was made as public as possible, that the 'virtue which had gone out of him' followed the manifestation of this woman's faith, as if in accordance with a general rule of his ministry in dispensing mercy. He had not, by word or sign, communicated with her he had not seen her, for she stood behind him—and yet she had shared in the divine influence with those whom he had called, conversed with, and taught. As if to mark the circumstance more pointedly, after general attention to the fact had been sufficiently excited, he observed emphatically, Thy faith hath made thee whole.'

This lesson might have been the more requisite, because the object on whom he was proceeding to work a miracle-the damsel who lay dead-was one incapable of any exercise of faith at the time. This miracle, performed while he was on his way to her, became a preparatory warning against drawing a wrong inference from the circumstance. To strengthen the impression, he expressly requires that the damsel's friends, who were capable of faith, although at the time she was not, should believe. His words to her father are, 'Be not afraid, only believe.'

Even so parents and sponsors now, when they present infants to the Lord, in baptism, for his spiritual mercies, make that profession which the infants are incapable of making. Even so we trust that He will embrace those little ones with the arms of his mercy, and will give unto them the blessing of eternal life.

CHAPTER VI.

JESUS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. Ver. 1-6.

And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

UCH of our Lord's ordinary life must, doubtless,

MUCH

have partaken of the character of other men's lives. This, connected with the knowledge of his earthly birth and parentage, seemed irreconcileable with the notion which the ancient people of God had formed for themselves of their expected Messiah. Their mistake, and the consequences to which it led, ought to be a warning to us, not to frame theories respecting the measures of divine wisdom, and to try those measures afterwards by these theories.

That portion of our Lord's history, however, which

was unconnected with his ministry has not been recorded in Scripture. Had it been ordered otherwise, the record might have led us into error scarcely less mischievous than that of the Jews-the error of attributing an extraordinary character to these, as well as to the parts of his life which were really entitled to it. Like his countrymen, we should have been unwilling to see anything in the actions, words, or person of Immanuel which was not extraordinary-extrahuman-a part of his ministry-a portion of his doctrine-a feature of his example. It is impossible to calculate the extent of the superstitious practices which might have been founded on a description of his dress, for instance, his hours of rising and going to rest, and the like, if these matters had formed part of the inspired histories. The contrast exhibited, in this respect, between Scripture and those writings which profess to tell us things omitted by Scripture, is of itself a proof that the former is God's work, the latter man's; and the wisdom of God is justified by the mischief which has been actually produced through credence given alike to that which is written and that which is not written in the volume of His Book.

One statement in this passage of St. Mark requires to be noticed. It is said that Jesus 'could there do no mighty work.' Now we know abundantly from other parts of Scripture, that God gave not the Spirit to him by measure,'* that in him dwelt all the

*John iii. 34.

fulness of the Godhead bodily,'* and that 'God in Christ' must have been omnipotent. When it is said, therefore, that he could do no mighty work, it cannot be meant that he had not the power to do it, but that it was incompatible with the rule of his ministry-that, granting that rule to be unbroken, it was impossible.

In like manner, we may say that God cannot act unwisely, unjustly, and the like; meaning thereby, not that His ability or power is restricted, but that it would be inconsistent with his attributes as revealed to us. So, too, we say, even of an upright man, that he is incapable of a vicious or base action. In the present instance, the circumstance which rendered it incompatible with our Lord's established course of ministry, and in that sense impossible, for him to perform many miracles, was the want of faith described in the preceding verse. For even the sick were not usually healed without possessing this qualification; and accordingly, he sometimes tells them that it is their faith that has made them whole.

JESUS SENDS FORTH HIS APOSTLES IN PARTIES OF TWO TOGETHER.

Ver. 7-13.

And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no

*Coloss. ii. 9; i. 19.

† 2 Cor. v. 19.

bread, no money in their purse: but be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

The first and most obvious reason for this early mission of the apostles seems to have been that they should spread abroad the good tidings of Christ and his miracles, and baptize those who received and believed their report. And yet, it is certain, that so far from requiring his apostles generally to be the heralds and preachers of these his sayings and doings, our Lord was continually imposing secresy on them. The natural course of his ministry seems rather to have required his interposition to check the indiscriminate spreading of his fame, than to encourage and command it. All was soon to be made known, and 'proclaimed on the house-tops;' but, as yet, it was, in some measure, a secret, whispered in the ear, and confined to the closet. To the disciples only it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; to the unheeding multitude he spake in parables. Why then this mission of the apostles to preach and to perform miracles?

It was not simply the publication of his miracles and of the truths which they attested that he was

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