"Judge not," ie., "Judge not harshly, or unfairly." "Mote" = a splinter of wood. "Beam" a rafter. Dogs,-swine,"―i.e., the brutal, ferocious, and sensual. "This is the Law and the Prophets,"-i.e., "This is shewing that reverence to Divine authority which the expounders of the Law, (= the Pentateuch), and the prophets profess." Or it may mean, "This is the gist of the teaching of the Law and the Prophets." "Strait narrow. "Not every one," &c. me, and professes faith in me," &c. 66 Profess"="plainly and fully declare." "Which built his house upon a rock."-This exquisite simile of Christ's is founded upon the rain, floods, and winds of an Eastern monsoon, which only the house 'founded upon a rock' can withstand. "Doctrine"= manner of teaching. Synopsis of the Sermon on the Mount. (Chapter and verse may be learned if the student likes; but it is not imperative on him to do so.) The Beatitudes.- "Blessed are the poor phets which were before you." Chap. v. 1-12. the pro "Ye are the salt of the earth,-ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." v. 13-20. His interpretation of the Law, concerning Murder, &c. v. 21-26. Adultery. v. 27–30. Divorce. v. 31, 32. Oaths. v. 33-37. Jus talionis, and Treatment of Enemies. v. 38-48. General Precepts for Christian living, concerning Alms. vi. 1-4. Prayer. vi. 5–15. Fasting. vi. 16–18. Right use of wealth, &c. vi. 19–24. Trust in God's Providence. vi. 24-34. Judging charitably. vii. 1-5. Not offering holy things to blasphemers. vii. 7. The Golden Rule. vii. 12. Entering at the strait gate. vii. 13, 14. False Prophets. vii. 15-23. The Wise, and the Foolish, Builder. vii. 24–27. Christ heals a Leper. (NEAR CHORAZIN.) "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them." Matthew, Mark, and Luke narrate this incident, and agree in the main; but the two latter add that the miracle became so public, (through the leper's agency, Mark says), that Christ was compelled to retire into the wilderness. = = = "A leper."-Leprosy was a scaly disease of the skin, indigenous to Egypt and Asia Minor. It was of three kinds, all included under the generic title Baheret bright spot. The first was named Baheret bohak dull white Baheret. This did not render one unclean. The second was termed Baheret lebanah bright white Baheret, and the third, Baheret kehah = dusky Baheret. These two latter rendered one unclean, and were termed by the Jews the stroke. By the Mosaic law anyone having a suspicious cutaneous affection must shew himself to the priest. If the latter decided that he had the leprosy that rendered one unclean, the sufferer at once became a marked outcast. He rent his clothes, bared his head, and covered his upper lip. He was bound to dwell outside the camp, or city,, separated from his family, and crying aloud at the approach of anyone, "Unclean! unclean!" Leprosy was not contagious, and therefore, it was not for sanitary reasons that its penalty was made so terrible. It was selected by God as a type of Sin, and its effects. "It was the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption, a meet emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man's inner nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the presence of a Pure and Holy God." No remedy for leprosy existed; but it appears frequently to have healed of its own accord. "Worshipped him, saying, 'Lord""!-These honours he paid Him, not as acknowledging Him to be the Christ, but merely in His character of a prophet. "Clean," -a word used peculiarly with regard to healing leprosy, because that disease made the sufferer legally impure. "See thou tell no man.”—Christ frequently laid this injunction on those whom He healed because He did not wish the Jews either to ' come and make Him a king' by force, or to put Him to death before His time. "The gift that Moses commanded."-This gift was of a two-fold character, and offered on two different occasions. The following are the full directions how a cleansed leper should proceed, and should be carefully studied! “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest and the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water as for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off, and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: and he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy : and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: and the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD and of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: and the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD. And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean. : : And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering." 66 Them," the priests or the people. The going with offerings would be a testimony to the priests, and the priests' seeing that he was cured would be a testimony to the people. Christ having returned to Capernaum heals a Man Sick of the Palsy. (AT CAPERNAUM.) (c. ix. 2-8.) "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men." Matthew, Mark, and Luke narrate this event, and agree in the main. Mark says that, before the miracle, Christ preached to crowds collected in the house, (i.e., the courtyard.) Luke says there were Pharisees and doctors of the law present from Galilee, Judæa, and Jerusalem. Mark and Luke state that those who carried the sick man could not get through the crowd to Christ, and that they therefore took his couch on the housetop, broke down the battlement, and let the sick of the palsy down into the courtyard, before Christ. |