HOMILY XXIII.

MATTHEW XII. 1—21.

1. At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5. Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6. But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. 9. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue. 10. And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12. How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sab

bath days. 13. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. 14. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 15. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 16. And charged them that they should not make him known: 17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

IN our observations upon the concluding words of the last chapter, we pointed out that our Lord's gracious invitation, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart,"-was the proclamation of that "still small voice" which was revealed to Elijah, the type of John the Baptist, by whose messengers the Saviour had just sent him a comforting and conclusive answer and encouragement. And in the last words of this passage now under consideration, which is a continuation of the former subject, the most similar words possible are used to convey the same revelation, and to prove its identity with the

still small voice to Elijah in the wilderness :"He shall not strive nor cry: neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets."

And now our Lord proceeds to give examples of the mildness of his yoke and the mercifulness of his commands, in the subject of the ears of corn eaten on the Sabbath, and of the withered hand of the man healed on the same day. For how could his yoke be pronounced easy, or the Sabbath not be a heavy burden, if it were made to interfere with the due support of the body, and if necessary food might not be gathered and prepared by the poor and needy; and by those who, labouring day by day in God's vineyard without intermission, must look to God for their daily hire, of which He pronounces them worthy.

For these ears of corn were public, and as it were food from the hand of God, who had pronounced that they might be plucked by the wayfarer (Deut. xxiii. 25). And this was on the second Sabbath after the first Sabbath after the passover. And it was on the morrow of the first Sabbath after the passover that the offering of the first-fruits, the sheaf of the first green ears was waved or raised up to God: before which ceremony of thanksgiving no one might

eat of the new year's fruits. (Lev. ii. 14; xxiii. 11, 12, 14.) So this was one of the first occasions on which the disciples, probably coming out of a town, could have used this privilege. And as the sheaf of first-fruits was a sign of Christ first risen from the dead and lifted up to God, so these ears of corn thus plucked and rubbed and prepared for eating, were signs of the after-harvest of converts raised up from the death of unbelief, which might and must be plucked and prepared in every part and season of this Sabbath of the world into which we are now entered.

The Sabbath also would be a heavy burden, if the disease of the body might not be removed, when it may be done by one word of mercy, on that day, on which the bread of life is especially to be given; and when all the diseases of the soul are to be healed in the great Sabbath, after its six ages of hunger and toil and thirst and weakness; and although the Father and the Son have worked and laboured from the beginning to the end, on week days and on Sabbath days, for the world's redemption : whose final rest will be in the fulness of all joy and health, and the bread of life, through the Spirit, to all who will pluck it and prepare it.

St. Mark and St. Luke introduce the mention of these two works of mercy on the Sabbath day upon a different occasion: viz., when the Pharisees had made complaint to our Lord, that their disciples and those of John the Baptist often fasted; and Jesus had told them that no one that is wise puts old wine into new bottles. The same events and parables may serve to illustrate different principles and doctrines as our Lord applies the proverb, "With what measure ye meet," upon different occasions, to giving, to judging, and to hearing. But here the doctrine is nearly, if not altogether, the same. For fasting also is a heavy yoke and burden: especially the rigour of fasting prescribed by the law at set times and seasons, and that rigidly and frequently; and little consistent with the dictates and doctrine of that still small voice of conscience which speaks to the inmost soul, and not to the body, and proclaims the liberty which makes all things lawful in the rule and the act, in their nature and in themselves, however inexpedient and unadvised they may be in the particular use, and at particular seasons.

Is this law of liberty a law of ease? This