1

the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." It is remarkable that the wonderful works which our blessed Lord thus performed in the presence of John's disciples, were not only in themselves sufficient to establish his Divine Mission, and consequently the truth of his doctrines, but-—when compared with some of the most striking prophetic descriptions of the Messiah, and connected as they are on this occasion with his preaching the Gospel to the poor,-proved him to be that very Messiah who was promised to Israel, and whose coming was foretold by the prophets. These miracles then, and others which are more fully detailed, were of the greatest importance in these respects at the time when they were performed; and moreover, as permanently recorded in the writings of the Evangelists, they continue to shew that it is obligatory on those to whom his Word is sent, to receive his testimony, and cordially to embrace the doctrines which he delivered.

2. In the next place, it may be observed, that the miracles of our Lord were remarkable both for their number and for their variety. As to their number, there are more than fifty on record; and we know that many others were performed of which no detailed account has been left; according to the testimony of St. John, which, we can scarcely doubt, is, in point of fact, as applicable to the narratives of the other

1 Luke vii. 19-23.

Evangelists as to his own: Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book." Nor were the miracles which our blessed Saviour performed, less various than they were numerous. He healed the most obstinate and inveterate diseases; he gave strength to the infirm; he communicated or restored sight to the blind; he made the deaf to hear, and enabled the lame to walk; he cast out devils; he stilled the raging of the sea, and walked with composure even upon the agitated surface of the deep; he fed more than five thousand persons with five loaves and two fishes; and in three recorded instances he raised the dead, and fully restored them to life. Thus varied as well as multiplied were the mighty works which he was almost constantly employed in performing. But

3. It is of special importance that we should further observe, that the miracles of our Lord had all the characteristic marks of being genuine and indisputable. They were performed in the most public manner, and were open to the closest scrutiny. They were invariably successful: he never made an attempt in which he failed or was baffled in the smallest degree. It has been well and powerfully observed-" Christ never pronounced the word, but the effect followed. It was not a thousand sick that received his benediction, and a few that were benefited; a single paralytic is let down in his bed at Jesus's feet, in the midst of a surrounding multitude; Jesus bid him walk and he did so. A man with a withered hand is in the syna

gogue; Jesus bid him stretch forth his hand, in the presence of the assembly, and it was restored whole like the other.' There was nothing tentative in these cures; nothing that can be explained by the power of accident."1 So far Paley, to whose remarks thus quoted we may add, that with one or two exceptions, which were intentional, the effect immediately followed the means which our Lord adopted, or the words which he uttered. In some instances in which he healed the sick, the patient was present before him; in others, at a distance and removed from sight. In some cases he used an external application; in others he effected the cure without such application : but in every case the effect was full and permanent; not limited to partial relief, or temporary benefit; and leaving no room for the supposition of illusion or subterfuge. It is remarked by the same authority which we have just quoted," If a person born blind be restored to sight, a notorious cripple to the use of his limbs, or a dead man to life, here is a permanent effect produced by supernatural means. The change indeed was instantaneous, but the proof continues. The subject of the miracle remains. The man cured or restored is there; his former condition was known, and his present condition may be examined. This can by no possibility be resolved into false perception : and of this kind are by far the greater part of the miracles recorded in the New Testament:"2 and, we may add, especially of those performed by our Lord. These miracles too were well-attested. Twelve

1 Paley's Evidences-Part I. proposition 2. ch. 1.

Ibid.

individuals were almost constantly attendant upon our Lord, and saw the mighty works which he wrought; eleven of whom were employed in bearing testimony to the truth of what they had seen, after his ascension into glory. Not unfrequently, multitudes surrounded him, while he manifested his power. The circumstances, therefore, were such that those who witnessed the miracles, cannot reasonably be supposed to have been themselves deceived. The evidence of those miracles does not rest on solitary testimony: for many were present when they were performed, who afterwards united in declaring what had occurred while they were together. Every individual among them had the evidence of various senses corroborative of each other. They saw with their eyes-they heard with their ears all that passed between our Lord and those whom he relieved; and were distinctly sensible of many other wonders that occurred, such as a voice from heaven on more than one occasion bearing testimony to Jesus as the Son of God. Now those who have recorded these wonderful events could have no motive for so doing, but a thorough conviction both of their truth and of their importance: for instead of gaining any temporal advantage thereby, they exposed themselves to obloquy and privation, to persecution and death. The accounts themselves too, had they been false, would have been easily detected and refuted at the very time when they were propagated; and there were multitudes who would gladly have invalidated them, had it been possible so to do. The miracles of our Lord, however, were not controverted

in the first ages of Christianity; and the writingsin which they are recorded have been quoted by Christian authors in every age from that in which they were published to the present day.

These miracles derive further credit from the benevolence and compassion by which they were generally distinguished. They They "were wrought" as it has been very justly remarked, "for the most benevolent of all purposes, the alleviation of human misery in all its forms, and they carry in them the characters of the greatest goodness as well as of the greatest power. -Thus they appear to have all the marks of being genuine and indisputable.

4. We observe finally, that the miracles of our Lord wrought a lasting conviction in the minds of many of those in whose presence they were performed. Numbers immediately became his open and avowed followers, whose minds had before been under the influence of powerful prejudices against him and his doctrines, which were directly opposed to their carnal views and earthly expectations. Others appear to have been his disciples indeed,-but, for a season at least, secretly for fear of the Jews: and it is probable that many of these were added to the church immediately after the Pentecostal descent of the Holy Ghost according to the promise of our Lord. So extraordinary indeed in all their circumstances were the mighty works which our blessed Saviour throughout the whole period of his ministry exhibited, that all

1 Horne's Introduction to the Critical Study &c. of the Scriptures, vol. i. chap. iv. section ii. p. 258.