ing what were deemed the effential characters of the Meffiah) the Apoftles themfelves feem to have abandoned the idea, he informed them of it, but as a thing they were not to publish.

51. Ye shall see the heaven open, &c.] This must be a figurative expreffion, denoting the manifeft figns of the prefence of God with Jefus in his miraculous works, &c. fo that there would be a visible intercourfe between heaven and earth, fuch as was reprefented to Jacob in the vifion of the ladder, on which angels were feen afcending and defcending.

SECTION XIV.

The Marriage Feast at Cana.

John II. 1-12.

WE are now entering on the confidera

tion of the proper life of Jefus, when he began to appear in public, and work miracles in confirmation of his divine miffion. This must have appeared an extraordinary circumftance to the Jews, whofe ancestors had feen miracles, but none of that generation, or of many preceding ones.

The miracles of Jefus were of two kinds. In general they were inftances of benevolence as well as of power. This which we are about to confider was a conjunction of both; as his walking on the fea, his filling a tempeft, and making the barren fig tree to wither, were chiefly of the latter kind. None of them

were

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were accompanied with any marks of oftentation, or had his own relief or advantage for their objects It is probable from the courfe of the narrative, that only a fmall number of the miracles are recorded by any of the evangelifts; but those that are, were no doubt, the most remarkable, and they were all attended with fuch cir cumftances, as make it evident that there was no decep tion, or trick, in the conduct of them.

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1. This was the third day from their fetting out on their Journey to Gallifee, mentioned. 48. From other circumstances too it appears that from Jerufalem to Gallilee was a journey of three days on foot. Thus Jefus when he was in Galilee, fays (Luke xiii, 33,) I must walk to day, and tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. The distance was about fixty miles.

3. Tho' it is probable that the mother of Jefus was acquainted with his power of working miracles, it does not certainly follow that he had actually performed any: She must have known the teftimony of John to Jefus, and probably he had informed her of the parti culars of his temptation, which implied his power of working miracles, the tempter having bid him change the ftones into bread, and he declined, not from a want of power, but not to tempt God.

As no mention is made of Jofeph the husband of Mary, either on this occafion, or on any other in the course of the hiftory, it is probable that he was dead before this time.

cles.

4. That is, the proper fenfon for working mira

This

This ftyle of addrefs, however it may appear to us, was usual with the antients when the greatest respect was intended. The fame obfervation will apply to Jefus faying to his mother, what hast thou to do with me. ? In the very fame language(Ti ɛμoi nat σoi) Jephtha addreffed the king of the Ammonites. Jud. xi, 22.

5. It is plain from the order that Mary gave to the fervants, that she understood her fon as confenting to, rather than rejecting, her requeft. At leaft there must have been fome circumftance in the difcourfe or behaviour of Jefus which indicated as much, tho' he might not think proper to act as at her fuggeftion.

6. This firkin might be the Hebrew bath, which contained about four gallons and an half.

7. This great quantity of water that was changed into wine, fhews that there was no deception in the cafe. For tho' a fmall quantity of water might, by flight of hand, be made to disappear, and an equal quantity of wine to take its place; in the fame manner as it is probable that blood had been fubftitued for water in the pretended miracle of the Egyptian magicians, this could not have been done with fo large a quantity of water as was employed on this occafion; and ftill lefs in the miracle performed by Mofes, when all the water in the river Nile was changed. Befides, it was not Jefus, or his difciples, but the fervants of the houfe that brought the water.

10. This encomium given by a perfon who was ig norant of the manner in which the wine was procured, proves the reality of the change, an the excellence of its quality.

VOL. III.

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