CHAPTER IX. THE THIRD TOUR OF GALILEE, AND RETURN TO CAPERNAUM. FROM Nazareth Jesus entered upon his third circuit in Galilee, the extent of which tour cannot be defined. Matthew says that he "went about all the cities and villages." Mark, In Galilee. Matt. ix., x., xi.; Mark vi., ix.; that "he went round about the villages." All of healing. The multitudes continued to throng him. They had had the formal instruction of the Established Church, but the mass of the people were destitute of moral and religious culture. They appeared to the eye of Jesus as sheep that had no shepherd, torn to pieces by hierarchic wolves. And yet the people seemed desirous of spiritual training. At sight of this Jesus said to his disciples, "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few: pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." It was the suggestion of the mission. ary idea and the kindling of the missionary spirit. It was a hint as to what his intentions were for immediate missionary operation. A missionary movement. In pursuance of this design he called his twelve chosen disciples together, and commissioned and instructed them for this new institution of propagandism. He intended to disseminate his doctrines more rapidly and more widely. These men had been with him long enough to be weaned from other pursuits, to be attached to his person and his plans, and to have acquired such facility in cooperation that they could work together. Jesus instituted seven itinerant centres of influence. Not stopping in his own work, he sent the twelve in pairs. Their work may be better gathered from their commission in the words of Jesus than from any paraphrase. He addressed them thus: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and enter not into a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And going, preach, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is Address of Jesus. at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor copper in your girdles, nor a wallet for your journey, not two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff. And into whatever city or village ye may enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till ye depart: go not from house 'to house and into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you; for the laborer is worthy of his food. But as ye enter into the house, salute it, saying, 'Peace be to this house.' And if indeed the house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it: but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you. And whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, on going out of that house, or city, or village, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony against them: notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto them. Verily I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and the land of Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for that city. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Begin ye therefore to become wise as the serpent, and simple as the doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and will scourge you in the synagogues: and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. And when they deliver you up, be not over-anxious how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak. For ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you. And a brother shall deliver up a brother to death, and a father a child; and children shall rise up against parents, and shall put them to death. And ye shall be hated by all on account of my name; but the one having endured to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another: for verily I say to you, Ye shall not finish the cities of Israel until the Son of Man come. "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his lord. Sufficient for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of the household? Fear them not, therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden that shall not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light: and what ye hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops. And fear not those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear the one able to destroy both soul and body in GehenAre not two sparrows sold for an assarion?* and not one of them shall na. BRONZE Ο MITE OF HEROD. This indicates a coin of small value, perhaps more than an American cent and less than an English penny. Here is a picture of a bronze specimen of this coin. On one side is an anchor, and the Greek letters for Herod Baci (Herod King), and on the obverse two cornucopia and a pomegranate. fall on the ground without your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not then; ye are of more value than many sparrows. Every one, therefore, who will confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father in heaven. "Think not that I came to cast peace on the earth: I came not to cast peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And the enemies of a man are those of his own household. He who loveth father or mother above me, is not worthy of me: and he who loveth son or daughter above me, is not worthy of me. And he who taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He who findeth his life shall lose it: and he who loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He who receiveth you receiveth me, and he who receiveth me receiveth him who sent me. He who receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet; and he who receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive the reward of a righteous man. And whoever may give to drink to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, verily I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." Their route. Jesus gives directions to his disciples as to the route they were to take, as well as a commission for the work they were to perform. They were not to go among the Roman settlements nor beyond the boundaries of Samaria. "Rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," explains the direction as one not founded on bigotry or Jewish intolerance, but as a temporary economic arrangement. All men were afterward to have his gospel, but this was a "trial trip," a missionary exercise for the Apostles among their own people, almost under his own eyes. He imparted to them, of his peculiar power, ability to heal tho sick, to cleanse lepers, to eject demons, and to raise the dead. Whether they found on this excursion any occa Their powers. sion to exercise this great power in the raising of the dead, we are not informed. But all these things were merely subservient to the "preaching of the kingdom." That was to be their great work, the chief absorbing labor of their lives. The next direction is that they are to make no provision for their personal comfort, in the way of money and clothes. They were to preach the gospel without pay. They had received freely, they were to give freely. Their provision. The gospel was not to be sold. They were to go forth free of care and do their great work. should not fail of support. Their Lord assured them that they The home-altar. They were not to be encumbered with baggage. Their wants were to be simple, and those wants were to be supplied. It was a general principle he seems to have laid down for the governance of all future missionary operations. A man going forth with the truth will find those who are ready to minister to his wants. And then he sets forth the method in which he desired his gospel propagated. It was not by founding churches, not by erecting great and powerful ecclesiastical apparatus. He seems never to have intended to found a church like this, like anything indeed now represented by our modern"denominations." Ilis "church" was to be of all those who trusted in him, believed him, followed him, loved him. Its work was the dissemination of certain principles. It is observable that he chose the hearth-stone as the altar of the temple of the new faith. His apostles were to enter houses, not cry aloud in the streets, nor harangue the crowds. They were to carry the seeds of the newly quickened religion to the homes and the hearts of men. They were to sit down among the parents and children and servants, and tell them what Jesus was teaching, explain to them what the "kingdom" was, and was to be, and how it was to interpenetrate all life from bottom to top. They were to cure and cleanse men spiritually, and in confirmation of their mission cure and cleanse them physically. The religion of Jesus is not a temple religion. It does not consist in periodical visits to the altarspot, ceremonial offering of specified sacrifices, nor anything else churchly and ritual. It was to be the religion for the home. It was to draw all men near to the Father of all men. It was to make the earthly home a type of the heavenly, a terrestrial school of preparation for the celestial "life to come." It was to be a religion of principle. Some families would receive them, others would reject. They are told how to conduct themselves in either event. But he warns them that it is not to be always easy work. They were not always to be immediate and radiant victors. The opposition they should meet would be powerful and for A warning. midable. The Jews would oppose them. Sometimes, instead of carrying captive the congregation in the synagogue, the poor Apostle would be enduring a scourging. The Gentile governors and kings would set them at naught. What seemed so true to them would seem so false to others; what seemed so beautiful to them would be so ugly and hateful to others. They should be called to answer suddenly at the highest pagan tribunals. But they were not to be anxious. The right word would come at the right hour. They are to keep themselves in the love of the truth and be not specially careful for their oratory. He particularly tears away all self-conceit from them by saying "Ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father." This lifts them above all selfish anxiety. It is not their work, but another's. If they be persecuted in one city they must flee to another. They have no further work in the one, and they have something to do in another. Providence sometimes leads and sometimes drives. A consolation. But he gives them this consolation-that they shall not have finished visiting the cities of Israel "until the Son of Man come." It is not quite easy to determine satisfactorily what this phrase means. It may mean that he should join them in person before long, and thus be present to aid and direct them. To this it is to be objected that the portion of this solemn charge which begins with "Behold, I send you forth as sheep," really seems not to have had application to them in their temporary missionary excursions, but to their much longer apostolic career after the death of Jesus. Certainly the events which he foretold did not take place until then. The interpretation suggested by Stier is that it applies to the apostolic labors in Judæa, which were to be closed by the coming of the Son of Man in the destruction of Jerusalem, and, by extension, that it applies to the operations of his messengers in the towns of the spiritual Israel. But all this seems mystical. These men were going on a practical mission, which Jesus tells them was so full of peril that their lives should be in constant jeopardy. It was no time to talk romantic theology to them. Jesus meant something practical which they could understand. Just what it was I do not know, but its general significance seems to be that, no matter how industriously they worked, and however rapid their movements, they could not visit all the towns before their mission should be accomplished. And this was probably the sense, whether their temporary tour be considered or their travels and labors after the death of their Teacher. He still further confirms and strengthens them by reminding them of his own case. They readily acknowledged him as their |