tive placidity, and foam and rage in its mountain bed like a maniac in his dungeon. Jesus had already procured a boat, in which, with his disciples, he could avoid the throng that followed him every where else,* and he was fond of going out with these fishermen to escape, on the comparatively uninhabited eastern shore, the crowds which characterized the western, or to rest on the calm of the lake itself; for nothing affords a more perfect repose of soul than to sail out upon such waters by starlight, and to lie on the gently-rocking waves, seeing the glancing lights and hearing the hushed murmur of the neighboring city, and yet feel yourself wholly separated from it, and free from all its claims and calls. Thus alternately the mountains and the sea gave Jesus the solitude he craved. On one such occasion, at the close of a day's preaching, he had entered into their little boat, and, lying down in the stern, had fallen fast asleep. Wearied with his labors, he slept soundly. One of these sudden tempests broke upon them. The lake was lashed to fury; the waves ran high, and began to beat in upon them. These bold fishermen, to whom an ordinary storm was only a pleasurable excitement, perceived that this one they could not weather. The danger was imminent. Arousing Jesus with a half rebuke for his sleeping-impatient, as we are apt to be when perturbed or anxious, at the placidity of another-they demanded of him somewhat curtly if he cared not that they all perished. Jesus quietly asked them what had become of their faith in him; then, turning, spoke to the winds and waves with voice of authority, "Peace; be still!" and the storm ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. This new display of authority over nature filled with new wonder these disciples, who had known him as yet only as a prophet, not as a divine Messiah; for it was only little by little, through just such incidents as this, they were to learn the nature and authority of the king whose coronation they were to proclaim.† * Mark iii., 9. + Matt. viii., 23–27; Mark iv., 37-41; Luke viii., 22-25. Harder to quell is the soul-storm that ravages the mind of the poor maniac than that which furrows the surface of the lake. And these manifestations of Christ's power over nature were followed by an equally wondrous manifestation of his power over mind. Six or seven miles southeast of the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee still are to be found in the modern Um Keis the ruins of the ancient and once proud and flourishing city of Gadara, which gave its name to all the surrounding country, as still the modern city sometimes gives its title to the county in which it is placed. This country of the Gadarenes is a wild and rocky region. The limestone hills abound in caves where still are found the evidences of their ancient use as sepulchres; and on the shore of the lake, here precipitous, troops of wild hogs still feed on the esculent roots with which the soil abounds. As Jesus and his disciples landed on this eastern shore, near the town of Gergesa, whose ruins constitute the site of the modern Chersa,* a fearful apparition threatened them with new danger; for out of one of these natural sepulchres there * A striking confirmation of the accuracy of the evangelical narratives is afforded by what has been heretofore regarded as a contradiction between them. Matthew, the reader will notice, describes the event as occurring in the land of the Gergesenes, or as some manuscripts have it, Gerasenes (Matt. viii., 28), while Mark and Luke describe it as occurring in the land of the Gadarenes (Mark v., 1; Luke viii., 26). This seeming contradiction has thrown, in the minds of some rationalizing critics, doubt over the whole narrative. The city of Gerasa, far to the south, midway between the Lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea, does not in any respect answer to the condition of the narrative. The city of Gadara, three hours to the south of the southern shore of the lake, is so far distant therefrom that if the miracle had been wrought in the vicinity, the swine "must have run down the mountain an hour and a half, forded the deep Jermuk, quite as formidable as the Jordan itself, ascended its northern bank, and raced across a level plain several miles before they could reach the nearest margin of the lake, a feat which no herd of swine would be likely to achieve, even though they were possessed."Thomson's Land and the Book, vol. ii., p. 35. But Dr. Thomson has discovered (see supra) the ruins of the ancient town of Chersa, or Gersa, directly on the shore of the lake, the surroundings of which exactly answer to the descriptions of the evangelists. This town, so insignificant that it has escaped came rushing down to meet them two maniacs, one of whom especially had an aspect so dreadful as to cause his companion to be almost unnoticed. Naked, a few fluttering rags the only remnants of clothing left upon him, covered with blood from self-inflicted wounds, the broken fragments of chains dangling to his limbs, he rushed forward to revenge this invasion of his domains, which no traveler knowing of his presence dared to enter. For the moment it seemed as though the waves had only surrendered their prey to a death more awful at the hands of this raving maniac. But with a look Jesus halted him; with a word he turned his threatening vi olence into a beseeching cry. Whom the sane knew not, this poor possessed recognized as the Son of the Most High God. And the devils that had purposed death, thwarted in their purpose, besought that they might not be themselves destroyed before their time. Then occurred an event which is confessedly mysterious, if not inexplicable. In vain do we attempt to interpret it by recalling cases in which beasts catch the impress of human feelings; in which horses, for example, share the panic of their riders; or dogs are possessed with the rage of their masters.* Equally in vain the proffered explanation that the last struggles of this poor demoniac and his unearthly screams struck terror to the neighboring swineherd; that, "as the devil had before spoken by his mouth, it now acted by his hands." They ask permission to go into a herd feeding on the adjoining cliff; receive it; and the two thousand swine, seized with the attention of previous travelers, was unknown to the Roman world. Mark and Luke, therefore, who wrote for the Gentiles, described the miracle as occurring in the country of the Gadarenes, a description which would have been readily comprehended, since Gadara was one of the chief Roman cities of Palestine, and widely known. Matthew, who was a tax-gatherer on this very shore, and familiar with every village and hamlet, and who wrote for Jewish readers, described it as occurring in the country of the Gerasenes, or Gergesenes, thus fixing to their minds its locality more definitely. See Thomson's Land and the Book, vol. ii., p. 34–37. *So Lange, Life of Christ, vol. iii., p. 15. + So Pressensé, Life of Christ, p. 376. a sudden panic, themselves inexplicably possessed, rush violently down the cliff and are destroyed. To the people of the neighboring town it is nothing that a townsman is saved. Their swine are killed; and they do not understand how much better is a man than a beast. They beseech this proph He complies. His boat et to depart out of their coasts. bears him and his companions back to Capernaum. And Gadara never sees again the Lord, whom for a herd of swine it has thus rejected.* Such are some of the incidents which characterize this period of Christ's itinerant ministry-a period of constantly increasing popularity. He has not yet begun to foreshadow his crucifixion. He has not yet preached-at least not plainly the doctrine of the cross. This rock of offense and stone of stumbling has not yet blocked the narrow way. All the people rejoice in his mighty works, and unite in proclaiming that God has visited his people. The story of his miracles runs from mouth to mouth. Every town vies with its neighbor to receive a visit from this inheritor of the power of the ancient prophets, this seeming restorer of the ancient theocracy. At first he is only a rabbi,† then a great prophet; at length the wondering people begin to ask if he be not the long-expected Messiah.§ If a few wise and conservative men shake their heads doubtfully at his strange doctrines and erratic ways-as we shall presently see they do-they have not as yet the power materially to abate his growing favor with the common people, who have neither discerned with the Pharisees the revolution that lurks in his teaching, nor, still less, with the few attached disciples, perceived with deeper insight the liberty which that revolution will insure. A prophet has come-not to theocratic Judea, but to despised Galilee, and all Galilee is in a holiday because of him. * Matt. viii., 28-34; Mark v., 1-21; Luke viii., 26-40. § Matt. xii., 23. Jew* and Gentilet alike taste of his beneficence, and recognize in him the life of the world. The poor blind ment and the honored prelate§ alike rejoice in his visitation, and feel the power of his word in lost sight restored, in ebbing life called back again. At his voice diseases flee away. The blind are made to see; the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed; the dead are brought to life; and, strangest of all, the poor have the Gospel preached to them. The great underlying population, ignored, despised, are ignored and despised no longer. It is an age of popular ferment. The long-slumbering people are awaking in this dawning hour of civilization. In ancient Rome the popular uprising has broken the power of the proud nobles, and Cæsar has built his empire on the once despised plebeian classes. In Greece the philosophy of the few is losing its power; the civilization of the past is already effete, because it is not the civilization of the masses. Christ, in Palestine, addresses himself to the popular heart; and the amazed Pharisees wonder to find in the ready response of the gathering multitudes that there is a popular heart which they can no longer despise. The people themselves, amazed to find a Rabbi who understands their wants, enters into their life, selects his disciples from their number, and is not reluctant to eat even at their tables, are not less attracted by him than by his miraclesthe catholicity of his love, itself the greatest miracle. Wherever he goes crowds gather about him. Curious to gaze upon this new prophet, they throng the streets through which he passes. Women accompany him, and minister to his simple wants out of their substance. Among them are some of considerable social distinction.** His journeys are triumphal processions. No house can give him privacy.tt Invited to dine, the host finds himself the reluctant entertainer of an in *Matt. ix., 18. § Matt. ix., 18. Mark ii., 15; v., 24; ** Luke viii., 1-3. + Matt. viii., 5. Luke vii., 11; viii., 45. Matt. ix., 27–31. tt Mark ii., 1, 2. |