MISSION OF THE APOSTLES.--THE INSTRUCTIONS JESUS GAVE THEM.--MIRACLES
WROUGHT UNTIL THE END OF THE SECOND YEAR OF HIS OWN MISSION.
Dissatisfied with his expedition to Nazareth, Jesus went to Upper
Gallilee, which had already been the theatre of his wonders. He found
the disposition of the inhabitants of that country better adapted to his
purpose. He perceived, however, that the necessity they were under of
suspending their labor to come and hear him, kept a great number at
home. This consideration obliged him to disperse his apostles by two and
two in the province. It is probable he resolved on this dispersion
because he found his own sermons and prodigies did not gain many
proselytes. The continual enterprizes of his enemies made him feel the
necessity of increasing his party.
It appears that Jesus had already sent several of his disciples on
missions, retaining near himself his twelve apostles only. It may,
however, be presumed, that these preachers were as yet mere novices, as
their labors were unsuccessful, the devils obstinately resisting their
exorcisms. Yet this want of success was owing solely to the weakness of
their faith, and would seem to throw a shade on the foresight and
penetration of their divine master. Why did he send missionaries whose
dispositions were not sufficiently known to him? Besides, it belonged to
him alone to bestow on them a necessary stock of faith for their
journey.
Whatever opinion way be formed of this, those of the apostles, who never
quitted their master, who saw him continually operating, who enjoyed his
confidence, and had faith from the first hand--were better qualified
than the others to labor to the satisfaction of the public. Fully
resolved to make a desperate effort, Jesus renewed all their powers, and
gave them his instructions, of which the following is the substance:
"Every thing being well considered, do not go among the Gentiles, for
our Jews will charge it as a crime against you, and as a reproach
against me. It is true, I have already threatened to renounce them, but
it is still necessary to make one attempt more; you will therefore
preach to the Jews only. Repentance supposes sobriety and few wants;
hence the inutility of riches. I have no money to give you, but strive
to pick up for yourselves what you can. Providence will provide for you;
if he takes care of the sparrows, he will take care of you. Moreover
expect to be ill received, reviled, and persecuted; but be of good
courage; all is for the best. Silence is no longer requisite; preach
openly and on the house tops what I have spoken to you in secret. Inform
the world that I am the messiah, the son of David and the Son of God. We
have no longer to observe discretion; we must either conquer or die;
away then with pusillanimity.
"Though I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, explain to the
good people that you are under the safeguard of the Most High, who will
take a terrible revenge for the outrages offered you, and liberally
reward those who welcome you. You do not require to concert measures for
supplying your wants; it belongs to those whose souls you are going to
save to provide you in necessaries for the body. Carry not therefore
either gold, or silver, or provision, or two suits of raiment; take a
good cudgel, and depart in the name of the Lord.
"Take care in your way always to preach that _the kingdom of heaven is
at hand_. Speak of the end of the world: this will intimidate women and
poltroons. On entering cities and villages, inform yourself of such
credulous people as are very charitable and prepossessed in our favor.
You will salute them civilly; saying _Peace be to this house_. But the
peace you bring must be _allegorical_; for my doctrine is calculated to
create trouble, discord, and division every where. Whoever would follow
me, must abandon father, mother, kinsmen, and family; we want only
fanatics and enthusiasts, who attaching themselves wholly to us, trample
every human consideration under foot. _I came not to send peace, but a
sword._ As a like conduct might embroil you with your hosts, you will
change your abode from time to time. Do not rely on the power I have of
raising the dead the safest way for you is not to risk your being
killed; shun therefore places where you may be menaced with persecution.
Abandon disobedient cities and houses, _shaking the dust from off your
feet_. Tell them, that they have incurred the punishment of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Declare, in my name, that the divine vengeance is ready to
make them sensible of their guilt, and that the inhabitants of these
cities will be less rigorously punished than those who shall have the
audacity to resist your lessons. The great and last day is at hand. I
assure you that you will not have finished your tour through all the
cities of Israel before the son of man shall arrive."
Such is the sense and spirit of the instructions which Jesus gave to his
apostles. In charging them to divulge his secret, he gave them a
commission, which, notwithstanding his omnipotence, he himself dared not
execute. But it was a grand policy to have instruments to act without
exposing himself to personal injury.
These trifles, however, scarcely merit notice:--We are more surprised to
find the Son of God proclaiming peace and charity, and at the same time
asserting that he brings war and hatred. It is without doubt a God only
who can reconcile these contradictions. It is besides unquestionable,
that the apostles, and especially their successors in the sacred
ministry have, in preaching their gospel, brought on the world troubles
and divisions unknown in all other preceding religions. The incredulous,
who by the way refer to the history of the church, find, that the _glad
tidings_ which a God came on purpose to announce, have plunged the human
race into tears and blood.
It is obvious from this language, that Jesus charged people of property
with the maintenance of his apostles. Their successors have taken
sufficient advantage of this, and through it assumed an authority to
exercise the most cruel extortions on impoverished nations. Would not
the Almighty have rendered his apostles more respectable by rendering
them incapable of suffering, and exempting them from the wants of
nature? This would have given more weight to their sublime sermons and
those of their infallible successors.
Critics maintain also, that it was false to say eighteen hundred years
ago that _the end of the world was near_, and still more false to affirm
that the great Judge would arrive before the apostles could make the
tour of the cities of Israel. It is true, theologists understand that
the end of the world shall happen when all the Jewish cities, that is,
when all the Jews shall be converted. Time will demonstrate whether it
be in that sense we ought to understand the words of Jesus: meanwhile
the world still remains, and does not appear to threaten speedy ruin.
It is probable that, besides these public instructions, Jesus gave more
particular ones to his apostles. They departed in the hope of charities
which they were to receive from Jews, of whom the greatest number were
already in a state of reprobation. Jesus altered his orders in part; he
reserved for himself the cities, and left the villages to his apostles.
Accordingly they went here and there, calling out, _Hearken to the glad
tidings; the world is near its end. Repent therefore, pray, fast, and
give us money and provisions, for having acquainted you with this
interesting secret._ We are assured that they cured several diseases by
the application of a certain oil. They had doubtless done more excellent
things, but the _paraclete_ (the comforter) was not yet come: maugre the
instructions of the Son of God, the understandings of the apostles were
not yet sufficiently brightened; for we do not find that the
missionaries, with their balsam and fine speeches, made any converts.
The incredulous are still much surprised to find in the instructions of
Jesus to his apostles, an explicit order to labor only for the
conversion of the Jews, and an express prohibition against preaching to
the Gentiles. They maintain, that a righteous God could make no
distinction of persons; that the common father of mankind must show an
equal love to all his children: that it cost no more to the Almighty to
convert and save all nations; that a God, who is friendly to one country
only, is a God purely local, and cannot be the God of the universe; and
that a God partial, exclusive, and unjust, who follows caprice alone in
his choice, can neither be perfect nor the model of perfection. In
short, those who have not the happiness of being _sacredly_ blinded by
faith, cannot comprehend how the equitable and wise Lord of all the
nations of the earth could cherish exclusively the Jewish people; his
infinite prescience ought to have shown him that his love and favors
would be completely lost on this untractable people.
Unbelievers remark, that it does not become the Son of God to exclaim,
"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty
works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." Would it not have been
wiser to have gone and preached to cities so docile, where Jesus was
certain of success, than to persist in preaching to the Jews, of whom he
was not certain of making converts?
Jesus went about preaching through many cities of Gallilee; but deprived
of the assistance of his confidents, he did not work any wonders. We
have seen the magistrates and the great paying little attention to his
conduct. They despised one whom they regarded a vagrant, or a fool
little to be feared. 'Tis true, that some of Herod's officers are said
to have been on the watch, with the pharisees, to destroy him; but this
combination had no success. After all, he gave umbrage only to the
priests and the doctors of the law, against whom he declaimed with the
greatest indecorum. By this conduct he rendered himself agreeable to the
people, weary of the extortions of these bloodsuckers, who, without
pity, drained the nation, treated the poor with disdain, and, as the
parable of the priest and the Samaritan evinces, were destitute of
charity. The priests and doctors were very numerous in Jerusalem; on
which account the people in the capital were less disposed than
elsewhere to listen to our preacher, and the influence of the priests
was the cause of the hatred and contempt entertained against him in this
great city.
By a singular contrariety, the most obscure interval in our hero's life
was that wherein he acquired the greatest renown. Jesus was wholly
unknown at the court of Herod; while at the head of his troop, and
surrounded by multitudes, he chased away devils, gave sight to the blind
and speech to the mute, expelled the sellers from the temple, and raised
the dead. But while he led a private life in Gallilee; when, during the
mission of his apostles, he found himself alone and without followers,
and content with preaching repentance, it was then that his fame,
penetrating even to the throne, excited in the monarch a desire to see
him. According to Luke, a ray of light struck the heart of Herod; doubt
filled his mind; "John," said he, "I have caused to be beheaded, but he
must have risen from the dead, and, therefore, it is that so many
miracles are performed by him; but who should this be of whom I hear
such great things?" Herod wished to see Jesus to explain these matters,
and for this purpose he sent for him.
If nature had given Jesus a right to the throne of Judea, we might judge
his motives for not putting himself in the power of a prince, the
usurper of his crown. But Jesus could not dissemble that his pretensions
were not well established; he knew that for a long time the family of
David had lost the sovereign power. We must, therefore, search for
another motive for his refusing to see Herod, as the interview with the
Son of God would not only have contributed to the conversion of this
prince and his court, but of all Judea, and perhaps of the whole Roman
empire. A single miracle of consequence, performed before a court, and
acknowledged and attested by persons of high authority, would have been
more effectual than the suspected testimony of all the peasantry and
vagabonds in Gallilee. Far from complying with the request of Herod, and
conferring so eminent a benefit, Jesus withdrew into a desert as soon as
he learned the prince's intention. He, who often uttered the most
terrible curses against such as rejected him, scorned the invitation of
a sovereign, and fled into a desert, instead of laboring for his
conversion. The messiah, who made no difficulty in entering the house of
a centurion to heal his slave, refused to visit a monarch in order to
cure his blindness, and bring back to himself all his subjects, for
whom, he affirmed, that he was specially sent!
Our theologians explain these contradictions by referring to the
inexplicable decrees of Providence. But the incredulous maintain, that
Jesus, who well knew how to work wonders in the eyes of a simple
populace, dared not to expose himself before an enlightened court; and
it must be owned, that the manner in which he comported himself before
his judges, strengthens this opinion.
Meanwhile, the mission of the apostles expired. In a short time they had
traversed Gallilee; and it appears from the repast which Jesus soon
after gave to a crowd of people, that the preaching of his missionaries
had procured an abundant harvest. Loaded with the alms of the
Gallileans, the apostles returned to their master, who again found
himself incommoded by the multitude which flocked to see him. To enjoy
more liberty, the party embarked on board a small vessel, which conveyed
them across the sea of Gallilee. There, in a retired spot, the apostles
gave an account of the success of their mission; they made arrangements
for the future, and especially secured their provisions in a place of
safety.
Those who had seen Jesus embark, thought, perhaps, they were forever to
be deprived of the pleasure of seeing him perform wonders. They made the
tour of the lake, and though on foot, reached the other side before
Jesus arrived there in his vessel. He preached, wrought miracles, and
cured the diseased; and these labors lasted until the evening. His
disciples then advised him to send the people in search of lodging and
victuals in the neighboring villages. He made no reply on the article of
lodging;--there were doubtless few persons in this multitude who were
accustomed to sleep on down.--Besides, the nights were likely not cold
in that season and climate. But, wishing to amuse himself with the
embarrassment of those who made the proposal, and who might not know the
resources which the collections of his apostles had procured, "it is not
necessary," said he, "that they should go into the villages; give them
yourselves wherewith to eat." "Think you so?" replied they,--"shall we
go and buy two hundred penny-worth of bread, and give them to
eat?"--Philip, who perhaps was not in the secret, represented the
impossibility of finding bread to feed this multitude. On which Jesus
said to Peter, "See how many loaves you have." He found none--a
circumstance the more surprising, as, according to Mark, they had
withdrawn to this place "on purpose to eat." Peter, without answering
the question, said to his master, "There is a young lad here, who has
five barley loaves and two small fishes." Jesus ordered them to be
brought, and made the multitude range themselves in companies of
hundreds and of fifties. From this arrangement it appeared that there
were five thousand men, besides women and children. When every one had
taken his place on the grass, Jesus, according to the usage of the Jews,
blessed the loaves and fishes, broke, and distributing them among the
apostles, who gave thereof to the people as much as they desired. They
likewise filled twelve baskets with the fragments of this celebrated
entertainment. The guests, penetrated with admiration, exclaimed, "This
is of a truth a prophet, and that prophet who should come into the
world;" which, translated into ordinary language, means, the true
Amphitrion is he who gives us our dinner. The apostles spoke not a word.
Some critics, perceiving the impossibilities this miracle presents, have
ventured to doubt the truth of it, as if the _impossibility_ of things
could prejudice the reality of a miracle, the essence of which is to
produce things impossible. Yet if attention is given to the account of
the evangelists, who are not, however, very unanimous on particulars, we
shall find, that this miracle presents nothing impossible if we are
inclined to give any credit to the prudence of the Son of God; who, on
this occasion, found that he could not make a better use of the
provisions amassed by his apostles, than to distribute them to a hungry
multitude. By this act, he saw himself certain of gaining their favor.
It may be the crowd was not quite so numerous as is related. Besides,
our apostles, in passing to the opposite shore, might have thrown their
nets with sufficient success to furnish fish for the whole company. This
meal must have appeared miraculous to persons who knew that Jesus had no
fortune, and lived on alms. We accordingly find, that the people wanted
to proclaim king the person who had so sumptuously regaled them. The
entertainment no doubt recalled to their mind the idea of a messiah,
under whose government abundance was to reign. No more was requisite to
induce a handful of miserables to believe, that the preacher, who by a
miracle fed them so liberally, must be the extraordinary man the nation
expected.
This great miracle then will become very probable, by supposing that the
apostles in their collection had received a large quantity of bread.
They amused themselves, as has been observed, with fishing while they
crossed the lake; Jesus gave them the hint:--when evening was come,
things were disposed without the observation of the people, who were
thus fed with provisions amassed by very natural means.
Though the Gallileans wished to proclaim Jesus king, he did not think
proper to accept an honor which he found himself for the present
incapable of supporting. His exhausted provisions did not suffer him to
undertake the frequent entertaining of so many guests at his own
expense; and though this conduct, much more than all his other miracles,
would have gained him the affections of the beggars, idlers, and
vagabonds of the country, the necessity of his affairs prevented him
from recurring to it.
Thus Jesus crowned the second year of his mission with an action well
adapted to conciliate the love of the people, and at the same time give
uneasiness to the magistrates. This stroke of eclat must doubtless have
alarmed those in power, who perceived that the affair might become very
serious, especially considering the intention of the Gallileans to
proclaim our adventurer king. The priests probably profitted by these
dispositions in order to destroy Jesus, who at all times appeared
anxious to gain the populace, in order to aid him in subduing the great.
This project might have succeeded if Judea, as in times past, had been
governed by kings of its own nation, who, as the Bible shows, depended
continually on the caprice of priests, of prophets, or of the first
comer, who by predictions, declamations, and wonders, could, at will,
stir up the Hebrew nation, and dispose of the crown: whereas in the time
of Jesus the Roman government had nothing to fear from the efforts of
superstition.
[CHAPTER XIII.]
JESUS REPASSES INTO GALLILEE ABOUT THE TIME OF THE THIRD PASSOVER IN HIS
MISSION--WHAT HE DID UNTIL THE TIME HE LEFT IT.
The expression of John, who tells us, that _Jesus knowing_ the guests he
had entertained _would come and take him by force on purpose to make him
their king_, demonstrates that these guests had withdrawn at the end of
the entertainment. This observation enabled us to fix pretty correctly
the route of Jesus, and affords a reason for his conduct.
It was already late when the disciples said to their master, that it was
time to send away the people. The preparations for the repast must have
consumed time: the distribution of the victuals required also some
hours; so that daylight could not have been far off when the meal was
finished, and when Jesus dismissed his guests. It was about the evening
he learned the design they had of carrying him off to make him king; and
it was not until after having received this intelligence, that he
resolved to conceal himself in a mountain, after having dispatched his
disciples to Capernaum. To reach the place, the latter were obliged to
make several tacks; when Jesus, observing this, changed his resolution,
and set out for Gennesaret, on the north side of the lake. Seeing him
approach at the moment they thought him far off in the recesses of the
mountain, his disciples were terrified; _they took him for a spirit_,
for spirits were very common in Judea. They were confirmed in their
opinion when they perceived his shadow near the vessel. Simon Peter
observing him advance, did not doubt but he was walking on the waters.
In attempting to go and meet his master, he felt himself sinking; but
Jesus took him by the hand, and saved him from the danger. After
reprimanding him for his cowardice, he went with him on board the ship.
The apostles, who had not been much struck with the miracle of the five
loaves, were astonished at this. They had been in great fear, and fear
disposes to believe; in their distress they confessed unanimously, _that
he was the Son of God_.
Jesus reached Gennesaret at noon. There several of his guests recognized
him, and announced his arrival to others. They presented him the
diseased, and he performed a great number of cures. We cannot too much
admire the faith of the Gallileans, who exposed at all seasons their
sick in the streets, and the complaisance of Jesus, who indefatigably
cured them.
The guests at the miraculous supper, whom their affairs called home, had
returned; but the greatest number, that is, all the laboring people,
having seen Jesus' ship steer for Capernaum, had set out by land for
that city. Some vessels from Tiberias arrived there at the same time,
but none carried Jesus, and nobody had seen him; for he had made his
passage during night. The crowd, however, remained, in hopes of being
again entertained _gratis_, when they learned at Capernaum that Jesus
was on the opposite shore. Immediately, all our idle folks set out,
either by land or by water, to visit him. But these parasites, instead
of finding a repast served out on the grass, were entertained with a
sermon. Jesus, who had not always wherewith to defray the expenses of so
numerous a court, held forth to them this language: "Verily, verily, I
say unto you, ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because
ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." "Labour," added he, "for
life everlasting.----" His hearers, whose ideas extended not beyond the
present life, did not comprehend what Jesus meant; they therefore asked
him what it was requisite they should do; on which he told them that it
was necessary they should become his disciples, as he was the messiah.
Here we are surprised to find them asking of Jesus, What sign showest
thou then that we may believe? What extraordinary thing do you perform
for that purpose? You will perhaps instance the supper you gave us; but
did not our fathers eat manna in the desert for forty years? And after
all, what is your supper in comparison with that wonder?
From this we may perceive that Jesus labored in vain to draw over these
Gallileans to his party. The continuation of the miraculous repast was
alone capable of moving them. It was to no purpose Jesus maintained,
that the bread with which Moses had fed their fathers, was not the bread
of heaven, which alone could properly nourish. _An empty belly has no
ears_; so they suffered him to preach on. After he had spoken a great
deal--Well, said they, give us this bread which alone nourishes, for it
signifies little to us what kind of bread we eat; but some we must have.
Promise to furnish us with it at all times, and at this price we shall
be at your devotion.
If Jesus at this moment had possessed the same resources as formerly, he
would have been able, at little expense, to form a small army, which the
assurance of having food without toil would have soon increased; but all
failed. These people offered themselves providing he would always
furnish them with bread. The proposition was urgent, and Jesus got off
with so bad a grace, that his disciples themselves were shocked at it.
He said to them, that he himself was bread, that his flesh was meat, and
his blood wine; and that those only who eat it would be raised up, and
conducted to everlasting banquets. Our dull folks comprehended none of
this mysterious jargon, contrived on purpose to puzzle them. Perceiving
that they were not moved by it, he informed them that in order to follow
him, a particular _call_ was necessary, and that as they were not
disposed to do this, they were, therefore, not called.
The adherents Jesus obtained on this occasion were but few. The Jews
were indignant that he should pretend to have descended from heaven. We
_know_, said they, his _father and mother_, and we _know where he was
born_. These rumors, spreading as far as Jerusalem, so irritated the
priests that they resolved on his death; but the son of God, by skilful
marches and countermarches, disconcerted their vigilance. It was
especially in the capital that they wished to ensnare him; but Jesus had
not been lately there. His distance from the metropolis did not,
however, prevent them from knowing his most secret proceedings; and from
this he concluded there were some false brethren among his disciples. He
was not deceived; but the fear of being betrayed in a country where his
resources began to fail, induced him to dissemble till he should arrive
in a place of safety. He set out, therefore, for Capernaum. At this
place he recited nearly the same sermon he had in vain preached to the
Gallileans. But no one would consent to receive as food his flesh and
blood. Those who enjoyed his confidence knew that he gave better cheer;
but his other disciples asserted that they could not subsist on this
mysterious mess, and took their leave of him. Unable to do better, Jesus
was obliged to let them depart.
Observing the defection of a part of his followers, our adventurer was
vexed at it; and, in sorrow for the injuries it would occasion, he asked
the twelve, "And will you also leave me?" On which Simon Peter answered,
"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we
believe, and are sure, that thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God." Thus Jesus was assured, in the best way he could, of the fidelity
of his apostles; yet we see, in spite of his infinite knowledge, that he
always kept the traitor Judas in his company, though he must have
foreseen that he would deliver him up to his enemies.
Meanwhile, Jesus set out for Gallilee, whither his apostles followed
him, though his last preaching, and particularly the refusal of
victuals, had dissatisfied the Gallileans. They did not, indeed, give
him a welcome reception. The arrival of some pharisees and doctors from
Jerusalem completely marred everything. They were deputed by the chiefs
in the capital to watch the conduct of Jesus, and to put the people on
their guard. Every one knows how strictly the Jews adhere to the
ceremonies of their law; and, in spite of his protestations of
attachment to it, Jesus, like his trusty friends, observed none of its
ordinances. It was particularly offensive that they ate without washing
their hands. But he defended himself with saying, that it was better to
violate traditions and neglect ceremonies, than to infringe the
commandments of God, as the doctors did. He advanced, contrary to
express law, _that nothing which enters the body defiles it, and that it
is what comes out of it that renders it impure_. This seems to
establish, that Jesus and his party were not scrupulous as to their
victuals. Thereafter he launched out in invectives against the doctors,
whom he called hypocrites, ignorant and blind, who directed others that
were also blind. In his anger he did not perceive that the compliment
was not less offensive to the people than to their guides. On this
account the latter entertained a deep resentment, but the populace did
not regard it. Besides, Jesus did not allow them time for reflection: he
engaged their attention by a fine discourse, to prove that lawyers and
priests were the worst of men and the least charitable, and, that none
could be happy, either in this world or in the other, without becoming
his disciples.
He was now informed that there was no safety for him in this place. He
therefore left it in great haste, intending to go towards the frontiers
of Tyre and Sidon. His design was to live concealed in the country; but
with such great renown as that of our hero it was difficult to continue
long unknown. The secret of his retreat was divulged; and, as misfortune
sometimes turns to good, this trifling duplicity gave him an opportunity
of performing a miracle among the Gentiles. A woman of Canaan besought
him to deliver her daughter from a devil that tormented her. Jesus at
first made her no answer. She insisted; the apostles interceded, and
pressed their master to grant her request, merely to silence her; for
she was clamorous, and might have disclosed that he was the messiah. He
defended himself on the plea of being sent to the Jews only, and not to
the Heathen. They again besought him, and answered his comparison by
another. He at length yielded; and the girl was delivered from her
devil, or her vapors.
The success of Jesus in this country terminated with this miracle. He
passed into Decapolis, and there acquired some consequence from the cure
of a dumb and deaf man on pronouncing the word _Epheta_, and then
putting his finger into his ears and spittle on his tongue. Our
missionary on this occasion made a sufficiently abundant harvest of
alms. He moreover wrought a number of miracles on the sick, the cripple,
and the maimed. But it was his custom to steal away when his miraculous
power began to make a noise; he accordingly withdrew to a mountain at
the distance of three days journey from the place where he had performed
so many miracles. The people followed him in his retreat, and it appears
that they did so without eating. Loaded with provisions or money
procured by his miracles, Jesus again saw himself in a situation to lay
the table cloth. As if he knew nothing of this, he asked one of his
apostles how many loaves they had: seven was the answer. He then ordered
the multitude to sit down on the ground; and taking the loaves, blessed
them, together with some small fishes. These were distributed to four
thousand men, besides women and children, who were all satisfied; and
with the remains of the repast, they afterwards filled seven baskets.
This prodigy appears to be a mere repetition of what we have related
before; yet St. Chrysostom maintains, that the difference of the number
of baskets proves irrefragably they must not be confounded. Admitting
this, it would appear that Jesus once more sacrificed the money and
provisions his prodigies had enabled him to amass. It was necessary to
gain the people, and he at that time felt he had very great need of
them; he was generous when he had the means to be so, and he had not
forgotten that they had promised to follow him, provided he would give
them food.
The evangelists, however, overheated with the idea of this miracle,
forgot another equally deserving their notice. It was indeed a prodigy
to see four thousand men, without reckoning, women and little children,
following Jesus during three days without eating or drinking; or else we
must believe, that, prepared to travel, these people had provided
themselves with provisions, which suddenly failed. But, in a desert,
whence came the baskets they made use of in gathering up the remains of
the entertainment? It is to be presumed, that they dropt down from
heaven. But why not make loaves and fishes drop down also? It was
undoubtedly requisite to feed this multitude during the three days march
necessary for their return. But would it not have been a short way to
have made the people feel neither hunger nor thirst? Would it not have
been easier, by an effort of mercy, to have converted at once all the
inhabitants of Judea, and spared Jesus the trouble of so many
entertainments, flights, marches, and countermarches, which at last
terminated in a manner so tragical to this hero of the romance?
The pharisees and sadducees did not lose sight of Jesus: on learning
that he had returned to the interior of the kingdom, they went in search
of him. The evangelists, it is suspected, made them much worse than they
were in reality, by representing them as eager to ruin them. Was it then
so difficult to arrest thirteen men? Be that as it may, the Pharisees at
this time accosted Jesus very politely, and demanded of him a miracle.
"You perform them," said they, "by dozens, in presence of a thousand
people, who by your own confession, do not believe in you; give us then
a specimen of your skill, and we shall be less opiniative than those of
whom you complain. Do then show us this condescension." Jesus was
inexorable, and perpetually referred them to Jonas. This refusal
offended them: he, in turn, inveighed against them; and as the presence
of these inconvenient spectators rendered his power useless, he quitted
them in order to go to Bethsaida.
On the way, his apostles asked him the reason of his refusal to work a
miracle in presence of persons who entreated him in so handsome a
manner; on which Jesus, by a figure, gave them to understand, that he
could not operate before people so clear-sighted; "Beware," said he, "of
the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." Our silly
folks, who had not time to provide bread, thought their master meant to
reprove them for their negligence. Any other but Jesus would have
laughed at the mistake, but the state of his affairs chagrined him, and
he treated them very harshly.
On entering Bethsaida, they brought him a blind man whom he cured by
applying spittle to his eyes. This remedy at first produced a pleasant
effect: the man saw other men, like trees, walking; Jesus then laid his
hands on him, and immediately he saw quite otherwise.
But this miracle gained no conquest to the messiah. He, therefore, went
to try his fortune in the villages in the environs of Caesarea-Philippi.
It is in this journey that asking his apostles what they thought of him,
some said, that he passed for Elias, others for Jeremiah, &c.; but Peter
openly confessed that he acknowledged him for the Christ: a confession
which has since gained him the honor of supremacy in the sacred college,
and of being declared the head of the church.
Though sovereign in heaven, Jesus possessed nothing on earth, and of
course could confer no temporal gifts. Instead of these, he gave his
disciples the spiritual privilege of damning and saving the rest of
mankind at their pleasure. He promised to Peter the place of
_door-keeper of Paradise_, since become so lucrative an office to his
successors and assigns. Meanwhile Jesus recommended silence to the party
on this promotion; but perhaps the traitor Judas, not satisfied with the
office of treasurer, did not preserve the secret.
Notwithstanding the suffrage of Peter, the consequences which might
result from the choler of the priests were always present to the mind of
Jesus. Cried down and rejected, he presumed, with good sense, that,
being once excluded from all the provinces, and the Gentiles not much
inclined to receive for legislator a Jew, expelled his own country, he
would be constrained sooner or later, to return to Jerusalem, where he
must expect to meet with perilous adventures. On the other hand, the
Romans, masters of the forces over whom the Jews could arrogate no
authority, would very quickly have put an end to the mission of a man
whom they must have regarded either as a fool or as a disturber of the
public peace, if he should have dared to declare against them. It is
evident, indeed, that the mission of Jesus existed in Judea merely
because the Romans were not much displeased that a restless and
turbulent people should amuse themselves with following a man of his
character--a pretended messiah, to whose appearance the prepossessions
of the nation gave rise. Always certain of being able to crush those who
dared to undertake the boldest enterprises, they troubled themselves
little about what might be done in the country by a party no way
formidable to an authority seconded by disciplined legions.
The situation of the Son of God must have alarmed his companions,
however dull we may suppose them to have been. It was, therefore,
necessary to devise means to encourage those at least who were the
honest dupes of his vain promises. He did not dissemble the bad state of
his affairs, the fate he had to dread, and the death with which he was
menaced. He anticipated them on this subject, and declared that even if
he should suffer death, they must not be discouraged, for at the end of
three days he would rise triumphant from the tomb. We shall afterwards
see the use the apostles made of this prediction, which must at the time
have appeared to them as foolish as incredible.
To retain them as his followers, and revive their zeal, Jesus
entertained them incessantly with the beauty of his Father's kingdom;
but he told them that to arrive there, they must have courage, love him
sincerely, and consent to suffer with him. These melancholy sermons
demonstrated the situation of the orator, and tended rather to depress
than incite the courage of his auditory. He, therefore, thought it
seasonable to present to his disciples a specimen of the glory which he
had so often vaunted. For this purpose he exhibited the brilliant
spectacle of the _transfiguration_. All the apostles were not witnesses
of it: he granted this favor to three only, Peter, James, and John, his
most intimate confidents, to whom he recommended silence. This scene
took place, it is said, on mount Thabor. There Jesus appeared irradiated
with glory, accompanied with two others, whom the apostles took for
Moses and Elias, and whom, as far as we can discover, they had never
seen before. A cloud unexpectedly enveloped the three luminous bodies;
and when they no longer beheld any person, a voice was heard pronouncing
these words, _This is my beloved Son_. The disciples were asleep while
the spectacle was displayed--a circumstance which has occasioned a
suspicion, that the whole was only a dream.
The apostles, who remained at the foot of the mountain, and had been
deprived of this spectacle, wished to try their spiritual powers on a
lunatic, or one possessed; but the devil disregarded their exorcisms.
The father of the disordered person, perceiving their master descending
from the mountain, immediately presented his son to him, whom Jesus
cured; he then gave a strong reprimand to those _fumblers_; told them
that their want of success was owing to want of faith, a grain of which
was sufficient to remove mountains; and recommended to them fasting and
prayer, as the surest means of expelling certain demons more rebellious
than others.
The people, however, withstood all these wonders: the devils, with whom
_they_ were possessed, could not be expelled by any thing which Jesus
had not contrived. Expecting, therefore, to draw over some of the
strangers whom the solemnities always brought in great numbers to the
capital, he resolved, as the feast of the tabernacles was approaching,
secretly to repair thither. But, agitated by the most troublesome
misgivings, he traversed Gallilee; he explained himself on his fears in
an enigmatical manner to his apostles, who could not comprehend what he
said; but who, on observing their master grieved, conformed themselves
to his humor.
On arriving at Capernaum, the place of his usual residence, the officers
charged with collecting the customs taking him for a stranger, and not
even recognising Matthew, their old companion exacted tribute from them.
Jesus being a Jew, was offended at their demand; but whether they did
not hearken to his reasons, or that he did not wish to be known, he
dispatched Peter in search of a piece of thirty-pence in the mouth of a
fish; or rather desired him go and catch a fish, which being sold for
that sum, served to pay the custom.
The apostles having understood from the Saviour's discourses, that his
kingdom was still very distant, occupied themselves with disputing on
the pre-eminence and ranks they should enjoy in the empire which had
been obscurely announced to them. In this they have been since
faithfully imitated by their successors. In the mean time Jesus took
occasion from this dispute to deliver a sermon on humility. He called
for a child, placed it in the midst of them, and declared that this
child was the greatest among them. This sermon, by which our clergy have
profitted so well, contains fine parables, and points out excellent
means whereby to attain heaven, but not to thrive on earth. As all
these, however, are only repetitions of what is taught in the sermon on
the mount, we refer the reader to it.
Jesus wrought no miracles during his abode at Capernaum, where he had an
interest not to be too much spoken of. His brethren or his parents, who
were of the same mind as the priests, proceeded to that place on purpose
to persuade him to leave his asylum and go into Judea, where he might
exhibit his skill. They reminded him that the feast should draw him to
Jerusalem, where he could not fail to find an opportunity of signalising
himself.
This ironical tone enabled Jesus to foresee that they were plotting
against him. Here eternal truth extricated itself from these
importunities by means of falsehood. The Son of God told his brethren to
go to the feast, but assured them that for himself he would _not_ go.
(John vii. 8.) This, however, did not hinder him from taking the road to
Jerusalem, but with the greatest secresy. In his way he cured ten
lepers, among whom one only, who was a Samaritan, shewed any gratitude
to his physician; and from courtesy to his faith his sins were remitted.
Notwithstanding this miracle and absolution, the incredulous do not
admit that Jesus can be acquitted of having prevaricated. It seems very
strange, that the Son of God, to whom his omnipotence furnished so many
honorable means of acting openly, had recourse to subtlety and deception
in order to elude the snares of his enemies. This conduct can be
explained only by supposing that what seems falsehood to carnal eyes is
truth in the gospel.