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lieth at liome sick of tlic palsy, griev- ously tormented.
7 And Jesus saitli unto him, I will come and heal him. ,
8 Tbc ccnturiou answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under nay roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, liavmg soldiers under me : and 1 say to this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another. Come, and he cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 When Jesus heard it, he mar- velled, and said to them that followed. Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11 And I say unto you, That many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down -with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And Jesus saith unto the centu- rion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
14 And wi;ea Jesus was come into Peter's liouse, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her : and she arose, and ministered unto them .
The eightli chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel is full of our Lord's miracles. No less than five are specially recorded. There is a beautiful fitness in this. It was fitting that the greatest sermon ever preached should be immediately followed by mighty proof, that the ]3reacher was the Son of Grod. Those who heard the sermon on the mount would be obliged to confess, that, as " none spake such words as this man/' so also none did such works.
The verses we have now read contain three great miracles. A leper is healed w^ith a touch. A palsied person is made well by a v>^ord. A woman sick with a fever is restored in a moment to health and strength. On the face of these three miracles, w^e may read three striking lessons. Let us examine them, and lay them to heart.
Let us learn, for one thing, hoio great is tliej^oioer of our Lord Jesus Christ. Leprosy is the most fearful disease by wdiich man's body can be afflicted. He that has it is like one dead while he lives. It is a complaint regarded by
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