Prayer.

Blessed Saviour, thou hast come into the world to destroy the power of the Evil One. By thy death and resurrection Satan was cast out; but he is ever seeking to return. Baptized unto thee, we have been taught thy will; O let it be perfected in us. Let thy Holy Spirit so dwell within us, that filled with the love of God, we may have no room for evil desires; but by thy help we may be able each day to serve thee better, so shall Satan never more be able to possess our hearts. Let us not be high-minded, satisfied with our state; but let us ever fear, lest by growing careless, we should fall away from thee, and so our last state be worse than our first. O holy Lord and Saviour, look in pity on our native land; grant that thy blessing may rest upon it, that our strength may be in thee, that our glory may be, that thou art our acknowledged Lord, and our greatest happiness, to carry the knowledge of thee; the Redeemer, to every land. Grant that wherever the English tongue is spoken, grateful hymns of praise may rise to thee, our Saviour and our God. Amen.

XXXII.

LUKE XI. 27.

While the people listened with deep attention to the words of Jesus, as he warned them that if they heeded him only for the time, and then turned back again to their own evil ways, their last end would be worse than the first, he was stopped in his discourse by a voice that suddenly was heard from among the crowd who sat around him. It was the voice of a woman :

LUKE Xi. 27, 28.

"And it came to pass as He spake

these things, a certain woman lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps (breasts) which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."

While the proud Pharisees accused the Holy Jesus of casting out devils by the prince of the devils, this woman was so filled with delight and wonder at every word He spoke, that she could not help bursting out into this exclamation.

She must have been a mother herself, or her thoughts would not have flown to the mother of Jesus. She must have known what an anxious joy it was to have a son; and, as she listened to Him, her whole soul was filled with his glory, and with the blessedness of her who had been so honoured as to rear Him on her bosom. But mark the words of Jesus, "Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it."

The woman who had thus spoken had no thought for herself, except, perhaps, inasmuch as she was herself a mother and knew a mother's feelings; but the Lord Jesus led her thoughts to the salvation of her own soul, a greater blessing than to have called him Son. His words, in the language in which they are written, seem to allow that there was some truth in what she had said, that it was a blessing to have been His mother; but that it was a far greater, to hear, to believe, and to obey the message He had brought from God His Father. The blessed Jesus cared not to raise wonder and admiration in those who heard him; He only cared to bring about a change in their whole lives, and for this reason He answered the woman, by shewing her that a better blessing was open to her-to each one who then heard him-to each one of us who have it in our power to "hear the word of God and to keep it."

Almost immediately a thing happened which proved to all the truth of His words, for

MATTHEW Xii. 46, 47. "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee."

St. Luke tells the reason why they stood without. It was this, they "could not come at him, for the press," the crowds of people being very great; and St. Mark adds, that they "sent unto him, calling him." Our Lord did not, for this, interrupt his discourse; he made use of the message sent to him through the crowd, to teach a great truth to the people who had been listening to him, and to all who should in after time read or hear His word. He did not desire that His mother and His brethren should be brought into the house where He was.

MATTHEW xii. 48-50. "But He answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren ! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."

Why did not the Lord Jesus either go out to them, or have them brought in? He was without fault; though made in our nature in the likeness of a man, He was without sin, therefore we know that He was a dutiful son and a loving kinsman; yet He suffered His mother and His brethren to stand without. Why was this? We must remember that at the very time when Jesus went into the house where He now was, when the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread, that his friends "when they heard of it, went out to lay hold of him; for they said, He is beside himself,”* either believing or pretending to believe that He was mad. Mark iii. 19-21. No. XXV. p. 127.

Their intention was to lay hold of him, that if they could not persuade him, they might, by force, oblige him to give up His work, or at least to carry it on more quietly. They could not well do this without His mother's consent; therefore it seems they had sought her out, and brought her with them when they came to seize him.

We cannot for a moment suppose that the mother of our Lord at all believed what they said, or joined with them in their desire to lay hold of him; " but she may have been greatly "to distressed and perplexed by the different reports that went abroad of her Son. His ministry and manner of life was altogether so different from what all had expected of the Messiah, that afraid, distressed, and, perhaps, disappointed, the afflicted mother may have come, not with a failing faith, but with a mind perplexed and tormented, rather to seek for comfort from her Son and Lord, than really to take him home.* Whatever was the motive that brought her there, the answer of Jesus was full of deep meaning for her and His brethren, for His own disciples, and those who sat about him, and for all who, since that time, have heard and read His words. "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren ?" Who are they that they should hinder the great work that my Father in heaven hath given me to do? Can they make such a mistake as to believe that my love for them will cause me for their sakes to give it up? Or can they think that they have any authority over me? They are dear to me by nature, but those whom God hath given me to help in the great work which I came into the world to do, are yet nearer to me than my natural relatives.

"And He stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!" How encouraging it must have been to his disciples to hear these words. They must have been glad that they had left all to follow Christ; and when in after years they were left alone in the * Olshausen, Vol. II., p. 215, 216.

world, their Lord and Master gone, the remembrance of these words must have strengthened them under the trials of danger and distress brought upon them by his religion and the work he had left them to do. But not to his disciples only Jesus spoke, "for whosoever," He said, "shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Blessed words, full of comfort to all in every place, and in every time, who seek to know the will of God and to do it! Each one of us may thus become dear to Christ as his brother, his sister, and his mother!

Prayer.

Blessed Lord, give us, we pray thee, wisdom to know thy Father's will, and power to do it. Take us into his family, that we may be, each one of us, dear to thee as a sister, a brother, and even as a mother. Oh, when we think of our unworthiness, we know not how this can be! Nor could it ever be but for the greatness of thy love to those for whom thou hast died. Thy death has reconciled our God and Father to us, and given to us the help of thy Holy Spirit, so that we can now be taught to know God's will, and knowing it, can receive from thee power to do it. O holy and beloved Lord, fit and prepare our hearts, till, weak and wandering as we are, we may yet be brought into the inner circle of thy family; and let no tone of us be content till thy Spirit bear witness in our hearts that we are indeed the children of God, and dear to thee as a brother, a sister, and a mother are dear. Let this thought, O God, be our support through life and death, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

XXXIII.

MATTHEW XIII. 1.

MARK IV. 1. LUKE VIII. 4.

MATTHEW xiii. 1, 2.

"The same day went Jesus out of