and they returned, with joy and astonishment at the powers which they possessed.' 6. The miraculous power of Christ was not limited to one place. Our Lord displayed this fact in the very second miracle which he performed at Cana in Galilee. At Capernaum, twenty-five miles distant from that city, the son of a certain nobleman was sick. Hearing of the public miracle which Christ had performed, and full of faith in his power, the afflicted father sent unto Jesus, and besought him repeatedly, that he would come down and heal his son. "Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth." And at the very same hour the fever left him." 7. But the miracle which especially distinguishes the power of Christ, from that of all other prophets, which have been since the foundation of the world, is his raising himself from the dead. This event is often, with justice, considered as a wonderful completion of prophecy. But it is, perhaps, most wonderful when regarded as a miracle, and such it is, performed by Christ himself. We must believe the words of Christ, if we only pay due attention to the other miracles which he wrought. And what are those Luke x. 17. See Mark xvi. 17, 18. "John iv. 50-53. words?"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' " And he spake of the temple of his body. Hear, again, his solemn declaration, made with perfect calmness, as one who well knew, and had well weighed, what he said: "Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me; but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."i All other prophets were laid in the grave, and there was the termination of the ministry which they were sent to fulfil, and of the wonders which they were commissioned to perform. Their bodies, like that of Elisha,* might be made the instruments of shewing the power of God; but their own agency ceased with death. With Jesus Christ it was not so. His miraculous power not only remained after his resurrection,' but was exercised during the very time in which his body was deposited in the tomb; and it was displayed by a suspension of one of the most uninterrupted analogies of nature, by the resumption of suspended life. All miracles display inconceivable power. All miracles are unintelligible in the mode of h John ii. 19. i John x. 17, 18. 1 John xxi. 6. their performance. But the degree of power here exhibited appears to surpass that displayed in any other miracle. It was reserved for him, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," to display, in the prediction and accomplishment of his own resurrection, this wonderful union of prescience and might. III. The third point of resemblance, which we are led to expect between Moses and the great Prophet, who should be raised up as his antitype, is the authority with which he should be endowed. Now the peculiar characteristic of Christ, both in his teaching, and in his miracles, is the calm dignity of conscious power. 1. That he taught as one having authority, the assertions of those who received his instruction sufficiently declare." They were astonished at his doctrine. Accustomed to the cold, fanciful interpretations of their scribes and expounders of the law, they heard with wonder, discourses delivered in the plain simplicity of truth. The manner in which Christ addressed the people, was new and striking. His illustrations were drawn from subjects of the most frequent occurrence, such as would be familiar to people of every age and country. Some m Col. ii. 9. n Matt. vii. 29. times, but rarely, he alluded to the works which he had performed, and to the prophecies which he fulfilled, as testimonies of the reality of his Divine mission. But more frequently he laid down his maxims with imposing authority. "It has been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto God thine oaths. But I say unto thee, Swear not at all." Such was the tone of independent command with which Christ issued his moral precepts. Other prophets were wont to reiterate the assertion of their inspiration; and to impress upon their hearers the remembrance, that what they spoke was, in reality, the command of God. They often commenced, or concluded, their exhortations, with the asseveration, "Thus saith the Lord;" or with some phrase of the like import. Such asseveration was very natural, and quite conformable to what we might expect from those who spake under authority of the highest kind, felt by themselves, and acknowledged by those whom they addressed. The prophets thereby appealed to the strongest confirmation which human testimony could receive. How is it then, that we meet with no one instance of this kind in Matt. v. 33, 34. the discourses of Christ? It is not because he knew not the mind of the Lord. For he dwells upon the majesty and power of God, upon the influence of the Holy Spirit, upon the various mansions of his Father's house, like one who speaks that which he knows, and testifies that which he has seen. Yet his advice, his exhortations, his warning, his threatening, although enforced with unparalleled seriousness, and with the most earnest and affectionate warmth, are still advanced upon the sole authority of his own word. How can we account for this anomaly in the conduct of one, who was indisputably a prophet sent from God? It was not a peculiarity of the gospel dispensation. For the Apostles and disciples of Christ recur to the same method of enforcing their assertions which the old prophets adopted; with this singular addition, that they quote the words of Christ himself as the last authority, from which lies no appeal. "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus," was a command to their converts, at once acknowledged and obeyed. If Christ were merely a prophet, such as the other inspired men were, how can we reconcile this uniform assertion of independent authority, with the meekness and humility P John iii. 11. 9 Acts xx. 35. |