XV.

at a distance, but that He has cured, or at the LECT. least begun to cure him. He no longer requires our Lord to come, he no longer thinks this necessary his faith has been strengthened, and raised to a belief in a spiritual power in Jesus, to which distance and bodily absence are no obstacles".

The Lord says, "Go thy way, thy son liveth ;" he is no longer in a dying condition; he shall not die, but live. And the man believes the word, and goes his way: goes not in doubt or haste, but leisurely, in contrast with the haste and trepidation wherewith he had come; leisurely, believing the word spoken; believing that through our Lord's operation his son shall recover. For though, Capernaum being only about five and twenty miles distant from Cana, he could without difficulty have returned thither the same day, we find from the fifty-second and fifty-third verses that he did not return until the day following.

And on the way his servants met him with, as they supposed, the news, "thy son liveth." But this we know from his faith he was prepared to hear; for the Lord had said to him the day before, "Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way." However, though he believed from what our Lord had said that his son would recover, yet, as he only looked for a gradual recovery, he inquired of them at what hour he began to amend; expecting doubtless to hear that it was at the seventh hour (the hour in which our Lord had spoken unto

"With one word doth Christ heal two patients, the son and the father; the son's fever, the father's unbelief." Bishop Hall.

L

LECT. him) that his son began to amend: and this we XV. know from his faith he was prepared to hear. But from the reply of the servants he learns what he was not prepared to hear; learns that our Lord has done for him exceeding abundantly even above all that he asked or thought. He only expected to hear that at the seventh hour his son began to amend, and, lo, the servants say unto him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him;" left him suddenly: the recovery was speedy and complete".

And then the crowning effect is given in those concluding words, "And himself believed and his whole house." His faith was confirmed and increased. It was raised into a full belief of Christ's power and goodness. and goodness. Before he had believed that Jesus was a teacher come from God, a prophet; now he believes that He is the promised Messiah. Before he believed His word; now he believes in Himself, His person, His attributes. And the man's whole household, his family and servants, to whom he would detail, with all the eloquence of earnest gratitude and in the rapture of new-born faith, these wondrous things, they also become united with him in the same blessed bond of a common faith. "Himself believed and his whole house:" not only did this nobleman himself believe, but his whole household came to believe too. Himself believed, and his faith drew after it that of his household.

In v. 53. the author of "A Plain Commentary" well supplies from the previous verse the words, "the fever left him," in the place of the words, "it was," supplied in the authorized version.

There is another case of faith in Christ's LECT. word recorded in the Gospel according to St. XV. Luke, which somewhat corresponds to this. It is related, that on a certain occasion the Lord, having entered into Simon's fishing-boat, said unto him, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him"." In each case there was simply the word of Christ, and in each case that word was believed. Here we are told, "The The man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way" and there Peter says, "Nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net."

...

We might notice also the interesting contrast between the case of the nobleman here and that of the centurion in the other Gospels, which, as it was before observed, must not be confounded with this. The man says, "Come," and Christ only speaks the word: the centurion says, "Speak the word only," when Christ had pro

Lampe, whose curious comparison of the Greek Church to the Samaritan woman was noticed in the previous Lecture, considers the conversion of the Jews to be shadowed forth in the history of this miracle. According to him, the "nobleman" represents the elders of the people, the "son" the people itself: their soul-malady is like this physical fever; he notes the points of contact: the mode of that conversion corresponds to the circumstances of this cure; this was at the seventh hour of the day, that shall be in the seventh age of the Church, &c. P Luke v. 4, 5, 6. 11.

LECT. posed Himself to come. Upon which difference XV. of conduct in the men, and difference of dealing

on our Lord's part with them, it has been observed, that, in the one case, "a narrow and poor faith is enlarged and deepened;" in the other, "a strong faith is crowned and rewarded. By not going He increases this nobleman's faith; by offering to go, He brings out and honours that centurion's humility"." "The centurion's faith therefore," observes Bishop Hall, "could do more than the ruler's greatness; and that faithful man's servant hath more regard than this great man's son."

And "the reason of this diversity of treatment,” as another excellent commentator remarks, "is to be found in the spiritual condition of these two individuals respectively. The nobleman's imperfect faith was perfected by our Lord's refusal to come down: the perfection of the centurion's faith was displayed by our Lord's proposal to come down. Both men become the Church's instructors: the first, in the way of warning; the second, in the way of example'."

Finally, from our Lord's treatment of this nobleman, we may observe how He often grants our prayers, though not perhaps in the way we propose or expect; and the way which His wisdom and love appoints is far better for us than the way our own wishes would dictate.

LECTURE XVI.

THE HEALING OF THE IMPOTENT MAN AT BETHESDA.

JOHN V. 1-9.

XVI.

OUR Lord has now returned from Galilee into LECT. Judæa, as in the last chapter we saw Him journey from Judæa into Galilee. And He "who went about doing good," comes now to Jerusalem. The reason of His coming at this time was in order to be present at one of the sacred festivals, which

Notwithstanding Bp. Hall's just reproof of the somewhat impious speech of Maldonatus, an inquiry into this subject may not be altogether unprofitable, or barren of some good results, at least to ourselves, if it lead to an extended acquaintance with Holy Scripture, even though it should end in having to admit, with Dean Alford, that "we cannot with any probability gather what feast it was." Yet this may still be said for the anciently received opinion, that admitting, as we can scarcely help, that this was one of the three great festivals, it cannot have been (1) the Passover, for there could scarcely have been a year's interval since the last mention of that festival (ch.ii. 23); and the second Passover is mentioned further on (ch. vi. 4.): moreover, in such case we should scarcely have had the word without the article to emphasize it. Again, it cannot be (2) the Feast of Tabernacles, which is mentioned for the first time in ch. vii. 2. If this had been that feast, we should doubtless have had the same distinctive mode of expression here, in mentioning it for the first time, which is used there. Therefore, admitting it to have been one of the three great festivals, and since for the reasons alleged it cannot have been the Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles, the inference is, that it was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost; which, moreover, would be the only one of the three not mentioned, if not mentioned here. All this, however, is of course only a point of criticism and conjecture, and therefore fitter in a note for the curious, than in the comment for those simply seeking edification. We may further observe with Alford, "No reason need be given why John does not name the feast; it is quite in accordance with his practice of mentioning nothing that does not concern his subject