any thing to do about His burial, which is too incredible to conceive of one who lived in such intimate and devout association with the Saviour. She had been as near and as zealous a womandisciple as any that followed Him; and her residence was, we know, at Bethany, hard by Jerusalem. Could she have quitted the service of the Lord at such a time, above every other? or is it probable that the Evangelist could have omitted to mention her with the three Maries who attended for the embalming of His body? Necessity thus forces us to the conclusion, that Mary Magdalene, and Mary the sister of Lazarus, was the same person'.

The story, however, exemplifies the wise method in which the Scriptures have been composed, and for our instruction. The persons, above all others, who require comfort and encouragement, are those who have been brought by grace to repentance and conversion, after a course of heinous wilful sin. Mary Magdalene, it is evident, was such an one. The scene, which has just been described, is providentially recorded as showing the reason why the sense of danger and unworthiness, which such persons may be expected to feel, may lead to a degree of gratitude and love, which is peculiarly acceptable to God. A sense of such obligation disposed this woman to show a greater attention to Jesus than Dr. Lightfoot.

others had paid Him. A like sense may lead others to a degree of zealous exertion in the cause of religion, which many do not use, but which Christ approves and recommends".

SECT. XLIV.—Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.—Matt. xii. 22-27; Mark iii. 22-30; Luke xii. 8-12.

THE scene of the history appears now to shift to Galilee again. Attended by the twelve, and by certain pious women, who had been healed of their infirmities, and converted by His grace, Jesus took another circuit, in which we shall meet with some remarkable circumstances'.

The reputation of our Saviour's miracles pressed so hard upon His enemies, that there was great danger of the multitude being drawn off from them, and of their joining themselves to this new Master, of whose commission they daily beheld such numerous and convincing testimonies. Unable, however, to dispute the reality of the miracles, these persons endeavoured to harden the hearers against the evidence they carried with them, by a most perverse calumny,-that of attributing what they could not deny to be above the power of nature and art, to the concurrence of the devil. This opinion of theirs proved completely that they acknowledged the miracles themselves to have been really performed. The hostility of the Jewish nation to Christianity, from the first, does in truth confirm the reality of Archbishop Sumner. Dr. Robinson. Dean Stanhope.

6

the Gospel miracles. Had the Jews been universally, or even generally, converted by them, the sceptic might argue, with some appearance of probability, that the facts had been invented, or exaggerated, to gratify the national propensity, and had been credited without examination or proof. Now, on the contrary, we are made certain, that the miracles were wrought in the presence of enemies, and thus subjected to the severest scrutiny; and that they carried conviction to multitudes, notwithstanding the fiercest opposition, which national prejudice, bigotry, and vice could excite, and the strictest research which could be made by the most vigilant hostility'. A A poor unhappy man, under demoniacal possession, so grievously afflicted as to be deprived both of his sight and speech, was at this time brought to Him, and obtained immediate relief. "But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils."

The name of Beelzebub is mentioned, in the Old Testament, as an idol of Ekron; and of such eminence was he considered to be among the heathen gods of Canaan, that Ahaziah, the idolatrous king of Israel, had recourse to his aid, to recover him from his sickness. The name has been thought by some to denote the god of flies; and whoever considers what troublesome and destruc9 Dr. Graves.

tive creatures flies are known to be in hot coun

tries, and in what swarms they settle,- -so as to be, in fact, one of the plagues inflicted upon Egypt, -will not suppose it to be unreasonable, that the heathen should have a peculiar deity to protect them from this sore plague ". But why is Beelzebub introduced in this place as "the prince of devils?" Very many names of evil spirits, or devils, occur in the Talmudists; but among all the devils they esteemed that devil the worst, the foulest, and, as it were, the prince of the rest, who ruled over the idols, and by whom oracles and miracles were given forth among the heathens and idolaters. And they were of this opinion, for this reason: because they held idolatry, above all other things, the most wicked and abominable, and to be the prince and head of evil. This demon they called Beelzebub, as the lord of idolatry, the worst devil, and the worst thing; and they called him the prince of devils, because idolatry they held to be the prince, or chief, of wickedness'. Our Lord, by His answer, considers that Beelzebub bore the same sense as the word Satan'. Jesus showed that He was privy to their thoughts; for He spoke to their secret surmises, whilst He proved their objections to be at once as foolish as profane. He says, in effect, Ye attribute not

10 Dean Stackhouse.

2

Archbishop Sumner.

1

Dr. Lightfoot.

3 Dr. Robinson.

the casting out of devils by your own countrymen to Beelzebub, but ye applaud the work; they, therefore, shall be your judges, that ye speak thus of My actions from the rankness and venom of your hearts. But if I cast out devils by the power of God, it is plain that I am come from God. My words, therefore, are true, and ye are bound to believe Me, when I tell you that I am the Christ, and that the kingdom of God is begun, and is prevailing over the power of the devil'.

It was the greatest and most wilful obstinacy in wrong that can be imagined, when the Pharisees, and all around them, saw the most illustrious, and most beneficial miracles done in confirmation of the most holy and benevolent doctrines, to stand out in opposition to both; to insist that Satan conspired against himself, rather than own to the finger of God, when it was so exceedingly visible. Our Saviour knew this to proceed from an incurable disease within, prevailing over the most powerful, and the last remedy which Divine wisdom thought fit to use; and, therefore, does He make that most powerful and awful declaration: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men

6 99

Drs. Mant and D'Oyly.

Dr. Lightfoot.

6

Archbishop Secker.