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+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.org
+
+
+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 https://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 Arimathĉa--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 Judĉa! 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 Judĉa; 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,
+Cĉsarea 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 Judĉa 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 Judĉa 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 Judĉa--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 Judĉa, 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 Judĉa.
+
+[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 Judĉa." 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 Judĉa 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 Judĉa, 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 Judĉa 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 Cĉsarea 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 face. But now He had
+come, not from the mount which Paul describes as "darkness," but unto
+that other whose snowy whiteness has given it the name of Lebanon. He
+had come from Heaven, to yield homage to Him to whom He would sing with
+us,
+
+    "My dear Redeemer and my Lord,
+       I read my duty in Thy Word;
+     But in Thy life the Law appears,
+       Drawn out in living Characters."
+
+"The children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon Moses for the
+glory of His face." In the "excellent glory" by which Peter describes
+the scene on Hermon, the whole figure of His Lord was bathed in light.
+But the glory of that vision was not yet complete. A cloud, brighter
+than any on which the moon was shining, enwrapped Jesus and Moses and
+Elijah. It was no other than the Shechinah, once more returning to the
+earth,--"the symbol of Jehovah's presence."
+
+This cloud overshadowed the disciples. As its light gleamed upon them,
+they were filled with reverential fear. They were ready to do the
+heavenly visitors immediate and humble service. But the mission of the
+two was ended. Their last words of comfort to Jesus had been spoken. If
+they could be detained, it must be done quickly. So, awed and confused
+by the strange vision, yet longing for its continuance, the disciples,
+Peter being the spokesman, proposed to make booths for their Master and
+His two heavenly visitors. But the two had gone, and the crown of glory
+that had enveloped them spread to the disciples, filling them with yet
+increasing awe. The silence that had followed Peter's call was broken.
+"There came a voice out of the cloud, This is My Beloved Son; hear ye
+Him." Startled by such a response, "they fell on their face and were
+sore afraid." They did not dare to look about them. The Cloud of
+Glory lifted. How long they lay prostrate and trembling, we do not know.
+At last a hand gently touched them. It was the hand of Jesus. His voice
+bid them, "Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their
+eyes they saw no man, save Jesus only."
+
+[Illustration: THE TRANSFIGURATION _Old Engraving_ Page 106]
+
+The Transfiguration was over. Its grand purpose was accomplished. Master
+and disciples were prepared for the labors and trials to which they must
+return. The night ended. As the morning sun glistened on the peaks of
+Hermon, while darkness yet overspread the plain below, Jesus descended
+with the three, to the nine awaiting their return.
+
+"And as they were coming down from the mountain, He charged them that
+they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of
+Man should have risen again from the dead. And they kept the saying,
+questioning among themselves what the raising again from the dead should
+mean."
+
+Peter's and John's memories of that vision of their Lord were ever
+distinct and precious. When it was no longer a secret, Peter wrote in
+ecstasy of the hour in which they "were eyewitnesses of His majesty, ...
+when they were with Him in the holy mount."
+
+Let us notice the record by John. In the beginning of his gospel he says
+"The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." By this he means that
+the Son of God became a man, and lived among men who witnessed His
+life. But of all the events of that life which John had seen, there was
+a special one in his mind, which not all men had witnessed. So he adds,
+"We beheld His glory." This probably refers to the Transfiguration and
+the Shechinah, which he and Peter and James had seen. And then he thinks
+of how much greater Jesus was than John the Baptist, "a man sent from
+God," "to bear witness of" Him. He thinks also of the great Lawgiver of
+whom he says, "the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came by
+Jesus Christ."
+
+We imagine that ever after the Transfiguration, John thought of Moses
+and the Shechinah together. Had he with his companions been permitted to
+build three tabernacles or booths, "one for Moses," what delightful
+visits John would have made him there, like that one which he had made
+in the abode of Jesus on the banks of the Jordan.
+
+[Illustration: MOSES ON MT. PISGAH _Artist Unknown_ Page 109]
+
+I seem to hear Moses telling John something of his own history when on
+the earth, and teaching him lessons from it in words like these: "This
+is not the first time I have heard the Lord's voice, from out this cloud
+of glory. Out of the burning bush He called me, 'Moses, Moses.' At Sinai
+He said, 'Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud.' And again He appeared
+in 'a pillar of a cloud,' and said, 'Behold thou shall sleep with thy
+fathers.' I saw not that cloud again on earth until you beheld it. My
+thoughts were about death. I prayed about it, not as your Master and
+mine has done in preparation therefor, but that I might not then die.
+This was my prayer: 'Let me go over I pray Thee and see the good land
+that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon,'--the very
+mountain where we now are. But the Lord would not hear me. I prayed yet
+again more earnestly, and the Lord said unto me, 'Let it suffice thee;
+speak no more unto me of this matter.' From yonder mountain of Nebo He
+showed me all the land we now see from Hermon; and then I died. The Lord
+buried me in yonder land of Moab. No man knoweth my sepulchre unto this
+day. I died, my great hope of forty years disappointed. My repeated
+earnest prayer was ungranted then, but it has not been unanswered. This
+'goodly' Lebanon, to which I looked from Nebo with longing eyes, is more
+'goodly' now than when it sadly faded from my dying vision. You, John,
+are one of the witnesses to the answer to my dying prayer. Never did the
+Shechinah at Horeb, or Sinai, or the Tabernacle, seem so resplendent as
+on this Mount Hermon. Here it has enwrapped Elijah and me, the favored
+two whose mission Gabriel might have envied. We were sent down from
+heaven to talk with Jesus concerning His death, of which He has told
+you. In view of it He has lead you, the favored three hither to pray.
+It was while He prayed that ye 'beheld His glory.' Not only for me, but
+much more for Him, is Hermon _the_ mount--'The Holy Mount,' because the
+mount of Prayer, and therefore the mount of Transfiguration."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVII_
+
+_St. John's Imperfections_
+
+     "Master, we saw one casting out demons in Thy name; and we forbade
+     him, because he followeth not with us."--_John._
+
+     "Lord, wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and
+     consume them, even as Elijah did?"--_James and John._
+
+     "Grant us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy
+     left hand, in Thy glory."--_James and John._
+
+     "And when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation
+     concerning James and John."--_Mark_ x. 41.
+
+
+John was not perfect. There were unlovely traits in his otherwise noble
+character. It is not pleasant to write of his faults. We would gladly be
+silent concerning them. But there are four reasons for making record of
+them. 1. If we think of his virtues and not of his faults, we do not
+have a just view of his character; it is one-sided; we have an imperfect
+picture. 2. We see how Jesus loved him notwithstanding his
+imperfections. While hating his sins he loved the man. 3. Remembering
+John's faults, we give him all the more credit when we see how he
+overcame them, and what he became under the example and teachings of
+Jesus. 4. Having failings ourselves, we are encouraged by the full and
+truthful story of John's life, to overcome our own sins. Such are good
+reasons why the imperfections of good men like David and Peter and John
+are recorded in the Bible.
+
+In speaking of John's boyhood, we hinted at some of his faults. Let us
+now notice them more particularly as given by the Evangelists. Sometimes
+he was evidently included when Jesus rebuked the disciples for some
+wrong they had said or done. On one occasion, he alone is mentioned; on
+two others he and his brother James are rebuked together. The first
+recorded incident, showing imperfection, is soon after the descent from
+Hermon. Jesus seems to have accompanied Peter to his home in Capernaum,
+to which the other disciples followed them. The favor which Christ
+showed the three in taking them to the mount may have caused a feeling
+of pride in them, and of jealousy in the nine. Pride was John's
+besetting sin, as we shall see. A great privilege had been granted him.
+Without telling the secret of Hermon to his fellow-disciples, he may, by
+improper word or act, or both, have shown a feeling of superiority,
+which displeased them, as the same spirit did on another occasion. At
+any rate, something led to a dispute who should be the greatest in the
+kingdom which they believed their Lord was to establish. This was a sad
+revelation of the ambitious spirit of these good men. It was probably on
+the way to Capernaum that an incident happened in which John seems to
+have been the chief actor. He exhibited a spirit of intolerance--a want
+of patience and forbearance toward a man whom they met. He was a
+disciple of Christ, in whose power he had such faith that he was enabled
+to cast out evil spirits in His name. He was doing a good work such as
+Christ gave His apostles power to do. They prided themselves in it, and
+felt as if they only had a right to it. So John, speaking for the rest,
+as if he had authority, forbade this man to use the power any more. On
+their reaching the house of Peter, Jesus asked, "What was it that ye
+disputed among yourselves by the way?" Perceiving that He knew their
+thoughts, they were silent with shame, until one of them, yet
+unconquered by His question of reproof, asked Him "Who is the greatest?"
+He did not answer the question immediately. As if in preparation for
+something special, "He sat down and called the twelve" about Him; He
+uttered one reported sentence, "If any man would be first, he shall be
+last of all, and minister of all." And then "He called a little child to
+Him and set him in the midst of them." It was His object lesson. Through
+it He rebuked and taught them. He made childhood a test of character.
+With solemnity and earnestness He declared, "Verily I say unto you,
+Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter
+into the kingdom of heaven."
+
+That child-spirit included simplicity, meekness, harmlessness,
+obedience, dutifulness, trustfulness and, especially at this time,
+humility.
+
+The Lord's declaration must have startled the disciples. They thought of
+themselves as His chosen ones, superior to others, having special
+powers, and destined to special honors which none other might claim. In
+a spirit contrary to His declaration, they were contending who should be
+the greatest in His kingdom. He revealed to them, then and there, the
+nature of that kingdom which they had so greatly misunderstood.
+
+Upon one at least, Christ's lesson was not altogether lost. That was
+John. He recalled his proud and unjust treatment of the humble man whom
+he had forbidden to do good work in the name of Christ. He saw that his
+own spirit had been contrary to that of which Christ had just spoken. He
+finally confessed his fault. But the lesson of his Master was not
+perfectly learned, or if learned, was not, as we shall see, perfectly
+obeyed. Though the beloved, he was still an imperfect, disciple, as is
+shown in another incident.
+
+At the time when Jesus lived, and in the country where He journeyed,
+travelers were generally welcomed as guests in any home. Though
+strangers, they were treated as friends. This was a necessary kindness
+because there were no hotels such as we have in our day and country.
+
+But to this hospitality there was a noted exception. We have noticed
+the hatred of the Samaritans to the Jews. This was especially shown to
+pilgrims going up to Jerusalem to attend the feasts.
+
+Jesus was on His last journey thither. As ever, He was teaching and
+healing on the way. His own heart was burdened with the thought of what
+He was to endure, but He was steadfast in His purpose to reach the Holy
+City, willing there to suffer and to die. Nearing the first Samaritan
+village, He sent messengers before Him to prepare for Himself and His
+company. Even the common hospitality was refused, and that in a most
+unfriendly manner. The Master was treated as a teacher of falsehood.
+Even the kind healer was not permitted to enter the village. He was a
+Jew on His way to Jerusalem. In the minds of the villagers, this was
+more than enough to balance all the good in Him.
+
+James and John especially were indignant at the unkind treatment. They
+felt keenly the insult to their Lord, whom they believed was on His way
+to Jerusalem to establish His Kingdom, and was worthy of the most
+generous hospitality and the sincerest homage. They had a fresh
+remembrance of the glory in which they had seen Him on the Holy Mount in
+company with Elijah. They were reminded of that prophet's experience
+more than nine hundred years before. It was this: Ahaziah, a king of
+Israel, was seriously injured by a fall from the balcony of his house.
+He sent to inquire of the false god Baal-zebub whether he should
+recover. God sent Elijah to reprove him for his idolatry and insult to
+Himself. The king sent a captain with fifty men to seize the prophet,
+but they were consumed by fire from heaven. Another captain and his
+fifty men were also destroyed in like manner.
+
+Such a punishment James and John would call down on the Samaritans. They
+felt that it would be just. If fitting for the enemies of Elijah, how
+much more for those of Jesus. They were ready to give the command which
+God permitted Elijah to give, if Jesus would allow them to do likewise.
+And so, being displeased, provoked, revengeful, with a fiery spirit,
+they said to Him, "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down
+from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?" But Jesus "turned
+and rebuked them," and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
+of."
+
+It was contrary to the spirit of meekness and love manifest in His
+declaration to them, "The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives,
+but to save them." And so He inspired them with another spirit, as He
+quietly led them "to another village." We sadly turn to another scene in
+which imperfection in the beloved disciple is especially revealed.
+
+The favored brothers had not yet learned perfectly the lesson of
+humility which their Lord had tried to teach them. They were still
+devoted to Him, following Him, loving Him. But they still misunderstood
+what He said about His death, and His kingdom, in which they hoped for
+the most honored places. They wanted to be assured of promotion above
+their fellow-disciples. They were earnest in an unholy desire. They had
+a bold, ambitious request to make of the Lord. It was the chief occasion
+on which their pride was revealed. We have two accounts of it. In one of
+them the mother Salome appears as the speaker. She brings her sons to
+Jesus, prostrates herself before Him, and offers this petition, "Grant
+that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other
+on Thy left, in Thy Kingdom." She had a loving mother's pride. She was
+the aunt of Jesus, and perhaps felt that because of this relationship,
+her sons had a right which the other Apostles could not claim. She had
+given them to His service, and had proved her own love and devotion to
+Him by following Him with other women of Galilee, ministering to His
+comforts. Meanwhile James and John, according to another account,
+themselves urged their mother's request saying, "Grant unto us that we
+may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand, in Thy glory."
+
+Mother and sons shared in the spirit of self-seeking and
+self-exaltation. But we must not forget that it was faith in Him as the
+Messiah, and in His coming "glory," that led them to show it, though in
+a mistaken way.
+
+In sorrow and tenderness, and pity for their ignorance, Jesus replied,
+"Ye know not what ye ask." While His eye rested on them, His thoughts
+were on another scene. It was a cross with Himself upon it, and a
+malefactor on each side, instead of the brothers in their pride. As John
+at last stood by it, did he recall the hour of his mistaken ambitious
+request, which had never been repeated. There had been no need that the
+Lord should say to him, as to Moses, "Ask me not again," yet like Moses,
+he was to receive a most glorious answer in another form. In his pride,
+with an earthly throne in mind, he had asked, "Grant that I may sit with
+Thee in Thy glory?" Having conquered his unholy ambition there was
+fulfilled in him the promise of His Lord in glory, "To him that
+overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne."
+
+The time came when there was no longer occasion for the other ten
+apostles to be "moved with indignation concerning James and John,"
+because of their pride and ambitious seeking. This John is the disciple
+whom, with all his imperfections, Jesus loved most of all; this the man
+known as the most lovable of men; this the one who well-nigh reached
+human perfection through his ardent and ever increasing love for Jesus;
+this the one who is called _the Apostle of Love_.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+_John and the Family of Bethany_
+
+     "He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named
+     Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called
+     Mary, which also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard His
+     word."--_Luke_ x. 38, 39.
+
+     "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of
+     Mary and her sister Martha."--_John_ xi. 1.
+
+     "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."--_v._ 5.
+
+     "Jesus ... said, ... Lazarus is dead."--_v._ 14.
+
+     "Jesus wept."--_v._ 35.
+
+     "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead
+     came forth."--_vs._ 43, 44.
+
+     "As he (John) gives us so much more than the synoptists about the
+     family at Bethany, we may infer that he was a more intimate friend
+     of Lazarus and his sisters."--_A. Plummer, D.D._
+
+
+In four sentences Luke draws an unfinished picture of a family group,
+whose memory has become especially precious because of what John has
+added to it. His probable familiarity with the family made this
+possible. No wonder if he felt that the original picture must be
+enlarged and retouched. The place where that family lived had become to
+him too sacred a spot to be called simply "a certain village." Martha
+was more than "a certain woman," who though hospitable, was distracted
+in her housekeeping. Mary was fairer than Luke had painted her. John
+had seen her do more than sit at Jesus' feet. He manifestly felt that
+the resurrection of Lazarus was too great an event to be omitted from
+the gospel story, as it was by the other Evangelists who, when they
+wrote, might have endangered the life of Him whom the Jews sought to
+destroy. John's heart demanded a stronger tribute to Mary than Matthew
+or Mark had given. Let him be our guide to the blessed home. With his
+eyes let us see Jesus' relation to it, and with his ears listen to the
+Master's words there spoken.
+
+[Illustration: BETHANY _Old Engraving_ Page 120]
+
+As he opens the door we see a family of wealth, refinement, hospitality
+and affection. Its members are of kindred spirit with him: and so would
+be attracted to him, and he to them. But there was a special bond of
+union. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Such is the
+tender passing remark of John who elsewhere calls himself "the disciple
+whom Jesus loved." These four form a group of special objects of
+Christ's affection. They ardently loved Him. We may suppose that John's
+relation to the family of Bethany was closer than that of any other
+disciple. This fitted him to make us familiar with their characters, and
+many incidents of their home.
+
+John was with Jesus in Bethany in Perĉa, when there came the sad, brief,
+confiding message from Mary and Martha, "Lord, behold, he whom Thou
+lovest is sick." Doubtless it touched the heart of the apostle as well
+as that of his Master, whose response he records: "This sickness is not
+unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
+glorified thereby." We are reminded of John's own words concerning the
+change of water into wine: "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
+of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory."
+
+Jesus' plan for Lazarus included a delay of two days in Bethany of
+Perĉa. Meanwhile His heart went out toward Bethany in Judĉa. So did
+John's. But, though Jesus tarried, it can be said, as on another
+occasion, "He Himself knew what He would do." While John was wondering,
+waiting and watching, perhaps he remembered how the nobleman's son was
+healed in Capernaum when Jesus was in Cana, and thought it possible that
+the messenger would be told to say to the sisters, "Thy brother liveth."
+
+When at last Jesus proposed to His disciples that they all go to Judĉa,
+John's love may have contended for a moment with fear, as they
+protested, because of danger from His enemies: but it was for a moment
+only. When Jesus said, "Let us go unto him," we almost wonder that it
+was not John the loving, nor Peter the bold, but Thomas the sometimes
+unready, that said concerning Jesus, "Let us also go that we may die
+with Him." But we imagine that John was the readiest to go, and kept
+the closest to his Master in the pathway to Bethany in Judĉa.
+
+"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth," said Jesus. Though all of the disciples
+were thus addressed, we think of John as especially including Jesus and
+himself in that word "our," because of the nearness of their relation to
+the afflicted family. And then that other word "sleepeth"--it must have
+carried him, as well as James and Peter, back to the home of Jairus,
+where they heard the same voice to which they were now listening say,
+"The child is not dead but sleepeth."
+
+We almost wonder that the three did not turn to their fellow-disciples
+and say that "Jesus had spoken of the _death_ of Lazarus," while "they
+thought that He spake of taking rest in sleep." But evidently not so;
+and when Jesus "said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead," doubtless John
+was the saddest of them all, because of his special interest in him. The
+full record--the only one of what transpired in that sad, joyful
+home--shows how closely John watched every movement of Jesus and the
+sisters, and how carefully he noted what they said. We may give credit
+to his memory, even with the aid which he says was promised the
+disciples in their remembrance. He notes the coming of Martha to meet
+Jesus, while "Mary sat still in the house;" Martha's plaintive cry,
+"Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died;" the
+conversation between her and Jesus concerning the resurrection; the
+sudden change from it to His asking for Mary; Martha's return to the
+house and whispering in her sister's ear, "The Master is come and
+calleth for thee;" the hurried obedience to the call--all these
+incidents are recorded by John with the particularity and vividness of
+an eyewitness.
+
+It appears as if Jesus would not perform the intended miracle until the
+arrival of Mary. John's account of their meeting is full of pathos. He
+watches her coming, notices the moment she catches sight of Him through
+her tears, and her first act of falling down at His feet, and her
+repetition of Martha's cry, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother
+had not died." He looks into the faces of both as "Jesus sees her
+weeping." He contrasts Mary's real and deep sorrow with the outward and
+heartless outcries of pretended grief, at which Jesus "groans in
+spirit," because a seeming mockery in the presence of His loving friend.
+John measures the depth of the Lord's "troubled" spirit by His outward
+movements. He opens to us His heart of hearts in the brief, tender
+record, "Jesus wept." Where in the whole story of His life do we gain a
+keener sense of His humanity, especially His tenderness and sympathy.
+What a revelation we would have missed if John had been silent, but the
+emotion of His own heart had been too deep to allow any such omission.
+"Jesus wept." As Professor Austin Phelps declares, "The shortest verse
+in the Bible is crowded with suggestions."
+
+While John is our guide to the tomb of Lazarus, and more than that, the
+sincere mourner with the afflicted sisters, he is yet more the disciple
+of Jesus, receiving new and lasting impressions of divine truth and of
+his Master, which are embodied in his story.
+
+John recorded seven miracles of our Lord. The first was that of turning
+water into wine. The last was the raising of Lazarus. In both of them He
+points us to the same glorious purpose. He says that in the first,
+Christ "manifested forth His glory," and that the second was "for the
+glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." And now
+standing with Martha by the yet unopened tomb, John hears their Lord
+remind her of His assurance that if she believed, she "should see the
+glory of God." That hour had come. The Lord had commanded, "Take ye away
+the stone." John was most attentive to every act of the passing scene.
+His eyes glanced from the stone to his Lord. As soon as the command
+concerning it was obeyed Jesus lifted His eyes upward, and said,
+"Father"--calling upon Him with whom He was to be glorified.
+
+John had stood at the bedside of the only daughter of Jairus, and heard
+the command, "Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise." By the bier of the
+widow's only son he had probably heard that other, "Young man, I say
+unto thee, Arise." And now standing by the open door of the tomb of the
+only brother, was He not listening for a like command? He had not long
+to wait. The prayer of his Lord was ended. The tone of prayer was
+changed to that of command. "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come
+forth. And he that was dead came forth." John describes his appearance.
+He was "bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound
+about with a napkin." When Jesus saith unto them, "Loose him and let him
+go"--away from the excitement and curiosity of the heartless
+mourners--who was so ready as John to obey the command, while welcoming
+his friend back to life? Who could so fittingly escort him from the
+darkened tomb to the relighted home, with the sisters still weeping--but
+for joy.
+
+In John's old age when he recalled this resurrection scene, he seems to
+have had a special memory of the younger sister's sorrow. He speaks of
+the "Jews which came to Mary" in the hour of her sadness.
+
+But His memory of that resurrection day was tinged with gloom. He traced
+back, from the cross on Calvary to the tomb in Bethany, the way by which
+his Lord had been led by His enemies. "From that day forth they took
+counsel together for to put Him to death."
+
+[Illustration: THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS _Old Engraving_ Page 126]
+
+It is tradition, not John, which tells us concerning Lazarus that the
+first question which he asked Christ after He was restored to life was
+whether He must die again; and that being told that he must, he was
+never more seen to smile. But John, better than tradition, tells of
+another scene in which we imagine his smiles were not restrained. To it
+let us turn.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIX_
+
+_John's Memorial of Mary_
+
+     "When Jesus was in Bethany, ... there came unto Him a woman having
+     an alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment, and she poured
+     it upon his head, as He sat at meat."--_Matt._ xxvi. 6, 7.
+
+     "Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
+     in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be
+     spoken of for a memorial of her."--_Matt._ xxvi. 13.
+
+     "It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped
+     His feet with her hair."--_John_ xi. 2.
+
+     "There is something touchingly fraternal in the momentary pleasure
+     which He (Christ) appears to have taken in the gift of the
+     alabaster box."--_Austin Phelps._
+
+      "Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
+         Nor other thought her mind admits
+         But, he was dead, and there he sits,
+       And He that brought him back is there.
+
+      "Then one deep love doth supersede
+         All other, when her ardent gaze
+         Rose from the living brother's face,
+       And rests upon the life indeed."
+                                --_Tennyson._
+
+
+That is an impressive picture drawn by Saints Matthew and Mark, of a
+scene in Bethany, where an unnamed woman brought a flask of ointment
+which she poured on the head of Jesus, thus exciting murmuring and
+indignation against her, who was defended by Him, with assurance of
+perpetual remembrance of her deed.
+
+Yet a comparison of the accounts of these two Evangelists with the story
+given by John, suggest the thought that he was not satisfied with the
+picture. His remembrance of the things that happened before and after
+that scene, his friendship for the family of Bethany, his understanding
+of the Master's feelings and thoughts, his sense of justice to himself
+and to his fellow-disciples, the omission of an important figure in the
+grouping, and especially his tender sympathy for the unnamed heroine of
+the story--these things demanded in his mind additions and re-touchings
+to make the picture complete.
+
+Let us imagine ourselves before him while he is reading the manuscripts
+of Matthew and Mark, long after they were written. He tells us of
+incidents, unmentioned by them, that enlarge and make clearer our view
+of the scene. We note the impressions we may suppose were made on him at
+the time of the event, and were still fresh in his old age when he tells
+the story.
+
+"I remember distinctly"--so he might say--"this scene in Bethany, both
+what these two writers report, and what they do not. The hour was
+drawing near when my Lord must die. So He had told me; but somehow I
+did not understand that this must be. It seems strange to me now that I
+did not, as well as one of my friends did, who realized the nearness of
+the sad hour. I had arrived with Him at Bethany 'where Lazarus was which
+had been dead, whom He raised from the dead.' It was a great joy to meet
+again the friend whom I had welcomed from the tomb."
+
+It is true, as here written by Mark, that Jesus "sat at meat." But this
+does not tell the whole story. The people of Bethany wished to unite in
+doing Him honor: "So they made Him a supper there." It was fitting that
+it should be "in the house of Simon" whom Jesus had healed from leprosy,
+and who was probably a relative or special friend of the family loved by
+Jesus. I wonder that their names do not appear in the story given by
+these two Evangelists: I could not forget them. I remember how "Martha
+served" at the table, as if in her own home, seeming more of a hostess
+than a guest; and how "Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table
+with Him" who had bid him rise from the tomb; and how Mary showed her
+gratitude for her brother's restoration, and love for his Restorer. To
+me that supper loses half its interest without the mention of these
+names, so suggestive of near relation to the Lord. Here I read, "There
+came unto Him a woman." That is indeed true; but I find no hint of who
+this unknown woman was. Could Matthew probably present, have forgotten
+it? Had Mark absent, never been told?
+
+Matthew says she had "an alabaster cruse of precious ointment," which
+Mark explains was "spikenard very costly." This also is truly said, for
+I learned that "Mary ... took a _pound_ of ointment of spikenard very
+precious." This she could well afford. Some have suggested that perhaps,
+like oriental girls of fashion, she had bought it in her pride, but
+after coming under the influence of Jesus, had left it unused. But I am
+more inclined to believe she intended it from the first as an expression
+of overflowing love.
+
+Mark says "she broke the cruse." I remember, as she crushed the neck of
+it, all eyes were turned upon her, watching her movements. Lazarus,
+reclining at the table, gazed upon her with brotherly interest; and
+Martha, moving around it glanced at her with sisterly affection. There
+was one man whose expression was something more than curiosity. In it
+there was a shade of displeasure.
+
+These two Evangelists tell that Mary "poured the ointment upon" and
+"over" the "head" of Jesus. This was a common custom in rendering honor
+and adoration. But it did not satisfy Mary, if the Lord could only say
+with David, "Thou anointest my _head_." Her anointing was so profuse
+that He could say,--as Matthew testifies that He did--"She poured this
+ointment upon My body." But I would testify to another act, fuller yet
+of meaning. She "anointed the _feet_ of Jesus." This meant far more than
+the washing of feet, as an humble act of hospitality and honor. It was
+an unusual act of adoration. I saw bathed in spikenard what I have since
+seen bathed in blood. But that was not all. Making of her long tresses a
+fine but unwoven towel, "she wiped His feet with her hair"; kneeling in
+devotion where she had loved to sit in learning.
+
+I noticed the glowing rapture in her face, and an occasional glance into
+that of her Lord, unmindful of the presence of all others, while He
+looked kindly upon her. It was then that I discovered that "the house
+was filled with the odor of the ointment." But, alas, not so with the
+perfume of her deed. "There were some that had indignation among
+themselves, ... and they murmured against her": so says Mark. "When the
+disciples" saw Mary's deed "they had indignation": so says Matthew. It
+is true that signs of dissatisfaction came from the group of the
+disciples, but it is the voice of one of them that has ever since rung
+in my ears, to whom "the unworthy grumbling should be assigned." In
+justice to the disciples he should not be unnamed. Mary was still in the
+act of her devotion to Jesus. "But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples,
+which should betray Him, saith, 'Why was not this ointment sold for
+three hundred pence, and given to the poor?' This he said, not because
+he cared for the poor"--not he--"but because he was a thief and, having
+the bag, took away what was put therein." He it was who from the first
+showed displeasure at Mary's act. His words were both an exclamation and
+a question, a sort of soliloquy, and yet addressed to anybody who might
+hear and answer: but they needed no answer. It was too late to gather up
+the ointment already used, and sell it for the poor or for any other
+purpose. But Judas' purpose I well understand. I see through his
+hypocrisy now more clearly than I did then.
+
+[Illustration: TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM _Gustave Doré_ Page 138]
+
+With the sharp, reproving voice of Judas, Mary glanced into his angry
+face. This would have filled her with terror had she not immediately
+looked into that of Jesus beaming upon her. One hand of His was over
+her, as if in protection and benediction, while the other waved in a
+reproving gesture. As I read how He answered the question of Judas with
+another, "Why trouble ye her?" and then commanded, "Let her alone"; and
+then declared, "She hath wrought a good work upon me," I recall the
+changing expressions of His face, and His tones of indignation and
+affection.
+
+I was startled by the reason He gave for letting her alone,--that she
+might preserve what remained of the ointment, not for the poor, but to
+be used for His burial, near at hand.
+
+She it was of whom I have spoken who understood better than I or any of
+my fellow-apostles, that our Lord's life was nearing its end.
+
+I find here in the records of Matthew and Mark the assurance of the Lord
+concerning the unnamed woman of whom they have written. It is this,
+"Verily I say unto you, 'Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in
+the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of
+for a memorial of her.' Let it be known that this woman was Mary of
+Bethany, then at Jesus' feet. Henceforth let her name be linked with her
+deed."
+
+Thus ends the words we have imagined St. John might have spoken with the
+Gospels of Matthew and Mark in his hand. The additions to their story
+are suggested by his own Gospel. He has drawn a beautiful picture of
+Mary, in brighter colors and more delicate shades than has any other. To
+him artists are chiefly indebted for their ideas of her. His own
+character was so completely in harmony with hers that he understood what
+his fellows did not. By them she was misjudged and condemned; he saw and
+admired the sweetness of her spirit, and the purity and nobleness of her
+motive. Upon the monument reared by other Evangelists, he inserted her
+name. In her he saw a reflection of her Lord and his. His memory and
+his record alone secured for her in particular the fulfilment of the
+Lord's prophecy concerning the remembrance of her deed. Every Christian
+home in the whole world has been, or will be, filled with the spiritual
+fragrance of her offering. But the prophecy is more than fulfilled. That
+which she hath done is not only "_spoken of_," for in many a home
+inspired by her spirit, her name has been given as a memorial of her
+whom John distinguished from all others as "that Mary which anointed the
+Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair." It was of Mary
+that Jesus said, "She hath done what she could."
+
+John's picture of her is all the brighter because of his dark background
+of Judas. He has forever associated their names in contrast. In his
+mind, the anointing was ever suggestive of the betrayal. He remembered
+how the "thief" asked his hypocritical question at the moment of the
+greatest perfume; and how Judas was planning the betrayal while Mary was
+meditating on the death to which it would lead. It appears almost
+certain that Judas, stung by the Lord's reproof of him and defence of
+Mary, ready to sell his Lord's body for a less sum than he valued the
+ointment, turned from the feast in anger, hastening to the chief priest
+with the cursed question and promise, "What will ye give me, and I will
+deliver Him unto you?" Wheresoever the gospel is preached throughout
+the whole world, that also which _this man_ hath done is spoken of--but
+not for a memorial of him.
+
+John's picture of Mary, Judas and Jesus is a most suggestive grouping.
+What harmony and contrast! What light and shade! What revelation of love
+and hate, of friendship and enmity, of devotion and sacrilege! To no
+other scene does Christ sustain quite the same relation. The friendship
+of His first feast--that of Cana--is deeper and tenderer in His last, at
+Bethany.
+
+There is something sublime in this Son of God having all power, pleading
+with Judas that Mary might be permitted to continue her service of love
+for Him.
+
+Add John's own likeness to the three at whom we have been looking, and
+what a grouping we have--Jesus with His loved Mary, and John the most
+beautiful illustration of human friendship, and Judas the _betrayer_.
+Let imagination complete what no artist has attempted.
+
+When John recalls the odors of Mary's ointment filling the house, he
+seems to catch a refrain from Solomon's song, and addresses it to
+her,--"Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is as ointment
+poured forth; therefore do the maidens love thee."
+
+It is not the "maidens" alone, especially the Marys of Christendom,
+that "love" her, but all to whom the gospel is preached, who join in
+John's refrain, while thanking him for his "memorial of her."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XX_
+
+_John a Herald of the King_
+
+PROPHECY:
+
+     "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
+     Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: ... lowly, and riding
+     upon ... a colt."--_Zech._ ix. 9.
+
+PROPHECY FULFILLED:
+
+     "He sent two of his disciples, saying, Go your way into the village
+     over against you; in the which as ye enter ye shall find a colt
+     tied: ... loose him, and bring him.... And they brought him to
+     Jesus: and they threw their garments upon the colt, and set Jesus
+     thereon."--_Luke_ xix. 30, 35.
+
+PROPHECY UNDERSTOOD:
+
+     "These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when
+     Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were
+     written of Him, and that they had done these things unto
+     Him."--_John_ xii. 16.
+
+    "Daughter of Zion! Virgin Queen! Rejoice!
+     Clap the glad hand and lift th' exulting voice!
+     He comes,--but not in regal splendor drest,
+     The haughty diadem, the Tyrian vest;
+     Not arm'd in flame, all glorious from afar,
+     Of hosts the chieftain, and the lord of war:
+     Messiah comes!--let furious discord cease;
+     Be peace on earth before the Prince of Peace!"
+                                     --_Heber's Palestine_.
+
+
+Zechariah foretold the coming of Christ five hundred years before the
+angels over Bethlehem heralded His birth. The prophets saw Him as the
+Messiah-king, but not such a ruler as most of the Jews of Christ's day
+expected. Even the disciples, believing Him to be the Messiah, had
+mistaken views of His kingdom. Yet He was the King foretold by the
+prophets; the Son of David who sang of Him as the "King" and as the
+"Lord's anointed"; the Messiah or Christ; the king of the Jews not only,
+but of all men. As such He would make a triumphal entry into the "City
+of the Great King." This would not be in the pride and pomp of an
+earthly conqueror, but in the "lowly" manner which Zechariah had
+foretold.
+
+All the accounts of Jesus' journeyings leave the impression that He went
+a-foot. Only once do we know that He rode; that was in fulfilment of
+prophecy. That prophecy He purposed to fulfil the day after the feast of
+Bethany. This was intended by Christ to be His royal and Messianic entry
+into Jerusalem. The hour had come. A colt unused, and so fitted by
+custom for sacred purposes, was ready for His use. Having left the
+village "He sent two of His disciples to bring it to Him." These two are
+understood to be Peter and John, for whose united service He would soon
+call again. We may think of the owner of the colt as friendly toward
+their Master. When told by the disciples, "The Lord hath need of him,"
+he was ready to serve Him by the loan of his beast. That
+"need"--whatever the owner or the disciples thought--was not so much to
+aid in Christ's journey as to make true the prophetic words concerning
+Him, "Thy King cometh ... riding upon ... a colt."
+
+The two disciples "brought him to Jesus, and they threw their garments
+upon the colt, and set Jesus thereon."
+
+We may think of Peter and John, having arranged for the royal ride, as
+heralds of their Lord, leading the procession from Bethany, and the
+first to greet with signal and shout the other coming from Jerusalem.
+
+Beside their King, perhaps leading the colt on which they had placed
+Him, they would be the first to tread where "a very great multitude
+spread their garments in the way," and others "branches from the trees,"
+and yet others "layers of leaves which they had cut from the
+fields"--thus carpeting the road winding around the slope of Olivet.
+
+Were not Peter and John leaders in song when "at the descent at the
+Mount of Olives the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice
+and praise God," and especially when "the City of David" came into view?
+The joyful strains were from the Psalms of David--"Hosanna to the Son of
+David, Hosanna in the Highest Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the
+kingdom of our Father David. Blessed is the King that cometh in the
+name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST AND ST. JOHN _Ary Scheffer_ Page 155]
+
+In that last strain it would almost seem as if the angelic song of
+thirty-three years before, over the plain of Bethlehem, had not yet died
+away, and was echoed from Olivet.
+
+In that hour did John and James have thoughts about sitting one on the
+right hand and the other on the left in a kingdom which seemed near at
+hand? Did they and the other disciples, who had been disappointed
+because their Lord had refused on the shore of Galilee to be made king,
+imagine that He certainly would now be willing to be crowned in
+Jerusalem?
+
+When John wrote his account of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he
+recalled the prophecy concerning it. It is claimed that he speaks of
+himself and Peter in particular when he says, "These things understood
+not the disciples at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then
+remembered they that these things were written, and that they had done
+these things unto Him." This was a frank confession of his own dulness
+and ignorance: it is also an assurance of his later wisdom.
+
+We see John on the highway of Olivet, a chosen disciple to aid His Lord
+in the hour of His earthly glory. We shall see him, even down to old
+age, in a yet nobler sense, a Herald of the King.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXI_
+
+_With the Master on Olivet_
+
+     "Some spake of the Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones
+     and offerings."--_Luke_ xxi. 5.
+
+     "One of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, behold, what manner
+     of stones and what manner of buildings! And Jesus said unto him,
+     Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left here one
+     stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down."
+
+     "As He sat on the Mount of Olives over against the Temple, Peter
+     and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, Tell us, when
+     shall these things be? and, What shall be the sign when these
+     things are all about to be accomplished?"--_Mark_ xiii. 1-4.
+
+
+The Temple was the most sacred of all places, even before the Lord of
+the Temple entered it. His presence became its chiefest glory. In the
+hour when the waiting Simeon at last could there say "he had seen the
+Lord's Christ," it had a new consecration, and a beauty which its
+richness of materials and adornments had never given. In the hour when
+He there said to His mother, "Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's
+House?" or, "I must be about My Father's business," it was more
+consecrated still. Twice He had cleansed it from the profanation of
+unholy worshipers. Within it He had spoken as no man had ever done. It
+had been a theatre of His divine power.
+
+That was a sad and solemn hour in the last week of His life when, as
+Matthew says, "Jesus went out and departed from the Temple." That was
+His farewell to it. With sadness He thought not only that He would never
+return to it for a blessed ministry of word and healing, but that the
+place itself would be destroyed. As He led His disciples from it, their
+minds were also upon the Holy House: but their thoughts were not His
+thoughts. They had long been familiar with its magnificence, from the
+day when each of them, at twelve years of age, for the first time had
+gazed upon it in wonder and admiration. We do not know why, as they were
+turning away from it and walked toward Olivet, "some spake of the
+Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings," nor why
+"one of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, behold what manner of
+stones, and what manner of buildings!" But so they did. Doubtless they
+were surprised and disappointed that the Lord did not respond with like
+spirit to their enthusiastic exclamations. Were not such richness and
+beauty worthy of even His admiration? Why His momentary silence? Why His
+sadness of expression, as He looked toward the Temple, beholding it as
+they bid Him do, but manifestly with different purpose and feeling from
+what they intended? His appearance seemed most inconsistent with the
+glorious view. His response was startling,--"Seest thou these great
+buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which
+shall not be thrown down."
+
+The astonished disciples were silenced, but an unspoken question was in
+the minds of some of them. Christ turned aside and ascended the
+mountain, taking with Him the chosen three, Peter, James and John. On
+this occasion Andrew is added to the private company. Once more we see
+by themselves the two pair of brothers with whom in their boyhood we
+became familiar in Bethsaida. We are reminded of the days when they sat
+together on the sea-shore, the time when they were watching for the
+coming of the Messiah with whom they now "sat on the Mount of Olives
+over against the Temple." Two days before, in the road below He had also
+prophesied of the destruction of the city, as He gazed upon it through
+His tears. Now He was on the summit, directly opposite the Temple, from
+which the city was spread out before Him. To me it is still a delight in
+thought, as it was in reality, to stand where they sat, and look down
+upon the same Temple area, and think of the Holy and Beautiful House, as
+it appeared before the sad prophecy had been fulfilled.
+
+On this spot the poet Milman makes Titus to stand just before the
+destruction of Jerusalem, with determination and yet with misgiving,
+looking down on the city in its pride and the Temple in its
+gorgeousness, and saying:
+
+                                 "Yon proud City!
+    As on our Olive-crowned hill we stand,
+    Where Kidron at our feet its scanty waters
+    Distills from stone to stone with gentle motion,
+    As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace,
+    How boldly doth it front us! How majestically!
+    Like as a luxurious vineyard, the hillside
+    Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line,
+    Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer
+    To the blue Heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces,
+    With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;
+    Here towers of war that frown in massy strength;
+    While over all hangs the rich purple eve,
+    As conscious of its being her last farewell
+    Of light and glory to the fated city.
+    And as our clouds of battle, dust and smoke
+    Are melted into air, behold the Temple
+    In undisturbed and lone serenity,
+    Finding itself a solemn sanctuary
+    In the profound of Heaven! It stands before us
+    A mount of snow, fettered with golden pinnacles!
+    The very sun, as though he worshiped there,
+    Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs;
+    And down the long and branching porticoes,
+    On every flowery, sculptured capital,
+    Glitters the homage of His parting beams.
+    .... The sight might almost win
+    The offended majesty of Rome to mercy."
+
+But Roman majesty was not to be won to mercy. To the Twelve, Christ had
+foretold the destruction of the city. And now when the four were alone
+with Him, they "asked Him privately, tell us when shall these things
+be." For wise reasons Jesus did not tell. But one of them at least would
+learn both when and what these things would be. This was John. His
+tender and loving heart was to bleed with the horrible story of the fall
+of Jerusalem. There hunger and famine would be so dire that mothers
+would slay and devour their own children. Multitudes would die of
+disease and pestilence. Rage and madness would make the city like a cage
+of wild beasts. Thousands would be carried away into captivity. The most
+beautiful youths would be kept to show the triumph of their conqueror.
+Some of them would be doomed to work in chains in Egyptian mines. Young
+boys and girls would be sold as slaves. Many would be slain by wild
+beasts and gladiators. Saddest of all would be the Temple scenes. Though
+Titus command its preservation his infuriated soldiery will not spare
+it. On its altar there would be no sacrifice because no priest to offer
+it. That altar would be heaped with the slain. Streams of blood would
+flow through the temple courts, and thousands of women perish in its
+blazing corridors. The time was to come when John, recalling his
+question on Olivet and his Lord's prophecy concerning Jerusalem, could
+say,
+
+    "All is o'er, Her grandeur and her guilt."
+
+Was he the one of the disciples who hailed the Master, saying, "Behold
+what manner of stones, and what manner of buildings!"? If so, with what
+emotions he must have recalled his exclamation after the prophecy of
+their destruction had been fulfilled. Outliving all his fellow-apostles
+the time came when he could stand alone where once he stood with Peter
+and James and Andrew, not asking questions "When shall these things be?"
+and, "What shall be the sign when these things are all about to be
+accomplished?" but repeating the lament of Bishop Heber over Jerusalem
+in ruins:
+
+    "Reft of thy son, amid thy foes forlorn,
+     Mourn, widow'd Queen; forgotten Zion, mourn.
+     Is this thy place, sad city, this thy throne,
+     Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone;
+     Where suns unblessed their angry luster fling,
+     And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring?
+     Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy viewed?
+     Where now thy might which all those kings subdued?
+     No martial myriads muster in thy gate;
+     No suppliant nations in thy temple wait;
+     No prophet bards, thy glittering courts among,
+     Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song:
+     But lawless force and meagre want are there,
+     And the quick-darting eye of restless fear,
+     While cold oblivion, 'mid thy ruins laid,
+     Folds its dank wing beneath the ivy shade."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXII_
+
+_John a Provider for the Passover_
+
+     "He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make ready for us the
+     Passover, that we may eat."--_Luke_ xxii. 8.
+
+     "And they went ... and they made ready the Passover."--_v._ 13.
+
+
+The last time we saw Judas was when he left the feast of Bethany,
+murmuring at Mary's deed, angry at the Lord's defence of her, and
+plotting against Him. "From that time He sought opportunity to betray
+Him."
+
+"The day ... came on which the Passover must be sacrificed." A lamb must
+be provided and slain in the Temple for Jesus and His disciples.
+Moreover a place must be provided for them to eat it. This preparation
+would naturally fall on Judas, the treasurer of the company, whom at a
+later hour the disciples thought Jesus instructed to buy some things for
+the feast. The place in Jesus' mind was yet a secret, unknown to the
+disciples, including Judas who could not therefore reveal it to His
+enemies. Who shall be entrusted with the service which He needed, and be
+in sympathy with Him in the solemn approaching hour? Not Judas. The two
+who had been the heralds of the King should be His messengers. So "He
+sent Peter and John saying, Go and make ready for us the Passover that
+we may eat." Again and again we shall find Peter and John together in
+circumstances of joy and sorrow, trial and triumph. Their first question
+was a very natural one, "Where wilt Thou that we make ready?" The Lord's
+secret was not at once revealed. He gave them a sign by which their
+question would be answered--another proof of His divine fore-knowledge.
+He told them to go into the city, entering which they would find a man
+bearing a pitcher of water. Him they were to follow to the house he
+entered, and tell its owner of His purpose to keep the Passover there.
+In a furnished room they were to prepare for His coming. They were full
+of curiosity, but had no doubt concerning the result of their errand.
+They trusted Him who had entrusted them with it.
+
+Soon at the public fountain they were watching for the servant who
+should be their guide. Having done "as Jesus appointed them," they
+"found as He said unto them." As instructed they said "unto the goodman
+of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest-chamber
+where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples?"
+
+"The goodman of the house" is the only name by which this owner has
+been known. Some have thought He was Joseph of Arimathĉa; others the
+Father of Saint Mark; others Mark himself. It is the name by which Jesus
+has called Him; that is honor enough. Without doubt he was a friend of
+the Lord. Perhaps like Nicodemus he had come to Him privately for
+instruction. He was ready to do what he could for His necessities when
+homeless in Jerusalem. He was ready to give Him a place of protection
+when, that very night, His enemies were seeking His life. Peter and John
+may never have met this unnamed disciple before. If so, it was doubtless
+the beginning of an acquaintance close and tender between them and him
+who was "the last host of the Lord, and the first host of His Church."
+
+He showed them "a large upper room." It was probably reached, as in many
+oriental houses, by outside stairs. It was the choicest and most retired
+room. The goodman led the disciples into it. They found it "furnished"
+with a table, and couches around it on which Jesus and His company could
+recline. But this probably was not all. The table was "prepared" with
+some of the provisions required for the feast. These included the cakes
+of unleavened bread, the five kinds of bitter herbs, and the wine mixed
+with water for the four cups which it was the custom to use.
+
+But there was something more which Peter and John must do to "make
+ready" for the feast. It was the most important thing of all. It was to
+prepare the "Paschal Lamb." With such a lamb they had been familiar from
+childhood. As their fathers brought it into their homes, and their
+mothers roasted it, and parents and children gathered about it in solemn
+worship, the Bethsaidan boys had no thought of the day when the Messiah
+would bid them prepare for the feast of which He Himself would be the
+host, at the only time apparently when He acted as such.
+
+When John was pointed by the Baptist to Jesus, he had no thought that He
+would prepare the last Lamb for Him whom He was to see sacrificed as
+"the Lamb of God." No wonder that Jesus sent Peter and John to make
+ready, instead of Judas the usual provider, who in the same hour "sought
+opportunity to betray Him."
+
+We follow them from the house of the goodman toward the Temple. Nearing
+it they listen with mournful solemnity to the chanting of the
+eighty-first Psalm, with its exhortation to praise,--"Sing aloud unto
+God our strength. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time
+appointed, on the solemn feast day." Then they listen for the threefold
+blast of the silver trumpets. By this they know that the hour has come
+for the slaying of the lambs. Peter and John enter the court of the
+priests, and slay their lamb whose blood is caught by a priest in a
+golden bowl, and carried to the Great Altar.
+
+Of this they must have been reminded a few hours later when Christ spoke
+of His own blood shed for the remission of sins. John must have
+remembered it when he saw and wrote of the "blood and water" that flowed
+from the pierced side of his Lord. While the lamb is being slain the
+priests are chanting, and the people responding, "Hallelujah: Blessed is
+He that cometh in the Name of the Lord."
+
+The lamb of sacrifice, slain and cleansed and roasted, is carried by the
+two disciples on staves to the upper room. After lighting the festive
+lamps, they have obeyed their Lord's command, "Make ready the Passover."
+
+Meanwhile He and the remaining ten, as the sun is setting, descend the
+Mount of Olives, from which He takes His last view of the holy but fated
+city. The disciples follow Him, still awed by what He had told them of
+its fate, and with forebodings of what awaited Him and them. Among them
+was the traitor carrying his terrible secret, bent on its awful purpose
+which is unknown to the nine, but well known to the Master. Thus they go
+to the upper room where Peter and John are ready to receive them.
+
+In Jesus' message to the goodman He said, "I will keep the Passover at
+thy house with My disciples." They were His family. He chose to be
+alone with them. Not even the mothers Mary and Salome, nor Nicodemus on
+this night, nor the family of Bethany, could be of His company. No Mary
+was here to anoint His feet with ointment; nor woman who had been a
+sinner to bathe them with her tears. Lazarus was not one of them that
+sat with them; nor did "Martha serve." It was the twelve whom He had
+chosen, and who had continued with Him. It was to His apostolic family
+that He said, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you
+before I suffer." And so "He sat down with the twelve" alone, the only
+time--as is supposed--that He ever ate the Passover meal with His
+disciples.
+
+That room became of special interest to John. Sent by his Master to find
+it, he was mysteriously guided thither. There he was welcomed by the
+good owner of the house, who united with him in preparation for the most
+memorable feast ever held. It is there that we see him in closest
+companionship with his Lord. It was the place in Jesus' mind when He
+said, "Go and make ready for us the Passover." "Where shall we go?"
+asked John. He found answer when he entered that upper room. Because of
+his relation thereto it has been called "St. John's Room"--more sacred
+than any "Jerusalem Chamber," so named, or any "St. John's Cathedral!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+_John's Memories of the Upper Room_
+
+     "When the hour was come, He sat down, and the apostles with
+     him."--_Luke_ xxii. 14.
+
+     "There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His
+     disciples, whom Jesus loved."--_John_ xiii. 23.
+
+
+Three Evangelists leave the door of the upper room standing ajar.
+Through it we can see much that is passing, and hear much that is said.
+John coming after them opens it wide, thus enlarging our view and
+increasing our knowledge.
+
+Luke says of Jesus, "He sat down and the apostles with Him." That is a
+very simple statement. We might suppose all was done in quietness and
+harmony. But he tells us of a sad incident which happened, probably in
+connection with it. "There arose also a contention among them which of
+them is accounted to be greatest." The question in dispute was possibly
+the order in which they should sit at the table. They still had the
+spirit of the Pharisees who claimed that such order should be according
+to rank.
+
+We wonder how John felt. Did he have any part in that contention; or had
+he put away all such ambition since the Lord had reproved him and his
+brother James for it? Or was his near relation to the Lord so well
+understood that there was no question by anybody where John might
+sit--next to the Master?
+
+Let us notice the manner of sitting at meals. The table was surrounded
+by a divan on which the guests reclined on their left side, with the
+head nearest the table, and the feet extending outward.
+
+"There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His disciples,
+whom Jesus loved." This is the first time John thus speaks of himself.
+He never uses his own name. His place was at the right of the Lord.
+There he reclined during the meal, once changing his position, as we
+shall see. Judas was probably next to Jesus on His left. This allowed
+them to talk together without others knowing what they said.
+
+John begins his story of the upper room as a supplement to Luke's record
+of the contention. He first tells two things about Jesus,--His knowledge
+that His hour "was come that He should depart out of this world unto the
+Father," and His great and constant love for His disciples. With these
+two thoughts in mind, how grieved He must have been at the ambitious
+spirit of the Apostles. He had once given them a lesson of humility,
+using a little child for an object lesson. That lesson was not yet
+learned; or if learned was not yet put into practice. So He gave them
+another object lesson, having still more meaning than the first.
+
+But before making record of it John, as at the supper in Bethany,
+points to Judas. We are reminded of the traitor's purpose formed while
+Mary anointed and wiped Jesus' feet. So awful was that purpose, so full
+of hatred and deceit, that John now tells us it was the devil himself
+who "put into the heart of Judas ... to betray Him." "Humanity had
+fallen, but not so low."
+
+John seems to have well understood his Master's thoughts and interpreted
+His actions in giving the second object lesson. He noticed carefully,
+and remembered long and distinctly, every act. Was there ever drawn a
+more powerful picture in contrast than in these words,--"Jesus, knowing
+that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came
+forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside
+His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself. Then He poureth
+water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
+them with the towel wherewith He was girded."
+
+This was the service of a common slave. It is easy to imagine the silent
+astonishment of the disciples. The purpose of Jesus could not be
+mistaken. It was a reproof for their contention. The object lesson was
+ended. John continued to closely watch His movements, as he took the
+garments He had laid aside and resumed His seat at the table. The
+very towel with which the Lord had girded Himself, found a lasting place
+in John's memory, worthy of mention as the instrument of humble service.
+What a sacred relic, if preserved, it would have become--more worthy of
+a place in St. Peter's in Rome than the pretended handkerchief of
+Veronica.
+
+[Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER _Benjamin West_ Page 158]
+
+Christ's treatment of one of the disciples at the feet-washing left a
+deep impression on John's mind. With sadness and indefiniteness the Lord
+said, "He that eateth My bread lifted up his heel against Me": one who
+accepts My hospitality and partakes of the proofs of My friendship is My
+enemy. For that one whoever it might be, known only to himself and to
+Jesus, it was a most solemn call to even yet turn from his evil purpose.
+But the faithless one betrayed no sign; nor did Jesus betray him even
+with a glance which would have been a revelation to John's observant
+eye.
+
+It is John who tells us that as they sat at the table "Jesus ... was
+troubled in spirit." The apostle closest to Him in position and sympathy
+would be the first to detect that special trouble, and the greatness of
+it, even before the cause of it was known. But that was not long. "Jesus
+said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray Me."
+Such is John's record of Christ's declaration. It is in His Gospel alone
+that we find the double "Verily" introducing Christ's words, thus
+giving a deeper emphasis and solemnity than appears in the other
+Evangelists. A comparison of this declaration of Christ as given by the
+four, illustrates this fact. John immediately follows this statement of
+the betrayal with another, peculiar to himself. Its shows his close
+observation at the time, and the permanence of his impression. What he
+noticed would furnish a grand subject for the most skilful artist,
+beneath whose picture might be written, "The disciples looked one on
+another, doubting of whom He spake." As John gazed upon them, raising
+themselves on their divans, looking first one way, then another, from
+one familiar face to another, exchanging glances of inquiry and doubt,
+each distrustful of himself and his fellow, he beheld what angels might
+have looked upon with even deeper interest. There has been no other
+occasion, nor can there be, for such facial expressions--a blending of
+surprise, consternation, fear and sorrow. Was John one of those who
+"began to question among themselves which of them it was that should do
+this thing"? Did he take his turn as "one by one" they "began to say,
+... Is it I, Lord?" If so it must have been in the faintest whisper; and
+so the blessed answer, "No." But we must believe that Jesus and John
+understood each other too well for any such question and answer. The
+definite answer was not yet given to any one by the Master, yet with an
+awful warning, He repeated His prediction of the betrayal.
+
+Peter was impatient to ask Jesus another question. At other times he was
+bold to speak, but now he was awed into silence. Yet he felt that he
+must know. The great secret must be revealed. There was one through whom
+it might possibly be done. So while the disciples looked one on another,
+Peter gazed on John with an earnest, inquiring look, feeling that the
+beloved disciple might relieve the awful suspense. "Peter therefore
+beckoneth to him, and saith unto him, Tell us who it is of whom He
+speaketh." So "He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, saith unto
+Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answereth, He it is for whom I
+shall dip the sop and give it him." Did John on one side of Jesus hear
+the whispered question of Judas on the other, "Is it I, Rabbi?" He
+watched for the sign which Jesus said He would give. The morsel was
+given to Judas. That was more than a sign, more than kindness to an
+unworthy guest; it was the last of thousands of loving acts to one whom
+Jesus had chosen, taught and warned--yet was a traitor. Of that moment
+John makes special note. Having told us that at the beginning of the
+supper "the devil ... put into the heart of Judas ... to betray," he
+says, "After the sop, Satan entered into him." As he saw Judas, with a
+heart of stone and without a trembling hand, coolly take the morsel from
+that hand of love, he realized that the evil one had indeed taken
+possession of him whose heart he had stirred at the feast of Bethany.
+
+It must have been a relief to John when he heard the Lord bid Judas
+depart, though "no man at the table knew for what intent."
+
+"He then having received the sop went out straightway,"--out from that
+most consecrated room; out from the companionship of the Apostles in
+which he had proved himself unfit to share; out from the most hallowed
+associations of earth; out from the most inspiring influences with which
+man was ever blessed; out from the teachings, warnings, invitations and
+loving care of his only Saviour. "When Satan entered into him, he went
+out from the presence of Christ, as Cain went out from the presence of
+the Lord." As John spoke of the departure, no wonder he added, "It was
+night." His words mean to us more than the darkness outside that room
+illumined by the lamp which Peter and John had lighted. They are
+suggestive of the darkness of the traitor's soul, contrasted with the
+"Light of the World" in that room, to whose blessed beams he then closed
+his eyes forever. Night--the darkest night--was the most fitting symbol
+for the deeds to follow. Possessed by Satan, Judas went out to be
+"guide to them that took Jesus." To them, two hours later, He who was
+the Light of the World said, "This is your hour and the power of
+darkness."
+
+It was when "he was gone out" that Christ called the disciples by a new
+name, and gave them a new commandment. In both of them John took a
+special interest which he showed long after. That name was "Little
+Children." The word which Christ used had a peculiar meaning. This is
+the only time we know of His ever using it. It was an expression of the
+tenderest affection for His family, so soon to be orphaned by His death.
+When John wrote his Epistles, he often used the same word, whose special
+meaning he had learned from his Lord, to show his own love for his
+fellow-Christians.
+
+The new commandment was this--"That ye love one another; as I have loved
+you, that ye also love one another." The command itself was not new, for
+it had been given through Moses, and repeated by Christ, "Thou shalt
+love thy neighbor as thyself." But Christ gave the disciples a new
+reason or motive for obeying it. They were to love one another because
+of His love for them. As John grew older he became a beautiful example
+of one who obeyed the command. In his old age he urged such obedience,
+saying, "If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
+
+Through the door of the Upper Room left ajar by three Evangelists, we
+catch glimpses of the group around the table of the Last Supper. Through
+it as opened wide by John we hear the voice of Jesus as He utters His
+farewell words. He comforts His disciples and tells of heavenly
+mansions. He gives His peace in their tribulations. He promises the Holy
+Spirit as a Comforter. He closes His address, even in this hour of
+sadness and apparent defeat, with these wonderful words, "Be of good
+cheer; I have overcome the world."
+
+And now as John still holds open the door, we hear the voice of prayer,
+such as nowhere else has been offered. It is ended. There are moments of
+silence, followed by a song of praise. Then John closes the door of the
+Upper Room, which we believe was opened again as the earliest home of
+the Christian Church. There we shall see him again with those who,
+because of his experience with his Lord in that consecrated place, gave
+him the name of "The Bosom Disciple."
+
+[Illustration: IN GETHSEMANE _Gustave Doré_ Page 163]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+_With Jesus in Gethsemane_
+
+     "He went forth with His disciples over the brook Kidron, where was
+     a garden."--_John_ xviii. 1.
+
+     "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and
+     saith unto His disciples, Sit ye here while I go yonder and
+     pray."--_Matt._ xxvi. 36.
+
+     "And He taketh with Him Peter and James and John, ... and He saith
+     unto them, ... abide ye here, and watch."--_Mark_ xiv. 33, 34.
+
+     "And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed."
+     _v._ 35.
+
+
+John was our leader to the Upper Room. And now he guides us from it,
+saying, "Jesus ... went forth with His disciples." That phrase "went
+forth" may suggest to us much more than mere departure. The banquet of
+love was over. The Lord's cup of blessing and remembrance had been drunk
+by His "little children," as He affectionately called them. He was now
+to drink the cup the Father was giving His Son--a mysterious cup of
+sorrow. It was probably at the midnight hour that Jesus "went forth" the
+last time from Jerusalem, which He had crowned with His goodness, but
+which had crowned Him with many crowns of sorrow.
+
+Other Evangelists tell us that He went "to the Mount of Olives," "to a
+place called Gethsemane." John shows us the way thither, and what kind
+of a place it was. Jesus went "over the ravine of the Kidron," in the
+valley of Jehoshaphat. At this season of the year it was not, as at
+other times, a dry water-bed, but a swollen, rushing torrent, fitting
+emblem of the waters of sorrow through which He was passing. Whether the
+name Kidron refers to the dark color of its waters, or the gloom of the
+ravine through which they flow, or the sombre green of its overshadowing
+cedars, it will ever be a reminder of the darker gloom that overshadowed
+John and His Master, as they crossed that stream together to meet the
+powers of darkness in the hour which Jesus called their own.
+
+The garden of Gethsemane was an enclosed piece of ground. We are not to
+think of it as a garden of flowers, or of vegetables, but as having a
+variety of flowering shrubs, and of fruit-trees, especially olive. It
+might properly be called an orchard. On the spot now claimed to be the
+garden, there are several very old gnarled olive-trees. Having stood
+beneath them, I would be glad to believe that they had sheltered my
+Lord. But I remember that when the prophecy concerning Jerusalem was
+fulfilled, the most sacred trees of our world were destroyed.
+
+[Illustration: THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT _Old Engraving_ Page 164]
+
+Who was the owner of that sacred garden? He must have known what
+happened there "ofttimes." Perhaps, like the "goodman of the house" in
+Jerusalem, he was a disciple of Jesus, and provided this quiet retreat
+for the living Christ, in the same spirit with which Joseph of Arimathĉa
+provided a garden for Him when He was dead. To these two gardens John is
+our only guide. From the one he fled with Peter in fear and sadness: to
+the other he hastened with Peter in anxiety followed by gladness.
+
+When at the foot of Hermon, Jesus left nine of His disciples to await
+His return. Now one was no longer "numbered among" them, as Peter
+afterward said of him "who was guide to them that took Jesus." At the
+entrance to the garden Jesus paused and said to eight, "Sit ye here
+while I go yonder and pray." So had Abraham nineteen hundred years
+before, pointing to Mount Moriah, visible from Olivet in the moonlight,
+said "unto his young men, Abide ye here ... and I and the lad will go
+yonder and worship."
+
+That very night Jesus was to ascend that very Mount on His way as a
+sacrifice, without any angel to stay the sacrificial hand.
+
+At the garden gate there was no formal farewell, but a solemn final
+charge, "Pray that ye enter not into temptation." Jesus knew that the
+hour had come in which should be fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy. Sadly
+He had declared in the Upper Room, "All ye shall be offended because of
+Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the
+sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."
+
+He dreads to be entirely alone. He longs for companionship. He craves
+sympathy. In whose heart is it the tenderest and deepest? There is no
+guessing here. The names are already on our lips. Answer is found in the
+home of Jairus and on Hermon. Those whom He had led into the one, and
+"apart" onto the other, He would have alone with Him in the garden. So
+"He taketh with Him Peter and James and John." These companions of His
+glory shall also be of His sorrow.
+
+As Jesus advanced into the garden, the three discovered a change in
+Him--a contrast to the calmness of the Upper Room and the assurances of
+victory with which He had left it. He "began to be sore amazed and
+sorrowful and troubled," and "to be very heavy." We have seen John
+apparently quicker than others to detect his Lord's thoughts and
+emotions. We imagine him walking closest to His side, and watching as
+closely every change of His countenance and every motion that revealed
+the inward struggle. And so when Jesus broke the silence, he was
+somewhat prepared to hear Him say to the three, "My soul is exceeding
+sorrowful even unto death."
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST BEFORE CAIAPHAS _Old Engraving_ Page 176]
+
+The moment had come when He must deny Himself even the little comfort
+and strength of the immediate presence of the three. So saying, "Tarry
+ye here and watch with Me," He turned away. They must not follow Him to
+the spot of His greatest conflict. There He must be alone, beyond the
+reach of human help, however strong or loving. Even that which He had
+found in the few moments since leaving the garden entrance must end.
+Their eyes followed Him where they might not follow in His steps. It was
+not far. "He went forward a little." "He was parted from them about a
+stone's cast"--probably forty or fifty yards. This separation implies
+sorrow. They were near enough to watch His every movement as He "kneeled
+down" and "fell on His face to the ground" They were near enough to hear
+the passionate cry of love and agony, "O, My Father." This is the only
+time we know of His using this personal pronoun in prayer to His Father.
+He thus showed the intensity of His feeling, and longing for that
+sympathy and help which the Father alone could give.
+
+On Hermon the glories of the Transfiguration were almost hidden from the
+three disciples by their closing eyes. And now weariness overcame them
+in the garden. They too fell to the ground, but not in prayer. They
+tarried indeed, but could no longer watch.
+
+They had seen Moses and Elijah with their Lord on the Holy Mount, but
+probably did not see the blessed watcher in the garden when "there
+appeared unto Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him" in body and
+soul. So had angels come and ministered unto the Lord of angels and men
+in the temptation in the wilderness.
+
+"Being in agony He prayed more earnestly" until mingled blood and sweat
+fell upon the ground. The heavenly visitants on Mount Hermon in glory
+had talked with Him of His decease now at hand. The cup of sorrow was
+fuller now than then. He prayed the Father that if possible it might
+pass from Him. Then the angel must have told Him that this could not be
+if He would become the Saviour of men. He uttered the words whose
+meaning we cannot fully know, "Not My will, but Thine, be done."
+
+The angelic presence did not make Him unmindful of the three. "He rose
+up from His prayer," and turned from the spot moistened by the drops of
+His agony. With the traces of them upon His brow, "He came unto the
+disciples." How much of pathos in the simple record, "He found them
+sleeping." Without heavenly or earthly companionship, His loneliness is
+complete.
+
+    "'Tis midnight; and from all around,
+       The Saviour wrestles 'lone with fears;
+     E'en that disciple whom He loved,
+       Heeds not His Master's griefs and tears."
+
+The head that reclined so lovingly on the bosom of the Lord in the Upper
+Room now wearily rests on the dewy grass of Gethsemane. The eyes that
+looked so tenderly into His, and the ear that listened so anxiously for
+His whisper, are closed.
+
+As Jesus stood by the three recumbent forms held by deep sleep, and
+gazed by the pale moonlight into their faces which showed a troubled
+slumber, He knew they "were sleeping for sorrow." In silence He looked
+upon them until His eye fastened--not on the beloved John--but on him
+who an hour ago had boasted of faithfulness to His Lord. The last
+utterance they had heard before being lost in slumber was that of
+agonizing prayer to the Father. The first that awakened them was sad and
+tender reproof--"Simon, sleepest _thou_? Couldest thou not watch one
+hour?" In the Master's words and tones were mingled reproach and
+sympathy. In tenderness He added, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the
+flesh is weak." Because of the spirit He pardoned the flesh. The
+question, "Why sleep ye?" was to the three, as well as the charge, "Rise
+and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."
+
+Let imagination fill out the outline drawn by the Evangelists:--"He
+went away again the second time and prayed; He came and found them
+asleep again; He left them and went away again and prayed the third
+time; and He cometh a third time and saith unto them, 'Sleep on now and
+take your rest.'" If we may suppose any period of rest, it was soon
+broken by the cry, "Arise, let us be going; behold he that betrayeth Me
+is at hand." They need "watch" no longer. Their Lord's threefold
+struggle was over. He was victor in Gethsemane, even as John beheld Him
+three years before, just after His threefold conflict in the wilderness.
+
+As they rose from the ground the inner circle that had separated them,
+not only from the other Apostles but from all other men, was erased. We
+do not find them alone with their Lord again. They rose and joined the
+eight at the garden gate.
+
+Recalling Gethsemane we sing to Jesus,
+
+    "Thyself the path of prayer hast trod."
+
+The most sacred path of prayer in all the world was in Gethsemane. It
+was only "a stone's cast" in length. The Lord trod it six times in
+passing between the place where He said to the three, "tarry ye here,"
+and that where He "kneeled down and prayed." One angel knows the spot.
+Would that he could reveal it unto us.
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST BEFORE PILATE (Ecce Homo) _H. Hofmann_ Page 182]
+
+When Jesus was praying and the three were sleeping, Judas reported
+himself at the High-Priestly Palace, ready to be the guide of the band
+to arrest his Master. There were the Temple-guard with their staves, and
+soldiers with their swords, and members of the Sanhedrin, ready to aid
+in carrying out the plot arranged with the betrayer. It was
+midnight--fit hour for their deed of darkness. The full moon shone
+brightly in the clear atmosphere; yet they bore torches and lamps upon
+poles, to light up any dark ravine or shaded nook in which they imagined
+Jesus might be hiding. If any cord of love had ever bound Judas to his
+Master, it was broken. That very night he had fled from the Upper Room,
+which became especially radiant with love after his departure. To that
+room we believe he returned with his murdering band. But the closing
+hymn had been sung, and the Passover lamps extinguished two or three
+hours before. The consecrated place was not to be profaned with
+murderous intent. Another place must be sought for the victim of hate
+and destruction.
+
+John in his old age recalled precious memories of it, because Jesus
+ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples. But he had a remembrance
+of another kind. It is when speaking of this midnight hour that he says,
+"Judas also which betrayed Him knew the place." Thither he led his
+band--to Gethsemane.
+
+"Lo, he that betrayeth Me is at hand," said
+
+Jesus to the three, as He saw the gleams of the torches of the coming
+multitude. His captors were many, but His thought was especially on
+one--His betrayer. Again John reads for us the mind of Jesus, as he did
+when the "Lord and Master washed the disciples' feet." He would have us
+understand the calmness of the fixed purpose of Jesus to meet without
+shrinking the terrible trial before Him, and to do this voluntarily--not
+because of any power of His approaching captors. "Knowing all things
+that were coming upon Him," He "went forth" to meet them--especially him
+who at that moment was uppermost in His thought. John now understood
+that last, mysterious bidding of the Lord to Judas, with which He
+dismissed him from the table--"That thou doest, do quickly." He now
+"knew for what intent He spake this unto him." It was not to buy things
+needed for the feast, nor to give to the poor. It was to betray Him.
+
+What a scene was that--Jesus "going forth," the three following Him; and
+Judas in advance, yet in sight of his band, coming to meet Him.
+
+"Hail, Rabbi," was the traitor's salute. And then on this solemn
+Passover night, in this consecrated place, just hallowed by angelic
+presence, interrupting the Lord's devotions, rushing upon holiness and
+infinite goodness, with pretended fellowship and reverence, profaning
+and repeating--as if with gush of emotion--the symbol of affection,
+Judas covered the face of Jesus with kisses.
+
+How deep the sting on this "human face divine," already defaced by the
+bloody sweat, and to be yet more by the mocking reed, and smiting hand
+and piercing thorn. The vision of the prophet seven hundred years before
+becomes a reality--"His visage was so marred more than any man." "But
+nothing went so close to His heart as the profanation of this kiss."
+
+According to John's account, Judas' kiss was an unnecessary signal.
+Jesus Himself leaving the traitor, advanced toward the band, with a
+question which must have startled the Apostles, as well as the traitor
+and his company--"Whom seek ye?" The contemptuous reply, "Jesus of
+Nazareth," did not disturb His calmness as He said, "I am He," and
+repeated His question, "Whom seek ye?" Nor was that infinite calmness
+disturbed by the deeper contempt in the repeated answer, "Jesus of
+Nazareth." They had come with weapons of defence, but they were as
+useless as the betrayal kiss, especially when some of them, awed by His
+presence and words, "went backward and fell to the ground."
+
+We have seen Jesus going forward from His company and meeting Judas
+going forward from his. We must now think of Judas joining his band, and
+the eleven disciples surrounding their Lord. John has preserved the
+only request made of the captors by the Master. It was not for Himself,
+but for His disciples;--"If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
+way."
+
+Three Evangelists tell that one of the disciples struck a servant of the
+high priest and cut off an ear. Luke the physician says it was the right
+ear, and that Christ touched it and healed it. John gives the disciple's
+name, which it was not prudent for the other Evangelists to do when
+Peter, who struck the blow, was still living. He also preserves the name
+of the servant, Malchus--the last one on whom he saw the Great Physician
+perform a healing act, showing divine power and compassion. John records
+the Lord's reproof to Peter, "Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup
+which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" Can this firm
+voice be the same which an hour ago, a stone's cast from these two
+disciples, said beseechingly, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this
+cup pass from Me." Yea, verily, for He had added to the prayer, "Not as
+I will, but as Thou wilt."
+
+Thus does John's record concerning Peter testify to the triumph of his
+Lord. But he also notes the immediate effect of Peter's mistaken zeal.
+The captain and officers "bound Him." That was a strange, humiliating
+sight, especially in connection with the Lord's words to Peter while
+returning the sword to its sheath, "Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech
+My Father, and He shall even now send Me more than twelve legions of
+angels?" Wonderful words! fitting to be the last of the Lord's
+utterances to a disciple in Gethsemane. With burning and just
+indignation at His being bound, Jesus turned to His captors, saying,
+"Are ye come out as against a robber, to seize Me?" As they closed
+around Him His disciples were terrified with the fear of a like fate.
+"And they all left Him and fled." Prophecy was fulfilled; the Shepherd
+was smitten; the sheep were scattered.
+
+Without the voice of friend or foe, the garden of Olivet was silent. One
+had left it who, outliving his companions, gives us hints of his lone
+meditations. The beloved disciple cherished memories of joyous yet sad
+Gethsemane. He it was who longest remembered, and who alone preserved
+the prophecy in the Upper Room, so soon fulfilled--"Ye shall be
+scattered every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone."
+
+In George Herbert's words we hear the Master cry,
+
+    "All My disciples fly! fear put a bar
+     Betwixt My friends and Me; they leave the star
+     Which brought the Wise Men from the East from far.
+         Was ever grief like Mine!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXV_
+
+_John in the High Priest's Palace_
+
+     "And they that had taken Jesus led Him away to the house of
+     Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were
+     gathered together."--_Matt._ xxvi. 57.
+
+     "Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That
+     disciple ... entered in with Jesus into the court of the high
+     priest; but Peter was standing at the door without. So the other
+     disciple ... went out ... and brought in Peter."--_John_ xviii. 15,
+     16.
+
+     "Everywhere we find these two Apostles, Peter and John, in great
+     harmony together."--_Chrysostom._
+
+      "Bow down before thy King, My soul!
+         Earth's kings, before Him bow ye down;
+       Before Him monarchs humbly roll,--
+         Height, might, and splendor, throne and crown.
+       He in the mystic Land divine
+         The sceptre wields with valiant hand.
+       In vain dark, evil powers combine,--
+         He, victor, rules the better Land."
+                               --_Ingleman.--Trans. Hymns of Denmark._
+
+     "It is probable that St. John attended Christ through all the weary
+     stages of His double trial--before the ecclesiastical and the civil
+     authorities--and that, after a night thus spent, he accompanied the
+     procession in the forenoon to the place of execution, and witnessed
+     everything that followed."--_Stalker._
+
+
+We know not what became of nine of the disciples fleeing from
+Gethsemane; whether they first hid among the bushes and olive-trees,
+and escaped into the country; or took refuge in the neighboring tombs;
+or stole their way to some secret room where the goodman of the house
+furnished them protection; or scattered in terror each in his lonely
+way.
+
+The captive Lord was dragged along the highway where Peter and John had
+been for a single hour the Heralds of the King. Over the Kidron, up the
+slope of Moriah, through the gate near the sacred Temple, along the
+streets of the Holy City, He was led as a robber to the high-priestly
+palace.
+
+Three Evangelists tell us, "Peter followed afar off." But love soon
+overcame his fears. He was not long alone. John says, "Simon Peter
+followed Jesus and so did another disciple." We cannot doubt who was
+Peter's companion as he turned from his flight. They "went both
+together," as two days later they ran on another errand. In the shadows
+of the olive-trees along the roadside, or of the houses of the city,
+they followed the hurrying band which they overtook by the time it
+reached the palace gate. John did not "outrun Peter," who was probably
+the leader. But at the gate they were separated.
+
+We must not think that this palace was like an American house. The
+entrance to it was through a great arched gateway. This was closed with
+a large door or gate, in which there was a small entrance called a
+wicket gate, through which people passed. These gates opened into a
+broad passage or square court. Around it on three sides the house was
+built. All rooms upstairs and down looked into it. One large room,
+forming one side, was separated from it, not by a wall, but by a row of
+pillars. Being thus opened it was easy to see what was passing in the
+room or the court.
+
+"That disciple," who accompanied Peter to the gate, "was known unto the
+high priest and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest.
+But Peter was standing at the door without." John was doubtless familiar
+with the place and the servants, and went in with the crowd. He kept as
+near as he could to his Master during the dark hours of His trial, as he
+was to do during the yet darker hours at the cross.
+
+But the disciple within could not forget the one without. They must not
+be separated in their common sorrow. Peter too must show by his presence
+his continued love for his Master. He must have opportunity to show in
+the palace something of the faithfulness of which he had boasted in the
+Upper Room, though it had faltered in Gethsemane.
+
+"Then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high priest
+and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter." That
+doorkeeper was not Rhoda--she who with a different spirit joyfully
+answered Peter's knocking at another door--but was a pert maiden who,
+sympathizing with the enemies of Jesus, "saith unto Peter, Art thou also
+one of this man's disciples?" She understood that John was such. Her
+contempt was aimed at them both. But it was not her question so much as
+Peter's answer--"I am not"--that startled John. Was it for this denial
+that he had gained admission for his friend? It would have been better
+far if Peter had been kept "standing at the door without" though "it was
+cold," than to be brought into the court of temptation and sin, where he
+"sat with the servants" in his curiosity "to see the end," warming
+himself at the fire they had kindled.
+
+Meanwhile we think of John hastening back to the judgment hall, from
+which he anxiously watched the movements of Peter "walking in the
+counsel of the ungodly, and standing in the way of sinners, and sitting
+in the seat of the scornful."
+
+Poor Peter! He fears to look into any man's face, or to have any one
+look into his. He has obeyed the Master's bidding, "Put up thy sword
+into the sheath," but Malchus has not forgotten it; nor has his kinsman
+who saw Peter in the garden with Jesus,--though he may have forgotten
+the healing of Malchus' ear by his prisoner.
+
+Three Evangelists tell how Peter "sat" with the enemies of Jesus. John
+tells how at different times he "stood" among them. Thus does he report
+as an eye-witness, and show his own watchfulness of Peter's
+restlessness;--of the conflicting emotions of shame and fear, the
+scornful frown, the enforced and deceiving smile, the defiant look, the
+vain effort to appear indifferent, and the storm of anger. Amazed at the
+first denial, shocked at the second, horrified at the third, what were
+John's feelings when one was "with an oath," and with another "he began
+to curse and to swear." But concerning this climax of Peter's sin, John
+is silent. It finds no place in his story.
+
+At last "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter," either from the hall,
+or as He was being led from it. At the same moment, Peter turned and
+looked upon Him. We imagine John turning and looking upon them both,
+marking the grief of the one, and the sense of guilt and shame of the
+other. But he knew the loving, though erring disciple so well that he
+need not be told that when "Peter went out" "he wept bitterly." We
+almost see John himself weeping bitterly over his friend's fall; then
+comforting him when they met again, with assurances of the Lord's love
+and forgiveness. John's next record of their being together shows them
+united in feeling, purpose and action for their Lord.
+
+There was another toward whom John's watchful eyes turned during the
+long and painful watches of that night. The picture of him is not
+complete without this Apostle's records.
+
+"Art thou the King of the Jews?" asked Pilate of Jesus. Such John had
+thought Him to be. For three years he had waited to see Him assume His
+throne. He has preserved the Lord's answer,--"My kingdom is not of this
+world." This declaration contained a truth to which even the favored
+disciple had been partly blind. Was he not ready to ask with Pilate,
+though with different spirit and purpose, "Art thou a King then?" The
+Lord's answer must have meant more to the listening Apostle than to the
+captious and heedless Governor. It was a declaration of the true
+kingship of the Messiah-King,--"To this end have I been born, and to
+this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the
+truth."
+
+"What is truth?" asked Pilate in a careless manner, not caring for an
+answer. "What is truth?" was the great question whose answer the Apostle
+continued to seek, concerning the King and the kingdom of Him whom He
+had heard say, "I am the Truth."
+
+In that night he saw the Messiah-King crowned, but with thorns. He saw
+the purple robe upon Him, but it was the cast-off garment of a Roman
+Governor. A reed, given Him for a sceptre, was snatched from His hand to
+smite Him on His head. Instead of pouring holy oil of kingly
+consecration, as upon David's head, His enemies "spit upon Him." It was
+in mockery that they bowed the knee before Him saying, "Hail King of the
+Jews."
+
+There are two scenes with which John alone has made us familiar. One is
+described in these words:--"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of
+thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith, Behold the man!" Did not
+that word "Behold," recall to John another scene--that on the Jordan
+when he looked upon this same Jesus as the Lamb of God, whom His enemies
+were about to offer unwittingly, when He offered Himself not unwillingly
+a sacrifice upon the cross? The Baptist's exclamation had been in
+adoration and joyfulness: Pilate's was in pity and sadness. It was an
+appeal to humanity, but in vain. There was no pity in that maddened
+throng. Pilate turned in bitterness toward those whom he hated, but
+whose evil deeds he did not dare to oppose. So in irony "Pilate ...
+brought forth Jesus ... and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!"
+
+John was the only one who heard the three cries of "Behold"--one at the
+beginning, the others at the close of the Lord's ministry. How much he
+had beheld and heard and learned between, concerning "the Lamb," "the
+Man," and "the King."
+
+The only earthly throne on which John saw Him sit was one of mockery.
+He did not ask to sit with Him. It was a sad yet blessed privilege to be
+with Him during that night of agony--the only friendly witness to
+probably all of His sufferings. While John's eyes were turned often and
+earnestly toward Peter and Pilate, they were yet more on the Lord. When
+he went in with Jesus into the palace, and while he tarried with Him, he
+could _do_ nothing--only _look_. No angel was there as in Gethsemane to
+strengthen the Man of sorrows, but did He not often look for sympathy
+toward that one who had leaned lovingly upon Him a few hours before? Was
+not John's mere waking presence among His foes in the palace, a solace
+which slumber had denied Him in the garden? John's eyes were not heavy
+now. There was no need of the Lord's bidding, "Tarry ye here and watch
+with Me." Love made him tarry and watch more than "one hour"--even
+through all the watches of the night. Then he was the Lord's only human
+friend--the one silent comforter.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVI_
+
+_John the Lone Disciple at the Cross_
+
+     "When they came unto the place which is called Calvary, there they
+     crucified Him."--_Luke_ xxiii. 33.
+
+     "At Calvary poets have sung their sweetest strains, and artists
+     have seen their sublimest visions."--_Stalker._
+
+      "Now to sorrow must I tune my song,
+          And set my harp to notes of saddest woe,
+       Which on our dearest Lord did seize ere long,
+          Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse than so,
+          Which He for us did freely undergo:
+       Most perfect Hero, tried in heaviest plight
+       Of labors huge and hard, too hard for human wight."
+                                             --_Milton.--The Passion._
+
+
+Even careful students of the life of John are not together in their
+attempts to follow him on the day of crucifixion. Some think they find
+evidence, chiefly in his silence concerning certain events, that after
+hearing the final sentence of Pilate condemning Christ to be crucified,
+he left the palace and joined the other disciples and faithful women and
+the mother of Jesus, and reported what he had seen and heard during the
+night; and at some hour during the day visited Calvary, and returning to
+the city brought the women who stood with him at the cross: and
+witnessed only what he minutely or only describes. Other students think
+he followed Jesus from the palace to the cross, remaining near Him and
+witnessing all that transpired. This is certainly in keeping with what
+we should expect from his peculiar relation to Christ. It is in harmony
+with what we do know of his movements that day. So we are inclined to
+follow him as a constant though silent companion of Jesus, feeling that
+in keeping near him we are near to his Lord and ours. This we now do in
+the "Dolorous Way," along which Jesus is hurried from the judgment-seat
+of Pilate to the place of execution.
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST BEARING HIS CROSS _H. Hofmann_ Page 185]
+
+It is John who uses the one phrase in the Gospels which furnishes a
+tragic subject for artists, and poets and preachers, on which
+imagination dwells, and excites our sympathies as does no other save the
+crucifixion itself. His phrase is this,--"Jesus ... bearing the cross
+for Himself." We notice this all the more because of the silence of the
+other Evangelists, all of whom tell of one named Simon who was compelled
+to bear the cross. As John read their story, there was another picture
+in his mind, too fresh and vivid not to be painted also. He recalled the
+short distance that Christ carried the cross alone, weakened by the
+agonies of the garden and the scourging of the palace, until, exhausted,
+He fell beneath the burden. We are not told that the crown of thorns
+had been removed, though the purple robe of mockery had been. So this
+added to His continued pain. As John looked upon those instruments of
+suffering he heard the banter and derision of shame that always
+accompanied them.
+
+There followed Jesus "a great multitude of the people," whose morbid
+curiosity would be gratified by the coming tragedy. But there were
+others--"women who bewailed and lamented Him."
+
+It is surmised that at the moment when Jesus could bear His cross no
+longer, and was relieved by Simon, He turned to the weeping "Daughters
+of Jerusalem" following Him, and in tenderest sympathy told of the
+coming days of sorrow for them and their city, of which He had told John
+and his companions on Olivet.
+
+John says that Jesus "went out ... unto the place called the place of a
+skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha." The place was also called
+Calvary. We do not certainly know the sacred spot, though careful
+students think it is north of the city, near the Damascus gate, near the
+gardens of the ancient city, and tombs that still remain. We think of
+John revisiting it again and again while he remained in Jerusalem, and
+then in thought in his distant home where he wrote of it. "There," says
+John, "they crucified Jesus, and with Him two others, on either side
+one, and Jesus in the midst." How few his words, but how full of
+meaning. We long to know more of John's memories of that day--of all
+that he saw and felt and did. They were such in kind and number as none
+other than he did or could have.
+
+There were two contrasted groups of four each around the cross, to which
+John calls special attention. One, the nearest to it, was composed of
+Roman soldiers, to whom were committed the details of the
+crucifixion--the arrangement of the cross, the driving of the nails, and
+the elevation of the victim upon it.
+
+Having stripped Jesus of His clothing, according to custom they divided
+it among themselves; the loose upper garment or toga to one, the
+head-dress to another, the girdle to another, and the sandals to the
+last. John watched the division--"to every soldier a part." But his
+interest was chiefly in the under-garment such as Galilean peasants
+wore. This must have been a reminder of the region from which he and
+Jesus had come. He thinks it worth while to describe it as "without
+seam, woven from the top throughout." Perhaps to him another
+reminder--of Mary or Salome or other ministering women by whose loving
+hands it had been knit. If ever a garment, because of its associations,
+could be called holy, surely it is what John calls "the coat" of Jesus.
+Even without miraculous power, it would be the most precious of relics.
+We notice John's interest in it as he watches the soldiers'
+conversation of banter or pleasantry or quarrel, in which it might
+become worthless by being torn asunder. He remembered their parleying,
+and the proposal in which it ended,--"Let us not rend it, but cast lots
+for it whose it shall be." How far were their thoughts from his when
+their words recalled to him the prophecy they were unconsciously
+fulfilling,--"They part My garments among them, and upon My vesture do
+they cast lots."
+
+With what pity did Jesus look down upon the lucky soldier--so he would
+be called--sporting with the coat which had protected Him from the night
+winds of Gethsemane. How He longed to see in the bold and heartless
+heirs to His only earthly goods, the faith of her, who timidly touched
+the hem of His garment. What a scene was that for John to behold! What a
+scene for angels who had sung the glories of Jesus' birth, now looking
+down upon His dying agonies of shame--and upon the gambling dice of His
+murderers! No marvel John added to the almost incredible story, "These
+things ... the soldiers did."
+
+It is at this point that we notice a sudden transition in John's
+narrative. He points us from the unfriendly group of four, to another of
+the same number; saying as if by contrast, "_But_ there were standing by
+the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife
+of Clopas and Mary Magdalene." By "His mother's sister" we understand
+Salome.
+
+The centurion had charge of the plundering soldiers; John was the
+guardian of the sympathizing women. He had a special interest in that
+group, containing his mother and aunt, and probably another relative in
+Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was not of this family
+connection, though of kindred spirit. So must John have felt as she
+stood with him at the cross, and at a later hour when we shall see them
+together again.
+
+In the days of the boyhood of John and Jesus, we thought of their
+mothers as sisters, and of parents and children as looking for the
+coming Messiah. None thought of the possibilities of this hour when they
+would meet in Jerusalem at the cross. By it stands John the only one of
+the Apostles. Judas has already gone to "his own place." If Peter is
+following at all it is afar off. The rest have not rallied from their
+flight enough to appear after their flight. James the brother of John is
+not with him. As their mother looks upon Jesus between two robbers, does
+she recall her ambitious request, "Command that these my two sons may
+sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand"? She understands
+now the fitness of the reply she had received,--"Ye know not what ye
+ask"?
+
+But Salome and John are loyal to the uncrowned King. Though they may
+not share the glory of His throne, they are yet ready to stand beneath
+the shameful shadow of His cross.
+
+But another is there,--drawn by a yet stronger cord of affection. She
+heads John's list of the women "by the cross of Jesus--His mother,"
+whose love is so deep that it cannot forego witnessing the sight that
+fills her soul with agony. Yes, Mary, thou art there.
+
+    "Now by that cross thou tak'st thy final station,
+       And shar'st the last dark trial of thy Son;
+     Not with weak tears or woman's lamentation,
+       But with high, silent anguish, like His own."
+                                          --_H.B. Stowe_.
+
+As she stands there we seem to read her thoughts: "Can that be He, my
+babe of Bethlehem, my beautiful boy of Nazareth, in manhood my joy and
+my hope! Are those hands the same that have been so lovingly held in
+mine; those arms, outstretched and motionless, the same that have so
+often been clasped around me! Oh! that I might staunch His wounds, and
+moisten His parched lips, and gently lift that thorny crown from His
+bleeding brow."
+
+But this cannot be. There is being fulfilled Simeon's prophecy, uttered
+as he held her infant in his arms,--a foreboding which has cast a
+mysterious shadow on the joys of her life.
+
+    "Beside the cross in tears
+        The woeful mother stood,
+     Bent 'neath the weight of years,
+       And viewed His flowing blood;
+     Her mind with grief was torn,
+       Her strength was ebbing fast,
+     And through her heart forlorn,
+       The sword of Anguish passed."
+
+She can only draw yet nearer to His cross and give the comfort of a
+mother's look, and perhaps receive the comfort of a look from Him,
+and--oh, if it can be--a word of comfort from His lips for the
+mother-heart. Perhaps for a moment her thoughts are on the future,--her
+lonely life, without the sympathy of her other sons who believed not on
+their brother. Oh! that they were like John, to her already more of a
+son than they.
+
+In childhood Jesus had been "subject" to her: in youth and manhood He
+had been faithful to her. In the Temple He had thought of her as His
+mother, and of God as His Father. But no exalted relation, no greatness
+to which He had attained on earth, had made Him disloyal to her. While
+claiming to be the Son of God, He was still the loving son of Mary. Such
+He would show Himself to be on the cross. We thank John for the record
+of that moment when "Jesus ... saw His mother." "The people stood
+beholding" Him, but His eyes were not on them; nor on those passing by
+His cross wagging their heads, nor the malefactor at His side reviling
+Him; nor on the chief priest and scribes, the elders and soldiers
+mocking Him; nor the rulers deriding Him. His thought was not on them,
+nor even on Himself in His agonies, as His eyes rested keenly on His
+mother. It was a deep, tender, earnest gaze.
+
+John tells that Jesus also "saw" "the disciples standing by, whom He
+loved." The Lord turned His head from His mother to His disciple. This
+could be His only gesture pointing them one to the other.
+
+The prayer for His murderers had apparently been uttered when His hands
+were pierced, before the cross was raised. He may have spoken once after
+it was elevated, before He saw the two special objects of His love. His
+eyes met His mother's. She saw Him try to speak. The utterance of His
+parched lips, with gasping breath, was brief, full of meaning and
+tenderness--"Woman! behold, thy son!" Then turning toward John He said,
+"Behold! thy mother!"
+
+In these words Jesus committed His mother to John without asking whether
+he would accept the charge.
+
+"From that hour the disciple took her unto his own home." It is a
+question whether or not the phrase, "from that hour," is to be taken
+literally. It may be that the blessed words, "mother" and "son," were as
+a final benediction, after which John led her away, and then returned
+to the cross. Or, it may be that the mother-heart compelled her to
+witness the closing scenes.
+
+[Illustration: THE VIRGIN AND ST. JOHN AT THE CROSS _Old Engraving_
+ Page 193]
+
+If we pause long enough to inquire why John was chosen to be trusted
+with this special charge, we can find probable answer. Jesus' "brethren"
+did not then believe on Him. Mary's heart would go out toward him who
+did, especially as he was her kindred as well as of a kindred spirit.
+His natural character, loving and lovable, made him worthy of the trust.
+Apparently he was better able to support her than were any other of the
+Apostles, and perhaps even than her sons. He seems to have been the only
+Apostle or relative of Mary who had a home in Jerusalem, where she
+certainly would choose to dwell among the followers of the Lord. Above
+all John was the beloved disciple of Mary's beloved son. So to him we
+can fittingly say:
+
+          "As in death He hung,
+    His mantle soft on thee He flung
+    Of filial love, and named the son;
+    When now that earthly tie was done,
+    To thy tried faith and spotless years
+    Consigned His Virgin Mother's tears."
+                        --_Isaac Williams_.--Trans. An. Latin Hymn.
+
+Blessed John. When Jesus called His own mother "thy mother," didst thou
+not almost hear Him call thee "My brother"?
+
+One tradition says that John cared for Mary in Jerusalem for twelve
+years, until her death, before his going to Ephesus. Another tradition
+is that she accompanied him thither and was buried there. What a home
+was theirs, ever fragrant with the memory of Him whom they had loved
+until His death. No incidents in His life, from the hour of brightness
+over Bethlehem to that of darkness over Calvary, was too trivial a thing
+for their converse. That home in Jerusalem became what the one in
+Nazareth had been, the most consecrated of earth. What welcomes there of
+Christians who could join with Mary as she repeated her song of
+thirty-three years before, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit
+hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Of her we shall gain one more distinct
+view--the only one.
+
+[Illustration: THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS _Rubens_ Page 200]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVII_
+
+_John the Lone Disciple at the Cross--Continued_
+
+     Three sayings on the cross reported by John:
+
+      "Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!"
+
+      "I thirst."
+
+      "It is finished."
+
+                            --_John_ xix. 26, 27, 28, 30.
+
+
+Of the seven sayings of Christ on the cross, three are preserved by John
+only; one of love, another of suffering, and another of triumph. The
+first is that to Mary and John himself. The second is the cry, "I
+thirst"--the only one of the seven concerning the Lord's bodily
+sufferings. John was a most observing eyewitness, as is shown by the
+details of the narrative,--the "vessel _full_ of vinegar," the "sponge
+filled with vinegar," and the hyssop on which it was placed, the
+movements of the soldiers as they put it to Christ's lips, and the
+manner in which He received it. He was willing to accept it to revive
+His strength to suffer, when "He would not drink" the "wine mingled with
+gall" that would relieve Him from the pain He was willing to endure. The
+end was drawing near. The thirst had long continued. He had borne it
+patiently for five long hours. Why did He at last utter the cry, "I
+thirst"? John gives the reason. A prophecy was being fulfilled, and
+Jesus would have it known. It was this: "In My thirst they gave Me
+vinegar to drink." So "Jesus, ... that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
+saith, 'I thirst.'"
+
+John watched Him as He took His last earthly draught. It was probably of
+the sour wine for the use of the soldiers on guard. What varied
+associations he had with wine,--the joyful festivities of Cana, the
+solemnities of the Upper Room, and the sadness of Calvary.
+
+When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is
+finished." This is the third of the sayings of Jesus on the cross
+preserved by John, who was a special witness to the chief doings of his
+Lord on the earth. So the declaration meant more to him than to any
+other who heard it. Yet it had a fulness of meaning which even he could
+not fully know. Jesus' life on earth was finished. He had perfectly
+obeyed the commandments of God. The types and prophecies concerning Him
+had been fulfilled. His revelation of truth was completed. The work of
+man's redemption was done. On the cross He affirmed what John said He
+declared in the Upper Room to His Father: "I have glorified Thee on the
+earth, having accomplished the work Thou hast given Me to do."
+
+All four Evangelists tell of the moment when Jesus yielded up His life,
+but John alone of the act that accompanied it as the signal thereof,
+which his observant eye beheld. "He bowed His head,"--not as the
+helpless victim of the executioner's knife upon the fatal block, but as
+the Lord of Life who had said, "No one taketh it away from Me, but I lay
+it down of Myself."
+
+John makes mention of another incident without which the story of the
+crucifixion would be incomplete. Mary Magdalene and other loving women
+had left the cross, but were gazing toward it as they "stood afar off."
+John remained with the soldiers who were watching the bodies of the
+crucified. "The Jews, ... that the bodies should not remain upon the
+cross upon the Sabbath, asked of Pilate that their legs might be
+broken"--to hasten death--"and that they might be taken away." As John
+saw the soldiers "break the legs of the first and of the other which was
+crucified with" Jesus, with what a shudder did he see them approach His
+cross; but what a relief to him when they "saw that He was dead already,
+and brake not His legs."
+
+In a single clause John pictures a scene ever vivid in Christian
+thought. He knew that Jesus "gave up His spirit" when "He bowed His
+head." The executioners pronounced Him dead. "Howbeit one of the
+soldiers"--to make this certain beyond dispute--"with a spear pierced
+His side, and straightway there came out blood and water." There was now
+no pain to excite the Apostle's sympathy, and yet he reports the
+incident as being of special importance. He calls attention to the fact
+that he was an eye-witness, and that there was something in it that
+should affect others as well as himself. He says, "He that hath seen
+hath borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knoweth that he
+saith true, that ye also may believe." He explains why these incidents
+so deeply impressed him. They recalled two prophecies of the Old
+Testament. One was this, "A bone of Him shall not be broken." This
+reminded John of the Paschal Lamb which should be perfect in body; and
+of Jesus as the Lamb of God, by which name He had been called when
+pointed out to him as the Messiah. All through life Jesus had been
+preserved from accident that would have broken a bone, and in death even
+from the intended purpose that would have defeated the fulfilment of the
+prophecy.
+
+The other prophecy was this,--"They shall look on Him whom they
+pierced." Because of what John saw and tells, we pray in song,
+
+    "Let the water and the blood
+     From Thy riven side which flowed,
+     Be of sin the double cure:
+     Cleanse me from its guilt and power."
+
+[Illustration: IN THE SEPULCHRE _H. Hofmann_ Page 201]
+
+John once more furnishes a contrast between Jesus' foes and friends. He
+says that the Jews asked Pilate that the bodies of the crucified might
+be taken away. This was to the dishonored graves of malefactors. John
+more fully than the other Evangelists tells of Joseph of Arimathĉa who
+"besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus"--for
+honorable burial. Other Evangelists tell of his being "rich," "a
+counsellor of honorable estate," "a good man and a righteous," who "had
+not consented to" the "counsel and deed" of the Sanhedrin of which he
+was a member, because he "was Jesus' disciple." Mark says, "He boldly
+went in unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus." He had summoned
+courage so to do. Hitherto as John explains he had been "a disciple of
+Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews." John implies that Joseph was
+naturally timid like Nicodemus. As Pilate had delivered Jesus to His
+open enemies to be crucified, he delivered the crucified body to Joseph,
+the once secret but now open friend. The Jews "led him"--the living
+Christ--"away to crucify Him." Joseph "came" and tenderly "took away His
+body" from the cross.
+
+"There came also Nicodemus," says John, "he who at the first came to Him
+by night." Yes, that night which John could not forget, in which to this
+same Nicodemus Jesus made known the Gospel of God's love, manifested in
+the gift of His Son whose body in that hour these timid yet emboldened
+members of the Sanhedrin took down from the cross. They were sincere
+mourners with him who watched their tender care as they "bound it in
+linen cloths with the spices" for burial, with no thought of a
+resurrection.
+
+Perhaps Joseph and Nicodemus recalled moments in the Sanhedrin when they
+whispered together, speaking kindly of Jesus, but were afraid to defend
+Him aloud; thus silently giving a seeming consent to evil deeds because
+timidity concealed their friendship. But at last the very enmity and
+cruelty of His murderers emboldened them as they met at the cross.
+
+It is John who tells us that Jesus the night before His crucifixion went
+"where was a garden into which He entered," and who also says, "Now in
+the place where He was crucified there was a garden." The one was ever
+more suggestive to him of a coming trial; the other of that trial past.
+"There," in the garden--probably that of Joseph--John says "they laid
+Jesus." There also were laid John's hopes, which seemed forever buried
+when Joseph "rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and
+departed." What a contrast in his thoughts and feelings between the
+rolling _away_ of the stone from the tomb of Lazarus, and the rolling
+_to_ that of Jesus. The one told him of resurrection; but the other of
+continued death; for as he afterward confessed, "as yet" he and Peter
+"knew not that Jesus must rise from the dead."
+
+Two mourners at least lingered at the closed tomb. "Mary Magdalene was
+there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre" of their
+Lord, after they "beheld where He was laid." John's parting from them at
+that evening hour was in sadness which was to be deepened when he met
+Mary Magdalene again.
+
+It is not easy for us to put ourselves in the place of John, as he turns
+from the tomb toward his lonely home. _We_ know what happened afterward,
+but he did not know what would happen, though his Lord had tried to
+teach him. He is repeating to himself the words he had heard from the
+cross, "It is finished," but he is giving them some difference of
+meaning from that which Jesus intended. He is walking slowly and sadly
+through the streets of Jerusalem, dimly lighted by the moon that shone
+in Gethsemane the night before upon him and his living Lord. We imagine
+him saying to himself:--"Truly it is finished: all is over now. How
+disappointed I am. I do not believe He intended to deceive me, yet I
+have been deceived. From early childhood I looked, as I was taught to
+do, for the coming of the Messiah. On Jordan I thought I had found Him.
+He chose me for one of His twelve, then one of the three, then the one
+of His special love. What a joy this has been, brightening for three
+years my hopes and expectations. I have seen Him work miracles, even
+raising the dead. I have seen Him defeat the plots of evil men against
+Him, and did not believe any power on earth could destroy Him. I have
+watched to see Him the great and glorious King. But to-day instead of
+this I have seen Him crucified as the feeblest and worst of men. I do
+remember now how Moses and Elijah, when we were with them on the Holy
+Mount, talked with Him of 'His departure which He was about to
+accomplish at Jerusalem.' But I did not understand them, nor even
+Himself when, just before we ascended the Mount, He told us 'how that He
+must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, ... and be killed.' I do
+not wonder that Peter then said to Him, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord,'
+though the Lord was right in rebuking him. Can it be only last night He
+said, 'Tarry with Me.' How gladly would I do it now. But He is dead, and
+buried out of my sight. Oh that I might see Him rise, as I did the
+daughter of Jairus. Oh that I might roll away the stone from His tomb as
+I helped to do from that of Lazarus, and see Him come forth. How gladly
+would I 'loose Him' from His 'grave-bands' and remove the 'napkin bound
+about His face.' I know it was a mean and shameful taunt of His revilers
+when they said, 'If Thou art the Son of God, come down from the
+cross.' But why did He not do it? I remember how once He said concerning
+His life, 'no one taketh it away from Me.' But have not Pilate and the
+Jews taken it away? I shall never lean upon His bosom again. But this I
+know--He loved me, and I loved Him, and love Him still. The mysteries
+are great, but the memories of Him will be exceedingly precious
+forever."
+
+[Illustration: JESUS APPEARING TO MARY MAGDALENE (Easter Morning)
+              _B. Plockhorst_ Page 209]
+
+Poor John. He forgot those other words of His Lord concerning His
+life,--"I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."
+The Lord had done the one already: He was soon to do the other, though
+His sorrowing disciple understood it not. Meanwhile we leave him,
+resting if possible from the weariness of the garden and the palace and
+Calvary, during that Friday night, which was to be followed by a day of
+continued sadness, and that by another night of sorrowful restlessness.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVIII_
+
+_John at the Tomb_
+
+     "Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,
+     while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken
+     away from the tomb. She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon
+     Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.
+
+     "Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went
+     toward the tomb.
+
+     "Simon Peter ... entered into the tomb.
+
+     "Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, ... and he saw
+     and believed."--_John_ xx. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8.
+
+     "Let us take John for our instructor in the swiftness of love, and
+     Peter for our teacher in courage."--_Stalker_.
+
+      "Oh, sacred day, sublimest day!
+         Oh, mystery unheard!
+       Death's hosts that claimed Him as their prey
+         He scattered with a word;
+       And from the tomb He valiant came;
+         And ever blessed be His name."
+                             --_Kingo. Trans. Hymns of Denmark_.
+
+      "Mine eye hath found that sepulchral rock
+       That was the casket of Heav'n's richest store."
+                                         --_Milton_.--_The Passion_.
+
+
+Of the women who visited the tomb of Jesus on the morning of the
+Resurrection, John was especially interested in Mary Magdalene, from
+whom seven demons had gone out, probably in his presence; thus giving
+him opportunity to see the marvelous change from a most abject
+condition, to grateful devotion to her Healer, perhaps beyond that of
+any other one whom He healed. John long remembered her starting on her
+errand "while it was yet dark." So he remembered Judas starting when "it
+was night" on his errand, of which Mary's was the sad result. One was a
+deed of love which no darkness hindered: the other was a deed of hate
+which no darkness prevented or concealed.
+
+John had a special reason for remembering Mary. When she had seen that
+the stone was taken away from the tomb, it had a different meaning to
+her from what it did when she and John saw it on Friday evening. And
+when she "found not the body of the Lord Jesus," she imagined that
+either friends had borne it away, or foes had robbed the tomb. In
+surprise, disappointment and anxiety, her first impulse was to make it
+known--to whom else than to him who had sorrowed with her at the
+stone-closed door? So she "ran"--not with unwomanly haste, but with the
+quickened step of woman's love--"to Simon Peter and to the other
+disciple whom Jesus loved." They were both loved, but not in the fuller
+sense elsewhere applied to John. Astonished at her early call, startled
+at the wildness of her grief, sharing her anxiety, "they ran both
+together" "toward the tomb" from which she had so hastily come. But it
+was an uneven race. John, younger and nimbler, "outran Peter and came
+first to the tomb." "Yet entered he not in." Reverence and awe make him
+pause where love has brought him. For a few moments he is alone. His
+earnest gaze confirms the report of Mary that somebody has "taken away
+the Lord." He can only ask, Who? Why? Where? No angel gives answer.
+Still his gaze is rewarded. "He seeth the linen cloths lying." These are
+silent witnesses that the precious body has not been hastily and rudely
+snatched away by unfriendly hands, such as had mangled it on the cross.
+
+Peter arriving, everywhere and evermore impulsive, enters at once where
+John fears to tread. He discovers what John had not seen,--"the napkin
+that was upon His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up
+in a place by itself." John does not tell whose head, so full is he of
+the thought of his Lord.
+
+"Then entered in therefore that other disciple also," says John of
+himself, showing the influence of his bolder companion upon him. Though
+the napkin escaped his notice from without the tomb, it found a
+prominent place in his memory after he saw it. Who but an eye-witness
+would give us such details? What does he mean us to infer from the
+"rolled" napkin put away, if not the calmness and carefulness and
+triumph of the Lord of Life as He tarried in His tomb long enough to lay
+aside the bandages of death. When he saw the careful arrangement of the
+grave-cloths, "he believed" that Jesus had risen. We are not to infer
+from his mention of himself only that Peter did not share in this
+belief. We can believe that Luke does not complete the story when he
+says that Peter "departed to his home wondering at that which was come
+to pass." As they came down from the Mount of Transfiguration they were
+"questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should
+mean." As they came from the tomb they questioned no longer.
+
+[Illustration: THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT _Old Engraving_ Page 224]
+
+We long for a yet fuller record than that which John has given of what
+passed when he and Peter were within the tomb. He frankly tells us that
+"as yet they knew not the Scriptures, that He must rise again from the
+dead." Neither prophecy, nor the Scriptures, nor the Lord's repeated
+declarations, had prepared them for this hour of fulfilment.
+
+We imagine them lingering in the tomb, talking of the past, recalling
+the words of their Lord, illumined in the very darkness of His
+sepulchre, and both wondering what the future might reveal. At last they
+left the tomb together. There was no occasion now for John to outrun
+Peter. They were calm and joyful. There was nothing more to see or to
+do. "So the disciples went away again unto their own home."
+
+"But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping." In these words John
+turns our thoughts from himself to her who had summoned him and Peter,
+and then followed them. After they had left the sepulchre she continued
+standing, bitterly weeping. She could not refrain from seeking that
+which she had told the disciples was not there. Her gaze was "at the
+very cause of her grief." "She stooped and looked into the tomb" as John
+had done.
+
+From the infancy of Jesus to His death there was no ministry of angels
+to men, though they ministered to Him. "The Master being by, it behooved
+the servant to keep silence." But the angelic voices that proclaimed His
+birth, were heard again after His resurrection. According to John's
+minute description Mary "beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at
+the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." The
+angelic silence was broken by them both, with the question, "Woman, why
+weepest thou"--so bitterly and continuously? They might have added, "It
+is all without a cause." Her answer was quick and brief; and without any
+fear of the shining ones who lightened the gloomy tomb, and were ready
+to lighten her darkened spirit. Her reply was the echo of her own words
+to Peter and John, slightly changed to show her personal loss;--"Because
+they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
+Him."--Am I not wretched indeed? Is there not a cause? Why should I
+check my tears?
+
+To answer was needless. Were not the angels in the blessed secret which
+was immediately revealed? Were they not glancing from within the tomb,
+over her bowed head, to the gently moving form without? Did Mary become
+suddenly conscious of some presence as "she turns herself back, and
+beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus"? His question
+seemed an echo of the angelic voices, "Woman, why weepest thou?" with
+the added question, "Whom seekest thou?" This was the first utterance of
+the risen Lord. In the garden, at this early hour, who--so thought
+Mary--can this be but the gardener? As such she addressed Him, "Sir, If
+_thou_ hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I
+will take Him away." We can hardly restrain a smile when we see how the
+strength of her love made her unmindful of the weakness that would
+attempt to "take Him away."
+
+"Jesus saith unto her, Mary." That name, that familiar voice, that
+loving tone, sent a thrill through her heart which the name "woman" had
+failed to excite. More completely "she turned herself, and saith unto
+Him, Rabboni," with all the devotion of her impassioned soul.
+
+Let us recall John's account of Mary's report of her first visit to the
+tomb, full of sadness--"_They have taken away the Lord_," and then in
+contrast place by its side his record of her second report, full of
+gladness--"Mary Magdalene, cometh and telleth the disciples, _I have
+seen the Lord_." The one was a mistaken inference; the other a blessed
+reality. Between these two utterances on the same day what revelations
+to them both. But the end was not yet.
+
+"When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week,
+and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
+Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be
+unto you." So John describes the first meeting of Jesus with the
+disciples after His resurrection. He gives hints of some things of which
+other Evangelists are silent. With emphasis he notes "that day" as the
+day of days whose rising sun revealed resurrection glory. That "evening"
+must have recalled the last one on which they had been together. Then
+the Lord had said unto them, "Peace I leave with you." But the
+benediction had seemed almost a mockery, because of the sorrow which
+followed. But now it was repeated with a renewed assurance of His power
+to bestow it. Through fear of the Jews they had closed the doors of
+probably the same Upper Room where they had been assembled before. These
+doors were no barrier to His entry, any more than the stone to His
+leaving His tomb.
+
+[Illustration: ST. PETER AND ST. JOHN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE
+              _Old Engraving_ Page 225]
+
+As John alone preserved the incident of the pierced side, he alone tells
+how Jesus "showed unto them His ... side," and said to Thomas, at the
+next meeting, "Reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side;" and
+how this was followed by Thomas' believing exclamation, "My Lord, and my
+God." With this and the Lord's beatitude for other believing ones, John
+originally ended his story of the Lord, in these words,--"Many other
+signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not
+written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that
+Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life
+in His name."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIX
+
+"What Shall This Man Do_?"
+
+     "Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of
+     Tiberias."--_John_ xxi. 1.
+
+     "There were together Simon Peter ... and the sons of
+     Zebedee."--_v_. 2.
+
+     "Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved
+     following."--_v._ 20.
+
+     "Peter ... saith to Jesus, Lord, and What shall this man do?"--_v_.
+     21.
+
+
+The twenty-first chapter of John's Gospel is without doubt an addition,
+written some time after the original Gospel was finished. Why this
+addition? To answer the question we must recall the things of which the
+addition tells. They are of special interest in our studies of Peter and
+John.
+
+In our last chapter we were with John in Jerusalem. From there he
+carries us to the Sea of Tiberias. He tells us that he and his brother
+James, and Peter, with four others, "were there together." They were
+near their childhood home, where they had watched for the Messiah, and
+where, when He had appeared He called them to leave their fishing
+employment, and to become fishers of men. They had been saddened by His
+death, then gladdened by His resurrection. He had told them to meet Him
+in Galilee. And now they were waiting for His coming. They were within
+sight of a boat from which perhaps some day they had fished. Peter, ever
+active and ready to do something, said to his companions, "I go
+a-fishing." As John had followed him into the tomb, he and the others
+followed him to the boat saying, "We also come with thee." Let John
+himself tell what happened. "They went forth and entered into the boat;
+and that night they took nothing. But when day was now breaking, Jesus
+stood on the beach: howbeit the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
+Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They
+answered Him, No. And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side
+of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were
+not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes."
+
+Once more we are to find Peter and John the prominent figures, and see
+the difference between them, John being the first to understand, and
+Peter the first to act. When John saw the multitude of fishes he
+remembered the same thing had happened before at the beginning of
+Christ's ministry. Looking toward the land, and whispering to Peter, he
+said, "It is the Lord." "So when Simon Peter heard that it was the
+Lord, he girt his coat about him"--out of reverence for his Master--"and
+cast himself into the sea," and swam or waded about one hundred yards to
+the beach. The other disciples followed in the boat, dragging the net
+with the fishes. John remembered their great size, and the number "an
+hundred and fifty and three." He says, "When they got out upon the land,
+they see a fire of coals there." Did it not remind him of another "fire
+of coals" of which he had already written, kindled in the court of the
+high-priestly palace where "Peter stood and warmed himself," and near
+which he denied his Lord three times? If he did not recall that scene
+immediately, he did very soon.
+
+Jesus invited the disciples to eat of the meal he had prepared. As they
+did so they were filled with awe and reverence, "knowing that it was the
+Lord." In the light of the palace fire, "the Lord turned and _looked_
+upon Peter"--that only. But in the morning light on the seashore, "when
+they had broken their fast, Jesus _saith_ to Simon Peter, Lovest thou
+Me?" Three times, with some difference of meaning, gently and solemnly
+He asked the question as many times as Peter had denied Him. On Peter's
+first assurance of his love Christ gave him a new commission, "Feed My
+lambs." This was a humble work,--not so exalted as it is now--a test of
+Peter's fitness for Apostleship. He was ready to accept it; and thus he
+showed his fitness for the enlarged commission, "Feed My sheep."
+
+With what intense interest John must have listened to the conversation
+between his friend and their Lord. Was he not as ready as Peter to say,
+"Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee"? In the
+end John fulfilled the commission, "Feed My lambs," better than either
+Peter or any of the other Apostles. Of them all he had the most of the
+child-like spirit. He may fittingly be called the Apostle of Childhood.
+
+Peter was told by the Lord something about his own future,--how in
+faithful service for his Master he would be persecuted, and "by what
+manner of death he should glorify God." By this his crucifixion is
+apparently meant. As John listened, perhaps he wondered what his own
+future would be. He was ready to share in service with Peter. Was he not
+also ready to share in his fate, whatever it might be?
+
+"Follow Me," said Jesus to Peter. They seem to have started together
+away from the group. John felt that he must not be thus separated from
+his friend and his Lord. Though he had not been invited to join them, he
+started to do so, as if the command to Peter had been also for himself.
+"Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following;
+which also leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who
+is he that betrayeth Thee?" As Peter at the supper beckoned unto John to
+ask that question concerning Judas, is it not possible that John now
+beckoned to Peter to ask Christ concerning himself? However this may be,
+"Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do?" or,
+as it is interpreted, "Lord--and this man, what?" It is as if he had
+said, "Will John also die a martyr's death, as you have said I shall
+die?" It is not strange that he wanted to know the future of his friend.
+But he did not receive the answer he sought, for "Jesus saith unto him,
+If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"
+
+These words may mean that John would live to old age and escape
+martyrdom, which became true. But this was not the meaning which
+Christians of his day put into them. They had the mistaken idea that
+Christ, having ascended to Heaven, would soon come again. They also
+believed that John would live until Christ's second coming. "This saying
+therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not
+die." John was unwilling to have this mistake concerning Christ's words
+repeated over and over wherever he was known. So he determined to
+correct the false report by adding what is the twenty-first chapter of
+His Gospel, telling just what Christ did say, and the circumstances in
+which He uttered the words to Peter concerning John. His testimony is
+this:--"Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but, If I will that
+he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me."
+
+Peter became the suffering; John the waiting disciple, "tarrying" a long
+time, even after his friend was crucified, and all his fellow-Apostles
+had died, probably by martyrdom.
+
+But after all that John wrote to correct the mistaken report concerning
+His death, tradition would not let him die. It affirmed that although he
+was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome, and though he was
+compelled to drink hemlock, he was unharmed; and that though he was
+buried, the earth above his grave heaved with his breathing, as if,
+still living, he was tarrying until Christ should return.
+
+"What shall this man"--John--"do?" asked Peter. He found partial answer
+in what they did together for the early Christian Church, until John saw
+"by what manner of death Peter should glorify God." And then that church
+found yet fuller answer in John's labors for it while alone he "tarried"
+long among them.
+
+When John tells us that Peter turned and saw him following, we recall
+the hour when Andrew and he timidly walked along the Jordan banks, and
+"Jesus turned and saw them following," and welcomed their approach and
+encouraged them in familiar conversation. How changed is all now! John
+does not ask as before, "Where dwellest Thou?" Nor does Jesus bid him
+"Come and see." He who has become the favored disciple is now better
+prepared than then to serve his Master, following in the path they had
+trod together, and having an abiding sense of the blessed though unseen
+Presence, until his Lord shall bid him, "Come and see" My heavenly
+abode, and evermore "be with Me where I am," and share at last, without
+unholy ambition, the glory of My Throne."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXX_
+
+_St. John a Pillar-Apostle in the Early Christian Church_
+
+     "James and Cephas and John, they who are reputed to be
+     pillars."--_Paul. Gal._ ii. 9.
+
+     "They went up into the upper chamber where they were abiding; both
+     Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip, ..."--_Acts_ i. 13.
+
+     "When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in
+     one place."--_Acts_ ii. 1.
+
+     "An angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought
+     them out."--_Acts_ v. 19.
+
+     "Now when the Apostles which were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria
+     had received the word of the Lord, they sent unto them Peter and
+     John."--_Acts_ viii. 14.
+
+     "He (Herod) killed James the brother of John with the
+     sword."--_Acts_ xii. 2.
+
+
+The next place where we may think of John with his Lord was on a
+mountain in Galilee. At least once before His death, and twice after His
+resurrection, He directed His Disciples to meet Him there. For what
+purpose? Evidently to receive His final commission.
+
+"Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been
+given unto Me in Heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make
+disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father
+and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all
+things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even
+unto the end of the world."
+
+But the disciples were not yet prepared to fulfil this commission. So He
+appointed another meeting, to be held in Jerusalem, where He met them,
+"speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Here the
+command on the mountain was limited by another--not to depart from
+Jerusalem immediately. "Wait" said He, "for the promise of the Father
+which you heard from Me." That promise we find in John's record:--"I
+will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He
+may abide with you forever." "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
+shall teach you all things." "He shall testify of Me." In the
+fulfilment of that promise, the disciples were to find the preparation
+to "go" and "preach." For that preparation they were to "wait."
+
+Jesus then reminds them of the assurance given by John the Baptist
+concerning Himself:--"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Once
+more John is carried back to the Jordan, and reminded of the time when
+he and Jesus had been baptized. All those former scenes must have been
+recalled when Jesus at the final meeting in Jerusalem declared, "John
+truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
+not many days hence."
+
+These words revived in the disciples the hope which had died in them
+when Jesus died upon the cross. So, with yet mistaken ideas, they asked,
+"Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" John
+and the rest of the Bethsaidan band, who had heard the Baptist say that
+the kingdom of God was at hand, hoped that "at this time" it would
+appear. But, as when Jesus gave no direct answer to the two pairs of
+brothers on Olivet concerning the time of the destruction of Jerusalem,
+or to Peter's question concerning John's future, so now He avoided a
+direct answer to this last question. He reminded them of something more
+important for them than knowledge of the future: that was their own
+duty,--not to reign, but to be witnesses for Him, first in Jerusalem,
+then throughout Judĉa, then in Samaria, then "unto the uttermost parts
+of the earth." Yet this could not be until they had "received power
+after that the Holy Ghost had come upon them." This was promised them:
+they did not clearly understand what was meant: they were waiting to
+see.
+
+"He led them out until they were over against Bethany,"--well-remembered
+Bethany. From there Jesus had made His triumphal entry into the City of
+the Great King: from there He would make a more glorious entry into the
+New Jerusalem. John was not His herald now. He, with the other ten, was
+"led" by Him to witness His departure.
+
+As He ascended Olivet the last time, did He not give a parting glance
+down the slope into the village below, His eye resting on the home of
+those He loved, made radiant for us by the search-light thrown upon it
+by the loved disciple at His side? In thought did He not say, "Lazarus,
+Martha, Mary, farewell."
+
+The lifted hands, the parting blessing, the luminous cloud, and the
+vanishing form--such is the brief story of the Ascension.
+
+"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into Heaven?" The questioners
+were two angels. Without waiting for answer, they gave promise of Jesus'
+return. "Then returned the disciples unto Jerusalem from the Mount
+called Olivet." Whither bound? We are told, "They went up into _the_
+upper chamber." No longer simply "_A_ large upper room" to which Jesus
+had told Peter and John they would be guided. Were they not now the
+guide of the nine thither, to the place where they had six weeks before
+"prepared" for the Passover? Did not the goodman of the house give the
+Disciples a second welcome, and offer it to them as a temporary place
+for the Christian Church? So it would appear, for again we are told,
+"they were there abiding." Once more Luke gives their names, in the
+Acts as he did in his Gospel. All except Judas answered, in that upper
+room, to the roll call of the company scattered from Gethsemane, but
+reunited in a closer union. In each of Luke's lists he begins with the
+Bethsaidan band. But he does not preserve the same order. In the latter
+he begins, not with the two pairs of brothers as such--Peter and Andrew,
+James and John,--but with the Apostles whom Christ had drawn into His
+inner circle, Peter, John and James, naming first the two who were
+already becoming the acknowledged leaders of the Christian band. In that
+list we find the name of Andrew recorded the last time in Holy Writ.
+
+But the eleven were not alone: others resorted thither for the same
+purpose. What was that purpose? and who were some of them? This is the
+answer:--"These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer,
+with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."
+
+It is here, for the last time, that we read of Mary, in the Gospels. In
+what better place could we bid her farewell than in the room consecrated
+by the presence of her Son. How we rejoice with her that in that place
+the longing of her heart must have been satisfied as she joined "with
+one accord in prayer ... with His brethren"--her sons who during His
+life had not believed on Him. What a welcome to that room did they
+receive from John, their adopted brother! May we not indulge the thought
+that among "the women" were her own daughters; and that we hear her
+joyfully asking the once carping question of the Jews concerning "the
+carpenter's son," but with changed meaning, saying, "His _sisters_, are
+they not all with us?" If so "His Mother called Mary," "and His
+brethren," "and His sisters," and John the adopted son and brother, were
+at last a blessed family indeed. Mary on her knees with her children
+around her, rejoicing in God her Saviour, of whom she had sung in the
+infancy of her Son--that certainly is a fitting scene to be the last in
+which we behold the Mother of Jesus.
+
+"When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one
+place." They were united in feeling, purpose and devotion, in the "one
+place," the home of the early Church.
+
+The hour had come for the fulfilment of the promise of their Lord, for
+which they were to tarry in Jerusalem and wait. There was a great
+miracle,--a sound from Heaven as of the rushing of a mighty wind which
+filled the house. Flame-like tongues, having the appearance of fire
+rested on the heads of the disciples, who were "all filled with the Holy
+Ghost." He gave them utterance as they spoke in languages they had not
+known before. Crowds of foreigners in the city "were confounded because
+that every man heard them speaking in his own language."
+
+On the morning of that day the Church numbered one hundred and twenty.
+"There were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls."
+
+St. John was one of those filled with the Holy Ghost, according to the
+prophecy he had heard by the Baptist, and the promise by Christ. On him
+rested a fiery tongue. To him the Spirit gave utterance, perhaps in the
+languages of those among whom he was to labor in Asia Minor, from where
+some of these strangers had come. He was in full sympathy with that
+Christian company, an actor with them, a leader of them, a pillar for
+them strong and immovable.
+
+But the Upper Room was not the only place where John worshiped. The
+Temple was still a sanctuary where such as he communed with God. The
+hour for the evening prayer was nearing when "Peter and John were going
+up into the Temple." They reached the Beautiful Gate, which Josephus
+describes as made of Corinthian brass, surpassing in beauty other temple
+gates, even those which were overlaid with silver and gold. By it they
+saw what doubtless they had often seen before, a lame man who, during
+most of the forty years of his life, had been daily brought thither. His
+weakness was a great contrast to the massive strength of the pillar
+against which he leaned, as he counted the long hours and the coins he
+received in charity. His haggard appearance and ugly deformity were a
+greater contrast to the richness and symmetry of the gate which was so
+fittingly "called Beautiful."
+
+Was there something especially benignant in the faces of the two
+Apostles, that encouraged the poor creature to hail them as he saw them
+"about to go into the Temple"? They were willingly detained. "Peter,
+fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, 'Look on us.'" A gift was
+bestowed richer far than that for which he had hoped. They were full of
+joy themselves, and of pity for him, and of a sense of the power of
+their Lord, so often exercised in their presence. Therefore the command,
+"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
+
+That was a strange sight to those who had long known the beggar, as he
+held Peter with one hand and John with the other, as if leading them
+into the Temple, into which he entered, "walking, and leaping, and
+praising God."
+
+The glad shout of the healed man attracted a crowd around him, "greatly
+wondering." The Apostles declared that the miracle was by no power of
+their own, but by that of Jesus who had been killed, but had risen from
+the dead. For this they were arrested and put in prison--strange place
+for such men and for such a reason. On the next day they were brought
+before the rulers who demanded by what power they had done this thing.
+Again the disciples declared it was in the name of Jesus Christ of
+Nazareth, whom the Jews crucified, but whom God had raised from the
+dead. The rulers were amazed when "they saw the boldness of Peter and
+John." They had known the power of Jesus' words: they saw a like power
+in the words of the Apostles, whom they were assured had been with Him
+and been aided by Him. But this did not check their rage, which was
+increased as they saw how many believed the Apostles. The three thousand
+converts on the day of Pentecost were increased to five thousand.
+
+[Illustration: EPHESUS _From Photograph_ Page 232]
+
+As leaders of the Christian company Peter and John were again put into
+prison--into the public jail for malefactors. But the divine power which
+had been used through them was now used for them. A solemn warning was
+given to the daring wickedness of the rulers. When they thought their
+prisoners kept "with all safety," in the darkness, behind bolted doors,
+"an angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them
+out, and said, 'Go ye, and stand and speak in the temple to the people
+all the words of this Life.'"
+
+We know not the manner in which he led them out as he invisibly opened
+and closed the doors through which they passed, to obey without fear
+the heavenly bidding. With consternation the rulers heard a messenger
+declare, in words almost echoing the angel's command, "Behold the men
+whom ye put in prison are in the temple standing and teaching the
+people."
+
+Persecution scattered Christians who fled from Jerusalem, telling
+wherever they went, of Christ as the Saviour. A deacon named Philip
+preached in Samaria with great effect. "Now when the Apostles which were
+at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent
+unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them
+that they might receive the Holy Ghost."
+
+These two were chosen because they had taken the most active part in
+establishing the church in Jerusalem, and were specially fitted for
+similar work elsewhere. With what peculiar feelings John must have
+entered Samaria. He must have recalled a day when hot and weary he had
+journeyed thither with his Lord and met the Samaritaness at the well.
+Perhaps he now met her again, and together they talked over that
+wonderful conversation which made her the first missionary to her
+people, many of whom declared, "We know that this is indeed the Saviour
+of the world."
+
+Did John on this visit enter into "a village of the Samaritans"--the
+same where he had said, "Lord, wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down
+from heaven and consume them?" Is it of them that it is now said he
+"prayed for them"? His fire of indignation and revenge had changed to
+the fire of love. The pentecostal flames had rested on his head.
+
+Once more--only once--we find the names of James and John together. One
+short sentence, full of pathos, of injustice and cruelty, of affection
+and sorrow, tells a story of the early Church: Herod "killed James the
+brother of John with the sword." He was the first martyr of the
+Apostles. The smaller circle of the three, and the larger one of the
+twelve, is broken. For these brothers we may take up David's lamentation
+over Saul and Jonathan, slightly changed, and say, "They were lovely and
+pleasant in their lives: but in their death they were divided,"--for
+through half a century John mourned the loss of his loved companion from
+childhood.
+
+After James--one of the three whom Paul named pillars--had fallen, the
+other two, Peter and John, stood for awhile side by side in strength and
+beauty. To each of them he might have given the name Jachin by which one
+of the pillars of Solomon's temple was called, meaning, "whom God
+strengthens." Peter was the next to fall, after which John long stood
+alone, until at last the three whom first we saw by the Sea of Galilee,
+stood together by the glassy sea, in each of them fulfilled the promise
+made through John, by their Lord,--"He that overcometh, I will make him
+a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more."
+
+[Illustration: THE ISLE OF PATMOS _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXI_
+
+_Last Days_
+
+     "I John ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of
+     God, and the testimony of Jesus.... And I heard behind me a great
+     voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book,
+     and send it to the seven churches."--_Rev._ i. 9-11.
+
+      "Since I, whom Christ's mouth taught, was bidden teach,
+       I went, for many years, about the world,
+       Saying, 'It was so; so I heard and saw,'
+       Speaking as the case asked; and men believed.
+       Afterward came the message to myself
+       In Patmos Isle. I was not bidden teach,
+       But simply listen, take a book and write,
+       Nor set down other than the given word,
+       With nothing left to my arbitrament
+       To choose or change; I wrote, and men believed."
+
+
+From Samaria John with Peter "returned to Jerusalem." This is the last
+record of him in the Acts. We have but little information concerning him
+after that event. He suddenly disappears. We have two glimpses of him
+which are historic, and several through shadowy traditions.
+
+There was a very important meeting in Jerusalem to settle certain
+questions in which the early Church was greatly interested, and about
+which there had been much difference in judgment and feeling. St. Paul
+was present. He says that St. John was there, one of the three
+Pillar-Apostles who gave to him and Barnabas "the right hands of
+fellowship." This is the only time of which we certainly know of the
+meeting of these two Apostles; though we have imagined the possibility
+of John's visiting the school of Gamaliel, and worshiping in the Temple
+when young Saul was in Jerusalem. From this time, A.D., 50, we
+lose sight of John and do not see him again until A.D., 68, in
+the Isle of Patmos. As his Lord was hidden eighteen years, from the time
+of His boyhood visit to Jerusalem until He entered on His public
+ministry, so long His disciple is concealed from our view. Leaving
+Jerusalem he probably never returned. Why he left we do not know. It may
+have been because of persecutions. Perhaps the death of Mary relieved
+him from the charge we may believe he had faithfully kept, and thus made
+it possible for him to go about like other Apostles to preach the
+Gospel. If so we have no hint in what direction he went. He may have
+gone directly to Ephesus. On reaching it perhaps he found a welcome from
+some who had heard him speak in their own language on the day of
+Pentecost. It was a populous city, wealthy and wicked. Its magnificent
+Temple of Diana was one of the seven wonders of the world. Its ruins
+give us a hint of its former glory.
+
+All the traditions of early times make Ephesus the home of St. John in
+the latter part of his life. From it as a centre he ministered to the
+Churches of Asia Minor.
+
+Gospel truth found its way thither, even before Paul made it the centre
+of his third missionary tour. He was driven from it, but he left the
+foundation of a Christian Church, upon which John builded. There were
+like foundations in at least six other important cities of Asia
+Minor--Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
+
+The silence of the latter half of St. John's life is broken but once,
+and that by himself. He tells us that he "was in the isle that is called
+Patmos." It was not far from Ephesus, within a day's sail. It is a huge
+rock, rugged and barren, only a few miles in length.
+
+Why was John in Patmos? He says, "for the word of God and the testimony
+of Jesus." What does he mean by this? Perhaps that he was led thither by
+circumstances of which we do not know, or by the guidance of the Spirit
+of God, who there would make wonderful revelations to him. But more
+probably he was banished thither for the preaching of the Gospel of
+Jesus, and for being a faithful follower of Him, notwithstanding the
+persecutions of Nero or Domitian. As told in an ancient Latin hymn,--
+
+    "To desert islands banished,
+       With God the exile dwells,
+     And sees the future glory
+       His mystic writing tells."
+
+The grotto of La Scala may have been the spot from which he looked out
+upon the Ĉgean Sea, and upward into the heavens, communing in solitude
+with his own thoughts, or with his Lord for whom he was there. Patmos
+was for this a fitting place, whether he had gone there from his own
+choice, or had been driven thither by the cruelty of his persecutor. In
+such solitude did Milton muse, and Bunyan dream.
+
+It was the "Lord's Day," says John. He alone, and at this time only,
+uses that name with which we have become familiar, though it may have
+been in common use among the early Christians. It meant much to John,
+even more than to us. It was a reminder of the day when he looked into,
+and then entered, the tomb of his Lord, and believed that He had risen
+from the dead.
+
+His meditations may have been aided by Old Testament Manuscripts, his
+only companions; especially that of Daniel, in which it is claimed "the
+spirit and imagery of the Book of Revelation is steeped."
+
+What a contrast there was between the peaceful waves of Gennesaret,
+creeping silently upon the sandy beach of his childhood home, and the
+breakers dashing upon the rocky coast of his exile abode in his old
+age! How suggestive of the calm and turmoil of his life!
+
+[Illustration: SMYRNA _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+But his musings were suddenly broken by "a great voice, as of a
+trumpet," giving a command--"What thou seest, write in a book." He says,
+"I turned to see the voice that spake with me." He beheld his Lord in
+greater grandeur than he had seen Him on earth, even on Hermon. As he
+gazed upon the divine figure he must have exclaimed,
+
+    "Can this be He who used to stray,
+     A pilgrim on the world's highway,
+     Oppressed by power, and mocked by pride,
+     The Nazarene, the Crucified!"
+
+We do not wonder that he says,--"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as
+one dead." So had Paul done when the Lord appeared to him at Damascus.
+John adds, "He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not." The words
+seem almost an echo from the Holy Mount,--"Jesus came and touched them,
+and said, Arise, and be not afraid."
+
+The command to John was renewed, to write--of things which he had seen,
+and what he was yet to behold. The early Christians called him the
+Eagle, meaning that of all the sacred writers he had the loftiest
+visions of divine truth.
+
+John's writings are of three kinds, the Book of The Revelation of the
+secret purposes of God; his Gospel; and his three Epistles or letters.
+
+Although The Revelation is the last of the books of the Bible, it is
+probably the first of those by John. It contains messages from the Lord
+in Heaven to the seven churches in Asia, which we have mentioned,
+concerning their virtues and their failings. To each was given a special
+promise of reward to those who overcame sin, and were faithful to
+Christ. From this Revelation of John we get our imagery of Heaven,
+helping us to understand something of its glory.
+
+His Gospel is supposed to have been written next. Why did he write it?
+As we have noticed, Matthew, Mark and Luke had already written their
+Gospels. But there was abundant reason for John's writing the fourth
+Gospel. We need not doubt the tradition that he was urged to do so by
+the disciples, elders and bishops of the early Church. They had heard
+him tell much concerning Christ of which the first three Evangelists had
+not told. These things were too precious to be forgotten, or to be
+changed by frequent repetition after his lips were silent. That must be
+soon, for he was very old, having long passed the limit of human age.
+They had listened to the story of the early call of the disciples, and
+of the first miracle at Cana, and of the night visit of Nicodemus to
+Jesus, and of the talk by the well of Samaria with the Samaritaness, and
+of the washing of the disciples' feet, and of many other things which
+Jesus said and did of which no one had written. In John's talks with
+Christians, and his preaching in their churches, he explained fully and
+simply the teachings of Jesus, as no one else had done, or could do.
+They longed for a record of them, that they might read it themselves,
+and leave it to their children, and those who never could hear the words
+from his lips.
+
+So St. John wrote his Gospel, giving to his first readers his great
+reason,--"These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the
+Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His
+name."
+
+For the writing of his first Epistle he also gives a reason,
+saying,--"That which we have heard, that which we have seen with our
+eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled concerning the word of
+life, ... that ... declare we unto you also, that ye also may have
+fellowship with us."
+
+Through these words John draws us very near to his Lord and ours, Whom
+we behold through his eyes, and hear through his ears. We almost feel
+the grasp of a divine yet human hand.
+
+The great theme is the love of God, or as Luther expresses it, "The main
+substance of this Epistle relates to love." John's Gospel abounds in
+declarations and illustration of this greatest of truths, but it does
+not contain the phrase in this Epistle in which he sums up the whole
+Gospel, "GOD IS LOVE." Because of John's deep sense of God's
+love, and because of the depth of his own love, the Beloved Apostle is
+called, The Apostle of Love.
+
+John's second Epistle should be of special interest to the young. From
+it we infer that there were two Christian homes, in each of which John
+took delight. The mothers were sisters. His letter is addressed to "The
+elect lady"--or as she is sometimes called the Lady Electa--and her
+children. John tells of his love and that of others for them,--Mother
+and children--because of their Christian character. He tells of his
+great joy because of the children "walking in the truth"--living as
+children should live who have learned of the teachings of Christ.
+
+From the group of children around him in the home where he wrote, he
+sends messages to their aunt, saying, "The children of thine elect
+sister salute thee." How the children of Electa must have prized that
+letter! How little they thought that nineteen hundred years after they
+received it, other children would read it, and think how happy were
+those who had the Apostle John for their friend.
+
+This letter is one of the things that revealed his child-like spirit. We
+remember the time when he did not have that spirit. At last he did have
+it because he became so much like his Master who loved the little ones,
+and taught His disciples to do the same.
+
+John thought of the child-spirit as the Christ-spirit, whether it was in
+the old or the young. He called all who had it children. He called those
+to whom he ministered in his old age his little children. This he does
+in the last sentence of his last letter to the Christian church,--"My
+little children, guard yourselves from idols."
+
+Because of his own child-like spirit and his seeking to cultivate it in
+others, and because of his manifest interest in children, he may be
+called the Apostle of Childhood.
+
+There is a beautiful tradition concerning him, that in his old age, when
+he was too feeble to walk to the church or to preach, he was carried
+thither, and said again and again,--"Little children, love one another."
+Some said, "Master, why dost thou always say this?" He replied, "It is
+the Lord's command, and if this alone is done, it is enough." Of his
+death at the probable age of about one hundred nothing is known. It is
+claimed that there is a sacred spot somewhere among the tangled thickets
+of Mt. Prion which looks down on Ephesus where his body was laid.
+
+There is a tradition, inconsistent with the supposition that Mary died
+in Jerusalem, that she accompanied John to Ephesus and was buried near
+him; her eyes having been closed by him on whom her Son had looked with
+dimming vision, commending her to his loving care.
+
+No magnificent tomb marks the place of John's burial. None is needed.
+But there are richer and abundant memorials of St. John the Divine--an
+imperishable name because that of the Beloved Disciple of Him Whose name
+is above every name.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXII_
+
+_A Retrospect_
+
+
+How wonderful and charming a history is that of St. John! Our glimpses
+of him have been few and often-times indistinct; but they have been
+enough in number and clearness to reveal a noble and lovable character.
+
+We saw him first on the sea-shore of Gennesaret, not differing from any
+other Galilean boy. We watched him playing and fishing with his
+Bethsaidan companions, none of them thinking of how long their
+friendship would be continued, or in what new and strange circumstances
+of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, disappointment and glad surprises,
+that companionship would become closer and closer.
+
+We saw John in his rambles about his home, amid scenes beautiful in
+themselves, which became sacred because of what he there beheld and
+heard.
+
+We discovered his relationship to a child in Nazareth whom he did not
+know at first as the most wonderful being in the world.
+
+We entered his home and visited the school where he was taught of Him
+who was called the coming Messiah; but who had already come, though his
+parents and teachers knew it not.
+
+We followed him as a Jewish boy into the Temple, whose glories were to
+become more glorious in his manhood by what he beheld therein.
+
+We saw him on the Jordan, standing with his kindred and namesake, who
+pointed him to Jesus as the Messiah for whom he had been looking. From
+that hour we have known him as a disciple of Jesus, later as one of his
+twelve Apostles, then one of the chosen three, then the one--the beloved
+Disciple.
+
+Through his eyes we have beheld the wonderful works of our Lord: with
+his ears we have heard the most wonderful words ever spoken to man. We
+have caught glimpses of him in most wonderful scenes which he was almost
+the only one to behold--amid the glories of the transfiguration, in the
+death-chamber changed to that of life, in the shadows of Gethsemane.
+
+We have learned through John the sacredness of human friendships, made
+closer and holier by friendship with the loved and loving Lord. He has
+been our guide to the Upper Room of joy and sadness; to the Priestly
+Palace of suffering and of shame; to the cross of agony and death; to
+the tomb of surprise and exaltation; to the mount of final blessing and
+ascension.
+
+[Illustration: PERGAMOS AND THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN
+              _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+John saw what kings and prophets longed to see, but died without the
+sight--the Messiah come. He witnessed probably all the miracles of
+Jesus, from his first in Cana as a guest, to his last on the sea-shore
+as a host--the signs of divine power inspired by pity and love. He
+looked upon the enthusiastic but mistaken throng who in Galilee would
+force upon Jesus an unwelcome crown; then upon the multitudes who hailed
+him with hosannas on Olivet; then the maddened crowd who shouted through
+the streets of Jerusalem, "Crucify Him." He witnessed Christ's movements
+when the multitudes gathered about Him for instruction and healing, and
+when he withdrew from them to pray. His eyes were dazzled by the
+brightness of the transfiguration as he looked upon the form which at
+last was enshrouded in darkness on Calvary. With another vision he
+beheld that form in Heaven itself.
+
+On the Jordan he beheld Jesus as the Lamb of God which was to be offered
+as a sacrifice. He saw the cross become His altar of sacrifice, and then
+in Heaven discerned Him as the "Lamb as it had been slain." He was
+witness of Christ's joys and sorrows, shame and suffering, humiliation
+and exaltation, entering into them more fully than did any other human
+being.
+
+From the hour in which John stood with the Baptist who told him to
+behold Jesus, his eye was upon Him, until, because there was no more
+for him to behold of his Lord on earth, the angels asked, "Why stand ye
+gazing?" Having seen Him "lifted up" on a beclouded cross, he saw Him
+"taken up" as a glorious "cloud received Him out of sight."
+
+John heard wondrous things. He became familiar with his Lord's voice,
+its tones of instruction and exhortation, warning and reproof,
+invitation and affection, forgiveness and benediction, prayer and
+praise, depression and agony, joy and triumph. He was no careless
+listener to the words spoken to Jesus--those of inquiry and pleading,
+hypocrisy and contempt, mockery and deceit, hatred and love. Beside his
+Lord, he heard saintly voices, and the voice of the Father.
+
+Much that John saw and heard when with his Lord he has made known. We
+imagine some things were too tender and sacred for others' ears:
+concerning such his lips were sealed. Other things were too precious for
+silence: of such he is the most distinct echo. His Gospel is often a
+commentary on the other three. He was an eye-witness of most of the
+events of which he tells. His Gospel is rich with illuminated texts.
+Having the best understanding of "the words of the Lord Jesus," he is
+the fullest reporter of His teachings. Having the deepest insight into
+the heart of hearts of his Lord, he is its clearest revealer. While many
+others grasped separate truths, he placed them side by side in harmony
+and unity, and thus held them up and revealed them to mankind. His
+Lord's words were the most sacred treasures of his memory: his greatest
+joy was to bring them forth for others to view and admire, that they too
+might be inspired thereby to "love and good works." Without erasing
+aught from the pictures drawn by his fellow-Evangelists, he has added
+to, and filled in, and re-touched with a sympathizing hand. So familiar
+had he become with his Lord's countenance, with all its varied
+expressions, and so skilful was he in reproducing them, that his
+composite portrait is the most beautiful and impressive of all attempts
+to portray "the human face divine."
+
+Standing outside of some grand cathedral, before its stained window, we
+mark the figures with their rich depth of color. Passing within we see
+the same figures, but the outline is more distinct; the colors are
+richer, and with more harmonious blending. So sometimes we seem to stand
+with the three Evangelists outside the Gospel Cathedral; and then with
+John within.
+
+Like Ruth in the field of Boaz he followed the reapers--the first three
+Evangelists in the field of their Lord,--to "glean even among the
+sheaves." He "gleaned in the field until evening," the close of the long
+day of his life, "and beat out that he had gleaned," and gave it to
+others. There was not need for them to ask him, "Where hast thou
+gleaned?" There was only one field from which such harvest could be
+gathered. Rather could they say as Naomi to Ruth, "Blessed is he that
+did take knowledge of thee."
+
+There have been more noted illustrations of change in character than is
+furnished in St. John. His early life was not profligate like that of
+John Newton or John Bunyan. And yet the change in him was marked enough
+to furnish an exhibition of contrast, showing the power of Christ's
+teachings and example upon him, until he reached an unwonted degree of
+perfection. He combined the noblest traits of the loftiest manhood and
+womanhood, with the simplicity of childhood. His human kinship to Jesus
+illustrated but faintly the closer and tenderer relation formed by the
+transforming of his spirit into the likeness of Christ. This was more
+royal than any merely human relationship. It was the closest relation of
+which we know of the perfect Christ with imperfect man. We have watched
+the changes in John's spirit, and seen his imperfections smoothed away,
+and his character so polished that it became the brightest reflector of
+the image of Jesus Christ. Yet from the first there were budding virtues
+in him which Mary Magdalene's supposed gardener brought to perfection.
+
+[Illustration: RUINS OF LAODICEA _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+In history John stands and must ever stand alone. He was one of the
+two who first accepted the call of Christ to come to Him: he was the
+last of the Apostles to repeat, in another and yet as true a sense, that
+invitation to multitudes of men. He was one of those two who first saw
+what may be called the beginning of the Christian Church, in the little
+booth by the Jordan: and the last one of the Twelve to remember its
+fuller establishments in the Upper Chamber of Jerusalem. He was the last
+man who had seen the last prophet who told of the coming Messiah; and
+was the last Evangelist to tell that He had come. He was one of the
+three who were the last to behold the Shechinah, and to whom came the
+voice of God the Father.
+
+John was the lone disciple in the palace of the high priest, witnessing
+the injustice, mockery, and cruelty before Pilate; the last one with
+whom the Lord spoke and on whom His eye rested before His death. He was
+the lone disciple to gaze upon the cross and witness the dying agonies;
+the first to look into the deserted tomb; the first of whom we are told
+that he believed the Lord had risen therefrom. The last survivor of the
+Apostolic band, he had the fullest opportunity to witness the fulfilment
+of prophecies of which he was a careful student and clear interpreter.
+He saw the sad close of the Jewish dispensation, and the glorious
+beginning of Christianity. He saw the Holy City overthrown, as Christ
+declared to Him on Olivet that it would be, and had a vision of the New
+Jerusalem of which the old was a consecrated type, at last profaned.
+
+Of the golden Apostolic chain he was the last link binding the Church to
+its Lord. He was the last known human kindred of the Son of Man. The
+last words of inspiration were spoken to and recorded by him. He was the
+latest prophet, historian, and Evangelist. One of the first to say, "I
+have seen the Messiah," he was the last to say, "I have seen the Lord."
+
+We have caught glimpses of St. John in the early days of Christianity,
+as a light and a pillar, a teacher and a guide. Sometimes for years
+together he has been hidden from our view, and then has emerged with a
+yet brighter halo around his head. We have watched him on a lonely isle
+gazing into heaven, beholding glories of which he gives us hints, but
+which he tells us he cannot fully describe.
+
+Because of his relation to the Lord, the fisher boy unknown beyond the
+hamlet of Bethsaida two thousand years ago is "spoken of" as truly as
+Mary of Bethany, whose memory he especially has made sacred and
+perpetual. Wherever the Gospel is preached he too is remembered, honored
+and loved.
+
+Because of his relation to the Lord, towns in lands of which he never
+knew, bear his name; in which people are taught by his words and
+inspired by his spirit. In them many a family is known by the name St.
+John. Rivers in their flow bear his name from generation to generation
+on earth, while he points men to the pure river "proceeding out of the
+throne of God and the Lamb," which was "showed" him in Patmos. Societies
+for fraternal fellowship and mutual helpfulness are called after him.
+St. John's day has a sacred place in the calendar. Many a rural chapel
+and stately city church are reminders of him. The richness of his
+graces, and the yet future of his saintly influence, are symbolized in
+the yet unfinished temple of surpassing grandeur in the City of New
+York,--"The Cathedral of St. John the Divine."
+
+From all these earthly scenes in which we have beheld him, to which
+history and tradition have pointed us, and from those things which are
+memorials of him, we turn to the Heavenly scenes which he bids us behold
+as they were revealed to him. Thither we follow him after all his trials
+and labors and triumphs of earth. With reverence and gladness for him,
+we listen to the voice of the Lord saying to him what He had told him to
+say to the Churches of Asia:--"Because thou didst overcome I give thee
+'to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of
+God.' Thou shalt 'not be hurt with the second death.' I give thee 'a
+white stone, and upon the stone a new name written.' I give thee 'the
+morning star.' 'I will in no wise blot thy name out of the book of life!
+I make you a pillar in the temple of My God.' O John, rememberest thou
+thy petition and that of thy brother who has long been with Me,--'Grant
+unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand
+in Thy glory'? Thou thoughtest that 'glory' was an earthly throne, which
+thou never sawest. But thou hast overcome thy pride and ambition, thy
+jealous and revengeful spirit. Thou hast triumphed over those who were
+thine enemies because thou wast My friend. Thou didst see My agonies and
+victories in Gethsemane and on Calvary. Thou didst take up My cry on My
+cross concerning My work on earth, and sound it forth,--'It is
+finished.' Dost thou remember My final promise to him that overcometh,
+which I made from this My true throne of glory, through thee, 'in the
+isle that is called Patmos'--precious name even here because of thy
+'testimony for' Me. That promise I now fulfil in thee. O John, one of My
+chosen Twelve on earth; yea more, one of My chosen three; yet more, My
+beloved one, here in Heaven, now, 'Sit down with Me on My throne, as I
+also overcame and sat down with My Father in His throne.'"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIII_
+
+_Legends and Traditions of St. John_
+
+
+After closing the history of St. John, we linger over the traditions
+that cluster about his later years. They reveal the feelings of the
+early Church toward him who was the last of the Apostolic band, and the
+last who had seen their Lord.
+
+There is one legend so beautiful, so much like him, that we can almost
+believe it as having a fitting place in his history. It belongs to the
+time when he preached in the magnificent Church which Christians had
+reared for him in Ephesus. We may not credit the story that on his brow
+he wore a golden plate engraven with the inscription, "Holiness to the
+Lord," but we can almost imagine it written there. His memorable
+appearance and his tender manner, the loving voice with which he told
+the story of his Lord, fastened all eyes upon him, and opened all ears
+to his message of salvation. There was one, a young man, who standing in
+the distance, looked and listened with such eager interest as to attract
+the attention of the Apostle. In repentance and faith he found the peace
+which nothing else can give. He was baptized and numbered with the
+Ephesian Christians. St. John took special interest in him, training him
+in Christian doctrine, and preparing him for a useful life. When the
+hour for John's banishment came, in his anxiety for the youth, he
+committed him to the care of the Bishop of the place, whom he charged to
+be faithful in teaching and spiritual guidance.
+
+But the youth was exposed to many temptations from the heathen about
+him. Their songs and dances and wine again charmed him as they did
+before he heard the preaching of John. He yielded to their influences,
+and renounced his profession of Christianity. In the absence of the
+Apostle, the reproofs of the Bishop only maddened him. He no longer
+attended the services of the Church, or sought the companionship of
+Christians. Having entered the paths of sin, he wandered farther and
+farther therein. At last he committed a crime against the government. In
+fear of punishment he fled from Ephesus, and joined a company of robbers
+and bandits in the wild ravines of the mountains. Though young in years,
+he was so cunning and bold in crime that he became the leader of the
+band. Inspired by his daring spirit they were ready for deeds of
+violence that made them the terror of the whole region.
+
+On John's return from his exile in Patmos to Ephesus, he longed to know
+of the welfare of the young disciple, who had been to him as an adopted
+son, ever present to his mind and heart in his lonely island. The
+Bishop, with downcast eyes, sorrow and shame, declared, "He is dead."
+"How?" asked John, "and by what death?" "He is dead to God," said the
+Bishop. "He has turned out wicked and abandoned, and at last a robber."
+
+John rent his garments as a sign of distress. Weeping he cried with a
+loud lamentation, "Alas! alas! to what a guardian have I trusted our
+brother!" The tender, faithful heart of the aged Apostle yearned for the
+young man. He was ready to say, "How can I give thee up!" He knew the
+mercy of God, and the power of love, human and divine; and determined
+that the robber-chieftain should know it too.
+
+Immediately he procured a horse and guide, and rode toward the
+stronghold of the robbers. It was in a wild mountainous ravine, with
+rushing torrents and rugged rocks overgrown with brushwood and luxuriant
+herbage. It was a place of grandeur, and yet of gloom--a fitting haunt
+for the robber-band. Few travelers passed that way, and that hurriedly
+and in terror.
+
+At last the Apostle and his guide heard from behind the rocks the hoarse
+shouts of revelry. But he heeded them not, so intent was he on his
+errand. He was seeking the prodigal, his adopted son--who was not
+seeking the loving father. He drew the reins of his horse, while he
+told his guide that their journey was ended, and prayed for themselves
+and for him whom they sought. His nearness was discovered by one of the
+band, who led him to the rest, and bound his guide. There was a great
+contrast between the old man with his snowy locks and beard, in his
+humble garb; and the younger, the wild looking bandit with his streaming
+hair and loose white kilt; between the defenceless captive, and his
+captors armed with Roman swords, long lances, and bows and arrows before
+which he seemed perfectly powerless.
+
+As he looked upon their hardened features they looked into his benignant
+face, and stood awed in his presence. Their rough manner, words and
+tones were changed by his smile and even friendly greeting. He made no
+resistance. His only motion was a wave of his hand. It was mightier than
+sword or lance or bow. His only request was, "Take me to your captain."
+Over-awed by the dignity of his manner and his calmness, the captors
+obeyed their captive and silently led him to their chief. In an open
+space the tall handsome young man was seated on his horse, wearing
+bright armor and breastplate, and holding the spear of a warrior. At a
+glance he recognized his old master, instructor and guide, who had been
+to him as a father. His first thought was, "Why should this holy man
+seek me?" He answered his own question, saying to himself, "He has come
+with just and angry threatenings which I well deserve." John had been
+called "a son of thunder." As such the trembling chief thought of him,
+ready to hear him pronounce an awful woe. So with a mingled cry of fear
+and anguish, he turned his horse and would have fled--a strange sound
+and sight for his fellow-robbers.
+
+But St. John had no thunder tones for him, no threats of coming
+punishment. The kind shepherd had found the sheep that had been lost.
+The father had found the prodigal, without waiting for the wanderer's
+return. John sprang toward him. He held out his arms in an affectionate
+manner. He called him by tender names. With earnest entreaty he
+prevailed on him to stop and listen. As young Saul, when near Damascus
+caught sight of Jesus and heard His voice, dropped from his horse to the
+ground; so did the young chieftain at the sight and voice of St. John.
+With reverence he kneeled before him, and in shame bowed his head to the
+ground. Like Peter who had denied the same Lord, the young man wept
+bitterly. His cries of self-reproach and his despair echoed strangely in
+that rocky defile. As St. John had wept for him, he wept for himself.
+Those were truly penitential tears. John still spoke encouragingly. The
+young man lifted his head and embraced the knees of the Apostle,
+sobbing out, "No hope, no pardon." Then remembering the deeds of his
+right hand, defiled with blood, he hid it beneath his robe. St. John
+fell on his knees before him and enfolded him in his arms. He grasped
+the hand that had been hidden, and bathed it in tears as if he would
+wash away its bloody stains, and then kissed it, in thought of the good
+he said it should yet perform.
+
+That hand cast away the sword it had wielded in murder, and lovingly,
+gratefully held that of John, as the Apostle, and the robber-chief now
+penitent and forgiven, together left the wilderness; within sight of the
+astonished band; some of whom were greatly touched by what they had seen
+and heard, while others were ready to scoff at what they called the
+weakness of their leader.
+
+Another tradition is a beautiful illustration of the tenderness and
+sympathy which we may judge was increasingly manifest in St. John's
+character, the spirit of the Lord "whose tender mercies are over all His
+works," the spirit St. John had seen in his Master who noticed the
+sparrow falling to the ground. True it is,
+
+    "He prayeth well who loveth well
+     Both man, and bird, and beast.
+     He prayeth best who loveth best
+       All things, both great and small;
+     For the dear Lord who loveth us,
+       He made and loveth all."
+
+There was a young tame partridge in which St. John took delight and
+found recreation in many an hour from which he had turned from labor for
+rest. A young hunter anxiously seeking the great Apostle was surprised
+to find him in what seemed a frivolous employment. He doubted for a
+moment whether this could be he. John asked, "What is that thing which
+thou carriest in thy hand?" "A bow," replied the hunter. "Why then is it
+unstrung?" said John. "Because," was the answer, "were I to keep it
+always strung it would lose its spring and become useless." "Even so,"
+replied the Apostle, "be not offended at my brief relaxation, which
+prevents my spirit from waxing faint."
+
+We have already alluded to a tradition which is perhaps the best known
+of all, and universally accepted. In Ephesus, in extreme old age, too
+infirm to walk, St. John was carried as a little child to the church
+where he had so long preached. In feebleness his ministry had ended. The
+last sermon as such had been preached. He could no longer repeat the
+words of Christ he had heard on the mountain, and the sea-shore, and in
+the Temple. He could no longer tell of the wonders of which he was the
+only surviving witness. In Christians he saw the child-spirit, whether
+in old or young. In his old age he was a father to all such as none
+other could claim to be. His great theme --his only theme--was love. So
+his only words, again and again repeated as he faced the congregation
+were "Little children, love one another." And when asked why he repeated
+the same thing over and over, he told them it was the Lord's command,
+and if they obeyed it, that was enough.
+
+Traditions alone tell of St. John's death. One claims that as his
+brother James was the first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom, he was
+the last. Others tell of miraculous preservation from death;--that he
+was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and drank hemlock, without any
+effect upon him. Sometimes he is pictured as holding a cup from which a
+viper, representing poison, is departing without doing him any harm.
+
+There is still another story concerning his death. On the last Lord's
+Day of his life, after the Holy Communion, he told some of his disciples
+to follow him with spades. Leading them to a place of burial, he bid
+them dig a grave into which he placed himself, and they buried him up to
+the neck. Then in obedience to his command they placed a cloth over his
+face and completed the burial. With weeping they turned away and
+reported what had been done. But his disciples felt that, not the grave,
+but the great church was the fitting place for his burial. So with
+solemn service they went to bring his body thither. But on reaching the
+grave they found it empty, as he and Peter had found the tomb of their
+Lord on Easter morning. Then they remembered the words of Christ to
+Peter concerning John, "If I will that he abide till I come, what is
+that to thee?"
+
+But there is another tradition stranger still. People refused to believe
+that St. John was dead, even though he had been supposed to be, and had
+been buried. For centuries his grave was shown at Ephesus. Pilgrims
+visiting it beheld a wonderful sight. The ground above it rose and fell,
+as if the great Apostle were still breathing as he had done for one
+hundred years, while treading the earth which now guarded his immortal
+sleep.
+
+Such stories seem strange to us when we remember the chapter he wrote to
+correct a mistake made by those who misunderstood his Master's word, and
+believed that he would not die until the Lord returned to the earth.
+
+He probably escaped martyrdom which befell his fellow-Apostles. Dying,
+probably in Ephesus, we think of him as peacefully entering the mansions
+of which he had heard his Lord tell in far-off Jerusalem nearly seventy
+years before.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Life of St. John for the Young
+by George Ludington Weed
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Life of St John for the Young by George Ludington Weed.
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+<pre>
+
+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.org
+
+
+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 https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" title="cover" /></div>
+<p><a name="il001f" id="il001f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il001f.jpg" alt="St John" title="St John" /></div>
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">St John</span>&mdash;<i>Domenichino</i></h4>
+
+<h1>A Life of St. John</h1>
+
+<h2>For the Young</h2>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h3>GEORGE LUDINGTON WEED</h3>
+
+<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Author of "A Life of Christ for the Young," "A Life of St. Paul for
+the Young," "Great Truths Simply Told," etc., etc.</span></p>
+
+<p class='center'>PHILADELPHIA</p>
+
+<p class='center'>GEORGE W. JACOBS &amp; CO</p>
+
+<p class='center'>103-105 <span class="smcap">South Fifteenth Street</span></p>
+
+<p class='center'>Copyright, 1900</p>
+
+<p class='center'><span class="smcap">By George W. Jacobs &amp; Co</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>[Pg 1]</span></p>
+<h2><i>PREFATORY NOTE</i></h2>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>[Pg 2]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>The full table of contents suggests the variety and scope of the
+topics presented.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>[Pg 3]</span>The many quotations of words, phrases and texts&mdash;which are from the
+Revised Version&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">G.L.W.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Philadelphia, July, 1900</i>.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[Pg 4]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[Pg 5]</span></p>
+<h2><b>CONTENTS</b><br /><br /></h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[Pg 6]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[Pg 7]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[Pg 8]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[Pg 9]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[Pg 11]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[Pg 12]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[Pg 14]</span></p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" width="80%" cellspacing="0" summary="TABLE OF CONTENTS">
+<tr><th>CHAPTER I</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>A HOME IN THE BLESSED LAND, BY THE SACRED SEA</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Fitting Study for the Young&mdash;The Glory of all Lands&mdash;Divisions of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Palestine&mdash;Galilee&mdash;People of Galilee&mdash;Gennesaret and its</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Surroundings&mdash;Comparisons&mdash;Jewish Sayings&mdash;McCheyne&mdash;Towns,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Villages and Palaces&mdash;Fisheries&mdash;Bethsaida</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER II</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>FIVE BOYS OF BETHSAIDA&mdash;RAMBLES ABOUT HOME</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Five Apostles of Jesus&mdash;Two Pair of Brothers&mdash;Salome&mdash;Brothers</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Indeed&mdash;Views from a Hilltop&mdash;View of the Lake&mdash;Poetic</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Description&mdash;Rambles North of the Lake&mdash;On the West&mdash;Keble's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Poem&mdash;Answer to the Poet's Question&mdash;The Sower&mdash;Object Lessons of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>the Great Teacher&mdash;Mount of Beatitudes&mdash;Nature's Influence on</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John&mdash;Philip</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_24'>24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER III</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN'S ROYAL KINDRED</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Salome and Mary Sisters&mdash;John and Jesus Cousins&mdash;Visit to</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Bethsaida&mdash;Visit to Nazareth&mdash;A Picture of the Boy Jesus&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Picture a Help&mdash;A Phrase to Remember&mdash;A Kinsman of John and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus&mdash;Education&mdash;The Messiah</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_31'>31</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER IV</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>THE GREAT EXPECTATION IN JOHN'S DAY</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Prophecy Concerning the Messiah&mdash;Jewish Mistakes&mdash;Roman</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Conquest&mdash;Judas of Galilee&mdash;The Five Bethsaidan Boys&mdash;John and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Peter</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_35'>35</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER V</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>EARLY INFLUENCES ON CHARACTER</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Special Influences on the Five&mdash;Scripture Students&mdash;Rabbi Like</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Simeon, or a Teacher&mdash;Prophetess Like Anna&mdash;Home Teaching&mdash;From the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Five to Two&mdash;Salome and Her Sons&mdash;Review&mdash;Boyhood</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Traits&mdash;Imperfections&mdash;Perfection</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_39'>39</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER VI</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>FIRST VISIT IN JERUSALEM</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jewish Boy at Twelve&mdash;Interest in the First Pilgrimage&mdash;John's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Journey&mdash;The Jordan Ford&mdash;City, Temple and Altar&mdash;John and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Saul&mdash;Silent Years&mdash;Parental Thoughts Concerning John</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_44'>44</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER VII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN'S VIEW OF THE COMING MESSIAH</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John's Old Testament Studies&mdash;First Gospel Promise&mdash;Promises to</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Abraham, Isaac and Jacob&mdash;Promise to David&mdash;Mary and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Immanuel&mdash;Names and Titles of the Messiah&mdash;John's Misreading of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Old Testament&mdash;Christ's Sufferings</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER VIII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JESUS THE HIDDEN MESSIAH</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Infancy of Jesus Forgotten&mdash;Our Ignorance of Christ's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Childhood&mdash;The Boy in the Temple&mdash;The Carpenter's Silent Years</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_53'>53</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER IX</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>"THE PROPHET OF THE MOST HIGH"</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Elizabeth and Her John&mdash;A Father's Prophecy&mdash;The Prophet in the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Wilderness&mdash;Young Men of Galilee&mdash;The Hermit&mdash;His Galilean</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Disciples&mdash;His Public Ministry&mdash;His Hearers&mdash;His Preaching&mdash;St.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John the Baptist&mdash;St. John of Galilee</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_57'>57</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER X</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>THE MESSIAH FOUND</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Jesus from Galilee to Jordan"&mdash;Baptism of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus&mdash;Temptation&mdash;"Behold the Lamb of God"&mdash;Andrew and John with</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>the Baptist&mdash;Our First Knowledge of John of Galilee&mdash;Parting of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Baptist and Jesus&mdash;The Two St. Johns and Jesus&mdash;Following Jesus in</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>the Way&mdash;Blessed Invitation Accepted&mdash;Precious Memories&mdash;Change of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Discipleship&mdash;Silence of John&mdash;Disciples at Emmaus&mdash;Brothers</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Brought to Jesus&mdash;Memorials of Andrew&mdash;John's Memories of His First</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Day with Jesus&mdash;Philip&mdash;Nathanael&mdash;Jesus' First Disciples&mdash;John the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Nearest to Him</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_63'>63</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XI</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN A WEDDING GUEST</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Invited Guests to a Marriage Feast&mdash;Words of Mary and Jesus</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Concerning Wine&mdash;Three Commands of Jesus&mdash;First</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Miracle&mdash;Belshazzar's Feast&mdash;Believing Disciples&mdash;Believing</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Samaritans&mdash;What John Might Have Written&mdash;First Miracle, for</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Innocent Joy&mdash;John and Mary at the Feast&mdash;Mary's Thoughts of John</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and Her Sons&mdash;Her Thoughts of Jesus</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN AND NICODEMUS</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Reasons for a Night Visit to Jesus&mdash;John's Possible Abode in</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jerusalem&mdash;Nicodemus Goes Thither&mdash;His Conversation With</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus&mdash;Seven Great Truths&mdash;Golden Text of the Bible&mdash;Golden Truth</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of John&mdash;Tradition of Nicodemus</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_79'>79</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XIII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>ST. JOHN AND THE SAMARITANESS</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John's Record&mdash;With the Master&mdash;Valley and Well&mdash;A Personal</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Privilege&mdash;John With Jesus at the Well&mdash;Memories of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Region&mdash;Abraham&mdash;Thoughts of the Future&mdash;A Samaritaness&mdash;Strange</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Request&mdash;Living Water&mdash;Greater than Jacob&mdash;Difference in</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Waters&mdash;Woman's Request&mdash;Jesus a Prophet&mdash;Place and Spirit of True</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Worship&mdash;"Messiah Cometh"&mdash;John an Earnest Listener&mdash;Jesus'</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Revelation of Himself&mdash;Changed Name for the Well&mdash;Wonder of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Disciples&mdash;The Samaritaness a Gospel Messenger&mdash;Unknown</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Meat&mdash;John's Watchful Eye&mdash;His Story of the Well&mdash;A Memorable Hour</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>for Him</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_84'>84</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XIV</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>THE CHOSEN ONE OF THE CHOSEN THREE OF THE CHOSEN TWELVE</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Two Pair of Brothers Mending Nets&mdash;Call of Four Disciples&mdash;Fishers</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of Men&mdash;A Partner in Fishing&mdash;Followers of Him&mdash;True</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Brothers&mdash;Family Ties&mdash;The Twelve Chosen&mdash;First Disciples, First</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Apostles&mdash;The Inner Circles&mdash;Peter and John&mdash;John&mdash;Aaron's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Breastplate&mdash;Apostolic Stones</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_92'>92</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XV</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN IN THE HOME OF JAIRUS</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Father's Cry&mdash;Reason for Hope&mdash;Sad Message&mdash;Strength of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Faith&mdash;"Fear Not"&mdash;Curious Crowd&mdash;The Twelve and the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Three&mdash;Jealousy&mdash;Ambition&mdash;A Coming Change&mdash;John One of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Three&mdash;"Tahtha Cumi"&mdash;A Lesson for John&mdash;A Future Scene&mdash;Influence</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of a Secret</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_97'>97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XVI</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN A BEHOLDER OF CHRIST'S GLORY</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Family Prayer&mdash;Sayings of Men Concerning Jesus&mdash;Saying of Peter&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Great Need&mdash;Christ's Prophecy of His Death&mdash;Apart by</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Themselves&mdash;Not Tabor, but Hermon&mdash;Thoughts of the Nine and of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Three&mdash;Heavy with Sleep&mdash;Answers to Two Prayers of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus&mdash;Transfigured&mdash;Moses and Elijah&mdash;Moses' Shining Face&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lord's Shining Figure&mdash;The Shechinah&mdash;A Strange Proposal&mdash;Voice</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>from the Clouds&mdash;Touch and Word of Jesus&mdash;Descent from Hermon&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Great Secret&mdash;Peter's Memory of the Transfiguration&mdash;John's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Record&mdash;Greater than John the Baptist or Moses&mdash;Moses and the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Shechinah&mdash;Ungranted Request, but Answered Prayer&mdash;Hermon, a Mount</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of Prayer</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_101'>101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XVII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>ST. JOHN'S IMPERFECTIONS</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Four Reasons for Recording Failings&mdash;Jealousy and Pride&mdash;Intolerant</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Spirit&mdash;Two Questions, What? and Who?&mdash;First and Last&mdash;An Object</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lesson&mdash;The Child-Spirit&mdash;Startled Disciples&mdash;John's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Confession&mdash;Lesson Not Learned&mdash;Hospitality&mdash;Samaritan</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Hatred&mdash;Hospitality Refused&mdash;Indignant Brothers&mdash;A Story of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Elijah&mdash;Fiery Spirit of James and John&mdash;Rebuked by Jesus&mdash;Ambitious</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Brothers&mdash;Mother's Request&mdash;Sons' Request&mdash;Sorrowing Lord's Reply</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and Thoughts&mdash;Two Thrones&mdash;Though Imperfect, a Grand Character</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_111'>111</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XVIII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN AND THE FAMILY OF BETHANY</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John's View of a Family Group&mdash;His Relation to It&mdash;A Sad Message</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and the Reply&mdash;The Lord's Delay and Concealed Purpose&mdash;A Possible</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Thought of John's&mdash;John and Thomas&mdash;"Our Friend"&mdash;"Sleepeth"&mdash;John</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>an Eye-witness&mdash;Mary and Jesus&mdash;"Jesus Wept"&mdash;Mourning</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Disciple&mdash;Glorified Father and Son&mdash;Jesus with Martha at the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tomb&mdash;Repeated Command, "Arise"&mdash;The Release from the Tomb&mdash;John a</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Companion in Joy&mdash;John's Memory of Mary&mdash;Lazarus' Tomb and Jesus'</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Cross&mdash;A Tradition of Lazarus</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_120'>120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XIX</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN'S MEMORIAL OF MARY</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Scene in Bethany&mdash;An Unfinished Picture&mdash;John with Manuscripts of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Matthew and Mark&mdash;A Great Event not Understood&mdash;A Joyful Meeting&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Supper in Honor&mdash;A Fitting Place&mdash;Omitted Names&mdash;An Unnamed Woman</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Named&mdash;Mary's Cruse&mdash;Interested Witnesses&mdash;An Unusual Anointing&mdash;An</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Unwoven Towel&mdash;Odor of the Ointment&mdash;Judas the Grumbler&mdash;Jesus'</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Defence of Mary&mdash;A Prophecy&mdash;John the Preserver of Mary's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Name&mdash;Prophecy Fulfilled&mdash;Judas and Mary&mdash;Judas and the Chief</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Priests&mdash;A Group of Three&mdash;A Sublime Action&mdash;A Group of Four</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_128'>128</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XX</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN A HERALD OF THE KING</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Messiah-King&mdash;The Prophetic Colt&mdash;The Lord's Need&mdash;The Lord's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Heralds&mdash;Hosannas&mdash;Disciples' Thoughts&mdash;Changed Earthly</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Scenes&mdash;Lamb on Earth and in Heaven&mdash;A Prophecy Recalled&mdash;Twice a</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Herald</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXI</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>WITH THE MASTER ON OLIVET</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Lord in His Temple&mdash;His Farewell to It&mdash;Admiring Disciples&mdash;Sad</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Prophecy&mdash;The Two Pair of Brothers on Olivet&mdash;A Sacred Memory&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Poet Milman's View from Olivet&mdash;Unanswered Question&mdash;The Coming</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Fall of Jerusalem&mdash;The Poet Heber's Lament Over Jerusalem</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_142'>142</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN A PROVIDER OF THE PASSOVER</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Betrayer&mdash;A Lamb and a Place&mdash;Not Judas, but Peter and John&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Secret Sign&mdash;The Goodman of the House&mdash;A New Friendship&mdash;Upper</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Room&mdash;"Furnished"&mdash;"Prepared"&mdash;Paschal Lamb&mdash;Child Memories&mdash;John</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and the Baptist&mdash;Temple Worship&mdash;Obeying Silver Trumpets&mdash;Slaying</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of the Lamb&mdash;Chant and Response&mdash;Lamb and Lamps&mdash;Alone with</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus&mdash;Jerusalem Chamber&mdash;John and the Upper Room</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_148'>148</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXIII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN'S MEMORIES OF THE UPPER ROOM</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Open Door of the Upper Room&mdash;Door Ajar&mdash;Revelation by John&mdash;Two</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Statements by Luke&mdash;Cause of Contention&mdash;John's Relation to the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Quarrel&mdash;Sittings at the Table&mdash;John and Judas Beside Jesus&mdash;Two</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Things About Jesus&mdash;Grieved Spirit&mdash;Bethany Recalled&mdash;A Great</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Contrast&mdash;Love and Reproof&mdash;Lesson Ended&mdash;A Sacred Relic&mdash;A Guest</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>an Enemy&mdash;Troubled Spirit&mdash;"Verily, Verily"&mdash;Looking and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Doubting&mdash;John's Gaze&mdash;"Is It I?"&mdash;Peter and the Great</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Secret&mdash;Jesus' Hint of the Great Secret&mdash;Meaning of the Sop&mdash;Judas</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and Satan&mdash;Departure of Judas&mdash;"It Was Night"&mdash;A New Name&mdash;A New</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Command&mdash;Farewell Words and Prayer and Song&mdash;Closed Door to be</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Opened Again</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_154'>154</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXIV</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>ST. JOHN WITH JESUS IN GETHSEMANE</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>An Eye-witness&mdash;Departure from the Upper</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Room&mdash;Kidron&mdash;Gethsemane&mdash;Olive Trees&mdash;John's Memories&mdash;Garden</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Owner&mdash;Charge to the Nine&mdash;Mt. Moriah&mdash;Final Charge&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Prophecy&mdash;Companions in Glory and Sorrow&mdash;A Sad Change&mdash;John Beside</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus&mdash;Sorrowful Soul&mdash;Charge to the Three&mdash;Jesus Alone&mdash;Jesus Seen</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and Heard&mdash;Garden Angel&mdash;Agonizing Prayer&mdash;Sleeping</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Disciples&mdash;Midnight Scene&mdash;Sleeping for Sorrow&mdash;Awakening</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Call&mdash;Flesh and Spirit&mdash;Repeated Prayer&mdash;Victory&mdash;"Arise"&mdash;Path of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Prayer&mdash;Gathered Band&mdash;Lighted Way&mdash;Empty Upper Room&mdash;John's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Contrasted Memories&mdash;Betrayal Sign&mdash;Warning Cry&mdash;Unshrinking</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Purpose&mdash;The Meeting&mdash;Traitor's Kiss&mdash;Marred Visage&mdash;Repeated</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Question and Answer&mdash;Two Bands&mdash;One Request&mdash;Peter's Sword&mdash;Changed</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Voice&mdash;A Captive and Legions of Angels&mdash;The Fleeing Disciples</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_163'>163</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXV</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN IN THE HIGH PRIEST'S PALACE</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Flight of the Nine&mdash;Captive Lord&mdash;Peter and John Following&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Palace&mdash;Disciple Within and Disciple Without&mdash;Peter Brought In&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>First Denial&mdash;John's Watch of Peter&mdash;Peter's Tears&mdash;His</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Restlessness&mdash;His Sin and John's Silence&mdash;Three Turning and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Looking&mdash;John's Pity for Peter&mdash;John and Pilate&mdash;Christ a</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>King&mdash;"What is Truth?"&mdash;The Mocked King&mdash;"Behold the Man"&mdash;"Behold</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>your King"&mdash;John the Faithful Watcher and Comforter</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXVI</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN THE LONE DISCIPLE AT THE CROSS</th></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Following the Cross&mdash;Jesus Bearing the Cross&mdash;Wearing the Thorny</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Crown&mdash;Great Multitude Following&mdash;"Daughters of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jerusalem"&mdash;Calvary&mdash;John's Memories&mdash;Group of Four</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Enemies&mdash;Seamless Coat&mdash;Casting Lots&mdash;Jesus and the Gamblers&mdash;Three</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Marys and Salome&mdash;John their Companion&mdash;A Contrast&mdash;Other</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Apostles&mdash;John and Salome&mdash;A Mother's Love&mdash;Mary's Thoughts&mdash;Sword</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of Anguish&mdash;Comfort in Sorrow&mdash;Lonely Future&mdash;Loyal Son&mdash;New</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Relation&mdash;Mary's Return from the Cross&mdash;Why John Her Guardian&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Poet's Words to John&mdash;In the New Home</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_184'>184</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXVII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN THE LONE DISCIPLE AT THE CROSS&mdash;CONTINUED</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"I Thirst"&mdash;"It Is Finished"&mdash;The Bowed Head&mdash;The Women and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John&mdash;His Anxious Thoughts Relieved&mdash;Pierced Side&mdash;Two</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Prophecies&mdash;Prayer in Song&mdash;Joseph of Arimath&aelig;a&mdash;Nicodemus&mdash;Two</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Secret Friends of Jesus&mdash;Two Gardens&mdash;The Stone Closing the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tomb&mdash;Two Mourners at the Tomb&mdash;John's Thoughts on Leaving the Tomb</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_195'>195</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXVIII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>JOHN AT THE TOMB</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John and Mary Magdalene&mdash;Mary's Mistaken Inference&mdash;Her Report to</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Peter and John&mdash;Their Hastening Toward the Tomb&mdash;John Alone at the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tomb&mdash;Silent Witnesses&mdash;Peter's Entry and Discovery&mdash;John Within</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>the Tomb&mdash;The Rolled Napkin&mdash;Seeing and Believing&mdash;Lingering in the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tomb&mdash;The Return from the Tomb&mdash;Weeping Mary&mdash;Silence of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Angels&mdash;Mary and the Angels&mdash;Jesus Unknown to Mary&mdash;"Mary" and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Rabboni"&mdash;John's Two Records of Mary&mdash;Day of Days&mdash;Evening</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Benedictions&mdash;Pierced Side&mdash;Close of John's Gospel</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_204'>204</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXIX</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>"WHAT SHALL THIS MAN DO?"</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>An Added Chapter&mdash;Old Scenes Revived&mdash;Following Peter&mdash;Stranger on</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>the Shore&mdash;John and Peter&mdash;John's Remembrance of the Miracle&mdash;"Fire</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of Coals"&mdash;Reverent Guests&mdash;"Lovest Thou Me?"&mdash;"Feed My Lambs and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Sheep"&mdash;An Interested Listener&mdash;A Prophecy&mdash;John Following</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Peter&mdash;Question and Answer&mdash;Mistake Corrected by John&mdash;Partial</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Answer to Peter's Questions&mdash;A Former Hour Recalled</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_212'>212</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXX</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>ST. JOHN A PILLAR-APOSTLE IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>On a Mount in Galilee&mdash;The Great Commission&mdash;Waiting for the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Promised Comforter&mdash;Words of the Baptist Recalled&mdash;A Revived Hope</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>and a Question&mdash;Jesus' Reply&mdash;The Ascension&mdash;Angels' Question&mdash;"The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Upper Chamber"&mdash;Luke's Lists of the Apostles&mdash;The Lord's Mother,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Brethren and Sisters&mdash;The Day of Pentecost&mdash;A Great</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Miracle&mdash;Pentecostal Gifts to John&mdash;Evening Prayer&mdash;Beautiful</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Gate&mdash;Lame man&mdash;A Gift Better than Alms&mdash;John Twice a</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Prisoner&mdash;Prison Angel&mdash;Preaching of Philip&mdash;John Sent to</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Samaria&mdash;John and the Samaritaness&mdash;His Changed Spirit&mdash;Death of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>James&mdash;The Pillar Apostles</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_219'>219</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXXI</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>LAST DAYS</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Last Record&mdash;Meeting of Paul and John&mdash;Years of Silence&mdash;Leaving</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jerusalem&mdash;New Home in Ephesus&mdash;City and Temple&mdash;Paul and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>John&mdash;Churches of Asia Minor&mdash;John in Patmos&mdash;Solitude&mdash;The Lord's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Day&mdash;Aid to Meditation&mdash;Calm and Turmoil&mdash;A Voice and a Command&mdash;A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Contrast&mdash;"As One Dead"&mdash;The Eagle&mdash;John's Three Kinds of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Writings&mdash;The Revelation&mdash;John's Gospel&mdash;His First Epistle&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Apostle of Love&mdash;His Second Epistle&mdash;The Apostle of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Childhood&mdash;"Little Children, Love one Another"&mdash;John's Death</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_231'>231</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXXII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>A RETROSPECT</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Boyhood&mdash;The Disciple&mdash;What John Saw&mdash;What He Heard&mdash;What He Made</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Known&mdash;John a Reflector of Christ&mdash;Alone in History&mdash;Our Glimpses</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>of Him&mdash;In Everlasting Remembrance on Earth&mdash;With His Lord in</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Heaven</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_241'>241</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>CHAPTER XXXIII</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th>LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF ST. JOHN</th></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>St. John and the Robber-Chief&mdash;St. John and the Partridge&mdash;"Little</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Children, Love One Another"&mdash;Miraculous Preservation from</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Death&mdash;The Empty Grave&mdash;The Heaving Grave</td><td align='left'><a href='#Page_251'>251</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[Pg 15]</span></p>
+<h2><b>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</b></h2>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="80%" cellspacing="0" summary="LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS">
+<tr><td align='left'>St. John</td><td align='left'><i>Domenichino.</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il001f'>frontis</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Map of the Land Where St. John Lived</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'><a href='#map021'>19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Sea of Galilee</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il024f'>20</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Site of Bethsaida</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il028f'>22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Calm on Galilee</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il034f'>26</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Virgin, Infant Jesus and St. John (Madonna della Sedia)</td><td align='left'><i>Raphael</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il042f'>32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Christ and St. John</td><td align='left'><i>Winterstein</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il047f'>35</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Simeon and Anna in the Temple</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il053f'>39</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Boy John</td><td align='left'><i>Andrea del Sarto</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il057f'>41</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jerusalem</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il061f'>43</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Joshua's Host Crossing the Jordan</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il065f'>45</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Prophet Isaiah</td><td align='left'><i>Sargent</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il077f'>55</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Boy Jesus in the Temple</td><td align='left'><i>H. Hofmann</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il082f'>58</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Street Scene in Nazareth</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il086f'>60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Visit of Mary to Elisabeth</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il090f'>62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Wilderness of Judea</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il094f'>64</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Traditional Place of Christ's Baptism</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il099f'>67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Baptism of Jesus</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il102f'>68</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The First Disciples</td><td align='left'><i>Ittenbach</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il119f'>83</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Marriage at Cana</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il123f'>85</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Belshazzar's Feast</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il127f'>87</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Hill of Samaria</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il132f'>90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jacob's Well</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il136f'>92</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Miraculous Draught of Fishes</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il140f'>94</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Raising the Daughter of Jairus</td><td align='left'><i>H. Hofmann</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il147f'>99</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Transfiguration</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il156f'>106</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Moses on Mt. Pisgah</td><td align='left'><i>Artist Unknown</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il161f'>109</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Bethany</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il174f'>120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[Pg 16]</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Resurrection of Lazarus</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il182f'>126</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.</td><td align='left'><i>Gustave Dor&eacute;</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il191f'>133</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Christ and St. John</td><td align='left'><i>Ary Scheffer</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il200f'>140</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Last Supper</td><td align='left'><i>Benjamin West</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il218f'>156</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>In Gethsemane</td><td align='left'><i>Gustave Dor&eacute;</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il227f'>163</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Valley of Jehoshaphat</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il231f'>165</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Christ Before Caiaphas</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il235f'>167</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Christ Before Pilate (Ecce Homo)</td><td align='left'><i>H. Hofmann</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il240f'>170</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Christ Bearing His Cross</td><td align='left'><i>H. Hofmann</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il257f'>185</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Virgin and St. John at the Cross</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il266f'>192</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Descent from the Cross</td><td align='left'><i>Rubens</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il271f'>195</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>In the Sepulchre</td><td align='left'><i>H. Hofmann</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il277f'>199</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jesus Appearing to Mary Magdalene</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>(Easter Morning)</td><td align='left'><i>B. Plockhorst</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il282f'>202</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Descent of the Spirit</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il288f'>206</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il295f'>211</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Ephesus</td><td align='left'><i>From Photograph</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il313f'>227</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Isle of Patmos</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il319f'>231</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Smyrna</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il324f'>234</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Pergamos and the Ruins of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Church of St. John&nbsp;</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il334f'>242</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Ruins of Laodicea</td><td align='left'><i>Old Engraving</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#il340f'>167</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[Pg 17]</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span></p>
+<p><a name="map021" id="map021"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><a href="images/map021.jpg"><img src="images/map021-tb.jpg" alt="Map of the Land Where St. John Lived" title="Map of the Land Where St. John Lived" /></a></div>
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Map of the Land Where St. John Lived</span></h4>
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+<h1><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[Pg 19]</span>A Life of St. John</h1>
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><i>CHAPTER I</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>A Home in the Blest Land, by the Sacred Sea</i></h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Blest land of Jud&aelig;a! Thrice hallowed in song,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Where the holiest of memories pilgrim like throng,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">On the hills of the beauty, my heart is with thee."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">&mdash;<i>Whittier</i>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>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&mdash;such was St John.</p>
+
+<p>For young people he is a fitting study. To aid such is the purpose of
+this volume.</p>
+
+<p>Let us first glance at the land where he lived, surrounded by influences
+that directed his life, and moulded his character.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[Pg 20]</span>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 Jud&aelig;a; 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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il024f" id="il024f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il024f.jpg" alt="Sea of Galilee" title="Sea of Galilee" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Sea of Galilee</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_21'><i>Page 21</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[Pg 21]</span>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,
+C&aelig;sarea and Alexandria.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>"He hath made everything beautiful," says Solomon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[Pg 22]</span>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."</p>
+
+<p>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,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">O Sea of Galilee!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">For the glorious One who came to save,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Hath often stood by thee.</span><br /><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"O Saviour, gone to God's right hand,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Yet the same Saviour still,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Graved on Thy heart is this lovely strand,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And every fragrant hill."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;which were mere stone sheds&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il028f" id="il028f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il028f.jpg" alt="Site of Bethsaida" title="Site of Bethsaida" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Site of Bethsaida</span>&mdash;<i>From Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_23'><i>Page 23</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[Pg 23]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[Pg 24]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER II</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>Five Boys of Bethsaida&mdash;Rambles About Home</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brethren, Simon who is
+called Peter, and Andrew his brother."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> iv. 18.</p>
+
+<p>"And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son
+of Zebedee, and John his brother."&mdash;<i>v.</i> 21.</p>
+
+<p>"Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and
+Peter."&mdash;<i>John</i> i. 44.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[Pg 25]</span>change of occupation. It was a Jewish custom for
+boys to learn a trade or business, which was generally that of their
+fathers.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>We do not know the exact date of John's birth. He was probably younger
+than James, and several years younger than Peter.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[Pg 26]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;"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</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The warring winds have died away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">The clouds, beneath the glancing ray,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Melt off, and leave the land and sea</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Sleeping in bright tranquillity.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Below, the lake's still face</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_034" id="Page_034"></a>[Pg 034]</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_035" id="Page_035"></a>[Pg 035]</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_036" id="Page_036"></a>[Pg 036]</span>
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Sleeps sweetly in th' embrace</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Of mountains terraced high with mossy stone."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><a name="il034f" id="il034f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il034f.jpg" alt="Calm on Galilee" title="Calm on Galilee" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Calm on Galilee</span>&mdash;<i>From Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_26'><i>Page 26</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>In another hour they watch the more quiet movements of pleasure
+boats,&mdash;gay barges and royal galleys&mdash;and trading vessels, and fishing
+boats,&mdash;all crowding together seemingly covering the lake.</p>
+
+<p>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</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Like an arrow from the quiver,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">To the sad and lone Dead Sea,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Thou art rushing, rapid river,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Swift, and strong, and silently,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Through the dark green foliage stealing,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Like a silver ray of light."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[Pg 28]</span>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."</p>
+
+<p>Our ramblers follow the western shore to the shallow hot stream, where
+boy-like,&mdash;or manlike as I did&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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 Jud&aelig;a or Samaria.</p>
+
+<p>We hear the poet Keble asking them,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"What went ye out to see</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.3em;">O'er the rude, sandy lea,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where stately Jordan flows by many a palm,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.3em;">Or where Gennesaret's wave</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.3em;">Delights the flowers to lave,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That o'er her western slope breathe airs of balm?</span><br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_038" id="Page_038"></a>[Pg 038]</span>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"All through the summer night,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.3em;">These blossoms red and white</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Spread their soft breasts unheeding to the breeze,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.3em;">Like hermits watching still,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.3em;">Around the sacred hill,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where erst our Saviour watched upon His knees."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[Pg 30]</span>nature, of which we know in his manhood. They must have had
+an important influence in the formation of his character.</p>
+
+<p>We have spoken of five Bethsaidan boys&mdash;Andrew and Peter, James and
+John&mdash;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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[Pg 31]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER III</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John's Royal Kindred</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>We wonder whether Jesus ever visited Bethsaida, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il042f" id="il042f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il042f.jpg" alt="Virgin, Infant Jesus, and St John" title="Virgin, Infant Jesus, and St John" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Virgin, Infant Jesus, and St John</span> (Madonna
+della Sedia)&mdash;<i>Raphael</i><br /><a href='#Page_31'><i>Page 31</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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&mdash;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?</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[Pg 33]</span>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?</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span> 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&mdash;"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&mdash;He whom we call
+Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of the world. He had not then come. <i>We</i>
+look back to the time when He did come: those boys looked forward to the
+time when He <i>would</i> 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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il047f" id="il047f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il047f.jpg" alt="Christ and St. John" title="Christ and St. John" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Christ and St. John</span>&mdash;<i>Winterstein</i><br /><a href='#Page_34'><i>Page 34</i></a></h4>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[Pg 35]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER IV</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>The Great Expectation in John's Day</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>Moses wrote of a promise, made centuries before the days of John, to
+Abraham&mdash;that in the Messiah all the nations of the earth,&mdash;not the Jews
+only&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[Pg 36]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 Jud&aelig;a 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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span>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."</p>
+
+<p>But this rebellion against the Roman government failed. Judas himself
+was slain. Villages in Galilee&mdash;Bethsaida probably one of them&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>But this did not destroy their confidence in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[Pg 38]</span> 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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il053f" id="il053f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il053f.jpg" alt="Simeon and Anna in the Temple" title="Simeon and Anna in the Temple" /></div>
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Simeon and Anna in the Temple</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_39'><i>Page 39</i></a></h4>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[Pg 39]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER V</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>Early Influences on Character</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[Pg 40]</span> Israel"&mdash;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?</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[Pg 41]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il057f" id="il057f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il057f.jpg" alt="The Boy John" title="The Boy John" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Boy John</span>&mdash;<i>Andrea del Sarto</i><br /><a href='#Page_41'><i>Page 41</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>We are not told what kind of a boy John was. We are told of many things
+he said and did when he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il061f" id="il061f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il061f.jpg" alt="Jerusalem" title="Jerusalem" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Jerusalem</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_44'><i>Page 44</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[Pg 43]</span>selfishness;
+ambition&mdash;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&mdash;by what influence, we shall
+see.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[Pg 44]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER VI</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>First Visit to Jerusalem</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>At Bethabara, nearly opposite Jericho, the travelers recrossed the
+Jordan. There John might think of that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[Pg 45]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il065f" id="il065f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il065f.jpg" alt="Joshua's Host Crossing the Jordan" title="Joshua's Host Crossing the Jordan" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Joshua's Host Crossing the Jordan</span>&mdash;<i>Old
+Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_45'><i>Page 45</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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&mdash;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;&mdash;the Holy Altar and lamb of sacrifice&mdash;reminders of the coming
+Messiah; the offering of incense; and the many and varied forms of
+stately worship.</p>
+
+<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[Pg 46]</span>
+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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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,&mdash;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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[Pg 47]</span>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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[Pg 48]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER VII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John's View of the Coming Messiah</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far we have spoken of Jesus as John knew Him&mdash;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 <i>yet to come</i>.</p>
+
+<p>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.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[Pg 49]</span> 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,"&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[Pg 50]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;"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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>Had John known that these words of Isaiah referred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[Pg 51]</span>to Jesus, he might
+have repeated them, not as a prophecy, but with a present meaning,
+saying, "The Child <i>is</i> born!" As he read the prophecy of Haggai,
+uttered more than five hundred years before&mdash;"The desire of all nations
+shall come"&mdash;he might have exclaimed, "He <i>has</i> come!"</p>
+
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[Pg 52]</span>understanding of all that the Old Testament Scriptures taught,
+concerning these things.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[Pg 53]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER VIII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>Jesus the Hidden Messiah</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"There has been in this world one rare flower of Paradise&mdash;a holy
+childhood growing up gradually into a holy manhood, and always
+retaining in mature life the precious, unstained memories of
+perfect innocence."&mdash;<i>H.B. Stowe</i>.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>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"&mdash;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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[Pg 54]</span>to be disbelieved. Mary,
+and her husband Joseph&mdash;who acted the part of an earthly father to the
+heaven-born child&mdash;carried through the years the sacred secret of who
+and what Jesus was.</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[Pg 55]</span>with which His mind was
+full, and making answers which astonished them.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il077f" id="il077f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il077f.jpg" alt="The Prophet Isaiah" title="The Prophet Isaiah" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Prophet Isaiah</span>&mdash;<i>Sargent</i><br /><a href='#Page_50'><i>Page 50</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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?</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>In His home He was the devoted eldest son. It was of that time that the
+poet sings to Mary;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"O, highly favored thou, in many an hour</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Spent in lone musings with thy wondrous Son,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">When thou didst gaze into that glorious eye,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And hold that mighty hand within thine own.</span><br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_079" id="Page_079"></a>[Pg 079]</span>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Blest through those thirty years when in thy dwelling</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">He lived as God disguised with unknown power,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And thou His sole adorer, His best love,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Trusted, revering, waited for His hour."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">&mdash;<i>H.B. Stowe</i>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER IX</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>"The Prophet of the Most High"</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"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."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> i. 67, 76.</p>
+
+<p>"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."&mdash;<i>John</i> i. 6, 7.</p>
+
+<p>"He was the lamp that burneth and shineth."&mdash;<i>John</i> v. 35.</p>
+
+<p>"In devotional pictures we see St. John the Evangelist and St. John
+the Baptist standing together, one on each side of Christ."&mdash;<i>Mrs.
+Jameson</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>Salome and Mary had a cousin named Elizabeth. Her home was not in
+Galilee, but in Jud&aelig;a&mdash;the southern part of the Holy Land&mdash;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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span>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."</p>
+
+<p>Mary visited the home of Elizabeth and the happy cousins praised God for
+what He had revealed to them concerning their sons.</p>
+
+<p>The greatness to which Elizabeth's son was to attain was that of a
+prophet&mdash;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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 Jud&aelig;a, in the region of the Dead Sea and
+the Jordan, for meditation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[Pg 59]</span>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 Jud&aelig;a.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il082f" id="il082f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il082f.jpg" alt="The Boy Jesus in the Temple" title="The Boy Jesus in the Temple" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Boy Jesus in the Temple</span>&mdash;<i>H. Hofmann</i><br /><a href='#Page_54'><i>Page 54</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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 Jud&aelig;a." 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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[Pg 60]</span>cheapest cloth of
+camel's hair. His girdle was a rough band of leather, such as was worn
+by the poor,&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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 Jud&aelig;a 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&mdash;though they then knew it not&mdash;would lead to another
+yet stronger.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>Rumors concerning the new strange prophet spread rapidly. "There went
+out to him Jerusalem, and all Jud&aelig;a, 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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[Pg 61]</span>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,&mdash;"Repent ye," and "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il086f" id="il086f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il086f.jpg" alt="Street Scene in Nazareth" title="Street Scene in Nazareth" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Street Scene in Nazareth</span>&mdash;<i>From Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_55'><i>Page 55</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;his refinement, his faithfulness in his home and synagogue,
+and his honest toil&mdash;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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[Pg 62]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il090f" id="il090f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il090f.jpg" alt="Visit of Mary to Elisabeth" title="Visit of Mary to Elisabeth" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Visit of Mary to Elisabeth</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_58'><i>Page 58</i></a></h4>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[Pg 63]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER X</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>The Messiah Found</i></h4>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"They found Him not, those youths of noble soul;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Long seeking, wandering, watching on life's shore,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Reasoning, aspiring, yearning for the light.</span><br /><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"But years passed on; and lo! the Charmer came,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Pure, simple, sweet, as comes the silver dew,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And the world knew Him not,&mdash;He walked alone,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Encircled only by His trusting few."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">&mdash;<i>H.B. Stowe</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"We"&mdash;Andrew and John&mdash;"have found the Messiah."&mdash;<i>Andrew to
+Peter</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"We"&mdash;Andrew and Peter, James and John, and Philip&mdash;"have found
+Him, of Whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of
+Nazareth."&mdash;<i>Philip to Nathanael</i>.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>"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.</p>
+
+<p>"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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[Pg 64]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;"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!"</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il094f" id="il094f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il094f.jpg" alt="The Wilderness of Judea" title="The Wilderness of Judea" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Wilderness of Judea</span>&mdash;<i>From Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_59'><i>Page 59</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[Pg 65]</span>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."</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[Pg 66]</span>do know, and from his character revealed
+after this time.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;as we use the term&mdash;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"&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[Pg 67]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il099f" id="il099f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il099f.jpg" alt="Traditional Place of Christ's Baptism" title="Traditional Place of Christ's Baptism" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Traditional Place of Christ's Baptism</span>&mdash;<i>From
+Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_63'><i>Page 63</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[Pg 68]</span> 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&mdash;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?</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;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, "<i>We have found the Messiah!</i>"</p>
+
+<p><a name="il102f" id="il102f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il102f.jpg" alt="The Baptism of Jesus" title="The Baptism of Jesus" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Baptism of Jesus</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_64'><i>Page 64</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[Pg 69]</span>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&mdash;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&mdash;that of bringing old and young to Christ.</p>
+
+<p>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,&mdash;as when
+"John stood," and "Jesus walked," and "Jesus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[Pg 70]</span>turned"; of the fixed and
+earnest look of Jesus&mdash;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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>"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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[Pg 71]</span>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"&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>The disciples now numbered five or six&mdash;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,&mdash;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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[Pg 72]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XI</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John a Wedding Guest</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"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."</p>
+
+<p>"The mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine."</p>
+
+<p>"The ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine."</p>
+
+<p>"This beginning of His signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and
+manifested His glory; and His disciples believed on Him."&mdash;<i>John</i>
+ii. 1-3, 9, 11.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[Pg 73]</span>other 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&mdash;she knew not what&mdash;she said unto the servants,
+"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it."</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[Pg 74]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>"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&mdash;that
+"Jesus manifested His glory." He showed the power which belongs to God
+only.</p>
+
+<p>John immediately adds, "And His disciples believed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[Pg 75]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>"This <i>beginning</i> 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."</p>
+
+<p>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 some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[Pg 76]</span>times 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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[Pg 77]</span>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 <i>His</i> 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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>In that festive hour, Mary too learned the lesson that human
+relationships to Jesus, however beautiful, were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[Pg 78]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[Pg 79]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John and Nicodemus</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
+Jews: the same came unto Him by night."</p>
+
+<p>"We speak that we do know, and bear witness of that we have
+seen."&mdash;<i>John</i> iii. 1, 2, 11.</p>
+
+<p>"There is Nicodemus, who visited Jesus by night&mdash;to the
+astonishment of St. John&mdash;but who was soon afterward Jesus'
+friend."&mdash;<i>John Watson</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"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."&mdash;<i>Alfred Edersheim</i>.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[Pg 80]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[Pg 81]</span>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,&mdash;"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 <i>be</i> 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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>All this is included in one sentence:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[Pg 82]</span>"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
+whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>It was long after that nightly visit that John wrote his account of it,
+including the golden text whose keyword was <i>Love</i>. 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."</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[Pg 83]</span>summed up in the one simple saying, "God is love."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il119f" id="il119f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il119f.jpg" alt="The First Disciples" title="The First Disciples" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The First Disciples</span>&mdash;<i>Ittenbach</i><br /><a href='#Page_67'><i>Page 67</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[Pg 84]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XIII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>St. John and the Samaritaness</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"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."&mdash;<i>John</i> iv. 5-7.</p>
+
+<p>"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."&mdash;<i>Edersheim.</i></p></div>
+
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>John tells us that Jesus, on His way from Jud&aelig;a 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."</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[Pg 85]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il123f" id="il123f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il123f.jpg" alt="The Marriage at Cana" title="The Marriage at Cana" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Marriage at Cana</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_72'><i>Page 72</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[Pg 86]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il127f" id="il127f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il127f.jpg" alt="Belshazzar's Feast" title="Belshazzar's Feast" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Belshazzar's Feast</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_74'><i>Page 74</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[Pg 87]</span></p>
+<p>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&mdash;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"&mdash;"the grace and
+truth of which He was full." Changing her manner toward Him, and
+addressing Him more respectfully, she asked, "Art <i>Thou</i> 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.
+</p>
+
+<p>Not fully understanding Him, and yet believing He was some wonderful
+person, she repeated His own request, but with a changed meaning,&mdash;"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.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[Pg 88]</span>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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>How the quickened ear of John must have made his heart thrill at the
+name Messiah. Until a few weeks <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[Pg 89]</span>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?&mdash;"O woman, <i>this is He</i>," when Jesus makes
+the great confession he made before Pilate, saying to the Samaritaness,
+"I that speak unto Thee, am He."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>The disciples returning from the city, coming within sight of Jesus,
+"marveled that He was speaking with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[Pg 90]</span>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?"</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il132f" id="il132f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il132f.jpg" alt="The Hill of Samaria" title="The Hill of Samaria" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Hill of Samaria</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_84'><i>Page 84</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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 sin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[Pg 91]</span>ner 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,&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[Pg 92]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XIV</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>The Chosen One of the Chosen Three of the Chosen Twelve</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"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."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> iv. 18-22.</p>
+
+<p>"He was the Supreme Fisher, and this day He was fishing for
+them."&mdash;<i>Stalker.</i></p>
+
+<p>"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...."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> vi. 13, 14</p>
+
+<p>"Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> xvii.
+1.</p>
+
+<p>"One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved."&mdash;<i>John</i> xiii. 23.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"We know not all thy gifts,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">But this Christ bids us see,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">That He who so loved all,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Found more to love in thee."</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+<p>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 with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[Pg 93]</span>out 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.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il136f" id="il136f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il136f.jpg" alt="Jacob's Well" title="Jacob's Well" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Jacob's Well</span>&mdash;<i>From Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_91'><i>Page 91</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[Pg 94]</span>enough to secure
+immediate obedience to the new command.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;in such things Christ found likeness of
+what He would make them to become&mdash;fishers of men. From their old
+business He would teach them lessons about the new,&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[Pg 95]</span>hired servants. They forsook all and followed Him."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il140f" id="il140f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il140f.jpg" alt="The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" title="The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Miraculous Draught of Fishes</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_94'><i>Page 94</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[Pg 96]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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"?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[Pg 97]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XV</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John in the Home of Jairus</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"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."</p>
+
+<p>"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."&mdash;<i>Mark</i> v. 37, 38, 41,
+42.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>A messenger from Jairus' home met him saying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[Pg 98]</span> "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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il147f" id="il147f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il147f.jpg" alt="Raising the Daughter of Jairus" title="Raising the Daughter of Jairus" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Raising the Daughter of Jairus</span>&mdash;<i>H. Hofmann</i><br /><a href='#Page_99'><i>Page 99</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[Pg 99]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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&mdash;which he at last overcame&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>"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
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[Pg 100]</span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>As they with James followed their Lord out from the death-chamber&mdash;such
+no longer&mdash;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.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[Pg 101]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XVI</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John a Beholder of Christ's Glory</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"We beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the
+Father."&mdash;<i>St. John</i> i. 14.</p>
+
+<p>"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."&mdash;2 <i>Peter</i> i. 16-18.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"As brightest sun, His face is bright;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">His raiment, as the light, is white,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Yea, whiter than the whitest snow.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Moses, Elias, spake with Him.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Of deepest things, of terrors grim,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Of boundless bliss, and boundless woe,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Of pangs that none but Christ may know.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"A voice sublime I panting hear,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">A voice that conquers grief and fear,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Revealing all eternity;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Revealing God's beloved Son,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Born to redeem a world undone;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Filled with God's fulness from on high,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">To gain God's noblest victory."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">&mdash;<i>Trans. Kingo of Denmark.</i></span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+
+<p>We may think of the twelve as Christ's family with whom He often prayed
+apart from the multitude. One such occasion was in C&aelig;sarea Philippi. The
+prayer was followed by two earnest and solemn ques<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[Pg 102]</span>tions. "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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>"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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[Pg 103]</span> 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,&mdash;for which mistaken tradition has
+claimed the honor&mdash;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.</p>
+
+<p>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?</p>
+
+<p>And the three themselves&mdash;what were their emotions as they looked down
+upon their companions in the plain below, and upward to the height
+whither <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[Pg 104]</span>their Master was bringing them. Did they whisper together
+concerning the word He had just spoken&mdash;that He must die. They must have
+had such mingling of feelings as they never had before.</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p>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."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[Pg 105]</span>"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."</p>
+
+<p>"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.</p>
+
+<p>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 face. But now He had
+come, not from the mount which Paul describes as "darkness," but unto
+that other whose snowy whiteness has given it the name of Lebanon. He
+had come from Heaven, to yield homage to Him to whom He would sing with
+us,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My dear Redeemer and my Lord,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">I read my duty in Thy Word;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">But in Thy life the Law appears,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Drawn out in living Characters."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[Pg 106]</span>"The children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon Moses for the
+glory of His face." In the "excellent glory" by which Peter describes
+the scene on Hermon, the whole figure of His Lord was bathed in light.
+But the glory of that vision was not yet complete. A cloud, brighter
+than any on which the moon was shining, enwrapped Jesus and Moses and
+Elijah. It was no other than the Shechinah, once more returning to the
+earth,&mdash;"the symbol of Jehovah's presence."</p>
+
+<p>This cloud overshadowed the disciples. As its light gleamed upon them,
+they were filled with reverential fear. They were ready to do the
+heavenly visitors immediate and humble service. But the mission of the
+two was ended. Their last words of comfort to Jesus had been spoken. If
+they could be detained, it must be done quickly. So, awed and confused
+by the strange vision, yet longing for its continuance, the disciples,
+Peter being the spokesman, proposed to make booths for their Master and
+His two heavenly visitors. But the two had gone, and the crown of glory
+that had enveloped them spread to the disciples, filling them with yet
+increasing awe. The silence that had followed Peter's call was broken.
+"There came a voice out of the cloud, This is My Beloved Son; hear ye
+Him." Startled by such a response, "they fell on their face and were
+sore afraid." They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[Pg 107]</span>did not dare to look about them. The Cloud of
+Glory lifted. How long they lay prostrate and trembling, we do not know.
+At last a hand gently touched them. It was the hand of Jesus. His voice
+bid them, "Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their
+eyes they saw no man, save Jesus only."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il156f" id="il156f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il156f.jpg" alt="The Transfiguration" title="The Transfiguration" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Transfiguration</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_106'><i>Page 106</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>The Transfiguration was over. Its grand purpose was accomplished. Master
+and disciples were prepared for the labors and trials to which they must
+return. The night ended. As the morning sun glistened on the peaks of
+Hermon, while darkness yet overspread the plain below, Jesus descended
+with the three, to the nine awaiting their return.</p>
+
+<p>"And as they were coming down from the mountain, He charged them that
+they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of
+Man should have risen again from the dead. And they kept the saying,
+questioning among themselves what the raising again from the dead should
+mean."</p>
+
+<p>Peter's and John's memories of that vision of their Lord were ever
+distinct and precious. When it was no longer a secret, Peter wrote in
+ecstasy of the hour in which they "were eyewitnesses of His majesty, ...
+when they were with Him in the holy mount."</p>
+
+<p>Let us notice the record by John. In the beginning of his gospel he says
+"The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." By this he means that
+the Son of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[Pg 108]</span> God became a man, and lived among men who witnessed His
+life. But of all the events of that life which John had seen, there was
+a special one in his mind, which not all men had witnessed. So he adds,
+"We beheld His glory." This probably refers to the Transfiguration and
+the Shechinah, which he and Peter and James had seen. And then he thinks
+of how much greater Jesus was than John the Baptist, "a man sent from
+God," "to bear witness of" Him. He thinks also of the great Lawgiver of
+whom he says, "the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came by
+Jesus Christ."</p>
+
+<p>We imagine that ever after the Transfiguration, John thought of Moses
+and the Shechinah together. Had he with his companions been permitted to
+build three tabernacles or booths, "one for Moses," what delightful
+visits John would have made him there, like that one which he had made
+in the abode of Jesus on the banks of the Jordan.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il161f" id="il161f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il161f.jpg" alt="Moses on Mt. Pisgah" title="Moses on Mt. Pisgah" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Moses on Mt. Pisgah</span>&mdash;<i>Artist Unknown</i><br /><a href='#Page_109'><i>Page 109</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>I seem to hear Moses telling John something of his own history when on
+the earth, and teaching him lessons from it in words like these: "This
+is not the first time I have heard the Lord's voice, from out this cloud
+of glory. Out of the burning bush He called me, 'Moses, Moses.' At Sinai
+He said, 'Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud.' And again He appeared
+in 'a pillar of a cloud,' and said, 'Behold thou <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[Pg 109]</span>shall sleep with thy
+fathers.' I saw not that cloud again on earth until you beheld it. My
+thoughts were about death. I prayed about it, not as your Master and
+mine has done in preparation therefor, but that I might not then die.
+This was my prayer: 'Let me go over I pray Thee and see the good land
+that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon,'&mdash;the very
+mountain where we now are. But the Lord would not hear me. I prayed yet
+again more earnestly, and the Lord said unto me, 'Let it suffice thee;
+speak no more unto me of this matter.' From yonder mountain of Nebo He
+showed me all the land we now see from Hermon; and then I died. The Lord
+buried me in yonder land of Moab. No man knoweth my sepulchre unto this
+day. I died, my great hope of forty years disappointed. My repeated
+earnest prayer was ungranted then, but it has not been unanswered. This
+'goodly' Lebanon, to which I looked from Nebo with longing eyes, is more
+'goodly' now than when it sadly faded from my dying vision. You, John,
+are one of the witnesses to the answer to my dying prayer. Never did the
+Shechinah at Horeb, or Sinai, or the Tabernacle, seem so resplendent as
+on this Mount Hermon. Here it has enwrapped Elijah and me, the favored
+two whose mission Gabriel might have envied. We were sent down from
+heaven to talk with Jesus concerning His death, of which He has told
+you. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[Pg 110]</span>view of it He has lead you, the favored three hither to pray.
+It was while He prayed that ye 'beheld His glory.' Not only for me, but
+much more for Him, is Hermon <i>the</i> mount&mdash;'The Holy Mount,' because the
+mount of Prayer, and therefore the mount of Transfiguration."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[Pg 111]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XVII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>St. John's Imperfections</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Master, we saw one casting out demons in Thy name; and we forbade
+him, because he followeth not with us."&mdash;<i>John.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Lord, wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and
+consume them, even as Elijah did?"&mdash;<i>James and John.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Grant us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy
+left hand, in Thy glory."&mdash;<i>James and John.</i></p>
+
+<p>"And when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation
+concerning James and John."&mdash;<i>Mark</i> x. 41.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>John was not perfect. There were unlovely traits in his otherwise noble
+character. It is not pleasant to write of his faults. We would gladly be
+silent concerning them. But there are four reasons for making record of
+them. 1. If we think of his virtues and not of his faults, we do not
+have a just view of his character; it is one-sided; we have an imperfect
+picture. 2. We see how Jesus loved him notwithstanding his
+imperfections. While hating his sins he loved the man. 3. Remembering
+John's faults, we give him all the more credit when we see how he
+overcame them, and what he became under the example and teachings of
+Jesus. 4. Having failings ourselves, we are encouraged by the full and
+truthful story of John's life, to overcome our own sins. Such are good
+reasons why <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[Pg 112]</span>the imperfections of good men like David and Peter and John
+are recorded in the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>In speaking of John's boyhood, we hinted at some of his faults. Let us
+now notice them more particularly as given by the Evangelists. Sometimes
+he was evidently included when Jesus rebuked the disciples for some
+wrong they had said or done. On one occasion, he alone is mentioned; on
+two others he and his brother James are rebuked together. The first
+recorded incident, showing imperfection, is soon after the descent from
+Hermon. Jesus seems to have accompanied Peter to his home in Capernaum,
+to which the other disciples followed them. The favor which Christ
+showed the three in taking them to the mount may have caused a feeling
+of pride in them, and of jealousy in the nine. Pride was John's
+besetting sin, as we shall see. A great privilege had been granted him.
+Without telling the secret of Hermon to his fellow-disciples, he may, by
+improper word or act, or both, have shown a feeling of superiority,
+which displeased them, as the same spirit did on another occasion. At
+any rate, something led to a dispute who should be the greatest in the
+kingdom which they believed their Lord was to establish. This was a sad
+revelation of the ambitious spirit of these good men. It was probably on
+the way to Capernaum that an incident happened in which John seems to
+have been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[Pg 113]</span>the chief actor. He exhibited a spirit of intolerance&mdash;a want
+of patience and forbearance toward a man whom they met. He was a
+disciple of Christ, in whose power he had such faith that he was enabled
+to cast out evil spirits in His name. He was doing a good work such as
+Christ gave His apostles power to do. They prided themselves in it, and
+felt as if they only had a right to it. So John, speaking for the rest,
+as if he had authority, forbade this man to use the power any more. On
+their reaching the house of Peter, Jesus asked, "What was it that ye
+disputed among yourselves by the way?" Perceiving that He knew their
+thoughts, they were silent with shame, until one of them, yet
+unconquered by His question of reproof, asked Him "Who is the greatest?"
+He did not answer the question immediately. As if in preparation for
+something special, "He sat down and called the twelve" about Him; He
+uttered one reported sentence, "If any man would be first, he shall be
+last of all, and minister of all." And then "He called a little child to
+Him and set him in the midst of them." It was His object lesson. Through
+it He rebuked and taught them. He made childhood a test of character.
+With solemnity and earnestness He declared, "Verily I say unto you,
+Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter
+into the kingdom of heaven."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[Pg 114]</span>That child-spirit included simplicity, meekness, harmlessness,
+obedience, dutifulness, trustfulness and, especially at this time,
+humility.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord's declaration must have startled the disciples. They thought of
+themselves as His chosen ones, superior to others, having special
+powers, and destined to special honors which none other might claim. In
+a spirit contrary to His declaration, they were contending who should be
+the greatest in His kingdom. He revealed to them, then and there, the
+nature of that kingdom which they had so greatly misunderstood.</p>
+
+<p>Upon one at least, Christ's lesson was not altogether lost. That was
+John. He recalled his proud and unjust treatment of the humble man whom
+he had forbidden to do good work in the name of Christ. He saw that his
+own spirit had been contrary to that of which Christ had just spoken. He
+finally confessed his fault. But the lesson of his Master was not
+perfectly learned, or if learned, was not, as we shall see, perfectly
+obeyed. Though the beloved, he was still an imperfect, disciple, as is
+shown in another incident.</p>
+
+<p>At the time when Jesus lived, and in the country where He journeyed,
+travelers were generally welcomed as guests in any home. Though
+strangers, they were treated as friends. This was a necessary kindness
+because there were no hotels such as we have in our day and country.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[Pg 115]</span>But to this hospitality there was a noted exception. We have noticed
+the hatred of the Samaritans to the Jews. This was especially shown to
+pilgrims going up to Jerusalem to attend the feasts.</p>
+
+<p>Jesus was on His last journey thither. As ever, He was teaching and
+healing on the way. His own heart was burdened with the thought of what
+He was to endure, but He was steadfast in His purpose to reach the Holy
+City, willing there to suffer and to die. Nearing the first Samaritan
+village, He sent messengers before Him to prepare for Himself and His
+company. Even the common hospitality was refused, and that in a most
+unfriendly manner. The Master was treated as a teacher of falsehood.
+Even the kind healer was not permitted to enter the village. He was a
+Jew on His way to Jerusalem. In the minds of the villagers, this was
+more than enough to balance all the good in Him.</p>
+
+<p>James and John especially were indignant at the unkind treatment. They
+felt keenly the insult to their Lord, whom they believed was on His way
+to Jerusalem to establish His Kingdom, and was worthy of the most
+generous hospitality and the sincerest homage. They had a fresh
+remembrance of the glory in which they had seen Him on the Holy Mount in
+company with Elijah. They were reminded of that prophet's experience
+more than nine hundred years before. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[Pg 116]</span>was this: Ahaziah, a king of
+Israel, was seriously injured by a fall from the balcony of his house.
+He sent to inquire of the false god Baal-zebub whether he should
+recover. God sent Elijah to reprove him for his idolatry and insult to
+Himself. The king sent a captain with fifty men to seize the prophet,
+but they were consumed by fire from heaven. Another captain and his
+fifty men were also destroyed in like manner.</p>
+
+<p>Such a punishment James and John would call down on the Samaritans. They
+felt that it would be just. If fitting for the enemies of Elijah, how
+much more for those of Jesus. They were ready to give the command which
+God permitted Elijah to give, if Jesus would allow them to do likewise.
+And so, being displeased, provoked, revengeful, with a fiery spirit,
+they said to Him, "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down
+from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?" But Jesus "turned
+and rebuked them," and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
+of."</p>
+
+<p>It was contrary to the spirit of meekness and love manifest in His
+declaration to them, "The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives,
+but to save them." And so He inspired them with another spirit, as He
+quietly led them "to another village." We sadly turn to another scene in
+which imperfection in the beloved disciple is especially revealed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[Pg 117]</span>The favored brothers had not yet learned perfectly the lesson of
+humility which their Lord had tried to teach them. They were still
+devoted to Him, following Him, loving Him. But they still misunderstood
+what He said about His death, and His kingdom, in which they hoped for
+the most honored places. They wanted to be assured of promotion above
+their fellow-disciples. They were earnest in an unholy desire. They had
+a bold, ambitious request to make of the Lord. It was the chief occasion
+on which their pride was revealed. We have two accounts of it. In one of
+them the mother Salome appears as the speaker. She brings her sons to
+Jesus, prostrates herself before Him, and offers this petition, "Grant
+that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other
+on Thy left, in Thy Kingdom." She had a loving mother's pride. She was
+the aunt of Jesus, and perhaps felt that because of this relationship,
+her sons had a right which the other Apostles could not claim. She had
+given them to His service, and had proved her own love and devotion to
+Him by following Him with other women of Galilee, ministering to His
+comforts. Meanwhile James and John, according to another account,
+themselves urged their mother's request saying, "Grant unto us that we
+may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand, in Thy glory."</p>
+
+<p>Mother and sons shared in the spirit of self-seeking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[Pg 118]</span>and
+self-exaltation. But we must not forget that it was faith in Him as the
+Messiah, and in His coming "glory," that led them to show it, though in
+a mistaken way.</p>
+
+<p>In sorrow and tenderness, and pity for their ignorance, Jesus replied,
+"Ye know not what ye ask." While His eye rested on them, His thoughts
+were on another scene. It was a cross with Himself upon it, and a
+malefactor on each side, instead of the brothers in their pride. As John
+at last stood by it, did he recall the hour of his mistaken ambitious
+request, which had never been repeated. There had been no need that the
+Lord should say to him, as to Moses, "Ask me not again," yet like Moses,
+he was to receive a most glorious answer in another form. In his pride,
+with an earthly throne in mind, he had asked, "Grant that I may sit with
+Thee in Thy glory?" Having conquered his unholy ambition there was
+fulfilled in him the promise of His Lord in glory, "To him that
+overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne."</p>
+
+<p>The time came when there was no longer occasion for the other ten
+apostles to be "moved with indignation concerning James and John,"
+because of their pride and ambitious seeking. This John is the disciple
+whom, with all his imperfections, Jesus loved most of all; this the man
+known as the most lovable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[Pg 119]</span>of men; this the one who well-nigh reached
+human perfection through his ardent and ever increasing love for Jesus;
+this the one who is called <i>the Apostle of Love</i>.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[Pg 120]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John and the Family of Bethany</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named
+Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called
+Mary, which also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard His
+word."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> x. 38, 39.</p>
+
+<p>"Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of
+Mary and her sister Martha."&mdash;<i>John</i> xi. 1.</p>
+
+<p>"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."&mdash;<i>v.</i> 5.</p>
+
+<p>"Jesus ... said, ... Lazarus is dead."&mdash;<i>v.</i> 14.</p>
+
+<p>"Jesus wept."&mdash;<i>v.</i> 35.</p>
+
+<p>"He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead
+came forth."&mdash;<i>vs.</i> 43, 44.</p>
+
+<p>"As he (John) gives us so much more than the synoptists about the
+family at Bethany, we may infer that he was a more intimate friend
+of Lazarus and his sisters."&mdash;<i>A. Plummer, D.D.</i></p></div>
+
+
+<p>In four sentences Luke draws an unfinished picture of a family group,
+whose memory has become especially precious because of what John has
+added to it. His probable familiarity with the family made this
+possible. No wonder if he felt that the original picture must be
+enlarged and retouched. The place where that family lived had become to
+him too sacred a spot to be called simply "a certain village." Martha
+was more than "a certain woman," who though hospitable, was distracted
+in her housekeeping. Mary <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[Pg 121]</span>was fairer than Luke had painted her. John
+had seen her do more than sit at Jesus' feet. He manifestly felt that
+the resurrection of Lazarus was too great an event to be omitted from
+the gospel story, as it was by the other Evangelists who, when they
+wrote, might have endangered the life of Him whom the Jews sought to
+destroy. John's heart demanded a stronger tribute to Mary than Matthew
+or Mark had given. Let him be our guide to the blessed home. With his
+eyes let us see Jesus' relation to it, and with his ears listen to the
+Master's words there spoken.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il174f" id="il174f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il174f.jpg" alt="Bethany" title="Bethany" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Bethany</span>&mdash; <i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_120'><i>Page 120</i></a></h4>
+
+
+<p>As he opens the door we see a family of wealth, refinement, hospitality
+and affection. Its members are of kindred spirit with him: and so would
+be attracted to him, and he to them. But there was a special bond of
+union. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Such is the
+tender passing remark of John who elsewhere calls himself "the disciple
+whom Jesus loved." These four form a group of special objects of
+Christ's affection. They ardently loved Him. We may suppose that John's
+relation to the family of Bethany was closer than that of any other
+disciple. This fitted him to make us familiar with their characters, and
+many incidents of their home.</p>
+
+<p>John was with Jesus in Bethany in Per&aelig;a, when there came the sad, brief,
+confiding message from Mary and Martha, "Lord, behold, he whom Thou
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[Pg 122]</span>lovest is sick." Doubtless it touched the heart of the apostle as well
+as that of his Master, whose response he records: "This sickness is not
+unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
+glorified thereby." We are reminded of John's own words concerning the
+change of water into wine: "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
+of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory."</p>
+
+<p>Jesus' plan for Lazarus included a delay of two days in Bethany of
+Per&aelig;a. Meanwhile His heart went out toward Bethany in Jud&aelig;a. So did
+John's. But, though Jesus tarried, it can be said, as on another
+occasion, "He Himself knew what He would do." While John was wondering,
+waiting and watching, perhaps he remembered how the nobleman's son was
+healed in Capernaum when Jesus was in Cana, and thought it possible that
+the messenger would be told to say to the sisters, "Thy brother liveth."</p>
+
+<p>When at last Jesus proposed to His disciples that they all go to Jud&aelig;a,
+John's love may have contended for a moment with fear, as they
+protested, because of danger from His enemies: but it was for a moment
+only. When Jesus said, "Let us go unto him," we almost wonder that it
+was not John the loving, nor Peter the bold, but Thomas the sometimes
+unready, that said concerning Jesus, "Let us also go that we may die
+with Him." But we imagine that John was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[Pg 123]</span>the readiest to go, and kept
+the closest to his Master in the pathway to Bethany in Jud&aelig;a.</p>
+
+<p>"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth," said Jesus. Though all of the disciples
+were thus addressed, we think of John as especially including Jesus and
+himself in that word "our," because of the nearness of their relation to
+the afflicted family. And then that other word "sleepeth"&mdash;it must have
+carried him, as well as James and Peter, back to the home of Jairus,
+where they heard the same voice to which they were now listening say,
+"The child is not dead but sleepeth."</p>
+
+<p>We almost wonder that the three did not turn to their fellow-disciples
+and say that "Jesus had spoken of the <i>death</i> of Lazarus," while "they
+thought that He spake of taking rest in sleep." But evidently not so;
+and when Jesus "said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead," doubtless John
+was the saddest of them all, because of his special interest in him. The
+full record&mdash;the only one of what transpired in that sad, joyful
+home&mdash;shows how closely John watched every movement of Jesus and the
+sisters, and how carefully he noted what they said. We may give credit
+to his memory, even with the aid which he says was promised the
+disciples in their remembrance. He notes the coming of Martha to meet
+Jesus, while "Mary sat still in the house;" Martha's plaintive cry,
+"Lord, if Thou <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[Pg 124]</span>hadst been here, my brother had not died;" the
+conversation between her and Jesus concerning the resurrection; the
+sudden change from it to His asking for Mary; Martha's return to the
+house and whispering in her sister's ear, "The Master is come and
+calleth for thee;" the hurried obedience to the call&mdash;all these
+incidents are recorded by John with the particularity and vividness of
+an eyewitness.</p>
+
+<p>It appears as if Jesus would not perform the intended miracle until the
+arrival of Mary. John's account of their meeting is full of pathos. He
+watches her coming, notices the moment she catches sight of Him through
+her tears, and her first act of falling down at His feet, and her
+repetition of Martha's cry, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother
+had not died." He looks into the faces of both as "Jesus sees her
+weeping." He contrasts Mary's real and deep sorrow with the outward and
+heartless outcries of pretended grief, at which Jesus "groans in
+spirit," because a seeming mockery in the presence of His loving friend.
+John measures the depth of the Lord's "troubled" spirit by His outward
+movements. He opens to us His heart of hearts in the brief, tender
+record, "Jesus wept." Where in the whole story of His life do we gain a
+keener sense of His humanity, especially His tenderness and sympathy.
+What a revelation we would have missed if John had been silent, but the
+emotion <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[Pg 125]</span>of His own heart had been too deep to allow any such omission.
+"Jesus wept." As Professor Austin Phelps declares, "The shortest verse
+in the Bible is crowded with suggestions."</p>
+
+<p>While John is our guide to the tomb of Lazarus, and more than that, the
+sincere mourner with the afflicted sisters, he is yet more the disciple
+of Jesus, receiving new and lasting impressions of divine truth and of
+his Master, which are embodied in his story.</p>
+
+<p>John recorded seven miracles of our Lord. The first was that of turning
+water into wine. The last was the raising of Lazarus. In both of them He
+points us to the same glorious purpose. He says that in the first,
+Christ "manifested forth His glory," and that the second was "for the
+glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." And now
+standing with Martha by the yet unopened tomb, John hears their Lord
+remind her of His assurance that if she believed, she "should see the
+glory of God." That hour had come. The Lord had commanded, "Take ye away
+the stone." John was most attentive to every act of the passing scene.
+His eyes glanced from the stone to his Lord. As soon as the command
+concerning it was obeyed Jesus lifted His eyes upward, and said,
+"Father"&mdash;calling upon Him with whom He was to be glorified.</p>
+
+<p>John had stood at the bedside of the only daughter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[Pg 126]</span>of Jairus, and heard
+the command, "Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise." By the bier of the
+widow's only son he had probably heard that other, "Young man, I say
+unto thee, Arise." And now standing by the open door of the tomb of the
+only brother, was He not listening for a like command? He had not long
+to wait. The prayer of his Lord was ended. The tone of prayer was
+changed to that of command. "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come
+forth. And he that was dead came forth." John describes his appearance.
+He was "bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound
+about with a napkin." When Jesus saith unto them, "Loose him and let him
+go"&mdash;away from the excitement and curiosity of the heartless
+mourners&mdash;who was so ready as John to obey the command, while welcoming
+his friend back to life? Who could so fittingly escort him from the
+darkened tomb to the relighted home, with the sisters still weeping&mdash;but
+for joy.</p>
+
+<p>In John's old age when he recalled this resurrection scene, he seems to
+have had a special memory of the younger sister's sorrow. He speaks of
+the "Jews which came to Mary" in the hour of her sadness.</p>
+
+<p>But His memory of that resurrection day was tinged with gloom. He traced
+back, from the cross on Calvary to the tomb in Bethany, the way by which
+his Lord had been led by His enemies. "From that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[Pg 127]</span>day forth they took
+counsel together for to put Him to death."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il182f" id="il182f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il182f.jpg" alt="The Resurrection of Lazarus" title="The Resurrection of Lazarus" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Resurrection of Lazarus</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_126'><i>Page 126</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>It is tradition, not John, which tells us concerning Lazarus that the
+first question which he asked Christ after He was restored to life was
+whether He must die again; and that being told that he must, he was
+never more seen to smile. But John, better than tradition, tells of
+another scene in which we imagine his smiles were not restrained. To it
+let us turn.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[Pg 128]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XIX</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John's Memorial of Mary</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"When Jesus was in Bethany, ... there came unto Him a woman having
+an alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment, and she poured
+it upon his head, as He sat at meat."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> xxvi. 6, 7.</p>
+
+<p>"Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
+in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be
+spoken of for a memorial of her."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> xxvi. 13.</p>
+
+<p>"It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped
+His feet with her hair."&mdash;<i>John</i> xi. 2.</p>
+
+<p>"There is something touchingly fraternal in the momentary pleasure
+which He (Christ) appears to have taken in the gift of the
+alabaster box."&mdash;<i>Austin Phelps.</i></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Nor other thought her mind admits</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">But, he was dead, and there he sits,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And He that brought him back is there.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Then one deep love doth supersede</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">All other, when her ardent gaze</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Rose from the living brother's face,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And rests upon the life indeed."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">&mdash;<i>Tennyson.</i></span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+
+<p>That is an impressive picture drawn by Saints Matthew and Mark, of a
+scene in Bethany, where an unnamed woman brought a flask of ointment
+which she poured on the head of Jesus, thus exciting murmuring <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[Pg 129]</span>and
+indignation against her, who was defended by Him, with assurance of
+perpetual remembrance of her deed.</p>
+
+<p>Yet a comparison of the accounts of these two Evangelists with the story
+given by John, suggest the thought that he was not satisfied with the
+picture. His remembrance of the things that happened before and after
+that scene, his friendship for the family of Bethany, his understanding
+of the Master's feelings and thoughts, his sense of justice to himself
+and to his fellow-disciples, the omission of an important figure in the
+grouping, and especially his tender sympathy for the unnamed heroine of
+the story&mdash;these things demanded in his mind additions and re-touchings
+to make the picture complete.</p>
+
+<p>Let us imagine ourselves before him while he is reading the manuscripts
+of Matthew and Mark, long after they were written. He tells us of
+incidents, unmentioned by them, that enlarge and make clearer our view
+of the scene. We note the impressions we may suppose were made on him at
+the time of the event, and were still fresh in his old age when he tells
+the story.</p>
+
+<p>"I remember distinctly"&mdash;so he might say&mdash;"this scene in Bethany, both
+what these two writers report, and what they do not. The hour was
+drawing near when my Lord must die. So He had told me; but somehow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[Pg 130]</span> I
+did not understand that this must be. It seems strange to me now that I
+did not, as well as one of my friends did, who realized the nearness of
+the sad hour. I had arrived with Him at Bethany 'where Lazarus was which
+had been dead, whom He raised from the dead.' It was a great joy to meet
+again the friend whom I had welcomed from the tomb."</p>
+
+<p>It is true, as here written by Mark, that Jesus "sat at meat." But this
+does not tell the whole story. The people of Bethany wished to unite in
+doing Him honor: "So they made Him a supper there." It was fitting that
+it should be "in the house of Simon" whom Jesus had healed from leprosy,
+and who was probably a relative or special friend of the family loved by
+Jesus. I wonder that their names do not appear in the story given by
+these two Evangelists: I could not forget them. I remember how "Martha
+served" at the table, as if in her own home, seeming more of a hostess
+than a guest; and how "Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table
+with Him" who had bid him rise from the tomb; and how Mary showed her
+gratitude for her brother's restoration, and love for his Restorer. To
+me that supper loses half its interest without the mention of these
+names, so suggestive of near relation to the Lord. Here I read, "There
+came unto Him a woman." That is indeed true; but I find no hint of who
+this unknown woman was. Could Matthew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[Pg 131]</span>probably present, have forgotten
+it? Had Mark absent, never been told?</p>
+
+<p>Matthew says she had "an alabaster cruse of precious ointment," which
+Mark explains was "spikenard very costly." This also is truly said, for
+I learned that "Mary ... took a <i>pound</i> of ointment of spikenard very
+precious." This she could well afford. Some have suggested that perhaps,
+like oriental girls of fashion, she had bought it in her pride, but
+after coming under the influence of Jesus, had left it unused. But I am
+more inclined to believe she intended it from the first as an expression
+of overflowing love.</p>
+
+<p>Mark says "she broke the cruse." I remember, as she crushed the neck of
+it, all eyes were turned upon her, watching her movements. Lazarus,
+reclining at the table, gazed upon her with brotherly interest; and
+Martha, moving around it glanced at her with sisterly affection. There
+was one man whose expression was something more than curiosity. In it
+there was a shade of displeasure.</p>
+
+<p>These two Evangelists tell that Mary "poured the ointment upon" and
+"over" the "head" of Jesus. This was a common custom in rendering honor
+and adoration. But it did not satisfy Mary, if the Lord could only say
+with David, "Thou anointest my <i>head</i>." Her anointing was so profuse
+that He could say,&mdash;as Matthew testifies that He did&mdash;"She poured this
+oint<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[Pg 132]</span>ment upon My body." But I would testify to another act, fuller yet
+of meaning. She "anointed the <i>feet</i> of Jesus." This meant far more than
+the washing of feet, as an humble act of hospitality and honor. It was
+an unusual act of adoration. I saw bathed in spikenard what I have since
+seen bathed in blood. But that was not all. Making of her long tresses a
+fine but unwoven towel, "she wiped His feet with her hair"; kneeling in
+devotion where she had loved to sit in learning.</p>
+
+<p>I noticed the glowing rapture in her face, and an occasional glance into
+that of her Lord, unmindful of the presence of all others, while He
+looked kindly upon her. It was then that I discovered that "the house
+was filled with the odor of the ointment." But, alas, not so with the
+perfume of her deed. "There were some that had indignation among
+themselves, ... and they murmured against her": so says Mark. "When the
+disciples" saw Mary's deed "they had indignation": so says Matthew. It
+is true that signs of dissatisfaction came from the group of the
+disciples, but it is the voice of one of them that has ever since rung
+in my ears, to whom "the unworthy grumbling should be assigned." In
+justice to the disciples he should not be unnamed. Mary was still in the
+act of her devotion to Jesus. "But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples,
+which should betray Him, saith, 'Why was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[Pg 133]</span>not this ointment sold for
+three hundred pence, and given to the poor?' This he said, not because
+he cared for the poor"&mdash;not he&mdash;"but because he was a thief and, having
+the bag, took away what was put therein." He it was who from the first
+showed displeasure at Mary's act. His words were both an exclamation and
+a question, a sort of soliloquy, and yet addressed to anybody who might
+hear and answer: but they needed no answer. It was too late to gather up
+the ointment already used, and sell it for the poor or for any other
+purpose. But Judas' purpose I well understand. I see through his
+hypocrisy now more clearly than I did then.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il191f" id="il191f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il191f.jpg" alt="Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem" title="Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem</span>&mdash;<i>Gustav Doré</i><br /><a href='#Page_138'><i>Page 138</i></a></h4>
+<p>With the sharp, reproving voice of Judas, Mary glanced into his angry
+face. This would have filled her with terror had she not immediately
+looked into that of Jesus beaming upon her. One hand of His was over
+her, as if in protection and benediction, while the other waved in a
+reproving gesture. As I read how He answered the question of Judas with
+another, "Why trouble ye her?" and then commanded, "Let her alone"; and
+then declared, "She hath wrought a good work upon me," I recall the
+changing expressions of His face, and His tones of indignation and
+affection.</p>
+
+<p>I was startled by the reason He gave for letting her alone,&mdash;that she
+might preserve what remained of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[Pg 134]</span>ointment, not for the poor, but to
+be used for His burial, near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>She it was of whom I have spoken who understood better than I or any of
+my fellow-apostles, that our Lord's life was nearing its end.</p>
+
+<p>I find here in the records of Matthew and Mark the assurance of the Lord
+concerning the unnamed woman of whom they have written. It is this,
+"Verily I say unto you, 'Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in
+the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of
+for a memorial of her.' Let it be known that this woman was Mary of
+Bethany, then at Jesus' feet. Henceforth let her name be linked with her
+deed."</p>
+
+<p>Thus ends the words we have imagined St. John might have spoken with the
+Gospels of Matthew and Mark in his hand. The additions to their story
+are suggested by his own Gospel. He has drawn a beautiful picture of
+Mary, in brighter colors and more delicate shades than has any other. To
+him artists are chiefly indebted for their ideas of her. His own
+character was so completely in harmony with hers that he understood what
+his fellows did not. By them she was misjudged and condemned; he saw and
+admired the sweetness of her spirit, and the purity and nobleness of her
+motive. Upon the monument reared by other Evangelists, he inserted her
+name. In her he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[Pg 135]</span>saw a reflection of her Lord and his. His memory and
+his record alone secured for her in particular the fulfilment of the
+Lord's prophecy concerning the remembrance of her deed. Every Christian
+home in the whole world has been, or will be, filled with the spiritual
+fragrance of her offering. But the prophecy is more than fulfilled. That
+which she hath done is not only "<i>spoken of</i>," for in many a home
+inspired by her spirit, her name has been given as a memorial of her
+whom John distinguished from all others as "that Mary which anointed the
+Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair." It was of Mary
+that Jesus said, "She hath done what she could."</p>
+
+<p>John's picture of her is all the brighter because of his dark background
+of Judas. He has forever associated their names in contrast. In his
+mind, the anointing was ever suggestive of the betrayal. He remembered
+how the "thief" asked his hypocritical question at the moment of the
+greatest perfume; and how Judas was planning the betrayal while Mary was
+meditating on the death to which it would lead. It appears almost
+certain that Judas, stung by the Lord's reproof of him and defence of
+Mary, ready to sell his Lord's body for a less sum than he valued the
+ointment, turned from the feast in anger, hastening to the chief priest
+with the cursed question and promise, "What will ye give me, and I will
+deliver Him unto you?" Wheresoever the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[Pg 136]</span>gospel is preached throughout
+the whole world, that also which <i>this man</i> hath done is spoken of&mdash;but
+not for a memorial of him.</p>
+
+<p>John's picture of Mary, Judas and Jesus is a most suggestive grouping.
+What harmony and contrast! What light and shade! What revelation of love
+and hate, of friendship and enmity, of devotion and sacrilege! To no
+other scene does Christ sustain quite the same relation. The friendship
+of His first feast&mdash;that of Cana&mdash;is deeper and tenderer in His last, at
+Bethany.</p>
+
+<p>There is something sublime in this Son of God having all power, pleading
+with Judas that Mary might be permitted to continue her service of love
+for Him.</p>
+
+<p>Add John's own likeness to the three at whom we have been looking, and
+what a grouping we have&mdash;Jesus with His loved Mary, and John the most
+beautiful illustration of human friendship, and Judas the <i>betrayer</i>.
+Let imagination complete what no artist has attempted.</p>
+
+<p>When John recalls the odors of Mary's ointment filling the house, he
+seems to catch a refrain from Solomon's song, and addresses it to
+her,&mdash;"Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is as ointment
+poured forth; therefore do the maidens love thee."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[Pg 137]</span>It is not the "maidens" alone, especially the Marys of Christendom,
+that "love" her, but all to whom the gospel is preached, who join in
+John's refrain, while thanking him for his "memorial of her."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[Pg 138]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XX</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John a Herald of the King</i></h4>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Prophecy</span>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
+Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: ... lowly, and riding
+upon ... a colt."&mdash;<i>Zech.</i> ix. 9.</p></div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Prophecy Fulfilled</span>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"He sent two of his disciples, saying, Go your way into the village
+over against you; in the which as ye enter ye shall find a colt
+tied: ... loose him, and bring him.... And they brought him to
+Jesus: and they threw their garments upon the colt, and set Jesus
+thereon."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> xix. 30, 35.</p></div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Prophecy Understood</span>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when
+Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were
+written of Him, and that they had done these things unto
+Him."&mdash;<i>John</i> xii. 16.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Daughter of Zion! Virgin Queen! Rejoice!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Clap the glad hand and lift th' exulting voice!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">He comes,&mdash;but not in regal splendor drest,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">The haughty diadem, the Tyrian vest;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Not arm'd in flame, all glorious from afar,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Of hosts the chieftain, and the lord of war:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Messiah comes!&mdash;let furious discord cease;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Be peace on earth before the Prince of Peace!"</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">&mdash;<i>Heber's Palestine</i>.</span>
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+<p>Zechariah foretold the coming of Christ five hundred years before the
+angels over Bethlehem heralded His <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[Pg 139]</span>birth. The prophets saw Him as the
+Messiah-king, but not such a ruler as most of the Jews of Christ's day
+expected. Even the disciples, believing Him to be the Messiah, had
+mistaken views of His kingdom. Yet He was the King foretold by the
+prophets; the Son of David who sang of Him as the "King" and as the
+"Lord's anointed"; the Messiah or Christ; the king of the Jews not only,
+but of all men. As such He would make a triumphal entry into the "City
+of the Great King." This would not be in the pride and pomp of an
+earthly conqueror, but in the "lowly" manner which Zechariah had
+foretold.</p>
+
+<p>All the accounts of Jesus' journeyings leave the impression that He went
+a-foot. Only once do we know that He rode; that was in fulfilment of
+prophecy. That prophecy He purposed to fulfil the day after the feast of
+Bethany. This was intended by Christ to be His royal and Messianic entry
+into Jerusalem. The hour had come. A colt unused, and so fitted by
+custom for sacred purposes, was ready for His use. Having left the
+village "He sent two of His disciples to bring it to Him." These two are
+understood to be Peter and John, for whose united service He would soon
+call again. We may think of the owner of the colt as friendly toward
+their Master. When told by the disciples, "The Lord hath need of him,"
+he was ready to serve Him by the loan of his beast. That<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[Pg 140]</span>
+"need"&mdash;whatever the owner or the disciples thought&mdash;was not so much to
+aid in Christ's journey as to make true the prophetic words concerning
+Him, "Thy King cometh ... riding upon ... a colt."</p>
+
+<p>The two disciples "brought him to Jesus, and they threw their garments
+upon the colt, and set Jesus thereon."</p>
+
+<p>We may think of Peter and John, having arranged for the royal ride, as
+heralds of their Lord, leading the procession from Bethany, and the
+first to greet with signal and shout the other coming from Jerusalem.</p>
+
+<p>Beside their King, perhaps leading the colt on which they had placed
+Him, they would be the first to tread where "a very great multitude
+spread their garments in the way," and others "branches from the trees,"
+and yet others "layers of leaves which they had cut from the
+fields"&mdash;thus carpeting the road winding around the slope of Olivet.</p>
+
+<p>Were not Peter and John leaders in song when "at the descent at the
+Mount of Olives the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice
+and praise God," and especially when "the City of David" came into view?
+The joyful strains were from the Psalms of David&mdash;"Hosanna to the Son of
+David, Hosanna in the Highest Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the
+kingdom of our Father David. Blessed is the King <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[Pg 141]</span>that cometh in the
+name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il200f" id="il200f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il200f.jpg" alt="Christ and St. John" title="Christ and St. John" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Christ and St. John</span>&mdash;<i>Ary Scheffer</i><br /><a href='#Page_155'><i>Page 155</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>In that last strain it would almost seem as if the angelic song of
+thirty-three years before, over the plain of Bethlehem, had not yet died
+away, and was echoed from Olivet.</p>
+
+<p>In that hour did John and James have thoughts about sitting one on the
+right hand and the other on the left in a kingdom which seemed near at
+hand? Did they and the other disciples, who had been disappointed
+because their Lord had refused on the shore of Galilee to be made king,
+imagine that He certainly would now be willing to be crowned in
+Jerusalem?</p>
+
+<p>When John wrote his account of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he
+recalled the prophecy concerning it. It is claimed that he speaks of
+himself and Peter in particular when he says, "These things understood
+not the disciples at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then
+remembered they that these things were written, and that they had done
+these things unto Him." This was a frank confession of his own dulness
+and ignorance: it is also an assurance of his later wisdom.</p>
+
+<p>We see John on the highway of Olivet, a chosen disciple to aid His Lord
+in the hour of His earthly glory. We shall see him, even down to old
+age, in a yet nobler sense, a Herald of the King.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[Pg 142]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXI</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>With the Master on Olivet</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Some spake of the Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones
+and offerings."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> xxi. 5.</p>
+
+<p>"One of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, behold, what manner
+of stones and what manner of buildings! And Jesus said unto him,
+Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left here one
+stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down."</p>
+
+<p>"As He sat on the Mount of Olives over against the Temple, Peter
+and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, Tell us, when
+shall these things be? and, What shall be the sign when these
+things are all about to be accomplished?"&mdash;<i>Mark</i> xiii. 1-4.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The Temple was the most sacred of all places, even before the Lord of
+the Temple entered it. His presence became its chiefest glory. In the
+hour when the waiting Simeon at last could there say "he had seen the
+Lord's Christ," it had a new consecration, and a beauty which its
+richness of materials and adornments had never given. In the hour when
+He there said to His mother, "Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's
+House?" or, "I must be about My Father's business," it was more
+consecrated still. Twice He had cleansed it from the profanation of
+unholy worshipers. Within it He had spoken as no man had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[Pg 143]</span>ever done. It
+had been a theatre of His divine power.</p>
+
+<p>That was a sad and solemn hour in the last week of His life when, as
+Matthew says, "Jesus went out and departed from the Temple." That was
+His farewell to it. With sadness He thought not only that He would never
+return to it for a blessed ministry of word and healing, but that the
+place itself would be destroyed. As He led His disciples from it, their
+minds were also upon the Holy House: but their thoughts were not His
+thoughts. They had long been familiar with its magnificence, from the
+day when each of them, at twelve years of age, for the first time had
+gazed upon it in wonder and admiration. We do not know why, as they were
+turning away from it and walked toward Olivet, "some spake of the
+Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings," nor why
+"one of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, behold what manner of
+stones, and what manner of buildings!" But so they did. Doubtless they
+were surprised and disappointed that the Lord did not respond with like
+spirit to their enthusiastic exclamations. Were not such richness and
+beauty worthy of even His admiration? Why His momentary silence? Why His
+sadness of expression, as He looked toward the Temple, beholding it as
+they bid Him do, but manifestly with different purpose and feeling from
+what they intended? His appearance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[Pg 144]</span>seemed most inconsistent with the
+glorious view. His response was startling,&mdash;"Seest thou these great
+buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which
+shall not be thrown down."</p>
+
+<p>The astonished disciples were silenced, but an unspoken question was in
+the minds of some of them. Christ turned aside and ascended the
+mountain, taking with Him the chosen three, Peter, James and John. On
+this occasion Andrew is added to the private company. Once more we see
+by themselves the two pair of brothers with whom in their boyhood we
+became familiar in Bethsaida. We are reminded of the days when they sat
+together on the sea-shore, the time when they were watching for the
+coming of the Messiah with whom they now "sat on the Mount of Olives
+over against the Temple." Two days before, in the road below He had also
+prophesied of the destruction of the city, as He gazed upon it through
+His tears. Now He was on the summit, directly opposite the Temple, from
+which the city was spread out before Him. To me it is still a delight in
+thought, as it was in reality, to stand where they sat, and look down
+upon the same Temple area, and think of the Holy and Beautiful House, as
+it appeared before the sad prophecy had been fulfilled.</p>
+
+<p>On this spot the poet Milman makes Titus to stand just before the
+destruction of Jerusalem, with deter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[Pg 145]</span>mination and yet with misgiving,
+looking down on the city in its pride and the Temple in its
+gorgeousness, and saying:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">"Yon proud City!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As on our Olive-crowned hill we stand,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where Kidron at our feet its scanty waters</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Distills from stone to stone with gentle motion,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How boldly doth it front us! How majestically!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like as a luxurious vineyard, the hillside</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the blue Heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here towers of war that frown in massy strength;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While over all hangs the rich purple eve,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As conscious of its being her last farewell</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of light and glory to the fated city.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as our clouds of battle, dust and smoke</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are melted into air, behold the Temple</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In undisturbed and lone serenity,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Finding itself a solemn sanctuary</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the profound of Heaven! It stands before us</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A mount of snow, fettered with golden pinnacles!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The very sun, as though he worshiped there,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And down the long and branching porticoes,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On every flowery, sculptured capital,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Glitters the homage of His parting beams.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">.... The sight might almost win</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The offended majesty of Rome to mercy."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>But Roman majesty was not to be won to mercy. To the Twelve, Christ had
+foretold the destruction of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[Pg 146]</span>the city. And now when the four were alone
+with Him, they "asked Him privately, tell us when shall these things
+be." For wise reasons Jesus did not tell. But one of them at least would
+learn both when and what these things would be. This was John. His
+tender and loving heart was to bleed with the horrible story of the fall
+of Jerusalem. There hunger and famine would be so dire that mothers
+would slay and devour their own children. Multitudes would die of
+disease and pestilence. Rage and madness would make the city like a cage
+of wild beasts. Thousands would be carried away into captivity. The most
+beautiful youths would be kept to show the triumph of their conqueror.
+Some of them would be doomed to work in chains in Egyptian mines. Young
+boys and girls would be sold as slaves. Many would be slain by wild
+beasts and gladiators. Saddest of all would be the Temple scenes. Though
+Titus command its preservation his infuriated soldiery will not spare
+it. On its altar there would be no sacrifice because no priest to offer
+it. That altar would be heaped with the slain. Streams of blood would
+flow through the temple courts, and thousands of women perish in its
+blazing corridors. The time was to come when John, recalling his
+question on Olivet and his Lord's prophecy concerning Jerusalem, could
+say,</p>
+
+<p class='center'>"All is o'er, Her grandeur and her guilt."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[Pg 147]</span>Was he the one of the disciples who hailed the Master, saying, "Behold
+what manner of stones, and what manner of buildings!"? If so, with what
+emotions he must have recalled his exclamation after the prophecy of
+their destruction had been fulfilled. Outliving all his fellow-apostles
+the time came when he could stand alone where once he stood with Peter
+and James and Andrew, not asking questions "When shall these things be?"
+and, "What shall be the sign when these things are all about to be
+accomplished?" but repeating the lament of Bishop Heber over Jerusalem
+in ruins:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Reft of thy son, amid thy foes forlorn,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Mourn, widow'd Queen; forgotten Zion, mourn.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Is this thy place, sad city, this thy throne,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Where suns unblessed their angry luster fling,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy viewed?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Where now thy might which all those kings subdued?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">No martial myriads muster in thy gate;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">No suppliant nations in thy temple wait;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">No prophet bards, thy glittering courts among,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">But lawless force and meagre want are there,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And the quick-darting eye of restless fear,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">While cold oblivion, 'mid thy ruins laid,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Folds its dank wing beneath the ivy shade."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[Pg 148]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John a Provider for the Passover</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make ready for us the
+Passover, that we may eat."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> xxii. 8.</p>
+
+<p>"And they went ... and they made ready the Passover."&mdash;<i>v.</i> 13.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The last time we saw Judas was when he left the feast of Bethany,
+murmuring at Mary's deed, angry at the Lord's defence of her, and
+plotting against Him. "From that time He sought opportunity to betray
+Him."</p>
+
+<p>"The day ... came on which the Passover must be sacrificed." A lamb must
+be provided and slain in the Temple for Jesus and His disciples.
+Moreover a place must be provided for them to eat it. This preparation
+would naturally fall on Judas, the treasurer of the company, whom at a
+later hour the disciples thought Jesus instructed to buy some things for
+the feast. The place in Jesus' mind was yet a secret, unknown to the
+disciples, including Judas who could not therefore reveal it to His
+enemies. Who shall be entrusted with the service which He needed, and be
+in sympathy with Him in the solemn ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[Pg 149]</span>proaching hour? Not Judas. The two
+who had been the heralds of the King should be His messengers. So "He
+sent Peter and John saying, Go and make ready for us the Passover that
+we may eat." Again and again we shall find Peter and John together in
+circumstances of joy and sorrow, trial and triumph. Their first question
+was a very natural one, "Where wilt Thou that we make ready?" The Lord's
+secret was not at once revealed. He gave them a sign by which their
+question would be answered&mdash;another proof of His divine fore-knowledge.
+He told them to go into the city, entering which they would find a man
+bearing a pitcher of water. Him they were to follow to the house he
+entered, and tell its owner of His purpose to keep the Passover there.
+In a furnished room they were to prepare for His coming. They were full
+of curiosity, but had no doubt concerning the result of their errand.
+They trusted Him who had entrusted them with it.</p>
+
+<p>Soon at the public fountain they were watching for the servant who
+should be their guide. Having done "as Jesus appointed them," they
+"found as He said unto them." As instructed they said "unto the goodman
+of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest-chamber
+where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples?"</p>
+
+<p>"The goodman of the house" is the only name by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[Pg 150]</span>which this owner has
+been known. Some have thought He was Joseph of Arimath&aelig;a; others the
+Father of Saint Mark; others Mark himself. It is the name by which Jesus
+has called Him; that is honor enough. Without doubt he was a friend of
+the Lord. Perhaps like Nicodemus he had come to Him privately for
+instruction. He was ready to do what he could for His necessities when
+homeless in Jerusalem. He was ready to give Him a place of protection
+when, that very night, His enemies were seeking His life. Peter and John
+may never have met this unnamed disciple before. If so, it was doubtless
+the beginning of an acquaintance close and tender between them and him
+who was "the last host of the Lord, and the first host of His Church."</p>
+
+<p>He showed them "a large upper room." It was probably reached, as in many
+oriental houses, by outside stairs. It was the choicest and most retired
+room. The goodman led the disciples into it. They found it "furnished"
+with a table, and couches around it on which Jesus and His company could
+recline. But this probably was not all. The table was "prepared" with
+some of the provisions required for the feast. These included the cakes
+of unleavened bread, the five kinds of bitter herbs, and the wine mixed
+with water for the four cups which it was the custom to use.</p>
+
+<p>But there was something more which Peter and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[Pg 151]</span> John must do to "make
+ready" for the feast. It was the most important thing of all. It was to
+prepare the "Paschal Lamb." With such a lamb they had been familiar from
+childhood. As their fathers brought it into their homes, and their
+mothers roasted it, and parents and children gathered about it in solemn
+worship, the Bethsaidan boys had no thought of the day when the Messiah
+would bid them prepare for the feast of which He Himself would be the
+host, at the only time apparently when He acted as such.</p>
+
+<p>When John was pointed by the Baptist to Jesus, he had no thought that He
+would prepare the last Lamb for Him whom He was to see sacrificed as
+"the Lamb of God." No wonder that Jesus sent Peter and John to make
+ready, instead of Judas the usual provider, who in the same hour "sought
+opportunity to betray Him."</p>
+
+<p>We follow them from the house of the goodman toward the Temple. Nearing
+it they listen with mournful solemnity to the chanting of the
+eighty-first Psalm, with its exhortation to praise,&mdash;"Sing aloud unto
+God our strength. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time
+appointed, on the solemn feast day." Then they listen for the threefold
+blast of the silver trumpets. By this they know that the hour has come
+for the slaying of the lambs. Peter and John enter the court of the
+priests, and slay their lamb whose blood <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[Pg 152]</span>is caught by a priest in a
+golden bowl, and carried to the Great Altar.</p>
+
+<p>Of this they must have been reminded a few hours later when Christ spoke
+of His own blood shed for the remission of sins. John must have
+remembered it when he saw and wrote of the "blood and water" that flowed
+from the pierced side of his Lord. While the lamb is being slain the
+priests are chanting, and the people responding, "Hallelujah: Blessed is
+He that cometh in the Name of the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>The lamb of sacrifice, slain and cleansed and roasted, is carried by the
+two disciples on staves to the upper room. After lighting the festive
+lamps, they have obeyed their Lord's command, "Make ready the Passover."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile He and the remaining ten, as the sun is setting, descend the
+Mount of Olives, from which He takes His last view of the holy but fated
+city. The disciples follow Him, still awed by what He had told them of
+its fate, and with forebodings of what awaited Him and them. Among them
+was the traitor carrying his terrible secret, bent on its awful purpose
+which is unknown to the nine, but well known to the Master. Thus they go
+to the upper room where Peter and John are ready to receive them.</p>
+
+<p>In Jesus' message to the goodman He said, "I will keep the Passover at
+thy house with My disciples."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[Pg 153]</span> They were His family. He chose to be
+alone with them. Not even the mothers Mary and Salome, nor Nicodemus on
+this night, nor the family of Bethany, could be of His company. No Mary
+was here to anoint His feet with ointment; nor woman who had been a
+sinner to bathe them with her tears. Lazarus was not one of them that
+sat with them; nor did "Martha serve." It was the twelve whom He had
+chosen, and who had continued with Him. It was to His apostolic family
+that He said, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you
+before I suffer." And so "He sat down with the twelve" alone, the only
+time&mdash;as is supposed&mdash;that He ever ate the Passover meal with His
+disciples.</p>
+
+<p>That room became of special interest to John. Sent by his Master to find
+it, he was mysteriously guided thither. There he was welcomed by the
+good owner of the house, who united with him in preparation for the most
+memorable feast ever held. It is there that we see him in closest
+companionship with his Lord. It was the place in Jesus' mind when He
+said, "Go and make ready for us the Passover." "Where shall we go?"
+asked John. He found answer when he entered that upper room. Because of
+his relation thereto it has been called "St. John's Room"&mdash;more sacred
+than any "Jerusalem Chamber," so named, or any "St. John's Cathedral!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[Pg 154]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John's Memories of the Upper Room</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"When the hour was come, He sat down, and the apostles with
+him."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> xxii. 14.</p>
+
+<p>"There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His
+disciples, whom Jesus loved."&mdash;<i>John</i> xiii. 23.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>Three Evangelists leave the door of the upper room standing ajar.
+Through it we can see much that is passing, and hear much that is said.
+John coming after them opens it wide, thus enlarging our view and
+increasing our knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>Luke says of Jesus, "He sat down and the apostles with Him." That is a
+very simple statement. We might suppose all was done in quietness and
+harmony. But he tells us of a sad incident which happened, probably in
+connection with it. "There arose also a contention among them which of
+them is accounted to be greatest." The question in dispute was possibly
+the order in which they should sit at the table. They still had the
+spirit of the Pharisees who claimed that such order should be according
+to rank.</p>
+
+<p>We wonder how John felt. Did he have any part in that contention; or had
+he put away all such ambition since the Lord had reproved him and his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[Pg 155]</span>brother James for it? Or was his near relation to the Lord so well
+understood that there was no question by anybody where John might
+sit&mdash;next to the Master?</p>
+
+<p>Let us notice the manner of sitting at meals. The table was surrounded
+by a divan on which the guests reclined on their left side, with the
+head nearest the table, and the feet extending outward.</p>
+
+<p>"There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His disciples,
+whom Jesus loved." This is the first time John thus speaks of himself.
+He never uses his own name. His place was at the right of the Lord.
+There he reclined during the meal, once changing his position, as we
+shall see. Judas was probably next to Jesus on His left. This allowed
+them to talk together without others knowing what they said.</p>
+
+<p>John begins his story of the upper room as a supplement to Luke's record
+of the contention. He first tells two things about Jesus,&mdash;His knowledge
+that His hour "was come that He should depart out of this world unto the
+Father," and His great and constant love for His disciples. With these
+two thoughts in mind, how grieved He must have been at the ambitious
+spirit of the Apostles. He had once given them a lesson of humility,
+using a little child for an object lesson. That lesson was not yet
+learned; or if learned was not yet put into practice. So He gave them
+another object lesson, having still more meaning than the first.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[Pg 156]</span>But before making record of it John, as at the supper in Bethany,
+points to Judas. We are reminded of the traitor's purpose formed while
+Mary anointed and wiped Jesus' feet. So awful was that purpose, so full
+of hatred and deceit, that John now tells us it was the devil himself
+who "put into the heart of Judas ... to betray Him." "Humanity had
+fallen, but not so low."</p>
+
+<p>John seems to have well understood his Master's thoughts and interpreted
+His actions in giving the second object lesson. He noticed carefully,
+and remembered long and distinctly, every act. Was there ever drawn a
+more powerful picture in contrast than in these words,&mdash;"Jesus, knowing
+that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came
+forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside
+His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself. Then He poureth
+water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
+them with the towel wherewith He was girded."</p>
+
+<p>This was the service of a common slave. It is easy to imagine the silent
+astonishment of the disciples. The purpose of Jesus could not be
+mistaken. It was a reproof for their contention. The object lesson was
+ended. John continued to closely watch His movements, as he took the
+garments He had laid aside and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[Pg 157]</span>resumed His seat at the table. The
+very towel with which the Lord had girded Himself, found a lasting place
+in John's memory, worthy of mention as the instrument of humble service.
+What a sacred relic, if preserved, it would have become&mdash;more worthy of
+a place in St. Peter's in Rome than the pretended handkerchief of
+Veronica.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il218f" id="il218f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il218f.jpg" alt="The Last Supper" title="The Last Supper" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Last Supper</span>&mdash;<i>Benjamin West</i><br /><a href='#Page_158'><i>Page 158</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>Christ's treatment of one of the disciples at the feet-washing left a
+deep impression on John's mind. With sadness and indefiniteness the Lord
+said, "He that eateth My bread lifted up his heel against Me": one who
+accepts My hospitality and partakes of the proofs of My friendship is My
+enemy. For that one whoever it might be, known only to himself and to
+Jesus, it was a most solemn call to even yet turn from his evil purpose.
+But the faithless one betrayed no sign; nor did Jesus betray him even
+with a glance which would have been a revelation to John's observant
+eye.</p>
+
+<p>It is John who tells us that as they sat at the table "Jesus ... was
+troubled in spirit." The apostle closest to Him in position and sympathy
+would be the first to detect that special trouble, and the greatness of
+it, even before the cause of it was known. But that was not long. "Jesus
+said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray Me."
+Such is John's record of Christ's declaration. It is in His Gospel alone
+that we find the double "Verily" introduc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[Pg 158]</span>ing Christ's words, thus
+giving a deeper emphasis and solemnity than appears in the other
+Evangelists. A comparison of this declaration of Christ as given by the
+four, illustrates this fact. John immediately follows this statement of
+the betrayal with another, peculiar to himself. Its shows his close
+observation at the time, and the permanence of his impression. What he
+noticed would furnish a grand subject for the most skilful artist,
+beneath whose picture might be written, "The disciples looked one on
+another, doubting of whom He spake." As John gazed upon them, raising
+themselves on their divans, looking first one way, then another, from
+one familiar face to another, exchanging glances of inquiry and doubt,
+each distrustful of himself and his fellow, he beheld what angels might
+have looked upon with even deeper interest. There has been no other
+occasion, nor can there be, for such facial expressions&mdash;a blending of
+surprise, consternation, fear and sorrow. Was John one of those who
+"began to question among themselves which of them it was that should do
+this thing"? Did he take his turn as "one by one" they "began to say,
+... Is it I, Lord?" If so it must have been in the faintest whisper; and
+so the blessed answer, "No." But we must believe that Jesus and John
+understood each other too well for any such question and answer. The
+definite answer was not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[Pg 159]</span>yet given to any one by the Master, yet with an
+awful warning, He repeated His prediction of the betrayal.</p>
+
+<p>Peter was impatient to ask Jesus another question. At other times he was
+bold to speak, but now he was awed into silence. Yet he felt that he
+must know. The great secret must be revealed. There was one through whom
+it might possibly be done. So while the disciples looked one on another,
+Peter gazed on John with an earnest, inquiring look, feeling that the
+beloved disciple might relieve the awful suspense. "Peter therefore
+beckoneth to him, and saith unto him, Tell us who it is of whom He
+speaketh." So "He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, saith unto
+Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answereth, He it is for whom I
+shall dip the sop and give it him." Did John on one side of Jesus hear
+the whispered question of Judas on the other, "Is it I, Rabbi?" He
+watched for the sign which Jesus said He would give. The morsel was
+given to Judas. That was more than a sign, more than kindness to an
+unworthy guest; it was the last of thousands of loving acts to one whom
+Jesus had chosen, taught and warned&mdash;yet was a traitor. Of that moment
+John makes special note. Having told us that at the beginning of the
+supper "the devil ... put into the heart of Judas ... to betray," he
+says, "After the sop, Satan entered into him." As he saw Judas, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[Pg 160]</span>with a
+heart of stone and without a trembling hand, coolly take the morsel from
+that hand of love, he realized that the evil one had indeed taken
+possession of him whose heart he had stirred at the feast of Bethany.</p>
+
+<p>It must have been a relief to John when he heard the Lord bid Judas
+depart, though "no man at the table knew for what intent."</p>
+
+<p>"He then having received the sop went out straightway,"&mdash;out from that
+most consecrated room; out from the companionship of the Apostles in
+which he had proved himself unfit to share; out from the most hallowed
+associations of earth; out from the most inspiring influences with which
+man was ever blessed; out from the teachings, warnings, invitations and
+loving care of his only Saviour. "When Satan entered into him, he went
+out from the presence of Christ, as Cain went out from the presence of
+the Lord." As John spoke of the departure, no wonder he added, "It was
+night." His words mean to us more than the darkness outside that room
+illumined by the lamp which Peter and John had lighted. They are
+suggestive of the darkness of the traitor's soul, contrasted with the
+"Light of the World" in that room, to whose blessed beams he then closed
+his eyes forever. Night&mdash;the darkest night&mdash;was the most fitting symbol
+for the deeds to follow. Possessed by Satan, Judas went <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[Pg 161]</span>out to be
+"guide to them that took Jesus." To them, two hours later, He who was
+the Light of the World said, "This is your hour and the power of
+darkness."</p>
+
+<p>It was when "he was gone out" that Christ called the disciples by a new
+name, and gave them a new commandment. In both of them John took a
+special interest which he showed long after. That name was "Little
+Children." The word which Christ used had a peculiar meaning. This is
+the only time we know of His ever using it. It was an expression of the
+tenderest affection for His family, so soon to be orphaned by His death.
+When John wrote his Epistles, he often used the same word, whose special
+meaning he had learned from his Lord, to show his own love for his
+fellow-Christians.</p>
+
+<p>The new commandment was this&mdash;"That ye love one another; as I have loved
+you, that ye also love one another." The command itself was not new, for
+it had been given through Moses, and repeated by Christ, "Thou shalt
+love thy neighbor as thyself." But Christ gave the disciples a new
+reason or motive for obeying it. They were to love one another because
+of His love for them. As John grew older he became a beautiful example
+of one who obeyed the command. In his old age he urged such obedience,
+saying, "If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[Pg 162]</span>Through the door of the Upper Room left ajar by three Evangelists, we
+catch glimpses of the group around the table of the Last Supper. Through
+it as opened wide by John we hear the voice of Jesus as He utters His
+farewell words. He comforts His disciples and tells of heavenly
+mansions. He gives His peace in their tribulations. He promises the Holy
+Spirit as a Comforter. He closes His address, even in this hour of
+sadness and apparent defeat, with these wonderful words, "Be of good
+cheer; I have overcome the world."</p>
+
+<p>And now as John still holds open the door, we hear the voice of prayer,
+such as nowhere else has been offered. It is ended. There are moments of
+silence, followed by a song of praise. Then John closes the door of the
+Upper Room, which we believe was opened again as the earliest home of
+the Christian Church. There we shall see him again with those who,
+because of his experience with his Lord in that consecrated place, gave
+him the name of "The Bosom Disciple."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il227f" id="il227f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il227f.jpg" alt="In Gethsemane" title="In Gethsemane" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">In Gethsemane</span>&mdash;<i>Gustave Dor&eacute;</i><br /><a href='#Page_163'><i>Page 163</i></a></h4>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[Pg 163]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXIV</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>With Jesus in Gethsemane</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"He went forth with His disciples over the brook Kidron, where was
+a garden."&mdash;<i>John</i> xviii. 1.</p>
+
+<p>"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and
+saith unto His disciples, Sit ye here while I go yonder and
+pray."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> xxvi. 36.</p>
+
+<p>"And He taketh with Him Peter and James and John, ... and He saith
+unto them, ... abide ye here, and watch."&mdash;<i>Mark</i> xiv. 33, 34.</p>
+
+<p>"And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed."
+<i>v.</i> 35.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>John was our leader to the Upper Room. And now he guides us from it,
+saying, "Jesus ... went forth with His disciples." That phrase "went
+forth" may suggest to us much more than mere departure. The banquet of
+love was over. The Lord's cup of blessing and remembrance had been drunk
+by His "little children," as He affectionately called them. He was now
+to drink the cup the Father was giving His Son&mdash;a mysterious cup of
+sorrow. It was probably at the midnight hour that Jesus "went forth" the
+last time from Jerusalem, which He had crowned with His <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[Pg 164]</span>goodness, but
+which had crowned Him with many crowns of sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>Other Evangelists tell us that He went "to the Mount of Olives," "to a
+place called Gethsemane." John shows us the way thither, and what kind
+of a place it was. Jesus went "over the ravine of the Kidron," in the
+valley of Jehoshaphat. At this season of the year it was not, as at
+other times, a dry water-bed, but a swollen, rushing torrent, fitting
+emblem of the waters of sorrow through which He was passing. Whether the
+name Kidron refers to the dark color of its waters, or the gloom of the
+ravine through which they flow, or the sombre green of its overshadowing
+cedars, it will ever be a reminder of the darker gloom that overshadowed
+John and His Master, as they crossed that stream together to meet the
+powers of darkness in the hour which Jesus called their own.</p>
+
+<p>The garden of Gethsemane was an enclosed piece of ground. We are not to
+think of it as a garden of flowers, or of vegetables, but as having a
+variety of flowering shrubs, and of fruit-trees, especially olive. It
+might properly be called an orchard. On the spot now claimed to be the
+garden, there are several very old gnarled olive-trees. Having stood
+beneath them, I would be glad to believe that they had sheltered my
+Lord. But I remember that when the prophecy con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[Pg 165]</span>cerning Jerusalem was
+fulfilled, the most sacred trees of our world were destroyed.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il231f" id="il231f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il231f.jpg" alt="The Valley of Jehoshaphat" title="The Valley of Jehoshaphat" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Valley of Jehoshaphat</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_164'><i>Page 164</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>Who was the owner of that sacred garden? He must have known what
+happened there "ofttimes." Perhaps, like the "goodman of the house" in
+Jerusalem, he was a disciple of Jesus, and provided this quiet retreat
+for the living Christ, in the same spirit with which Joseph of Arimath&aelig;a
+provided a garden for Him when He was dead. To these two gardens John is
+our only guide. From the one he fled with Peter in fear and sadness: to
+the other he hastened with Peter in anxiety followed by gladness.</p>
+
+<p>When at the foot of Hermon, Jesus left nine of His disciples to await
+His return. Now one was no longer "numbered among" them, as Peter
+afterward said of him "who was guide to them that took Jesus." At the
+entrance to the garden Jesus paused and said to eight, "Sit ye here
+while I go yonder and pray." So had Abraham nineteen hundred years
+before, pointing to Mount Moriah, visible from Olivet in the moonlight,
+said "unto his young men, Abide ye here ... and I and the lad will go
+yonder and worship."</p>
+
+<p>That very night Jesus was to ascend that very Mount on His way as a
+sacrifice, without any angel to stay the sacrificial hand.</p>
+
+<p>At the garden gate there was no formal farewell, but a solemn final
+charge, "Pray that ye enter not into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[Pg 166]</span>temptation." Jesus knew that the
+hour had come in which should be fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy. Sadly
+He had declared in the Upper Room, "All ye shall be offended because of
+Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the
+sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."</p>
+
+<p>He dreads to be entirely alone. He longs for companionship. He craves
+sympathy. In whose heart is it the tenderest and deepest? There is no
+guessing here. The names are already on our lips. Answer is found in the
+home of Jairus and on Hermon. Those whom He had led into the one, and
+"apart" onto the other, He would have alone with Him in the garden. So
+"He taketh with Him Peter and James and John." These companions of His
+glory shall also be of His sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>As Jesus advanced into the garden, the three discovered a change in
+Him&mdash;a contrast to the calmness of the Upper Room and the assurances of
+victory with which He had left it. He "began to be sore amazed and
+sorrowful and troubled," and "to be very heavy." We have seen John
+apparently quicker than others to detect his Lord's thoughts and
+emotions. We imagine him walking closest to His side, and watching as
+closely every change of His countenance and every motion that revealed
+the inward struggle. And so when Jesus broke the silence, he was
+somewhat pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[Pg 167]</span>pared to hear Him say to the three, "My soul is exceeding
+sorrowful even unto death."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il235f" id="il235f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il235f.jpg" alt="Christ Before Caiaphas" title="Christ Before Caiaphas" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Christ Before Caiaphas</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_176'><i>Page 176</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>The moment had come when He must deny Himself even the little comfort
+and strength of the immediate presence of the three. So saying, "Tarry
+ye here and watch with Me," He turned away. They must not follow Him to
+the spot of His greatest conflict. There He must be alone, beyond the
+reach of human help, however strong or loving. Even that which He had
+found in the few moments since leaving the garden entrance must end.
+Their eyes followed Him where they might not follow in His steps. It was
+not far. "He went forward a little." "He was parted from them about a
+stone's cast"&mdash;probably forty or fifty yards. This separation implies
+sorrow. They were near enough to watch His every movement as He "kneeled
+down" and "fell on His face to the ground" They were near enough to hear
+the passionate cry of love and agony, "O, My Father." This is the only
+time we know of His using this personal pronoun in prayer to His Father.
+He thus showed the intensity of His feeling, and longing for that
+sympathy and help which the Father alone could give.</p>
+
+<p>On Hermon the glories of the Transfiguration were almost hidden from the
+three disciples by their closing eyes. And now weariness overcame them
+in the garden. They too fell to the ground, but not in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[Pg 168]</span>prayer. They
+tarried indeed, but could no longer watch.</p>
+
+<p>They had seen Moses and Elijah with their Lord on the Holy Mount, but
+probably did not see the blessed watcher in the garden when "there
+appeared unto Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him" in body and
+soul. So had angels come and ministered unto the Lord of angels and men
+in the temptation in the wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>"Being in agony He prayed more earnestly" until mingled blood and sweat
+fell upon the ground. The heavenly visitants on Mount Hermon in glory
+had talked with Him of His decease now at hand. The cup of sorrow was
+fuller now than then. He prayed the Father that if possible it might
+pass from Him. Then the angel must have told Him that this could not be
+if He would become the Saviour of men. He uttered the words whose
+meaning we cannot fully know, "Not My will, but Thine, be done."</p>
+
+<p>The angelic presence did not make Him unmindful of the three. "He rose
+up from His prayer," and turned from the spot moistened by the drops of
+His agony. With the traces of them upon His brow, "He came unto the
+disciples." How much of pathos in the simple record, "He found them
+sleeping." Without heavenly or earthly companionship, His loneliness is
+complete.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[Pg 169]</span></p>
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Tis midnight; and from all around,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The Saviour wrestles 'lone with fears;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">E'en that disciple whom He loved,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Heeds not His Master's griefs and tears."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The head that reclined so lovingly on the bosom of the Lord in the Upper
+Room now wearily rests on the dewy grass of Gethsemane. The eyes that
+looked so tenderly into His, and the ear that listened so anxiously for
+His whisper, are closed.</p>
+
+<p>As Jesus stood by the three recumbent forms held by deep sleep, and
+gazed by the pale moonlight into their faces which showed a troubled
+slumber, He knew they "were sleeping for sorrow." In silence He looked
+upon them until His eye fastened&mdash;not on the beloved John&mdash;but on him
+who an hour ago had boasted of faithfulness to His Lord. The last
+utterance they had heard before being lost in slumber was that of
+agonizing prayer to the Father. The first that awakened them was sad and
+tender reproof&mdash;"Simon, sleepest <i>thou</i>? Couldest thou not watch one
+hour?" In the Master's words and tones were mingled reproach and
+sympathy. In tenderness He added, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the
+flesh is weak." Because of the spirit He pardoned the flesh. The
+question, "Why sleep ye?" was to the three, as well as the charge, "Rise
+and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."</p>
+
+<p>Let imagination fill out the outline drawn by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[Pg 170]</span> Evangelists:&mdash;"He
+went away again the second time and prayed; He came and found them
+asleep again; He left them and went away again and prayed the third
+time; and He cometh a third time and saith unto them, 'Sleep on now and
+take your rest.'" If we may suppose any period of rest, it was soon
+broken by the cry, "Arise, let us be going; behold he that betrayeth Me
+is at hand." They need "watch" no longer. Their Lord's threefold
+struggle was over. He was victor in Gethsemane, even as John beheld Him
+three years before, just after His threefold conflict in the wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>As they rose from the ground the inner circle that had separated them,
+not only from the other Apostles but from all other men, was erased. We
+do not find them alone with their Lord again. They rose and joined the
+eight at the garden gate.</p>
+
+<p>Recalling Gethsemane we sing to Jesus,</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>"Thyself the path of prayer hast trod."</p>
+
+
+<p>The most sacred path of prayer in all the world was in Gethsemane. It
+was only "a stone's cast" in length. The Lord trod it six times in
+passing between the place where He said to the three, "tarry ye here,"
+and that where He "kneeled down and prayed." One angel knows the spot.
+Would that he could reveal it unto us.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il240f" id="il240f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il240f.jpg" alt="Christ before Pilate" title="Christ before Pilate" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Christ before Pilate</span> (Ecce Homo)&mdash;<i>H. Hofmann</i><br /><a href='#Page_182'><i>Page 182</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>When Jesus was praying and the three were sleep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[Pg 171]</span>ing, Judas reported
+himself at the High-Priestly Palace, ready to be the guide of the band
+to arrest his Master. There were the Temple-guard with their staves, and
+soldiers with their swords, and members of the Sanhedrin, ready to aid
+in carrying out the plot arranged with the betrayer. It was
+midnight&mdash;fit hour for their deed of darkness. The full moon shone
+brightly in the clear atmosphere; yet they bore torches and lamps upon
+poles, to light up any dark ravine or shaded nook in which they imagined
+Jesus might be hiding. If any cord of love had ever bound Judas to his
+Master, it was broken. That very night he had fled from the Upper Room,
+which became especially radiant with love after his departure. To that
+room we believe he returned with his murdering band. But the closing
+hymn had been sung, and the Passover lamps extinguished two or three
+hours before. The consecrated place was not to be profaned with
+murderous intent. Another place must be sought for the victim of hate
+and destruction.</p>
+
+<p>John in his old age recalled precious memories of it, because Jesus
+ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples. But he had a remembrance
+of another kind. It is when speaking of this midnight hour that he says,
+"Judas also which betrayed Him knew the place." Thither he led his
+band&mdash;to Gethsemane.</p>
+
+<p>"Lo, he that betrayeth Me is at hand," said</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[Pg 172]</span>Jesus to the three, as He saw the gleams of the torches of the coming
+multitude. His captors were many, but His thought was especially on
+one&mdash;His betrayer. Again John reads for us the mind of Jesus, as he did
+when the "Lord and Master washed the disciples' feet." He would have us
+understand the calmness of the fixed purpose of Jesus to meet without
+shrinking the terrible trial before Him, and to do this voluntarily&mdash;not
+because of any power of His approaching captors. "Knowing all things
+that were coming upon Him," He "went forth" to meet them&mdash;especially him
+who at that moment was uppermost in His thought. John now understood
+that last, mysterious bidding of the Lord to Judas, with which He
+dismissed him from the table&mdash;"That thou doest, do quickly." He now
+"knew for what intent He spake this unto him." It was not to buy things
+needed for the feast, nor to give to the poor. It was to betray Him.</p>
+
+<p>What a scene was that&mdash;Jesus "going forth," the three following Him; and
+Judas in advance, yet in sight of his band, coming to meet Him.</p>
+
+<p>"Hail, Rabbi," was the traitor's salute. And then on this solemn
+Passover night, in this consecrated place, just hallowed by angelic
+presence, interrupting the Lord's devotions, rushing upon holiness and
+infinite goodness, with pretended fellowship and rever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[Pg 173]</span>ence, profaning
+and repeating&mdash;as if with gush of emotion&mdash;the symbol of affection,
+Judas covered the face of Jesus with kisses.</p>
+
+<p>How deep the sting on this "human face divine," already defaced by the
+bloody sweat, and to be yet more by the mocking reed, and smiting hand
+and piercing thorn. The vision of the prophet seven hundred years before
+becomes a reality&mdash;"His visage was so marred more than any man." "But
+nothing went so close to His heart as the profanation of this kiss."</p>
+
+<p>According to John's account, Judas' kiss was an unnecessary signal.
+Jesus Himself leaving the traitor, advanced toward the band, with a
+question which must have startled the Apostles, as well as the traitor
+and his company&mdash;"Whom seek ye?" The contemptuous reply, "Jesus of
+Nazareth," did not disturb His calmness as He said, "I am He," and
+repeated His question, "Whom seek ye?" Nor was that infinite calmness
+disturbed by the deeper contempt in the repeated answer, "Jesus of
+Nazareth." They had come with weapons of defence, but they were as
+useless as the betrayal kiss, especially when some of them, awed by His
+presence and words, "went backward and fell to the ground."</p>
+
+<p>We have seen Jesus going forward from His company and meeting Judas
+going forward from his. We must now think of Judas joining his band, and
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[Pg 174]</span>eleven disciples surrounding their Lord. John has preserved the
+only request made of the captors by the Master. It was not for Himself,
+but for His disciples;&mdash;"If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
+way."</p>
+
+<p>Three Evangelists tell that one of the disciples struck a servant of the
+high priest and cut off an ear. Luke the physician says it was the right
+ear, and that Christ touched it and healed it. John gives the disciple's
+name, which it was not prudent for the other Evangelists to do when
+Peter, who struck the blow, was still living. He also preserves the name
+of the servant, Malchus&mdash;the last one on whom he saw the Great Physician
+perform a healing act, showing divine power and compassion. John records
+the Lord's reproof to Peter, "Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup
+which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" Can this firm
+voice be the same which an hour ago, a stone's cast from these two
+disciples, said beseechingly, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this
+cup pass from Me." Yea, verily, for He had added to the prayer, "Not as
+I will, but as Thou wilt."</p>
+
+<p>Thus does John's record concerning Peter testify to the triumph of his
+Lord. But he also notes the immediate effect of Peter's mistaken zeal.
+The captain and officers "bound Him." That was a strange, humiliating
+sight, especially in connection with the Lord's words to Peter while
+returning the sword to its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[Pg 175]</span>sheath, "Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech
+My Father, and He shall even now send Me more than twelve legions of
+angels?" Wonderful words! fitting to be the last of the Lord's
+utterances to a disciple in Gethsemane. With burning and just
+indignation at His being bound, Jesus turned to His captors, saying,
+"Are ye come out as against a robber, to seize Me?" As they closed
+around Him His disciples were terrified with the fear of a like fate.
+"And they all left Him and fled." Prophecy was fulfilled; the Shepherd
+was smitten; the sheep were scattered.</p>
+
+<p>Without the voice of friend or foe, the garden of Olivet was silent. One
+had left it who, outliving his companions, gives us hints of his lone
+meditations. The beloved disciple cherished memories of joyous yet sad
+Gethsemane. He it was who longest remembered, and who alone preserved
+the prophecy in the Upper Room, so soon fulfilled&mdash;"Ye shall be
+scattered every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone."</p>
+
+<p>In George Herbert's words we hear the Master cry,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"All My disciples fly! fear put a bar</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Betwixt My friends and Me; they leave the star</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Which brought the Wise Men from the East from far.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Was ever grief like Mine!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[Pg 176]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXV</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John in the High Priest's Palace</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"And they that had taken Jesus led Him away to the house of
+Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were
+gathered together."&mdash;<i>Matt.</i> xxvi. 57.</p>
+
+<p>"Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That
+disciple ... entered in with Jesus into the court of the high
+priest; but Peter was standing at the door without. So the other
+disciple ... went out ... and brought in Peter."&mdash;<i>John</i> xviii. 15,
+16.</p>
+
+<p>"Everywhere we find these two Apostles, Peter and John, in great
+harmony together."&mdash;<i>Chrysostom.</i></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Bow down before thy King, My soul!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Earth's kings, before Him bow ye down;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Before Him monarchs humbly roll,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Height, might, and splendor, throne and crown.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">He in the mystic Land divine</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The sceptre wields with valiant hand.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">In vain dark, evil powers combine,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">He, victor, rules the better Land."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;<i>Ingleman.&mdash;Trans. Hymns of Denmark.</i></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"It is probable that St. John attended Christ through all the weary
+stages of His double trial&mdash;before the ecclesiastical and the civil
+authorities&mdash;and that, after a night thus spent, he accompanied the
+procession in the forenoon to the place of execution, and witnessed
+everything that followed."&mdash;<i>Stalker.</i></p></div>
+
+
+<p>We know not what became of nine of the disciples fleeing from
+Gethsemane; whether they first hid <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[Pg 177]</span>among the bushes and olive-trees,
+and escaped into the country; or took refuge in the neighboring tombs;
+or stole their way to some secret room where the goodman of the house
+furnished them protection; or scattered in terror each in his lonely
+way.</p>
+
+<p>The captive Lord was dragged along the highway where Peter and John had
+been for a single hour the Heralds of the King. Over the Kidron, up the
+slope of Moriah, through the gate near the sacred Temple, along the
+streets of the Holy City, He was led as a robber to the high-priestly
+palace.</p>
+
+<p>Three Evangelists tell us, "Peter followed afar off." But love soon
+overcame his fears. He was not long alone. John says, "Simon Peter
+followed Jesus and so did another disciple." We cannot doubt who was
+Peter's companion as he turned from his flight. They "went both
+together," as two days later they ran on another errand. In the shadows
+of the olive-trees along the roadside, or of the houses of the city,
+they followed the hurrying band which they overtook by the time it
+reached the palace gate. John did not "outrun Peter," who was probably
+the leader. But at the gate they were separated.</p>
+
+<p>We must not think that this palace was like an American house. The
+entrance to it was through a great arched gateway. This was closed with
+a large door or gate, in which there was a small entrance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[Pg 178]</span>called a
+wicket gate, through which people passed. These gates opened into a
+broad passage or square court. Around it on three sides the house was
+built. All rooms upstairs and down looked into it. One large room,
+forming one side, was separated from it, not by a wall, but by a row of
+pillars. Being thus opened it was easy to see what was passing in the
+room or the court.</p>
+
+<p>"That disciple," who accompanied Peter to the gate, "was known unto the
+high priest and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest.
+But Peter was standing at the door without." John was doubtless familiar
+with the place and the servants, and went in with the crowd. He kept as
+near as he could to his Master during the dark hours of His trial, as he
+was to do during the yet darker hours at the cross.</p>
+
+<p>But the disciple within could not forget the one without. They must not
+be separated in their common sorrow. Peter too must show by his presence
+his continued love for his Master. He must have opportunity to show in
+the palace something of the faithfulness of which he had boasted in the
+Upper Room, though it had faltered in Gethsemane.</p>
+
+<p>"Then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high priest
+and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter." That
+doorkeeper was not Rhoda&mdash;she who with a different <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[Pg 179]</span>spirit joyfully
+answered Peter's knocking at another door&mdash;but was a pert maiden who,
+sympathizing with the enemies of Jesus, "saith unto Peter, Art thou also
+one of this man's disciples?" She understood that John was such. Her
+contempt was aimed at them both. But it was not her question so much as
+Peter's answer&mdash;"I am not"&mdash;that startled John. Was it for this denial
+that he had gained admission for his friend? It would have been better
+far if Peter had been kept "standing at the door without" though "it was
+cold," than to be brought into the court of temptation and sin, where he
+"sat with the servants" in his curiosity "to see the end," warming
+himself at the fire they had kindled.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile we think of John hastening back to the judgment hall, from
+which he anxiously watched the movements of Peter "walking in the
+counsel of the ungodly, and standing in the way of sinners, and sitting
+in the seat of the scornful."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Peter! He fears to look into any man's face, or to have any one
+look into his. He has obeyed the Master's bidding, "Put up thy sword
+into the sheath," but Malchus has not forgotten it; nor has his kinsman
+who saw Peter in the garden with Jesus,&mdash;though he may have forgotten
+the healing of Malchus' ear by his prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>Three Evangelists tell how Peter "sat" with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[Pg 180]</span>enemies of Jesus. John
+tells how at different times he "stood" among them. Thus does he report
+as an eye-witness, and show his own watchfulness of Peter's
+restlessness;&mdash;of the conflicting emotions of shame and fear, the
+scornful frown, the enforced and deceiving smile, the defiant look, the
+vain effort to appear indifferent, and the storm of anger. Amazed at the
+first denial, shocked at the second, horrified at the third, what were
+John's feelings when one was "with an oath," and with another "he began
+to curse and to swear." But concerning this climax of Peter's sin, John
+is silent. It finds no place in his story.</p>
+
+<p>At last "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter," either from the hall,
+or as He was being led from it. At the same moment, Peter turned and
+looked upon Him. We imagine John turning and looking upon them both,
+marking the grief of the one, and the sense of guilt and shame of the
+other. But he knew the loving, though erring disciple so well that he
+need not be told that when "Peter went out" "he wept bitterly." We
+almost see John himself weeping bitterly over his friend's fall; then
+comforting him when they met again, with assurances of the Lord's love
+and forgiveness. John's next record of their being together shows them
+united in feeling, purpose and action for their Lord.</p>
+
+<p>There was another toward whom John's watchful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[Pg 181]</span>eyes turned during the
+long and painful watches of that night. The picture of him is not
+complete without this Apostle's records.</p>
+
+<p>"Art thou the King of the Jews?" asked Pilate of Jesus. Such John had
+thought Him to be. For three years he had waited to see Him assume His
+throne. He has preserved the Lord's answer,&mdash;"My kingdom is not of this
+world." This declaration contained a truth to which even the favored
+disciple had been partly blind. Was he not ready to ask with Pilate,
+though with different spirit and purpose, "Art thou a King then?" The
+Lord's answer must have meant more to the listening Apostle than to the
+captious and heedless Governor. It was a declaration of the true
+kingship of the Messiah-King,&mdash;"To this end have I been born, and to
+this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the
+truth."</p>
+
+<p>"What is truth?" asked Pilate in a careless manner, not caring for an
+answer. "What is truth?" was the great question whose answer the Apostle
+continued to seek, concerning the King and the kingdom of Him whom He
+had heard say, "I am the Truth."</p>
+
+<p>In that night he saw the Messiah-King crowned, but with thorns. He saw
+the purple robe upon Him, but it was the cast-off garment of a Roman
+Governor. A reed, given Him for a sceptre, was snatched from His hand to
+smite Him on His head. Instead of pour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[Pg 182]</span>ing holy oil of kingly
+consecration, as upon David's head, His enemies "spit upon Him." It was
+in mockery that they bowed the knee before Him saying, "Hail King of the
+Jews."</p>
+
+<p>There are two scenes with which John alone has made us familiar. One is
+described in these words:&mdash;"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of
+thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith, Behold the man!" Did not
+that word "Behold," recall to John another scene&mdash;that on the Jordan
+when he looked upon this same Jesus as the Lamb of God, whom His enemies
+were about to offer unwittingly, when He offered Himself not unwillingly
+a sacrifice upon the cross? The Baptist's exclamation had been in
+adoration and joyfulness: Pilate's was in pity and sadness. It was an
+appeal to humanity, but in vain. There was no pity in that maddened
+throng. Pilate turned in bitterness toward those whom he hated, but
+whose evil deeds he did not dare to oppose. So in irony "Pilate ...
+brought forth Jesus ... and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!"</p>
+
+<p>John was the only one who heard the three cries of "Behold"&mdash;one at the
+beginning, the others at the close of the Lord's ministry. How much he
+had beheld and heard and learned between, concerning "the Lamb," "the
+Man," and "the King."</p>
+
+<p>The only earthly throne on which John saw Him sit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[Pg 183]</span>was one of mockery.
+He did not ask to sit with Him. It was a sad yet blessed privilege to be
+with Him during that night of agony&mdash;the only friendly witness to
+probably all of His sufferings. While John's eyes were turned often and
+earnestly toward Peter and Pilate, they were yet more on the Lord. When
+he went in with Jesus into the palace, and while he tarried with Him, he
+could <i>do</i> nothing&mdash;only <i>look</i>. No angel was there as in Gethsemane to
+strengthen the Man of sorrows, but did He not often look for sympathy
+toward that one who had leaned lovingly upon Him a few hours before? Was
+not John's mere waking presence among His foes in the palace, a solace
+which slumber had denied Him in the garden? John's eyes were not heavy
+now. There was no need of the Lord's bidding, "Tarry ye here and watch
+with Me." Love made him tarry and watch more than "one hour"&mdash;even
+through all the watches of the night. Then he was the Lord's only human
+friend&mdash;the one silent comforter.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[Pg 184]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXVI</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John the Lone Disciple at the Cross</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"When they came unto the place which is called Calvary, there they
+crucified Him."&mdash;<i>Luke</i> xxiii. 33.</p>
+
+<p>"At Calvary poets have sung their sweetest strains, and artists
+have seen their sublimest visions."&mdash;<i>Stalker.</i></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Now to sorrow must I tune my song,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And set my harp to notes of saddest woe,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Which on our dearest Lord did seize ere long,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse than so,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Which He for us did freely undergo:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Most perfect Hero, tried in heaviest plight</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Of labors huge and hard, too hard for human wight."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">&mdash;<i>Milton.&mdash;The Passion.</i></span></p></div>
+
+<p>Even careful students of the life of John are not together in their
+attempts to follow him on the day of crucifixion. Some think they find
+evidence, chiefly in his silence concerning certain events, that after
+hearing the final sentence of Pilate condemning Christ to be crucified,
+he left the palace and joined the other disciples and faithful women and
+the mother of Jesus, and reported what he had seen and heard during the
+night; and at some hour during the day visited Calvary, and returning to
+the city brought the women <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[Pg 185]</span>who stood with him at the cross: and
+witnessed only what he minutely or only describes. Other students think
+he followed Jesus from the palace to the cross, remaining near Him and
+witnessing all that transpired. This is certainly in keeping with what
+we should expect from his peculiar relation to Christ. It is in harmony
+with what we do know of his movements that day. So we are inclined to
+follow him as a constant though silent companion of Jesus, feeling that
+in keeping near him we are near to his Lord and ours. This we now do in
+the "Dolorous Way," along which Jesus is hurried from the judgment-seat
+of Pilate to the place of execution.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il257f" id="il257f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il257f.jpg" alt="Christ Bearing His Cross" title="Christ Bearing His Cross" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Christ Bearing His Cross</span>&mdash;<i>H. Hofmann</i><br /><a href='#Page_185'><i>Page 185</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>It is John who uses the one phrase in the Gospels which furnishes a
+tragic subject for artists, and poets and preachers, on which
+imagination dwells, and excites our sympathies as does no other save the
+crucifixion itself. His phrase is this,&mdash;"Jesus ... bearing the cross
+for Himself." We notice this all the more because of the silence of the
+other Evangelists, all of whom tell of one named Simon who was compelled
+to bear the cross. As John read their story, there was another picture
+in his mind, too fresh and vivid not to be painted also. He recalled the
+short distance that Christ carried the cross alone, weakened by the
+agonies of the garden and the scourging of the palace, until, exhausted,
+He fell beneath the burden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[Pg 186]</span> We are not told that the crown of thorns
+had been removed, though the purple robe of mockery had been. So this
+added to His continued pain. As John looked upon those instruments of
+suffering he heard the banter and derision of shame that always
+accompanied them.</p>
+
+<p>There followed Jesus "a great multitude of the people," whose morbid
+curiosity would be gratified by the coming tragedy. But there were
+others&mdash;"women who bewailed and lamented Him."</p>
+
+<p>It is surmised that at the moment when Jesus could bear His cross no
+longer, and was relieved by Simon, He turned to the weeping "Daughters
+of Jerusalem" following Him, and in tenderest sympathy told of the
+coming days of sorrow for them and their city, of which He had told John
+and his companions on Olivet.</p>
+
+<p>John says that Jesus "went out ... unto the place called the place of a
+skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha." The place was also called
+Calvary. We do not certainly know the sacred spot, though careful
+students think it is north of the city, near the Damascus gate, near the
+gardens of the ancient city, and tombs that still remain. We think of
+John revisiting it again and again while he remained in Jerusalem, and
+then in thought in his distant home where he wrote of it. "There," says
+John, "they crucified Jesus, and with Him two others, on either side
+one, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[Pg 187]</span>and Jesus in the midst." How few his words, but how full of
+meaning. We long to know more of John's memories of that day&mdash;of all
+that he saw and felt and did. They were such in kind and number as none
+other than he did or could have.</p>
+
+<p>There were two contrasted groups of four each around the cross, to which
+John calls special attention. One, the nearest to it, was composed of
+Roman soldiers, to whom were committed the details of the
+crucifixion&mdash;the arrangement of the cross, the driving of the nails, and
+the elevation of the victim upon it.</p>
+
+<p>Having stripped Jesus of His clothing, according to custom they divided
+it among themselves; the loose upper garment or toga to one, the
+head-dress to another, the girdle to another, and the sandals to the
+last. John watched the division&mdash;"to every soldier a part." But his
+interest was chiefly in the under-garment such as Galilean peasants
+wore. This must have been a reminder of the region from which he and
+Jesus had come. He thinks it worth while to describe it as "without
+seam, woven from the top throughout." Perhaps to him another
+reminder&mdash;of Mary or Salome or other ministering women by whose loving
+hands it had been knit. If ever a garment, because of its associations,
+could be called holy, surely it is what John calls "the coat" of Jesus.
+Even without miraculous power, it would be the most precious of relics.
+We <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[Pg 188]</span>notice John's interest in it as he watches the soldiers'
+conversation of banter or pleasantry or quarrel, in which it might
+become worthless by being torn asunder. He remembered their parleying,
+and the proposal in which it ended,&mdash;"Let us not rend it, but cast lots
+for it whose it shall be." How far were their thoughts from his when
+their words recalled to him the prophecy they were unconsciously
+fulfilling,&mdash;"They part My garments among them, and upon My vesture do
+they cast lots."</p>
+
+<p>With what pity did Jesus look down upon the lucky soldier&mdash;so he would
+be called&mdash;sporting with the coat which had protected Him from the night
+winds of Gethsemane. How He longed to see in the bold and heartless
+heirs to His only earthly goods, the faith of her, who timidly touched
+the hem of His garment. What a scene was that for John to behold! What a
+scene for angels who had sung the glories of Jesus' birth, now looking
+down upon His dying agonies of shame&mdash;and upon the gambling dice of His
+murderers! No marvel John added to the almost incredible story, "These
+things ... the soldiers did."</p>
+
+<p>It is at this point that we notice a sudden transition in John's
+narrative. He points us from the unfriendly group of four, to another of
+the same number; saying as if by contrast, "<i>But</i> there were standing by
+the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[Pg 189]</span> Mary the wife
+of Clopas and Mary Magdalene." By "His mother's sister" we understand
+Salome.</p>
+
+<p>The centurion had charge of the plundering soldiers; John was the
+guardian of the sympathizing women. He had a special interest in that
+group, containing his mother and aunt, and probably another relative in
+Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was not of this family
+connection, though of kindred spirit. So must John have felt as she
+stood with him at the cross, and at a later hour when we shall see them
+together again.</p>
+
+<p>In the days of the boyhood of John and Jesus, we thought of their
+mothers as sisters, and of parents and children as looking for the
+coming Messiah. None thought of the possibilities of this hour when they
+would meet in Jerusalem at the cross. By it stands John the only one of
+the Apostles. Judas has already gone to "his own place." If Peter is
+following at all it is afar off. The rest have not rallied from their
+flight enough to appear after their flight. James the brother of John is
+not with him. As their mother looks upon Jesus between two robbers, does
+she recall her ambitious request, "Command that these my two sons may
+sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand"? She understands
+now the fitness of the reply she had received,&mdash;"Ye know not what ye
+ask"?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[Pg 190]</span>But Salome and John are loyal to the uncrowned King. Though they may
+not share the glory of His throne, they are yet ready to stand beneath
+the shameful shadow of His cross.</p>
+
+<p>But another is there,&mdash;drawn by a yet stronger cord of affection. She
+heads John's list of the women "by the cross of Jesus&mdash;His mother,"
+whose love is so deep that it cannot forego witnessing the sight that
+fills her soul with agony. Yes, Mary, thou art there.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Now by that cross thou tak'st thy final station,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And shar'st the last dark trial of thy Son;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Not with weak tears or woman's lamentation,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">But with high, silent anguish, like His own."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">&mdash;<i>H.B. Stowe</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>As she stands there we seem to read her thoughts: "Can that be He, my
+babe of Bethlehem, my beautiful boy of Nazareth, in manhood my joy and
+my hope! Are those hands the same that have been so lovingly held in
+mine; those arms, outstretched and motionless, the same that have so
+often been clasped around me! Oh! that I might staunch His wounds, and
+moisten His parched lips, and gently lift that thorny crown from His
+bleeding brow."</p>
+
+<p>But this cannot be. There is being fulfilled Simeon's prophecy, uttered
+as he held her infant in his arms,&mdash;a foreboding which has cast a
+mysterious shadow on the joys of her life.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[Pg 191]</span>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Beside the cross in tears</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The woeful mother stood,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Bent 'neath the weight of years,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And viewed His flowing blood;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Her mind with grief was torn,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Her strength was ebbing fast,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And through her heart forlorn,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The sword of Anguish passed."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>She can only draw yet nearer to His cross and give the comfort of a
+mother's look, and perhaps receive the comfort of a look from Him,
+and&mdash;oh, if it can be&mdash;a word of comfort from His lips for the
+mother-heart. Perhaps for a moment her thoughts are on the future,&mdash;her
+lonely life, without the sympathy of her other sons who believed not on
+their brother. Oh! that they were like John, to her already more of a
+son than they.</p>
+
+<p>In childhood Jesus had been "subject" to her: in youth and manhood He
+had been faithful to her. In the Temple He had thought of her as His
+mother, and of God as His Father. But no exalted relation, no greatness
+to which He had attained on earth, had made Him disloyal to her. While
+claiming to be the Son of God, He was still the loving son of Mary. Such
+He would show Himself to be on the cross. We thank John for the record
+of that moment when "Jesus ... saw His mother." "The people stood
+beholding" Him, but His eyes were not on them; nor on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[Pg 192]</span>those passing by
+His cross wagging their heads, nor the malefactor at His side reviling
+Him; nor on the chief priest and scribes, the elders and soldiers
+mocking Him; nor the rulers deriding Him. His thought was not on them,
+nor even on Himself in His agonies, as His eyes rested keenly on His
+mother. It was a deep, tender, earnest gaze.</p>
+
+<p>John tells that Jesus also "saw" "the disciples standing by, whom He
+loved." The Lord turned His head from His mother to His disciple. This
+could be His only gesture pointing them one to the other.</p>
+
+<p>The prayer for His murderers had apparently been uttered when His hands
+were pierced, before the cross was raised. He may have spoken once after
+it was elevated, before He saw the two special objects of His love. His
+eyes met His mother's. She saw Him try to speak. The utterance of His
+parched lips, with gasping breath, was brief, full of meaning and
+tenderness&mdash;"Woman! behold, thy son!" Then turning toward John He said,
+"Behold! thy mother!"</p>
+
+<p>In these words Jesus committed His mother to John without asking whether
+he would accept the charge.</p>
+
+<p>"From that hour the disciple took her unto his own home." It is a
+question whether or not the phrase, "from that hour," is to be taken
+literally. It may be that the blessed words, "mother" and "son," were as
+a final benediction, after which John led her away, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[Pg 193]</span>and then returned
+to the cross. Or, it may be that the mother-heart compelled her to
+witness the closing scenes.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il266f" id="il266f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il266f.jpg" alt="The Virgin and St. John at the Cross" title="The Virgin and St. John at the Cross" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Virgin and St. John at the Cross</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_193'><i>Page 193</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>If we pause long enough to inquire why John was chosen to be trusted
+with this special charge, we can find probable answer. Jesus' "brethren"
+did not then believe on Him. Mary's heart would go out toward him who
+did, especially as he was her kindred as well as of a kindred spirit.
+His natural character, loving and lovable, made him worthy of the trust.
+Apparently he was better able to support her than were any other of the
+Apostles, and perhaps even than her sons. He seems to have been the only
+Apostle or relative of Mary who had a home in Jerusalem, where she
+certainly would choose to dwell among the followers of the Lord. Above
+all John was the beloved disciple of Mary's beloved son. So to him we
+can fittingly say:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">"As in death He hung,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mantle soft on thee He flung</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of filial love, and named the son;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When now that earthly tie was done,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To thy tried faith and spotless years</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Consigned His Virgin Mother's tears."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">&mdash;<i>Isaac Williams</i>.&mdash;Trans. An. Latin Hymn.</span>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<p>Blessed John. When Jesus called His own mother "thy mother," didst thou
+not almost hear Him call thee "My brother"?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[Pg 194]</span>One tradition says that John cared for Mary in Jerusalem for twelve
+years, until her death, before his going to Ephesus. Another tradition
+is that she accompanied him thither and was buried there. What a home
+was theirs, ever fragrant with the memory of Him whom they had loved
+until His death. No incidents in His life, from the hour of brightness
+over Bethlehem to that of darkness over Calvary, was too trivial a thing
+for their converse. That home in Jerusalem became what the one in
+Nazareth had been, the most consecrated of earth. What welcomes there of
+Christians who could join with Mary as she repeated her song of
+thirty-three years before, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit
+hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Of her we shall gain one more distinct
+view&mdash;the only one.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il271f" id="il271f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il271f.jpg" alt="The Descent from the Cross" title="The Descent from the Cross" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Descent from the Cross</span>&mdash;<i>Rubens</i><br /><a href='#Page_200'><i>Page 200</i></a></h4>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[Pg 195]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXVII</i></h2>
+
+<h4>Lone Disciple at the Cross&mdash;<i>Continued</i></h4>
+
+<blockquote><p>Three sayings on the cross reported by John:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!"</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I thirst."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"It is finished."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">&mdash;<i>John</i> xix. 26, 27, 28, 30.</span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Of the seven sayings of Christ on the cross, three are preserved by John
+only; one of love, another of suffering, and another of triumph. The
+first is that to Mary and John himself. The second is the cry, "I
+thirst"&mdash;the only one of the seven concerning the Lord's bodily
+sufferings. John was a most observing eyewitness, as is shown by the
+details of the narrative,&mdash;the "vessel <i>full</i> of vinegar," the "sponge
+filled with vinegar," and the hyssop on which it was placed, the
+movements of the soldiers as they put it to Christ's lips, and the
+manner in which He received it. He was willing to accept it to revive
+His strength to suffer, when "He would not drink" the "wine mingled with
+gall" that would relieve Him from the pain He was willing to endure. The
+end was drawing near. The thirst had long continued. He had borne it
+patiently <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[Pg 196]</span>for five long hours. Why did He at last utter the cry, "I
+thirst"? John gives the reason. A prophecy was being fulfilled, and
+Jesus would have it known. It was this: "In My thirst they gave Me
+vinegar to drink." So "Jesus, ... that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
+saith, 'I thirst.'"</p>
+
+<p>John watched Him as He took His last earthly draught. It was probably of
+the sour wine for the use of the soldiers on guard. What varied
+associations he had with wine,&mdash;the joyful festivities of Cana, the
+solemnities of the Upper Room, and the sadness of Calvary.</p>
+
+<p>When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is
+finished." This is the third of the sayings of Jesus on the cross
+preserved by John, who was a special witness to the chief doings of his
+Lord on the earth. So the declaration meant more to him than to any
+other who heard it. Yet it had a fulness of meaning which even he could
+not fully know. Jesus' life on earth was finished. He had perfectly
+obeyed the commandments of God. The types and prophecies concerning Him
+had been fulfilled. His revelation of truth was completed. The work of
+man's redemption was done. On the cross He affirmed what John said He
+declared in the Upper Room to His Father: "I have glorified Thee on the
+earth, having accomplished the work Thou hast given Me to do."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[Pg 197]</span>All four Evangelists tell of the moment when Jesus yielded up His life,
+but John alone of the act that accompanied it as the signal thereof,
+which his observant eye beheld. "He bowed His head,"&mdash;not as the
+helpless victim of the executioner's knife upon the fatal block, but as
+the Lord of Life who had said, "No one taketh it away from Me, but I lay
+it down of Myself."</p>
+
+<p>John makes mention of another incident without which the story of the
+crucifixion would be incomplete. Mary Magdalene and other loving women
+had left the cross, but were gazing toward it as they "stood afar off."
+John remained with the soldiers who were watching the bodies of the
+crucified. "The Jews, ... that the bodies should not remain upon the
+cross upon the Sabbath, asked of Pilate that their legs might be
+broken"&mdash;to hasten death&mdash;"and that they might be taken away." As John
+saw the soldiers "break the legs of the first and of the other which was
+crucified with" Jesus, with what a shudder did he see them approach His
+cross; but what a relief to him when they "saw that He was dead already,
+and brake not His legs."</p>
+
+<p>In a single clause John pictures a scene ever vivid in Christian
+thought. He knew that Jesus "gave up His spirit" when "He bowed His
+head." The executioners pronounced Him dead. "Howbeit one of the
+soldiers"&mdash;to make this certain beyond dispute&mdash;"with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[Pg 198]</span>a spear pierced
+His side, and straightway there came out blood and water." There was now
+no pain to excite the Apostle's sympathy, and yet he reports the
+incident as being of special importance. He calls attention to the fact
+that he was an eye-witness, and that there was something in it that
+should affect others as well as himself. He says, "He that hath seen
+hath borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knoweth that he
+saith true, that ye also may believe." He explains why these incidents
+so deeply impressed him. They recalled two prophecies of the Old
+Testament. One was this, "A bone of Him shall not be broken." This
+reminded John of the Paschal Lamb which should be perfect in body; and
+of Jesus as the Lamb of God, by which name He had been called when
+pointed out to him as the Messiah. All through life Jesus had been
+preserved from accident that would have broken a bone, and in death even
+from the intended purpose that would have defeated the fulfilment of the
+prophecy.</p>
+
+<p>The other prophecy was this,&mdash;"They shall look on Him whom they
+pierced." Because of what John saw and tells, we pray in song,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Let the water and the blood</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">From Thy riven side which flowed,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Be of sin the double cure:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Cleanse me from its guilt and power."</span><br /><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><a name="il277f" id="il277f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il277f.jpg" alt="In the Sepulchre" title="In the Sepulchre" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">In the Sepulchre</span>&mdash;<i>H. Hofmann</i><br /><a href='#Page_201'><i>Page 201</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[Pg 199]</span>John once more furnishes a contrast between Jesus' foes and friends. He
+says that the Jews asked Pilate that the bodies of the crucified might
+be taken away. This was to the dishonored graves of malefactors. John
+more fully than the other Evangelists tells of Joseph of Arimath&aelig;a who
+"besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus"&mdash;for
+honorable burial. Other Evangelists tell of his being "rich," "a
+counsellor of honorable estate," "a good man and a righteous," who "had
+not consented to" the "counsel and deed" of the Sanhedrin of which he
+was a member, because he "was Jesus' disciple." Mark says, "He boldly
+went in unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus." He had summoned
+courage so to do. Hitherto as John explains he had been "a disciple of
+Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews." John implies that Joseph was
+naturally timid like Nicodemus. As Pilate had delivered Jesus to His
+open enemies to be crucified, he delivered the crucified body to Joseph,
+the once secret but now open friend. The Jews "led him"&mdash;the living
+Christ&mdash;"away to crucify Him." Joseph "came" and tenderly "took away His
+body" from the cross.</p>
+
+<p>"There came also Nicodemus," says John, "he who at the first came to Him
+by night." Yes, that night which John could not forget, in which to this
+same Nicodemus Jesus made known the Gospel of God's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[Pg 200]</span>love, manifested in
+the gift of His Son whose body in that hour these timid yet emboldened
+members of the Sanhedrin took down from the cross. They were sincere
+mourners with him who watched their tender care as they "bound it in
+linen cloths with the spices" for burial, with no thought of a
+resurrection.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps Joseph and Nicodemus recalled moments in the Sanhedrin when they
+whispered together, speaking kindly of Jesus, but were afraid to defend
+Him aloud; thus silently giving a seeming consent to evil deeds because
+timidity concealed their friendship. But at last the very enmity and
+cruelty of His murderers emboldened them as they met at the cross.</p>
+
+<p>It is John who tells us that Jesus the night before His crucifixion went
+"where was a garden into which He entered," and who also says, "Now in
+the place where He was crucified there was a garden." The one was ever
+more suggestive to him of a coming trial; the other of that trial past.
+"There," in the garden&mdash;probably that of Joseph&mdash;John says "they laid
+Jesus." There also were laid John's hopes, which seemed forever buried
+when Joseph "rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and
+departed." What a contrast in his thoughts and feelings between the
+rolling <i>away</i> of the stone from the tomb of Lazarus, and the rolling
+<i>to</i> that of Jesus. The one told him of resurrection; but the other of
+continued death; for as he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[Pg 201]</span>afterward confessed, "as yet" he and Peter
+"knew not that Jesus must rise from the dead."</p>
+
+<p>Two mourners at least lingered at the closed tomb. "Mary Magdalene was
+there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre" of their
+Lord, after they "beheld where He was laid." John's parting from them at
+that evening hour was in sadness which was to be deepened when he met
+Mary Magdalene again.</p>
+
+<p>It is not easy for us to put ourselves in the place of John, as he turns
+from the tomb toward his lonely home. <i>We</i> know what happened afterward,
+but he did not know what would happen, though his Lord had tried to
+teach him. He is repeating to himself the words he had heard from the
+cross, "It is finished," but he is giving them some difference of
+meaning from that which Jesus intended. He is walking slowly and sadly
+through the streets of Jerusalem, dimly lighted by the moon that shone
+in Gethsemane the night before upon him and his living Lord. We imagine
+him saying to himself:&mdash;"Truly it is finished: all is over now. How
+disappointed I am. I do not believe He intended to deceive me, yet I
+have been deceived. From early childhood I looked, as I was taught to
+do, for the coming of the Messiah. On Jordan I thought I had found Him.
+He chose me for one of His twelve, then one of the three, then the one
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[Pg 202]</span> His special love. What a joy this has been, brightening for three
+years my hopes and expectations. I have seen Him work miracles, even
+raising the dead. I have seen Him defeat the plots of evil men against
+Him, and did not believe any power on earth could destroy Him. I have
+watched to see Him the great and glorious King. But to-day instead of
+this I have seen Him crucified as the feeblest and worst of men. I do
+remember now how Moses and Elijah, when we were with them on the Holy
+Mount, talked with Him of 'His departure which He was about to
+accomplish at Jerusalem.' But I did not understand them, nor even
+Himself when, just before we ascended the Mount, He told us 'how that He
+must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, ... and be killed.' I do
+not wonder that Peter then said to Him, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord,'
+though the Lord was right in rebuking him. Can it be only last night He
+said, 'Tarry with Me.' How gladly would I do it now. But He is dead, and
+buried out of my sight. Oh that I might see Him rise, as I did the
+daughter of Jairus. Oh that I might roll away the stone from His tomb as
+I helped to do from that of Lazarus, and see Him come forth. How gladly
+would I 'loose Him' from His 'grave-bands' and remove the 'napkin bound
+about His face.' I know it was a mean and shameful taunt of His revilers
+when they said, 'If Thou <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[Pg 203]</span>art the Son of God, come down from the
+cross.' But why did He not do it? I remember how once He said concerning
+His life, 'no one taketh it away from Me.' But have not Pilate and the
+Jews taken it away? I shall never lean upon His bosom again. But this I
+know&mdash;He loved me, and I loved Him, and love Him still. The mysteries
+are great, but the memories of Him will be exceedingly precious
+forever."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il282f" id="il282f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il282f.jpg" alt="Jesus Appearing to Mary Magdalene" title="Jesus Appearing to Mary Magdalene" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Jesus Appearing to Mary Magdalene</span> (Easter Morning)&mdash;<i>B. Plockhorst</i><br /><a href='#Page_209'><i>Page 209</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>Poor John. He forgot those other words of His Lord concerning His
+life,&mdash;"I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."
+The Lord had done the one already: He was soon to do the other, though
+His sorrowing disciple understood it not. Meanwhile we leave him,
+resting if possible from the weariness of the garden and the palace and
+Calvary, during that Friday night, which was to be followed by a day of
+continued sadness, and that by another night of sorrowful restlessness.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[Pg 204]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>John at the Tomb</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,
+while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken
+away from the tomb. She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon
+Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.</p>
+
+<p>"Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went
+toward the tomb.</p>
+
+<p>"Simon Peter ... entered into the tomb.</p>
+
+<p>"Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, ... and he saw
+and believed."&mdash;<i>John</i> xx. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us take John for our instructor in the swiftness of love, and
+Peter for our teacher in courage."&mdash;<i>Stalker</i>.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh, sacred day, sublimest day!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Oh, mystery unheard!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Death's hosts that claimed Him as their prey</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">He scattered with a word;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And from the tomb He valiant came;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And ever blessed be His name."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">&mdash;<i>Kingo. Trans. Hymns of Denmark</i>.</span><br /><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Mine eye hath found that sepulchral rock</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">That was the casket of Heav'n's richest store."</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;<i>Milton</i>.&mdash;<i>The Passion</i>.</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+<p>Of the women who visited the tomb of Jesus on the morning of the
+Resurrection, John was especially interested in Mary Magdalene, from
+whom seven de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[Pg 205]</span>mons had gone out, probably in his presence; thus giving
+him opportunity to see the marvelous change from a most abject
+condition, to grateful devotion to her Healer, perhaps beyond that of
+any other one whom He healed. John long remembered her starting on her
+errand "while it was yet dark." So he remembered Judas starting when "it
+was night" on his errand, of which Mary's was the sad result. One was a
+deed of love which no darkness hindered: the other was a deed of hate
+which no darkness prevented or concealed.</p>
+
+<p>John had a special reason for remembering Mary. When she had seen that
+the stone was taken away from the tomb, it had a different meaning to
+her from what it did when she and John saw it on Friday evening. And
+when she "found not the body of the Lord Jesus," she imagined that
+either friends had borne it away, or foes had robbed the tomb. In
+surprise, disappointment and anxiety, her first impulse was to make it
+known&mdash;to whom else than to him who had sorrowed with her at the
+stone-closed door? So she "ran"&mdash;not with unwomanly haste, but with the
+quickened step of woman's love&mdash;"to Simon Peter and to the other
+disciple whom Jesus loved." They were both loved, but not in the fuller
+sense elsewhere applied to John. Astonished at her early call, startled
+at the wildness of her grief, sharing her anxiety, "they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[Pg 206]</span>ran both
+together" "toward the tomb" from which she had so hastily come. But it
+was an uneven race. John, younger and nimbler, "outran Peter and came
+first to the tomb." "Yet entered he not in." Reverence and awe make him
+pause where love has brought him. For a few moments he is alone. His
+earnest gaze confirms the report of Mary that somebody has "taken away
+the Lord." He can only ask, Who? Why? Where? No angel gives answer.
+Still his gaze is rewarded. "He seeth the linen cloths lying." These are
+silent witnesses that the precious body has not been hastily and rudely
+snatched away by unfriendly hands, such as had mangled it on the cross.</p>
+
+<p>Peter arriving, everywhere and evermore impulsive, enters at once where
+John fears to tread. He discovers what John had not seen,&mdash;"the napkin
+that was upon His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up
+in a place by itself." John does not tell whose head, so full is he of
+the thought of his Lord.</p>
+
+<p>"Then entered in therefore that other disciple also," says John of
+himself, showing the influence of his bolder companion upon him. Though
+the napkin escaped his notice from without the tomb, it found a
+prominent place in his memory after he saw it. Who but an eye-witness
+would give us such details? <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[Pg 207]</span>What does he mean us to infer from the
+"rolled" napkin put away, if not the calmness and carefulness and
+triumph of the Lord of Life as He tarried in His tomb long enough to lay
+aside the bandages of death. When he saw the careful arrangement of the
+grave-cloths, "he believed" that Jesus had risen. We are not to infer
+from his mention of himself only that Peter did not share in this
+belief. We can believe that Luke does not complete the story when he
+says that Peter "departed to his home wondering at that which was come
+to pass." As they came down from the Mount of Transfiguration they were
+"questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should
+mean." As they came from the tomb they questioned no longer.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il288f" id="il288f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il288f.jpg" alt="The Descent of the Holy Spirit" title="The Descent of the Holy Spirit" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Descent of the Holy Spirit</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_224'><i>Page 224</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>We long for a yet fuller record than that which John has given of what
+passed when he and Peter were within the tomb. He frankly tells us that
+"as yet they knew not the Scriptures, that He must rise again from the
+dead." Neither prophecy, nor the Scriptures, nor the Lord's repeated
+declarations, had prepared them for this hour of fulfilment.</p>
+
+<p>We imagine them lingering in the tomb, talking of the past, recalling
+the words of their Lord, illumined in the very darkness of His
+sepulchre, and both wondering what the future might reveal. At last they
+left the tomb together. There was no occasion now for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>[Pg 208]</span> John to outrun
+Peter. They were calm and joyful. There was nothing more to see or to
+do. "So the disciples went away again unto their own home."</p>
+
+<p>"But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping." In these words John
+turns our thoughts from himself to her who had summoned him and Peter,
+and then followed them. After they had left the sepulchre she continued
+standing, bitterly weeping. She could not refrain from seeking that
+which she had told the disciples was not there. Her gaze was "at the
+very cause of her grief." "She stooped and looked into the tomb" as John
+had done.</p>
+
+<p>From the infancy of Jesus to His death there was no ministry of angels
+to men, though they ministered to Him. "The Master being by, it behooved
+the servant to keep silence." But the angelic voices that proclaimed His
+birth, were heard again after His resurrection. According to John's
+minute description Mary "beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at
+the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." The
+angelic silence was broken by them both, with the question, "Woman, why
+weepest thou"&mdash;so bitterly and continuously? They might have added, "It
+is all without a cause." Her answer was quick and brief; and without any
+fear of the shining ones who lightened the gloomy tomb, and were ready
+to lighten her darkened spirit. Her reply was the echo <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>[Pg 209]</span>of her own words
+to Peter and John, slightly changed to show her personal loss;&mdash;"Because
+they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
+Him."&mdash;Am I not wretched indeed? Is there not a cause? Why should I
+check my tears?</p>
+
+<p>To answer was needless. Were not the angels in the blessed secret which
+was immediately revealed? Were they not glancing from within the tomb,
+over her bowed head, to the gently moving form without? Did Mary become
+suddenly conscious of some presence as "she turns herself back, and
+beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus"? His question
+seemed an echo of the angelic voices, "Woman, why weepest thou?" with
+the added question, "Whom seekest thou?" This was the first utterance of
+the risen Lord. In the garden, at this early hour, who&mdash;so thought
+Mary&mdash;can this be but the gardener? As such she addressed Him, "Sir, If
+<i>thou</i> hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I
+will take Him away." We can hardly restrain a smile when we see how the
+strength of her love made her unmindful of the weakness that would
+attempt to "take Him away."</p>
+
+<p>"Jesus saith unto her, Mary." That name, that familiar voice, that
+loving tone, sent a thrill through her heart which the name "woman" had
+failed to excite. More completely "she turned herself, and saith <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>[Pg 210]</span>unto
+Him, Rabboni," with all the devotion of her impassioned soul.</p>
+
+<p>Let us recall John's account of Mary's report of her first visit to the
+tomb, full of sadness&mdash;"<i>They have taken away the Lord</i>," and then in
+contrast place by its side his record of her second report, full of
+gladness&mdash;"Mary Magdalene, cometh and telleth the disciples, <i>I have
+seen the Lord</i>." The one was a mistaken inference; the other a blessed
+reality. Between these two utterances on the same day what revelations
+to them both. But the end was not yet.</p>
+
+<p>"When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week,
+and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
+Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be
+unto you." So John describes the first meeting of Jesus with the
+disciples after His resurrection. He gives hints of some things of which
+other Evangelists are silent. With emphasis he notes "that day" as the
+day of days whose rising sun revealed resurrection glory. That "evening"
+must have recalled the last one on which they had been together. Then
+the Lord had said unto them, "Peace I leave with you." But the
+benediction had seemed almost a mockery, because of the sorrow which
+followed. But now it was repeated with a renewed assurance of His power
+to bestow it. Through fear of the Jews they had closed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>[Pg 211]</span>the doors of
+probably the same Upper Room where they had been assembled before. These
+doors were no barrier to His entry, any more than the stone to His
+leaving His tomb.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il295f" id="il295f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il295f.jpg" alt="St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate" title="St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_225'><i>Page 225</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>As John alone preserved the incident of the pierced side, he alone tells
+how Jesus "showed unto them His ... side," and said to Thomas, at the
+next meeting, "Reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side;" and
+how this was followed by Thomas' believing exclamation, "My Lord, and my
+God." With this and the Lord's beatitude for other believing ones, John
+originally ended his story of the Lord, in these words,&mdash;"Many other
+signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not
+written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that
+Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life
+in His name."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>[Pg 212]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXIX</i></h2>
+
+<h4>"<i>What Shall This Man Do</i>?"</h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of
+Tiberias."&mdash;<i>John</i> xxi. 1.</p>
+
+<p>"There were together Simon Peter ... and the sons of
+Zebedee."&mdash;<i>v</i>. 2.</p>
+
+<p>"Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved
+following."&mdash;<i>v.</i> 20.</p>
+
+<p>"Peter ... saith to Jesus, Lord, and What shall this man do?"&mdash;<i>v</i>.
+21.</p></div>
+
+<p>The twenty-first chapter of John's Gospel is without doubt an addition,
+written some time after the original Gospel was finished. Why this
+addition? To answer the question we must recall the things of which the
+addition tells. They are of special interest in our studies of Peter and
+John.</p>
+
+<p>In our last chapter we were with John in Jerusalem. From there he
+carries us to the Sea of Tiberias. He tells us that he and his brother
+James, and Peter, with four others, "were there together." They were
+near their childhood home, where they had watched for the Messiah, and
+where, when He had appeared He called them to leave their fishing
+employment, and to become <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>[Pg 213]</span>fishers of men. They had been saddened by His
+death, then gladdened by His resurrection. He had told them to meet Him
+in Galilee. And now they were waiting for His coming. They were within
+sight of a boat from which perhaps some day they had fished. Peter, ever
+active and ready to do something, said to his companions, "I go
+a-fishing." As John had followed him into the tomb, he and the others
+followed him to the boat saying, "We also come with thee." Let John
+himself tell what happened. "They went forth and entered into the boat;
+and that night they took nothing. But when day was now breaking, Jesus
+stood on the beach: howbeit the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
+Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They
+answered Him, No. And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side
+of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were
+not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes."</p>
+
+<p>Once more we are to find Peter and John the prominent figures, and see
+the difference between them, John being the first to understand, and
+Peter the first to act. When John saw the multitude of fishes he
+remembered the same thing had happened before at the beginning of
+Christ's ministry. Looking toward the land, and whispering to Peter, he
+said, "It is the Lord." "So when Simon Peter heard that it was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>[Pg 214]</span>
+Lord, he girt his coat about him"&mdash;out of reverence for his Master&mdash;"and
+cast himself into the sea," and swam or waded about one hundred yards to
+the beach. The other disciples followed in the boat, dragging the net
+with the fishes. John remembered their great size, and the number "an
+hundred and fifty and three." He says, "When they got out upon the land,
+they see a fire of coals there." Did it not remind him of another "fire
+of coals" of which he had already written, kindled in the court of the
+high-priestly palace where "Peter stood and warmed himself," and near
+which he denied his Lord three times? If he did not recall that scene
+immediately, he did very soon.</p>
+
+<p>Jesus invited the disciples to eat of the meal he had prepared. As they
+did so they were filled with awe and reverence, "knowing that it was the
+Lord." In the light of the palace fire, "the Lord turned and <i>looked</i>
+upon Peter"&mdash;that only. But in the morning light on the seashore, "when
+they had broken their fast, Jesus <i>saith</i> to Simon Peter, Lovest thou
+Me?" Three times, with some difference of meaning, gently and solemnly
+He asked the question as many times as Peter had denied Him. On Peter's
+first assurance of his love Christ gave him a new commission, "Feed My
+lambs." This was a humble work,&mdash;not so exalted as it is now&mdash;a test of
+Peter's fitness for Apostleship. He was ready to accept it; and thus he
+showed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>[Pg 215]</span>his fitness for the enlarged commission, "Feed My sheep."</p>
+
+<p>With what intense interest John must have listened to the conversation
+between his friend and their Lord. Was he not as ready as Peter to say,
+"Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee"? In the
+end John fulfilled the commission, "Feed My lambs," better than either
+Peter or any of the other Apostles. Of them all he had the most of the
+child-like spirit. He may fittingly be called the Apostle of Childhood.</p>
+
+<p>Peter was told by the Lord something about his own future,&mdash;how in
+faithful service for his Master he would be persecuted, and "by what
+manner of death he should glorify God." By this his crucifixion is
+apparently meant. As John listened, perhaps he wondered what his own
+future would be. He was ready to share in service with Peter. Was he not
+also ready to share in his fate, whatever it might be?</p>
+
+<p>"Follow Me," said Jesus to Peter. They seem to have started together
+away from the group. John felt that he must not be thus separated from
+his friend and his Lord. Though he had not been invited to join them, he
+started to do so, as if the command to Peter had been also for himself.
+"Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following;
+which also leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>[Pg 216]</span> Lord, who
+is he that betrayeth Thee?" As Peter at the supper beckoned unto John to
+ask that question concerning Judas, is it not possible that John now
+beckoned to Peter to ask Christ concerning himself? However this may be,
+"Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do?" or,
+as it is interpreted, "Lord&mdash;and this man, what?" It is as if he had
+said, "Will John also die a martyr's death, as you have said I shall
+die?" It is not strange that he wanted to know the future of his friend.
+But he did not receive the answer he sought, for "Jesus saith unto him,
+If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"</p>
+
+<p>These words may mean that John would live to old age and escape
+martyrdom, which became true. But this was not the meaning which
+Christians of his day put into them. They had the mistaken idea that
+Christ, having ascended to Heaven, would soon come again. They also
+believed that John would live until Christ's second coming. "This saying
+therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not
+die." John was unwilling to have this mistake concerning Christ's words
+repeated over and over wherever he was known. So he determined to
+correct the false report by adding what is the twenty-first chapter of
+His Gospel, telling just what Christ did say, and the circumstances in
+which He uttered the words to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>[Pg 217]</span> Peter concerning John. His testimony is
+this:&mdash;"Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but, If I will that
+he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me."</p>
+
+<p>Peter became the suffering; John the waiting disciple, "tarrying" a long
+time, even after his friend was crucified, and all his fellow-Apostles
+had died, probably by martyrdom.</p>
+
+<p>But after all that John wrote to correct the mistaken report concerning
+His death, tradition would not let him die. It affirmed that although he
+was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome, and though he was
+compelled to drink hemlock, he was unharmed; and that though he was
+buried, the earth above his grave heaved with his breathing, as if,
+still living, he was tarrying until Christ should return.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall this man"&mdash;John&mdash;"do?" asked Peter. He found partial answer
+in what they did together for the early Christian Church, until John saw
+"by what manner of death Peter should glorify God." And then that church
+found yet fuller answer in John's labors for it while alone he "tarried"
+long among them.</p>
+
+<p>When John tells us that Peter turned and saw him following, we recall
+the hour when Andrew and he timidly walked along the Jordan banks, and
+"Jesus turned and saw them following," and welcomed their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>[Pg 218]</span>approach and
+encouraged them in familiar conversation. How changed is all now! John
+does not ask as before, "Where dwellest Thou?" Nor does Jesus bid him
+"Come and see." He who has become the favored disciple is now better
+prepared than then to serve his Master, following in the path they had
+trod together, and having an abiding sense of the blessed though unseen
+Presence, until his Lord shall bid him, "Come and see" My heavenly
+abode, and evermore "be with Me where I am," and share at last, without
+unholy ambition, the glory of My Throne."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>[Pg 219]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXX</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>St. John a Pillar-Apostle in the Early Christian Church</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"James and Cephas and John, they who are reputed to be
+pillars."&mdash;<i>Paul. Gal.</i> ii. 9.</p>
+
+<p>"They went up into the upper chamber where they were abiding; both
+Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip, ..."&mdash;<i>Acts</i> i. 13.</p>
+
+<p>"When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in
+one place."&mdash;<i>Acts</i> ii. 1.</p>
+
+<p>"An angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought
+them out."&mdash;<i>Acts</i> v. 19.</p>
+
+<p>"Now when the Apostles which were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria
+had received the word of the Lord, they sent unto them Peter and
+John."&mdash;<i>Acts</i> viii. 14.</p>
+
+<p>"He (Herod) killed James the brother of John with the
+sword."&mdash;<i>Acts</i> xii. 2.</p></div>
+
+<p>The next place where we may think of John with his Lord was on a
+mountain in Galilee. At least once before His death, and twice after His
+resurrection, He directed His Disciples to meet Him there. For what
+purpose? Evidently to receive His final commission.</p>
+
+<p>"Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been
+given unto Me in Heaven and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>[Pg 220]</span>on earth. Go ye therefore, and make
+disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father
+and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all
+things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even
+unto the end of the world."</p>
+
+<p>But the disciples were not yet prepared to fulfil this commission. So He
+appointed another meeting, to be held in Jerusalem, where He met them,
+"speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Here the
+command on the mountain was limited by another&mdash;not to depart from
+Jerusalem immediately. "Wait" said He, "for the promise of the Father
+which you heard from Me." That promise we find in John's record:&mdash;"I
+will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He
+may abide with you forever." "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
+shall teach you all things." " He shall testify of Me." In the
+fulfilment of that promise, the disciples were to find the preparation
+to "go" and "preach." For that preparation they were to "wait."</p>
+
+<p>Jesus then reminds them of the assurance given by John the Baptist
+concerning Himself:&mdash;"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Once
+more John is carried back to the Jordan, and reminded of the time when
+he and Jesus had been baptized. All those former scenes must have been
+recalled when Jesus at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>[Pg 221]</span>the final meeting in Jerusalem declared, "John
+truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
+not many days hence."</p>
+
+<p>These words revived in the disciples the hope which had died in them
+when Jesus died upon the cross. So, with yet mistaken ideas, they asked,
+"Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" John
+and the rest of the Bethsaidan band, who had heard the Baptist say that
+the kingdom of God was at hand, hoped that "at this time" it would
+appear. But, as when Jesus gave no direct answer to the two pairs of
+brothers on Olivet concerning the time of the destruction of Jerusalem,
+or to Peter's question concerning John's future, so now He avoided a
+direct answer to this last question. He reminded them of something more
+important for them than knowledge of the future: that was their own
+duty,&mdash;not to reign, but to be witnesses for Him, first in Jerusalem,
+then throughout Jud&aelig;a, then in Samaria, then "unto the uttermost parts
+of the earth." Yet this could not be until they had "received power
+after that the Holy Ghost had come upon them." This was promised them:
+they did not clearly understand what was meant: they were waiting to
+see.</p>
+
+<p>"He led them out until they were over against Bethany,"&mdash;well-remembered
+Bethany. From there Jesus had made His triumphal entry into the City of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>[Pg 222]</span>the Great King: from there He would make a more glorious entry into the
+New Jerusalem. John was not His herald now. He, with the other ten, was
+"led" by Him to witness His departure.</p>
+
+<p>As He ascended Olivet the last time, did He not give a parting glance
+down the slope into the village below, His eye resting on the home of
+those He loved, made radiant for us by the search-light thrown upon it
+by the loved disciple at His side? In thought did He not say, "Lazarus,
+Martha, Mary, farewell."</p>
+
+<p>The lifted hands, the parting blessing, the luminous cloud, and the
+vanishing form&mdash;such is the brief story of the Ascension.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into Heaven?" The questioners
+were two angels. Without waiting for answer, they gave promise of Jesus'
+return. "Then returned the disciples unto Jerusalem from the Mount
+called Olivet." Whither bound? We are told, "They went up into <i>the</i>
+upper chamber." No longer simply "<i>A</i> large upper room" to which Jesus
+had told Peter and John they would be guided. Were they not now the
+guide of the nine thither, to the place where they had six weeks before
+"prepared" for the Passover? Did not the goodman of the house give the
+Disciples a second welcome, and offer it to them as a temporary place
+for the Christian Church? So it would appear, for again we are told,
+"they were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>[Pg 223]</span>there abiding." Once more Luke gives their names, in the
+Acts as he did in his Gospel. All except Judas answered, in that upper
+room, to the roll call of the company scattered from Gethsemane, but
+reunited in a closer union. In each of Luke's lists he begins with the
+Bethsaidan band. But he does not preserve the same order. In the latter
+he begins, not with the two pairs of brothers as such&mdash;Peter and Andrew,
+James and John,&mdash;but with the Apostles whom Christ had drawn into His
+inner circle, Peter, John and James, naming first the two who were
+already becoming the acknowledged leaders of the Christian band. In that
+list we find the name of Andrew recorded the last time in Holy Writ.</p>
+
+<p>But the eleven were not alone: others resorted thither for the same
+purpose. What was that purpose? and who were some of them? This is the
+answer:&mdash;"These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer,
+with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."</p>
+
+<p>It is here, for the last time, that we read of Mary, in the Gospels. In
+what better place could we bid her farewell than in the room consecrated
+by the presence of her Son. How we rejoice with her that in that place
+the longing of her heart must have been satisfied as she joined "with
+one accord in prayer ... with His brethren"&mdash;her sons who during His
+life had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>[Pg 224]</span>not believed on Him. What a welcome to that room did they
+receive from John, their adopted brother! May we not indulge the thought
+that among "the women" were her own daughters; and that we hear her
+joyfully asking the once carping question of the Jews concerning "the
+carpenter's son," but with changed meaning, saying, "His <i>sisters</i>, are
+they not all with us?" If so "His Mother called Mary," "and His
+brethren," "and His sisters," and John the adopted son and brother, were
+at last a blessed family indeed. Mary on her knees with her children
+around her, rejoicing in God her Saviour, of whom she had sung in the
+infancy of her Son&mdash;that certainly is a fitting scene to be the last in
+which we behold the Mother of Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>"When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one
+place." They were united in feeling, purpose and devotion, in the "one
+place," the home of the early Church.</p>
+
+<p>The hour had come for the fulfilment of the promise of their Lord, for
+which they were to tarry in Jerusalem and wait. There was a great
+miracle,&mdash;a sound from Heaven as of the rushing of a mighty wind which
+filled the house. Flame-like tongues, having the appearance of fire
+rested on the heads of the disciples, who were "all filled with the Holy
+Ghost." He gave them utterance as they spoke in languages they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>[Pg 225]</span>had not
+known before. Crowds of foreigners in the city "were confounded because
+that every man heard them speaking in his own language."</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of that day the Church numbered one hundred and twenty.
+"There were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls."</p>
+
+<p>St. John was one of those filled with the Holy Ghost, according to the
+prophecy he had heard by the Baptist, and the promise by Christ. On him
+rested a fiery tongue. To him the Spirit gave utterance, perhaps in the
+languages of those among whom he was to labor in Asia Minor, from where
+some of these strangers had come. He was in full sympathy with that
+Christian company, an actor with them, a leader of them, a pillar for
+them strong and immovable.</p>
+
+<p>But the Upper Room was not the only place where John worshiped. The
+Temple was still a sanctuary where such as he communed with God. The
+hour for the evening prayer was nearing when "Peter and John were going
+up into the Temple." They reached the Beautiful Gate, which Josephus
+describes as made of Corinthian brass, surpassing in beauty other temple
+gates, even those which were overlaid with silver and gold. By it they
+saw what doubtless they had often seen before, a lame man who, during
+most of the forty years of his life, had been daily brought thither. His
+weakness was a great contrast to the massive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>[Pg 226]</span>strength of the pillar
+against which he leaned, as he counted the long hours and the coins he
+received in charity. His haggard appearance and ugly deformity were a
+greater contrast to the richness and symmetry of the gate which was so
+fittingly "called Beautiful."</p>
+
+<p>Was there something especially benignant in the faces of the two
+Apostles, that encouraged the poor creature to hail them as he saw them
+"about to go into the Temple"? They were willingly detained. "Peter,
+fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, 'Look on us.'" A gift was
+bestowed richer far than that for which he had hoped. They were full of
+joy themselves, and of pity for him, and of a sense of the power of
+their Lord, so often exercised in their presence. Therefore the command,
+"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."</p>
+
+<p>That was a strange sight to those who had long known the beggar, as he
+held Peter with one hand and John with the other, as if leading them
+into the Temple, into which he entered, "walking, and leaping, and
+praising God."</p>
+
+<p>The glad shout of the healed man attracted a crowd around him, "greatly
+wondering." The Apostles declared that the miracle was by no power of
+their own, but by that of Jesus who had been killed, but had risen from
+the dead. For this they were arrested and put in prison&mdash;strange place
+for such men and for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>[Pg 227]</span>such a reason. On the next day they were brought
+before the rulers who demanded by what power they had done this thing.
+Again the disciples declared it was in the name of Jesus Christ of
+Nazareth, whom the Jews crucified, but whom God had raised from the
+dead. The rulers were amazed when "they saw the boldness of Peter and
+John." They had known the power of Jesus' words: they saw a like power
+in the words of the Apostles, whom they were assured had been with Him
+and been aided by Him. But this did not check their rage, which was
+increased as they saw how many believed the Apostles. The three thousand
+converts on the day of Pentecost were increased to five thousand.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il313f" id="il313f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il313f.jpg" alt="Ephesus" title="Ephesus" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Ephesus</span>&mdash;<i>From Photograph</i><br /><a href='#Page_232'><i>Page 232</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>As leaders of the Christian company Peter and John were again put into
+prison&mdash;into the public jail for malefactors. But the divine power which
+had been used through them was now used for them. A solemn warning was
+given to the daring wickedness of the rulers. When they thought their
+prisoners kept "with all safety," in the darkness, behind bolted doors,
+"an angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them
+out, and said, 'Go ye, and stand and speak in the temple to the people
+all the words of this Life.'"</p>
+
+<p>We know not the manner in which he led them out as he invisibly opened
+and closed the doors through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>[Pg 228]</span>which they passed, to obey without fear
+the heavenly bidding. With consternation the rulers heard a messenger
+declare, in words almost echoing the angel's command, "Behold the men
+whom ye put in prison are in the temple standing and teaching the
+people."</p>
+
+<p>Persecution scattered Christians who fled from Jerusalem, telling
+wherever they went, of Christ as the Saviour. A deacon named Philip
+preached in Samaria with great effect. "Now when the Apostles which were
+at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent
+unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them
+that they might receive the Holy Ghost."</p>
+
+<p>These two were chosen because they had taken the most active part in
+establishing the church in Jerusalem, and were specially fitted for
+similar work elsewhere. With what peculiar feelings John must have
+entered Samaria. He must have recalled a day when hot and weary he had
+journeyed thither with his Lord and met the Samaritaness at the well.
+Perhaps he now met her again, and together they talked over that
+wonderful conversation which made her the first missionary to her
+people, many of whom declared, "We know that this is indeed the Saviour
+of the world."</p>
+
+<p>Did John on this visit enter into "a village of the Samaritans"&mdash;the
+same where he had said, "Lord, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>[Pg 229]</span>wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down
+from heaven and consume them?" Is it of them that it is now said he
+"prayed for them"? His fire of indignation and revenge had changed to
+the fire of love. The pentecostal flames had rested on his head.</p>
+
+<p>Once more&mdash;only once&mdash;we find the names of James and John together. One
+short sentence, full of pathos, of injustice and cruelty, of affection
+and sorrow, tells a story of the early Church: Herod "killed James the
+brother of John with the sword." He was the first martyr of the
+Apostles. The smaller circle of the three, and the larger one of the
+twelve, is broken. For these brothers we may take up David's lamentation
+over Saul and Jonathan, slightly changed, and say, "They were lovely and
+pleasant in their lives: but in their death they were divided,"&mdash;for
+through half a century John mourned the loss of his loved companion from
+childhood.</p>
+
+<p>After James&mdash;one of the three whom Paul named pillars&mdash;had fallen, the
+other two, Peter and John, stood for awhile side by side in strength and
+beauty. To each of them he might have given the name Jachin by which one
+of the pillars of Solomon's temple was called, meaning, "whom God
+strengthens." Peter was the next to fall, after which John long stood
+alone, until at last the three whom first we saw by the Sea of Galilee,
+stood together by the glassy sea, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>[Pg 230]</span>each of them fulfilled the promise
+made through John, by their Lord,&mdash;"He that overcometh, I will make him
+a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more."</p>
+
+<p><a name="il319f" id="il319f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il319f.jpg" alt="The Isle of Patmos" title="The Isle of Patmos" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Isle of Patmos</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_233'><i>Page 233</i></a></h4>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>[Pg 231]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXXI</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>Last Days</i></h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I John ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of
+God, and the testimony of Jesus.... And I heard behind me a great
+voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book,
+and send it to the seven churches."&mdash;<i>Rev.</i> i. 9-11.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Since I, whom Christ's mouth taught, was bidden teach,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">I went, for many years, about the world,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Saying, 'It was so; so I heard and saw,'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Speaking as the case asked; and men believed.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Afterward came the message to myself</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">In Patmos Isle. I was not bidden teach,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">But simply listen, take a book and write,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Nor set down other than the given word,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">With nothing left to my arbitrament</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">To choose or change; I wrote, and men believed."</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+
+<p>From Samaria John with Peter "returned to Jerusalem." This is the last
+record of him in the Acts. We have but little information concerning him
+after that event. He suddenly disappears. We have two glimpses of him
+which are historic, and several through shadowy traditions.</p>
+
+<p>There was a very important meeting in Jerusalem to settle certain
+questions in which the early Church was greatly interested, and about
+which there had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>[Pg 232]</span>much difference in judgment and feeling. St. Paul
+was present. He says that St. John was there, one of the three
+Pillar-Apostles who gave to him and Barnabas "the right hands of
+fellowship." This is the only time of which we certainly know of the
+meeting of these two Apostles; though we have imagined the possibility
+of John's visiting the school of Gamaliel, and worshiping in the Temple
+when young Saul was in Jerusalem. From this time, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 50, we
+lose sight of John and do not see him again until <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 68, in
+the Isle of Patmos. As his Lord was hidden eighteen years, from the time
+of His boyhood visit to Jerusalem until He entered on His public
+ministry, so long His disciple is concealed from our view. Leaving
+Jerusalem he probably never returned. Why he left we do not know. It may
+have been because of persecutions. Perhaps the death of Mary relieved
+him from the charge we may believe he had faithfully kept, and thus made
+it possible for him to go about like other Apostles to preach the
+Gospel. If so we have no hint in what direction he went. He may have
+gone directly to Ephesus. On reaching it perhaps he found a welcome from
+some who had heard him speak in their own language on the day of
+Pentecost. It was a populous city, wealthy and wicked. Its magnificent
+Temple of Diana was one of the seven wonders of the world. Its ruins
+give us a hint of its former glory.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>[Pg 233]</span>All the traditions of early times make Ephesus the home of St. John in
+the latter part of his life. From it as a centre he ministered to the
+Churches of Asia Minor.</p>
+
+<p>Gospel truth found its way thither, even before Paul made it the centre
+of his third missionary tour. He was driven from it, but he left the
+foundation of a Christian Church, upon which John builded. There were
+like foundations in at least six other important cities of Asia
+Minor&mdash;Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.</p>
+
+<p>The silence of the latter half of St. John's life is broken but once,
+and that by himself. He tells us that he "was in the isle that is called
+Patmos." It was not far from Ephesus, within a day's sail. It is a huge
+rock, rugged and barren, only a few miles in length.</p>
+
+<p>Why was John in Patmos? He says, "for the word of God and the testimony
+of Jesus." What does he mean by this? Perhaps that he was led thither by
+circumstances of which we do not know, or by the guidance of the Spirit
+of God, who there would make wonderful revelations to him. But more
+probably he was banished thither for the preaching of the Gospel of
+Jesus, and for being a faithful follower of Him, notwithstanding the
+persecutions of Nero or Domitian. As told in an ancient Latin hymn,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>[Pg 234]</span></p><p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"To desert islands banished,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">With God the exile dwells,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">And sees the future glory</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">His mystic writing tells."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The grotto of La Scala may have been the spot from which he looked out
+upon the &AElig;gean Sea, and upward into the heavens, communing in solitude
+with his own thoughts, or with his Lord for whom he was there. Patmos
+was for this a fitting place, whether he had gone there from his own
+choice, or had been driven thither by the cruelty of his persecutor. In
+such solitude did Milton muse, and Bunyan dream.</p>
+
+<p>It was the "Lord's Day," says John. He alone, and at this time only,
+uses that name with which we have become familiar, though it may have
+been in common use among the early Christians. It meant much to John,
+even more than to us. It was a reminder of the day when he looked into,
+and then entered, the tomb of his Lord, and believed that He had risen
+from the dead.</p>
+
+<p>His meditations may have been aided by Old Testament Manuscripts, his
+only companions; especially that of Daniel, in which it is claimed "the
+spirit and imagery of the Book of Revelation is steeped."</p>
+
+<p>What a contrast there was between the peaceful waves of Gennesaret,
+creeping silently upon the sandy beach of his childhood home, and the
+breakers dash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>[Pg 235]</span>ing upon the rocky coast of his exile abode in his old
+age! How suggestive of the calm and turmoil of his life!</p>
+
+<p><a name="il324f" id="il324f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il324f.jpg" alt="Smyrna" title="Smyrna" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Smyrna</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_233'><i>Page 233</i></a></h4>
+
+<p>But his musings were suddenly broken by "a great voice, as of a
+trumpet," giving a command&mdash;"What thou seest, write in a book." He says,
+"I turned to see the voice that spake with me." He beheld his Lord in
+greater grandeur than he had seen Him on earth, even on Hermon. As he
+gazed upon the divine figure he must have exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Can this be He who used to stray,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">A pilgrim on the world's highway,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Oppressed by power, and mocked by pride,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">The Nazarene, the Crucified!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>We do not wonder that he says,&mdash;"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as
+one dead." So had Paul done when the Lord appeared to him at Damascus.
+John adds, "He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not." The words
+seem almost an echo from the Holy Mount,&mdash;"Jesus came and touched them,
+and said, Arise, and be not afraid."</p>
+
+<p>The command to John was renewed, to write&mdash;of things which he had seen,
+and what he was yet to behold. The early Christians called him the
+Eagle, meaning that of all the sacred writers he had the loftiest
+visions of divine truth.</p>
+
+<p>John's writings are of three kinds, the Book of The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>[Pg 236]</span> Revelation of the
+secret purposes of God; his Gospel; and his three Epistles or letters.</p>
+
+<p>Although The Revelation is the last of the books of the Bible, it is
+probably the first of those by John. It contains messages from the Lord
+in Heaven to the seven churches in Asia, which we have mentioned,
+concerning their virtues and their failings. To each was given a special
+promise of reward to those who overcame sin, and were faithful to
+Christ. From this Revelation of John we get our imagery of Heaven,
+helping us to understand something of its glory.</p>
+
+<p>His Gospel is supposed to have been written next. Why did he write it?
+As we have noticed, Matthew, Mark and Luke had already written their
+Gospels. But there was abundant reason for John's writing the fourth
+Gospel. We need not doubt the tradition that he was urged to do so by
+the disciples, elders and bishops of the early Church. They had heard
+him tell much concerning Christ of which the first three Evangelists had
+not told. These things were too precious to be forgotten, or to be
+changed by frequent repetition after his lips were silent. That must be
+soon, for he was very old, having long passed the limit of human age.
+They had listened to the story of the early call of the disciples, and
+of the first miracle at Cana, and of the night visit of Nicodemus to
+Jesus, and of the talk by the well of Samaria with the Samaritaness, and
+of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>[Pg 237]</span>the washing of the disciples' feet, and of many other things which
+Jesus said and did of which no one had written. In John's talks with
+Christians, and his preaching in their churches, he explained fully and
+simply the teachings of Jesus, as no one else had done, or could do.
+They longed for a record of them, that they might read it themselves,
+and leave it to their children, and those who never could hear the words
+from his lips.</p>
+
+<p>So St. John wrote his Gospel, giving to his first readers his great
+reason,&mdash;"These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the
+Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His
+name."</p>
+
+<p>For the writing of his first Epistle he also gives a reason,
+saying,&mdash;"That which we have heard, that which we have seen with our
+eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled concerning the word of
+life, ... that ... declare we unto you also, that ye also may have
+fellowship with us."</p>
+
+<p>Through these words John draws us very near to his Lord and ours, Whom
+we behold through his eyes, and hear through his ears. We almost feel
+the grasp of a divine yet human hand.</p>
+
+<p>The great theme is the love of God, or as Luther expresses it, "The main
+substance of this Epistle relates to love." John's Gospel abounds in
+declarations and illustration of this greatest of truths, but it does
+not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>[Pg 238]</span>contain the phrase in this Epistle in which he sums up the whole
+Gospel, "<span class="smcap">God is Love</span>." Because of John's deep sense of God's
+love, and because of the depth of his own love, the Beloved Apostle is
+called, The Apostle of Love.</p>
+
+<p>John's second Epistle should be of special interest to the young. From
+it we infer that there were two Christian homes, in each of which John
+took delight. The mothers were sisters. His letter is addressed to "The
+elect lady"&mdash;or as she is sometimes called the Lady Electa&mdash;and her
+children. John tells of his love and that of others for them,&mdash;Mother
+and children&mdash;because of their Christian character. He tells of his
+great joy because of the children "walking in the truth"&mdash;living as
+children should live who have learned of the teachings of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>From the group of children around him in the home where he wrote, he
+sends messages to their aunt, saying, "The children of thine elect
+sister salute thee." How the children of Electa must have prized that
+letter! How little they thought that nineteen hundred years after they
+received it, other children would read it, and think how happy were
+those who had the Apostle John for their friend.</p>
+
+<p>This letter is one of the things that revealed his child-like spirit. We
+remember the time when he did not have that spirit. At last he did have
+it because he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>[Pg 239]</span>became so much like his Master who loved the little ones,
+and taught His disciples to do the same.</p>
+
+<p>John thought of the child-spirit as the Christ-spirit, whether it was in
+the old or the young. He called all who had it children. He called those
+to whom he ministered in his old age his little children. This he does
+in the last sentence of his last letter to the Christian church,&mdash;"My
+little children, guard yourselves from idols."</p>
+
+<p>Because of his own child-like spirit and his seeking to cultivate it in
+others, and because of his manifest interest in children, he may be
+called the Apostle of Childhood.</p>
+
+<p>There is a beautiful tradition concerning him, that in his old age, when
+he was too feeble to walk to the church or to preach, he was carried
+thither, and said again and again,&mdash;"Little children, love one another."
+Some said, "Master, why dost thou always say this?" He replied, "It is
+the Lord's command, and if this alone is done, it is enough." Of his
+death at the probable age of about one hundred nothing is known. It is
+claimed that there is a sacred spot somewhere among the tangled thickets
+of Mt. Prion which looks down on Ephesus where his body was laid.</p>
+
+<p>There is a tradition, inconsistent with the supposition that Mary died
+in Jerusalem, that she accompanied John to Ephesus and was buried near
+him; her eyes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>[Pg 240]</span>having been closed by him on whom her Son had looked with
+dimming vision, commending her to his loving care.</p>
+
+<p>No magnificent tomb marks the place of John's burial. None is needed.
+But there are richer and abundant memorials of St. John the Divine&mdash;an
+imperishable name because that of the Beloved Disciple of Him Whose name
+is above every name.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>[Pg 241]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXXII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>A Retrospect</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>How wonderful and charming a history is that of St. John! Our glimpses
+of him have been few and often-times indistinct; but they have been
+enough in number and clearness to reveal a noble and lovable character.</p>
+
+<p>We saw him first on the sea-shore of Gennesaret, not differing from any
+other Galilean boy. We watched him playing and fishing with his
+Bethsaidan companions, none of them thinking of how long their
+friendship would be continued, or in what new and strange circumstances
+of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, disappointment and glad surprises,
+that companionship would become closer and closer.</p>
+
+<p>We saw John in his rambles about his home, amid scenes beautiful in
+themselves, which became sacred because of what he there beheld and
+heard.</p>
+
+<p>We discovered his relationship to a child in Nazareth whom he did not
+know at first as the most wonderful being in the world.</p>
+
+<p>We entered his home and visited the school where he was taught of Him
+who was called the coming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>[Pg 242]</span> Messiah; but who had already come, though his
+parents and teachers knew it not.</p>
+
+<p>We followed him as a Jewish boy into the Temple, whose glories were to
+become more glorious in his manhood by what he beheld therein.</p>
+
+<p>We saw him on the Jordan, standing with his kindred and namesake, who
+pointed him to Jesus as the Messiah for whom he had been looking. From
+that hour we have known him as a disciple of Jesus, later as one of his
+twelve Apostles, then one of the chosen three, then the one&mdash;the beloved
+Disciple.</p>
+
+<p>Through his eyes we have beheld the wonderful works of our Lord: with
+his ears we have heard the most wonderful words ever spoken to man. We
+have caught glimpses of him in most wonderful scenes which he was almost
+the only one to behold&mdash;amid the glories of the transfiguration, in the
+death-chamber changed to that of life, in the shadows of Gethsemane.</p>
+
+<p>We have learned through John the sacredness of human friendships, made
+closer and holier by friendship with the loved and loving Lord. He has
+been our guide to the Upper Room of joy and sadness; to the Priestly
+Palace of suffering and of shame; to the cross of agony and death; to
+the tomb of surprise and exaltation; to the mount of final blessing and
+ascension.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il334f" id="il334f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il334f.jpg" alt="Pergamos and the Ruins of the Church of St. John" title="Pergamos and the Ruins of the Church of St. John" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Pergamos and the Ruins of the Church of St. John</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_233'><i>Page 233</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>[Pg 243]</span>John saw what kings and prophets longed to see, but died without the
+sight&mdash;the Messiah come. He witnessed probably all the miracles of
+Jesus, from his first in Cana as a guest, to his last on the sea-shore
+as a host&mdash;the signs of divine power inspired by pity and love. He
+looked upon the enthusiastic but mistaken throng who in Galilee would
+force upon Jesus an unwelcome crown; then upon the multitudes who hailed
+him with hosannas on Olivet; then the maddened crowd who shouted through
+the streets of Jerusalem, "Crucify Him." He witnessed Christ's movements
+when the multitudes gathered about Him for instruction and healing, and
+when he withdrew from them to pray. His eyes were dazzled by the
+brightness of the transfiguration as he looked upon the form which at
+last was enshrouded in darkness on Calvary. With another vision he
+beheld that form in Heaven itself.</p>
+
+<p>On the Jordan he beheld Jesus as the Lamb of God which was to be offered
+as a sacrifice. He saw the cross become His altar of sacrifice, and then
+in Heaven discerned Him as the "Lamb as it had been slain." He was
+witness of Christ's joys and sorrows, shame and suffering, humiliation
+and exaltation, entering into them more fully than did any other human
+being.</p>
+
+<p>From the hour in which John stood with the Baptist who told him to
+behold Jesus, his eye was upon Him, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>[Pg 244]</span>until, because there was no more
+for him to behold of his Lord on earth, the angels asked, "Why stand ye
+gazing?" Having seen Him "lifted up" on a beclouded cross, he saw Him
+"taken up" as a glorious "cloud received Him out of sight."</p>
+
+<p>John heard wondrous things. He became familiar with his Lord's voice,
+its tones of instruction and exhortation, warning and reproof,
+invitation and affection, forgiveness and benediction, prayer and
+praise, depression and agony, joy and triumph. He was no careless
+listener to the words spoken to Jesus&mdash;those of inquiry and pleading,
+hypocrisy and contempt, mockery and deceit, hatred and love. Beside his
+Lord, he heard saintly voices, and the voice of the Father.</p>
+
+<p>Much that John saw and heard when with his Lord he has made known. We
+imagine some things were too tender and sacred for others' ears:
+concerning such his lips were sealed. Other things were too precious for
+silence: of such he is the most distinct echo. His Gospel is often a
+commentary on the other three. He was an eye-witness of most of the
+events of which he tells. His Gospel is rich with illuminated texts.
+Having the best understanding of "the words of the Lord Jesus," he is
+the fullest reporter of His teachings. Having the deepest insight into
+the heart of hearts of his Lord, he is its clearest revealer. While many
+others grasped separate truths, he placed them <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>[Pg 245]</span>side by side in harmony
+and unity, and thus held them up and revealed them to mankind. His
+Lord's words were the most sacred treasures of his memory: his greatest
+joy was to bring them forth for others to view and admire, that they too
+might be inspired thereby to "love and good works." Without erasing
+aught from the pictures drawn by his fellow-Evangelists, he has added
+to, and filled in, and re-touched with a sympathizing hand. So familiar
+had he become with his Lord's countenance, with all its varied
+expressions, and so skilful was he in reproducing them, that his
+composite portrait is the most beautiful and impressive of all attempts
+to portray "the human face divine."</p>
+
+<p>Standing outside of some grand cathedral, before its stained window, we
+mark the figures with their rich depth of color. Passing within we see
+the same figures, but the outline is more distinct; the colors are
+richer, and with more harmonious blending. So sometimes we seem to stand
+with the three Evangelists outside the Gospel Cathedral; and then with
+John within.</p>
+
+<p>Like Ruth in the field of Boaz he followed the reapers&mdash;the first three
+Evangelists in the field of their Lord,&mdash;to "glean even among the
+sheaves." He "gleaned in the field until evening," the close of the long
+day of his life, "and beat out that he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>[Pg 246]</span>gleaned," and gave it to
+others. There was not need for them to ask him, "Where hast thou
+gleaned?" There was only one field from which such harvest could be
+gathered. Rather could they say as Naomi to Ruth, "Blessed is he that
+did take knowledge of thee."</p>
+
+<p>There have been more noted illustrations of change in character than is
+furnished in St. John. His early life was not profligate like that of
+John Newton or John Bunyan. And yet the change in him was marked enough
+to furnish an exhibition of contrast, showing the power of Christ's
+teachings and example upon him, until he reached an unwonted degree of
+perfection. He combined the noblest traits of the loftiest manhood and
+womanhood, with the simplicity of childhood. His human kinship to Jesus
+illustrated but faintly the closer and tenderer relation formed by the
+transforming of his spirit into the likeness of Christ. This was more
+royal than any merely human relationship. It was the closest relation of
+which we know of the perfect Christ with imperfect man. We have watched
+the changes in John's spirit, and seen his imperfections smoothed away,
+and his character so polished that it became the brightest reflector of
+the image of Jesus Christ. Yet from the first there were budding virtues
+in him which Mary Magdalene's supposed gardener brought to perfection.</p>
+
+<p><a name="il340f" id="il340f"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/il340f.jpg" alt="Ruins of Laodicea" title="Ruins of Laodicea" /></div>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Ruins of Laodicea</span>&mdash;<i>Old Engraving</i><br /><a href='#Page_233'><i>Page 233</i></a></h4>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>[Pg 247]</span>In history John stands and must ever stand alone. He was one of the
+two who first accepted the call of Christ to come to Him: he was the
+last of the Apostles to repeat, in another and yet as true a sense, that
+invitation to multitudes of men. He was one of those two who first saw
+what may be called the beginning of the Christian Church, in the little
+booth by the Jordan: and the last one of the Twelve to remember its
+fuller establishments in the Upper Chamber of Jerusalem. He was the last
+man who had seen the last prophet who told of the coming Messiah; and
+was the last Evangelist to tell that He had come. He was one of the
+three who were the last to behold the Shechinah, and to whom came the
+voice of God the Father.</p>
+
+<p>John was the lone disciple in the palace of the high priest, witnessing
+the injustice, mockery, and cruelty before Pilate; the last one with
+whom the Lord spoke and on whom His eye rested before His death. He was
+the lone disciple to gaze upon the cross and witness the dying agonies;
+the first to look into the deserted tomb; the first of whom we are told
+that he believed the Lord had risen therefrom. The last survivor of the
+Apostolic band, he had the fullest opportunity to witness the fulfilment
+of prophecies of which he was a careful student and clear interpreter.
+He saw the sad close of the Jewish dispensation, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>[Pg 248]</span>the glorious
+beginning of Christianity. He saw the Holy City overthrown, as Christ
+declared to Him on Olivet that it would be, and had a vision of the New
+Jerusalem of which the old was a consecrated type, at last profaned.</p>
+
+<p>Of the golden Apostolic chain he was the last link binding the Church to
+its Lord. He was the last known human kindred of the Son of Man. The
+last words of inspiration were spoken to and recorded by him. He was the
+latest prophet, historian, and Evangelist. One of the first to say, "I
+have seen the Messiah," he was the last to say, "I have seen the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>We have caught glimpses of St. John in the early days of Christianity,
+as a light and a pillar, a teacher and a guide. Sometimes for years
+together he has been hidden from our view, and then has emerged with a
+yet brighter halo around his head. We have watched him on a lonely isle
+gazing into heaven, beholding glories of which he gives us hints, but
+which he tells us he cannot fully describe.</p>
+
+<p>Because of his relation to the Lord, the fisher boy unknown beyond the
+hamlet of Bethsaida two thousand years ago is "spoken of" as truly as
+Mary of Bethany, whose memory he especially has made sacred and
+perpetual. Wherever the Gospel is preached he too is remembered, honored
+and loved.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>[Pg 249]</span>Because of his relation to the Lord, towns in lands of which he never
+knew, bear his name; in which people are taught by his words and
+inspired by his spirit. In them many a family is known by the name St.
+John. Rivers in their flow bear his name from generation to generation
+on earth, while he points men to the pure river "proceeding out of the
+throne of God and the Lamb," which was "showed" him in Patmos. Societies
+for fraternal fellowship and mutual helpfulness are called after him.
+St. John's day has a sacred place in the calendar. Many a rural chapel
+and stately city church are reminders of him. The richness of his
+graces, and the yet future of his saintly influence, are symbolized in
+the yet unfinished temple of surpassing grandeur in the City of New
+York,&mdash;"The Cathedral of St. John the Divine."</p>
+
+<p>From all these earthly scenes in which we have beheld him, to which
+history and tradition have pointed us, and from those things which are
+memorials of him, we turn to the Heavenly scenes which he bids us behold
+as they were revealed to him. Thither we follow him after all his trials
+and labors and triumphs of earth. With reverence and gladness for him,
+we listen to the voice of the Lord saying to him what He had told him to
+say to the Churches of Asia:&mdash;"Because thou didst overcome I give thee
+'to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of
+God.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>[Pg 250]</span> Thou shalt 'not be hurt with the second death.' I give thee 'a
+white stone, and upon the stone a new name written.' I give thee 'the
+morning star.' 'I will in no wise blot thy name out of the book of life!
+I make you a pillar in the temple of My God.' O John, rememberest thou
+thy petition and that of thy brother who has long been with Me,&mdash;'Grant
+unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand
+in Thy glory'? Thou thoughtest that 'glory' was an earthly throne, which
+thou never sawest. But thou hast overcome thy pride and ambition, thy
+jealous and revengeful spirit. Thou hast triumphed over those who were
+thine enemies because thou wast My friend. Thou didst see My agonies and
+victories in Gethsemane and on Calvary. Thou didst take up My cry on My
+cross concerning My work on earth, and sound it forth,&mdash;'It is
+finished.' Dost thou remember My final promise to him that overcometh,
+which I made from this My true throne of glory, through thee, 'in the
+isle that is called Patmos'&mdash;precious name even here because of thy
+'testimony for' Me. That promise I now fulfil in thee. O John, one of My
+chosen Twelve on earth; yea more, one of My chosen three; yet more, My
+beloved one, here in Heaven, now, 'Sit down with Me on My throne, as I
+also overcame and sat down with My Father in His throne.'"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>[Pg 251]</span></p>
+<h2><i>CHAPTER XXXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h4><i>Legends and Traditions of St. John</i></h4>
+
+
+<p>After closing the history of St. John, we linger over the traditions
+that cluster about his later years. They reveal the feelings of the
+early Church toward him who was the last of the Apostolic band, and the
+last who had seen their Lord.</p>
+
+<p>There is one legend so beautiful, so much like him, that we can almost
+believe it as having a fitting place in his history. It belongs to the
+time when he preached in the magnificent Church which Christians had
+reared for him in Ephesus. We may not credit the story that on his brow
+he wore a golden plate engraven with the inscription, "Holiness to the
+Lord," but we can almost imagine it written there. His memorable
+appearance and his tender manner, the loving voice with which he told
+the story of his Lord, fastened all eyes upon him, and opened all ears
+to his message of salvation. There was one, a young man, who standing in
+the distance, looked and listened with such eager interest as to attract
+the attention of the Apostle. In repentance and faith he found the peace
+which nothing else can give. He was baptized and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>[Pg 252]</span>numbered with the
+Ephesian Christians. St. John took special interest in him, training him
+in Christian doctrine, and preparing him for a useful life. When the
+hour for John's banishment came, in his anxiety for the youth, he
+committed him to the care of the Bishop of the place, whom he charged to
+be faithful in teaching and spiritual guidance.</p>
+
+<p>But the youth was exposed to many temptations from the heathen about
+him. Their songs and dances and wine again charmed him as they did
+before he heard the preaching of John. He yielded to their influences,
+and renounced his profession of Christianity. In the absence of the
+Apostle, the reproofs of the Bishop only maddened him. He no longer
+attended the services of the Church, or sought the companionship of
+Christians. Having entered the paths of sin, he wandered farther and
+farther therein. At last he committed a crime against the government. In
+fear of punishment he fled from Ephesus, and joined a company of robbers
+and bandits in the wild ravines of the mountains. Though young in years,
+he was so cunning and bold in crime that he became the leader of the
+band. Inspired by his daring spirit they were ready for deeds of
+violence that made them the terror of the whole region.</p>
+
+<p>On John's return from his exile in Patmos to Ephesus, he longed to know
+of the welfare of the young <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>[Pg 253]</span>disciple, who had been to him as an adopted
+son, ever present to his mind and heart in his lonely island. The
+Bishop, with downcast eyes, sorrow and shame, declared, "He is dead."
+"How?" asked John, "and by what death?" "He is dead to God," said the
+Bishop. "He has turned out wicked and abandoned, and at last a robber."</p>
+
+<p>John rent his garments as a sign of distress. Weeping he cried with a
+loud lamentation, "Alas! alas! to what a guardian have I trusted our
+brother!" The tender, faithful heart of the aged Apostle yearned for the
+young man. He was ready to say, "How can I give thee up!" He knew the
+mercy of God, and the power of love, human and divine; and determined
+that the robber-chieftain should know it too.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately he procured a horse and guide, and rode toward the
+stronghold of the robbers. It was in a wild mountainous ravine, with
+rushing torrents and rugged rocks overgrown with brushwood and luxuriant
+herbage. It was a place of grandeur, and yet of gloom&mdash;a fitting haunt
+for the robber-band. Few travelers passed that way, and that hurriedly
+and in terror.</p>
+
+<p>At last the Apostle and his guide heard from behind the rocks the hoarse
+shouts of revelry. But he heeded them not, so intent was he on his
+errand. He was seeking the prodigal, his adopted son&mdash;who was not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>[Pg 254]</span>seeking the loving father. He drew the reins of his horse, while he
+told his guide that their journey was ended, and prayed for themselves
+and for him whom they sought. His nearness was discovered by one of the
+band, who led him to the rest, and bound his guide. There was a great
+contrast between the old man with his snowy locks and beard, in his
+humble garb; and the younger, the wild looking bandit with his streaming
+hair and loose white kilt; between the defenceless captive, and his
+captors armed with Roman swords, long lances, and bows and arrows before
+which he seemed perfectly powerless.</p>
+
+<p>As he looked upon their hardened features they looked into his benignant
+face, and stood awed in his presence. Their rough manner, words and
+tones were changed by his smile and even friendly greeting. He made no
+resistance. His only motion was a wave of his hand. It was mightier than
+sword or lance or bow. His only request was, "Take me to your captain."
+Over-awed by the dignity of his manner and his calmness, the captors
+obeyed their captive and silently led him to their chief. In an open
+space the tall handsome young man was seated on his horse, wearing
+bright armor and breastplate, and holding the spear of a warrior. At a
+glance he recognized his old master, instructor and guide, who had been
+to him as a father. His first thought was, "Why should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>[Pg 255]</span>this holy man
+seek me?" He answered his own question, saying to himself, "He has come
+with just and angry threatenings which I well deserve." John had been
+called "a son of thunder." As such the trembling chief thought of him,
+ready to hear him pronounce an awful woe. So with a mingled cry of fear
+and anguish, he turned his horse and would have fled&mdash;a strange sound
+and sight for his fellow-robbers.</p>
+
+<p>But St. John had no thunder tones for him, no threats of coming
+punishment. The kind shepherd had found the sheep that had been lost.
+The father had found the prodigal, without waiting for the wanderer's
+return. John sprang toward him. He held out his arms in an affectionate
+manner. He called him by tender names. With earnest entreaty he
+prevailed on him to stop and listen. As young Saul, when near Damascus
+caught sight of Jesus and heard His voice, dropped from his horse to the
+ground; so did the young chieftain at the sight and voice of St. John.
+With reverence he kneeled before him, and in shame bowed his head to the
+ground. Like Peter who had denied the same Lord, the young man wept
+bitterly. His cries of self-reproach and his despair echoed strangely in
+that rocky defile. As St. John had wept for him, he wept for himself.
+Those were truly penitential tears. John still spoke encouragingly. The
+young man lifted his head and embraced the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>[Pg 256]</span>knees of the Apostle,
+sobbing out, "No hope, no pardon." Then remembering the deeds of his
+right hand, defiled with blood, he hid it beneath his robe. St. John
+fell on his knees before him and enfolded him in his arms. He grasped
+the hand that had been hidden, and bathed it in tears as if he would
+wash away its bloody stains, and then kissed it, in thought of the good
+he said it should yet perform.</p>
+
+<p>That hand cast away the sword it had wielded in murder, and lovingly,
+gratefully held that of John, as the Apostle, and the robber-chief now
+penitent and forgiven, together left the wilderness; within sight of the
+astonished band; some of whom were greatly touched by what they had seen
+and heard, while others were ready to scoff at what they called the
+weakness of their leader.</p>
+
+<p>Another tradition is a beautiful illustration of the tenderness and
+sympathy which we may judge was increasingly manifest in St. John's
+character, the spirit of the Lord "whose tender mercies are over all His
+works," the spirit St. John had seen in his Master who noticed the
+sparrow falling to the ground. True it is,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He prayeth well who loveth well</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Both man, and bird, and beast.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">He prayeth best who loveth best</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">All things, both great and small;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">For the dear Lord who loveth us,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">He made and loveth all."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>[Pg 257]</span>There was a young tame partridge in which St. John took delight and
+found recreation in many an hour from which he had turned from labor for
+rest. A young hunter anxiously seeking the great Apostle was surprised
+to find him in what seemed a frivolous employment. He doubted for a
+moment whether this could be he. John asked, "What is that thing which
+thou carriest in thy hand?" "A bow," replied the hunter. "Why then is it
+unstrung?" said John. "Because," was the answer, "were I to keep it
+always strung it would lose its spring and become useless." "Even so,"
+replied the Apostle, "be not offended at my brief relaxation, which
+prevents my spirit from waxing faint."</p>
+
+<p>We have already alluded to a tradition which is perhaps the best known
+of all, and universally accepted. In Ephesus, in extreme old age, too
+infirm to walk, St. John was carried as a little child to the church
+where he had so long preached. In feebleness his ministry had ended. The
+last sermon as such had been preached. He could no longer repeat the
+words of Christ he had heard on the mountain, and the sea-shore, and in
+the Temple. He could no longer tell of the wonders of which he was the
+only surviving witness. In Christians he saw the child-spirit, whether
+in old or young. In his old age he was a father to all such as none
+other could claim to be. His great theme &mdash;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>[Pg 258]</span>his only theme&mdash;was love. So
+his only words, again and again repeated as he faced the congregation
+were "Little children, love one another." And when asked why he repeated
+the same thing over and over, he told them it was the Lord's command,
+and if they obeyed it, that was enough.</p>
+
+<p>Traditions alone tell of St. John's death. One claims that as his
+brother James was the first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom, he was
+the last. Others tell of miraculous preservation from death;&mdash;that he
+was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and drank hemlock, without any
+effect upon him. Sometimes he is pictured as holding a cup from which a
+viper, representing poison, is departing without doing him any harm.</p>
+
+<p>There is still another story concerning his death. On the last Lord's
+Day of his life, after the Holy Communion, he told some of his disciples
+to follow him with spades. Leading them to a place of burial, he bid
+them dig a grave into which he placed himself, and they buried him up to
+the neck. Then in obedience to his command they placed a cloth over his
+face and completed the burial. With weeping they turned away and
+reported what had been done. But his disciples felt that, not the grave,
+but the great church was the fitting place for his burial. So with
+solemn service they went to bring his body thither. But on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>[Pg 259]</span>reaching the
+grave they found it empty, as he and Peter had found the tomb of their
+Lord on Easter morning. Then they remembered the words of Christ to
+Peter concerning John, "If I will that he abide till I come, what is
+that to thee?"</p>
+
+<p>But there is another tradition stranger still. People refused to believe
+that St. John was dead, even though he had been supposed to be, and had
+been buried. For centuries his grave was shown at Ephesus. Pilgrims
+visiting it beheld a wonderful sight. The ground above it rose and fell,
+as if the great Apostle were still breathing as he had done for one
+hundred years, while treading the earth which now guarded his immortal
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Such stories seem strange to us when we remember the chapter he wrote to
+correct a mistake made by those who misunderstood his Master's word, and
+believed that he would not die until the Lord returned to the earth.</p>
+
+<p>He probably escaped martyrdom which befell his fellow-Apostles. Dying,
+probably in Ephesus, we think of him as peacefully entering the mansions
+of which he had heard his Lord tell in far-off Jerusalem nearly seventy
+years before.<br /><br /></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Life of St. John for the Young
+by George Ludington Weed
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+</body>
+</html>
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+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.org
+
+
+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: ASCII
+
+*** 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 https://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 Arimathaea--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 Dore_   133
+
+  Christ and St. John                              _Ary Scheffer_   140
+
+  The Last Supper                                  _Benjamin West_  156
+
+  In Gethsemane                                    _Gustave Dore_   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 Judaea! 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 Judaea; 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,
+Caesarea 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 Judaea 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 Judaea 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 Judaea--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 Judaea, 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 Judaea.
+
+[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 Judaea." 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 Judaea 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 Judaea, 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 Judaea 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 Caesarea 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 face. But now He had
+come, not from the mount which Paul describes as "darkness," but unto
+that other whose snowy whiteness has given it the name of Lebanon. He
+had come from Heaven, to yield homage to Him to whom He would sing with
+us,
+
+    "My dear Redeemer and my Lord,
+       I read my duty in Thy Word;
+     But in Thy life the Law appears,
+       Drawn out in living Characters."
+
+"The children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon Moses for the
+glory of His face." In the "excellent glory" by which Peter describes
+the scene on Hermon, the whole figure of His Lord was bathed in light.
+But the glory of that vision was not yet complete. A cloud, brighter
+than any on which the moon was shining, enwrapped Jesus and Moses and
+Elijah. It was no other than the Shechinah, once more returning to the
+earth,--"the symbol of Jehovah's presence."
+
+This cloud overshadowed the disciples. As its light gleamed upon them,
+they were filled with reverential fear. They were ready to do the
+heavenly visitors immediate and humble service. But the mission of the
+two was ended. Their last words of comfort to Jesus had been spoken. If
+they could be detained, it must be done quickly. So, awed and confused
+by the strange vision, yet longing for its continuance, the disciples,
+Peter being the spokesman, proposed to make booths for their Master and
+His two heavenly visitors. But the two had gone, and the crown of glory
+that had enveloped them spread to the disciples, filling them with yet
+increasing awe. The silence that had followed Peter's call was broken.
+"There came a voice out of the cloud, This is My Beloved Son; hear ye
+Him." Startled by such a response, "they fell on their face and were
+sore afraid." They did not dare to look about them. The Cloud of
+Glory lifted. How long they lay prostrate and trembling, we do not know.
+At last a hand gently touched them. It was the hand of Jesus. His voice
+bid them, "Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their
+eyes they saw no man, save Jesus only."
+
+[Illustration: THE TRANSFIGURATION _Old Engraving_ Page 106]
+
+The Transfiguration was over. Its grand purpose was accomplished. Master
+and disciples were prepared for the labors and trials to which they must
+return. The night ended. As the morning sun glistened on the peaks of
+Hermon, while darkness yet overspread the plain below, Jesus descended
+with the three, to the nine awaiting their return.
+
+"And as they were coming down from the mountain, He charged them that
+they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of
+Man should have risen again from the dead. And they kept the saying,
+questioning among themselves what the raising again from the dead should
+mean."
+
+Peter's and John's memories of that vision of their Lord were ever
+distinct and precious. When it was no longer a secret, Peter wrote in
+ecstasy of the hour in which they "were eyewitnesses of His majesty, ...
+when they were with Him in the holy mount."
+
+Let us notice the record by John. In the beginning of his gospel he says
+"The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." By this he means that
+the Son of God became a man, and lived among men who witnessed His
+life. But of all the events of that life which John had seen, there was
+a special one in his mind, which not all men had witnessed. So he adds,
+"We beheld His glory." This probably refers to the Transfiguration and
+the Shechinah, which he and Peter and James had seen. And then he thinks
+of how much greater Jesus was than John the Baptist, "a man sent from
+God," "to bear witness of" Him. He thinks also of the great Lawgiver of
+whom he says, "the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came by
+Jesus Christ."
+
+We imagine that ever after the Transfiguration, John thought of Moses
+and the Shechinah together. Had he with his companions been permitted to
+build three tabernacles or booths, "one for Moses," what delightful
+visits John would have made him there, like that one which he had made
+in the abode of Jesus on the banks of the Jordan.
+
+[Illustration: MOSES ON MT. PISGAH _Artist Unknown_ Page 109]
+
+I seem to hear Moses telling John something of his own history when on
+the earth, and teaching him lessons from it in words like these: "This
+is not the first time I have heard the Lord's voice, from out this cloud
+of glory. Out of the burning bush He called me, 'Moses, Moses.' At Sinai
+He said, 'Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud.' And again He appeared
+in 'a pillar of a cloud,' and said, 'Behold thou shall sleep with thy
+fathers.' I saw not that cloud again on earth until you beheld it. My
+thoughts were about death. I prayed about it, not as your Master and
+mine has done in preparation therefor, but that I might not then die.
+This was my prayer: 'Let me go over I pray Thee and see the good land
+that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon,'--the very
+mountain where we now are. But the Lord would not hear me. I prayed yet
+again more earnestly, and the Lord said unto me, 'Let it suffice thee;
+speak no more unto me of this matter.' From yonder mountain of Nebo He
+showed me all the land we now see from Hermon; and then I died. The Lord
+buried me in yonder land of Moab. No man knoweth my sepulchre unto this
+day. I died, my great hope of forty years disappointed. My repeated
+earnest prayer was ungranted then, but it has not been unanswered. This
+'goodly' Lebanon, to which I looked from Nebo with longing eyes, is more
+'goodly' now than when it sadly faded from my dying vision. You, John,
+are one of the witnesses to the answer to my dying prayer. Never did the
+Shechinah at Horeb, or Sinai, or the Tabernacle, seem so resplendent as
+on this Mount Hermon. Here it has enwrapped Elijah and me, the favored
+two whose mission Gabriel might have envied. We were sent down from
+heaven to talk with Jesus concerning His death, of which He has told
+you. In view of it He has lead you, the favored three hither to pray.
+It was while He prayed that ye 'beheld His glory.' Not only for me, but
+much more for Him, is Hermon _the_ mount--'The Holy Mount,' because the
+mount of Prayer, and therefore the mount of Transfiguration."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVII_
+
+_St. John's Imperfections_
+
+     "Master, we saw one casting out demons in Thy name; and we forbade
+     him, because he followeth not with us."--_John._
+
+     "Lord, wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and
+     consume them, even as Elijah did?"--_James and John._
+
+     "Grant us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy
+     left hand, in Thy glory."--_James and John._
+
+     "And when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation
+     concerning James and John."--_Mark_ x. 41.
+
+
+John was not perfect. There were unlovely traits in his otherwise noble
+character. It is not pleasant to write of his faults. We would gladly be
+silent concerning them. But there are four reasons for making record of
+them. 1. If we think of his virtues and not of his faults, we do not
+have a just view of his character; it is one-sided; we have an imperfect
+picture. 2. We see how Jesus loved him notwithstanding his
+imperfections. While hating his sins he loved the man. 3. Remembering
+John's faults, we give him all the more credit when we see how he
+overcame them, and what he became under the example and teachings of
+Jesus. 4. Having failings ourselves, we are encouraged by the full and
+truthful story of John's life, to overcome our own sins. Such are good
+reasons why the imperfections of good men like David and Peter and John
+are recorded in the Bible.
+
+In speaking of John's boyhood, we hinted at some of his faults. Let us
+now notice them more particularly as given by the Evangelists. Sometimes
+he was evidently included when Jesus rebuked the disciples for some
+wrong they had said or done. On one occasion, he alone is mentioned; on
+two others he and his brother James are rebuked together. The first
+recorded incident, showing imperfection, is soon after the descent from
+Hermon. Jesus seems to have accompanied Peter to his home in Capernaum,
+to which the other disciples followed them. The favor which Christ
+showed the three in taking them to the mount may have caused a feeling
+of pride in them, and of jealousy in the nine. Pride was John's
+besetting sin, as we shall see. A great privilege had been granted him.
+Without telling the secret of Hermon to his fellow-disciples, he may, by
+improper word or act, or both, have shown a feeling of superiority,
+which displeased them, as the same spirit did on another occasion. At
+any rate, something led to a dispute who should be the greatest in the
+kingdom which they believed their Lord was to establish. This was a sad
+revelation of the ambitious spirit of these good men. It was probably on
+the way to Capernaum that an incident happened in which John seems to
+have been the chief actor. He exhibited a spirit of intolerance--a want
+of patience and forbearance toward a man whom they met. He was a
+disciple of Christ, in whose power he had such faith that he was enabled
+to cast out evil spirits in His name. He was doing a good work such as
+Christ gave His apostles power to do. They prided themselves in it, and
+felt as if they only had a right to it. So John, speaking for the rest,
+as if he had authority, forbade this man to use the power any more. On
+their reaching the house of Peter, Jesus asked, "What was it that ye
+disputed among yourselves by the way?" Perceiving that He knew their
+thoughts, they were silent with shame, until one of them, yet
+unconquered by His question of reproof, asked Him "Who is the greatest?"
+He did not answer the question immediately. As if in preparation for
+something special, "He sat down and called the twelve" about Him; He
+uttered one reported sentence, "If any man would be first, he shall be
+last of all, and minister of all." And then "He called a little child to
+Him and set him in the midst of them." It was His object lesson. Through
+it He rebuked and taught them. He made childhood a test of character.
+With solemnity and earnestness He declared, "Verily I say unto you,
+Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter
+into the kingdom of heaven."
+
+That child-spirit included simplicity, meekness, harmlessness,
+obedience, dutifulness, trustfulness and, especially at this time,
+humility.
+
+The Lord's declaration must have startled the disciples. They thought of
+themselves as His chosen ones, superior to others, having special
+powers, and destined to special honors which none other might claim. In
+a spirit contrary to His declaration, they were contending who should be
+the greatest in His kingdom. He revealed to them, then and there, the
+nature of that kingdom which they had so greatly misunderstood.
+
+Upon one at least, Christ's lesson was not altogether lost. That was
+John. He recalled his proud and unjust treatment of the humble man whom
+he had forbidden to do good work in the name of Christ. He saw that his
+own spirit had been contrary to that of which Christ had just spoken. He
+finally confessed his fault. But the lesson of his Master was not
+perfectly learned, or if learned, was not, as we shall see, perfectly
+obeyed. Though the beloved, he was still an imperfect, disciple, as is
+shown in another incident.
+
+At the time when Jesus lived, and in the country where He journeyed,
+travelers were generally welcomed as guests in any home. Though
+strangers, they were treated as friends. This was a necessary kindness
+because there were no hotels such as we have in our day and country.
+
+But to this hospitality there was a noted exception. We have noticed
+the hatred of the Samaritans to the Jews. This was especially shown to
+pilgrims going up to Jerusalem to attend the feasts.
+
+Jesus was on His last journey thither. As ever, He was teaching and
+healing on the way. His own heart was burdened with the thought of what
+He was to endure, but He was steadfast in His purpose to reach the Holy
+City, willing there to suffer and to die. Nearing the first Samaritan
+village, He sent messengers before Him to prepare for Himself and His
+company. Even the common hospitality was refused, and that in a most
+unfriendly manner. The Master was treated as a teacher of falsehood.
+Even the kind healer was not permitted to enter the village. He was a
+Jew on His way to Jerusalem. In the minds of the villagers, this was
+more than enough to balance all the good in Him.
+
+James and John especially were indignant at the unkind treatment. They
+felt keenly the insult to their Lord, whom they believed was on His way
+to Jerusalem to establish His Kingdom, and was worthy of the most
+generous hospitality and the sincerest homage. They had a fresh
+remembrance of the glory in which they had seen Him on the Holy Mount in
+company with Elijah. They were reminded of that prophet's experience
+more than nine hundred years before. It was this: Ahaziah, a king of
+Israel, was seriously injured by a fall from the balcony of his house.
+He sent to inquire of the false god Baal-zebub whether he should
+recover. God sent Elijah to reprove him for his idolatry and insult to
+Himself. The king sent a captain with fifty men to seize the prophet,
+but they were consumed by fire from heaven. Another captain and his
+fifty men were also destroyed in like manner.
+
+Such a punishment James and John would call down on the Samaritans. They
+felt that it would be just. If fitting for the enemies of Elijah, how
+much more for those of Jesus. They were ready to give the command which
+God permitted Elijah to give, if Jesus would allow them to do likewise.
+And so, being displeased, provoked, revengeful, with a fiery spirit,
+they said to Him, "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down
+from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?" But Jesus "turned
+and rebuked them," and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
+of."
+
+It was contrary to the spirit of meekness and love manifest in His
+declaration to them, "The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives,
+but to save them." And so He inspired them with another spirit, as He
+quietly led them "to another village." We sadly turn to another scene in
+which imperfection in the beloved disciple is especially revealed.
+
+The favored brothers had not yet learned perfectly the lesson of
+humility which their Lord had tried to teach them. They were still
+devoted to Him, following Him, loving Him. But they still misunderstood
+what He said about His death, and His kingdom, in which they hoped for
+the most honored places. They wanted to be assured of promotion above
+their fellow-disciples. They were earnest in an unholy desire. They had
+a bold, ambitious request to make of the Lord. It was the chief occasion
+on which their pride was revealed. We have two accounts of it. In one of
+them the mother Salome appears as the speaker. She brings her sons to
+Jesus, prostrates herself before Him, and offers this petition, "Grant
+that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other
+on Thy left, in Thy Kingdom." She had a loving mother's pride. She was
+the aunt of Jesus, and perhaps felt that because of this relationship,
+her sons had a right which the other Apostles could not claim. She had
+given them to His service, and had proved her own love and devotion to
+Him by following Him with other women of Galilee, ministering to His
+comforts. Meanwhile James and John, according to another account,
+themselves urged their mother's request saying, "Grant unto us that we
+may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand, in Thy glory."
+
+Mother and sons shared in the spirit of self-seeking and
+self-exaltation. But we must not forget that it was faith in Him as the
+Messiah, and in His coming "glory," that led them to show it, though in
+a mistaken way.
+
+In sorrow and tenderness, and pity for their ignorance, Jesus replied,
+"Ye know not what ye ask." While His eye rested on them, His thoughts
+were on another scene. It was a cross with Himself upon it, and a
+malefactor on each side, instead of the brothers in their pride. As John
+at last stood by it, did he recall the hour of his mistaken ambitious
+request, which had never been repeated. There had been no need that the
+Lord should say to him, as to Moses, "Ask me not again," yet like Moses,
+he was to receive a most glorious answer in another form. In his pride,
+with an earthly throne in mind, he had asked, "Grant that I may sit with
+Thee in Thy glory?" Having conquered his unholy ambition there was
+fulfilled in him the promise of His Lord in glory, "To him that
+overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne."
+
+The time came when there was no longer occasion for the other ten
+apostles to be "moved with indignation concerning James and John,"
+because of their pride and ambitious seeking. This John is the disciple
+whom, with all his imperfections, Jesus loved most of all; this the man
+known as the most lovable of men; this the one who well-nigh reached
+human perfection through his ardent and ever increasing love for Jesus;
+this the one who is called _the Apostle of Love_.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+_John and the Family of Bethany_
+
+     "He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named
+     Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called
+     Mary, which also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard His
+     word."--_Luke_ x. 38, 39.
+
+     "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of
+     Mary and her sister Martha."--_John_ xi. 1.
+
+     "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."--_v._ 5.
+
+     "Jesus ... said, ... Lazarus is dead."--_v._ 14.
+
+     "Jesus wept."--_v._ 35.
+
+     "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead
+     came forth."--_vs._ 43, 44.
+
+     "As he (John) gives us so much more than the synoptists about the
+     family at Bethany, we may infer that he was a more intimate friend
+     of Lazarus and his sisters."--_A. Plummer, D.D._
+
+
+In four sentences Luke draws an unfinished picture of a family group,
+whose memory has become especially precious because of what John has
+added to it. His probable familiarity with the family made this
+possible. No wonder if he felt that the original picture must be
+enlarged and retouched. The place where that family lived had become to
+him too sacred a spot to be called simply "a certain village." Martha
+was more than "a certain woman," who though hospitable, was distracted
+in her housekeeping. Mary was fairer than Luke had painted her. John
+had seen her do more than sit at Jesus' feet. He manifestly felt that
+the resurrection of Lazarus was too great an event to be omitted from
+the gospel story, as it was by the other Evangelists who, when they
+wrote, might have endangered the life of Him whom the Jews sought to
+destroy. John's heart demanded a stronger tribute to Mary than Matthew
+or Mark had given. Let him be our guide to the blessed home. With his
+eyes let us see Jesus' relation to it, and with his ears listen to the
+Master's words there spoken.
+
+[Illustration: BETHANY _Old Engraving_ Page 120]
+
+As he opens the door we see a family of wealth, refinement, hospitality
+and affection. Its members are of kindred spirit with him: and so would
+be attracted to him, and he to them. But there was a special bond of
+union. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Such is the
+tender passing remark of John who elsewhere calls himself "the disciple
+whom Jesus loved." These four form a group of special objects of
+Christ's affection. They ardently loved Him. We may suppose that John's
+relation to the family of Bethany was closer than that of any other
+disciple. This fitted him to make us familiar with their characters, and
+many incidents of their home.
+
+John was with Jesus in Bethany in Peraea, when there came the sad, brief,
+confiding message from Mary and Martha, "Lord, behold, he whom Thou
+lovest is sick." Doubtless it touched the heart of the apostle as well
+as that of his Master, whose response he records: "This sickness is not
+unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
+glorified thereby." We are reminded of John's own words concerning the
+change of water into wine: "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
+of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory."
+
+Jesus' plan for Lazarus included a delay of two days in Bethany of
+Peraea. Meanwhile His heart went out toward Bethany in Judaea. So did
+John's. But, though Jesus tarried, it can be said, as on another
+occasion, "He Himself knew what He would do." While John was wondering,
+waiting and watching, perhaps he remembered how the nobleman's son was
+healed in Capernaum when Jesus was in Cana, and thought it possible that
+the messenger would be told to say to the sisters, "Thy brother liveth."
+
+When at last Jesus proposed to His disciples that they all go to Judaea,
+John's love may have contended for a moment with fear, as they
+protested, because of danger from His enemies: but it was for a moment
+only. When Jesus said, "Let us go unto him," we almost wonder that it
+was not John the loving, nor Peter the bold, but Thomas the sometimes
+unready, that said concerning Jesus, "Let us also go that we may die
+with Him." But we imagine that John was the readiest to go, and kept
+the closest to his Master in the pathway to Bethany in Judaea.
+
+"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth," said Jesus. Though all of the disciples
+were thus addressed, we think of John as especially including Jesus and
+himself in that word "our," because of the nearness of their relation to
+the afflicted family. And then that other word "sleepeth"--it must have
+carried him, as well as James and Peter, back to the home of Jairus,
+where they heard the same voice to which they were now listening say,
+"The child is not dead but sleepeth."
+
+We almost wonder that the three did not turn to their fellow-disciples
+and say that "Jesus had spoken of the _death_ of Lazarus," while "they
+thought that He spake of taking rest in sleep." But evidently not so;
+and when Jesus "said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead," doubtless John
+was the saddest of them all, because of his special interest in him. The
+full record--the only one of what transpired in that sad, joyful
+home--shows how closely John watched every movement of Jesus and the
+sisters, and how carefully he noted what they said. We may give credit
+to his memory, even with the aid which he says was promised the
+disciples in their remembrance. He notes the coming of Martha to meet
+Jesus, while "Mary sat still in the house;" Martha's plaintive cry,
+"Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died;" the
+conversation between her and Jesus concerning the resurrection; the
+sudden change from it to His asking for Mary; Martha's return to the
+house and whispering in her sister's ear, "The Master is come and
+calleth for thee;" the hurried obedience to the call--all these
+incidents are recorded by John with the particularity and vividness of
+an eyewitness.
+
+It appears as if Jesus would not perform the intended miracle until the
+arrival of Mary. John's account of their meeting is full of pathos. He
+watches her coming, notices the moment she catches sight of Him through
+her tears, and her first act of falling down at His feet, and her
+repetition of Martha's cry, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother
+had not died." He looks into the faces of both as "Jesus sees her
+weeping." He contrasts Mary's real and deep sorrow with the outward and
+heartless outcries of pretended grief, at which Jesus "groans in
+spirit," because a seeming mockery in the presence of His loving friend.
+John measures the depth of the Lord's "troubled" spirit by His outward
+movements. He opens to us His heart of hearts in the brief, tender
+record, "Jesus wept." Where in the whole story of His life do we gain a
+keener sense of His humanity, especially His tenderness and sympathy.
+What a revelation we would have missed if John had been silent, but the
+emotion of His own heart had been too deep to allow any such omission.
+"Jesus wept." As Professor Austin Phelps declares, "The shortest verse
+in the Bible is crowded with suggestions."
+
+While John is our guide to the tomb of Lazarus, and more than that, the
+sincere mourner with the afflicted sisters, he is yet more the disciple
+of Jesus, receiving new and lasting impressions of divine truth and of
+his Master, which are embodied in his story.
+
+John recorded seven miracles of our Lord. The first was that of turning
+water into wine. The last was the raising of Lazarus. In both of them He
+points us to the same glorious purpose. He says that in the first,
+Christ "manifested forth His glory," and that the second was "for the
+glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." And now
+standing with Martha by the yet unopened tomb, John hears their Lord
+remind her of His assurance that if she believed, she "should see the
+glory of God." That hour had come. The Lord had commanded, "Take ye away
+the stone." John was most attentive to every act of the passing scene.
+His eyes glanced from the stone to his Lord. As soon as the command
+concerning it was obeyed Jesus lifted His eyes upward, and said,
+"Father"--calling upon Him with whom He was to be glorified.
+
+John had stood at the bedside of the only daughter of Jairus, and heard
+the command, "Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise." By the bier of the
+widow's only son he had probably heard that other, "Young man, I say
+unto thee, Arise." And now standing by the open door of the tomb of the
+only brother, was He not listening for a like command? He had not long
+to wait. The prayer of his Lord was ended. The tone of prayer was
+changed to that of command. "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come
+forth. And he that was dead came forth." John describes his appearance.
+He was "bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound
+about with a napkin." When Jesus saith unto them, "Loose him and let him
+go"--away from the excitement and curiosity of the heartless
+mourners--who was so ready as John to obey the command, while welcoming
+his friend back to life? Who could so fittingly escort him from the
+darkened tomb to the relighted home, with the sisters still weeping--but
+for joy.
+
+In John's old age when he recalled this resurrection scene, he seems to
+have had a special memory of the younger sister's sorrow. He speaks of
+the "Jews which came to Mary" in the hour of her sadness.
+
+But His memory of that resurrection day was tinged with gloom. He traced
+back, from the cross on Calvary to the tomb in Bethany, the way by which
+his Lord had been led by His enemies. "From that day forth they took
+counsel together for to put Him to death."
+
+[Illustration: THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS _Old Engraving_ Page 126]
+
+It is tradition, not John, which tells us concerning Lazarus that the
+first question which he asked Christ after He was restored to life was
+whether He must die again; and that being told that he must, he was
+never more seen to smile. But John, better than tradition, tells of
+another scene in which we imagine his smiles were not restrained. To it
+let us turn.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIX_
+
+_John's Memorial of Mary_
+
+     "When Jesus was in Bethany, ... there came unto Him a woman having
+     an alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment, and she poured
+     it upon his head, as He sat at meat."--_Matt._ xxvi. 6, 7.
+
+     "Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
+     in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be
+     spoken of for a memorial of her."--_Matt._ xxvi. 13.
+
+     "It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped
+     His feet with her hair."--_John_ xi. 2.
+
+     "There is something touchingly fraternal in the momentary pleasure
+     which He (Christ) appears to have taken in the gift of the
+     alabaster box."--_Austin Phelps._
+
+      "Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
+         Nor other thought her mind admits
+         But, he was dead, and there he sits,
+       And He that brought him back is there.
+
+      "Then one deep love doth supersede
+         All other, when her ardent gaze
+         Rose from the living brother's face,
+       And rests upon the life indeed."
+                                --_Tennyson._
+
+
+That is an impressive picture drawn by Saints Matthew and Mark, of a
+scene in Bethany, where an unnamed woman brought a flask of ointment
+which she poured on the head of Jesus, thus exciting murmuring and
+indignation against her, who was defended by Him, with assurance of
+perpetual remembrance of her deed.
+
+Yet a comparison of the accounts of these two Evangelists with the story
+given by John, suggest the thought that he was not satisfied with the
+picture. His remembrance of the things that happened before and after
+that scene, his friendship for the family of Bethany, his understanding
+of the Master's feelings and thoughts, his sense of justice to himself
+and to his fellow-disciples, the omission of an important figure in the
+grouping, and especially his tender sympathy for the unnamed heroine of
+the story--these things demanded in his mind additions and re-touchings
+to make the picture complete.
+
+Let us imagine ourselves before him while he is reading the manuscripts
+of Matthew and Mark, long after they were written. He tells us of
+incidents, unmentioned by them, that enlarge and make clearer our view
+of the scene. We note the impressions we may suppose were made on him at
+the time of the event, and were still fresh in his old age when he tells
+the story.
+
+"I remember distinctly"--so he might say--"this scene in Bethany, both
+what these two writers report, and what they do not. The hour was
+drawing near when my Lord must die. So He had told me; but somehow I
+did not understand that this must be. It seems strange to me now that I
+did not, as well as one of my friends did, who realized the nearness of
+the sad hour. I had arrived with Him at Bethany 'where Lazarus was which
+had been dead, whom He raised from the dead.' It was a great joy to meet
+again the friend whom I had welcomed from the tomb."
+
+It is true, as here written by Mark, that Jesus "sat at meat." But this
+does not tell the whole story. The people of Bethany wished to unite in
+doing Him honor: "So they made Him a supper there." It was fitting that
+it should be "in the house of Simon" whom Jesus had healed from leprosy,
+and who was probably a relative or special friend of the family loved by
+Jesus. I wonder that their names do not appear in the story given by
+these two Evangelists: I could not forget them. I remember how "Martha
+served" at the table, as if in her own home, seeming more of a hostess
+than a guest; and how "Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table
+with Him" who had bid him rise from the tomb; and how Mary showed her
+gratitude for her brother's restoration, and love for his Restorer. To
+me that supper loses half its interest without the mention of these
+names, so suggestive of near relation to the Lord. Here I read, "There
+came unto Him a woman." That is indeed true; but I find no hint of who
+this unknown woman was. Could Matthew probably present, have forgotten
+it? Had Mark absent, never been told?
+
+Matthew says she had "an alabaster cruse of precious ointment," which
+Mark explains was "spikenard very costly." This also is truly said, for
+I learned that "Mary ... took a _pound_ of ointment of spikenard very
+precious." This she could well afford. Some have suggested that perhaps,
+like oriental girls of fashion, she had bought it in her pride, but
+after coming under the influence of Jesus, had left it unused. But I am
+more inclined to believe she intended it from the first as an expression
+of overflowing love.
+
+Mark says "she broke the cruse." I remember, as she crushed the neck of
+it, all eyes were turned upon her, watching her movements. Lazarus,
+reclining at the table, gazed upon her with brotherly interest; and
+Martha, moving around it glanced at her with sisterly affection. There
+was one man whose expression was something more than curiosity. In it
+there was a shade of displeasure.
+
+These two Evangelists tell that Mary "poured the ointment upon" and
+"over" the "head" of Jesus. This was a common custom in rendering honor
+and adoration. But it did not satisfy Mary, if the Lord could only say
+with David, "Thou anointest my _head_." Her anointing was so profuse
+that He could say,--as Matthew testifies that He did--"She poured this
+ointment upon My body." But I would testify to another act, fuller yet
+of meaning. She "anointed the _feet_ of Jesus." This meant far more than
+the washing of feet, as an humble act of hospitality and honor. It was
+an unusual act of adoration. I saw bathed in spikenard what I have since
+seen bathed in blood. But that was not all. Making of her long tresses a
+fine but unwoven towel, "she wiped His feet with her hair"; kneeling in
+devotion where she had loved to sit in learning.
+
+I noticed the glowing rapture in her face, and an occasional glance into
+that of her Lord, unmindful of the presence of all others, while He
+looked kindly upon her. It was then that I discovered that "the house
+was filled with the odor of the ointment." But, alas, not so with the
+perfume of her deed. "There were some that had indignation among
+themselves, ... and they murmured against her": so says Mark. "When the
+disciples" saw Mary's deed "they had indignation": so says Matthew. It
+is true that signs of dissatisfaction came from the group of the
+disciples, but it is the voice of one of them that has ever since rung
+in my ears, to whom "the unworthy grumbling should be assigned." In
+justice to the disciples he should not be unnamed. Mary was still in the
+act of her devotion to Jesus. "But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples,
+which should betray Him, saith, 'Why was not this ointment sold for
+three hundred pence, and given to the poor?' This he said, not because
+he cared for the poor"--not he--"but because he was a thief and, having
+the bag, took away what was put therein." He it was who from the first
+showed displeasure at Mary's act. His words were both an exclamation and
+a question, a sort of soliloquy, and yet addressed to anybody who might
+hear and answer: but they needed no answer. It was too late to gather up
+the ointment already used, and sell it for the poor or for any other
+purpose. But Judas' purpose I well understand. I see through his
+hypocrisy now more clearly than I did then.
+
+[Illustration: TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM _Gustave Dore_ Page 138]
+
+With the sharp, reproving voice of Judas, Mary glanced into his angry
+face. This would have filled her with terror had she not immediately
+looked into that of Jesus beaming upon her. One hand of His was over
+her, as if in protection and benediction, while the other waved in a
+reproving gesture. As I read how He answered the question of Judas with
+another, "Why trouble ye her?" and then commanded, "Let her alone"; and
+then declared, "She hath wrought a good work upon me," I recall the
+changing expressions of His face, and His tones of indignation and
+affection.
+
+I was startled by the reason He gave for letting her alone,--that she
+might preserve what remained of the ointment, not for the poor, but to
+be used for His burial, near at hand.
+
+She it was of whom I have spoken who understood better than I or any of
+my fellow-apostles, that our Lord's life was nearing its end.
+
+I find here in the records of Matthew and Mark the assurance of the Lord
+concerning the unnamed woman of whom they have written. It is this,
+"Verily I say unto you, 'Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in
+the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of
+for a memorial of her.' Let it be known that this woman was Mary of
+Bethany, then at Jesus' feet. Henceforth let her name be linked with her
+deed."
+
+Thus ends the words we have imagined St. John might have spoken with the
+Gospels of Matthew and Mark in his hand. The additions to their story
+are suggested by his own Gospel. He has drawn a beautiful picture of
+Mary, in brighter colors and more delicate shades than has any other. To
+him artists are chiefly indebted for their ideas of her. His own
+character was so completely in harmony with hers that he understood what
+his fellows did not. By them she was misjudged and condemned; he saw and
+admired the sweetness of her spirit, and the purity and nobleness of her
+motive. Upon the monument reared by other Evangelists, he inserted her
+name. In her he saw a reflection of her Lord and his. His memory and
+his record alone secured for her in particular the fulfilment of the
+Lord's prophecy concerning the remembrance of her deed. Every Christian
+home in the whole world has been, or will be, filled with the spiritual
+fragrance of her offering. But the prophecy is more than fulfilled. That
+which she hath done is not only "_spoken of_," for in many a home
+inspired by her spirit, her name has been given as a memorial of her
+whom John distinguished from all others as "that Mary which anointed the
+Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair." It was of Mary
+that Jesus said, "She hath done what she could."
+
+John's picture of her is all the brighter because of his dark background
+of Judas. He has forever associated their names in contrast. In his
+mind, the anointing was ever suggestive of the betrayal. He remembered
+how the "thief" asked his hypocritical question at the moment of the
+greatest perfume; and how Judas was planning the betrayal while Mary was
+meditating on the death to which it would lead. It appears almost
+certain that Judas, stung by the Lord's reproof of him and defence of
+Mary, ready to sell his Lord's body for a less sum than he valued the
+ointment, turned from the feast in anger, hastening to the chief priest
+with the cursed question and promise, "What will ye give me, and I will
+deliver Him unto you?" Wheresoever the gospel is preached throughout
+the whole world, that also which _this man_ hath done is spoken of--but
+not for a memorial of him.
+
+John's picture of Mary, Judas and Jesus is a most suggestive grouping.
+What harmony and contrast! What light and shade! What revelation of love
+and hate, of friendship and enmity, of devotion and sacrilege! To no
+other scene does Christ sustain quite the same relation. The friendship
+of His first feast--that of Cana--is deeper and tenderer in His last, at
+Bethany.
+
+There is something sublime in this Son of God having all power, pleading
+with Judas that Mary might be permitted to continue her service of love
+for Him.
+
+Add John's own likeness to the three at whom we have been looking, and
+what a grouping we have--Jesus with His loved Mary, and John the most
+beautiful illustration of human friendship, and Judas the _betrayer_.
+Let imagination complete what no artist has attempted.
+
+When John recalls the odors of Mary's ointment filling the house, he
+seems to catch a refrain from Solomon's song, and addresses it to
+her,--"Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is as ointment
+poured forth; therefore do the maidens love thee."
+
+It is not the "maidens" alone, especially the Marys of Christendom,
+that "love" her, but all to whom the gospel is preached, who join in
+John's refrain, while thanking him for his "memorial of her."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XX_
+
+_John a Herald of the King_
+
+PROPHECY:
+
+     "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
+     Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: ... lowly, and riding
+     upon ... a colt."--_Zech._ ix. 9.
+
+PROPHECY FULFILLED:
+
+     "He sent two of his disciples, saying, Go your way into the village
+     over against you; in the which as ye enter ye shall find a colt
+     tied: ... loose him, and bring him.... And they brought him to
+     Jesus: and they threw their garments upon the colt, and set Jesus
+     thereon."--_Luke_ xix. 30, 35.
+
+PROPHECY UNDERSTOOD:
+
+     "These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when
+     Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were
+     written of Him, and that they had done these things unto
+     Him."--_John_ xii. 16.
+
+    "Daughter of Zion! Virgin Queen! Rejoice!
+     Clap the glad hand and lift th' exulting voice!
+     He comes,--but not in regal splendor drest,
+     The haughty diadem, the Tyrian vest;
+     Not arm'd in flame, all glorious from afar,
+     Of hosts the chieftain, and the lord of war:
+     Messiah comes!--let furious discord cease;
+     Be peace on earth before the Prince of Peace!"
+                                     --_Heber's Palestine_.
+
+
+Zechariah foretold the coming of Christ five hundred years before the
+angels over Bethlehem heralded His birth. The prophets saw Him as the
+Messiah-king, but not such a ruler as most of the Jews of Christ's day
+expected. Even the disciples, believing Him to be the Messiah, had
+mistaken views of His kingdom. Yet He was the King foretold by the
+prophets; the Son of David who sang of Him as the "King" and as the
+"Lord's anointed"; the Messiah or Christ; the king of the Jews not only,
+but of all men. As such He would make a triumphal entry into the "City
+of the Great King." This would not be in the pride and pomp of an
+earthly conqueror, but in the "lowly" manner which Zechariah had
+foretold.
+
+All the accounts of Jesus' journeyings leave the impression that He went
+a-foot. Only once do we know that He rode; that was in fulfilment of
+prophecy. That prophecy He purposed to fulfil the day after the feast of
+Bethany. This was intended by Christ to be His royal and Messianic entry
+into Jerusalem. The hour had come. A colt unused, and so fitted by
+custom for sacred purposes, was ready for His use. Having left the
+village "He sent two of His disciples to bring it to Him." These two are
+understood to be Peter and John, for whose united service He would soon
+call again. We may think of the owner of the colt as friendly toward
+their Master. When told by the disciples, "The Lord hath need of him,"
+he was ready to serve Him by the loan of his beast. That
+"need"--whatever the owner or the disciples thought--was not so much to
+aid in Christ's journey as to make true the prophetic words concerning
+Him, "Thy King cometh ... riding upon ... a colt."
+
+The two disciples "brought him to Jesus, and they threw their garments
+upon the colt, and set Jesus thereon."
+
+We may think of Peter and John, having arranged for the royal ride, as
+heralds of their Lord, leading the procession from Bethany, and the
+first to greet with signal and shout the other coming from Jerusalem.
+
+Beside their King, perhaps leading the colt on which they had placed
+Him, they would be the first to tread where "a very great multitude
+spread their garments in the way," and others "branches from the trees,"
+and yet others "layers of leaves which they had cut from the
+fields"--thus carpeting the road winding around the slope of Olivet.
+
+Were not Peter and John leaders in song when "at the descent at the
+Mount of Olives the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice
+and praise God," and especially when "the City of David" came into view?
+The joyful strains were from the Psalms of David--"Hosanna to the Son of
+David, Hosanna in the Highest Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the
+kingdom of our Father David. Blessed is the King that cometh in the
+name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST AND ST. JOHN _Ary Scheffer_ Page 155]
+
+In that last strain it would almost seem as if the angelic song of
+thirty-three years before, over the plain of Bethlehem, had not yet died
+away, and was echoed from Olivet.
+
+In that hour did John and James have thoughts about sitting one on the
+right hand and the other on the left in a kingdom which seemed near at
+hand? Did they and the other disciples, who had been disappointed
+because their Lord had refused on the shore of Galilee to be made king,
+imagine that He certainly would now be willing to be crowned in
+Jerusalem?
+
+When John wrote his account of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he
+recalled the prophecy concerning it. It is claimed that he speaks of
+himself and Peter in particular when he says, "These things understood
+not the disciples at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then
+remembered they that these things were written, and that they had done
+these things unto Him." This was a frank confession of his own dulness
+and ignorance: it is also an assurance of his later wisdom.
+
+We see John on the highway of Olivet, a chosen disciple to aid His Lord
+in the hour of His earthly glory. We shall see him, even down to old
+age, in a yet nobler sense, a Herald of the King.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXI_
+
+_With the Master on Olivet_
+
+     "Some spake of the Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones
+     and offerings."--_Luke_ xxi. 5.
+
+     "One of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, behold, what manner
+     of stones and what manner of buildings! And Jesus said unto him,
+     Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left here one
+     stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down."
+
+     "As He sat on the Mount of Olives over against the Temple, Peter
+     and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, Tell us, when
+     shall these things be? and, What shall be the sign when these
+     things are all about to be accomplished?"--_Mark_ xiii. 1-4.
+
+
+The Temple was the most sacred of all places, even before the Lord of
+the Temple entered it. His presence became its chiefest glory. In the
+hour when the waiting Simeon at last could there say "he had seen the
+Lord's Christ," it had a new consecration, and a beauty which its
+richness of materials and adornments had never given. In the hour when
+He there said to His mother, "Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's
+House?" or, "I must be about My Father's business," it was more
+consecrated still. Twice He had cleansed it from the profanation of
+unholy worshipers. Within it He had spoken as no man had ever done. It
+had been a theatre of His divine power.
+
+That was a sad and solemn hour in the last week of His life when, as
+Matthew says, "Jesus went out and departed from the Temple." That was
+His farewell to it. With sadness He thought not only that He would never
+return to it for a blessed ministry of word and healing, but that the
+place itself would be destroyed. As He led His disciples from it, their
+minds were also upon the Holy House: but their thoughts were not His
+thoughts. They had long been familiar with its magnificence, from the
+day when each of them, at twelve years of age, for the first time had
+gazed upon it in wonder and admiration. We do not know why, as they were
+turning away from it and walked toward Olivet, "some spake of the
+Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings," nor why
+"one of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, behold what manner of
+stones, and what manner of buildings!" But so they did. Doubtless they
+were surprised and disappointed that the Lord did not respond with like
+spirit to their enthusiastic exclamations. Were not such richness and
+beauty worthy of even His admiration? Why His momentary silence? Why His
+sadness of expression, as He looked toward the Temple, beholding it as
+they bid Him do, but manifestly with different purpose and feeling from
+what they intended? His appearance seemed most inconsistent with the
+glorious view. His response was startling,--"Seest thou these great
+buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which
+shall not be thrown down."
+
+The astonished disciples were silenced, but an unspoken question was in
+the minds of some of them. Christ turned aside and ascended the
+mountain, taking with Him the chosen three, Peter, James and John. On
+this occasion Andrew is added to the private company. Once more we see
+by themselves the two pair of brothers with whom in their boyhood we
+became familiar in Bethsaida. We are reminded of the days when they sat
+together on the sea-shore, the time when they were watching for the
+coming of the Messiah with whom they now "sat on the Mount of Olives
+over against the Temple." Two days before, in the road below He had also
+prophesied of the destruction of the city, as He gazed upon it through
+His tears. Now He was on the summit, directly opposite the Temple, from
+which the city was spread out before Him. To me it is still a delight in
+thought, as it was in reality, to stand where they sat, and look down
+upon the same Temple area, and think of the Holy and Beautiful House, as
+it appeared before the sad prophecy had been fulfilled.
+
+On this spot the poet Milman makes Titus to stand just before the
+destruction of Jerusalem, with determination and yet with misgiving,
+looking down on the city in its pride and the Temple in its
+gorgeousness, and saying:
+
+                                 "Yon proud City!
+    As on our Olive-crowned hill we stand,
+    Where Kidron at our feet its scanty waters
+    Distills from stone to stone with gentle motion,
+    As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace,
+    How boldly doth it front us! How majestically!
+    Like as a luxurious vineyard, the hillside
+    Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line,
+    Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer
+    To the blue Heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces,
+    With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;
+    Here towers of war that frown in massy strength;
+    While over all hangs the rich purple eve,
+    As conscious of its being her last farewell
+    Of light and glory to the fated city.
+    And as our clouds of battle, dust and smoke
+    Are melted into air, behold the Temple
+    In undisturbed and lone serenity,
+    Finding itself a solemn sanctuary
+    In the profound of Heaven! It stands before us
+    A mount of snow, fettered with golden pinnacles!
+    The very sun, as though he worshiped there,
+    Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs;
+    And down the long and branching porticoes,
+    On every flowery, sculptured capital,
+    Glitters the homage of His parting beams.
+    .... The sight might almost win
+    The offended majesty of Rome to mercy."
+
+But Roman majesty was not to be won to mercy. To the Twelve, Christ had
+foretold the destruction of the city. And now when the four were alone
+with Him, they "asked Him privately, tell us when shall these things
+be." For wise reasons Jesus did not tell. But one of them at least would
+learn both when and what these things would be. This was John. His
+tender and loving heart was to bleed with the horrible story of the fall
+of Jerusalem. There hunger and famine would be so dire that mothers
+would slay and devour their own children. Multitudes would die of
+disease and pestilence. Rage and madness would make the city like a cage
+of wild beasts. Thousands would be carried away into captivity. The most
+beautiful youths would be kept to show the triumph of their conqueror.
+Some of them would be doomed to work in chains in Egyptian mines. Young
+boys and girls would be sold as slaves. Many would be slain by wild
+beasts and gladiators. Saddest of all would be the Temple scenes. Though
+Titus command its preservation his infuriated soldiery will not spare
+it. On its altar there would be no sacrifice because no priest to offer
+it. That altar would be heaped with the slain. Streams of blood would
+flow through the temple courts, and thousands of women perish in its
+blazing corridors. The time was to come when John, recalling his
+question on Olivet and his Lord's prophecy concerning Jerusalem, could
+say,
+
+    "All is o'er, Her grandeur and her guilt."
+
+Was he the one of the disciples who hailed the Master, saying, "Behold
+what manner of stones, and what manner of buildings!"? If so, with what
+emotions he must have recalled his exclamation after the prophecy of
+their destruction had been fulfilled. Outliving all his fellow-apostles
+the time came when he could stand alone where once he stood with Peter
+and James and Andrew, not asking questions "When shall these things be?"
+and, "What shall be the sign when these things are all about to be
+accomplished?" but repeating the lament of Bishop Heber over Jerusalem
+in ruins:
+
+    "Reft of thy son, amid thy foes forlorn,
+     Mourn, widow'd Queen; forgotten Zion, mourn.
+     Is this thy place, sad city, this thy throne,
+     Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone;
+     Where suns unblessed their angry luster fling,
+     And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring?
+     Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy viewed?
+     Where now thy might which all those kings subdued?
+     No martial myriads muster in thy gate;
+     No suppliant nations in thy temple wait;
+     No prophet bards, thy glittering courts among,
+     Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song:
+     But lawless force and meagre want are there,
+     And the quick-darting eye of restless fear,
+     While cold oblivion, 'mid thy ruins laid,
+     Folds its dank wing beneath the ivy shade."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXII_
+
+_John a Provider for the Passover_
+
+     "He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make ready for us the
+     Passover, that we may eat."--_Luke_ xxii. 8.
+
+     "And they went ... and they made ready the Passover."--_v._ 13.
+
+
+The last time we saw Judas was when he left the feast of Bethany,
+murmuring at Mary's deed, angry at the Lord's defence of her, and
+plotting against Him. "From that time He sought opportunity to betray
+Him."
+
+"The day ... came on which the Passover must be sacrificed." A lamb must
+be provided and slain in the Temple for Jesus and His disciples.
+Moreover a place must be provided for them to eat it. This preparation
+would naturally fall on Judas, the treasurer of the company, whom at a
+later hour the disciples thought Jesus instructed to buy some things for
+the feast. The place in Jesus' mind was yet a secret, unknown to the
+disciples, including Judas who could not therefore reveal it to His
+enemies. Who shall be entrusted with the service which He needed, and be
+in sympathy with Him in the solemn approaching hour? Not Judas. The two
+who had been the heralds of the King should be His messengers. So "He
+sent Peter and John saying, Go and make ready for us the Passover that
+we may eat." Again and again we shall find Peter and John together in
+circumstances of joy and sorrow, trial and triumph. Their first question
+was a very natural one, "Where wilt Thou that we make ready?" The Lord's
+secret was not at once revealed. He gave them a sign by which their
+question would be answered--another proof of His divine fore-knowledge.
+He told them to go into the city, entering which they would find a man
+bearing a pitcher of water. Him they were to follow to the house he
+entered, and tell its owner of His purpose to keep the Passover there.
+In a furnished room they were to prepare for His coming. They were full
+of curiosity, but had no doubt concerning the result of their errand.
+They trusted Him who had entrusted them with it.
+
+Soon at the public fountain they were watching for the servant who
+should be their guide. Having done "as Jesus appointed them," they
+"found as He said unto them." As instructed they said "unto the goodman
+of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest-chamber
+where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples?"
+
+"The goodman of the house" is the only name by which this owner has
+been known. Some have thought He was Joseph of Arimathaea; others the
+Father of Saint Mark; others Mark himself. It is the name by which Jesus
+has called Him; that is honor enough. Without doubt he was a friend of
+the Lord. Perhaps like Nicodemus he had come to Him privately for
+instruction. He was ready to do what he could for His necessities when
+homeless in Jerusalem. He was ready to give Him a place of protection
+when, that very night, His enemies were seeking His life. Peter and John
+may never have met this unnamed disciple before. If so, it was doubtless
+the beginning of an acquaintance close and tender between them and him
+who was "the last host of the Lord, and the first host of His Church."
+
+He showed them "a large upper room." It was probably reached, as in many
+oriental houses, by outside stairs. It was the choicest and most retired
+room. The goodman led the disciples into it. They found it "furnished"
+with a table, and couches around it on which Jesus and His company could
+recline. But this probably was not all. The table was "prepared" with
+some of the provisions required for the feast. These included the cakes
+of unleavened bread, the five kinds of bitter herbs, and the wine mixed
+with water for the four cups which it was the custom to use.
+
+But there was something more which Peter and John must do to "make
+ready" for the feast. It was the most important thing of all. It was to
+prepare the "Paschal Lamb." With such a lamb they had been familiar from
+childhood. As their fathers brought it into their homes, and their
+mothers roasted it, and parents and children gathered about it in solemn
+worship, the Bethsaidan boys had no thought of the day when the Messiah
+would bid them prepare for the feast of which He Himself would be the
+host, at the only time apparently when He acted as such.
+
+When John was pointed by the Baptist to Jesus, he had no thought that He
+would prepare the last Lamb for Him whom He was to see sacrificed as
+"the Lamb of God." No wonder that Jesus sent Peter and John to make
+ready, instead of Judas the usual provider, who in the same hour "sought
+opportunity to betray Him."
+
+We follow them from the house of the goodman toward the Temple. Nearing
+it they listen with mournful solemnity to the chanting of the
+eighty-first Psalm, with its exhortation to praise,--"Sing aloud unto
+God our strength. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time
+appointed, on the solemn feast day." Then they listen for the threefold
+blast of the silver trumpets. By this they know that the hour has come
+for the slaying of the lambs. Peter and John enter the court of the
+priests, and slay their lamb whose blood is caught by a priest in a
+golden bowl, and carried to the Great Altar.
+
+Of this they must have been reminded a few hours later when Christ spoke
+of His own blood shed for the remission of sins. John must have
+remembered it when he saw and wrote of the "blood and water" that flowed
+from the pierced side of his Lord. While the lamb is being slain the
+priests are chanting, and the people responding, "Hallelujah: Blessed is
+He that cometh in the Name of the Lord."
+
+The lamb of sacrifice, slain and cleansed and roasted, is carried by the
+two disciples on staves to the upper room. After lighting the festive
+lamps, they have obeyed their Lord's command, "Make ready the Passover."
+
+Meanwhile He and the remaining ten, as the sun is setting, descend the
+Mount of Olives, from which He takes His last view of the holy but fated
+city. The disciples follow Him, still awed by what He had told them of
+its fate, and with forebodings of what awaited Him and them. Among them
+was the traitor carrying his terrible secret, bent on its awful purpose
+which is unknown to the nine, but well known to the Master. Thus they go
+to the upper room where Peter and John are ready to receive them.
+
+In Jesus' message to the goodman He said, "I will keep the Passover at
+thy house with My disciples." They were His family. He chose to be
+alone with them. Not even the mothers Mary and Salome, nor Nicodemus on
+this night, nor the family of Bethany, could be of His company. No Mary
+was here to anoint His feet with ointment; nor woman who had been a
+sinner to bathe them with her tears. Lazarus was not one of them that
+sat with them; nor did "Martha serve." It was the twelve whom He had
+chosen, and who had continued with Him. It was to His apostolic family
+that He said, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you
+before I suffer." And so "He sat down with the twelve" alone, the only
+time--as is supposed--that He ever ate the Passover meal with His
+disciples.
+
+That room became of special interest to John. Sent by his Master to find
+it, he was mysteriously guided thither. There he was welcomed by the
+good owner of the house, who united with him in preparation for the most
+memorable feast ever held. It is there that we see him in closest
+companionship with his Lord. It was the place in Jesus' mind when He
+said, "Go and make ready for us the Passover." "Where shall we go?"
+asked John. He found answer when he entered that upper room. Because of
+his relation thereto it has been called "St. John's Room"--more sacred
+than any "Jerusalem Chamber," so named, or any "St. John's Cathedral!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+_John's Memories of the Upper Room_
+
+     "When the hour was come, He sat down, and the apostles with
+     him."--_Luke_ xxii. 14.
+
+     "There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His
+     disciples, whom Jesus loved."--_John_ xiii. 23.
+
+
+Three Evangelists leave the door of the upper room standing ajar.
+Through it we can see much that is passing, and hear much that is said.
+John coming after them opens it wide, thus enlarging our view and
+increasing our knowledge.
+
+Luke says of Jesus, "He sat down and the apostles with Him." That is a
+very simple statement. We might suppose all was done in quietness and
+harmony. But he tells us of a sad incident which happened, probably in
+connection with it. "There arose also a contention among them which of
+them is accounted to be greatest." The question in dispute was possibly
+the order in which they should sit at the table. They still had the
+spirit of the Pharisees who claimed that such order should be according
+to rank.
+
+We wonder how John felt. Did he have any part in that contention; or had
+he put away all such ambition since the Lord had reproved him and his
+brother James for it? Or was his near relation to the Lord so well
+understood that there was no question by anybody where John might
+sit--next to the Master?
+
+Let us notice the manner of sitting at meals. The table was surrounded
+by a divan on which the guests reclined on their left side, with the
+head nearest the table, and the feet extending outward.
+
+"There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His disciples,
+whom Jesus loved." This is the first time John thus speaks of himself.
+He never uses his own name. His place was at the right of the Lord.
+There he reclined during the meal, once changing his position, as we
+shall see. Judas was probably next to Jesus on His left. This allowed
+them to talk together without others knowing what they said.
+
+John begins his story of the upper room as a supplement to Luke's record
+of the contention. He first tells two things about Jesus,--His knowledge
+that His hour "was come that He should depart out of this world unto the
+Father," and His great and constant love for His disciples. With these
+two thoughts in mind, how grieved He must have been at the ambitious
+spirit of the Apostles. He had once given them a lesson of humility,
+using a little child for an object lesson. That lesson was not yet
+learned; or if learned was not yet put into practice. So He gave them
+another object lesson, having still more meaning than the first.
+
+But before making record of it John, as at the supper in Bethany,
+points to Judas. We are reminded of the traitor's purpose formed while
+Mary anointed and wiped Jesus' feet. So awful was that purpose, so full
+of hatred and deceit, that John now tells us it was the devil himself
+who "put into the heart of Judas ... to betray Him." "Humanity had
+fallen, but not so low."
+
+John seems to have well understood his Master's thoughts and interpreted
+His actions in giving the second object lesson. He noticed carefully,
+and remembered long and distinctly, every act. Was there ever drawn a
+more powerful picture in contrast than in these words,--"Jesus, knowing
+that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came
+forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside
+His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself. Then He poureth
+water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
+them with the towel wherewith He was girded."
+
+This was the service of a common slave. It is easy to imagine the silent
+astonishment of the disciples. The purpose of Jesus could not be
+mistaken. It was a reproof for their contention. The object lesson was
+ended. John continued to closely watch His movements, as he took the
+garments He had laid aside and resumed His seat at the table. The
+very towel with which the Lord had girded Himself, found a lasting place
+in John's memory, worthy of mention as the instrument of humble service.
+What a sacred relic, if preserved, it would have become--more worthy of
+a place in St. Peter's in Rome than the pretended handkerchief of
+Veronica.
+
+[Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER _Benjamin West_ Page 158]
+
+Christ's treatment of one of the disciples at the feet-washing left a
+deep impression on John's mind. With sadness and indefiniteness the Lord
+said, "He that eateth My bread lifted up his heel against Me": one who
+accepts My hospitality and partakes of the proofs of My friendship is My
+enemy. For that one whoever it might be, known only to himself and to
+Jesus, it was a most solemn call to even yet turn from his evil purpose.
+But the faithless one betrayed no sign; nor did Jesus betray him even
+with a glance which would have been a revelation to John's observant
+eye.
+
+It is John who tells us that as they sat at the table "Jesus ... was
+troubled in spirit." The apostle closest to Him in position and sympathy
+would be the first to detect that special trouble, and the greatness of
+it, even before the cause of it was known. But that was not long. "Jesus
+said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray Me."
+Such is John's record of Christ's declaration. It is in His Gospel alone
+that we find the double "Verily" introducing Christ's words, thus
+giving a deeper emphasis and solemnity than appears in the other
+Evangelists. A comparison of this declaration of Christ as given by the
+four, illustrates this fact. John immediately follows this statement of
+the betrayal with another, peculiar to himself. Its shows his close
+observation at the time, and the permanence of his impression. What he
+noticed would furnish a grand subject for the most skilful artist,
+beneath whose picture might be written, "The disciples looked one on
+another, doubting of whom He spake." As John gazed upon them, raising
+themselves on their divans, looking first one way, then another, from
+one familiar face to another, exchanging glances of inquiry and doubt,
+each distrustful of himself and his fellow, he beheld what angels might
+have looked upon with even deeper interest. There has been no other
+occasion, nor can there be, for such facial expressions--a blending of
+surprise, consternation, fear and sorrow. Was John one of those who
+"began to question among themselves which of them it was that should do
+this thing"? Did he take his turn as "one by one" they "began to say,
+... Is it I, Lord?" If so it must have been in the faintest whisper; and
+so the blessed answer, "No." But we must believe that Jesus and John
+understood each other too well for any such question and answer. The
+definite answer was not yet given to any one by the Master, yet with an
+awful warning, He repeated His prediction of the betrayal.
+
+Peter was impatient to ask Jesus another question. At other times he was
+bold to speak, but now he was awed into silence. Yet he felt that he
+must know. The great secret must be revealed. There was one through whom
+it might possibly be done. So while the disciples looked one on another,
+Peter gazed on John with an earnest, inquiring look, feeling that the
+beloved disciple might relieve the awful suspense. "Peter therefore
+beckoneth to him, and saith unto him, Tell us who it is of whom He
+speaketh." So "He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, saith unto
+Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answereth, He it is for whom I
+shall dip the sop and give it him." Did John on one side of Jesus hear
+the whispered question of Judas on the other, "Is it I, Rabbi?" He
+watched for the sign which Jesus said He would give. The morsel was
+given to Judas. That was more than a sign, more than kindness to an
+unworthy guest; it was the last of thousands of loving acts to one whom
+Jesus had chosen, taught and warned--yet was a traitor. Of that moment
+John makes special note. Having told us that at the beginning of the
+supper "the devil ... put into the heart of Judas ... to betray," he
+says, "After the sop, Satan entered into him." As he saw Judas, with a
+heart of stone and without a trembling hand, coolly take the morsel from
+that hand of love, he realized that the evil one had indeed taken
+possession of him whose heart he had stirred at the feast of Bethany.
+
+It must have been a relief to John when he heard the Lord bid Judas
+depart, though "no man at the table knew for what intent."
+
+"He then having received the sop went out straightway,"--out from that
+most consecrated room; out from the companionship of the Apostles in
+which he had proved himself unfit to share; out from the most hallowed
+associations of earth; out from the most inspiring influences with which
+man was ever blessed; out from the teachings, warnings, invitations and
+loving care of his only Saviour. "When Satan entered into him, he went
+out from the presence of Christ, as Cain went out from the presence of
+the Lord." As John spoke of the departure, no wonder he added, "It was
+night." His words mean to us more than the darkness outside that room
+illumined by the lamp which Peter and John had lighted. They are
+suggestive of the darkness of the traitor's soul, contrasted with the
+"Light of the World" in that room, to whose blessed beams he then closed
+his eyes forever. Night--the darkest night--was the most fitting symbol
+for the deeds to follow. Possessed by Satan, Judas went out to be
+"guide to them that took Jesus." To them, two hours later, He who was
+the Light of the World said, "This is your hour and the power of
+darkness."
+
+It was when "he was gone out" that Christ called the disciples by a new
+name, and gave them a new commandment. In both of them John took a
+special interest which he showed long after. That name was "Little
+Children." The word which Christ used had a peculiar meaning. This is
+the only time we know of His ever using it. It was an expression of the
+tenderest affection for His family, so soon to be orphaned by His death.
+When John wrote his Epistles, he often used the same word, whose special
+meaning he had learned from his Lord, to show his own love for his
+fellow-Christians.
+
+The new commandment was this--"That ye love one another; as I have loved
+you, that ye also love one another." The command itself was not new, for
+it had been given through Moses, and repeated by Christ, "Thou shalt
+love thy neighbor as thyself." But Christ gave the disciples a new
+reason or motive for obeying it. They were to love one another because
+of His love for them. As John grew older he became a beautiful example
+of one who obeyed the command. In his old age he urged such obedience,
+saying, "If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
+
+Through the door of the Upper Room left ajar by three Evangelists, we
+catch glimpses of the group around the table of the Last Supper. Through
+it as opened wide by John we hear the voice of Jesus as He utters His
+farewell words. He comforts His disciples and tells of heavenly
+mansions. He gives His peace in their tribulations. He promises the Holy
+Spirit as a Comforter. He closes His address, even in this hour of
+sadness and apparent defeat, with these wonderful words, "Be of good
+cheer; I have overcome the world."
+
+And now as John still holds open the door, we hear the voice of prayer,
+such as nowhere else has been offered. It is ended. There are moments of
+silence, followed by a song of praise. Then John closes the door of the
+Upper Room, which we believe was opened again as the earliest home of
+the Christian Church. There we shall see him again with those who,
+because of his experience with his Lord in that consecrated place, gave
+him the name of "The Bosom Disciple."
+
+[Illustration: IN GETHSEMANE _Gustave Dore_ Page 163]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+_With Jesus in Gethsemane_
+
+     "He went forth with His disciples over the brook Kidron, where was
+     a garden."--_John_ xviii. 1.
+
+     "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and
+     saith unto His disciples, Sit ye here while I go yonder and
+     pray."--_Matt._ xxvi. 36.
+
+     "And He taketh with Him Peter and James and John, ... and He saith
+     unto them, ... abide ye here, and watch."--_Mark_ xiv. 33, 34.
+
+     "And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed."
+     _v._ 35.
+
+
+John was our leader to the Upper Room. And now he guides us from it,
+saying, "Jesus ... went forth with His disciples." That phrase "went
+forth" may suggest to us much more than mere departure. The banquet of
+love was over. The Lord's cup of blessing and remembrance had been drunk
+by His "little children," as He affectionately called them. He was now
+to drink the cup the Father was giving His Son--a mysterious cup of
+sorrow. It was probably at the midnight hour that Jesus "went forth" the
+last time from Jerusalem, which He had crowned with His goodness, but
+which had crowned Him with many crowns of sorrow.
+
+Other Evangelists tell us that He went "to the Mount of Olives," "to a
+place called Gethsemane." John shows us the way thither, and what kind
+of a place it was. Jesus went "over the ravine of the Kidron," in the
+valley of Jehoshaphat. At this season of the year it was not, as at
+other times, a dry water-bed, but a swollen, rushing torrent, fitting
+emblem of the waters of sorrow through which He was passing. Whether the
+name Kidron refers to the dark color of its waters, or the gloom of the
+ravine through which they flow, or the sombre green of its overshadowing
+cedars, it will ever be a reminder of the darker gloom that overshadowed
+John and His Master, as they crossed that stream together to meet the
+powers of darkness in the hour which Jesus called their own.
+
+The garden of Gethsemane was an enclosed piece of ground. We are not to
+think of it as a garden of flowers, or of vegetables, but as having a
+variety of flowering shrubs, and of fruit-trees, especially olive. It
+might properly be called an orchard. On the spot now claimed to be the
+garden, there are several very old gnarled olive-trees. Having stood
+beneath them, I would be glad to believe that they had sheltered my
+Lord. But I remember that when the prophecy concerning Jerusalem was
+fulfilled, the most sacred trees of our world were destroyed.
+
+[Illustration: THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT _Old Engraving_ Page 164]
+
+Who was the owner of that sacred garden? He must have known what
+happened there "ofttimes." Perhaps, like the "goodman of the house" in
+Jerusalem, he was a disciple of Jesus, and provided this quiet retreat
+for the living Christ, in the same spirit with which Joseph of Arimathaea
+provided a garden for Him when He was dead. To these two gardens John is
+our only guide. From the one he fled with Peter in fear and sadness: to
+the other he hastened with Peter in anxiety followed by gladness.
+
+When at the foot of Hermon, Jesus left nine of His disciples to await
+His return. Now one was no longer "numbered among" them, as Peter
+afterward said of him "who was guide to them that took Jesus." At the
+entrance to the garden Jesus paused and said to eight, "Sit ye here
+while I go yonder and pray." So had Abraham nineteen hundred years
+before, pointing to Mount Moriah, visible from Olivet in the moonlight,
+said "unto his young men, Abide ye here ... and I and the lad will go
+yonder and worship."
+
+That very night Jesus was to ascend that very Mount on His way as a
+sacrifice, without any angel to stay the sacrificial hand.
+
+At the garden gate there was no formal farewell, but a solemn final
+charge, "Pray that ye enter not into temptation." Jesus knew that the
+hour had come in which should be fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy. Sadly
+He had declared in the Upper Room, "All ye shall be offended because of
+Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the
+sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."
+
+He dreads to be entirely alone. He longs for companionship. He craves
+sympathy. In whose heart is it the tenderest and deepest? There is no
+guessing here. The names are already on our lips. Answer is found in the
+home of Jairus and on Hermon. Those whom He had led into the one, and
+"apart" onto the other, He would have alone with Him in the garden. So
+"He taketh with Him Peter and James and John." These companions of His
+glory shall also be of His sorrow.
+
+As Jesus advanced into the garden, the three discovered a change in
+Him--a contrast to the calmness of the Upper Room and the assurances of
+victory with which He had left it. He "began to be sore amazed and
+sorrowful and troubled," and "to be very heavy." We have seen John
+apparently quicker than others to detect his Lord's thoughts and
+emotions. We imagine him walking closest to His side, and watching as
+closely every change of His countenance and every motion that revealed
+the inward struggle. And so when Jesus broke the silence, he was
+somewhat prepared to hear Him say to the three, "My soul is exceeding
+sorrowful even unto death."
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST BEFORE CAIAPHAS _Old Engraving_ Page 176]
+
+The moment had come when He must deny Himself even the little comfort
+and strength of the immediate presence of the three. So saying, "Tarry
+ye here and watch with Me," He turned away. They must not follow Him to
+the spot of His greatest conflict. There He must be alone, beyond the
+reach of human help, however strong or loving. Even that which He had
+found in the few moments since leaving the garden entrance must end.
+Their eyes followed Him where they might not follow in His steps. It was
+not far. "He went forward a little." "He was parted from them about a
+stone's cast"--probably forty or fifty yards. This separation implies
+sorrow. They were near enough to watch His every movement as He "kneeled
+down" and "fell on His face to the ground" They were near enough to hear
+the passionate cry of love and agony, "O, My Father." This is the only
+time we know of His using this personal pronoun in prayer to His Father.
+He thus showed the intensity of His feeling, and longing for that
+sympathy and help which the Father alone could give.
+
+On Hermon the glories of the Transfiguration were almost hidden from the
+three disciples by their closing eyes. And now weariness overcame them
+in the garden. They too fell to the ground, but not in prayer. They
+tarried indeed, but could no longer watch.
+
+They had seen Moses and Elijah with their Lord on the Holy Mount, but
+probably did not see the blessed watcher in the garden when "there
+appeared unto Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him" in body and
+soul. So had angels come and ministered unto the Lord of angels and men
+in the temptation in the wilderness.
+
+"Being in agony He prayed more earnestly" until mingled blood and sweat
+fell upon the ground. The heavenly visitants on Mount Hermon in glory
+had talked with Him of His decease now at hand. The cup of sorrow was
+fuller now than then. He prayed the Father that if possible it might
+pass from Him. Then the angel must have told Him that this could not be
+if He would become the Saviour of men. He uttered the words whose
+meaning we cannot fully know, "Not My will, but Thine, be done."
+
+The angelic presence did not make Him unmindful of the three. "He rose
+up from His prayer," and turned from the spot moistened by the drops of
+His agony. With the traces of them upon His brow, "He came unto the
+disciples." How much of pathos in the simple record, "He found them
+sleeping." Without heavenly or earthly companionship, His loneliness is
+complete.
+
+    "'Tis midnight; and from all around,
+       The Saviour wrestles 'lone with fears;
+     E'en that disciple whom He loved,
+       Heeds not His Master's griefs and tears."
+
+The head that reclined so lovingly on the bosom of the Lord in the Upper
+Room now wearily rests on the dewy grass of Gethsemane. The eyes that
+looked so tenderly into His, and the ear that listened so anxiously for
+His whisper, are closed.
+
+As Jesus stood by the three recumbent forms held by deep sleep, and
+gazed by the pale moonlight into their faces which showed a troubled
+slumber, He knew they "were sleeping for sorrow." In silence He looked
+upon them until His eye fastened--not on the beloved John--but on him
+who an hour ago had boasted of faithfulness to His Lord. The last
+utterance they had heard before being lost in slumber was that of
+agonizing prayer to the Father. The first that awakened them was sad and
+tender reproof--"Simon, sleepest _thou_? Couldest thou not watch one
+hour?" In the Master's words and tones were mingled reproach and
+sympathy. In tenderness He added, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the
+flesh is weak." Because of the spirit He pardoned the flesh. The
+question, "Why sleep ye?" was to the three, as well as the charge, "Rise
+and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."
+
+Let imagination fill out the outline drawn by the Evangelists:--"He
+went away again the second time and prayed; He came and found them
+asleep again; He left them and went away again and prayed the third
+time; and He cometh a third time and saith unto them, 'Sleep on now and
+take your rest.'" If we may suppose any period of rest, it was soon
+broken by the cry, "Arise, let us be going; behold he that betrayeth Me
+is at hand." They need "watch" no longer. Their Lord's threefold
+struggle was over. He was victor in Gethsemane, even as John beheld Him
+three years before, just after His threefold conflict in the wilderness.
+
+As they rose from the ground the inner circle that had separated them,
+not only from the other Apostles but from all other men, was erased. We
+do not find them alone with their Lord again. They rose and joined the
+eight at the garden gate.
+
+Recalling Gethsemane we sing to Jesus,
+
+    "Thyself the path of prayer hast trod."
+
+The most sacred path of prayer in all the world was in Gethsemane. It
+was only "a stone's cast" in length. The Lord trod it six times in
+passing between the place where He said to the three, "tarry ye here,"
+and that where He "kneeled down and prayed." One angel knows the spot.
+Would that he could reveal it unto us.
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST BEFORE PILATE (Ecce Homo) _H. Hofmann_ Page 182]
+
+When Jesus was praying and the three were sleeping, Judas reported
+himself at the High-Priestly Palace, ready to be the guide of the band
+to arrest his Master. There were the Temple-guard with their staves, and
+soldiers with their swords, and members of the Sanhedrin, ready to aid
+in carrying out the plot arranged with the betrayer. It was
+midnight--fit hour for their deed of darkness. The full moon shone
+brightly in the clear atmosphere; yet they bore torches and lamps upon
+poles, to light up any dark ravine or shaded nook in which they imagined
+Jesus might be hiding. If any cord of love had ever bound Judas to his
+Master, it was broken. That very night he had fled from the Upper Room,
+which became especially radiant with love after his departure. To that
+room we believe he returned with his murdering band. But the closing
+hymn had been sung, and the Passover lamps extinguished two or three
+hours before. The consecrated place was not to be profaned with
+murderous intent. Another place must be sought for the victim of hate
+and destruction.
+
+John in his old age recalled precious memories of it, because Jesus
+ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples. But he had a remembrance
+of another kind. It is when speaking of this midnight hour that he says,
+"Judas also which betrayed Him knew the place." Thither he led his
+band--to Gethsemane.
+
+"Lo, he that betrayeth Me is at hand," said
+
+Jesus to the three, as He saw the gleams of the torches of the coming
+multitude. His captors were many, but His thought was especially on
+one--His betrayer. Again John reads for us the mind of Jesus, as he did
+when the "Lord and Master washed the disciples' feet." He would have us
+understand the calmness of the fixed purpose of Jesus to meet without
+shrinking the terrible trial before Him, and to do this voluntarily--not
+because of any power of His approaching captors. "Knowing all things
+that were coming upon Him," He "went forth" to meet them--especially him
+who at that moment was uppermost in His thought. John now understood
+that last, mysterious bidding of the Lord to Judas, with which He
+dismissed him from the table--"That thou doest, do quickly." He now
+"knew for what intent He spake this unto him." It was not to buy things
+needed for the feast, nor to give to the poor. It was to betray Him.
+
+What a scene was that--Jesus "going forth," the three following Him; and
+Judas in advance, yet in sight of his band, coming to meet Him.
+
+"Hail, Rabbi," was the traitor's salute. And then on this solemn
+Passover night, in this consecrated place, just hallowed by angelic
+presence, interrupting the Lord's devotions, rushing upon holiness and
+infinite goodness, with pretended fellowship and reverence, profaning
+and repeating--as if with gush of emotion--the symbol of affection,
+Judas covered the face of Jesus with kisses.
+
+How deep the sting on this "human face divine," already defaced by the
+bloody sweat, and to be yet more by the mocking reed, and smiting hand
+and piercing thorn. The vision of the prophet seven hundred years before
+becomes a reality--"His visage was so marred more than any man." "But
+nothing went so close to His heart as the profanation of this kiss."
+
+According to John's account, Judas' kiss was an unnecessary signal.
+Jesus Himself leaving the traitor, advanced toward the band, with a
+question which must have startled the Apostles, as well as the traitor
+and his company--"Whom seek ye?" The contemptuous reply, "Jesus of
+Nazareth," did not disturb His calmness as He said, "I am He," and
+repeated His question, "Whom seek ye?" Nor was that infinite calmness
+disturbed by the deeper contempt in the repeated answer, "Jesus of
+Nazareth." They had come with weapons of defence, but they were as
+useless as the betrayal kiss, especially when some of them, awed by His
+presence and words, "went backward and fell to the ground."
+
+We have seen Jesus going forward from His company and meeting Judas
+going forward from his. We must now think of Judas joining his band, and
+the eleven disciples surrounding their Lord. John has preserved the
+only request made of the captors by the Master. It was not for Himself,
+but for His disciples;--"If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
+way."
+
+Three Evangelists tell that one of the disciples struck a servant of the
+high priest and cut off an ear. Luke the physician says it was the right
+ear, and that Christ touched it and healed it. John gives the disciple's
+name, which it was not prudent for the other Evangelists to do when
+Peter, who struck the blow, was still living. He also preserves the name
+of the servant, Malchus--the last one on whom he saw the Great Physician
+perform a healing act, showing divine power and compassion. John records
+the Lord's reproof to Peter, "Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup
+which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" Can this firm
+voice be the same which an hour ago, a stone's cast from these two
+disciples, said beseechingly, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this
+cup pass from Me." Yea, verily, for He had added to the prayer, "Not as
+I will, but as Thou wilt."
+
+Thus does John's record concerning Peter testify to the triumph of his
+Lord. But he also notes the immediate effect of Peter's mistaken zeal.
+The captain and officers "bound Him." That was a strange, humiliating
+sight, especially in connection with the Lord's words to Peter while
+returning the sword to its sheath, "Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech
+My Father, and He shall even now send Me more than twelve legions of
+angels?" Wonderful words! fitting to be the last of the Lord's
+utterances to a disciple in Gethsemane. With burning and just
+indignation at His being bound, Jesus turned to His captors, saying,
+"Are ye come out as against a robber, to seize Me?" As they closed
+around Him His disciples were terrified with the fear of a like fate.
+"And they all left Him and fled." Prophecy was fulfilled; the Shepherd
+was smitten; the sheep were scattered.
+
+Without the voice of friend or foe, the garden of Olivet was silent. One
+had left it who, outliving his companions, gives us hints of his lone
+meditations. The beloved disciple cherished memories of joyous yet sad
+Gethsemane. He it was who longest remembered, and who alone preserved
+the prophecy in the Upper Room, so soon fulfilled--"Ye shall be
+scattered every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone."
+
+In George Herbert's words we hear the Master cry,
+
+    "All My disciples fly! fear put a bar
+     Betwixt My friends and Me; they leave the star
+     Which brought the Wise Men from the East from far.
+         Was ever grief like Mine!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXV_
+
+_John in the High Priest's Palace_
+
+     "And they that had taken Jesus led Him away to the house of
+     Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were
+     gathered together."--_Matt._ xxvi. 57.
+
+     "Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That
+     disciple ... entered in with Jesus into the court of the high
+     priest; but Peter was standing at the door without. So the other
+     disciple ... went out ... and brought in Peter."--_John_ xviii. 15,
+     16.
+
+     "Everywhere we find these two Apostles, Peter and John, in great
+     harmony together."--_Chrysostom._
+
+      "Bow down before thy King, My soul!
+         Earth's kings, before Him bow ye down;
+       Before Him monarchs humbly roll,--
+         Height, might, and splendor, throne and crown.
+       He in the mystic Land divine
+         The sceptre wields with valiant hand.
+       In vain dark, evil powers combine,--
+         He, victor, rules the better Land."
+                               --_Ingleman.--Trans. Hymns of Denmark._
+
+     "It is probable that St. John attended Christ through all the weary
+     stages of His double trial--before the ecclesiastical and the civil
+     authorities--and that, after a night thus spent, he accompanied the
+     procession in the forenoon to the place of execution, and witnessed
+     everything that followed."--_Stalker._
+
+
+We know not what became of nine of the disciples fleeing from
+Gethsemane; whether they first hid among the bushes and olive-trees,
+and escaped into the country; or took refuge in the neighboring tombs;
+or stole their way to some secret room where the goodman of the house
+furnished them protection; or scattered in terror each in his lonely
+way.
+
+The captive Lord was dragged along the highway where Peter and John had
+been for a single hour the Heralds of the King. Over the Kidron, up the
+slope of Moriah, through the gate near the sacred Temple, along the
+streets of the Holy City, He was led as a robber to the high-priestly
+palace.
+
+Three Evangelists tell us, "Peter followed afar off." But love soon
+overcame his fears. He was not long alone. John says, "Simon Peter
+followed Jesus and so did another disciple." We cannot doubt who was
+Peter's companion as he turned from his flight. They "went both
+together," as two days later they ran on another errand. In the shadows
+of the olive-trees along the roadside, or of the houses of the city,
+they followed the hurrying band which they overtook by the time it
+reached the palace gate. John did not "outrun Peter," who was probably
+the leader. But at the gate they were separated.
+
+We must not think that this palace was like an American house. The
+entrance to it was through a great arched gateway. This was closed with
+a large door or gate, in which there was a small entrance called a
+wicket gate, through which people passed. These gates opened into a
+broad passage or square court. Around it on three sides the house was
+built. All rooms upstairs and down looked into it. One large room,
+forming one side, was separated from it, not by a wall, but by a row of
+pillars. Being thus opened it was easy to see what was passing in the
+room or the court.
+
+"That disciple," who accompanied Peter to the gate, "was known unto the
+high priest and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest.
+But Peter was standing at the door without." John was doubtless familiar
+with the place and the servants, and went in with the crowd. He kept as
+near as he could to his Master during the dark hours of His trial, as he
+was to do during the yet darker hours at the cross.
+
+But the disciple within could not forget the one without. They must not
+be separated in their common sorrow. Peter too must show by his presence
+his continued love for his Master. He must have opportunity to show in
+the palace something of the faithfulness of which he had boasted in the
+Upper Room, though it had faltered in Gethsemane.
+
+"Then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high priest
+and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter." That
+doorkeeper was not Rhoda--she who with a different spirit joyfully
+answered Peter's knocking at another door--but was a pert maiden who,
+sympathizing with the enemies of Jesus, "saith unto Peter, Art thou also
+one of this man's disciples?" She understood that John was such. Her
+contempt was aimed at them both. But it was not her question so much as
+Peter's answer--"I am not"--that startled John. Was it for this denial
+that he had gained admission for his friend? It would have been better
+far if Peter had been kept "standing at the door without" though "it was
+cold," than to be brought into the court of temptation and sin, where he
+"sat with the servants" in his curiosity "to see the end," warming
+himself at the fire they had kindled.
+
+Meanwhile we think of John hastening back to the judgment hall, from
+which he anxiously watched the movements of Peter "walking in the
+counsel of the ungodly, and standing in the way of sinners, and sitting
+in the seat of the scornful."
+
+Poor Peter! He fears to look into any man's face, or to have any one
+look into his. He has obeyed the Master's bidding, "Put up thy sword
+into the sheath," but Malchus has not forgotten it; nor has his kinsman
+who saw Peter in the garden with Jesus,--though he may have forgotten
+the healing of Malchus' ear by his prisoner.
+
+Three Evangelists tell how Peter "sat" with the enemies of Jesus. John
+tells how at different times he "stood" among them. Thus does he report
+as an eye-witness, and show his own watchfulness of Peter's
+restlessness;--of the conflicting emotions of shame and fear, the
+scornful frown, the enforced and deceiving smile, the defiant look, the
+vain effort to appear indifferent, and the storm of anger. Amazed at the
+first denial, shocked at the second, horrified at the third, what were
+John's feelings when one was "with an oath," and with another "he began
+to curse and to swear." But concerning this climax of Peter's sin, John
+is silent. It finds no place in his story.
+
+At last "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter," either from the hall,
+or as He was being led from it. At the same moment, Peter turned and
+looked upon Him. We imagine John turning and looking upon them both,
+marking the grief of the one, and the sense of guilt and shame of the
+other. But he knew the loving, though erring disciple so well that he
+need not be told that when "Peter went out" "he wept bitterly." We
+almost see John himself weeping bitterly over his friend's fall; then
+comforting him when they met again, with assurances of the Lord's love
+and forgiveness. John's next record of their being together shows them
+united in feeling, purpose and action for their Lord.
+
+There was another toward whom John's watchful eyes turned during the
+long and painful watches of that night. The picture of him is not
+complete without this Apostle's records.
+
+"Art thou the King of the Jews?" asked Pilate of Jesus. Such John had
+thought Him to be. For three years he had waited to see Him assume His
+throne. He has preserved the Lord's answer,--"My kingdom is not of this
+world." This declaration contained a truth to which even the favored
+disciple had been partly blind. Was he not ready to ask with Pilate,
+though with different spirit and purpose, "Art thou a King then?" The
+Lord's answer must have meant more to the listening Apostle than to the
+captious and heedless Governor. It was a declaration of the true
+kingship of the Messiah-King,--"To this end have I been born, and to
+this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the
+truth."
+
+"What is truth?" asked Pilate in a careless manner, not caring for an
+answer. "What is truth?" was the great question whose answer the Apostle
+continued to seek, concerning the King and the kingdom of Him whom He
+had heard say, "I am the Truth."
+
+In that night he saw the Messiah-King crowned, but with thorns. He saw
+the purple robe upon Him, but it was the cast-off garment of a Roman
+Governor. A reed, given Him for a sceptre, was snatched from His hand to
+smite Him on His head. Instead of pouring holy oil of kingly
+consecration, as upon David's head, His enemies "spit upon Him." It was
+in mockery that they bowed the knee before Him saying, "Hail King of the
+Jews."
+
+There are two scenes with which John alone has made us familiar. One is
+described in these words:--"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of
+thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith, Behold the man!" Did not
+that word "Behold," recall to John another scene--that on the Jordan
+when he looked upon this same Jesus as the Lamb of God, whom His enemies
+were about to offer unwittingly, when He offered Himself not unwillingly
+a sacrifice upon the cross? The Baptist's exclamation had been in
+adoration and joyfulness: Pilate's was in pity and sadness. It was an
+appeal to humanity, but in vain. There was no pity in that maddened
+throng. Pilate turned in bitterness toward those whom he hated, but
+whose evil deeds he did not dare to oppose. So in irony "Pilate ...
+brought forth Jesus ... and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!"
+
+John was the only one who heard the three cries of "Behold"--one at the
+beginning, the others at the close of the Lord's ministry. How much he
+had beheld and heard and learned between, concerning "the Lamb," "the
+Man," and "the King."
+
+The only earthly throne on which John saw Him sit was one of mockery.
+He did not ask to sit with Him. It was a sad yet blessed privilege to be
+with Him during that night of agony--the only friendly witness to
+probably all of His sufferings. While John's eyes were turned often and
+earnestly toward Peter and Pilate, they were yet more on the Lord. When
+he went in with Jesus into the palace, and while he tarried with Him, he
+could _do_ nothing--only _look_. No angel was there as in Gethsemane to
+strengthen the Man of sorrows, but did He not often look for sympathy
+toward that one who had leaned lovingly upon Him a few hours before? Was
+not John's mere waking presence among His foes in the palace, a solace
+which slumber had denied Him in the garden? John's eyes were not heavy
+now. There was no need of the Lord's bidding, "Tarry ye here and watch
+with Me." Love made him tarry and watch more than "one hour"--even
+through all the watches of the night. Then he was the Lord's only human
+friend--the one silent comforter.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVI_
+
+_John the Lone Disciple at the Cross_
+
+     "When they came unto the place which is called Calvary, there they
+     crucified Him."--_Luke_ xxiii. 33.
+
+     "At Calvary poets have sung their sweetest strains, and artists
+     have seen their sublimest visions."--_Stalker._
+
+      "Now to sorrow must I tune my song,
+          And set my harp to notes of saddest woe,
+       Which on our dearest Lord did seize ere long,
+          Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse than so,
+          Which He for us did freely undergo:
+       Most perfect Hero, tried in heaviest plight
+       Of labors huge and hard, too hard for human wight."
+                                             --_Milton.--The Passion._
+
+
+Even careful students of the life of John are not together in their
+attempts to follow him on the day of crucifixion. Some think they find
+evidence, chiefly in his silence concerning certain events, that after
+hearing the final sentence of Pilate condemning Christ to be crucified,
+he left the palace and joined the other disciples and faithful women and
+the mother of Jesus, and reported what he had seen and heard during the
+night; and at some hour during the day visited Calvary, and returning to
+the city brought the women who stood with him at the cross: and
+witnessed only what he minutely or only describes. Other students think
+he followed Jesus from the palace to the cross, remaining near Him and
+witnessing all that transpired. This is certainly in keeping with what
+we should expect from his peculiar relation to Christ. It is in harmony
+with what we do know of his movements that day. So we are inclined to
+follow him as a constant though silent companion of Jesus, feeling that
+in keeping near him we are near to his Lord and ours. This we now do in
+the "Dolorous Way," along which Jesus is hurried from the judgment-seat
+of Pilate to the place of execution.
+
+[Illustration: CHRIST BEARING HIS CROSS _H. Hofmann_ Page 185]
+
+It is John who uses the one phrase in the Gospels which furnishes a
+tragic subject for artists, and poets and preachers, on which
+imagination dwells, and excites our sympathies as does no other save the
+crucifixion itself. His phrase is this,--"Jesus ... bearing the cross
+for Himself." We notice this all the more because of the silence of the
+other Evangelists, all of whom tell of one named Simon who was compelled
+to bear the cross. As John read their story, there was another picture
+in his mind, too fresh and vivid not to be painted also. He recalled the
+short distance that Christ carried the cross alone, weakened by the
+agonies of the garden and the scourging of the palace, until, exhausted,
+He fell beneath the burden. We are not told that the crown of thorns
+had been removed, though the purple robe of mockery had been. So this
+added to His continued pain. As John looked upon those instruments of
+suffering he heard the banter and derision of shame that always
+accompanied them.
+
+There followed Jesus "a great multitude of the people," whose morbid
+curiosity would be gratified by the coming tragedy. But there were
+others--"women who bewailed and lamented Him."
+
+It is surmised that at the moment when Jesus could bear His cross no
+longer, and was relieved by Simon, He turned to the weeping "Daughters
+of Jerusalem" following Him, and in tenderest sympathy told of the
+coming days of sorrow for them and their city, of which He had told John
+and his companions on Olivet.
+
+John says that Jesus "went out ... unto the place called the place of a
+skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha." The place was also called
+Calvary. We do not certainly know the sacred spot, though careful
+students think it is north of the city, near the Damascus gate, near the
+gardens of the ancient city, and tombs that still remain. We think of
+John revisiting it again and again while he remained in Jerusalem, and
+then in thought in his distant home where he wrote of it. "There," says
+John, "they crucified Jesus, and with Him two others, on either side
+one, and Jesus in the midst." How few his words, but how full of
+meaning. We long to know more of John's memories of that day--of all
+that he saw and felt and did. They were such in kind and number as none
+other than he did or could have.
+
+There were two contrasted groups of four each around the cross, to which
+John calls special attention. One, the nearest to it, was composed of
+Roman soldiers, to whom were committed the details of the
+crucifixion--the arrangement of the cross, the driving of the nails, and
+the elevation of the victim upon it.
+
+Having stripped Jesus of His clothing, according to custom they divided
+it among themselves; the loose upper garment or toga to one, the
+head-dress to another, the girdle to another, and the sandals to the
+last. John watched the division--"to every soldier a part." But his
+interest was chiefly in the under-garment such as Galilean peasants
+wore. This must have been a reminder of the region from which he and
+Jesus had come. He thinks it worth while to describe it as "without
+seam, woven from the top throughout." Perhaps to him another
+reminder--of Mary or Salome or other ministering women by whose loving
+hands it had been knit. If ever a garment, because of its associations,
+could be called holy, surely it is what John calls "the coat" of Jesus.
+Even without miraculous power, it would be the most precious of relics.
+We notice John's interest in it as he watches the soldiers'
+conversation of banter or pleasantry or quarrel, in which it might
+become worthless by being torn asunder. He remembered their parleying,
+and the proposal in which it ended,--"Let us not rend it, but cast lots
+for it whose it shall be." How far were their thoughts from his when
+their words recalled to him the prophecy they were unconsciously
+fulfilling,--"They part My garments among them, and upon My vesture do
+they cast lots."
+
+With what pity did Jesus look down upon the lucky soldier--so he would
+be called--sporting with the coat which had protected Him from the night
+winds of Gethsemane. How He longed to see in the bold and heartless
+heirs to His only earthly goods, the faith of her, who timidly touched
+the hem of His garment. What a scene was that for John to behold! What a
+scene for angels who had sung the glories of Jesus' birth, now looking
+down upon His dying agonies of shame--and upon the gambling dice of His
+murderers! No marvel John added to the almost incredible story, "These
+things ... the soldiers did."
+
+It is at this point that we notice a sudden transition in John's
+narrative. He points us from the unfriendly group of four, to another of
+the same number; saying as if by contrast, "_But_ there were standing by
+the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife
+of Clopas and Mary Magdalene." By "His mother's sister" we understand
+Salome.
+
+The centurion had charge of the plundering soldiers; John was the
+guardian of the sympathizing women. He had a special interest in that
+group, containing his mother and aunt, and probably another relative in
+Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was not of this family
+connection, though of kindred spirit. So must John have felt as she
+stood with him at the cross, and at a later hour when we shall see them
+together again.
+
+In the days of the boyhood of John and Jesus, we thought of their
+mothers as sisters, and of parents and children as looking for the
+coming Messiah. None thought of the possibilities of this hour when they
+would meet in Jerusalem at the cross. By it stands John the only one of
+the Apostles. Judas has already gone to "his own place." If Peter is
+following at all it is afar off. The rest have not rallied from their
+flight enough to appear after their flight. James the brother of John is
+not with him. As their mother looks upon Jesus between two robbers, does
+she recall her ambitious request, "Command that these my two sons may
+sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand"? She understands
+now the fitness of the reply she had received,--"Ye know not what ye
+ask"?
+
+But Salome and John are loyal to the uncrowned King. Though they may
+not share the glory of His throne, they are yet ready to stand beneath
+the shameful shadow of His cross.
+
+But another is there,--drawn by a yet stronger cord of affection. She
+heads John's list of the women "by the cross of Jesus--His mother,"
+whose love is so deep that it cannot forego witnessing the sight that
+fills her soul with agony. Yes, Mary, thou art there.
+
+    "Now by that cross thou tak'st thy final station,
+       And shar'st the last dark trial of thy Son;
+     Not with weak tears or woman's lamentation,
+       But with high, silent anguish, like His own."
+                                          --_H.B. Stowe_.
+
+As she stands there we seem to read her thoughts: "Can that be He, my
+babe of Bethlehem, my beautiful boy of Nazareth, in manhood my joy and
+my hope! Are those hands the same that have been so lovingly held in
+mine; those arms, outstretched and motionless, the same that have so
+often been clasped around me! Oh! that I might staunch His wounds, and
+moisten His parched lips, and gently lift that thorny crown from His
+bleeding brow."
+
+But this cannot be. There is being fulfilled Simeon's prophecy, uttered
+as he held her infant in his arms,--a foreboding which has cast a
+mysterious shadow on the joys of her life.
+
+    "Beside the cross in tears
+        The woeful mother stood,
+     Bent 'neath the weight of years,
+       And viewed His flowing blood;
+     Her mind with grief was torn,
+       Her strength was ebbing fast,
+     And through her heart forlorn,
+       The sword of Anguish passed."
+
+She can only draw yet nearer to His cross and give the comfort of a
+mother's look, and perhaps receive the comfort of a look from Him,
+and--oh, if it can be--a word of comfort from His lips for the
+mother-heart. Perhaps for a moment her thoughts are on the future,--her
+lonely life, without the sympathy of her other sons who believed not on
+their brother. Oh! that they were like John, to her already more of a
+son than they.
+
+In childhood Jesus had been "subject" to her: in youth and manhood He
+had been faithful to her. In the Temple He had thought of her as His
+mother, and of God as His Father. But no exalted relation, no greatness
+to which He had attained on earth, had made Him disloyal to her. While
+claiming to be the Son of God, He was still the loving son of Mary. Such
+He would show Himself to be on the cross. We thank John for the record
+of that moment when "Jesus ... saw His mother." "The people stood
+beholding" Him, but His eyes were not on them; nor on those passing by
+His cross wagging their heads, nor the malefactor at His side reviling
+Him; nor on the chief priest and scribes, the elders and soldiers
+mocking Him; nor the rulers deriding Him. His thought was not on them,
+nor even on Himself in His agonies, as His eyes rested keenly on His
+mother. It was a deep, tender, earnest gaze.
+
+John tells that Jesus also "saw" "the disciples standing by, whom He
+loved." The Lord turned His head from His mother to His disciple. This
+could be His only gesture pointing them one to the other.
+
+The prayer for His murderers had apparently been uttered when His hands
+were pierced, before the cross was raised. He may have spoken once after
+it was elevated, before He saw the two special objects of His love. His
+eyes met His mother's. She saw Him try to speak. The utterance of His
+parched lips, with gasping breath, was brief, full of meaning and
+tenderness--"Woman! behold, thy son!" Then turning toward John He said,
+"Behold! thy mother!"
+
+In these words Jesus committed His mother to John without asking whether
+he would accept the charge.
+
+"From that hour the disciple took her unto his own home." It is a
+question whether or not the phrase, "from that hour," is to be taken
+literally. It may be that the blessed words, "mother" and "son," were as
+a final benediction, after which John led her away, and then returned
+to the cross. Or, it may be that the mother-heart compelled her to
+witness the closing scenes.
+
+[Illustration: THE VIRGIN AND ST. JOHN AT THE CROSS _Old Engraving_
+ Page 193]
+
+If we pause long enough to inquire why John was chosen to be trusted
+with this special charge, we can find probable answer. Jesus' "brethren"
+did not then believe on Him. Mary's heart would go out toward him who
+did, especially as he was her kindred as well as of a kindred spirit.
+His natural character, loving and lovable, made him worthy of the trust.
+Apparently he was better able to support her than were any other of the
+Apostles, and perhaps even than her sons. He seems to have been the only
+Apostle or relative of Mary who had a home in Jerusalem, where she
+certainly would choose to dwell among the followers of the Lord. Above
+all John was the beloved disciple of Mary's beloved son. So to him we
+can fittingly say:
+
+          "As in death He hung,
+    His mantle soft on thee He flung
+    Of filial love, and named the son;
+    When now that earthly tie was done,
+    To thy tried faith and spotless years
+    Consigned His Virgin Mother's tears."
+                        --_Isaac Williams_.--Trans. An. Latin Hymn.
+
+Blessed John. When Jesus called His own mother "thy mother," didst thou
+not almost hear Him call thee "My brother"?
+
+One tradition says that John cared for Mary in Jerusalem for twelve
+years, until her death, before his going to Ephesus. Another tradition
+is that she accompanied him thither and was buried there. What a home
+was theirs, ever fragrant with the memory of Him whom they had loved
+until His death. No incidents in His life, from the hour of brightness
+over Bethlehem to that of darkness over Calvary, was too trivial a thing
+for their converse. That home in Jerusalem became what the one in
+Nazareth had been, the most consecrated of earth. What welcomes there of
+Christians who could join with Mary as she repeated her song of
+thirty-three years before, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit
+hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Of her we shall gain one more distinct
+view--the only one.
+
+[Illustration: THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS _Rubens_ Page 200]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVII_
+
+_John the Lone Disciple at the Cross--Continued_
+
+     Three sayings on the cross reported by John:
+
+      "Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!"
+
+      "I thirst."
+
+      "It is finished."
+
+                            --_John_ xix. 26, 27, 28, 30.
+
+
+Of the seven sayings of Christ on the cross, three are preserved by John
+only; one of love, another of suffering, and another of triumph. The
+first is that to Mary and John himself. The second is the cry, "I
+thirst"--the only one of the seven concerning the Lord's bodily
+sufferings. John was a most observing eyewitness, as is shown by the
+details of the narrative,--the "vessel _full_ of vinegar," the "sponge
+filled with vinegar," and the hyssop on which it was placed, the
+movements of the soldiers as they put it to Christ's lips, and the
+manner in which He received it. He was willing to accept it to revive
+His strength to suffer, when "He would not drink" the "wine mingled with
+gall" that would relieve Him from the pain He was willing to endure. The
+end was drawing near. The thirst had long continued. He had borne it
+patiently for five long hours. Why did He at last utter the cry, "I
+thirst"? John gives the reason. A prophecy was being fulfilled, and
+Jesus would have it known. It was this: "In My thirst they gave Me
+vinegar to drink." So "Jesus, ... that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
+saith, 'I thirst.'"
+
+John watched Him as He took His last earthly draught. It was probably of
+the sour wine for the use of the soldiers on guard. What varied
+associations he had with wine,--the joyful festivities of Cana, the
+solemnities of the Upper Room, and the sadness of Calvary.
+
+When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is
+finished." This is the third of the sayings of Jesus on the cross
+preserved by John, who was a special witness to the chief doings of his
+Lord on the earth. So the declaration meant more to him than to any
+other who heard it. Yet it had a fulness of meaning which even he could
+not fully know. Jesus' life on earth was finished. He had perfectly
+obeyed the commandments of God. The types and prophecies concerning Him
+had been fulfilled. His revelation of truth was completed. The work of
+man's redemption was done. On the cross He affirmed what John said He
+declared in the Upper Room to His Father: "I have glorified Thee on the
+earth, having accomplished the work Thou hast given Me to do."
+
+All four Evangelists tell of the moment when Jesus yielded up His life,
+but John alone of the act that accompanied it as the signal thereof,
+which his observant eye beheld. "He bowed His head,"--not as the
+helpless victim of the executioner's knife upon the fatal block, but as
+the Lord of Life who had said, "No one taketh it away from Me, but I lay
+it down of Myself."
+
+John makes mention of another incident without which the story of the
+crucifixion would be incomplete. Mary Magdalene and other loving women
+had left the cross, but were gazing toward it as they "stood afar off."
+John remained with the soldiers who were watching the bodies of the
+crucified. "The Jews, ... that the bodies should not remain upon the
+cross upon the Sabbath, asked of Pilate that their legs might be
+broken"--to hasten death--"and that they might be taken away." As John
+saw the soldiers "break the legs of the first and of the other which was
+crucified with" Jesus, with what a shudder did he see them approach His
+cross; but what a relief to him when they "saw that He was dead already,
+and brake not His legs."
+
+In a single clause John pictures a scene ever vivid in Christian
+thought. He knew that Jesus "gave up His spirit" when "He bowed His
+head." The executioners pronounced Him dead. "Howbeit one of the
+soldiers"--to make this certain beyond dispute--"with a spear pierced
+His side, and straightway there came out blood and water." There was now
+no pain to excite the Apostle's sympathy, and yet he reports the
+incident as being of special importance. He calls attention to the fact
+that he was an eye-witness, and that there was something in it that
+should affect others as well as himself. He says, "He that hath seen
+hath borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knoweth that he
+saith true, that ye also may believe." He explains why these incidents
+so deeply impressed him. They recalled two prophecies of the Old
+Testament. One was this, "A bone of Him shall not be broken." This
+reminded John of the Paschal Lamb which should be perfect in body; and
+of Jesus as the Lamb of God, by which name He had been called when
+pointed out to him as the Messiah. All through life Jesus had been
+preserved from accident that would have broken a bone, and in death even
+from the intended purpose that would have defeated the fulfilment of the
+prophecy.
+
+The other prophecy was this,--"They shall look on Him whom they
+pierced." Because of what John saw and tells, we pray in song,
+
+    "Let the water and the blood
+     From Thy riven side which flowed,
+     Be of sin the double cure:
+     Cleanse me from its guilt and power."
+
+[Illustration: IN THE SEPULCHRE _H. Hofmann_ Page 201]
+
+John once more furnishes a contrast between Jesus' foes and friends. He
+says that the Jews asked Pilate that the bodies of the crucified might
+be taken away. This was to the dishonored graves of malefactors. John
+more fully than the other Evangelists tells of Joseph of Arimathaea who
+"besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus"--for
+honorable burial. Other Evangelists tell of his being "rich," "a
+counsellor of honorable estate," "a good man and a righteous," who "had
+not consented to" the "counsel and deed" of the Sanhedrin of which he
+was a member, because he "was Jesus' disciple." Mark says, "He boldly
+went in unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus." He had summoned
+courage so to do. Hitherto as John explains he had been "a disciple of
+Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews." John implies that Joseph was
+naturally timid like Nicodemus. As Pilate had delivered Jesus to His
+open enemies to be crucified, he delivered the crucified body to Joseph,
+the once secret but now open friend. The Jews "led him"--the living
+Christ--"away to crucify Him." Joseph "came" and tenderly "took away His
+body" from the cross.
+
+"There came also Nicodemus," says John, "he who at the first came to Him
+by night." Yes, that night which John could not forget, in which to this
+same Nicodemus Jesus made known the Gospel of God's love, manifested in
+the gift of His Son whose body in that hour these timid yet emboldened
+members of the Sanhedrin took down from the cross. They were sincere
+mourners with him who watched their tender care as they "bound it in
+linen cloths with the spices" for burial, with no thought of a
+resurrection.
+
+Perhaps Joseph and Nicodemus recalled moments in the Sanhedrin when they
+whispered together, speaking kindly of Jesus, but were afraid to defend
+Him aloud; thus silently giving a seeming consent to evil deeds because
+timidity concealed their friendship. But at last the very enmity and
+cruelty of His murderers emboldened them as they met at the cross.
+
+It is John who tells us that Jesus the night before His crucifixion went
+"where was a garden into which He entered," and who also says, "Now in
+the place where He was crucified there was a garden." The one was ever
+more suggestive to him of a coming trial; the other of that trial past.
+"There," in the garden--probably that of Joseph--John says "they laid
+Jesus." There also were laid John's hopes, which seemed forever buried
+when Joseph "rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and
+departed." What a contrast in his thoughts and feelings between the
+rolling _away_ of the stone from the tomb of Lazarus, and the rolling
+_to_ that of Jesus. The one told him of resurrection; but the other of
+continued death; for as he afterward confessed, "as yet" he and Peter
+"knew not that Jesus must rise from the dead."
+
+Two mourners at least lingered at the closed tomb. "Mary Magdalene was
+there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre" of their
+Lord, after they "beheld where He was laid." John's parting from them at
+that evening hour was in sadness which was to be deepened when he met
+Mary Magdalene again.
+
+It is not easy for us to put ourselves in the place of John, as he turns
+from the tomb toward his lonely home. _We_ know what happened afterward,
+but he did not know what would happen, though his Lord had tried to
+teach him. He is repeating to himself the words he had heard from the
+cross, "It is finished," but he is giving them some difference of
+meaning from that which Jesus intended. He is walking slowly and sadly
+through the streets of Jerusalem, dimly lighted by the moon that shone
+in Gethsemane the night before upon him and his living Lord. We imagine
+him saying to himself:--"Truly it is finished: all is over now. How
+disappointed I am. I do not believe He intended to deceive me, yet I
+have been deceived. From early childhood I looked, as I was taught to
+do, for the coming of the Messiah. On Jordan I thought I had found Him.
+He chose me for one of His twelve, then one of the three, then the one
+of His special love. What a joy this has been, brightening for three
+years my hopes and expectations. I have seen Him work miracles, even
+raising the dead. I have seen Him defeat the plots of evil men against
+Him, and did not believe any power on earth could destroy Him. I have
+watched to see Him the great and glorious King. But to-day instead of
+this I have seen Him crucified as the feeblest and worst of men. I do
+remember now how Moses and Elijah, when we were with them on the Holy
+Mount, talked with Him of 'His departure which He was about to
+accomplish at Jerusalem.' But I did not understand them, nor even
+Himself when, just before we ascended the Mount, He told us 'how that He
+must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, ... and be killed.' I do
+not wonder that Peter then said to Him, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord,'
+though the Lord was right in rebuking him. Can it be only last night He
+said, 'Tarry with Me.' How gladly would I do it now. But He is dead, and
+buried out of my sight. Oh that I might see Him rise, as I did the
+daughter of Jairus. Oh that I might roll away the stone from His tomb as
+I helped to do from that of Lazarus, and see Him come forth. How gladly
+would I 'loose Him' from His 'grave-bands' and remove the 'napkin bound
+about His face.' I know it was a mean and shameful taunt of His revilers
+when they said, 'If Thou art the Son of God, come down from the
+cross.' But why did He not do it? I remember how once He said concerning
+His life, 'no one taketh it away from Me.' But have not Pilate and the
+Jews taken it away? I shall never lean upon His bosom again. But this I
+know--He loved me, and I loved Him, and love Him still. The mysteries
+are great, but the memories of Him will be exceedingly precious
+forever."
+
+[Illustration: JESUS APPEARING TO MARY MAGDALENE (Easter Morning)
+              _B. Plockhorst_ Page 209]
+
+Poor John. He forgot those other words of His Lord concerning His
+life,--"I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."
+The Lord had done the one already: He was soon to do the other, though
+His sorrowing disciple understood it not. Meanwhile we leave him,
+resting if possible from the weariness of the garden and the palace and
+Calvary, during that Friday night, which was to be followed by a day of
+continued sadness, and that by another night of sorrowful restlessness.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVIII_
+
+_John at the Tomb_
+
+     "Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,
+     while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken
+     away from the tomb. She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon
+     Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.
+
+     "Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went
+     toward the tomb.
+
+     "Simon Peter ... entered into the tomb.
+
+     "Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, ... and he saw
+     and believed."--_John_ xx. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8.
+
+     "Let us take John for our instructor in the swiftness of love, and
+     Peter for our teacher in courage."--_Stalker_.
+
+      "Oh, sacred day, sublimest day!
+         Oh, mystery unheard!
+       Death's hosts that claimed Him as their prey
+         He scattered with a word;
+       And from the tomb He valiant came;
+         And ever blessed be His name."
+                             --_Kingo. Trans. Hymns of Denmark_.
+
+      "Mine eye hath found that sepulchral rock
+       That was the casket of Heav'n's richest store."
+                                         --_Milton_.--_The Passion_.
+
+
+Of the women who visited the tomb of Jesus on the morning of the
+Resurrection, John was especially interested in Mary Magdalene, from
+whom seven demons had gone out, probably in his presence; thus giving
+him opportunity to see the marvelous change from a most abject
+condition, to grateful devotion to her Healer, perhaps beyond that of
+any other one whom He healed. John long remembered her starting on her
+errand "while it was yet dark." So he remembered Judas starting when "it
+was night" on his errand, of which Mary's was the sad result. One was a
+deed of love which no darkness hindered: the other was a deed of hate
+which no darkness prevented or concealed.
+
+John had a special reason for remembering Mary. When she had seen that
+the stone was taken away from the tomb, it had a different meaning to
+her from what it did when she and John saw it on Friday evening. And
+when she "found not the body of the Lord Jesus," she imagined that
+either friends had borne it away, or foes had robbed the tomb. In
+surprise, disappointment and anxiety, her first impulse was to make it
+known--to whom else than to him who had sorrowed with her at the
+stone-closed door? So she "ran"--not with unwomanly haste, but with the
+quickened step of woman's love--"to Simon Peter and to the other
+disciple whom Jesus loved." They were both loved, but not in the fuller
+sense elsewhere applied to John. Astonished at her early call, startled
+at the wildness of her grief, sharing her anxiety, "they ran both
+together" "toward the tomb" from which she had so hastily come. But it
+was an uneven race. John, younger and nimbler, "outran Peter and came
+first to the tomb." "Yet entered he not in." Reverence and awe make him
+pause where love has brought him. For a few moments he is alone. His
+earnest gaze confirms the report of Mary that somebody has "taken away
+the Lord." He can only ask, Who? Why? Where? No angel gives answer.
+Still his gaze is rewarded. "He seeth the linen cloths lying." These are
+silent witnesses that the precious body has not been hastily and rudely
+snatched away by unfriendly hands, such as had mangled it on the cross.
+
+Peter arriving, everywhere and evermore impulsive, enters at once where
+John fears to tread. He discovers what John had not seen,--"the napkin
+that was upon His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up
+in a place by itself." John does not tell whose head, so full is he of
+the thought of his Lord.
+
+"Then entered in therefore that other disciple also," says John of
+himself, showing the influence of his bolder companion upon him. Though
+the napkin escaped his notice from without the tomb, it found a
+prominent place in his memory after he saw it. Who but an eye-witness
+would give us such details? What does he mean us to infer from the
+"rolled" napkin put away, if not the calmness and carefulness and
+triumph of the Lord of Life as He tarried in His tomb long enough to lay
+aside the bandages of death. When he saw the careful arrangement of the
+grave-cloths, "he believed" that Jesus had risen. We are not to infer
+from his mention of himself only that Peter did not share in this
+belief. We can believe that Luke does not complete the story when he
+says that Peter "departed to his home wondering at that which was come
+to pass." As they came down from the Mount of Transfiguration they were
+"questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should
+mean." As they came from the tomb they questioned no longer.
+
+[Illustration: THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT _Old Engraving_ Page 224]
+
+We long for a yet fuller record than that which John has given of what
+passed when he and Peter were within the tomb. He frankly tells us that
+"as yet they knew not the Scriptures, that He must rise again from the
+dead." Neither prophecy, nor the Scriptures, nor the Lord's repeated
+declarations, had prepared them for this hour of fulfilment.
+
+We imagine them lingering in the tomb, talking of the past, recalling
+the words of their Lord, illumined in the very darkness of His
+sepulchre, and both wondering what the future might reveal. At last they
+left the tomb together. There was no occasion now for John to outrun
+Peter. They were calm and joyful. There was nothing more to see or to
+do. "So the disciples went away again unto their own home."
+
+"But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping." In these words John
+turns our thoughts from himself to her who had summoned him and Peter,
+and then followed them. After they had left the sepulchre she continued
+standing, bitterly weeping. She could not refrain from seeking that
+which she had told the disciples was not there. Her gaze was "at the
+very cause of her grief." "She stooped and looked into the tomb" as John
+had done.
+
+From the infancy of Jesus to His death there was no ministry of angels
+to men, though they ministered to Him. "The Master being by, it behooved
+the servant to keep silence." But the angelic voices that proclaimed His
+birth, were heard again after His resurrection. According to John's
+minute description Mary "beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at
+the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." The
+angelic silence was broken by them both, with the question, "Woman, why
+weepest thou"--so bitterly and continuously? They might have added, "It
+is all without a cause." Her answer was quick and brief; and without any
+fear of the shining ones who lightened the gloomy tomb, and were ready
+to lighten her darkened spirit. Her reply was the echo of her own words
+to Peter and John, slightly changed to show her personal loss;--"Because
+they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
+Him."--Am I not wretched indeed? Is there not a cause? Why should I
+check my tears?
+
+To answer was needless. Were not the angels in the blessed secret which
+was immediately revealed? Were they not glancing from within the tomb,
+over her bowed head, to the gently moving form without? Did Mary become
+suddenly conscious of some presence as "she turns herself back, and
+beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus"? His question
+seemed an echo of the angelic voices, "Woman, why weepest thou?" with
+the added question, "Whom seekest thou?" This was the first utterance of
+the risen Lord. In the garden, at this early hour, who--so thought
+Mary--can this be but the gardener? As such she addressed Him, "Sir, If
+_thou_ hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I
+will take Him away." We can hardly restrain a smile when we see how the
+strength of her love made her unmindful of the weakness that would
+attempt to "take Him away."
+
+"Jesus saith unto her, Mary." That name, that familiar voice, that
+loving tone, sent a thrill through her heart which the name "woman" had
+failed to excite. More completely "she turned herself, and saith unto
+Him, Rabboni," with all the devotion of her impassioned soul.
+
+Let us recall John's account of Mary's report of her first visit to the
+tomb, full of sadness--"_They have taken away the Lord_," and then in
+contrast place by its side his record of her second report, full of
+gladness--"Mary Magdalene, cometh and telleth the disciples, _I have
+seen the Lord_." The one was a mistaken inference; the other a blessed
+reality. Between these two utterances on the same day what revelations
+to them both. But the end was not yet.
+
+"When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week,
+and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
+Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be
+unto you." So John describes the first meeting of Jesus with the
+disciples after His resurrection. He gives hints of some things of which
+other Evangelists are silent. With emphasis he notes "that day" as the
+day of days whose rising sun revealed resurrection glory. That "evening"
+must have recalled the last one on which they had been together. Then
+the Lord had said unto them, "Peace I leave with you." But the
+benediction had seemed almost a mockery, because of the sorrow which
+followed. But now it was repeated with a renewed assurance of His power
+to bestow it. Through fear of the Jews they had closed the doors of
+probably the same Upper Room where they had been assembled before. These
+doors were no barrier to His entry, any more than the stone to His
+leaving His tomb.
+
+[Illustration: ST. PETER AND ST. JOHN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE
+              _Old Engraving_ Page 225]
+
+As John alone preserved the incident of the pierced side, he alone tells
+how Jesus "showed unto them His ... side," and said to Thomas, at the
+next meeting, "Reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side;" and
+how this was followed by Thomas' believing exclamation, "My Lord, and my
+God." With this and the Lord's beatitude for other believing ones, John
+originally ended his story of the Lord, in these words,--"Many other
+signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not
+written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that
+Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life
+in His name."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIX
+
+"What Shall This Man Do_?"
+
+     "Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of
+     Tiberias."--_John_ xxi. 1.
+
+     "There were together Simon Peter ... and the sons of
+     Zebedee."--_v_. 2.
+
+     "Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved
+     following."--_v._ 20.
+
+     "Peter ... saith to Jesus, Lord, and What shall this man do?"--_v_.
+     21.
+
+
+The twenty-first chapter of John's Gospel is without doubt an addition,
+written some time after the original Gospel was finished. Why this
+addition? To answer the question we must recall the things of which the
+addition tells. They are of special interest in our studies of Peter and
+John.
+
+In our last chapter we were with John in Jerusalem. From there he
+carries us to the Sea of Tiberias. He tells us that he and his brother
+James, and Peter, with four others, "were there together." They were
+near their childhood home, where they had watched for the Messiah, and
+where, when He had appeared He called them to leave their fishing
+employment, and to become fishers of men. They had been saddened by His
+death, then gladdened by His resurrection. He had told them to meet Him
+in Galilee. And now they were waiting for His coming. They were within
+sight of a boat from which perhaps some day they had fished. Peter, ever
+active and ready to do something, said to his companions, "I go
+a-fishing." As John had followed him into the tomb, he and the others
+followed him to the boat saying, "We also come with thee." Let John
+himself tell what happened. "They went forth and entered into the boat;
+and that night they took nothing. But when day was now breaking, Jesus
+stood on the beach: howbeit the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
+Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They
+answered Him, No. And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side
+of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were
+not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes."
+
+Once more we are to find Peter and John the prominent figures, and see
+the difference between them, John being the first to understand, and
+Peter the first to act. When John saw the multitude of fishes he
+remembered the same thing had happened before at the beginning of
+Christ's ministry. Looking toward the land, and whispering to Peter, he
+said, "It is the Lord." "So when Simon Peter heard that it was the
+Lord, he girt his coat about him"--out of reverence for his Master--"and
+cast himself into the sea," and swam or waded about one hundred yards to
+the beach. The other disciples followed in the boat, dragging the net
+with the fishes. John remembered their great size, and the number "an
+hundred and fifty and three." He says, "When they got out upon the land,
+they see a fire of coals there." Did it not remind him of another "fire
+of coals" of which he had already written, kindled in the court of the
+high-priestly palace where "Peter stood and warmed himself," and near
+which he denied his Lord three times? If he did not recall that scene
+immediately, he did very soon.
+
+Jesus invited the disciples to eat of the meal he had prepared. As they
+did so they were filled with awe and reverence, "knowing that it was the
+Lord." In the light of the palace fire, "the Lord turned and _looked_
+upon Peter"--that only. But in the morning light on the seashore, "when
+they had broken their fast, Jesus _saith_ to Simon Peter, Lovest thou
+Me?" Three times, with some difference of meaning, gently and solemnly
+He asked the question as many times as Peter had denied Him. On Peter's
+first assurance of his love Christ gave him a new commission, "Feed My
+lambs." This was a humble work,--not so exalted as it is now--a test of
+Peter's fitness for Apostleship. He was ready to accept it; and thus he
+showed his fitness for the enlarged commission, "Feed My sheep."
+
+With what intense interest John must have listened to the conversation
+between his friend and their Lord. Was he not as ready as Peter to say,
+"Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee"? In the
+end John fulfilled the commission, "Feed My lambs," better than either
+Peter or any of the other Apostles. Of them all he had the most of the
+child-like spirit. He may fittingly be called the Apostle of Childhood.
+
+Peter was told by the Lord something about his own future,--how in
+faithful service for his Master he would be persecuted, and "by what
+manner of death he should glorify God." By this his crucifixion is
+apparently meant. As John listened, perhaps he wondered what his own
+future would be. He was ready to share in service with Peter. Was he not
+also ready to share in his fate, whatever it might be?
+
+"Follow Me," said Jesus to Peter. They seem to have started together
+away from the group. John felt that he must not be thus separated from
+his friend and his Lord. Though he had not been invited to join them, he
+started to do so, as if the command to Peter had been also for himself.
+"Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following;
+which also leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who
+is he that betrayeth Thee?" As Peter at the supper beckoned unto John to
+ask that question concerning Judas, is it not possible that John now
+beckoned to Peter to ask Christ concerning himself? However this may be,
+"Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do?" or,
+as it is interpreted, "Lord--and this man, what?" It is as if he had
+said, "Will John also die a martyr's death, as you have said I shall
+die?" It is not strange that he wanted to know the future of his friend.
+But he did not receive the answer he sought, for "Jesus saith unto him,
+If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"
+
+These words may mean that John would live to old age and escape
+martyrdom, which became true. But this was not the meaning which
+Christians of his day put into them. They had the mistaken idea that
+Christ, having ascended to Heaven, would soon come again. They also
+believed that John would live until Christ's second coming. "This saying
+therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not
+die." John was unwilling to have this mistake concerning Christ's words
+repeated over and over wherever he was known. So he determined to
+correct the false report by adding what is the twenty-first chapter of
+His Gospel, telling just what Christ did say, and the circumstances in
+which He uttered the words to Peter concerning John. His testimony is
+this:--"Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but, If I will that
+he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me."
+
+Peter became the suffering; John the waiting disciple, "tarrying" a long
+time, even after his friend was crucified, and all his fellow-Apostles
+had died, probably by martyrdom.
+
+But after all that John wrote to correct the mistaken report concerning
+His death, tradition would not let him die. It affirmed that although he
+was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome, and though he was
+compelled to drink hemlock, he was unharmed; and that though he was
+buried, the earth above his grave heaved with his breathing, as if,
+still living, he was tarrying until Christ should return.
+
+"What shall this man"--John--"do?" asked Peter. He found partial answer
+in what they did together for the early Christian Church, until John saw
+"by what manner of death Peter should glorify God." And then that church
+found yet fuller answer in John's labors for it while alone he "tarried"
+long among them.
+
+When John tells us that Peter turned and saw him following, we recall
+the hour when Andrew and he timidly walked along the Jordan banks, and
+"Jesus turned and saw them following," and welcomed their approach and
+encouraged them in familiar conversation. How changed is all now! John
+does not ask as before, "Where dwellest Thou?" Nor does Jesus bid him
+"Come and see." He who has become the favored disciple is now better
+prepared than then to serve his Master, following in the path they had
+trod together, and having an abiding sense of the blessed though unseen
+Presence, until his Lord shall bid him, "Come and see" My heavenly
+abode, and evermore "be with Me where I am," and share at last, without
+unholy ambition, the glory of My Throne."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXX_
+
+_St. John a Pillar-Apostle in the Early Christian Church_
+
+     "James and Cephas and John, they who are reputed to be
+     pillars."--_Paul. Gal._ ii. 9.
+
+     "They went up into the upper chamber where they were abiding; both
+     Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip, ..."--_Acts_ i. 13.
+
+     "When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in
+     one place."--_Acts_ ii. 1.
+
+     "An angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought
+     them out."--_Acts_ v. 19.
+
+     "Now when the Apostles which were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria
+     had received the word of the Lord, they sent unto them Peter and
+     John."--_Acts_ viii. 14.
+
+     "He (Herod) killed James the brother of John with the
+     sword."--_Acts_ xii. 2.
+
+
+The next place where we may think of John with his Lord was on a
+mountain in Galilee. At least once before His death, and twice after His
+resurrection, He directed His Disciples to meet Him there. For what
+purpose? Evidently to receive His final commission.
+
+"Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been
+given unto Me in Heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make
+disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father
+and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all
+things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even
+unto the end of the world."
+
+But the disciples were not yet prepared to fulfil this commission. So He
+appointed another meeting, to be held in Jerusalem, where He met them,
+"speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Here the
+command on the mountain was limited by another--not to depart from
+Jerusalem immediately. "Wait" said He, "for the promise of the Father
+which you heard from Me." That promise we find in John's record:--"I
+will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He
+may abide with you forever." "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
+shall teach you all things." "He shall testify of Me." In the
+fulfilment of that promise, the disciples were to find the preparation
+to "go" and "preach." For that preparation they were to "wait."
+
+Jesus then reminds them of the assurance given by John the Baptist
+concerning Himself:--"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Once
+more John is carried back to the Jordan, and reminded of the time when
+he and Jesus had been baptized. All those former scenes must have been
+recalled when Jesus at the final meeting in Jerusalem declared, "John
+truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
+not many days hence."
+
+These words revived in the disciples the hope which had died in them
+when Jesus died upon the cross. So, with yet mistaken ideas, they asked,
+"Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" John
+and the rest of the Bethsaidan band, who had heard the Baptist say that
+the kingdom of God was at hand, hoped that "at this time" it would
+appear. But, as when Jesus gave no direct answer to the two pairs of
+brothers on Olivet concerning the time of the destruction of Jerusalem,
+or to Peter's question concerning John's future, so now He avoided a
+direct answer to this last question. He reminded them of something more
+important for them than knowledge of the future: that was their own
+duty,--not to reign, but to be witnesses for Him, first in Jerusalem,
+then throughout Judaea, then in Samaria, then "unto the uttermost parts
+of the earth." Yet this could not be until they had "received power
+after that the Holy Ghost had come upon them." This was promised them:
+they did not clearly understand what was meant: they were waiting to
+see.
+
+"He led them out until they were over against Bethany,"--well-remembered
+Bethany. From there Jesus had made His triumphal entry into the City of
+the Great King: from there He would make a more glorious entry into the
+New Jerusalem. John was not His herald now. He, with the other ten, was
+"led" by Him to witness His departure.
+
+As He ascended Olivet the last time, did He not give a parting glance
+down the slope into the village below, His eye resting on the home of
+those He loved, made radiant for us by the search-light thrown upon it
+by the loved disciple at His side? In thought did He not say, "Lazarus,
+Martha, Mary, farewell."
+
+The lifted hands, the parting blessing, the luminous cloud, and the
+vanishing form--such is the brief story of the Ascension.
+
+"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into Heaven?" The questioners
+were two angels. Without waiting for answer, they gave promise of Jesus'
+return. "Then returned the disciples unto Jerusalem from the Mount
+called Olivet." Whither bound? We are told, "They went up into _the_
+upper chamber." No longer simply "_A_ large upper room" to which Jesus
+had told Peter and John they would be guided. Were they not now the
+guide of the nine thither, to the place where they had six weeks before
+"prepared" for the Passover? Did not the goodman of the house give the
+Disciples a second welcome, and offer it to them as a temporary place
+for the Christian Church? So it would appear, for again we are told,
+"they were there abiding." Once more Luke gives their names, in the
+Acts as he did in his Gospel. All except Judas answered, in that upper
+room, to the roll call of the company scattered from Gethsemane, but
+reunited in a closer union. In each of Luke's lists he begins with the
+Bethsaidan band. But he does not preserve the same order. In the latter
+he begins, not with the two pairs of brothers as such--Peter and Andrew,
+James and John,--but with the Apostles whom Christ had drawn into His
+inner circle, Peter, John and James, naming first the two who were
+already becoming the acknowledged leaders of the Christian band. In that
+list we find the name of Andrew recorded the last time in Holy Writ.
+
+But the eleven were not alone: others resorted thither for the same
+purpose. What was that purpose? and who were some of them? This is the
+answer:--"These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer,
+with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."
+
+It is here, for the last time, that we read of Mary, in the Gospels. In
+what better place could we bid her farewell than in the room consecrated
+by the presence of her Son. How we rejoice with her that in that place
+the longing of her heart must have been satisfied as she joined "with
+one accord in prayer ... with His brethren"--her sons who during His
+life had not believed on Him. What a welcome to that room did they
+receive from John, their adopted brother! May we not indulge the thought
+that among "the women" were her own daughters; and that we hear her
+joyfully asking the once carping question of the Jews concerning "the
+carpenter's son," but with changed meaning, saying, "His _sisters_, are
+they not all with us?" If so "His Mother called Mary," "and His
+brethren," "and His sisters," and John the adopted son and brother, were
+at last a blessed family indeed. Mary on her knees with her children
+around her, rejoicing in God her Saviour, of whom she had sung in the
+infancy of her Son--that certainly is a fitting scene to be the last in
+which we behold the Mother of Jesus.
+
+"When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one
+place." They were united in feeling, purpose and devotion, in the "one
+place," the home of the early Church.
+
+The hour had come for the fulfilment of the promise of their Lord, for
+which they were to tarry in Jerusalem and wait. There was a great
+miracle,--a sound from Heaven as of the rushing of a mighty wind which
+filled the house. Flame-like tongues, having the appearance of fire
+rested on the heads of the disciples, who were "all filled with the Holy
+Ghost." He gave them utterance as they spoke in languages they had not
+known before. Crowds of foreigners in the city "were confounded because
+that every man heard them speaking in his own language."
+
+On the morning of that day the Church numbered one hundred and twenty.
+"There were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls."
+
+St. John was one of those filled with the Holy Ghost, according to the
+prophecy he had heard by the Baptist, and the promise by Christ. On him
+rested a fiery tongue. To him the Spirit gave utterance, perhaps in the
+languages of those among whom he was to labor in Asia Minor, from where
+some of these strangers had come. He was in full sympathy with that
+Christian company, an actor with them, a leader of them, a pillar for
+them strong and immovable.
+
+But the Upper Room was not the only place where John worshiped. The
+Temple was still a sanctuary where such as he communed with God. The
+hour for the evening prayer was nearing when "Peter and John were going
+up into the Temple." They reached the Beautiful Gate, which Josephus
+describes as made of Corinthian brass, surpassing in beauty other temple
+gates, even those which were overlaid with silver and gold. By it they
+saw what doubtless they had often seen before, a lame man who, during
+most of the forty years of his life, had been daily brought thither. His
+weakness was a great contrast to the massive strength of the pillar
+against which he leaned, as he counted the long hours and the coins he
+received in charity. His haggard appearance and ugly deformity were a
+greater contrast to the richness and symmetry of the gate which was so
+fittingly "called Beautiful."
+
+Was there something especially benignant in the faces of the two
+Apostles, that encouraged the poor creature to hail them as he saw them
+"about to go into the Temple"? They were willingly detained. "Peter,
+fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, 'Look on us.'" A gift was
+bestowed richer far than that for which he had hoped. They were full of
+joy themselves, and of pity for him, and of a sense of the power of
+their Lord, so often exercised in their presence. Therefore the command,
+"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
+
+That was a strange sight to those who had long known the beggar, as he
+held Peter with one hand and John with the other, as if leading them
+into the Temple, into which he entered, "walking, and leaping, and
+praising God."
+
+The glad shout of the healed man attracted a crowd around him, "greatly
+wondering." The Apostles declared that the miracle was by no power of
+their own, but by that of Jesus who had been killed, but had risen from
+the dead. For this they were arrested and put in prison--strange place
+for such men and for such a reason. On the next day they were brought
+before the rulers who demanded by what power they had done this thing.
+Again the disciples declared it was in the name of Jesus Christ of
+Nazareth, whom the Jews crucified, but whom God had raised from the
+dead. The rulers were amazed when "they saw the boldness of Peter and
+John." They had known the power of Jesus' words: they saw a like power
+in the words of the Apostles, whom they were assured had been with Him
+and been aided by Him. But this did not check their rage, which was
+increased as they saw how many believed the Apostles. The three thousand
+converts on the day of Pentecost were increased to five thousand.
+
+[Illustration: EPHESUS _From Photograph_ Page 232]
+
+As leaders of the Christian company Peter and John were again put into
+prison--into the public jail for malefactors. But the divine power which
+had been used through them was now used for them. A solemn warning was
+given to the daring wickedness of the rulers. When they thought their
+prisoners kept "with all safety," in the darkness, behind bolted doors,
+"an angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them
+out, and said, 'Go ye, and stand and speak in the temple to the people
+all the words of this Life.'"
+
+We know not the manner in which he led them out as he invisibly opened
+and closed the doors through which they passed, to obey without fear
+the heavenly bidding. With consternation the rulers heard a messenger
+declare, in words almost echoing the angel's command, "Behold the men
+whom ye put in prison are in the temple standing and teaching the
+people."
+
+Persecution scattered Christians who fled from Jerusalem, telling
+wherever they went, of Christ as the Saviour. A deacon named Philip
+preached in Samaria with great effect. "Now when the Apostles which were
+at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent
+unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them
+that they might receive the Holy Ghost."
+
+These two were chosen because they had taken the most active part in
+establishing the church in Jerusalem, and were specially fitted for
+similar work elsewhere. With what peculiar feelings John must have
+entered Samaria. He must have recalled a day when hot and weary he had
+journeyed thither with his Lord and met the Samaritaness at the well.
+Perhaps he now met her again, and together they talked over that
+wonderful conversation which made her the first missionary to her
+people, many of whom declared, "We know that this is indeed the Saviour
+of the world."
+
+Did John on this visit enter into "a village of the Samaritans"--the
+same where he had said, "Lord, wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down
+from heaven and consume them?" Is it of them that it is now said he
+"prayed for them"? His fire of indignation and revenge had changed to
+the fire of love. The pentecostal flames had rested on his head.
+
+Once more--only once--we find the names of James and John together. One
+short sentence, full of pathos, of injustice and cruelty, of affection
+and sorrow, tells a story of the early Church: Herod "killed James the
+brother of John with the sword." He was the first martyr of the
+Apostles. The smaller circle of the three, and the larger one of the
+twelve, is broken. For these brothers we may take up David's lamentation
+over Saul and Jonathan, slightly changed, and say, "They were lovely and
+pleasant in their lives: but in their death they were divided,"--for
+through half a century John mourned the loss of his loved companion from
+childhood.
+
+After James--one of the three whom Paul named pillars--had fallen, the
+other two, Peter and John, stood for awhile side by side in strength and
+beauty. To each of them he might have given the name Jachin by which one
+of the pillars of Solomon's temple was called, meaning, "whom God
+strengthens." Peter was the next to fall, after which John long stood
+alone, until at last the three whom first we saw by the Sea of Galilee,
+stood together by the glassy sea, in each of them fulfilled the promise
+made through John, by their Lord,--"He that overcometh, I will make him
+a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more."
+
+[Illustration: THE ISLE OF PATMOS _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXI_
+
+_Last Days_
+
+     "I John ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of
+     God, and the testimony of Jesus.... And I heard behind me a great
+     voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book,
+     and send it to the seven churches."--_Rev._ i. 9-11.
+
+      "Since I, whom Christ's mouth taught, was bidden teach,
+       I went, for many years, about the world,
+       Saying, 'It was so; so I heard and saw,'
+       Speaking as the case asked; and men believed.
+       Afterward came the message to myself
+       In Patmos Isle. I was not bidden teach,
+       But simply listen, take a book and write,
+       Nor set down other than the given word,
+       With nothing left to my arbitrament
+       To choose or change; I wrote, and men believed."
+
+
+From Samaria John with Peter "returned to Jerusalem." This is the last
+record of him in the Acts. We have but little information concerning him
+after that event. He suddenly disappears. We have two glimpses of him
+which are historic, and several through shadowy traditions.
+
+There was a very important meeting in Jerusalem to settle certain
+questions in which the early Church was greatly interested, and about
+which there had been much difference in judgment and feeling. St. Paul
+was present. He says that St. John was there, one of the three
+Pillar-Apostles who gave to him and Barnabas "the right hands of
+fellowship." This is the only time of which we certainly know of the
+meeting of these two Apostles; though we have imagined the possibility
+of John's visiting the school of Gamaliel, and worshiping in the Temple
+when young Saul was in Jerusalem. From this time, A.D., 50, we
+lose sight of John and do not see him again until A.D., 68, in
+the Isle of Patmos. As his Lord was hidden eighteen years, from the time
+of His boyhood visit to Jerusalem until He entered on His public
+ministry, so long His disciple is concealed from our view. Leaving
+Jerusalem he probably never returned. Why he left we do not know. It may
+have been because of persecutions. Perhaps the death of Mary relieved
+him from the charge we may believe he had faithfully kept, and thus made
+it possible for him to go about like other Apostles to preach the
+Gospel. If so we have no hint in what direction he went. He may have
+gone directly to Ephesus. On reaching it perhaps he found a welcome from
+some who had heard him speak in their own language on the day of
+Pentecost. It was a populous city, wealthy and wicked. Its magnificent
+Temple of Diana was one of the seven wonders of the world. Its ruins
+give us a hint of its former glory.
+
+All the traditions of early times make Ephesus the home of St. John in
+the latter part of his life. From it as a centre he ministered to the
+Churches of Asia Minor.
+
+Gospel truth found its way thither, even before Paul made it the centre
+of his third missionary tour. He was driven from it, but he left the
+foundation of a Christian Church, upon which John builded. There were
+like foundations in at least six other important cities of Asia
+Minor--Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
+
+The silence of the latter half of St. John's life is broken but once,
+and that by himself. He tells us that he "was in the isle that is called
+Patmos." It was not far from Ephesus, within a day's sail. It is a huge
+rock, rugged and barren, only a few miles in length.
+
+Why was John in Patmos? He says, "for the word of God and the testimony
+of Jesus." What does he mean by this? Perhaps that he was led thither by
+circumstances of which we do not know, or by the guidance of the Spirit
+of God, who there would make wonderful revelations to him. But more
+probably he was banished thither for the preaching of the Gospel of
+Jesus, and for being a faithful follower of Him, notwithstanding the
+persecutions of Nero or Domitian. As told in an ancient Latin hymn,--
+
+    "To desert islands banished,
+       With God the exile dwells,
+     And sees the future glory
+       His mystic writing tells."
+
+The grotto of La Scala may have been the spot from which he looked out
+upon the AEgean Sea, and upward into the heavens, communing in solitude
+with his own thoughts, or with his Lord for whom he was there. Patmos
+was for this a fitting place, whether he had gone there from his own
+choice, or had been driven thither by the cruelty of his persecutor. In
+such solitude did Milton muse, and Bunyan dream.
+
+It was the "Lord's Day," says John. He alone, and at this time only,
+uses that name with which we have become familiar, though it may have
+been in common use among the early Christians. It meant much to John,
+even more than to us. It was a reminder of the day when he looked into,
+and then entered, the tomb of his Lord, and believed that He had risen
+from the dead.
+
+His meditations may have been aided by Old Testament Manuscripts, his
+only companions; especially that of Daniel, in which it is claimed "the
+spirit and imagery of the Book of Revelation is steeped."
+
+What a contrast there was between the peaceful waves of Gennesaret,
+creeping silently upon the sandy beach of his childhood home, and the
+breakers dashing upon the rocky coast of his exile abode in his old
+age! How suggestive of the calm and turmoil of his life!
+
+[Illustration: SMYRNA _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+But his musings were suddenly broken by "a great voice, as of a
+trumpet," giving a command--"What thou seest, write in a book." He says,
+"I turned to see the voice that spake with me." He beheld his Lord in
+greater grandeur than he had seen Him on earth, even on Hermon. As he
+gazed upon the divine figure he must have exclaimed,
+
+    "Can this be He who used to stray,
+     A pilgrim on the world's highway,
+     Oppressed by power, and mocked by pride,
+     The Nazarene, the Crucified!"
+
+We do not wonder that he says,--"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as
+one dead." So had Paul done when the Lord appeared to him at Damascus.
+John adds, "He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not." The words
+seem almost an echo from the Holy Mount,--"Jesus came and touched them,
+and said, Arise, and be not afraid."
+
+The command to John was renewed, to write--of things which he had seen,
+and what he was yet to behold. The early Christians called him the
+Eagle, meaning that of all the sacred writers he had the loftiest
+visions of divine truth.
+
+John's writings are of three kinds, the Book of The Revelation of the
+secret purposes of God; his Gospel; and his three Epistles or letters.
+
+Although The Revelation is the last of the books of the Bible, it is
+probably the first of those by John. It contains messages from the Lord
+in Heaven to the seven churches in Asia, which we have mentioned,
+concerning their virtues and their failings. To each was given a special
+promise of reward to those who overcame sin, and were faithful to
+Christ. From this Revelation of John we get our imagery of Heaven,
+helping us to understand something of its glory.
+
+His Gospel is supposed to have been written next. Why did he write it?
+As we have noticed, Matthew, Mark and Luke had already written their
+Gospels. But there was abundant reason for John's writing the fourth
+Gospel. We need not doubt the tradition that he was urged to do so by
+the disciples, elders and bishops of the early Church. They had heard
+him tell much concerning Christ of which the first three Evangelists had
+not told. These things were too precious to be forgotten, or to be
+changed by frequent repetition after his lips were silent. That must be
+soon, for he was very old, having long passed the limit of human age.
+They had listened to the story of the early call of the disciples, and
+of the first miracle at Cana, and of the night visit of Nicodemus to
+Jesus, and of the talk by the well of Samaria with the Samaritaness, and
+of the washing of the disciples' feet, and of many other things which
+Jesus said and did of which no one had written. In John's talks with
+Christians, and his preaching in their churches, he explained fully and
+simply the teachings of Jesus, as no one else had done, or could do.
+They longed for a record of them, that they might read it themselves,
+and leave it to their children, and those who never could hear the words
+from his lips.
+
+So St. John wrote his Gospel, giving to his first readers his great
+reason,--"These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the
+Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His
+name."
+
+For the writing of his first Epistle he also gives a reason,
+saying,--"That which we have heard, that which we have seen with our
+eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled concerning the word of
+life, ... that ... declare we unto you also, that ye also may have
+fellowship with us."
+
+Through these words John draws us very near to his Lord and ours, Whom
+we behold through his eyes, and hear through his ears. We almost feel
+the grasp of a divine yet human hand.
+
+The great theme is the love of God, or as Luther expresses it, "The main
+substance of this Epistle relates to love." John's Gospel abounds in
+declarations and illustration of this greatest of truths, but it does
+not contain the phrase in this Epistle in which he sums up the whole
+Gospel, "GOD IS LOVE." Because of John's deep sense of God's
+love, and because of the depth of his own love, the Beloved Apostle is
+called, The Apostle of Love.
+
+John's second Epistle should be of special interest to the young. From
+it we infer that there were two Christian homes, in each of which John
+took delight. The mothers were sisters. His letter is addressed to "The
+elect lady"--or as she is sometimes called the Lady Electa--and her
+children. John tells of his love and that of others for them,--Mother
+and children--because of their Christian character. He tells of his
+great joy because of the children "walking in the truth"--living as
+children should live who have learned of the teachings of Christ.
+
+From the group of children around him in the home where he wrote, he
+sends messages to their aunt, saying, "The children of thine elect
+sister salute thee." How the children of Electa must have prized that
+letter! How little they thought that nineteen hundred years after they
+received it, other children would read it, and think how happy were
+those who had the Apostle John for their friend.
+
+This letter is one of the things that revealed his child-like spirit. We
+remember the time when he did not have that spirit. At last he did have
+it because he became so much like his Master who loved the little ones,
+and taught His disciples to do the same.
+
+John thought of the child-spirit as the Christ-spirit, whether it was in
+the old or the young. He called all who had it children. He called those
+to whom he ministered in his old age his little children. This he does
+in the last sentence of his last letter to the Christian church,--"My
+little children, guard yourselves from idols."
+
+Because of his own child-like spirit and his seeking to cultivate it in
+others, and because of his manifest interest in children, he may be
+called the Apostle of Childhood.
+
+There is a beautiful tradition concerning him, that in his old age, when
+he was too feeble to walk to the church or to preach, he was carried
+thither, and said again and again,--"Little children, love one another."
+Some said, "Master, why dost thou always say this?" He replied, "It is
+the Lord's command, and if this alone is done, it is enough." Of his
+death at the probable age of about one hundred nothing is known. It is
+claimed that there is a sacred spot somewhere among the tangled thickets
+of Mt. Prion which looks down on Ephesus where his body was laid.
+
+There is a tradition, inconsistent with the supposition that Mary died
+in Jerusalem, that she accompanied John to Ephesus and was buried near
+him; her eyes having been closed by him on whom her Son had looked with
+dimming vision, commending her to his loving care.
+
+No magnificent tomb marks the place of John's burial. None is needed.
+But there are richer and abundant memorials of St. John the Divine--an
+imperishable name because that of the Beloved Disciple of Him Whose name
+is above every name.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXII_
+
+_A Retrospect_
+
+
+How wonderful and charming a history is that of St. John! Our glimpses
+of him have been few and often-times indistinct; but they have been
+enough in number and clearness to reveal a noble and lovable character.
+
+We saw him first on the sea-shore of Gennesaret, not differing from any
+other Galilean boy. We watched him playing and fishing with his
+Bethsaidan companions, none of them thinking of how long their
+friendship would be continued, or in what new and strange circumstances
+of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, disappointment and glad surprises,
+that companionship would become closer and closer.
+
+We saw John in his rambles about his home, amid scenes beautiful in
+themselves, which became sacred because of what he there beheld and
+heard.
+
+We discovered his relationship to a child in Nazareth whom he did not
+know at first as the most wonderful being in the world.
+
+We entered his home and visited the school where he was taught of Him
+who was called the coming Messiah; but who had already come, though his
+parents and teachers knew it not.
+
+We followed him as a Jewish boy into the Temple, whose glories were to
+become more glorious in his manhood by what he beheld therein.
+
+We saw him on the Jordan, standing with his kindred and namesake, who
+pointed him to Jesus as the Messiah for whom he had been looking. From
+that hour we have known him as a disciple of Jesus, later as one of his
+twelve Apostles, then one of the chosen three, then the one--the beloved
+Disciple.
+
+Through his eyes we have beheld the wonderful works of our Lord: with
+his ears we have heard the most wonderful words ever spoken to man. We
+have caught glimpses of him in most wonderful scenes which he was almost
+the only one to behold--amid the glories of the transfiguration, in the
+death-chamber changed to that of life, in the shadows of Gethsemane.
+
+We have learned through John the sacredness of human friendships, made
+closer and holier by friendship with the loved and loving Lord. He has
+been our guide to the Upper Room of joy and sadness; to the Priestly
+Palace of suffering and of shame; to the cross of agony and death; to
+the tomb of surprise and exaltation; to the mount of final blessing and
+ascension.
+
+[Illustration: PERGAMOS AND THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN
+              _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+John saw what kings and prophets longed to see, but died without the
+sight--the Messiah come. He witnessed probably all the miracles of
+Jesus, from his first in Cana as a guest, to his last on the sea-shore
+as a host--the signs of divine power inspired by pity and love. He
+looked upon the enthusiastic but mistaken throng who in Galilee would
+force upon Jesus an unwelcome crown; then upon the multitudes who hailed
+him with hosannas on Olivet; then the maddened crowd who shouted through
+the streets of Jerusalem, "Crucify Him." He witnessed Christ's movements
+when the multitudes gathered about Him for instruction and healing, and
+when he withdrew from them to pray. His eyes were dazzled by the
+brightness of the transfiguration as he looked upon the form which at
+last was enshrouded in darkness on Calvary. With another vision he
+beheld that form in Heaven itself.
+
+On the Jordan he beheld Jesus as the Lamb of God which was to be offered
+as a sacrifice. He saw the cross become His altar of sacrifice, and then
+in Heaven discerned Him as the "Lamb as it had been slain." He was
+witness of Christ's joys and sorrows, shame and suffering, humiliation
+and exaltation, entering into them more fully than did any other human
+being.
+
+From the hour in which John stood with the Baptist who told him to
+behold Jesus, his eye was upon Him, until, because there was no more
+for him to behold of his Lord on earth, the angels asked, "Why stand ye
+gazing?" Having seen Him "lifted up" on a beclouded cross, he saw Him
+"taken up" as a glorious "cloud received Him out of sight."
+
+John heard wondrous things. He became familiar with his Lord's voice,
+its tones of instruction and exhortation, warning and reproof,
+invitation and affection, forgiveness and benediction, prayer and
+praise, depression and agony, joy and triumph. He was no careless
+listener to the words spoken to Jesus--those of inquiry and pleading,
+hypocrisy and contempt, mockery and deceit, hatred and love. Beside his
+Lord, he heard saintly voices, and the voice of the Father.
+
+Much that John saw and heard when with his Lord he has made known. We
+imagine some things were too tender and sacred for others' ears:
+concerning such his lips were sealed. Other things were too precious for
+silence: of such he is the most distinct echo. His Gospel is often a
+commentary on the other three. He was an eye-witness of most of the
+events of which he tells. His Gospel is rich with illuminated texts.
+Having the best understanding of "the words of the Lord Jesus," he is
+the fullest reporter of His teachings. Having the deepest insight into
+the heart of hearts of his Lord, he is its clearest revealer. While many
+others grasped separate truths, he placed them side by side in harmony
+and unity, and thus held them up and revealed them to mankind. His
+Lord's words were the most sacred treasures of his memory: his greatest
+joy was to bring them forth for others to view and admire, that they too
+might be inspired thereby to "love and good works." Without erasing
+aught from the pictures drawn by his fellow-Evangelists, he has added
+to, and filled in, and re-touched with a sympathizing hand. So familiar
+had he become with his Lord's countenance, with all its varied
+expressions, and so skilful was he in reproducing them, that his
+composite portrait is the most beautiful and impressive of all attempts
+to portray "the human face divine."
+
+Standing outside of some grand cathedral, before its stained window, we
+mark the figures with their rich depth of color. Passing within we see
+the same figures, but the outline is more distinct; the colors are
+richer, and with more harmonious blending. So sometimes we seem to stand
+with the three Evangelists outside the Gospel Cathedral; and then with
+John within.
+
+Like Ruth in the field of Boaz he followed the reapers--the first three
+Evangelists in the field of their Lord,--to "glean even among the
+sheaves." He "gleaned in the field until evening," the close of the long
+day of his life, "and beat out that he had gleaned," and gave it to
+others. There was not need for them to ask him, "Where hast thou
+gleaned?" There was only one field from which such harvest could be
+gathered. Rather could they say as Naomi to Ruth, "Blessed is he that
+did take knowledge of thee."
+
+There have been more noted illustrations of change in character than is
+furnished in St. John. His early life was not profligate like that of
+John Newton or John Bunyan. And yet the change in him was marked enough
+to furnish an exhibition of contrast, showing the power of Christ's
+teachings and example upon him, until he reached an unwonted degree of
+perfection. He combined the noblest traits of the loftiest manhood and
+womanhood, with the simplicity of childhood. His human kinship to Jesus
+illustrated but faintly the closer and tenderer relation formed by the
+transforming of his spirit into the likeness of Christ. This was more
+royal than any merely human relationship. It was the closest relation of
+which we know of the perfect Christ with imperfect man. We have watched
+the changes in John's spirit, and seen his imperfections smoothed away,
+and his character so polished that it became the brightest reflector of
+the image of Jesus Christ. Yet from the first there were budding virtues
+in him which Mary Magdalene's supposed gardener brought to perfection.
+
+[Illustration: RUINS OF LAODICEA _Old Engraving_ Page 233]
+
+In history John stands and must ever stand alone. He was one of the
+two who first accepted the call of Christ to come to Him: he was the
+last of the Apostles to repeat, in another and yet as true a sense, that
+invitation to multitudes of men. He was one of those two who first saw
+what may be called the beginning of the Christian Church, in the little
+booth by the Jordan: and the last one of the Twelve to remember its
+fuller establishments in the Upper Chamber of Jerusalem. He was the last
+man who had seen the last prophet who told of the coming Messiah; and
+was the last Evangelist to tell that He had come. He was one of the
+three who were the last to behold the Shechinah, and to whom came the
+voice of God the Father.
+
+John was the lone disciple in the palace of the high priest, witnessing
+the injustice, mockery, and cruelty before Pilate; the last one with
+whom the Lord spoke and on whom His eye rested before His death. He was
+the lone disciple to gaze upon the cross and witness the dying agonies;
+the first to look into the deserted tomb; the first of whom we are told
+that he believed the Lord had risen therefrom. The last survivor of the
+Apostolic band, he had the fullest opportunity to witness the fulfilment
+of prophecies of which he was a careful student and clear interpreter.
+He saw the sad close of the Jewish dispensation, and the glorious
+beginning of Christianity. He saw the Holy City overthrown, as Christ
+declared to Him on Olivet that it would be, and had a vision of the New
+Jerusalem of which the old was a consecrated type, at last profaned.
+
+Of the golden Apostolic chain he was the last link binding the Church to
+its Lord. He was the last known human kindred of the Son of Man. The
+last words of inspiration were spoken to and recorded by him. He was the
+latest prophet, historian, and Evangelist. One of the first to say, "I
+have seen the Messiah," he was the last to say, "I have seen the Lord."
+
+We have caught glimpses of St. John in the early days of Christianity,
+as a light and a pillar, a teacher and a guide. Sometimes for years
+together he has been hidden from our view, and then has emerged with a
+yet brighter halo around his head. We have watched him on a lonely isle
+gazing into heaven, beholding glories of which he gives us hints, but
+which he tells us he cannot fully describe.
+
+Because of his relation to the Lord, the fisher boy unknown beyond the
+hamlet of Bethsaida two thousand years ago is "spoken of" as truly as
+Mary of Bethany, whose memory he especially has made sacred and
+perpetual. Wherever the Gospel is preached he too is remembered, honored
+and loved.
+
+Because of his relation to the Lord, towns in lands of which he never
+knew, bear his name; in which people are taught by his words and
+inspired by his spirit. In them many a family is known by the name St.
+John. Rivers in their flow bear his name from generation to generation
+on earth, while he points men to the pure river "proceeding out of the
+throne of God and the Lamb," which was "showed" him in Patmos. Societies
+for fraternal fellowship and mutual helpfulness are called after him.
+St. John's day has a sacred place in the calendar. Many a rural chapel
+and stately city church are reminders of him. The richness of his
+graces, and the yet future of his saintly influence, are symbolized in
+the yet unfinished temple of surpassing grandeur in the City of New
+York,--"The Cathedral of St. John the Divine."
+
+From all these earthly scenes in which we have beheld him, to which
+history and tradition have pointed us, and from those things which are
+memorials of him, we turn to the Heavenly scenes which he bids us behold
+as they were revealed to him. Thither we follow him after all his trials
+and labors and triumphs of earth. With reverence and gladness for him,
+we listen to the voice of the Lord saying to him what He had told him to
+say to the Churches of Asia:--"Because thou didst overcome I give thee
+'to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of
+God.' Thou shalt 'not be hurt with the second death.' I give thee 'a
+white stone, and upon the stone a new name written.' I give thee 'the
+morning star.' 'I will in no wise blot thy name out of the book of life!
+I make you a pillar in the temple of My God.' O John, rememberest thou
+thy petition and that of thy brother who has long been with Me,--'Grant
+unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand
+in Thy glory'? Thou thoughtest that 'glory' was an earthly throne, which
+thou never sawest. But thou hast overcome thy pride and ambition, thy
+jealous and revengeful spirit. Thou hast triumphed over those who were
+thine enemies because thou wast My friend. Thou didst see My agonies and
+victories in Gethsemane and on Calvary. Thou didst take up My cry on My
+cross concerning My work on earth, and sound it forth,--'It is
+finished.' Dost thou remember My final promise to him that overcometh,
+which I made from this My true throne of glory, through thee, 'in the
+isle that is called Patmos'--precious name even here because of thy
+'testimony for' Me. That promise I now fulfil in thee. O John, one of My
+chosen Twelve on earth; yea more, one of My chosen three; yet more, My
+beloved one, here in Heaven, now, 'Sit down with Me on My throne, as I
+also overcame and sat down with My Father in His throne.'"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIII_
+
+_Legends and Traditions of St. John_
+
+
+After closing the history of St. John, we linger over the traditions
+that cluster about his later years. They reveal the feelings of the
+early Church toward him who was the last of the Apostolic band, and the
+last who had seen their Lord.
+
+There is one legend so beautiful, so much like him, that we can almost
+believe it as having a fitting place in his history. It belongs to the
+time when he preached in the magnificent Church which Christians had
+reared for him in Ephesus. We may not credit the story that on his brow
+he wore a golden plate engraven with the inscription, "Holiness to the
+Lord," but we can almost imagine it written there. His memorable
+appearance and his tender manner, the loving voice with which he told
+the story of his Lord, fastened all eyes upon him, and opened all ears
+to his message of salvation. There was one, a young man, who standing in
+the distance, looked and listened with such eager interest as to attract
+the attention of the Apostle. In repentance and faith he found the peace
+which nothing else can give. He was baptized and numbered with the
+Ephesian Christians. St. John took special interest in him, training him
+in Christian doctrine, and preparing him for a useful life. When the
+hour for John's banishment came, in his anxiety for the youth, he
+committed him to the care of the Bishop of the place, whom he charged to
+be faithful in teaching and spiritual guidance.
+
+But the youth was exposed to many temptations from the heathen about
+him. Their songs and dances and wine again charmed him as they did
+before he heard the preaching of John. He yielded to their influences,
+and renounced his profession of Christianity. In the absence of the
+Apostle, the reproofs of the Bishop only maddened him. He no longer
+attended the services of the Church, or sought the companionship of
+Christians. Having entered the paths of sin, he wandered farther and
+farther therein. At last he committed a crime against the government. In
+fear of punishment he fled from Ephesus, and joined a company of robbers
+and bandits in the wild ravines of the mountains. Though young in years,
+he was so cunning and bold in crime that he became the leader of the
+band. Inspired by his daring spirit they were ready for deeds of
+violence that made them the terror of the whole region.
+
+On John's return from his exile in Patmos to Ephesus, he longed to know
+of the welfare of the young disciple, who had been to him as an adopted
+son, ever present to his mind and heart in his lonely island. The
+Bishop, with downcast eyes, sorrow and shame, declared, "He is dead."
+"How?" asked John, "and by what death?" "He is dead to God," said the
+Bishop. "He has turned out wicked and abandoned, and at last a robber."
+
+John rent his garments as a sign of distress. Weeping he cried with a
+loud lamentation, "Alas! alas! to what a guardian have I trusted our
+brother!" The tender, faithful heart of the aged Apostle yearned for the
+young man. He was ready to say, "How can I give thee up!" He knew the
+mercy of God, and the power of love, human and divine; and determined
+that the robber-chieftain should know it too.
+
+Immediately he procured a horse and guide, and rode toward the
+stronghold of the robbers. It was in a wild mountainous ravine, with
+rushing torrents and rugged rocks overgrown with brushwood and luxuriant
+herbage. It was a place of grandeur, and yet of gloom--a fitting haunt
+for the robber-band. Few travelers passed that way, and that hurriedly
+and in terror.
+
+At last the Apostle and his guide heard from behind the rocks the hoarse
+shouts of revelry. But he heeded them not, so intent was he on his
+errand. He was seeking the prodigal, his adopted son--who was not
+seeking the loving father. He drew the reins of his horse, while he
+told his guide that their journey was ended, and prayed for themselves
+and for him whom they sought. His nearness was discovered by one of the
+band, who led him to the rest, and bound his guide. There was a great
+contrast between the old man with his snowy locks and beard, in his
+humble garb; and the younger, the wild looking bandit with his streaming
+hair and loose white kilt; between the defenceless captive, and his
+captors armed with Roman swords, long lances, and bows and arrows before
+which he seemed perfectly powerless.
+
+As he looked upon their hardened features they looked into his benignant
+face, and stood awed in his presence. Their rough manner, words and
+tones were changed by his smile and even friendly greeting. He made no
+resistance. His only motion was a wave of his hand. It was mightier than
+sword or lance or bow. His only request was, "Take me to your captain."
+Over-awed by the dignity of his manner and his calmness, the captors
+obeyed their captive and silently led him to their chief. In an open
+space the tall handsome young man was seated on his horse, wearing
+bright armor and breastplate, and holding the spear of a warrior. At a
+glance he recognized his old master, instructor and guide, who had been
+to him as a father. His first thought was, "Why should this holy man
+seek me?" He answered his own question, saying to himself, "He has come
+with just and angry threatenings which I well deserve." John had been
+called "a son of thunder." As such the trembling chief thought of him,
+ready to hear him pronounce an awful woe. So with a mingled cry of fear
+and anguish, he turned his horse and would have fled--a strange sound
+and sight for his fellow-robbers.
+
+But St. John had no thunder tones for him, no threats of coming
+punishment. The kind shepherd had found the sheep that had been lost.
+The father had found the prodigal, without waiting for the wanderer's
+return. John sprang toward him. He held out his arms in an affectionate
+manner. He called him by tender names. With earnest entreaty he
+prevailed on him to stop and listen. As young Saul, when near Damascus
+caught sight of Jesus and heard His voice, dropped from his horse to the
+ground; so did the young chieftain at the sight and voice of St. John.
+With reverence he kneeled before him, and in shame bowed his head to the
+ground. Like Peter who had denied the same Lord, the young man wept
+bitterly. His cries of self-reproach and his despair echoed strangely in
+that rocky defile. As St. John had wept for him, he wept for himself.
+Those were truly penitential tears. John still spoke encouragingly. The
+young man lifted his head and embraced the knees of the Apostle,
+sobbing out, "No hope, no pardon." Then remembering the deeds of his
+right hand, defiled with blood, he hid it beneath his robe. St. John
+fell on his knees before him and enfolded him in his arms. He grasped
+the hand that had been hidden, and bathed it in tears as if he would
+wash away its bloody stains, and then kissed it, in thought of the good
+he said it should yet perform.
+
+That hand cast away the sword it had wielded in murder, and lovingly,
+gratefully held that of John, as the Apostle, and the robber-chief now
+penitent and forgiven, together left the wilderness; within sight of the
+astonished band; some of whom were greatly touched by what they had seen
+and heard, while others were ready to scoff at what they called the
+weakness of their leader.
+
+Another tradition is a beautiful illustration of the tenderness and
+sympathy which we may judge was increasingly manifest in St. John's
+character, the spirit of the Lord "whose tender mercies are over all His
+works," the spirit St. John had seen in his Master who noticed the
+sparrow falling to the ground. True it is,
+
+    "He prayeth well who loveth well
+     Both man, and bird, and beast.
+     He prayeth best who loveth best
+       All things, both great and small;
+     For the dear Lord who loveth us,
+       He made and loveth all."
+
+There was a young tame partridge in which St. John took delight and
+found recreation in many an hour from which he had turned from labor for
+rest. A young hunter anxiously seeking the great Apostle was surprised
+to find him in what seemed a frivolous employment. He doubted for a
+moment whether this could be he. John asked, "What is that thing which
+thou carriest in thy hand?" "A bow," replied the hunter. "Why then is it
+unstrung?" said John. "Because," was the answer, "were I to keep it
+always strung it would lose its spring and become useless." "Even so,"
+replied the Apostle, "be not offended at my brief relaxation, which
+prevents my spirit from waxing faint."
+
+We have already alluded to a tradition which is perhaps the best known
+of all, and universally accepted. In Ephesus, in extreme old age, too
+infirm to walk, St. John was carried as a little child to the church
+where he had so long preached. In feebleness his ministry had ended. The
+last sermon as such had been preached. He could no longer repeat the
+words of Christ he had heard on the mountain, and the sea-shore, and in
+the Temple. He could no longer tell of the wonders of which he was the
+only surviving witness. In Christians he saw the child-spirit, whether
+in old or young. In his old age he was a father to all such as none
+other could claim to be. His great theme --his only theme--was love. So
+his only words, again and again repeated as he faced the congregation
+were "Little children, love one another." And when asked why he repeated
+the same thing over and over, he told them it was the Lord's command,
+and if they obeyed it, that was enough.
+
+Traditions alone tell of St. John's death. One claims that as his
+brother James was the first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom, he was
+the last. Others tell of miraculous preservation from death;--that he
+was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and drank hemlock, without any
+effect upon him. Sometimes he is pictured as holding a cup from which a
+viper, representing poison, is departing without doing him any harm.
+
+There is still another story concerning his death. On the last Lord's
+Day of his life, after the Holy Communion, he told some of his disciples
+to follow him with spades. Leading them to a place of burial, he bid
+them dig a grave into which he placed himself, and they buried him up to
+the neck. Then in obedience to his command they placed a cloth over his
+face and completed the burial. With weeping they turned away and
+reported what had been done. But his disciples felt that, not the grave,
+but the great church was the fitting place for his burial. So with
+solemn service they went to bring his body thither. But on reaching the
+grave they found it empty, as he and Peter had found the tomb of their
+Lord on Easter morning. Then they remembered the words of Christ to
+Peter concerning John, "If I will that he abide till I come, what is
+that to thee?"
+
+But there is another tradition stranger still. People refused to believe
+that St. John was dead, even though he had been supposed to be, and had
+been buried. For centuries his grave was shown at Ephesus. Pilgrims
+visiting it beheld a wonderful sight. The ground above it rose and fell,
+as if the great Apostle were still breathing as he had done for one
+hundred years, while treading the earth which now guarded his immortal
+sleep.
+
+Such stories seem strange to us when we remember the chapter he wrote to
+correct a mistake made by those who misunderstood his Master's word, and
+believed that he would not die until the Lord returned to the earth.
+
+He probably escaped martyrdom which befell his fellow-Apostles. Dying,
+probably in Ephesus, we think of him as peacefully entering the mansions
+of which he had heard his Lord tell in far-off Jerusalem nearly seventy
+years before.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Life of St. John for the Young
+by George Ludington Weed
+
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+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
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+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #17166 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17166)