438 QUESTIONS CONCERNf1SG JESUS. occasion or other before his death, have addressedhim as Tho- mas did after his resurrection, My Lord and my God ; John xx. 28. We cannot but suppose also, that amongst their many doubts and queries, they would have asked him this obvious and impor- tant one, how could he be God, and his Father be God also, and yet not two Gods ? But we find nothing of this kind, though they put many a question to him both of less difficulty and less importance. Nor do we find that they talked of him to the world under any character of Godhead; but on the contrary, we always find them speaking of him as a man, and that not only in his life-time, but just after his death too, as a great pro- phet that was risen up amongst them ; Luke xxit. 19. Jesus of Nazareth a prophet mighty in word and deed before God and ill the people. 2. If theyhad believed him to be the time God that made the heavens, and the earth, the winds and the seas, they would never have expressed so much surprise and wonder at his rebuk- ing the wind and bidding the sea be calm ; Luke viii. 24, 25. They being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, whatman- ner of man is this? for he commándeth evert the winds and water, and they obey him. I confess the word man is not in the original ; but still their wonder at the obedience that was paid him by the elements seems an argument that they did not believe him to be the almighty God that made them, Now this is not the first time they were thus astonished and surprised ; for when Simon Peter, a good while before this let down his net, at the command of Christ, and inclosed a great multitude of fishes, he was astonished and all that were with him ; Luke v. 9. And if any pf them mayseem to have a glimpse of his divinity on this occasion, yet they had forgot or lost it again, when in chapter viii. They were as much surprised at his rebuking the winds and the waves. ' You have another instanceof this kind ; Mat. xxi. 19, 20. And when the 'disciples saw that thefig-tree which our Lórd cursed, presently withered, they marvelled, saying, how soon is the fig-tree withered away! And this was not long before his death neither, when we may suppose their knowledge was most advanced; whereas the disciples would never have marvelled that he could destroy a fig-tree by a word, if they had believed him to be that God who made all things by his word. 3. If they had believed Christ to be.the great and glorious God, they would not have treated him with such indecent'rough- ness, as they did upon some particular occasions ; as Mat. xv. 33. when Christ said, he Would not send away the people fast- ing, lest they faint in the way, the disciplesmade him a very rude reply,'to pay no worse of it, When they. answered, Whence
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