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accordingly did, and received a token by which he perceived that Judas Iscariot was the betrayer.

Notwithstanding the avowal which John made in common with his brethren, that "though all should forsake his Lord yet would not he," when the hour of trial came and Jesus quietly submitted to the soldiers, this apostle as well as the rest forsook him and fled. But he soon recovered his spirits and manifested the sincerity of his affection, by entering into the palace of the high priest to whom he was personally known. It appears also that John was the only one of the apostles who attended Jesus to Mount Calvary, or at least who made a public profession of his attachment to the sufferer by standing at the foot of the cross. In his last moments our Saviour gave the most affectionate proof of his regard for John, by committing the virgin mother to his care and protection.

The first intelligence of the resurrection was communicated to Peter and John, who readily believed the miraculous event, though as yet they knew not the scripture that Jesus was to rise from the dead."

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When our Lord appeared to several of his disciples, at the sea of Tiberias, and gave them a sensible proof of his restoration to life, by partaking with them of the fish they had caught, St. Peter inquired what would befal St. John ?

The spirit of curiosity which prompted this question, Jesus reproved by saying to Peter, "if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee, follow thou me." This answer certainly implied nothing more than a reprehension of that anxiety which leads men to search into the condition of others, and to make themselves acquainted with the secrets of providence, instead of attending to their own character and calling. Yet plain as the design of our Lord's declaration evidently was, and practical as the instruction was which it conveyed, some of the brethren misunderstood it, and concluded that "this disciple should not die." This strange interpretation, St. John thus corrected in his gospel; "Yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but if I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee?"

St. John continued a considerable time at Jerusalem after the ascension, and twice he suffered imprisonment, once with St. Peter on the occasion of the miraculous cure wrought on a cripple in the porch of the temple; and another time with all the apostles, but they were delivered by the angel of the Lord, who directed them to preach publicly to the people the words of eternal life.

Not long after this release John and Peter were deputed by the apostolical college to visit and confirm the Samaritans, who had been converted to the christian faith by Philip the deacon,

Here the scripture history of St. John closes; but according to Eusebius this apostle remained in Judea till the death of the Virgin Mary, which happened, by his account, at Jerusalem, about the year 48.

The sphere in which St. John afterwards exercised his ministerial labours was the lesser Asia, where he planted several churches, particularly those of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea; but he fixed his principal residence at Ephesus.

Having spent many years in the delightful employment of propagating the religion of his master, and in building up the converts in "that faith which worketh by love," the venerable apostle was accused to Domitian, by whose command the proconsul of Asia sent him bound to Rome. Immediately after his arrival he was brought before the emperor, who caused him to be cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but instead of being destroyed or hurt, the aged saint appeared refreshed and strengthened by the burning fluid. This miracle however, made no impression upon the sanguinary tyrant, who continued his persecution of the christians with unabated rigour, and banished the apostle to the isle of Patmos in the Egean sea, where he lived many years instructing the inhabitants in the saving truths of the gospel, and putting into writing for the edification of the church, an account of the prophetic ivsions with which he was there favoured.

Besides this work St. John wrote his gospel, intended chiefly to supply the deficiencies of the former evangelists, and particularly to assert the divinity of Christ, against Cerinthus and other heretics of that age. The sacred volume contains also three epistles of St. John, the first of which evidently appears to have had the same object as the gospel; for in both of them, as also in his prophetical work, this beloved disciple establishes the important truth, that the LoGoS or the WORD invariably regarded by the Jewish church as JEHOVAH, was no other than Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man, who is the "Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last." (Rev. I. 8).

At the commencement of the reign of Nerva, the persecution which had so long raged against the christians ceased, and St. John recovered his liberty. From Patmos he instantly hastened to Ephesus, where he resumed the apostolical charge, and fulfilled it with unwearied assiduity and affection through the remainder of his long life. When he could no longer preach to the people with his wonted energy, the apostle constantly caused himself to be carried into the church, and his regular exhortation to the people was my little children, love one another." He died at the beginning of the reign of Trajan, aged about one hundred years.

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OF THE JEWISH SECTS AND PARTIES.

THE PHARISEES.

THE principal and by far the most extensive sect of the Jews, was that of the Pharisees, so called from a Hebrew word (Pharesh) which means a separation or division, because they distinguished themselves by a more rigid course of life, than others of their nation. They ascribed all things to fate or destiny. whence they were much addicted to judicial astrology, and were great observers of superstitious ceremonies.

In the time of our Saviour, the Pharisees were in great power and repute among the people, on account of their pretended wisdom and affected sanctity. They fasted often, made long prayers in public places, paid tithes or the dues of the temple scrupulously, distributed alms with ostentation, wore rolls of parchment called phylacteries, on which were inscribed portions of the law in their foreheads, and made broad the fringes or borders of their garments, to shew that they were stricter observers of the law than other Jews.

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