feverish brain by weeping; for our sighs reach the ear of God, and our tears become as the rainbow-drops blessed with the light of His countenance, a token of His covenant with "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."

us;

Brother (1) Admire the love and compassion of Jesus who suffered for us. Praise Him. Serve Him.

(2) Pamper not thy depraved appetite. Deny thyself. Be like Him.

Bethnal Green.

THOMAS THOMAS.

The Genius of the Gospel.

ABLE expositions of the Gospel, describing the manners, customs, and localities alluded to by the inspired writers; also interpreting their words, and harmonizing their formal discrepancies, are, happily, not wanting amongst us. But the eduction of its WIDEST truths and highest suggestions is still a felt desideratum. To some attempt at the work we devote these pages. We gratefully avail ourselves of all exegetical helps within our reach; but to occupy our limited space with any lengthened archæological, geographic, or philological, remarks, would be to miss our aim ;which is not to make bare the mechanical process of scriptural study, but to reveal its spiritual results.

SECTION FIFTY-NINTH.-Matt. xvii. 24-27.

"And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon ? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free? Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."-Matt. xvii. 24-27.

SUBJECT:-The Political Policy of the Christian Citizen.

THIS is an extraordinary incident in the history of an extraordinary life; and therefore, though passingly strange itself, is in beautiful keeping with the Evangelical biography of which

it is a part. There are four things here which at once strike our attention :-An old law meeting modern men-A characteristic act in the conduct of Peter-A remarkable lesson, on the social policy of the Christian citizen, and A striking display of Christ's superhuman power. A brief word of explanation on each may be desirable as an introduction to the point on which we are anxious to fasten our attention. Here we have :

First: An old law meeting modern men. Christ and His disciples had just entered Capernaum;- a city that once stood on the north-western side of the Lake of Gennesareth, and in which the Redeemer seems to have spent the greater portion of His public life-thus exalting the population to Heaven in respect of privileges, and consequently entailing on them many fearful responsibilities, the neglect of which brought on them a doom more terrible than that which befel Sodom and Gomorrah. Matt. ix. 23, Soon after they entered this city on this occasion, they that received tribute money, came to Peter and said, "Doth not your Master pay tribute?" These officers are not supposed to be the men who collected the taxes paid to the Romans for political purposes, but persons who were employed to collect subscriptions towards expenses incurred in the various sacrifices and other services of the Temple. The subscription was an annual payment of half a shekel, about fifteen-pence half-penny of British money, levied on all Jews twenty years old. (Exod. iii. 13.-Neh. x. 32.)*

*Verse 24. "They that received tribute money." The force of our Lord's allusions will be imperfectly understood unless we distinguish that this tribute money was quite distinct from the general tax assessed for the Romans, and that which, was paid to the ethnarchs and tetrarchs. It was the half shekel, which, under a profitable misconception of some expressions in the Pentateuch, was annually levied on every adult male Israelite for the service of the temple. Our Saviour's argument with Peter therefore is, that as the kings of the earth did not take custom from their own household, but from others, the collectors had no proper claim upon HIM for the tribute to the temple-the House of his Father. The payment was made during the month of Adar; and we

This old law, which now met the apostles on their entering Capernaum, was made many centuries before; and made moreover to support an institution in which these disciples had lost faith, an institution which they had outgrown, and which to them was almost obsolete. Somewhat strange this, one thinks; and yet not singular, but common.

We,

are told that if the amount was not paid on the 25th of that month, security was taken from the assessed person. The numerous Jews in other countries failed not to remit their yearly contributions to Jerusalem; which may account for the immense amount of treasure constantly flowing into the temple.

In the original, the 'tribute money' which was demanded, and the 'piece of money' of twice its value, which Peter was to find in the mouth of the fish, are discriminated by their proper names. The former is called didrachma, or 'two drachmæ,' and the latter, stater. The latter was of equivalent value to the Hebrew shekel, and was equal to four drachmæ, and, consequently, two drachmæ were equivalent to half of the stater, and of the shekel.

Leaving the terms untranslated, Peter is asked if his Master paid the didrachma, and Peter is told that he should find a stater in the mouth of the fish. The stater was also called tetrachdramon, from its containing four drachmæ. After the destruction of the Temple, the Jews were obliged to pay this tribute to the Romans, and the pas sage in which the historian relates this, affords one of those minute incidental corroborations which have been so abundantly adduced in evidence of the verity of the evangelical narratives; for he states that the Emperor imposed tribute of two drachmæ (dúo òpáxμas) upon the Jews, wherever they were, to be paid every year into the Capitol, in the same manner it had been previously paid into the Temple at Jerusalem, thus concurring with the Evangelist, that the half shekel was usually paid in the form of two drachmæ, or of a single coin of that value.

The tax continued to be paid to the Romans in the time of Origen. It is understood, however, that the Temple tribute, though collected in heathen coin, was to be exchanged for Hebrew money, before it could be finally paid into the Temple,-probably on account of the idolatrous symbols which the former so generally bore. Hence the vocation of the money-changers, whom our Saviour drove from the Temple. They were accustomed, on and after the fifteenth of the month Adar, to seat themselves in the Temple, in order to exchange with those who required it, Greek and Roman coins for Jewish half shekels.-PICTORIAL BIBLE.

the men of this age, are ever met by laws made by men that have been ashes many centuries ago. Some of these laws, too, such as those referring to the support of certain forms of religious institutions, the achievements of bloody war, &c., many moderns have lost faith in and look upon with moral indignation. Yet the old law, the offspring of poor fallible brains long since dust, comes to us with imperial authority, cares nothing about our new convictions, makes its demand, to which we must yield or suffer. Though I cannot see the rightness of this arrangement, nay, though a little reflection makes me stagger at its anomalies, it still seems to be the great law of Providence which we must respect.

Here we have :

Secondly: A characteristic act in the conduct of Peter. What was Peter's reply to these tax-collectors? Did he before he gave the answer consult his spiritual Master? or, did he pause a moment for a little reflection? No. "He saith, YES." How Peter-like this! How beautifully it harmonizes with the whole of his impulsive history. unartistic record of little expressions and actions like these in the evangelical history, which so thoroughly agree with the temperament and tenor of the individual's life, is to me no feeble argument in favor of the truthfulness of the writer. Here we have :

The

Thirdly: A remarkable lesson on the social policy of the Christian citizen. And when he, Peter, was come into the house, Jesus prevented him (anticipated-for such is the meaning of the word) saying, "What thinkest thou Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, then are the children free." Christ in this address to Peter would delicately suggest to the impulsive disciple that he had been rather too hasty in his reply, and that as a matter of right He might hold Himself free from the payment of such imposts. Peter knew of the general custom amongst kings not to tax their own sons, and therefore was prepared to

appreciate the force of our Saviour's argument on that ground. Jesus was the Son of the universal King; the Temple for which the tax was collected was the house of His Imperial Father, and therefore, like the sons of earthly monarchs, He was free from the obligation to pay the tax. Yet, and this is the lesson, though on the ground of right He could claim an exoneration, He consents to pay. "NOTWITHSTANDING LEST WE SHOULD OFFEND THEM," &c. Here is His policy, waiving a personal right, in order to conciliate popular sentiment ! Here we have ::

Fourthly: A striking display of Christ's superhuman power. "Go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take and give unto them for me and thee." Jesus here performs a miracle to prevent giving offence. BENGEL states six things to show the greatness of this miracle :“that the fish should be caught-that it should be caught quickly- that there should be money in it - that the money should be in the first fish-that the sum should be just so much as was needed-and that it should be in its mouth."

Now, let us take up for a moment the reigning truth` of this passage, which is the social policy of the good. There are three thoughts suggested by the narrative which will throw no small amount of light upon this subject.

I. THAT IT IS HIGHLY POLITIC FOR THE CHRISTIAN MAN TO FALL IN, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, WITH THE INSTITUTIONS OF HIS COUNTRY. The simple reason Christ here assigns for performing a miracle to pay tribute was,-"Lest we should offend." And why would He have offended had He not done so? Because the Jewish Temple was a national institution, and popular sentiment was as yet in its favor;-as must indeed be the case with all national institutions. Popular sentiment is the life of all national organizations; as soon as that departs the vital sap has left the tree, root and branch, to rot. Christ

Vol IX.

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