abroad and many came from Jerusalem, and from all Judea, as well as from the region round about Jordan, to hear the new prophet, and consecrate themselves anew in baptism.

The preaching of John was very plain, personal and practical. His constant theme was, Repent and do the works of repentance. Nor did he butter his words. When he saw many of the jealous Pharisees and haughty Sadducees, who ever sought to swim with the popular tide, coming to him for baptism, he cried:

"Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? First bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. Think not to be spared because ye have Abraham to your father; for God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire."

To them he speaks in the severe imagery of the wilderness; vipers, stones, barren trees; but to the common multitude who asked, Teacher, what must we do? he said, Share your goods with the needy. To the taxgathering publicans who asked, Teacher, what must we do? he said, Extort not more than is appointed. To the hired soldiers who asked, Teacher, what must we do? he said, Do no violence, nor accuse any, but be content with your wages. Charity, honest dealing, forbearance, quiet contentment; these were wholesome teachings.

Impressed by the dignity of the prophet, by his fearless bearing, and by his refined doctrine, the people were reasoning in their hearts, Surely this is the Christ. But John, catching the whispered word, answered them all :

"I indeed baptize you in water; but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am

not worthy to stoop down and unloose; he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire."

As the Pharisees and Sadducees play an important part in the subsequent events, it will be well to give, on this their first appearance, a brief account of them. John's denunciation is a fair premonition of their character and conduct.

The Pharisees, the Separated, a religious sect, were extreme formalists. They held that besides the written law there was given to Moses an oral law to complete and explain the written law, and that it had been transmitted orally. In addition they held traditions of decrees of the prophets and sages, and of legal decisions by ecclesiastical authorities. Upon the strictest conformity to all these they insisted, formalizing and defining the minutest particulars of ritual observance. The Mishna, or second law, which forms the first part of the Talmud, is a digest made in the second century A. D. of Jewish traditions and rituals. It abounds, for example, in minute distinctions as to what is clean and unclean, prohibits even touching unclean things, and in case of contact, prescribes elaborate purifications. By such weak and beggarly elements, they laded men with burdens grievous to be borne, and because of their tradition made void the word of God. They taught, moreover, the doctrine of necessitated will, of resurrection from the dead, of a future state, and of angelic spirits both good and evil. As a class they were not wealthy, but belonged to the middle and lower social orders. Josephus says they lived frugally, not yielding to luxury, but following the leadership of reason, and hence had great weight with the populace. That they were proud and self-righteous was an inevitable consequence of their intense formalism; for it is evident that

men whose lives were spent in the ceremonial ritualism of the Mishna, would acquire a self-complacent, spiritual pride incompatible with true devotion.

The Sadducees were a religious sect in opposition to the Pharisees. Though holding to many traditions, they denied that any supplementary oral law was given to Moses, and maintained the sufficiency of the written law. Also they denied necessitated will, the resurrection from the dead, and the existence of angels or spirits. As a class they were free-thinkers, less numerous and less influential with the populace than the Pharisees, but wealthy, luxurious, haughty and aristocratic, and holding the chief offices of public trust.

The Scribes, so often named in connection with the Pharisees, were not a religious sect; indeed many were Pharisees. They were lawyers or doctors or teachers of the law; they were the learned class. They devoted themselves to a careful study of the scriptural text, laying down and following rules for transcribing it with the most scrupulous precision. In the words of Ezra the Scribe, the duty of a Scribe was to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. The words of the Scribes as interpreters came to be honored above the law. Their passion for distinction was insatiable, and the ascending scale of Rab, Rabbi, Rabban, presented so many steps on the ladder of ambition. For the Scribes the best places at feasts were reserved, and the chief seats in the Synagogues. The salutations in the market-place, the reverential kiss given by pupils to their teacher, or by Rabbis to each other, the greeting of Abba, Father, the long robes with wide fringes, the broad phylacteries, all these enter into the picture of a Pharisaic Scribe so vividly sketched by Matthew.