been loved like this. 'fhere the anoinlerl of her young and bc1ufog them on her wings; the Etomnl were to flx their home. There now it is slightly nltered to one if possible tho etntely shrine for the service of the more tender and loving, certainly more invisible King of Isrnel we.e to keep we.tch homely. How often in bygone days woul<l 1111d wnrd over the favoured capital of the the almighty wings, indeed, had Iarnel only chosen I'll.Ce. There the visible presence of wished it, have been spread out over them tho LC1rd God Almighty, the Glory and the a sure shelter I Now the time of grace was Pride of the people, was ever e.nd a.non to over, e.nd the almighty wings were folded. 1·cat. And in this solemn last fe.rowell, the And ye would not! Sad privilege, specially l\Iaater looked ho.ck through the vista. of the mentioned here by the Divine Teacher, this pnst ages of Jeruee.lem's history. It wns e. freedom of man's will to resist the grace of dark and gloomy contemple.tion. It hod been God. "Ye would not," says the Master, oil a.long the wicked chief city of e. wicked thus joining the genere.tion who hear<l his people, of e, people who he.d thrown e.we.y voice to the stiffnecked Israel of the day~ the fairest che.ncce ever offered to men-the of the wicked kings. city of a peop!G whoso anno.le were memor- Ver. 35.-Behold, your house is left unto able for deeds of blood, for the moat striking you desolate. The older autho1-ities omit iDgre.titude, for incapacity, for folly she.ding "desolate." The sentence will then rea<l, into crime. Not once nor twice in that "your house is left unto you." Their house do.rk story of Israel chosen messengers of from henceforth, not his. Ye shall not see the invisible King he.d visited the city he me, until the time come when ye shall ee.y, loved so well. These were invested with Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the high credentials which belong to envoys the Lord. "Ye shall not see me." Vnn from the King of kings, with a voice sweeter Oosterzee comments here: "Their senses and more persuasive, with e. power gre.nder are still blinded. The veil of the Te.lmud and more fe.r-reo.ching tho.n were the common that hangs over their eyes is twice as heavy herite.ge of men; e.nd these envoys, his as the veil of Moses." The promise which prophets, they had maltree.ted, persecuted, conclndes this saying of the Master can only murdered. How often would I have refer to the far future, to the day of the gathered thy ohildren together, as a hen penitence of leraeL It harmonizes with the doth gather her brood under her wings! voice of the older prophets, and tells us that God's great love to Israel had been imaged the day will surely come when the people iD the far back days of the people, when shall look Oil him whom they pierced, and Moses judged them, under a similar meta- shall mourn. But that mourning will be phor. Then it was the eagle fluttering over turned speedily into joy.
HOM.ILETICS. Vers. 1-9.-The ba,·renfig tree. "At that season," or" at that particular time"- whilst the pleading, warning words which follow from the forty-ninth verse of the previous chapter are ringing in the ears of those around the Lord-some bystanders tell him of judgments which had actually been fulfilled, of Galilaians whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. We have no information as to the particular event referred to. Riots, small insurrections, revolts from Roman authority, were by no means uncommon, and we know that Pilate was cruel in his repression of them. Probably these Galill!lans had been rioting, and the procurator had profaned the holy things of the sanctuary by casting their blood over the offering made by fire. And the thought simmering in the minds of the superstitious speakers was," These wretcheu people had not given the diligence which had been spoken of. 'l'hey died unreconciled and impenitent. They were great offenders, therefore they endured great punish- ment." It was a prevalent belief among the Jews that signal calamity to individuals was the token of signal Divine displeasure. This was the inference of Job's companions when they saw him in the day of his sore grief. This was the inference of the men near Christ as to the victims of the dark catastrophe. And he who knows what is in man at once findP. the place of their thought, rebukes their hasty reasoning, and summons them, instead of ref.:ecting on others, to try their own ways and remember," Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." The parable which follows enforces this appeal to the conscience. It is a shol't but wonderfully expressive po.ro.ble. " Everything is involved in it," says Stier, "which a mission of repentance to a people demands." I. Observe, the truth on which Jesus insists is THE NEED OF PERSONAL REPENT.c1-NcE 8 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S1'. LUKE. [err. xm. 1-35.