habitual sin the spark of heavenly fire may be put out. "Innocence and purity . . . these are the virtues with which Christ and the Holy Ghost would inspire us, by taking to themselves, the one the emblem of a lamb, the other that of a dove." The Baptist had before spoken of Christ as man.' But the words which there he adds, and which he here repeats,3 show that He was also more than man; a man, yet infinitely more. What that was we here may learn from the official testimony which he puts on record, "This is the Son of God." So Christ is both God and Man; and some of His acts which we read of in the Scripture are His acts as God; and some of them are His acts as Man; and some of them are His acts as both God and Man. In the person of Christ was evident humanity, and latent Divinity. This is a fundamental article of our faith. A mediator between God and Man must partake of the nature of both God and Man."5 So God in his love sent into the world His Son, in whom both the natures met; who alone could satisfy the one, and by affinity redeem the other. "Could we have thought of such a Mediator, as might be both man, to enable Him to suffer for us, and also God, to give an infinite value to His sufferings?

LIII.

THE CALLING OF ANDREW AND ANOTHER.

St. John i. 35-39.

Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold

the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

1

We have here the record of a most interesting fact, the way in which the first two of our Lord's Disciples became acquainted with their Lord. One of these, we are informed, was Andrew; the other, we may infer, was the Evangelist himself. "Well," therefore, "may he mark all things so accurately-the place, and the day, and the hour of the day; the gesture of his Lord, and His gracious words." These, before they became disciples of Christ, were disciples of the Baptist; and it was by the Baptist that they were directed to Christ. The three were on one occasion together; Jesus appears in the distance; and John repeats in the same words. the witness he had borne the day before, "Behold the Lamb of God." His attentive disciples, "men who from the very first showed themselves ready to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth," hear the memorable words, and follow Him of whom they are spoken. The Lord turns to meet, He waits to receive, those that seek Him. They address Him by a term which the Jews were in the habit of applying to their teachers, and the use of which by these disciples shows that they sought instruction from Him. For the sake of those Gentiles into whose hands this Gospel should fall, the Evangelist adds the interpretation of this Jewish term. In reply to their question where He dwelt, and might be consulted, our Lord invites these inquirers to 66 come and see." 3 They accompany Him to His humble lodging; and, as it was the tenth hour, two hours that is before sunset, they spend that evening with Him, stay with

1 v. 40 below.

4

2 A Plain Commentary. The Author notes that "this Evangelist, after his divine introduction, begins with the events which he personally witnessed."

So Philip afterwards to Nathanael takes up the same word, v. 46.

See St. Luke xxiv. 29; St. John xi. 9.

Him the remainder of the day. The interest and importance of this interview we may well imagine. Well might the hour be impressed upon the writer's mind, that salutary hour in which he first saw the face of Jesus!1

LIV.

THE CALLING OF SIMON PETER.

St. John i. 40-42.

One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

One of the two which heard John speak and followed Jesus,2 namely Andrew, on his return home, full of what he has heard, hastens to tell his brother of it; tells him known afterwards as the ardent Apostle Peter, "We have found the Messias." Here again the Evangelist, for the sake of his Gentile readers, interprets a Jewish term; giving the Greek rendering of the Hebrew words; telling us that Messias or Messiah means Christ. Both these words in their several tongues signify the same thing. "The Messias" or "The Christ" means "the Anointed One." For the Jews were in the habit of anointing their Prophets, their Priests, and their Kings. When men were set apart to either of these offices, they were anointed; holy oil was poured upon their heads. So was our Saviour anointed with that of which the sacred oil was a sign or symbol; consecrated to the office which He undertook for our sakes. Jesus (which was His human name) is called the Christ (which was His name of office) because He is the Prophet, the Priest, and 2 Compare vv. 37, 40.

1 Lampe.

the King of His people; being anointed thereunto by the Holy Ghost. Our Lord by His Divine knowledge, before Andrew had presented his brother, at once states who he is, and by His foreknowledge states what he shall be. He anticipates a passage in his subsequent history." He named both what He was, and what he should become. He mentioned his present name, and the new name he should receive in the Kingdom or Church of Christ, that name of strength; as the Patriarchs of old received new names in reference to God's dealings with them. This passage in the history of Andrew, Simon Peter's brother,3 presents him to us in an amiable light. It is a touching picture of brotherly love; a proof of His grace who "maketh men to be of one mind in an house."

LV.

THE CALLING OF PHILIP.

St. John i. 43-46.

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

The day after the calling of His first three Disciples, our Lord is described as determining to leave the Valley of the Jordan, and to enter into the land of Galilee, for the exercise of His public ministry. He now adds another disciple to His company, Philip, the first whom He Himself called.

1 Acts x. 38.

2 St. Matt. xvi. 15-18.

By this same title he is again described, ch. viii. 8.

The lessons we may learn from it are brought out, characteristically, in The Christian Year for St. Andrew's Day.

The Evangelist gives us the name of the town of which Philip was an inhabitant, and he informs us that it was also the dwelling-place of Andrew and Peter, who, we have just learnt, were already disciples of our Lord. Philip doubtless was acquainted with these; and they had often, we may well suppose, conversed together concerning the Messiah, of whom they were all soon associated as disciples. We find from another part of this Gospel,' that Nathanael was of the town of Cana, which was not far from Bethsaida; so that this mention of Philip's native town prepares us for the fact of which mention is next made. Philip, after being called himself, goes immediately to the neighbouring town of Cana, to tell the good news to his friend Nathanael; as Andrew, we have seen,2 2 hastened to tell his brother Simon. Nathanael was probably that Apostle who by the other Evangelists is called Bartholomew.3 In Philip's address to his friend. Nathanael we may note the acquaintance he seems to have had with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and that the predictions of the Messiah therein were sufficiently clear to create among the Jews a prevailing expectation of His appearing. "We have found Him," said Philip, speaking of Christ,—though it was indeed Christ who first found Philip.* Philip's description of the place and parentage of our Lord was according to the prevailing belief; for as a child He was brought to Nazareth, and He was brought up there by Joseph, the husband of His Virgin-mother Mary. But neither of Philip's statements was according to the facts of the case; and either of them, if correct, would have invalidated the prophecies which went before concerning Him. Philip became better informed concerning his Lord. Now Nazareth was a mean country town of Galilee, the inhabit