LORD and SAVIOUR, .ESUS CHRIST. 87 in the midit ofhis moll inveterate enemies, it mull certainly have a great effeél on the minds of the beholders, efpecially as they faw that it had effecl.ually filenced the Pha- rifees, who had nothing to offer, either againft the miracle itfelf, the proofs and reafonings urged for the fitnefs and pro- priety of it, or the divine power of him who had performed it. But though thefe proud, envious, and hypocritical teachers were aflonilhed at the miracles, and filenced by the arguments of the Son of God, yet they were far from giving up their unjufl and cruel inflitutions: for though they bore an inveterate hatred to the Sadducees and Herodians, becaufe they prefumed to differ from them in their reli- gious fentiments, yet they couldjoin with thefe perfons they fo much defpifed, and confult with them in order to take away his life. For they well knew that if he continued the courfe of his miniflry, and produced fuch inconteflable evidences of divine pow- er, the people would follow him ; when their own weight and influence would quickly decline, and their preaching be- come contemptible. Jesuswell knew their wicked defigns, yet he did not thinkproper at this time, any further to oppofe them, but retired into Galilee, to the borders of the lake of Chinnereth. This retreat ofour great Redeemer feems to have difpleafed fome of his difciples, who had flrongly imbibed the popular idea of the Meffiah's temporal kingdom, and expeaed that he would have eflablifhed his authority by force, and exerted his divine power to bear down all oppofition ; and they were extremely mortified to find their Mailer give way, and feem to decline any further contefl. But the obfcurityof his retreat could not conceal him from the multitudes who flocked to him from all quarters, bringing with them their fick and difeafed ; and his heavenly goodnefs healed them all. Nor would the difciples have been offended at this mild and peaceable condu& of their Mailer, had they atten- tively confidered the prophecy, of Ifaiah, where this peaceable difpofition is particu- larly infifled on as eminently diftinguifhing the character of the Meffiah. Behold my fervent whom I have chafen; my beloved, in whom my foul is well pleafed : I will put myffiirit upon him, and he (hall thewjudg- ment to the Gentiles. Heflail notftrive, nor cry; neither(hall any man hear his voice in the /treets. A bruited reedflail henot break, andfnzoking flax he fhall not quench, till he fend forth judgment unto vislory. And in his namefkall the Gentiles treji. Matt. xii. 28, &c. The fmall variationsbetween thisprophecy, as quoted by St. Matthew; and the original in the book of Ifaiah, are ofno confequence, as the fenfe is the fame ; and here it may be worthy of remark, that this prophecy defcribes the publication of the Chriflian religion by Jesus CHRIST, vaflly different from that of the Jewilh religion by Mofes. The law of Mofes was publifhedwith thun- der and fire, and the flrongefi circumflances of terror from mount Sinai, and only ex- tended to the tingle nation of the Ifraelites: the doctrine of falvation, as publifhed by theMaillals,was mild, peaceable, andgentle, and was extended to every nation and people under heaven. Accordingly our Lord, by retiring to Galilee, fulfilled the firfl part of this famous prophecy, He /kall Phew judgment to the Gentiles ; for we are informed by the evangelift that great mul- titudes came to him from beyond Jordan, and from Syria, and from the countries about Tyre and Sidon. While our Lord remained in Galilee, there was brought unto him a blind and dumb man, poffeffed with a devil ; but he, with a fingle word, cafl.out the evil fpirit, and immediately reflored to the poor man the noble faculties of fight and fpeech. An event fo furprifrng, fo miraculous, and fo
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