could not understand, am able, by a secret operation of grace, to incline the hearts of men to believe the word which you shall preach. Therefore, fear not; for by my assistance you shall be more successful in your new and heavenly calling than you have just now been by the same assistance in your secular trade."

That this was the real purport of the whole transaction; and that it was so understood by the disciples, Simon and Andrew, is evident from the effect which it produced upon them. At the call of Jesus, they immediately left their boats, their nets, their little all, and from that moment followed Jesus constantly, and with almost unswerving faith and fidelity. A similar effect was produced upon James and John, who were at a little distance in a ship, mending their nets, and to whom Jesus, just after, extended the same call, "They immediately left the ship, and their father, and followed Him."*

Now, it can not but be most wonderful in all this. Suppose that some far-seeing prophet had been standing on the shore of Gennesaret, an eye-witness of these transactions, and in company with an Athenian philosopher. Turning to the philosopher, the seer calls his attention to the boat in which Jesus sits, with Peter, eager, earnest, watchful, at his side. "See you that young man," says he, "clad in coarse garments, but so meek and tranquil in countenance, on whose words His Companion hangs with such strange reverence, with such mingled wonder and delight? A few months ago He was a carpenter in a village a few miles beyond those hills: a few years hence, He will be revered as a Divine Teacher, and worshiped as the incarnate God, by nations that never heard of Socrates and Plato, of Zeno and Epicurus. A religion called by His name will extend its influence over

seen that there is something

* Matthew iv. 22.

the whole world; its holy worship, its solemn rites and ceremonies, will be celebrated in gorgeous temples, when the crumbling structures of your own Acropolis shall be looked upon with mingled regret and abhorrence, as the beautiful relics of an unholy superstition. And the fisherman who sits in the same boat, and who lives yonder in Capernaum, will hereafter preach the doctrines of this Nazarene artisan to thousands upon thousands of eager disciples, in Jerusalem, in Babylon and in imperial Rome. One of those young men in the other boat,—the son of that old graybearded fisherman yonder, will write books in your own Greek tongue, albeit not in classic style,-which will be earnestly studied by millions of devout readers, thousands of years after he is dead; and which, translated into other tongues, shall exercise a living and powerful influence on the civilized world, when the boasted productions of your poets, historians and philosophers shall be looked upon as dead classics, and be confined to the schools of the learned. The time will come when the name of this carpenter, and of these fishermen, will have more authority in Rome itself than that of emperor or god. A long succession of mighty potentates will wage implacable war with the religion now being founded by this obscure Galilean; but the might of legions and the arts of statesmen shall prove powerless to impede its progress; and a few generations hence, the throne of the Cæsars will be filled by a disciple of this Even the name of Simon

same Jesus, the Son of Mary. Peter, the fisherman of Galilee, will be more potent and venerable in Rome than that of any sage, orator, consul or emperor known in her whole proud annals." What, think you, would have been the emotions of the philosopher as he listened to a prophecy like this? He would have treated it with silent contempt: his proud lip would have curled with a sneer; not a word would he have deigned to utter in reply. His inner thought would have been,

"what fanatics, what fools these Jews are?" and, so he would have turned away, not knowing that "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in His presence."*

*1 Corinthians i. 27–29.

CHAPTER III.

JESUS AT CAPERNAUM.

JESUS GOES TO CAPERNAUM-HIS FAVORABLE RECEPTION-EFFECT OF HIS TEACHING-THE DEMONIAC-EXTENT AND TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF DEMONIACAL POSSESSION-THE DEMON RECOGNIZES THE SON OF GODJESUS REBUKES HIM AND CASTS HIM OUT-THE AMAZEMENT OF THE JESUS HEALS PETER'S WIFE'S MOTHER-THE EXCITEMENT PRODUCED BY THESE MIRACLES-PICTURES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE PREVALENT FEELING THE VIEW GIVEN BY THESE EVENTS OF CHRIST'S ACTIVITY—THE RELATION OF HIS EXERCISE OF THE GIFT OF HEALING, TO HIS MISSION.

PEOPLE-JESUS

TEACHING by the way, as has been narrated in the previous chapter, our Lord at length arrived at Capernaum, to which place His mother and His brethren seem not long afterwards to have followed Him. Indeed, this favored city became the place of His residence during the remainder of His Galilean ministry. In this region and at this time Jesus encountered little or no opposition. The healing of the nobleman's son was doubtless well-known to the people, and the report of our Lord's proceedings while on the way from Nazareth had probably reached them in advance, and prepared them to give Him a favorable reception. Hence, He was everywhere received with enthusiasm. Wherever He went, the people were drawn to Him, and hung upon His lips with wonder and delight. His striking presence and peculiar manner made this less strange. Never had such words before been heard,words full of love and life and joy,-for, in truth, He was the word made flesh, and all His utterances were divinely

true and beautiful. His hearers could not but mark the contrast between His teachings and those of their scribes, who rehearsed only the scholastic and traditional glosses on the law and the prophets; whereas He spoke with authority as a lawgiver, and with infallible assurance as a true and faithful witness, declaring what He knew and testifying what He had seen. All who were not blinded by prejudice were charmed by that blended majesty and meekness of wisdom, that conjunction of divine purity and tender compassion, which were disclosed in all His sayings.

Soon after Jesus came to Capernaum, we find Him in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. There happened to be in the congregation a man who was suffering from a mysterious and terrible disease. He was a demoniac; that is to say, he was possessed by an evil spirit, who had obtained the mastery over his soul and body, and had indeed come into so intimate a relation with him, that the miserable wretch seemed to himself to have a double personality. His sufferings were horrible beyond description. Epilepsy, insanity, convulsions, deafness and many other ailments, were the ordinary effects of this visitation.

i

This unhappy man was but one of a great on.

in

that age, who were similarly afflicted. The fallen spirits seem to have had extraordinary power over that generation. Yearning,-as perhaps all evil spirits do,*-after a corporeal and sensuous life, they had found means to cross the gulf which separates the world of spirits from the world of sense; and had gained possession of innumerable men and women, and even children, whom they found physically and morally susceptible to their influence.

*See Isaac Taylor's "Physical Theory of another Life." It is many years since I read that remarkable book. Its republication is a desideratum of the present time.