V. } CHAP. which alone could justify the lofty tone assumed by Jesus. A second time Jesus obscurely alludes to the one great future sign of the new faith - his resurrection; and, refusing further to gratify their curiosity, he reverts, in language of more than usual energy, to the incapacity of the age and nation to discern the real and intrinsic superiority of his religion. Conduct his rela tives. The followers of Jesus had now been organised into a regular sect or party. Another incident distinctly showed that he no longer stood alone; even the social duties, which up to this time he had, no doubt, discharged with the utmost affection, were to give place to the sublimer objects of his mission. While he sate encircled by the of Jesus to multitude of his disciples, tidings were brought that his mother and his brethren desired to approach him.* But Jesus refused to break off his occupation; he declared himself connected by a closer tie even than that of blood, with the great moral family of which he was to be the parent, and with which he was to stand in the most intimate relation. He was the chief of a fraternity not connected by common descent or consanguinity, but by a purely moral and religious bond; not by any national or local union, but bound together by the one strong but indivisible link of their common faith. On the increase, the future prospects, the final destiny of this community, his discourses now dwell, with frequent but obscure allusions.† His * Matt. xii. 46-49.; Mark, iii. 31-35. + Matt. xiii.; Mark, iv. 1—34. ; Luke, viii. 1-18. CHAP. V. language more constantly assumes the form of parable. Nor was this merely in compliance with the genius of an Eastern people, in order to convey his Parables. instruction in a form more attractive, and therefore both more immediately and more permanently impressive; or by awakening the imagination, to stamp his doctrines more deeply on the memory, and to incorporate them with the feelings. These short and lively apologues were admirably adapted to suggest the first rudiments of truths which it was not expedient openly to announce. Though some of the parables have a purely moral purport, the greater part delivered at this period bear a more or less covert relation to the character and growth of the new religion; a subject which, avowed without disguise, would have revolted the popular mind, and clashed too directly with their inveterate nationality. Yet these splendid, though obscure, anticipations singularly contrast with occasional allusions to his own personal destitution, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head."* For with the growth and organisation of his followers he seems fully aware that his dangers increase; he now frequently changes his place, passes from one side of the lake to the other, and even endeavours to throw a temporary concealment over some of his most extraordinary miracles. During one of these expeditions across the lake, he is in danger from one of those sudden and vio * Matt. viii. 18—27.; Mark, iv. 35—41.; Luke, viii. 22—25. V. Rebukes the storm. Destruc swine. CHAP. lent tempests which often disturb inland seas, particularly in mountainous districts. He rebukes the storm and it ceases. On the other side of the lake, in the district of Gadara, occurs the remarkable scene of the dæmoniacs among the tombs, and the herd of swine; the only act in the tion of the whole life of Jesus in the least repugnant to the uniform gentleness of his disposition, which would shrink from the unnecessary destruction even of the meanest and most loathsome animals.* On his return from this expedition to Capernaum took place the healing of the woman with the issue of the blood, and the raising of Jairus's daughter. † Concerning the latter, as likewise concerning the relief of two blind men‡, he gives the strongest injunctions of secrecy, which, nevertheless, the active zeal of his partisans seems by no means to have regarded. The apostles sent out. But a more decisive step was now taken than the organisation of the new religious community. The twelve apostles were sent out to disseminate the doctrines of Jesus throughout the whole of Galilee. § They were invested with the power of healing diseases; with cautious deference to Jewish feeling, they were forbidden to proceed beyond * The moral_difficulty of this transaction has always appeared to me greater than that of reconciling it with the more rational view of dæmoniacism. Both are much diminished, if not entirely removed, by the theory of Kuinoël, who attributes to the lunatics the whole of the conversation with Jesus, and supposes that their driving the herd of swine down the precipice Luke, viii. 40—56. Matt. x.; Mark, vi. 7—13.; V. the borders of the Holy Land, either among the CHAP. Gentiles or the heretical Samaritans; they were to depend on the hospitality of those whom they might address for their subsistence; and he distinctly anticipates the enmity which they would perpetually encounter, and the dissension which would be caused, even in the bosom of families, by the appearance of men thus acting on a commission unprecedented and unrecognised by the religious authorities of the nation, yet whose doctrines were of such intrinsic beauty, and so full of exciting promise. Herod. It was most likely this open proclamation, as it Conduct of were, of the rise of a new and organised community; and the greater publicity which this simultaneous appearance of two of its delegates in the different towns of Galilee could not but give to the growing influence of Jesus, that first attracted the notice of the government. Up to this period Jesus, as a remarkable individual, must have been well known by general report; by this measure he stood in a very different character, as the chief of a numerous fraternity. There were other reasons, at this critical period, to excite the apprehensions and jealousy of Herod. During the short interval between the visit of John's disciples to Jesus and the present time, the Tetrarch had at length, at the instigation of his wife, perpetrated the murder Death of of the Baptist. Whether his reluctance to shed unnecessary blood, or his prudence, had as yet shrunk from this crime, the condemnation of her marriage could not but rankle in the heart of the John the Baptist. V. } CHAP. wife. The desire of revenge would be strengthened by a feeling of insecurity, and an apprehension of the precariousness of an union, declared, on such revered authority, null and void. As long as this stern and respected censor lived, her influence over her husband, the bond of marriage itself, might, in an hour of passion or remorse, be dissolved. The common crime would cement still closer, perhaps for ever, their common interests. The artifices of Herodias, who did not scruple to make use of the beauty and grace of her daughter to compass her end, had extorted from the reluctant king, in the hour of festive carelessness the celebration of Herod's birthday -the royal promise, which, whether for good or for evil, was equally irrevocable.* The head of John the Baptist was the reward for the dancing of the daughter of Herodias.† Whether the mind of Herod, like that of his father+, was disordered by his crime, and the disgrace and discomfiture of his arms contributed to his moody terrors; or whether some popular rumour of the re-appearance of John, and that Jesus was the murdered prophet restored to life, had obtained currency; indications of hostility from the government seem to have put Jesus upon his guard.§ For no sooner had he been re * Matt, xiv. 1—12.; Mark, vi. 14-29; Luke, ix. 7—9. + Josephus places the scene of this event in Machærus. Macknight would remove the prison of John to Tiberias. But the circumstances of the war may have caused the court to be held in this strong frontier town, and the feast may have been intended chiefly for the army, the "Chiliarchs" of St. Mark. According to Josephus the Jews ascribed the discomfiture of Herod's army by Aretas, king of Arabia, to the wrath of Heaven for the murder of John. § Matt. xiv. 13, 14.; Mark, vi. 30-34. ; Luke, ix. 10,11.; John, vi. 1, 2. |