Rich Simon did a splendid feast provide,

Nor there his company our Lord denied;
A woman heard, and, weeping, enter'd in,
Whose vicious soul had long been stain'd with sin.

CHRIST ANOINTED BY A WOMAN.

False Judas straight with indignation cried,—
This waste might to the poor have been supplied.
"Blame not," our Lord rejoins, "her pious care,
Against my funeral she didst this prepare."

"A WOMAN in the city which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment." (Luke vii. 37, 38.)

Observe the great respect a poor penitent sinner showed to Christ. A woman in the city, who was a sinner, having been converted from her wicked course of life by his preaching, came to acknowledge her obligation to him. She appears to have

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heard Christ's instructions with great attention, and to have been thereby brought to a deep conviction of her guilt and danger, and to unfeigned repentance for her sins. She seems to have perceived him to be the promised Messiah, a spiritual Redeemer, the Saviour of sinners, and to have expected forgiveness and blessings from him. She wanted to hear more of his encouraging words, and to express her gratitude to him; she therefore followed him into the Pharisee's house. She washed his feet with her tears, and anointed his feet with ointment, owning him thereby to be the Messiah, the Anointed. She thereby showed strong affection to the Lord Jesus. Our Saviour took special notice that she loved much.

None can truly perceive how precious Christ is, and the glory of the gospel, ex

cept the truly penitent. But while they feel they cannot sufficiently express selfabhorrence on account of sin, and admiration of his mercy, the self-righteous will be disgusted, because the gospel encourages only real repenting sinners.

The Pharisee, instead of rejoicing in these tokens of her repentance, confined his thoughts to her former bad character, and appeared to form an evil opinion of Jesus, because he allowed such a woman to approach him. Christ contrasted her: conduct with that of the self-righteous Pharisee. He reasons thus: This woman has been a sinner, but she is a pardoned sinner, therefore a penitent sinner; what she did was an expression of her great love to her Saviour, by whom her sins were forgiven. The Pharisee doubted whether Christ was a prophet; but Christ shows that he was