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    348 A DECLARATION OF JUDGMENT .

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    Jordan . It was the place honoured by the residence of our Lord , at such times as he was not engaged in prosecuting those various journeys which he made in pursuit of his work . ^~ t We have not any account of Christ ' s visits to Chomzln and Bethsaida ; but as the former was very near Capernaum , and the latter not many miles distant , he probably visited them many tim ^^ fess to give us an account of every event in the history of the Saviour , for their object was to leave records of his mission sufficient to establish its divine authority , and to display its nature \ and having done this they were satisfied . The residence of Jesus in Capernaum made it the scene of frenuent miracles and often repeated instruction . Some of his

    miracles connected with that place arerecorded—the cure of the nobleman's son—of the centurion ' s servant— -of Pe % r's * wife ' s mother—and of many sick persons and demoniacs who were brought to him . It was also on a hill near Capernaum that our Lord delivered that admirable discourse , or series of discourses , known as the sermon on the mount . The advantages of the people of Capernaum had therefore been very great . Yet they renented not . but continued in their wickedness .

    x J ¦ It is worthy of remark that our Lord does not accuse these cities . of openly dishonouring and rejecting him , or of persecuting him ; " and wedo not read of any tumult there , of any secret or open practices against him ; but , on the contrary , he appears to have lived peaceably and with much honour in Capernaum . On one occasion , when he had retired to a desert place , away from the multitudes who thronged around him to hear him , and to be healed of their infirmities , the people sought him , and came unto him , and staved him , that he should not depart from them . '

    The accusation of our Lord was not that they derided his claims ^ or denied his authority . They appear to have been too polite for the one , and too much filled with a cautious mercantile spirit for the other . The accusation was , that they did not repent of their wickedness ; an accusation perfectly compatible with their having shown him outward attentions , acknowledged that he was n messenger " sent from God , and taken advantage of his extraordinary power and benevolence . Nay , there is always more hope of making an impression upon one who can be roused to opposition , than upon one who bows at every sentence you utter ,

    receives your most important and soul-stirring remarks with complacent smiles ^ at the conclusion says , ' Very true ; ' and bows again while he asks some favour at your hands , or utters some trifling inanity , foreign altogether to the subject which has so " powerfully awakened your interest . The- inhabitants of Capernaum , with most engaging courtesy , besought Jesus that ; he would take up his constant residence in their city , doubtless insinuating how much they should be ho-

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1833, page 348, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2625/page/28/