The life of Jesus Christ; embracing the entire gospel narrative, embodying the teachings and the miracles of Our Saviour, together with the history of His foundation of the Christian church

Front matter

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W v • •ii?

This Child is set up for the Fall and Resurrection of Many in Israei

Preface

THIS work is a contribution to the devotional study of our Redeemer's teaching and example. It engaged the author's best thoughts and endeavors during several years. It is hoped that it may help the Catholic reader to a more vivid appreciation of our Lord's life and doctrine ; its main purpose is to move hearts to love Him fervently. Perhaps He may bestow a blessing upon this humble offering ; for though in itself of little enough value, yet it is given with all the love of which the author is capable.

And he trusts that this Life has some special features which will recommend it. One of these is that it contains the entire Gospel history, omitting only strictly verbal repetitions. The reader will thus have the four-fold narrative of the inspired authors blended together into the continuous account of our Saviour's career from first to last, together with such passages from the other books of the New Testament as furnish additional testimony.

This portion of the work is, for the most part, ruled off separately from the text ; and the writer hopes that it will always be read, piece by piece, and very carefully, as a preliminary to each chapter. To help the reader to understand and appreii PREFACE.

ciate this divine narrative has been the author's only purpose. He has closely followed the most generally used Catholic versions, and on disputed points has adhered to the more commonly accepted views.

Another advantage is in the use made of tW modern art of pictorial illustration. The book is full of pictures, so numerous and so carefully selected as to make a Life of Christ by themselves. The publishers have been aided in this by skilful artists,* and certainly have reproduced those contributions of Christian art most helpful to a devout realization of our Redeemer's mission. This book is intended to be the religious photographic album of the Catholic household.

It is hardly necessary to add that the Life, besides giving our Saviour's history, affirms and briefly proves the doctrines He taught and delivered to His Church, whose divine authority, whose sacraments, and whose incorporation into a living body are all fully explained.

Of course there is not, nor could there be, any claim to originality in this work. Readers acquainted with Le Camus's beautiful Vie de Jisus will, perhaps, notice the influence of the earlier chapters of that inspiring writer. The author acknowledges his debt to him, and also to other Catholic biographers of our Lord.

* Especially by Rev. P. J. McCorry, C.S.P., to whose artistic skill and taste we are mainly indebted for the illustrations.

COIsT'TEIsrrS.

Introduction

OUR SAVIOUR'S PEOPLE AND COUNTRY.

PAGE

Palestine and the Children of Israel, I

Jerusalem and Judea, . 4

The Perea and the Transjordan, 8

Samaria, 9

Galilee, 10

The Pharisees and Sadducees, 12

The Synagogues and the Sanhedrin, 14

The Roman Power in Palestine, 15

The Hope of Israel, 18

The Writings which tell of Jesus, 19

Book I. The Hidden Life Of Jesus

[APTER PAGE

I. The Miraculous Conception of John the Baptist, 41 II. The Birth and Circumcision of John — The Canticle of Zachary,

III. The Divine Origin of Jesus Christ,

IV. The Descent of Jesus according to the Flesh, V. Mary of Nazareth and Joseph her espoused

Husband,

VI. The Son of God becomes Man, . VII. Mary's Visit to Elizabeth— The Magnificat, VIII. The Marriage of Mary and Joseph, IX. Jesus is born at Bethlehem, X. The Child Jesus is Circumcised, . XI. The Adoration of the Magi, XII. The Child Jesus is Presented in the Temple —

Simeon, and Anna the Prophetess, . XIII. The Flight into Egypt— The Slaughter of the

Innocents — The Return to Nazareth, . . 96

" XIV. The Childhood of Jesus, 102

XV. The Child Jesus among the Doctors of the Law, 107 XVI. The Hidden Life at Nazareth, . . . ,113

Book II. The Public Life Of Jesus

I. John the Baptist prepares the Way for Jesus, . 121 II. The Baptism of Jesus — "Thou art My Beloved

III. The Preparation in the Desert, .... 133

IV. The Temptation, 139

V. John the Baptist and the Chief Priests— " Behold the Lamb of God ! " 145

VI. Jesus chooses Disciples, . . . . . 151

VII. The Wedding at Cana, 156

VIII. Jesus returns to Jerusalem and Expels the Traffickers from the Temple — He proclaims His

Authority, 161

IX. Jesus begins to Teach in Jerusalem — The Interview with Nicodemus, ..... 166 X. Teaching in the Country-places — Final Witness

of John, 173

XI. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist — Jesus

and the Samaritan Woman, .... 175 XII. The Harvest and the Reapers, . . . .182

XIII. The Return to Galilee— The Healing of the

Ruler's Son, 184

XIV. At Nazareth, 186

XV. Capharnaum — "I will make you Fishers of

XVI. Vanquishing an unclean Spirit — Healing Simon's Wife's Mother — All Galilee is Evangelized, 193

XVII. Teaching from Peter's Barque — The Miraculous

Draught of Fishes, 202

XVIII. The Cleansing of a Leper, 205

XIX. Jesus returns to Capharnaum— Cure of the Paralytic, and the consequent Dispute with

the Pharisees, 208

XX. Matthew the Publican— The Time for Fasting

and the Time for Feasting, . . . .212 XXI. The Woman Cured of an Issue of Blood— The

Raising to Life of the Daughter of Jairus, . 217

CONTENTS. v

XXII. The final Calling of the Twelve Apostles, . . 223

XXIII. The Sermon on the Mount, . . . 230-252

XXIV. Healing the Centurion's Servant— The Two

Blind Men— The Dumb Devil, .... 253 XXV. The Miracle at the Probatic Pool— Sabbath-

breaking — Jesus asserts His Divinity, . . 256 XXVI. Plucking the Bars of Wheat on the Sabbath- Healing the Man with the Withered Hand — Conspiracy between the Pharisees and Hero-

dians, 264

XXVII. The great Miracle of Nairn, .... 269 XXVIII. The Messengers of St. John the Baptist, . . 272

XXIX. The Magdalen at the Banquet 276

XXX. At Nazareth again, 281

XXXI. Evangelizing Galilee — The Devout Women who

ministered to Jesus, 283

XXXII. The sending forth of the Twelve Apostles— The

Apostolic Virtues, 287

XXXIII. The Opposition of the Pharisees— The Blind

and Dumb Devil — Christ and Beelzebub — " Blessed is the Womb that bore Thee "—The Mother of Jesus and His Brethren, . . . 294

XXXIV. Teaching by Parables— The Sower— The Candle

—The Mustard-seed— The Leaven— The Cockle —The Hidden Treasure— The Pearl of Great Price — The Net — New Things and Old, . . 303 XXXV. The Stilling of the Tempest— The Legion of

Devils and the Herd of Swine, . . . 314

XXXVI. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist— His

Martyrdom, . 319

XXXVII. Jesus Multiplies the Loaves and Fishes — He

Walks upon the Water, 324

XXXVIII. The Bread of Life, 331

XXXIX. Many Disciples go back from Jesus on account

of the Doctrine of the Eucharist, . . . 339 XL. Eating with Unwashed Hands — Inward and

Outward Defilement, 342

XLI. The Syro-Phcenician Woman, .... 346 XLH. In the Decapolis — Healing the Deaf and Dumb Man — Second Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, 349 ri CONTENTS.

XLIII. 'The Pharisees again Demand a Sign in the Heavens — " Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees " — The Blind Man at Bethsaida, . 352

XLIV. "Thou art Peter," 356

XLV. Jesus Foretells His Death, 361

XL VI. The Transfiguration 364

XLVIL The Lunatic Boy, 369

XLVIII. The Passion again Foretold — Jesus and the Payment of the Tax — The Dispute about Precedence, 372

XLJX. The Sin of Scandal— The Guardian Angels—

The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep, . 378

L. Fraternal Correction — " If He will not hear the

Church "—The Wicked Servant, . . .382 LI. Farewell to Galilee — " Woe to thee, Corozain ! " 385 LII. The Journey from Galilee to Jerusalem — "Fire from Heaven " — " The Son of Man hath not where to lay His Head " — ' ' Let the Dead bury their Dead " — " Looking Back, " . . . 390 LIH. Jesus in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles —

He Teaches His Divine Mission, '. . . 393 LIV. Jesus offers the Waters of Life— The Attempt to

Apprehend Him in the Temple, . . . 397

LV. The Woman taken in Adultery, . . . 401

LVI. Jesus the Light of the World, . . . .405

LVII. "You shall Die in your Sins" — Jesus Teaches

true Freedom — The Secret of Life—" Before

Abraham was Made, I Am," .... 407

LVIII. The Man born Blind, 415

LIX. Contention with the Pharisees about the Restoration to Sight of the Man born Blind, . . 417 LX. The Shepherd and the Sheep, .... 420 LXI. "lam the Good Shepherd," .... 425

LXII. The Good Samaritan, 428

LXIII. Mary and Martha, 431

LXIV. Jesus Teaches His Disciples how to Pray — The

Lord's Pra3 7 er, 435

LX V. The Watchful Servants— The Thief in the Night, 444 LXVI. Jesus at the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple—He again Teaches that He is God, . . 447 LXVn. Hypocrisy— " Woe to you Pharisees ! " . . 452

CONTENTS. vii

LXVIII. "Who hath appointed Me Judge or Divider

over you ? ' ' — Covetousness, .... 458 LXIX. Healing the Infirm Woman on the Sabbath Day

— The Dropsical Man 460

LXX. First Places at Table— The Great Supper:

"Compel them to Come In," .... 461 LXXI. The Chosen Few— The Slaughter of the Galileans and the Falling of the Tower of Siloe, . 464 LXXII. " Why Cumbereth it the Ground ?" . . . 468 LXXIII. " This Man began to Build and was not able to

Finish," 469

LXXIV. Jesus is Warned against Herod, .... 472 LXXV. Lessons of Mercy— The lost Groat— The Prodigal Son, 473

LXXVI. The Unjust Steward, 477

LXX VII. Dives and Lazarus, 481

LXX VIII. Lessons in Humility — The Pharisee and the

Publican, 484

LXXIX. The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead, . . 486 LXXX. " It is expedient that one Man should Die for

the People," 492

LXXXI. The Unjust Judge who heard the Widow's

Prayer, 495

LXXXII. The Sending of the Seventy-two Disciples, . 497

LXXXIII. "Where are the Nine?" 501

LXXXIV. The Laborers hired at the Eleventh Hour, . 502 LXXXV. Riches and Poverty, and Christian Perfection, . 506 LXXX VI. The Hundred-fold in this Life and Life Everlasting Hereafter, ...... 509

LXXXVII. The Sacrament of Matrimony, . . . .511

LXXXVIII. Christian Virginity and Celibacy— Jesus and

Little Children, 517

Book III. The Passion And Death Of Jesus

I. " Behold we go up to Jerusalem," II. The Ambition of the Sons of Zebedee,

III. The Blind Man at the Gate of Jericho,

IV. Zacheus the Publican, V. The Parable of the Ten Pounds,

523 526

▼Hi CONTENTS.

VI. "Six Days before the Passover," . . . 540 VII. Mary Magdalen anoints Jesus, .... 542

VIII. The Procession of Palms, 547

IX. Christ Weeps over Jerusalem, .... 553 X. Jesus and the Barren Fig-tree, .... 556 XI. "Unless the Grain of Wheat falling into the Ground shall die " — The Voice from Heaven : " That you may be the Children of Light," . 558 XII. The Temple again Purged of Buyers and Sellers — "By what Authority dost thou these things?" 561

XIII. The Parable of the Two Sons, . . . .565

XIV. The Parables of the Wicked Husbandmen and

of the King's Supper, 566

XV. The Relation of Church and State, . . .569 XVI. "They shall neither Marry nor be Married," . 571 XVII. The Great Commandment— " What think you

of Christ?" 575

XVIII. "The Scribes and Pharisees have sitten on the Chair of Moses " — "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees" — The Widow's Mite, . . . 578 XIX. The Unbelief of the Pharisees— The Union of

the Messias with His Eternal Father, . . 585 XX. The Terrible Prophecy of the Destruction of the

City and the End of the World, . . .588 XXI. The Prophecy of the End further enforced and

XXII. Personal Application of the Vision of Judgment, 596

XXIII. The Wise and Foolish Virgins— Faithful and

Slothful Servants, 598

XXIV. The Last Judgment, 601

XXV. Jesus prepares for his Last Supper, and the

Chief Priests make a Bargain with Judas, . 603

XXVI. Jesus Celebrates the Jewish Passover, . . 607

XXVII. Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet, . . . 610

XXVIII. "Is it I, Lord?" 613

XXIX. The Beginning of the Last Discourse— The Denial of Peter foretold — Strife for Pre-eminence, 617 XXX. The Last Discourse continued : " I have Prayed for Thee" — Second Prediction of Peter's Denial — The Incident of the Two Swords, . .621

CONTENTS. ix

XXXI. The Last Discourse continued : "I am the

Way, the Truth, and the Life," . . .623 XXXII. The Last Discourse continued : Jesus Discourses of the Holy Spirit — How the Father and the Son and the Spirit dwell in the Church and in the Soul of each Christian, . 625

XXXIII. The Holy Eucharist, 630

XXXIV. Jesus resumes His Discourse : Union with Him

is the Condition of all Spiritual Life — The Identity of Joy and Love and Obedience — " Love one Another, as I have Loved You " — The Witness of the Spirit, . 633

XXXV. The Last Discourse is concluded : Jesus Foretells Persecution — Renewed Promise of the Holy Ghost — Sorrow shall be turned into Joy, 637 XXXVI. Jesus Prays for His Church, . . . .641

XXXVII. Jesus begins His Passion, 645

XXXVIII. The Agony in the Garden, 648

XXXIX. Jesus is Betrayed with a Kiss, .... 656 XL. The Resistance of the Apostles and their Flight, 658 XLI. Jesus is led before Annas and Caiphas — The Denial of Peter 660

XLH. The First Trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin—

Third Denial of Peter, 664

XLHI. The Terrible Night of Holy Thursday, . . 669

XLIV. Jesus before the Sanhedrin, .... 670

XLV. The Despair of Judas and his Suicide, . . 672

XL VI. Jesus before Pilate, 674

XL VII. " Art Thou King of the Jews? " . . .677 XL VIII. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, . . . .680 XLIX. ' ' Barabbas or Jesus ? ' '—Pilate's Wife's Dream—

" Crucify Him ! " 684

L. Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns —

" Behold the Man ! " 688

LI. Pilate's final Struggle — The Death-sentence, . 691

LH. The Way of the Cross, 694

LIU. The Crucifixion— The Inscription— " Father,

Forgive Them ! " 698

LIV. The Triumph of the Conspirators— The Good

Thief— "Woman, behold thy Son!" . . 702

CONTENTS.

LV. The Death of Jesus, 708

LVI. After the Crucifixion, 713

I, VII. The Burial of Jesus, 717

Book IV. The Resurrection

I. The Resurrection — The Empty Sepulchre, . 723 II. The Apparition of Jesus to Mary Magdalen, . 729

III. The Apparition of Jesus to the Holy Women —

How the Chief Priests explained the Resurrection, 73a

IV. Jesus Appears to Peter ; and to Two Disciples

on the Road to Emmaus, ..... 736 V. "Whose Sins you shall Forgive, they are Forgiven Them" — The Profession of Faith by

Thomas, 739

VI. Jesus Appears to Seven Apostles at the Sea of

Tiberias — The Primacy of Peter, . . . 743 VII. Jesus Appears to a great Multitude on a Mountain in Galilee — Apparition to St. James — The Commission of the Teaching Church, . . 751 VIII. Jesus Ascends into Heaven, .... 754 IX. The Election of Matthias— The Descent of the Holy Ghost— The First Preaching of the Apostles, 760

Epilogue

JESUS CHRIST IS GOD.

"Ye shall be as Gods," i

" Lo, this is our God : We have waited for Him !" . . vii

" My Lord and my God ! " x

" I am the Light of the World," xiv

" I know Mine and Mine know Me" xix

INTRODUCTION.

Our Saviour's People and Country,

PALESTINE AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

Palestine, primitively known as Chanaan, then Israel and Judea, is for the most part an extended and picturesque valley considerably elevated above sea level. Embosomed between two mountain chains, it is traversed from end to end by a single water- course, the far-famed river Jordan, which, rising at the foot of Mount Hermon, flows directly south, broadening in its northerly portion into the charming Lake of Genesareth (otherwise called the Sea of Tiberias), and ending in the bitter waters of the Dead Sea. Between these two lakes the river flows in many turns, over shifting sands and among reeds and weeds, as if sadly conscious of bearing its bright waters to the cauldron of death, falling into the Dead Sea as if it were its grave. It is in reality the grave of Sodom and Gomorrha, once flourishing cities whose destruction seems still to be commemorated by bubbles of poisonous gas rising to the surface like the belchings of the volcanic giant after his feast.

Chosen from the beginning as the scene of God's sojourn among men, Palestine is the meeting-point of the three grand divisions of the ancient world, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is the geographical centre, as it was destined to become the religious heart of ancient civilization. Upon the banks of its holy river and its lakes, and over its plains and hill-sides, dwelt in our Saviour's time a little nation highly favored by God. It was indeed broken and conquered, but it still stood erect clasping to its bosom the sacred deposit of divine truth confided to its ancestors many ages before. At the coming of Christ Israel was reduced to a population of not more than three or four millions, its former military glory, together with political independence, departed for ever. Yet in the whole wide world it alone preserved the knowledge of the true God, one, infinite, eternal, the Creator and Judge of men. It was, withal, a race of hard heart and stiff neck, but yet the only one which had the law of God. This was written upon the pages of the national constitution and graven upon the living tablets of the people's hearts. Among all other nations the idea of God was almost wholly effaced from men's souls, or rather every forceful man was worshipped as God, every portentous element of nature, every good and evil passion. Outside of Palestine everything was God except the true God.

This elect race was descended from Abraham the patriarch through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, or Israel. To each of these three, during the adventurous wanderings which made up their lives, God had repeatedly promised this land as the peculiar possession of their posterity. They, descendants of

PALESTINE AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, the twelve sons of Jacob, were led to it by their great lawgiver, Moses, after suffering a very long captivity in Egypt. During their journey across the desert of Arabia the children of Israel were favored by the divine interposition in most miraculous ways, until they were securely settled in this land of promise. It was "a land flowing with milk and honey," but its fruitfulness was conditioned upon the people's fidelity to God, for naturally it is subject to frequent visitations of drought. While the Israelites were true to God the soil was fruitful, and when they turned to false gods the hot wind of the desert blasted their fields and pastures. It was the divine purpose to compel the Jews to keep alive the fire of His true worship as in a carefully guarded sanctuary, until in the fulness of time it should be brought forth to illumine the whole world.

The location was well chosen : on one side was the sea-coast almost entirely without good harbors, and on the other frontiers were bleak deserts or rugged mountains.

The Israelites could easily hold their own against the neighboring pagan nations, and ever did so except when God delivered them into the hands of their enemies in punishment or their sins. This little family of the Lord by His special providence in their location, their warlike ardor, the racial and social rules of the law of Moses, and the constant interference of His strong right arm, preserved the wells of moses.

their strikingly peculiar traits of character and perpetuated their ancestral traditions of the true religion. The twelve tribes of Israel had at one era of their history become a powerful nation, whose golden age was under the kingship of David and his son Solomon. Afterwards it was broken into two separate and usually antagonistic kingdoms : that of Juda, embracing the tribe of that name and the tribe of Benjamin, whose capital was Jerusalem ; and that of Israel, composed of the other ten tribes. Many most important political changes afterwards took place, chief among them the long captivity of nearly the entire people in Babylon, the domination of Alexander the Great and his successors, and the wars of independence under the Machabees. Rome had conquered the country some sixty years prior to the birth of Christ, at which date it was a province of the vast empire ruled by Caesar Augustus. It was divided into four parts : Jerusalem was the seat of government for the whole province, with Judea for its immediate jurisdiction; Samaria, lying north of Judea, was another legal division ; yet further north was Galilee ; the nearer region beyond the Jordan was called the Perea.

JERUSALEM AND JUDEA.

Jerusalem, otherwise called Sion (perhaps the Salem of Melchisedech), was the centre of the Jewish religion. Wherever scattered, the hearts of the people yearned for Sion, the City of God, the site of His holy Temple. Happy the day when the weary pilgrim entered its gate to offer his prayers at the one spot on the whole earth in which God had commanded sacrifice to be offered to His sovereign majesty, and where He most lovingly listened to the prayers of His people — happier still the Jew who always dwelt in the

JERUSALEM AND JUDEA.

sacred atmosphere of the Holy City. Every earnest Israelite trusted most firmly that this city was in God's own time, now close at hand, to fulfil the forebodings of the Roman soothsayers and conquer the world. Few of them, however, were willing to believe that this conquest would not be one of violence, but rather (according to the meaning of the city's name, the City of Peace) a moral and religious revolution as meek as it would be irresistible.

The city was divided into three parts, or rather three hills : to the west and south Mount Sion ; to the east Mount Moriah, crowned by the Temple ; and the northern and most inhabited section, called Acra. The place was strongly fortified, being surrounded by frowning walls overlooking, in most parts, deep ravines, and garnished with beetling towers. At the time of Christ there were one hundred and fifty thousand residents, a population enormously increased at various seasons by the great throngs of Jewish pilgrims from all over the world, drawn by the festivals of their religion.

Although its ancient glory had departed, Jerusalem was a great and splendid city. Among its gorgeous palaces was that of King Herod the Great, standing on the northern slope of Mount Sion and adorned with a profusion of silver and gold and costly marbles. At the northern border was the magnificent tower called Antonia, once the abode of the heroic Machabees. It was now the fortress of the Roman garrison and dominated the whole city.

THE GATE OF THE HOLY CITY,

LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.

In it the governor of the coun-

LAMPS IN THE TEMPLE.

try was like the prison physician holding the pulse of the criminal under torture and watching the limits of his endurance. But palaces and fortresses and governors and soldiers could not take from Jerusalem its true character : it was the Holy City. Everything gave place to religion, not only in the general seeming of things ^^zm' but in the souls of the citizens and the multitudes of pilgrims.

Jerusalem was crowned by the Temple of Jehovah, and Jehovah was uppermost in -the thoughts and affections of the people, however wildly and even | erroneously directed. Although the people of Israel were politically enslaved, yet experience had shown even the resistless Romans how dangerous it was to tamper with their faith. An | insult to the house of God or to the venerable rites of His worship transformed them into a nation of martyrs.

The Temple — to the Jews the point of union between earth and heaven — was, says Josephus, of such dazzling beauty that from a distance it looked like a mass of snow sparkling in the sunlight. It was built of marble, and its interior was overlaid with plates of gold. The exterior was enclosed by a majestic colonnade forming the outer court, that of the Gentile converts ; a railing bearing I^atin and Greek inscriptions barred their entrance to a second and more elevated court, in which worshipped the children of Abraham, the women being railed off from the more honorable place of the men.

JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. 7

Within this again, and raised still higher, was a court reserved exclusively for the priests and Levites, and sacred to the celebration of the sacrifices. Finally, there was the very sanctuary of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, quite hidden by the sacred veil, and whose precincts were trodden by the High-Priest alone.

To the north and east of the capital were many memorials of Israel's glory; Jericho, which had fallen at the sound of the Levites' trumpets, now embowered in palm-trees and roses ; many ancient battle-fields of the long Philistine wars — the scenes of Samson's victories, of David's conquest of Goliath, of the call of the father of the Machabees to the last successful war of liberation, and the final era of Israel's national independence. To the south was Bethlehem and the tomb of Rachel, and the field of Booz, in which Ruth, our Saviour's ancestress, had gleaned after the reapers and won her husband. But greater than all was Bethlehem itself. It was the city of David, and was foretold by Amos and other prophets as the birthplace of the promised Messias so often spoken of and saluted by the patriarchs, whose sacred ashes reposed in their rocky cells at Hebron, not far to the southward. Upon Bethlehem the eyes of all Israel were often turned in expectation of their Redeemer.

An austere sect called Bssenes lived in a kind of community life near the Dead Sea. They renounced marriage, mortified the flesh with extreme severity, and practised every hardship known to the ascetics. But they were, it seems,

A-TheHoJy

B. The Holy Place.

■C. The Aitar of Bumi-offeitg*

D The brazen Lavef

L The pate Bduuful.

J. The court of the Gentllea.

LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.

fatally tainted with oriental dualism, making evil a principle independent of good and identifying it with all material and physical existence ; hence their asceticism. They differed in this from the Jewish Nazarites, who renounced all things from the truest motives and had ever been the mainstay of orthodox Judaism.

THE PEREA AND THE TRANSJORDAN.

Across the Jordan, the country stretching away east and north almost to the gates of Damascus was only in part a division of the Holy Land. It was roamed over by wild and scattered tribes, forefathers of the freebooting Bedouins of our own times, who had no share in the religious convulsions which we are going to narrate. To the Jews these people were like a thorny wilderness enclosing a fruitful vineyard. Exception, however, must be made in favor of the region just east of the river lying between the Lake of Genesareth and the Dead Sea, and called the Perea. In spite of a sprinkling of pagans, its inhabitants were Israelites, fervent in their observance of the law of Moses. Their country was the land of Galaad, the native land of mighty Elias the Thesbite.

Through the mountain passes of the Perea the twelve tribes had come out of the desert to the banks of the Jordan, and it had been assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad as their portion of Israel's heritage — a stalwart people, ever ready to change the shepherd's crook for the Bedouin's lance in defence gate of Damascus. of the nation or of its God

THE PEREA, TRANSJORDAN, AND SAMARIA, g

Jehovah. There, too, in Mount Phogor, the heathen Balaam, having come out to curse the hosts of Israel, was forced by the Lord to bless them. Mount Nebo, also, was there, from whose summit Moses had rejoiced in the blessed sight of the Land of Promise, and seemed still to watch over the people of God and to renew the prophecy of a Saviour.

SAMARIA.

West of the Jordan, and bounded north and south by Galilee and Judea, was a little country called Samaria. Its people professed the Mosaic law, but were completely severed from the Jews, who hated them worse than swine-flesh and rated them lower than the heathen. BEDOUIN SHEPHERD BOY -

They were of mingled Hebrew and pagan blood, being remnants of the original Israelites of the region who escaped the Babylonian captivity, but who were absorbed into Assyrian colonies planted among the hills of Ephraim. The Samaritans gave back hate for hate. Masters of the best route from Galilee to Jerusalem, they molested the pilgrims on their journeys to and from the Holy City, often forcing them to take the roundabout way beyond the Jordan. Secretly they penetrated into the Temple and polluted the holy places ; they had a rival temple on Mount Garizim, in which ministered a schismatical priesthood. They rejected many books of the Hebrew Scriptures, holding only to the Pentateuch, of which they claimed to have the only genuine version. Mongrel in race, they were also mixed in religion ; for if they adored Jehovah, they also honored the pagan gods — midway, as our Saviour placed them, between