с We read that James and John were rebuked for their intolerant spirit, when they would have called down "fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans ; that Peter was a fearful and unbelieving, when he walked on the waves to meet Jesus; that this apostle was most sternly reprehended, when he wished our Lord's sufferings far from him; that Peter, James and John suffered themselves to be overcome by sleep, after a solemn exhortation to watch; that Peter 4 rashly drew his sword, and smote a servant of the high priest; that he denied his Master with oaths and imprecations, after vaunting that he would lay down his life for his sake; and that Peter and John believed NOT our Lord's resurrection, after having heard from Mary Magdalene the angel's assurance that he was risen, and seen the orderly state of the grave clothes in the sepulchre, e The authenticity of the gospels, besides the strong external evidence for it, appears from attention to their subject matter; our Lord's perfect character and doctrines; the extolling of moral duties; the disparaging of legal and traditionary observances; the declarations that the Gentiles were to be admitted into the church; and the prophecies that the Jewish temple and nation were to be destroyed. It is incredible that such men should write so far above all other men, and so contrary to the stream of their own ideas. z Luke ix. 54, 5. < Luke xxii. 40, 45. Matt. xxvi. 74. John xx. 8. Beza's ms. inserts the negative particle, and v. 9. proves that it should be inserted. It is particularly observable of the evangelists, and indeed of the inspired writers in general, that not one of them speaks of the insufficiency of his own abilities, notwithstanding the greatness of the subject which he undertakes. In the genuine books of scripture there is no such language as the following: "If I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is that which I desired; but if slenderly and meanly, it is that which I could attain unto." The authors of the sacred books shew a consciousness that they were writing under the all sufficient influence of the Spirit. £ 2 Macc. xv. 38. CHAPTER IV. PROOFS IN OUR LORD'S CONDUCT THAT HE WAS NOT AN IMPOSTOR. THE striking opposition between the tenour of our Lord's actions as a religious teacher, and what might naturally have been expected from a Jewish impostor, forms an argument for the reality of his divine mission with which I shall conclude. After having received full attestations from the Baptist, whom all men held to be a prophet, after the descent of the Spirit in a bodily shape, and the approbation of God himself by a voice from heaven; instead of asserting his Messiahship in Jerusalem, where men were prepared to admit his claim, he retired into the desert during forty days, and then departed into the obscure country of Galilee. C He contradicted the reigning preconceptions of the Messiah, by his own humble appearance and his selection of humble followers. The worship of God which he required was a a spiritual one, unlike the ceremonies and pomp of the Jewish temple: his morality was too strict for worldly minded men: he declared his design to substitute an universal religion in the place of a national one: he preferred mercy to sacrifice; inveighed against & Pharisaical traditions; neither practised himself, nor taught his disciples to practise Pharisaical austerities; and subjected himself to a charge of violating the sabbath, and to g e See Randolph's View, &c. p. 45. ib. iv. 21. x. 16. f Matt. ix. 13. extreme danger, by repeatedly working miracles on that day. Though John the Baptist attracted much notice, and all men held him to be a prophet, Jesus did not obtain his testimony by a preconcerted plan with him; but John knew him not till he came to be baptized. The accounts of the wonders which preceded and followed his miraculous birth were not forgeries in which he was assisted by his kinsfolk; for they did not acknowledge his prophetical character: his religion and its evidences were not a political device; for he opposed, admonished and reprehended the Jewish rulers, and was hated and slain by them. Nothing indeed could be at a greater distance from secular views than his behaviour to the rich, powerful, and wise men of this world. When a Jewish ruler came to him at the first passover, we see in him no earnest endeavour to secure so useful a convert. He discoursed of a new birth, of receiving the Spirit by baptism; and humbled his pride as a master in Israel for not comprehending his words. He shewed his own contempt of wealth, by intrusting Judas with them bag, his only faithless follower, and one of whose faithlessness he had early knowledge; and he occasionally spake of the " deceitfulness and evil tendency of wealth; and described the rich as P suddenly cut off, and as lifting up their eyes in future torments after faring sumptuously in this life. The following language was used by him to one of that class, who asked him what he should do to i John i. 31. Matt. xiii. 22. Iib. iii. 3, 5, 10. Pib. xii. 20. mib. xii. 6. vi. 64. c. xvi. 23. * ib. vii. 5. inherit eternal life: "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." His reproofs of those in power were the freest imaginable, when their unbelief and vices deserved them. And instead of lamenting that the wise and prudent were not in his train, who were the fittest instruments to compass worldly ends, he made it a ground of thanksgiving to God that his doctrine had been hidden from them and revealed unto babes. Nay, he recounted this among the characteristics of his Messiahship, that his gospel was preached to the poor. r We have seen that he was equally free in censuring his own followers, even the most zealous and eminent among them. When his disciples asked him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he chose out none of distinguished attachment or ability; but observe his answer: "u Whosoever shall humble himself as a little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." When a certain Scribe, and therefore a convert of no mean rank, said to him, "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest;" his discouraging reply was, "WFoxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." When he was called the Holy One of God by a demoniac, whom the people might think endued 1 Mark x. 21. and p. p. "Matt. xviii. 4. W Matt. xi. 25. $ ib. 5. C P. 397, 8. 508. C. viii. 20. See also Luke ix. 59-62. |