READING HALLTHE DOORS OF WISDOM |
5. Second Year of the
Public Life of Jesus.
The second year of the public life of Christ opened, as the first, with
his attendance at the Passover. He appeared again amidst the assembled
population of the whole race of Israel, in the place where, by common consent,
the real Messiah was to assume his office, and to claim the allegiance of the favoured chosen people of God. It is clear that a considerable
change had taken place in the popular sentiment, on the whole, at least with
the ruling party, unfavourable to Jesus of Nazareth.
The inquisitive wonder, not unmingled with respect, which on the former
occasion seemed to have watched his words and actions, had turned to an unquiet
and jealous vigilance, and a manifest anxiety on the part of his opponents to
catch some opportunity of weakening his influence over the people. The
misapprehended speech concerning the demolition and restoration of the Temple
probably rankled in the recollection of many; and rumours no doubt, and those most likely inaccurate and misrepresented, must have
reached Jerusalem, of the mysterious language in which he had spoken of his
relation to Jehovah, the Supreme Being. The mere fact that Galilee had been
chosen, rather than Jerusalem or Judaea, for his assumption of whatever
distinguished character he was about to support, would work, with no doubtful
or disguised animosity, among the proud and jealous inhabitants of the metropolis.
Nor was his conduct, however still cautious, without further inevitable
collision with some of the most inveterate prejudices of his countrymen. The first
year the only public demonstration of his superiority had been the expulsion of
the buyers and sellers from the Temple, and his ambiguous and misinterpreted
speech about that sacred edifice. His conversation with Nicodemus had probably
not transpired, or at least not gained general publicity; for the same motives
which would lead the cautious Pharisee to conceal his visit under the veil of
night, would induce him to keep within his own bosom the important and
startling truths, which perhaps he himself did not yet clearly comprehend, but
which at all events were so opposite to the principles of his sect, and so
humiliating to the pride of the ruling and learned oligarchy.
During his second
visit, however, at the same solemn period of national assemblage, Jesus gave a
new cause of astonishment to his followers, of offence to his adversaries, by
an act which could not but excite the highest wonder and the strongest
animadversion. This was no less than an assumption of authority to dispense
with the observance of the Sabbath. Of all their institutes, which, after
having infringed or neglected for centuries of cold and faithless service, the
Jews, on the return from the Captivity, embraced with passionate and fanatical
attachment, none had become so completely identified with the popular feeling,
or had been guarded by such minute and multifarious provisions, as the Sabbath.
In the early days of the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus, the insurgents,
having been surprised on a Sabbath, submitted to be tamely butchered, rather
than violate the sanctity of the day, even by defensive warfare. And though the
manifest impossibility of recovering or maintaining their liberties against the
inroads of hostile nations had led to a relaxation of the Law as far as self-defence, yet during the siege of Jerusalem by Pompey,
the wondering Romans discovered, that although on the seventh day the garrison
would repel an assault, yet they would do nothing to prevent or molest the
enemy in carrying on his operations in the trenches. Tradition, “the hedge of
the Law,” as it was called, had fenced this institution with more than usual
care : it had noted with jealous rigour almost every
act of bodily exertion within the capacity of man, arranged them under
thirty-nine heads, which were each considered to comprehend a multitude of
subordinate cases, and against each and every one of these had solemnly affixed
the seal of Divine condemnation. A Sabbath day’s journey was a distance
limited to 2,000 cubits, or rather less than a mile; and the carrying any
burthen was especially denounced as among the most flagrant violations of the
Law. This Sabbatic observance was the stronghold of
Pharisaic rigour; and enslaved as the whole nation
was in voluntary bondage to these minute regulations, in no point were they less inclined to struggle with the yoke, or wore
it with greater willingness and pride.
There was a pool,
situated most likely to the north of the Temple, near the Sheep-gate, the same
probably through which the animals intended for sacrifice were usually brought
into the city. The place was called Bethesda (the House of Mercy), and the pool
was supposed to possess remarkable properties for healing diseases. At certain
periods there was a strong commotion in the waters, which probably bubbled up
from some chemical cause connected with their medicinal effects. Popular
belief, or rather perhaps popular language, attributed this agitation of the
surface to the descent of an angel ; for of course the regular descent of a
celestial being, visible to the whole city, cannot for an instant be supposed.
Around the pool were usually assembled a number of diseased persons, blind or
paralytic, who awaited the right moment for plunging into the water, under the
shelter of five porticoes, which had been built either by private charity, or
at the public cost, for the general convenience. Among these lay one who had
been notoriously afflicted for thirty-eight years by some disorder which
deprived him of the use of his limbs. It was in vain that he had watched an
opportunity of relief; for as the sick person who first plunged into the water,
when it became agitated, seems to have exhausted its virtues, this helpless
and friendless sufferer was constantly thrust aside, or supplanted by some more
active rival for the salutary effects of the spring. Jesus saw and had
compassion on the afflicted man, commanded him to rise, and, that he might show
the perfect restoration of his strength, to take up the pallet on which he had
lain, and to bear it away. The carrying any burthen, as has been said, was
specifically named as one of the most heinous offences against the Law; and the
strange sight of a man thus openly violating the statute in so public a place,
could not but excite the utmost attention. The man was summoned, it would seem,
before the appointed authorities, and questioned about his offence against
public decency and the established law. His defence was plain and simple; he acted according to the command of the wonderful person
who had restored his limbs with a word, but who that person was he had no
knowledge; for, immediately after the miraculous cure, Jesus, in conformity
with his usual practice of avoiding whatever might lead to popular tumult, had
quietly withdrawn from the wondering crowd. Subsequently, however, meeting
Jesus in the Temple, he recognised his benefactor,
and it became generally known that Jesus was the author both of the cure and of
the violation of the Sabbath Jesus in his turn was called to account for his
conduct.
The transaction
bears the appearance, if not of a formal arraignment before the high court of
the Sanhedrin, at least of a solemn and regular judicial inquiry. Yet, as no
verdict seems to have been given, notwithstanding the importance evidently
attached to the affair, it may be supposed either that the full authority of
the Sanhedrin was wanting, or that they dared not, on such insufficient
evidence, condemn with severity one about whom the popular mind was at least
divided. The defence of Jesus, though apparently not
given at full length by the Evangelist, was of a nature to startle and perplex
the tribunal: it was full of mysterious intimations, and couched in language
about which it is difficult to decide how far it was familiar to the ears of
the more learned. It appeared at once to strike at the literal interpretation
of the Mosaic commandment, and at the same time to draw a parallel between the
actions of Jesus and those of God. On the Sabbath the beneficent
works of the Almighty Father are continued as on any other day; there is no
period of rest to Him whose active power is continually employed in upholding, animating,
maintaining in its uniform and uninterrupted course the universe which He has
created. The free course of God’s blessing knows no pause, no suspension. It is
clear that the healing waters of Bethesda occasionally showed their salutary
virtues on the Sabbath, and might thus be an acknowledged instance of the
unremitting benevolence of the Almighty. In the same manner the benevolence of
Jesus disdained to be confined by any distinction of days; it was to flow forth
as constant and unimpeded as the Divine bounty. The indignant court heard with
astonishment this aggravation of the offence. Not only had Jesus assumed the
power of dispensing with the Law, but, with what appeared to them profane and
impious boldness, he had instituted a comparison between himself and the great
Ineffable Deity. With one consent they determine to press with greater
vehemence the capital charge. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill
him, because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but said that God was his
father, making himself equal with God.
The second defence of Jesus was at once more full and explicit, and
more alarming to the awestruck assembly. It amounted to an open assumption of
the title and offices of the Messiah—the Messiah in the person of the
commanding and fearless, yet still, as they supposed, humble Galilean, who
stood before their tribunal. It commenced by expanding and confirming that
parallel, which had already sunk so deep into their resentful minds. The Son
was upon earth, as it were, a representative of the power and mercy of the
invisible Father—of that great Being who had never been comprehensible to the
senses of man. For what things soever he (the Father) doeth, those also
doeth the Son likewise. The Saviour proceeded to
declare his divine mission and his claim to divine honour,
his investment with power, not only over diseases, but over death itself. From
thence he passed to the acknowledged offices of the Messiah, the resurrection,
the final judgement, the apportionment of everlasting life. All these recognised functions of the Messiah were assigned by the
Father to the Son, and that Son appeared in his person. In confirmation of
these as yet unheard-of pretensions, Jesus declared that his right to honour and reverence rested not on his own assertion alone.
He appealed to the testimony which had been publicly borne to his character by
John the Baptist. The prophetic authority of John had been, if not universally,
at least generally recognised; it had so completely
sunk into the popular belief, that, as appears in a subsequent incident, the
multitude would have resented any suspicion thrown even by their acknowledged
superiors on one thus established in their respect and veneration, and perhaps
further endeared by the persecution which he was now suffering under the
unpopular tetrarch of Galilee. He appealed to a more decisive testimony, the
public miracles which he had wrought, concerning which the rulers seem
scarcely yet to have determined on their course, whether to doubt, to deny, or
to ascribe them to daemoniacal agency. Finally he
appealed to the last unanswerable authority, the Sacred Writings, which they
held in such devout reverence; and distinctly asserted that his coming had been
prefigured by their great lawgiver, from the spirit at least, if not from the
express letter of whose sacred laws they were departing, in rejecting his
claims to the title and honours of the Messiah. Had
ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me.
There is an air of
conscious superiority in the whole of this address, which occasionally rises to
the vehemence of reproof, to solemn expostulation, to authoritative
admonition, of which it is difficult to estimate the impression upon a court
accustomed to issue their judgements to a trembling and humiliated auditory.
But of their subsequent proceedings we have no information,—whether the
Sanhedrin hesitated or feared to proceed; whether they were divided in their
opinions, or could not reckon upon the support of the people; whether they
doubted their own competency to take so strong a measure without the concurrence
or sanction of the Roman governor—at all events, no attempt was made to secure
the person of Jesus. He appears, with his usual caution, to have retired
towards the safer province of Galilee, where the Jewish senate possessed no
authority, and where Herod, much less under the Pharisaic influence, would not
think it necessary to support the injured dignity of the Sanhedrin in
Jerusalem; nor, whatever his political apprehensions, would he entertain the
same sensitive terrors of a reformer who confined his views to the religious
improvement of mankind.
But from this time
commences the declared hostility of the Pharisaic party against Jesus. Every
opportunity is seized of detecting him in some further violation of the
religious statutes. We now perpetually find the Pharisees watching his footsteps,
and, especially on the Sabbath, laying hold of every pretext to inflame the
popular mind against his neglect or open defiance of their observances. Nor was
their jealous vigilance disappointed. Jesus calmly pursued on the Sabbath, as
on every other day, his course of benevolence. A second and a third time,
immediately after his public arraignment, that, which they considered the inexpiable
offence, was renewed, and justified in terms which were still more repugnant to
their inveterate prejudices.
The Passover was
scarcely ended, and with his disciples he was probably travelling homewards,
when the first of these incidents occurred. On the first Sabbath after the
second day of unleavened bread, the disciples passing through a field of com,
and being hungry, plucked some of the ears of com, and rubbing them in their
hands, ate the grain. This, according to Jewish usage, was no violation of the
laws of property, as, after the wave-offering had been made in the Temple, the
harvest was considered to be ripe: and the humane regulation of the Lawgiver
permitted the stranger, who was passing through a remote district, thus to
satisfy his immediate wants. But it was the Sabbath, and the act directly
offended against another of the multifarious provisions of Pharisaic tradition.
The vindication of his followers by their Master took still higher ground. He
not merely adduced the example of David, who in extreme want had not scrupled,
in open violation of the Law, to take the shewbread, which was prohibited to
all but the priestly order (he thus placed his humble disciples on a level with
the great king, whose memory was cherished with the most devout reverence and
pride), but he distinctly asserted his own power of dispensing with that which
was considered the eternal, the irreversible commandment,—he declared himself
Lord of the Sabbath.
Rumours of this dangerous
innovation accompanied the Saviour into Galilee.
Whether some of the more zealous Pharisees had followed him during his journey,
or had accidentally returned at the same time from the Passover, or whether, by
means of that intimate and rapid correspondence likely to be maintained among
the members of an ambitious and spreading sect, they had already communicated
their apprehensions of danger and their animosity against Jesus, they already
seem to have arrayed against him in all parts the vigilance and enmity of their
brethren. It was in the public synagogue in some town which he entered on his
return to Galilee, in the face of the whole assembly, that a man with a
withered hand recovered the strength of his limb at the command of Jesus on the
Sabbath day. And the multitude, instead of being inflamed by the zeal of the
Pharisees, appear at least to have been unmoved by their angry remonstrances.
They heard without disapprobation, if they did not openly testify their
admiration, both of the power and goodness of Jesus; and listened to the simple
argument with which he silenced his adversaries, by appealing to their own
practice in extricating their own property, or delivering their own cattle from
jeopardy, on the sacred day.
The discomfited
Pharisees endeavoured to enlist in their party the followers,
perhaps the magistracy of Herod, and to organise a
formidable opposition to the growing influence of Jesus. So successful was
their hostility, that Jesus seems to have thought it prudent to withdraw for a
short time from the collision. He passed towards the lake, over which he could
at any time cross into the district which was beyond the authority both of
Herod and of the Jewish Sanhedrin. A bark attended upon him, which would
transport him to any quarter he might desire, and on board of which he seems to
have avoided the multitudes, which constantly thronged around, or seated on
the deck addressed, with greater convenience, the crowding hearers who lined the
shores. Yet concealment, or perhaps less frequent publicity, seems now to have
been his object; for when some of those insane persons, the daemoniacs as they were called, openly address him by the
title of Son of God, Jesus enjoins their silence, as though he were
yet unwilling openly to assume this title, which was fully equivalent to that of
the Messiah; and which, no doubt, was already ascribed to him by the bolder
and less prudent of his followers. The same injunctions of secrecy were addressed
to others, who at this time were relieved or cured by the beneficent power; so
that one Evangelist considers that the cautious and unresisting demeanour of Jesus, thus avoiding all unnecessary offence
or irritation, exemplified that characteristic of the Messiah, so beautifully
described by Isaiah, “He shall neither strive nor cry, neither shall any man
hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking
flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.”
This persecution,
however, continues but a short time, and Jesus appears again openly in
Capernaum and its neighbourhood. After a night passed
in solitary retirement, he takes the decided step of organising his followers, selecting and solemnly inaugurating a certain number of his more
immediate disciples, who were to receive an authoritative commission to disseminate
trines. Hitherto he had stood, as it were, alone; though doubtless some of his
followers had attended upon him with greater zeal and assiduity than others,
yet he could scarcely be considered as the head of a regular and disciplined
community. The twelve Apostles, whether or not selected with that view, could
not but call to mind the number of the tribes of Israel. Of the earlier lives
of these humble men little can be gathered beyond the usual avocations of some
among them; and even tradition, for once, preserves a modest and almost total
silence. They were of the lower, though perhaps not quite the lowest, class of
Galilean peasants. What previous education they had received we can scarcely
conjecture; though almost all the Jews appear to have received some kind of
instruction in the history, the religion, and the traditions of the nation.
First among the twelve appears Simon, to whom Jesus, in allusion to the
firmness of character which he was hereafter to exhibit, gave a name, or
rather, perhaps, interpreted a name by which he was already known, Cephas, the Rock; and declared that his new religious community was to rest on a
foundation as solid as that name seemed to signify. Andrew his brother is
usually associated with Peter. James and John received the
remarkable name of Boanerges, the Sons of Thunder, of which it is not easy to
trace the exact force; for those who bore it do not appear remarkable among
their brethren, either for energy or vehemence. The peculiar gentleness of the
latter, both in character and in the style of his writings, would lead us to
doubt the correctness of the interpretation generally assigned to the
appellation. The two former were natives of one town, Bethsaida, the latter,
either of Bethsaida or Capernaum, and all obtained their livelihood as
fishermen on the Lake of Gennesaret, the waters of which were extraordinarily
prolific in fish of many kinds. Matthew or Levi, as it has been said, was a
publican. Philip was likewise of Bethsaida. Bartholomew, the son of Tolmai or Ptolemy, is generally considered to have been the
same with Nathanael, and was distinguished, before his knowledge of Jesus, by
the blamelessness of his character, and, from the respect in which he was held,
may be supposed to have been of higher reputation as of a better instructed
class. Thomas or Didymus (for the Syriac and Greek words have the same
signification, a twin) is remarkable in the subsequent history for his coolness
and reflecting temper of mind. Lebbeus, or Thaddeus,
or Judas the brother of James, are doubtless different names of the same
person. Judas in Syriac is Thaddai. Whether Lebbaios is derived from the town of Lebba,
on the sea coast of Galilee, or from a word denoting the heart, and therefore
almost synonymous with Thaddai, which is interpreted
the breast, is extremely doubtful. James was the son of Cleophas or Alpheus;
concerning him and his relationship to Jesus there has been much dispute. His
father Cleophas was married to another Mary, sister of Mary the mother of Jesus,
to whom he would therefore be cousin-german. But whether he is the same with
the James who in other places is named the brother of the Lord (the term of
brother by Jewish usage, according to one opinion, comprehending these closer
ties of kindred); and whether either of these two, or which, was the James who
presided over the Christian community in Jerusalem, and whose cruel death is
described by Josephus, must remain among those questions on which we can
scarcely expect further information, and cannot therefore decide with
certainty. Simon the Canaanite was so called, not, as has been supposed, from
the town of Cana, still less from his Canaanitish descent,
but from a Hebrew word meaning a zealot, to which fanatical and dangerous body
this apostle had probably belonged, before he joined the more peaceful
disciples of Jesus. The last was Judas
Iscariot, perhaps so named from a small village named Iscara,
or more probably Carioth, situated in the tribe of
Judah.
It was after the
regular inauguration of the twelve in their apostolic office, that, according
to St. Luke, the Sermon on the Mount was delivered, or some second outline of
Christian morals repeated in nearly similar terms. Immediately after, as Jesus
returned to Capernaum, a cure was wrought, both from its circumstances and its
probable influence on the situation of Jesus, highly worthy of remark. It was
in favour of a centurion, a military officer of
Galilean descent, probably in the service of Herod, and a proselyte to Judaism,
for he could scarcely have built a synagogue for Jewish worship, unless a
convert to the religion. This man was held in such high estimation that the
Jewish elders of the city, likewise it might seem not unfavourably disposed towards Jesus, interceded in his behalf. The man himself appears to
have held the new teacher in such profound reverence, that in his humility he
did not think his house worthy of so illustrious a guest, and expressed his
confidence that a word from him would be as effective, even uttered at a
distance, as the orders that he was accustomed to issue to his soldiery. Jesus
not only complied with his request by restoring his servant to health, but took
the opportunity of declaring that many Gentiles, from the most remote quarters,
would be admitted within the pale of the new religion, to the exclusion of many
who had no title but their descent from Abraham. Still there was nothing, so
far as in the earlier part of this declaration, directly contrary to the
established opinions; for at least the more liberal Jews were not unwilling to
entertain the splendid ambition of becoming the religious instructors of the
world, provided the world did homage to the excellence and divine institution
of the Law; and at all times the Gentiles, by becoming Jews, either as
proselytes of the gate, if not proselytes by circumcision, might share in most,
if not in all, the privileges of the chosen people. This incident was likewise
of importance as still further strengthening the interest of Jesus with the
ruling authorities and with another powerful officer in the town of Capernaum.
A more extraordinary transaction followed. As yet Jesus had claimed authority
over the most distressing and obstinate maladies; he now appeared invested
with power over death itself. As he entered the town of Nain, between twenty
and thirty miles from Capernaum, he met a funeral procession, accompanied with
circumstances of extreme distress. It was a youth, the only son of a widow,
who was borne out to burial; so great was the calamity that it had excited the
general interest of the inhabitants. Jesus raises the youth from his bier, and
restores him to the destitute mother.
The fame of this
unprecedented miracle was propagated with the utmost rapidity through the
country; and still vague, yet deepening rumours that
a prophet had appeared; that the great event which held the whole nation in
suspense was on the instant of fulfilment, spread throughout the whole
province. It even reached the remote fortress of Machaerus,
in which John was still closely guarded, though it seems the free access of his
followers was not prohibited. John commissioned two of his disciples to inquire
into the truth of these wonderful reports, and to demand of Jesus himself,
whether he was the expected Messiah. But what was the design of John in this
message to Jesus? The question is not without difficulty. Was it for the
satisfaction of his own doubts, or those of his followers? Was it
that, in apprehension of his approaching death, he would consign his disciples
to the care of a still greater instructor? Was it that he might attach them
before his death to Jesus, and familiarise them with
conduct, in some respects, so opposite to his own Essenian,
if not Pharisaic, habits? He might foresee the advantage that would be taken
by the more ascetic to alienate his followers from Jesus, as a teacher who fell
far below the austerity of their own; and who, accessible to all, held in no
respect those minute observances which the usage of the stricter Jews, and the
example of their master, had arrayed in indispensable sanctity. Or was it that
John himself, having languished for nearly a year in his remote prison, began
to be impatient for the commencement of that splendid epoch, of which the
whole nation, even the Apostles of Jesus, both before and after the
resurrection, had by no means abandoned their glorious, worldly, and Jewish
notions? Was John, like the rest of the people, not yet exalted above those
hopes which were inseparable from the national mind ? If he is the King, why
does he hesitate to assume his kingdom? If the Deliverer, why so tardy to
commence the deliverance? “If thou art indeed the Messiah (such may
appear to have been the purport of the Baptist’s message), proclaim thyself at
once; assume thy state; array thyself in majesty; discomfit the enemies of
holiness and of God! My prison doors will at once burst open; my trembling
persecutors will cease from their oppressions. Herod himself will yield up his
usurped authority; and even the power of Rome will cease to afflict the
redeemed people of the Almighty!” What, on the other hand, is the answer of
Jesus? It harmonises in a remarkable manner with this
latter view. It declares at once, and to the disappointment of these temporal
hopes, the purely moral and religious nature of the dominion to be established
by the Messiah. He was found displaying manifest signs of more than human
power, and to these peaceful signs he appeals as the conclusive evidence of the commencement of the Messiah’s kingdom, the relief of
diseases, the assuagement of sorrows, the restoration of their lost or decayed
senses to the deaf or blind, the equal admission of the lowest orders to the
same religious privileges with those more especially favoured by God. The remarkable words are added, “Blessed is he that shall not be
offended in me he that shall not consider irreconcileable with the splendid promises of the Messiah’s kingdom, my lowly condition, my calm
and unassuming course of mercy and love to mankind, my total disregard of
worldly honours, my refusal to place myself at the
head of the people as a temporal ruler. Violent men, more especially during the
disturbed and excited period since the appearance of John the Baptist, would urge
on a kingdom of violence. How truly the character of the times is thus
described, is apparent from the single fact, that shortly afterwards the people
would have seized Jesus himself and forced him to assume the royal title, if he
had not withdrawn himself from his dangerous adherents. This last expression,
however, occurs in the subsequent discourse of Jesus, after his disciples had
departed, when in those striking images he spoke of the former concourse of the
people to the Baptist, and justified it by the assertion of his prophetic
character. It was no idle object which led them into the wilderness, to see, as
it were, “a reed shaken by the wind”; nor to behold any rich or luxurious
object—for such they would have gone to the courts of their sovereigns. Still
he declares the meanest of his own, disciples to have attained some moral superiority,
some knowledge, probably, of the real nature of the new religion, and of the
character and designs of the Messiah, which had never been possessed by John.
With his usual rapidity of transition, Jesus passes at once to his moral
instruction, and vividly shows, that whether severe or gentle, whether more
ascetic or more popular, the teachers of a holier faith had been equally
unacceptable. The general multitude of the Jews had rejected both the austerer Baptist, and himself though of so much more benign
and engaging demeanour. The whole discourse ends with
the significant words, “ My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Nothing, indeed,
could offer a more striking contrast to the secluded and eremitical life of John,
than the easy and accessible manner with which Jesus mingled among all classes,
even his bitterest opponents, the Pharisees. He accepts the invitation of one
of these, and enters into his house to partake of refreshment. Here a woman of dissolute
life found her way into the chamber where the feast was held; she sat at his
feet, anointing him, according to Eastern usage, with a costly unguent, which
was contained in a box of alabaster; she wept bitterly, and with her long
locks wiped away the falling tears. The Pharisees, who shrunk not only from the
contact, but even from the approach, of all whom they considered physically or
morally unclean, could only attribute the conduct of Jesus to his ignorance of
her real character. The reply of Jesus intimates that his religion was intended
to reform and purify the worst, and that some of his most sincere and ardent
believers might proceed from those very outcasts of society from whom Pharisaic rigour shrunk with abhorrence.
After this Jesus
appears to have made another circuit through the towns and villages of Galilee.
On his return to Capernaum, instigated, perhaps, by his adversaries, some of
his relatives appear to have believed, or pretended to believe, that he was
out of his senses; and, therefore, attempted to secure his person. This scheme
failing, the Pharisaic party, who had been deputed, it would seem, from
Jerusalem to watch his conduct, endeavour to avail
themselves of that great principle of Jewish superstition, the belief in the
power of evil spirits, to invalidate his growing authority. On the occasion of
the cure of one of those lunatics, usually called daemoniacs,
who was both dumb and blind, they accused him of unlawful dealings with the spirits
of evil. It was by a magic influence obtained by a secret contract with
Beelzebub, the chief of the powers of darkness, or by secretly invoking his
all-powerful name, that he reduced the subordinate daemons to obedience. The
answer of Jesus struck them with confusion. Evil spirits, according to their
own creed, took delight in the miseries and crimes of men; his acts were those
of the purest benevolence: how gross the inconsistency to suppose that
malignant spirits would thus lend themselves to the cause of human happiness
and virtue! Another more personal argument still farther confounded his
adversaries. The Pharisees were professed exorcists if, then, exorcism, or the
ejection of these evil spirits, necessarily implied unlawful dealings with the world
of darkness, they were as open to the charge as he whom they accused. They had,
therefore, the alternative of renouncing their own pretensions, or of admitting
that those of Jesus were to be judged on other principles. It was, then,
blasphemy against the Spirit of God to ascribe acts which bore the manifest
impress of the divine goodness in their essentially beneficent character, to
any other source but the Father of Mercies; it was an offence which argued such
total obtuseness of moral perception, such utter incapacity of feeling or
comprehending the beauty either of the conduct or the doctrines of Jesus, as to
leave no hope that they would ever be reclaimed from their rancorous hostility
to his religion, or be qualified for admission into the pale and to the
benefits of the new faith.
The discomfited Pharisees now demand a more public and undeniable sign
of his Messiahship, which alone could justify the lofty tone assumed by Jesus.
A second time Jesus obscurely alludes to the one great future sign of the new
faith —his resurrection; and, refusing further to gratify their curiosity, he
reverts, in language of more than usual energy, to the incapacity of the age
and nation to discern the real and intrinsic superiority of his religion.
The followers of Jesus had now been organised into a regular sect or party. Another incident distinctly showed that he no
longer stood alone; even the social duties, which up to this time he had, no
doubt, discharged with the utmost affection, were to give place to the sublimer objects of his mission. While he sat encircled by
the multitude of his disciples, tidings were brought that his mother and his
brethren desired to approach him. But Jesus refused to break off his
occupation; he declared himself connected by a closer tie even than that of
blood, with the great spiritual family of which he was to be the parent, and
with which he was to stand in the most intimate relation. He was the chief of a
fraternity not connected by common descent or consanguinity, but by a purely moral
and religious bond; not by any national or local union, but bound together by
the one strong but indivisible link of their common faith. On the increase,
the future prospects, the final destiny of this community, his discourses now
dwell, with frequent if obscure allusions. His language more constantly
assumes the form of parable. Nor was this merely in compliance with the genius
of an Eastern people, in order to convey his instruction in a form more attractive,
and therefore both more immediately and more permanently impressive; or by awakening
the imagination, to stamp his doctrines more deeply on the memory, and to
incorporate them with the feelings. These short and lively apologues were
admirably adapted to suggest the first rudiments of truths which it was not
expedient openly to announce. Though some of the parables have a purely moral
purport, the greater part delivered at this period bear a more or less covert
relation to the character and growth of the new religion; a subject which, avowed
without disguise, would have revolted the popular mind, and clashed too
directly with the inveterate nationality. Yet these splendid, though obscure,
anticipations singularly contrast with occasional allusions to his own
personal destitution : “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.” For with the growth and organisation
of his followers he seems fully aware that his dangers increase; he now
frequently changes his place, passes from one side of the lake to the other,
and even endeavours to throw a temporary concealment
over some of his most extraordinary miracles. During an expedition across the
lake, he is in danger from one of those sudden and violent tempests which often
disturb inland seas, particularly in mountainous districts. He rebukes the
storm, and it ceases. On the other side of the lake, in the district of Gadara,
occurs the remarkable scene of the daemoniacs among
the tombs, and the herd of swine; the only act in the whole life of Jesus in
the least repugnant to the uniform gentleness of his disposition, which would
shrink from the unnecessary destruction even of the meanest and most loathsome
animals On his return from this expedition to Capernaum took place the healing
of the woman with the issue of blood, and the raising of Jairus’s daughter.
Concerning the latter, as likewise concerning the relief of two blind men, he
gives the strongest injunctions of secrecy, which, nevertheless, the active
zeal of his partisans seems by no means to have regarded.
But a more decisive step was now taken than the organisation of the new religious community. The twelve Apostles were sent out to
disseminate the doctrines of Jesus throughout the whole of Galilee. They were
invested with the power of healing diseases; with cautious deference to Jewish
feeling, they were forbidden to proceed beyond the borders of the Holy Land,
either among the Gentiles or the heretical Samaritans; they were to depend on
the hospitality of those whom they might address for their subsistence; and he distinctly
anticipates the enmity which they would perpetually encounter, and the
dissension which would be caused, even in the bosom of families, by the
appearance of men thus acting on a commission unprecedented and unrecognised by the religious authorities of the nation,
yet whose doctrines were of such intrinsic beauty, and so full of exciting
promise.
It was most likely this open proclamation, as it were, of the rise of a
new and organised community, and the greater
publicity which this simultaneous appearance of two of its delegates in the
different towns of Galilee could not but give to the growing influence of
Jesus, that first attracted the notice of the government. Up to this period
Jesus, as a remarkable man, must have been well known by general report; by
this measure he stood in a very different character, as the chief of a numerous
fraternity. There were other reasons, at this critical period, to excite the
apprehensions and jealousy of Herod. During the short interval between the
visit of John’s disciples to Jesus and the present time, the Tetrarch had at
length, at the instigation of his wife, perpetrated the murder of
John of the Baptist. Whether his reluctance to shed unnecessary blood, or his
prudence, had as yet shrunk from this crime, the condemnation of her marriage
could not but rankle in the heart of the wife. The desire of revenge would be
strengthened by a feeling of insecurity, and an apprehension of the
precariousness of an union, declared, on such revered authority, null and void.
As long as this stem and respected censor lived, her influence over her
husband, the bond of marriage itself, might, in an hour of passion or remorse,
be dissolved. The common crime would cement still closer, perhaps for ever, their common interests. The artifices of
Herodias, who did not scruple to make use of the .beauty and grace of her
daughter to compass her end, had extorted from the reluctant king, in the hour
of festive carelessness—the celebration of Herod’s birthday —the royal promise,
which, whether for good or for evil, was equally irrevocable. The head of John
the Baptist was the reward for the dancing of the daughter of Herodias. Whether
the mind of Herod, like that of his father, was disordered by his crime, and
the disgrace and discomfiture of his arms contributed to his moody terrors; or
whether some popular rumour of the reappearance of
John, and that Jesus was the murdered prophet restored to life, had obtained
currency; indications of hostility from the government seem to have put Jesus
upon his guard. For no sooner had he been rejoined by the Apostles, than
he withdrew into the desert country about Bethsaida, with the prudence
which he now thought fit to assume, avoiding any sudden collision with the
desperation or the capricious violence of the Tetrarch.
But he now filled too important a place in the public mind to remain
concealed so near his customary residence, and the scene of his extraordinary
actions. The multitude thronged forth to trace his footsteps, so that five
thousand persons had preoccupied the place of his retreat; and so completely
were they possessed by profound religious enthusiasm, as entirely to have
forgotten the difficulty of obtaining provisions in that desolate region. The
manner in which their wants were preternaturally supplied, and the whole
assemblage fed by five loaves and two small fishes, wound up at once the rising
enthusiasm to the highest pitch. It could not but call to the mind of the
multitude the memorable event in their annals, the feeding the whole nation in
the desert by the multiplication of the manna. Jesus then would no longer
confine himself to those private and more unimposing acts of beneficence, of
which the actual advantage was limited to a single object, and the ocular
evidence of the fact to but few witnesses. Here was a sign performed in
the presence of many thousands, who had actually participated in the miraculous
food. This then, they supposed, could not but be the long-desired commencement
of his more public, more national, career. Behold a second Moses! behold a
Leader of the people, under whom they could never be afflicted with want I
behold at length the Prophet, under whose government the people were to enjoy,
among the other blessings of the Messiah’s reign, unexampled, uninterrupted
plenty.
Their acclamations clearly betrayed their intentions; they would brook
no longer delay; they would force him to assume the royal title; they would
proclaim him, whether consenting or not, the King of Israel. Jesus withdrew
from the midst of the dangerous tumult, and till the next day they sought him
in vain. On their return to Capernaum, they found that He had crossed the lake,
and entered the city the evening before. Their suspense, no doubt, had not been
allayed by his mysterious disappearance on the other side of the lake. The
circumstances under which He had passed over if communicated by the Apostles to
the wondering multitude (and unless positively prohibited by their Master,
they could not have kept silence on so wonderful an occurrence), would inflame
still farther the intense popular agitation. While the Apostles were passing
the lake in their boat, Jesus had appeared by their side, walking upon the
waters.
When therefore Jesus entered the
synagogue of Capernaum, no doubt the crisis was immediately expected: at length
He will avow himself; the declaration of his dignity must now be made;
and where with such propriety as in the place of the public worship, in the
midst of the devout and adoring people. The calm, the purely religious language
of Jesus was a death-blow to these high-strung hopes. The object of his
mission, he declared in explicit terms, was not to confer temporal benefits;
they were not to follow him with the hope that they would obtain without labour the fruits of the earth, or be secured against
thirst and hunger—these were mere casual and incidental blessings. The real
design of the new religion was the elevation of the moral and spiritual
condition of man, described under the strong but not unusual figure of nourishment
administered to the soul. During the whole of his address, or rather his
conversation with the different parties, the popular opinion was in a state of
fluctuation; or, as is probable, there were two distinct parties,—that of the
populace, at first more favourable to Jesus; and that
of the Jewish leaders, who were altogether hostile. The former appear
more humbly to have inquired what was demanded by the new Teacher in order to
please God: of them Jesus required faith in the Messiah. The latter first demanded
a new sign, but broke out into murmurs of disapprobation when “the carpenter’s
son” began in his mysterious language to speak of his descent, his commission,
from his Father, his reascension to his former
intimate communion with the Deity; still more when He seemed to confine the
hope of everlasting life to those only who were fitted to receive it; to those
whose souls would receive the inward nutriment of his doctrines. No word in
the whole address fell in with their excited, their passionate hopes: however
dark, however ambiguous his allusions, they could not warp or misinterpret
them into the confirmation of their splendid views. Not only did they appear to
discountenance the immediate, they gave no warrant to the remote, accomplishment
of their visions of the Messiah’s earthly power and glory. At all events the
disappointment was universal; his own adherents, baffled and sinking at once
from their exalted hopes, cast off their unambitious, their inexplicable
Leader; and so complete appears to have been the desertion, that Jesus demanded
of the Twelve, whether they too would abandon his cause, and leave him to his
fate. In the name of the Apostles Peter replied, that they had still full confidence
in his doctrines, as teaching the way to eternal life; they still believed him
to be the promised Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus received this protestation of
fidelity with apparent approbation, but intimated that the time would come when
one even of the tried and chosen twelve would prove a traitor.
6.Third Year of the public Life of Jesus.
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