forced enrolment. In fact we can see how this Roman
Census, taken under the eyes of the Imperial Commission
ers was, notwithstanding, administered according to Jewish
forms. Now the Israelites were in the habit of taking an ac
count of their population, not in their place of residence
or birth, but by assembling themselves according to the
Family and the Tribe, whence each one had sprung.3 A
muster of Judea, therefore, was nothing less than a revi
sion of the Genealogical Tables. These precious Archives
were carefully kept and highly treasured by the particular
city which was by way of being regarded as the first
fatherland of each Family. David was born at Bethlehem ;
it was to this town therefore that Joseph must betake
himself, " for he was of the Tribe and Family " of the
Great King.4
Two of the Evangelists had held in their hands the

xvii. 2, 4). Hence the oath was accompanied by a registering of names,
and as the time in which it was enforced (about 748) tallies with the date
of Judea's subjection to the Roman Census, there is good reason to sup
pose that they were one and the same event. (See Sanclemente, De vul
garis cerce emandatione, lib. iii. 3 ; Patrizi, De Evangdiis, lib. iii. dissert.
xviii. 33.)
1 Acts v. 37; Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 1, 1; Bellum Judaicum,
ii. 9, 2.
2 M. Wallon has set forth the very valid reasons for holding this theory
in his learned dissertation upon the Census taken by Quirinius (De la
Croyance due a I'Eoangile, part. ii. chap. iii).
3 When in the desert of Sinai God commanded Moses to number the
people, He told him to take the names of the Israelites according to
each man's Tribe and Family (Num. i. 2). The terms made use of by
S. Luke, oUos and irarpid, correspond to those which we find in the Hebrew
text: rVinptro, which designates the Tribe, irarpid (Luke ii. 4), and
riOX ril3, the household of the fathers ; that is, the various Families
which composed each Tribe, ol/cos (Luke ii. 4).
4 Luke ii. 4, 5.

THE NATIVITY. 45
Genealogical Tables of Bethlehem ; naturally each searched
therein after what would most clearly support his indi
vidual point of view. Saint Matthew, occupied in the
collection of evidence which would reveal in Jesus, the
King and the Messiah promised to Israel, for his part only
demanded of these Archives an endorsement of Joseph's
royal ancestry. Saint Luke, writing for the Gentiles, inter
ests himself solely in the natural filiation, and he shows us
in what order of generation the second Adam traces His
lineage up to the first man, and thus to Gocl Himself.1
One might very well marvel that the sacred historians,
who have given us these genealogies of Joseph, should have
passed over in silence that of Mary, if it were not so well
known that, according to the teaching of Tradition, the
Virgin was a near relative, probably the niece, of Joseph,2
and that, in consequence, her paternity corresponded with
that of her husband. The family trees of the parents of
1 As to the genealogies of S. Matthew and S. Luke, see Appendix III.
2 In what degree of kinship did Mary stand to Joseph ? As Scripture
is silent on this point, we must consult Tradition ; and a careful examina
tion of all the testimony has led our soberest critics to arrive at these con
clusions : (1) that Joseph (of the house of Panther) had two brothers,
named Cleophas (Alpheus) and Joachim ; (2) that Mary, daughter of the
last named, was consequently the niece of Joseph. This opinion, although
not certain, seems at least very well supported by the facts (see the Bol-
landists, Acta Sanctorum, 19 Martii ; Zacharia, Raccolta d.i Dissertaz. t. i.
diss. v. 3 ; and especially Father Patrizi, De Evangeliis, lib. iii. dissert.
ix. cap. xx.). Everything indicates that Joseph was still young when
he married Mary. "Without one exception," says M. de Rossi, "every
sarcophagus and monument of the first four centuries gives a type of
manhood for S. Joseph which is very different from the figure we en
counter nowadays ; he is always represented as a young man and
beardless (Bulletino di Archeologia cristiana, 1865, pp. 26-32, and 66-72.
Compare with this Rome souterraine, par Paul Allan!, p. 332). It is
only in the fourth century that certain Fathers, after consulting the
apocryphal gospels, made S. Joseph an old man. S. Epiphanius even
goes so far as to give his age as about forty-four years. Our more
conservative theologians have not hesitated to discard these recent tra
ditions. "Juvenis, vel vir, triginta, quadragintave annorum," says
Suarez, in 3"m divi Thorncc, disputatio vii. sectio iii. And foras
much as it was God's design to cover the maiden motherhood of Mary
beneath the veil of marriage, thus to shield the honor of Jesus from idle
rumor, so, likewise, no such unusual and shocking difference in the ages
of the pair would have been allowed, lest it should cast a shade of ridicule
upon their union.

4ti THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
Jesus being the same, nothing could be more natural for
the Evangelists than to set down these pedigrees just as
they found them in the records at Bethlehem ; for the Jews
were prone to overlook the descent of their women-folk,
by giving only that of the men.

II. The Nativity.
Luke ii. 4-7.
So then, to inscribe himself in the Public Registers, the
carpenter of Nazareth quitted his native hills of Zabulon.
His young wife too, made the journey with him. Every
thing drew her to Bethlehem ; a secret inspiration from
Heaven as well as her affection for Joseph. Perhaps, too,
there was some obligation for her appearance in person at
the enrolling, as being the heiress of her family.
Four days of foot-travel separate Nazareth from the
city of David. Mary, as her time was so near, made the
distance very slowly, for winter makes the roads rough,
and the holy Family journeyed on foot, doubtless, like
other poor pilgrims. Leaving behind them the plain of
Esdrelon, En-Gannim, Sichem, and Sion, about two hours
from the last-named town they perceived at length the
dwellings of Bethlehem.
This village is located upon a long and whitish hill,
whose slope, covered with vines, olive, and fig trees, forms
a circle of terraces, rising one above another in regular
curves, like steps in a stairway of verdure. On the sum
mit rests to-day a heavy pile of sombre buildings ; it is
the Church of the Nativity, which screens the holy Grotto,
and round about it are the three convents built by the
Latins, the Greeks, and the Armenians. From these
heights, at a glance of the eye, we can descry, far below us,
the fertile valleys, the ancient domain of Boaz and of
Jesse, the far-away pastures, where, protecting their herds
from the mountain lions, there had grown up that intrepid

THE NATIVITY. 47
race of Shepherds, which once supplied Israel with the
noblest of her captains.
As they entered Bethlehem they would first encounter
the hostlery, of which the Khan of modern Oriental vil
lages is still a fair copy, a huge square enclosed by porti
cos; here, under the shelter of some rude galleries, the
ground being raised a foot or two above the level, travellers
are spreading out their mats upon the narrow platform,
while all about them beasts of burden block up the court
yard ; such was the aspect of the place before which Joseph
and Alary presented themselves.
The concourse of strangers in those busy days of the
registration, the poverty of these late comers, the very
condition of Mary, all promised the humble pair a cold
welcome. So it happened that they received the reply,
"that there was no room for them j"1 and despite their fa
tigue they must needs seek elsewhere for some resting-
place. The chalk-hills of Judea are honey-combed with
innumerable caves. One of these excavations, close by
the inn, was used as a shelter for such beasts as the public
stables were unable to accommodate. Mary, according to
the testimony of Tradition,2 could find no other refuge but
this. And there, amid the straw which served as bedding
for the beasts,3 far from all assistance, on a cold winter's
1 Luke ii. 7.
2 From the earliest times Christians have always regarded the stable
in which Jesus was born as one of those hill-caves. S. Justin (born at
Sichsm about 103) says in so many words : "Joseph, not knowing where
to find lodgings iii Bethlehem, withdrew to a grotto near the village "
(Adversus Tryphonem, 78). Origen assures us that they still showed this
cavern with the manger in his day ; and beside this, we know how fre
quently these numerous excavations served in Judea as a shelter for
animals. It was in one of these retreats that S. Jerome passed the thirty
years which he consecrated to prayer and study; and it was close to the
Crib that he wrote the Vulgate and his famous Commentaries : and it was
there too that he wished to die. To-day the manger is no longer in the
cave ; but a star of gold, lighted by sixteen lamps, stands out against the
white marble slabs with which the walls are covered, and an inscription
recalls that upon this spot Mary brought the Saviour into the world : Hio
de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est.
3 The tradition which declares that an ass and an ox stood over the crib
is to be referred to the first centuries ; for in the year 343, we find Chris
tian sculptors making use of it (Rossi, Inscriptiones christiance, t. i. p. 51).

48 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
night,1 the hour came for her to be delivered, and she
brought forth unto the world, Jesus.
The object of assault for nineteen centuries, this humble
Birth, the adoration of some, to others has seemed but a
folly and a libel.
" Preserve me from it all ! " cried the impious Marcion,
in the very first centuries. " Away with these pitiful
swaddling-bands and this manger, unworthy of the God
whom I adore."
In vain did Tertullian reply, " Nothing is more worthy
of God than that, in order to save man, He should trample
under foot our perishable grandeur, and so adjudge these
joys unworthy of Himself and His." 2 In vain have all our
Probably it has no other origin than those words of Isaias : "The ox
knoweth his master, and the ass the stable of his lord," which was after
wards supported by a mistaken interpretation of Habacuc iii. 2. Instead
of the reading, "Lord, Thou shalt make known Thy work in the midst
of the years," the Septuagint and the Italic Version have, "Thou shalt
manifest Thyself between two animals " (Ev piaif Svo fawv yvwtrByo-n : "In
medio duorum animalium innoteseeris "). Hence, without doubt, arose the
pious legend which has been perpetuated even to our day (see Tillemont,
Me'moires, i. 447).
1 There is no reason to reject the tradition which fixes the twenty-fifth
of December as the date of the Saviour's Nativity. It has been generally
accepted since the fourth century, and the modern Chronologists have
rarely disputed it. Wieseler (Chronologische Synopse der Evangelien,
p. 140) prefers to put it in the beginning of January, and certainly it
could not have been later than the first days of February, since Jesus
Christ was presented in the Temple forty days after His Birth ; and the
Presentation must have preceded the month of April, which is the date
of Herod's death. S. Luke, it is true, shows us the shepherds passing the
night out in the pasture-lands at the moment of Jesus' birth, and, accord
ing to the Talmudists, this was not their custom except in the period from
March to November. But the writers, whose testimony we now quote,
were only speaking of the general practices of the country, and it might
well be that at such a juncture, when strangers were pouring into Bethle
hem, the people thereabouts would put their flocks out to pasture in the
more sheltered valleys, in order to make room in their stables for the beasts
of burden which otherwise would block up. the village streets. The tem
perature is not the same over all Palestine ; thus, although the valley of
the Jordan escapes the sharpest spells of winter, still, almost every year
snow is visible along the mountains. Even on the fifth of April, M. Guerin
has recorded a heavy fall of snow covering the streets of Jerusalem (Sama-
rie, t. i. p. 47). During five years, the highest temperature observed by
Barclay in that city was 3.3° ; the lowest, 3°.3 ; medium, 17°.
- Qneecumque adhuc ut pnsilla et infirma et indigna colligitis ad de-
struetionem Creatoris, simplici et certa ratione proponam : Deum non

THE NATIVITY. 49
Doctors who have followed him made manifest to us the
High Counsel, so full of wisdom and merciful compassion,
which moved the Word Incarnate to this Self-abasement ;
the God that was born of a woman and laid in a manger J
has offended the haughty spirit of man, and Marcion's cry
is repeated still from century to century.
Without going as far as this in their impatient scorn,
the Christians of this same era sought to dignify the hu
mility of their God by fanciful prodigies. They would
have us believe that the glory, which Jesus rejected, envel
oped His cradle ; that Mary, upon her entrance into the
sombre grotto, filled it with a noon-tide radiance ; that the
Angels, in robes of splendor, hung over them in trailing
legions ; that the stars retarded their heavenly motions to
contemplate the Birth of God, to shed upon Him their
gentle rays ; that the manger itself was resplendent with
a great lustre, and that all eyes were veiled, unable to
sustain the gorgeous glare.2
Very different from this is the simple story of the Gos
pel ; here there is no outward pomp ; all the glory of the
crib lies in its inherent loveliness. It is only the soul
that is illumined by it ; 't is to the heart alone it speaks.
Furthermore, we must not forget that here, by anything
we add to the Majesty of the Christ, we detract just
so much from His Love. The Word, in order to save
us, has not disdained the womb of a Virgin ; why,
then, should we blush at the lowliness of our God ? The
potuisse humanos congressus inire, nisi humanos et sensus et affeetus
suscepisset, per quos vim majestatis suae, intolerabilem utique humana;
mediocritati, humilitate temperaret, sibi quidem indigna, homini autem
necessaria, et ita jam Deo digna, quia nihil tam dignum Deo, quam salus
hominis " (Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, lib. ii. cap. xxvii. ). " Quales
et quanti eum fasces producerent ! Qualis purpura de humeris ejus floreret !
Quale aurum de capite radiaret, nisi gloriam saeculi alienam et sibi et suis
judicasset ! Igitur quae noluit, rejecit ; qua? rejecit, damnavit" (Tertul
lian, De Idololatria, cap. xviii.).
1 This crib, made of clay, was the manger of the animals which were
stabled in the cavern (Till'emont, Meinoires pour servir & V histoire eccle'si-
astique, t. i. p. 448).
2 Arabian Gospel of the Olvildhood, iii. ; Apocryphal Gospel of S.
Matthew, xiii.
VOL. I. — 4

50 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
more profound it appears the more it forces us to love
Him.1 Nevertheless, though Mary knew all the natural cares of
motherhood, she was yet unacquainted with all those evils
which are the penalty of sin, — the sorrows and the heavy-
heartedness into which all daughters of Adam must fall.2
We should not even say that her Motherhood was like that
of Eve, in the age of innocence ; for as she was a greater
than Eve so hers was the unparalleled happiness of pre
serving her Virgin purity in bearing the Divine Child.3
When Jesus was born, it was as when the ripe fruit is
parted from the branch that bore it, so cheerful, so com
fortable, and attended with all joys was the coming of the
Christ-Child into the world.4
So Saint Luke shows us this Virgin Mother, immediately
upon her deliverance, lavishing upon her Holy Infant the
cares ordinarily left to strangers ; she envelopes Him in
swaddling bands and lays Him to rest amid the straw of
the manger.5 " She must cloak the New Adam from the
cold winter air; reverence, too, bade her clothe the Babe, as
well as did necessity. Cover Him, Mary ; cover that ten
der Baby body ; shield Him in thy maiden bosom ! Dost
understand thy Motherhood ? Hast thou not any pertur
bation at beholding this thine infant One ? Hast thou no
fear to bare unto Him thy maternal breasts ? For what
Child is this, Who reaches up to thee His divine hands ?
Adore Him even whilst thou dost nourish Him, what time
the Angels summon new hosts of invisible worshippers."6
1 S. Jerome, Adversus Heladium, 18.
2 Suarez, Disp. xiii. in 3a,n divi Thomoz; Cajetan, in 3"m divi Thomce,
quaestio xxxv. art vi.
3 "Virgo ante partum, in partu, post partum" (S. Augustine, Sermo
cxxiii.). 4 S. Jerome, Adversus Helvidium, 8.
5 Luke ii. 7.
0 Bossuet, Ele'valwns sur les mysteres, xvie semaine, iiie elevation.

THE NATIVITY. 51
III. The Adoration of the Shepherds.
Luke ii. 8-20.
To the east of Bethlehem there extend toward the
Dead Sea one of the greenest of valleys. In olden times
there stood in that place " the Tower of the Herds," J near
which Jacob had pitched his tent, there to mourn his
dearly loved Eachel. Ruth had gleaned in those happy
fields, and the boy David tended there his father's flocks.
To-day, in that same valley, the olive trees overshadow a
lonely crypt. Consecrated to the Holy Angels, this sanc
tuary marks the spot over which the heavens were opened
to reveal to Earth the coming of its Saviour.2
" Certain of the shepherds," says Saint Luke, " were
guarding their flocks and keeping their watches through the
night. Then suddenly the Augel of the Lord appeared
unto them, the glory of the Lord 3 enveloped them in light,
and they were seized with a great terror." For to the sons
of Israel no splendor could emanate from the skies, with
out recalling the flaming heights of Sinai and the dread
Jehovah, Whom no man might look upon and live.4
Straightway the Angel reassured them. " Be not afraid,"
he said ; " I am come to announce good tidings of great
joy unto you and unto all your people. To-day, in the
city of David, is born to you a Saviour, the Christ, the
Lord ; 5 and behold the sign by which you shall know him :
1 Migdal Eder. Gen. xxxv. 21 ; S. Jerome, Liber de situ et nominibus :
Bethlehem. 2 We are confirmed in our fidelity to the traditions which place the
apparition of the Angels at Deir Er-Ralouat. The objections which M.
Guarmani has made against this time-honored belief do not appear un
answerable ; they are clearly set forth and learnedly discussed by M. Gueriu
in his Description de la JudCe, chap. vii.
3 Luke ii. 8-12. Doubtless by those words : 56{a Hvptov, S. Luke alludes
also to that luminous Cloud which overhung the Tabernacle ; for in the
Old Testament it is often called "the Glory of the Lord" (Exod. xl. 32;
3 Kings viii. 10, 11, etc.).
4 Exod. xx. 18, 19.
5 Xpurrbs Kvpios. This is the only instance where the holy Records
make use of these two titles associated in this manner (Kvpiov Kal Xpiurbv

52 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
you shall find an Infant, wrapt in swaddling clothes and
lying in a manger."
A manger, an infant, to work out their salvation ! What
strange tidings are these ! The Wonderful, the Mighty
God, the Father of Eternity, the Messiah, for whose glori
ous coming Israel was in expectation, has revealed Himself
at last in nakedness, in abandonment, in the midst of the
straw of a stable ! What a sudden reversal of the most
dearly cherished dreams of the Jews ! They must needs
be simple and docile hearts who could receive this Mes
sage. And so the Angel bore the glad tidings, neither to
the Doctors of the Law nor to the great ones of earth, but
to these shepherds ; and in them he found that which he
was seeking, — the Faith of Abraham, of Isaac and of
Jacob. Their gentle souls were all aglow upon his words, and
suddenly, while their eyes were still drinking in the celes
tial radiance, all at once they saw that the Angel was not
alone ; a multitude of spirits, all hosts of Heaven, sur
rounded them,1 and the Angelic choir entoned the chant
whose echoes resound each day in the holy mystery of the
Mass,— " Glory to God in the highest of the heavens, and peace
upon Earth unto all men beloved of God ! " 2
The shepherds heard with rapture this concert of the
Angels ; and when it had faded away into the fa1! depths
of the skies, and the Messengers of God had gone from
their sight, " Let us go to Bethlehem," they cried to one
another immediately, " and see this which has happened,
— see this which the Lord has made known to us."
of the Acts ii. 36, and rijj Kvplip Xpio-rw SovXeiiere in the Epistle to the
Colossians, iii. 24, receive each a particular meaning from the context).
Kvpios is made to refer here peculiarly to the Lord, Jehovah ; the Christ is
the Messiah, Who is none other than God Himself.
1 Luke ii. 13-15.
2 The reading iv dvBpdnrois eiSoKtas should be adhered to, for it is that
of the Vulgate and the most ancient manuscripts, — that of Sinai, the Vati
can, Cambridge, and the Alexandrine. " The word in the original which
we render as 'good-will ' is used to signify the good-will which God has for
us, and thus declares that peace is given unto men so loved by God "
(Bossuet, Elevations, xvie semaine, ixe elevation).

THE NATIVITY. 53
And making haste to depart, they ascended the hill.1
Upon its heights they found the cave ; in the dumb beast's
crib lay an Infant, wrapt in swaddling bands and laid
amidst the straw ; over Him knelt a young Mother, a
thoughtful and silent man.
It was the sign given from on High ; they recognized
it ; and their faith bursting forth into joyous transports,
they recounted to those who surrounded them all that had
been said to them concerning this Child. The sudden ar
rival of the shepherds, their search throughout the village
had attracted attention. Soon the throng of listeners
grew in numbers, and " all were in admiration at this tale
which the shepherds related." 2
Having rendered their testimony to the heavenly origin
of the Babe, " the shepherds returned, glorifying and prais
ing God for all the things which they had heard and seen,
even as He had made known unto them." Midmost of all
this concert of delighted homage the Mother of Jesus was
silent. " Treasuring up all these things, she pondered over
them in her heart," 3 until the day when Saint" Luke wrote
them down at her inspiration ; for it would seem certain
that in this portion of his Gospel, which is so entirely dif
ferent from all the other accounts, we are reading the very
words of Mary. This story, at once so simple and so ten
der, betrays the Virgin's hand and the Mother's heart.4
1 Luke ii. 16, 17.
2 Luke ii. 18-20.
3 Luke ii. 19.
4 All the critics concede that the two first chapters of S. Luke have an
Hebraic coloring, a touch of artlessness and innocence which does not
accord with the ordinary manner of the Evangelist, fond as he is of his
scholarly phrases. Evidently, in this part he has borrowed now and
again from the actual words of some eye-witness of the Saviour's earlier
years ; the simplicity of the tale and the perfect recollection of all the
hymns make us naturally think at once of the Mother of Jesus. " Ea
quaB (Lucas) narrat de Christo puero, ab ipsa hujus matre audisse cre-
dendum omnino est. Qua de re consentientes habemus nonnullos
etiam de schola Kationalistarum " (Patrizi, De Evangeliis, lib. 1, cap. iii.
quaest. 4).

54 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.

IV. The Circumcision and the Presentation in
the Temple.
Luke vi. 21-38.
What happened after the departure of the shepherds ?
Were the emotions which their tale had excited lasting ?
Did the citizens of Bethlehem make all haste to offer
Mary that dwelling1 where the Magi were soon to find
her ?
The Gospel, while it notes this change of abode, does
not tell either at what time or in what manner it was
effected ; certainly, to worldly eyes, there was nothing of
distinction about this poor Family of the Saviour; and
therefore it is most probable that the attention, so suddenly
attracted to them by the shepherds, was as promptly drawn
away by the more exciting incidents of the Census-taking.
For, eight days later, when the Babe was to be circumcised,
the same Evangelist, who tells us how great was the gath
ering on the same event happening in the life of John
Baptist, now simply remarks of Jesus: "On the eighth day
He was circumcised."2
Apparently it was Joseph who performed the sacred rite,3
and so shed the first drops of the Blood Divine. The Christ,
in order to fulfil all justice, was required to endure this
humiliation, and bear in His body the stigma of the sins
which- He had taken upon Himself. Yet He only underwent
circumcision that He might set us free from its bondage,
by substituting for it a purification more elevated, one
wholly spiritual, — that of the heart and of the heart's evil
desires. It was the time for giving the Child His Name. The
1 Matt. ii. 11.
2 Luke ii. 21.
3 Although the circumcision of Jesus seems to have taken place without
any ceremony of note, it did however require the presence of certain wit
nesses for the Religious Act, that being the invariable custom among the
Jews (Buxtorf, Synagoga Judaica, cap. ii. ; Otho, Lexicon Rabbinicum,
etc.).

THE PRESENTATION. 55
Angel had apprised them by a heavenly mandate that He
should be called Jesus,1 — a name that spoke of Salvation
to the Jews, and recalled thoughts of their entrance into the
promised land and of the return from Captivity.2 The sub-
limest of the titles of the Christ — the Messiah 3 — only
compasses in its meaning the Majesty of the Son of God, —
that Anointment by which he was consecrated King and
Pontiff; the name Jesus signifies One who has loved us
even to the dying for us ; it bears in upon the heart with
a profounder impress of love, a celestial sweetness, a secret
relish of salvation, and a foretaste of our deliverance.
The Law commanded that this first-born should be pre
sented in the Temple ; as it is written : " Every male child
that cometh from the mother's womb shall be consecrated
to the Lord ; " 4 and it was necessary for Mary to be puri
fied, since the Levitical canons declared every woman un
clean after the birth of her offspring. During forty days,
if it were a son, eighty if a daughter, she was forbidden to
approach the Sanctuary.5 The custom among the mothers
of Israel was to pass this time secluded in their homes
until the day on which the expiatory sacrifice was to purify
1 Luke ii. 21.
2 Jehoshua, Jeshna, Jeshu, were the three forms under which the name
of Israel's Deliverer was spoken or written. As «, shadow of the true
Saviour it was borne by Joshua, son of Noun, who brought the people into
the Holy Land, and by Joshua, son of Josedec, who, with Zorobabel, led
them back from the Captivity in Babylon (1 Esdr. ii. 2 ; iii. 2).
3 Christ, Xpiarbs, is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew word
rTOD, " The Anointed."
4 Luke ii. 22-24. God gave this command to Moses after the flight
from Egypt (Exod. xiii. 2). Thus, as Sovereign Master of all things, He
reserved the first-fruits of each family, in order that by this means the
others might be consecrated to Him in the person of these their choicest
offerings. Indeed they had, in a special manner, belonged to Him ever
since the night when He had exterminated the first-born of the Egyptians,
and spared the eldest of the children of Israel ; the lives then saved by
Him were owed to Him by every claim of gratitude. Later on, in place of
the eldest sons of each family, He chose to call the sons of Levi to be His
servants ; and only the first-born, who exceeded the number of two hundred
and seventy-three Levites fixed by the Law, were to be redeemed by the
payment of five shekels (Num. iii. 12, 44, 45). A last disposition extended
this duty (of paying purchase-money for every first-born ) to include the
whole nation (Num. xviii. 15, 16).
6 Lev. xii.

56 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
them. They offered, then, a year-old lamb for a holocaust,
and a turtle dove or a young pigeon for a Sin-offering. In
kind consideration for the poor, the Law permitted them
in place of a lamb, which would have been too costly, to
make presentation simply of two turtle doves or two young
pigeons. Such was the obligation to which the Virgin
submitted herself, although she knew nothing of the com
mon misfortunes of women in her stainless generation.
On the fortieth day following the Nativity "the time
of their purification was accomplished." * The sacred text
extends the expiation entailed upon the mother so as to
include Jesus also; for since the Law considered everything
impure that had been touched by the woman during this
period, the child she bore in her arms was excommunicated
as much as the mother. So Joseph and Mary went up to
Jerusalem to consecrate Jesus to the Lord; the five shek
els 2 of the Sanctuary relieved Him of the obligation to re
main as a Server at the altars, and the " Sacrifice of the
Poor " was offered for the purification of them both.
"Now there was at this time in Jerusalem a just man,
and one who feared God, named Simeon, who lived in ex
pectation of the consolation of Israel. The Holy Ghost
was with him, and it had been revealed to him by this
Spirit of God that he should not surely die, before he had
seen the Christ of the Lord."3
The terms of which Saint Luke makes use in speaking
of this aged man indicate that he had in mind a dis
tinguished personage, perhaps even the famous Scribe4
1 Luke ii. 22. The Vulgate and the Latin versions have the reading
contained in the Cambridge manuscript, Kadapio-p.ov avrov ; however, the
other form, avrwv, which gives it a meaning much more easy to understand,
should be preferred, for we find it in the most ancient manuscripts, — the
Alexandrine, those of the Vatican and of Sinai, — and in a majority of the
Versions (Syriac, Coptic, Gothic, etc.). "Quod cur rejiciamus non sane
est ; quum Moyses lege sanciverit ut is quoque pollni censeretur et purga-
tione indigere, qui pollutum tangeret, pueri nascentes polluerentur necesse
erat contactu matris, ipso partu pollute" (Patrizi, De Evangeliis, lib. iii.
dissert, xxv. 6).
2 About four dollars in our money.
3 Luke ii. 25, 26.
4 Miyas SiSdo-Ka\os (Gospel of Nicodemui).

THE PRESENTATION. 57
Rabban x Simeon, son of Hillel. Indeed there is a perfect
resemblance in this sketch of his to the historical Sim
eon, — a similarity in age and residence, an equally high-
souled zeal, with the same saintliness of life. The Talmud,
which expatiates complacently upon the grand-parents
and sons of Hillel, preserves an expressive silence as to
Simeon;2 and this doubtless because it would gladly bury
in oblivion a President of the Sanhedrin who celebrated
the birth of Jesus, and who had thoughts anent the Mes
siah 3 which differed very widely from those of his contem
poraries, so widely in fact that the latter finally deposed
him from the presidency of the Supreme Council.4
At the moment when Mary and Joseph were approach
ing the Sanctuary that indwelling Spirit, moving within
the old man's heart, was conducting him to the Temple.5
There was nothing in their exterior to draw his gaze upon
them, — a poor family making their Sin-offering, while in
the arms of the mother there lay a little Child ; and yet
it was enough for him. To the eyes of the Seer this Infant
1 Rabban, that is, the Master above all others. Simeon is the first
Scribe whose name was honored with this superlative title (see Lightfoot,
Harmonia iv. Evangel., pars. i. sect. iv.).
2 Lightfoot, Horce Hebra'icce, in Luc. ii. 34.
3 Poli, Synopsis Critic, ad Luc.
4 On this question see Patrizi (De Eva.ngeliis, lib. iii. dissert. 26) and
Witsius (Miscellanea sacra, i. 21, 14). The objections which have been
made to Father Patrizi's conclusions are : (1) That Simeon, son of Hillel,
was still alive some time after the Nativity ; (2) that his son Gamaliel is
known not as a Christian, but as a Pharisee ; (3) that S. Luke would not
have spoken of so famous a Doctor in such vague terms as "Now there
was then at Jerusalem a man named Simeon." These difficulties can all
be disposed of, for (1) the sacred text (Luke ii. 26) does not say that
Simeon died after having seen the Lord, but that his eyes were not to be
closed in death before he had beheld Him ; (2) as for Gamaliel, it may
easily be believed that, holding as high rank as he did among the Phari
sees, he would not at once follow his father's example ; but though out
wardly he remained attached to this sect, he had nevertheless an openly
professed sympathy for the doctrine and the disciples of Jesus ; he under
took their defence before the Sanhedrin (Acts v. 34), and the primitive
traditions assert that he died a Christian (Recognitiones, i. 65 ; Photius,
Cod., 171) ; (3) to dispose of the last objection, it is enough to remark
that S. Luke was writing for Gentiles, to whom the doctors of Israel were
known hardly at all.
5 Luke ii. 27, 28.

58 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
appeared, what indeed He was, the long-expected Salva
tion, the Consolation which he had waited for so long, the
one and only Object of his vows. Simeon took Him into
his arms, and in an ecstasy of the Divine Spirit he intoned
this Canticle : —
" Now hath it come to pass, 0 Lord,
that Thou dost deliver x Thy servant :
" according to Thy word,
he will go in peace.
" For mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation :
that Salvation which Thou hast prepared
in the face of all the nations :
"even as a Light, which shall reveal Itself
unto the Gentiles
" and the Glory of Israel, Thy people."
Meanwhile "the father and the mother of the Child
were filled with wonder at the things which he had spoken
of Him, and Simeon blessed Him;"2 but as his eyes fell
upon Mary, he perceived in prophetic vision all that this
Mother was to suffer. Then, holding up the Babe before
her, —
" He Whom you now look upon," he said, " is for the
ruin 3 and the resurrection of many in Israel. He shall be a
Man rejected and denied.4 As for you, a sword of sorrow
shall pierce your soul." 5
Then, reverting to the Son of Mary and to the trials that
awaited Him, he revealed what would ensue : " And thus,"
1 Luke ii. 29-33. 'AttoXums, "Thou deliverest me, Thou makest my
chains to fall from me."
2 Luke ii. 34, 35.
3 HtHo-iv, the Stumbling Block and Rock of Offence, on which unbelief
shall fall and be dashed to pieces (Is. viii. 14).
4 Xypieiov dvri.\ey6pevov, that is to say, the perfect Ensample of a man
who is disowned and despised, whose life shows what it is to be rejected
by all men. The Hebraic turn of expression, translated by the Greek
words dvai its o-yp.e'iov, has no other meaning (Rosenmuller, in loco).
5 Kal aov hi aurrjs t\\v ij/vxyv, kt\ . . should be considered as a paren
thetical thought. The connective, Situs av, in this way refers to the
preceding phrase, "The Christ shall be an Ensample of all adversities,"
and hence it means not " in order that . . .," but "in such wise that the
thoughts of many shall be revealed."

THE PRESENTATION. 59
he added, " the thoughts which many hide in their hearts
shall be revealed;" that is to say, in the Presence of the
Christ, — He who was to be for the scandal and the scorn
of this world, — before Him all secret thoughts should be
uu veiled. He would distinguish in this way between those
who dreamed of riches, glory, and temporal happiness as part
of the coming of the Messiah, and those who, .seeking Him
for Himself, are prepared to welcome Him under whatever
form he may appear.
Mary listened in silence to this menacing prediction.
Such as she appears to us now in the Temple, such she
ever remains throughout the whole Gospel, — enveloped iu
her modesty, her heart at times flooded with joys which no
language can express, but oftener resigned under the sword
which even now tore this Mother's heart in expectation of
the end.
"There was present also a Prophetess named Anna,
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser,1 of a very ad
vanced age. She had lived seven years with her husband
since her virginity, and she had remained a widow up to
her eighty-fourth year,2 never leaving the Temple, and serv
ing God night and day in fasting and prayer." It was this
zeal for the House of God which merited for her that she
should find therein, and therein adore, her Saviour. As
she was coming into the Temple at that same moment, she
recognized the Child, Whom Simeon had blessed, rendered
thanks to Heaven for unveiling to her eyes this Mystery,
1 Luke ii. 36. "Perhaps it was to show that Jesus Christ finds His
worshippers among many tribes, and hence in this number was also found
the Tribe of Aser, to which Jacob and Moses had promised only "good
bread, oil in abundance," and in a word, " the riches of the mines of iron
and of copper" (Gen. xlix. 20 ; Deuter. xxxiii. 24, 25). But now, in the
person of this widow, note how " the soft finery of the kings and nations
of earth, the good things of the land, are all changed to fasting and
mortification " (Bossuet, Elevations sur les mysteres, xviiie semaine, xxie
elevation). 2 The reading XVP", ius iruv dySoyKovra recro-dpuv, which declares how,
during her long widowhood, the holy Anna was steadfast in her fidelity to
her first husband, has been preferred by Lachmann and Teschendorf ; and
with good reason, since we find it in the Vulgate, in most of the Versions,
in the Alexandrine Manuscript, and in that of the Vatican. The received
text gives lis in place of las.

60 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
and praising the Lord her God,1 she spoke of Him to all
those who awaited the redemption of Israel.
The Lord, the God praised by the Prophetess, is mani
festly Jesus ; to Anna, daughter of Phanuel, belongs, then,
the signal honor of having first announced to Jerusalem the
Divinity of the Christ, which other most illustrious wit
nesses were soon to publish to the world.
1 The reading Kvplu is based on the authority of the Alexandrine Manu
script and a majority of the Versions (Vulgate, Syriac, Gothic, etc.). We
find ©effi in the manuscripts of the Vatican and of Sinai, and in the Codex
Bezae. Tischendorf has adopted the latter form in his Eighth Edition.

CHAPTER V.
THE EPIPHANY.
I. The Magi.
Matt. ii. 1-11.
While Joseph and Mary were leaving Jerusalem,1 a rich
caravan was entering it. " These were certain Magi 2 of the
Orient," says Saint Matthew. This word, borrowed from
the religious terminology of the Persians, is used here to
designate the Sacerdotal Class ; and it would seem to indi
cate, therefore, that the Magi were priests of that nation.
This feeling is confirmed by the paintings in the catacombs,
where we see the Magi always robed in the costume of
the Persians, — the high head-dress, the tunic girded at the
loins, over which floats a mantle thrown back over the
1 After having related the facts which we have been considering, S. Luke
adds : ' ' And when they had fulfilled all things according to the Law
of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to their town of Nazareth " (Luke
ii. 39). From this some have concluded that Joseph returned to that
town before the adoration of the Magi, not to remain, but to set; in order
what he possessed there, so as to establish himself at Bethlehem. Thus it
would be after his return that the adoration of the Magi and the flight
into Egypt took place. Father Patrizi has adopted this hypothesis, but it
only seems to us to complicate the sequence of events needlessly ; for the
text of S. Luke does not necessarily imply that the return of the Holy
Family to Galilee followed immediately after the Purification.
- In the Pehlvi (the vulgar tongue of Persia in the time of Sassanides),
Mogh is the word for Priest (Hyde, De Religione veterum Persarum, p. 372).
Ftirst (Hebriiisches Handworterbuch : JD) thinks that the proper meaning
of the word is "a sage," as the Hebrew and the Aramean translated it
by D3n. Other philologists give it the sense of " a grandee ; " these con
nected it with the root, IB (Magh), the Sanscrit Mahat : Magnate = Miyas
= Magnus.

62 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
shoulders, the legs either bare or covered with boots, closely
bound with thongs after the fashion of this people.1
Ministers of a religion far superior to any of the numer
ous forms of Paganism, the Magi appear to have worshipped
at all times One Supreme Divinity,2 toward whom they
observed an austere cult. There were neither altars nor
statues in their temples ; their choirs never marched with
other than reverent gravity, sending up to God their solemn
chants and prayers.
These noble beliefs had survived intact among the Per
sians up to the time when, under the guidance of Cyrus,
they ascended into the plains of Mesopotamia. There
mingling with the Chaldean Magi,3 if they did not preserve
the purity of their faith, they however came under the
potent influence which the Israelite captives exercised
upon their conquerors at that period, and in particular
1 Martigny, Dictionnaire des Antiquite's chre"tiennes, article Mages. The
traditions of the Syrian Church and the Greek Fathers give Persia as
the native country of the Magi. Tertullian and S. Justin do not agree
with these witnesses. The nature of the presents offered to Jesus have
made them think at once of Arabia, the land of gold, of frankincense,
and myrrh. See Patrizi (De Evangeliis, lib. iii. dissertat. xxvii. cap. ii.
pars i. ).
2 His name was Aouramazda (Ormuzd), "the luminous, the resplen
dent, the mightiest and the best, most perfect and most active, very
intelligent and very beautiful " (Yacna, i. 1). This supreme and uncreated
God has created all things ; as the Principle of Good He only distributes
blessings, but while drawing into life the forces which were to rule matter,
He could not prevent the appearance (resulting from the action and reaction
of those same properties) of a destructive genius, Angromalnyous (Ahri-
man), "The Worker of Death." This latest-born spirit sows naught but
sin and darkness through the world, and indeed seems to be all-powerful
for evil ; nevertheless, at the end of time he shall see his forces completely
destroyed, and he shall be constrained to acknowledge the sovereignty of
Aouramazda (Spiegel, Erdnische Allerthumskunde, t. ii. pp. 121-158).
8 Although the title Magi is of Persian origin, it was known among the
Babylonians before Cyrus ; in fact, we find the Chief Magi mentioned in
the number of those officials sent to Jerusalem by Nabuchodonosor (Jer.
xxxix. 3). Among the Chaldeans this name was evidently used to desig
nate an ancient and powerful race, to whom the sacerdotal office was
reserved. Though not so near the revealed Truths as were the Magi of
Persia and Media, given also to the worship of' fire and other superstitious
practices, they however had not neglected more lofty studies ; astronomy
especially had an honorable place among them, for we know that their ob
servations, which were forwarded to Aristotle by Callisthenes, covered a
period of nineteen hundred and three years (Aristotle, De Ccelo, ii.).

THE EPIPHANY. 63
under the teachings of Daniel. It is a fact, which we know
from Scripture, that this Prophet, after his introduction
into the palace of Nabuchodonosor, showed himself ten
times as wise as the priests and soothsayers of Chaldea,1
and hence he was placed at their head through the favor
of the prince. His ascendency only increased under the
lour succeeding princes and the three dynasties, and was
afterwards confirmed by the triumph of the Persians ; for
these new victors sympathized with the hatred which Israel
had ever felt for idolatry.2
Being made subject in this manner to the authority of
Daniel, the Magi — Chaldean as well as Persian — could not
possibly have been ignorant of his predictions concerning
a Messiah, in which he had gone so far as to mark the
year, the month, and the hour of His Birth. They had
learned from him that the Saint of Saints, who should
receive the divine Anointment, was that very One whom
Balaam had beheld rising from Jacob like a Star.3 From
the Magi these prophecies were disseminated among the
people ; and in the time of Jesus there was a settled con
viction, cherished likewise throughout all the East, that a
King was to arise from Judea, who should conquer the
world.4 In the midst of this expectancy a strange Star 5 shone out
suddenly in the eastern sky.6 The Magi always followed
the course of the stars attentively ; in the clear nights of
the Orient, when the heavens hang out all their glittering
lamps, they had remarked this Star, and recognized it as
the signal for some great marvel. And at the same time
their hearts as well as their eyes were opened to admit
the light which heralded the Christ ; they recalled to each
i Danl. v. 11.
2 S. Epiphanius, Adversus Heereses, lib. iii.
3 Num. xxiv. 17.
4 This report had even come to the ears of Suetonius and Tacitus :
" Pererebuerat Oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis ut, eo
tempore, Judaea profecti, rerum potirentur " (Seutonius, Vespasianus, 4;
Tacitus, Historioz, lib. v. cap. xiii. ).
5 As to the nature of this phenomenon, see Appendix IV.
" Matt. ii. 2.

64 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
other the Star of Jacob and of Judea, and three from
among them resolved to travel afar in search of Him of
whose approach the heavens were telling.
Whether they set out from Babylon, from Persepolis, or
from some other city of the Parthian Empire (at that time
master of the East), the Magi must have been many long
months journeying ; J and they had proceeded apparently
without any further guidance from the Star, since we see
them entering Judea quite uncertain as to the spot where
the Messiah was to be found, and coming to Jerusalem to
clear up all their doubts. The Holy City was accustomed
to seeing within her walls caravans from the far distant
Orient, with their striking costumes, and long files of
camels laden with luggage. But great was the surprise
when these strangers were heard to inquire, " Where is the
King of the Jews who has been born ? We have seen His
Star in the East, and are come to adore Him." 2
This question, flying from lip to lip, came to the ears of
Herod. No one could be more disturbed by it than he,
conscious that his unhoped-for good fortune and his thirty
years reign had not been able to sanctify his pretensions to
royalty in his subjects' eyes. In vain had he espoused the
daughter of the last kings of Judea, in order to make them
forget his origin ; none the less did the blood of Ishmael
and of Esau flow in his veins ; and the Scribes loved to
recall that he had been "the servant of the Asmoneans."3
Powerless to appease this bitter hatred, the usurper could
know no repose ; and in his dread of any rivalry, he shed
the blood of his family in torrents. No remnant of the
race of the Machabees being left alive, he had hoped, at
last, to reign without further strife, when the rumor bruited
abroad reached his ears, — that certain strangers were
seeking in Jerusalem for a new-born King of the Jews.
At once the tyrant's jealousy was aroused to a savager
1 They had been travelling for about four months if they came from
Persia (Greswell, Dissertations on a Harmony of the Gospel, vol. ii. dissert.
xviii.), or seventy days if they started from Chaldea (S. John Chrysostom,
Ad Stagir. ii. 6. )
- Matt. ii. 2.
3 Sanhedrin, 19 a, b ; Baba-Bathra, 3 b.

THE EPIPHANY. 65
intensity than ever. So, it was no longer the extinguished
race of the Machabees, but that of David, which now
threatened him ; for this unknown Babe, destined to the
throne, could be none other than the Messiah ; and it was
easy to see from the excitement which pervaded the city
that all Jerusalem was reading the occurrence in that
light. Dissembling his fears, in order to strike a better directed
blow,1 Herod convened a council composed of High-Priests
and Scribes,2 and ordered them to declare where the
Messiah should be born. The answer could not be
misunderstood. " In Bethlehem of Juda," they said ; " for it is written,
' And thou Bethlehem, land of Juda, thou art not the last
among the principalities of Juda, for from thee shall
spring the Chief Who shall feed the flock of Israel, My
people.' " 3
These members of the Sanhedrin did not so much quote
l Matt. ii. 4-6.
2 This does not mean the whole Sanhedrin, which comprised also the
Ancients of the people ; but it was rather such members of that assembly as
had the authority to interpret the Holy Writings.
3 The citation in S. Matthew is a free paraphrase of that text : " And
thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art too little to form one chiliad of Juda, and
notwithstanding out of thee the Prince of Israel shall come forth" (Mich.
v. 2). The tribes were divided into Chiliads, ?127X, or groups of a
thousand families, each one having at its head a Chief called cynii, of
tySx, which in Hebrew signifies a thousand (Keil, Bibl. Archaologie,
par. 140). It was this last word which the Jewish doctors consulted by
Herod translated ''2^X3, "among the Chiefs," iv yyep.b<nv, instead of
'flSjO, "among the Chiliads," iv x'Xni"'"', which we find in the Sep-
tuagint. Thus, commenting freely upon the text of the Prophet, they
gave it this form, and though it departs from the original text, it renders
the thought very clearly : "Thou, Bethlehem, art not as thou seemest, in
the lowest rank among the Chiefs of the Families of Juda;" Bethlehem
being personified, and taking its rank among the princes of Israel.
Micheas had appended to Bethlehem the ancient name of that village, —
Ephrata. S. Matthew here substitutes those words, yy 'loiSa, "in the
land of Juda," in order to distinguish this Bethlehem from a town of the
same name situated in the territory of Zabulon. The last member of
the sentence, So-tis woip.avei, "who shall pasture My people Israel," is an
addition to the text of Micheas, inspired by the words of the Prophet,
which follow : " He shall feed the flock of Israel, brought back by Him
unto their God."
vol. I. — 5

66 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
the words of the prophet Micheas as they interpreted his
thought ; but Herod saw only too clearly what he had
wished to know, and his plans were at once settled.
He resolved to separate the Magi, not only from the
Jews, who must naturally be all afire with emotion at this
tale, but even from his own associates, who might well
have warned them against his hypocrisy. He summoned
them to him therefore in secret, and feigning great
interest in their quest, he made exact inquiry as to the
Star, particularly as to the time when it had made its
appearance.1 So soon as there was nothing more to learn, " Go to
Bethlehem," he said to them, " seek zealously for the child,
and as soon as you have found him make it known to me,
in order that I may go also to adore him."
And he despatched them on the instant, without guides,
without escort, thus giving no time for any warning, in
order that no one, either at Jerusalem or at Bethlehem or
among the retinue of the Magi, might suspect his inten
tions and rob him of his Victim. Night had fallen upon
the city ; Herod saw in all this the very moment adapted
to his designs. It was but to result in their confusion.
Scarcely had the Magi passed beneath the gates of
Jerusalem, when the Star shone out anew upon their gaze.2
" This sight filled them with great joy ; " for the Star,
leading them on their way, preceded them to Bethlehem,
and rested above the place where they were to find the
Babe.3 There they found only Mary and Jesus.4 Whereupon
i Matt. ii. 7, 8.
2 Matt. ii. 9-11.
8 It would seem that the adoration of the Magi did not take place in
the stable where Jesus was born, for (1) the holy record speaks of the
house, olda (Matt. ii. 11), where it occurred ; and (2) among the number
less monuments of Christian art which have represented this scene, we
only find two of an earlier date than the eleventh century in which Jesus
is depicted as lying in the manger. In every other picture Mary is seated
in her dwelling, holding Jesus in her arms.
4 From the silence of the sacred text, it appears that Joseph must have
been absent when the Magi arrived (Jansenius Yprentius, Tetrateuclius, in
Mat. ii.).

THE EPIPHANY. 67
that holy night witnessed a wondrous spectacle : at the
feet of a Virgin, clasping within her arms a young Child,
these three sages fell prostrate in the dust, and adored the
Godhead enshrined within this poor abode. Round about
them, their attendants were eagerly bestirring themselves
on all sides ; the camels too had bent their knees, while
the retainers lightened them of their precious burdens.
Then the Magi, opening these treasures, made offering of
them to Jesus. There were gold, incense, and myrrh.1
Such is the scene in the Gospel. Pious legends there
are, which add more details than one. They robe these
wise men in the royal purple, set crowns upon their brows,
depict their features and their expression; their names
even are made known to us.
" The first was called Melchior," says the Venerable
Bede. " He was an old man, with white hair and long-
beard ; he offered gold to the Lord, as to his King. The
second, Gaspar by name, young, beardless, ruddy of hue,
offered to Jesus, in his gift of incense, the homage due to
His Divinity. The third, of black complexion, with heavy
beard, was called Baltasar. The Myrrh he held within his
hand prefigured the Death of the Son of man." 2
Unhappily, these details have no authority at all ; for
it is only in the sixth century that Saint Caesar of Aries
confers upon the Magi the title of Kings, now so generally
attributed to them,3 and it is in the ninth that we find their
1 This gum, which exudes from the Balsamodendron Myrrha, has a
somewhat bitter taste. At first it is of yellowish-white color ; after a little
begins to take on light golden shades, and as it hardens becomes gradually
of a deep red (see Wiuer, Biblisches Realwbrterbueh : Myrrh).
2 Bede, De Collectaneis.
3 Everything combines to prove that the Magi were not kings. (1)
S. Matthew, whose leading motive is to set the Royalty of Jesus in
higher relief, would not have failed to draw attention to these sovereigns
bowing their majestic heads at the feet of the Monarch of Eternity ;
(2) Herod would have received them with much more ceremony ; (3) the
primitive monuments of Christian art, which show the Magi wearing the
Persian cap, never set the tiara over it, although that was the diadem of
the Persian kings. The first mosaic in which we see the Magi wearing
crowns belongs to the eighth century (Ciampini quoted by Ft. Patrizi) ;
(4) but of this we can feel sure, i.e., that even before the time of Saint
Caesar of Aries a certain few of the Fathers regarded the words of Psalm

68 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
names cited for the first time.1 Two points only appear to
be certain ; these are, that the Magi were three in number
and that Persia was their native country.2

II. The Flight into Egypt and the Holy Innocents.
Matt. ii. 12-23.
This their pious duty being discharged, the Magi were
relieved from the fulfilment of their promise to Herod ; for
God, Who had been leading them thus far, would still take
care for their return. Being warned in dreams not to ap
pear again before the king, they returned to their own
country by another road.
As soon as the Magi had departed, the Angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph while sleeping.
" Arise," he said to him ; " take the Child and His
Mother, and flee into Egypt. There you will dwell until
such time as I shall declare to you, for Herod is searching
for the Child to destroy Him."
It was still night ; 3 Joseph, rising up, took the Child and
His Mother, and set forth.4
lxxi., " Reges Tharsis et insula? munera offerent . . . etc.," as in some
sort foreshadowing the adoration of the Magi (see Patrizi, De Evangeliis,
lib. iii. dissert, xxvii. cap. ii. pars. iii.).
1 Zaccaria, Annotationes ad Tirin. , in Matt. ii. 1 .
2 The traditions of the Syrian Church increased this number to twelve ;
but it has ever been the feeling of the Church that there were but three.
To be more exact, S. Leo (440-461) is the first from whom we have
any formal testimony on this point ; however, we know that this Father
followed the ancient traditions, for the monuments in the Catacombs,
which are older than his time by two centuries at least, almost always
represent three Magi adoring the Child-God. The rare exceptions to this
rule can only be. traced to the caprice of individual artists (see P. Patrizi,
De Evangeliis, lib. iii. dissertat. xxvii. cap. ii. pars. ii. ; P. Allard, Rome
Souterraine, p. 329).
8 Nvkt6s (Matt. ii. 14).
4 We believe that is not at all improbable that the events which S. Mat
thew relates in verses 12-14 of chapter ii. should have occurred during the
space of one night. In fact, the rapid turn of the nariative, the present
tense used in the phrase ISob dyyeXos cpaiverai, which follows immediately
after dvaxupyadvruv airruv, would seem to indicate that there was no

THE FLIGHT. 69
Egypt has ever been the refuge for those unfortunates
whom persecution and famine have driven forth from the
land of Israel. From the mountains of Juda it only takes
a journey of three days to reach Rhinocolura.1 Beyond that
valley, with its narrow water-courses, Herod had no further
power ; it was Egypt. To all fugitives it offered safety
and an assured asylum ; and for this reason the Jews of the
Dispersion had once spread their colonies throughout all
the land of Mizraim, the ancient abode of their fathers.2
The Gospel tells us nothing concerning this flight of
Jesus ; doubtless this is because nothing occurred worthy
of remark. The long stretches of the Desert alone wit
nessed the passage of the Holy Family; some unknown
dwelling sheltered them ; while there was nothing of any
note about them to betray their own unparalleled distinc
tion. The design of God in sinking these early days in
the shadow was thereby to throw out in higher relief the
future splendor of the Divine Life, and not to dazzle
the gaze by such wonders as are found only in the apoc
ryphal gospels.
All in vain have the great painters of Italy immortalized
these legends : the dragons of the desert couch ant before
their Lord ; the lions and tigers bounding forward to adore
Him ; beneath His feet the sand grows green and flowering
lapse of time between the departure of the Magi and the apparition of the
Angel to S. Joseph. And, furthermore, it is enough to recall the circum
stances at this crisis to comprehend with what swiftness this incident
must have come upon all the actors in it. Bethlehem is but a two hours'
journey from Jerusalem ; would Herod, consumed as he was by restless sus
picions, have allowed anywhere from seven to ten days to elapse (as Fr.
Patrizi thinks was the case) before taking action in the premises ? The
jealousy which devoured his. peace of mind would not have permitted him
to endure such a long delay. Undoubtedly he had knowledge of the pre
cipitate departure of the Magi on the very next morning, and on the same
day ordered the massacre of the Holy Innocents.
1 To-day called Ouadi-el-Arish, that is, Nachal Mizraim, the river of
Egypt mentioned in Scripture (Num. xxxiv. 5).
2 From Alexandria and the Thebais, whither Alexander had formerly
transported them, the Jews spread throughout every known country, from
the deserts of Libya on the north as far as the frontiers of Ethiopia (Philo,
in Flaccum, ii. 523), and their colonies soon covered Cyrenaica, a part of
Libya and the African coasts of the Mediterranean (Josephus, Antiquitates,
xvi.' 7, 2).

70 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
as the Field of the Roses of Jericho ; while the palm-trees
bow down their fronded crests, disclosing their fruits to
the Fugitives.1 All these lovely pictures are but reveries
born of a fanciful devotion.
Certain local traditions merit perhaps more considera
tion. To the east of Cairo a sycamore is venerated as
having once overshadowed the Holy Family ; and near by
there bubbles up a stream whose waters (or so say the
Copts) were sweetened beneath the touch of Jesus. This
legend points out Heliopolis, the ancient On,2 as the abode
of the Saviour in Egypt; but they cannot tell us what
possible reason Joseph could have had for conducting the
Mother and the Child so far away, when he might have
found a secure shelter on the frontier. Indeed the time of
their exile was so short3 that it was probably here, on the
border, that the fugitives remained.
The precipitate departure of the Magi upset all Herod's
plans. The morbid jealousy of the tyrant, little used to
finding himself thwarted, vented itself in savage fury.
1 The Arabian Gospel of the Ciiildhood, xi., xxv. ; The Apocryphal Gos
pel of Saint Matthcio, xviii., xxiv.
- The ancient On (now-a-days known as Matareeyeh, the native country of
Asenath, wife of Joseph) received, in the time of the persecution of Anti-
ochus, a Jewish colony, which was conducted by the High-Priest Onias ;
the Sanctuary built by him in this city rivalled that of Jerusalem in splen
dor. Of this temple and of the monuments of Heliopolis there now
remain but a few scattered signs, — an obelisk, and some crumbling stone
work half buried under the green harvest lands of Matareeyah. The tree
which is still called "the Virgin's" is better preserved; it towers up
majestically in the middle of a garden, now carefully tended by the Copts,
and, despite its years, yet retains the verdure of youth. Matareeyeh is
only two hours' journey from Cairo ; a sightly and pleasant road winds
across the fields, overhung with oranges and nopals.
8 The apocryphal gospels, in order to allow some time for the perform
ance of the numberless miracles recounted by them, suppose that the
sojourn of Jesus in Egypt lasted three years (Arab. Gospel, xxvi.); S. Bonn-
venture extends it to seven. But there are much weightier reasons for
limiting this exile to a relatively short space of time ; for, on the one
hand, the massacre of the Holy Innocents took place, as we shall see, only
a little before the death of Herod ; and on the other hand, when Joseph
returned to Judea, Archelaus still bore the title of king, which he assumed
at his father's death (§a.<n\eiei, Matt. ii. 22). Some months later, Augus
tus obliged him to content himself with the more modest style of ethnarch ;
hence it could not have been long after the death of Herod that Joseph
brought back the Holy Family into Judea.

THE HOLY INNOCENTS. 71
Lacking any precise information, but only recalling what
the Magi had said about the time of the Star's appearance,
he concluded from this that the j'oung King must be yet
unweaned ; and as it is the custom with Jewish mothers
to nurse their babies for two years,1 he ordered a slaughter
of all the children of that age and under in Bethlehem
and the outlying territory.2
This cruel order was executed at once, with a brutality
which wrought most horrid anguish in those mothers'
breasts' ; for Saint Matthew tells us of the shrill screams
reechoing round about the mountains. Rachel herself
awakes from the tomb, where she sleeps at the foot of
Bethlehem,3 to mingle her mournful cries with those of the
afflicted women. Then was accomplished that which had
been foretold by the prophet Jeremy, — "A voice has been
heard upon the heights,4 great weeping and an unceasing
wail of lamentation : Rachel mourning her children, and
she will not be comforted, because they are not."
Certainly, if we take these words in their literal sense,
it was over the Jews made captives under Nabuzardan
and collected at Rama to go together into exile, — it was
over these wretched ones that Judea laments with the
voice of Rachel, the beloved spouse of Jacob ; 5 but, most
1 Ketoubot, 59 ; 2 Machab. vii. 27.
2 'OpLois, probably the dwellings and hamlets around Bethlehem.
8 Matt. ii. 17, 18. You pass the tomb of Rachel, Koubbet Rahil, as
you descend from Bethlehem, going to Jerusalem, after about a half-hour's
journey. In its present form the monument is evidently apocryphal, and
probably contains the ashes of some holy Mussulman. Nevertheless, the
traditions of Christian and Mussulman alike agree in locating the tomb of
Jacob's wife upon this spot, and the place answers very well to all we
know of the burial of Rachel (see Guerin, Judge, chap. viii. ).
4 Jerem. xxxi. 15. Rama, HDI, signifies a High Place, and the Vul
gate, in common with the Targum of Jonathas, gives it this sense in
the text of Jeremy: "Vox in excelso audita est ..." The Septuagint
and the Syriac Version, on the contrary, make it a proper name ; and
the Vulgate in the text of S. Matthew retains the name without trans
lating it : " Vox in Rama audita est . . .," etc. It is difficult to decide
where this village was situated, since the geographers have located it in
eight different places ; but evidently it must have been one of the cliff
hamlets which surround the heights of Bethlehem (see Stanley, Sinai and
Palestine, ch. iv., note on Rainah).
6 Jer. xl. 1, and the Targum of Jonathas on Jeremy xxxi. 15.

72 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
reasonably, Saint Matthew sees in this passage a portent
of the tears which should be shed over the Holy Innocents.
Indeed, nothing had ever occurred to the Israelites which
had not some secret reference to the Messiah ; sufferings
and joys, humiliations and triumphs, each after their own
manner, were for a figure of that which should be perfectly
fulfilled in Jesus. The bereavement celebrated by Jeremy
was thus in reality a prophecy of the nioanings and wails
which would rise over the first-fruits of our martyrs.1
This massacre made little stir in Judea ; and Rama alone
hearkened to the piercing shrieks of the mothers. In
those days what mattered the sacrifice of a few 2 little chil
dren to a monarch's caprice ? Antiquity had small respect
for babyhood ;3 furthermore, the reign, now just at its close,
had been nothing but a tissue of murders, tortures, and
atrocious cruelties ; so that, according to the address of the
Jewish ambassadors to Augustus, " the living coveted the
lot of the victims."4 Under such circumstances one can
conceive how easily profane historians might pass over a
deed so unimportant in their eyes.5
1 Moreover, it is enough to read over the entire chapter in order to con
vince one's self that the Prophet's glance was taking in events far beyond
that present captivity of Rama and the return from Babylon, even to the
distant days of the Saviour ; for he announces that in this same time of
which he is speaking there shall be a marvellous Childbirth, a gracious
law written deep in their hearts, and a new pledge destined to cast the
ancient Testament into the shadow (Jerem. xxxi. 15, 22, 31-35).
2 The number of the Holy Innocents has been exaggerated ; Bethlehem
being a mere village, there could not have been any great multitude which
would fall under the conditions of Herod's barbarous order.
3 Suetonius (Augustus, 94) tells us that at the time Augustus was bom,
there was a prediction which announced the near advent of a Child who
should reign over the world. In order to preclude any such danger which
might menace the existence of the Republic, the Senate ordered all the
babies born in that year to be exposed or otherwise left to perish. Happily,
those senators whose wives were with child prevented the execution of this
decree, each one of them hoping that the prophecy might refer to his own
infant son.
4 Josephus, Antiquitates, xvii. 11, 2.
5 Josephus' silence on this point has nothing surprising about it j it is
a well-known fact that this historian and courtier wrote rather for the
Romans, and not at all for his fellow-countrymen. This is why he affects
such lofty indifference in regard to the religious sects, which were then
absorbing the mind of all Judea. If he scarcely deigns to mention the

THE HOLY INNOCENTS. 73
Nevertheless, Augustus seems to have had some knowl
edge of the fact, for Macrobius has preserved this charac
teristic speech of his : " Upon the news that Herod had
sacrificed his own son, among the children of two years of
age butchered by him in Syria, ' It were far pleasanter,'
quoth the Emperor, ' to be Herod's sow than his son.' " a
This imperial pun supposes a confusion as to the facts, —
quite natural on the part of Augustus, who must have
learned of this massacre as coincident with the news of
the murder of Antipater, who had been the fomenter of a
new revolt against his father. It could not have been in
vented later on, in the Christian centuries ; for then the
immolation of these first martyrs had attained an unparal
leled importance in all minds. At all events, this sally
of Augustus is not simply a valuable witness of the fact
as recounted by Saint Matthew, but it even enables us to
fix the date also, since it was but five days before his
death that Herod delivered his son into the hands of
the executioner.2
Not that God had delayed His visitation of the tyrant
until this moment. A horrid disease, which Heaven seems
to reserve for persecutors,3 had been corroding and consum
ing his body, little by little. Our pen would refuse to
copy the picture drawn by Josephus ; it is enough to say
that the corruption of the tomb devoured him during life
itself. A prey to insupportable agonies, he sought some
relief in the warm baths of Callirhoe ; but he was forced to
return to his superb palace, overshadowed by the palm-
name of Jesus, why should we be surprised that he says nothing of the
death of the Holy Innocents ? (As to this silence of Josephus, see Mill,
Observations on the Application of Pantheistic Principles, p. 291. )
1 " Melius est Herodis porcum (Sv) esse, quam filium (vim) " (Macrobius,
Saturnal., lib. ii. 4). It is easy to understand the allusion in this play
upon words, if we remember that the Jews could not eat pork. In fact,
Macrobius, who relates it, lived in the fifth century of our era ; but he
drew his matter from much more ancient writings. Mill has learnedly
established the authenticity of this fact ( Observations on the Application of
Pantheistic Principles, p. 292).
2 Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, i. 33, 8.
3 Antiochus Epiphanes, Maximian, and Diocletian succumbed to
Phthiarisis.

74 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
trees of Jericho, and there stretch himself upon a bed of
torture. Vexatious tidings found their way thither to
irritate his frenzied spirit. A rumor of his death bad
reached Jerusalem, and a golden eagle, placed by him over
the gate of the Temple, had been torn down. The culprits
were two famous scribes, Judas and Mathias. After being
dragged to Jericho, with forty of their disciples, they were
burned alive ; l but their death only added to Herod's hideous
terrors. Succumbing at last to the extremity of his suffer
ings, he attempted to shorten their duration, and thereafter
recovered consciousness only long enough to order that
horrible execution of his son. His last thought was worthy
of such a life ; he was determined that tears should be
shed at his funeral, and, knowing it was impossible to
expect those of affection, he collected into the Hippo
drome of Jericho the Chiefs of the great Jewish Fam-
lies, that he might have them butchered at the hour of
his death. The order was not executed ; 2 but it is well
to recall it just here, as it enables us to comprehend
how the massacre of the Holy Innocents would be
passed over almost unnoticed in the midst of the tor
rents of blood which the tyrant spilled in the delirium
of his last days.
Herod's end was so impatiently awaited that the news
must have been carried, far and wide, in a short space;
but the Angel of the Lord anticipated its arrival in
Egypt. He appeared to Joseph during his sleep, and said to
him : 3 " Arise, take the Child and the Mother, and return
to the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the life
of the Child."
Joseph rose up immediately, and set out toward Judea.
Saint Matthew, always intent upon setting forth the ac-
1 The date on which these unfortunate Zealots were put to the torture
has been fixed as the twelfth of March, in the year 750 of Rome ; for
Josephus says that on that same night there was an eclipse of the moon
(see Ideler, Handbuch der Chronologic, vol. ii. p. 28 ; Wieseler, Chrono
logische Synopse, p. 56).
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xvi. and xvii.
3 Matt. ii. 19-21.

THE HOLY INNOCENTS. 75
complishment of the prophecies in Jesus, upon this event
refers to that line from Osee :: " I have called My Son out
of Egypt," whose terms apply both to the Exodus of Israel
and to the return of the Child-Jesus. It was a habit with
the Jewish people to consider their very existence and
their history as the outlines of the coining Messiah ; and
this made the connection very striking for the first readers
of this Gospel.
Joseph's intention was to settle in Bethlehem ; his
thoughts often recurred thither ; and, more than all else,
was it not expedient that the Child, Who was destined to
rule over the world, should dwell near to Jerusalem and
His Temple ? But on the road the Holy Family learned
that Archelaus reigned in the place of his father. Judea
had only changed the person of her tyrant ; for, as his first
essay in infamy, the son of Herod had already put to the
sword, within the Temple walls, three thousand of his sub
jects. Joseph dared not expose the Treasure confided to
him' to such perils. He lifted his eyes heavenwards, and
Heaven made answer, in a dream, that he should retire into
Galilee. At his death Herod had bequeathed this province
to another of his sons, Herod Antipas. Under this ruler,
of a corrupt but careless character, the Diviue Child would
incur fewer dangers ; for this reason Joseph returned to
dwell in Nazareth ; 2 and thus was fulfilled what had been
said by the Prophets, — " that Jesus should be called a
Nazarene."3 This was not so much any particular prediction (as
Saint Matthew refers to it), as it was a thought often
uttered by the Prophets ; the Messiah was to be " The
-Netzer," that is to say-, the Flower, that shall crown the
rod of Jesse. On its side, Nazareth took its name from
the same stem, in allusion to the beauty of its site — for
1 Matt. ii. 15 ; Osee xi. 1. " Quod scriptum est : Parvulus Israel, et
dilexi ilium, et ex .Egypto vocavi filium meum ; dieitnr quidem de populo
Israel, qui vocatur ex vEgypto, qui diligitur, qui eo tempore post errorem
idololatriae quasi infans et parvulus est vocatus ; sed perfecte refertur ad
Christum " (S. Jerome, in Osee, xi.).
2 Luke ii. 39.
3 Matt. ii. 23.

76 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
" it was the flower of Galilee." J We do not know how this
word, which from its origin could evoke none but the
sweetest reminiscences, in the end lost all loveliness in
their eyes ; indeed, for the Jews, " the Nazarene " was
unmistakably a term of contempt, and apparently it was
in order to upraise it to a new dignity that Saint Matthew
recalls how Jesus once dwelt in Nazareth, was hailed by
its name,2 and was thus the Flower of Israel.
1 "Ibimus ad Nazareth, et juxta interpretalioneni nominis ejus, Florem
videbimus Galilea? " (S. Jerome, Ejiist. xlvi.).
2 "Safapaios. This word does not signify that Jesus was vowed to the
Lord by the vows of the Nazarite. In fact, the Hebrew word which
is used to designate this consecration is "WJ, a different root from 1XJ,
a bough, a branch, a flower, from which the name of Nazareth was taken.
S. Jerome tells us that the first doctors among the Jews converted to
Christianity considered that this Prophecy of which S. Matthew is speak
ing was to be found in all those passages of holy writ where the Messiah is
represented as a Branch, bearing fresh flowers and leaves, upon the trunk
of Jesse (Isai. liii. 2 ; Jerem. xxiii. 5 ; Zachar. vi. 12), and particularly in
that figure in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah : "An offshoot shall spring
from the stem of Jesse, and over above these roots a branch shall rise
bearing its crown of fruit." S. Matthew does not indeed quote any
special prophecy, and speaks only in general terms, dia. ruv trpotpyruv
(Matt. ii. 23).

CHAPTER VI.
JESUS AT NAZARETH.
I. The Childhood of Jesus.
Luke ii. 40.
All that we know of the Childhood of Jesus is com
prised in those words of Saint Luke : " The Child grew,
and waxed strong in the fulness of wisdom, and the grace
of God was upon Him." There was therefore a trans
itional period in the life of Jesus, — a period of growth
in body, which grew like that of other children, — a period
of progress, even " of the soul, which fortified itself,"
according to another reading of the sacred text.1
How are we to understand this interior development of
Jesus ? The common feeling is that His wisdom and His
power declared itself by degrees, although he possessed
them in their plenitude even from His Conception ; and
hence this increase in strength was only an apparent'
progress. However, we should not forget that the Saviour
willed not only to appear, but to be in reality, a Child ;
now, it is the law of childhood that, just as the organs, at
1 Luke ii. 40. Ylvevptari is an addition which we find in the Alexan
drine Manuscript and the Syriac Version ; it is very rightly rejected by
Lachmann, Tregelles, and Teschendorf, for it has weighty authorities
against it, — the Vulgate, the manuscripts of the Vatican and of Sinai,
and the Codex Bezas. Salmeron gives this interpretation of it : "Hoc ad
interiorem hominem pertinet, quod scilicet per aetatis incrementa auge-
batur." However, this reading is a very valuable gloss, for it fixes the
sense of the otherwise vague expression, iKparaiovro.

78 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
first imperfect, develop little by little, so the intelligence
awakes in perfect concord with it.1 Since Jesus was once
a Child, did He too submit Himself to the gentle influ
ences of age and its changeful growth ? Yet, if we admit
this point, how are we to reconcile that absolute Omni
science possessed by the Man-God in virtue of the Hypo
static Union, with any intellectual increase, however small
we may consider it to have been, even were it no more
than an experimental knowledge, as many theologians
define it ? 2 Here there is, we must confess, an inexplicable
problem ; and it were wiser by far to humble our minds
before it, than to insist stubbornly upon a satisfactory
solution. We believe, with firm faith, that Jesus is the
Son of God, that He is God even as is the Father, and by
this He is always infinitely wise, infinitely mighty ; on
the other hand, we read in the Gospel that Jesus was
really a Child, and that He grew, in age, in grace, in wis
dom. No one of these truths involves a contradiction ;
certainly we do not know how they were reconciled in
Him ; and yet, if it were otherwise, the Incarnation would
cease to be — what God has willed that it should forever
be — a Mystery, which escapes the grasp of our reason
without shocking or contradicting it.
However it may have been with the interior life of
Jesus, outwardly at least there was nothing to distinguish
Him from the children among whom He lived, and in
Mary's arms He appears to us as Bossuet has painted
1 "Christus non habuit regulariter ullam operationem humanam nisi
dependenter ab organis et dispositionibus connaturalibus, sicut alii homines:
nee loquebatur ab infantia . . . ergo non habuit operationem humans
phantasiae ante organ um bene dispositnm, ergo nee operationem humanam
intelligendi, quia hoac tarn pendet a phantasiat, quam phantasma ab organo
disposito" (De Lugo, disp. xxi. sect. i. n. 5, 11).
2 "Scientiam simpliciter aequisitam in Christo fuisse per se clarum
videtur, nee apparet quomodo ea negatii, praesertim quatenus empirica est,
sine specie quadam Docetismi, infantia, pueritia, tota vita Jesu Christi
explicari possit . . . De tempore et modo quo cceperit Christus habere
hanc scientiam, valde pro'babilis videtur sententia Card, de Lugo fuisse
paulatim et progressu aetatis communicatam. Cum enim hujus scientiae
usus non sit independens ab organis corporeis, videtur certe Deus initinm
et incrementum ejus accommodasse ipsi naturali constitutioni organorum "
(Franzelin, De Verba incarnaio, sect. iii. cap. ii. th. 42).

JESUS AT NAZARETH. 79
Him : " Thou lovely Babe ! Happy were they who gazed
upon Thee, stretching forth Thy anus from out the swad
dling bands, lifting up little fingers to caress Thy holy
Mother ; now, upheld by her firm hands, adventuring Thy
first short steps; now practising Thy baby-tongue with
stammerings of the praise of God, Thy Father! I wor
ship Thee, dear Child, at every stage of Thy divine growth,
the while Thou art nursed at her pure breasts, or while,
with feeble wails of infancy, Thou dost call for her, or
while Thou dost repose upon her bosom, clasped in her
warm arms." x
The mysterious tide of this divine Childhood passed
away in the obscure village in which Joseph and Mary
dwelt. We know already the name of their retreat ; it
will suffice to describe its site, to make it understood why
Jesus loved Nazareth, and preferred it to any other abode.
Judea is scarcely more than a succession of hill-ranges,
running from the north to the south, at some distance
from the Mediterranean. In the west they slope down
to the sea-shore ; in the east they are broken suddenly, to
leave a passage through which the Jordan flows, hemmed
in by their steep walls and that of the mountains of Hau- i
ran. Thus four parallel lines of hills make up the whole
of Palestine ; the plains along the sea-board, the high
lands of Juda, the bed of the Jordan, and, beyond that,
the hills of Perea. Only one valley, that of Esdralon,
breaking through it transversely, cuts the first chain into
two parts : one of these stretches north to the Libanus, —
this is Galilee ; the other extends south as far as the
desert, — that is the land of Juda.
Nazareth belongs to Galilee, and nestles down along the
mountain-side, shielded from the plain of Esdralon by the
many hill-tops which are crossed by those winding foot
paths and steep, hilly roads. On the confines of the vil
lage these crests stand apart for a space (as it were), so to
encircle with their wooded heights a. grassy vale. Some
scholars have presumed that this verdant amphitheatre
was once the crater of au extinct volcano, and indeed the
1 Bossuet, Elevations sur les mysteres, xxe semaine, lre elevation.

SO THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
fertility of the spot supports their conjecture. In fact,
Palestine has no more smiling glade than this little valley
of Nazareth. Antoninus the Martyr compares it to a
paradise. " Its women are of an incomparable grace," he
says, " and their beauty, which surpasses that of all the
maidens of Juda, is a gift from Mary. As for its wines,
its honey, its oil and its fruits, it yields not the palm
even to fruitful Egypt." 2 To-day Nazareth has lost these
glories ; but it still has its meadows, its shady hollows,
watered by cool springs, its gardens of nopal and fig trees,
where the olive mingles with orange and pomegranate
trees, in fruit and in flower. To the southwest, the village
spreads down the slope of the mountain, and the campanile
of the Latin Convent marks the location of the abode
of Jesus.
Nazareth has no other horizon beside this circle of
wooded eminences, which shut it in on every side, but
from the brow of the hillside on which the village is built
Jesus could in one glance embrace all that territory
which He had come to conquer : to the north, the moun
tain peaks of Libanus and Hermon, covered with eternal
snows ; to the east, Mount Tabor, like a dome of verdure,
then the deep river-bed of the Jordan, and the high table
lands of Galahad ; from its southern side, the plain of
Esdralon reached from His feet as far as the mountains of
Manassah ; on the east was the Sea, and Cavmel, with its
many reminders of Elias.
Galilee of the Gentiles, as its name a indicates, did not
form a little world by itself, like the land of Juda. Its
inhabitants were of various races. Phoenicians peopled
the frontier of Tyre and of Sidon ; mingling with the
Jews were Arabs and Assyrians, who together cultivated
the fields of that province ; a few Greek colonies occupied
the towns of the Decapolis ; and, over all, the garrisons of
Rome held the whole country in their grasp.
Amid these surroundings the early years of Jesus were
passed. Outwardly the same as other children, He received
1 Antoninus the Martvr, Itinerarium, v.
2 Is. ix. 1 ; Matt. iv. 15.

JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS. 81
from Mary and from Joseph the simple lessons which the
Law prescribed ; J at His Mother's knee he learned to read
the Scriptures, which only spoke of Him ; but Mary knew
What He was, and though charged with the duty of in
structing Him, she never forgot that He must be the
Object of her adoration.

II. JESDS AMONG THE DOCTORS.
Luke ii. 41-50.
Along about His twelfth year,2 the young Jew found
Himself, in a certain measure, exempt from the family
government. Having entered the synagogue, He had be
gun already to bind about His brows the phylacteries, —
long bands of parchment, covered with sacred texts, — and
was become " a Son of the Law," and so subject to its
prescriptions. One of paramount importance was to visit
Jerusalem at the Feast of the Pasch. The parents of
Jesus acquitted themselves of their duty faithfully ; and
although custom did not insist upon the presence of the
women,3 Mary accompanied her spouse. The Saviour was
1 Exod. xii. 26 ; Deut. iv. 9, vi. 7, 20 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15. Kitto, Cyclo
paedia : Education. Doubtless it was from this custom that Christian art
obtained the idea of representing the Child Jesus learning to read at the
knees of Mary. It is a pious fiction which in no wise offends dogmatic
truth ; for the Saviour, despite His infinite Wisdom, desired to be obedient
both to the Law and to His parents, even in the slightest details.
2 Aben Esra, in Gen. xvii. 14 (Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums, iii. 3, 1),
informs us that having arrived at his thirteenth year, the child was made
subject to the Law. According to this, Jesus, being only twelve years of
age, simply attended the Feast as accompanying His family. The Fathers
held a contrary opinion, and assure us that on this occasion Jesus took His
part in the legal ceremonies ; for the rest, the rule which obliged the Jews
to go up to Jerusalem for the Pasch was probably made to include all the
male children : " exceptis surdo, stulto, puerulo ; puerulus autem ille
dicitur, qui nisi »¦ patre manu trahatur, incedere non valet " (Bartolocci,
Bibliotheca magna Rabbinica, vol. ii. p. 132 ; Lightfoot, Horm Hebraicoz, in
Luc. ii.).
3 "Pascha feminarum est arbitrium" (Kiddouschin, fol. 61, 3 ; Sehoett-
gen, Horai Hebraicce, vol. i. p. 266).

82 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
twelve years old when, for the first time doubtless, He
made the journey to Jerusalem with His Family.1
The pilgrims from Galilee, because they feared the vio
lence of the Samaritans, usually were loath to cross over
tlieir country.2 It may be believed that the hatred of the
sectaries was not so active at this moment; for the tradi
tions declare that, both going and coming, the Holy Family
followed the direct road, which passes close by Siehem.
By this route Nazareth is distant from Jerusalem some
thirty-two leagues, and the trip would take a slow-travel
ling caravan not less than three or four days. To the
south of the valley of Esdralon, the springs and groves of
Eu-Ganuini afford a first camping-spot for the pilgrims.
From thence, after crossing the hill-country of Manassab,
on the second evening, the tents are pitched near Jacob's
Well, at the foot of Mounts Ebal and Garizim. Beeroth
with its fountains was the customary stopping-place for the
third day.3 After this there remained only some three
hours' travel, and hence the next morning would find them
within the walls of Jerusalem.
In that city the Holy Family passed the seven days of
the Passover.4 And on the day following the caravans
were gathered together for their departure ; that of Galilee,
which was composed of many thousands of persons,5 was
never ready for the start until near mid-day ; for tradition 6
points out Beeroth as the spot where, at nightfall, Joseph
and Mary were first made aware of the absence of Jesus.
One is at a loss to understand, upon first thoughts, how
they were so slow- to take alarm ; but it must be remem
bered that Jerusalem, during the Passover Season, was
1 Luke ii. 42.
. 2 See in Appendix VI. how the Samaritans 'formed a separate nation in
the midst of Judea, and were the hereditary foes of the people of God.
3 This route is poetically described by Farrar ( The Life of Christ, vol. i.
chap, vi.), and with more exactness in Murray's Handbook for Palestine.
4 TeKeiuodvruv rhs yp,ipas (Luke ii. 43).
5 Galilee was the most densely populated part of Palestine (Josephus,
Bellum Juda'icum, iii. 3, 2).
6 This is given by Quaresmius as being a very ancient tradition (Eluci-
Oatio Term sancloz, t. ii.) (See Guerin, Description de la Judge, t. iii.
pp. 7-9). •

JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS. 83
, thronged with two or three million pilgrims,1 and in con
sequence caravans were formed amidst the greatest con
fusion. It was only when the long files of travellers with
camels and mules had left the city gates far behind them,
that it became possible to collect together one's own party,
and to keep some order. Kindred and friends were then
united, the women and the old people mounted upon beasts
of burden, the men on foot, leading the way, while, as
they journeyed along, they chanted their sacred hymns.2
The parents of Jesus not seeing Him, would think that
He had joined some other band, and thus they would pur
sue their way, expecting Him to rejoin them when the
Caravan came to a halt at eventide.3
But their search for Him then among the crowd was a
vain one : Jesus was not to be found ; and their anxiety
was very great, for Judea was then in an uproar of sedi
tion. The exile of Archelaus, recently deposed by Au
gustus, had resulted in the reduction of his kingdom iuto
a Roman province and the imposition of additional taxes.
At this new badge of servitude the people revolted, and
the excitement raised by the insurrections of Sadoc and
Judas the Gaulonite was still agitating them. In such
troublous times, amid the wild crews which were scouring
over the country, what perils might not menace a lost
child !
Joseph and Mary returned immediately to Jerusalem.4
For the space of two nights and two days, all along the
wayside and through the Holy City, they continued the
fruitless search. Only upon the third day did they dis
cover the Child, " seated in the Temple, in the midst of
the Doctors, hearing them and asking them questions, the
1 Josephus, who speaks 'of them as being an innumerable multitude,
also relates that when Cestius issued an order to count the lambs immo
lated for the Passover, they reported the number as two hundred and fifty-
six thousand. Now, as each lamb was eaten by a group of from ten to
twenty persons, the number of Jews who took part in this Passover must
have been about three millions (Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, ii. 1, 3 ;
vi. 9, 3.)
2 At such times the Psalms of the Degrees (cxx.-cxxxii.) were chanted.
* Luke ii. 44.
4 Luke ii. 45-47.

84 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
while all those who heard Him were astonished at His
discretion and at His answers."
How came it that Jesus should be found in this place
and in such noble company ? The Jewish Doctors were
accustomed to meet upon Sabbath-days in one of the lofty
halls of the Temple,1 and would there solve any difficulties
occurring in the interpretation of the Law. In the time of
the Pasch particularly, when Jews from all over the world
flocked to Jerusalem, there were great throngs about these
far-famed masters, eager to be instructed by them. The
Divine Child mingled among their auditors ; those ques
tions of His, so profound in their simplicity, attracted the
attention of the Doctors, who were soon surrounding Him,
eager to question and to hear Him.2 And such was the
charm of His discourse that it held these sages of Israel
fast captives to His voice.
This congregation was not unworthy to hearken to Him,
for it was made illustrious by men of most venerable au
thority ; Hillel,3 revered as the peer of Moses, habited still
iu all the majesty of a noble old age ; the unyielding
Shamniai,4 who bound all that Hillel loosed ; Jonathas,
son of Uziel, whose speech was so fiery that the birds
(says the Talmud), as they passed above his head,
were either burned, or were transformed into Seraphim.5
Grouped about these, the parents of Jesus might have
seen Rabban Simeon as well, — he who had foretold to
Mary her future griefs; probably there, too, were Joseph
of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, whom Grace was shortly to
allure.6 But even more than the aspect of this company
1 The Sanhedrin, together with the Scribes, ordinarily assembled in the
Hall of Gazith, a vast basilica built of square blocks of stone erected by
Simon ben Shetah (110 B. o. ) ; it was not far from the Priests' Porches
and the Court of the Israelites (see Kitto, Cyclopaedia: Sanhedrin).
2 " Interrogabat magistros, non ut aliquid disceret, sed ut interrogans
erudiret" (Origen, Homilia, xix. , in Luc).
3 According to the dates given by Sepp in his Life of Jesus, Hillel,
though very aged, would still be living at this time (Leben Jesu, B. i.
K. xxi.).
4 "Shammai ligat, Hillel solvit" (Mischna, passim).
5 Soucca, 28 ; Baba-bathra, 134.
6 Sepp (Leben Jesu, B. i. K. xxi.) has collected various details, as abun
dant as they are curious, concerning these different personages, their manner

JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS. 85
did the part played by their Son overwhelm them with
amazement. He in Whom, thus far, they had seen only'
a thoughtful, recollected Child, sedulous to conceal the
Divinity inherent in Him, — He now discloses Himself
suddenly as a superior Being, overawing by His questions
and replies these old men of consummate learning.
Still the marvellous character of this scene could not
make Mary quite forget all that she had been made to
suffer, and her tremulous heart overflowed in this tender
reproach :
" My Son, why treat us thus ? Your father and I have
sought You sorrowing."
Jesus was content to recall to Mary's mind that His
only Father was in the heavens.
" Why did you seek Me ? " He said ; " did you not know
that indeed I must be about My Father's business ? " x
But even this reply, — the first sentence from the Sav
iour's lips which has come down to us, — this His word
neither Joseph nor Mary comprehended. The humble
Virgin herself makes the avowal by that line in Saint
Luke's narrative:2 "And His parents did not understand
what He had said to them ? "
All she could do, then, was to engrave upon her mem
ory everything she saw and heard that day. As for Jesus,
He invested Himself again in the same serene silence as
of old, and now the veil which had covered His Childhood
once more screens from our view the eighteen years which
are to follow.
of life, their doctrine, and their disciples. The Scribes of the lower class
revered them as oracles (Cf. Lightfoot, Horm Hebraicai, in Matt. xvi. 19;
and Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums, ii. 3, 13).
1 Luke ii. 48, 49. That commentary of Euthymius, " Is it not befitting
for Me to be in My Father's house, in this Temple which is His abode ? "
unnecessarily restricts the deeper significance of rhose words. The Vulgate
leaves them their natural sense by putting it under this general form: " In
iis quae Patris Mei sunt oportet Me esse : Does it not behoove Me to
be about My Father's business ? " — about all things which concern His
interests ?
2 Luke ii. 50.

86 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
III. The Hidden Life of Jesus at Nazareth.
Luke ii. 51-52.
" Jesus went down to Nazareth with His parents ; there
He was subject to them, and He increased in wisdom, in
age. and in grace before God and before man." Saint Luke
here reiterates of the Youth of the Saviour what he had
formerly said of His Childhood. He grew in accordance
with the laws of that Humanity wherewith He had clothed
Himself, and this external life had nothing to the outward
view but what was natural and ordinary : only it was an
irreproachable life and an unpretentious one. Those who
saw Jesus in the days of His hidden life, beheld before
their eyes only a poor laborer toiling in his workshop.
Joseph was a carpenter; Jesus was one like him. His
countrymen recognized Him as such when He preached in
the synagogue of Nazareth.
" Is not this fellow, here, the carpenter, Mary's son ? " l
they cried out.
It was a custom among the Jews for every child, what
ever his rank or fortune might be, to learn some mechani
cal art.2 It was then doubly necessary for Jesus to work
with His hauds, for the Holy Family was poor, and their
only means of livelihood were drawn from this handicraft
of Joseph.
Everything leads us to suppose that the latter died dur
ing the hidden life of the Saviour ; indeed his name ap
pears no more in the Gospel, neither at the bridal banquet
i Mark vi. 3.
2 The dignity of manual labor, its healthful effects upon the body,
which is strengthened by it, and upon the conduct of life, which is puri
fied by it, were traths never unheeded by the Jews, as among the Greeks
and Latins. S. Paul mended tents ; R. Ismael, the illustrious astron
omer and rival of Gamaliel II., made needles (Jerusal., Berachot, iv. 1);
R. Jose was a tanner (Sabbath, 49 b) ; R. Jochanan a shoemaker, etc.
" Labor is the workman's honor and dignity," says R. Judah (Nedarim,
49 b). Hence, all these most illustrious doctors took care to have some
mechanical art ; having this, they had the means of gaining a livelihood
and preserving their independence. ^See Kitto, Cyclopaedia: Education ;
Sepp, Leben Jesu, B. i. K. xxiii.)

JESUS AT NAZARETH. 87
in Can a, nor at the departure for Capharnaum,1 nor amid
any of those other circumstances in which the relations of
the Christ are mentioned. Besides this, would Jesus have
left Mary to Saint John if her husband had been still
alive ? 2 Joseph died in Nazareth, therefore, in the arms of
Mary, aud with the kiss of peace upon his lips from the
Lord Himself. Jesus was left alone to be the support of
His Mother ; and so He busied Himself in that carpenter's
workshop at Nazareth, handling the saw and the plane.
In its infancy, the Church was wont to recall, for the
reverent remembrance of the faithful, those ploughs and
yokes which His divine hands once fashioned from the
rough wood.3
It may be that Jesus did not always dwell alone in that
quiet home. According to a tradition mentioned by Euse-
bius, a sister of the Holy Virgin, like her called Mary,4 had
married a brother of Joseph, named Alpheus or Cleophas.5
He too must have died during Jesus' sojourn in Nazareth,
for the Gospel observes the same silence concerning him
that it does as to Joseph. But for the two sisters, it
would seem that they kept together; and the numerous
children of Mary, wife of Cleophas, are those brothers and
sisters of Jesus of whom the townspeople spoke in these
terms : " Are not His brethren named James, Joseph,
Simon, and Jude ? and are not His sisters all here amongst
us ? " 6 It is the usage in Sacred Scripture, and is, in fact, a
general custom in the Greek language,7 to call even distant
kinsfolk brethren. That term, therefore, only refers to
these four cousins of Jesus. As for the daughters of Mary
and Alpheus, who lived in the household of the Saviour,
we know neither their names nor their number. However
these words : " Are they not all here among us ? " leave it
to be supposed that there were at least three.8
1 John ii. 1, 11, 12. 2 Mark vi. 8 ; Matt. xiii. 55.
3 S. Justin, Contra Trypkonem, 88. 4 John xix. 25.
5 Hegesippus, apud Eusebium, Historia ecclesiastica, lib. iii. cap. xi.
6 Mark vi. 3.
7 Gen. xiii. 8, xiv. 14 ; Lev. xxv. 48 ; Job xix. 13 ; Xeuophon, Cyro-
pcedia, i. 5, 47 ; Isocrates, Panegyricus, 20 ; Plato, Phwdrus, 57.
8 As to these brethren of the Lord, see Appendix V.

88 THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
Two of their brothers are better known ; we shall en
counter them shortly among the Apostles. James, son of
Alpheus, is that " brother of the Lord " whom Saint Paul
wanted to see, together with Peter, and whom he hailed as
one of the pillars of the Church.1 His sturdy virtue got
for him the surname of The Just. " Consecrated to God
from the womb of his mother, he drank nor wine, nor
strong liquor, and abstained from animal food. Never had
the razor been passed over his locks, never did he use fine
oil to anoint his limbs." 2 Jude, the brother of James,3 had
not, like him, this austerity of the Nazarite ; but it was as
a tribute to his generosity that he was given the name of
Lebbeus (Thaddeus), " the Man of Heart," 4 by which he is
distinguished in the Gospel.
These characteristics were not, however, unfolded until
later on, beneath the breath of the Holy Spirit. At Naz
areth the kindred of the Saviour had no higher thoughts
than such as were common to their contemporaries; all
their desires limited to the enjoyment of the good things
of this earth. At the outset of the Ministry of Jesus, they
understood so little what was His divine Mission that they
set out upon a day to bring Him back by force to their
home, and to constrain Him to take some nourishment :
" He is becoming mad," 5 they said. Used as they were to
see in Jesus one of their own household, the cousins of
the Saviour were apparently the last to believe in Him ;
and if, seeing the marvels worked by their " Brother," they
did finally follow Him, it was in the hope of finding the
wealth and honors they coveted.
The following fact related by Saint John hardly leaves
any doubt about this point.
It was just as the Feast of the Tabernacles was drawing
near, in the last year of Jesus ; He had not more than six
months to live. His brethren came to Him :
1 Matt. x. 3 ; Gal. i. 19, ii. 9.
2 Hegesippus, apud Eusebium, Historia ecclesiastica, ii. 23.
3 Luke vi. 16.
4 Matt. x. 3 ; Mark iii. 18. 3S, heart ; in, breast.
6 Mark iii. 20, 21.

JESUS AT NAZARETH. 89
" Come out from Galilee," x they cried, " aud go into
Judea, so that your disciples may see the works which
you do; for no man does such things in secret when he
wishes to show himself publicly. Since you are doing
these things, manifest yourself to the world."
" Even His brethren," adds Saint John, sadly, " did not
believe in Him." And still it was in their society that
Jesus of Nazareth lived. These laborers, more engrossed
in earthly cravings than careful for the things of Heaven,
shared in His tasks, gathered around the same family
table, sat by the same fireside, were witnesses of His
days and nights. And thus Jesus, by partaking of them,
has hallowed those daily trials of our daily life, which
Heaven mingles with the joys of home and family,
and which make for the probation and salvation of so
many souls. 1 John vii. 2-5.

BOOK SECOND.

THE BEGINNINGS

OF THE

MINISTRY OF JESUS.

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^4wrf Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water ;
and lo, the heavens were opened, and He saw THE SPIRIT
OF GOD descending as a Dove and coming upon Him. And
behold a VOICE from Heaven, saying :
" This is My beloved SON, in Whom I am well pleased !"

SAINT MATTHEW.
iii. 16, 17.

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY
OF JESUS.

CHAPTER I.
THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES IN WHICH JESUS
EXERCISED HIS MINISTRY.
Luke iii. 1, 2.
" In the year fifteen of the reign of Tiberius Ctesar, Pon
tius Pilate being Governor of Judea, and Herod Tetrarch of
Galilee, Philip, his brother, ruling over Iturea and the
land of Trachonitis, and Lysanias over the country about
Abila, under the Pontificate of Annas and of Caiphas, the
word of God was spoken to John, son of Zachary, in the
desert." Saint Luke, in using these terms to announce
the mission of John the Baptist, has not thought so much
of giving us, in this summary of the times, an accurate
chronology, as he desires to recall the various circum
stances surrounding the appearance of the Precursor of
Jesus ; nevertheless, he is not so wanting in precision but
that we can infer from his words the very year in which
the Saviour commenced His Ministry. Indeed, the public
life of Jesus was begun by His Baptism ; and as this bap
tism followed close upon the first preaching of John the
Baptist, it must have' been in about the fifteenth year of
Tiberius that the Saviour, leaving Nazareth, descended to
the banks of the river Jordan.

94 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
But what are we to understand by the fifteenth year of
Tiberius ? As Augustus died the nineteenth of August, in
the year 767 of Rome (14 A. d. of our calendar), would it
not seem, at first sight, that this year must be from 781 to
782 (28 to 29 of the Christian era), and that consequently
the birth of Jesus took place, at the latest, in 751, since He
was " about thirty years old " 1 at the tinie of His baptism (
However, this date cannot be adopted ; for we know from
incontrovertible testimony, on the one hand, that Herod
died in the month of April, 750,2 and, on the other, that
the Nativity of Jesus preceded that event.3 The fifteenth
year of Tiberius must then be computed by reckoning, not
from the death of Augustus, but from the year in which
Tiberius took active part in the government of the Em
pire. This way of calculating the reign of their emperors
was the common custom in the provinces of the East.
Wieseler has demonstrated this fact by the aid of inscrip
tions and medals.4
Adopting this hypothesis, Jesus was born toward the
end of the year 749, some months before the death of
Herod, and He began His Ministry about 780 (27 of the
common era).
One other date, which is preserved by Saint John,
supports these conclusions. Some months after His
Baptism we find Jesus iu Jerusalem for the Passover.
Moved to wrath at sight of the hucksters in the Temple,
1 Luke iii. 23.
2 M. Wallon has established this point in his La C'royance due a
I'Fvangile, c. iv. part ii. A careful study of certain medals of the time of
Herod Antipas has led a learned professor, Herr Sattler of Munich,
to adopt the same conclusions. These coins, unaccountably neglected
hitherto, give the number of years during which the Tetrarch governed
Galilee, and have thus determined the exact date of the death of his
father, Herod the Great.
3 Matt. ii. 1.
4 Wieseler, Beitriige zur richtigen Wiirdigung der Evangelien, pp. 191-
194 ; Comp. Patrizi, De Evuug. t. iii. diss, xxxix. 45. M. Pillion (Emmj.
selon S. Luc. in loc.) observes that this mode- of computation has been
adopted by the great majority of modem exegetical critics. It cannot be
denied, however, that the contrary opinion is supported by weighty rea
sons ; they are clearly set forth in the scholarly work of M. 1' abb6 Memain,
La Coiuiaissance des temps ivangeliques, and in the works of M. Wallon.

THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES. 95
He whipped them from their stalls with blows from a
thong. The Jews demanded at once, "What warrant have you
to show us for such actions as these ? " x
" Overturn this Temple," said Jesus, " and in three days
I will rebuild it once more ! "
" What ? " they replied, " this Temple was forty-six
years in building, and will you raise it up again in three
days ? "
The restoration of the Temple which is referred to here
was commenced by Herod in the eighteenth year of his
reign (734).2 The Passover during which these words were
spoken is therefore that of 780. Now, the date of this
Pasch being also that in which Jesus began His ministry,
His birth, which took place thirty years earlier,3 must be
put about 750 (four years before Christ), or, to be more
exact, in the month of December, 749 (year 5 B. c.).4
These two dates (749 and 780) settled upon, — the one as
fixing the nativity of Jesus, the other that of the com
mencement of His ministry, — there remains only to be de
termined the period of His death, in order to arrange the
chronicle of His whole life. It took place, as we shall see
later,5 on the fortieth of Nisan (Friday, the seventh of
1 John ii. 13-25.
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xv. 11,1.
3 Luke iii. 23.
4 This date is the one most commonly adopted. In fact, Lamy, Usher,
Petau, Bengel, Wieseler, Anger, Greswell, agree in setting the date of the
Nativity somewhere about the end of the year 5 b. c, or at the beginning
of the year 4. Although M. Wallon coincides with San-Clemente and
Ideler in favor of the year 747 (year 7 B. 0.), he nevertheless confesses
that there are no decisive reasons to be alleged against the year 749. So,
after all is said on the subject, one is free to prefer either side of the argu
ment : "Whether we should locate the Birth of our Lord at a little earlier
or a little later date, and thereby shorten or prolong His life on earth by a
short space, is after all a. discussion which displays our uncertainty as to
the chronology of the world as much as it affects the dates in the life of
Jesus Christ. And let the discussion result as it may, the thoughtful
reader will have recognized the truth that all this can in no measure affect
the ordering or the fulfilment of God's eternal Counsels. Let us scrupu
lously avoid anachronisms, and the rest we may safely leave for the learned
labor of scholars" (Bossuet, Discours sur V Histoire unirerselle, partie i.
epoque xe. ) .
5 See Appendix X., The Chronology of the Passion.

96 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
April) 783 a. u. c. (the thirtieth year of our era). And
hence there must have been four Passovers during the
public life of Jesus. That of 780 marks the beginning
of His preaching1 and teaching; a second (781) would
seem to be the one referred to by Saint John in his
fifth chapter 2 as that in which Jesus cured a paralytic
at the Pool of Bethesda.3 The Saviour did not attend
the third (782) ; it was just about the time when He
multiplied the loaves in Galilee, and to His disciples
promised a New Pasch ; the fourth Passover 4 was that of
His death (783).
As for the ministry of John the Baptist, it preceded the
first Pascli of 780 by some months. But the period that
elapsed between the autumn of 779 and that of 780 had
been observed by all Judea as a Sabbatical Year.6 We
know what that term meant in the Mosaic legislation.
Every seven years the fields were left fallow ; what they
brought forth of themselves was divided between the poor,
the foreigners and the cattle, while over all Judea there
was a full remission of all debts.6 Is it not most probable
that John Baptist appeared at the beginning of this year,
when such a protracted period of leisure allowed of the
people's listening to his Message, — a Message in which
they heard him speak of expiation, mercy, and forgive
ness ? The Sabbatic Year commenced, like the civil year,
in the month of Tishri (September) ; 7 therefore the ministry
of John Baptist preceded the Baptism of Jesus by about
three months. A tradition of the primitive Church locates
the latter event about the sixth of January, during that
same winter.8
We may conclude from these facts that the various
1 John ii. 13.
2 John v. 1.
3 John vi. 4. See Appendix VIII.
4 John xiii. 1.
5 Wieseler, Chronologische Synopse, p. 204.
0 Kitto, Cyclopaedia: Sabbatical Year.
7 The Jews commenced their religious year somewhere in the spring
equinoctial season, in the month Nisan (April), and their civil year about
the autumnal equinox, in the month of Tishri (September).
8 Patrizi, De Evangeliis, lib. iii. dissert, xix.

749 a

u. 0.

5 b. c, Dec. 2

779.

>5

26 a. d., Sept.,

780

))

27 „ Jan.,

780

>>

27 „ April,

781

7)

28 „ April,

782

1)

29 „ April,

783

))

30 „ April,

THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES. 97
events in the life of Jesus Christ may reasonably be con
nected with the following dates : —
Dec. 25, Nativity of Jesus ;
John the Baptist ;
Baptism of Jesus Christ ;
First Pasch (John, ii.) ;
Second Pasch (John, v.) ;
Third Pasch (John, vi.) ;
Death of Jesus Christ.
Whichever view one may choose to follow in this matter
of dates, there is no reason for laying any very great stress
upon it, after all ; for Saint Luke only alludes cursorily to
such dates as he gives, and without ever being diverted
from his subject. But, on the other hand, he goes into a
detailed account of the names of sovereigns and countries,
in order to give a survey of the world at the point of time
when John Baptist began to preach. He mentions the
lands through which the Saviour moved ; he tells what
princes held sway in each. It is therefore the field of the
Ministry of Jesus which is here spread before our eyes.
First of all, let us glance over the regions included in
that field. Two of these provinces, Judea and Galilee, are
already known to us. However, it may be remarked that
this latter comprised also (as belonging to the realm of
Herod Antipas) the mountains of Galaad, which the Gos
pel calls by the name of Perea, " the country on the other
side of Jordan." x
Below this province begins the domain of Philip, con
taining the pasture lands of Basan.2 On the east, " the
land of the Trachonites ; " and on the north, "Iturea." 3 This
1 Ilipav rov lopSdvov (Matt. iv. 15 ; John i. 28, iii. 25 ; Josephus, pas
sim). This country reached from Hieromax as far as the Anion.
2 S. Luke does not speak of the land of Basan ; but we know from
Josephus that the realm of Philip then comprised the portion of terri
tory known to-day as Hauran, which at that time was divided into four
provinces, — Gaulanitis (the present Jaulan), Auranitis (which properly
speaking is Hauran), Batanea (Ard-el-Bathanyeh), and Trachonitis (now
Lejah). (Josephus, Antiquitates, xvii. 8, 1 ; 11, 4.)
3 Iturea owed its name to Jetur, son of Ismael (Gen. xxv. 15 ; 1 Paral.
v. 19). VOL. t. — 7

98 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
last-named region, with its rich meadow-country in the
south, gradually grows more and more forbidding of aspect
the nearer we approach to Damascus. The ground is
rugged, strewn with jagged rocks and black bowlders, and
the flocks feed within the craters of extinct volcanoes.
Still wilder and more gloomy is the Trachonite country.
It lies between Iturea, Basan, and the desert, only elevated
some thirty feet above the undulating plains of Hauran, —
like a shoal of rocks in a sea of verdure. Any one might
imagine, viewing the chaotic condition of these dreary wilds,
that some time, long ago, huge waves of basalt had been
petrified all at once in the midst of a tremendous tempest.
Some violent upheaval must have been the cause of these
ugly chasms, dark caves, and deep defiles, which make the
w aste lands of Lejah x an object of wonderment. Such it
was in the days of Jesus, and such we find it still to-day ;
for neither time nor man has changed the character of this
strange country. The sixty cities of Argob — " the Heap
of Rocks," 2 as the Hebrews called them — have still pre
served intact their rugged walls and their houses with
doors made of stone, — all so dark and gloomy that, in the
time of Solomon,3 they were believed to be made of bronze.
Abilene, the province ruled by that Lysanias whom Saint
Luke puts last in his list, is a country of a more charming
complexion. It lies about the base of the Antiliban
Mountains. The traveller who leaves Damascus for Baal
bek, after a six hours' journey in a gorge made fertile by the
waters of Barada, encounters the ruins of ancient Abila
(called to-day Souk Ouadi Barada), the many inscriptions
found in this locality4 leaving no doubt as to this point.
This city was the capital of a principality which extended
1 The Arab's name for this province, Lejah (The Lair), was given to it
because of its being used as a refuge and haunt for the robber hordes ; that
of Trachon, Trachonitis (rpaxos Kai irerpuSys rimos), as well as the He
brew word Argob, alludes to the rocky character of the soil. This singular
region is oval in form, and is about eight leagues in length by five in
width. (See Porter, Damascus and Bashan's Giant Cities.)
2 From the root 3J1, "to heap together" (Fiirst, Handworterbuch).
8 3 Kings iv. 13.
4 Murray, Handbook for Syria and Palestine, route 37. There the two
Latin inscriptions are cited.

THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES. 99
from Herinon to Libanus, and of which the origin is very
doubtful. Josephus and Strabo speak of a Ptolemy, son
of Meneus, who held sway over the plains of the Marsyas, in
the mountainous country of Iturea, and counted among its
towns Chalcis, at the foot of Libanus, and Heliopolis
(Baalbek).1 This Ptolemy had a son, Lysanias, who was
put to death by Antony, at the instigation of Cleopatra,
who thus wrested from him his realm.2 What became of
this principality thereafter ? Did it pass into the hands
of Herod, who, as we know, purchased from Cleopatra a par
cel of her domains in Syria,3 and obtained the remainder
from Augustus after the battle of Actium ?4 There is room
here for any number of conjectures, since after the death
of Lysanias no mention of his kingdom is found anywhere
until the time (about sixty years later it was) when Saint
Luke mentions this same region in connection with a
Lysanias, — no longer as king but tetrarch — of Abila.
The division of Palestine and the neighboring country into
Tetrarchies did not take place until the death of Herod.
Probably during that epoch a prince of the lines of
Ptolemy and Lysanias, and bearing the name of the latter
king, received from Rome, along with the title of tetrarch,
a portion of the kingdom of his fathers, and so made Abila
the centre of a new state. The historian Josephus had
some knowledge of this tetrarchy, since he takes care to
distinguish between the Abila of the second Lysanias and
Chalcis, the capital of the first ruler of that name ; 5 and,
furthermore, we possess inscriptions later than the time of
Herod which in like manner make mention of a Lysanias,
Tetrarch of Abilene.6
The other princes who lived in the time of Jesus were
1 Josephus, Antiquitates, xiv. 7, 4 ; Strabo, xvii. The Marsyas empties
into the Orontes between Larissa and Apamea.
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xv. 4, 1.
8 Josephus, xv. 4, 2.
4 Josephus, xv. 7, 3.
6 Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, ii. 12, 8 ; Antiquitates, xx., 7, 1.
6 Here we have done no more than give the conclusions arrived at by
M. Wallon from his learned researches as to the Abilene of Lysanias
(De la Croyance due A V Evangile, partie ii. chapitre v. ; compare Kitto's
Cyclopaedia : Lysanias).

100 BEGINNINGS OF THE- MINISTRY OF JESUS.
sons of Herod the Great, and had inherited his estates. It
is true that their father's will only designated two among
them for the succession, — Archelaus and Antipas ; but in
those days everything happened in Judea according to the
good pleasure of Rome, and Augustus had little respect for
any dispositions made by the old king. Half of his terri
tory — Idumea, Samaria, and Judea — was handed over to
Archelaus ; the rest, divided in equal parts, formed two
tetrarchies, which, following the proper acceptation of this
term,1 comprised each a quarter of the kingdom of Herod.
One such portion fell to the lot of Antipas ; it was coin-
posed of Galilee and Perea. The other was reserved for
Philip, — the son whom Herod had by Cleopatra of Jeru
salem, and who while he was being educated at Rome had
won the imperial favor.2 His tetrarchy extended from the
Lake of Genesareth 3 to the sources of the Jordan. It com
prised Iturea and Trachonitis, as we have already seen, and
beyond this countries much more fertile, — Gaulanitis,
Auranitis, and Batanea ; these altogether went to make up
his province.4 During the entire lifetime of Jesus5 these
countries enjoyed peace under the government of a prince
who was just, humane, and a patron of the arts.8 More
than once did the Saviour pass along its pleasant paths,
whether it was to seek a .retreat near Mount Hermon, or
1 The title of Tetrarch properly means the sovereign of a fourth part of
any country (Smith, Dictionary of Antiquities : Tetraucha). It was given
by the Eomans to those tributary princes whose domains were not impor
tant enough to merit the name of kingdom ; however, the tetrarchy of
Antipas and that of Philip were each made up iu reality of one quarter
of the kingdom of Herod (Josephus, Ant iquitates, xvii. 11, 4 ; Bellum
Juda'icum, ii. 6, 3).
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xvii. 1, 3 ; Bellum Juda'icum, i. 28, 4.
8 The village of Bethsaida, on the northwestern shore of the lake and
near the mouth of the Jordan, was one of his possessions. This Bethsaida,
situated in Gaulanitis, should not be confounded with a village of the
same name which we shall encounter later on, upon the western border of
the lake. Philip transformed this little hamlet into a superb town, which
thus became his favorite residence. He afterwards called it Julias, in
honor of the daughter of his illustrious benefactor.
4 Josephus, Antiquitates, xvii. 11, 4; Bellum Judalcum, ii. 6, 3.
6 Philip reigned over this tetrarchy for thirty-seven years (from the
year 4 B. c. to 34 a. d.).
6 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 4, 6.

THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES. 101
to rest within its fresh blooming valleys watered by the
springs of the Jordan.1
Of all the regions which we have been naming over, no
one listened for a longer time to the teachings of the
Saviour than Galilee. Antipas, tetrarch of this province,
was an indolent and dissipated prince, entirely engrossed
in the pursuit of vicious pleasures and in courting the
favor of Tiberius ; 2 he was of a nature which would be apt
to pay little heed to a matter which appeared so trivial, to
his way of thinking, that it need not cause him any un
easiness. His only desire in the matter was to witness
some of the wonders concerning which rumor had aroused
his curiosity.3
As for Archelaus, he could never have been seen by
Jesus ; for in the tenth year of the Divine Childhood this
prince was deposed and exiled among the Gauls. From
the outset Augustus had distrusted his weak and passion
ate nature, and he only vouchsafed to allow him for a
time the title of ethnarch, promising him that of king if
he proved himself worthy thereof.4 But the Emperor saw
his forebodings amply and immediately justified ; for the
Jews were shortly stirred to revolt by the tyranny of their
new ruler. Hence it became necessary to withdraw what
little power had been conferred upon him.
Thus vanished even that poor shadow of independence
which had still remained to Judea. Augustus made the
country merely an appendage to Syria, the government of
which was then in the hands of Publius Sulpicius Quirinius,
Nevertheless, the importance of Judea, as well as the neces
sity of restraining so uneasy a people, made the presence
of a procurator invested with almost absolute authority
requisite.5 1 Matt. xvi. 13.
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 2, 3.
3 Luke xxiii. 8.
4 Josephus, Antiquitates, xvii. 11, 4 ; 13, 2 ; Bellum Judaicum, ii. 6, 3.
5 The Procurators (procuratores Caesaris) in the imperial provinces
were intrusted with the collectorship of taxes ; they exercised functions
analogous to that of the Questors in senatorial provinces. Sometimes,
however, when the seditious state of the country demanded it, they had

102 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
A Roman knight, Coponius, was the first to fill this diffi
cult position. He was obliged to use force to bend this
stubborn country beneath his yoke, and impose upon it the
tax-levy which had been decreed fortlie whole empire. It
required all the influence that the High- Priest Joazar could
exert to prevent a general uprising ; but he could not, l>y
any efforts, discourage a certain few fanatics, who revolted
at a signal from Judas the Gaulonite and the Pharisee
Sadoc. Their attempts were at once suppressed ; but the
frequent executions only exalted their courage ; and, ever
after, similar Zealots did not cease to trouble the peace
of Jerusalem, still repeating their war-cry : " We have no
other Master but God." These seditions, which were con
tinually springing up, exhausted the patience of the, first
governors promptly enough. In less than ten years we see
three Romans, each in turn endeavoring to direct the
affairs of Judea, — Coponius, Marcus Ambivius, and
Annius Rufus.
With Tiberius Judea entered upon a calmer era, and
during the twenty-three years of his reign it received but
two procurators, — Valerius Gratus and Pontius Pilate.1
Of the former, the only fact on record which is remembered
of him is the facility with which he deposed the High-
Priests ; for finding Annas invested with these lofty func
tions on his entering into office, he substituted Ismael, son
of Fabi ; then, after him, Eleazar, son of Annas ; a little
later, Simon, son of Caniith ; and finally, Joseph Caiphas,
son-in-law of Annas.
Pontius Pilate, who succeeded him, has attained a sad
renown. In the twelfth year of Tiberius, being charged
with the government of Judea, he showed himself, at the
outset, such as he was to the last moment, — a man with a
predisposition to justice, but rendered unreliable by a com
bination of ambition and cowardice. One of his first acts
was to send a Roman garrison, with their standards, to
still ampler powers, and in particular the right of acquitting or executing
the accused party (Pauly, Real Encyclopaedic : Procuratores cum jure
gladii). 1 Valerius Gratus undertook the government of the province in the year
16, and Pontius Pilate in 26.

THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES. 103
Jerusalem. His predecessor, more politic than he, had
been careful not to intrude within the Temple walls with
those Roman ensigns, emblazoned with idolatrous legends
and insignia ; they even forbore to interfere with the troops
of Zealots. But at the command of Pilate legionaries broke
down the gates in the night time, and at dawn the populace
saw with horror those impure images contaminating the
Citadel of God. A suppliant throng was despatched to
Cesarea, and during five days kept beseeching Pilate with
their clamorous petitions. The Governor, wearying of
their persistency, ordered the soldiers to surround the
crowd and disperse them by force of arms. At their ap
proach the Jews cast themselves flat upon the ground,
preferring to die rather than to endure any violation of the
Law. Pilate was compelled to yield to their stubborn
resolution, and withdrew his standards.
At another time, a little later than this, he was even less
successful in a similar enterprise. He suspended, along
the walls of his palace in Jerusalem, golden shields with
the names of Pagan divinities graven upon their glittering
surfaces. Again the people rose up in revolt, and Tiberius
himself ordained the removal of those emblems, which
were so abhorred by his new subjects.
It was not merely this vacillation between rashness and
timidity which militated against Pilate's authority ; even
his favors were treated with disdain. Jerusalem lacked a
sufficiency of water ; he decided to bring the needed supply
from a distance of about three leagues, introducing it into
the city through one of those majestic aqueducts, such as
remain to this day a grand memorial of ancient Rome.
But the people, upon learning that the revenues of the
Temple were to be devoted to this project, laid hold upon
the workmen and put a stop to all labor upon it. Much
blood was spilt before the rebels were suppressed.
This persistent hostility put Pilate's capricious nature
out of all patience, and he decided to follow the example
of his predecessors. He retired to Cesarea, upon the
borders of the sea, administered the government while
keeping aloof from the people, and contented himself with

104 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
levying taxes and putting a check' upon unruly spirits. It
was only during the feasts of the Pasch that he would con
descend to occupy the fortress Antonia with a detachment
of his troops ; for from this seat he could dominate the
Temple with its throngs, while he held his forces in readi
ness to crush out any insurrection.1
Of all the members of the Sanhedrin, those who con
ceived the bitterest animosity against Jesus were the
princes of the Priesthood. And so, because they hail such
a preponderating influence in that Council, Saint Luke
mentions this fact at the outset of his Gospel — that Annas
and Caiphas were the two leaders of the great Sacerdotal
Body during the public life of the Saviour. Annas, it
would seem, held the first place there. Although de
posed from his office by Valerius Gratus, the predecessor
of Pilate, he not only retained enough influence to procure
the elevation of his five sons, together with this same son-
in-law Caiphas, to the pontificate, but he even managed to
maintain a rigorous authority in all the councils of the
high-priests who succeeded him. Undoubtedly the Jews,
who held the more tenaciously by their theocratic institu
tions in proportion as the Romans infringed upon them
more insolently, in this instance would regard the con
tinual changes imposed upon their royal priesthood as
illegal and without force. Exasperated by such sacrileges,
they would, to all outward appearance indeed, submit to
the pontiff put over them by the will of Rome ; but all the
same they would look upon one man alone as their legiti
mate head. This man was Annas, whom, as we shall see,
they loaded with attention and honors.2
1 In regard to the condition of Judea after it was reduced to a Roman
province, and as to the various procurators who administered its affairs,
see Milman, History of the Jews, book xii.
2 Probably this is what S. Luke meant to have us understand when he
put the title High-Priest in the singular number and next to the name
of Annas. In fact, the original text should be translated thus : "Under
Annas the High-Priest, and under Caiphas" — 'EH dpxiepius "Avva Kal
Ka'idipa. The Vulgate has given us the reading of the received text :
dpxiepiuv — "sub principibus sacerdotum Anna et Caipha." The other
form, dpxiepius, is supported by the authority of the most ancient manu
scripts, — the Alexandrine, those of the Vatican, Sinai, Ephraim, Beza, etc.

THE EPOCH AND THE LOCALITIES. 105
Such was the government of Judea in the time of Jesus
Christ, such the circumstances amid which He appeared,
and to which Saint Luke has been careful to call our at
tention. As he wa.s addressing- readers who were familiar
with the period and the places of which he speaks, a few
words sufficed for his purpose ; to-day we need to know
much more of detail in order to give the words of the
Evangelist their original clearness and importance.

CHAPTER II.
THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST.
Matt. iii. 1-17 ; Mark i. 1-11 ; Luke iii. 1-22.
In a westerly direction from Jerusalem and near the vil
lage of Ain Karim, you will find a cave which still bears
the name of John. It is a considerable cavern, difficult
of access, and retains no sign of habitation, save a stone
bench hewn out of the rock, made to serve for a bed or
couch ; a few stunted shrubs surround the mouth, and close
by there is a spring, beneath which a basin has been hol
lowed out. It is here, as the local traditions tell us, the
son of Zachary grew to manhood. The solitary reaches
round about are called " John's Desert," and some would
even go so far as to make this neighborhood the birthplace
of the Precursor. We have seen that much weightier
evidences have secured that distinction for the region
about Hebron. So, then, Ain Karim is only one of those
numerous retreats in which the Prophet passed the solitary
days and years of his early life.
From his very infancy, in fact, John had given signs of
a strength of soul far from common, and though by right
of inheritance he might have claimed the office of Sacri-
ficer, he quitted the Temple to bury himself in the desert.1
By this term is to be understood the wild hill-country
which reaches from Hebron to Jerusalem, being no more
than a series of steep ranges, cleft and broken into by a
number of parched and arid valleys ; a patch of dry un
derbrush, here and there, is all that varies the monotony
of those chalky stretches, whose glare so wearies one's
1 Luke i. 80.

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. 107
eyes. Even this dreary undergrowth disappears as you near
the Dead Sea; the desolation now comes to be complete, an
absolute waste ; the sight can descry nothing but an undu
lating moorland, as it were, made up of gray fields of
ashes ; while in the distance the attainted lake exhales its
noisome breath, recalling the memory of Sodom's awful
condemnation.1 Such is the appearance of the desert
where John dwelt until the age of thirty, not as a hermit,
but wandering about, like the prophets of olden time, with
out other shelter than the caverns of the mountains or
the scanty foliage of the thickets.2
In the midst of this wilderness, blasted by the thunder
bolts of divine Justice, John grew to an understanding of
his Mission. All things must have revealed it to him,
both the wondrous happenings at his birth and the pro
phecies which foretold his coming. Two of these predic
tions are meutioned in the Gospel. That of Malachy3
prophesied that the Lord would send before His Messiah a
Messenger, to prepare the way against His coming. In
the other, Isaiah tells us to hearken " to the voice of him
who cries out in the desert : 4 Prepare ye the way for the
Lord ; make straight His paths ; every deep defile shall be
filled up ; every mountain and little hill laid low ; the
crooked paths shall be straightened out, the rugged places
become plain, and all flesh shall see the Salvation which
1 The Dead Sea presents this repulsive appearance whenever the strong
heat of the sun penetrates to the foul depths of that seething sea of asphalt ;
but only let the wind blow from the north and sweep away the bituminous
vapors, and at once its whole aspect changes. During » fresh, breezy-
morning in the spring, we have seen the waters of the accursed pool as
bright and charming as any lake in Italy ; its placid waves ripple softly
upon the beach ; and until you plunge your hand into the water you would
scarcely believe it could be of so repulsive a nature.
2 4 Kings vi. 2.
3 Matt. iii. 1.
4 Is. xl. 3. The words iv iprfuu, which both here and in the Sep-
tuagint refer to pSouvros, are connected with iroip.daa.ri in the Hebrew :
"A cry reechoed : Prepare ye in the desert the ways of the Lord !"
S. Luke (iii. 4-6) gives this prophecy more at length than does S. Mat
thew (iii. 3) ; but S. Mark (i. 23) gives it preceded by this oracle of
Malachy (iii. 1) : "Behold, I send My Angel before Thy face to prepare
the way for Thee."

108 .BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
cometh of God." These impassable ravines, these moun
tains rising around him on every side, these steep path
ways, forced by the great bowlders and precipices to make
innumerable curves and windings, — all these were before
the eyes of John ; and to him, as to Isaiah, these all only be
tokened that desolation, midmost the wilderness of souls,
which he must needs make ready for the coming of the
Messiah. As the Precursor of Jesus, he was to run before
Him, just as heralds announce the sovereigns of the East,
with trumpet and loud voice, bidding all make clear the
thoroughfares to do honor to the royal progress.
John was preparing himself for his ministry, not only
by meditating on what Heaven revealed to him, but by the
practice of the most austere virtues. Consecrated to God
by the vow of the Nazarite, he never tasted either of the
fruit of the vine or of strong liquor, nor had his locks
ever been shorn.1 But soon this abstinence seemed to him
too common and too slight. All his food, in the desert,
was limited to locusts,2 and the wild honey found among
the rocks.3 His frame became reduced by fasting. Gaunt
and half-naked, wearing no other covering than a leathern
girdle about his loins, while over his shoulders hung a
cloak of camel's-hair.
Therefore, so soon as John entered the valley of Jericho,
all eyes were drawn to him, while forthwith they recalled
1 Luke i. 15 ; Num. vi.
2 The Laws of Leviticus made it lawful to eat locusts ( Lev. xi. 22), and
in Judea they furnished a staple article of diet for the poor. The Ethiopi
ans, the peoples of Libya, and the Orientals generally, made use of them in
the same way (Pliny, Historia naturalis, vi. 35 ; Diodorus of Sicily, iii. 29;
Aristophanes, Acharnenses, 116 ; Niebuhr, Description de V Arabic). Shaw
has seen the Moors of the Barbary States making a meal of these insects
(Travels, p. 164). The locust was served up in various fashions, some
times ground and mixed with meal, sometimes salted or smoked, sometimes
roasted, and dressed with butter. Kitto (Pictorial Bible, note on Lev. xi.
21) assures us that the taste of the grasshopper cooked in this style is not
unlike that of the shrimp.
3 Wild honey has always been abundant in Palestine. Long before
their entrance into Judea, the Lord had described it to Moses as a land
where floweth milk and honey (Exod. iii. 8). All travellers agree in de
claring that in this respect it has not changed, and that in the wildest and
most deserted spots the bees fill the hollows of the trees and the crevices in
the rocks with their waxy combs.

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. 109
how Elias was caught up in the chariot of fire, from these
same fields of theirs.1 They had always believed that the
Thesbite had been but lifted up into the heavens that he
might descend again upon some future clay. This Malachy
had declared. But that famous prophecy, in which he
alluded to both precursors, had only perplexed the minds
of the Jews. They could not distinguish John, the Herald
of the living Christ, from Elias, who was to precede the
last coming of the Lord ; and as Elias was alone named
by the Prophet,2 it was to him solely that their hopes had
reverted. And hence always, upon the least rumor that
God had raised up a new Seer, one single question sprung
to the lips of the whole people : —
" Is it Elias ? "
On beholding John, their excitement was all the more
natural, since in him there was really revived the lofty
fervor and austere features of the most illustrious of ail
the prophets ; the same abruptness in manifesting himself,
the same ascetic garb, the same strong speech. The re
semblance was so perfect that the people were mistaken,
and believed that the Thesbite had returned, just as he is
painted in the Song of the son of Sirach : 3 —
He hath arisen, Elias, the Prophet who is as a fire !
His word burns like a torch.
He hath brougbt down upon Israel a famine,
And, in his mighty zeal, he hath made tbem very few.
Armed with the word of the Lord, he hath shut up the heavens,
And, from thence, three times hath he drawn down fire.
What glory unto thee, Elias, flash forth these wondrous deeds :
Who then shall equal thy renown 1
Thou who hast awaked the dead men from their tombs,
Thou who didst brine; them up from Hades by the word of the
Most High !
1 4 Kings ii. 1-14.
2 We have already alluded (page 27) to the fact that Malachy, in the
third chapter of his Prophecy, announces the coming of John Baptist
as the Herald of Jesus, while in the fourth chapter he speaks of Elias
returning at the end of the world : "I will send the Prophet Elias before
the great Day of the Lord cometh," etc.
8 Ecclesiastic, xlviii.

110 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Thou who hast brought down kings, down to perdition,
And the haughty ones from their beds of soft repose !
Thou hast hearkened to the sentence upon Sinai,
And upou Horeb heard decrees of vengeance ;
And thou hast anointed kings unto penance,
And the Prophets, that they may come after thee.
Uplifted in the fiery whirlwind's midst,
Upon the chariot with steeds of flame,
Thou art preserved to give us warning of the fateful hour,
And to appease His wrath, ere ever it blaze fiercely forth :
To reconcile the hearts of the fathers unto the children,
And to restore again the tribes of Israel !
Blessed are they who have beheld thee, they that have been
beloved by thee !
The hope of finding a Prophet so famous thrilled the
heart of all Israel, and on every side they flocked to the
Jordan. Here it was that John commenced his Mission.
" His voice resounded through the desert of Judea," says
Saint Matthew j1 by which we are to understand (following-
Saint Luke 2), " throughout all the country which borders
upon the Jordan."
In fact this stream bears a singular aspect, because of
its flowing along between uninhabited banks. No craft
ever furrows its waters ; no town is builded along its brink.
The valley through which it rushes on its way is called
by the Greeks the Channel (The Aulon), and by the Arabs
the Gorge (The Ghor).3 It merits both these names ; now
extending itself to some width, then again intrenched be
tween the mountain-sides which overhang it. In the
middle way lies a long gully, forming the bed of the Jor
dan, which flows along hidden beneath a leafy screen of
willows and azaroles. At a distance this green line, wind-
1 Matt. iii. 1.
2 Luke iii. 2, 3.
3 The Jordan (the Iarden, from the word TV, Iarad, "to descend")
well deserved its name ; for in its numberless windings it has channelled
out a bed which continually deepens as it flows along. Though the Marsh
Of Houleh lies but a short distance from the sources of the stream, it has,
however, at that point reached a depth of eighty-eight metres below the
level of the Mediterranean.

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. Ill
ing through the barren pass, is all that there is to indicate
the presence of the stream.
The Prophet generally remained near some ford ; for he
baptized by immersion, and everywhere else the steep
river-banks make it difficult of access. John the Evange
list, at this point, speaks of a place named " Bethany or
Bethhara, over beyond the Jordan." Both these words
signify alike " the House at the Passage," x and hence we
know that the river used to be crossed at this spot. The
tradition which locates this ford opposite Jericho says
that Jesus received baptism here, together with a great
number of those who had come from the south. John
remained a long time at Bethany, for that route was fre
quented by the Jews' who travelled between Perea and
Jerusalem. Only toward the end of his life do we see
him ascending the course of the stream, as far as CEnon
(The Springs) ; this was near Salem, and above the Pass of
Succoth, over which Jacob crossed on his return from
Mesopotamia. So that, with Jericho on the south, CEnon
to the north, keeping to the valley of the Jordan, we have
marked out for us the region within which John preached
and baptized. He exercised his ministrations there with
entire freedom, passing from one bank to the other, but
without ever withdrawing far from the streams of water,
which were necessary for baptism and the symbol of his
Mission. It is often asked whence the Precursor borrowed this
1 The most ancient Manuscripts and nearly all the Versions have Beth
any. Origen proposed the reading Bethbara, because in his time there
was a village of that name on the banks of the Jordan, while he had looked
in vain for one called Bethany. Bethhara, ni3j; rV3, the House at the
Passage, and Bethany, njJK XV3, the Boat or Ferry House, according to
him might have been used to designate the same place. But without
resorting to this hypothesis, why not admit that in Origen's day the
village of Bethany might have disappeared 1 In a country which for three
hundred years was ravaged by fire and sword, such a fact would not be
in the least unlikely. The traditions of the Latin Church indicate Bethany
as the spot where Jesus was baptized, just opposite Jericho, near the ruined
Convent of S. John. The pilgrims who come from the Greek Church hold
that the spot is three or four kilometres lower down the stream ( Robinson,
Biblical Researches, t. i. p. 536).

112 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
rite, and some believe that it is to be connected with the
ablutions which were ordained for Jewish proselytes. But
why need we look to an origin so uncertain as this?1 What
moved John with the desire of baptizing was, in the first
place, the example of those frequent purifications com
manded by the Law ; but, most of all, the exhortations of
the Prophets,2 which urged them to wash away the stains
of sin from their souls, while they thus purified their
bodies. John's Baptism was only figurative of this cleans
ing of the heart, and, to make it clear that true contrition
must penetrate through all secret recesses of the soul
of man, the Precursor chose to immerse the whole body
of the sinner.
One other ordeal was enjoined upon his penitents by
the Baptist, — that of confessing their sins. The sacred
text seems to insinuate that he even made it an express
condition of baptism.3 Did it only go so far as an acknowl
edgment that all men are sinners ? Christian antiquity
never tolerated any such belief, for it was in remembrance
of the Confession prescribed by John that the catechumens
made a voluntary declaration of their sins.4
And, after all, the persuasions by which John incited
them to penance leave no doubt as to the motive animat
ing his thought. It is all summed up in those words : —
" Do penance, for the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh unto
you ! "
The Kingdom of Heaven, no longer the kingdom upon
earth, of which Israel was in expectation. The Jewish
doctors, deluded by their own chimeras, had but travestied
that expression, " the Kingdom of Heaven," by making it
1 Neither Josephus nor Philo, nor any of the Targumists, make mention
of this Ablution of the Proselytes, and the first trace we find of it is in the
Gemara of Babylon.
2 Is. i. 16 ; iv. 4.
8 'E^op.o\oyovp.evoi, Mark i. 5. The present participle would indicate
that the penitents received baptism at the moment of their confession,
and by this it would seem that John only baptized those from whom he
obtained this token of repentance (Fritzsche, in loco).
4 "Cum confessione omnium retro delictornm, ut exponant etiam bap-
tismum Joannis" (Tertullian, De Baptismo, 20. See Patrizi, De Evan
geliis, lib. iii. dissertat. xliv. 6).

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. 113
portend the temporal triumph of the Messiah ; J but John
restored to it its real significance, and by this proclaimed
the divine character of the coming reign.
This Message thrilled them with all the more emotion
since everything about the Baptist spoke to their souls so
insistently, moving them to true contrition. He was a
Voice, — "a Voice crying in the desert, ' Prepare ye the
way of the Lord.'"2 He was listened to by the sons of
Israel, who were just then celebrating a solemn Sabbatical
Year, and so, during the leisure hours of those holy days
of rest, felt their hearts stirred with deeper yearnings than
ever before for the coming of the Messiah. More than
that (let us never lose sight of this fact), there are certain
times when grace moves upon the spirit of this world
in more notable abundance ; the appearance of John the
Baptist was the signal of one such great epoch. The
hand of God laid hold upon the agitated throng and
bore them on towards the sacred stream. They came
from either bank, " from Jerusalem, from Judea, and
from the countries lying round the Jordan ; " 3 that is
to say, from Perea, from Samaria, from Galilee, and from
Gaulanitis. Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, publicans, sol
diers, courtesans, one and all, hurried to listen to this
mau's word, so stern and relentless to all imposture, all
pride and luxury.
The poor and humble ones were the first to kneel
before the envoy of Heaven.4 One after another they
stepped down into the stream of the Jordan, weeping, con
fessing their sins, and, by their penitence, giving an effi
cacy to John's baptism which it had not in itself. But
when it came the turn of the Pharisees and Sadducees,
and when the stern Prophet saw them advancing to play
a hypocritical part in the performance of the sacred rite,
then rang out those thundering words, bringing them to a
halt there upon the bank : —
1 See Schoettgen, Horae Hebraicoe, dissertatio De Regno coelorum.
2 Mark i. 3.
8 Matt. iii. 5.
4 Matt. iii. 6.

114 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
" Breed of vipers," x he cried, " of whom have you learned
to flee from the Wrath that is to come ? "
These great ones of Judea had never listened to such
language as this ; they were used to see foreheads bowed
down to the ground before them, while all Jerusalem hailed
them as her masters. John tore away the mask : —
" Show me some worthy fruits of repentance," was his
command, " and do not venture2 to say among yourselves :
'We have Abraham for our father.' For I say to you, God
is able to make these stones give birth to children unto
Abraham." It were impossible to strike these haughty men with a
better aimed or a more trenchant blow. It was useless
for them to pride themselves upon their ancestry. John
had declared that to be sons of Abraham by the flesh
was of no avail to them, if they were not the true off
spring of his virtue and his faith. The same Hand which
had formed Adam out of clay, and brought Isaac from the
bosom which was chill and barren as a stone,3 could like
wise bring forth from the very pebbles of this river-bed the
seed promised unto Abraham, innumerable as the stars of
heaven, or as the sand upon the shores of the sea.4
Thus, finally, the ancient alliance was declared to be
dissolved, and with it went the loftiest prerogative of Israel,
— that ancient privilege which had exalted it above all the
nations. For, John added : " Already the axe is at the root
of the trees. Every tree which will not bear good fruit
shall be cut down and thrown into the fire." 5 And yet this
warning was to be of no avail. Humiliated, but not con
verted, the Pharisees and Sadducees withdrew from the
Jordan, while only a very few of their number bowed
down beneath the hand of John and received his baptism.6
Though he was unsparing, even to harshness, toward
these supercilious formalists, the Precursor had only words
of mercy and kindness for the common people. When, in
1 Matt. iii. 7-9. "Serpentes e serpentibus " (Lightfoot, Horce Hebrai-
ae, in Matt. iii. 7).
2 My dpl-yo-de (Luke iii. 8) : "Do not even begin to say; do not
attempt it."
8 Is. v. 1. 4 Gen. xxii. 17. 6 Matt. iii. 10. 6 Luke vii. 30.

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. 115
their turn, the crowd gathered around the Prophet, asking,
" And we too ; what must we do ? " l John did not tell them
to imitate his penitential life ; he was content to preach
to them the duties of almsgiving and fraternal love.
" Let him who has two coats give to him who has none,
and let him who has food use it in like manner."
The publicans drew near as well. Hateful to the Jews
from their office as collectors of the Roman tax, they came to
seek John, ready to sacrifice everything for this baptism.2
" Master, what shall we do ? " they asked him.
He did not oblige them to throw up this despised busi
ness of theirs ; but rising above the narrow views of his
countrymen, he recognized that they might serve the pub
lic authority without wronging the people.
" Demand nothing," he said, " above that which has been
commanded you."
Certain soldiers, upon their march, passed near to where
John was preaching,3 and witnessed some of these scenes
of pardon. These also, yielding to grace, questioned the
Prophet, and he told them : " Do not do any violence, nor
any fraud ; be content with your pay."
This was the way he chose to throw open the gates of
the celestial kingdom, and thus he prepared them for the
coming of Jesus, by preaching, not a visionary perfection,
but a godly and upright fulfilment of man's daily duties,
and the ordinary virtues of each one's state of life.
Yet, notwithstanding, every day the excitement increased
with the growing concourse of people about the Baptist.
Very soon it was not only of Elias that they spoke, but
the whole country began to cherish the thought that this
might indeed be the Christ.4 John heard them, and his
reply came quick and sharp : —
" As for me, I baptize you with water, in order that you
may do penance ; but after me there cometh One who is
mightier than I; I am not worthy to loosen, — to bear
1 Luke iii. 10, 11. 2Luke iii. 12, 13.
8 'SrpaTevop.evoi (Luke iii. 14): " On their way to the war, — in active
service" (Herodotus, iv. 28, etc.).
4 Luke iii. 15, 16.

116 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
His shoes. He it is who shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire."1
No longer a baptism of water, unquickened and lifeless,
as was that of the Precursor, but an ablution made fruit
ful by the Holy Ghost.
These are but fragments recalled from the many sermons
which John preached ; for " he spoke many other exhorta
tions, evangelizing the people."2 If that Message of his
had come down to us in its entirety, throughout all his
speech we should find the same eloquence, alive with the
figures of the desert, with its scarped cliffs, hissing ser
pents, and gnarled tree-trunks, among which he had lived
for so long a time.
Yet sometimes, too, he spoke of their fields and harvests,
as when he depicted the Messiah as a Thresher, with the
huge cradle of the harvester in His hand,3 throwing upou
the air the good grain, mingled with all its impurities, to
be winnowed by the wind, even as He does to-day in His
Church upon earth ; Whose wheat are the elect, whom He
receives again purified for the heavenly storehouse ; the
chaff, those profitless souls which shall forever be con
sumed. " The fan is in His hand," he said, " and He will
cleanse His floor ; He will gather together the good grain
into His granary, and will burn the chaff in a fire which
shall not be extinguished." 4
He whom John announced under such animated imagery
followed close upon the footsteps of His Herald. The
1 Matt. iii. 11 ; Luke iii. 16. 2 Luke iii. 18.
8 In order to understand this figure aright, one needs to recall the man
ner in which the Jews gathered in their crops. As soon as the mowers
had cut down the grain, they arranged the sheaves upon a round platform ;
then cattle yoked abreast were put to trampling it, until the ears were all
crushed and the grain loosened from its envelope. Toward evening, at the
time when usually in the East a strong breeze blows up, they toss this
compound of grain and loose straw into the air by the aid of a fan (a huge
shovel with a very short handle) ; the grain, as it is the heavier, falls back
to the earth, while the chaff and lighter refuse are carried off to some dis
tance by the wind. This is what is meant by purging the threshing-floor ;
after this, all that the harvester had to do was to store his crop in the
caverns, which are generally used as granaries in this region. As for the
straw and the chaff, they mostly burn it as a fertilizer.
4 Matt. iii. 12.

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. 117
Baptist, as we have remarked already, began his ministry
in the month of September, with the beginning of the Sab
batic Year; three months after this Jesus appeared upon
the banks of the Jordan. According to the primitive tradi
tions they were then in the middle of winter; for the mild
climate of Jericho permitted John to pursue his practice
of immersion during this season.
Although united by ties of kinship, Jesus and His Fore
runner do not seem to have had any intercourse until this
time. One had grown up in Galilee, the other in the desert.
" I did not know Him," J is said twice, in fact, by John the
Baptist, " but He Who hath sent me to baptize with water
said to me : 'He upon Whom you shall see the Holy Ghost
coming down and abiding with Him, He it is Who bap-
tizeth with the Holy Ghost.' " Watching solely for the
fulfilment of this promise, John awaited the covenanted
signal from on high.
But even before this marvel did actually take place, the
Prophet recognized Jesus. It may have been by revelation
from Heaven ; it may have been by some divine lineaments
making the Master known to His messenger. The Lord
had followed the throng of Galileans to the Jordan ; He
was therefore surrounded by the surging crowds when He
was seen by the Precursor. John had thought to finish
his ministry when the Christ should appear ; so what must
have been his awe and wonder when he saw Him descend
ing into the waters of the stream with the penitents, and
heard Him ask for baptism at his hands !
"I ought to be baptized by Thee," he exclaimed, "and
dost Thou come to me ! " and he withstood Him.2
" Suffer Me to do this now," said Jesus ; " thus it be-
hoveth us to fulfil all justice."
It was indeed the decree of Heaven that the Christ
should efface our sins by placing Himself among the ranks
of common sinners.
1 John i. 31, 33.
2 &t€Ku>\vei> (Matt. iii. 14) is a stronger expression than ku\vu, and well
describes how earnestly John at first rejected the idea of baptizing Jesus,
and how he withstood Him as far as might be.

118 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
John resisted no longer, but immersed Jesus in the
Jordan; and lo, at the moment when the Lord arose from
the waters, and was in prayer, the heavens were thrown
open, the Holy Ghost came down upon Him in the form
of a Dove, and rested over Jesus ; at the same time a
Voice came from the far heights, which said : " This is My
dearly beloved Son, in Whom I am always well pleased."
This Vision does not seem to have attracted the atten
tion of the Jews towards Jesus. Without doubt they did
not hear the Voice of God, but only, as it were, a noise as
of thunder ; : but John could not have misapprehended the
Spectacle which was intended for his eyes alone. In that
instant he perceived all that appeals to our reverent
thoughts of it, — the Trinity made manifest to man for the
first time : the Father in the Voice falling from the heavens,
the Son in Jesus, the Holy Ghost in the Dove, symbol of
grace, whose reign was now begun in the world. Then, too,
he saw the waters of earth sanctified by the presence of the
Christ, receiving of Him the power to purify souls in bap
tism. Then he saw Jesus proclaimed the Son of God, —
that Son of Whom the Psalmist sang,2 begotten in the Bosom
of God before the day-star and the sunrise were conceived.
Drawn thither by memories such as these, a caravan of
some six or seven thousand pilgrims every year leaves the
Holy City, in the Paschal Season, to go down to the Jordan ;
at its head marches the Pasha of Jerusalem, and a Turkisli
escort wards off the robbers, who still infest the defiles just
as they did in the days of the good Samaritan. These
throngs, of most various complexion and costume, make their
camp at evening uear Gilgal, in the place where the Israel
ites long since pitched their tents, after having crossed the
stream.3 On the morrow, two hours before dawn, the clang
of the kettle-drums awakens the multitude ; thousands of
torches flare up over the plain, and the crowds are far
along on their road before the heat of the day becomes in-
1 S. Justin (Dialogus cum Tryphone, par. 88) adds this apocryphal
touch#to the picture : he says that the Jordan was suddenly changed to
a stream of radiant fire.
2 Ps. cix. 3. 8 Josue iii.

THE MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. 119
supportable. The first rays of the sun are just gilding the
mountain-tops of Moab, when the great Caravan arrives at
the spot where the Jordan is of easy access ; horses, asses,
mules, camels (which sometimes carry a whole family),
pick out a pathway through the brushwood, aud so, wad
ing out in the current, the pilgrims perform their pious
ablutions.1 Formerly, at that place, long marble slabs beautified the
banks, and a Cross rose out of the midst of the waves above
the very spot where Jesus was baptized. Priests went
before the pilgrims into the waters, to sanctify them with
solemn prayers, casting balm and flowers on the stream ;
then only did the faithful step down into the river, clad in
a garment which they afterwards took away with them,
and in which they were robed in death.2
These customs are now but a dim-remembered story.
The churches, the monasteries, once so numerous along the
banks, to-day only encumber them with their ruins ; while
the pilgrims who bathe in the stream are no longer sons,
as of old, submissive to their Mother. Greeks, Copts, Jac
obites, Armenians, all have rent asunder the seamless robe
of the Church, and display before the eyes of the Mus
sulmans those piteous divisions which they have made in
the Kingdom of the Christ. Nevertheless they all, by this
common homage paid to the Jordan and to Jesus, bear
witness to the fact that in these lands the Saviour once
besought His Father that the one Baptism and one only
Faith might regenerate the world. This Prayer, uttered by
Him unto whom the Heavens hearkened " for the rever
ence which was His due," 3 may not be denied forever. A
time will come — would that it might be soon! — when
all Christian peoples will plunge once more into the rivers
of Jordan to be made one in Jesus, without a shadow of
reserve, in a perfect Unity of faith, hope, and love.
1 See the masterly description of this scene in Stanley's Sinai aud Pales
tine, chap. vii. 3. We could do no more than borrow a few details from
that admirable work of art ; the picture is too vast for us to reproduce it
here in its entirety.
2 Itinerarium B. Antonini Martyris. 3 Hebr. v. 7.

CHAPTER III.
THE TEMPTATION.
Matt. iv. 1-11 ; Mark i. 12, 13 ; Luke iv. 1-13.
The Holy Spirit had rested upon Jesus, not only to bear
witness outwardly to the grace which abounded within
Him, but to exercise an active influence over Him. And
therefore, so soon as the Christ had received this consecra
tion, He was "led by the Spirit," Saint Matthew recounts;1
" impelled," says Saint Luke ; 2 " thrust out," borne away,
driven "into the desert," according to Saint Mark.3 The
energy of the terms chosen by the Evangelists plainly indi
cates that though the Spirit of God never failed to guide
the steps of the Saviour, yet there was, here and now, a
more sensible and lively motion than was customary upon
the part of the Holy Ghost.
Intrusting Himself to this Divine Compulsion the Lord
went up into the desert.4 By this name all the traditions
understand a certain hill to the west of Jericho, which
now bears the name of the Fortieth (Quarantine), in mem
ory of the Fasting of Jesus, rising above the Fountain of
Eliseus, its sides till honeycombed with caves. Long ago,
whole communities of hermits dwelt there, anxious to lead
their solitary life in imitation of their Redeemer, in the
very spot where He consecrated, by His example, the way
of abstinence and prayer.
But no monastic discipline ever equalled in austerity
the penance done by Jesus ; for it was in the midst of
winter that He buried Himself in that retreat — at a time
when the wilderness is more desolate than ever, — the
1 Matt. iv. 2 Luke iv. 3 Mark i. * Matt. iv.

THE TEMPTATION. 121
very skies are pitiless, and the trees are bare of fruit, and
stripped of their leafy screens. Here He abode in an
entire solitude, " alone with the wild beasts," l surrounded
by lions and leopards, which lurk in the thickets of the
Jordan,2 amid the jackals whose mournful howling is still
heard along the mountains. And they harmed Him not ;
for the creatures are but armed against a sinful race,3 and
the Holiness of Jesus held absolute sway over their savage
natures. But it was to attain far other triumphs than these that
the Saviour had gone up into the desert. He had come
hither that He might be tempted. The New Adam, He
was come to take up the combat at the point where the
first had failed and fled, and to turn defeat into victory.
Yet what manner of trial was this with which He must
needs make issue ? Must we really, with the rationalists,
treat it all as a vision, in which the Christ, like the heroes
of ancient fable, was given to choose between the paths of
Virtue and of Vice ? Did the Saviour, in relating His Temp
tation to His disciples, represent it as being merely an alle
gory ? There is nothing in the Gospels to suggest such a
thought ; and it is only by a preconceived idea of stripping
the scene of everything marvellous that one can be brought
to consider it otherwise than as an actual happening.
However it is a profitless effort at best; for what as
tounds us in the inspired record is not so much the won
ders wrought, then and there, as it is the simple fact of
a God being tempted. Theology has no problem to offer
us requiring more delicate discrimination in its solution.
Could the world have anything wherewith to seduce a
" Divine Nature ? Where was the merit in such a victory
for a Soul which could not sin ? At every step the mind
must halt before the brink of an abyss, and of necessity
we must acknowledge that here the mystery of the In
carnation presents one of its features which still remains
shrouded in deepest obscurity to mortal ken.
Without pretending to illuminate those infinite depths,
1 Mark i. 13. 2 Jerem. xlix. 19, 1. 44; Zachar. xi. 3.
3 Rom. viii. 19-22 ; Wis. v. 21.

122 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
we ought to make it clearly understood, however, that the
greatest difficulty comes from the idea, ordinarily enter
tained, that the Temptation of Jesus was like to ours.
There is scarcely any appetite for evil in us which does
not leave some traces of its passage through our souls.
Let the wretched thought be as swift as may be, the first
movement of the heart is too often as if she would detain
it. There was nought of this in Jesus ; for having taken
no part in the perversion of our humanity, he could not
know those desires which awake within us without our
consent, and which are nevertheless our own, because we
can detect therein either the promptings of past faults, or
the seed sown by inherent concupiscence. Jesus was but
tempted outwardly, by an imagery and eloquence appealing
most strikingly to the senses, yet without the possibility of
such attractions hurting His Soul or staining it. If clear
water be absolutely free from all impurity, the rudest
shock will not at all disturb or sully its sweet limpidity ;
yet if it rest upon a miry bottom, the least movement will
suffice to drabble it. Thus it is with Jesus and with us ;
those same storms in which our sinful natures oftenest
suffer shipwreck could only assault and buffet Him ; they
could not soil the purity of the Son of Mary.
Incorruptible in the bosom of corruption, none the less
was Jesus made acquainted with the struggles of our daily
warfare, even as He tasted all the glories of such victory.
His resistance, which was that of a hero in this Tempta
tion in the desert, — which later on in the Garden of Geth-
semani was unto the shedding of blood, — this divine
hardihood was then, and will ever continue to be, His
eternal merit. And that we may better comprehend it,
it is important to remember that His time of trial was not
limited to the three assaults whose details are known to
us, but that it was an issue consuming all of the forty days
during which Jesus remained in the desert. During all
that time He was tempted : l "And now He can have com
passion upon our infirmities, for, without sinning, He hath
been subject to all our temptations." 2
1 Mark i. 13 ; Luke iv. 2. 2 Hebr. iv. 15.

THE TEMPTATION. 123
It was also a season of penance for the Saviour, through
which He passed without eating or drinking. It would
seem that during that long fast, wrapped in prayer and
inward strife, He remained unconscious of the needs of
the body ; " but when the forty days were spent,1 He was
hungry," and the Demon profited by that hour of weakness
to attack Him in person. Under what semblance 2 did he
present himself before Jesus ? Was it as a Spirit of dark
ness, as an Angel of light, or with the features of man ?
This the Lord did not disclose; and there is little to be
gained for us by forming any conjectures.
Not less clouded in obscurity is the character of the con
flict in which such mighty powers were brought to battle.
Was there only that threefold attack of sensuality, vain
glory, and ambition ? Surely to concede only such feeble
weapons as these to Satan, now in arms against his Lord,
were to underrate the artifice and cunning of the Fiend.
Though the Saviour passed through all our common trials,
yet all that was during the forty days which preceded the
last combat; at this hour, wherein the Prince of Dark
ness entered the lists, it would be only natural to expect
that the allurements would take on somewhat of nobility
commensurate with Him toward Whom they were di
rected, and at the same time something super-subtile and
strange worthy of the fallen Angel, whose wiles were all
exerted then. The aim of the Tempter seems to be be
trayed even in his questions. He wanted to know surely
1 Luke iv. 2. The fasting of Moses upon Sinai (Dent. ix. 9) and that
of Elias on his journey toward Horeb (3 Kings xix. 8) lasted the same
length of time, and in Holy Writ this number is manifestly held to be the
prescribed period of penitence. We find the same in the forty days and
forty nights of the Deluge (Gen. vii. 4), in the forty years which Israel
passed in the wilderness (Num. xiv. 33), in the forty blows of the thong
which the Law inflicted upon the guilty (Deut. xxv. 3), in the forty
years of desolation which Ezechiel foretold for Egypt (Ezech. xxix. 11)';
in a word, everywhere where there is any question of chastisement or of
sufferings (S. Jerome, in Jon. iii. 4). Thus the Church, inspired by the
example of Jesus, every year commands the faithful to observe the forty
days' fast of Lent.
2 The language of Scripture and Tradition do not admit of a doubt as to
the fact of Satan having appeared to Jesus under a visible and tangible

124 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
who Jesus was ; J for that keen intellect, which still re
mained in spite of his overthrow as clear as ever, had seen
in the Divine Counsels that his ruin and the salvation of
the world would be consummated on the day when the
Son of God should become Incarnate.2
So then he approached the Saviour : " If you are the
Son of God, command these stones to become bread ! "
The snare was worthy of the hand that fashioned it.
Satan did not offer to those eyes hollowed by long fasting,
to the lips parched with thirst, to that famished body, the
enticement of luscious fruits or savory meats. He was
content to remind Him Whom no lust could have mas
tered that He, the Son of God, held nature at His beck,
and that one word from Him would suffice to change the
stones into bread. Was it befitting that the Christ should
perish of hunger in this wilderness, where Heaven seemed
to have abandoned Him ? Was it not high time to have
recourse to His almighty Attributes ? 3
But Jesus could not forget that it was the will of His
Father that He use this power of miracles, which belonged
to Him, not for Himself, but for others. With one word
He thrust back the Tempter : —
" It is written : Man does not live by bread alone, but
by every word 4 which comes from the mouth of God."
Even as Israel was nourished with Manna during the
forty years in the desert,5 so the Christ would intrust Him-

1 "Daemon Christum aggressus est, potissimum ut exploraret utrum
vere Filius Dei esset " (Suarez, In tertiam partem divi Thomoe, qusestio
xli. art. i. com. ii. ).
2 Suarez, In tertiam partem divi Thomoe, qusestio xli. art. i. com. ii.
3 " Hac tentatione voluit diabolus Christum allicere ad vanam sua?
potential ostentationem, et ad diffidentlam opis Dei Patris ; quasi diceret :
Pater tuus per quadraginta dies tui oblitus est, nee tibi cibum submisit ;
tu ergo tibi ipsi consule" (Cornelius a Lapide, Commentaria in Matthaeum,
iv. 3).
4 Matt. iv. 4; Deut. viii. 3; or more exactly, "of everything which
comes from God." In orde'r to give the words the deep significance which
they have in the Hebrew, Sl>iD"73~7j7, they must be rendered " all that
which cometh."
6 "You shall remember," Moses had said to them, "the ways whereby
the Lord has led you during these forty years to afflict you and try you, in
order that He might lay bare all that was hidden in your hearts, and that

THE TEMPTATION. 125
self to the Divine Loving-kindness, seeking above all else
that support of the soul, which is the Word of God, His
Truth. Jesus had not responded to that query : " If you are the
Son of God ; " but the Devil knew that a superior being-
stood before him, — in all likelihood the Messiah promised
to Israel. Thereafter he had but one intention, — to bring
the Christ to unveil His Mission, and thereby His nature.1
Therefore he transported Him to the Holy City,2 and
placed Him upon a pinnacle 3 of the Temple. Then, point-
He might know whether you would be constant or unfaithful to His Com
mandments. He has afflicted you with hunger, and He has given you
Manna, a food unknown to you and to your fathers, to show you that man
does not live by bread only, but by all things which proceed from the
mouth of God" (Deuter. viii. 2, 3).
1 The two Evangelists who give the details of the threefold Temptation
do not follow the same order. S. Matthew puts the scene on the pin
nacle of the Temple second, — in the place where S. Luke has the tempta-
tation upon the high mountain. Although the latter is generally more
careful than the other in his chronological details, yet S. Matthew, who
lived so long with Jesus, and hence gathered his knowledge of the Tempta
tion from His lips, is more likely here to give the actual order of events.
Then too, the terms used by him to connect the facts seem to imply as
much(T<5T£ "then," ird\iv, "and again"); and further, the words by which
both depict the Devil meeting with his repulse upon the high mountain
( " Begone from here, Satan ! ") would lead us to suppose that that was the
arena of the final trial.
2 The thought that that spotless Tabernacle of His body should be not
merely touched by the foul fiend, but surrendered to his pleasure, to be
borne by him up to the very summit of God's Sanctuary, this has dis
mayed the loving hearts of many a Christian from the days of S. Cyprian
even to to-day, and with him, many interpreters of the text have held that
this scene was all a vision ; but the more commonly held opinion is that
Jesus really submitted to these outrages. He Who delivered over His
limbs to the torturers, to be lashed and tortured, to be covered with
spittle and stretched upon a cross, may well have permitted the Prince of
Darkness to exercise his awful powers upon His sacred Person.
3 The pinnacle whither Jesus was transported is not clearly indicated in
the Gospel ; however, it does not seem to mean the summit of the Holy of
Holies, for the sacred text does not speak of the Sanctuary proper (yaov),
but of the Temple in general (lepov). One of the porticos which surround
the Holy Place seems most likely to have been the spot ; perhaps the Royal
Portico to the south of the sacred edifice ; or it may have been Solomon's
Portico, which bordered the torrent of Kedron on the east. The roof of
this lofty gallery projected out over the Courts of the Temple ( wrepvyiov=
aKpur-iipiov, Hesychius) ; it was from this point that James, the brother of
the Lord, preached to the people, and was precipitated thence to the pave-

126 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
ing to the crowds which thronged its courts, He insinu
ated that the Saviour might well perform some notable
prodigy in the sight of His people.
" If you are the Son of God," he said, " cast yourself
below ; for it is written that He hath given command to
His Angels to keep guard over you,1 and they shall bear
you up in their liands, for fear lest your feet should strike
against a stone."
To descend encircled by Angels, to appear before the
upturned eyes of men in this celestial pomp, would not
this be to compel their wondering worship and to draw all
hearts unto Him ? 2 Satan could not have conceived a
temptation more alluring to the Messiah than was this,
and that he might render it irresistible he fortified it by
the very language of Scripture.
Vain and useless wiles ; for Jesus was come to irradiate
the eyes, not of the flesh, but of the spirit, and to conquer
souls by a grace unknown to the haughty. So He was
content to add : " It is written also : Thou shalt not tempt
the Lord thy God." 3
" Then the Devil transported Him to the top of a tall
mountain, whence he showed unto Him in an instant all
the empires of the world and their glory.
" I will give you all this power," he said, " and the glory
of these kingdoms ; for I have them in my dominion, and
I distribute them to whom I will, — all these things shall
be yours, if, falling down before me, you will adore me." 4
ment below by the furious Scribes ( Hegesippus, apud Eusebium, Historia
Ecclesiastica, ii. 23 ; Epiphanius, Adversus Hoereses, xxix. 4), and from
here too Satan could propose that Jesus should descend in the midst of the
astounded people.
1 Matt. iv. 6 ; Ps. xc. 11.
2 "Si Filius Dei es, mitte te deorsum, — ut te templi et altaris quasi
domus tuse dominum Deumque sacerdotibus et laicis ostendas, atque ab eis
jus adorationis et sacrificii tibi debitum reposcas" (Cornelius a Lapide,
Commentaria in Matthceum, iv. 5).
3 Matt. iv. 7. These words are to be found in various parts of the Old
Testament, but particularly in Deuteronomy (vi. 16), where it is added,
"As you did once in the place of temptation," that is, at the encampment
in Raphidiin, when the people, dying of thirst, reproached Moses with
having brought them out from Egypt (Exod. xvii. 1-7).
4 Matt. iv. 8, 9; Luke, iv. 5-7.

THE TEMPTATION. 127
We would not attempt to imagine what the surround
ings of that last scene in the Temptation were like ; for
from the summit of the Quarantine, pointed out by the
primitive traditions as the locality, the view only extends
from Libanus to the desert of Tekoa ; while of course it
were useless to look for any height whence in the twink
ling of an eye oue can embrace all the kingdoms of the
world. But if we are to see in the very high mountain
only a figure of that power over the whole face of the
world which the Demon arrogates to himself, still we may
ask what is the nature of this his empire, whereof we see
to-day only too signal proofs,1 and what object had he in
view by thus tendering it to the Christ ? Did he hope to
see Him prostrate Himself at his feet ? Such blindness
as this can hardly be attributed to Lucifer. In this as
sault of the Tempter, there is evidently nothing but de
spair at seeing himself overcome by a man, though it be
the Man-God ; 2 and hence we have this cry of rage and
madness. Satan asked no more : " Art Thou the Son of
God ? " For him there was no longer any room left for
doubt ; but now, made certain of his downfall, he sought
at least to gratify his hate, and so blasphemed openly be
fore the Presence. His last speech upon the mountain is
but an echo of that cry of revolt which of old he had flung
in the face of Heaven itself. " I will ascend," he had said
long since, " and I will be like unto the Most-High ! " 3
At sight of this monster of pride, Jesus, so calm until
then, might well have felt a movement of horror.
" Begone, Satan ! " He said to him ; " for it is written :
Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt
thou serve." 4
1 Bossuet, Elevations sur les mysteres, xxiiie semaine, ve elevation.
2 It is the teaching of very famous theologians that the fall of the An
gels had its origin in the revelation (vouchsafed to them long ages before
the fact) of the Mystery of the Incarnation. The thought that God should
ever become Flesh and Blood shocked the haughtiest of those Spirits, and
with disdain they refused to adore the high counsels of God, and thus
their mad pride hurled them down to the depths of Hell (Suarez, De
Angelis, lib. vii. cap. xiii. 13).
8 Is. xiv. 13, 14.
4 Matt. iv. 10 ; Deut. vi. 13.

128 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
The Demon had discharged his last darts. "All the
Temptation being accomplished, he departed from Him for
a time," a — until the hour of the Passion, until that desola
tion upon the Cross, when for the last time he was to at
tack Jesus with all the fury of despair. During the public
life of the Saviour we shall see him retaining such a vivid
memory of this first defeat that he is fain to fly distraught
from His Presence, now grovelling at His feet, while he
confesses His Divinity, now crying out to Him in his ter
ror : " Wherefore comest Thou to destroy us before the
time ? " now beseeching Him for the bodies of swine, as
a last and only refuge.2
After the tempest, sweeping wildly over the Mount of
the Temptation, suddenly, after the storm was spent, there
came a great calm ; " the Angels drew nigh unto Jesus,
and they served Him." 3 Jewish legends tell how Moses,
during his forty days of fasting on Sinai, was nourished by
a wondrous harmony, — the hymning of the spheres.4 Of
yet more celestial concord was the banqueting of the
Saviour, since He had for ministers unto Him those Spirits
of light before whom the stars of the firmament wax pale
and wan, and are hushed in silence.
1 Luke iv. 13.
2 Mark iii. 11 ; Matt. viii. 29 ; Mark v. 11.
8 Matt. iv. 11.
4 Schcettgen, Horce Hebra'icae, t. i. p. 87 ; Philo, De Somniis, i. 6.

CHAPTER IV.
JOHN BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY, AND THE FIRST
DISCIPLES OF JESUS.
John i. 19-52.
All the while that Jesus was sustaining that struggle
in the desert John continued to preach along the banks of
the Jordan. The gatherings grew every day greater, the
enthusiasm more intense. Very soon it was spread abroad
that a heavenly Voice had marked out One from among
the penitents, and that the Baptist had cried aloud to the
multitudes : " Behold Him of Whom I have said : ' There
cometh after me a Man Who hath been set over me, be
cause He was before me.' " x
So, though they had been for a long time indifferent to
anything said by this rude preacher, who vouchsafed only
anathemas and rebuffs to the princes of Israel, yet at last
the members of the Sanhedrin were aroused by these
rumors which arose from all round about him. Ablution
was to be one of the tokens of the Mission of the Christ.2
They began therefore to question whether John might not
be the Messiah, or at least one of the Prophets who were
to announce Him. In order to clear up this doubt the
Supreme Council despatched some of its members to the
Precursor. Those chosen for this office were priests ;3 be
cause all that pertained to the ablutions lay within the
province of the sacerdotal body ; 4 and the delegates were
also taken from the sect of the Pharisees,5 noted for their
scrupulous respect for all such observances. Certain of
1 John i. 15. 2 Ezech. xxxvi. 25 ; Zachar. xiii. 1. 3 John i. 19.
4 Lev. xii. 6 ; xiii., xiv. , xv. , etc. 6 John i. 24.
VOL. I. — 9

130 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the Levites J acted as a sort of escort in order to enhance
the dignity of the embassy.
" Who are you ? " asked the ambassadors.
" John confessed it, and denied it not ; and he confessed
that he was not the Christ." The Evangelist by this
repetition shows with what insistence the Precursor reiter
ated his testimony before the Sanhedrin's envoys : ' I the
Christ ! I am not ; no, I am not He.'
" What, then ? " was the response ; " are you Elias ? "
"No," answered John.
" Are you the Prophet ? " they said thereupon, making
allusion to the Seer of whom Moses had told them.2
" No," replied John.
" Who are you, then ? " persisted the members of the
Sanhedrin, — " in order that we may render an account to
those who sent us here. What do you say of yourself ? "
" I am the Voice 3 of one who crieth in the desert : 'Make
straight the ways of the Lord ! ' as hath said the Prophet
Isaiah." This response, far from touching the Pharisees,4 seemed
to them incompatible with the right of preaching and of
purifying by ablution, which John claimed for himself.
" Why do you baptize," they said, " if you are neither
the Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet ? "
John replied : "As for me, I baptize in water; but there
has been One in your very midst Whom you knew not.
He cometh after me, He who hath been set above me ; 5
and I am not worthy to loosen the latchet of His shoes."
1 John i. 19. 2 Deut. xviii. 15.
3 " What do we mean by a voice ? What is it but a breath which fades
upon the air ? I am a Voice, or, if you will, a Cry. Even to this extent
would S. John annihilate his own personality." (Bossuet, Elevations sur
les mystiries, xxiv6 semaine, lre elevation.)
4 John i. 25-27. The corrections with which the Manuscripts are
covered make it hardly possible to decide whether &Tre<rra\p.ivoi ought to
be read with or without the article. Either way the sense is clearly fixed
by the Vulgate -. " Et qui missi fuerant, erant ex Pharisseis. " And thus
there is no reason for regarding this as a new embassy of Pharisees which
succeeded the first.
6 The Alexandrine Manuscript, the Peshito, and the Vulgate keep this
incidental phrase, which is omitted in the Syriac of the Cureton, the MSS.
of Sinai and the Vatican.

JOHN BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY. 131
Such steadfastness and humility before one greater than
himself disconcerted the councillors of the Sanhedrin, who
turned away, disdaining to interrogate him any further.
" These things took place at Bethany, on the other side of
the Jordan, where John was baptizing," l — that is to say,
opposite Jericho, as we have seen, and at one of the fords
which allow of the stream being crossed near that city.
The Saviour, on His descending from the Mount of the
Temptation, would find His way naturally to this same
spot. Indeed, upon the morrow John saw Him coining
toward him.2
"Behold3 the Lamb of God!" he said; "behold Him
Who beareth the sins of the world ! "
This was enough to recall to the minds of the Jews who
surrounded him the oracle uttered by Isaiah : 4 " The
lamb standing dumb before his shearers, the Man of Sor
rows, Who shall bear the sins of the people."
" Look," continued the Precursor, " see, and behold Him
of Whom I have said : ' There cometh after me a Man Who
hath been set above me, because He was before me.' And I
knew Him not ; yet I am come, giving you the baptism
of water, that so fie may be made manifest in Israel." 5 .
Plain as these words were, they did not impel any one
of those who heard them — on that same day at least —
to follow Jesus. The impression which they produced was
soon effaced ; only a certain few souls cherished the presenti
ment that salvation was close at hand, and began to turn
their eyes to the Saviour. As for the Baptist, he was so
1 John i. 28.
2 John i. 29-31.
8"I5e; this word was not addressed to Jesus, but to the multitude:
" tSe, though in the singular, is often used of many persons."
4 Is. liii. 7.
5 This testimony seemed of such importance in the eyes of the Evan
gelist that he repeats it under another, longer form, as if he regretted
having related it too briefly in the former instance : "Then it was that
John bare witness : I have seen the Holy Ghost descending from Heaven
in the form of a Dove and abiding upon Him ; and I had not known Him,
but that He Who sent me to baptize with water said to me : He upon
Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, He
it is Who baptizeth with the Holy Spirit ; and I have seen Him, and I
have borne witness unto Him, that He is the Son of God " (John i. 32-34).

132 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
used to waiting the divine action that he left all for grace
to operate upon the people, contenting himself with simply
showing them the Lord, Who must needs call unto Him
self those whom He willed, and at what hour He willed to
have them come.
On the following day John was walking with two of his
disciples when Jesus passed on before them.1 The Pre
cursor, casting upon Him a glance of infinite meaning,2 in
which shone deep love as well as wondering awe, thus
gazing after Him, exclaimed : —
"Behold the Lamb of God!"
Then these two disciples yielded to the prompting of
those words, which had touched them so nearly the night
before, and they parted company with John to go after
Jesus. The Saviour very soon turned about, and seeing
that they were following Him, He said : " Whom are you
seeking ? "
" Rabbi,3 where do you dwell ? " was their reply.
The title they gave the Unknown and this demand of
the disciples both declared what hunger and thirst for the
truth filled their hearts.
-" Come and see," said Jesus. And they went with Him
and saw where He dwelt.
The Lord was living in one of the huts which were then
built along the banks of the Jordan ; perhaps it was merely
one of those shelters woven from the boughs of turpentine
and palm trees, beneath which the traveller spreads his
mantle of hairy skins. It was about four in the after
noon (the tenth hour4) when the disciples entered the
i John i. 35-40.
2'Ep.p\i\j/as (John i. 36. Compare Matt. xix. 26; Luke xx. 17;
Mark x. 21).
8 ' ' Rabbi ; " ^3^, from the root, 3^, great, corresponds exactly to Magis-
ter in the Latin tongue, taken from the words magnus, magis. This
title of honor was given to the most famous doctors, to those whose fame
consisted not only in forming a school about them, but who were also
potent enough to attract the multitude as well ( Lightfoot, Horoe Hebraicae,
in Matthseum, xxiii. 7).
4 John i. 39. The Jews computed the twenty-four hours of the legal
day as beginning at sunset, — from evening to evening. After the
Captivity, although the more ancient custom still existed, they had also

THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS. 133
abode of Jesus, and " they passed the rest of the day with
Him." The Evangelist does not tell us of their conversa
tion, which was doubtless prolonged until it came to be one
of those intimate communions most dear to holy souls, and
from which they issue forth filled with new strength and
light, with the unassailable certitude that God has revealed
Himself to them. When night came on the two disciples
were gained unto Jesus ; they had recognized in Him the
Prophet, — a greater than Moses, Him for Whom Israel
had been waiting for so many ages.
One of these young men who in this way came to be the
first to attach themselves to Jesus was Andrew, the fisher
man of Galilee, born on the shores of Lake Genesareth.
The second was no other than John Evangelist. It is
easy to divine this fact from his characteristic modesty,
which makes him here, as elsewhere, conceal even his
name ; beside this, there is the minuteness of the narra
tive, which enters into the slightest details, even to making
note of the hour in which Jesus drew these first disciples
to Him.
Simon, Andrew's brother, and a fisherman like him, had
also quitted the Lake of Genesareth to go down to the
Jordan. Andrew came across him.1
" We have found the Messiah," he said (that is to say,
the Anointed, the Christ), and he brought him to Jesus.
The Saviour looked long upon him. In this Galilean
He saw the immovable Rock on which he would build His
Church. " Thou art Simon, son of Jonas," he said to him ; " here
after thou shalt be called Kephas." And this signifies,
translating the Hebrew names of which the Lord makes
use : Thou art Simon, — child of a dove,2 feeble and tim-
conformed to the method of the Chaldeans, who reckoned the day as
commencing at sunrise (six o'clock in the morning). This is what
S. John ordinarily does; iv. 6, 52; xi. 9; xix. 14, etc. Consequently
there is no reason for adopting Wieseler's theory that the Evangelist here
counts the hours starting at midnight.
1 John i. 41, 42.
2 Jonas ; HM', the Dove ; or from the root "]J', to be feeble ; lowliness,
weakness (Fiirst, Handworterbuch).

134 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
orous as she, but hereafter thou shalt be impregnable as
the cliff1 in which she finds her hiding-place; or again:
Thou art the son of feebleness ; hereafter thou shalt be
firm as a rock, — a play of words made sublime by their
depth of meaning, and by the effects which followed upon
tlieir utterance ; for from that same hour there began the
slow working of a wondrous change within the son of
Jonas, which was to discover itself to the whole world
shortly.2 The Church, at its birth, numbered already three mem
bers eager to spread abroad their faith. Not far from this
spot there was still another Galilean, named Philip ;3 "he
was of Bethsaida, the village of Andrew and Peter." The
Lord encountered him on the morrow, when he was pre
paring for his departure to Galilee.
" Follow Me ! " He said to him, thus inviting him to
share henceforth His life and His sufferings.
Philip only vaguely understood what was implied in
this vocation ; notwithstanding, so docile was he that he
abandoned himself to grace and followed Jesus.
There were two ways of returning to Nazareth open to
the Saviour. The one made its way through Scythopolis
and by the sea of Tiberias, keeping to the banks of the
Jordan ; but the Galileans only took this road, which
wound along the river banks, when they wanted to avoid
the territory of the Samaritans ; whenever the animosity
of this people had for a time subsided they preferred a
shorter road, which ascends by Bethel, and thence by
Sichem and En-Gannim, coming out upon the Plain of
Esdralon. A few months later we shall see Jesus taking
this direction on His return to Jerusalem, and stopping at
Sichem, close by Jacob's Well ; but outside the season of
Israel's feasts this route was fraught with no perils, and
1 Kyipas, in Aramean, K2'l3 ; ^3, in Hebrew, signifies a stone.
2 By changing Peter's name in this manner, Jesus, at the very outset,
performed an act which declared His authority over His disciples ; for the
right of imposing a new name, or even of giving it a different meaning by
some slight alteration, was a power reserved by law to the magnates and
masters of Israel (Gen. xvii. 5, 15 ; Dan. i. 7, etc.).
8 John i. 43-45.

THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS. 135
the Saviour would therefore choose it for their journey
from Jericho to Cana.
Having reached the heights of the hills of Ephraim
the little company were passing through Bethel and the
meadows which had once witnessed the Vision of Jacob,1
when they perceived a Jew seated beneath a fig-tree. It
was Nathanael,2 the friend of Philip, who was to become
the fifth disciple of the Saviour.
The son of Tolmai (Bar-Tolmai),3 this newdy elect, was
of a lineage more noble than the other four,4 and appa
rently he always retained something of an air of distinction
in the midst of the rest ; just as he is represented, in the
paintings of the Middle Ages, with his purple mantle
oroidered with precious stones. He was versed in sacred
literature,5 and perhaps he was meditating there beneath
the fig-tree ; for the Jews were wont to seek the shade of
this tree at the "Hour of Prayer."6
1 That allusion to Jacob's Ladder which Jesus makes just a little after
this, seems to us to indicate that iu the meanwhile they were crossing the
heights of Bethel, where everything would recall that famous Vision.
2 John i. 45-52. Nathanael ; /KJHJ, God-given. This name, which
corresponds to that of Theodore, QebSupos, is found in the Old Testament
(Num. i. 8 ; 1 Paral. ii. 14).
3 In fact, everything leads us to believe that this new disciple made
one of the number in the Apostolic College, and so is no other than Bar
tholomew. The synoptic writers, it is true, make no mention of a Na
thanael ; but, in their lists of the Twelve Apostles, one of them is always
inscribed under his family name only, Bartholomew, Bar-Tolmai, that is,
son of Tolmai. Now it has been generally held that this Bartholomew is
the same disciple whom John mentions by his proper name of Nathanael,
and there are numerous reasons for considering this a justifiable hypoth
esis, — the circumstances under which Nathanael was called, which are in
no way different iu solemnity from those connected with the most illus
trious Apostles ; his presence as one of their number after the Resurrection
(John xxi. 2) ; the place which the name of Bartholomew occupies in the
various lists of the Twelve, always in company with Philip, and next
after him, so preserving to each their rank in the order of their separate
vocations. 4 " Non Petro vili piscatori Bartholoniseus nobilis anteponitur, imo pis-
catori totius mundi monarchiae traditur principatus " (S. Jerome, Epistola
ad Eustochium).
6 S. Augustine, in Joan, i.
6 R. Hasa et discipuli ejus . . . summo mane solebant surgere et sub
fieustudere" (Bereschith, fol. 62, 2. See Winer, Real Wort., Feigen-
baum). Nowadays the country-folk in these parts avoid even the shadow

136 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Philip called to him, telling him: "We have found Him
Whom Moses in the Law,1 and the Prophets, have an
nounced ; 't is Jesus, the Son of Joseph of Nazareth ! "
Of Nazareth ! This name awoke at once in the mind
of Nathanael an invincible objection. Was it not written
that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem ? 2 What
was to be expected of a man hailing from an obscure
village, of ill repute, and in Galilee?
" Of Nazareth ! " he replied ; " can anything good come
from there ? "
Philip still believed that Nazareth was the birthplace
of Jesus, and of Joseph, His father ; he did not know
how to respond to the difficulties made by his friend ;
but with unshaken faith, all he could say was : " Come
and see ! "
They were indeed the very words of the Master which
he repeated then ; for he knew what had been their
power over Andrew and John, and availed himself of
them as though they were some divine charm to lure
Nathanael. So soon as the Saviour saw the latter coming toward
Him : " Behold a true Israelite," 3 He said, " a man in
whom there is no guile ! "
What a meed of praise those words bestow ! What is
there more to be desired than to recognize within one's
of this particular tree, declaring that it breeds sickness. Such a complete
revolution of feeling in any matter of sentiment is rarely to be found in
the East.
1 Gen. xvii. 7 ; xlix. 10 ; Deut. xviii. 15.
2 The difficulty before which Nathanael halts now a little later pre
sented itself to the minds of the Jews ; but, less docile than he, they let it
become a source of scandal and infidelity for themselves. " What, then,"
they said, "shall the Christ come out of Galilee ? Does not the Scripture
declare that He shall be born in Bethlehem, the city of David?" And
then they turned away in great contempt of the Saviour (John vii. 41, 42).
3 The Jews preferred this name of Israelite to any other ; for, if they
must needs share the glory of being the children of Abraham and Isaac
with the sons of Ismael (the Arabs) and of Esau (the Idumeans), on the
other hand they were the sole descendants of Jacob, and this his name
Israel, as it was got by conquest in a struggle where the faith of their
common father had triumphed with God, so it ever remained in their eyes
as their most splendid title of national glory (Gen. xxxii. 24-31).

THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS. 137
self this true righteousness, and know that one is " of that
Israel which is not of the flesh, but of God V1
Nathanael, in his surprise at seeing himself already
known, replied with quiet candor : " flow do you know
me?" " Before Philip called thee," said the Saviour, " when
thou wert under the fig-tree, I saw thee."
Evidently Jesus then made an allusion to something
that had occurred under the tree, before Philip called
to him, — some action which must be still a secret to
us, but one which was as well known to Him as it
was to Nathanael. By recalling it, the Lord revealed
Himself as the Divine Seer, Whose glance pierces all
mysteries. " Master," cried out Nathanael, " You are the Son of
God, the King of Israel ! "
These two titles explain each other. Nathanael did not
make use of the first as meaning that Jesus was the Son
of God by nature, equal and consubstantial with His
Father ; but he recognized in Him the object of His
nation's vows, the Son of God, the King of Israel.2
» 1 Cor. x. 18 ; Gal. vi. 16.
2 The Jews only needed to meditate upon the inspired sayings of Scrip
ture, in order to be convinced that in God there are several Persons (see
Appendix II.), and that the Messiah was to be God (Ps. ii. 7; xliv. 8 ;
Is. ix. 6 ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; Mich. v. 2, etc. ) . Nevertheless, they habitually
used the term "Son of God," as though it meant sonship by adoption,
and hence they attributed this title to the Angels (Job i. 6 ; ii. 1), to the
princes of Israel (Ps. lxxxi. 6) and to men distinguished for their pious
or noble natures (Gen. vi. 2). This ignorance as to the Mystery of the
Trinity, and their attachment to the dogma of the Divine Unity, pre
vented most of them from believing that the Messiah could be God, as is
He Who sent Him ; and so we see them, even in the time of the Saviour,
welcoming mere individuals as Christs, only asking that they free Judea
from her yoke, without troubling themselves at all whether they were the
sons of God. Nay more, this title which Jesus took as His Own was a
most scandalous act in the eyes of His contemporaries. When they
accused Him of blasphemy, when they would have liked to stone Him, it
was always when the Lord declared Himself the Son of God, equal to His
Father and One with Him (John v. 18 ; viii. 58, 59 ; x. 30-36). And
when the Sanhedrin passes sentence upon Him, they give as their reason,
" that in accordance with our Law He ought to die, because He made
Himself the Son of God" (John xix. 7). The Jews generally did not
expect a Divine Messiah, and there is very little likelihood that Nathanael ,

138 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Jesus followed out the thought : " Because I have said
to thee that I saw thee beneath the fig-tree, thou dost
believe ; thou shalt see things greater still. Of a truth,
ay, of a truth," He repeated, " thou shalt see the heavens
opened,1 and the Angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man." 2
As we have hinted, the hills of Bethel undoubtedly
suggested this allusion to the Lord. Therefore, that which
Israel had once beheld in this very land on which they
now trod, but had seen only in a dream, this it was given
to Nathanael, the true Israelite, to contemplate iu reality :
the heavens thrown open, to shower down grace divine ;
Jehovah, no longer afar off, on the cloud-hung apex of the
celestial ladder, but pitching His tent 3 in the midst of us ;
earth united to Heaven, by ties not visionary but ever
lasting, by the communion of those Angels who ascend
to God, bearing unto Him the prayers of men, and again
descend to us, the bearers of His blessing. And this
saintly commerce was no far-away hope held out to their
longing hearts; for from that very hour4 Jesus commenced
His Office of Mediator. He has given us assurance of
this by the affirmation — the form of which Saint John
before being instructed by the Saviour, would have recognized him as the
Son of God, by Nature consubstantial with the Father.
1 In the Holy Books "the heavens opened" was always a figure of the
overflowing of God's grace upon man (Gen. xxviii. 12 ; Is. vi. 1 ; Ezech.
i. 1 ; Mai. iii. 10).
2 This name, which recalls those humiliations which the Incarnate
Word suffered for our sakes, is found for the first time in the famous
Vision in which Daniel describes the glory of the Messiah (Dan. vii. 13).
The Prophet, in order to make the contrast more striking, does not make.
use of the term Ben-Ish or Ben-Adam, but calls Him Ben-Enosh, that is,
man in all the weakness inherent in our humanity. It is proper to remark
here also that Jesus habitually takes this title just when He has called
Himself the Son of God (Matt. xxvi. 64) ; or when He asserts some of
His divine powers, as the right of working miracles (Matt. xii. 28-32 ;
xiii. 41) ; or of forgiving sins (Matt. ix. 6; xvi. 27; xix. 38). In this
manner He proposed to proclaim His human nature and Divine Nature at
one and the same time.
v'Eo-K-rivwaev (John i. 14).
4 'Aw apri is omitted in most of the versions, and in the ancient man
uscripts. Still we think that this reading ought not to be overlooked, out
of respect for the Syriac Versions and the Alexandrine Manuscript.

THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS. 139
has preserved for us, and which so well befitted Him Who
is the eternal Amen : " Amen, Amen,1 I say unto you :
You shall see the heavens opened, and the Angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
1 This double Amen occurs here for the first time, and, in its two
fold form, is only mentioned by S. John ; the other Evangelists content
themselves with putting the word " Amen " once in reporting the Saviour's
language. We are surely warranted in believing that the beloved disciple
would have remembered the words of his Master more faithfully than did
any others, and hence we may think that it was a custom with Jesus to
reiterate this solemn affirmative, so to add importance to the Truths
which He wished to impress on their minds.

CHAPTER V.
THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES AT CANA.
Johnii. 1-11.
With these five disciples Jesus kept on along the
road northwards. As they were journeying without any
train or beasts of burden, they were able to make their
camp at Sichem on the first night, taking En-Gannim
for the second ; aud from this point, after crossing the
plain of Esdralon, they soon reached Nazareth. On
their arrival they did not find Mary ; for " on the third
day J there was a wedding celebration at Cana of Galilee,
and the Mother of Jesus was there." As He also was
invited to take part in their merry-makings, Jesus, in
company with His disciples, pushed onwards to Cana2
1 John ii. 1. The memory of every hour that he had spent with Jesus
was so fresh in the memory of John the Evangelist, that it is enough for
him to jot down this detail of time. But with us that "third day" has
been construed in several different ways ; some by dating from the arrival
of Jesus in Cana ; others take it to be from the calling of Nathanael ;
sometimes it is reckoned from the day following His departure for Galilee ;
finally it is thought to mean the third after His leaving this first point ;
and the last opinion strikes us as the most natural supposition.
2 Kefr Kenna is, in fact, only a league from Nazareth to northward.
This poor little village still possesses the ruins of a church which was
erected over the very spot where the wedding was celebrated, and they
show you the very fountain which undoubtedly supplied the water for the
Miracle, since it is the only one in the town. Robinson contends that
Kana el-.Talil (located some three hours' journey from Nazareth toward the
northeast) ought to have the glory of being the ancient Cana; but all the
traditions are against this hypothesis, and they have always pointed out
Kefr Kenna as the scene of the Miracle, while the absence of any ruins at
Kana el-Jalil is also against it, for all the travellers of olden days speak
of the churches and convents which were raised in this hamlet as a witness
of the marvel. Hence there is only the closer similarity in the names,
which might lead us to prefer Kana el-Jalil. Robinson attached great

THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES AT CANA. 141
that same evening.1 It was just at the hour when the
ceremonies of the marriage were about to commence,
and the Lord, on His arrival, could assist as a guest at
the most brilliant spectacle of all, — the procession formed
by the bridal couple, surrounded by the whole family.2
Sacred writers allude so often to the nuptial festivals,
that it would suffice merely to collect the words in which
they have referred to them, in order to restore for us the
bright pageant which was enacted before the eyes of Jesus.
The bride's preparations for this great day were matters
of the weightiest moment. From the instant she stepped
from her perfumed bath,3 she shed around her such a
wealth of fragrance that Solomon compares her, wrapped
in her long veils, to a cloud of incense floating over the
earth.4 These veils are a distinctive feature of the be
trothed maiden ; not only covering the head, but enwreath-
ing the whole body,5 aud concealing from sight the white
and gold-embroidered robe,6 her jewels,7 the virgin's girdle
(which no one might unclasp save only the joyous spouse),8
and the crown of myrtle that encircled her brow.9
importance to this double name, which is exactly translated in Arabic as
"Cana of Galilee." But various travellers who are conversant with that
language have since questioned the inhabitants of this region, but without
avail ; for they all call the village of which Robinson is speaking by the
name of Khourbet Kana, and the addition el-Jalil would seem to be a
mistake of the learned American. (See Thomson, The Land and the
Boole, p. 425.)
1 It was very likely of s>. Tuesday evening, or, to speak more precisely,
at an early hour of Wednesday, since it wa.s an ancient custom among the
Jews to calculate the day from night to night ; it was by the order of
Esdras (Ketoubot, i. 1) that the marriage feast must commence on this
day when the bride was a maiden, and on a Thursday if she were a widow.
2 Although the oath taken by the bridal pair (Ezech. xvi. 8 ; Mai.
ii. 14), and the blessings which they then received (Gen. xxiv. 60 ; Ruth
iv. 10 ; Tob. vii. 15), gave to the marriage its sacred character, yet the
splendor of the nuptial procession was so notable a feature, that this latter
ceremony was popularly regarded as the principal event of a Jewish
wedding. 3 Ruth iii. 3 ; Ezech. xxiii. 40.
* Cant. iii. 6.
5 Gen. xxiv. 65 ; xxxviii. 14.
6 Apoc. xix. 8 ; Ps. xliv. 10, 14.
7 Is. xlix. 18 ; lxi. 10 ; Apoc. xxi. 2.
8 Jer. ii. 32.
9 Ketoubot, ii. 1.

142 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
The young maid, thus attired at the hands of her girl
companions, awaited the arrival of the bridal retinue. By
her side the paranymph, or bridesmaid, kept watch with
the ten virgins, who must needs accompany her with lamps
in their hands. It was generally at a late hour that the
cry rang out : '' Behold the bridegroom is here ! Come ye
out to meet him!"1 In those lovely nights of the Orient,
which well-nigh surpass anything our days can boast in
the way of soft splendor and delicious balminess, the
procession advances, led first by a troop of singers, their
voices mingling with the notes of the flute and the clash
of tambourines;2 while, last of all, conies the bridegroom,
gorgeously clad, his forehead wreathed with a golden tur
ban entwined with myrtle and rose. About him march
his ten friends, called " Sons of the Groom,"3 holding palm
branches in their hands ;4 while his kinsmen, acting as his
escort, bear lighted torches,5 and the daughters of Israel
greet him on every hand with their laughing compliments.6
The bridegroom and his companions enter within the
dwelling of the young maiden, and, taking her by the
hand, he leads her toward the threshold ; and here he
receives the tables of stone on which is inscribed the
dowry ; 7 whereupon, in merry marching train, the guests
retrace their way back to the house of the fortunate youth.
A banquet is there made ready,8 which always lasted for
many a long hour, enlivened by gay enigmas and bright
sallies of wit.9 A whole week, sometimes even two, slipped
by amid such rejoicings ; 10 and so, to put somewhat of a
check on this immoderate joy, and to recall their minds to
thoughts of graver things, it was the custom, from time to
time, for some one to shatter the wine-glasses of the happy
1 Matt. xxv. 6.
2 Gen. xxxi. 27 ; Jer. vii. 34 ; xvi. 9 ; 1 Mac. ix. 39.
3 Jud. xiv. 11 ; Matt. ix. 15.
4 Ketoubot, 16, 17 ; Sabbath, 110 a; Sota, 49 b.
5 Matt. xxv. 7.
6 Cant. iii. 11 ; Ps. xliv. 15 ; Ketoubot, 15 b.
7 Ketoubot, 1, 2.
8 Matt. xxii. 1-10 ; Luke xiv. 8 ; John ii. 2.
» Jud. xiv. 1 2.
10 Ibidem, xiv. 12 ; Tob. viii. 23.

THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES AT CANA. 143
pair.1 This was indeed to show forth in action that thought
of the ancient mime : " Fortuna vitrea est, turn quum
splendet frangitur."2 Toute notre felicity,
Sujette a l'instabilitt),
En moms de rien tombe par terre ;
Et comine elle a l'^clat du verre,
Elle en a la fragility ! 3
In the time of Jesus, were there the same symbolic
rites performed which to-day are peculiar to Jewish mar
riages, beside the ceremonies already mentioned, — the
long white napkin stretched over the head of the newly
wed, who sit with their hands clasped under the veil, while
the ring is slipped upon the finger of the bride in token
of their indissoluble union.4 The sacred writings make no
mention of these ; they only tell how the guests conduct
the lady to the nuptial chamber,5 where her couch was set
in state beneath a canopy,6 sometimes even (if we may
credit Jewish authorities) 7 under a bower of blossoms.8
Such were some of the ceremonies at which Jesus was
a Guest upon " that evening of the third day." In this
instance the pomp and splendor were indeed of a some
what modest degree ; for everything seems to indicate that
the family which had bidden Jesus as one of their friends
1 Berachot, f. 31, 1.
2 Publius Syrus.
3 Corneille, Polyeucte, acte iv. scene ii.
4 These ceremonies are also found in Christian marriages, and we are
justified in believing that the primitive Church borrowed them from the
Ritual of the Synagogue.
6 Jud. xv. 1 ; Joel ii. 16.
0 Ps. xviii. 6 ; Joel ii. 16.
7 Ketoubot, 4, 5.
3 On the morrow, if no cloud had appeared to obscure their happiness
(Deut. xxii. 13-21), the "Friend of the Bridegroom" returned thanks to
God, in the name of all. "Lord God," he said, "King of the Universe,
Thou Who hast set a place in Thy Paradise for this sweet-kernelled nut,
this rose of the dales, so that no stranger may ever hold domain o'er
this sealed fountain — wherefore it is that this fair form of love hath never
proven false to her plighted faith: Blessed be Thou forever, 0 Lord ! 0
Thou Who hast chosen Abraham and his seed to be Thine own ! " (Hale-
h, 51 b.)

144 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
was of as humble a station as He : the fact of the wine
having given out so early iu the feasting ; the air of au
thority with which Mary, the wife of a carpenter, gives
her orders; the respect shown her Son, who is invited,
although at the time absent from home. The apparent
luxury in the details of the banquet do not really con
tradict this conclusion ; for everything which they might
stand in need of, — ornaments, rich furnishings, service of
all kinds, — these even the poorest people could always
borrow of their neighbors.
Mary, who had preceded her Son to Cana, had betaken
herself thither undoubtedly in order to lend her aid in the
necessary preparations ; thus she was able to notice how
little wine her friends had to dispose of; and so too she
was the first to perceive that it was falling short in the
very middle of the repast. It was the unlooked-for arrival
of the five disciples which had brought down this disgrace
upon the young couple ; for (according to an ancient wit
ness on this point) " it happened that the wine gave out
in consequence of the great number of guests." 2
Mary was distressed, and betaking herself to Jesus :
" They have no wine," she said.
Used as she was to seeing her Son anticipate her least
wishes, she continued to treat Him as she had always
done hitherto, still bearing herself as a Mother who is
all-powerful and always to be obeyed.
But now the times were changed. In order to show
Mary that He had ceased to belong to her (yet only that
He might be entirely at the will of His Heavenly Father),
Jesus refused to pay any heed to her appeal.
" Woman," He said to her, " what matters it to you and
to Ale ? My hour has not yet come."
This answer, which sounds so harshly to our ears, has
not the same meaning in the Aramean tongue. It is in
frequent use among sacred writers, sometimes to denote a
lively objection, sometimes only a simple dissent; both,
1 "Et factum est per multam turbam vocatorum vinum consummari."
(Another reading found in the Italic Version. Codex Rhedigerianus,
vii. century.)

THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES AT CANA. 145
however, were in perfect consonance with the forms of
highest courtesy.1 As for the title "Woman," that was,
indeed, a term of respect.2 In making use of it, Jesus ren
dered filial homage to her, whom He loved beyond all other
creatures, and whose prayer it cost Him so dear to deny.
And, furthermore, we must needs supply to this bare
refusal some words which John Evangelist either did not
hear, or at least has omitted to report ; for we see in the
sequel that the response of the Saviour, far from dis
heartening Mary, gave her yet fuller assurance.
On the instant she gave orders to the servants to hold
themselves in readiness at His word : " Anything that He
may say to you, do it."
They had not long to delay. The last drops of wine had
been poured out ; there was nothing now left for the young
couple except to make a humiliating avowal of their in
sufficient stores. Now there were standing close at hand
six great urns of stone, covered with branches, as is the
custom in the East, in order to keep the water cool and
fresh. These vessels, each containing two or three firkins,3
were kept in readiness for the guests, who were required
not only to wash their feet before touching the linen and
drapery of their couches, but even during the meal fre
quently to purify their hands. Already there had been
many of these ablutions performed, and the urns were
being rapidly emptied. At a word from Jesus, the ser
vants filled them with water to the brim.
" Draw out now," said the Lord, " and bear it to the
Master of the Board."4 This was one of the guests, selected
1 Jos. xxii. 24 ; Jud. xi. 12 ; 2 Kings xvi. 10 ; 3 Kings xvii. 18 ;
4 Kings iii. 13.
2 This is the very style in which Augustus salutes Cleopatra (Dion
Cassius, Hisloriae, li. 12). In a Chorus of Eschylus, it is the title given
to the Queen, Clytemnestra, and it is a word often used of princesses by
the tragic poets.
8 The metrix : pterpyr-fis, so called because it was the standard measure
of capacity among the Greeks ; it was the cubic foot of twenty-seven
litres. But the Roman amphora, which contained but nineteen litres,
was also known by the name of a metrix, and it may have been this latter
measure that S. John had reference to here.
4 Some have thought that this master of the feast was a higher servant,
hired to overlook the arrangements for the banquet, and to set in order
VOL. I. — 10

146 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY UF JESUS.
to preside over the feasting and to keep watch so that there
might be nothing lacking. The serving-men presented
him with the drinking-cup. He tasted the water changed
to wine, without knowing whence it came. Those who
had drawn it out were not ignorant ; but eveu so, the
stupor that had fallen on them at sight of such a prodigy
now enchained their tongues.
The master of the festal board called to the bridegroom :
" Every man," said he, " serves the good wine first, and
when some one has over-drunk, then he serves up what is
not so good. But you — why, you have kept the best
until this hour ! "
This bantering allusion to drinkers who dull the edge of
their taste by over-much indulgence, — the familiar hint
anent the usual excesses at other wedding banquets, where
there is not (just as here there was) permeating the feel
ing of all a sense of some Divine Influence present amongst
them, — all this shows that the supposition arrived at
by the master of the entertainment was that the young
host had wished to surprise the company agreeably. But
at once, to his amazement, the latter was made aware that
a wondrous deed had been accomplished. His eyes turned
to the servers, to Mary. Then in a few words all was. dis
closed. Jesus had performed His first Miracle.
He did it to console a few Galileans, whose very names
still remain unknown, and in order to sanctify the bond of
Marriage, which was to become, in His Church, a sacra
mental union. He did it to teach the world, which gives
its best at first and leaves the dregs at the bottom of the
cup, that the Christ would not so deal with us, — that He
the wines and the meats. It is true the ancients had some such butlers,
or, as the Latins called them, " Tricliniarchae " (Patronius, Salyricon,
22 ; Heliodorus, vii. 27) ; the Greeks called him Tpairefyiroiol (Athena,
170 d) or rpaire^oKbp.01 (Diogenes of Laertes, 9, 80). In this case, was he
not rather the o'vp.iroalapxos, " the arbiter bibendi," who was chosen from
among the guests (Hermann, Lehrbuch der grieschischen Privatalterthu-
mer, par. 28, 29). A passage in Ecclesiasticus (xxxii. 1, 2) shows us that
that office was in use among the Jews, and the familiar freedom with
which the governor of the feast addresses the bridegroom gives us a good
reason for thinking that he could not have been his servant, but his equal,
and consequently one of the invited friends.

THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES AT CANA. 147
would reserve for eternity that wine of the elect which
will inebriate us with holy raptures. And finally, He did
it at the prayer of Mary, whose faith, thus tested by a
first refusal, shone out in its strength only the more
triumphantly. " Here then took place," the Evangelist adds,1 " the first
sign given by Jesus, being given at Cana in Galilee ; and
thus fie manifested His glory, and His disciples believed
in Him." This word " sign " 2 tells us what the Miracles
of the Saviour were for John, — the manifestation of His
Divinity. Elsewhere he goes so far as to call them the
" works " 3 of the Christ, as if prodigies were but the natu
ral Attribute of Him, in Whom resideth almighty powers,
and that the real miracle would be, not for God, whose
name is Wonderful, to do wondrous things, but for Him
not to do them. And so the miracles which Jesus will
work beneath our eyes should only be for us as signs and
tokens, as the lustrous rays of His Divinity piercing through
the veils of the flesh. In those moments which will some
times come upon us, when the humiliations of the Word
Incarnate do well-nigh shake our faith, and force from us
that cry of bewilderment : " Why, what is there Godlike
in all this ? " then at once the answer should spring to
our lips : " His Miracles declare His might ; and in these
flashes of power He stands forth revealed, as in the fierce
white glare of the lightning, the almighty Son of God." 4
1 John ii. 11.
2 2yp.eia.
s"Epya (John v. 36, vii. 21, x. 25, etc.) The Synoptical writers, who
have most in mind the amazement which overwhelmed the witnesses of
these extraordinary deeds, speak of them as "prodigies" (r^ciTa).
4 Pascal, Pense'es, art. xxv. 95.

CHAPTER VI.
GENESARETH.
What was it that occurred at Nazareth when Jesus re
turned thither ? The Gospel does not tell ; but apparently
something happened which rendered any tarrying in this
village either painful or perilous for the Saviour, since
Saint John adds immediately : " After that, He descended
to Capharnaum with His Mother, His brothers, and His dis
ciples." 2 The uncouth violence of the Nazarenes was pro
verbial.2 Perhaps they refused to see anything but a
clever imposture in the miracle of Cana, and so would
force this "son of Joseph" to take Himself out of their
country.3 From Nazareth to Capharnaum is about a day's journey,
which, as indeed may be inferred from Saint John's ex
pression, is only a long descent 4 down the slopes of the
hills of Zabulon. The traveller reaches the end of his
road, when, on coming out of the Valley of Doves (Ouadi
el-Hamam), he beholds at his feet the Sea of Galilee. The
long and narrowing outlines of the lake's formation, with
the rippling of its waters, suggested the idea of a harp,
from which the Hebrews gave it the name Chinnereth.5
In the time of Jesus it was oftener called the Sea of Tibe
rias ; or again, the Lake of Genesareth, from the plain,
which bloomed and flowered like a garden-bed,6 encircling
1 John ii. 12. 2 John i. 46. 8 Luke iv. 22.
4 Kari^y (John ii. 12). 6 Num. xxxiv. 11.
6 Genesareth, according to some authorities, is merely an altered form
of the Hebrew i"nJ2, the 3 being changed to i, and the D inserted into
the body of the word. But it would appear to mean rather the Val
ley of Flowers, from X'J, "valley" and "Hf}, "a flower" (S. Jerome,
Opera, t. xvii. p. 103 6, Migne Edition); or again, it may mean the Garden

STRUTHERS * 50. I

LONGMANS, GREEN & CO.

GENESARETH. 149
its shores. The Jews, in their admiration for this beauti
ful sheet of water, hold that the Lord once said : " Seven
lakes have I created, yet but one of them have I reserved
unto Myself, — the Lake of Genesareth." 2 But the renown
of this lake rests not so much upon its beauty as upon
our memories of Jesus. Here everything recalls the Mas
ter, — the waves over which His bark furrowed its way ;
the fertile banks along which He wandered ; the rich har
vest-fields ; the sea-beach where He was so often to be
found seated, sometimes in solitude, sometimes surrounded
by the listening throngs. In the distance you may still see
those same bleak, bare mountain-peaks which were the
lonely watchmen at His hours of prayer. There is no re
gion which was witness to a greater number of His pro
digies, nor one that hearkened for a longer period to His
heavenly accents ; thereby it is too endeared to all Chris
tian hearts to pass over without striving to bring up a
picture of it in our minds.
The Lake of Genesareth is one of the three deep basins
which are filled by the waters of the Jordan, on its course
to the south. Though it stretches out to a greater width
than the Marsh of Houleh, yet it has not the dimensions
of that sea of pitch into which the Jordan empties its
waters;2 but in the epoch of the Christ, the two lakes
formed an astonishing contrast. Everything round about
the one was teeming with life, — its clear depths so well
stocked with fish, its outlying lands lovely with flowers
and fruit ; while over and about the other there lay a
horror as of death, — with its sluggish sulphurous flow,
with no living creature in its floods of bitumen, with
its blasted and riven banks. Nevertheless, each of these
wide expanses of plain and water, now so different of as
pect, had once rivalled one another in fertility. When
of the Princes, if with Lightfoot we derive it from N'J, "valley," and "IBo
"a prince."
1 Midraseh Fillim, f. 4, 1.
2 The Lake of Genesareth is about five leagues long by two in width.
The dimensions of the Dead Sea, which vary with the different seasons,
have never been taken very exactly ; generally it is given as being twenty-
five leagues long by four leagues in its broadest part.

150 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
from the highlands of Bethel Lot looked down on the
Lake of Sodom J and the Vale of Siddim, he found them
both equally grateful and pleasant to the sight, even as
the gardens of the Lord and the banks of the Nile.2
There were, in fact, the same causes which could not
but have produced an equal fertility ; for indeed these two
seas are nothing but craters of extinct volcanoes, sunken so
far within the burning soil that the Jordan, after entering
the Lake of Genesareth, ranges to a depth of a hundred and
ninety-one metres below the level of the Mediterranean.3
In such low-lying lands the earth, warmed by a sky of
fire, while it is refreshed with abundant waters, clothes the
fields with every variety of plant. " The walnut, a tree of
colder regions, here springs up majestic, while the palm-
tree bends beneath its load of fruit, as in the torrid zones.
At their side products of the temperate climes here thrive
and flourish, — the grape, the fig, and the olive. It seems
as if Nature had reversed all her laws to gather together
in these places everything she has to offer which could
present the most striking contrast, — those which in their
native habits are the most opposite. The different seasons
here dispute with one another for the sway, and exert their
influence simultaneously. Figs and grapes ripen, without
intermission, during ten months, and the other fruits never
are damaged by any season of the year." 4
In this picture it is easy to recognize the touch of a
Galilean, proud of his fatherland and its beautiful lake.
There is not a particle of exaggeration in it, however ; for
even in our days, only let the Bedouins cease from their
ravagings for a season, and the traveller will still find the
1 Those twin cities of vice and sin stood in that southern part of the
peninsula of Lisan, in the region around the Dead Sea that sunk in the
fearful catastrophe in which Sodom was involved ; in our times the foul
waters which cover it are but a few feet in depth. The primitive lake lay
in the northern part of the present basin ; in fact, soundings made there
have shown very great depth (three hundred and fifty metres in certain
spots) .
2 Gen. xiii. 10.
3 The depression of the Dead Sea is twice this, — three hundred and
ninety-four metres below the level of the sea.
4 Josephus, Bellum Judalcum, iii. 10, 8.

GENESARETH. 151
palm-trees overshadowing the Lake of Tiberias ; in the
meadows of Magdala he will see the indigo, the lotus, and
sugar-cane, while all around the lake still gleams a crimson
girdle of laurel-roses.1
With no less complacency does Josephus boast of the
fecundity of the waters. The fish were so abundant that
the fishermen living along its banks could be counted by
the hundred; there were even two villages bearing the
name of Bethsaida (The Fishery House). Therefore, ever
since the partition of Judea among the sons of Israel, the
right of casting nets into the lake had been reserved, as
the common privilege of each and every inhabitant, by a
law of Moses.2 In the time of Jesus thousands of bright
sails sparkled over the sea : there were Roman galleys,
Herod's fine fleet, and fishermen's craft in plenty. To-day
there are only three boats, which lie almost unused by the
indolent seamen of Tiberias aud Mejdel.3
So it was, too, with the cities of the lake ; to-day lying-
in ruins, formerly so busy and populous. They were
mostly dotted in a close line along the western shore ; for
on the eastern side the scarped and steep cliffs, rising from
the water's edge, make the shore inaccessible, except by
way of the gorges, through which rush the mountain tor
rents in the winter season. Of all these towns the city of
Tiberias was the most famous. Herod Antipas had only
recently founded it, in honor of his protector Tiberius, and
with such sumptuosity of architecture and ornament as the
tastes which he had cultivated during his sojourn in Rome
now prompted. However, in his contempt for all Judaic
customs, he had erected his Capitol upon the site of an
ancient cemetery ; and by so doing had closed its portals so
far as the Jews were concerned, for they could not enter
therein without contamination.4 It was useless for him to
1 Kitto, Cyclopaedia: Palestine; Murray, Handbook for Syria and
Palestine, route 28, Magdala.
2 Baba Kamma, 81, 1, 2.
3 Two of these barks were put in use by us when we sailed over the
lake in 1879, and the third followed in our wake. If what our rowers told
us was true, there was not another boat on the lake at that time.
4 Num. xix. 11 ; Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 2, 3.

152 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
multiply his solicitations, his favors, his privileges : he
never triumphed over the scruples of his people. Tiberias
still remained, for the most part, a city of foreigners, —
Greeks and Romans, who were charmed with a residence
more Pagan than Jewish in tone and aspect, with the
gilded palace of Antipas, his amphitheatre, and the warm
baths of the ancient Ammaiis.1 It is more than probable
that Jesus never entered the gates of this city, and only
from afar did He look upon its snowy ramparts and pal
aces of marble.
To the north of Tiberias the hill-ranges approach nearer
to the shores ; and the highway, climbing along a cliff, fol
lows its trend for an hour or so, until it comes out upon
the Plain of Genesareth. There the heights, sweeping back
from the sea once more, form a natural amphitheatre en
circling those fields, which the Talmud calls the Paradise
of Earth.2 Genesareth is no longer the fair and fragrant
garden 3 through which Jesus wandered long ago ; yet now,
in its desolation, it still bears delicate traces of its former
fertility, — in the spring-time covered with flowers, with
thickets of laurel-roses overshadowing its brooks, while
the thistles round about grow to be a veritable coppice,
through which it is with difficulty that the traveller can
tear a passage-way.
It is to the streams of water which have been so lav
ishly granted it, that Genesareth owes her garment of
flowers. In the south there is " Round Fountain " (Ain
Medaouarah) ; in the north, the Spring of the Fig-tree
(Ain et-Tin) ; in the centre, a stream (which is, in fact, a
river) falls sparkling from the mill-wheel of Shoucheh, and
gliding through a thousand channels, moistens the fields
along their course to the lake. It seems as if even this
wealth of waters was not thought sufficient to freshen
Genesareth, for athwart the barrier cliff which rises over
1 Probably Emath, spoken of in the Book of Joshua, xix. 35 (Josephus,
Bellum Judaicum, ii. 21, 6).
2 Eroubin, f.' 19, 1.
8 " Quare vocatur Gennezar ? Ob hortos piincipum." (Lightfoot, Horae
Hebraicoe, Chorographical Century, chap. Ixxix.)

GENESARETH. 153
the northern part of the plain an aqueduct1 has been
channelled out to divert this way the waters of Ain-
Tabigah. Still farther on the banks present a different scene :
here the hillsides slope gently down to the lake, while all
strong winds are warded off by the thick clumps of caper-
trees, tamarisks, and laurels. But on the summit of the
hills and on the farther side of these mountains, there is
nothing beside barren and scant pasturages, where a stony
surface of basalt stares one in the face.
Such is the general landscape of the country bordering
the western shores of the lake. From Tiberias to the out
let of the Jordan, it forms a curve of nearly four leagues ;
and it is here that the towns made famous by the Gospel
are to be found, — Magdala, Capharnaum, Bethsaida, and
Chorozain. The first named is the only one of these cities which can
be easily located. The desolate little village of Mejdel,2
situated at the southern extremity of the plain of Gene
sareth, still retains the name of Magdala, — the native
place of the Magdalene, from whom Jesus drove seven
devils, and who in gratitude for her deliverance followed
Him even to the foot of the Cross.
It is more difficult to discover any traces of Caphar
naum, " the city of Jesus." 3 Geographers sometimes lo
cate it to the south, in the Plain of Genesareth, close
by Round Fountain (Ain Medaouarah) ; sometimes in the
north, in the vicinity of the Fig-tree Spring (Ain et-
Tin) ; sometimes even in Tell Houm, near the outlet of
the Jordan. The latter is only chosen for the reason that
in its neighborhood are some beautiful ruins, and in its
name is contained the last syllable of Capharnaum.4 Ain
1 Murray, Handbook for Syria and Palestine, route 28, Site of Caper
naum. 2 Mejdel still preserves the half- ruined tower to which it owed its
primitive name, — Migdal, /"J JO, "The Tower."
8 Matthew, ix. 1.
4 Capharnaum (Kaphar Nahoum), "The Village of Consolation." In
order to believe that this is the same name as Tell Houm, we must assume
that Nahoum has been abridged into Houm, and that the ancient city,

154 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Medaouarah,1 on the other hand, is too distant from the
lake to be regarded as the site of Capharnaum, " on the
sea-shore ; " 2 and furthermore, in the neighboring parts
there are no remains of any such ruined town. While,
on the contrary, to the south of Ain et-Tin rise two
masses of ruins, one of which gives certain indications of
being a tomb, while far and near as far as Ouadi el-Amoud
the ground is strewn with stones and ruins. It is in this
locality that, in harmony with the most ancient tradi
tions,3 we have placed Capharnaum ; for this position alone
(or so it seems to us) answers to the descriptions of it in
the Gospel, — lying in the Plain of Genesareth, close by
after its destruction, was no longer called the Village (Kaphar, Kefr), but
the Wilderness, the Tell ; hence, Tell Nahoum, Tell Houm. Such an
alteration as this, where not only the vowels but the consonants also are
different, seems little likely to us. As for the traditions cited by Frere
Lievin, since they are more recent than the evidence of Willibad, of which
we shall speak shortly, they are naturally of much less value.
1 Some geographers believe that Ain Medaouarah is the fountain of
which Josephus speaks in these terms: "All the land of Genesareth is
watered by a full-flowing well-spring, which those living in the country
call Capharnaum " (Josephus, Bellum Juda'icum, iii. 10, 8). This descrip
tion does not answer either to the Round Fountain (Ain Medaouarah) or
to that of the Fig-Tree (Ain et-Tin) ; for the former only waters the fields
in the neighborhood of Mejdel, and the other bubbles up close by the lake.
May it not be that under this name the Jewish historian referred to the
abundant streams that separate from beneath the great mill at Schoucheh,
which lies midway between the hills encircling the plain ? And, in fact,
Josephus does not say merely that the fountain of Capharnaum rises some
where in the land of Genesareth ; he states that it waters this whole region.
Now the current of water rising from Ouadi Rouboudieh grows to the size
of a river before it reaches Schoucheh, and after falling from the big mill-
wheel it is distributed over all the plain, from Ouadi el-Amoud to Aiu
Medaouarah ; that is to say, over the whole plain of Genesareth properly
so called. This very natural supposition came to my mind at once when I
saw the innumerable little rivulets which, starting from Schoucheh, water
all the fields down to the lake-side; the more I have studied this point,
the more plausible I consider the supposition to be.
2 Matt^iv. 13.
3 S. Jerome and Eusebius simply state that Capharnaum was near
the lakeside ; next to them, the most precise evidence we have comes
from Willibad, who visited Palestine in the beginning of the eighth cen
tury (722). Starting from Tiberias on his way north, he came to Magdalum
(Mejdel), next to Capharnaum, then to Bethsaida, finally to Chorozain,
where he formed a Christian church ; and after this he encountered the
mouth of the Jordan. From his description, it appears manifest that the
pilgrim was following the shores of the lake, and in this way that he met

GENESARETH. 155
the lake, within the borders of Zabulon and Nephthali,1
and upon the highroad of the caravans which, coming
from the East and from Damascus, would descend by this
route into Egypt.2
Yet, after all, it matters little enough what opinion one
may cherish as to these geographical questions ; for, how
ever uncertain we are as to the precise spot whereon the
Christ made His abode, at least we know in what places
He dwelt. It is with perfect assurance that we hold the
Plain of Genesareth in veneration, since Jesus once trod
its paths ; here His bark came to land when He left the
opposite shore ; jusf here too the little boat was pushed
out from land at that time when, the crowds becoming so
great about Him, the Master would so order it that all
with Capharnaum before any of the other cities of the lake ; now the first
ruins which you pass after leaving Mejdel are those which lie between
Ouadi el-Amoud anil Ain et-Tin ; hence, according to all appearances, this
is the spot where Willibad locates Capharnaum (see Robinson, Biblical
Researches, iii. 347-360).
1 Matt. xiv. 34 ; Mark vi. 53 ; John vi. 17.
2 This is the way S. Matthew describes the situation of Capharnaum :
"Jesus quitted Nazareth, and came to Capharnaum by the sea, on the
frontier of Zabulon and Nephthali ; then was fulfilled that saying of the
Prophet Isaias : Land of Zabulon and land of Nephtali, the way of the sea
from beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles " (Matt. iv. 13-15). These
words can only mean that Capharnaum was situated upon the highwaj'
which stretched along the sea of Tiberias aud led up into the Galilee
beyond the Jordan, following along the frontiers of Zabulon and Nephthali.
Now the boundary lines of these two tribes are known to us (Caspari, Ein
leitung, par. 64). Zabulon extended to the valley of Esdralon, along the,
hills which surround Nazareth, and eastward from Genesareth to the
Mediterranean. Nephthali, lying nearly in the middle of Zabulon, was
bounded on the south by the frontiers of the latter Tribe ; but the western
bank of the Jordan and the lake also belong to it, and from Safed its terri
tory reached as far as the highlands of Thabor. This last line of partition
indicates quite exactly the direction followed by " the way of the sea" of
which S. Matthew speaks ; and indeed this was none other than the
great high-road between Damascus and Jerusalem. One of the first achieve
ments of Van der Velde was the discovery of this ancient pike beneath the
debris of the old Roman Boad, which still exists. From Thabor it descends
to the plain of Genesareth, then to Khan Minieh, one of the great Khans
of the journey ; then, mounting along the hills which border the lake, it
at last reaches the Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob, and there crosses the
Jordan. So then, being located near to Khan Minieh, between Ain et-Tin
and Ouadi el-Amoud, we find that Capharnaum answers perfectly to the
description in S. Matthew, " upon the road by the sea," and "upon the
frontiers of Zabulon and Nephthali.'"

156 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
might hear some one. of those Parables over which the
world will meditate to the end of time. Somewhere, too,
above those meadow-lands which to-day lie untilled, stood
in those days the synagogue where Jesus healed the De
moniac ; there too was the residence of Jairus, with that
of the Centurion to whom He gave back his faithful ser
vant ; the dwelling where Simon's mother-in-law lay in all
the languors and pains of fever.1 Matthew the publican
had his toll-gatherer's office on " the highway which skirts
the sea," 2 close by that caravansary whose ruins are still
visible at Khan Minieh.
Past the promontory which shuts in the Plain of Gene
sareth on the north, crossing over a sandy beach strewn
with sea-shells, Jesus would find Bethsaida, the native-
place of His disciples Peter, Andrew, Philip, James, and
John. Ain Tabigah to-day marks its site for us ; for Saint
Matthew speaks of this village as being on the border of
the lake, between Capharnaum and Chorozain ; 3 and Saint
Mark,4 adds that it was near Genesareth. Now Ain Tabi
gah is separated from the Plain only by a little headland ;
further on, along the shore, there are no traces of any
habitations until we come to Tell Houm, and we are pre
suming that Tell Houm is Chorozain. While, further
more, there is no position which could have answered
better for a fisherman's hamlet. Here they had a bay
sheltered from the winds ; there are the mouths of number
less little streams also, whose fall would draw thither great
runs of fish ; and there was too a smooth strand, on which
they could beach their boats. It was here that Jesus was
walking when he called the sons of Jonas and Zebedee to
Him ; it is here that He went aboard of Simon's bark, and
miraculously filled his nets to overflowing.6
We have said that Tell Houm appears to locate the
1 Mark i. 21-26, v. 22-43; Luke vii. 1-11, iv. 38.
2 Mark ii. 13, 14.
8 Matt. xi. 21-23. Willibad's Itinerary agrees perfectly with this testi
mony from S. Matthew, for he places Bethsaida between Capharnaum and
Chorozain. 4 Mark vi. 45, 53.
6 Matt. iv. 18-22 ; Luke v. 1-11.

GENESARETH. 157
whereabouts of Chorozain.1 This region, in fact, is where
we find the ruins most numerous, — great columns lying
along the ground, the remains of a synagogue which was
without a rival in all Palestine. Big blocks of stone where
on the eyes of Jesus rested once are still scattered about
the foot of the hills, which, from Ain Tabigah to the out
let of the Jordan, form a graceful border about the Sea of
Tiberias. Genesareth, Capharnaum, Bethsaida, Chorozain, — or, in
a- word, the western - shore of the lake, in length about
three or four leagues, formed therefore the field chosen for
the Ministry of Jesus. This region was the most populous
of all Palestine, and nowhere else would the Saviour have
found that commingling of races, manners, religions, sects,
which made it well deserve its name of Galilee of the
Gentiles. Officers of the court of Herod, Greeks from
Decapolis, countrymen, fishers, Galileans, courtesans whom
contact with the Pagan cities had corrupted, Syrians,
Phoenicians, Orientals, whose caravans were following
down " the road that runs along the borders of the sea,"
soldiers, Roman centurions, set to watch over these tumul
tuous lands, publicans seated by the highway to collect
taxes,2 — made up of such a motley multitude was the
populace through which Jesus passed, and which He was
soon to draw after Him.
Then too, as there was no one central point from which
His renown could have spread abroad so swiftly through
out all Syria, so also there was no place which offered Him
more secure retreats in seasons either of weariness or of
danger. In a few hours a boat could bear him to the
mountain fastnesses of Gaulanitis, amid whose solitudes
He often consecrated whole days and nights to prayer. A
three hours' walk from the lake in a northerly direction
1 Some recent explorers have thought they could decipher the name of
this city from that of Keraseh, a village lying to the north, about an hour's
walk from Tell Houm ; but S. Jerome says that Chorozain was on the
borders of the lake, and but two miles from Capharnaum. So then Keraseh
is too far from the shore and the Plain of Genesareth to be confounded with
Chorozain (see Murray, Handbook for Syria and Palestine, route 38).
2 Matt. iv. 24.

158 BEGINNINGS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
would briug Him into the kingdom of a just and mild
prince, the Tetrarch Philip. Jesus had only to cross the
frontier, should it be needful to shield Himself from any
blow from Herod • and He did more than once take this
precaution, for that listless monarch had intervals of blood
thirsty activity. On these occasions we shall see Jesus
taking refuge near to the other Bethsaida-in-the-North
where Philip had taken up his abode.1 But these periods
of absence were of short duration ; as soon as Herod had
fallen back into his usual indolent mood Jesus would re
turn to His chosen land of Genesareth.
Thus from the testimony of olden times we have tried
to rehabilitate that country-side just as it was when long
ago Jesus saw and loved it. To-day the traveller coming
down to the border-lands about the Sea of Tiberias, with
his fancy filled with such memories as these, would be
sadly undeceived. The green pastures, the vines, and the
orchards have disappeared ; the flourishing towns are only
heaps of ruins ; jackals slink about the synagogue of Tell
Houm, where Jesus taught ; the few thorny thickets do
not suffice to temper the great heats within these hollow
spaces, and the air which one breathes fairly burns with
the dry glow. The lake indeed still shimmers in the sun
light between the long lines of hills, as clear and as calm
as it was of old ; it reflects the same horizon and the same
sky. And yet all that the scene has lost in grace and in
beauty it has gained in savage majesty, nay more, in elo
quence, in sooth ; for this sea aforetime so brilliant with
life, and now doomed to the desolation of death, must recall
great thoughts to all who wander about the solitary
stretches of sand along its shores to-day, — thoughts which
remind us how terrible it is to reject the word of God and
incur His Anathemas.
" Woe to thee Chorozain ! 2 woe to thee, Bethsaida I for if
Tyre and Sidon had beheld such miracles wrought among
them as have been worked in your midst, they would have
done penance long since in sackcloth and ashes. This is
why I say to you that Tyre and Sidon in the Day of
1 Matt. xiv. 12, 13; Luke ix. 10. 2 Matt. xi. 21-24.

GENESARETH. 159
Judgment shall be dealt with more mercifully than shall
you. And thou, Capharnaum, wouldst thou lift thyself
up to the heavens ? Thou shalt be humbled down to
Hell ; for if the miracles which have been done in thee
had been wrought in Sodom, she would perchance be living-
even to this day. This is why I say to thee, in the Day
of Judgment, the land of Sodom shall be dealt with more
mercifully than shalt thou."

BOOK THIED.

FIRST YEAR
OF THE
MINISTRY OF JESUS.

VOL. 1. — 11

RATA IflANNHN.
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XPI2TOS, 'O SOTHP TOY KOSMOY.

€J>e J>cfjigmatu#' €egtimonp

" Come, see a Man Who has told me everything that I
have done! Is not this THE CHRIST?
. . . And they said to the woman : " Not because of your
tale do we now believe ; for we ourselves have heard Him
and know that this Man is truly THE CHRIST, THE
SA VIOUR OF THE WORLD"

SAINT JOHN.
iv. 29, 42.

FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF
JESUS.

CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST PASCH IN THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
I. The Hucksters driven from the Temple.
John ii. 12-25.
The first sojourn of Jesus at Capharnaum was of short
duration.1 However at that time He manifested His power
by the tone of authority which thrilled in His speech and
by His miracles, insomuch that only a little later we shall
hear the Nazarenes uttering their reproach : " Do some of
the great works like those which you performed in Ca
pharnaum here iu your own country ! " 2 We do not know
what deeds these were, whose renown had been spread
throughout Galilee ; no one of the Evangelists has given us
any particulars in regard to them, and we are forced to
1 John ii. 12.
2 Luke iv. 23. The fellow-citizens of Jesus addressed this remark to
Him upon His return to Nazareth from Judea ; hence the miracles to which
they alluded were those performed by Him during his first stay in Caphar
naum. These, then, were some of the marvellous deeds which were so
numerous (according to S. John's evidence, xxi. 25) that the Evangelists
could not recount them all.

164 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
resign ourselves to the bare knowledge of their occurrence,
as must be inferred from Saint Luke's allusion to them.
Hardly had the Saviour awakened Capharnaum to a
knowledge of His presence by these miracles when He
withdrew from their country-side. The caravans which go
up to the Pasch were being formed just at this time, col
lected from all the lands bordering on the lake. Jesus
joined company with the pilgrims of Galilee.
Apparently they took the route through Perea, and
arrived in Jerusalem by way of Bethany and the Mount
of Olives. There was nothing at that time to distinguish
Him from the crowd of Jews about Him, — neither the
testimony of the Precursor, which was almost forgotten by
this, nor the miracles wrought in Capharnaum, since no
report of them had up to this date reached Jerusalem ;
the Saviour entered the holy City unknown, unnoticed,
and with nothing to mark Him out from the throng. His
first act was to go up to the Temple to pray ; but it was
useless for Him to seek any place on the Holy Hill for
silent adoration ; for He, being a Son of Juda, might not
penetrate within the porches of the Levites ; He must re
main with His tribe without in the lower courts ; but just
now and all during the feasts this part of the Sanctuary
was given over to the merchants, and was thus profaned
by an unhallowed traffic.
This abuse, unheard of before the Captivity, had crept
iii since the period when the Jews, who had been dispersed
over the whole world, thronged into Jerusalem for the
Passover. As they could not bring with them from those
far distant lands the animals necessary for the sacrifices, it
happened that for a long while the small number of victims
was in disgraceful contrast with the multitude of worship
pers. To guard against this dearth of oblations, one of
Herod's favorite courtiers, Bava, son of Bota, gathered
thither great flocks of sheep, and generously offered them
to the sons of Israel.1 What he had done prompted by
1 Coming into the Temple (says the Talmud of Jerusalem), He found it
destitute of any sort of offerings. " Oh, may desolation," He cried, " befall
the household of those who have so despoiled the dwelling-place of Jeho-

DRIVING OUT THE HUCKSTERS. 165
liberality others continued to do from motives of selfish
interest. The priests were greatly in favor of these enter
prises, whence they derived numerous perquisites.1 Pro
tected by their political influence, the sellers soon slipped
into every avenue of the Temple and all through the
Porches of the Gentiles, turning that vast court into a
market, where was set out for sale every requisite for the
service of the altars, — cages full of doves intended for the
offerings of the poor ; herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, for
richer customers. Indeed, it was not alone the paschal
lamb which had to be immolated at this season ; the Jews
of the Dispersion, since they came to Jerusalem but once
a year, were obliged to wait until this visit to make pre
sentation of such victims as were required of them, either
according to the prescriptions of the Law, or in fulfilment
of some pious vow.2 And it must be remembered how in
numerable these sacrifices were3 in order to conceive a just
idea of the tumult, which was aggravated by the presence
of the money-changers. Seated at their tables, these
bankers of the lower classes provided every one with
the half-shekel which he must pay " as the price of his
soul ; " 4 and this because the greater part of the visiting
Jews, having come from Roman provinces, would have in
hand only moneys stamped with idolatrous images, and
therefore unworthy of being offered to the Lord.
Necessary as this traffic may have seemed, it profaned
vah ! " Straightway he caused a great search to be made, as far as Araby
and through the pasture-lands of Cedar, until he had three thousand head
of cattle ; of these he chose out the unblemished ones, and brought them
to Mount Moriah : " Ye Israelites, my brethren," he said, "let those among
you who propose to make a Holocaust or any acceptable Sacrifice, offer it
forthwith unto the Lord " (Lightfoot, Horae Hebra'icoe, in Mat. xxi. 12).
1 S. Jerome, in Mat. xxi.
2 Lightfoot, Horae Hebra'icoe, in Mat. xxi. 19.
8 It was the spectacle of the Hecatombs presented by the Jews during
the Pasch which moved Herod to make the Altar of the Holocausts of such
huge dimensions. It was fifteen cubits (7m. 87) in height, and formed a
square, whose four sides were fifty cubits (26 m. 25), while a long ascent
with a gentle slope gave access to the top (Josephus, Bellum Judaieum,
v. 5, 6).
4 Exod. xxx. 11-16. In accordance with the order given them by the
Lord, this money was reserved for the Temple.

166 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the House of God. Certainly the victims were always
immolated and the rites celebrated upon the topmost ter
races ; but the chanting and the prayers were no longer
audible in the lower courts ; shrill cries, incessant bellow-
ings, coin rattling upon the trays of the noisy brokers, a
confused rabble of pilgrims and hucksters, with their beasts
lying about the mosaic pavement of the porches as though
it were the litter of their stables. This was what Jesus
must needs hear and see within the very shadow of the
Sanctuary. The spectacle aroused His wrath ; seizing a handful of
those flexible rushes which Orientals plat together like
cords, He twisted them into a whip, and advanced, all sud
denly, with uplifted arm, beating before Him both buyers
and sellers, cattle and sheep.1 Nor were the coiu-changers
spared ; He put them all without the gates, overturning
their tables and scattering their piles of money upon the
ground. The sellers of doves were less rudely treated ;
forasmuch as they sold the offerings made by the poor,
they merited the Saviour's pity ; therefore he did not
touch their cages, but was content to say, simply : " Take
all these away from here, and do not make a house of
traffic out of My Father's House." 2 What must have been
the astonishment of the first disciples at the sight of Jesus
in His indignation aud the multitude flying before Him !
Yet some of them remembered that it was written : " The
zeal of Thy House hath eaten Me up." 3 Thus their faith
was only the more strengthened.
As for the throng, it offered no resistance at all, but
scattered like the startled sheep before the lash of Jesus.
More than once in the anuals of Israel the Prophets had
disclosed themselves in like manner, clad in shepherd garb,
1 Yldvras appears to include everything which was to be found in the
Temple, the peddlers as well as their animals ; however, some learned critics
have held that irdvras only refers to the cattle and sheep, of which mention
is made directly after (Meyer, Kommentar iiber das Neue Testament, in
Joan. ii. 15 ; Alford, Greek Testament, ibidem). In their opinion, the
words rd re Trpofiara Kal rovs (Sous are to be taken in apposition to irdvTas,
and as limiting its meaning.
2 John ii. 16. 3 John ii. 1" ; Ps. lxviii. 10.

DRIVING OUT THE HUCKSTERS. 167
or as a hardy mountaineer, or other such man of the people ;
and further, all the while they were dishonoring the Holy
Places the Jews knew themselves guilty of sin, and hence
they were the more disposed to receive this Voice, ringing
out in denunciation of their disorderly conduct, as inspired
of God. Though the usurers and merchants may have
cursed the Vindicator of the Temple's sanctity in secret and
cast upon Him dark scowls of hatred, still none of them
dared to face Him, Who had driven them out in the Name
of Jehovah.
Much less could the Scribes, or even the priests them
selves (however much to their interest it was to condemn
the Galilean), much less could they summon up the neces
sary courage, so conscious were they of the righteousness
of His rage. But as soon as they had recovered from their
surprise they came to the Christ and demanded: "What
sign He had to show as His warrant for an action of this
sort ? "
" Overthrow this Temple," Jesus answered, " and in three
days I will raise it up again." 1 The thought concealed
under these words escaped them ; they only understood
them in their literal signification, and thus saw simply an
announcement of the destruction of this sanctuary, whose
splendor was one source of their overweening pride. The
enormous blocks of stone, the tessellated mosaics, the
precious metals, the silver, the gold, the brass, now blended
in beautiful brilliancy before their eyes, — in a word, their
Temple, the wonder of the world, a Galilean dared to
talk to them of levelling and rebuilding this splendid
fabric with so much ease ! The work which Herod, hav
ing at his disposal all the treasures of Judea, was forty-
six years in constructing, this royal task a poor Artisan
boasted that he could accomplish in three days ! The say
ing made such an impression upon the Jews that ever
after they kept repeating it ; in the last hours of Jesus'
life they related it before the Sanhedrin, as a blasphemy
and the capital crime of the Saviour ; but not content with
making a simple accusation of it, they took care to distort
1 John ii. 18.

168 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
it after this fashion : " I can destroy this Temple of God.
and in three days I will rebuild it." 1 Now note what Jesus
really said : *' Destroy this Holy of Holies " 2 (as you have
done by your faithlessness and corruption), " aud in three
days I will reestablish it." " He spoke of the Temple of
His body," the Holy of Holies of the New Testament, which
after three days He would rescue from the tomb. In His
wording He merely made use of the enigmatic spirit so
familiar to the Oriental thought when they wish to give
only a hint of their real meaning.
No one understood Him then. " What ! " cried out the
Jews, " Forty-six years3 has this Temple been a-building, and
you say that in three days you will reconstruct it ! " and
they retired in impatient contempt of such presumption.
The disciples themselves, without partaking of the Jews'
incredulity, did not comprehend all that this response of
the Master implied ; " but after the Resurrection, they
remembered what He had said, and they believed in the
Scripture,4 and in the word of Jesus."
1 Matt. xxvi. 61. 2 Vbv vabv rovrov (John ii. 19).
8 Josephus, in his Antiquities, dates the construction of the Temple from
the eighteenth year of Herod (Antiquitates, xv. 11, 1) ; and again, from
the fifteenth year of the same reign, in his recital of the wars of the Jews
(Bellum Judaicwn, i. 21, 1). This apparent contradiction comes from the
two ways by which he calculates the years of Herod's reign, sometimes
taking the time when Rome invested this prince with the royal power,
sometimes making the death of Antigonus the initial event. Now, if we
reckon the forty-six years of which the Jews are speaking here, by making
the fifteenth year of Herod the starting-point, we shall find we have twenty
years up to the birth of Jesus Christ and thirty after ; and in fact the
Saviour was about thirty years of age at the time of the. Pasch here in
question (Luke iii. 23). The sum of these two numbers is fifty instead of
forty-six ; but from the former we must subtract four, our common reckon
ing being set backward by four years, and thus we have the forty-six
years of which S. John was speaking. The Temple was not finished until
64 A. D. under Herod Agrippa II. and the Procurator Albinus ; hence,
olKodop.y6y here means "is in building." The Greek Aorist has this sense
in the following passage from the First Book of Esdras (v. 16) : tbre
'Zafiavaaap iKeivos 9fK0e Kal ibuKe 6ep.e\iovs rov oIkov too Qeou iv'l€povcra\-r}p.,
Kal dirb Tore i-us rov vvv uKob'op.ydy Kal ovk ire\ia6y.
4 John ii. 22. Tfj ypaffj here refers to the Old Testament ; indeed
there are many passages in the New Testament which affirm that the
Resurrection, that unparalleled Prodigy in the life of Jesus, was foretold
in the ancient Scriptures (John xx. 9 ; Luke xxiv. 26, 27 ; 1 Cor. xv. 4 ;
Psalm xv. ).

NICODEMUS. 169
" While He was " 1 at this time " in Jerusalem, for the
festival of the Passover, many believed in His Name, see
ing the signs which he did. But Jesus did not confide
Himself to them, because He knew them all, and because
He had no need that any one tender unto Him the testi
mony of man ; for He, of Himself, knew what there is in
man." The Gospel does not declare what prodigies the
Saviour performed during those days. Certainly they must
have been of a striking character to attract to Him sud
denly such a host of disciples; but their faith was only
rooted in self-interest and ambition, and thus the Lord
" did not intrust Himself to them " as he did to the Gali
leans. Having read their hearts, He put no confidence in
these new-comers.

II. NlCODEMUS.
John iii. 1-21.
Among the Jews, attracted at that time by the word of
the Lord, there was a member of the Sanhedrin named
Nicodemus, a rich man, influential in Jerusalem, who was
possessed of a high order of intelligence as well as the dis
tinction of noble rank.2 He, without doubt, had been one
of the few Pharisees who had humbled themselves before
John the Baptist and received his ablution ; 3 for we shall
hear Jesus reminding him " of that Baptism of water and
the Spirit " foretold by the Precursor.4 However, it was
not what he had seen on the banks of the Jordan, but the
wondrous deeds done in Jerusalem, which had decided him
to believe in Jesus.5 Prompted by grace, he was mad,;
desirous of a closer intimacy; and as he dared not take any
1 John ii. 23-25.
2 Certainly he could not have been unaware of the embassy which th".
Sanhedrin sent to the great Prophet, and he himself, being a distinguished
Scribe among the Pharisees, would be very likely to be chosen as one of
that deputation (John i. 19-24).
8 Luke vii. 30.
4 John i. 33, iii. 5.
5 John iii. 2.

170 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
such step openly, he stole by night to the house where the
Lord was to be found.
Nicodemus opened the conversation1 with a tribute to
Jesus : " Rabbi," he said, " we know 2 that you are a Master
come from God, for no man can do the prodigies which
you do if God be not with him."
However respectful he was in tendering this acknowl
edgment, the Scribe only rendered it to Jesus as to a man
aud a doctor like himself; but the Saviour knew Nicode-
mus's heart. He saw that the man was secretly stirred by
strong feeling, eager to be enlightened as to that Kingdom
of Heaven which John Baptist had announced; and so,
without prolonging his suspense, He made known to him
at once that the reign of the Messiah so far transcends all
human understanding that nothing less than the putting
on of a new life can enable man to have part in it : —
" Of a truth I say to you, if a man be not born anew 3
he has no share in the Kingdom of God."
The idea of the new birth, in the spiritual sense, was no
novel or unheard-of conception in the doctrine of the
1 It is quite evident that S. John does not report this conversation in
full or at length, for in the form we have in hand it could not have lasted
over a few minutes ; and it is hardly to be believed that the Scribe would
have quitted the divine Master so brusquely. It is difficult to discover
the connection between the different thoughts at first, and this fact alone
indicates that the entire dialogue is not reproduced here, but that we have
only the headings of their long conference.
2 John iii. 2. Some critics have supposed that Nicodemus came on the
part of a majority in the Sanhedrin to get information as to the ulterior
designs of Jesus. So far as we can see, there is nothing to indicate that
he bad been charged with any such commission.
3"Avudev (John iii. 3). S. Cyril and many of the Greek Fathers
translate this word "from Heaven, from on High ;" but S. John Chry-
sostom, the Vulgate, and the Syriac Version render the meaning more
exactly by "anew, a second time," "denuo." And so Nicodemus certainly
understood it; for at once he urges the impossibility of any one who has
come to man's estate becoming subject to a second birth. Of course, as
the theme under discussion was the Kingdom of God, there would be
nothing improbable in itself in taking &vu$ev to have this two-fold mean
ing, and thus signify both the being born again and that by a celestial
interposition ; but Grotius calls our attention to the fact that neither the
Hebrew nor the Aramean tongue have any words which could comprise
both these meanings. The Apostles seem to have understood avuSev in
the sense of "a second time," for the idea of a new birth occurs frequently
in their writings (1 Peter i. 3, 23 ; Tit. ii. 5 ; Gal. vi. 15).

NICODEMUS. 171
Scribes; for they had often compared the proselyte to a
new-born child.1 That a Pagan must first take upon him
self a new life in order to be of the seed of Abraham, — no
idea could be more in conformity with their beliefs than
this ; but that this obligation extended even to the sons of
Israel was indeed a strange and new thought to Nicodemus.
" How," he exclaimed, " can one be born again when he
has already grown old ? Must he reenter the womb of his
mother to emerge thence once more ? "
The Saviour proceeded to explain His thought so badly
comprehended : "Of a truth, aye, of a truth,"2 he repeated,
"if he be not born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the Kingdom of God."
To be immersed in water in token of purification was a
rite known among the Jews ; and John had already pro
claimed that though he plunged them in water, which was
without virtue in itself, yet after him there was to be an
ablution of the Holy Ghost ; that is to say, the Spirit of
God would vivify this water of ours, that thus it might
renew the heart of man. Therefore it was not within the
womb of his mother, but into the streams of sanctifying
grace, that Nicodemus must enter in order to attain unto
the Life which is from on High.
Jesus did not stop there ; from this baptismal regen
eration He stripped away whatever the carnal fancy might
suggest : " That which is born of the flesh is flesh," fie
proceeded ; 3 " that which is born of the Spirit is spirit ; be
not astonished, therefore, if you " — born according to the
flesh and dead through sin — " if you must be born again."
Then, in order to give Nicodemus some idea of the workings
of the Holy Spirit, the Saviour added : " The wind blows
where it wills, and you hear its voice, but you know not
whence it comes nor whither it goes ; so it is with him
who is born of the Spirit."
This similitude was wonderfully apt; for the wind is
akin to the Spirit, of which it is the symbol. It may be
at that very hour, while Jesus and Nicodemus were con-
1 Lightfoot, Horae Hebra'icoe, in Joan. iii. 3. 2 John iii. 5-7.
3 John iii. 6-8.

172 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
versing there, the murmuring of the night-wind made itself
heard ; or it may be that the Saviour had in mind those
light airs1 which spring up even at mid-day in fine weather.
No one knows aught of their origin ; you can scarcely feel
their soft breath on your cheek. They only betray their
presence by a gentle rustling amongst the leaves. Most
like to this is the action of the Holy Ghost in the super
natural life. It bloweth where it listeth ; without hin
drance it worketh, nor is it subject to fixed times nor to
constant laws. At its first touches we do not know whence
it comes nor whither it goes ; only it makes us feel its
nearness, makes us hear its voice, then suddenly it departs,
and leaves behind it within our hearts nothing but languor
and silence, and thus it goeth and returneth by secret
ways. All that the soul may know of it is that some
times she feels its Presence near her, and then she rejoices;
sometimes she must weep its absence.
These workings of the Spirit of God could not have been
unknown to Nicodemus. He himself without doubt had
had experience of them in his inner life, and he had found
them written down in the Psalms and the sapiential writ
ings, where so many pious souls have recounted the ways of
God within them. Therefore when Nicodemus answered
once again : "How can this be done ? " Jesus showed some
surprise. " Are you a master in Israel,2 and yet you are ignorant
of these things ? Of a truth, I say unto you : We speak3
that which We know, We give testimony of the things
1 The term used by S. John, irvevpa, appears to have reference to the
breeze, the gentle and regular breathings of the air. Whenever they
speak of high winds the Evangelists make use of the word avepjos (Matt
vii. 25, 27, viii. 26, xiv. 30, 32 ; Mark iv. 37 ; John vi. 18, etc.).
2 John iii. 9-12. The article gives av et 6 SiddcKaXos rov 'Icr/jaijX the
meaning, "You, above all others, are a master in Israel" (Winer, Gram-
matik, p. 161).
3 It is hardly probable that by the use of this plural Jesus meant to
designate the Galilean disciples who were with Him. The faint-hearted
Doctor of the Sanhedrin, who durst not come save at night and unbeknown
to all, would not have conversed so freely before witnesses. In otSapev,
\a\ovp*v, etc., we have simply the plural form, as used in emphatic and
elevated diction.

NICODEMUS. 173
which We have seen, and Our testimony man is not will
ing to receive. If you believe Me not when I speak of
the things of earth, how will you believe Me of the things
of Heaven ? "
By " the things of earth " Jesus referred to all that He
had been saying regarding Baptism ; since the sacred rite,
so far as its external forms are concerned, has a terrestrial
side which appeals to the senses. By " the things of
Heaven " He alluded to the lessons that still remained to
be given to the world, — His celestial Origin, His Cross,
raised aloft like the Serpent in the wilderness l in order to
save men, the salvation promised to those who believe in
Him, the judgment and condemnation of the unbelieving.2
"And behold," the Saviour concluded, "the cause of this
judgment ! It is because the Light is come into the world,
and men have loved darkness better than the Light, be
cause their works were evil. For he who does evil hates
1 John iii. 13-18. The Saviour set forth the reproach of the Cross
under imagery which was already familiar to this Scribe, and He chose
His words so well that the likeness between the reality and the figure was
made more striking. Moses lifted the Serpent high in air, in order that
they who looked upon it might live again ; thus the Son of Man must be
lifted up on high upon His Cross, and so also He will restore life in those
who believe in Him. The Brazen Serpent was but made in the image of
those which had stung the Israelites ; it had no poisonous sting, and only
by its form did it recall the creatures which had spread death in their
members. So too Jesus had only taken upon Himself "the likeness of
our sinful flesh" (Rom. viii. 3) ; " He hath been made sin for us, though
without knowledge of evil" (2 Cor. v. 21). In Him, nevertheless, was
crucified all that He represented in His Humanity, our original sin and
the death in our members being thus done away with, He having taken
it upon Himself, nailing it to the Cross (Rom. vi. 6 ; Coloss. ii. 14).
2 John iii. 19-21. Very many critics, looking at these last words as
only a commentary of the Evangelist, would have the dialogue proper end
at verse 16. In order to support this hypothesis, they allege (1) that after
this there is no further allusion made to Nicodemus ; but what more
natural result than that the Scribe, struck with the loftj' language of the
Lord, should have ceased his questioning to listen more intently ? (2) They
refer to the constant use of the past tense, from now to the end of the
chapter ; but here, as in many other places, the Saviour is speaking of the
work which He is to accomplish as though it were already finished and
completed (John v. 24, xvii. 4, 11, etc.). (3) The term p.ovoyevqs they say
is an individual phrase peculiar to S. John, and yet we find it in these
last verses ; but may it not be, that the Evangelist's fondness for this word
rose from the fact that he learned it from his Divine Master 1

174 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the Light, and he comes not near it, for fear lest his works
be discovered. But he who does the truth comes to the
Light that his works may be made manifest, because they
are done in God."
Uttered, as apparently they were, upon the threshold of
the dwelling, just at the moment when Nicodemus was
taking his leave, while already the dawn was lighting up
the eastern sky, these words sound like a last exhortation,
whereby Jesus would conjure this doctor of the Sanhedrin
not to draw away from Him. But the Rabbi, though quali
fied to discuss with the Christ upon such lofty themes, was
yet of a cowardly soul : he would rather steal away from
the insistent promptings of grace within ; and though he
believed deep down in his heart, he would still strive to
let nothing be seen. During the whole period of the
Saviour's Ministry we shall look in vain for Nicodemus in
the number of the disciples ; only once : we shall hear him
in the Sanhedrin essaying a timid speech in favor of Jesus,
then, as if this feeble effort had exhausted his courage, he
disappears, until amid the shadows of Calvary we meet
him again, at the very last, close by the lifeless Body of
his God. 2 1 John vii. 50, 51. 2 John xix. 39.

CHAPTER II.
JOHN BAPTIST'S LAST TESTIMONY
John iii. 22-36, iv. 1-2 ; Matt. iv. 12, xiv. 3-5 ; Mark i. 14, vi. 17-20 ;
Luke iii. 19-20.
The interview with Nicodemus is the only one among
all the incidents of this Passover as to which we have
any particulars. The faith of the Jews of Jerusalem, so
ready and strong in outward seeming, was not to bear any
fruit ; this Jesus well knew. And so, quitting the town
shortly, He went with His Galilean disciples into " the
land of Judea." x This name was assigned to all the outly
ing territory about Jerusalem, and especially to the moun
tainous country which extends to the south. In fact, in a
northern direction, it is but a few hours' walk to the con
fines of Samaria ; to the east and west the city is sur
rounded by wild and rocky ravines, which on one side are
channelled down to the shores of the Mediterranean, and on
the other, straight to the uninhabited banks of the Jordan ;
so then it is principally to the south that we must look for
the Judea to which Jesus consecrated the first year of His
ministry.2 During eight months He travelled over this region ;
indeed, fie went even as far as Idumea, whence, as Saint
1 John iii. 22.
2 From April to the month of December. In fact, we shall soon hear
Him saying to His disciples, as He is passing by Sichem, on the way back
to Galilee,*" Four months more, and the harvest will be upon us" (John
iv. 35). Now in Palestine the first crops are taken in during the month
of April ; hence Jesus must have prolonged His stay in Judea until
December.

176 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY <>F JESUS.
Mark relates, He drew after Him some faithful disciples.1
However, it does not follow that we are to conclude that
the Saviour penetrated into the mountain-districts of that
land ; for the ouadis with their valleys, wdiich reach from
the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf, Mount Hor, Petra, and
its tombs, — these were now no longer in the land of Israel,
but in that of Esau. The Idumea of the Gospel, doubtless
only included that part of Judea which extends south of
Hebron, and which had belonged since the time of the
Machabees to the kingdom of Edom.2 We do not know
through what various ways Jesus journeyed in that south
ern land, but He could not have failed to visit ancient
Hebron, where the Patriarchs were buried ; nor the great
oaks of Mambre beneath which Abraham pitched his tent,
and there knew the Presence of Jehovah near unto him ;
nor the birth-place of His Precursor, the humble village
of Youttah ; nor Kerioth, from which came Judas who
betrayed Him.3
However arid and mountainous were these countries,
still Jesus could find there the water necessary for the im
mersion of His penitents ; for " He baptized, — not Himself,
but by the ministrations of His disciples." 4 For many a
day has the discussion been prolonged as to the nature of
this Baptism. Some of the ancient Fathers, assimilating
it with John the Baptist's ablutions, consider it as a mode
of initiation, the ordering of which the Christ intrusted to
His faithful Galileans. But for the most part commentators
concur in regarding it as the Sacrament which regenerates
the soul; and they believe that if Jesus did not administer
it Himself, it was to denote that the Sacred Rite has in
itself a divine efficacy.5
1 The crowds which assembled round Him on the banks of Lake Gene
sareth had followed Him (says the Evangelist) ' ' from Jerusalem, from
Judea, and from Idumea" (Mark iii. 8).
2 1 Mac. iv. 15, v. 65 ; Pliny, v. 13 ; Ptolemy, v. 16 ; Josephus,
Antiquitates, xiii. 9, 1.
3 Judas Iscariot, the Man from Kerioth, n'rnp ITS*. The village of Keri
oth is mentioned by Joshua (xv. 25), and lies a little to the south of Hebron.
4 John iv. 2.
6 It may be too that in this way Jesus sought to put Himself in
the foreground as little as possible, and by this means meant to pro-

JOHN BAPTISTS LAST TESTIMONY. 177
Remembering what was the prize which they of this
New Birth attained unto, we may not suppose that the
Saviour would make use of it so freely as did John with
his ablutions in the Jordan. He enlightened these first
converts as to the virtues of Baptism, — demanded of them
an uprightness of heart, and unlimited self-sacrifice, and
faith in the truths He had revealed to them ; but there
these first teachings stopped, for though before this Jesus
had unfolded the plan of Redemption to Nicodemus, as
yet He did not deal after the same manner with the
common people. We know from Saint Matthew and Saint
Mark what was the burden of His sermons at this period,
and we hear, as it were, an echo of the Message which
John had brought them: "Do penance, for the time is
fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is nigh." x The desigu of
the Christ, by at first simply repeating the words of His Pre
cursor, was to confirm the mission of His Prophet, waiting
the time to disclose His whole doctrine, when He could do
so freely in Galilee. Therefore, as He was even then an
object for the Scribes' jealous suspicions, He was content
to purify the hearts of numberless sons of Juda, by gain
ing them unto the Kingdom of the Messiah which was so
near at hand.
In this same interval, apparently, occurred " that differ
ence upon the subject of the purification " 2 which Saint
John recounts. The heats of summer had so far shrunken
the waters of the Jordan that it became difficult to perform
any ablutions along the banks of the stream. So John
Baptist withdrew from Bethbara, and ascending the valley
as far as the ford of Succoth tarried there, near by the vil
lage Salim, at a place called CEnon, because of its copious
springs.3 Beyond the necessity of seeking a spot better
long the period of His preaching in Jerusalem and Judea as long as He
could. » Matt. iv. 17 ; Mark i. 15.
2 John iii. 22, 23.
8 Alvuv. jEnon is the Greek translation of the Aramean word \£V ,
"The Springs." S. Jerome locates this place about eight miles from
Scythopolis toward the south, and his testimony is confirmed by Euse-
bius, S. Epiphanius, and the Samaritan Chronicle entitled Abut Phatach.
vol. i. — 12

178 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
adapted for baptism, there was also, animating his thought
in seeking this retreat, a desire to yield place to Him for
Whom the Precursor had come to prepare the way.
But although they flocked around Jesus, they still came
to John ; and the latter continued to baptize, joyfully
gleaning after the footsteps of the Saviour in fields where
hitherto he had harvested all alone. But his disciples, on
the contrary, incapable of such self-forgetfulness as this,
saw with secret vexation that their master's glory was
being obscured just as that of the New-Comer increased.
Something soon occurred to make them give vent to their
envy. It was but a little while before the imprisonment 1 of the
Precursor : " They had entered into a dispute with a Jew 2
upon the subject of purification." Undoubtedly the latter,
enlightened by Jesus, refused to admit the efficacy of the
earlier baptism. Up sprung at once a contest which gave
John's disciples an occasion of manifesting their jealousy.
They referred to the Baptist finally, and said to him :
There are some weighty reasons for taking the ruins lying along the foot
of Tell Ridghah to be the ancient Salim, for there are fine springs bubbling
up all around the spot, and the tomb of a holy Mussulman thereabouts
bears the name of Sheik-Salim (see Van der Velde, Memoir, p. 345). The
only objection to it is that if so Salim would be located in Samaria, and it
is hai-dly probable that John would have retired into any territory hostile
to Judaism. This difficulty has seemed so serious to some scholars that
they have been moved to look further afield for jEnon and Salim, among
the mountains of Juda to the north of Hebron. Among the twenty cities
which were in the neighborhood of this latter city, Joshua (xv. 31) men
tions Salim and Ain, of which we have discovered some vestiges in the
ruins of Beit Ainun and in the name of Ouadi Salim ; however attractive
this hypothesis may seem at first sight, it has all the traditions against it
(Sepp, who adopts it, has set it forth in poetical language in his Life of
Jesus, vol. iii. chap. xix.).
1 John iii. 24-26. It is not certain at what date John Baptist was
taken prisoner ; however, it seems more than Kkely that the Forerunner
was seized a little while before the Saviour departed for Galilee, that is,
about the month of December, and that he was kept in confinement until
Paschal Time, in the second year of the Ministry of Jesus.
2 The Italic, the Vulgate, and the Syriac of Cureton have the reading
p.era'lovSaluv ; the other Syriac versions and the oldest manuscripts (the
Alexandrine, those of the Vatican, and Sinai) give pieri, 'lovdalov, and this
modem editors generally have adopted. S. John would seem to infer that
the discussion was set on foot by the disciples of the Baptist : 'Eyivero ovv
^TjTrjais iK rwv pjiOyruv.

JOHN BAPTIST'S LAST TESTIMONY. 179
"Rabbi, he who was with you beyond Jordan, and to
whom you rendered your testimony, behold now he bap
tizes, and all men are coming to him."
What sadness underlies these complaints, — the very
name of Jesus suppressed designedly, as though they re
member how the Christ had been drawn from obscurity by
this very man whose brilliant renown He7 now has eclipsed !
Overcome with envy, and valuing not at all the penitents
that were still attracted to CEnon : " All men are going to
him ! " they said. But John, while mitigating the bitter
ness of their feeling, did not fail to render homage to the
divine Master once more, by setting forth more clearly the
limits of his own Mission, marked out for him from on
High. " Man," he said, " can have nothing which is not given
him from Heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that
I have said : 'I am not the Christ, but I am sent before
Him.'"1 Then, in order to explain better what his true position
was in relation to Jesus, he borrowed from the Prophets
the figure by which he compared the Saviour to a Bride
groom, of whom Israel is the Spouse. What Jehovah had
been unto His chosen people, this the Word, from that
hour, has become for all faithful souls.2 The advent of the
Messiah, the throngs following after Him, typify the mar
riage festival, and the wedding procession which joyously
conducts the Spouse unto Christ. But as for him, the
friend of Jesus, he must needs be glad and rejoice in His
glory. " He Who hath the bride 3 is the Bridegroom," he
1 John iii. 27, 28. Some Fathers apply these words to Jesus Christ
alone : " If His works are more wondrous than mine, if all go to Him you
need not be amazed thereat ; this is in the order of the divine decrees "
(S. John Chrysostom, in loco). We believe that the phrase has a deeper
significance, and refers equally to the Mission of Jesus and that of His
Herald. 2 Ezech. xvi. passim ; Jerem. xxxi. 3 ; Osee ii. 19, xi. 4.
3 John iii. 29. " Who" can fathom the graciousness of these last words ?
S. John herein reveals a new beauty in the character of Jesus Christ, ten
derer and more lovable than any other ; it is that of the Spouse. He has
espoused our human nature, Who was altogether the opposite of it, yet He
has made it all as one with Himself ; in this union He has espoused His
holy Church, the immortal Bride who hath nor spot nor wrinkle. He hath

180 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
said " but the friend of the Bridegroom, who is by His
side, and listens to all, is transported with delight at the
voice of the Bridegroom; and thus it is that my joy is
fulfilled. It is fitting that He should increase, and that
I should diminish."1 Thus the Baptist concludes; and
then dwelling upon that brief sentence, he proceeds to
compare himself to the Saviour, that so he might the more
humble himself before Him.
Jesus comes from on high; John is of this earth.2 He,
John, has not seen that of which he beareth witness : he
but accepts and delivers the Message with which he is in
trusted. Jesus has Himself seen all things, has heard all
things, in the heavens ; therefore He testifies nothing upon
the belief of another; and nevertheless His testimony is
not received, or rather, so pitiful is the number of those
who accept it that the Baptist, kindling under the pas
sion with which the vision stirred him, held this poor
handful of souls as of no account ! Then, reverting to his
own Mission,3 severely straitened, like that of the ancient
espoused the holy souls whom He hath called, not only to the common
wealth of His Kingdom, but even unto His Royal couch ; pouring out His
largesses upon them, all His chaste delights ; rejoicing with them, and
being glad in their company ; giving them not simply all that He hath,
but all indeed that He is, His Body, His Soul, His Divinity, and prepar
ing them for a Communion incomparably more great in the everlasting
life of the future" (Bossuet, Flle'vations sur les mysteres, xxiv6 semaine,
viiie elevation ; furthermore, read his admirable Discours sur Vunion de
Je'sus-Christ avec soil Spouse). We will only add one remark to this com
ment, and that is that we are indebted to the most austere of all the
Prophets for the loveliest imagery under which pious souls have ever
delighted to contemplate the Lord Jesus, — those two greatest types, the
Lamb of God and the Spouse.
1 John iii. 30. Here many expounders of the text would terminate the
discourse of the Forerunner, and consider the rest as a commentary by
the Evangelist ; this they do upon the assumption that the ensuing
thoughts are of too lofty a tone to come from John Baptist. To sever the
connection between the \vords, which are evidently meant to form a perfect
whole, would be to surrender the text to any arbitrary division whatever,
inasmuch as these verses, which they regard as an addition on the part of
the Evangelist, are simply the natural development of the thought which
precedes it. The mighty enthusiasm of this Poursuivant of the Godhead
grows in intensity with the bold imagery wherein he depicts the bridal
festivities of the Word and Humanity, until it attains to that great Vision
of the Son as He abides in the Bosom of the Father.
2 John iii. 81, 32. 8 Jq^ j;;. 34.36,

JOHN BAPTIST'S LAST TESTIMONY. 181
prophets, John contrasts it with the Mission of the Christ,
which is all-divine, sweeping over and beyond all bounds ;
for God, meting out His gifts unto His Son in the meas
ure of His love for Him, has lavished all things upon Him.
" The Father loveth the Son, and placeth all things within
His hands. He that believes in the Son has eternal life ;
he that believes not in the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him."
That Wrath, whose thunders now threaten these disci
ples of the Baptist, reverberated more terribly still over
the heads of haughty sinners. John never suppressed
these outbursts. We have seen with what hardihood he
menaced the great men of Israel at the outset of his min
istry; and since then his zeal had been only the more
aroused. No grandeur, no rank nor dignity, could act as
a shield against his just rebukes. Herod Antipas very
soon made proof of this.
By ascending the Valley of the Jordan, the Precursor
had drawn near to Galilee ; scarcely had the licentious
ness of its prince been made known to him before he be
stirred himself to stigmatize it.1 We know to what a
pitch this tyrant had already carried his scandalous dis
orders. Casting aside his legitimate wife, daughter of
Aretas, king of Petra, he lived with Herodias, the wife of
his brother Philip.2 This princess, famous among the de
scendants of Herod, was the daughter of that Aristobulus
who was strangled at Sebaste by his father's orders ; she
was granddaughter of Mariamne, whose execution had ever
after haunted the old king with bitter remorse. Being
married to her uncle Philip, she found in her husband
merely a disinherited son of Herod, living like an ordinary
1 Mark vi. 17, 18.
2 The Herod Philip here alluded to should not be confounded with
Philip, Tetrarch of Iturea, whose character and kingdom we have dis
cussed elsewhere. This latter was the issue of Herod's union with Cleo
patra of Jerusalem ; while the mother of Herod Philip was Mariamne,
daughter of the High Priest Simon. As for Antipas and his brother
Archelaiis, Ethnarch of Judea, they were sons of Malthace the Samaritan,
one of the many wives of Herod. The following table, while it contains
only the most celebrated names among the wives and children of this

182 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
private personage.1 Such a common-place condition as
that to which this union reduced her seemed insupport
able to her brilliant nature ; beautiful, fiery, imperious,
holding Judaism and its observances in supreme con
tempt,2 she was one who would rule at any cost.3 And
so when Antipas, during a visit he once made with his
brother, saw her and became enamoured of her, he had
only to promise her his throne in order to ensnare her.4
The daughter of Aretas, being warned that Herod was
about to repudiate her, anticipated his action by retiring
to the fortress of Macheronte, then among the possessions
of her father, lying to the east of the Dead Sea. But it
was all in vain that the king of Petra took up arms to
avenge the wrong done his daughter ; in vain also that his
troops routed those of the Tetrarch : 5 the monstrous and
unnatural union of Antipas and Herodias was consum
mated, despite all obstacles.6
prince, will enable the reader to take in just so much of this genealogy at a
glance : — HEROD THE GREAT had as wives :
1. DORIS | Antipater (put to death during Herod's last moments )
{Herod Agripfa ( 1. to Herod Phild?
Herodias, mar- <
ried ( 2. to Antipas
(the Asmonean) i Alexander
I (put to death)
3. MARIAMNE "|
(daughter of I Herod Philip (first husband of Herodias)
Simon, the High j
Priest) I
a m,,,,,,™ ( Archelaus (ethnarch of Judea)
?i o -4. % \ Antipas (tetrarch of Galilee, second husband of Hero-
(the Samaritan) j d-i v
5. CLEOPATRA ) pHILIP (tetrarch of Iturea)
(of Jerusalem) )
1 Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, i. 30, 7.
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 4.
3 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 7, 1 ; Bellum Juda'icum, ii. 9, 6.
4 Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 1.
6 Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 1.
6 This union was a double crime. In point ot fact, Philip, the husband
of Herodias, was still living (Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 4), as was

JOHN BAPTIST'S LAST TESTIMONY. 183
So shocking a transgression of the Law could not fail to
excite the mind of all Galilee. Did Herod, startled as he
was, and fearful of some disturbance among his people,
come to John the Baptist, thinking to obtain from him
some words of approval and commendation ? Some writers
have so interpreted the facts. Yet it is more probable
that the Precursor himself at once took the initiative.
Pushing his way straight into the palace of the Tetrarch,
— as of old Elias came before Achab, — he made the
gilded halls reecho with those words which the Church
has so often since repeated to guilty princes: "It is not
lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 1 And then
John reproached him for all the evil deeds committed by
him ; whereupon having fulfilled his mission, he departed,
leaving in Herod's heart a rankling memory, an incurable
wound. The prince dared not arrest the Prophet on the
instant, for he feared the people, who still thronged about
him ;2 but he was only waiting some favorable opportunity
for laying hands upon him. As soon as it presented itself,
he had him seized by his satellites, and from the Gospel
account we may infer that the members of the Sanhedrin,
always the secret enemies of the Baptist, were not entirely
unconcerned in this act of violence.3 The prison in which
John the Baptist was thrown was that same fortress of
Macheronte where the daughter of Aretas had taken
refuge.4 Josephus has described its strange appearance,5
also the legitimate wife of Antipas ; hence both adultery and incest were
here involved ; for Herodias, who was sister-in-law to Antipas, had a
daughter by Philip, named Salome ; now this circumstance rendered any
union with her brother-in-law unlawful, even after the death of her first
husband (Lev. xviii. 16 ; Deuter. xxv. 5, 6).
1 Mark vi. 18.
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 1.
3 S. Matthew (iv. 12) relates how, when Jesus was informed that John
had been thrown into prison, He retired into Galilee, or in other words,
to the realm of Herod Antipas. If the Saviour saw reason to fear this
prince less than He did the members of the Sanhedrin, was it not because
He had seen how they had plotted the downfall of John, and in this way
He would Himself ward off their fanatical persecutions for a time ?
4 Josephus, Bellum Juda'icum, vii. 6, 1, 2.
5 Before the time of Herod, Alexander Janneus had built a stronghold
upon these rock-bound heights ; but it was destroyed by Gabinius during
his war against Aristobulus.

184 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
erected upon one of the mountains which border the Dead
Sea, while on the east it is surrounded by gorges so deep
that the eye can scarcely fathom their dark chasms.
Herod struck with the value of such a coign of vantage,1
had encircled the cliff with enormous ramparts, and raised
upon the heights a town and a palace. Tales of unhal
lowed deeds gave the deep defiles which environ it an evil
renown. The popular imagination, deluded by the vol
canic phenomena which are of so frequent occurrence in
this region, conjured up numberless prodigies which were
to be beheld in these parts. The smallest plants (they
said) here grow to the size of the fig-tree; great twisted
roots, red as fire, sending out flames at evening, glide away
from the profane hand that would grasp them, or strike
him down in death. From the depths of the valleys,
and from the summits of the mountains, there burst
forth springs of most various flavors, — sometimes boiling
with heat, sometimes pouring out at the same time, as
from a double vessel, icy streams mingling with the
warm.2 Such is the fantastic neighborhood in which Josephus
locates the prison of the Precursor. Although held within
these fastnesses, the latter retained his liberty so far as to
be able to receive his disciples, and to charge them with
divers messages.3 Herod himself, during his sojourns at
Macheronte, sought converse with the captive; for "he
feared him, knowing that he was a just and holy man,
and although he kept him in prison, he listened to him
willingly." 4 Thus he came " to do 5 many things by his
counsel ; " and at the last did really halt for an instant,
1 We are not told what were the circumstances under which this prop
erty of Herod passed into the hands of Aretas ; but it did not long remain
with its new owner, for Josephus tells us that, after his unlucky campaign
against the king of Petra, Antipas was, at all events, once more master of
Macheronte (Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 2).
2 Josephus, Bellum Juda'icum, vii. 6, 3.
8 Matt. xi. 2 et seq. ; Luke vii. 18.
4 Mark vi. 19-20.
6 noXXd iirolei. This reading is sustained by quite an array of authori
ties : the Alexandrine Manuscript, the Codices of Ephrern and Beza, and
nearly all the versions (Syriac, Vulgate, Gothic, Ethiopian).

JOHN BAPTIST'S LAST TESTIMONY. 185
undecided,1 in the downward path of sin on which he had
so far proceeded. But his wicked paramour was ever on
the watch : she felt that the influence of John was ruinous
to her own, and so, making a vow of merciless vengeance
upon him, she went about procuring his death. For a long
time Herod protected the Forerunner; for he was attached
to him, and feared the people, who venerated John as a
Prophet. Such half-hearted resistance as this was however
powerless to withstand Herodias. We shall see very soon
how, in a night of debauchery, she snatched her victim
from the hands which so feebly defended him.
1 HoWa ffiropei (Mark vi. 20). "He hesitated much.'' This is the
other reading found in the manuscripts of the Vatican and Sinai, and in
the Coptic Version as well.

CHAPTER III.
THE SAMARITAN.
Luke iv. 14; John iv. 4-42.
Jesus having learned of the imprisonment of John
Baptist, retired into Galilee, not of His own desire, but
" by the power of the Spirit ; " x apparently this interior
Guide revealed some impending danger to Him, for John
Evangelist states that the Saviour was not free to choose
what way He would take : " He was of necessity," he says,
" to pass through Samaria." 2
The frontier of this country was soon crossed, and
toward the middle of the day3 Sichem appeared on the
left, surrounded by rich meadow-lands and gardens. Jesus
did not push on as far as this ; tired after the long foot-
travel, fie Himself rested at the entrance of the valley
wherein the town is situated, and hard by the Well of
Jacob. The disciples, however, proceeded on their way
toward Sichem ; for in the haste of their setting out not
having made any provisions for a long journey, they now
found themselves obliged to buy the necessities of life
from Samaritans.
Jesus, left alone, sought shelter beneath the archway
overhanging the Well,4 and from this spot, as He sat gazing
out over the valleys spread before Him, the scene may
1 Luke iv. 14.
2 John iv. 4.
3 It was about the sixth hour, that is to say, high noon (John
iv. 6).
4 Almost all the wells in the East have an overhanging hood, with
benches ranged beneath.

THE SAMARITAN. 187
well have brought up memories of many ancient happen
ings in Israel. Here, under the oaks of Moreb,1 Abraham
had pitched his tent, and raised the first Altar to Jehovah.
Jacob, on his return from Mesopotamia, had bought this
very land which Jesus now trod, and here too he had
dug this well,2 although there were fountains of water
round about him, because he wished to be free from any
subjection to the neighboring domains. Still later, when
his sons had rashly wiped out the dishonor of Dina in the
blood of the Sichemites, the Patriarch, though obliged to
flee, yet always retained such tender recollections of this
valley that he bequeathed it to his dearly-loved son.3
Here also was the spot where Joseph was to be endowed
with every blessing, showered upon him from the heavenly
heights and rising from the depths below, while he him
self would be upheld by the blessings of his fathers, whose
God was forevermore to be his helper.4 Here Ephraim,
mindful of this same precious heritage, laid to rest the
embalmed body of Joseph,5 and so for centuries made
Sichem the principal city of all Judea. Over yonder,
upon the opposite slopes of Ebal and of Garizim, the
eleven tribes, with solemn anathemas against all trans
gressors, had once vowed eternal fidelity to the Law.6 At
the foot of these very hills, for many long years, Israel
had held her councils and courts of law ; and when Sion
irnto "jibs "\y : "near the oaks of Moreh " (Gen. xii. 6), words
which the Septuagint translates by : iirl rty Spvv rty 6\prp\^v, and the Vul
gate by : "usque ad convallem illustrem." The name Moreh, which has
Keen preserved by the Targum of Onkelos, is apparently that of some
Chanaanitish Chieftain, who owned this grove of oaks.
2 Gen. xxiii. 18-20.
8 Gen. xxxiv. The Old Testament, without stating the fact of this
donation in specific terms, gives us to understand that it was made to
Joseph. In Genesis (xxiii. 19), indeed, we find Jacob buying a field near
Sichem, to which the body of Joseph was afterwards translated (Josue
xxiv. 32), because this region was now part of the territory of his son.
The version of the Septuagint leaves no doubt upon this question: "Jo
seph was buried in the parcel of ground which Jacob purchased from the
Amorrheans of Sichem, which he afterwards gave to Joseph to be his por
tion," Kal eSuKev avryv 'lwtr^0 iv pepiSi.
4 Gen. xlix. 25.
8 Josue xxiv. 32.
6 Deut. xxvii. 12," 13.

1S8 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
was become the capital of Judea, we still find Roboam
inaugurating his reign at Sichem.1
But what was there now remaining of these olden splen
dors ? The hills and valleys of Ephraim had forfeited
their ancient renown by taking the name of Samaria, — a
new town of schismatic tribes. The Field of Jacob was
now an unhallowed region, through which travellers
passed in haste lest they should come in contact in any
way with its inhabitants.2 How deeply must not Jesus
have grieved over such sad changes of faith as these!
Thus, in weariness of body and of soul, He sank down
upon the low curb of the well ; a divine despair which
Saint John pictures in one word, which it is impossible for
us to translate : " He was seated after this manner 3 by the
well." The Church standing above the graves which she
has blessed, loves to recall that mysterious lassitude : —
Quserens me sedisti lassus.
Kedimisti crucem passus :
Tantus labor non sit cassus !
And very shortly there came up from the little city of
Sichar 4 the woman whom Jesus had come to seek at the
1 Josue xxiv. 1-25 ; 3 Kings, xii. 1.
2 As to the Samaritans, their origin, worship, and traditions, see
Appendix VIII.
8 John iv. 6. In the opinion of Winer (Grammatik, par. 69, 9), oirus
does no more than recall the idea expressed by the participle : KeKoiriaKus
. . . olirus : "because of this fatigue, He was seated." Meyer objects
with good reason that in that case ovrus would not be placed after the
verb, but at the beginning of the phrase, as in the passages of the Acts
where it has this meaning (Acts xx. 11 ; xxvii. 17). Hence we rather
prefer to follow the interpretation of S. John Chrysostom • a7rXfis, us
(rvxe, "naturally, even as He might," upon the bare stonework around
the margin of the well.
4 Sichar appears to be derived from a corruption of the name Sichem,
which is the modern Naplouse (Xpapolis, New Town). Indeed Naplouse
is a half-hour's walk from Jacob's Well, but we are free to suppose that the
ancient Sichem was still farther removed from this spot. Probably the
term \eyop.ivyv is used to indicate that S. John regarded the word Sichar
as a nickname: "the City of Untruth" (Scheker, ~\pP), in allusion
to the schismatic worship of Garizim ; or the "City of Drunkenness"
(Shikhor, "I3ty), in memory of the anathema uttered by Isaias : "Wo
to the haughty crown of the wine-bibbers of Ephraim ! Wo to the fleeting

THE SAMARITAN. 189
cost of so great a weariness. She was a Samaritan, of evil
life. With her slender jar poised upon her shoulder, she
passed by all the springs nearer the town, and wandered
up to Jacob's Well, — drawn thither by the freshness of its
limpid supply, and by something perhaps of traditional
respect for the Patriarch. In fact, women of the East do
not often go out to draw water in the middle of the day ;
fearing to encounter some insult, they are never seen
around the fountains, except in little companies, and at
sunset. But this one had long since lost all timidity and
reserve, and she approached the well without concerning
herself about the presence there of a man.
" Give Me to drink," 1 was Jesus' quiet request of her.
The Samaritan 2 looked at the Stranger ; by His apparel
and His accent she recognized a Judean.
" How," she said, " do you, a Jew, ask a drink of me,
who am a Samaritan ? The Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans." It was a refusal, rendered the more offensive by its
ironical tone ; and to appreciate its harshness it must be
remembered with what readiness even Bedouins proffer
this blessed service to the thirsty traveller. Nothing could
show plainer to what extremes the animosity of the two
nations had been pushed.3
flowers which enwreathe with glowing radiance the brow of that rich
valley, where their feet stumble mid the thick fumes of wine ! " (Is.
xxviii. 1.) Those who regard Sichar as another village, distinct from
Sichem, lying between this town and Jacob's Well (jfkyalov rov x^piov),
suppose that by the expression \eyop.ivyv, "the spot called Sichar,"
S. John wished ty) imply that this place was little known.
1 John iv. 7-9.
2'H 'Sap.apeiris. This word indicates clearly in what sense we are to
take the expression : ywii iK rijs 2ap,apelas, employed above by S. John :
that is, a woman, not of the town of Samaria, situated some two hours'
walk from Jacob's Well, but of the country which bore that name.
8 Elsewhere in the Rabbinical literature we find innumerable traces of
this rancor. Therein the Jews freely expressed their implacable hatred
of the Samaritans ; launching curses upon them before all the congrega
tion of the synagogue ; refusing them the privilege of becoming pros
elytes, and denying them the hope of » resurrection ; treating them as
idolaters and devils ; heightening the insult by teaching that their bread
was to be regarded as much unclean as the flesh of swine. On their
side, the Samaritans sought every possible means to wreak vengeance

190 FIRST YEAR OF THF MINISTRY OF JESUS.
To this unmannerly reply Jesus only uttered a gentle
objection. " If you knew ! the gift of God," He said, " and Who it is
that says to you : ' Give Me to drink,' perchance you would
have asked of Him, and He would have given you living
water." This gift of God was grace, but the Samaritan did not
understand ; the thought of living water turned her mind
to the streams she had often seen sparkling in the depths
of the well.2
" My Lord," she said, " you have no vessel,3 and the well
is deep. Whence will you draw this living water ? "
Her language had become respectful ; for by the majesty
of Jesus, and by the nobility of His utterance, she divined
somewhat in Him above any ordinary Jew.
"Are you greater," she continued, "than our Father
upon all Jewry ; maltreated every Jew caught passing through their terri
tory ; defiled the Temple by throwing the bones of dead men within its
precincts ; disturbed all Judea by lighting, ahead of time, the watch-fires
on Mount Garizim, intended to announce the new moon. Josephus
relates a fearful example of this animosity. Some of the Jewish and
Samaritan colonists of Alexandria, after many long disputes, finally ap
pealed to Philopator for his decision, stipulating that the vanquished
faction should be executed ; and when Philopator pronounced in favor of
the Jews, the partisans of Garizim were forthwith put to death (Josephus,
Antiquitates, xiii. 3, 4).
1 Johniv. 10-12.
2 M. V. Guerin has given such a perfect description of this ancient
memorial that we could not do better than refer the reader to his Work.
An attentive examination led him to the discovery that the Well is not
sunk in the solid rock, but built with stones of small size, regularly
arranged, very narrow at its upper orifice, but growing somewhat larger
as it descends. Its actual depth is about twenty-four metres ; it was for
merly much deeper, for pilgrims have indulged in an immemorial habit of
dropping stones to the bottom, to see if there be any water still left. As
to the authenticity of this trophy of antiquity, no geographer has ever
thought of contesting it (V. Guerin, Description de la Samarie, t. i.
p. 376 ; Robinson, Biblical Researches, t. ii. p. 283).
8 "AvrXyaa does not refer to the cruse which the Samaritan had come
to fill, but the leathern bucket which served to draw up the water. All
wells in Judea are furnished with one of these vessels, and a long
cord, woven out of goat's hair. The Samaritan's words seem to indicate
that these were lacking at Jacob's Well, and that therefore she had
brought them with her. The fountains round about Sichem were so
plentiful that it is very likely this distant water was used only on
occasions.

THE SAMARITAN. 191
Jacob, who has given us this well, and who drank thereof,
— he, and his sons, and his cattle ? "
" He who drinks of this water," 1 answered the Saviour,
" shall thirst again ; but he who drinks of the water which
I will give him shall never thirst. The water which I
will give him shall become in him a fountain springing
up 2 to eternal life."
Jesus evidently did not speak of the springs which
water the earth, but of those which are opened up in the
heart, making it pure and fruitful. Under this figure He
would typify His grace, and show her how man may find
in it all that he can desire, without fearing that this
bounteous repletion should ever turn to satiety.3
Not grasping at all the deep significance of the words
she heard, the Samaritan besought Jesus to disclose the
whereabouts of this spring of life, as she conjectured it.
" Lord," she said, " give me this water, that- 1 may no
more thirst, and that I may be no more obliged to come
here to draw water."
The Master was not disheartened : in the sinful nature
of the Samaritan he saw only an illustration of the truth
He had taught to Nicodemus,4 that the soul which is as
yet in bondage to the flesh is incapable of conceiving-
things divine, and hence the surest way to enlighten the
mind is to purify the heart ; therefore fie at once turned
aside the current of her thought, that He might recall this
woman to a sense of her sins.
" Go," he said, " call your husband, and come hither."
" I have no husband," she responded instantly.5
"You are right in saying, ' I have no husband,' "replied
1 John iv. 13-15.
2 'AX\oy.ivov, "salientis. Emphasis est in voce saliet. Solent enim
aquae salire ad altitudinem usque originis suaj " (Grotius, in loco).
3 It was in one such moment of overflowing gladness of soul that David
sang : — " As the thirsty hart panteth after the water-brooks,
so panteth my soul after Thee, 0, my God !
My soul is athirst for God, —
for the strong living God. "
(Ps. xli. 2. 3.)
4 John iii. 20. 6 John iv. 17, 18.

192 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Jesus; "for you have had five such, and he whom you
have now is not your husband ; indeed, you have spoken
very truly."
So it had been useless for the Samaritan to seek shelter
behind that ambiguous answer of hers, " My husband ! I
have no husband." Jesus swept aside her feeble defences,
and throwing open the gates of her soul, He laid bare its
ill-gotten stores, all the accumulations of a guilty past, —
divorce, and not death, that had freed her from each of
her five husbands in a shameful succession ; a faithlessness
which soon degenerated into debauchery, into scandalous
connections, no longer protected by any thin veil of legal
formalities. The Samaritan, in her confusion at finding herself so
easily exposed, now ceased from any further feigning.
" My Lord," 1 she said, " I see that you are a Prophet.''
Then, immediately turning the conversation from this
humiliating theme, she took refuge in a question of doc
trine, such as she thought would be likest to divert the
mind of a Rabbi of Israel. She recalled the rival pre
tensions of Sion and of Sichem; their own traditions,
which told how the ancient Prophets were the ancestors
of the Samaritans, and so represented them as sacrificing
upon Mount Garizim.
" Our Fathers," she said, " have worshipped upon this
mountain, and do you say that it is at Jerusalem we must
worship ? "
Jesus, satisfied with having awakened something like
penitence in the heart of this sinning woman, would not
refuse to follow her thought upon this new track.
"Woman," he said to her, "believe Me: the hour is
coming when you will no longer worship the Father, either
upon this mountain or in Jerusalem. You worship that
which you do not know : as for Us, We worship that
which We know, because Salvation cometh of the Jews."
By those last words Jesus recognized the Primacy of
Juda : to Juda alone belonged the Promises, the sacrifices
acceptable to the Lord, the revealed Law, and the Ark of
1 John iv. 19-24.

THE SAMARITAN. 193
Alliance, overshadowed by the Glory from on high, in
token of the presence of Jehovah ; but at the same time
He announced the end of these prerogatives.
"The hour cometh, and it is already here, wheu the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth ; for it is this that the Father wishes of those who
worship Him. God is a Spirit, and those who worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
The Samaritan, drawn to fiim by something she dimly
discerned shining through these words, but dazzled and
lost in this strange new world of thought, was now vaguely
reminded of the Messiah, of Whom her fellow-countrymen
were in expectation, Who was to be unto them for a
Guide.1 " I know," she said, " that the Messiah, the Christ, is to
come, and at His coming He will teach us all things." 2
Jesus made answer to her, "I am He; I, who am
speaking with thee."
He went no further at that moment; for the disciples
were coming up towards them ; but the woman, forgetful
of all else beside, leaving her jar lying there at his feet,
hastened back to the town,3 calling to every one she met,
" Come, see a Man who has told me everything I have
done. Is He not the Christ?" And the latter were so
1 This name is that which the modern Samaritans give their Messias :
El-Muhydi (Robinson, Biblical Researches, t. ii. p. 278). Their ancestors
had designated Him under other names also : as the Converter, the Re
storer. They were far from having any precise ideas of the Messiah, such
as the Jews had imbibed from the Prophets ; since the Pentateuch, the
only part of the Sacred Books in their possession, only furnished them
with certain vague foreshadowing in His regard (Gen. xlix. 10 ; Num.
xxiv. 17 ; Deuter. xviii. 15. See Gesenius, De Samaritanorum theologia,
and especially De Sacy, Correspondance des Samaritains, Notices et extraits
des manuscrits de la bibliotheque du roi, vol. xii. ).
2 John iv. 25, 26. Many scholars regard the words : 6 \eyby.evos
Xpiarbs as introduced by the Evangelist to explain the Hebrew word
Messiah, iTB'p. However, there is nothing to prevent one looking upon
them as the actual language of the Samaritan. In fact, just below,
S. John once more puts this word in her mouth : Mtjti oSrbs kanv 6
Xpiarbs ; the Greek language was at that time so commonly spoken
throughout Judea that the word Xpiarbs may have easily passed into the
popular speech.
3 John iv. 27-30.
VOL. I. — 13

194 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
thrilled by her words that they hurried out from Sichar
in throngs, taking the way which leads up toward Jacob's
Well.
But the disciples had returned, just on the closing
words of this interview, and great was their surprise at
seeing the Master in private conversation with a woman,1
— and, of all things, a Samaritan ! Nevertheless, none of
them said to Him, " What were you asking of her ? Why
were you talking with her ? " They offered Him the
provisions they had brought.
" Master," said they, " eat." But Jesus' mind was filled
with gladness at having garnered the first-fruits from
among the Gentiles, in the person of this poor Samaritan ;
and so deeply replenished with delight was His heart that
it caused Him to forget all other hunger.
" I have a food to eat," was His response,- " of which
you know not."
The astonished disciples murmured to each other, —
" Has any one brought Him food ? "
" My food," Jesus replied, " is to do the will of Him
Who sent Me, and to accomplish His work."
Thus then the work of God was the conversion of the
Samaritans, who were now advancing toward Him. The
swaying crowds, with their white garments fluttering
through the fields of the valley below, which in four
months more would be ready for the reapers,2 now gave
them somewhat of the appearance of a harvest ripe for the
sickle. The Saviour, with a glance, pointed them out to
His disciples.
"Were you not just now saying:8 'Four months more
and the harvest time will be here ' 1 And now I say to
you : Lift your eyes, and look over these plains ; they are
already white for the harvest."
1 John iv. 31-34. The Rabbis were so excessively scrupulous upon
this point that they would not converse in public with their own wives
(Berachot, f. 43, b).
2 In Judea the sowing is done in the month of November, and the har
vest is at the full in May ; four months before this, in December, the
fields are already green.
3 John iv. 35.

THE SAMARITAN. 195
Those words, " four months more," had doubtless been
pronounced by some one of the disciples, looking at the
fields lying around Jacob's Well. Jesus, taking up the
simple words, turned them in harmony with His thought ;
imaging to their minds a harvest which was ripening
more rapidly than any of this earth, — the harvest of souls,
now coming toward Him from Sichar, who were to find
a resting-place in the storehouses of Heaven. And from
this, using the occasion to compare the Apostles' duties
with the toils of those who reap, Jesus proceeded to utter
some instructions to His disciples, of which (it would
seem) Saint John only retained the memory of a few de
tached sentences. 1
He explains how2 "he who harvests" in the field
of the Gospel " receives a wage, and garners in fruit
which is life eternal." Far different is it here upon
earth, where frequently before the time of reaping, the
sower is in the tomb ; whereas that Festival in the
heavens " shall unite in one common gladness both sower
and reaper."
Again Jesus recalled the proverb : " One man soweth,
and another reapeth ; " 3 showing them how perfectly appli
cable this was to the Evangelical ministry. " I have sent
you to reap where you have not labored: others have
labored and you have entered into their labors." By this
is to be understood not only the Prophets, who had pre
pared Israel for the coming of the Messiah ; but it also
refers to the Christ and His teachings, of which the Apos
tles were to reap the fruits.
" However, the inhabitants of Sichar4 were now gathered
round the Saviour; they begged Him to tarry in their
town, and He abode there two days." Many believed in
Him, upon the word of the woman who had given that
testimony, " He has told me everything that I have done;"
1 This supposition seems to us to savor more of respect for the sacred
text than the violent efforts which some critics would have us make in
order to wrest some connection from out the various divisions of this
discourse. 2 John iv. 36. 3 John iv. 37, 38.
4 John iv. 39-42.

196 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
but a far greater number believed because of His own
teachings. And these said to the woman, —
" We believe now no longer because of your story. We
have heard, and we now know of ourselves, that He is
verily the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 1
Thus the divine Alaster needed but two days to capture
the heart and the faith of the Samaritans ; and this is to
be explained not merely by their docility, but rather by
the idea they had formed of the Messiah. Though much
less complete than those of the. Jews, their notions of
Christ's Kingdom were purer by far ; they were not, like
the latter' s, all directed to the realization of fleshly desires
and carnal hopes, such as the end of all foreign rule and the
restoration of the royalty of Israel. Hence, so long as He
was in Judea, fearing they would make Him King against
His will, Jesus concealed this dignity of the Messiah.2
But in Samaria, on the contrary, He proclaimed it without
reserve, and freely revealed Himself both as the Christ
and the Saviour of the world.3
1 The Vulgate does not set this first title "Christus" before "Salvator
mundi," aud this omission seems to be legitimate ; for we find the same
text in the manuscripts of the Vatican and Sinai, as well as in most of the
Versions. We have introduced the other reading notwithstanding, out of
respect for the Alexandrine Manuscript.
2 John vi. 15 ; Matt. xvi. 20, xvii. 9 ; Mark ix. 8.
8 This title of Saviour of the World, which we so often use to designate
Jesus, is only found in this one passage of the Gospel and on the lips of
these Samaritans ; this indeed is due to the fact that the idea of the
Christ's having come to save not the Jews only, but all peoples, was one of
those thoughts which were most shocking to Israelitish notions. But for
the Samaritans it was altogether different ; spurned and execrated by the
Jews, and yet powerfully attracted by the law of Jehovah and believing in
His promises, they joyously cherished this assurance that Jesus had brought
salvation, not to Israel alone but to them likewise, sons of Gentiles though
they were. It was the new dawn of hope for their whole race, and in like
manner unto the entire world.

CHAPTER IV.
JESUS DRIVEN OUT OF NAZARETH.
John iv. 43-46 ; Luke iv. 15-80 ; John iv. 46-54.
After two days spent in Samaria, Jesus resumed the
journey to Nazareth, but He lingered in many places along
the road. Saint Luke shows Him " teaching in the syna
gogues ; " 1 and Saint John says " that the Galileans wel
comed Him because they had seen all He had done in
Jerusalem during the Feast." 2 " He was extolled by all
men, and His fame was spread throughout the whole
country." 8
Jesus knew " that no Prophet is honored in his native
land," 4 and that He had nothing to expect from His own
home ; but He would wait until such time as His Heavenly
Father saw fit to make known His desires, before He
would quit it forever. He returned therefore to the little
town " where He had been bred," and once more appeared
before the eyes of the Nazarenes, just as formerly had
been His wont, — outwardly, with the same simplicity of
demeanor and garb as of old ; wearing a long tunic,6 girt
about His loins with a leathern belt; sandals upon His
feet ; a cloak drawn about Him ; for head-covering, a loose
1 Luke iv. 15. 2 John iv. 45. 8 Luke iv. 14, 15.
4 By this remark, S. John evidently alludes to the expulsion of Jesus
from Nazareth ; the episode is recounted by S. Luke (iv. 16-30).
6 Luke iv. 16.
6 From S. John's report, we know that this tunic was without seams,
"and of the same weft from top to bottom," while the mantle was in four
pieces, which were afterwards divided among the soldiers (John xix. 23).
According to all the testimony left us, these garments were white (see
Martigny, Dictionnaire des Antiquite's chre'tiennes, p. 391).

198 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
veil bound about the forehead by a cord.1 Nor was there
anything in His features which should startle the beholder;
it was such a countenance as we may trace out among the
paintings of the Catacombs,2 — an oval face; the beard
scanty and very fine, ending in a double point; the com
plexion of austere whiteness ; the eye dark and burning ;
His long hair parted over the brow and falling upon the
shoulders ; the expression one of gentleness habitually
veiled in sadness. Although the exterior of Jesus was so
familiar to His fellow-citizens, none of them had as yet
any knowledge of the power of His Word, for always in
His youthful days He had been one who rather sought
retirement and silence. All were then eager to hear Him,
and they gave Him a warm welcome, when, on the Sab
bath following, He came to the religious services of
Nazareth. We shall so very often find the divine Master in the
synagogues of Judea, that we shall surely be pardoned for
delaying the narrative an instant, if by so doing we may
give some idea of those edifices, and of the ceremonies
which were conducted therein.
Of different degrees of richness and grandeur, that va
ried according to the importance of their respective towns,
the synagogues were, however, built all upon the same
plau, — a long hall extending between two porticos, and
terminating in a Sanctuary. Here there was neither image
1 Artists always represent the Saviour with His head bared ; but as it is
impossible for any one to expose himself in this fashion without risking
great injuries from the sun in Judea, Jesus doubtless conformed to the
customs of the country, and covered His head with a veil ample enough to
protect the brow and the neck. This head-dress, called Coufneh, is still in
use throughout the East.
2 We have sketched the figure of the Saviour from a painting in the
cemetery of Domitilla ; it certainly dates back to the third century, and it
may even belong to the second. This portrait, which was the first to
reproduce the features of the Master, came finally to be the hieratic type -,
for we find it in the principal sarcophagi of the fourth century, in the
mosaics of Ravenna and of Rome, in the Letters attributed to S. John
Damascene (ninth century), and to Lentulus (twelfth century). From age
to age it passed down to Giotto and the artists of the Renascence. North-
cote gives two drawings from this painting in the last edition (1879) of
his Roma soterranea (pp. 216-220). (Consult Martigny, Dictionnaire des
Antiques (1877), p. 387).

JESUS DRIVEN OUT OF NAZARETH. 199
nor altar to be seen, but only a casket of wood, covered
over with a veil and enclosing the Sacred Books of Israel.1
This part of the structure was held in the highest honor.2
It was there were to be found "the first seats," much
sought after by Scribes and Pharisees,3 and the places of
distinction, to which were conducted such of the faithful
as were renowned for their wealth.4 Near the centre there
was a raised platform upon which the Reader of the Holy
Books would ascend, with the Rabbi who was to exhort
the gathering. As to the faithful, they kept to the nave
of the edifice ; this was divided by a balustrade into two
parts,5 one of which was reserved for the men, the other
for the women.6
Every synagogue had at its head a Chief,7 who was as
sisted by Elders and Pastors.8 This body presided over
1 This object, which by its form would remind them of the Ark of the
Covenant, occupied the place of honor in the Synagogue ; so for a long
time the Church herself placed the Holy' Books within the Tabernacle
alongside the Eucharist. "In olden times, according to S. Paulinas, they
used to have two tiny cupboards side by side within their tabernacles, in
one of which was the Blessed Sacrament and in the other the Holy Scrip
tures ; thus one enclosed the Word Divine confined under the sacred
species, the other held the Divine Word as manifested to us outwardly,
whereby He hath given us to understand what He Himself hath said "
(M. Olier, Mimoires) .
2 To draw their eyes, and their hearts as well, toward the one spot
above all others upon earth where Jehovah wished all men to adore Him,
they took care to make this their sanctuary face toward Jerusalem ; con
sequently all the synagogues of the West were "orientees." Very likely,
too, this is one of the reasons why our churches have been given the same
position. 3 Matt, xxiii. 6.
4 James ii. 3.
6 Philo, De Vita contemplativa, ii. 476.
6 The Jewish synagogue (as is plainly to be seen) in many points resem
bled our Christian Basilicas. Like them it had a sanctuary, a tribune for
the officiating ministers (the {Sypa, or ambon of the ancients), and a nave
for the faithful. There was a lamp burning night and day before the ark
which held the Holy Books ; the roof-tree of the edifice must overtop all
the dwellings of the town, or at least should have a high spire (much like
the campanile towers on our churches or the minarets of the Orient), which
should rise above everything round about it. We even recognize our
modest poor-box hanging close beside the doors.
' The dpxicwdyuyos (Luke viii. 41, xiii. 14 ; Acts xviii. 8, 17).
8 These officers of the synagogue, if not by their duties, from their
names at least, recall the Hierarchy of the primitive Church : Ttpto-p-urepoi

200 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the religious exercises, passed judgments, decreed punish
ments, excommunicated guilty parties, or sent them back
in chains to the Sanhedrin. The most active of its mem
bers was the Angel or Legate of the Synagogue,1 who read
the prayers and was the representative of the assembly
abroad. Below all the various dignitaries was an inferior
minister, the Chazzan,2 who presented the Reader with
the Holy Books, guarded the doors and was a general
care-taker. As to the order of the services, it was fixed by rules
most scrupulously observed.3 To the chanting of the Psalms
succeeded the Prayer, taken from Deuteronomy and called,
from its first word, the Schema4 (Hearken): "Hearken,
Israel, the Lord thy God is the One and only God : thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength." Then came the eigh
teen Benedictions,5 followed by the Instruction, which held
(Luke vii. 3) (D'Jpr), also called pastors, nip-ives (Eph. iv. 11) ; chiefs
and leaders of the flock, rcpearures, Jfyoo'p.evoi (1 Tim. v. 17 ; Hebr.
xiii. 1).
1 Very different though this office was from the ministry of our Pon
tiffs, it may be, however, that S. John had the Angel of the Synagogue
in mind when he gave to the bishops of the greater Sees of Asia that title,
"Angels of the Church" (Apoc. i. 20, ii. 1, etc.).
2 fin ; spoken of by S. Luke (iv. 20) as vvypirys, "the attendant."
3 In the ritual of modern Jews it is difficult to distinguish just how
much they have preserved of the primitive worship ; but certain usages of
the Christian liturgy in the first three centuries must have been borrowed
from them, — the ablution before entering the sanctuary, the custom of
standing during the prayers with outstretched arms, the Amen with which
the whole congregation responded to the invocations of the Elders.
4 The Schema, properly speaking, comprised the three following pas
sages from Numbers and Deuteronomy : Num. xv. 37-41 ; Dent. vi. 4-9,
xi. 13-21.
6 " Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord God, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob ! . . . Lord, Thou art almighty ; Thou dost recall the dead to
life in Thy great tenderness ; Thou dost raise up those that fall ; Thou
healest the sick, nor hast Thou forsaken them that sleep in the dust. Who
is there like unto Thee, 0 Mighty God ? . . Thou art holy, holy is Thy
Name, and none but the holy do praise Thee every day. . . . Blessed art
Thou, 0 Lord, Whose Name is goodness, and unto Whom all praise is
due ! " (Rosh-haschanah, iv. ; Berachot, iv. 3, etc.) The invocations just
cited were certainly in use in the days of Jesus, for they are taken from the
three first and the three last benedictions, which, as all the critics agree,
are of the greatest antiquity. (See Kitto, Cyclopaedia : Synagogue.)

JESUS DRIVEN OUT OF NAZARETH. 201
a high place in the religious service of the synagogue.
From the evidence of Saint James we learn that " Moses
was read every Sabbath, from the most ancient times;"1
and as this reading was given in Hebrew, which the people
no longer understood since the Captivity,2 an interpreter
repeated the Sacred Text, phrase after phrase, in the ver
nacular.3 He did the like for the reading of the Prophets,
which succeeded that of the Pentateuch. Ordinarily it
was read by a Rabbi, who made a running commentary
upon it, and addressed to his listeners " the Word of Con
solation." But when some stranger or some Jew distin
guished for his doctrine happened to appear in the assembly,
they would press him eagerly to mount the platform, so
that they might profit by his instructions.4
The renown which had now begun to surround the name
of Jesus merited such honors for Him. The moment of
His rising to speak was just as the reading of the Law
was concluded. The care-taker of the synagogue handed
Him the Oracles of Isaias. The Saviour, unwinding the
long scroll of papyrus, rolled about a wand of wood or
ivory, found5 the Lesson marked for the day, and read
these prophetic words : —
1 Acts xv. 21.
2 The popular tongue in the days of Jesus was the Aramean ; it was a
dialect which had sprung up during and after the Captivity, as the result
of alterations grafted upon the Hebrew language.
8 The five books of Moses were divided in such a way that the read
ing would extend over the whole year ; now-a-days, the Hebraic bibles
divide the Law (that is, all the Pentateuch) into fifty-four sections called
Parshioth (plural of Parshah : ntjns = "Part"). Beside the fifty-four
Parshioth there were a corresponding number of Lessons taken from the
Prophets, and called the Haftaroth, a name of very obscure derivation.
This division of the Pentateuch into fifty-four parts was already com
monly accepted at the opening of the Christian era ; however, in more
remote ages the Law was probably divided into one hundred and fifty-five
sections (the Sedarim of the Massorites), and then it took three years to
read the whole matter. (See Kitto, Cyclopaedia: Haphtara. )
4 As to the Jewish synagogues, see Vitringa, De Synagoga vetere.
5 Eipev. The Law was read from end to end without any transpositions
in the order, and the manuscript was wrapped about two rods. Each
Sabbath the " Angel of the Synagogue " unwound one of the rollers for the
lesson of the day, and wound up the other as fast as the reading progressed ;
upon the Sabbath following he would take it up at the page where they
had left off. But from the Prophets the lessons were selected here and

202 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ; therefore it is He
has consecrated Me by Anointment : He hath sent Me to
bring good tidings to the poor, to heal the afflicted hearts,1
to announce to the captives their deliverance and to the
blind recovery of their sight, to bring back, as free men,
those who be broken beneath their fetters, to publish
forth the Year of Pardon of the Lord, and the Day of His
Justice" Jesus could not have happened upon a more favorable
theme. His comments were made upon the Hebrew text,
whose full force we may well recall here.2 " The Spirit of
the Lord Jehovah is upon Me ; therefore it is He hath
anointed Me,3 to announce the Good News to the meek ; 4
He hath sent Me to heal the broken hearts, to announce
freedom to the captives, to give unto the prisoners once
more to see the light,5 and to proclaim the Year of Pardon
of the Lord." The Vulgate adds the words of the Prophet,
which are not given in the Greek text of the Gospel : "And
to announce the Day of His Justice." The Saviour could
there, and the Volume was wrapped about one single cylinder ; hence
they were obliged to look for the place indicated by the rules of the
Synagogue. 1 Is. lxi. 1, 2. The phrase Idaaadai robs 0-vvTerpip.p.ivovs rty KapSlav,
which is wanting in many of the versions and manuscripts, is omitted by
Tischendorf and Alford.
2 S. Luke, who always has his Greek readers in mind, is quoting freely
from the version of the Septuagint.
3 Anointed, not by any corporeal unction, but by the Divinity of the
Word, which has thus made the Christ our King and Pontiff, — our
Monarch and High Priest.
4 D^UI? : "the meek," that is, those who do not withstand outrages,
but suffer all things and are despoiled of all things in this world ; this is
why S. Luke and the Septuagint call them the poor, those who are stripped
of everything. 6 This meaning is the one adopted by Delitzsch, Biblischer Commentar
iiber den Propheten Jesaia. S. Luke felt that the translation of the Sep
tuagint did not convey the force of the Hebrew word nip~np3 (as to this
word, see Fiirst, Hebraisches Handworterbuch) ; but that here it meant,
not merely to open the eyes of prisoners seated in the gloom, but to reach
their ears and their hearts, making their shackles to fall from off their
limbs. So, too, he adds these words, borroweil from another saying of
Isaias (lviii. 6) : diroareiXai redpavapivovs iv dtpiaei: "He hath anointed
Me that I may bring them that lie broken under captivity into the fulness
of freedom."

JESUS DRIVEN OUT OF NAZARETH. 203
not, indeed, deliver the lowly and the desolate, save by
humbling those who oppress them.
The reading finished, Jesus rolled up the manuscript,
handed it back to the servant, and, according to the cus
tom of the Rabbis, seated Himself and began to exhort
the faithful. " The eyes of all were fixed upon Him," : and
we may easily fancy what emotion thrilled the audience
on hearing Him declare " that on this day this same Scrip
ture is found to be fulfilled." They were the poor, the
captives, the blind, the sorrowful hearts, to whom He was
bringing salvation ; and in their own times they had seen
" The Year of Pardon," 2 the Jubilee of the Lord, above all
others. His language, so full of grace, amazed them at
first ; it sounded in their ears with all the weight of one
having authority in the synagogue. " All were delighted
with the words which fell from His mouth, and they said :
" Is not this the son of Joseph ? " 3
But this wonderment soon turned to suspicion. " The
son of a mechanic, a carpenter himself, whom they had
seen so many a day working with his hands in their midst,
could he be a Prophet, unless indeed he could prove his
mission by some prodigy, at least ? Certainly he had
spoken 'of healing souls,'4 and there were gossips who
said that elsewhere he had done such miracles ; then
why doesn't he begin now and here among his fellow-
citizens ? "
" Physician, heal thyself ! " a mocking voice cried out at
Him, as though it would say : " Do for yourself and your
own that which you have procured for others ! "
With perfect sweetness Jesus put aside this attack.5 " Of
a certainty," He said, "you may apply to Me the proverb :
' Physician, heal Thyself. The great things done at Ca
pharnaum which we have heard spoken of, do the same in
1 Luke iv. 20.
2 Luke iv. 19. This expression gave rise to that misconception on the
part of certain Greek Fathers, who inferred from this that the Ministry of
Jesus lasted only one year (Clement of Alexandria, Slromata, lib. 1, cap.
xxi. p. 885 ; Origen, Hepl dpxuv, iv, 5, etc.).
3 Luke iv. 22. 4 Luke iv. 18.
6 Luke iv. 23-27.

204 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Thy native land.' But in truth, I say to you, a Prophet is
not received in his own country. There were many widows
in Israel in the time of Elias, when the heavens were
closed during three years and six months,1 and there was a
great famine over all the earth, and Elias was not sent to
any one among them, — no, not to any, but only to a widow
woman of Sarepta,2 a city of the Sidonians. So also there
were many lepers in Israel, under the Prophet Eliseus,
and not one among them was purified save only the Syrian
Naaman." 3
At these words a sudden access of fury brought the as
sembly to its feet : " Dares he compare them, the sons of
Abraham, with Pagan women and lepers ! "
There were now no longer the mutterings of a few dis
satisfied hearers, but cries of rage against Him. All surg
ing forward together, they seized Jesus, and swept Him
along up to the summit of the mountain on which their
town was built, thinking to cast Him headlong over the
heights into the rocky hollows below.4
But His hour was not come ; although it was permitted
to the Nazarenes to push and thrust Him before them, to
heap blows and abuse upon Him, yet, when they had
reached the edge of the precipice, some superhuman Power
held their arms fast. Helpless, speechless, transfixed, they
saw Jesus pass through their midst and go upon His way,
leaving them spell-bound with a sudden stupor.
He withdrew from Nazareth as He had done from Jeru
salem. In great sadness and weariness He climbed the
1 3 Kings xvii. 9. S. James mentions the same duration for the period
of dryness in the days of Elias (James v. 17), while the Book of the Kings
says that on the third year the Prophet announced the return of the rain
to earth. Undoubtedly both the Apostle and the Evangelist had found
some more precise evidence as to the length of the drought among the tra
ditions of Jewry, and these they preferred to the vague expression used in
the Book of the Kings.
2 Now called Sourafend, a village lying between Tyre and Sidon.
8 4 Kings v. 14.
4 Luke iv. 28-30. It is not likely that the Nazarenes would have
carried Jesus so far along as to the hilltop pointed out by a certain
tradition ; for this eminence is an hour's walk from Nazareth, and far
beyond the distance which the Jewish law allowed them to travel on the
Sabbath day.

THE NOBLEMAN'S SON. 205
hill which separates it from Cana,1 and from the wooded
ridge cast one last look upon the peaceful valley where
His youthful days had been passed, on the house which had
sheltered Him during those thirty years, and where as a
poor Laborer He had toiled and suffered, and lived out this
every-day existence of ours. It had mattered nothing, after
all, that this village and this people were indeed His own,
by so many ties of kinship and acquaintance, — " His own
received Him not ; " 2 He must depart to bear unto strangers
the Salvation which these Nazarenes disdained; now, at
last, He must go forth, not having where to lay His head.
Jesus, driven out of Nazareth, dwelt for a certain length
of time at Cana, — long enough for the news to be spread
through all the cities around the lake. We do not know
His reasons for remaining in this village, but we still find
Him there when one of the king's officers 3 hastened to
Him from Capharnaum, beseeching Him to cure his son
who was dying.
Although little was known of Jesus among Herod's
courtiers, His Name was always regarded with something
of respect and awe among them, and cherished with long
ing hopes as well, by such as admired Him in secret. The
Saviour greeted the Jewish nobleman, not without pity;4
and yet, comparing His self-seeking supplications with the
1 John iv. 46. We must suppose that this journey spoken of by
S. John took place just here and in this order ; for the Evangelist, after
alluding to the turbulent outburst of the Nazarenes (iv. 44), proceeds at
once to say that Jesus, on account of this expulsion, withdrew for a second
time to Cana : fjXBev ovv irdXiv els rty Kara.
2 John i. 11.
3 John iv. 46, 47. BaaiXiKbs signifies either a person of royal blood or
an officer of the king. Here the latter meaning is to be preferred, for the
historian Josephus, our surest guide in everything that involves Jewish
customs, employs this term to distinguish Roman magistrates, the cour
tiers and officers of the kings of Judea, but never to designate a member of
the royal family (Bellum Judaicum, vii. 5, 2 ; Antiquitates, xv. 8, 4).
4 The Evangelist does not give the name of this personage. Some
critics have suggested that of Manahen, son of Herod's nurse, who, in
the Acts, is placed in the ranks of the first Christians (Acts xiii. 1).
Others, with perhaps better reason (for we know that the officer's entire
family believed in the Saviour), have fancied he might be that same
Chuza, the tetrarch's Intendant, whose wife, Joanna, we find among the
Galilean ladies who were the first to follow Jesus (Luke viii. 3).

206 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
generous forgetfulness of self shown by the Samaritans, it
made Him grieve the more over the incredulity of Israel.1
" If you do not see signs and prodigies," 2 He said, " you do
not believe." In uttering this reproach, it was not His
intent to repulse the supplicant, nor to extinguish the
glimmering spark of faith which He saw in his heart.
This the officer must have gathered from the compassion
ate glance of the Master and from the tones of His voice,
for he redoubled his urgent suit: —
" Lord, come down before my poor little one 8 dies."
What a note of terror is sounded in this prayer ! — in
the touching terms in which he mentions the son whom he
fears he may never see again ; but, too, how great was his
mistake when in his anxiety and alarm he dreaded lest
Jesus Himself would be rendered powerless if death were
to anticipate and prevent Him ! This man did not know
that it is no more difficult for God to resuscitate the body
than to cure it, and that neither time nor space can impose
limits upon His power. The Divine Master took compas
sion upon this father's blindness, distraught with grief as
he was.
" Go," he said ; " your son lives."
And at that same moment wherein He healed the body
of the child He worked so powerfully upon the heart of the
father that the latter rose up to return home, filled at once
with glad hope and confidence.
It was one o'clock in the afternoon4 when the officer
parted from Jesus. Even in the shortest days of winter
he could have reached Capharnaum by nightfall, since
Cana is not more than a six hours' journey ; but some ob
stacle delayed him upon the road ; he slept at some posting-
place on the way, and did not arrive until the morrow.
l John iv. 48-51.
2 Xypeia Kal ripara. As to the different meanings of these words, refer
to page 147, and to Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, p. 230.
3 TlaiSlov. This diminutive denotes either the extreme youth of the
child, or, more likely still, the great love of the father. S. John ordina
rily employs this word when he wishes to use a tenn of endearment (John
xxi. 5 ; 1 Ep. John ii. 13, 18).
* " The seventh hour " (John xiv. 52. See p. 132, note 4).

THE NOBLEMAN'S SON. 207
As he neared his mansion the servants hurried out
to greet him with the announcement that his son was
living. Immediately he asked them at what hour the child had
begun to revive.
" Yesterday," they replied,1 " at the seventh hour, the
fever left him."
He knew then that it was the very moment in which
Jesus had said to him " Your son lives." And he believed,
he and all his household.
" This was the second miracle which Jesus had per
formed thus far upon His return from Judea into Galilee." 2
By adding these words the Evangelist does not mean to
ignore the wondrous deeds done at Capharnaum,3 but he is
thinking only of the miracles done by Jesus at Cana, and
his intention is simply to connect two facts that took place
in the same locality. The changing of the water into wine
was the first manifestation of the Saviour made by Him
on His return from the banks of the Jordan into Galilee.
The healing of the official's son was the second sign, not
less striking than the other, and destined indeed, as well
as its predecessor, to mark the beginning of a new period
in the Ministry of Jesus.
1 Hengstenberg thinks that the officer reached home on the evening of
the same day, but so late at night that the servants would naturally say
" yesterday," meaning the day which had just terminated at set of sun,
2 John iv. 54.
8 Luke iv. 23.

CHAPTER V.
THE FIRST ACTS DURING THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
IN GALILEE.

I. The Calling of the First Disciples.
Matt. iv. 13-22 ; Mark i. 14-20.
Cana, though more hospitable than Nazareth, was not
to be the centre from which Jesus would extend His
labors throughout Galilee ; this glory was reserved to
Capharnaum ; and Saint Matthew, studious as ever to trace
throughout the life of the Saviour the fulfilment of Prophe
cies, quotes here the famous oracle : x —
" Land of Zabulon and Nephthali ! Border-land of the
sea ! Country beyond the Jordan ! Galilee of the nations !
The people that abode in darkness have seen a great Light.
The Light has arisen upon those who were seated in the
region of the shadow of death."
It was the arena of the Ministry of Jesus which Isaias
had here before his eyes : the Sea of Tiberias, lying along
1 Matt. iv. 13-16 ; Is. ix. 1, 2. This difficult text of Isaiah has been
variously construed. In describing the site of Capharnaum, we gave the
ingenious interpretation of Caspari (p. 155) : here we follow the com
moner opinion, which makes "|"n = via, an adverb signifying, " toward,
in the direction of," and then understands |'*)X, land, before the two
members of the sentence, which in the Greek are translated by these
words: bdbv 8aXdcro-ns and iripav too 'lopSdvov, "the land lying seaward,"
or (in other words) the western banks of the Sea of Galilee; "the land
beyond the Jordan " (that is to say), Perea. The last expression, " Galilee
of the Gentiles," in a single phrase embraces all the different countries of
which the Prophet is speaking.

ACTS DURING THE MINISTRY IN GALILEE. 209
the confines of Zabulon and Nephthali ; the western shore,
where the Christ ordinarily sojourned ; upon the opposite
side, and beyond the Jordan, the Greek colonies of the
Decapolis,1 — a mingling of races 2 well described by the
name Galilee of the Gentiles. The first Israelites who
were carried off into Assyria had been snatched from this
pleasant " land of Zabulon and Nephthali ; " so to comfort
them the Prophet tells how a Youthful Liberator shall rise
up, like a great Light ; and how Galilee, the first to be
plunged in the dark night of slavery, is destined to be the
first to view the New-born Star.3
This prediction, the theme of long-cherished hopes, was
accomplished on the day when the Christ took up His
abode upon the shores of the Lake and made Capharnaum
" His own city."4 He came thither accompanied doubtless,
as at the beginning of His public life, by His Mother, His
1 We shall see later on (vol. ii. p. 12), that the word " Decapolis" does
not designate any particular country, but a confederation of ten free cities,
situated to the east of the Jordan, between Damascus and the Mountains
of Galaad.2 Teglath Phalasar, after carrying away the Israelites from out of Gal
ilee, filled all their holdings with Assyrian colonists ; in like manner the
Greeks, after the conquest of Alexandria, had spread through the whole
country ; hence, as it came to be more and more monopolized by Gentiles,
it naturally became an object of scorn for all patriotic Jews (John i. 46 ;
vii. 52; Matt. xxvi. 69).
3 The Prophecy from which S. Matthew cites a few sentences is the one
which precedes that foreshadowing of the Messiah : "A little Child is
born to us, unto us a Son is given . . . Wonderful Councillor, Mighty
God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace" (Is. ix. 6). Here Isaiah de
plores the impiety which plunged the Israelites into the abyss of darkness ;
their country he represents as a land without any sunrise, desolated by
famine, sunk in dark shadows whence arise only curses against Achab and
against God. Still, Assur is only the scourge of Jehovah ; his mission of
vengeance once fulfilled, he shall fade away before the coming of Emman
uel. Then "there shall be no longer any dimness over the land which is
now grievously vexed. For indeed Jehovah hath loaded the lands of
Zabulon and Nephthali with afflictions at the first, yet afterwards He will
bestow honors upon them, ay, even on them, the land lying to seaward,
on the further bank of the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people
that abode in darkness have seen a great Light ; the Light hath risen over
them that dwell in the land of the shadow of death." The text of the
Prophecy was so familiar to the readers of S. Matthew that the Evangelist
knew it would be enough to quote a few words, to remind them of the
perfect correspondence between the prediction and the reality.
4 Matt. ix. 1.
VOL. I. — 14.

210 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
brothers, aud His disciples.1 However, the foremost among
the latter, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, whom He had
chosen upon the banks of the Jordan, are not now found
with their Master ; and that we know so little of the do-
ino-s of the Lord in Judea is due probably to the fact that
they did not follow Him into that country. John the
Evangelist seems to be the only one who made the journey
through Samaria with the Lord;2 but he did not go on as
far as Nazareth ; for the Saviour, upon coming down to the
shores of the lake, found him again at Bethsaida, in the
boat of his father Zebedee.3
It was Jesus' first care to go to this village, that He
might gather together the Princes of His Church. He was
walking along the strand when he saw some fishermen
busy casting their nets from out their boat ; 4 they were
the two brothers Simon and Andrew.
Jesus spoke to them : " Come with Me, and I will make
you to become fishers of men."
At once dropping everything, they followed Him. Hav
ing advanced a little further, He saw two other brothers,
James and John ; these also were in a boat, with their
father Zebedee. Some accident had caused a breakage in
their nets, and they were busy mending them. The Lord
would not wait for the work to be finished ; He called
thein, and upon the instant they followed Him, leaving be
hind them their father Zebedee, with his hirelings, in the
fishing-smack. It was not that the Christ chose these humble fishermen
at random, but it was because the Divine Handiwork must
needs be supreme in the work of our Redemption ; and
therefore it was needful that the ministers of Jesus, though
unfitted by nature for such great designs, should neverthe
less be so devoid of self-confidence, so free from self-love,
as to let themselves be guided by grace. The first dis-
1 John ii. 12.
2 The precise manner in which all the details set down in this fourth
chapter are recorded makes it necessary to infer that the narrator was an
eye-witness (John iv. 6, 8, 28, etc.).
8 Mark i. 19.
i'Ap.tpi^dXXovras iv ri) BaXdaay (Mark i. 16).

A SABBATH DAY AT CAPHARNAUM. 211
ci pies were men such as this Mission required, — simple,
upright of heart, and of generous inclinations. At the
call of Jesus, they followed Him without hesitation and
without casting a glance backwards ; all that they left be
hind was little enough doubtless, — a fishing-craft and a
few nets ; but that little was their all, and in sacrificing it
they showed what docile instruments Jesus was to find in
them. Furthermore their trade could not fail to have developed
in them such qualities as are most suitable to the Apostolic
Ministry, above all the religious spirit, natural to those
who live by the sea ; the life of these men, always exposed
to perils, their powerlessness to contend with the great
tempests, with that Breath from on High which stirs up
storms and calms them agaiu in an instant, — all these
things combine to keep before their mind the feeling that
they are in the hands of God ; at the same time, because
they are thus inured to danger, their courage is of the
hardiest, and self-denial and devotedness become as habit
ual to them as sturdy prudence. These simple virtues
were sufficient for the Master ; surely they were as nothing
in comparison with the sublime Work which He had in
mind; but thus to construct an Edifice upon nothing is
manifestly a work of Creation ; it is to perform an Act of
God. This indeed is why the Saviour, instead of calling
to Himself the wise and great ones of Israel, chose rather
for the foundation-stones of His Church four fishermen of
Bethsaida, — Peter and Simon, James and John.

II. A Sabbath Day at Capharnaum.
Luke iv. 34-43 ; Mark i. 21-38 ; Matt. viii. 14-17.
The first Sabbath after the return of Jesus to Caphar
naum is an exceptional day for us ; perhaps it is the only
one during which we are able to follow the Saviour from
early morning until evening, and even as far as the dawn
ing of the next day ; and so this detailed account shows us
how, for the most part, Jesus was wont to spend His days.

212 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
The religious service commenced in the morning at the
synagogue ; 1 there the Lord found an attentive throng about
Him, for His wondrous deeds were well known in Caphar
naum ; and moreover He could count among that gather
ing some faithful hearts, — Mary His Mother, the sons of
Zebedee and of Jonas, the disciples who had followed Him
from Judea, the officer of the court of Herod with his
family, who were eager to hear the Prophet whose word
had already worked such marvels.
When the prayers were finished the Master ascended tu
take the chair. There He bore Himself very differently
from the Scribes and the Doctors,2 who were only accus
tomed to cite certain texts which would confirm their
teaching by the authority of ancient traditions, or perhaps
explain those of other famous Rabbis. But Jesus taught
as one having power ; He spoke in His own name, inter
preted the Scripture with authority, not merely stirring-
over the surface of the soul by subtile reasonings, but
plunging deep down into the hearts of men, so that they
felt themselves penetrated with His persuasion.
" All were in admiration of His doctrine," when a scream
rent the air of the place ; it was a demoniac in the throes of
horrid frenzy. He had crept through the crowded doors, and
at the first had experienced a strange rapture while listen
ing to the Divine Word ; but unable any longer to with
hold the foul spirit which held him in its clutches, he burst
into shrieks of horror, perhaps even into unclean actions.3
" Let be ! " 4 he cried. " What is there between us and
1 Mark i. 21. 2 Mark i. 22-26.
8 "AvdpuTros iv ¦wvebpja.-ri dKaBdpru (Mark i. 23). These words seem to
imply that the unclean spirit had fastened its hold upon the misera
ble victim so completely that this element of impurity became the sole
vital and active principle of his being. Some scholars do not coincide
with this opinion ; to their mind, the term "impure" applies to all the
fallen Angels, and as used here merely reveals the burning thirst they feel
for whatever is unchaste, since they know uncleanness is of all things
most hateful in God's sight ; that it is more than any other vice contrary
to the angelic purity from which they have fallen, and more terrible in its
effects upon man, since it degrades him, blinds him, dulls and hardens
his heart.
4 Luke iv. 34. "E<x (translated as "Sine ! " in the Vulgate) is probably
but a cry of fear and horror, the exclamation, in Hebrew, nriK.

A SABBATH DAY AT CAPHARNAUM. 213
Thee, Jesus of Nazareth ? Art Thou come to destroy us ?
I know Who Thou art, — the Holy of God !"
What are we to see in this confession of the Demon ?
Was it a ruse whereby Satan meant to interrupt the dis
course of Jesus and publish prematurely His title of the
Messiah, or was it an avowal wrung from the terror of
the fiend, — the fawning of a slave that trembles before
the lash and seeks to mollify the master about to inflict
well merited punishment ? Whatever may have been the
motive of this homage, Jesus disdained it ; at once He stood
over the possessed, and threatening the devil which was
torturing him,
" Be silent," 1 He said to it, " and depart from this man."
Satan obeyed : one last cry escaped the breast of the
demoniac, who flung prone upon the ground for an instant
writhed in terrible convulsions ; then rose up before the
eyes of all, free once more, completely calmed.2 His body,
which had served as a dwelling-place for the infernal
powers, now showed no trace of their awful assaults.
At this sight fright and wonderment quite overwhelmed
the crowds ; for man can never feel the nearness of the in
visible world without a stronger sense of emotion. And
yet it was not so much the suddenness of the cure which
astonished the Jews ; indeed they were accustomed to the
performance and the effects of various Exorcisms, which
were in fact much like the tedious ceremonials of their
magicians.3 But that Jesus, without sprinkling of water or
1 $ip.u9yn (Lukeiv. 35), or, giving the full force of the literal mean
ing, it might be translated : " Put bridle and curb upon thy jaws. "
2 Luke iv. 35 ; Mark i. 26.
8 S. Justin tells us how the Jewish exorcisms, though lawful at first,
came to degenerate into superstitious rites (Dialogus cum Tryphone, 85).
Josephus reports an example of this sort of witchcraft, as in vogue among
his fellow-countrymen ; it is enough to compare the scenes which he wit
nessed with the quiet manner in which Jesus dealt with the demons, to
realize how entirely at variance are Truth and Error. The thing was
done, says the Jewish historian, under the eyes of Vespasian, Titus, and
the whole army. A Jew, named Eleazar, drove a devil out of a man,
making it proceed from the nostrils of the possessed creature by means of
a ring and a magic root. The demoniac was thrown on the ground.
Eleazar adjured the unclean spirit, in the name of Solomon, and with
sundry other incantations, to torment his victim no longer, and bade him,

214 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
any mystical rite, could expel the demon with a word, — it
was this that overwhelmed them with wonder. Hitherto
they had only experienced the eloquence of the Christ;
this prodigy declared the invincible might of His word ;
and now their souls must needs tremble in His Presence
as before the Supreme Majesty.
" What is this ? " they whispered among themselves ;
" what new and all-powerful Doctrine is this ? x He com
mands the spirits, and they obey ! "
In these sayings there is no trace of that bitter spirit
which, in a short time, would try to brand the Miracles of
the Saviour as a violation of the Sabbath, or as a proof of
a compact with the fiends. The Galileans harbored no
such suspicions as these ; they saw, they believed, and their
faith, spreading ever further and wider, finally penetrated
throughout all the country-side.
The marvellous deeds of that Sabbath were by no means
ended now. Leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered the
dwelling of Simon.2 The son of Jonas the fisherman was
married to a woman of Capharnaum ; thus he had in
this city, as well as at Bethsaida, both family connections
and a home. Here the Divine Master found the mother-
in-law of the disciple sinking under a raging attack of
fever,3 her anxious kinsfolk grouped about her bed. At
once all eyes were turned towards the Saviour ; every voice
was raised to implore His aid.
Jesus drew near, and rebuking the fever4 with the
same authority which He was only a little later to dis
play in quelling the rebellious powers of nature, He now
in token of obedience to this dismissal, to overturn a basin of water set at
some distance from the spot (Josephus, Antiquitates, viii. 2, 5). When
describing the site of Macheronte we spoke of a root with stems of flame-
color, which was thought to work many wonders. But in order to pluck
it a man must resort to certain practices of such an extraordinary nature
that we refrain from mentioning them here. They are detailed at length
by Josephus (Bellum Juda'icum, vii. 6, 3).
1 Mark, i. 27. Kaiv-q may be joined with nar' i^ovalav, when it will
mean " an utterance of new and hitherto unknown efficacy," or it may
form a distinct attribute of /cot' i^ovalav ; " a new and powerful teaching."
2 Mark i. 29. 8 Luke iv. 38.
1 Luke iv. 39.

A SABBATH DAY AT CAPHARNAUM. 215
bade the disease to depart; and then, taking the hand
of the sick woman, He gently raised up her shattered body,
by the simple contact infusing a plenitude of health and
life into her aged body. The fever disappeared, and that
without leaving behind it any weakness, which is its
usual sequel. On the instant the mother of Simon's wife
arose, then, as it was the hour at which they usually dined,
— for on the Sabbath it was customary to have a noonday
meal,1 — she herself made ready what was needed for
Jesus and His disciples, set the dishes in order, and herself
served the guests.
Capharnaum was still talking of the miracle in the
synagogue when the report of this other prodigy was
noised abroad ; the excitement became general, and noth
ing but the inviolable quiet of the Sabbath could have
held the ardor of the multitude in check. But as soon as
the rays of the setting sun along the distant hills marked
the end of the Hely Day,2 the throngs came hurrying
through the streets, some bringing the insane and pos
sessed folk to the Divine Healer, others bearing pallets, on
which were laid those too ill to move themselves ; soon
the whole town had collected about Simon's door, display
ing before the eyes of Jesus every form of wretchedness
known to poor human nature, — madness, deformity, and
every hideous disease.
Not one of those who besought His help was rejected
by the Saviour, but without distinction laying His hands
upon them, He healed them. As for the possessed, one
word from Him was enough to deliver them; trembling
at the sound of the Master's voice, the devils fled away,
crying aloud, "Thou art the Son of God."3 But with
threatening words Jesus forbade them to say that He was
the Christ.
The Saviour's ministrations were prolonged far into the
night, and to all He showed such touching compassion,
that in the wonders of that day's doings Saint Matthew
sees the fulfilment of the words of Isaias : 4 " He hath taken
1 Josephus, De Vita Sua, 54. 2 Luke iv. 40.
3 Luke iv. 41. 4 Is. liii. 4.

216 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
upon Himself our weaknesses and hath borne our infirmi
ties." None ever understood so clearly as Jesus did how
disease and death have entered into the world through
sin ; x no one consequently has ever been so keenly struck
with horror at sight of them. Hence arose that great pity
in Him predicted by Isaiah ; hence came His tears before
the tomb of Lazarus ; 2 and so too, His sighs of sorrow at
sight of the deaf-mute.3 His Heart could never view the
depth of our woes without strong throes of sympathy, and
without reaching out His healing hand to dispel even the
sin itself, which is its source.
The last sufferer did not quit the house of Peter until
the dawning of another day.4 Without giving a moment
to sleep, the Lord rose, and went out into the morning
streets. The little city of Capharnaum was still all silent
and at rest when He passed along its narrow ways, and
reached at length the desert place wherein He wished to
pray alone.
But this holy solitude was soon to be broken in upon ;
the crowds, surprised at not seeing the Saviour upon their
awakening, set to work seeking Him on every side. Peter
and His companions were most noticeable in their eager
ness ; 5 they found the Divine Master absorbed in God.
" Every one is looking for You," they said to Him.
" Let us go elsewhere," replied Jesus, " into the neigh
boring towns, and into the cities, so that I may preach
there also; it is for this that I am come."6
The throngs were coming up, close after the disciples ;
they wished to keep the Saviour among them ; but He
withstood them,7 and told them, as He had told the rest,
that His Mission compelled Him to depart for a time, that
He might carry unto others the Good Tidings of the
Kingdom of God.
1 Rom. v. 12. 2 John xi. 35. 3 Mark vii. 34.
4 Mark i. 35. 6 Mark i. 36-38.
b'E£rix8ov (Mark i. 38), the general term : "I have come forth," out
of Capharnaum, out of My native land, from My hidden and obscure
Existence, from the Bosom of God, My Father, that so I may fulfil My
Mission. 7 Luke iv. 42, 43.

THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 217

III. The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. • — Healing
of a Leper.
Luke iv. 44, v. 1-16 ; Mark i. 39-45 ; Matt. iv. 23-25, viii. 1-4.
On going out of Capharnaum, Jesus followed the bor
ders of the lake, and striking out toward the North, He
stopped again at Bethsaida, the village-home of His first
disciples. So the sons of Jonas and of Zebedee once more launched
their little barks, and were out fishing all night long ; 1 for
they were poor, and the necessity of getting something
wherewith to buy bread for the morrow forced them back
to their old occupation. But it was all a useless toil
dredging and hauling over the sea ; until finally the sun
rose, and the morning heats put an end to their hopes.
They had taken nothing, even during those hours most
favorable for their work.2
Greatly discouraged, they returned to the shore just as
Jesus was coming down thither ; there were glad crowds
surrounding Him, eager to catch His words. But though
they pressed closely about Him, He straightway espied
the two boats, and His disciples, who, having landed upon
the beach, were washing their nets. At once He went on
board of Simon's boat, and desired Him to draw a little
away from the land ; then, seated in this first Chair of
Peter, He began to instruct the people.
But His longing to spread the Good News did not pre
vent His feeling a keen sympathy for the useless and
tedious toils and disappointment of the fishers ; so when
He had ceased speaking to the people, He said to Simon,
" Push out into the deeper water ; " and to His companions,
" Cast over your nets for the fish."
"Master," Simon responded, "we have labored all the
1 Luke v. 1-11.
2 Indeed, we know that it is toward sunset, and just before sunrise,
that the fish run the freest and are most easily taken in nets (Aristotle,
Historioe animalium, viii. 19 ; Pliny, Historia naturalis, ix. 123).

218 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
night without taking anything, but at Your word I will
cast the net."
They dropped it over the side, and thereupon drew up
such a great quantity of fishes that the cords were breaking.
As they were separated too far from the others to be heard
in the neighboring bark, they made signals for their com
panions to come to their aid.1 When these were come, the
draught of fishes filled the two boats to such a degree that
they were almost submerged.
Seeing this, Simon Peter threw himself at the feet of
the Christ : " Depart from me, 0 Lord," he said, " for I am
a sinful man."
By this miracle Jesus revealed Himself as Lord and
Master over Nature and her resources. And so Peter only
yielded to a feeling of terror which was common to all
Jews, since they believed that to see God was to die ; the
same dread fell also upon those who were with him, and
on the sons of Zebedee.
Jesus reassured them, one and all,2 saying, "Be not
afraid ! hereafter you shall be fishers of men."
It was the second time the Saviour had spoken these
words to the disciples, and He showed them, by the mirac
ulous draught of fishes, how fruitful the power which He
would confer upon their souls was to be. This prodigy
was therefore a figure of their Ministry ; thus they were
to come out from the plain of Genesareth to launch upon
the stormy sea of events, to live in labor and trouble with
out ceasing, tossed about upon waves more restless than
those of their little lake. Yet if their duties, hitherto so
peaceful, were henceforth to be fraught with trials, by
a just recompense there were the most glorious rewards
assured to them : they were to exchange their rude trade
for a celestial Mission ; instead of the rough meshes of
their old torn and mended nets, they were to have the
lovely snare of the Gospel, " which kills not that which is
taken in it, but protects it, and brings up to the sweet
light of Heaven that which it has rescued from the depths
of the abyss."3 Had the fishermen of Bethsaida any such
1 Luke v. 7. 2 Luke v. 9. 3 S. Ambrose, in Lucam, lib. iv1. 72.

THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 219
full comprehension of this symbol of which He made use ?
We think not. God, however, let them catch some glim
merings of the light ; for their fright gave place to confi
dence. They no longer prayed the Lord to depart, but
rowed their boats back to the shore, and threw everything
aside, once for all, to go and follow Him.
Surrounded by these companions, Jesus traversed all
Galilee,1 " teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Gospel
of the Kingdom, and healing all the ill and infirm among
the people." The very poorest villages, even those which
had no synagogues, were not forgotten. The Lord bore to
all the Good Tidings ; not waiting, like John the Baptist,
for them to come to Him, but seeking out such as He
could save. The days of the Divine Master among these
little hamlets were passed much like that Sabbath-day at
Capharnaum ; the places and the times were different, but
always with the same patience and never-wearying ten
derness He lavished His good deeds upon all ; with inex
haustible compassion He cured their souls and bodies,
healed every malady, and departing, left behind Him, as it
were, the perfume of His Presence.
Of that first mission in Galilee we know but one single
event.2 Jesus had come to a town whose name is un-
1 Luke iv. 44 ; Matt. iv. 23 ; Mark i. 39. The passage in S. Luke
which mentions this preaching offers one serious difficulty ; the reading
els ras avvayuyas rys TaXiXatas, which is given in most of the versions
(Latin, Peshito, Gothic, Armenian, Ethiopian), is not contained any
where else except in the Alexandrine Manuscript, and the Codex Bezae.
The others, and notably the manuscripts of the Vatican and Sinai, as well
as the Palimpsest of Ephraem, read lovSalas. From this it seems only
natural to conclude that Jesus extended the field of that first Mission to
embrace all Judea. To choose between these two readings, supported as
both are by such weighty authorities, seems a difficult task. Is it not
practicable for us to accept the two readings as having come from the pen
of S. Luke ? May it not be that the Evangelist, when writing for the
Greeks, who were more or less strangers to Palestine, thought it unneces
sary to be so precise in the marking out of localities, and was content to
use the vaguer term "in the synagogues of Judea," but that afterwards,
in response to the questions addressed to him, he changed the word Judea
to the more exact term Galilee ?
2 Luke v. 12-16 ; Mark i. 40-45 ; Matt. viii. 2-4. Here we follow
SS. Luke and Mark. S. Matthew puts the healing of the lepers after
the Sermon on the Mount : " When Jesus came down the mountain

220 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
known, when a man, running toward Him, threw himself
at His feet, and implored His mercy. The unfortunate
well merited pity ; leprosy had consumed his whole body.
The scourge when it reaches this stage becomes an object
of horror, for the corruption of death has then actually
taken possession of a living body. No plague was dreaded
more by the Jews ; they called it the Finger, or the Hand
writing, of God ; and in its ravages they saw the counter
part of that sin which fastens upon the soul and poisons
the very well-springs of life within it. The funereal tokens
always surrounding lepers still further fortified them in
this feeling. Banished from home, and not allowed to
enter beyond the city gates, their garments tattered and
torn to shreds like those of mourners, their heads shaven,
and their lips covered with a veil, — thus they were noth
ing more to the eyes of their fellow-citizens than living,
moving sepulchres, obliged at every approach of man to
send forth that lugubrious cry,
" Unclean ! Unclean ! "
Although the leper of the Gospel had infringed this law *
by overstepping the limits of the city's enclosure, his
misery was so piteous that at the first glance Jesus
thought of nothing except to assuage it.
" Lord," 2 cried the wretched creature, " if You will, You
can heal me ! "
Immediately the Master stretched out His hand, laid it
upon his body with its repulsive sores.
" I will," He said ; " be thou healed."
And on the instant the leprosy disappeared. It was
because of the sufferer's faith that Jesus granted him so
side, a great throng followed him, and lo ! v. leper came,'' etc. (Matt.
viii. 1). This would be to grant that the expression "and behold, . . ."
Kal ISoi, so often employed by S. Matthew, is used by him consistently to
mark the order of events ; on the contrary, in the majority of instances it
is used with no idea other than that of bespeaking our attention for what
follows. Hence we are perfectly free to separate these two phrases, —
looking upon the first, "Jesus, on coming down, was followed by the
multitude," as being the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount ; and
taking that which follows, " And lo ! a leper cometh," as the beginning
of another tale.
1 Lev. xiii. 46 ; Num. v. ii. 2 Luke v. 12.

HEALING OF A LEPER. 221
prompt a hearing, but it was also owing to his sad con
dition. No leper ever invoked His aid without being
heard ; the Lord always had compassion upon their
desolate lives, and at once purified them.
However, after having yielded to the first movement of
pity, Jesus now saw in this man only a law-breaker. He
reproached him severely,1 and bade him go out of the city
which he had presumed to enter unsanctioned.
" Be careful," He said, " to tell no one of this ; but go,
show yourself to the priest, and offer in return for your
cure that which Moses has ordained, in order that it may
be a testimony unto them." 2
By this command Jesus not only testified His respect
for the legal ordinances ; He wished also to cover over in
silence an act which revealed in Him the Supreme Law
giver, able to touch the most dreaded and most noxious
impurities without being contaminated, and thus working
a cure reserved to the power of God alone.3 A marvel so
manifestly divine could not fail to excite unbounded hopes
in the multitudes, hopes which would be likely to interfere
with the Saviour's Mission. Therefore He spared neither
commands nor threats in order to insure the silence of the
1 'Ep.ppipyadp.evos (Mark i. 43). 'Epppip.dop.ai, to be indignant, to chide
one sharply (Wahl, Clavis Novi Testamenti). 'Ep.ppip.up.evos per direiXys
ivreXXbptvos : issuing a command in a threatening manner (Hesychius).
2 Leviticus furnishes us with the details of this Purification of Lepers.
The priest must go with the sufferer outside the town, and there sacrifice
a sparrow in an earthen vessel, over a running stream ; then taking a
living sparrow, a little cedar wood, some scarlet and hyssop, he dips them
in the blood of the immolated bird, and seven times sprinkles the sick.
The living sparrow was then set at liberty. But for the leper, he must
change his garments, shave all his body, and wash in water ; there
after, for a week, he remained in seclusion ; on the eighth day, after again
shaving, having washed his clothes and his body, he was to make offering
of two unblemished lambs, with a quantity of fine flour and oil. Taking
the blood of the victims and the oil mingled with flour, the priest, fol
lowing the mystic ritual, would then touch the right ear of the leper, the
thumb of his right hand and the great toe of his right foot, and after
pouring what remained of the oil upon his bare head, proclaimed that the
sick was at last purified (Lev. xiv.).
8 At least, this was a general feeling among the Jews. At the sight of
Naaman, who besought him to cure him, Joram cried out, "Am I then a
God, to take away and to restore life ? Wherefore hast thou sent me a
man that I should heal him of his leprosy ?" (4 Kings v. 7).

222 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
man whom He had just healed. But these precautions
were all thwarted by the indocility of the leper, who,
remembering nothing but his debt of gratitude, went forth
and published the news on every hand.1
What the Saviour wished to prevent now occurred ; the
excitement among the people was so intense, their enthu
siasm was so overpowering, that He could not enter pub
licly into a town any longer, but was compelled to remain
outside the cities, in the wilderness.2
Thither they flocked from all parts, and there Jesus
pursued His ministry in perfect freedom ; for at such a
distance from the crowded centres He had not much cause
for anxiety lest His hearers' ardor should call down upon
His labors the vengeance of Herod.

IV. Healing of a Paralytic.
Luke v. 17-26 ; Mark ii. 1-12 ; Matt. ix. 1-8.
The precautions taken by the Saviour had not been
unnecessary; not many days after the healing of the
leper, on returning to Capharnaum, He found numbers of
Pharisees and Scribes gathered together there, — not only
from Galilee, but from Judea and from Jerusalem.3 The
hatred shown Him by the Sanhedrin, which had been the
cause of Jesus' departure from Judea, leaves hardly any
doubt but that these doctors were commissioned to spy
upon the new Prophet, in order to detect Him in some
offence, as well as to try and discover His ultimate
designs. Accordingly as soon as rumors of His arrival began to be
circulated through the town we see them hurrying along
with the populace, and the first to enter the house where
the Saviour was ; there they seated themselves within the
inmost circle of those about him, bent upon hearing and
observing everything.4 A crowd of citizens, which on
this day was denser than ever, had filled the dwelling,
i Mark i. 45. 2 Mark i. 45. 8 Luke v. 17. * Luke v. 17-19.

HEALING OF A PARALYTIC. 223
and kept surging about the outer doors ; so that it was now
quite impossible to find access to any part of it. Jesus,
Who had remained seated, was teaching them according
to His custom, when suddenly, above their heads, hands
were seen making an opening in the ceiling of earthen
clods (of which the roofs of houses in the East are often
composed), and then four men proceeded at once to let
down a pallet, on which a poor invalid was lying.1 It was
a paralytic, who had seized upon this expedient so to
reach the great Healer. Those who were carrying him,
losing all hopes of forcing an entrance through the multi
tudes, had drawn him up to the roof, and tearing away
the rafters with the clay tiling, had by this means man
aged to deposit their burden at the very feet of Jesus.
This deed, more eloquent than any words, and their
faith, which would not stop to consider any obstacles,
touched the heart of the Divine Master, and He granted
to the sufferer even more than he had dared to hope
for. " My son," 2 He said, " take courage ; your sins are for
given you."
The sufferings of the paralytic were doubtless the result,
or perhaps the punishment, of past wrongdoing; and Jesus,
by His divine power penetrating to the very root of the
evil, worked the cure of soul and body at one and the
same time.
This speech scandalized the Scribes, seated about the
Saviour; for the power of remitting sins, which He as
sumed, belongs only to God. Jesus saw their glowering
countenances and the menace that gleamed in their eyes.
In the bottom of their hearts, perhaps even upon their
lips, He could easily hear their mutterings, " What does
1 Some critics suppose that Jesus was sitting in the upper story, in one
of those high-studded halls which the wealthy Jews used for their frequent
gatherings, and that the bearers reached the flat roof above by an outside
stairway. This conjecture seems to us rather superfluous, for the poorer
dwellings in Judea are generally very low, and nothing would be easier
than to climb upon their house-tops ; even to-day, when the farmers of
Galilee wish to house their crops, they make an opening in the dry earthen
tiling of their roofs.
2 Mark ii. 5.

224 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
this man mean to say ? x He is blaspheming. Who can
remit sins except God ? "
"Why do you think evil things in your heart ?" He an
swered them, "Which is easier to say to a paralytic, ' Your
sins are forgiven you,' or to say to him, 'Rise up; take your
bed, and go into your house ' ? "
The question left them no room for evasion ; for if upon
the first of these claims He could not be convicted of im
posture, still they thought it might not be the same as
regards the second, although it would require a miracle to
sustain it. Yet to make this avowal before Jesus might
even be to furnish Him with another weapon against them,
and they would thus expose themselves to be brought to
confusion upon the spot.
The Scribes perceived this, and mistrustful as to what
might be the power of the Christ, they remained silent.
Knowing their thoughts, He proceeded : —
" Now, that you may know the Son of Man has power
on the earth to remit sins," 2 He turned to the paralytic,
" I say to thee : Arise ; take up thy bed, and go into thy
house ! "
The sick man rose up directly, took the pallet on
which he had been lying, and threading his way through
the swaying masses of people, returned to his home,
glorifying God.
Those who witnessed the miracle were at first as if
struck dumb with amazement; but their wondering delight
soon found tongue and voice, and they said to each other,
with tremulous lips and bated breath,
" We have seen marvellous things to-day!" 3
While others began to glorify God, acknowledging in
this deed a prodigy such as never before had greeted
their eyes, and they praised the Lord God for having
bestowed such power upon man.
1 Mark ii. 6, 7. 2 Luke v. 24. » Luke v. 25.

THE CALLING OF LEVI. 225
V. The Calling of Levi.
Luke v. 27, 28 ; Mark ii. 13, 14 ; Matt. ix. 9.
Of the six disciples Jesus had chosen on the banks of
the Jordan, only four were now with Him constantly ; and
all of these were equally poor and of a like simplicity of
mind and soul. But now it was to be from a class which
the Jews looked upon as the vilest and the hatefulest
in society, that the Lord would select His fifth companion,
in the person of Levi the publican.1
We know in what esteem that title was held iu Latin
literature of this age. It was the name employed to
designate those knights who were engaged in farming out
the tax-revenue of the provinces.2 These opulent citizens
should not be confounded with the publicans of the Gospel.
The latter were merely agents, of the lowest class, who col
lected taxes in the name of the great Roman companies ;
for in the course of time these enterprises had become too
considerable for one knight to undertake the responsibility
of discharging the duties. And so an administrator, re
siding at Rome, represented his associates, aud directed the
subalterns whom he employed to supervise the incoming
and outgoing of merchandise, and to compute more or less
justly the value of the same. Naturally they preferred to
appoint to this latter office native residents of the conquered
1 The first Gospel gives this publican the name of Matthew, while the
two other Synoptics have that of Levi. The most ancient Fathers agree
in regarding Levi as the same person as S. Matthew, and everything goes
to support their opinion : (1) The circumstances which surround the call
ing of the two are so exactly similar that we naturally regard it as the
story of one man's vocation. (2) The name Levi is not found in any list
of the Apostles ; while, on the other hand, all give that of Matthew.
Probably it was Jesus who changed the name of this publican, whom
He then called, from Levi to Matthew (rvflH. Gift of God, Theodore).
Nothing was of commoner occurrence among the Jews than this taking or
giving of a new name in token of some memorable event, and Jesus acted
in like manner with Simon. By the word Xeyopevov (Matt. ix. 7), Matthew
seems to imply that the name which he takes in the history of his vocation
is not that which he was known by at this time.
2 Pauly, Real Encyclnpoedie : Publicani.
VOL. I. — 15

226 FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
provinces, whose familiarity with the language, manners,
and resources of their native land, would make them
much fitter for such difficult functions than any foreigners
could be.
The disrepute attached to this career was enough to pre
vent men who were held in any esteem in the community
from embracing it; and the Roman collectors were com
pelled to take their agents from among the lower classes
of the populace. Delivered into such hands, the power
delegated to these men by the great syndicates degener
ated naturally into abuses and exactions, which finally ren
dered the name publican synonymous with that of robber.1
Cicero does not hesitate to call them the vilest of men;2
Stobseus looks upon them as the wolves and bears of the
human race.3
Beside the general aversion felt for such a trade, there
was, in Judea, an additional reason for holding it in abhor
rence.4 Every payment of tribute to foreign masters was,
in the eyes of the Israelites, a forbidden act, a transgression
of the Law of Jehovah ; the publicans, by helping to con
summate this sacrilege, were therefore regarded not only
as traitors to their country, but as infidels and apostates,
and for this reason quite as despicable as any criminals,
courtesans, or pagans.5 It was, then, from among the out
casts of society that Jesus picked out this new disciple.
Capharnaum, situated just where the great highways of
Damascus, Tyre, Sephoris, and Jerusalem meet, and through
which caravans were continually passing, had grown to be
one of the central points best adapted for the handling
of custom-duties;6 hence there were to be found here
great numbers of publicans. Jesus, as He was threading
his way down toward the shore of the lake, saw one
1 Xeno, Aptid Dicaearch. de Vita Grose. ; Meineke, Frag. com. iv. 596.
2 Cicero, De Officiis, i. 42.
3 Stobseus, Serm. ii. 34.
4 Matt, xviii. 17 ; Deut. xvii. 15 ; Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 2, 1.
6 Matt. ix. 11, xxi. 31, xviii. 17.
6 It was probably from the fact of Capharnaum's being a centre for so
much trade that the name of this town was commonly taken to mean a
place where great quantities of goods are stored up.

ACTS DURING THE MINISTRY IN GALILEE. 227
of them named Levi, the son of Alpheus,1 sitting at his
toll-office. " Follow Me ! " He said to him.
The publican arose, left all, and followed the Lord.
We are amazed at this prompt obedience ; but Levi
knew Who He was Who called him. He could not have
been all this time an indifferent spectator, since every day
he must have listened to the travellers repeating, or even
heard himself, the noble utterances of the new Prophet,
who was now stirring up all Galilee to higher thoughts ;
surely his heart must have been already touched, and all
his thoughts attracted to Jesus. So when the divine Mas
ter, far from drawing away His garments in fear of any
contact with the publican, as was generally done among
the Israelites, addressed to him that quiet appeal : " Follow
Me ! " Levi, who until now had never met with anything
but contempt, yielded to the grace which had been long
time moving within him, and joined the little band of
followers around the Saviour, never afterwards to be
separated from Him.2
1 Mark ii. 13, 14. This Alpheus, father of Levi, should not be con
founded with another Alpheus who married the sister of the Blessed Virgin,
and had many children who are called in the Gospel the brothers and
sisters of Jesus.
2 S. Luke and S. Mark proceed to relate the incidents of the banquet to
which Levi invited the Saviour immediately after the history of his Voca
tion ; S. Matthew connects the two latter events, but he does not mention
them until later on, after the Sermon on the Mount. Following the
example of the most ancient commentators, we shall separate the Calling
of the Apostle from his great dinuer-giving. This festival certainly took
place at the time marked for it by S. Matthew, because this Evangelist
(and he is the only one who describes it) connects this fact with the
raising of Jairus' daughter, and that with details of so precise a nature as
to make it impossible to reject his evidence. So far as his vocation is
concerned, we may retain the order indicated by SS. Luke and Mark ;
indeed it is hardly probable that the publican would have prepared a
grand repast and invited a crowd of friends on the day when he quitted all
to follow Jesus. Furthermore, all the Evangelists put the selection of the
Twelve Apostles before the Sermon on the Mount ; so then, in mentioning
his own calling at a later date, S. Matthew, as usual, simply disregards the
chronological order of events.

BOOK FOUKTH.

SECOND YEAR
OF THE
MINISTRY OF JESUS.

RATA AOTKAN.
8'. (id.
'Efiypxero Se Kal 8aip.6via airb iroAAw, Kpatflvra Kal kiyovra Sti
<tv d '0 'YI02 TOY ©EOY. Kal imn/iGiv ovk eia aura Kaktiv,
on j}Seio-aj> TON XPISTON avrbv elvai.

€&e Ccitftimonp of t&e 2Detoilg.

-4m^ Devils went out from many, crying out and saying :
Thou art THE SON OF GOD ! And rebuking them He.
suffered them not to speak, because they knew that He was
THE CHRIST. SAINT LUKE.
iv. 41.

SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF
JESUS.

CHAPTER I.
THE SECOND PASCHAE SEASON IN THE MINISTRY OF
JESUS.

I. The Pool of Bethesda.
John v. 1-47.
About this time 1 the Saviour was minded to go up to
Jerusalem for the approaching festival season. The Gospel
does not mention this celebration by name ; but the most
ancient Fathers looked upon it as being the second Pass
over iu the Ministry of Jesus,2 and we entirely coincide
with their conclusions. It was to be the last in which
He could take part without hazard of His life ; and so He
interrupted His mission in Galilee, joined company with
one of the caravans of Pilgrims, and ascended with them
1 Just here we have placed the Feast mentioned in the fifth chapter of
S. John because we look upon it as another Passover, and because in Judea
the Paschal Season is coincident with that of the harvest. Now S. Luke,
who is as usual our guide in these matters, after relatiug the vocation of
Levi, goes on to speak at once of the ripe grain which the disciples gath
ered as they wandered through the fields ; therefore, they must have been
on the verge of harvest-time.
2 As to this question, see Appendix VII.

232 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
to the Holy City. He went thither in obedience to the
commands of His Father, that He might once again offer
His ungrateful city the Salvation which they had disdained ;
and so His first thought now, as it had ever been, was to
seek out the desolate and distressed that He might comfort
and relieve them.
" Now there is at Jerusalem,1 hard by the Gate of the
Flocks, a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda " (The House of
Mercy).2 It was a huge basin, " with five sides surrounded
by porticos.3 Here, lying upon the ground, was a great
multitude of infirm, blind, lame, and men with withered
limbs, waiting for the water to be set in motion. For an
Angel of the Lord descended at a certain moment into the
pool and stirred the waters, and the first to enter therein
after that he had moved upon them was cured of whatso
ever malady he lay under."
In the shadow of these porches a man was stretched,
who had lain there for now thirty-nine years. He had
always been expecting to be cured ; but because he had
no one to help him, each time was doomed to see some
other of his fellow-sufferers forestall him. He was so lonely
and desolate, his hopes had been disappointed so many
times, that the wretched fellow was quite cast down and
discouraged. Jesus perceived him lying upon the ground, and know
ing that he had been ill for such a long time was filled
with pity for him.
" Do you wish to be cured ? " He said to him.
The paralytic scarcely grasped the meaning of this ques
tion ; but he felt that it was a compassionate offer from a
Stranger, who would perhaps be willing to aid him at the
favorable moment.
1 John v. 2-9.
2 tnpn IV3, "The House of Grace," the Place of Mercy, By6etrod. We
have kept the name which the Received Text gives for this spot. The
Manuscript of Sinai has Be$fa6d ; that of Cambridge, BeXfcdd ; the Manu
script of the Vatican, the Vulgate, and some other versions have another
form : By$<raidi.
8 As to the location of Bethesda and the healing powers of its waters,
see Appendix VIII.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA. 233
" Sir," he said, " I have no one to carry me to the pool
when the water is troubled, and the moment I reach there
another goes down ahead of me."
" Arise ! " said Jesus ; " take up your bed, and walk."
Instantly the poor creature arose, caught up the mat
on which he was lying, swung it over his shoulders, and
started to walk. Beside himself with joy, he looked about
him to thank his Benefactor; but Jesus had disappeared in
the shadows under the crowded galleries.
It was on a Sabbath-day that the Lord performed this
cure. The witnesses of the miracle were too astounded to
hinder the paralytic from carrying his bed off with him ;
but the elders of the people,1 whom he met on the road,
were horrified at this violation of the holy repose.
" It is the Sabbath ! " they exclaimed ; " it is not lawful
for you to carry your bed."
"He who cured me told me himself: 'Take up your
bed and walk,' " was his response.
" Who is the man," they demanded, " who said to you,
' Take up your bed and walk ? ' "
The poor paralytic did not know ; but the councillors
of the Sanhedrin, whose deliberations were now constantly
concerned with the doings of Jesus, detected His handi
work in this new prodigy, and they betrayed their hatred
and their suspicions at the same time by their manner of
questioning this man, — not wanting to know " Who has
healed you ? " but, " Who told you to carry your mat ? " or,
in other words, to break the Law ?
And so they let the humble offender go, whom under
other circumstances they would have punished severely,
and turned their whole attention to the fact that Jesus
was present in their city. However, the delighted cripple,
who had been made whole after so wonderful a fashion,
wished at least to return thanks to God, and at once went
1 John v. 10-13. "The Jews," says S. John. By this name the Evan
gelist generally designates the enemies of Jesus, and particularly the
Scribes, the prominent Pharisees, and others of the Sanhedrin who were
the prime movers in the opposition which the Saviour encountered in
Judea from the very commencement of His Ministry. (See Smith, Dic
tionary of the Bible : Jew).

234 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
up to the Temple for this purpose.1 There Jesus encoun
tered him ; always careful to renew the soul at the same
time as the body, He said to him : —
" I have given you back your health ; hereafter guard
against sin, for fear lest some worse evil should happen to
you." The man forthwith went in search of the Jews, and told
them that it was Jesus Who had healed him.
By this act he did not mean to betray his Benefactor,
but on the contrary to glorify Him, and give some token of
his own gratitude.2 The result was not such as to gratify
his desires ; for this news only increased the anger of the
Sanhedrin by confirming its suspicions. In that same
hour they resolved to put down this Man, who violated
their observances.3 We do not know whether it was in
the Temple or in Jerusalem that they found Him ; but
wherever it may have been, they were overcome with as
tonishment, when they heard Him, Whom they had come
to rebuke, declare in their presence that, as He was the
Son of God, He had all power over the Sabbath.
To the casuists who accused Him with having broken
the Law, Jesus replied,4 therefore, that the repose of the
Sacred Day is not the inertia of death, but a suspension
of corporal labor, whose excess does indeed wither and
destroy the soul ; but that it is at all times lawful to
i John v. 14, 15.
8 S. John Chrysostom remarks with perfect justice that if the paralytic
had cherished any malicious designs he would have said to the Sanhedrin,
"It was Jesus who bade me carry my bed and desecrate the Sabbath."
On the contrary, he thinks only of acknowledging Him as his Benefactor;
"It was He who cured me ! " is what he really says.
3 John v. 16.
4 John v. 17. The Evangelist gives the Saviour's reply in this concise
form : "My Father ceaseth not to work, and I likewise work." Did
Jesus merely utter these words and no more ? We cannot think that that
was all He said, for although the Jews were accustomed to speak of God as
their Father (Is. Ixiii. 16, lxiv. 8 ; Jer. iii. 4 ; Mai. i. 6 ; Wis. xiv. 3 ;
Eccl. xxiii. 1, 4), they at once comprehended that the Master did not
use this Name with the meaning they usually gave to it : "He has said
that God was His own Father, making Himself equal to Him." From
this speech we must presume that Jesus set forth His meaning with
out any equivocal expressions, giving them the full development of this
Truth.

THE SECOND PASCHAL SEASON. 235
do good, and that if God, after the Creation, has made His
habitation within an everlasting Sabbath, this His Attri
bute is not, so to say, the offspring of sterile sloth ; but
rather He thus conservates the indwelling life of all crea
tures by continuing to be, what He is in His Essence, the
Life eternal, the eternal Quickener unto life. In like
manner He, being the Son of God, and God even as is His
Father, could not know any surcease of activity in His
operations : " My Father ceaseth not to work," He said,
" and I work likewise."
This response incensed the Sanhedrin Councillors, who
saw nothing in the Christ but an impious fellow and a blas
phemer. Henceforth they were determined to compass His
death,1 "not only because He had broken the Sabbath, but
also because He said that God was His own Father, making
Himself equal to God." But for the present moment, not
daring to proceed to extremities, they submitted to listen
to His word, which like a sword of fire cleaved their spirit,
piercing to the inmost recesses of the soul ; 2 for Jesus, far
from concealing His office in the presence of the princes of
Israel, proclaimed openly Who He was.
Declaring that He is God as His Father is God,3 the
Saviour added, moreover, that He possessed three divine
Attributes of the Godhead, — the power of restoring spirit
ual life to those dead in sin,4 the power of judging, and the
power of raising up from the grave unto life all flesh, at
the last day. To establish such lofty prerogatives as these,
the testimony of John was not enough, being that of man.5
Jesus appeals to three Witnesses which come of God, —
His Miracles, the unmistakable sign of His Mission ; 6 the
1 John v. 18. 2 Hebr. iv. 12. 3 John v. 19-30.
4 The allusion here is to verse twenty-five. Here it is the death of sin
which is referred to, since Jesus said that the hour has already come when
the dead are to hearken to the call of the Saviour ; and He adds that only
those shall receive life who listen to the voice of the Son of God. In verse
twenty-eight, where the general Resurrection is announced, He tells us
that all those that lie in the grave shall hear the voice of the Christ, which
recalls the dead to life ; yet it is not said that the hour of the Resurrection
is already present, but that it is to come.
5 John v. 31-35.
« John v. 36.

236 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Voice of the Father which at the Jordan had proclaimed
Him His well-beloved Son ; 1 finally, the Authority of the
Scriptures. " Search them," 2 He said, " since you think you find
eternal life therein ; they themselves give testimony of Me.
And you will not come to Me that you may have life ! . . .
I know you ; I know that you have not the love of God
in you. I am come in the Name of My Father, and you
receive Me not. Let another come in his own name, him
you will receive."
These reproaches show that the Saviour was not content
to enlighten the Sanhedrin as to the Truth, but he sought
to move their hearts as well. Yet this effort was to be all
in vain ; the great men of Judea were too haughty to adore
the Son of a carpenter as the Christ. Though they did not
dare to give vent to their hatred and contempt, they pre
served a perfect secrecy as to what He had said to them ;
for His claim that He was the Son of God, confirmed and
justified as it was by so many miracles, would have caused
the people to proclaim Him as the Messiah. On the other
hand, as Jesus had transgressed the Pharisaic precepts
by healing a man within the limits of the Sabbath, they
directed all their public attacks upon this one point, aud
accused Him of contemning the Day of the Lord, assuring
themselves that the people would side with them in any
quarrel which involved the sanctity of the Day of Rest.
Indeed there was no institution more holy in the eyes
of the Jews. They looked upon it as the one individual
characteristic which distinguished them from all other
nations, and esteemed themselves as chosen by Jehovah
solely to guard its observance.3 The ancient directions
were far from satisfying their scrupulosity. After the
Captivity, the Great Synagogue had drawn up a list of
Thirty-nine Articles, called "Aboth,"4 or Principal Prohi-
1 John v. 37, 38.
2 John v. 39-47.
3 We know that they went so far in their fanaticism as to submit to be
slaughtered rather than defend their life on the Sacred Day.
4 Literally, the "Fathers," Aboth, from the Hebrew, 3K "father;"
and the "Descendants," from rYilSin "generations, descent."

THE SECOND PASCHAL SEASON. 237
bitions. These, in turn, had given birth to an infinite
number of " Toledoth," or descendants ; and these second
ary restrictions, embracing every detail of daily life,1 did,
so to speak, really render any action impossible during the
Sabbath Day.
We can see how the Pharisaic customs must have hin
dered and hampered the ministry of Jesus ; and how easily
the Sanhedrin, by exaggerating each least infringement
upon its edicts, gradually so prevailed over the general
mind that at last popular indignation demanded its Victim
that had been thus made ready for the Sacrifice.2

II. A Sabbath Walk through the Fields.
Luke vi. 1-5 ; Mark ii. 23-28 ; Matt. xii. 1-8.
As we proceed hereafter, we shall find the hatred of
the princes of Israel evermore pursuing and annoying
the Saviour. Everywhere — along the roads, in the fields,
1 There was a law which forbade the blind man to use his staff on the
Sabbath day ; every Israelite was forbidden to carry even the smallest
article, were it only a fan, a false tooth, or a ribbon not sewed to the gar
ment. There was a law which forbade the writing of two letters of the
alphabet in succession ; or the killing of an insect which worried one with
its sting ; the rubbing of a rheumatic limb ; or to bathe an aching tooth
with vinegar, unless one swallowed the liquid immediately afterwards.
They forbade one to throw any more grain into the poultry-yard than the
fowls could eat, for fear that the rest might sprout and take root that same
day ; forbade the belated traveller, whom Saturday night overtook on the
roadside, to pursue his way, even were he in the woods or in the open
fields exposed to winds and rain and the attacks of brigands. Shammai,
that strict Rabbi and Formalist, who has left the imprint of his character
upon many of these prescriptions, — Shammai durst not entrust a letter to
any heathen after a Wednesday, for fear it might not be delivered before
the Sabbath ; moreover he spent all his time in meditating further regula
tions by which he might observe the sacred repose more rigorously. These
pharisaic customs are detailed more at length by Otho (Lexicon Rabbinicum :
Sabbathum), and by Buxtorf (De Synagoga Judaica).
2 A glance over the public life of the Saviour is enough to demonstrate
that the unjust complaints made against Him and the opposition which
He met with, not only in Judea, but in Galilee and Perea, are oftenest to
be laid to the fact that He had neglected some Pharisaic Law concerning
the Sabbath (Matt. xii. 1, 2 ; Mark ii. 24, iii. 2 ; Luke xiii. 14, xiv. 1 ;
John vii. 23, ix. 14, etc.).

238 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
and in the wilderness, even when He seemed to be alone
with His disciples — He was shadowed by spies who were
stirring up the crowd against Him. From the first day,
we find traces of this persecution. The Lord, as He was
returning to Galilee, on the Sabbath which followed the
Passover,1 happened to be walking through a corn-land,
now ripe for the harvest. The disciples, moved by hun
ger, broke off some ears of wheat;2 rubbing it in their
1 Luke vi. 1. "On the Second- First Sabbath," says S. Luke. This
singular expression is not found in any passage of the Gospel other than
this ; the most various interpretations of it have been proposed. Grotius
looks upon it as the second of the Great Sabbaths ; that is, the great
Feasts of the year, which were the Pasch, Pentecost, and the Feast of the
Tabernacles. Wieseler takes it to mean the first Sabbath in the second
year of the septenary cycle ; as the Jews counted by weeks of years (Dan. ix.),
the learned Chronologist supposes that the first Sabbath of the first year
was called "ihe first First Sabbath;" the first Sabbath of the second
year, " the second First Sabbath," and so on. The most likely hypothesis,
to our thinking, is that of Scaliger and Father Petau, who regard it as a
time-hallowed phrase used to designate the first Sabbath which followed
the second day of the Pasch, sixteenth of Nisan. This day was the start
ing-point from which Leviticus commanded that they should compute
seven full weeks unto the Feast of the Pentecost (Lev. xxiii. 15, 16). The
S.ibbath of the first of these weeks was called the second First because at
once the first Sabbath of the seven weeks and the second Sabbath as regards
the Sabbatic day of the Passover, which was used as the point from which
they counted those same seven weeks ; indeed we know that the first two
days of the Festival were regarded as Sabbaths. Caspari has proposed a
new solution too clever for us to pass it over in silence. He recalls the
state of uncertainty wherein the Jews were as regards the exact duration of
their lunar months, which contained sometimes twenty-nine, sometimes
thirty days ; and hence he would have us suppose that, in order to assure
for the holy month of Nisan its full complement of days, they celebrated
two Sabbaths ill succession, one being called First Sabbath and the other
Second First Sabbath (Caspari, Einleitung, par. 102). The word devrepo-
irpwru is omitted in some versions, and in the manuscripts of Sinai and
the Vatican.
2 Meyer translates the words of S. Mark thus : "The disciples began to
clear a way across the corn-fields by plucking away the ears." We could
not adopt this interpretation ; for (I) bSbv iroieiv does not necessarily mean
"clear a path," but often means "to make one's way.'' The Septuagint
makes use of it in translating the Hebrew, "p/1 nfcW, "iter facere;" and
although the Greek of the classics in this case would be more likely to read
Troieiaffai, the active iroieiv is still in common use. (See examples quoted
in the lexicons of Wahl and Robinson.) (2) By this interpretation
Meyer deprives the rest of the narrative of any intelligible meaning ; for if
this be so, what is the upshot of that reply of Jesus : " Have you never
read what David did when he was put to it by necessity and when he was

A SABBATH WALK THROUGH THE FIELDS. 239
hands and blowing away the chaff, they began to eat th(
grain. In this there was nothing which was not lawful
Moses had permitted it in definite terms;1 and from age
to age in the Orient the custom has always been cherished
of never refusing the wanderer this charity, which costs
so little. But although the Law allowed one to take a
few ears, it forbade all reaping and gathering and thresh
ing of the harvest on the Sabbath Day ; but the Scribes
had decided that to pluck an ear, and to bruise the grain
between your palms, was the same as " to reap, to gather
in, and to thresh the crops." 2
Some Pharisees who were following the little band had
no mind to let such an infraction of their Rules pass unno
ticed. They approached the Saviour, and said to Him : —
" Look ! your disciples are doing that which is not
allowed upon the Sabbath day."
Jesus walking before His disciples, had taken no heed of
their action, nor participated in it ; but far from disowning
the responsibility, He covered their innocent indulgence
with the mantle of His benign approval. To these Coun
cillors who reproached Him with having broken one of the
Precepts, He quoted the Law as opposed to them, and with
something of irony confessed His surprise that men so
'deeply versed in the Scriptures should be ignorant of their
teaching on this point.
"Have you never read, then," he said,3 "that which
David did when he was compelled by necessity and
urged on by hunger, he and those who were with him ?
How he entered the House of God, in the time of
the High-Priest Abiathar,4 and ate the Loaves of Propo-
a-hungry ? . . ." and that memorable addition found in S. Mark : "The
Sabbath is made for man. "
1 Deut. xxiii. 25.
2 " Vellere spicas est species messionis " (Maimonides, m Shabb. cap. 7).
Certain Pharisees went to the absurd extreme of teaching that to walk
upon the grass was to perform the act of threshing grain, and to catch a
fly was an illegal sort of hunting.
3 Mark ii. 25, 26.
4 The Book of the Kings calls the Pontiff who harbored David, Achime
leeh, and not Abiathar ; the latter was the son of Achimeleeh, and dwelt
with him (1 Kings xxii. 20). In the family of the High- Priests the father

240 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
sition,1 which it is not permitted to any one to eat except
the priests, and gave to those who were with him ? "
If David, in his extreme need, might lay hands upon
the Sacred Bread, and so transgress the precepts of the
Law, how could they hold it criminal for His hungry
disciples to have pulled a few handfuls of wheat, that
they too might sustain their strength ? Furthermore, the
Pharisees themselves acknowledged that the Sabbatical
observances must have their exceptions ; for this maxim
was generally received among them : " In the Temple
there is no Sabbath." Even on this Day of Rest, the
Priests might cut the wood, kindle the altar-fires, re
place the Loaves of Proposition, and sacrifice a double
holocaust;2 the sanctity of the Temple itself kept them
blameless. Jesus pleaded with them for this generous reading of a
law which His adversaries insisted upon as being so inflexi
ble, and He admonished them that their exceptions applied
to Him as much as to the Temple. Indeed, had He not
just now proclaimed before the Sanhedrin that He was
the Son of God made man, and hence rightly to be re
vered as a Sanctuary of Jehovah ? These lawyers who
were hounding His steps must certainly have known this ;
did not necessarily exercise the supreme functions ; hence it is very prob
able that even during the life of Achimeleeh his son Abiathar was High-
Priest ; and in this case the Book of the Kings would mention Achimeleeh
because he was the head of the Sacerdotal Family, while Jesus speaks of
Abiathar because he was actually invested with the Sovereign Priesthood.
This hypothesis has been learnedly supported by P. Patrizi (De Evangeliis,
lib. iii. dissertatio xxviii. 38-40). Other critics prefer to admit that both
father and son bore the two names together (a common occurrence among
the Hebrews), or finally, that there has been some confusing of the names
in the Book of the Kings.
1 We know with what veneration they preserved these loaves. They
were ranged in order upon a table of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, and
set in the Holy Place, where, by their number, they represented the
twelve Tribes of Israel ; by the incense with which they were covered
they figured forth the perpetual consecration of the Jews to their God.
Wherefore when the priests came to put fresh loaves in place of those
which had lain all the week iu the presence of the Lord (for this was done
each Sabbath), they must needs regard the offerings which they took away
with them as hallowed, and must consume them in the Sanctuary itself.
2 Num. xxviii. 9, 10.

A SABBATH WALK THROUGH THE FIELDS. 241
but once more He recalled it to their mind in these
words : 1 —
"But I say to you, there is here a greater than the
Temple." The Master longed to gain his persecutors to the Truth,
much more than He desired to confound them. Therefore
He sought to enlighten their minds by showing that "the
Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath." 2
The Sabbath instituted by God to lighten the burden of
man's labors, the offspring of his sin, is, in the divine order,
for a pledge of a never-ending rest and peace. During this
day of mercy, to forbid the hungry from gathering a few
grains of wheat were to change our heavenly Father into
a Tyrant, and to turn His loving commands into hateful
restrictions. Jesus. mourned over these blind and stolid
interpreters of the Law.
" If you but knew," He concluded, " what is the mean
ing of those words : ' I love mercy better than sacrifice,' you
would never have condemned the innocent." 3
This response scarcely touched these men, stubbornly
clinging to their mistaken views ; and though at this mo
ment they did not venture to move against the Divine
Master, they decided to scrutinize His actions more nar
rowly than ever.
1 Matt. xii. 6.
2 Mark ii. 27.
3 Matt. xii. 7 ; Osee, vi. 6. By defending His disciples the Saviour
did not intend to authorize every violation of the Sabbath, and if we may
credit a curious reading in the Manuscript of Beza (Luke vi. ), on that
same day Jesus explained His thought beyond the reach of misunder
standing: "On that very Sabbath," we read in this ancient Codex, "He
passed an Israelite who was laboring at some handiwork ; ' 0 man,' he
said to him, ' if thou knowest what thou art doing now, thou art blessed ;
but if thou dost not know, thou art condemned, for then thou dost trans
gress the Law.' " That is to say, if you understand how far I transcend
the Law, you are not blameworthy in acting as you are doing ; but if
indeed self-interest or caprice alone have moved you to this, you have
drawn down on your head the divine anathema. This reading, which is
not found in any other manuscript, is evidently apocryphal ; still it shows
in what sense Antiquity interpreted this answer which Jesus made to the
Pharisees. VOL. I. — 16

242 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
III. The Man with the Withered Hand.
Luke vi. 6-11 ; Mark iii. 1-6; Matt. xii. 9-21.
It was on the journey from Jerusalem into Galilee
that the incident of the plucking of the wheat occurred.
The Evangelists do not tell whereabouts on the journey
Jesus tarried ; but on one of the Sabbaths following 1 they
make mention of His being in the synagogue of a little
town. Now there was a man present whose right hand
had all shrunken away. According to the " Gospel of the
Nazarenes," it was a poor mason, who had been hurt in
some accident.2
I beseech you, he said to Jesus, restore me to health, so
that I need no longer beg my bread in -shame and sorrow.8
His prayer was overheard by the Pharisees, who were
sharply watching these deeds of the Christ, " that they
might have cause to accuse Him." They whispered among
themselves these words, which came to the ears of the
Master : 4 —
" Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day ? "
Jesus did not keep them long in uncertainty. " Arise,"
He said to the cripple, " and stand there in the midst."
Then turning to the Pharisees, seated, as was their wont,
in the Seats of Honor,
'• I ask you," he said,5 " Is it allowed upon the Sabbath-
day to do good or evil, — to save or to destroy a soul ? "
1 Merapds iKeWev, says S. Matthew (xii. 9) ; iv iripu aappdru, accord
ing to S. Luke (vi. 6). All the testimony seems to us of too precise a
nature for us to allow that the man with the withered hand was healed at
the same time, and on the very spot where the Apostles plucked the corn.
'l'E%ypap.p.ivyv (Mark iii. 1) ; "non ex utero, sed morbo aut vulnere :
hsec vis participii " (Bengel, Gnomon, in loco).
3 Csementarius eram, manibus victum quseritans. Precor te, Jesu, ut
mihi restituas sanitatem, ne turpiter mendicem cibos." Fragment from
the Gospel of the Nazarenes, quoted by S. Jerome (in Matt. xii. 13).
4 S. Matthew says that the Pharisees put this question : iirypuryaav
(xii. 10) ; S. Luke, on the contrary, says that the Saviour knew it because
He fathomed all their thoughts : jjSei robs SiaXoyiapobs airuv (vi. 8). The
most natural solution of this difficulty is to suppose that the question,
though uttered in a low tone, came to the ears of Jesus.
6 Luke vi. 9.

THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 243
Such questioning as this disconcerted them ; they had
only come to listen to His discourse in order to surprise
Him in some error ; confused at being anticipated in this
way, they held their peace.
The divine Master attempted to draw them out of their
silence by recalling their own teachings on the subject.
" What man is there among you," He pursued, " who owns
only one sheep,1 if it fall into a pit on a Sabbath-day,
will he not take hold on it and draw it out ? 2 But how
much more is a man worth than a sheep ! Therefore it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day."
His reasoning admitted of no reply ; this the Pharisees
saw clearly enough, and they closed their lips the tighter.
The Lord waited for their response ; as His glance passed3
from one face to another He saw reflected there nothing
but dumb rage, obstinate dislike, and bitter spite. At the
sight His heart swelled with deep indignation ; it seemed
to all the by-standers that in another moment He would
surely overwhelm these hypocrites; but almost immedi
ately He recovered His habitual tone of compassion, and,
grieving for their blindness, He merely said to the cripple,
" Stretch out your hand."
The man obeyed. At the word of the Saviour life
revived in the withered limb, and at once it was become
whole like the other.
Thus, not content at having discomfited His enemies in
argument before the whole synagogue, the Lord would
also manifest His power before their eyes ; without hand
ling, even without touching, the cripple, without perform
ing any external act, one single word had been sufficient to
effect this prodigy. Would they dare to say that one
1 Upbparov h (i/Latt. xii. 11). "Ev is here taken in an emphatic sense,
and signifies " only."
2 In the event, the Rabbis did not accord this permission save only
when the animal was in danger of being drowned ; in default of such
extreme peril, it was enough to lay a plank for it, or to throw it some
food. In like manner, a man's life must be actually threatened before one
could offer him any assistance : " Periculum vita? tollit sabbatum " (Joraa,
vii. 6. See Reland, Antiquitates Hebra'icoe; Lightfoot, Horoe Hebra'icoe,
in Matt. xii. 11).
8 Kal irepipXe\f/dpevos (Mark iii. v).

244 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
word, one single word spoken in kindness, was a violation
of their Sabbath?
That they were so powerless against Him was a mad
dening thought for them ; they went away from the place,
beside themselves with rage, and took counsel together " as
to what they might do to Jesus."1
But nowhere else were their evil plottings destined to
encounter so many obstacles as in Galilee ; for the people
of this Province, upon whom the Saviour had lavished every
good gift, drawn to Him by His gracious doctrine, and
much less imbued with the Pharisaical superstitions than
were the Jews of Jerusalem, would not have permitted any
assault upon their Prophet. More than this, the Sanhe
drin had only a limited authority in this land, for here it
could not stir without the sanction of Herod.
It was necessary, then, in the first place, to come to an
understanding with the ministers and partisans of that
prince.2 Hitherto the Pharisees of Jerusalem had dis
played the most insulting scorn for these courtiers, alluding
to them as " Herodiaus," and " the Apostates," taunting
them with having borne the Roman yoke quite willingly,
and with imitating the manners of Gentiles, as well as the
impiety of the Sadducees. But with their hatred of the
Christ they now brushed aside every one of their scruples,
and the emissaries of the Sanhedrin only considered how
they might lure their former enemies into these schemes
of vengeance.
In this they succeeded without any trouble ; for the
austere morality which Jesus taught, the mastery He held
over the hearts of the people, His claim that He was the
Son of God, — all these seemed to this king, so jealous of
his authority, a perpetual menace.
The Saviour, seeing so formidable a storm brewing over
Him, sought the other side of the lake, which is close by
the territory of Philip, in order to evade His pursuers if
they should become too relentless in their attacks.3 These
safeguards having been taken, He did not, cease to receive
kindly those who followed Him into this retreat, and to
l Luke vi. 11 . 2 Mark iii. 6. 8 Mark iii. 7.

THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 245
heal the sick ; but He did not do so without caution, warn
ing them not to make it known.1 So He waited, before
taking up His ministry again openly, until Herod's change
able nature should be diverted to some other more absorb
ing subject.
The obscure existence which for prudence' sake Jesus
led during this threatening period astonished and shocked
the first converts among the Jews. Doubtless they re
coiled from the idea that the Messiah should be forced to
hide Himself and to work in the darkness ; for we find
Saint Matthew reminding them that these humiliations
had been long since set down in the oracles of Isaiah : 2 —
" Behold My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved,
in whom My Soul hath been well pleased ! I will send
My Spirit to rest upon Him, and fie shall publish My
judgments3 unto the Nations. He shall not be conten
tious, He shall not cry aloud, and no man shall hear His
voice in the open streets; the bruised reed He shall not
break, and the smoking flax He shall not quench, until He
triumphs in the strife." 4
1 Matt. xii. 15, 16.
2 Matt. xii. 17-21 ; Is. xiii. 1-4.
3 BSOT: righteousness, law, judgment.
4 Even such would He be, so gentle, meek, and silent, until the day
wherein He would cease to strive that He might show Himself victorious ;
then He would bear the brunt of the battle right onward unto triumph :
ius av iKpdXy els vikos t^jc Kplaiv. In his usual style, S. Matthew quotes
the Prophet very freely.

CHAPTER II.
THE TWELVE APOSTLES.
Mark iii. 7-15 ; Luke vi. 12-19 ; Matt. x. 2-4.
During this retirement of the Lord the fury of His
pursuers slackened ; soon He was free to appear openly
among men. "A great throng followed Him out of Galilee,
Jerusalem, Idumea,1 and from the country beyond the Jor
dan ; and others from round about Tyre and Sidon, having
heard what things He did, came to fiini in great numbers.
Then He told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him,
so that He might not be overwhelmed by the multitudes ;
for He had healed so very many that it resulted in all
those who had any illness pressing upon Him to touch
Him ; and the unclean spirits when they saw Him fell at
His feet crying out : " Thou art the Son of God ! " And
He charged them, with great threats, that they should not
make Him known."
Here we find the Lord in His Ministry bearing Himself
just as we have seen Him hitherto at Capharnaum, conse
crating His days by turns to the instruction of the people,
to the healing of the sick, and to the deliverance of the
possessed. After one such day of wearisome labor, Jesus " withdrew
to a mountain, and there spent the whole night in prayer." 2
Certain traditions single out a hill lying between Caphar-
1 Mark iii. 7-12. Here S. Mark means to remind us of the many
countries from which the various disciples now gathered about Jesus had
come. We have seen (p. 176) how He evangelized Judea and Idumea
during the first year of His Ministry. Since that time, some of the
dwellers in those regions had followed the divine Master.
2 Luke vi. 12.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 247
naum and Tiberias as the scene of this night-watch and of
the Sermon which follows upon it. The Christians call it
the Mount of the Beatitudes ; the Arabs' name for it is
Kourn Hattin (The Horns of Hattin), in allusion to the
two peaks which rise above the village of that name. To
the west the hillside slopes gently up from the rolling-
meadows ; to the east, on the contrary, its steep cliffs over
look a level stretch of ground, big and wide enough to hold
a great multitude.1 In the hill-country bordering this
side of the Lake we might seek in vain for any other high
lands worthy the name of mountain. So, then, this is the
spot to which we must follow the Lord.
At all times Jesus loved the lonely heights, the quiet of
evening, the midnight sky with its glittering array of heav
enly hosts ; in the stillness His glance could pierce the
depths until it was absorbed in the Vision of the Father ;
here unhindered His soul could taste of that mysterious
rest which is born of prayerful ecstasy. Yet this one night
out on the hill-tops had, in truth, something of a more
solemn glory in it ; we feel by the very words in which
Saint Luke speaks of it that it was to be the forerunner of
a great day. In the dawning light Jesus called to Him
His disciples, who were slumbering, as we may fancy,
at no great distance, and " from among them He chose out
twelve, to whom He gave the name of Apostles." 2
The Master by this act, to all outward seeming so
simple, there and then laid the massive foundations of a
Work which was destined to be seen of all men and to
withstand the fiercest onslaught of the foe. Growing ever
more majestic upon our vision as we watch her progress
down through the ages, we must recall to mind the while
how this Heaven-sent Church, built up under the Master-
Workman's hand, had for its mighty base simply these
Twelve Apostles. At that time there was nothing about
1 Luke vi. 17.
2 Luke vi. 13 ; Mark iii. 14. S. Matthew does not record the election
of the Twelve Apostles, properly speaking ; he contents himself with men
tioning their names when he is giving an account of their mission (Matt.
x. 2-4). SS. Mark and Luke, on the contrary, agree in putting this
solemn selection after the healing of the man with the withered hand.

248 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
them to mark them from the masses ; we have seen, and
we have still to see for a long time to come, how ignorant
they were, how ambitious, so much more engrossed in the
thiuo-s of the flesh than in the things of the Spirit. But
the Hand which had gathered together from out the dark
quarries of Earth these rough and heavy blocks by the
same supernal strength could cut and polish them. So
Saint John once saw in the bulwarks of the Heavenly
Jerusalem just such huge bulks of stone, hewn from the
shapeless rock ; and these same were become twelve pre
cious stones,1 whose glowing depths of color now uphold
the glorious city of our God, our holy Habitation in the
Heavens. Was there any thought in Jesus' mind of the symbolic
significance in the number He had chosen ? Did He mean
in this way to recall those Twelve Tribes of Israel, just as
the High Priest used to bear upon his breast twelve great
gems as a memorial of them ? Many such conjectures
have been hazarded,2 and indeed there is good ground for
similar concepts when we think how much stress was laid
on the hidden meaning of numbers in olden times. The
Pagans were not alone in their belief that strange proper
ties were to be found in such combinations ; the Jews,
and the first Fathers of the Church as well, scrutinize
them with careful curiosity ; and it is impossible to deny
that very many of the numbers in Scripture itself have a
mystic purport.3 So that we have in this way really a
secret language, highly prized by those who are versed in
its unique charms, — like the full harmony which sustains
the song by setting its pure melody in higher relief. Why
should Jesus have scorned this feeling? Rather He
deigned to make use of it ; and thus, in this point as in so
many others, He availed Himself of every usage of the
world about Him. We may willingly grant, not only that
He did not choose this number without a purpose, but that
1 Apoc. xxi. 19-21.
2 See Cornelius a Lapide, in Matt. x.
3 This fact is incontestable, so far as the Apocalypse and numerous
passages in the Prophets are concerned (see Smith, Dictionary of the Bible :
Number).

THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

249

He attached so much importance to it that His disciples
felt that their first duty, after the Ascension, was to com
plete the roll of the Apostolic College by the election of
Saint Matthias.1
Of the twelve Apostles seven had been chosen already.
These were : Peter and Andrew, the two sons of Jonas ;
then the sons of Zebedee, James and John ; Philip, who
came from Bethsaida, like the first four ; Bartholomew,
1 Acts i. 15-26. The Gospels themselves, in giving the names of the
Apostles, observe such an unvarying and precise order as to suggest the
idea that everything about their vocation was symbolic, — the rank of each,
as well as the whole number. As a matter of fact, we possess four lists
of the Apostles ; now all have this much in common, that they distribute
them in three series, in each of which the names are always the same,
though here they differ somewhat in arrangement ; but, in all of them,
three Apostles invariably occupy the same position. The first group has
Simon Peter at its head ; the second, Philip ; the third, James, son of
Alpheus. In the last place, in all the lists, we find Judas Iskarioth.
Matt, x, 2-4. Mark iii. 16-19. Luke vi. 14-16. Acts i. 13.

1.
2.3.

SIMON PETER

Andrew

James
(son of Zebedee)
4. John

6. Bartholomew
7. Thomas
8. Matthew

1 10. Lebbeus
(sum. Thaddeus)
)11. Simon
(the Cananean)
12. Judas Iskari
oth.

James
(son of Zebedee)
John

Andrew

Andrew James John

PHILIP

Bartholomew Matthew Thomas
JAMES (son of Alpheus)
Thaddeus

Bartholomew Matthew Thomas

Simon
(the Cananean)
Judas Iskari
oth

Simon
(the Zealot)
Jude
(bro. to James)
Judas Iskari
oth

John
James
Andrew Thomas
Bartholo mew.
Matthew

Simon
(the Zealot)
Jude
(bro. to James)
Vacant

We shall not look for the mystic purport of these divisions, since the
sacred writers have not divulged it ; we simply call attention to the fact
as one of the interesting peculiarities of the Gospel.

250 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
from Cana in Galilee ; J and Matthew, the Pulilican.2 Jesus
now called five others : His two cousins, James the Less
and Jude (Lebbeus, or Thaddeus) ; the Galileans, Thomas
and Simon the Zealot; finally, the traitor, — the man
from Kerioth in Judea, — Judas, son of Simon. For the
most part we know little enough of these Apostles, — their
names, some few words spoken by them, certain deeds of
theirs mentioned in the Gospels or the Acts, a number of tra
ditions as to their after life, — altogether hardly enough to
furnish us with materials for a sketch of each one of them.
Bartholomew is the least known of all. It has been
agreed upon that he is the Nathanael whom Philip found
meditating under a fig-tree, and led to his divine Master.3
Truthfulness and godliness were the keynotes of his char
acter ; undoubtedly with these he combined modesty, for
from the hour in which he obeyed the call of God we
never see or hear anything more of the son of Tolmai.
There is a tradition which tells of his having evangelized
the Indies ; that he was burned alive, and crucified with
his head downwards.4
His friend Philip was among the first of the Galileans
who were moved to seek John the Baptist, hoping to find
in him the longed-for Messiah. The Gospel speaks
of his gentle spirit, readily responding to Jesus' appeals,5
sympathizing with the distress of the throngs that followed
the Master into the desert, but slow to believe that a few
loaves would be enough to satisfy them ;6 slower still to
fathom the Mysteries of faith, for even at the Last Supper
he begs the Saviour to let him see the Father, of whom He
is always speaking.7 Polycratus, Bishop of Ephesus, in
forms us that Philip had been married ; his daughters were
numbered among the first Virgins ; and he himself slept in
the Lord at Hierapolis, in Phrygia.8
1 John xxi. 2. 2 See p. 225. 3 John i. 47. (Seep. 135.)
4 Euscbius, Historia ecclesiastica, v. 10 ; S. Jerome, De Viris illuslribus ;
Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, iii. 2, 20.
6 John i. 43.
6 John vi. 7.
7 John xiv. 8.
8 Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica, iii. 31.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 251
As to Simon, we merely know that he was called the
Cananean, a name which Saint Luke translates as the
Zealot ; l and this term was also used to distinguish him
from Simon Peter. Can it be that this Apostle belonged
to that famous Sect which revenged every transgression
of the Law, not simply with burning reproaches, like
the Prophets of old, but like Phineas, with unsheathed
sword ?2 We know what part these Zealots played in the
last days of Jerusalem ; howr they became the terror and
scourge of the whole country-side, making it reek with
blood, spreading ruin and death on every hand. Would
Jesus have called one of these fanatics to Him ; would
He have thought it wise to admit into equal fellowship
this Jew, Simon, who rebelled against every tribute ex
torted by the hated foreigners, and Levi, collector of the
Roman taxes ? Yet in this there would be nothing re
pugnant to the plans of the Master, for He made little
account of human prudence in His works, and "chose
that which is foolishness in the world's eyes to confound
the wise, so that no man should glorify himself before
Him." 3
Matthew has left behind him more than a name, — a
divine Book, his Gospel. In it he speaks in one single
instance of himself, and that is only to tell us that he was
a Publican, a butt for the contempt and hatred of Israel,
but that nevertheless Jesus chose him.
Thomas's character4 may be more clearly deciphered.
With a frank, practical spirit, which was easily bewildered
by the Mysteries of faith, he declared with perfect sim-
1 Luke, vi. 15. From the Hebrew HKJp, zeal. The real reading, both
in S. Matthew and in S. Mark, would seem to be Kavavaios, and the form
of this word indicates that it refers to the member of a Sect. Ewald calls
our attention to the fact that if Cananean meant one who lived in Cana,
we should have the formation Kavadaios.
2 Num. xxv. 7-
3 1 Cor. i. 27.
4 Thomas, in Hebrew KDXJ1, means "a twin,'' and is so translated in
S. John's Gospel ; Qupds 6 Xeyopevos Aldvpos (John xxi. 2). Eusebius
says that his real name was Judas (Historia ecclesiastica, i. 13). According
to Tradition he was born at Antioch, and had a twin sister named Lydia
(Patres Apostolici, Cotel. edrs., pp. 272, 501).

252 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
plicity, even in the very midst of the Last Supper, that he
could not understand the words of the Lord.1
" Master," said he, " we do not know where you are
going, nor which way the road lies."
After all Jesus' Ministry was finished, after all His
miracles, Thomas had not become grounded in the firm
faith that He was God ; after the Resurrection we see him
still unable to put trust in this new wonder, — dejected,
despairing, demanding that the Master permit him to
touch His wounds with his hands before he would believe.2
And notwithstanding, he had a generous heart ; for when
Jesus braved the wrath of the Jews face to face, that He
might raise up Lazarus from the dead, it was Thomas who
incited the Apostles with those words which all our Mar
tyrs have repeated after him : —
" Come, let us also go and die with Him ' "3
James and Jude, the two sons of Alpheus and Mary,
we have already seen at their home in Nazareth.4 Through
out the whole ministry of Jesus they continued to be just
what they were then, — hard-working mechanics, whose
minds were filled with longings for earthly goods. It
needed the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the day of
Pentecost to transform these kinsmen of the Lord into
Apostles, to inspire Jude with that mighty Epistle of his,
and to make of James the Less one of the most illustrious
Bishops of the new-born Church.
As Pastor of Jerusalem during nearly thirty years, the
latter fostered and strengthened the perfect good-will
which bound the Pagan and Jewish converts together ; at
the first Council he suggested the wisest resolutions, and
it was he who protected Saint Paul against the unreasoning
and fanatic partisans of Judaism. All Jews who became
Christians held this servant of God in veneration as their
leader, and cherished with deep respect his Epistle,
addressed " to the twelve tribes dispersed throughout the
world,"5 in which the Apostle scourges the vices of his
fellow-countrymen, their strifes, their haughty and grasp-
1 John xiv. 5. 2 John xx. 25. 8 John xi. 16.
4 See page 87. 6 James i. 1.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 253
ing character. The later years of .Tames were passed in
prayer; kneeling whole days and nights together in the
Temple, he delayed by his intercession the ruin which
overhung Jerusalem like a dark storm-cloud ; indeed, he
was " the Rampart of his People," 1 according to a common
saying among his contemporaries. His death was worthy
of such a life. At the Festival of the Pasch, the High
Priest Ananias and the Council of the Sanhedrin com
manded him to exhort the Jews to give up their faith
in Jesus. The holy old man allowed them to lead him
out upon one of the galleries of the Temple, and promised
them he would speak to the people, but it was only that
he might seize one last chance to glorify his Master.
" Wherefore would you question me concerning Jesus ? "
he cried out. " He is seated at the right hand of the
Almighty, and will appear again upon the clouds of
Heaven." His furious persecutors fell upon him and threw him
down upon the pavement below, and there they stoned him.
As he was dying, the aged Apostle drew himself up, and
remained kneeling long enough to beseech God to forgive
his executioners ; whereupon a man who had armed himself
with a fuller's mallet strode up and put an end to his suf
ferings. His people buried him close by the Temple. Eight
years later, Jerusalem was only a charred heap of ashes.2
And now we have still to speak of the most illustrious
of the Apostles, — Simon and Andrew, sons of Jonas ;
James and John, the sons of Zebedee. These four fisher
men of Bethsaida form a group by themselves, and at their
head we always find the Prince of the Apostles, Simon
Peter. The least known one among them is Andrew,
whose personality is, as it were, overshadowed by his
brother's brilliant renown. After having brought Simon
to Jesus,3 he disappears in the background. But if his life
1 "His rare virtues had won for him the surname of Oblias ('(ipxias),
the Rampart of the People," Dl^Si' (Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica,
lib. ii. cap. xxiii.).
2 Fragmenta, Hegesippi (Migne, Patrologie grecque, t.v. p. 1307).
3 John, i. 41.

254 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
was hidden, his death shed such radiance about it, that
the priests and deacons of Achaia sent tidings of the glo
rious event to the whole Church. Their narrative enables
us to follow, step by step, every act of the Martyr, — the
examination, the replies of Andrew, and his protracted
tortures. He died upon the cross, uttering sucli cries of
love for Jesus as thrilled the hearts of those through
whose soul the sound reechoed, while they wept in
silence.1 Beside Andrew, there are Peter, James, and John, who
are always the chosen ones among the chosen few, the
intimate companions whom the Master admitted to His
confidence and familiar friendship. We see them, the
only ones present at the raising of Jairus's daughter ;
the only ones at the Transfiguration ; the only ones at the
Agony of the Saviour. Jesus has told us what made Him
so particularly attached to the two sons of Zebedee; it
was because their great hearts burned in fierce flashes,
like the lightning; whence it was that He gave them that
beautiful name, — " Sous of the Thunderbolt," — Boaner
ges.2 They had something of its resistless rush, and some
times, too, its destructive wrath. Witness the day when
they called down the fire of heaven upon a Samaritan
village which refused to harbor them. They had inherited
this unbounded zeal from Salome, their mother. Having
devoted herself to the Saviour's cause, faithfully following
Him even to His Cross, the wife of Zebedee the fisherman
dared to dream of a place for her sons at the side of the
Christ, and upon His Throne.3 Jesus tried to curb this
ambition by reminding them that His glory was to be
bought at the price of suffering.
" Can you drink of My Chalice ? " He asked.
"That we can," instantly replied the sons of Salome.
This confidence touched the Lord ; and it was then He
] In the Patrologie grecque of M . Migne ; see Acta et Martyrium S.
Andrece, Apostoli (t. ii. p. 1217).
2 Mark iii. 17. BUT '^3. The Scheva is changed to Oa in the Aramean
tongue : Boavypyis.
3 Matt. xx. 22, 23.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 255
granted to James that, before all others, he sliould not only
drink this cup of sorrow, but that he should drain it in a
single draught. His zeal marked him out for a victim to
the sword of Herod Agrippa, and he in fact was the first
of the Apostles to meet the Martyr's death.1
The other son of Salome was to survive them all.
Soaring above the earth, to the inaccessible heights of his
heavenly home, he led a hidden life so long as Peter and
Paul held the Christian world in the bonds of faith. But
at the end of the first century, when the Witnesses of the
holy Word had vanished one by one, and when heresy
threatened the youthful Church, the voice of John pierced
the cloud. His Gospel, the Epistle which announced it,
and the Apocalypse, were like so many sheets of lightning,
now dazzling our sight, now thrilling us with peals of
thunder, now blinding our eyes when we would descry the
outlines of his awful visions : the showers of fire and of
blood ; the Cups of gold overflowing with Wrath ; the
Steeds, with serpents for their manes and tails, having
breastplates of fire, breathing out flame and brimstone;
the Red Dragon, with the seven heads and the ten horns,
drawing together with his tail a third part of the stars of
the sky, and hurling them down upon the earth.2 Thus
it was, with a loud voice, that the Seer of Patmos was
constrained to reveal the great matter of his ecstasies.
Christian Art has been prone to sink these raptures of the
Apostle into the shadow, and so we are too apt to forget
them ; painting has rather accorded him every grace of
youth, with his eyes lifted up to the heavens, often with
an almost virginal timidity. Undoubtedly "the disciple
whom Jesus loved " 3 had great tenderness of heart, but it
was a heart which throbbed in unison with a soul of fire ;
and it was this latter trait which won for him the Master's
love when He called him, " Son of the Thunder ; " and in
like manner it moves us most strongly when we see the
Apostle drawing away in horror from the heretic Cerin-
thus, and filling the Apocalypse with those terrible and
1 Acts xii. 2. 2 Apoc. viii. 7 ; xv. 7 ; ix. 17-19 ; xii. 3, 4.
8 John xiii. 23.

256 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
mysterious images. John's rightful emblem is not the
Dove, but the Eagle. This passionate ardor, penetrated
with deepest tenderness, drew to him the Heart of Jesus,
and made John the Beloved Disciple.
The character of Simon, son of Jonas, presents no such
opposite traits. It is all summed up in the name which
Jesus bestowed on him : " Thou art Peter, and upon this
Rock I will build My Church." 2 The great Apostle, there
fore, was to serve as the Foundation of the Church, — was
to be for his brethren as a Guide and infallible Head.
And after the election of the Twelve, the Lord made
known these prerogatives of Peter so publicly and so em
phatically, in order that all might bow before him. Ever
after this day we find him speaking and acting in their
name. At Capharnaum, when the Master demanded sadly,
"And you, — will you too go away?"2 it was he who
responded, in the name of all the rest, —
" Lord, to whom should we go ? You have the words of
eternal life ! "
It was he who, at Csesarea, in the land of Philip, once
again proclaimed the faith of the Apostles, —
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."3
This lofty dignity conferred upon him became the
occasion of his fall ; it puffed him up with vain-glory,
turned his energy into presumption, his firmness into blind
obstinacy ; it went so far as to make him openly contradict
his Master, and drew down upon him that severe reply, —
" Get thee gone, Satan ! thou art a scandal unto Me, for
thy thoughts are not of God, but of man." 4
¦ At the close of the ministry of Jesus, Simon, son of
Jonas, is not any longer the immovable rock, but like a
loose stone in the road, which a woman's hand may fling
aside into the ditch. Yet even then it was not all over
with Peter, since after his overthrow he but made for him
self a surer abiding place, and in his sorrow found firmer
foundations. Overwhelmed with his humiliation, he nev
ertheless rose up in "the greatness of the power of God."6
» Matt. xvi. 18. 2 John vi. 68-70. 3 Matt. xvi. 16.
4 Matt. xvi. 23. 5 2 Cor. iv. 7.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES 257
Henceforth, neither his faith nor his mighty courage were
ever to fail him ; we encounter him everywhere at the
head of his brethren, the first to grope his way within the
tomb of Jesus, and to gaze upon his Risen Lord ; the first
to get into the little ship at that last miraculous draught
of fishes; the first to cast himself into the sea, to go to
meet the Saviour ; first, too, to drag up on the shore the
net, which had not broken beneath the weight of its one
hundred and fifty-three fishes.1
Before He went away from their sight into the skies,
Jesus laid upon Peter the Charge of pasturing His flock,
to feed His sheep, as well as His lambs.2 The Apostle
fulfilled the command of the Lord, stood at their head,
ordered their manner of teaching and the form of their
government, and by stamping the new-born Faith with his
seal, gave it the character which it was to bear unto all
future ages, making the first acts of the infant Church the
Acts of Peter.
In the Apostolic College there is still one gloomy figure
left, which each of the Evangelists thrusts down to the
lowermost rank, — Judas, son of Simon, the man from
Kerioth. Jesus asked only one Apostle from Judea, and
Judea gave Him a traitor. All that we know of him,
apart from the tale of his treachery, is that his skill in the
management of money won him his position of trust as
Treasurer of the Apostles.3 Hence he must have gained
their confidence from the outset ; and indeed he retained
it up to that last Passover, for it was at his instigation
that they murmured against the Magdalene, as she poured
out her perfumes upon the head of Jesus. Though he
grew ever more depraved and desperate, the man from
Kerioth had always succeeded in blinding their eyes ; so
that on the night of the Last Supper, when the Lord fore
told the crime in whose shadow they sat, no one dreamed
of charging Judas with it ; only the calm glance of Jesus
could read the heart of the thief. How many were the
words spoken by the Saviour to the multitude which in
1 John xx. 6 ; Luke xxiv. 34 ; John xxi. 1-11. 2 John xxi. 15-17.
3 John xii. 1-7.
VOL. I. — 17

258 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the ears of this faithless follower must have resounded in
tones of appeal or reproach ! Now He is urging them to
true charity : " Do not heap up treasures upon the earth.
. . . There, where your heart is, there is your treasure
also. . . You cannot serve God and Mammon." x Now
He gives utterance to His feeling of horror : " Have I not
chosen you Twelve ? And there is one among you who is
a devil ! " 2 The divine Master could not resolve to aban
don " this son of perdition." 3 At Gethsemani, once more,
He kissed him, and called him His friend.4
Composed of such different characters, the College of
the Apostles stands before us, from all we can know of its
members. Henceforward they were to form a little band
of chosen ones about the Saviour, journeying with Him
throughout Judea, sharing His labors and His repasts;
like Him, they had not where to rest their head, and often
laid themselves down by His side without other roof than
the starry heavens, with no shelter save the providence
of God their Father.
1 Matt. vi. 19, 21, 24. 2 John vi. 71, 72. 3 John xvii. 12.
4 Matt. xxvi. 50.

CHAPTER III.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
Matt, v., vi., vii. ; Luke vi. 20-49.
Christian orators have always delighted iu contrasting
Moses upon cloud-capped Sinai with Jesus promulgating
the New Law upon the Mount of the Beatitudes. On the
one hand we see Jehovah wrapped in dazzling mists, that
flash and thunder before His awful Presence ; and on the
other, in the quiet of early morning, we hear a Voice whose
beloved accents thrill the people's heart. Of old there was
the dread hush of the desert ; no water was there, nor any
green thing, — only the red-litten peaks rising high above
desolate mountain crags ; but here we have every charm
of a spring-time in Galilee, the soft slopes of a little hill
looking down upon sunny pasture-lands, while the spark
ling lake of Genesareth ripples along the shore ; in a word,
yonder was the Law of death, delivered to a disobedient
and awe-struck nation ; here the law of grace is announced
to the believing and joyous throngs.
Beneath such poetic parallels is there really any un
derlying truth ? Can the Sermon on the Mount be set
side by side with the Tables of Stone, graven by the hand
of Jehovah, or in point of fact, did Jesus actually present
it to us as a Code of Christianity ? There is nothing to
prove that this discourse, as preserved by Saint Matthew,
had any such distinctive character; that the Evangelist
made choice of this one in particular was because no other
seemed to him better fitted to convey an idea of the Mas
ter's teaching. Indeed Jesus could not have found any
more favorable opportunity for disclosing His doctrine.

260 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Up to this time He never had had gathered about Him an
audience having knowledge enough of heavenly things to
enable them to understand Him ; later on, being surrounded
by spies, He had not the same liberty, and was often forced
to use mystical language and to speak in parables. But at
the time of the Sermon on the Mount the Saviour's ene
mies were not tracking His footsteps so closely as to hound
Him through every secluded spot like this ; they were con
tent to keep watch upon Him in the towns and synagogues.
Freed for the time being from the hunter's pursuit, and
speaking to people who were wholly devoted to Him,
Jesus could ease His overflowing heart, and reveal in its
fulness the light He had brought into the world. The Ser
mon on the Mount, although quite similar in form to other
of the Saviour's instructions, has been chosen, however, for
very good reasons, as being the completest expression of the
doctrine of Christianity and a brief epitome of the Gospel.
We possess two accounts of it,1 — Saint Luke's summary,
written for the Pagan converts, which contains no allusion
to Judaic customs ;2 and the text of Saint Matthew, in which
1 We connect the Sermon reported by S. Matthew (v., vi., vii.) with the
one which S. Luke (vi. 20-49) summarizes after the calling of the Apostles.
This conjunction, though rejected by certain commentators, appears per
fectly legitimate to us. In fact, the renown of Jesus, which seems now to
have spread throughout Syria, the multitudes coming from far-away
places, all the facts recited at the close of the fifth chapter of S. Matthew,
would imply that His work was already far advanced. Further on, in the
body of the Sermon, these words of the Saviour : "Do not believe that
I am come to abolish the Law . . ." would also infer that His preaching
already had excited some suspicions. Hence Jesus did not deliver this
discourse at the beginning of His ministry. But then, why need we distin
guish between this and the one we find in the sixth chapter of S. Luke '!
They have many manifest and indisputable points of similarity, — the
same opening, the same sequence of ideas, the same illustrations, the same
conclusion. The principal variance between the two is in that the dis
course was delivered upon a mountain according to S. Matthew, in a plain
and smooth place according to S. Luke. To do away with this difficulty,
we only have to suppose that, on the mountain side, there was a lofty
plateau, and that Jesus came down from the higher peaks above to speak
to the people who were gathered in this place. And indeed this is
precisely the configuration of Kourn Hattin, where, if we are to believe
Tradition, the Lord pronounced the Sermon on the llount.
2 " Lucas in transcribendis Christi sermonibus et orationibus, qu«s
habent priora Evangelia, ea qua3 in ceteras gentes dicta esse videntur,

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 261
the Master's words are reflected as in a clear and spotless
mirror. In the latter record the whole scene about Him
as He preached lives again before our eyes : the meadows
dotted over with brilliant lilies, the thornbush thickets, the
rich greenery of the vines, fig-trees growing alongside the
thistles, birds flitting across the clear blue sky, while over
yonder, around the doors of those humble cottages, you
can see the cattle grazing, or at rest; there are fishermen
coming up from the neighboring shores of the lake, — men
who would be horrified at the thought of giving their chil
dren a serpent instead of a fish.1 From the highlands of
Kourn Hattin, at one time, the Saviour could point out on
the distant horizon some city built upon a hill;2 then
again, close at hand, in the little hamlets among the moun
tains, He could remind these village-folk how the savorless
salt is thrown out into the street,3 or He would picture
them a scene within the walls of their farm-houses, recall
ing the single flaring torch which they were accustomed to
light at evening, hanging it over the heaps of grain so as
to measure them off bushel by bushel ; and from this He
took occasion to say : " You are the light of the world ; no
one lights a lamp in order to put it under a bushel, but to
set it within its socket, so that it may illumine the whole
house ; thus let your light shine before men." 4
By describing time and place so minutely Saint Mat
thew lets us know that he was one of the listeners to the
prorsus resecat, aut eorum severitatem mitigat aliquo modo " (Patrizi, De
Evangeliis, lib. ii. cap. iii. 51).
1 Matt. vi. 28, vii. 16, vi. 26, vii. 6, vii. 9, 10.
2 Matt. v. 14. The town to which Jesus pointed would appear to be
Safed ; indeed it can be seen very clearly from the Mount of the Beati
tudes, and its ruins attest that it existed in the time of the Christ. The
fact of a town being built upon the heights is of as rare occurrence in
Galilee as it is common iu Judea ; it would be very natural for Jesus to
use it as a striking figure of the Church and the influence which she was to
exercise upon the world.
3 Matt. v. 13. Thomson chanced to see a merchant in Sidon whose
stock of salt had lost its flavor from being left on the ground ; the man got
rid of it in the same fashion as is here mentioned in the Gospel, — scatter
ing it under the feet of the passers by, and beneath the beasts of burden
(Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 381).
4 Matt. v. 15, 16.

262 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
heavenly discourse on this occasion ; but need we conclude
from this that he has given us every word uttered by the
Lord on that great day ? The most learned expounders
have always held the opposite opinion,1 and everything
sustains their theory, — the concise expression of the ideas,
the abundance of maxims, the brusque transitions, the par
ables and the similitudes but barely suggested; indeed, the
divine Master was not accustomed to speak in such style.
Suiting His words to the comprehension of the simple,
earnest minds of His hearers, He would repeat one thought
over and over again, putting it before them under a new
form each time until it was fully grasped ; thus He fol
lowed no order, save only such as was prompted by a
Heart which would sacrifice everything to its one longing
to be known and loved. For Saint Matthew to recount
these Homilies word for word would have been to go be
yond the scope of his Gospel, since we know that Jesus
was never too tired to prolong His instructions while there
were souls who needed His help. The Evangelist has
chosen rather to select such sayings of the Master as he
deemed best adapted to represent His teaching.
Of all the words that fell from His lips on that day none
were more strange and surprising in their tenor than the
Beatitudes proclaimed by the Saviour; for every prejudice
of Israel was overthrown by them. In truth, Moses, by
making use of material images to move this worldly
minded people, had thought to reach their hearts by setting
before their eyes the earthly rewards of righteousness, and
had promised Israel that its glory or its shame would
finally depend upon its faithfulness to Jehovah. The Jews
had concluded from this that prosperity always attends
1 "Ego jam monui non esse anxie quaerendam in evangelistis sententi-
arum connexionem, quia res non eo ordine scribere voluerunt quo factse a
Christo vel dicta; sunt. Quod prsecipue in ejus concionibus observatur, in
quibus nee omnia qua; dixit, nee eo quo dixit ordine recensent, contenti
prsecipua ejus doctrinse capita conimemorare " (Maldonatus, in Malt. vii.
1). " Compertum habemus ab evangelistis, quum alicujus dicta litteris
consignabant, non ipsa verba, sed verborum sensum relatum esse quam
srepissime. Sic verba quibus Christus Eucharistiam instituit, aliter Mat-
thasus, aliter Marcus, aliter Lucas retulere " (Patrizi, De Evangeliis, lib.
iii. diss, xlvii. 22).

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 263
upon the godly man ; that wealth being a mark of God's
favor, sorrow and trouble are sure tokens of His wrath.
Hence arose, despite the spirit of charity which breathes
throughout the Law, that scorn of poverty and their harsh
usage of the unfortunate and sick, whom they regarded as
sinners meeting with a just punishment; hence too they
imbibed their mistaken ideas as to the Messiah, who
was to raise up their nation to the pinnacle of glory and
riches. Few were the words which Jesus used to dispel such
dreams as these. Instead of wealth He set before these
Jews the happiness of the poor ; to the passionate spirits
whose visions are all of great victories He speaks of meek
ness ; tells the hearts in love with pleasure that there is
joy in the gift of tears ; to the hungry and thirsty He says
that righteousness shall sustain them ; preaches mercy to
the pitiless natures, the loveliness of purity to the sensual
man ; teaches the blessedness of the peaceful and long-
suffering to a people writhing beneath their yoke. What
a disenchantment for the mighty ones of this world ! But
for the poor and the lowly of earth was there ever rev
elation so unhoped for ? Only consider for a moment
how dreadful their destitution was, even here in Israel ;
think of the oppressions endured by the weak aud gentle ;
imagine the despair of those whom misfortune had over
come, who had no one to wipe away their tears ; and
remembering this we can understand the joy of wretched
and weary souls when they heard the Christ speaking these
words to them : l —
" Blessed are the poor in spirit,2 because to them be-
longeth the Kingdom of Heaven.3
1 Matt. v. 3-12.
2 That is to say, happy are those hearts which are not bound down by
the care of riches, who, if they have wealth love not vain pomp nor over
bearing conduct, and do not crave to get everything for themselves !
Happy too are the poor, who, though actually despoiled of all, are resigned
ancl murmur not !
8 The Kingdom of Heaven is the name which the, contemporaries of
Jesus always used in alluding to the reign of the Messiah ; in the Rab
binical language the word "Heaven" is frequently used as a synonym for
"God." So in places where S. Matthew, writing for Jewish readers,

264 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
"Blessed are those who weep, because they shall be
comforted.1 " Blessed are the meek, because they shall possess the
land. " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice,
because they shall have their fill.
" Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain
mercy. " Blessed are the peace-makers, because they shall be
called the Children of God.
" Blessed are those who are pure of heart, because they
shall see God.
" Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice'
sake, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." 2
Seeing the Master destroy so many of their illusions, the
Jews might well believe he wished to revolutionize all
Israel ; and indeed this is why He was so careful to add that
His Mission was not to abolish the Law, but to elevate it to
the point of perfection.3 Moses had said : Thou shalt not
kill ; Jesus would even forbid angry words and feelings of
hatred.4 Moses denounced adultery ; Jesus condemned an
employs this phrase, with which they were all familiar : ' ' The Kingdom
of Heaven ; " S. Luke prefers to give a form which would be clearer to the
minds of the Gentiles, — " The Kingdom of God."
1 The Vulgate and the. Syriac of Cureton place the beatitude of the
meek before that of the sorrowing ; they are supported by the authority of
the Codex Bezae. But a majority of the manuscripts (notably those of
Sinai and the Vatican) and numerous versions (Peshito, Coptic, Ethi
opian, etc.) invert this order.
2 It would seem as though the Lord feared that He might not be clearly
comprehended; for we learn from S. Luke (vi. 24-26) that He reinforced
His blessed promises with these terrible anathemas : "Wo unto you that
are rich, for you have your consolation ! Wo unto you that are filled,
for you shall hunger ! Wo unto you that laugh now, for you shall weep
and mourn some day ! Wo to you when all men shall praise you, for it
was thus that their fathers did to the false prophets ! "
3 Matt. v. 17-19.
4 Matt. v. 21-26. To give some idea of the punishments which God
has reserved for cruel and merciless men in the other life, Jesus recalled
the three forms of capital punishment then in vogue amid the Jews. The
sword was the weapon of the legal tribunal which was established in every
city (Kpiaei) ; stoning was the penalty inflicted by the Sanhedrin (avvedplu),
burning was reserved for notorious criminals (r'nv yiewav). Therefore
angry feelings will deserve the first degree of punishment, which was death

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 265
impure glance or an evil thought.1 Moses tolerated divorce ;
Jesus restored Marriage to its primitive sanctity.2 It was
written in the Law, " Thou shalt not perjure thyself, but
thou shalt perforin thine oaths unto the Lord." 3
" And now," spoke the Christ, " I say to you : Do not
swear at all, neither by Heaven nor by the earth, nor by
Jerusalem.4 Let your speech be : ' This is so,' ' That is not
so,' — ' Yes,' ' No.' Everything which is more than this
comes from an evil source."
" You have heard that it has been said : ' Eye for eye,
tooth for tooth.'5 And now I say to you, Do not withstand
by the sword. If they go further than this, — if this hatred displays itself
outwardly by some furious expression, as it would be to treat one's brother
as an "empty-headed fellow" (Raca, NiT"!), — this would be to draw
down upon the speaker a sentence as stern as that of the Sanhedrin, — the
Supreme Tribunal from which there was no appeal ; but for him who would
go further in his wretched passion, so far as to treat his brother as a
"fool" (Mupi) or "infidel" (n"1D, Num. xx. 10), upon him would befall
a fearful visitation, which Jesus compares to the abomination of Gehenna
(Ge-hinnom : DiJil "1), thus they had named the low-lying valley which
surrounds Jerusalem to the south and west, where the corpses of con
demned criminals were abandoned without burial, and the great fagots
consecrated to Moloch had once smouldered and failed to burn.
' Matt. v. 27-30.
2 Matt. v. 31, 32.
3 Matt. v. 33-37.
4 The Law forbade perjury ; but the Jewish doctors evaded this pro
hibition by teaching that one was not bound by his word unless he for
tified it by an oath in the Name of God Himself. To call Heaven, earth,
and the holy City to witness one's fidelity was not an oath, they said, and
so they took advantage of this technical distinction in order to deceive the
Pagans. Jesus restored to Truth its sacred rights. He declared that in
every promise there is something of the divine which may not be despised.
Surely the heavens are the throne of Jehovah ; the earth is His footstool,
and Jerusalem the city of the Great King. Then, lifting the minds of
His hearers to a higher plane of thought, He reminded them that sin alone
has begotten lying upon the earth ; sin has imposed upon us the humili
ating necessity of calling on God's Holy Name if we would have our word
accepted as sacred and inviolable instead of doubtful and untrustworthy.
Man, in his natural state of rectitude would be believed upon his simple
affirmation, and the Christian's first duty is to recover that primitive
sincerity. 6 Matt. v. 38-42. This was the spirit of the ancient Covenant, as it
was the Rule laid down in the tribunals of Judea. There was a certain
kind of justice shown in this desire not to go beyond the measure of exact
retribution, and to proportion the punishment to the actual injury done by
the crime.

266 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
violence ; but if any one strike you on the right cheek,
turn to him the other.1 And if any one wish to enter into
judgment with you, and contend with you for your tunic,
let him take your mantle also.2 And if any one force you
to go one mile,3 go with him two miles more. Give to
whoever asks, nor rebuff him who would borrow of you."
Still these divine instructions lacked somewhat of ful
filling the ancient Law in its perfectness. To completely
develop its germ of life, and to make it bear the fruits of
grace, it was necessary that Jesus should shatter the close
and narrow circle within which the Jews had confined it ;
therefore He must first work a change in their feelings
toward other nations. Moses, knowing the weakness of
His people, had prohibited any commerce with Idolaters ;
the Jewish Doctors had turned this precaution into an odi
ous precept, looked upon every foreigner as an enemy,4 and
wrote down such ruthless dicta as were afterwards to find
a place in the Talmud: "Have no pity upon Gentiles."4
" The Pagan is not our neighbor." 5 Against this Law of
1 Here it is not so much a literal precept that Jesus would have us fol
low ; rather, He is urging us to show that willingness of heart which is
glad to endure all things out of the pure love of God. Discretion, pru
dence, charity itself, often compel us to rebuke those who attack us, and
even to withstand them. Jesus and His Apostles have given us sundry
examples of this (John xviii. 22 ; Acts xxiii. 3).
2 If a creditor would seize his tunic as a pledge, he must abandon not
only this less costly garment to his greed but the outer mantle as well,
which was more valuable, and served for a covering in the night-time
(Exod. xxii. 26) ; that is to say, he must suffer himself to be robbed of all
rather than indulge in potty recriminations or harbor a spirit of ill-will and
retaliation. 8 'Ayyapevcei ; from "Angar," a Persian word which is defined as a
"Courier." Herodotus records (viii. 98) that the kings of Persia, in order
to insure the efficiency of their postal service, had decreed that no indi
vidual should withhold his horses at the demand of these Messengers of
State ; from Persia this law passed into all the Oriental Codes. Among
the statute labors which were laid upon the Jews by their Roman task
masters, it would seem that this was one of the most repugnant to the
vanquished people ; for Demetrius, hoping to pacify their uneasy spirit,
promised that no forced levies upon beasts of burden should be made
among the inhabitants of Judea (Josephus, Antiquitates, xiii. 2, 3).
4 "Apud ipsos (Judasos) fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu, sed
adversus omnes alios hostile odium" (Tacitus, Historia:, v. 5); "Non
monstrare vias eadem nisi sacra colenti" (Juvenal, Satiric, xiv. 103).
5 See Lightfoot and Schcettgen, Horae Hcbruictr, in loco.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 267
Hate Jesus pleaded for Charity, which finds its brothers
in all mankind, and in God their common Father.1
" Love your enemies ; do good to those who hate you ;
pray for those who maltreat you and slander you, in order
that you may be the children of your heavenly Father,
who makes His sun rise upon the good and upon the
bad, and sends down rain upon the just and unjust. For
if you love those who love you, what reward shall you
merit ? Do not the publicans as much ? And if you
greet your brethren only, what more are you doing ? Do
not Pagans the same ? Be you therefore perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect." 2
How differently the Law sounded, listening to the Lord's
simple reading of it, and contrasting it with the hypocriti
cal practices which the Pharisees had miscalled the Law !
Jesus denounced these sectaries, zealous to preserve a
decorous outside, but caring naught for the corruption and
malice seething in their own hearts,3 sounding trumpets
when they gave alms to publish their virtues before the
world,4 disfiguring themselves to make a show of their
fasts before men, haughtily standing up and praying with
a loud voice in the synagogues and on the corners of the
streets. 1 Matt. v. 43-48.
2 We have only to compare the accounts of S. Luke and S. Matthew to
note how the Saviour, in order to make Himself more clearly understood,
repeated the same thought under various forms: " Do to another as you
would have him do to you. . . . And if you lend to those from whom you
hope to receive a return, what thanks do you deserve? Sinners too, lend
to sinners, in order to receive as much in return. But as for you, love
your enemies ; do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your
reward shall be great, and you shall be called the children of the Most
High ; for He is kind to the thankless and the wicked. Be merciful,
therefore, as your Father is merciful " (Luke vi. 31-36).
3 Matt. vi. 1-8.
4 Some commentators suppose that the Pharisees did really blow upon a
trumpet to gather the poor about them, and so distribute their alms in this
ostentatious fashion ; but Lightfoot, who is so perfectly conversant with
Rabbinical literature, declares that he has not been able to find the slight
est sign of any such usage. Hence, we can only regard this as part of the
figurative language of His discourse : "lis sont eux-memes leur trompette,
tant ils craignent de n'Stre pas vus" (Bossuet, Meditations sur L'Flvangile:
Sermon sur la Montagne, xxe journee).

268 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
" Do not imitate them," said the Saviour, " for your
Father knows of what you have need before you ask it
of Him. As for you, pray thus : 1 —
- Our 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 ;2
" And forgive us our debts,3 as we forgive our debtors ;
" And lead us not into temptation;
" But deliver us from evil."4
Nothing could show better than this prayer- how Jesus
would change the sons of Israel into a new people by
diverting their desires from earth and raising them to
Heaven, by proposing nobler ends as the rewards of right-
l Matt. vi. 9-13.
2 'Ewiovo-iov. This word is peculiar to the Evangelists (Matt. vi. 11;
Luke xi. 3). It may come from iirl livai, or, to be more exact, from the
feminine participle y iiriovaa, with ypipa understood, "the coming day."
'H lrapovo-a, y irpoaiovira are in fact phrases commonly used by the Septua
gint as well as by Josephus to designate the morrow, and S. Jerome found
" Mahar : "1710, quod dicitur crastinus," instead of imoiaiov in the Gospel
which was written for the Hebrews. Tbv &prov rbv iirioveiov, therefore,
may be construed as meaning "Our bread for the morrow." Still, this
interpretation seems difficult to reconcile with the precept uttered by Jesus
immediately afterwards -. "Be not anxious about the morrow." Hence it
seems more natural to think that this word comes from iirl elvai, iwl ovala,
" the bread from which we have our being," which is our subsistence, our
bread of each day ; and this would imply not only the food of the body,
but all things which in like manner nourish the soul, such as the divine
word, the Sacraments, and above all things else the Holy Eucharist. This
is the thought of very many Fathers, and S. Jerome was moved thereby to
alter the Vulgate (Matt. vi. 11) which had " quotidianum " in the ancient
version, placing in its stead the word "supersubstantialem," "the Bread
that is above all substance." However, in S. Luke (xi. 3) he has left
' ' quotidianum. "
3 ' O0ei\i)/iMrra, "our debts," our omissions, our sins, as well as what we
have left undone ; ua Kal . . ., "even as," not "in the same measure
as . . . " (Hartung, Partikellehrc, i. p. 460).
4 Lightfoot has collected from the Rabbinical writings all the formulas]
of prayer which correspond in any way to the "Our Father." Such a]
comparison makes us realize more keenly, if possible, how original and
veritably divine is this Prayer which our Lord has taught us. So for the
prayer of man Jesus did what he had done for the whole Law of God. —
He completed it, aud bestowed upon it the perfectness of an altogether
heavenly grace.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 269
eousness. Undoubtedly Heaven existed for the Jew just
as it does for us to-day, yet he never lifted his eyes on
high, but looked for his recompense here below. The dis
ciple of Jesus, taught to long after celestial goods, spurns
such as are the creatures of time ; for his thoughts are all
fixed on incorruptible and eternal things. In this new
realm of the Spirit he does not fail to fulfil all the duties
of life, nor to endure its trials. He fasts as formerly,1 but
with a serene countenance, seeking to attain by morti
fication to a real detachment from worldly feelings, and
to a completer union with God. He prays, but it is in
secret he communes with the Father ; he distributes alms,
but without letting the left hand know what the right
hand is doing. With toil and trouble he seeks his daily
bread, yet without uneasiness or anxiety, without clinging
to the treasures which rust can corrode and thieves filch
away ; not, like the Jews, seeking to share his heart be
tween God and Mammon,2 but rather putting all his trust
in the Providence of the Father, he relishes, through all
their loveliness, something of the holy Truth of his Master's
words:3 —
" Be not harassed about your life, what to eat or what
to drink, nor for your body as to how you shall be clothed.
Is not the life more than the food, and the body more
than the raiment?
" Look up at the birds in the sky : they neither sow nor
reap nor gather into granaries, and your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are not you much more than they ?
" And which one of us by disquieting himself can add
another moment to his life's allotted span ? 4
1 Matt. vi. 16-24.
2 Mappuva, from the Chaldean XJl'DD, "riches." " Congruit et punicum
nomen, nam lucrum punice Mammon dicitur" (S. Augustine, in loco).
3 Matt. vi. 25-34.
4 'HXidav may mean the length of life or that of the body. The Vul
gate takes it in the latter sense, "Quis potest adjicere ad staturam suam
cubitum unum ? " but for the most part modern critics have, for very good
reasons, preferred the first construction. Indeed, Jesus intended in this
manner to remind man of his powerlessness to do any stint by himself,
howsoever small it might be ; now a cubit (two feet and a half) added to
the height of a man would surely be something great and unheard of. So

270 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
" Why are you solicitous as to your raiment ? Con
sider the lilies of the field,1 how they grow. They toil not,
.neither do they spin, and nevertheless I say to you not
Solomon himself in all his glory was ever arrayed like one
of these wild flowers.
" If then, this grass of the fields, which is to-day, and
to-morrow will be cast into the oven,2 God doth attire after
this sort, how much more shall He do unto you, 0 ye men
of little faith ?
"Do not be troubled therefore, saying, ' What shall we
eat ? ' or ' What shall we drink ? ' or ' Wherewith shall we
be clothed ? ' The Pagans seek after these things, but your
Father knows that you have need of them.
" Then seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice,
and all these things shall be given you, added unto them.3
" Be not anxious concerning the morrow. The morrow
shall be anxious for itself. Unto each day its own evil
suffices." To these instructions, which were the striking features
of the discourse, Saint Matthew adds certain precepts,
given by the Saviour at the same time. It is difficult to
find the link which bound together these thoughts and
images of widely different nature ; probably it is useless to
then, it behoves us to understand "the duration of life" by yXidav, and
then translate rryxw ha as " a moment." The Greeks in order to measure
time, often made use of ideas and images which properly belong to con
siderations of space. H-fixviov M xpbvov avBeaiv -tjpys -repirbpeBa (Mim-
nermus ; see Stobaeus, xcviii. 13).
1 By these field-lilies we are not to understand the flower which we
call by that name, but rather the anemones and tulips which in spring
time brightly bespread the meadows of Judea. During this season we
have strolled over the Phoenician country-side, and across the foot-hills of
Galilee, and, very often, all about us we saw the fields fairly covered with
these "lilies" of the Gospel, whose shades of crimson and gold might
well recall the splendid vestments and regal purple of Oriental monarchs
(Judges, viii. 26 ; Cant. vii. 5 ; Esth. viii. 15 ; Dan. v. 7, 16, 29).
2 An Eastern oven is no more than an earthen vessel in which they
enclose their bread, spreading over it dry herbs, which, while blazing,
produce an intense heat.
' There is a saying which Tradition attributes to Jesus, in development
of this thought : " Ask for the greater things, and you shall receive the
less together with them : ask for heavenly things, and the things of earth
shall be given you beside " (Fabricius, Codex apocryphus, i. 329).

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 271
seek any connection of the kind, the design of the Evange
list being, not to present us with a body of doctrine, but to
preserve such few sentences as still lingered fresh in his
memory. "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. . . . Give,
and it shall be given to you ; a good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over, they shall pour into your
bosom." 1 Hereupon the Lord speaks of the two blind men,
one of whom cannot lead the other without both falling
into the ditch ; of the mote and the beam ; 2 of the pearls
put before swine ; 3 of the Door opening wide to whoso
ever knocketh earnestly. " Who is the man among you
who gives his son a stone when he asks for bread ? And if
he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent ? If you, then,
wicked though you be, willingly give to your children of
the good things which are given you, how much more will
your Father who is in Heaven give truly good gifts to them
that have recourse unto Him ! " 4 Then, as the Master's
thoughts follow one upon the other in swift sequence, we
see the smooth and spacious highroad which sweeps on to
perdition ; the little gateway and the narrow path6 which
i Matt. vii. 1-2 ; Luke vi. 38.
2 Matt. vii. 3-8.
8 Pearls have something of the appearance of lintels, which make the
usual food of swine ; yet because these beasts are unable to guess the
worth of pearls, and are enraged at not being able to turn them to their
own base uses, they trample them under foot, and turn to rend those who
offer them a nourishment so little suited to their nature.
4 Matt. vii. 9-12.
5 Matt. vii. 13, 14. Was the Door of which Jesus speaks the gate of
entrance, or the goal of the journey ? It makes little difference which
hypothesis we may adopt, for in either case the real significance of the
figure remains. In the famous Cebes' Tablet we find an allegory very
like to this, and there the gateway lies at the end of the road : "Do you
not see a small door-way and a path leading up to this door ? it is not
much frequented, few wander that way. ... It is the way which leadeth
unto True Knowledge" (chap. xvi.). This thought is not the only one of
the maxims uttered by ancient philosophers which greatly resemble the
words of the divine Master ; but does that warrant us in believing that
His doctrine was borrowed from them ? Long ago S. Augustine eloquently
refuted this opinion, which has been repeated by the incredulous of all
ages : "Dixit hoc Pythagoras, dixit hoc Plato. . . . Propterea si inven
tus fuisset aliquis eorum dixisse quod dixit et Christus, gratulamur illi,
non sequimur ilium. Si quis vera loquitur, prior est quam ipsa Veritas !

272 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
lead to life ; there are the false prophets clad in sheep's
clothing,1 whom you may recognize as you test a tree by its
good or bad fruits. Finally w7e find the true and the false
disciples of the Christ, — "All those who say, 'Lord! Lord ! '
shall not for that reason enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ;
but he who doeth the will of My Father who is in Heaven
he shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." 2
Jesus terminated these teachings with a striking figure.
He had before His mind one of those sheltered ravines
which had cut deep into the flanks of some mountain-side,
while its floor is strewn with rocks and sand. For the
Oriental there is every temptation to build here in the bed
of dried-up torrents : he has little more to do than to stoop
and collect together the smooth stones ; it costs but a little
labor after that to level away the sand and erect his home.
And yet, woe to the imprudent fellow who lets himself be
seduced by the seeming security and safety of this shelt
ered spot, where no toil is needed to the making of his
dwelling ! Beneath those southern skies storms burst forth
in an instant, emptying streams of water down upon the
mountain-tops ; then of a sudden these parched channels
which wind through the gorges are transformed into raging
torrents once more. Before the mighty on-rush of the
waters everything is crumbled, crushed, and whirled away
in confusion. It were wisdom to dig one's solid habitation
deep and strong among the higher rocks ; there, raised upon
its firm base, his home can defy the fury of tempest and
floods. " Whoever," said the Lord,3 " hears these My words and
puts them in practice I will show you to whom he is
like.

0 homo, attende Christum, non quando ad te venerit, sed quando te
fecerit" (Enarrationes in Psalm, cxl. 6).
1 Matt. vii. 15-20. This may be an allusion to the customary garb of
Prophets, whose outer garment was the skin of an animal hung over their
shoulders : however, in all probability, Jesus wished to remind them that
the false prophets, the better to deceive them, would bear the outward
semblance of a lamb.
* Matt. vii. 21-23.
8 Matt. vii. 24-27.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 273
" He is like to a man who builded a house, and having
dug deep beforehand, sets its foundations upon the rock.
" The rains fall, the floods come, the winds blow aud
beat about this house ; but it has not fallen, because it is
founded on the rock.
"And he who hears these words which I speak and
does not put them in practice is like a foolish man who
has built his house upon the sand.
" The rain falls, the floods come, the winds blow and
beat about this house, and it has fallen, and its ruin has
been great."
Such was the Sermon on the Mount. With deep re
spect we may thus gather together all that Saint Matthew
and Saint Luke have remembered and recorded ; but there
is that which they were unable to set down here, — the
heavenly accents of the Master and the grace which ex
haled from His lips. The listening throngs were touched
with wondering rapture.1 That which charmed them more
than all besides was that He spoke and " taught as one
having authority, and not as their Scribes." Never before,
indeed, had Israel hearkened to language like this ; they no
longer heard teaching like that of their Doctors, — a dry
and heartless code of ethics, unending disputes about
trivial subjects ; here was no strained or tedious interpre
tation of the Law, no slavish attachment to the dead letter.
Everything about Jesus bespoke the sovereign Master
of the hearts of men, lifting them up toward the Truth,
yet without wrenching them away from earth ; the lof
tiest subjects were set before them in such homely phrases
that the lowly folk and their little ones could grasp His
meaning. He spoke to the villagers of life in the open
fields, of trees in fruit or with barren boughs, of wild-
flowers and of the mountain-torrents ; to the fishermen He
spoke of their lake or of their nets ; to all He told of what
they knew and loved, and they all, bending forward with
rapt and breathless interest, followed the Word in wonder
and delight. 1 Matt. vii. 28, 29.
VOL. I. — 18

CHAPTER IV.
CAPHARNAUM AND NAIM.
I. The Centurion of Capharnaum.
Luke vii. 1-10; Matt. viii. 1, 5-13.
Accompanied by a great concourse, Jesus descended the
mountain and returned to Capharnaum.1 He went thither
to experience the joy of welcoming the first Pagan who
was to come to Him, — one of the noblest souls of whom
the Gospel makes any mention. He was a Roman Cen
turion, commanding the detachment of legionaries stationed
upon the borders of the lake.2 Galilee, though it was
under Herod's rule, remained nevertheless under the over-
lordship of vigilant Roman governors ; and Capharnaum
was too important a position for the masters of the world
to neglect to occupy it. The officer charged with repre
senting the Empire here was worthy of that trust, — reso
lute in his biddings, keeping his soldiers under perfect
discipline, at the same time he was not so much the over
seer as he was the protector of Capharnaum. We know
that he had been more than a little drawn toward the wor
ship of Jehovah ; for this Pagan, who had remained upright
aud clean of heart in the midst of Roman corruption,
1 Matt. viii. 1 ; Luke vii. 1.
2 Some scholars interpret this as meaning that the Centurion was one of
the Samaritan officials under Herod Antipas ; but the Samaritans, though
of Gentile origin, were not, properly speaking, Pagans : they worshipped
Jehovah, and possessed a portion of His Law. Furthermore, the high
esteem in which the Centurion was held at Capharnaum can hardly be
reconciled with the mortal hatred which the Jews cherished against the
schismatics of Samaria.

THE CENTURION OF CAPHARNAUM. 275
could not have known the religion of the Jews without
being touched by its pure morality, and to this he had
himself borne witness publicly, by having a synagogue
built in the town.1 With this high tone of mind he com
bined certain feelings of humanity, which were certainly
rare enough at that period. There is no one who does not
know what sort of a position the slave held in ancient
days ; he was a machine with a human voice, — a beast of
burden, taken care of only in order to obtain a few years'
longer services.2 Should he grow old and sick, it were the
wisest course, according to certain most illustrious philos
ophers, " to sell him along with the old cattle and rusty
scrap-iron." 3 Yet this Centurion, when we see him first, is
leaning over the pillow of his old servant, watching and
weeping ; " for he loved him much." 4
His grief, being known throughout Capharnaum, had
moved his numerous friends to come to him, and they
were gathered about the sick man, who was now racked
with fierce agonies ; 6 death was drawing near. In this ex
tremity the Centurion learned of Jesus' return, and recalled
all he had heard said of Him ; yet, not daring to hope that
Israel's Benefactor would listen to a Pagan, he turned
toward the Ancients of Capharnaum,6 and asked them to
intercede for him.
The latter, remembering only their debt of gratitude, set
out in search of the Saviour, and besought His aid.
" This man deserves that you should assist him," they
said, " for he loves our nation, and has built us a syn
agogue." 1 Luke vii. 5.
2 " Instrument! genus vocale" (Varro, De Re rusticd, i. 17) ; " Servus
vel animal aliud " (Ulpian, Digesle, vi. 1, 15, par. 3).
3 Cato, De Re rusticd, iii.
4 Luke vii. 2.
6 This "paralysis " (Matt. viii. 6) was not the ailment which we know
by that name, for the effect of the latter is to annihilate all feeling, while
this slave suffered very sensible pains. By this name the ancients des
ignated quite different illnesses, such as rheumatism, tetanus, which is
so common in hot climates, etc.
6 Probably the Ancients here alluded to are the elders of the people,
and not those of the Synagogue, who are generally spoken of in S. Luke
by the name of doxiavvdyuyoi (Acts xiii. 15).

276 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Jesus acceded immediately to their request.
" I will go," He replied, " and I will heal him." 1
He followed after them, and as He was nearing the
house they informed the Centurion of His approach. The
Roman's surprise was great, for lie had never expected to
receive Him in his home, knowing that in the eyes of the
Pharisees one who entered a heathen's dwelling was de
filed. Desiring to spare the youthful Prophet such dis
grace, he despatched some of his friends, bearing this
message : —
" Lord, do not give yourself so much trouble, for I am
not worthy that you should enter into my house. It was
for this reason I dared not go to you ; but say only one
word and my servant shall be healed."
Then he himself, if we follow the text of Saint Matthew,2
came forward to meet the divine Master, and upon the
threshold of his mansion besought Him, as his only gift, to
vouchsafe one single word from His mouth. Accustomed
to command, he knew the power of a word.
" I, who obey another," he said, " have nevertheless
soldiers under me, and I say to one, ' Go ! ' and he goes,
and to another, ' Come ! ' and he comes, and to my servant,
'Do this,' and he does it."
Hearing him speak, Jesus was filled with admiration,
1 << They wished to prove their gratitude for all the kindness of their
fellow-citizen ; and undoubtedly, to the Lord, that was a most powerful
plea, that this man loved God's chosen Nation. So the Jewish Senators,
who would constrain Him to restore the ebbing life of this servant who
was so dear to the Centurion's heart, besought Jesus eagerly, urging
that ' He deserves to be assisted by you, for he loves our people, and
has built us a synagogue ; ' and straightway Jesus went with them and
healed the serving-man " (Bossuet, Politique lire~e de I'Ecriture, livre i.
article vi. proposition 2).
2 In fact, this Evangelist puts the same words into the mouth of the
Centurion which S. Luke tells us his friends uttered to the Lord. Ordi-
narily these two versions of the story are reconciled by asserting that
S. Matthew might justly attribute to the Centurion those words which
were spoken in his name. But without straining the simplicity of the
sacred text so far as this, would it not be perfectly natural to suppose
that the officer, meeting his Guest upon the threshold, would repeat the
same words with which he had told his friends to address the divine
Master ? Looked at in this light, his humility seems the more impressive
and touching.

THE CENTURION OF CAPHARNAUM. 277
and turning to the company who had followed Him, He
said : —
" Of a truth I have not found any so great faith, even
in Israel."
Praise like this, which exalted a Heathen above the
sons of Abraham, probably gave rise to some bitter mur-
murings of disapproval ; it may even be that the Lord had
discerned some of the Sanhedrin's spies mingling with the
crowd, for all at once His language grew threatening. The
Jews had pictured for themselves the reign of the Messiah
as it were a banqueting-board spread before them, and
them alone ; and they were fond of representing the con
fusion of the Gentiles, doomed only to gaze from afar upon
their sumptuous repasts.1
The divine Master recalled this haughty dream in order
to destroy it, and declared that Pagans coming from the
East and from the West would sit down to table by the
side of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the heavens ; while
the Jews, though children of the Kingdom of Heaven,
would be cast without the festal hall into the blackness of
night. " There shall be weeping and grinding of teeth." 2
Turning then to the Centurion, " Go," He said, " and may
it be done unto you even as you have believed." And the
servant was healed.
The Centurion of Capharnaum remains unto this day as
the consummate copy set before every soul that seeks
God. By praising his humility and faith the Lord has
shown us that thus it behoves us to come unto Him. Of
this the Church has been ever mindful ; and since that
1 "In mundo future (dixit Deus), mensam ingentem vobis sternam,
quod gentiles videbunt et pudefient " (Schcettgen, Horce Hebraicoe, in
loco). 2 Matt. viii. 11. That is to say, outside the circle of celestial light,
in Hell : "There they shall weep and gnash their teeth, for, from afar
off, they shall behold the high seats which they were to have had for
their own, the crowns they were to have worn upon their heads ; and
all this so clearly that they shall even descry how those fair thrones
are now filled by others, and those resplendent crowns upon others'
brows. Then they must needs groan without avail ; then will their rage
force them to grind their teeth in fruitless agony of soul " ( Rossuet, Medi
tations sur VExangile, derniere semaine, xviii6 jouruee).

278 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
time no one draws near the Table where Jesus gives us
Himself to be our Bread of Life without first rekindling in
his heart the feelings of this great Captain, murmuring
with reverent lips : —
" Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under
my roof, but speak only one word and my soul shall be
healed."

II. The Son of the Widow of Naim.
Luke vii. 11-17.
Jesus lingered only a little while at Capharnaum ; on
the next day, — so runs the record of Saint Luke,1 — He
had travelled some nine leagues thence, and had come to
the town of Nairn. There was nothing unusual about this
rapid journey ; for, by starting in the evening, a boat could
soon bring Him over to the southern shore of the lake,
and leaving there about sunrise He would reach the place
for which fie was bound easily before nightfall.
Nairn of to-day — a poor little village — has preserved
no tokens of her past, except her girdle of tombs ; there is
nothing now to justify her name, — "The Beautiful,"2 —
beside her site, upon the slope of a high hill, from which,
in a glance, one can sweep the plain of Esdralon, and far
away to Mount Tabor. But in the days of the Lord she
was glowing with life, and by her faith was made worthy
of receiving the Good News, and beholding His wondrous
works. At that time, the most glorious period of His Ministry,
the Master walked always attended by an eager array of
1 'Ev ry Qys (ypipa) . Tischendorf retains this reading, which is that
of the Sinaitic Manuscript, and the Palimpsest of Ephrem. 'Ev ry ^|ijs
(xpbvy), which is found in the Alexandrine Manuscript and in that of
Sinai (correction by a third hand), would mean that Jesus betook Himself
to Naim upon some one of the following days.
2 Naim, 0'))}, the Beautiful, the Charming City. S. Jerome (Ono-
masticon) locates this town some two miles south of Tabor and near
Endor. The present village lies upon the northerly flank of Little
Hermon.

THE SON OF THE WIDOW OF NAlM. 279
faithful souls. In this manner He wTas making the ascent
of the steep pathway which still leads up to Nairn, when,
from out the gates of the city, there came a funeral pro
cession ; it was advancing directly in the path of Jesus,
moving toward a tomb which had been made without the
walls. There is no sadder sight than a burial train in the
Orient ; certain of the kindred bear the body, resting on a
litter and swathed in perfumes and linen bands ; at their
head march the flute-players, who draw shrill, plaintive
notes from their pipes ; the mourners send up a chorus of
cries and wails, now beating their breasts, now tossing
their hands to heaven, or tearing their dishevelled hair.
And on this day their demonstration of woe must have
been more wild and clamorous than ever, for they were
seeking to give utterance to sorrow such as no tears can
wash away. The Gospel with one word makes us feel
how great was that grief: "he was his mother's only son,
and she was a widow." 1 This weeping woman followed
the body with a large company of the town's-folk.2
Jesus could not look upon this piteous sight without
being moved.
" Do not weep," He said to her ; and forthwith, coming
closer, He touched the bier.
The bearers understood His gesture, and stood still.
The throng waited in suspense for what was about to
happen; the flute-players and the wailing women were
hushed and still; through this expectant silence they
heard, the voice of the Saviour, —
"Young man, I say unto you, Arise!"
Instantly the dead sat up and began to speak. And
Jesus restored him to his mother.
In this deed, who could help recognizing the Prince of
Life, handling at His sovereign pleasure the keys of the
tomb ? Elias bringing back to life the son of the widow
1 Luke vii. 12.
2 From this concourse of people we cannot draw any conclusions as to
the social standing of this family, nor as to the public esteem which they
had won from the citizens of Naim, for it was a time-honored custom
among the Jews to accompany any funeral train which they chanced to
meet by the way.

280 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
of Sarepta, Eliseus restoring her child to the weeping
Sunamite woman,1 were evidently in every one's mind.
But what a difference between Jesus, breaking the bonds
of death by a word, and these Prophets, who must needs
throw themselves upon the corpse again and again, while
they revived it with their breath. Here, instead of the
prolonged and laborious efforts of a restricted power, there
is the simple Authority of the mighty Master ! " They all
were seized with fear, and glorified God, as they said, ' A
great Prophet has been raised from amongst us, and God
has visited His people ! ' " 2
As for the child thus called back to life, and this wid
owed mother, assuredly it was not fear that moved them,
but indeed a living faith which well-nigh overwhelmed
their hearts ; for it was not Jesus' custom to cure the
body without renewing the soul ; nor can we believe that
He would have awaked the dead youth from his funeral
couch, that so He might restore in him the life of the
senses, without, at one and the same time, inspiring the
breath of Immortality within his soul.

III. The Message sent by John the Baptist.
Luke vii. 18-35 ; Matt. xi. 2-19.
For more than six months now John Baptist had been
held as a captive by Herod, but from his frontier prison
he still followed the course of Him for Whom he had
made ready the road ; and this he could do the more easily
since his disciples were permitted to visit him, and could
thus keep him informed of all the doings of the Christ.
So, just at this juncture, he selected two from their
number, and despatched them to the Saviour with this
message : —
"Are you He who should come, or are we to await
some other ? " 3
1 3 Kings xvii. 21 ; 4 Kings iv. 35. - Luke vii. 16.
3 Luke vii. 19.

JOHN BAPTIST'S MESSAGE. 281
What is the meaning of these words ? Amidst the
weariness and dejection of his confinement, did John feel
his courage sinking ? Did he begin to lose faith in the
Christ ? 1 For us to harbor such a supposition would be
to misjudge his character entirely. The Precursor's only
design was to direct his disciples' minds by this means
straight to the only Teacher Who could fully instruct
them in the way of life. The Saviour, who at once fath
omed John's motive, made answer by letting them witness
certain deeds in which His almighty powers were mani
fested most strikingly. " In that same hour He healed all
those who came to Him, curing them of all their diseases
aud wounds, and of evil spirits ; and to a blind man He
restored his sight."2
Then turning to these envoys, He said, " Go, and report to
John that which you have both heard and witnessed, — the
blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead rise again, and to the poor the Good News
is announced."
Isaias, whose words Jesus borrows here, had foretold
that such marvels would mark the coming of the Messiah.3
He indeed had not spoken of any resurrection of the dead,
but the Lord could not be silent concerning that which
all Nairn was now publishing abroad, and therefore He
alludes also to that sovereign might wherewith He holds
the powers of death at His will, adding yet another sign
of which the Prophet had spoken : " the Gospel delivered
unto the poor."4
In making this humble duty the culminating note in an
enumeration of His most striking miracles, Jesus designed
to set the true character of His Mission in highest relief ;
because He had come, not so much to do glorious deeds,
1 This interpretation is given by some of the Fathers (Tertullian, De
Baptismo, x. ; Contra Marcionem, lib. iv. 18; Quoestio xxxviii. ad Ortho-
doxos, S. Justini Op. spur. ) and it has been adopted by many Protestant
scholars, but to us it seems entirely inconsistent with everything which
we are told concerning "the greatest of the children of men" (Matt.
xi. 11).
2 Luke vii. 21, 22.
3 Is. xxxv. 5, 6.
4 Is. lxi. 1 ; xxix. 19.

2S2 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
as to teacli and to comfort all such as the world de
spises. And yet this marvellous blending of grandeur
and meekness shocked the disciples of the Baptist.
The Lord, seeing them draw away from Him, uttered
that solemn warning, before their withdrawal : 1 —
" Blessed is he who is not scandalized in Me ! " 2
In tlieir astonishment at this unceremonious departure,
it would appear that the people conceived an unfavorable
idea of these messengers, and were even fain to suspect
the fidelity of him who had sent them, for at once Jesus
spoke out in his defence.
He reminded the Jews of those reeds which they had
seen waving in the wind along the banks of the streams
where John was baptizing, and with these he contrasted
the strong, unshaken faith of the Precursor, taking the
thin and tremulous stalks as the symbol of inconstancy.
Then, as His gaze fell upon certain men among them who
were clothed in splendid garments,3 He compared the lazy
luxury of gay courtiers with the austerity of the Prophet,
saying : 4 —
" What went you into the desert for to see ? A reed
shaken by the wind ?
" What, then, went you out for to see ? A man clothed
in soft raiment ?
" Nay, those who have rich robes and live in luxury do
dwell in kings' houses.
1 " Non Joannem, sed discipulos ejus percutit" (S. Jerome, Epist. cli.
ad Algasium, qucestio i.).
2 Luke vii. 23.
3 These were probably some of the Scribes who were come from the
court of the Tetrarch, for, since their recent reconciliation with the
Sanhedrin (Mark iii. 6), the Herodians shared in the latter's espionage
on the Saviour's actions. Among them it may be that Jesus recognized
some members of the Sect of Manahen (father of the person of that name
mentioned already, p. 205, note 4), who had yielded to the seductive
charms of court life in the splendid palaces of Herod the Great, though
at first he had been a rival of Hillel in the austerity of his life. His dis
ciples had followed his example only too faithfully ; throwing off the
restrictions of religion, together with all zeal for the Law, they appeared
in public clothed in sumptuous raiment and glittering with ornaments of
gold (see Chagiga, fol. 16, 2 ; Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums, i. 259).
4 Luke vii. 24-28.

JOHN BAPTIST'S MESSAGE. 283
" What, then, went you out for to see ? A Prophet ?
Yea, I say to you, and more than a Prophet.
"This is He of whom it is written: Behold I send
Mine Angel before Thy face,1 to prepare Thy ways before
Thee." Was it not enough to have exalted the holiness of His
Forerunner so strikingly ? Yet Jesus went on to say
that under the ancient Law " No one among those born
of women has ever risen who is greater than John."
Still, such is the superiority of the Church over the
Synagogue, that Jesus adds : " And, notwithstanding, the
least of all in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than
John the Baptist ; " whereby He would teach us that the
lowest place by His side is to be preferred before the
highest rank among the disciples of Moses.
It is this new reign of the Christ on earth " that all
the Prophets had foretold, until John," and for which
John himself, " the new Elias," had made ready all things
with such lofty zeal. His toils and trouble had not
been iu vain, for at this very hour all Judea was flock
ing to Jesus. "Already men were taking this His King
dom by storm, and in dense throngs were hastening to
the assault."2
This declaration surprised the listeners, and was quite
differently received. " The people and the publicans, bap
tized by John, acknowledged the justice and the wisdom
of these divine counsels ; but the Pharisees and the
Doctors of the Law, who had disdained the baptism of
the Precursor, now gave token of their contempt for the
1 Upb irpoauwov aov. Here Jesus alters the wording of the Prophet
Malachy (iii. 1), in which Jehovah, speaking of Himself, says, "I send
My Angel before My face." By thus applying to Himself what was
spoken of the Almighty, the Christ proclaims that He is co-equal with
Him. This change in the Text has been studiously recorded by all three
Evangelists when repeating this utterance of the Saviour (Matt. xi. 10 ;
Mark i. 2 ; Luke vii. 27).
2 Matt. xi. 12. 'H PaciXela rwv ovpavuv (Sidterai ; "vim patitur.
Vi facta invaditur, significatur partim ardor ac studium properantium
. . . partim multitudo confluentium " ( Jausenius Yprentius, Tetrateuchus,
in loco). "Vim patitur . . . vi invaditur . . . quia magna multitudine,
studio, aviditate, impetu ... ad illud rapiendum homines concurrunt "
(Cornelius a Lapide, in Matthaeum, xi. 12).

284 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
designs of God in their regard." 1 Whereupon Jesus ad
dressed to them these reproachful words:2 —
" To what shall I compare the men of this generation ?
To what, indeed, can they be likened ? " He added.
" They are like children seated in the market-place, who
cry to their companions, ' We have played for you on the
flute, we have sung and you have not danced. We have
chanted sorrowful hymns, and you have not wept, you
have not even beat your breasts.'8
"John has come among you neither eating bread nor
drinking wine, and you say, ' He is possessed by the devil ; '
the Son of Man comes eating and drinking, and you say,
' This is a fellow who loves good cheer and wine, a friend
of publicans and sinners.' " 4
These words of the Master must have made the Phari
sees and the Scribes wince and writhe under the justice
of the mortifying rebuke ; for it was in the presence of all
the people that He thus charged them with cherishing
childish caprices, and of insisting pettishly that everything
must bend to suit their humors, — at one time complaining
of John because, in their hours of pleasure and happiness,
his life seemed too stern and austere ; and then again, dis
pleased with Jesus, Whose condescension and charity was
a scandal in their eyes.6
1 Luke vii. 29-30. "Nota hsec verba videri potius Lucse quam
Christi. Nam paulo post sequitur : " Ait autem Dominus. . . ." Ita
Jansenius et alii, licet Maldonatus censeat esse verba Christi " (Cornelius
a Lapide, in loco).
2 Luke vii. 31, 32.
" We can easily picture the scene called up by these words of the
Saviour. Who has not seen children at play mimicking all that they have
seen enacted by their elders ? Jesus called to mind those little groups of
youngsters, seated in a circle in the public squares ; at such times some
of them will pretend to be enjoying a concert at a grand wedding, or play
at being mourners at a funeral ; while there are always a certain few of
their companions who will not enter into their fanciful sports, in spite of
all the persistent teasing of their playmates.
4 Luke vii. 33, 34.
6 It is commonly supposed that Jesus was referring to all the Jews, as
being like such fretful and peevish children. If Heaven offer them a
Prophet of austere character, who urges them to do penance, and thunders
forth his songs of mourning for their sins, they refuse to weep with him,
but rather spurn him as a madman, overwrought by dwelling too long on

THE SINFUL WOMAN AT NAlM. 285
After this severe censure, the Lord proclaimed that
although such was the state of this unbelieving genera
tion, yet a time would come, and it was even now upon
them, when " Wisdom would find her children, who would
both defend and justify her." :
He might indeed have pointed out such sons of the
Eternal Wisdom, as they stood there in the presence of
His enemies. They were the Apostles, those lowly and
humble men who surrounded Him, and who were yet to
become the triumphant apologists of the New Reign.

IV. The Sinful Woman at the Banquet given by
Simon.
Luke vii. 36-50.
On that same day at Nairn the divine gifts of grace
were again bestowed upon mankind. While still excited
by the raising of the dead youth and by the coming of
John's messengers, this little city was to be the scene of
one of the most touching incidents in the whole Gospel.
A Pharisee, named Simon,2 invited the Saviour to a
such gloomy thoughts. Then if it send them a tender and merciful Mes
siah, whose words are gentle as music, a Saviour who lives their daily life,
eating and drinking with them, they scorn Him as a fellow of vulgar
manners ! However natural this interpretation may appear, it is, never
theless, at variance with the sacred text ; it is enough to read the sequel,
noting the words used by the Lord, to be convinced that it was the Phari
sees whom He is comparing to children, sometimes playing the flute,
sometimes intoning their lugubrious chants, but always insisting that
every one else must yield to their capricious humors.
1 The text of S. Matthew, in the Manuscript of Sinai, and in some
versions, has tpyuv, instead of riavuv : "Wisdom is justified by her
works." 2 The Pharisee Simon must not be confounded with Simon the leper, of
Bethany, who only a few days before the Passion gave a great dinner in
honor of Jesus. It is true that in both instances the hosts are of the same
name, and each time a woman comes to bestow her meed of perfumes upon
the Master ; but despite the resemblance in both these points, it seems to
us absolutely necessary to separate the two events. At Naim a sinful
creature casts herself at the feet of Jesus, and bathes them with her tears ;
nothing of the sort happens in Bethany. At Naim the woman hardly ven
tures to anoint the feet of the Lord ; while at Bethany she pours out hei

286 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
banquet. Curiosity, and the pleasure of entertaining an
extraordinary personage, — perhaps, too, a secret sense of
the majestic character of this Prophet, — had induced him
to tender this courtesy to Jesus. However, from pride,
or from fear of his Sect, he affected an air of contemptuous
coldness. The usual polite ceremonials were omitted :
there was no one to bathe the feet of the Stranger,1 nor
did any one kiss this Guest upon the cheek,2 nor offer
Him perfumes for His hair.3
Jesus made no complaint at meeting with so cold a
greeting in the house of one who had bidden Him to a
formal feast. He entered the banquet-hall and took His
place at table. In the primitive times the Hebrews used
to partake of their repasts, after the manner common among
the Orientals of to-day, seated upon mats with tlieir legs
crossed ; 4 but ever since the Captivity, they had dropped
this custom in order to follow the prevalent fashion among
the Greeks and Romans, — slipping off their sandals at the
threshold, they reclined upon couches, which were ranged
about the board, and helped themselves to the dainties,
while leaning on the left arm, the body lying with the feet
extended to the outer circle.6
When the great banquet-hall was thrown open to all
comers (as was now the case) it was customary for a crowd
of onlookers to surround the feasters with perfect freedom.
In this interested circle of spectators there stood a woman
precious oils upon His head. In the latter occurrence the Christ sees a
foretokening of His burial, and is thereby led to speak of His approaching
death ; at the former repast we hear no mention of any sad forebodings,
nor any talk of a kindred nature. There was no ceremony of more fre
quent occurrence in Judea than that of scattering costly perfumes over the
guests, and it would not be strange if Jesus received this token of respect
and love oftener than the two instances here noted (Eccl. ix. 8 ; Cant. iv.
10 ; Amos vi. 6, etc.). As to the name Simon, we know how common it
was among the Jews. In his Commentary upon S. John, Hengstenberg has
tried to prove that the two accounts refer to the one same banquet ; but
his long and scholarly argument does not strike us as successfully estab
lishing his point.
1 Gen. xviii. 4 ; Jud. xix. 21.
2 Gen. xxxiii. 4 ; Exod. xviii. 7.
3 Psalm xxii. 5, cxl. v ; Matt. vi. 17.
4 Gen. xxvii. 19 ; 1 Kings xvi. 11, xx. 5, 18.
6 Esther i. 6, vii. 8.

THE SINFUL WOMAN AT NAIM. 287
known throughout the whole town for her disorderly life.1
Upon hearing a rumor that the Christ was coming to this
quarter of the city, she had hurried thither, clad in her
usual rich garments, and clasping a vase of perfumes in
her hand. She had pressed forward until she reached the
Lord, and there she remained listening to Him in silence.
Very soon, indeed, the words of the Son of Mary found
tlieir way to her sin-stained soul ; she threw herself weep
ing at the feet of the Master, humbly kissing them, drying
them with her hair, and then, breaking the alabaster vase,
she covered them with the fragrant incense.2
Simon looked across the table with haughty disgust at
this woman who had prostrated herself before Jesus.
Neither the woful shame nor the great wretchedness of a
heart torn by repentance could move him to pity; he could
see in this sinful woman nothing but a disgraced and
odious creature, whose least touch would leave an ugly
stain.3 His only surprise was that Jesus did not repulse
her, as he or any other Pharisee would have done, in scorn
and horror.
" If this man were really a Prophet," he mused, " he
would know what sort of a woman this is who is touching
him ; he would know that she is a sinner." These words
were not uttered aloud ; but the Pharisee, if only by his
silence and his contemptuous manner, let his disdain be
plainly seen by all.
Jesus answered his thoughts.
"Simon," he said, "I have somewhat to say to you."
""Well, Master, say on!" replied the host.
" A creditor had two debtors ; one owed him five hun
dred denarii, and the other fifty. As they had not where
withal to pay him, he remitted each one's debt. Which of
the two now loves him most ?"
1 Trench, Notes on ths Parables, 299.
2 The alabaster caskets destined to hold such perfumes were very fragile
affairs ; all that was needed to break them in pieces was a slight pressure
upon the long and slender neck of the vase (Pliny, Historia naturalis,
xxxvi. 8).
8 "Quanto spacio a mere trice recedendum est ? R. Chasda respondet :
Ad quatuor cubitos" (Schosttgen, Horae Hebra'icoe, i. p. 348).

288 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Simon replied, without seeing what the Lord desired to
prove from this, " Undoubtedly it would be he to whom
he remitted the greater amount."
"You have judged rightly," answered Jesus; and then
He turned His eyes full upon the sinner before Him.
Huddled at His feet, she was shedding bitter, burning tears,
— tears which Saint Augustine has called the heart's blood.
But because she was humble, and was therefore more en
lightened than Simon, at the very mention of debt she
knew that He was alluding to Her. The Master pointed
to this penitent figure, continuing still to address the
astonished Pharisee.
" Simon, do you see this woman ?
"I entered your dwelling; you gave Me no water for
My feet, while she indeed has washed My feet with her
tears, and has wiped them with her hair.
" You gave Me no kiss ; while she indeed, ever since I
entered here,1 has not ceased to kiss My feet.
" You have not anointed My head with oil, while she
indeed has bathed My feet with ointments.
" And so, for this reason, I say to you, many sins shall
be remitted unto her, because she has loved much. But
he to whom less is remitted loves the less." 2
The Heart of the divine Master overflowed in this for
giveness which he now granted to one who was looked
upon as the vilest object in all humanity, the very sym
bol of lost and depraved womankind. Not like Paganism,
which would have devoted her to a life of shame beyond
the slightest hope of escape, Jesus cast upon her a look of
such deep and pure tenderness that the Pharisees them
selves dared not wrong Him by an evil thought. He raised
her from the earth, and though He did not lay upon her
1 The Vulgate has dayXBev, " intravit ; " but nearly all the Greek manu
scripts give the reading elofjXBov, which implies that the penitent sinner
entered the hall at the same time with Jesus.
2 "Dictum est hoc propter pharisseum ilium, qui vel nulla vel pauca se
putabat habere peccata ; non enim Dominum invitaret, nisi aliquantulum
diligeret. ... 0 Pharisee, ideo pa rum diligis, quia parum tibi dimitti
suspicaris ; non quia parum dimittitur sed quia parum putas esse quod
dimittitur" (S. Augustine, Scrmo xcix. 6).

THE SINFUL WOMAN AT NAIM. 289
brow that flower of innocence which once blighted never
blooms again, He crowned her with a glory far more
austere, — the halo of repentance, and the great love of a
pardoned soul.
And this divine fire blazed so brightly and so strong
within this poor sinner's heart that it was purified at
once of every ugly stain; "so much of sinfulness was
forgiven her, because she had loved so much." And there
fore Jesus had only to make manifest the miracle which
grace had worked within her1 by saying to the sobbing
woman, —
" Your sins are remitted unto you."
Language like this, which had once roused the members
of the Sanhedrin to a fury of indignation, here, among the
Pharisees of Nairn, only excited mingled emotions of fear
and awe.
" Who is this man," they said among themselves, " who
even remits sins ? "
But as for Jesus, all intent upon comforting the peni
tent, His only thought was to complete her conversion by
making her know His infinite compassion, and so reviving
her courage.
"Your faith has saved you," He said; and then He
added, " Go in peace ! "
Forthwith, in the peace of the Lord, the pardoned sinner
went away, never again to seek happiness in carnal pleas
ures, destined rather to amaze the world by the unflinching-
rigor of her expiation.
This woman, whose name Saint Luke does not mention,
is no other than Mary Magdalene. Although there is
nothing in Scripture distinctly to settle this fact,2 there
1 "Negari non potest quin prius etiam tempore quam Christus ilia
verba proferret, Magdalena perfecte et super omnia amaret, quia Christus
per ilia verba non contulit amorem ad remissionem peccatorum suffici-
entem, sed ilium supposuit, et illi testimonium perhibuit, illumque affectum
declaravit" (Suarez, De Gratid, lib. vii. cap. x). The whole chapter is
an admirable commentary upon these words of Jesus.
2 In none of the passages in which the Evangelists speak of this repent
ant sinner, of Mary Magdalene, and of Mary of Bethany, do they say
whether or not these three names belonged to the one person. The critics
who have contended for this interpretation, as well as those who combat it,
VOL. I. — 19

290 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
are very venerable traditions of the Church which assert
it ; and Jewish writers add their testimony in confirmation.
According to all these authorities the pardoned sinner of
Naim, Mary of Magdala, and Mary the sister of Lazarus
and Martha, are one and the same person.
Of her sinful past we have no knowledge beyond a
few legends in the Talmud, which speak of the beauty
of Mary, the fame of her lovely hair, her wealth, and
her intrigues.1 Her husband was a doctor of the Law,
Pappus, son of Juda, whose jealousy was so great that
he was wont to keep her closely imprisoned whenever
he left their home. The high-spirited Jewess soon broke
away from this hateful restraint, joined fortunes with a
gay officer of Magdala, and accompanied him to that
town, where she led a life of such brilliant but unbridled
indulgence that she has always kept the name of "The
Magdalene." And doubtless it was there that Jesus saw her, and so
awakened in her stained and blighted heart the first seeds
of a passionate regret for her lost soul. The few words
at the bauquet-hall in Naim were all that was needed to
bring her weeping to the Saviour's feet; and ever after
that day the Fathers (whose opinion we are following now)
delight in discovering tokens of her presence, as she follows
the footsteps of the Master. She is among the Galilean
have supported their theories from the different narratives, and often arrive
at an equal degree of historical likelihood (see Maldonatus, in Mat. xxvi.
7, xxvii. 56 ; Dublin Review (July, 1872), S. Mary Magdalene in the Gos
pels ; Hengstenberg, in Joan. xi. 1 ; Smith, Dictionary of the Bible : Mary
Magdalene, etc. ). In a controversy where the probabilities are so nicely
balanced, it would seem as though Tradition must be the only reliable
resort for further light ; and certainly no one denies that the most numer
ous and the most imposing array of witnesses have testified that under all
three names the Gospel is speaking of one single woman. This has been
the general feeling in the Latin Church (Tertullian, De Pudicitid, xi. ;
S. Cyprian, De Duplici Martyrio ; S. Jerome, in Osee Prologus; S. Augus
tine, De Consensu Evangel, ii. 79 ; S. Gregory the Great, in Mat. xxv. and
xxxiii. ; Clement of Alexandria, Puedngogus, ii. 8 ; S. Cyril of Alexandria,
in Joan. xi. 1). True enough, some of the Greek Fathers have combated
this opinion ; but even in the East Origen observes that in his time many
Christians shared this sentiment (Commentaria in Matthaeum, Migne,
Patrologie grecque, t. xiii. p. 1721).
'"Lightfoot, Horae Hebminc, in Matt, xxvii. 56.

THE SINFUL WOMAM AT NAIM. 291
ladies who went with Him, and waited upon their Lord.
At Bethany she is seated at His feet, in deep, speechless
contemplation ; then too, close by the tomb of Lazarus, and
afterwards at the feast given by Simon the leper, finally
upon Calvary, and at the Holy Sepulchre, ¦ — everywhere
whither she could tread in the pathway of Him Who had
saved her.
These are the broad lines in the Magdalene's portrait,
as she is depicted by Tradition, which has thus filled out
the shadowy sketch left us by the Gospel. Modern critics
remark very truly that there is nothing in the sacred text l
to necessitate such a construction of the events ; but
surely they make a two-fold mistake when they disregard
Tradition, which supplies facts omitted by Scripture, while
without any sufficient proofs of their own, they contend
that these three women were of different dispositions,
whose like could never be combined in one person. Such
writers feel sure that the noble ladies of Galilee, among
whom Saint Luke mentions the Magdalene, would never
have associated with an infamous character ; and that
Mary, the Contemplative of Bethany, has nothing allied to
that impetuous ardor which Saint John attributes to the
Magdalene upon Mount Calvary. These difficulties will
not be stumbling-blocks to those who know what changes
repentance can work in the soul. Conversion does, in
truth, bestow a title of nobility which no companions of
Jesus ever fail to recognize ; it turns the thirst for pleas
ures into such passionate longing for heavenly delight that
the most illustrious penitents have buried themselves in
a life of contemplation. And therefore we feel no more
surprise at finding the brilliant courtesan sitting silent and
1 Bossuet has written a curious opuscule on this subject, aud he con
cludes by saying " that it is more congenial with the spirit of the Gospel to
recognize these women as three different saints " (Stir les trois Madeleines, t.
xxvi. Edition Vives). In the eighteenth century this idea had acquired so
much weight that very many Galilean Breviaries revised the legend in the
Roman Breviary where it only speaks of the one Magdalene. The time-
honored conviction of the Church has, notwithstanding, always had, and
has still, many illustrious champions, — Baronins, the Bollandists, Maldo
natus, Lightfoot ; and in our own times Sepp, Schegg, Pusey, Farrar, Pere
Lacordaire, M. Faillon, etc.

292 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
subdued at the Master's feet, than when we see her still
clinging to her dying Lord, or disputing with the tomb fur
the body of the Incarnate God. And so we are still con
stant to ancient beliefs, when we prefer to think of the
three Marys of the Gospel as the one Magdalene, ever
venerated throughout the Church.

CHAPTER V.
THE PARABLES.
Luke viii. 1-21 ; Mark iii. 20-35, iv. 1-34 ; Matt. xii. 22-37, 46-50,
xiii. 1-52.
The Public Life of Jesus might be divided into two peri
ods : one would be that in which the Jews did not directly
interfere with His Ministry; while during the latter epoch
they actively attacked Him. Up to this time the Master's
glory had known no diminution of its growing splendor in
the eyes of the people ; although Judea rejected Him at
the command of the Sanhedrin, fie found a warm welcome
awaiting Him in Galilee, and each succeeding day saw the
throngs about Him increase in number and enthusiasm.
For a long time the efforts of the Sanhedrin's emissaries,
who strove to stir up the populace against Him, were
altogether fruitless ; we have noticed at the banquet given
by Simon how the power aud popularity of Jesus then
overawed the Pharisees themselves. But now the hour
had come for a complete change in the aspect of events ;
and hereafter the authority of the Lord begins to wane
slowly and surely, until at last His enemies are again
masters of the situation.
This reversal of affairs became most apparent during a
second mission which the Saviour began in Galilee. It is
Saint Luke 1 who tells us of these new journeyings, when
Jesus travelled again through towns and hamlets spread
ing the good tidings of Salvation ; but he does not relate
any particular occurrences. He simply notes the fact that
1 Luke viii. 1.

294 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the twelve Apostles were with Him, and also certain Gali
lean women, of whom the greater number, if not all, " had
been delivered by Him either from evil spirits or from
other maladies. These were Mary, called the Magdalene,
Joanna,1 the wife of Chuza, Herod's Steward, Suzanna, and
many others who aided Him with such goods as they
had." These saintly companions of the Christ were evidently
of distinguished character, both on account of their rank
and their riches. Of Suzanna2 we know nothing more than
her name, — the gracefulest name of any borne by the
daughters of Israel, since it recalls the white cup of the
lily-flower. As for Joanna, her husband's title would lead
us to believe that she had been at the court of the Te
trarch before she set out to follow Jesus ; yet having once
devoted herself to the Lord, she never was unfaithful to
her vows. We shall find her again at the Sepulchre, still
by the side of Mary Magdalene,3 with whom Saint Luke
associates her here.
Among all the followers of the Christ, this last-named
figure is known and loved the best. We have seen how
Tradition regards her as the penitent sinner, who came to
the feast given by Simon. This opinion would seem to be
confirmed by Saint Luke himself, for he speaks of seven
devils being driven out of the Magdalene ; and seven
may very reasonably be considered as a symbolic number,
chosen to denote the depth of degradation from which the
Saviour rescued this sin-soiled creature.4
The Holy Virgin is not named among the women who
accompanied her Son ; and hence we must presume that
she was now living in retirement at Capharnaum. During
His sojourns at different times in that city, it would ap
pear that Jesus did not always take up His abode with
her ; for after this second mission-journey, we find Him in
1 Luke viii. 2, 3. Joanna : I uavva, or, according to many manuscripts,
luavvds. 2 ~Zovadvva, DJKW, "a lily."
9 Luke xxiv. 10.
4 Such at least is the opinion of S. Gregory the Great, Theophylactus,
Bede, and very many commentators.

THE PARABLES. 295
a dwelling which certainly was not shared by any of His
family.1 As always happened about this time, the multitude
would besiege Him in such numbers that Jesus and His
disciples could" " not even find time to take food." 2 His
kindred, hearing of this, entirely lost all self-control. " He
is growing mad," they said, angrily, and thereupon took
sides with the party who were abusing Him. Though in
deed there were two of their number chosen by the Christ
to be among the Twelve, who were now bearing their share
in His toils and His glory, yet the other children of Alpheus
— whether from jealousy, or from dread of being involved
in some trouble with the vindictive Sanhedrin — shut their
eyes to the light, and not satisfied with simply treating
Jesus as a madman, they resolved to lay hold upon Him,
and keep Him confined in their own house.
" So they started out from their home, and came thither
to seize Him;" but they could not force their way into
His presence, so densely packed were the masses of towns
folk about him ! Just at this moment, too, there was ad
ditional cause for excitement; for some one had brought
Him a possessed fellow, who was blind and dumb as well,3
and Jesus cured him, so that the man spoke and saw.4
And all the people were amazed and said, —
1 S. Mark says that they left their own home fE£^\0oi/) in order to go
to find and seize Jesus in the dwelling whither He had retired (Mark iii.
20, 21).
2 Mark iii. 21.
8 After having spoken of a mission which Jesus fulfilled in Galilee, and
after giving the names of the holy women who accompanied Him, S. Luke
passes at once to the Parable of the Sower ; however, it is quite plain that
before taking up this one of the Master's lessons we ought to notice the
interference of the kinsfolk of Jesus (for here we are following the more
detailed order of time set down by S. Mark), and besides this, two other
incidents which are reported by S. Matthew. In fact, the latter Evangel
ist remarks in precise terms that the healing of the demoniac, the interview
which the Saviour had with some of His kindred, and the Parable of the
Sower, took place upon the same day : "En airrov XaXovvros rots 8%Xots,
Ibob y pvrfryp . . . KrX (Matt. xii. 46). 'Ev rfj ypipa iKeivy i^eXduv b'lyaovs
. . . ktX (Matt. xiii. 1).
4 Matt. xii. 22, 23. The demoniac just now delivered by Him is not
the one whose cure S. Luke narrates among the events which happened
during the following year in Perea, and not in Galilee (Luke xi. 14).

296 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
"Is not this the Son of David?"
But there were some Scribes from Jerusalem present.
Though for an instant they were disconcerted by the cries
of delight and wonderment, almost immediately they pro
ceeded to whisper sly hints as usual, and began to dispar
age the miracle.
Why need any one be surprised, said they, that this man
should" cast out the devils ? " He is himself possessed by
Beelzebub ; 1 he therefore commands them in the name of
their Prince." 2
Well knowing all their underhand dealings, Jesus sum
moned them to come nearer, and then said : 3 —
"Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made
desolate ; every city, every family, so divided shall not
endure. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against
himself ; how then shall he endure ? "
By this the Lord does not deny that the kingdom of
Satan is a state of Anarchy, but He rather insists upon
Many do not discriminate between these miracles, allowing themselves
to be misled by the resemblance in the Lord's words on both occasions.
However striking this similarity may seem to us, it does not necessarily
follow that they alluded to the same deed, for Jesus healed similar maladies
more than once ; more than once too did He repeat the same lessons in the
face of the Pharisees, who persisted so stubbornly in tlieir evil thinking.
Vet more, we should note that the two cures were performed under very
different circumstances, and that the demoniac of whom S. Matthew speaks
(xii. 22, 23) is dumb and blind, while the one in S. Luke is dumb only.
We may believe that the latter is the same as that possessed man who was
dumb as well, whose healing S. Matthew relates in his ninth chapter,
verse 32.
1 Beelzebub is the name the Jews gave the prince of devils ; it signifies
"Lord of the Dungheap," 7131 1X>$; "Prince of Abomination." We
find this word 7131 in frequent use among the Talmudists when referring
to idols, which in their eyes were veritable devils. According to some
scholars, 713T should be taken in the sense of " house ; " and in that case
Beelzebub would mean "the Master of the Household," that is, of this
world, which is his dwelling-place. The Septuagint (4 Kings, 1, 2) and
Josephus, (Antiquitates, ix. 2, 1 ) translates this word by BttaX pvtav, " Lord
of the Flies," and Hug has ingeniously conjectured that this is the demon
which was worshipped by the Philistines at Ekron, under the likeness of
one of those beetles which live in heaps of muck, — the Scaraboeus Pillu-
larius, for example.
2 Mark iii. 22.
3 Matt. xii. 25, 26 ; Mark iii. 23.

THE PARABLES. 297
the truth that it is from this single point of agreement —
their hatred of God — - that the divisions of Hell draw the
principle of their existence ; were this their one Note of
unity to be lost (which is impossible), there would be at
once an end of the Realm of Darkness. By the fact of His
rescuing the poor victim from the infernal powers Jesus
showed that He was no minister of Satan ; for " No one
can enter a strong man's dwelling and bear away his goods
without first having bound the man of might ; only then
can he pillage his house." 1
Again the Master retorts upon His enemies that their
own disciples exorcised spirits in the name of Jehovah,
just as He did, and hence their sons 2 would be their judges,
since they could testify that Hell yields obedience to other
orders beside those of Beelzebub ; wherefore if He, the
Christ of the Lord, in His own Name and by the Spirit of
God, put the fiends to flight, this indeed is proof that the
Kingdom of God has really come." 3
Then, in conclusion, Jesus called His faithful followers
about Him. " Whoever is not with Me," said the Lord,
" is against Me, and whoever gathereth not with Me
scattereth." 4
The Scribes had also accused Jesus of having " an un
clean spirit." 5 What did they mean by this term ? Was
it in allusion to His contempt for Pharisaic Ablutions or
to His tenderness toward sinners ? It is quite impossible
to say ; but we know that this calumny aroused His wrath,
l Mark iii. 26, 27.
2 Matt. xii. 27. The sons of the Pharisees, or in other words, their
disciples, practised certain exorcisms according to a Ritual (or so says
Josephus) which was prescribed by Solomon (Antiquitates, viii. 2, 5) ; see
p. 213. S. Irenaeus gives it as an undoubted fact that, even iu his time,
the Jews exorcised spirits in the name of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob :
"Judsei usque nunc hac ipsa advocatione daemonas effugaut" (Contra
Hoereses, ii. 6, 2). S. Chrysostom, S. Jerome, and S. Hilary understand
that by " your sons " is meant the Apostles, to whom the Lord apportioned
His empire over the powers of Hell ; indeed His adversaries could not deny
that the Twelve were all descendants of Israel, their sons and their brothers
according to the flesh.
8 Matt. xii. 28.
4 Matt. xii. 30.
6 Mark iii. 30.

298 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
since it called from him that dreadful warning of eternal
death,1 —
" I say unto you, every sin, every blasphemy, shall be
forgiven men; but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
shall not be forgiven.2 And whoever shall have spoken
against the Son of Man it shall be forgiven him ; but the
man who has spoken against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven, either in this world or in the other." 3
In Saint Matthew's account the reply of the Lord is re
ported more at length.4 He told His slanderers that they
ought at least to be consistent with themselves, and should
judge the tree by its fruits. If He did actually drive out
devils, why did they not acknowledge the fact ? The tree
1 Matt. xii. 31, 32 ; Mark iii. 28-30.
2 Jesus could see into the wicked minds of His enemies clearly enough :
it was not from any ignorance of the Truth that they strove against Him ;
but they were now boldly blaspheming, recognizing the Presence of God
and of His Christ, and face to face with His wondrous works so manifestly
divine, and consequently seeing the enormity of their blasphemy, yet per
sisting in it notwithstanding. This, then, was that dreadful sin against the
Holy Ghost which cannot obtain pardon, because of itself it dries up life
at the fountain-head, and withstands every movement of the Spirit of
Grace which strives to quicken it again to a right feeling. In order to
save the heart so bent upon evil, it would be neeessary to force man's free
dom of will ; but God always stops at the threshold of that inviolable
sanctuary of the soul.
3 The expression aluv obros, and others like it, 6 vvv aluv (Tit. ii. 12),
aluv rov Kbapiov roirov (Ephes. ii. 2), etc., as well as the other, aluv piXXuv,
were frequently employed by the Jews to designate the times which were
to precede and those which should follow the Messiah. But in the New
Testament they signify (as all critics agree) the present life and the future
life ; so then, according to the doctrine of the Master, there are sins which
are only remitted in the other world, and consequently there is a place'of
purgation where this remission takes place.
4 The commencement of the discourse as it reads in S. Matthew is re
ported by S. Mark under the same circumstances (Matt. xii. 24-32 ; Mark
iii. 22-30). The ending, which is not now found in the second Gospel, is
in every particular similar to the reply which S. Luke puts in the mouth
of the Lord after the healing of another demoniac (Matt. xii. 38-42 ; Luke
xi. 17-32). It appears very likely to us that S. Matthew, following his
usual method, is here collecting different speeches of the Master which bear
upon the same subject. The matter given here, which is peculiar to him
self (Matt. xii. 33-37) with that which he gives in common with S. Mark,
was apparently pronounced at the time which we are now describing. As
to the close of the discourse, which is also found in S. Luke, there is every
reason to believe that it ought to be transferred to the epoch marked for it
by the latter Evangelist.

THE PARABLES. 299
is good which bears good fruit. And yet, after all, no one
need be amazed at their blasphemies, for the mouth speaks
from the fulness of the heart ; and assuredly these crea
tures, this brood of vipers, could not fail to poison their
speech with the venom of malice.1
Jesus was still speaking when a man pushed his way up
to Him.
" Your Mother and your brethren are without," he said ;
" they are seeking for you." 2
The Lord's kindred, hopeless of making any headway
against the crowds, had probably turned to Mary for aid ;
and the Virgin, startled by their wild tales, had left her
retreat to go with them. Used to seeing Him yield to the
lightest wish of Mary, they thought He could not resist
an appeal coming from her. But the Christ could no
longer be subject to His Mother. Hereafter He belonged
to God and to the souls whom He had come to save.
" Who is My Mother and who are My brethren ? " was
His reply to the one who had informed Him of their arrival.
And as the man was silent, Jesus' glance fell upon the
disciples seated in a circle about Him ; 3 He stretched out
His hands toward them, —
" Behold My Mother and My brethren ! " He said ; " for
every one who does the will of My Father Who is in
Heaven is My brother, My sister, and My mother." Then
rising, the Master left the house, and took the road leading
to the lake, where He seated Himself by the beach.4
The insulting charges which we have just noticed, the
efforts made by Jesus to enlighten the people, the uneasi
ness shown by His kinsfolk, — all indicate what great
changes had taken place in Capharnaum during this second
mission into Galilee. The creatures of the Sanhedrin had
profited by the absence of the Saviour to disquiet public
opinion ; and though most of the citizens were still loyal
to their Benefactor, the number of His enemies had so far
1 Matt. xii. 33, 34.
2 Matt. xii. 46.
8 Kal irepipXeij/dpievos robs irepl avrbv kvkXu Kadypivovs (Mark iii. 34).
4 Matt. xiii. 1.

300 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
increased that Jesus thought best to forego any further
teaching in the simple and direct style which He had
hitherto used. However much He may have differed with
the Scribes, He would, notwithstanding, submit to the limi
tations of their forms, and hence He determined to present
His doctrine hereafter in Parables, as was their custom.1
But while these masters of Israel only employed allegory
in order to hide from the public the treasures of wisdom
which they wished to confine to their disciples, the design
of Jesus in using these veiled figures of speech was to gain
the time which was necessary for the completion of His
divine instructions ; for He had yet to disclose the chiefest
portion of His work, — the establishing of His Church,
her Constitution, her Hierarchy, — an everlasting object
of undying distrust and hatred to the great ones of
earth. Such a sudden change in His manner must naturally
have caused some surprise ; we shall see, however, that it
was not at all displeasing to their tone of mind, nor did it
repel them. For, in fact, the Oriental genius, which is so
different from ours, loves the mysterious, and takes no less
delight in piecing together stray hints of meaning than we in
firmly grasping the thought in its fulness. Hence it is that
we have so many allegories and proverbs in the Old Testa
ment ; such too are the enigmas in the stories of Samson, of
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.2 Even to-day, if an Arab
chance to hear some fable or apologue, he will spend whole
hours in turning it over in his mind, — like a child, or for
that matter like every creature in whom the imagination
rules the other faculties, he finds most pleasure in fanciful
reveries, whose dreamy and indefinite forms he much pre
fers to the cold precision of our ideas. This fondness for
mystic and figurative language, common to the Eastern
mind, was an invaluable advantage for Jesus, because
during the last year of His Ministry it allowed of His
giving the Jews just such glimpses of His meaning as
1 Vitringa De Synagogd, p. 678 ; Schoettgen, Horoe Hcbraicoe : Christus
Rabbinorum summus.
2 Jud. xiv. 14; 3 Kings x. 1.

THE PARABLES. 301
were desirable for them, while it also permitted him to
display His thought even more clearly before the eyes of
His Apostles and intimate disciples. These were the cir
cumstances which prompted the Master to take up with
this new form of preaching.
Jesus was not left long alone on the lakeside. Out of
Capharnaum there came a great throng who crowded all
the open space around Him, and stood about the beach in
little knots, waiting such time as He might choose to speak.1
There was a boat drawn up on the sand, and in this the
Saviour found a seat from which He could be seen and
heard. Over the heads of the people who covered all the
strand His eyes could rest upon smooth fields sloping to
the water's edge, beaten paths winding through rich mead
ows, while here and there a huge rock or clump of cactus
like thistles, would give a sterner aspect to the pleasant
harvest lands.
" Listen ! " said Jesus,2 stretching out His hands toward
those familiar shores of Genesareth.3 " The Sower went
out to sow, and while he was sowing some grains fell into
the roadway, and the birds of the sky lighted and con
sumed them ; other some fell upon stony ground, where
there was not much earth, and it sprung up immediately,
because it had no depth of soil ; but when the sun was up
it was scorched, and as it had no roots it withered away ;
still others fell among thistles, and the thistles grew np
and choked them ; others, finally, fell in good earth and
bore fruit, some a hundred, others sixty, and others thirty
fold. He who has ears to hear let him hear ! "
There He stopped, leaving His listeners to fathom the
meaning hidden beneath the Parable. There was nothing
to help them to an understanding of it ; it remained a
riddle not only to the Jews who were strangers to His doc
trine, but even to the Twelve as well. The latter pressed
1 Matt. xiii. 2.
2 Matt. xiii. 3-9.
3 The landscape described in the Parable of the Sower is precisely that
of the hill-country whose fertile slopes border the lake from Ain et-Tin as
far as Tell Houm ; therefore, when He left Capharnaum the Master must
have taken the road that runs along the coast toward Bethsaida.

302 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
about Him, and upon their asking why He spoke in this
way, Jesus at once explained His conduct. If He con
cealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of God under the
form of an allegory, it was only that His enemies might
" behold without perceiving, might hear without under
standing," and thus, aided by this obscurity, He might (as
we have said before) gain the necessary time for the devel
opment of His doctrine, which was to make out of these
lowly disciples a Holy Church, the Household of the most
High God. The same truths were delivered to every hearer
of His Parables, but they were not fully revealed to any
hearts which were not docile enough to beg more light of
the Master Himself.1 As for the mass of the Jews, the
Oracle uttered long since by Isaias 2 was now fulfilled in
them, — " You shall hear with your ears, and you shall not
understand; you shall behold with your eyes, and you
shall not see. For the heart of this people is waxed gross ;
they have grown dull of hearing, they have shut their
eyes, in such wise 3 that they may no longer either see or
hear or understand in their hearts ; neither can they be
converted nor be healed."
" But as for you," continued Jesus,4 " blessed are your
eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
In very truth, I tell you, many Prophets and just men
have desired to see what you are seeing and have not seen
it, and to hearken to what you are hearing and have not
heard it. Therefore listen to the Parable of the Sower."
But the minds of the Apostles were not yet suffi
ciently clear-sighted to grasp the meaning of this alle
gory; and for the moment Jesus was amazed at their
blindness. " Do you not understand this Parable ? How, then, will
you be able to understand all the rest ?"6 However, He
i Matt. xiii. 10-15.
2 Is. vi. 9.
•1 MiJiroTf, with the future of the indicative, indicates that one is appre
hensive of something, and at the same time regards it as very liable to
occur (Winer, Grammatik, par. 56, 2).
4 Matt. xiii. 16-18.
6 Mark iv. 13.

THE PARABLES. 303
took pity upon their weakness, and expounded His own
words. The Church is a vast Field,1 through which Jesus walks
scattering the grain from an unstinting hand ; for the gifts
of God are without measure. The seed falls everywhere
in an equally generous shower, — upon hearts as cold and
hardened as those worn, beaten pathways, which offer it no
resting-place or nourishment ; upon light and superficial
souls, wherein the strength of the seed, spending itself in a
sudden show of growth, sends down no deep roots, and so
withers beneath the first wind of temptation ; upon the
creatures of worldliness, who no sooner receive the gift of
grace than they proceed to stifle it " beneath a weight of
earthly cares and the deceitfulness of riches." But those
true followers of Him are " the good ground, — they who
hearken to the Word, who receive it, and bring forth fruit
bearing thirty, sixty, and an hundred fold." Such was the
first rough draft of the Church drawn by the hand of the
Master Architect, — a Field wherein the heavenly seed is
sown with exceeding plentifulness, and yet it will bear no
fruit if so be that man's evil passions place an obstacle in
its way.
Jesus dwelt more strongly still upon this last point by
showing what perfect freedom of action He would bestow
upon His earthly Heritage, the Church. He likened it to
a land which, being once oversown, " produces its fruit of
itself, — first the blade, then the ear, then the grain en
closed in the ear. And when it has borne its full crop,
immediately they put sickle to it, because it is now the
time of harvest." 2 What matters it whether the workman
sleeps or watches, will not the harvest still come round ?
The grain takes root of itself, and grows up while he is
dreaming ; when once the soil is planted, there is no need
of him until the time of reaping is come. In like manner
the Saviour has dealt with the Kingdom of Heaven in our
hearts. He came to sow, but He need never more return
unto the end of Time, — until the Harvesting is come.
1 Matt. xiii. 18-23 ; Mark iv. 13-20 ; Luke viii. 11-15.
2 Mark iv. 26-29.

304= SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Strong, sharp, and clear though these first outlines
were, they did not sufficiently prefigure the future de
velopment of the Church. And so Jesus cast about for
new similitudes.
" Unto what shall We compare the Kingdom of Heaven,"
He said, " and under what imagery may We describe it ? "
In order to depict the persecutions which were in store
for it He gave the Parable of the Cockle,1 — " The King
dom of Heaven is likened to a man who has sowed good
grain in his field. Now while his people were sleeping his
enemy comes and sows cockle through the midst of the
wheat, and goes his way.2 The blade having sprouted and
borne its fruit, the cockle also began to appear.
" And the servants of the father of the family came to
him, saying, ' My lord, did you not sow good grain in your
field ? How comes it that there is cockle also ? '
" ' It is mine enemy who has done this,' he said to
them. " ' Will you have us go and weed it out ? ' the servants
replied. " ' No,' he answered, ' for fear lest in gathering up the
cockle you might uproot the wheat at the same time. Let
them grow up together until the harvest, and in the time
of harvesting I will say to the reapers, First tear up the
cockle and bind it in bundles to cast into the fire; but
gather the wheat into my barns.' "
Over against this picture of the Church's sufferings
Jesus set forth the scene of its Day of Triumph in even
more striking contrast. He showed how humble its be
ginnings, how slow its growth, but at the same time how
mighty is the seed of life within it ; and so He called it a
1 Matt. xiii. 24-30. Cockle (lolium temulentum), darnel, or tare, is a
species of grass, which comes up with the wheat and much resembles it,
so long as the ear is unformed ; it owes its name (l'ivraie, drunken rye
grass, drank grass) to the intoxicating properties of its grain, which are
also extremely poisonous.
2 The savage feuds, by which tribes and families are split up in the
Orient, are strikingly depicted in this Parable. The foe, the avenger, is
here implacable ; yet, because he is too weak to resort to violence, he
lurks in the darkness and wreaks his vengeance, without exposing himself
to the consequences.

THE PARABLES. 305
Mustard Seed,1 — the tiniest of all seeds, which becomes a
tree 2 in which the birds of heaven find a resting-place ; or it
is the Leaven which a woman mixes in three measures 3 of
meal, and which ferments the whole lump.
" All these things," adds Saint Matthew,4 " He told to
the people in Parables, and He no longer spoke to them
save in parables. Thus was fulfilled what had been said
by the Prophet,5 — ' I will open My mouth in Parables ; I
will lay bare things hidden from the foundation of the
world.'" Nevertheless the divine Master was careful, amid all
this " great number of similitudes," to say nothing " which
could not be comprehended " by docile hearts, and " in
private He explained everything to His disciples." 6
To them, indeed, was committed the great trust of treas
uring up the truths which were denied to incredulous
Jews ; not that they were always to hoard this wealth in
secrecy, but that they might bring them forth at a fitting
1 Matt. xiii. 31, 32. The Mustard of the Parable is the same plant
which we designate by this name, whose very minute seeds produce the
large, black mustard- plant. In the warmer latitudes it attains a height
unknown in northern countries. When riding over the rich plain of
Akkar, Thomson saw the black-mustard growing wild, and the shrubs
were higher than the horseman's head (The Land and the Book, p. 414 ;
along with this compare Travels, Irby and Mangles, March 12). Hooker
testifies to the fact that on the banks of the Jordan, its bole often meas
ures ten feet in height. And hence, comparing it with any other plants
of the garden (Xdxavov, "olus," Matt. xiii. 32), the Mustard may well be
called a "great tree," and it is entirely unnecessary for us to suppose (as
Dr. Royle has suggested), that Jesus is not speaking of the Mustard-seed
here (Sinapis Nigra), but of the Salvadora Persica. (See Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society, March, 1844, and along with this consult Lightfoot,
Horce Hebraicce, in Matt. xiii. ) " Caulis erat sinapis in Sichem, e quo
enati sunt rami tres, e quibus unus decerptus cooperuit tentoriolum figuli.
. . . Caulis sinapis erat mihi in agro meo, in quam ego scandere soli-
tus sum, ita ut scandere solet in ficum" (Talmud of Jerusalem, Peah,
fol. 20, 2.)
2 Matt. xiii. 33.
3 Sdrov (!"IKD, in Aramean : XrWD) is the third part of an Ephah (a
little more than 18 litres). Three of these measures made up the quan
tity of wheat which they were accustomed to mix for a baking of bread
(Gen. xviii. 6 ; 1 Kings i. 24).
4 Matt. xiii. 34, 35.
5 Ps. lxxvii. 2.
B Mark iv. 33, 34.
VOL. I.— 20

306 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
hour to be the Light of the Church, — to be as a torch,
which is not put beneath a couch, but is set within its
holder that it may light all those who enter the house ;
" for there is nothing hidden " in the Master's doctrine
" which must not be revealed, nothing done in the shadow
which shall not be brought to the light." x This is why-
Jesus so earnestly beseeches His Apostles to listen to His
words. " Pay heed to what you are hearing. Whoever has ears
to hear let him hear ! "
And again this is the reason of His solemn warning that
this great gift of wisdom is not bestowed upon them alone,
but that it is to be for all ; hence He threatened to take it
back from such as failed to guard it faithfully, — " for it
shall be given to him who hath," to him who preserves
the words of the Master, " but from him who hath not, even
that which he hath shall be taken away." 2
Toward evening Jesus dismissed the throngs, and re
turned to His dwelling.3 Thither the disciples accom
panied Him, and begged Him to enlighten them as to the
Parable of the Cockle. Thereupon interpreting the alle
gory word by word, He showed plainly how the Devil is
the Enemy who sows the cockle ; yet at the end of the
world the Angels shall gather together all the scandals, to
gether with the evil-doers, from out the Church, casting
them into the furnace of fire ; while the just shall shine
like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.
To these parables Saint Matthew adds three similes
which the Saviour uttered about the same time ; 4 and with
i Mark iv. 21, 22. 2 Mark iv. 23-25. " Matt. xiii. 36-43.
4 To us, it seems scarcely probable that the seven parables, as collected
together here by S. Matthew, were pronounced in presence of but one
audience, and all on the same day. Jesus had too intimate an acquaint
ance with the sordid and grovelling dispositions with which he had to
deal, to overwhelm and fatigue their minds in this manner without giving
them leisure to meditate upon the truths concealed beneath those mystical
words. Furthermore, S. Matthew informs us that the Master uttered a
great number of parables at this time (Matt. xiii. 34) ; so the seven now
connected in this chapter are probably those which struck the writer as
being more forcible than the rest, — those which would give us the
clearest notion of "the Kingdom of God."

THE PARABLES. 307
these He completed the figurative description of what His
Church was to become. For some 't is a Treasure buried
in a field which the toiling laborer turns up with the
ploughshare ; " having found it, the fellow hides it, and in
his joy goes out and sells all he has that he may buy the
field." For others it is the Pearl of great price which falls
into the hands of a merchant who is seeking rare gems.
For all of us it is a Net which drags the very depths of the
sea, letting nothing escape its meshes, bearing mankind
from out the fierce waves of the world up to the peaceful
shores of eternity. " As fishers seated on the strand col
lect together the good fish and cast away the bad, even so
shall it be at the end of the world. The Angels shall come
and shall separate the wicked from among the righteous,
and shall cast them into the furnace. There shall be weep
ing and gnashing of teeth." J
" Have you understood all these things ? " added the
divine Master.
" Yes, Lord," the Apostles replied ; for now indeed their
dazzled eyes were beginning to have glimpses of the truth,
despite the surpassing splendor of His speech. Little by
little they were still to descry new and lovelier verities,
as the divine Light grew in glory, until the time should
come for all to be made partakers in the heavenly day.
This was to be their Commission ; for, unlike those Doctors
of the Law who communicated their doctrine only to a
handful of disciples, the Apostles of the Glad Tidings were
to spread the good news over all the earth. Just as a
bountiful father will plunge his hand deep down in his
coffers, bringing to light the hoardings of long ago as well
as of to-day that he may lavish them upon the children of
his household, even so the true Scribe, who has knowledge
of the Kingdom of Heaven, must needs find in the Old
Testament as well as in the New treasures of wisdom
which shall become in his hands the noble Heritage of all
mankind.2 1 Matt. xiii. 44-51. 2 Matt. xiii. 52.

CHAPTER VI.
THE MIRACLES DONE IN GERGESA AND CAPHARNAUM.
I. The Possessed Creatures of Gergesa.
Luke viii. 22-39 ; Mark iv. 35-41 ; v. 1-20 ; Matt. viii. 18, 23-34.
The crowds which Jesus had dismissed after the dis
course by the lakeside had now gathered about His
abode once more. The Saviour, seeing that any needful
repose was not to be hoped for inside the city walls, re
solved that same evening to seek the lonely highlands of
Perea. " Let us pass over to the other side," He said to
His disciples.1 And they, after sending away the citizens,
went aboard a boat ; with them was the Lord, who made
no preparation whatever for the voyage ; for Saint Mark
says " they took Him into the bark just as He was." Sev
eral other craft sailed along in company with them, each
one, amid the rustling night-winds and under the starlit
sky, making quiet headway toward the opposite bank.
Jesus, seating Himself in the stern, rested His head
upon the pilot's pillow ; very soon He was sleeping, wearied
with the toils of the day. But hardly had His eyes closed
in slumber when the whole outlook overhead and round
about them changed. It is with surprising suddenness that
the storms burst over the sea of Galilee ; from the icy
peaks of Hermon the tempests precipitate themselves upon
the lake, and in an instant whip its waters into wild and
seething waves.2 Caught in one of these furious cloud-
i Mark iv. 35-38.
2 Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 374.

THE POSSESSED CREATURES OF GERGESA. 309
bursts, the little vessels were scattered far and wide, while
that of the Master was left alone, with the waters beating
into it on every side.
And now the fierce floods threatened to engulf them at
every moment ; yet all the time Jesus slumbered on, while
the Apostles dared not waken Him. But when they felt
the boat beginning to settle beneath their feet fear dis
pelled every other thought ; they threw themselves about
Him, calling upon Him with desperate eagerness, —
" Master ! Master ! save us ! We perish ! "
The wakening of Jesus was as tranquil to all seeming as
His repose had been ; and His first care was to calm their
hearts rather than the angry waters.
"Why do you fear?" He said, "0 men of little
faith ! " Only after this did He arise and rebuke the
winds ; x then speaking to the sea as if it had been a
furious beast,
" Be quiet," He said to it ; " curb thy rage." 2
And immediately the winds ceased, and there came a
great calm.
At sight of the unclouded plains of heaven, and the lake
once again silent and placid, it was borne in upon the
Apostles' minds how Jesus might well complain of their
little faith. No matter what extreme of peril they might
encounter, it were too trifling to notice in His Presence ;
while He is with us we have nothing to fear. Their won
dering awe was shared by the sailors who were with
Him.3 " What manner of Man is this ? " they said one to an
other. "He commands the winds and the waves, and they
obey Him."
The cry of these men of Galilee has been repeated many
times since then; for the miracle performed upon the
waters of Genesareth is but a type of those marvellous
mercies which God has never ceased to operate by means of
His Church. She likewise is sailing over blustering seas ;
often in the awful vortex of the whirlwind it will seem as
1 Matt. viii. 26. 2 'S.iuira, ire<plpuo-o (Mark iv. 39).
3 0! avdpuroi (Matt. viii. 27).

310 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
though the Master were sleeping in forgetfulness of His
own ; but from age to age, at the very moment when all
seems lost, the Christ awakes and with one word saves the
Bark Tossed aud battered though she be, so long as Jesus
rests upon the Pilot's bench she is upholden by a promise
which cannot fail of fulfilment,— His promise to bring us
all together to the further shores of Eternity.
Jesus did not find the quiet and repose which He had
come to seek in the country of Perea. He had scarcely set
foot upon the land of Gergesa x when His glance encountered
a mournful object. From one of the hills which rise
above the lake a possessed creature had descried the land
ing of the little ship, and, emerging from the caves hol
lowed out of the cliff, he rushed down toward where the
Lord stood.2
In ancient times there was no place of refuge where poor
human beings could be kept when subject to such horrid
afflictions as this ; driven out of the towns and away from
all houses, they must seek shelter in some ruined hovel or
in the caverns which were used as graves. The horror
overshadowing such an abode, in which no Jew could
enter without being contaminated, would naturally but
increase the fury of the demoniacs.
This possessed man of Gergesa was so terrible of aspect
1 The name of the country where their bark came to land has been the
subject of numerous alterations, in the different Versions of the Gospel.
Was it called Gadara, Gerasa, or Gergesa ? Tischendorf, relying mainly
upon the authority of his Manuscript of Sinai, thinks we should read in
S Mark Ttpaayvuv, in S. Luke Tepyeayvuv, and in S. Matthew TaSapyvwv.
But Gerasa, which lies upon the borders of Arabia, is too far distant to
be the place referred to here ; so too with Gadara, whose ruins have been
discovered on the outskirts of Hieromax, a three hours' walk from the
lake (Urn Kreis). Hence we prefer the tradition, recorded by Origen,
that a town named Gergesa stood somewhere near the shores of the lake,
opposite to Capharnaum. Both Eusebius and S. Jerome make mention of
it, adding that in their day a mountain near the water-side was pointed
out to them as the scene of the Miracle. To-day, too, in the same region
(in the Ouadi Semakh), there are some ruins which the Bedouins call by
the name of Kerza or Gerza, while numerous tomb-caves are still to be
seen hollowed out of the mountain-side ; thus everything seems to con
firm the testimony of Origen (See Thomson, The Land and the Book,
pp. 375-378).
2 Mark v. 2-5.

THE POSSESSED CREATURES OF GERGESA. 311
that no one dared so much as to cross his path. It was
now a long time since he had torn to pieces what few
shreds of clothing still hung about him. And so he
roamed night and day among the lonely rock-tombs, stark
and naked, uttering wild shrieks and tearing his flesh with
sharp stones.1 They had tried in vain to fetter his limbs ;
he would rend his shackles with their iron chains ; and
after this no number of men could get the mastery over
him. This was the frenzied spectre which confronted the
Lord almost as soon as His foot touched the laud.
According to Saint Matthew's report of the scene,2 this
possessed being was not alone ; another such wretched
mortal came running up to Jesus with him. Frantic and
violent though they were, yet (as all the others before them
had been), these two were quelled by some divine charm
in Him, and cowering in the dust before the Christ, they
shrieked wildly 3 : —
" What is there between Thee and us, Jesus, Son of the
Most-High ? Art Thou come hither to torment us before
the time ? "
For Jesus had said to one of the demoniacs, " Foul
Spirit, depart from out this man ! " And as Satan was
loath to obey, the Saviour added, " What is thy name ? "
The fiend answered by the mouth of the possessed man,
" I am called Legion,4 because we are many."
Then shuddering and writhing before the Lord, this host
of demons besought Him not to dismiss them forever from
the country-side, but to allow them some place of refuge.
Now there was a great herd of swine feeding far away 5
1 One of the apocryphal writings gives it that the demoniacs gnawed
at their own flesh ; aapKOipayovvras r&v Idiuv p.eX&v (Thilo, Codex Apoc-
ryphus, i. p. 308).
2 Matt. viii. 28.
8 Mark v. 6-9.
4 The presence of the Roman armies in Palestine had made the word
"Legion" familiar to the Jews; by this expression the possessed man
sought to give some idea of the multitude of evil spirits whose movements
he felt warring within him ; in point of fact a Legion was made up of five
or six thousand men. (See Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae, in Marc. v. 9.)
6 Matt. viii. 30. MaKpdv, which is inexactly translated in the Vulgate
by "non longe," "near here," indicates, on the contrary, that the herd

312 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
upon the mountain-side ; and the devils begged and cried,
saying, —
" If Thou wilt drive us hence, let us enter into yonder
herd of swine."
" Go ! " He said to them.
And the unclean spirits, rushing forth, seized upon the
swine, who were carried headlong into the lake, and were
stifled with the sea-waters to the number of nearly two
thousand. At sight of their herds borne in unmanageable fury to
destruction, the men having charge of them at once con
ceived that those mad outcasts were the cause of this new
misfortune ; so, fearing any encounter with such ghoulish
wretches, they took to flight, and spread the news as they
passed along by quiet farm-houses and through the busy
streets of the little city. The town's-folk sallied out at
once to see what had occurred ; and what must have been
their surprise, on hurrying up to where Jesus stood, to per
ceive at His feet the much-dreaded demoniac, now quietly
seated, clothed, sane of mind, and whole, — without a
scream and without a single mark of recent struggle!
" And when those who had seen the thing related to
them all that had happened to the possessed and to the
herds,"1 so sudden a transformation overwhelmed them
with alarm ; they never thought either of denying or
explaining the fact ; they were simply seized with such
terror that they began to beseech Jesus to leave their
shores. How can we account for this overpowering fear, the like
of which was never produced by any of the Saviour's
miracles in Judea, — unless perhaps for the reason that this
eastern shore of the lake was a very different territory, with
a population far more Pagan than Jewish in thought and
feeling ? The ten cities which gave the name of the De
capolis to these parts were Greek, both by their origin and
of pigs were browsing in some place rather remote from the spot on which
the possessed creature was delivered; "upon the mountain," "in the
gorges," say the other two Evangelists : Ilpbs t$ fpe: (Mark v. 11 ) ; iv ri#
ipei (Luke vii. 32).
1 Mark v. 15-17.

THE POSSESSED CREATURES OF GERGESA. 313
in their manners. Gadara (which was the native place of
the demoniac, according to very many manuscripts) could
boast of some famous poets, among them Meleager, 1 — a
singer of light love songs, — and the Epicurean Philode-
mus, whose renown had reached Rome itself.2
Keen in its enjoyment of earthly pleasures, this land
had no desire to hear of the Kingdom of Heaven. And so,
bowing to the wishes of the agitated citizens, Jesus re-
embarked at once ; but He did not quit their country with
out taking care that the Good News should be published
among them.
As the man who had been healed presently supplicated
to be taken along with them, the Saviour, not consenting
to this step, bade him however, —
" Return to your home, to your brethren, and tell them
what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He
has had pity on you." 3
The man obeyed, and thus became the first apostle of
the Decapolis. "He announced everywhere the works
of the Christ, and all men wondered."
II. The Banquet given by Levi. — The Woman with
the Issue of Blood. — The Daughter of Jairus.
Matt. ix. 10-26 ; Luke v. 29-39, viii. 40-56 ; Mark ii. 15-22, v. 21-43.
It was in the morning that Jesus delivered the two
demoniacs of Gergesa, and by pushing out to sea without
1 Gadara was in the neighborhood of Gergesa. Meleager, author of the
Anthology, was born there, fifty years before Jesus Christ. We have a
graceful elegy of his, wherein he celebrates the charms of his home coun
try, the joyous spring-time in Phoenicia, the distant meadow-lands veiled
over with the fine blue mists of the East, and swaying beneath their
fragrant freight of purple blossoms: —
" L'alcyon sur les mers, pres des toits l'hirondelle,
Le cygne au bord du lac, sous les bois Philomele;"
(Andre Chenibr)
translated from these lines in Meleager's " Spring-time: " —
'AXKvbves Tepl Kvpa, xeXiSopes dpapl piXaBpa,
., K6kvos iir 6xBaiaiv irorapiov, Kal vtt &Xaos dyduv.
2 Cicero, In Pisonem, 29. a Mark v. 20.

314 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
delay He could reach the fertile land of Genesareth again
that same day. A long time before they hove to and
dropped anchor in the little bay eager crowds had spied
the vessel which had borne Him away, and hastening
down along the banks, they waited to greet Him.1
But none welcomed Him more gladly than Levi. Evi
dently this Apostle had remained behind in Capharnaum,
and having in the interval called together a number
of His friends, — publicans and sinners, like himself,2
— he begged the Lord to partake of a great feast, which
he immediately prepared for this assemblage.3 Jesus
showed no hesitation about accepting the invitation, and
in good time sat down to the banquet, surrounded by His
disciples. That the Lord was present at this feast soon began to be
noised throughout the town. The Scribes and Pharisees
were the first to make their way into the great hall, thrown
open wide to all comers. There they saw, enacted under
their very eyes, this sad scandal, the rumor of which had
so shocked them.
Verily ! ay, true enough ! there sat a Master of Israel,
at the same table with publicans, and familiarly talking
with such low company !
They were too wary now to grumble and mutter in the
Saviour's hearing; but feeling that they might act more
1 Luke viii. 40.
2 Luke v. 29.
3 After telling us the story of his vocation, S. Matthew proceeds to
describe the great banquet to which he invited the Lord, the cure of a
woman with an issue of blood, and the resurrection of Jairus's daughter
(Matt. ix. 10, 26). SS. Mark and Luke put the first two events at the
beginning of the first year of His Ministry (Mark ii. 15-22 ; Luke v.
29-39), and the latter two they place after the deliverance of the. demo
niacs of Gergesa (Mark v. 21-43 ; Luke viii. 40-56). We shall make
only one deviation from the order indicated by the two latter Evangelists :
considering the calling of Levi to have occurred at the same time set for it
by them, we shall connect his banquet with the miracles which are to
follow ; for S. Matthew, on this point, speaks as an eye-witness, and he
distinctly states that the three last-named events happened one after
another, on the same day, and of course we cannot disregard this pre
cise evidence. Elsewhere (p. 227) we have shown that it is impossible
to suppose that the calling of Levi took place after the selection of the
Twelve.

THE BANQUET GIVEN BY LEVI. 315
freely with the Apostles, they gave vent to their distrust
and horror in their ear.
" How comes it," they said, " that you and that master
of yours eat and drink with publicaus and sinners ? "
Censure such as this, coming from men they were ac
customed to look up to with reverence, could not fail to
disturb these simple minds, little versed in controversy.
Jesus, knowing every movement of their souls, discerned
their trouble, and Himself replied to the formalists, " that
He was not come to call the just, but sinners. For men
in good health have no need of a physician, but only the
sick." l Then, borrowing an expression common among
their Rabbis, He added, —
" Go, ye, and learn 2 the meaning of those words : ' I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice ! ' " 3 — that is, Charity rather
than mere stickling for observances.
Such precepts as this uttered by the Prophet Osee con
ferred upon the Law its only true dignity, by permeating
it with the real Spirit of Christianity before the time.
But the Pharisees of Capharnaum had not so construed it ;
and now they refused to comprehend more than that Jesus
undertook to defend His friends, and so for their part, they
would refrain hereafter from all disputes with Him !
Some of John's disciples,4 attracted thither by the
hurrying throngs, had also entered the great hall. At
sight of Jesus seated there, taking His part in the good
things of the feast, mindful too of how the Baptist " would
neither eat nor drink," 5 and even now was languishing in
the dungeons of Macheronte, — these sad memories quite
broke down all their hopes. So then, the Christ had al
ready forgotten His Precursor ! Far from spending His
time in fasting and tears, like these mourners over the
downfall of their great Prophet, He was actually enjoying
i Luke v. 31, 32.
2 Matt. ix. 13. Hope vSivre s pdBere is equivalent to the expression
which we find so frequently in the Talmud: 'raSl N¥.
8 Osee v. 6. The Prophet is quoted according to the Hebrew text,
which the Septuagint translated thus ; " I love mercy better than sacrifice."
4 Matt. ix. 14.
5 Luke vii. 33.

316 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
rich banquets, and diverting himself in the company of

sinners

Such a spectacle embittered their minds the more
against Him, and made their disappointment over their
own master's fate all the harder to bear. Finding that
the Pharisees were ready to make common cause against
Him, they joined them in reproaching the Lord anew.
" Why," they began, " should we and the Pharisees mul
tiply our fasts,1 while you and yours eat and drink ? "
Jesus forgave their presumption, because their zeal
made it excusable; but fie recalled to the minds of John's
disciples how their master had compared Him to the Bride
groom amid the marriage festivities, and continuing the
figure, He said, " Would you have the sons of the Spouse 2
fasting and weeping while the Spouse is with them ? "
It is befitting for us to fast in seasons of mourning only;
now John had foretold that the coming of the Kingdom of
God would be like a wedding festival, wherein the Christ
should celebrate His espousals with Humanity; and there
fore, on this day of gladness, to demand that the Apostles,
the friends of the Bridegroom, should abandon themselves
to grief, would be to discredit the testimony of John
himself. " But a time will come," He added, " when the Spouse
shall be taken from them, and they shall fast in those
days." 1 The Mosaic Law only commanded the people to fast upon the Day of
Solemn Expiation, which occurred four days before the Feast of the Tab
ernacles, about the fifteenth of September (Lev. xvi. 29 ; Num. xxix. 7).
After the return from Captivity, the Scribes had inaugurated four fasting-
days in the year, occurring in the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the
tenth months (Zachar. viii. 19). The Pharisees, with their usual ostenta
tion of piety went still further, fasting twice every week, — on Thursday,
in memory of the day on which Moses, according to Tradition, ascended
Mount Sinai; and on Monday, to commemorate his return thence (Luke
xviii. 12 ; Baba Kamma, f. 82 a). However, the Prophets do not appear
to have approved of these novelties (Zachar. vii. 1-12 ; viii. 9).
2 These Sons, or Friends of the Bridegroom, are the companions of the
Paranymph, "the gentlemen of honor," the Best Man with the Grooms
men. This term Son is ordinarily employed in sacred literature to denote
any ties which are considered as being as intimate as those of kinship :
"The Sons of the Kingdom " (Matt. viii. 12) ; "of Hell" (Matt, xxiii.
15) ; "of Peace " (Luke x. 6), etc.

THE BANQUET GIVEN BY LEVI. 317
For the first time J Jesus allowed the multitude to have
some inkling of the violent death which awaited Him ; but
He did not dwell at any length upon this dark foreboding ;
indeed, He rather made haste to restore happiness and
peace among Levi's guests, who had been disturbed by
these ill-timed questionings.
Hereupon changing the tone of their talk, and looking
round Him upon the gay furnishings which decked the
board, the joyous company in their bright-colored festal
robes, the tankards from which flowed sparkling wines, He
began to speak in a Parable, which had now come to be
His usual manner of teaching.
Under this figure He propounded a truth which would
be most apt to shock the Jewish mind ; for He wished to
have them know that in His Kingdom the ceremonies of
the Mosaic worship were to be abolished, — the bloody
sacrifices, the symbolical ceremonies, circumcision, and
everything else which in the Law was but a shadow of
future things, would now fade away under the clear light of
the Gospel. The Lord knew, were He to announce abruptly
that the Ancient Covenant had already passed away, He
would arouse all Judea against Him ; hence He must needs
prepare men's minds, as usual, with gentle condescension.
"No one," He began,2 "puts a piece of unworn cloth
into an old garment ; otherwise the new," when damp and
shrunken, "gathers up the old, and the rent is made the
worse. And no more does any one put new wine into old
bottles ; otherwise the bottles break, the wine flows away,
and the bottles themselves are lost. Rather you put new
wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."
Mysterious and little understood though they were, these
words could not fail to excite some surprise in the minds
of His audience ; perhaps they even caused renewed mur
murs of disapproval. Jesus fully realized how strong the
1 Heretofore He had alluded to it but once, — in the conversation with
Nicodemus (John iii. 14). "Bene non dicit : Abibit ab eis sponsus, quod
significasset amoris in sponso imperfeotionem, sed : Auferetur ab eis sive
per mortem a vobis inferendam, sive per ascensionem, a Patre " (Jansenius
of Ghent, Concordia Evangelica, xxxiii.).
2 Matt. ix. 16, 17.

318 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
attachment to time-honored observances can be, and so He
added, —
"He who is wont to drink old wines does not at first
relish the new, but finds the old better." J
As He was speaking in this way, one of the great men
of Capharnaum entered the happy circle.2 It was Jairus,
Chief of the Synagogue, — one of those notable men of the
city who had very lately sought out Jesus to implore His
aid in behalf of the Roman Centurion ; but this time he
was come to entreat help for himself. He fell down be
fore the feet of the Saviour, pouring forth his prayer ; and
in every word of it one can note how uncontrollable and
distracting was his grief.3
"Lord, my little child, my only daughter is dying, —
she is dead, — but, 0 come! lay your hands upon her and
she shall live."
Jesus rose up at once, and followed Jairus.4 The Apos
tles accompanied Him ; behind them surged an excited
throng of publicans, Pharisees, those disciples of John, and
the people of the town, all eager to see what was about to
happen.5 Now, amid this motley mass of humanity, there was a
sick woman who had been subject to a loss of blood for
some twelve years. Such a malady was a dreadful humili
ation for any daughter of Israel; because it was looked
upon as a scourge that was only laid on women of wicked
character, and hence those afflicted with it were avoided and
despised. The poor sufferer had paid out all her means in
fees to the physicians,6 but still in vain. She had under
gone, without any benefit, all that peculiar treatment as to
1 Luke v. 39. 2 Matt. ix. 18.
3 S. Matthew (ix. 18) puts these words in the father's mouth : " My
daughter is even now dead," while S. Mark (v. 23) makes him say, " My
little daughter is at the point of death." There is no inconsistency here,
since both these expressions might have come to the lips of the distraught
father, who had but just now left his child in her last agony, and so knew
not whether she were yet alive or dead (S. Augustine, De Consensu Evan-
gelistarum, ii. 66).
4 Matt. ix. 19.
6 Mark v. 24.
6 Mark v. 25, 26.

THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD. 319
which the Talmud gives us some curious details,1 yet the
disease grew greater every day
She had now given up all other hope save in Jesus ; but
she was still held back by her timidity and shame, both
because she had nothing at all to offer Him, and because
her sickness was thought to be such a terrible disgrace ; at
last she resolved to get the gifts of grace by stealth, like
a thief. " If I can just touch His robe," she said to herself, " I
shall be healed."
Urged on by this intense and lively faith, she glided
through the multitude, pushed her way right up to the
Master, and furtively seized the tassel hanging from His
mantle2 in her thin and wasted fingers.
Scarcely had she touched it, when the issue of blood
was stopped ; her trust had been rewarded. With beating
heart and half choked with fear, she fell back amid the
crowd. But though no one had noticed her act, Jesus knew it
of Himself.3 Feeling at once that power had gone out
from Him, He halted and turned toward the people.
" Who has touched My garment ? " He said.
As each one began to plead innocence, Peter and those
round Him replied, —
"Master, the people crowd about and harass you, and
can you ask, ' Who has touched me ? ' "
" I have felt that power has gone out from Me," Jesus
answered ; " some one has touched Me.4 "
And as His eyes fell upon the throng He fixed one of
1 Lightfoot, Horae Hebra'icoe, in Marcum, v. 26.
2 This sort of ornamental pendant was a sacred object in the Jews' eyes ;
they were commanded by the Law to affix tassels to the four corners of
their mantle, attaching them to the seam of the garment by a blue cord.
Moses intended to remind them, by means of this ornament always set
before their eyes, that they were a Chosen People, and therefore conse
crated to the Eternal. Two of these pendants were attached to the front,
and another of them hung down below the waist, when a fold of the broad
wrap was thrown back over one shoulder ; probably this was the fringe
which the poor woman managed to grasp.
3 Mark v. 30.
4 Luke viii. 45.

320 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
those grave and piercing glances which fathom the depths
of the heart upon her whom He had healed. The woman,
seeing herself discovered, began trembling, then tottered to
Him and fell at His feet, declaring before all the people
for what cause she had touched Him, and how on the in
stant she had been cured. The Lord had merely looked
for this simple acknowledgment.
" My child, be of good courage," He said to her ; " go in
peace, your faith has saved you.1
" While He was still speaking comforting words to her,
some members of the household of Jairus came hurrying
toward them.
"Do not trouble the Master any longer," they said;
" your daughter is dead." 2
The unfortunate father had uttered no complaint at seeing
Jesus make so long a wait by the road-side. Great and
importunate as was his grief, it could not make him grudge
this sufferer the happiness of being healed ; for the noble
man's charity equalled his faith. The Master now turned
back to him, and seeing him bowed in speechless sorrow,
He spoke to him very gently.
" Do not fear, only believe ; she shall be saved." And
still followed by the throngs, He proceeded once more on
the way.
At the house Jesus found the mourners already gather
ing, upon the first tidings of the child's death.3 The deli
cate body, ready to be wrapped in its winding-sheet and
1 The " Gospel of Nicodemus '' gives Veronica as the name of the sick
woman, and tradition says that after her cure she returned to Cajsarea
Philippi, her native land, where she set up a monument of bronze, which
represented her as she lay prostrate at the feet of the Saviour. There is a
graceful legend to the effect that a flowering shrub grew up close by the
statue, and that it was immediately endowed with the power of healing all
sicknesses, from the moment that its stem once -touched the hem of
the Statue's mantle. During four centuries the Church venerated this
touching memento of the loving-kindness of Jesus. Eusebius saw it still
standing, and it was not harmed until the time of Julian the Apostate,
who destroyed it, with so much beside (Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica,
vii. 18 ; Sozomenus, Historia ecclesiastica, v. 11).
2 Luke viii. 49.
3 Luke viii. 52. It is customary in the East to commence the funeral
Wail immediately after a person's decease.

THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 321
linen bands, was lying on the cold ground ; round about
it the women were moaning and wailing, while the shrill
keening of the flutes made their cries the more dismal.
" Weep not ! " Jesus said to them ; " the child is not
dead, she sleeps." 1
The mourners, hearing this speech, thought that He was
mocking them, and would have continued their wail, but
Jesus forbade them. He made them pass without the
darkened chamber, and allowed only the mother and the
father of the child, together with His three most intimate
Apostles, Peter, James, and John,2 to remain in the
room. In their presence He took the hand of the young girl,
and called to her, - —
" Talitha, Koumi ! " 3 " My child, arise ! "
At once the little maid rose and started to run, in high
glee, for she was only twelve years old. The parents were
beside themselves with joy, and the Lord had to remind
them of such things as were necessary for the child, telling
them to give her something to eat.
In working this new marvel of resurrection Jesus had
yielded to his boundless love ; but may He not have feared
that so wonderful a sign of His Christhood would arouse all
the enthusiasm of the people, and reawaken Herod's jeal
ousy ? He had not confined Himself, therefore, to merely
commanding them to keep silence concerning the matter,4
but had taken every precaution to conceal the deed before
hand. His first words had been, " The child is not dead,
she sleeps ; " and although these words were meant to
signify that for Him it was as easy to recall her soul to
life as it would be to awaken her from slumber, yet this
sense of the words would be sure to escape the minds of
the common people. The wondrous deed being accom
plished, He probably remained in the house until the
1 Mark v. 38 ; Matt. ix. 23. 2 Luke viii. 51.
8 Mark v. 41. 'Dip NJY70. S. Peter, who was one of the eye
witnesses of this miracle, treasured up the memory of those two words,
and many years after transmitted them to Mark, his Evangelist.
4 Mark v. 43.
vol. 1, — 21

322 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
people outside, ignorant of what was going on within doors,
gradually dropped away.
Thus Jesus avoided the first outburst of excitement;
but the secret could not be kept for long. The sight of
the little girl, brought back from death to life, the great
gratitude of her parents, the wonder and awe of the Apos
tles, — all these soon betrayed the fact, "and the fame
of the miracle was noised abroad through the whole
country-side." 1 1 Matt. ix. 26.

CHAPTER VII.
THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES. — DEATH OF THE
PRECURSOR.

I. The Mission of the Apostles.
Matt. xiii. 54-58, ix. 35-38, x. 5-42 ; Mark vi. 1-11 ; Luke ix. 1-6.
When Jesus left the mansion of Jairus it was in order
to undertake a new mission through Galilee. It was the
third (and it was to be the last) of those journeyings of
His during which He preached in every little hamlet of
that land. First of all, this time, He wended His way up
to His old home in Nazareth,1 and on the Sabbath began to
preach in the synagogue ; but He met with as cold a
reception as on a former occasion a year ago ; the Nazarenes
were as hard and dull to the words of their fellow- Towns
man as they were before.
'' How does he come by his wisdom and his power ? "
they kept on saying. " Is not this the carpenter ? Is not
his mother called Mary, his brothers James and Joseph,
Simon and Jude ? And are not his sisters all here amongst
us ? " And they were scandalized at Him, — were shocked
at His presumption !
1 In this way we would mark a distinction between the two visits which
Jesus made to Nazareth, — one being the one of which S. Luke speaks in
his fourth chapter ; this took place at the outset of His public life. The
other, reported by S. Mark (vi. 1-6), is this instance, when he tells us
that Jesus bade farewell to the household of Jairus, at Capharnaum, and
started out for Nazareth : Kai iHyXBev iKeiBev, Kal tyxerai els ryv irarpida.

324 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Their phlegmatic bigotry and coarseness were well un
derstood by Jesus ; nevertheless on this particular day it
would seem to have even surpassed His expectations ; for
Saint Mark tells us 1 He " was astonished thereat," as though
He would indicate how entire and hopeless tlieir incredu
lity was by the use of this striking expression, which
sounds strangely enough when used in reference to God.
The Lord grieved over their blindness, and, comparing the
contemptuousness of the Nazarenes with the docility of
their brethren in Galilee, He repeated what He had said
of them once before, —
" A Prophet is not without honor save in his own coun
try, and in his own home, and in his own family."
This was perforce the divine Wayfarer's farewell to that
ungrateful city, where his boyhood and early manhood had
been passed ; now all He could do here was to heal some
few of their sick folk by laying His hands upon them;
then He departed from the mountain valley, never more
to return.
" He went through the towns and villages,2 teaching in
their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every sickness and all infirmities." The dwel
lers in these lands touched His heart with a great pity, —
they lived so far from Jerusalem and in the very midst of
Pagans, " lying uncared for and spent with fatigue," pant
ing for breath " like a flock of sheep attacked " by wolves,
" who have no shepherd to lead them." 3 However, they
were all ready to receive the Good News ; for Jesus,
speaking of them to the Apostles, called them a rich
and plentiful harvest, which only waits the coming of
the reapers.
" The harvest is great," He said ; " but there are few
workmen. Therefore beseech the Master to send workmen
into His harvest."
1 Mark vi 6. 2 Matt. ix. 35-38.
8 Matt. ix. 36. 'EcrKvXpivoi, literally, fleeced and flayed by the Scribes
and Pharisees. 'Epip.p,ivoi, not merely abandoned, but spent with fatigue
(jacentes, Vulgate). Perhaps the appearance of the wayworn multitude,
resting on the ground all around Him, may have suggested to Jesus the
idea of a stray flock, poor wanderers, homeless and exhausted.

THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES. 325
The Twelve Apostles were to be the first to enter these
fields, which had been made ripe for the coming of their
Lord. Some time before Jesus had finished His own
wanderings through the length and breadth of Galilee He
called them about Him, " gave them strength and dominion
over all devils, with the power of healing diseases, and sent
them out, two by two, to preach the Kingdom of God and
to restore health to the weak." 1 Before entrusting them
with so lofty and august a commission He laid down the
simple and severe duties of their Ministry.
For the present He wished to send them, " not to the
Samaritans, nor to the Gentiles, but rather to the lost sheep
of Israel." 2 All the burden of their message was to be this
" announcement that the Kingdom of Heaven is close at
hand," confirming the glad tidings by miracles performed in
the name of the Christ.
"Heal the sick, raise the dead to life, cleanse the
lepers, drive out devils ; freely you have received, freely
give." A holy indifference to earthly cares was to be the
peculiar feature of their ministry ; 3 they might not make
any preparations, but must be ready at all times to set
out, in whatever circumstances they might chance to be,
taking neither gold nor silver iu their belt, nor victuals
in tlieir wallet, having neither a change of raiment nor
travelling-shoes in the place of the sandals they ordi
narily wore;4 it would even be useless for them to get
themselves a staff for the journey.5 Having arrived in
a town, their first care must be to seek out some hos
pitable household, which they were to accost with that
1 Luke ix. 1, 2 ; Mark vi. 7.
2 Matt. x. 5-8.
3 Matt. x. 9, 10.
4 They must start out shod with sandals only (Mark vi. 9), without
buying or carrying with them the leathern buskins with jdiich travellers
ordinarily protected their feet ; these S. Matthew designates by the word
inrob^piara. 5 "Do not purchase a staff," says S. Matthew (x. 9, 10). "Let that
which you have in your hand suffice you," is S. Mark's wording (vi. 8).
Mydiv "alpuaiv . . . el p.y pdpBov pbvov. The evidence of these two, so far
from being contradictory, is simply explanatory of each other.

326 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
ancient greeting, " Peace be to this house ' " 1 This peace
of theirs should precede them and abide upon the inmates,
if they proved worthy of it ; if otherwise, the heavenly
gift would rather return and rest upon the Heralds of the
Good News. Should they be rejected and repulsed, they
were merely to shake the dust from off their shoes 2 without
the dwelling, thereby proclaiming that they were not
chargeable with the judgment, more terrible than that of
Sodom and Gomorrah, which should one day befall its mis
guided occupants.
Up to this point the Lord had been speaking to the
Twelve concerning their present mission only ; but now,
as though He would explain the duties of the Apostolic
Ministry more generally, He began by marking out its two
principal characteristics.
"Be prudent as serpents, simple as doves. Mark how
I am sending you forth like sheep in the midst of
wolves." 3
Just at this moment (according to a tradition of the first
century) 4 Peter interrupted His Master.
" But if it happen," said he, " that the wolves devour
the sheep ? "
"When the lamb is dead," replied the Lord, "it no
longer fears the wolf. Even so fear not those who can
only kill the body and have no power over the soul. But
1 Matt. x. 11-15. This invocation of peace is the invariable greeting
in Oriental lands : 1]S ti*hw : in the Arab's tongue, " Shalam alcik." In
these countries the guest is always welcomed with courtesy and respect ;
if an Apostle, he is bidden to a seat at the family board and by the
hearth's side, where, from such familiar intercourse as this, he finds his
opportunity to convert those who are about him.
2 Because the Jews considered any Pagan territory as contaminated,
they were accustomed, on returning to their own lands, to brush the
dust from off their feet, as though it were an impurity: "All dust
from a Gentile country must be to our eyes like the dry rot of the
tomb" (Bartenara, in Mischna Tahnroth, 4. 5. See Sepp, Leben Jesu,
B. iv. k. xcii. ).
3 Matt. x. 16.
4 The testimony of S. Clement, by whom this saying was preserved, is
so decisive and important that we cannot cast any doubt upon the authen
ticity of these words of Jesus (Epislola II. ad Cormthios, v. Funk, Opera
Patrum apostolicorum, vol. i. p. 150).

THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES. 327
rather fear that which can send both soul and body down
to Gehenna." 1
Then the Master forewarned them that they would be
dragged before the judgment-seats, flogged in the syna
gogues ; while still in the face of the magistrates of Judea,
as in the presence of the praetors of Rome, they were to
bear testimony, even to the shedding of their blood for His
sake ; but that during all their tortures the Holy Spirit would
be with them and would make answer for them.2 Yet the
Lord did not command them to go out to seek such im
pending perils ; rather, on the contrary, He exhorted them
" to fly from one town to the other," and to persevere in
the faith ; for in very truth " they should not complete
their tale of wanderings through all the cities of Israel
ere yet the Son of Man would manifest Himself on His
return." 3
The future, then, had only gloomy things in store for
the Apostles ; therefore, in order to strengthen and inflame
their courage, Jesus reminded them of the obstacles which
opposed His own Mission.4
Like Him, they must be calm and fearless ; the heavenly
Father " Who numbereth even the hairs of their head, Who
lets not the littlest sparrow 5 fall from the skies upon the
earth without having care thereof," — their Almighty Father
would be with them, "would acknowledge those as His
own children whom His Son claimed as fiis disciples, and
would reject all such as He disowned." 6
Then He added that He had come to cast a drawn
1 Matt. a. 28. For the expression Gehenna see p. 264, note 4.
2 Matt. x. 17-23.
3 This He manifested in innumerable ways, not only by the Apparitions
which succeeded the Resurrection, but by the fall of Jerusalem, and the
triumph of the Church. Nevertheless, it is not until the end of the
world that this Prophecy will have its perfect fulfilment ; the latter-day
Apostles shall not have completed the conversion of that last remnant of
the true Israel, when already the Son of Man will' show Himself in His
glory. 4 Matt. x. 24, 25.
5 One of those tiny birds which cold, hunger, and tempests have struck
to the earth ; such creatures are tied together and sold for «¦ paltry price
in the cities of Palestine.
6 Matt. x. 29-39.

328 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
sword upon the earth : that very soon they should see
their fathers and their children in league with the world,
and eager to deliver them up to death. In the midst of
raging war and of unbridled passions He bade them remain
steadfast, " publishing upon the housetops that which the
Master had spoken in tlieir ear," 1 preferring Jesus above
all whatsoever they held most dear and glorious, " losing
tlieir life to find it again " 2 in Heaven, — iu a word, they
were " to take up their cross3 and follow Him."
After this mystic allusion, by which He foretold His
Crucifixion, the Lord uttered only words of loving con
solation and splendid promise. He told His Apostles
that they should stand in His stead in the eyes of the
world ; 4 " that to receive them as Ambassadors of God 6
would be to receive the Christ, — would indeed be to en
tertain God Himself and to merit the rewards laid up for
the just and the Prophets."
Then, with one hand pointing to the poor folk and little
children, who crowded about Him now as always, He con
cluded with those touching words : —
" Whosoever shall give but a cup of cold water to one of
these little ones to drink, as unto one of My disciples, I
say to you that indeed he shall not lose his reward."
Such were the instructions with which Jesus prepared
this College of the Twelve. It may be that all were not
delivered on this particular occasion, and that, following his
usual custom, Saint Matthew has here collected counsels
which were actually uttered at various times.6 But whether
1 Matt. x. 26, 27. 2 Matt. x. 37-39.
3 To our thinking there is no need to consider this saying of Jesus as
founded upon a proverbial allusion to the old custom of making con
demned criminals carry their own crosses to the place of execution. Cru
cifixion had only lately been introduced in Judea, during the era of the
Roman domination ; hence it is hardly probable that the popular speech
would have adopted it among its colloquial figures so soon.
4 Matt. x. 40, 41.
6 Els Svopa, is a Hebraism, which signifies " in the name of some one,''
" because he is such and such a person." To receive a Prophet because
he is a prophet ; a righteous man because he is righteous, as a token of
respect for his justice and holiness.
6 According to S. Luke, one part of these instructions was addressed
to the Apostles, and the other to the seventy-two disciples. It may be

THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES. 329
Jesus spoke the whole discourse before this one audience,
or whether the Evangelist, divinely inspired, has connected
maxims scattered through many lessons of the Master,
none the less Saint Matthew's work stands as a finished
and complete model for every Apostle of the evangelical
Ministry ; and indeed, though every priest of the Lord
Christ be not bounden by the letter of these instructions,
it does behove all to be quickened by their spirit. Truly
every one is not bidden to press forward to the prize of the
martyr's crown, yet all must follow the Master in the paths
of sacrifice ; the Lord God does not demand of each one of
us a complete renunciation of all things, for He Himself
has declared that " every workman is worthy of his meat ; " 1
and yet, in proportion as zeal in the hearts of His Apostles
burns higher, and the holy flame waxes purer and whiter,
by so much the more joyously do they strip themselves of
everything in the race unto their high calling which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Saint Paul converted the nations
of the earth while he himself toiled at tent-making for
his day's bread;2 Saint Francis Xavier took with him
nothing but a cross of wood wherewith he went forth to
conquer the eastern world.
Obedient to the commands they then received, the
Apostles departed, going two by two.3 Without doubt the
intimate friends and the brothers would bear each other
company in this sacred comradeship.4 Peter of course
would associate himself with Andrew ; those two whom
He had called " Sons of the Thunderbolt " would forthwith
start out together, with all their characteristic impetuosity ;
Philip would join Bartholomew, whose two lives had been
heretofore so closely linked together; then would come
Thomas and Matthew; while the two cousins of Jesus,
James and Jude, would naturally be companions ; and
that the Lord repeated to the latter what He had already said to the
Twelve ; but to us it seems much more probable that S. Matthew, who
does not mention the seventy-two disciples, has here simply collected
these counsels of the Lord, in the same manner as he had already done
with the Miracles and the Parables.
1 Matt. x. 10. 2 Acts xviii. 3. 3 Mark vi. 7.
4 Matt. x. 2-4.

330 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
finally, it was probably Simon's sad and unenviable for
tune to have for his fellow-laborer in the harvest Judas.

II. Death of John the Baptist.
Mark. vi. 14-32 ; Matt. xiv. 1-13 ; Luke ix. 7-10.
Jesus, left alone in His own field, continued to preach
in all the cities of the lake country, when the news sud
denly reached them that John the Baptist was dead ; his
head had been struck off in the dungeons of Macheronte.1
After being for twelve months imprisoned in that " dark
fortress," 2 John still displayed the same - spirit which had
made him so terrible to sinners upon the Jordan's bank ;
neither caresses nor threats had moved his stalwart cour
age one whit, and though they did not heed him, his stern
voice fell upon the ears of the tyrant in no less unsparing
denunciations. Herod trembled as he listened, torn in the
strife between remorse and passion. Too weak to rid him
self of his fearless accuser by a crime, yet too deeply cor
rupt at heart to subject his will to duty, he made shift to
compromise with his conscience by simply shielding the
Baptist from the insatiable hatred of Herodias. The
struggle between these two was prolonged and stubborn ;
for the rancor and venom in the heart of the adulterous
woman embittered her the more against her victim the
longer she was thwarted and balked in her schemes of
vengeance. This creature being determined to compass
the Prophet's ruin, was ever on the watch for some oppor
tune moment ; it came soon enough.
After the fashion among the Roman princes, Herod and
his sons always celebrated certain memorable epochs in
their lives with the greatest pomp.3 The anniversary of
1 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 2.
2 This is the name the Rabbis gave to Macheronte (Sepp, Leben Jesu,
B. iv. K. lxviii).
8 The pomp and pageantry of this prince had become proverbial, even
at Rome : — At quum
Herodis venere dies . . . Perseus, v. 180.

DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 331
his birth1 chanced to occur while Antipas, with his court,
was at Macheronte ; there he made high festival, gathering
about him all the courtiers, rich officials, and nobles of
Galilee. From what we know of the wealth of the
Herods, their lordly extravagance, and their gorgeous
pageants, we are warranted in fancying the grandeur
of the ceremonial and the brilliancy of their sports, to
gether with the bright hangings which adorned the rugged
walls of that gloomy old castle, as being altogether beyond
anything ever seen among those desolate hills. Yet, be
side all this, Herodias had devised for the king a night of
revelry, which was fitted to intoxicate him even more
surely than the fumes of wine, and would thus be likely to
place him completely at her mercy.
All wanton dances brought over from Italy were well
known to her ; she knew which of the movements in those
horrid orgies would be most apt to hold him in besotted fas
cination.2 Such shameless pastimes had for some time been
of common occurrence within the palace of the Tetrarch;3
but on this evening it was Herodias' will that her own daugh
ter should be one of the damsels taking part in those unmaid-
enly carousals. This young princess, descendant of Herod
the Great, sprung from the seed of the Machabees, and
later on destined to be the wife aud the mother of kings
on this night appeared in all her brilliant state, the central
figure in a circle of dissolute companions. By her dancing,
she so transported the prince with delight that, as the
wild applause of the revellers died away, he swore that he
would give her whatever she might desire of him, were it
even the half of his kingdom.
1 Mark vi. 21. The word yeviaia in the New Testament and in Hel
lenistic Greek, had come to mean the anniversary of one's birth. In
Classic Greek, on the contrary, it is to be translated as the anniversary of
a death (Pauly, Real Encyclopaedic: Funus).
2 Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos
Matura virgo, et fingitur artubus,
Jam nunc et incestos amores
De tenero meditatur ungui. Horace, III. Od. vi. 21.
8 Josephus, Antiquitates, xv. 8, 1 ; xix. 7, 5.

332 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
Salome l sped quickly to her mother.
" What shall I demand of him ? " she said.
The royal harlot had a ready response for this her
moment of triumph : —
" The head of John Baptist."
Not even a shudder stirred the drapery of the young
dancer ; tripping back to the king, she repeated her
mother's words, without a touch of pity or a thrill of
shame. " I will that you give me at once and on this very
trencher,2 the head of John Baptist." And as she spoke
she caught up one of the great dishes with which the
table was loaded.
On this request Herod was struck sad at heart ; he was
just wakening from the madness of passion, only to see
the snare into which he had been led by his blind, brutish
nature. But the vanity of the Tetrarch was proportion
able to his weakness ; he saw the looks his high-born
guests were fixing upon him, and he had neither the cour
age to excite their satirical remarks, nor did he dare to
brave the anger of those two unscrupulous women, who now
claimed their promised prey; seeking to shield himself
from any responsibility by pleading the sacredness of his
oath, he gave the fatal order. The headsman 3 (according
to the usage of Oriental courts) was standing behind the
person of royalty, ready for the deed; a few moments later
John Baptist was no more.
That very obscurity in which the Prophet had desired to
be eclipsed4 has in fact completely overshadowed his mar-
1 Josephus informs us that the daughter of Herodias bore the name of
Salome ; that she first married her uncle Philip, Tetrarch of Iturea, and
afterwards Aristobulus, King of Chalcis, by whom she had three sons
(Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 5, 4).
2*h8e, just here, on this very trencher (Matt. xiv. 8).
3 'ZireKovXdrup is the Latin word " speculator,'1 and refers to one of the
body-guard which surrounded the person of a prince, and often exercised
the office of headsman. See Forcellini : Speculator et Spiculator. Under
the latter name this officer is alluded to in that valuable passage from
Julius Firmicus, viii. 26 : "Spiculatores . . . qui nudato gladio hominum
amputant cervices."
4 John iii. 30.

DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 333
tyrdom. No witness has ever related how he received the
iniquitous decree, or with what tokens of inward peace he
faced death. The executioner returned very shortly, bear
ing upon that charger the reverend head of the Nazarite ;
he hauded it to the royal dancer, who carried the bleeding
trophy to her mother. If we may credit certain traditions,1
Herodias pierced with needles the tongue which she had
been powerless to check in life, and then commanded that
his torn and disfigured body be thrown into the chasms
around Macheronte, so to become food for the dogs and
foul birds of prey. But the disciples of John were keeping
watch at every point; gathering together the remains of
their master, they piously buried them, and then sought
out Jesus to tell the sad tale to Him.2
God's vengeance fell upon the slayer of His Prophet
without delay; from the moment when the head of the
Baptist was shown to the conscience-stricken Tetrarch,
there was never another hour of quiet repose for the tyrant.
Always thereafter he would see now and again the tables
spotted with blood, and the Prophet's cold brow, seeming
more severe than in life, so drawn and white in death,
while the thin lips appeared as if just about to open and
rebuke the guilty adulterer.
Now, instead of his former habitual indolence, he lapsed
at once into a wretched humor, fluctuating restlessly be
tween horrid fright and vague suspicions. The fame and
power of Jesus had moved him scarcely at all heretofore ;
but now he grew suddenly wroth at the tales which his
couriers brought him.
Only a few days later, a rumor reached Macheronte
that the Saviour was drawing still greater concourses of
people, and that every day He performed new and more
wonderful prodigies. At this fierod shuddered in great
terror. " 'T is he ! " he cried out. " It is John Baptist who has
risen again ! " 3
1 S. Jerome, Contra Rufinum, iii. 42 ; Nicephorus, i. 19.
2 Mark vi. 29; Matt. xiv. 12.
8 Luke ix. 7.

334 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
It was useless for the prince's familiars x to endeavor to
quiet his alarm, — some assuring him that Jesus must
rather be Elias, once again returned to earth from his
flaming chariot; others asserting that He was merely one
of the Prophets ; while the more sceptical among them
would have it that He was but a Seer, like those who were
common enough in the time of their forefathers. But for
Herod, whose vision was continually haunted by the grim
spectre of his victim, his trembling lips kept repeating, " It
is John ; it is the man who baptized ! He has been raised
up from the dead ; that is why he can work such miracles."
And eager to ascertain the truth of his forebodings, he cast
about for some means to see Jesus for himself2
The Lord would have incurred the greatest danger from
any such encounter with the furious and terrified Tetrarch ;
unquestionably He would have been constrained to suspend
His ministry at once, at least in Galilee, while He would
have been forced to forego His Paschal pilgrimage for that
year, and the time for the caravans to start was already
drawing near. The return of the Apostles finally decided
Him to pass over into the realm of Philip without delay.
Whether their mission had been finished just at this time,
or whether that also was interrupted by the death of the
1 Tois iraialv avrov (Matt. xiv. 2 ; Mark vi. 15 ; Luke ix. 8).
2 Luke ix. 9. As for Herodias, her presence beside the throne of Anti
pas only resulted in the destruction of that prince. Some years later, her
jealousy aroused by seeing Caligula favor her brother Agrippa I., she forced
her husband to visit Rome with her, in the hope of obtaining the title of
king for him. Antipas, though too feeble to resist her schemes, foresaw
the dangers to which he was exposing himself by yielding to her whims.
The event proved that he was right. On his very arrival he was assailed
with accusations by Agrippa, and as he could not clear himself, was ban
ished to the frontiers of Spain, to Lyons (probably Lugdunum Convena-
rum, S. Bertrand of Cominges). (Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 7, 2 ;
Bellum Judaicum, ii. 9. 6. ) In misfortune Herodias showed something
of the noble spirit of a daughter of the Machabees ; she demanded to be
allowed to share the exile of Herod, and both together ended their days in
obscurity. According to the story left us by Nicephorus, the fate of
Salome was even more terrible. As she was crossing a frozen stream the
ice opened under her feet, and she was held fast up to her neck in water,
her shoulders pinioned in the crevice. Very soon the cold paralyzed her
limbs, and a mass of ice striking her head, severed it from the body
(Nicephorus, i. 20).

DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 335
Forerunner, at any rate the Twelve had now returned to
their Master, and at one and the same time. To Him they
rendered their report "of what they had done and taught;"
" how they had cast out devils, anointed very many sick
folks with oil,1 and cured their illnesses."2 Tired and spent
with their long journeyings, and saddened by the fate of
John, they came to seek rest and comfort by the side of
Jesus ; but the Lord could offer them no quiet relief, be
cause of the crowds " which came and went, and left Him
not even time to eat."
And therefore He said to His way-worn little band : —
" Let us go apart by ourselves 3 into some desert place,
and there you may rest yourselves for a little time."
The sea of Tiberias was not far off from where they
stood; at the Master's bidding they sought out a boat
for the passage, and speedily shook out sail, heading for
the north.
1 This oil did not possess the supernatural virtue of Extreme Unction ;
it was but a figure of the Sacrament instituted by Jesus later on, for the
help and comfort of the sick; "Sacramentum a Christo apud Marcum
quidem insinuatum, per Jacobum autem apostolum . . . promulgatum "
(Concilium Tridentinum, Sessio xiv. De Exlrema Unctione, cap. i).
2 Mark vi. 13, 30.
8 'T/4«s airroi : yourselves ; you alone and no one else (Mark vi. 31).

CHAPTER VIII.
THE BREAD OF LIFE.
I. The Multiplication of the Loaves.
Luke ix. 10-17 ; Mark vi. 30-56 ; Matt. xiv. 13-36 ; John vi. 1-21.
In the northwestern region of the lake, and near the
spot where the Jordan empties its waters into the little
sea, there stood a flourishing town. Its name of Bethsaida,1
which it bore in common with that other village in the
neighborhood of Capharnaum, would indicate that at no
very remote time it had been but a fishermen's station ;
but in the time of Jesus, Philip, Tetrarch of Iturea, had
transformed this little settlement into a city, and had called
it Julias,2 in honor of the daughter of Augustus. Round
about this young and vigorous town stretched great tracts
of moorland, bordered on the east by hills, which were as
bleak and lonely then as to-day they are ; it was toward
this wilderness that the Lord fixed the course of their little
ship.3 Here His disciples counted upon finding that re
pose of which they stood greatly in need ; but their hopes
were destined to be disappointed.
1 Bethsaida : nTX IV3, The Fishery House. All the geographers since
the discoveries of Reland agree as to the fact that there were two Beth-
saidas on the lakeside, — one on the western shore, which always remained
a village of fishermen ; the other, at the northwestern end of the lake,
became a celebrated town and was given the name of Julias.
2 Josephus, Antiquitates, xviii. 2, 1 ; Bellum Judaicum, iii. 10, 7;
Pliny, Historia naturalis, v. 15. "In lacum se fundit quern plures
Genesaram vocant . . . ; amamis circumseptum oppidis, ab oriente,
Juliade, " etc.
3 Luke ix. 10 ; John vi. 1.

THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES. 337
Despite the privacy and quiet with which Jesus had
screened their sudden departure, some witnesses had marked
the sail being hoisted and the boat drawing away from
land.1 But as they met with only contrary winds, little
progress could be made ; hence their arrival was anticipated,
aud Jesus, coming to land close to the river-mouth, found
there a multitude as great in number as that which they
had tried to escape. Besides the inhabitants of the neigh
boring villages, there were many pilgrims among them, who
had come from distant lands ; for it was now close upon
the Paschal Season,2 and caravans were being collected all
along the seaboard.
Yet the Saviour would not swerve from His first design ;
setting out inland, He led the way to a lonely and retired
hill, and there seated Himself with the weary little circle
of Apostles.3 But hardly had He done so, when on raising
His eyes, He saw the multitude coming toward Him, — a
fatigued and huddled throng, " like sheep without a shep
herd." 4 Something in their forlorn and uncared-for con
dition so touched the Heart of Jesus that at once He forgot
His own weariness and gave all His thought to thein.
"He spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and healed
all their sick." 5
The sun was sinking over the distant hills of Zabulon,6
yet still the Saviour continued His blessed office of charity ;
then in a few moments (for twilight lingers for such a little
while in the East) night was come upon them, surprising
this foot-sore and fainting flock far away out here in the
wilderness. At last the disciples began to show signs of
uneasiness, and gathering about the Master, finally spoke
out their fears.
"This place is a desert," they said, "and the hour is
late ; send away the people, so that they may go into
1 Mark vi 34 ; Matt. xiv. 13 ; Luke ix. 11. 2 John vi. 4.
3 John vi. 3. 4 Mark vi. 34.
6 Luke ix. 11.
6 Luke ix. 12, 13. '0\j/ia (Matt. xiv. 15) denotes the time when the
sun is sinking to the horizon, from three to six o'clock ; the Greeks called
it 6\j/ia SelXy. In verse 23, 6\j/ia means the later evening, commencing at
six o'clock, and lasting until sunset.
VOL. i. — 22

338 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
the nearest farm-houses and villages, where they can find
lodging and victuals."
" They have no need to go," replied the Lord ; " do you
yourselves give them to eat."
Aud as the Apostles stood staring and speechless at
such an astounding proposition, Jesus turned to Philip ]
and said, —
"Where shall We buy bread to feed all this multitude ? "
(He spoke in this way to try him, for He Himself knew
what fie would do.)
" Two hundred denarii," 2 Philip answered, " would not
buy enough bread for each one to have even a small portion."
" How many loaves of bread have you ? " was all Jesus
said;3 "go and see."
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, returned immediately
saying, " there is a young lad here who has five loaves of
barley -bread 4 and two fishes ; 5 but what is that among
such a crowd as this ! "
Jesus bade them bring the loaves and the fishes.
" Make the men sit down," He said to the Apostles.
They obeyed His behest ; and the people sat down upon
the long grass, in companies of hundreds, and fifties. It
was still spring-time. The fierce heats of the sun had not
yet robbed the Galilean hills of their soft garment of green ;
and thus the groups of friends and companions, ranged
about in order, made a happy and charming scene, which,
together with the glowing tints of their oriental robes, left
such a vivid picture upon the memory of Peter that in
1 John vi. 5, 6. Here S. John is more precise in his details than
are the other Evangelists : he attributes to Philip and Andrew certain
words which the Synoptic writers ascribe to all the Apostles, without
discrimination. 2 About thirty-six dollars of our money.
8 Mark vi. 38.
4 Barley-bread was much coarser than wheaten bread, and was the
staple food of the lower classes (Smith, Dictionary of the Bible . Barley).
5 In place of IxBias, S. John employs the word ifdpia, which signifies
"any food which we eat along with bread." In a country like Greece,
where the sea is accessible from every part, fish was the food most com
monly eaten with bread ; this is how, in later times, 6\j/ipia came to be
used as a synonym of fish.

THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES. 339
after years he described it to Mark the Evangelist as being-
like gorgeous beds of flowers 1 extending along the rich
green-sward. And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes into
His holy and venerable hands, and with His eyes lifted up
toward Heaven, He gave thanks to God, blessing the bread,
brake, gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the people ;
with the fishes He did likewise. Whereupon, in the hands
of the Lord, the broken bread and the portions of fish
multiplied without ceasing;2 and so He continued to give
unto these His ministers until all were satisfied. Then,
to mark more clearly still how plentiful are the gifts of
Heaven, yet at the same time to guard against any squan
dering of His bounties, He said to his disciples : —
" Gather up what fragments are left, for fear they should
be lost."
Each one of the Apostles, taking up his wicker pack,3
threaded his way through the orderly bands ; on their
return, the twelve baskets were filled with the leavings.
In the eyes of the Evangelists this Miracle assumed the
greatest importance ; for each one gives us an account of
it, and Saint John, by proceeding at once (as though it were
the only natural sequel) to record His promise of "the
Bread of Life," shows us what a lofty meaning Jesus
1 'Aviirecav irpaaial irpaaial (Mark vi. 40), " they had spread themselves
about like a flower-bed." The original expression of S. Mark cannot be
translated except by developing his thought ; this meaning, however, is
neither uncertain nor fanciful. According to the definition of Theophy-
lactus (in loco), wpaaial signifies, "the ribbon-like plots in which garden-
plants are set out." The repetition irpaaicd rrpaaial is a Hebraism, and
gives the expression a distributive sense : in clusters ; areolatim. It is
the same with the words o-vp,wbo-ia avp-irboia, in the preceding verse : in
groups of companions, catervatim.
2 Mark vi. 41. The aorist KariKXaaev indicates that the act of breaking
the bread lasted only an instant ; the imperfect, idldov, shows that the
distribution consumed a much longer time.
• 8 Judseis, quorum cophiuus, foenumque supellex.
Juvenal, Satirce, iii. 14.
The Jews, because they regarded everything which a Pagan had touched
as tainted, on their journeys carried with them osier baskets, which con
tained eatables, with enough straw to serve for a couch. In Galilee of the
Gentiles these precautions were almost as necessary as in a foreign land.

340 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
attached to this prodigy of love. The sight of the pilgrims
wending their way up to Jerusalem, the nearness of the
holy festival, at which He might no longer take part with
out great danger to Himself, the thought of the Last Sup
per, whereat, just one year hence, He was to substitute for
the paschal lamb an Immortal Food, — all thoughts like
these impelled Jesus to declare at once and forever the
great Mystery of His love.
The primitive Church was so assured of the truth of this
interpretation that during five centuries, when she would
figure forth the Eucharist, she represented, not the Last
Supper,1 but the Multiplication of the Loaves; and this
scene she set over against the very Table of the Lord, to
gether with the Fish, which is the symbol of the Christ,2
and the baskets3 overflowing with fragments gathered up by
the Apostles.
And thus we know that by working this prodigy Jesus
sought to prepare their minds for the reception of higher
truths ; but far from responding to the lofty designs of the
Lord, the emotion now stirring the excited throngs had
sprung from the belief that their dreams of earthly happi
ness were at last to be realized.
" This is He ! " they exclaimed to each other.
" This is surely the Prophet who is to come into the
world!"4 And so without doubt they had understood the promise,
1 See Martigny, Dictionnaire des Antiquith chritiennes : Eucharistie.
Representations of the Last Supper, which are so common since the
Renascence, are rarely ever found in the Catacombs.
2 " If from the five Greek words, 'lyo-ovs, Xpiarbs, OeoC, Tibs, Zuririp,
you take the initial letters, by uniting them you will have IX6TS, a Fish,
under which name the Christ is signified in a mystical manner " (S. Au
gustine, De Civitate Dei, xviii. 25). There was no symbol more frequently
employed by the primitive Church to designate the Saviour (see Martigny,
Dictionnaire des Antiquitiis chritiennes : Poisson).
8 The baskets are always seven in number : therefore it was to the
second multiplication, where' the Apostles collected not twelve but seven
baskets of bread, to which the Christian artists had reference. In this
second prodigy, which, like the first, was a foreshadowing of the Eucharist,
instead of barley-bread Jesus multiplied the wheaten bread, which is the
proper matter of the Sacrament : this is one reason for their choice
between the two events.
1 John vi. 14.

THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES. 341
thinking that Jesus would stretch forth that sceptre which
Balaam had foreseen,1 whereupon at once their oppressors
would crouch before Him. He would be like to Elias de
scending from His chariot of fire ; auother Jeremy, who
should restore the Mosaic Worship in all its olden splendor ;
and unto the Temple He would be the Ark, which, since
the days of Babylon and the Captivity, had been hidden
from the eyes of the faithful.2
The Saviour knew these passionate aspirations, as He
knew well that they were already planning to bear Him
along with them, and by force of arms proclaim Him
King.3 He saw, too, that the hearts of His disciples were
beginning to burn high as they listened to these visions
of glory, while they were gradually being filled with these
ardent hopes of their fellow-countrymen. It was indeed
time to forestall an uprising which would have drawn
down upon Him and upou His Mission the wrathful ven
geance of Herod, the Sanhedrin, and Rome.
Immediately he called the Apostles, bidding them follow
Him to the beach. There He commanded them to embark
forthwith, and to head for Bethsaida in the vicinity of
Capharnaum ; then as they were loath to obey, the Master
obliged them to set sail at once, leaving Him there upon
the shore.4
When they had disappeared over the darkening waters,
Jesus dismissed the crowds attending Him, and, profiting
by the shades of night, He sought the lonely heights of
the mountain,5 unseen by any man. He went thither to
fortify His Soul against the onslaught of other and sadder
trials, for on the morrow Capharnaum would reject Him,
even as Nazareth had done ; nor was it to be long before
all Galilee would follow their example ; and so on, during
all that last year of His Ministry, until His eyes could
discern before Him only one unbroken succession of base
desertions and thankless perils.
In the meantime, with the midnight, a tempest had de
scended upon the valley of the Jordan ; beaten upon by
i Num. xxiv. 17. 2 2 Machab. ii. 5, 8. 3 John vi. 15.
4 Mark vi. 45, 46. 6 John vi. 15.

342 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
wild winds, the waters rose in their might and broke over
the little ship of the Apostles.1 The whole night long
they struggled against the storm, rowing with all their
strength, in the hope of making the port of Capharnaum ;
but the gale, wrenching the bark from its track, kept
them tossed and buffeted amid the great seas.
At the fourth watch of the night,2 they had gone barely
half-way3 on their course, and were still fighting against
the wrack of the storm, when of a sudden they saw some
one afar off, walking over the waves ; it seemed to them
as though He were making toward them, yet so as to
cross before their bows. Believing that this which the)-
saw was a phantom, they were filled with dismay, and in
utter terror cried out aloud. But at once the calm voice
which they knew so well came over the raging elements,
quieting all tlieir alarms, —
" It is I, fear not ! "
And, indeed, it was Jesus, who had taken pity upon
their troublous toils. They felt sure of His divine help,
and eagerly made ready to welcome Him ; but Peter im
petuous and fiery of soul as ever, cried out, —
" Lord, if it be Thou, bid me to come to Thee upon the
waters ! "
" Come," replied the Lord.
Straightway the Apostle sprung from the vessel's side,
hastening to meet the Master. And at first he trod the
waves with unfaltering footsteps ; but when he felt the
fury of the whirlwind about him, terror clutched at his
heart-strings, and he began to sink.
" Lord ! " he cried, " save me ! "
Jesus, reaching out His hand, upheld and sustained
him. " Ah, man of little faith ! " He said to him, " why hast
thou doubted ? "
1 Matt. xiv. 24 ; John vi. 18.
2 John vi. 19. Like the Romans, the Jews at this time divided tin-
night into four watches, from six in the evening to six in the morning ;
the fourth watch extended from three to six o'clock.
3 "They had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs," says S.
John (vi. 19).

THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES. 343
Meanwhile the others besought the Saviour with all
manner of prayers x to come to them, certain that the,
Divine Pilot would bring them safely into the haven.
Nor was their faith disappointed. Scarcely had Jesus en
tered with Peter into their ship when the winds fell ; and
presently they found that their vessel had reached the
harbor toward which they had been so long fighting their
way. The effect which this sudden stilling of the tempest had
upon the disciples' minds was altogether different from the
enthusiasm caused by the multiplying of the loaves.
" They had not understood the latter miracle at all," says
Saint Mark, mournfully,2 " because their heart was blinded."
Too dull and too sordid of soul to conceive of any spiritual
Kingdom as yet, their fancy filled with flattering dreams
of high fortune awaiting them, they had met the brave
hopes and resolutions of the excited people with daring
encouragements ; for they hoped that the Master would be
moved by such zealous courage, and with a word establish
His throne upon earth. Accordingly, when they saw that
He meant to refuse the sceptre now offered Him, they
were so sore at heart and so dissatisfied that they quite
forgot the almighty attributes of their Lord, and dared to
resist His commands. It required a night of anguish and
terror, like this through whicli they had passed, to bring
them to a knowledge of their fault. But this trial tore
the veil from their eyes ; as they beheld Jesus bidding
the roaring floods be still, and holding the powers
of nature beneath His feet, they recognized " Him
Who spreadeth out the heavens and walketh upon the

l°B.deXov oSv Xapeiv (John vi. 21) : they wished to take Him into their
boat, and actually did so. Indeed, BeXeiv is often used in the New Tes
tament with the sense of wishing to do a thing and doing it. So
S. Matthew says that a king "wished to look over his accounts with his
servants " (Matt, xviii. 23), and we see that he did so do. Again, S. John
says, " Jesus wished to depart for Galilee " (John i. 43), and so in fact He
did. " The Scribes desire to walk abroad in long robes " (Mark xii. 38), —
meaning that this is what they actually do.
2 Mark vi. 52.
3 Job ix. 8.

344 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
faces before Him, they worshipped and adored Him,
saying : —
" Truly, ay, truly Thou art the Son of God !" 1
No sooner had Jesus descended from the vessel than He
was known and greeted ; and instantly the rumor flew from
lip to lip, until the land of Genesareth was made aware
that he had returned. The multitude which was just dis
persing now collected together once more, and brought
with them other ill and maimed folks, beseeching Him to
let them only touch the hem of His robe.2 This prayer re
called the faith of the poor creature with the issue of
blood, and Jesus healed all who approached the Divine
Presence with such simple hearts of faith ; afterwards He
reentered Capharnaum, welcomed on every hand with cries
of delight and gratitude, — the last which it was given to
Him to hear in this " His city " by adoption.

II. The Promise of the Eucharist.
John vi. 22-71.
The crowds they had left behind them on the other side
of the lake, in the neighborhood of Bethsaida, had watched
the ship of the Apostles making off from the shore, and
knew that Jesus had not embarked with them. Somehow
in the night they had lost all trace of the Master, but at
dawn seeing that no other ship had quitted its moorings
they made sure of finding Him speedily. So all the morn
ing they searched over fields and plain, but of course in
vain ; then they concluded that He had proceeded by
land, intending to rejoin His companions by some un
frequented road. In the meantime several other craft hail
ing from Tiberias, but now flying before the storm, had
put into this harbor ; and many of the Jews availed them
selves of this opportunity to reach Capharnaum.
On their arrival they found the Lord seated in the syna
gogue, instructing the people.
1 Matt. xiv. 33. 2 Matt. xiv. 34-36.

THE PROMISE OF THE EUCHARIST. 345
'' Master ! " they exclaimed, " when did you come
here ? "
Jesus looking deep down into those hearts that yearned
so after earthly goods, now plainly told them the nature
of their longings.
" Of a truth, yea, of a truth," He said to them,1 " you
are seeking Me because of the loaves with which you were
fed. Do not toil for the food which perishes, but for that
which endures in the life of Eternity. This the Son of
Man will give you, for on Him the heavenly Father hath
set His seal."
By these last words Jesus quickened and ennobled the
hopes of the Jews, by lifting them from thoughts of earthly
refreshment, setting before them that immaterial nourish
ment which is of the spirit. Hence He declared that it
was not His design to establish a temporal kingdom, but
rather to reign in the souls of men ; it was to this end that
God had imprinted a divine character upon His Holy One,
the Christ, confirming His Mission by miracles without
number. And therefore this food of which He spoke was
a certain spiritual food, which He alone would impart.
This the Jews comprehended, though they were too stub
born and settled in their own notions of their Law to be
lieve that God Himself could confer upon it any more
perfect dignity.
" What shall we do," they said in their amazement, " in
order to labor for the works of God ? " 2
" This is the work of God," replied Jesus, " to believe in
Him Whom He hath sent."
Nor does this faith, to which the Master here reduces
all His precepts, imply merely a belief on our part in the
word of the Christ ; it means that we must likewise give
ourselves to Him without a shadow of reserve. It is Faith,
quickened by Charity, fastening mightily upon the Object
of its love and diffusing through all human-kind the
gracious gifts of God.
It is evident that the Saviour repeated this explanation
more than once, and that in even clearer and simpler
i John vi. 26, 27. 2 John vi. 28-31.

34H SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
terms than would appear from this short summary of Saint
John ; for we know that His listeners understood well
enough that He demanded of them a devotion and self-
sacrifice which was unlimited and well-nigh unparalleled ;
He would have them follow Him as blindly as of old Israel
followed Moses, leaving Egypt and its pleasures behind
them. " Our fathers," they began to say, " ate Manna in the
desert, as it is written : (He hath given them bread from
Heaven to eat.) But what Miracle will you work, so that
we may see and believe in you ? What will you do ? "
Had not all the traditions asserted that the second Re
deemer would renew the wondrous deeds of the first?1
And besides, how could anybody compare those loaves of
barley-bread, multiplied so simply under their very eyes,
with that nourishment which long ago fell about the plains
of Sinai ? If He would prove Himself in deed and in
truth the Messiah, it were needful that He too — the
Christ of the Lord — should bring down from the skies
that Manna which David had called " the Bread of Heaven
and the Food of Angels." 2
These objections Jesus accepted very graciously ; only
He explained to His listeners that it was not Moses, but
God Himself who had rained down Manna in the desert ; 3
telling them, too, how those perishable meats were called
in a figure the bread of Heaven. While yet again to-day
God, by the hands of His Christ, tendered them the very
Bread come down from Heaven ; and so divinely did He
speak of this celestial Food, and of the life which it would
diffuse throughout the world that the Jews cried out in
their delight, —
" Lord, give us this bread always ! "
" It is I," continued Jesus ; " I am the very Bread of
Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he
who believes in Me shall never thirst."
1 " Redemptor prior descendere fecit pro eis manna : sic et Redemptor
posterior descendere faciet manna" (Midrash Coheletih, f. 86, 4; Light-
loot, Horae Hebra'icoe, in Joan., vi. 31).
2 Ps. lxxvii. 24, 25.
3 John vi. 32-35.

THE PROMISE OF THE EUCHARIST. 347
Certainly this answer was not so mystical but that the
Jews might have easily grasped its inner meaning ; indeed
they had often read in their sacred Books l that " man
lives not alone by bread, but by every word which pro-
ceedeth from the mouth of God ; " often they had heard
the voice of Wisdom calling to their souls in words like
these : " Come, eat the bread which I will give you ; drink
the wine which I have prepared for you." 2 Thus to eat
and drink the Truth, to sate one's heart with the taste and
fulness of holy words, and by study to assimilate and digest
the teaching of the Master, — this was a figure as familiar
to their way of thinking as it is foreign to ours.
So they at once comprehended that by calling Himself
the Bread of life Jesus offered them His heavenly Doctrine
as the garner wherein is stored every good gift that they
could desire ; and this promise once more made their
hearts beat high with brave hopes. But what was still to
follow did not accord with their preconceived ideas. Pro
ceeding at once to develop His thought,3 Jesus declared
that hitherto they had only beheld Him with their eyes,
without understanding Wlio He was. Because He had
descended from Heaven, He can have no other will except
that of His Father, and therefore He receives only such as
come to Him from God. Now the will of the Father is
that all those who believe in the Divinity of His Son
should partake of that Bread of Life (which is the Christ
Himself), and thereby have part in the life everlasting.
At this new revelation of His Godhead the synagogue
broke out into murmurs of stern disapprobation ; more
than all else those words, " I am the living Bread which
is descended from Heaven," aroused the deepest antagonism
and disgust of which they were capable.
" Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph ? " the town's-folk
of Capharnaum exclaimed. " Have we not known his
father and his mother ? Then how does he dare to say
that he has descended from Heaven ? "
Jesus did not stop to answer these malcontents ; as was
His wont, He deemed it enough to reiterate what He had
1 Deut. viii. 3. " Prov. ix. 5. 3 John vi. 36-42.

348 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
communicated to them already, only with a more luminous
simplicity, leaving it for the indwelling Truth itself to
quicken and enlighten their souls.1 Again He told them
that faith is a gift of grace ; and He repeated that no one
can come to fiim who is not prompted by the heavenly
Father, — " taught of God, using the language of the
Prophets," — which means that they must be touched
from on high, their souls drawn by a secret influence
inherent in the truth of His Word.
Still more clearly did He disclose the mystery of His
Incarnation, showing them that God is too High, too
Holy an Object for our earth-bound senses to encompass
through human wisdom ; for truly " no one can see the
Father save Him alone who liveth in God ; " yet this
Divine Seer, this Holy Thing, Son of the Father, has be
come Man that He might unite Himself to mankind for
love of humanity, — fiis Divinity taking upon Itself a
dwelling of mortal flesh in order to communicate Its own
life unto all men.
This was the Master's exposition of the Divine economy,
whereby He sought to show us the way of Faith which
leads us unto salvation. And in order to engrave this
lesson within the hearts of those who hearkened to Him,
He condescended to put forth the same great thoughts over
and over again, reproducing them under such manifold
phrases that it would seem He did but hesitate in His
speech, as though He were striving to utter the language
of Paradise before this wondering throng of earth-bound
mortals. This is why the evangelical text contains so
many repetitions, and hence arises the difficulty which we
experience in tracing the connection between the various
ideas. Nevertheless the Master had one more Mystery to unveil
on that same day. When the Son of God was made Man
the wonder was not wrought among us that He might dwell
in a human body merely for the time of His earthly pil
grimage ; rather it was His will to apply the fruits of His
Incarnation unto all mankind, thus being made flesh for
1 John vi. 43-51.

THE PROMISE OF THE EUCHARIST. 349
each one of us, by nourishing us with His Blessed Body.
It is, therefore, when we feast upon His Flesh that Jesus
takes possession of these bodies of ours ; it is by the mys
tic union of all that He is in His Humanity with all His
Divinity that salvation is assured unto us of the faithful.
Jesus only asked these people of Capharnaum that they
love Him enough to entrust themselves implicitly to His
guidance, and then, through the thick clouds which must
ever shroud this Divine Mystery, they should walk for
ward encompassed by the Presence of their Guide and
Friend; and so, led onward by the Christ, they would
surely find the life everlasting in Faith, — Faith which
reveals the gracious fact of the Eucharist as being in a
marvellous manner inherent in the Incarnation Itself.1
" The Bread which I will give," He added, " is My flesh 2
for the life of the world."
At this surprising announcement that they should eat
the flesh of the Christ there was a louder murmur of dis
sent arising from all parts of the synagogue ; on every
hand the Jews began to dispute with each other,3 the
majority arguing, " How can this man give us his flesh to
1 John vi. 52. We believe that in interpreting the words of the
Master we could not follow a surer guide than Bossuet. According to
that great Commentator, the burden of the whole discourse is the question
of real Faith in Jesus ; up to verse 15 it deals with faith in Jesus as the
Incarnate God, and thereafter with faith in Jesus as He gives Himself to
us in the Eucharist (Bossuet, Meditations : La Cene, lre partie, xxxiii8
journee). 2 All that follows that word ' ' flesh " is unquestionably intended as
specific promise of the Eucharist ; for although the expressions which
precede, such as " I am the Bread of Life, that has come down from
Heaven," "He that eateth of this Bread shall live forever," are figures
of speech common enough to the Hebrew tongue, and might naturally
be taken in the sense of a master offering his doctrine to disciples, who
receive it and nourish their souls with its virtues ; yet this explanation
does not apply to the expression, "eat the flesh of any one." The schol
arly investigations of Cardinal Wiseman have proved beyond a doubt that
these words, in Hebrew and in all other Semitic tongues as well, have
only the one metaphorical meaning, — that of calumniating, backbiting,
rending a person's fair fame with foul words (Ps. xxvi. 2 ; Job xix. 22,
etc.). But in S. John the context certainly renders this figurative sense
untenable, and consequently we are obliged to take the words in their
literal sense (Wiseman, Conferences on the Real Presence).
8 John vi. 53-60. * '

350 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
eat ? " Evidently they could only comprehend that they
were bidden to take a human body and feast thereon, that
they must shed human blood and drink thereof.
Yet, far from abating this literal interpretation by one
whit, Jesus saw fit, on the contrary, to enforce it by a
double oath : —
" Amen, Amen, I say to you, If you do not eat the flesh
of the Son of Man, and do not drink His blood, you shall
not have life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks
My blood has life everlasting, and I will raise him up on
the last day."
He well knew what horror the Jews felt for any such
idea of blood, aud how strictly they were forbidden the use
of any such food ; 1 and notwithstanding, He did not hesi
tate to assail and overturn every most cherished belief of
their lives, if by so doing He might more surely establish
the reality of His Body, which is eaten by the faithful, and
His Blood which is their drink.
" My flesh is truly meat, My blood truly drink, and he
who eats My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me and
I in Him.2 Whosoever eateth Me shall live by Me."
1 Lev. vii. 27 ; 1 Kings xiv. 33 ; Judith, xi. 11.
2 "All this — do you say? — is only a Mystery, an Allegory ; to eat
and drink means to believe ; to eat the flesh and drink the blood merely
means that we are to consider them as they were divided for us upon the
Cross, and hence we are to look for life within the wounds of our Saviour.
[f this be all, 0 my Saviour, why didst Thou not tell us so in plain and
simple words, and why didst Thou allow Thy listeners, even then, to
murmur thereat, to take offence and to be shocked, and finally even to
desert and disown Thee, instead of giving them Thy thought in direct
and open terms ? When the Saviour uttered His Parables, although they
were much less involved than the long Allegory which is here attributed
to Him, He explained their meaning so clearly that there was afterwards
no room left for any cavilling or questioning about them ; and though
sometimes He did not vouchsafe to explain Himself to the Jews, who,
because of their pride, deserved to be given the symbol only, and not the
reality, He did never yet refuse to give His Apostles a straightforward
and natural explication of His words, so that no one of them thereafter
could be mistaken as to His meaning (Matt. xv. 11 ; xvi. 6-12 ; John iii.
4-7; iv. 10, 11, 13-16; vii. 38; xvi. 16-20). But now, the more His
disciples and friends murmur against Him, the more pained and horrified
they show themselves at such strange words, all the more does He persist
in repeating those words, and so much the more does He hide His thought
(so to say) in the depths of obscurity. It needed but one word from His

THE PROMISE OF THE EUCHARIST. 351
And now, having so clearly set forth the meaning of the
Eucharist, He spoke to them of its effects ; for though an
ardent faith could make eternal life certain for the soul of
man, and for his body obtain a glorious resurrection, yet
it is the Eucharist alone which unites Jesus with the
Christian who receives Him ; in one only Body and one
only Soul commingles the lives of two under one form, and
thereby in each one of us is consummated that Union of
the Christ with Humanity, even as aforetime by the Incar
nation " He dwelt amongst us."
The earnestness and persistency with which Jesus re
affirmed a Doctrine so shocking to the notions of His
hearers resulted in open expressions of their impatience
and dislike. It was not long before the citizens of Caphar
naum were joined by the pilgrims and all the rest, while
even the disciples themselves finally uttered strong protests.1
" This is a hard saying," they said ; " who can hear it ? "
And certainly, after the fashion in which they under
stood it, it would be an unbearable thought ; for they
imagined that they were bidden to tear the body of the
Master limb from limb, and make a horrid feast of its
members. Jesus strove to drive away this unholy vision from their
mind by adding that, though He was to give Himself to be
their Bread of Life, yet would He none the less rise with
glory into Heaven, even in such wise as He had descended
to our earth, clad in this His living tabernacle of flesh ; He
said, too, that " His flesh," broken and dispersed among us
for our Food, " would avail us nothing, if we do not partake
lips : " Why are you troubled at this ? To eat My flesh means to believe
in Me ; to drink My blood is simply to remember Me, and all that I have
just said to you means merely that you are to ever meditate upon My
Death." This done, their faintest doubt and all uncertainty would have
been swept away, together with every shadow of trouble. And yet this
was exactly what He did not do ; He permitted His own disciples to suc
cumb to the temptation and the occasion of stumbling, for lack of one
single saving word from His lips. That was not Thy way of dealing with
men, my Saviour ; no, of a truth, that was not Thy way ! Thou didst not
come to disquiet the soul of man with sounding words which were mean
ingless, and without grave import, signifying nothing" (Bossuet, MSdit.
sur V Evangile: La Cene, l'8 partie, xxxv8 journee).
1 John vi. 61-64.

352 SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS.
at the same time of the Spirit " and the Godhead, which
quickeneth the flesh and diffuses its life through our souls.
As to the manner and the mode which He would take in
order to communicate this gift to us, being an Ordinance
far beyond the ken of sensual man, He saw fit to await
some future day for revealing it more fully. So for the
present, it was enough to prepare their minds by repeating
that " His words were spirit and life," whereby He would
teach them that His faithful followers must find the spirit
of holiness and the life divine in the surpassing Mystery
of the Communion, wherein His flesh is really eaten, though
in a manner more spiritual than material.
These explanations did not dispel all disquietude from
the hearts of His disciples, and among those who rebelled
against this truth Jesus must have marked one of the
twelve, Judas Iskarioth ; for " from the beginning He knew
those who did not believe in Him, and He knew him who
was to betray Him." x The sight of these obstinate mortals
still muttering against Him, so easily shocked at His Word,
and already prepared to declare their outspoken disbelief,
was very grievous to the heart of Jesus.
"There are some among you who do not believe," He
exclaimed, "and it was for this reason I said to you, 'No one
can come to Me, unless it be given Him by My Father.' "
And yet this last appeal to their nobler feelings was
rejected; still they would not understand this urgent warn
ing to ask their heavenly Father for the faith which comes
from Him. Humility and obedience for them were at an
end. "After this many of His disciples drew away from
His company, and walked no more with Him."
However, the Apostles were still left Him. Turning
toward the Twelve He said,2 —
" Will you too go away ? "
Peter loved his Master too well to doubt His words,
however incomprehensible they might seem ; indignant at
the very thought of deserting fiim, he straightway replied
for all : —
" Lord, to whom should we go ? Thou hast the words of
1 John vi. 65-67. - John vi. 68-72.

THE PROMISE OF THE EUCHARIST. 353
Eternal Life. We believe, we know, that Thou art the
Holy of God."1
Dear and comfortable as this confession was to the Heart
of Jesus, it could not quite console Him nor distract His
thoughts from the traitor in their midst.
" Have I not chosen you Twelve ? " He said, " and one
of you is a devil."
" By this He meant Judas, son of Simon, the man from
Kerioth, who was to deliver Him up, even while he was
still one of the Twelve." It is evident from these words,
as we have noted before, that Judas took some part in
these murmurings of the citizens and Pilgrims. Long since
the struggle between greedy avarice and his heavenly vo
cation had been going on within him, and hence every
allusion to a spiritual Kingdom filled him with vexation
and anger; for it all seemed to him more visionary and
foolish every day. The discourse just now delivered in the
synagogue of Capharnaum completed the destruction of his
faith. Hereafter, though he remained in the intimate com
panionship of Jesus, he had already betrayed Him in his
soul. By this rebuke the Saviour graciously sought to stir
the soul of the thief. Finding He could only get silence in
return, He wended His way sadly from out the synagogue.
1 The Vulgate and the Syriac versions have "Tu es Christus, Filius
Dei ; " but this reading is not found in any of the more ancient manu
scripts, notably that of Sinai, the Vatican, or Beza's Codex, which all
have the reading 6 "Ayios rov Qeov.

vol. I. — 23

APPENDIX.

II2ANN0T A.
I. a, iy.
IlaS 0 TTlO-TtVUlV OTl lr]0-OVS icTTlV 'O XPI2T02, CK TOU 6tOV
yeyewrjTat, Kal ira? i dya7ruij> tov Fevv^cravra ayaira tov Ttytwrf-
p,evov ef clutoC. . . Tavra iypairo-a vp.iv, Iva ciojjre on £anjv
l^ere aiuii/ioi/, tois 7rio-Teuouo-iv tts to "Ovo/Aa TOY YIOY TOY
OOEY.

€egtimonp of tije firgt C&rigtianiei,

Every one who believeth that Jesus is THE CHRIST is
born of God, and every one who loveth Him Who begot loveth
Him Who is begotten of Him. . . . These things I have
written to you, that you may know you have Eternal Life,
you who believe in the Name of THE SON OF GOD.

SAINT JOHN'S FIRST EPISTLE.
v. 1, 13.

APPENDIX.

JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE.
We have noticed already how the hill-ranges of Judea run
along in lines parallel with the Jordan, starting from the plain
of Esdralon and coming to an end at Barsaba. Near the middle
of this chain are two valleys, which are separated only by a few
miles at first, but after a little they trend apart, one to the east,
the other to the west, and thus enclose the plateau on whose
summit Jerusalem is situated. The ravine over which you see
the sun rise is called Kedron, and that through which its last
beams glow is Hinnom ; the latter, after cutting a chasm from
north to south, branches off to the east, and again joins Kedron
not far from the fountain of Siloe.
Girt on every side with these deep gorges, Jerusalem rises
above the surrounding region like a lofty promontory. A tract
of low ground, running parallel to Kedron, divides it into two
ranges of steep bluffs of unequal height ; to the west rise Sion
and Akra ; on the east are Ophel, Moriah, and Bezetha. In
this city, where the primitive soil is often hid underneath a
mass of refuse and ruins eighty feet in depth,1 this valley
(called Tyropceon) is the only landmark we can easily recognize
from its general contour. But the testimony of Josephus, and
that of many recent discoveries, establish almost beyond ques
tion the fact that formerly there was a gully or viaduct, start
ing at the present Gate of Jaffa, which connected the Tyropoeon
with the Temple heights and separated Sion from Akra.
1 In the southwestern extremity of Mount Moriah Lieutenant Warren
discovered foundations of the Temple resting on the solid rock, at a depth
of about 95 feet below the actual surface.

358 APPENDIX.
Such were the general outlines of ancient Sion, according U>
the opinion of our geographers.1 It is difficult enough to trace
them in the configuration of the modern city, which is only an
unshapely heap of ashes and ruins ; crumbling walls of ancient
edifices, scattered over the hills and choking up the glens and
hollows, make it imposssible even in fancy to reconstruct from
out this wreck of time the Jerusalem of David and of Jesus.
It is harder still to rehabilitate the fallen city, as it now stands ;
for the town itself, in days of old endowed " with an unblem
ished loveliness," 2 is to-day a dreary spectacle ; and Chateau
briand himself, skilled as he was at making his landscapes glow
with color, could only give us this gloomy picture of Sion : —
" Viewed from the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem seems to lie along
a steep slope, whose descent is from east to west. A battlemented
wall, fortified by towers and with a Gothic castle, encloses the town
on every side, leaving Mount Sion however outside this boundary
line, although in former times it also included that eminence.
"In the region lying to the west and in the centre of the town,
toward Calvary, the houses are crowded somewhat closer together ;
but to the west, following along the valley of Kedron, there is noth
ing to be seen but empty stretches of ground ; among others of this
description there is the enclosure round about the Mosque which now
crowns that huge pile of ruins where the Temple once stood ; then
there is that other almost abandoned piece of land over which the
Citadel of Antonia rose of old. The houses of Jerusalem are heavy
square blocks, quite low, without either chimneys or windows ; they
are finished off in flat terraces or are surmounted with domes, and thus
they much resemble prisons or sepulchres. The whole effect upon
the eye would be that of a great field of snow, were it not for the
clock-towers of a few churches, the minarets of the mosques, the
dark tops of the cypresses, and occasional clumps of fig-trees, which
break the monotony of the prospect. After gazing long upon these
stolid squares of stone immured within a land of crumbling stone
and rock, a strong feeling comes over one that those buildings over
yonder are only monuments and tombs long since forgotten, out here
in the midst of the wilderness."8
Very different indeed was the Jerusalem of Herod. We
possess numerous descriptions of it, and though they are incom-
1 As to the topography of Jerusalem, see Tobler, Topographie von Jeru
salem; Robinson, Biblical Researches; Barclay, The City of the Great
King ; Williams, The Holy City ; Porter, Handbook for Syria ; Le Guide
indicateur du F. Lievin de Hamme.
2 Lament, ii. 15.
3 Chateaubriand, Itinera') re, lre partie

JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE. 359
plete and confusing as regards many points, they all describe
the city as shining with a veritable splendor. Its walls sur
rounded the entire hill of Sion ; from the present Gate of Jaffa
the battlements rose up along the crest of a mountain (un
doubtedly Akra) ; then, after dipping down again into the
valley which separates that eminence from the Temple, they
ascended again to the Gate of Saint Stephen ; theu skirting
along the cliffs of Kedron Valley, they encircled Mounts
Moriah and Ophel.
Above all these hilltops rose the cliffs of Sion, crowned with its
radiant palace ; to the south was the home of the High Priests ;
to the uorth, facing the heights of Akra, was a line of ramparts
flanked by strong towers, which bore the names of Hippicus,
Phasael and Mariamne. Near the Gate of Jaffa was the new
palace of Herod, whose glories Josephus details at length ; not
far from this was the residence of the Asmoueans, which was
connected with the hill of the Temple by a bridge that spanned
the narrow valley of the Tyropoeon.
Mount Moriah was even richer in monuments of antiquity.
The porticos, the courts, aud the Sanctuary of the Temple ex
tended from Kedron to the Tyropoeon, and on the northern
side of the mountain the Fortress Antonia, with beetling towers,
frowned down upon the sacred porches.
The dwellings of the citizens occupied all the open spaces
along these heights, as well as the lower lands lying between
them, aud to the south of the Temple they covered Mount
Ophel as well. But these bounds, in the time of Herod, came
to be too narrow and straitened. So, in one direction, houses
and gardens spread around the base of Calvary (which was an
elevation of Mount Akra, outside the walls) ; while, on the
other band, to. the north and in the direction of Mount Moriah
there had grown up a new town, called Bezetha, which a little
later Herod Agrippa encircled with bulwarks of its own. A
deep moat had been dug about this suburb in order to separate
it from Antonia, and thus it stood by itself, " like an isolated
mountain," 1 — so much so that Jerusalem appeared to be
raised upon four hills : Sion, Akra, Bezetha, and Moriah.
Despite these repeated enlargements, Jerusalem never cov
ered any great territory ; then, as now, it took no more than
an hour to walk all round its limits ; 2 and its population
1 Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, v. 4, 2.
" Id. Ibid., v. 6, 3 ; Caspari, Einleitung, S. 225.

360 APPENDIX.
never exceeded seventy thousand souls. The various Capitals
along the frontier, — Tyre, Damascus, Heliopolis (Baalbek),
Antioch, — even certain towns in Judea, far surpassed it in the
number of their inhabitants and the vast spaces encompassed
by their walls. Located at a distance from the great high
roads of commerce, without either barbor or water-way, difficult
of access, and perched high among these barren crags in lonely
splendor, Jerusalem had none of those attractions which boou
increase the activity and wealth of cities. The particular feature
which won for the town its unique position iu the history of the
world's achievements is the Temple, erected by Solomon ou
iMouut Moriah. It had been Herod's ambition to restore it in
all the beauty of the olden times, and he had so vigorously
pushed this work to completion that in less than two years the
Sanctuary was finished, while the outer porches were all done
in eight years ; only certain accessories of the Temple had still
to be supplied in the time of Jesus.1 The edifice which was
constructed by this Idumean prince is too well known to re
quire any detailed description at this writing ; it will be enough
to recall the general aspect of its plan.
The plateau of Mount Moriah on which this monumental
edifice was built looked to the traveller like a succession of
storied terraces, three in number. The Temple crowned the
loftiest, and with its pinnacles of gold towered high above the
whole city.
The lowermost terrace encircled two others, and formed a
court called the Porches of the Gentiles, and it extended further
to the south and east than on the two remaining sides ; for the
Temple is not in the middle, but to the northwest of these
porches. The enclosure was bounded by rows of porticos ;
on the east was Solomon's Gate, standing over against Brook
Kedron ; on the south was the Royal Portico, three times
as spacious as the others ; all the rest were of equal magnifi
cence, for their columns of marble were each a solid white shaft,
twenty-five cubits in height. Pagans were allowed to frequent
the first court, but there were inscriptions written in various
languages forbidding them to venture any further, and a balus
trade of carven stone besides, to prevent them from overstep
ping the prescribed limit.
Beyond this barrier, a second terrace, elevated some twenty
1 Josephus, Antiquitates, xv. 11, 56.

JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE. 361
cubits above the first, was reserved for the Jews, and was
oalled the Israelites' Porches. From this second enclosure there
was a last stairway of fifteen steps leading to the uppermost
platform, which the Levites only might ascend.
Upon this third terrace the first object to meet the eye was
the Altar of the Holocausts,1 rising in the centre of the court
which was called Porches of the Priests ; passing through this,
you came upon the Temple, built of white marble. It was
quite different from the Sanctuary planned by Solomon, inas
much as the latter rather resembled the temples of Egypt,
while the monumental structure reared by Herod was of Greek
architecture,2 and of the Corinthian order.8 From the exterior it
had something of the appearance of a basilica ; but the interior
was divided into three parts, — the Vestibule, the Holy Place,
and the Holy of Holies. The Vestibule was a large hall, its
walls resplendent with gold on the side nearest to the Holy
Place ; a glittering vine, of this same precious metal, was fes
tooned over the entrance-wajr, and, according to the testimony
of Josephus, the clusters of grapes hanging from it were equal
to a man's stature in length. Before the huge door of the
Golden Gate, always standing open, heavy tapestry hung, with
shimmering veils waving before it, all of Babylonian fabric and
glowing with brilliant colors which represented the high arch
of heaven.
After the Vestibule came the great hall, called the Holy
Place, which contained three sacred objects, — the Altar of
Perfumes, on which the sacrifice of incense was offered ; to the
north of this Altar, the Table of the Loaves of Proposition ;
and in the middle space between the two, the Seven-branched
Candlestick of gold. A double veil separated the Holy Place
1 The sacred rock of the mosque of Omar probably marks the location
of this altar (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, chap. iii. p. 180).
2 "Judaic Art in Herod's epoch was much like the Grseco-Roman Art
of the age of Augustus, with some traces of an oriental influence and a
vegetal style of ornamentation which was its peculiar individuality " (De
Vogue, le Temple de Jerusalem, p. 48).
8 To speak exactly, Josephus does not state in so many words that
the temple of Herod recalled those of Rome ; but (1) he says that the
colonnades were of the Corinthian order (Antiquitates, xv. 11. 5) ; (2) the
Golden Gate, the only part of the ruins which dates from that epoch, still
displays the capitals with their acanthus leaves ; (3) Herod's fondness for
anything which smacked of Greece and Rome gives us good reason for
believing that he would have chosen no other style of architecture but
theirs when erecting the most magnificent of all his monuments.

362 APPENDIX.
from the Holy of Holies, — that unapproachable Sanctuary
where, in the old days, once rested the Ark of the Covenant.
Ever since the Captivity, this portion of the Temple had been
left bare aud empty, with only a huge stone to mark the spot
left vacant by the Ark.
The priests alone entered these sacred precincts, and only
they could describe its grandeurs ; but the heathen, as well as
the Jews, could behold its external magnificence ; for from every
part of Jerusalem the eye could descry the dazzling walls of the
Temple overlooking the whole town from its high-terraced
throne. Its copings were all glittering with needle-points, set
there to keep the birds from nesting in its eaves or sullying its
purity ; aud the entire roof-work, being overspread with gold,
burned like a furnace from the moment it caught the first
beams of the morning until the last rays of the setting sun
faded over the city.
This magnificent exterior was all that Jesus saw of the Sanc
tuary of Israel; for since He belonged to the Tribe of Juda,
He could not enter either the Holy Place, or even the Porches
of the Priests. At all times when He visited the Temple He re
mained in the Jews' Porches, and oftener still in the first court,
for that was free to Pagans and Jews alike.

II.
THE " WORD " OP SAINT JOHN.
We know the meaning of the word " Logos " in theological
language. When we speak of the Word it is to signify God's
inward Utterance, His substantial Thought, His Intelligence,
His Wisdom, — that is to say, it is His Speech spoken unto
Eternity, wherein all things were spoken eternally, which, in
the infinite play of His Attributes and by an Act (so to say),
by a Sentence, forever pronounced and nevermore to cease,
God has encompassed and embodied the living Truth, has
manifested Himself visibly and actually as the Truth Itself.
No term is more frequently employed by theologians to desig
nate the Second Person of the Trinity ; and no wonder, since
there is none which more clearly declares the unspeakable and
limitless Beins; of the Son of God.
How does it happen that this expression is found only in the

THE "WORD" OF SAINT JOHN. 363
Fourth Gospel 1 Furthermore, how did it come to be so famil
iar to the Christians of Ephesus that their Apostle could make
use of it without any explanation or commentary 1 In fine,
what was the origin of this doctrine of the Word? These
questions are all too intimately bound up in our subject to be
passed over without attempting to give them a satisfactory
answer. Ephesus, in the time of the Evangelist, was one of the prin
cipal cities of the Eastern world. All vessels coasting along
the shores of the Archipelago put in at this port ; from all
parts of Asia Minor the great roads of travel centred at this
locality. Hence John and his flock were in constant intercourse
with strangers of different races and of various religious opinions.
The Xystus — the Philosophers' Hall of Ephesus — was a noted
meeting-place for the learned of those parts, who were the
more strongly attracted to this centre of culture because of its
great numbers of intelligent auditors and the perfect freedom
of speech accorded them.1 May it not be surmised that Saint
John owes his doctrine of the Word to some one of these mas
ters of philosophy 1 Did he not find it set down in the sacred
books of the Persians, or in the writings of Plato 1 None of
these ingenious guesses, as we shall presently see, have been able
to stand the test of historical investigation ; and in order to
clear up the difficulty we must have recourse, not to the profane
authors of the day, but to the first Fathers of the Church.
They tell us that, in writing his Gospel Saint John's object
was to coufute Cerinthus.2 This Jew (who thus became the
father of Gnosticism) had endeavored to establish certain gen
eral principles, which he considered were the foundation of
those beliefs always held by his ancestors, as well as of the
dreams of the Platonists. In this way he was merely continu
ing what the Alexandrians and Philo had commenced ; like the
latter, he borrowed the idea of the Word from the Scribes, but
he altered and disfigured it so materially as to render it well-
nigh unrecognizable. In order to silence this innovator, it was
only necessary that the pure Doctrine, as held by Israel at all
times, should be lucidly set forth, and this Saint John set him
self to accomplish.
The Holy Books, from the very first, had always given man
to understand that in Jehovah there existed a Second Person,
1 S. Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphone, i. 7.
2 S. Irenaeus, Adversus Hcereses, iii. 11 ; Tertullian, De Praescriptione, 33.

364 APPENDIX.
equal to the Most-High God ; the inspired writers of later ages
and the interpreters of the Law had designated this mysterious
Being under the name of " Wisdom," and often as " The Word ; "
and so the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel is, as it were, the
reverberation of this ancient teaching, revealing in its awful
purity and brightness the perfect meaning of this Mystery, long
since vaguely announced by the Prophets and Doctors of Israel.
Such, it appears to us, were the circumstances which induced
Saint John to enunciate his doctrine of tho Word. From this
one may easily enough fancy the nature of the answer we would
make to any questions like those we have quoted above ; how
ever, let us give the principal theories a just consideration.
But at the outset we may state that there is no need to
question whether the Evangelist drew any of his teaching from
the Persians. The Zend-Avesta, which was unfaithfully rendered
by Anquetil-Duperron, has found in M. Spiegel an exact inter
preter. In the latter translation any one will look in vain for
a doctrine analogous to that of the Word. It is true that in a
fragment of the Vendidah, of doubtful authenticity, there is
mention made of a " Word " of Ormuzd ; but a glance at, the
passage itself will be enough to convince an impartial reader
that between the so-called Mazdean Word and Saint John's
lucid teaching there is not even any slight connection : —
" Then Ormuzd replied : Tell the glories, O Zoroastre, of the Maz
dean Law.
" Tell the glories, 0 Zoroastre, of the Firmament, which itself has
produced; tell of limitless Time, and the high regions of air.
" Tell the glories, O Zoroastre, of the Wind, — the swift wind cre
ated by Ormuzd, Spenta Arniaiti, lovely daughter of Ormuzd.
" Tell the glories, O Zoroastre, of my Ferouer (my invisible
idea) ; 1
" The grandest, the best, the most beautiful, the mightiest, the
most wise, the most holy,
" Whose holy Word is my soul.
" Tell the glory, O Zoroastre, of this creation of Ormuzd.
" And Zoroastre replied :
" I tell the glories of Mithra, with his vast domains, Vanquisher
of vanquishers.
" I tell the glories of Shraosha, the holy one, the mighty, who has
armed himself 'gainst the Devas.
1 The Ferouers, in the Mazdean doctrine, are the innumerable invisible
ideas, created by- Ormuzd, and scattered over the sky in order to drive
away Ahriman, the Genius of Evil.

THE "WORD" OF SAINT JOHN. 365
" I tell the glories of the holy Word, that shines so bright.
" I tell the glories of the Sky, self-formed of itself, the infinite ages
of Time, and the nethermost Air.
" I tell of the glories of the Wind, the swift wind created by
Ormuzd, and I tell of Spenta Armaiti, his fairest and loveliest
daughter. " I tell the glories of the Mazdean Law, the Law of Zoroastre
against the hosts of the Devas." 1
It is not difficult to see that the Word iu question here is not
said to be a Son of the Supreme Being, but is rather the soul of
a creature of Ormuzd, one of those innumerable Ferouers, or
invisible ideas of visible objects which were created by the
Principle of Good at the beginning of time. So that there is
nothing in all this which is in any way akin to what Saint John
attributes to the Word made flesh. There is neither the divine
nature nor the creative power which is reserved to Ormuzd ; in
fact it is placed on an equality with Mithra, — one of the
twenty-eight chieftains of the celestial hosts which watch over
the world ; it is of a like dignity with Shraosha, the holy one,
with the Sky, the Wind, and in fine with all creatures begotten
of Ormuzd.
So the student will find it a profitless labor to search the
writings of Plato for traces of the Word of Saint John. M.
Michel Nicolas has displayed much learning as well as critical
acumen in the consideration of this theory. " The partisans,"
he says, " who claim that the Jewish doctrine of the Word owes
its origin to the Platonists, are accustomed to cite in their sup
port a passage from the Epinomis (Plato, Cousin's translation,
t. xiii. p. 21), and the phrase with which the sixth of the
Letters attributed to Plato concludes (ibidem, t. xiii. p. 74).
These two quotations have no real bearing on the argument.
The passage from the Epinomis, by being detached from the
context, has been given a meaning which is not in the origi
nal. As soon as it is read in connection with what precedes
and what follows it, any one will see at once that the word
Logos is to be taken in the ordinary acceptation which it
had in the School of Plato, and that thus it simply signified
Reason in the general sense. As to that passage in the Sixth
Letter, how can any one appeal to it in the present discussion
when, as we all know, it has been satisfactorily demonstrated
that this Sixth Letter is subsequent to the Christian Era?
1 Fargad, xix. v. 42-57.

366 APPENDIX.
And whatever analogy there may be between Plato's Logos
and that of Philo, we must always bear in mind that it was
a tenet held as commouly among Greek Philosophers as by
the Alexandrians and the Chaldaic Paraphrasts, that there is
an Intermediary Being between God and the world, but this
Intermediary Being is very different from anything ever held
among the Jews. It is in the Timseus that this theory finds
its completest exposition. Let us note its essential pecu
liarities. Before the creation of contingent beiugs, God be
gan by forming the world, which He animated by setting
within it a Soul, which partook of a threefold essence, — one
essence invisible, pertaining to the Divine ; another, which was
visible, proceeding from disordered matter ; aud a third, derived
from a mingling of the two preceding. The world of life and
soul constitutes the harmony of the celestial bodies, the heav
enly household of the visible and contingent gods. . . . Thus
was the world commanded by God its Author to busy itself in
the production of perishable creatures. . . . Now it seems im
possible for any one to deny that the Intermediary Being of
Jewish Theology is entirely different from Plato's concept. The
Soul of the world, begotten with such strenuous effort, is after
all nothing more than a contingent being; it is not in itself
either immortal or indissoluble. . . . The Jewish Word, on
the contrary, is a Divine Power, proceeding without any limi
tations from God, partaking solely and simply of His Nature,
and only to be distinguished from Him as thought and action
can be considered as distinct from the person who thinks and
acts." 1
Though the Evangelist is in no way indebted to the religions
of Persia and Greece for his doctrine, it is however evident that
he found the idea of the Word set forth in the traditions of
Jewry. This last point is agreed upon now-a-days by all sides ;
there are many, nevertheless, who hold that Saint John bor
rowed his teaching, not from the true sons of Israel, but from the
Jewish neo-Platonists of Alexandria, and from Philo in particu
lar. Yet it seems to us that no reasoning could be more mis
leading than this. Certainly no one will deny that the doctrine
of the Word exists in the. writings of this philosopher, or that
it even occupies an important place in his teaching. An Israel-
1 Michel Nicolas, Des doctrines religieuses des Juifs, p. 219 and the
following.

THE "WORD" OF SAINT JOHN. 367
ite by birth, Philo had been instructed in the pure traditions
by his early masters ; but in his passion for Platonism, he al
tered them, iu order to make the Jewish dogmas bear as great
a resemblance as possible to those philosophical speculations of
which he was so enamoured ; his Word was not that which was
taught in the schools of Jerusalem. And so when Cerinthus
brought to Ephesus those doctrines which had been so dis
figured and defiled at Alexandria, John felt that he must first
purge out the dross from these conceptions, which had been
profaned by Cerinthus and his master, if he would restore any
health to the pure doctrine of the Truth. The initial page of
the fourth Gospel is undoubtedly only an abridgment of his
teachings upon this subject.
Philo had conceived of the Word as the " Shadow of God,"
but not God Himself. It was "a Divinity of the second order,"
which did not coexist in God, but was " between Him and the
creature, the mediator between these two extremes."1 In
strong contrast to this fanciful Word, John set forth in a few
short sentences the Word which had its being before the begin
nings of time, existing on that first day when the universe was
not, and there was naught save God, and the Son, the only be
gotten of the Father. He tells us of this Word, consubstantial
with God, dwelling in His Bosom, never to be separated from
Him, nor to depart from Him, God even as is the Father, by
Whom He is begotten. And behold, he concludes, this is He
Who from the beginning liveth in God.
Philo made of his Word "an instrument by whose aid God
worked upon Primordial matter," preparing it, forming it,2
quickening it into life. And notwithstanding that this Word
comprised all creation in itself, and ruled all the power and
thought of God, it was after all only one of these same divine
ideas. It was " the first-born of the Angels ; " 8 it remained their
brother, and though perhaps one might not say of it " that it was
born like the other creatures, still it was not uncreate in the same
measure as is the Supreme God."4 Very different indeed is the
Word which Saint John adores. It is the Increate Creator ;
all things are made by Him, and nothing has been made which
has not proceeded from His hands, for it is He who bestows life,
l Philo (Mangey edition), i. 6 ; i. 106 ; ii. 625 ; i. 683 ; i. 501.
2 Id. i. 106, 162, 437.
8 Ibidem, 437, 427.
" Philo, i. 501.

368 APPENDIX.
which He derives from none other than Himself. In Him life
is, Who is the Source of life.
In this way the Evangelist sets himself to the task of declar
ing the pure doctrine of the Word, and cleansing it of foreign
error. To restore it to its first and legitimate sense, — the one
which it has ever since retained in Christian theology, — he
had only to supply certain links in the chain of Jewish tradi-
tious, which Philo had broken, and to make use of the writino-s
of those Scribes, disciples of Esdras, who had long since compre
hended under the title of the Word all that the Old Testament
has revealed concerning a Second Person abiding in Jehovah,
Who thus is God even as the Father is God. But in order to
conceive any just idea of this Revelation, one must needs follow
it faithfully from Moses to Jesus Christ.
Commencing with the first pages of Genesis, we find vague
indications of a plurality of Persons in the Divine Essence. The
terms which Moses employs to describe the creative acts of God
have this peculiar characteristic, that the- word used to denote
the action is in the singular, and yet it has a plural noun for
its subject : (D'rjS.K K"0) literally translated this would be " the
Gods has made," a peculiar phraseology which seems to indicate
several Persons (Elohim, the Gods), not only working together,
but really acting as one single Agent and Author of being.
Certain writers have thought that this use of the plural form
Elohim is a custom borrowed from the language of some poly
theistic people, or a manner of speaking which was intended
by the writer to lend more majesty to their conception of the
Almighty. But how could Moses, knowing the evil propensities
of the Jews so well as he did, dreading too their proneness to
idolatry, and uncompromising as he was therefore in his zealous
efforts to unite them in an unqualified belief in the One and
Only God, — how would he have dared to prefer this plural
form, which would naturally recall all their past errors, and
this too when the Hebrew language could furnish him with the
singular of the same word : El, Eloah ? Could the advantage to
be gained by thus bestowing a more subtle dignity upon the
Name of God make him forget how fraught with dangers to his
restless flock any such phraseology might be t We prefer to
believe that Moses, divinely inspired, designed to inculcate
a great Truth by this striking combination of plural and sin
gular, — that in fact he meant to teach a distinction of Persons
in the innermost existence of God.

THE "WORD" OF SAINT JOHN. 369
Furthermore, that this was the intention of the great Prophet
appears even more clearly from such words as these, the lan
guage of Jehovah Himself: "Let Us fashion man after Our
own image. . . . Behold, how Adam hath become like to One
of us. . . . Come, let Us go down thither, let us confound their
speech ; " 1 and again in the Blessing, the form of which is set
down in the Book of Numbers,2 wherein God commands that for
three distinct times the Name Jehovah is to be invoked upon
the heads of His people. Such rites and such expressions as
these, if they were not uttered as mystical foretokenings of the
Trinity, can in no other way be made to harmonize with the
plans of Israel's great lawgiver, or indeed with the ethical status
of the people.
Uncertain and obscure though this revelation was to the
contemporaries of Moses, yet in the days of Isaiah it had
come to be more clearly understood. That Hymn of the
Seraphim, which the Prophet heard, is an utterance of hom
age to the Trinity, so express and formal that the Church
has ever since repeated it, as being the most perfect praise
wherewith she may celebrate this great Mystery : " Holy, holy,
holy, is Jehovah, the God of hosts ; all the earth is full of His
glory." Though we need not conclude from these evidences, as some
theologians have done, that the doctrine of the Trinity is obvi
ously and unmistakably taught in the Old Testament, it is,
however, hardly possible not to note therein the first foreshad-
owings of a plurality of Persons in the Divine Essence.
The actual manifestations of God to man, which are so fre
quent in the history of the people of God, all contributed to the
propagation of the same belief. And indeed they all partake of
this one peculiarity, that Jehovah appears oftenest to mortal
vision, not in His own Person, but as a mysterious Being Which
Scripture calls the " Angel of the Lord." This Angel is cer
tainly distinct from Jehovah, and nevertheless it bears his in
communicable Name, exercises the divine power, receives honors
due to the Supreme Being, and at all times speaks and acts as
a God. Staying the arm of Abraham, as he is about to sacrifice
his son, the Angel says to him : "I know that thou fearest God,
and that thou wouldst not have withheld thy son, thine only son,
from Me." 8 By these last words He makes Himself one with
1 Gen. i. 26 ; iii. 22 ; xi. 7. 2 Num. vi. 23, 26. 3 Gen. xxii. 12.
VOL. i. — 24

370 APPENDIX.
God the Creator, to Whom Abraham was ready to offer all that
he held most dear. He promises the Patriarch that in his seed
all the nations of earth shall be blessed, because he has obeyed
His Voice. He appears in a dream to Jacob : "I am the God
of Bethel," x He says to him. But this God of Bethel, Who
dwells upon the cloud-hung summits of the dream-ladder, is
none other than Jehovah, the God of Abraham and the God of
Isaac.2 So also Jacob, after he had striven long in that great
wrestling at Phanuel, cried out, " I have seen God face to
face ! " 8 And at the hour of his death, when he would bless
the sons of Joseph, he called not only upon the God Who had
been the Strength and the Sustainer of his youth, but upon
that Divine Angel also Who had been his Safeguard in all evil
days of his life.4
And later, in the desert of Madian, this same Angel appeared
to Moses in the burning bush.6 In this Presence the Prophet
sees only Jehovah, hearkens to the Voice as to that of Elohim ;
he covers his face, not daring to look upon this manifestation
of the Godhead, while the words which came from the flaming
thicket proclaimed the Speaker to be the God of Abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob.8 Israel accepts the commandment to obey
this Divine Messenger, for they are told that "the holy Name
of God is in Him." 7
After their adoration of the Calf of Gold, God declares He
will no longer walk in the midst of this stiffnecked people of
His ; yet nevertheless He will leave with them His Divine An
gel to be their Guide.8 And although there is some distinction
in the maimer of speaking of the Lord and of His Messenger,
yet the latter is still a Presence, in Whom Jehovah has His
habitation.9 And this Manifestation of the Most High con
tinues thereafter to act, not as a creature but as a Divine Being,
demanding of Joshua the same homage which He had received
1 Gen. xxii. 18.
2 Ibid. xxxi. 11; xxviii. 13.
8 Ibid, xxxii. 1, 30.
4 Ibid, xlviii. 15.
6 The Vulgate has translated the Hebrew text inexactly, as " Dominus "
where we read "the Angel of Jehovah," rTfiV at*1?)? (Exod. iii. 2).
6 Exod. iii. 6.
7 Ibid, xxiii. 20, 21.
8 Ibid, xxxiii. 2, 3.
9 Rid. xxxiii. 14.

THE "WORD" OF SAINT JOHN. 371
from Moses. Joshua obeys Him, aud adores Him as the God
of Israel. Thrice He appears in the Book of the Judges, —
thrice most like unto Him Whose Name is Wonderful, girt
about with strength aud shining with such heavenly splendor,
that Manoah cried aloud, " Surely we shall die, because we
have seen God." 1
Who was this Angel ? It was the Word of God, is the
answer given by the first Fathers,2 while Saint Augustine adds
with more exactness that this was some Created Form,8 under
which the invisible Word was manifested even as was also God
Himself; and in this manner He condescended to accustom
mortals to seeing a visible Entity, His handiwork, dependent
upon Him, and nevertheless made substantially One with Him.
"Thus He was preparing men for the great mystery of the
Incarnation ; in some such fashion He did make a beginning
thereof, and so it was given us to behold Him, as it were in a
kind of apprenticeship, He making trial of us after this fashion.
. . . All these appearances of the Son of God were a certain
pledge to mankind that God did not look upon humanity as
altogether abhorrent to His Own Nature, since He had resolved
aforetime that the Son of God, equal in all things to His Father,
should be made man like unto us." 4
With their minds made ready by lessons like these, the Jews,
little by little, acquired the habit of regarding God not as an
Abstract Power, isolated in barren and unprofitable majesty,
but as a fruitful and omnific Nature in Whom resides, as in
its Source, all light and life and love ; wherein Wisdom, the
sublimest of God's attributes, is quickened into life, becomes a
Person, and holds intercourse with Jehovah. We can follow
this progress of Revelation all through the sapiential writings.
The Author of the Proverbs 5 was content with showing how
Wisdom is coeternal with Jehovah, and assists Him in the work
of Creation. The Son of Sirach goes a step further ; he personi
fies Wisdom, and attributes language like this to the Heaven-
born One : " I am come forth from the mouth of the Most High,
1 Jos. v. 14 ; Jud. v. 13-15 ; vi. 11-22; xiii. 6-22.
3 S. Irenaeus, Adversus Hoereses, iv. 7, 4 ; Clement of Alexandria, Peed-
agogus, i. 7 ; Tertullian, Adversus Praxeam, 13, 14, 15 ; S. Cyprian,
Adversus Judoeos, ii. 5, 6, etc.
8 S. Augustine, De Trinitate, passim.
4 Bossuet, EUvations sur les mysteres, elevation vi. , xe semaine.
6 Prov viii.

372 APPENDIX.
begotten of Him before all creation. I it is Who have made
a light to blaze in the sky which shall never be extinguished,
and Who have covered the whole earth iu a vapor. I have
dwelt in the high places, and My throne is in a pillar of cloud.
I alone have encompassed the high arch of heaven, and I have
fathomed the lowermost depths of the abyss. I have walked
upon the waves of the sea, and I have wandered over all the
lands. I have held sway iu every nation and among every
people of earth. And amongst all these I sought a resting-
place ; and I chose for Myself a habitation amid the heritage of
the Lord. Whereupon the Creator of the Universe hath made
Me to know His will; He Who hath created Me hath rested
within My Tabernacle, and He hath said unto Me : ' Dwell with
Jacob ; let Israel be Thy inheritance.' " 1
The Book of Wisdom more clearly still declares the relations
which exist between this divine Wisdom and Jehovah, and His
movements upon the face of the earth. In respect to God, 't is
" a Vapor of His almighty power and a most pure emanation
of His glory ; 't is the Brightness of eternal light, the spotless
Mirror of God's majesty, and the Image of His goodness."2
There is no one .of God's wondrous dealings with the world
which may not be attributed to it. This it is Which created
the first man, and still draws us away from sin ; Who saved the
just from the Deluge, watched over the Patriarchs, made the
Israelites to pass through the Red Sea, and guided them through
all their devious wanderings.8 In a word, everything that the
historical books of the Old Testament had ascribed to the Angel
of the Lord, the sapiential books no longer impute to a vague
and mysterious Being, but to a personified Attribute of Omni
potence, — that is, to the Wisdom of Jehovah.
Now it only remained to change this term to that sublimer
title, the Word of God. And this was to be the work of those
Jewish doctors who, after the Captivity, gathered together the
traditions of their nation, and composed from them, in the
Aramean tongue, those paraphrases of the Holy Books called
Targums.4 The most ancient of these commentaries (that of
1 Ecclesiast. xxiv.
2 Wis. vii. 25, 26.
8 Ibid. x.
4 Targum, DU^fl from Oi"\F\ : "to explain, to interpret." The
Targum of the Pentateuch, attributed to Oukelos, received a definite form
in the third century of our era ; the others are of a later date.

THE GENEALOGIES OF THE GOSPEL. 373
Oukelos) teaches fully and unmistakably the doctrine of the
Word 1 of the Lord. The Word it is Which once protected
Noe', Which ratified the ancient alliance with Abraham, Which
accompanied Israel into the desert, was with Isaac among the
Canaaneans, and with Joseph in Egypt. At Bethel Jacob made
his solemn covenant that the Word of the Lord should be hm
God, and again at Sinai' the people fall with faces to the ground
before that breath of his nostrils Which is His Word. It would
be easy to continue this enumeration through all the books of
the Old Testament, for the Targums everywhere speak of the
Word in places where the Historical Writings tell of the Angel
of the Lord, and where the Sapiential Scriptures discourse of
the Wisdom of God. From this it is evident that John had
only to collect these familiar traditions, and thus from the
ancient Faith prove his doctrine of the Word. And undoubt
edly this was the source whence he drew the Truth ; he found
it in the teachings of that very Synagogue which, albeit with
darkened vision and enfeebled speech, was none the less the
Guardian of a deposit of true Religion and pure Belief.

III.
THE GENEALOGIES OF THE GOSPEL.
A great number of writers have endeavored to conciliate the
genealogies of the Gospel, but there are only two explanations
which seem to us of sufficient value to merit the attention of
the reader.
One of these considers the genealogy in Saint Matthew as the
lineage of Joseph ; while Saint Luke's, they tell us, is that of
Mary.2 This solution does away with every difficulty, and
might be adopted at once were it not that it has against it not
only Tradition, which has always regarded the two genealogical
tables as belonging to Joseph, but there is also the text of Saint
1 In the Paraphrases the Word is sometimes called X^D'D, sometimes
' 2 This explication has been adopted by D. Calmet, Vossius, Lightfoot,
Michaelis, Kuinoel, Bengel, Olshausen, Wieseler, Ebrard, Kurtz, Lange,
Greswell, Kitto, Robinson, etc. The contrary opinion has been held,
among modern critics, by Hug, P. Patrizi, Meyer, Mill, Lord Hervey,
EUicott, etc.

374 APPENDIX.
Luke, which must be twisted and deprived of its natural
meaning in order to make it read as if it were the descent
of Mary.
The other explanation admits that the two genealogies are
those of Joseph, and, as a consequence, it undertakes the task
of reconciling us to accept their contradictory statements, which
would appear to be considerable. After having given the same
series of generations from the origin of time as far as David,
the columns separate, — one list following the line of Nathan,
eldest son of the Prophet-King ; the other, that of Solomon ;
while further on they both unite, in the time of the Captivity,
under the two names of Salathiel and Zorobabel ; then, starting
from this point, there is another divergence, until we come to
Joseph, who, Saint Luke says, is born of Heli, while Saint
Matthew tells us that he was the son of Jacob.
The interpretation generally adopted is that there had been
two leviratical marriages between the two branches of David's
family. This Jewish custom is well known : when a son- of
Israel dies without children, his nearest male relative must
espouse his widow, and the first-born of this new union, the
natural sou of the second husband, is thereafter treated as the
legal son of the first. Therefore the view which we are now
occupied with would have it that this Law of the Levirate was
twice brought in question in this instance, — first in the time of
Salathiel, and later in the time of Joseph ; each of them having
had two fathers, one natural, the other legal. These were, re
spectively, Neri and Jechouias, Jacob and Heli. And although
this explanation does not suffice to enlighten us as to every ob
scure point, it does however shed a great measure of light upon
the question ; and hence we shall avail ourselves of it, for it is
sustained by such an imposing array of traditions that we need
only call attention to their number and nature in order to give
it all the weight of authority.
From the first ages of the Church the genealogies were the
object of grave discussion. Origen, when answering the attack
of Celsus, reproaches him for having ignored the labors of
Christian writers upon this matter. 1
One hundred years had not passed over the world since the
1 Origen, Contra Celsum, ii. 32. Celsus wrote in the reign of Hadrian
(120). Hence the words used by Origen imply that before this time the
Christians had already experienced some difficulty in reconciling the
genealogies.

THE GENEALOGIES OF THE GOSPEL. 375
death of its Saviour, and already His earthly origin was ob
scured and forgotten. But how was it that those first Christians,
living almost in the same epoch with the Apostles, did not
make haste to examine the authentic sources of information 1
We shall have no room left for any surprise on this score, if we
think for a moment upon those disasters in which Jerusalem
was overwhelmed only forty years after the death of Jesus.
Everything was annihilated and blotted away from this City
which had sacrificed its God, and wdth the rest all the Genea
logical Tables which were there preserved 1 became involved in
the universal ruin. So that only certain traditions survived,
by means of which the obscurities in their family pedigrees
could be cleared up ; and indeed this source was held sufficient
by the Jewish converts who had thus kept alive the memory
of their own family archives ; aud so, from Tradition and their
own knowledge they could explain the genealogies of the Christ.
But of course this state of affairs did not exist in the Churches
founded in the various provinces of the Roman Empire. By
the year 70 almost all the ministers of the Word who had heard
and seen the Saviour had gone to swell that first great harvest of
Martyrdom ; the bishops and the doctors who replaced them had
no longer the aid of their vivid memories of the Divine History ;
and there was no intercourse between the Christians of Judea
who had taken refuge in Pella and their brethren in the East,
in Greece, and in Asia Minor. In many of these last-named
Churches the genealogies of the Christ soon became the theme
of much unsatisfactory discussion, and oftentimes they arrived
at solutions of the difficulty which were more ingenious than
they were veracious. In the second century an opinion began
to gain ground (in spite of the vigorous stand made against it
by Julius Africanus) that the genealogies were imaginary lists
of names put together with the hope of setting in higher relief
the great Truth that in the person of Jesus there was the most
perfect union of a lineage which partook equally of Priesthood
and Royalty.2 The only way to prevent their being looked
upon as fanciful inventions was to refer to the authentic tradi
tions of the Church ; this was not done until the middle of the
third century.
1 Josephus, Contra Apionem, i. 37. ,.,,••
2 The theories proposed in later times were no less plentiful. Annms
of Viterbus did not scruple at making use of this curious solution, —that
all the ancestors of the Saviour, after David, had a double name.

376 APPENDIX.
Julius Africanus, the friend of Origen, was born at Nicopolis.1
He had acquaintance with certain of the faithful there who
formed the only living remnant of the family of the Lord, and
for this reason were called Desposynes.2 From them he learned
that Esther, wife of Mathan, of the branch line of Solomon, at
the death of her first husband wedded Melchi, of the branch
line of Nathan ; and from these successive unions she had two
sons, Jacob and Heli. When Heli died without issue, Jacob
married his widow, and was father of Saint Joseph in the course
of nature, while in the eyes of the Law Heli was his father.8
This tradition, thanks to the high esteem in which Julius
Africanus was held, came to have much authority in the
Church ; the Fathers welcomed it gladly, and Saint Au
gustine, who at first had resorted to another explanation,
afterwards, in his Retractions,4 comes back to this simple clew-
given him by Julius Africanus, and confesses that the Letter
written by that Father to Aristides was unknown to him at the
time he wrote his Treatise against Faustus.
But does it follow that, if we grant this, we must accept
everything in the accounts left us by the Desposynes 1 We do
not think so, for what they tell us of Herod's having destroyed
the records of the Royal Family iu order to conceal his own low
origin contradicts the statements of the historian Josephus, who
quotes from the genealogies of the Levites which were preserved
at Jerusalem in his own time.6 Certainly there was at bottom
a foundation of truth in this tradition, and that is what we
must try to disentangle from such apocryphal details as have
gathered about it during two centuries of oral transmission.
And indeed that is just what was done by Saint Jerome and
the other Fathers. In their eyes the important point in
the testimony of the Desposynes is that Joseph was born
of a leviratical marriage ; but they are no longer unani
mous in their opinion when the question is mooted whether
it was Jacob or Heli who was his natural father. Julius
Africanus holds that the spouse of the Virgin Mary was born
1 Now-a-days called Amouas, twenty-two miles from Jerusalem, and ten
from Lydda (Antonini Augusti Itinerarium).
2 AetrTbavvoi, "belonging to, related to the Lord."
3 Julius Africanus, Epistola ad Aristidem (Migne, Patrologie qrecque
t. x. p. 51).
4 S. Augustine, Rrtractiones, ii. 7.
5 Epistola ad Aristidem (Patrologie grecque, t. x. p. 51 ). Josephus,
Contra Apvrnem, i. 37.

THE GENEALOGIES OF THE GOSPEL. 377
of Jacob; Saint Ambrose, on the contrary, gives Heli as his
father.1 In the uncertain state in which these confused traditions
leave us, is it possible to get any help toward clearing up the
difficulties from the genealogies themselves ? This has been
the animating thought of some learned critics,2 and so, arguing
from the individual point of view taken by each of the Evange
lists, they infer that Saint Matthew gives the royal ancestry of
Jesus,8 Saint Luke His natural descent.
The latter, as being the companion of Saint Paul, the Apostle
of the Gentiles, and a Gentile himself, naturally would be
less zealous than Saint Matthew was to make it apparent that
Jesus, the Son of Abraham and David, was rightful Heir to the
Kings of Israel. Saint Luke had referred to the Jewish tables
of birth with the sole idea of proving that Jesus is the Man,
the Second Adam, in Whom God is made incarnate for the
redemption of the. world. So, without stopping at Abraham,
he goes back to the beginnings of time, and hence he declares
that the Christ is Son of Adam, " who was the son of God."
Saint Matthew, on the contrary, is entirely engrossed with
the thought of establishing his claims that Jesus is sprung of
the royal stock of Israel : Bt/SAo? yeve'o-cws T770-0O Xpio-ToC vlov
AaueiS, vlov 'Afipadp.. And as a natural consequence he looks for
that lineage for Jesus which will assure Him His lofty dignity
as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed of the Lord ; un
doubtedly He is the Son of Abraham, and Heir of the Promises
made to the father .of all true believers ; but he is still more
particular to announce that Jesus is the Son of David, destined
to lift up anew the Throne of His fathers upon the earth.
Among all the titles which combined to render the Son of
Jesse so dear to Israel, the kingly dignity is that which prin
cipally attracts Saint Matthew's attentive consideration. " David
1 S. Ambrose, in Lucain, iii.
2 Grotius, De Marca, Lama, Mill, Lord Hervey, etc.
3 Some scholars look upon this term iyivvyae, which S. Matthew em
ploys, as a proof that he is giving the natural generation of Joseph ; but
this expression, like the equivalent Hebrew word IT, is not to be un
derstood as meaning a mere carnal descent, since it is also employed
frequently to indicate succession by law or adoption. The Septuagint
takes it with this wider acceptation, and S. Matthew follows their example
in his genealogical table 'lupap. Si iyivvyae rbv 'Ofrav, where three genera
tions separate Osias from Joram.

378 APPENDIX.
the King," he repeats twice,1 and the genealogical list, which he
unfolds after David is nothing else than an historical succession
of the monarchs of Juda. Now Jechonias, the last of these
princes, died without issue.2 Yet Saint Matthew, despite this
well-known fact, continues the line of David down to Joseph.
Must we conclude from this that Neri, the father of Salathiel,
according to Saint Luke, espoused the widow of Jechonias aud
had a son by her ; or, without resorting to this hypothesis of a
leviratical marriage, is it not even more reasonable to believe
that Jechonias, when he was condemned to see his own branch
of the royal Household become extinct with him, adopted Sala
thiel, grandson of David and son of Nathan, and that he trans
mitted his rights to the throne to his son ? Then the series of
otherwise unknown names which follows in Saint Matthew's
record of the royal race is that of the sons of Salathiel who
should have occupied the throne, had the legitimate monarchy
been perpetuated, and who thus by right of descent were the
lawful kings of Juda, though in fact they never any of them
mounted the throne. After eight generations the branch of
Abiud, eldest son of Zorobabel, in whom resided by birthright
this title to the throne of David, now in turn saw his house
hold end with Jacob ; and thus it was that Heli, a descendant
of Rhesa, another son of Zorobabel, contracted that leviratical
marriage with the widow of Jacob, of which Tradition has
preserved a record ; the fruit of this union is Joseph, who
is consequently the natural son of Heli and legal son of
Jacob. 1 In fact the received text gives 'leaaal Si iyivvyaev rbv AavelS rbv paa-
iXia, AavelS Si 6 paaiXevs iyivvyaev, ktX . . . This reading is to be found
in very many Manuscripts (notably that of Ephrem), and in a majority
of the Versions.
2 The malediction that fell upon Jechonias, or Conias, son of Joakim,
doomed him to end his life in exile, and childless (Jer. xxii. 30) ; hence
he either could not have had any offspring, or must have lost such as he
had, before his death, for the word which the Prophet uses, ,-V"1#, has but
one meaning in the Old Testament, "without children" (Gen. xv. 2, etc. ;
Lightfoot, Horae Hebra'icoe, in Matt. i. 12). The Rabbis suppose that the
repentance of Jechonias had assuaged the divine wrath, and that this
prince left behind him the descendants whom we find quoted in the First
Paralipomenon (iii. 17), — Asir, Salathiel, Melchiram, Phadaia, etc." But
this hypothesis is not necessary in order to conciliate the two Sacred
Books ; it is enough to suppose that Jechonias adopted the entire family
of Neri, and thus became father by adoption of the seven sous named in
the Paralipomenon.

THE GENEALOGIES OF THE GOSPEL.

379

The following table will enable one to see at a glance all that
we have so far considered concerning the two genealogies —
DAVID.
 I 

Solomon.
Jechonias (without issue),
father by adoption of

I
SALATHIEL. I
ZEROBABEL.

Nathan. Neki,
natural father of

Ann ii.
Jacob,
legal father of

Rhesa. I
Heli,
natural father of
 I

JOSEPH.
This solution, while it respects the ancient traditions, since
it gives Joseph (according to the teachings of Julius Africanus) a
legal father and also a father according to the Law, has the ad
ditional advantage of not multiplying the leviratical marriages
unnecessarily. And finally, whether this theory be adopted or
whether the generally received hypothesis be preferred, the dis
cussion has at all events successfully proved that the contradic
tory statements in the genealogies are susceptible of several
plausible explanations.
The only remaining difficulty concerns Saint Matthew,1 whose
genealogy is manifestly incomplete, since, in the period between
David and the Captivity, he passes over three kings, — Ochosias,
Joas, and Amasias. Their names are sacrificed designedly, in
order to give a certain symmetry to the arrangement, and to
thus divide the list into three groups of fourteen names. In
1 In the second period of S. Matthew there appears to be a generation
wanting, but S. Jerome long ago pointed out that we must distinguish
between Joachim, son of Josias, and Joachin, who was his son, although
in S. Matthew they both bear the name Jechonias. In Hebrew, Joachim
is written as D,f>,1liTl ; Joachin is |"3Jlrl'; from tnls we see that the two
words are quite different.

380 APPENDIX.
doing this the Evangelist simply follows the general custom
among the Jews, who when writing down their family pedigree
were not so careful to inscribe the names of all tlieir ancestors
as they were anxious to give harmonious proportions to each
genealogy. The memory retained the names better when dis
tributed in this way; and the "mystical properties" of those
numbers seven and ten, which were the usual factors in this
division, conferred a higher dignity to the records of a house
hold, which were preserved after this fashion. In the Jewish
writers we find numerous examples of this arbitrary ordering
of the lists. It is in this form that Philo sets apart the genera
tions which lived between the time of Moses and the Creation
of the world into two groups of ten and one of seven, in order
(as he says) to display the perfect stems crowned with fruit of
equal perfectness, — Noe, Abraham, Moses.1 And therefore Saint
Matthew was only consulting the popular tastes of his age when
he inscribed the Genealogy of Jesus in a conventional style.
We are not now speaking of the attempts to harmonize the
Gospel lists with those which we find in the Books of the
Chronicles ; for there are some almost insurmountable diffi
culties involved in the task. Among the seven sons of Zoro
babel, of whom mention is made in this record, there was none
called Rhesa, nor is there an Abiud ; aud we look in vain among
their descendants for the names of Eliakim and Juda, which
the Evangelists give as sons of Rhesa and Abiud. Lord Hervey
has endeavored to solve this problem in his learned work en
titled " The Genealogies of Our Lord." He calls our attention
to the fact that Rhesa, in the Chaldean tongue, is the title of
the " princes of the Captivity," who, in the first and second
centuries after Jesus Christ were the Chiefs of the people (as,
in fact, Zorobabel was at Babylon) ; from this he concludes that
probably the word " Rhesa " was placed in the margin, as a
comment on the text, by some Jew who had become a Chris
tian, in order to recall the fact that Zorobabel was a prince of
the House of David. From the margin this annotation passed
into the text. If this be so, then Joanna, according to Saint
Luke, is made the son of Zerobabel ; now, Joanna is the same
name as Hananiah, son of Zorobabel, if we follow the Parali-
pomenons (1 Par. iii. 19). In fact Hananiah, rrjjn, is a word
composed of run, "grace," and rr, an abridged form of Jehovah.
1 Philo, De Posteritate Ca'ini, edit. Mangey, t. i. p. 259.

THE GENEALOGIES OF THE GOSPEL. 381
Joanna, |jnV, contains the same roots, with this difference,
that V, another shorter form for Jehovah, is put at the head
of the compound, and nn is at the end. We are therefore
justified in considering these as only two forms of the same
word. Iu the opinion of Lord Hervey Saint Matthew omits
this generation. He takes Abiud, linox, whose name occurs
in verse thirteen of this Gospel, to be that same Juda of Saint
Luke's Gospel (in Aramean, nrr., Jud), and also as the Ho-
daiah, iirrn'in, of the Books of the Chronicles (1 Par. iii. 24).
The complete development of the theory regarding these names
is clearly explained in Lord Hervey's Volume.
Yet, after all is said, is it necessary to recur to these very
subtile hypotheses ? Are not the incomplete lists which we pos
sess, the fact of there having been so many offspring, then too the
frequent unions between branches of the same family, the habit
of giving the same names for generation after generation, the
quite different designs animating the two Evangelists and the
Author of the Paralipomenons, — are not all these sufficient to
account for the fact that after two thousand years we find some
difficulty in making these two genealogical tables correspond ?
The same considerations are euough to deter us from any
long investigation as to why Saint Luke (iii. 35, 36) places
Ca'inan between Sale and Arphaxad, a name which is only found
in the Greek Version of Genesis (Gen. x. 24), and is not in the
Hebrew text. Apparently this is an error committed by the
Seventy, and so it has passed from their version into the text of
Saint Luke. In fact this second Ca'inan is not found either in
the Samaritan text or, for the most part, in the other Versions
(Vulgate, Targum, Peshito, etc.), and the Fathers have never
made any mention of the name.
As to the contradiction which appears to exist between the
Evangelists, who give Salathiel as the father of Zerobabel (Matt.
i. 12, Luke iii. 27), and the Paralipomenons, which say he was
the son of Phada'ia (1 Par. iii. 19), only a superficial difficulty is
involved ; for the Alexandrian Manuscript, as well as that of
Cambridge, gives us Salathiel aud not Phada'ia. Father Patrizi 1
prefers to admit that the Zorobabel of the Gospels is another
personage from the one mentioned in the Paralipomenons.2
1 De Evangeliis, lib. iii. diss. ix. 16, 2.
2 As to the genealogies, see Lord Arthur Hervey, On the Genealogies of
Our Lord ; Mill, Observations on the attempted application of pantheistic

382 APPENDIX. V.
THE STAR OF THE MAGI.
It was the opinion of Kepler that the Star of the Magi was
only a sidereal phenomenon. Having witnessed the conjunction
of Jupiter and Saturn in 1603, which included Mars in the
following spring, this Astronomer observed a star of the first
magnitude, and hitherto unknown, which suddenly shone out
in the vicinity of these planets. The remarkable splendor of
this apparition iu the heavens — for it blazed with such great
brilliancy that it could be seen at high noon — struck the illus
trious Astronomer forcibly; and he began to question whether
the Star of the Magi might not have been some such pleiad.
His calculations resulted in the discovery that a conjunction of
Jupiter and Saturn had in fact taken place, in the year 748 of
Rome, and that the nearest point of contact for the two planets
was the Sign of the Fishes. So he concludes that a star, simi
lar to the one which he had studied, must have appeared at
this period, and that this unexpected union of celestial lumina
ries composed the constellation seen by the Magi. As we have
said, it appeared in 748, the date which Herod took so much
care to ascertain, and which induced him in 750 to slaughter
all the children in Bethlehem under two years of age. The
thoroughly scientific methods of Kepler have established his
calculations beyond any question ; furthermore they have been
verified and adopted by our modern astronomers.1
But does this phenomenon correspond with what Saint Mat
thew tells us of the marvellous Star ? It is not sufficient to
assert that the conjunction of two planets had produced in the
sky a Star of more than ordinary brilliancy; but over and above
this, it must be explained how, by any natural means, this Star
could have conducted them from their native country to Judea,
thereafter from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and finally, in this
village, indicate the dwelling-place of Jesus. After all, the
principles lo the theory and historic criticism of the Gospels ; Patrizi, De
Evangeliis, lib. iii. diss. ix.
1 Kepler, De Jesu Christi anno natalitio ; Ideler, Handbuch, ii. 399 ;
Pfaff, Schumacher, Schubert, Miinter, Encke, etc. Mr. Pritchard has
given us a resume of the objections which modern science has raised
against Kepler's hypothesis ; his summing up of the matter is as powerful
as it is luminous ( Memoirs of Royal Aslr. Society, vol. xxv.).

THE BRETHREN OF THE LORD. 383
wisest plan is to admit that all the circumstances surrounding
this heavenly Visitant were part of a miraculous dispensation.
In ancient times Christianity never entertained any other idea
on the subject. Antiquity always looked upon the Star of the
Magi as a flaming meteor, upholden in the heavens as a Sign
by the hand of God ; and hence it must have moved in an
Orbit which was not traced out for it by astronomical laws, but
by the untrammelled Will of Him whose Messenger it was.

V.
THE BRETHREN OP THE LORD.
At several different stages of the Narrative, the Gospel
speaks of the Lord's brothers. Saint Matthew and Saint
Mark x make known their names : " Is not His Mother called
Mary, and His brothers James and John and Simon and Jude ?
And are not His sisters all here among us ? " Later ou three
of the synoptical writers tell how they strove to push their way
through the crowd.2 In Saint John we see them coming down
to Capharnaum with the Mother of Jesus, and all the time they
show such disbelief in the Mission of the Christ that, six mouths
before the Passion, they insist that He should manifest Himself
to Jerusalem by some stupendous deed.8 However, the death
of the Saviour evidently opened their eyes, for we meet them
once more in that upper room, where, with Mary and the
Apostles, they awaited the coming of the Holy Ghost.4
Among these different texts there is not one which gives us
to understand that these " brethren of the Lord " were actually
the children of Mary and Joseph. On the other hand, we know
that the Hebrew term nx, which is always translated by us
as " brother," has a very much wider meaning, and denotes at
times a distant relative ;5 sometimes it means they are of the
same race, or from the same native city,6 and again it is even
used to indicate simple associations of friendship.' In order to
i Matt. xiii. 55, 56 ; Mark vi. 3.
2 Matt. xii. 46-50 ; Mark iii. 31-35; Luke viii. 19-21.
8 John ii. 12 ; vii. 3-10.
4 Acts i. 14.
5 Gen. xii. 5 ; xiii. 8 ; xxix. 12 ; Num. viii. 26.
« Gen. ix. 25 ; Num. xx. 14, etc.
1 2 Kings i. 26 ; 3 Kings ix. 13, etc.

384 APPENDIX.
determine what meaning the Gospel intends to convey by the
expression "brethren of the Lord," we must not rest upon the
received reading of the texts cited above, but must look else
where for whatever information the holy Books can furnish us
withal concerning these kinfolk of the Lord.
One of them, the Apostle James, by word and deed, has
made himself so illustrious in the Church that his name has
always been considered an ample dignity of itself; and hence
he is mentioned without prefix or title, whereas the other James
is always called " son of Zebedee."1 Consequently there is no
question but that the Bishop of Jerusalem is the one alluded
to in the various texts wherein the Gospel speaks of the father
and mother of James.
The details which bear most directly upon the question in
hand are to be found in the recitals of the Passion. Among the
Galilean women who were present at the death of Jesus, Saint
Matthew names "Mary Magdalene, Mary r/wther of James and
Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee." Further on,
he adds, "that those who remained at the tomb were Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary," and that these two women,
on the first day after the Sabbath, returned to look upon the
sepulchre.2 Saint Mark,8 in relating the same events, calls " the
other Mary " " mother of Jatnes the Less 4 and of Joseph " 6 in
one place, " mother of Joseph" in another, and again "mother of
James" in still another. Who is this woman who is thus dis
tinguished from Mary Magdalene by the names of her sons ?
1 Nothing could be more natural than this preeminence, for James was
the first Bishop of Jerusalem, one of the pillars of the Church, and so
always associated with Peter and John (Gal. i. 19 ; ii. 9), and he was the
venerated Leader of those Jews who were converted to Christianity. His
authority was strikingly evidenced on many occasions . at the Council of
Jerusalem, when all yielded to his advice (Acts xv. 13-22) ; in his Letter
addressed to those Hebrews, scattered over the world, who were converted
to the Gospel (James i. 1) ; in the reverence which the Jews, even the
infidels among them, displayed toward him (Eusebius, Historia ecclesi
astica, iii. 23) ; finally, in the pride which his brothers took in coupling
his name with theirs, as a glorious title (Luke vi. 16 ; Acts i. 13; Jud. i).
2 Matt, xxvii. 56, 61 ; xxviii. 1.
3 Mark xv. 40, 47 ; xvi. 1.
4 The title of "The Less," as applied to James, son of Alpheus, appar
ently indicates that this Apostle was either younger or smaller of stature
than the son of Zebedee, whom Tradition alludes to as James the Greater.
6 In S. Mark most of the manuscripts have Joses instead of Joseph,
but the latter name is preserved by the Vulgate, in the second as well as
in the first Gospel.

THE BRETHREN OF THE LORD. 385
Saint John answers this:1 "The mother of Jesus," he says,
" and His Mother's sister, Mary wife of Cleophas, and Mary
Magdalene were standing by the Cross." This passage in the
Fourth Gospel clearly explains the testimony given by the Syn
optical Writers, and shows that "the other Mary, Mother of
James and of Joseph " and " wife of Cleophas," was a sister of
the Holy Virgin, and called like her Mary.2 It is true that in
the lists of the Twelve Apostles,8 James is named as the son of
Alpheus and not of Cleophas, but it is easy to remove this last
difficulty ; for these two names, though apparently different,
are ouly two modes of pronouncing the same Aramaic name,
KsSn, one form being with, and the other without, the as
pirate n.4
We can only conclude from the texts compared thus that
the father of James was Alpheus (Cleophas) ; that his mother
was Mary, sister of the Blessed Virgin ; and that his brothers
were Jude, Joseph, and Simon ; consequently the " brethren of
the Lord " are only the cousins-german of Jesus. Such was the
opinion, even in Apostolic times, according to a tradition at
tributed to Papias ; 6 such it has remained until now, and it
is the construction commonly held by modern commentators.
Some of the Fathers,6 indeed, believed that these kinsmen of
the Christ were the children of Joseph by an earlier marriage ;
but this conjecture has no better basis than certain legends
contained in the apochryphal gospels.7 Under the more trust
worthy guidance of Saint Jerome and Saint Augustine, the Latin
Church has triumphantly vindicated the interpretation which, as
we have seen, is amply supported by the text of Scripture.8
1 John xix. 25.
2 It was not an unusual thing among the Jews for brothers and sisters
to bear the same name ; thus among the children of Herod the Great we
find two Philips, two Phasaels, two Herods.
8 Matt. x. 3 ; Mark iii. 18 ; Luke vi. 15 ; Acts i. 13.
4 Compare the two Latin forms, "Aloysius and Ludovicus" from the
same Frank word : " Ludwig," Louis.
5 Migne, Patrologie grecque, vol. v. p. 1261.
6 Origen, Eusebius of Csesarea, S. Hilary, S. Ambrose, S. Epiphanius,
Barhebrceus. 7 Thilo, Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti, t. i. p. 228 ; Constitutiones
Apostolicoe, vi. 12.
8 See Les Freres de N.-S. Jesus-Christ, par le P. Corluy; Smith,
Dictionary of the Bible : James ; Mill, On Mythical Interpretation of the
Gospels, pp. 219-274.
vol. I. — 25

386 APPENDIX. VI.
THE SAMARITANS.
This little race of people, masters of the Mountains of
Ephraim from the valley of Esdralon as far as Bethel,1 formed
an independent nation right in the heart of Palestine, and was
composed, for the most part, of a race of strangers, with whom
were mingled a few Israelites,2 who had remained in Judea after
the withdrawal of the Schismatic Tribes. The latter, when
carried off into captivity by Salmanasar (721 b. o.), left Samaria
so deserted and desolate that Ashar Addon was minded to send
colonists thither.8 So they came from Babylon, from Cutha,
from Ava, from Emath, and from Sepharvaim. Gathered to
gether from the remote corners of Persia and Media,4 these
Cutheans, as Josephus calls them, took the name of Samaritans
from the country they had invaded ; but at first they retained
their old religions, and thus they defiled the holy soil of Israel
with this new worship, — a monstrous union of all sorts of
idolatry. The Lord, Who was wroth at their blasphemies and
pollutions, sent up lions from the Jordan, that ravaged the whole
land and forced the terrified Cutheans to cease from troubling
the Almighty Deity of their new country ; thus they became,
according to a mocking phrase common among the Jews, "Lions'
Proselytes." But they were to look in vain through all that
lonely wilderness for some one who would instruct them in the
religious rites of this ravaged land. Although a few Israelites
had escaped that terrible levy of Salmanasar, still such a scanty
remnant as this could not restore the ancient majestic Faith
1 " Samaria," says Josephus, "commences at the village Ginea (Djen-
nim), lying in the Great Valley, and terminates on the frontiers of the
Acrabatene country" (Bellum Judaicum,, iii. 3, 4). This latter territory
extended from Sichem to Jericho (Antiquitates, ii. 2, 4 ; iii. 3, 4, 5). The
southern boundary of Samaria may be regarded as following a line drawn
from Jaffa to Bethel, and thence to the Jordan.
2 The Israelites were so few in number that they were almost lost in
the midst of the Samaritans. This is why Antiquity always spoke of the
latter as an entirely foreign race, within the confines of Israel. Consult
the mass of evidence on this point collected by Suicer, Thesaurus ¦ 2o^a-
peirys. S. Luke calls them dXXoyeveis (xvii. 18) ; Josephus, dXXoedveis.
3 4 Kings xvii. 24.
4 Josephus, Antiquitates, x. 9, 7.

THE SAMARITANS. 387
among these barbarians, who knew nothing of the Truth. Prob
ably some one of the captive priests was brought on from Baby
lon, and thus they learned to revere Jehovah. But instead of
the pure Law of the Lord, he taught them the schismatic rites
which had grown to be so powerful in Israel just before the
Captivity. His first care was to reestablish the High-places
upon Bethel, where Jeroboam had once raised up the Golden
Calf. The Assyrian colonists now followed the idolaters' exam
ple ; " each of them kept his own god, and they set them up,
oue and all, in the high-places which the Samaritans had built;
each nation had also its own god in the city which it inhabited.
The Babylonians made Sochothbenoth to be their god ; the
Cutheans had Nergel ; the people of Emath took Asima ; the
Heveans chose Nebahas and Tartac ; those from Sepharvaim
caused their children to go through the fire, and thus burned
them in honor of Adramelech and Anamelech, the gods of Seph
arvaim. . . . And though these peoples adored Jehovah, they
served their own gods at the same time, according to the
custom of the nations from whose midst they had been trans
ferred into Samaria. And to this day, these peoples still follow
their ancient manners. . . . They fear not Jehovah, neither do
they keep His ceremonies, nor His ordinances, nor His laws,
nor the precepts which He has given to the children of Jacob,
whom He surnamed Israel." 1
These were the characteristics of the Samaritans during the
period of the Captivity, — a mixture of races of foreign origin,
with only a faint conception of any worship of the true God.
And so, when these profane adorers of Jehovah demanded of
the Jews, who had returned from Babyfon, that they be per
mitted to participate in the reconstruction of the Temple,
they found that they were regarded as enemies of Juda and
Benjamin,2 and, as such, their offers were scorned and rejected.
Thereafter the angry Samaritans never ceased to hate the Jews,
and on all occasions sought to thwart their undertakings.
Darius, son of Hystaspus reduced them for a time to a state of
powerlessness (519); but after his death the old grudges and
hostilities of the two peoples continued to grow in bitterness
until a culminating incident brought it to a head.
During the reign of Darius Notbus (424-404) a Jewish priest,
Manassah by name, and a near relative of the sovereign Pontiff,
* 4 Kings xvii. 29-41. 2 1 Esdras, iv. 1.

388 APPENDIX.
married a daughter of Sanballat, the Persian governor of Samaria.
Nehemiah, who was an ardent reformer of the priesthood, wished
to break off this union ; to this Manassah refused to consent,
and hence he was forced to flee from Jerusalem, and took refuge
with his father-in-law. There he made every effort to purify
the Samaritan religion from the superstitions which defiled it,
and he succeeded in establishing certain forms which were almost
the same as the Jewish ceremonial ; for, under the reign of
Alexander the Great,1 there was a sanctuary erected upon
Mount Garizim which even rivalled that of Jerusalem.
This last act of the schismatics put an impassable gulf be
tween the two peoples. Finally this temple of Garizim, the
refuge of apostates from Sion, and an object of horror and detes
tation to Israel, was destroyed by John Hyrcanus (129) ; but all
in vain, for the Samaritans continued none the less to worship
in that place and to look upon this mountain of theirs as the
holiest spot on earth. In their eyes it was everything sacred ;
it was the ancient site of the first earthly Paradise ; it was
Ararat, where the Ark once rested ; and Bethel, where Jacob
saw the mysterious Ladder with its shining Angels. They still
showed the places where Adam, Seth, and Noe' set their burnt
offering before the Lord ; here too (they said) was the Altar
where Abraham offered his son as sacrifice, and even the thom-
tree thicket wherein the ram was caught which was to be a
substitute for Isaac was likewise shown.
These traditions, which we have borrowed from the modern
Samaritans of Naplouse, may have been altered in the course
of so many centuries; 2 but, though we may judge them to be ever
so disfigured, they none the less shed some clear and suggestive
lights upon the creeds of this nation. As they had no other
Sacred Books except those of Moses, their faith was always of a
primitive sort, and their beliefs incomplete ; they had only a
vague idea of the Messiah, invoking Him (as He was revealed
1 Josephus (Antiquitates, xi. 7, 2 ; viii. 4) is so precise upon this latter
point that it is difficult not to accept his evidence ; the historian does
not, however, seem to be as exact as usual in designating the time when
Mauassah was driven from Jerusalem. Here he probably confounds Darius
Codoman with Darius Nothus, who lived eighty years earlier. In fact,
Nehemiah tells us that they banished the son of Joiada, the High priest,
from Jerusalem, because he had married the daughter of Sanballat the
Horonite (2 Esdras, xiii. 28). Now Nehemiah lived during the reigns of
Artaxerxes the Long-handed anil of Darius Nothus.
2 See the Article Samaria in Herzog's Encyclopedic, xiii. 37.

THE FESTIVAL IN CHAPTER V. S. JOHN. 389
to them in the Pentateuch) as a Converter and a Guide,1
promised to the world, unto them who were of heathen ances
try as well as to the children of Israel. These meagre outlines
seem cold aud comfortless indeed, when we compare their feeble
imitation with the magnificent work of Inspiration which the
Prophets had filled out and made to live in the sight of the
Jews ; yet the latter interpreted the glowing imagery of their
Seers in such a gross and material sense that in the end the
confused hopes of the Samaritans came closer to the truth than
the greedy cravings and gaudy dreams of the Israelites. So
we have no reason to wonder why Jesus, whose Mission was to
convert and guide the lost sheep of Israel's household, should
still turn aside, by the wayside, to labor in these harvest-lands
among strangers. For indeed He saw that they were ripe for
the Kingdom of Heaven.

VII.
the festival in the fifth chapter OF SAINT JOHN.
.Ought we to bow to the opinion of the majority of modern
commentators and agree with them that Saint John here in-
v tends us to understand the Festival of the Purim 1 2 We think
not, indeed ; for that solemnity had nothing about it that was
likely to attract the divine Master. It was celebrated one
month before the Pasch, and was almost entirely devoted to
profane amusements and observed as a sort of Memorial of
Vengeance. The reading of the Book of Esther (the only
religious act performed during the whole feast) was interrupted
by shrill cries of hatred every time that the name of Haman
was heard. At the same time the children clapped their hands,
shook wooden rattles, and smote thin boards together on which
the persecutor's name was written, as if to annihilate his mem
ory forever. The rest of the festival was only a gay round of
dancing, banqueting, and concerts, and everywhere unbounded
license was condoned or encouraged ; in fact it was customary,
i The Hashab, "the Converter," El Muhydi, "the Guide.'"
2 Is this word of Persian origin ? Parth, in Hebrew 113 ; allied to
pars part. It means " a Lot," and recalls the event of Araan casting
his lot on the day when the Jews were to have been massacred (Esther
ix. 24-26).

390 APPENDIX.
if we may believe the Talmud, to reach such a state of intoxica
tion as not to be able to distinguish the anathemas heaped upon
Haman from the blessings showered upon the name of Mar-
dokai.1 Kepler was the first to suggest that these public re
joicings might be the festival which is mentioned so vaguely by
Saint John. But, however much of weight this hypothesis
may have attained 2 from its scholarly adherents, we are content
with merely asking the question : — Is it reasonable to believe
that Jesus would have come up to Jerusalem to countenance
such saturnalian revels by His Holy Presence ? Certainly He
was not unaware that this institution had been censured at the
outset by eighty-five Ancients of the people, of whom thirty •
were venerated as Prophets.8 Furthermore, it was never a
custom of the Jews to repair to the Temple on Mount Sion
during this festival ; it was celebrated in the synagogues,
sometimes even in private residences.4 Then how are we to
explain the fact that, besides Jesus, such crowds should have
been attracted to Jerusalem as Saint John describes surround
ing the Pool of Bethesda ? 6
Antiquity, with clearer insight, and better informed on this
subject, always regarded the Feast in Saint John's fifth chapter
as one of the three great Jewish solemnities, — either the Pass
over, the Pentecost, or the Feast of the Tabernacles. But there
can be no question as to the two last named, for they were
celebrated one of them fifteen days after the Pasch, the other
in the month of September, and we have seen that Jesus re
turned to Galilee, passing through Samaria, in the month of
December, and consequently sometime after these two festivals.
It appears most reasonable to suppose that by this vague ex
pression Saint John was alluding to a second Passover in which
Jesus took part. That festival was peculiarly " the Feast of
the Jews ; " 6 and the Christians of the first ages so understood

. 'la, 7, 2.
2 It has been defended by Lamy, Petau, Hug, Neander, Olshausen,
Tholuck, Meyer, Wieseler, Winer, Anger, Alford, Ellicott, etc.
8 Megilla, 70, 4.
4 Josephus, Antiquitates, xi. 6.
6 It is proper to add that the Feast on which the paralytic was healed
was a Sabbath (John v. 1, 2, 10, 13). Now the Purim was never cele
brated on the Sabbath day (Reland, Antiquitates Sacroe, iv. 9).
6 The true reading of this first verse seems to us to be, 'H iopri) ruv
"lovSaiuv. In fact, the article is left out in the manuscripts of the Vat
ican, Beza, and Alexandria, but the Sinaitic Codex and that of Ephrem
retain it. Tischendorf has restored it in his last edition.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA. 391
the term, for Saint Irenseus 1 (the most ancient of the Fathers
who have treated this question) asserts that the festival
mentioned is to be regarded as that greatest of all Israelite
Solemnities. It follows from this that Saint John alludes to four Paschs
during the course of Jesus' Ministry. In the first the Lord
drives out the hucksters from the Temple ; the second is the
one of which we have just been speaking ; He passed the third
away from Jerusalem, for it occurred about the time when He
performed the miracle of the loaves ; the fourth Passover was
that which witnessed His death. Therefore the public life of
the Saviour lasted the three years and a half which was the
" Half- Week of Years " foretold by Daniel 2 after which the
Christ was to be put to death ; and it was the three years
allotted to the Fig-tree in the Parable, wherein it was to bring
forth its fruit.8

VIII. -
THE POOL OF BETHESDA.
The Pool of Bethesda must have been in the near neighbor
hood of the Temple, for it was by the Gate of the Flocks,4 as
Saint John declares, while Nehemiah, who mentions this gate,6
1 Adv. Hoereses, ii. 39. His opinion is shared by Eusebius, Theodo-
retus, Grotius, Jansenius, Cornelius a Lapide. Friedlieb, Lampe, Heng
stenberg. 2 Daniel ix. 25-27.
3 Luke xiii. 7.
4 'E7ri TTJUpopariKij (John v. 2). Although it was not by any means
usual to understand the word for " Gate " before an adjective, and though
Eusebius, S. Jerome, and the Itinerary of Jerusalem all speak of a Pool
called Probatica, or Pool of the Flocks (lIpo/3a.TiK7j KoXvpPyBpa, Pro-
batica piscina, Vulgate), yet the text of the Book of Esdras scarcely per
mits a doubt as to the fact that S. John is here referring to the Gate of
the Flocks, so called, without doubt, either because it was a, market for
live-stock, or because the cattle were driven in by this entrance. With
out being able to settle the location of this gate exactly, we are told that
at the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem it was built by the priests
(2 Esdras, iii. 1) ; that it was near the Tower of Hananeel, erected in
the eastern quarter of the city (Zach. xiv. 10, and the comments
made by Hengstenberg in his Christologie). Hence it is quite probable
that this Gate of the Flocks was in the immediate vicinity of the Temple.
6 2 Esdras, xii. 38.

392 APPENDIX.
speaks of it as being close to the Sanctuary. The local tradi
tions of our day have given the name of Bethesda to two pools.1
One, located between the site of the Temple (The Haram) and
the Saint Stephen's Gate, is only a huge basin, now drained
and dry ; the other is not far distant, lying a little to the north
west of the Church of Saint Anne. It was discovered by
M. Mauss, a French architect who had charge of the restora
tion of the monument of Saint Anne, and there seemed some
very good reasons for supposing it to be the ancient Bethesda.2
These two basins were fed by springs which form a great
reservoir under the Mount of the Temple. Antiquity always
discoursed of them as one of the far-famed marvels of Jerusalem ;
and indeed they were a precious resource for the Holy City
during the protracted periods of heat which it had to endure.8
To-day, having no longer any well-built channels to regulate its
flow, the waters sink beneath the soil ; but if only some few
feet of earth be removed streams are still to be found beneath
all those masses of crumbling stone and dry refuse which now
cover the ground. Quite recently the " Ladies of Sion," while
laying the foundations of their Orphanage of Ecce-Homo, brought
to light several ancient cisterns still plentifully supplied with
water, which comes through a perfectly preserved aqueduct
from the neighborhood of the Temple. Barclay, who has care
fully examined the subterranean parts of the Haram, thinks
that the mountain is hollow, and that (to use his expression)
below the surface there is a hidden underground lake.4 The
copious outflow from these fountain-heads was a well-known fact
among the Jews in all ages ; for the Psalmist speaks of them as
of a river the streams whereof shall make glad the City of God.5
1 This was the case even in the time of Eusebius. According to the
description which we find in the Onomasticon, the Pool of Bethesda was
composed of two reservoirs (iv rais Xlp.vais 8i56pu>is), one being supplied
by rain water, the other with water of a reddish hue (iretpoiviyp.ivov). This
fact is confirmed by the "Itinerary of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux," who
visited Jerusalem in 333.
2 See in La Palestine, by M. le baron Ludovic de Vaux, the note relative
to the Pool of Bethesda, Appendix, v. — xxvi.
3 " Templum in modum aivis . . . fons perennis aquas, cavati sub
terra montes, et piscinas cisternseque servanis imbribus" (Tacitus, His-
torioe, v. 12).
4 Barclay, City of the Great King, p. 293 ; Thomson, The Land and
the Book, pp. 656-662 ; Murray, Hand-book for Syria and Palestine ;
Jerusalem, § 47.
6 Ps. xiv. 5.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA. 393
The imagery arising from these well-springs of the Temple con
tinues to increase in strength until, as Ezechiel 1 sees them,
the River becomes a great torrent, which dashes down over the
sacred Rock, and from thence the risen waters flow to eastward
and to westward, pouring through Kedron and through Hinuom,
ever widening and deepening until it is a mighty stream which
brings fruitfulness and beauty to the wilderness of the Dead
Sea. The marvel of this Pool was the coming of the Angel who
was wont at intervals to move upon the waters and communi
cate to them a miraculous power. In our times many seek
altogether to do away with the idea of any supernatural inter
vention ; so they call in question the authenticity of the verses
that speak of it;2 while very many expounders of this passage
(among them some Catholic critics 8) would attribute its health-
giving properties to certain mineral substances which it con
tained. To justify their view, they remind us of the abundant
supply of medicinal waters in Judea,4 and of the ruddy tinge of
this one, of which both Eusebius and Saint Jerome5 speak,
which certainly indicated the presence of ferruginous particles
in the waters of Bethesda Pool ; hence they compare its action
to that of certain gaseous waters, or hot springs, whose curative
qualities are most efficacious at the moment they commence to
seethe and bubble.
In the opinion of these commentators the Jews, who were
but little versed in the operation of similar natural phenomena,
1 Ezechiel, xlvii. 1-12.
2 Verse 4, and the words preceding it, in verse 3, Sexopivuv ttjv tov
iidaros Kivyaiv, are not found in the Manuscripts of the Vatican and Sinai,
nor in the Syriac Version of the Cureton, and they have been subjected to
very many different constructions in those manuscripts which do contain
them. Tischendorf and Tregelles regard them as a marginal gloss, that
has crept into the text. However, we believe that we should retain these
words, for we find them in the Codex Alexandrinus and in many manu
scripts. The Vulgate, the Peshito, and a majority of the Versions have
preserved them. Furthermore, how are we to account for the press of
sick folk, all thronging about the Pool at the same moment, if we reject
the words which explain their presence there: "They were awaiting a
movement of the waters, for the Angel of the Lord descended at a certain
time upon the Pool" (see Pere Corluy, InUgritC des Evangiles, vii.,
viii., ix).
3 Jahn, Scholtz, Sepp, Maier, Schegg.
4 To the west of Haram, we find, even to-day, "Healing Baths:"
Hummdm esh-Shefa.
6 Eusebius, Onomasticon. " Mirum in modum rubens " (S. Jerome).

394 APPENDIX.
attributed the wonderful powers of the Pool to the intervention
of an Angel, and Saint John simply records a generally accepted
belief of the people. This interpretation of the sacred text is
not that of the Fathers, nor of the reverend Doctors of the
Church ; on the contrary, all agree in considering this fact as a
supernatural prodigy.
Indeed, some among their number have apparently preferred
to extend the marvellous properties of Bethesda to all streams
which sprung from under the Mount of the Temple, and par
ticularly to those of Siloe. We know that the springs which
supply the latter basin, rising from the hill of Ophel, first filled
the Fountain of the Virgin, and then sunk once more under
ground, finally reappearing at Siloe. Both these fountains are
equally intermittent, and local legends attribute this fact to a
dragon hidden under the Mount, who sometimes drinks up the
streams at the well-head, while at other times he permits them
to flow unchecked. Prudentius, who drew his knowledge from
traditious which were not quite so fabulous as this, regards
the movement of its waters as the visible token of a divine
power which heals all evils, and thus he confounds its mar
vellous properties with those which the Gospel recounts of
Bethesda: — • Variis Siloe refundit
Momentis latices, nee fluctuin semper anhelat,
Seel vice distincta largos lacus accipit haustus.
Agmina languentum sitiunt spem fontis avail,
Membrorum maculas puro abbiitura natatu ;
Certatim interea roranti pumice raucas
Expectant scatebras, et sicco margine pendent.
Prudentius: Apotheosis, 680.

END OF VOL. I.

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