woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." And once more: "The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned but what sayest Thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."+

Now it is obvious that the source of this perfect tenderness to sinners is none other than the Divine compassion. It was the love and pity of the Word made flesh. It teaches us, however, some great truths, full of instruction, which we will now consider.

* St. Luke vii. 36-48.

↑ St. John viii. 3-11.

1. First, it is plain that this gentle reception, even of the greatest sinners, implies that where there is so much as a spark of life in the conscience, there is possibility of an entire conversion to God. Where there is room to hope any thing, there is room to hope all things. The greatest of sinners may become, we dare not say how great a saint. Such is the nature of sin, and of the human soul, and of all its energies and actings; such, also, the virtue of the blood of Christ; and such the power of the Holy Ghost, that be the sinner what he may, he may be purged and made white with the purification of the saints. I am speaking not of what is easy, or common, but of what is possible, and, by true conversion to God, pledged and sure: neither am I saying that there shall not be some difference between what such converted sinners will be, compared with what they might have been; but this is certain, that " though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."* Such is the mysterious nature of the human spirit, of its affections and will, such its energies and intensity, that it may, at any time, be so renewed by the Spirit of the new creation, as to expel, with the most perfect rejection, all the powers, qualities, visions, and thoughts of evil. We know so little of spiritual natures, that we are compelled to use metaphors; and often our illustrations become our snares, and we turn them into arguments, and reason from visible things to the inscrutable conditions of our spiritual being. For instance, we speak of the stains of sin, the soils of lust, the scars and wounds made by transgression in the soul and it is true that what stains, soils, scars, wounds, are to the body, such are lusts, in deed, desire, and thought, to the soul. But we cannot therefore say that

* Isaiah i. 18.

the spiritual nature is not susceptible of a healing and purgation which is absolutely perfect, to which the cleansing or health of the body is no true analogy. For instance, the very life of sin is the will. By sin it is a corrupt and unclean will; by conversion it becomes cleansed and pure. So long as it is here subjected to the action of the flesh, it is imperfect; but when disembodied, what shall hinder its being as pure as if it had never sinned? What is the substance of the will? What is sin? And in what does sin inhere but in the inclination of the will? When this is restored to perfect holiness, what effect of the fall will remain? We are greatly ignorant of all these things; but it is evident that, be we what we may, if our repentance and conversion be true, there is no height of sanctification, no approximation to the Divine Image, that we may not make in this world, and in the world to come be made sinless in the kingdom of God. And if our spiritual nature be made sinless in the life to come, how can we limit its purification in this world? How can we say that it that it may not be brought out from the effects of any sin, or habit of sinning, as intensely and energetically pure as if it had never been bribed and corrupted by evil; and, moreover, sharpened with a peculiar abhorrence of the defilement from which it has been delivered? Such is the mysterious complexion of a spiritual nature, that it may, in a moment, and by an act of volition, virtually and truly anticipate an habitual condition of the soul; as, for instance, in a true death-bed repentance there is contained a life of penance and purity, though it be never here developed into act. And this may throw light on many questions; such as the condition of the heathen, and of those that are born in separation from the unity of the Church, and on the state of those who, after baptism, by falling into sin, have

may

resisted the grace of regeneration. Of these last, it would appear that their condition is changed for the worse, in the point of having sinned with greater guilt, and done despite to that which should have been their salvation. By consent to sin, they have made the work of repentance more difficult and doubtful. The blood of Christ, and the grace of the Holy Ghost, have yet the power of a perfect healing and purification; but repentance, which, on their side, is the condition, it is harder to fulfil. Still, wheresoever there are the lingering remains of grace, or the least beginnings of contrition, there is hope of a perfect repentance, and of a perfect sanctity. It seems, then, that it was for this reason that our blessed Lord, the sinless One, suffered publicans, sinners, and harlots, and even the adulteress, to draw near to Him; because in them, under the foul gatherings of sin, which spread like a crust of leprosy upon them, and in the darkness and death of their inmost soul. He could see the faint strength of a living pulse, the dim spark of sorrow, fear, remorse, and desire to be redeemed from the bondage of the devil, and therefore the susceptibility of perfect holiness, the unextinguished capacity of an inheritance with the saints in light.

2. Another great truth implied in our Lord's conduct to sinners is, that the only sure way of fostering the beginnings of repentance is to receive them with gentleness and compassion. This is a truth which is in the mouth of more than rightly understand it. Our Lord appears to have dealt with those who came to Him in two ways. Some He received, as we have already seen, with a Divine love and pity, and some with a piercing severity. But these last were those only of whom, it seems, there was hope no longer. The reed was already broken, and the flax was quenched. "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo

crites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves!"* These were they that had "rejected the counsel of God against themselves, not being baptised"+ by John unto repentance. Jesus said unto them: "Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and harlots believed him and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."‡

Now, that which made our Lord so change His voice was the inward state of those to whom He spoke. He saw their falsehood, guile, and hollowness; that they were white without, but all unclean within. Their whole spiritual being was estranged from Him, and set in array against His truth and holiness: they were beyond the attractions of pity, and the power of compassion. Towards these His perfect sanctity breathed a holy indignation. To be gentle was to betray the work of God, and to add boldness to their impiety. He met them as He will meet them once more, in the day of judgment; but at the time He spoke, even His denunciations were mercies; warnings of a doom still delayed; offers of pardon to those who would be converted, that He might heal them.

* St. Matt. xxiii. 13-15.

St. Matt. xxi. 31, 32.

1 St. Luke vii. 30.