while they that came but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy, climb up over the fence; so He was the only entrance into the Church, and those who entered through Him should be preserved, and find pasture. He then reverted to the figure of the shepherd, who is the owner of the sheep, and contrasted His own readiness to lay down His life for them, with the cowardice and selfishness of the hireling, who flees in the hour of danger, and leaves his sheep a prey when he seeth the wolf coming, because he is an hireling. The Saviour declared His determination to die for the sheep; and obscurely intimated the conversion of the Gentiles, saying, that He has other sheep whom He must bring, who also shall hear His voice, and that both shall be united into one fold under Him, the one Shepherd. In the East, the shepherd is a character of higher moral dignity than with us: there, instead of following, he walks before the sheep, to see if they may venture forth; he protects, and is ready to risk life for them; and his care is repaid by a corresponding attachment on their part. As here described, he knows them individually, calling his own sheep by name, and they acknowledge his voice, and follow at his call. When therefore Jesus says, I am the good Shepherd, to feel at all the force of the comparison, we must take these circumstances into consideration: but even then our conception of His character will be far short of the truth, since a reference to the image in the Old Testament will raise us

A striking illustration of this language is afforded by Polybius, (xii.) who tells us, that "when strangers land in Corsica, the swine immediately run away, and flock to the sound of the horn blown by their keepers, who, instead of following their herds like the Greeks, go before them to some distance." We know that the good Shepherd was a favourite emblem with the early Christians, from its frequent occurrence on their sepulchral monuments in the Roman Catacombs. It was the custom in Greece for shepherds to give names to their sheep; (Longus iv.) and we learn from Mr. Hartley that it still prevails, for on desiring one of them to call a sheep, on his doing so it ran up to him with apparent pleasure; and he told him that many of them were still wild, and had not yet learned their names. Researches in Greece, p. 321.

above all created objects, even to the Deity Himself, for we there shall discover that the good Shepherd is no other than Jehovah. Behold, says Isaiah, (chap. xl. 10, 11.) the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead them that are with young. And Jehovah Himself says by the mouth of Ezekiel, Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out; I will feed them in a good pasture, I will feed my flock, and cause them to lie down. (xxxiv. 11, 13. 15) Our Lord seems to intimate this important truth, when He calls the sheep His own. The church which He [God] has purchased with His own blood, (Acts xx. 17.) is called in Scripture His flock; and Pastor is one of the titles of His ministers when considered as rulers of His people, from whom He is distinguished by St. Paul as the Great Shepherd, (Heb. xiii. 20.) and by St. Peter (v. 4.) as the Chief Shepherd. He declared that His Father loved Him, because He would lay down His life; and adds that no one can force it from Him, and that He hath power to take it again. The result of the discourse is a division; but those who asked if a demoniac can open the eyes of a blind man, for the time prevailed.

84. The Seventy disciples return. Luke x. 17-20.

The Seventy disciples returned, exulting in their power over evil Spirits, which exceeded their expectations, as only the cure of diseases was comprehended in their commission. Their Master then enlarged it, by subjecting to them all the power of the enemy, but took the opportunity of directing their joy and thankfulness to a privilege which far more deserved it, the fact that their names were written in heaven. In the sermon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 22.) He had warned them, that many who have even cast out demons in His name shall

be rejected at the last day. How far more precious then is grace than gifts! Talents and learning in our age answer the same end as miraculous powers did then; they avail to the edification. of others, but do nothing towards our own salvation. How awful the state, and how bitter will be the self-reproach, of all, who, after they have been the means of saving others, shall be themselves cast away! Anticipating the fall of Satan from heaven, He expressed His thanksgiving as on the return of the Twelve, declaring that all things had been committed to Him by His Father, and that they were highly favoured in being permitted to hear doctrines and see miracles which kings and prophets had in vain longed to witness. The result of their mission must have been satisfactory, since it drew from our Saviour this acknowledgment; I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things-the truths they had though imperfectly proclaimed-from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes: thanking Him (I conceive according to the Hebrew idiom) not that these truths were rejected by the former, but that they were accepted by the latter. To the former, the intelligent of this world, whether in higher or lower life, who were disposed to cavil, and expected signs, and wisdom, their teaching, though it could not comprehend, as afterwards, the scandal of the cross, proved a stumbling-block and foolishness; while the latter, teachable and humble, would be taught by God, and find it to be His power and wisdom unto salvation. The same burst of gratitude is recorded by St. Matthew, when Jesus invites the weary and heavy laden to come unto Him for Refreshment: and Harmonists in general assume, that though He thought fit to introduce them in that connection, they were spoken only on the return of the Seventy. I agree with those who regard the miracles, reported by more than one Evangelist, when they differ only in circumstances, to be the same, but I see no reason to apply the rule to words,

especially short sayings, which there might have been a propriety in repeating on several occasions. We have read that the appointment of the Twelve and of the Seventy was introduced by the same appropriate remark, that the Harvest was plenteous, but the labourers few; and we may reasonably suppose, that this thanksgiving, and also the denunciation of a heavier judgment upon Chorazin and Bethsaida than upon Tyre and Sidon, and upon Capernaum than upon Sodom, were twice uttered.

85. A Lawyer is taught the extent of his duty to his neighbour, by the example of a benevolent Samaritan. Luke x. 25—37.

As Jesus was teaching, a Lawyer, with the design of tempting Him, asked Him what he should do in order to obtain eternal life. He referred him to the Law, of which he was an expounder, to find an answer for himself, and on his quoting the two leading precepts of Love to God and Love to his Neighbour, which are an epitome of our duty, the same reply which our Lord Himself had before given, He allowed that he had answered correctly, and had only to fulfil it and live. He who loves God at all times with all his capability of heart and mind, and every man with whom he has any concern as himself, has kept the Law, and instead of coming to his Creator as a suppliant for Mercy, may appeal to His Justice for a recompense. But who of the fallen sons of Adam will presume to rest his hope of acceptance upon this covenant of works? If any one could in his own strength keep the whole moral law, having no sins that require expiation, the precious blood of the incarnate Son of God need not to have been shed for him. The mere statement of such a supposition confutes it. It is plain, therefore, that our Saviour's intention was to lead this lawyer to a discovery of the extent of the Law which must be made known to him, before he

could feel his want of a more complete righteousness than his own and it should seem that he suspected his design, from the remark of the Evangelist, seeking to justify himself. Accordingly he asked who was his Neighbour, passing over his duty to God, from the consciousness perhaps that his performance of that would less bear a scrutiny. The Israelites, with the advantage of a revealed Law which breathes the spirit of benevolence, and expressly inculcates the relief of the stranger, had so narrowed their definition of Neighbour, as to exclude from it all but their countrymen; while the Roman Dramatist, with no more than the light of nature, could perceive, that no human being ought to be indifferent to man. Jesus did not point out how imperfectly the Jews acted up to the commandment, even within the pale which they had drawn round it; nor did He even directly answer the question, but he showed how a man of benevolence would have answered it, by relating what is called the Parable of the good Samaritan. There is however no reason why it should not have been a real Narrative; and certainly if considered not only as what ought to be done, but as what had been done, it is much more impressive both as an example and as a reproof. He described a Traveller stripped and wounded, lying half dead upon the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, which was infested by Robbers. Three persons are brought forward, a Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan; the two former with peculiar propriety, as it was a city where many of them were stationed with a view to their Temple service: the first two, honourable in the eyes of his auditors; the last, despicable. From the Priest and the Levite, as teachers of the Law and ministers of religion, they might have expected the performance of one of its plainest precepts; but the first would not even look upon his suffering countryman; the second came up to him, but, whether from indiffer• Anorai, not thieves.