Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

attractive, because of the rank of her who danced: it was Salome, the daughter of Herodias, who delighted Herod and his guests by her performance. So great was their satisfaction that Herod, in a moment of excitement, perhaps when he was under the influence of wine, promised her, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee; and with an oath he confirmed his promise, even though its fulfilment should cost him the half of his kingdom.

Salome seems to have been wholly in the power of her wicked mother and accordingly, before answering Herod, she sought her mother's advice as to the request which she should make. This was at once given; she was to ask the king, who had bound himself by so strict a promise, to fulfil it by giving her the head of John the Baptist in a charger [a large dish]. It was a ghastly and horrible boon for which she was bidden to ask, but woman though she was, she felt neither pity nor fear. Straightway, with haste, as if she was as eager and intent on the execution of the design as her mother herself could be, she came to the king and begged that the head of the Baptist might be given to her, in the same ghastly fashion which her mother had suggested.

Herod, we are told, was exceeding sorry; his regard and reverence for the Baptist made him most unwilling to take away his life; but he was one of the many who are brave towards God, while they are cowards towards their fellowmen-i.e., have no fear of offending God, and meriting His displeasure, while they do fear offending men and incurring their reproach. For his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat at meat with him, he would not refuse to fulfil his pledge; lest he should be taunted with cowardice, or reproached for wavering, he did that which his own conscience disapproved in putting the Baptist to death. The head was brought to Salome, and she herself carried the horrible trophy to her mother. Then the disciples of the Baptist, deprived of their master, showed such respect as they could for him by reverently burying his headless corpse, and came to Our Lord with the story of their master's martyrdom and their own loss.

St. John the Baptist furnishes us with a splendid example of one who boldly rebuked vice and patiently suffered for the truth's sake; while Herod's sin warns us of the peril of rash promises, and the fatal certainty with which one crime leads on to another. Herodias and Salome show us how cruel and unwomanly those become who forsake the paths of virtue.

Questions.-Who was Herod the tetrarch? [The king of Galilee, son of Herod the Great, who murdered the Holy Innocents at Bethlehem.] Why was he called the tetrarch? [Because he succeeded to a fourth part of his father's territory.] What great crime was committed by this Herod? [The murder of St. John the Baptist.] How had the Baptist first incurred Herod's

displeasure? [By rebuking him for his guilty connection with Herodias, his brother's wife.] What measures did Herod first take against John? [He put him into prison.] Where have we before heard of John's imprisonment? [It was from his prison that he sent messengers to Our Lord, with the question, Art Thou He that should come?-see Lesson 38.] Who wished Herod to adopt severer measures against John? [Herodias.] What prevented Herod from complying with her wishes? [The respect he had for the character of John, as a just and holy man.] How did he show his respect for him? [By holding frequent interviews with him in the prison, and doing many things in accordance with his advice.] How did Herodias at last gain her end? [Through a rash promise made by Herod to her daughter Salome.] What was this promise? [St. Mark vi. 23.] What induced Herod to make this promise? [The pleasure which Salome had furnished to himself and his guests by dancing before them.] What did Salome do when this promise was made to her? [She consulted her mother.] What was her mother's direction? [She bade her ask that John should be beheaded, and that his head should be brought to her on a dish.] How did Salome act? [She complied, apparently with gladness, with her mother's direction. How did the king receive her request? [He was exceeding sorry.] What induced him to grant it? [The publicity of his promise, and the fear of being thought to have been worse than his word.] What was accordingly done to John the Baptist? [vv. 27 and 28.]

What evidence did Herod give of conscience reproaching him for this deed? [When he heard of Our Lord's mighty works he said, It is John whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead.]

In what respects may we follow the example of St. John the Baptist? [By constantly speaking the truth, boldly rebuking vice, and, if need be, patiently suffering for the truth's sake.]

HYMN.

Hymns Ancient and Modern. No. 436.

'Hark! the sound of holy voices.'

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS.

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY
AFTER TRINITY.

THE RETURN OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES FROM THEIR MISSION.

THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND MEN.

'This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world.'

The Return of the Apostles.

Read St. Mark vi. 30-34. Compare St. Matt. xiv. 13, 14; St. Luke ix. 10, 11; and St. John, vi. 1-4.

Commentary and Explanation.We read in a former Lesson [No. 48] of the sending out of the Twelve Apostles, two by two, to preach the Gospel and work miracles in the Name of Jesus Christ. We read now of their return, after they had accomplished the task which was assigned to them by our Lord. It was a time of much bustle and excitement in the towns and villages of Galilee; there were many coming and going, probably on their way to Jerusalem, to keep the great Feast of the Passover, which St. John tells us was approaching. So great was the concourse of people, that Our Lord's disciples had no leisure so much as to eat. In loving consideration for their needs, He withdrew them from this scene of turmoil, and bade them come with Him to a quiet and retired place on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, where they might be refreshed by rest of body and prepared for such other work as He had for them to do.

St. Matthew connects Our Lord's retirement with the murder of St. John the Baptist, mentioning that it was when He heard of this that He withdrew to the eastern side of the lake. No doubt the loss of His faithful witness was the occasion of real grief to Him; and for this reason, as well as from regard for the needs of His disciples, He may have sought a little space of quiet and repose.

The place to which He withdrew was in the neighbourhood of the town of Bethsaida, on the north-east of the Sea of Galilee [a different place from the Bethsaida previously mentioned, the city of Andrew and Philip, which was on the western side of the lake]. To this place they crossed by ship privately-trying, that is, to elude the observation of the people-but the crowds perceived the direction which the boat had taken, and great

numbers made their way by land round the northern extremity of the lake, with such haste as to arrive at the place before Our Lord reached the shore. Thus Our Lord allowed His plan to be, as it seemed, defeated. He and His Apostles were deprived of the rest which they sought; * but this apparent defeat of His plan was no doubt designed by His Divine wisdom for the accomplishment of a wider plan of love and mercy. The people who thronged the shore were, in His sight, as sheep not having a shepherd. They were wandering aimlessly and hopelessly because they had none to guide them; and, moved with pity for their needs, He began to teach them many things.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand.

Read St. Mark vi. 35-44. Compare St. Matt. xiv. 15–21 ; St. Luke ix. 12-17; and St. John vi. 5-14.

Commentary and Explanation. As the day drew to an end, the disciples reminded Our Lord of the multitudes and of their needs. They were in a desert place, where there was neither food nor lodging for such a number, and they begged their Master to dismiss the crowd of followers, that they might seek lodging and food in the neighbouring villages. Our Lord's answer seemed a strange one. He said to His disciples, Give ye them to eat. It was so clearly impossible for them to do this, that the command must have been designed only to draw from them a confession of their inability. Must they, then, go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread?-must they expend a sum which was utterly beyond their slender means, in order to supply the needs of the people? Then Our Lord questioned them as to the provisions they had brought with them; they were but five loaves [or cakes] and two small fishes; and what would these. avail towards satisfying the hunger of five thousand men? But Our Lord confidently and calmly directed His disciples to make the men sit down. They were to be arranged in companies or sets of fifty each, and seated on the green grass, which grew abundantly in the place where they were assembled. Then Our Lord took the loaves and the fishes, and first looked up to heaven and blessed the little stock of food ['saying grace,' as we should call it, before the meal], and then He broke the loaves, and divided the fish, and gave them to His disciples to set before the multitude. And from this scanty stock-hardly sufficient,

*The change of scene and employment, and the physical labours which they were afterwards required to undertake during the storm on the Sea of Galilee, may have afforded them the relief necessary for their refreshment after the spiritual fatigue of their mission work though this was not the kind of rest they had probably anticipated.

we should think, to satisfy the barest requirements of Our Lord and His disciples-five thousand men were fed and satisfied, besides women and children. And, more than that, when Our Lord bade them gather up the fragments, in order that there might be no waste, they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained—far more, indeed, than the original store from which the people had been fed. No wonder that those who witnessed this amazing miracle should declare, 'This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world.'

It may be noticed that this is the only one of Our Lord's miracles which is recorded by all four evangelists. We might expect, therefore, to find in it many precious lessons. Some of these we may now gather up :

(i.) Observe Our Lord's compassion for man's needs. We noticed, in the former section, how Our Lord manifested a kindly consideration for His Apostles, wearied as they were by exhausting labours in preaching the Gospel. A like consideration is now shown by Him for the needs of the multitude: He cared for the wants of their souls by teaching them, and for the wants of their bodies by feeding them. His promise was fulfilled to them, and will be fulfilled to us, Seek ye first the Kingdom of GOD and His righteousness, and all these things (food and raiment and all things needful) shall be added unto you (St. Matt. vi. 33).

(ii.) Observe Our Lord's Divine power manifested in this miracle. It is the same power which works more slowly, yet not less wonderfully, in the operations of Nature, whereby the corn sown in the earth is multiplied sixty-fold, or a hundredfold, and so a store as scanty as that of the Apostles becomes sufficient to feed a great multitude.

(iii.) Our Lord looked up to heaven and blessed the food with which he was about to feed the people, and this is an example to us that we should never fail to ask a blessing' on our meal, before we partake of it: asking GOD to bless His gifts to our use, and us to His service, for Jesus Christ's sake. 'He that enjoys aught without thanksgiving is as though he robbed GOD.'

(iv.) After the multitude were satisfied Our Lord directed His disciples to gather up the fragments, that nothing should be lost, and in this He taught us a lesson of economy. Though He had infinite power, and could, whensoever He pleased, repeat a miracle to supply the wants of Himself and His disciples, yet He would not have a morsel of food, which was His heavenly Father's gift, wasted or misused.

(v.) The orderly arrangement of the multitude commanded by Our Lord may furnish us with a Divine example of orderliness in our work.

Questions.-What is the miracle of which we have been reading? Where was this miracle performed? [In the desert

« AnteriorContinuar »