The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Life of St. John for the Young by George Ludington Weed This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: A Life of St. John for the Young Author: George Ludington Weed Release Date: November 27, 2005 [EBook #17166] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LIFE OF ST. JOHN FOR THE YOUNG *** Produced by Janet Blenkinship, Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: ST JOHN _Domenichino Frontispiece_] A Life of St. John For the Young BY GEORGE LUDINGTON WEED AUTHOR OF "A LIFE OF CHRIST FOR THE YOUNG," "A LIFE OF ST. PAUL FOR THE YOUNG," "GREAT TRUTHS SIMPLY TOLD," ETC., ETC. PHILADELPHIA GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO 103-105 SOUTH FIFTEENTH STREET Copyright, 1900 BY GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO _PREFATORY NOTE_ The recorded incidents of the Life of St. John are few. Almost all those of which we certainly know are related in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, The Epistles of St. John, and The Revelation. Some of the traditions concerning him are in such harmony with what we do know that we are almost ready to accept them as historic. The known events though few, are very distinct. They are the beautiful fragments of a great picture. The plan of this volume does not include those which pertain to him in common with the twelve disciples. Such a record would practically involve the story of the life of our Lord. This is limited to those events in which his name is mentioned, or his person otherwise indicated; to those in which he was a certain or implied actor; to those in which we may suppose from his character and relations he had a special interest; to those narratives whose fulness of detail makes the impression that they are given by an eye-witness; to those in which a deeper impression was made on him than on his fellow-disciples, or where he showed a deeper insight than they into the teachings of the Lord, and is a clearer interpreter; to those records which add to, or throw light upon, those of the other three Evangelists; and especially to those things which reveal his peculiar relation to Jesus Christ. Another limitation of this volume is its adaptation, in language, selection of subjects and general treatment, to young people, for whom it is believed no life of John, at any rate of recent date, has been prepared. It is designed especially for those between the ages of ten and twenty, though the facts recorded may be of value to all. The attempt is made to trace the way by which John was led to, and then by, Christ. We first see him as a boy with Jewish surroundings, taught to expect the Messiah, then watching for His coming, then rejoicing in finding Him, then faithful and loving in serving Him; becoming the most loved of His chosen ones. We see the Christ through John's eyes, and listen to the Great Teacher with his ears. Christ and John are the central figures in the scenes here recorded. The full table of contents suggests the variety and scope of the topics presented. In the mind of the writer the interest of many of the scenes described has been greatly deepened by memories of the paths in which he has followed in the footsteps of the Master and His disciple. The many quotations of words, phrases and texts--which are from the Revised Version--are designed to direct the young to Scripture forms with which they should become familiar; and sometimes to emphasize a fact or truth, or to recall a former incident. Grateful acknowledgment is made especially to the works of Farrar, Edersheim and Stalker, for facts, and germs of thought which have been simplified in form and language for the interest and instruction of the young, in the hope that they may thereby be led into deeper study of one of the noblest of human lives. G.L.W. _Philadelphia, July, 1900_. ~CONTENTS~ PAGE~ CHAPTER I A HOME IN THE BLESSED LAND, BY THE SACRED SEA A Fitting Study for the Young--The Glory of all Lands--Divisions of Palestine--Galilee--People of Galilee--Gennesaret and its Surroundings--Comparisons--Jewish Sayings--McCheyne--Towns, Villages and Palaces--Fisheries--Bethsaida 19 CHAPTER II FIVE BOYS OF BETHSAIDA--RAMBLES ABOUT HOME Five Apostles of Jesus--Two Pair of Brothers--Salome--Brothers Indeed--Views from a Hilltop--View of the Lake--Poetic Description--Rambles North of the Lake--On the West--Keble's Poem--Answer to the Poet's Question--The Sower--Object Lessons of the Great Teacher--Mount of Beatitudes--Nature's Influence on John--Philip 24 CHAPTER III JOHN'S ROYAL KINDRED Salome and Mary Sisters--John and Jesus Cousins--Visit to Bethsaida--Visit to Nazareth--A Picture of the Boy Jesus--The Picture a Help--A Phrase to Remember--A Kinsman of John and Jesus--Education--The Messiah 31 CHAPTER IV THE GREAT EXPECTATION IN JOHN'S DAY Prophecy Concerning the Messiah--Jewish Mistakes--Roman Conquest--Judas of Galilee--The Five Bethsaidan Boys--John and Peter 35 CHAPTER V EARLY INFLUENCES ON CHARACTER Special Influences on the Five--Scripture Students--Rabbi Like Simeon, or a Teacher--Prophetess Like Anna--Home Teaching--From the Five to Two--Salome and Her Sons--Review--Boyhood Traits--Imperfections--Perfection 39 CHAPTER VI FIRST VISIT IN JERUSALEM Jewish Boy at Twelve--Interest in the First Pilgrimage--John's Journey--The Jordan Ford--City, Temple and Altar--John and Saul--Silent Years--Parental Thoughts Concerning John 44 CHAPTER VII JOHN'S VIEW OF THE COMING MESSIAH John's Old Testament Studies--First Gospel Promise--Promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--Promise to David--Mary and Immanuel--Names and Titles of the Messiah--John's Misreading of the Old Testament--Christ's Sufferings 48 CHAPTER VIII JESUS THE HIDDEN MESSIAH The Infancy of Jesus Forgotten--Our Ignorance of Christ's Childhood--The Boy in the Temple--The Carpenter's Silent Years 53 CHAPTER IX "THE PROPHET OF THE MOST HIGH" Elizabeth and Her John--A Father's Prophecy--The Prophet in the Wilderness--Young Men of Galilee--The Hermit--His Galilean Disciples--His Public Ministry--His Hearers--His Preaching--St. John the Baptist--St. John of Galilee 57 CHAPTER X THE MESSIAH FOUND "Jesus from Galilee to Jordan"--Baptism of Jesus--Temptation--"Behold the Lamb of God"--Andrew and John with the Baptist--Our First Knowledge of John of Galilee--Parting of the Baptist and Jesus--The Two St. Johns and Jesus--Following Jesus in the Way--Blessed Invitation Accepted--Precious Memories--Change of Discipleship--Silence of John--Disciples at Emmaus--Brothers Brought to Jesus--Memorials of Andrew--John's Memories of His First Day with Jesus--Philip--Nathanael--Jesus' First Disciples--John the Nearest to Him 63 CHAPTER XI JOHN A WEDDING GUEST Invited Guests to a Marriage Feast--Words of Mary and Jesus Concerning Wine--Three Commands of Jesus--First Miracle--Belshazzar's Feast--Believing Disciples--Believing Samaritans--What John Might Have Written--First Miracle, for Innocent Joy--John and Mary at the Feast--Mary's Thoughts of John and Her Sons--Her Thoughts of Jesus 72 CHAPTER XII JOHN AND NICODEMUS Reasons for a Night Visit to Jesus--John's Possible Abode in Jerusalem--Nicodemus Goes Thither--His Conversation With Jesus--Seven Great Truths--Golden Text of the Bible--Golden Truth of John--Tradition of Nicodemus 79 CHAPTER XIII ST. JOHN AND THE SAMARITANESS John's Record--With the Master--Valley and Well--A Personal Privilege--John With Jesus at the Well--Memories of the Region--Abraham--Thoughts of the Future--A Samaritaness--Strange Request--Living Water--Greater than Jacob--Difference in Waters--Woman's Request--Jesus a Prophet--Place and Spirit of True Worship--"Messiah Cometh"--John an Earnest Listener--Jesus' Revelation of Himself--Changed Name for the Well--Wonder of the Disciples--The Samaritaness a Gospel Messenger--Unknown Meat--John's Watchful Eye--His Story of the Well--A Memorable Hour for Him 84 CHAPTER XIV THE CHOSEN ONE OF THE CHOSEN THREE OF THE CHOSEN TWELVE Two Pair of Brothers Mending Nets--Call of Four Disciples--Fishers of Men--A Partner in Fishing--Followers of Him--True Brothers--Family Ties--The Twelve Chosen--First Disciples, First Apostles--The Inner Circles--Peter and John--John--Aaron's Breastplate--Apostolic Stones 92 CHAPTER XV JOHN IN THE HOME OF JAIRUS A Father's Cry--Reason for Hope--Sad Message--Strength of Faith--"Fear Not"--Curious Crowd--The Twelve and the Three--Jealousy--Ambition--A Coming Change--John One of Three--"Tahtha Cumi"--A Lesson for John--A Future Scene--Influence of a Secret 97 CHAPTER XVI JOHN A BEHOLDER OF CHRIST'S GLORY Family Prayer--Sayings of Men Concerning Jesus--Saying of Peter--A Great Need--Christ's Prophecy of His Death--Apart by Themselves--Not Tabor, but Hermon--Thoughts of the Nine and of the Three--Heavy with Sleep--Answers to Two Prayers of Jesus--Transfigured--Moses and Elijah--Moses' Shining Face--The Lord's Shining Figure--The Shechinah--A Strange Proposal--Voice from the Clouds--Touch and Word of Jesus--Descent from Hermon--A Great Secret--Peter's Memory of the Transfiguration--John's Record--Greater than John the Baptist or Moses--Moses and the Shechinah--Ungranted Request, but Answered Prayer--Hermon, a Mount of Prayer 101 CHAPTER XVII ST. JOHN'S IMPERFECTIONS Four Reasons for Recording Failings--Jealousy and Pride--Intolerant Spirit--Two Questions, What? and Who?--First and Last--An Object Lesson--The Child-Spirit--Startled Disciples--John's Confession--Lesson Not Learned--Hospitality--Samaritan Hatred--Hospitality Refused--Indignant Brothers--A Story of Elijah--Fiery Spirit of James and John--Rebuked by Jesus--Ambitious Brothers--Mother's Request--Sons' Request--Sorrowing Lord's Reply and Thoughts--Two Thrones--Though Imperfect, a Grand Character 111 CHAPTER XVIII JOHN AND THE FAMILY OF BETHANY John's View of a Family Group--His Relation to It--A Sad Message and the Reply--The Lord's Delay and Concealed Purpose--A Possible Thought of John's--John and Thomas--"Our Friend"--"Sleepeth"--John an Eye-witness--Mary and Jesus--"Jesus Wept"--Mourning Disciple--Glorified Father and Son--Jesus with Martha at the Tomb--Repeated Command, "Arise"--The Release from the Tomb--John a Companion in Joy--John's Memory of Mary--Lazarus' Tomb and Jesus' Cross--A Tradition of Lazarus 120 CHAPTER XIX JOHN'S MEMORIAL OF MARY A Scene in Bethany--An Unfinished Picture--John with Manuscripts of Matthew and Mark--A Great Event not Understood--A Joyful Meeting--A Supper in Honor--A Fitting Place--Omitted Names--An Unnamed Woman Named--Mary's Cruse--Interested Witnesses--An Unusual Anointing--An Unwoven Towel--Odor of the Ointment--Judas the Grumbler--Jesus' Defence of Mary--A Prophecy--John the Preserver of Mary's Name--Prophecy Fulfilled--Judas and Mary--Judas and the Chief Priests--A Group of Three--A Sublime Action--A Group of Four 128 CHAPTER XX JOHN A HERALD OF THE KING The Messiah-King--The Prophetic Colt--The Lord's Need--The Lord's Heralds--Hosannas--Disciples' Thoughts--Changed Earthly Scenes--Lamb on Earth and in Heaven--A Prophecy Recalled--Twice a Herald 138 CHAPTER XXI WITH THE MASTER ON OLIVET The Lord in His Temple--His Farewell to It--Admiring Disciples--Sad Prophecy--The Two Pair of Brothers on Olivet--A Sacred Memory--The Poet Milman's View from Olivet--Unanswered Question--The Coming Fall of Jerusalem--The Poet Heber's Lament Over Jerusalem 142 CHAPTER XXII JOHN A PROVIDER OF THE PASSOVER The Betrayer--A Lamb and a Place--Not Judas, but Peter and John--A Secret Sign--The Goodman of the House--A New Friendship--Upper Room--"Furnished"--"Prepared"--Paschal Lamb--Child Memories--John and the Baptist--Temple Worship--Obeying Silver Trumpets--Slaying of the Lamb--Chant and Response--Lamb and Lamps--Alone with Jesus--Jerusalem Chamber--John and the Upper Room 148 CHAPTER XXIII JOHN'S MEMORIES OF THE UPPER ROOM The Open Door of the Upper Room--Door Ajar--Revelation by John--Two Statements by Luke--Cause of Contention--John's Relation to the Quarrel--Sittings at the Table--John and Judas Beside Jesus--Two Things About Jesus--Grieved Spirit--Bethany Recalled--A Great Contrast--Love and Reproof--Lesson Ended--A Sacred Relic--A Guest an Enemy--Troubled Spirit--"Verily, Verily"--Looking and Doubting--John's Gaze--"Is It I?"--Peter and the Great Secret--Jesus' Hint of the Great Secret--Meaning of the Sop--Judas and Satan--Departure of Judas--"It Was Night"--A New Name--A New Command--Farewell Words and Prayer and Song--Closed Door to be Opened Again 154 CHAPTER XXIV ST. JOHN WITH JESUS IN GETHSEMANE An Eye-witness--Departure from the Upper Room--Kidron--Gethsemane--Olive Trees--John's Memories--Garden Owner--Charge to the Nine--Mt. Moriah--Final Charge--A Prophecy--Companions in Glory and Sorrow--A Sad Change--John Beside Jesus--Sorrowful Soul--Charge to the Three--Jesus Alone--Jesus Seen and Heard--Garden Angel--Agonizing Prayer--Sleeping Disciples--Midnight Scene--Sleeping for Sorrow--Awakening Call--Flesh and Spirit--Repeated Prayer--Victory--"Arise"--Path of Prayer--Gathered Band--Lighted Way--Empty Upper Room--John's Contrasted Memories--Betrayal Sign--Warning Cry--Unshrinking Purpose--The Meeting--Traitor's Kiss--Marred Visage--Repeated Question and Answer--Two Bands--One Request--Peter's Sword--Changed Voice--A Captive and Legions of Angels--The Fleeing Disciples 163 CHAPTER XXV JOHN IN THE HIGH PRIEST'S PALACE Flight of the Nine--Captive Lord--Peter and John Following--The Palace--Disciple Within and Disciple Without--Peter Brought In--The First Denial--John's Watch of Peter--Peter's Tears--His Restlessness--His Sin and John's Silence--Three Turning and Looking--John's Pity for Peter--John and Pilate--Christ a King--"What is Truth?"--The Mocked King--"Behold the Man"--"Behold your King"--John the Faithful Watcher and Comforter 176 CHAPTER XXVI JOHN THE LONE DISCIPLE AT THE CROSS Following the Cross--Jesus Bearing the Cross--Wearing the Thorny Crown--Great Multitude Following--"Daughters of Jerusalem"--Calvary--John's Memories--Group of Four Enemies--Seamless Coat--Casting Lots--Jesus and the Gamblers--Three Marys and Salome--John their Companion--A Contrast--Other Apostles--John and Salome--A Mother's Love--Mary's Thoughts--Sword of Anguish--Comfort in Sorrow--Lonely Future--Loyal Son--New Relation--Mary's Return from the Cross--Why John Her Guardian--A Poet's Words to John--In the New Home 184 CHAPTER XXVII JOHN THE LONE DISCIPLE AT THE CROSS--CONTINUED "I Thirst"--"It Is Finished"--The Bowed Head--The Women and John--His Anxious Thoughts Relieved--Pierced Side--Two Prophecies--Prayer in Song--Joseph of Arimathæa--Nicodemus--Two Secret Friends of Jesus--Two Gardens--The Stone Closing the Tomb--Two Mourners at the Tomb--John's Thoughts on Leaving the Tomb 195 CHAPTER XXVIII JOHN AT THE TOMB John and Mary Magdalene--Mary's Mistaken Inference--Her Report to Peter and John--Their Hastening Toward the Tomb--John Alone at the Tomb--Silent Witnesses--Peter's Entry and Discovery--John Within the Tomb--The Rolled Napkin--Seeing and Believing--Lingering in the Tomb--The Return from the Tomb--Weeping Mary--Silence of Angels--Mary and the Angels--Jesus Unknown to Mary--"Mary" and "Rabboni"--John's Two Records of Mary--Day of Days--Evening Benedictions--Pierced Side--Close of John's Gospel 204 CHAPTER XXIX "WHAT SHALL THIS MAN DO?" An Added Chapter--Old Scenes Revived--Following Peter--Stranger on the Shore--John and Peter--John's Remembrance of the Miracle--"Fire of Coals"--Reverent Guests--"Lovest Thou Me?"--"Feed My Lambs and Sheep"--An Interested Listener--A Prophecy--John Following Peter--Question and Answer--Mistake Corrected by John--Partial Answer to Peter's Questions--A Former Hour Recalled 212 CHAPTER XXX ST. JOHN A PILLAR-APOSTLE IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH On a Mount in Galilee--The Great Commission--Waiting for the Promised Comforter--Words of the Baptist Recalled--A Revived Hope and a Question--Jesus' Reply--The Ascension--Angels' Question--"The Upper Chamber"--Luke's Lists of the Apostles--The Lord's Mother, Brethren and Sisters--The Day of Pentecost--A Great Miracle--Pentecostal Gifts to John--Evening Prayer--Beautiful Gate--Lame man--A Gift Better than Alms--John Twice a Prisoner--Prison Angel--Preaching of Philip--John Sent to Samaria--John and the Samaritaness--His Changed Spirit--Death of James--The Pillar Apostles 219 CHAPTER XXXI LAST DAYS Last Record--Meeting of Paul and John--Years of Silence--Leaving Jerusalem--New Home in Ephesus--City and Temple--Paul and John--Churches of Asia Minor--John in Patmos--Solitude--The Lord's Day--Aid to Meditation--Calm and Turmoil--A Voice and a Command--A Contrast--"As One Dead"--The Eagle--John's Three Kinds of Writings--The Revelation--John's Gospel--His First Epistle--The Apostle of Love--His Second Epistle--The Apostle of Childhood--"Little Children, Love one Another"--John's Death 231 CHAPTER XXXII A RETROSPECT Boyhood--The Disciple--What John Saw--What He Heard--What He Made Known--John a Reflector of Christ--Alone in History--Our Glimpses of Him--In Everlasting Remembrance on Earth--With His Lord in Heaven 241 CHAPTER XXXIII LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF ST. JOHN St. John and the Robber-Chief--St. John and the Partridge--"Little Children, Love One Another"--Miraculous Preservation from Death--The Empty Grave--The Heaving Grave 251 ~LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS~ St. John _Domenichino._ _Frontispiece_ Map of the Land Where St. John Lived 19 Sea of Galilee _Old Engraving_ 20 Site of Bethsaida _From Photograph_ 22 Calm on Galilee _From Photograph_ 26 Virgin, Infant Jesus and St. John (Madonna della Sedia) _Raphael_ 32 Christ and St. John _Winterstein_ 35 Simeon and Anna in the Temple _Old Engraving_ 39 The Boy John _Andrea del Sarto_ 41 Jerusalem _Old Engraving_ 43 Joshua's Host Crossing the Jordan _Old Engraving_ 45 The Prophet Isaiah _Sargent_ 55 The Boy Jesus in the Temple _H. Hofmann_ 58 A Street Scene in Nazareth _From Photograph_ 60 Visit of Mary to Elisabeth _Old Engraving_ 62 The Wilderness of Judea _From Photograph_ 64 Traditional Place of Christ's Baptism _From Photograph_ 67 The Baptism of Jesus _Old Engraving_ 68 The First Disciples _Ittenbach_ 83 The Marriage at Cana _Old Engraving_ 85 Belshazzar's Feast _Old Engraving_ 87 The Hill of Samaria _Old Engraving_ 90 Jacob's Well _From Photograph_ 92 The Miraculous Draught of Fishes _Old Engraving_ 94 Raising the Daughter of Jairus _H. Hofmann_ 99 The Transfiguration _Old Engraving_ 106 Moses on Mt. Pisgah _Artist Unknown_ 109 Bethany _Old Engraving_ 120 Resurrection of Lazarus _Old Engraving_ 126 Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. _Gustave Doré_ 133 Christ and St. John _Ary Scheffer_ 140 The Last Supper _Benjamin West_ 156 In Gethsemane _Gustave Doré_ 163 The Valley of Jehoshaphat _Old Engraving_ 165 Christ Before Caiaphas _Old Engraving_ 167 Christ Before Pilate (Ecce Homo) _H. Hofmann_ 170 Christ Bearing His Cross _H. Hofmann_ 185 The Virgin and St. John at the Cross _Old Engraving_ 192 The Descent from the Cross _Rubens_ 195 In the Sepulchre _H. Hofmann_ 199 Jesus Appearing to Mary Magdalene (Easter Morning) _B. Plockhorst_ 202 The Descent of the Spirit _Old Engraving_ 206 St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate _Old Engraving_ 211 Ephesus _From Photograph_ 227 The Isle of Patmos _Old Engraving_ 231 Smyrna _Old Engraving_ 234 Pergamos and the Ruins of the Church of St. John _Old Engraving_ 242 Ruins of Laodicea _Old Engraving_ 246 [Illustration: MAP OF THE LAND WHERE ST. JOHN LIVED] A Life of St. John _CHAPTER I_ _A Home in the Blest Land, by the Sacred Sea_ "Blest land of Judæa! Thrice hallowed in song, Where the holiest of memories pilgrim like throng, In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea, On the hills of the beauty, my heart is with thee." --_Whittier_. A Galilean boy, a fisherman, a follower of Jesus, one of the twelve Apostles, one of the favored three, the beloved one, the Apostle of love, the Apostle of childhood, the one of all men who gave to mankind the clearest view of Jesus Christ--such was St John. For young people he is a fitting study. To aid such is the purpose of this volume. Let us first glance at the land where he lived, surrounded by influences that directed his life, and moulded his character. Palestine was called by God Himself "The Glory of All Lands." He made it the home of His people the Jews, who long waited for the promised time when it should have greater glory by becoming the home of the Messiah, the Son of God. Before He was born the Jews were conquered by the Romans, and governed by them instead of the Jewish judges and kings. The country was divided into three parts. The southern was called Judæa; the middle, Samaria; and the northern, Galilee, which was the most beautiful part. It contained the hills of Galilee, and the plain and sea of Gennesaret, hallowed by the presence of Jesus, and what He there did. At the time of which we write, two thousand years ago, Galilee was not inhabited wholly or chiefly by Jews. Other peoples, called Gentiles, were mixed with the Jewish race which continued to cultivate the land, and to tend the vineyards and olive-yards, and to dwell in the fisherman's huts and moor their boats on the sandy beach. Some Jews were artisans, working at their trades in the smaller towns. But there were vast crowds of foreigners whose life was a great contrast to that of the Jews. Their customs were those of the nations to which they belonged. They spoke their own languages. They worshiped their own false gods. Their amusements were such as they were accustomed to in their distant homes. This was especially true of the Romans who had theatres, chariot races, and gladiatorial combats, by the peaceful waters of Galilee. [Illustration: SEA OF GALILEE _Old Engraving_ Page 21] There were also Greeks who had sought new homes far from their native land. Many Arabians came from the deserts on swift horses, in roving bands in search of plunder. They wore brightly-colored dresses, and flashing swords and lances, carrying terror wherever they went. Egyptian travelers came with camels loaded with spices and balm. The bazaars were crowded with merchandise from India, Persia and Arabia. Long caravans from Damascus passed through Galilee, with goods for the markets of Tiberius on Lake Gennesaret, and the more distant cities of Jerusalem, Cæsarea and Alexandria. The gem of Galilee and of Palestine itself, is the Lake of Gennesaret, or the Sea of Tiberius. Its length is twelve and three-fourths miles; its greatest width, seven and one-fourth; its greatest depth, one hundred and sixty feet. On the west is the beautiful Plain of Galilee. On the east are rounded hills; and rugged mountains which rise nine hundred feet above the waters, with grassy slopes, and rocky cliffs barren and desolate. Bowers of olive and oleander deck the base of the hills whose sides yield abundant harvest. Around the lake is a level white beach of smooth sand. Gennesaret has been fittingly compared to a sapphire set in diamonds; and to a mirror set in a frame of richness and beauty. "He hath made everything beautiful," says Solomon concerning God. It is a well-known saying of Jewish writers, "Of all the seven seas God created, He made choice of none but the Lake of Gennesaret." It was called the "beloved of God above all the waters of Canaan." The writer of this volume gratefully recalls blessed memories of Gennesaret, wishing his young friends could view with their own eyes those scenes which he asks them to behold through his own. Then could they join him in singing with the saintly McCheyne, "How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, O Sea of Galilee! For the glorious One who came to save, Hath often stood by thee. * * * * * "O Saviour, gone to God's right hand, Yet the same Saviour still, Graved on Thy heart is this lovely strand, And every fragrant hill." At the period of which we speak the region was full of people. Nine large towns, each containing fifteen thousand inhabitants, bordered on the lake. Numerous populous villages lined the shores, or nestled in the neighboring valleys, or were perched on the hilltops. Fishermen's huts--which were mere stone sheds--fringed the lake. They stood in every rift of rock, and on every knoll, with their little cornfields and vine ledges extending to the sandy beach. [Illustration: SITE OF BETHSAIDA _From Photograph_ Page 23] On the seashore, among the chief buildings, were palaces for Roman princes, and quarters for Roman soldiers. The waters were covered with boats for pleasure, merchandise and fishing. Four thousand floated at one time on the narrow lake. Vast quantities of fish were caught in the waters, supplying not only the people of Galilee, but the populous city of Jerusalem, especially when crowded with pilgrims; and were even sent to distant ports of the Mediterranean. We shall see John's interest in such labors. On the north-western shore of Gennesaret is a beautiful bay sheltered by hills and projecting cliffs. The sight is such as would be a fisherman's delight--a little haven from storm, with a broad beach of sand on which to moor his boats. There is no place like it in the region of Galilee. Close to the water's edge, it is supposed, was the town of Bethsaida, probably meaning House of Fish. _CHAPTER II_ _Five Boys of Bethsaida--Rambles About Home_ "Walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother."--_Matt._ iv. 18. "And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother."--_v._ 21. "Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter."--_John_ i. 44. Bethsaida was honored as being the home of five of the Apostles of Jesus. We know nothing definitely concerning them until their manhood. We wish we knew of their childhood. It is only because of their relation to Jesus that they have been remembered. Had it not been for this they would, like many other boys of Galilee, have lived on the shores of Gennesaret, fished in its waters, died, and been forgotten. These five Bethsaidan boys were two pairs of brothers and a friend. The names of one pair were Andrew and Peter. They were the sons of Jonas, a fisherman. As they grew up they were engaged with him in casting the net and gathering fish, by day or by night, and thus securing a livelihood without thought of change of occupation. It was a Jewish custom for boys to learn a trade or business, which was generally that of their fathers. The names of the other pair of brothers were James and John. Their father was named Zebedee. He also was a fisherman having so much prosperity in his business that he employed servants to help him. Judging by what we know of the family they must have been highly respected by the people among whom they lived. We do not know the exact date of John's birth. He was probably younger than James, and several years younger than Peter. The mother of James and John was named Salome. We know more of her than of her husband. She was a warm friend of Jesus, ministering to Him when He was living, and was one of the few who cared for His dead body. Her sons seemed to be greatly attached to her. All were of kindred spirit, having like thoughts, feelings and plans. James and John were brothers indeed, companions until the death of James separated them. The feelings of boyhood must have been greatly strengthened in later scenes, and by influences which we shall have occasion to notice. As we know of them as daily companions in manhood, we think of the intimacy and affection of boyhood. It will help us to gain an idea of their companionship, and the influences of their surroundings, if we notice some things with which they were familiar in the region of their home. Standing on one of the hills behind Bethsaida they beheld a magnificent panorama. In the northeast Hermon rose like a mighty giant, called by the people of the land the "Kingly Mountain." They knew it by the name Moses had given it--"the goodly mountain." They were to know it by the name which Peter would give in after years, "The Holy Mount," so called for a blessed reason of which all of them were to learn. Down from its snowy glittering sides a thousand streamlets blended in larger streams combining in the Jordan, which flowed through marshes and Lake Merom until it entered Gennesaret near their home. Eastward, across the lake, the rugged cliffs of Gadara cut off their view. Perhaps at this very hour the winds from Hermon rushed through the gorges, first ruffling the placid waters of the lake, and then tossing them as if in rage. They little thought of a coming time when they themselves would be tossed upon them until they heard a voice saying, "Peace be still." And now "The warring winds have died away, The clouds, beneath the glancing ray, Melt off, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity. Below, the lake's still face Sleeps sweetly in th' embrace Of mountains terraced high with mossy stone." [Illustration: CALM ON GALILEE _From Photograph_ Page 26] In another hour they watch the more quiet movements of pleasure boats,--gay barges and royal galleys--and trading vessels, and fishing boats,--all crowding together seemingly covering the lake. As it narrows in the southern distance, the Jordan commences the second stage of its journey of one hundred and twenty miles through rugged gorges. As it leaves the quiet lake, we can almost hear them saying to it "Like an arrow from the quiver, To the sad and lone Dead Sea, Thou art rushing, rapid river, Swift, and strong, and silently, Through the dark green foliage stealing, Like a silver ray of light." Descending from the hill we may follow James and John in their rambles in the region near their home. On the northern extremity of the lake, among the colossal reeds, and meadow grass and rushes, they watch the little tortoises creeping among them; and the pelicans which make them their chosen home; and the blue and white winged jays that have strayed from the jungles through which the Jordan has pushed its way; and the favorite turtle-doves; and the blue birds so light that one can rest on a blade of grass without bending it; and the confiding larks and storks which, not fleeing, seem to welcome the visitors to their haunts. Here grow oleanders of such magnificence as is seen nowhere else in the country, twenty feet high, sometimes in clumps a hundred feet in circumference; and "masses of rosy red flowers, blushing pyramids of exquisite loveliness." Our ramblers follow the western shore to the shallow hot stream, where boy-like,--or manlike as I did--they burn their hands in trying to secure pebbles from its bottom. They rest under the shade of an olive or a palm. They gather walnuts which are in great abundance; and grapes and figs, which can be done ten months in the year; and oranges and almonds and pomegranates. They wander through meadows rich in foliage, and gay with the brightness and richness of flowers which retain their bloom in Galilee when they would droop in Judæa or Samaria. We hear the poet Keble asking them, "What went ye out to see O'er the rude, sandy lea, Where stately Jordan flows by many a palm, Or where Gennesaret's wave Delights the flowers to lave, That o'er her western slope breathe airs of balm? "All through the summer night, These blossoms red and white Spread their soft breasts unheeding to the breeze, Like hermits watching still, Around the sacred hill, Where erst our Saviour watched upon His knees." To the poet's question James and John would answer that they "went out to see the blue lupin and salvia, the purple hyacinth, the yellow and white crocus, the scarlet poppy, and gladiolus, the flowering almond, the crimson and pink anemone." They also saw the cultivated fields, and the sower casting his seed which fell on the hardened pathway, or barren rocks, or bounteous soil. They watched the birds from mountain and lake gather the scattered grain. They thought not of the parable into which all these would be weaved; nor of Him who would utter it in their hearing near where they then stood. They saw the shepherds and their flocks, the sparrows and the lilies, that became object lessons of the Great Teacher yet unknown to them. In their rambles they may have climbed the hill, only seven miles from their home, not thinking of the time when they would climb it again; after which it would be forever known as the Mount of Beatitudes. Such were some of the charming and exciting scenes with which John was familiar in his early life, and which would interest his refined and observing nature, of which we know in his manhood. They must have had an important influence in the formation of his character. We have spoken of five Bethsaidan boys--Andrew and Peter, James and John--and a friend. His name was Philip. We know but little of him. What we do know is from John. He tells us that "Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter." Perhaps he was their special friend, and so became one of the company of five, as he afterward became one of the more glorious company of twelve. We shall find three of these five in a still closer companionship. They are Peter, James and John. One of these shall have the most glorious honor of all. It is John. _CHAPTER III_ _John's Royal Kindred_ It seems almost certain that Salome and Mary the mother of Jesus, were sisters. Royal blood was in their veins. They were descendants of David. The record of their ancestry had been carefully preserved for God's own plans, especially concerning Mary, of which plans neither of the sisters knew until revealed to her by an angel from God. We think of them as faithful to Him, and ready for any service to which He might call them, in the fisherman's home of Salome, or the carpenter's home of Mary. Mary's character has been summed up in the words, "pure, gentle and gracious." Salome must have had something of the same nature, which we find again in her sons. If Salome and Mary were sisters, our interest in James and John deepens, as we think of them as cousins of Jesus. This family connection may have had something to do with their years of close intimacy; but we shall find better reason for it than in this kinship. There was another relation closer and holier. We wonder whether Jesus ever visited Bethsaida, and played with His cousins on the seashore, and gathered shells, and dug in the sand, and sailed on Gennesaret, and helped with His little hands to drag the net, and was disappointed because there were no fish, or bounded with glee because of the multitude of them. We wonder whether James and John visited Jesus in Nazareth, nestled among the hills of Galilee. Did they go to the village well, the same where children go to-day to draw water? Did James and John see how Jesus treated His little mates, and how they treated Him--the best boy in Nazareth? Did the cousins talk together of what their mothers had taught them from the Scriptures, especially of The Great One whom those mothers were expecting to appear as the Messiah? Did they go together to the synagogue, and hear the Rabbi read the prophecies which some day Jesus, in the same synagogue, would say were about Himself? Jesus was the flower of Mary's family, the flower of Nazareth, of Galilee, of the whole land, and the whole world. Nazareth means flowery--a fitting name for the home of Jesus. It was rightly named. So must James and John have thought if their young cousin went with them to gather daisies, crocuses, poppies, tulips, marigolds, mignonette and lilies, which grow so profusely around the village. Did they ramble among the scarlet pomegranates, the green oaks, the dark green palms, the cypresses and olives that grew in the vale of Nazareth, and made beautiful the hills that encircled it? Did they climb one of them, and gain a view of the Mediterranean, and look toward the region where John would live when his boyhood was long past, in the service of his cousin at his side? [Illustration: VIRGIN, INFANT JESUS, AND ST JOHN (Madonna della Sedia) _Raphael_ Page 31] A great artist, Millais, painted a picture of the boy Jesus, representing Him as cutting His finger with a carpenter's tool, and running to His mother to have it bound up. Did John witness any such incident? How little did he think of a deeper wound he was yet to behold in that same hand. We cannot answer such questions. These things were possible. They help us to think of Jesus as a boy, like other boys. James and John thought of Him as such only until long after the days of which we are speaking. While thinking of John and Jesus as cousins, we may also think of a kinsman of theirs, a second cousin of whom we shall know more. John was to have a deep interest in both of the others, and they were to have more influence on him than all other men in the world. There were some things common to them all. They were Jews. According to Jewish customs they were trained until six years of age in their own homes. Their library was the books of the Old Testament. They learned much of its teachings. They read the stories of Joseph, Samuel and David. At six they went to the village school, taught by a Rabbi. Some attention was paid to arithmetic, the history of their nation, and natural history. But, as at their homes, the chief study was the Scriptures. They were taught especially about One--"Of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." Let us remember those words for we shall hear them again. That One was called the Messiah--He whom we call Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of the world. He had not then come. _We_ look back to the time when He did come: those boys looked forward to the time when He _would_ come. The Messiah was the great subject in the homes of the pious Jews, and in the synagogues where old and young worshiped on the Sabbath. [Illustration: CHRIST AND ST. JOHN _Winterstein_ Page 34] _CHAPTER IV_ _The Great Expectation in John's Day_ Moses wrote of a promise, made centuries before the days of John, to Abraham--that in the Messiah all the nations of the earth,--not the Jews only--should be made happy with special blessings. Isaiah and other prophets wrote of the time and place and circumstances of His coming, and of the wonders He would perform. The Jews understood that the Messiah would descend from David. They believed that He would sit "upon the throne of David," ruling first over the Jews, an earthly ruler such as David had been, and then conquering their enemies; thus being a great warrior and the king of the world. But they were sadly mistaken in many of their ideas of the Messiah. They had misread many of the writings of the prophets. They had given wrong meanings to right words. They made real what was not so intended. They overlooked prophecies about the Messiah-King being despised, rejected and slain, though God had commanded lambs to be slain through all those centuries to remind them of the coming Messiah's cruel death. Each of those lambs was a "Lamb of God." Remember that phrase; we shall meet it again. They looked for wonders of kinds of which neither Moses nor the prophets had written. Many did not understand what was meant by the kingdom of God in the hearts of men, as differing from the earthly kingdom of David. They did not understand that Messiah's kingdom would be in the hearts of all people. With such mistaken views of the Messiah at the time of which we are writing, the Jews had not only the great expectation of the centuries, but the strong belief that Messiah was about to appear. A great event had happened which made them especially anxious for His immediate coming. The Jewish nation had been conquered by the Romans. The "Glory of All Lands" was glorious only for what it had been. Galilee was a Roman province which, like those of Judæa and Samaria, longed for the expected One to free them from the Roman yoke, and show Himself to be the great Messiah-Deliverer of the Jews. They were prepared to welcome almost any one who claimed to be He. Such an one was at hand. In those days appeared a man who has been known as Judas of Galilee. He had more zeal than wisdom. In his anger and madness at the Romans he was almost insane. He was an eloquent man. He roused the whole Jewish nation. Multitudes welcomed him as the promised Messiah. Thousands gathered around him; many of them fishermen, shepherds, vine-dressers and craftsmen of Galilee. They followed him throughout the entire land with fire and sword, laying waste cities and homesteads, vineyards and cornfields. Their watchword was, "We have no Lord or master, but God." But this rebellion against the Roman government failed. Judas himself was slain. Villages in Galilee--Bethsaida probably one of them--became hospitals for the wounded in battle. The whole region was one of mourning for the dead. There was terrible disappointment concerning Judas of Galilee. None could say of him, "We have found the Messiah." "We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the prophets, did write." Again think of these words; they are yet to be spoken concerning another. What the five young Galileans of Bethsaida saw and heard of these events must have made a deep impression on them. They were old enough to be young patriots interested in their nation. Their sympathies would be with those trying to free their people from Roman power. Perhaps their thoughts concerning Messiah became confused by the false claims of Judas, the pretender, and his deluded followers. But this did not destroy their confidence in the Scriptures. They believed the prophecy it contained would yet be fulfilled. At this time John is supposed to have been about twelve years of age. Had he been older, the temperament which he afterward showed, and which sometimes misled him, allows us to think that he might have been drawn into the rebellion. Peter also in his fiery zeal might have drawn his mistaken sword. They might have become comrades in war, as they did become in peace. For many years they continued their Scripture studies, without however gaining the full knowledge of the Messiah and His kingdom, to which at last they attained. [Illustration: SIMEON AND ANNA IN THE TEMPLE _Old Engraving_ Page 39] _CHAPTER V_ _Early Influences on Character_ As we trace the history of the five youthful Bethsaidans, it seems almost certain that some special influence or influences helped to shape their characters, and to unite them in thought, purpose and effort; and so secure marked and grand results. This union was not a mere coincidence. Nor can it be accounted for by their being of the same nation or town, and having the same education common to Jewish boys. There was something which survived the mere associations of boyhood, and continued to, or was revived in, manhood. The influence whatever it was must have been special and powerful. What was it? In that little village were their faithful souls praying more earnestly than others, and searching the Scriptures more diligently, finding spiritual meanings hidden from the common readers, and so understanding more correctly, even though not perfectly, who was the true Messiah, and what He would do when He came? Or, was there some rabbi in Bethsaida like Simeon in Jerusalem, of whom it could be said, "the Holy Ghost was upon him," and "he was waiting for the consolation of Israel"--the coming of the Messiah? Or, was there a teacher of the synagogue school in Bethsaida, instructing his pupils as no other teacher did? Or, was there some aged Anna, like the prophetess in the Temple, who "served God with fastings and prayer," who going about the village full of thoughts concerning the Messiah, "spake of Him to all them that looked for His coming"? Or, was it in the homes of the five that we find that special influence? Did Jonas talk with his sons as few other fathers did, while Andrew and Peter listened most attentively to his words? Did Zebedee and Salome, as Jonas, prepare by teaching their sons for the coming time when the two pairs of brothers should be in closer companionship than the family friendship of these Galilean fishermen and business partnership could secure? Was Peter, full of boyish enthusiasm, a leader of the little company; or did John in quiet loveliness draw the others after himself? Did Philip have such family training as had the other four, or was he guided by the lights that came from their homes? And now in thought we disband the little circle of five, to be reunited elsewhere after many years. We glance into the home of James and John. We have already spoken of Salome's royal descent, and of the sympathy between her and her sons. With what deep interest we would listen to her teachings and watch the influence on them as they talked together of David their ancestor, and of how they were of the same tribe and family to which the Messiah would belong. Salome understood much about Him, more probably than most mothers: but she was much mistaken about what was meant by His Kingdom. She thought He would rule like David on an earthly throne. Her sons believed as she did, and so were as sadly mistaken. It was long before they discovered their mistake. That was in circumstances very different from what were now in their minds. [Illustration: THE BOY JOHN _Andrea del Sarto_ Page 41] Thus far we have attempted to restore the surroundings of John in his early days, which did much in shaping his early life, and fitting him for the great work he was to perform. We have glanced at the country and town in which he lived. As we see them through his eyes, he appears the more real to us. We have watched the little circle of his intimate friends, on whom he must have had an influence, and who influenced him. We have glanced at his home with his parents and brothers. We have tried to gain some idea of what and how much he had learned, especially concerning the Messiah. We are now prepared to look at him alone, and try to get a more distinct view of his character. We are not told what kind of a boy John was. We are told of many things he said and did when he was a man. These help us to understand what he must have been when young. Though there be great changes in us as we grow older, some things remain the same in kind if not in degree. Judging by certain things in John's manhood, we form an idea of his childhood. We may think of him as a lovable boy. His feelings were tender. He was greatly interested in events which pleased him. He was quick and active. He was modest and generally shy, yet bold when determined to do anything. He was not ready to tell all he felt or knew. He was helpful in his father's business. He thought and felt and planned much as his mother did. He was thoughtful and quick to understand, and sought explanation of what was not easily understood. He was frank in all he said, and abhorred dishonesty, especially in one who professed to be good. Above all he was of a loving disposition, and this made others love him. He was beloved because he loved. [Illustration: JERUSALEM _Old Engraving_ Page 44] Yet John was not perfect, as we shall see in another chapter. We know of some things he said and did when a man, which help us to understand the kinds of temptations he had in his younger days. They were such as these; contempt for others who did not think and do as he did, judging them unjustly and unkindly, and showing an unkind feeling toward them; a revengeful spirit, ready to do harm for supposed injury; selfishness; ambition--wanting to be in honor above others. His greatest temptation was to pride. But at last he overcame such temptations. What was lovable in childhood became more beautiful in manhood. He more nearly reached perfection than any other of whom we know--by what influence, we shall see. _CHAPTER VI_ _First Visit to Jerusalem_ At twelve years of age a Jewish boy was no longer thought of as a child, but a youth. Before he reached that age he looked forward to an event which seemed to him very great. It was his first visit to Jerusalem. Peter was probably older than James or John. With boyish interest they listened to the report of his first pilgrimage to the Holy City. When the time came for James to accompany him, John's interest would increase as he heard his brother's story; and much more when he could say, "Next year I too shall see it all." And when at last he, probably the youngest of the five Bethsaidan boys, could be one of the company, a day of gladness indeed had come. With his father, and perhaps his mother, he joined the caravan of pilgrims, composed chiefly of men and boys. Their probable route was across the Jordan, then southward, through valleys and gorges, and along mountain-sides which echoed with the Psalms which were sung on these pilgrimages, called "Songs of Degrees." At Bethabara, nearly opposite Jericho, the travelers recrossed the Jordan. There John might think of that other crossing many years before when Joshua led the hosts of Israel between the divided waters; and when Elijah smote them with his mantle, and there was a pathway for him and Elisha. John was to add to his memories of the spot. At a later day he would there witness a more glorious scene. [Illustration: JOSHUA'S HOST CROSSING THE JORDAN _Old Engraving_ Page 45] At last from the Mount of Olives, at a turn in the road, he had his first view of the Holy City; its walls and seventy towers of great height, and the Holy House--the Temple of God, with which in after years he was to become familiar. There he saw for himself of what he had often heard;--the Holy Altar and lamb of sacrifice--reminders of the coming Messiah; the offering of incense; and the many and varied forms of stately worship. At the time that John made this visit to Jerusalem, there was a celebrated school known as that of Gamaliel, who was the most noted of the Jewish Rabbis, or teachers. Boys were sent to him from all parts of Palestine, and even from distant countries in which Jews lived. There was one such boy from the town of Tarsus, in the Roman province of Cilicia in Asia Minor. Though living in a heathen city, surrounded by idolatry, he had received a Jewish training in his home and in the synagogue school, until he was old enough to go to Jerusalem to be trained to become a Rabbi. Like John he had learned much of the Old Testament Scriptures, but it does not appear that he had the special influences which we have imagined gave direction to the thoughts and plans of the five boys of Galilee. In his boyhood he was known as Saul; afterward as Paul. He and John in their early days differed in many things; in the later days they became alike in the most important thoughts, feelings, purposes and labors of their lives. And because of this they became associated with each other, and are remembered together as among the best and greatest of mankind. It is possible that John visited the school of Gamaliel, and that the boy from Bethsaida and the one from Tarsus met as strangers, who would some day meet as friends indeed. It is more probable that they worshiped together in the temple at the feast, receiving the same impressions which lasted and deepened through many years, and which we to-day have in what they wrote for the good of their fellow-men. When John returns from Jerusalem to his home we lose even the dim sight of him which our imagination has supplied. During the silent years that follow we have two thoughts of him,--as a fisherman of Galilee, and as one waiting for the coming of the Messiah. His parents' only thought of him is a life of honest toil, a comfort in their old age, a sharer in their prosperity, and an heir to their home and what they would leave behind. They little think that he will be remembered when kings of their day are forgotten; that two thousand years after, lives of him will be written because of a higher relationship than that of mere cousinship to Jesus; and that their own names will be remembered only because John was their son. Only God sees in the boy playing on the seashore, and in the fisherman of Gennesaret, the true greatness and honor into which He will guide him. _CHAPTER VII_ _John's View of the Coming Messiah_ In our thoughts of Jesus we have chiefly in mind the things that happened at the time of His birth and afterward. We read of them in the Gospels. John had the Old Testament only, containing promises of what was yet to happen. We have the New Testament telling of their fulfilment. Thus far we have spoken of Jesus as John knew Him--as a boy in Nazareth, the son of Mary, and his own cousin. We have also spoken of John's ideas of the Messiah. As yet he has not thought as we do of Jesus and the Messiah being the same person. It is not easy for us to put ourselves in his place, and leave out of our thoughts all the Gospels tell us. But we must do this to understand what he understood during his youth and early manhood, respecting the Messiah _yet to come_. Let us imagine him looking through the Old Testament, especially the books of Moses and the prophets, and finding what is said of Him; and see if we can what impressions are made on this young Bible student of prophecy. His search goes back many years. He finds the first Gospel promise. It was made while Adam and Eve, having sinned, were yet in the Garden of Eden. It was the promise of a Saviour to come from heaven to earth, through whom they and their descendants could be saved from the power of Satan and the consequences of sin. We do not know how much our first parents understood of this coming One: but we feel assured that they believed this promise, and through repentance and faith in this Saviour, they at last entered a more glorious paradise than the one they lost. That promise faded from the minds of many of their descendants and wickedness increased. But God had not forgotten it. John could find it renewed by him to Abraham, in the words, "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed,"--meaning that the Messiah should be the Saviour of all nations, Gentiles as well as Jews. The promise was renewed to Isaac, the son of Abraham; and then repeated to his son Jacob, in the same words spoken to his grandfather. Jacob on his dying bed told Judah what God had revealed to him, that the Messiah should be of the tribe of which Judah was the head. Many years later God made it known to David that the Messiah should be one of his descendants. This was a wonder and delight to him as he exclaimed, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house! for Thou hast spoken of Thy servant's house for a great while to come." John must have been taught by his mother that they were of the honored house of David. They, in common with other Jews, believed that the "great while to come" was near at hand. John read in Isaiah of her who would be the mother of the Messiah, without thought that she was his aunt Mary. He read that she should call her son Immanuel, meaning "God with us," without thinking this was another name for his cousin Jesus. John would find other names describing His character. His eye would rest on such words and phrases as these--"Holy One;" "Most Holy;" "Most Mighty;" "Mighty to Save;" "Mighty One of Israel;" "Redeemer;" "Your Redeemer;" "Messiah the Prince;" "Leader;" "Lord Strong and Mighty;" "King of Glory;" "King over all the earth." Most of all John would think again and again of a wonderful declaration of Isaiah, writing as if he lived in John's day, saying, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the exercise of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David." Had John known that these words of Isaiah referred to Jesus, he might have repeated them, not as a prophecy, but with a present meaning, saying, "The Child _is_ born!" As he read the prophecy of Haggai, uttered more than five hundred years before--"The desire of all nations shall come"--he might have exclaimed, "He _has_ come!" In John's reading in the Old Testament it seems strange to us that some things made a deeper impression on him than did others, and that he understood some things so differently from what we do, especially about the Messiah's kingdom. He noticed the things about His power and glory, but seems to have misread or overlooked those about the dishonor, and suffering and death that would come upon Him. We read in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, how He was to be "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, ... wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, ... brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers, ... and make His grave with the wicked." We know that all this happened. We think of a suffering Saviour. We wonder that John did not have such things in his mind. But in this he was much like his teachers, and most of the Jews. Though, as we have imagined, his family and some others were more nearly right than most people, even they did not have a full knowledge or correct understanding of all that the Old Testament Scriptures taught, concerning these things. But at last John learned more concerning Christ than any of them. We are yet to see how this came to pass. For the present we leave him in Bethsaida, increasing in wisdom and stature. So is also his cousin in Nazareth, of whom let us gain a more distinct view before He is revealed to John as the Messiah. _CHAPTER VIII_ _Jesus the Hidden Messiah_ "There has been in this world one rare flower of Paradise--a holy childhood growing up gradually into a holy manhood, and always retaining in mature life the precious, unstained memories of perfect innocence."--_H.B. Stowe_. The aged Simeon in the Temple, with the infant Jesus in his arms, said, "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart, O Lord, ... in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation"--the expected Messiah. But it was not for Him to proclaim His having come. The aged Anna could not long speak "of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem," or anywhere else. For awhile the shepherds told their wonderful story, and then died. The angels did not continue to sing their hymn of the Nativity over the plains of Bethlehem. The Wise Men returned to their own country. Herod died, and none thought of the young child he sought to kill. The hiding in Egypt was followed by a longer hiding of another kind in Nazareth. The stories of those who gathered about the infant cradle were soon forgotten, or repeated only to be disbelieved. Mary, and her husband Joseph--who acted the part of an earthly father to the heaven-born child--carried through the years the sacred secret of who and what Jesus was. We long to know something of the holy childhood. We have allowed our imagination to have a little play, but this does not satisfy our curiosity, nor that desire which we have concerning all great men, to know of their boyhood. What did He do? Where did He go? What was His life at home, and in the village school? Who were His mates? How did He appear among His brothers and sisters? So strong is a desire to know of such things that stories have been invented to supply the place of positive knowledge; but most of them are unsatisfactory, and unlike our thoughts of Him. Thus much we do know, that, "He grew in wisdom and stature" not only, but also "in favor with God and man." It has been finally said; "Only one flower of anecdote has been thrown over the wall of the hidden garden, and it is so suggestive as to fill us with intense longing to see the garden itself. But it has pleased God, whose silence is no less wonderful than His words, to keep it shut." That "one flower" refers to Jesus' visit to Jerusalem just as He was passing from childhood to youth, when He tarried in the Temple with the learned Rabbis, asking them questions with which His mind was full, and making answers which astonished them. [Illustration: THE PROPHET ISAIAH _Sargent_ Page 50] A most interesting question arises in connection with that visit; Did Jesus then and there learn that He was the Messiah? When He asked His mother, "Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house," or, "about My Father's business?" did He have a new idea of God as His Father Who had sent Him into the world to do the great work which the Messiah was to perform? There were eighteen silent years between His first visit to Jerusalem, and the time when, at thirty years of age, he made Himself known as the Messiah. They were spent as a village carpenter. He was known as such. No one suspected Him to be anything more. In His work He must have been a model of honesty and faithfulness. We can believe that "all His works were perfect, that never was a nail driven or a line laid carelessly, and that the toil of that carpenter's bench was as sacred to Him as His teachings in the Temple, because it was duty." In His home He was the devoted eldest son. It was of that time that the poet sings to Mary;-- "O, highly favored thou, in many an hour Spent in lone musings with thy wondrous Son, When thou didst gaze into that glorious eye, And hold that mighty hand within thine own. "Blest through those thirty years when in thy dwelling He lived as God disguised with unknown power, And thou His sole adorer, His best love, Trusted, revering, waited for His hour." --_H.B. Stowe_. Joseph had probably died, and the care of Mary fell especially on Jesus. But in the carpenter's shop, in the home, and wherever He was, He had thoughts and feelings and purposes hidden from all others. They were such as no mere human being could have. He was alone in the world. In silence and solitude His communions were with His Father in heaven. Calmness and peace filled His soul. His great work was before Him, ever present to His thought. So was His cross, and the glory which should come to God, and the blessedness to man, when His work on earth was done. As John long after declared, "He was in the world and the world knew Him not." As a great King He had come from heaven, and was waiting for a certain one to proclaim His coming. Toward that herald let us turn and with John listen to his voice. _CHAPTER IX_ _"The Prophet of the Most High"_ "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, ... "Yea, and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways."--_Luke_ i. 67, 76. "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all men might believe through him."--_John_ i. 6, 7. "He was the lamp that burneth and shineth."--_John_ v. 35. "In devotional pictures we see St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist standing together, one on each side of Christ."--_Mrs. Jameson_. Salome and Mary had a cousin named Elizabeth. Her home was not in Galilee, but in Judæa--the southern part of the Holy Land--probably near Hebron, possibly near Jerusalem. She had a son also named John. He was so called because the angel Gabriel, who had told Mary to call her son Jesus, had said to Zacharias, an aged high priest, the husband of Elizabeth, concerning their son, "Thou shalt call his name John." This name means "The Gift of God." Born in their old age he seemed especially such to them. He was a gift not only to his parents, but to his country and mankind. While Zebedee and Salome had not been told what their John should become, Zacharias and Elizabeth had been told the future of their John. The angel declared, "He shall be great." Had he said only this, we might think he meant great in power, or learning, or in other things which men call great, but which the Lord does not. Gabriel said, "He shall be great in the sight of the Lord." Mary visited the home of Elizabeth and the happy cousins praised God for what He had revealed to them concerning their sons. The greatness to which Elizabeth's son was to attain was that of a prophet--greater than Elijah, or Isaiah, or any other who had lived before him. With exultation Zacharias said to him, "Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High." God had arranged that he should be ready to proclaim the coming One just before the Messiah should appear among men. For this reason he was called the Fore-runner of the Messiah. But though Jesus was in the world, the time for His appearance as the Messiah had not yet come. John was greatly saddened by what he saw of the wickedness of men, even those who professed to be the people of God, and their unfitness to receive Him for whom they were looking. Led by the Spirit of God, John retired to the wilderness of Judæa, in the region of the Dead Sea and the Jordan, for meditation and communion with God. But he was not entirely concealed. There were a few who heard of his sanctity and wisdom, sought instruction from him, and abode with him, becoming his disciples. He seems to have had special influence over young men. Our Bethsaidan boys have now grown to be such since we saw them in their early home, and as school and fisher boys. They were now toiling at their nets with their fathers, closer than ever in their friendship for each other, still waiting and watching for Him whom they had been taught from their earliest days to expect. We think of their interest in the rumors concerning the prophet of Judæa. [Illustration: THE BOY JESUS IN THE TEMPLE _H. Hofmann_ Page 54] As the two pair of brothers talk together, we can hear one of them saying, "I must see and hear and know for myself. I will lay aside my fishing, and go to the wilderness of Judæa." To this the others reply, as on another occasion to Peter, "We also come with thee." Leaving the quiet shores of Gennesaret, they follow the road each has traveled annually since twelve years of age on his way to the feast in Jerusalem. They met the hermit in the wilderness. His appearance was strange indeed. His hair was long and unkempt; his face tanned with the sun and the desert air; his body unnourished by the simple food of locusts and wild honey. His raiment was of the coarsest and cheapest cloth of camel's hair. His girdle was a rough band of leather, such as was worn by the poor,--most unlike those made of fine material, and ornamented with needlework. His whole appearance must have been a great contrast to his gentle and refined namesake from Galilee. The solemn earnestness of the prophet, and the greatness of the truths he taught, were well calculated to excite the greatest interest of the young Galileans. They looked upon him with increasing conviction that he was "a prophet of God." Instead of returning to their homes, they remained in Judæa and attached themselves to him, and became known as his disciples. In their new service there was a new bond of union for themselves, which--though they then knew it not--would lead to another yet stronger. At last "the word of the Lord came unto" John, when he was about thirty years old, calling him to a more public ministry. So "He came into all the country about Jordan." Beginning in the south he moved northward from place to place. Rumors concerning the new strange prophet spread rapidly. "There went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan." Shepherds left their flocks and flocked around him. Herdsmen left their fields, and vine-dressers their vineyards, and Roman soldiers their garrisons, for the wilderness. Rabbis left their parchments in the synagogue, the schoolroom and the home, to hear the living voice of a teacher greater than any one of them. Self-righteous Pharisees and common people followed them. Some sought the preacher only from curiosity; some to hear the truth. John's preaching was summed up in two phrases,--"Repent ye," and "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." [Illustration: STREET SCENE IN NAZARETH _From Photograph_ Page 55] His preaching was bold, clear, earnest, and forcible. Many yielded to the power of his preaching. They were baptized by him; for this reason he was known as St. John the Baptist, or the Baptizer. John of Galilee was one of those who obeyed the injunction "Repent ye." With all his lovable qualities which we have imagined in his childhood--his refinement, his faithfulness in his home and synagogue, and his honest toil--he saw that within himself which was not right in the sight of God. He repented of his sins and sought forgiveness. A lovely character became more lovely still, to be known as the loving and beloved one. He was ready to welcome the Messiah of whom the Baptist told. He had no fears that another Judas of Galilee had arisen. He believed that the promises concerning the coming One were being fulfilled. He was a faithful disciple of the prophet and forerunner, to whom he must have been a great joy, but who was ready to have him, whenever the time should come, transfer his following to the Lord of them both. For how long a period the two Johns continued together, we do not know, but it was drawing to its close. [Illustration: VISIT OF MARY TO ELISABETH _Old Engraving_ Page 58] _CHAPTER X_ _The Messiah Found_ "They found Him not, those youths of noble soul; Long seeking, wandering, watching on life's shore, Reasoning, aspiring, yearning for the light. * * * * * "But years passed on; and lo! the Charmer came, Pure, simple, sweet, as comes the silver dew, And the world knew Him not,--He walked alone, Encircled only by His trusting few." --_H.B. Stowe_. "We"--Andrew and John--"have found the Messiah."--_Andrew to Peter_. "We"--Andrew and Peter, James and John, and Philip--"have found Him, of Whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth."--_Philip to Nathanael_. "The fulness of the time was come," not only when "God sent forth His Son," but "when the Son should reveal Himself to the world." So Jesus came forth from His retirement in Nazareth to enter on His public ministry. "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto John to be baptized of him." What a meeting! Probably the first in their lives. It is no marvel that John said, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" But he obeyed Jesus' bidding, "Suffer it to be so now." "So He was baptized of John in Jordan." Then followed the prayer of the Son of God; and then "the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him"; and then the voice of the Father, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son: in Thee I am well pleased." Let us remember that voice: we shall hear it again. And then for forty days and forty nights Jesus was hidden completely from the face of man, alone on the Mount of Temptation, with wild beasts, until ministering angels come to Him from heaven. He returned to the region where the Baptist was preaching. "John seeth Jesus coming to him." His eye is turned away from the multitude thronging about him, and is fastened upon Jesus only. His thought is of Him of whom Isaiah wrote long before--"He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter." Pointing to Jesus he exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!" The Galilean disciples were doubtless present, and were deeply moved by their Master's exclamation. Because of their previous training in their homes, and in the wilderness with the prophet, it must have kindled in them deeper emotion than it did in any others of that astonished throng. But it was to become deeper still. This was especially true of two of them. [Illustration: THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA _From Photograph_ Page 59] The next day, probably a Sabbath, was to become a memorable day in the history of the two and of their master. It was a morning hour. We think of the three as alone, before the multitudes had gathered, or the day's ministry of preaching and baptizing had begun. They walked along the bank of the river communing together of Him whom they had seen the day before. In the distance John saw the Figure again. In awe and reverence, and with a fixed gaze, "John was standing, and two of his disciples; and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God!" The exclamation was in part that which they had heard in the presence of the multitude; but that was not enough. It was as if John had said, "Behold the Messiah for whom our nation has waited so long; Him of whom our Scriptures have told us; Who has been the theme in our homes from childhood; of whom I have been the prophet and herald. He it is of whom I have taught you, my disciples, as you have followed me in the wilderness until I now can bid you behold Him. Henceforth follow Him." John says that one of the two was Andrew. There is no doubt that the other was himself. We shall notice in his writings that he never uses his own name. This incident is our first definite knowledge of him. All we have said hitherto is what we think must have been true, judging from circumstances of which we do know, and from his character revealed after this time. We long to know whether "Jesus as He walked" came near the Baptist, and with what salutation they met, and what were their parting words, for this seems to be the last time of their meeting. If Mary and Salome were sisters, and Elizabeth was their cousin--as we use the term--John of Galilee and Jesus were related to John the Baptist in the same way. But there was a closer relationship than that of family. In this Jesus was the connecting link between the two Johns. "One on each side of Christ"--this was their joy and their glory. One was the last prophet to proclaim His coming: the other was to be the last evangelist to tell the story of His life on the earth. When the Baptist the second time uttered the cry, "Behold the Lamb of God!" "the two disciples heard Him speak and followed Jesus." Their old master saw them turn from him without a jealous, but with a gladsome thought. Encouraged by him, and drawn by Jesus, with reverential awe, in solemn silence or with subdued tone, they timidly walked in the footsteps of the newly revealed Master. The quickened ear before them detected their footsteps or conversation. "Jesus turned and saw them following," as if to welcome their approach, and give them courage. He then asked them a question, "What seek ye?" It was not asked because He was ignorant, but to encourage them in familiar conversation, as He did at other times. Their answer was another question, "Rabbi, where abidest Thou?" They longed for a fuller opportunity than that on the road to be taught by Him. "Come and see," was His welcome reply. "They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day." First by a look, then a question, then an invitation, then hospitality, they were drawn to Him, and into His service. [Illustration: TRADITIONAL PLACE OF CHRIST'S BAPTISM _From Photograph_ Page 63] Often in after years must Andrew and John have recalled that walk with Jesus, and "rehearsed the things that happened," and said one to another, "Was not our heart burning within us while He spake to us in the way?" So afterward did other two, of Emmaus, when "Jesus Himself drew near and went with them." But the eyes of Andrew and John were not "holden that they should not know Him." The pleasing dream of years was past: they were wakening to a glorious reality. Their following of Him in that hour has been claimed to be "the beginning of the Christian Church." That day of abiding with Jesus was the first of many days these disciples spent with Him, knowing Him more and more perfectly, and the truth which He alone could reveal. They were then passing from the school of the Baptist to that of the Greatest Teacher. What was said in those sacred hours? John has reported other private interviews with Jesus, but concerning this one his lips are sealed. Did he tell of his surprise and joy to learn that He, Jesus, the son of his aunt, Mary, was the Messiah of whom his mother, Salome, had taught him from his early days? Were there any memories of childhood--of the sandy beach of Bethsaida, or the hills of Nazareth; or, were all such thoughts buried in newer and deeper question? Was there any hint of their future relation too sacred for others then to know? Was this the beginning of that sweet intimacy so private then, but of which the whole world should hear in all coming time? After the evening meal in Emmaus the two disciples there "rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem," with joyful and quickened steps to report the glad tidings of what they had seen and heard. Andrew and John were to be of the number who, in three years, would hail these disciples from Emmaus. Like them, Andrew and John hastened away from the sheltering booth on the Jordan bank on a like errand. But they went not together, nor to an assembled company. They each went in search of his own brother--Andrew for Peter, and John for James. Andrew found his brother first. Afterward John found his: so we infer from his narrative. Each carried the same tidings, "_We have found the Messiah!_" [Illustration: THE BAPTISM OF JESUS _Old Engraving_ Page 64] Andrew is thought to have asked leave to bring his brother. "He brought him to Jesus." When John wrote that simple statement, he did not think how much was included in it concerning Peter and his own relation to him. As little did Andrew think to what the promptings of his brotherly affection would lead. His mission seems to have been that of bringing others to Christ--his own brother, the lad with five loaves and two fishes, and certain Greeks who desired to see Jesus. John only has made note of these three incidents. In so doing he has given to us the key to the character of his friend, and caused him to be held in everlasting remembrance. Andrew is remembered in the cross that bears his name; in his anniversary day; in the choice of him for the patron saint of Scotland; in orders of knighthood, and in Christian societies of brotherhood named after him, as an example and inspiration to the noblest of Christian endeavor--that of bringing old and young to Christ. It is John alone who wrote of that memorable day on the Jordan. His impressions were deep and lasting. The record of them is so fresh and minute that we seem to be perusing a notebook which was in his hands when these events were transpiring. His memory is distinct of the exact location of each; of the attitudes and movements of the actors,--as when "John stood," and "Jesus walked," and "Jesus turned"; of the fixed and earnest look of Jesus--as on Andrew and John in the way, and Peter in the place of His abode. John remembered the words of the Baptist, and of his two disciples, and of Jesus. He remembered the day not only, but that "it was about the tenth hour when he accepted the invitation to come and see where Jesus was tarrying." All these pictures hung unfading on the walls of John's memory. This was not strange. It was the day and the hour for which he looked through all his early years, and to which he looked back in his latest. Then was the beginning of a most blessed relationship, alone in the history of mankind; that which was to make his name immortal, and radiant with a halo which encircles none other. "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 and Peter." So writes John, recalling to us the Galilean group of Bethsaidan boys. When we became familiar with their names, there was no prospect that the two pairs of brothers and their friend would head the roll of disciples of the Messiah for whom they were looking. But such a day had come. We know not that Philip had a brother whom he could bring to Jesus, as did Andrew and John, but he was as full of wonder and joy as they. Like them he must go in search of some one to whom he could repeat their exclamation. The search was not long. John tells the result. "Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, We have found Him." But this simple declaration is not enough for Philip. He recalls those Scripture scrolls in his home and the Rabbi's school, and the synagogue, that told of the coming Messiah, and so he exclaims, "We have found Him of whom Moses and the Law, and the Prophets did write"--thus repeating the phrase we were to remember till we should hear it again. Nathanael, coming to Jesus declared in wonder and admiration, "Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." His name was added to those of the Galilean group. The disciples now numbered five or six--Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and probably James. These were one half of a completed circle to surround Jesus. All but one of them were of the Bethsaidan band. John has drawn lifelike pictures of them, more complete than those of the other apostles,--except that of Judas, whom he contrasts with all the rest. We have thought of James and John as nearest to Jesus in kinship. We are already beginning to think of John as nearest in discipleship. _CHAPTER XI_ _John a Wedding Guest_ "There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and Jesus also was bidden, and His disciples to the marriage." "The mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine." "The ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine." "This beginning of His signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed on Him."--_John_ ii. 1-3, 9, 11. Again John notices the very day on which occurred a remarkable event, of which he had a vivid recollection. It was the third, as is probable, after the departure of Jesus from Jordan for Galilee. He was invited to a wedding in Cana. His disciples were invited also, we may suppose out of respect to Him. James and John might have been there without the rest. It is possible that they were relatives of the family, as their aunt Mary is thought to have been. She was there caring for the guests, and what had been provided for them. The marriage feast lasted several days. Jesus and His disciples were not present at the beginning. After their arrival, Mary discovered that the wine had given out. Like the sister of another Mary, in whose house Jesus was a guest, she was troubled because it looked as if the family had not provided for all the company. She had probably been a widow for several years, and as Jesus was her oldest Son, she had gone to Him for advice and help when in trouble at home. So now "when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine." We are not to suppose that she intended to ask Him to do a miracle. Perhaps she simply said, "What shall we do?" as many a housekeeper has said when in doubt. He made a reply which seems harsh and unkind, unless we understand His meaning, and imagine His words to have been spoken in a kind tone, and with a kind and loving look. She was not offended by His reply. Thinking He might do something--she knew not what--she said unto the servants, "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." It might be said of Him at this time, as it was at another, "He knew Himself what He would do." He gave three simple commands to the servants. The first was, "Fill the water-pots with water." They did as Mary had said, and obeyed Him. Watching them until the jars were full, He said, "Draw out now and bear unto the ruler of the feast." This was probably a special friend of the family, who with Mary was directing it. While Jesus' command was being obeyed, His first miracle was performed. "When the ruler had 'tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was,' ... he called the bridegroom," and in a playful joke praised the goodness of the wine which he imagined had purposely been kept to the last. "The water now become wine" is the brief statement of the first of the thirty-six recorded miracles of our Lord. It was seen by the six disciples. They witnessed the first of the miracles since those in the days of Daniel, of which they had read in their Scriptures, one of the last of which was at the impious feast of Belshazzar. There the holy cups from Jerusalem were used in praising false gods of silver and gold, in the hands of the king and his lords, as they read the handwriting on the wall, interpreted by Daniel. How different the feast in Cana. There was no fear there. When the disciples saw the cup in the hands of the hilarious governor, and heard his playful words, they were not in a sportive mood. Theirs was that of astonishment and reverence at the miracle. No Daniel was needed to interpret the meaning of that water changed into wine. John tells us what they understood thereby--that "Jesus manifested His glory." He showed the power which belongs to God only. John immediately adds, "And His disciples believed on Him." This is the first time they are spoken of as such. As yet they were disciples only. At the end of the blessed week in which they had "found the Messiah," there had been formed a close companionship which was to become closer still. But the time had not yet come for them to leave their homes and business, and attend Him wherever He went. They were not yet Apostles. The marriage feast had become to them more than a social festival. Their Lord had intended that it should be so. Their faith in Him on the Jordan, was strengthened in Cana. "This _beginning_ of miracles," says John. What was this beginning? It was not the healing of the sick, nor raising of the dead, nor supplying a hungry company with bread, nor furnishing a necessary drink. There was no display. Jesus stretched forth no rod over the water-jars, as did Moses over the waters of the Nile when the same Divine power changed them into like color, but different substance, and with a different purpose. The first manifestation of His glory was for "the increase of innocent joy." When John had read the story of Jesus in the first three Gospels, and found no record of this miracle, did he not feel that there had been a great omission which he must supply? Nowhere else does Jesus appear just as He did at that feast, though other incidents of His life are in harmony with it. It is sometimes said He "graced" that marriage feast, as royalty does by mere presence. But He did more. He entered into the innocent festivities, and helped to their success. A glance into that village home is a revelation of Jesus in social life, and His interests in human friendships and relations. We must remember that it was only innocent pleasures that He helped to increase, in which alone we can seek the presence of His Spirit, and on which alone we can ask His blessing. This marriage feast must have been of special interest to John, if, as is supposed, the family was related to Mary and probably to him. This would seem to be her first meeting with Jesus since He bid her farewell in Nazareth, and left the home of thirty years, to be such no longer. Did not Mary, mother-like, call John aside from the festive scene and say to him, "What has happened at the Jordan? tell me all about it." I seem to hear John saying to her; "It is a wonderful story. Of some things I heard, and some I both saw and heard. You know of the ministry of your cousin Elizabeth's son John--of his preaching and baptizing. Jesus was baptized by him. Immediately they both had a vision of 'the Spirit of God descending upon Him; and lo! a voice from heaven saying, This is My beloved Son.' Then John was certain who Jesus was. He told the people about the vision, saying, 'I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God.' And one day when my friend Andrew and I were with him, he pointed us to Jesus saying, 'Behold the Lamb of God,' whom we followed, first to His abode on the Jordan, and then here to Cana. We were disciples of John, but now are _His_ disciples, and ever shall be. You know, aunt Mary, how from childhood I had thought of Him as my cousin Jesus, and loved Him for His goodness. From what my mother has told me, which she must have learned from you, there has been some beautiful mystery about Him. It is all explained now. Hereafter, I shall love Him more than ever, but I shall think of Him, not so much as my cousin Jesus, as the Messiah for whom we were looking, and as the Son of God." How the mother-heart of Mary must have throbbed as she listened to her nephew John's story of Jesus on the Jordan. How it must have gone out toward him, because of his thoughts about her son, and his love for Him. How grieved she must have been as she thought of her own sons who did not believe as John did concerning their brother Jesus. The time was to come when Jesus would make her think of John, not so much as a nephew, as a son. In that festive hour, Mary too learned the lesson that human relationships to Jesus, however beautiful, were giving way to other and higher. The words He had spoken to her at the feast, like those He had uttered in the Temple in His boyhood, and the things that had happened on the Jordan, showed her that henceforth she should think, not so much of Jesus as the Son of Mary, as the Son of God. In thoughts she must have revisited the home of Elizabeth, whose walls, more than thirty years before, had echoed with her own song, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." _CHAPTER XII_ _John and Nicodemus_ "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came unto Him by night." "We speak that we do know, and bear witness of that we have seen."--_John_ iii. 1, 2, 11. "There is Nicodemus, who visited Jesus by night--to the astonishment of St. John--but who was soon afterward Jesus' friend."--_John Watson_. "The report of what passed reads, more than almost any other in the gospels, like notes taken at the time by one who was present. We can almost put it again into the form of brief notes.... We can scarcely doubt that it was the narrator John who was the witness that took the notes."--_Alfred Edersheim_. Three incidents mentioned by John only comprise all we know of Nicodemus. In each of them he refers to him as coming to Jesus by night. That visit seems to have made a deep impression on John. We may think of Him as present at the interview between the Pharisee and the "Teacher come from God." We are not told why Nicodemus came at a night hour. Perhaps he thought he could make sure of a quiet conversation, such as he could not have in the daytime. Perhaps he did not want to appear too friendly to Jesus until he knew more about Him, though he already had a friendly feeling toward Him. Perhaps he was afraid of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish Court. Most of its members hated Jesus and had commenced their opposition to Him, which was continued during His life, and resulted in His death. Not so felt Nicodemus, though a member. At a later day he opposed their unjust treatment of Him. If he did not think of Jesus as the Messiah, he yet thought of Him as a prophet, "a teacher come from God." He was anxious to know more. So cautiously and timidly he sought Jesus in the night. We suppose that, at the time of Jesus' death, John had a home in Jerusalem. It has been thought possible that when and before he became a disciple of Jesus he had an abode there, attending to the business connected with the sale of fish from his home in Galilee. There Jesus might be found in the guest-chamber on the roof of the oriental house which was reached by an outside stair. Nicodemus had no invitation, such as Andrew and John had to Jesus' abode on the Jordan, but he had an equal welcome to John's home, whither he had come on a like errand, though with different views of Jesus, to learn of Him. He sees still burning in the upper chamber the night lamp of Him whom he is to know as "the light of the world." He ascends the stair, stands at the door and knocks; and it is opened. Apparently without lengthy salutation, or introduction, he makes known his errand in the single sentence, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these signs that Thou doest, except God be with Him." He might have added, "What shall I do?" Jesus gave a very solemn answer to his question,--"Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." He taught him that doing certain things, and not doing others, was not enough; he must _be_ good. To be good there must be a change of spirit. As a child has a beginning of its earthly life, he must have the beginning of a spiritual life, or he cannot be fitted for the kingdom of God in this world or that which is to come. That great change comes "from above," from God Himself. Listen to some of the wonderful truths Jesus taught to Nicodemus. They are for us as well as for him. 1. Those who do not have this change of spirit must "perish." 2. But none need to perish, for "eternal life" has been provided. 3. This life is through the suffering and death of the "Son" of God. 4. God "gave His only begotten Son" to do all this. 5. God did this because He "so loved the world." 6. This "eternal life" can be had only by "believing on" the Son of God. 7. "Whosoever" so believes may have eternal life. All this is included in one sentence: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life." This is the golden text of St. John's Gospel, and of the whole Bible. Through all the ages it has sounded, and will sound to the end of time, as the gospel itself. John must have been a most attentive listener to all that Jesus said. This was at the beginning of His Lord's ministry. Fresh truths easily impressed him. They were the buddings of which he was to see the bloom, of whose fruitage he would partake most abundantly, and which he would give to others long after the echo of the Great Teacher's words had died in the chamber where he and Nicodemus heard them. It was long after that nightly visit that John wrote his account of it, including the golden text whose keyword was _Love_. It is supposed that he wrote his Epistle about the same time. That text was so present in his thought that he repeated it in almost the same words: "Herein was the Love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." At the close of his long life, in which he had learned much of the power and justice and holiness and goodness of God, it seemed to him that all these were summed up in the one simple saying, "God is love." [Illustration: THE FIRST DISCIPLES _Ittenbach_ Page 67] When John bade Nicodemus good-night, he could not look forward to the time, nor to the place where we see them together again. John the lone apostle with Nicodemus and his Lord at the beginning of His ministry, is the lone apostle at the cross. Then and there, he recalls the first meeting of the three as he beholds the Rabbi approaching. This is his record; "Then came also Nicodemus, who at the first came to Jesus by night." There is a tradition concerning Nicodemus that after the Resurrection of Jesus, his faith in Him was strengthened. The "teacher come from God" he now believed to be the Son of God. The timid Rabbi became a bold follower of the Lord whom he once secretly sought. For this he was no longer permitted to be a ruler of the Jews. He was hated, beaten, and driven from Jerusalem. At last he was buried by the side of the first martyr Stephen, who had baptized and welcomed him into the fellowship of the Christian Band. _CHAPTER XIII_ _St. John and the Samaritaness_ "He cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar.... Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said unto her, Give Me to drink."--_John_ iv. 5-7. "Probably John remained with the Master. They would scarcely have left Him alone especially in that place; and the whole narrative reads like one who had been present at what passed."--_Edersheim._ The vale of Sychar is one of the most interesting spots in the Holy Land. Jacob's well is one of the sacred sights about whose identity there is no dispute. I count the Sabbath when my tent overshadowed it one of the most memorable of my life. It was a privilege to read on the spot John's story of the Master tarrying there, and of the truths there revealed. John tells us that Jesus, on His way from Judæa to Galilee, passed through Samaria, arrived at Jacob's well, and "being wearied with His journey sat thus on the well," while His disciples went "away unto the city to buy food." It is not necessary to suppose that all of the six went to the neighboring city. Probably John remained with the Master. His narrative is one of the most distinct word-paintings in the whole Gospel story. He writes like one who saw and heard all that passed, not only when the other disciples were with him, but also and especially what happened when they were absent from the well. [Illustration: THE MARRIAGE AT CANA _Old Engraving_ Page 72] John tells us that Jesus "was wearied with His journey." The observing, tender-hearted disciple saw and remembered his Master's weariness. In this simple, brief record, he reminds us of Jesus' humanity, and so how much He was like ourselves. How much of his Lord's weariness and suffering the sympathizing disciple was yet to witness. We may think of John alone with Jesus, seated in an alcove which sheltered them from the sun. They may often have been thus found in loving companionship. With what delight would we read of those private interviews. How sacred and precious they must have been to John. At the well, what subjects there were for conversation, suggested by memories of the spot. Here Abraham had erected his first altar in Canaan to the true God, whom Jesus was about to reveal more perfectly. This was the parcel of ground which Jacob had bought, and in which he had buried the false gods of his household. Here Joseph had been a wanderer seeking his brethren. This was the place which Jacob when dying had given to his son Joseph, on whose tomb Jesus and John looked as they talked together. The twin mountains of Ebal and Gerizim looked down upon them, reminders of the days of Joshua, when the two Israelitish bands called to each other in solemn words, and the valley echoed with their loud "Amen." Not every Jew could have the personal interest in that well, such as the two weary travelers could claim, through the family records of their common ancestor even to Abraham. It was not on account of John that these records had been kept, but of the "Son of Man" at his side, whom he had learned to look upon as "the Son of God." As they sat together John could not look into the future, as his Master could, and think of the time when they would be in the region together with an unfriendly reception; nor of that other time when John would come to it again and have a friendly reception, but with memories only of his Lord. [Illustration: BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST _Old Engraving_ Page 74] But their visit alone did not last until the return of His disciples. It was suddenly interrupted. "There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water." She was no fitting companion for them. She was not prepared to enter into their thoughts and feelings. She was an ignorant woman of the lower order of society, sinful, and not worthy of the respect of those who knew her. "Give me to drink," said Jesus--fatigued, hungry, thirsty. She gazed upon Him with astonishment. She knew by His appearance and dress that He was a Jew. She supposed that any such would be too full of hatred and pride to ask even such a simple favor of a Samaritan. Her answer showed her surprise. He gently spoke of her ignorance of Him, and of a richer gift than the one He asked, and which He was ready to bestow. It was "living water"--"the grace and truth of which He was full." Changing her manner toward Him, and addressing Him more respectfully, she asked, "Art _Thou_ greater than our father Jacob?" She meant, "Surely Thou art not greater." How strange this must have sounded to John as his eye turned from her, to Him before whom Jacob would bow in adoration could he have joined that circle on the spot where he had built an altar many years before. Jesus explained more fully the difference between the water for which He had asked, and that which He would give. He had asked a very small favor of her; He would bestow the greatest of gifts, even eternal life. Not fully understanding Him, and yet believing He was some wonderful person, she repeated His own request, but with a changed meaning,--"Sir, give me this water." Perhaps to make her feel her sinfulness and to lead her into a better life, He showed her that though He was a stranger, He knew her past history. Her astonishment increased and she exclaimed, "Sir, I perceive that Thou art a Prophet." Ashamed, she quickly changed the subject. She and her people claimed that Mount Gerizim was the holy place of the Holy Land; while the Jews said that Jerusalem was "the place where men ought to worship." She wanted the Prophet she had so unexpectedly met to decide between them. With calmness, solemnity and earnestness, He made a sublime declaration to her, meant for Jews, Samaritans and all men. It was this: "Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father.... The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be His worshipers. God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." But this did not satisfy her. It was all so new and strange, so different from what she and her people believed, that she was not prepared to accept it from an unknown stranger, though he seemed to be a prophet. She thought of One greater than she thought He could be, One who was wiser than any prophet then living, or who ever had lived, One who she believed was to come. So, with a sigh of disappointment, her only reply was, "I know that Messiah cometh; ... when He is come, He will declare unto us all things." How the quickened ear of John must have made his heart thrill at the name Messiah. Until a few weeks before, he too had talked of His coming, but already had heard Him declare many things which no mere prophet had spoken. Is he not prompted to break the silence of a mere listener? Is not his finger already pointed toward Jesus? Are not the words already on his tongue?--"O woman, _this is He_," when Jesus makes the great confession he made before Pilate, saying to the Samaritaness, "I that speak unto Thee, am He." So it was that He whose coming the angels in their glory announced to the shepherds in Bethlehem, He whom the Baptist proclaimed to multitudes on the Jordan, He whose glory was manifested to the company in Cana, made Himself known to this low, ignorant, sinful, doubting, perplexed stranger, in words "to which all future ages would listen, as it were with hushed breath and on their knees." These words of Jesus to the woman, "I am He," closed their conversation, so unexpected to her when she came with her water-pot, in which she had lost all interest. Her mind and heart had been filled instead. She had drawn from Him richer supplies than Jacob's well could ever contain. From that hour she thought of it, not so much as Jacob's well as the Messiah's well. The disciples returning from the city, coming within sight of Jesus, "marveled that He was speaking with a woman." The people then and there had a mistaken idea that to do so was very improper. The disciples were the more astonished because she was a Samaritan. But they had such a sense of His goodness, that they did not dare to ask, "Why talkest Thou with her?" She was interrupted in her conversation with Jesus, by the coming of the disciples. She left her water-pot at the well. Too full of wonder and gratitude to stop to fill it, or to be hindered in carrying it, she hastened to the city with the good news of what she had seen and heard. So had Andrew and John each carried the good news to his brother saying, "We have found the Messiah." She believed she had found Him. But the good news seemed almost too good to be true, and she wanted the men of the city to learn for themselves. So she put her new belief in the form of a question, "Is not this the Christ?" A great number obeyed her call, and believed with her that Jesus was the Messiah. [Illustration: THE HILL OF SAMARIA _Old Engraving_ Page 84] Meanwhile the disciples asked Him to eat of the food they had brought. But His deep interest in the woman, and joy in the great change in her, was so great that for the moment He felt no want of food. So He said to them, "I have meat to eat that ye know not." ... "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me." Never again did the disciples marvel that their Master talked with a woman, or with a sinner of any kind. We seem to see John, weary and hungry as his Master, but unmindful of bodily discomforts, because of his intense interest in what is passing. His record does not give his own experiences, but we can imagine some of them. His watchful eye detects every movement and expression of his companions,--the calm, earnest, loving, pitying look of Jesus; and the excited, scornful, surprised, joyful, constantly changing looks of the woman. He first marks her pertness of manner; then the respectful "Sir"; then the reverence for a prophet; and at last the belief and joy in the Messiah. Whether or not John was witness to all that passed at the well, or whether Jesus gave him the minute details, or whether the Samaritaness, during the two days that Jesus and His disciples remained in Sychar, told Him all, his story is one of the most lifelike in the Gospels, teaching the greatest of truths. If that noon hour at Jacob's well was a memorable one for the woman, it was also for John. For him Christ was the Well of Truth. Of it he was to drink during blessed years. Standing nearest to it of any mortal, receiving more than any other, he was to give of it to multitudes thirsting for the water of life. _CHAPTER XIV_ _The Chosen One of the Chosen Three of the Chosen Twelve_ "Walking by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brethren, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And He said unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left the nets, and followed Him. And going on from thence He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. And they straightway left the boat and their father, and followed Him."--_Matt._ iv. 18-22. "He was the Supreme Fisher, and this day He was fishing for them."--_Stalker._ "When it was day, He called His disciples; and he chose from them twelve, whom also He named apostles, Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip...."--_Luke_ vi. 13, 14 "Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John."--_Matt._ xvii. 1. "One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved."--_John_ xiii. 23. "We know not all thy gifts, But this Christ bids us see, That He who so loved all, Found more to love in thee." Once more we find the two pair of brothers on the shore of Gennesaret, not together, but within hailing distance. All night long they have toiled at fishing without any reward. The morning has dawned. Wearied and with the marks of labor on their persons and their garments, their empty boats drawn upon the beach, they are mending their nets which have been torn by the waves, and cleansing them from the sand which has been gathered instead of the fishes they sought. [Illustration: JACOB'S WELL _From Photograph_ Page 91] Meanwhile a multitude of people in the neighboring field is listening to the Master. The fishermen may hear His voice, but their nets must not be left in disorder; they must be put in readiness for another trial, which, though they know it not, will be most abundantly rewarded. They cannot go to Him, but He comes to them with a greeting and a command, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." The time had come for Him to gather His first disciples more closely about Him for instruction and preparation and service in His kingdom. They had seen proofs of His Messiahship. They had been with Him long enough to know something of His work and teachings, and what was included in His call to follow Him. They understood it meant leaving their boats and nets by which they had earned their daily bread, and even leaving their homes, and going with Him wherever He went, trusting Him for support, ready to do anything to which all this would lead them. Their belief in Him, and their love for Him, were enough to secure immediate obedience to the new command. In their faithfulness in their duties in their former life, in the carefulness in mending their nets, in the patience and perseverance during the nights of fruitless toil, in their thoughtfulness, skill and experience in catching fish--in such things Christ found likeness of what He would make them to become--fishers of men. From their old business He would teach them lessons about the new,--of His power, the abundance of His store, and the great things they were to do for Him and their fellow-men. Before they leave it, He makes Himself a kind of partner with them. Having used Simon's boat for a pulpit for teaching, He tells him to launch out into the deep and to let down his net. It encloses a multitude of fishes. Andrew and James with their brothers whom they had called to Jesus, the first company to follow Him from the Jordan, are the first to do so in a new and fuller sense from the shores of Gennesaret, where they first learned of Him. There is something touching in the special reference to the call of the sons of Salome, whose relation to Mary first interested us in them. It is said of Jesus, "He saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother and He called them. And they immediately left their father in the ship with the hired servants. They forsook all and followed Him." [Illustration: THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES _Old Engraving_ Page 94] What reminders do we here have of the past! James and John, true brothers in childhood, united in business in early life, now hand in hand commence life anew. Having become the help, and much more the companions of their father they must leave him to the companionship of hired servants. But in this hour of sundering family ties, the loving father and loving sons rejoice in Jesus as their Master whom they all willingly obey. He chose twelve whom He called Apostles. Such was the glorious company, composed of young men, the most honored in all earthly history, to be His closest companions, His missionary family. During the remainder of His life He would train them; and when leaving the world trust their faithfulness and devotion in extending His kingdom. The two pair of brothers and their early friend Philip are the first named of the Apostles. The early Bethsaidan group composed almost one-half of the apostolic company. But within that circle there was another. Three of the twelve were chosen by the Lord for closer intimacy. They were to be special witnesses of His greatest power, His most radiant glory, and His deepest sorrow upon earth. They were Peter, James and John. Two of the three, Peter and John, were to be united in special service for their Lord while He was with them, and so continue after He was gone. But of the twelve Jesus drew one closest to Himself, most loved and the most glorious of them all: it was John. In seeking a reason for Christ's fixing the number of His disciples, some have found a fancied one in the twelve precious stones of Aaron's breastplate. The most precious stone would represent John, the chosen one of the Great High Priest. In his own vision of the new Jerusalem "the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones." "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." It was that Lamb of God to which he had been pointed on the Jordan, and to which he points us as he beholds Him by the "glassy sea." As John read those names did he not recall the day when Jesus chose twelve whom "He named Apostles"? _CHAPTER XV_ _John in the Home of Jairus_ "He suffered no man to follow with Him, save Peter, and James, and John. And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue." "And taking the child by the hand, He saith unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel I say unto thee, Arise. And straightway the damsel rose up, and walked."--_Mark_ v. 37, 38, 41, 42. The first scene in which we find John as one of the favored three is in the house of mourning. It was the home of Jairus in Capernaum. He was a ruler of the synagogue. "He had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying." He hastened to Jesus, fell at His feet, worshiped Him, and besought Him saying, "Come and lay Thy hands on her that she may be healed; and she shall live." Did he not have in mind Peter's wife's mother, living in the same town, and how Jesus "came and took her by the hand and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her"? Jesus started for the house, followed by a throng, some doubtless full of tender sympathy for their townsman, and some curious to see what the wonder-worker would do. A messenger from Jairus' home met him saying, "Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master." But the father's faith in Jesus was not limited to the power to heal. Could not the hand that had already touched the bier of the widow's only son, be laid on his only daughter, with life-restoring power? Could not the command spoken in Nain "I say unto thee, arise," be repeated in Capernaum, and in like manner be obeyed? Without heeding the messenger's question about troubling the Master, he cried out yet more earnestly, "My daughter is even now dead; but lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live." But the father's entreaty was unnecessary, for Jesus was already responding to the messenger's words as, turning to Jairus, He said, "Fear not, only believe." How eagerly the curious crowd hastened toward the ruler's home, because of a possible miracle, even raising the dead. But they were not to be witnesses of such display of Divine power. Yet even if the throng be excluded, might not the Twelve, following close to Jairus and Jesus, expect admission to the home? What was the surprise and disappointment of nine of them to be forbidden admission by Him whom they were following. But so it was. "When He came to the house He suffered not any man to enter in with Him, save Peter, and John and James, and the father of the maiden, and her mother." [Illustration: RAISING THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS _H. Hofmann_ Page 99] This is the first we know of this distinction in the apostolic band. We almost hear the nine saying, "Why is this?" Can it be that, in that hour, at the door of this house of mourning, there was awakened the feeling of jealousy which afterward appeared? Did it inspire in the three a sense of superiority, and ambition to be higher in position than the rest in the kingdom of their Lord? Did James and John especially hope for promotion above the nine, and even the ten including Peter? So it will appear. But all this was to pass away when the band better understood the nature of their Lord's kingdom, and possessed more of His spirit. The death-chamber was too sacred a place for numbers, even for the nine, whose admittance would be more fitting than that of the hired mourners whom Jesus excluded with them. He had His own wise reasons for the choice of the three. We do not wonder that John was one of them. With all his manifest failings--which he at last overcame--he was the most like his Master. In that death-chamber the Lord was to show His "gentleness and delicacy of feeling and action" such as John could understand, and with which he could sympathize. "And taking the child by the hand, He saith unto her, Talitha, cumi." We are glad that Mark has preserved for us the very words that must have thrilled the heart of John. They had been interpreted, "My little lamb, my pet lamb, rise up." In them was a lesson for John. They were a revelation of his Master's tenderness toward childhood. It was a needed lesson, which he finally learned. As John and Peter saw the returning life of the little maid, and heard their Master's command "that something should be given her to eat," they thought not of the time when they should stand together again near the same spot with the same Master, Himself risen from the dead, and hear Him utter another command, "Feed My lambs." As they with James followed their Lord out from the death-chamber--such no longer--and heard His charge "that no man should know" what had happened, the very secrecy drew more distinctly the line of the inner circle about the three. It was not to be erased during the Lord's earthly sojourn with the twelve. _CHAPTER XVI_ _John a Beholder of Christ's Glory_ "We beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father."--_St. John_ i. 14. "We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory ... when we were with Him in the holy mount."--2 _Peter_ i. 16-18. "As brightest sun, His face is bright; His raiment, as the light, is white, Yea, whiter than the whitest snow. Moses, Elias, spake with Him. Of deepest things, of terrors grim, Of boundless bliss, and boundless woe, Of pangs that none but Christ may know. "A voice sublime I panting hear, A voice that conquers grief and fear, Revealing all eternity; Revealing God's beloved Son, Born to redeem a world undone; Filled with God's fulness from on high, To gain God's noblest victory." --_Trans. Kingo of Denmark._ We may think of the twelve as Christ's family with whom He often prayed apart from the multitude. One such occasion was in Cæsarea Philippi. The prayer was followed by two earnest and solemn questions. "He asked the disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." How strange these sayings must have sounded to St. John and his Jordan companions, who had been directed by the Baptist to their Messiah. Three of them were soon to witness Elijah's tribute to Him, as being more than the "Son of Man." Such already had He become to them. He was more interested in the opinions of the disciples than in those of the multitude. So He asked with emphasis, "But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven." But in the mind of Jesus even this blessed revelation was not enough for His believing yet frail disciples. Even the three, the most enlightened of the twelve, needed a clearer vision of Him and His kingdom, and strength for trials they were to endure. So they needed His prayers. "From that time began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things, ... and be killed." He needed prayer also for Himself. So "Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James and John, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves." The favored three, who had witnessed His power in the raising of Jairus' daughter, were to be witnesses of his glory. Luke says He "went up into the mountain to pray." Not Tabor,--for which mistaken tradition has claimed the honor--but Hermon was doubtless the "high mountain." This kingly height of the Lebanon range was a fitting place for Jesus the King. The glittering splendor of its snows is a fitting emblem of His character. It was the highest earthly spot on which He stood. From it He had His most extensive views. Here He had His most exalted earthly experience. Peter rightly named it "the Holy Mount" because of its "glory that excelleth" all other mountains. We do not know the thoughts or feelings or words of the nine when Jesus "taketh with Him the three." We wonder whether their wonder was at all mixed with jealousy. As they saw the three "apart by themselves," their lessening forms ascending Hermon, and at last hidden from their view by the evening shades, can it be that the dispute began which cast a gloom over their Lord when He descended from that mountain of glory? And the three themselves--what were their emotions as they looked down upon their companions in the plain below, and upward to the height whither their Master was bringing them. Did they whisper together concerning the word He had just spoken--that He must die. They must have had such mingling of feelings as they never had before. It was the evening after a Sabbath. At the close of the weary summer day, after the long and steep ascent of the mountain, and in the strong mountain air, it is no wonder that the three disciples were "weighted with sleep." Luke not only tells us that Jesus went up "to pray" but also that "He prayed." Would that John had recorded that prayer, as he did those supplications in the Upper Room and in Gethsemane. "As we understand it," says Edersheim, "the prayer with them had ceased, or merged into silent prayer of each, or Jesus now prayed alone and apart." On the banks of the Jordan, where Jesus and the three had met, while He "was praying, the heavens were opened," and the dove-like form descended upon Him, and His Father's voice was heard. And now "as He prayed," there came an answer, immediate and glorious: "He was transfigured before them." The disciples though "weighted with sleep," "having remained awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him." It was many years after this vision that John, speaking for the three, testified, "We saw His glory." "The fashion of His countenance was altered." "His face did shine as the sun." "His garments became exceeding white; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them," "white as the light," "glistering," "dazzling." "Behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with Him." How did the disciples know the Lawgiver and the Prophet? We are not told. There may have been given them some supernatural powers of discernment. They may have known by the conversation between Jesus and His celestial visitants, as, in earthly language with heavenly tone, they "spoke of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem," of which He had told them on the plain below. It was that Moses who fifteen hundred years before came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the law in his hands, when Aaron and the children of Israel stood in awe before His shining f