Chapter XVIII: Part 18

After innumerable works of wonder, Andrew had come at last to Patras, a city in the northwestern part of Achaia, still known by that name, standing on the gulf of Lepanto, famous in modern Greek history as the scene of a desperate struggle with the Turks, during a long siege, in the war of Grecian independence. In this city, as the fable states, then resided the Roman proconsul of the province, whose name is variously given by different story-tellers; by some, Aegeas,――by others, Aegeates and Aegeatus, and by others, Egetes. The apostle was soon called on to visit his family, by a female servant, who had been converted by the preaching of one of Andrew’s disciples. She, coming to Andrew, fell at his feet, clasping them, and besought him in the name of the proconsul’s wife, Maximilla, her mistress, then very sick with a fever, to come to her house, that she might hear from him the gospel. The apostle went, therefore, and on entering the room found the proconsul in such an agony of despair about the sickness of his beloved wife, that he had at that moment drawn his sword to kill himself. Andrew immediately cried out, “Proconsul! do thyself no harm; but put up thy sword into its place, for the present. There will be a time for you to exercise it upon us, soon.” The ruler, without perceiving the point of the remark, gave way, in obedience to the word of the apostle. He then, drawing nigh the bed of the invalid, after some discourse, took hold of her hand, when she was immediately covered with a profuse sweat, the symptoms being all relieved and the fever broken up. As soon as the proconsul saw the wonderful change, he, in a spirit of liberal remuneration, which deserves the gratitude of the whole medical profession, ordered to be paid to the holy man the liberal fee of one hundred pieces of silver; but not appreciating this liberality, Andrew decidedly refused to receive any pay at all, not choosing to render such medical services with the view of any compensation, and would not so much as look at it,――exciting no small astonishment in the proconsul by such extraordinary disinterestedness. The apostle then leaving the palace, went on through the city, relieving the most miserable beggars lying in the dirt, with the same good will which he had shown in the family of the ruler. Passing on, he came to the water-side, and there finding a poor, wretched, dirty sailor, lying on the ground, covered with sores and vermin, cured him directly, lifted him up, and taking him into the water, close by, gave him a good washing, which at the same time served for both body and soul,――for the apostle at once making it answer for a baptism, pronounced him pure in the name of the Trinity. Soon after this occurrence, which gained him great fame, he was called to relieve a boy belonging to Stratocles, the brother of the proconsul, the apostle having been recommended to him as a curer of diseases, by Maximilla and her maid. The devil having been, of course, cast out of the boy, Stratocles believed, as did his brother’s wife, who was so desirous of hearing the apostle preach, that at last she took advantage of her husband’s absence in Macedonia, and had regular religious meetings in her husband’s great hall of state, where he held his courts,――quite an extraordinary liberty for any man’s wife to take with his affairs, behind his back. It happened at last, that the unsuspecting gentleman suddenly returned, when his wife had not expected him, and would have immediately burst into the room, then thronged with a great number of all sorts of people; but Andrew, foreseeing what was about to happen, managed, by a queer kind of miracle, to make it convenient for him to go somewhere else for a while, until every one of the audience having been made invisible with _the sign of the cross_, by Andrew, sneaked off unseen; so that the deceived proconsul, when he came in, never suspected what tricks had been played on him. Maximilla, being now prevented by her husband’s return from having any more meetings in his house, afterwards resorted to the apostle’s lodgings, where the Christians constantly met to hear him,――and became at last so assiduous in her attendance by day and by night, that her husband began to grow uneasy about her unseasonable absences, because he had no sort of pleasure with her since she had been so given up to her mysterious occupations, away from him almost constantly. He accordingly began to investigate the difficulty, and finding that it was the work of Andrew, who had been teaching the lady a new religion, which wholly absorbed her in devotion, to the exclusion of all enjoyment with her family, sent for him, and commanded him to take his choice between renouncing his troublesome faith, and crucifixion. But the apostle indignantly and intrepidly declared his readiness to maintain the doctrine of Jesus Christ, through all peril, and even to death, and then went on to give the sum and substance of his creed. The unyielding proconsul however, put him in prison immediately, where Andrew occupied himself all night in exhorting his disciples to stand fast in the faith. Being brought the next day before the proconsul’s tribunal, he renewed his refusal to sacrifice to idols, and was therefore dragged away to the cross, after receiving twenty-one lashes. The proconsul, enraged at his pertinacity, ordered him to be bound to the cross, instead of being nailed in the usual way;――(a very agreeable exchange, it would seem, for any one would rather have his hands and feet tied with a cord to a cross, than be nailed to it; and it is hard to see how this could operate to increase his torture, otherwise than by keeping him there till he starved to death.) On coming in sight of the cross, he burst out into an eloquent strain of joy and exultation, while yet at some distance,――exclaiming as they bore him along, “Hail! O cross! consecrated by the body of Christ, and adorned with the pearls of his precious limbs! I come to thee confident and rejoicing, and do thou receive, with exultation, the disciple of him who once hung on thee, since I have long been thy lover and have longed to embrace thee. Hail! O cross! that now art satisfied, though long wearied with waiting for me. O good cross! that hast acquired grace and beauty from the limbs of the Lord! long-desired and dearly loved! sought without ceasing, and long foreseen with wishful mind! take me from men and give me back to my Master, that by thee He may receive me, who by thee has redeemed me.” After this personifying address to the inanimate wood, he gave himself up to the executioners, who stripped him, and bound his hands and feet as had been directed, thus suspending him on the cross. Around the place of execution stood a vast throng of sympathizing beholders, numbering not less than twenty thousand persons, to whom the apostle, unmoved by the horrors which so distressed them, now coolly addressed them in the words of life, though himself on the verge of death. For two days and nights, in this situation, in fasting and agony, he yet continued without a moment’s cessation to exhort the multitude who were constantly thronging to the strange sight; till at last, on the third day, the whole city, moved beyond all control, by the miracle of energy and endurance, rushed in one mass to the proconsul, and demanded the liberation of the God-sustained apostle. The ferocious tyrant, overawed by the solemn power of the demand, coming from such an excited multitude, at last yielded; and to the great joy of the people, went out to the cross to release the holy sufferer, at the sight of whose enraptured triumph over pain and terror, the hard-hearted tyrant himself melted, and in sorrow and penitence he drew near the cross to exercise his new-born mercy. But Andrew, already on the eve of a martyr’s triumph, would not bear to be snatched back from such glories so nearly attained; and in earnest remonstrance cried out, praying, “O Lord Jesus Christ! do not suffer thy servant, who for thy name’s sake hangs on the cross, to be thus freed,――nor let me, O merciful God! when now clinging to thy mysteries, be given up again to human conversations. But take thou me, my Master! whom I have loved,――whom I have known,――whom I hold,――whom I long to see,――in whom I am what I am. Let me die then, O Jesus, good and merciful.” And having said these things for so long a time,――praising God and rejoicing, he breathed out his soul, amid the tears and groans of all the beholders.

Here ends the tale of the fictitious Abdias Babylonius, of
which this concluding abstract is another _literal_ specimen,
presenting its most effective part in the pathetic line, as the
former does of its ludicrous portions. The story of Andrew is
altogether the longest and best constructed, as well as the most
interesting in the character of its incidents, of all contained
in the book of the Pseudo-Abdias; and I have therefore been more
liberal in extracts from this, because it would leave little
occasion for any similar specimens under the lives of the rest
of the apostles.

All this long story may, very possibly, have grown up from a
beginning which was true; that is, there may have been another
Andrew, who, in a later age of the early times of Christianity,
may have gone over those regions as a missionary, and met with
somewhat similar adventures; and who was afterwards confounded
with the apostle Andrew. The Scotch, for some reason or other,
formerly adopted Andrew as their national saint, and represent
him on a cross of a peculiar shape, resembling the letter X,
known in heraldry by the name of a _saltier_, and borne on the
badges of the knights of the Scottish order of the Thistle, to
this day. This idea of his cross, however, has originated since
the beginning of the twelfth century, as I shall show by a
passage from Bernardus.

The truly holy Bernard, (Abbot of Clairvaux, in France, A. D.
1112,) better worthy of the title of _Saint_ than ninety-nine
hundredths of all the canonized who lived before him, even
from apostolic days,――has, among his splendid sermons, three
most eloquent discourses, preached in his abbey church, on St.
Andrew’s day, in which he alludes to the actions of this apostle,
as recorded in the “Passion of St. Andrew,”――a book which he
seems to quote as worthy of credit. In Latin of Ciceronian
purity, he has given some noble specimens of a pulpit eloquence,
rarely equalled in any modern language, and such as never
blesses the ears of the hearers of these days. He begins
his first discourse on this subject with saying, that in
“celebrating the glorious triumphs of the blessed Andrew,
they had that day been delighted with the words of grace, that
proceeded out of his mouth;”――(doubtless in hearing the story of
the crucifixion read from the fictitious book of the Passion of
St. Andrew, which all supposed to be authentic.) “For there was
no room for sorrow, where he himself was so intensely rejoiced.
No one of us mourned for him in his sufferings, for no one dared
to weep over him, while he was thus exulting. So that he might
most appropriately say to us, what the cross-bearing Redeemer
said to those who followed him with mourning,――‘Weep not for me;
but weep for yourselves.’ And when the blessed Andrew himself
was led to the cross, and the people, grieving for the unjust
condemnation of the holy and just man, would have prevented his
execution,――he, with the most urgent prayer, forbade them from
depriving him of his crown of suffering. For ‘he desired indeed
to be released, and to be with Christ,’――but on the cross;
he desired to enter the kingdom,――but by the door. Even as he
said to that loved form, ‘that by thee, he may receive me, who
by thee has redeemed me.’ Therefore if we love him, we shall
rejoice with him; not only because he was crowned, but because
he was crucified.” (A bad, and unscriptural doctrine! for no
apostle ever taught, or was taught, that it was worth while for
any man to be crucified, when he could well help it.)

In his second sermon on the same subject, the animated Bernard
remarks furthermore, in comment on the behavior of Andrew, when
coming in sight of his cross,――“You have certainly heard how the
blessed Andrew was stayed on the Lord, when he came to the place
where the cross was made ready for him,――and how, by the spirit
which he had received along with the other apostles, in the
_fiery tongues_, he spoke truly fiery words. And so, seeing from
afar the cross prepared, he did not turn pale, though mortal
weakness might seem to demand it; his blood did not freeze,――his
hair did not rise,――his voice did not cleave to his throat, (non
stetere comae, aut vox faucibus haesit.) Out of the abundance of
his heart, his mouth did speak; and the deep love which glowed
in his heart, sent forth the words like burning sparks.” He
then quotes the speech of Andrew to the cross, as above given,
and proceeds: “I beseech you, brethren, say, is this a man who
speaks thus? Is it not an angel, or some new creature? No: it
is merely a ‘man of like passions with ourselves.’ For the very
agony itself, in whose approach he thus rejoiced, proves him
to have been ‘a man of passion.’ Whence, then, in man, this new
exultation, and joy before unheard of? Whence, in man, a mind so
spiritual,――a love so fervent,――a courage so strong? Far would
it be from the apostle himself, to wish, that we should give the
glory of such grace to him. It is the ‘perfect gift, coming down
from the Father of Lights,’――from him, ‘who alone does wondrous
things.’ It was, dearly beloved, plainly, ‘the spirit which
helpeth our infirmities,’ by which was shed abroad in his heart,
a love, strong as death,――yea, and stronger than death. Of which,
O may we too be found partakers!”

The preacher then goes on with the practical application of the
view of these sufferings, and the spirit that sustained them,
to the circumstances of his hearers. After some discourse to
this effect, he exhorts them to seek this spirit. “Seek it then,
dearest! seek it without ceasing,――seek it without doubting;――in
all your works invoke the aid of this spirit. For we also,
my brethren, with the blessed Andrew, must needs take up our
cross,――yea, with that Savior-Lord whom he followed. For, in
this he rejoiced,――in this he exulted;――because not only for him,
but with him, he would seem to die, and be planted, so ‘that
suffering with him, he might also reign with him.’ With whom,
that we may also be crucified, let us hear more attentively
with the ears of our hearts, the voice of him who says, ‘He who
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow me.’ As if he said, ‘Let him who desires me, despise
himself: let him who would do my will, learn to break his own.’”

Bernard then draws a minute parallel, more curious than
admirable, between the cross and the trials of life,――likening
the four difficulties in the way of holiness, to the four ends
of the cross; bodily fear being the foot-piece; open assaults
and temptations, the right arm-piece; secret sins and trials,
the left hand-piece; and spiritual pride, the head-piece. Or, as
he briefly recapitulates, the four virtues attached to the four
horns of the cross, are these:――continence, patience, prudence,
and humility. A truly forcible figure, and one not without its
effect, doubtless, on the hearers. This arrangement of the cross,
moreover, seems to prove, that in the time of Bernard, the idle
story about Andrew’s cross being shaped like the letter X, was
entirely unknown; for it is evident that the whole point of
the allusion here consists in the hearers supposing that Andrew
was crucified on a cross of the common shape,――upright, with a
transverse bar and head-piece.

In conclusion of all this fabulous detail, may be appropriately
quoted the closing passage of the second discourse of Bernard,
the spirit of which, though coming from a Papist, is not
discordant with the noblest essential principles of truly
catholic Christianity, seldom indeed, found so pure in the
Romish church, as in this “Last of the Fathers,” as he has been
justly styled. This, with all the passages above quoted, may be
found by those who can enjoy the original, in his works. (Divi
Bernardi Opera Omnia Joh. Picard. Antwerp, 1609, folio; columns
322‒333.)

So accordant are these words with the spirit which it becomes
this work to inculcate, that I may well adopt them into the text,
glad to hang a moral to the end of so much falsehood, though
drawn from such a theme, that it seems like “gathering grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles.”

Bernard has in this part of his discourse been completing
all the details of his parallel between the cross and the
Christian’s life, and in this conclusion, thus crowns the simile,
by exhorting his saintly hearers to cling, each to his own cross,
in spite of all temptation to renounce it; that is, to persevere
in daily crucifying their sins, by a pure deportment through
life.

Happy the soul that glories and triumphs on this cross, if it only persevere, and do not let itself be cast down in its trials. Let every one then, who is on this cross, like the blessed Andrew, pray his Lord and Master, not to let him be taken down from it. For what is there which the malign adversary will not dare? what will he not impiously presume to try? For what he thought to do to the disciple by the hands of Aegeas, the same he once thought to do to the Master by the scornful tongues of the Jews. In each instance alike, however, driven by too late experience of his folly, he departed, vanquished and confounded. O may he in like manner depart from us, conquered by Him who triumphed over him by Himself, and by His disciple. May He cause, that we also may attain the same happy end, on the crosses which we have borne, each one in his own peculiar trials, for the glory of His name, “who is God over all, blessed forever.”

JAMES BOANERGES;
THE SON OF ZEBEDEE.

HIS RANK AND CHARACTER.

WHATEVER may have been the peculiar excellences of this apostle’s character, as recognized by the searching eye of Him who knew the hearts of all men, the early close of his high career has prevented the full development of energies, that might, in the course of a longer life, have been made as fruitful in works of wonder and praise, as those of the other members of the elect TRIO, his friend and his younger brother; and his later years, thus prolonged, might have left similar recorded testimonies of his apostolic zeal. Much too, that truly concerns his brief life, is swallowed up in the long narrative of the eminent chief of the twelve, whose superiority was on all occasions so distinctly marked by Jesus, that he never imparted to this apostle any exalted favor in which Peter did not also share, and in the record of which his name is not mentioned first. In the first call,――in the raising of the daughter of Jairus to life,――at the transfiguration,――and on the apostolic roll,――James is uniformly placed after Peter; and such too, was the superior activity and talkative disposition of Peter, that whenever and wherever there was anything to be said, he was always the first to say it,――cutting off the sons of Zebedee from the opportunity, if they had the disposition, to make themselves more prominent. Yet the sons of Zebedee are not entirely unnoticed in the apostolic history, and even the early-martyred James may be said to have a character quite decidedly marked, in those few passages in the sacred record, where facts concerning him are commemorated. In the apostolic list given by Mark, it is moreover mentioned, that he with his brother had received a name from Jesus Christ, which being given to them by him, doubtless with a decided reference to their characters, serves as a valuable means of ascertaining their leading traits. The name of “BOANERGES,”――“sons of thunder,” seems to imply a degree of decided boldness, and a fiery energy, not exactly accordant with the usual opinions of the characters of the sons of Zebedee; but it is an expression in the most perfect harmony with the few details of the conduct of both, which are given in the New Testament.

BOANERGES.――This word is one, whose composition and derivation,
(as is the case with many other New Testament proper names,)
have caused great discussion and difference of opinion among
the learned. It occurs only in Mark iii. 17, where it is
incidentally mentioned in the list of the apostles, as a new
name given to the sons of Zebedee by Jesus. Those who are
curious, can find all the discussion in any critical commentator
on the passage. Poole’s Synopsis, in one heavy folio column
and half of another, gives a complete view of all the facts and
speculations concerning this matter, up to his time; the amount
of all which, seems to be, that, as the word now stands, it
very nearly sets all etymologies at defiance,――whether Hebrew,
Syriac, Chaldee or Arabic,――since it is impossible to say how
the word should be resolved into two parts, one of which should
mean “sons,” and the other “thunder;” so that it is well for
us we have Mark’s explanation of the name, since without it,
the critics would probably have never found either “son” or
“thunder” in the word. As to the _reason_ of the name’s being
appropriated to James and John, conjectures equally numerous
and various may be found in the same learned work; but all
equally unsatisfactory. Lampe also is very full on this point.
(Prolegomena to a Johannine Theology cap. I. lib. ii. §§ 9‒15.

HIS FAMILY AND CALL.

Of the first introduction of this apostle to Jesus, it may be reasonably conjectured, that he formed an acquaintance with him at the same time with his brother John and the sons of Jonah, as already commemorated in the former lives, from the brief record in the first chapter of John’s gospel. After this, he and his brother, as well as Peter and Andrew, returned quietly to their honest business of fishing on the lake of Gennesaret, on whose shore, no doubt, was their home,――perhaps too, in Bethsaida or Capernaum, as their intimacy and fellowship with the sons of Jonah would seem to imply a vicinity of residence; though their common occupation might bring them frequently together in circumstances where friendly assistance was mutually needed; and the idea of their residence in some other of the numerous villages along the northern end of the lake, on either side, is not inconsistent with any circumstance specified in their history. In their occupation of fishing, they were accompanied by their father Zebedee, who it seems, was not so far advanced in years as to be unable to aid his sons in this very laborious and dangerous business; which makes it quite apparent that James and John being the sons of so active a man, must themselves have but just attained manhood, at the time when they are first mentioned. Respecting the character of this brisk old gentleman, unfortunately very few data indeed are preserved; and the vagueness of the impression made by his name, though so often repeated in connection with his sons, may be best conceived by reference to that deeply enigmatical question, with which grave persons of mature age are sometimes wont to puzzle the inquisitive minds of young aspirants after Biblical knowledge, “Who was the father of Zebedee’s children?”――a query which certainly implies a great deficiency of important facts, on which the curious learner could found a definite idea of this somewhat distinguished character. Indeed “the mother of Zebedee’s children” seems to posses in the minds of most readers of the gospels a much more prominent place than “the father of them;” for the simple occasion on which she presents herself to notice, is of such a nature as to show that she was the parent from whom the sons inherited at least one prominent trait,――that of high, aspiring ambition, with which, in them as well as in her, was joined a most decidedly comfortable degree of self-esteem, that would not allow them to suspect that other people could be at all behind them in appreciating those talents, which in their own opinion, and their fond mother’s, showed that they were “born to command.” Indeed it appears manifest, that there was much more “thunder” in her composition, than in her husband’s, and it is but fair to suppose, from the decided way in which she put herself forward in the family affairs, on at least one important occasion, without any pretension whatever on his part, to any right of interference or decision, that she must have been in the habit of having her own way in most matters;――a peculiar prominence in the domestic administration, very naturally resulting from the ♦circumstance, that her husband’s frequent long absences from home must have left the responsibilities of the family often upon her alone, and he, like a prudent man, on his return, may have valued domestic quiet above the maintenance of any very decided supremacy. If the supposition may be adopted, however, that Zebedee died soon after the call of his sons, the silence of the sacred record respecting him is easily accounted for, and the above conclusion as to his domestic management, may be considered unnecessarily derogatory to his dignity of character.

♦ “cirstance” replaced with “circumstance”

Sprung from such parents, and brought up by them on the shores and waters of Gennesaret, James had learned the humble business of his father, and was quietly devoting himself to the labors of a fisherman, probably never dreaming of an occasion that should ever call forth his slumbering energies in “thunder,” or hold up before his awakened ambition, the honors of a name that should outlast the wreck of kingdoms, and of the brightest glories of that age. But on the morning, when the sons of Jonah received the high call and commission to become “fishers of men,” James and his brother too,――at the solemn command, “Follow me,”――laid down their nets, and left the low labors and amusements of the fishing, to their father, who toiled on with his servants, while his sons went forth through Galilee, following him who had called them to a far higher vocation. No acts whatever are commemorated, as performed by them in this first pilgrimage; and it was not until after their return from the north of Galilee, and the beginning of their journey to Jerusalem, that the occasion arose, when their striking family trait of ambition was most remarkably brought out.

HIS AMBITIOUS CLAIMS.

Their intellectual and moral qualities being of a comparatively high order, had already attracted the very favorable attention of Jesus, during the first journey though Galilee; and they had already, on at least two occasions, received most distinguishing marks of his regard,――they alone of all the twelve, sharing in the honor of being present with Peter at the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and being still more highly favored by the view of the solemn events of the night of the transfiguration, amid the thunders of Hermon. On that occasion, the terrors of the scene overcame even their aspiring souls; and when the cloud burst over them, they both sunk to the earth, in speechless dread, along with Peter, too, who had previously manifested so much greater self-command than they, in daring to address in complaisant words the awful forms before them; while they remained silent with terror at a phenomenon for which their views of their Master’s character had but poorly prepared them. From all these prostrating terrors they had since, however, fully recovered, and were now completely restored to their former confidence in themselves, and were still rooted in their old views of the Messiah’s earthly glories,――in this particular, however, only sharing the common error of the whole twelve. In this state of mind, looking upon Jesus Christ only as an ambitious man, of powerful mind, vast knowledge, divine consecration, and miraculous gifts, which fitted him for the subversion of the Roman dominion, and the erection of a kingdom of his own,――their thoughts were all the while running on the division of the spoils and honors, which would be the reward of the chief followers of the conqueror; and in this state of mind, they were prepared to pervert all the declarations of Jesus, so as to make them harmonize with their own hopes and notions. While on this journey southward, to Jerusalem, after they had passed into the eastern sections of Judea, beyond the Jordan, Jesus was one day, in answer to an inquiry from Peter, promising his disciples a high reward for the sacrifices they had made in his service; and assuring them, that in return for houses or lands or relatives or friends, left for his name’s sake, they should all receive a return, a hundred-fold greater than the loss. Especially were their fancies struck by a vivid picture, which he presented to their minds, of the high rewards accruing to all the twelve, declaring that after the completion of the change which he was working, and when he had taken his own imperial throne, they should sit around him on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Here was a prospect, enough to satisfy the most aspiring ambition; but along with the hopes now awakened, arose also some queries about the preference of places in this throned triumph, which were not easily settled so as to satisfy all at once. In the proposed arrangement, it was perfectly evident, that of the whole circle of thrones, by far the most honorable locations would be those immediately on the right and left of the Messiah-king; and their low ambition set them at once contriving how to get these pre-eminent places for themselves. Of all the apostolic band, none could so fairly claim the right hand throne as Peter; already pronounced the Rock on which the church should be founded, and commissioned as the keeper of the keys of the kingdom. But Peter’s devotion to his Master seems to have been of too pure a character, to let him give any thought to the mere rewards of the victory, so long as he could feel sure of the full return of that burning affection to his Lord, with which his own ardent soul glowed; and he left it to others to settle points of precedency and the division of rewards. On no occasion throughout his whole life, is there recorded any evidence of the slightest disposition to claim the mere honors of a pre-eminence, though his superior force of character made the whole band instinctively look to him for guidance, on all times of trouble and danger, after the ascension. His modest, confiding, disinterested affection for his Master, indeed, was the main ground of all the high distinctions conferred on him so unsparingly by Jesus, who would have been very slow to honor thus, one who was disposed to grow proud or overbearing under the possession of these favors. But this very character of modesty and uncalculating affection, gave occasion also to the other disciples, to push themselves forward for a claim to those peculiar exaltations, which his indifference to personal advancement seemed to leave unoccupied, for the more ambitious to assume. In this instance, particularly, James and John were so far moved with the desire of the enviable distinction of this primacy, that they made it a matter of family consultation, and accordingly brought the case before their fondly ambitious mother, who instantly determined that the great object should be achieved before any one else could secure the chance for the place; and resolved to use her influence in favor of her darling sons. On the first favorable opportunity she therefore went with them to Jesus; and, as it would appear by the combination of the accounts of Matthew and Mark, both she and they presented the request at once and together,――James and John, however, prefacing the declaration of their exact purpose by a general petition for unlimited favor,――“Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatever we desire?” To this modest petition, Jesus replied by asking, “What would ye that I should grant?” They, with their mother, falling down at his feet in fawning, selfish worship, then urged their grand request:――“Grant,” said the ambitious SALOME, “that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, when thou reignest in thy glory.” Jesus, fully appreciating the miserable state of selfish ignorance which inspired the hope and the question, in order to show them their ignorance, and to make them express their minds more fully, assured them that they knew not the meaning of their own request, and asked them whether they were able to drink of the cup that he should drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that he should be baptized with? With unhesitating self-conceit, they answered, “We are able.” But Jesus replied in such a tone as to check all further solicitation of this kind from them, or from any other of his hearers. “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by my father.”――“The cup of sorrow, and suffering, and agony,――the baptism of spirit, fire, and blood,――of these you shall all drink in a solemn and mournful reality, which you are now far from conceiving; but the high places of the kingdom which I come to found, are not to be disposed of to those who think to forestall my personal favor; they are for the blessed of my father, who, in the time appointed in his own good pleasure, will give it to them, in the end of days.” The disappointed family of Zebedee retired, quite confounded with the rejection of their petition, and with the darkly told prophecy that accompanied it, dooming them to some mysterious fate of which they could form no idea whatever. The rest of the twelve, hearing of the ambitious attempt of the sons of Zebedee to secure the supremacy, by a secret movement, and by family influence, were moved with great indignation against the intriguing aspirants, and expressed their displeasure so decidedly, that Jesus called them around him, to improve this manifestation of folly and passion, to their advantage; and said, “You know that the nations are governed by princes and lords, and that none exercise authority over them but the great ones of the land. Now it shall not be so among you; but he who will be great among you, must be your servant; and he who shall be your chief, shall be the slave of all the rest. For even the Son of Man himself came not to make others his slaves, but to be himself a slave to many, and even to sacrifice his life in their service.”

_Salome._――The reason for the supposition that this was really
the name of the mother of James, consists in the comparison of
two corresponding passages of Matthew and Mark. In Matthew xxvii.
56, it is said that among the women present at the crucifixion,
were “Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of Joses, and _the mother
of Zebedee’s children_.” In the parallel passage, Mark xv. 40,
they are mentioned as “Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of
James and Joses, and _Salome_.” In Mark xvi. 1, _Salome_ is also
mentioned among those who went to the sepulcher. This is not
proof positive, but it is reasonable ground for the supposition,
more especially as Matthew never mentions Salome by name, but
repeatedly speaks of “the mother of Zebedee’s children.”

If, as is probable then, Salome and the mother of Zebedee’s
children were identical, it is also reasonable to suppose, as
Lampe does, that Zebedee himself may have died soon after the
time when the call of his sons took place. For Salome could
hardly have left her husband and family, to go, as she did,
with Jesus on his journeys, ministering to his necessities,――but
if her husband was really dead, she would have but few ties
to confine her at home, and would therefore very naturally be
led, by her maternal affection, and anxiety for her sons, to
accompany them in their wandering life. The supposition of
Zebedee’s death is also justified by the circumstance, that John
is spoken of in his own gospel, (John xix. 27,) as possessing
a house of “his _own_,” which seems to imply the death of his
father; since so young a man would hardly have acquired property,
except by inheritance.

Thus he laid out before them all the indispensable qualities of the man who aspired to the dangerous, painful and unenviable primacy among them,――humility, meekness and laborious industry. But vain were all the earnest teachings of his divine spirit. Schemes and hopes of worldly eminence and imperial dominion, were too deeply rooted in their hearts, to be displaced by this oft-repeated view of the labors and trials of his service. Already, on a former occasion too, had he tried to impress them with the true spirit of the apostleship. When on the way to Capernaum, at the close of this journey through Galilee, they had disputed among themselves on the question, which of them should be the prime minister of their Messiah-king, when he had established his heavenly reign in all the dominions of his father David. On their meeting with him in the house at Capernaum, he brought up this point of difference. Setting a little child before them, (probably one of Peter’s children, as it was in his house,) and taking the little innocent into his arms, he assured them that unless they should become utterly changed in disposition and in hope, and become like that little child in simplicity of character, they should have no share whatever, in the glories of that kingdom, which was to them an object of so many ambitious aspirations. But neither this charge nor the repetition of it, could yet avail to work that necessary change in their feelings. Still they all lived on in vain and selfish hope, scheming for personal aggrandizement, till the progress of events bringing calamity and trial upon them, had purified their hearts, and fully fitted them for the duties of the great office to which they had so unthinkingly devoted themselves. Then indeed, did the aspiring James receive, in a deeper sense than he had ever dreamed of, the reward for which he now longed and begged;――drinking first of the cup of agony, and baptized first in blood, he ascended first to the place on the right hand of the Messiah in his eternal kingdom. But years of toil and sorrow, seen and felt, were his preparation for this glorious crown.

James has also been made the subject of a long series of fables,
though the early termination of his apostolic career would
seem to leave no room whatever, for the insertion of any very
great journeys and labors upon the authentic history. But the
Spaniards, in the general rage for claiming some apostle as a
national patron saint, long ago got up the most absurd fiction,
that James, the son of Zebedee, during the period intervening
between Christ’s ascension and his own execution at Jerusalem,
actually performed a voyage over the whole length of the
Mediterranean, into Spain, where he remained several years,
preaching, founding churches, and performing miracles, and
returned to Jerusalem in time for the occurrence of the
concluding event, as recorded in the twelfth chapter of Acts.
This story probably originated in the same manner as that
suggested to account for the fables about Andrew; that is,――that
some preacher of Christianity, of this name, in a later age,
actually did travel into Spain, there preaching the gospel, and
founding churches; and that his name being deservedly remembered,
was, in the progress of the corruptions of the truth, confounded
with that of the apostle James, son of Zebedee,――this James
being selected rather than the son of Alpheus, because the
latter had already been established by tradition, as the hero of
a story quite inconsistent with any Spanish journey, and being
also less dignified by the Savior’s notice. Be that as it may,
Saint James (Santo Jago) is to this day esteemed the patron
saint of Spain, and his tomb is shown in Compostella, in that
kingdom; for they will have it, that, after his decapitation by
Herod Agrippa, his body was brought all the way over the sea, to
Spain, and there buried in the scene of his toils and miracles.
A Spanish order of knighthood, that of St. Jago de Compostella,
takes its name from this notion.

The old romancer, Abdias Babylonius, who is so rich in stories
about Andrew, has much to tell about James, and enters at great
length into the details of his crucifixion; crowning the whole
with the idle story, that when he was led to death, his accuser,
Josiah, a Pharisee, suddenly repenting, begged his forgiveness
and professed his faith in Christ,――for which he also was
beheaded along with him, after being baptized by James in some
water that was handed to him by the executioner, in a calabash.
(Abdias Babylonius, History of the Apostolical Contest, IV. § 9.)

From the time of this event, there occurs no mention whatever of any act of James, until the commemoration of the occasion of his exit; and even this tragic circumstance is mentioned so briefly, that nothing can be learned but the mere fact and manner of his death. On the occasion fully described above, in the life of Peter, Herod Agrippa I. seized this apostle, and at once put him to death by the executioner’s sword. The particular grounds, on which this act of bloody cruelty was justified by the tyrant and his friends, are wholly unknown. Probably there was a pretence at a set accusation of some crime, which would make the act appear less atrocious at the time, than appears from Luke’s silence as to the grounds of the proceeding. The remarkable prominence of James, however, was enough to offer a motive to the popularity-seeking Agrippa, whose main object, being to “please the Jews,” led him to seize those who had most displeased them, by laboring for the advancement of the Nazarene heresy. And that this actually was his governing principle in selecting his victims, is made further apparent by the circumstance that Peter, the great chief of the band, was next marked for destruction. Though no particular acts of James are recorded as having made him prominently obnoxious to the Jews, yet there is every reason to believe, that the exalted ardor and now chastened ambition of this Son of Thunder, had made him often the bold assaulter of sophistry and hypocrisy,――a heroism which at once sealed his doom, and crowned him with the glory of THE APOSTOLIC PROTO-MARTYR.

JOHN;
THE SON OF ZEBEDEE.

HIS CHARACTER.

THIS other son of Zebedee and of “thunder,” whenever any description of the apostles has been given, has been by most religious writers generally characterized as a mild, amiable person, and is thus figured in strong contrast with the bold and often bitter spirit of Peter. The circumstance that he is described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” has doubtless done much to cause the almost universal impression which has prevailed, as to the meekness of his disposition. But this is certainly without just reason; for there is no ground for supposing that any peculiar softness was essential to the formation of the character for which the Redeemer could feel a strong affection. On the contrary, the almost universal behavior of the apostolic band, seems to show that the natural characteristics which he marked as betraying in them the deeper qualities that would best fit them for his service, and qualify them as the sharers of his intimate instruction and affection, were more decidedly of the stern and fiery order, than of the meek and gentle. Nor is there any circumstance recorded of John, whether authentic or fabulous, that can justify the supposition that he was an exception to these general, natural characteristics of the apostles; but instances sufficiently numerous are given in the gospels, to make it clear, that he was not altogether the soft and gentle creature, that has been commonly presented as his true image.

It has been commonly supposed that he was the youngest of all the apostles; nor is there any reason to disbelieve an opinion harmonizing, as this does, with all that is recorded of him in the New Testament, as well as with the undivided voices of all tradition. That he was younger than James, may be reasonably concluded from the circumstance that he is always mentioned after him, though his importance in the history of the foundation of the Christian faith might seem to justify an inversion of this order; and in the life of James, it has already been represented as probable, that he too must have been quite young, being the son of a father who was still so much in the freshness of his vigor, as to endure the toils of a peculiarly laborious and dangerous business. On this point, also, the opinion even of tradition is entitled to some respect, on the ground taken by an author quoted in the life of Peter,――that though we consider tradition as a notorious liar, yet we may give some attention to its reports, because even a liar may sometimes speak the truth, where he has no object in deceiving us.

_The youngest of the disciples._――All that can be said on this
opinion is, that it is possible, and if the testimony of the
Fathers were worth the slightest consideration on any historical
question concerning the apostles, it might be called even
probable; but no early writer alludes to his age at all, till
Jerome, who very decidedly calls John, “the youngest of all
the apostles.” Several later Fathers make the same assertion,
but the voice of antiquity has already been shown to be worth
very little, when it is not heard within three centuries of the
events on which it offers its testimony. But at any rate the
assertion of John’s juniority is not improbable.

A great deal of violent discussion has been lavished on the
almost equally important question, whether John was ever married.
The earliest established testimony on this point is that of
Tertullian, who numbers John among those who had restrained
themselves from matrimony for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
Testimony as late as the third century, however, on an opinion
which favored monastic views, is worth nothing. But on the
strength of this, many Fathers have made great use of John, as
an instance of celibacy, accordant with monastic principles.
Epiphanius, Jerome and Augustin allude frequently to the
circumstance, the latter Father in particular insisting that
John was engaged to be married when he was called, but gave up
the lady, to follow Jesus. Some ingenious modern theologians
have even improved upon this so far as to maintain that the
marriage of Cana in Galilee was that of John, but that he
immediately left his wife after the miracle. (See Lampe,
Prolegomena, I. i. 13, notes.)

HIS FAMILY AND BUSINESS.

The authentic history of the life of this apostle must also necessarily be very brief; most of the prominent incidents which concern him, having already been abundantly described in the preceding lives. But there are particulars which have not been so fully entered into, some of which concern this apostle exclusively, while in others he is mentioned only in conjunction with his brother and friends; and these may all, with great propriety, be more fully given in this life, since his eminence, his writings, and long protracted labors, make him a proper subject for a minute disquisition.

Being the son of Zebedee and Salome, as has already been mentioned in the life of his brother, he shared in the low fortunes and laborious life of a fisherman, on the lake of Gennesaret. This occupation indeed, did not necessarily imply the very lowest rank in society, as is evident from the fact that the Jews held no useful occupation to be beneath the dignity of a respectable person, or even a learned man. Still the nature of their business was such, as to render it improbable that they had adopted it with any other view than that of maintaining themselves by it, or of enlarging their property, though perhaps not of earning a support which they had no other means whatever of procuring. It has been said, that doubtless, there were many other inhabitants of the shores of the lake, who occasionally occupied themselves in fishing, and yet were by no means obliged to employ themselves constantly in that avocation. But the brief statement of circumstances in the gospels is enough to show that such an equipage of boats and nets, and such steady employment all night, were not indicative of anything else than a regular devotion of time to it, in the way of business. Yet that Zebedee was not a man in very low circumstances, as to property, is quite manifest from Mark’s statement, that when they were called, they left their father in the vessel, along with the “servants,” or workmen,――which implies that they carried on their fishing operations, on so extended a scale, as to have a number of men in their service, and probably had a vessel of considerable size, since it needed such a plurality of hands to manage it, and use the apparatus of the business to advantage; a circumstance in which their condition seems to have been somewhat superior to that of Peter and Andrew, of whom no such particulars are specified,――all accounts representing them as alone, in a small vessel, which they were able to manage of themselves. The possession of some family estate is also implied, in numerous incidental allusions in the gospels; as in the fact that their mother Salome was one of those women who followed Jesus and “ministered to him of their substance” or possessions. She is also specified among those women who brought precious spices for embalming the body of Jesus. John is also mentioned in his own gospel, as having a house of his own, in which he generously supported the mother of Jesus, as if he himself had been her son, throughout the remainder of her life; an act of friendly and pious kindness to which he would not have been competent, without the possession of some property in addition to the house.

HIS EDUCATION.