THE LIFE OF CHRIST. THE CHAPTER XXXIII. CAPERNAUM. HE final "call" addressed to Peter and his brother, CHAP. XXXIII and to James and John, at the Lake of Galilee, apparently insignificant as an event, proved to have been, in reality, one of the turning points in the history of the world. The "call" of Abraham had given the world, as an everlasting inheritance, the grand truth of a Living Personal God; that of Moses had created a nation, in which the active government of human affairs by one God was to be illustrated, and His will made known directly to mankind; but that of the poor Galilæan fishermen was the foundation of a society, for which all that had preceded it was only the preparation; a society in which all that was merely outward and temporary in the relations of God to man, should be laid aside, and all that was imperfect and material replaced by the perfect, spiritual, and abiding. The true theocracy, towards which mankind had been slowly advancing, through ages, had received its first overt establishment, when Peter heard, on his knees, the summons of Jesus. to follow Him, and had, with the others, at once, from the heart, obeyed. Henceforth, it only remained to extend the kingdom thus founded, by winning the consciences of men to the same devotion, by the announcement of the Fatherhood of God; the need of seeking His favour by repentance; and faith in His divine Son, leading to a holy life, of which that of Jesus, as the Saviour-Messiah, was the realized ideal. CHAP. XXXIII 1 Ewald, Geschichte, v. 865. 2 Talmud; From the shores of the Lake, Christ went to the house of Peter, accepting his invitation to share his hospitality. The little town itself, with its two or three thousand inhibitants, was surrounded by a wall, and lay partly along the shore; some of the houses close to the water; others with a garden between it and them. The black lava, or basalt, of which all were built, was universally whitewashed, so that the town was seen to fine effect, from a distance, through the green of its numerous trees and gardens. Peter's household consisted of his wife, and her mother-doubtless a widow-whom his kindly nature had brought to this second home, Andrew, his brother, and, now, of Jesus, his guest. James and John, likely, still lived with their father, in Capernaum, and the whole four still followed their calling in the intervals of attending their new Master. a It appears to have been on a Friday that Jesus summoned Peter and his companions. The day passed, doubtless, in further work for the kingdom. As the sun set, the beginning of the Sabbath was announced by three blasts of a trumpet, from the roof of the spacious synagogue of the town, which the devout commandant of the garrison, though not a Jew, had built for the people. The first blast warned the peasants, in the far-stretching vineyards and gardens, to cease their toil; the second was the signal for the townsfolks to close their business for the week, and the third, for all to kindle the holy Sabbath light, which was to burn till the sacred day was past. It was the early Sepp, ii. 253. spring, and the days were still short, for even in summer it is hardly morning twilight, in Palestine, at four, and the Tag, in Winer. light is gone by eight.3 Jesus did not, however, go that night to Peter's house, but spent the hours in solitary devotion.b We can fancy, from what is elsewhere told us, that the day closed while He still spoke to a listening crowd, under some palm-tree, or by the wayside. As the moon rose beyond the hills, on the other side of the Lake, He would dismiss His hearers, with words of comfort, and a greeting of peace, and then turn to the silent hills behind, to be alone with. His Heavenly Father. On their lonely heights, the noise of men lay far beneath Him, and He could find rest, after quoted by the toils of the day. A wide panorama of land and water CHAP. XXXIII. stretched away on all sides, in the white moonlight. He was Himself its centre, and gazed on it with inexpressible sympathy and emotion. We can imagine Him, spreading out His arms, as if to take it all to His heart, and then prostrating Himself, as it were with it, before God, to intercede for it with the Eternal; His brow touching the earth in lowly abasement, while he pleaded for man as His friend and brother, in words of infinite love and tenderness. "Rising, erelong, in strong emotion, it would seem as if He held up the world in His lifted hands, to offer it to His Father. He spoke, was silent, then spoke again. His prayer was holy inter-communion with God. At first low, and almost in a whisper, His voice gradually became loud and joyous, till it echoed back from the rocks around Him. Thus the night passed, till morning broke and found Him, once more prostrate as if overcome, in silent devotion, but the dawn of day was the signal for His rising, and passing down again to the abodes of men.” 4 4 Ein Tag in Capernaum 138. The morning service in the synagogue began at nine, and as the news of the great Rabbi being in the neighbourhood had spread, every one strove to attend, in hopes of seeing Him. Women came to it by back streets, as was required of them; the men, with slow Sabbath steps, gathered in great numbers. The elders had taken their seats, and the Reader had recited the Eighteen Prayers-the congregation answering with their Amen,-for though the prayers might be abridged on other days, they could not be shortened on the Sabbath. The first lesson for the days Talmud, in followed, the people rising and turning reverently towards the Shrine, and chanting the words after the Reader. Another lesson then followed, and the Reader, at its close, called on Jesus, as a Rabbi present in the congregation, to speak from it to the people. His words must have sounded strangely new and attractive, for, apart from their vividness and force, they spoke of matters of the most vital interest, which the Rabbis left wholly untouched. He had founded the kingdom of God, and now sought to build it up by realizing its conditions in the souls Sepp, ii. 253. |