Ꭲ Ꭱ Ꭺ Ꮯ Ꭲ Ꮪ ON THE NEW TESTAMENT HISTORIES. BY MRS. BEST, AUTHOR OF TRACTS ON THE PARABLES, &c. &c. The Sabbath.-The Withered Hand.-The Twelve Apostles. THE NEW TESTAMENT HISTORIES. "OUR Divine Master," observed Mr. C—, when his various friends assembled round him, "had much to contend with from the bigotry and ignorance of the Jewish teachers. The traditions of men had deprived God's word of its holy simplicity, and to these they clung to the exclusion of those feelings of mercy and love which the Law and the Prophets inculcated. Our Lord, therefore, determined to strike at the root of this evil, by performing some of his most wonderful miracles on the Sabbath, and thus practically explaining how it should be kept. He was perfectly aware that every word and action, both of himself and his disciples, was watched and reflected upon, and therefore he was quite ready to stand forth in their defence when accused of breaking the fourth Commandment. Let us turn to Luke vi. and by studying it in connexion with Matthew xii. 1-13, and Mark ii. 23-28, we may, under the Divine blessing, derive much holy and useful instruction. And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields ; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.'" (Verse 1.) 666 The second Sabbath after the first ;'-I do not know what this means, Mr. C-," said Mrs. Basil. "It is an expression of more difficulty than importance, Madam," replied Mr. C, "but I believe it to be simply this. If the first day of either of the great Jewish feasts, viz. of Unleavened Bread, the Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Tabernacles, happened to fall on a Sabbath, it was reckoned peculiarly sacred. That of Unleavened Bread was called the first prime Sabbath; Pentecost, the second prime Sabbath; and the Feast of Tabernacles, the third prime Sabbath. I should therefore think, in this verse the Evangelist meant the second Sabbath after the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the wave sheaf was commanded to be offered up, and from which the fifty days to Pentecost should be reckoned. (Lev. xxiii. 10-16.) On this Sabbath-day Jesus and his disciples went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. The Pharisees were watching them, and immediately construed the act into desecration of the Sabbath. By the law, a person while passing through a field or a vineyard might pluck and eat, (Deut. xxiii. 24, 25,) but not carry any away." 66 "Well, sir," interrupted Hyford, "that is all fair; I had no idea that in the Bible we should find such a thing as this mentioned; but God seems to have taught us in every respect how we ought to act towards each other." Yes," replied Mr. C "by this law we learn several holy lessons of kindness and liberality towards our fellow-creatures. It teaches us not to insist upon property in small matters, but to be ready to share with others; to be glad to distribute, willing to communicate, and be rich in good works; while we further learn, not to abuse kindness, or take an unfair advantage of the generosity we experience. The Pharisees," continued Mr. C"were only intent upon proving that our Lord despised the law of Moses, for they were well convinced he would not reprove his disciples for their plucking and eating the corn. But he knew their inmost thoughts, the bitter enmity they bore him, and their anxiety to find him guilty; therefore he reproved them for their unscriptural impositions, and showed that in cases of necessity, ceremonial appointments might lawfully be dispensed with. In order to prove the justness of the case, he reminded them of David their king, for whose memory they felt the deepest veneration; before he came to the throne, being persecuted by Saul, who wanted to kill him, he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him,' (Mark ii. 25, &c. ; compare 1 Sam. xxi. 3—6 ;) proving that the hunger felt by David and his men was sufficient excuse for their so acting; therefore, 'as the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.' (Mark ii. 27, 28.) This simple exposition of the nature and requirements of the Sabbath are, in my mind," proceeded the Pastor, "very beautiful: in few words, it shows the true character of the institution, given as a privilege and blessing to man, not a day of weariness and fatigue." "And yet, sir," interrupted Hyford, "I remember when it was both to me. I hated the Sabbath; it often was in my way, particularly during harvest; how many times have I inwardly wished it had never been instituted, when I have had a large quantity of hay or corn fit to bring home, and have not been able to do so for want of light; and then a thunderstorm has come on the Sunday, and stopped all my hopes of getting it in the next day. What a rage I used to fall into; just as if I was out of my senses; and so, in truth, I was. I have often been tempted to carry on the Sunday, but I was ashamed to do so on account of my neighbours, not out of fear of God. Sir, we do not esteem the Sabbath as we ought, and look upon it, as it really is, one of the very greatest blessings that could be bestowed on us. You do not think, under any circumstances, we farmers are justified in carrying our harvest on a Sunday, do you, sir ?" 6 "Most decidedly not," answered Mr. C; "the Lord of the Sabbath is Lord also of the fruits of the earth which he bestows in mercy upon you, not for your merits or deservings, but out of his compassion and loving-kindness. He has given a plain commandment as to the manner in which he desires his day to be kept, without making any provision for circumstances; his law is explicit, and runs thus: Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath-day, he shall surely be put to death.' (Exod. xxxi. 13-15.) Nothing can be more positive than this; and though it is true, the Jewish Sabbath has been succeeded by the Christian, which in remembrance of our Lord's resurrection is more properly termed the Lord's-day, still the observance of it is equally laid upon us, yea, I should say, even more so; for whereas the Jews celebrated the goodness and power of Jehovah in his works of creation, we are reminded of the still greater love displayed to this sinful world in the finished work of redemption, and can hail with gratitude a portion of time so graciously bestowed, to be set apart for spiritual intercourse with God, and for receiving, through the means of grace, those blessings which he has promised to bestow. Persons who abuse the Sabbath-hours cast away their mercies, and when life draws near its close, they will then lament over opportunities lost, never to be recalled." "We will now return to our chapter," said Mr. C—. "Our Lord, bearing in mind the hypocrisy and malevolence of the Jews, went another Sabbath after the transactions we have been considering, into the synagogue and taught. Amongst the congregation was a poor creature with a withered hand: our dear compassionate Saviour regarded him with pity, and the Pharisees, who were fully sensible of his mercy and benevolence, ever alive to repairing the miseries sin had produced, watched him with the utmost attention. Having commanded the man to stand forth, he turned to them and said, 'Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath-days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?' (Mark iii. 4.) Could he have asked a fairer question? They felt the force of it and held their peace, for they were determined to resist the truth. Poor miserable men! he looked round on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts,' and well might they tremble; but they were blinded to a sense of their state, and knew nothing of him before whom they stood." "I think, sir," said Mrs. Basil, "there is a singular beauty in the idea that our Lord looked on the Pharisees in anger through grief for their hardness of heart and unbelief. It does not seem to imply wrath." 66 "No," replied Mr. C- anger here means that holy indignation our Lord felt for the determined obstinacy of these men. They were bent upon opposing him out of hatred to his person, the superiority, the purity of his life and doctrine, in all which he condemned them by his own consistency. Just anger consists in displeasure with the sin, not with the sinner; for instance, the judge sentences the criminal to death; he bears no enmity to his unhappy fellow-creature; on the contrary, he often pronounces the awful sentence with faltering lips and tears of compassion; but still he says he must die, and thus shows his abhorrence of the crime that leads him to the scaffold. In the verse before us, when Jesus had looked upon all those opposed to him, he determined to show his superiority by saying to the man, 'Stretch forth thine hand,' which was instantly restored whole as the other. (Mark iii. 5.) This filled them with madness, and they communed one with another what they might do to Jesus, each sect and party forgetting their differences of opinion in order that they might deliver themselves from the common enemy. But the hour for fulfilling his pur |