The Man of Galilee

Front matter

Book S^^r

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Tb e

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Birth to Baptism S

II. The First Forty Days 17

CHAPTER II Zbe first jfort^ 2>a\)s

We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. — Hebrews 4, 15.

BOW in the fifteenth year of the Luk3 3:M8, reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being Governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God carne unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

And he came into all the country about a Man sent Jordan, preaching ' Eepent ye : for the j™™^ ° d * kingdom of heaven is at hand.' As it is written in the book of the words of Malt * 3:2 - Esaias the prophet, saying,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

Make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

And every mountain and hill shall be brought

low; And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough ways shall be made smooth ; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, ' generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees : every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.' And the people asked him, saying, * What shall we do then ? ' He answereth and saith unto them, l He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.' Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, * Master, what shall we do ? ' And he said unto them, * Exact no more than that which is appointed you.' And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, ' And what shall we do ? ' And he said unto them, i Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely ; and be content with your wages/ And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, * I indeed baptize you with water ; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose : he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire : Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner ; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable/ And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.

Matt. 3: 13-17. Then cometh Jesus ^m Galilee to

Jordan unto John, to be? baptized of him.

But John forbad him, saying, ' I have need to be

THE FIRST FORTY DAYS 19

baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ?' He humbled And Jesus answering him said unto him {Jecom^ng 11 Suffer it to be so now : for thus it obedient, becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. " PhlL3:8 - Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when <<And he was baptized, went up straightway out praying." of the water : and, lo, the heavens were ue ' opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him : And lo a voice from heaven saying,

This is my beloved Son,

In whom I am well pleased.

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the He is' able devil. And when he had fasted forty them C r C hat r days and forty nights, he was after- ar« tempetd. ward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, ' Ifthou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread/ But he answered and said, "it is written, _ Deut.8:3.

Man shall not live by bread alone,

But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, ' If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down : for it is Psa - 91: VL 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 said unto him, " It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Deut,6: 13 * thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; And saith unto him, ' All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship

Deut. 6 : 13. me< > Then gaith j esug unto him> „ q ej .

thee hence, Satan : for it is written,

Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, And him only shalt thou serve."

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angela came and ministered unto him.

John l • 15-51 J° nn bare witness of him, and cried, John came saying, ' This was he of whom I spake, So/mi 1 ? 1 ? 688, He that cometh after me is preferred before me : for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.'

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 1 Who art thou ? ' And he confessed, and denied not ; but confessed, ' I am not the Christ.' And they asked him, 'What then? Art thou Elias ? ' And he saith, 1 1 am not.' Art thou that prophet ? ' And he answered, ' No/ Then said they unto him, ' Who art thou ? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself ? ' He said, ' I am the voice of one isa.40:3. crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.' And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, ■ Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet ? ' John answered

THE FIRST FORTY DAYS SI

them, saying, 1 1 baptize with water : but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not ; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latent t I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, ' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me : for he was before me. And I knew him not : but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water/

And John bare record, saying, * I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God/

Chapter III

The very hail's of your head are all numbered.

HGAIN the next day after John stood, John l: 33-01, and two of his disciples; and look* 1 mauling upon Jesus as he walked, n e |me.' thy he saith, 'Behold the Lamb Johni7:6. of God!' And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, " What seek ye ? " They said unto him, c Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest thou?' He saith unto them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day : for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, ' We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.' And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, "Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas," which is, by interpretation, a stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, "Follow me."

Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew

24 THE MAN OP GALILEE

and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, * We have found him, of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph/ And Nathanael said unto him, i Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? ' Philip saith unto him, * Come and see/

Jesus saw Nathaneal, coming to him, and saith of him, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! " Nathanael saith unto him, * Whence knowest thou me ? ' Jesus answered and said unto him, " Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee/' Nathanael answered and saith unto him, ' Eabbi, thou art tho Son of God; thou art the King of Israel/ Jesus answered and said unto him, " Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these." And he saith unto him, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man/'

John 2 • ^ n ^ ^ e *kird ^ a y ^ nere was a

°i-i2. * marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the We beheld mother of Jesus was there ; and both His glory. Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, ' They have no wine/ Jesus saith unto her, " Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." His mother saith unto the servants, i Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it/ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, " Fill the waterpots with water/' And they filled them up to the brim. An^

THE FIRST MINISTRY 25

he saith unto them, u 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.

After this he went down to Capernaum he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in John2:13 « the temple those that sold oxen and a house of sheep and doves, and the changers of pr ** e Jj. r money sitting : and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured oufc the changers' money, and overthrew the tables ; and said unto them that sold doves, 11 Take these things hence ; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

Then answered the Jews and said unto him, 1 What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things ? ' Jesus answered and said unto them, " Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." Then said the Jews, * Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days ? ' But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them ; and they believed the scripture, £nd the words which Jesus had said.

x^ow when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew ail men, and needed not that any should testify of fBQan : for he knew what was in man. There was a iohn 3: 1-22. man °f ^ ne Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : The same came to Not many Jesus by night, and said unto him, called. ' Eabbi, we know that thou art a teacher

l Cor. i:26. come f rom God : for no man can do

these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus saith unto him, ' How can a man be born when he is old ? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born ? ' Jesus answered, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he canuot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said unto him, ' How can these things be ? Jesus answered and said unto him, "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things ? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. If I

THE FIRST MINISTRY 27

have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things ? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the bon of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, Herein is but have everlasting life. For God l0 ™* 4 . 10 sent not his Son in the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither comet h to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

After these things came Jesus and His L ay i n rf a disciples into the land of Judaea ; and there Foundation. He tarried with them, and baptized. And Hebrews6 : i# John also was baptizing in iEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there : and they came and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John and said unto him, 'Eabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.' John answered and said, ■ A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom rejoiceth, which standeth and heareth him, greatly because of the bridegroom's voice : this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.'

He that cometh from above is above all : he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth : he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no man receiveth his testimony. He ihat hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the the w T ords of God : for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

When therefore the Lord knew how the witness in Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and Samaria, baptized more disciples than John (though Acts i : s. j esug Himself baptized not, but His disciples), He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And He must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh He to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well : and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water : Jesus saith unto her, " Give me to drink." (For His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat). Then saith the woman of

THE FIRST MINISTRY 29

Samaria unto Him, 'How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria ? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans/ Jesus answered and said unto her, 11 If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living w T ater." The woman saith unto Him, ■ Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep : from whence then hast Thou that living water? Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, which gav6 us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle ? Jesus answered and said unto her, " Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again : But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The woman saith unto Him, ' Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw/ Jesus saith unto her, " Go, call thy husband, and come hither/' The woman answered and said, ' I have no husband/ Jesus said unto her, " Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands ; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly/' The woman saith unto Him, ' Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship/ Jesus saith unto her, " Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what : we know what we worship : for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit :

and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. " The woman saith unto Him, 'I know that Messias coineth, which is called Christ : when He is come, He will tell us all things.' Jesus saith unto her, " I that speak unto thee am He,"

And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman : yet no man said, What seeketh thou? or, Why talketh thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, * Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ ? ' Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, ' Master, eat.' But he said unto them, " I have meat to eat that ye know not of." Therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat ? Jesus saith unto them, " My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are white already to harvest And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal : that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice* together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour : other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours." Joy in And many of the Samaritans of that

that city, city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them : and he" abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word;

THE FIRST MINISTRY 31

and said unto the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. 1 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. e ' 14, For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour is his own country. Then when he was come into Galilee, the .Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast : for they also went unto Luke i . 15# the feast. And He taught in their synagogues being glorified of all.

So Jesus came again into Cana of He went Galilee, where he made the water wine, about doing And there was a certain nobleman, whose §°° d }0 : 55 son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judoaa into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son : for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, ''Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." The nobleman saith unto him, ■ Sir, come down ere my child die.' Jesus saith unto him, "Go thy way ; thy son liveth." And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, 'Thy son liveth/ Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, 'Yesterday at the seventh hoar the fever left him/ so the father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto hrr>, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

Luke3- 19-20 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved ' by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for aU ibe evils which Herod had done, added yet this above aii, that he shut up John in prison.

V

CHAPTER IV Gbe Mountain flMnistr\>; or, £be fIDaster witb fIDen

HND he came to Nazareth, where Luke 4 . he had been brought up : and, 16-32. * as his custom was, he went into Behold my the synagogue on the sabbath Servant, day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he hath anointed me to preach the

gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to

preach deliverance to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, " This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, ' Is not this Joseph's son ? ' And he said unto them, " Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself : whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country." And he said, " Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land ; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elias the prophet ; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. " And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led nim unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Matt. 4: Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he 13 - 16 ' came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim : That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

The land of Zabulon, and the land of

Nephthalim, The way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles ; The people which sat in darkness Saw great light ; And to them which sat in the region and

shadow of death Light is sprung up.

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, " Repent : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Lukes: ^ n ^ ** came to pass, that, as the 1-11. * people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of l

Gennesaret, and saw two ships stand- a-flsnin*.

ing by the lake : but the fishermen were John 21:3%

gone out of them, and were washing their nets.