: what if any one of ourselves should have gone to our rest? and what if, in reply to our secret thought that we received but little warning, it should be told us,- CHRIST came to thee last Holy-Week. In the affecting services of those very solemn days, He came to thee. Thou wert reminded of thy short-comings: of many a sin unrepented of; many an evil habit unbroken many a temptation unresisted. The end of those who lead careless lives was also set before thee. Many a holy thought was put into thine heart. Thou wert even prevailed upon to form many a godly resolution. Yea, by lips unworthy indeed, yet faithful in this matter, the notion was distinctly brought home to thee that this might be thy last opportunity. For a brief space, thou wert even brought to realize the thought that as CHRIST came suddenly to Jerusalem, even so, at that very season, He was passing, unsuspected, very nigh to thee'... And should such solemn words, my friends, be addressed to any of ourselves hereafter, GOD of His Mercy grant that it may not be added, -But thou, in spite of all, knewest not the time of thy visitation.' Monday before Easter. THE BLIND AND THE LAME. ST. MATTHEW xxi. 14. And the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them. THE recorded events of Monday in Holy Week are few indeed, but full of solemn interest: the Cursing of the barren Fig-tree; the Driving of the buyers and sellers out of the Temple; and the cluster of miracles referred to, rather than described, in the text. In the profound conviction that, at such a moment, nothing which was done was trifling; and that, where so little is recorded, the few incidents which find distinct notice must be regarded as of unusual moment, as well as of most solemn meaning; we have selected for remark St. Matthew's brief statement, that the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them.' We cannot think that we shall thereby have lighted on ground which will prove either barren in edification, or unproductive of delight. And first, it is obvious to point out how much it is the manner of the inspired writers to throw out sublime statements concerning Almighty GoD, or descriptive of His works; not only without any attempt to set off such statements to advantage, and to call attention to them, but even with marked simplicity and disregard of effect. Thus, a whole cluster of miracles is here despatched in one short verse of Scripture; and as, in Nature, we separate with the telescope star from star, and proceed to make observations on the several bodies which before presented to the eye the appearance of a single shining mass, so is it reserved for the eye of Faith to discover the surprising fulness, as well as the mysterious design, not to say the marvellous beauty, of a statement like the present, which at first sight seems descriptive of a single act of Mercy. Of the many wonderful things,' therefore, which our SAVIOUR performed on the present occasion, the Evangelist St. Matthew notices only the miracles of healing performed on the Blind and the Lame; and it demands but little acquaintance with Holy Scripture to be aware that either of these two forms of bodily ailment is the common, as well as the obvious emblem of St. Matth. xxi. 15. a corresponding moral defect. Thus, it was the declared purpose of our SAVIOUR's Coming into. the world, 'to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.' And when we further find Him spoken of as a Light to lighten the Gentiles,'' a great Light' that was to spring up 'to as many as sat in the region and shadow of Death','-do we not feel that the language of the Evangelical Prophet is so plainly figurative, that we are even surprised at finding our LORD engaged so frequently in the literal act of restoring sight to the blind? As a matter of fact, more of our SAVIOUR'S miracles are recorded as having been wrought on blindness than on any other form of human infirmity and we can but admit that all such acts were symbolical of the great purpose of His Coming, namely, to inform and enlighten the consciences of men, and to enable them to see. 'Open Thou mine eyes,' (exclaims the Psalmist,) that I may see the wondrous things of Thy Law!' The language of Nature offers the most convenient vehicle for expressing the strong desires of the children of Grace. : What, in like manner, mean those many an nouncements of what should befal the Lame' in the days of Messiah, but that strength should then be given to faithful men to 'run in the way of God's commandments?' Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing,' (says the Evangelical prophet ;) for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the deserte.' He gives as the reason, the plentiful supplies of grace which should then be shed abroad. And can we read the Gospels without being struck with the frequency of this class of cures also? Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see,' said our SAVIOUR to the two messengers of the Baptist : 'the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk'.' And when great multitudes came to CHRIST as He sat upon the mountain, the two first classes of persons which are named, are the lame' and the 'blind".' A subject is thus set before us in which we find our place without difficulty. We are reminded of our own great spiritual infirmities; of our need of His Almighty aid who poured the light of Day on sightless eyes, and gave those ancle-bones strength which before were powerless in Israel. For surely, the life of many of • Is. xxxv. 6. St. Matth. xi. 4, 5. St. Matth. xv. 30. |