occurs twice, which in Daniel is translated Jewry, in Ezra, Judea; neither of which words are found more than once in the Old Testament.

This however is a matter of comparatively little moment. It is of more consequence to reflect on the cause why Jesus walked in Galilee, and would no more walk in Jewry. It was because the Jews went about to kill him. The world which Jesus came to save was unfriendly to him; it hated him for a cause which we shall see by and bye. Yet that hatred was not unto death except in Judæa where he was born, and in Nazareth where he was brought up. In other parts of Galilee he could walk in safety. Thither therefore, when the passover was ended, he repaired; and there, no doubt, he went about doing good, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and casting out devils.

Some of these works are related by the other evangelists, but are passed over in silence by John, who records many things which the rest omit, and omits many things which the rest record. Hence, while several discourses and miracles belonging to this period are handed down to us by the other evangelists, the transactions of six months are comprized by St. John in the brief and general notice that Jesus walked in Galilee. For the passover among the Jews took place toward the end of March, or beginning of April; and then it was that Jesus went into Galilee, and now the feast of tabernacles was at hand, which was celebrated in September or October.

This feast was one of great solemnity, in which larger sacrifices were offered than at any other festival. At this feast the Jews celebrated the gathering in of the harvest. It was therefore sometimes called the feast of in-gathering: but more commonly it was styled the feast of tabernacles, being instituted to commemorate the dwelling of the children of Israel in tents during their forty years' sojourn in the wilderness. As a remembrance of this, the people were commanded during the seven days of this solemnity, to dwell in booths. This feast, as long as it was faithfully kept, must have had a salutary effect on the minds of the people; the change from their own houses to tents, and their habitations for a whole week resembling those of their forefathers in the wilderness, would be a

remembrancer to them of the dealings of God, both of judgment and mercy, with that generation whom he brought out of Egypt. But this memorial, highly instructive as it must have been, was for a very short time observed. The custom of living in booths during the days of this feast was kept up till the death of Joshua. After that event it was discontinued, and not one of the good kings, neither David, nor Hezekiah, nor Josiah, restored the observance of the divine law in this point. When the Jews returned from their captivity in Babylon, among other points of reformation, the ordinance of dwelling in booths was renewed by Nehemiah, and perhaps was still observed by the pious Jews in the days of our Saviour; for Josephus, who wrote above sixty years after the death of Christ, tells that the feast was observed with all its ceremonies up to his time.

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On the approach of this festival, the brethren of Christ insidiously urged him to go into Judæa. Depart hence, and go into Judæa, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest for there is no man that doeth any thing in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world." What a depth of deceit and iniquity is there in the heart of man! These men were near relations to Christ, united to him by the ties of blood; bound therefore to love him; he could not have done any thing to forfeit their affection. He had done them good, and nothing but good; and yet, though they must have known why he left Jerusalem, they urge him to go thither again. And they do this hypocritically under the specious plea that he ought to make himself more known, and shew himself to the world. One would think that they were believers, concerned for his honour, and for the extending of his religion. No such thing. Jesus was himself a proof that a man's foes shall be they of his own household. The only object of these treacherous brethren was, that he might throw himself in the way of his enemies, not perhaps, intending that he should be killed, but hoping that he might be detected as a deceiver, and exposed; "for neither did his brethren believe in him." They were treacherous, but Jesus was sincere, and gave them an answer of mild but grave rebuke: My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready."

This is an expression of very extensive meaning. It seems to comprehend both the time of his suffering, and the time when he could appear publicly in Jerusalem, without the danger of suffering. In neither sense was his time yet come; Christ's time or hour generally signifies the hour or time when he should be offered up for the sins of the world. In this sense his hour was not yet come; and he knew it. It may be said then, "If his time was not yet come, and no enemies could hurt him before his time, why be on his guard? why use so much precaution? though he went to Jerusalem, he was sure to be preserved." He was indeed sure to be preserved, but it was to be in the use of means; from his birth it was a fixed and determined thing that he should grow up to manhood. His time to die was not come when Herod sought the young child's life; yet it was necessary, in order to his being preserved from Herod, that he should flee into Egypt. So his hour, it is true, was not now come, that by the hands of wicked men he should be crucified and slain; but neither was his time come when he could go in and out among them without danger. It behoved him to use circumspection, and in the use of that circumspection he was to be preserved. Just as it is with any of us. Why, my brethren, it was a fixed and certain thing before any of us were born, that we should every one of us live to this hour r; and yet we may, some of us, look back on critical moments in our lives, of which we may say, and say with perfect truth, if such and such a step had not been taken, I could not have lived.

The truth is, it is not only appointed that men should live and be preserved, but the means by which they should live, and the methods by which they should be preserved, are appointed also. If there is an appointed time for man upon earth, there is also an appointed way in which he must be kept till that time. Jesus was secure of the end; but he did not therefore disregard the means; we never find him wilfully and causelessly exposing himself to danger and suffering; what his Father appointed for him he obediently endured, but he never courted danger, or threw himself in the way of needless tribulation. He endured labour, poverty, reproach,

pain; but all was brought upon him by the will of his Father, or the instrumentality of man, not by himself; he was the purest example of self-denial that the world ever saw, no selftormentor, yet in no case seeking to please himself, but denying himself to please God and do good to men; as therefore he could not go to Jerusalem without danger of his life, he considered his time to do so as not yet come. But this did not apply to his brethren, their time was always ready. They were in no danger from the enmity of the Jews; their character was like that of the Jews, who would therefore be on good terms with them. Hence our Lord tells them, "The world cannot hate you; but it hateth me, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.”

This was the real cause of the world's enmity against Christ; he testified of it that the works thereof were evil, and so evil, that its children, one and all, were under condemnation and the wrath of God, from which they could not escape unless they were converted and healed. Men love to think themselves right, and in the way to heaven; and therefore he must be an unwelcome messenger who tells them that they are wrong, and in the way to hell. Even they whose vices are so flagrant that they cannot but know that they are in the road to destruction, do not like to have the disagreeable truth brought to their remembrance. Even to them the words of a faithful teacher are offensive. How much more offensive must it be to those who think themselves safe to be told that they are in danger; how mortifying to the man who esteems himself righteous to be told that he is void of the love of God, and dead in trespasses and sins. To these such a message must be doubly galling, and these are the men who will be most exasperated; accordingly we find that the bitterest enemies of our Lord were not the publicans and sinners; but the Pharisees, men who were looked up to by the people as holy, and who entertained high notions of their own superior goodness.

And as it was with the master, so it will be with the servants. The offence of the cross is not yet ceased. Ministers have still to deliver the same truths to the same characters, and the effect will be the same. Profligates, and dishonest persons

may know themselves to be wrong; but they do not like to be told so, nor will they thank him that tells them. But oh! how offensive must it be to the man who is walking in a way which seemeth right to him, to be told that he is in the way of death. When a man is well satisfied with himself, and his conscience quiet, how disagreeable to have this peace disturbed! to have doubts thrown upon his everlasting prospects, which he thought were good. Nay to be assured that they are not good, that he is in danger of perishing; and that, fair as all seems, he has no real goodness in him ; but that to him as well as to the greatest transgressor it must be said, that unless he repents and believes the gospel he cannot see the kingdom of God. Such a message cannot fail to be displeasing to him, and the messenger disliked, till one or other of the two following things takes place. He may become familiar with the doctrine, the painful impression may cease to be made by it on his mind; and with the impression the offence will cease also; so that what once offended may offend no more. Nay he may insensibly admit in theory the very truths which produce no kind of effect either on his conscience, or his conduct. Or, the truth having produced its effect, his conscience having been awakened, he may have fled for refuge to the hope set before him. He may, in true repentance and faith, have washed away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord, and thus have become a new creature in Christ Jesus. In this case his offence will not merely be removed; it will be changed into love; and the man whom he once could hardly endure, will be regarded by him with affection as the honoured instrument of his salvation.

The hatred against Jesus for testifying not only against open wickedness, but also against the hypocrisy and pride of the self-righteous Pharisees, was at its height in Judæa, when his brethren advised him to go thither. What was to be done then? If there had been nothing but the advice of his brethren, the matter would have been easy; he might have rejected it, and remained where he was. But there was the law of God. The law required that all the males among the Israelites should three times a year appear before the Lord in Jerusalem. This law no adult Israelite was at liberty to