CHAPTER XII.

NATHANAEL.-THE MIRACLE AT CANA.

ON the return of Jesus from the scene of his temptation to that of his baptism, on his way to Galilee, occurred the interview with Nathanael, thus related in the Gospel of John:

"The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.' Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' And Nathanael said unto him, 'Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?' Philip saith unto him, 'Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, 'Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!' Nathanael saith unto him, 'Whence knowest thou me?' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.' Nathanael answered and saith

unto him, 'Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.' Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.' And he saith unto him, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'"

Nathanael was convinced that Jesus was the Christ. So it appears here. And it is to be noticed as a harmony, that we find him a believer at the end of the Gospel. It is there mentioned, that, "After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee." Cana was but a short distance from the Sea of Tiberias. The geographical coincidence is observable.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he bestowed a eulogium upon him, extraordinary as proceeding from a perfect stranger; and that Jesus was a stranger to him is the full appearance of the fact, as confirmed by Nathanael himself. Surprised at this encomium, implying as it did that the Saviour had been previously acquainted with him, Nathanael replies "Whence knowest :thou me ?" The

encomium was this: this:-"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" And what I now particularly notice is its striking pertinency and justness. Notwithstanding the strong prejudice evinced in the question, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" we see that our Lord spoke truly the real character of the man. For this prejudiced Jew had frankness and candor enough, it appears, to be willing to examine and test the correctness of his unfavorable impressions by a personal visit to Christ. Nor is this all. No sooner does Christ present merely a single proof of his supernatural powers, by informing him that he saw him under the fig-tree before Philip called him, than this simple-minded Hebrew surrenders all his scruples and declares himself convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.

But the incident is of less importance, perhaps, than the noble lesson to be derived from it, that men may embrace the most erroneous views in respect to Christ,-and, by parity of reason, on any other subject, and yet be entitled to the praise of integrity, so long as they are desirous of ascertaining the truth, and use all the means for this purpose in their power.

After his interview with Nathanael, Jesus went to Cana of Galilee, where he attended

a marriage-feast, and performed his first miracle. The host seems to have been a person of humble condition: so we should infer from the fact that Jesus' mother and disciples were invited; and this inference harmonizes with the circumstance, that in the midst of the entertainment there was found to be a deficiency of a principal article generally provided at such festivities. Says the mother of Jesus to him, They have no wine." This would have been likely to happen only at a feast given by a person of moderate means. It was the

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natural prompting of female sensibility for the mother to apprise her son of the unpleasant situation of their friends occasioned by this deficiency, especially if she had any mysterious impression of his ability to extricate them from their embarrassment. In all difficulties, we instinctively turn to the person present who is supposed to be most able and disposed to remove them; and the application is apt to be brief and simple in proportion to the confidence reposed in his ability and benevolence. So it was in the present instance. Mary informed Jesus in the fewest possible words of the existing state of things, and then left it to him to relieve the necessities of their host as he might see fit.

It is mentioned that "there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of

the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, 'Fill the water-pots 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.'" The historian himself was probably present. There could have been no illusion. There was no room for mistake as to the conversion of the contents large vessels from water into wine.

of six

Among the minor coincidences in this relation, one is thus remarked upon by the Rev. J. J. Blunt, Margaret Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, England :-"There appears to me to be in this passage ['Fill the water-pots with water'] an undesigned coincidence,—very slight and trivial, indeed, in its character, but not on that account less valuable as a mark of truth. These water-pots had to be filled before Jesus could perform the miracle. It follows, therefore, that they had been emptied of their con