CHAPTER III.

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS, AND MIRACLES OF HEALING.

Infamy of Herod.――Jesus in the Desert.――Feeds the Five Thousand. ――Walks on the Sea.――Preaches to the People.――Visits Tyre and Sidon.――The Syro-Phœnician Woman.――Cures all Manner of Diseases. ――Feeds the Four Thousand.――Restores Sight to a Blind Man. ――Conversation with Peter.――The Transfiguration.――Cure of the Lunatic.――Dispute of the Apostles.――Law of Forgiveness.――Visits Jerusalem.――Plot to seize Jesus.――The Adulteress.――Jesus the Son of God.――The Blind Man.――Parable of the Good Shepherd.――Raising of Lazarus.

THE fame of Jesus had reached the ears of King Herod, the son of Herod called the Great. This wretched man had already ordered the death of his prisoner, John the Baptist, to gratify a woman who had deserted her own husband, and had induced him to abandon his own wife, that they might be united in guilty bonds. Agitated by remorse, he feared that his beheaded victim had risen from the grave.

It would seem to be a matter deeply to be regretted that we have no record of the adventures of the apostles upon their first missionary excursion. At its close they returned to Jesus, who was at Capernaum, “and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.

“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” Upon the northern shore of the lake, there was the city of Bethsaida, just east of the entrance of the Jordan into the Sea of Galilee. Near that place there was a desert region of silence and solitude. Embarking in one of the fishermen’s boats, called a ship, Jesus and his apostles sought this retreat; but the excited multitude followed upon the shore on foot. There was no seclusion for Jesus. An immense crowd soon again surrounded him. They were in the desert, and, without food, were in danger of perishing. Jesus, “moved with compassion towards them, received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.”

Ascending a small eminence, Jesus looked with tender sympathy over the vast and hungry throng, amounting to five thousand men, besides women and children. His disciples ventured to suggest, that as night was coming on, and they had nothing to eat, he should send them all away, that in the villages around they might obtain food. Jesus requested them to ascertain how much food there was at their disposal. Having made inquiries, they reported to him that there were but five barley-loaves and two small fishes.

He then requested the multitude to sit down upon the ground in companies of fifty. Taking the loaves and the fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and brake. The disciples then distributed to the multitude; “and they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up of the fragments which remained twelve baskets full.”

Having thus fed them, Jesus requested them all to retire to their homes. At the same time, he directed his disciples to get into the ship, and return to the western side of the lake. He himself, entirely alone, went up into a mountain apart to pray. The gloom of night soon enveloped the whole region. A violent head wind arose, tossing the little ship which contained the disciples upon a boisterous sea. It was the darkest hour of the night, just before the dawn of the morning, when the disciples, toiling at the oars against the contrary wind, were affrighted by seeing some one approach them, walking over the waves. All saw the apparition, and were so greatly alarmed, that they cried out for fear.

But soon they were re-assured by hearing the well-known voice of Jesus saying unto them, “Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.” The impulsive Peter immediately exclaimed, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And, when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But, when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and, beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith! wherefore didst thou doubt?”

As Jesus entered the ship, the wind ceased, and they found themselves entering their destined port near Capernaum. The crowd still thronged Jesus in ever-increasing numbers wherever he appeared. They came swarming over the lake in boats, and by all paths on the land, “and ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he entered, into villages or cities or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment; and as many as touched him were made whole.”

The miracles Jesus performed seemed to be but the incidental part of his mission, intended to draw attention to his preaching, and to enforce its authority. Surrounded by the turmoil, of which we can form but a feeble conception, we have the record of the following remarkable sayings. Alluding to the miracle by which he fed the five thousand, he said,――

“Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed;” that is, accredited as an ambassador.

When some one alluded to the miracle which Moses performed in the gift of manna in the desert, Jesus replied, “Verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me,――that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me,――that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

It is not strange that reflective men should have been profoundly moved by such extraordinary utterances, sustained as they were by the most astounding miracles. Here was a man born in their own neighborhood, in the most humble ranks of life, saying, “I am the bread of life;” “He that cometh to me shall never hunger;” “I came down from heaven;” “I will raise him up at the last day.”

“The Jews then murmured at him” because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”

But Jesus said unto them, “Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Well might those who listened to such extraordinary teachings as these say, “Never man spake like this man.” “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus replied in still more extraordinary and apparently inexplicable declarations: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.”

It was in the synagogue at Capernaum that Jesus made these remarks. Even his disciples were perplexed, and said “This is a hard saying: who can hear it?” Jesus, knowing their thoughts, instead of explaining his meaning, added,――

“Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not.”[18]

John, who records these words, adds, “For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon; for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.”

The Jewish doctors at Jerusalem, hearing of the fame of Jesus, and of the vast influence which he was acquiring, sent several of their most influential men to Galilee as spies upon his conduct, and, if possible, to entrap him. After a time, they accused the disciples of Jesus of not conforming to the ceremonial observances which their rules enjoined,――particularly in the matter of not performing sufficiently minute and numerous ablutions before eating, or after returning from market. Jesus silenced them by showing that they, by their unwarranted traditions, had established burdensome ceremonies which the law did not enjoin, and that they had wickedly substituted these external rites for obedience, and holiness of heart.

“Ye reject,” said he, “the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Ye hypocrites! well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

Soon after this, Jesus took another excursion through the whole length of Galilee, in a north-west direction, to Tyre and Sidon, in the province of Syro-Phœnicia, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, then cities of great commercial importance. Sidon was at the distance of about sixty miles from Capernaum. Both of these cities were inhabited mainly by idolaters. Entering a house in that distant region, a woman of the country, who had doubtless heard of his miraculous powers, came to him, and, in very imploring terms, cried out,――

“Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David! my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”

Jesus, for some unexplained reason, for a time paid no heed to her cry. At length, with great seeming severity, he said to her, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.”

She replied, “Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Jesus answered, “O woman! great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that hour.”

This is all the record we have of this long journey. It is the general assumption that Jesus retreated to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, not to extend his ministry there, but to obtain transient rest from its exhausting toils. Returning, he crossed the Jordan several miles above its entrance into the lake, and approached Gennesaret on its eastern shore. But his footsteps could not be concealed.

“Great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them, insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see; and they glorified the God of Israel.”

One man was brought to him here who was deaf, blind, and nearly dumb. His friends implored Jesus to interpose in his behalf. Jesus moistened his own finger with spittle, and then touched his ears and his tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said, “Be opened! and straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.”[19]

It is worthy of notice, that Jesus, in performing these wonderful miracles, manifested no spirit of exultation. In this case, looking up to heaven, “he sighed.” This same pensive mood of mind seemed to accompany all his teachings and all his actions.

Jesus was here again in the comparatively desolate region on the east side of the lake. Four thousand men, besides women and children, had gathered around him. “I have compassion on the multitude,” said Jesus, “because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat; and, if I send them away to their own houses fasting, they will faint by the way.”

There were but seven loaves and a few little fishes at hand. Jesus, as before, directed all the multitude to sit down upon the ground. He then took the seven loaves and the fishes, gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples to distribute to the multitude. When all had been abundantly satisfied, seven baskets of the fragments were gathered up.

Dismissing the well-fed multitude, all whose sick he had also healed, Jesus took ship and crossed the lake to Dalmanutha, a small town on the western shore of the lake, about twenty miles south of Capernaum. Some scribes and Pharisees came to him in a cavilling spirit, demanding that he should perform some miracle for their special entertainment or satisfaction. Saddened by the unbelieving, captious disposition they manifested, “he sighed deeply in spirit;” and, refusing to minister to their entertainment, he left them, and returned to the other side of the lake, warning his disciples to beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The ship landed them again at Bethsaida, on the north-eastern shore of the lake, near the spot where he had performed the miracle of feeding the multitude with the loaves and the fishes. A blind man was brought to him, whom he healed by applying spittle to his sightless eyes. He then, we cannot tell why, sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.”[20]

About fifteen miles north of Bethsaida, near the source of the Jordan, was the somewhat important town of Cæsarea Philippi. There were a few scattered villages in the sparsely-settled region between. Sauntering along on foot in one of the lonely roads of this secluded and romantic region, ascending the eastern banks of the Jordan, he withdrew for a little time from his disciples to a solitary place for prayer. Then, returning to them, he inquired,――

“Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

“And they said, Some say, John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

“But whom say ye that I am?” he added.

Simon Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

It seems from this conversation that the people generally did not recognize Jesus as the long-expected Messiah. They supposed that he was to appear in great pomp and power, drive the Roman invaders out of Palestine, and restore the kingdom again to Israel. But, when Peter announced so emphatically his conviction that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, Jesus replied,――

“Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonas; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Upon this remarkable declaration has been reared the stupendous fabric of the Papal Church, with the assumption that Peter was here appointed the vicegerent of Christ, with power to forgive sin, and condemn to eternal death; and this supremacy was to be extended to his successors. For the following reasons, Protestants reject this interpretation:――

1. “Upon this rock” means, _Upon this declaration that Jesus is the Christ_; in accordance with the reiterated assertion, that “other foundation can no man lay than is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 2. Whatever may be meant by the expression, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” cannot be intended to confer any special supremacy upon Peter, since the same authority was immediately (Matt. xviii. 18) extended to all the apostles.

It is very evident that Jesus did not regard Peter as infallible; since he soon administered to him the terrible rebuke, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” It is equally plain that the other apostles did not so regard him; since it is recorded (Gal. ii. 11) that Paul withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed. To _bind_ and to _loose_, in Jewish phrase, was to _prohibit_ and to _permit_. By this phrase, Jesus announced that his apostles were to be divinely guided in the organization of the Church. Such rites and ceremonies as they should establish were to have the force of divine authority.

It was but gradually that Jesus revealed the great mystery of his kingdom to his disciples. He now, for the first time, began to unfold to them the truth,――that he was to go to Jerusalem, there to suffer and to be killed, and to rise again from the dead on the third day. The impetuous Peter, perhaps unduly elated by the commendation he had just received, with the grossest impropriety took it upon himself to rebuke his Lord and Master, whom he had just confessed to be the Messiah. Jesus turned upon him, and, with terrible severity, said,――

“Get thee behind me, Satan! thou art an offence unto me; for thou savorest not [dost not understand] the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

Peter needed this rebuke; and it certainly must have satisfied him that he could set up no claim to infallibility. Jesus, continuing his address to his apostles, said, in words which will ever vibrate throughout the whole Christian world,――

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall find it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”[21]

This conversation took place far away amidst the wild and mountainous solitudes of the north, in the vicinity of Cæsarea Philippi. Just north of them swept the magnificent mountain-range of Great Hermon. Rugged peaks were rising from the plain all around. Jesus, who ever loved the stillness of the night and the solitude of the mountain, took with him three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, and ascended one of these eminences “to pray.”

“And, as he prayed, he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him; and they spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

“But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; and, when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles,――one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias,――not knowing what he said. While he yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And there came a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.

“And, when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid; and, when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only.”

Thus there were three witnesses to the divine attestation that Jesus was the Messiah. Still, when they were descending the mountain, Jesus requested them to “tell the vision to no man until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.”

It was difficult for the disciples to accept the doctrine of a Messiah who should be put to death: it caused an utter bewilderment of all their preconceived conceptions of a Messiah triumphant over all his foes. As they walked along, “they questioned one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.” It seems that they were thrown into a state of great perplexity, and began again to doubt whether Jesus were really the Messiah; for the next day they cautiously inquired of him how it was that “the scribes say that Elias must first come.” Jesus informed them that Elias had already come, in the person of John the Baptist; and that, as the scribes had done to him whatever they chose, “so likewise shall the Son of man suffer of them.”

As soon as Jesus appeared, descending from the mountain, a multitude rapidly gathered around him. A father, who had heard of the fame of Jesus, had brought his son to be healed who was suffering terribly from a foul spirit. He had arrived while Jesus was upon the mountain, and had applied to his disciples for aid. As soon as Jesus appeared, the father hastened to him, and, falling upon his knees before him, said,――

“Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

“Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation! how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.”

The child was brought to Jesus, and was immediately seized with terrible convulsions. To the inquiry of Jesus, “How long is it ago since this came unto him?” the father replied, “Of a child; and ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him. But, if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe: help thou mine unbelief.

“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

“And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him. And he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up, and delivered him again to his father.”

The disciples soon after came to Jesus, and inquired of him, privately, why they could not cast out that evil spirit. To this Jesus made the remarkable reply, not easily to be fully comprehended by our weak faith,――

“Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain [probably pointing to the Mount of Transfiguration], Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”[22]

Jesus now commenced another tour through the cities and villages of Galilee, preaching the gospel and healing the sick, everywhere creating amazement “at the mighty power of God.” While on this tour, he again informed his disciples, in most emphatic terms, of his approaching death at Jerusalem.

“The Son of man,” said he, “is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and, after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.”[23]

But the apostles could not understand how the Messiah could be put to death. “They were exceeding sorry,” and “understood not that saying,” and “were afraid to ask him.” As the apostles journeyed along, following the footsteps of Jesus, a discussion rose among them as to who would be pre-eminent in the kingdom of the Messiah.

“Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace; for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them; and, when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me; and whoso shall receive me, receiveth, not me, but Him that sent me.”

When they had returned to Capernaum, the question rose respecting paying tribute-money, which Jesus paid by sending Peter to the lake to catch a fish, in whose mouth a piece of money was found. Jesus also made some very striking remarks, recorded by both Matthew and Mark, respecting the fearful consequence of tempting others to sin.[24]

He also introduced the parable of the lost sheep, gave them instructions respecting their dealings with a Christian brother who should fall into sin, and conferred upon them all the same authority to establish rules for the government of the Church which before he had apparently conferred upon Peter. “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever shall be loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” He then assured them, that, in the organization of the Church, if any two should agree about the arrangement of affairs, it should be ratified by God. “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven; for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

When Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive a brother who had sinned against him seven times, he replied, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.” He then introduced the parable of the king and his debtors.

The Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. Jesus had thus far performed his miracles and proclaimed his teachings almost entirely in the remote province of Galilee. His brethren urged him to go up to Jerusalem, the thronged metropolis, that he might “show himself to the world.” They said this sarcastically; for, notwithstanding all his mighty works, it is recorded that “his brethren” did not believe in him. Jesus, however, said that the time had not yet come for him to go to Jerusalem; adding, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.” Jesus remained in Galilee until after his brethren had gone up to Jerusalem. At the feast, there was a very general inquiry where Jesus was. It was supposed, that, being a Jew, he certainly would not abstain from being present. There was also great diversity of opinion expressed respecting his character; some saying that he was a good man, while others said that he was deceiving the people.

About the middle of the feast, Jesus made his appearance, and, entering the temple, taught the people. His words and manner excited the surprise of all who heard him, leading them to say, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” Jesus replied,――

“My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh His glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law? and yet none of you keepeth the law. Why go ye about to kill me?”

The people replied in words which showed their rising hatred, “Thou hast a devil. Who goeth about to kill thee?”

Jesus, referring to the healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda, said, “I have done one work, and ye all marvel.” Then, to show them the unreasonableness of their hostility to him because he thus healed a man on the sabbath day, he said, “Moses gave unto you circumcision; and ye, on the sabbath day, circumcise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?”

The appearance of Jesus and his teaching excited great commotion in Jerusalem; and there was much discussion among the people, whether he were the Messiah. The rulers were bewildered. They wished to arrest him and silence him; but there was nothing in what he said or did which could warrant them in any acts of violence. Many of the people in Jerusalem expressed the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, saying, “When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than this man hath done?” The Pharisees and chief priests, alarmed by these indications of increasing popular favor, secretly sent officers to take him; but, though Jesus continued teaching the people without adopting any measures of concealment or defence, for some unexplained reason the officers did not arrest him. He, however, made an announcement to the people, which, at the time, they did not fully comprehend,――that, when his appointed time came, he should return to his Father in heaven, and that then they would seek him in vain. “Yet a little while,” said he, “am I with you; and then I go unto Him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, thither ye cannot come.”[25]

Thus he continued boldly teaching until the last great day of the feast, when, in an emphatic voice, he uttered in the temple the memorable words, so assuming if he were but a man, so suitable if he were divine, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink;” adding, in phrase still figurative, that those who thus partook of the fountain of living waters should bestow liberal and constant blessings on their fellow-men.

When the officers who had been sent to arrest Jesus returned without him, they replied to the inquiry why they had done so, “Never man spake like this man.” The Pharisees scornfully retorted, alluding to the undoubted fact that it was the common people who generally accepted Jesus, “Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.”

Here Nicodemus, who was a member of the council, and who, several months before, had visited Jesus by night, ventured timidly to interpose. “Doth our law,” he inquired, “judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth?” He was silenced by the contemptuous and somewhat menacing reply, “Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.”

While the rulers were thus seeking to entrap Jesus, he left the city, and ascended the greensward of the Mount of Olives, about a mile east of the walls. Here it seems that he spent the night beneath the stars of that serene and genial clime. Early the next morning, he returned to the temple. A multitude, as usual, gathered around him. The following remarkable scene which then ensued cannot be better described than in the language of the inspired writers:――

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and, when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned; but what sayest thou? This they said tempting him, that they might accuse him.

“But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. So, when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”[26]

Then, turning to the people assembled in the temple, he said, in phrases which will cause every thoughtful mind to pause and ponder, “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

These were, indeed, very extraordinary assertions upon any other assumption than that he was truly the “brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.” The Pharisees accused him of boasting, saying, “Thou bearest record of thyself: thy record is not true.”

Jesus re-affirmed his declaration, saying, “Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh: I judge no man. And yet, if I judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself; and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.”[27]

To this they replied with the question, “Where is thy Father?” They had before sought to kill him because he said that God was his Father.

Jesus answered, “Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. I go my way; and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go ye cannot come. Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said, therefore, unto you, that ye shall die in your sins; for, if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

They responded, “Who art thou?”

Jesus, evading an explicit answer, replied, “Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but, as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”

We are informed that many were convinced by these words that Jesus was the Messiah. Addressing them, he said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

But his opponents rejoined, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?”

Jesus replied, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever; but the Son abideth ever. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father; and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.”

“Abraham,” said they, “is our father.”

Jesus replied, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father.”

Then said they unto him, “We be not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God.”

“If God were your Father,” Jesus rejoined, “ye would love me; for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself; but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. And, because I tell you the truth, ye believe not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And, if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s word. Ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

The rulers, growing more and more exasperated by this plainness of speech, replied, “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?”

Jesus answered, “I have not a devil; but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”

His opponents replied, “Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom makest thou thyself?”

Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honoreth me, of whom ye say that he is your God. Yet ye have not known him. But I know him; and, if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.”

Then said the Jews, “Thou art not yet fifty years old; and hast thou seen Abraham?”

Jesus replied, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

The exasperation of his foes now exceeded all bounds, and they began to pick up stones to stone him; but Jesus, exercising that marvellous power by which he had before extricated himself from the violence of his enemies, quietly retired from the temple, passing through the midst of them.

Entering the streets of the city, he met a man blind from his birth. His disciples asked the question which has been re-echoed by all thoughtful minds from that day to this: “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus replied, that his calamity was not to be attributed to any particular sin of himself or his parents. “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

He then anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay moistened with spittle, and directed him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. He did so, and his sight was restored. It was the sabbath day. The Pharisees, enraged, said, “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day.” Others, however, replied, “How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?” And thus all Jerusalem was agitated by diversity of opinion. The rulers, in their madness, had passed a decree, that, if any one should confess that he believed that Christ was the Messiah, he should be put out of the synagogue; that is, he should be exposed to the terrible doom of excommunication, which was attended with awful maledictions, exclusion from all intercourse with society, and which prohibited every one from ministering in any way whatever to his wants.

Still the excitement in the city was every hour rising higher and higher. The blind man was universally known. His miraculous cure no one could deny. Neither the blind man nor his parents dared to avow their belief that Jesus was the Messiah. When the parents were questioned, they referred the questioner to their son, saying, “He is of age: ask him.” When the son was questioned, he was equally cautious in his responses. The Pharisees who approached him said, “Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”

To their reiterated inquiry, “How opened he thine eyes?” he replied, somewhat provoked, “I have told you already, and ye did not hear. Wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye, also, be his disciples?”

This taunt increased their exasperation: and they retorted, “Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.”

With unexpected boldness, the man rejoined, “Why, herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not whence he is; and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now, we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.”

For this speech, cautious as it was, the rulers excommunicated the man. Jesus heard of it, and went in search of him. Having found him, he inquired, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” The man replied, “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” Jesus said, “Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.”

To this emphatic declaration, that Jesus was the Messiah, the man replied, “Lord, I believe.” The inspired historian adds, “And he worshipped him;” that is, paid homage to him as the Messiah.

Jesus then delivered to those who had gathered around him the parable of the good shepherd, and explained it, saying,――

“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me; but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

Such remarks as these increased the excitement and the diversity of opinion which prevailed respecting Jesus. Many of them said, “He hath a devil, and is mad: why hear ye him?” Others said, “These are not the words of him that hath a devil: can a devil open the eyes of the blind?”

It is probable, that, after this, Jesus returned to Capernaum in Galilee. Two months passed, during which he was undoubtedly active in his mission; but we have no record whatever of any thing which he said or did. The feast of the dedication commenced on the fifteenth day of December, and continued eight days. We find Jesus again at Jerusalem. The record of John is as follows:――

“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus replied, “I told you, and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. I and my Father are one.”[28]

This assertion of the oneness of Jesus with the Father so exasperated the unbelieving Jews, that they took up stones to stone him. Jesus said to them, “Many good works have I showed you from my Father: for which of those works do ye stone me?”

They replied, “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”

Jesus replied in words which the Jews understood to be reaffirming his statement, “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him.”

This renewed assertion of his equality with God induced the Jews again to take up stones to stone him; “but he escaped out of their hands.” Leaving Jerusalem, he crossed the River Jordan, and entered that wilderness region which had been rendered memorable by the preaching and the baptism of John. There, at a distance of about a hundred miles from his implacable foes, beneath the shadows of Mount Gilead, he resumed preaching the gospel to the multitudes of the common people who resorted to hear him. It is written that “many believed on him there.”

A few miles east from Jerusalem there was the little village of Bethany, where a man by the name of Lazarus resided with his two sisters, Martha and Mary. They were the warm friends of Jesus, and their dwelling had been one of his favorite resorts. Lazarus was taken sick. His sisters immediately sent word to Jesus, who, in the wilderness, was one or two days’ journey from Bethany. Jesus, instead of hurrying to his afflicted friends, said calmly to the messenger, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” Two days passed by; and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go into Judæa again.” They endeavored to dissuade him, saying, “Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” He, however, informed his disciples that Lazarus was dead, and intimated to them that he must go to raise him from the grave.

Accompanied by his disciples, he reached Bethany. Martha hastened to meet him before he entered the town, and gently reproached him, yet in terms expressive of her unbounded confidence. “Lord, if thou hadst been here,” she said, “my brother had not died; but I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.”

“Thy brother,” said Jesus, “shall rise again.”

“I know,” Martha rejoined, “that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus replied, “I am the resurrection and the life.[29] He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

“Yea, Lord,” Martha replied: “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”

Mary soon joined her sister, and, falling at the feet of Jesus, exclaimed, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him?”

Together they went to the tomb, where the body was already mouldering to corruption. When they reached the tomb, Jesus wept. He directed the stone which was the door of the tomb to be moved. Then, lifting his eyes to heaven, he said,――

“Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Then in a loud voice, addressing the dead, he exclaimed, “Lazarus, come forth!” Immediately Lazarus, embarrassed by the wrappings of the grave-clothes, rose, and came out from the tomb, and returned to his home with his friends.

This miracle led many of the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah. But it only exasperated the Pharisees, and they met together to devise some plan by which they could secure his destruction. We are informed, that, consequently, “Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim.”

This was probably a small town several miles north-east from Jerusalem. We know not how long Jesus remained here with his disciples, and we have no record either of his sayings or doings while in this place. The inspired penman informs us, “When the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.”[30]