LECTURES.

LECTURE I.

WATER MADE WINE.

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew ;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.-JOHN ii. 1-11.

I HAVE undertaken this series of lectures, on the miracles wrought by our Lord. Each of these is full of instruction. I have selected the present, because it is the first, and not on any other ground, or because of any peculiar appropriateness in it.

I will preface each of my lectures by some introductory remarks on some branch of the evidence that may be adduced from the miracles. In my first I will give a brief

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exposition of what is meant by a miracle, and notice how a miracle is defined and designated throughout the word of God.

There are three great expressions by which miracles are designated-the first, a "miracle," or "wonder;" the second, a "sign;" and the third, a "power." Very often our translation renders the same original word, dóvaμstę, in the plural-works, powers, miracles; but this is a rather loose way of translating it: each word is perfectly clear and well defined, wherever it is employed. The first epithet is that of "wonder." This presents the miracle in one of its aspects, but in its weakest and poorest aspect, and implies simply the impression which the performance of a miracle may make upon the senses of him that sees it. It merely implies that, by the act just witnessed, wonder, awe, amazement is created; all that it is designed in this character to do is to break the slumber of the senses, to disturb the continuity of apathy, and to rouse man to a perception of a presence greater and mightier than himself. Hence, the very first result of the performance of a miracle is, the arrest of the attention, the awakening of the thought of those that are present, and in the midst of whom the miracle is done.

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The second name given to a miracle is a higher and more expressive one-a "sign." All signs are not miracles, but all miracles are signs. A sign means a substance. Wherever we say there is sign, we imply that there is something that is signified. When, therefore, a miracle is performed, it is, in this light, a sign of the presence of God As a wonder, it startles; as a sign, it teaches; the one strikes, the other speaks; and hence, a miracle is not only startling to the senses, but it is significant and instructive to the mind: in other words, it not only creates awe, amazement, arrest, but it conveys meaning and instruction, the

chiefest point of which is, that men may here trace the finger, the foot-prints, and the marks of Deity.

The third name by which a miracle is known in Scripture is, a "power." The word is sometimes rendered "works," sometimes "mighty works," and sometimes it is rendered "powers;" and it is so called because a miracle is the manifestation of power; not necessarily of a greater power than is already manifested in creation, as I shall explain, but the manifestation of that power in a new formula, in an unexpected shape, in a way in which we have not seen it so manifested before, and which, therefore, is more completely fitted to arrest the mind.

Let me show you how these three names can be applied to the miracle which I have now read. First, I said a miracle is called a wonder. At the tenth verse of this chapter, we read of the sense of wonder in the mind of the chief person at the feast. "And he saith, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." "There is some mysterious change," he says; "this is a new phenomenon; I am astonished, surprised; something more than usual is here." The "power" of the miracle was felt when that which was water blushed into wine, as the Lord looked upon it. The miracle was also a "sign," for it was so full a manifestation of the glory of Jesus, that it is said, "His disciples believed on him." You have thus the three characteristics of a miracle embodied in that, the account of which I have now read.

Now a miracle itself is not a mere action, or a mere operation of nature, and yet it need not imply any more power than is already put forth in creation. For instance, in casting a handful of wheat into the soil, and making it grow up till it produces two or three bushels, there is as

much power of God manifested as there is in making a few loaves grow into a few thousand. There is the same power exerted in making a seed cast into the soil grow up into many seeds, as there is in making one loaf grow into many loaves. The difference between what we call a natural thing and what God pronounces a miraculous thing, is not so much the extent of power that is manifested, as the manner of the manifestation of that power. Thus we read in the Epistle to the Romans, that the invisible things of God" are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." So that all creation, we are told, in its action, as clearly intimates and proves the power of God, as any miracle, strictly and properly so called, could prove it. But where is the difference, you ask, between a miracle and the natural laws, as they are called, or operations of nature? I answer, one difference arises from the new and strange formula, shape, mode, or manner in which that power is put forth. Another difference arises from the fact, that the miracle of the seed cast into the earth growing into many bushels, is a miracle occurring every year, and witnessed by every individual upon earth; but the miracle of one loaf being multiplied into ten, twelve, or twenty, is a thing that occurred only once, and was witnessed by a few; and to that few only, and by their testimony to others, is that miracle addressed. The water coming from the clouds, and descending from springs and rocks, proves abundantly the power of God. That the ocean should be a mighty cistern, that the sand and the rocks of the earth should constitute so many perfect filters, that the water should be constantly supplied through these for us to drink, that the steam which evaporates from the sea should shape itself into clouds, and meeting with cold currents of air, should become condensed, and fall in the

shape of prolific and fertilizing showers; all this is an evidence of the power of God-as great evidence of that power as one could possibly have. But the water turned into wine is not, as I have said, the manifestation of a greater power, but it is the manifestation of the same power, relieving the monotony which has dulled the impressiveness of the former; lifting, as it were, the vail behind which God works, enabling us to see, not dead laws which the philosopher owns, but a living hand put forth on the springs of nature, controlling, originating, and creating all. Thus, then, the water from the clouds, falling upon the soil, ascending the trunk of the vine, and ultimately issuing in grapes, and those grapes passing into wine, is one process, and in every stage of this process God's power is manifested; but when God turns water into wine, all that he does differently is to shorten the process. The ordinary process is, that the water in the sea should rise. into the cloud, then fall from the cloud in copious showers, give refreshment to the vine and fertility to the earth, develop itself in sap, in blossom, in grapes, in fermentation, in wine-this is the long process; the short process is, the water turning into wine at Christ's word; but it is equally Christ in both; it is equally divine power in both; only we have got so accustomed to the long process, that we say it is the natural thing, and are so little accustomed to the short process, that the senses are startled and the mind is awakened. The difference is here too-that in the one case we see a succession of continuous causes, and in the other we see the actor come forth himself, lay aside the machinery by which he has acted heretofore, and in one word say, "Let this water be wine;" and, recognising its Creator and its God, it becomes so.

In the next place, a miracle is not, as some have tried to show, contrary to nature. Never accept this definition of