SERMON VII. LOVE OF GOD AND OF OUR NEIGHBOUR. MATTHEW xxii. 34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. THE Jewish nation, (as is not unfrequently the case with other nations,) preserving a perfect uniformity of sentiment on certain essential points, nevertheless entertained a variety of conflicting opinions on many points which were considered of less importance. Several of their parties are faintly shadowed out in the course of the sacred writings; but those which are presented to us in the strongest light, are the Pharisees and the Sadducees. With regard to the former, 66 to ascertain their precise character is not easily attainable. From our Saviour's severe, and facts (independent of the authority of the speaker) warrant us in believing merited, reproaches, we should imagine them to have been a captious, morose, hypocritical race of formalists, comprising all piety within a routine of, for the most part, idle and burdensome ceremonies, having" indeed " a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Josephus, himself a Pharisee it must be admitted, but an exceedingly able, penetrating, and most candid historian, paints them in colours widely different. With him, the Pharisee is described as living a strict and abstemious life; refraining from the ordinary pleasures in which persons in general are in the habit of indulging themselves; sedulous in his attentions to the aged; receiving their admonitions with respect and deference, and never, on any occa sion, permitting himself to question, or reply to them; he is represented as universally beloved by the people, a circumstance, in the very words of the historian, strongly evidencing" his wisdom, temperance, and honest life," as the people, whatever may be their indi vidual leanings, rarely unite in admiring that which is in itself unamiable, or worthless. Were it impossible to reconcile these apparently contradictory accounts, we well know to which of the two we should yield our preference; but perhaps, after all, the disagreement may be more in seeming than it is in reality. As a body-mark, I say, as a body-the Pharisees may have been, as Josephus says they were, a simple, quiet, inoffensive, and strictly moral class; but there may have been persons among them, as there will be such persons every where, * Book xviii. chap. 1. of a turbulent, seditious, and disaffected character, which, by the way, meets Josephus's own statements in other parts of his work. It is not unreasonable to suppose that many, rather desirous of serving their own interest, than of serving their Maker, may have assumed the name of Pharisee to avail themselves of the popularity which was usually attached to it. This is no anomaly; men will go as great lengths as this, nay, farther, to gain their ends; and these, to bring themselves into notice, would be most likely to carry what was external to the highest pitch possible. Matters the most trifling in reality, they would regard as of the utmost importance; the slightest deviation from the letter of the law they would have visited with the greatest severity; to commune with their own hearts, and in their chambers, would be to them, at best, a painful and unprofitable exercise; would they pray at all, they must be seen to pray. The personal deference which the crowd are ever ready to pay to high merit, or distinguished virtue, and from which the modest and really deserving of their order would shrink, they doubtless would assiduously and earnestly court; no expedient, however mean or degrading, would they neglect, either to advance their influence or augment their wealth; in the everyday business of life they must take an active and prominent part; were there any occurrence of a novel or singular character, they must, by some way or other-it was their rule of policy-they must ostensibly be mixed up with it. This outline, sketched from the scenes of ordinary experience, corresponds to the description of those artful and profligate men, who exclaimed even against an act of benevolence performed on the sabbath-day; who were seriously offended with the omission of the mere washing F |