{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40811/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40811","id":"gutenberg_40811","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40811","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Matthew -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Transcriber's Note:\n\nInconsistencies in hyphenation, and apparent punctuation and spelling\nerrors, have been corrected. Repetitions of \"of\" and \"the\" have been\nremoved.\n\nAn advertisement for the Expositor's Bible series has been moved to\nthe end of the text.\n\nInconsistencies in spelling have been corrected by the following\nchanges:\n\n chapters 3 and 4, \"Judea\" to \"Jud\u00e6a\";\n chapters 5 and 9, \"intrusted\" to \"entrusted\";\n chapter 10, \"baptized\" to \"baptised\";\n chapter 21, \"Cesarea\" to \"C\u00e6sarea\".\n\nBold text has been rendered in ordinary font, and small capitals in\nordinary capitals. Italics are indicated by _underscores_.\n\n\n\n\n THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.\n\n EDITED BY THE REV.\n W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.,\n _Editor of \"The Expositor.\"_\n\n THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW.\n\n BY\n JOHN MONRO GIBSON, M.A., D.D.\n _London._\n\n TORONTO:\n WILLARD TRACT DEPOSITORY AND BIBLE DEP\u00d4T,\n CORNER OF YONGE AND TEMPERANCE STREETS.\n 1890.\n\n\n\n\n THE GOSPEL\n\n OF\n\n ST. MATTHEW.\n\n BY\n JOHN MONRO GIBSON, M.A., D.D.,\n _London_,\n AUTHOR OF \"THE AGES BEFORE MOSES,\" \"THE MOSAIC ERA,\" ETC.\n\n TORONTO:\n WILLARD TRACT DEPOSITORY AND BIBLE DEP\u00d4T,\n CORNER OF YONGE AND TEMPERANCE STREETS.\n 1890.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAP. PAGE\n\n I. THE COMING OF THE CHRIST 1\n MATT. I.\n\n II. HIS RECEPTION 13\n MATT. II.\n\n III. HIS HERALD 24\n MATT. III. 1-12.\n\n IV. HIS BAPTISM 31\n MATT. III. 13-17.\n\n V. HIS TEMPTATION 39\n MATT. IV. 1-11.\n\n VI. BEGINNING OF HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY 48\n MATT. IV. 12-25.\n\n VII. THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM 57\n (\"Sermon on the Mount.\")\n MATT. V., VI., VII.\n I. The Nature and Constitution of the Kingdom 58\n 1. In Itself (\"The Beatitudes\") 58\n 2. In Relation to the World 62\n II. The Law of the Kingdom 69\n 1. General Principles 69\n 2. Illustrations from the Moral Law 73\n 3. Illustrations from Religious Duty 79\n 4. Duty in Relation to the World and the\n Things of it 85\n (1) As regards the Good Things of the World 86\n (2) As regards the Evil in the World 91\n III. Invitation to enter the Kingdom 95\n\n VIII. THE SIGNS OF THE KINGDOM 105\n MATT. VIII.-IX. 35.\n The Leper 107\n The Centurion's Servant 109\n The Fever Patient 111\n The Impulsive Scribe 113\n The Hesitating Disciple 114\n The Storm Stilled 115\n Demons Cast Out 117\n Sins Forgiven 118\n Death Vanquished 122\n Lost Faculties Restored 128\n\n IX. THE KING'S AMBASSADORS 132\n MATT. IX. 36-X. 42.\n I. The Mission 132\n II. The Commission 137\n\n X. THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS 142\n MATT. XI., XII.\n I. Discouragements 142\n 1. John in doubt 143\n 2. The Unreasonableness of the People 148\n 3. The Unbelief of the Cities 149\n II. The Contradiction of Sinners 156\n\n XI. THE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM 173\n MATT. XIII.\n I. The Principle of Parabolic Instruction 175\n II. The Group of Seven 181\n\n XII. THE CRISIS IN GALILEE 186\n MATT. XIV.-XVI. 12.\n I. The Banquet of Herod and the Feast of Christ 187\n II. Calm on the Mountain and Trouble on the Sea 194\n III. Israel after the Flesh, and Israel after the Spirit 202\n IV. The Culmination of the Crisis 213\n\n XIII. THE NEW DEPARTURE 219\n (Founding of the Church.)\n MATT. XVI. 13-XVII. 21.\n I. The Christ 221\n II. The Cross 227\n III. The Glory 233\n IV. The Descent 242\n\n XIV. LAST WORDS AT CAPERNAUM 250\n MATT. XVII. 22-XVIII. 35.\n The Temple Tribute 250\n The Little Ones 252\n Trespasses 258\n\n XV. LAST DAYS IN PER\u00c6A 267\n MATT. XIX. 1-XX. 16.\n Marriage and Divorce 268\n The Children 270\n The Rich Young Man 273\n Danger of Riches 276\n Rewards 279\n\n XVI. TO JERUSALEM 286\n MATT. XX. 17-XXI. 17.\n I. The Going Up 286\n II. The Royal Entry 295\n\n XVII. CONFLICT IN THE TEMPLE 305\n MATT. XXI. 18-XXIII.\n I. The Challenge 307\n The Two Sons 310\n The Husbandmen 311\n The Marriage Feast 315\n II. The Ordeal of Questions 322\n III. The House left Desolate 329\n\n XVIII. THE PROPHECY ON THE MOUNT 339\n MATT. XXIV., XXV.\n I. The Coming of the Son of Man 340\n II. Parables and Pictures of Judgment 349\n 1. The Servant set over the Household 349\n 2 and 3. The Virgins; The Talents 352\n 4. The Final Separation 366\n\n XIX. THE GREAT ATONEMENT DAY 376\n MATT. XXVI.-XXVII. 56.\n I. The Evening 386\n II. The Night 396\n III. The Morning 412\n IV. From the Third to the Ninth Hour 420\n\n XX. THE THIRD DAY 429\n MATT. XXVII. 57-XXVIII. 15.\n The Evening of the First Day 430\n The Second Day 432\n The Morning of the Third Day 433\n\n XXI. THE GOSPEL FOR ALL THE NATIONS THROUGH \"ALL THE DAYS\" 439\n MATT. XXVIII. 16-20.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\n_THE COMING OF THE CHRIST._\n\nMATT. i.\n\n\nThe New Testament opens appropriately with the four Gospels; for,\nthough in their present form they are all later in date than some of\nthe Epistles, their substance was the basis of all apostolic preaching\nand writing. As the Pentateuch to the Old Testament, so is the\nfourfold Evangel to the New.\n\nThat there should be a manifold presentation of the great facts which\nlie at the foundation of our faith and hope, was both to be expected\nand desired. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the first\npreachers of it, while in substance always the same, would be varied\nin form, and in number and variety of details, according to the\nindividuality of the speaker, the kind of audience before him, and the\nspecial object he might have in view at the time. Before any form of\npresentation had been crystallized, there would therefore be an\nindefinite number of Gospels, each \"according to\" the individual\npreacher of \"Christ and Him crucified.\" It is, therefore, a marvellous\nproof of the guidance and control of the Divine Spirit that out of\nthese numerous oral Gospels there should emerge four, each perfect in\nitself, and together affording, as with the all-round completeness of\nsculpture, a life-like representation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is\nmanifestly of great advantage to have these several portraits of our\nLord, permitting us to see Him from different points of view, and with\nvarying arrangements of light and shade; all the more that, while\nthree of them set forth in abundant variety of detail that which is\nmore external,--the face, the features, the form, all the expression\nof that wondrous Life,--the fourth, appropriately called on this\naccount \"the Gospel of the heart of Jesus,\" unveils more especially\nthe hidden riches of His inner Life. But, besides this, a manifold\nGospel was needed, in order to meet the wants of man in the\nmany-sidedness of his development. As the heavenly \"city lieth four\nsquare,\" with gates on the east, and the west, and the north, and the\nsouth, to admit strangers coming from all points of the compass; so\nmust there be in the presentation of the Gospel an open door for all\nmankind. How this great purpose is attained by the fourfold Gospel\nwith which the New Testament opens can be readily shewn; and even a\nbrief statement of it may serve a useful purpose as introductory to\nour study of that which is known as the First Gospel.\n\nThe inscription over the cross was in three languages: Hebrew, Latin,\nand Greek. These languages represented the three great civilizations\nwhich were the final outcome of ancient history--the Jewish, the\nRoman, the Greek. These three were not like so many nations selected\nat random, but stood for three leading types of humanity. The Jew was\nthe man of the past. He could claim Moses and the prophets; he had\nAbraham for his father; his records went back to the Genesis of all\nthings. He represented ancient prerogative and privilege, the\nconservatism of the East. The Roman was the man of the present. He was\nmaster of the world. He represented power, prowess, and victory; and\nwhile serving himself heir to the culture which came from the shores\nof the Egean Sea, he had combined with it the rude strength and\nrestless activity of the barbarian and Scythian of the North. The\nGreek was the man of the future. He had lost his political empire, but\nstill retained an empire in the world of thought. He represented\nhumanity, and the ideal, and all the promise which was afterwards to\nbe realized in the culture of the nations of the West. The Jew was the\nman of tradition, the Roman the man of energy, the Greek the man of\nthought. Turning now to the Gospels, we find the wants of each of\nthese three types provided for in a wondrous way. St. Matthew\naddresses himself especially to the Jew with his Gospel of fulfilment,\nSt. Mark to the Roman with \"his brief and terse narrative of a three\nyears' campaign,\" St. Luke to the Greek with that all-pervading spirit\nof humanity and catholicity which is so characteristic of his Evangel;\nwhile for those who have been gathered from among the Jews and Romans\nand Greeks--a people who are now no longer Jews or Greeks, but are\n\"all one in Christ Jesus,\" prepared to receive and appreciate the\ndeeper things of Christ--there is a fourth Gospel, issued at a later\ndate, with characteristics specially adapted to them: the mature work\nof the then venerable John, the apostle of the Christian.\n\nIt is manifest that for every reason the Gospel of St. Matthew should\noccupy the foremost place. \"To the Jew first\" is the natural order,\nwhether we consider the claims of \"the fathers,\" or the necessity of\nmaking it clear that the new covenant was closely linked to the old.\n\"Salvation is of the Jews;\" the Christ of God, though the Saviour of\nthe world, had been in a very special sense \"the Hope of Israel,\" and\ntherefore it is appropriate that He should be represented first from\nthe standpoint of that nation. We have, accordingly, in this Gospel, a\nfaithful setting forth of Christ as He presented Himself to the mind\nand heart of a devout Jew, \"an Israelite indeed, in whom was no\nguile,\" rejoicing to find in Him One who fulfilled ancient prophecy\nand promise, realized the true ideal of the kingdom of God, and\nsubstantiated His claim to be Himself the divine Saviour-King for whom\nthe nation and the world had waited long.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe opening words of this Gospel suggest that we are at the Genesis of\nthe New Testament, the genesis not of the heavens and the earth, but\nof Him who was to make for us \"new heavens and a new earth, wherein\ndwelleth righteousness.\" The Old Testament opens with the thought,\n\"Behold I make all things;\" the New Testament with that which amounts\nto the promise, \"Behold I make all things new.\" It begins with the\nadvent of \"the Second Man, the Lord from Heaven.\" That He was indeed a\n\"Second Man,\" and not merely one of the many that have sprung from the\nfirst man, will presently appear; but first it must be made clear that\nHe is man indeed, \"bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh;\" and\ntherefore the inspired historian begins with His historic genealogy.\nTrue to his object, however, he does not trace back our Lord's\ndescent, as does St. Luke, to the first man, but contents himself with\nthat which is especially interesting to the Jew, setting Him forth as\n\"the son of David, the son of Abraham.\" There is another difference\nbetween the genealogies, of a more serious kind, which has been the\noccasion of much difficulty; but which also seems to find readiest\nexplanation in the different object each Evangelist had in view. St.\nLuke, writing for the Gentile, is careful to give the natural descent,\nwhile St. Matthew, writing for the Jew, sets forth that line of\ndescent--diverging from the other after the time of David--which made\nit clear to the Jew that He was the rightful heir to the kingdom. The\nobject of the one is to set Him forth as the Son of Man; of the other\nto proclaim Him King of Israel.\n\nSt. Matthew gives the genealogy in three great epochs or stages,\nwhich, veiled in the Authorized Version by the verse division, are\nclearly exhibited to the eye in the paragraphs of the Revised Version,\nand which are summed up and made emphatic at the close of the\ngenealogical tree (ver. 17). The first is from Abraham to David; the\nsecond from David to the captivity in Babylon; the third from the\ncaptivity to Christ. If we glance at these, we shall find that they\nrepresent three great stages in the development of the Old Testament\npromises which find their fulfilment in the Messiah.\n\n\"To Abraham and to his seed were the promises made.\" As given to\nAbraham himself, the promise ran thus: \"In thy seed shall all the\nnations of the earth be blessed.\" As made to David, it indicated that\nthe blessing to the nations should come through a king of his line.\nThese were the two great promises to Israel. There were many others;\nbut these stand out from the rest as constituting the mission and the\nhope of Israel. Now, after long waiting, both are to be fulfilled in\nChrist. He is the chosen Seed in Whom all nations shall be blessed. He\nis the Son of David, who is to sit upon His throne for ever, and\nreign, not over Israel alone, but over men, as \"Prince of Peace\" and\n\"King of Glory.\" But what has the captivity in Babylon to do with it?\nVery much; as a little reflection will show.\n\nThe captivity in Babylon, as is well known, was followed by two great\nresults: (1) it cured the people of idolatry for ever, so that, while\npolitically the kingdom had passed away, in reality, and according to\nthe spirit, it was then for the first time constituted as a kingdom of\nGod. Till then, though politically separate from the Gentile nations,\nspiritually Israel had become as one of them; for what else than a\nheathen nation was the northern kingdom in the days of Ahab or the\nsouthern kingdom in the time of Ahaz? But after the captivity, though\nas a nation shattered into fragments, spiritually Israel became and\ncontinued to be one. (2) The other great result of the captivity was\nthe Dispersion. Only a small remnant of the people came back to\nPalestine. Ten of the tribes passed out of sight, and but a fraction\nof the other two returned. The rest remained in Babylon, or were\nscattered abroad among the nations of the earth. Thus the Jews in\ntheir dispersion formed, as it were, a Church throughout the ancient\nworld,--their eyes ever turned in love and longing to the Temple at\nJerusalem, while their homes and their business were among the\nGentiles--in the world, but not of it; the prototype of the future\nChurch of Christ, and the soil out of which it should afterwards\nspring. Thus out of the captivity in Babylon sprang, first, the\nspiritual as distinguished from the political kingdom, and, next, the\nworld-wide as distinguished from the merely national Church. Clearly\nthen the Babylonish captivity was not only a most important historical\nevent, but also a stage in the grand preparation for the Advent of\nthe Messiah. The original promise made to Abraham, that in his seed\nshould all the nations of the earth be blessed, was shown in the time\nof David to be a promise which should find its fulfilment in the\ncoming of a king; and as the king after God's heart was foreshadowed\nin David, so the kingdom after the Divine purpose was foreshadowed in\nthe condition of the people of God after the captivity in Babylon,\npurified from idolatry, scattered abroad among the nations, with their\ninnumerable synagogues (prototypes of our churches) and their\npeculiarities of faith and life and worship. Abraham was called out of\nBabylon to be a witness for God and the coming Christ; and, after the\nlong training of centuries, his descendants were taken back to\nBabylon, to scatter from that world-centre the seed of the coming\nkingdom of God. Thus it comes to pass that in Christ and His kingdom\nwe see the culmination of that wonderful history which has for its\ngreat stages of progress Abraham, David,[1] the Captivity, Christ.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSo much for the earthly origin of the Man Christ Jesus; but His\nheavenly descent must also be told; and with what exquisite simplicity\nand delicacy is this done. There is no attempt to make the words\ncorrespond with the greatness of the facts. As simple and transparent\nas clear glass, they allow the facts to speak for themselves. So it is\nall the way through this Evangel. What a contrast here to the spurious\nGospels afterwards produced, when men had nothing to tell, and so must\nput in their own poor fictions, piously intending sometimes to add\nlustre to the too simple story of the Infancy, but only with the\neffect of degrading it in the eyes of all men of taste and judgment.\nBut here there is no need of fiction, no need even of rhetoric or\nsentiment. The fact itself is so great, that the more simply it is\ntold the better. The Holy One of Israel came into the world with no\ntinsel of earthly pomp; and in strict harmony with His mode of\nentrance, the story of His birth is told with like simplicity. The Sun\nof Righteousness rises like the natural sun, in silence; and in this\nGospel, as in all the others, passes on to its setting through the\nheaven of the Evangelist's thought, which stands, like that other\nheaven, \"majestic in its own simplicity.\"\n\nThe story of the Incarnation is often represented as incredible; but\nif those who so regard it would only reflect on that doctrine of\nheredity which the science of recent years has brought into such\nprominence, if they would only consider what is involved in the\nobvious truth that, \"that which is born of the flesh is flesh,\" they\nwould see that it was not only natural but necessary that the birth of\nJesus Christ should be \"on this wise.\" Inasmuch as \"the first man is\nof the earth, earthy,\" \"the Second Man\" must be \"of heaven,\" or He\nwill be no Second Man at all; He will be sinful and earthy like all\nthe others. But all that is needful is met in the manner so chastely\nand beautifully set forth by our Evangelist, in words which, angelic\nin their tone and like the blue of heaven in their purity, so well\nbecome the angel of the Lord.\n\nSome wonder that nothing is said here of Nazareth and what took place\nthere, and of the journey to Bethlehem; and there are those who are\nfain even to find some inconsistency with the third Gospel in this\nomission, as if there were any need to wonder at omissions in a story\nwhich tells of the first year on one page and the thirtieth on the\nnext! These Gospels are not biographies. They are memorials, put\ntogether for a special purpose, to set forth this Jesus as the Son of\nGod and Saviour of the world. And the special object, as we have seen,\nof St. Matthew is to set Him forth as the Messiah of Israel. In\naccordance with this object we have His birth told in such a way as to\nbring into prominence those facts only in which the Evangelist\nspecially recognised a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. Here\nagain the names give us the main thoughts. Just as Abraham, David,\nBabylon, suggest the main object of the genealogy, so the names\nEmmanuel, Jesus, suggest the main object of the record of His birth.\n\"All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the\nprophet.\"\n\nThe first name mentioned is \"Jesus.\" To understand it as St. Matthew\ndid, we must bear in mind that it is the old historic name Joshua, and\nthat the first thought of the Hebrew mind would be, Here is One who\nshall fulfil all that was typified in the life and work of the two Old\nTestament heroes who bore that name, so full of hopeful\nsignificance.[2] The first Joshua was Israel's captain on the occasion\nof their first settlement in the land of promise after the bondage in\nEgypt; the second Joshua was Israel's high priest at their second\nsettlement in the land after the bondage in Babylon. Both were thus\nassociated with great deliverances; but neither the one nor the other\nhad given the rest of full salvation to the people of God (see Heb.\niv. 8); what they had done had only been to procure for them political\nfreedom and a land they could call their own,--a picture in the\nearthly sphere of what the Coming One was to accomplish in the\nspiritual sphere. The salvation from Egypt and from Babylon were both\nbut types of the great salvation from sin which was to come through\nthe Christ of God. These or such as these must have been the thoughts\nin the mind of Joseph when he heard the angel's words: \"Thou shalt\ncall His name Joshua; for it is He that shall save His people from\ntheir sins.\"\n\nJoseph, though a poor carpenter of Nazareth, was a true son of David,\none of those who waited for the salvation of Israel, who had welcomed\nthe truth set forth by Daniel, that the coming kingdom was to be a\nkingdom of the saints of the Most High,--not of political adventurers,\nas was the idea of the corrupt Judaism of the time; so he was prepared\nto welcome the truth that the coming Saviour was One who should\ndeliver, not from the rule of _Rome_, but from the guilt and\npower and death of _Sin_.\n\nAs the name Joshua, or Jesus, came from the earliest times of Israel's\nnational history, the name Emmanuel came from its latest, even out of\nthe dark days of King Ahaz, when the hope of the people was directed\nto the birth of a Child who should bear this name. Some have thought\nit enough to show that there was a fulfilment of this hope in the time\nof Ahaz, to make it evident that St. Matthew was mistaken in finding\nits fulfilment in Christ; but this idea, like so many others of the\nsame kind, is founded on ignorance of the relation of the Old\nTestament history to the New Testament times. We have seen that though\nJoshua of the early times and his successor of the same name did each\na work of his own, yet both of them were in relation to the future but\nprototypes of the Great Joshua who was to come. In the same way\nexactly, if there was, as we believe, a deliverance in the time of\nAhaz, to which the prophet primarily referred, it was, as in so many\nother cases, but a picture of the greater one in which the gracious\npurpose of God, manifested in all these partial deliverances, was to\nbe \"fulfilled,\" _i.e._, filled to the full. The idea in the name\n\"Emmanuel\" was not a new one even in the time of King Ahaz. \"I will be\nwith you;\" \"Certainly I will be with you;\" \"Fear not, for I am with\nyou,\"--such words of gracious promise had been echoed and re-echoed\nall down the course of the history of the people of God, before they\nwere enshrined in the name prophetically used by Isaiah in the days of\nKing Ahaz; and they were finally embodied, incarnated, in the Child\nborn at Bethlehem in the fulness of the time, to Whom especially\nbelongs that name of highest hope, \"Emmanuel,\" \"God with us.\"\n\nIf, now, we look at these two names, we shall see that they not only\npoint to a fulfilment, in the largest sense, of Old Testament\nprophecy, but to the fulfilment of that which we all need most--the\nsatisfaction of our deepest wants and longings. \"God is light;\" sin is\ndarkness. With God is the fountain of life; \"sin when it is finished\nbringeth forth death.\" Here shines the star of hope; there lies the\nabyss of despair. Now, without Christ we are tied to sin, separated\nfrom God. Sin is near; God is far. That is our curse. Therefore what\nwe need is God brought near and sin taken away--the very blessings\nguaranteed in these two precious names of our Lord. As Emmanuel, He\nbrings God near to us, near in His own incarnate person, near in His\nloving life, near in His perfect sympathy, near in His perpetual\npresence according to the promise, \"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto\nthe end of the world.\" As Jesus, He saves us from our sins. How he\ndoes it is set forth in the sequel of the Gospel, culminating in the\nsacrifice of the cross, \"to finish the transgression, and to make an\nend of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in\neverlasting righteousness.\" For He has not only to bring God down to\nus, but also to lift us up to God; and while the incarnation effects\nthe one, the atonement, followed by the work of the Holy Spirit, is\nnecessary to secure the other. He touches man, the creature, at his\ncradle; He reaches down to man, the sinner, at His cross--the end of\nHis descent to us, the beginning of our ascent with Him to God. There\nwe meet Him; and saved from sin, we know Him as our Jesus; and\nreconciled to God, we have Him with us as Emmanuel, God with us,\nalways with us, with us throughout all life's changes, with us in\ndeath's agony, with us in the life to come, to guide us into all its\nwisdom and honour and riches and glory and blessing.\n\n[1] To some minds it may present itself as a difficulty that the great\nname of Moses should not find a place in the series; was not he as\nmuch of an epoch-maker as David? The answer is that, from the point of\nview of prophecy and promise, he was not. This, which lies implicitly\nin St. Matthew's summary, is set forth explicitly by St. Paul in his\nepistle to the Galatians, where he shows that the Law, as a stage in\nthe dealings of God with the nation, did not belong to the main course\nof development, but came in as an episode, was \"added because of\ntransgressions\" (Gal. iii. 16-19).\n\n[2] The Hebrew name Joshua, of which Jesus is simply the Greek\ntransliteration, combines the two words Jehovah and Salvation (cf.\nNum. xiii. 16).\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\n_HIS RECEPTION._\n\nMATT. ii.\n\n\nThis one chapter contains all that St. Matthew records of the Infancy.\nSt. Mark and St. John tell us nothing, and St. Luke very little. This\nsingular reticence has often been remarked upon, and it certainly is\nmost noteworthy, and a manifest sign of genuineness and truthfulness:\na token that what these men wrote was in the deepest sense not their\nown. For if they had been left to themselves in the performance of the\ntask assigned them, they could not have restrained themselves as they\nhave done. The Jews of the time attached the greatest importance to\nchild-life, as is evident from the single fact that they had no less\nthan eight different words to mark the successive stages of\ndevelopment from the new-born babe up to the young man; and to omit\nall reference to these stages, except the slight notice of the Infancy\nin this chapter, was certainly not \"according to Matthew\" the\nJew,--not what would have been expected of him had he been left to\nhimself. It can only be explained by the fact that he spoke or was\nsilent according as he was moved or restrained by the Holy Ghost. This\nview is strikingly confirmed by comparison with the spurious Gospels\nafterwards published, by men who thought they could improve on the\noriginal records with their childish stories as to what the boy Jesus\nsaid and did. These awkward fictions reflect the spirit of the age;\nthe simple records of the four Evangelists mirror for us the Spirit of\nTruth. To the vulgar mind, they may seem bare and defective, but all\nmen of culture and mature judgment recognise in their simplicity and\nnaturalness a note of manifest superiority.\n\nMuch space might be occupied in setting forth the advantages of this\nreticence, but a single illustration may suggest the main thought.\nRecall for a moment the well-known picture entitled, \"The Shadow of\nthe Cross,\" designed and executed by a master, one who might surely be\nconsidered qualified to illustrate in detail the life at Nazareth. We\nhave nothing to say as to the merit of the picture as a work of art;\nlet those specially qualified to judge speak of this; but is it not\ngenerally felt that the realism of the carpenter's shop is most\npainful? The eye is instinctively averted from the too obtrusive\ndetails; while the mind gladly returns from the startling vividness of\nthe picture to the vague impressions made on us by the mere hints in\nthe sacred Scriptures. Was it not well that our blessed Saviour should\ngrow in retirement and seclusion; and if so, why should that seclusion\nbe invaded? If His family life was withdrawn from the eyes of the men\nof that time, there remains the same reason why it should be withdrawn\nfrom the eyes of the men of all time; and the more we think of it, the\nmore we realize that it is better in every way that the veil should\nhave been dropped just where it has been, and that all should remain\njust as it was, when with unconscious skill the sacred artists\nfinished their perfect sketches of the child Jesus.\n\nPerhaps, however, the question may be asked: If St. Matthew would tell\nus so little, why say anything at all? What was his object in relating\njust what he has set down in this chapter? We believe it must have\nbeen to show how Christ was received. It seems, in fact, to correspond\nto that single sentence in the fourth Gospel, \"He came unto His own,\nand His own received Him not;\" only St. Matthew gives us a wider and\nbrighter view; he shows us not only how Jerusalem rejected Him, but\nhow the East welcomed Him and Egypt sheltered Him. Throughout the\nentire Old Testament our attention is called, not merely to Jerusalem,\nwhich occupied the centre of the ancient world, but to the kingdoms\nround about, especially to the great empires of the East and\nSouth--the empire of the East represented in succession by Ancient\nChaldea, Assyria, Babylonia, Media, and Persia; and that of the\nSouth--the mighty monarchy of Egypt, which under its thirty dynasties\nheld on its steady course alongside these. How natural, then, for the\nEvangelist whose special mission it was to connect the old with the\nnew, to take the opportunity of showing that, while His own Jerusalem\nrejected her Messiah, her old rivals of the East and of the South gave\nHim a welcome. In the first chapter the Child Jesus was set forth as\nthe Heir of the promise made to Abraham and his seed, and the\nfulfilment of the prophecy given to the chosen people; now He is\nfurther set forth as the One who satisfies the longings of those whom\nthey had been taught to regard as their natural enemies, but who now\nmust be looked upon as \"fellow-heirs\" with them of God's heritage, and\n\"partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel.\" It will be seen,\nthen, how the second chapter was needed to complete the first, and\nhow the two together give us just such a view of the Advent as was\nmost needed by the Jews of the period, while it is most instructive\nand suggestive to men of all countries and of all time. As, then, the\nlast paragraph began with, \"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this\nwise,\" we may regard this as beginning with, \"Now the reception of\nJesus Christ was on this wise.\"\n\nAccording to the plan of these expositions, we must disregard details,\nand many interesting questions, for the consideration of which it is\nsurely enough to refer to the many well-known and widely-read books on\nthe Life of Christ; and confine ourselves to those general thoughts\nand suggestions which seem best fitted to bring out the spirit of the\npassage as a whole.\n\nLet us, then, look first at the manner of His reception by Jerusalem,\nthe city which as Son of David He could claim as peculiarly His own.\nIt was the very centre of the circle of Old Testament illumination. It\nhad all possible advantages, over every other place in the world, for\nknowing when and how the Christ should come. Yet, when He did come,\nthe people of Jerusalem knew nothing about it, but had their first\nintimation of the fact from strangers who had come from the far East\nto seek Him. And not only did they know nothing about it till they\nwere told, but, when told, they were troubled (ver. 3). Indifference\nwhere we should have expected eagerness, trouble where we should have\nlooked for joy.\n\nWe have only to examine the contemporary accounts of the state of\nsociety in Jerusalem to understand it thoroughly, and to see how\nexceedingly natural it was. Those unacquainted with these records can\nhave no idea of the gaiety and frivolity of the Jewish capital at the\ntime. Every one, of course, knows something of the style and\nmagnificence in which Herod the Great lived; but one is not apt to\nsuppose that luxurious living was the rule among the people of the\ntown. Yet so it seems to have been. Dr. Edersheim, who has made a\nspecial study of this subject, and who quotes his authorities for each\nseparate statement, thus describes[3] the state of things: \"These\nJerusalemites--townspeople as they called themselves--were so\npolished, so witty, so pleasant.... And how much there was to be seen\nand heard in those luxuriously furnished houses, and at these\nsumptuous entertainments! In the women's apartments friends from the\ncountry would see every novelty in dress, adornments, and jewellery,\nand have the benefit of examining themselves in looking-glasses....\nAnd then the lady-visitors might get anything in Jerusalem, from a\nfalse tooth to an Arabian veil, a Persian shawl, or an Indian dress!\"\nThen, after furnishing what he calls \"too painful evidence of the\nluxuriousness at Jerusalem at that time, and of the moral corruption\nto which it led,\" he concludes by giving an account of what one of the\nsacred books of the time describes as \"the dignity of the\nJerusalemites,\" mentioning particulars like these: \"the wealth which\nthey lavished on their marriages; the ceremony which insisted on\nrepeated invitations to the guests to a banquet, and that men inferior\nshould not be bidden to it; the dress in which they appeared; the\nmanner in which the dishes were served, the wine in white crystal\nvases; the punishment of the cook who failed in his duty,\" and so on.\n\nIf things of that kind represented the dignity of the people of\nJerusalem, we need not ask why they were troubled when they heard that\nto them had been born in Bethlehem a Saviour who was Christ the Lord.\nA Saviour who would save them from their sins was the very last thing\npeople of that kind wanted. A Herod suited them better, for it was he\nand his court that set the example of the luxury and profligacy which\ncharacterised the capital. Do not all these revelations as to the\nstate of things in the capital of Israel set off more vividly than\never the pure lustre of the quiet, simple, humble, peaceful\nsurroundings of the Babe of Bethlehem and Boy of Nazareth? Put the\n\"dignity\" and trouble of Jerusalem over against the humility and peace\nof Bethlehem, and say which is the more truly dignified and desirable.\nWhen we look at the contrast we cease to wonder that, with the\nexception of a very few devout Simeons and Annas, waiting for the\nconsolation of Israel, Jerusalem, as a whole, was troubled to hear the\nrumour of the advent of her Saviour-King.\n\nHerod's trouble we can so readily understand that we need not spend\ntime over it, or over what he did to get rid of it, so thoroughly in\nkeeping as it was with all that history tells us of his character and\nconduct. No wonder that the one thought in _his_ mind was \"Away\nwith Him!\"\n\nBut who are these truly dignified men, who are now turning their backs\non rich and gay Jerusalem, and setting their faces to the obscurity\nand poverty of the village of Bethlehem? They are men of rank and\nwealth and learning from the far East--representatives of all that is\nbest in the old civilizations of the world. They had only the\nscantiest opportunities of learning what was the Hope of Israel, and\nhow it should be realised; but they were earnest men; _their_ minds\nwere not taken up with gaiety and frivolity; they had studied the\nworks of nature till their souls were full of the thought of God in\nHis glory and majesty; but their hearts still yearned to know if He,\nWhose glory was in the heavens, could stoop to cure the ills that\nflesh is heir to. They had heard of Israel's hope, the hope of a child\nto be born of David's race, who should bring divine mercy near to\nhuman need; they had a vague idea that the time for the fulfilment of\nthat hope was drawing near; and, as they mused, behold a marvellous\nappearance in the heavens, which seemed to call them away to seek Him\nwhom their souls desired! Hence their long journey to Jerusalem and\ntheir eager entrance into Bethlehem. Had their dignity been the kind\nof dignity which was boasted of in Jerusalem, they would no doubt have\nbeen offended by the poverty of the surroundings, the poor house with\nits scanty furniture and its humble inmates. But theirs was the\ndignity of mind and soul, so they were not offended by the poor\nsurroundings; they recognised in the humble Child the object of their\nsearch; they bowed before Him, doing Him homage, and presented to Him\ngifts as a tribute from the East to the coming King of righteousness\nand love.\n\nWhat a beautiful picture; how striking the contrast to the\nmagnificence of Herod the Great in Jerusalem, surrounded by his\nwealthy and luxurious court. Verily, these were wise men from the\nEast, wise with a wisdom not of this world--wise to recognise the hope\nof the future, not in a monarch _called_ \"the Great,\" surrounded by\nthe world's pomp and luxury, but in the fresh young life of the holy\nheaven-born Child. Learned as they were, they had simple hearts--they\nhad had some glimpse of the great truth that it is not learning the\nworld needs so much as life, new life. Would that all the wise men of\nthe present day were equally wise in heart! We rejoice that so many of\nthem are; and if only all of them had true wisdom, they would consider\nthat even those who stand as high in the learning of the new West as\nthese men did in the learning of the old East, would do themselves\nhonour in bowing low in presence of the Holy Child, and acknowledge\nthat by no effort of the greatest intellect is it possible to reach\nthat truth which can alone meet the deepest wants of men--that there\nis no other hope for man than the new birth, the fresh, pure, holy\nlife which came into the world when the Christ was born, and which\ncomes into every heart that in simple trustfulness gives Him a welcome\nas did these wise men of old. There, at the threshold of the Gospel,\nwe see the true relation of science and religion.\n\n \"Let knowledge grow from more to more,\n But more of reverence in us dwell;\n That mind and soul, according well,\n May make one music as before.\"\n\nAll honour to these wise men for bending low in presence of the Holy\nChild; and thanks be to God for allowing His servant Matthew to give\nus a glimpse of a scene so beautiful, so touching, so suggestive of\npure and high and holy thought and feeling.\n\nThe gifts of the East no doubt provided the means of securing a refuge\nin the South and West. That Egypt gave the fugitives a friendly\nwelcome, and a safe retreat so long as the danger remained, is\nobvious; but here again we are left without detail. The one thing\nwhich the Evangelist wishes to impress upon us is the parallel between\nthe experience of Israel and Israel's Holy One. Israel of the Old\nTestament, born in Palestine, had to flee into Egypt. When the time\nwas ripe for return, the way was opened for it; and thus the prophet\nspeaks of it in the name of the Lord: \"When Israel was a child, then I\nloved him, and called My son out of Egypt.\" Now that the Holy One of\nIsrael has come to fulfil old Israel's destiny, the prophetic word,\nwhich had been only partially realised in the history of the nation,\nis fulfilled in the history of the Anointed One. Hence, just as it\nhappened with the nation, so did it happen with the nation's\nrepresentative and King: born in His own land, He had to flee into\nEgypt, and remain there till God brought Him out, and set Him in His\nland again.\n\nOther points of agreement with the prophetic word are mentioned. It is\nworthy of note that they are all connected with the dark side of\nprophecy concerning the Messiah. The reason for this will readily\nappear on reflection. The Scribes and Pharisees were insistent enough\non the bright side, the side that favoured their ideas of a great\nking, who should rescue the people from the Roman yoke, and found a\ngreat world-kingdom, after the manner of Herod the Great or of C\u00e6sar\nthe mighty. So there was no need to bring strongly out that side of\nprophecy which foretold of the glories of the coming King. But the sad\nside had been entirely neglected. It is this, accordingly, which the\nEvangelist is prompted to illustrate.\n\nIt was, indeed, in itself an occasion of stumbling that the King of\nIsrael should have to flee to Egypt. But why should one stumble at\nit, who looked at the course of Israel's history as a nation, in the\nlight the prophets threw upon it? It was an occasion of stumbling that\nHis birth in Bethlehem should bring with it such sorrow and anguish;\nbut why wonder at it when so great a prophet as Jeremiah so touchingly\nspeaks of the voice heard in Ramah, \"Rachel weeping for her children\nand would not be comforted,\"--a thought of exquisite beauty and pathos\nas Jeremiah used it in reference to the banished ones of his day, but\nof still deeper pathos as now fulfilled in the sorrow at Ramah, over\nthe massacre of her innocents, when not Israel but Israel's Holy One\nis banished from the land of His birth. Again, it was an occasion of\nstumbling that the King of Israel, instead of growing up in majesty in\nthe midst of the Court and the capital, should retire into obscurity\nin the little village of Nazareth, and for many years be unheard of by\nthe great ones of the land; but why wonder at it when the prophets\nagain and again represent Him as growing up in this very way, as \"a\nroot out of a dry ground,\" as a twig or \"shoot out of the stem of\nJesse,\" growing up \"out of His place,\" and attracting no attention\nwhile He grew. Such is the meaning of the words translated, \"He shall\nbe called a Nazarene.\" This does not appear in our language; hence the\ndifficulty which many have found in this reference, there being no\npassage in any of the prophets where the Christ is spoken of as a\nNazarene; but the word to Hebrew ears at once suggests the Hebrew for\n\"Branch,\" continually applied to Him in the prophets, and especially\nconnected with the idea of His quiet and silent growth, aloof from the\nthrong and unnoticed by the great.\n\nThis completes, appropriately, the sketch of His reception. Unthought\nof by His own, till strangers sought Him; a source of trouble to them\nwhen they heard of Him; His life threatened by the occupant, for the\ntime, of David's throne, He is saved only by exile, and on returning\nto His people passes out of notice: and the great world moves on, all\nunconscious and unconcerned, whilst its Saviour-King is preparing, in\nthe obscurity of His village home, for the great work of winning a\nlost world back to God.\n\n[3] _Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, vol. i., p. 130.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n_HIS HERALD._\n\nMATT. iii. 1-12.\n\n\nThirty years have gone since all Jerusalem was in trouble at the\nrumour of Messiah's birth. But as nothing has been heard of Him since,\nthe excitement has passed away. Those who _were_ troubled about\nit are ageing or old or dead; so no one thinks or speaks of it now.\nThere have been several political changes since, mostly for the worse.\nJud\u00e6a is now a province of Rome, governed by procurators, of whom the\nsixth, called Pontius Pilate, has just entered on his office. Society\nis much the same as before--the same worldliness and luxurious living\nafter the manner of the Greek, the same formalism and bigotry after\nthe manner of the Scribe. There is no sign, in Jerusalem at least, of\nany change for the better.\n\nThe only new thing stirring is a rumour in the street. People are\ntelling one another that a new prophet has arisen. \"In the\nPalace?\"--\"No.\" \"In the Temple?\"--\"No.\" \"Surely somewhere in the\ncity?\"--\"No.\" He is in the wilderness, clad in roughest garb,\nsubsisting on poorest fare--a living protest against the luxury of the\ntime. He makes no pretence to learning, draws no fine distinctions,\ngives no curious interpretations, and yet, with only a simple\nmessage,--which, however, he delivers as coming straight from God\nHimself,--is drawing crowds to hear him from all the country side. So\nthe rumour spreads throughout the town, and great numbers go out to\nsee what it is all about; some perhaps from curiosity, some in hope\nthat it may be the dawn of a brighter day for Israel, all of them no\ndoubt more or less stirred with the excitement of the thought that,\nafter so many silent centuries, a veritable prophet has come, like\nthose of old. For it must be remembered that even in gay Jerusalem the\ndeep-rooted feelings of national pride and patriotism had been only\noverlaid, not superseded, by the veneer of Greek and Roman\ncivilisation, which only seemed for the moment to satisfy the people.\n\nSo they go out in multitudes to the wilderness; and what do they see?\n\"A man clothed in fine raiment,\" like the Roman officials in the\npalace, which in those degenerate days were Jerusalem's pride? \"A reed\nshaken by the wind,\" like the time-serving politicians of the hour?\nNay, verily; but a true prophet of the Lord, one reminding them of\nwhat they have read in the Scriptures of the great Elijah, who\nsuddenly appeared in the wild mountain region of Gilead, at a time\nwhen Ph\u0153nician manners were making the same havoc in Israel that\nGreek manners are now making in Jerusalem. Who can he be? He seems to\nbe more than a prophet. Can he be the Christ? But this he entirely\ndisclaims. Is he Elijah then? John probably knew that he was sent \"in\nthe spirit and power of Elijah,\" for so his father had learned from\nthe angel on the occasion of the announcement of his birth; but that\nwas not the point of their question. When they asked, \"Art thou\nElijah?\" they meant \"Art thou Elijah risen from the dead?\" To this he\nmust, of course, answer, \"No.\" In the same way he must disclaim\nidentity with any of the prophets. He will not trade upon the name of\nany of these holy men of old. Enough that he comes, a nameless one,\nbefore them, with a message from the Lord. So, keeping himself in the\nbackground, he puts his message before them, content that they should\nrecognise in it the fulfilment of the well-known word of prophecy: \"A\nvoice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make\nHis paths straight.\"\n\nJohn wishes it to be distinctly understood that he is not that Light\nwhich the prophets of old have told them should arise, but is sent to\nbear witness to that Light. He has come as a herald to announce the\napproach of the King, and to call upon the people to prepare for His\ncoming. Think not of me, he cries, ask not who I am; think of the\ncoming King, and make ready for Him,--\"Prepare ye the way of the Lord,\nmake _His_ paths straight.\"\n\nHow is the way of the Lord to be prepared? Is it by summoning the\npeople to arms all over the land, that they may repel the Roman\ninvader and restore the ancient kingdom? Such a proclamation would no\ndoubt have struck a chord that would have vibrated through all the\nland. That would have been after the manner of men; it was not the way\nof the Lord. The summons must be, not to arms, but to _repentance_:\n\"Wash you, make you clean: put away the evil of your doings.\" So,\ninstead of marching up, a host of warriors, to the Roman citadel, the\npeople troop down, band after band of penitents, to the Jordan,\nconfessing their sins. After all it is the old, old prophetic message\nover again,--the same which had been sent generation after generation\nto a backsliding people, its burden always this: \"Turn ye unto Me,\nsaith the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of\nHosts.\"\n\nLike many of the old prophets, John taught by symbol as well as by\nword. The preparation needed was an inward cleansing, and what more\nfitting symbol of it than the water baptism to which he called the\nnation? \"In that day,\" it was written in the prophets, \"there shall be\na fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of\nJerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.\" The prophecy was about to be\nfulfilled, and the baptism of John was the appropriate sign of it.\nAgain, in another of the prophets the promise ran, \"Then will I\nsprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your\nfilthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you ... and I will\nput my spirit within you.\" John knew well that it was not given to him\nto _fulfil_ this promise. He could not grant the real baptism, the\nbaptism of the Holy Ghost; but he could baptise with water; he could\ngive the sign and assurance to the truly penitent heart that there was\nforgiveness and cleansing in the coming One; and thus, by his baptism\nwith water, as well as by the message he delivered, he was preparing\nthe way of the Lord. All this, we cannot but observe, was in perfect\naccord with the wonderful prophetic utterance of his father Zacharias,\nas recorded by St. Luke: \"Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of\nthe Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare\nHis ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the\nremission of their sins,\"--not to give salvation, which only Christ\ncan give, but the knowledge of it. This he did not only by telling of\nthe coming Saviour, and, when He came, pointing to Him as \"the Lamb\nof God that taketh away the sin of the world;\" but also by the\nappropriate sign of baptism, which gave the same knowledge in the\nlanguage of symbol addressed to the eye.\n\nThe summons of the prophet of the wilderness is not in vain. The\npeople come. The throngs increase. The nation is moved. Even the great\nones of the nation condescend to follow the multitude. Pharisees and\nSadducees, the leaders of the two great parties in Church and State,\nare coming; many of them are coming. What a comfort this must be to\nthe prophet's soul. How gladly he will welcome them, and let it be\nknown that he has among his converts many of the great ones of the\nland! But the stern Baptist is a man of no such mould. What cares he\nfor rank or position or worldly influence? What he wants is reality,\nsimplicity, godly sincerity; and he knows that, scarce as these\nvirtues are in the community at large, they are scarcest of all among\nthese dignitaries. He will not allow the smallest admixture of\ninsincerity or hypocrisy in what is, so far, a manifest work of God.\nHe must test these new-comers to the uttermost, for the sin of which\nthey need most to repent is the very sin which they are in danger of\ncommitting afresh in its most aggravated form in offering themselves\nfor baptism. He must therefore test their motives; he must at all\nrisks ensure that, unless their repentance is genuine, they shall not\nbe baptised. For their own sakes, as well as for the work's sake this\nis necessary. Hence the strong, even harsh language he uses in putting\nthe question _why_ they had come. Yet he would not repel or discourage\nthem. He does not send them away as if past redemption, but only\ndemands that they bring forth fruit worthy of the repentance they\nprofess. And lest they should think that there was an easier way of\nentrance for them than for others, lest they should think that they\nhad claims sufficient because of their descent, he reminds them that\nGod can have his kingdom upon earth, even though every son of Abraham\nin the world should reject Him: \"Think not to say within yourselves,\nWe have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of\nthese stones to raise up children unto Abraham.\"\n\nIt is as if he said, The coming kingdom of righteousness and truth\nwill not fail, even if Pharisees and Sadducees and all the natural\nchildren of Abraham refuse to enter its only gate of repentance; if\nthere is no response to the Divine summons where it is most to be\nexpected, then it can be secured where it is least to be expected; if\nflesh become stone, then stone can be made flesh, according to the\nword of promise. So there will be no gathering in of mere formalists\nto make up numbers, no including of those who are only \"Jews\noutwardly.\" And there will be no half measures, no compromise with\nevil, no parleying with those who are unwilling or only half willing\nto repent. A time of crisis has come,--\"now also the axe is laid unto\nthe root of the trees.\" It is not lifted yet. But it is there lying\nready, ready for the Lord of the vineyard, when He shall come (and He\nis close at hand); then, \"_every_ tree which bringeth not forth\ngood fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.\"\n\nYet not for judgment is He coming,--John goes on to say,--but to\nfulfil the promise of the Father. He is coming to baptise you with the\nHoly Ghost and with fire--to purify you through and through and to animate\nyou with a new life, glowing, upward-striving, heaven-aspiring;\nand it is to prepare you for this unspeakable blessing that I ask you\nto come and put away those sins which must be a barrier in the way of\nHis coming, those sins which dim your eyes so that you cannot see Him,\nwhich stop your ears so that you cannot recognise your Shepherd's\nvoice, that clog your hearts so that the Holy Spirit cannot reach\nthem,--repent, _repent_, and be baptised all of you; for there cometh\nOne after me, mightier than I, whose meanest servant I am not worthy\nto be,--He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, if you\nare ready to receive Him; but if you are not, still you cannot escape\nHim, \"Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His\nthreshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the\nchaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire\" (R.V.).\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe work of John must still be done. It specially devolves upon the\nministers of Christ; would they were all as anxious as he was to keep\nin the background, as little concerned about position, title, official\nrank, or personal consideration.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n_HIS BAPTISM._\n\nMATT. iii. 13-17.\n\n\n\"The baptism of John, was it from Heaven or of men?\" This question\nmust have been asked throughout the length and breadth of the land in\nthe days of his mission. We know how it was answered; for even after\nthe excitement had died away, we are told that \"all men counted John\nfor a prophet.\" This conviction would of course prevail in Nazareth as\nwell as everywhere else. When, therefore, the Baptist removed from the\nwilderness of Jud\u00e6a and the lower reaches of the Jordan to the ford of\nBethany, or Bethabara,--now identified with a point much farther\nnorth, within a single day's journey of Nazareth,--the people of\nGalilee would flock to him, as before the people of Jud\u00e6a and\nJerusalem had done. Among the rest, as might naturally be expected,\nJesus came. It was enough for Him to know that the baptism of John was\nof Divine appointment. He was in all things guided by His Father's\nwill, to whom He would day by day commit His way. Accordingly, just as\nday by day He had been subject to His parents, and just as He had seen\nit to be right to go up to the Temple in accordance with the Law, so\nHe recognised it to be His duty to present Himself, as His countrymen\nin such large numbers were doing, to receive baptism from John. The\nmanner of the narrative implies that He came, not as if He were some\ngreat person demanding special recognition, but as simply and\nnaturally as any of the rest: \"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the\nJordan unto John, to be baptised of him.\"\n\nJohn looks at Him. Does he know Him at all? Perhaps not; for though\nthey are cousins, their lives have been lived quite apart. Before\ntheir birth their mothers met; but it is doubtful if they themselves\nhave seen each other before, and even if they have, in earlier years,\nthey may both be so changed that recognition is uncertain. The one has\nhad his home in the South; the other, in the North. Besides, the elder\nof the two has spent his life mostly in the desert, so that probably\nhe is a stranger now even to his own townspeople, and his father and\nmother, both very old when he was born, must be dead and gone long\nago. Perhaps, then, John did not know Jesus at all; certainly he did\nnot yet know Him as the Messiah. But he sees something in Him that\ndraws forth the homage of his soul. Or possibly he gathers his\nimpressions rather from what Jesus says. All the rest have confessed\nsin; He has no sin of His own to confess. But words would no doubt be\nspoken that would convey to the Baptist how this disciple looked on\nsin, how the very thought of it filled Him with horror, how His whole\nsoul longed for the righteousness of God, how it was a sacred passion\nwith Him that sin should perish from the hearts of men, and\nrighteousness reign in its place. Whether then, it was by His\nappearance, the clear eye, the calm face,--an open window for the\nprophet to look through into His soul,--or whether it was by the words\nHe spoke as He claimed a share in the baptism, or both combined, John\nwas taken aback--surprised a second time, though in just the opposite\nway to that in which he had been surprised before. The same eagle eye\nthat saw through the mask of Pharisee and Sadducee could penetrate the\nveil of humility and obscurity; so he said: \"I have need to be\nbaptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?\"\n\nThink of the majesty of this John. Remember how he bore himself in\npresence of the Pharisees and Sadducees; and how he faced Herod,\ntelling him plainly, at the risk of his life, as it afterwards proved,\n\"It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.\" Remember that\nall Jud\u00e6a, and Jerusalem, and Galilee had been bowing down in his\npresence; and now, when an obscure nameless One of Nazareth comes to\nhim, only as yet distinguished from others by the holiness of His life\nand the purity of His soul, John would not have Him bow in his\npresence, but would himself bend low before Him: \"I have need to be\nbaptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?\" Oh for more of that grand\ncombination of lofty courage and lowly reverence! Verily, \"among them\nthat are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the\nBaptist.\"\n\nBut Jesus answering said unto him, \"Suffer it now; for thus it\nbecometh us to fulfil all righteousness\" (R.V.). Though about to enter\non His Messianic work, He has not yet taken its burden on Him;\naccordingly He comes, not as Messiah, but in the simplest and most\nunassuming way; content still, as He has been all along till now, to\nbe reckoned simply as of Israel. This is what we take to be the force\nof the plural pronoun \"us.\"\n\nOn the other hand, it should be remembered that Jesus must have\nrecognised in the summons to the Jordan a call to commence His work\nas Messiah. He would certainly have heard from His mother of the\nprophetic words which had been spoken concerning His cousin and\nHimself; and would, therefore, as soon as He heard of the mission of\nJohn, know well what it meant--He could not but know that John was\npreparing the way before Him, and therefore that His time was close at\nhand. Of this, too, we have an indication in His answer to the\nexpostulation of John. \"Suffer it now,\" He says; as if to say, I am as\nyet only one of Israel; My time is at hand, when I must take the\nposition to which I am called, but meantime I come as the rest come:\n\"Suffer it _now_; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all\nrighteousness.\"\n\nWhile then Jesus came simply in obedience to the will of God, He must\nhave come with a very heavy burden. His study of the Scriptures must\nhave made Him painfully familiar with the dark prospects before Him.\nWell did He know that the path of the Messiah must be one of\nsuffering, that He must be despised and rejected, that He must be\nwounded for the people's transgressions and bruised for their\niniquity; that, in a word, He must be the suffering Priest before He\ncan be the reigning King. This thought of His priesthood must have\nbeen especially borne in upon Him now that He had just reached the\npriestly age. In His thirteenth year--the Temple age--He had gone to\nthe Temple, and now at the age when the priest is consecrated to his\noffice, He is summoned to the Jordan, to be baptised by one whom He\nknows to be sent of God to prepare the way before Him. Those\nScriptures, then, which speak of the priestly office the Messiah must\nfill, must have been very much in His mind as He came to John and\noffered Himself to be baptised. And of all these Scriptures none\nwould seem more appropriate at the moment than those words of the\nfortieth Psalm: \"Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written\nof Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God.\"\n\nAt this point we can readily see the appropriateness of His baptism,\nand also an element in common between it and that of the people. They\nhad come professing to be willing to do the will of God by turning\nfrom sin to righteousness. He had no need to turn from sin to do the\nwill of God; but He had to turn from the quiet and peaceful home life\nat Nazareth, that He might take up the burden laid upon Him as\nMessiah. So He as well as they had to leave the old life and begin a\nnew one; and in this we can see how fitting it was that He as well as\nthey should be baptised. Then, just as by baptism--the symbol, in\ntheir case, of separation from sin and consecration to God--John made\n\"ready a people prepared for the Lord;\" so by baptism--the symbol, in\nHis case, of separation from private life and consecration to God in\nthe office of Messiah,--the Lord was made ready for the people. By\nbaptism John opened the door of the new Kingdom. From the wilderness\nof sin the people entered it as subjects; from the seclusion of\nprivate life Jesus entered it as King and Priest. They came under a\nvow of obedience unto Him; He came under a vow of obedience unto\ndeath, even the death of the Cross.\n\nThis, then, is the moment of His taking up the Cross. It is indeed the\nassumption of His royalty as Messiah-King; but then He knew that He\nmust suffer and die before He could enter on His glory; therefore, as\nthe first great duty before Him, He takes up the Cross. In this we\ncan see a still further appropriateness in the words already quoted,\nas is suggested in the well-known passage in the Epistle to the\nHebrews: \"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast\nthou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast\nhad no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it\nis written of me) to do thy will, O God.\" Ah, who can understand the\nlove in the heart of Jesus, who can measure the sacrifice He makes as\nHe bends before John, and is baptised into the name of \"the Christ,\"\nthe Saviour of mankind!\n\nThe act of solemn consecration is over. He comes up out of the water.\nAnd lo, the heavens are opened, and the Spirit of God descends upon\nHim, and a voice from heaven calls, \"This is My beloved Son, in Whom I\nam well pleased.\"\n\n\"The heavens were opened.\" What was the precise natural phenomenon\nwitnessed we can only conjecture, but whatever it was, it was but a\nsymbol of the spiritual opening of the heavens. The heaven of God's\nlove and of all holy Angels, shut from man by sin, was opened again by\nthe Christ of God. Nothing could be more appropriate, therefore, than\nthat just at the moment when the Holy One of Israel had bowed Himself\nto take up His heavy burden, when for the first time it was possible\nto say, \"Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the\nworld!\" the heavens should open to welcome Him, and in welcoming Him,\nthe Sin-bearer, to welcome all whose sins He came to take away.\n\n\"And He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting\nupon Him.\" This was His anointing for the work He had come to do. The\npriests of the line of Aaron had been anointed with oil; He was\nanointed with that of which the oil was but a symbol,--the Holy Spirit\ndescending from the open heaven. From His birth, indeed, He had been\nguided by the Spirit of God. But up to this time He had, as we have\nseen, nothing more than was needed to minister to that growth in\nwisdom which had been going on in private life these thirty years,\nnothing more than was necessary to guide Him day by day in His quiet,\nunexacting duties at home. Now He needs far more. Now He must receive\nthe Spirit without measure, in the fulness of His grace and power;\nhence the organic form of the symbol. The emblem used when the\napostles were baptised with the Holy Ghost was tongues of fire,\nindicating the partial nature of the endowment; here it is the dove,\nsuggesting the idea of completeness and, at the same time, as every\none sees, of beauty, gentleness, peace, and love. Again let it be\nremembered that it is on Him as our representative that the Spirit\ndescends, that His baptism with the Holy Ghost is in order that He may\nbe ready to fulfil the word of John, \"He shall baptise you with the\nHoly Ghost and with fire.\" Heaven opened above Him means all heavenly\nblessings prepared for those who follow Him into the new Kingdom. The\ndescent of the Spirit means the bestowment on Him and His of heaven's\nbest gift as an earnest of all the rest.\n\nLast of all there is the voice, \"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am\nwell pleased,\" spoken not merely to Himself individually,--all along,\nin the personal sense, He was God's beloved Son, in whom He was well\npleased,--but to the Messiah, as the Representative and Head of a new\nredeemed humanity, as the First-born among many brethren, as One who\nat the very moment was undertaking suretyship on behalf of all who\nhad already received Him or should in the ages to come receive Him as\ntheir Priest and King--\"_This_ is My beloved Son, in whom I am well\npleased.\"\n\nBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath\nblessed us with all spiritual and heavenly blessings in Him: with an\nopen heaven, a present Spirit, a reconciled Father's voice. Blessed be\nour loving Lord and Saviour, that He came so humbly to the Jordan,\nstooped so bravely to the yoke, took up our heavy Cross, and carried\nit through these sorrowful years to the bitter, bitter end. And\nblessed be the Holy Spirit of all grace, that He abode on Him, and\nabides with us. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love\nof God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with us all!\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\n_HIS TEMPTATION._\n\nMATT. iv. 1-11.\n\n\nMuch has been written on the possibility of temptation in the\nexperience of a sinless Being. The difficulties which have been raised\nin this region are chiefly of a metaphysical kind, such as it is\npossible--for some minds, we might say inevitable--to raise at every\npoint in that mysterious complexity which we call life. Without\nattempting to enter profoundly into the question, may not an appeal be\nmade to our own experience? Do we not all know what it is to be\n\"tempted without sin,\"--without sin, that is, in reference to the\nparticular thing to which we are tempted? Are there not desires in our\nnature, not only thoroughly innocent, but a necessary part of our\nhumanity, which, nevertheless, give occasion to temptation? But on its\nbeing recognised that to follow the impulse, however natural, would\nlead to wrongdoing, the temptation is instantly repelled and integrity\nperfectly preserved. In such a case there is temptation, conflict,\nvictory--all without sin. Surely then what is possible to us on\noccasion was also possible to our Lord on all occasions, all through\nHis pure and spotless life. His taking our nature indeed involved not\nonly the possibility, but the necessity, of temptation.\n\nThe passage before us records what is known as _the_ Temptation, by\nwhich it is not, of course, meant that it was the only one. Our Lord\nwas all His life exposed to the assaults of the Tempter, which seem\nindeed to have increased in violence as He approached the end of His\nlife. Why, then, is this attack singled out for special record? The\nreason seems obvious. It marks the beginning of the life-work of the\nMessiah. In His quiet home at Nazareth Jesus must have had the\nordinary temptations to which childhood and youth are subject. That\nwas the time of quiet preparation for the great campaign. Now the war\nmust begin. He must address Himself to the mighty undertaking of\ndestroying the works of the devil. The great adversary, therefore,\nwisely endeavours to mar it at the outset, by a deliberately planned\nseries of assaults, directed against all the vulnerable points of that\nhuman nature his great antagonist must wear. From this time onward our\nLord's whole life was to be a warfare, not against the rage of wicked\nmen only, but against the wiles of the unseen adversary, whose\nopposition must have been as bitter and relentless as that of his\nrepresentatives in flesh and blood. From the nature of the case, the\nconflict waged in the spiritual sphere could not appear in the\nhistory. It belonged to that hidden life, of which even the closest\ndisciples could see but very little. We get a hint of it occasionally\nin certain looks and words betokening inward conflict, and in those\nfrequent retirings to solitary places to pray; but of the actual soul\nexperience we have no record, except in the case of this first pitched\nbattle, so to call it, of the lifelong conflict. It is evident that\nour Lord Himself must have given His disciples the information on this\ndeeply interesting subject which enabled them to put it on record,\nfor the encouragement and comfort of His people in all time to come.\nBlessed be His Holy Name, for this unveiling of His hidden life.\n\nThe greater portion, indeed, is still veiled. A dark cloud of mystery\nhangs over the forty days. Nothing else is told of them in this Gospel\nthan that Jesus fasted for that time--an indication of sustained\nintensity in the life of His spirit. From St. Mark and St. Luke we\nlearn that the temptation lasted throughout the entire period--a fact\nnot at all inconsistent with sustained spiritual elevation, for it is\njust at such periods that man is most exposed to the assaults of the\nenemy. We may not penetrate the darkness of these forty days. Like the\ndarkness in Gethsemane, and again, from the sixth to the ninth hour on\nCalvary, it forbids entrance. These were times when even \"the disciple\nwhom Jesus loved\" could not be with Him. These are solitudes that can\nnever be disturbed. Only this we know: that it was necessary that our\nSaviour should pass through these dark \"cloud-gates\" as He entered on\nand as He finished His priestly work on earth.\n\nBut though we cannot comprehend what our Lord did for us during these\nforty days, when He \"recovered Paradise to all mankind,\" we may,\nremembering that He was tempted, not only as our Representative but as\nour Exemplar, endeavour with all humility and reverence to enter into\nthis soul-experience of our Lord, so far as the vivid representation\nof its main features in the inspired record warrants.\n\nIt is always difficult to tell the story of soul-experience in such a\nway as to come home to the common mind and heart of humanity. It will\nnot do to tell it in the language of philosophy or psychology, which\nnone but those familiar with such discussions could understand. It\nmust be addressed to the imagination as well as to the pure reason. If\nthis had been sufficiently kept in view, it might have saved many a\ndifficulty on the part of those who have set themselves to discover\nexactly what were the outward circumstances of the temptation,\nforgetting that here especially it is the inward and spiritual with\nwhich we have to do, not the outward and physical. It is not what\nhappened to the body of Jesus,--whether it was actually carried to a\npinnacle of the Temple or not,--with which we have any concern in\nconnection with the subject of temptation; but what happened to His\nsoul: for it is the soul of man, not his body, which is tempted.\n\nIt is above all things necessary to hold firmly to the reality of the\ntemptation. It was no mere sham fight; it was just as real as any we\nhave ever had when most fiercely assailed by the tempter. This will,\nof course, dispose of the vulgar idea that the devil appeared in\nrecognisable shape, like one of Dor\u00e9's fiends. Some people cannot rise\nabove the folly of imagining that there is nothing real that is not\nmaterial, and therefore that our Saviour could have had no conflict\nwith Satan, if Satan had not assumed some material shape. The power of\ntemptation consists in its appearance of being suggested without\nsinister intent. Our Lord was tempted \"like as we are,\" and therefore\nhad not the advantage of seeing the tempter in his proper person. He\nmay have appeared \"as an angel of light,\" or it may have been only as\nan invisible spirit that he came. However that may be, it was\nunquestionably a spiritual experience; and in that consists its\nreality and value.\n\nIn order firmly to grasp the reality of the conflict, we must not\nonly bear in mind that our Lord had to contend with the same invisible\nadversary whom we must encounter, but that He had to meet him just as\nwe have to meet him--not as God, but as man. The man Christ Jesus was\ntempted, and in His human nature He triumphed. He had \"emptied\nHimself\" of His divine attributes; and to have had recourse to them\nwhen the battle raged too fiercely for His resources as a man, would\nhave been to have acknowledged defeat. What need was there to show\nthat God could triumph over Satan? There needed no Incarnation and no\nwilderness contest for that. Had it not been as a man that He\ntriumphed there had been no victory at all. It is true that He went\ninto the wilderness in the power of the Spirit; but so may we go into\nany wilderness or anywhere. It was through Divine strength He\ntriumphed, but only in that strength made perfect in human weakness\naccording to the promise which is valid for us all. Here too \"He was\ntempted like as we are,\" with the same ways and means of resisting the\ntemptation and overcoming it as are available to us. It follows from\nall this that we should not look at this temptation scene as something\nquite foreign to ourselves, but should endeavour to enter into it,\nand, as far as possible, to realise it.\n\nObserve first the close connection with the baptism. This is made\nprominent and emphatic in all the three accounts. Evidently, then, it\nsupplies the key to it. The baptism of Christ was His consecration to\nthe work of His Messiahship. And let us not imagine that He had any\nready-made plan for the accomplishment of it. His was no stereotyped\nlife-work, such as that which most of us take up, in which we can\nlearn from those who have gone before how they set about it, and\nproceed accordingly. Even with all that advantage most of us have to\ndo not a little hard thinking, before we can lay our plans. Could it\nbe, then, that He who had such a work before Him had no need to think\nover it, and plan it, and weigh different methods of procedure, and\nface the difficulties which every one who enters on a new enterprise\nhas to meet? Do not let us forget for a moment that He was a real man,\nand that in planning the course He would pursue, as in all other\npoints, He was tried like as we are.\n\nAccordingly, no sooner is He baptised, than He withdraws by Himself\nalone, as Moses and others had done when about to enter on their work,\nto commune with God and to take counsel with His own thoughts. Was He\nfree from all misgiving? Let us not imagine that it was impossible for\nHim to doubt. Tempted in all points like as we are, He must have known\nthis sore temptation. One may well suppose, then, that He was visited\nagain and again with misgivings during these forty days, so that it\nwas not at all unnatural that temptation should take the form: \"If\nThou be the Son of God----\"\n\nLook now at the first temptation, and mark the double human weakness\nto which it was addressed. On the one hand _doubt_--\"_If_ Thou art the\nSon of God;\" on the other, _hunger_--for He had fasted long and had as\nstrong a craving for bread as any of us would have had in the\ncircumstances. See now the force of the temptation. He is suffering\nfrom hunger; He is tempted to doubt. How can He have relief? \"If Thou\nbe the Son of God, _command that these stones be made bread_.\" Special\npowers are entrusted to Him for His work as Messiah. Should He not use\nthem now? Why not? So in his subtlety suggests the tempter. In vain.\nHe had taken His place among His brother-men, and would not separate\nHimself from them. They could not command stones to be made bread; and\nwould He cease to be their Brother? What saith the Law? A well-known\npassage leaps into His memory: \"Man shall not live by bread alone, but\nby every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.\" Man must trust\nin God, and when he is hungry in the wilderness, as Israel was of old,\nmust look upwards for his help. So must I; so will I. And He bears the\nhunger, repels the doubt, and conquers His subtle foe.\n\nThe thought of the doubt that must exist in other minds if not in His\nown, gives occasion for a second assault. To have proved His power by\ncommanding the stones to be made bread would only have gratified a\npersonal craving. But would it not advance His work to make some\nsignal display of the powers by which He shall be accredited--do\nsomething that would attract universal attention; not in the desert,\nbut in Jerusalem;--why not show to all the people that God is with Him\nby casting Himself from the pinnacle of the Temple? \"If Thou be the\nSon of God, cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His\nangels charge concerning Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee\nup, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.\" One sees at\nonce the added force of this temptation. The hunger remains, together\nwith the weakness of body and faintness of spirit which always\naccompany it. And the very weapon He used to repel the first assault\nis turned against Him now, for His adversary has found a passage of\nScripture, which he uses with great effect. Moreover, the appeal seems\nto be to that very spirit of trustfulness which stood Him in such\nstead in His first encounter. Is He not hard beset? What then? Does He\nin this emergency summon to His aid any ally denied to us in similar\nstress of trial? No: He does exactly what we have to do in the same\ncase: meets Scripture quoted with a bias by other Scripture thought of\nwithout prejudice. He recognises that the Scripture first presented to\nHis mind is only a part of the truth which bears on the case.\nSomething more must be had in view, before the path of duty is clear.\nTo meet the distracting thought, this word occurs, \"Thou shalt not\ntempt the Lord thy God.\" It is one thing to trust, another to tempt. I\nwas trusting when I refused to command the stones to be made bread.\nBut I should be tempting God were I to cast myself down from a\npinnacle of the Temple. I should be experimenting upon Him, as did the\nchildren of Israel at Meribah and at Massah (for that is the\nconnection of the words He quotes) when they said, \"Is the Lord among\nus or not?\" I must not experiment, I must not tempt, I must simply\ntrust. Thus victory is gained a second time.\n\nIf it is not right to begin His work by any such display as that which\nthe tempter has just suggested, how shall it be begun? A question\nsurely of unexampled difficulty. The air was full of expectancy in\nregard to the coming of King Messiah. The whole nation was ready to\nhail him. Not only so, but even the heathen nations were more or less\nprepared for His coming. Why not take advantage of this favourable\nstate of things at home and abroad? Why not proclaim a kingdom that\nwill satisfy these widespread expectations, and gather round itself\nall those enthusiasms; and, after having thus won the people, then\nproceed to lead them on to higher and better things? Why not? It\nwould be bowing down to the prince of this world. It is clearly a\ntemptation of the Evil One. To yield to it would be to fall down\nbefore him and worship him in exchange for the kingdoms of this world\nand the glory of them. It would be gaining the allegiance of men by\nmethods which are not of God, but of the great adversary. He\nrecognises the device of Satan to lure Him from the path of\nself-denial which He sees to be the path of duty; accordingly, with\nenergy He says, \"Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt\nworship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.\" In\nestablishing My kingdom I must show Myself to be a servant and\nworshipper of God and of Him only; accordingly, no worldly methods\nmust be used, however promising they may seem to be; the battle must\nbe fought with spiritual weapons, the kingdom must be established by\nspiritual forces alone, and on truth and love alone must I depend: I\nchoose the path of the Cross. \"Get thee hence, Satan.\"\n\nThe crisis is passed. The path of duty and of sorrow lies plain and\nclear before Him. He has refused to turn aside to the right hand or to\nthe left. The tempter has been foiled at every point, and so must\nwithdraw, for the time, at least. \"Then the devil leaveth Him; and,\nbehold, angels came and ministered unto Him.\"\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\n_BEGINNING OF HIS GALILEAN MINISTRY._\n\nMATT. iv. 12-25.\n\n\nDid our Lord's ministry begin in Galilee? If so, why did He not\nHimself set the example of \"beginning at Jerusalem\"? As a matter of\nfact we learn from the fourth Gospel that He did begin at Jerusalem;\nand that it was only after He was rejected there that He changed the\nscene of His labours to the North. Why then do the three Evangelists\nnot mention this earlier ministry in the South? The answer to this\nquestion seems suggested by the stress laid by each of the three on\nthe fact of John's imprisonment, as giving the date after which Christ\ncommenced His work in the North. Here, for example (ver. 12), it is\nput thus: \"Now when He heard that John was delivered up, He withdrew\ninto Galilee.\" Their idea, then, seems to be that the Jud\u00e6an ministry\nof Christ belonged rather to the closing months of John's career; and\nthat only after John's mission, the sphere of which had been mainly in\nthe South, had closed, could the special work of Christ be regarded as\nhaving begun.\n\nIf we review the facts we shall see how natural and accurate was this\nview of the case. John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, to\nopen the door of Jerusalem and Jud\u00e6a for His coming. At first the\nherald meets with great success. Jerusalem and Jud\u00e6a flock out to him\nfor his baptism. The way seems ready. The door is opened. The Messiah\nhas come; and John has pointed Him out as \"the Lamb of God that taketh\naway the sin of the world.\" Now the Passover is at hand. People will\nbe gathered together from all parts of the land. What better time for\nthe Lord to come to His temple? And, as we are told in the fourth\nGospel, Jesus takes the opportunity, goes up to Jerusalem, enters into\nthe Temple, and at once begins to cleanse it. How is He received? As\none whose way has been prepared, whose claims have been duly\nauthenticated by a prophet of the Lord, as all acknowledge John to be?\nNot at all. Forth step the Temple officials and ask Him by what\nauthority He does these things. He has come unto His own; His own\nreceive Him not. He does not, however, too hastily accept their\nsuicidal refusal to receive Him. He gives them time to think of it. He\ntarries in the neighbourhood, He and John baptising in the same\nregion; patiently waiting, as it would seem, for signs of relenting on\nthe part of the rulers and Pharisees,--one of whom, indeed, has come\nby night and made inquiries; and who can tell what the result will\nbe--whether this Nicodemus may not be able to win the others over, so\nthat after all there will be waiting for the King the welcome He ought\nto have, and which He is well entitled to expect after the reception\ngiven to His herald? But no: the impression of John's preaching and\nbaptism is wearing off; the hardness of heart returns, and passes into\npositive bitterness, which reaches such a height that at last Herod\nfinds the tide so turned that he can hazard what a few months before\nwould have been the foolhardy policy of seizing John and shutting him\nin prison. So ends the mission of John--beginning with largest hope,\nending in cruellest disappointment.\n\nThe early Jud\u00e6an ministry of Christ, then, as related by St. John may\nbe regarded as the opportunity which Christ gave to the nation, as\nrepresented by the capital and the Temple, to follow out the mission\nof John to its intended issue--an opportunity which the leaders of the\nnation wasted and threw away, and which therefore came to nothing.\nHence it is that the three Evangelists, without giving any of the\ndetails which were afterwards supplied by St. John, sum up the closing\nmonths of the forerunner's ministry in the one fact which suggests\nall, that John was silenced, and shut up in prison. We see, then, that\nthough Jesus did in a sense commence His work in Galilee, He did not\ndo so until He had first given the authorities of the city and the\nTemple the opportunity of having it begin, as it would seem most\nnatural that it should have begun, in the centre of the old kingdom.\n\nBut though it was His treatment in the South which was the immediate\ncause of this withdrawal to the North and the beginning of the\nestablishment of the new kingdom there, yet this was no unforeseen\ncontingency--this too was anticipated in the prophetic page, for\nherein was fulfilled the word of Isaiah the prophet, spoken long ago\nof this same northern land: \"The land of Zabulon and the land of\nNepthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the\nGentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to\nthem which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.\"\n\nIt is the old story over again. No room in the inn, so He must be born\nin a manger; no safety in Jud\u00e6a, so He must be carried to Egypt; no\nroom for Him in His own capital and His Father's house, so He must\naway to the country, the uttermost part of the land, which men\ndespised, the very speech of which was reckoned barbarous in the\npolite ears of the metropolitans, a region which was scarce counted of\nthe land at all, being known as \"Galilee of the Gentiles,\" a portion\nof the country which had been overrun more than any other by the\nforeign invader, and therefore known as \"the region and shadow of\ndeath;\" here it is that the new light will arise, the new power be\nfirst acknowledged, and the new blessing first enjoyed--one of the\nmany illustrations of the Lord's own saying, \"Many of the last shall\nbe first, and the first last.\"\n\nHere, then, our Lord begins the work of setting up His kingdom. He\ntakes up the same message which had seemed to return void to its\npreacher in the South. John had come saying, \"Repent ye; for the\nkingdom of heaven is at hand.\" The people of the South had seemed to\nrepent; and the kingdom seemed about to come in the ancient capital.\nBut the repentance was only superficial; and though it still remained\ntrue that the kingdom was at hand, it was not to begin in Jerusalem.\n\nSo, in the new; and, to human appearance, far less promising field in\nthe North, the work must be begun afresh; and now the same stirring\nwords are ringing in Galilee, as rang a few months before in Jud\u00e6a:\n\"Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\"\n\nIt is now in fact close at hand. It is interesting to note its first\nbeginnings. \"And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee,[4] saw two\nbrethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net\ninto the sea; for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow\nMe, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left\ntheir nets, and followed Him. And going on from thence He saw other\ntwo brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a\nship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them\nand they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed\nHim.\"\n\nObserve in the first place that, though John is in prison, and to all\nhuman appearance failure has been written on the work of his life, the\nfailure is only seeming. The multitudes that had been stirred by his\npreaching have relapsed into their old indifference, but there are a\nfew whose souls have been permanently touched to finer issues. They\nare not of the lordly Pharisees or of the brilliant Sadducees; they\ncannot even claim to be metropolitans; they are poor Galilean\nfishermen: but they gave heed when the prophet pointed them to the\nLamb of God, the Messiah that was to come; and though they had only\nspent a short time in His company, yet golden links had been forged\nbetween them; they had heard the Shepherd's voice; had fully\nrecognised His Kingly claims; and so were ready, waiting for the word\nof command. Now it comes. The same Holy One of Nazareth is walking by\nthe shores of their lake. He has been proclaiming His Kingdom, as now\nat last beginning; and, though the manner of its establishment is so\nentirely different from anything to which their thoughts have been\naccustomed in the past, their confidence in Him is such that they\nraise no doubt or question. Accordingly, when they see Him coming\nalone and unattended, without any of the trappings or the suits of\nroyalty, without any badge or sign of office, with a simple word of\ncommand,--a word of command, moreover, which demanded of them the\nsacrifice of all for His sake, the absolute trusting of themselves and\nall their future to His guidance and care,--they do not hesitate for a\nsingle moment; but first Andrew and Simon his brother, and a little\nfurther on James and John his brother, straightway leave nets, father,\nfriends, home, everything, and follow Him.\n\nSuch was the first exercise of the royal authority of the new King.\nSuch was the constitution of His--Cabinet shall we call it?--or of His\nKingdom itself, shall we not rather say? for so far as we can see, His\ncabinet at this moment was all the kingdom that He had. Let us here\npause a moment and try to realise the picture painted for us in that\ngrey morning time of what we now call the Christian Era. Suppose some\nof our artists could reproduce the scene for us: in the background the\nlake with the deserted boats upon the shore, old Zebedee with a half\nsad, half bewildered look upon his face, wondering what was happening,\ntrying to imagine what he would do without his sons, and what his sons\nwould do without him and the boat and the nets; and, in the\nforeground, the five men walking along, four of them without the least\nidea of where they were going or of what they had to do. Or suppose\nthat, instead of having a picture of it now, with all the light that\neighteen centuries have shed upon it, we could transport ourselves\nback to the very time and stand there on the very spot and see the\nscene with our own eyes; and suppose that we were told by some\nbystander, That man of the five that looks like the leader of the rest\nthinks himself a king: he imagines he has been sent to set up a\nkingdom of Heaven upon the earth; and he has just asked these other\nfour to join him, and there they are setting out upon their task. What\nshould we have thought? If we had had only flesh and blood to consult\nwith, we should have thought the whole thing supremely ridiculous; we\nshould have expected to see the four men back to their boats and nets\nagain in a few days, sadder but wiser men. How far Zebedee had a\nspiritually enlightened mind we dare not say; perhaps he was as\nwilling that his sons should go, as they were to go; but if he was, it\ncould not have been flesh and blood that revealed it to him; he as\nwell as his sons must have felt the power of the Spirit that was in\nChrist. But if he did not at all understand it or believe in it, we\ncan fancy him saying to the two young men when they left: \"Go off now,\nif you like; you will be back again in a few days, and foolish as you\nhave been, your old father will be glad to take you into his boat\nagain.\"\n\nIt is worth while for us to try to realise what happened in its\nveriest simplicity; for we have read the story so often, and are so\nthoroughly familiar with it, that we are apt to miss its marvel, to\nfail to recognise that it is perhaps the most striking illustration in\nall history of the apostle's statement, \"God hath chosen the foolish\nthings of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak\nthings of the world to confound the things which are mighty, ... that\nno flesh should glory in His presence.\"\n\nWhere was ever a weaker thing in this world than the beginning of\nthis kingdom? It would be difficult to imagine any commencement that\nwould have seemed weaker in worldly eyes. Stand by once again and look\nat it with only human eyes; say, is it not all weakness\ntogether?--weakness in the leader to imagine He can set up a kingdom\nafter such a fashion, weakness in the followers to leave a paying\nbusiness on such a fool's errand. But \"the foolishness of God is wiser\nthan men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.\" And now that\nwe look back upon that scene, we recognise it as one of the grandest\nthis earth has ever witnessed. If it were painted now, what light must\nthere be in the Leader's eye, what majesty in His step, what glory of\ndawning faith and love and hope in the faces of the rest--it must\nneeds be a picture of Sunrise, or it would be utterly unworthy of the\ntheme!\n\nNow follow them: where will they go, and what will they do? Will they\ntake arms and call to arms the country-side? Then march on Jerusalem\nand take the throne of David, and thence to Rome and snatch from C\u00e6sar\nthe sceptre of the world? \"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching\nin their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and\nhealing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the\npeople.\" Teaching--preaching--healing: these were the methods for\nsetting up the kingdom. \"_Teaching_\"--this was the new light;\n\"_preaching_ the Gospel of the Kingdom\"--this was the new power, power\nnot of the sword but of the Word, the power of persuasion, so that the\npeople will yield themselves willingly or not at all, for there is to\nbe not a shadow of constraint, not the smallest use of force or\ncompulsion, not the slightest interference with human freedom in this\nnew kingdom; and \"_healing_\"--this is to be the great thing; this is\nwhat a sick world wants, this is what souls and bodies of men alike\nare crying out for--\"healing all manner of sickness and all manner of\ndisease among the people.\" Heavenly light, heavenly power, heavenly\nhealing--these are the weapons of the new warfare; these the regalia\nof the new kingdom. \"And the report of Him went forth into all Syria;\nand they brought unto Him all that were sick, holden with divers\ndiseases and torments, possessed with devils, and epileptic, and\npalsied; and He healed them\" (R.V.). Call to mind, for a moment, how\nin the extremity of hunger He would not use one fraction of the\nentrusted power for His own behoof. \"Himself He cannot save.\" But see\nhow He saves others. No stinting now of the heavenly power; it flows\nin streams of blessing: \"They brought unto Him all that were sick, ...\nand He healed them.\"\n\nIt is Daybreak on the shores of Galilee. The Sun of Righteousness has\nrisen with healing in His wings.\n\n[4] It is worthy of notice that He has had the same experience even in\nGalilee as before, for He is cast out of His own place Nazareth, so\nthat He cannot really begin there. He gave them the first opportunity\nin Galilee as He had given Jerusalem first of all, but they too had\nrejected it, had driven Him out, and hence it is that the beginning\nwas not in the village up in the hills, but down by the lakeside in\nthe midst of the busy life that thronged its shores.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\n_THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM._\n\n(\"SERMON ON THE MOUNT.\")\n\nMATT. v., vi., vii.\n\n\nIt may seem almost heresy to object to the time-honoured title \"Sermon\non the Mount;\" yet, so small has the word \"sermon\" become, on account\nof its application to those productions of which there is material for\na dozen in single sentences of this great discourse, that there is\ndanger of belittling it by the use of a title which suggests even the\nremotest relationship to these ephemeral efforts. No mere sermon is\nthis, only distinguished from others of its class by its reach and\nsweep and power: it stands alone as the grand charter of the\ncommonwealth of heaven; or, to keep the simple title the evangelist\nhimself suggests (iv. 23), it is \"The Gospel (or good news) of the\nKingdom.\" To understand it aright we must keep this in mind, avoiding\nthe easy method of treating it as a mere series of lessons on\ndifferent subjects, and endeavouring to grasp the unity of thought and\npurpose which binds its different parts into one grand whole.\n\nIt may help us to do this if we first ask ourselves what questions\nwould naturally arise in the minds of the more thoughtful of the\npeople, when they heard the announcement, \"The kingdom of heaven is at\nhand.\" It was evidently to such persons the Lord addressed Himself.\n\"Seeing the multitudes,\" we read \"He went up into the mountain,\"\nperhaps for the purpose of selecting His audience. The idle and\nindifferent would stay down on the plain; only those who were in some\nmeasure stirred in spirit would follow Him as He climbed the steep\nascent from the shore of the lake to the plateau above; and in their\nminds they would in all probability be revolving such questions as\nthese: (1) \"What is this kingdom, what advantages does it offer, and\nwho are the people that belong to it?\" (2) \"What is required of those\nthat belong to it? what are its laws and obligations?\" And if these\ntwo questions were answered satisfactorily, a third would naturally\nfollow--(3) \"How may those who desire to share its privileges and\nassume its obligations become citizens of it?\" These, accordingly, are\nthe three great questions dealt with in succession.\n\n\nI. THE NATURE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM (vv. 2-16):\nfirst in itself, and then in relation to the world.\n\n1. _In itself (\"The Beatitudes\")_, vv. 2-12.\n\nThe answer to the questions in the people's hearts is given in no cold\ndidactic way. The truth about the heavenly kingdom comes warm from a\nloving heart yearning over the woes of a weary and heavy-laden\nhumanity. Its first word is \"Blessed\"; its first paragraph,\nBeatitudes. Plainly the King of heaven has come to bless. There is no\nthunder nor lightning nor tempest on this mount; all is calm and\npeaceful as a summer's day.\n\nHow high the key-note struck in this first word of the King! The\nadvantages usually associated with the best earthly government are\nvery moderate indeed. We speak of the commonwealth, a word which is\nsupposed to mean the common welfare; but the common welfare is quite\nbeyond the power of any earthly government, which at most can only\ngive protection against those enemies that would hinder the people\nfrom doing what they can to secure their own welfare. But here is a\nkingdom which is to secure the well-being of all who belong to it; and\nnot well-being only, but something far beyond and above it: for \"eye\nhath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of\nman, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,\" and\nwhich His ambassador wrapped up in that great word \"Blessed,\" the\nkey-note of the Gospel of the Kingdom.\n\nAs He proceeds to show wherein this blessedness is to be found, we are\nstruck by the originality of the conception, and its opposition to\nvulgar ideas. What the ordinary way of thinking on the subject is to\nthis day can be readily seen in that very word \"wealth,\" which in its\noriginal significance means welfare, but from the mistaken idea that a\nman's life consists in the abundance of the things which he possesses\nhas come to mean what it means now. Who can tell the woes that result\nfrom the prevalence of this grand mistake--how men are led off in\npursuit of happiness in a wrong direction altogether, away from its\ntrue source, and set to contending and competing with one another, so\nthat there is constant danger--a danger averted only by the degree in\nwhich the truth enshrined in the Beatitudes prevails--that \"the common\nwealth\" will become the common woe? What a different world this would\nbe if only the teaching of Christ on this one subject were heartily\naccepted--not by a few here and there, but by society at large! Then\nshould we see indeed a kingdom of heaven upon earth.\n\nFor observe wherein our new King finds the universal weal. We cannot\nfollow the beatitudes one by one; but glancing over them we see,\nrunning through them all, this great truth--that blessedness is\nessentially spiritual, that it depends not so much on a man's\ncondition as on his character, not so much on what he has as on what\nhe is. It needs no great effort of imagination to see that if men in\ngeneral were to make it their main object and endeavour in life to be\nwhat they ought to be, rather than to scramble for what they can get,\nthis earth would speedily become a moral paradise.\n\nIn expounding the blessedness of the kingdom the Master has unfolded\nthe character of its members, thus not only explaining the nature of\nthe kingdom and the advantages to be enjoyed under it, but also\nshowing who those are that belong to it. That this was intended seems\nevident from the first and the last of the beatitudes both ending with\nthe emphatic words \"theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\" It is as if on\nthe two gates at the hither and farther end of this beautiful garden\nwere inscribed the words, \"The truly blessed ones, the citizens of the\ncommonwealth of heaven, are those who are at home here.\" Originality\nof conception is again apparent. A kingdom so constituted was an\nentirely new thing in the world. Previously it had been a matter of\nrace or of place or of forced subjection. The forefathers of these\npeople had belonged to the kingdom of Israel, because they belonged to\nIsrael's race; themselves belonged to the empire of Rome, because\ntheir country had been conquered and they were obliged to acknowledge\nRome's sway; moreover, they were subjects of Herod Antipas, simply\nbecause they lived in Galilee. Here was a kingdom in which race\ndistinctions had no place, which took no account of territorial\nlimits, which made no appeal to force of arms or rights of conquest--a\nkingdom founded on character.\n\nYet it is no mere aristocracy of natural virtue. It is not a Royal\nAcademy of the spiritually noble and great. Its line seems rather to\nstretch down to the lowest, for who else are the poor in spirit? And\nthe mourners and the meek are no elect classes of nature's nobility.\nOn the other hand, however, it runs up to heights even quite out of\nsight of the easy-going virtue of the day; for those who belong to\nthis kingdom are men full of eager aspirations, bent on heart purity,\ngiven to efforts for the good of others, ready even to suffer the loss\nof all things for truth and righteousness' sake. The line is stretched\nso far down that even the lowest may enter; yet it runs up so high\nthat those have no place in it who are satisfied with mere average\nmorality, who count it enough to be free from vices that degrade the\nman, and innocent of crimes that offend the state. Most respectable\ncitizens of an earthly commonwealth such honest men may be; but no\nkingdom of heaven is open to such as they. The foundations of common\nmorality are of course assumed, as is made specially evident in the\nnext division of the great discourse; but it would have been quite\nmisleading had the Herald of heaven's kingdom said \"Blessed are the\nhonest,\" or \"Blessed is the man who tells no lies.\" The common virtues\nare quite indispensable; but there must be something beyond\nthese--first a sense of need of something far higher and better, then\na hungering and thirsting after it, and as a necessary consequence\nsome attainment of it, in order to citizenship in the kingdom of\nheaven and enjoyment of its blessedness.\n\nThe last beatitude breaks forth into a song of joy. No light-hearted\njoy, as of those who shut their eyes to the dark things in life, but\njoy in facing the very worst the world can do: \"Blessed are ye when\nmen shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of\nevil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding\nglad.\" O wonderful alchemy of heaven, which can change earth's dust\nand ashes into purest gold! Think, too, what riches and royalty of\nspirit in place of the poverty with which the series began.\n\nThese eight beatitudes are the diatonic scale of heaven's music. Its\nkey-note is blessing; its upper octave, joy. Those who heard it first\nwith quickened souls could no longer doubt that the kingdom of heaven\nwas at hand; indeed, was there on the mountain that day!\n\n\n2. _In relation to the world_ (vv. 13-16).\n\nThe original promise to Abraham was twofold: \"I will bless thee,\"\n\"Thou shalt be a blessing\" (Gen. xii. 2). The beatitudes correspond to\nthe former, the passage before us to the latter. The beatitudes are,\nso to speak, the home affairs of the kingdom of heaven; the passage\nwhich follows is occupied with foreign relations. Those spoke of\nblessedness within, this speaks of usefulness without; for the\ndisciples of Christ are known not only by their personal character and\ndisposition, but also by their influence on others.\n\nThe relations of the members of the kingdom to \"those that are\nwithout\" is a complex and difficult subject; but the essence of it is\nset forth with surpassing clearness, comprehensiveness and simplicity\nby the use of two unpretentious but most expressive figures, almost\ninfinite in their suggestiveness--salt and light. This is our first\nexperience of a well-known characteristic of the teaching of\nChrist--viz., His use of the simplest and most familiar objects of\nnature and circumstances of daily life, to convey highest and most\nimportant truth; and at once we recognise the touch of the Master. We\ncannot fail to see that out of all nature's infinity He has selected\nthe two illustrations,--the only two, which exactly fit and fill the\npurpose for which He employs them. To the thoughtful mind there is\nsomething here which prepares for such tokens of mastery over nature\nas are found later on in the hushing of the storm and the stilling of\nthe sea.\n\n\"Salt\" suggests the conservative, \"light\" the liberal, side of the\npolitics of the kingdom; but the two are not in opposition, they are\nin fullest harmony, the one being the complement of the other.\nChristian people, if they are what they profess to be, are all\nconservatives and all liberals: conservators of all that is good, and\ndiffusers of all that is of the nature of light. Each of these sides\nof Christian influence is presented in succession.\n\n\"_Ye are the salt of the earth._\" The metaphor suggests the sad fact\nthat, whatever tendency to upward development there may be in the\nworld of nature, there is a contrary tendency in the world of men, so\nfar as character is concerned. The world has often made great advances\nin civilisation; but these, unless counter-acted by forces from above,\nhave always been accompanied by a degeneracy in morals, which in\ncourse of time has brought about the ruin of mighty states. All that\nis best and most hopeful in mere worldly civilisation has in it the\ncanker of moral evil,\n\n \"That rotting inward slowly moulders all.\"\n\nThe only possible counteractive is the introduction of an element into\nsociety which will hold in check the forces that make for\nunrighteousness, and be itself an elevating and purifying influence.\nSuch an element Christians were to be in the world.\n\nSuch, to a large extent, they have been. That they were the salt of\nthe Roman empire during the evil days of its decline, no student of\nhistory can fail to see. Again, in the \"dark ages\" that followed, we\ncan still trace the sweetening influence of those holy lives which\nwere scattered like shining grains of salt through the ferment and\nseething of the times. So it has been throughout, and is still. It is\ntrue that there is no longer the sharp distinction between Christians\nand the world which there was in days when it cost something to\nconfess Christ. There are now so many Christians in name who are not\nso in reality, and, on the other hand, so many in reality who are not\nso in name, and moreover so many who are Christians neither in name\nnor in reality, but who are nevertheless unconsciously guided by\nChristian principles as the result of the wide diffusion of Christian\nthought and sentiment--that the conservative influence of distinctive\nChristianity is very difficult to estimate and is far less appreciated\nthan it should be. But it is as real and efficient as ever. If\nChristianity, as a conservative force in society, were to be suddenly\neliminated, the social fabric would fall in ruins; but if only the\nsalt were all genuine, if Christian people everywhere had the savour\nof the eight beatitudes about them, their conservative power as to all\nthat is good, and restraining influence as to all that is evil, would\nbe so manifest and mighty that none could question it.\n\nIf the salt would only keep its savour--there is the weak point. We\nknow and feel it after the experience of all these centuries. And did\nnot our omniscient Lord lay His finger on it at the very outset? He\nneeded not that any one should tell Him what was in man. He knew that\nthere was that in His truth which would be genuinely and efficiently\nconservative; but He knew equally well that there was that in man\nwhich would to a large extent neutralise that conservative power, that\nthe salt would be in constant danger of losing its savour. Hence,\nafter the encouraging words \"Ye are the salt of the earth,\" He gives\nan earnest warning which necessarily moderates the too sanguine\nanticipations that would otherwise have been excited.\n\nAlas! with what sad certainty has history proved the need of this\nwarning! The salt lost its savour in the churches of the East, or it\nwould never have been cast out and trodden underfoot of the Mohammedan\ninvaders. It lost its savour in the West, or there would have been no\npapal corruption, growing worse and worse till it seemed as if Western\nChristendom must in turn be dissolved--a fate which was only averted\nby the fresh salt of the Reformation revival. In modern times there is\never the same danger, sometimes affecting all the churches, as in the\ndark days preceding the revival under Whitefield and Wesley, always\naffecting some of them or some portions of them, as is too apparent on\nevery hand in these days in which we live. There is as much need as\never to lay to heart the solemn warning of the King. It is as pungent\nas salt itself. \"Of what use,\" He asks, \"is tasteless salt? It is fit\nonly to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.\" Equally useless is\nthe so-called Christian, who has nothing in character or life to\ndistinguish him from the world; who, though he may be honest and\ntruthful and sober, a very respectable citizen of an earthly kingdom,\nhas none of the characteristic marks of the kingdom of heaven, none of\nthe savour of the beatitudes about him. It is only because there are\nstill so many savourless Christians that the value of the Church as a\nconservative influence on society is so little recognised; and that\nthere are so many critics, not all unintelligent or wilfully unfair,\nwho begin to think it is time that it were cast out and trodden under\nfoot of men.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"_Ye are the light of the world._\" We need not stay to show the\nliberality of light. Its peculiar characteristic is giving, spending;\nfor this purpose wholly it exists, losing its own life in order to\nfind it again in brightness diffused on all around.\n\nObserve, it is not \"Ye carry the light,\" but \"Ye _are_ the light.\" We\nare apt to think of light in the abstract--as truth, as doctrine, as\nsomething to be believed and held and expounded. We quote the familiar\nwords, \"Great is the Truth, and it shall prevail,\" and we imagine they\nare true. They are true indeed, in the long run, but not as often\nunderstood, certainly not in the region of the moral and spiritual. Of\ncourse truth in the abstract, especially moral and spiritual truth,\nought to prevail; but it never does when men's interests lie, or seem\nto lie, in the contrary direction. Such truth, to be mighty, must be\nvitalised; it must glow in human hearts, burn on human tongues, shine\nin human lives. The King of truth knew this well; and hence He placed\nthe hope of the future, the hope of dispelling the world's darkness,\nnot in abstract truth, but in truth incarnate in the true disciple:\n\"_Ye_ are the light of the world.\"\n\nIn the strictest and highest sense, of course, Christ Himself is the\nLight of the world. This is beautifully set forth in discourses\nreported by another Evangelist (John viii. 12, ix. 5); and, indeed, it\nhas been already taught by implication in the Evangel before us,\nwhere, as we have seen, the opening of Christ's ministry is likened to\nsunrise in the land of Zebulon and Naphtali (chap. iv. 16). But the\npersonal Christ cannot remain upon the earth. Only for a few years can\nHe be in this way the Light of the world, as He expressly says in one\nof the passages above referred to (John ix. 5); and He is speaking now\nnot for the next few years but for the coming centuries, during which\nHe must be represented by His faithful disciples, appointed to be His\nwitnesses (Acts i. 8) to the ends of the earth; so at once He puts the\nresponsibility on them, and says, \"Ye are the light of the world.\"\n\nThis responsibility it was impossible to avoid. As a matter of course,\nthe kingdom of heaven must be a prominent object in the sight of men.\nThe mountain of the Lord's house must be established on the top of the\nmountains (Isa. ii. 2), and therefore may not be inconspicuous: \"A\ncity set on a hill cannot be hid.\" It has been often said, but it will\nbear repeating, that Christians are the world's Bible. People who\nnever read a word of either Old or New Testament will read the lives\nof those who profess to draw their inspiration thence, and will judge\naccordingly. They will form their opinions of Christ and of His\nkingdom by those who call themselves or are called by others\nChristians. \"A city set on a hill _cannot_ be hid.\" Here we have a\ntruth complementary to that other conveyed in the symbol of salt. It\ntaught that true Christians exert a great deal of silent, unobserved\ninfluence, as of salt hidden in a mass; but, besides this, there is\ntheir position as connected with the kingdom of heaven which forbids\ntheir being wholly hid.\n\nIndeed, it is their duty to see to it that they are not artificially\nhid: \"Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on\nthe stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house\" (R.V.). How\nbeautifully does the illustration lend itself to the needed caution\nagainst timidity, without giving the least encouragement to the\nopposite vice of ostentation! Why does light shine? Simply because it\ncannot help it; it is its nature; without effort or even\nconsciousness, and making no noise, it quietly does its duty; and in\nthe doing of it does not encourage but even forbids any looking at\nitself--and the brighter it is, the more severely does it forbid it.\nBut while there is no ostentatious obtrusiveness on the one hand,\nthere is no ignoble shirking on the other. Who would ever think of\nkindling a light and then putting it under a bed? Yet how many\nChristians do that very thing when they are called to work for Christ,\nto let the light He has given them shine in some of the dark places\nwhere it is most needed!\n\nHere, again, our Lord lays His finger on a weak spot. The Church\nsuffers sorely, not only from quantities of savourless salt,--people\ncalling themselves Christians who have little or nothing distinctively\nChristian about them,--but also from bushel-covered lights, those who\nare genuinely Christian, but who do all they can to hide it, refusing\nto speak on the subject, afraid to show earnestness even when they\nfeel it most, carefully repressing every impulse to let their light\nshine before men, doing everything, in fact, which is possible to\nrender their testimony to Christ as feeble, and their influence as\nChristians as small, as it can be. How many in all our Christian\ncommunities are constantly haunted by a nervous fear lest people\nshould think them forward! For one person who makes a parade of his\nChristianity there are a hundred or a thousand who want always to\nshrink into a corner. This is not modesty; it is the sign of an\nunnatural self-consciousness. The disciples of Christ should act\nsimply, naturally, unconsciously, neither making a display on the one\nhand nor hiding their light on the other. So the Master puts it most\nbeautifully and suggestively: \"Let your light so shine before men,\nthat they may see your good works\" (not the worker--that is of no\nconsequence--but the works), \"and glorify your Father which is in\nheaven.\"\n\nSo closes the first great division of the Manifesto of the King. It\nhad begun with \"goodwill to men\"; it has shown the way of \"peace on\nearth\"; it closes with \"glory to God in the highest.\" It is a\nprolonged echo of the angels' song. The Gospel of the Kingdom, not\nonly as set forth here in these beautiful paragraphs, but in all its\nlength and breadth and depth and height, in all its range and scope\nand application, is but an expansion of its very first proclamation:\n\"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill to men.\"\n\n\nII. THE LAW OF THE KINGDOM (v. 17-vii. 12).\n\n1. _General principles_ (vv. 17-20).\n\nAfter blessing comes obligation--after beatitude, law. It is the same\norder as of old. The old covenant was in its origin and essence a\ncovenant of promise, of blessing. Mercy, not duty, was its key-note.\nWhen God called Abraham to the land of promise, His first word was: \"I\nwill bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a\nblessing\" (Gen. xii. 2). Later on came the obligation resulting, as in\nGenesis xvii. 1: \"Walk before me, and be thou perfect.\" So in the\nhistory of the Nation, the promise came first and the law followed it\nafter an interval of four hundred years--a fact of which special use\nis made by the Apostle Paul (Gal. iii. 17, 18). The Mosaic\ndispensation itself began by an acknowledgment of the ancient promise\n(\"I am the God of your fathers\"--Ex. iii. 6), and a fresh declaration\nof Divine mercy (\"I know their sorrows, and am come to deliver\nthem\"--Ex. iii. 7, 8). When Mount Sinai was reached, the entire\ncovenant was summarised in two sentences, the first reciting the\nblessing, the second setting forth the resulting obligation: \"Thus\nshalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;\nYe have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on\neagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, if ye will\nobey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a\npeculiar treasure unto Me above all people\" (Ex. xix. 3-5). The very\nDecalogue itself is constructed on the same principle; for before a\nsingle commandment is given, attention is called to the great\nsalvation which has been wrought on their behalf: \"I am the Lord thy\nGod, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of\nbondage.\" Thus closely does the proclamation of the new kingdom follow\nthe lines of the old; far above and beyond it in respect of\ndevelopment, in essence it is the same.\n\nIt was therefore most appropriate that, in entering on the subject of\nthe law of His kingdom Christ should begin with the caution, \"Think\nnot that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.\" On this point\nthere would necessarily be the greatest sensitiveness on the part of\nthe people. The law was their glory--all their history had gathered\nround it, the prophets had enforced and applied it; their sacred\nScriptures, known broadly as \"The Law and the Prophets,\" had enshrined\nit. Was it, then, to be set aside for new legislation? The feeling was\nquite natural and proper. It was necessary, therefore, that the new\nKing should set Himself right on a matter so important. He has not\ncome to overturn everything. He accepts the old covenant more\ncordially and thoroughly than they do, as will presently appear; He\nwill build on it as a sure foundation; and whatever in His legislation\nmay be new grows naturally out of the old. It is, moreover, worthy of\nnotice that while the Mosaic economy is specially in His mind, He does\nnot entirely leave out of consideration the elements of truth in other\nreligious systems; and therefore defines the attitude He assumes as a\nLegislator and Prophet, in terms of the widest generality: \"I am not\ncome to destroy, but to fulfil.\"\n\nWhile in the widest sense He came not to destroy but to fulfil, so\nthat He could with fullest liberality acknowledge what was good and\ntrue in the work of all former teachers, whoever and wherever they had\nbeen, thus accepting and incorporating their \"broken lights\" as part\nof His \"Light of the world\" (compare John i. 9), He can speak of the\nold covenant in a way in which it would have been impossible to speak\nof the work of earth's greatest and best. He can accept it as a whole\nwithout any reservation or deduction: \"For verily I say unto you, Till\nheaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass\nfrom the law, till all be fulfilled.\" Observe, however, that this\nstatement is not at all inconsistent with what He teaches concerning\nthe temporary character of much of the Mosaic legislation; it simply\nmakes it clear that whatever passes away, does not pass by\ndestruction, but by fulfilment--_i.e._, the evolution of its hidden\nlife--as the bud passes into the rose. The bud is there no longer; but\nit is not destroyed, it is fulfilled in the rose. So with the law as\ninfolded in the Old Testament, unfolded in the New. How well fitted to\ninspire all thoughtful minds with confidence must have been the\ndiscovery that the policy of the new kingdom was to be on the lines,\nnot of brand-new experimental legislation, but of Divine evolution!\n\nNot only does He Himself do homage to the law, but takes order that\nHis followers shall do the same. It is no parting compliment that He\npays the old covenant. It is to be kept up both in the doing and in\nthe teaching, from generation to generation, even in its least\ncommandments. Not that there is to be such insistence on very small\nmatters as to exclude altogether from the kingdom of heaven those who\ndo not press every jot and tittle; but that these will be reckoned of\nsuch importance, that those who are lax in doctrine and practice in\nregard to them must be counted among the least in the kingdom; while\nthose who destroy nothing, but seek to fulfil everything, will be the\ngreat ones. What a foundation is laid here for reverence of all that\nis contained in the law and the prophets! And has it not been found\nthat even in the very smallest features of the old covenant, even in\nthe details of the tabernacle worship, for example, there is for the\ndevout and intelligent Christian a treasury of valuable suggestion?\nOnly we must beware of putting jots and tittles in the place that\nbelongs to the weightier matters of the law, of which we have warnings\nsufficient in the conduct of the scribes and Pharisees. Their\nrighteousness had the appearance of extending to the minutest matters;\nbut, large as it seemed in popular eyes, it was not nearly large\nenough; and accordingly, in closing this general definition of His\nrelation to the old covenant, our Lord had to interpose this solemn\nwarning: \"I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed\nthe righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case\nenter the kingdom of heaven.\" Theirs was a righteousness as it were of\nthe tips of the fingers, whereas He must have \"the whole body full of\nlight\"; theirs was a righteousness that tithed mint and anise and\ncummin, and neglected judgment, mercy and faith; theirs was in the\nnarrow sphere of the letter, that which He demanded must be in the\nlarge and lofty region of the Spirit.\n\n\n2. _Illustrations from the Moral Law_ (vv. 21-48).\n\nThe selection of illustrative instances is made with consummate skill.\nOur Lord, avoiding that which is specially Jewish in its interest,\ntreats of matters that are of world-wide importance. He deals with the\nbroadest principles of righteousness as adapted to the universal\nconscience of mankind, starting at the lowest point of mere earthly\nmorality and rising to the very highest development of Christian\ncharacter, thus leading up to the magnificent conclusion: \"Be ye\ntherefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.\"\n\nHe begins with the crime which the natural conscience most strongly\nand instinctively condemns, the crime of murder; and shows that the\nscribes and Pharisees, and those who had been like them in bygone\ndays, really destroyed the sixth commandment by limiting its range to\nthe muscles, so that, if there were no actual killing, the commandment\nwas not broken; whereas its true sphere was the heart, the essence of\nthe forbidden crime being found in unjustifiable anger, even though no\nword is uttered or muscle moved,--a view of the case which ought to\nhave been suggested to the intelligent student of the law by such\nwords as these: \"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart\" (Lev.\nxix. 17); or again: \"Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he\nhated not in time past, ... is not worthy of death, inasmuch as he\nhated him not in time past\" (Deut. xix. 4). Hatred in the heart, then,\nis murder. How searching! And how terribly severe the sentence! Even\nin its least aggravated form it is the same as that decreed against\nthe actual shedding of blood. All the three sentences are\ndeath-penalties, only there are aggravations in the penalty where\nthere are aggravations in the offence. Such is the Saviour's teaching\non the great subject of sin. Yet there are those who imagine that the\nSermon on the Mount is all the gospel they need!\n\nThe two practical applications which follow press the searching\nsubject home. The one has reference to the Throne of Grace, and\nteaches that all offences against a brother must be put away before\napproaching it. The other has reference to the Throne of Judgment, and\nteaches by a familiar illustration drawn from common experience in the\ncourts of Palestine that it is an awful thing to think of standing\nthere with the memory of a single angry feeling that had not been\nforgiven and utterly removed (v. 26).\n\nThe crime of adultery furnishes the next illustration; and He deals\nwith it on the same lofty principles and with the same terrible\nseverity. He shows that this crime, too, is of the heart--that even a\nwanton look is a commission of it; and again follows up His searching\nexposition by a twofold practical application, first showing that\npersonal purity must be maintained at any cost (vv. 29, 30), and then\nguarding the sacredness of home, by that exaltation of the marriage\nbond which has secured the emancipation of woman and her elevation to\nher proper sphere, and kept in check those frightful evils which are\never threatening to defile the pure and sacred spring from which\nsociety derives its life and sustenance (vv. 31, 32).\n\nNext comes the crime of perjury--a compound sin, which breaks at the\nsame time two commandments of the Decalogue, the third and the ninth.\nHere, again, our Lord shows that, if only due homage is paid in the\nheart to reverence and to truth, all swearing is superseded. Let a man\nhabitually live in the fear of the Lord all the day long, and \"his\nword is as good as his oath\"--he will always speak the truth, and will\nbe incapable of taking the name of the Lord in vain. It is of course\nto be remembered that these are the laws of the kingdom of Christ; not\nlaws meant for the kingdoms of this world, which have to do with men\nof all sorts, but for a kingdom made up of those who hunger and thirst\nafter righteousness, who seek and find purity of heart. This passage\naccordingly has no bearing on the procedure of secular courts of\njustice. But, though the use of oaths may still be a necessity in the\nworld, in the kingdom of heaven they have no place. The simple \"Yea,\nyea,\" \"Nay, nay,\" is quite enough where there is truth in the inward\nparts and the fear of God before the eyes; and the feeling of\nreverence, not only for God Himself but for all the works of His\nhands, will effectually prevent the most distant approach to\nprofanity.\n\nThe sin of revenge furnishes the next illustration. The Pharisaic\nperversion of the old law actually sanctioned private revenge, on the\nground of a statute intended for the guidance of the courts of\njustice, and given for the sake of curbing the revengeful spirit which\nwithout it would lead a prosecutor to demand that his enemy should\nsuffer more than he had inflicted. In this way they really destroyed\nthat part of the Mosaic legislation, whereas He fulfilled it by\ndeveloping still further,--bringing, in fact, to perfection,--that\nspirit of humanity which had dictated the law at the first. The true\nspirit of the Mosaic legislation was to discourage private revenge by\nassigning such cases to the courts, and curbing it still further by\nthe limitation of the penalty imposed. Was not this spirit most nobly\nfulfilled, carried to its highest development, when the Saviour laid\nit down as the law of His kingdom that our revenge is to be the\nreturning of good for evil?\n\nThe four practical illustrations (vv. 39-42) have been a source of\ndifficulty, but only to those who forget that our Saviour is all the\nwhile warning against \"the letter that killeth,\" and showing the need\nof catching \"the spirit\" of a commandment which \"giveth life\" to it.\nTo deal with these illustrations according to the letter, as telling\nus exactly what to do in particular cases, is not to fulfil but to\ndestroy the Saviour's words. The great thing, therefore, is to catch\ntheir spirit; then they will be found of use, not for so many\nspecified cases, but for all cases whatever. As an illustration of\nthe difficulties to which we refer, mention may be made of the\nprejudice against the passage which suggests the turning of the other\ncheek, on the ground that it encourages a craven spirit. Take it as a\ndefinite command, and this would be in many cases the result. It would\nbe the result wherever fear or pusillanimity was the motive. But where\nis there in all this passage the least trace of fear or pusillanimity?\nIt is all love and magnanimity. It is the very antipodes of the craven\nspirit. It is the heroism of self-denying love!\n\nThe last illustration cuts at the root of all sin and crime, the\ntap-root of selfishness. The scribes and Pharisees had made use of\nthose regulations, most needful at the time, which separated Israel\nfrom other nations, as an excuse for restricting the range of love to\nthose prepared to render an equivalent. Thus that wonderful statute of\nthe old legislation, \"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,\" was\nactually made a minister to selfishness; so that, instead of leading\nthem to a life above the world, it left them not a whit better than\nthe lowest and most selfish of the people. \"If ye love them which love\nyou, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?\" Thus\nwas the noble \"royal law according to the Scripture\" destroyed by the\npetty quibbling use of the word \"neighbour.\" Our Lord fulfilled it by\ngiving to the word neighbour its proper meaning, its widest extent,\nincluding even those who have wronged us in thought or word or deed,\n\"I say unto you, Love your _enemies_, bless them that curse you,\ndo good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully\nuse you, and persecute you.\"\n\nHow lofty, how far beyond the reach of the natural man!--but not\nimpossible, or it would not have been demanded. It is one of the\nthings of the kingdom concerning which the assurance is given later\non: \"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find.\" Still, the\nMaster knows full well that it is no small demand He is making of poor\nhuman nature. So at this point He leads our thoughts upward to our\nFather in heaven, suggesting in that relationship the possibility of\nits attainment (for why should not a child be like its father?) and\nthe only example possible, for this was a range of righteousness\nbeyond the reach of all that had gone before--He Himself as the Son of\nthe Father would later set it forth before the eyes of men in all its\nlustre. But that time is yet to come, and meantime He can only point\nupward to the Highest, and urge them to this loftiest height of\nrighteousness by the tender plea, \"That ye may be the children of your\nFather which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil\nand on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.\"\n\nHow beautiful and expressive are these symbols from nature, and how\nencouraging the interpretation of nature His use of them suggests! And\nwhat shall we say of their suggestiveness in the higher sphere of the\nspirit? Already the Sun of Righteousness is rising with healing in His\nwings; and in due time the rain of the Spirit will fall in fulness of\nblessing; so shall His disciples receive all that is needful to raise\nthem to the very highest in character and conduct, in beatitude and\nrighteousness; and accordingly their Master may well finish His whole\nexposition of the morals of the kingdom with the stirring, stimulating\ncall, \"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven\nis perfect.\"\n\n\n3. _Illustrations from Religious Duty_ (vi. 1-18).\n\nThe righteousness of the kingdom is still the great subject; for the\nreading of the Revised Version in the first verse of the chapter is\nevidently the correct one. The illustrations of the preceding passage\nhave all come under the head of what we call morality as distinguished\nfrom religion, but it is important to observe that our Lord gives no\nsanction to the separation of the two.\n\nMorality divorced from religion is a flower without root, which may\nbloom for a while, but in the end must wither away; religion without\nmorality is--nothing at all; worse than nothing, for it is a sham. It\nis evident, of course, that this great word \"righteousness,\" as used\nby our Lord, has a far wider scope than is given to it by those who\ntake it merely as the equivalent of truth and honesty, as if a man\ncould in any proper sense of the word be righteous, who was ungenerous\nto his neighbours, unfilial to God, or not master of himself.\n\nAgain, we have a principle laid down: \"Take heed that ye do not your\nrighteousness before men, to be seen of them\" (R.V.). It is the same\ngreat principle as before, though the caution in which it is embodied\nis different. For if we compare ver. 20 of the preceding chapter, and\nremember its subsequent development in the verses which follow, we\nfind that it agrees with the warning before us in insisting on\nrighteousness of the heart as distinguished from that which is merely\noutward. The difference lies in this, that whereas, in the cases\nalready dealt with, external conformity with the law is good so far as\nit goes, but does not go nearly far enough (\"except your righteousness\nshall exceed,\" exceed, _i.e._, by reaching back and down to the\ndeepest recesses of the heart), in the cases now to be taken up\nexternal conformity is not good in itself, but really evil, inasmuch\nas it is mere pretence. Accordingly the caution now must needs be much\nstronger: \"_Be ye not_ as the hypocrites.\"\n\nIt is not, however, the being seen which is condemned, otherwise the\ncaution would be at variance with the earnest counsel in chap. v. 16,\nand would, in fact, amount to a total prohibition of public worship.\nAs before, it is a matter of the heart. It is the hidden motive which\nis condemned: \"Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men,\n_to be seen of them_.\"\n\nThe principle is applied in succession to Almsgiving, to Prayer, to\nFasting.\n\n_Almsgiving_ is no longer regarded as distinctively a religious duty.\nNor can it be put under the head of morality according to the common\nidea attached to that word. It rather occupies a kind of borderland\nbetween them, coming under the head of philanthropy. But whence came\nthe spirit of philanthropy? Its foundation is in the holy mountains.\nModern philanthropy is like a great fresh-water lake, on the shores of\nwhich one may wander with admiration and delight for great distances\nwithout discovering any connection with the heaven-piercing mountains.\nBut such connection it has. The explorer is sure to find somewhere an\ninlet showing whence its waters come, a bright sparkling stream which\nhas filled it and keeps it full; or springs below it, which, though\nthey may flow far underground, bring the precious supplies from the\nhigher regions, perhaps quite out of sight. If these connections with\nthe upper springs were to be cut off, the beautiful lake would\nspeedily dry up and disappear. Almsgiving, therefore, is in its right\nplace here: its source is in the higher regions of the righteousness\nof the kingdom. And in these early days the lakes had not been formed,\nfor the springs were only beginning to flow from the great\nFountain-head.\n\nThe general object our Lord has in view, moreover, leads Him to treat\nthe subject, not in relation to those who receive, but to those who\ngive. There may be good done through the gifts of men who have no\nhigher object in view than the sounding of their own trumpet; but, so\nfar as they themselves are concerned, their giving has no value in the\nsight of God. Everything depends on the motive: hence the injunction\nof secrecy. There may indeed be circumstances which suggest or even\nrequire a certain measure of publicity, for the sake of the object or\ncause to which gifts are devoted; but so far as the giver is\nconcerned, the more absolute the secrecy the better. For though it is\npossible to give in the most open and public way without at all\nindulging the petty motive of ostentation, yet so weak is human nature\non that side of it, that our Lord puts His caution in the very\nstrongest terms, counselling us not only to avoid courting the\nattention of others, but to refrain from even thinking of what we have\ndone; for that seems to be the point of the striking and memorable\nwords \"Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.\"\n\nThe trumpet-blowing may be a great success. What the Master thinks of\nthat success is seen in the caustic irony of the words \"Verily I say\nunto you, they have their reward.\" There it is--and you can see just\nhow paltry and pitiful it is; for there is nothing a man is more\nashamed of than to be caught in even the slightest attempt to parade\nhimself. But if the praise of men is never thought of, it cannot be\nsaid \"they have their reward.\" Their reward is to come; and though it\ndoth not yet appear, it will certainly be worthy of our Father Who\nseeth in secret.\n\nUnder the head of _Prayer_ two cautions are given. The one may be\ndismissed in a few words, not only because it exactly corresponds with\nthe preceding case, but because among us there is scarcely any\ntemptation to that against which it is directed. The danger now is all\nthe other way. The temptation for true children of the kingdom is not\nto parade their devotion for show, but to conceal it for shame. Still\nthere are some directions in which even yet the caution against\nostentation in prayer is needed--as, for instance, by those who in\npublic or social prayer assume affected tones, or try in any way to\ngive an impression of earnestness beyond what is really felt. Of the\nsanctimonious tone we may say that it has its reward in the almost\nuniversal contempt it provokes.\n\nThe other caution is directed, not against pretence, but against\nsuperstition. It will be seen, however, that the two belong to the\nsame category, and therefore are most appropriately dealt with\ntogether. What is the sin of the formalist? It is that his heart is\nnot in his worship. What is the folly of the vain repetitionist? It is\nthe same--that his heart is not in his words. For there is no\ndiscouragement of repetition, if it be prompted by genuine\nearnestness. Our Lord again and again encouraged even importunate\nprayer, and Himself in the Garden offered the same petition three\ntimes in close succession. It is not, then, repetition, but \"_vain_\nrepetition,\"--empty of heart, of desire, of hope--that is here\nrebuked; not much prayer, but \"much speaking,\" the folly of supposing\nthat the mere \"saying\" of prayers is of any use apart from the\nemotions of the heart in which true prayer essentially consists.\n\nTo guide us in a matter so important, our Lord not only cautions\nagainst what prayer ought not to be, but shows what it ought to be.\nThus, incidentally as it were, He hands to us this pearl of great\nprice, this purest crystal of devotion, to be a possession of His\npeople for ever, never to lose its lustre through millenniums of daily\nuse, its beauty and preciousness becoming rather more and more\nmanifest to each successive generation.\n\nIt is given especially as a model of _form_, to show that,\ninstead of the vain repetitions condemned, there should be simplicity,\ndirectness, brevity, order--above all, the plain, unadorned expression\nof the heart's desire. This main object is accomplished perfectly; a\nwhole volume on the form of prayer could not have done it better, or\nso well. But, besides this, there is instruction as to the\n_substance_ of prayer. We are taught to rise high above all\nselfish considerations in our desires, seeking the things of God\nfirst; and when we come to our own wants, asking nothing more than our\nFather in heaven judges to be sufficient for the day, while all the\nstress of earnestness is laid on deliverance from the guilt and power\nof sin. Then as to the _spirit_ of prayer, mark the filial\nreverence implied in the invocation,--the fraternal spirit called for\nby the very first word of it, and the spirit of forgiveness we are\ntaught to cherish by the very terms in which we ask it for ourselves.\nAll this and more is superadded to the lesson for the sake of which\nthe model prayer has been given.\n\nThe third application is to _Fasting_. In another place (ix. 14) will\nbe found the principle to be followed in regard to times of fasting.\nHere it is taken for granted that there will be such times, and the\nprinciple announced at the beginning of the chapter is applied to the\nexercise. Let it be done in secret, before no other eye than His Who\nseeth in secret; thus only can we have the blessed recompense which\ncomes to the heart that is truly humbled in the sight of God.\n\nThis principle plainly condemns that kind of fasting which is done\nonly before men, as when in the name of religion people will abstain\nfrom certain kinds of food and recreation on particular days or at\nappointed times, without any corresponding humbling of the heart. The\nfasting must be before God, or it is a piece of acting, \"as the\nhypocrites,\" who play a part before men, and when they go home put off\nthe mask and resume their proper life. \"Be ye not as the hypocrites;\"\ntherefore see that your fasting is before God; and then, if the inward\nfeeling naturally leads to restriction of the pleasures of the table\nor of society, or to any other temporary self-denial, let it by all\nmeans be followed out, but so as to attract just as little attention\nas possible; and not only so, but if any traces of the secret exercise\nstill remain when the penitential hour with God alone is over, these\nare to be carefully removed before returning to the ordinary\nintercourse of life. Our \"penitence and prayer\" are for ourselves\nonly, and for God. Before men our _light_ should shine.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe three illustrations cover by suggestion the whole ground; for\nprayer may well be understood in that large scriptural sense in which\npraise is included, and fasting is suggestive of all mortification of\nthe flesh and humbling of the spirit. The first shows true religion in\nits outgoing, the second in its upgoing, while the third abases self;\nand all three are mutually helpful, for the higher we soar God-ward in\npraise and prayer, the lower shall we bend in reverent humility, and\nthe further will our hearts go out in world-wide charity.\n\nAll depends on truth in the inward parts, on the secret life of the\nsoul with God. How impressively is this stated throughout the whole\npassage! Observe the almost rhythmical repetitions: \"Be ye not as the\nhypocrites,\" three times repeated; \"Verily I say unto you, they have\ntheir reward,\" the very words three times repeated; \"Let thine alms be\n_in secret_,\" \"Pray to thy Father which is _in secret_,\"\n\"That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is\n_in secret_\"; and once more, three times repeated, \"Thy Father\nwhich seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee.\" No vain repetitions\nthese. They press the great lesson home with a threefold force.\n\n\n4. _Duty in relation to the World and the things of it_ (vi. 19-vii.\n12).\n\nFrom this point onwards the plan of the discourse is not so apparent,\nand some have given up the idea of finding orderly sequence in it; yet\nthere seems to be no insuperable difficulty, when the right point of\nview is taken. The perplexity seems to have arisen from supposing that\nat this point an entirely new subject begins, whereas all that follows\non to chapter vii. 12, arranges itself easily under the same general\nhead--the Righteousness of the Kingdom. According to this arrangement\nof the discourse there is an introduction of fourteen verses (v.\n3-16), and a concluding passage of almost exactly the same length\n(vii. 13-27); while the main discussion occupies nearly three\nchapters, the subject throughout being the Righteousness of the\nKingdom, dealt with, first as morality (v. 17-48), second as religion\n(vi. 1-18), and finally as spirituality (vi. 19-vii. 12), beginning\nand ending with a general reference to the law and the prophets (v.\n17, vii. 12). The first of these divisions had to do with\nrighteousness as between man and man;[5] the second with righteousness\nbefore God alone; while the third, on the consideration of which we\nnow enter, deals with righteousness as between the children of the\nkingdom and the world in the midst of which it is set up. And just as\nin the paragraphs already considered we have been shown that our Lord\ncame not to destroy but to fulfil the code of ethics, and the rules\nfor Divine service in the law and the prophets, so in this it will be\nmade equally apparent that He came not to destroy but to fulfil the\nprinciples involved in the political code by which Israel was\nseparated from the nations of the world to be the Lord's peculiar\npeople.\n\nThe subject before us now, therefore, is the relations of the children\nof the kingdom to the world; and it is dealt with--\n\n(1) _As regards the good things of the world._ From the Beatitudes we\nhave already learned that the blessedness of the children of the\nkingdom is to consist not in the abundance of the things they possess,\nbut in qualities of soul, possessions in the realm of the unseen. Yet\nthe children of the kingdom cannot do without the good things of this\nworld; what, then, has the law of the kingdom to say in regard to\ntheir acquisition and use? The subject is large and difficult; but\nwith amazing clearness and force, comprehensiveness and simple\npractical utility, it is set forth in a single paragraph, which is\nalso characterised by a surpassing beauty of language. As before, the\nstraight and narrow path is marked off by cautions on the right and on\nthe left. On the one side must be shunned the Scylla of _greed_, on\nthe other the Charybdis of _care_. The one is the real danger of\nseeking too much, the other the supposed danger of having too little,\nof \"the good things of life.\"\n\nIt is not, however, a question of quantity. As before, it is a\nquestion of the heart. On the one hand, it is not the danger of having\ntoo much, but of seeking too much; on the other, it is not the danger\nof having too little, but of fearing that there will not be enough. It\nis a mistake, therefore, to say that the one caution is for the rich\nand the other for the poor. True, indeed, the rich are in greater\ndanger of Scylla than of Charybdis, and the poor in more peril from\nthe pool than from the rock; still a rich man may be, often is, a\nvictim of care, while a poor man may readily have his heart far too\nmuch set on the yearly or weekly increase of his little store. It\nseems better, then, to make no distinction of classes, but to look at\neach caution as needed by all.\n\n(_a_) Against seeking the good things of the world too earnestly (vv.\n19-24). It is important to notice the strong emphasis on the word\n\"treasure.\" This is evident not only from the reduplication of it--for\nthe literal translation would be, \"Treasure not for yourselves\ntreasures upon the earth\"--but also from the reason against it\nassigned in ver. 21: \"Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be\nalso.\" It is clear, then, that there is no prohibition of wealth, but\nonly of making it \"thy treasure.\" But against this the law of the\nkingdom is in the highest degree decided and uncompromising. The\nlanguage is exceedingly forcible, and the reasons marshalled are\nterribly strong. With all faithfulness, and with growing earnestness,\nthe Master shows that to disobey this law is foolish, pernicious,\nfatal. It is _foolish_; for all earthly treasures are perishable,\neaten by moth, consumed by rust, stolen by thieves, while the heavenly\ntreasures of the spiritually-minded are incorruptible and safe for\nevermore. It is not only foolish, but most _pernicious_,--injurious to\nthat which is most sensitive and most precious in the life, that which\nis to the soul what the eye is to the body, the darkening of which\nmeans the darkening of the whole body, not the mere clouding of the\nvision, but the condition suggested by the awful words \"full of\ndarkness\"; while the corresponding deterioration in the lower ranges\nof the life is indicated by what follows: \"If therefore the light that\nis in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!\" It is not only\nfoolish and most pernicious, but _fatal_, for \"No man _can_ serve two\nmasters\"; so that to set the heart on the world means to give up the\nkingdom. It is vain to try to satisfy two claimants of the heart. One\nor other must be chosen: \"Ye _cannot_ serve God and mammon.\"\n\n(_b_) Against anxiety about the things of the world. The Revised\nVersion has, by its correct translation, now removed the difficulty\nwhich seemed to lie in the words \"Take no thought.\" To modern ears\nthese words seemed to encourage thoughtlessness and to bless\nimprovidence. Our translators of the seventeenth century, however,\nhad no such idea. It is the result of a change of meaning in a current\nphrase. At the time the translation was made, \"to take thought\" meant\nto be anxious, as will appear from such a passage as that in the first\nbook of Samuel (ix. 5), where Saul says to his servant, \"Come and let\nus return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and _take\nthought_ for us,\" evidently in the sense of \"be anxious about us.\"[6]\nIt is then, manifestly, not against thoughtfulness and providence, but\nagainst anxious care that the caution is directed.\n\nAlthough this evil seems to lie in the opposite direction from that of\navarice, it is really the same both in its root and its fruit, for it\nis due to the estrangement of the heart from our Father in heaven, and\namounts, in so far as it prevails, to enslavement to the world. The\ncovetous man is enslaved in one way, the anxious man in another; for\ndoes not our common language betray it every time we think or speak of\n\"_freedom_ from care\"? We need not wonder, then, that our Lord\nshould connect what He is about to say on this evil so closely with\nwhat He has said on the other, as He does by use of the word\n_therefore_: \"Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your\nlife.\"\n\nBut though, like the other, it is slavery, the sin of it is not\nnearly so great, and hence the difference of tone, which cannot but be\nobserved as this new caution is given. It is no longer strong\ncondemnation, but gentle expostulation; not dark threatening now, but\ntender pleading. As before, reason after reason is given against\nyielding to the all too natural weakness of the human heart. We are\nencouraged to remember what God has given already: the life, with such\namazing powers and capabilities; the body, with all its marvellous\nintricacy and adaptation: and can it be supposed that He is likely to\nwithhold the food to maintain the life, the raiment to clothe the\nbody?--to remember how the little birds of the air and the modest\nlilies of the field are not forgotten: how then can we think that our\nFather would forget us, who are of so much more value than they?--to\nremember that the very fact that we know Him as our Father should be\nguarantee enough, preventing us from an anxious solicitude pardonable\nin the heathen, who have no such knowledge of a Father in heaven Who\nknoweth what His children need;--to remember also how vain and\nfruitless is our care, seeing we cannot in the very smallest lengthen\nthe life for which we fret, while our times are wholly in the hand of\nHim Who gave it at first and daily satisfies its wants. Such is a bare\noutline of the thought in this passage, to attempt to expound or\nillustrate which would be to spoil it. The best way to deal with such\na passage is first to study it carefully to see that its meaning and\nthe point of all its parts is clearly apprehended, and then quietly,\nslowly, lovingly to read it over and let its heavenly music enter into\nthe soul. Then, when the reading is finished and the great lesson has\nfilled the heart with trustful love, we may look back upon it and\nobserve that not only is a great spiritual lesson taught, but\nincidentally we are encouraged and directed to interrogate nature and\nlearn what she has to teach, to gaze on her beauty and lovingly look\nat what she has to show. Thus we find, as it were by the way, in the\nsimple words of our King, the germ principles of science and of art.\n\nBut these are wayside pearls; no special attention is called to them.\nThese glimpses of nature come so naturally from the Lord of nature\nthat nothing is made of them--they \"flash along the chords and go\";\nand we return to the great lesson which, now that the cautions have\nbeen given, can be put in its positive form: \"Seek ye first the\nkingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be\nadded unto you\" (vi. 33.). Seek ye first _His_ kingdom, and\n_His_ righteousness. Already, as we have seen, this lesson has\nbeen implied in the Lord's Prayer; but it is well that it should be\nexpressly set down--this will insure that the treasure is above, that\nthe eye is clear, that the life is one: \"and all these things shall be\nadded,\" so that to-morrow need not trouble you. Trouble there must be\nin the world, but no one need have more than each day brings:\n\"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.\"\n\n(2) _As regards the evil in the world._ The transition from the good\nthings of the world to the evil that is in it comes quite naturally\nfrom the turn the Master's thought has taken in the close of the\npreceding paragraph. It is important to observe, however, that the\nwhole subject of the evil in the world is not in view at this point.\nHas not the evil in the world in the large sense been in view from the\nbeginning throughout; and has not the great subject of righteousness\nhad all along as its background the dark subject of sin? The one point\nhere is this: the attitude of the children of the kingdom to the evil\nwhich they cannot but see in the people of the world by whom they are\nsurrounded.\n\nHere, as before, there are two warnings, each against a danger lying\nin opposite directions: the one, the danger of making too much of the\nevil we see, or think we see, in others; the other, that of making too\nlittle of it.\n\n(_a_) As against making too much of it--the danger of censoriousness\n(vii. 1-5). Here, again, the language is very strong, and the warning\ngiven is solemn and earnest--a sure sign that the danger is real and\ngreat. Again, too, considerations are urged, one after another, why we\nshould beware. First, there is so much evil in ourselves, that we\nshould be most careful how we condemn it in others, for \"with what\njudgment ye judge ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete,\nit shall be measured to you again.\" Moreover, severity is a sign not\nof purity but of the reverse: \"Why beholdest thou the mote that is in\nthy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own\neye?\" Our severity should be applied to ourselves, our charity to\nothers; especially if we would have any success in the correcting of\nour neighbour's faults: \"How wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast\nout the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?\"\n(R.V.) Otherwise we are hypocrites, and we must thoroughly reform\nourselves before we have any idea even how to begin to improve others:\n\"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and\nthen shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's\neye.\" Of what exceeding value is this teaching just where it stands!\nThe Saviour has been summoning His people not only to pure morality\nand true godliness, but to lofty spirituality of mind and heart; and\nknowing what was in man--knowing that dangers lurked on his path at\nevery turn, and that even the highest spirituality has its special\ndanger, its besetting sin--He points it out, paints it in all its\nblackness, spares not the sin of the saint any more than the sin of\nthe sinner, calls the man that gathers his skirts about him with the\nword or the thought \"I am holier than thou\" by the same ugly name with\nwhich He brands the poor fools who disfigure their faces that they may\nbe seen of men to fast. Yet, severe as it is, is it not needed? does\nnot our best judgment approve and applaud? and are we not glad and\ngrateful that our Lord has warned us so earnestly and impressively\nagainst a danger it might never have occurred to us to fear?\n\nBut there is another side to the subject; so we have another warning,\nin relation to the evil we see in the men of the world. It is--\n\n(_b_) Against making too little of it (ver. 6). Though we may not\njudge, we must discriminate. It may be wrong to condemn; but it may be\nnecessary to withdraw, otherwise sacred things may be profaned and\nangry passions stirred, and thus much harm may be done though only\ngood was intended. Such is the manifest purport of the striking\ncaution: \"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye\nyour pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and\nturn again and rend you.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Saviour is now about to close what He has to say on the\nRighteousness of the Kingdom in its relation to the Law and the\nProphets; and He does it by setting forth in most memorable words a\ngreat privilege and a compact, comprehensive, portable rule--a\nprivilege which will keep the heart right with God, a rule which will\nkeep the heart right with man (vv. 7-12). The former is of course the\nmore important of the two, so it comes first and has much the larger\nspace. It is the mighty privilege of prayer. When we think of the\nheight and the depth, the length and the breadth, of the righteousness\nof the kingdom--when we think of the dangers which lurk on every hand\nand at every stage in our life-journey--we may well cry, \"Who is\nsufficient for these things?\" To that cry of the heart this is the\nanswer: \"Ask, and it shall be given you.\" We have had prayer before;\nbut it was prayer as a part of righteousness, prayer as a religious\nduty. Now it is prayer as a power, as the one sure and only means of\navoiding the terrible evils on every side, and obtaining the\nunspeakable blessings, the \"good things\" (ver. 11) of the kingdom of\nheaven. This being so, it was of the greatest importance that we\nshould have faith to use it. Hence the repeated assurance, and the\nplain strong language in which it is conveyed; hence, too, the simple,\nstrong and touching arguments to dispel our doubts and encourage our\ntrust (vv. 9-11).\n\nHere, again, of what priceless value are these few words of our\nblessed Lord! Just where they are needed most they come, bringing\n\"strength to the fainting heart\" in view of the seemingly inaccessible\nheights of God's holy hill, on which the city of His kingdom is set.\nWhy need we faint or fear, now that we can ask and be sure of\nreceiving, can seek and be sure of finding, can knock at door after\ndoor of these halls of Sion, and have them, one after another, opened\nat our touch?\n\nAgain as before, prayer to God is closely connected with our behaviour\nto men. In the model prayer we were taught to say \"Forgive us our\ndebts, as we forgive our debtors\"; and not only so, but a special\nwarning was added, that if we do not forgive others, we cannot be\nforgiven. So here too we are reminded that if we are to expect our\nFather to act in a fatherly way to us by giving us good things, we\nmust act in a brotherly way to our neighbours. Hence the golden rule\nwhich follows, and hence its connection with the prayer-charter by the\nword \"therefore.\" And now that our relations to God and man have been\nsummed up in the filial relation embodied in prayer, and in the\nfraternal relation embodied in the golden rule, all is complete, and\nthe proof of this is furnished in the appropriate concluding words:\n\"This is the Law and the Prophets.\"\n\n\nIII. INVITATION TO ENTER THE KINGDOM (vii. 13-29).\n\nThe Master has now said everything necessary in order to clear away\npopular misapprehensions, and place the truth about His kingdom fairly\nbefore the minds of His hearers. He has explained its nature as inward\nand spiritual, setting forth the character of those who belong to it,\nthe blessedness they will enjoy, and the influence they will exert on\nthe world around them. He has set forth clearly and fully the\nobligations that will rest upon them, as summed up in the\ncomprehensive requirement of righteousness understood in a larger and\ndeeper sense than ever before--obligations of such stringency as to\nmake it apparent that to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness\nis no holiday undertaking, that it is no easy thing to be a Christian,\nbut that it requires self-restraint, self-humbling, self-denial; and\nthat therefore His kingdom cannot be attractive to the many, but must\nappeal to those who are earnest-spirited enough to ask and seek and\nknock for admittance.\n\nNow that all has been fully and faithfully set forth--now that there\nis no danger of obtaining disciples under misapprehension--the great\ninvitation is issued: _Enter ye in_. It is the free universal\ninvitation of the Gospel, as large and liberal as that later one,\n\"Whosoever will, let him come,\" though given in such a way as to keep\nstill prominently before the minds of all comers what they may expect,\nand what is expected of them: \"Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for\nwide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,\nand many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and\nstraitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find\nit\" (R.V.).\n\nThe terms of this first invitation are very significant. The motives\nof fear and hope are appealed to; but not directly or specially. In\nthe background lies, on the one hand, the dark doom of \"destruction,\"\nand on the other the glorious hope of \"life\"; but neither the one nor\nthe other is made emphatic. The demand for \"righteousness\" has been\nelaborated in full, and warnings against sin have been multiplied and\npressed with intensest earnestness; but Christ does not now, as on\naccount of the hardness of men's hearts He felt it needful later on to\ndo, set forth in language that appeals vividly to the imagination the\nfate of those who take the broad way of easy self-indulgence; nor does\nHe endeavour to picture the things which eye hath not seen, nor ear\nheard, nor heart conceived, which God hath prepared for them that love\nHim; He simply suggests in the briefest manner, by the use of a single\nword in each case--and that word characterised not so much by strength\nas by suggestiveness what will be the fate of the one, the goal of\nthe other. Suggestive as both words are in the highest degree, they\nare not emphatic, but lie as it were in the background, while the\nattention is kept on the present alternative: on the one hand the wide\ngate, the broad way, the many thronging it; on the other, the narrow\ngate, the straitened way, the few finding it. Our Lord summons not so\nmuch to a choice that will pay, as to a choice that will cost; and in\nso doing makes His appeal to all that is noblest and highest and best\nin human nature.\n\nThroughout the whole discourse He has been leading up to this point.\nHe has been setting forth no prospect of happiness \"to draw the carnal\neye,\" but an ideal of blessedness to win the spiritual heart. He has\nbeen unfolding a righteousness, which, while it cannot but be\nrepulsive to man's natural selfishness, profoundly stirs and satisfies\nhis conscience; and now, in strict keeping with all that has gone\nbefore, the appeal is made in such a way as shall commend it, not to\nthe thoughtless, selfish crowd, but to those whose hearts have been\ndrawn and whose consciences have been touched by His presentation of\nthe blessedness they may expect and the righteousness expected of\nthem. From all this there is surely to be learned a most important\nlesson, as to the manner in which the Gospel should usually be\npresented--not by sensational descriptions of the glories of heaven or\nthe horrors of hell, nor by the mere reiteration of exhortations to\n\"come to Jesus,\" but by such information of the mind, awakening of the\nheart, and stirring of the conscience as are found in perfection in\nthis great discourse of the Master.\n\nIt is characteristic of the large view our Lord takes of human life\nthat He speaks of only two paths. There seem so many, leading off in\nall different directions; and so there are on a limited view of life's\nhorizon; but when eternal issues are in sight, there are but two: the\neasy path of self-indulgence leading down to death, and the difficult\npath of duty[7] leading up to life.\n\nIt is worthy of remark that there is not a trace of asceticism in our\nLord's representation. The straitness referred to is not outward, any\nmore than the righteousness is; so that there is no encouragement\ngiven to self-imposed restrictions and limitations, as in the monastic\nvows of \"poverty, chastity, and obedience.\" The way is strait enough\nin itself without any effort of ours to make it straiter. It is enough\nthat we set ourselves to keep all the commandments; so shall we have a\nsufficiency of exercise to toughen our spiritual fibre, to strengthen\nour moral energies, to make us men and women instead of slaves of lust\nor tools of mammon. For, be it ever remembered, the way we take leads\non naturally and unavoidably to its end. Destruction is no arbitrary\npunishment for self-indulgence; nor is life an arbitrary reward for\nself-discipline and surrender to the will of God. The path of\nself-indulgence \"leadeth to destruction,\" by a law which cannot be\nannulled or set aside. But the path of self-restraint and\nself-surrender (for these are what make of us men, and not \"blind\nmouths,\" as Milton expressively puts it), the path which is entered by\nthe strait gate, and is continued along the narrow way, is one which\nin the course of natural development \"leadeth unto life.\"\n\nThe call to enter is followed by words of solemn warning against\ncertain dangers which might beset even those who wish to enter. First,\nthe danger of false guidance: \"Beware of false prophets.\" The danger\nlies in the future. Hitherto, while speaking throughout of present\nduty, there have been backward glances over the past, as our Lord has\nmade it evident, point after point, that the righteousness of His\nkingdom was not the destruction but the fulfilment of the law and the\nprophets. Now, however, He anticipates the time when there will be\nthose claiming to speak in the name of God, or in His own name, whose\ndoctrines will not be a fulfilment but a destruction of the Truth, and\na constant danger to those who may be exposed to their wolf-like\nravages. There is manifestly no reference to such differences of\nopinion as divide real Christians from each other in these days. The\ndoctrine throughout this manifesto is not speculative, but practical;\nit nowhere brings into prominence matters of opinion, or what are\ncalled theological tenets, but everywhere lays stress on that which\nimmediately and powerfully affects the life. So it is here also, as is\nevident from the criterion suggested for the detection of false\nteachers: \"By their fruits ye shall know them.\" Besides, the\nconnection in which the caution occurs makes it evident that our Lord\nhad specially in view those teachers who would lead their disciples\nastray as to the way of life, especially those who would dare to make\nthat easy which he had shown to be \"strait,\" who would set before\ntheir hearers or readers a broad path instead of the narrow one which\nalone leadeth unto life. This is a danger which besets us in these\ndays. There is so strong a sentiment abroad in favour of\nliberality--and liberality properly so called is so admirable, and\nhas been so much a stranger in times past--that we are in danger of\naccepting in its name easy-going representations of the Christian life\nwhich amount to a total abolition of the strait gate and the narrow\nway. Let us by all means be liberal enough to acknowledge all who have\nentered by the strait gate of genuine repentance, and are walking in\nthe narrow way of faith and obedience, however much they may differ\nfrom us in matters of opinion, forms of worship, or modes of work; but\nlet us beware how we give even the smallest encouragement to any on\nthe broad road to imagine that they can continue as they are, and find\nit all right in the end. So to tamper with truth in the guise of\nliberality is to play the wolf in sheep's clothing.\n\nThe test our Lord gives for \"discerning the spirits\" is one which\nrequires time for its application, but it is the only sure one; and\nwhen we remember that the Master is now looking forward into the\nfuture history of His kingdom, we can see why He should lay stress on\na test whose operation, though slow, was sure. It is of course assumed\nthat the first criterion is the Word of the Lord Himself. This is the\nlaw of the kingdom; but, knowing well what was in man, the Lord could\nnot but foresee that there would be those who could so twist any words\nthat might be spoken on those great subjects as to lay snares for the\nunwary; and therefore, besides the obvious appeal \"to the law and to\nthe testimony,\" He supplied a practical test which, though less speedy\nin its application, was perfectly sure in its results.\n\nThe announcement of so important a test leads to the development of\nthe general principle on which its validity depends--viz., the vital\nconnection between essential doctrine and life. In the long run the\none is always the outcome of the other. In the spiritual as in the\nnatural world every species brings forth fruit \"after its kind.\" \"Do\nmen gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good\ntree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil\nfruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a\ncorrupt tree bring forth good fruit.\" The law being so absolute,\nmaking it certain, on the one hand, that where there is truth in the\ninward parts there will be good fruit in the outward life, and on the\nother, that where there is corrupt fruit in the outward life there\nmust be that which is corrupt in the hidden man of the heart, it\nfollows that the criterion is so sure as to be without appeal: \"Every\ntree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into\nthe fire\" (ver. 19), and therefore may well determine the question as\nto who are trustworthy teachers in the Church: \"Wherefore by their\nfruits ye shall know them.\"\n\nIn the development of the principle the Master's thought has been\nenlarged so as to include not teachers only, but all His disciples;\nand His range of view has been extended so as to embrace the last\nthings. The great day of Judgment is before him. He sees the\nmultitudes gathered around the throne. He foresees that there will be\nmany on that great day who will discover, when it is too late, that\nthey have allowed themselves to be deceived, that they have not been\ncareful enough to test their spiritual guides, that they have not been\ncareful enough to try themselves and make sure that their fruits were\nsuch that the Lord of the vineyard could recognise them as His own. He\nis filled with sympathy and sorrow at the prospect; so He lifts up His\nvoice in earnest warning, that, if possible, none of those to whom the\nwords will ever come may allow themselves to fall into so fatal an\nerror: \"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into\nthe kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which\nis in heaven.\"\n\nHow naturally, and as it were unconsciously and inevitably, He has\npassed from the Teacher to the Judge! Not as a personal claim. In His\nearliest teaching He kept personal claims as much in the background as\npossible. But now it is impossible to avoid some disclosure of His\ndivine authority. He must speak of the Judgment; and He cannot speak\nof it without making it appear that He is Judge. The force of this is\nall the greater that He is, as it were, surprised into it; for He is\nevidently not thinking of Himself at all, but only of those who then\nwere or would afterwards be in danger of making a most fatal mistake,\nleading to consequences awful and irreparable. We can well imagine\nthat from this point on to the end there must have been a light on His\nface, a fire in His eye, a solemnity in His tone, a grandeur in His\nvery attitude, which struck the multitude with amazement, especially\nat the _authority_ (ver. 29) with which He spoke: \"Many will say\nto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by Thy name, and by\nThy name cast out devils, and by Thy name do many mighty works? And\nthen will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye\nthat work iniquity\" (R.V.).\n\nAgain, observe the form the warning takes, revealing the consciousness\nthat to depart from Him was _doom_--one of the many tokens\nthroughout this discourse that none else than the Lord of life and\nglory could possibly have spoken it. Yet how many vainly think that\nthey can accept it without acknowledging Him!\n\nThe same solemn and regal tone is kept up throughout the impressive\npassage which closes all, and presses home the great warning against\ntrusting to any experience short of the surrender of the life to do\nthe will of God as set forth in the words of Christ His Son. The two\nclasses He has now in view are not the two great classes who walk, the\none in the broad and the other in the narrow way. They are two classes\nof _hearers_. Most of those that throng the broad way are not\nhearers at all; they have no desire or intention of seeking any other\nthan the broad way--they would as little think of going up into a\nmountain and listening to a discourse on righteousness, as they would\nof wearing a hair shirt or doing any other kind of penance; but those\nour Lord has now in view all have the idea of seeking the right way:\ntheir very attitude as hearers shows it--they are all of the\nchurch-going class, to translate into modern phrase; and what He fears\nis that some of them may deceive themselves by imagining that because\nthey hear with interest and attention, perhaps admiration, therefore\nthey are in the narrow way. Accordingly He solemnly warns them that\nall this may amount to nothing: there may be attention, interest,\nadmiration, full assent to all; but if the hearing is not followed by\ndoing, all is in vain.\n\nIt may almost go without saying that, after what our Lord has just\nbeen teaching as to the vital connection between the faith of the\nheart and the \"fruits\" of the life (vv. 15-23), there is no \"legalism\"\nhere. In fact, the doing is not outward; it is a doing of the heart.\nThe righteousness He has been expounding has, as we have seen, been a\nrighteousness of the heart, and the doing of it, as a matter of\ncourse, is a heart-work, having its root in faith, which is the\nbeginning of the doing in every case, according to His own word in\nanother place: \"This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom\nHe hath sent.\"\n\nThe illustration with which He presses home the warning is in the\nhighest degree appropriate and forcible. The man who not only hears,\nbut does, makes thorough work, digs deep (as St. Luke puts it in his\nrecord), and founds the house he is building for time and eternity\nupon solid rock; while the man who hears but does not, is one who\ntakes no care as to his foundation, but erects his house just where he\nhappens to be, on loose sand or earth, which the first storm will\ndislodge and sweep away. Meanwhile testing times are coming--rains,\nfloods, winds--the searching trials of life culminating in the final\njudgment in the life to come. These all test the work of the builder,\nand render apparent the wisdom of the man who provided against the\ncoming storm by choosing the rock foundation, for his house abides\nthrough all; and the folly of the other, who without a foundation\ncarelessly risked all, for his house gives way before the storm, and\ngreat is the fall of it.\n\nAlas for many hearers of the Word! Alas for many admirers of the\n\"Sermon on the Mount\"! Where will they be when everything turns on the\nquestion \"Wert thou a doer of it?\"\n\n[5] It is true that under the head of oaths comes the duty of\nreverence, which scarcely seems to fall under this head; but it will\nbe remembered that this point comes in by way of a very natural\nsuggestion in dealing with falsehood and the regulation of\nconversation, which evidently belongs to righteousness as between man\nand man.\n\n[6] This complete change of meaning, amounting in fact to the\ndestruction and almost to the inversion of the sense, is one of many\nillustrations of the absolute need of revision from time to time of\ntranslations, not only to make them more correct, but even to keep\nthem as correct as they were at first.\n\n[7] Duty of course in its largest sense--to God and man and\nself--including all \"righteousness\" in the Master's sense of the word.\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\n_THE SIGNS OF THE KINGDOM._\n\nMATT. viii.-ix. 35.\n\n\nReferring to chapter iv. 23, we find the work of Christ at the\nbeginning of His ministry summarised as teaching and preaching and\nhealing all manner of diseases. Of the teaching and preaching we have\nhad a signal illustration in what is called the Sermon on the Mount;\nnow the other great branch of the work is set before us in a group of\nmiracles, filling up almost the whole of the eighth and ninth chapters.\n\nThe naturalness of the sequence will be at once apparent. If men had\nneeded nothing more than counsel, guidance, rules of life, then might\nthe Gospel have ended when the Sermon on the Mount was concluded.\nThere are those who think they need nothing more; but if they knew\nthemselves they would feel their need not only of the Teacher's word,\nbut of the Healer's touch, and would hail with gladness the chapters\nwhich tell how the Saviour dealt with the poor leper, the man with the\npalsy, the woman with the fever, those poor creatures that were vexed\nwith evil spirits, that dead damsel in the ruler's house. We may well\nrejoice that the great Teacher came down from the mountain, and made\nHimself known on the plain and among the city crowds as the mighty\nHealer; that His stern demand for perfect righteousness was so soon\nfollowed by that encouraging word, so full of comfort, for such as we:\n\"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners\" (ix. 13). The healing,\nthen, is quite as essential as the teaching. The Sermon points out the\nway, unfolds the truth; but in the touch and word of the King Himself\nis found the life. The Christ of God had come, not as a mere\nAmbassador from the court of heaven to demand submission to its laws,\nbut as a mighty Saviour, Friend, and Comforter. Hence it was necessary\nthat He should make full proof of His mission in this respect as well\nas in the other; and accordingly the noble ethics taught on the mount\nare followed by a series of heavenly deeds of power and\nloving-kindness done in the plain.\n\nThe group in chapters viii. and ix. is well fitted to give a\ncomprehensive view of Christ's power and willingness to save. If only\nthey were looked at in this intelligent way, how the paltry prejudices\nagainst \"miracles\" (a word, let it be observed, not once to be found\nin this Gospel) would vanish. Miracles, wonders, prodigies--how\nincredible in an age of enlightenment! Yes; if they were introduced as\nmiracles, wonders, prodigies; but they are not. They are signs of the\nkingdom of heaven--just such signs of it as the intelligent reason\ndemands; for how otherwise is it possible for One Who comes to save to\nshow that He is able to do it? How could the people have been expected\nto welcome Him as a Saviour, unless He had taken some means to make it\nevident that He had the power as well as the will to save?\nAccordingly, in consonance with what enlightened reason imperatively\ndemands of such an One as He claims to be, we have a series of \"mighty\ndeeds\" of love, showing forth, not only His grace, but His\npower--power to heal the diseases of the body, power over the realm of\nnature, power over the unseen world of spirit, power to forgive and\nsave from sin, power to restore lost faculties and conquer death\nitself. Such are the appropriate signs of the kingdom spread before us\nhere.\n\nLet us look first at that which occupies the foremost place,--power to\nheal disease. The diseases of the body are the outward symptoms of the\ndeep-seated malady of the spirit; hence it is fitting that He should\nbegin by showing in this region His will and power to save. Yet it is\nnot a formal _showing_ of it. It is no mere demonstration. He\ndoes not seek out the leper, set him up before them, and say, \"Now you\nwill see what I can do.\" All comes about in a most simple and natural\nway, as became Him Who was no wonder-worker, no worker of miracles in\nthe vulgar use of that word, but a mighty Saviour from heaven with a\nheart of love and a hand of power.\n\n\nTHE LEPER (viii. 1-4).\n\n\"And when He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes\nfollowed Him. And behold, there came to Him a leper.\" What will He do\nwith him? Should He say to him, \"Poor man, you are too late--the\nsermon is done\"? or should He give him some of the best bits over\nagain? No, there is not a sentence in the whole of it that would be\nany answer to that cry, \"Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me\nclean.\" What does He do, then? \"Jesus put forth His hand, and touched\nhim, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was\ncleansed.\"\n\nIs it, then, a great stumbling-block in your way, O nineteenth-century\ncritic, that you are expected to believe that the Lord Jesus actually\ndid heal this leper? Would it take the stumbling-block away to have it\naltered? Suppose we try it, amended to suit the \"anti-supernaturalism\"\nof the age. \"And behold, there came a leper to Him, saying, Lord, if\nThou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put out His hand, and\nmotioned him away, saying, Poor man, you are quite mistaken, I cannot\nhelp you. I came to teach wise people, not to help poor wretches like\nyou. There are great laws of health and disease; I advise you to find\nthem out, and obey them: consult your doctor, and do the best you can.\nFarewell.\" Oh, what nonsense many wise people talk about the\ndifficulty of believing in Divine power to heal! The fact is, that if\nChrist had not proved Himself a healer, men could not have believed in\nHim at all.\n\nThere could have been no better introduction to the saving work of the\nChrist of God. Leprosy was of all diseases the most striking symbol of\nsin. This is so familiar a thought that it need not be set forth in\ndetail. One point, however, must be mentioned, as it opens up a vein\nof tender beauty in the exquisite simplicity of the story--the\nrigorous separation of the leprous from the healthy, enforced by the\nceremonial law, which made it defilement to touch a leper. Yet \"Jesus\nstretched forth His hand, and _touched_ him.\" \"He was holy, harmless,\nundefiled, separate from sinners;\" therefore He could mingle with\nthem, contracting no stain Himself, but diffusing health around Him.\nHe could take no defilement from the leper's touch; the current was\nall the other way: \"virtue\" went out of Him, and flowed in healing\nstreams through the poor leper's veins. O lovely symbol of the\nSaviour's relation to us sinners! He has in His holy Incarnation\ntouched our leprous humanity; and remaining stainless Himself, has set\nflowing a fountain of healing for all who will open to Him hearts of\nfaith and let Him touch them with His pure heart of love. Those were\nmost wonderful words spoken on the mount: they touch the conscience to\nthe quick and fire the soul with heavenly aspiration; but this touch\nof the leper goes to our hearts, for it proves to us that, though the\ntime is coming when He shall sit as Judge and say to all the sinful,\n\"Depart from Me,\" as yet He is the loving Saviour, saying, \"Come unto\nMe, ye weary,\" and touching the leprous into health.\n\nThat our Saviour was totally averse to anything at all sensational,\nand determined rather to repress than encourage the mere thirst for\nmarvels, is evident from the directions given to the leper to say\nnothing about what had happened to him, but to take the appointed\nmethod of giving thanks to God for his recovery, at the same time\nregistering the fact, so that while his cure should not be used to\ngather a crowd, it might be on record with the proper authorities as a\nwitness to the truth of which it was a sign.\n\n\nTHE CENTURION'S SERVANT (5-13).\n\nThis case, while affording another valuable illustration of the\nMaster's willingness and power to save, differs in several important\npoints from the first, so that the lesson is widened. First and\nchiefly, the application was from a Gentile; next, it was not on his\nown behalf that the centurion made it, but on behalf of another, and\nthat other his servant; and, further, it was a request to heal a\npatient out of sight, out of knowledge even, as it would seem. Each of\nthese particulars might suggest a doubt. He has healed this Jew; but\nwill He listen to that Gentile? He has responded to this man's own\ncry; but will He respond when there is no direct application from the\npatient? He has cured this man with a touch; but can he cure a patient\nmiles away? The Saviour knew well the difficulties which must have\nlain in the way of this man's faith. He has evidence, moreover, that\nhis is genuine faith, and not the credulity of superstition. One could\nreadily imagine an ignorant person thinking that it made no difference\nwhether the patient were present, or a thousand miles away: what\ndifference does distance make to the mere magician? But this man is no\nignorant believer in charms or incantations. He is an intelligent man,\nand has thought it all out. He has heard of the kingdom of heaven, and\nknows that this is the King. Reasoning from what he knows of the Roman\nkingdom, how orders given from a central authority can be despatched\nto the outskirts, and be executed there with as great certainty as if\nthe Emperor himself had gone to do it, he concludes that the King of\nthe spiritual world must in like manner have means of communication\nwith every part of His dominion; and just as it was not necessary,\neven for a mere centurion, to do personally everything he wanted done,\nhaving it in his power to employ some servant to do it, so it was\nunreasonable to expect the King of heaven Himself to come in person\nand heal his servant: it was only necessary, therefore, that He should\nspeak the word, and by some unseen agency the thing would be done. At\nonce the Saviour recognises the man's thoughtful intelligence on the\nsubject, and, contrasting with it the slowness of mind and heart of\nthose of whom so much more might have been expected, \"He marvelled,\nand said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not\nfound so great faith, no, not in Israel.\"\n\nThe thought of this immediately suggests to Him the multitudes that\nshall exercise a similar faith in ages to come, and in lands far off;\nand, as on the mount, when He looked forward to the great future, His\nheart yearned over the mere hearers of the word shut out at last; so\nhere He yearns with a great yearning over His unbelieving countrymen,\nwhose exclusion at last from the heavenly kingdom would be felt with\nall the sharper pain that such multitudes from far less favoured lands\nwere safe within--at home with the patriarchs of the chosen\nnation--while they, the natural heirs of the kingdom, were exiles from\nit for evermore. Hence the wail and warning which follow His hearty\nappreciation of the centurion's faith: \"And I say unto you, that many\nshall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with\nAbraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons\nof the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there\nshall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\"\n\nHow fared it with the centurion's appeal? Was it any hindrance that he\nwas a foreigner, that he made it not for himself but for a servant,\nand that the patient was so far away? None whatever. As he rightly\njudged, the King of heaven had resources in abundance to meet the\ncase. Without the least hesitation, Jesus said to the centurion, \"Go\nthy way: and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his\nservant was healed in the selfsame hour.\"\n\n\nTHE FEVER PATIENT (14, 15).\n\nThe leprosy and palsy were symbols of sin wholly possessing its\nvictims: the one suggestive of the state of those who are positively\ndefiled by sin, the other of the condition of those who, though sound\nto all outward appearance, are simply wanting in inward life,\nparalysed in that part of their being which constitutes life. These\ntwo cases, then, were most suitable for setting forth the saving power\nof the Christ of God as regards the unconverted, be they Jew or\nGentile. This third cure is within the circle of the disciples. It is\na case of fever in the home of Peter. It therefore fitly suggests the\ndiseases to which those are still liable who have come to Christ and\nbeen healed of their leprosy or palsy, the chronic disease which\ndefiled or paralysed them in time past; but who are still liable to\ncontagion, still exposed to attacks of fever, acute diseases which,\nthough temporary, are most dangerous, and, just as certainly as the\nothers, need the touch of the Great Physician for their healing. These\nfevers separate us from Christ and unfit us for His service; but they\nneed not continue to do this, for if only we allow Him to enter the\nhouse and touch us, the fever will cease; and, like this patient in\nthe home of Peter, we may at once arise and minister unto Him.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe three specific cases which have been so appropriately selected and\ngiven in detail are followed by a general enumeration of a number of\nsimilar ones dealt with in like manner, \"when the even was come\"--the\nwhole experience of that eventful day leading to the joyful\nrecognition of the fulfilment of a grand prophetic word spoken long\nago of the Messiah that was to come: \"Himself took our infirmities,\nand bare our sicknesses.\"\n\nThe quotation is most suggestive. It raises the question of our Lord's\npersonal relation to disease. We have seen reason to believe that\ndisease could not contaminate His holy flesh; and certainly we never\nread of His suffering from any sickness of His own. Did He then know\nnothing personally of disease and fleshly infirmity? If not, how could\nHe be tempted in all points like as we are? The solution seems to lie\nin this most interesting quotation. It is not a literal citation from\nthe Septuagint, but it is a thoroughly fair and true reproduction of\nthe idea of the prophet; and it clearly suggests to the mind that the\nChrist's relation to human sickness was of the same kind as His\nrelation to human sin. Though personally He had no sin, yet \"He was\nmade sin for us,\" so that He felt the intolerable weight pressing Him\ndown as in the garden, and the awful darkness wrapping Him round as on\nthe cross. In the same way, even though His flesh may never actually\nhave been subjected to physical disease, He nevertheless could not\nremove diseases from others without bearing them Himself. Ah! it cost\nHim far more than we are apt to think, to say, \"I will, be thou\nclean.\" It was only by the sacrifice of His life that He could take\naway the sin of the world; and we believe that it was only by the\nsacrifice of a part of His life that He could take away the disease of\na sufferer. When He said, \"Somebody hath touched Me, for virtue has\ngone out of Me,\" we may be sure it was no mere jostling of the crowd;\nit was an outflow of His life, a partial shedding, so to speak, of His\nprecious blood. Just as later, in the words of St. Peter, \"He bare our\nsins in His own body on the tree,\" so already \"Himself took our\ninfirmities and bare our sicknesses.\"\n\n\nTHE IMPULSIVE SCRIBE (18-20).\n\nThe two incidents which follow, though at first sight apparently\ndifferent in character from the great majority of the group, are\nquite in place among the mighty deeds of the Master, manifesting, as\nthey do, His penetrating insight into character. To all appearance\nthere could have been no better offer than that of the impulsive\nscribe--\"Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest\"; and,\nhad it been made with a full understanding of all it meant, it would\nbeyond all question have been at once accepted; but He Who \"knew what\nwas in man\" saw at once what manner of man this was--how he was quite\nunprepared for the hardships he would have to undergo; and therefore,\nwhile by no means declining the offer, He gives him fair warning of\nwhat he might expect, in these memorable words: \"The foxes have holes,\nand the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where\nto lay His head.\" There is infinite pathos in the words. Moreover, the\nform in which the truth is put, while fitted effectually to deter the\nselfish and faint-hearted, would be no discouragement to a truly\ndevoted and courageous soul, but would rather fire it with a holier\nardour to follow the Son of man anywhere, at whatever cost, rejoicing\nto be \"counted worthy to suffer shame\" and loss \"for His name.\"\n\n\nTHE HESITATING DISCIPLE (21, 22).\n\nThis case is one of the opposite description. Judging from the way in\nwhich the scribe had been dealt with, it might have been expected that\nwhen this disciple asked to be excused for a time, in order to\ndischarge a duty which seemed so urgent, the answer would have been\none not only allowing but even enforcing the delay. But no. Why the\ndifference? Again, because the Master saw \"what was in man.\" This was\nno impulsive, impetuous nature which needed a word of caution; but\none of those hesitating natures which need to be summoned to immediate\ndecision. It would seem also, from the peculiar expression, \"Leave\n_the dead_ to bury their own dead\" (R.V.), that he belonged to an\nungodly family, to associate again with whom at such a critical time\nin his history would be most prejudicial; and it must be remembered\nthat it would not have been the mere attending of the funeral; there\nwere the laws of uncleanness, which would oblige him, if he went, to\nstay many days; and meantime the golden opportunity might be gone.\n\nThus are we guarded against the two opposite dangers--the one\nbesetting the eager and impulsive, the other the halting and\nirresolute. In neither case are we told what the result was. We may\nsurmise that the scribe disappeared from view, and that the other\njoined the party in the boat; but \"something sealed the lips of that\nEvangelist\"; from which we may perhaps infer that his main object in\nrelating the two incidents was, not to give information of them, but\nto show forth the glory of the Master as the Searcher of hearts, to\nsignalise the fact that He was no less Master of the minds than of the\nbodies of men.\n\n\nTHE STORM STILLED (23-27).\n\nIt was not enough that the Saviour of mankind should have power to\ngrapple with disease and skill to search the hearts of men: He must be\nMaster not only of life, but of its environment too. That He is\nbecomes apparent before the boat which carries the little company\nreaches the other side of the lake. One of those tempests which often\nlash the Sea of Galilee into sudden fury has burst upon them, and the\nlittle boat is almost covered with the waves. Here is a situation\nbeyond the reach even of the Great Physician, unless indeed He be\nsomething more. He is something more. He is Lord of nature, Master of\nall its forces!\n\nMust He not be? He has come to reveal the unseen God of nature; must\nHe not then make it manifest, now that the occasion calls for it, that\nwinds and waves are \"ministers of His, that do His pleasure\"? Again,\nit is no mere \"miracle,\" no mere marvel which He works in the\nsalvation of His terrified disciples--it is a sign, an indispensable\nsign of the kingdom of heaven.\n\nThe story is told with exquisite simplicity, and with all the reality\nof manifest and transparent truthfulness. \"He was asleep\"--naturally\nenough after the fatigues of the day, notwithstanding the howling of\nthe storm; for why should He fear wind or wave? Is there not a promise\nhere for all His followers when tempest-tossed: \"So He giveth His\nbeloved sleep\"?\n\nHis disciples let Him sleep as long as they dare; but the peril is too\nimminent now. So they come to Him and awake Him, saying, \"Save, Lord;\nwe perish!\" Though no concern for Himself would ever have disturbed\nHis slumber, the first cry of His disciples rouses Him at once to\naction. The resources of His human nature, beyond which He never went\nfor the purpose of meeting His own personal needs, had been completely\nexhausted; but there is no diminution of His power to save those who\ncall upon Him. Without any trace remaining of weariness or weakness,\nHe hastens to relieve them. First,[8] He quiets the tempest in the\ndisciples' hearts, rebuking their unbelief and calming their fears;\nthen He stills the storm without, rebuking the winds and the sea; \"and\nthere was a great calm.\" It reads like the story of creation. No\nwonder the astonished disciples exclaimed: \"What manner of man is\nthis, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?\"\n\n\nDEMONS CAST OUT (28-34).\n\nVisible nature is not man's sole environment. There is an unseen\nuniverse besides; and He Who would be Saviour of mankind must be\nMaster there as well. That this also is sure is now proved beyond a\ndoubt. For it is important to observe that this is not an ordinary\ncase of healing, otherwise its true place would have been with the\ngroup of bodily diseases at the beginning of this series. When we\nconsider its salient features, we see that it is just in its right\nplace, closely following, as it does, the stilling of the storm. There\nare storms in the spiritual world, more terrible by far than any in\nthe realm of nature; and it is necessary that these darker storms be\nalso subject to the control of the Saviour of mankind. \"The prince of\nthe power of the air\" and all his legions must be subject to the \"Son\nof man.\" And this subjection, rather than the cure of the individual\nsufferers, is the salient feature of the passage. It is not the men,\nbut the demons possessing them, who cry out, \"What have we to do with\nThee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us\nbefore the time?\" Well did these evil spirits know who He was; and\nwell, also, did they know that He was mightier than they, and that the\ntime was coming when they would be put entirely under His feet: \"Art\nThou come to torment us _before the time_?\"\n\nThe sequel has been the occasion of much cavil. It has been\nrepresented as entirely beyond the bounds of rational belief; but why?\nThe whole subject of demoniacal possession is a most difficult one;\nbut many of the calmest and deepest thinkers, quite apart from the\ntestimony of the Gospel, have found themselves unable to explain a\nmultitude of dark facts in history and experience apart from the\nreality of demoniacal influence. If a spirit can exercise a malign\ninfluence on a man, why not on an animal? Moreover, seeing that the\nkeeping of these swine was an open breach of the law, what difficulty\nis there in supposing that Christ should allow their destruction,\nespecially when we consider that this transference of the malign\ninfluence not only made more apparent His absolute control over the\nspirits of evil, but taught a most striking and instructive lesson as\nto their affinities? For certain persons there is no more instructive\nand no more needful passage in Scripture than this. The difficulty is,\nthat those who prefer to keep their swine will not welcome the mighty\nExorcist, but, like these people of old, beseech Him to \"depart out of\ntheir coasts.\"\n\n\nSINS FORGIVEN (ix. 1-13).\n\nMaster of disease--Searcher of hearts--Master of the forces of\nnature--Master of the powers of the Unseen: is not this enough? Not\nyet; He must make it evident that \"the Son of man hath power on earth\nto forgive sins.\" To heal the diseases of the body was a great and\nblessed thing to do, but it was not thorough work; for what are all\nthese varied diseases--leprosy, fever, palsy--but symptoms of one\ngreat disorder which has its roots, not in the flesh, but in the\nsoul, a disease belonging to that region of the unseen, in which He\nhas now made manifest His power--the dark disease of sin. The time has\nnow come to show that He can deal effectually with it; and immediately\non His return to His own side of the lake, an opportunity presents\nitself. \"They brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed.\"\n\nAs a case of palsy, it is not new. The centurion's servant was a palsy\ncase; and though from His treatment of it, as of the leprosy and\nfever, it might fairly have been inferred that He could deal also with\nthat which was deeper, it was not enough to leave it to inference--it\nmust be made manifest. It may have been that the disease of this man\nhad been in some special manner connected with previous sins, so that\nhis conscience may have been the more exercised as he looked back over\nhis past life; but whether this was so or not, it is obvious that his\nconscience was at work,--that much as his palsy may have troubled him,\nhis guilt troubled him much more. Why, otherwise, should the Saviour\nhave addressed him as He did, making no reference to the disease, but\ndealing directly with his spiritual condition? Moreover, the special\naffection shown in the Saviour's mode of address seems to indicate His\nrecognition of that broken and contrite spirit with which the Lord is\nwell pleased. It would scarcely be too strong to translate it thus:\n\"My dear child, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.\"\n\nThe Saviour is coming closer and closer to human need, dealing more\nand more thoroughly with the world's want and woe. If we look at it\naright, we cannot but recognise it as really a greater thing to heal\nthe deep disease of the soul, than to heal any or all of the diseases\nof the body, greater even than to still the storm or rule by superior\npower the spirits of evil. For here there is something more needed\nthan power or skill, even though both be infinite. We have already had\na glimpse of the need there was, even in taking away human sickness,\nthat the Healer Himself should suffer. But deeper far is this\nnecessity if the disease of the soul is to be reached. It is only the\nLamb of God that can take away the sin of the world. These scribes\nwere right for once when they made more of this claim than of any that\nhad gone before, saying within themselves, \"This man blasphemeth;\" ...\n\"Who can forgive sins but God only?\"\n\nHow could He prove to them His power actually to forgive the man's\nsins? A demonstration of this is quite impossible; but He will come as\nnear to it as may be. He has already recognised the faith of the\nbearers, and the penitence of the man himself; just as quickly He\ndiscerns the thoughts of the scribes, and gives them proof that He\ndoes so by asking them, \"Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?\"\nThen, answering their thought (which was, \"He is only saying it\"), He\nreplies in effect, \"It is indeed as easy to say one thing as another,\nif saying is all; but that you may be sure that the saying of it is\nnot all, I shall not repeat what I said before, the result of which\nfrom the nature of the case you cannot see, but something else, the\nresult of which you shall see presently\"; whereupon, turning to the\nsick of the palsy, He said: \"Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine\nhouse. And he arose, and departed to his house.\" With characteristic\nreticence, the sacred historian says nothing of the feelings of the\nhappy man as he hied him home with a double blessing beyond the power\nof words to tell.\n\nIs it possible to imagine any better proof that could have been given\nof Christ's authority to forgive sins? Let those who have a horror of\nanything extraordinary suggest some way in which this assurance could\nhave been given without any manifestation of superhuman power. If they\ncannot, why continue those unreasoning objections to the kind of proof\nHe did give, when no other proof can be even suggested that would have\nat all suited the purpose?\n\nThe purpose was accomplished, so far at least as the people were\nconcerned. Whether the scribes found some way of evading the\nconclusion, the Evangelist does not say; but he does say that \"when\nthe multitudes saw it, they marvelled,\" or, as the probably more\ncorrect version of the Revisers gives it, \"they were afraid.\" This is\ntrue to nature, for now they knew that they stood in the presence of\nOne Who could look them through and through, and touch them in their\nsorest spot; so it was natural that their first feeling should be one\nof awe. Still, they could not but be thankful at the same time that\nthere was forgiveness within their reach; so quite consistently the\nnarrative proceeds--And they \"glorified God, which had given such\npower unto men.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nNow that His power to deal with sin is made so apparent, it is time to\nlet it be known that all sinners are welcome. Hence most appropriately\nthere follows the call of one from among the most despised class to\ntake a place among His closest followers. We can well understand how\nthe modest Matthew, who never mentions anything else about himself,\nwas glad to signalise the grace of the Master in seeking out the hated\nand despised publican. Not only does Christ welcome him, but consents\nto sit at meat with his former associates (ver. 10); and when the\nself-righteous Pharisee complains, He takes occasion to speak those\nmemorable words, so full of warning to those who think themselves\nrighteous, so full of comfort to those who know themselves sinners:\n\"They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.... I\nam not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.\"\n\n\nDEATH VANQUISHED (14-26).\n\nThe focal point of the passage is the chamber of death in the house of\nJairus. There we learn that He Who had shown Himself to be Lord of\nnature and of human nature, Master of the spirits of evil, and Saviour\nfrom sin, is also Conqueror of Death. He needs no preparation for the\nencounter. The summons comes to Him in the midst of a discourse, yet\nHe asks not a moment's delay, but sets out at once; on the other hand,\nHe is in no haste, for He has time to attend to another sufferer by\nthe way; and there is no exhaustion afterwards, for He deals with\nanother case, and still another, on His way back.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe question with which He was engaged when the summons came was one\nraised by the disciples of John, who, as we learn from the other\naccounts, were prompted by the Pharisees in the hope of exciting\nantagonism between the followers of John and of Jesus. Perhaps also\nthey had the hope of setting Him at variance with Himself, for had he\nnot declared that one jot or one tittle should not pass from the law\ntill all was fulfilled? Why, then, did not His disciples fast? To this\nit might have been answered that the frequent fasts observed by\nPharisees, and also by the disciples of John, were not really\nappointed by the law, which prescribed only one day of fasting in the\nyear--the great atonement day. But the Saviour gives an answer of much\nwider scope and farther-reaching significance. There was involved, not\nthe question of fasting only, but of the entire ceremonial law; and He\ndisposes of it all by a series of characteristic illustrations, each\nof them as good as a volume on the subject could have been.\n\nThe first of these illustrations sets the true principle of fasting in\nfull, clear light by a simple question--\"Can the children of the\nbridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the\ndays will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and\nthen shall they fast.\" There is here much more to think of besides the\nanswering of the question. There is a treasury of valuable suggestion\nin His calling Himself the Bridegroom, thus applying to Himself the\nrich imagery of the Old Testament on this theme; while at the same\ntime He adopts the very figure which John himself had used in order to\nmark his relation to Jesus as the Bridegroom's friend (cf. John iii.\n29); and it is especially worthy of note how this keeps up the\n_Gospel_ idea,--the great joy, as of a marriage, in the yielding of\nthe heart to Christ. No less striking is His touching reference to the\ndark days coming, the first distinct foreshadowing of the Cross. It\nhas been well said by a German writer, \"What man has ever looked so\ncalmly, so lovingly (_lieblich_), from such a height into such an\nabyss!\" from the position of the Bridegroom of humanity to that of the\noutcast on the Cross. Ah! the shadow of that Cross is never off Him,\nnot even when He is exulting in His bridegroom joy. But these are only\nincidental suggestions; the main idea is the true principle of\nfasting, which, like all the observances of the New Testament, must be\nthe expression of that which is in the heart. Let the heart only be\ntrue, and when the Bridegroom of the heart is present, fasting will be\nentirely out of the question; but when He is absent no rule will be\nneeded--they will fast as the natural expression of their sorrow.\n\nThe two companion illustrations which follow set in the clearest light\nthe large subject of the relation of the new dispensation to the old\nin respect of forms. As to substance, He had already made it plain\nthat the old was not to be destroyed, nor even superseded, but\nfulfilled, to its last jot and tittle, as harvest fulfils seed-time.\nBut as to form, the case was entirely different. The new life, while\nlosing nothing which was in the old, was to be larger and freer, and\ntherefore must have new garments to match. To try to piece out and\npatch the old would be no improvement, but much the reverse, for a\nworse rent would be the only result. The second illustration,\nsuggested like the first by the associations of the marriage feast\n(the Saviour's illustrations are never far-fetched--He always finds\nexactly what He needs close at hand, thus proving Himself Master of\nthe imagination as of all else), is to the same purpose. The new wine\nof the kingdom of heaven, though it retains all the excellence of the\nold vintage, yet having fresh properties of its own, must have fresh\nskins to hold it, that its natural expansion be not hindered; for to\nattempt to confine it in the old vessels would be to expose them to\ndestruction and to lose the wine.\n\nWhat a striking illustration of these suggestive words of warning has\nbeen the history of doctrine and of form in those churches which cling\nto the worn-out ritualism of the Old Testament! Old Testament forms\nwere good in their time; but they are not good to hold the new wine of\nspiritual life; and to attempt to combine them, as modern ritualists\ndo, is to injure both, to do violence to the forms by subjecting them\nto a strain for which they were never intended, and to lose the\ngreater part of the life by trying to put it in moulds which were\nnever intended for it. There is now no longer the excuse which our\nLord was so ready to make, at that time of transition, for those who\nwere slow to recognise the superiority of the new--a point which is\nbrought out in the pendant to this illustration which the Evangelist\nLuke records: \"No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth\nnew: for he saith, The old is better;\" or rather, according to the\nmore correct reading, \"the old is good.\" Thus, while the true\nprinciple was laid down for all time, excuse was made on behalf of\nJohn and his disciples, for clinging with a natural fondness to that\nwhich had done good service in the past. A very needful lesson this\nfor too ardent reformers, not considerate enough of what is in many\nrespects wholesome and praiseworthy conservatism.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt was in the midst of these important teachings that the message came\nfrom the chamber of death, to which we must now again direct our\nthoughts: \"While He spake these things unto them, behold, there came a\nruler, and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but\ncome and lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose,\nand followed him, and so did His disciples.\" This promptness is a most\nprecious revelation of the Divine readiness to help at any moment. No\nneed of waiting for a convenient time. Any moment is convenient for\nHim, to Whom the affairs even of the infinite universe are no burden.\n\nThe same lesson is still more strikingly taught by His manner of\ndealing with the case which met Him on the way to the ruler's house.\nSo hastily had He set out, in response to the ruler's appeal, that one\nwould have thought this of all times the most inconvenient--especially\nfor a chronic invalid--to gain a hearing. Here is a woman who has had\na disease for twelve years, and who therefore might surely be asked to\nwait a few hours at least, till the Physician should be at leisure!\nAnd the case is not at all forced on His attention; she does not stand\nin front of Him, so that He cannot pass without noticing her,--she\nonly \"came behind Him\"; nor does she take any means that seem likely\nto arrest His attention,--she only \"touched the hem of His garment.\"\nBut it is enough. Slight as the indication is that some one needs His\nhelp, He at once observes it; nor does He exhibit the least sign of\nimpatience or of haste; He turns round, and speaks in the kindest\nmanner, assuring her, as it were, of her right to enjoy the great\nblessing of health, which had just come to her, for as soon as she had\ntouched Him He had cured her of her long and weary ailment. What\nencouragement to the most timid soul! and what a revelation of the\nlarge sympathy and ever-ready helpfulness of our Saviour Christ, and\nof our heavenly Father Whom He so gloriously reveals!\n\nThe scene is now changed to the chamber of death. There are most\ninteresting details given in the fuller account by the Evangelist\nMark, but our scope is large enough here without endeavouring to bring\nthem all in. The maid had been at the point of death when the father\nleft the house; now it is all over, and the room is full of noisy\nmourners. These clamorous demonstrations were evidently very painful\nto the sensitive heart of Christ, not only, perhaps, on account of\ntheir unreality, but also because of their inappropriateness in view\nof the better hope which He was bringing into light. For we take it\nthat in these words \"Give place: for the maid is not dead, but\nsleepeth,\" there was not only a reference to His intention at once to\nbring the dead one back to life, but to the true nature of death in\nHis kingdom. In it death was to be death no longer--only a sleep, with\nthe prospect of a speedy and blessed awaking. Therefore such\nheathenish lamentations were to be henceforward out of place. Perhaps,\ntoo, He wished to set these people thinking on the great subject of\ndeath--what it is, what it means, and whether after all it need be\ndeath in the sense in which alone the noisy mourners thought of it.\nBut \"they laughed Him to scorn,\" so they must be \"put forth.\" The Lord\nof life cannot reveal Himself to such as these. Only the faithful\ndisciples, and the parents whose hearts have been prepared for such a\nrevelation by the discipline of genuine grief, are permitted to be\npresent. It is probable that both parents had their hearts fully\nopened to the Lord; for though the mother had waited by the daughter's\nbedside, she had no doubt gone with her husband in spirit on his\nhopeful errand; and the father's faith must have been greatly\nconfirmed by what had happened on the way back--there was nothing lost\nby that delay, even though in the meantime the message had come from\nthe house that it was too late. It was not too late: it was well that\nthe damsel had died; for now the Saviour has the opportunity to show\nthat He is no less Master of the last great enemy than of all the\nother enemies of man. \"He took her by the hand, and the maid arose.\"\n\n\nLOST FACULTIES RESTORED (27-34).\n\nThe raising of the dead may be regarded as the culminating point of\nthe series; yet there is a special value in the two that follow in\nclose succession before the series is complete. We have seen already\nthat, occurring, as they do, immediately after, they show that His\npower is not at all exhausted--a token this of the exhaustlessness of\nthe Divine love and helpfulness. But, besides this, are they not\nresurrections too--the raising again of faculties that had long been\ndead? Vision is a large part of our natural life; and to lose it is to\ndescend, so far, into the darkness of death. And as the eye is to\nimpression, so is the tongue to expression. The one is the crown of\nlife on its receptive side, the other on its communicative side (cf.\nPsalm lvii. 8; cviii. 1, 2). The eye, then, may well represent life on\nthe one side of it and the tongue on the other; while the two together\nrepresent it as completely as it is possible to do. Thus these two\ncases really come nearer to the idea of spiritual resurrection than\neven the raising of the dead damsel. In the case of the daughter of\nJairus there was no part left alive to make its appeal to the\nLifegiver on behalf of the rest; but with the others it was different:\nthe blind men, for example, were able to cry for mercy (ver. 27); and\nit was possible for the Saviour to say to them, as He touched their\neyes, \"According to your faith be it unto you\" (ver. 29), which He\ncould not have said to the damsel.\n\nHad the series ended with the raising of the daughter of Jairus, it\nhad been made sufficiently apparent that Christ was able and willing\nto raise the dead; but it had still remained unrevealed by what means\na man spiritually dead could secure for himself the resurrection of\nhis lost spiritual powers. Now it is clear. The death of the spirit is\nparallel, not to the total death of the damsel, but to the partial\ndeath of the blind; for though the spirit of a man be dead, his mind\nremains alive, his heart too, his conscience even, and his body of\ncourse; there remains enough of him, so to speak, to imitate the\nexample of these two blind men, to ask the Son of David for mercy, to\nfollow Him till he finds it, to allow Him first to draw out the\ndormant faculty of faith, and then, having prepared him for the mighty\nboon, to pour celestial light upon his soul, bestowing on him a life\nso new and fresh and blessed, that it will seem to him as if it were,\nand it will in point of spiritual fact really be, life from the dead.\n\nIt seems more than likely that it was because He wished to subordinate\nthe physical to the spiritual that He strictly charged them, saying,\n\"See that no man know it.\" If the main thing had been the restoration\nof bodily sight, the more who heard of it the better. But His great\npurpose was far higher,--even to put an end to spiritual blindness and\ndeath; therefore He must limit His dealings with natural blindness to\nthose who were prepared to receive the lower blessing without injuring\nthem in their higher nature; and to make known such a case in the way\nof advertisement through the country-side would have been to descend\nfrom His lofty position as Saviour of men and Herald of the kingdom of\nheaven to that of oculist for the neighbourhood. But, though we can\nreadily see why the Saviour should forbid the publication of the\ncure, it was natural enough that the men should disobey the order.\nThey probably attributed His injunction to modesty, and thought they\nwere showing a proper appreciation of what had been done for them by\npublishing it abroad. Blameworthy they certainly were; but not\ninexcusable.\n\nThe other case--the cure of the dumb demoniac--comes, if possible,\nstill closer to the spiritual condition with which it was the work of\nthe Saviour especially to deal. Like the former, it was the loss of a\nfaculty; but, unlike it, it was not the natural loss of it, but the\neclipsing of it by the malign presence of a spirit of evil. How\nclosely parallel is this to the case of the spiritually dead. What is\nit that has destroyed the great faculty by which God is known and\nworshipped? Is it not sin? Let that demon be cast out, and not only\nwill the eye see, but the tongue will speak; there will be a new song\nin the mouth, even praise to the Most High.\n\nFurthermore, as the cure of the blind men brought into prominence the\npower of faith, this brings into prominence the power of Christ to\nsave to the uttermost. For what more helpless case could there be? He\ncould not cry, for he was dumb. He could not follow Christ as the\nblind men had done, for he had not control of himself; so he must be\nbrought by others. Yet for him, as well as for them, there is full\nsalvation, as soon as he comes into the presence of the Lord of life.\nNo wonder the multitudes marvelled, and said, \"It was never so seen in\nIsrael\"! and no wonder that the Pharisees, unable in any other way to\nevade the force of such a succession of manifest signs of the kingdom\nof heaven, should be driven to the contradictory and blasphemous\nsuggestion, \"He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils\"\n(ver. 34).\n\nThe series is now complete; and, long as it has been, we could not\ndispense with a single case. There has been no repetition. Each case\nreported in detail has had its own special and peculiar value: the\nleper, the centurion's servant, the mother-in-law of Peter, the\ndealings with the impulsive scribe and the hesitating disciple, the\nstilling of the storm and mastery of the unseen legions of evil, the\nforgiving of sin, and welcoming of repentant sinners, the healing of\nthe chronic invalid by the way, the raising of the dead damsel, and\nthe restoring of sight to the blind and speech to the dumb,--all\ndifferent, all most precious, all needed to bring out some aspect of\nthe truth concerning Jesus as the Saviour of mankind, all together\ngiving us a most comprehensive presentation of the signs of the\nkingdom of heaven. And now that the nature of His work has been so\nfully set forth in its two great departments of teaching and of\nhealing, the rest is left unrecorded, except in the general statement\nthat \"Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their\nsynagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every\nsickness and every disease among the people\" (ver. 35).\n\n[8] The order is different in the second and third Gospels; but here\nonly is the order of events noted: \"And He saith unto them, Why\nare ye fearful, O ye of little faith? _Then_ He arose.\"\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\n_THE KING'S AMBASSADORS_.\n\nMATT. ix. 36-x. 42.\n\n\nI.--THE MISSION (ix. 36-x. 5).\n\nSo far the King Himself has done all the work of the kingdom. But it\nhas grown upon Him, so that He can no longer do it without assistance;\nHe must therefore provide Himself with deputies. His doing so will be\nthe first step in the organisation of His world-wide kingdom. He\nreveals, however, no plan laid down to meet all possible emergencies.\nIt is enough to provide for necessities as they develop themselves. He\nconstructs no mechanism beforehand into the different parts of which\nlife may be afterwards guided or forced; His only care is about the\nlife, knowing well that if only this be full and strong, the\nappropriate organisation will be ready when it is needed.\n\nIn conformity with this principle He does not make His arrangements,\nnecessary as they manifestly are, without first providing that they\nshall not be mechanical but vital, that they shall originate, not as a\ncontrivance of mind but as an outflow of soul. First, we are informed\nby the Evangelist that the soul of the Master Himself was stirred with\ncompassion as He looked upon the multitude, and thought how much they\nneeded in the way of shepherding, and how little it was possible for\nthem to have. It was no matter of planning for the extension of His\nkingdom; it was a great yearning over the sheep that were scattered,\nand torn (ver. 36, Gk. of oldest MSS.), and lost (x. 6). But it is not\nenough that the Master's heart should be touched: the disciples also\nmust be moved. So He turns their thoughts in the same direction,\nurging them to observe how plenteous the harvest, how few the\nlabourers; and therefore to pray that the lack may be speedily\nsupplied. He sets them thinking and praying about it--the only way to\nlay foundations for that which shall be true and lasting. Let it be\nobserved further, that the two emblems He uses present most strikingly\nthe great motives to missionary work: compassion for the lost, and\nzeal for the Divine glory. \"Sheep having no shepherd,\"--this appeals\nto our human sympathies; the Lord of the harvest deprived of His\nharvest for want of labourers to gather it in,--this appeals to our\nlove and loyalty to God.\n\nThe result of their thought and prayer presently appears; for we read\nin the next sentence of the setting apart of the twelve disciples to\nthe work. It does not follow, because the narrative is continuous,\nthat the events recorded were; it is probable that an interval elapsed\nwhich would be largely spent in prayer according to the word of the\nMaster.\n\nThis is the first mention of the Twelve in this Gospel; but it is\nevident that the number had been already made up, for they are spoken\nof as \"His twelve disciples.\" It would appear from the second and\nthird Gospels that, immediately before the delivery of the Sermon on\nthe Mount, the Twelve were chosen from the whole number of disciples\nto be constantly with Him, as witnesses of His works and learners of\nHis doctrine. By this time they had been so far instructed and trained\nby their companionship with Christ, that they could be safely\nentrusted with a mission by themselves; accordingly He for the first\ntime gives them power to do deeds of mercy of the same sort as those\nwhich He Himself had been doing, as signs of the kingdom of heaven.\n\nAs the apostles have not been mentioned before, their names are\nappropriately given here. The number \"twelve\" was no doubt\nsignificant, as suggestive of the twelve tribes of Israel; but there\nwas plainly no attempt to have the tribes represented separately. It\nwould seem as if all were Galileans, except one, and that one was\nJudas Iscariot (_i.e._, the man of Kerioth, supposed to be a town in\nJud\u00e6a). The reason of this almost exclusive choice of Galileans is in\nall probability to be found in the simple fact that there were none\nother available. There had been those, in the course of His Jud\u00e6an\nministry, who had after a certain fashion believed on Him; but there\nwas not one of them whom He could trust with such work as this (John\nii. 23-5). It may be thought, indeed, that surely there might have\nbeen some better representative--at least, than Judas proved himself\nto be--of the southern tribes; but why should we think so? We have no\nreason to suppose that Judas was a traitor at heart when he was\nchosen. Perhaps there was in him at that time the making of as grand\nan apostle as the best of them. It was not long, indeed, before the\ndemon in him began to betray itself to the searching glance of the\nMaster (John vi. 70); but had he only, in the power of the Master he\nfollowed, cast that demon out of his own heart, as possibly enough he\nmay have helped in this very mission to cast demons out of others,\nall would have been well. The subsequent fall of the traitor does not\nby any means show that Christ now made a mistaken choice; it only\nshows that the highest privileges and opportunities may, by the\ntolerance of sin in the heart, be not only all in vain, but may lead\nto a condemnation and ruin more terrible by far than would have been\npossible without them.\n\nNot only was the apostolate Galilean,--it was plebeian, and that\nwithout a solitary exception. It seems to include not a single person\nof recognised rank or position. Again, we believe that this is to be\naccounted for by the simple fact that there were none of these\navailable. We cannot suppose that if there had been a disciple like\nPaul in the ranks, the Master would have hesitated to give him a place\nin the sacred college; but, seeing there was none, He would not go out\nof His way to secure a representative of the learned or the great. Had\nNicodemus been bold enough to come out decidedly on the Lord's side,\nor had Joseph of Arimath\u00e6a developed earlier that splendid courage\nwhich he showed when the Master's work on earth was done, we can\nscarcely doubt that their names might have been included in the roll.\nBut there is no such name; and now, as we look back, was it not better\nso? Otherwise there could not have been such a wonderful illustration\nof the great fact that \"God hath chosen the weak things of the world\nto confound the things which are mighty\"; there could not otherwise\nhave been the same invincible evidence that the work these men did was\nnot the work of men, but was indeed and in truth the doing of God.\n\nThough they were all from the lower ranks of life, they were\ncharacterised by great varieties of gifts and dispositions. Some of\nthem, indeed, are scarcely known to us at all. It may be that they\nwere more or less ordinary men who made no special mark; but it would\nbe rash to set this down as certain, or even as probable, seeing that\nour records of the time are so scanty, and are manifestly constructed\nwith the idea, not of giving to every man his due--as would be the\npoor ideal of a mere writer of history--but of making nothing of the\nmen, and everything of the cause and of the Master in Whose great\nPersonality theirs was merged. But those of them who do appear in the\nrecords are men of such varied dispositions and powers that the Twelve\nmight after all have been a fair miniature of the Church at large.\nSome of the selections seem very strange. We have already referred to\nJudas the traitor. But there were those among them who must have been\nfar less likely men than he. There were two in particular, the choice\nof whom seemed to violate all dictates of wisdom and prudence. These\nwere Matthew the publican and Simon the Canan\u00e6an or Zealot. To have a\npublican, hated as the whole class was, among the apostles, was\napparently to invite the hostility and contempt of the great majority\nof the nation, and especially of those who were strongly national in\nfeeling. On the other hand, to invite one who was known as a Zealot, a\nradical and revolutionist in politics, a man who had identified\nhimself with the wildest schemes for the overthrow of the Government,\nwas to provoke the opposition of all the law-abiding and peace-loving\npeople of the time. Yet how could the heavenly King have more\neffectually shown that His kingdom was not of this world, that the\npetty party spirit of the day had no place in it whatever, that it\nmattered not what a man had been, if now he was renewed in the spirit\nof his mind, and consecrated in heart and soul and life to do the will\nof God and serve his Master Christ?[9]\n\nSo it has come to pass that, though these twelve men had nothing at\nall to recommend them to the favour of the world, and though there was\nvery much from every worldly point of view to create the strongest\nprejudices against them and to militate against their influence, yet\nthey have, by the grace of their Divine Master, so triumphed over all,\nthat when we think of them now, it is not as fishermen, nor as\npublican or Zealot--even the traitor has simply dropped out of\nsight--we see before us only \"the glorious company of the apostles\"!\n\n\nII.--THE COMMISSION (x. 5-42).\n\n\"These twelve Jesus sent forth\" (in pairs, as we learn elsewhere, and\nas is indicated here, perhaps, by the grouping in the list), \"and\ncharged them.\" This leads us to look at their commission. It begins\nwith a limitation, which, however, was only to be temporary. The time\nhad not yet come for the opening of the door to the Gentiles. Besides\nthis, we must remember that the Saviour's heart was yearning over His\nown people. This appears in the tender way He speaks of them as \"the\nlost sheep of the house of Israel.\" Moreover, the apostles were by no\nmeans ready, with all their national prejudices still rank in them, to\nbe entrusted with so delicate and difficult a duty as getting into\ncommunication with an alien race. Accordingly their field is strictly\nlimited to their own countrymen.\n\nThere seems to have been a limitation also in their message. They had\nthemselves been to some extent instructed in regard to the nature of\nthe kingdom, its blessedness, its righteousness, its leading\nprinciples and features; but, though they may have begun to get some\nglimpse of the truth in regard to these great matters, they certainly\nhad not yet made it their own; accordingly they are given, as the\nsubstance of their preaching, only the simple announcement, with which\nthe Baptist had begun his ministry, and with which Christ also\ncommenced His: \"The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\" Though there seems\nto have been a limitation on the teaching side, there was none on the\nside of healing, for their Lord empowers them to do the very same\nthings for the relief of their suffering fellow-countrymen as they had\nseen Himself doing. We have already seen how much teaching there was\nin these signs of the kingdom; and we can well believe that it was far\nbetter, considering the stage of advancement the apostles had reached,\nthat reliance should be placed on the light such deeds of mercy would\nnecessarily throw on the nature of the kingdom, than on any exposition\nwhich, apart from their Master, they could at that time have been able\nto give. Above all it is to be clear that the privileges of the\nkingdom are free to all; its blessings are to be dispensed without\nmoney and without price: \"Freely ye have received, freely give.\"\n\nHow, then, were they to be supported? About this they were to give\nthemselves no concern. They were now to put in practice the great\ncommand, \"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,\"\nrelying on the promise, \"all these things shall be added unto you.\"\nBut in no miraculous way are they to look for the provision of their\nwants. They are to be maintained by those among whom and for whom they\nlabour. This was to be no burden, but a privilege, reserved for those\nwho were found \"worthy\" (ver. 11). Nor was it to be divided among as\nmany as possible. They were to stay on with the same person who first\nreceived them, as the one whom the Master had chosen for the honour;\nwhile, if any refused to recognise it as a privilege, there was to be\nno weak solicitation, but a dignified withdrawal. The regulations\nthroughout are manifestly intended to keep most vividly before their\nminds that they went not in their own names, nor on their own\nstrength, nor at their own charges,--that they were ambassadors of a\nKing, clothed with His authority, armed with His power, vested with\nHis rights; so that there is a manifest appropriateness in the solemn\nwords with which this part of the commission closes: \"Verily I say\nunto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and\nGomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city\" which rejects you\n(ver. 15).\n\nThe part of the charge which follows, and which the limitation of our\nplan will not allow us to illustrate point by point, bears not so much\non the work more immediately before them as on the whole work of their\napostolate. It may have been spoken, as some suppose, later on, and\nonly put here as germane to the occasion; for, as we have seen, the\narrangement of this gospel is not chronological, but is largely\ntopical. Still there seems no very strong reason for supposing that\nthe entire discourse was not spoken at this very time; for why should\nnot the apostles in the very beginning of their way have some idea of\nwhat it would cost them to accept the work to which they were now\ncalled?\n\nThe leading thoughts are these: They must expect to be exposed to\ntrial and suffering in the prosecution of their mission. The Master\nHimself was sorely tried, and the servant must not expect exemption.\nHe is not indeed to court trials, or to submit to persecutions which\nare not inevitable: \"When they persecute you in this city, flee ye\ninto another.\" On the other hand, when the path of duty lies evidently\nthrough trial or danger, he must not shirk it, but face it boldly; and\nin all emergencies he is to place implicit confidence in Him Whose\nservant he is: \"When they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what\nye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall\nspeak\" (R.V.). \"The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye\nnot, therefore.\" There is no way of avoiding the cross; and they would\nbe quite unworthy of their Master should they seek to avoid it. Yet\nthere is a great reward for those who bravely take it up and patiently\nbear it to the end. It is the way to higher honour (ver. 32), and to\nthe only life that is worthy of the name (ver. 39); while to turn away\nfrom it is to choose a path which leads to shame (ver. 33) and death\n(ver. 39).\n\nThe passage, taken up, as so much of it has been, with the\nanticipations of ill-treatment which the apostles will receive in\nsetting out as sheep in the midst of wolves, closes most appropriately\nand beautifully with a series of blessings on those who will treat\nthem well, ending with the encouraging assurance that even a cup of\ncold water given to a thirsty disciple will not be forgotten of God.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe lessons on Christian work with which this passage abounds are so\nnumerous that it would be vain to attempt to unfold them. It is not\nmerely a record of facts; it is an embodiment of great principles\nwhich are to govern the disciples of Christ in their service to the\nend of the world. If only the Church as a whole were to think and pray\nas Christ taught His disciples to think and pray before this great\nevent; and then if the labourers whom God has sent, or would, in\nanswer to the prayers of the Church, immediately send, into His\nharvest were to act--not necessarily according to the letter, but in\nevery part according to the spirit of these instructions,--using their\nown faculties with all the wisdom of the serpent, and trusting to\nDivine grace and power with all the simplicity of the dove--it would\nnot be long before all the scattered sheep were gathered into the\nfold, all the ripe sheaves garnered for the Lord of the harvest!\n\n[9] It is interesting to notice that, though Matthew here calls himself\nMatthew the publican, no one else does. To others the publican\nis lost in the apostle--it is only himself who will not forget the hole\nof the pit whence he was digged.\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\n_THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS._\n\nMATT. xi., xii.\n\n\nI.--DISCOURAGEMENTS (xi).\n\nHitherto almost everything has been hopeful and encouraging in our\nEvangelist's record of the Saviour's ministry. It began like daybreak\non the shores of the sea of Galilee. Great multitudes followed Him\nwherever He went; and those whom He called to be with Him cheerfully\nresponded to the summons. When He preached the Gospel of the kingdom,\nthe people were astonished at His doctrine, and recognised that He\n\"taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.\" His\nworks of healing were warmly welcomed, and to a large extent\nappreciated by the people generally, though already it was apparent\nthat those whose selfish interests were touched by the progress of the\ntruth were ready to cavil and complain. Notwithstanding this, the work\nhas grown upon Him so, that He has found it necessary to arm His\ntwelve disciples with powers like His own, and send them forth as\nheralds of His kingdom through the land.\n\nBut the path of the King is not to be a triumphal progress. It is to\nbe a _via dolorosa_, leading to a cross and a grave. Many prophecies\nhad been already fulfilled, as our Evangelist has shown again and\nagain; but there are others of a different sort which can as little\nfail of their fulfilment,--like that which speaks of the Messiah as\n\"despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with\ngrief.\" It is not at all to be wondered at, then, that the Evangelist\nshould now give his readers some idea of the discouragements which met\nthe King in the setting up of His kingdom on the earth. The first of\nthese which he mentions comes from a quarter from which least of all\nit might have been expected.\n\n1. _John in doubt_ (vv. 1-15).\n\nIt was, indeed, not at all unnatural that John should be in doubt.\nThink of his character: stern, uncompromising, severe, and bold to\nrashness. Think of his circumstances: languishing in prison for the\ntruth's sake, without any prospect of rescue;--after all, was Jesus\nKing, or Herod? Remember, too, in what terms he had predicted the\ncoming One: \"Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees;\" ...\n\"He that cometh after me is mightier than I;\" ... \"Whose fan is in His\nhand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat\ninto the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable\nfire.\" Did not this betoken a work which would be swift, severe,\nthorough,--very different from anything of which he could hear in his\nprison cell? The coming of the kingdom was too gentle and too slow for\nthe stern, impatient Baptist. Accordingly, \"offended\" (see ver. 6,\nR.V.: \"finding occasion of stumbling\") in his Master, he sends this\nmessage, in the hope possibly that it may constrain Him to avow\nHimself and to bring matters to a crisis: \"Art thou He that should\ncome, or do we look for another?\"\n\nThough it was natural enough that John should doubt, it was none the\nless trying to Jesus. The disciples were only children yet. Not one of\nthem could enter into full sympathy with Him. John, the forerunner,\nwas the one strong man, on whom He had reason thoroughly to rely, who\nhad been tried again and again, and always found brave and true. Yet\nit is he who sends the doubting message. What a shock it must have\nbeen to the sensitive heart, what a trial to the faith, of the Man\nChrist Jesus!\n\nThe message must have been a very disturbing and disconcerting one,\nand fitted, if widely known, to neutralise to a large degree in the\nminds of the people the witness John had borne to Jesus. It is the\nlast thing the Evangelist would have thought of mentioning, if he had\nbeen actuated in the selection of his material by motives of policy;\nand the fact that this incident is published in two of the Gospels is\na striking illustration of what is manifest throughout--the perfect\nsimplicity and candour of the sacred historians.\n\nHave we not reason to be most thankful that they did record it? To the\ntruly thoughtful mind it is no weakening of the testimony of John;\nwhile it is full of comfort for the honest doubter, giving him the\nassurance that even when the most serious questions trouble him--even\nthough the very foundations of his faith seem to be shaken--\"there\nhath no temptation taken\" him \"but such as is common to man,\" such as\neven a brave and true soul like John had to face; full of\nencouragement also to do just as he did,--go straight to the Master\nHimself with the doubts, and let Him deal with them--wisely,\nfaithfully, tenderly--as He does here.\n\nHow, then, does He deal with them? By a miracle, opening the prison\ndoors, and so making it perfectly plain to him that not Herod, but\nJesus, is King? By a sudden outburst of vengeance, destroying hosts of\nunrepentant sinners and alarming all the country side, and so\nsatisfying the sternest thoughts of the Baptist in his cell? Not at\nall. He deals with them as He intends to deal with doubters always:\npoints him quietly to the many tokens of His Divine mission--not in\nthe way of judgment wrought on sinners, nor of any grand demonstration\nwhich will astonish the nation, but in the quiet progress of His\nhelpful, healing, comforting work: \"Go, and show John again those\nthings which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and\nthe lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead\nare raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.\" Then He\nencourages him to hold fast the beginning of his confidence firm unto\nthe end, by adding the significant words, \"Blessed is he, whosoever\nshall find none occasion of stumbling in Me\" (R.V.). It was far better\nfor John himself that he should be allowed to rally, than that\nanything special should be done to meet his doubts. He did rally; he\ndid secure the blessing his Master set before him; he was satisfied\nwithout any open demonstration, satisfied to wait on and suffer in\nfaith and patience, till at last he sealed the testimony of his\nmagnificent life by a martyr's death.\n\nThose are in some respects to be envied who in childlike simplicity\nbelieve without doubt or question; but there is a special blessing for\nthose who by the very force of their nature must wrestle with doubt,\nyet in the trying hour find no occasion of stumbling in Him. They\ncome out of the conflict more than conquerors through Him that loved\nthem.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe answer sent to John was kind; but there was no flattery in it--not\neven a word of commendation of his heroic endurance. The Master knew\nthe strength of His disciple, and He dealt with him accordingly. But\nas soon as the messengers are gone He tells the people what He thinks\nof him. He in effect deprecates the thought of judging John by a\nmessage sent in an hour of weakness and despondency. \"Do not imagine\nfor a moment,\" He seems to say, \"that the man you went out into the\nwilderness to see is feeble as a reed, or soft as a courtier. He is\nall, and more than all, you took him to be. He is a prophet indeed;\nand much more, for he is a herald of the heavenly King. Among them\nthat are born of woman there hath not risen a greater than John the\nBaptist; and though he has not the advantages of even the little ones\nin the kingdom of heaven, inasmuch as he belongs to the old\ndispensation, yet, as herald of the new, he occupies a peculiarly\nhonoured place--he stands between the old and the new; for all the\nprophets and the law prophesied until John; while from the days of\nJohn the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is preached, and men\nare pressing into it. He is, in fact, if only you had ears to hear, if\nonly your minds were open to read the Scriptures according to the\nspirit of them, that very Elijah whose coming your prophet has taught\nyou to expect\" (vv. 7-14).\n\nSo far we have followed what seems to be the drift of our Saviour's\nwords in regard to John; but there is more than this in them. He is\ncontrasting the feebleness and fickleness of the multitude with the\nstrength and stability of John. There is before His mind, throughout,\nthe thought of the transcendent importance of the events of the time\nas compared with the thoughtlessness of the people of the time. The\nquestion \"What went ye out for to see?\" was intended not merely to\nbring into relief the greatness of John, but to search their hearts.\nThe important events of the time had circled first around John the\nBaptist, then around Himself. The people had not the least idea of the\ntranscendent greatness of John and still less of the infinite\ngreatness of Him to Whom he had borne witness. Jesus did not wish as\nyet fully to assert His own claims, yet He desired to bring the\ninconsiderate multitudes to some conception of the things which their\neyes saw, to rebuke and, if possible, to correct their thoughtlessness\nand indifference.\n\nIt is to the presence of this underlying thought that some forms of\nexpression are due which otherwise are difficult to understand. This\napplies in particular to ver. 12, which has been a terrible\nstumbling-block to expositors. So far as the position of John was\nconcerned, it was enough to say that from his time the kingdom of God\nwas preached (the form found in St. Luke); but in view of the levity\nand thoughtlessness of the multitudes it is put in such a way as to\nsuggest that it is not your thoughtless, fickle, reed-hunting,\nsight-seeing people, that get the kingdom, but eager, earnest,\n\"violent\" men. The same thought accounts for the manner in which the\nparagraph closes, indicating that that which had been spoken ought to\nlead to more serious thought, more intelligent appreciation both of\nthe herald and of the kingdom which in the spirit and power of the\nGreat Elijah he has heralded: \"_He that hath ears to hear, let him\nhear._\"\n\nBut would they hear? Alas! no; and this accordingly must be put down\nas a second and most serious discouragement.\n\n2. _The unreasonableness of the people_ (vv. 16-19).\n\nUnable to recognise the true significance of the events of the time,\nwith deaf ears to the heavenly message which first the herald and then\nthe King had brought them, they fastened their attention on that which\nwas merely incidental: the asceticism of John, the social friendliness\nof Jesus. Of the first they complained, because it was not like the\nsecond; of the second they complained, because it was not like the\nfirst. Any excuse for a complaint; no ear to hear nor soul to\nappreciate the message of either. To what can He liken them? To a set\nof children, sitting in the market-place indeed, but with no thought\nof business in their heads: they are there only to amuse themselves;\nand even in their games they are as unreasonable as they can be. One\nset proposes to play a wedding, and the rest say, \"No, we want a\nfuneral\"; then, when the others take it up and start the game of\nfuneral, they change their tune, and say, \"No, we prefer a wedding.\"\nNothing will please those who have no intention to be satisfied.\nCaring nothing for the kingdom which John heralded, the multitude only\nnoticed the peculiarity of his garb, and the stern solitariness of his\nlife, and said he must be a lunatic. When the King Himself comes with\nno such peculiarity, but mingling on familiar and friendly terms with\nthe people, still caring nothing for the kingdom which He preached,\nthey find fault with Him for the very qualities the absence of which\nthey deprecated in John. If they had acted, not as foolish children,\nbut as wise men, they would have recognised that both were right,\ninasmuch as each was true to himself and to the position he filled. It\nwas right and fitting that the last of the old prophets should be\nrugged and stern and solitary, even as the great Elijah, in whose\nspirit and power he came. It was no less right and fit that the\nSaviour-King of men should set out on new lines and introduce the new\ndispensation in a manner suited to its distinctive features of freedom\nand familiar friendliness. Thus, in the one case, and in the other,\n\"wisdom is justified of her children.\"\n\n3. _The Unbelief of the Cities_ (vv. 20-24).\n\nThough the multitudes which had flocked to hear John might be fickle\nand thoughtless, surely better things might be expected of those\nfavoured towns by the lake of Galilee, where the signs of the kingdom\nhad been so abundantly exhibited and the truth of the kingdom so\nearnestly and frequently preached. But no: even they \"repented not.\"\nThey would bring their sick in crowds to get them healed; but they hid\nas it were their faces from Him. They had not indeed treated Him as\nthe people of Nazareth had done; for Nazareth had cast Him out, and\nCapernaum had taken Him in. Yet His lamentation is not over Nazareth,\nbut over Capernaum. We can readily see why. What He suffered at\nNazareth was a personal indignity. He was so summarily ejected that He\nhad not time or opportunity to set before them the signs of the\nkingdom. But in Capernaum the time and opportunity had been ample. The\ntruth had been fully told; the signs had been fully wrought. The\npeople had seemed to listen; and all betokened a happy issue. We can\nimagine the Saviour waiting and hoping and longing (for again, let it\nbe remembered that He was very man, and that this experience\ndiscouraged Him as it would discourage any of us), and then tasting\nall the bitterness of hope deferred, ending in crushing\ndisappointment.\n\nFor a long time He continues silent, bearing the heavy burden in His\nheart, till the fountain of grief could be pent up no longer: \"Then\nbegan He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were\ndone, because they repented not.\" The words He speaks are very awful;\nbut it is in the last resort. Love and mercy have been His theme from\nday to day; and it is only because these are obstinately rejected that\nwrath and judgment must now find a voice. It is not a wrathful voice:\nthere are tears in it. What must it have cost Him to speak these awful\nwords about Capernaum's impending doom! To think that those who were\nnearest His heart of all, to whom He devoted the freshness of His\nfirst days of service, the dew of His youth, so to speak--that they\nwould have none of Him, but preferred to remain in sin with all the\nwoe it necessarily entailed,--oh! it must have been torture to that\nloving heart. And we may be sure there was no less pathos in this last\nappeal to Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum, than there was in the\nlater lamentation over the city of the South.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHow does the Saviour bear Himself under these repeated\ndiscouragements? The passage which follows will show (vv. 25-30). Some\nhave found a difficulty in the word \"answered,\" because there appears\nno question with which it is connected. But did not these\ndiscouragements require an answer? As we read, first of the doubts of\nJohn, then of the thoughtlessness of the multitudes, and then of the\nimpenitence of the favoured cities by the lake, is there not a\nquestion in our hearts, becoming more and more urgent as each new\ndiscouragement appears, What will He say to this? What can He answer?\nThus our minds are well prepared for that which immediately follows:\n\"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father.\" Is it\nto be a thanksgiving, then, after such a series of disappointments and\nvexations? Even so. As He has looked to the cities of the plain, His\nvoice has been a wail; now that He looks up to His Father, wailing\nceases, and thanksgiving takes its place. So will it always be to\nfaith which is genuine and deep enough. It is only when we look below\nand around that we are depressed. When we look up we are strong. \"I\nwill lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My\nhelp cometh from the Lord Who made heaven and earth.\" Was it the\nremembrance of this passage at the time of need which suggested the\nform of His thanksgiving: \"I thank Thee, Father, _Lord of heaven and\nearth_\"?\n\nSurely we have here the living original of that grand apostolic word,\n\"In everything give thanks\"; for if \"at that season\" (R.V.) the\nSaviour of men found occasion for thanksgiving, we may well believe\nthat at any season, however dark, we may find something to stir our\nhearts to gratitude; and the very exercise of thanksgiving will bring\na deep spiritual joy to set against the bitterest sorrow, even as it\nwas with our Lord, Who, as St. Luke informs us, \"rejoiced in spirit\"\nas He lifted up His soul in thanks to God that day.\n\nWhat, then, does He find to be thankful for? First, He discovers a\ncause for gratitude in the very limitation which occasions His sorest\ndisappointments: \"I thank Thee, ... because Thou hast hid these things\nfrom the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.\" There\nis of course the cheering thought that amid the general unbelief and\nrejection there are some childlike souls who have welcomed the truth.\nSome are fain to make this the sole cause of thankfulness, as if He\nmeant to say, \"I thank Thee, that _though_ Thou hast hid these things\nfrom the wise and prudent, Thou hast revealed them unto babes.\" But\nthere is no authority for introducing this little word. The Saviour\ngives thanks, not merely in spite of this hiding, but because of it.\nIt is true, indeed, that He uses the language of resignation, \"Even\nso, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight,\" which makes it\nevident that the fact that so many of the wise and intelligent\nrejected His gospel presented a real difficulty to His mind, as it has\ndone to earnest souls in all ages. But while it was no doubt enough\nfor Him to feel sure that it was right in the sight of God, we are not\nwithout indication in what follows, that His faith not only led to\nresignation, but enabled Him to see for Himself that it was wisely\nordered. For what is the great object of the Gospel? Is it not to\ndethrone self and enthrone God in the hearts of men? It is clear, then,\nthat, if it had in any way appealed to pride and self-sufficiency, it\nwould have defeated its own end. Suppose the revealing of things had\nbeen to the wise and prudent as such, what would have been the result?\nThe kingdom of heaven would have become a mere scholarship prize. And,\nhowever good a thing scholarship may be, and however important that it\nbe encouraged, this is not the work of the Christ of God. His Gospel\nis for all; so it is addressed not to the great in intellect, which\nwould confine it to the few, but to the lowly in heart, which brings\nit within reach of all,--for the very wisest and greatest in\nintellect may be, and ought to be, meek and lowly in heart.\n\nIndeed, is it not to the meek and lowly heart that even the truths of\nscience are disclosed? A man who approaches nature with a preconceived\ntheory, about which his mind is already made up, is sure to miss the\nmark. To enter into its secrets, prejudices and prepossessions must be\nlaid aside, and things observed with open mind and simple receptiveness.\nIn this connection one sees the special appropriateness of the\nreference to \"the Lord of heaven and earth.\" The principle is one\nwhich is not restricted in its range: it runs all through nature.\nStill more appropriate is the appeal to the fatherhood of God. It is\nnot for the Father to be partial to his clever children, and leave the\nless favoured ones to shift for themselves. To Him they are all\n\"babes\"; and to them He must be not examiner, nor prize-giver, but\nabove all _Father_, if they would understand and feel His love. So the\nmore one thinks of it, the more in every point of view does it seem\ngood and necessary that these things should not be made known to the\n\"wise and understanding\" (R.V.) as such, but should be revealed to\n\"babes,\" to those of childlike spirit. It is well. The wisest and most\nlearned may join in the thanksgiving, for it is far better for them to\ntake their places with the rest, as many happily do, and receive the\nsame loving welcome; and those of us who cannot call ourselves wise\nand learned should surely be most devoutly thankful that, however\nimpossible it may be to compete with these highly favoured ones in\nobtaining the prizes of earth, we are at no disadvantage in striving\nfor \"the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.\"\n\nThe next great thought which comes to the relief of the Saviour in\nHis discouragement is that, while there are barriers in the heart of\nman, there is no barrier in the heart of God, no limit whatever to the\noutpouring of Divine love and grace: \"All things are delivered unto Me\nof My Father.\" Even at the time when it is borne in upon Him that men\nwill have none of Him, He exults in the thought that He has everything\nfor them. If only they could see it! If only they knew the boundless\ntreasure there was for them in God! If only they knew that God had put\nall within their reach by sending them His Son! But the Son is unknown\nexcept to the Father, Who sent Him; and the Father is unknown except\nto the Son, Who has come to reveal Him. But He _has_ come to reveal\nHim; and with the revealing the way will be opened for all good things\nto follow. As He thinks of it His heart yearns over the orphaned\nchildren of men, and He exults in the thought that He has for them the\nrevelation of the Father's heart and home, with enough and to spare\nfor all His children (ver. 27).\n\nThen follows such an outpouring of heart as there never has been\nbefore. He knows that only in the Father can the children of men find\nrest, and so He says \"Come unto Me,\" and I will lead you to the\nFather, Who alone knows Me, as I alone know Him; and you, finding Him\nin Me, shall know Him too, and your hearts shall be at rest.\n\nIt is beautiful and most touching to observe how our Lord is, as it\nwere, compelled to make His appeal more personal than He has ever done\nbefore. We look in vain through His previous utterances as reported in\nthis Gospel for such reduplication of the personal pronouns as there\nis here. What is the reason of it? We can see it when we read between\nthe lines. Hitherto His great subject has been the kingdom of heaven.\nThis kingdom He has been preaching through all the country-side,\nsetting forth its purity and blessedness, unfolding its unspeakable\nriches, and entreating all to enter in by the strait gate, which He\nhas thrown open to receive them. But they will not enter. These\nthings, in spite of all He can say, are hid from them. Well He knows\nwhat is the difficulty: it is the hardness of their hearts. If He\ncould only get at these hearts! How can He do it? It can only be by\nthe opening out of all His heart to them; so He will make His pleading\na personal entreaty now. Hence the peculiarly winning form His\ninvitation now assumes. It is no longer \"Enter ye in at the strait\ngate\"; it is not even, \"I have come to call sinners to repentance\"; it\nis the cry of a loving, yearning heart, \"Come unto Me.\" And how\ntenderly He thinks of them!--no more upbraiding now, no more reproof.\nHe will try to reach the conscience through the heart, and so He does\nnot even think of them as sinners now--He forgets everything but their\nweariness and woe: \"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy\nladen, and I will rest you.\"[10]\n\nWe shall not, however, dwell on the precious words with which this\nchapter ends. They are as rich and suggestive as they are simple and\nheart-thrilling; but for this very reason we must not attempt to do\nmore than place them in their setting, which is often missed, for the\nwords themselves have attracted so much attention, and so filled the\nminds and hearts of those who have looked at them that too little has\nbeen made of their surroundings. Observe only how nobly the Son of man\ncomes out of this ordeal of disappointment and discouragement. See the\ngrandeur of His faith. \"At that season,\" when we should expect to see\nHim in the depths, He rises to the very height of His dignity and\nmajesty. This passage above all others has been cited as an example of\nthe self-assertion of Jesus--say rather His sublime consciousness of\ndivine dignity, prerogative and power; yet so entirely natural and\nunassuming is it all, that in the very same breath He can say, without\nconveying to the most thoughtful mind the least feeling of\nincongruity: \"I am meek and lowly in heart.\" Then, behold what manner\nof love! These chilling blasts of doubt, indifference, and unbelief,\nonly fan it into a warmer, steadier flame. The sweetest of all His\ninvitations, the most touching of all His appeals, comes from a heart\nwhich has just been wounded in its tenderest place, and has tasted the\nbitterness of cruel disappointment. Who can measure the patient love\nwhich \"at that season\" finds such utterance?\n\n\nII.--THE CONTRADICTION OF SINNERS (xii.).\n\nThe darkness deepens on the Saviour's path. He has now to encounter\ndirect antagonism. There have been, indeed, signs of opposition\nbefore. When the man sick of the palsy was forgiven, \"certain of the\nscribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth\" (ix. 3); but it\nwas only \"within themselves,\" they did not venture to speak out.\nAgain, after the feast in the house of Levi, the Pharisees complained,\nbut not to Christ Himself; \"they said unto His disciples, Why eateth\nyour Master with publicans and sinners?\" (ix. 11). And when the dumb\ndemoniac was cured, the Pharisees muttered, \"He casteth out devils\nthrough the prince of the devils\" (ix. 34), but did not yet say it to\nHis face. But now they are emboldened to attack Him directly. Possibly\nthey saw as clearly as any the discouraging aspect of affairs for the\nnew kingdom. They had, in all probability, heard of the doubts of\nJohn, had taken note of the fault-findings of the people (if, indeed,\nthese had not been first suggested by themselves), had observed that\neven \"the cities where most of His mighty works were done repented\nnot\" (xi. 20); and having therefore less occasion to fear\nconsequences, they might think it safe to attack one who stood for a\nrapidly failing cause.\n\n * * * * *\n\n1. Observe, first, the spirit in which our Lord meets the repeated\nattacks of which the record is given in this chapter. There are four\nin close succession. The first is the charge of Sabbath-breaking made\nagainst the disciples, because they rubbed a few ears of corn in their\nhands as they passed through the fields on the Sabbath day; and\nfollowing it, the entangling question put to the Master in the\nsynagogue. Then there is the accusation founded on the healing of the\nblind and dumb demoniac: \"This man doth not cast out devils, but by\nBeelzebub the prince of the devils\" (ver. 24). The third attack is the\nhypocritical application, \"Master, we would see a sign from Thee\"\n(ver. 38), the word \"Master\" being evidently used in mockery, and the\nrequest for \"a sign\" a scornful way of suggesting that all the signs\nHe was giving were worth nothing. These three attacks were made by the\nPharisees, and were most irritating and vexatious, each in its own\nway. The first was annoying on account of its pettiness, the second\nbecause of its bitter malice, while the third was a studied insult;\nand yet, galling as these repeated attacks must have been, we may well\nsuppose that the keenest wound of all to the gentle spirit of the Son\nof man would be the last, inflicted by the members of His own family,\nwho seemed at this time as unsympathetic and unbelieving as the\nPharisees themselves; for the untimely interruption recorded at the\nclose of the chapter was intended, as we learn from the account in the\nsecond gospel, to put Him under restraint as a madman. This last\ninterruption, in which even His mother joined, must have been gall and\nwormwood to that tender heart.\n\nNow \"consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against\nHimself\" (Heb. xii. 3). How does He bear Himself through these storms\nof calumny and insult? He bears Himself so that out of this dark\nchapter of His history there comes to us one of the loveliest\nportraits of Him to be found anywhere. It had been sketched by one of\nthe old masters as an ideal portrait, and is now at last matched in\nreal life: \"Behold My servant, Whom I have chosen; My Beloved, in Whom\nMy soul is well pleased: I will put My spirit upon Him, and He shall\nshow judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither\nshall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall He\nnot break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth\njudgment unto victory. And in His name shall the Gentiles trust\" (vv.\n18-21). What gentleness and tenderness, yet what strength and\nmajesty!--for, though \"He strives not,\" nor lifts up His voice in\nangry altercation, while He will not break the bruised reed, nor\nquench the smoking flax, He will nevertheless declare judgment, and\nsecure victory, and make His name such a power in the earth, that the\nGentiles shall hope in Him and the world go after Him. We can fancy\nthe glow on the Evangelist's face as he pauses in the midst of the sad\nrecord of these cruel assaults, to look at, and show to us, that\nlovely portrait of the Son of man. And is it not all the lovelier that\nit shines out from such a background? Does it not give new\nsignificance to the tender words which linger in our ears from the\nchapter of discouragement before: \"Learn of Me; for I am meek and\nlowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls\"?\n\n * * * * *\n\n2. It would have been a great thing if our Lord had only borne in\ndignified silence these repeated provocations; but He is too good and\nkind to leave these misguided people to their own devices without an\neffort to enlighten their dark minds and arouse their sleeping\nconsciences. How patiently He reasons with them! We may glance at each\nattack in succession as an illustration of this.\n\nOn the charge of Sabbath-breaking He endeavours to set them right by\nciting appropriate scriptures (vv. 3, 4); appealing to the law itself\n(ver. 5); furnishing them with a great principle laid down by one of\nthe prophets, the key of the whole position (ver. 7); and concludes by\nan illustrative act, accompanied by a simple and telling argument,\nwhich appeals to the universal conscience and heart (vv. 9-13). Again,\nhow patiently He answers the malicious charge of collusion with Satan,\nshowing them in the clearest manner, and with amazing power, how far\nthey are astray, and what a dangerous path they are treading (vv.\n25-37). So, too, in meeting the third attack: though He cannot but\nsternly rebuke the hypocritical application for \"a sign,\" He yet does\nit in such a way as to prepare for them in due time, when perhaps they\nmay be ready to appreciate it, a new sign--His death and\nresurrection--overcoming the difficulty arising from the fact that He\ncould not yet speak of it in plain terms (for it was at a later period\nthan this that He began to speak plainly of it even to His disciples)\nby veiling it under the figure of \"the sign of the prophet Jonas\": a\nway of putting it which had the advantage of being memorable, and at\nthe same time enigmatical enough to veil its meaning till the event\nshould lighten it all up, and bring out its deep suggestiveness; and\nwhile thus preparing them for the new sign when it should come, He\nwarns them against that evil state of mind and heart which threatened\nto render even it of no avail (vv. 38-45). And then, with what\nmarvellous readiness does He use the painful interruption with which\nthe chapter ends for the teaching of truth of the highest and purest\nand tenderest quality! What patience, what long-suffering, what\nmeekness of wisdom, what faithfulness, what strength and tenderness!\nEvery line of the likeness drawn by the inspired hand of the old\nmaster is more than justified (vv. 46-50).\n\n * * * * *\n\n3. Observe, further, that in all His dealings with His bitterest foes\nHe never in the least degree lowers His dignity, but rather asserts it\nin the boldest and strongest terms. It may be questioned, indeed, if\nthere is any chapter in all the history in which this is more marked.\nThis, again, may be illustrated from all the four occasions.\n\nIn the argument on the Sabbath question hear Him as He draws Himself\nup, in presence of His accusers, and says: \"In this place is One\ngreater than the temple\" (ver. 6); and again: \"The Son of man is Lord\neven of the Sabbath day\" (ver. 8). Must there not have been something\nheavenly-majestic in His look and bearing when words like these were\nallowed to pass unchallenged by such men? This consciousness of\ndignity appears no less in the argument by which the second charge is\nmet. In proof of this we may point to verses 28 and 30; and the same\nimpression is produced by the solemnly repeated \"I say unto you\" (vv.\n31, 36), in each case introducing one of those declarations of\njudgment to which reference is made in the passage quoted from the\nprophet (vv. 18, 20). Quite as conspicuous is the same feature in the\nthird remonstrance, in which He asserts His superiority to the great\nones of the old covenant in language which acquires, from the\nconnection in which it occurs, a strength far beyond the mere terms\nemployed: \"Behold, a greater than Jonas, ... behold, a greater than\nSolomon, is here\" (vv. 41, 42). And in the last of the four sad\nencounters the same lofty consciousness of peerless dignity is\nmanifest. Son of Mary is He? brother of James and Joses? See Him lift\nHis eyes to heaven, and speak of \"_My_ Father,\" and look down the\nages, and out to the uttermost bounds of earth, and say, \"Whosoever\nshall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My\nbrother, and sister, and mother\" (ver. 50).\n\n * * * * *\n\n4. We have seen how kindly and patiently the Saviour deals with these\ncavillers, so as to give them every opportunity of seeing their folly\nand wickedness and the beauty and excellence of the truth they are\nresisting. But He does much more than this. He speaks not only so as\nto meet their objections, and give them the opportunity of being set\nright, but so as to provide instruction, warning and encouragement for\nall succeeding ages. To show in any satisfactory way how this is done\nwould require separate treatment for each of the four instances; but\nit may be possible in a very brief way to suggest it.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe first attack gave Him the opportunity of speaking on the Sabbath\nlaw. As we have seen, He began to treat the subject from the strictly\nJewish standpoint, using the example of David and the ritual of the\nTemple to correct the misapprehensions and misrepresentations of those\nwith whom in the first instance He had to do. But He does not leave it\nas a mere Jewish question; He broadens His view, and shows that the\nday of rest is for humanity at large--not, however, as a burden, but\nas a blessing, the principle which underlies it being \"mercy, and not\nsacrifice.\" Thus, out of this conflict there has come to us the Magna\nCharta of the people's Sabbath, the full text of which is given in the\ncorresponding passage of the second gospel: \"The Sabbath was made for\nman, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord\nalso of the Sabbath.\" Here we have, on the one hand, the vindication\nof our rights against those who would deprive us of the day of rest,\nas if the privilege had been intended only for the Jews, and was\nabolished when the dispensation closed; and, on the other, the\nassertion of our liberty against those who, by their petty regulations\nand restrictions, would make God's precious gift a burden instead of a\nblessing. And how wisely and beautifully does He confirm to us our\nprivileges by following the charter with an argument, which, though\ncoming still under the head of the great principle (\"Mercy, and not\nsacrifice\"), is no mere repetition, but illustrates the wider aspect\njust unfolded, by its freedom from Jewish colour, and its appeal to\nthe conscience and heart of mankind at large: \"What man shall there be\namong you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the\nSabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much,\nthen, is a man better than a sheep?\" (vv. 11, 12).\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe second attack gave Him the opportunity of bringing out with great\ndistinctness and vividness the witness of the Spirit of God to His\nwork as Saviour of mankind. These Pharisees regarded His miracles as\nmere displays of power, apart altogether from the spirit of purity,\nmercy and grace so manifest in them all. It was only this narrowness\nof view that made it possible for them to imagine that the Spirit of\nevil, to whom of course no one could deny a certain measure of mere\npower, was behind them. How completely He answers their blasphemous\nsuggestion by showing that the works He did, judged, not by the mere\npower they displayed, but by their whole spirit and tendency, were at\nthe very opposite pole from the works of Satan, we plainly see; but\nthe point now is the permanent value of His reasoning. At first sight\nit may seem to be quite out of date. Whoever dreams now of disposing\nof the works of Christ by attributing them to Satan? Let us not be\nover-hasty, however, in concluding that old objections are out of\ndate. If we look closely at those regarded as the newest, we may find\nthat they are but old ones in a new dress. What of the position taken\nby some intelligent men in our day, who candidly admit the power of\nChristianity to elevate and sanctify men, and yet set it down as\nfalse?\n\nAs an illustration of this, we cannot do better than refer to a recent\nproduction[11] of the Agnostic School, in which there is the most\nemphatic testimony to the blessed power of Christianity in particular\ninstances, followed by these most candid and generous words: \"What\nneeds admitting, or rather proclaiming, by agnostics who would be\njust, is that the Christian doctrine has the power of elevating and\ndeveloping saintliness, which has had no equal in any other creed or\nphilosophy.\" Yet the book in which that sentence occurs assumes\nthroughout that this doctrine, which has had no equal in producing\nsaintliness--a quality which in another place is described as \"so\nlofty, so pure, so attractive, that it ravishes men's souls\"--is\nuntrue! Is, then, the argument of our Lord out of date? and is it too\nlate to ask the old question, \"Can Satan cast out Satan?\"\n\nIt does not always follow, of course, that that which is good in its\neffects in particular cases, is thereby proved to be true. Truth and\nfalsehood are to be determined fundamentally on other grounds than\nthose of proved utility--this applies alike to truth and duty; there\nis an absolute truth and falsehood quite irrespective of utility, and\nthere is an absolute right and wrong quite irrespective of\nutility,--but though we cannot in particular cases prove that to be\ntrue which appears to be beneficial, yet we cannot but believe that in\nthe end, the true, the good, and the beautiful will be found to\ncoincide; and we maintain that, seeing the effects of genuine\nChristianity on human character have been tested for nearly two\nthousand years, and have been found to \"make for righteousness,\"\nnobility, purity, all that is good and gracious, high and holy, it is\ntoo late in the day to set it down to the father of lies. We may be\nmistaken in our passing judgments, may be misled into accepting as\neternally true and right some measure or doctrine which has not yet\nhad time to develop its real nature and character, which may produce\ngood results at first, and then by degrees develop other results of\nquite a contrary kind--take the history of Monasticism as a case in\npoint; but when there has been ample time and opportunity for testing\nthe fruits of a system, as there has been in the case of Christianity;\nwhen we observe that the gospel of Christ has had these wonderful\neffects through eighteen successive centuries among all ranks and\nclasses, nations and races of men--it ought surely to require\nsomething stronger than Agnosticism (which at the worst can only say,\n\"I do not know\") to make us believe the outrageously improbable\nsupposition that it is false, and therefore presumably of the kingdom\nof lies and of unclean things. There have been too many devils cast\nout of human hearts to make it at all doubtful that in very deed \"the\nkingdom of God has come\" among us (ver. 28). There has been too much\nspoiling of \"the strong man's goods\" to make it at all doubtful that\n\"a stronger than he\" has mastered him and is spoiling his house. \"The\nSon of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the\ndevil\" (1 John iii. 8); and wherever He has been admitted into human\nhearts He has done it, setting up His kingdom of \"righteousness and\npeace and joy in the Holy Ghost.\" The argument is as fresh to-day as\nthe day it was propounded; and it has now all the added strength of\ncenturies of confirmation.\n\nThe third attack gave our Lord the opportunity of laying bare the root\nof unbelief, and setting forth the important truth that, when the\nheart is estranged from God, mere signs are unavailing. The signs He\nhad given in abundance should have been enough, especially when the\nonly way of evading their force the ingenuity of scepticism could\ndevise had been closed by the powerful argument just delivered.\nBesides this there was the crowning sign of the resurrection still to\ncome; yet He knew that even that would fail to satisfy--not for\nreasons intellectual, but because of the spirit of the age, as He\npoints out in that striking and powerful parable (vv. 43-45), and\nhints in the suggestive term, \"an evil and adulterous generation\"\n(ver. 39), the word \"adulterous\" referring to the well-known, and at\nthat time thoroughly understood, language of the Old Testament,\naccording to which estrangement of heart from God is branded as\nspiritual adultery. (See Jeremiah iii., Hosea i., ii., and many other\npassages.)\n\nHerein we see a sufficient explanation of the widespread unbelief of\nthe age in which we live. It is because the heart of this generation\nis so far estranged from God, so wedded to the earthly and material,\nso taken up with selfish aggrandisement and the multiplication of the\nluxuries of life. In many cases of unbelief the individual is not so\nmuch to blame as the spirit of the age of which he is the\nrepresentative. Observe that the Lord does not say, \"Ye evil\nPharisees,\" but, \"An evil and adulterous generation\"; thus making it\nevident that the spirit of scepticism was not peculiar to themselves,\nbut a something diffused throughout society. Hence it comes that many\nmen, of blameless lives--of whom it would be a breach of charity to\nsay that they loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds\nwere evil--nevertheless declare themselves unsatisfied with the signs\nof the divine mission of Christ our Lord. Why is this? It is because\nthey are infected with the spirit of the age, engrossed with the\nmaterial, the sensible, the secular; while their hearts, \"swept and\ngarnished\" though they be, are \"empty\" of God: \"The god of this world\nhath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the\ngospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should not\ndawn upon them\" (2 Cor. iv. 4, R.V.).\n\nSuch persons not only cannot recognise the signs of the kingdom of\nheaven, but are in a state of heart and mind to which no sign can\npossibly be given. We are indebted to the fine candour of the late Mr.\nDarwin for a striking illustration of this. In his Life there is an\ninteresting correspondence with Professor Asa Gray, the great\nbotanist, who, wondering how Darwin could remain unconvinced by the\ninnumerable evidences of design in nature, took the liberty of asking\nhim if he could think of any possible proof which he would consider\nsufficient. To this Mr. Darwin replied: \"Your question, 'What would\nconvince me?' is a poser. If I saw an angel come down to teach us so,\nand I was convinced, from others seeing him, that I was not mad, I\nshould believe.\" If he had left it there, it might have been pertinent\nto ask him whether Christ is not just such an angel come down from\nheaven to teach us, and whether a sufficient number of persons did not\nsee Him in the flesh, to say nothing of the multitudes who know Him in\nthe spirit, to convince us that we are not mad in believing it. He did\nnot, however, leave it there, but went on to say: \"If man was made of\nbrass and iron, and in no way connected with any other organism which\nhad ever lived, I should perhaps be convinced.\" Nothing could be more\ncandid, or more in keeping with the transparent honesty of this great\nman. But what an acknowledgment! Man must cease to be man, and become\na metal machine, and the universe must cease to be a harmonious whole,\nbefore there can be evidence enough for so simple and elementary a\nprinciple as design in the universe; and then only a \"perhaps\"! If all\nthis were done for me, \"I should _perhaps_ be convinced.\" Is our\nLord's answer to the seekers after a sign out of date? \"Verily I say\nunto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation\" (Mark\nviii. 12). How could there be?\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhat will He make of the distressing interruption caused by the\ninterference of His mother and brethren? Knowing their motives and\nintentions as He did, He could not for a moment yield; and how was it\npossible to deal with them without a public rebuke, from which, seeing\nthat His mother was involved in it, His heart would instinctively\nshrink? It was a most painful position; and the more we think of it,\nand try to imagine possible ways of extrication, the more we must\nadmire the wisdom and kindness shown in the way in which He confronted\nthe difficulty. He makes use of the opportunity for giving a new and\nmost winning view of the kingdom of heaven as a happy family, united\neach to Himself, and all to the Father by the holiest bonds; thus\nopening out the paradise of a perfect home to all who choose to enter\nit, taking the sacred ties involved in the sweet words \"brother\" and\n\"sister\" and \"mother,\" and giving them a range, a dignity, and a\npermanence they never had before.\n\nIn all this there was no word of direct censure; yet the sadly\nmistaken conduct of His kindred did not pass without implied rebuke;\nfor the effect of His words was to make it clear that, sacred as were,\nin His eyes, the ties of earth, their only hope of permanence was in\nalliance with the higher ties of heaven. He has come in the loving\nFather's name to gather in His wandering children; and if His mother\nand brethren according to the flesh attempt to hinder Him, He cannot\nlisten to them for a moment, but must steel His heart against their\nblind appeals, and that, not only for His works' sake, but for theirs\nalso. They are slow to believe; but the least likely way to bring them\nto faith would be to yield to their unbelief. He will prosecute the\npath of duty, though it involve the sacrifice of all that cheers and\ncomforts His heart; He must set His face as a flint to finish the work\nHis Father has given Him to do, and they will understand Him\nby-and-by. There is no doubt they would go home with sore hearts that\nday; but no very long time would elapse till they would all be most\ngrateful that their foolish, however well meant, interference had\nfailed of its intent.\n\nThe course of events in later times has proved that the gentle rebuke\ninvolved in our Lord's reception of the message from His mother was\nnot only necessary at the time and for her, but for the ages to come\nas well. We have seen that, in each of the attacks recorded before,\nour Saviour replies in such a way that His words not only meet the\nobjection of the moment, but continue of permanent value to meet\nsimilar objections and gainsayings in ages to come. So is it here. It\ncertainly is no fault of Mary herself, whose name should ever be held\nin the highest respect by all who love the Lord, that a corrupt\nChurch, reversing all the teaching of the Church's Head, not only\nelevated the earthly relationship far above the spiritual, but in\nvirtue of this relationship put the mother in the place of the Son,\nand taught an ignorant people to worship her and trust in her as a\nmediator. But the fact that this was done, and is persisted in to this\nday, shows that when our Lord set aside the mere earthly relationship\nas one that must be merged in the spiritual, He was correcting not\nonly a pardonable error of Mary, but a most unpardonable error that\nafterwards, without any encouragement whatever from her, should be\ncommitted in her name.\n\nAfter all, however, it is not the setting aside of the claims of Mary\nand the lowering of the earthly relationship in comparison with the\nheavenly, which is the great thing in the passage; but the Gospel of\nthe Family of God. We have had the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and\nglad tidings it has been indeed; but have we not here something even\nbetter? It is much to be permitted to hail the Son of God as our King;\nis it not better still to be encouraged to hail Him as a Brother, to\nknow that all that is sweetest and tenderest in the dear words\n\"brother,\" \"sister,\" \"mother,\" can be imported into our relation to\nHim? How it endears the heavenly relationship, and hallows the earthly!\n\nAgain, how it rebukes all sectarianism! He \"stretches out His hand\ntowards His disciples,\" and then to all the world by that word\n\"_whosoever_.\" And it is not the mere promise of salvation with which\nthis \"whosoever\" is connected. There are Christians in the present day\nwho can scarcely allow themselves to be sectarian enough to deny that\nthere is salvation out of the Church to which they happen to belong:\nthey are good enough to think that these people, who do not follow\nwith them may somehow or other be saved; but the idea of fraternising\nwith them! that is quite another thing. Now listen to the Saviour\nHimself: \"Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven\"\n(no question of what Church he belongs to, or anything of that sort),\n\"the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.\" No arm's-length\nrecognition there; He takes all true disciples to His heart.\n\nObserve, moreover, the emphasis on _doing_, with which we are already\nfamiliar. In setting forth the Gospel of the Kingdom, our Lord was\ncareful to warn His hearers: \"Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord,\nLord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the\nwill of My Father\" (vii. 21); and now that He is setting forth the\nGospel of the Family the emphasis is still in the same place. It is\nnot \"Whosoever shall connect himself with this church or that church;\"\nit is not \"Whosoever shall be baptised, and take the sacrament;\" it is\n\"Whosoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven.\" This emphasis on\ndoing, in connection with these endearing relations, is most\nsignificant. There must be love among the members of the family; and\nwhat else than love is the characteristic of the family ties? But how\nis love to be shown? How are we to distinguish it from mere sentiment?\nOur Saviour is careful to teach us; and never is He more careful than\nin those passages where tender feeling is most prominent--as, for\nexample, in His parting words in the upper room, where again and again\nHe reminds His disciples that obedience is the only sure test of love:\n\"If ye love Me, keep My commandments;\" \"He that hath My commandments,\nand keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me\" (John xiv. 15, 21). For\nthe same reason obedience is here set forth as the only certain mark\nof the true disciple: \"Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which\nis in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.\"\n\n[10] This is the literal translation, which means more than \"give you\nrest.\" It is not as if rest were a blessing He could bestow, as a\nfriend would make a present which might be retained after the giver\nhad gone. Rest is not so much what He gives to us as what He is to us;\nand so He says, not \"I will give you rest,\" but \"I will rest you\"\n(_i.e._, I will _be_ your rest).\n\n[11] \"The Service of Man,\" by J. Cotter Morrison.\n\n\n\n\nXI.\n\n_THE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM._\n\nMATT. xiii.\n\n\n\"The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.\"\nWe can well imagine that, after such a series of discouragements and\nmortifications, the weary and heavy-laden Saviour would long to be\nalone, to get away from the abodes of men, to some lonely place where\nsilent nature around Him would calm His spirit and furnish a temple in\nwhich He might lift up His soul to God. How long He was allowed to be\nalone we cannot tell; but possibly He may have contrived for a time to\nremain unobserved. How burdened His spirit must have been! What\nstrength of faith it must have needed to look forward with any hope to\nthe future of His work at such a time of crushing disappointment! We\nmust remember that He was true man, and therefore His heart must have\nbeen very sore as He dwelt on the painful experiences through which He\nhad just been passing. The obstacles which lay right in His path must\nhave seemed well-nigh insuperable; and it would have been no wonder if\nat such a time He had despaired of the prospects of the kingdom of\nrighteousness and peace and joy He had come to set up on the earth. He\ndid not despair; but He did most deeply ponder; and the result of His\nthinking appears in the series of parables recorded in this chapter,\nwhich set forth, on the one hand, the nature of the obstacles the\nkingdom must meet, and the reason why it must meet them, and on the\nother, its certain prospect, notwithstanding these, of growth and\ndevelopment onward to its final consummation.\n\nIf He was permitted to enjoy His seclusion, it was only for a short\ntime. \"He could not be hid,\" His quiet retreat was discovered; and\npresently there came to Him great multitudes, so many that the only\nconvenient way to address them all was to get into a boat, and speak\nto the people gathered on the shore. It is a lovely picture: the\nmultitudes on the shore with the green fields around and the hills\nbehind, and the Master speaking from the little boat. Viewed apart\nfrom the sorrowful experience of the past, it would have been full of\ncheer and hope. What more encouraging sight than such a throng\ngathered to hear the words of light and hope He had for them? But how\ncan He view it apart from the sorrowful experience of the past? Have\nnot these crowds been around Him day after day, week after week; and\nwhat has come of it all?\n\nIt is one thing to sow the seed of the kingdom; it is quite another to\ngather the harvest. The result depends on the soil. Some of it may be\nhard, so that the seed cannot enter; some of it, though receptive on\nthe surface, yet so rocky underneath, that the fairest shoots will\nwither in a day; some of it so filled with seeds of thorns and weeds,\nthat plants of grace are choked as they attempt to grow; while only a\nportion, and it may be a small proportion of the whole, can yield a\nfair or full return. Such were His thoughts as He looked on the field\nof men before Him, and glanced from it to the fields of the plain of\nGennesaret around, in the foreground of which as in a picture the\nmultitudes were set. As He thought, so He spoke, using the one field\nas a parable of the other, thus veiling, and at the same time\nbeautifully revealing, His thought in a figure, which, simple as it\nwas, demanded some degree of spiritual understanding for its\nappreciation; and accordingly after speaking the parable He adds the\nsuggestive word, \"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.\"\n\nThere is something very touching in that word. It thrills with the\npathos of these preceding chapters of disappointment. He had such a\nmessage for them--good tidings of great joy, rest for the weary and\nheavy laden, words of life and light and hope eternal--if only there\nwere ears to hear. But that sad passage of Isaiah is running in His\nmind: \"By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing\nye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people's heart is waxed\ngross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have\nclosed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear\nwith their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be\nconverted, and I should heal them.\" That is the great obstacle, the\none hindrance. Oh! if only men would hear; if only they would not\nclose the ears of their souls! \"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.\"\n\n\nI.--THE PRINCIPLE OF PARABOLIC INSTRUCTION.\n\nThe parable is a new style of teaching as compared with that of which\nthe \"Sermon on the Mount\" was so notable an example. That discourse\nwas not by any means lacking in illustration; still its main lines of\nthought were of the nature of direct spiritual instruction. But here\nthere is no direct spiritual teaching. It is all indirect; it is\nparabolic through and through. No wonder the disciples noticed the\ndifference, and came to the Master with the question, \"Why speakest\nThou unto them in parables?\" The answer He gives is a revelation of\nthe thoughts which have been passing in His mind. Of this disclosure\nwe have already availed ourselves in our attempt to picture the scene;\nbut it remains to look at this weighty passage as answering the\ndisciples' question, and so explaining the rise of that form of\ninstruction in which, as in all that He did, He showed himself a\nperfect Master.\n\nThe whole thing turns on the distinction between earnest inquirers and\ncareless hearers. There must have been many of the latter in His\naudience, for this was no selected company, like that which listened\nto the Sermon on the Mount. The earnest inquirer has ears to hear; the\nother has not. The difference this makes is most strikingly set forth\nin the strong declaration: \"Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and\nhe shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall\nbe taken away even that he hath,\"--that is, instead of being the\nbetter for what he has heard, he is the worse; not apprehending the\ntruth, he is only perplexed and confused by it, and instead of going\naway enriched, he is poorer than ever.\n\nWhat, then, is to be done? If, instead of doing the people good, it\nonly does them harm, why try to teach them at all? Why not let them\nalone, till they come with ears to hear, ready to receive? Happily\nthis sad alternative is not the only resource. The truth may be put in\nsuch a way that it has both a shell and kernel of meaning; and the\nkernel may be so inclosed in the shell that it can be kept safely\nthere, ready for the time when the inner fruit, which is the true food\nof the soul, can be used. For this purpose the parable is\npre-eminently serviceable. The shell of meaning is so simple and\nfamiliar, that even a child can understand it; being of the nature of\na story, it is very easily remembered; and connected as it is with\nthat which is frequently observed, it will come up again and again to\nthe minds of those in whom the thought has been lodged; so that, even\nif, on first hearing it, there is no possibility of understanding its\ndeep spiritual significance, the time may come when it will flash upon\nthe spirit the light which has been concealed within and so preserved\nfrom waste.\n\nTake this parable of \"The Sower\" as an illustration. The disciples,\nhaving ears to hear, were ready to get the good of it at once, so to\nthem He expounds it (vv. 18-23) on the spot. The rest were not ready\nto receive and apply it. Having ears (but not ears to hear), they\nheard not; but did it follow from this that it was useless, even worse\nthan useless, to give it them? Had the teaching been direct, it would\nhave been so; for they would have heard and rejected, and that would\nhave been the last of it. But put as it was in parabolic form, while\nthey were not prepared to understand and apply it then, they could not\nbut carry it away with them; and, as they walked the fields, and\nobserved the birds picking the seeds from the trodden field-paths, or\nthe tiny plants withering on the rocky ledges, or the springing wheat\nstrangled with rank growths of thorns, or the healthy growing wheat\nplant, or later in the season the rich golden grain on the good soil,\nthey would have opportunity after opportunity of getting a glimpse of\nthe truth, and finding that which at the first they were so unprepared\nto receive.\n\nIn this we can see the harmony of the passage before us, with its\nparallels in the second and third Gospels, where the object of\nspeaking in parables is represented as being \"that seeing, they might\nnot see, and hearing they might not understand\" (see Mark iv. 12, and\nLuke viii. 10). It is true that the object of the parable was to veil\nas well as to reveal; and the effect, which was also an intended\neffect, was to veil it from the unprepared heart and reveal it to the\nheart prepared; but inasmuch as the heart which is unprepared to-day\nmay be prepared to-morrow, or next month, or next year, the parable\nmay serve, and was intended to serve, the double purpose of veiling it\nand revealing it to the same person--veiling it from him as long as\nhis heart was gross, but revealing it to him as soon as he should turn\nto the Lord and be willing to use his spiritual powers of apprehension\nfor the purpose for which they had been given him. Thus, while this\nmethod of instruction was of the nature of judgment on the\nhard-hearted for the moment, it was really in the deepest sense a\ndevice of love, to prolong the time of their opportunity, to give them\nrepeated chances instead of only one. It was judgment for the moment,\nwith a view to mercy in the time to come. So we find, as always, that\neven when our Saviour seems to deal harshly with men, His deepest\nthoughts are thoughts of love; and in His recourse to the parabolic\nveil, He is once more illustrating the truth of the prophet's\ndescription of Him cited in the foregoing chapter: \"A bruised reed\nshall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He\nsend forth judgment unto victory.\"\n\nHow many difficulties might have been avoided if expositors had used\nless of the mere \"dry light\" of the understanding, and tried more to\nlay their hearts alongside the beating heart of Christ! \"Is not my\nword like as a fire? saith the Lord.\" Had this been remembered, and\nthe fire of love in such a passage as this brought to bear upon the\nheart, before it was used \"like a hammer that breaketh the rock in\npieces,\" how different in many cases would have been the result! It is\nsad to think that this very passage as to the object of the parables\nhas been used as if it simply taught predestination in its hardest\nsense, dooming the poor misguided soul to hopelessness for ever;\nwhereas, if we enter at all into sympathy with the Saviour's heart in\nthe sad and trying circumstances in which the words were spoken, we\nfind in it no harshness at all, but the yearning of a patient love,\nseeking if by any means He may reach and gain the lost.\n\nWe have, indeed, the evidence on every side that the Saviour's heart\nwas greatly moved at this time. We have already recognised the pathos\nof the cry, \"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.\" We have seen the\nsorrow of His heart in the sad quotation from the prophet Isaiah. On\nthe other hand, what joy He has in those who do see and hear!--\"But\nblessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For\nverily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have\ndesired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and\nto hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.\" The same\nsatisfaction appears later (ver. 51), when, after finishing the\nseries, He asks His disciples, \"Have ye understood all these things?\"\nand they say unto Him, \"Yea, Lord.\" He adds, \"Therefore every scribe\nwhich is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that\nis an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new\nand old.\" The Saviour evidently rejoices in the thought that these\ndisciples, having ears to hear, are making real progress,--so much so\nthat in due time they will be ready to be teachers of others, each\nhaving a treasury of his own; and not only will they be in possession\nof the old, but will have power to strike out new views of sacred\ntruth, and so be prepared with freshness and variety to set forth the\nglad tidings of the kingdom of heaven. How fully these hopes were\nrealised we have only to look forward to the epistles to see. There we\nhave things old, the very truths the Master taught in the days of His\nflesh; and not the old alone, for there are things new as well, fresh\nsettings of the old, new aspects, varied applications of the truth--a\ntreasury indeed for the ages to come. The Saviour, then, had good\nreason to take comfort that some of the seed He was sowing in tears\nwas falling on good soil, and promising a rich and blessed harvest.\n\nBut the dark and discouraging side is never long out of sight.\nReturning to His own country, and teaching in their synagogue, He so\nimpressed the people that they could not but ask certain questions,\nwhich, if they had only pondered them, would have led them to the\ntruth: \"Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?\" But\nthe mere outside things that met their eyes so engrossed their\nattention, that their heads and hearts remained as empty as ever.\nInstead of pressing the question _Whence?_ which would have led them\nup to heaven and to God, they dwelt upon \"_this man_,\" this common\nman, this carpenter's son, with a mother called Mary, and brothers\nwith the common names, James and Joseph, Simon and Judas; so, proving\nthemselves to be of the earth earthy, they closed their ears and were\n\"offended in Him.\" It was very evident that the only hope of reaching\npeople of that kind was to speak in parables, which they could\nremember without understanding in the meantime, with the hope that\nby-and-by as they thought of the subject without such prejudices as\nthese which now cause them to stumble, they may at last understand,\nand receive the truth and inherit eternal life.\n\n\nII.--THE GROUP OF SEVEN.\n\nSo far we have dealt with the parabolic method of teaching, and in\ndoing so have glanced at only one of the seven parables the chapter\ncontains, every one of which invites special study; but inasmuch as\nour plan will not admit of this, we shall attempt nothing more than a\ngeneral view of the entire group; and to this we restrict ourselves\nthe more willingly that there is a unity in the cluster which is apt\nto escape notice when they are considered apart, and because by\nletting go the details we get the prominent features more vividly\nbefore our minds.\n\nThe arrangement seems to be in three pairs, with a single concluding\nparable. The first pair--\"The Sower\" and \"The Tares\"--set forth the\nmanner of the establishment of the kingdom of heaven, and the\nobstacles it must encounter. The sphere from which both parables are\ntaken is admirably suited to bring out the radical distinction in\nregard to the manner of its establishment between the new kingdom and\nthose with which the people were already familiar. They were founded\nby the sword; this kingdom by the Word. Not force, but persuasion, is\nto be the weapon; and accordingly there is placed before the mind, not\na warrior hasting to battle, but a sower sowing seed. \"The field is\nthe world,\" we are told--the world of men, of human hearts; and the\nseed is \"the word of the kingdom.\" It is \"good seed,\" and therefore it\nought to be welcome; but there are serious obstacles in the way.\n\nThe first parable sets forth the obstacles encountered in the soil\nitself. Sometimes the seed falls on _hard soil_, where it cannot\npenetrate the surface, and presently birds come and carry it\naway--representing those hearers of the word, who, though they\nremember it for a short time, have their hearts hardened against it,\nso that it does not enter, but is presently snatched away by trifling\nworldly thoughts which come fluttering into the mind. Then there is\nthe _shallow soil_, a little loose earth on the surface, and\nclose under it the hard rock, harder even than the trodden wayside--a\nkind of soil in which the seed will rapidly take root and spring up,\nand as rapidly wither away in the noonday heat, and which therefore\nfitly represents those who are easily impressed, but whose impressions\ndo not last; who make many resolutions indeed, but in so half-hearted\nand impulsive a way that they are destined to be blighted by the first\nblast of temptation. Finally, there is the _preoccupied soil_,\nwhere thorns and thistles hold the ground and choke the springing\nplants of grace, representing those who \"are choked with cares, and\nriches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.\"\n\nThe _good soil_ is marked by characteristics which are simply the\nnegatives of these: it is not hard, so the seed enters; not shallow,\nso it takes root; not preoccupied, so it holds the ground, and springs\nup and brings forth fruit, \"in some thirty, in some sixty, in some a\nhundredfold.\"\n\nThere are, however, other obstacles than those found in the nature of\nthe soil. There is the diligence of the enemy, and the impossibility\nof getting rid of those who have come under his influence, as set\nforth in the second parable, that of \"The Tares of the Field.\" In this\nparable the good seed is no longer the word, but \"the children of the\nkingdom\"; as if to suggest that Christians themselves are to be to the\nworld what the word has been to them; while the bad seed--sown when\nmen sleep, sown when Christians are asleep--does not remain as mere\nseed, but embodies itself in \"children of the wicked one,\" who take\ntheir places side by side with the true children of the kingdom, and\nwhom it is so difficult to distinguish from them, that the separation\nmay not be attempted till the time of the harvest, when it shall be\ncomplete and final, and \"the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in\nthe kingdom of their Father.\"\n\nThe second pair--\"The Mustard Seed\" and \"The Leaven\"--set forth the\ngrowth of the kingdom notwithstanding the many obstacles it must\nencounter, the one indicating its growth as recognisable to the\nobservant eye, the other its pervasive power as permeating society.\nThis twofold view of the development of the kingdom is in the same\nline of thought as the illustrations of the light and the salt in the\nSermon on the Mount. The prophecy these parables infold is most\nmarvellous, spoken as it was in a time of so deep discouragement.\nThere is true pathos in the thought of the grain of mustard seed,\n\"_the least of all seeds_,\" and in the little word \"hid,\" which comes\nin so significantly in the parable of the Leaven; and there is great\nstrength of faith in the readiness of mind to recognise the hopeful\nthought of the inherent life and energy hidden in the tiny germ, and\nworking all unseen in the little leaven which literally disappeared in\nthe at first unaltered mass.\n\nThe parables of \"The Hid Treasure\" and \"The Pearl\" form a third pair,\nshadowing forth the unsearchable riches of Christ. The reduplication\nof the thought adds greatly to its impressiveness, and moreover\naffords the opportunity of suggested variation in the experience of\nthose who find the treasure. The merchantman we naturally think of as\nrepresenting the rich, and the man finding the treasure in the field\nas one of the poor in this world's goods. Both alike, however, \"buy\"\ntheir prize at the price of all that they possess, on the principle\nwhich underlies all our Lord's teaching as to the way of life:\n\"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be\nMy disciple.\" The one comes upon his treasure unexpectedly; the other\nfinds it in the course of diligent search. Both alike, however,\nrecognise its exceeding value as soon as it is seen; and it is under\nno constraint, but willingly and gladly--\"for joy thereof,\" as it is\nput in the case of the man who from his not seeking it might have been\nthought indifferent to it--that each one sells all that he has and\nbuys it.\n\nThe last parable, according to the arrangement we have suggested,\nstands alone. It is the parable of \"The Net,\" and its subject is the\nconsummation of the Kingdom. Its teaching is indeed to a great extent\nanticipated in the parable of the tares of the field; but in that\nparable, though \"the end of the world\" is pictured in the most\nimpressive imagery, it is not the main thought, as it is here, where\nthe one lesson is, that the present mixed state of things cannot\ncontinue for ever, that there must come a time of separation, when\nthose in whose hearts God reigns shall be gathered to a place by\nthemselves, where they shall be satisfied for ever, with their\ntreasure no longer hid, but open in all its immeasurable fulness;\nwhile those who refused to allow God to reign in their hearts, and\npreferred their own selfishness and sin, shall be cast away and\nconsumed, with \"wailing and gnashing of teeth.\"\n\n\n\n\nXII.\n\n_THE CRISIS IN GALILEE._\n\nMATT. xiv.-xvi. 12.\n\n\nThe lives of John and of Jesus, lived so far apart, and with so little\nintercommunication, have yet been interwoven in a remarkable way, the\nconnection only appearing at the most critical times in the life of\nour Lord. This interweaving, strikingly anticipated in the incidents\nof the nativity as recorded by St. Luke, appears, not only at the time\nof our Saviour's baptism and first introduction to His Messianic work,\nbut again at the beginning of His Galilean ministry, which dates from\nthe time when John was cast into prison, and once again as the stern\nprophet of the desert finishes his course; for his martyrdom\nprecipitates a crisis, to which events for some time have been tending.\n\nThe period of crisis, embracing the facts recorded in the two chapters\nfollowing and in part of the sixteenth, is marked by events of\nthrilling interest. The shadow of the cross falls so very darkly now\nupon the Saviour's path, that we may look for some more striking\neffects of light and shade,--Rembrandt-like touches, if with reverence\nwe may so put it,--in the Evangelist's picture. Many impressive\ncontrasts will arrest our attention as we proceed to touch briefly on\nthe story of the time.\n\n\nI.--THE BANQUET OF HEROD AND THE FEAST OF CHRIST (xiv. 1-21).\n\n\"Among them that are born of woman there hath not risen a greater than\nJohn the Baptist.\" Such was the Saviour's testimony to His forerunner\nin the hour of his weakness; and the sequel fully justified it. The\nanswer which came to John's inquiry brought him no outward relief. His\nprison bolts were as firmly fastened as before, Herod was as\ninexorable, the prospect before Him as dark as ever; but he had the\nassurance that Jesus was the Christ, and that His blessed work of\nhealing the sick and preaching the gospel to the poor was going on;\nand that was enough for him. So he was quite content to languish on,\nresting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him. We learn from St.\nMark that Herod was in the habit of sending for him at times,\nevidently interested in the strange man, probably to some extent\nfascinated by him, and possibly not without some lingering hope that\nthere might be some way of reconciling the preacher of righteousness\nand securing the blessing of so well-accredited a messenger of Heaven.\nThere is little doubt that at these times the way was open for John to\nbe restored to liberty, if only he had been willing to lower his\ntestimony against Herod's sin, or consent to say no more about it; but\nno such thought ever crossed his noble soul. He had said, \"It is not\nlawful for thee to have her;\" and not even in the hour of deepest\ndepression and darkest doubt did he for a moment relax the rigour of\nhis requirements as a preacher of righteousness.\n\nAs he had lived, so he died. We shall not dwell on the details of the\nrevolting story. It is quite realistic enough in the simple recital\nof the Evangelist. One cannot help recalling in this connection four\nhideous pictures of Salome with the head of John the Baptist recently\ndisplayed, all on the line, in the _Salon_ at Paris. Of what possible\nuse are such representations? To what sort of taste do they minister?\nThere was no picture of John looking with flashing eyes at the guilty\nmonarch as he said, \"It is not lawful for thee to have her.\" That is\nthe scene which is worthy of remembrance: let it abide in the memory\nand heart; let the tragic end serve only as a dark background to make\nthe central figure luminous, \"a burning and a shining light.\"\n\nThe time of Herod's merciful visitation is over. So long as he kept\nthe Baptist safe (Mark vi. 19, 20) from the machinations of Herodias,\nhe retained one link with better things. The stern prisoner was to him\nlike a second conscience; and so long as he was there within easy\nreach, and Herod continued from time to time to see him and hear what\nhe had to say, there remained some hope of repentance and reformation.\nHad he only yielded to the promptings of his better nature, and obeyed\nthe prophet, the way of the Lord would have been prepared, the\npreacher of righteousness would have been followed by the Prince of\nPeace; and the gospel of Jesus, with all its unspeakable blessing,\nwould have had free course in his court and throughout his realm. But\nthe sacrifice of the prophet to the cruelty of Herodias and the folly\nand wickedness of his vow put an end to such prospects; and the fame\nof Christ's deeds of mercy, when at last it reached his ears, instead\nof stirring in him a living hope, aroused the demon of a guilty\nconscience, which could not rid itself of the superstitious fear that\nit was John the Baptist risen from the dead. Thus passed away for\never the great opportunity of Herod Antipas.\n\nThe disciples of John withdrew in sorrow, but not in despair. They had\nevidently caught the spirit of their master; for as soon as they had\nreverently and lovingly taken up the mortal remains and buried them,\nthey came and told Jesus.\n\nIt must have been a terrible blow to Him,--perhaps even more than it\nwas to them, for they had Him to go to, while He had none on earth to\ntake counsel with: He must carry the heavy burden of responsibility\nall alone; for even the most advanced of the Twelve could not enter\ninto any of His thoughts and purposes; and certainly not one of them,\nwe might indeed say not all of them together, had at this time\nanything like the strength and steadfastness of the great man who had\njust been taken away. We learn from the other accounts that at the\nsame time the Twelve returned from their first missionary journey; so\nthat the question would immediately come up, What was to be done? It\nwas a critical time. Should they stir up the people to avenge the\ndeath of their prophet? This would have been after the manner of men,\nbut not according to the counsel of God. Long ago the Saviour had set\naside, as quite apart from His way of working, all appeals to force;\nHis kingdom must be a kingdom of the truth, and on the truth He will\nrely, with nothing else to trust to than the power of patient love. So\nHe takes His disciples away to the other side of the lake, outside the\njurisdiction of Herod, with the thoughtful invitation: \"Come ye\nyourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile.\"\n\nWhat are the prospects of the kingdom now? Sin and righteousness have\nlong been at strife in the court of Galilee; now sin has conquered\nand has the field. The great preacher of righteousness is dead; and\nthe Christ, to Whom he bore such faithful witness, has gone to the\ndesert. Again the sad prophecy is fulfilled: \"He is despised and\nrejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.\" That\nlittle boat crossing from the populous shores of Gennesaret to the\ndesert land on the other side--what does it mean? Defeat? A lost\ncause? Is this the end of the mission in Galilee, begun to the music\nof that majestic prophecy which spoke of it as daybreak on the hills\nand shores of Naphtali and Zebulun, Gennesaret and Jordan? Is this the\noutcome of two mighty movements so full of promise and hope? Did not\nall Jerusalem and Jud\u00e6a go after John, confessing their sins and\naccepting his baptism? And has not all Galilee thronged after Jesus,\nbringing their sick to be healed, and listening, at least with outward\nrespect and often expressed astonishment, to His words of truth and\nhope? Now John is dead, and Jesus is crossing with His own disciples\nand those of John in a boat--one boat enough to hold them all--to\nmourn together in a desert place apart. Suppose we had been sitting on\nthe shore that day, and had watched it getting ever smaller as it\ncrossed the sea, what should we have thought of the prospects? Should\nwe have found it easy to believe in Christ that day? Verily \"the\nkingdom of God cometh not with observation.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe multitudes will not believe on Him; yet they will not let Him\nrest. They have rejected the kingdom; but they would fain get as much\nas they can of those earthly blessings which have been scattered so\nfreely as its signs. So the people, noticing the direction the boat\nhas taken, throng after Him, running on foot round the northern shore.\nWhen Jesus sees them, sad and weary as He is, He cannot turn away. He\nknows too well that it is with no pure and lofty devotion that they\nfollow Him; but He cannot see a multitude of people without having His\nheart moved with a great longing to bless them. So He \"went forth, and\nhealed their sick.\"\n\nHe continued His loving work, lavishing His sympathy on those who had\nno sympathy with Him, till evening fell, and the disciples suggested\nthat it was time to send the people away, especially as they were\nbeginning to suffer from want of food. \"But Jesus said unto them, They\nneed not depart: give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, We have\nhere but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to\nMe.\"\n\nThe miracle which follows is of very special significance. Many things\npoint to this. (1) It is the one miracle which all the four\nEvangelists record. (2) It occurs at a critical time in our Lord's\nhistory. There has been discouragement after discouragement, repulse\nafter repulse, despite and rejection by the leaders, obstinate\nunbelief and impenitence on the part of the people, the good seed\nfinding almost everywhere hard or shallow or thorny soil, with little\nor no promise of the longed-for harvest. And now a crowning disaster\nhas come in the death of John. Can we wonder that Christ received the\ntidings of it as a premonition of His own? Can we wonder that\nhenceforth He should give less attention to public preaching, and more\nto the training of the little band of faithful disciples who must be\nprepared for days of darkness coming on apace--prepared for the cross,\nmanifestly now the only way to the crown? (3) There is the\nsignificant remark (John vi. 4) that \"the Passover was nigh.\" This was\nthe last Passover but one of our Saviour's life. The next was to be\nmarked by the sacrifice of Himself as \"the Lamb of God that taketh\naway the sin of the world.\" Another year, and He will have fulfilled\nHis course, as John has fulfilled His. Was it not, then, most natural\nthat His mind should be full, not only of thoughts of the approaching\nPassover, but also of what the next one must bring. This is no mere\nconjecture; for it plainly appears in the long and most suggestive\ndiscourse St. John reports as following immediately upon the miracle\nand designed for its application.\n\nThe feeding of the five thousand is indeed a sign of the kingdom, like\nthose grouped together in the earlier part of the Gospel (viii., ix).\nIt showed the compassion of the Lord upon the hungry multitude, and\nHis readiness to supply their wants. It showed the Lordship of Christ\nover nature, and served as a representation in miniature of what the\nGod of nature is doing every year, when, by agencies as far beyond our\nken as those by which His Son multiplied the loaves that day, He\ntransmutes the handful of seed-corn into the rich harvests of grain\nwhich feed the multitudes of men. It taught also, by implication, that\nthe same God Who feeds the bodies of men with the rich abundance of\nthe year is able and willing to satisfy all their spiritual wants. But\nthere is something more than all this, as we might gather from the\nvery way it is told: \"And He commanded the multitude to sit down on\nthe grass, and took the five loaves, ... and looking up to heaven, He\nblessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the\ndisciples to the multitude.\" Can we read these words without thinking\nof what our Saviour did just a year later, when He took bread and\nblessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples and said,\n\"Take, eat, this is My body\" (xxvi. 26)? He is not, indeed,\ninstituting the Supper now; but it is very plain that the same\nthoughts are in His mind as when, a year later, He did so. And what\nmight be inferred from the recital of what He did becomes still more\nevident when we are told what afterwards He said--especially such\nutterances as these: \"I am the bread of life;\" \"The bread which I will\ngive you is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world;\"\n\"Verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and\ndrink His blood, ye have no life in you.\"\n\nWe have, then, here, not a sign of the kingdom only, but a parable of\nlife eternal, life to be bestowed in no other way than by the death to\nbe accomplished at Jerusalem at the next passover, life for thousands,\nlife ministered through the disciples to the multitudes, and not\ndiminished in the ministering, but growing and multiplying in their\nhands, so that after all are fed there remain \"twelve baskets\nfull,\"--far more than at the first: a beautiful hint of the abundance\nthat will remain for the Gentile nations of the earth. That passover\nparable comes out of the anguish of the great Redeemer's heart.\nAlready, as He breaks that bread and gives it to the people, He is\nenduring the cross and despising the shame of it, for the joy set\nbefore Him of giving the bread of life to a hungry world.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOne can scarcely fail at this point to contrast the feast in honour of\nHerod's birthday with the feast which symbolised the Saviour's death.\n\"When a convenient day was come, Herod on his birthday made a supper\nto his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and----\"\nthe rest is well known,--the feasting, mirth and revelry, ending in\nthe dark tragedy, followed by the remorse of a guilty conscience, the\ngnawing of the worm that dieth not, the burning of the fire that is\nnot quenched. Then think of that other feast on the green grass in the\npure air of the fresh and breezy hillside--the hungry multitudes, the\nhomely fare, the few barley loaves and the two small fishes; yet by\nthe blessing of the Lord Jesus there was provided a repast far more\nenjoyable to these keen appetites than all the delicacies of the\nbanquet to the lords of Galilee--a feast pointing indeed to a death,\nbut a death which was to bring life and peace and joy to thousands,\nwith abundance over for all who will receive it. The one is the feast\nto which the world invites; the other is the feast which Christ\nprovides for all who are willing to \"labour not for the meat that\nperisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life.\"\n\n\nII.--CALM ON THE MOUNTAIN AND TROUBLE ON THE SEA.\n\nWe learn from the fourth Gospel that the immediate result of the\nimpression made by our Lord's miraculous feeding of the five thousand\nwas an attempt on the part of the people to take Him by force and make\nHim a king. Thus, as always, their minds would run on political\nchange, and the hope of bettering their circumstances thereby; while\nthey refused to allow themselves to think of that spiritual change\nwhich must begin with themselves, and show itself in that repentance\nand hunger and thirst after righteousness, which He so longed to see\nin them. Even His disciples, as we know, were not now, nor for a long\ntime subsequent to this, altogether free from the same spirit of\nearthliness; and it is quite likely that the general enthusiasm would\nexcite them not a little, and perhaps lead them to raise the question,\nas they were often fain to do, whether the time had not at last come\nfor their Master to declare Himself openly, put Himself at the head of\nthese thousands, take advantage of the widespread feeling of\nirritation and discontent awakened by the murder of John the Baptist,\nwhom all men counted for a prophet (Mark xi. 32), hurl Herod Antipas\nfrom the high position he disgraced, and, with all Galilee under His\ncontrol and full of enthusiasm for His cause, march southward on\nJerusalem. This was no doubt the course of action they for the most\npart expected and wished; and, with One at their head Who could do\nsuch wonders, what was there to hinder complete success?\n\nMay we not also with reverence suppose that this was one of the\noccasions on which Satan renewed those assaults which he began in the\nwilderness of Jud\u00e6a? A little later, when Peter was trying to turn Him\naside from the path of the Cross, Jesus recognised it, not merely as a\nsuggestion of the disciple, but as a renewed temptation of the great\nadversary. We may well suppose, then, that at this crisis the old\ntemptation to bestow on Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of\nthem--not for their own sake, of course (there could have been no\ntemptation in that direction), but for the sake of the advancement of\nthe interests of the heavenly kingdom by the use of worldly methods of\npolicy and force--was presented to Him with peculiar strength.\n\nHowever this may have been, the circumstances required prompt action\nof some kind. It was necessary that the disciples should be got out of\nreach of temptation as soon as possible; so He constrained them to\nenter into a boat, and go before Him to the other side, while He\ndispersed the multitude. And need we wonder that in the circumstances\nHe should wish to be entirely alone? He could not consult with those\nHe trusted most, for they were quite in the dark, and anything they\nwere at all likely to say would only increase the pressure put upon\nHim by the people. He had only One for His Counsellor and Comforter,\nHis Father in heaven, Whose will He had come to do; so He must be\nalone with Him. He must have been in a state of great physical\nexhaustion after all the fatigue of the day, for though He had come\nfor rest He had found none; but the brave, strong spirit conquers the\nweary flesh, and instead of going to sleep He ascends the neighbouring\nheight to spend the night in prayer.\n\nIt is interesting to remember that it was after this night spent in\nprayer that He delivered the remarkable discourse recorded in the\nsixth chapter of St. John, in which He speaks so plainly about giving\nHis flesh for the life of the world. It is evident, then, that, if any\nquestion had arisen in His mind as to the path of duty, when He was\nsuddenly confronted with the enthusiastic desire of the multitudes to\ncrown Him at once, it was speedily set at rest: He now plainly saw\nthat it was not the will of His Father in heaven that He should take\nadvantage of any such stirring of worldly desire, that He must give no\nencouragement to any, except those who were hungering and thirsting\nafter righteousness, to range themselves upon His side. Hence, no\ndoubt, the sifting nature of the discourse He delivered the following\nday. He is eager to gather the multitudes to Himself; but He cannot\nallow them to come under any false assumption;--He must have\nspiritually-minded disciples, or none at all: accordingly He makes\nHis discourse so strongly spiritual, directs their attention so far\naway from earthly issues to the issues of eternity (\"I will raise him\nup at the last day\" is the promise He gives over and over again,\nwhereas they wanted to be raised up then and there to high places in\nthe world), that not only did the multitude lose all their enthusiasm,\nbut \"from that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no\nmore with Him,\" while even the Twelve themselves were shaken in their\nallegiance, as seems evident from the sorrowful question with which He\nturned to them: \"Will ye also go away?\" We may reverently suppose,\nthen, that our Lord was occupied, during the early part of the night,\nwith thoughts like these--in preparation, as it were, for the faithful\nwords He will speak and the sad duty He will discharge on the morrow.\n\nMeantime a storm has arisen on the lake--one of those sudden and often\nterrible squalls to which inland waters everywhere are subject, but\nwhich are greatly aggravated here by the contrast between the tropical\nclimate of the lake, 620 feet below the level of the Mediterranean,\nand the cool air on the heights which surround it. The storm becomes\nfiercer as the night advances. The Saviour has been much absorbed, but\nHe cannot fail to notice how angry the lake is becoming, and to what\nperil His loved disciples are exposed. As the Passover was nigh, the\nmoon would be nearly full, and there would be frequent opportunities,\nbetween the passing of the clouds, to watch the little boat. As long\nas there seems any prospect of their weathering the storm by their own\nexertions He leaves them to themselves; but when it appears that they\nare making no progress, though it is evident that they are \"toiling in\nrowing,\" He sets out at once to their relief.\n\nThe rescue which follows recalls a former incident on the same lake\n(viii. 23-27). But the points of difference are both important and\ninstructive. Then He was with His disciples in the ship, though\nasleep; in their extremity they had only to rouse Him with the cry,\n\"Save, Lord, or we perish!\" to secure immediate calm and safety. Now\nHe was not with them; He was out of sight, and beyond the reach even\nof the most piercing cries. It was therefore a much severer trial than\nthe last; and, remembering the special significance of the miracle of\nthe loaves, we can scarcely fail to notice a corresponding\nsuggestiveness in this one. That one had dimly foreshadowed His death;\ndid not this, in the same way, foreshadow the relations He would\nsustain to His disciples after His death? May we not look upon His\nascent of this mountain as a picture of His ascension into heaven--His\nbetaking Himself to His Father now as a shadow of His going to the\nFather then--His prayer on the mount as a shadow of His heavenly\nintercession? It was to pray that He ascended; and though He, no\ndoubt, needed, at that trying time, to pray for Himself, His heart\nwould be poured out in pleading for His disciples too, especially when\nthe storm came on. And these disciples constrained to go off in a boat\nby themselves,--are they not a picture of the Church after Christ had\ngone to His Father, launched on the stormy sea of the world? What will\nthey do without Him? What will they do when the winds rise and the\nwaves roar in the dark night? Oh! if only He were here, Who was\nsleeping in the boat that day, and only needed to be roused to\nsympathise and save! Where is He now? There on the hilltop,\ninterceding, looking down with tenderest compassion, watching every\neffort of the toiling rowers. Nay, He is nearer still! See that Form\nupon the waves! \"It is a spirit,\" they cry; and are afraid, very much\nas, a little more than a year afterward, when He came suddenly into\nthe midst of them with His \"Peace be unto you,\" they were terrified\nand affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit (Luke xxiv.\n37). But presently they hear the familiar voice: \"Be of good cheer: it\nis I; be not afraid.\" There can be no doubt that the remembrance of\nthat night on the lake of Galilee would be a wondrous consolation to\nthese disciples during the storms of persecution through which they\nhad to pass after their Master had ascended up to heaven; and their\nfaith in the presence of His Spirit, and His constant readiness to\nhelp and save, would be greatly strengthened by the memory of that\napparently spectral Form they had seen coming across the troubled sea\nto their relief. Have we not some reason, then, for saying that here,\ntoo, we have not only another of the many signs of the kingdom showing\nour Lord's power over nature and constant readiness to help His people\nin time of need, but a parable of the future, most appropriately\nfollowing that parable of life through death set forth in the feeding\nof the thousands on the day before?\n\nThere seems, in fact, a strange prophetic element running all through\nthe scenes of that wondrous time. We have already referred to the\ndisposition on the part even of the Twelve, as manifested next day at\nthe close of the discourse on the \"bread of life,\" to desert Him--to\nshow the same spirit which afterward, when the crisis reached its\nheight, so demoralised them that \"they all forsook Him, and fled\"; and\nhave we not, in the closing incident, in which Peter figures so\nconspicuously, a mild foreshadowing of his terrible fall, when the\nstorm of human passion was raging as fiercely in Jerusalem as did the\nwinds and waves on the lake of Galilee that night? There is the same\nself-confidence: \"Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the\nwater;\" the same alarm when he was brought face to face with the\ndanger the thought of which he had braved; then the sinking, sinking\nas if about to perish, yet not hopelessly (for the Master had prayed\nfor him that his faith should not fail); then the humble prayer,\n\"Lord, save me\"; and the gracious hand immediately stretched out to\nsave. Had the adventurous disciple learnt his lesson well that day,\nwhat it would have saved him! May we not say that there is never a\ngreat and terrible fall, however sudden it seems, which has not been\npreceded by warnings, even long before, which, if heeded, would have\ncertainly averted it? How much need have the disciples of Christ to\nlearn thoroughly the lessons their Lord teaches them in His gentler\ndealings, so that when darker days and heavier trials come they may be\nready, having taken unto themselves the whole armour of God, to\nwithstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.\n\nThere are many other important lessons which might be learnt from this\nincident, but we may not dwell on them; a mere enumeration of some of\nthem may, however, be attempted. It was faith, in part, at least,\nwhich led the apostle to make this venture; and this is, no doubt, the\nreason why the Lord did not forbid it. Faith is too precious to be\nrepressed; but the faith of Peter on this occasion is anything but\nsimple, clear and strong: there is a large measure of self-will in it,\nof impulsiveness, of self-confidence, perhaps of love of display. A\nconfused and encumbered faith of this kind is sure to lead into\nmischief,--to set on foot rash enterprises, which show great\nenthusiasm, and perhaps seem to rebuke the caution of the less\nconfident for the time, but which come to grief, and in the end bring\nno credit to the cause of Christ. The rash disciple's enterprise is\nnot, however, an entire failure: he does succeed so far; but presently\nthe weakness of his faith betrays itself. As long as the impulse\nlasted, and his eye was fixed on his Master, all went well; but when\nthe first burst of enthusiasm was spent, and he had time to look round\nupon the waves, he began to sink. But how encouraging it is to observe\nthat, when put to extremity, that which is genuine in the man carries\nit over all the rest!--the faith which had been encumbered extricates\nitself, and becomes simple, clear and strong; the last atom of\nself-confidence is gone, and with it all thought of display; nothing\nbut simple faith is left in that strong cry of his, \"Lord, save me!\"\n\nNothing could be imagined better suited than this incident to\ndiscriminate between self-confidence and faith. Peter enters on this\nexperience with the two well mixed together,--so well mixed, that\nneither he himself nor his fellow-disciples could distinguish them;\nbut the testing process precipitates one and clarifies the\nother,--lets the self-confidence all go, and brings out the faith pure\nand strong. Immediately, therefore, his Lord is at his side, and he is\nsafe;--a great lesson this on faith, especially in revealing its\nsimplicity. Peter tried to make a grand thing of it: he had to come\nback to the simple, humble cry, and the grasping of his Saviour's\noutstretched hand.\n\nThe same lesson is taught on a larger scale in the brief account of\nthe cures the Master wrought when they reached the other side, where\nall that was asked was the privilege of touching His garment's hem,\n\"and as many as touched were made perfectly whole;\" not the great\nones, not the strong ones, but \"as many as touched.\" Only let us keep\nin touch with Him, and all will assuredly be well with us both in time\nand in eternity.\n\n\nIII.--ISRAEL AFTER THE FLESH, AND ISRAEL AFTER THE SPIRIT (xv.).\n\nIssue is now joined with the ecclesiastical leaders at Jerusalem, who\nsend a deputation to make a formal complaint. When Jerusalem was last\nmentioned in our Gospel, it was in connection with a movement of quite\na different character. The fame of the Saviour's deeds of mercy in\nGalilee had then just reached the capital, the result being that many\nset out at once to find out what new thing this might be: \"There\nfollowed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from\nDecapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Jud\u00e6a, and from beyond Jordan\"\n(iv. 25). That wave of interest in the south had now died down; and\ninstead of eager multitudes there is a small sinister band of cold,\nkeen-witted, hard-hearted critics. It was a sad change, and must have\nbrought new distress to the Saviour's troubled heart; but He is none\nthe less ready to face the trial with His wonted courage and unfailing\nreadiness of resource.\n\nTheir complaint is trivial enough. It is to be remembered, of course,\nthat it was not a question of cleanliness, but of ritual; not even of\nritual appointed by Moses, but only of that prescribed by certain\ntraditions of their fathers which they held in superstitious\nveneration. These traditions, by a multitude of minute regulations and\nrestrictions, imposed an intolerable burden on those who thought it\ntheir duty to observe them; while the magnifying of trifles had the\nnatural effect of keeping out of sight the weightier matters of the\nlaw. Not only so, but the most trivial regulations were sometimes so\nmanaged as to furnish an excuse for neglect of the plainest duties.\nOur Lord could not therefore miss the opportunity of denouncing this\nevil, and accordingly He exposes it in the plainest and strongest\nlanguage.\n\nThe question with which He opens His attack is most incisive. It is as\nif He said, \"I am accused of transgressing _your_ tradition. What is\nyour tradition? It is itself transgression of the law of God.\" Then\nfollows the striking illustration, showing how by their rules of\ntradition they put it within the power of any heartless son to escape\nentirely the obligation of providing even for his aged father or\nmother--an illustration, be it remembered, which brought out more than\na breach of the fifth commandment; for by what means was it that the\nungrateful son escaped his obligation? By taking the name of the Lord\nin vain; for surely there could be no greater dishonour to the name of\nGod than meanly to mark as dedicated to Him (_Corban_) what ought to\nhave been devoted to the discharge of an imperative filial duty.\nBesides, it was not at all necessary that the money or property should\nbe actually dedicated to sacred uses; it was only necessary to say\nthat it was, only necessary to pronounce over it that magic word\nCorban, and then the mean hypocrite could use it for the most selfish\npurposes--for any purpose, in fact, he chose, except that purpose for\nwhich it was his duty to use it. It is really difficult to conceive\nsuch iniquity wrapped up in a cloak of so-called religion. No wonder\nour Lord was moved to indignation, and applied to His critics the\nstrong language of the prophet: \"Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah\nprophesy of you, saying, This people honoureth Me with their lips; but\ntheir heart is far from Me, ... teaching as their doctrines the\nprecepts of men\" (R.V.). No wonder that He turned away from men who\nwere so deeply committed to a system so vile, and that He explained,\nnot to His questioners, but to the multitude who had gathered round,\nthe principle on which He acted.\n\nThere seems, however, to have been more of sorrow than of anger in His\ntone and manner. How else could the disciples have asked Him such a\nquestion as that which follows: \"Knowest thou that the Pharisees were\noffended, after they heard this saying?\" Of course the Pharisees were\noffended. They had most excellent reason. And the disciples would have\nknown that He had no intention of sparing them in the least, and no\nconcern whether they took offence or not, if His tone had been such as\nan ordinary person would naturally have put into such an invective. It\nis probable that he said it all calmly, earnestly, tenderly, without\nthe slightest trace of passion; from which it would not be at all\nunnatural for the disciples to infer that He had not fully realised\nhow strong His language had been, and into what serious collision He\nhad brought Himself with the leaders in Jerusalem. Hence their gentle\nremonstrance, the expression of those feelings of dismay with which\nthey saw their Master break with one party after another, as if\ndetermined to wreck His mission altogether. Was it not bad policy to\ngive serious offence to persons of such importance at so critical a\ntime?\n\nThe Saviour's answer is just what was to be expected. Policy had no\nplace in His plan. His kingdom was of the truth; and whatever was not\nof truth must go, be the consequences what they might. That system of\ntraditionalism had its roots deeply and firmly fastened in the Jewish\nsoil; its fibres were through it all; and to disturb it was to go\nagainst a feeling that was nothing less than national in its extent.\nBut no matter: firmly, deeply, widely rooted though it was, it was not\nof God's planting, and therefore it cannot be let alone: \"Every plant,\nwhich My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.\" It is\nfor all ritualists, ancient and modern, all who teach for doctrines\nwhat are only commandments of men, seriously to ponder this most\nradical utterance by One Whose right it is to speak with an authority\nfrom which there is no appeal.\n\nHaving thus condemned the ritualistic teaching of the day, He disposes\nnext of the false teachers. This He does in a way which ought to have\nbeen a warning to those persecutors and heresy-hunters who, by their\nunwise use of force and law, have given only larger currency to the\nevil doctrines they have tried to suppress. He simply says \"Let them\nalone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the\nblind, both shall fall into the ditch.\" Expose their error by all\nmeans; root it out, if possible; but as for the men themselves, \"let\nthem alone.\"\n\nThe principle He sets forth as underlying the whole subject is the\nsame as that which underlies His teaching in the Sermon on the\nMount--viz., that \"out of the heart are the issues of life.\" The\nritualist lays stress on that which enters into the man--the kind of\nfood which enters his mouth, the objects which meet his eye, the\nincense which enters his nostril; Christ sets all this aside as of no\nconsequence in comparison with the state of the heart (vv. 16-20).\nSuch teaching as this was not only irreconcilable with that of the\nscribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, but it lay at the very opposite\npole.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWas it on this account that after this interview Jesus withdrew as far\nas possible from Jerusalem? He is limited, indeed, in His range to the\nHoly Land, as He indicates in His conversation with the woman of\nCanaan; but just as after the death of John He had withdrawn out of\nthe jurisdiction of Herod to the east, so now, after this collision\nwith the deputation from Jerusalem, He withdraws to the far north, to\nthe borders of Tyre and Sidon. And was it only a coincidence that,\njust as Jerusalem had furnished such sorry specimens of dead\nformalism, the distant borders of heathen Tyre and Sidon should\nimmediately thereafter furnish one of the very noblest examples of\nliving faith? The coincidence is certainly very striking and most\ninstructive. The leaders from Jerusalem had been dismissed with the\ncondemnation of their own prophet: \"This people honoureth Me with\ntheir lips, but their heart is far from Me;\" while out of far-away\nheathendom there comes one whose whole heart is poured out to Him in\nearnest, persevering, prevailing prayer. It is one of those contrasts\nwith which this portion of our Lord's history abounds, the force of\nwhich will appear more clearly as we proceed.\n\nThe suppliant was \"a woman of Canaan,\" or, as she is described more\ndefinitely elsewhere, a Syro-Ph\u0153nician woman. Yet she has learned of\nJesus--knows Him as the Christ, for she calls Him \"Son of\nDavid\"--knows Him as a Saviour, for she comes to ask that her daughter\nmay be healed. Her application must have been a great solace to His\nwounded heart. He always loved to be asked for such blessings; and,\nrejected as He had been by His countrymen, it must have been a special\nencouragement to be approached in this way by a stranger. That it was\nso may be inferred from what He said on similar occasions. When the\nRoman centurion came to have his servant healed, Jesus commended his\nwonderful faith, and then added: \"I say unto you, That many shall come\nfrom the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,\nand Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.\" So, too, when it was announced\nto Him that some Greeks desired to see Him, the first effect was to\nsharpen the agony of His rejection by His own countrymen; but\nimmediately He recovers Himself, looks beyond the cross and the shame\nto the glory that shall follow, and exclaims, \"I, if I be lifted up\nfrom the earth, will draw all men unto Me.\" There can be no doubt that\nat this time of rejection in Galilee it must have been a similar\nconsolation to receive this visit from the woman of Canaan.\n\nHow, then, can we explain His treatment of her? First, He answered her\nnot a word. Then He reminded her that she did not belong to Israel, as\nif she therefore could have no claim on Him. And when she still urged\nher suit, in a manner that might have appealed to the hardest heart,\nHe gave her an answer which seems so incredibly harsh, that it is with\na feeling of pain one hears it repeated after eighteen hundred years.\nWhat does all this mean? It means \"praise and honour and glory\" for\nthe poor woman; for the disciples, and for all disciples, a lesson\nnever to be forgotten. He Who knew what was in man, knew what was in\nthis noble woman's heart, and He wished to bring it out--to bring it\nout so that the disciples should see it, so that other disciples\nshould see it, so that generation after generation and century after\ncentury should see it, and admire it, and learn its lesson. It cost\nher some minutes' pain: Him also,--how it must have wrung His heart to\ntreat her in a way so foreign to every fibre of His soul! But had He\nnot so dealt with her, what a loss to her, to the disciples, to\ncountless multitudes! He very much needs a shining example of living\nfaith to set over against the dead formalism of these traditionalists;\nand here it is: He must bring it out of its obscurity, and set it as a\nstar in the firmament of His gospel, to shine for ever and ever. He\ntested her to the uttermost, because He knew that at the end of all He\ncould say: \"O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou\nwilt.\" The heart of the Saviour was never filled with a deeper\ntenderness or a wiser and more far-seeing love than when He repulsed\nthis woman again and again, and treated her with what seemed at the\nmoment most inexcusable and unaccountable harshness.\n\nThe lessons which shine out in the simple story of this woman can only\nbe touched in the slightest manner. We have already referred to the\ncontrast between the great men of Jerusalem and this poor woman of\nCanaan; observe now how strikingly is suggested the distinction\nbetween Israel according to the flesh and Israel according to the\nspirit. The current idea of the time was that lineal descent from\nAbraham determined who belonged to the house of Israel and who did\nnot. The Saviour strikes at the root of this error. He does not indeed\nattack it directly. For this the time has not yet come: the veil of\nthe Temple has not yet been rent in twain. But He draws aside the veil\na little, so as to give a glimpse of the truth and prepare the way for\nits full revealing when the time shall come. He does not broadly say,\n\"This woman of Canaan is as good an Israelite as any of you;\" but He\nsays, \"I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of\nIsrael\"--and heals her daughter notwithstanding. Was it not, then,\nevident that this poor woman after all did in some sense belong to the\nlost sheep of the house of Israel whom Jesus came to save?\n\nThe house of Israel?--what does Israel mean? Learn at Peniel. See\nJacob in sore distress at the brook Jabbok. A man is wrestling with\nhim,--wrestling with him all the night, until the break of day. It is\nno mere man, for Jacob finds before all is over that he has been face\nto face with God. The man who wrestled with him indeed was the same as\nHe Who wrestled with this woman of Canaan. The Divine Man struggles to\nget away without blessing the patriarch. Jacob cries, in the very\ndesperation of his faith, \"I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless\nme!\" The victory is won. The blessing is granted, and these words are\nadded: \"What is thy name?\" \"Jacob.\" \"Thy name shall be called no more\nJacob, but Israel\" (i.e. prince with God): \"for as a prince hast thou\npower with God and with men, and hast prevailed.\"\n\nWas this woman, then, or was she not, \"a prince\" with God? Did she, or\ndid she not, belong to the true house of Israel? Let us now look back\nto vv. 8 and 9: \"This people\" (_i.e._ the children of Israel according\nto the flesh) ... \"honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is\nfar from Me. But _in vain_ they do worship Me.\" In vain do they\nworship: are they, then, princes with God? Nay, verily; they are only\nactors before Him, as the Saviour plainly says. Truly they are not all\nIsrael who are of Israel; and just as truly they are not the only\nIsrael who are of Israel, for here is this woman of Canaan who earns\nthe name of Israel by as hard a contest and as great a victory as that\nof Jacob at the brook Jabbok, when first the name was given.\n\nAnother instructive contrast is inevitably suggested between the\nforemost of the apostles and this nameless woman of Canaan. The last\nillustration of faith was Peter's venture on the water. What a\ndifference between the strong man and the weak woman! To the strong,\nbrave man the Master had to say \"O thou of little faith! wherefore\ndidst thou doubt?\" To the weak woman, \"O woman, great is thy faith.\"\nWhat an encouragement here to the little ones, the obscure, unnoticed\ndisciples! \"Many that are first shall be last, and the last first.\"\n\nThe encouragement to persevering prayer, especially to parents anxious\nfor their children, is so obvious that it need only be named. That\nsilence first, and then these apparent refusals, are trials of faith,\nto which many earnest hearts have not been strangers. To all such the\nexample of this woman of Canaan is of great value. Her earnestness in\nmaking the case of her daughter her own (she does not say, \"Have mercy\non my daughter;\" but, \"Have mercy on _me_;\" and again, \"Lord,\nhelp _me_\"), and her unconquerable perseverance till the answer\ncame, have been an inspiration ever since, and will be to the end of\nthe world.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe lesson taught by our Lord's dealing with the woman of Canaan is\nconveyed again on a larger scale by what happened in the region of\nDecapolis, east of the Sea of Galilee; for it was in that region, as\nwe learn from the more detailed account in the second Gospel, that the\nevents which follow came to pass.\n\nThe distance from the one place to the other is considerable, and the\nroute our Lord took was by no means direct. His object at this time\nseems to have been to court retirement as much as possible, that He\nmight give Himself to the preparation of His disciples--and we may,\nwith reverence add, His own preparation also--for the sad journey\nsouthward to Jerusalem and Calvary. Besides, His work in the north is\ndone: no more circuits in Galilee now; so He keeps on the far\noutskirts of the land, passing through Sidon, across the southern\nridge of Lebanon, past the base of mighty Hermon, then southward to\nDecapolis--all the way on border territory, where the people were more\nheathen than Jewish in race and religion. We can imagine Him on this\nlong and toilsome journey, looking in both directions with strange\nemotion--away out to the Gentile nations with love and longing; and\n(with what mingled feelings of pain and eagerness who can tell?) to\nthat Jerusalem, where soon He must offer up the awful sacrifice. When,\nafter the long journey, He came nigh to the Sea of Galilee, He sought\nseclusion by going up into a mountain. But even in this borderland He\ncannot be hid; and when the sick and needy throng around Him, He\ncannot turn away from them. He still keeps within the limits of His\ncommission, as set forth in His reply to the woman of Canaan; but,\nthough He does not go to seek out those beyond the pale, when they\nseek Him, He cannot send them away; accordingly, in these heathen or\nsemi-heathen regions, we have another set of cures and another feeding\nof the hungry multitude.\n\nWe need not dwell on these incidents, as they are a repetition, with\nvariations, of what He had done at the conclusion of His work in\nGalilee. As to the repetition,--strange to say, there are those who\ncavil, whenever similar events appear successively in the story of the\nlife and work of Christ. As if it were possible that a work like His\ncould be free from repetition! How often does a physician repeat\nhimself in the course of his practice? Christ is always repeating\nHimself. Every time a sinner comes to Him for salvation, He repeats\nHimself, with variations; and when need arose in Decapolis--like that\nwhich had previously arisen at Bethsaida, only more urgent, for the\nmultitude in the present case had been three days from home, and were\nready to faint with hunger--must their wants go unrelieved merely to\navoid repetition? As to the telling of it--for this of course might\nhave been avoided, on the ground that a similar event had been related\nbefore--was there not most excellent reason for it, in the fact that\nthese people were not of the house of Israel in the literal sense? To\nhave omitted the record of these deeds of mercy would have been to\nleave out the evidence they afforded that the love of Christ went out\nnot to Jews only, but to all sick and hungry ones.\n\nSick and hungry--these words suggest the two great needs of humanity.\nChrist comes to heal disease, to satisfy hunger; in particular, to\nheal the root disease of sin, and satisfy the deep hunger of the soul\nfor God and life in Him. And when we read how He healed all manner of\ndisease among the multitudes in Decapolis, and thereafter fed them\nabundantly when they were ready to faint with hunger, we see how He is\nset forth as a Saviour from sin and Revealer of God beyond the borders\nof the land of Israel.\n\nIt is worth noticing how well this general record follows the story\nof the woman of Canaan. Just as she--though not of Israel after the\nflesh--proved herself to be of Israel after the spirit, so these\nheathen or semi-heathen people of Decapolis forsake their paganism\nwhen they see the Christ; for of no heathen deity do they speak: they\n\"glorified the God of Israel\" (ver. 31). Thus we have a contrast\nsimilar to that which we recognised in the case of the woman of\nCanaan, between those scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem--who drew\nnear to the God of Israel with their lips while the heart was far\naway--and these people of Decapolis, who, though \"afar off\" in the\nestimation of these dignitaries of Jerusalem, are in truth \"nigh\" to\nthe God of Israel. Is there not in the events of the chapter a\nwondrous light cast on the true meaning of the name Israel, as not\naccording to the flesh, but according to the spirit?\n\n\nIV.--THE CULMINATION OF THE CRISIS (xvi. 1-12).\n\nAll this time Jesus has been keeping as much out of the way of His\nungrateful countrymen as the limits of His commission would permit,\nhovering, as it were, around the northern outskirts of the land. But\nwhen in the course of this largest circuit of all His northern\njourneys, He reaches Decapolis, He is so near home that He cannot but\ncross the lake and revisit the familiar scenes. How is He received? Do\nthe people flock around Him as they did before? If it had been so, we\nshould no doubt have been told. There seems to have been not a single\nword of welcome. Of all the multitudes He had healed and blessed,\nthere is no one to cry, \"Hosanna to the Son of David!\"\n\nHis friends, if He has any, have gone back, and walk no more with Him;\nbut His old enemies the Pharisees do not fail Him; and they are not\nalone now, nor, as before, in alliance only with those naturally in\nsympathy with them, but have actually made a league with their great\nopponents, the two rival parties of Pharisee and Sadducee, finding in\ntheir common hatred of the Christ of God a sinister bond of union.\n\nThis is the first time the Sadducees are mentioned in this Gospel as\ncoming in contact with Jesus. Some of them had come to the baptism of\nJohn, to his great astonishment; but, beyond this, they have as yet\nput in no appearance. They were the aristocracy of the land, and held\nthe most important offices of Church and State in the capital. It is\ntherefore the less to be wondered at that up to this time the\nCarpenter of Nazareth should have been beneath their notice. Now,\nhowever, the news of His great doings in the north has at last\ncompelled attention; the result is this combination with the\nPharisees, who have already been for some time engaged in the attempt\nto put Him down. There is indication elsewhere (Mark viii. 15) that\nthe Herodians had also united with them; so we may look upon this as\nthe culmination of the crisis in Galilee, when all the forces of the\ncountry have been roused to active and bitter hostility.\n\nThe Pharisees and Sadducees, as is well known, were at opposite poles\nof thought; the one being the traditionalists, the other the sceptics,\nof the time, so that it was quite remarkable that they should unite in\nanything. They did, however, unite in this demand for a sign from\nheaven. Neither of them could deny that signs had been given,--that\nthe blind had received sight, lepers had been cleansed, the lame\nhealed, and deeds of mercy done on every side. But neither party was\nsatisfied with this. Each was wedded to a system of thought according\nto which signs on earth were of no evidential value. A sign from\nheaven was what they needed to convince them. The demand was\npractically the same as that which the Pharisees and scribes had made\nbefore (xii. 38), though it is put more specifically here as a sign\n_from heaven_. The reason why the Pharisees adopted the same method of\nattack as before is not far to seek. Their object was not to obtain\nsatisfaction as to His claims, but to find the easiest way of\ndiscrediting them; and, knowing as they did from their past experience\nthat the demand of a special sign would be refused, they counted on\nthe refusal beforehand, to be used by their new allies as well as\nthemselves as a weapon against Him. They were not disappointed, for\nour Lord was no respecter of persons; therefore He spoke just as\nplainly and sternly when the haughty Sadducees were present as He had\ndone before they made their appearance.\n\nThe words are stern and strong; but here again it is \"more in sorrow\nthan in anger\" that He speaks. We learn from St. Mark that, as He gave\nHis answers, \"He sighed deeply in His spirit.\" There had been so many\nsigns, and they were so plain and clear--signs which spoke for\nthemselves, signs which so plainly spelt out the words, \"The kingdom\nof heaven is among you\"--that it was unspeakably sad to think that\nthey should be blind to them all, and find it in their heart to ask\nfor something else, which in its nature would be no sign at all, but\nonly a portent, a barren miracle.\n\nWe can see in this how determined our Lord was not to minister to the\ncraving for the merely miraculous. He would work no miracle for the\nmere purpose of exciting astonishment or even of producing conviction,\nwhen there was quite enough for all who were at all willing to\nreceive it, in the regular, natural and necessary development of His\nwork as the Healer of the sick, the Shepherd of the people, the Refuge\nof the troubled and distressed. Had there been no signs of the times,\nthere might have been some reason for signs in the heavens; but when\nthere were signs in abundance of the kind to appeal to all that was\nbest in the minds and hearts of men, why should these be discredited\nby resorting to another kind of sign much inferior and far less\nadapted to the securing of the special object for which the King of\nheaven had come into the world? The signs of the times were after all\nfar more easily discerned than those signs in the heavens by which\nthey were accustomed to anticipate both fine and stormy weather. There\nwere signs of blessing enough to convince any doubter that the summer\nof heaven was easily within His reach; on the other hand, in the state\nof the nation, and the rapidly developing circumstances which were\nhastening on the fulfilment of the most terrible of the prophecies\nconcerning it, there were signs enough to give far more certain\nindication of approaching judgment, than when the red and lowering\nmorning gave token of the coming thunderstorm (vv. 2, 3). So He tells\nthem, convicting them of wilful blindness; and then repeats in almost\nidentical terms the refusal He had given to the scribes and Pharisees\nbefore: \"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and\nthere shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet\nJonas\" (see xii. 39, and remarks on it on pp. 166-8).\n\n\"And He left them, and departed.\" How sad for Him; how awful for them!\nHad there been in their hearts one single aspiration for the true and\ngood, He would not have left them so. Where are these Pharisees and\nSadducees now? What do they now think of the work of that day?\n\n\"He left them, and again entering into the boat departed to the other\nside\" (Mark viii. 13). Did He ever cross the lake again? If He did,\nthere is no record of it. He passed in sight of it in that sorrowful\nsouthward journey to Jerusalem which He must presently commence; and\nHe will visit the same shore again after His resurrection to cheer the\napostles at their toil; but this seems to have been the last crossing.\nWhat a sad one it must have been!--after a beginning so bright that it\nwas heralded as daybreak on Gennesaret's shore, after all His\nself-denying toil, after all the words of wisdom He has spoken and the\ndeeds of mercy He has done upon these shores, to leave them, as He\ndoes now, rejected and despised, an outcast, to all outward appearance\na failure. No wonder He is silent in that crossing of the lake; no\nwonder He is lost in saddest thought, turning over and over in His\nmind the signs of the times forced so painfully on His attention!\n\nThe disciples with Him in the boat had no share in these sad thoughts.\nTheir minds, as it would seem, were occupied for the most part with\nthe mistake they had made in provisioning the boat. Accordingly, when\nat last He broke silence, He found them quite out of touch with Him.\nHe had been thinking of the sad unbelief of these Pharisees and\nSadducees, and of the awful danger of allowing the spirit which was in\nthem to dominate the life; hence the solemn caution: \"Take heed, and\nbeware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.\" The\ndisciples meantime had been counting their loaves, or rather, looking\nsadly on the one loaf which, on searching their baskets, they found to\nbe all they had; and when the word _leaven_ caught their ear, coupled\nwith a caution as to a particular kind of it, they said one to\nanother, \"It is because we have taken no bread!\" Another cause of\nsadness to the Master. He had been mourning over the blindness of\nPharisees and Sadducees; He must now mourn over the blindness of His\nown disciples; and not blindness only, but also forgetfulness of a\nthrice-taught lesson: for why should the mere supply of bread be any\ncause of anxiety to them, after what they had seen once and again in\nthese very regions to which they were going?\n\nBut these hearts were not shut against Him; theirs was not the\nblindness of those that will not see; accordingly, the result is very\ndifferent. He did not leave them and depart; nor, on the other hand,\ndid He explain in so many words what He meant. It was far better that\nthey should find out for themselves. The riddles of nature and of life\nare not furnished with keys. They must be discerned by thoughtful\nattention; so, instead of providing them a key to His little parable,\nHe puts them in the way of finding it for themselves by asking them a\nseries of questions which convinced them of their thoughtlessness and\nfaithlessness, and led them to recognise His true meaning (vv. 8-12).\n\n\n\n\nXIII.\n\n_THE NEW DEPARTURE._\n\n(FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH.)\n\nMATT. xvi. 13-xvii. 21.\n\n\nThis conversation at C\u00e6sarea Philippi is universally regarded as\nmarking a new era in the life of Christ. His rejection by \"His own\" is\nnow complete. Jerusalem, troubled at His birth, had been troubled once\nagain when He suddenly came to His Temple, and began to cleanse it in\nHis Father's name; and though many at the feast were attracted by His\ndeeds of mercy, He could not commit Himself to any of them (John ii.\n24): there was no rock there on which to build His Church. He had\npassed through Samaria, and found there fields white unto the harvest,\nbut the time of reaping was not yet. Galilee had given better promise:\nagain and again it had appeared as if the foundation of the new\nkingdom would be firmly laid in the land of \"Zebulun and Naphtali\";\nbut there had been bitter and crushing disappointment,--even the\ncities where most of His mighty works were done repented not. The\npeople had eagerly welcomed His earthly things; but when He began to\nspeak to them of heavenly things they \"went back, and walked no more\nwith Him.\" And though opportunity after opportunity was given them\nwhile He hovered on the outskirts, ever and anon returning[12] to the\nfamiliar scenes, they would not repent; they would not welcome or even\nreceive the kingdom of God which Christ came to found. The country has\nbeen traversed from the wilderness of Jud\u00e6a, in the far south, even\nunto Dan; and as there had been no room for the Infant King in the\ninn, so there was none in all the land for the infant kingdom.\n\nThus it comes to pass that, with the very small band He has gathered\naround Him--called in the land indeed, but now of necessity called to\ncome out of it--He withdraws to the neighbourhood of the Gentile town\nof C\u00e6sarea Philippi; not for seclusion only, but, as the event shows,\nto found an _Ecclesia_--His Church. The scenery in this region is\nexceptionally beautiful, and the place was in every way suited for a\nseason of quiet communion with nature and with nature's God. It was,\nmoreover, just outside the land; and in the place and surroundings\nthere was much that must have been suggestive and inspiring. Is not\nthis great mountain, on one of the southern flanks of which they are\nnow resting, the mighty Hermon, the great landmark of the north,\nrearing its snowy head on high to catch the precious clouds of heaven,\nand enrich with them the winds that shall blow southward over\nPalestine? And are not these springs which issue from the rock beside\nthem the sources of the Jordan, the sacred river? As the dew of\nHermon, and as the flowing of the water-springs, shall be that Church\nof the living God, which, as the sequel will unfold, had its first\nfoundation on this rocky hillside and by these river sources.\n\nInto this remote and rocky region, then, the Master has retired with\nthe small band of faithful disciples, on whom alone He can depend for\nthe future. But can He depend even on them? Have they not been tainted\nwith the general apostasy? Does He not already know one of them to be\nin heart a traitor? (cf. John vi. 70). And have not all of them just\nneeded the caution themselves to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees\nand Sadducees? Are they really strong men of faith, like \"faithful\nAbraham,\" or are they to be like reeds shaken by the wind? The time\nhas come to test it. This He does, first by asking them what they\nthink of Himself, and then by showing them what they must expect if\nthey still will follow Him. First there must be the test of faith, to\nascertain what they have learned from their intercourse with Him in\nthe past; then the test of hope, lest their attachment to Him should\nbe based on expectations doomed to disappointment.\n\n\nI.--THE CHRIST (xvi. 13-20).\n\nThe faith test is a strictly personal one. We have seen how the Master\nhas, so to speak, focussed His gospel in Himself. He had begun by\npreaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and calling men to repentance;\nbut as time passed on He found it necessary to make a more personal\nappeal, pressing His invitations in the winning form, \"Come unto Me.\"\nWhen things came to a crisis in Galilee, He first in symbol and then\nin word set Himself before the people as the bread of life, which each\none must receive and eat if he would live. Thus He has been making it\nmore and more evident that the only way to receive the kingdom of God\nis to welcome Himself as the Son of the living God come to claim the\nhearts of men for His Father in heaven. How is it with the little\nband? Is theirs the popular notion, which classes the Son of God as\nonly one among other gifted sons of men, or do they welcome Him in the\nplenitude of His divine prerogative and power? Hence the first\ninquiry, which brings out the answer: \"Some say that Thou art John the\nBaptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.\"\nThis is manifestly the popular idea at its highest and best. There\nwere, no doubt, among the people those whose thought already was \"Away\nwith Him! away with Him!\" But it might well go without saying that the\ndisciples had no sympathy with these. It did, however, remain to be\nseen whether they were not content, like the best of the people, to\naccept Him as a teacher sent from God, a great prophet of Israel, or\nat most a John the Baptist, the mere herald of the coming King. We can\nimagine, then, with what intensity of feeling the Master would look\ninto the disciples' eyes as He put the testing question, \"But whom say\n_ye_ that I am?\" and with what joy He would hail the ready response of\ntheir spokesman Peter, when, with eyes full of heavenly light and\nheart glowing with sacred fire, he exclaimed, \"Thou art the Christ,\nthe Son of the living God!\"\n\nIt would be beyond belief, were it not so sadly familiar a fact, that\nsome, professing honestly to interpret this passage, resolve the\nanswer of the apostle into little or nothing more than the popular\nidea, as if the Sonship here referred to were only what any prophet or\nrighteous man might claim. He surely must be wilfully blind who does\nnot see that the apostolic answer which the Lord accepts is wide as\nthe poles from the popular notions He so decisively rejects; and this\nis made peculiarly emphatic by the striking words with which the true\nanswer is welcomed--the Saviour's first personal beatitude (as if to\nsuggest, His is the kingdom of heaven--cf. Matt. v. 3, 10): \"Blessed\nart thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it\nunto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.\" It will be remembered\nthat, in asserting His own personal relation to the Father, Christ had\nsaid: \"No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man\nthe Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal\nHim\" (xi. 27); and now that to one at least the Father has been\nrevealed in the Son, He recognises the fact with joy. These notions of\nthe people about Him were but earth-born notions, the surmisings of\n\"flesh and blood\": this faith of the true apostle was born from above;\nit could have come only from heaven.\n\nNow at last, therefore, the foundation is laid, and the building of\nthe spiritual temple is begun. The words which follow (ver. 18) are\nquite natural and free from most, if not from all, the difficulties in\nwhich perverse human ingenuity has entangled them, if only we bear in\nmind the circumstances and surroundings. The little group is standing\non one of the huge rocky flanks of mighty Hermon, great boulders here\nand there around them; and in all probability, well in sight, some\ngreat stones cut out of the rock and made ready for use in building,\nlike those still to be seen in the neighbourhood of Baalbec, to the\nnorth of Hermon; for this region was famous for its great temples.\nNow, when we remember that the two words our Lord uses (\u03c0\u03ad\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 and\n\u03c0\u03ad\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1) for \"rock\" in our version have not precisely the same\nmeaning--the one (Petros, Peter) signifying a piece of rock, a stone,\nthe other (Petra) suggesting rather the great bed-rock out of which\nthese stones are cut and on which they are lying--we can understand\nthat, while the reference is certainly in the first place to Peter\nhimself, the main thing is the great fact just brought out that he is\nresting, in the strength of faith, on God as revealed in His Son.\nThus, while Peter is certainly the piece of rock, the first stone\nwhich is laid upon the great underlying foundation on which all the\nfaithful build, and therefore is in a sense--the common popular sense,\nin fact--the foundation stone, yet the foundation of all is the\nBed-Rock, on which the first stone and all other stones are laid.\nBearing this well in mind, we further see that there is no\ninconsistency between this and those other scriptures in which God is\nrepresented as alone the Rock of our salvation. The Bed-Rock, \"the\nRock of Ages,\" is here, as elsewhere, God as revealed in His Son, and\nPeter is the first stone \"well and truly laid\" upon it.\n\nIf the surroundings suggest the use of the words _Petros_ and\n_Petra_, stone and rock, the circumstances suggest the use of the\nword Ecclesia, or Church, which is here employed by our Lord for the\nfirst time. Up to this time He has spoken always of the kingdom, never\nof the church. How is this to be explained? Of course the kingdom is\nthe larger term; and now it is necessary that that portion of the\nkingdom which is to be organised on earth should be distinguished by a\nspecific designation; and the use of the word \"church\" in preference\nto the more familiar \"synagogue\" may be accounted for by the desire to\navoid confusion. Besides this, however, the word itself is specially\nsignificant. It means an assembly \"called out,\" and suggests the idea\nof separateness, so appropriate to the circumstances of the little\nband of outcasts.\n\nTo see into this more fully, let us recall the recent teaching as to\nthe true Israel (chap. xv.), no longer to be found in the old land of\nIsrael. If there is to be an Israel at all, it must be reconstituted\n\"outside the camp.\" In view of this, how strikingly significant is it\nthat just as Abraham had to leave his country and go to a strange land\nto found the old theocracy, so Christ has to leave His country and go\nwith His followers to these remote northern regions to constitute\n\"_the Israel of God_,\" to inaugurate His Church, the company of\nthose who, like these faithful ones, come out and are separate to be\nunited by faith to Him! Christ with the Twelve around Him is the\nIsrael of the New Testament; and we can imagine that it was on this\noccasion especially that in the prayers which we know from St. Luke's\nGospel He offered in connection with this very conversation, He would\nfind these words of devotion especially appropriate: \"Behold, I and\nthe children which God hath given Me\" (Heb. ii. 13). The family of God\n(see chap. xii. 49) are by themselves apart, disowned by those who\nstill bear unworthily the name of Israel; and most appropriate it is\nthat on this occasion our Lord should begin to use that great word,\nwhich means first \"called out\" and then \"gathered in\": \"on this rock I\nwill build My CHURCH.\"\n\nWhen we think of the place and the scene and the circumstances, the\nsad memories of the past and the gloomy forebodings for the future,\nwhat sublimity of faith must we recognise in the words which\nimmediately follow: \"The gates of hell shall not prevail against it\"!\nOh! shame on us who grow faint-hearted with each discouragement, when\nthe Master, with rejection behind Him and death before Him, found it\nencouragement enough after so much toil to make a bare beginning of\nthe new temple of the Lord; and even in that day of smallest things\nwas able to look calmly forward across the troubled sea of the dark\nfuture and already raise the shout of final victory!\n\nBut that day of victory is still far off; and before it can even begin\nto come, there must be a descent into the valley of the shadow of\ndeath. He is about to tell His disciples that He must go up to\nJerusalem and die, and leave them to be the builders of the Church. He\ncannot continue long to be the Keeper of the keys; so He must prepare\nthem for taking them from His hand when the time shall come for Him to\ngo. Hence the words which follow, appropriately addressed in the first\nplace to the disciple who had first confessed Him: \"I will give unto\nthee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.\" \"Honour to whom honour is\ndue:\" the first member of the Church is to be its prime minister as\nwell. When the Master's voice shall be silent, the voice of the\nrock-disciple (and of the other disciples as well, for the same\ncommission was afterwards extended to them all) shall have the same\nauthority to bind, to loose, to regulate the administration of Church\naffairs as if He Himself were with them. It was not yet time to tell\nthem how it would be--viz., by the coming and indwelling of His\nSpirit; it is enough now to give them the assurance that the infant\nChurch shall not be left without authority from above, without power\nfrom on high.\n\nThe Church is founded; but for a time it must remain in obscurity. The\npeople are not ready; and the gospel, which is to be the power of God\nunto salvation, is not yet complete, until He shall go up to Jerusalem\nand suffer many things and die. Till then all that has passed in this\nsacred northern retreat must remain a secret: \"He charged His\ndisciples that they should tell no man that He was the Christ\" (R.V.).\n\n\nII.--THE CROSS (xvi. 21-28).\n\nA still more searching test must now be applied. It is not enough to\ndiscover what they have learned from their intercourse with Him in the\npast; He must find out whether they have courage enough to face what\nis now impending in the future. Their faith in God as revealed in\nChrist His Son has been well approved. It remains to be seen whether\nit is strong enough to bear the ordeal of the cross, to which it must\nsoon be subjected: \"From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His\ndisciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things\nof the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed.\"\n\nAlready from time to time He had darkly hinted what manner of death He\nshould die; but it was only from this time that He began to _show_ it\nunto them, to put it before them so that they could not fail to see\nit. Herein see the wisdom and tender considerateness of \"the Son of\nman.\" So dark and difficult a lesson would have been too much for them\nbefore. The ordeal would have been too severe. Not until their faith\nhas begun with some firmness to grasp His true and proper divinity,\ncan their hope live with such a prospect. There must be some basis for\na faith in His rising again, before He can ask them even to look into\nthe dark abyss of death into which He must descend. That basis is\nfound in the confession of the rock-apostle; and relying on it He can\ntrust them by-and-by, if not at once, to look through the darkness of\nthe suffering and death to the rising again, the prospect of which He\nsets before them at the very same time: \"and be raised again the\nthird day.\" Besides, there was no possibility of their ever beginning\nto understand the atonement till they had grasped the truth of the\nincarnation. To this day the one is intelligible only in the light of\nthe other. Those to whom Jesus of Nazareth is only \"one of the\nprophets\" cannot begin to see how He _must_ suffer and die. Only those\nwho with the apostles rise to the realisation of His divine glory are\nprepared to understand anything of the mystery of His Cross and\nPassion.\n\nAs yet, however, the mystery is too deep and the prospect too dark\neven for them, as becomes painfully evident from the conduct of the\nbravest of them all, who \"took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying,\nBe it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.\"\n\nWe naturally and properly blame the presumption of the apostle, who,\nwhen he did not understand, might at least have been silent, or have\ncontented himself with some modest question, instead of this\nunbecoming remonstrance with One Whose Messiahship and Divine Sonship\nhe had just confessed. But, though we may blame him for what he said,\nwe cannot wonder at what he thought and felt. The lesson of the cross\nis just beginning. The disciples are just entering a higher form in\nthe Master's school; and it does not follow, because they have\nundergone so well their examination on the great lesson of the past,\nthat they are prepared all at once to take in what must be the great\nlesson of the future. They have had time for the first: may they not\nbe allowed time for the second? Why, then, is Peter reproved so very\nseverely?\n\nWe may say, indeed, that faithfulness to Peter himself required it.\nThe strong commendation with which his noble confession has been\ngreeted, instead of making him humble, as it ought to have done,\ninasmuch as it reminded him that it was not of himself but from above\nhe had the power to make it, seems to have made him over-confident,\ntrustful to that very flesh and blood to which he had been assured he\nwas, in regard to that confession, in no wise indebted. It was\ntherefore necessary that the warm commendation accorded to the\nstrength of his faith should be balanced by an equally strong\ncondemnation of his unbelief. But there is more than this to be said.\nChrist is looking at Peter, and speaking to Peter; but he recognises\nanother, whom He names and whom in the first place He addresses: \"Get\nthee behind Me, Satan.\" He recognises the same old enemy, with the\nsame old weapon of assault: for it is the same temptation as that\nwhich formed the climax of the conflict in the wilderness, a\ntemptation to prosecute His work by methods which would spare Him the\nawful agony of the cross. The devil had departed from Him then; but\nonly, as we were informed, \"for a season\"; and there are frequent\nindications in the subsequent history that at critical times the great\nadversary took opportunities of renewing the old temptation. This is\none of these occasions. Let us by all means bear in mind that our Lord\nwas true man--that He was \"compassed with infirmity,\" that He was\n\"tempted in all points like as we are,\" though ever without sin; let\nus not imagine, then, that His human soul was always on so serene a\nheight that the words of one who loved Him and whom He loved so much\nwould have no effect on Him. It was hard enough for Him to face the\nawful darkness, without having this new stumbling-block set in His\npath. It is a real temptation, and a most dangerous one; He may not\ntherefore tamper with it for a moment: He may not allow His affection\nfor His true disciple to blind Him to the real source of it; He must\nrealise with whom He has to deal; He must behind the love of the\napostle recognise the malice of the evil one, who is using him as his\ninstrument; accordingly, with His face set as a flint, with His whole\nbeing braced for resistance, so that not a hair's-breadth shall be\nyielded, He says: \"Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art a\nstumbling-block unto Me\" (R.V.)--words which clearly indicate that He\nhad recognised the danger, and summoned the resources of His faith and\nobedience to put the stumbling-block away.\n\n\"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.\" We may be sure,\ntherefore, that so soon as the energetic words were spoken _he_\nwas gone: the stumbling-block was out of the way. The words which\nfollow may therefore be regarded as spoken to Peter himself, to bring\nto his own consciousness the difference between the heavenly faith\nwhich had come by revelation from above, and the earthly doubt and\ndenial, which was evidently not of God, though so natural to flesh and\nblood: \"Thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men\"\n(R.V.).\n\nThus once more the Christ of God takes up the cross of man. In doing\nso He not only sets aside the protest, uttered or unexpressed, of His\ndisciples' hearts; but He tells them plainly that they too must take\nthe same dark path if they would follow Him: \"Then said Jesus unto His\ndisciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and\ntake up his cross, and follow Me.\" So He tests them to the uttermost.\nHe withdraws nothing He has said about the blessedness of those who\nwelcome the kingdom of heaven; but the time has come to put the\nnecessary condition in its strongest light, so that, if they still\nfollow, it will be not blindly, but with eyes fully open to all that\nit involves. He has given hints before of the stringency of the Divine\nrequirement; He has spoken of the strait gate and the narrow way; now\nHe goes to the very heart of that hard matter, and unfolds the\ninnermost secret of the kingdom of heaven. \"Let him deny himself:\"\nhere is the pivot of all--the _crux_.\n\nBe it observed that this is not \"self-denial\" as currently understood,\na term applied to the denial to self of something or other which\nperhaps self cares very little about, but something much more radical.\nIt is the denial of self involving as its correlative the giving of\nthe life to God. It is the death of self-will, and the birth of\nGod-will,[13] as the central force of the life.\n\n\"Let him deny himself, _and take up his cross_.\" Each one has\n\"his\" cross, some point in which the will of God and self-will come\ninto direct opposition. To the Captain of our salvation the conflict\ncame in its very darkest and most dreadful form. Its climax was in the\nGarden, when after the great agony He cried: \"Not My will, but Thine\nbe done.\" Our conflict will not be nearly so severe: it may even be on\na point that may seem small,--whether or not we will give up some\nbesetting sin, whether or not we will do some disagreeable duty,\nwhether or not we will surrender something which stands between us and\nChrist,--but whatever that be in which the will of God and our own\nwill are set in opposition, there is our cross, and it must be taken\nup, and self must be denied that we may follow Christ. \"They that are\nChrist's have _crucified the flesh_.\"\n\nIs this, then, the great salvation? Does it resolve itself into a\nspecies of suicide? Do we enter the kingdom of life by death? It is\neven so; and the words which follow resolve the paradox: \"For\nwhosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose\nhis life for My sake shall find it.\" It is a surrender of life,\ncertainly, for the giving up of self means the giving up of all; but\nthese words \"for My sake\" make all the difference. It is a surrender\nwhich, in dethroning self, enthrones Christ in the life. It is dying\nindeed; but it is dying into life: it is an act of faith which puts an\nend to the old life of the flesh, and opens the gate for the new life\nof the spirit.\n\nWe have seen that all may hinge on some point that may seem quite\nsmall, in which case the sacrifice is plainly not to be compared with\nthe compensation; but even when the very greatest sacrifice is\ndemanded, it is folly not to make it: \"For what shall a man be\nprofited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?\"\n(R.V.). And, if life is forfeited, how can it be bought back again:\n\"What shall a man give in exchange for his life\" (R.V.)? \"In Him was\nlife,\" and in Him is life still; therefore He is more to us than all\nthe world. It is better to suffer the loss of all things for Christ,\nthan to have all that flesh and blood could desire without Him.\n\nThe world is very large; and the Son of man must have seemed very\nsmall and weak that day, as He told them of the coming days when He\nshould suffer so many things at His enemies' hands, and die; but this\nis only while the time of testing lasts: things will be seen in their\ntrue proportion by-and-by, when \"the Son of man shall come\" (what a\ngolden background this to the dark prospect immediately before them!\nHe _must go_; yes; but _He shall come_) \"in the glory of His Father\nwith His angels; then He shall reward every man according to his\nworks.\" Thus, with the searching test the Saviour gives the reassuring\nprospect; and lest by reason of its indefinite distance they may fail\nto find in it all the encouragement they need for the present\ndistress, He gives them the further assurance that, before very long,\nthere shall be manifest tokens of the coming glory of their now\ndespised and slighted King: \"Verily I say unto you, There be some\nstanding here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son\nof man coming in His kingdom.\"\n\n\nIII.--THE GLORY (xvii. 1-8).\n\n\"After six days\"--the interval is manifestly of importance, for the\nthree Evangelists who record the event all lay stress on it. St. Luke\nsays \"about an eight days,\" which indicates that the six days referred\nto by the others were days of interval between that on which the\nconversation at C\u00e6sarea Philippi took place and the morning of the\ntransfiguration. It follows that we may regard this important epoch in\nthe life of our Lord as covering a week; and may we not speak of it as\nHis passion week in the north? The shadow of the cross was on Him all\nHis life through; but it must have been much darker during this week\nthan ever before. At the beginning of it He had been obliged for the\nfirst time to let that shadow fall upon His loved disciples, and the\ndays which followed seem to have been given to thought and prayer, and\nquiet, unrecorded conversation. Beyond all question their thoughts\nwould be fixed on the new subject of contemplation which had just been\nbrought before them, and whatever conversation they had with one\nanother and with the Master would have this for its centre. It cannot\nbut have been a very sad and trying week. The first tidings of the\napproach of some impending disaster is often harder to bear than is\nthe stroke itself when afterwards it falls. To the disciples the whole\nhorizon of the future would be filled with darkest clouds of mystery;\nfor though they had been told also of the rising again and the glory\nthat should follow, they could as yet get little cheer from what lay\nso far in the dim distance, and was, moreover, so little understood,\nthat even after the vision on the mount, the favoured three questioned\nwith each other what the rising from the dead might mean (Mark ix.\n10). To the Master the awful prospect must have been much more\ndefinite and real; yet even to His human soul it could not have been\nfree from that namelessness of mystery that must have made the\nanticipation in some respects as bad as the reality, rendering the\nweek to Him a passion week indeed.\n\nNo wonder that at the end of it He has a great longing heavenward, and\nthat He should ask the three most advanced of His disciples, who had\nbeen with Him in the chamber of death and were afterwards to be\nwitnesses of His agony in the Garden, to go with Him to a high\nmountain apart. The wisdom of His taking only these three was\nafterwards fully apparent, when it proved that the experience awaiting\nthem on the mountain-top was almost too much for even them to bear. It\nis of no importance to identify the mountain; probably it was one of\nthe spurs of the Hermon range, at the base of which they had spent the\nintervening week. We can perfectly understand the sacred instinct\nwhich led the Saviour to seek the highest point which could be readily\nreached, so as to feel Himself for the time as far away from earth\nand as near to heaven as possible. When we think of this, what pathos\nis there in the reference to the height of the mountain and the\nloneliness of the spot: He \"bringeth them up into a high mountain\napart\"!\n\nWe are told by St. Luke that they went up \"to pray.\" It seems most\nnatural to accept this statement as not only correct, but as a\nsufficient statement of the object our Saviour had in view. The\nthought of transfiguration may not have been in His mind at all. Here,\nas always, He was guided by the will of His Father in heaven; and it\nis not necessary to suppose that to His human mind that will was made\nknown earlier than the occasion required. We are not told that He went\nup to be transfigured: we are told that He went up to pray.\n\nIt seems probable that the idea was to spend the night in prayer. We\nknow that this was a not infrequent custom with Him; and if ever there\nseemed a call for it, it must have been now, when about to begin that\nsorrowful journey which led to Calvary. With this thought agree all\nthe indications which suggest that it was evening when they ascended,\nnight while they remained on the top, and morning when they came down.\nThis, too, will account in the most natural manner for the drowsiness\nof the apostles; and the fact that their Lord felt none of it only\nproved how much more vivid was his realisation of the awfulness of the\ncrisis than theirs was. We are to think of the four, then, as slowly\nand thoughtfully climbing the hill at eventide, carrying their\n_abbas_, or rugs, on which they would kneel for prayer, and which, if\nthey needed rest, they would wrap around them, as is the Oriental\ncustom. By the time they reached the top, night would have cast its\nveil of mystery on the grandeur of the mountains round about them;\nwhile snowy Hermon in the gloom would rise like a mighty giant to\nheaven, its summit \"visited all night by troops of stars.\" Never\nbefore nor since has there been such a prayer meeting on this earth of\nours.\n\nA careful reading of all the records leads us to think of the\nfollowing as the order of events. Having gone up to pray, they would\ndoubtless all kneel down together. As the night wore on, the three\ndisciples, being exhausted, would wrap themselves in their cloaks and\ngo to sleep; while the Master, to whom sleep at such a time was\nunnatural, if not impossible, would continue in prayer. Can we suppose\nthat that time of pleading was free from agony? His soul had been\nstirred within Him when Peter had tempted Him to turn aside from the\npath of the Cross; and may we not with reverence suppose that on that\nlonely hilltop, as later in the Garden, there might be in His heart\nthe cry, \"Father, if it be possible\"? If only the way upward were open\nnow! Has not the kingdom of God been preached in Jud\u00e6a, in Samaria, in\nGalilee, away to the very borderlands? and has not the Church been\nfounded? and has not authority been given to the apostles? Is it,\nthen, absolutely necessary to go back, back to Jerusalem, not to gain\na triumph, but to accept the last humiliation and defeat? There cannot\nbut have been a great conflict of feeling; and with all the\ndetermination to be obedient even unto death, there must have been a\nshrinking from the way of the cross, and a great longing for heaven\nand home and the Father's welcome. The longing cannot be gratified: it\nis not possible for the cup to pass from Him; but just as later in\nGethsemane there came an angel from heaven strengthening him, so now\nHis longing for heaven and home and the smile of His Father is\ngratified in the gladdening and strengthening experience which\nfollowed His prayer--a foretaste of the heavenly glory, so vivid, so\nsatisfying, that He will thenceforth be strong, for the joy that is\nset before Him, to endure the Cross, despising the shame. For behold,\nas He prays, His face becomes radiant, the glory within shining\nthrough the veil of His mortal flesh. We all know that this flesh of\nours is more or less transparent, and that in moments of exaltation\nthe faces of even ordinary men will shine as with a heavenly lustre.\nWe need not wonder, then, that it should have been so with our Lord,\nonly in an immeasurably higher degree: that His face should have shone\neven \"as the sun\"; and that, though He could not yet ascend to heaven,\nheaven's brightness should have descended on Him and wrapped Him\nround, so that even \"His raiment was white as the light.\" And not only\nheavenly light is round, but heavenly company; for \"behold, there\nappeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him.\"\n\nThe disciples could not sleep through all this. \"When they were fully\nawake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him\" (Luke\nix. 32, R.V.). How they recognised them we are not told. It may have\nbeen through their conversation, which in part at least they\nunderstood; for the substance of it has been preserved in St. Luke's\nGospel, where we read that they \"spake of His decease (literally,\n_exodus_) which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.\" The human soul of\nJesus no doubt longed for an exodus here and now, from this very\nheight of Hermon into the presence of God; but He knows this cannot\nbe: His exodus must be accomplished in a very different way, and at\nJerusalem. This Moses and Elijah knew; and their words must have\nbrought Him encouragement and strength, and given steadiness and\nassurance to the wavering hearts of Peter, James and John.\n\nThat the conversation was intended for their benefit as well, seems\nindicated by the way in which Peter's intervention is recorded: \"Then\n_answered_ Peter, and said unto Jesus.\" What he said is quite\ncharacteristic of the impulsive disciple, so ready to speak without\nthinking. On this occasion he blunders in a very natural and\npardonable way. He feels as if he ought to say something; and, as\nnothing more to the purpose occurs to him, he blurts out his\nthoughtless proposal to make three tabernacles for their abode.\nBesides the thoughtlessness of this speech, which is manifest enough,\nthere seems to lurk in it a sign of his falling back into the very\nerror which a week ago he had renounced--the error of putting his\nMaster in the same class as Moses and Elias, reckoning Him thus, as\nthe people of Galilee had done, simply as \"one of the prophets.\" If\nso, his mistake is at once corrected; for behold a bright luminous\ncloud--fit symbol of the Divine presence: the cloud suggesting\nmystery, and the brightness, glory--wraps all from sight, and out of\nthe cloud there comes a voice: \"This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am\nwell pleased; hear ye Him.\"\n\nWe now see how appropriate it was that just these two should be the\nheavenly messengers to wait upon the Son of man on this occasion. The\none represented the law, the other the prophets. \"The law and the\nprophets were until John;\" but both are now merged in the gospel of\nJesus, Who is all and in all. Moses and Elijah have long had audience\nof the people of God; but behold a greater than Moses or Elijah is\nhere, and they must withdraw; and accordingly, when the Voice is\nsilent and the cloud has cleared away, Jesus is left alone. No one\nremains to divide His authority, and none to share His sorrow. He must\ntread the winepress alone. Moses and Elijah return to the world of\nspirits--Jesus, God's beloved Son, to the world of men. And all His\nhuman sympathies were fresh and quick as ever; for, finding His three\ndisciples fallen on their faces for fear, He came and touched them,\nsaying, \"Arise, and be not afraid.\" They no doubt thought their Lord\nhad laid aside His human body, and left them all alone upon the\nmountain; but with His human hand He touched them, and with His human\nvoice He called them as of old, and with His human heart He welcomed\nthem again. Reassured, they lifted up their eyes, and saw their\nLord--the man Christ Jesus as before--and no one else. All is over;\nand as the world is unprepared for it, the vision is sealed until the\nSon of man be risen from the dead.\n\nWhy were their lips sealed? The more we think of it, the more we shall\nsee the wisdom of this seal of secrecy, even from the other nine; for\nhad they been prepared to receive the revelation, they would have been\nprivileged to witness it. The transfiguration was no mere wonder; it\nwas no sign granted to incredulity: it was one of those sacred\nexperiences for rare spirits in rare hours, which nature itself\nforbids men to parade, or even so much as mention, unless constrained\nto it by duty.\n\nIt is one of the innumerable notes of truth found, wherever aught that\nis marvellous is recorded in these Gospels, that the glory on the\nmount is not appealed to, to confirm the faith of any but the three\nwho witnessed it. Upon them it did produce a deep and abiding\nimpression. One of them, indeed, died a martyr's death so very early\nthat we have nothing from his pen (Acts xii. 2); but both the others\nhave left us words written late in their after life, which show how\nineffaceable was the impression produced upon them by what they saw\nthat memorable night. John evidently has it in mind, both in the\nbeginning of his Epistle and of his Gospel, as where he says: \"We\nbeheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father;\"\nand Peter thus conveys the assurance which the experience of that\nnight left with him to the end: \"We have not followed cunningly\ndevised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He\nreceived from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a\nvoice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in Whom\nI am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard,\nwhen we were with Him in the holy mount.\" But while the impression\nmade upon the three who witnessed it was so deep and abiding, it could\nnot be expected to have any direct evidential value to others;\naccordingly it remained unused in their dealings with others until\ntheir Master's work had been crowned by His resurrection from the\ndead, which was to be _the_ sign, as He had again and again said to\nthose who kept asking Him for a sign from heaven. The transfiguration\nwas indeed a sign from heaven; but it was no sign for a faithless\ngeneration: it was only for those who by the strength of their faith\nand the purity of their devotion were prepared to receive it. Signs\nfitted to satisfy the doubting heart had been wrought in great\nabundance (xi. 4, 5); and the crowning sign was to be certified by\nmany infallible proofs, after which it would be time to speak of the\nexperience of that sacred night upon the holy mount.\n\nHow fitly the transfiguration closes this memorable week! As we linger\nwith the Lord and His disciples at the sources of the Jordan, we\nrealise that we have reached what we may call the water-shed of\ndoctrine in His training of the Twelve. Slowly have they been rising\nin their thoughts of Christ, until at last they recognise His true\ndivinity, and make a clear and full confession of it. But no sooner\nhave they reached that height of truth than they are constrained to\nlook down into the dark valley before them, at the bottom of which\nthey dimly see the dreadful cross; and then, to comfort and reassure,\nthere is this vision of the glory that shall follow. Thus we have, in\nsuccession, the three great doctrines of the faith: Incarnation,\nAtonement, Resurrection. There is first the glory of Christ as the Son\nof God; then His shame as Bearer of our sin; then the vision of the\nglory that shall follow, the glory given to Him as His reward. For may\nwe not regard that company upon the mount as a miniature of the Church\nin heaven and on earth? There was the great and glorified Head of the\nChurch, and round Him five representative members: two from the family\nin heaven, three from the family on earth--those from the Church\ntriumphant, these from the Church still militant--those from among the\nsaints of the old covenant, these the firstfruits of the new. Could\nthere have been a better representation of \"the whole family in heaven\nand on earth\"? How appropriate that the passion week of the north,\nwhich began with the founding of the Church in the laying of its first\nstone, should end with a vision of it as completed, which must to\nsome extent have been a fulfilment of the promise, \"He shall see of\nthe travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied\"!\n\nObserve, too, in quick succession, the great key-words of the new age:\nThe Christ (xvi. 16), The Church (ver. 18), The Cross (ver. 24), The\nGlory (ver. 27): the latter, as still in the future, made real by the\nglory on the holy mount. The medi\u00e6val interpreters, always on the\nwatch for the symbolism of numbers, especially the number three,\nregarded Peter as the apostle of faith, James of hope, and John of\nlove. And though we may set this aside as a touch of fancy, we cannot\nfail to observe that just as the mind, in its grasp of truth, is led\nfrom the incarnation to the atonement, and thence to the resurrection\nand the glory that shall follow; so the cardinal graces of the\nChristian life are called out in quick succession: first faith with\nits rock-foundation; then love with its self-sacrificing devotion; and\nfinally hope with its vision of heavenly glory. The whole gospel of\nChrist, the whole life of the Christian, is found in this brief\npassage of the first Evangelist, ending with the suggestive words,\n\"Jesus only.\"\n\n\nIV.--THE DESCENT (xvii. 9-21).\n\nWho can tell what each step downward cost the Son of man? If it seemed\ngood to the disciples to be on the mountain-top, what must it have\nbeen to the Master! and what utter denial of self and conscious taking\nup of the cross it must have been to leave that hallowed spot! We have\nalready seen a reason, as regards the disciples, why the vision should\nbe sealed till the time of the end; but was there not also a reason\nwhich touched the Master Himself? It was well that He had enjoyed such\na time of refreshing--it would be something to look back to in darkest\nhours; but it must be a memory only: it may not therefore be a subject\nof conversation--not the glory, but the cross, must now, both for\nHimself and for His disciples, fill all the near horizon.\n\nThis view of the case is confirmed by the manner in which He deals\nwith their question respecting Elijah. It was a very natural question.\nIt was no doubt perplexing in many ways to be absolutely forbidden to\ntell what they had seen; but it seemed especially mysterious in view\nof Elijah's appearance, which they not unnaturally regarded as a\nfulfilment of the prophecy for which the scribes were waiting. Hence\ntheir question, \"Why, then, say the Scribes that Elias must first\ncome?\" Our Lord's answer turned their thoughts to the true fulfilment\nof the prophecy which was no shadowy appearance on a lonely hill, but\nthe real presence among the men of the time of a genuine reformer who\nhad come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and who would certainly\nhave restored all things, had not these very scribes and Pharisees,\nfailing to recognise him, left him to the will of the tyrant who had\ndone away with him. Then most significantly He adds, that as it had\nbeen with the Elijah, so would it be with the Messiah of the time:\n\"Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.\" Thus, in showing\nthem where to look for the true fulfilment of the prophecy, He turns\ntheir attention as well as His own away from the glory on the mount,\nwhich must now be a thing of the past, to that dark scene in the\nprison cell, which was so painfully impressed upon their minds, and\nthose still darker scenes in the near future of which it was the\npresage.\n\nAt the foot of the mountain there is presented one of those striking\ncontrasts with which, as we have seen, this Gospel abounds. It is very\nfamiliar to us through Raphael's great painting; and we shall\ncertainly not make the mistake of attempting to translate into our\nfeeble words what is there seen, and may now be regarded as \"known and\nread of all men.\" Leaving, therefore, to the imagination the contrast\nbetween the glory on the mount and the misery on the plain, let us\nbriefly look at the scene itself. Briefly; for though it well deserves\ndetailed treatment, the proper place for this would be the full record\nof it in the second Gospel; while the more general way in which it is\npresented here suggests the propriety of dealing with it in outline\nonly. Without, then, attempting to enter on the striking and most\ninstructive details to be found in St. Mark's Gospel, and without even\ndealing with it as we have endeavoured to deal with similar cures\nunder the head of the Signs of the Kingdom, it may be well to glance\nat it in the light of the words used by our Lord when He was\nconfronted with the sorrowful scene: \"O faithless and perverse\ngeneration, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?\"\n\nIt seems evident from these words that He is looking at the scene, not\nso much as presenting a case of individual suffering, appealing to His\ncompassion, as a representation in miniature of the helplessness and\nperverseness of the race of men He has come to save. Remember how well\nHe knew what was in man, and therefore what it must have been to Him,\nimmediately after such a season of pure and peaceful communion on the\nholy mount, to have to enter into sympathy with all the variety of\nhelplessness and confusion He saw around Him. There is the poor\nplague-stricken boy in the centre; beside him his agonised father;\nthere, the feeble and blundering disciples, and the scribes (Mark ix.\n14) questioning with them; and all around the excited, sympathetic and\nutterly perplexed multitude. Yet the kingdom of heaven is so near\nthem, and has been so long proclaimed among them! Alas! alas for the\nperversity of men, that blinds them to the Sun of Righteousness,\nalready arisen with healing in His wings, and for the unbelief even of\nthe disciples themselves, which renders them, identified though they\nare with the kingdom, as helpless as all the rest! When we think of\nall this, need we wonder at the wail which breaks from the Saviour's\nsorrowful heart, need we wonder that He cries \"How long? how long?\"\n\n\"Bring him hither to Me.\" Here is the solvent of all. \"From that very\nhour\" the boy is cured, the father's heart is calmed and filled with\ngladness, the cavillers are silenced, the multitudes are satisfied and\nthe worn-out faith of the disciples is renewed. Out of chaos, order,\nout of tumult, peace, by a word from Christ. It was a wilder sea than\nGalilee at its stormiest; but at His rebuke the winds and waves were\nstilled, and there was a great calm.\n\nSo would it be still, if this generation were not perverse and\nfaithless in its turn--the world perverse, the Church faithless. Above\nthe stormy sea of human sin and woe and helplessness, there still is\nheard the lamentation \"How long shall I be with you? how long shall I\nsuffer you?\" Here are we groaning and travailing in this late age of\nthe world and of the Church, the worst kind of demons still working\ntheir will in their poor victims, the cry of anxious parents going up\nfor lost children, disciples blundering and failing in well-meant\nefforts to cast the demons out, wise and learned scribes pointing at\nthem the finger of scorn, excited and angry multitudes demanding\nsatisfaction which they fail to get--Oh, if only all could hear the\nvoice of the Son of man as the multitude heard it that day; and if we\nwould only with one consent recognise the majesty of His face and mien\nas they did (see Mark ix. 15), bring to Him our plague-stricken ones,\nour devil-possessed, bring to Him our difficulties and perplexities,\nour vexed questions and our hard problems, would He not as of old\nbring order out of our chaos, and out of weakness make us strong? Oh,\nfor more faith, faith to take hold of the Christ of God, come down\nfrom His holy habitation, and with us even to the end of the world, to\nbear the infirmities and carry the sorrows and take away the sins of\nmen!--then should we be able to say to this mountain of evil under\nwhich our cities groan, \"Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the\nsea,\" and it would be done. If only the Church of Christ in the world\nto-day had through all its membership that faith which is the only\navenue by which the power of God can reach the need of man, our social\nproblems would not long defy solution--\"nothing would be impossible\";\nfor over the millions of London, and the masses everywhere, there\nbroods the same great heart of love and longing which prompted the\ngracious words, \"Come unto Me, _all_ ye that labour and are heavy\nladen, and I will give you rest;\" and there is not a wretched one in\nall the world for whom there is not a blessed ray of hope in this\npathetic wail which still proceeds from the loving heart of Him Who is\nthe same yesterday and to-day and for ever. \"O faithless and perverse\ngeneration, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer\nyou? _bring him hither to Me._\"\n\n\"Bring him hither\"--this is a work of faith as well as a labour of\nlove. The Church on earth is in the same position now as were the nine\nwhen the Master was absent from them on the mountain-top. He has\nascended up on high, and the work must be carried on by the members of\nHis body on the earth; and it is only in proportion to their faith\nthat any success can attend them in their work.\n\nIs faith, then, all that is necessary? It is: provided it be genuine\nliving faith. This seems to be the point of the reference to the grain\nof mustard seed. The little seed, small as it is, is set in true\nrelation to the great life-force of Mother Nature, and therefore out\nof it by-and-by there comes a mighty tree; and in the same way even\nfeeble faith, if it be genuine, and therefore set in true relation to\nthe power of the Father of our spirits, becomes receptive of a force\nwhich in the end nothing can resist. But genuine living faith it must\nbe: there must be the real opening up of the soul to the Spirit of the\nliving God, so that the man's nature becomes a channel through which\nunobstructed the grace and power of God shall flow. It need scarcely\nbe remarked that the notion which mistakes faith for mere belief of\ncertain doctrines is utterly misleading. In nothing is the perversity\nof a faithless generation more conspicuous than in the persistency\nwith which this absurd and unscriptural notion of faith holds its\nground, even with those who are supposed to be leaders of thought in\ncertain directions. If only that mountain of folly could be cleared\naway, there would be a decided brightening of the spiritual outlook;\nfor then men everywhere would see that the faith which Christ expects\nof them, and without which nothing can be accomplished, is no mere\nintellectual belief, but the laying open and leaving open of the\nentire nature to the Spirit of Christ. Thus spurious dead faith would\nbe utterly discredited, and genuine living faith would alone be\nrecognised; and while the first effect would be to disclose the\nexceeding scantiness of the Church's faith, the result would be that\neven though what stood the test should be small as a grain of mustard\nseed, it would have in it such vitality and power that by-and-by it\nwould become mighty and all-pervading, so that before it mountains\nwould disappear (ver. 20).\n\nThe last words of the paragraph[14] carry us back to the ultimate\nnecessity for prayer. It is plain that our Lord refers to habitual\nprayer. We cannot suppose that these nine disciples had utterly\nneglected this duty; but they had failed to live in an atmosphere of\nprayer, as was their Master's rule. We may be sure that they had not\nprayed at the base of the mountain as their Lord had prayed on the\nsummit, or they would certainly not have failed in their attempt to\ncure the lunatic child. This demand for prayer is not really anything\nadditional to the faith set forth as the one thing needful. There has\nbeen a good deal of discussion lately as to whether we can think\nwithout words. We shall not presume to decide the question; but it may\nsafely be affirmed that without words we could not think to any\npurpose. And just as the continuance and development of our thinking\nis dependent on words, so the continuance and development of our faith\nis dependent on prayer. Is not the weak spot of our modern\nChristianity just here? In this age of tear and wear, bustle and\nexcitement, what becomes of prayer? If the amount of true wrestling\nwith God in the daily life of the average Christian could be\ndisclosed, the wonder might be, not that he accomplishes so little,\nbut that God is willing to use him at all.\n\n[12] A touching fulfilment of the Messianic spirit of these prophetic\nwords: \"How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee,\nIsrael? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as\nZeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled\ntogether.\" Compare chap. xi. 21-24.\n\n[13]\n \"Our wills are ours, we know not how:\n Our wills are ours, _to make them Thine_.\"\n\n[14] They are relegated to the margin in R.V.; but the parallel\npassage in St. Mark's Gospel is acknowledged to be genuine.\n\n\n\n\nXIV.\n\n_LAST WORDS AT CAPERNAUM._\n\nMATT. xvii. 22-xviii. 35.\n\n\nTHE TEMPLE TRIBUTE (xvii. 22-27.)\n\nThe way southward lies through Galilee; but the time of Galilee's\nvisitation is now over, so Jesus avoids public attention as much as\npossible, and gives Himself up to the instruction of His disciples,\nespecially to impressing upon their minds the new lesson of the Cross,\nwhich they find it so very hard to realise, or even to understand. A\nbrief stay in Capernaum was to be expected; and there above all places\nHe could not hope to escape notice; but the manner of it is sadly\nsignificant--no friendly greeting, no loving welcome, not even any\npersonal recognition, only a more or less entangling question as to\nthe Temple tax, addressed, not to Christ Himself, but to Peter: \"Doth\nnot your Master pay the half-shekel?\" (R.V.). The impulsive disciple\nshowed his usual readiness by answering at once in the affirmative. He\nperhaps thought it was becoming his Master's dignity to show not a\nmoment's hesitation in such a matter; but if so, he must have seen his\nmistake when he heard what his Lord had to say on the subject,\nreminding him as it did that, as Son of God, He was Lord of the\nTemple, and not tributary to it.\n\nSome have felt a difficulty in reconciling the position taken on this\noccasion with His previous attitude towards the law, notably on the\noccasion of His baptism, when in answer to John's remonstrance, He\nsaid, \"It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness\"; but it must be\nremembered that He has entered on a new stage of His career. He has\nbeen rejected by those who acknowledged allegiance to the Temple,\nvirtually excommunicated, so that He has been constrained to found His\nChurch outside the commonwealth of Israel; He must therefore assert\nHis own rights and theirs in spiritual things (for it must be\nremembered that the \"half-shekel\" was not the tribute to C\u00e6sar, but\nthe impost for the maintenance of the Temple worship). But while\nasserting His right He would not insist on it: He would stand by His\ndisciple's word, and so avoid putting a stumbling-block in the way of\nthose that were without, and who therefore could not be expected to\nunderstand the position He took. While consenting to pay the tax, He\nwould provide it in such a way as not to lower His lofty claims in the\nview of His disciples, but rather to illustrate them, bringing home,\nas it must have done, to them all, and especially to the \"pilot of the\nGalilean lake,\" that all things were under His feet, down to the very\n\"fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the\nseas\" (Psalm viii. 8, l. 10-12). The difficulty which some feel in\nregard to this miracle, as differing so much in its character from\nthose wrought in presence of the people as signs of the kingdom and\ncredentials of the King, is greatly relieved, if not altogether\nremoved, by remembering what was the special object in view--the\ninstruction of Peter and the other disciples--and observing how\nmanifestly and peculiarly appropriate it was for this particular\npurpose.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE ONES (xviii. 1-14).\n\nThe brief stay at Capernaum was signalised by some other lessons of\nthe greatest importance. First, _as to the great and the small in\nthe kingdom of heaven_. We learn from the other Evangelists that by\nthe way the disciples had disputed with one another who should be the\ngreatest. Alas for human frailty, even in the true disciple! It is\nmost humiliating to think that, after that week, with its high and\nholy lessons, the first thing we hear of the disciples should be their\nfailure in the very particulars which had been special features of the\nweek's instruction. Recall the two points: the first was faith in the\nChrist, the Son of the living God, and over against it we have from\nlack of faith the signal failure with the lunatic child; the second\nwas self-denial, and over against it we have this unseemly strife as\nto who should be greatest in the kingdom.\n\nIt is startling and most sad; but is it not true to nature? Is it not\nafter the most solemn impressions that we need to be most watchful?\nAnd how natural it is, out of what is taught us, to choose and\nappropriate what is welcome, and, without expressly rejecting, simply\nto leave unassimilated and unapplied what is unwelcome. The great\nburden of the instruction for the last eight or ten days had been the\nCross. There had been reference to the rising again, and the coming in\nthe glory of the kingdom; but these had been kept strictly in the\nbackground, mentioned chiefly to save the disciples from undue\ndiscouragement, and even the three who had the vision of glory on the\nmount were forbidden to mention the subject in the meantime. Yet they\nlet it fill the whole field of view; and though when the Master is\nwith them He still speaks to them of the Cross, when they are by\nthemselves they dismiss the subject, and fall to disputing as to who\nshall be the greatest in the kingdom!\n\nHow patiently and tenderly their Master deals with them! No doubt the\nsame thought was in His heart again: \"O faithless and perverse\ngeneration, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer\nyou?\" But He does not even express it now. He takes an opportunity,\nwhen they are quietly together in the house, of teaching them the\nlesson they most need in a manner so simple and beautiful, so touching\nand impressive, as to commend it to all true-hearted ones to the end\nof time. Jesus called a little child to Him, \"and set him in the midst\nof them.\" Can we doubt that they felt the force of that striking\nobject-lesson before He said a word? Then, as we learn from St. Mark,\nto whom we always look for minute details, after having set him in the\nmidst of them for them to look at and think about for a while, He took\nhim in His arms, as if to show them where to look for those who were\nnearest to the heart of the King of heaven.\n\nNothing could have been more suggestive. It perfectly suited the\npurpose He had in view; but the meaning and the value of that simple\nact were by no means limited to that purpose. It most effectually\nrebuked their pride and selfish ambition; but it was far more than a\nrebuke--it was a revelation which taught men to appreciate\nchild-nature as they had never done before. It was a new thought the\nLord Jesus so quietly introduced into the minds of men that day, a\nseed-thought which had in it the promise, not only of all that\nappreciation of child-life which is characteristic of Christendom\nto-day, and which has rendered possible such poems as Vaughan's\n\"Retreat,\" and Wordsworth's grand ode on \"Immortality,\" but also of\nthat appreciation of the broadly human as distinguished from the mere\naccidents of birth or rank or wealth which lies at the foundation of\nall Christian civilisation. The enthusiasm of humanity is all in that\nlittle act done so unassumingly in heedless Capernaum.\n\nThe words spoken are in the highest degree worthy of the act they\nillustrate. The first lesson is, _None but the lowly are in the\nkingdom_: \"Except ye be converted (from the selfish pride of your\nhearts), and become (lowly and self-forgetful) as little children, ye\nshall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.\" A most heart-searching\nlesson! What grave doubts and questions it must have suggested to the\ndisciples! They had faith to follow Christ in an external way; but\nwere they really following Him? Had He not said, \"If any man will come\nafter Me, let him deny himself\"? Were they denying self? On the other\nhand, however, we need not suppose that this selfish rivalry was\nhabitual with them. It was probably one of those surprises which\novertake the best of Christians; so that it was not really a proof\nthat they did not belong to the kingdom, but only that for the time\nthey were acting inconsistently with it; and therefore, before they\ncould think of occupying any place, even the very lowest in the\nkingdom, they must repent, and become as little children.\n\nThe next lesson is, _The lowliest in the kingdom are the greatest_:\n\"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the\nsame is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.\" Again a most wonderful\nutterance, now so familiar to us, that we are apt to regard it as a\nthing of course; but what a startling paradox it must have been to the\nastonished disciples that day! Yet, as they looked at the bright,\ninnocent, clear-eyed, self-unconscious little child, so simple, so\ntrustful, there must have come a response from that which was deepest\nand best within them to their Master's words. And though the thought\nwas new to them at the time, it did come home to them: it passed into\ntheir nature, and showed itself afterwards in precious fruit, at which\nthe world still wonders. They did not indeed get over their\nselfishness all at once; but how grandly were they cured of it when\ntheir training was finished! If there is one thing more characteristic\nof the apostles in their after life than any other, it is their\nself-forgetfulness--their self-effacement, we may say. Where does\nMatthew ever say a word about the sayings or doings of Matthew? Even\nJohn, who was nearest of all to the heart of the Saviour, and with Him\nin all His most trying hours, can write a whole gospel without ever\nmentioning his own name; and when he has occasion to speak of John the\nBaptist does it as if there were no other John in existence. So was it\nwith them all. We must not forget that, so far as this lesson of\nself-denial is concerned, they were only beginners now (see xvi. 21);\nbut after they had completed their course and received the Pentecostal\nseal, they did not disgrace their Teacher any more: they did then\nreally and nobly deny self; and thus did they at last attain true\ngreatness in the kingdom of heaven.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSo far we have what may be called the Saviour's direct answer to the\nquestion as to the greatest; but He cannot leave the subject without\nalso setting before them the claims of the least in the kingdom of\nheaven. He has shown them how to be great: He now teaches them how to\ntreat the small. The two things lie very close together. The man who\nmakes much of himself is sure to make light of others; and he who is\nambitious for worldly greatness will have little regard for those who\nin his eyes are small. The lesson, then, would have been incomplete\nhad He not vindicated the claims of the little ones.\n\nIt is manifest, from the whole strain of the passage which follows,\nthat the reference is not exclusively to children in years, but quite\nas much to children in spiritual stature, or in position and influence\nin the Church. The little ones are those who are small in the sense\ncorresponding to that of the word \"great\" in the disciples' question.\nThey are those, therefore, that are small and weak, and (as it is\nsometimes expressed) of no account in the Church, whether this be due\nto tender years or to slender abilities or to scanty means or to\nlittle faith.\n\nWhat our Lord says on this subject comes evidently from the very\ndepths of His heart. He is not content with making sure that the\nlittle ones shall receive as good a welcome as the greatest: they must\nhave a special welcome, just because they are small. He identifies\nHimself with them--with each separate little one: \"Whoso shall receive\none such little child in My name receiveth Me.\" What a grand security\nfor the rights and privileges of the small! what a word for parents\nand teachers, for men of influence and wealth in the Church in their\nrelations to the weak and poor!\n\nThen follow two solemn warnings, wrought out with great fulness and\nenergy. The first is against putting a stumbling-block in the way of\neven one of these little ones--an offence which may be committed\nwithout any thought of the consequences. Perhaps this is the very\nreason why the Master feels it necessary to use language so terribly\nstrong, that He may, if possible, arouse His disciples to some sense\nof their responsibility: \"Whoso shall offend one of these little ones\nwhich believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were\nhanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the\nsea.\" How jealously He guards the little ones! Verily he that toucheth\nthem \"toucheth the apple of His eye.\"\n\nFrom the corresponding passage in St. Mark, it would appear that\nChrist had in view, not only such differences of age and ability and\nsocial position as are found in every community of disciples, but also\nsuch differences as are found between one company and another of\nprofessing Christians (see Mark ix. 38-42). This infuses a new pathos\ninto the sad lament with which He forecasts the future: \"Woe unto the\nworld because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come;\nbut woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!\" The solemn warnings\nwhich follow, not given now for the first time (see chap. v. 29, 30),\ncoming in this connection, convey the important lesson that the only\neffectual safeguard against causing others to stumble is to take heed\nto our own ways, and be ready to make any sacrifice in order to\nmaintain our personal purity, simplicity and uprightness (vv. 8, 9).\nHow often alas! in the history of the Church has the cutting off been\napplied in the wrong direction; when the strong, in the exercise of an\nauthority which the Master would never have sanctioned, have passed\nsentence of excommunication against some defenceless little one;\nwhereas if they had laid to heart these solemn warnings, they would\nhave cut off, not one of Christ's members, but one of their own--the\nharsh hand, the hasty foot, the jealous eye, which caused them to\nstumble!\n\nThe other warning is: \"Take heed that ye despise not one of these\nlittle ones.\" To treat them so is to do the reverse of what is done in\nheaven. Be their guardian angels rather, if you would have the\napproval of Him Who reigns above; for their angels are those who\nalways have the place of honour there. Is there not something very\ntouching in this home reference, \"My Father which is in\nheaven\"?--especially when He is about to refer to the mission of mercy\nwhich made Him an exile from His home. And this reference gives Him an\nadditional plea against despising one of these little ones; for not\nonly are the highest angels their honoured guardians, but they are\nthose whom the Son of man has come to seek and to save. The little\nlamb which you despise is one for whom the heavenly Shepherd has\nthought it worth His while to leave all the rest of His flock that He\nmay go after it, and seek it on the lonely mountains, whither it has\nstrayed, and over whose recovery He has greater joy than even in the\nsafety of all the rest. The climax is reached when He carries thoughts\nabove the angels, above even the Son of man, to the will of the Father\n(now it is _your_ Father; for He desires to bring to bear upon\nthem the full force of that tender relationship which it is now their\nprivilege to claim): \"Even so it is not the will of your Father which\nis in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.\"\n\n\nTRESPASSES (xviii. 15-35).\n\nThe transition is natural from those solemn words in which our Lord\nhas warned His disciples against offending \"one of these little ones,\"\nto the instructions which follow as to how they should treat those of\ntheir brethren who might trespass against them. These instructions,\noccupying the rest of this chapter, are of perennial interest and\nvalue, so long as it must needs be that offences come.\n\nThe trespasses referred to are of course real. Much heartburning and\nmuch needless trouble often come of \"offences\" which exist only in\nimagination. A \"sensitive\" disposition (often only another name for\none that is uncharitable and suspicious) leads to the imputing of bad\nmotives where none exist, and the finding of sinister meanings in the\nmost innocent acts. Such offences are not worthy of consideration at\nall. It is further to be observed that our Lord is not dealing with\nordinary quarrels, where there are faults on both sides, in which case\nthe first step would be not to tell the brother his fault, but to\nacknowledge our own. The trespass, then, being real, and the fault all\non the other side, how is the disciple of Christ to act? The\nparagraphs which follow make it clear.\n\n\"The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable;\"\naccordingly we are first shown how to proceed in order to preserve the\npurity of the Church. Then instructions are given with a view to\npreserve the peace of the Church. The first paragraph shows how to\nexercise discipline; the second lays down the Christian rule of\nforgiveness.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"If thy brother shall trespass against thee,\"--what? Pay no heed to\nit? Since it takes two to make a quarrel, is it best simply to let him\nalone? That might be the best way to deal with offences on the part of\nthose that are without; but it would be a sad want of true brotherly\nlove to take this easy way with a fellow-disciple. It is certainly\nbetter to overlook an injury than to resent it; yet our Lord shows a\nmore excellent way. His is not the way of selfish resentment, nor of\nhaughty indifference; but of thoughtful concern for the welfare of him\nwho has done the injury. That this is the motive in the entire\nproceeding is evident from the whole tone of the paragraph, in\nillustration of which reference may be made to the way in which\nsuccess is regarded: \"If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy\nbrother.\" If a man sets out with the object of gaining his cause or\ngetting satisfaction, he had better let it alone; but if he wishes not\nto gain a barren triumph for himself, but to gain his brother, let him\nproceed according to the wise instructions of our Lord and Master.\n\nThere are four steps: (1) \"Go and tell him his fault between thee and\nhim alone.\" Do not wait till he comes to apologise, as is the rule\nlaid down by the rabbis, but go to him at once. Do not think of your\nown dignity. Think only of your Master's honour and your brother's\nwelfare. How many troubles, how many scandals might be prevented in\nthe Christian Church, if this simple direction were faithfully and\nlovingly carried out! In some cases, however, this may fail; and then\nthe next step is: (2) \"Take with thee one or two more, that in the\nmouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.\" The\nprocess here passes from private dealing; still there must be no undue\npublicity. If the reference to two or at most three (see R.V.) fail,\nit becomes a duty to (3) \"tell it unto the church,\" in the hope that\nhe may submit to its decision. If he decline, there is nothing left\nbut (4) excommunication: \"Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a\npublican.\"\n\nThe mention of church censure naturally leads to a declaration of the\npower vested in the church in the matter of discipline. Our Lord had\nalready given such a declaration to Peter alone; now it is given to\nthe church as a whole in its collective capacity: \"Verily I say unto\nyou, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and\nwhatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.\" But the\nquestion comes: What is the church in its collective capacity? If it\nis to have this power of discipline, of the admission and rejection of\nmembers--a power which, rightly exercised on earth, is ratified in\nheaven--it is important to know something as to its constitution. This\nmuch, indeed, we know: that it is an assembly of believers. But how\nlarge must the assembly be? What are the marks of the true church?\n\nThese questions are answered in vv. 19 and 20. It is made very plain\nthat it is no question of numbers, but of union with one another and\nthe Lord. Let it be remembered that the whole discourse has grown out\nof the strife with one another which should be the greatest. Our Lord\nhas already shown that, instead of ambition to be the greatest, there\nmust be readiness to be the least. He now makes it plain that instead\nof strife and division there must be agreement, unity in heart and\ndesire. But if only there be this unity, this blending of hearts in\nprayer, there is found the true idea of the Church. Two disciples in\nfull spiritual agreement, with hearts uplifted to the Father in\nheaven, and Christ present with them,--there is what may be called the\nprimitive cell of the Church, the body of Christ complete in itself,\nbut in its rudimentary or germinal form. It comes to this, that the\npresence of Christ with His people and of His spirit in them, uniting\nthem with one another and with Him, is that which constitutes the true\nand living church; and it is only when thus met in the name of\nChrist, and acting in the spirit of Christ, that assemblies of\nbelievers, whether large or small, have any guarantee that their\ndecrees on earth are registered in heaven, or that the promise shall\nbe fulfilled to them, that what they ask \"shall be done for them of My\nFather which is in heaven.\"\n\nThese words were spoken in the day of small things, when the members\nof the Church were reckoned by units; therefore it is a mistake to use\nthem as if very small gatherings for prayer were especially pleasing\nto the great Head of the Church. It does indeed remain true, for the\nencouragement of the faithful few, that wherever two or three are met\nin the name of Jesus He is there; but that makes it no less\ndisappointing when the numbers might be reasonably expected to be very\nmuch larger. Because our Lord said, \"Better two of you agreed than the\nwhole twelve at strife,\" does it follow that two or three will have\nthe power in their united prayers which two or three hundred would\nhave? The stress is not on the figure, but on the agreement.\n\nThe words \"There _am I_ in the midst of them\" are very striking\nas a manifestation of that strange consciousness of freedom from\nlimitations of time and place, which the Lord Jesus felt and often\nexpressed even in the days of His flesh. It is the same consciousness\nwhich appears in the answer to the cavil of the Jews as to the\nintimacy with Abraham He seemed to them to claim,--\"Before Abraham\nwas, I am.\" As a practical matter also it suggests that we do not need\nto ask and wait for the presence of the Master, when we are truly met\nin His name. It is not _He_ that needs to be entreated to draw\nnear to us: \"There _am I_.\"\n\nSo far the directions given have been with a view to the good of the\noffending brother and the honour of Christ and His cause. It remains\nto show how the offended person is to act on his part. Here the rule\nis very simple: _forgive him_. What satisfaction, then, is the\noffended party to get? The satisfaction of forgiving. That is all; and\nit is enough.\n\nIt will be observed, indeed, that our Lord, in His discourse up to the\npoint we have reached, has said nothing directly about forgiveness. It\nis fairly implied, however, in the manner of process, in the very\nfirst act of it indeed; for no one will go to an offending brother\nwith the object of gaining him, unless he have first forgiven him in\nhis heart. Peter appears to have been revolving this in his mind, and\nin doing so he cannot get over a difficulty as to the limit of\nforgiveness. He was familiar, of course, with the rabbinical limit of\nthe third offence, after which the obligation to forgiveness ceased;\nand, impressed with the spirit of his Master's teaching, he no doubt\nthought he was showing great liberality in more than doubling the\nnumber of times the offence might be repeated and still be considered\npardonable: \"Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I\nforgive him? till seven times?\" It has been thought that some of his\nbrethren had been treating Peter badly, so that his patience was\nsorely tried. Be that as it may, the question was not at all\nunnatural. But it was founded on a fallacy, which our Lord cleared\naway by His answer, and thoroughly exposed by means of the striking\nparable which follows. The fallacy was this: that we have a right to\nresent an injury, that in refraining from this we are forbearing to\nexercise our right, and consequently that there is a limit beyond\nwhich we have no call to exercise such forbearance. Our Lord by His\nanswer clears away the limit, and makes the obligation unconditional\nand universal (ver. 22).\n\nThe parable shows the reason why there should be no limit--viz., that\nall believers, or members of the Church, by accepting from God the\nunlimited forgiveness He has extended to them, are thereby implicitly\npledged to extend a like unlimited forgiveness to others. There is no\nduty on which our Lord insists more strenuously than this duty of\nforgiving those who trespass against us, always connecting closely\ntogether our forgiving and our being forgiven; and in this parable it\nis set in the strongest light.\n\nThe greatest offence of which our fellow-man can be guilty is as\nnothing to the sins we have committed against God. The proportion\nsuggested is very startling. The larger sum is more than two millions\nsterling on the lowest computation; the smaller is not much more than\nfour guineas. This is no exaggeration. Seven times altogether for a\nbrother's offences seems almost unpardonable: do we never offend\nagainst God as many times in a single hour? Then think of the days,\nand the years! This is a startling thought on the one side; but how\ncheering on the other! For the immensity of the debt does not\ninterfere in the slightest with the freeness and fulness and\nabsoluteness of the forgiveness. Verily there is no more satisfying or\nreassuring presentation of the gospel than this parable, especially\nthese very words, which rang like a knell of doom in the unmerciful\nservant's ear: \"I forgave thee _all that debt_.\" But just in\nproportion to the grandeur of the gospel here unfolded is the rigour\nof the requirement, that as we have been forgiven so must we forgive.\nWhile we gladly take the abounding comfort, let us not miss the stern\nlesson, evidently given with the very strongest feeling. Our Lord\npaints the picture of this man in the most hideous colours, so as to\nfill our minds and hearts with a proper loathing of the conduct of\nthose he represents. The same intention is apparent in the very severe\nterms in which the punishment is denounced: \"His lord was wroth, and\ndelivered him to the tormentors.\" After this how awful is the closing\nsentence: \"So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if\nye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their\ntrespasses.\"\n\nIs that tender name of Father out of place? By no means; for is it not\nthe outraged love of God that cries out against the unforgiving soul?\nAnd the words \"from your hearts,\"--are they not too hard on poor frail\nhuman nature? It is easy enough to grant forgiveness with the\nlips,--but from the heart? Yet so it stands written; and it only shows\nthe need we have, not only of unmeasured mercy, but of unmeasured\ngrace. Nothing but the love of Christ can constrain to such\nforgiveness. The warning was a solemn one, but it need have no terror\nfor those who have truly learned the lesson of the Cross, and welcomed\nthe Spirit of Christ to reign in their hearts. \"I can do all things\nthrough Christ Who strengtheneth me.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is an admirable fulness and harmony in Christ's teaching on this\nsubject, as on every other. The duty of unlimited forgiveness is most\nplainly enjoined; but not that weak forgiveness which consists simply\nin permitting a man to trespass as he chooses. Forgiveness and\nfaithfulness go hand in hand. The forgiveness of the Christian is in\nno case to be the offspring of a weak unmanly indifference to wrong.\nIt is to spring from gratitude and love: gratitude to God, Who has\nforgiven his enormous debt, and love to the enemy who has wronged him.\nIt must be combined with that faithfulness and fortitude which\nconstrains him to go to the offending party and frankly, though\nkindly, tell him his fault. Christ's doctrine of forgiveness has not\nan atom of meanness in it, and His doctrine of faithfulness has not a\nspark of malice. \"The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then\npeaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good\nfruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of\nrighteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.\"\n\n\n\n\nXV.\n\n_LAST DAYS IN PER\u00c6A._\n\nMATT. xix. 1-xx. 16.\n\n\nThere were two main roads from Galilee to Jerusalem. One passed\nthrough Samaria, on the west of the Jordan, the other through Per\u00e6a,\neast of it. It was by the former that our Lord went northward from\nJud\u00e6a to begin His work in Galilee; it is by the other that He now\ngoes southward to complete His sacrifice in Jerusalem. As \"He must\nneeds go through Samaria\" then, so He must needs go through Per\u00e6a now.\nThe main thought in His mind is the journey; but He cannot pass\nthrough the large and important district beyond the Jordan without\nbringing the kingdom of heaven near to the people, and accordingly we\nread that \"great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.\"\nWe learn from St. Luke's Gospel that \"He went through the cities and\nvillages teaching, and journeying towards Jerusalem\"; and from the\ndetails there recorded, especially the mission of the seventy which\nbelongs to that period, it is evident that these circuits in Per\u00e6a\nmust have occupied several months. Concerning the work of these months\nour Evangelist is silent, just as he was silent concerning the earlier\nwork in Jud\u00e6a and Samaria, as recorded by St. John. We are reminded by\nthis of the fragmentariness of these memorials of our Lord; and when\nwe consider how much is omitted in all the narratives (see John xxi.\n25) we can understand how difficult it is to form a closely connected\nhistory without any gaps between, and with accurately fitted joinings\nat the intersections of the different accounts.\n\nThere is, however, no difficulty here; for by comparison with the\nthird Gospel we find that our Evangelist omits all the circuits in\nPer\u00e6a, and takes up the story again when our Lord is just about to\nleave that region for Jerusalem. When we take his point of view, we\ncan see how natural this was. It was his special calling to give a\nfull account of the work in Galilee. Hence the haste with which he\npasses from what it was necessary for him to tell of the early years\nin the south till the work in Galilee began; and in the same way, now\nthat the work in Galilee is done, he hastens to the great crisis in\nJerusalem. In following the journey southward he lingers only in two\nplaces, each of them associated with special memories. The one is\nCapernaum, where Jesus, as we have seen, tarried for a few days before\ntaking final leave of Galilee; the other is the place beyond Jordan,\nin the region where in baptism He had solemnly entered on His work\n(cf. John x. 40), where again He remains for a brief period before\ngoing up to Jerusalem for the last time.\n\n\nMARRIAGE AND DIVORCE (vv. 3-12).\n\nThere it was, and then, that the Pharisees came to Him with their\nentangling question concerning divorce. To know how entangling it was\nit is necessary to remember that there was a dispute at the time\nbetween two rival schools of Jewish theology--the school of Hillel and\nthat of Shammai--in regard to the interpretation of Deut. xxiv. 1. The\none school held that divorce could be had on the most trivial\ngrounds; the other restricted it to cases of grievous sin. Hence the\nquestion: \"Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every\ncause?\" The answer Jesus gives is remarkable, not only for the wisdom\nand courage with which He met their attack, but for the manner in\nwhich He availed Himself of the opportunity to set the institution of\nmarriage on its true foundation, and give perpetual security to His\nfollowers for the sanctity of home, by laying down in the clearest and\nstrongest manner the position that marriage is indissoluble from its\nvery nature and from its divine appointment (vv. 4-6). As we read\nthese clear and strong utterances, let us bear in mind, not only that\nthe laxity which unhappily prevailed in Rome had extended to\nPalestine, but that the monarch of the country through which our Lord\nwas passing was himself one of the most flagrant offenders. How\ninspiring it is to think that then and there should have been erected\nthat grand bulwark of a virtuous home: \"What God hath joined together,\nlet not man put asunder.\"\n\nThe Pharisees must have felt that He spoke with authority; but they\nare anxious not to lose their opportunity of getting Him into a\ndifficulty, so they press Him with the disputed passage in\nDeuteronomy: \"Why did Moses, then, command to give a writing of\ndivorcement, and to put her away?\" Our Lord's answer exposes the\ndouble fallacy lurking in the question. \"Why did Moses command?\" He\ndid not command; he only suffered it--it was not to further divorce,\nbut to check it, that he made the regulation about the \"writing of\ndivorcement.\" And then, not only was it a mere matter of\nsufferance,--it was a sufferance granted \"because of the hardness of\nyour hearts.\" Since things were so bad among your fathers in the\nmatter of marriage, it was better that there should be a legal process\nthan that the poor wives should be dismissed without it; but from the\nbeginning it was not so--it was not intended that wives should be\ndismissed at all. Marriage is in itself indissoluble, except by death\nor by that which in its very nature is the rupture of marriage (ver.\n9).\n\nThe wide prevalence of lax views on this subject is made evident by\nthe perplexity of the disciples. They were not at all prepared for\nsuch stringency, so they venture to suggest that if that is to be the\nlaw, better not marry at all. The answer our Lord gives, while it does\nadmit that there are circumstances in which celibacy is preferable,\nplainly intimates that it is only in quite exceptional cases. Only one\nof the three cases he mentions is voluntary; and while it is certainly\ngranted that circumstances might arise in which for the kingdom of\nheaven's sake celibacy might be chosen (cf. 1 Cor. vii. 26), even then\nit must be only in cases where there is special grace, and such full\npreoccupation with the things of the kingdom as to render it natural;\nfor such seems to be the import of the cautionary words with which the\nparagraph closes: \"He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.\"\nHow completely at variance with this wise caution have been the Romish\ndecrees in regard to the celibacy of the clergy may go without saying.\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN (vv. 13-15).\n\n\"_Then_ were there brought unto Him little children\"--a happy\ninterruption! The Master has just been laying the solid foundations of\nthe Christian home; and now the group of men by whom He is surrounded\nis joined by a troop of mothers, some carrying infants in their arms\n(for the passage in St. Luke expressly mentions infants), and some\nleading their little ones by the hand, to receive His blessing. The\ntimeousness of this arrival does not seem to have struck the\ndisciples. Their hearts had not yet been opened to the lambs of the\nfold, notwithstanding the great lesson at Capernaum. With as little\nregard for the feelings of the mothers as for the rights of the\nchildren, they \"rebuked those that brought them,\" (Mark x. 13) and\nmotioned them away. That this wounded the heart of the Saviour appears\nin His answer, which is stronger, as indicating displeasure, than is\nshown in our translation; while in the second Gospel it is expressly\nmentioned that Jesus \"was much displeased.\" How can we thank the Lord\nenough for that sore displeasure? A distinguished opponent of\nChristianity has lately been asking whether he is expected to accept\nthe kind and peaceful Jesus, Who smiles in one place, or the stern\nJudge, Who frowns in another--with the evident implication that it is\nimpossible to accept both. How any person of intelligence can find\ndifficulty in supposing that Christ could without inconsistency be\neither gentle or stern, as the occasion required, is very marvellous;\nbut here is a case in which the sternness and gentleness are blended\ntogether in one act; and who will say that there is the least\nincompatibility between them? He was much displeased with the\ndisciples; His heart was overflowing with tenderness to the children;\nand in that moment of conflicting feeling He utters that immortal\nsentence, these noblest and now most familiar of household words,\n\"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of\nsuch is the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\nThe rights of woman had been implicitly taught in the law of marriage\ncarried back to the original creation of male and female; the\ntreatment of woman had been vindicated from the rudeness of the\ndisciples which would have driven the mothers away; and this reception\nof the children, and these words of welcome into the kingdom for all\nsuch little ones, are the charter of the children's rights and\nprivileges. It is very plain that Christ has opened the kingdom of\nheaven, not only to all believers, but to their children as well. That\n\"the kingdom of heaven\" is here used in its ordinary sense throughout\nthis Gospel, as referring to the heavenly kingdom which Christ had\ncome to establish upon earth, cannot be denied; but it is a very fair\ninference from the Saviour's words that, seeing the children are\nacknowledged as having their place in the kingdom on earth, those of\nthem who pass away from earth in childhood certainly find as sure and\ncordial a welcome to the kingdom above.\n\n \"The holy to the holiest leads,\n The kingdoms are but one.\"\n\nThe porch is on earth, the palace is in heaven; and we may be very\nsure that all whom the King acknowledges in the porch shall be welcome\nin the palace.\n\nWhat a rebuke in these words of our Lord to those who deal with\nchildren indiscriminately, as if they were all dead in trespasses and\nsins. How it must grieve the Saviour's heart when lambs of His own\nfold who may have been His from their earliest infancy are taught that\nthey are utterly lost, and must be lost for ever, unless they pass\nthrough some extraordinary change, which is to them only a nameless\nmystery. It is a mistake to think that children as a rule need to be\ndragged to the Saviour, or frightened into trusting Him: what they\nneed is to be _suffered_ to come. It is so natural for them to come,\nthat all they need is very gentle leading, and above all nothing done\nto hinder or discourage them: \"Suffer little children, and forbid them\nnot, to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\n\nTHE RICH YOUNG MAN (vv. 16-22).\n\nAnother inference from these precious words of Christ is the\nimportance of seeking to win the children for Christ while yet they\nare children, ere the evil days come, or the years draw nigh, when\nthey will be apt to say they have no pleasure in Him. It is a sad\nthing to think how soon the susceptibility of the child-nature may\nharden into the impenetrability which is sometimes found even in\nyouth. Is there not a suggestion of this in the story of the young man\nwhich immediately follows?\n\nThere was everything that seemed hopeful about him. He was young, so\nhis heart could not be very hard; of good moral character, amiable in\ndisposition, and stirred with noble aspirations; moreover, he did the\nvery best thing in coming to Christ for guidance. Yet nothing came of\nit, because of one obstacle, which would have been no hindrance in his\nchildhood, but which proved insurmountable now. Young as he was, his\naffections had had time to get so intertwined with his worldly\npossessions, that he could not disengage them, so that instead of\nfollowing Christ \"he went away sorrowful.\"\n\nThe manner of our Lord's dealing with this young man is exceedingly\ninstructive. Some have found a difficulty in what seems to them the\nstrange answer to the apparently straightforward and admirable\nquestion \"What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?\"\nWhy did He not give the same answer which St. Paul afterwards gave to\nthe Philippian jailer? Why did He not only fail to bring Himself\nforward as the way, the truth and the life, but even disclaim the\ngoodness which the young man had imputed to Him? And why did He point\nhim to the law instead of showing him the Gospel? Everything becomes\nquite clear when we remember that Christ dealt with people not\naccording to the words they spoke, but according to what He saw to be\nin their hearts. Had this young man been in a state of mind at all\nlike that of the Philippian jailer when he came trembling and fell\ndown before Paul and Silas, he would no doubt have had a similar\nanswer. But he was in the very opposite condition. He was quite\nsatisfied with his own goodness; it was not salvation he was seeking,\nbut some new merit to add to the large stock he already had: \"what\ngood thing shall I do\" in addition to all the well-known goodness of\nmy character and daily life? what extra claim can I establish upon the\nfavour of God? Manifestly his idea of goodness was only conventional;\nit was the goodness which passes muster among men, not that which\njustifies itself before the all-searching eye of God; and having no\nhigher idea of goodness than that, he of course used it in no higher\nsense, when he addressed Christ as \"good Master.\" There could, then,\nbe no more appropriate or more heart-searching question than\nthis,--\"_Why_ callest thou Me good?\" (it is only in the conventional\nsense you use the term, and conventional goodness is no goodness at\nall); \"there is none good but One, that is God.\" Having thus\nstimulated his easy conscience, He sends him to the law that he may\nhave knowledge of his sin, and so may take the first step towards\neternal life. The young man's reply to this reveals the secret of his\nheart, and shows that Christ had made no mistake in dealing with him\nas He did. \"Which?\" he asks, evidently expecting that, the Ten\nCommandments being taken for granted, there will be something higher\nand more exacting, the keeping of which will bring him the extra\ncredit he hopes to gain.\n\nThe Lord's answer to his question was well fitted to take down his\nspiritual pride, pointing him as it did to the commonplace Decalogue,\nand to that part of it which seemed the easiest; for the first table\nof the law is passed over, and only those commandments mentioned which\nbear upon duty to man. And is there not special skill shown in the way\nin which they are marshalled, so as to lead up to the one which\ncovered his weak point? The sixth, the seventh, the eighth, the ninth,\nthe fifth are rapidly passed in review; then the mind is allowed to\nrest on the tenth, not, however, in its mere negative form, \"Thou\nshalt not covet,\" but as involved in that positive requirement which\nsums up the whole of the second table of the Law, \"Thou shalt love thy\nneighbour as thyself.\" We can imagine how the Saviour would mark the\nyoung man's countenance, as one after another the commandments were\npressed upon his conscience, ending with that one which should have\npierced him as with a two-edged sword. But he is too strongly encased\nin his mail of self-righteousness; and he only replies, \"All these\nthings have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?\" Clearly it is a\nsurgical case; the medicine of the Commandments will not do; there\nmust be the insertion of the knife: \"Go, and sell that thou hast, and\ngive to the poor.\"\n\nLet us not, however, mistake the tone. \"Jesus beholding him loved him\"\n(Mark x. 21); and the love was never warmer than at the moment when He\nmade this stern demand. There was sorrow on His face and in His tone\nwhen He told him of the hard necessity; and there was a heart full of\nlove in the gracious invitation which rounded off the sharp saying at\nthe end: \"Come, and follow Me.\" Let us hope that the Saviour's\ncompassionate love was not finally lost on him; that, though he no\ndoubt did lose the great opportunity of taking a high place in the\nkingdom, he nevertheless, before all was done, bethought him of the\nMaster's faithful and loving words, repented of his covetousness, and\nso found an open door and a forgiving welcome.\n\n\nDANGER OF RICHES (vv. 23-26).\n\nSo striking an incident must not be allowed to pass without seizing\nand pressing the great lesson it teaches. No lesson was more needful\nat the time. Covetousness was in the air; it was already setting its\nmark on the Hebrew people, who, as they ceased to serve God in spirit\nand in truth, were giving themselves over more and more to the worship\nof mammon; and, as the Master well knew, there was one of the twelve\nin whom the fatal poison was even then at work. We can understand,\ntherefore, the deep feeling which Christ throws into His warning\nagainst this danger, and His special anxiety to guard all His\ndisciples against an over-estimate of this world's riches.\n\nWe shall not, however, fully enter into the mind of our Lord, if we\nfail to notice the tone of compassion and charity which marks His\nfirst utterance. He is still thinking kindly of the poor rich young\nman, and is anxious to make all allowance for him. It is as if He\nsaid, \"See that you do not judge him too harshly; think how hard it is\nfor such as he to enter the kingdom.\" This will explain how it is that\nin repeating the statement He found it desirable, as recorded by St.\nMark, to introduce a qualification in order to render it applicable to\nall cases: \"How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into\nthe kingdom!\" But while softening it in one direction, He puts it\nstill more strongly in another: \"Again I say unto you, it is easier\nfor a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to\nenter into the kingdom of God.\" We shall not enter into the trivial\ndiscussion as to the needle's eye; it is enough to know that it was a\nproverbial phrase, probably in common use, expressing in the strongest\nway the insurmountable obstacle which the possession of riches, when\nthese are trusted in and so put in place of God, must prove to their\nunfortunate owner.\n\nThe disciples' alarm expressed in the question \"Who, then, can be\nsaved?\" does them much credit. It shows that they had penetration\nenough to see that the danger against which their Master was guarding\nthem did not beset the rich alone; that they had sufficient knowledge\nof themselves to perceive that even such as they, who had always been\npoor, and who had given up what little they had for their Master's\nsake, might nevertheless not be free enough from the well-nigh\nuniversal sin to be themselves quite safe. One cannot help thinking\nthat the searching look, which St. Mark tells us their Lord bent on\nthem as He spoke, had something to do with this unusual quickness of\nconscience. It reminds us of that later scene, when each one asked,\n\"Lord, is it I?\" Is there any one of us, who, when that all-seeing Eye\nis fixed upon us, with its pure and holy gaze into the depths of our\nbeing, can fail to ask, with the conscience-stricken disciples, \"Who,\nthen, can be saved?\"\n\nThe answer He gives does not at all lighten the pressure on the\nconscience. There is no recalling of the strong words which suggest\nthe idea of utter impossibility. He does not say, \"You are judging\nyourselves too strictly\"; on the contrary, He confirms their judgment,\nand tells them that there they are right: \"With men this _is_\nimpossible\"; but is there not another alternative? \"Who art thou, O\ngreat mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain;\" \"With\nGod all things are possible.\" A most significant utterance this for\nthose to ponder who, instead of following our Lord's dealing with this\ncase to its close, treat it as if the final word had been \"If thou\nwilt enter into life, keep the commandments.\" This favourite passage\nof the legalist is the one of all others which most completely\noverthrows his hopes, and shows that so deep are the roots of sin in\nthe heart of man, even of the most amiable and most exemplary, that\nnone can be saved except by the power of divine grace overcoming that\nwhich is to men an impossibility. \"Behold, God is my salvation.\"\n\nIt is worthy of note that it is as a hindrance to _entering_ the\nkingdom that riches are here stigmatised,--which suggests the thought\nthat the danger is not nearly so great when riches increase to those\nwho have already entered. Not that there is even for them no serious\ndanger, nor need of watching and of prayer that as they increase, the\nheart be not set upon them; but where there is true consecration of\nheart the consecration of wealth follows as a natural and easy\nconsequence. Riches are a responsibility to those that are in the\nkingdom; they are a misfortune only to those who have not entered it.\n\nAs on the question of marriage or celibacy, so on that of property or\npoverty, the Romanist has pushed our Lord's words to an extreme which\nis evidently not intended. It was plain even to the disciples that it\nwas not the mere possession of riches, but the setting the heart on\nthem, which He condemned. If our Lord had intended to set forth the\nabsolute renunciation of property as a counsel of perfection to His\ndisciples, this would have been the time to do it; but we look in vain\nfor any such counsel. He saw it to be necessary for that young man;\nbut when He applies the case to disciples in general, He does not say\n\"If any man will come after Me, let him sell all that he has, and give\nto the poor,\" but contents Himself with giving a very strong warning\nagainst the danger of riches coming between man and the kingdom of\nGod. But while the ascetic interpretation of our Lord's words is\nmanifestly wrong, the other extreme of reducing them to nothing is far\nworse, which is the danger now.\n\n\nREWARDS (xix. 27-xx. 16[15]).\n\nThe thought of sacrifice very naturally suggests as its correlative\nthat of compensation; so it is not at all to be wondered at that,\nbefore this conversation ended, the impulsive disciple, so much given\nto think aloud, should blurt out the honest question: \"Behold, we have\nforsaken all and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?\" He\ncould not but remember that while the Master had insisted on His\ndisciples denying self to follow Him, He had spoken no less clearly of\ntheir finding life through losing it, and of their being rewarded\naccording to their deeds (see xvi. 24-27). A more cautious man would\nhave hesitated before he spoke; but it was no worse to speak it than\nto think it: and then, it was an honest and fair question; accordingly\nour Lord gives it a frank and generous answer, taking care, however,\nbefore leaving the subject, to add a supplementary caution, fitted to\ncorrect what was doubtful or wrong in the spirit it showed.\n\nHere, again, we see how thoroughly natural is our Saviour's teaching.\n\"Not to destroy, but to fulfil,\" was His motto. This is as true of His\nrelation to man's nature as of His relation to the law and the\nprophets. \"What shall we have?\" is a question not to be set aside as\nwholly unworthy. The desire for property is an original element in\nhuman nature. It was of God at the first; and though it has swelled\nout into most unseemly proportions, and has usurped a place which does\nby no means belong to it, that is no reason why it should be dealt\nwith as if it had no right to exist. It is vain to attempt to root it\nout; what it needs is moderating, regulating, subordinating. The\ntendency of perverted human nature is to make \"What shall we have?\"\nthe first question. The way to meet that is not to abolish the\nquestion altogether, but to put it last, where it ought to be. To be,\nto do, to suffer, to enjoy--that is the order our Lord marks out for\nHis disciples. If only they have it as their first anxiety to be what\nthey ought to be, and to do what they are called to do, and are\nwilling, in order to this, to take up the cross, to suffer whatever\nmay be theirs to suffer, then they may allow as large scope as they\nplease to the desire for possession and enjoyment.\n\nObserve the difference between the young man and the disciples. He was\ncoming to Christ for the first time; and if our Lord had set before\nhim what he would gain by following Him, He would have directly\nencouraged a mercenary spirit. He therefore says not a word to him\nabout prospects of reward either here or hereafter. Those who choose\nChrist must choose Him for His own sake. Our Saviour dealt in no other\nway with Peter, James and John. When first He called them to follow\nHim, He said not a word about thrones or rewards; He spoke of work:\n\"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men\"; and it was not till\nthey had fully committed themselves to Him that He went so far as to\nsuggest even in the most general way the thought of compensation. It\nwould have spoiled them to have put such motives prominently before\nthem at an earlier stage. But it is different now. They have followed\nHim for months, even years. They have been tested in innumerable ways.\nThey are not certainly out of danger from the old selfishness; but\nwith the exception of one of them, who is fast developing into a\nhypocrite, all they need is a solemn word of caution now and then. The\ntime had come when their Master might safely give them some idea of\nthe prospects which lay before them, when their cross-bearing days\nshould be over.\n\nThe promise looks forward to an entirely altered state of things\nspoken of as \"the regeneration\"--a remarkable term, reminding us of\nthe vast scope of our Saviour's mission as ever present to His\nconsciousness even in these days of smallest things. The word recalls\nwhat is said in the book of Genesis as to \"the generation of the\nheaven and of the earth,\" and suggests by anticipation the words of\nthe Apocalypse concerning the regeneration, \"Behold, I make all things\nnew,\" and \"I saw a new heaven and a new earth.\" That the reference is\nto that final restitution of all things, and not merely to the new\ndispensation, seems evident from the words which immediately follow:\n\"When the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory.\" Why, then,\nwas the promise given in words so suggestive of those crude notions of\nan earthly kingdom, above which it was so difficult and so important\nfor the disciples to rise? The answer is to be found in the limitation\nof human language: \"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have\nentered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for\nthem that love Him\"; accordingly, if the promise was to be of any use\nto them in the way of comfort and encouragement, it must be expressed\nin terms which were familiar to them then. To their minds the kingdom\nwas as yet bound up with Israel; \"the twelve tribes of Israel\" was as\nlarge a conception of it as their thoughts could then grasp; and it\nwould certainly be no disappointment to them when they afterwards\ndiscovered that their relation as apostles of the Lord was to a much\nlarger \"Israel,\" embracing every kindred and nation and people and\ntribe; and though their idea of the thrones on which they would sit\nwas then and for some time afterwards quite inadequate, it was only by\nstarting with what ideas of regal power they had, that they could rise\nto those spiritual conceptions which, as they matured in spiritual\nunderstanding, took full possession of their minds.\n\nThe Lord is speaking, however, not for the apostles alone, but for\nall His disciples to the end of time; so He must give a word of cheer,\nin which even the weakest and most obscure shall have a part (ver.\n29). Observe that here also the promise is only for those who have\nleft what they had for the sake of Christ. We are not authorised to go\nwith a message after this form: \"If you leave, you will get.\" The\nreward is of such a nature that it cannot be seen until the sacrifice\nis made. \"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of\nGod;\" until a man loses his life for Christ's sake, he cannot find it.\nBut when the sacrifice has been made, then appears the compensation,\nand it is seen that even these strong words are not too strong: \"Every\none that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or\nmother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall\nreceive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.\" The full\nconsideration of this promise belongs rather to St. Mark's Gospel, in\nwhich it is presented without abridgment.\n\nThe supplementary caution--\"But many that are first shall be last; and\nthe last shall be first\"--is administered in apparent reference to the\nspirit of the apostle's question, which exhibits still some trace of\nmercenary motive, with something also of a disposition to\nself-congratulation. This general statement is illustrated by the\nparable immediately following it, a connection which the unfortunate\ndivision into chapters here obscures; and not only is an important\nsaying of our Lord deprived in this way of its illustration, but the\nparable is deprived of its key, the result of which has been that many\nhave been led astray in its interpretation. We cannot attempt to enter\nfully into the parable, but shall only make such reference to it as is\nnecessary to bring out its appropriateness for the purpose our Lord\nhad in view. Its main purport may be stated thus: many that are first\nin amount of work shall be last in point of reward; and many that are\nlast in amount of work shall be first in point of reward. The\nprinciple on which this is based is plain enough: that in estimating\nthe reward it is not the quantity of work done or the amount of\nsacrifice made that is the measure of value, but the spirit in which\nthe work is done or the sacrifice made. The labourers who made no\nbargain at all, but went to work on the faith of their Master's honour\nand liberality, were the best off in the end. Those who made a bargain\nreceived, indeed, all they bargained for; but the others were rewarded\non a far more liberal scale, they obtaining much more than they had\nany reason to expect. Thus we are taught that those will be first who\nthink least of wages as wages, and are the least disposed to put such\na question as, \"What shall we then have?\" This was the main lesson for\nthe apostles, as it is for all who occupy places of prominence in the\nkingdom. It is thus put in later years by one of those who now for the\nfirst time learned it: \"Look to yourselves, that we lose not those\nthings which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward\" (2\nJohn 8). \"Look to yourselves,\" see that your spirit be right, that\nthere be nothing selfish, nothing mercenary, nothing vainglorious;\nelse much good labour and real self-denial may miss its compensation.\n\nBesides the lesson of caution to the great ones, there is a lesson of\nencouragement to the little ones in the kingdom--those who can do\nlittle and seem to themselves to sacrifice little for Christ. Let such\nremember that their labour and self-denial are measured not by\nquantity but by quality, by the spirit in which the service, however\nsmall it be, is rendered, and the sacrifice, trifling as it seems, is\nmade. Not only is it true that many that are first shall be last; but\nalso that many of the last shall be first. \"If there be first a\nwilling mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not\naccording to that he hath not.\"\n\nNeither in the general statement of our Lord, nor in the parable which\nillustrates it, is there the slightest encouragement to idlers in the\nvineyard--to those who do nothing and sacrifice nothing for Christ,\nbut who think that, when the eleventh hour comes, they will turn in\nwith the rest, and perhaps come off best after all. When the Master of\nthe vineyard asks of those who are standing in the market-place at the\neleventh hour, \"Why stand ye here all the day idle?\" their answer is\nready, \"Because no man hath hired us.\" The invitation came to them,\nthen, for the first time, and they accepted it as soon as it was given\nthem. Suppose the Master of the vineyard had asked them in the\nmorning, and at the first hour and the second and the third, and so on\nall the day, and only at the eleventh hour did they deign to notice\nHis invitation, how would they have fared?\n\n[15] The latter part of ver. 16--\"Many be called, but few\nchosen\"--does not properly belong to this passage (see R.V.); its\nconsideration will therefore be postponed till its proper place is\nreached (see chap. xxii. 14).\n\n\n\n\nXVI.\n\n_TO JERUSALEM._\n\nMATT xx. 17-xxi. 17.\n\n\nI.--THE GOING UP (xx. 17-34).\n\nWe have now reached the last stage of the long and sorrowful journey\nto Jerusalem. From the corresponding passage in the second Gospel we\nlearn that the disciples were greatly moved by something in their\nMaster's manner: \"they were amazed; and as they followed, they were\nafraid.\" It would appear, indeed, that they had considerable\nhesitation in following at all, for it is pointedly mentioned that\n\"Jesus went before them,\" a hesitation which was no doubt due to the\nsame feeling which prompted Peter, on the first announcement of the\njourney to Jerusalem and what it would involve, to say \"Be it far from\nThee, Lord\"; and as then, so now, the Saviour felt it as an obstacle\nin His onward path which He must resolutely put out of the way; and it\nwas doubtless the new and severe effort required of that heroic will\nto set it aside, and in doing so to face the gathering storm alone,\nwhich explained His unwonted agitation as He addressed Himself to the\nlast stage of the fatal journey.\n\nStill, He longs to have His disciples in sympathy with Him. He knows\nwell that not yet have they fully appreciated what He has said to\nthem; accordingly, at some convenient point on the way, He takes them\nby themselves and tells them once again, more distinctly and\ndefinitely than ever, what must be the issue of the step He is now\ntaking (vv. 17-19). St. Luke tells us that even yet \"they understood\nnone of these things.\" Their minds must have been in a state of great\nbewilderment; and when we think of this, we may well admire that\nstrong personal devotion to their Master which made them willing,\nhowever reluctantly and hesitatingly, still to follow Him into the\ndark unknown. With the one sad exception, they were thoroughly loyal\nto their King; they trusted Him absolutely; and though they could not\nunderstand why He should be mocked and scourged and crucified in His\nown capital, they were willing to go with Him there, in the full\nexpectation that, in some way they then could not imagine, He should\ntriumph over his enemies and erect those thrones and bring in that\nglory of the kingdom of which He had spoken.\n\nThis failure of theirs to comprehend the real situation, which one\nEvangelist mentions, is well illustrated by an incident which happened\non the road as recorded by the others--one of those evidently\nundesigned coincidences which continually meet us, and which, in a\nhigher degree than mere circumstantial agreements, confirm our faith\nin the accuracy of the sacred writers. \"Then came to Him the mother of\nZebedee's children with her sons, worshipping Him, and desiring a\ncertain thing of Him,\"--the \"certain thing,\" as it turned out, being\nthat the two sons should have the chief places of honour in the\nkingdom. From the form in which the request was presented it would\nseem as if it had been founded on a misapprehension of one of His own\nsayings. In St. Mark's Gospel, where the part which the two sons\nthemselves had in it is related, the very words of the application\nare given thus: \"Master, we would that Thou shouldest do for us\nwhatsoever we shall desire,\" as if to remind Him of His promise to any\ntwo of them who should agree as touching anything they should ask\n(xviii. 19), and to claim the fulfilment of it. It need not be assumed\nthat the request was a purely selfish one. However vague their ideas\nmay have been as to the days of darkness that awaited them in\nJerusalem, we cannot suppose that they left them wholly out of view;\nand if not, they must have been prepared, or have thought themselves\nprepared, to take foremost places in the battlefield as well as in the\ntriumph that would surely follow. There may well have been, then, a\ntouch of chivalry along with the grosser motive which, it is to be\nfeared, was their main inspiration.\n\nThis makes it easier for us to understand the possibility of their\ncoming with such a request at such a time. We all know how easy it is\nto justify a selfish proceeding when there is something to offset it.\nWe ourselves know how natural it is to think of those scriptures which\nsuit our purpose, while we conveniently forget for the moment those\nthat do not. Was it, then, unnatural that James and John, forgetting\nfor the moment what their Lord had taught them as to the way to true\ngreatness in His kingdom, should satisfy themselves with the thought\nthat they were at all events taking up their cross in the first place,\nand as to the ulterior object were certainly acting up to the very\nplain and emphatic word of the Master Himself: \"I say unto you, that\nif two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they\nshall ask, it shall be done for them.\"\n\nThis view of their state of mind is confirmed by our Lord's way of\ndealing with them. He first asks them what it is they have agreed\nupon; and, when the mother tells Him, He quietly shows them that, so\nfar from agreeing together, none of them know what they are asking.\nThey are all using the same words, but the words might as well be in\nan unknown tongue,--better perhaps, inasmuch as to misunderstand is a\ndegree worse than not to understand at all. He then proceeds to show\nthem that the fulfilment of their request would involve issues for\nwhich as yet they were by no means prepared: \"Jesus answered and said,\nYe know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall\ndrink of?\" Their answer confirms the view suggested, that they did not\nleave out altogether the thought of cross-bearing; but we have only to\nremember what took place in the course of a week to see that in saying\n\"We are able,\" they knew as little of what they were promising as they\nhad known of what they were asking. He will not, however, break the\nbruised reed of their devotion, nor quench the feeblest spark of\nself-denying courage; accordingly He does not slight their offer, but,\nin accepting it, He reminds them that the honours of the kingdom of\nheaven are not for favourites, or for those who may first apply, but\nonly for those who approve themselves worthy in the sight of Him Who\nseeth all, and who rewards every man according to his deeds (ver. 23).\n\nThe ten were not much better than the two. It was natural, indeed,\nthat, when they heard it, they should be \"moved with indignation\";\nbut, though natural, it was not Christian. Had they remembered the\nlesson of the little child, or even thought deeply enough of that very\nrecent one about the last and the first, they would have been moved\nwith something else than indignation. But need any one wonder that\nselfishness should be so very hard to kill? Is it not true to nature?\nBesides, the Spirit had not yet been given, and therefore we need not\nwonder that even the plainest teaching of the Lord Himself failed to\ncast the selfish spirit out of His disciples then. \"_Knowledge_ comes,\nbut _wisdom_ lingers.\" On the other hand, think of the marvellous\npatience of the Master. How disappointing it must have been at such a\ntime to see in all of them a spirit so wholly at variance with all\nthat by precept and example He had been labouring to instil into them!\nYet without one word of reproach He teaches them the old lesson once\nagain, gives them liberally the wisdom which they lack, and upbraids\nthem not.\n\nThe words of Christ not only meet the case most fully, but reach far\nbeyond the immediate occasion of their utterance. Thus He brings good\nout of evil, and secures that even the strife of His disciples shall\nmake for \"peace on earth.\" He begins by showing how absolutely in\ncontrast to the kingdoms of the world is the kingdom He has come to\nestablish. In them the great ones \"lord it over\" (R.V.) others; in it\nthe great ones are those who serve. What a revolution of thought is\ninvolved in this simple contrast! of how much that is great and noble\nhas it been the seed! The dignity of labour, the royalty of service,\nthe pettiness of selfish ambition, the majesty of self-sacrificing\nlove; the utter condemnation of the miserable maxim \"Every man for\nhimself\"; the world's first question \"What shall we have?\" made the\nlast, and its last question \"What shall we give?\" made the very\nfirst,--such are some of the fruits which have grown from the seed our\nLord planted in so ungenial soil that day. We are, alas, still very\nfar from realising that great ideal; but ever since that day, as an\nideal, it has never been quite out of sight. Early Christianity under\nthe guidance of the apostles strove, though with all too little\nsuccess, to realise it; the chivalry of the middle ages, with its\nglorification of knighthood,[16] was an attempt to embody it; and what\nis the constitutionalism of modern times but the development of the\nprinciple in political life, the real power being vested not in the\ntitular monarch, who represents ideally the general weal, but in a\n_ministry_, so designated to mark the fact that their special function\nis to minister or serve, the highest position in the realm bearing the\nhumble title of _Prime Minister_, or first servant of the state. It is\nof value to have the principle before us as an ideal, even though it\nbe buried under the tombstone of a name, the significance of which is\nforgotten; but when the kingdom of heaven shall be fully established\non the earth, the ideal will be realised, not in political life only,\nbut all through society. If only the ambition to serve our generation\naccording to the will of God were to become universal, then would\nGod's kingdom come and His will be done on earth even as it is in\nheaven.\n\nOf this great principle of the heavenly kingdom the King Himself is\nthe highest illustration: \"even as the Son of man came not to be\nministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for\nmany.\" There are those who write about \"the service of man\" as if the\nthought of it were a development of nineteenth-century enlightenment;\nbut there it is in all its truth and grandeur in the life, and above\nall in the death, of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! His entire\nlife was devoted to the service of man; and His death was but the\ngiving up in one final act of surrender what had all along been\nconsecrated to the same high and holy ministry.\n\nThese closing words of the great lesson are memorable, not only as\nsetting before us the highest exemplification of the law of service,\nwhich as \"Son of Man\" Christ gave to the world; but as presenting the\nfirst intimation of the purpose of the great sacrifice He was about to\noffer at Jerusalem. Again and again He had told the disciples that it\nwas necessary; but now for the first time does He give them an idea\nwhy it was necessary. It is too soon, indeed, to give a full\nexplanation; it will be time enough to unfold the doctrine of\natonement after the atonement has been actually made. Meantime He\nmakes it plain that, while His whole life was a life of ministering as\ndistinguished from being ministered unto, the supreme service He had\ncome to render was the giving of His life as a ransom, something to be\nrendered up as a price which must be paid to redeem His people. It is\nplain from this way of putting it, that He viewed the giving up of His\nlife as the means by which alone He could save the \"many\" who should,\nas His redeemed or ransomed ones, constitute His kingdom.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOn the way to Jerusalem lay the beautiful city of Jericho. The place\nnow called by that name is such a wretched assemblage of miserable\nhovels that it is difficult for the traveller to realise that the\nJericho of the days of our Lord was not only the most luxurious place\nof resort in Palestine, but one that might vie with its fashionable\nrivals throughout the Roman Empire. Since the days of Herod the Great\nit had been the winter residence of the Court. Jerusalem being on the\ncold hilltop, it was convenient to have within easy reach a warm and\nsheltered spot in the deep valley of the Jordan; and with a delightful\nwinter climate and a rich and fertile soil, Jericho needed only the\nlavish expenditure of money to make it into \"a little Paradise,\" as\nJosephus calls it. With its gardens of roses and groves of palm, it\nwas, even before the time of Herod, so beautiful a place, that, as a\ngem of the East, Antony bestowed it on Cleopatra as an expression of\nhis devotion; after it passed into the hands of Herod, a theatre was\nerected and an amphitheatre, and many other noble and costly\nbuildings; and during the season it was thronged by the rich and the\ngreat of the land, among whom would be distinguished visitors from\nforeign parts. What effect would all this grandeur have on Christ and\nHis disciples as they passed through it on their way to Jerusalem? We\nare not told. Two things only are noted as worthy of record: the\nsalvation of a rich publican (Luke xix. 1-10), and the healing of two\npoor blind men. Not the gardens and palaces of the city, but its sins\nand sorrows, engage the Saviour's thoughts and occupy His time.\n\nAs a rule, we regard it as waste of time to deal with the\n\"discrepancies\" between the different Evangelists; but as one of the\nmost serious of them all has been found here, it may be well to look\nat it, to see how much, or how little, it amounts to. First, the other\nGospels speak of the cure of a blind man, and tell his name,\nBartim\u00e6us; this one says that two blind men were cured, and does not\nmention any name. If the other Evangelists had said that only one was\nhealed, there would have been a real discrepancy; but they do not.\nAnother \"discrepancy\" which has been noticed is that St. Matthew says\nChrist \"touched their eyes,\" while the others do not mention the\ntouch, but only tell us what He said; but surely there is no\ndifficulty in supposing that Christ both touched the eyes and spoke\nthe words at the same time. It is true that the words as recorded by\nSt. Mark and St. Luke are not identical, but they are precisely to the\nsame effect; and it is quite possible that every word which both of\nthem report was actually said, and that other words besides were\nspoken which have not been preserved.\n\nThese differences are not discrepancies at all; but there remains one\nwhich may fairly enough be so characterised. The first and second\nGospels represent the cure as taking place on the way into Jericho;\nthe third puts it on the way out.\n\nVarious suppositions, more or less plausible, especially less, have\nbeen made to \"reconcile\" these two representations: such as the fact\nthat there were really two Jerichos, the old and the new, the cure\nbeing wrought as the Saviour passed from the one to the other, so that\nboth accounts would be strictly accurate; or again, that cures may\nhave been wrought both in entering and in leaving Jericho. But why\nshould we trouble ourselves to reconcile so small a difference? It is\nnot of the slightest consequence whether the cure took place on the\nway in or on the way out. If it had been a point on which strict\naccuracy was essential, care would doubtless have been taken to note\nthe very moment and the very spot where it took place--as, for\nexample, in the case of the cure of the nobleman's son at Capernaum\n(John iv. 52); but it was not; and therefore we have no more reason to\nwonder at the variation in so unimportant a detail than at those\nvariations from the accurate text which we continually find in the\nquotations from the Old Testament Scriptures. The discrepancy does\nnot in the slightest degree affect the credibility of any of the\nwitnesses; it only serves, together with the other variations, to show\nthe independence of the different accounts. How small must be the\nminds, or how strong the prejudices, of those who find support for\ntheir unbelief in discrepancies of which this is acknowledged to be\none of the gravest examples!\n\nIt so happens, too, that there is no story in all the Gospels which\nshines more lustrously in its own light. It is full of beauty and\npathos in all the versions of it which have come down to us; but most\nof all in the graphic story of St. Mark, to whose Gospel therefore its\nillustration may be regarded as belonging by special right.\n\n\nII.--THE ROYAL ENTRY (xxi. 1-17).\n\nTravelling from Jericho, it is probable that our Lord reached Bethany\non the evening of Friday, a week before His crucifixion. The next day,\nbeing the Jewish Sabbath, He would spend in retirement, probably in\nthe house of Lazarus, whom a short time before He had raised from the\ndead. The following day, the first day of the week, would therefore be\nthe date of His entry into Jerusalem as the Royal Son of David, come\nto claim His kingdom.\n\nThat this entrance into the capital is a most important event in the\nhistory of Jesus is evident not only from its nature and consequences,\nbut also from the fact that it is one which all the four Evangelists\nrecord. Indeed, it is just at this point that the four narratives\nconverge. The river of the water of life, which \"was parted and became\nfour heads\" diverging at times in their course, now unites its waters\nin one channel broad and deep; and all the four Evangelists, though\nin different accents still, and with variation in the selection of\ndetails, combine to tell the same wondrous story of our Saviour's\npassion, the story of \"the decease which He should accomplish at\nJerusalem.\"\n\nThis was the first occasion on which our Lord distinctly put forth His\nclaim to royalty. From the beginning of His ministry He had shown\nHimself to be a \"prophet mighty in word and in deed,\" and to those who\nfollowed Him it became manifest that He was the Prophet foretold by\nMoses, for whose coming they had been taught to look with eager eyes\n(see Deut. xviii. 15-19). From the beginning of His ministry, too, the\nSaviour had been proclaiming \"the gospel of the kingdom\"; but when we\nexamine carefully all He says about it, we find that He never\nexpressly asserts that He Himself is King. Not that He conceals the\nall-important truth: He speaks of the kingdom in such a way that those\nwho have ears to hear may learn that He is King Himself--as, for\ninstance, when He says, \"Suffer the little children to come unto Me,\nand forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.\" One might\nquite readily infer from these words that Jesus Himself was King; but\nthe claim is not thereby formally made. Besides, not only is it true\nthat up to this time He did not formally assume the royal title, but\nHe even resisted attempts made to thrust it upon Him (_e.g._, John vi.\n15). For this refusal to be crowned by the multitude there was only\ntoo good reason. Their ideas of royalty were entirely different from\nHis. Had He allowed Himself to be borne on the tide of popular favour\nto royal honours, His kingdom would have been thereby marked as \"of\nthis world,\" it would have been stamped as something very different\nfrom the kingdom of \"righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy\nGhost\" He had come to establish. Had He been a mere enthusiast, He\nwould undoubtedly have yielded to such a tidal wave of public\nexcitement; but His unerring wisdom taught Him that He must reach His\nthrone by another path than that of popular favour. Rather must it be\nthrough popular rejection--through the dark portals of despite and\ndeath; and for that, His hour had not then come.\n\nNow it has come. He has been steadily advancing to Jerusalem for the\nvery purpose of accomplishing that decease which is to be the portal\nof His royalty. Already fully revealed as Prophet, He is about to be\nmade \"perfect through suffering\" as our great High Priest. It is time,\ntherefore, that He reveal Himself as King, so that no one may have it\nafterwards to say that He never really claimed the throne of His\nfather David.\n\nHow, then, shall He assert His right? Shall a herald be sent to\nproclaim with the sound of a trumpet that Jesus of Nazareth is King\nover Israel in Jerusalem? To take such a course would be to court\nmisunderstanding. It would be to raise the standard of revolt against\nthe Romans. It would stir the city in a very different fashion from\nthat in which the Prince of Peace would have it stirred. It would be\nthe signal for tumult, bloodshed, and disastrous war. The ordinary\nmethod is evidently not to be thought of. How, then, shall it be done?\n\nOur Lord is never at a loss for means to accomplish His designs in His\nown way, which is always the best. He sends to a neighbouring village\nfor a young ass, mounts it, and rides into the city. That is all He\ndoes. Not a word said about royalty, no herald, no trumpeter, no\nproclamation, no royal pomp, nothing whatever to rouse the Roman\njealousy or ire--nothing but the very ordinary circumstance of a man\nriding into the city on an ass's colt, a mode of conveyance not in\nitself calculated to attract any special notice. What was there, then,\nin such an act to secure the end? Nothing in itself; but a great deal\nwhen taken in connection with a remarkable prophecy in the Book of\nZechariah well known to every Jew, and much in the thoughts of all who\nwere looking for the promised Messiah. It is true, indeed, that an\nordinary man might have done the same thing and the people have taken\nno notice of him. But Jesus had become the object of very great\ninterest and attention to large numbers of the people on account of\nthe miracles He had been working--notably that great miracle which\nstill stirred the minds of the whole community, the raising of Lazarus\nfrom the dead. The chief priests and scribes, indeed, and the men of\ninfluence in Jerusalem, regarded Him with all the greater rancour on\naccount of His miracles of mercy, and they had been specially\nembittered against Him since the raising of Lazarus; but it was\ndifferent with the body of the people, especially those who had come\nor were coming from Galilee and other distant parts of the land to be\npresent at the great Paschal feast. We are told by St. John that a\nlarge number of these had gone out the day before to Bethany, both to\nsee Lazarus, who was naturally an object of curiosity, and also to see\nJesus Himself; these accordingly were precisely in the state of mind\nin which they would most readily catch up the idea so naturally\nsuggested by the significant act of our Saviour's riding into the city\nof David on a colt the foal of an ass. The result, accordingly, was\nas had been intended, and is thus described by our Evangelist; \"The\nmost part of the multitude spread their garments in the way; and\nothers cut branches from the trees and spread them in the way. And the\nmultitudes that went before Him, and that followed, cried, saying,\nHosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of\nthe Lord; Hosanna in the highest\" (R.V.).\n\nThe excellence of the method adopted by our Saviour to set forth His\nroyal claims will still further appear when we consider that it arose\nquite naturally out of the circumstances in which He was placed. So\nmuch was this the case that some have thought He was taken by\nsurprise, that He had no intention of calling forth the testimony of\nthe people to His royal claims, that in fact He was only giving way to\na movement He could not well resist; but this shallow view is plainly\nset aside, not only by what has been already advanced, but also by the\nanswer He gives to the Pharisees who ask him to rebuke and silence His\ndisciples: \"I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the\nstones would immediately cry out\" (Luke xix. 39, 40).\n\nNot only did the means adopted by our Lord rise naturally out of the\ncircumstances in which He and His followers were placed, but they were\nspecially suited to suggest important truths concerning the kingdom He\nclaimed as His own. We have already seen that, if He had entered the\ncity in regal pomp and splendour, it would have conveyed an entirely\nfalse idea of the kingdom. The method He did adopt was such as to give\na true idea of it.\n\nFirst, it strikingly suggested the kingliness of lowliness, which, as\nwe have seen, was one of its great distinctive principles. As we look\nback over His recent instructions to His disciples, we see how very\nmuch this thought was in His heart and how great was the importance He\nattached to it. He had just taught them that the Son of man had come,\nnot to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a\nransom for many; and His manner of entering into His capital must be\nin harmony with the lowly, self-renouncing work He has come to do.\nThus He shows in the most impressive way that His kingdom is not of\nthis world. There is no suggestion of rivalry with C\u00e6sar; yet to those\nwho look beneath the surface He is manifestly more of a king than any\nC\u00e6sar. He has knowledge of everything without a spy (ver. 2); He has\npower over men without a soldier (ver. 3); He has simply to say \"The\nLord hath need,\" and immediately His royal will is loyally fulfilled.\nEvidently He has the mind of a King and the will of a King; has He not\nalso the heart of a King, of a true Shepherd of the people? See how He\nbears the burden of their future on His heart, a burden which weighs\nso heavily upon Him that He cannot restrain His tears (Luke xix.\n41-44). There is no kingly state; but was not His a kingly soul, Who\nin such humble guise rode into Jerusalem that day?\n\nNot less than lowliness, is peace suggested as characteristic of His\nkingdom. First by the manner of His entrance; for while the horse and\nthe chariot were suggestive of war, the ass was the symbol of peace.\nAnd then, the prophecy is one of peace. Immediately after the words\nquoted by the Evangelist there follows this remarkable promise: \"I\nwill cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,\nand the battle bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto\nthe heathen; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from\nthe river even to the ends of the earth.\" It would seem, indeed, that\nsome at least in the multitude realised that through the Messiah was\nto be expected a deeper peace than that between man and man. This\ndeeper peace may have been suggested to their minds by the words\nfollowing next in the prophecy, which goes on to speak of prisoners of\nhope rescued from the pit, and turning to the stronghold; or by the\nPsalm from which their cry \"Hosanna in the highest\" was taken (Ps.\ncxviii.); certain it is that their minds did rise to a higher\nconception of the work of the Messiah than they had given token of\nbefore; for the cry of some of them at least was \"Peace in heaven, and\nglory in the highest\" (Luke xix. 38). A striking proof this, of the\nfitness of His manner of entering into His capital to suggest the\npurest, highest and best thoughts concerning the kingdom which He\nclaimed as His own.\n\nAs Jerusalem was the city of the great King, the Temple was His house,\nHis royal palace, and accordingly He enters it and takes possession in\nHis Father's name. We are told by St. Mark that \"when He had looked\nround about upon all things, it being now eventide, He went out unto\nBethany with the twelve.\" But St. Matthew, who is accustomed to pay\nmore attention to the logical than to the exact chronological sequence\nof events, proceeds at once to relate the purging of the Temple, which\nreally took place the following day, but which was so plainly the\nnatural sequel of His royal entrance that he very properly gives it in\nclose connection therewith. Besides, what the King did on entering the\nTemple the next day admirably illustrates the prophecy. For what\nsaith the prophet? \"Behold thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and\nhaving salvation.\" \"He is _just_,\"--therefore He will not tolerate the\nunholy traffic in the Temple, but \"cast out all them that sold and\nbought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers\nand the seats of them that sold the doves; and He saith unto them, My\nhouse shall be called a house of prayer; but ye make it a den of\nrobbers\" (R.V.): \"_and having salvation_\"--accordingly, when He sees\nthe blind and the lame in the Temple He does not turn them out, He\ndoes not turn away from them, \"He healed them.\" The casting out of the\ntraders illustrated the _righteousness_ of the kingdom, the healing of\nthe blind and lame, its _peace_, and the shouts of the children which\nfollowed, its _joy_.\n\nThis coming of the King to His capital has been familiarly spoken of\nas \"the triumphal entry.\" The term seems unfortunate and misleading.\nThe waving of palms, the strewing of branches and leaves, the\nspreading of garments on the way--all this gave it something of the\naspect of a triumph; but that it was no triumph none knew better than\nthe Man of Sorrows, Who was the centre of it all. There was certainly\nno triumph in His heart that day. If you wish to look into His heart,\nwatch Him as He comes to the turn of the road where first the great\ncity bursts upon His sight. How it glitters in the sun, its palaces\nand towers gleaming in the splendour of the day, its magnificent\nTemple, which had taken nearly half a century to build, rearing its\nstately head high above all, into the glorious heaven--a city and a\ntemple for a king to be proud of, especially when seen through waving\npalm branches held in the hands of a rejoicing throng who shout\n\"Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna in the highest!\" Surely His\nsoul must be thrilled with jubilant emotion!\n\nAh! but look at Him: look at Him closely. Go up to Him, near enough to\nsee His face and hear what He is saying. Is He jubilant? His eyes are\nwet with tears; and with tears in His voice He is speaking \"the\nsaddest words of tongue or pen\": O Jerusalem, \"if thou hadst known,\neven thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy\npeace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come\nupon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and\ncompass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee\neven with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not\nleave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the\ntime of thy visitation.\" Ah! well the Man of Sorrows knew what all\nthat shouting and rejoicing were worth; not even for a moment was He\nmisled by it; no less certainly now, when the plaudits of the\nmultitudes were ringing around Him, than when He had been on the way\ngoing up to Jerusalem, did He know that, though He was the rightful\nKing, He should receive no king's welcome, but should suffer many\nthings and die. He knew that it was to no royal palace, but to the\nbitter cross, He was advancing, as He rode down Olivet, across the\nKedron, and up to the city of David. Yet it is not the thought of His\nown cross that draws the tears from His eyes; it is the thought of the\nwoes impending over those whom He has come to save, but who will have\nnone of Him. O the depth of divine love in these self-forgetful tears!\n\nOne thrill of joy the day had for the King of sorrows. It was His\nwelcome from the children. The plaudits of the multitude He seems to\nhave received in silence. Why should He be moved by _hosannas_ from\nthe lips of those who, as soon as they shall find out what manner of\nKing He is, will cry \"Away with Him\"? But the hosannas of the children\nare genuine music to His soul. The little ones at least are true.\nThere is no guile in their spirits. \"Of such is the kingdom of\nheaven.\" It is most touching to observe how lovingly the heart of the\nSaviour goes out to the little ones at this most trying time. The\nclimax of pathos in His lament over Jerusalem is reached when, after\nspeaking of the fate of the city, He adds, \"and thy children within\nthee\"; and the same deep sympathy with the little ones is shown in the\nanswer He gives to the mean-spirited priests and scribes who were\nmoved with indignation and tried to silence their sweet voices: \"Have\nye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast\nperfected praise?\"\n\n\"And He left them, and went out of the city into Bethany, and He\nlodged there,\"--not in the house of Lazarus, we may be sure, or He\nwould not have \"hungered\" when in the morning He returned to the city\n(ver. 18); no doubt under the open canopy of heaven, or at best under\nsome booth erected as a temporary shelter. What were His thoughts,\nwhat His feelings, as He looked back on the day and forward to the\nweek?\n\n[16] The knight was originally a _Knecht_ = a servant or slave.\n\n\n\n\nXVII.\n\n_CONFLICT IN THE TEMPLE._\n\nMATT. xxi.-xxiii.\n\n\nIt had been written that the Lord should suddenly come to His Temple\n(Mal. iii. 1); but He would not too hastily assert His rights. The\nfirst day He simply \"looked round about upon all things\" (Mark xi.\n11), and then withdrew to Bethany. The second day--without, however,\neven yet assailing the authority of those in power--He assumed His\nprerogative as Lord of the Temple by casting out the traffickers,\nhealing the blind and the lame, and accepting the hosannas of the\nchildren. The scribes and Pharisees showed some displeasure at all\nthis, and raised objections; but the answer they received silenced, if\nit did not satisfy them. Thus two days passed without any serious\nattempt to dispute His authority; but on the third day the conflict\nbegan. It was a dark and terrible day, and of its fateful history we\nhave a full account in this Gospel.\n\nThe day opens with the sight on the way to the city of the withered\nfig tree, a sad symbol of the impending fate of Israel, to be decided\nere the day closed by their final rejection of their Saviour-King.\nThis was our Lord's single miracle of judgment; many a stern word of\nwarning did He speak, but there is no severity in His deeds: they are\nall mercy and love. The single exception, if exception it may be\ncalled, makes this great fact stand out only the more impressively. It\nwas necessary for love's sake to show that in that arm, which was\nalways strong to save, there was also strength to smite if the sad\nnecessity should come; but so tender-hearted is He that He cannot bear\nto strike where the stroke can be felt, so He lets it fall on an\nunconscious tree. Thus to the end He justifies His name of Jesus,\nSaviour, and illustrates the blessed truth of which His whole life is\nthe expression, that \"God is love.\" \"The Son of man is not come to\ndestroy men's lives but to save them.\" Judgment is His strange work;\nfrom the very thought of it He shrinks, as seems suggested to us here\nby the fact that, in the use He makes of the circumstance in His\nconversation with the disciples, He refrains from speaking of its dark\nsignificance, but rather takes the opportunity of teaching from it an\nincidental lesson full of hope and comfort regarding the power of\nfaith and the value of prayer (vv. 21, 22).\n\nAs soon as on the third day He enters the Temple the conflict begins.\nIt would seem that the interval our Lord had in mercy allowed for calm\nreflection had been used for no other purpose than to organise a\nconspiracy for the purpose of entangling Him in His words and so\ndiscrediting His authority. We gather this from the carefully framed\nquestions with which He is plied by one party after another. Four\nsuccessive attacks are recorded in the passage before us: the first by\nthe chief priests and elders of the people demanding His authority;\nthe next by the Pharisees, assisted by the Herodians, who endeavoured\nby means of the difficulty of the tribute money to embroil Him with\nthe Roman power; this was again immediately followed by a third, in\nwhich the prime movers were the Sadducees, armed with what they\nconsidered an unanswerable question regarding the life to come; and\nwhen that also broke down there was a renewed attack of the Pharisees\nwho thought to disconcert Him by a perplexing question about the law.\n\nWe may not discuss the long sad history of these successive attacks\nwith any fulness, but only glance first at the challenge of our Lord's\nauthority and how He meets it, and next at the ordeal of questions\nwith which it was followed.\n\n\nI.--THE CHALLENGE (xxi. 23-xxii. 14).\n\n\"By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this\nauthority?\" The question was fair enough; and if it had been asked in\nan earnest spirit, Jesus would have given then, as always to the\nhonest inquirer, a kind and satisfying answer. It is not, however, as\ninquirers, but as cavillers, they approach Him. Again and again, at\ntimes and in ways innumerable, by fulfilment of prophecy, by His\nmighty deeds and by His wondrous words, He had given proof of His\nDivine authority and established His claim to be the true Messiah. It\nwas not therefore because they lacked evidence of His authority, but\nbecause they hated it, because they would not have this man to reign\nover them, that now they question Him. It was obvious that their only\nobject was to entangle Him; accordingly our Lord showed how in the net\nthey were spreading for Him their own feet were caught.\n\nHe meets their question with a counter question, \"The baptism of John,\nwhence was it? from heaven, or of men?\" The more we examine this\nquestion, the more must we admire the consummate wisdom it displays.\nWe see at once how it turns the tables on His critics; but it is far\nmore important to notice how admirably adapted it was to lead them to\nthe answer of their own question, if only they would follow it out.\nThey dared not repudiate the baptism of John; and had not John\nbaptised Jesus, and solemnly borne repeated testimony to His\nMessiahship? Had he not most emphatically borne that very testimony to\na formal deputation sent by themselves? (John i. 19-27). Finally, were\nnot the ministry and testimony of John closely associated in prophecy\nwith that very coming of the Lord to His Temple which gave them so\ndeep offence: \"Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare\nthe way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to\nHis temple: ... behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.\" Our\nLord's counter question, then, was framed with such exquisite skill as\nto disappoint their malice, while at the same time it was suited to\nguide the earnest inquirer to the truth.\n\nThe propounders of the question were not true men, but hypocrites. A\nnegative answer they _could_ not give. An affirmative they\n_would_ not give. So when they refused to answer, our Lord\nreplied, \"Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.\"\n\nThe Lord of the Temple now assumes the offensive, and directs against\nHis opponents a series of parables which He holds up to them as a\ntriple mirror in which from different points of view they may see\nthemselves in their true character, and as a set of danger signals to\nwarn them of their impending doom. He presents them with such\nmarvellous skill that He makes the Pharisees their own judges, and\nconstrains them to pass sentence on themselves. In the first parable\nHe constrains them to declare their own guilt; in the second, He makes\nthem decree their own punishment; in the third, He warns them of the\nimpending fate of the people they were leading to destruction.\n\nWe have said that in these parables Christ assumes the offensive; but\nthis is true only in a very superficial sense. In the deepest sense He\nspoke them not against the Pharisees, but for them. His object was to\ncarry home to their hearts the conviction of sin, and to impress them\nwith a sense of their danger before it was too late. This was what\nabove all they needed. It was their only hope of salvation. And how\nadmirably suited for His purpose were these three parables! Their\napplication to themselves was plain enough after it was stated, but\nnot beforehand; the effect of which was that they were put in a\nposition to give an impartial verdict on their own conduct. It was the\nsame method so effectively employed by Nathan in bringing conviction\nto the conscience of David. Had Christ charged the sin of the\nPharisees directly home upon them, they would have been at once thrown\non the defensive, and it would have been impossible to reach their\nconscience through the entanglements of prejudice and personal\ninterest. Christ wishes to disentangle them from all that was\ndarkening their moral vision; and He uses the parable as the most\neffective means. It is a great mistake, then, to suppose that Jesus\ncontented Himself with turning the tables on them, and carrying the\nwar, so to speak, into the enemy's country. It was with them a war of\nwords, but not with Him. He was seeking to save these poor lost ones.\nHe wished to give them His best for their worst. They had come to\nentangle Him in His talk. He does His best to disentangle them from\nthe meshes of self-deception. The tone of all three parables is\nexceptionally severe; but the spirit of them is love.\n\n\n_The Two Sons_ (vv. 28-32).\n\nThe parable of the two sons is exceedingly simple; and the question\nfounded upon it, \"Whether of them twain did the will of his father?\"\nadmitted of but one answer--an answer which seemed, as it was spoken,\nto involve only the simplest of all moral judgments; yet how keen the\nedge of it when once it was disclosed! Observe the emphatic word\n_did_, suggesting without saying it, that it made comparatively\nlittle difference what they _said_ (see xxiii. 3). So far as\nprofession went, the Pharisees were all that could be desired. They\nwere the representatives of religion in the land; their whole attitude\ncorresponded to the answer of the second son: \"I go, sir.\" Yet when\nJohn--whom they themselves admitted to be a prophet of the Lord--came\nto them in the way of righteousness, they set his word aside and\nrefused to obey him. On the other hand, many of those whose lives\nseemed to say \"I will not,\" when they heard the word of John, repented\nand began to work the works of God. Thus it came to pass that many of\nthese had entered the kingdom, while the self-complacent Pharisee\nstill remained without.\n\nThe words with which the parable is pressed home are severe and\ntrenchant; but they are nevertheless full of gospel grace. They set in\nthe strongest light the welcome fact that the salvation of God is for\nthe chief of sinners, for those who have been rudest and most\nrebellious in their first answers to the divine appeal; and then,\nwhile they condemn so very strongly the self-deceiver, it is not for\nthe purpose of covering him with confusion, but in order to open his\neyes and save him from the net in which he has set his feet. Even in\nthat terrible sentence which puts him lower down than open and\ndisgraceful sinners, there is a door left still unlatched for him to\nenter. \"The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God _before\nyou_\"; but you may enter after them. If only you, like them, would\n\"afterward\" repent--if you would repent of your hypocrisy and\ninsincerity, as they have repented of their rudeness and\nrebellion--you would be as gladly welcomed as they into the kingdom of\nGod.\n\n\n_The Husbandmen_ (vv. 33-46).\n\nThe second parable follows hard on the first, and presses the chief\npriests and Pharisees so closely that they cannot fail to see in the\nend that it is themselves they have been constrained to judge and\ncondemn (ver. 45). It is indeed difficult to suppose that they had not\neven from the beginning some glimpse of the intended application of\nthis parable. The vineyard was a familiar symbol, with a definite and\nwell understood meaning, from which our Lord in His use of it does not\ndepart. The vineyard being the nation, the owner is evidently God; the\nfruit expected, righteousness; the particulars mentioned (the fence,\nthe press, the tower) implying the completeness of the arrangements\nmade by the owner for securing the expected fruit. The husbandmen are\nthe leaders of the people, those who are responsible for their\ndirection and control. The going to a far country represents the\nremoval of God from their sight; so that they are, as it were, put\nupon their honour, left to act in the matter of the vineyard according\nto the prompting of their own hearts. All this is contained in the\nfew lines which make up verse 33, and forms the groundwork of this\ngreat parable. Thus are set forth in a very striking manner the high\nprivileges and grave responsibilities of the leaders of the Jewish\npeople, represented at the time by the chief priests and Pharisees He\nwas then addressing. How are they meeting this responsibility? Let the\nparable tell.\n\nIt is a terrible indictment, showing in the strongest light the guilt\nof their fathers, and pointing out to them that they are on the verge\nof a crime far greater still. Again and again have prophets of\nrighteousness come in the name of the Lord, and demanded the fruits of\nrighteousness which were due. How have they been received? \"The\nhusbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and\nstoned another.\" So have their fathers acted time after time, and\nstill the patience of the owner is not exhausted, nor does He even yet\ngive up all hope of fruit from His favoured vineyard; so, as a last\nresort, He sends His son, saying, \"They will reverence my son.\"\n\nWe can imagine the tone in which the Son of God would speak these\nwords. What a sublime consciousness is implied in His use of them! and\nhow touchingly does He in this incidental way give the best of all\nanswers to the question with which His enemies began! Surely the son,\nthe only and well beloved son,[17] had the best of all authority to\nact for the father! In the former parable He had appealed to the\nrecognised authority of John; now He indicates that the highest\nauthority of all is in Himself. If only their hearts had not been\nwholly shut against the light, how it would have flashed upon them\nnow! They would have taken up the cry of the children, and said,\n\"Hosanna! blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord\"; and the\nparable would have served its purpose before it had reached its close.\nBut they are deaf and blind to the things of God; so the awful\nindictment must proceed to the bitter end.\n\nIf there was in the heart of Christ an exalted consciousness of His\nfilial relation to God as He spoke of the sending of the Son, what a\npang must have shot through it as He proceeded to depict in such vivid\ncolours the crime they are now all ready to commit, referring\nsuccessively as He does to the arrest, the handing over to Pilate, and\nthe crucifixion without the gate: \"They caught him, and cast him out\nof the vineyard, and slew him.\" How appalling it must have been to Him\nto speak these words! how appalling it ought to have been to them to\nhear them! That they did feel the force of the parable is evident from\nthe answer they gave to the question, \"What will he do to those\nhusbandmen?\" and, as we have said, they must surely have had some\nglimpses of its application to themselves; but it did not disturb\ntheir self-complacency, until our Lord spoke the plain words with\nwhich He followed up the parable, referring to that very psalm from\nwhich the children's cry of \"Hosanna\" was taken. From it He selects\nthe symbol of the stone rejected by the builders, but by God made the\nhead of the corner, applying it to Himself (the rejected stone) and\nthem (the builders). The reference was most appropriate in itself; and\nit had the further advantage of being followed by the very word which\nit would be their salvation now to speak. \"Hosanna\" is the word which\nimmediately follows the quotation He makes, and it introduces a\nprayer which, if only they will make their own, all will yet be well\nwith them. The prayer is, \"Save now, I beseech Thee, O Lord\"; followed\nby the words, \"Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord.\" May\nwe not assume that our Lord paused after making His quotation, to give\nthem the opportunity of adopting it as their own prayer? His whole\nheart was longing to hear these very words from them. Have we not the\nproof of it further on, in the sad words with which at last He\nabandoned the hope: \"I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth\ntill ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord\"\n(xxiii. 39)?\n\nSeeing they will not take the warning of the parable, and that they\nrefuse the opportunity given them while yet under its awe-inspiring\ninfluence, to repent and return, He must give sentence against them:\n\"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from\nyou, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.\" This\nsentence He follows up by setting before them the dark side of the\nother symbol: \"Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but\non whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.\" They were\nstumbling on the stone now, and about to be broken upon it; but the\ndanger that lay before them if they persisted in their present\nunbelief and sin, would be far greater still, when He Whom they now\ndespised and rejected should be at the head of all authority and power.\n\nBut all is vain. Steeling their hearts against His faithful words,\nthey are only the more maddened against Him, and fear alone restrains\nthem from beginning now the very crime against which they have just\nhad so terrible a warning: \"When they sought to lay hands on Him,\nthey feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.\"\n\n\n_The Marriage Feast_ (xxii. 1-14).\n\nThe manner in which this third parable is introduced leaves room for\ndoubt whether it was spoken in immediate connection with the two\npreceding. The use of the word \"answered\" (ver. 1) would rather\nsuggest the idea that some conversation not reported had intervened.\nBut though it does not form part of a continuous discourse with the\nothers, it is so closely connected with them in scope and bearing that\nit may appropriately be dealt with, as concluding the warning called\nforth by the first attack of the chief priests and elders. The\nrelation between the three parables will be best seen by observing\nthat the first has to do with their treatment of John; the second and\nthird with their treatment of Himself and His apostles. The second and\nthird differ from each other in this: that, while the King's Son, Who\nis prominent in both, is regarded in the former as the last and\ngreatest of a long series of heavenly messengers sent to demand of the\nchosen people the fruits of righteousness, in the latter He is\npresented, not as demanding righteousness, but as bringing joy. Duty\nis the leading thought of the second parable, privilege of the third;\nin the one sin is brought home to Israel's leaders by setting before\nthem their treatment of the messengers of righteousness, in the other\nthe sin lies in their rejection of the message of grace. Out of this\ndistinction rises another--viz., that while the second parable runs\nback into the past, upwards along the line of the Old Testament\nprophets, the third runs down into the future, into the history of the\napostolic times. The two together make up a terrible indictment,\nwhich might well have roused these slumbering consciences, and led\neven scribes and Pharisees to shrink from filling up the measure of\ntheir iniquities.\n\nA word may be necessary as to the relation of this parable to the\nsimilar one recorded in the fourteenth chapter of St. Luke, known as\n\"The parable of the Great Supper.\" The two have many features in\ncommon, but the differences are so great that it is plainly wrong to\nsuppose them to be different versions of the same. It is astonishing\nto see what needless difficulties some people make for themselves by\nthe utterly groundless assumption that our Lord would never use the\nsame illustration a second time. Why should He not have spoken of the\ngospel as a feast, not twice merely, but fifty times? There would, no\ndoubt, be many variations in His manner of unfolding the thought,\naccording to the circumstances, the audience, the particular object in\nview at the time; but to suppose that because He had used that\nillustration in Galilee, He must be forbidden from reverting to it in\nJud\u00e6a is a specimen of what we may call the insanity of those who are\never on the watch for their favourite \"discrepancies.\" In this case\nthere is not only much variation in detail, but the scope of the two\nparables is quite different, the former having more the character of a\npressing invitation, with only a suggestion of warning at the close;\nwhereas the one before us, while preserving all the grace of the\ngospel as suggested by the figure of a feast to which men are freely\ninvited, and even heightening its attractiveness inasmuch as it is a\nwedding feast--the most joyful of all festivities--and a royal one\ntoo, yet has throughout the same sad tone of judgment which has been\ncharacteristic of all these three parables, and is at once seen to be\nspecially appropriate to the fateful occasion on which they were\nspoken.\n\nAs essentially a New Testament parable, it begins with the familiar\nformula \"The kingdom of heaven is like.\" The two previous parables had\nled up to the new dispensation; but this one begins with it, and is\nwholly concerned with it. The King's Son appears now, not as a\nmessenger, but as a bridegroom. It was not the first time that Jesus\nhad spoken of Himself as a bridegroom, or rather as _the_\nBridegroom.[18] The thought was a familiar one in the prophets of the\nOld Testament, the Bridegroom, be it remembered, being none other than\nJehovah Himself. Consider, then, what it meant that _Jesus_\nshould without hesitation or explanation speak of Himself as the\nBridegroom. And let us not imagine that He simply took the figure, and\napplied it to Himself as fulfilling prophecy; let us not fail to\nrealise that He entered fully into its tender meaning. When we think\nof the circumstances in which this parable was spoken, we have here a\nmost pathetic glimpse into the sanctuary of our Saviour's loving\nheart. Let us try with reverent sympathy to enter into the feeling of\nthe King's Son, come from heaven to seek humanity for His bride, to\nwoo and to win her from the cruel bondage of sin and death, to take\nher into union with Himself, so that she may share with Him the\nliberty and wealth, the purity and joy, the glory and the hope of the\nheavenly kingdom! The King \"made a marriage for His Son\"--where is the\nbride? what response is she making to the Bridegroom's suit? A\nmarriage for His Son! On Calvary?\n\nIt must have been very hard for Him to go on; but He will keep down\nthe rising tide of emotion, that He may set before this people and\nbefore all people another attractive picture of the kingdom of heaven.\nHe will give even these despisers of the heavenly grace another\nopportunity to reconsider their position. So He tells of the\ninvitations sent out first to \"them that were bidden\"--_i.e._, to\nthe chosen people who had been especially invited from the earliest\ntimes, and to whom, when the fulness of the time had come, the call\nwas first addressed. \"And they would not come.\" There is no reference\nto the aggravations which had found place in the former parable (xxi.\n39). These were connected not so much with the offer of grace, which\nis the main purport of this parable, as with the demand for fruit,\nwhich was the leading thought of the one before. It was enough, then,\nin describing how they dealt with the invitation, to say, \"They would\nnot come\"; and, indeed, this refusal hurt Him far more than their\nbuffets and their blows. When He is buffeted, He is silent, sheds no\ntears, utters no wail; His tears and lamentation are reserved for\nthem: \"How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as\na hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!\"\n\"_They would not come._\"\n\nBut the love of the King and of His Son is not yet exhausted. A second\ninvitation is sent, with greater urgency than before, and with fuller\nrepresentations of the great preparations which had been made for the\nentertainment of the guests: \"Again, he sent forth other servants,\nsaying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner:\nmy oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come\nunto the marriage.\" As the first invitation was that which had been\nalready given and which they were now rejecting, the second refers to\nthat fuller proclamation of the gospel which was yet to be made after\nthe work of the Bridegroom-Redeemer should be finished, when it could\nbe said, as not before: \"All things are ready.\"\n\nIn the account which follows, therefore, there is a foreshadowing of\nthe treatment the apostles would afterwards receive. Many, indeed,\nwere converted by their word, and took their places at the feast; but\nthe people as a whole \"made light of it, and went their ways, one to\nhis farm, another to his merchandise: and the remnant took his\nservants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.\" What was the\nconsequence? Jerusalem, rejecting the gospel of the kingdom, even when\nit was \"preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,\" must be\ndestroyed; and new guests must be sought among the nations that up\ntill now had no especial invitation to the feast. This prophetic\nwarning was conveyed in terms of the parable; yet there is a touch in\nit which shows how strongly the Saviour's mind was running on the sad\nfuture of which the parable was but a picture: \"When the king heard\nthereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed\nthose murderers, and burned up their city.\" Why \"city\"? There had been\nno mention of a city in the parable. True; but Jerusalem was in the\nSaviour's heart, and all the pathos of His lament over it is in that\nlittle word. \"_Their_ city\" too, observe,--reminding us of \"_your_\nhouse\" at the close of this sad day (xxiii. 38). In the same way the\ncalling of the Gentiles is most skilfully brought within the scope of\nthe parable, by the use of the peculiar word translated in the Revised\nVersion--\"the partings of the highways,\" which seems to suggest the\nthought of the servants leaving the city precincts, and going out in\nall directions along the main trunk roads to \"the partings of the\nhighways,\" to carry the gospel to all without distinction, wherever\ncould be found an ear of man to listen, or a human heart to welcome\nthe King's grace and the Bridegroom's love. Thus, after all, the\nwedding was to be furnished with guests.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe parable, as we have seen, is one of grace; but righteousness too\nmust find a place in it. The demand for fruits of righteousness is no\nless rigid in the new dispensation than it had been in the old. To\nmake this clear and strong the parable of the Feast is followed by the\npendant of the Wedding Garment.\n\nThere are two ways in which the heavenly marriage feast may be\ndespised: first, by those who will not come at all; next, and no less,\nby those who try to snatch the wedding joy without the bridal purity.\nThe same leading thought or motive is recognisable here as in the\nparable of the two sons. The man without the wedding garment\ncorresponds to the son who said \"I go, sir,\" and went not, while those\nwho refuse altogether correspond to the son who answered \"I will not.\"\nBy bearing this in mind we can understand, what to many has been a\nserious difficulty--how it is that the punishment meted out to the\noffender in this second parable is so terribly severe. If we simply\nthink of the parable itself, it does seem an extraordinary thing that\nso slight an offence as coming to a wedding feast without the\nregulation dress should meet with such an awful doom; but when we\nconsider whom this man represents, we can see the very best of reasons\nfor it. Hypocrisy was his crime, than which there is nothing more\nutterly hateful in the sight of Him Who desireth truth in the inward\nparts. It is true that the representation does not at first seem to\nset the sin in so very strong a light; but when we think of it, we see\nthat there was no other way in which it could be brought within the\nscope of this parable. It is worthy of notice, moreover, that the\ndistinction between the intruder and the others is not observed till\nthe king himself enters, which indicates that the difference between\nhim and the others was no outward distinction, that the garment\nreferred to is the invisible garment of righteousness. To the common\neye he looked like all the rest; but when the all-searching Eye is on\nthe company he is at once detected and exposed. He is really worse\nthan those who would not come at all. They were honest sinners; he was\na hypocrite--_at_ the feast with mouth and hand and eye, but not _of_\nit, for his spirit is not robed in white: he is the black sheep in the\nfold; a despiser within, he is worse than the despisers without.\n\nEven to him, indeed, the king has a kindly feeling. He calls him\n\"Friend,\" and gives him yet the opportunity to repent and cry for\nmercy. But he is speechless. False to the core, he has no rallying\npoint within to fall back upon. All is confusion and despair. He\ncannot even pray. Nothing remains but to pronounce his final doom\n(ver. 13).\n\nThe words with which the parable closes (ver. 14) are sad and solemn.\nThey have occasioned difficulty to some, who have supposed they were\nmeant to teach that the number of the saved will be small. Their\ndifficulty, like so many others, has been due to forgetfulness of the\ncircumstances under which the words were spoken, and the strong\nemotion of which they were the expression. Jesus is looking back over\nthe time since He began to spread the gospel feast, and thinking how\nmany have been invited, and how few have come! And even among those\nwho have seemed to come there are hypocrites! One He specially would\nhave in mind as He spoke of the man without the wedding garment; for\nthough we take him to be the type of a class, we can scarcely think\nthat our Lord could fail to let His sad thoughts rest on Judas, as He\ndescribed that man. Taking all this into consideration, we can well\nunderstand how at that time He should conclude His parable with the\nlamentation: \"Many are called, but few chosen.\" It did not follow that\nit was a truth for all time and for eternity. It was true for the time\nincluded in the scope of the parable. It was most sadly true of the\nJewish nation then, and in the times which followed on immediately;\nbut the day was coming, before all was done, when the heavenly\nBridegroom, according to the sure word of prophecy, should \"see of the\ntravail of His soul, and be satisfied.\" No creed article, therefore,\nhave we here, but a cry from the sore heart of the heavenly\nBridegroom, in the day of His sorrow, in the pain of unrequited love.\n\n\nII.--THE ORDEAL OF QUESTIONS (xxii. 15-46).\n\nThe open challenge has failed; but more subtle weapons may succeed.\nThe Pharisees have found it of no avail to confront their enemy; but\nthey may still be able to entangle Him. They will at all events try.\nThey will spring upon Him some hard questions, of such a kind that,\nanswering on the spur of the moment, He will be sure to compromise\nHimself.\n\n1. The first shall be one of those semi-political semi-religious\nquestions on which feeling is running high--the lawfulness or\nunlawfulness of paying tribute to C\u00e6sar. The old Pharisees who had\nchallenged His authority keep in the background, that the sinister\npurpose of the question may not appear; but they are represented by\nsome of their disciples who, coming fresh upon the scene and\naddressing Jesus in terms of respect and appreciation, may readily\npass for guileless inquirers. They are accompanied by some Herodians,\nwhose divergence of view on the point made it all the more natural\nthat they should join with Pharisees in asking the question; for it\nmight fairly be considered that they had been disputing with one\nanother in regard to it, and had concluded to submit the question to\nHis decision as to one who would be sure to know the truth and\nfearless to tell it. So together they come with the request: \"Master,\nwe know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth,\nneither carest Thou for any man: for Thou regardest not the person of\nmen. Tell us therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give\ntribute unto C\u00e6sar, or not?\"\n\nBut they cannot impose upon Him: \"Jesus perceived their wickedness,\nand said, Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites?\" Having thus unmasked them,\nwithout a moment's hesitation He answers them. They had expected a\n\"yes\" or a \"no\"--a \"yes\" which would have set the people against Him,\nor better still a \"no\" which would have put Him at the mercy of the\ngovernment. But, avoiding Scylla on the one hand, and Charybdis on the\nother, He makes straight for His goal by asking for a piece of coin\nand calling attention to C\u00e6sar's stamp upon it. Those who use C\u00e6sar's\ncoin should not refuse to pay C\u00e6sar's tribute; but, while the relation\nwhich with their own acquiescence they sustain to the Roman emperor\nimplied corresponding obligations in the sphere it covered, this did\nnot at all interfere with what is due to the King of kings and Lord of\nlords, in Whose image we all are made, and Whose superscription every\none of us bears: \"Render therefore unto C\u00e6sar the things which are\nC\u00e6sar's; and unto God the things that are God's.\" Thus He not only\navoids the net they had spread for Him, and gives them the very best\nanswer to their question, but, in doing so, He lays down a great\nprinciple of far-reaching application and permanent value respecting\nthe difficult and much-to-be-vexed question as to the relations\nbetween Church and State. \"O answer full of miracle!\" as one has said.\nNo wonder that \"when they had heard these words, they marvelled, and\nleft Him, and went their way.\"\n\n2. Next come forward certain Sadducees. That the Pharisees had an\nunderstanding with them also seems likely from what is said both in\nverse 15, which seems a general introduction to the series of\nquestions, and in verse 34, from which it would appear that they were\nsomewhere out of sight waiting to hear the result of this new attack.\nThough the alliance seems a strange one, it is not the first time that\ncommon hostility to the Christ of God has drawn together the two great\nrival parties (see chap. xvi. 1). If we are right in supposing them to\nbe in combination now, it is a remarkable illustration of the deep\nhostility of the Pharisees that they should not only combine with the\nSadducees against Him, as they had done before, but that they should\nlook with complacency on their using against Him a weapon which\nthreatened one of their own doctrines. For the object of the attack\nwas to cast ridicule on the doctrine of the resurrection, which\nassuredly the Pharisees did not deny.\n\nThe difficulty they raise is of the same kind as those which are\npainfully familiar in these days, when men of coarse minds and fleshly\nimaginations show by their crude objections their incapacity even to\nthink on spiritual themes. The case they supposed was one they knew He\ncould not find fault with so far as this world was concerned, for\neverything was done in accordance with the letter of the law of Moses,\nthe inference being that whatever confusion there was in it must\nbelong to what they would call His figment of the resurrection: \"In\nthe resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all\nhad her.\"\n\nIt is worthy of note that our Lord's answer is much less stern than in\nthe former case. These men were not hypocrites. They were scornful,\nperhaps flippant; but they were not intentionally dishonest. The\ndifficulty they felt was due to the coarseness of their minds, but it\nwas a real difficulty to them. Our Lord accordingly gives them a\nkindly answer, not denouncing them, but calmly showing them where they\nare wrong: \"Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of\nGod.\"\n\nYe know not the power of God, or ye would not suppose that the life to\ncome would be a mere repetition of the life that now is, with all its\nfleshly conditions the same as now. That there is continuity of life\nis of course implied in the very idea of resurrection; but true life\nresides not in the flesh but in the spirit, and therefore the\ncontinuity will be a spiritual continuity; and the power of God will\neffect such changes on the body itself that it will rise out of its\nfleshly condition into a state of being like that of the angels of\nGod. The thought is the same as that which was afterwards expanded by\nthe apostle Paul in such passages as Rom. viii. 5-11, 1 Cor. xv. 35-54.\n\nYe know not the Scriptures, or you would find in the writings of Moses\nfrom which you quote, and to which you attach supreme importance,\nevidence enough of the great doctrine you deny. \"Have ye not read that\nwhich was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and\nthe God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?\" Here, again, Jesus not only\nanswers the Sadducees, but puts the great and all-important doctrine\nof the life to come and the resurrection of the body on its deepest\nfoundation. There are those who have expressed astonishment that He\ndid not quote from some of the later prophets, where He could have\nfound passages much clearer and more to the point: but not only was it\ndesirable that, as they had based their question on Moses, He should\ngive His answer from the same source; but in doing so He has put the\ngreat truth on a permanent and universal basis; for the argument rests\nnot on the authority of Moses, nor, as some have supposed, upon the\npresent tense \"I am,\" but on the relation between God and His people.\nThe thought is that such a relation between mortal man and the eternal\nGod as is implied in the declaration \"I am the God of Abraham, and the\nGod of Isaac, and the God of Jacob\" is itself a guarantee of\nimmortality. Not for the spirit only, for it is not as spirits merely\nbut as men that we are taken into relation to the living God; and that\nrelation, being of God, must share His immortality: \"God is not the\nGod of the dead, but of the living.\" The thought[19] is put in a very\nstriking way in a well-known passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews:\n\"But now they (the patriarchs) desire a better country, that is, an\nheavenly: _wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God_: for\nHe hath prepared for them a city.\"\n\nOur Lord's answer suggests the best way of assuring ourselves of this\nglorious hope. Let God be real to us, and life and immortality will be\nreal too. If we would escape the doubts of old Sadducee and new\nAgnostic, we must be much with God, and strengthen more and more the\nties which bind us to Him.\n\n3. The next attempt of the Pharisees is on an entirely new line. They\nhave found that they cannot impose upon Him by sending pretended\ninquirers to question Him. But they have managed to lay their hands on\na real inquirer now--one of themselves, a student of the law, who is\nexercised on a question much discussed, and to which very different\nanswers are given; they will suggest to him to carry his question to\nJesus, and see what He will say to it. That this was the real state of\nthe case appears from the fuller account in St. Mark's Gospel. When,\nthen, St. Matthew speaks of him as asking Jesus a question, \"tempting\nHim,\" we are not to impute the same sinister motives as actuated those\nwho sent him. He also was in a certain sense tempting Jesus--_i.e._,\nputting Him to the test, but with no sinister motive, with a real\ndesire to find out the truth, and probably also to find out if this\nJesus was one who could really help an inquirer after truth. In this\nspirit, then, he asks the question, \"Which is the great commandment in\nthe law?\"\n\nThe answer our Lord immediately gives is now so familiar that it is\ndifficult to realise how great a thing it was to give it for the first\ntime. True, He takes it from the Scriptures; but think what command of\nthe Scriptures is involved in this prompt reply. The passages quoted\nlie far apart--the one in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, the other\nin the nineteenth of Leviticus, in quite an obscure corner; and\nnowhere are they spoken of as the first and second commandments, nor\nindeed were they regarded as commandments in the usually understood\nsense of the word. When we consider all this, we recognise what from\none point of view might be called a miracle of genius, and from\nanother a flash of inspiration, in the instantaneous selection of\nthese two passages, and bringing them together so as to furnish a\nsummary of the law and the prophets beyond all praise, which the\nveriest unbeliever if only he have a mind to appreciate that which is\nexcellent, must recognise as worthy of being written in letters of\nlight That one short answer to a sudden question--asked indeed by a\ntrue man, but really sprung upon Him by His enemies who were watching\nfor His halting--is of more value in morals than all the writings of\nall the ethical philosophers, from Socrates to Herbert Spencer.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt is now time to question the questioners. The opportunity is most\nfavourable. They are gathered together to hear what He will say to\ntheir last attempt to entangle Him. Once more He has not only met the\ndifficulty, but has done so in such a way as to make the truth on the\nsubject in dispute shine with the very light of heaven. There could\nnot, then, be a better opportunity of turning their thoughts in a\ndirection which might lead them, if possible in spite of themselves,\ninto the light of God.\n\nThe question Jesus asks (vv. 41-45) is undoubtedly a puzzling one for\nthem; but it is no mere Scripture conundrum. The difficulty in which\nit lands them is one which, if only they would honestly face it, would\nbe the means of removing the veil from their eyes, and leading them,\nere it is too late, to welcome the Son of David come in the name of\nthe Lord to save them. They fully accepted the psalm to which He\nreferred as a psalm of David concerning the Messiah. If, then, they\nwould honestly read that psalm, they would see that the Messiah when\nHe comes must be, not a mere earthly monarch, as David was, but a\nheavenly monarch, one who should sit on the throne of God and bring\ninto subjection the enemies of the kingdom of heaven. If only they\nwould take their ideas of the Christ from the Scriptures which were\ntheir boast, they could not fail to see Him standing now before them.\nFor we must remember that they had not only the words He spoke to\nguide them. They had before them the Messiah Himself, with the light\nof heaven in His eye, with the love of God in His face; and had they\nhad any love for the light, they would have recognised Him then--they\nwould have seen in Him, whom they had often heard of as David's son,\nthe Lord of David, and therefore the Lord of the Temple, and the\nheavenly King of Israel. But they love the darkness rather than the\nlight, because their deeds are evil: therefore their hearts remain\nunchanged, the eyes of their spirit unopened; they are only abashed\nand silenced: \"No man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any\nman from that day forth ask Him any more questions.\"\n\n\nIII.--THE HOUSE LEFT DESOLATE (xxiii.).\n\nThe day of grace is over for the leaders of the people; but for the\npeople themselves there may still be hope; so the Lord of the Temple\nturns to \"the multitude,\" the general throng of worshippers, mingled\nwith whom were several of His own disciples, and solemnly warns them\nagainst their spiritual guides. There is every reason to suppose that\nmany of the scribes and Pharisees were within hearing; for when He\nhas finished what He has to say to the people, He turns round and\naddresses them directly in that series of terrible denunciations which\nfollow (ver. 13, _seq._).\n\nHis warning is couched in such a way as not in the least degree to\nweaken their respect for Moses, or for the sacred Scriptures, the\nexposition of which was the duty of their spiritual guides. He\nseparates sharply between the office and the men who hold it. Had they\nbeen true to the position they occupied and the high duties they had\nbeen called to discharge, they would have been worthy of all honour;\nbut they are false men: \"they say, and do not.\" Not only so, but they\ndo positive evil, making that grievous for the people which ought to\nbe a delight; and when they do or seem to do the right thing, it is\nsome petty observance, which they exaggerate for the sake of vain\ndisplay, while their hearts are set on personal pre-eminence. Such are\nthe leading thoughts set forth with great vigour of language and force\nof illustration, and not without a touch of keen and delicate irony in\nour Lord's remarkable indictment of the scribes and Pharisees recorded\nby our Evangelist (vv. 2-7).\n\n * * * * *\n\nThen follows one of those passages of profound significance and\nfar-reaching application which, while admirably suiting the immediate\noccasions on which they were spoken, prove to be a treasury of truth\nfor the ages to come. At first sight it strikes us as simply an\nexhortation to cultivate a disposition the reverse of that of the\nscribes and Pharisees. He has been drawing their portrait; now He\nsays, Be ye not like unto them, but unlike in every respect. But in\nsaying this He succeeds in laying down great principles for the\nfuture guidance of His Church, the remembrance of which would have\naverted most of the evils which in the course of its history have\nweakened its power, hindered its progress, and marred its witness to\nthe truth. With one stroke He abolishes all claims of men to intervene\nbetween the soul and God. \"One is your Teacher\" (R.V.), \"One is your\nFather,\" \"One is your Master.\" Who is that One? He does not in so many\nwords claim the position for Himself; but it is throughout implied,\nand at the end almost expressed; for, while in speaking of the Teacher\nand the Father He says nothing to indicate who the One is, when He\ncomes to the Master, He adds \"even the Christ\" (R.V.). Standing thus\nat the end of all, these words suggest that the office of the Christ\nwas to bring God within reach of every soul, so that without any\nintervention of scribe or Pharisee, priest or pope, each one could go\ndirect to Him for instruction (Teacher), for loving recognition\n(Father), for authoritative guidance and control (Master).\n\nWe must remember, too, that He was speaking to His disciples as well\nas to the multitude, and to them these words would be full of meaning.\nWhen He said, \"One is your Teacher,\" of whom could they possibly think\nbut of Himself? When He said, \"One is your Father,\" they would recall\nsuch utterances as \"I and My Father are One,\" and have suggested to\nthem the truth which was so very soon to be plainly stated: \"He that\nhath seen Me, hath seen the Father.\" It is probable, then, that even\nbefore He reached the end, and added the words \"even the Christ,\" the\nminds of His disciples at least had anticipated Him. Thus we find in\nthese remarkable words an implicit claim on the part of Christ to be\nthe sole Prophet, Priest, and King of His people: their sole Prophet,\nto teach them by the enlightening and sanctifying grace of the Holy\nSpirit; their sole Priest, to open up the way of access to a\nreconciled Father in heaven; their sole King, alone entitled to be the\nLord of their conscience and their heart.\n\nIf only the Christian Church had been true to all this, how different\nwould her history have been! Then the Word of God would have been,\nthroughout, the only and sufficient rule of faith, and the Holy Spirit\ndealing directly with the spirits of men its sole authoritative\ninterpreter. Then would there have been no usurping priesthood to\nstand between the souls of men and their Father in heaven, to bind\nheavy burdens and grievous to be borne and lay them upon men's\nshoulders, to multiply forms and observances and complicate what\nshould have been simplest of all--the direct way to the Father in\nheaven, through Christ the great Priest of humanity. Then would there\nhave been no lordship over men's consciences, no ecclesiastical\nusurpation, no spiritual tyranny, no inquisition, no persecution for\nconscience' sake. How inexcusable has it all been! It would seem as if\npains had been taken deliberately to violate not only the spirit, but\nthe very letter of the Saviour's words, as _e.g._ in the one fact\nthat, while it is expressly written \"Call no man your father upon the\nearth,\" the Church of Rome has actually succeeded age after age in\ngetting the millions under its usurped spiritual control, to give a\nman that very title; for the word \"pope\" is the very word[20] which\nour Lord so expressly forbids. But all clerical assumption of\npriestly power is just as certainly and as clearly in violation of\nthis great charter of our spiritual liberties.\n\n\"And all ye are brethren.\" This is the second commandment of the true\ncanon law, like unto the first, and springing naturally out of it, as\nnaturally as the love of neighbour springs out of love to God. As soon\nas the time shall come when all Christians shall own allegiance alike,\nfull and undivided, to the one Lord of mind and heart and conscience,\nthen will there be an end to all ecclesiastical exclusiveness, then\nshall we see realised and manifested to the world the brotherhood in\nChrist of all believers.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTurning once again to the scribes and Pharisees, the Lord of the\nTemple denounces them in words perhaps the most terrible in the whole\nBible. It is a very thunderstorm of indignation, with flash after\nflash of scorn, peal after peal of woe. It is \"_the_ burden of\nthe Lord,\" \"the wrath of the Lamb.\" Is this at all inconsistent with\nthe meekness and lowliness of His heart, the love and tenderness of\nHis character? Certainly not. Love is no love at all, unless it be\ncapable of indignation against wrong. Besides, it is no personal\nwrongs which stir the heart of Jesus, \"Who when He was reviled,\nreviled not again, when He suffered, He threatened not\"; but the wrong\nthese hypocrites are doing to the poor sheep they are leading all\nastray. The occasion absolutely demanded a tempest of indignation.\nThere is this further to be considered, that the Lord Jesus, as\nRevealer of God, must display His justice as well as His mercy, His\nwrath as well as His love.\n\nThis passage, terrible as it is, commends itself to all that is noblest\nand best in us. Who is there who does not thank God for this scathing\ndenunciation of that most hateful of all abominations--hypocrisy?\nSee how He brands it in every sentence--\"Woe unto you, scribes and\nPharisees, hypocrites!\"--how piece by piece He shows their miserable\nlife to be a lie. _Hypocrites!_ because you profess to sit in Moses'\nseat, to have the key of knowledge, to know the way of life\nyourselves, and show it to others; and all this profession is a lie\n(ver. 13). _Hypocrites!_ because your pretended charity is a lie,\naggravated by the forms of devotion with which it is masked, while the\nessence of it is most sordid avarice (ver. 14). _Hypocrites!_ because\nyour zeal for God is a lie, being really a zeal for the devil, your\nconverts being perverts worse than yourselves (ver. 15). _Hypocrites!_\nbecause your morality is a lie, making the law of God of none effect\nby your miserable casuistry (vv. 16-22). _Hypocrites!_ because your\ndevotion is a lie, consisting merely in punctilious attention to the\nminutest forms, while the weighty matters of the law you set aside,\nlike those who \"strain out the gnat and swallow the camel\" (vv. 23,\n24, R.V.). _Hypocrites!_ because your whole demeanour is a lie, all\nfair without like a whited sepulchre, while within ye are \"full of\ndead men's bones, and of all uncleanness\" (vv. 25-28). _Hypocrites!_\nbecause your pretended reverence for the prophets is a lie, for had\nyou lived in the days of your fathers you would have done as they did,\nas is plain from the way in which you are acting now; for you build\nthe tombs of the dead prophets and put to death the living ones (vv.\n29-31).\n\nThe sin branded, sentence follows: \"Fill ye up then the measure of\nyour fathers.\" Since you will not be saved, there is nothing for it\nbut that you go on in sin to the bitter end: serpents, \"for ever\nhissing at the heels of the holy,\" a brood of vipers, with no hope now\nof escaping the judgment of Gehenna!\n\nAs in the Sermon on the Mount (see page 102) so here, when He speaks\nas Judge He cannot conceal His personal majesty. All throughout He has\nbeen speaking with authority, but has, as usual, avoided the obtrusion\nof His personal prerogative. Even in saying \"One is your Master, even\nthe Christ,\" it is not at all the same as if He had said, even Myself.\nAll it necessarily conveyed was, \"One is your master, even the\nMessiah,\" whoever he may be. But now He speaks as from His judgment\nthrone. He is no longer thinking of Himself as one of the prophets, or\neven as the King's Son, but as Lord of all; so He says: \"Wherefore,\nbehold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some\nof them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge\nin your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon\nyou may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth,\" from Abel to\nZacharias.[21] And, again, \"Verily I say unto you, All these things\nshall come upon this generation.\"\n\nBut judgment is His strange work. He has been compelled by the fire of\nHis holiness to break forth into this tempest of indignation against\nthe hypocrites, and to pronounce upon them the long-deferred sentence\nof condemnation and wrath. But there has been a wail in all His woes.\nHis nature and His name is love, and it must have been a terrible\nstrain on Him to keep up the foreign tone so long. \"The _wrath_ of the\n_Lamb_\" is a necessary but not a natural combination. We may not\nwonder, then, though well we may adore, when after the tension of\nthese woes, His heart is melted into tenderness as He mourns over the\nfate which all His love may not avert: \"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou\nthat killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee,\nhow often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen\ngathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!\" Again,\nobserve the lofty consciousness shining out in the little pronoun\n\"_I_.\" He is a young man of little more than thirty; but His personal\nconsciousness runs back through all the ages of the past, through all\nthe times of the killing of the prophets and stoning of the messengers\nof God, from Abel on to Zachariah: and not only so, but this Son of\nIsrael speaks in the most natural way as the brooding mother of them\nall through all their generations--what wonders, not of beauty alone,\nand of exquisite pathos, but of conscious majesty in that immortal\nlamentation!\n\n * * * * *\n\nOur Saviour's public ministry is closed. He has yet many things to say\nto His disciples--a private ministry of love to fulfil ere He leave\nthe world and go to the Father; but His public ministry is ended now.\nCommenced with beatitudes, it ends with woes, because the blessings\noffered in the beatitudes have been rudely rejected and trampled\nunderfoot. And now the Lord of the Temple is about to leave it--to\nleave it to its fate, to leave it as He counselled His disciples to\nleave any city or house that refused to receive them: shaking the\ndust off His feet; and in doing so, as He turns from the astonished\nhierarchs, He utters these solemn words, which close the time of their\nmerciful visitation and leave them to \"eat of the fruit of their own\nway, and be filled with their own devices\": \"Behold, your house is\nleft unto you desolate.\" _Your_ house. It was Mine. I was its glory,\nand would have been its defence; but when I came unto My own, Mine own\nreceived Me not; and now it is no longer Mine but yours, and therefore\ndesolate. _Desolate_; and therefore defenceless, a ready prey for the\nRoman eagles when they swoop on the defenceless brood. \"For I say unto\nyou, Ye shall not see Me henceforth till\"--till when? Is there still a\ndoor of hope? There is, even for scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites;\nthe door ever open here on earth: \"Him that cometh unto Me, I will in\nnowise cast out.\" The door is closed upon them for ever as leaders of\nthe people; as temple authorities they can never be recognised\nagain,--their house is left to them desolate; but for themselves there\nis still this door of hope; these awful woes therefore are not a final\nsentence, but a long, loud, last call to enter ere it be too late. And\nas if to show, after all the wrath of His terrible denunciation, that\njudgment is \"His strange work\" and that He \"delighteth in mercy,\" He\npoints in closing to that still open door, and says, \"Ye shall not see\nMe henceforth, _till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the\nname of the Lord_.\"\n\nWhy did they not say it then? Why did they not entreat Him to remain?\nBut they did not. So \"Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple\"\n(xxiv. 1); and though eighteen hundred years have rolled away since\nthen, the time has not yet come when as a people they have said,\n\"Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord\"; accordingly their\nhouse is still desolate, and they are \"scattered and peeled\"--chickens\nthat will not nestle under the mother's wing.\n\n[17] See the accounts in the second and third Gospels.\n\n[18] Another example of the use of the same illustration more than\nonce. See ix. 15.\n\n[19] Compare the same thought in Ps. xvi. 8-11.\n\n[20] \"_Papa_,\" pope, is the Latin translation of the Hebrew word\nfor Father.\n\n[21] The reason why these two are named is sufficiently obvious, when\nwe remember that the second Book of Chronicles, in which the martyrdom\nof Zachariah is recorded, was the last book of the Hebrew Scriptures,\njust as we might say, _All_ the promises from Genesis to\nRevelation. The difficulty which has been made so much of (Barachias\n_v._ Jehoiada) is of no importance except to those who will not\nremember that the letter killeth and the spirit giveth life.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII.\n\n_THE PROPHECY ON THE MOUNT._\n\nMATT. xxiv., xxv.\n\n\nWe have seen that though the Saviour's public ministry is now closed,\nHe still has a private ministry to discharge--a ministry of counsel\nand comfort to His beloved disciples, whom He soon must leave in a\nworld where tribulation awaits them on every side. Of this private\nministry the chief remains are the beautiful words of consolation left\non record by St. John (xiii.-xvii.), and the valuable words of\nprophetic warning recorded by the other Evangelists, occupying in this\nGospel two long chapters (xxiv., xxv.).\n\nThis remarkable discourse, nearly equal in length to the Sermon on the\nMount, may be called the Prophecy on the Mount; for it is prophetic\nthroughout, and it was delivered on the Mount of Olives. From the way\nin which it is introduced (vv. 1-3) we see that it is closely\nconnected with the abandonment of the Temple, and that it was\nsuggested by the disciples calling His attention to the buildings of\nthe Temple, which were in full view of the little group as they sat on\nthe Mount of Olives that memorable day--buildings which seemed stately\nand stable enough in their eyes, but which were already tottering to\ntheir fall before\n\n \"... that Eye which watches guilt\n And goodness; and hath power to see\n Within the green the mouldered tree,\n And towers fallen as soon as built.\"\n\nThus everything leads us to expect a discourse about the fate of the\nTemple. The minds of the whole group are full of the subject; and out\nof the fulness of their hearts the question comes, \"Tell us, when\nshall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and\nof the end of the world?\" From the latter part of the question it is\nevident that the coming of Christ and the end of the world were\nclosely connected in the disciples' minds with the judgment that was\nabout to come upon the Temple and the chosen people--a connection\nwhich was right in point of fact, though wrong in point of time. We\nshall not be surprised, therefore, to discover that the burden of the\nfirst part of the prophecy is that great event to which the attention\nof all was at that moment so pointedly directed. But since the near as\nwell as the distant event is viewed as the coming of the Son of man,\nwe may give to what may be called the prophecy proper as distinguished\nfrom the pictures of judgment that follow, a title which embodies this\nunifying thought.\n\n\nI. THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN (vv. 3-44).\n\nIn secular history the destruction of Jerusalem is nothing more than\nthe destruction of any other city of equal size and importance. It is\nindeed marked out from similar events in history by the peculiarly\nterrible sufferings to which the inhabitants were subjected before the\nfinal overthrow. But apart from this, it is to the general historian\nan event precisely similar to the destruction of Babylon, of Tyre, of\nCarthage, or of any other ancient city once the seat of a dominion\nwhich now has passed away. In sacred history it stands alone. It was\nnot merely the destruction of a city, but the close of a\ndispensation--the end of that great age which began with the call of\nAbraham to come out from Ur of the Chaldees, and be the father of a\npeople chosen of the Lord. It was \"the end of the world\" (comp. R.V.,\nver. 3, margin) to the Jews, the end of the world which then was, the\npassing away of the old to give place to the new. It was the event\nwhich bore the same relation to the Jews as the Flood did to the\nantediluvians, which was emphatically the end of the world to them. If\nwe bear this in mind it will enable us to appreciate the tremendous\nimportance assigned to this event wherever it is referred to in the\nsacred Scriptures, and especially in this momentous chapter.\n\nBut though the destruction of Jerusalem is the primary subject of the\nprophecy, in its full sweep it takes a far wider range. The Saviour\nsees before Him with prophetic eye, not only that great event which\nwas to be the end of the world which then was--the close of the\ndispensation of grace which had lasted two thousand years; but also\nthe end of all things, when the last dispensation of grace--not for\nIsrael alone, but for the whole world--shall have come to a close.\nThough these two events were to be separated from each other by a long\ninterval of time, yet were they so closely related in their nature and\nissues that our Lord, having in view the needs of those who were to\nlive in the new dispensation, could not speak of the one without also\nspeaking of the other. What He was then saying was intended for the\nguidance, not only of the disciples then around Him, and of any other\nJews who might from them receive the message, but also for the\nguidance of the whole Christian Church throughout the world to the end\nof time,--another marvellous illustration of that sublime\nconsciousness of life and power, infinitely beyond the limits of His\nmere manhood, which is ever betraying itself throughout this wondrous\nhistory. Had He confined Himself to the destruction of Jerusalem, His\nwords would have had no special interest for us, any more, for\nexample, than the burden of Babylon or of Tyre or of Dumah in the Old\nTestament Scriptures; but when He carries us on to that Last Great\nDay, of which the day of Jerusalem's destruction (as closing the Old\nTestament dispensation) was a type, we recognise at once our own\npersonal interest in the prophecy; for we ourselves are individually\nconcerned with that Day--we shall then either be overwhelmed in the\nruins of the old, or shall rejoice in the glories of the new;\ntherefore we should feel that this prophecy has an interest for us as\npersonal as it had for those who first heard it on the Mount of\nOlives.\n\nAs might be expected from the nature of its subject, the\ninterpretation of the prophecy in matters of detail is beset with\ndifficulties. The sources of difficulty are sufficiently obvious. One\nis in the elimination of time. The time of both events is studiously\nconcealed, according to the principle distinctly announced by our\nSaviour just before His ascension: \"It is not for you to know the\ntimes or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.\"\nThere are in each case signs given, by which the approach of the event\nmay be recognised by those who will give heed to them; but anything in\nthe shape of a date is studiously avoided. It is perhaps not too much\nto say that nine-tenths of the difficulties which have been\nencountered in the interpretation of this passage have arisen from the\nunwarrantable attempts to introduce dates into it.\n\nAnother difficulty arises from the similarity of the two events\nreferred to, and the consequent applicability of the same language to\nboth of them. This leads to different opinions as to which of the two\nis referred to in certain places. To show the source of these\ndifficulties is to suggest their solution; for when we consider that\none event is the type of the other, that one is as it were the\nminiature of the other, the same on a much smaller scale, we need not\nhesitate to apply the same language to both,--it may be literally in\nthe one case and figuratively in the other; or it may be in a\nsubordinate sense in the one case, and in the fullest sense in the\nother; or it may be in precisely the same sense in both cases. In\ngeneral, however, it will be observed that the lesser event--the\ndestruction of Jerusalem--stands out in full prominence in the\nbeginning of the prophecy, and the greater event--the Great Day of our\nSaviour's appearing--in the latter part of it.\n\nStill another source of difficulty is that, while our Saviour's object\nin giving the prophecy was practical, the object of many who study the\nprophecy is merely speculative. They come to it to satisfy curiosity,\nand as a matter of course they are disappointed, for our Lord did not\nintend when He spoke these words to satisfy so unworthy a desire; and,\nthough His word never returns to Him void, it accomplishes that which\nHe pleases, and nothing else; it prospers in the thing to which He has\nsent it, but not in the thing to which He has not sent it. He has sent\nus this, not to satisfy our curiosity, but to influence our conduct;\nand if we use it not for speculative but for practical purposes--not\nto find support for any favourite theory, which parcels out the\nfuture, giving days and hours, which neither the angels in heaven nor\nthe Son of man Himself could tell (Mark xiii. 32)--but to find food\nfor our souls, then we shall not be troubled with so many\ndifficulties, and we shall certainly not be disappointed.\n\nBefore we pass from the difficulties of this prophecy, observe how\nstrong an argument they furnish for its genuineness. Those who deny\nthe divinity of Christ are greatly troubled with this prophecy, so\nmuch so that the only way in which they can get rid of its witness to\nHim is by suggesting that it was really composed after the destruction\nof Jerusalem, and therefore never spoken by Christ at all. There are\ndifficulties enough of other kinds in the way of such a disposal of\nthe prophecy; but there is one consideration which absolutely forbids\nit--viz., that any one writing after the event would have avoided all\nthat vagueness of language which gives trouble to expositors. To those\nwho can judge of internal evidence, its obscurity is clear proof that\nthis discourse could not have been produced in the full light of the\nsubsequent history, but must have been what it professes to be, a\nforeshadowing of coming events.\n\nWe may not, with the limits imposed by the plan of these expositions,\nattempt a detailed explanation of this difficult prophecy, but must\ncontent ourselves with giving only a general view. Our Lord first\nwarns His disciples against expecting the crisis too early (vv. 4-14).\nIn this passage He prepares the minds of His disciples for the times\nof trouble and trial through which they must pass before the coming of\n\"the great and notable day of the Lord\" which was at hand: there shall\nbe false Christs and false prophets--there shall be wars and rumours\nof wars, and shaking of the nations, and famines, and pestilences, and\nearthquakes in divers places; yet will all these be only \"the\nbeginning of sorrows.\" He also prepares their minds for the gigantic\nwork which must be done by them and by their brother-disciples before\nthat great day: \"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all\nthe world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end\ncome.\" Thus are the disciples taught the very important and thoroughly\npractical truth, that they must pass through a great trial and do a\ngreat work before the Day shall come.\n\nHe then gives them a certain sign by which they shall know that the\nevent is imminent, when it does approach. This is not equivalent to\nfixing a date. He gives them no idea how long the period of trial\nshall last, no idea how long time they shall have for the great work\nbefore them--He simply gives them a sign, by observing which they\nshall not be taken completely by surprise, but have at least a brief\nspace to make their escape from the condemned city. And so very little\ntime will elapse between the sign and the event to which it points,\nthat He warns them against any delay, and tells them, as soon as it\nshall appear, to flee at once to the mountains and escape for their\nlives. It is sufficiently evident, by comparing this passage with the\ncorresponding place in Luke, where our Lord speaks of Jerusalem being\ncompassed with armies, that the \"abomination of desolation standing in\nthe holy place\" refers to some particular act of sacrilegious impiety\ncommitted in the Temple just at the time the Romans were beginning to\ninvest the city. Attempts have been made historically to identify this\nprofanation, but it is doubtful if these have been successful. It is\nsufficient to know that whether or not the fact has found a place in\nhistory, it served its purpose as a sign to the Christians in the city\nwho had treasured up in their hearts their Saviour's warning words.\n\nHaving told them what the sign would be, and counselled His disciples\nto lose no time in making their escape as soon as they should see it,\nHe further warns them, in a few impressive words, of the terrors of\nthose days of tribulation (vv. 19-22), and then concludes this portion\nof the prophecy by warning them against the supposition--a very\nnatural one in the circumstances--that even then the Son of man should\ncome.\n\nSo far we have found the leading ideas to be simple and practical, and\nall connected with the destruction of Jerusalem. (1) Do not expect\nthat event too early; for you must pass through many trials and do\nmuch work before it. (2) As soon as you shall see the sign I give you,\nexpect it immediately, and lose no time in making your escape from the\nhorrors of these awful days. (3) Even then, however, do not expect the\npersonal advent of the Son of man; for though it is a day of judgment,\nit is only one of those partial judgments which are necessary on the\nprinciple that \"wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be\ngathered together.\" The personal advent of Christ and the day of final\njudgment are only foreshadowed by, not realised in, the destruction of\nJerusalem and the close of the old dispensation.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe three closing verses of this portion of the prophecy refer\npre-eminently to the great Day of the coming of the Son of man (vv.\n29-31). The word \"immediately\" has given rise to much difficulty, on\naccount of the hasty conclusion to which some have come that\n\"immediately after the tribulation of those days\" must mean\nimmediately after the destruction of Jerusalem; according to which\nall this must have taken place long ago. It is, indeed, sufficiently\nobvious that the tribulation of those days began with the destruction,\nor rather with the besieging, of Jerusalem. But when did it end? As\nsoon as the city was destroyed? Nay. If we wish to get some idea of\nthe duration of those days of tribulation, let us turn to the same\nplace in the same prophecy as given by St. Luke (xxi. 23, 24), where\nit clearly appears that it embraces the whole period of the Jewish\ndispersion and of the standing of the Gentile Church. \"The tribulation\nof those days\" is going on still, and therefore the events of these\nverses are still future. We look forward to the Day of the Lord of\nwhich that terrible day of judgment, to which their thoughts were\nfirst turned, was only a dim foreshadowing--a Day far more august in\nits nature, far more awful in its accompaniments, far more terrible in\nits aspect to those who are unprepared for it, yet full of glory and\nof joy to those who \"love His appearing.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nAppended to the main prophecy are some additional warnings as to time\n(vv. 32-44) setting forth in the most impressive manner the certainty,\nthe suddenness, and, to those who are not looking for it, the\nunexpectedness of the coming of the Day of the Lord. Here again, in\nthe first portion the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the latter\nportion the Day of the Son of man, is prominent. If we bear this in\nmind it will remove a difficulty many have found in ver. 34, which\nseems to say that the events specially referred to in vv. 29-31 would\nbe fulfilled before that generation passed away. But when we remember\nthat the prophecy proper closes with the thirty-first verse, and that\nthe warning as to the imminency of the events referred to commences\nwith ver. 32, the difficulty vanishes; for it is most natural that the\npractical warning should follow the course of the prophecy itself,\nreferring first to the destruction of Jerusalem, and passing from it\nto that grand event of which it was the precursor. On this principle\nvv. 32-35 are quite simple and natural, as well as most impressive,\nand the statement of ver. 34 is seen to be literally accurate.\n\nThe passage from ver. 36 onwards is still quite applicable to the near\nevent, the destruction of Jerusalem; but the language used is\nevidently such as to carry the mind onward to the more distant event\nwhich had been brought prominently forward in the latter part of the\nprophecy (vv. 36-44). In these verses, again, not only is no date\ngiven, but we are expressly told that it is deliberately withheld.\nWhat then? Are we to dismiss the subject from our minds? Quite the\nreverse; for though the time is uncertain, the event itself is most\ncertain, and it will come suddenly and unexpectedly. No time will be\ngiven for preparation to those who are not already prepared. True,\nthere will be the sign of the Son of man in heaven, whatever that may\nbe; but, like the other sign which was the precursor of Jerusalem's\ndestruction, it will appear immediately before the event, barely\ngiving time for those who have their lamps trimmed and oil in their\nvessels with their lamps to arise and meet the Bridegroom; but for\nthose who are not watching, it will be too late--it will be with them\nas with those who lived at the close of the very first dispensation,\nwho were \"eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until\nthe day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood\ncame, and took them all away.... Watch therefore: for ye know not what\nhour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the\nhouse had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have\nwatched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.\nTherefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the\nSon of man cometh.\"\n\n\nII.--PARABLES AND PICTURES OF JUDGMENT\n(xxiv. 45-xxv.).\n\nThe remainder of this great prophecy is taken up with four pictures of\njudgment, very striking and impressive, having for their special\nobject the enforcement of the great practical lesson with which the\nfirst part has closed: \"Watch therefore\" (vv. 42, 43); \"Be ye also\nready\" (ver. 44). In the former portion of the prophecy the\ndestruction of Jerusalem was in the foreground, and in the background\nthe coming of the Son of man to judgment in the end of the world. In\nthis portion the Great Day of the Son of man is prominent throughout.\n\nThe four pictures, though similar in their scope and object, are\ndifferent in their subjects. The first represents those who occupy\npositions of trust in the kingdom; the second and third, all\nprofessing Christians,--the one setting forth inward grace, the other\noutward activity; the fourth is a picture of judgment on the whole\nworld.\n\n1. _The Servant set over the Household_ (xxiv. 45-51).\n\nAs in the case of the man without the wedding garment, a single\nservant is taken as representing a class; and who constitute this\nclass is made quite clear, not only by the fact that the servant is\nset over the household, but also by the nature of the service: \"to\ngive them their food in due season\" (R.V.). The application was\nevidently first to the apostles themselves, and then to all who in the\nfuture should be engaged in the same work of providing spiritual\nnourishment for those under their charge. The very pointed way in\nwhich the parable is introduced, together with the fact that only one\nservant is spoken of, suggests to each one engaged in the work the\nmost careful self-examination. \"Who, then, is a faithful and wise\nservant?\" The underlying thought seems to be, that such an one is not\nvery easily to be found; and that therefore there is a special\nbenediction for those who through the trying years are found both\n\"faithful and wise,\" faithful to their high trust, wise in relation to\nthe momentous issues depending on the manner in which they fulfil it.\nThe benediction on the wise and faithful servant is evidently easy to\nmiss and a great thing to gain.\n\nBut there is more to be thought of than the missing of the blessing.\nThere is a fearful doom awaiting the unfaithful servant, of which the\npicture following gives a terrible presentation. Both offence and\npunishment are painted in the very darkest colours. As to the former,\nthe servant not only neglects his duty but beats his fellow-servants,\nand eats and drinks with the drunken. Here a question arises, What was\nthere to suggest such a representation to the Saviour's mind? Surely\nit could not be intended specially for those who were sitting with Him\non the mount that day. If Judas was among the rest, his sin was not of\nthe nature that would have suggested the parable in this particular\nform, and certainly there is no reason to suppose that any of the rest\nwere in the slightest danger of being guilty of such cruelties and\nexcesses as are here spoken of. Is it not plain then, that the judge\nof all had in His view the dark days to come, when the clergy of a\ndegenerate Church would be actually guilty of cruelties and excesses\nsuch as could not be more fitly set forth in parable than by the\ndisgraceful conduct of \"that wicked servant\"?\n\nThis is still further confirmed by the reason given for such\nrecklessness,--the evil servant saying in his heart, \"My Lord delayeth\nHis coming.\" There is reason to suppose that the early Christians\nexpected the return of the Lord almost immediately. In so far as they\nmade this mistake, it cannot be charged against their Master; for, as\nwe have seen, He warns them against this error throughout the whole of\nthe prophecy. It is plain, however, that those who made this mistake\nwere in no danger of saying in their hearts, \"My Lord delayeth His\ncoming.\" But as time passed on, and the expectation of the Lord's\nspeedy return grew fainter, then there would come in all its force the\ntemptation to those who did not watch against it of counting on the\nLord's delay. When we think of this, we see how necessary it was that\nthe danger should be set forth in language which may have seemed\nunnecessarily strong at the time, but which the future history of the\nChurch only too sadly justified.\n\nThe punishment is correspondingly severe. The word used to picture it\n(\"shall cut him asunder\") is one to make us shudder; and some have\nfelt surprised that our Lord did not shrink from the horror of the\nword. Ah! but it was the horror of the thing which He dreaded, and\nwished to avert. It was the infinite pity of His heart that led Him to\nuse a word which might prove the very strongest deterrent. Besides,\nhow significant it is! Think, again, of whom He is speaking,--servants\nset over His household to give food in due season, who instead of\ndoing this maltreat their fellow-servants and ruin themselves with\nexcess. Think of the duplicity of such conduct. By office in the\nchurch \"exalted unto heaven,\" by practice \"brought down to hell\"! That\nunnatural combination cannot last. These monsters with two faces and\none black heart cannot be tolerated in the universe of God. They shall\nbe _cut asunder_; and then it will appear which of the two faces\nreally belongs to the man: cut asunder, his place shall be appointed\nwith the hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth\n(ver. 51).\n\n2 and 3. _The Virgins; The Talents_ (xxv. 1-30).\n\nThe second and third pictures, presented in the form of two parables\nof the kingdom of heaven, set before us the judgment of Christ at His\ncoming on His professed disciples, distinguishing between real and\nmerely nominal Christians, between the pretended and the true members\nof the kingdom of heaven. In the former parable this distinction is\nset before us in the contrast between the wise and the foolish\nvirgins; in the latter it appears in the form of the one faithful and\nthe two unfaithful servants. No special significance need be attached\nto the respective numbers, which are evidently chosen with a view to\nthe consistency of the parables, not to set forth anything in regard\nto the actual proportion between hypocrites and true disciples in the\nvisible Church.\n\nThe relation between the two parables has been already indicated. The\nfirst represents the Church as waiting, the second as working, for her\nLord; the first shows the necessity of a constant supply of inward\ngrace, the second the need of unremitting outward activity; the\nteaching of the first is, \"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out\nof it are the issues of life\"; of the second, \"Do good as ye have\nopportunity,\" \"Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of\nlife.\" The parable of the Virgins comes appropriately before that of\nthe Talents, inasmuch as a Christian's inner life should be his first\ncare, the outer life being wholly dependent on it. \"Keep thy heart\nwith all diligence,\" is the first command; \"Do thy work with all\ndiligence,\" the second. The first parable calls aloud to every member\nof the Church, \"Be wise\"; the second follows it with another call, as\nurgent as the first, \"Be faithful.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n_The Parable of the Virgins_ (vv. 1-13), with its marriage feast,\nrecalls the parable of the marriage of the King's Son, so recently\nspoken in the Temple. The difference between the two is very clearly\nindicated by the way in which each parable is introduced: there, \"the\nkingdom of heaven _is_ likened\"; here, \"_then shall_ the\nkingdom of heaven _be_ likened.\" The gospel feast which was the\nsubject of the parable spoken in the Temple was already spread; it was\na thing of the present; its word was, \"All things are ready: come to\nthe marriage\"; its preparation had been the object of the heavenly\nBridegroom's first coming. The wedding feast of this parable is yet to\nbe prepared; it is \"the marriage supper of the Lamb\" to which the Lord\nwill call His people at His second coming.\n\nAn interval, therefore, of unknown length must pass meantime; and\nherein, as the sequel will unfold, lies the test which distinguishes\nthe wise from the foolish virgins. This interval is represented by a\nnight, with great appropriateness, seeing that the heavenly\nBridegroom is the Sun of the soul. It being night, all alike grow\ndrowsy and fall asleep. To make this a fault, as some do, is to spoil\nthe parable. Had it been wrong to sleep, the wise virgins would\ncertainly have been represented as keeping awake. If, then, we give a\nmeaning to the sleep, it is not that of spiritual torpor, but rather\nsuch occupation with the concerns of the present life as is natural\nand necessary. As the whole of \"the life that now is,\" up till the\ncoming of the Lord, is represented in the parable by the night, and as\nsleep is the business of night, we may fairly consider that the sleep\nof the parable represents the business of the life that now is, in\nwhich Christians, however anxious to be ready for the coming of the\nLord, must engage, and not only so, but must give themselves to it\nwith an engrossment which for the time may amount to as entire\nabstraction from distinctively spiritual duties as sleep is an\nabstraction from the duties of the day. In this point of view we see\nhow reasonable is our Lord's requirement. He does not expect us to be\nalways equally wide awake to spiritual and eternal things. The wise as\nwell as the foolish slumber and sleep.\n\nIt is not, then, by the temptation to sleep that the interval tests\nthe virgins, but by bringing out a difference which has existed all\nthe while, though at the first it did not appear. All seemed alike at\nthe beginning of the night. Had not every one of them a lamp, with oil\nin it, and were not the lights of all the ten brightly burning? Yes;\nand if the Bridegroom had come at that hour, all would have seemed\nequally ready. But the Bridegroom tarries, and while He tarries the\nbusiness of the night must go on. In this way time passes, till at an\nunexpected moment in the very middle of the night as it were, the cry\nis heard \"Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him. Then\nall those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.\" Still no\ndifference: each of the ten lamps is trimmed and lighted. But see,\nfive of them are going out almost as soon as they are kindled! What is\nthe reason? There is no store of oil. Here, then, is the difference\nbetween the wise and the foolish, and here lies, therefore, the main\npoint of the parable.\n\nWhat, then, are we to understand in the spiritual sphere by this\ndistinction? That the wise and the foolish represent the watchful and\nthe unwatchful is plain enough; but is there not something here to let\nus deeper into the secret of the great difference between the one and\nthe other? In order to get this, it is not at all necessary to ask for\nthe significance of each separate detail--the lamp, the wick, the oil,\nthe oil vessel. The details belong to the drapery of the parable; the\nessentials are manifestly the light and the source whence it comes.\nThe light is the very familiar symbol of the Christian life; the\nsource whence it comes is divine grace, abiding unseen in the heart.\nNow, there is a certain superficial goodness which shines for the\nmoment much as the true light of grace shines, but is connected with\nno perennial supply; there is no oil vessel from which the lamp can be\nconstantly replenished. There may be a flaring up for a moment; but\nthere is no steady enduring light.\n\nAll which points to the conclusion that the foolish virgins represent\nthose professing Christians who have religious emotion enough to\nkindle their lamp of life and make it glow with a flame which looks\nmarvellously like true devotion, but which is little else than the\nblazing up of natural feeling; while the wise virgins represent those\nwhose constant habit is devotion, whose grace is something they carry\nwith them always, so that at any moment the light of it may shine, the\nflame glow, pure, bright, steady, inextinguishable. They may be as\nmuch engaged in the business of life as the others, so that no flame\nof devotion may be seen; but deep down, hidden out of sight, like the\noil in the vessel, there is abiding grace, which is only waiting the\noccasion to burst into a flame, of prayer or praise or joyful welcome\nof the Bridegroom at whatever moment He may come. The distinction,\ntherefore, is between those worldly Christians, whose devotion is a\nthing of now and then, and those thorough Christians whose devotion is\nhabitual, not always to be recognised on the surface of their life,\nnot always to be seen of men, not so as to hinder their engrossment in\nbusiness hours with the ordinary duties of life, but so as to be\nalways _there_, the deep abiding habit of their souls. There is the\nsecret of watchfulness; there the secret of readiness for the coming\nof the Lord.\n\nThis explains why the wise virgins cannot help the foolish. It is not\nthat they are selfish, and will not do it; but that it cannot be done.\nSome commentators, men of the letter, have puzzled themselves as to\nthe advice to go to them that sell and buy. That, again, belongs to\nthe framework of the parable. The thought conveyed is plain enough to\nthose who think not of the letter but of the spirit. It is simply\nthis, that grace is not transferable. A man may belong to the warmest,\ndevoutest, most gracious community of disciples in all Christendom;\nbut if he himself has been foolish, if he has not lived in communion\nwith Christ, if he has not kept himself in communication with the\nFountain of grace, not all the saints in whose company he has passed\nthe night of the Lord's personal absence, however willing they may\nbe, will be able to lend him as much as one drop of the sacred oil.\n\nThe same principles are applicable to the solemn close of the parable.\nThe question has been asked, Why did not the Bridegroom open the door?\nLate though the foolish virgins were, they wished to enter, and why\nshould they not be allowed? Again let us look beyond the letter of the\nparable to the spirit of it--to the great spiritual facts it pictures\nfor us. If it were the mere opening of a door that would remedy the\nlateness, assuredly it would be done; but the real fact is, that the\nlateness is now beyond remedy. _The door cannot be opened._\nPonder the solemn words: \"I know you not.\" It is a question of the\nunion of the life with Christ. The wise virgins had lived a life that\nwas always, even in sleep, hid with Christ in God; the foolish virgins\nhad not: they had lived a life which had transient shows of devotion\nin it, but no reality--a mistake too fatal to be in any wise remedied\nby the spasms of a few minutes at the close. It is the old familiar\nlesson, that cannot be taught too often or taken to heart too\nearnestly: that the only way to die the death of the righteous is to\nlive the life of the righteous.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_The Parable of the Talents_ deals with the same subjects--viz., the\nprofessed disciples of Christ; only instead of searching the reality\nof their inner life, it tests the faithfulness of their service. As in\nthe former parable so in this, stress is laid on the time that must\nelapse before the Lord's return. The employer of the servants travels\n\"into a far country\"; and it is \"after a long time\" (ver. 19) that \"He\ncometh, and reckoneth with them.\" Similarly, in the cognate parable of\n\"the pounds,\" reported by St. Luke, we are told that it was spoken,\n\"because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately\nappear\" (Luke xix. 11). It would seem, therefore, that both these\nparables were intended to guard against the temptation to make the\nanticipation of the Lord's return an excuse for neglect of present\nduty.\n\nThere is evidence that within a short time some Christians in\nThessalonica fell into this very temptation,--so much so as to render\nit necessary that the apostle Paul should write them a letter, his\nsecond epistle, for the express purpose of reproving them and setting\nthem right. His first Epistle to the Thessalonians had laid stress on\nthe suddenness of the Lord's coming, as Christ Himself does again and\nagain throughout this discourse; but the result was that some of them,\nconfounding suddenness with imminence, gave themselves up to idle\nwaiting or feverish expectancy, to the neglect even of the most\nordinary duties. To meet this he had to call attention to the divine\nordinance, that \"if any would not work, neither should he eat,\" and to\nenforce it with all the authority of Christ Himself: \"Now them that\nare such (viz., those excited \"busybodies\" \"working not at all\") we\ncommand and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they\nwork, and eat their own bread\" (2 Thess. iii. 10-12); following it up\nwith a caution, on the other hand, against allowing the Lord's delay\nto discourage them in their activity in His service: \"But ye,\nbrethren, be not weary in well doing.\"\n\nAll this helps us to see how necessary it was that the parable of\nwaiting should be followed by a summons to work, and to admire the\nmarvellous insight of our Lord into human nature in recognising\nbeforehand where hidden dangers would lurk in His people's path.\nUnhappily, it is not necessary to go back to the case of the\nThessalonians to see how needful it is that the parable of work should\ngo along with the parable of waiting; we have painful illustration of\nit in our own day. Thanks to the clearness and strength of our Lord's\nteaching, the great majority of those who in our day look for His\nalmost immediate return are not only diligent in work, but an example\nand a rebuke to many who do not share their expectations; but on the\nother hand there are not a few who have been so far led astray as to\ngive up positions of great usefulness, and discontinue work in which\nthey had been signally blessed, with the idea that the great event\nbeing now so near, the sole duty of the believer is to wait for it.\n\nThe parable assumes that all disciples are servants of Christ, and\nthat all of them have work for Christ to do. There is no reason,\nhowever, for narrowing the field of service to what is in current\nphrase distinctively spoken of as \"Christian work.\" All the work of\nChristian people should be Christian work, and is Christian work, if\nit be done as it ought to be done, \"as to the Lord.\" There must\nevidently, however, be the desire and purpose to \"serve the Lord\nChrist,\" whatever the nature of the service be.\n\nThe talents signify ability and opportunity. We must beware of using\nthe word in any limited or conventional sense. In ordinary\nconversation the word is generally applied to abilities above the\naverage, as, for example, when a man of more than ordinary ability is\nspoken of as \"a man of talent,\" or \"a talented man.\" The word ability,\nindeed, is used in the same way. \"A man of ability,\" \"an able man,\"\nmeans a man able to do more than most people can; whereas, properly\nspeaking, and in the sense of the parable, a man who is able to do\nanything--to break stones, to write his name, to speak a sentence of\nsense--is an able man. He is not generally so called, but he really is\na talented man, for God has given him, as He has given to every one,\ncertain ability, and according to that ability is the talent for\nservice with which Christ entrusts him. At first sight this phrase\n\"according to his several ability\" seems invidious, as if suggesting\nthat Christ was a respecter of persons, and dealt more liberally with\nthe strong than with the weak. But the talents are not merely\ngifts,--they are trusts involving responsibility; and therefore it is\nsimple justice to graduate them according to ability. As we shall see,\nthere is no respect of persons in appointing the awards. But as\nrespects the talents, involving as they do a burden of responsibility,\nit is very evident that it would be no kindness to the man of less\nability that he should be made responsible for more than he can easily\nundertake.\n\nThe gradations of five, two, one, appropriately correspond to what we\nspeak of as superior, ordinary and inferior ability. At this point\noccurs the main distinction between this parable and the similar one\nof the pounds, spoken at a different time and with a different\npurpose. Here the servants all differ at first, but the faithful ones\nare alike in the end, inasmuch as they have done equally well in\nproportion to their ability. There the servants are all alike at the\nbeginning, but the faithful ones receive different awards, inasmuch as\nthey have differed in the degree of their diligence and faithfulness.\nThe two together bring out with striking clearness and force the great\nthought that not success but faithfulness is what the Lord insists on.\nThe weakest is at no disadvantage; he may not only do as well as the\nstrongest, but if the measure of his diligence and faithfulness is\nhigher he may even excel him.\n\nIt is in keeping with the difference in the scope of the two parables\nthat in the one the sums entrusted should be large (talents), in the\nother, small (pounds). In the parable which has for its main lesson,\n\"Make the most of the little you have,\" the amounts entrusted are\nsmall; while the large sums are fitly found in the parable which\nemphasizes what may be called the other side of the great lesson, \"To\nwhom much is given, of them much shall be required.\"\n\nConfining our attention now to the parable before us, we have first\nthe encouraging side in the cases of two of the servants. The number\nis evidently chosen as the very smallest that would bring out the\ntruth that where abilities differ the reward will be the same, if only\nthe diligence and faithfulness be equal. It is quite probable, indeed,\nthat the number of servants thought of was more than three, perhaps\nten,[22] to correspond with the number of the virgins, and that only\nas many cases are taken as were necessary to bring out the truth to be\ntaught.\n\nThese two faithful servants lost no time in setting to work. This\nappears in the Revised Version, where the word \"straightway\" is\nrestored to its right place, indicating that immediately on receiving\nthe five talents the servant began diligently to use them (ver. 16,\nR.V.). The servant with the two talents acted \"in like manner\" (ver.\n17). The result was that each doubled his capital, and each received\nthe same gracious welcome and high promotion when their lord returned\n(vv. 20-23). They had been unequally successful; but inasmuch as this\nwas not due to any difference in diligence, but only to difference in\nability, they were equal in welcome and reward. It is, however, worthy\nof remark that while the language is precisely the same in the one\ncase as in the other, it is not such as to determine that their\nposition would be precisely equal in the life to come. There will be\ndifferences of ability and of range of service there as well as here.\nIn both cases the verdict on the past was \"faithful over a few\nthings,\" though the few things of the one were more than double the\nfew things of the other; and in the same way, though the promise for\nthe future was for the one as well as for the other, \"I will set thee\nover many things,\" it might well be that the many things of the future\nmight vary as the few things of the past had done. But all will be\nalike satisfied, a thought which is beautifully put by Dante in the\nthird canto of his \"Paradise,\" where the sainted Piccarda, in answer\nto the question whether those who, like her, have the lower places\nhave no envy of those above them, gives an explanation of which this\nis the concluding passage:\n\n \"So that as we, from step to step,\n Are placed throughout this kingdom, pleases all,\n Even as our King, Who in us plants His will;\n And in His will is our tranquillity;\n It is the mighty ocean, whither tends\n Whatever it creates and nature makes.\"\n\nWhereupon Dante himself says:\n\n \"Then saw I clearly how each spot in heaven\n Is Paradise, though with like gracious dew\n The supreme virtue shower not over all.\"\n Canto III. 82-90 (Carey).\n\nIt is not suggested, however, in the parable that there is not the\nsame gracious dew showering over all. \"The joy of the Lord\" would\nappear to be the same for all; but it is significant that the leading\nthought of heavenly reward is not joy, but rather promotion, promotion\nin service, a higher sphere and a wider range of work, the \"few\nthings\" which have been our glad service here exchanged for \"many\nthings,\" of which we shall be masters there--no more failures, no more\nbungling, no more mortifications as we look back upon work half done\nor ill done or much of it undone: \"I will _set thee over_ many things\n(R.V.).\" That is the great reward; the other follows as of course:\n\"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\nAs in the parable of the Virgins, so here, the force increases as we\npass from encouragement to warning. The closing scene is solemn and\nfearful. That the man with one talent should be selected as an\nillustration of unfaithfulness is very significant--not certainly in\nthe way of suggesting that unfaithfulness is more likely to be found\namong those whose abilities are slender and opportunities small; but\nso as to make it plain that, though all due allowance is made for\nthis, it can in no case be accepted as an excuse for want of\nfaithfulness. It is just as imperative on the man with one talent, as\non him with five, to do what he can. Had the illustration been taken\nfrom one with higher endowments, it might have been thought that the\ngreatness of the loss had something to do with the severity of the\nsentence; but, as the parable is constructed, no such thought is\nadmissible: it is perfectly clear that it is no question of gain or\nloss, but simply of faithfulness or unfaithfulness: _Hast thou done\nwhat thou couldst?_\n\nThe offence here is not, as in the first of the four pictures of\njudgment, painted in dark colours. There was no beating of\nfellow-servants or drinking with the drunken, no conduct like that of\nthe unjust steward or the unmerciful creditor who took his\nfellow-servant by the throat--it was simple neglect: \"I was afraid,\nand went and hid thy talent in the earth.\" The servant had such a\nmodest estimate of his own abilities that he was even afraid he might\ndo mischief in trying to use the talent he had, so he laid it away and\nlet it alone. The excuse he makes (vv. 24, 25) is very true to nature.\nIt is not modesty after all that is at the root of the idleness of\nthose who hide their talent in the earth; it is unbelief. They do not\nbelieve in God as revealed in the Son of His love; they think of Him\nas a hard Master; they shrink from having anything to do with\nreligion, rather wonder at those who have the assurance to think of\n_their_ serving God, or doing anything for the advancement of His\nkingdom. They know not the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and\ntherefore it is that they hold aloof from Him, refusing to confess\nHim, declining to employ in His service the talents entrusted to their\ncare.\n\nAt this point there is an instructive contrast between the parable of\nthe Virgins and the one before us. There the foolish virgins failed\nbecause they took their duties too easily; here the servant fails\nbecause he thinks his duties too hard. Bearing this in mind, we\nrecognise the appropriateness of the Lord's answer. He might have\nfound fault with his excuse, showing him how easily he might have\nknown that his ideas of his Master were entirely wrong, and how if he\nhad only addressed himself to the work to which he was called, his\ndifficulties would have disappeared and He would have found the\nservice easily within his powers; but the Master waives all this,\naccepts the hard verdict on Himself, admits the difficulties in the\nway, and then points out that even at the worst, even though he \"was\nafraid,\" even though he had not courage enough, like the other\nservants, to go straightway to the work to which he was first called,\nhe might have found some other and less trying form of service,\nsomething that would have avoided the risks he had not courage to\nface, and yet at the same time have secured some return for his Lord\n(vv. 26, 27). The Master is ready to make all allowance for the\nweakness of His servants, so long as it does not amount to absolute\nunfaithfulness; so long as by any stretch of charity it is possible to\ncall the servant \"good and faithful.\" In this case it was not\npossible. Not faithful but slothful was the word; therefore good it\ncannot be, but--the only other alternative--wicked: \"thou wicked and\nslothful servant.\"\n\nThen follows doom. Instead of promotion, degradation: \"take the talent\nfrom him.\" And in this there is no arbitrary punishment, no penalty\nneeding to be _inflicted_--it comes as the result of a great law\nof the universe, according to which unused powers fall into atrophy,\nparalysis, and death; while on the other hand faithful and diligent\nuse of power enlarges it more and more: \"Take therefore the talent\nfrom him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every\none that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from\nhim that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.\" As the\nnecessary and natural sequel to promotion in service was the joy of\nthe Lord, so the natural and necessary sequel of degradation is the\n\"outer darkness,\" where \"there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\"\n\n\n4. _The Final Separation_ (xxv. 31-46).\n\nAs in the Sermon on the Mount, and again in the last discourse in the\nTemple, so here, the language rises into a strain of great majesty and\nsublimity as the prophecy draws to a close. No one can fail to\nrecognise it. This vision of judgment is the climax of the teaching of\nthe Lord Christ. Alike for magnificence and for pathos it is\nunsurpassed in literature. There is no departure from His wonted\nsimplicity of style. As little here as everywhere else do we recognise\neven a trace of effort or of elaboration; yet as we read there is not\na word that could be changed, not a clause that could be spared, not a\nthought that could be added with advantage. It bears the marks of\nperfection, whether we look at it from the point of view of the\nSpeaker's divinity or from the point of view of His humanity. Divine\nin its sublimity, it is most human in its tenderness. \"Truly this was\nthe Son of God.\" Truly this was the Son of man.\n\nThe grandeur of the passage is all the more impressive by contrast\nwith what immediately follows: \"And it came to pass, when Jesus had\nfinished all these sayings, He said unto His disciples, Ye know that\nafter two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is\nbetrayed to be crucified.\" Into such an abyss was the Son of man\nlooking when in language so calm, so confident, so majestic, so\nsublime, He spoke of sitting on the throne of His glory as the Judge\nof all mankind. Did ever man speak like this Man?\n\nIt is significant that even when speaking of the coming glory He still\nretains His favourite designation, \"the Son of man.\" In this we see\none of the many minute coincidences which show the inner harmony of\nthe discourses recorded in this Gospel with those of a different style\nof thought preserved by St. John; for it is in one of these we read\nthat \"He (the Father) hath given Him authority to execute judgment,\nbecause He is the Son of man.\" Thus the judgment of humanity proceeds\nout of humanity itself, and constitutes as it were the final offering\nup of man to God. This on the God-ward side; and, on the other side,\nthere is for those who stand before the Judge, the certainty that as\nSon of man He knows by experience all the weaknesses of those He\njudges and the force of the temptations by which they have been beset.\n\nNothing could be more impressive than the picture set before us of the\nthrone of glory, on which is seated the Son of man with all the angels\naround Him and all nations gathered before Him. It is undoubtedly the\ngreat assize, the general judgment of mankind. No partial judgment can\nit be, nothing less than the great event referred to in that passage\nalready quoted from St. John's Gospel, where after speaking of\njudgment being committed to the Son of man, it is added: \"Marvel not\nat this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the graves\nshall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,\nunto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the\nresurrection of damnation.\" This view of the passage is supported not\nonly by the universality implied throughout and expressed in the term\n\"all the nations[23]\"; but by every reference to the same subject\nthroughout this Gospel, notably the parables of the Tares and the Net\n(see Matt. xiii. 39-43, 47-50), the general declaration at C\u00e6sarea\nPhilippi, \"The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father, with\nHis angels; and then shall He reward _every man_ according to his\nworks\" (Matt. xvi. 27); and especially the earlier reference to the\nsame event in this discourse, in that portion of it which we have\nspoken of as the prophecy proper, where the mourning of all the tribes\nof earth, and the gathering together of the elect from the one end of\nheaven to the other, are connected with one another and with the\ncoming of the Son of man (Matt. xxiv. 30, 31).\n\nIt seems quite certain, then, that whatever subsequent unfoldings\nthere may be in the later books of the New Testament as to the order\nin which judgment shall proceed, there is no intention here of\nanticipating them. It is true that the preceding parables have each\ngiven a partial view of the judgment,--the first as affecting those in\noffice in the Church, the second and third as applied to the members\nof the Church; but just as those specially contemplated in the first\nparable are included in the wider scope of the second and third, so\nthese contemplated in the second and third are included in the\nuniversal scope of the great judgment scene with which the whole\ndiscourse is fitly and grandly concluded.\n\nIn this great picture of the final judgment the prominent thought is\n_separation_: \"He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd\ndivideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His\nright hand, but the goats on the left.\" How easily and with what\nunerring certainty the separation is made--as easily and as surely as\nthe shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats! Nothing eludes the\nglance of that all-searching Eye. No need of pleading or\ncounter-pleading, of prosecutor or prisoner's counsel, no hope from\nlegal quibble or insufficient proof. All, all is \"naked and opened\nunto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.\" He sees all at a\nglance; and as He sees, He divides by a single dividing line. There is\nno middle position: each one is either on the right or on the left.\n\nThe dividing line is one entirely new. All nations are there; but not\nas nations are they divided now. This is strikingly suggested in the\noriginal by the change from the neuter (nations, \u1f14\u03b8\u03bd\u03b7) to the\nmasculine (them, \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2), indicating as by a sudden flash of\nunexpected light that not as nations, but as individuals, must all be\njudged. The line is one which crosses all other lines that have\ndivided men from one another, so that of all ranks and conditions of\nmen there will be some on the right and some on the left. Even the\nfamily line will be crossed, so that husband and wife, parents and\nchildren, brothers and sisters, may be found on opposite sides of it.\nWhat, then, is this new and final line of separation? The sentence of\nthe King will mark it out for us.\n\nIt is the first and only time that Jesus calls Himself the King. He\nhas displayed His royalty in His acts; He has suggested it in His\ndiscourses and His parables; He has claimed it by the manner of His\nentry into His capital and His temple; He will afterwards assent when\nPilate shall ask Him the plain question; but this is the only place\nwhere He uses the title in speaking of Himself. How significant and\nimpressive is this! It is as if He would once for all before He\nsuffered disclose the fulness of His majesty. His royalty, indeed,\nwas suggested at the very beginning by the reference to the throne of\nHis glory; but inasmuch as judgment was the work which lay immediately\nbefore Him, He still spoke of Himself as the Son of man; but now that\nthe separation is made, now that the books have been opened and\nclosed, He rises above the Judge and styles Himself THE KING.\n\nWe must think of Him now as all radiant with His royal glory--that\nvisage which was \"so marred more than any man\" now shining with\ncelestial light--that Form which was distorted \"more than the sons of\nmen,\" now seen to be the very \"form of God,\" \"the chiefest among ten\nthousand\" of the highest angels round Him, \"altogether lovely,\" the\npersonal embodiment of that glorious kingdom He has been preparing\nthrough all the centuries from the foundation of the world--disclosed\nat last as the answer to every longing soul, the satisfaction of every\npure desire,--THE KING.\n\nAll this we must realise before we can imagine the awful gulf which\nlies between these simple words, \"Depart\" and \"Come.\" That sweet word\n\"Come\"--how He has repeated and repeated it through all these ages, in\nevery possible way, with endless variations! Spoken so tenderly with\nHis own human lips, it has been taken up and given forth by those whom\nHe has sent in His name: the Spirit has said \"Come\"; the Bride has\nsaid \"Come\"; the hearers have said \"Come\"; whosoever would, has been\ninvited to come. The music of the word has never died away. But now\nits course is nearly run. Once more it will ring out; but with a\ndifference. No longer now to all. The line of separation has been\ndrawn, and across \"the great gulf fixed\" the old sweet word of grace\ncan reach no longer. It is to those on the right, and these alone,\nthat now the King says \"Come.\" To those on the left there remains the\nword, a stranger to His lips before, the awful word, \"Depart from Me.\"\n\nIn the contrast between these two words, there already is involved all\nthat follows: all the joy of the welcome--\"Come, ye blessed of My\nFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of\nthe world\"; all the horror of the doom--\"Depart from Me, ye cursed,\ninto everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.\"\n\nStill the great question remains unanswered, _What is the dividing\nline?_ Inasmuch as this belongs to the hidden man of the heart, to\nthe secrecy of consciousness and conscience, the only way in which it\ncould be made to appear in a picture parable of judgment such as this,\nis by the introduction of such a conversation as that which follows\nthe sentence in each case. The general distinction between the two\nclasses had been suggested by the simile of the sheep and the\ngoats--the one white, the other black, the one obedient, the other\nunruly; but it is made much more definite by this dramatic\nconversation. We call it dramatic, because we regard it as extreme\nbondage to the letter to suppose this to be a prediction of the words\nthat will actually be used, and therefore look upon it simply as\nintended to represent, as nothing else could, the new light which both\nthe righteous and the wicked will then see suddenly flashed upon their\nlife on earth, a light so full and clear and self-interpreting that\nthere cannot but be unquestioning acquiescence in the justice of the\nfinal award.\n\nThere are those who, looking at this conversation in the most\nsuperficial way, find in it the doctrine of salvation by works, and\nimagine that they are warranted on the strength of this passage to set\naside all that is written in other parts of Scripture as to the\nnecessity of change of heart, to dismiss from their minds all concern\nabout creed or worship, about doctrine or sacraments or church\nmembership. Be kind to the poor--that will do instead of everything\nelse.\n\nIn answer to such a perversion of our Lord's language it should surely\nbe enough to call attention to the fact that all is made to turn upon\nthe treatment of Christ by the one class and by the other. Kindness to\nthe poor comes in, not as in itself the ground of the division, but as\nfurnishing the evidence or manifestation of that devotion to God as\nrevealed in Christ, which forms the real ground of acceptance, and the\nwant of which is the sole ground of condemnation. True it is that\nChrist identifies Himself with His people, and accepts the kindness\ndone to the poorest of them as done to Himself; but there is obviously\nimplied, what is elsewhere in a similar connection clearly expressed,\nthat the kindness must be done \"in the name of a disciple.\" In other\nwords, love to Christ must be the motive of the deed of charity, else\nit is worthless as a test of true discipleship. The more carefully the\nwhole passage is read, the more manifest will it be that the great\nquestion which determines the separation is this: \"How have you\ntreated Christ?\" It is only to bring out more clearly the real answer\nto this question that the other is added: How have you treated\nChrist's poor? For according to each man's treatment of these will\nhave been his treatment of Christ Himself. It is the same principle\napplied to the unseen Christ as the apostle applies to the invisible\nGod: \"He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he\nlove God Whom he hath not seen?\"\n\nWhile there is no encouragement here for those who hope to make up for\nthe rejection of Christ by deeds of kindness to poor people, there is\nabundant room left for the acceptance at the last of those who had no\nmeans of knowing Christ, but who showed by their treatment of their\nfellow-men in distress that the spirit of Christ was in them. To such\nthe King will be no stranger when they shall see Him on the throne;\nnor will they be strangers to Him. He will recognise them as His own;\nand they will recognise Him as the very King of Love for Whom their\nsouls were longing, but Who not till now has been revealed to their\ndelighted gaze. To all such will the gracious words be spoken \"Come,\nye blessed of My Father\"; but they too, as well as all the rest, will\nbe received not on the ground of works as distinguished from faith,\nbut on the ground of a real though implicit faith which worked by love\nand which was only waiting for the revelation of their King and Lord\nto make it explicit, to bring it out to light.\n\nPhilanthropy can never take the place of faith; and yet no words ever\nspoken or written on this earth have done so much for philanthropy as\nthese. It were vain to attempt, in so brief a sketch, to bring out\neven in the way of suggestion the mingled majesty and pathos of the\nwords of the King to the righteous, culminating in that great\nutterance which touches the very deepest springs of feeling and\nthrills every fibre of the pure and loving heart: \"Inasmuch as ye have\ndone it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it\nunto Me.\" Besides the pathos of the words, what depth of suggestion is\nthere in the thought, as shedding light upon His claim to be the Son\nof man! As Son of God He is the King, seated on the throne of His\nglory; as Son of man He is identified with all His brethren, even with\nthe least of them, and with each one of them all over all the world\nand through all the ages: \"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the\nleast of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.\" How the divinity\nshines, how the humanity thrills, through these great words of the\nKing!\n\nThe scroll of this grand prophecy is finished with the awful words:\n\"These shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into\neternal life\" (R.V.). Eternal punishment, eternal life--such are the\nissues which hang upon the coming of the Son of man to judgment; such\nare the issues which hang upon the treatment of the Son of man in\nthese years of our mortal life that are passing over us now. There are\nthose who flatter themselves with the idea that, because the question\nhas been raised by honest and candid interpreters of Scripture whether\nabsolute endlessness is necessarily involved in the word eternal,\ntherefore these words of doom are shorn of much of their terror; but\nsurely this is a pitiful delusion. There is no possible way of\nreducing the force of the word \"eternal\" which will bring the\nawfulness of the doom within the bounds of any finite imagination; and\nwhatever may be said as to what the word necessarily implies, whatever\nvague surmise there may be that absolute endlessness is not in it,\nthis much is perfectly certain: that there is not the slightest\nsuggestion of hope in the words; no straining of the eyes can discern\neven the straitest gate out of that eternal punishment into eternal\nlife. Between the one and the other there is \"a great gulf fixed.\" It\nis the final judgment; it is the final separation; and scarcely with\nmore distinctness could the awful letters have been traced, \"Leave\nevery hope behind, all ye who enter here.\" \"These shall go away into\neternal punishment; but the righteous\"--none but the righteous--\"into\neternal life.\"\n\n[22] In the parable of the pounds the number of servants is ten, and\nthere, too, only three are selected as examples.\n\n[23] It is not forgotten that the word translated \"nations\" is\ncommonly applied to the Gentiles as distinguished from the Jews; but\nclearly there is no such limitation here. No commentator, at least of\nany note, suggests that the Jews as a nation are not among the nations\ngathered around the throne.\n\n\n\n\nXIX.\n\n_THE GREAT ATONEMENT DAY._\n\nMATT. xxvi. 1--xxvii. 56.\n\n\nWe enter now on the story of the last day of the mortal life of our\nLord and Saviour. We have already noticed the large proportionate\nspace given to the Passion Week; but still more remarkable is the\nconcentration of interest on the Passion Day. The record of that\nsingle day is very nearly one-ninth of the whole book; and a similar\nproportion is observed by all the four Evangelists. This proportion of\nspace is very striking even when we bear in mind that properly\nspeaking the Gospels are not the record of thirty-three or thirty-four\nyears, but only of three or four. Of the story of the years of the\npublic ministry one-seventh part is given to the last day; and this,\ntoo, without the introduction of any lengthened discourse. If the\ndiscourse in the upper room and the intercessory prayer as recorded by\nSt. John were added, it would be, not one-seventh, but almost\none-fourth of the whole. Truly this must be the Day of days!\nUnspeakably sacred and precious as is the entire life of our Lord and\nSaviour, sacred above all and precious above all is His death of shame\nand agony. The same pre-eminence was evidently given to the dying of\nthe Lord Jesus in the special revelation granted to St. Paul, as is\nevident from the fact that, in setting forth the gospel he had been\ncommissioned to preach, he spoke of it as the gospel of \"Jesus Christ\nand Him crucified,\" and put in the foreground, not the incarnate life,\ngreat as he recognised it to be (1 Tim. iii. 16), but the atoning\ndeath of Christ: \"I delivered unto you _first of all_ that which I\nalso received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the\nScriptures.\" Here, then, we have the very gospel of the grace of God.\nHere we enter the inner shrine of the Word, the Holy of Holies of the\nnew covenant. Let us draw near with holy reverence and deep humility,\nyet with the eye of faith directed ever upwards in reliance on the\ngrace of Him Who searcheth all things, even the deep things of God,\nand Whose work and joy it is to take of the things of Christ, even\nthose that are among the deepest things of God, and show them unto us.\n\n\n\"AFTER TWO DAYS\" (xxvi. 1-19).\n\nThis passage does not strictly belong to the history of the one great\nday, but it is the approach to it. It opens with the solemn\nannouncement \"After two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son\nof man is betrayed to be crucified\"; and without any record of the\nSaviour's doings in the interval,[24] it closes with the preparation\nfor the keeping of the feast with His disciples, the directions for\nwhich are introduced by the pathetic words, \"My time is at hand.\"\n\nThe incident at Bethany (vv. 6-13) seems to be introduced here in\nconnection with the development of treason in the soul of Judas. This\nconnection would not be so apparent were it not for the information\ngiven in St. John's account of the feast, that it was Judas especially\nwho objected to what he called \"this waste\" of the ointment, and that\nthe reason why he was displeased at it was because \"he had the bag,\nand bare what was put therein.\" With this in mind we can see how\nnatural it was that, having had no occasion before to tell the story\nof the feast at Bethany, the Evangelist should be disposed to tell it\nnow, as connected in his mind with the traitor's selling of his Lord\nfor thirty pieces of silver.\n\nThe two days of interval would extend from the evening following the\nabandonment of the Temple to the evening of the Passover feast. It is\nimportant always, and especially in studying the days of the Passion\nweek, to bear in mind that, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning,\neach new day began, not with the morning as with us, but with the\nevening. In this they followed a very ancient precedent: \"The evening\nand the morning were the first day.\" The two days, then, would be from\nTuesday evening till Thursday evening; so that with Thursday evening\nbegan the last day of our Lord's Passion. There is no record at all of\nhow He spent the Wednesday; in all probability it was in seclusion at\nBethany. Nor have we any account of the doings of the Thursday save\nthe directions given to prepare the Passover, the keeping of which was\nto be the first act of the last day.\n\nWe may think of these two days, then, as days of rest for our Lord, of\nholy calm and quietude--a sacred lull before the awful storm. What\nwere His thoughts? what His feelings? What passages of Scripture were\nHis solace? Would not the ninety-fourth psalm be one of them? If so,\nhow fondly would He dwell upon that sentence of it, \"In the multitude\nof my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.\" If we only had\na record of His prayers, how rich it would be! If we had the spiritual\nhistory of these two days it would no doubt be full of pleading as\nrich and precious as the prayer of intercession His disciples heard\nand one of them recorded for our sakes, and of yearning as tender and\ntouching as His wail over Jerusalem. But the Spirit, Who takes of the\nthings of Christ and shows them unto us, does not invade the privacy\nof the Saviour's hours of retirement. No diary is published; and\nbeyond doubt it is better so. It may be that in the lives of the\nsaints there has been too much of this--not too much of spiritual\ncommuning, but too much unveiling of it. It may be that there is a\ndanger of leading us to seek after such \"exercises\" as an end in\nthemselves, instead of as mere means to the end of holy and unselfish\nliving. What the world should see is the life that is the outcome of\nthose secret communings with God--it should see the life which was\nwith the Father manifested in glowing word and self-forgetting deed.\nWhy have we no need to see into that holy, loving heart during these\ntwo sacred days in Bethany? Because it is sufficiently revealed in the\nstory of the day that followed it. Ah! the words, the deeds of that\nday--what revealings of heart, what manifestations of the life within\nare there!\n\nThe very silence of these two days is strikingly suggestive of repose.\nWe are presently to hear of the awful agony in the Garden; but from\nthe very way in which we shall hear of it we shall be strengthened in\nthe impression, which no doubt is the true one, that the two days of\ninterval were not days of agony, but days of soul rest; and in this\nwe recognise a striking contrast to the restlessness of those who\nspent the time in plotting His destruction. Contrast, for example, the\ncalm of our Lord's announcement in the second verse, with the uneasy\nplotting in the palace of the high priest. Without agitation He faces\nthe horror of great darkness before Him; without flinching He\nanticipates the very darkest of it all: \"betrayed\"--\"crucified\";\nwithout a tremor on His lips He even specifies the time: \"after two\ndays.\" Now look at that company in the palace of the high priest, as\nwith dark brows and troubled looks they consult how they may take\nJesus by subtlety. Observe how in fear they put it off,--as not safe\nyet, not for nine days at least, till the crowds at the feast, so many\nof whom had so recently been shouting \"Hosanna to the Son of David!\"\nshall have gone home. \"Not for nine days,\" so they resolve. \"After two\ndays,\" so He has said.\n\n \"Oh, but the counsel of the Lord\n Doth stand, for ever sure.\"\n\nChrist knew far more about it than if there had been a spy in the\npalace of the high priest, reporting to Him. He was in communication\nwith One Who doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and\namong the inhabitants of the earth. Caiaphas and his fellow-conspirators\nmay plot what they please, it shall be done according to the counsel\nof the Lord; it shall be so done that an apostle shall be able\nafterwards with confidence to say: \"Him, _being delivered by the\ndeterminate counsel and foreknowledge of God_, ye have taken.\"\n\nThe means by which their counsels were overruled was the treason of\nJudas, into whose dark heart the Bethany incident will afford us a\nglimpse. Its interest turns upon the different values attached to a\ndeed of love, by Judas[25] on the one hand, and by Jesus on the other.\n\nTo Judas it meant waste. And such a waste!--three hundred pence thrown\naway on the foolish luxury of a moment! \"This ointment might have been\nsold for much, and given to the poor.\" Be it remembered that there was\na good deal to be said for this argument. It is very easy for us, who\nhave the limelight of our Lord's words on the whole scene, to see how\npaltry the objection was; but even yet, with this story now published,\nas our Lord said it would be, all over Christendom, how many arguments\nare heard of the very same description! It is not so much to be\nwondered at that the objection of Judas found a good deal of favour\nwith some of the disciples. They could not see the blackness of the\nheart out of which the suggestion came, nor could they see the beauty\nof the love which shed from Mary's heart a perfume far more precious\nthan the odour of the ointment. Probably even Mary was startled; and,\nif her Lord had not at once taken her part, might not have had a word\nto say for herself.\n\n\"But Jesus, perceiving[26] it, said unto them, Why trouble ye the\nwoman? for she hath wrought a good work on Me.\" He understood\nher--understood her perfectly, read at once the whole secret of her\nloving heart, explained her conduct better even than she understood it\nherself, as we shall presently see. He deals very tenderly with the\ndisciples; for He understood them too, saw at once that there was no\ntreason in their hearts, that though they took up the suggestion of\nthe traitor it was in no sympathy with his spirit, but simply because\nof their want of insight and appreciation. He, however, does rebuke\nthem--gently; and then He quietly opens their eyes to the surpassing\nbeauty of the deed they had ventured to condemn. \"She hath wrought a\ngood work upon Me.\" The word translated \"good\" has prominent in it the\nthought of beauty. And since our Lord has set that deed of Mary in its\ntrue light, there is no one with any sense of beauty who fails to see\nhow beautiful it is. The very impulsiveness of the act, the absence of\nall calculation, the simplicity and naturalness of it, the womanliness\nof it--all these add to its beauty as an outburst of love. We can well\nimagine that these words of Jesus may have furnished much of the\ninspiration which thrilled the soul of the apostle as he wrote to the\nCorinthians his noble eulogy of love. Certainly its pricelessness\ncould not have been more notably or memorably taught. Three hundred\npence to be weighed against a true woman's love! \"If a man would give\nall the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be\ncontemned.\"\n\nWe are led into still more sacred ground as we observe how highly the\nSaviour values Mary's affection for Himself. \"She hath wrought a good\nwork upon _Me_\"--\"_Me_ ye have not always\"--\"she did it for\nMy burial.\" Who can reach the pathos of these sacred words? There is\nno doubt that amid the hate by which Jesus was surrounded, with His\nknowledge of the treason in the dark soul of Judas, and His keen sense\nof the want of sympathy on the part of the other disciples, His human\nheart was yearning for love, for sympathetic love. Oh, how He loved!\nand how that love of His was going out to all around Him throughout\nthe Passion week--without return! We may well believe, then, that this\noutburst of love from the heart of Mary must have greatly cheered Him.\n\n\"She hath wrought a good work _upon Me_.\" With the ointment on\nHis head, there had come a far sweeter balm to His wounded heart; for\nHe saw that she was not wanting in sympathy--that she had some idea,\nhowever vague it might be, of the pathos of the time. She felt, if she\ndid not quite see, the shadow of the grave. And this presentiment\n(shall we call it?) not as the result of any special thought about it,\nbut in some dim way, had prompted her to choose this touching manner\nof showing her love: \"In that she hath poured this ointment on My\nbody, she did it for My burial.\" Verily, a true human heart beats\nhere, welcoming, oh! so gladly, this woman's loving sympathy.\n\nBut the Divine Spirit is here too, looking far beyond the needs of\nthe moment or the burdens of the day. No one could more tenderly\nconsider the poor; nothing was nearer to His heart than their\nnecessities,--witness that wonderful parable of judgment with which He\nfinished His public ministry; but He knew well that in that personal\ndevotion which was shown in Mary's loving act was to be found the\nmainspring of all benevolence, and not only so but of all that was\ngood and gracious; therefore to discourage such personal affection\nwould be to seal up the fount of generosity and goodness; and\naccordingly He not only commends it, but He lifts it up to its proper\ndignity, He gives a commendation beyond all other words of praise He\never spoke; looking away down the ages, and out to the ends of the\nearth, and recognising that this love to Himself, this personal\ndevotion to a dying Saviour, was to be the very central force of the\ngospel, and thus the hope of the world, He adds these memorable words:\n\"Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in\nthe whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be\ntold for a memorial of her.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nFrom \"this that this woman hath done\" the record passes at once to\nthat which was done by the man who had dared to find fault with it. It\nalso is told wherever the gospel is preached as a memorial of him.\nBehold, then, the two memorials side by side. Has not the Evangelist\nshown himself the true historian in bringing them together? The\ncontrast intensifies the light that shines from the love of Mary, and\ndeepens the darkness of the traitor's sin. Besides, the story of the\nthree hundred pence is a most fitting prelude to that of the thirty\npieces of silver. At the same time, by suggesting the steps which led\ndown to such an abyss of iniquity, it saves us from the error of\nsupposing that the sin of Judas was so peculiar that no one now need\nbe afraid of falling into it; for we are reminded in this way that it\nwas at bottom the very sin which is the commonest of all, the very sin\ninto which Christians of the present day are in greatest danger of\nfalling.\n\nWhat was it that made so great a gulf between Judas and all the rest?\nNot natural depravity; in this respect they were no doubt much alike.\nWhen the Twelve were chosen there was in all probability as good\nmaterial, so to speak, in the man of Kerioth as in any of the men of\nGalilee. What, then, made the difference? Simply this, that his heart\nwas never truly given to his Lord. He tried throughout to serve God\nand mammon; and if he had been able to combine the two services, if\nthere had been any fair prospect of these thrones on which the Twelve\nwere to sit, and the honours and emoluments of the kingdom with which\nhis fancy had been dazzled, treason would never have entered his mind;\nbut when not a throne but a cross began to loom before him, he found,\nas every one finds some time, that he must make his choice, and that\nchoice was what it invariably is with those who try to serve the two\nmasters. The god of this world had blinded him. He not only failed to\nsee the beauty of Mary's loving deed, as some of the other disciples\ndid just at the first, but he had become quite incapable of any\nspiritual insight, quite incapable of seeing his Master's glory, or\nrecognising His claims. In a certain sense, then, even Judas himself\nwas like the other murderers of Christ in not knowing what he did.\nOnly he might have known, would have known, had not that accursed\nlust of gold been always in the way. And we may say of any ordinary\nworshipper of mammon of the present day, that if he had been in Judas'\nplace, with the prospects as dark as they were to him, with only the\none course left, as it would seem to him, of extricating himself from\na losing concern, he would be in the highest degree likely to do the\nvery same thing.\n\nAs the two days draw to a close we see Judas seeking opportunity to\nbetray his Master, and Jesus seeking opportunity to keep His last\nPassover with His disciples. Again what a contrast! The traitor must\nlurk and lie in wait; the Master does not even remain in Bethany or\nseek some lonely house on the Mount of Olives, but sends His disciples\nright over into the city, and with the same readiness with which He\nhad found the ass's colt on which He rode into Jerusalem He finds a\nhouse in which to keep the feast.\n\n\nI.--THE EVENING (xxvi. 20-30).\n\nThe last day of our Lord's Passion begins at eventide on Thursday with\nthe Passover feast,[27] at which \"He sat down with the Twelve.\"\n\nThe entire feast would be closely associated in His mind with the\ndark event with which the day must close; for of all the types of the\ngreat sacrifice He was about to offer, the most significant was the\npaschal lamb. Most fitting, therefore, was it that towards the close\nof this feast, when its sacred importance was deepest in the\ndisciples' minds, their Master should institute the holy ordinance\nwhich was to be a lasting memorial of \"Christ our Passover sacrificed\nfor us.\" Of this feast, then, with its solemn and affecting close, the\npassage before us is the record.\n\nIt falls naturally into two parts, corresponding to the two great\nburdens on the Saviour's heart as He looked forward to this feast--the\nBetrayal and the Crucifixion (see ver. 2). The former is the burden of\nvv. 21-25; the latter of vv. 26-30. There was indeed very much besides\nto tell--the strife which grieved the Master's heart as they took\ntheir places at the table, and His wise and kindly dealing with it\n(Luke xxii. 24, _seq._); the washing of the disciples' feet; the\nfarewell words of consolation; the prayer of intercession (John\nxiii.-xvii.),--but these are all omitted here, that thought may be\nconcentrated on the two outstanding facts: the unmasking and dismissal\nof the traitor, and the committing to the faithful ones of the sacred\ncharge, \"This do in remembrance of Me.\"\n\n1. It must have been sorrowful enough for the Master as He sat down\nwith the Twelve to mark their unseemly strife, and sadder still to\nthink that, though for the hour so closely gathered round Him, they\nwould soon be scattered every man to his own and would leave Him\nalone; but He had the comfort of knowing that eleven were true at\nheart and foreseeing that after all wanderings and falls they would\ncome back again. \"He knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are\ndust\"; and therefore with the eye of divine compassion He could look\nbeyond the temporary desertion, and find satisfaction in the fidelity\nthat would triumph in the end over the weakness of the flesh. But\nthere was one of them, for whom His heart was failing Him, in whose\nfuture He could see no gleam of light. All the guiding and counsel\nwith which he had been favoured in common with the rest had been lost\non him,--even the early word of special personal warning (John vi.\n70), spoken that he might bethink himself ere it were too late, had\nfailed to touch him. There is now only one opportunity left. It is the\nlast night; and the last word must now be spoken. How tenderly and\nthoughtfully the difficult duty is done! \"As they did eat, He said,\nVerily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me.\" Imagine in\nwhat tones these words were spoken, what love and sorrow must have\nthrilled in them!\n\nThe kind intention evidently was to reach the heart of the one without\nattracting the attention of the rest. For there must have been a\nstudied avoidance of any look or gesture that would have marked the\ntraitor. This is manifest from the way in which the sad announcement\nis received. It comes, in fact, to all the eleven as a summons to\ngreat searchings of heart, a fitting preparation (1 Cor. xi. 28) for\nthe new and sacred service to which they are soon to be invited; and\ntruly there could have been no better sign than the passing from lip\nto lip, from heart to heart, of the anxious question, \"Lord, is it I?\"\nThe remembrance of the strife at the beginning of the feast was too\nrecent, the tone of the Master's voice too penetrating, the glance of\nHis eye too searching, to make self-confidence possible to them at\nthat particular moment. Even the heart of the confident Peter seems to\nhave been searched and humbled under that scrutinising look. If only\nhe had retained the same spirit, what humiliation would have been\nspared him!\n\nThere was one who did not take up the question; but the others were\nall so occupied with self-scrutiny that no one seems to have observed\nhis silence, and Jesus forbears to call attention to it. He will give\nhim another opportunity to confess and repent, for so we understand\nthe pathetic words which follow: \"He that dippeth his hand with Me in\nthe dish, the same shall betray Me.\" This was no mere outward sign for\nthe purpose of denoting the traitor. It was a wail of sorrow, an echo\nof the old lament of the Psalmist: \"Yea, mine own familiar friend, in\nwhom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel\nagainst me.\" How could the heart even of Judas resist so tender an\nappeal?\n\nWe shall understand the situation better if we suppose what is more\nthan probable,[28] that he was sitting very near to Jesus, perhaps\nnext to Him on the one side, as John certainly was on the other. We\ncannot suppose, from what we know of the customs of the East, that\nJudas was the only one dipping with Him in the dish; nor would he be\nthe only one to whom \"the sop\" was given. But if his position was as\nwe have supposed, there was something in the vague words our Saviour\nused which tended to the singling of him out, and, though not the only\none, he would naturally be the first to whom the sop was given, which\nwould be a sufficient sign to John, who alone was taken into\nconfidence at the time (see John xiii. 25, 26), without attracting in\nany special way the attention of the rest. Both in the words and in\nthe action, then, we recognise the Saviour's yearning over His lost\ndisciple, as He makes a last attempt to melt his obdurate heart.\n\nThe same spirit is manifest in the words which follow. The thought of\nconsequences to Himself gives Him no concern; \"the Son of man goeth,\neven as it is written of Him;\" it is the awful abyss into which His\ndisciple is plunging that fills His soul with horror: \"but woe unto\nthat man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that\nman if he had not been born.\" O Judas! Thy treachery is indeed a link\nin the chain of events by which the divine purpose is fulfilled; but\nit was not necessary that so it should be. In some other way the\ncounsel of the Lord would have been accomplished, if thou hadst\nyielded to that last appeal. It was necessary that the Son of man\nshould suffer and die for the world's sin, but there was nothing to\ncompel thee to have thy hand in it.\n\nAt last Judas speaks; but in no spirit of repentance. He takes up, it\nis true, the question of the rest, but not in sincerity--only driven\nto it as the last refuge of hypocrisy. Moreover, he asks it in so low\na tone, that neither it nor the answer to it appears to have been\nnoticed by the general company (see John xiii. 29). And that there is\nno inclining of the heart to his Lord appears perhaps in the use of\nthe formal title Rabbi, retained in the Revised Version: \"Is it I,\nRabbi?\" Had he repented even at this late hour--had he thrown himself,\nhumbled and contrite, at the Saviour's feet, with the question \"Lord,\nis it I?\" struggling to find utterance, or better still, the\nheart-broken confession \"Lord, it is I\"--it would not yet have been\ntoo late. He Who never turned a penitent away would have received even\nJudas back again and forgiven all his sin; and in lowliness of heart\nthe repentant disciple might have received at his Master's hands the\nsymbols of that infinite sacrifice which was sufficient even for such\nas he. But his conscience is seared as with a hot iron, his heart is\nhard as the nether millstone, and accordingly without a word of\nconfession, actually taking \"the sop\" without a sign even of shame, he\ngave himself up finally to the spirit of evil, and went immediately\nout--\"_and it was night_\" (see John xiii. 30). There remain now around\nthe Master none but true disciples.\n\n * * * * *\n\n2. The Passover meal is drawing to a close; but ere it is ended the\nHead of the little family has quite transfigured it. When the traitor\nleft the company we may suppose that the look of unutterable sadness\nwould gradually pass from the Saviour's countenance. Up to this time\nthe darkness had been unrelieved. As he thought of the lost disciple's\nfate, there was nothing but woe in the prospect; but when from that\ndark future he turned to His own, He saw, not the horror of the Cross\nalone, but \"the joy set before Him\"; and in view of it He was able\nwith a heart full of thanks and praise to appoint for remembrance of\nthe awful day a feast, to be kept like the Paschal feast by an\nordinance for ever (see Ex. xii. 14).\n\nThe connection of the new feast with the old is closely maintained. It\nwas \"as they were eating\" that the Saviour took bread, and from the\nway in which He is said to have taken \"a cup\" (R.V.) it is plain that\nit was one of the cups it was customary to take at the Paschal feast.\nWith this in mind we can more readily see the naturalness of the words\nof institution. They had been feasting on the body of the lamb; it is\ntime that they should look directly at the Lamb of God, which taketh\naway the sin of the world; so, taking the new symbol and handing it to\nthem, He says, \"Take, eat; this is My body.\"\n\nHow strange that into words so simple there should have been imported\nanything so mysterious and unnatural as some of the doctrines around which\ncontroversy in the Church has raged for weary centuries--doctrines\nsadly at variance with \"the simplicity that is in Christ.\"[29] At the\nfirst institution of the Passover the directions for eating it close\nwith these words, \"It is the Lord's Passover.\" Does any one for a\nsingle moment suppose that in so putting it Moses meant to assert any\nmysterious identity of two things so diverse in their nature as the\nliteral flesh of the lamb and the historical event known as the Lord's\nPassover? Why, then, should any one for a moment suppose that when\nJesus says, \"This is My body,\" He had any thought of mysterious\ntransference or confusion of identity? Moses meant that the one was\nthe symbol of the other; and in the same way our Saviour meant that\nthe bread was henceforth to be the symbol of His body. The same\nappropriateness, naturalness and simplicity, are apparent in the words\nwith which He hands the cup: \"This is My blood of the covenant\" (R.V.\nomits _new_, which throws the emphasis more distinctly on _My_) \"which\nis shed\"--not, like the blood of the lamb, for a little family group,\nbut--\"for many,\" not as a mere sign (see Heb. x.), but \"unto remission\nof sins.\"\n\nThe new symbols were evidently much more suitable to the ordinance\nwhich was to be of world-wide application. Besides, it was no longer\nnecessary that there should be further sacrifice of life. Christ our\nPassover was sacrificed once for all; and therefore there must be no\nthought of repetition of the sacrifice; it must be represented only;\nand this is done both simply and impressively in the breaking of the\nbread and the pouring of the wine. Nothing could be more natural than\nthe transition from the old to the new Passover feast.\n\nRising now above all matters of detail and questions of\ninterpretation, let us try humbly and reverently to enter into the\nmind of Christ as He breaks the bread and pours the wine and\ninstitutes the feast of love. As in the earlier part of the evening we\nhad in His dealings with the traitor a touching unveiling of His\nhuman heart, so now, while there is the same human tenderness, there\nis with it a reach of thought and range of vision which manifestly\ntranscend all mortal powers.\n\nConsider first how extraordinary it was that at such a time He should\ntake pains to concentrate the thoughts of His disciples in all time to\ncome upon His death. Even the bravest of those who had been with Him\nin all His temptations could not look at it now; and to His own human\nsoul it must have seemed in the very last degree repulsive. To the\ndisciples, to the world, it must have seemed defeat; yet He calmly\nprovides for its perpetual celebration as a victory!\n\nThink of the form the celebration takes. It is no mournful solemnity,\nwith dirges and elegies for one about to die; but a _Feast_--a strange\nway of celebrating a death. It may be said that the Passover feast\nitself was a precedent; but in this respect there is no parallel. The\nPassover feast was no memorial of a death. If Moses had died that\nnight, would it ever have occurred to the children of Israel to\ninstitute a feast for the purpose of keeping in memory so unutterable\na calamity? But a greater than Moses is here, and is soon to die a\ncruel and shameful death. Is not that a calamity as much more dreadful\nthan the other as Christ was greater than Moses? Why, then, celebrate\nit by a feast? Because this death is no calamity. It is the means of\nlife to a great multitude that no man can number, out of every kindred\nand tongue and people and nation. Therefore it is most fitly\ncelebrated by a feast. It is a memorial; but it is far more. It is a\nfeast, provided for the spiritual nourishment of the people of God\nthrough all their generations. Think what must have been in the\nSaviour's mind when He said, \"Take, eat\"; how His soul must have been\nenlarged as He uttered the words \"shed for many.\" Simple words, easily\nspoken; but before they came from these sacred lips there must have\nrisen before His mind the vision of multitudes all through the ages,\nfed on the strangest food, refreshed by the strangest wine, that\nmortal man had ever heard of.\n\nHow marvellously the horizon widens round Him as the feast proceeds!\nAt first He is wholly engaged with the little circle round the table.\nWhen He says, \"One of you shall betray Me,\" when He takes the sop and\nhands it, when He pours out His last lament over the false disciple,\nHe is the Man of Sorrows in the little upper chamber; but when He\ntakes the bread and again the cup, the horizon widens, beyond the\ncross He sees the glory that shall follow, sees men of all nations and\nclimes coming to the feast He is preparing for them, and before He\ncloses He has reached the consummation in the heavenly kingdom: \"I say\nunto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until\nthat day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.\" \"Truly\nthis was the Son of God.\"\n\nThen hear Him singing at the close. How bewildered the disciples, how\nrapt the Master, must have been! What a scene for the painter, what a\nstudy of divine calm and human agitation! The \"hymn\" they sang was in\nall probability the latter part of the Great Hallel, which closes with\nPsalm cxviii. It is most interesting as we read the psalm to think\nwhat depths of meaning, into which none of His disciples as yet could\nenter, there must have been to Him in almost every line.\n\n\nII.--THE NIGHT (xxvi. 31-75).\n\nAs the little company have lingered in the upper room evening has\npassed into night. The city is asleep, as Jesus leads the way along\nthe silent streets, down the steep slope of Moriah, and across the\nKedron, to the familiar place of resort on the mount of Olives. As\nthey proceed in silence, a word of ancient prophecy lies heavy on His\nheart. It was from Zechariah, whose prophecy was often[30] in his\nthoughts in the Passion week. \"Awake, O sword, against My shepherd,\nand against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite\nthe shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.\" It is the last part\nof it that troubles Him. For the smiting of the Shepherd He is well\nprepared; it is the scattering of the sheep that makes His heart so\nsore, and forces Him to break the silence with the sorrowful words,\n\"All ye shall be offended because of Me this night.\" What pathos in\nthese words \"_because of Me_\": how it pained Him to think that what\nmust come to Him should be so terrible to them! And is there not a\ntouch of kind allowance in the words \"this night\"? \"He that walketh in\nthe night stumbleth,\" and how could they but stumble in such a night?\nThen the thought of the shepherd and the sheep which fills His mind\nand suggests the passage He quotes is full of tenderness without even\na hint of reproach. Who will blame the sheep for scattering when the\nShepherd is smitten? And how trustfully and withal how wistfully does\nHe look forward to the reassembling of the flock in the old home, the\nsacred region where they gathered first around the Shepherd: \"After I\nam risen again, I will go before you (as the shepherd goes before the\nflock) into Galilee.\" Thus after all would be fulfilled His prayer of\nintercession, so recently offered on their behalf: \"Holy Father, keep\nthrough Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be\none.\"\n\nThe silly sheep were not at all alarmed. This was altogether natural;\nfor the danger was not yet within their sight. Nor was it really at\nall unnatural that the impulsive Peter should be now at the very\nopposite pole of feeling from where he stood an hour or two before.\nThen, sharing the general depression, he joined the rest in the\nanxious question, \"Lord, is it I?\" now, having been relieved from the\nanxiety which for the moment pressed upon him, and having been\nmoreover raised into a glow of feeling and an assurance of faith by\nhis Master's tender and stirring words, and the prayer of intercession\nwhich so fitly closed them, he has passed from the depths of\nself-distrust to the heights of self-confidence, so that he even dares\nto say, \"Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will\n_I_ never be offended.\"\n\nAh! Peter, you were safe when you were crying \"Lord, is it I?\"--you\nare very far from safe now, when you speak of yourself in so different\na tone. Jesus sees it all, and gives him warning in the very plainest\nwords. But Peter persists. He vainly imagines that his Master cannot\nknow how strong he is, how burning his zeal, how warm his love, how\nsteadfast his devotion. Of all this he is himself distinctly\nconscious. There is no mistake about it. Devotion thrills in every\nfibre of his being; and he knows, he feels it in his soul, that no\ntorture, not death itself, could move him from his steadfastness:\n\"Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.\" \"Likewise\nalso said all the disciples.\" Quite natural too. For the moment Peter\nwas the leader of the sheep. They all caught his enthusiasm, and were\nconscious of the same devotion: why, then, should they not acknowledge\nit as he had done? They had yet to learn the difference between a\ntransient glow of feeling and abiding inward strength. Only by sad\nexperience can they learn it now; so Jesus lets them have the last\nword.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnd now Gethsemane is reached. The olive trees which in the daytime\ngive a shadow from the heat will now afford seclusion, though the moon\nis at the full. Here, then, the Son of man will spend some time with\nGod, alone, before He is betrayed into the hands of sinners; and yet,\ntrue Son of man as He is, He shrinks from being left alone in that\ndread hour, and clings to the love and sympathy of those who have been\nwith Him in His temptations hitherto. So He leaves eight of the\ndisciples at the entering in of the olive grove, and takes with Him\ninto the darkness the three most in sympathy with Him--the same three\nwho had been sole witnesses of His power in raising from the dead the\ndaughter of Jairus, and had alone seen His glory on the holy mount.\nBut even these three cannot go with Him all the way. He will have them\nas near as possible; and yet He must be alone. Did He think of the\npassage, \"I have trodden the winepress[31] alone, and of the people\nthere was none with me\"?\n\nThat solitude may not be invaded. We can only, like the disciples of\nold, look reverently at it from afar. There are probably many true\ndisciples who can get no nearer than the edge of the darkness; those\nwho are closest in sympathy may be able to obtain a nearer view, but\neven those who like John have leant on His breast can know it only in\npart--in its depth it passeth knowledge. Jesus is alone in Gethsemane\nyet, and of the people there is none with Him.\n\n \"Ah! never, never can we know\n The depth of that mysterious woe.\"\n\nWhile it is not possible for any of us to penetrate the deep recesses\nof Gethsemane, we have a key to let us in, and open to us something of\nits meaning. This help is found in that striking passage in the\nEpistle to the Hebrews, where the experience of the Lord Jesus in the\nGarden is closely connected with His being \"called of God an High\nPriest after the order of Melchisedec.\" It is true that at His baptism\nJesus entered on His ministry in its largest sense, the Prophet,\nPriest, and King of men. But there is a sense in which later on, at\nsuccessive stages, He was \"called of God\" to each of these offices in\nsuccession. At His baptism the voice from heaven was, \"This is My\nBeloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.\" On the mount of\nTransfiguration there was this added, \"Hear ye Him,\" and the\nwithdrawal of Moses and Elias, leaving Jesus alone, indicated that\nhenceforth He was called of God to be the one prophet of humanity.\nSimilarly, though from the beginning He was King, it was not till\nafter He had overcome the sharpness of death that He was \"called of\nGod\" to be King, to take His seat on the right hand of majesty in the\nheavens. At what period, then, in His ministry was it that He was\ncalled of God to be an high priest? To this natural question the\npassage in the Epistle to the Hebrews supplies the answer; and when we\ntake the thought with us we see that it is indeed a torch to lighten\nfor us just a little the darkness of the Garden's gloom.\n\nIs there not something in the very arrangement of the group which\nharmonises with the thought? Three days ago the Temple had been closed\nfor ever to its Lord. Its shrine was empty now for evermore: \"Behold,\nyour house is left unto you desolate.\" But still there is to be a\ntemple, in which shall minister a priest, not of the line of Aaron,\nrather after the older order of Melchisedec--a temple, not of stone,\nbut of men--of believers, according to the later apostolic word: \"Ye\nare the temple of the living God.\" Of that new and living temple we\nhave a representation in Gethsemane. The eight disciples are its\ncourt; the three are in the holy place; into the holiest of all our\ngreat High Priest has gone--alone: for the veil is not yet rent in\ntwain.\n\nBut why the agony? The difficulty has always been to account for the\nsudden change from the calmness of the Paschal feast to the awful\nstruggle of Gethsemane. What had happened meanwhile to bring about so\ngreat a change? There was light in the upper chamber--it was dark in\nthe Garden; but surely the darkness and the light were both alike to\nHim; or if to His human heart there was the difference we all are\nconscious of, it could not be that the mere withdrawal of the light\ndestroyed His peace. It is altogether probable that both the previous\nnights had been spent on this same mount of Olives, and there is no\nhint of agony then. It is true that the prospect before Him was full\nof unutterable horror; but from the time He had set His face to go up\nto Jerusalem it had been always in His view, and though at times the\nthought of it would come over Him as a cold wave that made Him shudder\nfor the moment, there had been up to this hour no agony like this, and\nnot a trace of pleading that the cup might pass.\n\nWhat, then, was the new element of woe that came upon Him in that\nhour? What was the cup now put for the first time to His sacred lips,\nfrom which He shrank as from nothing in all His sad experience before?\nIs not the answer to be found in the region of thought into which we\nare led in that great passage already referred to, which speaks of Him\nas then for the first time \"called of God an High Priest,\" which\nrepresents Him, though He was a Son, learning His obedience (as a\nPriest) by the things which He suffered?\n\nMay we not, then, reverently conceive of Him as in that hour taking on\nHim the sin of the world, in a more intimate sense than He had ever\ndone before? \"He bare our sins in His own body on the tree.\" In a\ncertain sense He had borne the burden all His life, for He had\nthroughout endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself; but\nin some special sense manifestly He bore it on the tree. When did He\nin that special sense take the awful burden on Him? Was it not in the\nGarden of Gethsemane? If so, can we wonder that the Holy One shrank\nfrom it, as He never shrank from simple suffering? To be identified\nwith sin--to be \"made sin,\" as the apostle puts it--how His soul\nrevolted from it! The cup of sorrow He could take without a murmur;\nbut to take on Him the intolerable load of the world's sin--from this\nHe shrank with all the recoil of stainless purity, with all the horror\nof a heart that could not bear the very thought. It was not the\nweakness of His flesh, but the purity of His spirit, that made Him\nshrink, that wrung from Him once and again, and yet again, the cry,\n\"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.\" It was a new\ntemptation, three times repeated, like that old one in the wilderness.\nThat assault, as we found, was in close relation to His assumption at\nHis baptism of His work of ministry; this conflict in the Garden was,\nwe believe, as closely connected with His assuming His priestly work,\nundertaking to make atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Himself. As\nthat followed His baptism, this followed His institution of the holy\nsupper. In that ordinance He had prepared the minds of His disciples\nto turn from the Paschal lamb of the old covenant, to behold\nhenceforth the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.\nFrom the feast He goes straightway to this lonely garden, and there\nbegins[32] His dread atoning work.\n\nIt must have been a great aggravation of His agony that even the three\ndisciples could not enter into sympathy with Him, even so much as to\nhold their eyes waking. True, they were very weary, and it was most\nnatural that they should be heavy with sleep; but had they had even a\nfaint conception of what that agony of their Master meant they could\nnot possibly have slept; and we can well fancy that in that hour of\nanguish the Saviour must have called to mind from the Book of Psalms,\nwith which He was so perfectly familiar, the sad lament: \"Reproach\nhath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for\nsome to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found\nnone.\"\n\nBut though He keenly feels His loneliness, His thoughts are far less\nof Himself than of them. Realising so vividly the horrors now so close\nat hand, He sees, from the very possibility of their sleeping, how\nutterly unprepared they are for what awaits them, so He summons them\nto \"watch and pray,\" to be on the alert against sudden surprise, and\nto keep in constant touch with God, so that they may not find\nthemselves confronted with temptation which, whatever the devotion of\nthe spirit, may prove too much for the weakness of the flesh. Think of\nthe tender consideration of this second warning, when the first had\nbeen so little heeded.\n\nAnd we cannot but agree with those who see in what He said when He\nreturned for the last time to the three, not irony, no touch of\nsarcasm, but the same tender consideration He has shown throughout.\nFrom the Garden they could easily see the city in the moonlight across\nthe ravine. As yet there was no sign of life about it: all was quiet;\nthere was therefore no reason why they should not for the few moments\nthat might remain to them sleep on now and take their rest. But it can\nonly be for a short time, for \"the hour is at hand.\" We may, then,\nthink of the three lying down to sleep, as the eight had probably been\ndoing throughout, while Jesus, from whose mortal eyes sleep was\nbanished now for ever, would watch until He saw the gleam of lanterns\nand torches as of men from the city coming down the hill, and then He\nwould wake them and say, \"Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand\nthat doth betray Me.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe arrest immediately follows the agony; and with it, begins the\noutward shame and torture of the Passion. The time has now come when\nall the indignities and cruelties of which Jesus had spoken to His\ndisciples \"apart in the way\" (see xx. 17-19) shall be heaped upon Him.\nBut none of these things move Him. The inward shame and torture had\nalmost been too much for Him. His soul had been \"exceeding sorrowful,\neven unto death\"; so that He was in danger of passing away from the\nscene of conflict ere yet it would be possible to say \"It is\nfinished.\" Only by \"strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to\nsave Him from death\" had He obtained the needful strength (Luke xxii.\n43) to pass the awful ordeal, and come out of it ready to yield\nHimself up into the \"wicked hands\" by which He must be \"crucified and\nslain.\" But now He is strong. St. Matthew does not tell us that the\nprayer in the Garden was answered; but we see it as we follow the Son\nof man along the dolorous way. If He shrank from taking up the load of\nhuman sin, He does not flinch in carrying it; and amid all He has to\nbear at the hands of sinners, He maintains His dignity and\nself-possession.\n\nWhen the armed men approach, He goes calmly out to meet them. Even the\ntraitor's kiss He does not resent; but only takes occasion to make one\nmore appeal to that stony heart, \"Comrade,\"[33] He says, \"(do) that\nfor which thou art come\" (see R.V.). There is a brokenness in the\nutterance which makes it difficult to translate, but which is\ntouchingly natural. It would seem as if our Lord, when Judas first\nappeared, though He knew well for what purpose He had come, and wished\nto show him that He did, yet shrank from putting it into words. When\nthe traitor had actually done that for which he had come, when he had\nnot only given the traitor's kiss, and that in a shamelessly effusive\nway, as appears from the strong word used in the account both here and\nelsewhere, then would come that other appeal which most impressed the\neye-witness from whom St. Luke had his information: \"Judas, betrayest\nthou the Son of man _with a kiss_?\"\n\nAt this point probably occurred an incident of the arrest recorded\nonly in the fourth Gospel, the recoil of the mob when Jesus confronted\nthem and acknowledged Himself to be the man whom they were seeking.\nThough this is not mentioned here, we recognise the effect of it upon\nthe disciples. It would naturally embolden them when, on the second\nadvance, they saw their Master in the hands of these men, to ask,\n\"Lord, shall we smite with the sword?\" And it was most characteristic\nthat \"one of them\" (whom we should have recognised, even though St.\nJohn had not mentioned his name) should not wait for the answer, but\nshould smite at once.\n\nAll is excitement and commotion. Jesus alone is calm. In such a sea of\ntrouble, behold the Man! See the heart at leisure from itself to care\nfor and to cure the wounded servant of the high priest (Luke xxii.\n51). Think of the mind so free at such a time to look out far into the\nfuture, using the occasion to lay down the great principle that force,\nas a weapon which will recoil on those who use it, must not be\nemployed in the cause of truth and righteousness. Look at that spirit,\nso serenely confident of power with God at the very moment that the\nfrail body is helpless in the hands of men: \"Thinkest thou that I\ncannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than\ntwelve legions of angels?\" How it enlarges our souls even to try to\nenter into that great mind and heart at such a moment. What an outlook\nof thought! What an up-look of faith! And again, what mastery! What\nself-annihilation! We have seen His self-repression in the prayer He\noffered in the Garden; but think of the prayers He did not offer:\nthink what effort, what sacrifice, what self-abnegation it must have\nbeen to Him to suppress that prayer for help from the legions of\nheaven against these bands of the ungodly. But it was enough for Him\nto remember, \"How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it\nmust be?\" It was necessary that He should suffer at the hands of men;\ntherefore He allows them to lead Him away, only reminding them that\nthe force which would have been needful for the arrest of some robber\ndesperado was surely quite unnecessary in dealing with One Whose daily\npractice it had been to sit quietly teaching in the Temple.\n\nThe reference to the Scriptures was probably intended not only to\nexplain His non-resistance, but also to support the faith of His\ndisciples when they saw Him bound and carried off. Had they known the\nScriptures as under His teaching they might well have known them, not\nonly would they have seen that \"thus it must be,\" but they would have\nhad before them the sure prospect of His rising from the dead on the\nthird day. But in their case the Scriptures were appealed to in vain;\nthey had not the faith of their Master to venture on the sure Word of\nGod; and so, hope failing, \"all the disciples forsook Him and fled.\"\nNot all finally, however, even for that dark night; for though faith\nand hope failed, there remained love enough in the hearts of two to\nmake them presently stop and think, and then turn slowly and follow\nfrom afar. Only Peter is mentioned here as doing this, because the\nsequel concerns him; but that John also went to the palace of the\nhigh priest we know from his own account (John xviii. 15).\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe night is not yet over, and therefore there can be no formal\nmeeting of the Jewish council, according to an excellent law which\nenacted that all cases involving the death penalty should be tried in\nthe daytime. This law was, quite characteristically, observed in the\nletter, transgressed in the spirit; for though the formal sentence was\ndeferred till morning (xxvii. 1), the real trial was begun and ended\nbefore the dawn. The reference by St. Matthew to both sessions of the\ncouncil enables us clearly to understand what would otherwise have\nappeared a \"manifest discrepancy\" between his account and that of St.\nLuke, the former speaking of the trial as having taken place in the\nnight, while the latter tells us it only began \"as soon as it was day.\"\n\nOur Evangelist shows himself to be a true historian in that, while\ndisposing of the formal morning session in half a sentence, he gives a\nfull account of the night conclave which really settled all. They\nproceed in a thoroughly characteristic manner. Having secured their\nprisoner, they must first agree upon the charge: what shall it be? It\nwas no easy matter; for not only had his life been stainless, but He\nhad shown consummate skill in avoiding all the entanglements which had\nbeen set for Him; and besides, it so happened that nothing they could\nprove conclusively against Him, such as His breaking the letter of the\nSabbath law, or rather of their traditions, would suit their purpose,\nfor they would run the risk on the one hand of calling fresh attention\nto the works of healing which had made so deep an impression on the\npopular mind, and on the other of stirring up strife between the\nopposing factions which had entered into a precarious union based\nsolely on their common desire to do away with Him. Hence the great\ndifficulty of securing testimony against Him, and the necessity of\nhaving recourse to that which was false.\n\nWe may wonder perhaps that a court so unscrupulous should have made so\nmuch of the difficulty of getting witnesses to agree. Could they not,\nfor other \"thirty pieces of silver,\" have purchased two that would\nhave served their purpose? But it must be remembered that men in their\nposition had to pay some respect to decency; and from their point of\nview to pay a man for helping to arrest a criminal was an entirely\ndifferent transaction from giving money to procure false witness.\nBesides, there were men of the council who did not \"consent to the\ncounsel and deed of them\" (see Luke xxiii. 51, and John vii. 50, 51),\nand they must be careful. It is not probable of course that Joseph of\nArimath\u00e6a and Nicodemus would be present at the secret session in the\nnight; but they would of course be present, or have the opportunity of\nbeing present, at the regular meeting in the morning.\n\nWhen, therefore, the attempt to found a charge on the testimony of\nwitnesses against Him failed, the only hope was to force Him, if\npossible, to incriminate Himself. The high priest accordingly\naddresses himself to the prisoner, and attempts to induce Him to say\nsomething which might tend to clear up the confusion of the witnesses'\ntestimony. It was evident that something had been said about\ndestroying the temple and building it in three days--would He not\nstate exactly what it was? \"But Jesus held His peace.\" He would not\nplead before such a tribunal, or acknowledge the irregular appeal by\nso much as a single word.\n\nCaiaphas is baffled; but there is one course left to him, a course\nwhich for many reasons he would have preferred not to take, but he\nsees now no other way of setting up a charge that will bear\nexamination in the morning. He therefore appeals to Jesus in the most\nsolemn manner to assert or deny His Messiahship.\n\nSilence is now impossible. The high priest has given Him the\nopportunity of proclaiming His gospel in presence of the council, and\nHe will not lose it, though it seal His condemnation. \"He cannot deny\nHimself.\" In the most emphatic manner He proclaims Himself the Christ,\nthe Son of God, and tells them that the time is coming when their\npositions shall be reversed--He their Judge, they summoned to His bar:\n\"Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of\npower, and coming on the clouds of heaven.\" (R.V.). What light must\nhave been in His eye, what majesty in His mien, as He spoke those\nthrilling words! And who shall limit their power? Who of us shall be\nsurprised to find members of that very conclave among the ransomed of\nthe Lord in the New Jerusalem? They might not heed His words that\nnight, but three days after would they not recall them? And fifty days\nafter that again--who can tell?\n\nMeantime the only result is to produce real or affected horror. \"The\nhigh priest rent his clothes,\" thereby expressing in a tragic manner\nhow it tore his heart to hear such \"blasphemy\"; and with one consent,\nor at least with no voice raised against it, He is condemned to death.\n\nThe council have now done with Him for the night, and He is handed\nover to the custody of the guard and the servants of the high priest.\nThen follows that awful scene, which cannot be recalled without a\nshudder. To think that the Holy One of God should suffer these\npersonal indignities--oh, degradation! It is more dreadful to think of\nthan even the nails and the spear. Alas, even the dregs of the bitter\ncup of sorrow were wrung out to Him! \"Is it nothing to you, all ye\nthat pass by? behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto My\nsorrow!\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhere is Peter now? We left him following afar off. He has summoned up\ncourage enough to follow on into the court of the high priest's\npalace, and to mingle among the people there. If he had been let\nalone, he would with John have in some measure retrieved the disgrace\nof all the disciples forsaking their Master in \"that night on which He\nwas betrayed\"; but it has been necessary to rally all the remnants of\nhis bravery to come so far, and now he has none of it to spare.\nBesides, he is very tired, and shivering with cold--in no condition,\nverily, for anything heroic. Who is there of us will cast the first\nstone at him? There are those that speak of him in a tone of contempt\nas \"quailing before a servant maid,\" as if the meanness of the\noccasion were not the very thing which made it so hard for him. Had he\nbeen summoned to the presence of the high priest, with all the eyes of\nthe council fastened on him, his tired feeling would have left him all\nat once, his pulse would have beat fast, the excitement would have\nstirred him so that no fire of coals would have been needed to warm\nhim, and he might then have acquitted himself in a manner worthy of\nthe rock-apostle; but to be suddenly met with a woman's question\nsprung upon him unawares, with nobody he cared for looking on, with\nnothing to rouse his soul from the prostration into which it had been\ncast by the suddenness of what looked like overwhelming defeat--that\nwas more than even Peter could bear; and accordingly he fell--fell\nterribly. Not to the bottom all at once. He tries first to pass the\nquestion off with a show of ignorance or indifference: \"I know not\nwhat thou sayest.\" But when the first downward step is taken, all the\nrest follow with terrible rapidity. As we look down into the abyss\ninto which plunged headlong the foremost of the Twelve, and hear these\noaths and curses, what force it lends to the warning in Gethsemane:\n\"Watch and pray, that ye _enter not_ into temptation\"!\n\nWhat a lesson of charity is here! Suppose for a moment that one of the\nMarys had been standing near, and heard Peter denying his Master with\noaths and curses, what would her thought of him have been? What else\ncould it have been than a thought of sorrowful despair? She would have\nfelt constrained, however reluctantly, to place him, not with the\ntimid ten, but alongside of \"Judas who betrayed Him.\" Yet she would\nhave been wrong; and many good people are quite wrong when they judge\ndisciples of Christ by what they see of them when at their worst.\nAfter all Peter was true at heart; and though from such an abyss he\ncould never have recovered himself, he was so linked to his Master by\nthe true devotion of the days of old that he could not fall utterly\naway. It was quite otherwise with Judas. His heart had been set on his\ncovetousness throughout, while Peter in his inmost soul was loyal and\ntrue. His Master has prayed for him that his faith fail not. His\ncourage has failed; and if that faith which is the only sure\nfoundation for enduring courage had utterly failed too, his case would\nhave been hopeless indeed. But it has not; there is still a link to\nbind him to the Lord, Whom in word he is denying for the moment; and\nfirst the crowing of the cock which reminds him of his Master's\nwarning, and then immediately after, that look which was turned full\non Peter as Jesus passed him, led across the court, perhaps with\njeerings and buffetings at the very moment--that solemn memory and\nthat sad and loving look recall him to himself again, the old true\nlife wells up from the depths of the genuine and noble heart of him,\nand overflows in tears. So ends the story of that awful night.\n\n\nIII.--THE MORNING (xxvii. 1-26).\n\nThe formal meeting of the council in the morning would not occupy many\nminutes. The death sentence had been already agreed upon, and it only\nremained to take the necessary steps to carry it into effect. Hence\nthe form in which the Evangelist records the morning session: \"All the\nchief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to\nput Him to death.\" This could not have passed as a minute of the\nmeeting; but it was none the less a true account of it. As, however,\nthe law forbade their inflicting the death penalty, \"when they had\nbound Him, they led Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the\ngovernor.\"\n\nThis delivering up of Jesus is a fact of the Passion on which special\nstress is laid in the sacred records. It seems, indeed, to have\nweighed on the mind of Jesus Himself as much as the betrayal, as would\nappear from the manner in which, as He was nearing Jerusalem, He told\nHis disciples what He should suffer there: \"Behold, we go up to\nJerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief\npriests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, _and shall\ndeliver Him unto the Gentiles_ to mock, and to scourge, and to\ncrucify\" (Matt xx. 18, 19; see also Mark x. 33, and Luke xviii. 32).\nLong before this, indeed, \"He came unto His own, and His own received\nHim not.\" With the sorrow of that rejection He was only too familiar;\nbut it was a new heart-break to be delivered up to the Gentiles. It\nwas a second betrayal on a much larger scale. So Stephen puts it in\nthe impassioned close of his defence, where he charges the council\nwith being \"the _betrayers_ and murderers\" of \"the Just One\"; and\nindeed the thought is suggested here, not only by the association with\nwhat follows in regard to the traitor's end, but by the use of the\nvery same word as applied to the traitor's act; for the word\ntranslated \"betrayed\" in verse 3 is the very same in the original as\nthat translated \"delivered up\" in verse 2. Judas is about to drop out\nof sight into the abyss; but the nation is one Judas now.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt may be, indeed, that it was the seeing of his own sin as mirrored\nin the conduct of the council which roused at last the traitor's\nsleeping conscience. As he saw his late Master led away bound, \"as a\nlamb to the slaughter,\" these very words may have come back to his\nmemory: \"They shall deliver the Son of man to the Gentiles to mock,\nand to scourge, and to crucify.\" It is quite possible, indeed, that\nthe man of Kerioth was too good a Jew to have been willing to sell his\nMaster to Pilate directly. But now he sees that that is just what he\nhas done. We have no sympathy with those who imagine that Judas only\nintended to give his Master an opportunity of displaying His power and\nasserting His rights in a manner that would secure at once the\nallegiance of the people; but though we see no evidence of any good\nintentions, we can readily believe that in the act of betrayal his\nmind did not go beyond the immediate consequences of his action--on\nthe one hand the money; and on the other what was it but the handing\nof his Master to the chief priests and elders, who were after all His\necclesiastical superiors; and had they not the right to put Him on His\ntrial? But now that he sees Jesus, Whom by long acquaintance he knows\nto be without spot or stain, bound as a common criminal and led away\nto execution, his act appears in a new and awful light, he is smitten\nwith a measureless fear, and can no longer bear to think of what he\nhas done.\n\n\"He repented himself,\" so we read in our version; but that it is no\ntrue repentance the more expressive Greek makes plain, for the word is\nquite distinct from that which indicates \"repentance after a godly\nsort.\" Had there been in his heart any spring of true repentance its\nwaters would have been unsealed long ere this--at the Table, or when\nin the Garden he heard his Master's last appeal of love. Not love, but\nfear, not godly sorrow, but very human terror, is what moves him now;\nand therefore it is not to Jesus that he flies--had he even now gone\nup to Him, and fallen at His feet and confessed his sin, he would have\nbeen forgiven--but to his accomplices in crime. Fain would he undo\nwhat he has done; but it is impossible! What he can do, however, he\nwill; so he tries to get the chief priests to take back the silver\npieces. But they will have nothing to do with them or with him. To his\npiteous confession they pay no heed; let him settle his own accounts\nwith his own conscience: \"What is that to us? see thou to that.\"\n\nHe is now alone; shut up to himself; alone with his sin. Even the\nthirty pieces of silver, which had such a friendly sound as he first\ndropped them in his purse, have turned against him; now he hates the\nvery sight of them, and must be rid of them. As the priests will not\ntake them back, he will cast them \"into the sanctuary\" (R.V.), and so\nperhaps find some relief. But oh, Judas! it is one thing to get the\nsilver out of your hands, and quite another to get the stain out of\nyour soul. The only effect of it is to make the solitude complete. He\nhas at last come to himself; and what a self it is to come to! No\nwonder that he \"went and hanged himself.\"\n\nThe chief priests have not yet come to themselves. They will\nby-and-by, whether after the manner of the prodigal or after the\nmanner of the traitor time will show; but meanwhile they are in the\nfull career of their sin, and can therefore as yet consult to very\ngood purpose. It was not at all a bad way of getting out of their\ndifficulty with the money found in the sanctuary, to buy with it a\nplace to bury strangers in; but little did they dream that when the\nstory of it should be told thereafter to the world they would be\ndiscovered to have unconsciously fulfilled a prophecy (Zech. xi. 12,\n13), which on the one hand gibbeted their crime as a valuing of the\nShepherd of Israel at the magnificent price of thirty pieces of\nsilver, and on the other carried with it the suggestion of those awful\nwoes which Jeremiah had pronounced at the very spot they had purchased\nwith the price of blood (Jer. xix.).\n\n * * * * *\n\nFrom the end of the traitor Judas we return to the issue of the\nnation's treason. \"Now Jesus stood before the governor.\" The full\nstudy of Jesus before Pilate belongs rather to the fourth Gospel,\nwhich supplies many most interesting details not furnished here. We\nmust therefore deal with it quite briefly, confining our attention as\nmuch as possible to the points touched in the record before us.[34]\n\nAs before the council, so before Pilate, our Lord speaks, or is\nsilent, according as the question affects His mission or Himself. When\nasked of His Kingship, He answers in the most decided manner (\"Thou\nsayest\" was a strong affirmation, as if to say \"Certainly I am\"); for\non this depends the only hope of salvation for Pilate--for His\naccusers--for all. He will by no means disown or shrink from\nacknowledging the mission of salvation on which His Father has sent\nHim, though it may raise against Him the cry of blasphemy in the\ncouncil, and of treason in the court; but when He is asked what He has\nto say for Himself, in the way of answer to the charges made against\nHim, He is silent: even when Pilate himself appeals to Him in the\nstrongest manner to say something in His own defence, \"He gave him no\nanswer, not even to one word\" (R.V.). \"Insomuch that the governor\nmarvelled greatly;\" for how could he understand? How can a cautious,\ncunning, time-serving man of the world understand the selflessness of\nthe Son of God?\n\nPilate had no personal grudge against Jesus, and had sense enough to\nrecognise at once that the claims of Kinghood advanced by his prisoner\ndid not touch the prerogatives of C\u00e6sar--had penetration also to see\nthrough the motives of the chief priests and elders (ver. 18), and\ntherefore was not at all disposed to acquiesce in the demand made on\nhim for a summary condemnation. Besides, he was not without fears,\nwhich inclined him to the side of justice. He was evidently impressed\nwith the demeanour of his prisoner. This appears even in the brief\nnarrative of our Evangelist; but it comes out very strikingly in the\nfuller record of the fourth Gospel. His wife's influence, too, was\nused in the same direction. She evidently had heard something about\nJesus, and had taken some interest in Him, enough to reach the\nconviction that He was a \"righteous man.\" It was as yet quite early in\nthe morning, and she may not have known till after her husband had\ngone out that it was for the trial of Jesus he was summoned. Having\nhad uneasy dreams, in which the Man Who had impressed her so much was\na leading figure, it was natural that she should send him a hasty\nmessage, so as to reach him \"while he was sitting on the judgment\nseat\" (R.V.). This message would reinforce his fears, and increase his\ndesire to deal justly with his extraordinary prisoner.\n\nOn the other hand, Pilate could not afford to refuse point blank the\ndemand of the Jewish leaders. He was by no means secure in his seat.\nThere had been so many disturbances under his administration, as we\nlearn from contemporary history, that his recall, perhaps something\nmore serious than recall, might be expected from Rome, if he should\nagain get into trouble with these turbulent Jews; so he did not dare\nto run the risk of simply doing what he knew was right. Accordingly he\ntried several expedients, as we learn from the other accounts, to\navoid the necessity of pronouncing sentence, one of which is here set\nforth at length (ver. 15, _seq._), probably because it brings into\nstrong relief the absolute rejection of their Messiah alike by the\nrulers and by the people.\n\nIt was a most ingenious device, and affords a striking example of the\nastuteness of the procurator. Barabbas may have had some following in\nhis \"sedition\"; but evidently he was no popular hero, but a vulgar\nrobber or bandit, whose release was not at all likely to be clamoured\nfor by the multitude; and it was moreover reasonably to be expected\nthat the chief priests, much as they hated Jesus, would be ashamed to\neven hint that He was worse than this wretched criminal. But he did\nnot know how deep the hatred was with which he had to deal. \"He knew\nthat for envy they had delivered Him;\" but he did not know that at the\nroot of that envy lay the conviction that either Jesus must perish or\nthey must. They felt that He was \"of purer eyes than to behold evil,\nand could not look upon iniquity\"; and inasmuch as they had made up\ntheir minds to keep their iniquity, they must get rid of Him; they\nmust seal up these eyes which searched them through and through, they\nmust silence these tones which, silvery as they were, were to them as\nthe knell of judgment. They had no liking for Barabbas, and, to do\nthem justice, no sympathy whatever with his crimes; but they had no\nreason to be afraid of him: they could live, though he was free. It\nmust have been a hard alternative even for them; but there is no\nhesitation about it. Themselves and their emissaries are busy among\nthe mob, persuading them \"that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy\nJesus.\"\n\nThe multitudes are only too easily persuaded. Not that they had the\ndark envy, or anything like the rooted hatred, of their leaders; but\nwhat will a careless mob not be prepared to do when excitement\nprevails and passions are inflamed? It is not at all unlikely that\nsome of the same people who followed the multitude in shouting\n\"Hosanna to the Son of David!\" only five days before, would join in\nthe cry which some of the baser sort would be the first to raise,\n\"Crucify Him! crucify Him!\" Those who know human nature best--at its\nbasest, as in the hatred of the chief priests and elders; at its\nshallowest, as in the passions of the fickle crowd--will marvel least\nat the way in which the alternative of Pilate was received. There is\nno touchstone of human nature like the cross of Christ; and in the\npresence of the Holy One of God, sin is forced, as it were, to show\nitself in all its native blackness and enormity; and what sin is\nthere, however small it seem to be, which if allowed to develop its\nlatent possibility of vileness, would not lead on to this very\nchoice--\"Not Jesus, but Barabbas\"?\n\nAnd Pilate, you may wash your hands before the multitude, and say, \"I\nam innocent of the blood of this just Person\"; but it is all in vain.\nThere is a Searcher of hearts Who knows you through and through. \"See\nye to it,\" you say; and so said to Judas the chief priests and elders,\nusing the very same words. But both they and you must see to that\nwhich each fain would put aside for ever. Ay, and it will be less\ntolerable for you and for them than even for the thoughtless crowd who\ncry, \"His blood be upon us and on our children.\" It was in vain to ask\nof people like these, \"What shall I do, then, with Jesus which is\ncalled Christ?\" There was only one thing to do: the thing which was\nright. Failing to do this, you had no alternative but to share in the\nsin of all the rest. Even Pilate must take a side, as all must do.\nNeutrality here is impossible. Those who persist in making the vain\nattempt will find themselves at last on the same side as Pilate took\nwhen he \"released unto them Barabbas; but Jesus he scourged and\ndelivered to be crucified.\"\n\n\nIV.--FROM THE THIRD TO THE NINTH HOUR\n\n(xxvii. 27-56).\n\nThe cool of the morning was passing into the heat of the day, as the\nsoldiers took Jesus and led Him away to be crucified; and the sun was\nat the same angle in the western sky when He bowed His head and gave\nup the ghost. In the six hours between lay the crisis of the world\n(see John xii. 31, Greek): its judgment, its salvation. The great\nconflict of the ages is concentrated in these hours of agony. In the\nbrief record of them we have the very core and kernel of the gospel of\n\"Jesus Christ _and Him crucified_.\"\n\nAll we can hope to do is to find some point of view which may afford a\ngeneral survey of the awful scene; and such point of observation we\nmay perhaps discover in the thought of the marvellous significance of\neach detail when set in the after light of faith. Most of the\nincidents are quite simple and natural--what might in every way be\nexpected as concomitants of the deed of blood which darkened the\nday--and yet the simplest of them is charged with unexpected meaning.\nThe actors in this dark scene are moved by the basest of passions, are\ndestitute of the smallest gleam of insight into what is passing; and\nyet, in saying what they say and doing what they do, they declare the\nglory of the Christ of God as signally as if they were saying and\ndoing all by divine direction. In more senses than one \"they know not\nwhat they do.\"\n\nFrom this point of view we might survey all the four records of the\nCrucifixion, and find striking illustrations of our thought in each of\nthem. As a specimen of this we may refer in passing to the words of\nPilate recorded by St. John alone: \"Behold the Man!\" and again,\n\"Behold your King!\" In these remarkable utterances the procurator\nquite unconsciously furnishes the answer to his own as yet unanswered\nquestions (John xviii. 38; Matt. xxvii. 22), and, Balaam-like, becomes\na preacher of the gospel, summoning the whole world to admiration and\nhomage, to faith and obedience. But we may not extend our view over\nthe other Gospels; it will be enough to glance at the particulars\nfound in that which lies before us.\n\nThe first is the mockery of the soldiers. A brutal set they must have\nbeen; and their treatment of their victim, as they intended it, is too\nrevolting even to think of in detail. Yet, had they been inspired by\nthe loftiest purpose, and been able to look into the meaning of what\nthey did with the most penetrating insight, they could not have in a\nmore striking manner illustrated the true glory of His royalty. Ah!\nsoldiers, you may well plait that crown of thorns, and put it on His\nhead; for He is the Prince of Sufferers, the King of Sorrow! On that\nhead are many crowns--the crown of righteousness, the crown of\nheroism, the crown of life; but of them all the very best is the crown\nof thorns, for it is the crown of Love.\n\nThe next incident is the impressing of Simon of Cyrene to bear His\ncross. It was intended as an insult. The service was too degrading\neven for any of the rabble of Jerusalem, so they imposed it on this\npoor foreigner, coming out of the country. Little did they think that\nthis same man of Cyrene, who probably had provoked them by showing\nsome sympathy with the Sufferer, and might by no means grudge the\ntoil, unjustly forced upon him though it was, should with his two sons\nAlexander and Rufus (see Mark xv. 21) be a kind of firstfruits of a\ngreat multitude of foreigners coming out of all countries, who should\nconsider it the highest honour of their lives to take up and bear\nafter Jesus the cross which Simon had borne for Him.\n\nThe very name Golgotha, though derived in all probability from the\nnatural appearance of the eminence on which the crosses were erected,\nhas a certain dreary appropriateness, not only because of the horror\nof the deed, but because the thought is suggested that death's\nDestroyer gained His victory on death's own ground; and the offering\nof the potion usually given to deaden pain gave the pale sufferer an\nopportunity of showing by His refusal of it that not only was the\ndeath which ended all a voluntary act, but that each pang of the\npassion was borne in the resoluteness of a love-constrained will:\n\n \"Thou wilt feel all, that Thou may'st pity all;\n And rather wouldst Thou wrestle with strong pain\n Than overcloud Thy soul\n So clear in agony.\n\n * * * * *\n\n O most entire and perfect Sacrifice,\n Renewed in every pulse,\n That on the tedious Cross\n Told the long hours of death.\"\n\nThe dividing of the garments among the soldiers was a most natural and\nordinary incident; it would seem, indeed, to have been the common\npractice at crucifixions; and the fulfilment of prophecy would be the\nvery last thing that would enter the men's minds as they did it: even\nSt. Matthew himself, in recording it, does not view it in this light;\nfor, though he evidently made a point of calling attention to all\nfulfilments of prophecy that struck him, he seems to have omitted\nthis;[35] yet here again, even in a small but most significant matter\nof detail, as recorded by St. John (xix. 23, 24), the Scriptures are\nfulfilled.\n\nThe writing on the cross is called \"His accusation.\" So indeed it was;\nfor it was for this he was condemned: no other charge could be made\ngood against Him. But it was not His accusation only,--it was His\ncoronation. In vain the chief priests tried to induce the governor to\nchange it. \"What I have written, I have written,\" was his answer; and\nthere it stood, and a better inscription for the cross the apostles\nthemselves could not have devised. \"This is _Jesus_,\" the Saviour--the\nname above every name. How it must have cheered the Saviour's heart to\nknow that it was there! \"This is Jesus, _the King_\" never more truly\nKing than when this writing was His only crown. \"This is Jesus, the\nKing _of the Jews_,\" despised and rejected of them now, but Son of\nDavid none the less, and yet to be claimed and crowned, and rejoiced\nin when at last \"all Israel shall be saved.\" Elsewhere we learn that\nthe inscription was in Hebrew and Greek and Latin,--the first the\ntongue of the people to whose keeping had been committed the oracles\nof God, the other two the languages in which God's good tidings of\nLife through a Crucified Saviour could be best and most quickly\ncarried \"to every creature,\"--as if to make the proclamation\nworld-wide.\n\nHis position between the two thieves is told as simply as all the\nrest; yet how full of meaning, not only as fulfilling the Scripture\nwhich spoke of Him as \"numbered with the transgressors,\" but as\nfurnishing a most impressive picture of the Friend of Sinners,\nenduring their revilings, and yet as soon as one of them shows the\nfirst signs of coming to a better mind, eagerly granting him\nforgiveness and eternal life, and receiving him into His kingdom as\nthe firstfruits of His redeemed ones.\n\nAgain, the mocking cries of the passers-by are exactly what was to be\nexpected from the coarse natures of the men; yet each one of them when\nseen in the after light of faith becomes a tribute to His praise. As\nan illustration of this, listen to the cry which comes out of the\ndeepest abyss of hatred. Hear these chief priests mocking Him, with\nthe scribes and elders. With bitter taunt they say, in scorn, \"He\nsaved others; Himself He cannot save.\" With bitter taunt? In scorn?\nAh, \"fools and blind,\" you little know that you are making a garland\nof imperishable beauty to wreathe around His brow! It was indeed most\ntrue. It was because He saved others that He could not save Himself.\nWere He willing to let others perish--were He willing to let you\nperish--He would this very moment save Himself. But He will bear, not\nonly the cruel nails and spear, but your more cruel mockeries, rather\nthan give up His self-imposed task of saving others by His perfect\nsacrifice!\n\nIt is high noon; but there, at that place of a skull, a deed is being\ndone, from which the sun must hide his face for shame. \"From the sixth\nhour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.\" The\nsimple-hearted Evangelist has no reflections of his own to offer; he\nsimply records the well-remembered fact, with his usual reticence of\nfeeling, which makes the deep, dread meaning of it only more\nimpressive. For there is not only darkness over all the land; there is\ndarkness in the Sufferer's soul. The agony of the Garden is on Him\nonce again. He sees no longer the faces of the crowd, and the mocking\nvoices are now silent, for the people cannot but feel the solemnising\neffect of the midday gloom. The presence of man is forgotten, and with\nit the shame, even the pain: the Redeemer of the world is again alone\nwith God.\n\nAlone with God, and the sin of the world is on Him. \"He bare our sins\nin His own body on the tree,\" therefore is it that He must enter even\ninto the very deepest darkness of the soul, the feeling of separation\nfrom God, the sense of forsakenness, which is so appalling to the\nawakened sinner, and which even the sinless One must taste, because of\nthe burden laid upon Him. To Him it was a pang beyond all others,\nforcing from these silent lips the lamentable cry, \"My God, My God,\nwhy hast Thou forsaken Me?\" There is no reason indeed to suppose that\nthe Sufferer was really forsaken by God, even for a moment. Never was\nthe love of the Father deeper and stronger than when His Son was\noffering up the all-atoning sacrifice. Never was the repeated\ntestimony more sure than now--\"This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am\nwell pleased.\" But none the less was there the _sense_ of\nforsakenness.\n\nThis sense of forsakenness seems to have had some mysterious\nconnection with the pains of death. In the Garden, where the\nexperience was similar, He said, \"My soul is exceeding sorrowful,\n_even unto death_,\" and now that death is on Him, now that His\nhuman spirit is about to sink into the unknown abyss, now that\ndarkness is closing over Him on every side, He feels as if He were\nforsaken utterly: yet His faith fails not; perhaps He thinks of the\nwords, \"Yea the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth\nas the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee,\" and\nthough He cannot now say \"Father\" even, He can at least cry as from\nthe depths, His spirit overwhelmed within Him, \"My God, My God.\" That\n22nd Psalm which was certainly in His mind must have suggested\nthoughts of hope and strength, and ere His spirit leaves the tortured\nbody He has reached the triumphant close of it; for as its opening\nutterance became His cry of agony, its closing word suggests His shout\nof victory. The shout is mentioned by St. Matthew; the words we learn\nfrom St. John: \"It is finished.\"\n\nFrom the sixth hour to the ninth the darkness lasted, and at the ninth\nhour Jesus yielded up the ghost. The agony is over. The feeling of\nseparation, of utter loneliness, is gone, for the last word has been,\n\"Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit\"; and as the spirit of the\nSon of man returns to the Father's bosom, the gloom is gone, and the\nsun shines out again upon the earth.\n\nHow appropriate the rending of the veil,[36] the quaking of the earth,\nthe shuddering of the graves, and the visitants from the realm of the\nunseen greeting the eyes of those for whom heaven was opened now, is\nall so plain in the light of faith on the Son of God that it needs no\npointing out. It was no wonder that even the Roman centurion,\nunaccustomed as he was to think of such things, could not refrain from\nexclaiming, \"Truly this was the Son of God.\" Much more may we echo his\nexclamation when in the light of the glory that has followed we look\nback on \"the things that were done.\" Recall them,--the crown of\nthorns, the cross-bearing of Simon, the place of a skull, the parting\nof the garments, the writing on the cross, the company of the thieves,\nthe mockeries of the people, the darkness of the heavens, the shaking\nof the earth, the rending of the veil,--is there not profound meaning\nin it all?\n\nThe portents at the close, as was natural, impressed the centurion\nmost; but these are just what make the least impression now, because\nwe do not see them, and those for whom no veil has been rent by the\nSaviour's sacrifice cannot be expected to recognise them. But think of\nthe other incidents--incidents to which not even the most sceptical\ncan attach a shadow of doubt: observe how utterly unconscious the\nactors were--the soldiers in plaiting the crown of thorns, Pilate in\nwriting His title, the chief priests in shouting \"He saved others;\nHimself He cannot save\"--and yet how these all, viewed in a light that\ndid not shine for them, are seen to have vied with each other in\nsetting forth His glory as the Saviour-King; and then say whether it\ncould all have been the merest chance, whether there be not in it\nmanifestly \"the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,\" whether\nit is possible to escape the conviction of the Roman centurion, \"Truly\nthis is the Son of God!\"\n\nThe reference to the \"many women,\" \"beholding afar off,\" forms a\npathetic close to the story of the Great Atonement Day.\n\n[24] The feast in Bethany did not take place during this interval, but\nsome days before (see John xii. 1); in all probability the very day\nbefore Christ's entry into Jerusalem.\n\n[25] That the name of Judas is not specially mentioned is probably to\nbe accounted for by the consciousness on the part of St. Matthew that\nJudas was not alone in the feeling he expressed, that he and others of\nthe disciples present sympathised with him in what he said, so that in\nfairness he must lay the blame of the objection not alone on the man\nwho expressly made it, but on the disciples generally (in St. Mark's\nGospel it is \"_some_ had indignation\"). We may well suppose that\nJohn, the beloved disciple, would be the least likely of all to\nsympathise with the objection, and in this we may see the reason why\nhe should feel no scruple in singling out the traitor as the man who\nwas audacious enough to express the feeling of dissatisfaction.\n\n[26] So R.V. The Authorised Version is peculiarly unhappy at this\npoint. \"When Jesus understood it\" seems to suggest that it took Him\nsome time to make out what they were grumbling about. It is altogether\nlikely that the murmuring was among themselves, and the speech of\nJudas was probably spoken not loud enough for Jesus to hear, but in a\nlow tone to the knot of sympathisers around Him. But there is no hint\nin the original of any time elapsing before Jesus understood the\nsituation. As always, He \"knew their thoughts\" at once.\n\n[27] We may not enter fully into the vexed question whether our Lord\nkept the Passover on the day appointed by law, or anticipated it by\ntwenty-four hours, as some suppose to be the necessary inference from\nthe narrative of St. John. It is a long and intricate subject; but\nmuch unnecessary difficulty has been imported into it by those who\nfail to realise two important facts: (1) The word \"Passover\" is\nfrequently used for the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Luke\nxxii. 1). This is the regular usage of St. John throughout his Gospel;\nyet many assume that in his story of the Passion \"Passover\" must mean\nPassover Day. (2) \"The preparation of the Passover\" (see John xix. 14)\ndoes not mean, as many suppose, the preparation for the paschal feast,\nbut the preparation for the Sabbath. This is in fact proved, not only\nby Mark xv. 42, but by a subsequent reference in the same Gospel (John\nxix. 31). Suppose the paschal feast to have been eaten on Thursday\nnight, Friday would still be the preparation day of the Passover,\ninasmuch as the next day (Saturday) was the Sabbath of the Passover.\nIf these facts be borne in mind, little difficulty will remain in\naccepting as the order of events that our Lord kept the Passover at\nthe proper time, on the evening of the 14th Nisan (Thursday), died on\nthe afternoon of the 15th (Friday), lay in the grave over the Sabbath\n(Saturday, 16th Nisan), and rose on the morning of the 17th, the first\nday of the week.\n\n[28] See the interesting discussion on the arrangement of the table in\nEdersheim, \"Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,\" vol. ii., p. 494.\n\n[29] The high Sacramentarian view of the Lord's Supper is not only at\nvariance with the simple and obvious meaning of the central words of\ninstitution, but seems to disregard in the most wanton manner the\nplainest statements of the very authority on which the ordinance is\nbased. According to the Gospel it was \"as they were eating\" that Jesus\ntook the bread and gave it to the disciples; according to the\nRitualist it ought to be before anything else has touched the lips.\nFor their mystical act of consecration on the part of the priest, all\nthey can find either in gospel or epistle is the simple giving of\nthanks (that \"blessed\" of ver. 26 is the same act precisely is obvious\nby comparing the corresponding passages in the other Gospels and in\nthe first Epistle to the Corinthians--xi. 24); while in opposition to\nthe emphatic \"_Drink ye all of it_\" the cup has been refused by\nthe Church of Rome to the great majority of her communicants!\n\n[30] See Zech. ix. 9, xi. 12, xiii. 7.\n\n[31] Gethsemane means _oil-press_.\n\n[32] Observe the emphatic word, \"_began_ to be sorrowful\" (ver. 37).\n\n[33] The word \"friend\" is too strong. It is not the same word our Lord\nuses when He says: \"I have not called you servants, I have called you\nfriends\"; it is a word which indicates not heart-friendship, but that\nfamiliar intercourse which is supposed to take place only between\nfriends. The selection of the word is a striking illustration of our\nLord's carefulness of the claims of sincerity and truth, while He is\nanxious if possible to use a word that will touch the traitor's heart.\n\n[34] It is most instructive at this point to note the extreme\ncondensation of this report of the trial before Pilate. This is\nespecially noticeable at the first stage of the trial. In the fuller\nreports by St. John (xviii. 29-38) we find indeed the question, \"Art\nthou king of the Jews?\" (v. 33), and the answer, \"Thou sayest\" (v.\n37); but how much more besides! So is it beyond question in many other\nplaces where there is not the same opportunity of supplying what has\nbeen omitted. If this were always borne in mind in reading the\nGospels, we should avoid many difficulties, which have often\nneedlessly perplexed the best of people. There is often much to read\nbetween the lines, and not only so, but much between the lines we\ncannot read, the knowledge of which would make crooked things straight\nand rough places plain. The difficulty of accurately realising a\ncomplex scene from a report of it which, however accurate, is highly\ncondensed, ought to be always present to the minds of readers of the\nGospels, and ought to be a check on those who attribute to the\n\"mistakes\" of the writers what in all probability is due to the\nignorance of the readers--ignorance, it may be, of some little matter\nof detail, or some comparatively unimportant saying, the knowledge of\nwhich would at once clear up a difficulty which to the unaided\nimagination may appear insoluble.\n\n[35] The reference is inserted in our Authorised Version, but without\nsufficient authority. The Revised Version properly omits it.\n\n[36] \"From the top to the bottom,\"--rent, therefore, by no human hand.\n\n\n\n\nXX.\n\n_THE THIRD DAY._\n\nMATT. xxvii. 57-xxviii. 15.\n\n\nNow that the atoning work of Christ is finished, the story proceeds\nwith rapidity to its close. It was the work of the Evangelist to give\nthe history of the incarnate Son of God; and now that the flesh is\nlaid aside, it is necessary only to give such notes of subsequent\nevents as shall preserve the continuity between the prophetic and\npriestly work of Christ on earth which it had been His vocation to\ndescribe, and the royal work which, as exalted Prince and Saviour, it\nstill remained for Him to do. We need not wonder, then, that the\nrecord of the three days should be quite brief, and of the forty days\nbriefer still.\n\nThis brevity is a note of truthfulness. The old idea of deliberate\nfalsehood having been quite given up, reliance is placed, by those who\nwish to discredit the gospel witnesses, on the suggestion that the\nrecords of the resurrection are the result of fancy crystallising into\nso-called fact. But not only was there no time, between the death of\nChrist and the latest date which can be assigned for the writing of\nthe first Gospel, for the process of crystallisation, but had there\nbeen such a process, the result would have been very different. Had\nfancy, and not observation, been the source, how comes it that nothing\nis told but what came within the range of actual vision? Why is there\nnot a word about Christ's entry into Paradise, or descent into Hades?\nWhat a fruitful field for fancy here!--yet there is not even a hint;\nfor it is not from anything in the Gospels, but solely from a passage\nin one of the Epistles, that the doctrine of the descent into Hades\nhas been derived. There is not a word or a hint of anything that\npassed in the unseen; a plain statement of what was done with the body\nof Jesus is absolutely all. Clearly it is not myth, but history, with\nwhich here we have to do.\n\n\n_The Evening of the First Day_ (vv. 57-61).\n\nDay was passing into evening when Jesus \"yielded up His spirit\"; for\nthe early evening according to the Jewish reckoning began at the ninth\nhour. It was probably some time after this--perhaps towards the later\nevening, which began about the twelfth hour (six o'clock)--that Joseph\nof Arimath\u00e6a thought of claiming the body to give it honourable\nburial. Why should such a duty have fallen to a stranger? Where were\nthe eleven? Had none of them so far recovered from their fear? Where\nwas Peter? might not his penitence for the past have impelled him to\ncome forward now? Where was John? He had taken the mother of Jesus to\nhis own home; but why did he not come back to see what he could do for\nthe sacred body? How can they all leave this tender office to a\nstranger?\n\nIt may be thought by some sufficient answer simply to say, So the Lord\nwilled it, and so the Scripture was fulfilled which intimated that He\nWho had died with the wicked should be \"with the rich in His death\";\nbut is there not more than this to be said? Is not the disappearance\nof the eleven and the coming forward of the two secret disciples (for\nas we learn from the fourth Gospel, Nicodemus--another secret\ndisciple--appears a little later on the scene) true to human nature?\nLet us remember that the faith of the eleven, while much superior to\nthat of the two, was from the nature of the case exposed to a\ncounter-current of feeling, of which neither Joseph nor Nicodemus\ncould know anything. They had committed themselves and their all to\nJesus, as Joseph and Nicodemus had never done. The consequence was\nthat when the terrible tempest broke on Him, it came with all its\nforce on them too. But Joseph and Nicodemus had not as yet ventured\ntheir all--had not, it would appear, as yet ventured anything for\nChrist. They were looking on at the storm, as it were, from the shore;\nso they could stand it, as those who were in the very midst of it\ncould not. They could stand beholding. Not having made themselves\nknown, they were not exposed to personal danger, hence were in a\nposition calmly and thoughtfully to watch the progress of events. We\ncan imagine them first looking towards Calvary from afar, and then, as\nthe darkness favoured a timid approach, drawing nearer and nearer, and\nat last coming within the spell of the Divine Sufferer. As they\nwitnessed His patient endurance, they would become more and more\nashamed of their half-hearted sympathy, ashamed to think that though\nthey had not consented to the counsel and deed of the rest (Luke\nxxiii. 51; John vii. 50, 51), they had not had courage to offer any\nserious opposition. They would feel, as they thought of this, as if\nthey shared the responsibility of what must now appear to them an\nawful crime; and so, looking to Him whom they had pierced, they would\nmourn; and, brought at last to decision by His death (John xii. 32),\nfirst Joseph, and after him Nicodemus, came out boldly, the one asking\nfor the body of Jesus, the other joining him in those tender and\nreverent ministrations which all that was best in them now constrained\nthem to render.\n\nThe sad duty hastily but tenderly and fitly done, a great stone is\nrolled to the door of the sepulchre, and they depart. But the\nsepulchre is not deserted yet. What are these figures in the dusk,\nthese women that advance as the others retire? While the two men were\nbusy they have been keeping at a discreet and respectful distance; but\nnow that all is silent at the tomb, they draw nearer, and though night\nis coming on apace, they cannot leave it, and the story of the long\nday ends with this pathetic touch: \"And Mary Magdalene was there, and\nthe other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.\"\n\n\n_The Second Day_ (vv. 62-66).\n\nIt was the Jewish Sabbath. The Evangelist for some reason avoids the\ncommon designation, preferring to speak of it as \"the day after the\npreparation\"--whether it was that he shrank from mentioning the\nSabbath in such a connection, or whether it was that the great event\nof the preparation day had such complete possession of his mind that\nhe must date from it, we shall not attempt to decide.\n\nThis is the only record we have of that Sabbath day except that St.\nLuke tells us that on it the women \"rested according to the\ncommandment.\" But the enemies of Jesus could not rest. They were\nuneasy and troubled now that the deed was done. They could not but\nhave been impressed with the bearing of their Victim, and with all the\nportents which accompanied His end. It was natural, therefore, that\nwords of His, which when reported to them before had not seemed worth\nnoticing, should come back to them now with fateful force. \"After\nthree days I will rise again\" was what He had often said. \"What if He\nshould rise? we must see that He does not.\" It would never do,\nhowever, to confess to such a fear; but they may get all needful\nprecautions taken by suggesting that there was danger of the disciples\nstealing the body, and then saying that He had risen. On this pretext\nthey get a guard from Pilate, and authority to seal the sepulchre.\nHaving thus made all secure, they can sleep in peace.\n\n\n_The Morning of the Third Day_ (xxviii. 1-15).\n\nThe women, having rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment,\nknew nothing of what had been done at the tomb that day, so, as they\nset out before daybreak on the third morning, they only thought of the\ngreat stone, and wondered how it could be rolled away; but when they\ncame, the sun just rising as they reached the spot, they found the\nstone already rolled away, and an angel of the Lord at the tomb, so\nlustrous in the livery of heaven that the keepers had quailed in his\npresence and were powerless to interfere. The awe with which the sight\nwould naturally inspire the women also was mingled with joy as they\nheard his kindly greeting and sympathetic words. Altogether worthy of\nan angel from heaven are the words he is reported to have spoken.\nThere is first the tender response to their looks of dread--\"Fear not\nye,\" as if to say, These others well may fear, for there is nothing in\ncommon between them and me; but with you it is different: \"I know that\nye seek Jesus, Which was crucified.\" Then there is the joyful news:\n\"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said:\" and as he observes\ntheir look of half-incredulous wonder he kindly adds, to let their\nsight be helper to their faith, \"Come, see the place where the Lord\nlay.\" Then he gives them the honour of carrying the glad tidings to\nthe other disciples, and assuring them that the Divine Shepherd will\nmeet them all in Galilee according to His word.\n\nAt this point we encounter one of the chief difficulties to be found\nin St. Matthew's record of the resurrection. There are indeed several\nparticulars in this Gospel, as well as in the others, which it is\ndifficult to fit into a connected account embracing all the facts; but\nas every person of even moderate intelligence knows that the same\ndifficulty is met in comparing various truthful accounts of any great\nevent in which details are many and complex, it is only the most\nunreasoning prejudice that can find in this an excuse for doubting the\ncredibility of the writers. Rather is this feature of the records a\ndistinct note of truthfulness; for, had it been easy to fit each fact\ninto its exact place in all the other accounts, we should have heard\nfrom the very same doubters, and with far better reason, that there\nwas every sign of its being a made-up story. All the four accounts are\nbrief and fragmentary; there is evidently no attempt whatever to\nrelate all that took place, and we should need to know all in order to\nform a complete picture of the entire series of events which glorified\nthe first Easter Day. We must therefore be content with the four vivid\npictures given us, without insisting on what with our imperfect\nknowledge is perhaps the impossible task of so combining them as to\nhave one great canvas embracing all the details in each of the four.\n\nThe account before us is the briefest of all, and therefore it would\nbe especially out of place in dealing with this Gospel to attempt to\nfill up the blanks and construct a consecutive history of all that\ntook place on that eventful day. But there is one point with which it\nis especially necessary to deal in considering St. Matthew's account\nof the resurrection--viz., the prominence given to the appearance of\nthe Lord to His disciples in Galilee--whereas in the fuller records of\nthe third and fourth Gospels, not Galilee, but Jerusalem and its\nvicinity, is the region where He makes Himself known.\n\nThose who are anxious to make the most of this difficulty are much\ndisappointed to find the ninth verse in their way. Wishing to prove a\nsharp contradiction, as if the one said the Lord appeared only in\nGalilee, and the other that He appeared only in Jerusalem and its\nneighbourhood, they are naturally vexed to find one of the Jerusalem\nappearances actually mentioned here. The attempt has accordingly been\nmade to discredit it; but in vain. It stands there an unquestionable\npart of the original text. So we must bear in mind that St. Matthew\nnot only does not assert that it was only in Galilee that our Lord\nappeared, but he expressly mentions one appearance in Jerusalem. On\nthe other hand, while St. Mark mentions no appearance in Galilee, he\ndoes mention the Lord's promise to meet His disciples there, and\nleaves it distinctly to be inferred that it was fulfilled. St. Luke,\nindeed, makes no mention of Galilee at all; but there is abundance of\nroom for it: for while he occupies almost all his space with the\nrecord of one day, he tells us in the beginning of his second volume\n(Acts i. 3) that Christ \"showed Himself alive after His passion by\nmany infallible proofs, _being seen of them forty days_, and speaking\nof the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.\" St. John also\nconfines himself to what took place at Jerusalem; but in the\ninteresting appendix to that Gospel there is a striking account of a\nmeeting with the eleven in Galilee--evidently not the same one which\nis recorded here, but another of the same, affording one more specimen\nof meetings which were no doubt frequently repeated during the forty\ndays. It is abundantly evident, therefore, that there is no\ncontradiction whatever.\n\nStill the question remains, Why does St. Matthew make so little of\nwhat the others make so much of, and so much of what the others make\nso little of? In answer we might first ask whether this was not in\nevery way to be expected and desired. If, as evidently was the case,\nthere were manifestations of the risen Lord both in the south and in\nthe north, and if we were to have several accounts, was it not\ndesirable that one at least should make it his specialty to bring into\nprominence the appearances in the north? And if so, who could do it\nmore appropriately than Matthew the publican of Galilee? The favour\nshown his own northern land had most deeply impressed his mind. It\nwill be remembered that he passed over entirely the early Jud\u00e6an\nministry recorded by St. John, and rejoiced in the Galilean ministry\nas the dawning of the new Day according to the words of ancient\nprophecy (Matt. iv. 14-16).\n\nFurthermore, there is every reason to suppose that it was not till\nthey met in Galilee that the scattered flock of the disciples was\ngathered all together. The appearances in Jerusalem were to\nindividuals and to little companies; whereas in Galilee it would seem\nthat He appeared to as many as five hundred at once (1 Cor. xv. 6);\nand though the Lord appeared to the ten (Thomas being absent), and\nagain to the eleven, before they left Jerusalem, it is not to these\noccasions, but rather to the meeting on the shore of the lake, that we\nlook for their fresh commission to address themselves again to their\nwork as fishers of men. This will appear more clearly if we bear in\nmind our Lord's sad reference, as the crisis approached, to the\nscattering of the flock, and His promise that after He had risen again\nHe would go before them into Galilee (Matt. xxvi. 31, 32). We have\nhere, then (ver. 7), a repetition of the same promise, \"He goeth\nbefore you\" (as the shepherd goes before his flock) \"into Galilee,\"\nwhere all the scattered ones shall be gathered round the Shepherd once\nagain, and thence sent out as under-shepherds (see John xxi. 15-17),\nto gather in the rest of the flock that are scattered abroad.\n\nThe conduct of the chief priests and scribes (vv. 11-15) is the\nnatural sequel of their futile attempt to seal the sepulchre. It is in\nvain to raise the objection, as some do, that it was too clumsy a\ndevice for men so astute; for what else could they do? It was indeed a\npoor evasion; but, baffled as they were, no better was possible for\nthem. Let the critic say what better expedient they could have thought\nof, before he assigns its poverty as a reason for discrediting the\nstory. That St. Matthew, and he alone, records it, is sufficiently\naccounted for by the fact that, his being the first written Gospel,\nand moreover the Gospel for the Jew, it behoved him to deal with a\nsaying \"commonly reported among the Jews until this day\"; while its\nbeing recorded by him was a sufficient reason why no further notice\nshould be taken of it, when there was so much of greater importance to\ntell.\n\nLooking back on this very brief record of the great events of Easter\nDay, nothing is more striking than the prominence of the women\nthroughout. It is a note of the new dispensation. It must have been\nvery strange to all the disciples, and not least to the author of this\nGospel, that woman, who had been kept so far in the background,\ntreated almost as if her presence would pollute the sacred places,\nshould, now that the veil was rent in twain from the top to the\nbottom, not only enter into the sacred presence of the risen Lord as\nthe equal of her brother man, but should be there before him,--that a\nwoman's eyes should be the first to see Him, a group of women the\nfirst to receive His loving welcome and to fall in adoration at His\nsacred feet. Yet so it was. Not that there was any partiality. \"In\nChrist Jesus there is neither male nor female.\" It is not a question\nof sex; it is a question of love and faith; and it was because the\nlove of these women was deeper, and their fidelity greater, than that\nof any of the men, that they had this honour. Had the love of John\nbeen as all-engrossing as that of Mary of Magdala, he would not have\nhad to wait for the Easter tidings till she had come to tell him. It\nis not a question of faith alone, but of faith and love. The women's\nfaith had failed them too. It was with no hope of seeing a risen Lord\nthat they had gone to the tomb--it was with spices to finish the\nembalming of His dead body; but their love, love stronger than death,\neven in the wreck of faith, kept them near, and so it was that, when\nlight first broke from out the darkness, they were there to see.\n\n\n\n\nXXI.\n\n_THE GOSPEL FOR ALL THE NATIONS THROUGH \"ALL THE DAYS.\"_\n\nMATT. xxviii. 16-20.\n\n\nThis brief concluding passage is all St. Matthew gives us of the\nthirty-nine days which followed the Resurrection and preceded the\nAscension. It would seem as if he fully realised that the\nmanifestations of these days belonged rather to the heavenly than to\nthe earthly work of Jesus, and that therefore, properly speaking, they\ndid not fall within his province. It was necessary that he should bear\nwitness to the fact of the Resurrection, and that he should clearly\nset forth the authority under which the first preachers of the gospel\nacted. Having accomplished both, he rests from his long labour of love.\n\nThat the commission of the eleven was not restricted to this\nparticular time and place is evident from notices in the other Gospels\n(Mark xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 48; John xx. 21-23, xxi. 15-17); but we can\nsee many reasons why this occasion was preferred to all others. We\nhave already seen how natural it was that St. Matthew should call the\nattention of his readers to the appearances of the risen Lord in\nGalilee rather than to those in Jerusalem and its vicinity; and the\nmore we think of it, the more do we see the appropriateness of his\nsingling out this one in particular. It was the only formally\nappointed meeting of the Lord with His disciples. In every other case\nHe came unannounced and unexpected; but for this meeting there had\nbeen a distinct and definite appointment.\n\nThis consideration is one of many which render it probable that this\nwas the occasion referred to by St. Paul when our Lord was seen by\nabove five hundred brethren at once; for on the one hand there was\nnothing but a definite appointment that would bring so large a company\ntogether at any one point, and on the other hand, when such an\nappointment was made, it is altogether natural to suppose that the\nnews of it would spread far and wide, and bring together, not the\neleven only, but disciples from all parts of the land, and especially\nfrom Galilee, where the greater number of them would no doubt reside.\nThat St. Matthew mentions only the eleven may be accounted for by the\nobject he has in view--viz., to exhibit their apostolic credentials;\nbut even in his brief narrative there is one statement which is most\neasily understood on the supposition that a considerable number were\npresent. \"Some doubted,\" he says. This would seem altogether natural\non the part of those to whom this was the only appearance; whereas it\nis difficult to suppose that any of the eleven could doubt after what\nthey had seen and heard at Jerusalem.\n\nIn any case, the doubts were only temporary, and were in all\nprobability connected with the mode of His manifestation. As on other\noccasions, of which particulars are given in other Gospels, the Lord\nwould suddenly appear to the assembled company; and we can well\nunderstand how, when first His form was seen, He should not be\nrecognised by all; so that, while all would be solemnised, and bow in\nadoration, some might not be altogether free from doubt. But the\ndoubts would disappear as soon as \"He opened His mouth and taught\nthem,\" as of old. To make these doubts, as some do, a reason for\ndiscrediting the testimony of all is surely the very height of\nperversity. All the disciples were doubters at the first. But they\nwere all convinced in the end. And the very fact that it was so hard\nto convince them, when they were first confronted with so unexpected\nan event as the Lord's appearing to them after His death, gives\nlargely increased value to their unfaltering certainty ever\nafterwards, through all the persecution and sufferings, even unto\ndeath, to which their preaching the fact of the Resurrection exposed\nthem.\n\nAs Galilee was the most convenient place[37] for a large public\ngathering of disciples, so a mountain was the most convenient spot,\nnot only because of its seclusion, but because it would give the best\nopportunity for all to see and hear. What mountain it was we can only\nconjecture. Perhaps it was the mount on which the great Sermon was\ndelivered which gave the first outline sketch of the kingdom now to be\nformally established; perhaps it was the mount which had already been\nhonoured as the scene of the Transfiguration; but wherever it was, the\nassociations with the former mountain scenes in Galilee would be fresh\nand strong in the disciples' minds.\n\nThe choice of a mountain in the north was moreover suitable as\nsignalising the setting aside of Mount Zion and Jerusalem as the seat\nof empire. From this point of view we can see still another reason why\nSt. Matthew, the Evangelist for the Jew, should mention the formal\ninauguration of the new kingdom in the north. The rejection of the\nMessiah by His own people had gone very deeply to the heart of the\nauthor of this Gospel. He certainly never obtrudes his feelings, even\nwhen they are strongest, as is most strikingly apparent in his calm\nrecord of the Passion itself; but there are many things which show how\nkeenly he felt on this point. Recall how he tells us on the one hand\nthat \"Herod the king was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him,\" when\nthe report was spread abroad that the Christ was born in Bethlehem,\nand on the other that the wise men from the East \"rejoiced with\nexceeding great joy.\" Remember how he speaks of \"Galilee of the\nGentiles\" as rejoicing in the great light which had been unnoticed or\nunwelcome in Jerusalem, and how he calls special attention to \"the\ncoasts of C\u00e6sarea Philippi,\" the utmost corner of the land, as the\nplace where the Church was founded. And now, having recorded the\nLord's final and formal entry into the ancient capital to claim the\nthrone of David, only to be despised and rejected, mocked and scourged\nand crucified, it is natural that, as the Evangelist for the Jew, he\nshould pass away from what he often fondly calls \"the holy City,\"[38]\nbut which is now to him an accursed place, to those calm regions of\nthe north which were associated in his mind with the first shining of\nthe light, with so many words of wisdom spoken by the Lord, with the\ndoing of most of His mighty deeds, with the founding of the Church,\nand with the glory of the Transfiguration.\n\nThe words of the Lord on this last occasion are worthy of all that has\ngone before. Let all doubters ponder well the significance of this.\nSuppose for a moment that the story of the Resurrection had been only\n\"the passion of a hallucinated woman,\" as Renan puts it, and then\nconsider the position. No one of course denies that up to the moment\nof death there was a veritable Jesus, whose sayings and doings\nsupplied the material for the history; but now that the hero is dead\nand gone, where are the materials? The fishermen and publicans are on\ntheir own resources now. They have to make everything out of nothing.\nSurely, therefore, there must be now a swift descent; no more of those\nnoble utterances to which we have been accustomed hitherto--only\ninventions of the poor publican now. No more breadth of view--only\nJewish narrowness now. It was about this very time that the disciples\nasked, \"Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?\"\nSuppose, then, these men obliged themselves to invent a Great\nCommission, how narrow and provincial will it be!\n\nIs there, then, such a swift descent? Are not the reported words of\nthe risen Lord--not in this Gospel merely, but in all the Gospels--as\nnoble, as impressive, as divine as any that have been preserved to us,\nfrom the years of His life in the flesh? Search through this Gospel,\nand say if there can be found anywhere an utterance that has more of\nthe King in it, that is more absolutely free from all Jewish\nnarrowness and from all human feebleness, than this Great Commission\nwhich forms its magnificent close. It is very plain that these simple\nartists have their subject still before them. Manifestly they are not\ndrawing from imagination, but telling what they heard and saw.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is an unapproachable majesty in the words which makes one shrink\nfrom touching them. They seem to rise before us like a great mountain\nwhich it would be presumption to attempt to scale. What a mighty range\nthey take, up to heaven, out to all the earth, down to the end of\ntime!--and all so calm, so simple, so strong, so sure. If, as He\nfinished the Sermon on the Mount, the multitude were astonished, much\nmore must these have been astonished who first listened to this\namazing proclamation.\n\n\"All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth\" (R.V.).\nWhat words are these to come from One Who has just been put to death\nfor claiming to be the king of the Jews! King of kings and Lord of\nlords is the title now He claims. And yet it is as Son of man He\nspeaks. He does not speak as God, and say, \"All authority is Mine\": He\nspeaks as the man Christ Jesus, saying, \"All authority has been given\nunto Me\"--given as the purchase of His pain: authority in heaven, as\nPriest with God--authority on earth, as King of men.\n\nHaving thus laid broad and deep and strong the foundations of the new\nkingdom, He sends the heralds forth: \"Go ye therefore, and make\ndisciples of all the nations, baptising them into the name of the\nFather and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe\nall things whatsoever I commanded you\" (R.V.). These are simple words\nand very familiar now, and a distinct effort is needed to realise how\nextraordinary they are, as spoken then and there to that little\ncompany. \"All nations\" are to be discipled and brought under His\nsway,--such is the commission; and to whom is it given? Not to\nImperial C\u00e6sar, with his legions at command and the civilised world at\nhis feet; not to a company of intellectual giants, who by the sheer\nforce of genius might turn the world upside down; but to these\nobscure Galileans of whom C\u00e6sar has never heard, not one of whose\nnames has ever been pronounced in the Roman Senate, who have excited\nno wonder either for intellect or learning even in the villages and\ncountry-sides from which they come,--it is to these that the great\ncommission is given to bring the world to the feet of the crucified\nNazarene. Imagine a nineteenth-century critic there, and listening. He\nwould not have said a word. It would have been beneath his notice. A\ncurl of the lip would have been all the recognition he would have\ndeigned to give. Yes, how ludicrous it seems in the light of reason!\nBut in the light of history is it not sublime?\n\nThe hidden power lay in the conjunction: \"Go ye _therefore_.\" It\nwould have been the height of folly to have gone on such an errand in\ntheir own strength; but why should they hesitate to go in the name and\nat the bidding of One to Whom all authority had been given in heaven\nand on earth? Yet the power is not delegated to them. It remains, and\nmust remain with Him. It is not, \"All authority is given _unto\nyou_.\" They must keep in closest touch with Him, wherever they go\non this extraordinary mission. How this may be will presently appear.\n\nThe two branches into which the commission divides--\"Baptising them\ninto the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,\"\n\"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded\nyou\"--correspond to the twofold authority on which it is based. By\nvirtue of His authority in heaven, He authorises His ambassadors to\nbaptise people of all nations who shall become His disciples \"into the\nname of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.\" Thus would\nthey be acknowledged as children of the great family of God, accepted\nby the Father as washed from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ His\nSon, and sanctified by the grace of His Holy Spirit--the sum of saving\ntruth suggested in a single line. In the same way, by virtue of His\nauthority on earth, He authorises His disciples to publish His\ncommands so as to secure the obedience of all the nations, and yet not\nof constraint, but willingly, \"teaching them to observe all things\nwhatsoever I have commanded you.\"\n\nEasily said; but how shall it be done? We can imagine the feeling of\nbewilderment and helplessness with which the disciples would listen to\ntheir marching orders, until all was changed by the simple and sublime\nassurance at the close: \"And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the\nend of the world.\" This assurance is perhaps the strangest part of\nall, as given to a company, however small, who were to be scattered\nabroad in different directions, and who were commissioned to go to the\nvery ends of the earth. How could it be fulfilled? There is nothing in\nSt. Matthew's narrative to explain the difficulty. We know, indeed,\nfrom other sources what explains it. It is the Ascension--the return\nof the King to the heaven whence He came, to resume His omnipresent\nglory, by virtue of which alone He can fulfil the promise He has made.\n\nThis brings us to a question of considerable importance: Why is it\nthat St. Matthew gives no record of the Ascension, and does not even\nhint what became of the risen Christ after this last recorded\ninterview with His disciples? It seems to us that a sufficient reason\nis found in the object which St. Matthew had in view, which was to set\nforth the establishment of the kingdom of Christ upon earth as\nforetold by the prophets and expected by the saints of old; and\ninasmuch as it is Christ's kingdom on earth which he has mainly in\nview, he does not call special attention to His return to heaven, but\nrather to that earthly fact which was the glorious result of it--viz.,\nHis abiding presence with His people on the earth. Had he finished his\nGospel with the Ascension, the last impression left on the reader's\nmind would have been of Christ in heaven at the right hand of God--a\nglorious thought indeed, but not the one it was his special aim and\nobject to convey. But, concluding as he does, the last impression on\nthe reader's mind is of Christ abiding on the earth, and with all His\npeople even to the end of the world--a most cheering, comforting, and\nstimulating thought. To the devout reader of this Gospel it is as if\nhis Lord had never left the earth at all, but had suddenly clothed\nHimself with omnipresence, so that, however far apart His disciples\nmight be scattered in His service, each one of them might at any\nmoment see His face, and hear His voice of cheer, and feel His touch\nof sympathy, and draw on His reserve of power. Thus was it made quite\nplain, how they could keep in closest touch with Him to Whom was given\nall authority in heaven and on earth.\n\nAfter all, is it quite correct to say that St. Matthew omits the\nAscension? What was the Ascension? We think of it as a going up; but\nthat is to speak of it after the manner of men. In the kingdom of\nheaven there is no geographical \"up\" or \"down.\" The Ascension really\nmeant the laying aside of earthly limitations and the resumption of\ndivine glory with its omnipresence and eternity; and is not this\nincluded in these closing words? May we not fancy one of these\ndoubting ones (ver. 17), who trembled in the presence of that Form in\nwhich the Lord appeared to them upon the mount, recalling afterwards\nthe supreme moment when the words \"Lo, I am with you,\" entered into\nhis soul, in language such as this:\n\n \"Then did the Form expand, expand--\n I knew Him through the dread disguise,\n As the whole God within His eyes\n Embraced me\"--\n\nan embrace in which he remained, when the Form had vanished.\n\nThe Ascension is all in that wonderful \"I am.\" It is not the first\ntime we have heard it. Among His last words in Capernaum, when the\nSaviour was thinking of His Church in the ages to come, gathered\ntogether in companies in all the lands where disciples should meet in\nHis name, the great thought takes Him for the moment out of the\nlimitations of His earthly life; it carries Him back, or rather lifts\nHim up, to the eternal sphere from which He has come to earth, so that\nHe uses not the future of time, but the present of eternity: \"_There\nam I_ in the midst of them\" (xviii. 20). A still more striking example\nhas been preserved by St. John. When on one occasion He spoke of\nAbraham as seeing His day, the Jews interrupted Him with the question,\n\"Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?\"\nRecognising in this a challenge of His relation to that timeless,\ndateless sphere from which He has come, He promptly replies, \"Before\nAbraham was,[39] _I am_.\" It is as if a foreigner, speaking perfectly\nthe language of the country of his adoption, were suddenly betrayed\ninto a form of expression which marked his origin.\n\nThat was a momentary relapse, as it were, into the language of\neternity; but this last \"I am\" marks a change in His relations to His\ndisciples: it is the note of the new dispensation of the Spirit. These\nforty days were a transition time marked by special manifestations--not\nwholly material as in the days of the Incarnation, nor wholly\nspiritual as in the days after Pentecost; but on the borderland\nbetween the two, so as to prepare the minds and hearts of the\ndisciples for the purely spiritual relation which was thenceforward to\nbe the rule. Whichever appearance was the last to any disciple would\nbe the Ascension to him. To very many in that large gathering this\nwould be the Saviour's last appearance. It was in all probability the\ntime when the great majority of the disciples bade farewell to the\nForm of their risen Lord. May we not, then, call this the Ascension in\nGalilee? And just as the parting on the Mount of Olives left as its\ndeepest impression the withdrawal of the man Christ Jesus, with the\npromise of His return in like manner, so the parting on the mount in\nGalilee left as its deepest impression not the withdrawal of the human\nform, but the permanent abiding of the Divine Spirit--a portion of the\ntruth of the Ascension quite as important as the other, and even more\ninspiring. No wonder that the great announcement which is to be the\nChristian's title-deed, for all ages to come, of God's unspeakable\ngift, should be introduced with a summons to adoring wonder: \"_Lo_, I\nam with you alway, even unto the end of the world.\"\n\nThe Gospel ends by removing from itself all limitations of time and\nspace extending the day of the Incarnation to \"all the days,\"\nenlarging the Holy Land to embrace all lands. The times of the Son of\nman are widened so as to embrace all times. The great name Immanuel\n(i. 23) is now fulfilled for all the nations and for all the ages. For\nwhat is this finished Gospel but the interpretation, full and clear at\nlast, of that great Name of the old covenant, the name Jehovah: \"I\nAM,\" \"I AM THAT I AM\" (Exod. iii. 14)? All of the Old Testament\nrevelation is gathered up in this final utterance, \"I AM--with you\";\nand it has in it by anticipation all that will be included in that\nlast word of the risen Saviour: \"I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning\nand the End, the First and the Last\" (Rev. xxii. 13).\n\nThis last sentence of the Gospel distinguishes the life of Jesus from\nall other histories, biographies, or \"remains.\" It is the one \"Life\"\nin all literature. These years were not spent \"as a tale that is\ntold.\" The Lord Jesus lives in His gospel, so that all who receive His\nfinal promise may catch the light of His eye, feel the touch of His\nhand, hear the tones of His voice, see for themselves, and become\nacquainted with Him Whom to know is Life Eternal. Fresh and new, and\nrich and strong, for \"all the days,\" this Gospel is not the record of\na past, but the revelation of a present Saviour, of One Whose voice\nsounds deep and clear across all storms of life: \"Fear not: I am the\nFirst and the Last: I am He that liveth _and was dead_; and\nbehold I AM ALIVE FOR EVERMORE.\"\n\n[37] The number at Jerusalem at the time of the Ascension was only a\nhundred and twenty (Acts i. 15).\n\n[38] St. Matthew alone of the Evangelists uses this designation.\n\n[39] The full significance of the original can scarcely be given in\nEnglish. The Greek language, rich in the vocabulary of philosophy, has\ntwo verbs corresponding to our \"to be,\" one indicating phenomenal, the\nother absolute being. It is the former which is used of Abraham; the\nlatter is used by our Lord in speaking of Himself. There is,\ntherefore, more than a difference of tense.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.\n\n\n1889-90.\n\n_Crown 8vo. Cloth. Price 7s. 6d. each._\n\nJUDGES AND RUTH. By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A.\n\nTHE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH. By the Rev. C. J. BALL, M.A., Chaplain of\nLincoln's Inn.\n\nTHE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. Vol. II. Completing the Work. By the Rev.\nGEORGE ADAM SMITH, M.A.\n\nTHE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW. By the Rev. T. MONRO GIBSON, D.D., London,\nAuthor of \"The Mosaic Era,\" etc.\n\nTHE BOOK OF EXODUS. By the Very Rev. G. A. CHADWICK, D.D., Dean of\nArmagh.\n\nTHE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By the Rev. G. T. STOKES, D.D.,\nProfessor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Dublin.\n\n\n1888-89.\n\n_Crown 8vo. Cloth. Price 7s. 6d. each._\n\nTHE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. By the Rev. Professor G. G. FINDLAY,\nB.A., Headingley College, Leeds.\n\nTHE BOOK OF ISAIAH. Chaps. I. to XXXIX. By the Rev. GEORGE ADAM SMITH,\nM.A., Aberdeen.\n\nTHE PASTORAL EPISTLES. By the Rev. ALFRED PLUMMER, D.D., Master of\nUniversity College, Durham.\n\nTHE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. By the Rev. MARCUS DODS, D.D.\nSecond Edition.\n\nTHE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.By the Rev. Professor W. MILLIGAN, D.D.,\nof the University of Aberdeen.\n\nTHE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. By the Right Rev. W. ALEXANDER, D.D.,\nD.C.L., Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe.\n\n\n1887-88.\n\n_Crown 8vo. Cloth. Price 7s. 6d. each._\n\nTHE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. By ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D., of\nManchester. Fourth Edition.\n\nTHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. By the Very Rev. G. A. CHADWICK,\nD.D., Dean of Armagh.\n\nTHE BOOK OF GENESIS. By the Rev. Professor MARCUS DODS, D.D. Fourth\nEdition.\n\nTHE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. By the Rev. Professor W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.,\nLL.D.\n\nTHE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. By the same Author.\n\nTHE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. By the Rev. Principal T. C. EDWARDS, M.A.","title":"Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of Matthew","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":138888}