The New Testament supplies us with little in the way of biography. Even from the Gospels themselves we do not gather much concerning the actual life of our Lord apart from His public ministry. It has been justly said that no person has ever influenced the history of the world on such a scale as Jesus of Nazareth, yet it would be impossible to write a chronological life of the Founder of Christianity. What is true of the Master is true of His followers. We know very little about the Apostles them

We are fortunate in possessing an account of the first occasion on which Simon, the Galilean fisherman, met with Jesus of Nazareth. We are told (John i. 35-42) that immediately after the Baptism of Jesus, and, therefore, before His public ministry began, John the Baptist made a semi-public declaration that He was the long-expected Holy One of Israel. His words, as recorded in the Fourth Gospel, are: "I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, He said unto me, Upon whomsover thou

We may assume that Peter's acquaintance with our Lord continued for some time ere he was called to actual service. The Synoptists all refer to this call, but with certain differences in detail. Matthew's first mention of Simon (iv. 18) occurs in connection with his account of the commencement of the preaching ministry of Jesus. He tells us that after the temptation our Lord went to live in Capernaum. We know little or nothing of His movements save that He began to preach, and that the substance

Before long it became necessary for our Lord to make a selection from amongst the number of His disciples of those who were to represent Him and be clothed with His authority, after His visible presence was withdrawn from the infant Church. In Matthew x., Mark iii., and Luke vi., we have the Gospel accounts of the appointment of Apostles. The choice was very solemnly entered upon, the Master "continued all night in prayer to God, and when it was day He called His disciples: and He chose from the

So far our Lord seems to have said little or nothing to His disciples in regard to His own personality. He must have had certain reasons for this course, the principal one being, no doubt, that He shrank from arousing mistaken expectations in the minds of His followers. They looked for a hero Messiah, a great liberator, a secular prince. Jesus knew from experience how extremely difficult it is to change any man's point of view, or to dislodge a prepossession from his mind, hence He preferred to

At the close of the conversation referred to above our Lord stated, "There be some here of them that stand by which shall in no wise taste of death till they see the kingdom of God come with power." About a week after this promise—Mark says "six days" and Luke "about eight days"—"Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and went with them to a high mountain apart by themselves, and was transfigured before them." Matthew (chapter xvii.) says that "His face did shine as the sun and his garmen

His Consequent Expectations. In the three synoptical Gospels we have an account of a remarkable conversation between Peter and his Lord in regard to the reward promised to those who took service in the Kingdom of God. The occasion was one of special interest. A rich young ruler came to Jesus to ask the momentous question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The disciples appear to have been much impressed by the incident—Peter, perhaps, most of all, for in Mark's Gospel we have the best a

As our Lord's earthly ministry draws to a close the spiritual history of the first Apostles reaches a crisis. The scene in the Upper Room has for us a special interest in this connection. It is recorded in all the four Gospels in such a manner as to establish its importance and historicity. As usual Peter's own account is the most vivid, but Luke supplies us with a sentence from which we learn more of the state of affairs than is given by the other three. This is exceptional, for Luke, as a rule

The testing time was not far distant. Peter, filled with determination to show his loyalty and courage, seems to have carried away from the upper room one of two swords that had lain therein. He believed himself ready for emergencies, but failed at the very outset to give what his Master really needed. Once again we find the story told best by Peter himself. He, James and John were stationed by their Master's desire a little nearer to His person than were the others. Most pathetically Jesus entr

We know nothing of Peter's history during the anguished hours that intervened between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, but we may believe that his shame and contrition continued until Jesus Himself breathed in his ear words of forgiveness and hope. We may infer indirectly that Peter must have been humbled by the recollection of his own self-confident boasting in the presence of the other apostles, for we find him still in association with them. The little company seems to have held together

Although, however, our Lord had in such a beautiful and thoughtful way restored His poor, self-abased disciple in private, Peter had still a necessary discipline to undergo. He had sinned in the presence of others, it was necessary that others should know of the new understanding between his Master and himself. Only John has preserved the record of the conversation in which this new understanding was declared. But Peter himself distinctly refers to it in his Second Epistle (i., 14). John tells u

Jesus's closing words to Peter as we have them in the 21st of St. John could only have been spoken to one who had advanced far beyond the point at which ease, honour or riches were regarded as motives for service in the Kingdom of God. What a contrast between the Peter who inquired, "What shall we have therefore?" and the Peter to whom the solemn assertion was made, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou sha