he expelled demons ;-the danger of detracting from the Holy Spirit ;-who accounted kinsfolks by Jesus ;-the parable of the sower, with the explanation ;-the reason for using parables;-other moral instructions and similitudes;—Jesus stills a tempest on the sea;-cures a demoniac who abode in tombs ; heals a woman who had a bloody issue;—restores the daughter of Jairus to life.

Page 158

SECTION III.

THE FIRST MISSION OF THE APOSTLES.

CHAPTERS VI.

Jesus despised by his fellow-citizens ;-commissions the apostles; -different opinions concerning him :-the death of John the Baptist :-the disciples report the execution of their mission :— Jesus feeds miraculously five thousand in the desert ;-walks on the sea in the morning to his disciples, who had embarked the night before; stills the wind, lands, and cures all who touch him. 166

SECTION IV.

THE ERRORS OF THE PHARISEES.

CHAPTERS VII. VIII. 1-26.

Jesus vindicates his disciples, and charges the Pharisees with annulling the commandment of God by their tradition :—nothing pollutes the man but vice :-a demon expelled from the daughter of a Syrophenician woman of great faith :—the cure of one deaf and dumb :-four thousand men fed in the desert: -a sign in the sky refused to the Pharisees :-the disciples cautioned against their doctrine under the name of leaven, which they interpreting literally, misunderstood :—a blind man cured.

171

SECTION V.

THE TRANSFIGURATION.

CHAPTERS VIII. 27, &c. Ix. x. 1—31.

The opinions of the people concerning Jesus :-Peter avows him to be the Messiah :-Jesus foretells his own death and resurrection ;—rebukes Peter, who was scandalized at the mention of death :-warns his followers to prepare for suffering ;is transfigured;—acquaints them who the Elijah was that should come ;—cures a dumb demoniac :—humility the road to eminence in his reign :-the services of those not to be rejected who did not accompany the Apostles :—no service done for Jesus shall be unrewarded:-the danger of offences and snares :—the marriage tie may not be loosed at the pleasure of either party :-the people encouraged to bring children to Jesus: what must be done to obtain eternal life :-riches a great obstruction in the way to the kingdom :—the reward of those who abandon any thing for Jesus.

Page 176

SECTION VI.

THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.

CHAPTERS X. 32, &c. XI. XII. 1-12.

Jesus, on the road to Jerusalem, foretells his death and resurrection;—is applied to, by the sons of Zebedee, for the chief honours in his reign ;—he warns them to prepare for suffering, as the only road to honour then would be humility ;—gives sight to Bartimeus;-rides into Jerusalem on an ass;—the people attending him with shouts ;-devotes the barren fig-tree; drives the traffickers out of the temple ;-manifests the power of faith;-enjoins forgiveness on all who would be forgiven of God;-silences those who controvert his authority;-illustrates their ingratitude to God, by the parable of the husband

men who ill-treated and killed their landlord's messengers ;concludes with predicting the rejection of the Jews, and the call of the Gentiles.

184

SECTION VII.

THE PROPHECY ON MOUNT OLIVET.

CHAPTERS XII. 13, &c. XIII.

Jesus eludes the craft of the Pharisees, who consult him on the lawfulness of paying tribute to Cesar;-vindicates the doctrine of the resurrection against the Sadducees;-answers the scribe who questioned him about what is most important in the law;-puzzles the Pharisees with an expression in the psalms applied to the Messiah;-warns the people against the ambition and hypocrisy of the Scribes ;-the liberality of a gift must be rated by the circumstances of the giver;-the destruction of the temple foretold;-the calamities by which it will be preceded; the signs that the Judge is at hand;-the time unknown to all but God;-the necessity of unintermitted vigi lance.

189

SECTION VIII.

THE LAST SUPPER.

CHAPTERS XIV. 1-52.

The rulers consult together about the method of apprehending Jesus-a female disciple anoints his head :-Judas bargains with the chief priests to deliver him to them :-Jesus eats the passover with his disciples;-acquaints them of the treachery of one of them ;—institutes the commemoration of his death; foretells their desertion, and Peter's denial of him ;—his distress in the garden; he is seized by an armed multitude conducted by Judas.

196

SECTION IX.

THE CRUCIFIXION.

CHAPTERS XIV. 53, &c. xv. 1-41.

Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrim;-charged with blasphemy, —and condemned;—denied by Peter ;—delivered bound to the Roman procurator :-before whom he is accused by the Jewish rulers :-Pilate perceiving that the accusation proceeded from envy,―tries in vain to save him, under pretence of granting him to the prayer of the multitude, accustomed to obtain the release of a prisoner at the passover ;—they, instigated by their rulers, demand the release of Barabbas, and the crucifixion of Jesus :-Pilate at last consents to gratify them :Jesus is scourged, mocked, and crucified between two malefactors;—is insulted on the cross by persons of all denominations, fellow-sufferers not excepted :—his death attended with prodigies, which strike the Roman centurion and other spectators with astonishment. Page 200

SECTION X.

THE RESURRECTION.

CHAPTERS XV. 42, &c. XVI.

The body of Jesus given to Joseph of Arimathea, who lays it in his own sepulchre :—the resurrection of Jesus announced at the sepulchre to some pious women by an angel :—he appears first to Mary Magdalene ;-then to others;-afterwards to the ele ven, whom he sends to publish his doctrine every where, empowering them to work miracles in evidence of their mission; and is taken up into heaven.

205