e or which prejudice unthinking men against them or their cause. They mention that many of the apostles were Galilean fishermen, and that one of them was a Galilean publican. Matthew not only writes that he was called from the receipt of custom; but in enumerating the apostles he inserts his invidious occu. pation, and styles himself " Matthew the Publican.” They furnish repeated instances of dulness and want of apprehension in our Lord's followers. When Jesus bade them "fbeware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees," we learn from them that the disciples misapprehended so plain a figure. It is also transmitted to posterity that the disciples asked an explanation of some parables, when our Lord expressed his wonder that he was not understood by them; that they did not properly 1 infer our Lord's divine power from the miracle of the loaves; that they perceived not his meaning in the least, when he prophesied that he should be delivered into the hands of men, and again when he expressed himself in the plainest terms, that he should be mocked by the Gentiles, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on, and that they should scourge him, and put him to death, and that the third day he should rise again. St. Luke expresses himself strongly on each of these latter occasions. "They understood not this saying; and it was hidden from them, that they perceived it not." "They understood none of these things; and this saying was hidden from them; neither knew h c. x. 3. f Matt. xvi. 6, &c. Mark vi, 51, 2. & Mark iv. 13. Luke ix. 44, 5. m Q r they the things which were spoken." Our Lord's historians also record that his disciples did not understand the nature of his kingdom' during his life, and after his resurrection; that they had repeated and very unseasonable" contentions among themselves who should be the greatest; that they were not able to cast out a demon; that they improperly Prebuked some who brought young children to Christ that he might bless them; that one of the apostles betrayed Jesus; that, when he was apprehended by the Jews, they all forsook him and fled; that they disbelieved the accounts of his resurrection, whether given them by several women on the authority of an angel, or by Mary Magdalene who had herself seen Jesus, or by the two disciples with whom he conversed as they went to Emmaus; and that Thomas " refused to credit the testimony of all the other apostles. On some of these occasions, or the like, they faithfully record their Master's animadversions. "Are ye also yet without understanding?" "* Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" And St. Mark writes that Jesus upbraided the eleven with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not those who had seen him after he was risen. When the very chief of the apostles are concerned, there is the same fidelity in the narration. W с We read that James and John were rebuked for their intolerant spirit, when they would have called down z fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans; that Peter was 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 d 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. f 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. f 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 a desert during forty days, and then departed into the obscure country of Galilee. 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 Matt. iv. 1. < Matt. viii. 20. ? ib. xv. 6. |