Zaccheus was planning to see Jesus, Jesus planned to see Zaccheus and came to that tree with the purpose to spend the day at the publican's house. So it ever is. The man who in humble earnestness is seeking Jesus may be sure that Jesus is also seeking him.

Luke introduces his report of the parable of the Ten Pounds in such a way as to leave little doubt that it was spoken in the house of Zacchæus. Jericho is about fifteen miles from Jerusalem; and Luke, after recording the words of Jesus to Zaccheus and the murmuring multitude, goes on to say, "As they heard these things Jesus added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they supposed the kingdom of God was immediately to appear." These words seem to fix definitely the time, place and circumstances in which. our Lord spake this parable, and it does not seem necessary to go farther in order to show that it cannot be identified with the parable of the talents reported by Matthew. We may say, too, in passing, that the whole structures of the two parables are so essentially different that they could not be identified without such violence to the sacred narrative as to compel us to give up all claims of the historical accuracy of the gospels.

The ground work of this parable is thought to have been derived from the history of Archelaus, son of Herod the Great. When Archelaus went to Rome to receive his kingdom the Jews sent protests; but the Emperor, Augustus, did not regard them. It was in accord with our Lord's method of drawing lessons from the lilies, and the grass, or the circumstances, that he should base this parable on a well known historical incident.

In the parable a nobleman, about to go into a far country to receive a kingdom and return, calls his ten servants and gives to them ten pounds, saying, "Trade ye here

with till I come." By this arrangement each servant received a pound, about three dollars. But the citizens, who hated the nobleman, sent an ambassage after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. When the nobleman returns, having received his kingdom, he calls his servants, receives their reports and rewards them according to their faithfulness and efficiency. The one whose pound has gained ten pounds is given authority over ten cities; the one whose pound has gained five pounds is given authority over five cities, while the ungrateful, disloyal grumbler loses his talent, and it goes to swell the capacity and resources of the most faithful and efficient. When the bystanders remark that this man has ten pounds already, the nobleman proclaims the principle on which he is acting when he says, "Unto every one that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Then the command is given to destroy the enemies that would not have the nobleman, now a king, to reign over them.

This parable is designed to illustrate certain phases of the kingdom of God. Christ is evidently the one who goes into a far country to receive his kingdom, and the citizens who rejected his rule are, first of all, the Jews, while the servants are his disciples. But the parable, in general, proclaims the nearness of our Lord's departure out of the world, his rejection by his own nation, the different degrees of faithfulness and efficiency of his servants, and his coming again in the power and glory of his kingdom to reward his servants and to punish those who reject him.

All the incidents recorded in connection with our Lord's passing through Jericho seem designed to warn Christians or professors of religion against the cold, compassionless spirit that would exclude any one from sharing in the

blessings of the gospel. The healing of the blind men, the interest in and the kindness toward Zacchæus, and the parable, spoken because they were near to Jerusalem and expecting the kingdom of God, combine to emphasize the great obligation of Christians to seek the lost and bring them to Jesus. Cain repudiated all obligation for any one but himself when he said, in haughty rebellion, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The spirit of Cain is the spirit of the world. The spirit of Christ is in direct opposition to that of Cain and of the world. By parable, miracle, precept and example, Jesus teaches that every man is his brother's keeper, that each one's responsibility for every other is measured by the need of that other and by his ability to help. The spirit of Cain breeds war, making man to his fellow man his sorest, surest enemy. The spirit of Christ is the world's great peace maker.

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JESUS IN BETHANY

John 12: 1. "Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead."

(Mat. 26:6-16; Mark 14: 3-11; Luke 22:1; John 11:55-12: II.)

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EAVING Jericho on Friday, Nison 8, six days be

fore the passover, Jesus, with his disciples and a great company of pilgrims, journeyed in the direction of Jerusalem. Toward evening, but before the setting sun had ushered in the Jewish Sabbath, he turned aside to Bethany, while the greater part of the company continued their journey to the holy city. The Sabbath was probably spent in the quiet home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. How it was spent, we are not told, but where there were such bonds of friendship as existed between our Lord and the members of this family, we may well believe that this Sabbath would be long remembered as a day of hallowed rest, a day hardly less holy and delightful than one of the coming days in our heavenly Father's house. The Master and his friends were under the shadow of the cross; but they were in communion with God the Father and with one another. The inspired writers do not undertake to describe the experiences of that holy day in Bethany, but we know that, though it was the calm that preceded the coming storm, it was, at the same time, a calm that was filled with the peace of God that passeth all understanding.

In the evening, after the Sabbath, a feast was given in the house of "Simon the leper." Who this Simon the leper was we do not know. We know that he was not a leper at that time, for a leper could not have given a feast. It is possible that Simon was not living at that time and that the feast was given at a house of one who had been known as Simon the leper. It has been suggested that this was the name of the father of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and that he was not living. It has been suggested also that Martha was a widow, and that this was the name of her deceased husband. These and other suggestions are only guesses. It is, however, most evident that this event cannot by any means be identified with the event recorded in the seventh chapter of Luke.

All we know of this feast is to be learned from John 12: 1-8; Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9. From these sources we learn that the feast was in the house of Simon the leper; that the family at Bethany were the central figures; that Martha had the supervision of the feast and that the risen Lazarus was nearly as great an object of curious interest as was Jesus.

In the great event of the feast, in that incident for which the feast seems to be given so prominent a place in the sacred narratives, Mary is the chief actor. By this one act her name is destined to be linked with the name of Jesus wheresoever the gospel shall be preached. This family at Bethany were evidently far above the average Jewish family in wealth and refinement, and Mary had an alabaster cruse containing a pound of very precious and costly nard, worth about thirty dollars. Such ointment would ordinarily be used very sparingly; but, as Jesus reclined at the feast Mary took this precious ointment, broke the cruse, and poured the contents on his head and his feet, wiping his feet with her hair. It was