Behold, then, from among the accursed Canaanites, a woman outstrips in zeal and faith thousands, and tens of thousands, who were her superiors in birth and privilege; and Jesus withholds not his blessing from this insignificant Gentile! What an encouragement to the meanest, the obscurest, and the most unworthy, to apply with instant haste to this Almighty Saviour! His free and abundant salvation is dispensed to penitents irrespectively of national distinctions or individual demerit; and, instead of its being derogatory to his dignity to condescend to persons of low estate, he chose to publish his Gospel to the poor, and to "save the children of the needy." "His blood cleanseth from all sin." He came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." We have here a specimen and pledge of the influence of Christ and his salvation. He is become the centre of universal attraction, the powerful magnet of the world, pervading by his influence the moral creation, and gradually drawing all into himself. The designs of mercy were now enlarging, the scale of its operations extending, and the ancient lines of demarcation between Jew and Gentile were overstepped by the zeal of the Lord of Hosts. In the person of this Canaanite we witness the first "lively stone" brought from the Gentile quarry, and placed on the chief corner-stone of the great spiritual edifice of the Christian church. "They shall come," said our Saviour, "from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south."
The present condition of the Jews forms an awful contrast, to those clays of boasted pre-eminence, How are they, who once regarded all other nations as dogs, become contemptible in consequence of their treatment of the Son of God, while the cordial reception given him by many Gentile nations has elevated them into the dignity of children! For nearly eighteen centuries the once honored people of the Jews have been dispersed in every direction upon the surface of the globe. They furnish an example of one of these dreadful recriminations of Providence which have sometimes been inflicted on atrocious sinners in their collective and national capacities. Never did the universe before witness so astonishing a spectacle, as a nation destroyed as a nation, but preserved as individuals--preserved to suffer, and to be accounted the offscouring of all things. At this moment they are destitute of a temple, a priest, a sacrifice, a country, and a king. The temporal dominion of their rulers and the succession of their priests have ceased since the destruction of Jerusalem. No oblations and sacrifices now exist. The fire burns no longer on the holy altar--the incense ascends no more from the demolished temple--the flood of ages has swept away the sacred edifices, and Desolation sits enthroned upon their ruins. The house of Israel is, in consequence of the rejection of Christ, become a spectacle to angels and to men--a melancholy monument of wo, on which the hand of recriminating justice has inscribed in legible characters a condemnatory sentence, which is read with silent awe by the inhabitants of heaven, and by every king, and people, and nation of the globe.--But the period of Jewish dispersion is hasting to its close. Party names and ancient prejudices shall soon disappear, and mankind of every class and country be eternally united in one blessed fraternity. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinah, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim."--"Other sheep," said Christ, "I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Martha and Mary.
Chapter VII.
Bethany distinguished as the Residence of a pious Family, which consisted of Lazarus and his two Sisters--their diversity of Character--the Faults of Martha, domestic Vanity and fretfulness of Temper--her counterbalancing Excellences--Mary's Choice and Christ's Commendation--Decease of Lazarus--his Restoration to Life at the Voice of Jesus--Remarks on Death being inflicted upon the People of God as well as others--the Triumph which Christianity affords over this terrible Evil--Account of Mary's anointing the Feet of Jesus, and his Vindication of her Conduct.
Almost every spot in the vicinity of Jerusalem may be regarded as "holy ground." The enraptured imagination cannot traverse this district without recalling the many wonderful transactions that occurred there in different periods of the Jewish history, but especially during the personal residence of the Son of God upon the earth. Within the small circumference of a few miles round the city, what a multitude of great events have taken place! What miracles have been wrought! What mercies have been distributed! What doctrines have been revealed! What characters have appeared! What a development has been made of human nature! What a surprising display of the perfections of the blessed God! What an exhibition of the love of the incarnate Redeemer! Who, then, can think without emotion, of Bethlehem--of Bethpage--of Bethany--of Mount Olivet--of the brook Kedron--of Emmaus--and of Calvary?
Excepting only that mountain where Jesus "suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God," and where "once in the end of the world" he "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," the village of Bethany may, perhaps, be considered as the most interesting point in this all-attractive scene. It is situated at the foot of the Mount of Olives, on the way to Jericho. To this neighborhood the Son of God frequently retired for meditation and prayer; thence he began to ride in triumph to Jerusalem; thither he repaired after eating the last supper with his disciples, and there they witnessed his ascending glory and heard his last benediction--for "he led them out as far as to Bethany; and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God."
Bethany, however, claims our present attention chiefly as being the residence of one of the "households of faith," with whom our Saviour was particularly intimate, and with whose history some remarkable circumstances are connected. It was a small but happy family, consisting of only three members, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. The two sisters, though united by the ties of nature, and the still dearer bond of grace, were distinguished by a considerable dissimilarity of character, which will furnish us with some instruction. While charmed into an effort to imitate remarkable persons by a description of their excellences, it is of great importance to notice their defects, not only for the purpose of avoiding them, but that we may not be overawed into despondency and paralyzed into inaction by their superiority. Biography, to be useful, must be brought to our level, capacities, and circumstances. We must see excellence that is attainable, and view the same infirmities which are incident to our nature, acting in our sphere, and struggling with perplexities, resistance, vicissitude, and trial, similar to what we ourselves experience. The appeal is powerful when we are called upon to be "followers of them who," though circumstanced as we are, "through faith and patience inherit the promises."
"Once they were mourners here below.
And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears."
A history of angels might, indeed, excite our admiration, but would conduce less to our real improvement than a history of our fellow-creatures. We wish to witness the actions, and to be admitted into the secret feelings, of those who, whatever elevation they may have since obtained, were once in the same probationary state with ourselves, and subjected to the same course of moral discipline. In this view it is desirable to be introduced into the privacies of domestic life. It is in the family and at the fireside we all occupy some station, and have some appropriate duties to discharge; and on this account the narrative before us is pre-eminently attractive. We are led to the native village--the chosen residence--the family--the fireside--the home--of Martha and Mary. We see them in all the undisguised reality of private life, and participate at once their pleasures and their pains. We join the social circle. We hear the Saviour conversing with them. We see them in affliction--the common lot, the patrimony to which are all born--and while we participate their sorrows, learn to sustain and profit by our own.