him in ecclesiastical history. How well James, the other brother, deserved that strong eastern appellation, may be concluded from his being beheaded by Herod Agrippa at Jerusalem; not many years after our Lord's ascension: Which, we cannot doubt, was owing to an open and steadfast testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, and to other services for the church; whereby he had greatly signalized himself in the short period after our Lord's ascension." b Grotius supposes a reference in this appellation to the words of Haggai, "I will shake the heavens and the earth :" which denoted the d introduction of a new dispensation, in the effecting of which great change the sons of Zebedee were to be eminently instrumental.

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a

The conversion of the Gentiles was an event which our Lord repeatedly foretold. On healing the servant of a Roman centurion, he declared that " many should come from the east and west, and should sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." He said to the Pharisees, "Other f sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." He foreshewed this gracious design of Providence in the parable of the prodigal son, whom his father so compassionately received. He thus concluded one of his parables to the Jewish rulers: "Therefore 1 I

AS A DIVINE INSTRUCTOR.

say unto you, The kingdom of heaven shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." And he addressed the parable of the marriage feast to the same hearers, in which the call of the Gentiles was thus intimated: "Go ye into the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage feast."

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i

Our Lord implicitly asserted the universal preaching of the gospel, after his unction by Mary: "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also what this woman hath done be told, for a memorial of her." He taught his disciples after his resurrection," that repentance and remission of sins must be preached in his name among all 1 nations." And when he predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, he added that "the gospel must be first preached among all nations." Accordingly, his religion was very widely propagated before that period; as we learn from the history of the apostles, which, in St. Luke's continuation of it, ends about seven years before the event referred to. Such ex

m

pressions as in all the world, and among all nations, are not to be understood strictly. Learned men have involved themselves in needless and inextricable difficulties by rigorously interpreting popular language. A very extensive preaching of Christ is sufficient to fulfil the prediction. To this St. Paul appeals as a

i Matt. xxii. 9. Táμa is used for a marriage feast Arist. Magn. mor. p. 162. Duval. Εἰ τὶς ἑσιᾶ ἐξανίσας, ὡς ἂν γάμος τὶς ἐςιῶν, τεί τις ἀλαζών. *Matt. xxvi. 13. and p. p. 1 Luke xxiv. 47. Mark xiii. 10. Matt. in the p. p. has in all the world, c. xxiv. 14 See Luke ii. 1, where the phrase means the Roman empire.

known fact: "Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound has gone into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." "The gospel is come unto you [Colossians,] as it is in all the world" "It has been preached to every creature under heaven." The epistles now extant were addressed to Christians at Rome, and in various parts of Greece and Asia.

The hatred and persecution which his disciples should endure are foretold by Christ in various places. "Blessed are Pye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake." " Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues: and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake." The cruelties of the Jews, here partly alluded to, are elsewhere particularly foretold. The servants of the king who made a marriage feast for his son, were spitefully entreated and slain. Our Lord said to the Scribes and Pharisees, "Behold I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city." And he thus addressed his disciples: They shall

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put you out of their synagogues: yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." These cruelties began "early; and they

were greatly heightened by the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. Agreeably to these prophecies, Peter, John, Stephen and Paul were brought before the Jewish council; the apostles and many others were beaten by the Jews; Paul was five times scourged by the Jews, and thrice beaten with rods ; and he pleaded his cause before the Roman governors Felix and Festus, and before king ↳ Agrippa. We read in the Acts of the apostles that Stephen * was stoned, and a James slain with the sword. The epistle to the Hebrews was written to comfort Christians under persecution; with accounts of which the earliest ecclesiastical history every where abounds.

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The divisions which would be the consequence of our Lord's doctrine were emphatically foretold by him "Think not that I came to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daugh. ter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Religion engages our passions so strongly, that these are too naturally the effects of religious dissentions at all times. But such animosities were particularly apt to prevail among the Jews at that time; on account of their firm attachment to a former divine revelation, of their fierce and bigoted disposition, and of the vices and infatuation of their leaders.

i

Our Lord also prophesied that his disciples should be" hated of all nations for his name's sake. Accordingly, the Jews at Rome said, "As concerning h this sect, we know that it is every where spoken against:" Tacitus represents Christians as hateful on account of their flagitious conduct and Pliny says, "I asked them whether they were Christians ; if they confessed it, I asked them a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; and those who persevered I commanded to be led away to death."

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In particular, our Lord thus prophesied of James and John: "Ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with." To drink of our Lord's cup may very well signify to partake of afflictions and sufferings like him and though Christ applies the image to his death, yet it is a "general one applicable to every tribulation. Thus St. Paul says that the sufferings of Christ abounded in him; meaning sufferings which bore a general resemblance to those endured by Christ: and that he filled up what remained behind [for his followers to undergo] of the afflictions of Christ; or, such as Christ had undergone. It is true also that our Lord, speaking of his death, said, "I

h Acts xxviii. 22.

i Per flagitia invisi.

& Matt. xxiv. 9. Ann. 1. xv. c. 44. * Interrogavi ipsos an essent Christiani; confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi, supplicium minatus; perseverantes duci jussi: L. x. ep. 97. So Acts xii. 19. àñax¤ñras. xx. 23. Mark x. 39.

I Matt. Matt. xxvi. 39. John xviii. 11.

See Wetstein and Bishop Fearce in loc. One of the quotations is from Plautus. Aulul. ii. 3. 12.

Nam, ecastor, malum mærorem

metuo ne mistum bibam.

• 2 Cor. i. 5.

P Col. i. 24.