A CLASS-BOOK OF NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

NOTICE.

The present Volume forms a sequel to the Author’s Class-Book of Old Testament History, continuing the Narrative from the point at which it there ends, and carrying it on to the close of St Paul’s second imprisonment at Rome.

In its preparation, as in that of the former Volume, the most recent and trustworthy Authorities1 have been consulted, notes subjoined, and references to larger Works added. It is thus hoped that it may prove at once a useful Class-Book and a convenient Companion to the study of the Greek Testament.

All questions relating to the Canonicity of the several Books of the New Testament have been considered in another Volume of the Cambridge School Class-Books, viz. The Bible in the Church, by the Rev. B. F. Westcott.

CHAPTER II.

PTOLEMY SOTER AND PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS.
B.C. 323–247.

ON the death of Alexander, B.C. 323, the vast empire, which he had won by his arms, was divided amongst his generals, and Palestine, as a province of Syria, passed into the possession of Laomedon, while Egypt was assigned to Ptolemy Soter. Between these two war soon broke out, and Ptolemy having conquered Cyrene, cast longing eyes on the kingdom of Syria, the harbours of Phœnicia, and the iron and timber, which abounded in Palestine and amongst the lofty ridges of Libanus and Anti-Libanus. Accordingly he invaded the realms of Laomedon, defeated him in a great battle, and gained possession of all Syria and Phœnicia.

The Jews on this occasion manifested such unwillingness to violate their engagements to the Syrian king, that Ptolemy advanced against Jerusalem, and besieged it with a large army. Entering the city B.C. 320, under pretence of offering sacrifice on the Sabbath-day, when the scruples of the inhabitants forbade their offering any defence, he easily succeeded in capturing it. Instead, however, of following up his victory by an indiscriminate massacre, he contented himself with transporting a great number of the inhabitants to Egypt, where he distributed them as garrisons in different places, but especially in Alexandria, and conceded to them equal privileges with the Macedonians themselves. Eight years afterwards he transported another large body of them to Libya and Cyrene, and thus by successive deportations and voluntary immigrations on the part of the people themselves, Egypt became an important centre of Jewish influence.

The king of Egypt, however, was not allowed to remain long in undisturbed possession of his prize, and found it disputed with him by Antigonus, one of the most turbulent of the successors of Alexander. Twice the coveted province fell into the hands of his rival, twice Ptolemy managed to recover it, and it was finally adjudged to his share after the decisive battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, B.C. 301.

Meanwhile Jaddua had been succeeded in the high-priesthood at Jerusalem by his son Onias I., and he again by Simon the Just, the last of the men of the “Great Synagogue8,” as he was called by the Jews. He superintended the repair of the sanctuary of the Temple, surrounded with brass the cistern or “sea” of the principal court, fortified the city-walls, and maintained the sacred ritual with much pomp and ceremony (Eccles. i. 1–22). He is also said to have completed the Canon of the Old Testament, by adding to it the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, of Chronicles and Esther, as also the prophecies of Malachi9. He died B.C. 291.

The battle of Ipsus, besides securing to Ptolemy Soter the dominion of Palestine, Phœnicia, and Cœlesyria, elevated Seleucus to the command of an Empire greater than any other held by the successors of Alexander. He assumed the title of “king of Syria,” and his dominion, in the words of the prophet Daniel (Dan. xi. 5), was a great dominion, extending from the Euxine to the confines of Arabia, and from the Hindokush to the Mediterranean. His Eastern capital he founded on the banks of the Tigris, and called Seleucia, after his own name. For his western metropolis he selected a spot admirably situated both for military and commercial purposes10, on the left bank of the river Orontes, just where “the chain of Lebanon running northwards, and the chain of Taurus running eastwards, are brought to an abrupt meeting11.” Here he founded a city with much display in the year B.C. 300, and called it Antioch, after the name of his father Antiochus. Convinced, like the Egyptian monarchs, of the loyalty of the Jews, he began to invite many of them to his new capital and other cities in Asia Minor, assuring them of the same privileges which they enjoyed under Ptolemy in Alexandria. This invitation was readily embraced by many of the Jews, who settled down in Antioch, were governed by their own ethnarch, and were admitted to the same advantages as the Greeks12.

Ptolemy Philadelphus succeeded his father Ptolemy Soter, B.C. 283. In pursuance of the policy of the previous reign, he distinguished himself by uniform kindness to the Jewish nation, ransoming many who had been sold as slaves, and inviting many to settle in Egypt. A liberal patron of literature and science, he established a famous library at Alexandria, and spared no pains in procuring books to be deposited therein. He is also represented to have caused the Hebrew Scriptures to be translated into Greek, and thus to have originated the celebrated Version called the Septuagint, from the tradition that 72 persons were engaged in the translation, which obtained a wide circulation, and was extensively read. The same monarch conferred costly presents on the Temple at Jerusalem, consisting of a table for the shewbread of marvellous workmanship, cisterns of gold, bowls, and other vessels for the public and private use of the priests13.

CHAPTER III.

PTOLEMY EUERGETES AND PTOLEMY PHILOPATOR.
B.C. 247–222.

ON the death of Philadelphus, Ptolemy Euergetes succeeded to the Egyptian throne. The new king considerably extended the privileges of the Jews, and bestowed many presents upon their Temple. During his reign an incident occurred, which illustrates in a striking manner at once the condition of Judæa at this time, and the influence of individual members of the chosen nation.

On the death of Simon “the Just,” his brother Eleazar became high-priest B.C. 291. He was succeeded in B.C. 276, not by his own son Onias, but his uncle Manasseh, the son of Jaddua. At his death, B.C. 250, the son of Simon, Onias II., became high-priest, but inherited none of his father’s virtues, being distinguished for nothing but meanness, and an inordinate love of money. The older he grew, the more avaricious he became, and neglected from year to year to remit to Ptolemy Euergetes the customary tribute of 20 talents of silver. At length, about B.C. 226, that king sent his commissioner Athenion to Jerusalem to demand the arrears, and threatened violence, if his claims were not satisfied. The Jews were filled with dismay at the too probable consequences of continued disobedience, but Onias still persisted in his refusal.

At length his nephew Joseph took upon him the task of appeasing the royal anger, and having ingratiated himself with Athenion persuaded him to return to Alexandria, and promised that he himself would speedily follow, and satisfy every demand. Shortly afterwards he himself set out, and on his way fell in with several men of distinction belonging to Phœnicia and Cœlesyria who were going up to the Egyptian capital to compete for the farming of the revenues, which were annually sold to the highest bidder. Not suspecting a competitor in the Jew, whose slender equipage contrasted unfavourably with their splendid cavalcade, they unwittingly revealed the amount at which the revenues had been farmed.

Thereupon Joseph resolved to outbid them, and in an audience with the king contrived by his cleverness and ready address completely to win the royal favour. When the day for the auction came, the nobles of Phœnicia and Cœlesyria bid 8000 talents for the farming of the revenues. But Joseph came forward and engaged to pay twice that sum, in addition to all the goods which should be confiscated for neglect of payment. Thereupon Ptolemy granted his request, and he became collector of the revenues from Judæa, Samaria, Cœlesyria, and Phœnicia, and was furnished with a guard of 2000 soldiers to extort payment from the refractory.

Having liquidated the arrears due from his uncle, Joseph returned to Palestine to carry out his instructions. Excited by the disappointed collectors, Askelon at first refused payment, and treated his demands with insult. But Joseph was not to be trifled with. He slew 20 of the chief inhabitants, and sent 1000 talents of their confiscated property to the king, who highly commended his determination. A similar instance of severity at Scythopolis14 put down all further opposition, and Joseph was at length universally acknowledged as the collector for the Egyptian king, and held the office upwards of 22 years. He now became the founder of a family, which vied with that of the high-priest in power and influence, and became the occasion of many serious quarrels between them.

The reign of Ptolemy Euergetes came to a sudden and tragical close. In the year B.C. 222 he was assassinated by his own son Ptolemy IV., who in irony was called Philopator, the lover of his father. As soon as he ascended the throne, he murdered his mother Berenice, and his brother Magas, and gave himself up to luxury and dissipation. Taking advantage of his well-known effeminacy, Antiochus the Great welcomed the offer of Theodotus, governor of Cœlesyria, to surrender that province, and after a brief campaign became master of Phœnicia, Tyre, Ptolemais, Damascus, and the greater part of Cœlesyria. Roused at length from his lethargy, the Egyptian monarch confronted his rival at Raphia, between Rhinocorura and Gaza, and defeated him with enormous loss, B.C. 217, the same year that Hannibal was victorious at Thrasymene.

Meanwhile the Jews had remained steadfast in their allegiance to Ptolemy, and the conqueror visited Jerusalem, offered sacrifices according to the Jewish law, and presented rich gifts to the Temple. Attracted by the beauty of the building, and the solemnity of the service, he desired to penetrate into the Holy of Holies. Simon II., who had succeeded Onias, together with the priests, entreated him to desist from his purpose, but this only increased his determination to view the interior, and he pressed forward, amidst the dismay of the pontiff and the lamentation of the people, towards the sanctuary. Here, however, he was seized with a sudden and supernatural terror, and was carried forth half-dead. Enraged at this repulse, he retired to Alexandria, and wreaked his vengeance on the numerous Jews who had settled there. Some he is said to have put to death, others he degraded from their high positions and consigned to slavery, or reduced to the lowest class of citizens. Thirteen years afterwards, B.C. 204, he died a victim to his sensual habits, and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, then only five years old.

Meanwhile, since his disastrous defeat at Raphia, Antiochus had been gradually strengthening his position in Upper Asia, where he had won his title of “the Great” by his successes against the Parthians and Bactrians, as also on the banks of the Indus. Having thus re-established the supremacy of the Seleucidæ he returned to Western Asia, to find his old rival dead, and the Egyptian throne in the possession of a child. He instantly embraced the opportunity of attacking the Egyptian dominions, and in concert with Philip III. of Macedon resolved to avenge the defeat at Raphia. In the campaigns that ensued the Jews suffered severely, and became in turn the prey of each of the contending parties15. In B.C. 203, Antiochus succeeded in taking Jerusalem. In B.C. 199 it was retaken by Scopas, the general of the Egyptian forces. Next year Antiochus reappeared in the field, and at the foot of Mount Panium16, near the sources of the Jordan, gained a decisive victory over Scopas, capturing that general himself and the remnant of his forces, which had fled for refuge to Sidon.

Wearied of the struggle, and remembering the indignities offered to their sanctuary by Philopator, the Jews now threw off their subjection to Egypt, welcomed the conqueror as their deliverer, and furnished supplies for his army. Antiochus in his turn treated his new subjects with liberality and kindness. He not only guaranteed to them perfect freedom and protection in the exercise of their religion, but promised to restore their city to its ancient splendour, forbade the intrusion of strangers in their Temple, and contributed largely towards the regular celebration of its services. At the same time, imitating the examples of Alexander and Seleucus, he issued orders to Zeuxis, the general of his forces, to remove 2000 Jewish families from Babylon into Lydia and Phrygia, where they were to be permitted to use their own laws, to have lands assigned them, and to be exempted from all tribute for ten years17.

PART II.

THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA.

CHAPTER I.

ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT—SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR.
B.C. 198–175.

THE battle of Mount Panium marks an era in the history of the Jews. For a century since the battle of Ipsus they had been steadfast in their allegiance to the Egyptian throne. They now transferred it from the descendants of the Ptolemies to those of Seleucus Nicator, and their connection with the Syrian kings begins.

Antiochus, who had bestowed upon them so many privileges, did not long enjoy the fruits of his victory. His chief ally in the late campaign had been Philip of Macedon, who, at the conclusion of the third war against Carthage, found himself attacked by the forces of the great Republic of the West now commencing its conquest of the world. Deserted by his friend Antiochus, whose aid he might reasonably have expected, he was forced after three campaigns to sue for peace, and the Romans became supreme in Macedonia and Greece, B.C. 197.

Five years afterwards Antiochus found his turn was come to feel the weight of the same all-conquering arms. In the year B.C. 192 he crossed over into Greece on the invitation of the Ætolians, and under the expectation of a general rising of the Greeks ventured on a campaign with Rome, entrenching himself at Thermopylæ18. But in the following year the consul M. Acilius Glabrio attacked him in his entrenchments, and speedily put his whole army to flight. Thereupon the Syrian king hastened back to Asia, and employed himself in collecting a vast host from all parts of his dominions, wherewith to prosecute the campaign, which his friend Hannibal truly warned him was close at hand. In B.C. 190 the Romans, under Scipio Africanus and his brother Scipio Asiaticus, crossed the Hellespont, and Antiochus confronted them in the neighbourhood of Magnesia19, at the foot of Mount Sipylus. His motley hosts, though aided by numerous elephants and the Macedonian phalanx, were utterly unable to resist the terrible Roman legions. Defeated with a loss of 50,000 men, the haughty Syrian was constrained to sue for peace. The conditions exacted by the conquerors were the death-blow of the Syrian empire. Antiochus was forced to cede all his dominions in Asia Minor west of Mount Taurus; to surrender all his ships of war, and retain no more than 10 merchant vessels; to keep no elephants; to raise no mercenaries in any of the countries allied with Rome; to pay down 2500 Euboic talents at once, and 12,000 more by instalments of 1000 a year; and to deliver up Hannibal and other enemies of Rome who had taken refuge in his dominions.

Beaten, baffled, and disgraced, the Syrian monarch returned to his capital. The hard conditions of peace were approved by the senate B.C. 188, and to raise the heavy tribute, which threatened to exhaust all the resources of his empire, he resolved to plunder the temples throughout his dominions. The first attack it was agreed should be made on that of Elymais, situated at the meeting-point of the caravan routes which connected Media with Persia and Susiana. But the guards of the temple, aided by the hardy mountaineers of the district, made a vigorous defence of their shrine, and Antiochus was slain, B.C. 18720 (Dan. xi. 19).

On the news of his death, his son Seleucus ascended the throne, and assumed the title of Philopator. During the early period of his reign, the new king carefully abstained from giving any offence to the Jewish nation, guaranteed to them the free exercise of their religion, and even contributed to the expenses of the Temple services (2 Macc. iii. 2, 3).

Before long, however, his attention was directed to the riches deposited in the sanctuary at Jerusalem. At this time that city presented an appearance of much external prosperity. The high-priest Onias III, who succeeded Simon B.C. 195, was held in high respect, and ruled the people with firmness and vigour (2 Macc. iii. 1). But an untoward cause of intestine dissension soon arose, and led to the interference of the Syrian king.

Joseph, the collector of the revenues of Phœnicia and Cœlesyria, had left behind him an illegitimate son, named Hyrcanus. Between this son and his legitimate brothers a serious quarrel arose respecting their father’s property. Onias espoused the cause of Hyrcanus, and on his death secured his property in the treasury of the Temple, the custody of which was now held by one Simon, who is supposed by some to have been a son of Joseph (2 Macc. iii. 4). Filled with spite against the high-priest he gave information to Apollonius the governor of Phœnicia and Cœlesyria respecting the amount of treasure contained in the Temple, and represented that it might without difficulty be applied to the king’s use (2 Macc. iii. 4–6). The governor reported this to Seleucus, and the Syrian king, straitened for means to pay the Roman tribute, directed his treasurer Heliodorus not only to penetrate into the Temple, but plunder it of its funds.

Heliodorus arrived at Jerusalem, communicated his instructions, and demanded the surrender of the money. In vain the high-priest expostulated on the insult which would be offered to the national sanctuary, and declared that one half the treasures belonged to God, and the other to widows and orphans, who had placed it there for security. Heliodorus declared that his orders must be carried out, demolished the outer gates, and was on the point of entering the sanctuary, when, like Ptolemy Philopator, he too was struck with a panic terror, which prostrated him speechless on the ground, so that he had to be carried away insensible by his retinue (2 Macc. iii. 26–30). Restored, however, by the prayers of Onias, he gradually recovered, and returning to Antioch related all that had occurred, and declared to his Syrian lord that nothing would induce him to venture again on such an errand.

On the death of Antiochus the Great, it had been agreed between the senate of Rome and Seleucus that he should send his son Demetrius to take the place, as a hostage, of his brother Antiochus, who was to be allowed to come back to Syria. Shortly after his return from Jerusalem, Demetrius departed for this purpose, and Heliodorus, in the absence of the two persons nearest in succession to the throne, poisoned his master and usurped the crown. News of this reached Antiochus as he was visiting Athens on his way to the Syrian capital. He instantly invoked the aid of Eumenes king of Pergamus, at this time master of the greater part of the territories in Asia Minor wrested by the Romans from his father, and having quickly crushed the usurper, ascended the Syrian throne, and assumed the title of Epiphanes, or the Illustrious, while his nephew Demetrius remained a hostage at Rome21, B.C. 175.

CHAPTER II.

REIGN OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.
B.C. 175–170.

THE long-continued subjection of the Jews to Grecian monarchs had by this time exerted a very considerable influence on their habits and mode of life. Familiar not only with the language but the literature and philosophy of Greece, many had acquired a strong taste for Grecian studies, preferred the Grecian religion to their own, adopted Grecian manners, and practised Grecian arts. Amongst this Hellenizing party none was more active than Joshua the brother of the high-priest, who even assumed the Grecian name of Jason.

On the accession of Epiphanes he made his appearance among the princes who flocked to Antioch to assure the new monarch of their allegiance, and by his insinuating manners rapidly rose into high favour. Knowing the depressed condition of the Syrian exchequer, in consequence of the annual tribute to Rome, he offered the king the tempting bribe of 440 talents of silver to secure the deposition of his elder brother, and his own appointment to the high-priesthood. Successful in this he caused Onias to be summoned to Antioch, and kept there as a prisoner at large, and then returning to Jerusalem devoted himself to the work of introducing Grecian customs among the people.

By a second bribe of 150 talents he obtained permission from his patron to establish at Jerusalem a gymnasium for athletic exercises, and with such success that even the priests despised the Temple and neglected the sacrifices to take part in the games (2 Macc. iv. 14). He next procured a license to establish an academy in which the Jewish youth might be brought up in the Grecian fashion, and was empowered to confer the citizenship of Antioch on many of his fellow-countrymen, who eagerly coveted the empty honour (2 Macc. iv. 9). Not content with this, in the year B.C. 174 he went so far as to send a deputation with 300 drachmas of silver to Tyre, towards the celebration of the games in honour of the tutelary deity, Hercules. But even his own partisans shrunk from such open idolatry, and in place of bestowing the money on the games, preferred to offer it towards the building of a fleet (2 Macc. iv. 20).

For three years the high-priest continued his work of corrupting the manners of his people, and then found the means he had used to acquire his ill-gotten dignity turned against himself. Having occasion to send his brother Onias IV., who had assumed the name of Menelaus, to the Syrian court, his envoy embraced the opportunity of offering Antiochus 300 talents a year more than his brother had paid for the office of high-priest, and succeeded in supplanting him in the royal favour (2 Macc. iv. 24). Escorted by a body of Syrian troops, he then expelled Jason, who fled into the country of the Ammonites, and assuming the position and title of high-priest, proved even more wicked than his predecessor.

For some time, however, he delayed to make the stipulated payment to Antiochus, and when Sostratus, the commander of the Acra, had made several ineffectual demands for it, they were both summoned to the Syrian capital. At the time of their arrival Epiphanes was absent in Cilicia, and had left Andronicus in charge of affairs. Finding that in some way the money must be procured, Menelaus sent instructions to his brother Lysimachus to abstract some of the golden vessels of the Temple, and having secretly sold them at Tyre, obtained sufficient money to liquidate the debt and bribe over Andronicus to espouse his cause. The sacrilegious sale, however, transpired, and came to the ears of the venerable Onias III., the legitimate high-priest, who severely reproved the usurper for his conduct. Enraged at this reproof, Menelaus prevailed on the king’s deputy to seize the aged priest and put him to death (2 Macc. iv. 27–35). This atrocious deed roused the utmost indignation amongst the Jews at Antioch, and the Syrian king stripped Andronicus of the purple, and ordered him to be executed on the very spot, where the venerable priest, whose sober and modest behaviour (2 Macc. iv. 37) he always respected, had been murdered.

At this time the thoughts of Antiochus were fixed on the reduction of Egypt. In B.C. 171 he led his forces through Palestine and defeated the Egyptians before Pelusium. In the following year he led a second expedition, and taking advantage of the occupation of the Romans with the war against Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, evaded the condition of the late treaty22, which restricted his fleet to 10 ships, and attacked Egypt by sea and land. Again he was successful, and reduced the whole country with the exception of Alexandria.

While he was before the walls of this city, a report reached Palestine that he was dead. On this Jason, taking advantage of the unpopularity of Menelaus, placed himself at the head of 1000 men, seized Jerusalem, and, while his brother secured himself in the castle of Zion, put great numbers of the Jews to death (2 Macc. v. 5, 6).

The first intelligence of these events received by Antiochus represented that all Judæa was in a state of rebellion, and that the Jews were rejoicing in his supposed death. Enraged at these tidings he instantly made preparations for marching upon Jerusalem, whence Jason, hearing of his approach, fled into the country of the Ammonites. The city was taken by storm, and the late proceedings being considered as a revolt, it was resolved to inflict a proportionate punishment. Accordingly for three days Antiochus surrendered the capital to the fury and license of his soldiers, and during this period 40,000 of the inhabitants were slain, and an equal number sold into captivity. Under the guidance of the impious Menelaus, he then entered the Sanctuary, seized all the sacred vessels, and searching even the subterranean vaults, carried off treasure to the amount of 1800 talents of gold. He next ordered a great sow to be sacrificed on the brazen altar of burnt-offering, a portion of the flesh to be boiled, and the liquor poured over every part of the Temple; and having thus drained the capital of its treasure, drenched the streets with blood, and profaned its Sanctuary, handed it over once more to the administration of Menelaus, supported by Philip, a Phrygian, and for manners more barbarous than he that set him there (2 Macc. v. 15–23; 1 Macc. i. 20‒28).

PART III.

RISE OF THE ASMONEAN DYNASTY.

CHAPTER I.

MATTATHIAS AND JUDAS MACCABÆUS.
B.C. 167–165.

NEVER did the fortunes of the Chosen People look so dark and troubled as now; never did the nation itself, never did the religion of Jehovah appear so near to total extermination. But it was at this very time, when the gradual prevalence of Grecian manners, Grecian idolatry, and Grecian corruption threatened to eradicate all real attachment to the Law of Moses, that God interposed in behalf of His people, and through the genius, bravery, and heroic devotion of one noble-minded family, raised them from their prostrate misery to a height of power, which recalled the glory and the splendour even of the reign of David.

At Modin27, a town situated on an eminence on the road between Jerusalem and Joppa, there lived a priest, named Mattathias, of the line of Joiarib, the first of the 24 courses (1 Chron. xxiv. 7). The son of Jochanon, the son of Simon, the son of Asamonæus or Chasmon, from whom the family took its name, he could boast of noble blood. At this time he was advanced in years, but his sons were in the prime of life, and were five in number, Johanan, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan.

The sad declension of the nation and the ruthless persecution of Antiochus had already roused his keenest indignation, when a royal commissioner, Apelles, arrived at Modin, charged to carry out the edict against the Jewish religion, and to require the people to offer idolatrous sacrifice. Knowing his influence in the place, the commissioner used his utmost efforts to induce Mattathias to conform to heathen customs. But it was in vain. The aged priest not only declared his resolution to live and die in the faith of his fathers, but when an apostate Jew approached the altar which Apelles had erected to offer sacrifice, struck him down, and then, aided by his sons and the men of the town, rushed upon the commissioner himself, slew him and his retinue, and tore down the altar (1 Macc. ii. 15–29). The first blow thus struck, he called upon all such of his fellow-townsmen as were zealous for the Law of Moses to follow him, and, unfurling the banner of the national Faith, fled to the dark and rugged mountains of Judæa, where he was soon joined by many who feared God, and hated idolatry.

Tidings of these events quickly reached the ears of the Phrygian governor at Jerusalem, and he dispatched a large force, which attacked the patriots on the Sabbath-day, when they were unlikely to offer any resistance, and slew upwards of 1000, with their wives, children, and cattle (1 Macc. ii. 31–38). This untoward incident awoke the little army of Mattathias to the conviction that they would be rooted out of the earth (1 Macc. ii. 40), if they persisted in their resolve not to act in self-defence on the Sabbath-day. With the sanction, therefore, of their brave leader, they determined to break through this overscrupulous observance, and though they would not attack, they henceforth considered it lawful to defend themselves on this day.

Before long, they were joined by the “Assideans,” the zealots for the Law (1 Macc. ii. 42), and by numbers flying from the persecution still going on throughout the country, and prepared to conduct the war of independence with prudence and discretion. For a time, therefore, they laid hid in their mountain fastnesses, and, as opportunity offered, poured down upon the towns, destroyed the heathen altars, enforced circumcision, punished all apostates who fell into their hands, recovered many copies of the Law from the possession of their enemies, and re-established public worship.

But the hardships of the campaign did not suit the advanced age of Mattathias. Sinking under the weight of years, he called together his followers, exhorted them in noble words to constancy and devotion, and bequeathed the command of his little army to Judas, the third and most valiant of all his sons, associating with him Simon, his second son, as chief counsellor (1 Macc. ii. 49–69). Having given them this prudent advice, he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin, amidst the universal lamentations of the people, B.C. 16628.

Though Judas was young in years, he lacked neither energy nor prudence, and succeeding to the designs of his aged father, first unfolded the banner of the Maccabees. This name is of uncertain meaning. Some derive it from the concluding letters of a sentence in Exod. xv. 11, Mi Camo Car Baalim Jehovah, i.e., Who is like unto Thee among the gods, O Jehovah? Others, again, derive it from the banner of the tribe of Dan, which is said to have contained the three last letters of the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others, with more probability, understand it to have been a personal appellation of Judas himself, meaning the Hammerer, like Martel, the surname of the famous Carlovingian chief, Charles.

Whatever was the precise meaning of the name, the new leader girt his warlike harness about him (1 Macc. iii. 3), rallied his forces, and bent all his energies to the task of uniting in a compact body all who were zealous for the national faith. “By night attacks, by sudden surprises (2 Macc. viii. 6, 7), he taught his people how to fight and conquer. Alert of foot and quick of brain; yesterday in the mountains, to-day in the plain; now marching on a post, now storming a castle; in a few months of service he changed his rabble of zealots into an army of solid troops, capable of meeting and repelling the royal hosts commanded by generals trained in the Macedonian school of arms29.”

At length Apollonius, who had recently signalized himself by plundering Jerusalem and massacring its inhabitants, deemed it time to interfere. At the head of a large army, mostly composed of Samaritans and apostate Jews, he marched against the patriot chief, but was totally defeated and slain (1 Macc. iii. 10–12). Tidings of this disaster roused Seron, the deputy-governor of Cœlesyria, and he went forth at the head of a still larger force, determined to have his revenge. Judas did not decline the combat, which took place at Beth-horon, famous as the scene of Joshua’s victory over the southern Canaanites30, and resulted in the complete defeat of the Syrian general, whose troops were driven in confusion down the rocky pass to the western lowlands (1 Macc. iii. 24).

These two disasters moved the indignation of Antiochus beyond measure. He was himself, however, unable to take the field, for his exchequer being exhausted by his prodigal munificence (1 Macc. iii. 29), and his eastern provinces, Armenia and Persia, refusing to pay any further tribute, he deemed it expedient to lead an expedition thither in hopes of recruiting his treasury. Accordingly he entrusted the government of all that portion of his empire, which lay between the Euphrates and the borders of Egypt, to Lysias, one of his nobles and of the blood royal, and gave him the command of half his army, with instructions utterly to destroy and root out the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem (1 Macc. iii. 35).

CHAPTER II.

BATTLE OF EMMAUS—RE-DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.
B.C. 165.

ON the departure of Antiochus, the regent, who entered zealously into all his plans, began to concert measures with Ptolemy Macron, the governor of Cœlesyria, and diligently collecting his forces, early the next year dispatched 40,000 troops into Judæa, under the command of Gorgias and Nicanor, two generals of tried ability.

While the Syrian troops, who were shortly joined by 7000 cavalry, encamped at Emmaus, about a mile to the north-east of Modin, Judas had assembled his little army of 6000 devoted followers at Mizpeh, the Watchtower, over against Jerusalem (1 Macc. iii. 46), where Samuel, in one of the darkest periods of his nation’s history, had erected the Stone of Eben-ezer, the rock of help, after the Lord had given victory to the people31. Here the Maccabæan chieftain kept a solemn fast, laid open the book of the Law, wherein the heathen had sought to paint the likeness of their images (1 Macc. iii. 48), and made a public confession of the national sins. In strict conformity with the command of Moses (Deut. xx. 5–8), he then bade all, who in the course of the year had built a house, or betrothed a wife, or had planted a vineyard, or were fearful, to return every man to his home. Half of his little army obeyed the invitation, and with barely 3000 men, who had neither armour nor swords to their minds (1 Macc. iv. 6), he was left to confront the vast hosts of the enemy.

So certain did the Syrians deem themselves of a victory in the approaching encounter, that Nicanor had proclaimed beforehand in all the cities and sea-ports round about (1 Macc. iii. 41) a sale of Jewish captives, at the rate of 90 for a talent. This proclamation attracted numbers of slave-merchants to his camp, who with their servants made every preparation to carry off their anticipated booty. Hearing through his scouts of the reduction of the forces of Judas, he now dispatched Gorgias with 5000 infantry and 1000 cavalry, to surprise him by night, and cut off his retreat into the mountains. But equally well served by his spies, the Jewish warrior was no sooner made aware of his intention, than he instantly conceived the daring design of attacking the camp of Nicanor, in the absence of his brother commander, and sallying forth early in the evening, fell upon it with the utmost fierceness at midnight.

Fully believing in the certain success of Gorgias, Nicanor had made no provision against such an attack, and was roused from sleep only to find his camp in inextricable confusion. The terrible bravery of the Maccabees filled the Syrians with a sudden panic, and they were as little able to resist the fury of their attack as the Midianites to oppose the onset of Gideon’s three hundred men. Without striking a blow, they fled precipitately to Gazara32, the plain of Idumæa33, Azotus34, and Jamnia35, and left their camp at the mercy of their foes, with all the wealth which it contained.

Meanwhile Gorgias was wandering in the mountains, vainly searching for the little army of Judas, who having persuaded his men to restrain themselves from rifling the Syrian camp till their victory was complete, calmly awaited his return. The first sight that met the Syrians, when they came back, was the flame of their blazing tents; the first sound, the signal from the Maccabæan trumpets for the onset. Filled with alarm they too fled precipitately, nor attempted to lift a hand against the victorious Hebrews.

After these two routs, in which the Syrians lost upwards of 9000 men, their camp could be plundered with impunity of its gold and silver, provisions, and rich merchandise (1 Macc. iv. 23). The numerous slave-dealers who had followed the Syrians for the purpose of buying up the Jewish captives were themselves sold into bondage, and the spoil was divided partly amongst the conquerors, and partly amongst the numerous widows and orphans of the late persecutions. Nicanor himself escaped from the field in the disguise of a slave, and flying to Antioch, openly acknowledged the power of that God who had so mightily avenged the wrongs of His people, and raised them up from their former prostrate condition.

Thus closed the first campaign of the Maccabees. Furnished from the recent spoils with ample arms and ammunition, and joined by numerous fresh followers, Judas was now in a position to cope with the forces of Timotheus, governor of the country beyond the Jordan, as also of Bacchides, an experienced Syrian general, who next invaded Judæa with a large army. Defeating them in a pitched battle, he captured upwards of 20,000 stand of arms, and ample provisions. Next year he was called to confront Lysias himself, who with 60,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry marched through Idumæa, and encamped before Beth-sura36, or Beth-zur, a strong fortress in the mountains of Judæa, north-west of Hebron. Though the Maccabæan chief had but 10,000 men, with whom to confront this formidable array, he did not scruple to meet them in the field, and again succeeded in obtaining decisive advantages (1 Macc. iv. 29, 34).

The Syrian regent now returned to Antioch, and Judas, successful on every side, turned his thoughts towards the capital of the recovered province of Judæa. On ascending Mount Moriah, and entering the courts of the Temple, a sad scene of desolation met his eyes. The altar of burnt-offering was surmounted with that dedicated to Zeus Xenios; the gates were in ashes; the priests’ chambers were in ruins; shrubs grew in the courts as in a forest, or on one of the mountains (1 Macc. iv. 38); while the sanctuary itself was empty and exposed to all eyes. Having taken the precaution to fill the avenues with his choicest troops to be on the watch against the Syrian garrison in the Acra, Judas at once cleared the sacred precincts, took away the polluted altar, constructed a new one, replaced the holy vessels, reinstated the priests, rekindled the sacred flame, and three years after its desecration by Apollonius celebrated the re-dedication of the Temple, on the 25th of the winter month Chisleu, in the year B.C. 165, with a festival which lasted 8 days (1 Macc. iv. 45–59).

A MAP OF THE HOLY LAND
to illustrate the
ASMONEAN PERIOD

London and New York: Macmillan & Co.
Stanford’s Geograph^l Estab^t. London

CHAPTER III.

EXPLOITS AND DEATH OF JUDAS MACCABÆUS.
B.C. 165–161.

THIS recovery of a powerful city by the skill and energy of one man, was regarded with no friendly feelings by the surrounding nations. But Judas, resolving to be beforehand with any opposition they might offer, carried his victorious arms into the territories of the Idumæans and Amorites. Then, having strengthened the outer wall of the Temple, and placed there a garrison to act against the Syrians in the Acra, and fortified the stronghold of Beth-zur, he divided his army into three parts. With 8000 men he himself crossed the Jordan into the land of Gilead; his brother Simon with 3000 was stationed in Galilee; while Joseph and Azariah were posted with the remainder in Judæa, with express orders not to venture on any attack before they were joined by the rest of the patriot forces.

As before, the energy of the brothers was irresistible. Simon fought many battles in Galilee, chased the Syrians to the gates of Ptolemais37, and restored many Jewish captives to their own land (1 Macc. v. 21–23). Judas with his brother Jonathan captured numerous cities in Gilead, ransomed many captives, and returned in triumph to Jerusalem to find that the captains he had left there, disregarding his instructions, had made an unsuccessful attack upon the sea-ports of Jamnia, and had been driven back with severe loss.

Meanwhile Epiphanes, the terrible oppressor of the Jews, had died. Repulsed in an attempt to capture the rich Temple of Nanea, the Moon Goddess, at Elymais, which was hung with the gifts of Alexander the Great (1 Macc. vi. 1, 2; 2 Macc. i. 13–16), he fell back upon Ecbatana, and there received intelligence of the disasters which had befallen his arms in Palestine. Filled with rage and vexation, he urged his troops westward, but, struck with an incurable disorder which preyed upon his vitals, he died, B.C. 164, at the village of Tabæ near Mount Zagros, on the road to Babylon, having appointed his foster-brother Philip regent of Syria, and guardian of his son, Antiochus the Fifth.

On receiving intelligence of his death, Lysias, who was himself of the blood royal (1 Macc. iii. 32), assumed the government as guardian of Antiochus Eupator, another son of the deceased king, who was at this time but nine years old. His first act was to attempt the reconquest of Judæa, to which he was urged at once by the representations of many apostate Jews, and by the Syrian garrison at Jerusalem, which Judas was now besieging with banks and engines (1 Macc. vi. 18–27). Accordingly assembling all his forces to the number of 180,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, and 32 elephants, he marched, accompanied by the young king, through Idumæa, and once more laid siege to Beth-zur. The Jewish garrison posted there made a vigorous defence, and succeeded for some time in keeping off the assailants. Resolved to succour them, Judas marched forth from Jerusalem, and encamped at Bethzacharias, an almost impregnable position about nine miles north of Beth-zur. Thither Lysias also marched with all his elephants, each attended by a thousand of his troops, and bearing a strong tower of wood containing 32 men. Several obstinate contests took place, in one of which Eleazar covered himself with glory by rushing under an elephant, and stabbing it in the belly, to be himself crushed to death by its fall (1 Macc. vi. 32–46).

Perceiving the strength of the foe, Judas now fell back upon Jerusalem, and entrenched himself in the Temple-fortress. Thereupon the garrison at Beth-zur, pressed by famine, capitulated on honourable terms, and the Syrians advanced against the capital. But the stronghold of Zion resisted all their efforts, and assault after assault was delivered in vain. Soon however, for it was a Sabbatical year (1 Macc. vi. 53), the garrison began to be hard pressed by famine, and many effected their escape. At this juncture Lysias received information that Philip had been appointed regent by the late king, and had succeeded in taking Antioch. On this he hastily concluded a treaty with the Jews, guaranteeing to them the use of their own laws and religion, and retired to Syria, taking with him the apostate Menelaus, whom he persuaded Antiochus to smother in the Ash-tower at Berœa, as being the cause of all the late reverses. Judas was now recognised as governor of Palestine, and from this year, B.C. 163, his accession to the principality is usually dated.

On reaching Antioch, Lysias defeated Philip, but in the course of a year was himself put to death by another aspirant to the Syrian throne. It has been mentioned, that in the year B.C. 175, Demetrius was sent as a hostage to Rome, in exchange for his uncle Antiochus Epiphanes. Secretly leaving Italy, he now landed with a small force at Tyre, and having given out that the Romans had recognised his claim to the Syrian throne, easily succeeded in putting Antiochus and Lysias to death, and seizing the crown (1 Macc. vii. 1–14).

At the same time that he put Menelaus to death at Berœa, Lysias had conferred the high-priesthood on one Jakim, or Joachin, who, according to the prevailing fashion of adopting Grecian names, was also known by that of Alcimus. One of the stock of Aaron, but not of the pontifical family, the new high-priest was a zealous adherent of the Hellenizing party. In him, Demetrius saw a ready instrument for sowing discord among the Maccabæan patriots. Accordingly he confirmed him in the sacerdotal dignity, and sent him to Jerusalem, accompanied by Bacchides, governor of Mesopotamia, and one of his most able generals. With a large force they appeared before Jerusalem, and the zealots for the Law, unwilling to reject a descendant of Aaron, admitted Alcimus within the walls, and acknowledged him as high-priest. So long as the Syrian general remained in the neighbourhood, Alcimus was able to assert his authority, and take a cruel revenge on his enemies. But no sooner had Bacchides withdrawn his troops, than Judas, quickly recovering his old influence, compelled the innovating high-priest to fly to Antioch.

By dint, however, of large bribes, Alcimus again succeeded in persuading Demetrius to assist him in recovering his authority, and crushing the Maccabæan chief. Accordingly a large army was entrusted to Nicanor, with strict injunctions to cut off the partisans of Judas, and reinstate Alcimus in power. Nicanor, taught by past experience on the disastrous field of Emmaus to entertain a wholesomer dread of his enemy’s prowess, at first endeavoured to get him into his power by treachery (1 Macc. vii. 27–31). Unsuccessful in this, and urged on by the express orders of Demetrius, he then ventured to attack him at Capharsalama, but was defeated with the loss of 5000 men. Shortly afterwards, with 40,000 men he again attacked him at Adasa, about 30 stadia from Beth-horon, where his whole army sustained a total rout, and he himself fell amongst the slain (1 Macc. vii. 40–47; 2 Macc. xv. 36).

This signal victory restored peace for a short time to Judæa, and was deemed of sufficient importance to justify an annual commemoration on the 13th of the month Adar. Fully aware of the necessity of providing against the ceaseless animosity of Demetrius, Judas resolved to improve this interval by concluding an alliance with the Romans. He had heard much of the fame of this great nation, of their conquests in Gaul, Spain, and Greece, of their victories over Philip and Perseus, and the great Antiochus (1 Macc. viii. 1–16). Accordingly he sent two ambassadors to the metropolis of the West, and the Roman senate, whose settled policy it was to weaken great states by forming alliances with smaller ones, readily passed a decree acknowledging the Jews as their friends and allies, and resolved to send a letter to Demetrius, commanding him, on pain of their heavy displeasure, to desist from any further attacks upon them (1 Macc. viii. 17–32).

Before, however, the ambassadors could return, the Syrian king keenly resenting the disaster which had befallen the army of Nicanor, had sent Alcimus and Bacchides with the entire force of his realm into Palestine. Never were the Maccabæan patriots so ill prepared to meet this fresh invasion. The mass of the people were tired of constant fighting, and the late negociations with Rome had alienated a considerable number of the Jewish zealots from the councils of Judas. In consequence the brave Maccabee was unable to bring more than a very small force into the field, and of these, a large portion deserted him on the eve of battle (1 Macc. ix. 6). With 800 men, however, he ventured to attack the Syrian host at Eleasa, not far from Ashdod, and actually succeeded in routing their right wing with enormous loss. But the odds were far too desperate, and the brave chief fell amongst a number of gallant followers, and was buried amidst universal lamentation in the ancestral tomb at Modin (1 Macc. ix. 19–21).

CHAPTER V.

EXPLOITS AND DEATH OF JONATHAN.
B.C. 146–144.

THE accession of the new Syrian monarch once more raised the hopes of the faction opposed to Jonathan, who had gathered his forces and laid siege to the Syrian garrison in the Acra (1 Macc. xi. 20). This was eagerly reported to Demetrius, and he instantly sent for the priest-king to meet him at Ptolemais. Great as was the risk, without suspending the siege, Jonathan forthwith set out thither with some of the elders of the Sanhedrin, and pleaded his cause with such effect that he not only succeeded in silencing the clamour of his enemies, but was confirmed in all the dignities he had received from Balas, and even secured for himself still further advantages. Three principalities, hitherto included in the district of Samaria, were added to his dominions, and all previous claims for tribute due from his kingdom were remitted (1 Macc. xi. 23–37).

Successful beyond his utmost expectations, Jonathan returned to Jerusalem, and again pushed forward the siege of the Syrian garrison. But such was the energy of the defenders, and such the strength of the fortress, that all his efforts were frustrated, and he resolved on making an application to Demetrius for an order directing the evacuation of the stronghold, as also of Beth-zur.

At the time when this request reached him, Demetrius himself was in the greatest straits. Young and inexperienced he had entrusted the entire management of his affairs to a Cretan officer, named Lasthenes, who had assisted him in obtaining his crown with a large body of mercenaries (1 Macc. x. 6740), and by his advice had disbanded the whole of the national troops. This, added to the ferocious conduct of his general, naturally roused the illwill of the citizens of Antioch, and they broke out into a furious revolt, which all the efforts of the king were unable to quell. At this juncture he received the message of Jonathan, and anxious for assistance from whatever quarter, professed his readiness to grant all his demands, on condition of receiving help in putting down the rebellion of his own subjects. To this Jonathan readily assented. A force of 3000 Jews marched to Antioch, and, aided by the royal mercenaries, slew upwards of 100,000 of the rioters, and quenched the rebellion in blood. But the priest-king soon found reason to regret the step he had taken. Once more secure upon his throne, Demetrius not only refused to order the evacuation of the fortress, but demanded the speedy payment of all the tribute, which he had agreed to remit at Ptolemais41.

But in a very short time he learned to repent of his perfidy. Attached to the court of the late usurper Balas was a Syrian Greek, named Diodotus, or, as he was afterwards called, Tryphon, the Luxurious. Perceiving the growing unpopularity of Demetrius, he repaired to the Arab chief Zabdiel, to whom Balas had entrusted the care of his young son Antiochus, and by dint of much importunity prevailed upon him to surrender the young prince into his charge. Then returning to Antioch he shewed him to the disaffected soldiers, whom Lasthenes had disbanded, and easily persuaded them to revolt against Demetrius. A battle was fought in which that king was defeated, and the young prince was crowned at Antioch, and assumed the title of Theos, the God.

One of the first steps of the new monarch was to secure the co-operation of Jonathan and his people. Accordingly he not only confirmed all former grants made to the Jewish nation, and remitted all arrears of tribute, but sent him a purple robe and gold chain, and invested his brother Simon with the command of all the royal forces between the “ladder of Tyre” and the frontiers of Egypt. Jonathan, who had every reason to resent the ingratitude of Demetrius, readily accepted his proposals, and at the head of a large army speedily subdued the entire country, as far as Damascus, to the power of Antiochus, while Simon captured the fortress of Beth-zur, and garrisoned it with Jewish soldiers (1 Macc. xi. 65, 66)42.

Resolved to make the most of the present advantageous turn of events, the Jewish prince now sent ambassadors to Rome, renewed the previous treaty, and at the same time concluded another with the Lacedæmonians (1 Macc. xii. 1, 2)43. Meanwhile Demetrius had assembled an army, with which he encamped at Hamath on the extreme north of Palestine. Thither Jonathan quickly went forth to meet him, and gaining information that a night attack on his camp was meditated, made such a disposition of his troops that the enemy gave up their design, and retired beyond the river Eleutherus. Returning thence he fell upon the Nabathæan Arabs, who had espoused the cause of Demetrius, and defeated them, while Simon attacked and succeeded in taking Joppa (1 Macc. xii. 25–35).

Never did the fortunes of the Jewish patriots appear brighter than at this period. Masters of the entire province of Judæa, strong in the confidence of the Syrian monarch, invested with the command of numerous trained warriors, the Maccabæan brothers seemed on the verge of restoring their country to a condition of complete independence. Accordingly they convened an assembly of the elders, and consulted on the present state of affairs. The reduction of the garrison in the Acra was the great object of the national hopes. It was clear that this could never be accomplished so long as the garrison was able to communicate, as had hitherto been the case, with the city and the country, and there buy provisions. While therefore Simon was sent to fortify several of the more important towns, Jonathan himself remained in the city, and superintended in person the erection of new defences. Accordingly the wall of the Temple was repaired, especially on the eastern side, towards the valley of the Kidron, while a new wall was built between Mount Zion and the rest of the city, of such a height and strength as to cut off the hostile garrison from all communication with the city on the west, and the country on the east44 (1 Macc. xii. 36, 37).

It soon appeared that these precautions had not been unreasonable. Tryphon, though he had placed Antiochus on the throne, now resolved to usurp the royal authority for himself. The only serious obstacle to his design was the faithfulness of Jonathan to the Syrian king. At all risks, therefore, he determined to get the Jewish prince into his power, and for this purpose advanced into Palestine as far as Beth-shan or Scythopolis, with a considerable force. Here Jonathan met him with an army of 40,000 men. Afraid to confront so numerous a force, Tryphon resorted to treachery, and pretended that the sole object of his coming was to mark his gratitude for Jonathan’s services in the cause of Antiochus, by placing him in possession of Ptolemais45. Completely deceived, the Jewish prince disbanded all his forces, excepting 3000 men, and having left 2000 of these in Galilee, set out with the scanty remainder for Ptolemais. No sooner however had he entered the city, than the traitor Tryphon ordered the gates to be shut, butchered Jonathan’s retinue to a man, and flung him loaded with chains into a dungeon (1 Macc. xii. 37–52).

CHAPTER VI.

SIMON MACCABÆUS.
B.C. 144–135.

NEWS of these occurrences filled the Jews with the deepest sorrow and the utmost consternation. For 17 years their late leader had conducted the affairs of the country with prudence, vigour and success. Now all their fair hopes seemed destined to be crushed, if the perfidious Tryphon should succeed in following up the success he had already gained. In this emergency the eyes of all were turned towards Simon surnamed Thassi, the elder and only surviving brother of Jonathan, whom the aged Mattathias on his death-bed had commended for his prudence in council. He therefore assumed the command of the patriot forces, and was acknowledged as their leader.

His first step was to finish the walls and fortifications of Jerusalem and to place the country in a complete posture of defence (1 Macc. xiii. 10, 11). He then went forth to meet Tryphon, who taking Jonathan with him, had moved up from Ptolemais with a large force, and encamped at Adida or Adithaim (Joshua xv. 36), a town on an eminence overlooking the low country of Judæa. No sooner however did he find a Jewish army ready to oppose him, than he once more had recourse to treachery, and representing that Jonathan was merely held in custody on account of a debt of 100 talents, offered to deliver him up on condition of receiving the money and two of his children as hostages. Though he was certain this was nothing more than an artifice, Simon determined that it never should be said he had left any means untried for the release of his brother (1 Macc. xiii. 17–19), and accordingly sent the money and the hostages. But, as he had expected, Tryphon failed to fulfil his word, and began to ravage the neighbouring country.

Meanwhile the Syrian garrison in Jerusalem, suffering severely from the long-continued blockade, sent messengers begging Tryphon to come to their aid. Thereupon the other ordered his cavalry to press forward instantly to their relief, but a heavy fall of snow rendered the roads impassable, and Tryphon finding it impossible to render the required assistance, retired across the Jordan into the land of Gilead. Here he put the heroic Jonathan to death at the city of Bascama, and hurrying into Syria, murdered the young king Antiochus, and seized the supreme power, which he exercised with cruelty and violence (1 Macc. xiii. 23). As soon as he retired Simon sent to Bascama, and brought thence the body of his brother to Modin, where he laid it with great pomp in the ancestral tomb, and erected over it a magnificent monument, consisting of seven pillars, and adorned with the beaks of ships, a conspicuous sea-mark for all the vessels which sailed along the coast (1 Macc. xiii. 27–30).

The continued tyranny of Tryphon once more raised the hopes of Demetrius, and the Jews resolved to espouse his cause in preference to that of his treacherous enemy. Accordingly Simon sent an embassy offering to acknowledge his supremacy, and to aid him against the usurper. Demetrius received the proposition with alacrity, and in a royal edict formally drawn up and ratified, agreed to recognize Simon as the high-priest and prince of Judæa, to renounce all claims on the Jewish nation for tribute, customs, and taxes, and to grant an amnesty for all past offences against himself. This amounted to a virtual recognition of the complete independence of the country, and the year B.C. 143, in which it was granted, was regarded as the first year of the “freedom of Jerusalem” (1 Macc. xiii. 42).

Secure from all immediate danger of foreign interference, Simon now devoted his energies to provide for the internal security of his kingdom. He began by reducing the fortresses that still held out, and garrisoned Gaza, Jamnia, and Joppa. He then turned his attention to the Syrian garrison in the Acra, and reduced it to such straits that the troops composing it were in imminent danger of perishing by famine, and finally agreed to evacuate the fortress on condition that their lives were spared. These terms were accepted, and, to his inexpressible satisfaction, Simon entered the place on the 23rd day of the second month of the year B.C. 142, with thanksgivings, and branches of palm-trees, and with harps and cymbals, and with viols and hymns and songs (1 Macc. xiii. 51). The fortress was then entirely demolished, and the eminence on which it had stood was lowered, until it was reduced below the height of the Temple-hill beside it. This operation cost incredible labour, and occupied upwards of 3 years46. The fortifications of the hill, on which the Temple stood, were next strengthened, and a fortress, called Baris47, was erected to command the site of the Acra, and here Simon and his immediate adherents took up their abode.

The dominion of the priest-king was now confirmed on every side, and the land enjoyed profound quiet. His subjects tilled their ground in peace, and the earth gave her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit. The ancient men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel ... every man sat under his vine and his fig-tree, and there was none to fray them (1 Macc. xiv. 4–13). Taking advantage of these circumstances Simon sent an ambassador to Rome bearing a golden shield weighing upwards of 1000 pounds. His present was accepted, and Lucius the consul (1 Macc. xv. 16) sent letters recognizing his authority, and claiming protection for the Jews from the kings of Syria, Pergamus, Cappadocia, and Pontus, from the inhabitants of Sparta, Delos, Sicyon, Gortyna in Crete, Samos, Cos, Rhodes, Myndus, Halicarnassus, Cnidus, Aradus, Cyprus, and Cyrene (1 Macc. xv. 22, 23); “a singular illustration,” it has been remarked, “of the widespread dispersion of the Jews, and of the all-commanding policy of Rome48.” In the same year, B.C. 141, an assembly of the elders met at Jerusalem, and out of gratitude for the services rendered to the nation by the house of Mattathias, it was resolved that the high-priesthood and the dignity of regent should be henceforth hereditary in the family of Simon. This resolution was then engraven upon tables of brass, and set up in a conspicuous place in the Temple, and copies of it were deposited in the treasury (1 Macc. xiv. 41–49).

During this period, taking advantage of the disturbed condition of Syria, Arsaces VI., king of Parthia, who was also called Mithridates, had extended his authority from the Euphrates to the confines of India. Wishing to collect forces, or in some way to strengthen his position against the usurper Tryphon (1 Macc. xiv. 1), Demetrius penetrated into the Parthian territory, and after several engagements was taken prisoner B.C. 139. The conqueror, however, treated his captive honourably, gave him his daughter Rodoguna in marriage, and permitted him to reside in Hyrcania, with every indulgence due to his rank (1 Macc. xiv. 3).

News of this marriage, and of the improbability of her husband ever returning no sooner reached his wife Cleopatra, whom he had left regent, than she sent to his younger brother, who was then residing at Rhodes, and offered him her hand and kingdom. Antiochus entered into the project with all the eagerness of youthful ambition, levied an army, and assuming the title of king of Syria, wrote to Simon begging his aid in recovering his father’s dominions from the usurper Tryphon, and in turn confirming all his former privileges, and further conceding that of the right to coin money of his own. Then sailing to Syria, he married Cleopatra, and joining her forces to his own, commenced hostilities against Tryphon, who fled to Dora, on the coast of Samaria, where he straitly besieged him (1 Macc. xv. 11–14)49. Thence, however, he managed to effect his escape to Apamea in Syria, and there was put to death, or, according to some authorities, committed suicide.

Antiochus Sidetes50 had no sooner become undisturbed master of the Syrian kingdom, than, forgetting the promises already made to Simon, he sent Athenobius to Jerusalem to demand the surrender of Gazara and Joppa, of the fortress on Mount Zion, and other strongholds, or in lieu of these 500 talents of silver, and an additional 500 as a compensation for the injuries done to the Syrian dominions. Simon replied that he was willing to give 500 talents for Gazara and Joppa, but the other places were the inheritance of his fathers, and could not be given up or bartered. This answer greatly irritated Antiochus, and as soon as he had reduced Dora, he sent Cendebeus, the governor of Phœnicia, to invade Judæa with a portion of his forces, and enforce the payment of his demands.

Accordingly the Syrian general entered upon the expedition with a powerful army of horse and foot, and capturing Cedron near Azotus and Jamnia, fortified it in order to command the road of Judæa (1 Macc. xv. 39; xvi. 9), and ravaged the neighbouring country. Simon was at this time far too advanced in age to bear the fatigues of a campaign, and therefore entrusted the command of the Jewish forces to his two sons John Hyrcanus and Judas. The brothers forthwith set out, and bivouacking for the night at Modin, descended on the following day into the lower ground, and after a sharp engagement succeeded in defeating the Syrian general, and carried a portion of his forces into Cedron, and the remainder into Azotus, the tower of which they laid in ashes (1 Macc. xvi. 1–10).

This invasion repulsed, the Jews enjoyed during three years a season of peace, and the priest-king, though far advanced in age, devoted himself assiduously to the superintendence of the internal affairs of his people, while his three sons guarded the frontier. In the prosecution of his design of inspecting in person the national defences, he now visited Jericho where his son-in-law Ptolemy held the supreme command. A prominent leader of the Hellenizing faction, and a man of great wealth, Ptolemy bore no goodwill towards the priest-king, and, in concert, it is probable, with Antiochus Sidetes, had resolved to assassinate his father-in-law, and raise himself to supreme power. The visit of Simon, with his two younger sons Judas and Mattathias, presented a favourable opportunity for carrying out his designs, and he treacherously murdered the three at a banquet, B.C. 137. Then sending messengers to John Hyrcanus at Gazara he instructed them to stab him also, and would have succeeded, had not the latter received speedy tidings of what had occurred at Jericho. He therefore put the intended assassins to death, and hurrying to Jerusalem, was acknowledged as his father’s successor, and afterwards besieged Ptolemy in his stronghold of Dôk, whence he effected his escape to the court of the prince of Philadelphia, to be heard of afterwards no more (1 Macc. xvi. 15–21)51.

CHAPTER VII.

JOHN HYRCANUS, AND ALEXANDER JANNÆUS.
B.C. 135–79.

THOUGH the confederacy between Ptolemy and Antiochus was thus disconcerted by the rapid movements of Hyrcanus, the Syrian monarch nevertheless led his forces into Palestine, overran the whole country, and laying siege to Jerusalem, reduced Hyrcanus to the greatest extremities. So close, in fact, was the siege, that for fear of famine Hyrcanus was constrained to expel from the city all such as were, from age or infirmity, unable to bear arms. As the Syrians refused them a passage through their ranks, the fugitives presented a miserable spectacle, wandering about between the two armies, and perishing in extreme wretchedness amidst the outworks52.

At length the Feast of Tabernacles drew near, and Hyrcanus requested a week’s respite to celebrate that time-honoured festival. With rare generosity, his adversary not only granted his request, but supplied the besieged with victims for the sacrifices, and gold and silver vessels for the Temple service. Such kindness induced Hyrcanus to send an embassy, and endeavour to obtain a suspension of hostilities. In this he succeeded, and peace was concluded on far better terms than he had any right to expect. A portion of the fortifications of the city was dismantled, tribute was exacted for the fortresses held out of Judæa, but the conqueror was induced, by a present of 500 talents, to forego the rebuilding of the fortress on the Acra, and the introduction of a Syrian garrison53.

The unexpected forbearance of Antiochus on this occasion won for him not only the admiration, but the friendship of Hyrcanus, and when the Syrian king led an expedition against the Parthians, who were now extending their dominions on every side, the Jewish prince resolved to accompany him. For this purpose he took into his pay a body of foreign mercenaries, and with these and a detachment of his Jewish forces followed him across the Tigris. At first Antiochus was successful, but his army giving themselves up to luxury and dissipation, he was unexpectedly attacked, and lost his life, B.C. 128.

Disorders of every kind, civil wars, murders, and mutinies of troops, now rapidly succeeded one another in the Syrian kingdom, and Hyrcanus, who had fortunately returned to Jerusalem before the overthrow of his late ally, now threw off the Syrian yoke altogether, and employed himself in extending his own kingdom. After reducing, therefore, various fortresses on the further side of the Jordan, he invaded Samaria, captured Sychem, and levelled with the ground the temple on Mount Gerizim, which for 200 years had been a constant offence to his subjects. Then, B.C. 129, turning his arms against the Idumæans, who had made themselves masters of the southern part of Judæa, he vanquished them in battle, and offered them the choice of leaving the country, or adopting the Jewish religion. They chose the latter alternative, submitted to circumcision, and became so completely identified with their conquerors, that their name as an independent power henceforth disappears.

During the next 20 years Judæa enjoyed profound peace under the energetic government of Hyrcanus, who renewed the treaties with Rome, and secured his subjects from foreign aggression. At length, B.C. 110, he resolved to overpower the province of Samaria, and entrusted the command of the expedition to his two sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus. Twice the Samaritans applied for aid to Antiochus Cyzicenus, prince of Damascus, who was twice defeated by the Jewish forces, and at length, after an obstinate defence which lasted an entire year, their capital fell, and with Scythopolis and other towns, passed into the hands of the conqueror54.

During his long and prosperous reign, Hyrcanus had raised his nation to a height of greater power and dignity than it had ever enjoyed since the return from the Captivity. But while triumphant abroad, his domestic peace began to be troubled by serious dissensions between two rival parties, now rapidly growing in power, the Pharisees and Sadducees. An examination of their respective tenets may be reserved for another place. For the present it will be sufficient to say that Hyrcanus was an adherent of the Pharisaic party, till a characteristic incident induced him to espouse the cause of their rivals. Towards the close of his administration he invited the chiefs of the Pharisees to a banquet, and requested them to inform him if he had been guilty of any dereliction of duty towards God or man. All the guests with one accord testified to his blameless integrity, and praised his government, save one, Eleazar, who affirmed that he ought to resign the high-priesthood, because his mother had once been a captive, and it was doubtful whether he was descended from Aaron, or from a heathen. Indignant at this calumnious charge, Hyrcanus demanded the trial of Eleazar for aspersions upon his character. By the influence of the Pharisees the sentence was limited to scourging and imprisonment, and the priest-king, considering this a proof of hostility to himself, listened to the representations of Jonathan, a Sadducee, that the rival faction was bent on lowering his sovereign power, and henceforth alienated himself entirely from the Pharisaic party, and deposed from their high offices many who had been the firmest supporters of his dynasty55.

Escaping the fate of the older members of the Maccabæan family, Hyrcanus died in peace, B.C. 106, bequeathing the sovereignty to his wife. And now the decline of the Asmonean dynasty rapidly set in. Aristobulus, the son of the deceased king, seized the supreme power, flung his mother into prison, and starved her to death. He also imprisoned three of his four brothers, sparing but one, Antigonus, the next in age to himself. Assuming the diadem and the royal title, he hastened to take advantage of the distracted state of affairs in Syria, and turning his arms against Ituræa, a district south of Anti-Libanus, forced the inhabitants, like the Idumæans, to conform to the Jewish religion, on pain of being expelled from their country. During this expedition he was seized with a dangerous illness, which compelled him to return to Jerusalem, and leave his brother Antigonus to complete the subjugation of the country. As he had no children, his queen Salome, according to the Jewish law, would, in the event of his death, be expected to marry Antigonus; but such was her aversion to him, that she resolved to compass his death rather than be united with him in marriage56.

An opportunity soon presented itself for carrying out her design. Successful in subjugating Ituræa, Antigonus returned to Jerusalem, and at the Feast of Tabernacles hastened to the Temple, with his body-guard, to offer up his petitions for his brother’s recovery. This act was represented to Aristobulus as covering a seditious design against his own life. Scarcely able to credit such a calumny, the king, who still lay sick in his chamber in the tower of Baris, desired that his brother should appear before him, but without arms. A dark underground passage led from the Temple to the tower, and here, by the queen’s connivance, a company of soldiers was stationed with instructions to put Antigonus to death if he appeared clad in armour. She then caused it to be represented to the unfortunate prince that it was the royal will he should appear in a suit of splendid armour, which his brother wished to see. Thus deceived he entered the underground passage, and was instantly assassinated. What had occurred was reported to Aristobulus, and brought on a sudden paroxysm of his malady followed by an excessive hæmorrhage. A slave bore away the vessel into which the blood had flowed, and stumbling on the very spot where Antigonus had been murdered, caused the blood of the two brothers to mingle on the floor. A cry of horror ran through the palace, and reaching the ears of the king, roused a wish to know the cause. For some time his attendants refused to tell the truth, but at length he forced them to declare what had occurred, and had no sooner heard it than he was seized with such an agony of remorse that he instantly expired.

After this tragical event, Alexander Jannæus, the eldest of the imprisoned brothers, was placed upon the throne, B.C. 104. Taking advantage of the disordered condition of the Syrian kingdom, he turned his arms against Moab, Gilead, Ammon, and Arabia Petræa, and after several successes laid siege to the port of Ptolemais. The inhabitants called in the aid of Ptolemy Lathyrus, who came to their aid with an army of 30,000 men. But no sooner did he appear before the gates, than the very party which had invoked his aid refused to admit him. On this he turned his arms against Gaza, and Jannæus, while pretending to negotiate with him for a friendly surrender of the place, secretly corresponded with his mother Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, and besought her aid in expelling him from the country. Discovering this, Ptolemy marched into Judæa, defeated Alexander with enormous loss, and to spread the terror of his name, fell upon some villages, murdered the women and children, and cutting their bodies in pieces boiled their flesh.

The kingdom of Judæa would now have been totally lost, had it not been for the intervention of an Egyptian army led by two Jews of Alexandria, They drove Lathyrus into Cœlesyria, and once more restored to Jannæus the sovereignty of the country, who now embarked on fresh expeditions east and west of the Jordan, captured Gadara, Raphia, and Anthedon, and at length succeeded in reducing Gaza.

But the domestic discords, which had distracted the reign of Hyrcanus, broke out with tenfold violence in that of his son. The Pharisees had by this time gained an extraordinary degree of influence over the people. Detesting their turbulence and lofty pretensions, Alexander attached himself to the Sadducaic faction, and thus brought down upon himself the concentrated hatred of the Pharisees, who lost no opportunity of aspersing his name and character. At length their opposition took a more violent turn, and at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the priest-king, clad in his gorgeous robes, was officiating before the altar, they excited the people to fling at him the citrons, which it was the custom of the Jews to carry in their hands at this feast, and to deny his right to the high-priesthood. A fearful outbreak ensued, in the midst of which Alexander ordered his body-guard to fall on the unarmed multitude, and slew upwards of 6000.

To obviate a recurrence of such insults, he next caused a wooden partition to be erected between the court of the priests and that of the people, and surrounded himself with Pisidian and Cilician mercenaries. But a defeat he sustained, while carrying on an expedition in the country east of the Jordan, was the signal for a general rising, which resulted in civil war carried on for upwards of six years, and marked by the most shocking barbarities on both sides.

At first Jannæus met with much success, but on endeavouring to come to terms with his subjects, they declared that nothing would satisfy them short of his death, and even invoked the aid of Demetrius Euchærus, king of Syria, and in a battle near Shechem utterly routed the priest-king, with the loss of all his mercenaries. Thereupon he fled to the mountains, rallied fresh troops, drove Demetrius from the country, and took the majority of his rebellious subjects prisoners in the fortress of Bethone. Returning to Jerusalem he crucified 800 of them in one day, and seated at a banquet surrounded by his concubines, caused their wives and children to be slain before their eyes, and glutted his vengeance with the spectacle of their dying agonies.

This shocking act, which won for him the title of “the Thracian,” shews how terribly the Asmonean princes were degenerating. Externally, indeed, the country appeared to be prosperous, for the realm of Jannæus extended over Samaria and Idumæa, the entire western seaboard from Strato’s Tower to Rhinocorura, and a considerable district beyond the Jordan, but the temper neither of prince nor people was the same as in the times of Mattathias and Judas, and evil days were at hand.

Four years after his triumph over his rebellious subjects, Alexander Jannæus died, B.C. 79, having on his death-bed advised his queen Alexandra to ally herself closely with the Pharisaic faction, as being alone able to control the people. Acting on this advice, she convened the most eminent of that faction, and entrusted to them the entire management of affairs. Upon this their conduct underwent an instant change; the highest honours were paid to the memory of the late king, and the priesthood was conferred on his eldest son Hyrcanus II.

CHAPTER II.

ANTIPATER AND HEROD; JULIUS CÆSAR AND ANTONIUS.
B.C. 53–41.

MISFORTUNE seemed to follow in the footsteps of every Roman general that interfered in the affairs of Judæa. Gabinius was ignominiously exiled, Crassus perished miserably in a foreign land, and now the disastrous issue of the battle of Pharsalia, B.C. 48, drove Pompeius to the shores of Egypt, there to perish by the blow of an assassin.

A new actor now appeared upon the stage. Master of Rome, nominated dictator for the second time, Julius Cæsar repaired to Egypt in pursuit of his rival, and a few days after his death arrived at Alexandria. For the purpose of effecting a diversion in his favour, he had liberated Aristobulus, and sent him to Palestine with two legions to overawe Syria. But the partisans of Pompeius managed to poison him on the way, and Scipio, who held the command in Syria, seized his son Alexander, and caused him to be beheaded after a mock trial at Antioch70.

The supremacy was thus left in the hands of Hyrcanus, or rather of his minister Antipater, who really ruled in his name. With prudent alacrity the wily Idumæan completely changed his tactics, and did everything in his power to promote the cause of Cæsar. Resolved to settle the disputes concerning the succession to the throne of Egypt, and determined to uphold the claims of Cleopatra, who had completely won his heart, this general embarked in a war, in which for some time he was exposed to great danger on account of the small number of his troops. Antipater seized the opportunity of displaying a prudent activity on his behalf. He assisted his ally, Mithridates, king of Pontus, in marching to his relief, he contributed to the reduction of Pelusium, he conciliated the Jews in Egypt, who had espoused the cause of the opposite party, and received wounds in almost every part of his body71, while fighting on his behalf.

Cæsar was not slow to declare his gratitude. Having brought the Egyptian war to a close B.C. 47, he conferred upon his friend the privileges of Roman citizenship, and at the same time at his request confirmed Hyrcanus in the high-priesthood72. But Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, now appeared before him, and breaking forth into the fiercest accusations against Antipater, charged him with cruelty towards himself, oppression of the Jews, and an insincere friendship for his patron. The Idumæan was equal to the occasion. Throwing open his vest, he exposed the numerous wounds he had received in Cæsar’s cause, and protested his innocence and fidelity. The Dictator could not resist such an appeal, appointed him procurator of Judæa, and granted him permission to restore the ruined fortifications of Jerusalem73.

Having made these arrangements Cæsar marched through Syria towards Pontus, to attack Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates the Great, who had defeated one of his lieutenants. Antipater conducted him beyond the Syrian frontiers, and returning to Jerusalem, commenced rebuilding the walls which had been overthrown by Pompey. He then set out on a tour through the country, suppressing tumults, and exhorting all to submit to the rule of Hyrcanus; soon waxing bolder, and taking advantage of the indolence of his nominal sovereign, he appointed his eldest son Phasael military governor of Judæa, and conferred the tetrarchy of Galilee on his younger son Herod, afterwards Herod the Great.

Though but a youth of 15, according to Josephus74, but more probably of 2575, the new governor of Galilee soon began to give signs of that decision of character which subsequently distinguished him. Turning his energies against numerous robber bands, who infested his province as also the confines of Syria, he put to death Hezekias, one of their notorious chiefs, with nearly all his associates. Such energy and determination won the delighted approval of the Syrians, who sang his praises in their villages and cities76, and not less of Sextus Cæsar, the new president of that province.

But the news of these successes of the young man filled Hyrcanus and many of the national party at Jerusalem with indignation. The priest-king felt that the family of Antipater was everything, while he himself was nothing. Herod was, therefore, summoned before the Sanhedrin to answer for his conduct in putting so many to death without a trial. He came, not in the garb of a suppliant, but clothed in purple, accompanied by a strong escort, and bore with him a letter from Sextus Cæsar, ordering his acquittal of the capital charge77. The great council was terrified. Not a man dared to lift his voice to accuse him, backed as he was by the terrible power of the Roman governor, save Sameas, or Shammai, one of the most learned Rabbis and a man of unblemished character. He sternly rebuked the accused for the haughty independence he had evinced, and the others, emboldened by his conduct, were ready to pronounce the sentence of death78. Hyrcanus now interposed, and secretly advised Herod to fly from the city. He took the advice and hurried to Damascus, where he threw himself at the feet of Sextus Cæsar, and in consideration of a heavy bribe, was appointed governor of Cœlesyria and Samaria. Burning with rage, he now gathered an army, marched against Jerusalem, and would have taken summary vengeance on his opponents, had it not been for the intervention of his father and brother, who advised him to be satisfied with his acquittal and draw off his troops.

Two years afterwards, B.C. 44, Cæsar was assassinated on the Ides of March, in the senate-house at Rome. Cassius, the chief conspirator, betook himself to Syria, to secure the troops stationed at Apamea79, and began to impose heavy tribute on the various cities of Asia Minor, and the Syrian provinces. Palestine was assessed to pay the enormous sum of 700 talents of silver80, and Antipater commissioned his son Herod to collect the contribution from Galilee, while Malichus, a powerful Jew, and principal adherent of Hyrcanus, collected the rest. With characteristic tact, Herod employed himself diligently in raising his quota, and repairing to Cassius with 100 talents gained his hearty good will, while Malichus so incensed him by his dilatoriness, that he would have put him to death, had not Hyrcanus soothed the Roman’s anger by the present of another 100 talents81.

The influence of Antipater on this occasion Malichus deemed unendurable. He saw that his patron Hyrcanus was rapidly losing even the semblance of power, and he resolved to compass the Idumæan’s death. Suspecting his designs, Antipater fled beyond the Jordan, and collected a body of men to defend himself. But persuaded that his suspicions were groundless, he returned to Jerusalem, where he was shortly afterwards poisoned with a glass of wine at an entertainment in the high-priest’s palace, B.C. 43. Herod would have instantly avenged his father’s murder, but Phasael persuaded him to bide his time, and the brothers celebrated their father’s obsequies with the greatest splendour, pretending to believe the assassin’s assertion of innocence. Before long, an opportunity of revenge presented itself. On the capture of Laodicea by Cassius, the kings and nobles of the surrounding provinces assembled, bearing gifts and crowns. Amongst the rest came Hyrcanus and Malichus, and on the way stayed at Tyre, where Herod, who had joined them, invited them to a banquet, and sending secret instructions to the Roman soldiers, caused Malichus to be dispatched on the sea-shore. The feeble Hyrcanus witnessed the bloody deed, and immediately fainted away, but no sooner heard that it had been done by command of Cassius, than he acquiesced, and denounced Malichus as the enemy of his country.

It was now clear that the virtual supremacy lay in the hands of the sons of Antipater, and that the party of Hyrcanus could but struggle in vain against their influence. It was not, however, their interest to come to an open rupture with the high-priest, and Herod for the sake of conciliating the people, who still clung with unabated devotion to that noble race, resolved to ally himself with a princess of the Asmonean family. He had already married Doris, a native of Judæa, and by her had become the father of a son Antipater. He now was betrothed to the beautiful and accomplished grand-daughter of Hyrcanus, the famous Mariamne, who was as yet a child.

Meanwhile, B.C. 42, the forces of Brutus and Cassius had met their opponents Antonius and Octavius on the bloody field of Philippi, and had sustained a disastrous defeat. The conquerors separated; Octavius departed for Italy, Antonius for Asia. On his arrival in Bithynia, a number of influential Jews waited upon Antonius with bitter complaints against Phasael and Herod82, but Herod plied him with such heavy bribes, that the deputation withdrew unable to effect anything. Shortly afterwards another deputation met him at Daphne near Antioch, and with them came Hyrcanus. The Roman listened to their complaints, and then turning to the high-priest, asked whom he deemed best fitted to rule the country? Influenced probably by the projected alliance between Herod and his grand-daughter, he named the brothers. Antonius, who had been hospitably entertained by their father Antipater, when he accompanied Gabinius to Egypt83, readily assented, and named them tetrarchs of Judæa, nor could a subsequent deputation of 1000 Jews, who waited upon him at Tyre, avail to alter his decision84.

A single obstacle to the complete success of the brothers still remained in the person of Antigonus. He had already made an ineffectual attempt to recover the throne, and now assistance appeared in an utterly unexpected quarter. While Antonius was wasting his time in the society of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, the Parthians, under Pacorus, entered Syria, overran the whole country, and made themselves masters of Sidon and Ptolemais. Antigonus resolved to court the assistance of these unexpected allies, and by a bribe of 1000 talents and 500 Jewish women, persuaded Pacorus to espouse his cause. With a division of the Parthian army he now marched against Jerusalem, and an obstinate struggle commenced. At length the Parthian general with a few horsemen was admitted into the city, and offered to act as umpire between the rival claimants. Phasael assented, and in an evil hour for himself, accompanied by Hyrcanus repaired to the court of Barzapharnes, the new Parthian governor of Syria, who threw them into chains85. Meanwhile Herod, suspecting treachery, and warned by Mariamne, secretly escaped with a picked body of troops from Jerusalem86, and made his way to Masada87, a strong fortress on the south-western side of the Dead Sea. So desperate were his circumstances, that he was with difficulty restrained from making away with himself88, and finally, leaving Mariamne and his family at Masada, in charge of 800 men, he fled to Petra, to try to obtain help from the successor of Aretas. This being denied, he dismissed the remainder of his forces, and made his way to Pelusium, and so to Alexandria, whence declining the command of an expedition offered him by Cleopatra, he took ship, although it was the depth of winter, and sailed for Rome89, B.C. 40.

CHAPTER III.

HEROD, KING OF JUDÆA.
B.C. 40–33.

MEANWHILE the Parthians had made themselves masters of Jerusalem, reinstated Antigonus in the supreme power, and delivered into his hands the captives Hyrcanus and Phasael. The new ruler, unwilling to put his aged uncle to death, but determined that he should never be able to hold the office of high-priest again, caused his ears to be cropped off90, and then sent him to Seleucia in Babylonia to be retained as a prisoner of the Parthians. Phasael, knowing his death was certain, anticipated the executioner by beating out his brains against the walls of his prison.

In the mean time Herod had reached Rome, where he found Antonius at the very summit of power. The Roman received him with much kindness, and introduced him to Octavius, who calling to mind the aid which the great Julius had received from Antipater during his Egyptian war91, was no less ready to befriend him. Herod protested he wished for nothing more than that Aristobulus, the brother of his betrothed Mariamne, should be placed on the throne of Judæa. But the triumvirs would not entertain the proposition for a moment. Who was more fit to receive the title of king than Herod himself? Who was more likely to cope effectually with Antigonus, and to render aid in the projected war with Parthia? Accordingly with the assent of the senate he was formally nominated King of Judæa, and preceded by the consuls and other magistrates, walked in procession between Antonius and Octavius to the Capitol, where the usual sacrifices were offered, and the decree formally laid up in the archives92.

A week only had elapsed since the arrival of Herod in Italy. But without losing a moment he hurried to Brundusium, and thence took ship for Ptolemais, where he presented himself after an absence of barely three months. Meanwhile Antigonus had been unsuccessfully besieging the fortress of Masada, with the design of obtaining possession of Mariamne and Aristobulus. The first object of the newly-arrived king was to relieve this stronghold, and the recollection of his energy as a governor in Galilee quickly attracted many to his standard. He also invoked the aid of Ventidius the Roman general, who had been sent to check the advance of the Parthians and had encamped before Jerusalem, and partly through his aid but still more by his own energy succeeded in raising the siege of Masada, liberated his relatives, and recovered the treasures he had deposited there.

His next step was to march upon Jerusalem, and having united with the Roman forces, encamped on the west side of the city B.C. 38. Finding, however, that he could not reduce it with the forces then at his command, he repaired to Samaria, and there was formally united in marriage with the beautiful Mariamne. Early in the following spring, B.C. 37, he again set out for Jerusalem, supported on this occasion by Sosius, the lieutenant of Antonius, with 11 legions and 6000 cavalry. Now for the first time the Romans found how desperate an enemy they had to encounter in the Jews, who defended Antigonus with all the constancy of their race. Upwards of 40 days elapsed before the first wall was taken, 15 before the second was reduced. Fighting with reckless courage, the besieged were driven successively from the outer court of the Temple and the lower city into the interior of the Sanctuary, nor was it till after five long months of combat that the signal could be given for an assault. No sooner had this been given than a dreadful massacre ensued. Exasperated by the obstinacy of the foe, the Romans struck down all whom they met, without distinction of age or sex. Multitudes were butchered in the narrow streets, many crowded together in their homes, many flying for refuge to the Sanctuary. Herod used every effort to mollify the wrath of the legions, and even threatened to cut down any who attempted to penetrate into the Holy of Holies. Finding all was lost, Antigonus descended from the Baris, where he had taken refuge, and flung himself at the feet of Sosius. The Roman treated him with contempt and scorn, called him in derision Antigona, and put him in chains. Then laden with munificent presents from the new ruler of Jerusalem, he retired to Antioch with his captive, to await the pleasure of Antonius himself. The latter, at the request of his favourite now installed in power, had the unfortunate prince tried and condemned, and after he had first been scourged by the Roman lictors, struck off his head93. Thus ignominiously perished the last priest-king of the Asmonean dynasty, 126 years94 after Judas Maccabæus obtained the government of Judæa.

Herod had now attained the highest object of his ambition. In the prime of his vigour and great abilities he had become ruler of Palestine, being lifted into his high position by the Roman legions, and by uniting himself with one of the Asmonean line he had conciliated somewhat the popular favour. But though successful, he clearly foresaw the difficulty and danger of his position, for the partisans of Antigonus still retained much influence, and the people were strong in their attachment to the Asmonean dynasty. But the Idumæan had profited in the school of the Roman proscriptions, and selecting 45 of the most prominent partisans of Antigonus, he put them all to death, and confiscated their estates to liquidate the heavy debt he had contracted with Antigonus. He next wreaked his vengeance on the Sanhedrin, every member of which was executed save two only, Sameas and Pollio, who alone during the late siege had urged their countrymen to capitulate and receive him as king.

The question of the appointment to the high-priesthood next required to be disposed of. Hyrcanus was in captivity at Seleucia, where the Parthian Phraates treated him with every consideration, and allowed him to live at full liberty among many of his own nation, who had settled in that region95. Herod sent an embassy requesting that his former patron might be permitted to return, and pretended a wish to recompense him for old kindnesses. The Jews in Seleucia easily divined his insidious designs. But the weak old man heeded not their council, and returned to Jerusalem. The mutilation of his ears by Antigonus rendered it impossible for him to hold the office of high-priest, and Herod, while treating him with much apparent respect, conferred the coveted post on Ananel, an obscure priest of the line of Aaron, whom he had summoned from Babylon.

But this selection was regarded with feelings of detestation by Aristobulus, his youthful brother-in-law, his wife Mariamne, and her mother-in-law, Alexandra. Well acquainted with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, at whose court Antonius was now living in luxury and indolence, Alexandra began to address her complaints to her, and succeeded in awakening an interest in her favour. The secret correspondence coming to the ears of Herod, he forthwith deposed Ananel, and with great pomp installed Aristobulus in his stead. The people were delighted at his elevation, and when the handsome youth the descendant of their ancient princes appeared before them at the feast of Tabernacles B.C. 35, clad in the gorgeous robes of his office, they could not restrain the expression of their admiration, and their shouts of acclamation rent the air.

This sealed the doom of the unfortunate young man. Seeing in him a possible rival, and suspecting the designs of Alexandra, Herod resolved to compass his destruction, and an opportunity soon presented itself. At the close of the solemnities he repaired with the youthful high-priest to Jericho, where Alexandra had invited them to an entertainment. The day was close—sultry, even for that tropical region—and the two, with many of their retinue, betook themselves to the fish-ponds, for the purpose of bathing. At first the attendants alone plunged into the water, and Herod and the high-priest merely looked on. But as it grew dark, the king proposed that his companion should join the rest in the water, where several of the attendants, suborned for the purpose, plunged him under the water, and held him down till life was extinct96. Next day it was announced at Jerusalem that Aristobulus had been accidentally drowned, and the spectacle of the dead body excited the wildest sorrow. Herod himself pretended the utmost grief. But neither the tears he shed, nor the magnificent funeral with which he honoured the young man’s remains, could divert the popular suspicion and indignation. Least of all could he deceive the bereaved mother. The grief of Alexandra was intense, and more than once she was on the point of laying violent hands upon herself. At length she resolved to appeal for the second time to the friendship of Cleopatra, and wrote her a full account of the treacherous deed. The Egyptian queen, herself a woman and a mother, moved by her touching story, would not let Antonius have any rest till he had promised that the matter should be investigated.

On his arrival, therefore, at the Syrian Laodicea97 B.C. 34, the triumvir sent to Herod, and demanded an explanation of the death of Aristobulus. Though Herod was well aware of the ill-will of Cleopatra towards himself, and of the risk he ran, he dared not disobey this summons, and resolved to go in person and plead his cause. Before setting out he entrusted to his uncle Joseph not only the government of Jerusalem, but the care also of the beautiful Mariamne, strictly enjoining him, in the event of his own death, to slay her rather than let her fall into the hands of Antonius. Having thus provided for the worst he departed, and, on his arrival at Laodicea, presented himself before the Roman and his Egyptian enchantress. Cleopatra, eager to add Judæa to her dominions, exhausted every expedient to ensure his ruin. But by his confidence, and still more by his lavish bribes, Herod succeeded in defeating her designs, and in clearing himself in the opinion of her paramour, so that Antonius not merely dismissed the charges against his favourite, but placed him by his side on his judicial throne, invited him to his luxurious banquets, and heaped upon him every mark of distinction.

Meanwhile very different events had occurred at Jerusalem. In an evil hour Joseph had revealed his secret instructions respecting Mariamne, and while she and Alexandra were indulging in transports of rage, a sudden rumour reached the city that Herod had failed in his mission, and been put to death. Instantly both mother and daughter took measures for seizing the supreme power, and Alexandra indulged the hope that the glorious beauty of her daughter might win the affections even of the paramour of Cleopatra. But in a moment all these schemes were dashed to the ground. Letters arrived announcing Herod’s complete success, and soon he himself appeared. His sister Salome, jealous of the charms of Mariamne, filled his mind with suspicions against her, which at first he refused to credit. But unhappily one day, as he was protesting his undying love, she chanced to inquire how, if he really loved her, he could have given the order for her execution. Furious at the discovery of his secret compact, he rushed from her arms, and was on the point of putting her to death with his own hand. Her loveliness, however, induced him to spare her, and he contented himself with ordering the instant execution of his uncle Joseph, and flinging Alexandra into prison with every mark of insult.

CHAPTER V.

HEROD, KING OF JUDÆA.
B.C. 24–14.

THUS Judæa seemed to be sinking more and more into the form of a Roman province, while Herod rivalled the other vassal kings of Rome in subservience to the master of the world. It was a saying that Cæsar assigned to him the next place in his favour to Agrippa, while Agrippa esteemed Herod higher than all his friends, except Augustus107. The three vied with one another in mutual courtesies, and whenever either Cæsar or Agrippa visited the Eastern provinces, the Jewish king was sure to be first to pay his homage, and to assist with his personal support and advice.

In return for these attentions the Roman emperor was profuse in his concessions. When Herod sent his two elder sons by Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus, to Rome for their education, he received them into his palace and treated them with the utmost care and distinction108. Moreover, besides the large addition he had already made to Herod’s territories, he now conceded to him the district east of the Lake of Gennesaret, known as Trachonitis, with Batanæa and Auranitis, and afterwards appointed him procurator of the province of Syria, and with such authority, that his colleagues in command could take no step without his concurrence109. At the same time a tetrarchy was conferred on his brother Pheroras, and in memory of these concessions, Herod erected a splendid temple of white marble at Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, and dedicated it to his benefactor110.

But while the Jewish king was on terms of such intimate friendship with his imperial patron, his relations with his own subjects were far from satisfactory. In spite of the profuse liberality with which he had poured forth the contents of his treasury, and even parted with the silver plate of his table to satisfy their wants during a severe famine, B.C. 25, in spite also of his munificence in diminishing a third of the annual taxation, the murmurs of the populace against his rule could not be restrained.

Strong as was the party which favoured his designs and approved his policy, the majority of the nation regarded with undissembled suspicion and mistrust his numerous innovations, and the introduction of foreign rites and customs. In vain he forbade any assemblages of the citizens for feasting or deliberation; in vain he kept himself informed through his spies of all who disapproved of his government, threw them into prison, and sometimes punished them with death; in vain he tried to compel all his subjects to take an oath of fidelity towards himself and his dynasty; he could not control the opposition of the powerful Pharisaic faction111, or check the general feeling of disaffection.

At length, B.C. 20, he determined on a measure which he trusted might have the effect at once of giving employment to large numbers, and winning the favour of the nation. He resolved to rebuild the Temple.

Since the construction of the second Temple by Zorobabel that structure had suffered much from dilapidation, and bore unmistakeable traces of the assaults of various armies. The evident need, therefore, of renewal, induced the king to hope that no obstacle would be put in the way of his design. But on laying his project before the assembled people, he found that it was regarded with little favour and greater suspicion112. Under pretence of rebuilding, many believed he really intended to destroy their national sanctuary.

Great caution was therefore needed, and everything was done that could be devised to allay the popular mistrust. Vast preparations were made before a single stone of the old building was removed, and two years were spent in bringing together all the materials; 1000 waggons were constructed for the purpose of bearing stones for the building, and upwards of 10,000 of the most skilful workmen, superintended by 1000 Levites, who had been taught the arts of carpentry and stone-cutting, were employed on the works113.

In the 20th year of Herod’s reign, or B.C. 18, the erection of the new structure began. The foundations of the Temple of Zorobabel were removed, and on those laid by Solomon the new pile arose, built of hard white stones of enormous size. The Porch, Holy Place, and Holy of Holies, were completed in a year and a half114; the rest of the pile, with the courts and cloisters, in eight years more, so as to be fit for the actual services of religion, but the whole structure was not finally completed115 till A.D. 65116.

On the highest level of the rocky platform stood the Temple itself, divided as in the days of Solomon, and covered with plates of gold, which shone like a meteor under the rays of the sun, so that the eye could hardly bear to rest upon them. Twelve steps below was a second level, occupied by the Court of the Priests, with the Great Laver, and the Altar of Burnt-offering. Three flights of steps below this was the Court of the Israelites, with the houses of the priests, the various offices, and hall of the Sanhedrin. Fourteen steps more led down to the Court of the Gentiles, which was hardly regarded as a part of the Temple, and was open to men of all nations and became a kind of exchange and market-place.

While the Sanctuary had been left to the care of the priests, Herod exhausted all his taste on this Court of the Gentiles. “Cloisters ran round the wall on the inner side, sustained on rows of columns exquisitely wrought, the capitals being ornamented with the acanthus and waterleaf, as in the famous Tower of the Winds. West, north, and east these columns were in three rows; on the south they were in four. The floor made a shaded walk, like the colonnade in Venice, and the roof an open walk like the gallery of Genoa. The pavement was inlaid with marbles of many colours. Leading into this Court from the city and the country were many noble gates; one of these on the Eastern side, facing the Mount of Olives, was called Solomon’s Porch, and a second near by it was called the Beautiful Gate117.”

Immediately after the completion of the Sanctuary, which was commemorated with lavish sacrifices and splendid feasts118, Herod set out for Rome, to bring back his sons Alexander and Aristobulus. On his arrival in the imperial city119, he was received by Augustus with every mark of regard, and returned with his two sons apparently in the spring of the year B.C. 15. During the autumn his friend Agrippa visited Judæa120, and Herod shewed him his new cities, Sebaste and Cæsarea, and the fortresses of Alexandrium, Herodium, and Hyrcania. Then conducting him to Jerusalem, he entertained him at a sumptuous banquet, while the people welcomed the great minister of Augustus with acclamations, and Agrippa offered a sacrifice of 100 oxen in the Temple, and feasted the subjects of the Jewish king at a splendid entertainment.

CHAPTER VI.

HEROD, KING OF JUDÆA.
B.C. 15–4.

BUT the return of the young princes, Alexander and Aristobulus, from Rome was the signal for a scene of bloodshed, still more awful than that which had darkened the beginning of Herod’s reign.

The monarch married them, Alexander to Glaphyra, daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia; Aristobulus to Berenice, the daughter of his sister Salome121. The grace and beauty of the young men, added to their descent through their mother from the great Asmonean house, made them objects of the utmost interest to the people, and they were regarded as the future rulers of Palestine.

The popular favour, however, which they thus attracted, aroused the keenest hatred of Salome and Pheroras. Conscious of the part they had played in the execution of Mariamne, they looked with dismay at the future elevation of the young princes. Taking advantage, therefore, of some incautious expressions they chanced to let fall respecting the execution of their mother, they began by circulating rumours that the young men were bent on avenging their mother’s death, and bore no goodwill towards the king. For some time Herod refused even to listen to these rumours. But before long they acquired fresh strength and consistency, and to check their pride, he sent for Antipater, the son of his first wife Doris, and set him up as a foil to the aspirations and popularity of Alexander and Aristobulus122.

Salome had thus a ready tool for prosecuting her cunning designs, and as Herod had permission from Augustus to appoint whom he pleased as his successor, the two together bent all their efforts towards alienating him from the sons of Mariamne.

In the beginning of B.C. 13, the king went to join Agrippa at Sinope, and attended him through Paphlagonia, Cappadocia, Phrygia, and Ionia, to Ephesus. On this occasion he introduced Antipater to his powerful friend, and sent him in his train on a visit to Rome, with many costly presents and an introduction to Augustus. Even at Rome the crafty Idumæan did not remit his machinations against his rivals, but in every letter to his father dropped something to the discredit of the sons of Mariamne, veiling his real designs under pretence of great anxiety for Herod’s security.

By these artful means the suspicions of the king were at length raised to such a pitch, that he resolved on formally accusing his sons before the tribunal of Augustus. Accordingly, B.C. 11, he conducted them to Rome, and in the presence of the emperor charged them with designs upon his life. Augustus perceived that the accusation rested only on hearsay and suspicion, and after hearing the case succeeded in reconciling the young men to their father, and the three, accompanied by Antipater, returned to Jerusalem apparently on terms of amity and goodwill.

On regaining his capital, Herod convened an assembly of the people, introduced to them his three sons, and formally announced his design that they should succeed him in the order of their birth, first Antipater, then Alexander, and lastly Aristobulus123. But this arrangement was satisfactory to no one. The sons of Mariamne were indignant that the right of primogeniture should have been confined to Antipater, while Antipater was indignant that they should obtain honours even second to his own124.

While the jealousies in the royal household were thus for a short time hushed, the building of the new and magnificent city of Cæsarea was completed, B.C. 10. This event was celebrated with an imposing ceremonial, with shows, games, exhibitions of gladiators, and sumptuous entertainments, to which the wife of Cæsar herself contributed largely125. Other cities now arose in honour of different members of Herod’s family. Antipatris126, between Cæsarea and Lydda, preserved the name of his father Antipater; Cypron, near Jericho, of his mother Cyprus; Phasaelis, in the plain near the same city, of his brother Phasael.

But soon the quarrels in the royal household broke out afresh. With a strange lack of caution, the sons of Mariamne again indulged their dissatisfaction by the use of intemperate language, which the artful Antipater managed to report to Herod, exaggerated or distorted, as best suited his purpose. Knowing not whom to trust, the king had no rest night or day. At length he ordered some of the confidential slaves of the young princes to be put to the torture, and they, to obtain relief from their agony, made false declarations respecting Alexander, who was immediately flung into prison and loaded with chains.

There the wretched young man had recourse to a strange expedient. He sent four papers to his father, in which he accused himself of all kinds of treasonable practices, but added that Pheroras, Salome, and several of the king’s most intimate friends, were his accomplices. The whole court was now a scene of suspicion and distrust. Herod knew not which way to look or whom to believe. In a state of phrenzy he day after day caused persons of all grades to be apprehended; some of these he executed; others he tortured to compel them to confess, and with such severity that several of them died under the hands of their tormentors. In the midst of these troubles, Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, and father-in-law of Alexander, arrived at Jerusalem, and succeeded in obtaining his release, and restoration to Herod’s favour.

But the lull was only temporary. A few months had barely elapsed before Salome and Pheroras, regaining all their old ascendancy, poisoned the king’s mind with suspicions. Unable to trust any one around him, Herod once more had recourse to Augustus, and poured forth the bitterest complaints against the sons of Mariamne. In reply, the emperor advised him to summon a council of sovereigns at Berytus127, with Volumnius and Saturninus the prefects of Syria, and formally arraign the young men before them.

Acting on this advice, Herod thereupon summoned a council of princes. Upwards of 150 met together, and before them he pleaded his own cause, examined witnesses, read documents, and accused his sons with the utmost vehemence. After hearing the charge, Saturninus expressed himself in favour of mercy; Volumnius and the majority for condemnation. For a short time Herod appeared to hesitate, but the malice of Salome eventually had its reward, and the young men were strangled at Sebaste128, B.C. 6.

But they had scarcely perished before Herod found himself exposed to a far more terrible danger. Pheroras had married a slave, who attached herself to the powerful Pharisaic party. For the second time the king ordered the members of this influential sect to take the oath of allegiance to Augustus and himself. Upwards of 600 positively refused, and were sentenced to pay heavy fines. These the wife of Pheroras instantly liquidated out of her own property, and the Pharisees, grateful for such kindness, began to whisper that God intended the kingdom for her and her husband129.

Salome announced these signs of disaffection to Herod, who instantly executed the ringleaders of the Pharisees, and ordered Pheroras to put away his wife. This his brother absolutely declined to do, and retired to his own tetrarchy in Peræa, while the wily Antipater contrived to get himself summoned to Rome.

Shortly afterwards Pheroras sickening, Herod came to visit him, and on his death gave him a magnificent funeral. He was scarcely buried before rumours of foul play were bruited about. To ascertain their truth, Herod ordered a strict examination of the female slaves of his brother’s wife, and under the agonies of torture a horrible secret came to light.

Antipater, for whom Herod had strangled the sons of Mariamne, whom he had designed as his successor, had been associated with Pheroras in a plot against his life, and his brother’s widow was in possession of a subtle poison, with which it had been intended to take him off on the first opportunity. Thereupon she was examined, acknowledged her guilt, and immediately after flung herself from the roof of the house. The fall, however, was not fatal, and being brought before Herod, she recounted the whole history of the plot, adding that his kindness to her husband on his death-bed had caused him to relent, and he had bidden her fling the poison into the fire. This she had done, and had reserved only a small portion, which was now produced130.

Just at this juncture, a freedman of Antipater’s arrived from Rome, with letters for the king, accusing Archelaus and Philip of disaffection towards their father. The man was instantly placed upon the rack, and confessed that he had brought another phial of poison, which he was to entrust to Pheroras, in the event of the first not proving successful. The proofs of this dark treachery being thus complete, Herod wrote to Antipater requesting his instant return, and at the same time gave orders that the roads should be strictly guarded, and that not a word should be allowed to drop respecting what had transpired at Jerusalem.

Triumphing in the success of his base intrigues, and confident of his succession to the throne, Antipater had already set out, and arrived at Celenderis in Pamphylia. News of the death of Pheroras had reached him at Tarentum, and excited some misgivings, but, contrary to the advice of many of his friends, he continued his journey and entered the port of Cæsarea.

Here his fears were still more excited. The crowded harbour appeared like a solitude. Not a soul approached to salute or congratulate him on his return. The few who did meet him turned aside, or looked on, as if they now dared to shew the hatred they had long borne towards him. Every one seemed in possession of some dark secret, of which he alone was ignorant131.

Dissembling, however, his fears, he pressed on, for it was too late to fly, and reaching Jerusalem, hurried to his father’s palace. At the gates his retinue was denied entrance, and with Herod he found Quintilius Varus the prefect. Advancing to salute the king, he was angrily repelled, informed of the charge against him, and told that his trial would take place on the morrow before the prefect.

Accordingly, on the next day the accusers appeared. The evidence of his guilt was conclusive. The cup of poison was brought in, and a criminal under sentence of death being ordered to drink it, expired on the spot. Antipater was condemned and placed in bonds, but Herod delayed the execution of the sentence, till the will of Augustus could be ascertained.

By this time the king was 70 years of age, and being seized with a severe illness, removed for the sake of change of air to Jericho, and resolved to make the final alterations in his will. Passing over Archelaus and Philip, whom Antipater had accused of disaffection, he nominated Antipas as his successor in the kingdom, and bestowed rich donations of money and lands upon Salome, and other members of his own family.

But during his absence fresh symptoms of disaffection appeared amongst his subjects. Of all his numerous innovations, none had irritated the Jews more than the placing of a large golden eagle, the emblem of Roman power, over the principal gate of the Temple. Two of the most learned rabbis, Judas and Matthias, resolved to have it removed. Accordingly they instigated some daring and fanatical youths to take down the offensive symbol. Emboldened by a sudden rumour of the death of Herod, the young men lowered themselves by ropes from the roof, and cut away the eagle with hatchets. They could never have hoped to execute so daring a deed with impunity, and being apprehended and brought before Herod, boldly avowed their guilt, and gloried in the success of the feat. Dissembling his anger, the king assembled the chiefs of the nation at Jericho, and reproaching them bitterly for their ingratitude after all the favours he had bestowed upon them, ordered the instigators of the deed to be burned alive132.

In the meantime his disorder had made rapid progress. A slow fire seemed to consume his vital parts. His appetite became ravenous, but he dared not gratify it on account of dreadful pains and internal ulcers, which preyed on the lower parts of his body. Moreover his breathing became difficult, and violent spasms convulsed his frame, and imparted supernatural strength to his limbs133. But in spite of these accumulated sufferings he still clung to life, and cherishing hopes of recovery caused himself to be conveyed across the Jordan to Callirrhoë134, hoping to obtain relief from its warm bituminous baths. Arrived there, the physicians advised that he should be fomented with warm oil. For this purpose, he was lowered into a vessel filled with that fluid, when his eyes relaxed, and he suddenly fell back as if dead. Roused, however, by the cries of his physicians, he revived, and was conveyed back to Jericho, where, as if defying death, he devised a new atrocity. Knowing the joy his death would cause, he gave instructions that the men of distinction from every town in Judæa should be assembled in the hippodrome, and secretly confided to Salome his pleasure that they should be butchered immediately upon his decease, that thus his funeral might at least be signalized by a real mourning.

He had scarcely given these orders, when his messengers returned from Rome, and announced the ratification of the sentence against Antipater. Instantly the tyrant’s desire for life revived, but being as quickly followed by a sudden racking pain, he called for an apple and a knife, and in an unguarded moment tried to stab himself. He might have succeeded had not an attendant seized his hand. The clamour that followed reached the ears of Antipater, who was in bonds in a neighbouring apartment. Thinking his father was dead, he made a desperate effort to escape by bribing his guards. Informed of this Herod instantly ordered a spearman to dispatch him on the spot. Antipater having thus paid the penalty of his life of treachery, the king once more amended his will, nominated his eldest son Archelaus as his successor to the throne, and appointed Antipas tetrarch of Galilee and Peræa, Herod Philip tetrarch of Auranitis, Trachonitis, and Batanæa, and Salome mistress of Jamnia and some other towns. Five days more of excruciating agony remained to the tyrant, and then he expired135, after a reign of 34 years.

CHAPTER II.

THE JEWISH SECTS.

HAVING considered in the previous Chapter the wide dispersion of the Jewish nation, the change in their language, and the general adoption of synagogue worship, we shall now proceed to notice the rise of various sects among the Jews themselves.

(i) Of these sects the most important were (a) The Sadducees, (b) The Pharisees, (c) The Essenes, (d) The Herodians.

(a) The Sadducees.

It has been already observed that the long-continued subjection of the Jews to Grecian monarchs exerted a very marked influence on their habits and modes of life. Familiar not only with the language but the literature and philosophy of Greece, many acquired a strong taste for Grecian studies, preferred the Grecian religion to their own, adopted Grecian manners, and practised Grecian arts156. We have seen from time to time how it became the fashion even for many amongst the highest families to adopt Grecian names, and to recommend themselves in every conceivable way to Grecian rulers in the courts of Alexandria and Antioch. The Law, with its restraints and strict requirements, was regarded by them as a heavy yoke, and they affected the gymnasia, the theatres, and all the worldly pleasures of Grecian life.

To such aspirants after freedom the principles of the Epicurean philosophy would naturally recommend themselves, the more so as they found special acceptance in the Syrian courts. Amongst the scholars of Simon the Just157 was Antigonus of Socho, the first of the Jewish doctors who bears a Greek name. Antigonus was the master of one Sadoc158 (B.C. 291–260), the essence of whose teaching was that virtue is its own reward, that men ought not to serve the Lord for the sake of gain, but to do good because it is right.

True as this doctrine was in itself, it was perverted by the disciples of Sadoc, who first attract our attention under the name of Sadducees159, in the time of Jonathan the Asmonean160. While on the one hand especially after the Maccabæan period, they were far removed from any actual adoption of Grecian customs, or apostasy from the national faith, yet on the other, they betrayed evident marks of the influence on their opinions of Grecian philosophy.

Hence they denied the doctrine of the Resurrection161 (Mtt. xxii. 23; Lk. xx. 27), any rewards or punishments after death, and the existence of angels or spirits (Acts xxiii. 8). Holding that the actions of men depended entirely on their own free will, they denied that there was such a thing as destiny, and while they admitted the creation, they removed the Deity as far as possible from any actual administration of the world. It has been thought that they recognised as Scripture only the five books of Moses, but the truth appears to be that while holding the Law in higher estimation than the prophetical and other books of Scripture, they acknowledged the authority of the Old Testament like the rest of the Jews, but refused to hold the authority of tradition.

Aiming as they did at a philosophic elevation of sentiment they found little favour with the common people, and caring little about making proselytes numbered their followers chiefly among the rich and powerful162, and especially the young men of Judæa, and those who were in a position to live a life of ease and worldly enjoyment163.

(b) The Pharisees.

The tendency to adopt Grecian customs and modes of thought above alluded to was not, of course, shared by the entire nation. When Mattathias unfurled the banner of revolt against the heathenizing policy of Antiochus Epiphanes, it will be remembered that he was joined before long by a class calling themselves Assideans164 (1 Macc. ii. 42), who seem to have been already in existence as a distinct party, and bound by a vow to the strict observance of the Law. The name they assumed sufficiently indicates their views. Living in times when their countrymen were becoming more and more infected with heathen customs, they protested against such declension from the spirit of the law, and in opposition to the impious (1 Macc. iii. 8; vi. 21; vii. 5), the lawless (1 Macc. iii. 6; ix. 23), the transgressors (1 Macc. i. 11), as they called the Hellenizing faction, adopted for themselves the title of the Assideans, the pious, and in these days of mixing (2 Macc. xiv. 3, 38) maintained the strictest observance of the Law165.

Amongst a nation, which prided itself on its distinction from all other people on the earth, such a party would naturally have great influence, and when the Maccabees triumphed over their Syrian tyrants, the tenets of the Assideans rapidly gained ground, and received their complete development in those of the Pharisees, from Perashin, to separate, the Separatists, who are also first distinctly mentioned during the time of the high-priest Jonathan, B.C. 145166.

Like their earlier prototypes, the Pharisees were distinguished by great zeal for the Mosaic Law and the whole Canon of Scripture. But in their rigorous interpretation of its precepts and doctrines, they were mainly guided by Oral Tradition, the traditions of the Elders (Mtt. xv. 2; Mk. vii. 3). This Oral Tradition, which was regarded as supplementary to the written Law, was said to have been received by Moses on Sinai, to have been delivered by him to Joshua, by Joshua to the elders, by the elders to the prophets, by the prophets to the men of the Great Synagogue.

Of this Law the Pharisees were regarded as the highest interpreters, and presided over various schools, the principal of which in the time of the New Testament, were those of Hillel and Shammai, the former a moderate, the latter the strictest sect.

They held, (i) the existence of angels and spirits, good and bad; (ii) the immortality of the soul; (iii) a state of rewards and punishments after death; (iv) a resurrection of the just and unjust167 (Comp. Acts xxiii. 8). As exponents of the Law, (i) they attached an undue importance to the outward act as compared with the inward spirit and motive; (ii) they were rigorous in exacting every external ceremonial, especially in reference to washings, fastings, tithes and alms; and (iii) were noted for pride and austerity.

Their political influence we have already seen was very great168. Holding strongly that the nation ought to be independent of foreign rule, standing high in favour with the people, and especially with the women169, pervading the entire country and forming the majority in the Sanhedrin, they wielded a very considerable power in the state, against which we have seen Hyrcanus, and Jannæus, vainly struggling170, and which Herod, with all his energy, was unable to control.

The writings of the New Testament illustrate, amongst many others, the following features of their character as a sect: their high repute, Jn. vii. 48; Acts xxii. 3; their regard for externals, while they disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, Mtt. xxiii. 24; xii. 2, 7; Mk. vii. 1; Lk. vi. 7; Jn. ix. 16, &c.; their regard to tradition, Mtt. xv. 2; Mk. vii. 3; their scrupulous exactness of washings, tithes, alms, &c., Mtt. ix. 14; xxiii. 15, 23; Lk. xi. 39 sq.; xviii. 12; their excessive zeal in making proselytes171, Mtt. xxiii. 15; their lax morality, Mtt. v. 20; xv. 4, 8; xxiii. 3, 14, 23, 25; Jn. viii. 7.

(c) The Essenes.

Though nowhere mentioned in the New Testament, the Essenes were a numerous body, amounting, according to Philo, to upwards of 4000. Dating, like the other sects already mentioned, from about the middle of the second century B.C., they formed a purely ascetic order, and dwelt far from the distractions of their age in the villages along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where they led a life of labour, abstinence, and meditation172.

They were divided into four orders, but permitted marriage only in one of them, maintained a community of goods, and inculcated a hatred of all riches and all luxury. Sacrifice they did not allow, and though they sent gifts to the Temple, never resorted to it, but held religious assemblies on the Sabbath, where they read the Scriptures, and listened to the expositions of their elders.

Even in their intercourse with one another they observed the greatest secrecy, dreaded contact with all who were not circumcised, and would rather die than eat food which had not been prepared by themselves or those of their own order.

(d) The Herodians.

This sect, which is twice mentioned in the Gospels (Mtt. xxii. 16; Mk. iii. 6; xii. 13), was rather a political than a religious body. Taking alike their names and their views from the family of Herod, the Herodians held that the hopes of the Jewish nation rested on the Herods as a bulwark against Roman ambition, and almost looked to them for a fulfilment of the prophecies of the Messiah173. Hence many amongst them would not regard with dissatisfaction that fusion of the national faith and heathen civilisation, which it was the great object of Herod the Great and his successors to bring about.

It is not improbable that the Herodians in some respects approached very nearly to the Sadducees in their opinions (Comp. Mk. viii. 15 with Mtt. xvi. 6), for both would hold the duty of submission to the Romans, and join in supporting the throne of Herod. The hostility of the Pharisees to the teaching of our blessed Lord may be estimated by the fact that they joined their enemies the Herodians in attempting to ensnare Him (Mtt. xxii. 16).

(ii) Before concluding this Chapter, this seems the appropriate place for noticing the Samaritans, who are frequently mentioned in the New Testament.

In the year B.C. 721 Sargon captured Samaria, and removed into captivity the remains of the ten tribes, already decimated by Tiglath-Pileser174, and located them partly in Gozan or Mygdonia, and partly in cities recently captured from the Medes. This was not a partial but a complete evacuation of the country, which was wiped clean of its inhabitants as a man wipeth a dish (2 K. xxi. 13), in accordance with a not unusual custom of Oriental conquerors actually to exhaust a land of its inhabitants175.

In this desolate condition the country remained till about the year B.C. 677, when Esarhaddon during the invasion of Judah perceived the impolicy of leaving it thus exposed, and resolved to garrison it with foreigners. Accordingly he gathered men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim (2 K. xvii. 24; comp. Ezra iv. 2, 9, 10), and entrusting them to an officer of high rank, the great and noble Asnapper, had them conveyed to the country formerly occupied by the Ten Tribes, and there settled them.

These strangers (comp. Lk. xvii. 18) from the further East176 were of course idolaters, and worshipped various deities, and knowing not the God of the land provoked Him by their heathenish rites to send lions among them, which slew some of them (2 K. xvii. 25). In their distress they applied to the king of Assyria, who sent one of the captive priests to instruct them how they should fear the Lord. Under his teaching they added the acknowledgment of Jehovah as the God of the land, to their ancient idolatries, and in course of time detached themselves more and more from heathen customs, and adopted a sort of worship of Jehovah.

Refused permission, on the return from the Captivity, to participate in the rebuilding of the Temple, they became the open enemies of the Jews, and erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim177, where they continued to worship till it was destroyed by John Hyrcanus, B.C. 130. After this they built another temple at Shechem, and there, under its modern name of Nablûs, they have a settlement, consisting of about 200 persons, at the present hour.

Gradually detaching themselves from their ancient idolatries, the Samaritans adopted the Mosaic religion, but received as Scripture only the Pentateuch, rejecting every other book in the Jewish Canon. They celebrated the Passover (and celebrate it even now), on Mount Gerizim, and even after their temple had fallen, directed their worship towards that mountain. Holding the doctrine of the coming of the Messiah (Jn. iv. 25), whom they called Hashah, “the Converter178,” their conceptions of His functions and character were derived chiefly from the original promise of a Saviour (Gen. iii. 15), the Shiloh or Peace-maker predicted by Jacob (Gen. xlix. 10), and the Prophet promised to the Israelites like unto Moses (Num. xxiv. 17; Deut. xviii. 15), and they mainly expected that He would teach all things (Jn. iv. 25), and restore the glory of the holy Law on Mount Gerizim179.

The feud between the Jews and Samaritans, engendered by the refusal of the former to permit their participation in the rebuilding of the Temple, ripened into a mutual hostility of the most bitter description.

The Jews were perpetually reminding the Samaritans that they were “Cuthites,” mere “strangers from Assyria.” They loved to call them “proselytes of the lions” (2 K. xvii. 25), and to accuse them of worshipping the idol-gods buried long age under the oak of Shechem (Gen. xxxv. 4). To such an extent did they carry their dislike, that they cursed them publicly in their synagogues; declared their testimony was naught, and could not be received; affirmed that any who entertained a Samaritan in his house was laying up judgments for his children; that to eat a morsel of his fare was to eat swine’s flesh180; refused to receive him as a proselyte, and declared that he could have no part in the resurrection of the dead. Moreover they would have no dealings with them that they could possibly avoid, and in travelling from the South to the North preferred to take the long circuit through Peræa rather than pass through their hated country.

On the other hand, the Samaritans were not behind-hand in recriminations. They would refuse hospitality to the pilgrim companies going up to the feasts at Jerusalem (Comp. Lk. ix. 53), and sometimes even waylay and murder them181. On one occasion certain of them are said to have entered the Temple at Jerusalem, and defiled it by scattering on the pavement human bones182. One special mode of annoyance was frequently practised. The Jews were in the habit of communicating to their numerous brethren in Babylon, the exact day and hour of the rising of the Paschal moon, by means of a system of beacon fires, which telegraphed the welcome news from the Mount of Olives, through Auranitis, to those who sat by the waters of the Babylon. The Samaritans would, therefore, annoy the watchers on the mountain-tops by kindling a rival flame on the wrong day, and thus perplex them, and introduce confusion.

CHAPTER II.

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST.
A.U.C. 750, B.C. 4.

THE voice of Prophecy (Mic. v. 2) had declared that the Messiah should be born at Bethlehem of Judæa, a spot endeared to every Jew as the birth-place of the son of Jesse. Though Mary was now living at Nazareth, a circumstance apparently fortuitous, under the superintending hand of Divine Providence, brought about a fulfilment of the prediction.

At this particular period there was peace throughout the dominions of the Roman empire. The Temple of Janus was shut195. The fierce contests, which for so many years had been carried on with such relentless persistence, which had drenched with blood the fairest fields in the dominions of Augustus, had ceased, and the din of battles was hushed. As that monarch revolved in his mind the most suitable means for the administration of his numerous dependencies, it occurred to him that it would be well to carry out a general registration196 of all his subjects, with a view to some fixed scale of taxation. He issued, therefore, a decree that all the world, which owned his sway, should be taxed197 (Lk. ii. 1). Judæa was not indeed at this time a Roman “province,” but its reduction to that condition sooner or later was already determined198. The imperial edict, therefore, declaring the will of his master was placed in the hands of the Idumæan Herod as in those of other rulers, and he would naturally ordain that while the Roman orders were obeyed, the customs and traditions of the country should not be entirely overridden199.

Toilsome, therefore, as was the journey, and not altogether free from danger, the Virgin left the place of her usual abode, and set out for the village of Bethlehem accompanied by Joseph. This he would have done as her natural protector, but the Jewish law required his presence in the town of his forefathers, because he, like Mary, was of the house and lineage of David (Lk. ii. 4)200. Accordingly, in the society, probably, of others bound on the same errand as themselves, they proceeded on their southward journey, either through Samaria or across the Jordan through Peræa201, and after probably visiting and passing through Jerusalem, surmounted the long ascent leading to the village of Bethlehem, and sought shelter in the inn or khan, which the inhabitants had provided for the reception of strangers.

But they had reached it too late. Every guest-chamber was already full, and crowded with strangers, who, like themselves, had come up to be taxed. They were constrained, therefore, to seek shelter amongst the cattle and beasts of burden of the wayfarers, and so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that the lowly Virgin should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in one of the mangers by her side (Lk. ii. 6, 7).

Such was the first Advent of the Saviour “in great humility.” Thus did He who was with the Father before all worlds, by whom all things were made, and without whom was not any thing made that was made (Jn. i. 1–3), deign to take upon Him our nature. Unimportant, however, as appeared the event that had just taken place in that crowded inn, unknown to the Idumæan Herod, unknown to his imperial master in the City of the Cæsars, signs were not wanting that it had moved all heaven to its centre, and was there hailed with rapturous acclaim. On the bleak downs of Bethlehem shepherds were that night keeping watch over their flocks, when suddenly there came upon them a light brighter than the brightest of the countless stars that spangled the midnight sky, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them (Lk. ii. 9). Sore afraid, they would have fled in dismay. But a Voice came to them which calmed their fears. An Angel addressed them, and announced the Glad Tidings that in the city of David had that day been born to them a Saviour, even Christ the Lord, whom they would find wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Lk. ii. 11, 12). He ceased, and then a multitude of the heavenly host brake the silence of the night, and sang Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace, Goodwill towards men. Such an announcement roused all the wonder of the simple, humble men who heard it. Hastily leaving their flocks they repaired to Bethlehem, where they found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger, and recounted all that they had heard from the heavenly visitants concerning the Child. Great was the astonishment of those who listened to their tale, but the holy Virgin treasured their words in her heart, and the shepherds returned to their lowly occupation, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard (Lk. ii. 16–20).

Born under the Law (Gal. iv. 4) the Saviour was to submit to all its ordinances. Accordingly on the eighth day after His birth He was circumcised, like any other Jewish child, and received the name of Jesus. Moreover on the fortieth day after His birth, the Virgin repaired to the Temple, and presented her humble offering of a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Lev. xii. 2, 6, 8), according to the law of her purification. Without pomp or earthly circumstance, the infant Saviour, the Messenger of the Covenant, came to His temple (Mal. iii. 1), and might have left it equally unnoticed. But two humble worshippers, who had long been waiting for the consolation of Israel (Lk. ii. 25), recognized “in helpless infancy and clad in mortal flesh” the long-expected Messiah.

There was living at Jerusalem a just and devout man named Symeon. Though far advanced in years, he had received divine intimation that he should not see death till his eyes had rested on the Lord’s Christ. He was now present at the national sanctuary, when His parents brought in the Child to do for Him after the custom of the Law (Lk. ii. 27), and no sooner did he behold the Child, than he saw that the long-promised hour was come. He took Him up in his arms, and blessed God that at length his eyes had been permitted to see His Salvation, the Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of His people Israel (Lk. ii. 32). Then while Joseph and Mary were marvelling at his words, the aged seer, already on the verge of the eternal world, blessed them also, and addressing the Virgin Mother declared that her Child was appointed for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and that a sword should in days to come pierce through her own heart. At the same time there came forward an aged woman, a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel. Seven years had she lived with her husband after quitting her maiden state, and since his death had remained in widowhood upwards of 84 years. Though the territories of the tribe of Asher, to which she belonged (Lk. ii. 36), were at a great distance from the Holy City, yet there she had taken up her abode, and was constant in every act of worship and in her attendance at every sacred service. She too drew near while the Holy Child was being brought into His Father’s house, and, like the aged Symeon, gave thanks to God, and spake of Him to all those that were looking for redemption in Jerusalem (Lk. ii. 38).

But as she was thus proclaiming to the faithful in the Holy City the Advent of their King, pilgrims and worshippers were drawing near from far different and far distant lands. A short time after Joseph and Mary had returned to Bethlehem, there appeared certain travel-stained pilgrims, whose arrival stirred Jerusalem to its very centre. In their native home in Arabia or Persia, their attention had been directed to a luminous body in the sky, which had guided them to Palestine, and they now enquired where was He that was born King of the Jews202, and declared that they had seen His star in the East, and had come to worship Him. The arrival of these Magi203, as they were called in their own land, was quickly announced to Herod, and the enquiry respecting an hereditary King of the Jews roused the alarm and suspicion of one so jealous for the integrity of his own dynasty204. Hastily convening a formal assembly of the Chief Priests and Scribes, he enquired where, according to the prophetical books, the long-expected Messiah was to be born. Without the least hesitation they pointed to the words of the prophet Micah (v. 2), which declared Bethlehem in Judæa to be the favoured place. On this the monarch sought a private interview with the Magi (Mtt. ii. 7), and made diligent enquiries respecting the time of the appearance of the Star, and then bade them repair to Bethlehem and seek diligently for the young Child, declaring his intention, if they found Him, to come himself and lay his honours at the feet of the heir of David’s throne.

Thus advised the Magi set out, when lo! the Star, which they had seen in their far-off eastern home appeared before them, and guided their feet to the lowly abode where lay the object of their search. With great joy (Mtt. ii. 10) they entered the house, and seeing the young child and Mary His mother fell down and worshipped Him, and opening their treasures brought forth costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh205. Then warned in a dream not to return to the perfidious tyrant, they made their way to their own land by another route. Thus He, who had been “manifested” to the shepherds, to the faithful Symeon and Anna, was manifested also to these His first Gentile worshippers from the distant East.

But that same night Joseph was also warned in a dream, of peril awaiting the young Child. Herod was watching his opportunity to put Him to death, and it was necessary that he should fly. So Joseph arose, and taking the Infant and His mother, went down into Egypt, where He and they were to remain till they received further intimations respecting their course.

Their departure had not been too soon. Perceiving that the strange visitors to his capital had not returned, and that his design against the young Child’s life had been frustrated, with a reckless ferocity, which, we have seen, he too often displayed, Herod sent and slew every male child in Bethlehem from two years old and under, to make sure that he had included the Object of his terrible vengeance. His cruel edict was carried out, and filled many a home in Bethlehem with sorrow and mourning206. The voice of lamentation and weeping arose in Ramah, of which an inspired Prophet (Jer. xxxi. 15) had spoken 400 years before, and which the Jewish historian Josephus does not record, even if he knew of it, as though it was a matter of little moment compared with other atrocities207 of the same monarch, who could butcher on one occasion well-nigh every member of the Sanhedrin208, and on the very eve of his death meditate the wholesale slaughter of the chiefs of the Jews in the Hippodrome209 at Jericho.

CHAPTER III.

THE SAVIOUR’S EARLY LIFE AT NAZARETH.
B.C. 4‒A.D. 27.

THIS ferocious action was one of the last crimes in the bloodthirsty career of this guilty monarch. Very shortly afterwards he died under circumstances already related210 at Jericho A.U.C 750. This event was made known to Joseph by an Angel in a dream (Mtt. ii. 19), and he was bidden to arise and return with the young Child and His mother into the land of Israel. Accordingly he set out, but hearing that the tyrant’s son Archelaus211, who enjoyed a reputation worthy of his father, was reigning in his stead, he was afraid to continue his journey, and was only encouraged to proceed by another supernatural intimation. The place whither he was to go had not before been distinctly specified, and he might have supposed that Bethlehem, the city of David, was the proper place to rear the Son of David, so near to Jerusalem, the most religious, the most sacred part of Palestine212. But now he was directed to repair to the safer obscurity of his former residence in Galilee, and accordingly went down from the highlands of Judæa to Nazareth, and there the Holy Child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him (Lk. ii. 40).

From this time till the commencement of His public ministry a thick veil conceals from us all details of the Saviour’s life. The Evangelists pass this period by with a solemn reserve. One event, and one only, emerges from the obscurity that enshrouds it.

It was the custom of Joseph, and even of Mary213, to go up year after year to attend the celebration of the great festival of the Passover at Jerusalem (Lk. ii. 41). When He had attained the age of twelve years, A.U.C. 762, the Holy Child accompanied them, having attained to that period of life when Jewish children were required to attend the feasts and began to be instructed in the Law. At the close of the Festival, and probably on the eighth day, His parents, in company with other pilgrims (Lk. ii. 44), set out on their return to Galilee. On reaching, however, their resting-place on the first evening214, they found their Son was missing, and, full of trouble and anxiety, returned a day’s journey, and sought Him amongst their kinsfolk and acquaintance, and the travelling companies hastening homewards from the Holy City. But they found Him not. Still another day was spent in searching for Him in the city itself, but with the same result. At length on the third day215 they found Him in the precincts of the Temple, probably in one of the chambers where the Rabbis were wont to give instruction during the festivals216, sitting in the midst of learned Masters of Israel, not only listening to their words, but asking them questions. While all present were marvelling at the understanding He displayed, His parents drew near, and were amazed to find their Son in the midst of so august an assemblage, and the holy Mother expostulated with Him on the anxiety His absence had caused. To this He replied in artless but mysterious words, How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business? proving that even already He was aware of His heavenly origin. Then, while they understood not the saying, which nevertheless His Mother kept and treasured in her heart, He went down with them to the lowly home in despised Galilee. There in meek subjection He abode beneath their humble roof, and probably shared217 in His reputed father’s earthly labours, growing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man (Lk. ii. 52; Mk. vi. 3).

While thus in silence and seclusion the Holy One was advancing towards man’s estate, great changes were taking place in the fortunes of the Jewish nation, which now demand our attention.

After the death of Herod some considerable delay took place before the confirmation of his will by Augustus arrived from Rome, and Jerusalem was the scene of tumult and violence. At length that emperor was pleased to announce his approval, and Archelaus was appointed to the government of Judæa218, Idumæa, and Samaria, with the title of ethnarch; Herod Antipas obtained Galilee219 and Peræa220; Herod Philip, Auranitis221, Gaulanitis222, Trachonitis223, Batanæa224 and Ituræa225; while Salome was declared mistress of Jamnia, Azotus, and Phasaëlis, with a palace at Askelon and a revenue of 60 talents226. The emperor promised to Archelaus the title of king, if he proved worthy of it. But his government was marked by such gross cruelty and injustice both towards the Jews and Samaritans that complaints were lodged against him before the emperor. After a reign, therefore, of nine years he was summoned to Rome, and his cause having been formally heard, sentenced to be banished to Vienne in Gaul227, and to forfeit his estates228, A.D. 6.

And now in truth the sceptre departed from Judah (Gen. xlix. 10), and the kingdom of David and Solomon, of the famous Asmonean house and of Herod, sank into the form of a Roman province229, and was annexed to the prefecture of Syria. This office was now conferred on P. Sulpicius Quirinus, but the immediate government of Judæa and Samaria was given to a procurator, Coponius230, a man of equestrian rank, who had a body231 of troops at his command, and was entrusted in certain cases with the power of life and death232.

Quirinus, as we have seen above233, had in all probability been already governor of Syria, and in this capacity had conducted the preliminary enrolment of names preparatory to a general census. This census he was now entrusted to carry out234, and with it a levying of imposts and rates in money. This was regarded by the Jews as the last and most degrading mark of their subjection to a foreign power. The whole country was in a ferment, and though the energy of the high-priest Joazar235 repressed any actual outbreak at Jerusalem, the popular feeling could not be restrained in the provinces. At the head of the disaffected appeared one Judas of Gamala236 in Gaulanitis.

A man of energy, eloquence, and undaunted courage, he quickly gathered around him a body of adventurers, and aided by a confederate Sadoc, of the Pharisaic faction, unfurled the banner of resistance to foreign dominion, and especially to foreign tribute. For a time the country was at the mercy of the fierce and lawless throng, which flocked to his standard, but the effort was utterly fruitless. Nothing could withstand the terrible Roman legions; Judas himself was slain (Acts v. 37), and his followers were dispersed, but his work lived after him, and the Zealots and Sicarii or Assassins, who drank deeply of his fierce and independent spirit, long kept alive the popular discontent under a foreign sway.

Having completed the confiscation of the property of Archelaus, Quirinus deposed Joazar from the high-priesthood, and substituted in his place Annas, the son of Seth237, the ablest friend of Rome. He then returned to Syria, and Coponius having planted a small garrison on Zion and a guard at the Temple-gate, took up his abode at Cæsarea on the sea.

So long as Augustus filled the imperial throne the procurators in Judæa held their commands for a very limited number of years, and were rapidly changed. Thus Coponius, whose supremacy began in A.D. 6, was succeeded after four years, in A.D. 10, by Marcus Ambivius238. In three years Marcus Ambivius handed over the reins of power to Annius Rufus, who in the following year made way for Valerius Gratus. But in A.D. 14 Augustus died, and Tiberius resolved that such rapid changes should be discontinued239. Gratus, therefore, held his command till A.D. 26. He deposed the high-priest Annas, and set up Ishmael, son of Phabi, but a furious uproar ensuing he deposed Ishmael, and elevated Eleazar, a son of Annas, to the pontificate, permitting the latter, under the name of Sagan, or deputy, to discharge the spiritual functions of his office and conduct the ceremonial rites. But this appointment was of no long duration. Deeming Annas to possess too much influence the procurator deposed Eleazar, and set up Simon, son of Kamith, who held the office for less than a year, and then made way for Joseph Caiaphas, the Sagan’s son-in law240. These rapid changes shew how entirely the high-priesthood was at this time at the mercy of the Roman governors.

Valerius Gratus was succeeded in A.D. 26241 by Pontius Pilate242. He brought with him his wife, and a Roman household, established himself at Cæsarea, but repaired oftener than any of his predecessors to Jerusalem. Resolved to keep on good terms with the noble families, and to unite with himself as many as possible who were likely to help him to preserve the public peace, he suffered the Jewish priests to manage their own affairs. So Annas remained Sagan, and Caiaphas high-priest.

But one of his first acts roused the furious animosity of his new subjects. He resolved to transport the head-quarters of the army from Cæsarea to Jerusalem. With the soldiers, followed, as a matter of course, the standards, bearing the image of Cæsar; but as they were introduced in the night-time they did not at first attract attention243. No sooner, however, was the fact observed, than there were no bounds to the rage of the people. They resorted in crowds to his residence at Cæsarea, and besought him to remove the obnoxious emblems. For five days they beset his palace, and at length he gave the signal to his troops to put them to death, unless they desisted from troubling him. Thereupon the petitioners flung themselves upon the ground, and declared their willingness to meet death in any shape, rather than see their city polluted with heathen symbols. Their undaunted bearing had its effect. The procurator deemed it best to concede the point, and the standards were brought back to Cæsarea.

In spite, however, of this warning, he on another occasion had a clear proof of the refractory spirit of the people. Anxious to signalise his reign in Judæa by erecting a noble aqueduct, which was to bring a supply of water to the city from a distance of twenty-five miles, and wanting funds, he appropriated the Corban244, or the money laid up in the Temple and dedicated to God. This act roused the Jews to madness. They gathered in thousands and tens of thousands before his palace-gates, obstructed the works, and demanded that the sacred treasures should be restored245. Resolved not to be thwarted, Pilate ordered a company of the legionaries, carrying daggers under their garments, to surround and disperse them. The soldiers carried out his orders with greater cruelty than he had intended, charged the rioters, chased them into the Temple-courts, slew great numbers, and wounded many more, so that their blood was mingled with the blood of the victims on the altar.

Such was the man who now presided over the province of Judæa. Under his rule, and that of his predecessors, the Roman yoke cut more and more deeply into the heart of the nation. Finding no hope from their own chiefs, who all sided with the Romans, the people prayed with increased earnestness that the Messiah, the Deliverer, would come. The Galilæans in the North, the Separatists in the South waxed hotter and hotter in their hatred of their heathen rulers246. Many claiming the title of Messiah appeared, and gathered numbers of excited followers. But their careers were soon cut short, and they were swept away before the Roman legions.

But before Pilate had been many months in power, all Jerusalem and Judæa was roused by the appearance of a strange Preacher on the banks of the Jordan247, announcing the advent of a very different Messiah from that expected by the nation, and the speedy establishment of a kingdom not of earth but of heaven.

A MAP OF THE HOLY LAND
to illustrate
THE NEW TESTAMENT
and
A COMPARATIVE VIEW
of the successive divisions of the Holy Land mentioned in the New Testament after the death of Herod the Great.

London and New York: Macmillan & Co.
Stanford’s Geograph.^l Estab.^t

CHAPTER II.

CALL OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES—THE MARRIAGE AT CANA.
A.D. 27.

SUSTAINED by the ministries of these blessed spirits the Saviour returned towards the Jordan Valley, and drew near the ford of Bethabara or Bethany (Jn. i. 28). Here again He met the Baptist, who was still prosecuting his work, and baptizing the multitudes who flocked around him. Such was the effect produced by his preaching, that the rulers at Jerusalem determined to interpose, and the day before a formal deputation had waited upon him to enquire whether he was the Messiah, or Elias, or the prophet predicted by Moses (Jn. i. 21). Again he declared that he had no pretensions to such a dignity, that he was but the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, and preparing the way of the Messiah, of One infinitely mightier than himself, the very latchet of whose shoe he was unworthy to unloose.

But now, lifting up his eyes, he beheld Him to whom he had borne such faithful testimony (Jn. i. 29), and addressing Him as the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, repeated his solemn and assured conviction of His Divine nature (Jn. i. 30–34). Again, the day following, as he was standing in the company of two of His disciples, he beheld the Redeemer, and in their hearing pointed Him out under the same impressive title. On this occasion his words were not without their effect. The two disciples, one of whom was Andrew, a native of Bethsaida (Jn. i. 41), and the other, in all probability, the Evangelist St John, were so powerfully affected by them, that, drawn as it were by a powerful magnet, they left the Baptist and followed Jesus (Jn. i. 37).

The Redeemer perceived them following Him, and enquired what they sought? Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? was their reply. He mercifully bade them come and see, and they went and abode with Him for the rest of that day (Jn. i. 39), and resolved to follow Him. Others soon followed their example. Andrew went in quest of his own brother Simon, and declaring that the true Messiah had been found brought him to Jesus, who named him Cephas or Peter, the Rock-man. The day following, the Saviour set out in the direction of Galilee, and finding Philip, a native, like Andrew and Peter, of Bethsaida, bade him join their company. Philip obeyed, and falling in with Nathanael254, the son of Tolmai, a native of Cana in Galilee (Jn. xxi. 2), announced that He, of whom Moses and the Prophets had written, had been discovered in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. Though a native of Galilee, Nathanael could not at first believe that any good could come out of a town which enjoyed so low a reputation as Nazareth. But his friend bade him come and judge for himself. He obeyed, and was drawing near the Holy One, when he heard His declaration that he was an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile (Jn. i. 48). So little was Nathanael prepared for such words of praise, that he could not refrain from enquiring how he had become known to Jesus. Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree255, answered the Holy One. The reply convinced the other that One from whom no secrets were hid could be no ordinary Being. Rabbi, said he, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel, and was enrolled in the number of his new Master’s followers.

On the third day after His departure towards Galilee, the Saviour with His five disciples reached the little village of Cana256, situated no great distance from Nazareth. Here a marriage-feast was about to be celebrated, at which the Virgin was present, and the Holy One with His new found followers was invited as well. Their presence appears to have increased beyond expectation the number of the guests, and to have rendered the provision made for their entertainment insufficient. When, therefore, they wanted wine, the mother of the Saviour directed His attention to the fact. Whatever was the precise meaning she herself attached to her words, they drew down upon her a slight rebuke. Woman, was His reply, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. But as though these words concealed a real granting of her request, she bade the servants execute any command He might give, and the issue justified her expectations (Jn. ii. 2–5).

In the apartment, where the feast was proceeding, were placed, for the sake of the frequent lustrations of the Jews, six large waterpots of water, containing as much as two or three firkins a-piece. These the Saviour commanded the servants to fill with water. And on their filling them up to the brim, bade them draw out and bear to the master of the feast, i.e. either one of the guests set over the banquet by general consent of the guests, or a chief attendant who ordered the course of the feast, and superintended the ministrations of the inferior servants. He tasted the water now converted into wine, and knowing not whence it was, remarked that men usually set forth good wine at the beginning of the feast, and afterwards that which was worse, but He had kept the good wine until then (Jn. ii. 10).

Unobtrusively, however, as it had been wrought, the reality of this first miracle could not escape the notice of the guests. The glory of the Saviour hitherto hidden was now manifested, and the faith of the disciples in their new-found Master was confirmed. The marriage festivities of the Jews usually lasted six or seven days, and at the close of this period with His mother, His brethren, and His five disciples (Jn. ii. 12), the Saviour went down to Capernaum257 on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. The Passover was now nigh at hand, and Capernaum would afford a convenient point for joining the pilgrim companies going up to Jerusalem258, and there He abode a few days (Jn. ii. 12), engaging, probably, in private intercourse with His disciples, rather than any public ministrations in the city.

CHAPTER III.

THE FIRST PASSOVER, AND CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE.
A.D. 28.

AFTER a stay of not many days at Capernaum (Jn. ii. 12) the Redeemer and His five disciples turned their steps southward towards Jerusalem, to celebrate the first Passover of His public ministry (Jn. ii. 13).

Strange and full of deep significance was the scene which the Holy City presented at this season. The streets were filled with multitudes of Jews and proselytes, who had come up from all quarters of the world to celebrate the Feast. The hills around were whitened with countless flocks of lambs259 and kids. The gates, especially the Sheep-gate, were choked with moving masses of helpless victims ready to be examined by the priests, and on being pronounced free from blemish, to be selected by each Paschal company for their Paschal meal.

In the midst of a moving scene like this He, who had been already pointed out as the Lamb of God, entered the city. Repairing to the Temple, He was confronted, probably in the Court of the Gentiles, with a scene of desecration, which called forth the first260 display of holy zeal for the dwelling-place of Him, whom He had already declared to be His Father (Lk. ii. 49). For the convenience of Jews and proselytes residing at a distance from the Holy City, a kind of market had been established in the outer court, and here sacrificial victims, incense, oil, wine, and other things necessary for the service and the sacrifices, were to be obtained. The common money, moreover, circulated in foreign countries not being receivable within the Temple, the money-changers had set up their tables in the same locality, to exchange all common and foreign coins for the sacred shekel, alone current in the Temple precincts. But together with the money-changing other business had gradually crept in, and in place of the order and decorum that ought to have reigned there, the noisy huckstering of merchants and traders disturbed the devotions of the worshippers, and converted the Sanctuary of the most High into the likeness of a wrangling mart.

Such was the scene that presented itself to the Saviour in the courts of His Father’s House. As soon as His eye had rested upon it, He made a scourge of small cords (Jn. ii. 15), and with this simple weapon, singly and alone, drove forth the sheep and oxen. Then overthrowing the tables of the money-changers, He poured out their unholy gains, and with a voice of conscious authority bade even those who sold doves, to take those things thence, nor make His Father’s house a house of merchandise. Awed by His words and His calm majesty, the desecrators left the scene of their unholy traffic, while others wondering at an act, which legally could only be performed by one of the Sanhedrin or a prophet, approached Him and requested a sign, the performance of some miracle or prodigy, in attestation of His right to do these things261 (Jn. ii. 18).

Thus challenged the Holy One did not withhold a “sign.” With that majestic calmness, which ever distinguished Him, but without a single word of comment or explanation, He said, Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Perplexed and confounded the Jews replied, Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and wilt Thou raise it up in three days? But to their enquiry no answer was vouchsafed. They had asked for a “sign,” and a “sign” had been given, but in the shape of a “parable,” a “dark saying,” which they never forgot262, and which, though not understood by the disciples at the time, was afterwards revealed to them in all its deep meaning (Jn. ii. 21, 22).

But another incident was to render this Passover forever memorable. During His stay at Jerusalem (Jn. ii. 23) the Saviour wrought signs and wonders, which stirred the hearts of those who witnessed them, and caused many to believe on His Name. But their faith sprang from imperfect motives, and He, who knew what was in man, would not entrust Himself to them, or unveil the mysteries of His kingdom. Still even thus early there was one to whom He could more nearly reveal Himself.

One of the members of the Sanhedrin263 at this time was a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, who had probably heard of the marvellous incident, which had so lately occurred in the Temple-courts, and had witnessed one or more of the mighty works, which the Stranger from Nazareth had wrought. Convinced that He could be no ordinary person, that unassisted by Divine Power He could not perform such signs and wonders, he had resolved, in spite of his position, in spite of the risk he ran, in spite of the natural prejudice against so obscure a teacher, to go himself and ascertain who and what He was.

Under cover of night, therefore, he sought out the Saviour, who not only graciously received him, but unfolded to him the mystery of a birth, not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of water and of the Holy Spirit (Jn. iii. 5–8). And when the wondering ruler enquired how could these things be, He went on to hint at a still deeper mystery, and to intimate the true purport of the coming of the Son of Man, the Messiah, whom he and the nation expected. As Moses, that Moses whose writings he studied and expounded, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness264, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. iii. 12–16). How far the Jewish ruler entered into the meaning of this mysterious intimation, so entirely opposed to all that was expected by his nation of their Messiah, and how far it served to stimulate him to still deeper enquiries into the Law and the Prophets, we are not told. Certain, however, it is that he was not entirely alienated from the new Teacher, and we shall find at a later period that he, who thus came to Jesus by night, lived to plead for Him in open day before the council of the nation (Jn. vii. 50, 51), and to do honour to His crucified body, when all the Apostles had forsaken Him and fled (Jn. xix. 39).

PART III.

FROM THE FIRST PASSOVER TO THE ELECTION OF THE APOSTLES.

CHAPTER I.

IMPRISONMENT OF THE BAPTIST—THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.
A.D. 28.

THE private interview with Nicodemus just related appears to have closed the occurrences at this first eventful Passover. When the pilgrim-companies broke up each for their own homes, the Saviour repaired with His more immediate followers to the north-eastern parts of Judæa near the Jordan. Here He too administered the rite of baptism by the hands of His disciples (Jn. iii. 22; iv. 2), and quickly drew around Him so great a number of followers, that the adherents of the Baptist began to find a sensible decrease in the multitude that flocked around their master.

Repairing, therefore, to him at Ænon265 near Salim266, where he was baptizing, they drew his attention to the fact that He, to whom he had borne witness, was also baptizing, and all men were flocking to Him. But John knew nothing of the mortification of his followers. With a true greatness of soul far exalted above their wounded feelings, he asserted in the most emphatic manner that his position was only secondary with that of the Prophet of Nazareth. He must decrease, but the Other would increase, for He was the Bridegroom and had the Bride. He himself was but the friend of the Bridegroom, and rejoiced to hear His voice, and was satisfied with that measure of joy (Jn. iii. 29–32).

This was the last public testimony of the Baptist to the exalted nature of the Saviour’s person and work. His own career was rapidly drawing to a close. The place where he was baptizing was close to the dominions of Herod-Antipas, the ruler of Galilee and Peræa. This monarch had been married by his father to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, but becoming acquainted at Rome with Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod-Philip, he made overtures of marriage to her, which were accepted, on condition that he divorced the daughter of Aretas267. But the facts becoming known to the latter, she fled to her father’s court, who forthwith assembled an army to avenge her wrongs, and punish her guilty husband. The contest waxed hot on the frontier of Herod’s dominions, and it was, not improbably, on his way to confront his father-in-law, when he first encountered the Baptist. If he had hoped to escape the censure of one, whose influence with all classes was unbounded, he was utterly deceived. The Baptist was no reed shaken by the wind (Lk. vii. 24). Boldly, straight-forwardly, he not only rebuked the king for his notorious offences (Lk. iii. 19), but denounced the royal incest, and declared the marriage unlawful (Mtt. xiv. 4; Mk. vi. 18). Such an outspoken reproof from one, whom all reverenced as a prophet, the monarch could not forgive, and therefore flung the bold preacher into prison, probably in the gloomy castle of Machærus, which his father had built on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea to overawe the wild Arab tribes268.

The imprisonment of His great forerunner was announced to the Saviour at a time when He was also aware that the results of His ministry had roused the jealousy of the Pharisees (Jn. iv. 1). Accordingly, He left Judæa, and prepared to return by the shortest route through Samaria to the hills of Galilee (Jn. iv. 3, 4). It was now late in December, four months from the harvest269 (Jn. iv. 35), when He thus set out with His disciples, and reaching the well near Shechem270, which Jacob had built in the parcel of ground he gave to his son Joseph, He sat upon it, weary with travel, for it was the sixth hour, the sultry hour of noon271.

As He sat there alone, for His disciples had gone to the neighbouring town to purchase provisions, a woman of Samaria approached with her pitcher on her head, and the Saviour requested of her water to quench His thirst. Astounded that such a request should be made to her by a Jew, she enquired how He could thus address a Samaritan, with whom it was not lawful to have any dealings272? On this, drawing, as was ever His wont, similitudes from present circumstances, He excited her wonder by telling her of living waters at His command springing up unto everlasting life (Jn. iv. 10, 14), and increased it by revealing His acquaintance with the secret of her life, for she was living in adultery (Jn. iv. 18). Roused by this proof of superhuman knowledge to the fact that she was in the presence of no ordinary Being, she instantly sought to change the subject, and pointing to the slopes of Gerizim273 near at hand, remarked that her fathers worshipped on that mountain, while the Jews affirmed that in Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship. Thereupon the Saviour assured her that an hour was at hand, when neither on Gerizim nor yet at Jerusalem would men worship the Father; the Samaritans worshipped they knew not what; the Jews worshipped that which they knew, for of them was salvation; but a time was coming when the true worshippers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The astonished woman replied that this might be, when Messiah came, for He could teach them all things (Jn. iv. 25), and then heard from the Speaker’s own lips the first clear and distinct announcement that He was the long-expected Messiah (Jn. iv. 26)274.

At this juncture the disciples returned with the provisions they had bought, and marvelled that their Master talked with one of the hateful race, but ventured on no open expostulation. Meanwhile the woman herself had returned to the town, and bade the inhabitants come and see One, who had told her all that ever she did, and could be no other than the Messiah (Jn. iv. 28, 29). Accordingly the townsfolk came forth to see the Saviour, and requested Him to abide with them, which He did, staying amongst them two days, during which period, the number, which had learned to believe on Him on account of the woman’s testimony to His Omniscience, was increased by many others, who, listening to His own gracious words, were convinced that He was indeed the Saviour of the world274 (Jn. iv. 42).

Thus to a woman of Samaria He, whose meat it was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work (Jn. iv. 34), revealed Himself as the true Messiah, and she became the first herald of the Gospel, the firstfruits of a harvest now sown and to be afterwards reaped by Philip the Deacon (Jn. iv. 38; Acts viii. 5; &c.).

CHAPTER II.

SECOND VISIT TO CANA AND JERUSALEM.
A.D. 29.

AFTER this stay in Samaria the Saviour returned to Galilee. Thither had gone before Him the fame of the miracles He had wrought at Jerusalem, reported by those Galilæans who had returned from the Passover (Jn. iv. 45), and this was now confirmed by a second miracle wrought at Cana.

While staying in this little village, He was visited by a nobleman, or officer of state275, not improbably in the service of Herod-Antipas, who besought him to go down to Capernaum, and heal his son who was lying at the point of death. Though he was clearly unable to conceive of any cure, save through the Lord’s bodily presence, and was urgent that He should come down to Capernaum, the Holy One sent him away with the assurance that his son was alive. Contented with this word, the father returned, and on the morrow was met by his servants, who announced his son’s recovery, and in answer to his enquiries when the youth had begun to amend, informed him that the day before, at the seventh hour276, the fever not only began to abate, but left or suddenly forsook him. This the other remembered was the very hour when the Lord had assured him of his son’s recovery, and he became a believer with all his family (Jn. iv. 53).

After a brief stay in Galilee, the season approached for the celebration of the Feast of Purim277, and the Redeemer went up to Jerusalem (Jn. v. 1). At this time there was near the Sheep-gate, through which the victims intended for sacrifice were usually brought into the city, a pool called in the Hebrew language Bethesda278, or the House of Mercy, which at certain seasons possessed remarkable healing properties, heralded it would seem by a violent commotion or bubbling of the waters. Around the pool, sheltered by five porticoes (Jn. v. 2), there was wont to assemble a multitude of diseased persons, lame, blind, withered, waiting for the troubling of the waters (Jn. v. 3).

Amongst these was one who for upwards of 38 years had been a helpless paralytic, and had long watched in vain for an opportunity to descend into the healing stream. As often as with slow and painful motion he crawled towards the waters, another was certain to step in before him, and anticipate him in acquiring the welcome cure. Seeing this miserable sufferer, and knowing how long he had been thus afflicted, the Saviour drew near, and enquired whether he wished to be made whole. Deeming, probably, that he was only listening to words of casual sympathy, and little expecting a cure, the man contented himself with relating the sad story of his constant disappointments (Jn. v. 7). Great, then, must have been his astonishment, when the Saviour not only bade him rise and take up the bed or pallet on which he had lain so long, but with the word gave him also the power to obey, so that he was instantly made whole, and taking up his bed bore it away with healthy tread.

It was a Sabbath-day on which this marvellous cure was wrought, and the carrying of any burden was regarded by the Pharisaic interpreters of the Law as a heinous violation of the sanctity of the day. The sight, therefore, of a man whose case must have been well known, thus openly and publicly violating a received rule, could not but excite much attention. Accordingly “the Jews,” a term by which St John generally denotes the adherents of the Sanhedrin, summoned him before them, and questioned him closely concerning his conduct. With artless simplicity, the man replied that he was only acting up to the command of his Healer, but when further questioned who He was, could not say, for Jesus had vanished from the crowd when the cure was wrought (Jn. v. 13).

Shortly afterwards, however, he met his Healer in the Temple, and then returning informed the authorities that Jesus was the author of his cure. On this the Saviour Himself was called to account for His conduct (Jn. v. 16, 17), and proceeded to avow before His astonished and indignant auditors His union in dignity and honour with the eternal Father. This avowal, added to the fact that He had shewn dishonour to the Sabbath, roused the first symptoms of hostility on the part of the authorities at Jerusalem, and they even sought to kill Him (Jn. v. 18). But, undeterred by their opposition, the Holy One went on to claim plainly and unreservedly, the character and functions of the Messiah, to reiterate the fact of His Divine Original, and to declare that He was invested with power as the future Judge of mankind (Jn. v. 22–30). In support of these claims, He appealed to the testimony which the Baptist had publicly borne to His exalted nature (Jn. v. 33–35), to the miracles which He had wrought (Jn. v. 36), to the authority of the sacred writings which testified of Him (Jn. v. 39), and to the great Lawgiver Moses, who, He declared, had written of Him (Jn. v. 46).

This incident forms an important epoch in the Gospel history279. The degree of toleration, and even of acceptance, with which the preaching of the Saviour had been received in Judæa, was exchanged for hostility, which, though as yet it led to no attempt to seize His Person, manifested itself with increasing distinctness. Accordingly, He left Judæa, which had shewn itself unwilling to receive Him, and retired to Galilee, and there taught in the synagogues (Lk. iv. 15).

CHAPTER IV.

CALL OF MATTHEW—HOSTILITY OF THE PHARISEES.
A.D. 28.

EARLY on the following morning Peter and his companions found that their Master had left the city, and retired to a solitary place for the purpose of engaging in secret prayer. Having discovered the place of His retreat, they announced that the excitement of the previous evening was not subsided, that all were seeking Him (Mk. i. 37); and soon their words were confirmed by the coming of a crowd, who besought Him not to leave them. But this could not be. The Divine Purpose required that He should proclaim the Glad Tidings of His kingdom in other places also; and He commenced a tour throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, casting forth demons, and healing all manner of sickness and disease (Mtt. iv. 23; Mk. i. 39).

Among other recipients of His gracious bounty, was one afflicted with the awful malady of leprosy, which none ever hoped could be cured. Bearing about him all the emblems of his sad condition, his clothes rent, his head bare (Comp. Num. vi. 9; Ezek. xxiv. 17), his lip covered (Ezek. xxiv. 17), he drew near the Saviour, and flinging himself on the ground before His feet, besought Him, if it was His will, to cleanse him. Though the Law forbade all contact with one, afflicted with a disease, to which the Jews gave the significant name of the Stroke, the Holy One put forth His hand, and touched Him, saying, I will, be thou clean. Instantly his flesh returned to him as the flesh of a little child, and he was clean, and, at the command of his Healer, repaired to the priests at Jerusalem to present the offering required of one so cleansed289, and thus in his own person bear witness against them290, and their unbelief.

Obedient to this injunction of his Healer, the cleansed leper found it more difficult to remember His other command, and abstain from saying anything to any one of the way in which he had been healed (Mk. i. 44; Lk. v. 14). In the fulness of his exulting thankfulness he could not contain himself, but, wherever he went, began to blaze abroad the matter, so that crowds gathered round the Saviour, and, unable to enter Capernaum (Mk. i. 45), He was fain to remain in secluded places, where He continued in prayer (Lk. v. 16) and ministered unto such as sought Him (Mk. i. 45).

After the subsidence, however, of the first excitement, He returned to Capernaum (Mk. ii. 1), and either in His own abode (Mk. ii. 1), or possibly that of Peter, preached the word to the multitudes, who flocked thither. During His absence there had arrived not only from Galilee, but even from Judæa and Jerusalem (Lk. v. 17), Pharisees and lawyers, who insidiously watched all that He did. As, then, He was proclaiming the doctrines of the kingdom in their presence, an incident occurred, which roused in no small degree the ill-will of these doctors of the law. Four men approached the chamber where the Saviour was, bearing upon a litter a helpless paralytic, and finding an entrance in the usual way impracticable, they bore the man up the outside staircase, and let him down through the roof into His presence.

Perceiving their faith, the Saviour was ready to bestow upon the object of so much solicitude the boon they craved. But, instead of assuring him of the cure of his malady, He addressed the paralytic with the words Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. This expression, more startling than anything He had yet said, inasmuch as it implied a distinct equality with God in respect to one of His most incommunicable attributes, roused much disputing among the watchful emissaries from Jerusalem. Was not this a blasphemous utterance, for who could forgive sins, save God only? But, unmoved by their dark suspicions, and knowing the secret thoughts of their hearts, the Holy One bade the man rise, take up his bed, and walk, which he straightway did, and so revealed the completeness of his restored powers to the astonishment of all the spectators, who confessed that they had seen strange things that day, and glorified God, who had given such power unto men (Lk. v. 26; Mtt. ix. 8).

Overpowered by their wonder at this signal miracle, the Pharisees and Scribes did not give further vent to their indignation at this claim to exercise the awful power of forgiving sins. But their national prejudices were soon to receive a still greater shock. As He walked by the side of the lake of Gennesaret, the Saviour beheld sitting at the receipt of custom, probably at the port of Capernaum, a tax-gatherer named Levi or Matthew291, the son of Alphæus. Though he belonged to a class above all others hated and despised by Jews of all orders, the Lord did not hesitate to invite him to become one of His immediate followers. The tax-gatherer, who may have had some prior acquaintance with the Prophet of Nazareth, straightway gave up his usual calling, and in honour of his new Master made a great feast (Lk. v. 29; Mk. ii. 15), to which he invited many of his old associates.

When the Scribes and Pharisees beheld Him thus openly associating with a degraded caste, they could not restrain themselves, and openly protested against such an infraction of custom and right behaviour. But they were speedily silenced by His wise reply. If those, amongst whom He sat, were sinners, then to them was it specially meet that He should vouchsafe His presence, for, as the Physician of souls, He had specially come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance (Mtt. ix. 13; Mk. ii. 17; Lk. v. 31, 32). Nor were they more successful in contrasting His apparent laxity and freedom with the strictness and austerity of the Baptist. The very garments worn by those around, the very wine they were drinking, suggested similes that conveyed the true answer to their objections292. To sew a piece of new cloth on an old and ragged garment, to pour new wine into old bottles of skin, was not more foolish than to attempt to unite with the Dispensation He was inaugurating the dead formalities of one which was rapidly passing away for ever (Mtt. ix. 14–17; Mk. ii. 18–22; Lk. v. 33–39).

The day following was a Sabbath, the second-first Sabbath293, as St Luke calls it (Lk. vi. 1), and the Saviour walked through the corn-fields with His disciples, who began to pluck the ears of ripening grain, and to eat them, rubbing them in their hands. Such an act, though not forbidden by the Mosaic code, was declared unlawful by the traditional expounders294. The Pharisees, therefore, already scandalized by His assumption of power to forgive sins, and His associating with publicans, now urged a third complaint against His allowing His disciples to do what was unlawful on the Sabbath. But in full and explicit vindication of what they had done, the Saviour not only referred His accusers to the well-known incident in the life of David, when flying from Saul, he ate the shewbread, forbidden to all except the priests (1 Sam. xxi. 6), and to the words of the Prophet, who had declared that God would have mercy, and not sacrifice (Hos. vi. 6), but openly declared that He, as the Son of Man, was Lord also of the Sabbath, which had been ordained for man, and not man for the sabbath (Mtt. xii. 8).

A week afterwards He entered the Synagogue, and descried a man having his right hand withered, occupying, it would seem, a prominent position, and surrounded by Scribes and Pharisees, who were maliciously on the watch to see what He would do, and to obtain matter for accusation (Mtt. xii. 10; Mk. iii. 2; Lk. vi. 7). They now propounded the distinct question whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day. In reply the Saviour reminded them that the Law allowed a man, whose sheep had fallen into a pit, to lift it out on the Sabbath, and enquired whether they deemed it more consistent with the holiness of the day to do good or to do evil, to save life or to slay. Silenced and abashed they had not a word to urge in their own defence, and were obliged to stand by, while He, looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts (Mk. iii. 5), bade the man stretch forth his hand, which was instantly restored whole as the other.

Such an exhibition of Divine power, such a calm and unanswerable protest against their narrow bigotry, was more than they could bear. Filled with madness (Lk. vi. 11), the Scribes and Pharisees went forth and called a council (Mtt. xii. 14), and not ashamed to unite with their political opponents, the followers of Herod Antipas (Mk. iii. 6), began to form plans for compassing His death (Mk. iii. 6; Lk. vi. 11).

PART IV.

FROM THE ELECTION OF THE APOSTLES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

CHAPTER I.

CALL OF THE APOSTLES—SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
A.D. 28.

WE have now reached a very important turning-point in the Gospel History. While the fame of the Saviour had spread abroad in every direction throughout the land, the animosity of the ruling powers had clearly displayed itself alike in Judæa and in Galilee, and there was already an active correspondence between the Scribes and Pharisees in both districts respecting His claims and pretensions. As yet, while the current of popular feeling ran in His favour, their hostility confined itself to secretly plotting against Him, and devising means for hindering Him in His work, with the hope that some imprudence or sudden change in the feeling of the multitude might put him in their power.

It was at this juncture, then, that He took a more decided step towards the establishment of His Divine work. Hitherto He had seemed to stand almost alone. Though a few had been gathered around Him as His disciples they did not present the appearance of a regular and organized community, of which He was the Head, nor had they received a distinct and solemn commission to disseminate His doctrines.

Such a commission was now to be given.

Attracted by His miracles of healing, crowds gathered about Him not only from Judæa, Jerusalem and Galilee, but even from Peræa, Idumæa, and the country around Tyre and Sidon (Mk. iii. 7, 8; Lk. vi. 17), bringing such as were afflicted with any diseases, and beseeching his aid. While, therefore, He did not withhold that Divine assistance which they so eagerly craved (Lk. vi. 9), but graciously healed them, He now retired from the constant interruption, to which their coming exposed Him, and sought a retreat in the lonely mountain-range west of the sea of Tiberias. There he spent a night in solemn meditation and prayer (Lk. vi. 12), and on the following morning called to Him His disciples, and made selection amongst them of Twelve, who should be in continual personal attendance upon Him (Mk. iii. 14), and whom He might send forth to preach in His name, and to exercise power over evil spirits (Mk. iii. 15).

The Twelve thus selected and denominated Apostles were:—

After this formal selection and ordination of the Twelve Apostles, the Saviour descended from the mountain-peak302, where He had spent the night, to a more level spot (Lk. vi. 17), and sitting down in the formal attitude of a Teacher in the presence of His disciples and the multitude, which had gathered around Him, proceeded to deliver that wondrous summary of Christian doctrine and practice known as the “Sermon on the Mount”303 (Mtt. v.‒vii.; Lk. vi. 20–49).

At its conclusion, He repaired again to Capernaum (Lk. vii. 1), where He was met by certain elders of the synagogue bearing a message from a centurion belonging to the Roman garrison quartered in the place, one of whose slaves lay stricken with paralysis. Though an officer of imperial Rome, he had not regarded with contempt the religion of the people amongst whom He was placed, but had aided them in building their synagogue, and evinced much kindness towards them. At their request, therefore, the Saviour proceeded towards his house, but on the way was met by certain of the centurion’s friends, who bade Him not trouble Himself to enter his abode, but speak the word, and he was assured his slave would recover. Such faith, the faith of a true soldier304, who could believe that the Holy One was as well able to command the unseen agencies producing sickness, as he was himself to rule his own soldiers, moved the wonder even of the Lord, and was quickly rewarded by the healing of apparently the first Gentile sufferer305.

On the following day (Lk. vii. 11), leaving Capernaum, accompanied by His disciples and a large multitude, the Saviour proceeded in the direction of Nain, then a place of considerable extent in the Esdraelon plain, now little more than a cluster of ruins306. As he drew near, a sad and mournful spectacle met his eyes. A young man, the only son of his mother, and she a widow (Lk. vii. 12), was being carried on a bier towards his last resting-place, probably in one of the sepulchral caves which perforated the rock on the western side of the town. Beholding the forlorn and desolate mother, the Holy One was filled with the deepest compassion, and bidding her not weep, advanced towards the bier and touched it. Thereupon the bearers stood still, while addressing the corpse He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise, at which word of power the dead man instantly sat up and began to speak, and was restored to his wondering and rejoicing mother (Lk. vii. 15).

This first signal victory over death filled all those, who witnessed it, with awe and astonishment, and they thankfully glorified God who had raised up a prophet among them and truly visited His people (Lk. vii. 16). No such miracle had been wrought since the days of Elisha, and the fame of it went forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the region round about. (Lk. vii. 17). Amongst those to whom it was related, together with the mighty works of the Saviour, was the Baptist, still detained in prison in the gloomy castle of Machærus307 (Mtt. xi. 2; Lk. vii. 18). Thereupon he sent two of his disciples308 to Jesus with the question, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another? Whatever was his precise motive in making this formal enquiry, whether it was for the sake of fully convincing his own disciples, or from a desire for the comfort of a definite assurance from the Saviour’s own lips, or from impatience at the slow establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah, it was fully answered. At the hour when the messengers arrived, the Saviour was actively engaged in His daily labours of love, healing diseases, casting out demons, and restoring sight to the blind (Lk. vii. 21); He therefore bade the two disciples return and tell their master what things they had seen and heard, how the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the dead were raised, the poor had the Gospel preached to them (Mtt. xi. 5). But besides these proofs of His Messiahship, which, as the Baptist could hardly fail to remember, had been distinctly indicated by the Prophets (comp. Isai. xxxv. 5, 6; lxi. 1), the Holy One added a special word for John’s weary prison-hours and the doubts of his disciples, saying, Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me (Mtt. xi. 6; Lk. vii. 23), “at My calm and unassuming course of mercy and love to mankind, at My total disregard of worldly honours, at My refusal to place Myself at the head of the people as a temporal Messiah309.”

No sooner, however, had the messengers departed than the Saviour took the opportunity of vindicating before the bystanders310, who, perhaps, from the enquiry he had put, might receive an unfavourable impression respecting the Baptist, the true greatness of his character. No reed shaken by the wind was he, whom, a little more than a year ago, all Judæa and Jerusalem had flocked forth into the wilderness to see; no effeminate prince clad in luxurious apparel; no prophet merely, such as those of the Old Testament dispensation. Himself the subject of prophecy (Mtt. xi. 10), he was greater than all the prophets that had preceded him, being no other than the long-expected Forerunner of the Messiah (Mtt. xi. 10; Lk. vii. 27), the true Elias of whom Malachi had spoken, as destined to prepare His way before Him.

CHAPTER III.

MIRACLES AT CAPERNAUM—DEATH OF THE BAPTIST.
A.D. 29.

IMMEDIATELY after this miracle the Lord crossed over to the western shore of the lake (Mk. v. 21), where a great multitude was awaiting Him, and amongst them one of the prefects of the synagogue, probably of Capernaum, whose name was Jairus. Falling down before His feet, he earnestly besought Him to come to his house, and lay His hands upon his little daughter, who was at the point of death. Thereupon the ever compassionate Redeemer arose and followed him, accompanied by His disciples, and a curious and eager crowd.

Amongst the rest, who thus followed and pressed upon Him, was a woman, that had laboured for upwards of twelve years under an issue of blood, which all the efforts of many physicians had proved powerless to asswage. Believing that, if she could but touch His clothes, she would be made whole, she now came behind, and touched the hem or blue fringe on the border of His garment. No sooner had she done so, than she felt within herself that the long wished-for cure had at length been accomplished. The fountain of her blood was stanched, and she was healed. But she was not to bear away the boon thus totally unobserved. Perceiving that power had gone out of Him, and turning round amidst the crowd, the Saviour enquired who had touched Him? The Apostles, with Peter at their head, would have put the enquiry aside, but the Saviour repeated it, and then the woman, trembling and alarmed, came and fell down before Him, confessed all that she had done, and was gladdened by the cheering words, Daughter, be of good cheer, thy faith hath saved thee go in peace (Mk. v. 34; Lk. viii. 48).

Meanwhile, though the delay must have been a sore trial to Jairus, “now when every moment was precious, when death was shaking the last few sands in the hour-glass of his daughter’s life325,” he betrayed no signs of impatience at a boon so readily bestowed upon another. But at this juncture his faith was still more put to the proof. Messengers arrived informing him that the worst was over, and that his daughter was already dead, and suggesting that he should no further trouble the Master. Overhearing the announcement (Mk. v. 36), the Holy One bade him not be afraid, but only believe, and hastened towards his house. Entering it, accompanied only by Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the maiden, He advanced into the chamber of death, where He found a number of hired mourners weeping and wailing with all the boisterous and turbulent symbols of Oriental grief. Putting them forth, while they laughed to scorn His announcement that the damsel was not dead but only asleep, He went forward to the bed, and said, Talitha Cumi, “Maid, arise.” Instantly His word was obeyed. The spirit of the maiden came to her again, and she arose straightway, and began to walk, while “at once to strengthen that life which was come back to her, and to prove that she was indeed no ghost, but had returned to the realities of a mortal existence, He commanded to give her meat326” (Mk. v. 43).

Soon afterwards, accompanied by His disciples, He left Capernaum, and for the second time appeared on a Sabbath in the synagogue of His own town of Nazareth (Mk. vi. 2; Mtt. xiii. 54). The conduct of His hearers on this occasion did not betray the frantic violence they exhibited during His previous visit. The miraculous works wrought by His hands, of which they must have heard, could not be gainsaid, and the wondrous wisdom with which He spake filled them with astonishment (Mtt. xiii. 54; Mk. vi. 2). But again their minds recurred to the thought of His lowly origin, to the fact that He was the son of a carpenter, that his family connections were well known to them, and living in their midst (Mk. vi. 3; Mtt. xiii. 55). Stumbling at this rock of offence (Mtt. xiii. 57) they still refused to believe in Him, and the Lord Himself marvelling at their unbelief (Mk. vi. 6), confined His designs of mercy to laying His hands on a few sick folk (Mk. vi. 5), who felt the influence of that Divine touch and were healed.

On the morrow He and His disciples set out on another circuit amongst the towns and villages of Galilee (Mtt. ix. 35–38; Mk. vi. 6), preaching the glad tidings of the Kingdom, and healing the sick. Great multitudes from that thickly-peopled district followed Him, and deeply moved to see them scattered like sheep without a shepherd (Mtt. ix. 36), He said to His disciples that the harvest truly was plenteous, while the labourers were few, and calling the Apostles to Him (Mtt. x. 1; Mk. vi. 7; Lk. ix. 1), formally bestowed on them power over unclean spirits, and the ability to heal diseases, and sent them forth two and two with instructions not to enter into any heathen or Samaritan city (Mtt. x. 5), but to proclaim to the lost sheep of the house of Israel the near approach of the Kingdom of Heaven. Accordingly they went forth and preached in the various towns and villages the message of repentance, casting out demons, and healing the sick, and at the conclusion of this trial of their powers, returned to their Master, probably at Capernaum (Mk. vi. 30; Lk. ix. 10).

Meanwhile important events occurred in the gloomy prison, where John the Baptist was confined. The anger he had excited in the breast of Herodias by his outspoken denunciation of her sin, never slumbered or slept. She constantly kept her eye upon him, and would have put him out of the way without scruple, but Herod, though there was little from which he would shrink, dared not lay hands on one so venerated by the people, and whose exhortations he himself was not above listening to and in some respects obeying (Mk. vi. 20).

At length an opportunity for gratifying her revenge presented itself, which she instantly embraced. Herod’s birthday327 came round, which, like a true Herod, conforming in this as in other things to Roman customs, he kept probably at Machærus, with feasting and revelry, surrounded by the petty chiefs and grandees of Galilee, the lords of his court, and the officers of his camp (Mk. vi. 21). During the feast the youthful Salome, the daughter of Herodias, entered the banqueting hall, and danced before the riotous company. So delighted were the guests, and especially Herod, with the brilliancy of her movements, that in the delirium of his admiration, he promised her anything, everything even to the half of his kingdom, and ratified his word with the royal oath.

The maiden departed, and consulted with her mother. Herodias saw that at last her hour was come, that at length the long-desired vengeance was within her grasp. No jewelled trinket, no royal palace, or splendid robe should be the reward of her daughter’s feat; Ask, said she, for John Baptist’s head in a charger (Mtt. xiv. 8; Mk. vi. 24), i.e. on one of the dishes on which the fruits and viands of the table had been served. Forthwith (Mk. vi. 25), as though not a moment was to be lost, Salome returned, and named her price to the assembled company.

Herod’s brow instantly fell. Even amidst the delirium of that riotous hour he was exceeding sorry (Mk. vi. 26) for the brave preacher, whose words he had so often listened to, and for whom he entertained much reverence. But he had promised, and ratified the promise with an oath. The captains and great lords, who had heard him swear, sat round the festive board, and none in that riotous company would say a word for the friendless prophet. So the word was given, and an officer was bidden to seek out the Baptist’s dungeon and bring the reward which the maiden claimed. He went, and executed his command, and Salome bore the bleeding head to her mother (Mk. vi. 28).

Before long the news of their master’s death became known to the disciples of the Baptist, and having consigned his headless body to the grave (Mtt. xiv. 12; Mk. vi. 29), they went and recounted all that had occurred to the Saviour (Mtt. xiv. 12), whom they appear to have found in or near Capernaum (Mtt. xiv. 13; Mk. vi. 30; Lk. ix. 10). On receiving these sad tidings respecting His Forerunner, the Lord left the place with His Apostles, who had just returned from their tentative mission, and crossing the lake of Gennesaret (Mtt. xiv. 13), sought the neighbourhood of Bethsaida-Julias328 (Lk. ix. 10).

Meanwhile the news of the Baptist’s death excited much consternation amongst the Jews329, who all regarded him as a prophet (Mtt. xiv. 5), and Herod’s conscience allowed him little rest after the cruel murder. Returning to Galilee330, he received intelligence, probably from those who had witnessed the mission of the Twelve, of the wonderful works of the Prophet of Nazareth (Mtt. xiv. 1; Mk. vi. 14; Lk. ix. 7). Perplexed at the appearance of a new Teacher he enquired who this could be, and received different answers. Some said He was the awful Elias, whose coming had been so often predicted; others that He was a prophet, or as one of the prophets (Mk. vi. 15). But the uneasy and superstitious king could not be satisfied with these replies, and declared Him to be none other than the Baptist risen from the dead (Mk. vi. 16), come back to haunt his footsteps, and reproach him with his crimes. All that he heard awakened in him a desire to see the new Teacher, and destined he was to see Him, but not now (Lk. ix. 9).

PART V.

FROM THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST TO THE VISIT OF THE SAVIOUR TO JERUSALEM AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

CHAPTER I.

THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND, AND THE WALKING ON THE LAKE.
A.D. 29.

AT this time the Passover, the second Passover, as seems most probable, during the Saviour’s public ministry, drew nigh (Jn. vi. 4), but on this occasion He does not appear to have gone up to Jerusalem, where the determined hostility of the ruling powers rendered any further activity dangerous, at least for the present.

It was probably, to commune in retirement with the Twelve, and to afford them a season of comparative rest after their late labours, that the Lord now sought the neighbourhood of Bethsaida-Julias (Mk. vi. 31). But the numbers moving about the country in consequence of the near approach of the great Festival, who came on foot from all the towns round about to see and hear Him (Mtt. xiv. 13; Mk. vi. 32; Lk. ix. 11), rendered the desired solitude impossible. The sight, moreover, of these multitudes scattered as sheep without a shepherd (Mk. vi. 34), again roused His deepest compassion, and He not only taught them many things concerning the Kingdom of God, and healed those amongst them that were afflicted with various diseases (Mtt. xiv. 14), but was moved on this occasion to minister still further to their temporal necessities.

Accordingly at a somewhat early period, as it would seem, in the afternoon331, He enquired of the Apostle Philip where bread might be bought to satisfy the hunger of the multitudes (Jn. vi. 5). Though He Himself knew what He would do, He put this question to prove the trust of the Apostle. But Philip, thinking of no other supplies save such as natural means could procure, replied that two hundred pence (or rather denarii) would not be sufficient to procure sustenance for such a number (Jn. vi. 7). Having thus obtained from his own mouth a confession of the inability of all human power to satisfy the present need, the Holy One left “the difficulty and perplexity to work in his mind and the minds of the Apostles332,” and thus prepare them for what He was about to do.

As the evening, however, drew on (Mtt. xiv. 15; Lk. ix. 12) the disciples approached Him, and drawing His attention to the desert333 character of the locality, proposed that He should send away the multitudes, in order that they might seek refreshment in the neighbouring towns and villages. To this He replied that they need not depart (Mtt. xiv. 16), and bade them supply their needs, and when, reiterating the assertion334 of Philip, they declared how impossible it was to do such a thing, He sent them to see what supplies they had. Returning they informed Him that from a lad in their company they had been enabled to procure five barley loaves and two small fishes (Jn. vi. 9), and were thereupon bidden to marshal the multitudes in companies335 amid the green grass of the rich plain around. This done, He took the loaves and the two fishes and looking up to heaven He blessed, and brake, and gave of the food to the Apostles, who in their turn distributed to the different groups, till they did all eat and were filled. When the wondrous meal was over, the Holy One, who, as the Lord of nature, ever “makes the most prodigal bounty go hand in hand with the nicest and truest economy,” bade the disciples gather up the fragments that remained, that nothing might be lost, and though 5000 men besides women and children (Mtt. xiv. 21) had eaten and been satisfied, yet they took up twelve baskets full of fragments that still remained over and above (Mtt. xiv. 20; Mk. vi. 43; Jn. vi. 13).

The impression made upon the people by this miracle was profound. It was the popular expectation that the Messiah would repeat the miracles of Moses336, and this “bread of wonder,” of which they had partaken, vividly recalled to the minds of the multitude their great Lawgiver, who had given their fathers manna in the wilderness. They were convinced, therefore, that the Holy One was none other than the Prophet, of whom Moses had spoken (Deut. xviii. 15), and in this conviction would have taken Him by force and made Him a king (Jn. vi. 14, 15).

To defeat this their intention, the Saviour bade His Apostles take ship and cross over to Bethsaida337 (Mk. vi. 45), on the other side of the lake, while He dismissed the multitudes. Having done so, He ascended to a point in the neighbouring mountain-range, and there continued in solitary communion with His Heavenly Father till near the fourth watch338 of the night (Mtt. xiv. 23–25; Mk. vi. 46).

Meanwhile the Apostles had rowed about 25 or 30 furlongs339 (Jn. vi. 19), when one of those sudden storms of wind to which the lake is subject, rushed down from the western mountains, and lashing the usually placid surface into waves (Mtt. xiv. 24) prevented them making their way towards Capernaum, and exposed them to imminent peril. At this moment, to add to their fears, they discerned amidst the darkness (Mk. vi. 50) a Figure walking on the water and approaching their vessel. Thinking it could be nothing but a Phantom, they cried out in their terror, when a well-known Voice was heard saying It is I, be not afraid. Thereupon the ardent, impetuous Peter replied, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. The rejoinder was Come; and so descending from the vessel (Mtt. xiv. 29) amidst the darkness and howling wind the Apostle made some little way towards his Lord. But soon the wind roared (Mtt. xiv. 30) and the waters raged, and his heart failed him, and beginning to sink he cried, Lord, save me. Thereupon Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him, and gently rebuking him for his want of faith took him with Him into the ship, which amidst the calm that now stilled the waves, quickly reached the harbour of Capernaum, while the Apostles, amazed beyond measure (Mk. vi. 51), worshipped Him, saying, Truly Thou art the Son of God (Mtt. xiv. 33).

CHAPTER III.

THE FOUR THOUSAND FED—THE CONFESSION OF ST PETER.
A.D. 29.

THE effect of these miraculous cures on the inhabitants of the half-pagan district of Decapolis was very great, and they confessed that the God who had chosen Israel was indeed above all gods350 (Mtt. xv. 31). Before long, therefore, a great multitude, amounting to upwards of four thousand besides women and children (Mtt. xv. 38), were collected from the neighbouring region, and continued with the Lord three days (Mtt. xv. 32), beholding His works and listening to His words.

They had not, like the multitude earlier in the year, assembled for the purpose of going up to Jerusalem to keep the Passover, and their scanty provisions failing them, could only retire to their mountain-homes through the passes by which they had followed the Lord351. The compassionate Redeemer had no wish that they should return only to faint by the way (Mk. viii. 3), and enquired of the disciples how many loaves they had with them. To this they replied, Seven, and a few small fishes (Mtt. xv. 34), and were thereupon commanded to make the men sit down352, when their scanty supply in the hands of Him, who was the true Bread from heaven, proved sufficient for the hungry multitude: they did eat and were filled, and took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets353 full (Mtt. xv. 37).

Having dismissed the recipients of His bounty, the Lord immediately entered with His disciples into a ship354, and crossed over, according to St Matthew, into the coasts of Magdala355 (xv. 39), according to St Mark, into the parts of Dalmanutha356 (viii. 10), a village close by. Here, however, His stay was of no long duration, for certain Pharisees, now for the first time combined with the Sadducees, approached (Mtt. xvi. 1) with a demand that He would shew them a sign from heaven. This request, already twice preferred357, and now urged in explicit terms, He, who knew the hearts of those who claimed it, would not gratify. Sighing deeply in His spirit (Mk. viii. 12), and grieved at their continued unbelief, He denounced them as hypocrites, who could discern the face of the sky, but not discern the signs of the times (Mtt. xvi. 3), and refusing to give them any other sign than that of the prophet Jonah (Mtt. xvi. 4), straightway entered the vessel, in which He had come (Mk. viii. 13), and made for the other side.

Warning His disciples during the voyage against the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Mtt. xvi. 5–12; Mk. viii. 14–21), he reached the eastern shore of the lake and the neighbourhood of Bethsaida-Julias (Mk. viii. 22). Here a blind man was brought to Him, with a petition that He would touch him. Taking him, like the deaf and dumb man spoken of above, outside the village, the Lord anointed his eyes with the moisture from His own mouth, and laying His hands upon him enquired whether he saw aught? To this the sufferer looking up replied that he saw men, as trees, walking (Mk. viii. 24). Thereupon the Redeemer laid His hands again upon his eyes, and his sight was completely restored.

From Bethsaida, accompanied by His Apostles, He now set out in a northerly direction, and travelling along the eastern banks of the Jordan and beyond the waters of Merom, reached the confines or the villages (Mk. viii. 27) of Cæsarea Philippi358. In this neighbourhood, on one occasion, the Apostles found their Master engaged in solitary prayer (Lk. ix. 18), a solemn and significant action, the precursor of not a few important events359, as now of a deeply momentous revelation. For as they resumed their journey, He addressed to them the formal enquiry, Whom do men say that I am?

This was not an ordinary question. He was speaking to those who had now for some time been His constant companions, hearers of His words, and spectators of the signs which accompanied them. He seems to have wished to ascertain from their own lips the results of those labours, which now, in one sense, were drawing to a close, and thence to pass on to other and more painful truths, which He had to communicate to them360. To this enquiry, then, the Apostles replied in words that reflected the various opinions then held amongst the people; Some say John the Baptist, others Elias, others Jeremias, or one of the prophets (Mtt. xvi. 14; Mk. viii. 28; Lk. ix. 19). But, continued the Holy One, whom say ye that I am? To this the Apostle Peter, speaking in the name of the rest, made the ever-memorable reply, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mtt. xvi. 16).

The object for which the question had been put was now partly achieved. By the mouth of one of their number the Apostles had expressed the conclusion, to which they had come after so long enjoying the society of their Master, that He was no other than the Messiah, the Son of God. This their testimony He accepted; acknowledged the truth of the Apostle’s confession; declared that it had not been revealed to him by flesh and blood, but by His Father in heaven; and bestowed upon him the promise of peculiar dignity in the Church He was about to establish (Mtt. xvi. 18, 19).

But now, having, as three Evangelists distinctly tell us (Mtt. xvi. 20; Mk. viii. 30; Lk. ix. 21), charged them strictly not to divulge the fact of His Messiahship to the world at large, He began to reveal to them strange and mournful tidings respecting Himself. The Son of Man, He declared, must go up to Jerusalem, and there suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be put to death, and after three days rise again. This was the first announcement, clear, distinct, peremptory of what lay before Him (Mk. viii. 32), revealing not only that He should suffer, but the agents in His sufferings, the form they would take, the place where He would undergo them, and their issue, a mysterious resurrection after three days. To the Apostles the announcement sounded utterly strange and inconceivable. The selfsame Peter, who, a moment before, had witnessed so noble and outspoken a confession to his Lord’s Divinity, was utterly unable even to endure the thought of His suffering. That be far from Thee, Lord, was his indignant reply. But with a solemn rebuke the Holy One checked his untimely expostulations, which savoured of the weakness of flesh and blood, not of holy obedience to a heavenly Father’s will. Nay more, as if to seal the words He had uttered in the presence of many witnesses, He called to Him some of the people that were standing near (Mk. viii. 34), and in their hearing, as well as that of the Apostles, bade any who would come after Him, take up his Cross and follow Him, for through the gate of suffering lay the road to Glory, not only for Himself, but for all His followers (Mtt. xvi. 24; Mk. viii. 34; Lk. ix. 23).

CHAPTER IV.

THE TRANSFIGURATION—THE LUNATIC CHILD.
A.D. 29.

AFTER the announcement we have just considered, the teaching of the Lord as addressed to His disciples assumed a new character. The mysterious close of His life had been already361 more than once hinted at in figures or parables, but now He began gradually, as they were able to bear it, to speak clearly and openly of His death and rejection by the Jews. So far from establishing any earthly kingdom such as they expected, in which they might occupy distinguished places, He proceeded from this time to intimate in precise and distinct language how very different was the end that really awaited Him.

To the Apostles, who indulged to the close in dreams of a reign like that of earthly kings, these intimations of their Master sounded strange and unaccountable. To cheer, therefore, their wounded spirits, to enable them in some measure to comprehend the supernatural character of His kingdom, the Holy One was pleased to assure them that there were some standing there, who should not taste of death till they had seen, in spite of the sad announcement He had just made, the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (Mtt. xvi. 28; comp. Mk. ix. 1; Lk. ix. 27).

Accordingly six days afterwards, with three of the most privileged of their number, who had already in the chamber of Jairus witnessed their Master’s power over death362, He retired to one of the numerous mountain-ranges in the neighbourhood, not improbably one of the summits of Hermon363. From St Luke’s intimation that one object of His own withdrawal was that He might engage in solitary prayer (Lk. ix. 28), and that the three Apostles were wearied and oppressed by sleep (Lk. ix. 32), we infer that evening was the time of this retirement of the Holy One, the close, it may be, of a long day spent in going about doing good. While, then, they slept and He continued engaged in prayer, a marvellous change came over His person (Lk. ix. 29). His raiment suddenly became shining, exceeding white as snow, the fashion also of His countenance was altered, and shone like the sun (Mtt. xvii. 2; Mk. ix. 3; Lk. ix. 29).

Roused at length by the supernatural brightness around them, the Chosen Three awoke364, and shaking off their slumbers, perceived not only the mysterious change that had come over their Master, but also that He was no longer alone! He was accompanied by two men, in whom they were enabled to recognize no others than the great pillars and representatives of the Old Testament dispensation, Moses and Elias. Nor did they only see their transfigured Lord attended by these strange visitants from the world of spirits, but they were privileged to overhear the subject of their mutual converse. They spake of, or described365, the decease He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Lk. ix. 31).

Upon the ardent, impulsive Peter it was the scene itself, and not the topic of mysterious converse he overheard, that made the most impression. To him it seemed as though the kingdom of heaven was indeed “revealed in power.” In the excitement of the moment he would have made three tabernacles, one for his Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elias, in order that from thence the laws of the kingdom might be promulgated, and all men might recognise the true Messiah attended by the Pillars of the old Economy. But it was not to be. While he was yet speaking there came a cloud overshadowing them, and out of it there came a Voice, saying, This is My Beloved Son, hear ye Him. And then all was over. While the Apostles lay panic-stricken on their faces, their Master once more joined them, and bade them rise and not be afraid, and, as they descended from the Mount, He charged them to reveal to no man what they had seen, till (again the mysterious words recurred) He should have risen from the dead (Mtt. xvii. 9; Mk. ix. 9).

Rejoining the rest of their fellow-Apostles, the Chosen Three found them surrounded by a great crowd, amongst which were certain of the Lord’s old adversaries, the Scribes, not unwilling witnesses of a defeat which His disciples had sustained. During their Master’s absence a man had besought their aid in behalf of his son, who was possessed with an evil spirit of peculiar malignity. But he had besought their aid in vain. The Nine had been unable to expel the demon, and the Scribes, making the most of their discomfiture, were eagerly disputing with them (Mk. ix. 14), and doubtless “arguing from the impotence of the servants to the impotence of the Master366,” when He suddenly appeared, bearing, it would seem, on His face and person traces of the celestial glory of the past night. Greatly amazed (Mk. ix. 15) at His appearance, the multitude no sooner saw Him, than they ran to Him and saluted Him (Mk. ix. 15), and as He was asking of the Scribes the reason of their dispute with His disciples, the father drew near, related what had occurred, and the terrible condition of his only son (Lk. ix. 38). Possessed he had been for a long time with a dumb spirit (Mk. ix. 17), but at times it seized him with such violence, that he foamed and gnashed with his teeth (Mk. ix. 18), or was driven with almost irresistible impulse into the water and into the fire (Mtt. xvii. 15).

With a sad rebuke of the faithlessness of the generation in which He lived, the Lord commanded the boy to be brought into His presence. He was brought, but no sooner did he see the Saviour (Mk. ix. 20), than he was seized with one of those sudden paroxysms, which the father had described, and falling on the ground, he wallowed foaming at the mouth (Mk. ix. 20). On beholding the miserable sufferer, the Lord enquired of his father how long he had been in this case. To this the other replied that it dated from his childhood (Mk. ix. 21), and described the terrible nature of the fits which came upon him, ending with a touching request, that if He could do anything, He would have compassion on him, and help him. All things are possible, said the Holy One, to him that believeth. Lord, I believe, replied the agonized father, help Thou mine unbelief (Mk. ix. 23, 24), and his faith, though but a little spark, was rewarded. Addressing the demon in words of solemn and conscious authority the Holy One commanded him to leave the child and enter him no more (Mk. ix. 25), and the foul spirit, unable to resist the word of power, uttering a piercing cry and rending the sufferer with one last convulsive paroxysm (Mk. ix. 26), left him lying on the ground, to all appearance dead. But his merciful Healer took him by the hand, and, invigorated by that touch, he rose up, and was restored to his rejoicing father (Lk. ix. 42).

CHAPTER V.

THE COIN IN THE FISH’S MOUTH—TOUR THROUGH SAMARIA.
A.D. 29.

AFTER the incidents just related, the Redeemer appears to have again turned His steps southward through the northern parts of Galilee and in the direction of Capernaum (Mtt. xvii. 22; Mk. ix. 30). This journey He wished should be as private as possible (Mk. ix. 30), undisturbed by the presence of the large crowds that usually gathered about Him. For now that He had so plainly and unreservedly spoken to His Apostles of His approaching death and resurrection, He desired that these His words should sink deep into their ears (Lk. ix. 44), and that they should be more fully instructed respecting their reality and certainty. Once more, therefore, He began to tell them of His coming rejection by the rulers of the nation, of His death, and resurrection. But His words took no root in the minds of His hearers. His “thoughts were not their thoughts,” nor His “ways their ways;” they could not understand that whereof He spake, or how One, whom they believed to be the Messiah, could be called upon to suffer, and were afraid to ask Him personally what He meant (Mk. ix. 32; Lk. ix. 45).

On their arrival at Capernaum, the collection of the half-shekel367 due from every male Israelite, who had attained the age of 20 years, for the service of the sanctuary at Jerusalem, was going on. Approaching the Apostle Peter, the collectors enquired whether his Master did not pay this sum (Mtt. xvii. 24), to which he replied in the affirmative. Shortly afterwards on reaching the house where they were about to lodge (Mtt. xvii. 25), the Lord, aware of the incident, enquired of the Apostle whether earthly monarchs levied custom and tribute368 of their own children or of strangers. Of strangers, was the instant reply. Then, said the Holy One, alluding to His own relation to His heavenly Father, are the children free, and He as the Son of God was exempt from a payment which went to the support of His Father’s house. Lest, however, it should be said that He and His Apostles despised the Temple, and so men should be offended, He bade him go down to the lake, cast in a hook, and take the first fish that came up, assuring him that, when he had opened its mouth, he would find sufficient369 to pay both for the Apostle and his Master (Mtt. xvii. 27).

In spite of His repeated intimations respecting His own coming sufferings, the thoughts of the Apostles were still running on the high places they believed in store for them in their Master’s kingdom, and the late selection of three of their number to behold the glory of His transfiguration, added to the prominence of Simon in the miraculous payment of the tribute-money, excited their jealousy and carnal aspirations. While their Master was contemplating the cross, their imaginations were apportioning crowns, and the question which was the greatest amongst them excited much discussion (Mk. iv. 33; Lk. ix. 46, 47). Knowing their thoughts He replied to their question respecting the disputed point (Mtt. xviii. 1) by a touching symbolical action. Taking a little child in His arms (Mk. ix. 36) He placed him in their midst, and solemnly (Mk. ix. 35) declared that unless they laid aside all their thoughts of dignity and place and power, and became like little children (Mtt. xviii. 3), they could not hope to enter into His Kingdom at all; for in that Kingdom he was greatest who could humble himself like the little child before them, and whoso received even one such little child in His Name, received Him.

These last words reminded the Apostle John of a fault which he now confessed. On one occasion he and the rest of the Apostles had seen a man trying to cast out demons by pronouncing over the possessed the name of Jesus (Comp. Acts xix. 13), and they had forbidden him, on the ground that he was not one of their Master’s avowed followers (Mk. ix. 38; Lk. ix. 49). On being informed of this, the Holy One gently rebuked the spirit which had prompted the Apostle thus to act. No man, He declared, who could work a miracle in His name, could lightly speak evil of Him; he that was not against them was for them; and even a cup of cold water given to a disciple in His name should not lose its reward (Mk. ix. 41). Having thus urged upon them the duty of child-like humility, He proceeded to enforce that of avoiding offences (Mtt. xviii. 10), and of cultivating a spirit of love towards their Lord’s little ones. Then by the Parable of the Lost Sheep He taught them the joy that pervaded heaven at the repentance of a single sinner (Mtt. xviii. 10, &c.; Lk. xv. 3–7), and by that of the Debtor who owed ten thousand talents (Mtt. xviii. 23–35), how they were bound to forgive every one his brother their trespasses.

While the Apostles were being thus gradually trained for the reception of other ideas than those of earthly glory, in respect to the establishment of their Master’s Kingdom, the season for the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles drew near (Jn. vii. 2). The harvest being over, and the grapes trodden in the winepress, numerous caravans of Jewish pilgrims would be gathering together to go up to the Holy City and keep the Feast. At this juncture, then, the Lord’s brethren370 (Jn. vii. 3) who, though they did not believe in His Divinity (Jn. vii. 5), were yet not above cherishing feelings of pride and exultation at the mighty works which He wrought371, bade Him leave Galilee, and display proofs of His wonder-working power, no longer in obscure northern towns, but in the streets of Jerusalem itself (Jn. viii. 3–6).

Though He intended to keep the feast, the Redeemer could not go up to it for such a manifestation of Himself to the world as they desired (Jn. vii. 4). His Hour, the Hour for a very different exaltation, was not yet come (Jn. vii. 6), nor for the present could He take part in festal solemnities. They accordingly went their way to Jerusalem, and on their departure, amidst no open, avowed procession of a mere wonder-worker, but privately and unobtrusively as became a lowly Redeemer (Jn. vii. 10), accompanied by His Apostles, He set His face to go up to the Holy City (Lk. ix. 51).

Instead of taking the longer and more frequented route through Peræa, for the sake, probably, of greater seclusion, the Saviour chose that through Samaria (Lk. ix. 52), and sent messengers before Him to prepare for His coming. Entering a certain village of the Samaritans, the Apostles sought to do as He had bidden them. But the churlish inhabitants, perceiving the reason why He was passing through their land, usually so studiously avoided, refused to receive Him372 (Lk. ix. 53). Indignant at this rebuff, the impetuous “Sons of Thunder,” James and John, would have had their Master act in the spirit of Elijah373, and call down fire from heaven on the inhospitable and churlish villagers. But the Holy One rebuked their intemperate zeal, and the forgetfulness they evinced of the true spirit that became them as His followers, and sought shelter in another village (Lk. ix. 56).

CHAPTER II.

THE OPENING OF THE EYES OF ONE BORN BLIND.
A.D. 29.

AFTER this signal discomfiture of His enemies, the Redeemer would seem to have been permitted to resume His discourses to the people in one of the temple corridors, known as the Treasury, where stood the numerous treasure-chests380 to receive the contributions of the worshippers (Jn. viii. 20). Resuming, then, His teaching on the first Sabbath, probably, after the late festival, He reiterated with increasing boldness and authority His claims to be the Messiah, and drew attention to the testimonies whereby they had been confirmed (Jn. viii. 12, 20). Again, too, He hinted at His approaching removal, and declared with unruffled composure that, when He should have been lifted up upon the Cross, then men would truly know who He was, and recognise the authority with which He spake (Jn. viii. 28, 29).

The effect of these solemn declarations was again apparent, and many believed on Him (Jn. viii. 30). But His advice to those, who thus professed their belief in Him, to abide in His word, and His assurance that thus they would know the truth, and the truth would make them free (Jn. viii. 32, 33), excited much discussion amongst the Jews. How could they, the descendants of Abraham, who had never been slaves to any one, be made free? Though, as the Roman garrison in the tower of Antonia all too plainly attested, they were nationally in a condition of vassalage to a foreign power, they protested against the idea of their being in a state of bondage, and urged their descent from the great patriarch Abraham. The children of Abraham, the Holy One replied, they were not, for they were seeking to kill Him, Whose day Abraham had desired to see, and had rejoiced to behold. This assertion roused the utmost fury of their wrath; they heaped upon Him the most bitter taunts, declared Him a Samaritan, and possessed with a demon, and taking up some of the stones lying about ready for some repair of the temple, were on the point of inflicting upon Him the punishment of a blasphemer, when He passed through the midst of them, and withdrew beyond the present reach of their malice (Jn. viii. 33–59).

The Sabbath, however, was not to close without another manifestation of His divine and merciful power even in the midst of those who sought His life. As He passed by, accompanied by His disciples, he encountered a man, who, it was well known, had been blind from his birth (Jn. ix. 1). His sad affliction suggested to the Apostles the enquiry whether it was to be ascribed to sins of his own or to those of His parents; to which the Lord replied that it was due to neither of the causes they suggested; that his privations were intended to subserve higher objects of God’s love; and making clay with the moisture from His mouth, He anointed the sufferer’s eyes, and sent him to the Pool of Siloam, with the injunction to wash therein. The man went, and returned perfectly restored to sight (Jn. ix. 7).

Such a recovery of such a man, in such a manner, excited no small stir amongst his kinsfolk and acquaintance, and some actually doubted whether he could be the same as the man they had so long remembered sitting in pitiable plight at the corner of the street and begging alms of every passer by. He, however, persisted that he was really the same, and related in simple and artless language the particulars of his cure.

A miracle like this could not fail to arouse much attention, and the Sanhedrin determined, if possible, to invalidate its effect on the public mind, and summoning the man before them, began to investigate the circumstances of the cure. Their questions he answered with the same simplicity as those of his kinsfolk—whereas he was blind, now through the power of One, who had put clay upon his eyes, he saw. But it was a Sabbath-day when the cure had been effected, and some of the council wished to decide at once that one, who had flagrantly violated the law, could not be acting under the sanction of God (Jn. ix. 16). Others, however, were too much impressed by the evidence of the miracle, to acquiesce in such an off-hand decision, and there was a division in the council (Jn. ix. 16).

The man himself, therefore, was again examined, but he could add nothing to the information he had already given, and expressed his conviction that his Healer must be a Prophet (Jn. ix. 17). Hoping next in some way to throw discredit on the reality of his malady and its cure, they sent for his parents, who allowed that he was their son, and that he had been born blind, but, fearful of the terrible sentence of excommunication, with which the Council had threatened all the followers of Jesus, referred the judges to their son for any further information they might require.

Turning therefore, once more, to the healed man, they bade him give praise for the blessing he had received to God alone (Jn. ix. 24), and take no thought about Jesus of Nazareth, whom they authoritatively pronounced to be a sinner. But their dicta had no effect upon his resolute and honest temper; whether his Healer was a sinner or not he would not discuss before such an assembly; of the reality of his cure he was certain, and that was enough for him; it was useless to question him further, unless, perchance, they desired to become the disciples of Jesus.

This opened a door for the more violent party in the council. They began to revile the man, and to declare their conviction that he was a secret adherent of Jesus, while they were the followers of Moses. God had spoken to that great Lawgiver, but of the origin of Jesus they avowed themselves utterly ignorant. With increasing boldness the man commented on the extraordinary fact that One, of whose origin such a learned body was in such complete ignorance, could perform so great a miracle, utterly unheard of before, and inexplicable save on the supposition of Divine power (Jn. ix. 33). This outspoken language excited the utmost indignation, and after taunting the poor man with his blindness in which he had been born, and which marked him out as accursed of God, the Council proceeded to pass upon him the terrible sentence of excommunication (Jn. ix. 34).

Informed of the step they had taken, the Lord sought out the late recipient of His bounty, and enquired whether he believed on the Son of God? To this question the other replied, Who is He, Lord, that I may believe on Him? (Jn. ix. 35, 36); I that speak unto thee, rejoined the Holy One, am He, and accepted his act of instant adoration and avowal of belief (Jn. ix. 37).

But the present visit to Jerusalem was to be marked by yet another protest against the assumptions and errors of the ruling party in the city. The Holy One affirmed that they were guilty of misleading the people; that, whereas they pretended to see, they saw not; that they were hireling shepherds, caring not for the lives and souls of the people; that He, and He alone, was the true, the genuine Shepherd, the purport of whose coming into the world was to lay down His life for the sheep (Jn. x. 1–17). With this sublime discourse respecting the Good Shepherd, the occurrences of this visit to Jerusalem appear to have come to a close. On no occasion does such an effect appear to have been made on the minds of the people. We are told indeed of few works of mercy and redeeming power; but the gracious words that fell from His lips appear to have sufficed to produce a great influence on many and divers classes. “The mixed multitude, the dwellers at Jerusalem (Jn. vii. 25), the officials of the Temple (Jn. vii. 46), and to some extent even the hostile Jewish party (Jn. viii. 30), bore witness to the more than mortal power of the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth381.”

CHAPTER III.

MISSION OF THE SEVENTY—DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
A.D. 29.

FROM this point the exact movements of our blessed Lord are enwrapped in some obscurity, and the region whither he now retired is a matter of conjecture. It seems probable, however, that He did not leave Judæa, but continued His ministrations within its frontier, and about this period sent forth the Seventy Disciples382 (Lk. x. 1–6), two and two before His face, to preach the word, and to visit various towns whither He Himself also intended to come (Lk. x. 1). After receiving specific instructions respecting their mission, the Seventy set out probably in the direction of Peræa, and after some short time returned to recount with much joy (Lk. x. 17) the success of their ministrations, and their discovery that even the evil spirits were subject to their Master’s Name.

One of the places visited by the Saviour during the present sojourn in Judæa, was the village of Bethany383 (Lk. x. 38), situated about 15 stadia from Jerusalem (Jn. xi. 18). Here the abode of two sisters, Martha and Mary384, and their brother Lazarus, was gladly thrown open to welcome Him, and each member of the little family enjoyed a share of His peculiar affection (Jn. xi. 5), and from time to time the sunshine of His presence.

Scanty as are the indications of the places the Holy One now visited, it seems clear that the effect of His ministry was not inconsiderable: multitudes gathered about Him to hear the Word of Life385 (Lk. xi. 16), and behold His works of power386. But the enmity of the Pharisees and the ruling body of the nation increased rather than lessened in intensity (Lk. xi. 53, 54). They still persisted in ascribing His power over unclean spirits to a secret collusion with the Evil One (Lk. xi. 14, 15; Mtt. ix. 32–34); reiterated their demand for a sign from heaven (Lk. xi. 29–36); carped at His refusal to conform to their superstitious observances in respect to divers washings (Lk. xi. 37–42); and stung to the quick by His denunciations of their hypocritical and bloodthirsty spirit387, bent all their efforts to entangle Him in His talk, and find some matter for accusation against Him (Lk. xi. 54).

Undeterred, however, by their ceaseless hostility, He persevered in His ministrations, warned His disciples in the presence of the multitudes, who crowded around Him in such numbers as to tread upon one another (Lk. xii. 1), against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Lk. xii. 1–4); reiterated His solemn words respecting blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Lk. xii. 10); and, refusing to accede to a request to divide an inheritance amongst two brothers, took occasion to warn His hearers against covetousness, and delivered the striking parable of the Rich Fool (Lk. xii. 13–21). Not merely, however, would He warn them against this common sin, but “knowing how often it springs from a distrust in God’s providential care388,” He proceeded to teach them where they might find a preservative against over-anxiety389 about the future, in the assurance of the loving care of a Father in heaven, who feeds the fowls of the heaven, though they neither sow nor reap, and have neither storehouse nor barn (Lk. xii. 22–24), and clothes the lilies390 of the field with a beauty, such as Solomon in all his glory never approached (Lk. xii. 27).

It was probably about this time that certain persons informed the Lord of a fresh outrage amongst the many that Pilate had committed391. On the occasion of the visit of a body of Galilæans, whose turbulent character has been already noted392, to Jerusalem, the governor for some unrecorded reason had slain them, and mingled their blood with the blood of the slain beasts they were offering on the Altar at the Temple393. If men “might have been supposed to be safe anywhere, or at any time, it would have been at the altar of God, and while in the act of offering sacrifices unto Him394;” their terrible death, therefore, appears to have been urged by the narrators of this outrage as a peculiar evidence of God’s anger against them, and of some unknown awful guilt395 on their part (Lk. xiii. 1, 2). But such hasty and cruel judgments the Lord instantly rebuked, and declared that the terrible ends of these sufferers no more marked them out as sinners above all other of their fellow-countrymen than certain eighteen persons on whom a tower of Siloam396 had recently fallen and crushed them beneath its ruins (Lk. xiii. 4). In such swift calamities they were not to trace the evidence of a pre-eminence of guilt on the part of the sufferers397, but a call to remember their own uncertain tenure of life, and to repentance398 while as yet the day of grace lasted, which solemn considerations He still further enforced by the appropriate parable of the Barren Fig-Tree (Lk. xiii. 6–9).

On a subsequent occasion the Lord entered a synagogue on the Sabbath-day (Lk. xiii. 10), where there was a woman inwardly afflicted in her spirit399 (Lk. xiii. 16), and outwardly with a permanent and unnatural contraction of her body (Lk. xiii. 11). Without waiting till His aid was sought, He forthwith called her to Him, and laying His hands upon her, said, Woman, thou art loosed from thy infirmity, whereupon the affliction of eighteen long years (Lk. xiii. 11) instantly left her, she was made straight, and glorified God. Such a cure, which excited the wonder of all present, was more than the ruler of the synagogue could bear, and he openly expressed his indignation at this violation of the Sabbath, remarking that there were six days in the week when such servile working as healing might be done, and bidding those who needed help come then, and not degrade the sanctity of the Sabbath-day (Lk. xiii. 14). Such hypocritical strictness on the part of one who sat in Moses’ seat and was regarded as a teacher of the Law, moved the Saviour’s righteous indignation. In words, the force of which was irresistible (Lk. xiii. 17), He justified that He had done by the “very relaxations of the Sabbath strictness400,” which the ruler of the synagogue himself allowed. Would he not loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to water on the Sabbath-day, and should he be blamed for merely speaking a word and releasing a daughter of Abraham from a bond with which Satan had enthralled her for so many years? The question admitted of no reply; even His adversaries were ashamed, while the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that had been done by Him (Lk. xiii. 17).

CHAPTER IV.

THE FEAST OF DEDICATION—TOUR IN PERÆA.
A.D. 29.

BY the time the incident recorded in the last Chapter took place, the season of winter had returned (Jn. x. 22), and the snow lay upon the mountains401. With the return of winter came also the celebration of the Feast of Dedication402, on the 25th of the month Chisleu, which lasted eight days. On this occasion the Lord once more visited Jerusalem, and presented Himself in the Temple, and probably on account of the wintry state of the weather sought shelter in “Solomon’s Porch403,” where He was speedily encircled by the Jews (Jn. x. 24), who began with eager impetuosity to enquire how long He intended to keep them in suspense, and to ask that if He was the Messiah He would tell them so plainly and distinctly (Jn. x. 24).

The question appears to have been put neither in a hostile nor unfriendly tone, and indicates a wish on the part of the ruling powers to discover whether He might not be induced to set Himself forth as the Messiah they expected, and, like a second Judas Maccabæus, whose exploits they were commemorating, deliver them from the hated yoke of the foreigner404.

In reply, however, to their question, the Holy One contented Himself with pointing to the wonderful works He had already wrought in their midst. This testimony they had refused to receive, for neither in their aims nor desires were they of His sheep (Jn. x. 26). His sheep heard His voice, and He knew them, and He would give them eternal life, nor should any ever snatch them out of His hand (Jn. x. 27, 28); for the Eternal Father in heaven had given them to Him, and He and the Father were one (Jn. x. 29).

This solemn and mysterious language, this claim to essential unity with the eternal Father, again405 provoked the anger of His hearers. Their earthly and carnal hopes centered on some great earthly conqueror. The words of the Holy One sounded in their ears like blasphemy, and taking up some of the stones lying around for the repairs406 of the Temple which were almost always going on, they were on the point of stoning Him as He stood.

But He calmed their fury by enquiring for which of His many works, that proved by their moral goodness no less than the power they displayed, His union with the Father, they wished to stone Him. In reply the Jews declared that it was His blasphemous words which made them act as they now did, for though a man, He claimed a union with God (Jn. x. 32, 33). This charge the Holy One repelled by reference to their own sacred books407. Was not the title of God sometimes applied there to the judges and rulers of the nation (Ps. lxxxii. 6408), and was it with less justice applicable to One, whose wondrous works proved His intercommunion with the Father and His Divine mission to the world? (Jn. x. 34–38). This reply only excited a fresh burst of fury, and though the Jews gave up their design of stoning Him, they tried to apprehend Him and bring Him before their courts (Jn. x. 29).

But His “hour” was not yet come, and retiring from the capital, He crossed the Jordan, and sought the fords of Bethabara or Bethany, where His forerunner at first baptized (Jn. x. 40). In this region, where that eminent servant of God had closed his course409, it was proved that “though dead he yet spake.” Many remembered his burning words and faithful testimony to the Messiah, whom the Jews at Jerusalem had rejected, and acknowledging the truth of His words, gathered round the Saviour (Jn. x. 41), and avowed their belief in Him.

Still even here He had to encounter hostile opposition. His indefatigable enemies, the Pharisees, penetrated His seclusion and represented that Herod Antipas, within whose dominions He now was, sought opportunity to kill Him (Lk. xiii. 31). But He saw through their cunning and hypocrisy, no less than the fox-like (Lk. xiii. 32) craft of the Tetrarch, by whom they had been probably suborned410. He, doubtless, would be glad to get out of his territory411 One, whose fame caused him so much perplexity, and they would be no less anxious to drive Him from a quarter, where He was comparatively safe, to the hostile neighbourhood of Jerusalem412. But though it was impossible that a prophet could perish elsewhere than in a capital, which had slain so many who had been sent to it417, yet there was still time for the performance of works of mercy (Lk. xiii. 32, 33), for the healing of the sick, and the expulsion of demons, before He went up to Jerusalem, whose children He would so often have gathered together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing418, but they would not, and whose house was now left unto them desolate (Lk. xiii. 34, 35).

Of the works of mercy here mentioned, apparently but one is actually recorded by the Evangelist. At the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, to which He had been invited (Lk. xiv. 1) on the Sabbath-day, for a hostile purpose419, the Holy One healed a man afflicted with dropsy (Lk. xiv. 2–6), and taking occasion from the associations of the time and place, not only rebuked the haughty selfishness with which the Pharisees claimed the chief seats at feasts (Lk. xiv. 7–14), but also uttered the appropriate parable of the Great Supper (Lk. xiv. 15–24).

In the same neighbourhood also, finding Himself surrounded by great crowds, amongst which some indicated a wish to follow Him, He addressed them solemnly on the self-denial required of all who would be His real disciples (Lk. xiv. 25–35), and the necessity for first counting the cost, and taking up the cross if they would truly follow Him. On another occasion a great number of tax-gatherers, who were very numerous near Jericho and the Jordan fords420, gathered round Him, together with many regarded as profligate sinners. Their eagerness to listen to His teaching, and His willingness to receive and eat with them (Lk. xv. 1), roused again the hostility of the Pharisees and Scribes, and provoked them to open murmuring. But, undeterred by their opposition, the Good Shepherd, with striking appropriateness now, gave utterance to the parables of the Lost Sheep (Lk. xv. 1), the Lost Coin (Lk. xv. 8–10), and the Prodigal Son (Lk. xv. 11–32), and afterwards addressed to His disciples, though in the hearing of the Pharisees, those of the Unjust Steward (Lk. xvi. 1–13), and of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk. xvi. 19–31).

CHAPTER VI.

RESOLVE OF THE SANHEDRIN—JESUS RETIRES TO EPHRAIM.
A.D. 30.

THE remarkable miracle recorded at length in the preceding Chapter marks an important epoch in the life of our Lord.

The effect it exerted upon those who witnessed it was twofold. Many of those, who had come to mourn with the sisters of Bethany, avowed their belief in the Saviour’s claims (Jn. xi. 45), but others, with no friendly intentions, hurried to the Pharisees and recounted to them all that had taken place. Their report led to instant measures.

The ruling powers, hitherto comparatively calm, became very uneasy. A meeting of the Sanhedrin was convened, at which Caiaphas presided, and the course to be followed was keenly debated. It was clear that the sentence of excommunication (Jn. ix. 22), lately passed upon the followers of the Saviour, had not counteracted the impression made by His ministry on the minds of the people430. The notable miracle He had just wrought could not be gainsaid, and its effect upon the multitude was profound. If he was suffered to continue His ministry, all, it was argued, would believe on Him, and in all probability proclaim Him as their King. Such a proclamation would inevitably lead to a riot, a riot to a visit from Pilate, the ruthlessness of whose character had been again and again experienced431, and this would be followed by a massacre, and the total deprivation of what remained of their national existence.

Many measures were, probably, advocated by various members of the Council, but found no general acceptance. At length Caiaphas arose, and with unconcealed contempt declared that his weak and vacillating colleagues knew nothing at all (Jn. xi. 49). The life and teaching of One Man threatened to imperil the whole nation, and to bring them into collision with their Roman masters. One effectual remedy alone existed. It was expedient that He should be put to death rather than the whole nation should be swept away. As a Sadducee432 (Acts v. 17) Caiaphas believed in the might of the Roman legions, though he denied the doctrine of the resurrection and the existence of spiritual powers, and rather than embroil the nation in fresh troubles with their unscrupulous masters, he advocated the death of the Holy One, all unconscious433 of the momentous results of the step he advised.

Though there were some dissentients (Lk. xxiii. 50, 51), his words expressed the feelings of the majority of the Council. The more decided and violent party triumphed. It was deliberately determined that Jesus should be put to death, and from that day forward continual councils were held to decide how this should be brought about (Jn. xi. 53).

But the Holy One, knowing that His “hour” was not yet come, retired with His disciples to Ephraim, a town situated434 in the wide desert country north-east of Jerusalem, not far from Bethel, and on the confines of Samaria.

Here in quiet and seclusion He remained till the approach of the Passover, and then commenced a farewell-journey along the border-line of Samaria and Galilee, in the direction of the Jordan (Lk. xvii. 11; Mtt. xix. 1), and so to Peræa (Mk. x. 1).

It was probably while yet on the confines of Samaria, that at the entrance of a village, the name and position of which are not recorded, He encountered Ten Lepers, one of whom was a Samaritan435 (Lk. xvii. 16). Standing afar off (Lk. xvii. 12), they all lifted up their voices, and implored His aid, on which, filled with compassion for their miserable condition, He bade them go and shew themselves to the priests at Jerusalem. Though they must have been aware that they could not expect healing from the priest, whose only office it was either to pronounce the sufferer affected with this fearful malady, or to restore him with ceremonial washings to the society of his fellow-men436, the Lepers nevertheless set out, and lo! as they went (Lk. xvii. 14), their flesh came back to them like unto the flesh of a little child (2 K. v. 14), and they were cleansed. But though they all experienced His unlooked-for blessing, one only, and he a Samaritan, returned to give thanks to His Healer, who, accustomed as he was to man’s ingratitude, yet marvelled at this striking proof of it (Lk. xvii. 17, 18), and dismissed the grateful man with a higher and a peculiar blessing437, saying, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole (Lk. xvii. 19).

Continuing His journey towards the Jordan, the Saviour at some place, the name of which is not mentioned, encountered certain Pharisees, who professed, probably in treachery or mockery, a question respecting the coming of the kingdom of God, to which He replied, that it would be with no such visible establishment as they expected (Lk. xvii. 20, 21), and proceeded to found upon the question a warning to His own disciples on the same subject (Lk. xvii. 22–37). It was now also, in all probability, either before or just after He crossed into Peræa438, that He delivered the parables of the Unjust Judge and the Pharisee and Publican (Lk. xvii. 1–14), and replied to a question respecting the lawfulness of divorce (Mtt. xix. 3–12; Mk. x. 2–12), on which the rival schools of Hillel and Shammai439 held opposite opinions.

In striking contrast to the malice which prompted these questionings, certain parents, who probably honoured Him, and valued His benediction, brought their children to Him, and begged that He would lay His hands upon them and offer up a prayer in their behalf (Mtt. xix. 13). To the disciples such an act appeared unfitting, and they would have kept back those that brought them (Mk. x. 13; Lk. xviii. 15), but with touching condescension He not only rebuked their interference (Mk. x. 14), and said, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven, but called them to Him (Lk. xviii. 16), took them up in His arms, laid His hands upon them, and blessed them (Mk. x. 16; Mtt. xix. 15).

It was in this region also that a rich young ruler approached Him, desiring to know what he should do to inherit eternal life (Mtt. xix. 16; Mk. x. 17). The Holy One referred him to the commandments. These the other declared he had kept from his youth (Mk. x. 20), on which the Lord looked upon him with a glance of deep affection, informed him that he lacked yet one thing (Lk. xviii. 22), and bade him go and sell all that he had, and give to the poor, and take up his cross (Mk. x. 21) and follow Him. Such a demand, so totally opposed to the popular notions of the kingdom of the Messiah, in which the Jews expected every form of temporal blessing, was too severe a test for the ruler’s sincerity; he had great possessions (Mtt. xix. 22; Mk. x. 22), which he could not part with, and in sorrow he left the Saviour and went his way.

But the same ideas of temporal blessings were still held by the Apostles themselves. They had left everything to follow their Master, might they not look for some great reward? To Peter, who put the question (Mk. x. 28; Mtt. xix. 23) the Holy One replied, by assuring him and the rest that a reward they should have, though very different from what they expected, and taking them apart (Mtt. xx. 17; Mk. x. 32) began for the third time440, and with greater particularity than before, to speak of the future that awaited Himself; how at Jerusalem He should be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, and be mocked, and scourged, and crucified (Mtt. xx. 18–24; Mk. x. 33–40; Lk. xviii. 32–34). But though awed by the unusual solemnity of His manner (Mk. x. 32), and the dauntless resolution with which He pressed on towards Jerusalem (Mk. x. 33), they could not enter into the meaning of His words. His predictions of suffering and death clashed with all their deeply-rooted ideas of the nature of the Messianic kingdom, and it was now that two of their number, James and John, encouraged by their mother, preferred the request441 that in His kingdom they might sit the one on His right hand, and the other on His left. Even His reply that they should indeed drink of His cup, and be baptized with His baptism, sounded to the rest like the concession of some mysterious dignity, and provoked a jealousy on their part, which the Holy One strove to check by reminding them once more of the true nature of His kingdom, that therein He is truly first who is the servant of all; even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.

With this final proof of the utter inability even of His own chosen Twelve to lighten by their sympathy a particle of what lay before Himself, the Holy One, having recrossed the Jordan, continued His way amidst the crowd of pilgrims setting forth towards Jerusalem. Approaching Jericho He healed two blind men442, who sat by the wayside begging and implored His aid; He accepted in the City of Palm Trees itself the hospitality of Zacchæus443, a superintendent of customs or tribute there (Lk. xix. 1–10); corrected, by delivering the Parable of the Pounds444, the idea that the Kingdom of Heaven was about immediately to appear, and at length, six days before the Passover, reached the safe seclusion of the mountain hamlet of Bethany (Mtt. xxvi. 6–13; Mk. xiv. 3–9; Jn. xii. 1–11).

JERUSALEM in the time of OUR LORD

London and New York: Macmillan & Co.
For Maclear’s New Test.^t History   Stanford’s Geog.^l Estab.^t

PART VII.

FROM THE ARRIVAL AT BETHANY TO THE ASCENSION.

CHAPTER I.

THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY—THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY.
A.D. 30.

IT was apparently on a Friday evening when the Saviour reached the hamlet of Bethany, where in quiet retirement He could spend His last earthly Sabbath. At Bethany resided one Simon (Mtt. xxvi. 6; Mk. xiv. 3), who had been a leper445, and possibly had been restored by the Lord Himself, and at his house the sisters of Lazarus provided a festal repast446, to welcome Him who had in so signal a manner restored happiness to their little circle (Jn. xii. 2).

In keeping with her character Martha on this occasion busied herself in ministering to the Lord (Jn. xii. 2), while Lazarus reclined at the table as one of the guests. As the feast proceeded, Mary approached with an alabaster casket in her hand, containing a pound of precious spikenard447 (Jn. xii. 3), and breaking off the closed top (Mk. xiv. 3), poured a portion on the head of the Saviour. Then kneeling down she anointed His feet also (Jn. xii. 3), while the sweet odour diffused itself through the whole room.

But her act of beautiful affection did not win the approval of all the guests at the table. Judas Iscariot enquired why a casket of such precious unguent, which might have been sold for more than 300 denarii448 and given to the poor, should be wasted in such a useless piece of extravagance449 (Jn. xii. 5), and even others of the Apostles sympathised with his views, and had indignation and murmured against her (Mtt. xxvi. 8). He, however, for whom she had thus manifested her affectionate adoration, suffered scarcely a moment to elapse before He signified His opinion of that she had done. Not only did He bid the murmurers desist from troubling her, but declared that she had wrought a beautiful and worthy deed. The poor, for whom they pretended so much anxiety, they had always with them, but Himself they would not have always (Mk. xiv. 7), thus reminding them again of that speedy removal He had so often predicted. Moreover, He proceeded to declare that what she had done had a special significance. In reference to the mysterious event so soon about to befall Him, wherein He should receive so little assistance or comfort from any human being, she at least had done what she could (Mk. xiv. 8), she had come beforehand to anoint His Body for the burying, and wherever the Gospel should be preached throughout the whole world, there should also the deed which had moved their unworthy indignation be told for a memorial of her (Mtt. xxvi. 13; Mk. xiv. 9). Thus by a prophetic word He elevated and interpreted her act of affectionate adoration.

Thus the eventful evening wore on. Meanwhile the news of the Saviour’s presence at Bethany had reached Jerusalem, and great crowds (Jn. xii. 9) resorted thither not only to see Him but Lazarus also, whose resurrection from the dead caused many to avow their belief in the Lord of life (Jn. xii. 11). This fact was well known to the chief-priests, and a council was convened to consider the propriety of putting him also to death (Jn. xii. 10).

The next day dawned, the first day of the Holy week. Leaving Bethany, the Saviour proceeded towards Bethphage450, and sending two of His disciples, desired them to bring an ass, and her colt with her, which they would find tied at the entrance of the village (Mtt. xxi. 2, 3; Lk. xix. 30; Mk. xi. 2). The disciples went, and in answer to the question of the owners (Lk. xix. 33), why they thus loosed them, replied, as bidden, that the Lord had need of them, and returned to their master.

The voice of ancient prophecy (Zech. ix. 9) had declared that her King would come to Zion meek, and sitting on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass; and the hour for its fulfilment had now come. The road from Bethany to Jerusalem wound through rich plantations of palm-trees, and fruit- and olive-gardens451, and was now crowded with pilgrims making their way towards the Holy City, or the encampments on the declivity of the Mount of Olives452. Amongst these would naturally be many who had witnessed the Saviour’s miracles in Galilee, and their enthusiasm would be much increased by the news of the wondrous event at Bethany. The heart of the people, therefore, was deeply stirred, and the disciples, filled with the general excitement, spread their garments on the animals they had brought to their Master (Mtt. xxi. 7), and placed Him thereon. Soon the crowds began to express their joy in a more lively manner. Some strewed their garments453 on the rough mountain-path, others cut down branches454 from the neighbouring gardens, and threw them on the road before Him.

Meanwhile a second stream issuing from the Holy City (Jn. xii. 12) came forth to meet the Conqueror of Death, and meeting the others coming from Bethany, turned round, and swelled the long procession towards Jerusalem. As they approached the descent of the Mount of Olives (Lk. xix. 37), their feelings found expression in the prophetic language of the Psalms, and with loud Hosannas they glorified God (Lk. xix. 37), and proclaimed the approach of the Son of David to receive the kingdom of His Father, and to establish His Messianic kingdom (Mtt. xxi. 9; Mk. xi. 9). Certain of the Pharisees alone were found to murmur. They would have had the Saviour rebuke the zeal of the multitude, but pointing to the stones beneath their feet, He declared that they would immediately cry out if these were to hold their peace.

Thus amidst loud Hosannas the procession swept along, till on a nearer approach, the whole of the magnificent City, as if rising from an abyss, burst into view, “with its back-ground of gardens and suburbs455,” and its glorious Temple-tower. The procession paused, and the hour of triumph became the hour of deepest sorrow. In strange contrast with the excited emotions of the crowds around Him, the Holy One wept over the devoted city, foresaw the Roman legions gathered round its fated walls, its proud towers laid low in the dust, and its children within it, because they knew not the day of their visitation (Lk. xix. 41–44).

Such things were hidden from the eyes of the eager throngs who were shouting “Hosanna,” and believed that now at length the Messiah, welcomed and accepted, would claim the sceptre and ascend the throne. Passing through the City the Holy One advanced towards the Temple. Jerusalem was stirred to its very centre. Who is this? enquired many. This is the Prophet, Jesus, of Nazareth of Galilee (Mtt. xxi. 10, 11), was the eager reply of His believing followers, expecting, doubtless, that some unmistakeable sign would be given of His real character.

They were doomed to disappointment. Entering the Courts of the Temple, He surveyed with a clear and searching glance (Mk. xi. 11) the scene of disorder and mercenary desecration which they again presented, and in the evening returned with the Twelve (Mk. xi. 11) to the seclusion of Bethany, and the great Palm-Sunday was over.

CHAPTER II.

THE SECOND CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE.
A.D. 30.

THE country between Bethany and Jerusalem, as has been observed in the previous Chapter, abounded in gardens of fig-trees, from which fact indeed Bethphage, or the “House of Figs,” derived its name.

Early in the morning after the Triumphal Entry the Saviour set out once more for the Holy City, where, as the inspection of the previous evening had too clearly testified, a second vindication of the sanctity of His Father’s house was needed. Being a hungred, probably after a night of fasting, and perceiving afar off (Mk. xi. 13) a fig-tree standing alone by the way side (Mtt. xxi. 19), which presented an unusual show of leaves for the season, He went up to it to see if haply456 He might find fruit thereon (Mk. xi. 13), but on reaching it found nothing but leaves. Though at this early period of the year neither leaves nor fruit were to be expected on a fig-tree, this tree by its ample foliage appeared to give promise of the fruit, which ordinarily appears before the leaves457. But a nearer approach proved that this promise it fulfilled only in appearance, and in the hearing of His disciples the Holy One laid upon it the doom of utter barrenness, saying, Let no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever, and straightway it was dried up (Mtt. xxi. 19), and withered.

Passing onwards to Jerusalem, He entered the Temple. The nefarious scene He had rebuked at the first Passover of His public ministry was still enacted. The evil practices which had called forth that first display of holy zeal for the honour of His Father’s house had by degrees returned. The fruit, the reality of righteousness, which He had come seeking then and sought in vain, He found not now. As before, therefore, so on this occasion, He drove forth the intruders, the buyers, the sellers, and the money-changers, upset their tables, and poured forth their unholy gains, and declared in words of conscious authority that His House was not for thievish traffic, but for prayer and praise (Mk. xi. 17; Mtt. xxi. 13).

Having thus once more vindicated the sanctity of the Temple, He commenced teaching in its courts, and speedily gathered around Him many eager to listen, and astonished at His doctrine (Mk. xi. 18). But works of mercy were now to follow words of power. Those who needed His help sought Him in the Temple itself. The blind and the lame (Mtt. xxi. 14) came to Him, and experienced the effects of the healing word. The marvels that He wrought (Mtt. xxi. 15) moved the youngest pilgrims at the festival, and children’s voices cried Hosanna to the Son of David. This was more than the chief priests and scribes could endure. Eager as they were to put Him to death, they dared not lift a hand or show open violence, for the whole multitude hung upon Him to hear His words (Lk. xix. 48). In a tone of expostulation, however, they ventured to enquire whether He heard what these children were saying, to which He replied by asking whether they had never read the words of the Psalmist, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise (Ps. viii. 2); with which rebuke He left them, and when even was come returned to Bethany (Mk. xi. 19; Mtt. xxi. 17).

As He proceeded towards Jerusalem on the following day, the Apostles observed with surprise how rapidly the tree doomed the day before had withered away. The late hour at which they left the City the preceding evening had probably prevented their noticing it before, and now the Saviour took occasion by it to teach them a lesson respecting the nature and power of Faith (Mtt. xxi. 20–22; Mk. xi. 20–25).

On entering the Temple and recommencing His gracious work of teaching those assembled there, He was interrupted by the arrival of a formal deputation from the Sanhedrin, which had resolved to discredit Him if possible with the people (Mtt. xxi. 23; Lk. xx. 1).

They began by enquiring by what authority He acted as He was doing, and from whom He had received it (Mk. xi. 28). This question the Holy One met by another. Two years before458 they had sent a deputation to the Baptist (Jn. i. 26), and he had borne a public and emphatic testimony to His Messianic claims. The prophetic character of John was generally admitted (Mtt. xxi. 26), and his bold rebuke of Herod had endeared him to the hearts of many—Whence, then, was his baptism, from heaven or from men? The question filled his hearers with embarrassment. If they replied that his was a divine commission, they exposed themselves to the obvious rejoinder, why had they not received his testimony respecting the Messiah? If they said of men, they would expose themselves to popular indignation (Mk. xi. 31, 32). Accordingly they preferred to own that they could not tell, whereupon He also declined to answer the question they had put to Him respecting His mission (Mtt. xxi. 27; Lk. xx. 8).

Though thus repulsed, His enemies do not appear to have left the Temple-courts, and were condemned to listen to still more humiliating language. In the parables of the Two Sons (Mtt. xxi. 28–32), and the Wicked Husbandmen (Mtt. xxi. 33–44; Mk. xii. 1–11; Lk. xx. 9–18), the Redeemer set forth with the utmost distinctness their neglect of their high vocation, the guilt of that outrage which they already meditated against Him in their hearts, their speedy rejection, and the bestowal of the privileges they had abused on other nations.

The drift of these parables the Pharisees and chief priests clearly discerned, and sought earnestly to lay hands upon Him (Mk. xii. 12; Lk. xx. 19), but feared to do so openly because of the multitude, who all regarded Him as a Prophet (Mtt. xxi. 46). Undeterred, however, by these manifestations of intended violence He warned them solemnly, for the last time, in the Parable of the Marriage of the King’s Son (Mtt. xxii. 1–14), that a day was at hand when the kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jewish people who had despised its privileges, and be bestowed upon the Gentiles459.

CHAPTER IV.

THE COMPACT OF JUDAS—THE LAST SUPPER.
A.D. 30.

AT the close of these solemn prophecies the Redeemer reminded the Apostles that after two days the Passover would be celebrated, and the Son of Man would be betrayed to be crucified (Mtt. xxvi. 1, 2). Having thus indicated the precise time, when the Hour so often spoken of before should come, He retired in all probability to Bethany483, and there, hidden in holy seclusion (Jn. xii. 36), spent the last day preceding His sufferings.

Meanwhile the rulers of the nation were holding a formal and deliberate consultation as to the best means for putting Him to death. Humbled as they had been that day in the Temple in the eyes of the people, and disappointed in all their projects of ensnaring Him in a capital charge, they saw that their influence was lost unless they were willing to take extreme measures484. The chief priests, therefore, the scribes, and the elders (Comp. Mtt. xxvi. 3; Mk. xiv. 1) assembled not in their usual place of conclave, the hall Gazith485 on the Temple Mount, but in the court of the palace of Caiaphas, the high-priest (Mtt. xxvi. 3). He, as we have seen, had already advised that the Holy One should be put to death486, and doubtless many of those present would have gladly resolved on seizing Him by force. But by degrees they became alive to the difficulties of the case.

The recent events on the day of the Triumphal Entry convinced them of the great influence which the Redeemer wielded over many of the nation, and especially the bold and hardy mountaineers of Galilee. The only place where He appeared in public after the nights had been spent at Bethany was the Temple. But to seize Him there in the present excited state of popular feeling would certainly lead to a tumult (Mtt. xxvi. 5; Mk. xiv. 2; Lk. xxii. 2), and this to the interposition of the procurator in the fortress of Antonia. Forcible and hasty measures were therefore to be avoided, and it was formally resolved to take Him by craft, and therefore secretly, and for this purpose to await a favourable opportunity487.

While, however, they were thus debating, a mode of apprehending Him suddenly presented itself which they had never anticipated488. Judas Iscariot, whose chagrin at the discovery of His real character489 and the rebuke of His Master on the evening of the Anointing at Bethany has been already described, approached with an enquiry as to the sum they were willing to give him in the event of his betraying the Holy One into their hands (Mtt. xxvi. 14). Thereupon with a joyous alacrity (Mk. xiv. 11; Lk. xxii. 5) they covenanted to give him thirty pieces of silver490, and he on his part began to watch for a seasonable occasion of delivering Him into their hands, without rousing the feelings of the multitude (Lk. xxii. 6).

Thus, then, the day of seclusion at Bethany, the Thursday of the Holy Week, passed away. Meanwhile the hour for the celebration of the Passover drew near. The Saviour had already reminded His disciples of its approach, and connected it with His own death. Accordingly the Apostles now enquired of Him where He intended to celebrate it, and in reply He bade two of their number, Peter and John, go into the city (Lk. xxii. 8), and informed them that on entering it they would meet a man bearing a pitcher of water, whom they were to follow to whatever house he should enter. On reaching it they were to address to the owner491 of this house the significant words, The Master saith, My time is at hand; where is the guest-chamber where I may eat the Passover with My disciples? and he would shew them a large upper-room furnished and prepared; there they were to make ready492 (Mtt. xxvi. 18; Mk. xiv. 14; Lk. xxii. 11).

Thus directed, the two Apostles went their way, and found everything as their Lord had described with such striking minuteness. The large upper-room is represented as already furnished and prepared (Mk. xiv. 15; Lk. xxii. 12). Hence we may perhaps infer that the searching for and putting away of every particle of leaven (1 Cor. v. 7), so important a preliminary to the Passover, had already been carried out, and that the preparation made by the Apostles included the provision of the unleavened cakes, of the bitter herbs, and the cups of wine; of everything, in short, that could be prepared on the day before the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb493.

This done, they probably returned to their Lord, who later in the evening, when the hour was come (Lk. xxii. 14), left the little village of Bethany, crossed the Mount of Olives, and entering the city repaired with the Twelve to the upper-room. There they sat down, or reclined, according to the usual custom, and the Redeemer, taking the place of Celebrant or Proclaimer of the Feast, said, With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will no more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. With these words He took a Cup, the first Cup we may believe, usually devoted to the “announcement” of the Feast, and gave thanks, and said, Take ye this, and divide it amongst you; for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the Vine, till the Kingdom of God shall come (Lk. xxii. 17, 18).

But even now, even in this solemn hour, the old contention touching priority again broke out among the Apostles (Lk. xxii. 24). Thereupon the Holy One spake a few gentle but solemn words to repress so unseemly a dispute (Lk. xxii. 25–30); and to teach them in the most striking manner possible a lesson of humility, took upon Him the form of a servant, and girding Himself with a towel washed His disciples’ feet (Jn. xiii. 1–6). Simon Peter, with his wonted impetuosity, would have checked the loving designs of His Master, and when the Redeemer told him that, unless He washed his feet he had no part with Him (Jn. xiii. 9), with that quick revulsion so natural to him, he begged that He would wash not only his feet, but his hands and his head. He that hath bathed, replied his Master, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean, but not all (Jn. xiii. 10, 11).

With this sad intimation of treachery in their midst the Feast was resumed494, and probably the second Cup of Wine was drunk. But soon the consciousness of the Traitor’s presence so wrought upon the Saviour, that His inmost soul was deeply moved and troubled, and He testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you will betray Me (Jn. xiii. 21). This announcement excited great surprise and deep sorrow among the Apostles, and many were the earnest questionings, Lord, is it I? At length He gave a special and private indication to the disciple that reclined upon His bosom. He was the Traitor to whom He should give the sop495, when He had dipped it (Jn. xiii. 26). At this point Judas Iscariot, though he had already made his compact with the chief priests, dared to enquire, Lord, is it I? (Mtt. xxvi. 25). Thou hast said, replied the Redeemer, and gave him the sop, adding shortly afterwards, That thou doest do quickly (Jn. xiii. 27). The real import of these words remained unknown to the rest of the Apostles, and they imagined that they related only to the provision of something needed for the feast, or the bestowal of some charity on the poor. As soon, then, as he had received the sop, Judas arose and went forth to execute his awful purpose, and it was night (Jn. xiii. 30).

On his departure the Saviour was no more troubled in spirit, but brake forth into the same triumphant language which fell from His lips when He heard of the request of the Greeks in the Temple Courts: Now, said He, is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will straightway glorify Him (Jn. xiii. 31, 32).

Again the Meal proceeded, and soon taking one of the unleavened cakes that had been placed before Him, and giving thanks, probably in the usual words, He brake it, and gave it to His Apostles, saying,

Take, eat: this is My Body, which is given for you: do this in remembrance of Me496.

Afterwards He took a Cup of wine, in all probability the third Cup, and known as the “Cup of blessing,” and having offered thanks, gave it unto them saying,

Drink ye all of this; for this Cup is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins: this do ye, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of Me497.

The Holy Eucharist thus instituted, He conversed with the Apostles concerning the events that were soon to happen to Himself and them, how they would desert Him in His most critical and trying hour, how their faith would fail, how they would be dispersed each unto his own. These announcements of coming failure sounded unbearable to the Apostle Peter. Lord, said he, I am ready to go with Thee unto prison and to death—I am ready to lay down my life for Thee (Mtt. xxvi. 33; Jn. xiii. 37). Verily, verily, I say unto thee, replied the Master, in solemn words, This night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice (Mtt. xxvi. 34; Mk. xiv. 30; Jn. xiii. 38). But this sad announcement, so far from solemnising the Apostle’s feelings, provoked him to fresh protestations of fidelity (Mk. xiv. 31). With still greater vehemence he declared, If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee; and in these well-meant but short-sighted declarations the rest of the Apostles joined also (Mtt. xxvi. 35; Mk. xiv.  31).

And now, whereas at the usual Paschal Feast it had been customary to continue long in religious conversation respecting the great events of the Exodus, and the national deliverance from Egypt, so on this occasion did the Saviour continue long in earnest conversation with His chosen ones. But He spake to them of other and still more exalted themes; of His own departure to the Father and the coming of the Comforter (Jn. xiv. 1–31); of Himself as the true Vine and His disciples as the branches (Jn. xv. 1–6); of the hatred of the world and its sin against Him (Jn. xv. 18–25); of the trials which the Apostles must expect, and the assured aid of the Comforter (Jn. xvi. 1–16); of offering up prayer in His name (Jn. xvi. 23–27). And at the close of these solemn and affecting discourses, lifting up His eyes to heaven in rapt and solemn devotion, He committed the Apostles to the guardian care of the Eternal Father, and dedicated to Him His own completed work, contemplating it once more in its issues not only on these then present, but on all that should believe on His Name (Jn. xvii.).

The night was now far advanced. A hymn, probably the Hallel, was sung, and the Apostles went forth with their Lord through the quiet streets of the city towards the Mount of Olives (Mtt. xxvi. 30; Mk. xiv. 26).

CHAPTER VI.

THE JEWISH TRIAL—REMORSE AND SUICIDE OF JUDAS.
A.D. 30.

BY this time the entire body of the Sanhedrin had assembled in the palace of Caiaphas, and the Redeemer was placed before them.

The first object was to secure the agreement of two witnesses on some specific charge (Mtt. xxvi. 59; Mk. xiv. 55). But this was found to be a matter of the utmost difficulty. Many indeed were at hand suborned to utter any falsehood, but their testimony was so confused and contradictory (Mk. xiv. 56), that the council could not receive it. At length two were found who could testify to the words the Holy One had uttered on the occasion of His first visit to the Temple518. This fellow said, was their charge, I will destroy this Temple made with hands, and in three days I will raise up another made without hands (Mk. xiv. 58). But besides the fact that their allegations were exaggerated, they themselves did not agree in their statements (Mk. xiv. 59), and though eager to pronounce the capital sentence, the council felt themselves unable with any decency to do so on such evidence.

Meanwhile the Redeemer preserved a solemn and impressive silence, neither interrupting, nor replying to the questions of the high-priest or the statements of His accusers (Mtt. xxvi. 62; Mk. xiv. 60). He condescended not to any defence.

Nothing therefore remained but, if possible, to make Him criminate Himself. Once more, then, the high-priest stood up in the midst (Mk. xiv. 60), and in the most solemn manner adjured Him in the name of Jehovah to declare whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God (Comp. Mtt. xxvi. 63; Mk. xiv. 61).

Thus formally addressed, the Holy One at length broke the silence He had hitherto maintained, saying, in reply to the question, I am; and hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven519. He thus in the most solemn and explicit manner asserted that He was not only the Messiah, but the Son of God, and that in the sublimest sense of the words.

All was now uproar and confusion. In token of his horror the high-priest rent his clothes, and pronounced the utterance of the Redeemer to be direct and treasonable blasphemy. What further need, he exclaimed, have we of witnesses? Ye have heard His blasphemy: what think ye? (Mtt. xxvi. 65; Mk. xiv. 63, 64). Carried away by his vehement gestures and words, and his great influence, the court pronounced their opinion, He is guilty of death (Mtt. xxvi. 66). Worse than false prophet, worse than false Messiah, He had declared Himself to be the Son of God, and that in the presence of the high-priest and the great council of the nation. He had incurred the capital penalty.

And now ensued a scene of fearful violence. The bystanders were permitted to do their worst to One thus declared guilty of blasphemy. Some spat upon His face; others smote Him with the palms of their hands; others blindfolded Him, and in derision of His Messianic claims bade Him detect the hand that had been raised against Him (Mtt. xxvi. 67, 68; Mk. xiv. 65; Lk. xxii. 63, 64).

But though the great council of the nation had thus passed sentence, there remained a serious obstacle before they could carry it out. Cases punishable with death, such as false claims to prophetic inspiration, or blasphemy, they were fully competent to try520 (Comp. Acts iv. 5–21; v. 17–40; vi. 12–15; xxiii. 1–10), but they could not execute the sentence of death, for the right had been taken from them ever since Judæa became a Roman province521. Mistrusting, therefore, the people who might attempt to rescue the Holy One from the hands of their own officers, reluctant to incur the odium of profaning so sacred a day with a public execution, anxious to shift the responsibility from their own head upon that of the Romans, yet determined to insure the destruction of their Victim, they again reassembled their court (Mtt. xxvii. 1; Mk. xv. 1), and resolved to send the Redeemer before the tribunal of Pilate, who, they might not unreasonably suppose, “would not hesitate, at once, and on their authority, on the first intimation of a dangerous and growing party, to act without further examination or inquiry, and without scruple add one victim more to the robbers and turbulent insurgents, who, it appears, were kept in prison, in order to be executed, as a terrible example at that period of national concourse522.” Pilate had, as usual, come up to Jerusalem to preserve order during the Passover, and was now residing either in a palace near the tower of Antonia523, or in the splendid and luxurious structure which had been erected by Herod the Great524. Thither, therefore, the Saviour, after He had been again placed in bonds (Mtt. xxvii. 2), was led, attended by a deputation of the Sanhedrin to support and explain the charge525.

Meanwhile the fact of His condemnation had become known526 to the traitor Judas (Mtt. xxvii. 3), and filled him with the deepest remorse. Hitherto he had been lured on by covetousness, and his eyes had been blinded by the Evil One. Now they were opened, and he saw what he had done. He had betrayed innocent blood (Mtt. xxvii. 4). Filled with terror and anguish, he hurried to the chief priests and elders, and openly confessed his awful crime. But they received his confession with gibes and taunts. What is that to us? said they; see thou to that (Mtt. xxvii. 4). In frantic despair the wretched man resolved to get rid of the reward of his treachery. Rushing into the sanctuary527 he flung down the thirty pieces of silver before the priests, and went and hanged himself528 (Mtt. xxvii. 5), but, probably in consequence of the rope breaking, he fell headlong, and burst asunder in the midst (Acts i. 18), so that, when his body was found, all his bowels had gushed out. With the blood-money he had left in the Temple the chief priests were at first perplexed what to do. Though they had not scrupled to pledge it as the reward of the basest treachery, yet they were unwilling to return it to the Temple funds, and at length resolved to apply it to the purchase529 of a field for the burial of strangers, which was afterwards known as Aceldama530 (Acts i. 19), or the Field of Blood (Mtt. xxvii. 6–10; Zech. xi. 13).

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CRUCIFIXION.
A.D. 30.

THUS the Holy One was formally delivered into the hands of the soldiers563, who instantly made their preparations for His crucifixion. The place of execution was a spot of slightly rising ground without the gates of the city, called, probably from the shape of its rounded summit564, Golgotha565, the place of a skull (Mtt. xxvii. 33; Jn. xix. 17). Thither, therefore, after stripping Him of the purple robe, and putting on Him His own garments (Mtt. xxvii. 31; Mk. xv. 20), the soldiers led Him forth bearing566, as was customary, the Cross on which He was to suffer (Jn. xix. 17), attended by a centurion567, and two malefactors who were to be crucified with Him568 (Lk. xxiii. 32).

As they proceeded from the city, the Redeemer, exhausted by the grievous sufferings He had already undergone, sank under the heavy weight of the Cross, and the soldiers meeting one Simon569 of Cyrene in Northern Africa, coming from the country570, laid hold upon him, and compelled571 him to assist in bearing it (Mtt. xxvii. 32; Mk. xv. 21; Lk. xxiii. 26). And so the mournful procession was resumed, followed by a great multitude, amongst which many women began to utter loud laments at the sad spectacle. Turning to these daughters of Jerusalem the exalted Sufferer with superhuman composure bade them weep not for Him, but for themselves; for nameless sorrows awaited them, days when they would bless the wombs which had never borne, and the paps that had never given suck, when they would cry to the mountains to fall upon them, and to the hills to cover them572 (Lk. xxiii. 28–31).

On reaching the appointed place, the hole for the Cross was dug in the ground, and the customary stupefying potion573 of wine mingled with myrrh was offered to the Holy One. He touched it with his lips (Mtt. xxvii. 34), but would not drink it, being resolved to preserve His senses clear, and to endure all the coming agony in the full possession of His consciousness. Then the soldiers stripped Him of His garments, nailed His hands and feet to the Cross574, placed over His head the title575 which Pilate had written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin,

This is Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews,

and between the two malefactors, one on His right hand and the other on His left (Isai. liii. 12), the Redeemer hung suspended between heaven and earth, breathing forth even under the hands of His murderers words of infinite love, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Lk. xxiii. 34).

It was now about the third hour576 (Mk. xv. 25), and the quaternion or party of four soldiers577 (Jn. xix. 23), with their centurion (Mtt. xxvii. 54), whose special duty it was to see that the bodies of those who suffered by crucifixion were not taken away, sat down and watched (Mtt. xxvii. 36). According to custom, the clothes of the Redeemer had become their perquisite. Of the outer garment they made four parts, probably loosening the seams578. But the inner garment579 was without seam, woven from the top throughout (Jn. xix. 23). That they might not rend this garment, therefore, they drew lots for it whose it should be, and thus unconsciously fulfilled the words of the Psalmist, They parted My raiment among them; and for My vesture they did cast lots (Ps. xxii. 18; Jn. xix. 24).

While, however, the soldiers were thus employed, and the high-priests were busy wrangling with Pilate respecting the title he had placed upon the Cross, a few faithful ones had ventured to draw near the suffering Redeemer. Near His Cross stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas580, and Mary Magdalene (Jn. xix. 25), and with them the Apostle John. Looking upon His mother, and seeing standing by her the disciple whom He loved, He said to her, Woman, behold thy son, and to the disciple, Behold thy mother, and from that hour the Apostle took her to his own home581 (Jn. xix. 27).

But soon others than these faithful ones drew near. The passers-by began to vent their mockery and bitter gibes upon The Redeemer. Some reminded Him in derision of His deep saying at the first Passover of His public ministry, and bade Him who could destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save Himself (Mtt. xxvii. 39, 40; Mk. xv. 29). Others, and especially the chief priests, bade Him if He was in truth the Son of God, the Messiah, and King of Israel (Mtt. xxvii. 42; Mk. xv. 32), come down from the Cross. The soldiers also took up their words, and drawing near offered Him in mockery their sour wine582 (Lk. xxiii. 36), and required Him, if, as His title portended, He was the King of the Jews, to deliver Himself, and soon even the crucified malefactors followed their example, and cast the same in His teeth (Mtt. xxvii. 44; Mk. xv. 32).

But as the weary time wore on, the feelings of one of the two, won over by the heroic bearing of the Saviour and His infinite patience, underwent a striking change. He began to reprove the other for his revilings (Lk. xxiii. 40). They indeed were suffering justly, and receiving the reward of their misdeeds, but the Holy One in their midst had done nothing amiss. This avowal, made amidst all His present agony and degradation, was a great step, but soon it led to another. The more the penitent malefactor reflected on the sinlessness of Him who hung beside him, the more he contrasted it with his own shortcomings, the more the light streamed into his soul, and at length the eye of faith opening to discern the invisible, and the conviction dawning upon him that this was his Lord, the true King of the Jews, he turned and said, Lord, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom, and received the comforting reply, This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise (Lk. xxii. 43).

But now the greatest and most mysterious period of the Passion drew near. Already nature herself had begun to evince her sympathy with the awful scene that was being enacted. At the sixth hour, the hour of noon, the clearness of day began to be obscured. A fearful darkness583 gradually spread over the whole land (Mtt. xxvii. 45; Mk. xv. 33; Lk. xxiii. 44)584, and deepened in intensity till nearly the ninth hour, the hour of the evening sacrifice. Meanwhile the Holy One began to be sensible of the burning thirst, which is the most painful aggravation of a death by crucifixion, and gave expression to it in words (Jn. xix. 28). Close at hand stood a vessel full of vinegar, and one of the soldiers took a sponge, and filling it with the fluid put it on a hyssop-reed, and raised it to His lips. At this moment the Redeemer gave utterance to the prophetic words of the xxiind Psalm, in which, in the bitterness of his heart, David had complained of the desertion of his God, and said, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Mk. xv. 34).

On hearing this exclamation, some of those standing near, either misapprehending His words, or in wilful mockery, declared that He called not on Eli, God, but on Elias, whose appearance was universally expected as the sign of the Messiah’s kingdom. They would, therefore, have waited to see whether the great prophet would really come (Mk. xv. 36), and would have arrested the compassionate hand that was raising the vinegar. But the moment of release was near. As soon as He had tasted the vinegar (Jn. xix. 30), the dying Redeemer cried with a loud voice, It is finished; Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit, and gave up the ghost.

These last words had hardly been uttered before a wondrous event took place in the Temple. The veil, the beautiful veil, inwrought with figures of Cherubim, which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy, was suddenly rent in twain from the top to the bottom585 (Mtt. xxvii. 51; Mk. xv. 38; Lk. xxiii. 45), and at the same moment the earth trembled with the convulsion of an earthquake, and the rocks were rent, laying open many of the sepulchres with which they were perforated on all sides of the city586 (Mtt. xxvii. 52).

These marvellous incidents made a deep impression, not only on the centurion and his soldiers who had been stationed to watch the cross, but on the multitudes who had been spectators of all that had occurred, and the women and kinsmen of the Holy Sufferer who stood gazing afar off (Mtt. xxvii. 55; Mk. xv. 40). The people beating their breasts in deep but unavailing sorrow (Lk. xxiii. 48) began to pour back with fearful forebodings into the city, while the Roman officer, who though he had often looked upon death and its victims in various forms, had never witnessed such a death as this587, under the influence of deep emotion testified that He, who had been condemned as a blasphemer, was indeed a righteous man (Lk. xxiii. 47), nay more, that He was in truth the Son of God588 (Mtt. xxvii. 54; Mk. xv. 39).

CHAPTER X.

THE GREAT FORTY DAYS AND THE ASCENSION.
A.D. 30.

THUS the morning of the world’s first Easter-day passed away, and the risen Saviour had revealed Himself to Mary Magdalene and the other ministering women.

Early in the same afternoon two613 of the disciples, Cleopas614 and another, whose name is not recorded, set out from Jerusalem in the direction of the village of Emmaus615 (Lk. xxiv. 13). As they went, they conversed earnestly about the events that had so lately occurred in the Holy City, and that with heavy hearts, for every hope was buried in their Master’s grave. While they were thus engaged, He of whom they spake drew near, and accompanying them along the road began to enquire the meaning of their sorrowful looks, and of the earnest conversation they were holding with one another. Not recognising Him (Comp. Lk. xxiv. 16; Mk. xvi. 12), and surprised that even a stranger at Jerusalem could be ignorant of the event which filled their hearts and had stirred their whole capital, they proceeded to give full vent to their disappointed hopes. Jesus of Nazareth, they said, had appeared amongst them, and had proved Himself a Prophet616, mighty both in word and deed, before God and all the people; they had joined themselves to Him in the full belief that He was the long promised Redeemer of Israel, but their chief priests and rulers had condemned and crucified Him617, and three days had now passed since His death: some women, indeed, of their company had gone to His tomb early that morning, and had returned with the mysterious tidings that His Body had disappeared, and that they had seen a vision of angels, who declared that He was alive, and on this certain disciples had repaired thither also and found that the Body indeed had disappeared, but they had not seen their risen Lord (Lk. xxiv. 19–24).

Such was the touching record of their deep disappointment. But to their surprise it evoked serious reproof instead of sympathy from their companion. O foolish, and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken, said He: ought not the Messiah to have suffered these things, and to have entered into His glory? and then beginning from Moses and all the Prophets He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things relating to the Messiah’s work and person (Lk. xxiv. 26, 27).

Meanwhile the hours had sped quickly, and by the time He had finished speaking, the two disciples found themselves close to Emmaus (Lk. xxiv. 28). Their Companion appeared to be going further, but they could not bear the idea of parting with One, who had opened up such new fields of hope. Abide with us, said they earnestly; the day is far spent, and it is towards evening; nor did they cease till they had constrained Him to enter their abode (Lk. xxiv. 28, 29).

There they quickly prepared an evening meal, and their Companion, assuming the office of “Master of the House,” took bread, and pronouncing probably the grace618, with which the Jews commenced their meals, proceeded to distribute it amongst them (Lk. xxiv. 30). But while so doing, the tone of His voice, or some well-known gesture, or, it may be, the marks of the nails in His hands, revealed to them who He was. Their eyes were opened and they recognised Him, and at the same moment He vanished out of their sight (Lk. xxiv. 31).

Certain now who it was that on the road had caused their hearts to burn within them, as He talked with them and opened up the Scriptures, they instantly hurried back, though it was dark, to Jerusalem, and ascended to the upper-room, where the Apostles and others were assembled with closed doors for fear of the Jews619 (Lk. xxiv. 33; Jn. xx. 19). They thought they were the bearers of strange and welcome tidings. But their companions had equally joyous news for them. The Lord was risen indeed, and by a special appearance had revealed Himself to the repentant Simon620 (Lk. xxiv. 34; comp. 1 Cor. xv. 5).

Then they told their tale, and suddenly, while they yet were speaking, and perhaps replying to the others’ doubting questions621, the Lord stood in their midst (Lk. xxiv. 36; Jn. xx. 19), and saluted them with the words, Peace be unto you. Terrified by so sudden an apparition, they imagined that they beheld a spectre or phantom, and shrunk back. But He calmed their fears. Why are ye troubled, He enquired, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have. But though He shewed them His hands and His side (Jn. xx. 20), their joy still struggled with unbelief (Lk. xxiv. 41) and bewilderment, on which He enquired whether they had anything to eat, and when they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and of an honeycomb, the remains probably of their evening meal, He took and ate in their presence (Lk. xxiv. 42, 43). Then with the reiterated salutation, Peace be unto you (Jn. xx. 21), He proceeded, As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you; and with these words He breathed on them and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained (Jn. xx. 23).

On the evening, however, of this first Easter-day, when the risen Saviour thus manifested Himself to the Apostles, and bestowed upon them the firstfruits622 of the effusion of the Holy Spirit, one of their number, Thomas623, was not present. Why he was not has been much debated. Some suppose it was owing to an accident. Others imagine that he had thrown away all hope, that he had concluded it was impossible that his crucified Lord could ever revive. Certain it is that he was not with the rest in their wonted place of meeting. When, therefore, he was informed by the others of the wondrous appearance in the upper-room, he utterly refused to believe it. Unless, said he, I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe (Jn. xx. 25). Slow of faith, subject to despondency, ever ready to take the darker view of things, and to distrust extraordinary good news all the more because it was good, he could not accept the evidence of his fellow Apostles in so weighty a matter as the resurrection of his Lord, he must see and touch Him for himself624.

Seven days passed away, and no recorded appearance of the risen Saviour was vouchsafed. On the eighth, the first day of the week, the Apostles were again assembled in the upper-room. On this occasion Thomas was not absent. Hope probably had revived, and he expected some removal of his doubts. While, then, the doors were shut as before from fear of the Jews, suddenly the familiar words, Peace be unto you (Jn. xx. 26), struck on the astonished ears of the assembled Eleven, and their risen Lord stood in their midst. Knowing all things, knowing therefore all the hesitation and doubt of His apostle, with infinite condescension He gave him the required sign. Thomas, said He, reach hither thy finger, and see My hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side, and be not faithless but believing (Jn. xx. 27).

Whether the Apostle touched his Lord or not is not recorded. The impression is that he did not. But whichever was the case, certain it is that the effect upon him was instantaneous. All his doubts fled away like the morning mist. In the fulness of believing faith, he exclaimed, My Lord and my God. Because thou hast seen Me, replied the ever-merciful One, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen Me, and yet have believed (Jn. xx. 29).

At some period after this last appearance, though when exactly we are not told, obedient to their Lord’s repeated commands, the Apostles returned to the region of Galilee625 and the familiar neighbourhood of the lake of Gennesaret. Here once more amidst old haunts, and quiet scenes of nature, some of them resumed, probably for the sake of their daily sustenance626, their former occupations as fishermen; and on one occasion, seven of their number, Peter, Thomas, Nathanael Bar-Tolmai, James, John, and two others, whose names are not mentioned, entered into a boat at eventide and plied their craft627 (Jn. xxi. 1–3). Hour after hour passed away, and still they toiled but took nothing. Just, however, as the morning broke (Jn. xxi. 4), and the sun bursting forth began to reveal distinctly each cleft and broken cliff628 down the rocky sides of the hills fringing the lake, a Voice was heard through the still morning air, saying, Children, have ye any meat? They answered, No. Thereupon the Voice spake again, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find (Jn. xxi. 6).

Ready after the ill success of the previous night “to take any suggestion by whomsoever offered,” they did so, and straightway found themselves unable to drag the net in again by reason of the multitude of the fish they had enclosed. Awakened partly by the incident itself, partly perhaps by the Voice of the Stranger, to the recollection of a former and similar experience (Lk. v. 5)629, the Apostle John felt sure He knew who was standing on the beach, and said to Simon Peter, It is the Lord (Jn. xxi. 7). Instantly the son of Jonas, eager, ardent, impetuous as of old, girding his fisher’s coat630 about him, flung himself into the lake, and by swimming and wading reached the shore, followed by the rest in the boat dragging the net with the fish they had caught.

On landing they not only found themselves in the presence of their risen Lord, but perceived mysterious provision made for their wants after the wearying night. On the smooth margin of the lake631 was a fire of charcoal632, and fish laid thereon and bread, and the Redeemer bade them add to these some of the fish they had just brought to land. In obedience to this command Peter drew the net to shore, and brought of the fish, which numbered a hundred and fifty and three (Jn. xxi. 11), and then all sat down to the early morning meal as in former days, when dwelling with Him by the shore of that same lake. And now too, as at Emmaus, the risen Saviour as Master of the family took of the bread and fish, and distributed unto them, while they, filled with reverential awe, though certain that it was He, did not venture to question633 Him with regard to the exact “state of His holy personality634.”

When the meal was over, turning to the Apostle Peter the risen Saviour enquired, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest635 thou Me more than these? Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee, replied the Apostle, but not as on the sad evening of the Betrayal, exalting himself on his own faithfulness above his fellow-disciples636 (Jn. xxi. 15). Feed My lambs, responded his Lord. A second and yet a third time was the question repeated, till the Apostle touched probably by this reminder of his three denials, and flinging himself on the Omniscience of the Holy One made answer, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Once more the command Feed My sheep was given, and thus the Apostle was restored to his old place in the circle of the Twelve (Jn. xxi. 16, 17).

But this was not all. The Apostle was to learn what great things he must suffer for the Master, who had thus reinstated him in his Apostolic office. When thou wast young, the Lord continued, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not (Jn. xxi. 18). And with this intimation of the death that awaited the Apostle, of a day when he should be bound to the cross, and his hands be extended upon it637, He added, Follow Me, i.e. even unto that martyr’s death for His name which He had just foretold638. Apparently not understanding the meaning of the command, the Apostle interpreted it literally, and while advancing perceived the “loved disciple” also following, and filled with a desire to know what lot awaited him, enquired, Lord, and what shall this man do? (Jn. xxi. 21). But the question, whatever was its precise motive, was gently put by: If I will that he tarry till I come, replied the Saviour, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me; which intimation of long tarrying in store for St John, in contrast to the sharper discipline for which his fellow Apostle was destined, originated the mistaken idea that the “loved disciple” was to leave the world without undergoing the penalty of death (Jn. xxi. 23).

This was the third occasion on which the Saviour appeared to His Apostles after His resurrection, and it was probably now that He gave them specific directions respecting a manifestation to a still larger assembly, which was not long delayed. For apparently a short time after this last appearance, the Eleven repaired to a mountain639 in Galilee which He Himself had indicated (Mtt. xxviii. 16), and there He appeared not only to them but in all probability to the five hundred brethren of whom St Paul speaks640 (1 Cor. xv. 6). Even now some doubted whether they were really beholding their Lord (Mtt. xxviii. 17), but the Eleven no sooner saw Him than they offered Him their reverent adoration (Mtt. xxviii. 17), which He accepted, and declared that now all power was given Him in heaven and in earth, and at the same time gave them His great commission;

Go ye into all the world, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have told you, and lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Mtt. xxviii. 19, 20; Comp. Mk. xvi. 15–18).

And now the great Forty Days (Acts i. 3) were rapidly drawing to a close641. Warned it may be by the Saviour Himself, or attracted by the near approach of the festival of Pentecost642, the Apostles and their companions left Galilee and returned to Jerusalem. There once more amidst the scene of His late sufferings they saw their risen Lord, and for the last time received from His own Divine lips instruction in the things concerning the kingdom of God, and learned to trace in the prophetic Scriptures, in the Law, and in the Psalms, intimations of the sufferings and resurrection of the Messiah (Lk. xxiv. 44–48). There too they received His last command to remain in Jerusalem (Acts i. 4) till the promise of the Eternal Father should receive its accomplishment, and they should be baptized with the Holy Ghost, and endued with power from on high (Acts i. 5; Lk. xxiv. 49).

At last one day He bade them accompany Him along the road towards Bethany and the Mount of Olives (Lk. xxiv. 50), associated with so many memories of the risen Lazarus, of the Triumphal Entry, and the last sad days in His earthly life.

Convinced that something mysterious was about to happen, and with their carnal hopes still set on the idea that He was about to commence His long-looked for reign, they began to enquire, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts i. 6)? But their enquiries were solemnly silenced. It was not for them to know the times or the seasons, which the Father had put in His own power. A time was at hand when, on the descent of the Holy Spirit, they should receive power, and become witnesses to their Lord in Jerusalem, and all Judæa, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts i. 8).

Thus conversing they followed Him even to the borders of the district of Bethany, to one of the secluded hills which overhang the village of Bethany on the Eastern slope of Olivet643. There they received His last solemn and abiding blessing (Lk. xxiv. 50), and while His hands, bearing the marks of the wounds which man had inflicted, were yet uplifted in benediction (Lk. xxiv. 51), He began to be parted from them, and there came a cloud (Acts i. 9), in which slowly and gradually He rose from Olivet, till at length He was lost to sight, and ascended up to that highest heaven, where He was in the glory of the Father before the world was.

Long time stood the Eleven looking wistfully upwards, and watching Him as He receded more and more from view (Acts i. 10). At length two angelic beings clad in white apparel addressed them, saying, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who hath been taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven (Acts i. 11).

And then all was over. With hearts subdued and solemnized the Apostles returned to the Upper Room at Jerusalem, and there continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary644 the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren (Acts i. 14).

CHAPTER II.

ACTIVITY OF THE APOSTLES PETER AND JOHN.
A.D. 30.

THUS at the Feast which celebrated the ingathering of the natural harvest, a rich harvest of souls was for the first time gathered into the Christian garner, the Church assumed its separate and organised existence, and its members gave themselves up to the full requirements of their new life:

1. They continued673 steadfastly, or waited constantly upon the Apostles’ doctrine (Comp. Mtt. xxviii. 20), by whose hands many wonders and signs were wrought (Acts ii. 43), and who were enlightened to remember and commissioned to teach all that their Lord had said and commanded (Jn. xv. 26; xvi. 13).

2. They persevered in fellowship and communion with one another674, cultivating and fostering a spirit of mutual love, and instead of living each for themselves, had all things common, selling their possessions and lands, and parting them to all men, as every man had need (Acts ii. 42–45).

3. They attended constantly on the breaking of the Bread675, and thus consecrated their chief daily meal with the celebration of that Feast, which shewed forth (1 Cor. xi. 26) their Lord’s death, and the sacrifice He had offered.

4. They were stedfast also in their attendance at the public prayers676 in the Temple, at the stated hours of the national worship (Acts ii. 42, 46), praising God, and having favour with all the people.

And in the Temple occurred the next eventful incident in the history of the early Church. Two of the Apostles, Peter and John, were going up thither at the ninth hour677, the hour of prayer and the offering of the evening sacrifice. At the entrance they encountered a man lame from his birth, who was in the habit of being laid day by day at the Gate known as the “Beautiful Gate678,” for the purpose of exciting the compassion and appealing to the charity of the passing worshippers. On the present occasion he appealed to the two Apostles, and supplicated their aid. Thus accosted they stopped, and fixing upon him an earnest gaze, bade him look on them (Acts iii. 4). Expecting perhaps some charitable offering, he did so679, when Peter addressing him said, Silver and gold have I none, but what I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (Acts iii. 6, 7), and with the words took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and he, who had been lame from his birth, found strength suddenly restored to his crippled feet680 and ankles, found himself able to spring up, stand, and walk, found himself able to accompany the Apostles into the Temple, and there give thanks to God (Acts iii. 8).

The cure of such a man in such a manner was quickly noised abroad amongst the worshippers crowding the Temple-courts. Filled with wonder and amazement the people ran together with one accord into the porch or colonnade of Solomon681, and there beheld the two Apostles, and clinging682 to them in the first transport of grateful attachment, the very man they had so long and so often seen sitting for alms at the Beautiful Gate (Acts iii. 11). It was a meet occasion for addressing the astonished throng, and Peter commenced one of those heart-stirring discourses, whereby in these early days, as his Lord had predicted, he strengthened his brethren (Lk. xxii. 32).

“Why marvel ye, said he, at this? Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by magical power or holiness of our own we have caused that this man should walk? The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom for years ye have owned and worshipped, He and no other has been working by us. Though ye delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate His Servant683 Jesus, and demanded that, in place of the Holy One and the Just, a murderer, Barabbas, should be granted unto you; though ye killed the Prince of life, yet God hath raised Him from the dead, and our faith in His Name hath restored this cripple, as your eyes behold (Acts iii. 16).

“In ignorance, indeed, ye and your rulers did this. But in so doing ye fulfilled a mysterious purpose of Divine Love, even the counsels of that God, who predicted by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and that so684 seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and He may send unto you Christ Jesus, whom the heavens must retain till the times of the restitution of all things, of which God from the beginning hath spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets. Moses, your great lawgiver, said when your fathers stood before the awful mount of Sinai, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you from among your brethren. Him shall ye hear according to all things whatsoever He shall say unto you, and it shall be, that every soul which shall not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people (Deut. xviii. 15, 18). This Prophet hath appeared in the person of Jesus, and to you first685 hath God sent Him forth, blessing you in turning away each one from your iniquities (Acts iii. 17–26).”

This powerful address had a still greater effect than the previous discourse of the Apostle. Upwards of five thousand avowed themselves believers in the Crucified, and swelled the ranks of the Christian Church (Acts iv. 4). But it had other issues also. The Sanhedrin, which had hitherto stood aloof686 from all notice of the movements of the Apostles, resolved to act with decision. As the evening of this eventful day closed in, the priests, the captain of the Levitical guard687, and the Sadducees688, naturally annoyed at the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead through the power of a risen Saviour, laid hands on the two Apostles and the healed cripple689 (Comp. Acts iv. 14), and committed them to prison, intending on the morrow to institute a formal trial (Acts iv. 3).

Accordingly on the next day the rulers, the elders, and scribes, Annas690 the high-priest and Caiaphas, John691 and Alexander692, and others of the pontiff’s family, assembled probably in their hall Gazith, and when the Apostles had been placed in the midst of the judicial circle, enquired by what authority and by virtue of what commission they had acted as they had done.

Thereupon Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts iv. 8), again stood forward, and boldly declared that the miracle of the previous day was due entirely to the mighty working of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, but whom God had raised from the dead. He was the Stone whom, in the language of the cxviiith Psalm, they the builders of the nation and its appointed teachers had rejected as worthless, but which had become the head of the corner, nor was there in any other the Salvation, for which all hoped; for there was no other Name under heaven given among men, whereby they could be saved (Acts iv. 8–12).

The boldness, power, and knowledge, which this speech betrayed, astonished the Sanhedrin beyond measure, and the more so when they reflected that the speaker and his fellow Apostle were of the common class, unlearned and ignorant693, in whom they recognised694 the obscure followers of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts iv. 13). The miracle, indeed, which they had wrought could not be gainsaid, for the restored cripple, a man more than 40 years of age (Acts iv. 22), stood beside them (Acts iv. 14), ready to support by his testimony the power by which he had been so marvellously healed. It was deemed, therefore, inexpedient to go into the question of evidence, and after a secret conference (Acts iv. 15) it was resolved to prevent, if possible, the spread of the report of the miracle amongst the people, and to forbid for the future any preaching or teaching in the name of Jesus.

Accordingly the Apostles, who had been ordered to withdraw during the consultation, were recalled and informed of their decision. But they absolutely declined to act upon it. They could not, they said, refrain from proclaiming what their own eyes had seen and their own ears had heard, or hearken to the council rather than to that God, whose commissioned witnesses they were. After further threats, therefore, they were dismissed; for the Sanhedrin saw plainly that they had done nothing deserving punishment, and the popular feeling ran so strongly in their favour, that they dared not resort to violence (Acts iv. 21).

Thus released they returned to the rest of the disciples, and recounted all that had occurred. Their tidings had not the effect of lessening the courage of their hearers. Lifting up their voices with one accord to the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, they declared their conviction of the vanity of the machinations of their rulers against the Supreme and the Messiah whom He had sent. Herod, and Pontius Pilate, the nations and people of Israel, had gathered themselves together against their Master, but only to do what His hand and counsel had foreordained should come to pass. The threats, therefore, of their foes they regarded not, and only prayed that, while695 the Lord stretched forth His hand to heal, and caused signs and wonders to be performed through the Name of His holy servant Jesus, they themselves might receive still greater strength to preach His Word (Acts iv. 23–30).

Their petition received an immediate and sensible response. The place where they were assembled was shaken as by an earthquake, and a fresh and special communication of the Holy Ghost filled them with still greater boldness to proclaim their message and deliver their testimony (Acts iv. 31).

CHAPTER III.

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA—RENEWED HOSTILITY OF THE SADDUCEES.
A.D. 30–34.

THUS terminated the first collision of the Christian community with the ruling powers at Jerusalem. Within that community itself all as yet went well. While the Apostles with increased power gave forth their testimony to the resurrection of their Lord, the disciples proved the sincerity of their convictions by the self-denial of their lives. All being of one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32), they regarded their possessions as belonging to a common fund, and such as were possessed of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price and laid it at the Apostles’ feet, who caused distribution to be made thereof according to the requirements of each (Acts iv. 35).

Of this self-denying goodwill no one afforded a brighter example than a man of the tribe of Levi696, and a native of Cyprus, whose name was Joseph, or, as he was called by the Apostles, Barnabas697, the Son of Consolation, or rather of Exhortation, on account of the extraordinary gifts of inspired discourse and exhortation by which he was distinguished698 (Acts iv. 36). His estates, which were probably considerable, he sold, and rejoiced in the distribution of the price amongst his poorer brethren.

Before long, however, a sad incident occurred, which told of evil already at work within the Christian society. A certain man named Ananias, with the privity of his wife Sapphira, sold a possession, and having appropriated a portion of the price, laid the remainder at the Apostles’ feet, giving it to be understood that that was the whole sum he had received (Acts v. 1, 2). But his aspiration after high honour amongst his brethren with so little cost to himself did not escape the detection of the Apostle Peter. Fixing his eye upon him as he brought the portion and laid it before him, he enquired how he had permitted Satan to tempt him to deceive the Holy Ghost. While it remained, said he, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God (Acts v. 4). At these words, so stern, so solemn, and yet so true, reading his heart to its lowest depths, the wretched man was utterly overwhelmed, and fell down and gave up the ghost. When the awe of the assembly at this instant judgment on the sin of hypocrisy had somewhat subsided, the young men699 who were present rose up, and wrapping the body in the usual burial clothes700 bore it forth to a tomb without the city701 (Acts v. 6).

Three hours had scarcely elapsed before his wife Sapphira, not knowing what had occurred, entered the place where the disciples were met together, and was straightway asked by Peter whether she and Ananias had really sold the farm for the price which the latter had alleged. To this she replied in the affirmative, and thus made her husband’s sin her own, and deliberately confirmed the fraud. The Apostle had not denounced the awful judgment, which had befallen her husband, he had only denounced the offender. But now he not only denounced the sin, but declared its instant penalty, saying, Behold the feet of them which buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Thus informed at one and the selfsame moment of her husband’s fate and her own, she too dropped down a corpse, and was instantly conveyed to the grave by those who had just returned from burying Ananias (Acts v. 8–10).

The effect of this terrible but just judgment was very great. Fear came upon all who saw and all who heard what had taken place, and the Apostles, by whose hands many signs and wonders continued to be wrought, acquired still greater reverence. Those who did not yet believe, forbore to join themselves to the Christian society rashly or from light motives, while the common people, impressed with a sense of the supernatural power possessed by the Apostles, brought forth their sick, and placed them on beds and couches in the streets, that they might have the benefit even of Peter’s shadow passing by702 (Acts v. 15). Soon the populations of the towns round about Jerusalem imitated their example, and experienced the effects of the healing word as addressed either to the sick or those possessed by unclean spirits (Acts v. 16).

The excitement thus aroused could not escape the notice of the Sanhedrin. Annas and Caiaphas and the Sadducaic faction saw that they must make another effort to suppress the new sect so quickly gaining adherents in their very midst. Accordingly they caused the Apostles to be seized and cast into the common prison, and on the morrow calling together the whole Council, sent their officers to summon them into their presence.

When, however, they reached the prison, the officers found indeed the doors fast closed, but the prisoners had disappeared! On receiving this intelligence the high-priest and the Sanhedrin703 were in the utmost perplexity, which was still further increased by the entrance of a messenger, announcing that the Apostles were in the Temple, where indeed they had been since daybreak, having been released by an angel during the night (Acts v. 18–25). Thereupon the Captain of the Levitical guard was despatched to fetch them, and even he found himself obliged to act with caution and gentleness, for the feelings of the people were largely on the side of the Apostles, and stones were ever ready at hand in the precincts of the Temple, to furnish weapons for a tumultuous resistance704.

But the Twelve readily accompanied the officers, and presented themselves before the Sanhedrin, and in reply to the high-priest’s complaint that they had not obeyed the injunctions of the council to forbear preaching in the Name of Jesus, evinced even more boldness and resolution than before. Peter, once more their spokesman, declared that obedience was due to God rather than to man, for he had raised up from the dead that same Jesus, whom they had crucified and slain, and exalted Him to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. To the fact of His resurrection they were witnesses, and their testimony they were bound to deliver (Acts v. 29–32).

These words, breathing such dauntless resolution, roused the Council to the utmost fury, and the majority, especially the Sadducaic party, were eager for the execution of their prisoners. But the rising of one of their number was the signal for calmer measures.

This was the famous Rabbi Gamaliel705, an illustrious teacher of the Law, who was held in the utmost reverence by the people, and according to Jewish tradition was the president of the Sanhedrin. He advised that the Apostles should withdraw for a while, and then proceeded to urge his brethren to moderation and calmness. There was no need, he said, for any apprehension from such an obscure band of Galilæans. Could not the Council recall how a few years before one Theudas706 had arisen, boasting himself to be some great one, and had collected a body of 400 followers? But what was the issue? Was he not slain, and as many as followed him dispersed and annihilated? And then again in the days of the taxing did there not rise up707 Judas of Galilee, who also drew away much people after him? But was he a whit more successful? Did he not perish with all his followers? Let these instances, he continued, suffice, and let the assembly refrain from these men. If their work or counsel was of men, it would come to nought, but if it was of God, it would be impossible to overthrow it, and they ought to be on their guard lest they should by any chance be found fighting against God708 (Acts v. 34–39).

The weight of the speaker’s name and his high reputation prevailed over the bitterness of faction. His prudent advice was adopted. The Apostles were recalled, and after being beaten with rods, were dismissed with strict injunctions to abstain from speaking any more in the name of Jesus (Acts v. 40). But threats and stripes were alike ineffectual to seal their mouths. They went forth from the council rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer for the Name of their Master, and ceased not publicly in the Temple courts, and privately from house to house, to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah (Acts v. 41, 42).