to think that Jesus, who must have known the value-nay, the necessity, in teaching of repetition, uttered more than once the same thought, and, perhaps, in nearly or quite the same words. The language of our Lord very generally has such contrast and point as make it approach to a succession of proverbs, and proverbs in their very nature recur continually in a similar, if not the same, form.

The leading thought of the discourse in question is the superiority in elevation, comprehensiveness, and sanction, of the new way of life opened out by Jesus, to the system in which the disciples, as Israelites, had been educated. Hence the implied necessity that his hearers, having called Jesus Lord and Master, should lay their foundation on a rock in doing the things which he commanded (Luke vi. 20, seq.). This contrast, which involved the great controversy between the old and the new religion, is brought out with at least equal force and greater detail in the fifth and following chapters of Matthew's Gospel. By combining the two accounts, we have an epitome of the gospel morality, considered not only in its final tendencies and claims, but also in its contrast and antagonism with the morality of the Mosaic law. And, as it clearly goes to supersede by completing (fulfilling) the latter, so does it throw out grand ideas for men to admire, seek after, and realise; so that while it removes the lesser, the temporary, and the fading, it presents to our aspirations the greater, the permanent, the undecaying; and the gospel, in consequence, will, as it has yet done, keep a-head of society in its constant advances, in order to afford to man's boundless desires and ever-expanding capacity new heights of duty, fresh reaches of benevolence, purer and nobler aims, knowing no limit but the absolute perfection of Almighty God; for while we are bidden to love our enemies, and do good to them who hate us, we are exhorted also to do all with the aim of being perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Surely this is wonderful doctrine to come from the lips of a Nazarene carpenter's son, who a few months ago was labouring at his trade by the side of his foster-father. The perfection of morals from the mouth of a Galilean peasant! The widest benevolence from the heart of a Jew! Jesus of Nazareth at one step placed himself more than two thousand years in advance of the foremost men of his race! Say that God was with him, and, assigning an adequate cause, you make all clear. Deny this; affirm that he picked up his doctrines piecemeal from heathen and Jewish books or sects, and you make all dark: to get rid of a miracle, you propose an impossibility. Besides, moral greatness like that of Jesus, as here exhibited, is in its very essence a growth-a natural, and therefore a gradual result, arising out of pre-existing conditions, and leading to corresponding consequences, in a series of unbroken and most intimate relations; sc

that all the elements of which it consists were assimilated one to another, and made, like the plant in the soil and under the eye of day, to spring up and acquire shape, proportion, strength, and beauty, from an internal principle of life, with an entire unity of effect, and through a process no less ceaseless than easy and unseen. In all high spiritual creations, God and Nature, working in harmony, produce results of which every successive part has an exact correspondence with what precedes and what follows it. Hence the unity of our Lord's character; and hence the impossibility of his being the product of any, or all, the diverse agencies of his day. If, then, you should find difficulties in any part of the sacred Scriptures, or in any objections raised by human ingenuity, turn to the sublime doctrine delivered in the passages to which reference has now been made; and till you can find teachings more honourable to God, more fit for man, more pure, more lofty, more impulsive, more benign,-cleave to Jesus; honour, love, reverence Jesus, and you will not find your fidelity unrewarded.

CHAPTER XI.

JESUS RESTORES TO LIFE A YOUNG MAN AT NAIN-DINES WITH SIMON THE PHARISEE.

April 13th, A. D. 29.

Returning to Capernaum, Jesus restored to health the dying servant of a centurion, or colonel, in the Roman army. Thence, accompanied by many of his disciples, he proceeded, in a southwesterly direction, to a city called Nain, lying in Lower Galilee, not far from the borders of Samaria. In passing from Capernaum up the valley on the southern slope of which Nain stood, with what is called the Lesser Hermon at its back, Jesus went along the eastern side of Mount Tabor. Beyond the Lesser Hermon, southward, rises the mountainous ridge bearing the name of Gilboa, which is the eastern end of the crescent of which Carmel, with its promontory, forms the western horn. The Lesser Hermon and Gilboa are separated by a valley three hours long and two broad, which, curving in a north-easterly direction, sends its waters into the Jordan. Gilboa stands at the south-eastern termination of the plain of Jezreel, and forms the north-eastern part of the mountains of Ephraim. It is celebrated for the defeat which Saul suffered there, and which induced him to commit the dreadful sin of suicide (1 Samuel

xxxi. 1, seq.). Mount Gilboa is somewhat arid and unfruitful, while the neighbouring hills are clothed with trees, shrubs, and grass. A little to the south-west of Nain is Endor, where Saul foolishly, and contrary to the Mosaic law, went to consult the witch, who, by working on the excited and morbid fancy of the doomed king, had skill enough to delude him and co-operate in the great political change which ensued from his overthrow (1 Sam. xxviii.).

When Jesus approached Nain (April 13), he met a funeral procession. The incident, which is told in the Gospels with unsurpassable simplicity, had features of peculiar hardship. The deceased was a young man, and more, he was the only son of his mother, who was herself a widow. But more peculiar and pre-eminently distinguished was the event to be in virtue of the divine aid about to be furnished by him who was no less the friend of man than the Son of God.

How rapid, as well as painful, had been the change in that widow's prospects! A few hours before, she had a living son to support and comfort her. Now, that son, her only solace, was being borne to the silent tomb.

The heat of the climate in Palestine, especially as the warm weather approaches, renders a speedy interment necessary; for in some eight hours dead bodies, if left unburied, ordinarily become corrupt. As soon, therefore, as the next of kin has closed the eyes of the departed, preparations are hastily made for the interment. Amid dolorous notes of music and wailings from hired mourners, the corpse was washed in water (Acts ix. 37), and then anointed with fragrant oil, or laid in sweet-smelling herbs. The body was enveloped in a shroud; around the head was placed a separate cloth, and the whole corpse, from top to bottom, was bound about with strips of linen. These pious offices were performed by the nearest relative or the dearest friend. When thus laid out, the body, in an open coffin or on a bier, was carried to the grave by relatives, who, with attendants, gave loud and vehement expression to their grief (Jer. xvi. 6, xli. 5); sometimes rending their garments, casting ashes on their heads, and inflicting blows or wounds on their persons (Ezek. xxiv. 17; 2 Sam. xiii. 19). Deep grief lasted for eight days; persons of distinction, and those who were much beloved, were bewailed for a longer period. During this time mourning was worn, which bore the name of sackcloth, and which was of a coarse material and black in colour. Besides the relatives, many inhabitants of the town where the departed had lived, accompanied the remains to the place of burial, clad also in mourning apparel. This attendance in special cases was very great, for it was regarded as a marked token of regard and affection. As tombs were considered unclean, and by contact made others unclean, so were they placed on the outside of cities and coloured white, in order

that, standing by themselves and being noticeable, they might not inadvertently be touched. Tombs or graves were not, as with us, holes dug in the ground, but excavations or natural caves in the sides of rocks, for which the limestone hills of Palestine afforded peculiar opportunities. These tombs were entered by an opening in the side. This opening led into a sort of ante-room, communicating with other small chambers in which the dead were deposited, sometimes side by side on the floor, at others in parallel niches made in sides of the rock. Thus one tomb might contain many corpses; and as each family was accustomed to have its own burial-place, so relatives lay together after death, and the phrase arose which spoke of death as being 'gathered to one's fathers' (Gen. xxv. 8; Judg. ii. 10). In order to preserve the mortal but sacred remains within from the teeth of devouring animals, a door was placed at the entrance, which was carefully secured. Immediately on returning from the funeral, the mourners were entertained at a friendly meal. For days afterwards, women, yielding to the amiable tenderness of their nature, frequented the grave of a beloved friend, 'to weep there' (John xi. 31).

The family of the bereaved widow of Nain may have been held in high respect, for her son's body was followed by a large company. Jesus was greatly moved when he saw her shedding tears, for his was a most tender heart; and perhaps he remembered how in a short time a sword would pierce through the soul of his own mother, when he should expire on the cross (Luke ii. 35). Approaching the widow, therefore, he in the softest accents said, 'Weep not. But his consolatory words were accompanied by acts as full of relief to broken hearts as they were of divine power. How often do true ministers of Christ wish that a simiÎar power attended on the poor words of consolation they have to utter!

O mingle with the widow's tears

The drops for misery shed;

She bends beneath the weight of years,
Her earthly hope is fled.

Her son-her only son is gone!

Oh, who shall wipe that eye?

For she must journey lonely on,

And solitary die!

The pall upon his corse is spread,
The bier they slowly raise;
It cannot rouse the slumbering dead,
That widow'd mother's gaze.

She follows on, without a tear,
Her dear, her darling child:
But who is He who stops the bier,
With look and accent mild?

The Saviour is that pitying one;
His glance her woe disarms-
'Young man, arise!'-a living son
Is in his mother's arms!

On receiving him, we may well believe she wept afresh; but now they were tears of joy. The spectators were filled with reverence, and with good reason exclaimed, 'A great prophet is risen up; God hath visited his people!' The fame of this great and benign deed spread from the north to the southern parts of the land, and throughout all the region round about' (Luke vii. 11-17).

This event must have wrought powerfully on men's minds, and especially on the hearts of residents at Nain. A remarkable proof of its influence ensued. The prejudices even of the Pharisees began to give way. One of that body, apparently a resident in the town, invited Jesus to take a meal at his house. The invitation was accepted. Roman customs prevailed in Judea in the time of Christ. Now, with Romans, it was usual not to sit at meals, but to recline on couches, which were placed along each part of a table having three sides (triclinium), leaving one side open for the servants to enter, in order to supply the meat and drink. The guests leaned on the left elbow or arm, and assisted themselves with the right hand. Thus reclining, with their bodies stretched along forms covered with cushions, the legs of the first lay along the back of the second, and those of the second in the same manner lay along the back of the third. The second person had the post of honour; and as his head came near the chest of the first, he was said to lie in his bosom. Thus the phrase 'to lie in a person's bosom,' came to be equivalent to being very dear to him. Observe, now, that in this manner of reclining the feet of a person might be approached without his being aware of it. This will explain to you the position taken by the woman in the very affecting incident recorded in Luke vii. 36-50, and which you must read in no other language than that of the New Testament.

The woman who took this marked way of showing her affection, some have supposed to be Mary Magdalen, whom Jesus released from a terrible disorder, perhaps a disorder of the mind (Mark xvi. 9; Luke viii. 2). Neither this woman nor Mary Magdalen is to be confounded with Mary, the sister of Lazarus. We are, however, but imperfectly informed who in reality she was. But we are not from the Pharisee's imputation to consider that she was a woman of abandoned life, nor is that implied in the Saviour's words,- Her sins, which are many, are forgiven;' for of what mortal might it not be said that his sins are many? In truth, however, the obscurity is of little imporThe woman's act of love and gratitude, and the Saviour's most beautiful and affecting comment, are clear, are full of light,

tance.