"Granny's Chapters" Part 4

The Scribes and Pharisees do not appear to have even spoken their thoughts to each other, but Jesus, by the Spirit of G.o.d which was in Him, perceived that they so reasoned within themselves; "and knowing their thoughts, He answering, said unto them, Why reason ye these things, and think evil in your hearts?" that is, why do ye think evil of Me, and condemn Me as guilty of blasphemy, because I have spoken such words? Then Jesus asked them, "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk?" Thus Jesus reminded the Scribes and Pharisees, that to heal a man sick of the palsy was as impossible for a man, as to forgive sin; and that therefore He who could do such things, must be indeed the Son of G.o.d: and he instantly gave this proof of his being the Messiah, saying, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins"--no more _words_ were necessary, the sentence was ended by an action; for turning to the sick of the palsy, he saith, "I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up the bed whereon he lay," that is, the mattress, rolled it up, "and went forth before them all, and departed to his own house, glorifying G.o.d." Had the Pharisees and Scribes been really anxious to know the truth, praying to G.o.d to show it to them, this miracle must indeed have convinced them that Jesus was the Messiah; but their hearts were hardened against believing in a Messiah, who did not come as a king in earthly power and glory.

But whilst the Scribes and Pharisees would not believe the evidence of their own eyes, the poorer people were less obstinate. When they saw the poor sick man walk away completely cured, the mult.i.tude were all amazed at such a wonderful proof of the power of G.o.d. "And they said, We have seen strange things to-day: we never saw it on this fashion: and they glorified G.o.d, which had given such power unto men." Perhaps some of these people became real and true followers of Christ: but many of them, notwithstanding all they had seen, did not like to give up their sins, so as to become holy, as Christ's disciples must be.

We think it strange that men could see such miracles, and not believe and follow Jesus: but do we do everything that He bids us? and yet we _know Him_ to be the Son of G.o.d, the Saviour of the world. Let us take care that we do not love our sins, so as to make us unwilling to be true followers of Jesus Christ.

After these things, we read that as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw "a man, a publican named Levi," also called Matthew, "sitting at the receipt of custom." A publican was a tax-gatherer; one who was appointed by the Romans to collect the taxes which they required the inhabitants of Judaea to pay. The Jews disliked paying taxes very much, because it was a mark of their being under the dominion of Gentile rulers: and therefore they hated all publicans or tax-gatherers. In general, too, the bad characters and ill conduct of these men did not tend to make men like them: the Romans were in the habit of farming out the taxes; that is, they appointed some person who was willing to give them a certain sum of money, and take his chance of what taxes he could collect. If the taxes he collected did not amount to as much as the sum he had paid to the Romans, of course he was the loser: if, on the contrary, the taxes came to more than what he had to give to the Romans, he was the gainer: thus the publicans, having paid a large sum of money for the privilege of collecting the taxes, were anxious to collect as much as possible, in order to have more for themselves: and so they often oppressed the people, by making them pay more than was right; and of course the people could not like those whom they found so troublesome and unjust, and therefore they hated the whole cla.s.s of tax-gatherers.

Levi, or Matthew, of whom we are speaking, was a Jew, who had taken the office of tax-gatherer under the Romans: his particular business seems to have been to receive the money, which every person who carried goods across the Sea of Galilee was obliged to pay as a tax to their Roman masters. Matthew was sitting in his appointed place for the receipt, or receiving, of "custom," that is, of the tax which it was the custom to pay on landing, when our Lord pa.s.sed by and saw him.

The Pharisees and Scribes looked upon all publicans, whether they were Jews or not, as heathens, unfit to be even spoken to: they would not even try to make them better, as they chose to think that G.o.d had quite cast them off. Jesus taught a very different lesson, and showed that G.o.d is ready to receive all who will repent of their sins and follow Him. Jesus, who sees what thoughts and feelings are in the heart of every one, made choice of Matthew as a fit man to be one of His constant attendants, and therefore, when he saw him sitting at the receipt of custom, "He said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him." At once, without doubt or hesitation, Matthew left all and followed Jesus: now, Jesus calls all of us when we are baptized; but how few of us try to follow Him really and truly? We might perhaps think that it was wrong of Matthew thus to leave his business and go away, because then the people who crossed the sea would not pay the tax required by the Romans: but as he had paid money to the Romans for the situation, they would not be cheated out of the tax: he himself would be the only sufferer. If this had not been the case, he _would_ have been wrong to go away before some other person was appointed in his place: for the Bible teaches us, that we must do our duty to man fairly and faithfully, in whatever state of life we are. By doing our earthly business honestly and well, we serve G.o.d: if our business takes up too much of our thoughts, and makes us forget G.o.d and neglect His worship, then we must give up our business; for we should always think _first_ of pleasing G.o.d.

The next event we hear of in our Saviour's life is, that with His usual obedience to the Law, He went up to Jerusalem to keep a "feast of the Jews": most probably the feast of Tabernacles; a feast celebrated in the Autumn, as a thanksgiving for the harvest or in-gathering of corn, grapes for wine, and all other fruits of the earth: this feast was also intended to remind them of the journeyings of their forefathers in the wilderness, where they lived in booths or tents for forty years; and therefore they were to keep it, by dwelling for seven days in booths, made of the branches of trees.

It seems that by the Sheep Gate, on the eastern side of Jerusalem, there was a pool of water, in which at a certain time of the year G.o.d showed His almighty power, by the miraculous cure of any sick person, who, after the troubling or stirring up of the water, first stepped into the pool. By this pool was a building, having five porches, through which the unclean went down to wash in the pool. This building was properly called Bethesda, a Hebrew word, meaning the House of Mercy; and the pool was from it called the pool of Bethesda. Jesus visited this place, where, in the porches, "lay a great mult.i.tude of impotent folk," that is, people who were unable to help themselves on account of blindness, or of diseases which took away the use of their legs and arms. These poor creatures were waiting for the moving of the waters; each hoping that he might be the one to get first into the pool, and be cured. Amongst these was a certain man, who had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years. Jesus chose this man as the object of a miracle, and saith unto him, "Wilt thou be made whole?"

The poor man, thinking only of the pool, told the Lord that he had no chance of being healed, for he had no friends to help him; and that long before he could drag himself to the water, some other person was sure to step in and secure the blessing. Jesus then "saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

Whether this poor man had heard of Jesus before, we do not know; but he at once showed his faith, by _trying_ to do, what he knew he _could not_ do, unless he received some miraculous help from G.o.d. How delighted he must have been, when he found that a perfect cure was the reward of his faith and obedience!

It was on a Sabbath day that this miracle was worked; and the Jews, probably the Scribes and Pharisees, found fault with the man, saying, "It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed on the Sabbath day." This was so far true, that in the Law it was written, "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day"; and the Pharisees, and others who were fond of adding to the outward observances of the Law, and of keeping traditions, reckoned a man guilty of breaking the Law, if he even carried anything in his hand on the Sabbath day. When the Jews blamed this man, he answered very properly, that he could not be wrong in obeying the commands of one who had showed that he had power from G.o.d, by healing him of his disease. The Jews allowed that a prophet had power to excuse men from the strict observance of the Sabbath; and, as Jesus had proved Himself to be more than a prophet, they could say no more on that subject; but wishing to have something to find fault with, they asked the man, "What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?" This question the man could not answer, for he "wist not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed Himself away" after working the miracle at the pool of Bethesda.

Chapter XIII.--THE PHARISEES' PRETENDED ZEAL FOR THE SABBATH.

The man whom Jesus had healed at the pool of Bethesda, seems to have made the first use of his restored power by going into the House of G.o.d, to thank and praise Him for having been made whole. Jesus, finding him in the temple, bade him remember the cure which had been worked upon him, and show his grat.i.tude by forsaking all his sins and leading a holy life, so that he might not bring upon himself far more terrible sufferings than any which he could feel upon earth. The man now understood who had cured him, and went "and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole": evidently believing that Jesus was the Messiah, and that His command was quite sufficient to justify a man for doing that which was not strictly lawful on the Sabbath day.

The Jews, however, would not allow this: therefore did they "persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day."

Jesus, then, in a conversation of which St. John gives us an account, tried to convince the Jews that He was indeed the Messiah, and as such, _had_ authority even to heal on the Sabbath. On this occasion He gave the Jews advice that all of us should listen to and follow; for He said, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." The Jews believed that the Scriptures of the Old Testament, which were all that at that time were written, were indeed the Word of G.o.d, and that they showed them how to obtain eternal life: Jesus therefore bids them read and study them honestly and carefully, and that they would then see that He must be the Messiah, of whom those Scriptures testify or speak. We know that the New Testament as well as the Old, is the Word of G.o.d; and that it shows us the way to eternal life. Let us then obey our Lord's command, and search the Scriptures, that we may learn His will in order to do it.

Jesus also told the Jews, that Moses, whom they pretended to obey exactly, wrote of Him; and that if they really believed Moses, and wished to obey the Law, they would acknowledge Him to be indeed the Messiah, of whom Moses and all the prophets had written. All that Jesus said, does not seem to have had any effect; for on the next Sabbath, something of the same kind happened. The disciples who were following Jesus through the corn-fields, being hungry, began to pluck the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, to take off the husk, and eating them as they went. It might seem to us that the disciples had no right to take ears of corn which did not belong to them, but this was, under the circ.u.mstances, allowed by the Law of Moses, or the Levitical Law: a hungry man, who was pa.s.sing through standing corn, might pluck the ears with his hand to satisfy his wants, though he was forbidden "to move a sickle unto his neighbour's standing corn."

The Pharisees, who were constantly watching for an opportunity to find fault, now asked Jesus, why He allowed his disciples to do what was not lawful for them to do on the Sabbath day.

For very many years the Jews had neglected to observe the Sabbath in a proper manner, and this neglect of a positive command, had been one cause of the destruction of their kingdom, and of all the misery they afterwards suffered. Now their descendants had gone into another sin, and instead of making the Sabbath a day of rest from worldly cares,--a day to be devoted to the service of G.o.d, and to thinking of all His mercies,--they made so many rules as to what might or might not be done, that the most common and necessary actions, such as healing the sick, or saving the life of an animal, came to be looked upon as unlawful, and therefore sinful. Jesus reminded the Jews who thus blamed His disciples, that David was not considered to have broken the Law of Moses, because once, when pressed by hunger, he and his followers had eaten the shewbread, which it "was not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone." He also told them, that no one accused the Priests of breaking the Law, because on the Sabbath day they, in performing the temple services, did things in themselves forbidden on that holy day. Jesus ended by declaring, that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath": that is, that the Sabbath was meant for the benefit of mankind, as well as for the glory of G.o.d, and not to be an oppressive burden; and that the Son of man was Lord also of the Sabbath, and had therefore power to dispense with its rigorous observance; and that if they had understood the meaning of G.o.d's words, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," they would not have been so ready to blame His disciples, as if they had been guilty of a crime, merely because, to relieve the pangs of hunger, they had plucked a few ears of corn on the Sabbath day.

On another Sabbath, Jesus went into a synagogue and taught: and behold, there was a man whose right hand was withered; that is, his hand was so shrunk and dried up, that he could make no use of it. The Scribes and Pharisees, thinking it likely that Jesus would heal this man in spite of its being the Sabbath day, watched him; that they might find an accusation against him. "But he knew their thoughts" and purposes, and said to the man with the withered hand, "Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth" in the sight of all the people in the synagogue. "And the Scribes and Pharisees seeing this, asked him, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse him." One party of Jews, in their mistaken zeal for the strict observance of the Sabbath, had come to the extraordinary decision, that no one might comfort the sick or mourning on that day; though another party did permit the people to prepare medicine, and to perform any service which was required for the actual preservation of life. Instead of answering a question only put for the purpose of having something to accuse Him of, Jesus said unto them, "I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it?" for He knew that they wished to destroy Him, whilst He only wanted to do good to a suffering human creature. Whatever might be their wishes, they could not openly declare that it was more lawful to do evil than good; therefore they made no answer, but held their peace. "And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." To such words the Jews could make no answer. Jesus, grieved to see the hardness of heart that prevented the Pharisees believing in Him, and made them angry instead of glad, to see a fellow-creature relieved; "looked round about on them with anger, and saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand": the man had faith to try, and the power to do so was given to him; "he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other."

Then the Pharisees, almost beside themselves with anger, are said to have been filled with madness; and they went forth, with the Herodians, and straightway held a council against him; and communed one with another, what they might do to Jesus, and how they might destroy him. It is sad to think that all the proofs of our Saviour's power, only made the Pharisees and others more and more anxious to put Him to death.

When we read such accounts as these, let us be thankful for our Sabbaths, and try to keep them holy; spending our time in worshipping G.o.d, in learning our duty, and in doing good to others. Above all, let us take particular care to be holy on this holy day; and not to do the least wrong thing, on a day which is called the Lord's Day.

The time was not yet come for Jesus to give up His life, and therefore, knowing that the Pharisees sought to destroy Him, He withdrew Himself from Jerusalem, and went with his disciples into Galilee "to the sea; and a great mult.i.tude followed him" from all parts, even from beyond Jordan; and also many of the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, having heard what great things Jesus had done, came unto him. As many as had plagues or diseases "pressed upon him for to touch him," and he healed them all. "And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of G.o.d." Thus was fulfilled what had been said 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah, who declared that when the Messiah should come to set up a new Law, even the Gospel, He would use no force nor violence, but do it entirely by kindness; and by showing an example of kindness and forbearance to the weak, encouraging them to become better. The prophet's words, put into his mouth by G.o.d, were, "Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my spirit upon him; and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust."

An _example_ of goodness and holiness and kindness, has more effect than all that can be _said_ on the subject. By the piety and good conduct of the followers of Jesus, men were led to take the same part, and thus by the blessing of G.o.d, has the Gospel spread over the earth.

All Christians should remember this, and try to show by their conduct that they are followers of Jesus. Even children can set an example to other children, either for good or evil: but if they do it for evil, they are doing the work of the Devil.

Chapter XIV.--THE APOSTLES CHOSEN.

As Jesus was to live only for a short time on earth, it was needful that He should leave behind Him others who should carry on His work, and preach the Gospel after His death. But if these men were to repeat to others the words which Jesus had spoken, and show them the wonderful things which He had done, it was necessary that they should be constantly with their Lord, so as to be able to bear witness as to all that He had said or done.

During the time that our Saviour had been teaching and healing the sick, many persons had become His followers, besides those whom He had especially called to be His disciples. From amongst the number of those who had become disciples, twelve were now to be chosen, to be in constant attendance upon their Master, that they might, after his death, bear witness to His life, and actions, and teaching.

The night before this choice was to be made Jesus "Went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to G.o.d." Thus He set us an example of the way in which we should prepare ourselves for any important work we have to do; and that is, by asking guidance and help from our heavenly Father.

"And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples whom he would; and they came unto him: and of them he chose twelve (whom also he named Apostles) that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." He ordained twelve--Simon (whom he also named Peter) and Andrew his brother; and "James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder; and Philip, and Bartholomew; and Matthew, and Thomas; and James the son of Alphaeus, and Judas Thaddaeus, the brother of James; and Simon the Canaanite, called Zelotes; and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him."

We have already seen how Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Philip, and Matthew, were called in the first instance to be the disciples of Jesus: Bartholomew, who was also ordained an Apostle, is supposed to be the same person spoken of as Nathanael, who being brought to Jesus by Philip, at once acknowledged Him to be the Son of G.o.d, and became one of His disciples. Of the other five apostles, we know nothing previous to their being now chosen: to the name of one, there is a terrible distinction, "who also betrayed him"; and in the three accounts of this event, written by different writers, he is thus pointed out as "the traitor." Of the twelve Apostles, five have left us valuable records of our Saviour's life and teaching.

You will remember that in the Bible we have Four Gospels; that is, four different accounts of our Lord's sayings and doings whilst on earth, and of the Gospel which He came to teach. The first of these was written by Matthew, about five years after the death of Jesus Christ. The Gospels "according to St. Mark and St. Luke," were written about twenty-seven years later: St. Luke was a disciple of Christ's before His crucifixion, and St. Mark was probably one also, but neither of them was an Apostle. As the Gospel of St. Matthew gives an account of the birth of Jesus Christ, St. Mark's says nothing on the subject, but begins with the public appearance of John the Baptist; whilst, on the contrary, that of St. Luke gives many particulars omitted by St. Matthew. St. John, who lived to be 100 years old, did not write his Gospel until sixty-four years after the death of Christ: he seems to have written it, in order to tell us many things not mentioned in the former Gospels, particularly the conversations and discourses of our Lord: and he repeats very little of what is recorded by the other Evangelists, as we call those who wrote the Gospels. Out of the four Evangelists, two were Apostles also, and two were not. St.

Luke has also left us another very valuable record, of the acts done by the Apostles after our Saviour's death: this is the only history of all that the Apostles did and said, and it is called "The Book of the Acts of the Apostles." Before St. John wrote his Gospel, he wrote what is called "The Book of the Revelation of St. John," being an account of visions vouchsafed him, and prophecies made known to him, whilst in banishment in the isle of Patmos, on account of his religion.

St. John also wrote three of the Epistles, or Letters, which form part of the New Testament. Peter wrote two Epistles, James and Jude, or Judas Thaddaeus, each one: but the greater number of the Epistles were written by St. Paul, who did not become a disciple or follower of Jesus until after the crucifixion.

The Jewish Rabbis preferred to take as their pupils and disciples, rich and learned men; but, as we have seen, Jesus chose poor and ignorant men, to show that learning was not necessary to enable men to understand the Gospel; for that its truths are so plain, that even the most ignorant person, who in his heart loves G.o.d, can understand the Gospel, and learn how to please G.o.d.

Mult.i.tudes of the people continued to come to Christ, to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases: he healed them all, and also tried to show them how they ought to behave, in order to obtain the blessing of G.o.d. Seeing the mult.i.tudes, he went up into a mountain, and there spake all the words which we call the "Sermon on the Mount": an account of this Sermon is given to us both by St. Matthew and St.

Luke. All Christians should study it, and try to obey it: even children can understand a good deal of it, if they will try.

When Jesus "had ended his sayings," and was come down from the Mount, "he entered into Capernaum, where at this time He worked the miracle of healing the Centurion's servant." A Centurion, amongst the Romans, was the captain or commander of 100 men. This Centurion, though he was himself a Gentile, was kindly disposed towards the Jews, and had at his own expense built a synagogue for their use: he also believed in Jesus as the Son of G.o.d; and did not doubt that at His word the disease of which his servant was dying would at once be removed: therefore, not thinking himself worthy even to speak to the Lord, he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews; probably the elders belonging to the synagogue he had built. Jesus immediately went with these elders; but when they got near the Centurion's house, some of his friends came at his desire, to beg that Jesus would not trouble himself to come, for if He would only speak the word, his servant would be healed. It would seem that the Centurion himself quickly followed the last messengers; and he received the reward of his faith, for his servant was healed, and at the same time Jesus told those about Him, that the Centurion had shown more faith than He had found amongst the Jews; and that many Gentiles would through their faith be received into the Kingdom of Heaven, whilst many of the Jews would be shut out, on account of their wilful unbelief.

The next miracle we hear of, was the bringing to life of the widow's son, who was being carried out of Nain to be buried, when Jesus came to the gate of that city. "And there came a fear on all" who saw these things: "and they glorified G.o.d, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and that G.o.d hath visited his people." These people rightly felt, that the Doer of such things must indeed be the Messiah: and this saying was spread abroad, not only throughout all Judaea, but throughout all the region round about. "And the disciples of John"

went to him in prison, where he had been, as we have heard, put by Herod; "and shewed him of all these things." "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he, calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus," telling them to say, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" John did not send to ask this question for his own satisfaction; he knew well enough that Jesus was indeed the Messiah that "should come," and that no other was to be looked for: but he wanted to strengthen the faith of his own disciples, and convince them that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and that they must follow Him.

"When the men" whom John had sent "were come unto" Jesus, "they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?"

This question our Lord did not immediately answer, in words, at least; but "in the same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind, he gave sight."

Then Jesus, answering the question put to Him by the disciples of John, said unto them, "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them." The Jews all knew perfectly well, that the doing of all these wondrous miracles was to be a sign to point out the Messiah, for the prophets had declared that He should do them. Now these things were being done every day, and therefore it was quite clear, to all who were not determined not to believe, that he who did them was the promised Messiah, the Son of G.o.d. All who heard what Jesus now said must have understood Him to mean that He was the promised Messiah, and that they need not look for another.

Chapter XV.--JESUS IN SIMON'S HOUSE.

When the Baptist's messengers were gone away, Jesus spake to the mult.i.tude about him; telling them that John was the messenger spoken of by the prophet Malachi--the Elias, who was to come before the Messiah. He also told them, that John the Baptist was more than a prophet, but that the humblest follower of Christ might become greater than he was. Many other things spake Jesus unto the people: those who were humble, and felt that they were sinners, gladly accepted the offer of forgiveness, on the condition of repentance; but the Pharisees and Scribes, who thought themselves righteous, neglected His gracious offers of mercy.

It seems that before Jesus left Nain, where He had raised the widow's son, a Pharisee named Simon "desired him that he would eat with him.

And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat." Whilst he sat, or rather reclined upon a couch, as was the custom at meals in those days, a woman, well known to have been a great sinner, came "and stood at his feet behind him, weeping; and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment" which she had brought.

The Pharisees considered themselves too holy even to touch any person whom they looked upon as a sinner: when, therefore, the master of the house saw that Jesus allowed this woman to touch Him, he said within himself (or thought), "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner." Meaning, that if Jesus had known how greatly this woman had sinned, He would not have allowed her to touch Him. But Jesus did know all, and _more_ than the Pharisee knew; for He knew that this woman, however sinful she had been, was now truly sorry for her sins, and anxious to lead a better life; and such truly penitent sinners He was, and is, always ready to receive. Jesus therefore, knowing what Simon's thoughts were, spake to him, and told him a little parable, to show him that this poor woman, whom he so despised, had given proofs of greater love towards Himself than Simon had done; and He ended by turning to the repentant woman, and saying the comforting words, "Thy sins are forgiven." With what joy must the poor sinner have heard these words! But we are not told what her feelings or words were; we are only told, that "they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?" They might easily have known that He could be none other than the Son of G.o.d, the Messiah; but they would not own as such a poor man who went about amongst publicans and sinners.

That He did show such love towards sinners, is our greatest comfort; for we are all sinners, and stand greatly in need of His mercy.