THE LIVING GOD." Jesus replied that this had been revealed from
no human source, but by his Father in heaven, to the disciple whose
very name of Peter was the symbol of the stability and triumph of
his Church : " Upon this Rock " (not Peter, but CHRIST HIMSELF)
" will I build my Church ; and the gates of hell {Hades) " that is,
the powers of destruction "shall not prevail against it" (Matt.
xvi. 13-20 ; Mark viii. 27-30; Luke ix. 18-21 : comp. Acts iv. 11,
12; 1 Cor. iii. 11; Eph. ii. 20 ; 1 Peter ii. 5; Rev. xxi. H). To
the apostle who had confessed this truth Christ went on to grant
the first place in the work of building up the Church. The sense
in which he received " the keys of t lie kingdom of heaven" the of-
fice of opening its door was seen when, on the day of Pentecost,
Peter was the first to admit a multitude of the believing Jews, and
afterwards, in the house of Cornelius, a number of Gentile proselytes,
into the Christian Church. But he did both as the organ of the oth-
er apostles, for to them Christ afterwards gave the same privilege
that he now gave to Peter (sec Matt, xviii. 18; John xx. 23: AcU
ii. x.). And now, after commanding his disciples not yet to di-
vulge the truth they had confessed, he reveals to them the greater
mystery of his death and resurrection, and the necessity of his going
forward to its accomplishment " that he MUST go into Jerusalem,"
2tc. The rash zeal with which the very apostle, whose faith had
just earned such a blessing, dared to protest against the decrees of
Heaven, was sternly rebuked as a temptation of the devil, 1 and the

1 The passage must be explained by the well-known figure of speech call-
ed apoHtrophe. In the words of Peter our Lord recognized one of the very
temptations with which he wns assailed in the wilderness by Sntnn, and /or
him were really meant the words which seemed addressed to Peter " Get
thee behind me, Satau !"



270 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XXIV.

apostles were warned against the like temptations to deny their
Lord, in some of the most solemn and awful words that ever fell
from his lips (Matt. xvi. 21-28 ; Mark viii. 31-ix. 1 ; Luke ix.
S2-27).

Having thus received a foretaste of "the sufferings of Christ,"
the minds of the disciples were soon relieved by a glimpse of " the
glory that should follow." Just a week after the above discourse,
Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, the three disciples
who were also to be the witnesses of his agony at Gethsemane, to
behold a vision of his heavenly glory. The scene is traditionally
identified with Mount Tabor, but this can not have been the place.
All we can infer from the Gospel narrative is that it was a high
mountain near to Cassarea Philippi, perhaps one of the lower sum-
mits of Hermon. As he prayed, his face and raiment were trans-
figured to the same glorious majesty and brilliant whiteness in
which he appeared to John long afterwards at Patmos. With him
were seen in glory Moses and Elijah, the lawgiver and reformer of
the Old Covenant; and their converse with him concerning "his
decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem " showed to the
disciples the harmony of the Law and the Prophets with the Gos-
pel in regarding Christ's sufferings as the prelude to his glory; and
that that glory would be shared by his followers was intimated by
the glory in which Moses and Elijah themselves appeared. Nor
was there wanting a sensible proof of the presence of God the Fa-
ther; but instead of the "blackness, and darkness, and tempest."
amidst which God' had revealed himself both to Moses and Elijah
upon Mount Sinai, it was a bright cloud out of which a voice came,
saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear
ye him." The disciples, who had given way, while the Master was
praying, to a supernatural drowsiness, like that which overcame
them at Gethsemane, awoke just in time for Peter to express the
fond desire to remain amidst such bliss, when the voice was heard
from the cloud, the vision vanished, and they were left alone with
Jesus. As they came down from the mountain, he charged them
not to tell what they had seen till after his resurrection ; and he ex-
plained, in reply to their inquiries about the coming of Elijah before
the Messiah, that Elijah had already come in the person of John the
Baptist, and had been persecuted by those very scribes who had
taught men to expect him, and that so the Son of Man would also
suffer (Matt. xvii. 1-13; Mark ix. 2-13 ; Luke ix. 28-36).

Meanwhile the remaining apostles had attempted to heal a fright-
ful case of demoniacal possession ; and their failure had subjected
them to the scornful objections of the scribes, and the unbelief of
the people. After rebuking that unbelief, and bringing the father



A.D. 29, 30 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 271

of the sufferer, who had expressed it, to cry with tears, "Lord, I he.
lieve : help thou mine unbelief," Jesus cast out the furious demon ;
and then told his disciples, in private, the secret of their failure be-
cause of their unbelief, and the unbounded power of faith: "This
kind goeth not out but bv prayer and fasting" (Matt. xvii. 14-21 ;
Mark ix. 14-29 ; Luke ix. 37-43).

Jesus now returned with the Twelve; for the last time, to the shoress
nf the Lake of Galilee. At Capernaum he released Peter by a
miracle from his difficulty about the tribute-money, the " didrachm,"
which corresponds in value to the half-shekel, and seems therefore
to have been the poll-tax of that amount, which was paid for the
temple-service. The piece of money, a "stater," which Peter
found in the fish's mouth was equal to a shekel, and therefore the
precise amount of the tax for his Master and himself. The ex-
emption which Jesus claimed, though he waived it lest he should
offend the Jews, may be regarded as an assertion of his divinity.
(Matt. xvii. 24-28).

From the great lessons they had lately received, the apostles seem
as yet to have derived only a vague idea that their Master's king-
dom was at hand, and that they must not lose its advantages to
themselves. The contest which arose among them for precedence
pave an occasion for our Saviour's teaching, by the pattern of a lit-
tle child whom he set in the midst of them, the great lessons of hu-
mility, brotherly love, forgiveness and forbearance ; to which he
added that of reverent regard for children, just because they hold
out to us an example of the state of innocence from which we have
fallen, and which must be regained, by repentance and conversion,
before we can enter the kingdom of heaven. And thus the last
lesson which our Lord taught in Galilee re-echoes the first with
which he opened the Sermon on the Mount. Indeed, the whole
discourse, which is reported most fully by St. Matthew, forms a
most impressive climax to the teaching which was so begun.
Christ's own example, in coming to sack and save the lost, is held
forth as the great motive to compassionate love and mutual forgive-
ness. The power of binding and loosing is now extended to all the
apostles; his presence is promised in all their assemblies; and hie
Father's answer to all their prayers. Once more the solemn warn-
ing is repeated, concerning resistance to sin and decision between
the Master and the world ; and the note of future judgment, already
truck in the Sermon on the Mount, concludes the whole, but for
the gentle final words recorded by St. Mark : "Have peace one
with another " (Matt, xviii. ; Mark ix. 33-50 ; Luke ix. 46-50).
At this point the first two Evangelists again omit a visit to Jerusa-
lem, with other incidents of the highest importance, which arc re*



272 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XXIV.

corded by Luke and John. Our Lord's work in Galilee was done ;
it remained to give the Jews of Judaea one more opportunity for re-
pentance and faith.

The approaching Feast of Tabernacles invited him to Jerusalem ;
and his only half-believing brethren challenged him with the
rough candor of family advisers to leave the comparative secrecy
of Galilee and show his works openly to his disciples in Judaea.
Rebuking their impatience with the answer that " His time was
not yet come," he bade them go up to the feast without him. He
remained in Galilee for some days, and then went up " as it were
in secret" (John vii. 2-10). This secrecy seems to refer to his
travelling through Samaria, rather than by way of Peraea, perhaps
to disconcert a plot against his life. The choice of this route, also,
gave one more day of grace to the Samaritans ; but for the most
part in vain, as we see in the case of tho first villages,. to which
CliMst sent forward messengers, but the people would not receive
him, as he was on his way to Jerusalem. The sons of Zebedee,
who would have called down fire from heaven, as Elijah did, to
punish the insult, were checked by the rebuke: "Ye know not
what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 5x. 51-56). To
various persons who met him, offering to become his disciples, but
pleading some excuse for delay, he taught the necessity of leaving
all, to follow him (Luke ix. 57-62). During his progress through
Samaria, he sent forth Seventy Disciples, two and two, to go before
him, preaching the Gospel in every place that he designed to visit.
This differed in several points from the previous commission of the
apostles. The number of the Seventy, and the scene of their mis-
sion, Samaria, alike indicated that the time was at hand for preach-
ing the Gospel to the heathen ; whereas the number of the apostles
corresponded to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, to whom their commis-
sion also restricted them ; nor had the Seventy received the special
training of the Twelve. Some have also seen a significance in the
sending forth of the Twelve at the season of the Passover, the be-
ginning of the harvest, and of the Seventy at the time of the Feast
of Tabernacles, the end of all the labors of the year. In other re-
spects, their instructions were the same ; and they may be regard-
sd as, in spirit, those which should ever guide Christ's ministers
{Luke x. 1-16).

Meanwhile his movements and character were the great subject
of discussion at Jerusalem. While all were asking, " Where is
he?" some said, "He is a good man;" others, "Nay, but he de-
ceiveth the people." But all spoke privately, for fear of the rulers.
It was about the middle of the feast when he appeared, teaching iu



A.D. 29, 30. FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 273

the temple. To the expressions of wonder at the learning shown
by a Galilean peasant, he replied by declaring his doctrine to be not
his own, but His that sent him, promising, too, that whoever desired
to do God's will should be taught these truths. He denounced the
conspiracy against his life on the old charge of having broken the
Sabbath by the miracle performed on his previous visit to Jerusa-
lem. His boldness and impunity raised the question, whether the
rulers knew that he was indeed the Christ; but still the people
were perplexed by his humble and apparently well-known origin,
so opposed to the mystery with which they expected the Christ to
come : " We know whence this man is ; but, when Christ cometh,
no man knoweth whence he is." Jesus corrected the error, and his
miracles convinced many, who argued, "When Christ cometh, will
he do more miracles than these which this man hath done ?"
Alarmed at these signs, the Pharisees and priests hesitated to lay
bands on him, for fear of the people.

As they watched their opportunity, Jesus continued to discourse
in language more and more perplexing to his adversaries, till, on
the last and greatest day of the feast, when the ceremony was per-
formed of fetching water from the well of Siloam, and pouring it on
the nltar, while the priests sang the words, " With joy shall ye draw
water out of the wells of salvation," He proclaimed himself the giver
of the Water of Life, meaning thereby the Holy Spirit. Upon this
the controversy among the people grew warmer. Some said that
he was the expected prophet ; some that he was the Christ ;
while others, again, objected his Galilean origin, pleading that
Christ was to come of the seed of David, and from the town of
Bethlehem. His more vehement opponents wished to apprehend
him, but neither they nor the officers risked the attempt. Nay,
carried away themselves by the power of his teaching, the officers
returned to their employers with the words, " Never man spake
like this man." As the rulers began to vent curses on all his fol-
lowers, Nicodemus, the secret disciple, who was one of their number,
ventured to remind them that the law forbade the condemning of a
man unheard (Dent. xix. 16-19) ; but he only brought suspicion
and taunts upon himself for taking the part of a Galilean. This
sventful day was concluded by the dispersion of the people to their
homes, while Jesus retired to the Mount of Olives (John vii. 1-viii.
1). The remaining deeds of our Lord on this visit to Jerusalem
including probably the giving sight to the blind man on the Sab-
bath by the healing waters of Siloam with the discourses in which
he exposed the blindness of the Jews, and asserted his Messiahship
and divinity more plainly than ever together with his parable of
himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep

s



274 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XXIV.

all this is related by St.. John too fully to bear or need repetition.
The climax of angry unbelief was reached when, on his assertion,
''Before Abraham was, I AM" (comp. Exod. iii. 14), they took up
stones to cast at him ; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them" (John viii., ix., x. 1-21).

From these transactions at the Feast of Tabernacles, St. John
passes at once over a period of two months, of which more will be
said presently, to the Feast of the Dedication, in the winter (John
)x. 22 ; comp. p. 227) ; at which, as Jesus was walking in the portico
of the temple, named after Solomon (comp. Acts iii. 11 ; v. 12), he
was pressed by the Jews to relieve them from all doubt, and to tell
them plainly whether he was the Christ. He replied by reminding
them of what he had told them before, and of the works he had
done ; and, recurring to the parable concerning his sheep, he ac-
counts for their obstinate unbelief because they were none of his,
and reasserts more plainly than ever his equality with the Father.
Once more they took up stones, to stone him as a blasphemer ; but
he vindicated his claims from the Scriptures and from his works;
and when they tried to take him, he again escaped, and retired to
Bethabara beyond the Jordan, the place where John had baptized.
There he remained for some time, and many were led to believe in
him by comparing his miracles with John's predictions (John x.
22-42). From this place of retirement Jesus was summoned to
Bethany by the tidings of the illness of Lazarus ; and, after raising
him from the dead, our Lord again retired to " a country near the
wilderness, to a city called Ephraim," where he remained with his
disciples till the approach of his last Passover (John xi. 54, 55).
Six days before the Passover, he is again at Bethany ; and here
the narrative of St. John falls in again with the other three Gospels
(John xii. 1 ; comp. Matt. xxi. 1 ; Mark xi. 1; Luke xix. 29).

Now these brief notices by St. John cover a period of about six
months two from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Feast of Dedica-
tion, and four from the latter to the Passover concerning which
St. Matthew and St. Mai'k are almost silent ; but, on turning to St.
Luke, we find it necessary to place in this interval that large section
which contains some of the most striking parables and most impress-
ive discourses recorded in his Gospel (Luke x. 17-xviii. 4).

The two months between the Feast of Tabernacles and that of the
Dedication seem to have been spent partly in Jerusalem and partly
in its neighborhood, especially in that happy home at Bethany? the

a The position of Bethany is of the greatest importance for understanding
the sequel of our Lord's course. It was situated "at" the Mount of Olives
(Mark xi. 1 ; Luke xix. 29), about fifteen stadia (about two miles) from Jeru-
salem (John xi. IS), on or near the usual road from Jericho to the city (Luke



A.D. 29, 30. FEAST OF DEDICATION. 275

house of Lazarus, and his sisters Martha and Mary. Even here
tiere were differences of character ; but Christ knew how to use and
improve thorn. The zealous, active Martha, who seems to have been
the elder sister, was the first to receive Jesus into the house, where
her gentler sister Mary sat at his feet and heard his word. Busied
with the cares of hospitality, in which she desired to show such a
guest unusual honor, Martha appealed to Jesus to command her
sister's help. But he assured her that all her anxiety was super-
fluous, compared to the one thing, which alone is needful, and Mary
had chosen that {rood part, which would be hers forever, when all
cares about the body should have ceased (Luke x. 38-42 ; comp.
John xi. 1 ; xii. 1-3;" Matt. vi. 33; John xvii. 3; l j sa. Ixxiii. 24-26;
John iv. 14). Though Martha needed the lesson, as she afterwards
needed a rebuke to that impatience which often goes with zeal (John
xi. 24, foil.), we must not misunderstand the narrative, as if she were
altogether in the wrong. Her zeal was honored in its turn ; and
she had an equal share with her brother and sister in the Lord's
affection (John xi. 5, 20).

The highest proof of this affection was furnished by that which is
at the same time the greatest of our Saviour's miracles. Driven,
us we have seen, from Jerusalem by renewed plots against his life
at the Feast of the Dedication, he retired beyond the Jordan, to the
place where John first baptized, and remained there for some time,
receiving many new disciples. He seems to have been still at Beth-
abara, when he received tidings of what he knew to be the mortal ill-
ness of his beloved friend Lazarus. It would be folly to attempt to
relate, in other words, that most pathetic of all the records that hu-
man language has ever embodied. Our Lord gave the crowning
testimony of his own works to his supreme power over life and
death, by restoring life to a body upon which corruption had laid
its hold ; and he taught the full significance of the miracle by the
words: "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE: he that bc-
lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoso-
jver livcth and believeth in me shall never die" (John xi. 1-44).

The miracle was witnessed by many of the Jews, who had come
>ut of Jerusalem to Bethany (the distance being only two miles) to
:onsole the bereaved sisters. Even the deep distress of Jesus ai
his friend's death had given some of them occasion to utter their
unbelieving cavils ; and, while some were convinced by the miracle,
others went away to give information to the Pharisees. A council
was at once summoned ; and the discordant religious views of the
different sects were overcome by the common alarm, lest Christ's suc-

xix. 29, comp. 1 ; Mark xi. 1, comp. x. 46), and close by another vjiioje called
Uethpaasre. the two being several times mentioned together.



276 SCRIPTURE HiSTORY. CHAP. XXIV.

cess should provoke the jealousy of Rome, and bring down destruc-
tion on the nation. Caiaphas, the high-priest, the leader of the
rulers, took up the argument of political expediency, and proposed
that one man should be given up to death as a substitute for the
whole people. These words expressed a meaning far deeper than
he himself understood ; and his suggestion of a sacrifice to save the
oeople from the anger of Caesar was in fact a prophecy, which the
Holy Spirit uttered through him as the head of the nation, of the
atonement which the death of Christ should make for the sins of all
the world and the common salvation of all God's people (John xi.
47-52). From that hour the death of Jesus was resolved on ; and
the only hindrance to its accomplishment was God's purpose that
the sacrifice should be offered at the Passover. To this end Jesus
retired to Ephraim in the wilderness, and remained there with his
disciples. 3 Thence he seems to have withdrawn beyond the Jor-
dan, perhaps to place himself within Herod's jurisdiction ; for he was
clearly in Persea when he commenced that final movement towards
Jerusalem, which forms the turning-point in the narrative of St.
Luke (Luke xiii. 22 ; Matt. xix. 1, 2).

As he proceeded leisurely through Peram towards Jerusalem,
teaching in the villages on the way, he was warned of Herod's de-
signs on his life. The information was given by the Pharisees,
evidently with the view of hastening our Lord's return within their
own reach " Get thee out, and depart hence : for Herod will kill
thee" and his answer involved a keen rebuke of their treacherous
affectation of regard for his safety. He bids them go themselves
to tell Herod that his time was indeed at hand, but that his course
was not to be shortened by the wiles of " that fox." His death was
to be accomplished by the open violence of his own countrymen at
Jerusalem, where all the former prophets had been slain, "for it
can not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem!" And then,
apostrophizing the city, to which his face was now turned, he ut-
tered that exquisitely pathetic lamentation, which he afterwards re-
peated in sight of its walls (Luke xiii. 31-35 ; comp. Matt, xxiii.
37-39). His ministry had led him thither at least four times, and
this visit was to be his last, the last of any prophet ; and thence-
forth the place which God had chosen for His house would be left
desolate, and they should see him no more till the day when, in a
sense yet to be accomplished, they should say, "Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord " (comp. Psa. cxviii. 20).

To this progress through Persea should probably be referred those

8 John xi. 53, 54. By the "wilderness" is probably meant the wild un-
cultivated hill-country north-east of Jerusalem, lying between the central
towns and the Jordan valley.



A.D. 29, 30. LAST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. 277

most impressive parables and lessons which occupy the 14th, 15th,
16th. 17th, and 18th chapters of St. Luke, the last few of which
bring this Gospel again into connection with those of Matthew and
Mark. As bearing upon the course of our Saviour's history, we
must especially notice the warning which he gives his disciples
now for the third time, and in greater detail than before, of his
passion, death, and resurrection (Matt. xx. 17-19 ; Mark x. 32-34 ;
Luke xviii. 31-34) ; and his answer to the ambitious request of the
sons of Zebedee, which taught that they must suffer with him be-
fore they reigned with him (Matt. xx. 20-28 ; Mark x. 35-45).

He now crossed the Jordan, and advanced towards Jerusalem by
the high-road through Jericho. That city was the scene of the
healing of two blind men, who saluted Jesus as the son of David, 4
and of the conversion of the publican Zacchaeus (Luke .xix. 2-28).
At length, while the Jews, who had already assembled at Jerusalem
to purify themselves before the Passover, were wondering whether
he would come, and. the chief priests and Pharisees had commanded
his first appearance to be denounced to them, that he might be ap-
prehended, he arrived at Bethany six days before the Passover, that
is, on Friday the 8th of Nisan, the eve of the Sabbath (John xii.
1). The Sabbath was spent at Bethany ; and to the evening suc-
ceeding it we should probably refer (though the matter has been
much disputed) the supper in the house of Simon the leper, at
which Martha served, while Lazarus sat at table, and at which Mary
anointed Christ, in preparation for his burial (John xii. 2-8 ; Matt.
xxvi. 1-16 ; Mark xiv. 1-11).

His presence there was soon known at Jerusalem, and many of
the Jews went out with the double motive of seeing Jesus, and
Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. The living proof of
the miracle converted into believers many who had gone from curi-
osity. At this the Pharisees were doubly enraged ; and perhaps
history records no example of infatuation equal to their resolve to
put Lazarus as well as Jesus to death (John xii. 9-11). This Sab-
bath was the 9th of Nisan, which in that year (A.D. 30) corresponded
to March 31st of the Julian Cnlendar. The intervention of the
Sabbath delayed the execution of the design till the following week
when Jesus at length "offered himself" publicly in the spirit of tho
prophecy : "Lo ! I come to do thy will, O God" (Psa. xl. 6 ; Heb.