The History of Christianity, John S. C. Abbott [ebook reader browser .txt] 📗

The Horns of Hattin.—​The Sermon on the Mount.—​Jesus goes to Capernaum.—​The Miraculous Draught of Fishes.—​Healing the Leper, the Paralytic.—​Associates with Publicans and Sinners.—​The Feast of the Passover.—​The Cripple at the Pool.—​The Equality of the Son with the Father.—​Healing the Withered Hand.—​Anger of the Pharisees.—​The Twelve Apostles chosen.—​Inquiry of John the Baptist.—​Jesus dines with a Pharisee.—​The Anointment.—​Journey through Galilee.—​Stilling the Tempest.—​The Demoniacs and the Swine.—​The Daughter of Jairus.—​Restores Sight to the Blind.—​Address to his Disciples.

BOUT seven miles south of Capernaum there was a double-peaked eminence, fifty or sixty feet high, which commanded a charming view of the Valley of Gennesaret. These peaks were called the Horns of Hattin, from the village of Hattin, situated at the base of the hill. As Jesus, upon his return from his first circuit through Galilee, approached Capernaum, when the throng which accompanied him, or flocked out of the city to meet him, had become immense, he probably ascended this hill, from which he could easily address them. For ages it has been called, on that supposition, the “Hill of the Beatitudes.”

It must have presented a charming scene. The smooth and grassy hill rose from a landscape luxuriant with verdure, draped with vineyards, and rich in the autumnal hues of harvest. The waters of the lake sparkled in the sunlight, and the distant horizon was fringed with towering mountains. Jesus sat upon the summit of the hill: his avowed disciples gathered affectionately around: the multitude, presenting a sea of upturned faces, thronged the grassy slopes.

It was then and there that Jesus delivered that Sermon on the Mount, which, by universal admission, is the most memorable discourse ever uttered by human lips. Probably in a voice which penetrated the remotest ear, he enunciated those sublime truths, which, for eighteen centuries, have echoed through human hearts, and which will continue thus to echo, with ever-increasing power, until the flames of the last conflagration shall envelop our globe.

He first announced the conditions of entrance into the new kingdom of God. Its gates were to be open to the lowly in heart; to those weeping over their own unworthiness, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Those qualities which were most despised by Jewish pride and pharisaic self-righteousness were the ones upon which God looked with love and a blessing.

He then declared the law of the kingdom of God, showing that, instead of abrogating the old covenant, it did but re-establish its principles, and supplement its imperfections, by carrying moral obligations beyond all external observances, into the inner regions of the heart.

With amazement this motley assemblage must have listened to announcements so contrary to the whole spirit of the age; as,—

“Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, for my sake. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and sendeth his rain upon the just and upon the unjust.”

The parade of alms-giving, ostentatious devotion, and the display of fastings and prayers, are severely denounced. And, in this connection, Jesus gave that sublime formula of prayer which has compelled the admiration even of his foes, and which for beauty and comprehensiveness can find no parallel in the literature of the world:—

“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us, this day, our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

In this wonderful discourse each statement is but an annunciation of truth, bearing with it its own evidence. There is no labored argument, no attempt to prove his doctrine. The assumption seemed to be, that no honest mind could refuse its assent to these truths. With such divine majesty he gave utterance to these sublime principles, that it is recorded, “The people were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

From the mount, Jesus directed his steps towards Capernaum, followed by a great multitude still eager to hear the word of God. When he reached the shore of the lake, the crowd became so dense as to impede his steps. There were two boats by the shore, their owners being at a little distance washing their nets. One of these belonged to Simon Peter. To avoid the pressure, Jesus entered the boat, and requested Peter to push out a little from the land. From the boat, surveying the vast throng upon the shore, he again addressed them; but we have no record of the words he spoke. It is uncertain whether Peter accompanied Jesus on this his first tour through Galilee. At the close of the discourse, Jesus requested Peter to launch out a little farther into the deep, and let down his net. Peter slightly remonstrated, saying, “Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.” He did so, and a miraculous draught of fishes was enclosed, so that the net broke, and it was necessary to call for assistance from another boat. Two boats were so filled with the fishes, that they began to sink. Simon Peter was so impressed by this miracle, that he fell upon his knees at the feet of Jesus, exclaiming, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

“If Peter,” writes R. Mimpriss, “had returned to his worldly occupation through the fear of being in want, as following One who had not where to lay his head, he must have felt confounded at this reproof of his own unfaithfulness in being so plentifully supplied by his Lord when unable to provide any thing for himself in his own way. Peter seems to have been powerfully impressed, not only with the miracle, but also with his own unworthiness as a disciple.”

Jesus compassionates the weakness of his impulsive disciple, and replies, “Fear not: henceforth thou shalt catch men.” James and John were with Peter, and witnessed this transaction. They all were convinced that it was folly to doubt that Jesus had divine power to make suitable provision for all who were in his service. This faith brought forth immediate fruit in corresponding works. “They forsook all, and followed him.”

Approaching the city, Jesus encountered a leper. The scene which ensued cannot be more forcibly described than in the graphic language of Mr. Lyman Abbott:—

“In its worst forms, leprosy is alike awful in its character, and hideous in its appearance. For years it lurks concealed in the interior organs. Gradually it develops itself: spots of red appear upon the skin, chiefly the face; the hair of the brows and lids and beard begins to fall off; the eyes become fierce and staring; the voice grows hoarse and husky, and is finally quite lost; the joints grow stiff, refuse to fulfil their office, and drop off one by one; the eyes are eaten from their sockets. The patient, strangely insensible to his awful condition, suffers an apathy of mind that is scarcely less dreadful than the condition of his body.

“Universally regarded as suffering a disease as virulent in its contagion as in its immediate effects, the leper was shunned as one whose fetid breath bore pestilential poison in it. Universally regarded as bearing in his body the special marks of divine displeasure for intolerable sin, his sufferings awoke no sympathy, but only horror. From the moment of the first clearly-defined symptoms, the wretched man was deliberately given over to death: he was an outcast from society. No home could receive him. Wife and children might not minister to him. Wherever he went, he heralded his loathsome presence by the cry, ‘Unclean, unclean!’

“Men drew one side to let him pass. Mothers snatched their children from before his path. To touch him—the horror-stricken Jew would sooner suffer the kiss of an envenomed serpent. No one ever thought to proffer succor to a leper; no physician ever offered him hope of health; no amulets could exorcise this dread visitation. A special token of the wrath of God, only God could cure it: only repentance of sin and the propitiation of divine wrath could afford a remedy. No hand ever bathed the leper’s burning brow, or brought the cooling draught for his parched lips. None ever spoke a word of sympathy to his oppressed heart. Society had built no hospitals for the sick, no lazarettos even for its own protection; and the leper, driven from the towns, dwelt in dismantled dwellings, or in caves and clefts of the rock, solitary, or in the wretched companionship of victims as wretched as himself.

“One of these unhappy sufferers had heard of the fame of Jesus. He believed, with the hope sometimes born of desperation, in the divine power of this new prophet; and nought but divine power could give him relief. He disregarded alike the law which excluded him from the city and the horror he must face to enter it, and broke through all restraints to implore the word of healing from this inheritor of the power of Elijah. The crowd heard his cry, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ and opened in superstitious dread to give him passage through. He cast himself at the feet of Jesus with the outcry of despairing imploration, ‘Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.’ The people had looked on him only with horror. Jesus was moved with compassion. They had drawn back that they might not receive the contagion of his garments. Jesus put forth his hand to touch him. They had echoed his cry, ‘Unclean!’ Jesus said, ‘I will: be thou clean.’ And, in the instant of that speaking, the leper felt the burning fever depart, and a new fresh blood, healed at its fount, course through his veins.”9

Jesus directed the man to go directly to the priest, in accordance with the provisions of the Mosaic law, and to obtain from him the official testimony that he was cured, and relief from the ban which was laid upon him as a leper. This he was to do immediately, before the priest could learn that it was Jesus who had healed him; otherwise the priest might refuse through prejudice to testify to the reality of the cure.

A miracle so wonderful increased the excitement which had already attained almost the highest pitch. Such crowds flocked after Jesus, that he found it necessary to withdraw from the city, and seek a retreat in “desert places.” Still the multitude flocked to him from every quarter. Luke, speaking of this his retirement, says, “He withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” It is worthy of special observation how much time Jesus spent in prayer.

After devoting several days in this retreat to solitude and devotion, Jesus, in whose character the serious, thoughtful, pensive temperament so wonderfully predominated, returned to Capernaum. The tidings spread rapidly throughout the city. An immense concourse soon thronged the street on which the house was situated which he had entered. Jesus