ceeding from the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, and pronouncing these words, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," distinguishing his peculiar approbation of the blessed Jesus by the epithet beloved, as well as his standing in that relation to him in a manner nearer than any of the human race, who are called, in common, the sons of men. This voice resembled not any human sound; but was loud and awful, like the thunders of heaven, in order to strike with reverence the surrounding multitude, and publicly declare the holy mission of the promised Messiah. The blessed Jesus was called, in the Old Testament, the Son of God, but was on this occasion, declared, by the Almighty himself, to be the long expected deliverer of Israel. Thus, all who were present at this marvelous descent of the Holy Spirit, were amply convinced of the divine mission. of our blessed Lord by an infallible testimony from above; this being "the star that was to come out of Jacob, and the sceptre that was to rise out of Israel;" the Shiloh foretold by the patriarch Jacob; the Great Prophet, by Moses; the Holy One, by David; the Prince of Peace, by Isaiah, and the Son of Man. But this remarkable event tended much more to the glory of the Messiah, than all those prophecies, as it was, in some measure, a real display of what they could only picture in the dark. The Great Redeemer having thus complied with the institution of baptism, and received a most convincing testimony of his heavenly Father's approbation, by the miraculous. descent and effusion of the Holy Ghost upon him, while praying upon the banks of Jordan, in the presence of a multitude of spectators, entered on his public ministry, at the age of thirty years, according to the usual custom of the priests among the Jews. It was apprehended by the people that, as he had but just begun his public office, he would repair to Jerusalem, the seat of power and grandeur, in order to display to the mighty and learned, his miraculous abilities, and effulgent glories. But averse to human parade, the heavenly-minded Jesus preferred solitude to the noise and hurry of mortal life; he therefore retired into the wilderness, in order to prepare himself, by fasting, meditation, prayer, and sustaining temptation, for the important work on which he was entering,-the salvation of mankind. To promote this grand design, the evangelists write, that this retirement into the wilderness was in consequence of the immediate direction of the Divine Spirit. Though solitude itself is melancholy, the blessed Jesus added to the dismal scene, by retiring on a barren spot, surrounded by high and craggy mountains, and forming a dark : ad gloomy chaos. In this wild and dreary situation, the great Redeemer, as Moses and Elijah had done before him, fasted forty days and forty nights, maintained an incessant communion with his heavenly Father, digested the doctrine he was about to deliver, and the obedience he came to perform; and by a total abstinence from food for forty days and forty nights, evinced the divinity of his mission, or, in other words, proved that he was "a teacher from God." But the melancholy solitude of a desert, and the extreme of hunger and thirst, were but a small part of our Saviour's sufferings in the wilderness: Satan, that implacable foe to mankind, was permitted to buffet him with the most insinuating wiles, and assail him with the most alluring temptations, in order to attempt the defeat of heaven's most gracious designs and keep mankind under the dreadful dominion of sin and death. That in order to be a shining pattern of every virtue, and also a wise and valiant general, the blessed Redeemer underwent all the difficulties attending his service, that we, being animated by his glorious example, might not sink under the pressure and troubles, which God, for our good, should be pleased to lay upon us. At the expiration of forty days, when the blessed Jesus had endured the keenest hunger, the tempter, to make proof of the divinity of his mission, insolently demanded why he bore the sensations of hunger, since, if he was the Son of God, he must have power to change even the stones of that dreary wilderness into bread; and by so marvelous a trans mutation, he might have the satisfaction of knowing the truth of what was said concerning him at his baptism. But our blessed Saviour repelled this device, by citing the words of Moses, which implied that God, whenever it seemed good in his sight, could by extraordinary means provide for the support of the human race: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Satan being defeated in this effort, took him to the top of a very high mountain, and thinking to work upon him by another artifice, showed him a bright view of all the kingdoms of the world, with their alluring glories, promising him universal empire over the whole, if he would bow down and yield to him the honor of the benefaction. This blasphemy, as well as insolence, incited the blessed Jesus to exert his divine authority, and command him, in a peremptory manner, to desist,-citing this special injunction from sacred writ, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Thus repelled, he repeated the attempt, and having taken our Lord to Jerusalem, placed him on a pinnacle of the temple, and, by a taunt of insolence, urged him to prove the truth of his mission, by casting himself down from thence,citing, as an encouragement for him to comply with his desire, a text from the Psalms: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." But our Saviour soon baffled this attempt, by another apt quotation from Scripture: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Thus baffled in all his arts and devices, by the wisdom and power of the Son of God, he departed from him, and a host of celestial spirits, despatched from the regions of bliss, came and ministered refreshment to our Saviour, after his victory over the great enemy and deceiver of mankind. After a brief period, during which, the great Redeemer, having attested the divinity of his mission by many incon testible evidences, and made five disciples, departed for Galilee, where, soon after his arrival, he was invited, with his mother and disciples, to a marriage feast at Cana, a place near Nazareth. At these nuptials there happened to be a scarcity of wine, and his mother, who interested herself in the conduct of the feast, and was therefore desirous that every thing should be done with decorum, applied to her son, hoping he would be able to remedy the defect. She had, doubtless, conceived he had the power of work•ing miracles, and, addressing herself to him, said, "They have no wine." Our Lord gently reproved her in these words: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come;" that is, the time or period of my public ministry is not yet arrived, nor is it time for me to display my supernatural powers. Notwithstanding this mild reproof, his mother still entertained an opinion that he would interest himself in behalf of her and the company, and therefore ordered the servants punctually to obey his commands. Our blessed Lord, being assured that working a miracle would greatly tend to confirm the faith of his young disciples, exerted his divine power, by ordering the servants to fill six water-pots, each containing about twenty gallons, with water; which was no sooner done, than the whole was converted into excellent wine. He then ordered them to draw, and bear to the governor of the feast, who, being ignorant of the miracle that had been wrought, and astonished at the preference of this wine to that which had been served up at the beginning of the feast, addressed himself to the bride. groom, in the hearing of the whole company, telling him that, contrary to the usual custom, he had reserved the best wine to the last; at the same time commending so judicious a practice, as a plain proof of his approbation of his friends present at the entertainment. The bridegroom was equally surprised at the address of the governor of the feast, and the occasion of it, which was effected by the supernatural power of our blessed Lord This miracle, which was the first wrought by Jesus, confirmed the faith of his followers, and spread his renown throughout the adjacent country. The blessed Jesus having thus, by divers means, confirmed the faith of his disciples, and attested the truth and divinity of his mission among those with whom he had been brought up, departed from Cana, and proceeded toward Jerusalem, iu order to keep the approaching passover. CHAPTER III. DISPUTE WITH NICODEMUS; BAPTIZES IN JUDEA; INSTRUCTS A POOR SAMA UR blessed Lord, immediately on his arrival at Jerusalem, repaired to the temple, where he was shocked at beholding a place dedicated to the solemn service of Almighty God, so prostituted to purposes of fraud and avarice, and become the resort of traders of every kind. Such abuse could not long escape his notice or correction, having an absolute right to chastise so flagrant a perversion of a place that, strictly speaking, was his own. "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Accordingly, the blessed Jesus, whose pious soul was vexed at their profanation of the sacred place, drove out the traders, and overset the tables of the money-changers, saying unto them that sold doves, "Take these things hence: make not my Father's house a house of merchandise." These mercenary wretches appear to have been struck at once with a consciousness of their guilt, and the severity of our Lord's reproof, as they immediately departed, without making the least resistance. |