ADVENTURE OF JESUS WITH THE FEMALE SAMARITAN--HIS JOURNEY AND MIRACLES
IN THE COUNTRY OF THE GERASENES.
It may be observed that in this examination of the history of Jesus, we
follow the most generally received arrangement of facts, without meaning
to guarantee that they occurred precisely in that order. Chronological
mistakes are not of much importance when they do not influence the
nature of events. Besides, the evangelists, without fixing any eras,
content themselves with saying _at that time_, which precludes our
giving an exact chronology of the following transactions. Precision
would require a labor as immense as superfluous, and tend only to shew
that the history of Jesus, dictated by the Holy Spirit, is more
incorrect than that of celebrated Pagans of an antiquity more remote. It
would also prove that the inspired writers contradict themselves every
instant, by making their hero act at the same time in different places,
and often remote from each other. On the other hand, this great labor
would not inform us which of the evangelists we ought to prefer, seeing
all in the eyes of faith have truth on their side. Time and place do not
change the nature of facts; and it is from these facts we must form our
ideas of the legislator of the Christians.
Jesus having commenced his journey in the summer season, felt oppressed
with thirst near Sichar, in the country of Samaria, which gave rise to a
singular adventure. Near this city there was a well, known by the name
of Jacob's fountain. Fatigued with his journey, Jesus sat down on the
brink of the well, waiting the return of his disciples, who had gone to
the city for provisions. It was about noon, when a female came to draw
water. Jesus asked her to let him drink out of the vessel she held; but
the Samaritan, who knew from his countenance that he was a Jew, was
astonished at his request, as there was no intercourse between the
orthodox Jews and the Samaritans. According to the custom of partisans
of different sects, they detested each other most cordially. The
messiah, who was not so fastidious as the ordinary Jews, undertook the
conversion of the female heretic, for whose sex we find in him a strong
attachment through the whole course of his history. "If thou knewest,"
said he to her, "the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give
me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given
thee living water." The Samaritan woman, who did not observe Jesus to
have any vessel in his hand, asked whence he could draw the living water
of which he spoke? On this the messiah, assuming a mysterious tone,
answered, "Whoso drinketh of this well shall thirst again, but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; It
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The
female, who was a dame of easy virtue, asked some of that marvellous
water; and Jesus, from this discourse having discovered the profession
of the woman, ingeniously got off by telling her to go and seek her
husband; calculating, perhaps, on being able to steal away when she was
gone. But the lady related to him her life; gave some details of her
conduct; and thereby enabled him to conjecture enough of it to speak as
a conjuror. Accordingly, he told her that she had had five husbands;
that she had none at that time, and that the man with whom she lived was
only a gallant. The Samaritan woman took Jesus for a sorcerer or a
prophet; he did not deny it; and as he was not then afraid of being
stoned or punished, he made bold for the first time to confess that he
was the messiah.
They were at this part of their dialogue, when the return of Jesus'
disciples put an end to it. The latter, whether they knew the profession
of the loquacious dame, or were more intolerant than their master, were
surprised at the tete-a-tete; yet none of them ventured to criticise the
conduct of Jesus; while the Samaritan woman seeing his retinue believed
in reality that he was a prophet or the messiah. Leaving her pitcher,
she went directly to Sichar, "Come and see," said she to the
inhabitants, "a man who told me all things that ever I did; is not this
the Christ?"--The astonished inhabitants went and met Jesus; and charmed
with hearing him preach, without comprehending one word of his
discourse, they invited him to come and reside with them. He yielded to
their request for two days only: the provisions purchased were put up in
reserve, and the troop lived during that time at the cost of these
heretics, delighted no doubt with defraying the expenses of the Saviour
and his followers.
All the marvellous in this adventure turns on Jesus having divined that
the Samaritan lady had had five husbands, and lived at that time in
criminal intercourse with a favorite. Yet it is easy to perceive that
Jesus could learn this anecdote either in his conversation with the
prating dame, or by public rumor, or in some other very easy way.
But unbelievers find another reason for criticising this relation of
John. Laying aside the marvellous, they attack the _truth_ of the
transaction. All history attests, that in the time of Jesus, Samaria was
peopled by colonies of different nations, which the Assyrians had
transported thither after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel. This
would seem to exclude the expectation of the messiah, in which,
according to John, the Samaritans lived. Pagans and Idolators could not
have very distinct notions of an event peculiar to Judea. If the
Samaritans were the descendants of Jacob, it was not necessary to put
into the mouth of the Samaritan woman these words, "Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain, and ye say, Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship." It was also absurd to make Jesus say, "ye shall
no more worship the Father, either in this mountain or at Jerusalem; ye
worship ye know not what;" for the law of Moses does not forbid the
worshipping God in whatever place we may find ourselves. In the time of
Jesus, the laws or usages of the Jews required, that none should offer
sacrifice any where, except in the temple of the capital; but the places
of prayer depended on every man's own will and pleasure. It is, besides,
absurd to say, that the descendants of Jacob did not know the God whom
they adored to be Jehovah, the God of Moses and of the Jews; unless it
is pretended, that they did not know whom they worshipped. Since the
mission of Jesus, Christians have undoubtedly nothing to reproach them
with on this head. Moreover the words of Jesus seem to insinuate, that
he wished to abolish the worship of the Father. It is certain that
Christians share their homage between him and his Son, which, faith a
part, annihilates the dogma of the unity of God. Finally, Jesus did not
conjecture right in saying, that the Father would be no longer
worshipped at Jerusalem, or on the mountain; for this Father has not
ceased one instant to be worshipped there for these eighteen centuries,
by Jews, by Christians, and by Mahometans.
If it is maintained, that the Samaritan woman was a heathen, it is not
likely that she would have regarded Jesus as the messiah, whom she
neither knew nor expected. Add to this, that the Samaritans believed in
Jesus on the word of a courtezan; a credulity of which Jews and
Christians only could be susceptible. Jesus and his disciples were Jews,
and in that character excluded from Samaria. It is of no import,
therefore, by whom the country was inhabited.
Two days having elapsed, and the people of Sichar being, in all
appearance, sufficiently instructed, Jesus quitted their city, and with
his disciples took the road of Upper Galilee. In this journey, Jesus
considering the hostile disposition of his countrymen, thought proper
not to enter Nazareth, the place of his nativity. He applied to himself
the famous proverb, _a prophet has no honor in his own country_. It was
otherwise in the rest of the province:--as soon as the people knew of
his arrival, they gave him welcome. Luke assures us that he was esteemed
and honored by every body. These good people had beheld the wonders
which he had operated in Jerusalem, during the festival of the passover.
In gratitude for these favorable dispositions, and for the faith he
found among the Galileans, Jesus did not content himself with
instructing them, but confirmed his mission, and testified his love by a
crowd of prodigies. The number was, doubtless, very great, as Matthew is
constrained to say generally, that he healed all manner of sickness, and
all manner of disease among the people; and that it was sufficient to
obtain a cure, to present to him the sick, whatever might be their
disease. Lunatics, whose number was great in that country; idiots,
hypochondriacs, and persons possessed with devils, had but to fly to him
for relief, and their cure was certain.
This multitude of miracles, for so they style the cures operated by
Jesus, drew after him a crowd of idlers and vagabonds from Galilee,
Jerusalem, Decapolis, Judea, and the country beyond Jordan. It was in
this journey he obtained two famous disciples: they were brothers, sons
of a fisherman of the name of Zebedee, and called James and John. The
first, though, probably, he could not read, afterwards composed mystical
works, which are at this day revered by Christians. With respect to
John, he was the favorite of his master, and received from him marks of
distinguished attention. He afterwards became a sublime Platonist, and,
through gratitude, deified Jesus in the gospels and epistles published
in his name.
The reputation and resources of Jesus were so great in Galilee, that, to
increase the number of his followers, it was only necessary for him to
open his mouth and speak. The two disciples already mentioned, he called
with an intention to keep near his person. Wishing, however, to repose
after the fatigues of preaching and performing miracles, he resolved to
quit the cities and retire to the sea coast. He conjectured, that to
make himself desirable, and not exhaust his credit, it was prudent not
to suffer himself to be seen too long or too near. The people, fond of
hearing the wonderful sermons of Jesus, followed him. Pressed by the
crowd, he happily perceived two vessels; and stepping into the one
belonging to Simon Peter, he harangued the eager multitude from it. Thus
the boat of a fisherman became a pulpit, whence the Deity uttered his
oracles.
The Galileans were not rich, and, accordingly, the troop of Jesus'
adherents augmented. We find his four first apostles laboring in their
trade of fishermen during the abode of the messiah in the province. The
day on which he preached in the vessel had not been fortunate for them;
and the night preceding was not more favorable. Jesus, who knew more
than one profession, thought that it behoved him to do something for
people who shewed so much zeal. When, therefore, he had finished his
harangue and the crowd had retired, he bade Simon advance into the
middle of the water and cast his net; the latter excused himself,
saying, that he had already thrown several times without success. But
Jesus insisted:--then said Simon, _I will cast it on thy word_: on
which, by an astonishing miracle, the net broke on all sides. Simon and
Andrew were unable to drag it out, they called their comrades, and drew
out of it fishes enough to fill two ships. Our fishermen were so
surprised, that Peter took his master for a wizard, and prayed him to
depart. But Jesus encouraged him, and promised not to alarm them again,
seeing that henceforth he, Peter, should no longer occupy himself with
catching fish, but men.
The messiah finding himself near Cana, judged it proper, as he had once
performed a miracle there, to enter that place. An officer of Capernaum,
whose son was sick of a fever, repaired to this village on purpose to
try the remedies of Jesus, of whose powers so many persons boasted. He
entreated the physician to come to his house and cure his son; but our
Esculapius, who did not chuse to operate before eyes too clear-sighted,
got rid of this importunate person in such a way as not to incur any
risk, in case he should not succeed: Go, said he to the officer, _thy
son liveth_. The officer, while approaching his own habitation, learned
that the fever, which perhaps was intermittent, had left his son. No
more was necessary to cry up the miracle, and convert all the family.
After having traversed the sea coast, and made some stay at Cana, Jesus
repaired to Capernaum, where, as has been related, he fixed his
residence. The family of Simon Peter was established in that city; and
it was no doubt this reason, joined with the bad treatment he had
received from the inhabitants of Nazareth, that determined Jesus to make
choice of this residence. It appears he was abhorred in the city where
he had been educated; for as soon as he attempted to preach there, the
people wanted to throw him headlong. At Capernaum they listened to and
admired him; he harangued in the synagogue, explained the scripture, and
showed that he himself was foretold in it. In the midst of his sermon,
one Sabbath day, they brought him a person possessed, who perhaps in
concert with him, began to cry out with all his might; "Let us alone:
what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to
destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God." The people
waited in terror for the issue of this adventure, when Jesus, certain of
his ground, addressed himself not to the man, but to the devil
possessing him: "Hold thy peace," said he, "and come out of him."
Immediately the malign spirit overturned the possessed, threw him into
horrible convulsions, and disappeared without any person seeing him.
Physicians, especially those acquainted with the eastern countries, do
not admit miracles of the nature of this one. They know that the
diseases considered _possessions_, were owing solely to disorders
produced in the brain by excessive heat. These maladies were frequent in
Judea, where superstition and ignorance impeded the progress of medicine
and all useful knowledge. Out of that country we find but few possessed
with devils. This incredulity strips Jesus of a great number of his
miracles; yet taking away the _possessions_, there still remain enough.
Most of the possessed among us are hypochondriacs, maniacs, hysterical
women, melancholy persons, and those tormented with the vapors or
spasms; or they are impostors, who, to gain money, to interest the
simple and to display the power of the priests, consent to receive the
devil, that the clergy may have the glory of expelling him. There is
scarcely a possession now-a-days which could resist a flogging.
Miracles are food for the imagination, but the body requires more
substantial aliments: the adventure which has been related had led to
the hour of dinner. On leaving the synagogue, Jesus was invited to the
house of Peter, where every thing appears to have been prepared for
performing a second miracle. The mother-in-law of Simon felt sick at the
moment they had need of her in managing the kitchen. Jesus, who
possessed the talent of readily curing the relatives of his disciples,
took her by the hand, and made her rise from her bed: she arose
completely cured, cooked the victuals, and was in a condition to serve
the guests.
In the evening of the same day, they brought Jesus all the sick in
Capernaum, and all the possessed, whom, according to Matthew, he cured
by some words; but, according to Luke, by laying hands on them. Several
devils, on coming out of the possessed, had the impudence to betray the
secret of the physician, and openly declare, that he was "Christ the Son
of God." This indiscretion displeased Jesus, who wished, or feigned to
wish, to keep private. Luke tells us that "he rebuked them, and suffered
them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ."
According to theologists, the Son of God, in all his conduct, had in
view only to lead the devil astray, and conceal from him the mystery of
redemption: Yet we see, that Jesus was never able to deceive his cunning
enemy. In the whole gospel system, the devil is more sly and powerful
than both God the Father and God the Son: he is always successful in
thwarting their designs, and succeeds in reducing God the Father to the
dire necessity of making his dear Son die in order to repair the evil
which Satan had done to mankind. Christianity is real manichaeism,
wherein every advantage is on the side of the bad principle, who, by the
great number of his adherents renders nugatory all the purposes of the
Deity. If the devil knew that Jesus was "the Christ," such knowledge
must have been posterior to his retirement into the desert, for he then
spoke to him in a style which intimated that he knew him not. It is
superfluous to examine at what time the devil acquired this knowledge;
but it is manifest that he had it only by divine permission. Now God, by
granting to the devil the knowledge of his Son, either wished, or did
not wish, that he should speak of it. If he wished it, Jesus did wrong
in opposing it: if he did not wish it, how was the devil able to act
contrary to the divine will? Jesus carefully concealed his quality, the
knowledge of which could alone operate salvation. But, in this case, the
devil had the greatest interest to conceal it; yet in opposition to this
interest, and the will of the Almighty, the devil made known the quality
of Jesus. Besides, if Jesus did not wish that the devil should discover
him, why delay imposing silence on him until after he had spoken?
The conduct of the Messiah in these particulars has made it to be
believed, that not daring to endanger himself by publicly assuming the
quality of Christ, or Son of God, he was not displeased with the devils
for divulging his secret, and sparing him the trouble of speaking. It
was, moreover, eliciting a very important confession out of the mouth of
an enemy.
Jesus was not ignorant, that to retain his influence over the minds of
men, it was necessary to prevent satiety. Accordingly, on the day
following that on which so many miracles had been wrought in Capernaum,
he departed before day-break, and withdrew into a desert. All
legislators have loved retirement. It is there they have had divine
inspirations, and it is on emerging from these mysterious asylums, they
have performed miracles calculated to deceive the vulgar. Solitary
reflection is at times necessary to ascertain the state of our affairs.
Meanwhile the disciples of Jesus, notwithstanding his flight, did not
lose sight of him; they repaired to him at the moment he wished to be
alone, and informed him that they had been every where in search of him.
In fact, there were still many sick and possessed in the country; yet
this consideration did not induce Jesus to return to Capernaum; on which
account many resorted to him in his retreat. To get rid of them, he
again traversed Galilee, where he cured the sick and cast out devils.
This is all the gospel mentions. It appears he tarried little on his
road, while he preached as he went along; for in a short time he had
advanced a considerable way on the shore of the sea of Galilee. As the
multitude augmented by idle and curious people from the villages, our
preacher, finding himself pressed by the crowd, gave orders to his
disciples to convey him to the other side, on the territory of the
Gerasenes.
When he had landed, a doctor of the law offered to become his follower:
but Jesus readily conceived that a _doctor_ would not suit him. He would
have cut a poor figure in a company composed of fishermen and clowns,
such as those of whom the messiah had formed his court. He gave the
doctor to understand, that he would repent of this step; that this kind
of life would not agree with him: "the son of man," said he to the
doctor, "hath no where to lay his head."
Jesus would not permit his disciples to ramble too far in the territory
of the Gerasenes; for amongst them were some of that country. One asked
permission to go and perform the last duties to his father;--another, to
embrace his family; but Jesus harshly refused their requests. The first
received for answer, "let the dead bury their dead." The other, "whoever
having put his hand to the plough, and looketh back, is not fit for the
kingdom of heaven." The incredulous think they perceive in these answers
a proof of the rough habits, and repulsive and despotic spirit of Jesus,
who, for the kingdom of heaven, obliged his disciples to neglect the
most sacred duties of morality. But Christians, docile to the lessons of
their divine master, which they dare not examine, have made perfection
consist in a total abandonment of those objects which nature has
rendered dearest to man. Christianity seems intended only to create
discord, detach men from every thing on earth, and break the ties which
ought to unite them. There is, according to Jesus, but one thing
needful; namely, to be attached to him exclusively: a maxim very useful
in meriting heaven, but calculated to destroy every society on the
earth.
After our missionary had spent some time in the country of the
Gerasenes, one day towards the evening he passed over to the other side
of the lake, having previously dismissed the people, who had come that
day on purpose to hear him; but he did not preach. Fatigued, he fell
asleep on the passage, whilst a furious tempest overtook the ship. His
affrighted disciples, impressed with the idea of their master being more
powerful when awake than when asleep, acquainted him with the danger.
This drew on them reproaches for their want of faith, which, probably,
gave time for the tempest to subside. Then Jesus, in a tone of
authority, commanded the sea to be still, and immediately the order was
obeyed. In spite of this prodigy, the faith of the disciples was for a
long time wavering. Jesus after this returned to the country of the
Gerasenes, without having either preached or performed miracles on the
other side.