who was about to relate it, and intimated that as the Son of God, and as the lineal descendant of Davidh, he might plead an exemption from iti. At the same time, Jesus took another occasion of showing that no remote or secret occurrence could be concealed from him. As they journeyed, the disciples had disputed among themselves which should be the greatest. Jesus saw the thought of their heart, asked Luk. ix. 47. them the subject of their debate, on their silence advanced this maxim, "If a man desire to be first, the Mar. ix. 35. same shall be last of all, and servant of all;" and when, conscious of a discovery, they still requested a decision of the point, taught them that the way to exaltation in his kingdom was to imitate the humility of children. Ver. 33-37. and p. P. We read that the Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take Jesus at the feast of tabernacles, about six months before his crucifixion. It is probable that our Lord, engaged in teaching the people, immediately diverted his discourse, and, with a piercing and commanding look, addressed them to this effect: "My purpose is to continue with you only a short time: my departure to him that sent me is at hand. The time of distress will come on you, when ye shall in vain seek me as your deliverer: for I go whither ye cannot Mat. xxiv. follow me." This reasoning against their covert design could not but create wonder and awe; and the discovery of their thoughts1 seems to be a principal reason h Perhaps this circumstance is introduced, because, immediately before, the disciples had been much depressed by our Lord's prophecy of his death, Matt. xvii. 23. i See Bishop Pearce. k Paraphrase of John vii. 33, 34. 1 Dr. Clagett in his Paraphrase on ver. 33. says, "When they 23. Jo. vii. 46. why they declared at their return that "never man spake like this man." "The woman taken in adultery was brought before Jesus with a view to entrap him, that by a judicial decision he might declare himself a king. But Jesus wisely eluded their malice; knowing their heart"." *Zaccheus was a stranger to the person of Jesus; Luk. xix. 5. and therefore our Lord, by selecting him from a great multitude to be his host, showed an extraordinary knowledge of his character and good disposition towards him. &c. When certain proselytes to Judaism among the Asiatic Greeks desired to see Jesus, and Andrew and Philip informed him of it, we shall not rightly underJo. xii. 23, stand our Lord's abrupt reply about the near approach and consequences of his death, and about the temporal danger of professing the gospel, unless we consider that he addresses himself to the prejudices of his hearers supernaturally known to him", and that he was rectifying their mistaken expectations of a splendid worldly kingdom shortly to be erected by him. &c. When our Lord's disciples reasoned among themJo. xvi. 17, selves about his declaration, "A little while and ye shall see me; and again, a little while, and ye shall not see me, because I go to the Father;" when they said among themselves, "What is this that he saith unto us? we cannot tell what he saith;" Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and graciously solved those doubts which had passed among them apart from him, and which no mere man could have known: "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." Upon m Locke's Reas. of Christianity, 8vo, p. 60, ed. 1736. John viii. 3, &c. n See a like instance, Luke xiv. 25, 26, &c., and, as Dr. Benson thinks, Luke ix. 57, 58. which knowledge of their private reasonings his disciples made this declaration; "Now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God." St. John observes that Jesus knew from the begin- Jo. vi. 64. ning who should betray him. And again: "He knew Jo. xiii. 11. who should betray him; therefore said he," when he was about to wash the feet of the disciples, "Ye are clean, but not all." *Judas had given a sign to the band who came with 48. him to seize Jesus, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that Mar.xiv.44. same is he; take him, and lead him away safely." Jesus alluded to this secret transaction, when he said, "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" Luk. xxii. While Jesus stood before the high priest Caiaphas, he was thrice denied by Peter. Peter being in the Mar. xiv. hall below, and our Lord in the upper part of the same spacious chamber, it is reasonable to think that our Lord's acquaintance with the fact, and his "turn- Luk. xxii. ing and looking on Peter," immediately after his third and most vehement denial, furnish another instance of his more than human knowledge. 66. 61. * I shall close this enumeration with two instances of facts preternaturally known by our Lord after he rose from the dead. He upbraided the apostles with Mar. xvi. their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they be- 14 lieved not them who had seen him after his resurrection: and he showed his knowledge of Thomas's incredulity, and of the very words in which he expressed it, when he said to him, "Reach hither thy finger, and Jo. xx. 27. perceive my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." Dr. Benson has observed, that this knowledge di o Life of Christ, ch. v. Jo. iii. 34. rected our Lord in preaching his doctrine, in working miracles, in selecting his apostles, in conducting himself towards his enemies, and in answering insidious questions. It also shows that "God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him." We read that the same gift was imparted in a lower degree to his followers. The word of Heb. iv. 12. God, spoken by his prophets, was "a discerner of the 25. thoughts and intents of the heart:" and when the first I Cor. xiv. Christians prophesied in the church, "the secrets of the unbeliever's heart were made manifest; and so falling down on his face he worshipped God, and reported that God was in them of a truth." At the time, this great and wonderful knowledge must have carried with it much astonishment to all, and the most entire conviction to the well-disposed; and it must have filled his enemies with shame, and have greatly aggravated their guilt. To those who believe the sacred records it will always be a proof of our Lord's heavenly mission. "Christ," says an admirable writer", "knew the hearts of men, as he showed on all occasions: a knowledge which Almighty God represents in scripture as so peculiar to himself, that he cannot be supposed to suffer those to partake of it who are not sent by him." SECT. VIII. Of our Lord's wisdom in difficult circumstances, and in replying to insidious questions. AFTER having recounted proofs of our Lord's supernatural knowledge, I shall show his superior wisdom in trying situations, and in answering difficult or ensnaring questions suddenly and publicly proposed; a wisdom uniformly displayed by him, and, though not exceeding the powers of man, yet admirable in itself, and worthy of a prophet sent from God: nor indeed P Jortin, Eccles. Hist. i. 282. can it easily be accounted for on any other supposition than that of inspiration from above, considering the narrow and mistaken notions of the Jews at the time of Christ's appearance. Let the reader consider the following instances: "Jesus entered into a synagogue; and there was a man who had his hand withered. And the Pharisees, 12. that they might accuse him" of breaking Moses's law, "asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath Mat.xii. 10– day? And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day." 15. * When one said to him, "Master, speak to my bro- Luk.xii.13— ther, that he divide the inheritance with me," his reply was, "Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" Thus did he keep within the limits of his office as a heavenly teacher. &c. In the temple, "the scribes and Pharisees brought Jo. viii. 3, to Jesus a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him ... Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him" either of condemning her to death without the authority of the Roman governor, or of determining against the decision of their law. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger formed about them a circle in the dust of q Dr. Benson, in his Life of Christ, ch. v., has given all the instances in this section, except those marked thus *. r · Γράφειν κύκλον in the Greek mathematicians, is to describe a |