Jericho MATT. XX. part of ver. 29, 30. 32, 33. 29-And as they departed from Jericho 30 cried out, saying 32 -And-and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? MARK X. part of ver. 46, 47, 48, 49. ver. 51. and part of ver. 52. 46 And they came to Jericho: and—and a great number of people--sat by the highway side, begging. 47 and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48 that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more-Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him— 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him SECTION XLV. Conversion of Zacchaeus, and the Parable of the Pounds. LUKE xix. 1—29. And Jesus entered and passed through Jeri- Luke xix. 1. cho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchæus, Luke xix. 2. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and Luke xix. 3. stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a syca- Luke xix. 4. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked Luke xix. 5. And he made haste, and came down, and re- Luke xix. 6. say And when they saw it, they all murmured, Luke xix. 7. And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Luke xix. 8. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation Luke xix. 9. 1 Luke xix. 10. Luke xix. 11. Luke xix. 12. Luke xix. 13. Luke xix. 14. Luke xix. 15. Luke xix. 16. Luke xix. 17. Luke xix. 18. Luke xix. 19. Luke xix. 20. Luke xix. 21. Luke xix. 22. Luke xix. 23. Luke xix. 24. come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son Jericho. of Abraham. - For the Son of man is come to seek and to r Matt. xviii. save that which was lost. And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 11. 14. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went & Matt. xxv. into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten * pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. Mina, here translated a pound, is twelve ounces and an half: which accord ing to 5s. the ounce is 31. 2s. 6d. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the † money, that he might + Gr. silver, know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a nap kin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant, Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not SOW: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? And he said unto them that stood by, Take and so ver. 23. Jericho. t Matt. xiii.12. from him the pound, and give it to him that hath (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten Luke xix. 25. pounds.) t For I say unto you, That unto every one Luke xix. 26. which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that Luke xix. 27. I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. And when he had thus spoken, he went before, Luke xix. 28. ascending up to Jerusalem. Bethany. SECTION XLVI. The Resurrection of Lazarus". JOHN xi. 17-47. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had John xi. 17. lain in the grave four days already. The noble truth, the resurrection of the body, is so important to man, that it has been confirmed by the most convincing evidence, and the most undeniable facts. Our Lord gave life to the human body from the grave in all its various stages of corruption and decay. The body of the widow's son was restored within one or two days after his decease: for he was recalled to life as they were carrying him to the grave. The resurrection of Lazarus was the third instance, and it was attended with some striking peculiarities. The body had lain four days in the grave. In those warm climates, the terrible process of corruption and decay was always rapid. The flesh would have begun to mingle with its kindred elements. The relations and friends of the departed were so sensible of this, that they attempted to dissuade our Lord from going to the sepulchre. Although they knew that He had raised one man from the dead, they did not believe it possible that He could restore life to him, who for so many days had" said to corruption thou art my father, and to the worm thou art my sister and brother." Our Lord, however, proceeded to demonstrate his almighty power, and the great truths he had come down to teach, by the resistless evidence of a public and undeniable fact. No sooner were the words uttered, "Lazarus come forth," than he that was dead came forth. Unable to walk, for he was swathed, and bound both hand and foot in his grave clothes, according to the Jewish custom, he glided forth from the grave, and appeared among the astonished multitude. His body was unchanged—he was again to dwell with his family and friends, the same person as he had ever been. Like the daughter of Jairus, and the widow's son, he was again to resume his place in society, to fulfil the ordinary duties of life, and his body resumed the same functions and properties as it had ever possessed. And we are informed, by the history of the early John xi. 18. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about Bethany. fifteen furlongs off: Church, that Lazarus lived for many years, an unexceptionable witness of the truth of God, and the divinity of Christ. The next great fact which demonstrated the resurrection of the body, took place at the death of Christ. When He bowed his head and gave up the Ghost, the veil of the temple was rent-the ground trembled the graves were laid open-and, after his resurrection, the bodies of many holy persons arose and went into the city of Jerusalem, and appeared unto many. This attendant miracle is so briefly related, that we cannot safely deduce many conclusions. But that interpretation seems the most satisfactory, which represents the graves as opening at the resurrection of Christ, who is the first-fruits of them that sleep : and that while his body continued in the grave, the same process which is described in the vision of Ezekiel, 37th chapter, took place on the bodies of those holy persons who went into Jerusalem after that Christ rose from the dead. The bones came together-the sinews were restored-the flesh revived-the skin covered it again—and the spirit returned—they breathed-they lived— they moved-and they appeared to many. From this miracle the disciples might have received the comfortable assurance that Death and Corruption had no power to resist the voice of their Lord and Master; it ought to have taught them, that though scourged, persecuted, and crucified, he had power to lay down his life and to take it up again—and the same voice which called the spirit of Lazarus from the invisible world, and bade it reanimate the corrupting body, shall again command the dust to live, and the dead to rise. The Scripture has given us a moral demonstration of the divine power of our Lord, which shall effect this mighty work; whenever the morning of the resurrection shall dawn, all who have been committed to the ground will be included among those whose bodies have entirely decayed, mouldered into dust, or are in various stages of corruption, from the first stiffening of the limbs, to their mingling with their kindred elements. As the earth is covered with the dew of the morning, so, says the Scripture, shall it cast forth her dead. The sea shall give up her dead. The elements around us shall restore their borrowed atoms. Over the surface of the whole earth, the dust shall quicken into life; and man from the opening graves shall ascend into the air, and be summoned in his body before the tribunal of the Most High, to be judged every man according to his works. The other Evangelists have omitted the resurrection of Lazarus, because (it is supposed) that he was still alive when they wrote, and would have been rendered, by notice, more liable to persecution. The question is discussed by Kuinoel, in loc. who comes to the same conclusion. We have hitherto been fortunate enough in this country to have escaped from the contamination of the German theological speculators on the miracles of Christ, &c. &c. Should any student, however, have become in any degree entangled by them, he will find a most admirable antidote in the writings of Kuinoel.—See particularly on the Resurrection of Lazarus. The resurrection of Lazarus was the last and most solemn appeal of a miraculous nature which he made to the Jewish nation before his apprehension. St. John is the only Evangelist who has related the miracle, and he proceeds to * That is, about two miles. Bethany. And many of the Jews came to Martha and John xi. 19. Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus John xi. 20. was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou John xi. 21. hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou John xi. 22. wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise John xi. 23. again. Martha saith unto him, " I know that he shall John xi. 24. 14. ch. v. 29. rise again in the resurrection at the last day. u Luke xiv. x Ch. vi. 35. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and John xi. 25. the life he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall John xi, 26. never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord I believe that John xi. 27. that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she had so said, she went her way, John xi. 28. and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, John xi. 29. and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but John xi. 30. was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the John xi. 31. house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, mention the consequences both to Christ himself and to the Jewish nation. Immediately after the bystanders had reported the miracle to the Sanhedrim, they decided upon putting Jesus to death. He therefore retired to Ephraim, about twenty miles from Jerusalem, that he might escape the persecution of the Jews, who were anxiously bent on his destruction, John xi. 55. and remained there with his disciples until six days before the Passover, when he went to Bethany, to sup with Lazarus, and was anointed by Mary. The internal evidence, arising from the conversation which the three Evangelists have recorded, seems to be decisive of the propriety of this arrangement. Our Saviour is represented as going up towards Jerusalem, conversing with his disciples, and predicting his sufferings and death. The resurrection of Lazarus was the immediate cause of those sufferings; for the public report of this miracle induced the Sanhedrim to take their most decisive measures against him. The opportunity therefore seemed to be most fit for our Lord to demonstrate to his disciples that he knew beforehand the consequences of his actions, and that the time had come when he was to make a free will offering of himself for the sins of the whole world. |