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whatever, went with such a powerful impression to his heart, that, without hesitation, he obeyed the summons, and, cheerfully relinquishing a lucrative post, he entered in the service of a poor and despised Master ;-" and he left all, and rose up, and followed Him"." It may have been that the Lord chose Matthew from "the receipt of custom," in order to show by example, that no degree of sinfulness is to be treated as desperate; and no class of men to be excluded from the regard of God".

Some time after this occurrence, St. Matthew entertained his beloved Master at his own house ;-perhaps it might be to show his grateful regard to the Saviour, or to recommend Him to the notice of his former acquaintance. His exalted guest was willing to mix with any company, in which He could display His usefulness, from a real desire to save precious souls, and, like an attentive Physician, to heal and restore them. But the Scribes and Pharisees murmured, when they saw Him eat with publicans and sinners. This phrase had become a kind of general term of reproach for persons who had lost their character; and the Pharisees, as is every where evident, looked down upon them as wicked, with contempt, or passed by them in despair; Christ, on the contrary, affirmed, that "all manner of sin shall be for10 Archbishop Sumner.

9 Dr. Robinson.

given unto men," who should repent and believe on Him'. It may appear, at first sight, surprising, that publicans and sinners should display so much readiness towards Christ, as to be present at an entertainment made for Him, and also, as we read, later in the story, "all the publicans and sinners drew near unto Him for to hear Him." This may, however, be easily explained. When these men heard the holiness of God's law expounded, and the condemnation of the wicked declared, they could not gainsay or deny their own ungodliness; they could not deny that they lived unworthily of beings who had been thus blessed with a Divine revelation. When the word came to them to repent, the publicans did not deny their need of repentance; they were prompt and ready to seize the hope held out to them of the proffered mercy of God to save them if they believed and repented. But the case was far different in the Pharisees, who had a pride in keeping up the strictest appearance of religion, observed the Sabbath with rigorous strictness, and made a conscience and a parade of paying money for sacred purposes: therefore, they were not in the least prepared to condemn themselves; they would not believe, that, "except they repented they should perish;" they despised others." Accordingly, the Lord tells them

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that the charitable dispositions, which they had not, was more acceptable to God than all the sacrifices and formal services which they so hypocritically paid: "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." The whole passage is full of comfort and encouragement. This sentence, which our Lord had selected from the Scriptures, to show the character of the Almighty, is not a sentence of condemnation, but of " good will towards men ;" and the purpose of His own incarnation to be the rejoicing of mercy against judgment 2.

SECT. XXXIV.-Christ healeth one at the Pool of Bethesda. -John v. 1-47.

Ir is generally supposed that our Lord celebrated four Passovers during His public ministry on earth; and that the events which we have now to consider occurred at the second of them. At the annual celebration of that great festival, He would naturally go up to Jerusalem, as the Law commanded, because He was always constant in His attendance upon all instituted means,—an example well worthy of our observation, and of our practice. The story of the disciples plucking the ears of corn, is an evidence of its being now Passover-time; for the harvest began at the Passover, at which time they waived the first sheaf*. At these times He had the most pregnant opportu

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Archbishop Sumner. 3 Dr. Robinson. 'Dr. Lightfoot.

nities to reveal Himself, His doctrine, and His works, when the people of the country were assembled in the largest concourse, and might be auditors and spectators of what was spoken and done by Him. There was at that city a pool of water, "by the sheep-market," or, according to some, near the sheep-gate, called Bethesda'. This word means, in the Hebrew tongue, house of mercy. It seems that by the pool there was a building, and, as it is related as "having five porches," some doubt has been raised whether it was the pool or the building that had five porches; and, in the former case, what the porches could be. The general silence of all Jewish chroniclers about the wondrous virtue of this pool, who, in the abundant praises and particulars of their city, never mention it, has cast much obscurity upon the matter; but the incident does not require elucidation for any justification of the circumstance stated to have happened there by the Evangelist, but only to illustrate the description of the place where it occurred, as given by St. John. According to the Jewish way of speaking, every thing that had a Divine effect, was said to be done by means of ministering spirits or Angels'. Jesus does not appear either to have employed the water for the miraculous cure He effected near the pool, nor did He give any evidence as to the healing qualities with

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5 Bp. Pearce. Dr. Hammond and Bp. Mann. Bp. Pearce.

The

which it was thought to be miraculously endowed. It may not be, therefore, presumptuous to suppose, that the Evangelist speaks of the effect of the "troubled water," as rather a popular prejudice, than as any real effect, when he states, that "whosoever then first stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease a man had." pool was clearly a mere reservoir, supplied by a conduit, which, having fallen out of repair, there is now no pool remaining; but, in the fourth century, it is spoken of as still existing, although the surrounding buildings were then in ruins. At the west end were some old arches, which were shown as the remains of the five porches here mentioned; but, instead of five, there were only three of them then remainings. The waters of this pool were drawn and conveyed in a stream hither from the fountain of Siloam: this fountain had two courses or streamings into two several pools, which were called the upper and the nether. The nether pool was that which was also called the pool of Siloam; it lay on the west of the city, and had been formed by king Hezekiah. The upper pool was at the east end of Jerusalem, and called "the old pool," or the pool of Solomon, having been supposed to have been made by that monarch'. The arches appear to have been formed as an entrance for the water, which was probably conveyed to them

• Dr. Wells.

Dr. Lightfoot.

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