God, is brought-in by "Matthew" before his teaching on marriage and divorte. Divorce he did not allow of at all, except for unchastity, (xix. 9,) considering the tie of marriage a sacred and lifelong one. This doctrine on marriage is beautifully connected, especially in "Mark," (x. 13,) with another of his charming exhibitions of tenderness for children; and the two together mark him as one of the greatest defenders of the family; — that main stay of civilization and source of progress and happiness. Yet he did not encourage his immediate disciples to marry; the "kingdom" was too near, -- in which a holy celibacy was to replace marriage. Christ now, as "Luke" phrases it, (ix. 51,) "steadfastly set his face" to go to Jerusalem. An inexpressible melancholy and tenderness pervade his sayings of this period. When "James" and "John" would have called "fire from heaven" (54) to consume the villagers who would not receive them, he tells them they "know not what manner of spirit" they are of, and that the "Son of man came, "not to destroy men's lives but to save them." "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many," — (in his rebuke, already referred to, of the ambition of the same two disciples, Mark x. 45,- also Matt. xx. 28,)—is another of the sayings of this sad and memorable journey; above all in pathos is that plaintive declaration, in answer to a would-be follower,' "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head; "a saying which "Luke," (ix. 58,) with propriety introduces here, after the Samaritan clowns had refused to receive him into their village, rather than at the earlier period where we have observed "Matthew" placing it. "Mark" here gives the restoration of sight to a beggar, This anecdote, and the others, of persons offering themselves as followers, show that the rumor of his being the Messiah was spreading in Judæa, along with the éclat of his wonderful cures. "Bar-Timæus; a cure or "miracle" not reported, as wrought on a person of that name, by the other evangelists. The Master and disciples had now reached Jericho, (x. 46,) in their southward progress. In this cure manipulation is not mentioned: it is said to have been effected miraculously, by a simple command. The name of the beggar is apparently given, with a particularity that would lead us to suppose he was a well-known character; “blind Bartimæus, the son of Timæus." As the prefix "Bar," however, simply means "the son of," the supposed name turns out to be no name at all, but a mere duplication of the description "Timæus' son," and to add no authentication to the story. It is as if the writer had said, "Blind the-son-of-Timæus, the son of Timæus;" a mistake which a Hebrew scribe would not have made. The original story, no doubt, merely specified that the beggar was (BarTimaus) "the son of Timæus;" of which patronymic some Greek scribe has made a new proper name; perhaps with the object of giving greater vraisemblance. Unconfirmed as it is by the other Gospels, this story cannot be accepted as authentic in the shape given it by "Mark." The only probable inference that we can draw from it is, that Christ and his disciples passed through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem. From the cry "Thou son of David," here introduced, as used by "Bartimæus," as well as from the offers of followers in "Luke," we may gather that, as Christ approached David's capital, the rumor that he was the Messiah, (the long-expected "son of David,") preceded him, and swelled the number of his disciples. "Luke" now states, (chap. x.,) "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." This very prominent event, the second appointment of apostles, in larger number than After this Greek transcription, some commentator added the marginal or interlinear gloss, (explaining the name,) — -"the son of Timæus;" which, finally, became incorporated with the text. before, is not mentioned by any of the other three evangelists! This of course casts great doubt on the reality of the event; and when we find that it is only a repetition of an event in the history of the Booddha, we can but infer that it is simply a Booddhistic tradition and not a fact. The whole of the instructions that Christ gives the "seventy" are merely a repetition of those already given the "twelve" in "Mark" vi. 7, etc., (compare also Matt. ix. 37, x. 1, etc., and "Luke" ix. 1, etc.); and the whole story must be considered a duplicate of the former, framed in accordance with the sacred or favorite numbers twelve and seventy, and with the old traditions of ultimate Indian origin. The new version which the "lawyer," ("Luke" x. 27,) gives of the "first commandment," is the Deuteronomic gloss or expansion on that commandment, not the commandment itself, as has been remarked in a previous chapter; while the addition, "and thy neighbor as thyself," is not to be found in the Decalogue. These commands Christ elsewhere gives as his own version of the first, and of a second, "like unto it," (Matt. xxii. 37, 39). In the second, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," we are to understand the "neighbor" to be described, not merely as similar to one's self, but as one's self in other form, as being, in fact, another self or second self. The admirable definition of the "neighbor," through the elegant parable of the "Samaritan," as the next human being, or any human being, to whom it is in our power to show kindness, now follows in "Luke." "Mark," (xi. 1,) and "Luke," (x. 38,) have now brought Christ and his disciples to Bethphage and to Bethany, (the village of "Martha and Mary,") near Jerusalem. The incidents yet to be noted in "Matthew," before this arrival, are (No. 46) the parable of the "houseder and laborers," (xx. I, etc.,) in illustration of his ake to "Peter," (the "first shall be last," etc.,) - the rebuke, (No. 47,)—to "James" and "John" for ambition, (xx. 20, etc.,)-and- (No. 48)-the two blind men's cure, which story seems to have grown by multiplication out of "Mark's" one blind man. Manipulation is here expressly mentioned, (34,) as the means of cure. 49. Arrival at Bethphage, 38. xxi. Incident of ass and colt. Arrival at Bethphage 39. Arrival at Bethany (?), 50. Enters temple in triumph, 39. Enters temple in triumph, 40. Teaches the Lord's Prayer, 41. Expels money-changers, 43. Dines with Pharisee, 37, 53. Returns to temple. His 42. Returns to temple. His ar- Parables of "two sons," and of "householder and xi. 27, etc. 44. Denounces Pharisees and scribes and lawyers, xi. 39-54. Parable of "householder 45. The "leaven" of the Phari 54. 55. 46. "The king's son's wed- 43. The "tribute-money," 13, 47. The" ravens" and "lilies,” 56. Silences Sadducees, 23. 57. Summary of practical re- 46. ligion in two commandments, 37. Silences Sadducees, 18-27 48. 24, etc. Prophesies immediate coming of kingdom," 32 59. 49. The "Galilæans." " Figtree" parable, xiii. 58. Denies the "Christ" to 47. "The poor widow," 41-44. 52. Gentiles to be admitted to be the son of David, 41-46. "kingdom," 29. 48. Prophesies destruction of 53. Warned of Herod; lament 59. Denounces scribes, etc.: 49. Prophesies destruction of 54. 60. Prophesies ruin of temple, 50. Woman and ointment, 56. Warns "multitudes" who |