forgiven thee; or to say: Take up thy bed and walk?" To man both are equally impossible, but they are alike easy to God. If Jesus could stand this man on sound and whole limbs by a word, it is plain He was no liar in anything He said or did: He had whatever power He might claim to have. It is by exercise of power over the visible world that men may rightly claim the possession of authority over the invisible. The ordeal could not have been better chosen. If He healed this man, it followed that He had power over sin-He could heal men's souls. He received no answer to His challenge.

And now Jesus spoke amid breathless expectation -can He heal the paralytic? Our Saviour's voice is, firm and imperative as He says: "But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (He saith to the man sick of the palsy), I say to thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house." The dead nerves of the paralytic quivered with life, his bones were clothed with strong muscles, he suddenly rose up, caught up his bed from the floor, and, no doubt after fervent thanks to his double Benefactor (who had not only healed his body but cured the wound of mortal sin in his soul), he made his way triumphantly through the wonder-stricken crowd, glorifying God. So did the assembled people glorify God; but the emissaries of the hostile party were rather stricken with fear than moved to thanksgiving. They went away saying: "We have seen wonderful things to-day."

"Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house."

CHAPTER XX.

MATTHEW THE PUBLICAN.—THE TIME FOR FASTING AND THE TIME FOR FEASTING.

Matt. ix. 9-17; Mark ii. 14-22; Luke v. 27-39.

BUT no miracle could amaze an ordinary Jew in our Saviour's time more than His opening the door of His Church to publicans-the most odious class in the community. A publican was an officer of the Roman revenue, the very sign and standard of the pagan tyranny under which Israel groaned; he was the very type of the idolatrous usurpation. If himself a pagan, he was in that an unclean thing as well as a minion of the foreign despot. But especially if he was a recreant Jew; as an enemy of his religion, a betrayer of his own nation, he was marked as an outlaw to every good Hebrew, excluded from the synagogue, incapable of offering evidence under oath. Capharnaum abounded in this class which was under so deep a malediction; for as the Roman tax was gathered from trade and barter and import and export, the commerce between inner Syria and the Mediterranean, which passed through its streets, paid heavy tribute, which required many tax-gatherers. They had all doubtless heard of Jesus, some of them had seen Him from afar and had felt the charm of His voice; but they were under the ban and dared not approach very near Him. One among them, Levi, or Matthew, was set apart by God for an example of Jesus' love for sinners.

The Saviour was returning from one of His excursions into the country, a crowd of people bearing Him company into the city. He purposely passed near the publican, who was sitting at his table. Doubtless he saw Jesus and envied the disciples who

were close to Him, and helplessly longed for power to rise and join them. Jesus looked upon him, beckoned him to come, said to him, "Follow Me!" and instantly, as if all had been arranged between them beforehand, he rose up and followed the Master. The spell that Jesus lovingly put upon him conquered greed for money and made. him one of our Saviour's Apostles.

Levi changed his name to Matthew, The Gift of God, in thanksgiving for having been elevated from an outcast of the Jews to close fellowship with the Christ. A yet nobler form of thanksgiving was his zealous endeavor to bring other publicans to our Saviour. He already felt the passionate zeal of an apostle in his blood. Matthew therefore prepared a supper, invited many of his fellow customs officials, and Jesus, true to His principles, made no difficulty in accepting an invitation to be present, though the whole company was under the Jewish ban.

THE VOCATION OF MATTHEW.

And when Jesus passed on from thence, he saw a man sitting in the custom-house named Matthew, a publican, Levi, the son of Alpheus, and he said to him: Follow me. And leaving all things he rose up and followed him. And Levi made a great feast in his own house. And it came to pass, that as [Jesus] sat at meat many publicans and sinners sat down together with Jesus and his disciples. For they were many, who also followed him. And the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing that he ate with publicans and sinners, said to his disciples: Why doth your master eat and drink with publicans and sinners ? Jesus hearing this, saith to them: 1hey that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. For I came not to call the just, but sinners. Go then, and learn what this meaneth: I will have mercy and not sacrifice. And the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast: and they come, and say to him: Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast often and make prayers; but thy disciples do not fast? And Jesus saith to them: Can the children of the marriage fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them and then they shall fast in those days. And he spoke also a similitude to them: That no man putteth a piece from a new garment upon an old garment: otherwise he both rendeth the new, and the piece taken from the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: otherwise the new wine will break the bottles, and it will be spilled and the bottles will be lost But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. And no man drinking old, hath presently a mind to new for he saith, The old is better.

The Pharisees and Scribes, when they learned of His intention, were scandalized. They feared to protest to the Master's face-they drew aside the disciples, simple men, whose scruples they hoped to rouse, or whose timidity they hoped to frighten. "Why doth your Master eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" Jesus heard this, and for His defence He

borrowed a popular saying: "They that are well need not a physician, but they that are sick." The Pharisees claimed to be spiritually sound— and so they were if exact external observance and loud outward profession make a man holy: to them, therefore, and by their own claim, the Healer of souls was not sent, but rather to such as these

ORIENTAL WAY OF EATING. very publicans and the sinful men who consorted with them. And He gave them a text: "Go then, and learn what this meaneth: I will have mercy and not sacrifice" (Osee vi. 6). To save souls is more pleasing to God than to offer sacrifice. To seek and save poor sinners wandering towards eternal destruction-this was the choice of Jesus, rather than to preach exact observance of the law. Zeal for souls outranked even zeal for the law. Do sinners await Him? Everything is set aside to attend to them. And He added: "For I am not come to call the just, but sinners " It is a curious fact that this doctrine is a hard one for some Christians even at this late day fully to understand.

Beaten on the question of the guests, the enemy assailed our Lord on that of the banquet itself. The Pharisees were great fasters, and perhaps this very day was one of their especial fast days. They were of that kind of ascetics who, on account of abstaining themselves, would relieve their hunger by sprinkling bitterness upon the food of others. They opened, besides, the old feud between the disciples of John the Baptist and those of Jesus: "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast often and make prayers, but Thy disciples do not fast?" The Saviour's manner and words were kindly as He an"The disciples of swered: "Can the children of the marriage fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as often and make they have the bridegroom with them they cannot

the Pharisees fast

prayers."

fast." Instantly the disciples of John must have recalled the same terms used by their master in speaking of Jesus. He is the bridegroom; His Church, whom His disciples represent, is the bride; and God His Father would have the espousals of His Son celebrated with every joy. Who ever heard of fasting at a wedding-feast? "But," He added sadly, thinking of the future, "the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days."

A PHARISEE PRAYING IN

It is a renewal of the prophecy first made in the figure of the destruction of the Temple, and then in that of the brazen serpent, now yet more plainly and without any figure of speech. At every step on His way He must pass beneath the shadow of the Cross, now dimly seen, but gradually growing plainer. He is looking into the faces of some who will play a part in the tragedy: the Pharisees, who will conspire against Him and finally triumph; His disciples, who will be hunted like wild beasts, condemned to prison, weep many bitter tears, finally pour out their hearts' blood to cement the foundations of His Church. Fasting and weeping and sorrow enough in its time; but let all rejoice in the brief day of the bridegroom's happy presence among them.

But, they might have asked, why not at once reveal the entire plan, the whole future of the new dispensation? He answers by comparing His auditors, including His disciples, to an old garment in need of mending: "No man putteth a piece from a new garment upon an old garment; otherwise he both rendeth the new, and the piece taken from the new agreeth not with the old." If Jesus suddenly imposed on the old religion the entire system of belief and

PUBLIC.