hearts by an act of genuine kindness, and wishing, likewise, to relieve a suffering brother, our loving Saviour cured the withered hand in the sight of them all. Then were they filled with madness and clamored for His life, and they would certainly have taken it had He not escaped in the confusion and fled into a lonely mountain of Galilee. Thither His disciples followed Him, and there we find Him to-day, teaching them the true spirit of the fifth commandment, and warning them that unless they keep it better than the Scribes and Pharisees, they shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And what then is the fifth commandment? And how did the Scribes and Pharisees keep it? And how should we keep it? And what are the remedies for our sins against it? These, my brethren, are the questions Our Lord answers in to-day's Gospel.
Fifth, " Thou shalt not kill " are words familiar to you all. They do not forbid the soldier to slay his enemy in a just war, nor the citizen to kill his assailant in self-defence, nor the State to inflict capital punishment; but they do forbid suicide and wilful and unjust murder. But is that all they forbid? Ask the Scribes and Pharisees, ancient or modern, and they will tell you, " Yes, that is all." But no, there must be something more, for Our Lord tells us that unless we keep it better than they we shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven.
How then did they keep it? The Scribes, as you know, were the doctors of the law — in great repute among the Jews for learning and sanctity. They
