froward children, who were out of temper with every thing. John's manner of life, and his own, were very different. John's was a life of aufterity; his, more free and unreferved: but both gave equal offence. While John was faid to be poffeffed with a devil; he was called a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber. But wisdom, he tells them, should be juftified of her children; the truth would come out clear in the end.

This evil difpofition of mankind led Jefus to upbraid the feveral cities in which he had wrought miracles, because they had not repented. There is nothing difficult, however, in this paffage,

He then broke out into an ardent thanksgiving to God, not, as the words feem to express, for hiding the gospel from the wife and learned, but for making it easily understood by the lowest of the people:-by people of worldly tempers, it cannot be understood; but by thofe humble fpi- · rits only who are disposed to receive it.

Then, turning to the people, he told them, that every thing relating to the gospel was delivered unto him by the Father; and that none could expect falvation, therefore, but through

him*. He exhorted them, therefore, in these tender words: Come then unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you refi. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek, and lowly of heart, and ye shall find reft unto your fouls: for my yoke is eafy, and my burden is light.

The twelfth chapter begins with an instance of that fpirit of malice with which the Jews always perfecuted Jefus. You remember the story of the difciples paffing through the corn-fields, and rubbing the corn in their hands, to fatisfy their hunger; and you remember alfo what offence it gave to the Pharifees, not because the disciples had taken what did not belong to them, for the law of Mofes exprefsly fays, When thou comeft into the ftanding corn of thy neighbour, thou mayeft pluck the ears with thy hand; but thou mayeft not put a fickle into it †. The disciples therefore, in this light, had done nothing wrong; but the great offence was, they had done it on the

Both before chriftianity, and now among heathen nations, we fuppofe that fin can only be forgiven through the atonement of Christ,

+ Deut. xxiii. 25.

fabbath:

fabbath: Behold, faid they, thy difciples do what is not lawful to do on the fabbath-day. On a common day they might have done it; but on the fabbath, as the Pharifees pretended, it was utterly unlawful. Jefus anfwered these hypocrites, by putting them in mind of what David had done on a like occafion; when he eat, in a cafe of neceffity, the fhew-bread, which the law allowed only to the priests. The priests also, he told them, were obliged to do many things, in their temple-fervice, on the fabbath, which the neceffity of the cafe rendered perfectly innocent. Befides, he told them, the Son of Man was Lord of the fabbath; and that his difciples, acting by fuch authority, were blameless.-In fhort, he gave them to understand by quoting a passage from fcripture, in which God fays, I will have mercy, and not facrifice, that he laid a much greater stress on acts of piety and charity, than on mere forms and ceremonies; among which he confidered fuch a fcrupulous obfervance of the fabbath as excluded all cafes of neceffity. The fabbath, no doubt, was to be reverenced; but not in that hypocritical manner in which they reverenced it.

The

The fame malice was fhewn with regard to the man with the withered hand; but in this paffage there is no difficulty.

We are next told, that Jesus retired to a private place to avoid the Pharifees. But he was followed by multitudes, and wrought many miracles among them; ordering them, at the fame time, not to make a publick boaft of what he had done for them.-This fecrecy feems to be intended chiefly as a leffon to his difciples, not to make their good deeds matter of oftentation; but to do them in fecret, defiring no witness but God. By this quiet behaviour alfo, St. Matthew fays, Jefus fulfilled a prophecy of Ifaiah, which fpeaks not only of the mighty works which he fhould perform, but of the quietness with which he fhould perform them: He shall not frive, nor cry; neither hall any man hear his voice in the Streets. A bruifed reed fhall he not break; and Smoking flax fhall he not quench. Flax was ufed by the Jews in their lamps; fo that the expreffion, fmoking flax fhall he not quench, means the fame as a bruifed reed shall he not break. That is, inftead of afflicting those who are already afflicted, he will with gentleness and kindnefs relieve them.

We

We are next informed of his healing a blind and dumb man, who was poffeffed with a devil. This great miracle the Pharifees afcribed to his being in league with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Jefus fhewed them how impoffible fuch a fuppofition was, from his conftant oppofition to the works of the devil. If Satan, faid he, fhould caft out Satan, he would oppofe himfelf, and his kingdom could not stand. — Befides, as their own children pretended to caft out devils; and as they pretended to do it by the power of God, not by the power of the devil, Jefus only defired them to allow as much to him as they were willing to allow to their friends. If then, faid Jefus, I caft out devils by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God is come unto you: that is, ́ you must believe that the doctrines of the gospel which I teach are true. I have fhewn you that I am ftronger than the devil, by difpoffeffing him. As our views, therefore, are different, it is apparent what mine are, by being opposite to his.-This seems to be the meaning of the 29th and 30th verfes.The next verfe contains what our Saviour fays in relation to the fin against the Holy Ghoft. He had juft, you fee, been cafting out a devil; which the Pharifees.

afcribed