And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house.

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

COMMENT. Though St. Luke tells this only in his ninth chapter, it is plain from his own words that it was at the beginning of that last journey to Jerusalem when the time was at hand for our Lord's sufferings and return to His Father's home above.

The broad outlines of His course on earth are these: He began by His Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation, then was pointed out by John the Baptist to John and Andrew, and gathered at least three more disciples before the Passover at Jerusalem, where he cleansed the Temple and taught Nicodemus. On His return He proclaimed His mission, and taught in Galilee, appointing the Apostles, and going through the towns and villages, preaching and healing the sick. At first there was an enthusiastic following, but after the next Passover, when He had still more openly rebuked the Pharisees at Jerusalem, and declared Himself Lord of the Sabbath, emissaries from Jerusalem came to watch Him, and set the authorities against Him, though the poorer sort followed Him eagerly. After the first feeding of the multitude, they wanted to make Him a king, and followed when He withdrew across the lake; and though some fell away on hearing the discourse on the Bread of Life, the third Passover so alarmed the Jews at Jerusalem, and the popular feeling was so strong, that He began to withdraw into lonelier places. The multitude followed, and for their sake He wrought the second miracle of the loaves, but then went away into the distant parts of Cæsarea Philippi, where He was transfigured. The great teachings at the Feasts of Tabernacles and Dedication further enraged the Jews, so that He had to go into a sort of concealment at Ephraim, only coming from thence to raise Lazarus; and as this only made the Jews more bent on destroying Him, He went beyond

Jordan for a time, and thence returned, after sending the seventy before Him for one last visit to His beloved Galilee; and after repeating some of His discourses there, without much opposition, He set His face to go to Jerusalem to the last Passover, when He was to suffer.

His way lay through Samaria; and here the two brothers, James and John, wanted Him to punish the churlishness of a Samaritan village, as Elijah had punished Ahaziah's messengers. Then it was that the rebuke they called forth condemned all persecution, as alien to the spirit in which He came. Faith is needful, indeed, but want of faith is never to be punished by man.

Probably at this time three followers offered themselves. The first was answered by a pathetic warning of the dreary, homeless life, our Lord was now suffering, and that His disciple must embrace. As at His birth, there was no room in the inn, so He had nowhere to lay His head. Let Him not say so of our hearts.

The next offered to follow, but added, "Suffer me first to go and bury my father," by which we understand, not that the corpse was waiting for burial, but that he wanted to stay at home for the rest of his father's lifetime; and our Lord, knowing the circumstances, and that it was not his duty in this case, but only an excuse, bade him leave those dead in sin to bury the dead.

The third wanted to take leave of his friends, by which means, no doubt, he would have exposed himself to be detained by them, and perhaps prevented from coming at all; and to him our Lord replied by a proverb against looking back, which is sure to end in turning back.

All these show us what excuses are worth in the eyes of God, and how little they avail. We do not know how it was with these three, but we do know that he who follows Christ must be ready to bear everything, and give up all things, if he would follow in the way of the Cross.

LESSON XCI.

THE TEN LEPERS.

LUKE xvii. 11—19.

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off :

And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy

on us.

And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

COMMENT.-This history is one to be much borne in mind as marking that our Lord Jesus, though God Almighty, feels our thankfulness or unthankfulnes, that He is in truth, as the Second Commandment reveals Him, a jealous God, Who can be wounded in His affections, as we should say, by our own neglect and ingratitude. Some there are who presume to find fault with offerings of love and thankfulness, because, they say, such things presume that we can do God good by our homage. A little child does not do its parent much good by a kiss or by a gathered flower, but would father or mother be willing to go without endearments or such little gifts as these?

The ointment of the woman in Simon's house was warmly owned and accepted, and the ingratitude of the nine lepers was a wound which grieved the Master. As we think of it at first, we marvel and their heedless thanklessness seems unaccountable; but as we study the matter more, we can see that their conduct was not so unlikely as not to serve as a lesson to us.

It does not seem that the cure was instantaneous, and took place the moment they had turned to go to the priest, when a moment's impulse would have brought them back to their Healer. They were "in the parts of Samaria and Galilee" at some days' journey from Jerusalem, and their recovery took place on the way. And when they reached the priest, no doubt everything would be said to persuade them that, be the cure what it might, it was not owing to JESUS of Nazareth. "Give God the glory, we know that this Man is a sinner,” would be said to them as to the blind man healed on the Sabbath day; and no small moral courage would be called for in going back to acknowledge the proscribed Galilean as the Almighty Healer, at the very time when the rulers were bent on His Death.

Perhaps some tried to ascribe their recovery to natural causes, or to believe that it had not been real leprosy; others may have resolved to wait and see whether the cure was real; others may have said to themselves that if they sought Him out He would expect them to become His disciples, for which they were not prepared ; and some may have put off their thanks, thinking that they would be sure to meet Him privately at the feast, and could then give them with less danger to themselves.

Any way, none save the stranger returned to give thanks, and he must have done it with trouble, and perhaps peril, since he had to follow our Lord on His journey into Judea; but he had his reward in the earnest blessing upon him.

"A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful." May thanksgiving always brighten every pleasure we receive, thanks to the human donor and thanks to the heavenly Father. Let every rescue from the least peril, every preservation from sickness or evil, for ourselves or others, be followed by thanks, and those "not only with our lips, but in our lives."

And besides these daily benefits, let us remember that we have all been cleansed from our deadly leprosy, and that unless we constantly show our thankfulness for that cleansing by following our Saviour, we fall back once more into its power, and He may

have to ask, "Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the

LESSON XCII.

FARABLES UPON PRAYER.

LUKE xi. 5-8; xviii. 1-14.

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

And he would not for a while but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man ;

Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he hare long with them?

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others :

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.