promptly. Their knowledge was very imperfect, as consequently must have also been their faith. But it was sufficient to lead them to attach themselves personally to Christ, and to confide implicitly in Him as their Teacher and Guide. The light which shone in them, however feebly, from that moment continued to wax stronger and stronger, even unto the perfect day.

The name of one of these young men is given, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He was afterwards called to the apostleship. The name of the other is not given, but there can not be the least doubt it was St. John the Evangelist, known as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." He carefully suppresses his name in other instances in which he unmistakably refers to himself. When an old man, in the city of Ephesus, this scene in his youth, on the shores of the far-distant Jordan, rises up distinctly before his view. He sees again the prophet from the wilderness, in his strange garb, as he stands on the banks, and points out the Saviour of the world. He sees himself and his companion as they timidly follow after Jesus. He recalls the very hour of the day, as well as the place, of the first interview with the Saviour, whom he had loved and served so long: "It was about the tenth hour." He had long resided among the Gentiles when he wrote this; the Christian community he addressed was largely composed of Gentiles; the Jewish nation for a full quarter of a century had been dispersed and scattered far and wide. It would have been misleading to the mass of his readers had he designated the hour according to the division of the day made by the Jews, who commenced their day at sunset, dividing it into twelve hours till sunrise, and again from sunrise till sunset, into the same number. He therefore adopts the horology of the Romans, who commenced their civil day as we do, at midnight, dividing it into twelve hours till noon, and again from noon till midnight, making the day to consist of twenty-four hours of equal length, at every season of the year. It was then about ten o'clock in the morning, or two hours before noon, instead of two hours before sunset, when John and Andrew followed Jesus. John the Baptist, as has been already suggested, had not commenced his labours for the day; the crowd had not time to gather from the places where they had passed the night. That it was not a hurried visit in the evening, but an interview extending from an hour in the morning, till night, seems to be clearly indicated, by the language that the two disciples "abode with him that day." That was a memorable day in the history of our

1 Lampe, who writes on the Life and the Gospel of John with so much learning, and whose work in Joannem has proved a thesaurus to many who have followed him, although he says the tenth hour was quarta pomeridiana, yet adds:-" Passim interpretes hæc verba accipiunt tanquam terminum a quo. Verum eo magis propendeo,

apostle. We know not what were the topics the Great Teacher discoursed upon; John gives no intimation. That they were topics worthy of the occasion, we can not doubt; and that they served to convince the young men that they had found Christ, we know. The whole subsequent life of the apostle took its shape and direction from the interview to which he was invited on the morning of that day.

John the Baptist was the connecting link between the old and the new economy. He was the herald immediately preceding that Saviour, whom other prophets from remote ages had foretold. The great sensation produced by his preaching, the multitude that thronged about him, did not cause him to forget his true position, or to aspire to any higher work than that which had been assigned him. He was not disturbed when John and Peter and Andrew ceased to own him as their master, and followed Jesus. He had himself directed them to Him, as the Lamb of God. It is interesting to know that the words he used, now so familiar to the Christian ear, were instrumental in leading the evangelist who records them,-who held so conspicuous a place among the apostles, and whose name and writings have been so dear in all ages, and his companions to the knowledge of the Saviour, the first example of their saving effect. "Ye yourselves bear me witness," John the Baptist said to the Jews, "that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom: but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." 2 These are noble words, worthy of one who was full of the Holy Ghost. They were uttered in rebuke of those who sought to excite his jealousy, because Jesus, or the disciples of Jesus, baptized, and more were now flocking to Christ's than to John's ministry. The fruit of the little. handful was beginning already to shake like Lebanon. He reminded them that he had constantly, both in public and private, disavowed any claim to the Messiahship, but had merely been sent to preface HIS way, who was to fill that great office. He likens Christ to the Bridegroom, and himself to the paranymph, or friend of the Bridegroom, who acts in His behalf, in the ceremony of solemnizing the marriage, and rejoices greatly at the happiness of his friend: "He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom." The Church is His; won by His love,

ut ea pro termino ad quem habeam. Cum enim in vicinia Jesus noctem transegisset, procul dubio jam ante meridiem prodiit, et a Joanne conspectus est, ac reliquam partem diei ad decimam usque horam discipulis dedit" (Com. in Joan., i., 39). 1 John i. 41.

2 John iii. 28-30.

3 Ps. lxxii. 16.

ransomed at a great price, a price which He alone could pay, purified and adorned by His grace. The friend of the Bridegroom stands and hears Him, and rejoices greatly at the satisfaction of the Bridegroom, and that He has at length come to the long-expected espousals. "This is my joy," says John; "I am glad like one that officiates at the marriage of a friend. He must increase, but I must decrease. My personal influence with the people is destined steadily to decline, whilst His fame and glory are destined just as steadily to advance." But the prospect did not disturb him. Instead of diminishing it rather contributed to enhance his satisfaction. There was no faltering in his tone when he said, "This my joy therefore is fulfilled." It is not improbable that he said these things with the clear presentiment of his early and cruel death:"My goal is near at hand; I must decrease; my race is nearly run. But it having been appointed me to be the herald of Messiah, to be the friend of the Bridegroom, to lead his chosen bride to him, I am satisfied; I ask no greater honour, no greater joy!" It is to be remembered that John the Baptist was in the prime and vigour of his days, and that the words, therefore, are those of one who was still a young man. He was but a few months older than Christ, and it is supposed entered on his ministry about six months before Christ. About the same length of time after Christ entered on His ministry, the ministry of John was brought to a close. By his faithful rebuke of sin, he offended Herod Antipas, who ruled in Perea, where he mainly resided. He was seized and imprisoned in the border-fortress of Macharus. Here he was beheaded, and his head on a platter was paraded at a feast given by Herod to his high captains, as a present to a daughter of Herodias who had danced before them.2

1 Joseph. Ant., xviii., 5 (2). 2 Mark vi. 19-29.

CHAPTER IV.

ST. JOHN UNDER THE TRAINING

OF THE GREAT MASTER HIMSELF, FROM THE BEGINNING OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY TO ITS CLOSE.

FIRST MEETING WITH JESUS. RETURNS TO GALILEE WITH JESUS.-CALL TO THE DISCIPLESHIP.—KANA-EL-JELÎL. HIS FAITH STRENGTHENED.—CAPERNAUM.-WITH HIS MASTER, JOINS CARAVAN TO JERUSALEM.-ROUTE.TRANS-JORDANIC COUNTRY.-SACRED REMINISCENCES.-JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE. NICODEMUS.-ST. JOHN PROBABLY PRESENT AT THE INTERVIEW. RURAL PARTS OF JUDEA.-ST. JOHN ENGAGES IN HIS FIRST PUBLIC WORK.-UNWRITTEN HISTORY.-CENTRAL PALESTINE.-JESUS AMONG THE SAMARITANS.-WONDERFUL RESULT.-IMPRESSION ON ST. JOHN.-NAZARETH.-MIRACLES.-ST. JOHN FORSAKES ALL FOR CHRIST.-HIS FIRST CIRCUIT IN GALILEE WITH JESUS.-CALL OF ST. MATTHEW.-DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS AND THE WIDOW'S SON RAISED FROM THE DEAD.-ST. JOHN'S TRAINING AND PREPARATION FOR HIS WORK.-AGAIN AT JERUSALEM.-APOSTLES APPOINTED.-THEIR NAMES. THEIR GIFTS. SERMON ON THE MOUNT, AN INAUGURATIVE DISCOURSE.-ANOTHER CIRCUIT IN GALILEE.-CHRIST BEGINS TO TEACH BY PARABLES. THE TWELVE SENT FORTH BY TWO AND TWO.— WHO WAS ST. JOHN'S ASSOCIATE?-JESUS WALKS ON THE SEA.-DAYS OF DARKNESS DRAWING NEAR.-LAST YEAR OF ST. JOHN WITH CHRIST.-VISIT TO THE GENTILE WORLD.-JESUS FORETELLS HIS OWN DEATH.-THE TRANSFIGURATION.-ITS DESIGN.-ITS EFFECT ON ST. JOHN.-FAULTS OF APOSTLE. JEALOUSY AND BIGOTRY.-ANGER. RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. PERÆA.-PARABLES AT THIS TIME.-AMBITION OF ST. JOHN.END OF PUPILAGE DRAWING NEAR.-LAST PUBLIC DISCOURSES AND PARABLES OF JESUS.-IMPRESSIONS ON ST. JOHN.-ST. JOHN SENT WITH ST. PETER TO PREPARE THE FEAST OF PASSOVER.

THE

WE have met the evangelist with his first teacher, that remarkable man, John the Baptist. He was with him in the Trans-Jordanic country (Perma, as it was called in the Greek nomenclature of its Roman conquerors) where John was baptizing. How long he had been his disciple, it does not appear. We find him in his company shortly after Jesus had been made known to the Baptist, as the promised Messiah, by the appointed sign, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He." After His baptism, "Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness," and it

1 John i. 33.

1

was probably on His return from the scene of temptation, that John the Baptist stood and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

Here in this secluded region, away from those stirring centres of life, Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee, where David when an exile from his capital, under the rebellion of Absalom, mourned in bitterness of spirit as he felt all God's waves and billows go over him,1 Jesus, the Son of God, was first pointed out by His forerunner to that young disciple, who was to win the appellation, and be known in the ages to come, as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Could we fix upon the site of Bethabara, we might know that we were not far from the exact spot. But it has pleased Him who knows the infirmity of our nature, -our tendency to rest in a veneration for sacred places, instead of a true spirit of reverence and devotion,—to substitute pilgrimages for a self-denying walk and prayerful life,—that neither tradition nor human monuments should preserve any certain evidence of the exact locality of many of the most interesting scenes and events recorded in the New Testament. To such travellers as Wilson, Olin, Durbin, Stanley, Thomson, and Porter, and such explorers and geographers as Niebuhr, Raumer, Robinson, and Lynch, we are indebted for information which enables us to test traditions, and to separate those which have a foundation in probable truth from those which are the inventions of superstition or of ignorance. Through them we obtain knowledge which is far more favourable to devotion and piety than that veneration for places which a little investigation, or a small measure of common sense, will be sure to explode.

It is with such enlightened guides as these, that it is proposed to trace the steps of the beloved disciple as he follows Jesus during the years of His public ministry, receiving instruction and gifts and graces, qualifying him for the Apostolate, and while prosecuting his own ministry in his native land.

Familiar as the gospel history is, showing the connection of St. John with our Lord, the freest use must be made of it in any account that would present truly the life and character of the disciple; for it was under the instruction and ministry of the Saviour, that he received his preparation for the high office and special work to which he was called. Nor can we appreciate the ministry of Christ aright until we learn to view it, not so much in its direct influence on the world at large, as designed to instruct and train the apostles for their work.

John returned to Galilee with Jesus almost immediately after his first introduction to Him. The journey seems to have been commenced on the very next day, and the company to have consisted of Jesus,

1 Ps. xlii.