peared  first. He  Who  had  passed  by  all  the  Angel-hosts,
and  "took  not  their  nature"  but  ours,  the  last  of  His  fallen
creatures,  passed  by  her  (so  Scripture  says)  through  whom
He  took  that  nature,  to  comfort  her  who  had  most  degraded
it. "  He    appeared   first   unto   Mary  Magdalene,  out  of
whom  He  had  cast  seven  devils."    "  He  was  seen  of  Cephas,
then  of  all  the  Apostles  ;p'  seen  first  of  all  the  Apostles,  by
him,  who  having  denied  Him,  had  "  wept  bitterly."  Yet  even
before  him  who  was  first  in  confession  of  faith  in  Him,  and
now  grieving  over  his  fall ;  before  John  who  loved  Him  and
whom  above  all  He  loved ;  before  Andrew  who  brought  his
brother  to  Him;  or  Nathanael,  to  whom  He  of  Whom1"  it
is  said,  "  neither  was  guile  found  in  His  Mouth,"  bare  wit-
ness that  he  was  conformed  unto  Himself,  "  In  him  is  no
guile  ;n"  or  Thomas,  who  said,  "  Let0  us  also  go  with  Him
that  we  may  die  with  Him ;"    or  Philip,  to  whom  He  re-
vealed, "I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me;?"    or
James,  the  chosen  witness  of  His  Miracles,  of  the  Glories
of  His  Transfiguration   and  His  Agony, — before    all  the
eleven  who  had  "been  with  Him  in  His  Temptations,** "  and
who  were  to  sit  on  His  Throne  of  Glory  ;  He  sheweth  Him-
self to  a  penitent. Not  zeal,  nor  hearts  of  fire,  nor  a  guile-
less spirit,  nor  burning  faith,  nor  devotion  unto  death,  nor
love  which  lay  on  His  Bosom,  nor  on  whose  Bosom  He
Who  "upholdeth  all  things  by  the  Word  of  His  Power,"
had  vouchsafed  in  Infancy  to  be  borne,  not  Apostolic  love,
or  a  Mother's  tears,  win  from  Him  His  First  Look,  but
the  tears  of  a  penitent. His  Mother  doubtless  He  com-
forted by  His  Spirit;    the  penitent  He  comforts  by  His
Very  Presence,  and  His  Words. Oh  mighty  power  of  peni-
tence, which  before  Apostles,  joined  the  robber,  but  lately
a  blasphemer,  to  The  Redeemer's  Side  in  Paradise,  cleansed
from  the  blood  of  man  by  the  Blood  of  God,  the  first-
fruits  of  the  Redemption  to  fill  up  Angelic  Hosts !     Oh
wondrous  condescension  of  Redeeming  Love,  Who  rose  early
in  the  Morning,  to  seek  her  who,  late  though  she  had  loved

1  1  Cor. 