28. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. A.D. 29. THIRD YEAR. FORGIVENESS. THE TWO DEBTORS. 31. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33. Shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? Always, under all circumstances, we are to feel and to show a forgiving spirit, sincere pity and love. "Heir of the same inheritance, Child of the self-same God, He hath but stumbled in the road We have in weakness trod." , 53) A Roman 28. TOOK HIM BY THE THROAT-literally, went to choking him. "The Roman law allowed a creditor to seize his debtor and drag him before the judge, and Roman writers repeatedly speak of a man's twisting the neck of his debtor till the blood flowed from mouth and nostrils.' Thus Livy (IV., relates how, a difficulty having arisen between the consul Valerius and one Menenius, the tribunes put an end to the contest and the consul ordered into prison (collum torsisset, twisted the neck) the few who appealed. And Cicero (Pro Cluentio, XXI.): 'Lead him to the judgment-seat with twisted neck (collo obtorto).' Compare Cicero in C. Verrem, IV., 10.”— Vincent. The 33. DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS.-Many of the ancient prisons have the most horrible instruments of torture to compel men to confess or recant. "We may see in the tormentors the symbols of whatever agencies God employs in the work of righteous retribution, the stings of remorse, the scourge of conscience, the scorn and reproach of men, not exclud Tormentors. 34. And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. ing, of course, whatever elements of suffering lie behind the veil, in the life beyond the grave."--Ellicott. TORTURE OF THE MIRROR.-The consciousness of having brought this upon himself by his own cruelty, was one of his greatest torments. He saw his own vile character in his treatment of his servant. His punishment held a mirror before his face. In The Strand for (July 3) 1897 is a story of "The Torture of the Mirror." A man who "refused to return to the Holy Church, was shut up in a cell twelve feet square, the walls, roof and floor of which were covered with mirrors, and a lamp was hanging from the centre of the ceiling. "My first sensation was an ecstasy of terror. I turned dizzy, for I seemed to be standing unsupported amid a wild, kaleidoscopic jumble of things. Weird faces peered at me from every corner. "The face which stared at me from fifty directions at once was mine. So long a time had elapsed since I had seen it that it had almost passed out of my recollection. The face with which I was to dwell was wild and terrible to look at. It had a beard; and the eyes had changed so much that I wondered how much more they might change during the time they were to watch me. "It was not for some hours that I had the courage really to look, for the frightfulness of the sight is not to be conceived. Whether I looked to right or left, or up or down, there I saw myself in a hundred fantastic attitudes. There were front views, back views, side views. Here I was standing on my head: there I was seen in perspective from above. Halves and fragments of me, cut off by corners of the mirrors, were to be seen wherever my eye rested. "I was afraid to stir, so terrible was the commotion which my slightest movement caused among the phantoms in the mirrors. If I raised my arm, the gesture seemed to be travestied through all space under the light of a million reflected lamps. "I tried to keep my eyes shut, but the thought that millions of eyes were closed all round in mockery of me forced them open again. "So passed the day-a day of anguish so terrible that I knew a few such would turn me into a raving madman.” A.D. 29. THIRD YEAR. FORGIVENESS. THE TWO DEBTORS. Not TILL HE SHOULD PAY ALL.-The old debt was still over him, because he had not fulfilled the condition which made forgiveness possible. "This is the condition, not arbitrarily imposed from without, but belonging to the very essence of salvation itself; just as if one were drawn from the raging Penalty. sea, and set upon the safe shore, the condition of his continued safety would be that he remained there, and did not again cast himself into the raging waters."-Trench. Arbitrary Oath of the PAY ALL. This certainly does not imply, it rather negatives, the idea of a future restoration. "When the Phæacians, abandoning their city, swore that they would not return till the mass of iron which they plunged into the sea, returned once more upon the surface, this was the most emphatic form they could devise of declaring that they would never return; such an emphatic declaration is the present."-Trench. CHAPTER XIX. 1. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan; 2. And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. 3. ¶ The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female ? A.D. 30. PEREA. LAST THREE 5. And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh ? 6. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8. He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 10. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. II. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 4-6. HOME.-London Tid-Bits offered a prize for the best answer to the question, "What is home?" Here are a few of the bright answers which were received: "The golden setting in which the brightest jewel is 'mother.'” "Home is the blossom of which heaven is the fruit." "The father's kingdom, the children's paradise, the mother's world." "The jeweled casket containing the most precious of all jewelsdomestic happiness." "Home is the central telegraph office of human love, into which run innumerable wires of affection, many of which, though extending thousands of miles, are never disconnected from the one great terminus." 1 12. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. 13. Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray and the disciples rebuked them. 14. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. A.D. 30. Feb.-March. PEREA. LAST THREE JESUS' CHILDREN BROUGHT TO JESUS. IMPORTANCE OF THE HOME.-The centre of power for building up a country in virtue, religion, and prosperity lies in the home. The battle of Science has for its central point, its Waterloo, the origin of life; the religious warfare centres around the Cross, the Alcyone of all religious forces; the moral battle is about the Home. Mrs. Hunt says that the Star of Bethlehem for temperance stands over the Schoolhouse. The Star of Bethlehem for morals and religion stands over the Home. The Home is the place nearest Paradise on earth, a hint of the Eden of the past, and a prophecy of Paradise regained. GARDEN OF THe Hesperides.—According to the Greek legend, as interpreted by Ruskin, when Jupiter, the type of ruling, manly power, was married to Juno, the goddess of the household, Earth, came to the wedding and brought as a wedding present a branch full of golden apples, which Juno sent to the Garden of the Hesperides, the Greek paradise far over the western sea, in order that the most precious fruit should grow in the loveliest garden of the world. Over these golden apples she placed as guard the four daughters of Atlas, who sustained the world, and of Hesperis, after whom the daughters and the garden were named. These maidens were named Ægle, Brightness; Erytheia, Blushing Modesty; Hestia, the Spirit of the Hearth; and Arethusa, Ministering. The Hesperides garden of modern times is the Home. 13-15. "Wherever a true woman comes home is always around her. The stars may be over her head, the glow-worms in the nightcold grass may be the fire at her foot, but home is where she is.' -Ruskin. |