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Observe in this poor woman's penitence, that she was not ashamed to show it before many, she would make her repentance as public as her sin. The eyes which once were used as allurements to sin, are now filled to overflowing with tears, springing from a heart crushed by godly sorrow, and bedew the Feet of Him, Who had come from Heaven to seek her; the hair which once had been but an idle ornament, and used as a net to catch the souls of men, the "long hair," which had been a glory to her," she now uses to wipe the blessed Feet, which she had washed with her tears; with the mouth which had been accustomed to speak "great swelling words of vanity," she now prints kisses on the Feet she had washed and dried; and with the ointment, with which she had been wont to perfume herself, she anoints, not the head as was the usual custom, but in her deep self-abasement, those same Feet. Grant to us, LORD, we beseech Thee, "that like as we have yielded our members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so by Thy grace, we may now yield them servants to righteousness unto holiness."

39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden Him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This Man, if He were a Prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him: for she is a sinner.

"Discerning of spirits" has always been considered one mark of a true prophet; this the Pharisee, in his proud self-righteousness, thought that the LORD JESUS had not: yet in truth He did know who and what the woman was, He knew how far she had wandered from Him, He knew how deep her repentance, and how glowing her love, for it was by His grace that she had repented and loved: He knew also the injurious thoughts which were passing through Simon's mind, and by answering those thoughts, He proceeds to show him that He was in very deed a Prophet, yea, and much more than a Prophet.

40 And JESUS answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

11 Cor. xii. 10.

The word "Master" here, means properly Teacher, not LORD: the Pharisee had not yet brought himself to own the lowly JESUS as more than a Teacher.

41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.

"Frankly," means out of mere grace and favour:" such is the love of the All-Holy One. So may it be to me, O LORD my GOD, the Holy One.

Tell Me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And He said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

44 And He turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet: but she hath washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

45 Thou gavest Me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My Feet. 46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment.

"I came into thy house," the Blessed One says, "and thou hast failed to give Me, even the ordinary courtesies of life: but what thou hast failed to give Me, this woman, a stranger, whom thou proudly condemnest as a sinner, has more than supplied. To have provided water was easy, thou hast not provided it; to pour

forth tears is not easy, yet she has poured them forth; and washed My Feet herself, and dried them with her hair; to kiss My Brow as I came in would have been but natural, and to anoint with oil is only customary, this thou didst not do, but she has done what nature would not have done, what only godly sorrow, the precious gift of the Spirit of Love, could have done, she has kissed My Feet and anointed them, and verily she has her reward."

47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.

It is, we know, to repentance that forgiveness is promised; but as repentance must be, under GOD, the root of love in guilty man, so love may very well be considered as the natural fruit of true repentance. She could not have loved, unless she had first repented.

But the word "for" may mean "therefore," "she has been forgiven much, (this He said out of His own unerring knowledge) therefore she loves much," as she had just proved by her actions. but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

He who thinks and feels that his sins are few and light, and who therefore thinks that forgiveness is a light blessing to him, whatever it may be to others, as his repentance is surely shallow, so is his love cold.

48 And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

This is the open declaration of what He had already done in her soul, when "out of the deep" it had called unto Him. But we may well believe it more than a mere declaration; we may well believe that it conveyed to her a rest and a blessedness she knew not before, for "His Word was with power."

49 And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

They looked upon Him, only as Man; she, who knew in herself that her soul had been healed of its terrible malady, she knew Him to be God.

50 And He said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

And as the words imply, " Go into peace."

"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest:" O my GoD, grant me the ear to hear, the heart to come, that I too may obtain Thy pardon and peace, that I too may be cleansed from all my sin, and serve Thee with a quiet mind, through JESUS CHRIST Our LORD.

CHAPTER VIII.

1 And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of GOD: and the twelve were with Him.

2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils ;

3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto Him of their substance.

4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to Him out of every city, He spake by a parable.

For He it was, Who said in former days, "I will open My mouth in a parable," but He added, "I will declare hard sentences of old." 5 A sower went out to sow his seed:

In His explanation of the parable, our LORD does not tell us who the sower is, but it is either Himself, for He went forth from Heaven, and became Man, and the Word of GOD, the "seed" as He calls it here, belongs of right to Him alone, it is "His seed:" or we may understand the sower to be the Eternal FATHER, offering to men the Word of GOD, His SON.

I

and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked

moisture.

In the Gospels of S. Matthew and S. Mark it is implied that there was a shallow covering of earth over the rock.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when He had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And His disciples asked Him, saying, What might this parable be?

10 And He said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of GOD: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

By"the mysteries of the kingdom of GOD," our LORD means, not only His higher and more sacred truths, but also GOD's wonderful way in dealing with the souls of men; these were made known unto His Apostles; in effect He seems to say to them, "Ye love God's Word, to you and to all who are like you, shall grace be given to understand it; but there are others who love it not; from them, even the truth itself, shall be hidden under dark sayings, lest by their rejection of it they add sin to sin."

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of GOD.

12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they