Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/562

 many broken  hearts;  how  many  citizens  disfranchised; how  many  laws  perverted;  how  many  crimes of oppression,  extortion,  injustice,  cry  from  their midst to  heaven  for  vengeance!

" And  the  king,  being  angry,  sent  his  armies  and destroyed  those  murderers  and  burned  their  city." From the  past  the  parable  now  turns  to  the  future, and foretells  the  most  signal  instance  of  divine  vengeance that  history  affords — the  siege  and  capture and destruction  of  Jerusalem. Thirty-seven years after Christ's  Ascension,  a  Roman  army,  guided  and aided from  on  high,  attacked  the  Jewish  capital, captured and  enslaved  ninety-seven  thousand;  slew sixteen hundred  thousand;  burned  the  Temple  and razed the  city  to  the  ground. Forbearance had ceased to  be  a  virtue,  and  God  slew  those  murderers and burned  their  city. The wedding,  indeed,  was ready, but  they  that  were  invited  were  not  worthy. What food  for  reflection  here,  my  Brethren! How often since  then  has  Christ's  invitation  to  that  feast, where He  is  both  host  and  banquet,  been  scornfully refused or  neglected! " Come  to  Me,"  He  says,  "  all ye  that  labor  and  are  burdened,  and  I  will  refresh you." But men  mistrust  Him. They fear  His  yoke is neither  sweet  nor  His  burden  light,  and  so  they turn from  Him  to  the  world,  its  allurements  and  its slavery. As surely  as  the  darkness  follows  the  light, so surely  will  God's  vengeance  overtake  these  men and destroy  these  murderers  of  their  own  souls,  and burn those  temples  of  pleasure,  their  vile  bodies. But God's  mercy,  though  superseded  for  a  moment