religion, or for such iniquitous practices as do not endanger society, they boldly invade his province who alone can infallibly discern truth from falsehood, and know the various aggravations or alleviations of wrong conduct. The compulsion which should be used by Christ's followers is reason and argument; as he himself & compelled the Gentiles to receive his gospel by enduing the preachers of it with wisdom and power from on high: he laid them under a moral necessity of believing, by furnishing the fullest means of conviction. The manner in which our Lord prepared the apostles for his departure, and the consolation which he administered to them, were in the highest degree affectionate. He often foretold his death, and called their attention to it in the strongest terms: "h Let these words sink down into your ears: for the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after he is killed, he shall rise again the third day." And, on the evening before his death, he calmed their minds with the utmost delicacy of address, and with the greatest enlargement of affection towards them: "Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions : * See Luke xiv. 23. compared with Matt. xxii. 9. That dvaznáśw, ανάγκη, and παραβιάζομαι are used for cogent persuasion and argument, see Matt. xiv 22. Mark vi. 45. Luke xiv. 18. xxiv. 29. Acts xvi. Gal. ii. 3, 14. vi. 12. Jude 3. and instances from Wolfius, Elsner, Krebsius, Wetstein, and Bishop h Luke ix. 44. and p. p. i John xiv. 1, 2. 15. 2 Cor. xii. 11. other writers in Pearce, in loc. I go to prepare a place for you." "I will * "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Advocate, that he may abide with abide with you always." you always." "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." 66 m Such was the sensibility of his disposition, and his benevolent horror at Judas's ingratitude and guilt, that he could not mention his traitorous design at the paschal supper without great emotion: “he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me." His ignominious and painful death was the greatest act of benevolence to the whole world. "° Greater love than this hath no man, that a man lay down his life for his friends." "But God commended his love towards us in that, while we were yet sinners and enemies, Christ died for us." After our Lord's resurrection, his benevolence shone with the same degree of mild lustre. We have remarkable proofs of it in his conduct to St. Peter. One of the angels who appeared to the women at his sepulchre thus addressed them: and, no doubt, in conformity to our Lord's command: "Depart, say to his disciples and to PETER, He goeth before you into Galilee." And two of the sacred' writers P Rom. v. 8, 10. m xvii. 24. ■ John xiii. 21. * Luke xxiv. 34. • ib. xv. 13. 1Cor. xv. 5. This circumstance, so honourable to St. Peter, is mentioned only by St. Paul, and by St. Luke whose gospel is said to have been 369 have recorded his separate appearance to this apostle on the day of his resurrection. He appeared not apart to St. John, his beloved disciple; but to him who had thrice denied him, who had bitterly bewailed his crime, and whose mind stood in need of *healing and with the same kind attention our Lord afterwards afforded Peter an occasion of expiating, as it were, his three denials of him by thrice declaring his love. t With an admirable consistency, our gracious Saviour ended as he began. He was taken up to heaven in the very act of lifting up his hands on his disciples and blessing them. W interNor must we stop here. He is now our cessor at God's right hand, and will hereafter be the dispenser of eternal life to the righteous: and he has taught us to y anticipate his conduct on that day; when he will allot so high a rank to the virtue of benevolence as to place actions arising from it among our leading and essential duties, and will shew so intimate a concern and affection for his disciples as to regard acts of humanity done to the meanest of them as done to himself. • The written under the direction of St. Paul. We have therefore another proof, besides 2 Pet. iii. 15. that no jealousy subsisted between these two great apostles after their variance. Gal. ii. 11. remark is Chrysostom's. See his comment on 1 Cor. xv. 8. Beausobre refers to it, and in explaining it, beautifully adds; Jesus shewed Peter that, though he had forgotten his Lord in the time of his humiliation, his Lord did not forget him after his exaltation. Remarques Historiw Rom. viii. 34. John xxi. u Luke xxiv. 51. ques, &c. 1 Cor. xv. 5) y Matt. XXV. Heb. vii. 25. - Rom. vi. 23. John xvii. 2. t SECTION III. OF OUR LORD'S COMPASSION. IN those dispositions which are eminently benevo lent we may justly expect to find the most lively sensibility and compassion: for compassion is a benevolent sensation towards the miserable; it is that humane uneasiness which is excited by the evils of human life, in proportion to their degree and to the merit of the sufferer. Our Lord has expressly enjoined this a virtue, "Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful :" and he has annexed to it a special blessedness: "Blessed are the merciful; for they `shall obtain mercy." d He has recommended it to our practice in the parable of the good Samaritan; and he has enforced it by the example of God himself, both under the similitude of a king who took account with his servants, and under that of a Father receiving into favour a wasteful and unworthy son. The three parables referred to are remarkably affecting. Nothing can more forcibly inculcate commiseration than the example of the Samaritan, who, though estranged from the Jews by every circumstance most apt to inflame the human mind with a Aristotle calls it an affection of a good disposition, xxgas Rhet. ii. xi. 1. ed. Cantab. And Tully thus addresses Julius Cesar: Nulla de virtutibus tuis plurimis nec admirabilior nec gratior misericordia est. Pro Ligario. § 11. b Luke vi. 36. Matt. v. 7. Luke x. 33, 37. e Matt. xviii. 27, 33. Luke xv. 20. hatred, yet shewed mercy to the wounded Jewish traveller, the sight of whose distress moved not a Priest and a Levite, who were of his own nation, and employed in the sacred offices of his own religion. Nothing can be more strongly contrasted and condemned than the merciless behaviour of him who was inexorable to his fellow servant, took him by the throat, and rigidly exacted a debt of an hundred pence, when his lord had forgiven him ten thousand talents. "His lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him." Nothing can represent in a more lively manner the compassion of God to the Gentile world in particular, and to repenting sinners in general, than the image of a father, who, when he saw yet a great way off his son returning to him after he had wasted his substance with riotous living, had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and rejoiced as though he had received him again from the dead. The images with which these parables abound shew an overflowing tenderness and humanity and our Divine Instructor seems to have peculiarly delighted, and excelled, if I may so speak, in delivering lessons of this kind. In his own life he has given us a bright example of this virtue. He deeply compassionated the spiritual and temporal wants of mankind. "When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they were wearied [with following Matt. ix. 36, 7, 8. 8 The true reading is ioxuxuiva, of which xx seems a marginal explanation crept into the text. |