PART III.

EVENTS FROM THE FIRST TO THE SECOND PASSOVER. The end of March, A. U 781, A. D. 28, to A. U. 782, April, A. D. 29,

CHAPTER I.

JESUS GOES FROM CAPERNAUM TO JERUSALEM TO THE FESTIVAL OF THE PASSOVER-CONVERSES WITH NICODEMUS, AND SHOWS THAT A NEW HEART, AS WELL AS A CHANGE OF OPINION, IS NECESSARY IN HIS DISCIPLES.

ALL that had lately taken place combined to give prominence and activity in the mind of Jesus to the assured conviction that God was with him in the great undertaking to which he was devoted. His soul he felt was full of God. His desires and his aims were all for God. He was raised into a higher sphere by the divine spirit that animated him and the sacred work in which he was engaged. Greatness of soul must needs issue in great deeds, and in such a world as this, great deeds sometimes look rash and daring. Rash and daring would it look if a young mechanic were to enter St. Paul's cathedral, and command its dignitaries and their servants and auditors to depart, and leave the house unpolluted by their presence. The act would appear like madness. Yet if it took effect, and if it were sustained by tokens of high wisdom, spotless purity of character, and works such as no one could perform, save by the power of God, the apparent insanity would prove to be truth and soberness of the most exalted kind, and the rashness and daring would be recognised as only a proper self-reliance and a proper exercise of

authority. Such self-reliance, and such an exercise of authority, might be expected in one who was God's special messenger to man, the word of his wisdom and power.

Jesus is always one with himself. The unity of his character proves he was divine. Both when conversing with the doctors in the temple, and when changing the water into wine, you observe that degree of development and power which the history authorises you to look for; and you are now about to witness an exertion of authority which could not have taken place while he frequented the synagogue at Nazareth as one of its ordinary members, but which, if his claims are well founded, he, as the Messiah, might be expected to put forth.

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he found a large number of visitors already there, and saw on all sides busy preparations for the approaching festival. His attention was specially directed to the traffic, noise and confusion which filled the outer courts of the temple. There oxen bellowed and sheep bleated. Here was a huge collection of pigeons. In another part salt was offered for sale. And on all sides were seated men with tables before them, covered with native Jewish coins. These things, it was true, were needed for the public services. Yet why are they within the sacred enclosure? And why that air of mere business on all sides? It surely is a market or a fair, and not God's own house. In truth so it was. Great religious gatherings have in all countries been abused to worse purposes than those of gain. Wherever there are crowds of men, human passions obtain an easy predominance, and religion is degraded into a pander to display, vanity, filthy lucre, or even licentiousness.

Full of a holy zeal against the desecration, and having made, as a visible sign of authority, a whip of small cords, Jesus drove out of the court of the Gentiles, where they were, and where they disturbed the worship offered above, the sheep, the oxen, and their owners, with those who sat there to give the requisite silver shekel to Jews from foreign lands in exchange for other money. He drove them out, and out they went. What power have we here? Why do they all hasten to depart? Why do they renounce their trade, abandon their hopes, and drive their cattle before them in haste? Who is this whose voice they yield to, as fields of ripe corn bend under the breeze? Who is this, and what are his words? Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.' He spake, and was obeyed. This power over human beings is in its very essence divine. All is clear, if you recognise the presence of Him who turneth the heart of man as it pleaseth Him. This was the presence which those rough natures recognised, and, conscious of wrong, they fled before the inspired prophet. This power, which thus overcomes the will of man, and brings into obedience that freedom which is the distinguishing quality of man, is as truly

divine as is that which, with no such an antagonist, tranquillises the tossing sea, or revives the buried dead.

During his stay in Jerusalem on this occasion, the Saviour received a visit from Nicode'mus, a member of the high council, or Sanhedrim, a Rabbi and a Pharisee. Impelled by an earnest desire to converse with one whom he more than half believed to be the Christ, he incurred the risk of exposure and social disqualification implied in his going to Jesus under the veil of night. In this visit we probably see one effect of the answer borne back to the Sanhedrim by the messengers they had sent to John; and, not improbably, Nicodemus had been confirmed in his impressions respecting Jesus by the authority just displayed by the latter in purifying the temple. There was something more; Jesus performed miracles, and his miracles occasioned belief in others besides Nicodemus. That belief, however, was of an earthly nature; for when Jesus proceeded to set before him the great spiritual truth of the necessity of the new birth, that learned rabbi did not comprehend even the terms employed. A man, then, may confess Jesus to be a teacher sent from God, and yet be on the outside of the heavenly kingdom. It was necessary that Nicodemus should be born again, even after he had made the avowal that he received Christ as a divinely-sent instructor. The assent of the intellect is of small avail, unless it is followed by a thorough change of heart. Newness of mind it is which makes us members of Christ's church. From a love of God, Christ, and goodness, we must cease to do evil and learn to do well, ere we have a scriptural right to call ourselves by the holy name of Christ.

Already did the prophetic mind of Jesus see the dark cloud which was rising over Gethsemane' and Calvary. It may have been some special hardness of heart and malignity of design manifested in regard to him in this visit to Jerusalem, which gave prominence and force to the conviction in his mind, that an early and violent death would be the reward of his benign exertions. Now, however, for the first time, does he refer to that sad issue, in terms which, though dark when they were uttered, are at present no less clear than full of meaning. Being asked by what authority he expelled the traffickers out of the temple, he answered, Destroy this temple (of my body), and in three days I will raise it up.' It may serve to point the contrast there is between the spirituality of Jesus and the material tone of mind on the part of all around him, that not even his disciples understood these words, till fact gave the interpretation in his resurrection from the dead. The less cannot produce the greater. How then could the apostles have created the great original they drew? In this connection, our Lord delivered a sentiment of supreme consequence to man, and of so high and comprehensive a nature, that it could have proceeded only from a mind that was

in the closest relations with the All-wise Father-a sentiment that the reader would do well to imprint on his memory, and, with earnest prayer to God for light and blessing, study to comprehend in all its force: it is this-and remember they are the words of Christ-God so loved the world, that he gave his onlybegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John ii. 13—iii. 21).

CHAPTER II.

JESUS, LEAVING JERUSALEM, TAKES A MISSIONARY TOUR IN JUDEA, AND TEACHES NEAR THE JORDAN.

Summer of U. C. 781; A. D. 28.

Though a favourable impression had been made on Nicodemus, and probably other persons whose minds were less closed against truth than those of the mass, yet Jerusalem was not a place in which Jesus could hope that his doctrine would speedily gain a firm standing. Like the bare surface of its own hills, the hearts of its inhabitants received not the seed of this divine life. Capital cities are least disposed to new ideas and great moral changes. Custom, fashion, regard to man, the love of show and grandeur, combine there to strengthen and perpetuate existing modes of thought and forms of life. It is in the provinces, over the breadth of the land, in open and generous hearts, that new doctrines must be planted, if they are to have free course and become powerful. From Jerusalem, then, Jesus turned, shortly after the Passover, and proceeded into the land, that is into the open spaces, of Judea. In truth, it appears that, either immediately or at a later period, he repaired to the Jordan, since he is described as being engaged in baptising (John iii. 22, 26). Jesus was too wise a teacher to neglect opportunities. The banks of the Jordan were already prepared to give him an attentive hearing; and having, accordingly, proceeded thither, he found large audiences and made many disciples (John iii. 26). His success seems to have awakened a feeling of jealousy in the minds of some of John's disciples, who, in consequence, consulted their master on the point. Consistent with himself, that great man, who was so near the kingdom of God, made use of the occasion to renew his testimony to Jesus. He must increase, but I decrease. He that cometh from above, is above all. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands' (26-36).

Enon (a fountain), where John was then baptising (23), has by some been held to be an inconsiderable place in Samaria, three hours below Scythopolis, on the west bank of the Jordan. Others are of opinion that the name merely indicates a stream which, in that vicinity, flowed into the Jordan.

South of Enon, in the vale of the Jordan, lay Salim, or Salem. This place has been identified with that in which Melchizedek dwelt (Gen. xiv. 18, comp. xxxiii. 18). It is interesting to see these two divine prophets, John and Jesus, employing in union the same water of the Jordan for the same work of God-John in the higher, Jesus in the lower position on the river-both forgetful of themselves, and solely given to the fulfilment of their respective offices. So ought different bodies of Christians to work in love one with another for their common Master. This denomination, like John, may in the main have but a preparatory duty to perform. Another, entering more deeply into the mind of Christ, may preach the gospel in its fulness and its purity. However, if both perform their task out of love to Jesus and with mutual good-will, they are doubtless accepted in the sight of Him who sent and supported both John the herald and Christ the Lord.

Here, again, we have to lament the brevity of the evangelical narratives. Only a few verses (John iii. 22-36) have reference to these transactions. Over what length of time they extended, we are therefore unable exactly to say. Terms employed, he tarried and baptised' (22), imply some duration. Probably, several months were thus spent (comp. iv. 35).

CHAPTER III.

JESUS, IN THE PROVINCE OP SAMARIA, CONVERSES WITH THE WOMAN OF THE COUNTRY.

Dec. U. C. 781; A. D. 28.

In December, or four months before harvest (John iv. 35), Jesus left Judea, and departed again into Galilee (3). This implies that he made his journey in winter, a season in which, though not so inauspicious for travelling as with us, it was not usual to undertake long journeys (Matt. xxiv. 20). Hence we should infer that our Lord must have had some pressing reason. Indeed, he appears to have been influenced by the danger into which his forerunner, John, had fallen. This motive explains the

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