a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus* the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian."

:

By these words the Lord Jesus put the people of Nazareth in mind, that God set no honour upon one place more than another that it was no reason why miracles should be done in any one city or country, that holy men had been born there. The widow to whom the prophet Elijah had been sent was not of Israel; Naaman, who was cured of leprosy, by the prophet Elisha, was a Syrian; yet there were many widows and many lepers in Israel, the native country of both Elijah and Elisha. The people of Nazareth understood by these words, that the Lord Jesus meant to pass them by, and to give the honour of his miracles to some other city than theirs.

Verses 28-30. "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these thinys, were filled with wrath, And they rose up, (They had fastened their eyes upon Jesus, expecting a great deal from him, but now all their evil passions were stirred, they were full of fury, and they rose up in haste) and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.”

They would have murdered him, but they had no power to hurt him; He had still to fulfil the prophet's words. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him. He had to preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the broken-hearted; to deliver the captive, that is, to set men free from the chains of sin and ignorance. He had to give sight to the blind, to make men see their dan ger; and to set at liberty those that were bruised. For sorely Elisha. 1 Kings xix. 19-21.

*

of men.

66

had Satan bruised the children of Adam; but now the acceptable year of the Lord was come," the set time when the seed of the woman was to get the better of Satan's power; and therefore the Lord Jesus would not yet give himself up to the rage The work of his life had yet to be done; the time for the work of his death was not yet come. And to this day we have cause to bless him for the work of his life, for the gracious words that proceeded from him,-that still speak of comfort to the broken-hearted, and of deliverance from the power of sin. Amidst the raging crowd Jesus calmly went his way.

Prayer.

O blessed, blessed Jesus, have mercy upon us. Bring to light the sin that lies hid in our hearts, that we may seek to be delivered from it. Let thy gospel spread far and near; let rich and poor rejoice together, for thy day of grace is come, and thou wilt comfort every breaking heart, and burst the chains of ignorance and sin. Blessed be thy holy name for ever and for ever. Amen.

XXXVI.

MATTHEW IV. 13—16. “And leaving Nazareth, Jesus came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."

The meaning of this is simply, that those places which were on the shore of the sea of Galilee, had been long so full of ignorance and sin, that it was as if the land had been dark and the people dead. That very long ago the prophets of God had given a promise from God, that the people that dwelt there should be taught the truth, and that religion, like the morning light, should shine among them. This the Lord Jesus knew; and that the promise of God his Father might be kept, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, a town upon this very seashore, and taught the people of the land :

Verse 17. "And from that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The sea which is here spoken of is a great inland lake of fresh water, through which flows the river Jordan. It had three names, and in the New Testament it is sometimes called by one name and sometimes by another. The sea of Galilee, from its being in the province of Galilee-the sea of Tiberias, from the city of Tiberias, built close to its shore, now little more than a heap of ruins-and the lake of Gennesareth, from the beautiful plain of Gennesareth stretching along its shores. In this plain once stood the city of Capernaum,* the place of which no more can be found. This lake or sea lies as if in a basin, with mountains all round it, and on its shores, in the time of our Lord, were many towns and villages. These are now in our days mostly in ruins,† and on that great sheet of water travellers now find but one little boat. But in the days of Christ its shores were covered with busy and active crowds, and its waters with fleets of fisher's boats. All is now desolate; for Capernaum and the cities and villages round about, heard the preaching of Christ, but they repented not; many among them believed the gospel and followed him-but of the greater part it may be too truly said-" He came unto his own and his

* Robinson's Biblical Researches, Vol. III.

+ Ibid.

own received him not."* Meanwhile the Saviour had a work to do, and steadily He went on to do it. The time was come when his gospel was to be every where preached; and He chose out some who were to be always with him, to hear from himself the explanation of all He was to teach the people, that they might teach others; and to receive from him all the gifts which would make them able to carry on his work.

We read before,† that the two disciples of John the Baptist, John and Andrew, and afterwards Andrew's brother Peter, and then Philip, and then Nathaniel, had all come to Christ, and had been kindly received by him, but they had not all remained continually with him. It is supposed that the apostle John was with him from the beginning-from the time that he first joined him on the banks of the river Jordan-for he alone tells of the miracle of the turning of the water into wine, and of the first sending out from the temple the oxen and the sheep, and the men who sold them, and who had turned the courts of the temple of God into a market-place. It is only in the Gospel of St. John, that we read all that we have just heard of what the Lord Jesus said and did up to this time; but now the time was come when those who were to be his apostles must give up all to follow him.

Verses 18-22. "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw (the) two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence he saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.” + No. XXX.

* John i. 11.

These men knew Jesus to be the Lord. Simon had already been told by him that he was to be called Peter, or the Rock. They were ready to follow him at his first word, but till now they had been allowed to live as they had done before, earning their daily bread, and supporting their families as fishermen. Among the mountains of Galilee, far away from the corruptions of Jerusalem, and from the angry party-spirit that filled the rulers of the Jews, these fishermen learnt from the dangers and toils of their way of life, the hardy and fearless spirit that would be needful to them as the first disciples of Christ. They had been used to venture upon the stormy sea-they had been used to cast their nets, and amidst dangers and difficulties to wait patiently for the fish. Sometimes they caught many, and they were glad, and sometimes they toiled whole nights, and caught nothing, yet patiently they must try again, for it was to gain their living. So the fisher's boat on the sea of Galilee was a good school for the disciples of Christ. Dangers, and hard and disappointing work was before them, and they must never lose their courage or their patience. "Follow me," said the Lord, "and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left all and followed him.”

Their work from this time was to be His work, and their reward was to be the souls of men who would be saved through their preaching. They had little thought when long before this they had been night after night out upon the stormy sea, or had sat patiently watching their nets, what was to be the use of the courage and of the perseverance they were then learning, and we little know what work the Lord has in store for us. We have in the beginning of our lives no guess of all we have to do, of all we have to suffer before we die, but we may be sure that God will teach us, and strengthen us for all our work (for life is a school in which we learn His service) and if only we are willing to be His, then whether it be for some new duty in life, or whether it be for unexpected death,