report had reached the ears of Nicodemus,a man of great eminence amongst the Jews; he was one of the great Sanhedrim, and in great honour and esteem at Jerusalem. He had heard the account of the miracles which JESUS had wrought, and he believed it, and being a person of an ingenuous, inquisitive mind, he wanted to be further informed.

It is to be supposed, that he was not ignorant of the general expectation of the Jewish kingdom, respecting the appearance of the Messiah: and he ardently wished to see the accomplishment of the ancient prophecies, in the appearance of that great person. And, as the general opinion was, that the Messiah, when he came, would set up a temporal kingdom, and exalt the Jewish nation over all the kingdoms of the earth, it is to be supposed that the great men amongst the Jews, as well as the common people, strongly desired the approach of this happy event.

-Nicodemus was convinced by the miracles which JESUS performed, so wonderful in their nature, so salutary in their effect, so worthy the character of the Son of God, so kind and advantageous to man, so happily adapted to the confirmation of the doctrines he taught, so perfectly agreeable to the attributes of God, and conformable to the predictions of the ancient prophets concerning the Messiah, that these mighty works must proceed from a divine original, and that no power less than Omnipotence could produce them. But very likely some considerable scruples might arise in the mind of this ruler of Israel, when he considered the obscurity of the birth, and the meanness of the appearance of the person who performed these wonderful works. This in every respect, being so contrary to that magnificence and grandeur in which the Jewish nation expected the Messiah, to appear, might cause great scruples to arise in the mind of Nicodemus, and fill his soul with perplexity and doubt: but he being a person of judgment and discernment, as well as probity and honour, would not suffer his prejudices to prevent him from fairly and impartially enquiring after truth, in an affair of such importance, and therefore determined to have an interview with JESUS himself. He did not think it advisable to wait on our Lord in public; for he thought he might be reproached by the rulers and great men amongst the Jews, and therefore concluded to make this visit in private; and that it might be the more so, he chose to make it in the night.

→ He accosted our Redeemer with a confession of his conviction of the truth and reality of the miracles he had performed; and that they could not be produced by inchantment, or any infernal assistance; but the nature of them proved them to be produced by the mighty power of God, and confirmed the doctrines JESUS taught to be divine: " Rabbi," said he, "we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do those miracles that thou dost, except God be with him." It does not by this salutation appear, that Nicodemus was convinced that JESUS was the Messiah; that was the point which he wanted to be more fully demonstrated, and hoped, by this interview, to receive some satisfaction concerning it. Our Lord did not think proper to satisfy the scruples of this ruler of Israel concerning this, but took the opportunity to instruct him in a matter of greater importance, and lead him into an acquaintance with the nature of his religion: in order to this, he began with introducing the first great doctrine of the gospel, respecting its operations on the mind of 66 man; Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Our Saviour, by these remarkable words, may be supposed to inform the ruler of Israel, that though the lustre of his miracles had forced him to acknowledge, that he had received his commission from on high, yet he could not discern, that he really was the Messiah, nor understand the spiritual nature of his kingdom, without the operation of a supernatural power, which must produce such a change in bis soul, as might fitly be described by being born again. Nico

demus, being an utter stranger to this doctrine, and thinking our Lord's words had no figurative allusion, but had reference to a natural birth, was very much surprised at the assertion; for he could not imagine that the seed of Abraham stood in need of any second birth, to render them the children of God, and the heirs of his kingdom; and therefore hastily and earnestly inquired, "How can a man be born when he is old; can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born ?" Our Lord then proceeded to inform him, that his words had not a natural, but a spiritual meaning, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit," said he, "he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus might learn from these words, that his apprehensions were gross and wide from the purpose; for if it were possible for a man to be born a second time of his earthly parent, he would not thereby become so holy and pure, as would render him fit for the kingdom of God: but the birth our Redeemer had reference to, was of a spiritual nature, which, by producing that faith which has a lively and powerful influence on the heart and life, might prepare the possessors of it for the divine acceptance: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit." Whatever is born of wo man, partakes of the imperfections and sinfulness of human nature; but that which is born of a Spirit, is pure and holy, and prevails over those things which render mankind unfit to be partakers of the kingdom of God, by implanting a new and powerful principle of action, and working an entire renovation in the soul, which may very fitly be compared to a new birth. Nicodemus, still continuing full of hesitation and surprise, our lord proceeded to inform him, that the thing would not appear so mysterious, when rightly understood, as his prejudices induced him to think it was, but might, as to the probability of it, be illustrated by a familiar similie; "Marvel not," said he, "that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell from whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit :" The meaning of these words seems to be, that, though the intire renovation of heart, which Christ's religion required, night seem impossible to the blind eyes of carnal men, it might nevertheless be true: for in the natural world, there are many things of so fine a texture, that we cannot discern them with our eyes, but it is very manifest that they exist, and they are very great and powerful in their effects. The wind is a thing altogether invisible, no man can behold it's body or trace it's motion, even when it blows with the greatest violence; yet that there is such a thing is sufficiently evident, and the effects of it are universally known: thus, therefore, that regeneration, or renovation which is wrought in the heart of man, by the powerful agency of the Spirit of God, though, in it self, it be invisible, and not at all discernible by the sight or sense; yet, in it's effects, it is a great and plain thing, and really as great and manifest a change in the nature and disposition, the desires and pursuits of the soul, and conducing as much to all the purposes of divine and eternal life, as the birth of man does to this mortal life.

Though these arguments were plain, and not to be evaded or denied, yet, Nicodemus retained his prejudices; this system of spiritual religion was contrary to his apprehensions, nor could he see how the children of Abraham could stand in need of a renovation and change, equal to that which the infant finds when born, to fit them for the kingdom of God; and therefore, the ruler of Israel inquired, "How can these things be ?" To which our great Redeemer replied, that it was strange he should be so hard to be instructed, "Art thou a master in Israel and knowest not these things? Art thou a teacher of others, and yet unable to discern things which I have so plainly revealed? Our Lord then proceeded to inform him that he was certain of the truth of what he had advanced concerning the new birth, and therefore it ought to be received; but if these plain and

easy truths, relating to the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom, were so slowly received by men of the first eminence and understanding in the nation, how would they be able to comprehend the more sublime and noble doctrines of the gospel, which he was come to preach to the sons of men. Our Redeemer further proceeded to inform Nicodemus, that it was the indispensible duty of mankind to attend to his ministry, because he came with superior credentials, and higher authority than ever man had before him. Moses had never ascended into heaven, but received his law from the top of mount Sinai: none of the ancient prophets had descended from the blessed abodes, to teach mankind; whereas the Son of God came down from heaven fully commissioned from above: he had been fa vored with the clearest and most extensive view of spiritual things, and was fully acquainted with the deepest recesses of the divine councils; nay, at this very time, is present with God in heaven, and at one comprehens sive view, beholdest the extent of the universe; he is conscious to all the gracious intentions of the King of Heaven towards the human race, and, of consequence, must be superior in authority and dignity to Moses, or any other person who hath appeared in the world.

Our great Redeemer, before the conference concluded, took occasion to set the inquiring ruler to rights, respecting the kingdom of the Messiah, concerning which he so much wanted to be informed. He gave him to understand, that the nation in general, were greatly mistaken in their views of that exalted person setting up a temporal kingdom, and assuming the authority and command of an illustrious and powerful conqueror; on the contrary this divine teacher explained to Nicodemus, that it was conformable to the language of the ancient prophecy, as well as the councils of heaven, that the Messiah, when he appeared in the world, should be poor and despised; that he should assume no titles of honour, but be exposed to a variety of misery, poverty and wretchedness; and, of consequence, his kingdom must not be a temporal, but spiritual kingdom; and the deliverance, which he came to procure for his people, was not from temporal evils, but eternal wrath. This deliverance he proceeded to inform the noble Pharisee, must be procured by his sufferings and death, by which whosoever believed on him, would be reinstated in divine favour, and made eternally happy: but whosoever refused to receive him as their Saviour, and per sisted in their obstinacy and unbelief, would certainly perish for ever, and justly fall into so severe a condemnation, because their unbelief would not arise from want of evidence of the truth of his mission, but from their own inveterate prejudices, and the habitual wickedness of their hearts and lives. "He that believeth on him is not condemned," said he, "but he that be lieveth not, is condemned already, because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

This excellent and pathetic discourse of our Lord, had an effect on Ni codemus proportionable to the importance of it; he not only believed that JESUS was a teacher sent from God, but was convinced that he was that great person who was to be the Redeemer of Israel. He constantly defend ed him in the council; and when Jesus was put to death, by the impious rage, and unexampled cruelty of the Jews, he, in conjunction with Joseph of Arimathea, begged the body of our Lord of the Roman governor, and bestowed on him the honour of a decent funeral, when all the rest of his disciples had forsaken him.

CHAPTER X.

CHRIST converses with the Woman of Samaria, and revealeth himself unto her: He heals the Nobleman's Son at Cana, while he lay sick at Capernaum. He repairs to Caparnium, and having called more disciples, he preaches in Galilee and delivers his Sermon on the Mount.

THE feast of the passover being ended, Jesus departed from Jerusalem, and went to some of the obscurer parts of Judea; probably he might retire to the banks of the river Jordan, where he had been baptised, and had received the honour of the divine approbation, and the testimony of a voice from heaven, that he was the Son of God. The holy JESUS, remained here a considerable time, and his diciples baptised great numbers of people, while his fame was spread through several parts of the country.

John the baptist was not yet cast into prison,but continued preaching and baptizing, probably at Bethabara, the place of his former residence. Some of the Jews hence took occasion to dispute with the disciples of John, about the propriety of this, & wanted to be informed, whether the baptism of Jesus was not superior to that of their master. Not being willing themselves to decide this controversy, or answer so important a question, they applied to the Baptist himself. The prophet took occasion to remind them, how often he had declared, that the person they mentioned, was the Messiah, whom God had sent into the world, to accomplish the designs of his grace, in the salvation of sinners; and that himself was no more than a messenger to prepare the way before this illustrious person. He likewise proceeded to inform them, that his own ministry now was on the decline, and would soon be at an end; "He must increase," said he," but I must decrease." The holy man continued his testimony concerning CHRIST, by giving his inquiring disciples to understand that he was above all; & as much superior to him, as the heavens were above the earth; & though comparatively speaking, no man received his testimony, though he was low & despicable in the eyes of mankind, yet he was in the highest estimation in the heavenly world; that he was the well-beloved of his Father, and the heir of all things, both in heaven and earth; that the fullness of the divine Spirit dwelt in him, and it was of the utmost importance to mankind to hear, believe in, and obey him. And then the holy man concluded his ministry with these remarkable words, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

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Soon after this, the holy Baptist departed from the banks of Jordan, and leaving the wilderness of Judea, repaired to Galilee, and often visited the Court of Herod, who seemed to attend to his precepts, and take delight in. his company and conversation: but as the Baptist was too strictly virtuous to flatter that prince, he took occasion severely to reprimand him, on account of his cohabiting with the princes Herodias. This roused the rage of that haughty woman, who, on that account, procured his imprisonmeat and death, in the manner before related.

In the mean time, the blessed JESUS continued in the wilderness of Judea; great multitudes resorted to him, attended on his divine instructions, beheld the miracles he wrought, and were baptised by his disciples. His popularity daily increasing, it excited the envy of the Pharisees, on which account, our Lord thought proper to retire into Galilee, and there continue that great work he had so successfully begun.

In this journey, he passed through Samaria, and being fatigued with tra velling, and overpowered with the heat of the day, he sat down to rest by the side of a noted well, near the city of Sychar (which was reported to he given by the patriarch Jacob to his son Joseph) while his disciples reed to the city to purchase provisions.

Before their return, a woman came from the city to draw water at the well, and Jesus being thirsty, asked her to give him to drink. The wo man, knowing him to be a Jew, was very much surprised at this request; for the hatred between the Jews and Samaritans, which had commenced four hundred years before this time, still continued, and was on all occasions carried on by each party: "How is it," said she," that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." Little did the woman think, that no less a person than the Son of God, requested this small favour at her hands: had she been acquainted with his high dignity, she would certainly, without hesitation, have granted his request. But JESUS, perceiving her delay, proceeded to let her know, that he was able to make her the most noble and beneficial return for the favour he asked. "If thou," said he, "knewest the gift of God, & who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him, & he would have given thee living water." The woman surprised to hear such a declaration, and no doubt, perceiving something awfully majestic, and divinely amiable in the countenance of our Lord, without attending to his first request, was touched with a curiosity to know who this stranger was and how he could come at the water he spoke of: "Sir," said she, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle ?" Jesus replied to this question, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him, a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." Thus this divine teacher, from the circumstances of sitting by the side of a well, and the womari preparing to draw water, described, in the most beautiful allegory, the efficacy and effects of divine grace, & at the same time represented the plentitude & perpetuity of it's happy consequences, which re main to an eternal duration. But the woman, still undertanding the words of our Lord in their plain literal sense, requested him to give her a draught of the water he spoke of, that she might thirst no more,nor have occasion to come daily to that well to draw. Our Redeemer then turned the discourse in such a manner, as gave him an opportunity of letting the weinan understand, that he was acquainted with her former and present way of life, and all her circumstances and affairs. "Sir," says she, "I perceive that thou art a prophet:" and being convinced of his superior knowledge, she desired his opinion of a question which was a matter of contention between the Jews and Samaritans, whether the temple at Jerusalem, or mount Gerizim was the place where God would be worshipped: "Our Fathers," said she, "worshipped in this mountain: but ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Our Lord, in answer to her inquiry, ins formed her, that the time would soon approach, when the worship of God would not be confined, either to that mountain or Jerusalem; but the great King of the universe, would be willing to accept all true spiritual worshippers, without any regard to the place where they worshipped. God," said he, “is a spirit; and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit & in truth" The woman replied to this, that she supposed this point would be settled by the Messiah, who was shortly expected to come, both by the Jews and Samaritans. "I know," said she," that the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things." To this Jesus directly replied, "I that spake unto thee am he."

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Just at the moment when JESUS had told the woman that he was the Messiah, the disciples returned; and finding their master in close conversation with one that was a native of Samaria, and of consequence an ene my to the Jews, and to the temple worship at Jerusalem; they were very such surprised; but the woman, having heard JESUS call himself the Mes÷

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