"Granny's Chapters" Part 31

The Emperor only allowed the Jews to observe the forms of their own religion, on condition of their paying to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, one of the heathen deities, the tax hitherto paid by every Jew for the service of the Temple, or House of the Lord. Ever since Judaea had been made a Roman province, the Jews had been allowed to collect their own taxes: the annual tribute to the temple they looked upon as an offering to G.o.d, Whose subjects they were. The Emperor now, in their opinion, usurped the place of G.o.d; and this was a great affliction to the Jews; whilst the use to which the tax was to be put, and the severity exercised in collecting it, made these unhappy people feel it to be an intolerable disgrace and burden.

Vespasian died nine years after the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 79, and his son t.i.tus became Emperor. t.i.tus reigned for only two years, and was succeeded by his brother Domitian, A.D. 81.

We have reason to believe that only one of the Apostles was alive when t.i.tus took Jerusalem: this was St. John, the disciple "whom Jesus loved." As the Bible tells us nothing concerning this holy man, during the time that St. Paul was journeying about, we cannot be sure as to what he was doing; but he is supposed to have remained in his native land, and probably in Jerusalem itself, till he saw the city compa.s.sed by foreign soldiers, and beheld the other signs of its approaching ruin, as foretold by his Divine Master. Then it is believed, that St.

John travelled through Parthia, India, and Arabia; and also founded Churches at Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicia, and other places in Asia Minor; after which, he pa.s.sed some time at Ephesus. There is a story that he afterwards went to Rome, and was, by the order of Domitian, who persecuted the Christians most cruelly, thrown into a large vessel of boiling oil. But instead of dying in tortures, as was expected, the Lord preserved him, and he came out unhurt. We may well believe this story, though we cannot be quite sure that it is true. After this, Domitian banished the Apostle, now a very old man, to the island of Patmos, in the southern part of the Archipelago. At Patmos, the Lord sent St. John a most wonderful vision; and his account of it forms part of the New Testament, where it is called "The Revelation of St. John the Divine": it is also called the "Apocalypse." "Revelation" means some hidden secret thing made known. "Apocalypse" comes from a Greek word, meaning the same as Revelation.

The Apocalypse is a book of prophecies, revealing and foretelling in mysterious language, events which are to happen even to the end of the world. It is of course very difficult to understand any of the prophecies in this book, and quite impossible to do so perfectly; but like every other part of Scripture, it teaches men to be holy. In the first chapter of this book, St. John tells us himself, that this Revelation was made known to him in the isle of Patmos, to which he had been banished on account of his religion.

Domitian persecuted the Jews as well as the Christians; and great numbers of both were put to death by this tyrannical and wicked Emperor, who proposed to destroy all the descendants of David, lest any one of them should attempt to become king of Judaea. Some grandsons of the Apostle Jude, or Thaddeus, who was of the family of David, were brought before the Emperor; but on being asked concerning the kingdom of Christ, they declared that it was a spiritual, not a temporal kingdom; and as they were very poor, and could only by the hardest labour contrive to support themselves, and pay the tax demanded by the Romans, he spared them, as persons who were not to be feared. Some of the Jews, who had retired to Alexandria, had endeavoured to get up a disturbance there; but the Jews, who had long lived quietly in that city, fearful of the consequence of any revolt, gave up their seditious countrymen to the Romans, who put them to death: they were obstinate to the last, and even their children suffered the greatest tortures, rather than acknowledge the Roman Emperor to be their master. Such conduct, however mistaken it may have been, sets a good example to Christians in every age. These Jews believed that to submit to the Roman Emperor was contrary to their duty to G.o.d; and therefore they bore any sufferings rather than do it. Let us ever be ready and willing to suffer, rather than do anything which we believe to be contrary to our duty to G.o.d.

The Emperor Domitian, displeased with what had happened in Alexandria, ordered the temple which had been built in that city to be shut up; lest, under pretence of public worship, the Jews of that place should meet there and plot rebellion.

Domitian died A.D. 96, and was succeeded by Nerva, who immediately set St. John at liberty: the Apostle at once left Patmos, and went into Asia Minor, where he wrote the account of the wonderful Vision or Revelation made to him in that island. Very soon afterwards, St. John wrote the three Epistles called by his name.

The First of these Epistles is not addressed to any persons in particular; but was written to warn all Christians not to listen to the false teachers, who were then leading many into serious error.

Some of these false teachers, pretended that Jesus was not really man; and that, as He had no real body like ours, He did not really suffer crucifixion. Others, on the contrary, taught that He was _only_ man.

Both doctrines were equally fatal to the hopes of Christians: if Jesus Christ did not share our human nature, He could not atone for the sin of man; if He were only man, however free from sin Himself, He could not atone for the sins of His fellow mortals. Thus a firm belief in Jesus Christ as _G.o.d and Man_, is absolutely necessary for all who look for salvation through Him. Another set of false teachers taught, that those who believed themselves to be justified by faith, and so freed from the restraints of the Levitical Law, might sin without fear of punishment. St. John cautions all Christians not to be led away by these, or any other false doctrines; and he shows them how very different they are from the truths contained in the Gospel as taught by Jesus Christ, and fully explained by His Apostles. St. John, in this Epistle, speaks much of the love of G.o.d towards His creatures, and of the duty of all men to love Him and their fellow creatures for His sake.

The Second Epistle of St. John was probably written from Ephesus, his usual abode at this time. This Epistle is addressed to some particular lady, to warn her and her children not to listen to the dangerous doctrines of false teachers.

The Third of St. John's Epistles is written to a man named Gaius, who is supposed to have been converted by the Apostle, who therefore speaks of him as one of his children: a very usual figure of speech with teachers, respecting those whom they converted. In this way St.

Paul calls Timothy his "son." In the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epistles, we meet with the name of Gaius five times; and four different persons seem to be meant. Gaius, of Macedonia (Acts xix.); Gaius, of Derbe (Acts xx.); Gaius, whom St. Paul baptized at Corinth (1 Cor. i.), and who lodged that Apostle in his own house at Corinth (Rom. xvi.); and this Gaius, to whom St. John writes his Epistle; whether he was one of those already mentioned, we cannot know.

The object of this Epistle from St. John, seems to have been to praise Gaius for his steady faith, and for having shown kindness to some Christian strangers, who had pa.s.sed through the place where he lived: at the same time, St. John cautions him to have nothing to do with a teacher named Diotrephes, who had denied St. John's authority, and set himself up as the head of a party, in opposition to the Apostles.

St. John entreats Gaius to do, what may equally apply to each one of us, for he says, "Follow not that which is evil, but that which is good." He also recommends to him Demetrius, of whom we know nothing, except that he was a good man. This letter to Gaius is very short, because, as St. John writes, he hoped shortly to meet and talk to him.

St. John spent the last years of his long life at Ephesus, and there, about A.D. 99, he wrote that very valuable and beautiful portion of Holy Scripture known to us as "The Gospel according to St. John." When St. John wrote, he was of course well acquainted with the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, and also with the Book of Acts, for they had all been written many years before this time. He does not, therefore, repeat much of what they tell us, but gives an account of many things which they do not mention; and repeats especially much of what his blessed Lord said at different times to His disciples.

There was a good reason for this.

Even by this time, many errors had crept into the Christian Church, as has already been said, when speaking of St. John's First Epistle.

St. John, therefore, wrote his Gospel to correct these errors, and to show all men, that Jesus Christ was truly and indeed the Son of Man and the Son of G.o.d: the Word that was from the beginning with G.o.d, and was G.o.d, and was made man, that He might suffer for us.

The Gospel of St. John completed the Canon of Scripture; that is, those writings which are undoubtedly written by inspiration of G.o.d, and are, therefore, to be the general rule of Christian faith and practice.

Chapter x.x.xVII.--THE DEATH OF ST. JOHN.

St. John was nearly 100 years old when he wrote his Gospel: he had spent a long life in preaching and exhorting, and we are told that, when his great age prevented his continuing his active labours, he used to be carried into the public a.s.semblies of the Christians, in order to repeat his exhortation, "Little children, love one another": words constantly repeated in some shape or other, in the writings of this Apostle, who also dwells much upon the love of Christ for man, as a reason why men should love Him, and love each other for His sake.

Let us try to obey the precept, "Love one another"; remembering that St. John also says, "Love not in word neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth"; that is, do not talk about your love, but show it by your actions. Love to Christ must show itself in obedience; love to man for His sake, by kindness to every fellow creature, and by doing all the good we can to them, whether they are kind to us or not.

St. John died quietly at Ephesus, about A.D. 100: his faith and love were great, therefore his death was peaceful and happy; for he felt that he was now going home to his beloved Master, Whom he had faithfully served for many years on earth.

A century, or s.p.a.ce of 100 years, had now pa.s.sed since the birth of Jesus Christ: at the time of that event, the inhabitants of the world, with the exception of the Jews, were Heathens or Pagans; who, in their total ignorance of an Almighty and Holy G.o.d, gave themselves up to follow their own sinful inclinations, and were guilty of every sort of wickedness and vice. The Jews, though still retaining a nominal observance of the Law of Moses and the worship of One True G.o.d, had strangely forgotten and forsaken the religion, so long the glory of their nation. Thinking more of temporal than of spiritual things, they wilfully misunderstood the writings of the prophets, and looked for a temporal king in the promised Messiah: those who dared to hold a different opinion, were treated with contempt.

The two sects of Sadducees and Pharisees, though in other matters opposed to each other, equally set at naught the holiness of heart and life commanded by the Law of Moses. The Sadducees, denying the possibility of a future life, laughed at the idea of denying one's self any gratification here, from the fear of punishment hereafter.

The Pharisees, pa.s.sing by the Moral Law, which it did not suit them to keep, taught, that a strict observance of the Ceremonial Law, and of the traditions handed down from father to son, would secure the favour of G.o.d.

Thus Sadducees and Pharisees both destroyed all true religion; that is, all devotion of the heart to G.o.d, producing holiness of life.

The consequence of this was, that the knowledge and love of G.o.d were daily growing less amongst the Jewish people, and rapidly ceasing to have any effect on their motives and actions. So that, both as regarded Jews and Gentiles, it might truly be said, "The whole world lieth in wickedness."

The doctrines and precepts of our blessed Lord, were meant to make man hate and renounce all sin and wickedness; to show him the necessity of self-denial, and of holiness in thought, word, and deed; and to set before him that love towards G.o.d, which was to be the motive and principle to govern all his actions.

Thus, wherever the Gospel was received, a great change at once took place; and the close of the first century, found the world in a very different condition from that, in which it had been at the beginning.

Mankind must now be considered as divided into three cla.s.ses: First, the Heathen, who, in addition to all former wickedness, now added a spirit of hatred and persecution towards those who rejected their false religion, for the Truth as is in Jesus. Second, the Jews, who, in spite of all the miseries they had gone through for their rejection of Jesus Christ, still clung to the Law of Moses; hating the Heathen, but above all, hating the followers of Jesus with an increasing hatred. The third cla.s.s comprehended all, who, by the mercy of G.o.d, had been brought out of either of the other two cla.s.ses, to be sincere and faithful followers of the precepts and examples of the Holy Jesus.

This cla.s.s, called Christians, already contained a very large number of persons of all ages and s.e.xes; and their number was increasing daily, by fresh converts from amongst the Gentiles.

Thus, by the close of the first century, the Church of Christ was so firmly established upon earth, as to defy all the efforts made to overthrow it.

Even during the first century the Christians suffered persecution; and many of them were put to death, because they would not give up their belief in Jesus, and act contrary to His precepts. This cruel persecution of the Christians continued during the second and third centuries; sometimes with greater, sometimes with less severity. But it has been truly said, that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church"; for numbers, seeing their holy lives, and then witnessing the wonderful manner in which they were supported to bear the most exquisite tortures rather than give up their religion, felt that there must be some sure and strong foundation for such faith and steadfastness, and were thus led to become Christians themselves; and by their future conduct and martyrdom they again, in their turn, brought others to join the Church of Christ, which thus extended itself rapidly on all sides.

Before the close of the second century, Christianity had been established as the religion of the Britons; but how, or by whom, it was brought into our island, we do not know: it seems very probable that, during the long interval in which we know nothing of St. Peter's movements, he came to Britain, and established the Church which has ever since existed here.

In reading of the martyrs, we should remember that they, knowing that the favour of G.o.d was the only thing worth having, were willing to suffer and die in order to obtain it; trusting to the Lord to give them a happy issue out of all their sufferings. They did not trust in vain. We must also recollect, that the religion of the martyrs was no sham; no system of outward forms, but an entire devotion of the whole heart and life to G.o.d; and that the same devotion is required of Christians now. If we are not now called upon to suffer martyrdom, we are called upon to give our hearts to G.o.d; and show our Faith, by denying ourselves in everything contrary to His Will, whatever pain or difficulty we may have in doing so.

Do we do this?

The Jews, who outlived the destruction of their city and temple, sought refuge in different parts of the world. Many went into Egypt, where there was a Jewish colony, that had been established in the time of Alexander the Great. Others fled to Cyrene, another part of Africa.

A large number removed to Babylon, and joined their brethren who had remained from father to son in that country, instead of returning to Jerusalem when the decree of Cyrus permitted them to do so. Some took refuge in Persia and other Eastern countries.

By degrees, these Jews formed a regular system of government for themselves.

They were divided into Eastern and Western Jews. The Eastern Jews were those who settled in Babylon, Chaldaea, a.s.syria, Persia, and the adjacent countries. Those who remained in Judaea, or took up their abode in Egypt, Italy, and other parts of the Roman dominions in Europe, were called Western Jews. In the course of time, these two parties each chose some distinguished person as their head, or chief.

The chiefs of the Eastern Jews were called "Princes of the Captivity"; and those of the Western Jews, were simply styled "Patriarchs."

Gradually these chiefs obtained more and more influence and authority amongst their fellow countrymen in all matters. Both parties of Jews also founded schools, that the children might be fully and carefully instructed in all the doctrines and practices of their religion. But these things were done gradually during a long course of years, one step leading to another; for naturally, on their first dispersion after the destruction of Jerusalem, their whole attention was turned to securing a safe asylum, where they might worship G.o.d after the manner of their fathers--as far, at least, as they could do so; but the destruction of the Temple had rendered it impossible to keep the feasts and offer the sacrifices, so strictly enjoined by the Law of Moses.

The impossibility of obeying the precepts of their religion, should have made the Jews more ready to listen to those, who declared that the promised Messiah had indeed come; and that therefore, the Old Dispensation contained in the Law of Moses was at an end.

As Scripture history closes before the destruction of Jerusalem, all that has been said regarding that and subsequent events, has been gathered from other histories; and all that has been related concerning the latter days of some of the Apostles, has been supplied in a similar way. It will be well now to give a short account of the labours and deaths of such of the Apostles as have not been already mentioned; only remembering, that whilst we have every reason to believe such accounts are true, we cannot feel certain, as we do in regard to all the facts related in the Holy Scriptures.

Taking, then, "the names of the twelve Apostles" as given by St.

Matthew (x. 2, &c.), we have "first, Simon, who is called Peter." Of him we have heard much in the course of our Lord's life, and during the time of which the Book of Acts gives us the history: and we have also spoken of what he is believed to have done after that period, and of his martyrdom. Of "Andrew his brother," we only know that he was also a fisherman, and that he was a disciple of John the Baptist, with whom he was standing when the Baptist said of Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of G.o.d." Andrew, nothing doubting, at once sought an interview with Jesus, and then went to find, his own brother Simon, giving him the joyful news, "We have found the Messias." Andrew became afterwards one of the constant followers of our Lord, chosen to be Apostles; and his name is mentioned two or three times in sacred history.

From other sources we learn, that after the Ascension of our Lord, St. Andrew travelled to Byzantium, now called Constantinople, and there founded a Church; and that he also preached the Gospel in the Crimea. But he ended his life in Greece, under the following circ.u.mstances: St. Andrew was preaching at a place in Achaia with great success, when aegeas, the pro-consul or Roman governor of the province, came there, and was greatly enraged to find that mult.i.tudes had already been converted from Heathenism to Christianity: he therefore told the Apostle, that he should be crucified unless he would himself offer a sacrifice to the heathen G.o.ds. This St. Andrew of course refused to do, and he was put into prison; but the people were so angry at this, that they would have rescued him by force, had he not begged them not to do so; telling them that he was quite ready to suffer martyrdom, if such was the will of G.o.d. It is said, that amongst other miracles performed in the name of Jesus by St. Andrew, he had healed the wife and the brother of aegeas of diseases; and that both had, in consequence, become Christians. This made the pro-consul still more furious; and, in his rage, he ordered St. Andrew to be severely scourged by seven men, before he was put to death. He was tied to a cross of the shape of the letter X; and it is said that he hung upon it for two days, during which, in the midst of his agony, he continued to instruct and exhort the people. After his death, his body was embalmed and buried with all honour, at the expense of a n.o.ble lady, named Maximilla. We are told that, 300 years later, St.

Andrew's body was taken to Constantinople by the Emperor Constantine, who had become a Christian, and buried in a church which the Emperor had built in honour of the Apostles.

In after times, St. Andrew came to be looked upon as the patron Saint of Scotland.

A cross, the shape of that upon which St. Andrew was crucified, is always called a St. Andrew's Cross.

Chapter x.x.xVIII.--THE APOSTLES.