During his residence in that city, a nobleman of Capernaum came to him, requesting, with great humility and reverence, that he would come down and heal his son, who was at the point of death. Our blessed Saviour readily complied with the latter part of his request; but to remove a prejudice they had conceived, that it was necessary to be personally present in order to restore the sick person to health, he refused to go down to Capernaum, dismissing the father with this assurance, that his son was restored to health: "Go thy way; thy son liveth." John iv: 50. The nobleman obeyed the word of Jesus, and immediately departed for his own house; but before his arrival, he was met by his servants, with the joyful news that his son was recovered. On this the father inquired at what time they perceived an alteration for the better; and from their answer was satisfied, that immediately after the words were spoken by the blessed Jesus, the fever left him, and he was recovered in a miraculous manner. This amazing instance of his power and goodness abundantly convinced the nobleman and his family, that Jesus was the true Messiah, the great prophet so long promised to the world.

After some stay in the city and neighborhood of Cana, Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had spent the greater part of his youth, and, as his constant custom was, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and read that celebrated prediction of the Messiah in the prophet Isaiah; "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at libert

them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke iv: 18, 19.

It should be remembered, that our blessed Saviour read this passage in the original Hebrew, which was then a dead language; and, as he had never been taught letters, could do it only by inspiration from above. But he did more; he explained the passage with such strength of reason, and beauty of expression, that the inhabitants of Nazareth, who well knew he had never been initiated into the rudiments of learning, heard him with astonishment. But as he performed no miracle in their city, they were offended at him. Perhaps they thought the place of his residence should have been his peculiar care; and, as he could, with a single word, heal the sick at a distance, not a single person in Nazareth should have been afflicted with any kind of disease. That they really entertained sentiments of this kind, seems plain from our Saviour's own words: "Ye will surely say to me, Physician, heal thyself: whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country; evidently alluding to the great and benevolent miracle he had wrought on the nobleman's son.

But the holy Jesus, by enumerating the miracles Elijah had done in behalf of the widow of Sarepta, who was a heathen, and the inhabitants of an idolatrous city in the time of famine, when many widows in Israel perished with hunger, and of Naaman the Syrian, who was cured of his leprosy by the prophet Elisha, when numbers of Jews, afflicted with the same loathsome disease, were suffered to continue in their uncleanliness, sufficiently proved that the prophets had, on some extraordinary occasions, wrought mira

cles in favor of those whom the Israelites, from a fond conceit of their being the peculiar favorites of heaven, judged unworthy of such marks of particular favor. The council was so incensed at this reply, that forgetting the sanctity of the Sabbath, they hurried him through the streets, "to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built," intending to cast him headlong down the precipice. But the Son of God defeated their cruel intentions, by miraculously confounding their sight, and withdrawing from the fury of these wretched people.

CHAPTER VI.

OUR LORD PROCEEDS TO CAPERNAUM-ADDS TO THE NUMBER OF HIS
FOLLOWERS-PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL IN GALILEE-PREACHES TO

A NUMEROUS AUDIENCE HIS Well-known and EXCELLENT DISCOURSE
UPON THE MOUNT.

T

HE holy Jesus, aggrieved by the cruel Nazarenes, departed from them, and visited Capernaum, the capital of Galilee, (on the borders of the Lake of Gennesaret,) which was a place highly convenient for his design; for, besides the numerous inhabitants of that city, the trading towns on the lake were crowded with strangers, who, after hearing the doctrine of the gospel preached by the great Redeemer of mankind, would not fail to spread, in their respective countries, the happy tidings of salvation.

While Jesus tarried at Capernaum, he usually taught in the synagogues on the Sabbath day, preaching with such energy of power, as greatly astonished the whole congregation. He did not, however, constantly contine himself to that city; the adjacent country was often blessed with his presence, and cheered with the heavenly words of his mouth.

In one of the neighboring villages, he called Simon and Andrew, who were following their occupation of fishing on the lake, to accompany him. These disciples, who had before been acquainted with him, readily obeyed the heavenly mandate, and followed the Saviour of the world. Soon after, he saw James and John, who were also fishing on the lake, and called them also. Nor did they hesitate to follow the great Redeemer of mankind; and, from their ready compliance, there is reason to believe that they, as well as Simon and Andrew, were acquainted with Jesus at Jordan, unless, we suppose, which is far from being improbable, that their readiness proceeded from the secret energy of his power upon their minds. But, however this be, the four disciples accompanied our blessed Saviour to Capernaum, and soon after to different parts of Galilee.

How long our Lord was on this journey can not be determined; all the evangelists have mentioned is, that he wrought a great number of miracles on diseased persons; and that the fame of these wonderful works drew people from Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond Jordan. Nor was the knowledge of these miracles concealed from the heathen, particularly the inhabitants of Syria; for they also brought their sick to Galilee to be healed by him. Consequently, the time our blessed Saviour spent in these tours, must have been considerable, though the evangelists have said very little concerning it.

But whatever time was spent in these benevolent actions, the prodigious multitudes which flocked to him from every quarter, moved his compassion toward those who were bewildered in the darkness of ignorance,

D