then Immanuels too? Were they (their hearts might have suggested) to be considered as Beings of the same order as their Master? The suggestion was natural, and seems to have been anticipated, by the voice that told them, "This is my beloved Son, hear him." Twice to our Lord this glory had been attached, and on each occasion that same voice accompanied it, to guard against the possibility of supposing, that in his case it denoted no more than in the case of Elias or Moses. This was the great object of the Transfiguration. It declared Jesus to be, not like Elias, or like Moses, an inspired manbut the Immanuel-the Christ-him anointed with the Holy Ghost-the Son of God. And

This expression must be interpreted by reference to a common Hebrew idiom, the application of which was very wide, and extended alike to inanimate and animate objects. Thus, Isaiah xxi. 10. "O my threshing, and the corn of my floor," is in the original, "the son of my floor." On this principle we meet with "the son of perdition," " the son of peace," "the sons of disobedience," and the like. The analogous expression of the Son of God can only in fairness be interpreted in like manner to mean a divine man-an Immanuel.

hence its place in the sacred narrative is immediately after the Lord's conversation with the apostles about the rumours afloat concerning him, and St. Peter's confession that he was the Christ. Hence too it is followed up by the same injunction as that confession, that they should not make it known publicly. Hence too it seems to have led, as in the former case, to hints of his death and resurrection.

That the apostles, however, should at first have considered it as the opening scene of God's new kingdom, and have therefore suggested the erection of the three tabernacles, is natural when we look back to the discourse of our Lord which had but just before taken place respecting his

coming in the glory of his Father," and his promise that some present should witness it during their natural lives.

SCRUPLE OF THE APOSTLES RESPECTING THE PRE

DICTED BETRAYAL, DEATH, AND RESUR

RECTION OF CHRIST.

Ver. 9, 10. 30-32.

And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they kept

that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

This scruple of the apostles, respecting the predicted betrayal, death, and resurrection of Christ, is easily understood, when we remember that, even after our Lord's death, they continued to harp on the prophecies respecting his kingdom, as if that kingdom were to be a temporal one. In what way they were probably led to reconcile this with the admitted marks of a divine nature manifested in the person of their Master, has been already suggested, and may perhaps be a satisfactory solution of that which otherwise seems an unaccountable blindness and dulness on their part .

* See page 113.

MIRACULOUS CURE OF A CHILD POSSESSED BY A

DUMB SPIRIT.

Ver. 14-29.

And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnash with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? ing him unto me. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into

him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is cad. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he saith unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

her similar miracles are recorded of our Saviour, and have been already sufficiently the subject of remark, to omit all that applies to this mmon with them: as, for instance, that it may be classed among those which were typical of a moral cure of the heart, when labouring under ambness and a deafness, worse than the bodily infirmity inflicted by Satan; or again, that it was performed in a way to denote the real agency of the Devil, and to prove that Christ, by expelling him from his dominion over men's bodies, was both willing and able to save to the uttermost, even from his dominion over the soul, those who came unto him.

What I should select as the peculiar and characteristic feature in this, is contained in the assertion, "this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." These words seem