purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins a piece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, (but the servants which drew the water knew) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.-JOHN ii. 1—11 and the wonderful success with which it should be crowned. We have seen him with complacency receiving his disciples on their return from a progress of preaching and heal Ir requires no common degree of wisdom to make the transition from various situations one to another, with dignity and propriety. The gravity and seriousness of deportiment that suits the temple do not suddenly melting, and of casting out devils; and rejoicing away into the familiarity and ease of private life. Men are called to act various parts, but often lack the skill to discriminate between character and character. At other times the scene changes too rapidly, and the habit of the public personage is scarcely laid aside, when the spirit of it is likewise shifted, and the man discovers that he is merely an actor. Difference of behaviour may undoubtedly be assumed with change of place and of company, without incurring the imputation of hypocrisy: but there is a radical character which the honest man never lays aside, whatever be the season, whatever the situation. He cannot indeed be gay and serious at the same moment: but in the house of mourning he may be sad without sinking into depression, and in the house of feasting he may be cheerful without rising into levity. He can" rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep," without losing the firmness of his mind, or betraying inconsistency of spirit and temper. In truth, if you would be useful to men, you must accommodate yourself, where the rights of conscience do not interfere, to their circumstances, and to the laws of decency and prudence. But where, alas! shall we find the man who is continually on his guard, who in every situation possesses his soul, and governs his spirit, and keeps the door of his lips? In vain we look for such a one among men of like passions with ourselves. But it is not for want of a perfect pattern, in the person of him who in all places, at all seasons, and in every situation approved himself the Son of God and the friend of men. Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus. He hath left us an example that we should follow his steps. Blessed Lord, we will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. We have attended the great Teacher sent from God to the synagogue at Nazareth, and have heard him fulfilling the duties of that gracious office by reading and opening up the Scriptures, and thus producing one species of evidence to the truth of his divine mission, the accomplishment of ancient, well known, and acknowledged prophecies concerning himself, his person, his consecration to the great work which he should come to execute, hang in spirit, as he contemplated the sudden and The period, and the place, and the occasion of Christ's first publie miracle are all specified. It was the third day after the noted conversation that passed between Christ and Nathanael, which is recorded in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. There Jesus gave proof not merely of superior sagacity, but of a knowledge that discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. Nathanael, with all his guileless integrity, laboured under the common prejudice of the day, and had the vulgar proverb in his mouth, Čan there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" He soon received conviction that there could, and that too the best of all things; for while he was yet speaking to This Philip, Christ himself drew nigh to meet will transmit her naine to the latest posthem, and instantly, in the hearing of Na- terity. thanael, pronounced a character of him The occasion was a marriage solemnity. which the searcher of hearts only could have It is an institution of Heaven, nearly as old unfolded; "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in as the creation: it was first celebrated in Pawhom is no guile." Nathanael, justly con-radise; God himself formed the union, prescious of inward rectitude, finds himself at sided over and witnessed the contract, and once reproved and detected. His sarcasm pronounced the nuptial benediction. respecting Nazareth not retorted but disarm- stamps a purity, a dignity, a permanency on ed, by receiving in return the honourable the ordinance, which man is bound highly to appellation of "an Israelite indeed," was a respect. The great Interpreter and Restorer keen reproof to an ingenuous mind; and to of the Law, accordingly, puts honour upon find himself minutely known to a stranger, the institution by his presence and countemust have inspired high respect for that nance, and by contributing to the comfort of stranger, not unmixed with awe. With as- the assembly convened on this happy occatonishment he exclaims, "Whence knowest sion, by the charms of his conversation, and thou me?" The answer completely displays by a seasonable supply of one ingredient in the character of the Nazarene: "Before that a feast: and he afterwards vindicated the Philip called thee, when thou wast under the primitive sanctity of marriage from the irrefig-tree, I saw thee." Here is an eye which gularity and impurity which the hardness of at once penetrates into the heart, and marks the human heart had constrained even a Mominute, external contingent circumstances ses to permit, at least to connive at. "Have even to the species of plant under the shadow ye not read, that he which made them at the of which Nathanael, at a certain moment, beginning, made them male and female; and happened to repose. The "Israelite indeed" said, for this cause shall a man leave father now resigns his prejudices and dismisses his and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and doubts; wonder changes into veneration, they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore "Nathanael answered, and saith unto him, they are no more twain, but one flesh. What, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the therefore, God hath joined together, let no King of Israel:" and thus another respect- man put asunder." able disciple is added to the school of Christ. Let not this be considered as foreign to the subject of the present Lecture. Nathanael was, of course, one of the invited guests to celebrate the marriage at Cana of Galilee. He was there, within three days, to behold another species of demonstration of his Master's divinity, that he might bear witness to it. And it was fit that a man so candid and upright should be furnished with every kind of evidence, which could remove prejudice or subdue infidelity. He is not indeed hereafter mentioned in the gospel history, but it seems highly probable that a person of his description, was specially called to take an active part in propagating the truth as it is in Jesus. Some commentators have supposed him to be the same with Bartholomew, one of the twelve. The place, where the miracle exhibited the glory of the Redeemer, was "Cana of Galilee," perhaps to distinguish it from another city of that name in Celosyria, mentioned by Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities. It was situated in that part of the Holy Land, which in the partition under Joshua, fell by lot to the tribe of Asher; and stood on a river of the same name, which flowed through part of the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim, into the Great Sea. It was hitherto a mere name, or a speck which might casually catch the eye as it wandered over the map of Palestine; but Cana now acquired a celebrity which makes her to rank with the proudest of capitals, from an event which 66 John the Baptist incurred the imputation of being possessed with a devil, because he was a man of more austere manners, and of a more sequestered mode of living; because he "came neither eating bread nor drinking wine." His divine Master, more gentle in deportment, more affable, accessible, and condescending, because he mixed with society, because he came eating and drinking," is by the self-same persons represented as “a gluttonous man, and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." Where there is a disposition to censure, no purity nor prudence can escape. Nothing can please the peevish children in the market-place. If their fellows excite them to dance by the sound of the pipe, they are disposed to look grave and mourn: if their companions are in a serious mood, it is with them a time to dance. You cannot tell where to find them. It is not, at the same time, a mark of wisdom to brave the opinion of the world; but wo be to that man whose conduct has no better regulator than either popular opinion, or the decisions of a self-constituted censor. Christ has by example taught his disciples to seek, and to take opportunities of being useful. whatever construction may be put upon it by malignant observers. "The mother of Jesus was there," apparently, as one of the family, who took an interest in the credit of her relations, and to assist in attending to the comfort and accom modation of the guests; for we find her watching over the expenditure of the pro vision, and devising the means of supply when it should fail. But Jesus and his disciples were among the persons specially invited. As the aim of the evangelist is simply to detail the circumstances relating to the miracle, every thing foreign to this is suppressed. This remark is applicable to the sacred writers in general. They present the leading object in its strongest features, leave it to make its native impression, and pass from it without exclaiming, without parade, without a commentary. On the other hand, where minuteness of description and enumeration is necessary or of importance, all is examined with a microscopic eye, and beauties disclose themselves to closeness of investigation which the careless glance had overlooked. uses the word in speaking to his mother. On an occasion still more tender and interesting, when sovereign love was in its triumph, and dictated every expression; when his cross was surrounded by some of the persons who witnessed the miracle of Cana of Galilee; this conversation took place: "When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." Here was the dying effusion of filial affection: "Woman, behold thy son." "What have I to do with thee." This has an air of severity, and probably was intended to check encroachment. There is a Whether the company had proved more point beyond which parental authority itself numerous than was expected, or whether a must not presume to go. At the age of provision too scanty had been made, but in twelve, excess of maternal solicitude rethe middle of the banquet wine failed. ceived a mild rebuke: "How is it that ye Things which are in themselves, and as far sought me? wist ye not that I must be about as man is concerned, merely contingent, are my Father's business?" Nevertheless "he predisposed and produced by a special in- went down with them" from the temple, terposition of divine Providence, to fulfil "and came to Nazareth, and was subject some valuable purpose. This little awk- unto them." But to the man of thirty even wardness of domestic arrangement furnished a mother must not presume to dictate, or so occasion for a grand display of almighty much as insinuate. The words of the origipower. The deficiency was observed by the nal have by some been differently translated; mother of Jesus, who communicated it to and Jesus is made to say, in reply to his him as simply a remark of her own. But mother's observation, "they have no wine." did not the communication partake of the "What is that to me and thee?" What nature of request, of expectation, of sugges- does it concern us whether there be wine or tion? "They have no wine." Is not this not? Such a question is little in the spirit saying, can nothing be done to save the of Christ, who took a condescending and an credit of the family? They will suffer in affectionate interest in all the infirmities and the estimation of their friends, as too parsi- distresses incident to humanity, and to whom monious at a season of festivity like the pre- nothing could be indifferent which tended to sent. Canst thou find no supply? There promote the comfort of others; and the sequel must, undoubtedly, have been something of plainly shows, that he actually cherished fensive in her meaning or mode of expres- those kind affections, and expressed them in sion, for she meets with a reproof. And the a manner peculiar to himself. It is more mildest censure from such lips is a mark of natural to adopt our common version, condispleasure. As to Nathanael before, so to sistent as it is with the same sense of the Mary now he gives proof that he could read phrase in a variety of other passages. "The in the heart, what had not yet fallen from devils coming out of the tombs exceeding the tongue: "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, fierce," in the country of the Gergesenes, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is exclaim, "What have we to do with thee, not yet come." "Woman:" we are not to Jesus, thou Son of God?" Meaning evidentestimate the spirit and import of this term of ly; "We are afraid of thee; let us alone; address by the refinement of our modern we desire no acquaintance with thee; art ideas and manners. A British female of thou come hither to torment us before the very middling rank would consider herself time?" The seventy interpreters translate as very highly insulted to be thus abruptly the Hebrew idiom in the same phraseology accosted by an equal, from an inferior it and spirit, in a great many passages. Thus would be intolerable, and even in a superior Jephthah addressed the king of Ammon, it would be resented. But it was the appellation by which princes addressed themselves to ladies of the highest rank, and which even slaves employed in speaking to their mistresses, for it marks respect, not familiarity. And we have a demonstration, in the present case, that it could imply nothing harsh or unkind, for it is Jesus who "What hast thou to do with me?" saying plainly, "I wish no intercourse; we can have nothing in common; wherefore should we go to war together?" And thus, not to multiply instances, David said to Abisha, when he proposed to go over, and, in cold blood, to cut off Shimei's head, "What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?" "I us. like not your spirit; I want no such triumph; | auspicious hour, he saw it leading to another let God's will be done: you are taking his and a darker hour, the hour of suffering and work out of his hand, and are deciding hasti- death. The prospect spreads a transient ly when you ought to wait patiently." This cloud over the serenity of his mind, and he is entirely in the spirit of the passage before said: "Now is my soul troubled: and what "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" shall I say? Father, save me from this "Intrude not; prescribe not; I know what hour." Thus far the man of sinless infirmity. is fit for me to do; all my movements are But the cloud passes away, serenity is realready settled." In this view all is of a stored, and the hour of sorrow is lost in conpiece; all breathes the spirit of meekness; templating the glory that should follow, the there is the majesty of Deity, and there is accomplishment of his heavenly Father's the united firmness and mildness of the purpose of mercy, in the redemption of a lost world: "but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name." When his "time was full come" that he should glorify God by his death, with heavenly composure "Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." Thus every step of the Redeemer's progress was weighed, measured, established by an antecedent counsel incapable of being overthrown or of failing. man. His mother, though reproved, is not wholly discouraged. She perceives that whatsoever he did must be done at his own time and in his own way, and therefore enjoins the servants carefully to attend to whatever he should say unto them. If there be any thing like sternness in the question, "What have I to do with thee?" it is sunk in the solemn asseveration concerning himself: "mine hour is not yet come." The hour of a man's birth, of his baptism, of his majority, of his marriage, of his death, is an epoch of singular importance both to himself and others. We measure time, we know its value, and we trifle with it. With an experience of its necessary lapse, and with the certain knowledge that no moment can be responsible for the debt of its predecessor, having enough to do with itself, the thoughtless sons of men will be drawing on a day which they are never to see, and they sport with borrowed property as if it were their own. The wise man, in the face of this reckoning of folly and madness, states the just account of the expenditure and use of time: "There is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." But we look up to Him who is wiser than the wisest, that we may learn to measure time, to un-multiplied these without end; they had ac derstand the value of a day, and to improve the flying hour, which is gone before we are sensible that it has come. "Mine hour is not yet come." It is an expression applied to various events of Christ's life and ministry. When his unbelieving brethren urged him, by way of defiance, to go up to Jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, and there make an open display of his miraculous powers, this was his reply: "My time is not yet come-Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come;" intimating that all his movements and operations were regulated to a moment, and therefore could neither be hurried forward nor retarded. When he did go up to Jerusalem, and taught openly in the temple, though his plainness and fidelity gave much offence, it is remarked that "no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come:" that is, the hour of his apprehension, trial, and condemnation. When the devout Greeks who had come to worship in the temple, desired an interview with him, Jesus said to his disciples; "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified;" meaning the dawn of the gospel day upon the Gentile world. But while he rejoiced in spirit, as he contemplated that The ablutions, at this period, practised among the Jews, were carried to an absurd and superstitious excess. The law had indeed prescribed certain washings, which nature herself points out as conducive to health, cleanliness, and comfort; but tradition had And many quired an authority paramount to that of law, |