who sat at Jesus' feet, and learned concerning the one thing which is needful. (Luke 10: 38-42.) 4. Martha, her busy sister, whose brother Lazarus was restored to life by Christ. (John ch. 11.) 5. Salome, probably the mother of John and James (compare Mark 15: 40 and 16: 1 with Matt. 27 : 56). 6. Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, with, 7, Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. (Luke 8: 3.)

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ОBS.—Even after the old covenant was established, the female sex was not yet able to obtain an independent position in the congregation of God which was recognized as its own, neither could it acquire a rank that enabled it to exercise a distinct influence on the development of the kingdom of God. For the first act of woman which affected that development (% 11. 2) perverted its whole course, and removed her from her original position which had secured for her all the rights which Man exercised. But in the new development which commenced with the second Adam, the leading principle by which the relation between the two sexes in the kingdom of God is decided, is thus expressed: There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3: 28.) When, in the fulness of the time, the infinitely exalted and blessed vocation was granted to woman of being the medium of the incarnation of God, a change occurred which affected her whole relation to the Church, and, consequently, to life in general also; thenceforth, the female sex commenced to dedicate to the extension of the kingdom of God with entire freedom of action all those gifts and powers with which, as a sex, it is specially endowed. A woman brought forth the Saviour of the world and nursed him at the breast, and those who afterwards served him with tender and devoted love during his ministry on earth, and gave him of their substance, were Women. When Men weakly and timidly fled (Matt. 26 : 56), Women, wonderfully strong in their faith and love, retained their firmness: they stand by the cross (John 19: 25) till the cruel and ignominous death to which malefactors are doomed, overtakes the Saviour. And as women served him while he lived on earth, so too, after his ascension, women and virgins, mindful of his words (Mark 9: 37; Matt. 25: 40), have pre-eminently served him, clothed him, given him meat and visited him, when they showed compassion to the poor and the sick, the young and the feeble. Weak women and tender virgins have endured indescribable tortures, and willingly died as martyrs, confessing Christ

with their last breath. Men are induced by their wives to receive the Gospel (1 Cor. 7: 14, 16; 1 Pet. 3: 1, 2); captive virgins carry the seed of the Word to the families of fierce and ignorant warriors; virgins belonging to royal families have brought to the houses of those to whom they were betrothed the Gospel as their most costly bridal ornament, and through their agency pagan rulers and their subjects have been converted; blessed results have followed the labors of the wives of Christian missionaries with whom they have faithfully co-operated in the Lord.

2. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, both members of the great council, are also mentioned as having secretly become disciples of Jesus. The former, through fear of the Jews, ventured only by night to come to Jesus, for the purpose of receiving instruction respecting the necessity of being born again of water and of the Spirit (John ch. 3). On one occasion he expressed, at a meeting of the great council, his disapprobation of the conduct of those who unjustly accused Jesus (John 7: 50, 51); but it was only after the death of the Lord that he openly declared himself to be a disciple, when he united with Joseph of Arimathea in laying the body of the crucified Jesus in the sepulchre (John 19: 38-42).

3. In addition to those disciples whose names are given, others were directed by the Lord to follow him, or voluntarily offered themselves, but were not, perhaps, prepared to practise the selfdenial which he enjoined. One of these was deterred when Jesus said to him: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Another, who desired first to go and bury his father, received the answer: "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." To a third, who proposed first to bid farewell to those who were at his house, Christ replied: "No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9: 57-62). To the rich young man who asked the question: "What lack I yet?" the Lord said: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor... and come and follow me." But the young man went away from him sorrowful; for he had great possessions (Matt. 19: 16-22).

§ 133. The Labors of Christ as a Prophet.

"And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written (Isaiah 61: 1, 2): 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 liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4: 17-21).

1. The work of Christ as a prophet consisted in unfolding and proclaiming all the counsel and the gracious will of God respecting our salvation, inasmuch as the Law and the prophets of the Old Testament had merely opened the way for such instructions, and could teach in an imperfect manner only. "Think not," he said, "that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 5:17, 18). These words apply both to the Law and to the Prophets, and as well to the moral as to the ceremonial law, all of which constituted an organic and indivisible whole. The moral law was of vital importance, however, and was given for its own sake, while the ceremonial law and the promises were not given for their own sakes, but for the sake of Him to whom they specially referred. In this distinction between the moral law on the one hand, and the ceremonial law and the promises on the other, the cause is found of the difference in the results when they are respectively fulfilled. When the moral law was fulfilled, its eternal inviolability was established, while the latter ceased to be obligatory when they were fulfilled.

OBS.-Christ's fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets consisted both in words and in deeds, and it is precisely this essential union of doctrine and action that constitutes the difference between his labors as a prophet, and those of Moses and the prophets. The moral law which the Pharisees had perverted and divested of its essential contents, was fulfilled by him in his doctrine, inasmuch as he unfolded it in its whole fulness and depth, and traced and exhibited its

reference to the inward sentiments of men. It was, at the same time, fulfilled by him in his life, inasmuch as he complied with all its demands in the most perfect manner, both as an archetype (Rom. 5 : 18, 19; Gal. 4 : 4, 5), and as an example (1 Pet. 2:21) of the human race. He fulfilled the ceremonial law and the prophetic promises allied to it, in his word and doctrine, inasmuch as he opened and fully set forth the deep and comprehensive meaning of these, either personally (as Luke 24 : 27, &c.), or otherwise (John 16 : 7–15); he fulfilled both also in his life and actions, inasmuch as he actually and really exhibited in his own person all that was prefigured in the former and foretold in the latter. The ceremonial law was a shadow and type; Christianity brought the very image of good things (Heb. 10:1); hence, the type necessarily lost its significance and validity. It is abolished by being fulfilled. Thus the blossom passes away, and the fruit assumes its place; but the latter is not at variance with the former-the fruit is rather the natural fulfilment and completion of the blossom.

2. "I am the truth," said Christ (John 14:6); the apostle adds: "In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). He is the eternal, uncreated sun of truth; all the rays of truth in the Old and in the New Testament, and indeed among pagans as well as among Christians, have proceeded from him; he is evermore the eternal source of light and of all truth. With respect to his labors as a teacher during his ministry on earth, it is accordant with truth to hold that the instructions which he personally delivered did not contain a complete description of the whole counsel of salvation, and that they were not so full as to impart all the religious knowledge which is necessary. The cause of this incompleteness is by no means to be traced to any want of knowledge in Christ himself, but exclusively to the low degree of intelligence of his hearers. He accordingly said to his disciples: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16: 12). Nevertheless, he did not purpose that these instructions should be permanently withheld either from them or from us, for he immediately added: "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” All that this Spirit of Christ accordingly taught the apostles afterwards, they proclaimed with the strictest fidelity and accuracy to their cotemporaries and

to all succeeding generations both orally and in writing. But at that time they could not bear all things, and, least of all, that which was of the highest importance, because they were not yet illuminated by the Spirit; for the Spirit was not poured out before the work of redemption was accomplished (John 16:7; 7: 39). After the Spirit of Christ had, however, guided the apostles into all truth (16: 13), and brought all things to their remembrance, whatsoever Christ had said to them (14:26), without being understood by them, then their words, precisely like the Saviour's own words, conveyed his doctrine, "for," said he, “he (the Spirit) shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (16: 14), and "he that heareth you, heareth me" (Luke 10: 16).

OBS.-While this incompleteness of the instructions delivered by Christ personally was occasioned by the inferior capacity of the disciples, it was also justified by the peculiar nature of the work which he came to perform. That work by no means consisted exclusively, nor even chiefly, in teaching, for the instructions which he designed to impart to men were capable of being communicated by him through the agency of others, and for this purpose he accordingly sent forth the apostles into all the world. That peculiar work which he came into the world to perform, and which he alone, as God-man, could accomplish, was the atonement which he made for the world, and the renovation of the world, through his obedience, and through his sufferings, death and resurrection.

§ 134. The Law preached by Christ.

Matt. ch. 5-7.-Among the discourses of Christ which appear in a connected form, the Sermon on the Mount is the most extensive and important. He delivered it in the presence of the people soon after he commenced his ministry, on a mountain, the name of which is not known. The opposition of Christian principles to the carnal views of the Jews respecting the kingdom of God, appears in every portion of the discourse. The Redeemer sketches in a lofty style the character of the children of the kingdom (5: 3-12), the prominent feature of which is poverty in spirit (the beatitudes). He gives his disciples the commission to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. (5: 13-16.)