the period terminated at his quitting the world, over both of which radiates the grand encircling love of God, with the eye of Infinite Goodness above the whole. The less is now over and gone, the greater unfolds itself. What began in temptation, is perfected in glory. The outer betokens the inner transfiguration. Great when he began his ministry, he is now greater still. On what he has hitherto done, God has set the seal of his approbation. If he has a yet more trying hour to pass through, he has loftier and brighter supports. Moses and Elias have been with him; God has uttered his approving voice; he has been taught the important issues of his death; he is now ready to be offered up, and awaits the blow in tranquil and pleased reliance on the will of Heaven (Matt. xvii. 1-14; Mark ix. 2—13; Luke ix. 28-36).

The evangelists do not name the mountain on which the transfiguration took place. Doubtless a spot where an event so remarkable occurred would fix itself in the memory of primitive Christians, and be easily and surely handed down from father to son. That this was the case, and that some one spot at a very early day obtained the title of 'The Holy Mount,' is clear from these words, which proceeded from one, Peter, of the three companions of the Saviour on the occasion: 'For we have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am wellpleased. And this voice, which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the holy mount' (2 Pet. i. 16-18). This 'holy mount' Christian tradition finds in Tabor (Jebel Tor), which, standing in Lower Galilee, on the northern side of Esdraelon, and on the southern border of the tribe Zebulun, two hours east from Nazareth, six north-east from Carmel, one north from Nain, and five west from the Jordan, rises suddenly, in the shape of a rounded cone, from the plain at its base, sundered from the neighbouring hills, and with sides more or less steep, which in some parts abound in vegetation and are nowhere bare. Its repute in Christian history, its shape, its comparative richness, its towering height, so that it is a noticeable object on all sides and at great distances,-the beautiful district around it, and the ruins which are scattered over its top,-all conspire to draw the attention of travellers, who have vied with each other in eloquent descriptions of its characteristics. At its foot it is about three hours in circuit. It takes an hour to reach its summit. On the western side it is inaccessible, nor on the other sides is the ascent easy. The paths are stony, narrow, and winding. From the middle to the top they are specially difficult. When the traveller has reached its summit, which is an oval plain

about an hour in circumference, he is well repaid by a wide and beautiful prospect. Below, he surveys the spacious and fertile plain of Jezreel; on the east, his eye ranges to the sea of Gennesareth, the river Jordan, and the high lands of Perea; on the south, he beholds Mount Gilboa and the hill-country of Ephraim; on the west, he sees the hills of Lower Galilee, with Carmel for their base, and may descry the azure waters of the Mediterranean. Tabor is also celebrated in the dark and repulsive annals of war. On Mount Tabor the Shaphet, or Judge Barak, at the advice of Deborah, formed a camp of 10,000 Israelites; and at its base he, with these troops, discomfited Si'sera and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword' (Judges iv.). In the last war of the Jews against the Romans, the historian and general Josephus entrenched himself on this stronghold. The empress Helena, in order to commemorate the transfiguration, and in the spirit of Peter's request, erected there three churches, dedicated, one to Moses, one to Elias, and one to Christ.

6

When Jesus, with his three favourite disciples, came down from the hill, they met at the bottom the rest of his attendants, engaged in controversy with some learned Jews. His arrival excited a great movement. Crowds flocked together. Shortly after, a man hastened into his presence, begging aid for his son, who was sorely afflicted with epilepsy. He had, he stated, applied to the disciples, but they proved not to possess the power. Jesus rebuked them for their want of faith. The sick youth was brought before Jesus, the sight of whom troubled him so much that he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming.' 'How long has this been ? asked Christ. From his childhood,' was the answer: 'ofttimes it hath cast him into the waters to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us and help us.' 'I can,' replied the Saviour, 'if thou canst believe.' 'I believe,' was the hurried rejoinder-'I believe; help thou my unbelief.' Jesus bade the evil spirit depart. He complied, but the youth lay like a dead person. 'He is dead,' many exclaimed; but 'Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.'

How natural is all this! The excitement of the disciples at the absence of Jesus; the flocking together of the multitude; the application of the father; his earnestness, calm at the first, but rising with his hope; the attitude of Jesus; his words, his deeds; the state of the youth after the cure; his final recovery,— all is true to nature. You have only to suppose one present, like Jesus, endowed with the needful power, and all is natural; a scene from real life; a picture in which each character appears in its own features and in its proper relative position. Such are not the qualities of 'a cunningly-devised fable.'

Jesus had power over diseases whose cause was physical, but

minds affected with malignant disorders even he could not heal. Lamentable penalty of a misused free-will, that it causes a malady incurable by God's own Son! While Jesus was healing this poor epileptic, he seems to have found, perhaps in the presence of the doctors last referred to, reasons for deeply feeling the approach of the hour of darkness. Yes, the Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, in their wicked and malignant hearts, were only made worse by his divine doings. What healed others, confirmed their moral distemper. They were resolved to spare no means for effecting his speedy destruction. Therefore, while those who were present 'wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, Let these sayings sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men'-Matthew adds-and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised again.' The words were not understood; yet they had a dark import, which caused fear and sorrow to arise in their minds (Matt. xvii. 22, 23; Mark ix. 30— 32; Luke ix. 43-45).

CHAPTER IV.

JESUS GOES BACK TO CAPERNAUM-PAYS THE TEMPLE-TAXPUTS FORWARD A LITTLE CHILD AS A SAMPLE OF THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT-DELIVERS THE PARABLE OF THE KING WHO TOOK ACCOUNT OF HIS SERVANTS.

September, A. D. 29.

Like a roe hunted on the mountains, Jesus passed secretly through Galilee (Mark ix. 30) and returned to Capernaum, where, by going across the lake of Tiberias, he could easily escape from the toils of his enemies, and so gain time for finishing his sacred task. Relying either on the supposed poverty of Jesus, or reckoning on a refusal, from his assumed superiority and lofty independence, those whose office it was to collect the didrachm, or temple-tax, came and demanded payment. Peter, to whom the application was made, brought the claim before his Master. 'As the Messiah,' he in effect said, 'I am exempt. But time to preach the gospel is precious; we must not fall into this snare. I will not stand on my right. Go to the sea, cast in a hook, and in the mouth of the first fish you take, you will find the requisite coin' (Matt. xvii. 24—27).

So little solicitous were the writers of our Gospels to display or make much of the wonderful deeds of Christ, that they recount

them with a simple brevity which sometimes is almost defective bareness. We have an instance before us. Matthew does not even say that Peter obeyed, or that the money was obtained.

Law and custom united to require a half-shekel from every Jew, payable yearly on his reaching the age of twenty. This sum was applied to the support of the temple. Properly, the tax was paid in February or March. It may now have been September. Jesus had delayed to make the payment. Hence the peculiar form of words employed by the tax-gatherers: Doth not your Master pay the half-shekel? It is paid by every Israelite. If Jesus is a patriotic Jew, why this delay?" Thus we see the ensnaring nature of the application. Jesus had been travelling on his divine errand. He had also been endeavouring to escape from snares. He had had no time, perhaps no resources and no opportunity, to make the payment. The priests fancied they had now a clear case against him. They were disappointed. So may 'wickedness in high places' ever fail, when it endeavours to entrap the prophets of Jehovah in their holy efforts to diffuse truth, righteousness, and love!

As Jesus and his apostles proceeded to Capernaum, a dispute arose among them. This had not escaped the observant eye of Jesus. But he chose his own time for speaking thereon. When, therefore, they were in the house, he questioned them as to the topic of disagreement. Half ashamed of their conduct, they gave no answer. Jesus, however, well knew what had taken place; and in order to give emphasis to his lesson, he, after the example of other Oriental teachers who instruct by acts as well as by words, called a little child, and, taking it in his arms (Mark ix. 36), pointed to his disposition as the temper which befitted his followers, and was essential in his kingdom. The words that Jesus used on this interesting occasion are somewhat differently reported; and as doing so may make the reader acquainted with the nature and extent of some of the greater diversities found in the Gospels, we place the separate accounts here, side by side.

Now, here are considerable diversities; yet do they regard nothing but unessential points. You find Matthew's characteristic prolixity and Mark's brevity, while Luke, as the latest

reporter, makes a substantial addition. While, however, each writer maintains his own individual character, and so assures us that he is an independent witness, they all agree in substance. Nor is it at all difficult to see that every word here reported may have been used on the occasion, perhaps even with others, and that the three narrators drew their several narratives from the same fact, though with one of them these, with the other those, and with the third somewhat different, words, in some way gained assent. Similar discrepancies are found regarding the position of the child relatively to Jesus and the twelve, as thus appears:

Now, here is a fine opportunity for the display of critical dexterity. After the manner of certain recent writers, it might be argued thus: 'Matthew makes Jesus address his auditors when he had set the child in the midst of them; Mark, when he had taken the child into his own arms; and Luke, when he had set the child alongside himself. All these statements cannot be true; is any one true? Where the witnesses disagree, we may be pardoned if we doubt.' Yet who does not see that there is a substantial agreement between the three evangelists, and that their discrepancies, being only such as will always occur with honest and independent witnesses, rather strengthen than invalidate their testimony? If, indeed, you maintain that the writers were so guided by the Divine Spirit that their words, as well as sense, being given of God, were inspired and invariable, then the objection has insuperable force. But the student and the true friend of the Scriptures must take them as God has given them to the world, and, diligently learning their real character, thankfully make use of the blessings they confer, leaving the traditions of men, and all human opinions, to that sure decay to which they are destined.

The lesson conveyed by our Lord on this occasion is one of the finest and the most important. How far ahead of human kind did Jesus stand! His doctrine of true humility even yet finds little acceptance, and less observance, among us. Yet is it an everlasting truth of the Spirit, that in simplicity, affection, and unpretending guilelessness, we must all become as little children ere we can enter into the kingdom of God.

Truly great does Jesus appear in the midst of his disciplesyea, even the twelve-and that, too, after they had long enjoyed the benefit of intercourse with him! He is the Lord, they his servants, in moral and intellectual qualities, no less than in position. Yet were they not below the average standard of their day. Such pre-eminence bespeaks a divine origin. Had Jesus

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