The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 18, 1902, Page 14

BEY REV. DR. EOBERT STUART MACARTHUR. ET us begin with the miracle of turning water into wine at Cana of Galilee. Leaving Nazareth early in t morning we soon come to the traditional Cana, about four miles east of Nazareth, on the road to Tiberias. Some travelers, and among them Drs. and Porter, object to the tradi- na as the site of the ancient ey locate it at Kana-El Jelli, and about nine miles It is by no means cer- site 3 cinity a large spring by a wall and if this is the true 1 think it is, the water used at riage feast at the time of our sit w certainly drawn pots of compact in the neighbor- G red that one of the ve: ater at the marriage feast may be dec pots used miracle at Cana as we are the be € of mir- remarkable tning that rform miracles until now. 1 Gospels represent him _as rmed many miracies during and carly manhood. One has was only to compare the accounts of those mira with the true to see the differ- ence een the inspired and uninspired. They are frivolous, puerile and often lu- dicrous. They lack the and divinity “of the Gospel narratives. Christ bided his time The miracles began the series. This in- - ficant jn its pro- = his earthly min- as was bis first parable. The first parable was that of the sower. It sug- gests the whole work of our Lord in his public ministry. He came to sow “the €004 wewd of the kingdom.” Not Iless prophetic is this first miracle. It suggests the whoie purpose of Christ’s earthly Lfe, He came lo ennoble, to transmute, to glorify, to divinize. As he now turned the water into wine, £0 his entire ministry was to be the turning of the water of esrth into the wine of heaven. Nature i always lenfilnr water into the juice of the grape, and all that Christ did on this occasion was to hasten the process. This remark will apply to all of Christ's miracles. Health is the nor- mal condition of the human body; sick- pess is abnormal. Christ came to_restore physical and spiritual normality. Religion is the restoration of spiritual normality. It is most interesting to see that, in one sense, miracles are not miraculous, Christ introduced in the performance a higher law which for the time being held the lower law in check. Most de)?zly interesting was the ride from the Mount of Beatitudes to the Sea of Galllee. There is not a sheet of water on the globe which I so greatly desired to see as the SBea of Galllee. The hope of seeing it was in my thoughts for years, and it now gave zest and charm to this trip over the hills of Judea, and Galflee. And vet, as I knew I was ap- proaching it, there was a sort of unwill- majesty, dignity ingness to tne signt for whicu 1 had long wal 1 refused to look up until a spot was reached where the view would be the finest. “Look now,” said Abdallah, my excellent dragoman. At his words I looked, with strangely com- mingled emotions, and had the magnifi- cent view of the sea and its surroundings which all travelers in the holy land get who approach it by this road. In Isalah, ix:1, the Sea of Galilee is referred to simply as “the sea.” Its local name now is ‘“Bahr Tabariyeh.” It is about thirty-five miles south of Mount Hermon, twenty-seven miles east of the Mediterranean and sixty-five in a straigit line north of the Dead Sea. I saw it at noonday, sunset, sunrise and in the moonlight. In the morning the sur- rounding hills were brilliant in color; in the evening the shadows deepened until sea, hilis and sky were seen ip the softest, sweetesL tone nd in the night all the inequalities were harmonized and the peace of God rested on mountain and sea. Once I saw it ruffled in a_slight storm, and all the memories of Christ and his disciples filled my soul. P Perhaps the best views are at Tiberias, looking toward Capernaum. This view I had for hours in the soft evening light as 1 sat alone by the shore near the center of the town of Tiberias. The lake is pear- shaped, the broad end being toward the north, ‘or we may say that it is harp- shaped, with the bulge to the northwest. It is between twelve and thirteen miles long and between six and seven miles wide, and Is almost embosomed among the hills. The Jordan flows into it on the north—a muddy stream, colering the lake for a mile from its mouth—and out of it on the south, being then pure and bright It has been called a “sparkling dlamond suspended by a thread.” Its depth is one hundred and sixty to two hundred and thirty feet; its level varles at different seasons, but its depression below the sur- face of the Mediterranean Sea may be put at six hundred and eighty-two feet, al- though often it is said to be seven hun- dred feet. Some describe the view in terms of great extravagance; others equally depreclate it. The truth lies between the extremes. Many, having in mind only the deserted waste, the barren hills and the extent of the water, will tell you that lakes in Eng- land, Scotland, Ireland and Switzerland far surpass this view. In several respects they are quite right. But the thought of Christ's presence glorifies mountains, shore and sea, and makes this the most interesting and transcendently beautiful place on this glol The lake was really the center of the trade of the province. Here, then, was the tcuch with the commerce, the indus- try and the powerful Greek influences of the time, Near Tiberias the water s pol.- luted with sewage, but elsewhere it is entirely fit for drinking purposes, althougn it is somewhat brackish, which brackish- ness 8 duec to the salt springs on the shore. A bath in the lake is very enjoy- able, as in it are many warm springs. The depression of the lake causes the tropical heat here experienced; it aiso accounts for the semi-tropical vegetation on the shores. Excellent fish abound in the lake, including several tropical 8pe- cles, which now, as in Christ’s day (Luke THE SUNDAY CALL. v:i6) are seen in large shoals. Great ine terest attaches to chromis, as they ace called, the male of which carries the eggs and the young In its mouth, and also to the coraeinus of Josephus and the barbur of the Arabs, which gives out a sound. Boats abound on the lake. Many trav- elers, partly because of the sacred asso- ciations, prefer to go by boat from Tiberfas to Capernaum. Boats can be had large enough to hold from ten to twalve bassengers, in addition to the rowers. Eoth sides of the lake can, of course, be Lest seen from a boat, and in this way the gospel scenes also can be made more real than when one rides or walks on the re. But a careful bargain ought to made, as the charges age apt to ex- orbitant, In Christ's time the ships and boats on the lake were very numerous. Josephus used the phrase ‘climbing up into their ships,” indicating that some of the ves- sels were large. ‘At that time there were nine considerable towns on the shores of the lake. Among these were Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Tiberlas and Mag- dala. These towns contained /a large and busy population. Dr, Selah Merrill indorses the strong statements of Jose- phus regarding the great size of the pop- ulation of Galilee as a whole, and also the statement mentioned above, that many vessels then enlivened the lake. Tiberias is now the only town visible, and there are only three or four small villages on the coast. Dr, Merrill also in- dorses what Josephus says of the beauty and fruitfulness of the Flnln of Gennesa- ret. Josephus gives Galilee two hundred and four towns and villages, the smallast of which had 15,000 Inhabitants. But nearly all these towns are now indistin- guishable masses of ruins, Galilee was only from fifty to sixty miles long and from thirty to’ forty wide, but it is believed that at ¥Gll( three mil- lions of people lived there, Th ke then was white with safls and plowed with thousands of keels, The shores of this sea were vastly different in Christ's day. Then there were great woods on the banks; now there is not a tree. Then there were noble gardens; now there are there were prosper- anly‘mmhela "len b4 0 ous towns and cities; now ere are namele ruin; This bclullful. ?{'fl charms eve! It is once food, drink and alr, to the eye, coolness re: in the heat, an escape from the crowd and a means of travel very welcome in 80 exhausting a climate. Even those ‘\ WHERE WATER WAS TURNED INTO WINE ' BY CARIST 1ts memories of Christ h m for it. The rabbis “Jehovah hath created seven seas, 8 aret is his delight.’ Yho‘lel and always been preserved, and it was tenderly mentioned in the time o Tu d the place is frequently visited by travelers of the present time. It is near Endor and_about four miles southwest of Tabor. situated on a low_mount northwest edge of Little Hermon, the hill descends into the plain of Ill commands'a fine view of the hills Once it was a town of consider: but now It {s a poor vill mud huts, with heaps o many old ruins. only about twenty in number, population is correspondingl all. Its modern name, Nein, is identi- cal with the ancient name, fountain has done much to perpetuate it: existence, As the traveler approaches the village he observes that above th there are holes in the face of th these are doubtless rock.tombs, the old burial place. 'W places In the New Testament his- stive of tender mel X the uvumdn rgtm?n- m the busier world nor q:lnl{ One can readily imagine that here our Lord found the restful seclusion which o d e lg.: n':hmque;.\t mmn; ary’s act in anointing the precious bod: of Jesus with the contents of her alabas- ter box makes'the place fragrant to this hour with the memor was not intendad at fi should so consider it. R because it was supposed to be the actual ply that it llll'lfi comme::; urrence. Here on livity of the Mount of Olives, ¥ gently .wh‘mu“dhnu and terview with his @ are distinctly told that “He t as far.as to Bethany.” There he delivered to them his _final and as they stood about him he blessed them he was parted carried up into heaven." 8ge as their creator an e—he rose higher disciples watched him out of thefr real It was selected not place, bui sim orate the actu shores. He he stilled its wild wave ts rocky shores. several aposties were called ers of men’; in its waters Peter sank until Christ icturesquely of her loving act. at oin t has filled the of alabaster are still made erfumes. It s said that the lled with cotton and then poured over the cotton to r. It was this sto; Mary broke and not the vase Lazarus is now dead, Marth: ‘‘oumbered with much servini d Mary no longer sits here at the master's feet; but Christ lives, and Mary's act in dnoint- beforehand for the burial still tmosphere of this as it adds a new n its bosom to be “fish- from a watery and on its shores Christ met hia ing, while a mi. on the shore. 'bish led them ou melted wax is lisciples after his gray dawn of the moi raculous meal was prepare: Most refreshing was our halt at Shu- nem, with its beautiful grove, its musical streams and its tender mem, and the family in_which he found a hospitable welcome, sumed our journey commission, Its dwellin, m_them & All the lunu:)f ories of Elisha sweetens the | whole dilapidated village, charm to her character and to the bea: tiful Scripture narrative. Another event makes this vicinity fa- ‘We shall not fo: e upland, and per! .hl‘; overlooking the vil- departure from th to heaven. ' by tradition on '.-.t. the ascen- s great event, and probably it th strange wond until the cloud received hi 1, reul story of the ascension as we st memorable s; more t “‘they looked and o:o' m?r- %.h(. sight - messengers in white apparel, that Jesus would in 1k dact into heaven. and turning to the art of the mount has been called since he time of Jerome, and which is probably identical with the hill than -rzl hour at Nal Moveh, we were iy SEht of the diseiples on this desol toward heav a point immediat on his return lace pglnted out sion no one considers thi; tory are more_ su ories than s Betha ing to this quiet will scen olly in the busy g e, asture, but according to others, etter reason, fair or graceful. The name {s mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament and not elsewhere in the n connection with the rais- ow’s son. The name has as ye have seen to turned from S New, except i ing of the” widi