purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins a piece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the water. pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, (but the servants which drew the water knew) the governor of the feast called the pridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.-JOHN ii. 1—11 and the wonderful success with which it should be crowned. We have seen him with complacency receiving his disciples on their return from a progress of preaching and heal Ir requires no common degree of wisdom to make the transition from various situations one to another, with dignity and propriety. The gravity and seriousness of deportment that suits the temple do not suddenly melting, and of casting out devils; and rejoicing away into the familiarity and ease of private in spirit, as he contemplated the sudden and life. Men are called to act various parts, utter destruction of Satan's kingdom, and, but often lack the skill to discriminate be- on its ruins, the universal and everlasting estween character and character. At other tablishment of his own. We are now to betimes the scene changes too rapidly, and the hold him exhibiting a different kind of evihabit of the public personage is scarcely laid dence, but calculated to produce the same aside, when the spirit of it is likewise shifted, effect, that is, a full conviction that Jesus and the man discovers that he is merely an Christ was the Son of God, and the Saviour actor. Difference of behaviour may undoubt-of the world, namely, the display of miracuedly be assumed with change of place and lous powers, to support the truth of the docof company, without incurring the imputa-trines which he taught. This "Nicodemus, tion of hypocrisy: but there is a radical a ruler of the Jews," felt and admitted. character which the honest man never lays "Rabbi," says he, " we know that thou art a aside, whatever be the season, whatever the teacher come from God: for no man can do situation. He cannot indeed be gay and se- these miracles that thou doest, except God be rious at the same moment: but in the house with him." As on the two great commandof mourning he may be sad without sinking ments, love to God and love to man, “hang into depression, and in the house of feasting all the law and the prophets," so on these he may be cheerful without rising into levi-two unmoveable pillars rest the whole fabric ty. He can" rejoice with them that rejoice, of Christianity. The fulfilling of prediction, and weep with them that weep," without is a demonstration of the foreknowledge of losing the firmness of his mind, or betraying Deity, "declaring the end from the begininconsistency of spirit and temper. In truth,ning, and from ancient times the things that if you would be useful to men, you must ac-are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall commodate yourself, where the rights of conscience do not interfere, to their circumstances, and to the laws of decency and prudence. But where, alas! shall we find the man who is continually on his guard, who in every situation possesses his soul, and governs his spirit, and keeps the door of his lips? In vain we look for such a one among men of like passions with ourselves. But it is not for want of a perfect pattern, in the person of him who in all places, at all seasons, and in every situation approved himself the Son of God and the friend of men. Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus. He hath left us an example that we should follow his steps. Blessed Lord, we will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" and of his truth and faithfulness in bringing it to pass, to an iota, to a tittle: the working of miracles evinces the presence and concurrence of almighty power, which is able to support and to suspend, to control and alter the laws of nature, by a word, by an "I will." If the spirit and native tendency of the gospel be taken into the account, we shall find it to possess every character of Divinity that the heart of man could desire, or reason demand, or imagination figure. The period, and the place, and the occasion of Christ's first public miracle are all specified. It was the third day after the noted conversation that passed between Christ and Nathanael, which is recorded in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. We have attended the great Teacher sent There Jesus gave proof not merely of supefrom God to the synagogue at Nazareth, and rior sagacity, but of a knowledge that dishave heard him fulfilling the duties of that cerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. gracious office by reading and opening up the Nathanael, with all his guileless integrity, Scriptures, and thus producing one species laboured under the common prejudice of the of evidence to the truth of his divine mission, day, and had the vulgar proverb in his mouth, the accomplishment of ancient, well known,“Can there any good thing come out of Naand acknowledged prophecies concerning zareth?" He soon received conviction that himself, his person, his consecration to the there could, and that too the best of al great work which he should come to execute, things; for while he was yet speaking to terity. Philip, Christ himself drew nigh to meet will transmit her naine to the latest posthem, and instantly, in the hearing of Nathanael, pronounced a character of him which the searcher of hearts only could have unfolded; "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Nathanael, justly conscious of inward rectitude, finds himself at once reproved and detected. His sarcasm respecting Nazareth not retorted but disarmed, by receiving in return the honourable appellation of "an Israelite indeed," was a keen reproof to an ingenuous mind; and to find himself minutely known to a stranger, must have inspired high respect for that stranger, not unmixed with awe. With astonishment he exclaims, "Whence knowest thou me?" The answer completely displays the character of the Nazarene: "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." Here is an eye which at once penetrates into the heart, and marks minute, external contingent circumstances even to the species of plant under the shadow of which Nathanael, at a certain moment, happened to repose. The "Israelite indeed" now resigns his prejudices and dismisses his doubts; wonder changes into veneration, "Nathanael answered, and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel:" and thus another respectable disciple is added to the school of Christ. Let not this be considered as foreign to the subject of the present Lecture. Nathanael was, of course, one of the invited guests to celebrate the marriage at Cana of Galilee. He was there, within three days, to behold another species of demonstration of his Master's divinity, that he might bear witness to it. And it was fit that a man so candid and upright should be furnished with every kind of evidence, which could remove prejudice or subdue infidelity. He is not indeed hereafter mentioned in the gospel history, but it seems highly probable that a person of his description, was specially called to take an active part in propagating the truth as it is in Jesus. Some commentators have supposed him to be the same with Bartholomew, one of the twelve. The occasion was a marriage solemnity. It is an institution of Heaven, nearly as old as the creation: it was first celebrated in Paradise; God himself formed the union, presided over and witnessed the contract, and pronounced the nuptial benediction. This stamps a purity, a dignity, a permanency on the ordinance, which man is bound highly to respect. The great Interpreter and Restorer of the Law, accordingly, puts honour upon the institution by his presence and countenance, and by contributing to the comfort of the assembly convened on this happy occasion, by the charms of his conversation, and by a seasonable supply of one ingredient in a feast: and he afterwards vindicated the primitive sanctity of marriage from the irregularity and impurity which the hardness of the human heart had constrained even a Moses to permit, at least to connive at. "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female; and said, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." John the Baptist incurred the imputation of being possessed with a devil, because he was a man of more austere manners, and of a more sequestered mode of living; because he "came neither eating bread nor drinking wine." His divine Master, more gentle in deportment, more affable, accessible, and condescending, because he mixed with society, because he "came eating and drinking," is by the self-same persons represented as "a gluttonous man, and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." Where there is a disposition to censure, no purity nor prudence can escape. Nothing can please the peevish children in the market-place. If their fellows excite them to dance by the sound of the pipe, they are disposed to look grave and mourn: if their companions are in a serious mood, it is with them a time to dance. You cannot tell where to find them. It is not, at the same time, a mark of wisdom to brave the opinion of the world; but wo be to that man whose conduct has no better regulator than either popular opinion, or the decisions of a self-constituted censor. Christ has by example taught his disciples to seek, and to take opportunities of being useful, whatever construction may be put upon it by malignant observers. The place, where the miracle exhibited the glory of the Redeemer, was "Cana of Galilee," perhaps to distinguish it from another city of that name in Celosyria, mentioned by Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities. It was situated in that part of the Holy Land, which in the partition under Joshua, fell by lot to the tribe of Asher; and stood on a river of the same name, which flowed through part of the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim, into the Great Sea. It was hither- "The mother of Jesus was there," appato a mere name, or a speck which might ca-rently, as one of the family, who took an insually catch the eye as it wandered over the terest in the credit of her relations, and to map of Palestine; but Cana now acquired a assist in attending to the comfort and accomcelebrity which makes her to rank with the modation of the guests; for we find her Droudest of capitals, from an event, which watching over the expenditure of the pro vision, and devising the means of supply when it should fail. But Jesus and his disciples were among the persons specially invited. As the aim of the evangelist is simply to detail the circumstances relating to the miracle, every thing foreign to this is suppressed. This remark is applicable to the sacred writers in genera.. They present the leading object in its strongest features, leave it to make its native impression, and pass from it without exclaiming, without parade, without a commentary. On the other hand, where minuteness of description and enumeration is necessary or of importance, all is examined with a microscopic eye, and beauties disclose themselves to closeness of investigation which the careless glance had overlooked. Whether the company had proved more numerous than was expected, or whether a provision too scanty had been made, but in the middle of the banquet wine failed. Things which are in themselves, and as far as man is concerned, merely contingent, are predisposed and produced by a special interposition of divine Providence, to fulfil some valuable purpose. This little awkwardness of domestic arrangement furnished occasion for a grand display of almighty power. The deficiency was observed by the mother of Jesus, who communicated it to him as simply a remark of her own. But did not the communication partake of the nature of request, of expectation, of suggestion ? "They have no wine." Is not this saying, can nothing be done to save the credit of the family? They will suffer in the estimation of their friends, as too parsimonious at a season of festivity like the present. Canst thou find no supply? There must, undoubtedly, have been something of fensive in her meaning or mode of expression, for she meets with a reproof. And the mildest censure from such lips is a mark of displeasure. As to Nathanael before, so to Mary now he gives proof that he could read in the heart, what had not yet fallen from the tongue: "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." "Woman:" we are not to estimate the spirit and import of this term of address by the refinement of our modern ideas and manners. A British female of very middling rank would consider herself as very highly insulted to be thus abruptly accosted by an equal, from an inferior it would be intolerable, and even in a superior it would be resented. But it was the appellation by which princes addressed themselves to ladies of the highest rank, and which even slaves employed in speaking to their mistresses, for it marks respect, not familiarity. And we have a demonstration, in the present case, that it could imply nothing harsh or unkind, for it is Jesus who uses the word in speaking to his mother. On an occasion still more tender and interesting, when sovereign love was in its triumph, and dictated every expression; when his cross was surrounded by some of the persons who witnessed the miracle of Cana of Galilee; this conversation took place: "When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." Here was the dying effusion of filial affection: "Woman, behold thy son." "What have I to do with thee." This has an air of severity, and probably was intended to check encroachment. There is a point beyond which parental authority itself must not presume to go. At the age of twelve, excess of maternal solicitude received a mild rebuke: "How is it that ye sought me ? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" Nevertheless "he went down with them" from the temple, "and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." But to the man of thirty even a mother must not presume to dictate, or so much as insinuate. The words of the original have by some been differently translated; and Jesus is made to say, in reply to his mother's observation, "they have no wine." "What is that to me and thee?" What docs it concern us whether there be wine or not? Such a question is little in the spirit of Christ, who took a condescending and an affectionate interest in all the infirmities and distresses incident to humanity, and to whom nothing could be indifferent which tended to promote the comfort of others; and the sequel plainly shows, that he actually cherished those kind affections, and expressed them in a manner peculiar to himself. It is more natural to adopt our cominon version, consistent as it is with the same sense of the phrase in a variety of other passages. "The devils coming out of the tombs exceeding fierce," in the country of the Gergesenes, exclaim, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?" Meaning evidently; “We are afraid of thee; let us alone; we desire no acquaintance with thee; art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" The seventy interpreters translate the Hebrew idiom in the same phraseology and spirit, in a great many passages. Thus Jephthah addressed the king of Ammon, "What hast thou to do with me?" saying plainly, "I wish no intercourse; we can have nothing in common; wherefore should we go to war together?" And thus, not to multiply instances, David said to Abisha, when he proposed to go over, and, in cold blood, to cut off Shimei's head, "What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?" “1 us. like not your spirit; I want no such triumph; | auspicious hour, he saw it leading to another let God's will be done: you are taking his and a darker hour, the hour of suffering and work out of his hand, and are deciding hasti- death. The prospect spreads a transient ly when you ought to wait patiently." "This cloud over the serenity of his mind, and he is entirely in the spirit of the passage before said: "Now is my soul troubled: and what "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" shall I say? Father, save me from this "Intrude not; prescribe not; I know what hour." Thus far the man of sinless infirmity is fit for me to do; all my movements are But the cloud passes away, serenity is re already settled." In this view all is of a stored, and the hour of sorrow is lost in conpiece; all breathes the spirit of meekness; templating the glory that should follow. the there is the majesty of Deity, and there is accomplishment of his heavenly Father's the united firmness and mildness of the purpose of mercy, in the redemption of a lost world: "but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name." When his "time was full come" that he should glorify God by his death, with heavenly composure "Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." Thus every step of the Redeemer's progress was weighed, measured, established by an antecedent counsel incapable of being overthrown or of failing. man. 66 If there be any thing like sternness in the question, What have I to do with thee?" it is sunk in the solemn asseveration concerning himself: "mine hour is not yet come." The hour of a man's birth, of his baptism, of his majority, of his marriage, of his death, is an epoch of singular importance both to himself and others. We measure time, we know its value, and we trifle with it. With an experience of its necessary lapse, and with the certain knowledge that no moment can be responsible for the debt of its predecessor, having enough to do with itself, the thoughtless sons of men will be drawing on a day which they are never to see, and they sport with borrowed property as if it were their own. The wise man, in the face of this reckoning of folly and madness, states the just account of the expenditure and use of time: "There is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." But we look up to Him who is wiser than the wisest, that we may learn to measure time, to understand the value of a day, and to improve the flying hour, which is gone before we are sensible that it has come. His mother, though reproved, is not wholly discouraged. She perceives that whatsoever he did must be done at his own time and in his own way, and therefore enjoins the servants carefully to attend to whatever he should say unto them. This The ablutions, at this period, practised among the Jews, were carried to an absurd and superstitious excess. The law had indeed prescribed certain washings, which nature herself points out as conducive to health, cleanliness, and comfort; but tradition had multiplied these without end; they had acquired an authority paramount to that of law, and the primary duties of life were sunk in an affected attention to external purity. "Mine hour is not yet come." It is an "The Pharisees," says St. Mark, "and all expression applied to various events of the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, Christ's life and ministry. When his un-eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. believing brethren urged him, by way of defiance, to go up to Jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, and there make an open display of his miraculous powers, this was his reply: "My time is not yet come-Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come;" intimating that all his movements and operations were regulated to a moment, and therefore could neither be hurried forward nor retarded. When he did go up to Jerusalem, and taught openly in the temple, though his plainness and fidelity gave much offence, it is remarked that "no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come:" that is, the hour of his apprehension, trial, and condemnation. When the devout Greeks who had come to worship in the temple, desired an interview with him, Jesus said to his disciples; "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified;" meaning the dawn of the gospel day upon the Gentile world. But while he rejoiced in spirit, as he contemplated that And when they come from the market, ex- good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." Though this too may not perfectly coincide with modern manners, it exhibits a picture of the common practice in that country and in that age; and it led to a discovery of the whole mystery, and Jesus stood confessed the Son of God, the Lord of universal nature, the searcher of hearts, the ruler of elements, the friend and brother of mankind. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." rents. Thus a punctilious attention to wash- | first drank of it himself, and then passed it ing the body could be reconciled to a de- round the table. In compliance with this liberate purpose of hardening the heart. custom, Jesus directed the first-fruits of this These copious and frequent ablutions ac-miracle to be carried to him to pass judgcount for the large provision of water made ment. He instantly perceives the difference, for the marriage feast. "There were set six though ignorant of the process; and in surwater-pots of stone, after the manner of the prise addresses himself to the bridegroom, purifying of the Jews, containing two or whose it was to prepare the entertainment, three firkins apiece." To pretend to ascer- and to defray the expense, in these words; tain the quantity, by the names of ancient" Every man at the beginning doth set forth measurement, would be nugatory and absurd. If the thing could be done, what profit would arise from it? Is it not well known that all the wisdom of the British legislature, though | frequently exerted, has hitherto been unable to establish a standard of weights and measures for the southern division of this little island? The precise quantity is left in intentional obscurity, by the use of the indefinite expression two or three, it is sufficient for us to know that the supply was very considerable. The expenditure of water, at this advanced period of the feast, must have been great. Jesus determined to make those partially exhausted vessels the medium of his intended miracle. To have replenished the empty wine vessels might excite suspicion of collusion; but into water-cisterns for purifying, wine never entered, and therefore no doubt could arise. He, then, who could have transformed the bottom of a dry cistern into a fountain of water, or of wine, at his pleasure, commands the servants to "fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim." The miracle is already performed. By an unseen, unperceived energy; without a word spoken, without a gesture, by a simple act of the will, plain water is instantaneously converted into wine of the finest quality. What dignified simplicity! what unaffected majesty! A fact so very extraordinary is narrated with no more pomp of language than the most common process of nature. He now desires the attendants, hitherto the only witnesses of this wonderful change, to draw off some of the wine, and bear it to the governor of the feast, at the moment when the deficiency began to be felt. Thus every supply which comes immediately from the hand of Providence is at once seasonable, salutary, and excellent in its kind. What comes through the channel of men like ourselves must of necessity have a mixture of their impurity and imperfection. 66 Many and useful are the practical reflections which flow from this subject. Permit me to suggest some of them. 1. The religion of Jesus Christ embraces the whole circle of duty. Duties are of various orders and importance. Some are essential and indispensable, others are agreeable and ornamental; as in a well-constructed edifice there are parts absolutely necessary to its existence, and there are parts which might be removed indeed without affecting the solidity and durableness of the fabric, but the removal would greatly impair its elegance and beauty. So in the scale of morals there are the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; and there are obligations of an inferior order; though highly important in the commerce of human life; such as gentleness, courtesy, affability, sympathy. Of both ranks of duty our blessed Lord set the happiest example. He mixed with mankind, he partook of their griefs and their joys, he sat down at their tables, he assisted at their nuptial festivity, he indulged in the mutual endearments of friendship, he paid attention to little children, took them to his arms and blessed them. Disciple of Jesus, go thou and do likewise. Il does it become thee to be stately, and distant, and reserved, and ungracious, when he was so meek and condescending. There are certain austere With us the master of the house is also Christians who will on no occasion, and on no the governor of the feast. It is his concern account, descend from the pinnacle of their to see that his friends be properly accom- dignity, and who render religion disgusting modated and supplied. But among the Jews to others by the harshness of their manners. an officer of this description was appointed and a severe, morose, ungainly deportment. to preside, whether elected by the company, This they cannot have learned of Christ, nor named by the bridegroom, or constituted by at his old school. Will they vouchsafe to public authority, whose business it was to take a lesson from the apostle Paul, who unpronounce a benediction on what was pro-derstood his own real dignity as well as any vided, and who, when the cup was blessed, man? "Mind not high things, but conde. |