Ver. 21.-T!,e name "Jesus." " Jesus" was the p!)rsonal name of our Lord, the Greek equivalent of the old Jewish name "Joshua," and not unknown in Hebrew families. Therefore to bis contemporaries it would not have the unique associations that it has for us. It would be merely the designation of an individual. But every- thing that Christ touches is elevated to a new value by bis contact with H. Now that he has been named "Jesns," that name is to us precious "as ointment poured forth." I. THE lrlAIN MISSION OF CHRIST IS TO BA VE. His work may be regarded in many lights. He is the great Teacher. His kingly throne is set up, and he has come to r.ule O\'er us. 1n daily life he is the "Friend that sticketh closer than a brother." But before all he is the Saviour. This comes first, as the personal name " Jesus" comes before the official title "Christ." It is of his very nature to save. He cannot teach or rule or cheer us effectually until he has saved us. Now, this is the unique glory of Christ. Nature destroys the weak and cherishes the strong. Christ has pity on failure; he comes to rescue from ruin. Wherever there is distress or danger there he finds his peculiar sphere of activity. II. THE GnEAT EVIL FllOM WHICH CHRIST BAVES IS BIN. Other evils are also removed. Ilut they are of but a secondary character, and are.not worthy to be named in comparison with this dark and direful curse of mankind. When once sin is mastered and cast out, it will be an easy work to expel the secondary troubles of life. For the most part they are the consequences of this monstrous evil, and will depart with it. At all events, we shall be stronger to bear those that remain when the heart- paralysis of moral evil is cureJ. The last thing that many _people want. frolll: Christ is to be saved from their sin. They would be glad to be delivered from its pains and penalties, but the thing itself they love and have no wish to abandon. :For them there is no sah·ation. Christ aims at the sin first of all. He treats it as man's deadly foe. For those who feel its weio-ht, here is the very essence of the gospel-\Vhat we cannot do for ourselves by resolution and effort he can do for us, if we will open our hearts and kt him in. Take this literally. He can save us from our own sins-our defects of character, evil habits, bad temper, vices. Ill. Tms SALVATIO:!i IS FOB ('.HaIS'l~B PEOPLE. Here is a limitation. It must not be forgotten that the Gospel of St. Matthew was written for Jews. Christ's first mis6ion was to" save the loHt sheep of the house of Israel." Yet no one who reads the New 'feKtament throuo-hout can doubt that the limitation is not final. The Jew was only to have the first ~ffer of salvation. He was to be invited in to the feast that he mii::lit afterwards go out and introduce others. No,, the message is that Christ" is on. r. 1-26.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 17
e.ble to eo.vo to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him" (Heb. vii. 25). Yet the specification of "his people" has still an important meaning. Christ is not only the Saviour nt the entrance of tho Christian life, but throughout its course. The people of God are not perfect; daily they commit new sins, and Christ is their daily Saviour. Not only at the moment of regeneration, but through the long and often sadly stained Chrietio.n life, we need Christ to eave from sins that still beset us.- W. F. A. Ver. 23.-Immanuel. There is some obscurity as to the primary intention of these words as they appear in the narrative of Isaiah (Isa. vii. 14); but the fitness of their application to Christ, now that he has come to fill in their meaning, makes the first use of them of small moment to us. For us they are a description of the birth and nature of our Lord. I. 'fHE VIllGIN-BmTH. We may be sure that it was not in order to throw any discredit on the sanctity of marriage that God so ordered it that his Son shoulcl be horn from a virgin. The New 'festament honours marriage as truly as the Old Testa- ment; and St. Paul, who is sometimes regarded as unfriendly to it, describes it as like the union of Christ with his Church. What, then, is the significance of the virgin- birth? 1. A mystery. It is right and reasono.ble that he who comes from the bosom of the Father should enter this world under circumstances that we cannot understand. Nevertheless, we may see to some extent what this means. 2. A miracle. Men of science have pointed out that this miracle is not so difficult to believe in as many others, because parthenogenesis is known in nature, though it is not found among men. Here, then, is something beyond the range of what happens in human experience, yet according to the known working of God in other spheres. 3. A holy birth. This is not the case because virginity is in any way more holy than marriage. Nevertheless, it hns occurred to many that possibly the transmission of seeds of evil mo.y have been avoided by this miracle. At all events, we know the fact that Christ was perfectly pure and stainless from his birth . .II. THE DIVINE NATURE. The human name or our Lord is "Jesus "---11 name that describes his work on earth. His prophetic name is "Immanuel," one that reveals the deeper mystery of his mission. 1. The/act. In Jesus Christ we see the union of God and man. God is no longer a distant Being seated on his throne above the heavens. He has descended to this earth. It is difficult to think of God as the lnfiuite One who iuhabits eternity; the very idea is so vast that it seems to melt away into vagueness. It is intangible; we cannot lay hold of it. But Christ we can see and understand. In Christ God looks at us with human eyes, speaks to us in an earthly tongue, touches us with a brother's hand. That this is so we can believe, not because we are informed of the doctrine of the Incarnation on authority, but just because, when we come to know Christ for ourselves, we can see God in him. 2. The grace. This great truth lies at the foundation of the gospel. All Christianity is built on the Incarnation. Although men may deliver one another from minor illi, only God can save from sin. Therefore, if Jesus is a Saviour in the deepest sense of the word, he must be God as well as man. But this is only one side or the subject. He must be also "God with us "-as the Fathers represented it, the hand of God outstretched, He saves us by bringing God. into us.-W. F. A.