Sermon on the Mount
141
from the great Physician, and their distress and gloom were changed to
joy and thanksgiving. He also cast out many demons, who, in leaving
their victims, acknowledged Christ, saying, “Thou art the Son of God.”
The people of Galilee were greatly aroused, and flocked to the
presence of the Saviour. At length the crowd so increased that he
scarcely had room to stand, and therefore entered a small ship, which
was near the shore, and there preached to the crowd the thronged upon
the beach. So he labored uninterruptedly in teaching the people and in
healing the sick. But when the day was far spent he stole away and hid
himself in the solitude of the mountain, to commune with his Father in
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secret. Jesus spent the entire night in prayer, while his disciples slept at
the foot of the mountain. About dawn he came and wakened them. The
disciples were now about to receive an office of sacred responsibility,
second only to that of Christ himself. They were to be set apart for
the gospel work. They were to be linked with Jesus, to be with him,
to share his joys and trials, to receive his teachings, and be faithful
witnesses of his mighty works, that they might be able to impart the
instruction thus gained to the world. They were to be qualified so that
Jesus could at times send them forth alone to teach and work even as
he taught and worked. Jesus wished his disciples to gain an experience
in the gospel labor while he was on earth to comfort and direct them,
so that they would be able to successfully continue the work after his
death, and lay the foundation of the Christian church.
While Jesus was preparing his disciples for their ordination, and
instructing them as to the duties of the great work that lay before
them, Judas urged his presence among them. This man made great
professions of devotion to Jesus, and proposed to become one of his
disciples. Said he, “Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest.” Jesus did not warmly receive him, neither did he repulse him,
but addressed him with these words of mournful pathos, “The foxes
have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head.” Judas was selfish, and his main object in
seeking a connection with Christ was to obtain temporal advantages
through him; but Christ’s reference to his own poverty, contrasting his
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condition with that of the foxes and the birds, was designed to cut off
any hope Judas might cherish of securing earthly gain by becoming
a follower of Christ. Judas was a man of acknowledged executive
ability, and possessed of no small influence. For these reasons the