“Cunning bee, with honey laden,
That is right,” replied the maiden;
“So will I, from all I meet,
Only draw the good and sweet.”
—Selected.
THE HARD TEXT.
(Matt. xii. 34.)
“O GENERATION of vipers.”
Thus Jesus called the Jews or their leaders. Put this with other names he gave them—“hypocrites,” “fools and blind,” “serpents” (read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew)—and maybe you will wonder how he, so gentle and forgiving, could do it.
“Yes,” you say, “they did provoke Him; they treated Him most outrageously, calling Him all sorts of bad names, and finally putting Him to death in the most cruel manner. But it does not seem quite right for Him to call them vile names back again. It looks as though He lost his temper and became awfully angry with his enemies.”