and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, and his APOSTLES, &c. 361. admitted into the pretence of a perfon fo immediately fent fromGod: but the corn- paflìonate Son of the Moft High kindly removedhis fears, telling him that this mi- racle was wrought to confirm his faith, and to indicate to him, that the Almightyhad ap- pointed a more noble employment for him, that of faving the fouls of the children of men. From this time Peter and his com- panions became the infeparable and con- flant.difciples of the great Meffiah, living under the rules of his inftitutions and dif- cipline. Our bleffed Saviour returned loon after to Capernaum with his difciples, where they found the mother-in-law of Peter dangeroufly ill of a fever: but the corn- paffionate Jesus, who never omitted an opportunity of doing good to the human race, rebuked the difeafe, and taking her by the hand, refiored her in a moment to her former health ; demonftrating at once his power and willingnefs to relieve and comfort the fons and daughtersof afflifion and forrow. Theadorable Redeemer, having for fome time enteredon his public minifiry, thought proper to eler fome peculiar perlons from amongft his followers, to be confiant wit - neffes of his miracles and dofirines, and who, after his departure, might be intruft- ed with the care of building his church, and planting that religion in the world for which he himfelf left the manfions of hea- ven, and put on the veil of mortality. In order to this, he withdrew privately in the evening to a folitary mountain, where he fpent the night in folemn addreffes to his almighty Father, for rendering the great work he was going to undertake profper- ous and beneficial to mankind. Thedifciples came to him early the next morning, out of whom he'made choice of twelve to be his apoflles, and the confiant attendants on his perfon. Thefe he after- wards invefted with the power of working miracles, and fent them into diffèrent parts ofJudea, in order to carry on with more rapidity the great work 'which he him- N0.31. felt had fo happily begun amongft the people. The evangelifls in general, in their enu- meration of the apofiles, conflantly place St. Peter firft. Indeed, the age and gravity of his perfon, together with his being firft called to be an apofile, particularly quali- fied him for being prefident of this facred college : but we muff not fuppofe that St. Peter was invefled with any perfonal pre- rogative above his brethren ; none of them ever intimated any fuch thing; and St. Paul fays exprefsly; that he himfelf was not in- ferior to the very chiefeft apoftle ; for he was lets eminent for ufefulnefs than fuccefs in his miniflry. This eleftion had not long taken place, when the bleffed Jesus, attended by Peter and the two tons of Zebedee, followed Jairus, a ruler of the fynagogue, to his houle, in order to reflore his daughter, an only child, wholay at the point ofdeath ; but before their arrival, a meffenger arri- ved with the news that thedamfel was dead, and therefore unneceffary for our Saviour to give himfelf any further trouble ; but our Lord bid the ruler not defpair; for, if he believed, his daughter fhould yet be reftored to her former health: and, accord- ingly, on his arrival he took the maid by the hand, and with the power of his word recalled her fleeting fpirit, which had quit- ted it's earthly tabernacle, and reflored her again to life and health, in the pretence of her aflonifhed friends. No further account of St. Peter in par- ticular occurs, till the night after our Sa- viour's miraculoufly feeding the multitude in the wildernefs. JEsus had ordered his difciples to take fhip, and pats over to the other fide, while he fent the multitude away : but a violent form arffrng, they were in great danger of their lives, when their great Mailer came unto themwalking on the furface of the boifierous billows, with the fame cafe as if it had been dry ground. At his approach, the difciples were greatly terrified, fuppofing they had feena fpirit: but their compaffionateMailer 4 T foon
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=