29. And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.

30. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus feet; and he healed them:

31. Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

Little House-Dogs.

go about in troops in Eastern cities, and which were regarded by the Jews with great disgust. It is the word for 'little dogs,' living in the house and with the family, and lying under the table at meals. The woman springs to it. Even the little dogs under the master's table are fed with pieces of the children's loaf. They are not outside. They, too, have a place in the family. If Christ puts it so, then she and her people have a place, though a humble one, in the house of the Master of all. The children may be fed first; but they, too, are to be remembered and blessed. Christ gave her a better place in the house than she hoped for; indeed, she supposed that she had no place at all.” -R. W. Dale, D.D.

REFERENCE. See on iv. 23-25, and viii. 16.

Need of Healing in the East.

30. GREAT MULTITUDES CAME UNTO HIM.-"I think it is not fully recognized that every system of medicine prevailing in the East is connected with sorcery, demonolatry, and witchcraft, not to speak of brutal and torturing treatment, and the thousands of lives annually imperiled and lost. There is a close connection between medicine and extraordinary superstition and wickedness; and the sorcerer is summoned on almost all occasions, or the wizard, or some prophetess, who professes openly to being in league with spirits of the other world. Sickness is supposed to be the work of demons, and the sorcerer is called in with his wand. And, therefore, it is a necessity to send out medical missionaries, for so long as the only healer of the body is the man who is in supposed connection with evil spirits, so long must the people remain in darkness and in the shadow of death. And I think that it is a great argument in favor of medical missions, that the only medical systems that these people know are systems of demonolatry and sorcery."-Isabella Bird Bishop, in late address before the English Church Missionary Society.

32. Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

33. And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multi

tude?

A.D. 29. Summer. DECAPOLIS.

FEEDING

OF THE 4000.

34. And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

35. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples. and the disciples to the multitude.

37. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

38. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. 37. And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.

PICTURES.-Doré's Vale of Tears; Christus Consolator, Plockhörst, Ary Scheffer; Healing the Sick, Schönherr, Hoffmann, Zimmermann. "Kind hearts are here; yet would the tenderest one Have limits to its mercy,

God has none."

-Adelaide Proctor, in Legend of Provence.

REFERENCE.-32-39. See on xiv. 15-21, Feeding of the 5,000."

CHAPTER XVI.

1. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

A.D. 29.
Summer.

THIRD YEAR.

CAPERNAUM.

THE SIGNS.
OF THE
TIMES.

4. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

5. And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

7. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8. Which when Jesus perceived he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9. Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

10. Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11. How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

3. WHY CANNOT YE DISCERN?-Rebelais' witches were very far and sharp sighted when abroad, but at home they took out their eye and laid it one side, so that they could see nothing near by. How many are blind to God's presence near them, to his providence in daily matters, to saints in their own homes, to opportunities close at hand, to the signs of the times on every side.

REFERENCE.-See poem under xii. 44, "'O Where is the Sea,' the Fishes Cried."

REFERENCE.-6. "Leaven." See on xiii. 33.

See xii. 40.

12. Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

13. ¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?

14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

A.D. 29.
Summer.

THIRD YEAR.

CESAREA
PHILIPPI.

KEYS OF THE
KINGDOM.

16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Knowing Your Ship

13. WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT I AM.—“ If you are one of a number of passengers on an ocean steamer, and the cry is sounded that the vessel is sinking, but that a stanch and commodious boat is at your service if you will take to it, everything for your safety depends on what you think of that boat. If you think there is no danger where you are, you will not look at the boat as really needed by you. If you recognize your danger, but think that the proffered boat is no more trustworthy than the sinking steamer, you will not look at the boat as worthy of your confidence. Refusing to accept the boat as both essential and sufficient, you will be lost with the sinking vessel, because of your opinions about the boat."

is Safe.

-H. C. Trumbull, LL.D., in Sunday-School Times.

See also Nansen's account of his boat's trustworthiness.

18. THOU ART PETER (Petros), AND UPON THIS ROCK (Petra) I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.-Peter had the making of a rock in him. "It may illustrate this naming of Peter to refer to a sandstone, in Skye, mentioned by Dr. MacCulloch, which may be molded like dough when first found; so simple minerals, which are rigid and hard as glass in our cabinets, are often flexible and soft in their native beds; this is the case with asbestos, sahlite, tremolite, and chalcedony, and it is reported also to happen in the case of the beryl. The marl recently deposited at the bottom of Lake Superior, is soft, and often filled with

Soft Stone becoming

Hard.

19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

fresh-water shell; but if a piece be taken up and dried it becomes so hard that it can only be broken by a smart blow of the hammer. So for good or evil every man's character becomes consolidated by time, as did Peter's after Pentecost."-R. R. Doughterty, Ph.D.

"Thus with something of the seer

Must the moral pioneer

From the future borrow;

Clothe the waste with dreams of grain,
And on the midnight sky of rain

Paint the golden morrow."

-Whittier's Barclay of Ury.

THE GATES OF HELL.—πúλai äidov, gates of Hades. àdov is from à, not, and ideiv, to see, and signifies the invisible land, the realm of the dead, Death personified. The gates being the place where business was often transacted and assemblies held, "is an Orientalism for the court, throne, power," as "Sublime Porte" (Gate) is a name of the Ottoman Court. The power of Death cannot prevail against the Church; it is indestructible.

19. KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.-" God has bestowed the keys of the kingdom of nature upon man. To man in his ignorance and his incompetence, He gives the key of a universal dominion, and bids him enter upon the earth and take possession of it. As one is put into a house with many doors, all locked against him, and is given a bunch of keys and bid to find his way to the scattered and secreted treasures, so God put humanity into the world, setting man housekeeping, and bidding him discover for himself the wealth which was stored up for his use. There were gold and silver and iron in the hills; there was the potent fertility of myriad infant seed growths in the soil; there was lightning in the clouds to run his errands, and, tamed and domesticated, to do the work of illumination for him; there was a giant chained in the water, whom the fire would at once set loose and yet harness to do his bidding. But all these treasures were

Keys of Kingdom of Nature.