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remembering the decisive testimony which their master had given to the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER IV.

COMMENCEMENT OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY.

IMMEDIATELY after his baptism, our blessed Lord who was "in all points tempted as we are," and yet without sin," was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." He prepared himself for his great mission by prayer and fasting, but after forty days his human nature felt the ordinary wants of humanity, he was an hungred. This circumstance suggested to Satan the first temptation. He came to him and said, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Our Lord, who has left us a bright example for our conduct through life, shewed the resource to which his followers should apply in the hour of distress and temptation, namely the Holy Scriptures. He answered every [suggestion of the tempter from the Word of God, and in reply to this first attempt said,

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"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Satan's next effort was to seduce our Lord unto presumptuous sin, and for this purpose he bore him to Jerusalem and placed him on one of the lofty pinnacles of the temple. The devil, who can at times disguise himself as an angel of light, quoted perversely from Scripture, saying, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time. thou dash thy foot against a stone." Jesus again had recourse to Holy Writ and replied to the insidious tempter, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Lastly the devil took him to an exceeding high mountain and shewed him the pomp and glory of the surrounding kingdoms, declaring "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." But Jesus answered "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Then the devil departed, and angels came to minister unto their master, who had humbled himself to bear the form of a servant.

The testimony of John the Baptist was so decisive that two of his disciples became followers of Jesus, namely, Andrew the son of Jonah, and his brother Simon, subsequently called Cephas or Peter, names which signify a stone. To these was soon added Philip, who hastened to communicate the glad tidings to Nathanael," an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile." To him Philip declared, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael, like most of the Jews, had a very mean opinion of Nazareth and the entire Galilean region; he therefore asked with surprise "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" but his opinions were soon altered when Jesus related to him the private discourse which he had with Philip under the fig-tree, and which, on account of the distance, could not have been discovered by merely human means. He became a follower of Jesus, and accompanied him into Galilee.

When they reached the little city of Cana they were invited to a wedding feast, at which the mother of Jesus was also present. The wine provided for the guests was insufficient, and when Jesus was informed of the circumstance by his mother he mi

raculously changed a large quantity of water into wine, and thus provided a competent supply for the guests. This miracle confirmed the faith of his new disciples; they accompanied him from Cana to Capernaum, and after a short delay there proceeded to Jerusalem, where our Lord celebrated the feast of the Passover for the first time since his entrance on his ministry.

When he came to the temple he found its courts crowded with those who sold oxen, sheep, doves, and such other things as are used in the Jewish offerings; they were permitted to do so by the priests in order to supply materials for sacrifice to persons coming from a distance, and for their further convenience there were money-changers to exchange foreign coin for the currency of the country. This practice had become a great abuse; the sacred place was profaned by all the bustle and chicanery of a market. Jesus for the first time exerted his authority to correct this evil; he drove the traders from the temple, and severely rebuked them for their desecrating a House of Prayer. Some of the Jews were dissatisfied and asked "What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?" The remarkable answer of our Lord was, "Destroy this

temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews were astonished at this declaration, not knowing that he spoke of "the temple of his body;" they exclaimed "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou build it up in three days?" Even the disciples did not understand this allusion at the first, but after the resurrection they called it to mind, and regarded the prophecy as a signal proof of Christ's superhuman knowledge.

While Jesus remained in Jerusalem he wrought many signal miracles, and greatly increased the number of his disciples; but He who knew their hearts was aware that many of them would turn away when the rulers would declare their disapprobation, and therefore would not commit himself to them. The Pharisees had already taken the alarm, and Nicodemus, one of their number, anxious to know the truth, would only venture to approach the divine teacher privately and by night. In the conversation that ensued, our Lord insisted on the necessity of "a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness," and shewed that the redemption of mankind would be accomplished by his death, in the remarkable words "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."

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