the wind boisterous.-Thus he became sensible of his own weakness, and his need of continual support by divine power. He was afraid. Such are the fears which arise from remaining unbelief. As long as St. Peter looked to Christ with the eye of faith, he walked; but when he looked at the tempest with the eye of sense, sense, he began to sink. See Isa. li. 12, 13; Ps. xliii. 5.-"The hand of Christ's power," says one, "laid hold on Peter; and the hand of Peter's faith laid hold on the power of Christ. If we let go our hold on Christ, we sink; if he lets go his hold on us, we drown." Beginning to sink, he cried, Lord save me!-Let our sense of weakness, need, and danger, send us to Christ in prayer. Our Saviour himself, in the days of his flesh, prayed to the Father; Heb. v. 7. Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him. See Ps. xviii. 4–7; xx. 6; xxxiv. 4; xlvi. 5. O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?-Faith may be real, although weak and little; but its weakness and defect are the source of much trouble, discomfort, and loss, and meet with the reproof of Christ. How unreasonable, as well as unbelieving, are many of our doubts and anxieties! When they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.-Christ in the ship is here a striking emblem of Christ, by his grace, present in the soul.— See Ps. 1. 15. They sent out into all that country, &c.-Christians, who have the knowledge of the Saviour, should send out into their neighbourhood, and into heathen lands, to bring the spiritually diseased to the good physician.. That they might touch the hem of his garment.-See ch. ix. 20-22. The experience of others in coming to Christ should encourage our application to him. As many as touched him,-Christ saves all who come to him by faith, -were made perfectly whole.-And his salvation is complete, the cure which he effects is perfect. Let us remember that the healing yirtue lay "not in their finger, but in their faith; or rather in Christ, whom their faith apprehended." HYMN. Why those fears? Behold, 'tis Jesus Holds the helm, and guides the ship: Spread the sails, and catch the breezes Sent to waft us through the deep, To the regions Where the mourners cease to weep. Led by Christ, we brave the ocean; Led by Him, the storm defy; Calm amidst tumultuous motion, Knowing that our Lord is nigh: Waves obey Him Render'd safe by his protection We shall pass the watery waste; Trusting to his wise direction, We shall gain the port at last; And with wonder Think on toils and dangers past. KELLY. S L. CHAP. XV. 1-20. Christ reproveth the Scribes and Pharisees for transgressing God's commandments through their own traditions. THEN "came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, C 2 'Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, 'It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited 9 But in vain they do worship me, 'teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. k 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand: 11 'Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: "they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, "Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. a Mark vii. 1.-b Mark vii. 5. c Col. ii. 8.-d Ex. xx. 12. Lev. xix. 3. Deut. v 16. Prov. xxiii. 22. Eph. vi. 2. e Ex. xxi. 17. Lev. xx. 9. Deut. xxvii. 16. Prov. xx. 20; & xxx. 17.-f Mark vii. 11, 12.-g Mark vii. 6.h Is. xxix. 13. Ezek. xxxiii. 31.-i Is. xxix. 13. Col. ii. 18. 22. Tit. i. 14,-k Mark vii. 14.- Acts x. 15. Rom. xiv. 14, 17. 20. 1 Tim iv. 4. Tit. i. 15.--m John xv. 2 1 Cor. iii. 12, &c.-n Is. ix. 16. Mal. ii. 8. ch. xxiii. 16. Luke vi. 39.-o Mark vii. 17.-p ch. xvi. 9. Mark vii. 18. -q 1 Cor. vi. 13.-r Jam. iii. 6.-s Gen. vi. 5; & viii. 21. Prov. vi. 14. Jer. xvii. 9. Mark vii. 21. It the wretched consequence of an attempt to add unto the words of God. READER. The tradition of the elders-that which was vainly called the oral law, and supposed to be supplemental .to the written law; just as, in course of time, it came to pass in the Christian church, that certain apostolic traditions, falsely so called, were supposed to contain an authorised comment upon the words of Christ, and the records of inspired evangelists and apostles. In this manner, a collection of fables and errors has been impiously,—or, at the best, by most awful and dangerous mistake,—regarded as the unwritten word of God!-Perhaps it was with a very sincere, but blind and erring, zeal, that the Scribes and Pharisees on this occasion came to our Lord, and said, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? There is sincerity in error and superstition, as well as in adherence to scriptural truth, and the practice of piety. Reader. I do not know that any part of this section requires explanation, except perhaps the language of the fifth and sixth verses. seems to have been a part of traditional superstition among the Jews, that the merit of devoting their property to religious purposes was such as to excuse persons who made such an offering from performing those relative duties in which their funds might have been,-and in fact ought to have been, otherwise employed. So that a man who would have been bound to assist in maintaining poor or afflicted parents, was to be held excused, if he could say It is a gift, i. e. I have given or devoted to religious purposes, by whatsoever thou|tion?-A most emphatic and solemn mightest have been profited by me, i. e. that portion of my substance which I might have been able to apply to your support or comfort! -Monstrous, indeed, are the perversions of God's truth, and of the real principles of piety and duty, which may be traced to traditions of the elders, or fathers, as well in the Christian church as in the Jewish. Such is But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradi question; extending, in its force and propriety, even to the present day. The dictates of divine revelation are, in a great degree, annulled and superseded by vain and frivolous tradition, in many corrupt branches of the catholic church. May God preserve our own section of the universal family of Christ from the effects of this contagion ! Your tradition, said It It God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother, &c.—According to the divine law, it is the duty of children to show respect towards their parents, and, if need be, to maintain them in their old age, or any other season of necessity. was a flagrant example of the evil influence of human traditions, that, under their authority, an excuse could be found for the neglect of so primary a duty as this, and that too under pretence of religion. It is to be feared that Christian tradition has led many persons to bestow upon ecclesiastical endowments those funds which ought to have been appropriated to the relief of poorer members of their own families. If we would really give ourselves or our substance to God, let us see that we do it according to the commands of God; and not merely according to the suggestions of tradition or the church. How striking is the opposition between what God said, and what man said, -as here displayed to us! And yet these dictates of men were made with every show of piety, and with great apparent zeal for the cause of God and religion. But, as it has been well remarked, "that which men say, even great men, and learned men, and men in authority, must be examined by that which God saith; and if it be found either contrary or inconsistent, it may and must be rejected." Acts iv. 19. This people draweth nigh unto me, &c.—Such insincere worship, merely ceremonial and outward, is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. God looks on the heart, and requires its devotion. And "God is not mocked." See Prov. xxiii. 26; Jer. xii. 1-4. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.—Alas, the worship of Christians, as well as of Jews, has been spoiled in this way! The commandments, or institutions, of men have been placed on a level with the doctrines, or instructions, of God. For example, the council of Trent declared that oral tradition is to be received "with the same pious affection and reverence as the word of God itself. Let us beware of so fatal a delusion, and of all its approaches. Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind.--And yet it was part of our Saviour's office to open the blind eyes. But when men are wilfully and obstinately blind, even He says, "Let them alone." How awful is this doom! It should adminis ter a caution against the insidious love of human traditions, and blind attachment to superstitious ceremonies and merely ecclesiastical observances. See Hos. iv. 17; Rev. xxii. 11; Jer. v. 31; Rom. ii. 19, 20. Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.-There are noxious weeds in that spiritual garden, the Church of Christ. But they will not abide the trial of the great day.-False systems of religious worship, and false statements of religious doctrine, are doomed to perish. "In matters of religion, if men will act according to the dictates of their own fancies, or the traditions and rules of their fellow-mortals, and not walk by the rule of God's word, they may please themselves perhaps, but they never can please their Maker. Divine institution is the only sure rule of religious worship." Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart; and they defile the man. -Our blessed Lord teaches us that a corrupt heart is the fountain which sends forth polluted and polluting streams. Let us seek, and yield to, the influence of divine truth and grace on our affections, dispositions, and desires; and let us ever reason and act upon the practical recollection of that great Gospel truth, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." HYMN. Lord, when we bend before thy throne, When our responsive tongues essay Their grateful songs to raise, When we rehearse our wants in prayer, Let faith each weak petition fill, And waft it to the skies; And teach our hearts 'tis goodness still That grants it, or denies. $ LI. CHAP. XV. 21-28. Christ healeth the daughter of the woman of Canaan. 21 'Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. |