they were endued, and the joyful nature of the intelligence which they had to convey, they would be hated by all that were not prevailed upon to receive their message, and would be exposed to such sufferings and persecutions as would tempt them to apostatize, has been found applicable in every age. He charged them therefore to beware of men, and to combine prudence with innocence. Still, after every justifiable precaution, they must expect no better treatment than he would himself experience; but though they were condemned to death, they must not fear those who at the worst could but shorten life, but him whose power extendeth over eternity. Him therefore they must confess before men, whatever it might cost, if they would have him to acknowledge them, and to reward them in heaven. Nor would his enemies only endeavour to frighten them from their duty; there would be the well-meant opposition and the entreaty of friends to try them; but no relative or personal regards must be suffered to interfere with love to himself. It is manifest that here, and in other places, our Lord demands that supreme love with which the law requires us to love God; and this claim is to a thinking person, who can draw conclusions, and weigh consequences, as strong evidence of his divinity as a direct affirmation of it. No mere man can make such a demand without becoming the rival of his Creator, who is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to another; nor would such, if in his right mind, think of advancing it. We should find it impossible to bring ourselves to feel the right of any human teacher, even though he sacrificed his life for us, to claim this supreme affection; and we must qualify and dilute his expressions, before we can bring them within the bounds of propriety, and free them from the charge of unexampled presumption. Yet the Apostles and primitive Christians felt the claim of Jesus to be just, and love to him, which is the preeminent and distinguishing feature of Christianity, becomes, upon the orthodox scheme of his divinity, both natural and reasonable. "View Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, the atoning Redeemer of a lost world, and all is as it ought to be. The contemplation of what he is, and of what he hath done, will dispose us, with all the ardour of a grateful heart, to join in the song of heaven: "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever "." He concludes his address with the encouraging assurance, that persons who entertained them would be recompensed in the same manner as if they had welcomed himself in person; and that at any time, whoever should receive a prophet, that is, a teacher of religion, for the sake of his office, would receive the same reward as if he were a teacher himself; and that even the most inconsiderable service rendered to a private Christian, because he is a Christian, would not fail of a proportionable recompence. 60-62. Herod, who had beheaded John the Baptist, is desirous of seeing Jesus. Matt. xiv. Luke ix. THE fame of Jesus about this time reached Herod, (in whose dominions he chiefly resided,) and his guilty conscience suggested that he must be the Baptist risen from the grave, with the power of working miracles. He expressed a desire to see him, perhaps that he might imprison him; but John's disciples, having buried their master, apprised Jesus of his death; who withdrew (together with his Apostles, who had returned from their journey) beyond the lake, to a desert near Bethsaida, within the tetrarchy of Philip. Herod had honoured the Baptist, he had listened with apparent satisfaction to his discourses, and done many things that he recommended; but when he remonstrated with him about his adulterous marriage with his niece and sister-in-law, he cast him into prison at her suggestion, and was only restrained from putting him to death, by the fear of a popular commotion. His birth-day, which he kept with great pomp, gave Herodias an opportunity m Wardlaw, Discourses on the Socinian Controversy, p. 52–54. of fully gratifying her hatred; and her plan seems to have been previously concerted with her daughter Salome, who must have been at that time very young. Herod's regret at having made so rash a vow, arose less, it should seem, from any wish to save John's life, than from the checks of conscience, or the fear of consequences. He was soon after engaged in war with his father-in-law, who resented his conduct to his former wife, in which his whole army perished by treachery, and the loss was by the Jews considered as a divine judgment on him for his putting the Baptist to death". 63. Five thousand are fed miraculously in the desert. IN the desert crowds flocked to hear Jesus, probably in greater numbers because the passover was near, and they might intend to accompany him to Jerusalem. Compassion induced Jesus to feed them all, consisting of 5000, without including women and children; and this he did by multiplying five loaves and two small fishes so greatly, that, after satisfying these persons, who were almost starving from long abstinence, the fragments so much exceeded the original quantity, as to fill twelve baskets. In the result was fulfilled that declaration of Scripture, "He that watereth shall be watered himself." The disciples found that they were no losers by parting with their loaves and fishes; they had when they began but one loaf for each thousand men, yet after all were fed, the twelve had a basket apiece. This, being one of the most astonishing and most extensively convincing of Christ's miracles, is recorded by all the Evangelists. In computing the number fed, they do not speak by guess, for the disposition of the people in squares of a determinate length, enabled them to calculate with certainty. Jesus did not think it beneath him to order his disciples to gather up the frag n Joseph. Ant. xviii. ments. This was a convincing proof that there could have been no magical deception; but the reason he assigns that nothing may be lost, is eminently deserving of our attention; for it shows, that he, to whom "the earth and the fulness thereof belongs," is no friend to a lavish waste of his gifts; and as by feeding these thousands he sets us an example of liberality, so by taking care of the fragments he teaches us, that frugality and charity should be united, and that there is an important difference between wastefulness and beneficence. The effect of this miracle was peculiar; it was the only one that provoked from any considerable assembly of the Jewish people an acknowledgment of him as the Messiah. Its similarity to the feeding of their fathers in the wilderness, seems to have been the circumstance that led them to the conclusion, that He was the prophet like unto himself, whom Moses had taught them to expect; they wished therefore to force him to declare himself, perceiving that it was in his power to feed an army in a desert, and being convinced that every obstacle must give way before him; and conceiving too that he would not be unwilling to be constrained to assume his sovereignty. 64. Jesus walks on the sea. Matt. xiv. John vi. As the Apostles might be disposed to concur in the design, Jesus constrained them to put to sea without him; and then dismissing the crowd, instead of resting after his fatigue, withdrew to a mountain to pray. He had no sins that needed pardon, but he had temptations and services before his view, and he had the cause of his disciples and his Church to plead, and no doubt he delighted in communion with his heavenly Father. Meantime the Apostles encountered a violent contrary wind; and three hours before sunrise, about the dawn, when they had made not above three miles, Jesus walked upon the lake to overtake them. At first they cried out from fear, supposing it to be an apparition, but as soon as he addressed them they took courage; and Peter, raised to a high degree of confidence by this second miracle, sought permission to come to him. His Master suffered him, and as long as his faith was fixed upon his power, he was enabled to walk upon the waves; but the boisterous element soon drew off his attention, his faith staggered, and he began to sink. Yet in his extremity he still relied upon Jesus, who stretched forth his hand in answer to his cry, and kept him up, rebuking him at the same time for his distrust. They embarked, and the ship instantaneously, and therefore miraculously, "self-moving, without winds, without oars," reached the coast, not as was intended at Bethsaida, but at Capernaum. The Apostles seem to have been more impressed by this than by any preceding miracle, for they worshipped him in consequence, not merely as a superior, but as the Son of God; nor did he decline the homage. 65. The discourse of Jesus, concerning eating his flesh and drinking his blood, which causes many of his disciples to leave him, but elicits a confession of adherence to him from Peter. John vi. THE next morning, the multitude, disappointed in his not returning to them from the mountain, took shipping, and came after him to Capernaum, where they expressed their surprise, probably because the wind was contrary, inquiring by what means he had arrived. Instead, however, of satisfying their curiosity, he blamed them for their motive in seeking him; which they did, not because his miracles had convinced them that he was a teacher of righteousness, but that they might make him a king, in order to enjoy secular advantages. He exhorts them, instead of labouring for the perishable food of the body, to labour for that food of the soul, which lasteth for ever. Finding that faith in him was the work that he required, and seeing that such doctrine had nothing • Nonnus's Greek Paraphrase. S |