Christianity was in the act of vanquishing paganism, it submitted to assume much that was heathen, 'l'he great system of sacerdotalism, with its sacramentarianism, its saint-worship, and its mortifications and asceticism, was acquired from heathenism. And how much of this survives even to the present day, we have only to look around u.s that we may see. Now, Christ in bis answer supplies the true corrective and safe- guard against the action of this evil tendency. Why should hie disciples fast, when (as a matter of fact) they were happy and jubilant? It would have been mere formality and hypocrisy, than which nothing was more repugnant to his spiritual doctrines and the character of his religion. APPLIOATION. l. Let those who fast, fast in spirit, and afflict the soul, and place no confidence in the flesh. 2. Let those who feast, feast as the children of God and the friends of Christ. 3. Let the demeanour of Christians be such, so glowing with sincere and hopeful cheerfulness, as to commend the glorious gospel Vers. 23-28.-27ie sabbath. The grounds upon which the Pharisees and scribes took offence at our Lord and his ministry were various. Some of these-as, e.g., his claim to pardon sin-were very serious; for in such a case Jesus was either an im- postor and blasphemer, or he was the Son of God. Others were very trivial, as, e.g., his neglect of some unauthorized traditions, or his preference of moral duty to obser- vance of the ceremonial law. In this and in the following incident, the sabbath was the ground of misunderstanding, and Christ's preference of humanity to ceremonial compliance occasioned, on the part of his adversaries, hatred, enmity, and conspiracy. Still, the malice of Christ's foes furnished opportunities for the assertion of great religious principles. From this narrative we learn that human need should take precedence of cerem011y and tradition. There is ever a danger lest the outward husk of religion should be mistaken for the precious kernel. Nowhere is this danger more stringently guarded against than in the conduct and the discourses of Christ. The principle is vindicated- I. BY AN APPEAL TO OLD TESTAMENT msTORY.. It was a master-stroke of contro- versy on the part of the great Teacher to appeal to the Scriptures, which the Pharisees professed to hold in such reverence. The conduct of David, one of the great heroes and saints of their national history, was quoted in justification of the conduct of the disciples of Jesus. To eat is a necessity of human nature, and some kind of action, of rudimentary labour, is necessary in order to eating. The disciples of Jesus had plucked ears of corn, had rubbed the ii:rain free from husk in their hands, and had eaten, in order to satisfy their hunger. Possibly in so doing they had violated the tradition of the elders, which maintained that anything approaching to la.hour on the sabbath day was an infraction of the Divine command. However, the Lord vindicated them by the example of David, who, for the purpose of providing food for himself and his com- panions, had not hesitated to take the shewbread of the sanctuary, which was reserved for the use of the priests alone; and this probably also on the sabbath day. Punc- tiliousness of observance must give way before those necessities which the Creator has impressed upon our human nature, IL BY THE ASSERTION THAT THE SABBATH IS THE MEANS TO WHICH HUMAN WELFARE 1s THE END. How blessed an institution is the weekly day of rest I 'l'he importance of the sa.bbath to man's bodily and spiritual welfare is very much overlooked by many advocates for the employment of labour on that da.y, and by many Christians who, iu their zeal for men's instruction and salvation, labour seven <lays a week instead of six. Yet, as we are here taught, we are not to make an idol of even so precious an institu- tion. The da.y of rest was designed for man's good; and it must be maintained that man's goo<l comes first, and the sa.bba.th next. Thus it is allowable and it is required to perform "works of necessity and mercy" on the sabbath, and even on the Lord's day, which may be regarded as the higher sabbath of the Christian. Those who preach and teach, who visit the sick and the affiicte<l, although their doing these things may make them labour seven days in the week, may make them "sabbath-breakers," o.re held guiltless by the application of the great principle of the text. III. BY THE OLA.IM OF CHRIST TO LORDSHIP OVER TIIE SADDATH DAY. Christ is badeed Lord of aJL He uses his lordship not so much to institute as to abrogate cert~ monies, not so much to burden the religious life with observances as to set it free from 9i THE GOSPEL AOCORDING TO ST. MARK. [ OB, U. 1-2i.
such trammels. He imparts the true &'\bbatic spirit ; he gives the rest of heart which is e~en more important tha~ :00dily repose. He sanctifies e.11 days by his' Spirit, makmg every day to the Chr1st1an better and more sacred than the holiest festival or t~e most so_lemn fast to the Jew of old. If the day be begun, continued, and ended in ~1m, an_d if all our works be done _under his lordsbip and by his inspiration, life itself Will be & true sabbath, filled with the rest of his love and with the musio of his praise. . PRACTIOAL LESSONS. 1. Guard against a merely extenial, ceremonial religion, which 1s ever prone to degenerate into superstition. 2. Consider the preciousness of the weekly day of rest; it was given for our advantage; it should be used for the glory of God, in the welfare of those for whom Christ lived and died. 3. Think aright of him who, without presumption, could claim a prerogative so lofty as lordship over the sabbath. To be filled with his spirit, to yield ourselves to his authority,-this is the best means of fulfilling the spiritual law of the God who is a Spirit, and who asks for spiritual homage and service.