The History of Christianity - John S. C. Abbott (bookstand for reading .txt) 📗

“Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation! how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.”

The child was brought to Jesus, and was immediately seized with terrible convulsions. To the inquiry of Jesus, “How long is it ago since this came unto him?” the father replied, “Of a child; and ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him. But, if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe: help thou mine unbelief.

“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

“And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him. And he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up, and delivered him again to his father.”

The disciples soon after came to Jesus, and inquired of him, privately, why they could not cast out that evil spirit. To this Jesus made the remarkable reply, not easily to be fully comprehended by our weak faith,—

“Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain [probably pointing to the Mount of Transfiguration], Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”22

Jesus now commenced another tour through the cities and villages of Galilee, preaching the gospel and healing the sick, everywhere creating amazement “at the mighty power of God.” While on this tour, he again informed his disciples, in most emphatic terms, of his approaching death at Jerusalem.

“The Son of man,” said he, “is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and, after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.”23

But the apostles could not understand how the Messiah could be put to death. “They were exceeding sorry,” and “understood not that saying,” and “were afraid to ask him.” As the apostles journeyed along, following the footsteps of Jesus, a discussion rose among them as to who would be pre-eminent in the kingdom of the Messiah.

“Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace; for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them; and, when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me; and whoso shall receive me, receiveth, not me, but Him that sent me.”

When they had returned to Capernaum, the question rose respecting paying tribute-money, which Jesus paid by sending Peter to the lake to catch a fish, in whose mouth a piece of money was found. Jesus also made some very striking remarks, recorded by both Matthew and Mark, respecting the fearful consequence of tempting others to sin.24

He also introduced the parable of the lost sheep, gave them instructions respecting their dealings with a Christian brother who should fall into sin, and conferred upon them all the same authority to establish rules for the government of the Church which before he had apparently conferred upon Peter. “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever shall be loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” He then assured them, that, in the organization of the Church, if any two should agree about the arrangement of affairs, it should be ratified by God. “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven; for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

When Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive a brother who had sinned against him seven times, he replied, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.” He then introduced the parable of the king and his debtors.

The Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. Jesus had thus far performed his miracles and proclaimed his teachings almost entirely in the remote province of Galilee. His brethren urged him to go up to Jerusalem, the thronged metropolis, that he might “show himself to the world.” They said this sarcastically; for, notwithstanding all his mighty works, it is recorded that “his brethren” did not believe in him. Jesus, however, said that the time had not yet come for him to go to Jerusalem; adding, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.” Jesus remained in Galilee until after his brethren had gone up to Jerusalem. At the feast, there was a very general inquiry where Jesus was. It was supposed, that, being a Jew, he certainly would not abstain from being present. There was also great diversity of opinion expressed respecting his character; some saying that he was a good man, while others said that he was deceiving the people.

About the middle of the feast, Jesus made his appearance, and, entering the temple, taught the people. His words and manner excited the surprise of all who heard him, leading them to say, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” Jesus replied,—

“My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh His glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law? and yet none of you keepeth the law. Why go ye about to kill me?”

The people replied in words which showed their rising hatred, “Thou hast a devil. Who goeth about to kill thee?”

Jesus, referring to the healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda, said, “I have done one work, and ye all marvel.” Then, to show them the unreasonableness of their hostility to him because he thus healed a man on the sabbath day, he said, “Moses gave unto you circumcision; and ye, on the sabbath day, circumcise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?”

The appearance of Jesus and his teaching excited great commotion in Jerusalem; and there was much discussion among the people, whether he were the Messiah. The rulers were bewildered. They wished to arrest him and silence him; but there was nothing in what he said or did which could warrant them in any acts of violence. Many of the people in Jerusalem expressed the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, saying, “When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than this man hath done?” The Pharisees and chief priests, alarmed by these indications of increasing popular favor, secretly sent officers to take him; but, though Jesus continued teaching the people without adopting any measures of concealment or defence, for some unexplained reason the officers did not arrest him. He, however, made an announcement to the people, which, at the time, they did not fully comprehend,—that, when his appointed time came, he should return to his Father in heaven, and that then they would seek him in vain. “Yet a little while,” said he, “am I with you; and then I go unto Him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, thither ye cannot come.”25

Thus he continued boldly teaching until the last great day of the feast, when, in an emphatic voice, he uttered in the temple the memorable words, so assuming if he were but a man, so suitable if he were divine, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink;” adding, in phrase still figurative, that those who thus partook of the fountain of living waters should bestow liberal and constant blessings on their fellow-men.

When the officers who had been sent to arrest Jesus returned without him, they replied to the inquiry why they had done so, “Never man spake like this man.” The Pharisees scornfully retorted, alluding to the undoubted fact that it was the common people who generally accepted Jesus, “Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.”

Here Nicodemus, who was a member of the council, and who, several months before, had visited Jesus by night, ventured timidly to interpose. “Doth our law,” he inquired, “judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth?” He was silenced by the contemptuous and somewhat menacing reply, “Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.”

While the rulers were thus seeking to entrap Jesus, he left the city, and ascended the greensward of the Mount of Olives, about a mile east of the walls. Here it seems that he spent the night beneath the stars of that serene and genial clime. Early the next morning, he returned to the temple. A multitude, as usual, gathered around him. The following remarkable scene which then ensued cannot be better described than in the language of the inspired writers:—

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and, when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned; but what sayest thou? This they said tempting him, that they might accuse him.

“But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. So, when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”26

Then, turning to the people assembled in the temple, he said, in phrases which will cause every thoughtful mind to pause and ponder, “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

These were, indeed, very extraordinary assertions upon any other assumption than