"Sir," said the impotent man, "I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool, but while I am coming another steppeth down before me." Then Jesus, with that divine majesty and authority which he sometimes assumed in performing his miracles and which entirely distinguished his miracles from those ever wrought by a mere man, said unto him, Arise, take up thy bed and walk." And immediately he arose, and took up his bed and walked. 66 "And did the whole multitude see the man rise and walk?" said Simon. "I should think that they would all have believed in Jesus, and received him as the Christ." "Alas!" said Selumiel," seeing, they saw not; hearing, they heard not, neither did they understand. Our poor infatuated countrymen, instead of receiving and honouring Jesus for this display of divine power and goodness, only sought occasion from it to, persecute him, and under pretence of regard for the Sabbath, to put him to death, for having broken it." "But did they not regard the Sabbath then, uncle?" said Jonathan. "So far as the mere outward observance of it was concerned, they did regard it; but they were proud of their righteousness,' which consisted wholly in mere forms, and went about to establish their own righteousness, and neglected and despised the righteousness of God. So while they superstitiously observed the Sabbath, and were ready to punish Jesus with death for doing a work of mercy on it, they at the same time cherished in their bosoms a malicious and murderous spirit. Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart. Unless our righteousness shall exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, we can never enter the kingdom of Christ and of God." In this various discourse, they passed on towards the sheep-market, a large open square cut up into small enclosures or pens for the animals, which were there exposed to sale on the occasion of the annual feasts. These enclosures were now deserted, as the feast was now ended, and those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves had returned to their homes. "But I thought you told us, Mr. Anderson, that they sold these animals in the court of the gentiles in the temple," said George Ho mer. "They did so," replied Mr. Anderson; "but while they kept stalls in the temple, they left the principal part of the animals in the enclosures in the sheep-market. Otherwise, the temple itself would hardly have been sufficient to have contained them. Josephus tells us, that two hundred and fifty-six thousand and five hundred lambs were sacrificed at a single passover."* "And were they all eaten?" said George. 66 "Yes," said Mr. Anderson, "for even this immense number furnished only one lamb to every ten of the three millions of people who, the same author tells us, came up to the feast. And you can see from this how very rich and fertile a country Palestine must have been to support so many inhabitants. Probably as many as six millions of people were supported within a space of country not more than fifty miles broad and * Bell. Jud. b. vi. chapter 9. one hundred and fifty long.* So that Moses, ་ not without reason, described it as a good land, a land of brooks and water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of oilolive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.'t But I am wandering from my story. Selumiel and the boys, after viewing the spacious stalls and enclosures of the sheep-market, and engaging in much and various discourse concerning the origin and design of sacrifices, the trouble and expense of providing so many victims, began now to think of returning home. The hour of noon (sixth hour) was already past, and Helah and his family would be anxiously expecting their coming. As it was unlawful to make the temple a thoroughfare, that is, to go through it for the sake of * About the size of the state of Massachusetts, which has 650,000 people. † Deut viii. 7, 8, 9. L shortening the distance to Helah's house, Selumiel led them round on the west side of the temple. They passed along through the deep valley which had been dug by Herod Agrippa between Bezetha (or the new city, as the name signifies) and the tower of Antonia. On their left hand rose the battlements of the latter, steep, abrupt, and covered over with smooth stones, so as to make it impossible to scale it. On their right were the still unfinished walls with which the same monarch had begun to fortify the new city. "Alas!" said Selumiel, as he looked upon these monuments of the Roman power, “the glory is departed from Israel. The sceptre, which was never to depart from Judah till Shiloh should come, is gone, and now Romans and foreigners lord it over yon proud towers." And he could not refrain from repeating aloud the beautiful parabolic psalm, which the Jews were accustomed to sing in the days of their distress. "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou caused'st it to take root, And it filled the land. |