12. ¶ Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison he departed into Galilee; 13. And leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim : 14. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15. The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. "Those holy fields Over whose acres walked those blessed feet For our advantage on the bitter cross."-Shakespeare. 12. JESUS.-On the appearance of Jesus see Farrar's "Life of Christ in Art," 67-95: "It is absolutely certain that the world and the church have lost forever all vestige of trustworthy tradition concerning the aspect of Jesus on earth." And it is well. While he must have been attractive, winning, prepossessing, yet we remember that Socrates was winning, and yet had a most homely face; and Paul was winning, and yet his bodily presence was weak. "The popular conception of Christ in the early church was of the strong, the joyous youth, of eternal growth, of immortal grace." "During the first 400 years there is probably no representation of Christ as bearded, or as a weary and worn sufferer." They thought of him as glorified, as seen by Paul at his conversion, or by John on Patmos. 16. "THE PEOPLE WHICH SAT.—(ó кaðhuɛvos). The article with the participle signifying something characteristic or habitual: the people whose characteristic it was to sit in darkness. This thought is emphasized by repetition in a stronger form; sitting in the region of the shadow of death. Death is personified. This land whose inhabitants are spiritually dead belongs to Death, as the realm of his government."-M. R. Vincent, in Word Studies. SAW A GREAT LIGHT.-Jesus does for man what the light of the sun does for the world. "Every tree, plant and flower grows and flourishes by the grace and bounty of the sun. Leaving out of account the eruptions of Dec. A.D. 27 ΤΟ Oct. A.D. 29. volcanoes and the ebb and flow of the tides, every mechanical action on the earth's surface, every manifestation of power, organic and inorganic, vital and physical, is produced by the sun. Every fire that burns, and every flame that glows, dispenses light and heat which originally belonged to the sun. The sun digs the ore from our mines, he rolls the iron, he rivets the plates, he boils the water, he draws the train. Thunder and lightning are also his transmuted strength. this is not poetry, but rigid, mechanical truth. Look at the integrated energies of the world. What are they? y? They are all generated by a portion of the sun's energy, which does not amount to one two-thousand-three-hundred-millionth of the whole."-Prof. Tyndall. And remember The Work of the Sun. Aristotle. ARISTOTLE, in one of his works, fancies the feelings of one who, having lived in darkness all his life, should for the first time behold the rising of the sun. He might have had some idea of the world from the light of candles or of moon and stars; but when the sun rose, what new glories would burst on his vision! A Fancy of how much more beautiful, more perfect, far-reaching than he could have conceived! The dangers, too, would be shown in clearer light, as well as the safe roads. Like this was the coming of Christ to the world, "a dayspring from on high." Like this is the receiving of Christ into our souls. THE same truth may be illustrated by the children of those sent by the Russian Government to the mines of Siberia, and who, once entering the depths, never again come up to the light. Children are born in those mines, and live for years, the Mines. knowing no larger or brighter world than those torch Born in lit mines. Christ coming into our souls is like the bringing of one of these children out of his damp, dark, narrow mine into the fresh air and bright sun and beautiful fields and wide landscapes of the upper world. "I HAVE seen a picture that I used at one time to think a good deal of, but now that I have come to look at it more closely I would 17. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Picture of not put it in my house except I turned the face of it to the wall. It represents Christ standing at a door knocking, and Christ the having a big lantern in his hand. Why, you might as Light of well hang up a lantern to the sun as put one into Christ's the World. hand. He is the Sun of Righteousness, and it is our privilege to walk in the light of an unclouded sun."-D. L. Moody. "Christ announced himself as the Light of the World.' Not Holman Hunt's 'Light of the World,' who resembles a belated and forlorn traveler carrying a lantern, but one who had the light in him, and through whom it gleamed like the sun through a summer cloud. Plato lighted his age with gas; Christ lighted the world with the sun."-Parker. THE BARTHOLDI STATUE OF LIBERTY enlightening the world in New York harbor symbolizes the gospel which enlightens the world, and placed on the church for a pedestal, holds up Jesus to let all on the stormy sea of life see the light of the world and safely reach the desired haven. LIBRARY.-Dante's visit to the regions of the dead, and the contrast as he rose from the darkness, where "On our view the beautiful hills of heaven Dawned through a circular opening in the cave; Farrar's "Christ in Art," p. 33: "Few facts are more striking in the history of early Christianity than that its records are so largely borrowed from the dark, subterranean places where martyrs were buried, and the persecuted took refuge, yet all their emblems were emblems of gladness." 17. REPENT.-The first condition for a redeemed world is the redemption of the individual. The stones must be prepared before the temple can be built. If one would join a choir, he must learn to sing; if he would speak in a foreign tongue, he must learn the language. This is well illus trated by the touching story, "The Sister's Dream of Heaven," a five-cent tract, published by William Knowles, New York. REFERENCE. See on Repentance under iii. 2. REV. F. B. MEYER relates, in the Golden Rule, the following incident which took place at a Northfield summer conference, after he had been preaching in the morning: Dec. A.D. 27 ΤΟ Oct. A.D. 29. A year and a A BIRD'S-EYE "In the afternoon he appeared with a young apple-tree which he had uprooted from his garden, and commenced the following conversation with his brother, whom he had brought to the hall for the purpose, and who is a practical gardener: "Erecting the young apple-tree on the platform, and propping it up with one hand, he asked: "Would this stock produce apples?' "No; it is a young forest sapling.' 'How, then, did you get these apples?' "We ingrafted the slip of an apple-tree.' "How did you graft?' "We made the incision with the knife and inserted the applegraft.' "Well, what next?' "All the sap and strength of the sapling began to pour into the graft.' "Turning to me, Mr Moody said before all the people: "Is not that something like regeneration, when Christ comes into our heart and our life begins to flow through him?' "Questioning his brother again, he said: "Supposing there come shoots under the graft, would not they divert the strength of the tree?' "Certainly; they must be cut off.' 666 Supposing you cut them off once, will they come again?' "There is always a tendency to do so; but, for the most part, if you cut a shoot off three times in the same place, it will not trouble you again there, but the old stock will probably break out in another place lower down; and, when you have thoroughly dealt with that, it will break out lower down again.' "Turning to me, Mr. Moody said: "Is not that like our old nature, perpetually striving to get the 18. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. mastery? There is nothing for it but to let the Holy Spirit deal with it, and his dealing always means crucifixion.' 'No one will ever forget the lesson of that afternoon." LIBRARY.-Shakespeare's "Hamlet," the soliloquy of the King of Denmark, beginning, "Oh, my offence is rank," Act III., Scene 3. 17. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.-The ordinary great seal of the United States is commonly seen, but the design for the reverse side I have never seen, except on the outside of some of the postal cars and in the encyclopædia. The design is an unfinished pyramid; over it is an eye symbolizing God's providence and the motto, “Annuit cæptis," "He favors what has been begun "; and underneath the motto, "Novus ordo seculorum," A new order of the Reverse ages." Much more may Christ's coming and the gospel of his kingdom be called, "a new order of the ages," and with him not only the individual man, but the world will be completed. PICTURES.-Christ and the Fisherman, Zimmermann. 18. BY THE SEA OF GALILEE. "Clear silver water in a cup of gold, 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!" "O Galilee, sweet Galilee, Where Jesus loved so much to be; O Galilee, blue Galilee, Come sing thy song again to me." SIMON CALLED PETER.-He was Simon when Christ first called him (John i. 42), and Peter was the prophetic name Jesus gave |