CHAPTER I._The History of Christianity Consisting of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth; the Adventures of Paul and the Apostles; and the Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.

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THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

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Illustration: F. T. Stuart Eng. Boston

I am yours very truly

John S. C. Abbott.

THE

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY:

CONSISTING OF THE

LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS OF NAZARETH;

THE

ADVENTURES OF PAUL AND THE APOSTLES;

AND

The Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity,

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME.

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT,

AUTHOR OF “THE MOTHER AT HOME,” “LIFE OF NAPOLEON,”

“LIFE OF FREDERIC THE GREAT,” ETC.

* * * * *

BOSTON:

PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 55 CORNHILL.

PHILADELPHIA: QUAKER-CITY PUBLISHING-HOUSE.

SAN FRANCISCO: A. L. BANCROFT & CO.

DETROIT, MICH.: R. D. S. TYLER.

1872.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872,

By B. B. RUSSELL,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

_Boston_:

_Stereotyped and Printed by Rand, Avery, & Co._

TO THE MEMBERS OF

The Second Congregational Church and Society

IN FAIR HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,

This Volume

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

BY THEIR FRIEND AND PASTOR,

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.

PREFACE.

THE author of this volume has for many years, at intervals, been

engaged in its preparation. It has long seemed to him very desirable

that a brief, comprehensive, and readable narrative of the origin of

Christianity, and of its struggles and triumphs, should be prepared,

adapted to the masses of the people. There are many ecclesiastical

histories written by men of genius and erudition. They are, however,

read by few, excepting professional theologians. The writer is not

aware that there is any popular history of the extraordinary events

involved in the progress of Christianity which can lure the attention

of men, even of Christians, whose minds are engrossed by the agitations

of busy life.

And yet there is no theme more full of sublime, exciting, and

instructive interest. All the heroism which the annals of chivalry

record pale into insignificance in presence of the heroism with which

the battles of the cross have been fought, and with which Christians,

in devotion to the interests of humanity, have met, undaunted, the most

terrible doom.

The task is so difficult wisely to select and to compress within a few

hundred pages the momentous events connected with Christianity during

nearly nineteen centuries, that more than once the writer has been

tempted to lay aside his pen in despair. Should this book fail to

accomplish the purpose which he prayerfully seeks to attain, he hopes

that some one else may be incited to make the attempt who will be more

successful.

In writing the life of Jesus, the author has accepted the narratives

of the evangelists as authentic and reliable, and has endeavored to

give a faithful, and, so far as possible, a chronological account of

what Jesus said and did, as he would write of any other distinguished

personage. The same principle has guided him in tracing out the career

of Paul and the apostles.

It has not been the object of the writer to urge any new views, or

to discuss controverted questions of church polity or theology. This

is a history of facts, not a philosophical or theological discussion

of the principles which these facts may involve. No one, however,

can read this narrative without the conviction that the religion of

Jesus, notwithstanding the occasional perversions of human depravity

or credulity, has remained essentially one and the same during all the

centuries. We need no additional revelation. The gospel of Christ is

“the power of God and the wisdom of God.” In its propagation lies the

only hope of the world. Its universal acceptance will usher in such

a day of glory as this world has never witnessed since the flowers of

Eden wilted.

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.

FAIR HAVEN, CONN.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, AND EARLY MINISTRY, OF JESUS.

The Roman Empire.――Moral Influence of Jesus.――John.――The

Annunciation.――The Birth of Jesus.――Visit of the Magi.――Wrath

of Herod.――Flight to Egypt.――Return to Nazareth.――Jesus in the

Temple.――John the Baptist.――The Temptation.――The First Disciples.

――The First Miracle.――Visit to Jerusalem.――Nicodemus.――The Woman

of Samaria.――Healing of the Nobleman’s Son.――Visit to Capernaum.

――Peter and Andrew called.――James and John called.――The Demoniac

healed.――Tour through Galilee.

CHAPTER II.

TOUR THROUGH GALILEE.

The Horns of Hattin.――The Sermon on the Mount.――Jesus goes to

Capernaum.――The Miraculous Draught of Fishes.――Healing the Leper;

the Paralytic.――Associates with Publicans and Sinners.――The

Feast of the Passover.――The Cripple at the Pool.――The Equality

of the Son with the Father.――Healing the Withered Hand.――Anger

of the Pharisees.――The Twelve Apostles chosen.――Inquiry of John

the Baptist.――Jesus dines with a Pharisee.――The Anointment.

――Journey through Galilee.――Stilling the Tempest.――The Demoniacs

and the Swine.――The Daughter of Jairus.――Restores Sight to the

Blind.――Address to his Disciples.

CHAPTER III.

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS, AND MIRACLES OF HEALING.

Infamy of Herod.――Jesus in the Desert.――Feeds the Five Thousand.

――Walks on the Sea.――Preaches to the People.――Visits Tyre and

Sidon.――The Syro-Phœnician Woman.――Cures all Manner of Diseases.

――Feeds the Four Thousand.――Restores Sight to a Blind Man.

――Conversation with Peter.――The Transfiguration.――Cure of the

Lunatic.――Dispute of the Apostles.――Law of Forgiveness.――Visits

Jerusalem.――Plot to seize Jesus.――The Adulteress.――Jesus the Son

of God.――The Blind Man.――Parable of the Good Shepherd.――Raising

of Lazarus.

CHAPTER IV.

LAST LABORS, AND FAREWELL TO HIS DISCIPLES.

Journey to Jerusalem.――Mission of the Seventy.――Jesus teaches his

Disciples to pray.――Lament over Jerusalem.――Return to Galilee.

――The Second Coming of Christ.――Dangers of the Rich.――Promise

to his Disciples.――Foretells his Death.――Zacchæus.――Mary anoints

Jesus.――Enters Jerusalem.――Drives the Traffickers from the

Temple.――The Pharisees try to entrap him.――The Destruction of

Jerusalem, and the Second Coming.――Judas agrees to betray Jesus.

――The Last Supper.――The Prayer of Jesus.

CHAPTER V.

ARREST, TRIAL, AND CRUCIFIXION.

Anguish of Jesus.――His Prayers in the Garden.――The Arrest.――Peter’s

Recklessness.――Flight of the Apostles.――Jesus led to Annas;

to Caiaphas.――Jesus affirms that he is the Messiah.――Frivolous

Accusations.――Peter denies his Lord.――Jesus is conducted to

Pilate.――The Examination.――Scourging the Innocent.――Insults and

Mockery.――Rage of the Chief Priests and Scribes.――Embarrassment

of Pilate.――He surrenders Jesus to his Enemies.――The Crucifixion.

――The Resurrection.――Repeated Appearance to his Disciples.

CHAPTER VI.

THE CONVERSION AND MINISTRY OF SAUL OF TARSUS.

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost.――Boldness of the Apostles.――Anger

of the Rulers.――Martyrdom of Stephen.――Baptism of the Eunuch.

――Saul’s Journey to Damascus.――His Conversion.――The Disciples

fear him.――His Escape from the City.――Saul in Jerusalem.――His

Commission to the Gentiles.――The Conversion of Cornelius.――The

Vision of Peter.――Persecution of the Disciples.――Imprisonment

of Peter.――Saul and Barnabas in Antioch.――Punishment of Elymas.

――Missionary Tour.――Incidents and Results.

CHAPTER VII.

MISSIONARY ADVENTURES.

The First Controversy.――Views of the Two Parties.――Council at

Jerusalem.――Results of Council.――The Letter.――Vacillation of

Peter.――Rebuked by Paul.――The Missionary Excursion of Paul and

Barnabas.――They traverse the Island of Cyprus.――Land on the

Coast of Asia Minor.――Mark returns to Syria.――Results of this

Tour.――Paul and Silas set out on a Second Tour through Asia

Minor.――Cross the Hellespont.――Introduction of Christianity to

Europe.――Heroism of Paul at Philippi.――Tour through Macedonia

and Greece.――Character of Paul’s Preaching.――Peter’s Description

of the Final Conflagration.――False Charges.――Paul in Athens; in

Corinth.――Return to Jerusalem.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CAPTIVE IN CHAINS.

The Third Missionary Tour.――Paul at Ephesus.――The Great Tumult.

――The Voyage to Greece.――Return to Asia Minor and to Jerusalem.

――His Reception at Jerusalem.――His Arrest, and the Riot.――Speech

to the Mob.――Paul imprisoned.――Danger of Assassination.

――Transferred to Cæsarea.――His Defence before Festus and Agrippa.

――The Appeal to Cæsar.――The Voyage to Rome.――The Shipwreck.

――Continued Captivity.

CHAPTER IX.

THE FIRST PERSECUTION.

The Population of Rome.――The Reign of Tiberius Cæsar.――His

Character and Death.――The Proposal to deify Jesus.――Caligula.

――His Crimes, and the Earthly Retribution.――Nero and his Career.

――His Crimes and Death.――The Spirit of the Gospel.――Sufferings

of the Christians.――Testimony of Tacitus.――Testimony of

Chrysostom.――Panic in Rome.――The Sins and Sorrows of weary

Centuries.――Noble Sentiments of the Bishop of Rome.

CHAPTER X.

ROMAN EMPERORS, GOOD AND BAD.

Character of the Roman Army.――Conspiracy of Otho.――Death of

Galba.――Vitellius Emperor.――Revolt of the Jews, and Destruction

of Jerusalem.――Reign of Vespasian.――Character of Titus; of

Domitian.――Religion of Pagan Rome.――Nerva.――Anecdotes of St.

John.――Exploits of Trajan.――Letter of Pliny.――Letter of Trajan.

CHAPTER XI.

MARTYRDOM.

The Martyrdom of Ignatius.――Death of Trajan.――Succession of

Adrian.――Infidel Assaults.――Celsus.――The Apology of Quadrat.

――The Martyrdom of Symphorose and her Sons.――Character and Death

of Adrian.――Antoninus.――Conversion of Justin Martyr.――His Apology.

――Marcus Aurelius.――Hostility of the Populace.――The Martyrdom of

Polycarp.

CHAPTER XII.

PAGAN ROME.

Infamy of Commodus.――His Death.――The Reign of Pertinax.――The Mob

of Soldiers.――Death of Pertinax.――Julian purchases the Crown.

――Rival Claimants.――Severus.――Persecutions.――Martyrdom of

Perpetua and Felicitas.――The Reign of Caracalla.――Fiendlike

Atrocities.――Elagabalus, Priest of the Sun.――Death by the Mob.

――Alexander and his Mother.――Contrast between Paganism and

Christianity.――The Sin of Unbelief.

CHAPTER XIII.

SIN AND MISERY.

Maximin the Goth.――Brutal Assassination of Alexander.――Merciless

Proscription.――Revolt of the Army on the Danube.――Rage of

Maximin.――His March upon Rome.――Consternation in the Capital.

――Assassination of Maximin.――Successors to the Throne.――Popular

Suffrage unavailing.――Persecution under Decius.――Individual

Cases.――Extent of the Roman Empire.――Extent of the Persecution.

――Heroism of the Christians.

CHAPTER XIV.

INVASION, CIVIL WAR, AND UNRELENTING PERSECUTION.

Æmilianus and Valerian.――Barbaric Hordes.――Slavery and its

Retribution.――Awful Fate of Valerian.――Ruin of the Roman Empire.

――Zenobia and her Captivity.――The Slave Diocletian becomes

Emperor.――His Reign, Abdication, Death.――Division of the

Empire.――Terrible Persecution.――The Glory of Christianity.

――Characteristics of the First Three Centuries.――Abasement of

Rome.

CHAPTER XV.

CONSTANTINE.――THE BANNER OF THE CROSS UNFURLED.

Helena, the Christian Empress.――Constantine, her Son, favors the

Christians.――Crumbling of the Empire.――Constantine the Christian,

and Maxentius the Pagan.――Vision of Constantine.――The Unfurled

Cross.――Christianity favored by the Court.――Licinius defends the

Christians.――Writings of Eusebius.――Apostasy of Licinius.――Cruel

Persecution.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE.

The Arian Controversy.――Sanguinary Conflict between Paganism and

Christianity.――Founding of Constantinople.――The Council of Nice.

――Its Decision.――Duplicity of some of the Arians.――The Nicene

Creed.――Tragic Scene in the Life of Constantine.――His Penitence

and true Conversion.――His Baptism, and Reception into the Church.

――Charles V.――The Emperor Napoleon I.

CHAPTER XVII.

JULIAN THE APOSTATE.

The Devotion of Constantine to Christianity.――Constantius and

the Barbarians.――Conspiracy of Magnentius.――The Decisive

Battle.――Decay of Rome.――Fearful Retribution.――Noble Sentiments

of the Bishop of Alexandria.――Death of Constantius.――Gallus

and Julian.――Julian enthroned.――His Apostasy.――His Warfare

against Christianity.――Unavailing Attempt to rebuild Jerusalem.

――Persecution.――His Expedition to the East, and Painful Death.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS OF JULIAN.

Anecdote.――Accession of Jovian.――His Character.――Christianity

reinstated.――Death of Jovian.――Recall of Athanasius.――Wide

Condemnation of Arianism.――Heroism of Jovian.――Valentinian and

Valens.――Valentinian enthroned.――Valens in the East.――Barbarian

Irruptions.――Reign of Theodosius.――Aspect of the Barbarians.

――Rome captured by Alaric.――Character of Alaric.――His Death

and Burial.――Remarkable Statement of Adolphus.――Attila the Hun.

――Valentinian III.――Acadius.――Eloquence of Chrysostom.――His

Banishment and Death.――Rise of Monasticism.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE FIFTH CENTURY.

Christianity the only Possible Religion.――Adventures of Placidia.

――Her Marriage with Adolphus the Goth.――Scenes of Violence and

Crime.――Attila the Hun.――Nuptials of Idaho.――Eudoxia and her

Fate.――Triumph of Odoacer the Goth.――Character of the Roman

Nobles.――Conquests of Theodoric.――John Chrysostom.――The Origin

of Monasticism.――Augustine.――His Dissipation, Conversion, and

Christian Career.

CHAPTER XX.

CENTURIES OF WAR AND WOE.

Convulsions of the Sixth Century.――Corruption of the Church.――The

Rise of Monasteries.――Rivalry between Rome and Constantinople.

――Mohammed and his Career.――His Personal Appearance.――His System

of Religion.――His Death.――Military Expeditions of the Moslems.

――The Threatened Conquest of Europe.――Capture of Alexandria.

――Burning of the Library.――Rise of the Feudal System.

――Charlemagne.――Barbarian Antagonism to Christianity.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE DARK AGES.

The Anticipated Second Coming of Christ.――State of the World

in the Tenth Century.――Enduring Architecture.――Power of the

Papacy.――Vitality of the Christian Religion.――The Pope and

the Patriarch.――Intolerance of Hildebrand.――Humiliation of the

Emperor Henry IV.――Farewell Letter of Monomaque.――The Crusades.

――Vladimir of Russia.――His Introduction of Christianity to his

Realms.――Marriage with the Christian Princess Anne.――Extirpation

of Paganism.――The Baptism.――The Spiritual Conversion of Vladimir.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE REFORMATION.

Two Aspects of Catholicism.――Jubilee at Rome.――Infamy of Philip

of France.――Banditti Bishops.――Sale of Indulgences.――Tetzel the

Peddler.――The Rise of Protestantism.――Luther and the Diet at

Worms.――Intolerance of Charles V.――Civil War and its Reverses.

――Perfidy of Charles V.――Coalition against the Protestants.

――Abdication and Death.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW.

Principles of the two Parties.――Ferdinand’s Appeal to the Pope.

――The Celibacy of the Clergy.――Maximilian.――His Protection of

the Protestants.――The Reformation in France.――Jeanne d’Albret,

Queen of Navarre.――Proposed Marriage of Henry of Navarre and

Marguerite of France.――Perfidy of Catharine de Medici.――The

Nuptials.――The Massacre of St. Bartholomew.――Details of

its Horrors.――Indignation of Protestant Europe.――Death of

Charles IX.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE CHURCH IN MODERN TIMES.

Character of Henry III.――Assassination of the Duke of Guise.

――Cruel Edicts of Louis XIV.――Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

――Sufferings of Protestants.――Important Question.――Thomas

Chalmers.――Experiment at St. John.――His Labors and Death.

――Jonathan Edwards.――His Resolutions.――His Marriage.――His Trials.

――His Death.――John Wesley.――His Conversion.――George Whitefield.

――First Methodist Conference.――Death of Wesley.――Robert Hall.

――His Character and Death.――William Paley.――His Works and Death.

――The Sabbath.――Power of the Gospel.――Socrates.――Scene on the

Prairie.――The Bible.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, AND MAPS.

PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR.

LIKENESS OF JESUS.

THE LAST SUPPER.

VISION OF THE CROSS (CONSTANTINE).

REFORMERS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

EMINENT CLERGY OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

MAP OF PALESTINE.

MAP OF TRAVELS OF ST. PAUL.

Illustration: (‡ Decoration)

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER I.

THE BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, AND EARLY MINISTRY, OF JESUS.

The Roman Empire.――Moral Influence of Jesus.――John.――The

Annunciation.――The Birth of Jesus.――Visit of the Magi.――Wrath

of Herod.――Flight to Egypt.――Return to Nazareth.――Jesus in the

Temple.――John the Baptist.――The Temptation.――The First Disciples.

――The First Miracle.――Visit to Jerusalem.――Nicodemus.――The Woman

of Samaria.――Healing of the Nobleman’s Son.――Visit to Capernaum.

――Peter and Andrew called.――James and John called.――The Demoniac

healed.――Tour through Galilee.

NO one now takes much interest in the history of the world before the

coming of Christ. The old dynasties of Babylon, Media, Assyria, are but

dim spectres lost in the remoteness of the long-forgotten past. Though

the Christian lingers with solemn pleasure over the faintly-revealed

scenes of patriarchal life, still he feels but little personal interest

in the gorgeous empires which rise and disappear before him in those

remote times, in spectral vision, like the genii of an Arabian tale.

Thebes, Palmyra, Nineveh,――palatial mansions once lined their streets,

and pride and opulence thronged their dwellings: but their ruins have

faded away, their rocky sepulchres are swept clean by the winds of

centuries; and none but a few antiquarians now care to know of their

prosperity or adversity, of their pristine grandeur or their present

decay.

All this is changed since the coming of Christ. Eighteen centuries ago

a babe was born in the stable of an inn, in the Roman province of Judæa.

The life of that babe has stamped a new impress upon the history of the

world. When the child Jesus was born, all the then known nations of the

earth were in subjection to one government,――that of Rome.

The Atlantic Ocean was an unexplored sea, whose depths no mariner

ever ventured to penetrate. The Indies had but a shadowy and almost

fabulous existence. Rumor said, that over the wild, unexplored wastes

of interior Asia, fierce tribes wandered, sweeping to and fro, like

demons of darkness; and marvellous stories were told of their monstrous

aspect and fiendlike ferocity.

The Mediterranean Sea, then the largest body of water really known

upon the globe, was but a Roman lake. It was the central portion of the

Roman Empire. Around its shores were clustered the thronged provinces

and the majestic cities which gave Rome celebrity above all previous

dynasties, and which invested the empire of the Cæsars with fame that

no modern kingdom, empire, or republic, has been able to eclipse.

A few years before the birth of Christ, Julius Cæsar perished in the

senate-chamber at Rome, pierced by the daggers of Brutus and other

assassins. At the great victory of Pharsalia, Cæsar had struck down his

only rival Pompey, and had concentrated the power of the world in his

single hand. His nephew Octavius, the second Cæsar, surnamed Augustus,

or the August, was, at the time Jesus was born, the monarch of the

world. Notwithstanding a few nominal restraints, he was an absolute

sovereign, without any constitutional checks. It is not too much to

say, that his power was unlimited. He could do what he pleased with the

property, the liberty, and the lives of every man, woman, and child of

more than three hundred millions composing the Roman Empire. Such power

no mortal had ever swayed before. Such power no mortal will ever sway

again.

Fortunately for humanity, Octavius Cæsar was, in the main, a good

man. He merited the epithet of _August_. Though many of the vices

of paganism soiled his character, still, in accordance with the dim

light of those dark days, he endeavored to wield his immense power in

promotion of the welfare of his people.

Little did this Roman emperor imagine, as he sat enthroned in his

gorgeous palace upon the Capitoline Hill, that a babe slumbering in a

manger at Bethlehem, an obscure hamlet in the remote province of Syria,

and whose infant wailings perhaps blended with the bleating of the goat

or the lowing of the kine, was to establish an empire, before which all

the power of the Cæsars was to dwindle into insignificance.

But so it was. Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem, has become, beyond all

others, whether philosophers, warriors, or kings, the most conspicuous

being who ever trod this globe. Before the name of Jesus of Nazareth

all others fade away. Uneducated, he has introduced principles which

have overthrown the proudest systems of ancient philosophy. By the

utterance of a few words, all of which can be written on half a dozen

pages, he has demolished all the pagan systems which pride and passion

and power had then enthroned. The Roman gods and goddesses――Jupiter,

Juno, Venus, Bacchus, Diana――have fled before the approach of the

religion of Jesus, as fabled spectres vanish before the dawn.

Jesus, the “Son of man” and the “Son of God,” has introduced a system

of religion so comprehensive, that it is adapted to every conceivable

situation in life; so simple, that the most unlearned, and even

children, can comprehend it.

This babe of Bethlehem, whose words were so few, whose brief life

was so soon ended, and whose sacrificial death upon the cross was

so wonderful, though dead, still lives and reigns in this world,――a

monarch more influential than any other, or all other sovereigns upon

the globe. His empire has advanced majestically, with ever-increasing

power, down the path of eighteen centuries; and few will doubt that it

is destined to take possession of the whole world.

The Cæsars have perished, and their palaces are in ruins. The empire

of Charlemagne has risen, like one of those gorgeous clouds we often

admire, brilliant with the radiance of the setting sun; and, like that

cloud, it has vanished forever. Charles V. has marshalled the armies

of Europe around his throne, and has almost rivalled the Cæsars in the

majesty of his sway; and, like a dream, the vision of his universal

empire has fled.

But the kingdom of Jesus has survived all these wrecks of empires.

Without a palace or a court, without a bayonet or a sabre, without any

emoluments of rank or wealth or power offered by Jesus to his subjects,

his kingdom has advanced steadily, resistlessly, increasing in strength

every hour, crushing all opposition, triumphing over all time’s changes;

so that, at the present moment, the kingdom of Jesus is a stronger

kingdom, more potent in all the _elements of influence_ over the human

heart, than all the other governments of the earth.

There is not a man upon this globe who would now lay down his life

from love for any one of the numerous monarchs of Rome; but there are

millions who would go joyfully to the dungeon or the stake from love

for that Jesus who commenced his earthly career in the manger of a

country inn, whose whole life was but a scene of poverty and suffering,

and who finally perished upon the cross in the endurance of a cruel

death with malefactors.

As this child, from the period of whose birth time itself is now dated,

was passing through the season of infancy and childhood, naval fleets

swept the Mediterranean Sea, and Roman legions trampled bloodily over

subjugated provinces. There were conflagrations of cities, ravages

of fields, fierce battles, slaughter, misery, death. Nearly all these

events are now forgotten; but the name of Jesus of Nazareth grows more

lustrous as the ages roll on.

The events which preceded the birth of Jesus cannot be better described

than in the language of the inspired writers:――

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest

named Zacharias, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the

daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both

righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of

the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because Elisabeth was barren;

and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass,

that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of

his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was

to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord; and the whole

multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

“And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, standing on the

right side of the altar of incense. And, when Zacharias saw him, he

was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear

not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall

bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have

joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall

be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor

strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from

his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to

the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power

of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the

disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared

for the Lord.

“And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am

an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

“And the angel, answering, said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in

the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee

these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to

speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou

believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

“And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried

so long in the temple. And, when he came out, he could not speak unto

them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; for

he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. And it came to pass,

that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he

departed to his own house. And, after those days, his wife Elisabeth

conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord

dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my

reproach among men.

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a

city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose

name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly

favored; the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And, when

she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what

manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her,

“Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou

shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son; and thou shalt call

his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the

Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father

David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his

kingdom there shall be no end.

“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a

man?

“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall

come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:

therefore, also, that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be

called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also

conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her

who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me

according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”[1]

Elisabeth was at that time residing in what was called the

“hill-country” of Judæa, several miles south of Jerusalem. Mary was

in Galilee, the extreme northern part of Palestine. “And Mary arose in

those days, and went into the hill-country with haste, into a city of

Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy

Ghost; and she spake out with a loud voice, and said,

“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

for, lo! as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears,

the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed;

for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her

from the Lord.

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath

rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his

handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me

blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy

is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to

generation. He hath showed strength with his arms; he hath scattered

the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the

mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled

the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away. He

hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he

spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.”

“Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother

Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found

with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just

man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put

her away privily. But, while he thought on these things, behold, the

angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son

of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is

conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,

and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from

their sins.

“Now, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of

the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child,

and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel;

which, being interpreted, is _God with us_.[2]

“Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had

bidden him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had

brought forth her first-born son.”

Mary, upon her visit to Elisabeth, remained with her about three

months, and then returned to Nazareth. Upon the birth of John, he

was taken on the eighth day to be circumcised. His father, who still

remained dumb, wrote that he should be called John. To the surprise of

his friends, speech was then restored to him. These remarkable events

were extensively noised abroad. “And all they that heard them laid them

up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be?”

In the year of Rome 450, the Emperor Cæsar Augustus ordered a general

census of the population of Palestine to be taken, that he might, with

exactitude, know the resources of the province. The Jewish custom had

long been, that a man should be registered in his birthplace instead

of that of his residence. During the months of January and February of

that year, all the narrow pathways of Judæa were crowded by cavalcades

of those who were seeking their native places to be registered

according to this decree.

Among these lowly pilgrims there were two, Joseph and Mary, from the

obscure village of Nazareth. Toiling along through the ravines of

Galilee, over the plains of Samaria, and across the hill-country of

Judæa, they continued their journey, until, at the end of the fourth

day, they entered the little village of Bethlehem, about five miles

south of Jerusalem.

So many travellers had entered the village before them, that there

was no room left in the inn. Perhaps even the stable might have been

refused, had not the woman’s condition appealed to the heart of the

inn-keeper. But there she and her husband found a place to rest.

Outside of the village stretched the plains, where, hundreds of years

before, David watched his father’s flocks. On the same hill-slopes

shepherds tended their sheep still. It was apparently a serene and

cloudless night. Suddenly there appeared in the heavens, descending

from amidst the stars, the form of an angel. The simple-minded

shepherds gazed upon the wonderful spectacle with alarm. The angel,

radiant with heaven’s light, addressed them, saying,――

“Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which

shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of

David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign

unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying

in a manger.”

As these words were uttered, the babe was born; and immediately there

appeared a vast multitude of the heavenly host,――the retinue which had

accompanied the celestial visitant from heaven to earth. Such a band

never before met mortal eyes. With simultaneous voice they sang, while

the melody floated over the silent hills, “Glory to God in the highest;

and on earth peace, good-will toward men.”

The voice of prophecy had announced, ages before, that the

long-expected Messiah should be born in Bethlehem. Seven hundred years

had passed since the prophet Micah wrote,――

“And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the

princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule

my people Israel.”[3]

The angels disappeared, and the heavenly depths resumed their

accustomed calm. But the scene and the words sank deep into the hearts

of the shepherds, who believed without questioning this wonderful

announcement. The time foretold by the prophets――had it truly come?

Was the long watching of the true-hearted Jew really at an end?

Making haste in the eagerness of their hope, the shepherds went to

Bethlehem, and found Mary, Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger.

Having this corroboration of the angels’ words, they told to all whom

they met the marvellous scene which they had witnessed. All wondered;

for it was not thus that they had expected the Messiah to come. But

Mary, the mother, kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Although the birth of Jesus was thus heralded by a choir of angels,

it seems not to have been universally recognized that the Messiah had

come. The evidence is abundant, from passages taken from both Roman

and Jewish writers, that there was a general expectation at the time,

throughout the East, that some one was soon to be born in Judæa who

would rule the world. The ideas prevailing respecting the nature of his

reign were extremely vague. Tacitus, Suetonius, Zoroaster, all allude

to this coming man, whose advent had been so minutely foretold in the

sacred writings of the Jews.

The Persian priests, or Magi, were among the most learned men of

those times. Whatever of science then was known was inseparably

blended with religion. Astrology and astronomy were kindred studies.

The Persian Magi were surprised by the appearance of a star, or

meteor, of wonderful brilliancy. They interpreted it as a sign that

the long-expected Messiah was born. As they approached the meteor, it

moved before them. A deputation of their number was appointed to follow

it. It led them to Judæa. They then began eagerly to inquire where the

child was born. Herod the king heard these strange tidings. He trembled

from fear that this prophetically-announced Messiah would assume kingly

power, and eject him from his throne. In great anxiety he sent for

the most approved interpreters of the Bible, and inquired of them if

the prophets had announced the _place_ in which the Messiah should be

born. They replied that the place was Bethlehem, citing in proof the

prediction of the prophet Micah. Herod, having determined to take the

life of the child, called the Magi before him, and directed them to

go immediately to Bethlehem, and, as soon as they had found the young

child, to report to him, saying that he wished to worship him also.

The meteor, which had led them from the plains of Persia, and which

had perhaps, for a time, vanished, re-appeared, and went before them

till it came and stood over where the young child was. After paying

the divine babe the tribute of their homage and adoration, instead

of returning to Herod with the information, admonished by God, they

departed by an unfrequented route to their own country.

The infamous king, thus baffled, in his rage sent officers to put to

death all the children in the city of Bethlehem and its vicinity who

were two years of age and under. He supposed that in that number the

infant Jesus would surely be included. But Joseph, warned by God in a

dream, escaped by night with Mary and the babe into Egypt, about forty

miles south of Bethlehem. There the holy family remained for several

months, until the wretched Herod died, devoured by a terrible disease.

But, as his son Archelaus ascended the throne vacated by Herod, Joseph

did not deem it safe to return to Judæa, but, by a circuitous route,

found his way back to the obscure hamlet of Nazareth, buried among the

mountains of Galilee. Here, we are informed, “the child grew, and waxed

strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon

him.”

Before the flight into Egypt, all the ceremonies enjoined by the Mosaic

law upon the birth of a child of Jewish parents were strictly observed.

At the presentation of the babe in the temple, the aged Simeon, then

the officiating priest, recognized him as the long-looked-for Messiah.

Anna too, the prophetess, gave thanks to the Lord for him.

After these scenes, a veil is dropped over the child-life of Jesus. It

is lifted but once, when, at the age of twelve, the child attended his

parents to Jerusalem. Being separated from Joseph and Mary in the crowd,

they sought anxiously for him, and found him in the temple, sitting in

the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. All

who heard the questions and the answers of the child were amazed at

his wisdom. To the tender reproof of his mother, he answered as though

the meaning of his life were just beginning to dawn upon him: “How

is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s

business?”

His parents did not understand him; but he returned with them to

Nazareth. Here among the hills of Galilee, in a village so obscure that

its name is not mentioned in the Old Testament, the youthful years of

Jesus passed unnoticed away until he had attained the age of thirty.

According to the Jewish law, a man could not take upon himself priestly

duties until he was thirty years old. Not until then was he considered

to have obtained that maturity of character which would warrant him in

assuming the office of a teacher, or which would enable him to realize

the sacredness of the priestly calling. No record of these years is

given us, save that contained in the declaration, “And Jesus increased

in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

John the Baptist, forerunner of Jesus, seems to have passed through

very different youthful discipline from that of Him whom he was to

herald. Jesus spent his childhood and early manhood, so far as we are

informed, in the seclusion of that domestic life which is common to man.

Nurtured in its sweet simplicity, he learned from experience the trials

and cares of humanity in its lowliest condition.

John, forsaking these tranquil scenes of domestic life, fled into the

desert, and, in the most dreary solitudes, prepared for his momentous

ministry. The last of the prophets, “greater was not born of women

than he.” The place he chose for his preparation was one of desolate

grandeur. The borders of the desert reached the barren, verdureless

banks of the Dead Sea. All signs of life were lost in a region

apparently cursed by the frown of God. The heavy waters of the lake

lay motionless, and the mountains of Moab rose beyond in their severe

and rugged sublimity.

Yet here John dwelt, that he might ponder the meaning of the Scripture

prophecies, so as to be able to expound them with power when the time

should come for him to address the people. Here he was impressed with

the enormity of sin against God, and the hopelessness of the sinner,

unless a higher power came to his rescue. Here God revealed to his

soul the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins through faith

in an atoning Saviour,――“the Lamb slain from the foundation of the

world,”――the Lamb so often slain in symbolic sacrifice, but now to

appear and suffer in his own sacred person.

When the time of preparation was completed, the word of God came to

John, summoning him to his work. Emerging from his life of solitude,

he traversed all the country round about Jordan, crying out in

trumpet-tones, which collected thousands to listen to him, “Repent

ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The new prophet, humble in

his own soul, as the truly great always are, disclaimed all title to

the Messiahship, declaring that One was coming mightier than he, the

latchet of whose shoes he was unworthy to unloose. When the multitude,

impressed by his figure, his character, and his words, inquired of him,

“Art thou the Christ?” he replied emphatically, “I am not.”――“Art thou

Elias, then?” was the continued query. The reply was equally emphatic,

“No.”――“Who art thou, then?” they further inquired. He replied, “I am

the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the

Lord; make his paths straight.”

A leathern girdle encircled the loins of this wonderful man. His

frugal fare consisted of locusts and wild honey. John stood by the

River Jordan, baptizing those who presented themselves for the rite.

Jesus, then about thirty years of age, appeared among them. Since his

twelfth year, no act of his had been recorded. But now, according to

the Jewish idea of maturity, he was prepared to enter upon his ministry.

John doubtless had not seen him for many years. Probably he had never

known that he was the Christ. But, when that pure and holy One came

to be baptized, the eyes of the prophet were opened, and he hesitated,

saying, “I have need to be baptized of thee; and comest thou to me?”

But Jesus commands, and John performs the rite. Then the faithful

prophet is rewarded by seeing the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God

descending like a dove, and lighting upon the brow of Jesus. A voice

at the same time was heard from the serene skies, exclaiming in clear

utterance, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Then John was filled with fulness of assured joy, as he says, “I knew

him not;” meaning, of course, that, before the performance of the rite,

he had not known Jesus as the Messiah. The following day, John pointed

out Jesus to two of his disciples as the “Lamb of God, which taketh

away the sin of the world.”

Soon after this came the period of our Lord’s temptation, over which

our hearts are moved with wonder and tender compassion. Son of God

as he was in his spiritual nature, in the humiliation of his earthly

mission he had also become Son of man. Sinless from his birth, the

taint of evil had never touched his pure soul. Yet a higher nature than

even this was necessary before he could redeem the people from their

sins. There was needed in his human nature a knowledge of the power of

evil, which could only be obtained through suffering its temptations.

How else could he truly sympathize with and succor those who are

tempted? Oh holy mystery of the temptation of the Son of God!――a

mystery so sacred and unfathomable, that we can only bow our hearts in

adoration, knowing that we have now a high priest who can be touched

with the feeling of our infirmities,――one who “was in all points

tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

It is impossible to ascertain with certainty the chronology of our

Saviour’s movements. But, following that which is generally most

approved, we infer that Jesus returned from the temptation in the

wilderness to Nazareth, where he sojourned for a short time. John had

publicly announced Jesus to be the Messiah, in the words, “Behold the

Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!” Jesus was thus

declared to be the atoning Lamb, which for so many centuries had been

represented by the sacrifices offered under the law.

Among the crowd who had flocked to the wilderness to hear the

impassioned preaching of John there were two fishermen, who became

convinced that Jesus was the long-promised Christ. The first of these,

Andrew, hastened to inform his brother Simon Peter that he had found

the Messiah. These two were apparently our Saviour’s first disciples.

Probably their views of the nature of his mission were exceedingly

vague. They, however, attached themselves to his person, and followed

him. Jesus received them kindly, but without any parade. At the first

glance he seems to have comprehended the marked character of Simon

Peter; for he addressed him in language in some degree prophetic of his

future career: “Thou art Simon, the son of Jona: thou shalt be called

Cephas; which is, by interpretation, a stone.” Cephas was the Syriac

for Peter.

Illustration: Jesus.

BOSTON: B. B. RUSSELL.

The next day two others attached themselves to Jesus,――Philip and

Nathanael. Then, as now, the moment one became a disciple of Jesus,

he was anxious to lead others to him. Philip, who had accepted the

invitation of Christ to follow him, sought out one of his friends,

Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the

law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Nathanael was a little doubtful whether the son of the carpenter Joseph,

from the obscure hamlet of Nazareth, could be the heaven-commissioned

Messiah for whose advent the pious Jews had been praying during weary

centuries. Incredulously he inquired, “Can any good thing come out of

Nazareth?” The laconic reply of Philip was, “Come and see.”

It appears that Nathanael was a man remarkable for his upright and

noble character. As Jesus saw him approaching, he said to those around

him, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael,

overhearing the remark, inquired of him, “Whence knowest thou me?”

The reply of Jesus, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast

under the fig-tree, I saw thee,”――thus alluding to some secret event

which Nathanael was sure no mortal could know,――convinced him of the

supernatural powers of Jesus; and he exclaimed in fulness of faith,

“Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel!”

The reply of Jesus was a distinct avowal of his Messiahship: “Because

I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou

shalt see greater things than these. Hereafter ye shall see heaven open,

and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Jesus, strengthened, not exhausted, by his temptation in the wilderness,

returned to Nazareth. In the mystery of his double nature as Son of God

and Son of man, the mission of his life seems now to have been fully

revealed to him. He then commenced preaching his gospel of penitence

for sin, faith in him as a Saviour, and a holy life.

Not with words of denunciation did he open his ministry. Tenderly he

bore with the doubts and questionings, which led many to hesitate to

acknowledge him as the long-looked-for Messiah. Sympathy and healing

for body and soul were the first messages of our Lord. The hard,

stern outlines of the Jewish law were softened, yes, glorified, by

the spiritual meaning infused into them by Jesus. Sent to preach the

gospel to the poor, and to bind up the broken-hearted, he addressed the

desponding in words of encouragement and cheer, while he did not abate

one iota of the integrity and authority of the law.

A few miles north of Nazareth, slumbering among the hills of Galilee,

was the little village of Cana. A marriage was celebrated there on the

third day after the return of Jesus from the wilderness. He was invited

to the wedding, with his mother and the disciples who had accompanied

him to Nazareth. The fame of Jesus was rapidly extending, and the

knowledge of his expected presence probably drew an unexpected number

to the wedding. Consequently, the wine, simple juice of the grape,

usually provided on such occasions, was found to be insufficient. The

mother of Jesus informed him with some solicitude that the wine was

falling short. It would appear that he had anticipated this; for his

reply, “What have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come,” may be

interpreted, “It is not necessary for you, mother, to be anxious about

this: the time for me to interpose is not yet come.” That time soon

came,――probably when the wine was entirely exhausted. The anxious,

care-taking mother understood this to mean that he would, at the proper

time, provide for the emergency; for she went to the servants, and

requested them to do whatever Jesus should ask of them.

In the court-yard there were six stone firkins, or jars, about

two-thirds the size of an ordinary barrel, containing about thirty

gallons each. Jesus ordered the servants to fill them with water.

Surprised, but unhesitatingly they obeyed. He then directed them to

draw from those firkins, and present first to the governor of the feast.

To their amazement, pure wine filled their goblets,――wine which the

governor of the feast declared to be of remarkable excellence. This

was the first miracle which is recorded of our Saviour. There is no

evidence that there was the slightest intoxicating quality in this pure

beverage thus prepared for the wedding-guests.

Soon after this, Jesus went to Capernaum, a thriving seaport town

upon the western shores of the Lake of Galilee, about twelve miles

north-east of Nazareth. His mother, his brothers,――who did not

accept his Messiahship,――and his disciples,――we know not how many in

number,――accompanied him. We have no record of his doings during the

few days that he remained there. As the feast of the Passover was at

hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem, there to inaugurate his ministry in

the midst of the thousands whom the sacred festival would summon to the

metropolis. A few of his disciples accompanied him. Their journey was

undoubtedly made on foot, a distance of about a hundred miles.

Upon their arrival, Jesus directed his steps immediately to the temple,

probably then the most imposing structure in the world. The sight which

met his view as he entered the outer court-yard of the temple with his

humble Galilean followers excited his indignation. The sacred edifice

had been perverted to the most shameful purposes of traffic. The booths

of the traders lined its walls. The bleating of sheep and the lowing of

oxen resounded through its enclosures. The litter of the stable covered

its tessellated floors, and the tables of money-changers stood by the

side of the magnificent marble pillars. The din of traffic filled that

edifice which was erected for the worship of God.

Jesus, in the simple garb of a Galilean peasant, and without any badge

of authority, enters this tumultuous throng. Picking up from the floor

a few of the twigs, or rushes, he bound them together; and, with voice

and gesture of authority whose supernatural power no man could resist,

“he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen; and

poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto

them that sold doves, Take these things hence: make not my Father’s

house a house of merchandise.”

No one ventured any resistance. The temple was cleared of its

abominations. There must have been a more than human presence in the

eye and voice of this Galilean peasant, to enable him thus, in the

proud metropolis of Judæa, to drive the traffickers from all nations in

a panic before him, while invested with no governmental power, and his

only weapon consisting of a handful of rushes; for this seems to be the

proper meaning of the words translated “a whip of small cords.”

The temple being thus cleared, some of the people ventured to ask of

him by what authority he performed such an act. His extraordinary reply

was, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” There

is no evidence that there was any thing in the voice or gesture of

Jesus upon this occasion which implied that he did not refer to the

material temple whose massive grandeur rose around them. It is certain

that his interrogators so understood him: for they replied, “Forty

and six years was this temple in building; and wilt thou rear it up in

three days?”

The evangelist John adds, “But he spake of the temple of his body.” We

have no intimation that Jesus attempted to rectify the error into which

they had fallen. And it is difficult to assign any satisfactory reason

why he should have left them to ponder his dark saying. Human frailty

is often bewildered in the attempt to explicate infinite wisdom.

Probably the fame of Jesus had already reached Jerusalem. His wonderful

achievement, in thus cleansing the temple, must have excited universal

astonishment. Many were inclined to attach themselves to him as a great

prophet. There was at that time residing in Jerusalem a man of much

moral worth, by the name of Nicodemus. He was rich, was in the highest

circles of society, a teacher of the Jewish law, and a member of the

Sanhedrim, the supreme council of the nation.

He sought an interview with Jesus at night, that he might enjoy

uninterrupted conversation, or, as is more probable, because he had not

sufficient moral courage to go to him openly. In the following words

he announced to Jesus his full conviction of his prophetic character:

“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can

do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him.”

Jesus did not wait for any questions to be asked. With apparent

abruptness, and without any exchange of salutations, he said solemnly,

as if rebuking the assumption that he, the Lamb of God, had come to the

world merely as a teacher, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a

man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus ought to have understood this language. The “new birth”

was no new term, framed now for the first time. The proselytes from

heathenism, having been received into the Jewish fold by circumcision

and baptism, in token of the renewal of their hearts, were said to be

“born again.” Jesus, adopting this perfectly intelligible language,

informed Nicodemus that it was not by intellectual conviction merely

that one became a member of the Messiah’s kingdom, but by such a

renovation of soul, that one might be said to be born again,――old

things having passed away, and all things having become new. Nicodemus,

who perhaps, in pharisaic pride, imagined that he had attained the

highest stage of the religious life, was probably a little irritated

in being told that he needed this change of heart to gain admission to

the kingdom of God; and, in his irritation, allowed himself in a very

stupid cavil. “How can a man,” said he, “be born when he is old? Can he

enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

Jesus, ever calm, did not heed the cavil, but simply reiterated his

declaration, that no man could become a member of the kingdom of God,

unless, renewed in the spirit of his mind, he thus became a partaker

of the divine nature. Nicodemus probably assumed that he, as a Jew,

would be entitled by right of birth to membership in the kingdom of the

Messiah. When a Gentile became a proselyte to the Jewish religion, by

the rite of baptism he promised to renounce idolatry, to worship the

true God, and to live in conformity with the divine law. The external

rite gradually began to assume undue importance. Our Saviour, in

announcing to Nicodemus the doctrine that a spiritual regeneration

was needful, of which the application of water in baptism was merely

the emblem, said, “Except a man be born of water _and of the Spirit_,

he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the

flesh is flesh,”――is corrupt: “that which is born of the Spirit is

spirit,”――is pure. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born

again.”

And then, in reply to queries which he foresaw were rising in the mind

of Nicodemus, he continued: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and

thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,

and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” This

sublime truth is thus enunciated without any attempt at explanation.

Why is one man led by the Holy Spirit to the Saviour, while another,

certainly no less deserving, is not? This question has been asked

through all the ages, but never answered. Where is the Christian who

has not often said,――

“Why was I made to hear thy voice,

And enter while there’s room,

When thousands make a wretched choice,

And rather starve than come?”

Infinitely momentous as are these truths, they are the most simple

truths in nature. Nothing can be more obvious to an observing and

reflective man than that a thorough renovation of spirit is essential

to prepare mankind for the society of spotless angels and for the

worship of heaven. This is one of the most simple and rudimental

of moral truths. And when Nicodemus, with the spirit of cavil still

lingering in his mind, allowed himself to say, “How can these things

be?” Jesus gently rebuked him, saying, “Art thou a master of Israel,

and knowest not these things? If I have told you earthly things,”――the

simplest truths of religion, obvious to every thoughtful man,――“and

ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly

things?”――the sublime truths which can only be known by direct

revelation.

Jesus then proceeds from the simple doctrine of regeneration to the

sublimer theme of an atoning Saviour,――a theme the most wonderful which

the mind of man or angel can contemplate. There cannot be found in

all the volumes of earth a passage so full of meaning, in import so

stupendous, as the few words which then came from the Saviour’s lips.

It was the distinct and emphatic announcement of the plan of salvation

devised by a loving Father in giving his Son to die upon the cross, in

making atonement for the sins of the world.

“No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven;

even the Son of man, which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the

serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal

life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting

life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but

that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is

not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because

he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And

this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men

loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For

every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,

lest his deeds should be reproved; but he that doeth truth cometh to

the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in

God.”

It does not appear that even this enunciation from the lips of Jesus,

of the sublime doctrines of regeneration and atonement, produced any

immediate result upon the heart of Nicodemus. That they produced a deep

impression upon his mind cannot be doubted. Not long after, when there

was intense commotion in Jerusalem in consequence of the teachings of

Jesus, Nicodemus summoned sufficient moral courage to speak one word in

his defence. “Doth our law,” said he, “judge any man before it hear him

and know what he doeth?” But he seems to have been effectually silenced

by the stem rebuff, “Art thou also of Galilee?” We hear no more of

this timid man, until after the lapse of three years, when Jesus had

perished upon the cross, Nicodemus brought to Joseph of Arimathea some

spices to embalm the body. This, also, he probably did secretly and by

night. How contemptible does such a character appear――one too cowardly

to live according to its own convictions of duty――when contrasted with

such men as Abraham, Noah, Daniel, and Paul! And yet there is many a

Nicodemus in almost every village in our land.

Soon after this, Jesus left Jerusalem, and went into the rural

districts of Judæa, where he preached his gospel, and his disciples

baptized, and by this rite received to the general Church such

as became converts. John the Baptist was then preaching to large

assemblies in Samaria, in a place called Ænon, about twenty miles

west of the River Jordan, and about sixty miles north from Jerusalem.

This place, though among the hills, was well watered with springs and

streams, and thus well adapted for the vast numbers who gathered to

hear this renowned preacher.

Jesus and his disciples were in Judæa, in the vicinity of Jerusalem,

probably about forty miles south of John. Some of the zealous disciples

of John became annoyed in hearing that larger crowds were flocking to

Jesus than to him; that Jesus was making many converts, and that his

disciples were actually baptizing more than were the disciples of John.

But the illustrious prophet did not share in their feelings of envy. In

words worthy of his noble character he replied,――

“Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but

that I am sent before him. He must increase; but I must decrease. He

that cometh from above is above all; for he whom God hath sent speaketh

the words of God. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things

into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and

he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God

abideth on him.”

Illustration: (‡ Map of) Palestine.

Jesus, being informed of the spirit of rivalry which existed on the

part of John’s disciples, decided to withdraw from that region, and

return to Galilee. His direct route led through the central district

of Samaria. There was a bitter feud between the inhabitants of Judæa

and Samaria, so that there was but little social intercourse or traffic

between them. The road led first over barren plains as far as Bethel;

then traversed a region of undulating hills smiling with verdure, till

it became lost in a winding mountain-pass quite densely wooded. On the

third day of the journey, Jesus, toiling on foot beneath the scorching

sun of Syria, reached Sychar, in the heart of Samaria. About a mile

and a half from the village, at the foot of Mount Gerizim, there was

a celebrated well, which the patriarch Jacob had dug several centuries

before. Jesus sat down by the well to rest, while his disciples, who

accompanied him, went into the village to purchase some food. While

seated there alone, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to

her, “Give me to drink.” His dress and language indicated that he was

a Jew.

The woman replied, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of

me, which am a woman of Samaria?”

“If thou knewest,” said Jesus, “the gift of God, and who it is that

saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and

he would have given thee living water.”

To this enigmatical reply, which evidently aroused the attention of the

woman, she rejoined, “Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is

deep. From whence, then, hast thou that living water? Art thou greater

than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof

himself, and his children and his cattle?”

Again Jesus replied in enigmatical language, “Whosoever drinketh of

this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that

I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give

him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The woman, bewildered, and with excited curiosity, said, “Sir, give me

this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”

“Go, call thy husband,” said Jesus, “and come hither.”

The woman, conscience-smitten, and somewhat alarmed by the mysterious

nature of the conversation, answered, “I have no husband.”

The startling response of Jesus was, “Thou hast well said, I have no

husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is

not thy husband. In that saidst thou truly.”

The woman, alarmed, and anxious to withdraw the conversation from her

own sins and personal duty, sought, as half-awakened sinners have ever

endeavored to do from that day to this, to change the theme into a

theological discussion.

“Sir,” she said, “I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers

worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place

where men ought to worship.”

This question was a standing controversy between the Jews and the

Samaritans. “Believe me,” Jesus replied, “the hour cometh when ye shall

neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye

worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of

the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers

shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh

such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must

worship him in spirit and in truth.”

The Samaritans rejected the prophets, and received only the five books

of Moses. Jesus therefore announced that the Jewish, not the Samaritan

faith, was the true religion; while at the same time he declared that

external forms were important only as they promoted and indicated

holiness of heart.

The woman replied, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ.

When he is come, he will tell us all things.”

Her astonishment must have been great when Jesus rejoined, “I that

speak unto thee am he.”

The conversation was here interrupted by the return of the disciples

who had gone into the village. Though surprised in seeing Jesus engaged

in earnest conversation with the Samaritan woman, they asked him no

questions upon the subject; but the woman, so agitated that she forgot

to take her water-pot with her, hurried back to the village, saying to

her friends, in language somewhat exaggerated, “Come see a man which

told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?”

Quite a crowd of Samaritans were soon gathered around the well. In the

mean time, the disciples besought Jesus to partake of the refreshments

which they had brought from the village. His remarkable reply was,――

“I have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat” (the great object of

my life) “is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold,

I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they

are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages,

and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and

he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true,

One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye

bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye have entered into their

labors.”

It is probable that Jesus went from the well into the village or city

of Sychar; for he continued in that region for two days, preaching

the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. The result was, that many more

believed, and said unto the woman, “Now we believe, not because of thy

saying; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed

the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

Continuing his journey, Jesus proceeded still northward to Galilee. The

fame of his words and of his works was spreading far and wide. As he

travelled, he entered the synagogues of the villages, and preached his

gospel probably to large crowds. Popularity accompanied his steps; for,

we are informed by the sacred historian, “he taught in their synagogues,

being glorified of all.”

Upon reaching the province of Galilee, he repaired to Cana, where

his first miracle was performed. His name was now upon all lips;

and, wherever he appeared, crowds were attracted. About twelve miles

north-east from Cana, upon the shores of the Lake of Galilee, was the

city of Capernaum. A nobleman there, of high official rank, had a son

dangerously sick. Hearing of the arrival of Jesus in Cana, and fully

convinced of his miraculous powers, he hastened to him, and entreated

him to come down and heal his son. Immediately upon the application of

the nobleman, appreciating the faith he thus exhibited, he said, “Go

thy way: thy son liveth.” Apparently untroubled with any incredulity,

the nobleman set out on his return. Meeting servants by the way, they

informed him that his son was recovering. Upon inquiry, he learned

that his convalescence commenced apparently at the very moment in which

Jesus assured him of his safety. In consequence of this second miracle

in Galilee, the nobleman and all his family became disciples of Jesus.

From Cana, Jesus went to the home of his childhood and youth, in

Nazareth, which was but a few miles south of Cana. It is probable that

his reputed father, Joseph, was dead, as we have no subsequent allusion

to him; and that there was no home in Nazareth to welcome the wanderer.

Upon the sabbath day, according to his custom, he repaired to the

synagogue. Taking the Bible, he opened to the sixty-first chapter of

Isaiah, and read those prophetic words of the promised Messiah which

had been written nearly seven hundred years before:――

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed

me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the

broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of

the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of

the Lord.”

He closed the book, returned it to the officiating minister, and sat

down upon the raised seat from which it was customary for the Jewish

speakers to address the audience. The eyes of all were fastened upon

him.

“This day,” said Jesus, “is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

It was universally understood that this passage from the prophet

referred to the Messiah. Thus he solemnly announced to his astonished

fellow-citizens of Nazareth that he was the Son of God, whose coming

the pious Jews had, through so many centuries, been expecting. It is

evident that the tidings of his career were already creating great

excitement in Nazareth.

“All bare witness,” writes the inspired historian, “and wondered at the

gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not

this Joseph’s son?

“And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb,

_Physician, heal thyself_: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum,

do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No

prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many

widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut

up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the

land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city

of Sidon” (a Gentile city), “unto a woman that was a widow” (a Gentile

woman). “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the

prophet; and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian.”

This declaration, that God regarded Gentiles as well as Jews with

his parental favor, roused their indignation. The inspired historian

records, “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things,

were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city,

and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built,

that they might cast him down headlong; but he, passing through the

midst of them, went his way.”

It is not known whether a miracle was performed at this time to disarm

the mob, or whether the infuriated populace were overawed by the

natural dignity of his demeanor, and by the sacredness which began to

be attached to his person as the reputed Messiah. It was a case similar

to that which occurred when he cleansed the temple.

Jesus, upon this occasion, took his text from the Bible, and commented

upon it. The text and a few of his remarks have been alone transmitted

to us. There is a rocky cliff which extends for some distance along the

hill on which Nazareth is built, which is still thirty or forty feet

high, notwithstanding the accumulated _débris_ of eighteen centuries,

which was undoubtedly the scene of this transaction.

John the Baptist was now cast into prison. His work as the forerunner

of Christ was accomplished. Eight months of our Lord’s ministry had

passed away. On the eastern shore of the Dead Sea there was an immense

fortress called Machærus. Built on a crag, surrounded by gloomy ravines,

and strengthened by the most formidable works of military enginery

then known, it was deemed impregnable. Here the despot Herod had shut

up John the Baptist as a prisoner. Weary months rolled away as the

impetuous spirit of the prophet beat unavailingly against the bars

of his prison. Though a prophet, the _whole_ mystery of the Messiah’s

kingdom had not been revealed to him. With great solicitude, apparently

with many doubts and fears, he watched the career of Jesus, so

inexplicable to human wisdom.

Jesus, rejected with insult and outrage by the people of Nazareth,

repaired to Capernaum, on the shores of the lake. This body of water,

so renowned in the life of Jesus, is the only sea referred to in the

gospel history. It is alike called the “Sea of Galilee,” the “Sea of

Tiberias,” and “Lake Gennesaret.” In Capernaum he took up his residence

for a time, “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God;” that is,

preaching the glad tidings of full and free remission of sins through

faith in him as the Messiah, and his coming kingdom. “The time,” said

he, predicted by the prophets, “is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is

at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”[4]

Walking one day on the shores of the lake, he met Simon Peter and his

brother Andrew, engaged in their occupation as fishermen. It will be

remembered that they had met Jesus before, at the time of his baptism

by John, and had become convinced that he was the Messiah. On some of

his journeyings they had accompanied him. But they had not, as yet,

permanently attached themselves to his person. He said to them, “Follow

me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Their unwavering faith in him

is manifest from the fact, that leaving their boat and their net, and

their earthly all, in their humble garb of fishermen they followed him.

Continuing the walk along the water’s edge, they met two other young

fishermen, also brothers, James and John. They were sitting upon the

shore with their father Zebedee, mending their net. Jesus called them

also to follow him; which they promptly did, leaving their father

behind them. Jesus had selected them to be preachers of his gospel; and

they were to be with him, that, listening to his addresses, they might

learn the doctrines which they were to preach.

Accompanied by these four disciples, Jesus returned into the city

of Capernaum; and probably the next day, it being the sabbath, he

entered the synagogue, and addressed the people. We have no record

of his address. Mark simply informs us that he “taught; and they

were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one that had

authority, and not as the scribes.”[5] Luke says, “His word was with

power.”[6]

Among the crowd assembled there was a man possessed of a devil. He

startled the whole assembly by shouting out, “Let us alone! What have

we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy

us? I know thee whom thou art, the Holy One of God.”

“Accepting, with whatever mystery the whole subject of demoniac

possession is clothed, the simple account of the evangelists, it does

appear most wonderful,――the quick intelligence, the wild alarm, the

terror-stricken faith, that then pervaded the demon world, as if all

the spirits of hell who had been suffered to make human bodies their

habitation grew pale at the very presence of Jesus, and could not but

cry out in the extremity of their despair.”[7]

Jesus turned his mild, commanding eye upon the demoniac, and calmly

said, “Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” The foul spirit threw the

man to the ground, tore him with convulsions, and, uttering a loud,

inarticulate, fiendlike cry, departed. The man rose to his feet, serene

and happy, conversing with his friends in his right mind. All were

seized with amazement. The strange tidings ran through the streets of

the city. The fame of such marvels spread rapidly far and wide. “What

new thing is this?” was the general exclamation; “for with authority he

commandeth the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.”

The mother of Simon Peter’s wife was taken sick with a violent fever.

Jesus, being informed of it, visited her bedside, took her gently

by the hand, and rebuked the fever. The disease, as obedient to his

command as was the foul spirit, immediately left the sufferer. The cure

was instantaneous and complete. She arose from her couch, and returned

at once to her household duties.

It is difficult to imagine the excitement which these events must have

produced. Upon the evening of that memorable day, the region around

the house was thronged with the multitude, bringing unto him all that

were sick with divers diseases. “And he laid his hands on every one of

them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out,

and saying, Thou art Christ, the Son of God. And he, rebuking them,

suffered them not to speak; for they knew that he was Christ.”[8]

It is impossible for us to comprehend the nature of the union of God

and man in the person of Jesus. The sacred historian, in announcing

that God “was made flesh and dwelt among us,” makes no attempt to

solve this mystery. But it seems that Jesus, though possessed of these

miraculous powers, was so exhausted by the labors and excitements of

the day, that, long before the dawn of the morning, he rose from his

bed, and, leaving the slumbering city behind him, retired to a solitary

place, where, fanned by the cool breeze of the mountain and of the lake,

he spent long hours in prayer.

Peter and his companions, when they rose in the morning, missed Jesus.

It was not until after a considerable search that he was found in his

retreat. They informed him of the great excitement which pervaded the

city, and that the people were looking for him in all directions. But

Jesus, instead of returning to Capernaum to receive the adulation which

awaited him there, said, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may

preach there also. I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities;

for therefore came I forth.”

In the mean time, some of the people had found him; and they began to

gather around him in large numbers. They entreated him to return to

the city, and take up his residence with them; but he declined, and

at once entered upon a laborious tour through the cities and villages

of Galilee, “teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel

of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sicknesses and all manner

of diseases among the people.”

Though these deeds were done in Galilee, the extreme northern

province of Syria, still the fame of them spread rapidly through the

whole country. “And they brought unto him all sick people that were

taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed

with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy;

and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people

from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from beyond

Jordan.”

Galilee was at that time very densely inhabited by an energetic and

bustling population of about three millions. It was about sixty miles

in length, and forty in breadth; containing, according to Josephus,

two hundred and four towns and villages, whose average population was

fifteen thousand. Through this region, Jesus, accompanied by a few of

his disciples, entered upon a pedestrian tour. The lake was thirteen

miles long, and six broad. Its shores were dotted with villages

luxuriant in culture, and the waters of the lake were covered with the

boats of fishermen.

Now all is silent there, lonely and most desolate. Till last year, but

a single boat floated upon its waters. On its shores, Tiberias in ruins,

and Magdala, composed of a few wretched hovels, are all that remain.

You may ride round and round the empty beach, and, these excepted,

never meet a human being, nor pass a human habitation. Capernaum,

Chorazin, Bethsaida, are gone. Here and there you stumble over ruins;

but none can tell you exactly what they were. They knew not, those

cities of the lake, the day of their visitation. Their names and their

memory have perished.

The number of sick people whom Jesus healed on this circuit must have

been immense; for he traversed a wide and populous region, and patients

were brought to him from great distances; and he healed them all. One

cannot but regret that we have no minute record of the events which

transpired and of the addresses which Jesus made on this missionary

excursion, which commenced, it is supposed, in June, and was closed

early in October.

The History of Christianity Consisting of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth; the Adventures of Paul and the Apostles; and the Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. · 第 1 / 24 章