quarts, so that the vessels must have held altogether a very considerable quantity. All these vessels were, at the bidding of our Lord, filled with water, even up to the brim and then He bade the servants draw it out, and carry it to the governor of the feast. But it was no longer water, but wine, and that of so excellent a kind, that the governor of the feast supposed that the bridegroom had been purposely keeping his best wine till the last. But the supply was miraculous: it was the gift of Christ to His entertainers; a proof of His condescending sympathy in human happiness, and His care not merely for our wants but for our comforts. Above all it was an evidence of His divinity; a proof that He was the Son of God; and so His disciples considered it. The Evangelist says, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." They might now begin, with the eye of faith, to see heaven opening upon our Lord, as He had promised them: and may we too, with some degree of the same faith, trace in this interesting and wonderful story, both the glory and the benevolence of our gracious Lord! His power, and the condescending exercise of that power in acts of loving-kindness to His creatures! May we learn from it to trace all our comforts and blessings to Him, and His tender care for our welfare; to see His hand in them all; and with His first disciples, may we believe and trust in One so able and so willing to make us happy!

See John i. 29-51, ii. 1-11.

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TENTH SUNDAY EVENING.

PUBLIC OPENING OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY AT JERUSALEM.

M. Our last conversation, Edward, was respecting the marriage feast at Cana in Galilee; in which country our Lord began to collect His disciples, and where, for the confirmation of their faith, He wrought His first miracle. He had not, however, yet entered publicly upon His ministry. His proceedings in Galilee were so far it seems of a private nature: but after spending a few days with His relatives, among whom was His mother, and with His new disciples at Capernaum, a town which you will find near the lake of Gennesareth, or sea of Galilee, our Saviour went to Jerusalem. His chief object in going there was to keep the Passover, and there in the Temple at that solemn feast, when multitudes from all parts were met together, to begin publicly His great work as the Saviour of men. This was the first Passover after His baptism; and if we observe the Gospel history carefully, we shall find that He was present at every celebration of this sacred ordinance, after this, which occurred during His stay amongst men. For it became Him to fulfil all righteousness, and thus to set us an example of a strict observance of all institutions. ordained by God, and a diligent attendance in religious assemblies. His first public appearance among the Jews was in the Temple, and it was by His presence and preaching there, that "the glory of the latter house" was, as the prophet Haggai had fore

may

told, to exceed so much the "glory of the former." It had been said also, by another prophet, more than four hundred years before, "The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple, even the Messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner, and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." How remarkably the prophet's words were fulfilled to a certain extent on this occasion, you will now see. And first, let me point out to you how, in this visit which our Lord now made publicly to the Temple, His coming was "sudden" in the eyes of the Jews. His time had hitherto been spent almost entirely in Galilee; in Jerusalem He was very little known. There might remain some who, thirty years before, had heard the declarations of Simeon and Anna respecting Him; there might be others, who had witnessed His more than human wisdom in His conversation, whilst yet a child, with the doctors in the temple but eighteen years had passed, even since this last occurrence, and both events might now be well nigh forgotten even amongst those few who had happened to witness or hear of them.

E. But, Mamma, had not John the Baptist made our Saviour very publicly known, when He came to him to be baptized?

M. John indeed, on the banks of the Jordan, had borne a more public testimony to the Son of God;

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but our Lord's retirement immediately afterwards, first into the wilderness, and then into Galilee, had removed Him out of the sight, and probably out of the thoughts of the careless multitude. Most sudden, therefore, would His appearance be on this great occasion in the temple, where multitudes from all parts of the world were met together to keep the Paschal Feast. In the next place, He was come to fulfil the prophet's words further in a remarkable manner! He had said, "Who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth, for he shall sit as a refiner, and purify the sons of Levi." Accordingly the first work we find Him engaged in in the temple, is the purifying of it: yes, His first act was "to purify the sons of Levi," who ministered in the temple, from the unrighteous practices which they had introduced into the very house of God, that they might at least offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, and not one polluted with unholy gain.

E. I do not think I quite understand this, Mamma; I thought they were keeping the Passover; what then were they doing which our Lord did not like?

M. We read that "he found in the Temple those that sold oxen and sheep, and doves" to the people for offerings to the Lord. It seems to have been in one of the outer courts of the temple, called the court of the Gentiles, a place intended, you know, as a place of prayer, that this public market was held; the excuse for it was, that the people must otherwise with great labour and trouble have brought up their sacrifices with them; therefore the Levites or priests allowed these things to be sold in that hallowed spot, and required for the offerings such exorbitant prices, as

changed "the house of God into a den of thieves," where people were cheating and defrauding one another.

The priests might have deceived themselves or others, with the pretended excuse that this unbecoming use of the courts of the Lord was necessary; but there can never be a necessity for breaking any of God's commands, nor any reason, however fair at first sight it may seem, that can justify our departing from them. Most grievous and displeasing in the sight of our blessed Lord, was a scene like this! disgusting would such a sight have been to any sincere and pious worshipper, who had come up to the house of God with a mind prepared for its calm and holy services, and sad would it have been to be disturbed with such offensive sounds. What then must the Son of God have felt when He saw His Father's house so shamefully profaned? Filled with concern for His Father's glory, and with holy indignation at the open dishonour done to the worship of His name, He sent away these evil doers, not without an open manifestation of His displeasure: for "making a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the Temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables," "and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandize." Nor durst the offenders attempt any resistance; though Jesus stood alone and unknown among them, and they were many; and though the instrument of their correction was only "a scourge of small cords." As the prophet had said, they could not "abide the day of his coming; they could not stand when he appeared :”