He said that no such sign as they asked for should be given to them; and so He left them, cautioning His disciples against the leaven of their doctrine, and returned to the other side of the lake-to Bethsaida Julias. Here we behold Jesus leading a blind man out of the town by the hand (viii. 23); an incident recorded in St. Mark's Gospel only; and grateful should we be to the author of it for giving us this picture of the compassionate Saviour, Whose kindness and gentleness no ill-treatment could abate, and Whose love no cruelty was able to extinguish. Another thing to be noted is, that this miracle was different in some respects from any that have gone before it. It was progressive-that is to say, the cure did not come all at once, but little by little. Jesus anointed the eyes of the blind man, and forthwith he saw, though indistinctly-" he saw men as trees walking;" but when the Lord had put His hands upon him again he saw "clearly" (viii. 23-25). Jesus always dealt with each person as was best for him; and doubtless there was a reason, though we know it not, for the way in which our Lord performed this work of

mercy.

It

Our Lord and His Apostles now bent their footsteps northward, in the direction of Cæsarea Philippi. This city had been rebuilt by Herod the Great, and further improved by Herod Philip, who named it partly after the Emperor of Rome and partly after himself. looked out upon the plain of Merom, and it was surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in Palestine. On every side of it were groves of oaks and olives, and probably, as now, thickets of hawthorn, myrtle and acacia. St. Mark has recorded some of our Lord's teachings

on the way thither (viii. 27, 28)—how His question "Whom do men say that I am?" drew forth St. Peter's memorable confession, "Thou art the Christ!" But St. Mark omits all mention of the blessing bestowed on St. Peter by his Divine Master; and this reticence is interesting, if we are right in believing that St. Peter's narrative formed the groundwork of St. Mark's Gospel.

Why, may we suppose, did Jesus charge His disciples to tell no man that He was the Christ? (viii. 30). The reason appears to have been (to use the words of Bishop Ellicott), "that our Lord's time was not yet come, and that expectations were not to be raised among those who would have sought to realize them in tumults and popular excitement.”1

And now our Lord began seriously to check the passionately cherished longing of even His own disciples for a triumphant Messiah, and to accustom their minds to what was so staggering to their faith, so great a trial of their faithfulness to Him, and so crushing to all their hopes,—the doctrine of a suffering and crucified Saviour, and a kingdom that was to be only spiritual—at least until His coming again; all the more strange to them now that they had learned more fully their Lord's divinity, and were assured that He was indeed no other than "the Christ "-the Messiah Who was to come. And so 66 He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again" (viii. 31). Then followed St. Peter's rash and irreverent remonstrance, and our Lord's unsparing 1 Historical Lectures on the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Transfiguration.

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rebuke (viii. 32, 33), which St. Mark has so fully recorded.

And after six days, Jesus, taking with Him Peter and James and John, ascended a high mountain (see Note I, Lesson VIII., St. Matthew), and was transfigured before them. St. Matthew's account of this we have already considered; but we owe to St. Mark some additional touches (which are printed in italics in the following quotation from St. Mark's narrative), as might indeed be expected, for his descriptions are generally more minute than St. Matthew's. St. Mark says :-" He was transfigured before them. And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what he said; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son : hear Him." But as the disciples beheld all this in wondering awe the scene changed, and Jesus was once more alone with them; and it may add an interest to St. Mark's description of this great event to remember that he has very possibly made use of St. Peter's own words-the words of an eyewitness.1

On the next day, as they came down from the mountain, the three Apostles asked Jesus about Malachi's prophecy of the coming of Elijah (Mal. iv. 5, 6). "Why," they asked, "say the scribes that Elias must first come?"

I Compare St. Peter's allusion to the Transfiguration in his Second Epistle, i. 16-18.

They were perplexed about it; for they had just seen Elijah with the Lord, and he was gone: was this all they were to see of him? And Jesus "answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; . . . but I say unto you, that Elias is indeed come." Thus He explained to them that Elijah had indeed come in spirit in the person of John the Baptist (Matt. xi. 14); although we may, probably, look for a more exact fulfilment of the prophecy at or before the Second Advent.

So Jesus and the three Apostles left the Mount of Glory and all the wonders of the Transfiguration, to join the other disciples, where a very different scene awaited them, which St. Mark brings before us very vividly. Our Lord had already given His disciples power over unclean spirits (vi. 7); but when in His absence their aid was asked in the case of the demoniac boy, lo! they were powerless, and exposed to the mockery of the ever-watchful enemies of their Divine Master. But in their perplexity Jesus Himself appeared amongst them, and straightway (as St. Mark alone mentions) all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed; or, as the words imply, beheld Him with awe and wonder, occasioned (may we not suppose) by some lingering trace of the Transfiguration glory beaming from His Person or countenance.

Sorrowfully rebuking the general want of faith, our Lord commanded the sufferer to be brought to Him. Then followed the terror of the evil spirit at the presence of the Holy One-the foaming and wallowing of its victim-the cry of the father, faithful even in his doubts the crowding round of the multitude-our Lord's word of authority,-" I charge thee "—the dread

cry of the departing spirit-the death-like swoon of him who had so long been its victim—the power of our Lord's uplifting and healing hand, shewing that it was indeed the hand of the all-powerful incarnate Son of God !

Then Jesus and His disciples passed through Galilee to Capernaum; and there our Lord rebuked the proud contention of His disciples for the first place in that earthly kingdom of which they still so strangely dreamed (see ix. 33-37).

NOTES-LESSON VI.

1. Lebanon, a chain of mountains to the north of Palestine. Under this name, however, two distinct and parallel ranges of mountains are included, enclosing the long valley of ColeSyria, from five to six miles wide, and sometimes called the Valley of Lebanon. The westernmost of these is Lebanon Proper. The other or eastern range was called "Lebanon towards the Rising Sun," or Anti-Libanus.

2. Words or expressions requiring explanation:

"No fuller on earth" (ix. 3). The fuller in cleaning linen garments gave them a brilliant whiteness.

"Wist not" (ver. 6), knew not. word meaning to know; and it is

syllable of the word Wisdom.

"Wis" is an old English

still retained in the first

"Tare him" (ver. 20), that is, convulsed him.

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"For every one shall be salted with salt" (ver. 49), that is, every one 'must be purified by the fire of self-discipline, even as every sacrifice is seasoned with salt." This self-discipline or mortification is referred to before (vv. 45, 47) in cutting off the right hand or foot and plucking out the right

eye.