our Lord's accommodatio in his food and garments. And possibly, Mary Magdalene presided in the direction of the affairs which were under their care.

When they accompanied our Lord in any of his journies, they may have followed at a distance, and in a separate band. And, as may be well supposed, they had some female servants of their own.

The woman called "a sinner," was absolutely excluded from having any part in that company. When she came into the room where our Lord was, and gave proofs of repentance, he graciously and openly received her as a penitent. Having delivered the similitude of two forgiven debtors, he addressed the pharisee, at whose house he was, in these words: "Wherefore, I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven," Luke vii. 47. Afterwards, at ver. 48, " And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. Finally, at ver. 50, " And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace." Nor could any unprejudiced men disallow our Lord's ability to discern her real temper, and to pronounce a right sentence, after he had shown to the pharisee himself, that he knew his inmost thoughts.

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In all this our blessed Lord acted agreeably to his great design, which was to bring sinful men to repentance. And he faithfully discharged the important commission that had been given him, which was "to seek and to save that which was lost," Matt. xviii. 11; Luke xix. 10.

But it cannot be reasonably supposed, that he would admit such a person into the number of his stated attendants. And I believe, that they who attentively observe our Lord's history, as recorded in the gospels, may perceive his life to have been an example of admirable wisdom and prudence, as well as of the strictest virtue, and the most generous goodness and compassion.

Let us now sum up the evidence, so far as we have gone. Mary of Magdala was a woman of distinction, and very easy in her worldly circumstances. For a while she had laboured under some bodily indisposition, which our Lord miraculously healed. For which benefit she was ever after very thankful. So far as we know, her conduct was always reeo, et delectabant eum. Ministrantes enim sequebantur eum. Orig. in Matt. Item. 35. num. 141. p. 929. T. III. ed. Bened.

b Consuetudinis Judaicæ fuit, nec ducebatur in culpam, more gentis antiquo, ut mulieres de substantiâ suâ victum atque vestitum præceptoribus ministrarent, &c. Hieron. in Matt. xxvii. tom. IV. p. 140. Bened.

1. Ουτω και αυτή αρχηγος των μαθητριών γενομενη. κ. λ. Modest. Cod. 275, p. 1526.

ap.

Phot.

gular, and free from censure. And we may reasonably believe, that after her acquaintance with our Saviour it was edifying and exemplary. I conceive of her, as a woman of a fine understanding, and known virtue and discretion, with a dignity of behaviour becoming her age, her wisdom, and her high station. By all which she was a credit to him, whom she followed as her Master and benefactor. She showed our Lord great respect in his life, at his death, and after it. And she was one of those, to whom he first showed himself after his resurrection. As appears from Matt. xxviii. 1—10; Mark xvi. 9; and John xx. 1–18.

I am very unwilling to trouble you with the intricacies of criticism. But I fear, my argument will not be reckoned conclusive by all, unless I proceed a little farther, and take notice of some other things. For by some it has been supposed, that Mary, sister of Lazarus, was the same as Mary Magdalene. And by some it has been thought, that Mary, sister of Lazarus, is the same as the woman called " a sinner."

First, Some have supposed, that Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, was the same as Mary Magdalene. This is an assertion of Baronius, who was confuted by Isaac Casaubon, G. J. Vossius, and others. Grotius" likewise has well argued against that opinion.

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Indeed I think it is very manifest, that they are different persons. For, 1. Mary Magdalene was so called from a place situated in Galilee. Lazarus and his sisters were inhabitants of Bethany near Jerusalem in Judea, properly so called. John xi. 1, and elsewhere. 2. Mary Magdalene is frequently named with other women, who attended our Lord in his journies, and came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem at the times of the great feasts, as we have seen. But Lazarus and his sisters resided at Bethany. Nor do we read of any attendance, which either of those sisters gave our Lord, except at the place of their ordinary residence. St. Luke has recorded a visit, which our Lord made there, not improbably, as he was going up to the feast of the dedication, mentioned John x. 22," And it came to pass,'

* In primis dicimus, attestatione Joannis Evangelistæ, immo Christi, apertissime constare, unam eandemque personam fuisse Mariam Lazari et Marthæ sororem cum Maria Magdalena. Baron. Ann. 32. num. xix.

1 Exercit. Antibar. xix. num. xi.

Longius vero a januâ, quod dicitur, videntur mihi aberâsse, qui arbitrantur, Mariam, a quâ Dominus, priusquam pateretur, inunctus fuit, Mariam fuisse Magdalenam- -Hæc enim non eâ notà ab aliis distinguitur Mariis, quod inunxerit Dominum, sed quod Dominus ex eâ septem ejecerit dæmonia. Ĝ. J. Voss. Harm. Ev. 1. 1. c. 3. sect. vii. " Vid. Grot. in Matt. xxvi. 6.

says St. Luke," as they went, that he entered into a certain village. And a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word." And what there follows: Luke x. 38, 39. And St. John, ch. xi. giving an account of the sickness, and death, and resurrection of Lazarus, assures us, that both his sisters were at home at Bethany. Here likewise it was, that Mary anointed our Lord with precious ointment, a short time before his last sufferings, as related, John xii. at the beginning. 3. Mary Magdalene is particularly mentioned with others, whom our Lord had miraculously healed of infirmities; and out of her, as is said, went seven demons. But nothing or this kind is ever said, or hinted, of Mary, sister of Lazarus.

Secondly, Some have supposed, Mary sister of Martha and Lazarus, to be the same with the woman called" a sinner," of whom St. Luke speaks in ch. vii.

For St. John writes, ch. xi. 1, 2, "Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, whose brother Lazarus was sick."

Here therefore we must again recollect what St. Luke says, ch. vii. 37, 38, "And behold, 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 she 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."

Hence, then, it may be argued, that St. John has told us the name of the woman that 66 was a sinner," though St. Luke omitted it. She is Mary, sister of Lazarus.

To which I would answer. 1. Mary, sister of Lazarus, was a woman of good character, without any note of infamy. St. Chrysostom, in a homily upon the beginning of the eleventh chapter of St. John's gospel, says: Some have put the question, whether this be the same with her that is 'called " a sinner." But without reason, he says, for this was a virtuous woman of good credit.' And in a homily upon Matt. xxvi. 6, &c. he calls the sister of Lazarus, an P 'admirable woman.' 2. The anointing, mentioned by St. Luke, was done at Naim or Capernaum, or some other place in Galilee. But Mary, sister of Lazarus, as was before

Avrη de cai devη kai oñedaia. In Joan. hom. 62. [al. 61.] T. VIII. p. 368. » Αλλ' έτερα τις θαυμαςη, ἡ τε Λαζαρε αδελφη. In Matt. hom. 80. [al. 81.] T. VII. p. 765.

shown, dwelt at Bethany. 3. St. John here intends that anointing of our Lord, of which himself has given a particular relation in ch. xii. 1-8. Which therefore we must now observe. "Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at table. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him; Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Then said Jesus: Let her alone; against the day of my burying has she kept this. For the For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.'

That this is a different anointing from that mentioned by St. Luke, is manifest from divers particulars. They differ in the circumstances of time and place as just shown. Again, in the former it was Simon the pharisee, who took offence at our Lord's suffering himself to be touched by a woman that was a sinner. Here it is Judas, one of the disciples, who murmurs at the expense. And our Lord's vin

dications are quite different. To which might be added, that the woman, of whom St. Luke writes, stood behind our Lord" weeping, and washing his feet with tears." But St John has not a word of Mary's shedding any tears, though he has twice said, that " she wiped his feet with her hair." See ch. xi. 2, and xii. 3.

In Matt xxvi. 6-13, and Mark xiv. 3-9, as is well known, is an account of our Saviour's being anointed by a certain woman a short time before the passover. Somer learned interpreters think, that these are different histories, and that our Lord was twice anointed in Bethany, in the space of a few days; once by Mary sister of Lazarus, as related by St. John, and a second time by another woman not named, as related by those two evangelists. Others

Et quæ secundum Lucam est, plorat, et multum lacrymat, ut pedes Jesu lachrymis lavet. Quæ autem secundum Joannem est Maria, neque peccatrix, neque lachrymans introducitur. Orig. in Matt. hom. 35. num. 77. p. 892. Vid. et Hieron. in Matt. xxvi. 7. T. IV. p. 125.

Cleric. Harm. Evang. cap. lii. p. 350, 351. et cap. lix. p. 404, 405. Sec also Mr. Macknight's Harm. sect. 109. p. 97, 98. and sect. 124. p. 146.

G. J. Voss. Harm. Ev. 1. i. cap. 3. sect. 7. Calvin in Joan. Ev. xii. 1. Lampe Comm. in Jo. T. II. p. 822. Bynæus de Morte Christi. 1. i. cap. 3. num. v. &c. L'Enfant sur Matt. xxvi. 6. et Jean. xii. 2, 3. Doddridge's

think, that these three evangelists speak of one and the same anointing. Which to me appears very right. But it is not needful, that I should now stay to reconcile those

accounts.

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I have aimed to show, that Mary Magdalene is not the woman called " a sinner," of whom St. Luke writes, ch. vii. And I suppose, that most Protestant divines are of the same opinion. The learned Romanists have been divided. The grounds and reasons of the controversy among them may be seen in several.t

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Nevertheless the learned Benedictine editor of St. Chrysostom's works has expressed himself very freely concerning this point, in a note upon one of the homilies above cited. 'It is a difficult question,' says he, whether the woman that was a sinner, who washed Christ's feet, be the same as Mary, sister of Lazarus. But that Mary Magdalene is different from them, is now denied by very 'few.'u

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Tillemont begins his article of Mary Magdalene with these words: It is an ancient question in the church, and upon which all are not yet entirely agreed, whether Mary Magdalene be the same as Mary sister of Lazarus, and the 'woman that is said to be a sinner, or whether they are 'three different persons. The most illustrious churches of • France, and almost all the learned men of our times, have declared for the distinction of these three persons. And 'it has been proved by reasons, which seem fully to decide the difficulty, if we will judge without prejudice.'

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Du Pin, referring to Luke vii. says: It is commonly thought, that this woman was Mary Magdalene. Nevertheless the evangelist, who relates this history, does not ' name her. All he says is, that she was a woman in that

Family Expositor, vol. II. p. 283. note (a). Hammond upon Luke vii. 37. Vid. et Hieron. in Matt. xxvi. T. IV. p. 125. fin.

See in Bayle's Dictionary J. Fevre, d'Etaples, or Faber Stapulensis, particularly note (e). They who have leisure might also consult Tillemont's chapter of S. Marie Madelaine, Mem. Tom. II. and the Notes upon it, which are long, and contain a great deal of learning, relating to this subject.

"Grandis quæstio, utrum peccatrix illa, quæ Christi pedes abluit, eadem ipsa sit, quæ soror Lazari; quam tractare præsentis non est instituti. Mariam autem Magdalenam ab his diversam esse, pauci jam negant. Ap. Chryst. T. VII. p. 765.

On croit communément, que cette femme étoit Marie Magdeleine. Cependant l'Evangeliste S. Luc, qui rapporte cette histoire, ne la nomme point. C'étoit une femme connué dans la ville pour une femme de mauvaise vie. Il n'y a pas d'apparence, que ce fût ni Marie Magdeleine, ni Marie Sœur du Lazare, dont nous parlerons, qui étoient des femmes de qualité, et de bonne condition. Du Pin, Histoire de l' Eglise en Abrégé. Vol. i. p. 451.