and taught the people, when necessary, from a ship which He ordered to accompany Him.

"When Jesus knew it,"-i.e., the design against His life. "That it might be fulfilled," &c.-Matthew means that Christ here displayed the meekness and forbearance that are predicted of Him in the passage.

The passage quoted is Is. xlii. 1-4 :

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law."

This prophecy is intended to declare the gentleness and forbearance of Christ until He shall "set judgment in the earth" at His Second Advent.

"Shew judgment," &c.,―i.e., give discernment, or knowledge, to the Gentile world.

"A bruised reed."-Reeds were instruments of music,feeble at the best. A "broken reed" would then be worse than useless.

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Smoking flax."-Flax was used in lamps, by the Jews, as we use cotton. A "smoking flax" indicates a feeble flickering flame to the lamp.

By these two figures we may understand weak and ignorant Christians, generally. With them Christ will, in His mercy and goodness, bear in the present dispensation.

The List of the 12 Apostles.

(THEIR ORDINATION BEING ON A MOUNTAIN N. OF
CAPERNAUM.)

(c. x. 2-4.)

"Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican;

James the son of Alphæus, and Lebbæus, whose surname was Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke give a list of the 12.

Matthew does not record their ordination.

Mark states that Christ went up "into a mountain, and called unto Him whom He would, . . . . and He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils."

Luke says that Christ spent a night in prayer on the mountain, called His disciples to Him when it was day, and chose 12, whom He named 'Apostles.' He then gives the list of them, and adds a Sermon delivered in the plain, to the disciples only, and closely resembling the Sermon on the Mount.

The following table will shew the differences in the list of names given by the three evangelists, and by Luke in Acts:

"Peter" = a stone, or rock. It is the Greek form of his Syriac surname Cephas, which means just the same as Peter. "Bartholomew" Bar-Tolmai, or Son of Tolmai. John

=

calls him Nathanael.

"Thomas,"-called, also, by John, Didymus = a twin. "Matthew the publican."-The other evangelists say merely Matthew; Matthew himself adds "the publican," thus announcing his former discredited calling, and magnifying Divine grace in his call.

"Matthew "" = the gift of God. Some think that he altered his name from Levi to Matthew, after his call. "James, the son of Alphaus,"-called also "James the Less."

"The Canaanite,"--should be "the Cananæan," (from Cana = zeal). The word is equivalent to Zelotes. He had, probably, belonged to the sect of the Zealots. These sprung into existence under the leadership of Judas of Gamala, in Gaulanitis, who raised the standard of rebellion against the Roman power, on Quirinus putting into effect the census mentioned by Luke, by taxing the people. For a long time he defied the Romans, and also inflicted terrible injury upon the Jews themselves, his band becoming mere banditti. He was aided by Sadoc, a Pharisee. At length Judas was slain; his followers dispersed ; and his two sons crucified. The sect was, however, kept alive by Eleazar, a descendant of Judas, and long kept up an irritating opposition to the foreign yoke.

Twelve Apostles seem to have been chosen, to correspond to the number of the Tribes, and to indicate that Christ was sent first "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Christ heals the Centurion's Servant.
(AT CAPERNAUM.)

(c. viii. 5-13.)

"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."

Matthew and Luke narrate this incident.

Matthew states that the centurion himself came and besought Jesus, while Luke says that he first sent "the elders of the Jews" to ask Him to come; but that, when He neared the house, he sent "friends" with the words Matt. ascribes to him.

It seems most probable that the centurion sent the elders and his friends, as related by Luke, and then, when Jesus continued approaching the house, went out to meet Him.

Matthew alone gives the utterance of Christ, to the effect that many of the Gentiles would be saved, while the Jews would be lost.

"Centurion,"-captain of a hundred soldiers. He was, probably, one of the Roman garrison at Capernaum, and a Pagan enquirer after truth.

Luke says that the elders pleaded to Christ that the centurion was "worthy" of the favour he asked, because he loved their nation, and had built them a synagogue.

"For I am," &c.-The meaning is :-" If I, only a centurion, have obedience rendered to my command, how much more will a disease flee at thy word, who art Lord of universal nature?"

His "faith" consisted in believing Christ to have Divine power.

"Sit down"

=

recline, as at a banquet, to which the joys of Heaven are frequently compared.

"The children of the kingdom," the Jews, who believed that their mere descent from Abraham made them heirs of Heaven.

"Outer darkness," the gloom of the streets as contrasted with the brilliant illumination of the banquet-chamber.

Or it may refer to the deep gloom of the underground dungeons into which the worst criminals were cast.

John the Baptist sends two of his Disciples to question Christ.

(AT NAIN.)

(c. xi. 2–6)

"Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." We find from Luke that Christ was now at Nain, where he had raised the Widow's Son, and that it was this incident that especially called John's attention to Him.

It is evident from this incident that John was very imperfectly enlightened as to the character of the true Messiah. But when we note how blind the disciples, who were constantly with Christ, were on this point, we need not wonder at the doubts of one who had no opportunity to see our Lord's works.

"Had heard in the prison," whence it is clear that John, like Socrates, was allowed, in his confinement, converse with his disciples.

"The blind.... raised up."-These signs were predicted to accompany Christ's advent, as in Is. xxxv. 5, 6."Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing."

"The poor," ie., in spirit.

"The poor have," &c.-This is declared to be one of Christ's offices, in Is. lxi. 1,-" The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek."

Shall not be offended in me,”—i.e., "shall not find in me a stumbling-block."