Life-scenes from the four Gospels

Front matter

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4 o

4 o ve"«v fc.

Chapter 1

At the Jordan. — John baptizing. The river described. Peculiar significance in this baptism of Jews. Expectation among other nations as welt as in Judea,that a great Conqueror was, at that time, to appear. Circumstances to give it peculiar interest now. Acts of Pilate, 17-22

Chapter II

At the Jordan. — People flocking to the baptisms. The Jewish hopes of universal conquest not to be considered as extravagant. John's appearance. His annunciations draw closer attention to the prophecies. The result. Christ at the Jordan. Suggestions concerning his personal appearance, . , . . 22-34

Chapter III

The Wilderness of Judea. — Description of it. The Messiah led there to be tempted. The intermingling of the supernatural with natural. Our proper position regarding such things, ' 34-39

CHAPTER IY.

At the Jordan. — The deputation to John from the Sanhedrim. The Pharisees and Sadducees described. John is questioned, and his replies, . . . 39-50

CHAPTER Y.

Condition of Palestine. — That country central, and yet singularly isolated. History. Judea finally becomes a Roman province, , . . . .50-62

CHAPTER YI.

Jewish Manners and Customs, — Great religions changes wrought by the captivity. Dress. Manners. Education, 62-73

XII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

Festivals.-- Not so burdensome as they appear to us. How they journeyed to them. Overclouding of the Jewish mind. 1 he oral law and its power, . . 73—96

CHAPTER VIII.

Jost, a Modern Jewish Historian. — His views of that period : of the Baptist : of Christ, . . , 96-106

CHAPTER IX.

Galilee, Cana.— Agricultural weal'th and populousness of Galilee. The wedding at Cana, . . . 106-113

CHAPTER X.

TJie Temple. — The first, second, and third temples. The last described : recent explorations beneath, . 113-126

CHAPTER XL

Tlie Temple Cleansed. Nicodemus. — Abuses at the temple and" the scenes they occasioned. Christ corrects the evil. Night-visit from Nicodemus. John imprisoned, 126-137

CHAPTER XII.

In Samaria and Galilee. — Jesu3 passes through Samaria. Claims the Messiahship. Goes thence to Cana. Cures a nobleman's son, .... 137-141

CHAPTER XIII.

At Nazareth — Plain of Esdraelon described. Situation of Nazareth. Christ preaches there in the synagogue. Claims the Messiahship. The result, . . 141-148

CHAPTER XIV.

The Lake of Galilee. Capernaum. — The lake described. Plain of Gennesaret. Capernaum, . . 148-153

CHAPTER XV.

At Capernaum and through Galilee. — Evening scene at Capernaum. The Messiah goe3 through Galilee preaching and healing. Leper healed. Returns to Capernaum and heals a paralytic, .... 153-168

CONTENTS. XIII

CHAPTER XVI.

At Jerusalem ; also at Capernaum. — Christ goes to the Passover. Heals a man at the pool of Bethesda. League between Pharisees and Herodians to put the Messiah to death. He returns to Capernaum. Heals many there, 168-176

CHAPTER XVII.

Sermon on the Mount. — Also the teachings of their Rabbis. He heals the servant of a centurion, . 176-187

CHAPTER XVIII.

Nain. — Castle of Macherus — Only son of a widow restored to life at Nam. The Baptist sends messengers to Christ. Herod's feast. John is behe-aded, • . . 187-196

CHAPTER XIX.

The Two Dinners.— Christ makes another journey through Galilee. Dines with a Pharisee, and the scene there. He crosses the lake. Storm ; the sea calmed by his word. Dinner with Levi. Healings. Another circuit through Galilee. Again comes to Nazareth, 196-205

CHAPTER XX.

" Let us make him a King."— He crosses the lake. 5000 fed miraculously. They would make him a king. Night on the lake. The faith of Peter fails. Many healings. Four thousand miraculously fed, . . 205-213

CHAPTER XXI.

The Transfiguration. — He goes to Caesarea Philippi. The Transfiguration there, . . . 214-219

CHAPTER XXII.

Dispute among the Apostles on the way back to Galilee. — His mode of instructing them. He goes through Samaria. Ten lepers healed, . . . 220-225

CHAPTER XXIII.

Jerusalem-. — Feast of Tabernacles. — This feast described. Dancing in the temple court as part of it, . 226-233

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Messiah at the Feast of Tabernacles. — Teaches there. Officers sent by the rulers to watch him ; the result, 234-246

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

Bethany and the road to Jericho.— Situation of Bethany. The road described. Parable of the Good Samaritan,

246-250 CHAPTER XXYI.

Jerusalem. — Tlie Man born blind. — Different kinds of excommunication. The blind man healed. Consequences, ...... 250-258

CHAPTER XXVII.

The Feast of Dedication. — Why instituted. Christ preaching at the temple. Attempt at violence upon him. He goes to Perea, .... 258-263

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Raising of Lazarus. — Message to Christ from Bethany. Death of Lazarus. Scenes then and afterwards at Bethany. Lazarus raised, .... 263-273

CHAPTER XXIX.

In Ephraim and Perea. — Many teachings and parables in these places. Healing also. Receives and blesses little children, ..... 273-280

CHAPTER XXX.

Jericho. — The richness and beauty of its plain, . - 281-289

CHAPTER XXXI.

The Messiah at Jericho. — Blind men healed. — Zaccheus. Startling rumor that the kingdom of heaven was immediately to appear. Bartimeus, . . . 290-299

CHAPTER XXXII.

Jerusalem described. — Its picturesque appearance as seen from the Mount of 01ive3. Recent explorations under the city, ..... 300-309

CHAPTER XXXIII.

TJie triumphal entry. — The road across the Mount of 01ive3. Christ goes from Bethany to Jerusalem. Multitudes meeting and attending him. Their hozannas. He weeps over the city. Goe3 to the temple. Healings there. Shouts of hosanna. Indignation of the priests and Scribes, 309-381

CONTENTS. XV

CHAP PER XXXIY.

At the temple. — Woes denounced — Christ again cleanses the temple. The Pharisees wish to put Lazarus also to death. They unite again with the Herodians. Woes denounced against them and the Scribes. He predicts his sufferings. Heroism of Christianity, . 318-329

CHAPTER XXXV.

The Plot. — They are determined to take the Messiah by subtilty and put him to death. Difficulties in the way. Their law for trials. Their plot. List of the high priests, ..... 330-339

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Supper at Bethany. — Judas. — Christ's head and feet anointed at the supper. Indignation of Judas. His probable course of reasoning. Bargains to betray Christ,

339-344

CHAPTER XXXVII.

The Passover Feast. — Its origin. The posture at table. Christ and the Apostles at this supper. He washes their feet. Judas unmasked. Usual order of the supper. The Christian Eucharist instituted, . . 345-358

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Gethsemane. — The Messiah and eleven disciples retire to this place. His prayers there. The sweat of blood. Is seized and bound, . . • 358-365

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Hall of Caiaphas. — The Messiah taken to house of Annas, and why. Thence to the palace of Caiaphas. The hall and court in large eastern houses. The trial there. The adjuration by the high priest. The result. Christ's claims to the Godhead throughout his preachings. Peter denies his Lord. His remorse, . 365-377

CHAPTER XL.

The Trial before Pilate -This to be the Chagigah, or great day of rejoicing by the Jews. The ceremony of cutting the first fruits. The regular Sanhedrim council. The Messiah before them. Formally condemned. Taken before Pilate. The governor's character by Philo.

XVI CONTENTS.

The trial there. Christ is sent, next, before Herod Antipas. Scene there. Is returned to Pilate. His crucifixion demanded. How that punishment was regarded by the Romans. Pilate yields to the demand, and gives sentence. Judas and the Sanhedrim, . . 377-394

CHAPTER XLI.

The Crucifixion — The usual scourging preparatory ; how severe. The Messiah is taken to the place of crucifixion. Nailing to the cross. The agonies attending such a death. Darkness over the land. I he final a?ony and cry. Earthquake. The centurion's exclamation. The side pierced. " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," . . . 395-409

CHAPTER XLIL

The Burial, — Joseph of Arimathea and Xicodemus place the body in a new sepulchre. The women follow it, and sit by the tomb. The Jewish rulers procure a guard, and seal the tomb. How this night closed over Jerusalem, . . . : . 410-419

CHAPTER XI2II.

The Resurrection — Moon near the full. The guards at the tomb. An angel appears. The resurrection. The guards bribed, and a false report sent abroad. The Sanhedrim never dared to make issue with the apostle3 on this subject, ..... 420-426

CHAPTER XLIY.

After the Resurrection. The Ascension. — The Saviour is seen repeatedly through 40 day3 after his resurrection. Galilee chosen for the Great Commi3s'on and the great promise. The final manifestation of himself at the Mount of Olives. His ascension, . . . 427-444

CHAPTER XLY.

" What think ye of Christ ?"— The miracle of the presentation of such a character to U3 is subject to our own apprehension. Could not have been an ideal only, for no one could have conceived it. The chain of proof that the Gospels were written a3 they profess to have been. The proof, first from enemies : then from Christian writers, of the3e early periods. The conclusion, . 444-455

LIFE-SCENES

FROM THE

POUE aOSDPELS.

Chapter I. At The Jordan

There was a very strange scene at the banks of the Jordan. The time of which we are writing was about eighteen hundred and thirty-five years ago ; and the scene referred to was a large gathering of excited people around a man of singular appearance, who was making a wonderful announcement, and was engaging in a baptismal rite of very startling significance. He was a gaunt ascetic ; in his dress and manner, and in his authoritative language, reminding all who saw and heard him of the old prophets ; and, indeed, in his appearance so resembling Elijah, that the query was immediately started in every man's mind, whether he was not actually that prophet risen from the dead ? The idea of such a resurrection of Elijah was familiar to the minds of the Jews ; for the belief had long been universal among them, that, restored to life, he would be the precursor of the Messiah himself. This man was proclaiming, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 11 It was believed by the Jews, that, at the appearing of the Messiah, they were to be initiated by baptism into the new dispensation of his kingdom f and here now they were called to come and to be baptized ; and numbers, after confessing their sins, were led down into the Jordan for that rite.

The scenery all around was in character with the strange performer in this ceremony ; — a desert place, represented by a modern traveller to that region as a dreary waste, " weird, and singularly wild and impressive." The Jordan is a very peculiar stream. After issuing from the Lake of Tiberias, which is itself 652 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean, its course is southwardly, in a valley called by the present natives El Ghor, or " the depression," six or seven miles wide, and sunk from 1000 to 1200 feet below the adjacent country. Running lengthwise in the Ghor is a second valley, depressed below it to a depth of fifty feet, and with a width of 400 yards ; and then, sunk' again in this, and winding about in a most tortuous manner, is the channel of the river. The stream has an average width of fifty-six yards, with commonly a depth of from three to five feet.* The current is usually rapid, for the distance between the Lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea is, in a straight line, sixty miles, and the descent between them is 660 feet. Sometimes the stream presents cataracts, at others it expands and has a gentle flow. Where it is rapid, the bottom consists of rock or sand. The channel is fringed at its immediate sides with rushes or cane, and with willows and similar trees, which, in the utter barrenness around, are a pleasant relief to the eye. Such is the stream so

il Bloomfield on Matt, i 11. 1.

The Jordan. 19

often referred to in our hymnology, and so dear, by its associations, to every Christian heart. Its channel being so far below the level of the Ghor that its water never overflows into the latter ; this wide valley, having also no springs, is a scene of desolation, and appears to have been so in the earliest times.* The soil at the spot we have now under consideration is described by modern travellers as " unfertile, and in many places encrusted with salt, and having. small heaps of white powder, like sulphur, scattered at short intervals over its surface."!' The hills bounding the Ghor are generally abrupt and broken, and are always naked and painful to the eye. On the east they are soon succeeded by ranges 2000 or 2500 feet in height ; and, back of these, is finally the very lofty range of Mount Nebo, its summit forming a horizontal line smooth and unbroken, as if an immense wall had there been built up against the sky.

This will give us an idea of the wildness and desolateness of the spot called in the Scriptures " the Wilderness of Judea," where this strange man was now proclaiming his startling doctrines, and was administering baptism in the Jordan. His cry that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, quickly repeated throughout Judea, and all over the regions bordering on the river valley, sent a thrill through every Jewish heart, and met there a ready response ; for there had been an expectancy of thh kind universally indulged by the Jews (a temporal kingdom however), and, indeed, not

° See Josephus Le bello, iii, 10, § 7.

f Robinson'^ Bib. Researches. This description of the Ghor and Jordan is drawn from Robinson, Van de Velde, and the Dead Sea expedition.

confined to them alone. Percrebuerat, says Suetonius, Oriente toto, yetus et constans opinio esse in fatis, ut eo tempore judea profecti rerum poti- Rentur : There had been greatly multiplied through all the East an old and uninterupted opinion, originating in the decree of the Fates, that, at this time, persons coming from Judea should obtain universal dominion* Tacitus informs us that the multitude [in Judea] relied upon an ancient prophecy, contained, as they believed, in books kept by the priests, in which it was foretold that, at this lime, the power of the East would prevail over the nations, and a race of men should go forth from Judea to extend their dominion over all the rest of the world:\ Josephus says : But now what did most elevate them [the Jeivs] in this war wis an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, hoic, about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable world.%

These expectations, it is evident, had reference only to an earthly sovereignty ; but as such they met even a heartier response among the Jews than any of a sublimer character could have done ; for the nation was just beginning to feel the full terrors of the Roman power, which had enclosed them in its iron embrace, and from which they knew that there was no escape by human aid. Their independence may be said to have been fully bartered away for Roman favor by Herod the Great. Archelaus, the successor to part of his kingdom, was deposed by Augustus Caesar, and banished to Gaul ; and Roman governors were appointed to Judea, the sceptre having clearly, to every pcrcep-

* In Vt-Bpas. f Hist. lib. v, 12. % De Bello, vi, 5, §4.

■ tioiij departed, and their country, now but a Roman province, from which successive rulers tried who could exact the most. Roman soldiers were scattered, in garrison, in various parts ; tax-gatherers (publicans) were to be seen everywhere, and were constantly, to the eyes of the oppressed inhabitants, reminders of their subjection to foreign power, and were hated, not only for this, but for their unjust exactions ; and most alarming of all, an. act of their present governor, Pontius Pilate, had shown them how insecure were their religious observances, and how open they were to the violation of the most cherished feelings of their nation. Their law forbade their paying any homage to images ; and the former governors, when ordering the Roman soldiers to Jerusalem, had directed them to come without the standards surmounted by the emperor's effigies, to which, when seen, honors were always required to be paid. Pilate, aware of this hostility to images, had recently directed his soldiers to be introduced into the city by night ;* and morning disclosed the hated effigies in Jerusalem, and in the castle of Antonia attached to the N. "W. corner of the temple itself. A horror seized upon all the people, and a deputation hastened with remonstrances to the governor, at Caesar ea. He treated their act as an insult to the emperor, and had the deputies surrounded by his soldiers ; but the effort to overawe them was futile ; they fell to the ground and offered their necks to the sword, rather than yield ; and, finally, the .obnoxious emblems were withdrawn. Afterwards, when the governor, seizing on some of the revenues of the temple, employed them in bringing water to the city, the inhabitants shocked at such use of

• Jos. Antiq. xviii, 3, § 1^ i

the sacred treasures, rose in tumult ; a collision with the soldiers was the consequence, and great havoc among the unarmed multitudes ensued.

Chapter II. At The Jordan

It is not wonderful, therefore, that just at this time the national heart was ready to be acted upon by such a scene as that at the Jordan, where the prophet-like man stood calling people to the cleansing of their hearts as a preparation for the new, significant rite connected with the coming of their expected great Deliverer ; and that multitudes flocked to him from regions far and near. He had selected a spot called Bethabara, or the house of the ford* seemingly a thoroughfare, while also a place remote from such complications as might arise from crowded neighborhoods : and there, where all nature in its sternness harmonized with him, and with the severe simplicity of his call and his act, he was soon surrounded by crowds " from Jerusalem and all

© Van de Velde supposes Bethabara to have been at the present ford ob the way from Nablous (Sychem) to Es Salt, about twenty miles above the Pilgrims' bathing place near Jerieho. He bases this opinion on the time (two days and a half) allowed in John ii, 1, in going from the baptismal scene to Cana, in Galilee. The width of the Jordan at this spot is 56 yards ; the depth about four feet. ""

Judea and all the region round about Jordan.'' They saw a man with only a garment of rough camel's hair, such as was worn by the poorest, fastened by a leathern girdle ; — locusts and wild honey for his food. Locusts are still eaten in Syria, chiefly, however, by Bedouin on the extreme frontiers of the desert, where, after being semi-boiled and salted and dried, they are packed up and kept for use. They may be seen in the. Syrian shops for sale, but are always considered as an inferior food, and are eaten only by persons of the poorest class .* This man had been brought up in the desert, and he still adhered to this abstemious food.

Baptism was not unknown to the Jews, for it is universally admitted to have been a rite in use among them for .the admission of proselytes ;t and it was practiced by the Persians and other oriental nations. Josephus informs us of the Essenes, — a noted sect in his nation, — that "when a proselyte hath given evidence during that time of trial fa year] that he can observe their continence, he approaches nearer to their way of living, and is made a partaker of the waters of purification. "J But the Essenes were a sect few in number and living in retired places ; and these baptismal scenes at the Jordan had evidently a significance different from any thing which the nation had previously known. The prophet-like man gave them their significance, corresponding to the general belief of the dispensation to be inaugurated by the Messiah.

That desert was now solitary no more. Crowds were

* Thompson's Land and the Book.

f Eloomfield.

% Be Bello, ii, 8, § 7.

24 Life-scenes prom the Four Gospels.

flocking to it, for the cry of the Baptist that the kingdoin of heaven was at hand, repeated over all the country, had startled the people out of the lethargy wrought by oppressions, or by a belief that God had withdrawn from them ; — for, during a period of 400 years, there had been no prophet in Israel.

John the Baptist looked as if he might well be Elijah himself; — so like him in this hairy dress, in his manner, in his authoritative voice ; and yet he was speaking of himself humbly, saying that one was coming immeasurably greater than he.

What might the nation not expect ? What hopes could be too extravagant to be indulged ? We must not think them insane in their expectation of an universal dominion ; for they believed that it had been promised by Jehovah, and almost every spot in their land bore testimony to God's powerful action in their behalf. Just below this place, where John was baptizing, He had divided the deep waters of the Jordan in its rapid flow, and had kept them divided till his people had passed over dry-shod ; there, Jericho had fallen simply by his almighty will ; their history was full of his direct interpositions for their advantage ; — what would he not do for them now, if the Messiah himself, the Prince were to appear ?

Those eastern people are excitable and demonstrative, and, in their common moods, seem often to strangers to be wildly emotional ; and we may imagine the scene, as people hurried to the river and gazed on John with an intensity of feeling that had never before been raised in them by any man ; and listened to his call to repentance and the reasons for it, and witnessed his baptisms ; — saw the penitents descend with the sadness of grief in their face ; and saw them come up from the river, comforted and cheerful. Such feelings are contagious ; and every new-comer felt in himself the need of penitence, and longings for relief that could be bestowed only by a power not of earth.

The teachings of John were plain and simple. As a proof of penitence and of changed feelings in those applying to him, he inculcated benevolence and kind acts : " He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none ; and he that hath meat let him do likewise."

The crowd around him was a mixed one ; — men among them shunned by their neighbors, looked down upon with dislike by almost every one in the nation, and yet with human feelings, and with the same longings as others to shake off the load of guilt and to be comforted. Such were the publicans who presented themselves before the Baptist. We can almost see their hesitating manner, their subdued look, and their timid approach. They were not repelled. No "harshness shown, — simply the injunction given, in order to prove the truth of their penitence : " Exact no more than is appointed you.' 7

Soldiers also came, with that old question of the human heart wanting relief, " What shall we do V The Roman garrisons in Juclea were drawn partly from Italy, but were chiefly composed of Syrians from the north of Palestine, or of foreign wanderers who had strayed into Judea ; and generally there was no good will between them and the Jews. But there were exceptions, such as we see shortly after this in the case of Cornelius *of the Italian band. The soldiers at the Jordan pressed on towards the Baptist ; — for the powerful sympathies of the place had seized on them, and had changed their bold, fierce nature into one of humble inquiry. The crowds gazed earnestly, as they advanced. How would these men, famed for rapacity and violence, be received ? Some looked on them with indignation at their presumption in intruding on such scenes ; some with the cordiality begot by the new feelings at the baptism ; all with deep interest as the Baptist addressed them. His words had a latent reproof, and yet were gentle. " Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages." The rite was open to all coming in penitence.

But there was suddenly a change in the character of this scene. A sensation was created among the multitudes by the approach of men of rank and power, who came on in the consciousness of their position, — Pharisees with high pretensions to sanctity which they carried ostentatiously in the large phylacteries on their foreheads and arms, and in the width of the borders to their garments drawing attention to their unusual observance of the Mosaic law (see Numbers xv, 37-41) ; — also Sadducees proud of their wealth and assumed superior intelligence. Both undisguised^ despised the ranks inferior to them. The multitudes drew back as this newly arrived party swept haughtily on ; and presently they caught the eye of the Baptist.

What a change there was in him ! How his eyes lighted up ; how indignant the expressions of his face ; how changed was his voice from its former gentleness ! And his words were stunning. " brood of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring therefore fruits meet for repentance : and think not to say unto 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 ; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ; whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner : but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

The whole scene by the Jordan was becoming more and more confonnding to people's apprehensions ; for, not only had the bold ascetic stigmatized these Jewish leaders in a manner that must excite their wrath, but he had even seemed to cast disrespect on all claims arising from Abrahamic descent. He had ended also with words of terrific import respecting approaching events, when all false pretensions would be scattered to the winds> and those who held them would be fearfully and eternally punished. Fear, awe, and a new sense of shrinking respect for the Baptist, crept through the hearts of the multitudes, while yet they continued to be attracted by his general mildness and forbearance, and his gentleness to the truly penitent coming forward for the baptismal rite.

The news of these scenes still continued to spread over the country, and crowds were still hurrying from all parts of it to that wild, dreary region, already filled with excited, wondering throngs.

But who was this man, whose fame was now filling the land ? People were asking the question everywhere, and the results of inquiry disclosed some very interesting facts.

His birth had been in the old age of his parents, and had been heralded by an angel. His father, a priest, while administering at the altar of incense in the temple, had seen the heavenly visitant, who announced the approaching birth of the child, and said that he should be great in the sight of the Lord, and should be filled with the Holy Ghost. " And," continued the angel, "many of the t children of Israel shall be turned to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." The father was struck dumb at the time on account of his unbelief, but recovered speech when the child, eight days after its birth, was brought to the temple, where, contrary to the expectations of relatives, he named his son John, according to the direction of the angel. These incidents were widely known at the time u throughout all the hill country of Judea, and produced dread as well as astonishment wherever known.* He was, according to the direction of the angel, to " drink neither wine nor strong drink f and his training is believed to have been in that most desolate region called the " Wilderness of Judea/' where probably he associated much with the Essenes, a singular people, living chiefly at the only verdant spot in that desert — the fountain of En-Gedi, on the bor-

° His birtu is supposed by Robinson and Reland to have been at Juttah (Joshua xxi, 16). a town about five miles south of Hebron, and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem.

a. & j strong in spirit," and was prepared for his present work of teaching and baptizing. He was now about thirty years old, the age at which the Jewish priests entered upon the temple duties according to their law.