Immediately after the miracle at Cana, our Lord went with His Mother, His brethren, and His disciples to Capharnaum, a prosperous commercial town on the north-west coast of the Sea of Galilee. These brethren of Jesus, so called by Jewish custom, were His near relations, the children of Mary, wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, and sister or cousin of the Blessed Virgin. They were James, Simon, Jude and Joseph. James and Jude (also called Thaddeus), and perhaps Simon, became Apostles.

They remained at Capharnaum not many days, for the Pasch was at hand, and the caravan from Galilee was starting for Jerusalem. Our Lord joined it, and on His arrival in the Holy City went to the Temple. It must always have been painful to Him to go there at this time and see what went on within those sacred walls. The lowest and largest quadrangle, the Court of the Gentiles, was like the rest of the Temple, a place for prayer, but at the time of the Pasch it looked like a market. The beautiful cloister and colonnades that ran along the inner side of the Court were filled with oxen, sheep and lambs innumerable. The tables of the money changers, piles upon piles of caged doves, stalls stocked with oil and incense, and whatever was needed for the various sacrifices, blocked up the space in every direction. As Roman subjects the Jews used Roman coins, but when they had to buy anything needed for the service of God, these had to be changed for sacred money. The wrangling that went on over this exchange, the lowing of the cattle, the bleating of the sheep, the shouting as the animals were driven here and there, all the uproar of a huge market in which the purchasers numbered many thousands, was a daily profanation of this sacred Court, the only place open to the Gentiles when they came to the Temple for prayer.

Time after time our Lord had seen this desecration of His Father's House when He came up to worship. He came now, not as a worshipper only but as an Avenger of His Father's glory.
For a moment He looked around. Then, picking up from the pavement some bits of cord lying about, He twisted them into a scourge, and with uplifted arm came suddenly upon the traders and their merchandise, and drove them all out of the Temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers He poured out, and the tables He overthrew. And to them that sold doves He said: " Take these things hence and make not the House of My Father a house of traffic." Imagine the scene—the flight of the dealers and the changers; the terror of the beasts which broke loose and rushed right and left; the panic and cries of the crowd; on every side silver shekels rolling and lying, no one daring to pick them up, as men, women and children fled before Him. No need for Him to use the scourge. It was the Divine indignation of His eye that drove them forward. His disciples remembered that it was written : " The zeal of Thy House hath eaten Me up." Yet, even in His zeal He was kind.

Whilst scourge in hand He drove the beasts, He stayed His hand before the caged doves. The timid, gentle things He would not frighten. He only said to those who sold them: "Take these things hence." At length He stopped and again looked round. The vast enclosure was deserted, but what a scene it presented! tables, stalls, benches, overturned and, lying all about, the silver coins that will be picked up quickly when the crowd recovers itself and returns. Already a party of Jews are advancing to call the Nazarene to account for causing this disturbance. They keep close together, and the spokesman, trying to show a bold front, asks:

"What sign dost Thou show unto us, seeing Thou dost these things?"

"Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will build it up!' Jesus replies. They are indignant and say :

"Six and forty years was this Temple in building, and wilt Thou raise it up in three days ?"

But He spoke of the Temple of His body. The people of the East express themselves constantly in figurative language. They explain things difficult to understand by likening them to things which are well known, which can be seen or heard or felt. And they are quick to perceive the hidden meaning intended. By David's words : " The Lord is my rock," they understand that God is strong and will support and shelter us. From those other words: "The Lord is my Shepherd," they see that He is tender to us and takes care of us. A temple is built for the service of God and contains what is holy. The sacred body of our Lord was a beautiful shrine for the Divinity which dwelt within. Thus, when our Lord spoke of a Temple that was to be destroyed and raised up in three days, it was not difficult for them to know that He was speaking of His body. That they did understand this we know from the fact that when they had destroyed this Temple by putting Him to death, they went to Pilate and asked for soldiers to guard the sepulchre where He was buried until the third day, because He had said He would rise again. Of His disciples too we are told that "when He was risen again from the dead they remembered that He had said this, and they believed the word that Jesus had said." It was our Lord's custom to teach by means of figures and parables, because He knew that we all like a story, and that lessons in this form are more easily and pleasantly learned.

The purifying of the Temple Court was not the only proof of His Divine Power which our Blessed Lord gave at this Pasch, " for many believed in Him seeing the signs which He did."
A sign is something we see which makes known to us something we do not see. A high temperature is a sign of fever; smoke, of a fire. We might have thought that the wonderful deed of power in clearing the Temple would have been taken by the Jews as a sign that our Lord was some holy one of God, perhaps the Holy One whom all men were expecting. John the Baptist had told them that He was in the midst of them, and had pointed out our Blessed Lord as the Lamb of God. A Voice from Heaven at His Baptism had declared Him to be the Son of God. We should have thought that when a Man appeared showing "signs" there would have been rejoicing from one end of the land to the other, and that all men would be saying:

"Here, perhaps, is the Messiah !"

Some did believe in Him "seeing the signs which He did." But others, as we have seen, came round Him asking in a carping spirit: "What sign dost Thou show unto us?" They were always asking for signs and always shutting their eyes to those which God gave them. At this first Pasch began the series of splendid miracles which for three years were to make Palestine a Land of wonders, miracles wrought with generous hand to supply every need, to cure every disease and every infirmity. And the reward of Him who thus went about doing good would be to see His enemies multiplied and to hear them saying with evergrowing blindness and obstinacy: "By what authority dost Thou do these things? and who hath given Thee this authority ?"

The cleansing of the Temple was an act of authority which the Jewish leaders never forgave. From this time we find priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, usually so opposed to each other, united by a common hatred of Christ. They laid snares for Him to catch Him in His speech, they were always trying to set the people against Him, they said His wonderful works were done by the power of the devil, they charged Him continually with breaking the Sabbath and blaspheming against God. Yet not all were so perverse. Some among them were simple and upright souls, ready to see what God was showing them. One of these was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a rich man and a ruler of the Jews, that is the president of a synagogue. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him:

"Rabbi, we know Thou art come a Teacher from God, for no man can do these signs which Thou dost unless God be with him."

He came by night, for, although he half believed in our Lord and wanted to be taught by Him, he was afraid of what men might say. It would never do to have it noised abroad that a member of the Sanhedrin, "a master in Israel was going for instructions to this new Teacher, the Son of a carpenter. Nicodemus did not want to be the talk of the city, and so he went by night. We can see him making his way through the deserted streets, and guided by the lamp burning in the guest-chamber on the roof, reaching it by the outside stair. Our Lord did not reproach him or think it waste of time to instruct so timid a disciple. But He received him kindly and was patient with him, and answered all his difficulties. It was to Nicodemus He taught the necessity of Baptism for salvation in the words we have in our Catechism: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It was to him He first spoke of His coming death on the Cross: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." And it was to this earnest but timorous soul that He spoke of the incomprehensible love of God to us in giving us His Son : " For God so loved the world as to give His Only-Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have Life Everlasting."

The graces of that night so enlightened Nicodemus that he became our Lord's faithful disciple. But it was still in secret. We do not find him mingling in the crowd. Once only, overcoming his timidity, he defended his Master before the Sanhedrin. And that good Master had patience with him as He had patience with us all. He thinks, not so much of what we are as of what we desire to be, of what we shall be some day. And so He waits for us.

A day came when, hanging on the cross of shame, lay the lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth. His own people had delivered Him up to death. He had been be-trayed by one apostle, denied by another, forsaken by all. His Mother stood beside the dead body of her Son. She had no friend to take Him down from the cross, to give Him a grave, to help her to bury Him. She looked around. Two men of noble bearing were coming towards her, two who had been disciples of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. The Jews were triumphant now. They had tortured Him to death, they had called down His blood upon themselves and upon their children, they hated His Name and all that were His. The two men drew near. They brought myrrh and aloes and linen cloths. And, whilst His Apostles were hiding and His enemies were rejoicing, they reverently took down the sacred body from the cross and bound it in linen cloths with spices, and laid it in a new sepulchre in a garden. And one of them was Nicodemus.

A printable file of this chapter as well as a coloring page can be found below.

                                                  Clear silver water in a cup of gold,
                                                  Under the sunlit steeps of Gadara,
                                         It shines—His Lake—the Sea of Chinnereth-
                                  The waves He loved, the waves that kissed His feet
                                            So many blessed days. Oh, happy waves!
                                               Oh, little silver, happy Sea, far-famed,
                                                  Under the sunlit steeps of Gadara !


And now they were in Galilee, our Lord and His five disciples, six if we count Nathaniel.
Let us try to see the place where the greater part of the Public Life was spent, which was the home of those who after Peter were to be the foundation stones of the Church. It must be dear to us for their sake, and much more for His who is our Master as well as theirs.

The Sea of Galilee, or of Tiberias, or the Lake of Gennesareth, is a pear-shaped sheet of water, fourteen miles long and six broad in its widest part. In our Lord's time it was a scene of wonderful beauty. Its deep blue waters were crossed and recrossed by boats of many shapes and sizes. There were heavily laden barges bearing the costly merchandise of the East to the custom-house on the shore; there were pleasure skiffs darting here and there with gay parties bound for one or other of the handsome Roman villas by the Lakeside; and there were fishing smacks in hundreds, some with nets lowered for a draught, others bringing home the fruits of the night's haul. The white beach showed boats being unladen, children looking on as the silvery load was landed and sorted, men and boys mending their nets on the strand or stretching them out to dry.

Dotted all about were the cottages of the fishermen, and, coming down almost to the water's edge, glowed rich, waving cornfields and flowers of every hue. In the Jordan valley, where, sheltered from the winds, the vegetation was tropical, the sugarcane flourished, and palm trees with their feathery foliage. Higher up grew figs, almonds, olives. Higher still, walnut, oaks, apple trees, each of these needing its own kind of soil and temperature, yet all at home here. Here, too, were the richest and busiest cities of Galilee—Tiberias, Magdala, Bethsaida, Capharnaum, Chorazin. Behind them soared the solemn mountains framing the beautiful picture.

Very different was the country to the east of the Lake. The mountains rise steeply from the shore, and it was difficult to land except in a few places. Owing to the winds that rush between them from the colder heights beyond, the Lake was subject to sudden and dangerous storms. All around lay a wild and desolate region, desert or grassy plain, or rocky highland, with none of the life and stir and busy population of the district to
the west.

Dear Sea of Galilee! We love it for His sake who crossed it in Peter's boat, and spoke to its angry waves, and walked upon them to come to the help of His disciples. Here He sat with them on the shingly beach; here He taught and healed and comforted all who came to Him. Up yonder are the bleak mountains to the east which He so often climbed with weary feet, there to spend the night alone in prayer.

How glad Mary must have been to welcome her Divine Son back to Galilee! She was waiting for Him at Carta, a little town five miles north-east of Nazareth, for there was to be a marriage there and they were both invited. It seems likely that the bridegroom and the bride were her relations and that she had something to do with the arrangements for the feast.

Jewish weddings took place in the evening, and it was often dark when the bridal procession, the grandest part of the ceremony, started. Attired in a white and gold-embroidered robe, veiled from head to foot, and with a crown of myrtle on her head, the bride awaited at the door of her father's house the coming of the bridegroom. Waiting and watching with her were ten virgins, her companions carrying lamps. At last
a cry was heard: "Behold the bridegroom cometh!" He came with ten youths, his friends, and taking his bride by the hand led her forth. The whole family then formed in procession, and by the light of the torches, with the music of flute and tambourine, and
with joyous shouts and song, the bridal pair were escorted to their home, where a great feast was prepared.

These two at Cana were of humble rank and poor. And our Lord had brought His disciples with Him. Perhaps this was the reason why the wine ran short. Mary's quick eye saw the mishap at once, and her motherly heart felt for the confusion of the young couple. Accustomed to take every trouble to her Son, and to be granted all she asked, she went to Him and whispered:

"They have no wine."

"Woman," He answered, " what is it to Me and to thee? My hour is not yet come."

To our ears these words sound strange, but to Eastern ears they would not. "Woman" was a title of reverence, and "what is it to Me and to thee?" meant: "It is no concern of ours that the wine has failed ; the time for Me to work miracles has not yet come." There are some who think that our Lord was displeased with His Blessed Mother for telling Him of the need. They do not consider what Jesus and Mary were to each other; how for thirty years they had lived together under the same roof, she using her authority over Him as His Mother, though always with the profoundest reverence, He showing her the honour and giving her the obedience of a Son. Did she not know Him better than any other has ever done, and know what pleased and what displeased Him? And who understand best the meaning of words? Is it not those who saw the speaker, heard the tones, noticed the actions? Nothing that Jesus said or did was lost on Mary. Did she think He was displeased? On the contrary, as if He had told her beforehand what she was to do, she turned to the waiters and said:

"Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye."

Now there were set there six water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews. They were very particular to wash their hands before and after eating, and wherever a meal was provided there was always plenty of water for washing. The water-pots contained two or three measures, or about seven and a half gallons apiece. Jesus said to the waiters:

"Fill the water-pots with water."  And they filled them to the brim. Then He said: "Draw out now and carry to the chief steward of the feast."

This was usually a friend of the bridegroom's appointed to preside and give directions to the servants. He had to taste the wine before it was served to the guests. The waiters said nothing to the steward, but watched him as he raised the cup to his lips. When he had tasted he put the cup down, and, surprised that poor people could afford to have such wine, and that they should have kept it to the end of the feast, he called the bridegroom and said playfully: "Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine till now." But the faces of the servants showed that something extraordinary had taken place. They were questioned and told their tale again and again, and what had happened under that humble roof was soon spread far and wide.

About a hundred and twenty gallons of water had been changed into the purest wine. Why? Because Mary had asked? ~No, she had asked nothing. And the time for working signs and miracles had not yet come. Our Lord expressly said so. Why then did He work this wonderful miracle ? Because He wanted us to know that whatever His Mother desires He will grant, and that for her dear sake He is ready to hasten His hours of mercy to us. He knew the wine had failed. He meant to give more, but He waited for her to speak that the gift might be hers as well as His. He wanted to teach us also by His Blessed Mother's example not to be discouraged if He seems to be displeased with us, and to show us that our little troubles are no concern of His. It is only seeming. Everything that touches us interests Him and His holy Mother. They think for us before we think for ourselves. They feel for us, not in big troubles only, but in the least little annoyances and inconveniences. And they are always ready to help.

Our Lord went to this feast, then, on purpose to show honour to His Mother. He went also to bless that marriage union which He was soon to raise to the dignity of a Sacrament, and to bless all innocent joy and merrymaking. He was pleased to see the brightness all round Him at Cana, and He likes to see us, too, happy and gay.

There was still another reason for the miracle. St. John, who was present and gives us the account, says:

"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and He manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him."

Day by day the disciples were growing in the knowledge of their Divine Master. From His words to Peter and to Nathaniel they had seen that He could read the future and the secrets of hearts. This splendid miracle at Cana showed that He had power over Nature. Their reverence as well as their love was deepening continually. St. John speaks particularly of the way in which this miracle increased their faith—as well it might. The other Evangelists tell us later of another and still greater miracle than this of Cana, a more stupendous change, and one that was to be wrought not once only, but thousands of times daily, all the world over, wherever Holy Mass is said by a Catholic priest.

The thought of Cana helped the disciples when our Lord first spoke to them at Capharnaum of the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, and when at the Last Supper He changed the bread and wine into His most sacred Body and Blood. And it helps us too who live so long after Him, but believe in Him as firmly as did His first disciples, and cry out to Him with Nathaniel:

"Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God!"
A printable file of this chapter is available below.

 We must go back to our Lord whom we left in the desert surrounded by Angels.

Coming down the mountain side He made His way again to the bank of the Jordan where John was still preaching and baptising. The crowds were greater than ever and more enthusiastic. John, they said, was either Christ or Elias who was to announce His Coming. At last the great Council of the nation, called the Sanhedrin, determined to find out the truth. They therefore sent messengers to the Baptist to ask him:

"Who art thou ?"
"I am not the Christ," he said.
"What, then; art thou Elias ?"
"I am not," he replied.
"Art thou the Prophet ? " He answered: " No."
"Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us ?"

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaias said." And they asked him :

"Why then dost thou baptize if thou be not Christ nor Elias nor the Prophet?"

John answered them saying : "I baptize in water, but there hath stood One in the midst of you whom you know not. The same is He that shall come after Me, who is preferred before Me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose." If we want to see a perfect servant of God, we have only to look at St. John. For months the stream of people, rich and poor, learned and simple, had been coming and going; his name was in every mouth, everyone wanted to see him, hear him, show him reverence. But he cared nothing for all this homage. His one thought was his Master, to turn the minds of the people from himself and fix them upon Him, to hand over his own disciples to Him at the first opportunity. This came at last.

One day he saw Jesus coming towards him. Turning to those who stood about, he said:
"Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world, this is the Son of God."

The next day he was standing with two of his disciples when Jesus passed by: "Behold the Lamb of God," he said again, as he pointed Him out to them. Everyone is attracted by a lamb. St. John wanted to draw the hearts of his disciples to Jesus, so he called Him by this name. Yet not  "Lamb" only, but "Lamb of God," for they must know who He was, and worship as well as love Him. "Behold the Lamb of God !" The priest says these words to us just before Holy Communion, that we may not be frightened of Him who comes to us, and on the other hand that he may not thoughtlessly forget how great and holy Life is. In every Mass, at the end of every litany, the Church calls upon our Lord by this beautiful name of His, "the Lamb of God." He has many names, and among them some are His favourite the Holy Name, " JESUS," that is Saviour, " Jesus of Nazareth," "Son of David," "the Lamb." It is by this last name that St. John the Evangelist callsHim when he sees Him in His glory. He tells us that he saw " a great multitude whom no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the Throne of God and in sight of the Lamb," to show us what a happiness it is to be where we can see face to face and to our heart's content our dear and gentle Lord. Among these blessed ones he saw some specially favoured " who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."

It was these words : "Behold the Lamb of God," that won the hearts of the disciples. They looked earnestly, and drawn they knew not how, followed Him. He turned and, seeing them following, said graciously:
"What seek you ?"
" Rabbi, where dwellest Thou ? " they answered timidly, not knowing what else to say.
"Come and see," He replied.
They followed Him joyfully now, and He took them to a little hut or shelter He had on the river bank. It was about four in the afternoon, "and they stayed with Him that day," says one of them who has left us the account. This one was John the Evangelist, called later "the Disciple whom Jesus loved." The other was Andrew, a fisherman who lived on the shore of the Lake of Genesareth.

It seems that they stayed with our Lord not only the rest of that day but the following night. What they said to Him and He to them we are not told, but when day was come and they took their leave, our Lord had gained His first two disciples, the oldest and the youngest of the Twelve Apostles. From what they had seen and heard they were quite sure that this was He who was come, and they went off at once to tell their brothers.
Andrew found his first:

"We have found the Messiah ! " he exclaimed joyfully. And he brought him to Jesus. St. John seems to have been present at the interview, for he tells us very carefully what happened. Jesus, looking upon the newcomer, said:

"Thou art Simon, the son of Jona, thou shalt be called Cephas" (which is, interpreted, Peter).
Well might our Lord look earnestly upon that weather-beaten, eager face, all aglow with expectation. Here was His first Vicar upon earth, the Rock on which He was to build His Church. He looked, and thought of all He was to be to Peter and Peter to Him, of the long line of successors this Galilean fisherman was to have, of all they would gather into their net and land safely on the eternal Shore.

Those who heard these words of our Lord must have been startled. A Jewish name was not given lightly as ours often are, for the sake of the sound, or because one of the family has borne it before. It was intended to show the character or the calling of the person who
bore it. To change a name was to show a change of position or of office. It was an important act, and allowed only to the rulers among the Jews.

Now here was One who, on seeing this fisherman for the first time, not only told him his name and his father's, but changed his name from Simon, which means " Son of a dove," to Peter, which means " a Rock." Andrew and John looked at one another in astonishment. What such a change meant they could not tell, but they did not forget it. New disciples as they came in were told about it, and Peter at once came to be looked upon as the first and chief among them. The Evangelists, who have written the Gospel story, all name him first in their lists of the Apostles. He was not the oldest, not the first called, but he was "the Rock."

Simon, Andrew and John had like so many others left their homes in Galilee to come down to Judea that they might hear the preaching of John the Baptist. The fourth disciple, Philip of Bethsaida, was another Galilean fisherman. He came from the village of Simon and Andrew on the shore of the Lake. The day after His words to Peter our Lord was returning with His little company to Galilee when "He found Philip," says St. John. To the disciples this
meeting first with one then with another of them might seem to be chance. But there is no chance with God. Each of this chosen band was sought out by the Master, and at the right moment found. Looking on Philip He said to him: "Follow Me." Two words, but enough. Philip followed, and was so happy in the company of his new Master that he could not rest till he had made Him known to a friend of his named Nathaniel. Nathaniel was sitting alone
under a fig tree when Philip broke in upon his solitude exclaiming joyfully:

"We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets did speak, Jesus of Nazareth." "Of Nazareth." His little speech could scarcely have had a more unfortunate ending, the effect of the good news was spoilt completely. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"   Nathaniel replied coldly. "Come and see," was the answer. It took some persuasion, but at length the two were on their way to our Lord. When they had come up to Him He said in the hearing of Nathaniel: "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile." Nathaniel in amazement replied : "Whence knowest Thou me?" Jesus looking upon him said : " Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee."

The fig-tree was a long way off, and what had happened there we do not know. Perhaps Nathaniel had been praying to see the Messiah before he died, and be numbered amongst His followers. Any way there had been some act or thought which God alone could know. Who was this Stranger that in that secret place had seen him and read his heart ? Nathaniel was a man without guile, that is without cunning or deceit. He only wanted to know what was right, and seeing what a mistake he had made he owned it at once: "Rabbi," he exclaimed, "Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel." Jesus answered: " Because I said unto Thee: I saw thee under the fig-tree thou believest? greater things than these shalt thou see."
Many believed Nathaniel to be the same as St. Bartholomew the Apostle. "Bar" means "Son," "Bar-Tolmai " means " Son of Tolmai." The full name may have been Nathaniel Bar-Tolmai, just as we have Simon Bar-Jona. One reason for this belief is that in the lists of the Twelve Apostles Philip and Bartholomew are always put together.

When the people on the river banks looked around for the wonderful Stranger they could find Him nowhere. He had quietly left the place where He had been glorified, and, climbing the steep side of a mountain, had entered a lonely country full of barren rocks and gloomy caves, a region rugged and dreary beyond description. There He spent forty days and forty nights, neither eating nor drinking. The wild creatures of the wilderness were His only companions. The tortoise came out of its rocky hole, the lizard darted across His path as He walked. When evening fell He heard far off on the mountain side the jackal's mournful cry. Lions and leopards passed Him on their way to a stream, or came up and fixed their great, wondering eyes on Him as He knelt in prayer. He was their Lord and Master, and He was sinless—they did not harm Him.

After He had fasted forty days and forty nights the devil, who had been watching and suspecting, came to Him. He wanted to find out who this extraordinary man was. He knew that the time was at hand for His Coming who was to redeem the world and save us from sin and hell. Was this holy One the Redeemer, or only another of the prophets? If he was no more than man, He could be tempted and fall into sin like other men.

There are three desires which, unless resolutely checked lead people into sin—the desire of pleasure, such as the enjoyment of the body in eating and drinking; the desire of notice and admiration; the desire of riches, and of the comforts, power and importance that riches bring. We must bear in mind, however, that these three p's—pleasure, plenty and praise—are things not bad in themselves, nor is the moderate desire of them wrong.

What is bad is the immoderate desire, the reckless use of them simply because they are nice. The devil knows that we are inclined to rush after enjoyment for enjoyment's sake, so he uses these things as baits to catch and ruin us. Men, women, children, all are tempted, some by one bait, some by another, but no one escapes, the Saints least of all. They do not go to Heaven alone, but take many with them, hence the enemy of souls hates and fears them more than others. With what hate, then, did he look upon this Holy One who might be not a Saint only but the Saint of Saints and the Redeemer of men.

The forty days were over, and Jesus, who had been six weeks without food, was sitting worn and weak on a rock in the midst of the desolate country. Scattered around were great stones something in the shape of loaves. And the tempter coming said to Him:

"If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."

By these cunning words he meant to find out what he wanted so much to know, for God alone could change a stone into bread. But we wonder, perhaps, where the temptation was. Our Lord was very hungry and He was asked to change a stone, not into anything dainty but into bread. It was temptation because He was urged to satisfy His hunger before the time appointed by His Father, and to do this by a miracle. He had come into the world to suffer, not to use His divine power to escape suffering. His miracles were to be for others, not for Himself. And He had something far more important to do at that time than to provide for His bodily need. And so the answer came promptly:

"It is written; Man liveth not by bread alone but by every word of God."

He would suffer as long as His Father willed, and wait patiently till His Father should send relief. The devil had found out nothing and his temptation had been treated with contempt. But he had two more in reserve. He took our Lord into his loathsome grasp and bore Him away to the holy city, Jerusalem. There he set Him on one of the lofty pinnacles that overlooked the Temple Courts and said to Him:

"If Thou be the Son of God cast Thyself down, for it is written: that He hath given His Angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone." As if he would say:

"At the sight of Angels flocking round Thee to guard Thy sacred feet, the worshippers in the Courts below will fall prostrate before Thee and adore Thee as the Son of God." See how determined he is to get our Lord's secret from Him, how cunningly his tricks are devised, and how he can turn even holy words to his own purposes. Jesus answered calmly:

"It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Did He mean that He Himself was the Lord God? The crafty spirit could not tell; he was foiled again. But there was a third trial, he might succeed yet. The man, if he was only man, was very weary, very suffering, he might yield just to purchase peace. Again the devil took Him up into a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and said to Him:

"All these will I give Thee if falling down Thou wilt adore me."

"Begone, Satan ! for it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore and Him only shalt thou serve."

Like a thunderclap from a cloudless sky came those tremendous words. Jesus was weary even to exhaustion. But when His Father's honour was assailed He spoke in words of power which terrified the coward that thought to take advantage of His weakness.

"Begone!" The Evil One quailed before Him and fled. And behold Angels came and ministered to Him.

They had been hovering near all through this marvelous scene, wondering and worshipping. And now in joyful throngs they offered Him their service, who, though so spent and suffering, they knew to be very God of very God. They brought Him refreshment in His hunger and thirst, and by their bright, beautiful forms gladdened His sight.

You will ask, perhaps, how our Lord could see from one mountain all the kingdoms of the world ? Or how it was that Satan, who is so clever and watchful, did not know from all that had gone before who He was?

Many people are asking nowadays how certain things we read in Holy Scriptures are possible, how they can be explained. These are two distinct questions, not two forms of the same. How things that we cannot understand are possible, should be no difficulty to us in these days of marvellous discoveries and inventions. A hundred years ago, wireless telegraphy, the X-rays, the cutting off of a man's leg without hurting him, would have been pronounced impossibilities had anyone predicted them, and any genius who should have made them facts would in the Middle Ages have run the danger of being treated as a wizard for his pains.

Wise folks are becoming very wary of declaring anything impossible. It is a thought to make us humble that we are perhaps only beginning in this twentieth century to find out the possibilities of this wonderful kingdom of Nature which is beneath us. It ought to make us ready to believe that in the spiritual world which is above us, there are multitudes of things which we cannot understand. We know from the testimony of our senses that the gramophone and chloroform are facts. But very few of us could give a satisfactory explanation of these marvels; knowledge and terms would alike fail us were we to try. Nay, for the same reasons we should hardly understand the explanation of an expert, even were he to do his best to be simple and clear by the use of our own familiar words.

What wonder, then, that we cannot comprehend those spiritual things which we can neither see, nor hear, nor touch, nor reach by any of our bodily senses! Even God Himself cannot make these things perfectly clear to us now; we are too ignorant, and the words of our poor human speech are too weak to express the wonders that Angels understand perfectly, and that we shall understand some day. When God speaks to us in the Holy Scriptures He has to use our imperfect words to express His divine thought. He is like a father who in answer to his children's questions tries to put some grand astronomical fact into their childish language. We are all children now, and even the most learned must be content to say when it comes to the mysteries of faith:

"I know it is so, because God has said it. I do not know how it is, because of my ignorance. God cannot at present explain it to me. But I shall know some day, and meantime I can wait." But there are plenty of things which with a little thought we can understand quite well in Holy Scripture, and God means us to learn from the Life of our Blessed Lord all we can. This wonderful fact of His conflict with the devil was for our sakes, to teach us how to meet temptation. Our enemy is stronger than we are, but he has been completely conquered by our Leader, and this gives us an immense advantage over him. For a foe that has been beaten again and again comes on to the field in a very different spirit from one who has never known defeat. We have to fight the same enemy who fled in terror at our Lord's word

"Begone!" And our Lord stands beside us always. He encourages us to use His own word:

"Begone, Satan!" and promises us victory if we only ask Him for it and do our best. He has taught us by His own example that temptations are not sins; that we are not to be surprised or frightened when temptation comes; and even if it comes again and again and in different shapes we are to meet it calmly and patiently, trusting in His strength whose soldiers we are.
A printable file of this chapter as well as a coloring picture can be found below: