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is introduced with honor, and, in the training of these his sons, every candid reader will feel disposed to believe he had been exemplary. As it was an advantage to David that he was the son of Jesse, so it should seem it had been to them, that they were the sons of Jonas.

The information, however, respecting the parents of the rest of these apostles is more ample, besides being in itself interesting in no common degree.

James and John come next in order, the influence of whose parents in the formation of their character is more evident, from the deep interest which they themselves took in the cause of the Messiah. It is true that John the Baptist was the harbinger of the Messiah, but still he came to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, as well as to call sinners to repentance. Much remained for him to do and say in every case; but preparationwork had unquestionably been going on, and in this it is not difficult to descry the hand of parents. To part cheerfully with a son, already engaged in business and often assisting his father, when called to wait constantly on the Saviour in the days of his reproach, while his cause was yet only in prospect, will surely be admitted to have evidenced something like both faith and love. But here was a Father, who, in one day, parted with his two only sons, and yet seems to have cheerfully acquiesced. The old man, Zebedee, was with James and John when they were called away; yet, however much their leaving himself as well as their nets involved, so far as he is concerned, not a word is heard against it. Here too was a

the whole concern,-took the three partners into union with himself, encouraging them by the assurance, that from henceforth they should be engaged in nobler employment. These were the men who saw him in the height of his glory on Mount Tabor, and in the depth of his humiliation in Gethsemane,-the men whom he favored with such peculiar distinction.

Mother, who not only approved, but followed their footsteps; nay, set them an example, and, in some respects, kept still a-head of them; for she not only followed Jesus, but ministered to him of her substance. True, her zeal, like that of her children and all the apostles, was, occasionally, not according to knowledge; and, in requesting for these her children the most honorable places in Christ's kingdom, she was wrong. Maternal ambition she might display in this one instance, but still, by her ministering to Jesus, she had discovered her superiority to the love of the world, as well as her devout attachment to his person and kingdom. This incident, however, is important, so far as Salome is concerned. James and John, who themselves also, at that period, desired to enjoy the right and left hand of the Saviour, seem to have thought that, by employing their mother as the petitioner, they were most likely to ensure success,-at once a striking proof of the power which she still possessed over them, and of the high esteem which they believed the Saviour entertained for her character. Yes, she gave the Messiah, with all her heart, two sons for apostles,-followed herself in his train, contributing to his support,and to her was the melancholy but honorable task assigned of receiving the mother of Jesus, and consoling her while the Messiah was yet bleeding on the tree of execution. To her too, on the morning of his resurrection, he appeared, and to her he spoke before he did so to either of her sons; nay, to any of the apostles. Such was Salome, a woman worthy of being the mother of the disciple whom Jesus loved. Surely then, without saying more of Zebedee, to such a mother both James and John must have been greatly indebted.

Mary, the mother of four of the apostles, as well as of Joses or Joseph (who is generally regarded to have been one of the two individuals whom the apostles proposed as

qualified to fill the place of Judas, and who, therefore, had accompanied the Messiah in all his travels), sustained a character equal to that of Salome, her constant companion. This eminent woman had the felicity not only of furnishing four out of the twelve apostles of the Lamb,-she, too, followed him, and she also ministered to him of her substance, with the cordial consent of such a man as Cleopas her husband. At the closing scene, to her also was given the honor of standing by, and sustaining the mother of Jesus, when he was stretched on the cross. Yes, close by her, and near the cross, stood Mary, accompanied by Salome, and there she heard the Saviour address his mother and the beloved John in these affecting words:"Woman, behold thy son," "Man, behold thy mother." In consequence of this dying injunction, we know what followed: in "that hour" the injunction was obeyed. At the commencement of the great darkness, she is generally supposed to have been led off the ground by John and his mother, Salome, and there she had an opportunity of gratifying an attachment, equally conspicuous with that of the wife of Cleopas.* These two

*Thus did the Great Redeemer himself conclude his life as he had begun it, by giving a testimony in favor of filial piety, consigning to the disciple whom he loved, a mother now full of anguish, who, when the sufferer was a child, had carried him in her bosom up and down through the Holy Land; nay, down into Egypt, and back again, or altogether more than eight hundred miles ;—a mother who had revered him when only twelve years old, and who, through life, had most religiously observed his sayings, laying them up in her heart, and pondering over them. To her, oh, what an hour was this! yet, when the sky had cleared, we find her again still quite in character. And O, when she did see the apostles rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake,—when she did see the multitude of them that believed, to be of one heart and of one soul,-here was joy indeed, which was meant to counterbalance all her deep anguish. Probably no other human heart was ever acquainted with such extremes, in point of feeling.

individuals, the parents of six of the apostles, united with Mary Magdalene, in the purchase of spices for embalming the body of Jesus; and, though their purchase was altogether unnecessary, on the morning of the resurrection they were amply repaid. Salome has indeed been

already noticed, but she may again be referred to, in company with her friend and inseparable companion. These were the two women to whom the angel first announced the resurrection, and to whom he said, "Be not affrighted; for I know that ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.—He is not here, but is risen: come, see the place where the Lord lay." To them also did he give the charge of informing the apostles; nay, to these two parents did our Lord himself make his second appearance, saying, "All hail!" and repeating the commission which the angel had given, but in still more endearing terms, he styles their children and the other apostles, his brethren. Thus, did they not only see him, but believed in the event before the apostles themselves!

Nor must Cleopas or Alpheus, the husband of Mary, and the Father of these Apostles, be forgotten. You may conjecture what his character must have been, and how very high he stood in the Saviour's estimation, when, though not an apostle, he appeared to him before them, Peter only having seen him in the former part of the day. Cleopas was one of the two highly-favored men to whom our Lord appeared on the road to Emmaus.-" Did not our hearts burn within us," said they, "while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?"-No wonder; he walked with them leisurely several miles, for it was more than seven miles distant from Jerusalem, and vouchsafed to him and his companion more of his conversation on the day of his resurrection than he did to any of his children; for he actually expounded to them, in all the Scriptures, the

things concerning himself. The deep interest which Cleopas and his companion took in all this is finely drawn, in their entreaties which prevailed with the Messiah to sit down at the table with them. This was the man with whom, after his resurrection, our Lord first engaged in devotional exercises. Over the food of which he was about to partake, the Saviour condescended to implore the Divine blessing; nay, he himself broke the bread, and gave to them, before he ceased to be visible. Judge then of the intense interest of Cleopas, and with what feelings he must have returned, as he immediately did, though, as one of his arguments with Jesus, he had said, "the day is far spent, for it is towards evening." Judge what must have been his feelings, when he returned to inform his sons and the other apostles of this appearance, and of this long conversation, over and above "all that had happened."—What a change to him, upon entering Jerusalem, from the feelings with which he had so pensively left it!

Now, assuredly, the man, to whom our Lord condescended on such a day to pay such regard, must have enjoyed a high place in his esteem,-the man who could appreciate such an extensive expository range over the Old Testament must have been well acquainted with this, his Bible, the man whose heart so burned within him must have been a saint of the highest order. But then, this man was the father, and his wife the mother of a third of the apostleship. Is it not remarkable-is it not confirmatory of the subject before us, that the husband. and wife, who appear so conspicuously in connection with the great God, our Saviour, and with the greatest of all earthly events, should turn out to be the parents of not less than four of the apostles? Is it not also especially worthy of notice, how the Saviour, on the day he rose from the dead, employs first maternal and then paternal influence to induce in the minds of these their children,

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