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diff --git a/37120-tei/37120-tei.tei b/37120-tei/37120-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a71b384 --- /dev/null +++ b/37120-tei/37120-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,19220 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Gospel According to St. Mark</title> + <author><name reg="Chadwick, G. A.">G. A. Chadwick</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>August 18, 2011</date> + <idno type="etext-no">37120</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and + with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it + away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg + License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + <language id="la"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2011-08-18">August 18, 2011</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Marcia Brooks, Colin Bell, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + (This file was produced from images generously made + available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.) + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">The Expositor's Bible</p> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">The Gospel According to St. Mark</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">By The</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">Very Rev. G. A. Chadwick, D.D.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Dean of Armagh</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Hodder & Stoughton</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">New York</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">George H. Doran Company</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1900</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Beginning Of The Gospel.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, +Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send My messenger +before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way; The voice of one +crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make +His paths straight; John came, who baptized in the wilderness and +preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. And there +went out unto him all the country of Judæa, and all they of Jerusalem; +and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. +And John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leathern girdle about +his loins, and did eat locusts and wild +honey.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi>, i. 1-6 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The opening of St. Mark's Gospel is energetic and +full of character. St. Matthew traces for Jews +the pedigree of their Messiah; St. Luke's worldwide +sympathies linger with the maiden who bore Jesus, and +the village of His boyhood; and St. John's theology +proclaims the Divine origin of the Eternal Lord. But +St. Mark trusts the public acts of the Mighty Worker +to do for the reader what they did for those who first +<q>beheld His glory.</q> How He came to earth can safely +be left untold: what He was will appear by what He +wrought. It is enough to record, with matchless vividness, +the toils, the energy, the love and wrath, the +defeat and triumph of the brief career which changed +the world. It will prove itself to be the career of <q>the +Son of God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In so deciding, he followed the example of the +Apostolic teaching. The first vacant place among the +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +Twelve was filled by an eye-witness, competent to tell +what Jesus did <q>from the baptism of John to the day +when He was received up,</q> the very space covered by +this Gospel. That <q>Gospel of peace,</q> which Cornelius +heard from St. Peter (and hearing, received the Holy +Ghost) was the same story of Jesus <q>after the baptism +which John preached.</q> And this is throughout the +substance of the primitive teaching. The Apostles act +as men who believe that everything necessary to salvation +is (implicit or explicit) in the history of those few +crowded years. Therefore this is <q>the gospel.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Men there are who judge otherwise, and whose gospel +is not the story of salvation wrought, but the plan of +salvation applied, how the Atonement avails for us, +how men are converted, and what privileges they +then receive. But in truth men are not converted +by preaching conversion, any more than citizens are +made loyal by demanding loyalty. Show men their +prince, and convince them that he is gracious and truly +royal, and they will die for him. Show them the Prince +of Life, and He, being lifted up, will draw all men +unto Him; and thus the truest gospel is that which +declares Christ and Him crucified. As all science +springs from the phenomena of the external world, so +do theology and religion spring from the life of Him +who was too adorable to be mortal, and too loving to +be disobeyed. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore St. Paul declares that the gospel which he +preached to the Corinthians and by which they were +saved, was, that Christ died for our sins and was +buried and rose again, and was seen of sufficient +witnesses (1 Cor. xv. 1-8). +</p> + +<p> +And therefore St. Mark is contented with a very brief +record of those wondrous years; a few facts, chosen +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +with a keen sense of the intense energy and burning +force which they reveal, are what he is inspired to call +the gospel. +</p> + +<p> +He presently uses the word in a somewhat larger +sense, telling how Jesus Himself, before the story of +His life could possibly be unfolded, preached as <q>the +gospel of God</q> that <q>the time is fulfilled, and the +kingdom of God is at hand,</q> and added (what St. +Mark only has preserved for us), <q>Repent, and believe +in the gospel</q> (i. 14-15). So too it is part of St. +Paul's <q>gospel</q> that <q>God shall judge the secrets of men +by Jesus Christ</q> (Rom. ii. 16). For this also is good +news of God, <q>the gospel of the kingdom.</q> And like +<q>the gospel of Jesus Christ,</q> it treats of His attitude +toward us, more than ours toward Him, which latter is +the result rather than the substance of it. That He +rules, and not the devil; that we shall answer at last to +Him and to none lower; that Satan lied when he +claimed to possess all the kingdoms of the earth, and to +dispose of them; that Christ has now received from far +different hands <q>all power on earth</q>; this is a gospel +which the world has not yet learned to welcome, nor +the Church fully to proclaim. +</p> + +<p> +Now the scriptural use of this term is quite as important +to religious emotion as to accuracy of thought. +All true emotions hide their fountain too deep for self-consciousness +to find. We feel best when our feeling +is forgotten. Not while we think about finding peace, +but while we approach God as a Father, and are anxious +for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication +with thanksgiving make known our requests, is it +promised that the peace of God which passeth all +understanding shall guard our hearts and our thoughts +(Phil. iv. 7). And many a soul of the righteous, whom +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +faith in the true gospel fills with trembling adoration, is +made sad by the inflexible demand for certain realised +personal experiences as the title to recognition as a +Christian. That great title belonged at the first to all +who would learn of Jesus: the disciples were called +Christians. To acquaint ourselves with Him, that is +to be at peace. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, we observe that the new movement which +now begins is not, like Judaism, a law which brings +death; nor like Buddhism, a path in which one must +walk as best he may: it differs from all other systems +in being essentially the announcement of good tidings +from above. +</p> + +<p> +Yet <q>the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ</q> +is a profound agitation and widespread alarm. Lest the +soothing words of Jesus should blend like music with +the slumber of sinners at ease in Zion, John came +preaching repentance, and what is more, a baptism of +repentance; not such a lustration as was most familiar +to the Mosaic law, administered by the worshipper to +himself, but an ablution at other hands, a confession +that one is not only soiled, but soiled beyond all +cleansing of his own. Formal Judaism was one long +struggle for self-purification. The dawn of a new +system is visible in the movement of all Judæa towards +one who bids them throw every such hope away, and +come to him for the baptism of repentance, and expect +A Greater One, who shall baptize them with the Holy +Ghost and with fire. And the true function of the +predicted herald, the best levelling of the rugged ways +of humanity for the Promised One to traverse, was in +this universal diffusion of the sense of sin. For Christ +was not come to call the righteous, but sinners to +repentance. +</p> + +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> + +<p> +In truth, the movement of the Baptist, with its +double aspect, gathers up all the teaching of the past. +He produced conviction, and he promised help. One +lesson of all sacred history is universal failure. The +innocence of Eden cannot last. The law with its +promise of life to the man who doeth these things, +issued practically in the knowledge of sin; it entered +that sin might abound; it made a formal confession of +universal sin, year by year, continually. And therefore +its fitting close was a baptism of repentance +universally accepted. Alas, not universally. For +while we read of all the nation swayed by one impulse, +and rushing to the stern teacher who had no +share in its pleasures or its luxuries, whose life was +separated from its concerns, and whose food was the +simplest that could sustain existence, yet we know that +when they heard how deep his censures pierced, and +how unsparingly he scourged their best loved sins, the +loudest professors of religion rejected the counsel of +God against themselves, being not baptized of Him. +Nevertheless, by coming to Him, they also had pleaded +guilty. Something they needed; they were sore at +heart, and would have welcomed any soothing balm, +although they refused the surgeon's knife. +</p> + +<p> +The law did more than convict men; it inspired hope. +The promise of a Redeemer shone like a rainbow +across the dark story of the past. He was the end of +all the types, at once the Victim and the Priest. To +Him gave all the prophets witness, and the Baptist +brought all past attainment to its full height, and was +<q>more than a prophet</q> when he announced the actual +presence of the Christ, when he pointed out to the first +two Apostles, the Lamb of God. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> + +<div> +<head>At The Jordan.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And he preached, saying, There cometh after me He that is mightier +than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and +unloose. I baptized you with water; but He shall baptize you with +the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came +from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan. +And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens rent +asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him: and a voice +came out of the heavens, Thou art My Beloved Son, in Thee I am +well pleased.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. 7-11 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +It was when all men mused in their hearts whether +John was the Christ or no, that he announced the +coming of a Stronger One. By thus promptly silencing +a whisper, so honourable to himself, he showed how +strong he really was, and how unselfish <q>a friend of +the Bridegroom.</q> Nor was this the vague humility of +phrase which is content to be lowly in general, so long +as no specified individual stands higher. His word is +definite, and accepts much for himself. <q>The Stronger +One than I cometh,</q> and it is in presence of the might +of Jesus (whom yet this fiery reformer called a Lamb), +that he feels himself unworthy to bend to the dust and +unbind the latchets or laces of his shoe. +</p> + +<p> +So then, though asceticism be sometimes good, it is +consciously not the highest nor the most effective +goodness. Perhaps it is the most impressive. Without +a miracle, the preaching of John shook the nation +as widely as that of Jesus melted it, and prepared +men's hearts for His. A king consulted and feared +him. And when the Pharisees were at open feud with +Jesus, they feared to be stoned if they should pronounce +John's baptism to be of men. +</p> + +<p> +Yet is there weakness lurking even in the very +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +quality which gives asceticism its power. That stern +seclusion from an evil world, that peremptory denial +of its charms, why are they so impressive? Because +they set an example to those who are hard beset, of +the one way of escape, the cutting off of the hand and +foot, the plucking out of the eye. And our Lord +enjoins such mutilation of the life upon those whom +its gifts betray. Yet is it as the halt and maimed that +such men enter into life. The ascetic is a man who +needs to sternly repress and deny his impulses, who +is conscious of traitors within his breast that may +revolt if the enemy be suffered to approach too near. +</p> + +<p> +It is harder to be a holy friend of publicans and +sinners, a witness for God while eating and drinking +with these, than to remain in the desert undefiled. It +is greater to convert a sinful woman in familiar converse +by the well, than to shake trembling multitudes +by threats of the fire for the chaff and the axe for the +barren tree. And John confessed this. In the supreme +moment of his life, he added his own confession to that +of all his nation. This rugged ascetic had need to be +baptized of Him who came eating and drinking. +</p> + +<p> +Nay, he taught that all his work was but superficial, +a baptism with water to reach the surface of men's life, +to check, at the most, exaction and violence and +neglect of the wants of others, while the Greater One +should baptize with the Holy Ghost, should pierce +the depths of human nature, and thoroughly purge His +floor. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing could refute more clearly than our three +simple narratives, the sceptical notion that Jesus +yielded for awhile to the dominating influence of the +Baptist. Only from the Gospels can we at all connect +the two. And what we read here is, that before Jesus +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +came, John expected his Superior; that when they met, +John declared his own need to be baptized of Him, +that he, nevertheless, submitted to the will of Jesus, +and thereupon heard a voice from the heavens which +must for ever have destroyed all notion of equality; that +afterwards he only saw Jesus at a distance, and made +a confession which transferred two of his disciples to +our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +The criticism which transforms our Lord's part in +these events to that of a pupil is far more wilful than +would be tolerated in dealing with any other record. +And it too palpably springs from the need to find some +human inspiration for the Word of God, some candle +from which the Sun of Righteousness took fire, if one +would escape the confession that He is not of this +world. +</p> + +<p> +But here we meet a deeper question: Not why Jesus +accepted baptism from an inferior, but why, being sinless, +He sought for a baptism of repentance. How is +this act consistent with absolute and stainless purity? +</p> + +<p> +Now it sometimes lightens a difficulty to find that it +is not occasional nor accidental, but wrought deep into +the plan of a consistent work. And the Gospels are +consistent in representing the innocence of Jesus as +refusing immunity from the consequences of guilt. He +was circumcised, and His mother then paid the offering +commanded by the law, although both these actions +spoke of defilement. In submitting to the likeness of +sinful flesh He submitted to its conditions. He was +present at feasts in which national confessions led up +to sacrifice, and the sacrificial blood was sprinkled to +make atonement for the children of Israel, because of +all their sins. When He tasted death itself, which +passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, He +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> +carried out to the utmost the same stern rule to which +at His baptism He consciously submitted. Nor will +any theory of His atonement suffice, which is content +with believing that His humiliations and sufferings, +though inevitable, were only collateral results of contact +with our fallen race. Baptism was avoidable, and +that without any compromise of His influence, since the +Pharisees refused it with impunity, and John would +fain have exempted Him. Here at least He was not +<q>entangled in the machinery,</q> but deliberately turned +the wheels upon Himself. And this is the more impressive +because, in another aspect of affairs, He +claimed to be out of the reach of ceremonial defilement, +and touched without reluctance disease, leprosy +and the dead. +</p> + +<p> +Humiliating and penal consequences of sin, to these +He bowed His head. Yet to a confession of personal +taint, never. And all the accounts agree that He never +was less conscience-stricken than when He shared the +baptism of repentance. St. Matthew implies, what St. +Luke plainly declares, that He did not come to baptism +along with the crowds of penitents, but separately. +And at the point where all others made confession, in +the hour when even the Baptist, although filled with +the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, had need to +be baptized, He only felt the propriety, the fitness of +fulfilling all righteousness. That mighty task was not +even a yoke to Him, it was an instinct like that of +beauty to an artist, it was what became Him. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark omits even this evidence of sinlessness. +His energetic method is like that of a great commander, +who seizes at all costs the vital point upon the battle +field. He constantly omits what is subordinate +(although very conscious of the power of graphic +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +details), when by so doing he can force the central +thought upon the mind. Here he concentrates our +attention upon the witness from above, upon the rending +asunder of the heavens which unfold all their +heights over a bended head, upon the visible descent +of the Holy Spirit in His fulness, upon the voice from +the heavens which pealed through the souls of these +two peerless worshippers, and proclaimed that He who +had gone down to the baptismal flood was no sinner +to be forgiven, but the beloved Son of God, in whom +He is well pleased. +</p> + +<p> +That is our Evangelist's answer to all misunderstanding +of the rite, and it is enough. +</p> + +<p> +How do men think of heaven? Perhaps only as a +remote point in space, where flames a material and +solid structure into which it is the highest bliss to +enter. A place there must be to which the Body +of our Lord ascended and whither He shall yet lead +home His followers in spiritual bodies to be with Him +where He is. If, however, only this be heaven, we +should hold that in the revolutions of the solar system +it hung just then vertically above the Jordan, a few +fathoms or miles aloft. But we also believe in a +spiritual city, in which the pillars are living saints, +an all-embracing blessedness and rapture and depth of +revelation, whereinto holy mortals in their highest +moments have been <q>caught up,</q> a heaven whose +angels ascend and descend upon the Son of man. In +this hour of highest consecration, these heavens were +thrown open—rent asunder—for the gaze of our Lord +and of the Baptist. They were opened again when the +first martyr died. And we read that what eye hath +not seen nor ear heard nor heart conceived of the +preparation of God for them that love Him, He hath +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +already revealed to them by His Spirit. To others +there is only cloud or <q>the infinite azure,</q> as to the +the crowd by the Jordan and the murderers of Stephen. +</p> + +<p> +Now it is to be observed that we never read of Jesus +being caught up into heaven for a space, like St. Paul +or St. John. What we read is, that while on earth the +Son of man is in Heaven (John iii. 13),<note place='foot'>Cf. the admirable note in Archdeacon Watkins' <q>Commentary on +John.</q></note> for heaven is +the manifestation of God, whose truest glory was revealed +in the grace and truth of Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +Along with this revelation, the Holy Spirit was manifested +wondrously. His appearance, indeed, is quite +unlike what it was to others. At Pentecost He became +visible, but since each disciple received only a portion, +<q>according to his several ability,</q> his fitting symbol +was <q>tongues parting asunder like as of fire.</q> He +came as an element powerful and pervasive, not as +a Personality bestowed in all His vital force on any +one. +</p> + +<p> +So, too, the phrase which John used, when predicting +that Jesus should baptize with the Holy Ghost, slightly +though it differs from what is here, implies<note place='foot'>By the absence of the article in the Greek.</note> that +only a portion is to be given, not the fulness. And +the angel who foretold to Zacharias that John himself +should be filled with the Holy Ghost, conveyed the +same limitation in his words. John received all that +he was able to receive: he was filled. But how should +mortal capacity exhaust the fulness of Deity? And +Who is this, upon Whom, while John is but an awe-stricken +beholder, the Spirit of God descends in all +completeness, a living organic unity, like a dove? Only +the Infinite is capable of receiving such a gift, and this +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +is He in Whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead +bodily. No wonder then that <q>in bodily form</q> +as a dove, the Spirit of God descended upon Him +alone. Henceforward He became the great Dispenser, +and <q>the Spirit emanated from Him as perfume from +the rose when it has opened.</q> +</p> + +<p> +At the same time was heard a Voice from heaven. +And the bearing of this passage upon the Trinity +becomes clear, when we combine the manifestation of +the Spirit in living Personality, and the Divine Voice, +not from the Dove but from the heavens, with the +announcement that Jesus is not merely beloved and +well-pleasing, but a Son, and in this high sense the +only Son, since the words are literally <q>Thou art the +Son of Me, the beloved.</q> And yet He is to bring many +sons unto glory. +</p> + +<p> +Is it consistent with due reverence to believe that +this voice conveyed a message to our Lord Himself? +Even so liberal a critic as Neander has denied this. +But if we grasp the meaning of what we believe, that +He upon taking flesh <q>emptied Himself,</q> that He increased +in wisdom during His youth, and that there +was a day and hour which to the end of life He knew +not, we need not suppose that His infancy was so +unchildlike as the realisation of His mysterious and +awful Personality would make it. There must then +have been a period when His perfect human development +rose up into what Renan calls (more accurately +than he knows) identification of Himself with the object +of His devotion, carried to the utmost limit. Nor is +this period quite undiscoverable, for when it arrived it +would seem highly unnatural to postpone His public +ministry further. Now this reasonable inference is +entirely supported by the narrative. St. Matthew +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> +indeed regards the event from the Baptist's point of +vision. But St. Mark and St. Luke are agreed that +to Jesus Himself it was also said, <q><hi rend='italic'>Thou</hi> art My +beloved Son.</q> Now this is not the way to teach us +that the testimony came only to John. And how +solemn a thought is this, that the full certitude of His +destiny expanded before the eyes of Jesus, just when +He lifted them from those baptismal waters in which +He stooped so low. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Temptation.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And straightway the Spirit driveth Him forth into the wilderness. +And He was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and He +was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +i. 12, 13 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Mark has not recorded the details of our Lord's +temptations, and lays more stress upon the duration +of the struggle, than the nature of the last and crowning +assaults. But he is careful, like the others, to +connect it closely with the baptism of Jesus, and the +miraculous testimony then borne to Him. +</p> + +<p> +It is indeed instructive that He should have suffered +this affront, immediately upon being recognised as the +Messiah. But the explanation will not be found in +the notion, which Milton has popularised, that only +now Satan was assured of the urgent necessity for +attacking Him: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>That heard the adversary ... and with the voice Divine</q></l> +<l>Nigh thunderstruck, the exalted Man, to whom</l> +<l>Such high attest was given, awhile surveyed</l> +<l><q rend='post'>With wonder.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +As if Satan forgot the marvels of the sacred infancy. +As if the spirits who attack all could have failed to +identify, after thirty years of defeat, the Greater One +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +whom the Baptist had everywhere proclaimed. No. +But Satan admirably chose the time for a supreme +effort. High places are dizzy, and especially when +one has just attained them; and therefore it was when +the voice of the herald and the Voice from the +heavens were blended in acclaim, that the Evil One +tried all his arts. He had formerly plunged Elijah +into despair and a desire to die, immediately after fire +from heaven responded to the prophet's prayer. Soon +after this, he would degrade Peter to be his mouthpiece, +just when his noblest testimony was borne, and +the highest approval of his Lord was won. In the +flush of their triumphs he found his best opportunity; +but Jesus remained unflushed, and met the first +recorded temptation, in the full consciousness of Messiahship, +by quoting the words which spoke to every +man alike, and as man. +</p> + +<p> +It is a lesson which the weakest needs to learn, for +little victories can intoxicate little men. +</p> + +<p> +It is easy then to see why the recorded temptations +insist upon the exceptional dignity of Christ, and urge +Him to seize its advantages, while He insists on +bearing the common burden, and proves Himself +greatest by becoming least of all. The sharp contrast +between His circumstances and His rank drove the +temptations deep into His consciousness, and wounded +His sensibilities, though they failed to shake His +will. +</p> + +<p> +How unnatural that the Son of God should lack and +suffer hunger, how right that He should challenge +recognition, how needful (though now His sacred +Personality is cunningly allowed to fall somewhat into +the background) that He should obtain armies and +splendour. +</p> + +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> + +<p> +This explains the possibility of temptation in a sinless +nature, which indeed can only be denied by +assuming that sin is part of the original creation. Not +because we are sinful, but because we are flesh and +blood (of which He became partaker), when we feel +the pains of hunger we are attracted by food, at +whatever price it is offered. In truth, no man is +allured by sin, but only by the bait and bribe of sin, +except perhaps in the last stages of spiritual decomposition. +</p> + +<p> +Now, just as the bait allures, and not the jaws of +the trap, so the power of a temptation is not its +wickedness, not the guilty service, but the proffered +recompense; and this appeals to the most upright +man, equally with the most corrupt. Thus the stress +of a temptation is to be measured by our gravitation, +not towards the sin, but towards the pleasure or +advantage which is entangled with that. And this +may be realised even more powerfully by a man of +keen feeling and vivid imagination who does not falter, +than by a grosser nature which succumbs. +</p> + +<p> +Now Jesus was a perfect man. To His exquisite +sensibilities, which had neither inherited nor contracted +any blemish, the pain of hunger at the opening of His +ministry, and the horror of the cross at its close, were +not less intense, but sharper than to ours. And this +pain and horror measured the temptation to evade +them. The issue never hung in the scales; even to +hesitate would have been to forfeit the delicate bloom +of absolute sinlessness; but, none the less, the decision +was costly, the temptation poignant. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark has given us no details; but there is +immense and compressed power in the assertion, only +his, that the temptation lasted all through the forty +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +days. We know the power of an unremitting pressure, +an incessant importunity, a haunting thought. A very +trifling annoyance, long protracted, drives men to +strange remedies. And the remorseless urgency of +Satan may be measured by what St. Matthew tells us, +that only after the forty days Jesus became aware of +the pains of hunger. Perhaps the assertion that He +was with the wild beasts may throw some ray of light +upon the nature of the temptation. There is no intimation +of bodily peril. On the other hand it seems +incredible that what is hinted is His own consciousness +of the supernatural dignity from which +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>The fiery serpent fled, and noxious worm;</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>The lion and fierce tiger glared aloof.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Such a consciousness would have relieved the strain +of which their presence is evidently a part. Nay, +but the oppressive solitude, the waste region so unlike +His blooming Nazareth, and the ferocity of the brute +creation, all would conspire to suggest those dread +misgivings and questionings which are provoked by +<q>the something that infects the world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Surely we may believe that He Who was tempted +at all points like as we are, felt now the deadly chill +which falls upon the soul from the shadow of our +ruined earth. In our nature He bore the assault and +overcame. And then His human nature condescended +to accept help, such as ours receives, from the ministering +spirits which are sent forth to minister to them +that shall be heirs of salvation. So perfectly was He +made like unto His brethren. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> + +<div> +<head>The Early Preaching And The First Disciples.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>Now after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee +preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the +kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe in the gospel. And +passing along by the sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the +brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. And +Jesus said unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become +fishers of men. And straightway they left the nets, and followed +Him. And going on a little further, He saw James the son of Zebedee, +and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending the nets. And +straightway He called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat +with the hired servants, and went after Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. 14-20 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Mark has shown us the Baptist proclaiming Christ. +He now tells us that when John was imprisoned, +Jesus, turning from that Judean ministry which +stirred the jealousy of John's disciples (John iii. 26), +<q>came into Galilee, preaching.</q> And one looks twice +before observing that His teaching is a distinct advance +upon the herald's. Men are still to repent; for however +slightly modern preachers may heal the hurt of +souls, real contrition is here taken over into the gospel +scheme. But the time which was hitherto said to +be at hand is now fulfilled. And they are not only +to believe the gospel, but to <q>believe in it.</q> Reliance, +the effort of the soul by which it ceases equally to be +self-confident and to despair, confiding itself to some +word which is a gospel, or some being who has +salvation to bestow, that is belief in its object. And +it is highly important to observe that faith is thus +made prominent so early in our Lord's teaching. The +vitalizing power of faith was no discovery of St. Paul; +it was not evolved by devout meditation after Jesus +had passed from view, nor introduced into His system +when opposition forced Him to bind men to Him in a +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +stronger allegiance. The power of faith is implied in +His earliest preaching, and it is connected with His +earliest miracles. But no such phrase as the power of +faith is ever used. Faith is precious only as it leans +on what is trustworthy. And it is produced, not by +thinking of faith itself, but of its proper object. Therefore +Christ did not come preaching faith, but preaching +the gospel of God, and bidding men believe in that. +</p> + +<p> +Shall we not follow His example? It is morally +certain that Abraham never heard of salvation by faith, +yet he was justified by faith when he believed in Him +Who justifieth the ungodly. To preach Him, and His +gospel, is the way to lead men to be saved by faith. +</p> + +<p> +Few things are more instructive to consider than +the slow, deliberate, yet firm steps by which Christ +advanced to the revelation of God in flesh. Thirty +years of silence, forty days of seclusion after heaven +had proclaimed Him, leisurely intercourse with Andrew +and John, Peter and Nathanael, and then a brief +ministry in a subject nation, and chiefly in a despised +province. It is not the action of a fanatic. It exactly +fulfils His own description of the kingdom which He +proclaimed, which was to exhibit first the blade, then +the ear, then the full corn in the ear. And it is a +lesson to all time, that the boldest expectations possible +to faith do not justify feverish haste and excited longings +for immediate prominence or immediate success. +The husbandman who has long patience with the seed +is not therefore hopeless of the harvest +</p> + +<p> +Passing by the sea of Galilee, Jesus finds two fishermen +at their toil, and bids them follow Him. Both are +men of decided and earnest character; one is to become +the spokesman and leader of the Apostolic band, and +the little which is recorded of the other indicates the +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +same temperament, somewhat less developed. Our +Lord now calls upon them to take a decided step. But +here again we find traces of the same deliberate progression, +the same absence of haste, as in His early +preaching. He does not, as unthinking readers fancy, +come upon two utter strangers, fascinate and arrest them +in a moment, and sweep their lives into the vortex of His +own. Andrew had already heard the Baptist proclaim +the Lamb of God, had followed Jesus home, and had introduced +his brother, to whom Jesus then gave the new +name Cephas. Their faith had since been confirmed by +miracles. The demands of our Lord may be trying, but +they are never unreasonable, and the faith He claims is +not a blind credulity. +</p> + +<p> +Nor does He, even now, finally and entirely call +them away from their occupation. Some time is still +to elapse, and a sign, especially impressive to fishermen, +the miraculous draught of fishes, is to burn into +their minds a profound sense of their unworthiness, +before the vocation now promised shall arrive. Then +He will say, From henceforth ye shall catch men: now +He says, I will prepare you for that future, I will make +you to become fishers of men. So ungrounded is the +suspicion of any confusion between the stories of the +three steps by which they rose to their Apostleship. +</p> + +<p> +A little further on, He finds the two sons of Zebedee, +and calls them also. John had almost certainly been +the companion of Andrew when he followed Jesus +home, and his brother had become the sharer of his +hopes. And if there were any hesitation, the example +of their comrades helped them to decide—so soon, so +inevitably does each disciple begin to be a fisher of other +men—and leaving their father, as we are gracefully told, +not desolate, but with servants, they also follow Jesus. +</p> + +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> + +<p> +Thus He asks, from each group, the sacrifice involved +in following Him at an inconvenient time. The first +are casting their nets and eager in their quest. The +others are mending their nets, perhaps after some large +draught had broken them. So Levi was sitting at the +receipt of toll. Not one of the Twelve was chosen +to that high rank when idle. +</p> + +<p> +Very charming, very powerful still is the spell by +which Christ drew His first apostles to His side. +Not yet are they told anything of thrones on which +they are to sit and judge the tribes of Israel, or that +their names shall be engraven on the foundations of +the heavenly city besides being great on earth while +the world stands. For them, the capture of men was +less lucrative than that of fish, and less honourable, +for they suffered the loss of all things and were made +as the filth of the earth. To learn Christ's art, to be +made helpful in drawing souls to Him, following Jesus +and catching men, this was enough to attract His first +ministers; God grant that a time may never come +when ministers for whom this is enough, shall fail. +Where the spirit of self devotion is absent how can +the Spirit of Christ exist? +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Teaching With Authority.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they go into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath +day He entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished +at His teaching: for He taught them as having authority, and +not as the scribes.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. 21, 22 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The worship of the synagogues, not having been +instituted by Moses, but gradually developed by the +public need, was comparatively free and unconventional. +Sometimes it happened that remarkable and +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +serious-looking strangers were invited, if they had any +word of exhortation, to say on (Acts xiii. 15). Sometimes +one presented himself, as the custom of our Lord +was (Luke iv. 16). Amid the dull mechanical tendencies +which were then turning the heart of Judaism +to stone, the synagogue may have been often a centre +of life and rallying-place of freedom. In Galilee, where +such worship predominated over that of the remote +Temple and its hierarchy, Jesus found His trusted +followers and the nucleus of the Church. In foreign +lands, St. Paul bore first to his brethren in their synagogues +the strange tidings that their Messiah had +expired upon a cross. And before His rupture with +the chiefs of Judaism, the synagogues were fitting +places for our Lord's early teaching. He made use of +the existing system, and applied it, just as we have +seen Him use the teaching of the Baptist as a starting-point +for His own. And this ought to be observed, that +Jesus revolutionized the world by methods the furthest +from being revolutionary. The institutions of His age +and land were corrupt well-nigh to the core, but He +did not therefore make a clean sweep, and begin again. +He did not turn His back on the Temple and synagogues, +nor outrage sabbaths, nor come to destroy the law and +the prophets. He bade His followers reverence the +seat where the scribes and Pharisees sat, and drew the +line at their false lives and perilous examples. Amid +that evil generation He found soil wherein His seed +might germinate, and was content to hide His leaven +in the lump where it should gradually work out its +destiny. In so doing He was at one with Providence, +which had slowly evolved the convictions of the Old +Testament, spending centuries upon the process. Now +the power which belongs to such moderation has +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> +scarcely been recognised until these latter days. The +political sagacity of Somers and Burke, and the ecclesiastical +wisdom of our own reformers, had their occult +and unsuspected fountains in the method by which +Jesus planted the kingdom which came not with observation. +But who taught the Carpenter? It is therefore +significant that all the Gospels of the Galilean +ministry connect our Lord's early teaching with the +synagogue. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark is by no means the evangelist of the discourses. +And this adds to the interest with which we +find him indicate, with precise exactitude, the first +great difference that would strike the hearers of Christ +between His teaching and that of others. He taught +with authority, and not as the scribes. Their doctrine +was built with dreary and irrational ingenuity, +upon perverted views of the old law. The shape +of a Hebrew letter, words whereof the initials would +spell some important name, wire-drawn inferences, +astounding allusions, ingenuity such as men waste now +upon the number of the beast and the measurement of +a pyramid, these were the doctrine of the scribes. +</p> + +<p> +And an acute observer would remark that the authority +of Christ's teaching was peculiar in a farther-reaching +sense. If, as seems clear, Jesus said, <q>Ye have heard +that it hath been said</q> (not <q>by,</q> but) <q>to them +of old time, but I say unto you,</q> He then claimed the +place, not of Moses who heard the Divine Voice, but of +Him Who spoke. Even if this could be doubted, the +same spirit is elsewhere unmistakable. The tables +which Moses brought were inscribed by the finger of +Another: none could make him the Supreme arbitrator +while overhead the trumpet waxed louder and louder, +while the fiery pillar marshalled their journeying, while +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +the mysterious Presence consecrated the mysterious +shrine. Prophet after prophet opened and closed his +message with the words, <q>Thus saith the Lord.</q> ... +<q>For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.</q> Jesus +was content with the attestation, <q>Verily, I say unto +you.</q> Blessed as a wise builder was the hearer and doer +of <q>these words of Mine.</q> Everywhere in His teaching +the centre of authority is personal. He distinctly recognises +the fact that He is adding to the range of the +ancient law of respect for human life, and for purity, +veracity and kindness. But He assigns no authority +for these additions, beyond His own. Persecution by +all men is a blessed thing to endure, if it be for His +sake and the gospel's. Now this is unique. Moses +or Isaiah never dreamed that devotion to himself took +rank with devotion to his message. Nor did St. Paul. +But Christ opens His ministry with the same pretensions +as at the close, when others may not be called Rabbi, +nor Master, because these titles belong to Him. +</p> + +<p> +And the lapse of ages renders this <q>authority</q> of +Christ more wonderful than at first. The world bows +down before something other than His clearness of +logic or subtlety of inference. He still announces where +others argue, He reveals, imposes on us His supremacy, +bids us take His yoke and learn. And we still +discover in His teaching a freshness and profundity, +a universal reach of application and yet an unearthliness +of aspect, which suit so unparalleled a claim. +Others have constructed cisterns in which to store +truth, or aqueducts to convey it from higher levels. +Christ is Himself a fountain; and not only so, but the +water which He gives, when received aright, becomes +in the faithful heart a well of water springing up in +new, inexhaustible developments. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> + +<div> +<head>Miracles.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And straightway there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean +spirit.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. 23 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have just read that Christ's teaching astonished +the hearers. He was about to astonish them yet +more, for we have now reached the first miracle which +St. Mark records. With what sentiments should such +a narrative be approached? The evangelist connects +it emphatically with Christ's assertion of authority. +Immediately upon the impression which His manner +of teaching produced, straightway, there was in the +synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And upon +its expulsion, what most impressed the people was, +that as He taught with authority, so <q>with authority +He commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they +obey Him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let us try whether this may not be a providential +clue, to guide us amid the embarrassments which +beset, in our day, the whole subject of miracles. +</p> + +<p> +A miracle, we are told, is an interference with the +laws of nature; and it is impossible, because they are +fixed and their operation is uniform. But these bold +words need not disconcert any one who has learned +to ask, In what sense are the operations of nature +uniform? Is the operation of the laws which govern +the wind uniform, whether my helm is to port or starboard? +Can I not modify the operation of sanitary +laws by deodorization, by drainage, by a thousand +resources of civilization? The truth is, that while +natural laws remain fixed, human intelligence profoundly +modifies their operation. How then will the +objector prove that no higher Being can as naturally +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +do the same? He answers, Because the sum total +of the forces of nature is a fixed quantity: nothing +can be added to that sum, nothing taken from it: +the energy of all our machinery existed ages ago in +the heat of tropical suns, then in vegetation, and ever +since, though latent, in our coal beds; and the claim +to add anything to that total is subversive of modern +science. But again we ask, If the physician adds +nothing to the sum of forces when he banishes one +disease by inoculation, and another by draining a +marsh, why must Jesus have added to the sum of +forces in order to expel a demon or to cool a fever? +It will not suffice to answer, because His methods are +contrary to experience. Beyond experience they are. +But so were the marvels of electricity to our parents +and of steam to theirs. The chemistry which analyses +the stars is not incredible, although thirty years ago +its methods were <q>contrary</q> to the universal experience +of humanity. Man is now doing what he never +did before, because he is a more skilful and better +informed agent than he ever was. Perhaps at this +moment, in the laboratory of some unknown student, +some new force is preparing to amaze the world. But +the sum of the forces of nature will remain unchanged. +Why is it assumed that a miracle must change them? +Simply because men have already denied God, or at +least denied that He is present within His world, as +truly as the chemist is within it. If we think of Him +as interrupting its processes from without, laying upon +the vast machine so powerful a grasp as to arrest its +working, then indeed the sum of forces is disturbed, +and the complaints of science are justified. This may, +or it may not, have been the case in creative epochs, +of which science knows no more than of the beginning +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +of life and of consciousness. But it has nothing to say +against the doctrine of the miracles of Jesus. For this +doctrine assumes that God is ever present in His universe; +that by Him all things consist; that He is not +far from any one of us, for in Him we live and move +and have our being, although men may be as unconscious +of Him as of gravitation and electricity. When +these became known to man, the stability of law was unaffected. +And it is a wild assumption that if a supreme +and vital force exist, a living God, He cannot make His +energies visible without affecting the stability of law. +</p> + +<p> +Now Christ Himself appeals expressly and repeatedly +to this immanent presence of God as the explanation +of His <q>works.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.</q> <q>The +Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things +that Himself doeth.</q> <q>I, by the finger of God, cast out +devils.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Thus a miracle, even in the Old Testament, is not +an interruption of law by God, but a manifestation of +God who is within nature always; to common events +it is as the lightning to the cloud, a revelation of the +electricity which was already there. God was made +known, when invoked by His agents, in signs from +heaven, in fire and tempest, in drought and pestilence, +a God who judgeth. These are the miracles of God +interposing for His people against their foes. But the +miracles of Christ are those of God carrying forward +to the uttermost His presence in the world, God manifest +in the flesh. They are the works of Him in Whom +dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. +</p> + +<p> +And this explains what would otherwise be so perplexing, +the essentially different nature of His miracles +from those of the Old Testament. Infidelity pretends +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +that those are the models on which myth or legend +formed the miracles of Jesus, but the plain answer is +that they are built on no model of the kind. The +difference is so great as to be startling. +</p> + +<p> +Tremendous convulsions and visitations of wrath are +now unknown, because God is now reconciling the +world unto Himself, and exhibiting in miracles the presence +of Him Who is not far from every one of us, His +presence in love to redeem the common life of man, and +to bless, by sharing it. Therefore His gifts are homely, +they deal with average life and its necessities, bread +and wine and fish are more to the purpose than that +man should eat angels' food, the rescue of storm-tossed +fishermen than the engulfment of pursuing armies, the +healing of prevalent disease than the plaguing of Egypt +or the destruction of Sennacherib. +</p> + +<p> +Such a Presence thus manifested is the consistent +doctrine of the Church. It is a theory which men may +reject at their own peril if they please. But they must +not pretend to refute it by any appeal to either the +uniformity of law or the stability of force. +</p> + +<p> +Men tell us that the divinity of Jesus was an afterthought; +what shall we say then to this fact, that men +observed from the very first a difference between the +manner of His miracles and all that was recorded in +their Scriptures, or that they could have deemed fit? +It is exactly the same peculiarity, carried to the highest +pitch; as they already felt in His discourses. They are +wrought without any reference whatever to a superior +will. Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall +I do? Elijah said, Hear me O Lord, hear me. But +Jesus said, I will ... I charge thee come out ... I +am able to do this. And so marked is the change, that +even His followers cast out devils in His name, and +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +say not, Where is the Lord God of Israel? but, In the +Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. His power is +inherent, it is self-possessed, and His acts in the +synoptics are only explained by His words in St. John, +<q>What things soever the Father doeth, these the Son +also doeth in like manner.</q> No wonder that St. Mark +adds to His very first record of a miracle, that the +people were amazed, and asked, What is this? a new +teaching! with authority He commandeth even the +unclean spirits and they do obey Him! It was +divinity which, without recognising, they felt, implicit +in His bearing. No wonder also that His enemies +strove hard to make Him say, Who gave Thee this +authority? Nor could they succeed in drawing from +Him any sign from heaven. The centre and source +of the supernatural, for human apprehension, has +shifted itself, and the vision of Jesus is the vision of +the Father also. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Demoniac.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And straightway there was in their synagogue a man with an +unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, What have we to do with +Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? art Thou come to destroy us? I +know Thee Who Thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked +him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And the unclean +spirit, tearing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. And +they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, +saying, What is this? a new teaching! with authority He commandeth +even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him. And the +report of Him went out straightway everywhere into all the region of +Galilee round about.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. 23-28 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have seen that belief in the stability of natural law +does not forbid us to believe in miracles. +</p> + +<p> +Special objections are urged, however, against the +belief in demoniacal possession. The very existence of +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> +demons is declared to be inconsistent with the omnipotence +of God, or else with His goodness. +</p> + +<p> +And it may be granted that abstract reasoning in +an ideal world, thought moving in a vacuum, would +scarcely evolve a state of things so far removed from +the ideal. This, however, is an argument against the +existence, not of demons, but of evil in any shape. It +is the familiar insoluble problem of all religions, How +can evil exist in the universe of God? And it is +balanced by the insoluble problem of all irreligious +systems: In a universe without God, how can either +good or evil exist, as distinguished from the advantageous +and the unprofitable? Whence comes the unquestionable +difference between a lie and a bad bargain? +</p> + +<p> +But the argument against evil spirits professes to be +something more than a disguised reproduction of this +abstract problem. What more is it? What is gained +by denying the fiends, as long as we cannot deny the +fiends incarnate—the men who take pleasure in unrighteousness, +in the seduction and ruin of their +fellows, in the infliction of torture and outrage, in the +ravage and desolation of nations? Such freedom has +been granted to the human will, for even these +ghastly issues have not been judged so deadly as +coercion and moral fatalism. What presumption can +possibly remain against the existence of other beings +than men, who have fallen yet farther? If, indeed, +it be certainly so much farther. For we know that +men have lived, not outcasts from society, but boastful +sons of Abraham, who willed to perform the lusts +(τὰ ἐπιθυμίας) of their father the devil. Now since we +are not told that the wickedness of demons is infinite,<note place='foot'>The opposite is asserted by the fact that one demon may ally +himself with seven others worse.</note> +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +but only that it is abysmal, and since we know that +abysses of wickedness do actually exist, what sort of +vindication of Deity is this which will believe that +such gulfs are yawning only in the bosom of man? +</p> + +<p> +It alarms and shocks us to think that evil spirits +have power over the human mind, and still more that +such power should extend, as in cases of possession, +even to the body. Evil men, however, manifestly wield +such power. <q>They got rid of the wicked one,</q> said +Goethe, <q>but they could not get rid of the wicked ones.</q> +Social and intellectual charm, high rank, the mysterious +attraction of a strong individuality, all are employed +at times to mislead and debase the shuddering, reluctant, +mesmerised wills of weaker men and women. And +then the mind acts upon the body, as perhaps it always +does. Drunkenness and debauchery shake the nerves. +Paralysis and lunacy tread hard on the footsteps of +excess. Experience knows no reason for denying that +when wickedness conquers the soul it will also deal +hardly with the body. +</p> + +<p> +But we must not stop here. For the Gospels do not +countenance the popular notion that special wickedness +was the cause of the fearful wretchedness of the possessed. +Young children suffered. Jesus often cautioned +a sufferer to sin no more lest worse results should follow +than those He had removed; but He is never known to +have addressed this warning to demoniacs. They suffered +from the tyranny of Satan, rather than from his seduction; +and the analogies which make credible so frightful +an outrage upon human nature, are the wrongs done +by despots and mobs, by invading armies and persecuting +religionists. Yet people who cannot believe that +a demon could throw a child upon the fire, are not +incredulous of Attila, Napoleon, and the Inquisition. +</p> + +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> + +<p> +Thus it appears that such a narrative need startle +no believer in God, and in moral good and evil, who +considers the unquestionable facts of life. And how +often will the observant Christian be startled at the +wild insurrection and surging up of evil thought and +dark suggestions, which he cannot believe to be his own, +which will not be gainsaid nor repulsed. How easily +do such experiences fall in with the plain words of Scripture, +by which the veil is drawn aside, and the mystery +of the spiritual world laid bare. Then we learn that +man is not only fallen but assaulted, not only feeble but +enslaved, not only a wandering sheep but led captive +by the devil at his will. +</p> + +<p> +We turn to the narrative before us. They are still +wondering at our Lord's authoritative manner, when +<q>straightway,</q> for opportunities were countless until +unbelief arose, a man with an unclean spirit attracts +attention. We can only conjecture the special meaning +of this description. A recent commentator assumes +that <q>like the rest, he had his dwelling among the +tombs: an overpowering influence had driven him +away from the haunts of men.</q> (Canon Luckock, <hi rend='italic'>in +loco</hi>). To others this feature in the wretchedness of the +Gadarene may perhaps seem rather to be exceptional, +the last touch in the appalling picture of his misery. +It may be that nothing more outrageous than morbid +gloom or sullen mutterings had hitherto made it necessary +to exclude this sufferer from the synagogue. Or +the language may suggest that he rushed abruptly in, +driven by the frantic hostility of the fiend, or impelled +by some mysterious and lingering hope, as the demoniac +of Gadara ran to Christ. +</p> + +<p> +What we know is that the sacred Presence provoked +a crisis. There is an unbelief which never can be +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +silent, never wearies railing at the faith, and there is a +corruption which resents goodness and hates it as a +personal wrong. So the demons who possessed men +were never able to confront Jesus calmly. They +resent His interference; they cry out; they disclaim +having anything to do with Him; they seem indignant +that He should come to destroy them who have +destroyed so many. There is something weird and +unearthly in the complaint. But men also are wont to +forget their wrong doing when they come to suffer, and +it is recorded that even Nero had abundance of compassion +for himself. Weird also and terrible is it, that +this unclean spirit should choose for his confession that +pure and exquisite epithet, the Holy One of God. The +phrase only recurs in the words of St. Peter, <q>We have +believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of +God</q> (John vi. 69, R.V.). Was it not a mournful +association of ideas which then led Jesus to reply, +<q>Have I not chosen you the Twelve, and one of you is +a devil?<note place='foot'>The connection would be almost certain if the word <q>devil</q> were +alike in both. But in all these narratives it is <q>demon,</q> there being in +Scripture but one devil.</note></q> But although the phrase is beautiful, and +possibly <q>wild with all regret,</q> there is no relenting, +no better desire than to be <q>let alone.</q> And so Jesus, +so gentle with sinful men, yet sometime to be their +judge also, is stern and cold. <q>Hold thy peace—be +muzzled,</q> He answers, as to a wild beast, <q>and come +out of him.</q> Whereupon the evil spirit exhibits at +once his ferocity and his defeat. Tearing and screaming, +he came out, but we read in St. Luke that he did +the man no harm. +</p> + +<p> +And the spectators drew the proper inference. A +new power implied a new revelation. Something far-reaching +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +and profound might be expected from Him +who commanded even the unclean spirits with authority, +and was obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +It is the custom of unbelievers to speak as if the air +of Palestine were then surcharged with belief in the +supernatural. Miracles were everywhere. Thus they +would explain away the significance of the popular belief +that our Lord wrought signs and wonders. But in so +doing they set themselves a worse problem than they +evade. If miracles were so very common, it would be +as easy to believe that Jesus wrought them as that He +worked at His father's bench. But also it would be as +inconclusive. And how then are we to explain the +astonishment which all the evangelists so constantly +record? On any conceivable theory, these writers +shared the beliefs of that age. And so did the readers +who accepted their assurance that all were amazed, and +that His report <q>went out straightway everywhere into +all the region of Galilee.</q> These are emphatic words, +and both the author and his readers must have considered +a miracle to be more surprising than modern +critics believe they did. +</p> + +<p> +Yet we do not read that any one was converted by +this miracle. All were amazed, but wonder is not self-surrender. +They were content to let their excitement +die out, as every violent emotion must, without any +change of life, any permanent devotion to the new +Teacher and His doctrine. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> + +<div> +<head>A Group Of Miracles.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And straightway, when they were come out of the synagogue, they +came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. +Now Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever; and straightway they tell +Him of her: and He came and took her by the hand, and raised her +up; and the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. And at +even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were +sick, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was +gathered together at the door. And He healed many that were sick +with divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and He suffered not +the devils to speak, because they knew Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. 29-34 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Matthew tells us that on leaving the synagogue +they entered into Peter's house. St. Mark, with his +peculiar sources of information, is aware that Andrew +shared the house with his brother. +</p> + +<p> +Especial interest attaches to the mention of the +mother-in-law of Peter, as proving that Jesus chose a +married man to be an apostle, the very apostle from +whom the celibate ministry of Rome professes to have +received the keys. The evidence does not stand alone. +When St. Paul's apostolic authority was impugned, he +insisted that he had the same right to bring with him +in his travels a believing wife, which Peter exercised. +And Clement of Alexandria tells us that Peter's wife +acted as his coadjutor, ministering to women in their +own homes, by which means the gospel of Christ +penetrated without scandal the privacy of women's +apartments. Thus the notion of a Zenana mission is +by no means modern. +</p> + +<p> +The mother of such a wife is afflicted by fever of a +kind which still haunts that district. <q>And they tell +Him of her.</q> Doubtless there was solicitude and hope +in their voices, even if desire did not take the shape of +formal prayer. We are just emerging from that early +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> +period when belief in His power to heal might still be +united with some doubt whether free application might +be made to Him. His disciples might still be as +unwise as those modern theologians who are so busy +studying the miracles as a sign that they forget to +think of them as works of love. Any such hesitation +was now to be dispelled for ever. +</p> + +<p> +It is possible that such is the meaning of the expression, +and if so, it has a useful lesson. Sometimes +there are temporal gifts which we scarce know whether +we should pray for, so complex are our feelings, so entangled +our interests with those of others, so obscure +and dubious the springs which move our desire. Is it +presumptuous to ask? Yet can it be right to keep +anything back, in our communion with our Father? +</p> + +<p> +Now there is a curious similarity between the expression +<q>they tell Jesus of her</q> and that phrase +which is only applied to prayer when St. Paul bids us +pray for all that is in our hearts. <q>In nothing be +anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication +with thanksgiving let your requests be made known +unto God.</q> So shall the great benediction be fulfilled: +<q>The peace of God which passeth all understanding, +shall guard your hearts and your thoughts</q> +(Phil. iv. 6, 7). All that is unholy shall be purified, all +that is unwise subdued, all that is expedient granted. +</p> + +<p> +If this be indeed the force of St. Mark's phrase, Jesus +felt their modest reticence to be a strong appeal, for +St. Luke says <q>they besought Him,</q> while St. Matthew +merely writes that He saw her lying. The <q>Interpreter +of St. Peter</q> is most likely to have caught the +exact shade of anxiety and appeal by which her friends +drew His attention, and which was indeed a prayer. +</p> + +<p> +The gentle courtesy of our Lord's healings cannot be +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +too much studied by those who would know His mind +and love Him. Never does He fling a careless blessing +as coarse benefactors fling their alms; we shall hereafter +see how far He was from leaving fallen bread to +be snatched as by a dog, even by one who would have +welcomed a boon thus contemptuously given to her; +and in the hour of His arrest, when He would heal +the ear of a persecutor, His courtesy appeals to those +who had laid hold on Him, <q>Suffer ye thus far.</q> Thus +He went to this woman and took her by the hand and +raised her up, laying a cool touch upon her fevered +palm, bestowing His strength upon her weakness, +healing her as He would fain heal humanity. For at +His touch the disease was banished; with His impulse +her strength returned. +</p> + +<p> +We do not read that she felt bound thereupon to +become an obtrusive public witness to His powers: that +was not her function; but in her quiet home she failed +not to minister unto Him who had restored her powers. +Would that all whose physical powers Jesus renews +from sickness, might devote their energies to Him. +Would that all for whom He has calmed the fever of +earthly passion, might arise and be energetic in His +cause. +</p> + +<p> +Think of the wonder, the gladness and gratitude of +their humble feast. But if we felt aright the sickness +of our souls, and the grace which heals them, equal +gratitude would fill our lives as He sups with us and +we with Him. +</p> + +<p> +Tidings of the two miracles have quickly gone +abroad, and as the sun sets, and the restraint of the +sabbath is removed, all the city gathers all the sick +around His door. +</p> + +<p> +Now here is a curious example of the peril of pressing +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +too eagerly our inferences from the expressions of +an evangelist. St. Mark tells us that they brought +<q>all their sick and them that were possessed with +devils. And He healed</q> (not all, but) <q>many that were +sick, and cast out many devils.</q> How easily we might +distinguish between the <q>all</q> who came, and the +<q>many</q> who were healed. Want of faith would +explain the difference, and spiritual analogies would +be found for those who remained unhealed at the feet +of the good Physician. These lessons might be very +edifying, but they would be out of place, for St. +Matthew tells us that He healed them all. +</p> + +<p> +But who can fail to contrast this universal movement, +the urgent quest of bodily health, and the willingness +of friends and neighbours to convey their sick to Jesus, +with our indifference to the health of the soul, and our +neglect to lead others to the Saviour. Disease being +the cold shadow of sin, its removal was a kind of +sacrament, an outward and visible sign that the Healer +of souls was nigh. But the chillness of the shadow +afflicts us more than the pollution of the substance, +and few professing Christians lament a hot temper as +sincerely as a fever. +</p> + +<p> +As Jesus drove out the demons, He suffered them +not to speak because they knew Him. We cannot +believe that His rejection of their impure testimony was +prudential only, whatever possibility there may have +been of that charge of complicity which was afterwards +actually brought. Any help which might have come to +Him from the lips of hell was shocking and revolting +to our Lord. And this is a lesson for all religious and +political partisans who stop short of doing evil themselves, +but reject no advantage which the evil deeds +of others may bestow. Not so cold and negative is the +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +morality of Jesus. He regards as contamination whatever +help fraud, suppressions of truth, injustice, by +whomsoever wrought, can yield. He rejects them by +an instinct of abhorrence, and not only because shame +and dishonour have always befallen the purest cause +which stooped to unholy alliances. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus that day showed Himself powerful alike in the +congregation, in the home, and in the streets, and over +evil spirits and physical disease alike. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Jesus In Solitude.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And in the morning, a great while before day, He rose up and went +out, and departed into a desert place, and there prayed. And Simon +and they that were with him followed after Him; and they found Him, +and say unto Him, All are seeking Thee. And He saith unto them, +Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also; +for to this end came I forth. And He went into their synagogues +throughout all Galilee, and preaching casting out devils.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> i. +35-39 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Mark is pre-eminently the historian of Christ's +activities. From him chiefly we learn to add to +our thought of perfect love and gentleness that of One +whom the zeal of God's house ate up. But this +evangelist does not omit to tell us by what secret +fountains this river of life was fed; how the active +labours of Jesus were inspired in secret prayers. Too +often we allow to one side of religion a development +which is not excessive, but disproportionate, and we are +punished when contemplation becomes nerveless, or +energy burns itself away. +</p> + +<p> +After feeding the five thousand, St. Mark tells us +that Jesus, while the storm gathered over His disciples +on the lake, went up into a mountain to pray. And St. +Luke tells of a whole night of prayer before choosing +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> +His disciples, and how it was to pray that He climbed +the mountain of transfiguration. +</p> + +<p> +And we read of Him going into a desert place with +His disciples, and to Olivet, and oft-times resorting +to the garden where Judas found Him, where, in the +dead of night, the traitor naturally sought Him. +</p> + +<p> +Prayer was the spring of all His energies, and His +own saying indicated the habit of His mortal life as +truly as the law of His mysterious generation: <q>I live +by the Father.</q> +</p> + +<p> +His prayers impress nothing on us more powerfully +than the reality of His manhood. He, Who possesses +all things, bends His knees to crave, and His prayers are +definite, no empty form, no homage without sense of +need, no firing of blank cartridge without an aim. He +asks that His disciples may be with Him where He is, +that Simon's strength may fail not, that He may Himself +be saved from a dreadful hour. <q>Such touches</q> +said Godet <q>do not look like an artificial apotheosis of +Jesus, and they constitute a striking difference between +the gospel portrait and the legendary caricature.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The entire evening had been passed in healing the +diseases of the whole town; not the light and careless +bestowal of a boon which cost nothing, but wrought +with so much sympathy, such draining of His own +vital forces, that St. Matthew found in it a fulfilment +of the prophecy that He should Himself bear our +sicknesses. And thus exhausted, the frame might +have been forgiven for demanding some indulgence, +some prolongation of repose. +</p> + +<p> +But the course of our Lord's ministry was now +opening up before Him, and the hindrances becoming +visible. How much was to be hoped from the great +impression already made; how much to be feared from +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> +the weakness of His followers, the incipient envy of +priest and Pharisee, and the volatile excitability of the +crowd. At such a time, to relieve His burdened heart +with Divine communion was more to Jesus than repose, +as, at another time, to serve Him was meat to eat. +And therefore, in the still fresh morning, long before +the dawn, while every earthly sight was dim but the +abysses of heaven were vivid, declaring without voice, +amid the silence of earth's discord, the glory and the +handiwork of His Father, Jesus went into a solitary +place and prayed. +</p> + +<p> +What is it that makes solitude and darkness dreadful +to some, and oppressive to very many? +</p> + +<p> +Partly the sense of physical danger, born of helplessness +and uncertainty. This He never felt, who +knew that He must walk to-day and to-morrow, and on +the third day be perfected. And partly it is the weight +of unwelcome reflection, the searching and rebukes of +memory, fears that come of guilt, and inward distractions +of a nature estranged from the true nature of +the universe. Jesus was agitated by no inward discords, +upbraided by no remorse. And He had probably +no reveries; He is never recorded to soliloquise; +solitude to Him was but another name for communion +with God His Father; He was never alone, for God +was with Him. +</p> + +<p> +This retirement enabled Him to remain undisturbed +until His disciples found Him, long after the crowds +had besieged their dwelling. They had not yet learned +how all true external life must rest upon the hidden life +of devotion, and there is an accent of regret in the +words, <q>All are seeking Thee,</q> as if Jesus could neglect +in self-culture any true opportunity for service. +</p> + +<p> +The answer, noteworthy in itself, demands especial +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +attention in these times of missions, demonstrations, +Salvation Armies, and other wise and unwise attempts +to gather excited crowds around the cross. +</p> + +<p> +Mere sensation actually repelled Jesus. Again and +again He charged men not to make Him known, in places +where He would stay; while in Gadara, which He had to +leave, His command to the demoniac was the reverse. +Deep and real convictions are not of kin with sight-seeing +and the pursuit of wonders. Capernaum has +now heard His message, has received its full share of +physical blessing, is exalted unto heaven. Those who +were looking for redemption knew the gospel, and +Jesus must preach it in other towns also. Therefore, +and not to be the centre of admiring multitudes, came +He forth from His quiet home. +</p> + +<p> +Such is the sane and tranquil action of Jesus, in face +of the excitement caused by His many miracles. Now +the miracles themselves, and all that depends on them, +are declared to be the creation of the wildest fanaticism, +either during His lifetime or developing His legend +afterwards. And if so, we have here, in the action of +human mind, the marvel of modern physicists, ice +from a red-hot retort, absolute moderation from a dream +of frenzy. And this paradox is created in the act of +<q>explaining</q> the miracles. The explanation, even +were it sustained by any evidence, would be as difficult +as any miracle to believe. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> + +<div> +<head>The Leper.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And there cometh to Him a leper, beseeching Him, and kneeling +down to Him, and saying unto Him, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make +me clean. And being moved with compassion, He stretched forth His +hand, and touched him, and saith unto him I will; be thou made +clean. And straightway the leprosy departed from him, and he was +made clean. And He strictly charged him, and straightway sent him +out, and saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go +thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing the +things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But he +went out, and began to publish it much, and to spread abroad the matter +insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was +without in desert places: and they came to Him from every quarter.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +i. 40-45 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The disease of leprosy was peculiarly fearful to a Jew. +In its stealthy beginning, its irresistible advance, +the utter ruin which it wrought from the blood outward +until the flesh was corroded and fell away, it +was a fit type of sin, at first so trivial in its indications, +but gradually usurping all the nature and +corrupting it. And the terrible fact, that the children +of its victims were also doomed, reminded the Israelite +of the transmission of the taint of Adam. +</p> + +<p> +The story of Naaman and that of Gehazi make it +almost certain that the leprosy of Scripture was not +contagious, for they were intimate with kings. But +apparently to complete the type, the law gave to it +the artificial contagion of ceremonial uncleanness, and +banished the unhappy sufferer from the dwellings of +men. Thus he came to be regarded as under an especial +ban, and the prophecy which announced that the +illustrious Man of Sorrows would be esteemed <q>stricken +of God,</q> was taken to mean that He should be a leper. +This banishment of the leper was indeed a remarkable +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> +exception to the humanity of the ancient law, +but when his distress began to be extreme, and <q>the +plague was turned into white,</q> he was released from +his uncleanness (Lev. xiii. 17). And this may teach +us that sin is to be dreaded most while it is yet +insidious; when developed it gives a sufficient warning +against itself. And now such a sufferer appeals to +Jesus. The incident is one of the most pathetic in the +Gospel; and its graphic details, and the shining character +which it reveals, make it very perplexing to +moderate and thoughtful sceptics. +</p> + +<p> +Those who believe that the charm of His presence +was <q>worth all the resources of medicine,</q> agree that +Christ may have cured even leprosy, and insist that +this story, as told by St. Mark, <q>must be genuine.</q> +Others suppose that the leper was already cured, and +Jesus only urged him to fulfil the requirements of the +law. And why not deny the story boldly? Why +linger so longingly over the details, when credence is +refused to what is plainly the mainspring of the whole, +the miraculous power of Jesus? The answer is plain. +Honest minds feel the touch of a great nature; the +misery of the suppliant and the compassion of his +Restorer are so vivid as to prove themselves; no +dreamer of a myth, no process of legend-building, ever +wrought after this fashion. But then, the misery and +compassion being granted, the whole story is practically +conceded. It only remains to ask, whether the <q>presence +of the Saintly Man</q> could work a chemical +change in tainted blood. For it must be insisted that +the man was <q>full of leprosy,</q> and not, as one suggests, +already far advanced towards cure. The contrast +between his running and kneeling at the very feet +of Jesus, and the conduct of the ten lepers, not yet +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +released from their exclusion, who stood afar off while +they cried out (Luke xvii. 12), is sufficient evidence +of this, even if the express statement of St. Luke +were not decisive. +</p> + +<p> +Repulsive, and until now despairing, only tolerated +among men through the completeness of his plague, +this man pushes through the crowd which shrinks from +him, kneels in an agony of supplication, and says <q>If +Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.</q> If Thou wilt! +The cruelty of man has taught him to doubt the heart, +even though satisfied of the power of Jesus. In a few +years, men came to assume the love, and exult in the +reflection that He was <q>able to keep what <q>was</q> committed +to Him,</q> <q>able to do exceeding abundantly +above all that we ask or think.</q> It did not occur to +St. Paul that any mention of His will was needed. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did Jesus Himself ask a later suppliant, <q>Believest +thou that I am willing,</q> but <q>Believest thou +that I am able to do this?</q> +</p> + +<p> +But the charm of this delightful incident is the +manner in which our Lord grants the impassioned +prayer. We might have expected a shudder, a natural +recoil from the loathsome spectacle, and then a +wonder-working word. But misery which He could +relieve did not repel Jesus; it attracted Him. His +impulse was to approach. He not only answered <q>I +will,</q>—and deep is the will to remove all anguish in the +wonderful heart of Jesus,—but He stretched forth an +unshrinking hand, and touched that death in life. It +is a parable of all His course, this laying of a clean +hand on the sin of the world to cleanse it. At His +touch, how was the morbid frame thrilled with delightful +pulses of suddenly renovated health. And how +was the despairing, joyless heart, incredulous of any +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +real will to help him, soothed and healed by the pure +delight of being loved. +</p> + +<p> +This is the true lesson of the narrative. St. Mark +treats the miraculous cure much more lightly than the +tender compassion and the swift movement to relieve +suffering. And He is right. The warm and generous +nature revealed by this fine narrative is what, as we have +seen, most impresses the doubter, and ought most to +comfort the Church. For He is the same yesterday and +to-day. And perhaps, if the divinity of love impressed +men as much as that of power, there would be less +denial of the true Godhead of our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +The touch of a leper made a Jew unclean. And +there is a surprising theory, that when Jesus could no +more openly enter into a city, it was because the leper +had disobediently published what implied His ceremonial +defilement. As if our Lord were one to violate +the law by stealth. +</p> + +<p> +But is it very remarkable that Christ, Who was born +under the law, never betrayed any anxiety about cleanness. +The law of impurity was in fact an expression +of human frailty. Sin spreads corruption far more +easily than virtue diffuses purity. The touch of goodness +fails to reproduce goodness. And the prophet +Haggai has laid stress upon this contrast, that bread +or pottage or wine or oil or any meat will not become +holy at the touch of one who bears holy flesh in the skirt +of his garment, but if one that is unclean by a dead +body touch any of these, it shall be unclean (ii. 12, 13). +Our hearts know full well how true to nature is the +ordinance. +</p> + +<p> +But Christ brought among us a virtue more contagious +than our vices are, being not only a living soul, +but a life-imparting Spirit. And thus He lays His +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +hand upon this leper, upon the bier at Nain, upon the +corpse of the daughter of Jairus, and as fire is +kindled at the touch of fire, so instead of pollution to +Him, the pureness of healthful life is imparted to the +defiling and defiled. +</p> + +<p> +And His followers also are to possess a religion that +is vitalizing, to be the light of the world, and the salt +of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +If we are thus to further His cause, we must not +only be zealous but obedient, Jesus strictly charged +the leper not to fan the flame of an excitement which +already impeded His work. But there was an invaluable +service which he might render: the formal registration +of his cure, the securing its official recognition by +the priests, and their consent to offer the commanded +sacrifices. In many a subsequent controversy, that +<q>testimony unto them</q> might have been embarrassing +indeed. But the leper lost his opportunity, and put +them upon their guard. And as through his impulsive +clamour Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, +but even in desert places was beset by excited crowds, +so is He deprived today of many a tranquil ministration +and lowly service, by the zeal which despises +order and quiet methods, by the undisciplined and +ill-judged demonstrations of men and women whom He +has blessed. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Sick Of The Palsy.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when He entered again into Capernaum after some days, +it was noised that He was in the house.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ii. 1 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Jesus returns to Capernaum, and an eager crowd +blocks even the approaches to the house where He +is known to be. St. Mark, as we should expect, +relates the course of events, the multitudes, the ingenious +device by which a miracle is obtained, the +claim which Jesus advances to yet greater authority +than heretofore, and the impression produced. But +St. Luke explains that there were <q>sitting by,</q> +having obtained the foremost places which they loved, +Pharisees and doctors of the law from every village of +Galilee and Judæa, and from Jerusalem itself. And +this concourse, evidently preconcerted and unfriendly, +explains the first murmurs of opposition recorded by +St. Mark. It was the jealousy of rival teachers which +so readily pronounced Him a blasphemer. +</p> + +<p> +The crowds besieged the very passages, there was no +room, no, not around the door, and even if one might +struggle forward, four men bearing a litter might well +despair. But with palsied paralysis at stake, they +would not be repulsed. They gained the roof by an +outer staircase, such as the fugitives from Jerusalem +should hereafter use, not going through the house. +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +Then they uncovered and broke up the roof, by which +strong phrases St. Mark means that they first lifted +the tiles which lay in a bed of mortar or mud, broke +through this, and then tore up the poles and light +rafters by which all this covering was supported. +Then they lowered the sick man upon his pallet, in +front of the Master as He taught. +</p> + +<p> +It was an unceremonious act. However carefully +performed, the audience below must have been not only +disturbed but inconvenienced, and doubtless among +the precise and unmerciful personages in the chief +seats there was many an angry glance, many a murmur, +many a conjecture of rebukes presently to be inflicted +on the intruders. +</p> + +<p> +But Jesus never in any circumstances rebuked for +intrusion any suppliant. And now He discerned the +central spiritual impulse of these men, which was +not obtrusiveness nor disrespect. They believed that +neither din while He preached, nor rubbish falling +among His audience, nor the strange interruption of a +patient and a litter intruded upon His discourse, could +weigh as much with Jesus as the appeal on a sick +man's face. And this was faith. These peasants may +have been far enough from intellectual discernment of +Christ's Personality and the scheme of salvation. +They had however a strong and practical conviction +that He would make whole their palsied friend. +</p> + +<p> +Now the preaching of faith is suspected of endangering +good works. But was this persuasion likely to +make these men torpid? Is it not plain that all +spiritual apathy comes not from over-trust but from +unbelief, either doubting that sin is present death, or +else that holiness is life, and that Jesus has a gift to +bestow, not in heaven, but promptly, which is better to +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> +gain than all the world? Therefore salvation is linked +with faith, which earns nothing but elicits all, like the +touch that evokes electricity, but which no man supposes +to have made it. +</p> + +<p> +Because they knew the curse of palsy, and believed +in a present remedy, these men broke up the roof to +come where Jesus was. They won their blessing, but +not the less it was His free gift. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus saw and rewarded the faith of all the group. +The principle of mutual support and co-operation is +the basis alike of the family, the nation, and the +Church. Thus the great Apostle desired obscure and +long-forgotten men and women to help together with +him in their prayers. And He who visits the sins of +the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth +generation, shows mercy unto many more, unto thousands, +in them that love Him. What a rebuke is all +this to men who think it enough that they should do no +harm, and live inoffensive lives. Jesus now bestowed +such a blessing as awoke strange misgivings among +the bystanders. He divined the true burden of that +afflicted heart, the dreary memories and worse fears +which haunted that sick bed,—and how many are even +now preparing such remorse and gloom for a bed of +pain hereafter!—and perhaps He discerned the consciousness +of some guilty origin of the disease. Certainly +He saw there one whose thoughts went beyond +his malady, a yearning soul, with hope glowing like +red sparks amid the ashes of his self-reproach, that a +teacher so gracious as men reported Jesus, might bring +with Him a gospel indeed. We know that he felt thus, +for Jesus made him of good cheer by pardon rather +than by healing, and spoke of the cure itself as +wrought less for his sake than as evidence. +</p> + +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> + +<p> +Surely that was a great moment when the wistful +gaze of eyes which disease had dimmed, met the eyes +which were as a flame of fire, and knew that all its +sullied past was at once comprehended and forgiven. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus said to him, <q>Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.</q> +The term of endearment was new to his lips, and very +emphatic; the same which Mary used when she found +Him in the temple, the same as when He argued that +even evil men give good gifts unto their children. +Such a relation towards Himself He recognised in this +afflicted penitent. On the other hand, the dry argumentative +temper of the critics is well expressed by the short +crackling unemotional utterances of their orthodoxy: +<q>Why doth this man thus speak? He blasphemeth. +Who can forgive sins but one, God.</q> There is no zeal +in it, no passion for God's honour, no spiritual insight, +it is as heartless as a syllogism. And in what follows +a fine contrast is implied between their perplexed orthodoxy, +and Christ's profound discernment. For as He +had just read the sick man's heart, so He <q>perceived +in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves.</q> +And He asks them the searching question, <q>Whether +is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, +Arise and walk?</q> Now which is really easier? It is +not enough to lay all the emphasis upon <q>to say,</q> as +if with Jesus the ease of an utterance depended on the +difficulty of testing it. There is indeed a certain irony +in the question. They doubtless imagined that Jesus +was evading their scrutiny by only bestowing what +they could not test. To them forgiveness seemed more +easily offered than a cure. To the Christian, it is less +to heal disease, which is a mere consequence, than sin, +which is the source of all our woes. To the power of +Jesus they were alike, and connected with each other +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +as the symptom and the true disease. In truth, all the +compassion which blesses our daily life is a pledge of +grace; and He Who healeth all our diseases forgiveth +also all our iniquities. But since healing was the +severer test in their reckoning, Jesus does not evade it. +He restores the palsied man to health, that they might +know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to +forgive sins. So then, pardon does not lie concealed and +doubtful in the councils of an unknown world, it is pronounced +on earth. The Son of man, wearing our nature +and touched with our infirmities, bestows it still, in the +Scriptures, in the Sacraments, in the ministrations of +His servants. Wherever He discerns faith, He responds +with assurance of the absolution and remission of sins. +</p> + +<p> +He claims to do this, as men had so lately observed +that He both taught and worked miracles, <q>with authority.</q> +We then saw that this word expressed the direct +and personal mastery with which He wrought, and +which the apostles never claimed for themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore this text cannot be quoted in defence of +priestly absolutions, as long as these are hypothetical, +and depend on the recipient's earnestness, or on any +supposition, any uncertainty whatever. Christ did not +utter a hypothesis. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately, too, the argument that men, priestly +men, must have authority on earth to forgive sins, +because the Son of man has such authority, can be +brought to an easy test. There is a passage elsewhere, +which asserts His authority, and upon which the claim +to share it can be tried. The words are, <q>The Father +gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He +is the Son of man,</q> and they are immediately followed +by an announcement of the resurrection to judgment +(John v. 27, 29). Is any one prepared to contend that +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +such authority as that is vested in other sons of men? +And if not that, why this? +</p> + +<p> +But if priestly absolutions are not here, there remains +the certainty that Jesus brought to earth, to man, the +gift of prompt effective pardon, to be realized by faith. +</p> + +<p> +The sick man is ordered to depart at once. Further +discourse might perhaps be reserved for others, but +he may not linger, having received his own bodily +and spiritual medicine. The teaching of Christ is not +for curiosity. It is good for the greatly blessed to be +alone. And it is sometimes dangerous for obscure +people to be thrust into the centre of attention. +</p> + +<p> +Hereupon, another touch of nature discovers itself in +the narrative, for it is now easy to pass through the +crowd. Men who would not in their selfishness give +place for palsied misery, readily make room for the distinguished +person who has received a miraculous blessing. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Son Of Man.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ii. 10. +</quote> + +<p> +When asserting His power to forgive sins, Jesus, for the +first time in our Gospel, called Himself the Son of man. +</p> + +<p> +It is a remarkable phrase. The profound reverence +which He from the first inspired, restrained all other +lips from using it, save only when the first martyr felt +such a rush of sympathy from above poured into his +soul, that the thought of Christ's humanity was more +moving than that of His deity. So too it is then +alone that He is said to be not enthroned in heaven, +but standing, <q>the Son of man, standing on the right +hand of God</q> (Acts vii. 56).<note place='foot'>The exceptions in the Revelation are only apparent. St. John does +not call Jesus the Son of man (i. 13), nor see Him, but only the type of +Him, standing (v. 6).</note> +</p> + +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> + +<p> +What then does this title imply? Beyond doubt +it is derived from Daniel's vision: <q>Behold there came +with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of man, +and He came even to the Ancient of Days</q> (vii. 13). +And it was by the bold and unequivocal appropriation +of this verse that Jesus brought upon Himself the +judgment of the council (Matt. xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62). +</p> + +<p> +Now the first impression which the phrase in Daniel +produces is that of strong and designed contrast +between the Son of man and the Eternal God. We +wonder at seeing man <q>brought nigh</q> to Deity. Nor +may we suppose that to be <q>like unto a Son of man,</q> +implies only an appearance of manhood. In Daniel the +Messiah can be cut off. When Jesus uses the epithet, +and even when He quotes the prophecy, He not only +resembles a Son of man, He is truly such; He is most +frequently <q><emph>the</emph> Son of man,</q> the pre-eminent, perhaps +the only one.<note place='foot'>And this proves beyond question that He did not merely follow +Ezekiel in applying to himself the epithet as if it meant a son among +many sons of men, but took the description in Daniel for His own. +Ezekiel himself indeed never employs the phrase: he only records it.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But while the expression intimates a share in the +lowliness of human nature, it does not imply a lowly +rank among men. +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord often suggested by its use the difference +between His circumstances and His dignity. <q>The +Son of man hath not where to lay His head:</q> +<q>Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss,</q> in each +of these we feel that the title asserts a claim to different +treatment. And in the great verse, God <q>hath given +Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the +Son of man,</q> we discern that although human hands +are chosen as fittest to do judgment upon humanity, +yet His extraordinary dignity is also taken into account. +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +The title belongs to our Lord's humiliation, but is far +from an additional abasement; it asserts His supremacy +over those whom He is not ashamed to call brethren. +</p> + +<p> +We all are sons of men; and Jesus used the phrase +when He promised that all manner of sins and blasphemies +shall be forgiven to us. But there is a higher +sense in which, among thousands of the ignoble, we +single out one <q>real man;</q> and in this sense, as fulfilling +the idea, Jesus was the Second Man. What a difference +exists between the loftiest sons of vulgar men, and the +Son of our complete humanity, of the race, <q>of Man.</q> +The pre-eminence even of our best and greatest is +fragmentary and incomplete. In their veins runs but a +portion of the rich life-blood of the race: but a share of +its energy throbs in the greatest bosom. We seldom +find the typical thinker in the typical man of action. +Originality of purpose and of means are not commonly +united. To know all that holiness embraces, we must +combine the energies of one saint with the gentler graces +of a second and the spiritual insight of a third. There +is no man of genius who fails to make himself the child +of his nation and his age, so that Shakespeare would be +impossible in France, Hugo in Germany, Goethe in England. +Two great nations slay their kings and surrender +their liberties to military dictators, but Napoleon would +have been unendurable to us, and Cromwell ridiculous +across the channel. +</p> + +<p> +Large allowances are to be made for the Greek in +Plato, the Roman in Epictetus, before we can learn of +them. Each and all are the sons of their tribe and +century, not of all mankind and all time. But who +will point out the Jewish warp in any word or institution +of Jesus? In the new man which is after His +image there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman, +but Christ is all and in all, something of Him +represented by each, all of them concentrated in Him. +He alone speaks to all men without any foreign accent, +and He alone is recognised and understood as widely +as the voices of nature, as the sigh of waves and breezes, +and the still endurance of the stars. Reading the +Gospels, we become aware that four writers of widely +different bias and temperament have all found an equally +congenial subject, so that each has given a portrait +harmonious with the others, and yet unique. It is +because the sum total of humanity is in Christ, that no +single writer could have told His story. +</p> + +<p> +But now consider what this implies. It demands an +example from which lonely women and heroic leaders +of action should alike take fire. It demands that He +should furnish meditation for sages in the closet, and +should found a kingdom more brilliant than those of +conquerors. It demands that He should strike out new +paths towards new objects, and be supremely original +without deviating from what is truly sane and human, +for any selfish or cruel or unwholesome joy. It demands +the gentleness of a sheep before her shearers, and such +burning wrath as seven times over denounced against +the hypocrites of Jerusalem woe and the damnation of +hell. It demands the sensibilities which made Gethsemane +dreadful, and the strength which made Calvary +sublime. It demands that when we approach Him we +should learn to feel the awe of other worlds, the nearness +of God, the sinfulness of sin, the folly of laying up +much goods for many years; that life should be made +solemn and profound, but yet that it should not be +darkened nor depressed unduly; that nature and man +should be made dear to us, little children, and sinners +<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> +who are scorned yet who love much, and lepers who +stand afar off—yes, and even the lilies of the field, and +the fowls of the air; that He should not be unaware of +the silent processes of nature which bears fruit of itself, +of sunshine and rain, and the fury of storms and +torrents, and the leap of the lightning across all the +sky. Thus we can bring to Jesus every anxiety and +every hope, for He, and only He, was tempted in all +points like unto us. Universality of power, of sympathy, +and of influence, is the import of this title +which Jesus claims. And that demand Jesus only has +satisfied, Who is the Master of Sages, the Friend of +sinners, the Man of Sorrows, and the King of kings, +the one perfect blossom on the tree of our humanity, +the ideal of our nature incarnate, the Second Adam +in Whom the fulness of the race is visible. The +Second Man is the Lord from Heaven. And this +strange and solitary grandeur He foretold, when He +took to Himself this title, itself equally strange and +solitary, the Son of man. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Call And Feast Of Levi.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude +resorted unto Him, and He taught them. And as He passed by, He +saw Levi the <hi rend='italic'>son</hi> of Alphæus sitting at the place of toll, and He saith +unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him. And it came +to pass, that He was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans +and sinners sat down with Jesus and His disciples: for there were +many, and they followed Him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, +when they saw that He was eating with the sinners and publicans, +said unto His disciples, He eateth and drinketh with publicans and +sinners. And when Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, They that are +whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not +to call the righteous, but sinners.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ii. 13-17 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Jesus loved the open air. His custom when teaching +was to point to the sower, the lily, and the bird. He +<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/> +is no pale recluse emerging from a library to instruct, +in the dim religious light of cloisters, a world unknown +except by books. Accordingly we find Him <q>again +by the sea-side.</q> And however the scribes and +Pharisees may have continued to murmur, the multitudes +resorted to Him, confiding in the evidence of +their experience, which never saw it on this fashion. +</p> + +<p> +That argument was perfectly logical; it was an induction, +yet it led them to a result curiously the reverse +of theirs who reject miracles for being contrary to experience. +<q>Yes,</q> they said, <q>we appeal to experience, +but the conclusion is that good deeds which it cannot +parallel must come directly from the Giver of all good.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such good deeds continue. The creed of Christ has +re-formed Europe, it is awakening Asia, it has transformed +morality, and imposed new virtues on the conscience. +It is the one religion for the masses, the +lapsed, and indeed for the sick in body as truly as in +soul; for while science discourses with enthusiasm +upon progress by the rejection of the less fit, our faith +cherishes these in hospitals, asylums, and retreats, and +prospers by lavishing care upon the outcast and rejected +of the world. Now this transcends experience: +we never saw it on this fashion; it is supernatural. +Or else let scientific atheism produce its reformed +magdalens, and its homes for the hopelessly diseased +and imbecile, and all <q>the weakest</q> who go, as she +tenderly assures us, <q>to the wall.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Jesus now gave a signal proof of His independence +of human judgment, His care for the despised and rejected. +For such a one He completed the rupture +between Himself and the rulers of the people. +</p> + +<p> +Sitting at the receipt of toll, in the act of levying +from his own nation the dues of the conqueror, Levi +<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/> +the publican received the call to become an Apostle +and Evangelist. It was a resolute defiance of the +pharisaic judgment. It was a memorable rebuke for +those timid slaves of expediency who nurse their influence, +refuse to give offence, fear to <q>mar their usefulness</q> +by <q>compromising themselves,</q> and so make +their whole life one abject compromise, and let all +emphatic usefulness go by. +</p> + +<p> +Here is one upon whom the bigot scowls more darkly +still than upon Jesus Himself, by whom the Roman +yoke is pressed upon Hebrew necks, an apostate in +men's judgment from the national faith and hope. And +such judgments sadly verify themselves; a despised +man easily becomes despicable. +</p> + +<p> +But however Levi came by so strange and hateful an +office, Jesus saw in him no slavish earner of vile bread +by doing the foreigner's hateful work. He was more +willing than they who scorned him to follow the true +King of Israel. It is even possible that the national +humiliations to which his very office testified led him +to other aspirations, longings after a spiritual kingdom +beyond reach of the sword or the exactions of Rome. +For his Gospel is full of the true kingdom of heaven, +the spiritual fulfilments of prophecy, and the relations +between the Old Testament and the Messiah. +</p> + +<p> +Here then is an opportunity to show the sneering +scribe and carping Pharisee how little their cynical +criticism weighs with Jesus. He calls the despised +agent of the heathen to His side, and is obeyed. And +now the name of the publican is engraven upon one of +the foundations of the city of God. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did Jesus refuse to carry such condescension to +its utmost limit, eating and drinking in Levi's house +with many publicans and sinners, who were already +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> +attracted by His teaching, and now rejoiced in His +familiarity. Just in proportion as He offended the +pharisaic scribes, so did He inspire with new hope the +unhappy classes who were taught to consider themselves +castaway. His very presence was medicinal, a +rebuke to foul words and thoughts, an outward and +visible sign of grace. It brought pure air and sunshine +into a fever-stricken chamber. +</p> + +<p> +And this was His justification when assailed. He +had borne healing to the sick. He had called sinners +to repentance. And therefore His example has a +double message. It rebukes those who look curiously +on the intercourse of religious people with the world, +who are plainly of opinion that the leaven should +be hid anywhere but in the meal, who can never +fairly understand St. Paul's permission to go to an +idolater's feast. But it gives no licence to go where +we cannot be a healing influence, where the light +must be kept in a dark lantern if not under a bushel, +where, instead of drawing men upward, we shall only +confirm their indolent self-satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +Christ's reason for seeking out the sick, the lost, is +ominous indeed for the self-satisfied. The whole have +no need of a physician; He came not to call the +righteous. Such persons, whatever else they be, are +not Christians until they come to a different mind. +</p> + +<p> +In calling Himself the Physician of sick souls, Jesus +made a startling claim, which becomes more emphatic +when we observe that He also quoted the words of +Hosea, <q>I will have mercy and not sacrifice</q> (Matt. +ix. 13; Hos. vi. 6). For this expression occurs in that +chapter which tells how the Lord Himself hath smitten +and will bind us up. And the complaint is just before it +that when Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria and sent to +king Jareb, but he is not able to heal you, neither shall +he cure you of your wound (Hos. v. 13-vi. 1). As +the Lord Himself hath torn, so He must heal. +</p> + +<p> +Now Jesus comes to that part of Israel which the +Pharisees despise for being wounded and diseased, and +justifies Himself by words which must, from their +context, have reminded every Jew of the declaration +that God is the physician, and it is vain to seek healing +elsewhere. And immediately afterwards, He claims +to be the Bridegroom, whom also Hosea spoke of as +divine. Yet men profess that only in St. John does +He advance such claims that we should ask, Whom +makest Thou Thyself? Let them try the experiment, +then, of putting such words into the lips of any mortal. +</p> + +<p> +The choice of the apostles, and most of all that of +Levi, illustrates the power of the cross to elevate +obscure and commonplace lives. He was born, to all +appearance, to an uneventful, unobserved existence. +We read no remarkable action of the Apostle Matthew; +as an Evangelist he is simple, orderly and accurate, as +becomes a man of business, but the graphic energy of +St. Mark, the pathos of St. Luke, the profundity of +St. John are absent. Yet his greatness will outlive the +world. +</p> + +<p> +Now as Christ provided nobility and a career for +this man of the people, so He does for all. <q>Are all +apostles?</q> Nay, but all may become pillars in the +temple of eternity. The gospel finds men plunged in +monotony, in the routine of callings which machinery +and the subdivision of labour make ever more colourless, +spiritless, and dull. It is a small thing that +it introduces them to a literature more sublime than +Milton, more sincere and direct than Shakespere. It +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +brings their little lives into relationship with eternity. +It braces them for a vast struggle, watched by a +great cloud of witnesses. It gives meaning and beauty +to the sordid present, and to the future a hope full +of immortality. It brings the Christ of God nearer +to the humblest than when of old He ate and drank +with publicans and sinners. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Controversy Concerning Fasting.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting: and they come +and say unto Him, Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the +Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples fast not?</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ii. 18 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The Pharisees had just complained to the disciples that +Jesus ate and drank in questionable company. Now +they join with the followers of the ascetic Baptist in +complaining to Jesus that His disciples eat and drink +at improper seasons, when others fast. And as Jesus +had then replied, that being a Physician, He was +naturally found among the sick, so He now answered, +that being the Bridegroom, fasting in His presence is +impossible: <q>Can the sons of the bridechamber fast +while the Bridegroom is with them?</q> A new spirit is +working in Christianity, far too mightily to be restrained +by ancient usages; if the new wine be put into such +wineskins it will spoil them, and itself be lost. +</p> + +<p> +Hereupon three remarkable subjects call for attention: +the immense personal claim advanced; the view which +Christ takes of fasting; and, arising out of this, the +principle which He applies to all external rites and +ceremonies. +</p> + +<p> +I. Jesus does not inquire whether the fasts of other +men were unreasonable or not. In any case, He declares +that His mere presence put everything on a new +footing for His followers who could not fast simply +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +because He was by. Thus He assumes a function high +above that of any prophet or teacher: He not only +reveals duty, as a lamp casts light upon the compass +by which men steer; but He modifies duty itself, as +iron deflects the needle. +</p> + +<p> +This is because He is the Bridegroom. +</p> + +<p> +The disciples of John would hereupon recall his +words of self-effacement; that He was only the friend +of the Bridegroom, whose fullest joy was to hear the +Bridegroom's exultant voice. +</p> + +<p> +But no Jew could forget the Old Testament use of +the phrase. It is clear from St. Matthew that this +controversy followed immediately upon the last, when +Jesus assumed a function ascribed to God Himself by +the very passage from Hosea which He then quoted. +Then He was the Physician for the soul's diseases; +now He is the Bridegroom, in Whom centre its hopes, its +joys, its affections, its new life. That position in the +spiritual existence cannot be given away from God +without idolatry. The same Hosea who makes God the +Healer, gives to Him also, in the most explicit words, +what Jesus now claims for Himself. <q>I will betroth +thee unto Me for ever.... I will even betroth thee +unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord</q> +(ii. 19, 20). Isaiah too declares <q>thy Maker is thy +husband,</q> and <q>as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the +bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee</q> (liv. 5; lxii. +5). And in Jeremiah, God remembers the love of +Israel's espousals, who went after Him in the wilderness, +in a land that was not sown (ii. 2). Now all this is +transferred throughout the New Testament to Jesus. +The Baptist is not alone in this respect. St. John regards +the Bride as the wife of the Lamb (Rev. xxi. 9). +St. Paul would fain present his Corinthian Church as +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +a pure virgin to Christ, as to one husband (2 Cor. +xi. 2). For him, the absolute oneness of marriage is a +mystery of the union betwixt Christ and His Church +(Eph. v. 32). If Jesus be not God, then a relation +hitherto exclusively belonging to Jehovah, to rob Him +of which is the adultery of the soul, has been systematically +transferred by the New Testament to a creature. +His glory has been given to another. +</p> + +<p> +This remarkable change is clearly the work of Jesus +Himself. The marriage supper of which He spoke is +for the King's son. At His return the cry will be heard, +Behold the Bridegroom cometh. In this earliest +passage His presence causes the joy of the Bride, +who said to the Lord in the Old Testament, Thou art +my Husband (Hosea ii. 16). +</p> + +<p> +There is not to be found in the Gospel of St. John +a passage more certainly calculated to inspire, when +Christ's dignity was assured by His resurrection and +ascension, the adoration which His Church has always +paid to the Lamb in the midst of the throne. +</p> + +<p> +II. The presence of the Bridegroom dispenses with +the obligation to fast. Yet it is beyond denial that +fasting as a religious exercise comes within the circle of +New Testament sanctions. Jesus Himself, when taking +our burdens upon Him, as He had stooped to the +baptism of repentance, condescended also to fast. He +taught His disciples when they fasted to anoint their +head and wash their face. The mention of fasting +is indeed a later addition to the words <q>this kind (of +demon) goeth not out but by prayer</q> (Mark ix. 29), +but we know that the prophets and teachers of Antioch +were fasting when bidden to consecrate Barnabas and +Saul, and they fasted again and prayed before they +laid their hands upon them (Acts xiii. 2, 3). +</p> + +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> + +<p> +Thus it is right to fast, at times and from one point +of view; but at other times, and from Jewish and formal +motives, it is unnatural and mischievous. It is right +when the Bridegroom is taken away, a phrase which +certainly does not cover all this space between the +Ascension and the Second Advent, since Jesus still +reveals Himself to His own though not unto the world, +and is with His Church all the days. Scripture has +no countenance for the notion that we lost by the +Ascension in privilege or joy. But when the body +would fain rise up against the spirit, it must be kept +under and brought into subjection (1 Cor. ix. 27). +When the closest domestic joys would interrupt the +seclusion of the soul with God, they may be suspended, +though but for a time (1 Cor. vii. 5). And when the +supreme blessing of intercourse with God, the presence +of the Bridegroom, is obscured or forfeited through sin, +it will then be as inevitable that the loyal heart should +turn away from worldly pleasures, as that the first +disciples should reject these in the dread hours of their +bereavement. +</p> + +<p> +Thus Jesus abolished the superstition that grace may +be had by a mechanical observance of a prescribed +regimen at an appointed time. He did not deny, but +rather implied the truth, that body and soul act and +counteract so that spiritual impressions may be weakened +and forfeited by untimely indulgence of the flesh. +</p> + +<p> +By such teaching, Jesus carried forward the doctrine +already known to the Old Testament. There it was +distinctly announced that the return from exile abrogated +those fasts which commemorated national calamities, +so that <q>the fast of the fourth month, and of the fifth, +and of the seventh and of the tenth shall be to the +house of Israel joy and gladness, cheerful feasts</q> (Zech. +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +vii. 3, viii. 19). Even while these fasts had lasted they +had been futile, because they were only formal. <q>When +ye fasted and mourned, did ye at all fast unto me? And +when ye eat, and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, +and drink for yourselves?</q> (Zech. vii. 5, 6). And +Isaiah had plainly laid down the great rule, that a fast +and an acceptable day unto the Lord was not a day to +afflict the soul and bow the head, but to deny and +discipline our selfishness for some good end, to loose +the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, +and to let the oppressed go free, to deal bread to the +hungry, and to bring home the poor that is cast out +(Isa. lviii. 5-7). +</p> + +<p> +The true spirit of fasting breathes an ampler breath +in any of the thousand forms of Christian self-denial, +than in those petty abstinences, those microscopic +observances, which move our wonder less by the superstition +which expects them to bring grace than by the +childishness which expects them to have any effect +whatever. +</p> + +<p> +III. Jesus now applies a great principle to all +external rites and ceremonies. They have their value. +As the wineskin retains the wine, so are feelings and aspirations +aided, and even preserved, by suitable external +forms. Without these, emotion would lose itself for +want of restraint, wasted, like spilt wine, by diffuseness. +And if the forms are unsuitable and outworn, +the same calamity happens, the strong new feelings +break through them, <q>and the wine perisheth, and the +skins.</q> In this respect, how many a sad experience of +the Church attests the wisdom of her Lord; what losses +have been suffered in the struggle between forms that +had stiffened into archaic ceremonialism and new zeal +demanding scope for its energy, between the antiquated +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +phrases of a bygone age and the new experience, knowledge +and requirements of the next, between the frosty +precisions of unsympathetic age and the innocent +warmth and freshness of the young, too often, alas, +lost to their Master in passionate revolt against restraints +which He neither imposed nor smiled upon. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore the coming of a new revelation meant the +repeal of old observances, and Christ refused to sew +His new faith like a patchwork upon ancient institutions, +of which it would only complete the ruin. Thus +He anticipated the decision of His apostles releasing +the Gentiles from the law of Moses. And He bestowed +on His Church an adaptiveness to various times and +places, not always remembered by missionaries among +the heathen, by fastidious critics of new movements at +home, nor by men who would reduce the lawfulness +of modern agencies to a question of precedent and +archæology. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Sabbath.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And it came to pass, that He was going on the sabbath day through +the cornfields; and His disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears +of corn. And the Pharisees said unto Him, Behold, why do they on +the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And He said unto them, +Did ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an +hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he entered into the +house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and did eat the shewbread, +which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests, and gave also +to them that were with him? And He said unto them, The sabbath +was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: so that the Son of +man is Lord even of the sabbath.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ii. 23-28 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Twice in succession Christ had now asserted the freedom +of the soul against His Jewish antagonists. He +was free to eat with sinners, for their good, and His +followers were free to disregard fasts, because the +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> +Bridegroom was with them. A third attack in the +same series is prepared. The Pharisees now take +stronger ground, since the law itself enforced the +obligation of the Sabbath. Even Isaiah, the most +free-spirited of all the prophets, in the same passage +where he denounced the fasts of the self-righteous, +bade men to keep their foot from the Sabbath (Isa. +lviii. 13, 14). Here they felt sure of their position; and +when they found the disciples, in a cornfield where the +long stems had closed over the path, <q>making a way,</q> +which was surely forbidden labour, and this by +<q>plucking the ears,</q> which was reaping, and then +rubbing these in their hands to reject the chaff, which +was winnowing, they cried out in affected horror, +Behold, why do they that which is not lawful? To +them it mattered nothing that the disciples really +hungered, and that abstinence, rather than the slight +exertion which they condemned, would cause real inconvenience +and unrest. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps the answer of our Lord has been as much +misunderstood as any other words He ever spoke. It +has been assumed that He spoke across the boundary +between the new dispensation and the old, as One +from whose movements the restraints of Judaism had +entirely fallen away, to those who were still entangled. +And it has been inferred that the Fourth Commandment +was no more than such a restraint, now thrown +off among the rest. But this is quite a misapprehension +both of His position and theirs. On earth He +was a minister of the circumcision. He bade His +disciples to observe and do all that was commanded +from the seat of Moses. And it is by Old Testament +precedent, and from Old Testament principles, that He +now refutes the objection of the Pharisees. This is +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +what gives the passage half its charm, this discovery +of freedom like our own in the heart of the stern old +Hebrew discipline, as a fountain and flowers on the face +of a granite crag, this demonstration that all we now +enjoy is developed from what already lay in germ +enfolded in the law. +</p> + +<p> +David and his followers, when at extremity, had +eaten the shewbread which it was not lawful for them +to eat. It is a striking assertion. We should probably +have sought a softer phrase. We should have said +that in other circumstances it would have been unlawful, +that only necessity made it lawful; we should have +refused to look straight in the face the naked ugly fact +that David broke the law. But Jesus was not afraid +of any fact. He saw and declared that the priests in +the Temple itself profaned the Sabbath when they +baked the shewbread and when they circumcised children. +They were blameless, not because the Fourth +Commandment remained inviolate, but because circumstances +made it right for them to profane the Sabbath. +And His disciples were blameless also, upon the same +principle, that the larger obligation overruled the +lesser, that all ceremonial observance gave way to +human need, that mercy is a better thing than sacrifice. +</p> + +<p> +And thus it appeared that the objectors were themselves +the transgressors; they had condemned the +guiltless. +</p> + +<p> +A little reflection will show that our Lord's bold +method, His startling admission that David and the +priests alike did that which was not lawful, is much +more truly reverential than our soft modern compromises, +our shifty devices for persuading ourselves that +in various permissible and even necessary deviations +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +from prescribed observances, there is no real infraction +of any law whatever. +</p> + +<p> +To do this, we reduce to a minimum the demands of +the precept. We train ourselves to think, not of its +full extension, but of what we can compress it into. +Therefore, in future, even when no urgency exists, the +precept has lost all beyond this minimum; its sharp +edges are filed away. Jesus leaves it to resume all +its energy, when mercy no longer forbids the sacrifice. +</p> + +<p> +The text, then, says nothing about the abolition of +a Day of Rest. On the contrary, it declares that this +day is not a Jewish but a universal ordinance, it is +made for man. At the same time, it refuses to place +the Sabbath among the essential and inflexible laws of +right and wrong. It is made for man, for his physical +repose and spiritual culture; man was not made for +it, as he is for purity, truth, and godliness. Better for +him to die than outrage these; they are the laws of +his very being; he is royal by serving them; in obeying +them he obeys his God. It is not thus with +anything external, ceremonial, any ritual, any rule +of conduct, however universal be its range, however +permanent its sanctions. The Sabbath is such a rule, +permanent, far-reaching as humanity, made <q>for man.</q> +But this very fact, Jesus tells us, is the reason why He +Who represented the race and its interests, was <q>Lord +even of the Sabbath.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let those who deny the Divine authority of this +great institution ponder well the phrase which asserts +its universal range, and which finds it a large assertion +of the mastery of Christ that He is Lord <q>even of the +Sabbath.</q> But those who have scruples about the +change of day by which honour is paid to Christ's +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +resurrection, and those who would make burdensome +and dreary, a horror to the young and a torpor to the +old, what should be called a delight and honourable, +these should remember that the ordinance is blighted, +root and branch, when it is forbidden to minister to the +physical or spiritual welfare of the human race. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Withered Hand.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man +there which had his hand withered. And they watched Him, whether +He would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. +And He saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth. +And He saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good +or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace. +And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being +grieved at the hardening of their heart, He saith unto the man, +Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth: and his hand was +restored. And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the Herodians +took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +iii. 1-6 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +In the controversies just recorded, we have recognised +the ideal Teacher, clear to discern and quick +to exhibit the decisive point at issue, careless of small +pedantries, armed with principles and precedents which +go to the heart of the dispute. +</p> + +<p> +But the perfect man must be competent in more than +theory; and we have now a marvellous example of +tact, decision and self-control in action. When Sabbath +observance is again discussed, his enemies have resolved +to push matters to extremity. They watch, no +longer to cavil, but that they may accuse Him. It is +in the synagogue; and their expectations are sharpened +by the presence of a pitiable object, a man whose hand +is not only paralyzed in the sinews, but withered up +and hopeless. St. Luke tells us that it was the right +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +hand, which deepened his misery. And St. Matthew +records that they asked Christ, Is it lawful to heal on +the Sabbath day? thus urging Him by a challenge to +the deed which they condemned. What a miserable +state of mind! They believe that Jesus can work the +cure, since this is the very basis of their plot; and yet +their hostility is not shaken, for belief in a miracle is +not conversion; to acknowledge a prodigy is one thing, +and to surrender the will is quite another. Or how +should we see around us so many Christians in theory, +reprobates in life? They long to see the man healed, +yet there is no compassion in this desire, hatred urges +them to wish what mercy impels Christ to grant. But +while He relieves the sufferer, He will also expose their +malice. Therefore He makes His intention public, and +whets their expectation, by calling the man forth into +the midst. And then He meets their question with +another: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day or +evil, to save life or to kill? And when they preserved +their calculated silence, we know how He pressed the +question home, reminding them that not one of them +would fail to draw His own sheep out of a pit upon +the Sabbath day. Selfishness made the difference, for +a man was better than a sheep, but did not, like the +sheep, belong to them. They do not answer: instead +of warning Him away from guilt, they eagerly await +the incriminating act: we can almost see the spiteful +subtle smile playing about their bloodless lips; and +Jesus marks them well. He looked round about them +in anger, but not in bitter personal resentment, for He +was grieved at the hardness of their hearts, and pitied +them also, even while enduring such contradiction of +sinners against Himself. This is the first mention by +St. Mark of that impressive gaze, afterwards so frequent +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> +in every Gospel, which searched the scribe who answered +well, and melted the heart of Peter. +</p> + +<p> +And now, by one brief utterance, their prey breaks +through their meshes. Any touch would have been a +work, a formal infraction of the law. Therefore there +is no touch, neither is the helpless man bidden to take +up any burden, or instigated to the slightest ritual irregularity. +Jesus only bids him do what was forbidden +to none, but what had been impossible for him to perform; +and the man succeeds, he does stretch forth his +hand: he is healed: the work is done. Yet nothing +has been done; as a work of healing not even a word +has been said. For He who would so often defy their +malice has chosen to show once how easily He can +evade it, and not one of them is more free from any +blame, however technical, than He. The Pharisees are +so utterly baffled, so helpless in His hands, so <q>filled +with madness</q> that they invoke against this new foe +the help of their natural enemies, the Herodians. +These appear on the stage because the immense spread +of the Messianic movement endangers the Idumæan +dynasty. When first the wise men sought an infant +King of the Jews, the Herod of that day was troubled. +That instinct which struck at His cradle is now reawakened, +and will not slumber again until the fatal +day when the new Herod shall set Him at nought and +mock Him. In the meanwhile these strange allies +perplex themselves with the hard question, How is it +possible to destroy so acute a foe. +</p> + +<p> +While observing their malice, and the exquisite skill +which baffles it, we must not lose sight of other lessons. +It is to be observed that no offence to hypocrites, no +danger to Himself, prevented Jesus from removing +human suffering. And also that He expects from the +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +man a certain co-operation involving faith: he must +stand forth in the midst; every one must see his unhappiness; +he is to assume a position which will +become ridiculous unless a miracle is wrought. Then +he must make an effort. In the act of stretching forth +his hand the strength to stretch it forth is given; but +he would not have tried the experiment unless he +trusted before he discovered the power. Such is the +faith demanded of our sin-stricken and helpless souls; +a faith which confesses its wretchedness, believes in +the good will of God and the promises of Christ, and +receives the experience of blessing through having acted +on the belief that already the blessing is a fact in the +Divine volition. +</p> + +<p> +Nor may we overlook the mysterious impalpable +spiritual power which effects its purposes without a +touch, or even an explicit word of healing import. +What is it but the power of Him Who spake and it +was done, Who commanded and it stood fast? +</p> + +<p> +And all this vividness of look and bearing, this +innocent subtlety of device combined with a boldness +which stung His foes to madness, all this richness and +verisimilitude of detail, this truth to the character of +Jesus, this spiritual freedom from the trammels of a +system petrified and grown rigid, this observance in a +secular act of the requirements of the spiritual kingdom, +all this wealth of internal evidence goes to attest one +of the minor miracles which sceptics declare to be +incredible. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> + +<div> +<head>The Choice Of The Twelve.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And Jesus with His disciples withdrew to the sea: and a great +multitude from Galilee followed: and from Judæa, and from Jerusalem, +and from Idumæa, and beyond Jordan, and about Tyre and Sidon, a +great multitude, hearing what great things He did, came unto Him. +And He spake to His disciples, that a little boat should wait on Him +because of the crowd, lest they should throng Him: for He had healed +many; insomuch that as many as had plagues pressed upon Him that +they might touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld +Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son +of God. And He charged them much that they should not make Him +known. And He goeth up into the mountain, and calleth unto Him +whom He Himself would: and they went unto Him. And He appointed +twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them +forth to preach, and to have authority to cast out devils: and Simon +he surnamed Peter; and James the <hi rend='italic'>son</hi> of Zebedee, and John the +brother of James; and them He surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons +of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, +and Thomas, and James the <hi rend='italic'>son</hi> of Alphæus, and Thaddæus, and +Simon the Cananæan, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +iii. 7-19 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have reached a crisis in the labours of the Lord, +when hatred which has become deadly is preparing a +blow. The Pharisees are aware, by a series of experiences, +that His method is destructive to their system, +that He is too fearless to make terms with them, that +He will strip the mask off their faces. Their rage +was presently intensified by an immense extension of +His fame. And therefore He withdrew from the plots +which ripen most easily in cities, the hotbeds of +intrigue, to the open coast. It is His first retreat +before opposition, and careful readers of the Gospels +must observe that whenever the pressure of His enemies +became extreme, He turned for safety to the simple +fishermen, among whom they had no party, since +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +they had preached no gospel to the poor, and that +He was frequently conveyed by water from point to +point, easily reached by followers, who sometimes +indeed outran Him upon foot, but where treason had +to begin its wiles afresh. Hither, perhaps camping +along the beach, came a great multitude not only from +Galilee but also from Judæa, and even from the capital, +the headquarters of the priesthood, and by a journey +of several days from Idumæa, and from Tyre and +Sidon, so that afterwards, even there, He could not be +hid. Many came to see what great things He did, +but others bore with them some afflicted friend, or +were themselves sore stricken by disease. And Jesus +gave like a God, opening His hand and satisfying their +desires, <q>for power went out of Him, and healed them +all.</q> Not yet had the unbelief of man restrained the +compassion of His heart, and forced Him to exhibit +another phase of the mind of God, by refusing to give +that which is holy to the dogs. As yet, therefore, He +healeth all their diseases. Then arose an unbecoming +and irreverent rush of as many as had plagues to touch +Him. A more subtle danger mingled itself with this +peril from undue eagerness. For unclean spirits, who +knew His mysterious personality, observed that this +was still a secret, and was no part of His teaching, +since His disciples could not bear it yet. Many months +afterwards, flesh and blood had not revealed it even +to Peter. And therefore the demons made malicious +haste to proclaim Him the Son of God, and Jesus was +obliged to charge them much that they should not +make Him known. This action of His may teach His +followers to be discreet. Falsehood indeed is always +evil, but at times reticence is a duty, because certain +truths are a medicine too powerful for some stages of +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> +spiritual disease. The strong sun which ripens the +grain in autumn, would burn up the tender germs of +spring. +</p> + +<p> +But it was necessary to teach as well as to heal. +And Jesus showed his ready practical ingenuity, by +arranging that a little boat should wait on Him, and +furnish at once a pulpit and a retreat. +</p> + +<p> +And now Jesus took action distinctly Messianic. +The harvest of souls was plenteous, but the appointed +labourers were unfaithful, and a new organisation was +to take their place. The sacraments and the apostolate +are indeed the only two institutions bestowed upon His +Church by Christ Himself; but the latter is enough to +show that, so early in His course, He saw His way to +a revolution. He appointed twelve apostles, in clear +allusion to the tribes of a new Israel, a spiritual +circumcision, another peculiar people. A new Jerusalem +should arise, with their names engraven upon its +twelve foundation stones. But since all great changes +arrive, not by manufacture but by growth, and in co-operation +with existing circumstances, since nations and +constitutions are not made but evolved, so was it also +with the Church of Christ. The first distinct and format +announcement of a new sheepfold, entered by a new +and living Way, only came when evoked by the action +of His enemies in casting out the man who was born +blind. By that time, the apostles were almost ready +to take their place in it. They had learned much. +They had watched the marvellous career to which +their testimony should be rendered. By exercise they +had learned the reality, and by failure the condition +of the miraculous powers which they should transmit. +But long before, at the period we have now reached, +the apostles had been chosen under pressure of the +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> +necessity to meet the hostility of the Pharisees with a +counter-agency, and to spread the knowledge of His +power and doctrine farther than One Teacher, however +endowed, could reach. They were to be workers +together with Him. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark tells us that He went up into the mountain, +the well known hill of the neighbourhood, as St. +Luke also implies, and there called unto Him whom +He Himself would. The emphasis refutes a curious +conjecture, that Judas may have been urged upon Him +with such importunity by the rest that to reject became +a worse evil than to receive him.<note place='foot'>Lange. <hi rend='italic'>Life of Christ</hi>, li. p. 179.</note> The choice was all +His own, and in their early enthusiasm not one whom +He summoned refused the call. Out of these He +chose the Twelve, elect of the election. +</p> + +<p> +We learn from St. Luke (v. 12) that His choice, +fraught with such momentous issues, was made after +a whole night of prayer, and from St. Matthew that +He also commanded the whole body of His disciples +to pray the Lord of the Harvest, not that they themselves +should be chosen, but that He would send forth +labourers into His harvest. +</p> + +<p> +Now who were these by whose agency the downward +course of humanity was reversed, and the traditions of +a Divine faith were poured into a new mould? +</p> + +<p> +It must not be forgotten that their ranks were afterwards +recruited from the purest Hebrew blood and +ripest culture of the time. The addition of Saul of +Tarsus proved that knowledge and position were no +more proscribed than indispensable. Yet is it in the +last degree suggestive, that Jesus drew His personal +followers from classes, not indeed oppressed by want, +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +but lowly, unwarped by the prejudices of the time, +living in close contact with nature and with unsophisticated +men, speaking and thinking the words and +thoughts of the race and not of its coteries, and face to +face with the great primitive wants and sorrows over +which artificial refinement spreads a thin, but often a +baffling veil. +</p> + +<p> +With one exception the Nazarene called Galileans to +His ministry; and the Carpenter was followed by a +group of fishermen, by a despised publican, by a zealot +whose love of Israel had betrayed him into wild and +lawless theories at least, perhaps into evil deeds, and +by several whose previous life and subsequent labours +are unknown to earthly fame. Such are the Judges +enthroned over the twelve tribes of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +A mere comparison of the lists refutes the notion +that any one Evangelist has worked up the materials +of another, so diverse are they, and yet so easily reconciled. +Matthew in one is Levi in another. Thaddæus, +Jude, and Lebbæus, are interchangeable. The order +of the Twelve differs in all the four lists, and yet there +are such agreements, even in this respect, as to prove +that all the Evangelists were writing about what they +understood. Divide the Twelve into three ranks of +four, and in none of the four catalogues will any name, +or its equivalent, be found to have wandered out of its +subdivision, out of the first, second, or third rank, in +which doubtless that apostle habitually followed Jesus. +Within each rank there is the utmost diversity of place, +except that the foremost name in each is never varied; +Peter, Philip, and the Lesser James, hold the first, +fifth, and ninth place in every catalogue. And the +traitor is always last. These are coincidences too +slight for design and too striking for accident, they +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +are the natural signs of truth. For they indicate, without +obtruding or explaining, some arrangement of +the ranks, and some leadership of an individual in +each. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the group of the apostles presents a +wonderfully lifelike aspect. Fear, ambition, rivalry, +perplexity, silence when speech is called for, and +speech when silence is befitting, vows, failures, and yet +real loyalty, alas! we know them all. The incidents +which are recorded of the chosen of Christ no inventor +of the second century would have dared to devise; and +as we study them, we feel the touch of genuine life; +not of colossal statues such as repose beneath the +dome of St. Peter's, but of men, genuine, simple and +even somewhat childlike, yet full of strong, fresh, unsophisticated +feeling, fit therefore to become a great +power, and especially so in the capacity of witnesses +for an ennobling yet controverted fact. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Characteristics Of The Twelve.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and +that He might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to +cast out devils: and Simon He surnamed Peter; and James the <hi rend='italic'>son</hi> +of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and them He surnamed +Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and +Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the <hi rend='italic'>son</hi> of +Alphæus, and Thaddæus, and Simon the Cananæan, and Judas +Iscariot, which also betrayed Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iii. 14-19 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The pictures of the Twelve, then, are drawn from a living +group. And when they are examined in detail, this +appearance of vitality is strengthened, by the richest +and most vivid indications of individual character, such +indeed as in several cases to throw light upon the +choice of Jesus. To invent such touches is the last +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +attainment of dramatic genius, and the artist rarely +succeeds except by deliberate and palpable character-painting. +The whole story of Hamlet and of Lear is +constructed with this end in view, but no one has ever +conjectured that the Gospels were psychological studies. +If, then, we can discover several well-defined characters, +harmoniously drawn by various writers, as natural +as the central figure is supernatural, and to be recognised +equally in the common and the miraculous narratives, +this will be an evidence of the utmost value. +</p> + +<p> +We are all familiar with the impetuous vigour of +St. Peter, a quality which betrayed him into grave and +well-nigh fatal errors, but when chastened by suffering +made him a noble and formidable leader of the Twelve. +We recognise it when He says, <q>Thou shalt never +wash my feet,</q> <q>Though all men should deny Thee, yet +will I never deny Thee,</q> <q>Lord, to whom should we +go? Thou hast the words of everlasting life,</q> <q>Thou +art the Christ, the Son of the living God,</q> and in his +rebuke of Jesus for self-sacrifice, and in his rash blow +in the garden. Does this, the best established mental +quality of any apostle, fail or grow faint in the miraculous +stories which are condemned as the accretions of a +later time? In such stories he is related to have cried +out, <q>Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord,</q> +he would walk upon the sea to Jesus, he proposed to +shelter Moses and Elijah from the night air in booths +(a notion so natural to a bewildered man, so exquisite +in its officious well-meaning absurdity as to prove itself, +for who could have invented it?), he ventured into +the empty sepulchre while John stood awe-stricken at +the portal, he plunged into the lake to seek his risen +Master on the shore, and he was presently the first to +draw the net to land. Observe the restless curiosity +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> +which beckoned to John to ask who was the traitor, +and compare it with his question, <q>Lord, and what shall +this man do?</q> But the second of these was after the +resurrection, and in answer to a prophecy. Everywhere +we find a real person and the same, and the +vehemence is everywhere that of a warm heart, which +could fail signally but could weep bitterly as well, +which could learn not to claim, though twice invited, +greater love than that of others, but when asked +<q>Lovest thou Me</q> at all, broke out into the passionate +appeal, <q>Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest +that I love Thee.</q> Dull is the ear of the critic which +fails to recognise here the voice of Simon. Yet the +story implies the resurrection. +</p> + +<p> +The mind of Jesus was too lofty and grave for +epigram; but He put the wilful self-reliance which +Peter had to subdue even to crucifixion, into one delicate +and subtle phrase: <q>When thou wast young, thou +girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest.</q> +That self-willed stride, with the loins girded, is the +natural gait of Peter, when he was young. +</p> + +<p> +St. James, the first apostolic martyr, seems to have +over-topped for a while his greater brother St. John, +before whom he is usually named, and who is once distinguished +as <q>the brother of James.</q> He shares with +him the title of a Son of Thunder (Mark iii. 17). They +were together in desiring to rival the fiery and avenging +miracle of Elijah, and to partake of the profound +baptism and bitter cup of Christ. It is an undesigned +coincidence in character, that while the latter of these +events is recorded by St. Matthew and St. Mark, the +former, which, it will be observed implies perfect confidence +in the supernatural power of Christ, is found in +St. Luke alone, who has not mentioned the title it +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +justifies so curiously (Matt. xx. 20; Mark x. 35; Luke +ix. 54). It is more remarkable that he whom Christ +bade to share his distinctive title with another, should +not once be named as having acted or spoken by himself. +With a fire like that of Peter, but no such power +of initiative and of chieftainship, how natural it is that +his appointed task was martyrdom. Is it objected that +his brother also, the great apostle St. John, received only +a share in that divided title? But the family trait is +quite as palpable in him. The deeds of John were +seldom wrought upon his own responsibility, never if +we except the bringing of Peter into the palace of the +high priest. He is a keen observer and a deep thinker. +But he cannot, like his Master, combine the quality of +leader with those of student and sage. In company with +Andrew he found the Messiah. We have seen James +leading him for a time. It was in obedience to a sign +from Peter that He asked who was the traitor. With +Peter, when Jesus was arrested, he followed afar off. +It is very characteristic that he shrank from entering +the sepulchre until Peter, coming up behind, went in +first, although it was John who thereupon <q>saw and +believed.</q><note place='foot'>It is also very natural that, in telling the story, he should remember +how, while hesitating to enter, he <q>stooped down</q> to gaze, in the +wild dawn of his new hope.</note> +</p> + +<p> +With like discernment, he was the first to recognise +Jesus beside the lake, but then it was equally natural +that he should tell Peter, and follow in the ship, +dragging the net to land, as that Peter should gird +himself and plunge into the lake. Peter, when Jesus +drew him aside, turned and saw the disciple whom +Jesus loved following, with the same silent, gentle, and +sociable affection, which had so recently joined him with +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +the saddest and tenderest of all companions underneath +the cross. At this point there is a delicate and suggestive +turn of phrase. By what incident would any pen +except his own have chosen to describe the beloved +disciple as Peter then beheld him? Assuredly we +should have written, The disciple whom Jesus loved, +who also followed Him to Calvary, and to whom He +confided His mother. But from St. John himself there +would have been a trace of boastfulness in such a +phrase. Now the author of the Fourth Gospel, +choosing rather to speak of privilege than service, +wrote <q>The disciple whom Jesus loved, which also +leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, +Lord, who is he that betrayeth Thee?</q> +</p> + +<p> +St. John was again with St. Peter at the Beautiful +Gate, and although it was not he who healed the cripple, +yet his co-operation is implied in the words, <q>Peter, +fastening his eyes on him, <emph>with John</emph>.</q> And when the +Council would fain have silenced them, the boldness +which spoke in Peter's reply was <q>the boldness of +Peter and John.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Could any series of events justify more perfectly +a title which implied much zeal, yet zeal that did not +demand a specific unshared epithet? But these events +are interwoven with the miraculous narratives. +</p> + +<p> +Add to this the keenness and deliberation which so +much of his story exhibits, which at the beginning +tendered no hasty homage, but followed Jesus to +examine and to learn, which saw the meaning of the +orderly arrangment of the graveclothes in the empty +tomb, which was first to recognise the Lord upon the +beach, which before this had felt something in Christ's +regard for the least and weakest, inconsistent with +the forbidding of any one to cast out devils, and we +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +have the very qualities required to supplement those +of Peter, without being discordant or uncongenial. +And therefore it is with Peter, even more than with his +brother, that we have seen John associated. In fact +Christ, who sent out His apostles by two and two, joins +these in such small matters as the tracking a man with +a pitcher into the house where He would keep the +Passover. And so, when Mary of Magdala would +announce the resurrection, she found the penitent +Simon in company with this loving John, comforted, +and ready to seek the tomb where he met the Lord of +all Pardons. +</p> + +<p> +All this is not only coherent, and full of vital force, +but it also strengthens powerfully the evidence for +his authorship of the Gospel, written the last, looking +deepest into sacred mysteries, and comparatively unconcerned +for the mere flow of narrative, but tender +with private and loving discourse, with thoughts of +the protecting Shepherd, the sustaining Vine, the +Friend Who wept by a grave, Who loved John, Who +provided amid tortures for His mother, Who knew that +Peter loved Him, and bade him feed the lambs—and +yet thunderous as becomes a Boanerges, with indignation +half suppressed against <q>the Jews</q> (so called +as if he had renounced his murderous nation), against +the selfish high-priest of <q>that same year,</q> and against +the son of perdition, for whom certain astute worldlings +have surmised that his wrath was such as they best +understand, personal, and perhaps a little spiteful. +The temperament of John, revealed throughout, was +that of August, brooding and warm and hushed and +fruitful, with low rumblings of tempest in the night. +</p> + +<p> +It is remarkable that such another family resemblance +as between James and John exists between Peter and +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> +Andrew. The directness and self-reliance of his +greater brother may be discovered in the few incidents +recorded of Andrew also. At the beginning, and after +one interview with Jesus, when he finds his brother, +and becomes the first of the Twelve to spread the +gospel, he utters the short unhesitating announcement, +<q>We have found the Messiah.</q> When Philip +is uncertain about introducing the Greeks who would +see Jesus, he consults Andrew, and there is no more +hesitation, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And in +just the same way, when Philip argues that two +hundred pennyworth of bread are not enough for the +multitude, Andrew intervenes with practical information +about the five barley loaves and the two small fishes, +insufficient although they seem. A man prompt and +ready, and not blind to the resources that exist because +they appear scanty. +</p> + +<p> +Twice we have found Philip mentioned in conjunction +with him. It was Philip, apparently accosted +by the Greeks because of his Gentile name, who +could not take upon himself the responsibility of +telling Jesus of their wish. And it was he, when +consulted about the feeding of the five thousand, who +went off into a calculation of the price of the food +required—two hundred pennyworth, he says, would +not suffice. Is it not highly consistent with this slow +deliberation, that he should have accosted Nathanael +with a statement so measured and explicit: <q>We have +found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets +did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.</q> +What a contrast to Andrew's terse announcement, <q>We +have found the Messiah.</q> And how natural that Philip +should answer the objection, <q>Can any good thing +come out of Nazareth?</q> with the passionless reasonable +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +invitation, <q>Come and see.</q> It was in the same +unimaginative prosaic way that he said long after, +<q>Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.</q> To +this comparatively sluggish temperament, therefore, +Jesus Himself had to address the first demand He made +on any. <q>Follow me,</q> He said, and was obeyed. It +would not be easy to compress into such brief and incidental +notices a more graphic indication of character. +</p> + +<p> +Of the others we know little except the names. +The choice of Matthew, the man of business, is chiefly +explained by the nature of his Gospel, so explicit, +orderly, and methodical, and until it approaches the +crucifixion, so devoid of fire. +</p> + +<p> +But when we come to Thomas, we are once more +aware of a defined and vivid personality, somewhat +perplexed and melancholy, of little hope but settled +loyalty. +</p> + +<p> +All the three sayings reported of him belong to a +dejected temperament: <q>Let us also go, that we may die +with Him</q>—as if there could be no brighter meaning +than death in Christ's proposal to interrupt a dead man's +sleep. <q>Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and +how can we know the way?</q>—these words express +exactly the same despondent failure to apprehend. +And so it comes to pass that nothing short of tangible +experience will convince him of the resurrection. And +yet there is a warm and devoted heart to be recognised +in the proposal to share Christ's death, in the yearning +to know whither He went, and even in that agony of +unbelief, which dwelt upon the cruel details of suffering, +until it gave way to one glad cry of recognition and of +worship; therefore his demand was granted, although +a richer blessing was reserved for those who, not +having seen, believed. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> + +<div> +<head>The Apostle Judas.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iii. 19. +</quote> + +<p> +The evidential value of what has been written about +the apostles will, to some minds, seem to be overborne +by the difficulties which start up at the name of Judas. +And yet the fact that Jesus chose him—that awful fact +which has offended many—is in harmony with all that +we see around us, with the prodigious powers bestowed +upon Napoleon and Voltaire, bestowed in full knowledge +of the dark results, yet given because the issues +of human freewill never cancel the trusts imposed on +human responsibility. Therefore the issues of the +freewill of Judas did not cancel the trust imposed upon +his responsibility; and Jesus acted not on His foreknowledge +of the future, but on the mighty possibilities, +for good as for evil, which heaved in the bosom +of the fated man as he stood upon the mountain +sward. +</p> + +<p> +In the story of Judas, the principles which rule the +world are made visible. From Adam to this day men +have been trusted who failed and fell, and out of their +very downfall, but not by precipitating it, the plans of +God have evolved themselves. +</p> + +<p> +It is not possible to make such a study of the character +of Judas as of some others of the Twelve. A +traitor is naturally taciturn. No word of his draws +our attention to the fact that he had gained possession +of the bag, even though one who had sat at the receipt +of custom might more naturally have become the treasurer. +We do not hear his voice above the rest, until +St. John explains the source of the general discontent, +which remonstrated against the waste of ointment. He +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +is silent even at the feast, in despite of the words which +revealed his guilty secret, until a slow and tardy question +is wrung from him, not <q>Is it I, Lord?</q> but +<q>Rabbi, is it I?</q> His influence is like that of a subtle +poison, not discerned until its effects betray it. +</p> + +<p> +But many words of Jesus acquire new force and +energy when we observe that, whatever their drift +beside, they were plainly calculated to influence and +warn Iscariot. Such are the repeated and urgent +warnings against covetousness, from the first parable, +spoken so shortly after his vocation, which reckons the +deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things +among the tares that choke the seed, down to the +declaration that they who trust in riches shall hardly +enter the kingdom. Such are the denunciations against +hypocrisy, spoken openly, as in the Sermon on the +Mount, or to His own apart, as when He warned them +of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy, that +secret vice which was eating out the soul of one among +them. Such were the opportunities given to retreat +without utter dishonour, as when He said, <q>Do ye +also will to go away? ... Did I not choose you the +Twelve, and one of you is a devil?</q> (John vi. 67, 70). +And such also were the awful warnings given of the +solemn responsibilities of special privileges. The exalted +city which is brought down to hell, the salt which is +trodden under foot, the men whose sin remained because +they can claim to see, and still more plainly, the +first that shall be last, and the man for whom it were +good that he had not been born. In many besides the +last of these, Judas must have felt himself sternly +because faithfully dealt with. And the exasperation +which always results from rejected warnings, the sense +of a presence utterly repugnant to his nature, may +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +have largely contributed to his final and disastrous +collapse. +</p> + +<p> +In the life of Judas there was a mysterious impersonation +of all the tendencies of godless Judaism, and his +dreadful personality seems to express the whole movement +of the nation which rejected Christ. We see this +in the powerful attraction felt toward Messiah before +His aims were understood, in the deadly estrangement +and hostility which were kindled by the gentle and +self-effacing ways of Jesus, in the treachery of Judas +in the garden and the unscrupulous wiliness of the +priests accusing Christ before the governor, in the +fierce intensity of rage which turned his hands against +himself and which destroyed the nation under Titus. +Nay the very sordidness which made a bargain for +thirty pieces of silver has ever since been a part of the +popular conception of the race. We are apt to think +of a gross love of money as inconsistent with intense +passion, but in Shylock, the compatriot of Judas, +Shakespeare combines the two. +</p> + +<p> +Contemplating this blighted and sinister career, the +lesson is burnt in upon the conscience, that since Judas +by transgression fell, no place in the Church of Christ +can render any man secure. And since, falling, he was +openly exposed, none may flatter himself that the cause +of Christ is bound up with his reputation, that the +mischief must needs be averted which his downfall +would entail, that Providence must needs avert from +him the natural penalties of evil-doing. Though one +was as the signet upon the Lord's hand, yet was he +plucked thence. There is no security for any soul +anywhere except where love and trust repose, upon the +bosom of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Now if this be true, and if sin and scandal may conceivably +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +penetrate even the inmost circle of the chosen, +how great an error is it to break, because of these offences, +the unity of the Church, and institute some new communion, +purer far than the Churches of Corinth and Galatia, +which were not abandoned but reformed, and more +impenetrable to corruption than the little group of +those who ate and drank with Jesus. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Christ And Beelzebub.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so +much as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went out to +lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself. And the scribes +which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and, By the +prince of the devils casteth He out the devils. And He called them unto +Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? +And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. +And if an house be divided against itself, that house will not be able to +stand. And if Satan hath risen up against himself, and is divided, he +cannot stand, but hath an end. But no one can enter into the house of +the strong <hi rend='italic'>man</hi>, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong <hi rend='italic'>man</hi>; +and then he will spoil his house.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iii. 20-27 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +While Christ was upon the mountain with His more +immediate followers, the excitement in the plain did not +exhaust itself; for even when He entered into a house, +the crowds prevented Him and His followers from +taking necessary food. And when His friends heard +of this, they judged Him as men who profess to have +learned the lesson of His life still judge, too often, all +whose devotion carries them beyond the boundaries of +convention and of convenience. For there is a curious +betrayal of the popular estimate of this world and the +world to come, in the honour paid to those who cast +away life in battle, or sap it slowly in pursuit of wealth +or honours, and the contempt expressed for those who +compromise it on behalf of souls, for which Christ died. +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +Whenever by exertion in any unselfish cause health +is broken, or fortune impaired, or influential friends +estranged, the follower of Christ is called an enthusiast, +a fanatic, or even more plainly a man of unsettled mind. +He may be comforted by remembering that Jesus was +said to be beside Himself when teaching and healing +left Him not leisure even to eat. +</p> + +<p> +To this incessant and exhausting strain upon His +energies and sympathies, St. Matthew applies the +prophetic words, <q>Himself took our infirmities and +bare our diseases</q> (viii. 17). And it is worth while +to compare with that passage and the one before us, +Renan's assertion, that He traversed Galilee <q>in the +midst of a perpetual fête,</q> and that <q>joyous Galilee +celebrated in fêtes the approach of the well-beloved.</q> +(<hi rend='italic'>Vie de J.</hi>, pp. 197, 202). The contrast gives a fine +illustration of the inaccurate shallowness of the Frenchman's +whole conception of the sacred life. +</p> + +<p> +But it is remarkable that while His friends could not +yet believe His claims, and even strove to lay hold on +Him, no worse suspicion ever darkened the mind of +those who knew Him best than that His reason had +been disturbed. Not these called Him gluttonous and +a winebibber. Not these blasphemed His motives. +But the envoys of the priestly faction, partisans from +Jerusalem, were ready with an atrocious suggestion. +He was Himself possessed with a worse devil, before +whom the lesser ones retired. By the prince of the +devils He cast out the devils. To this desperate +evasion, St. Matthew tells us, they were driven by a +remarkable miracle, the expulsion of a blind and dumb +spirit, and the perfect healing of his victim. Now the +literature of the world cannot produce invective more +terrible than Jesus had at His command for these very +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. This is what gives +majesty to His endurance. No personal insult, no +resentment at His own wrong, could ruffle the sublime +composure which, upon occasion, gave way to a moral +indignation equally sublime. Calmly He calls His +traducers to look Him in the face, and appeals to their +own reason against their blasphemy. Neither kingdom +nor house divided against itself can stand. And if +Satan be divided against himself and his evil works, +undoing the miseries and opening the eyes of men, his +kingdom has an end. All the experience of the world +since the beginning was proof enough that such a +suicide of evil was beyond hope. The best refutation +of the notion that Satan had risen up against himself +and was divided was its clear expression. But what +was the alternative? If Satan were not committing +suicide, he was overpowered. There is indeed a fitful +temporary reformation, followed by a deeper fall, which +St. Matthew tells us that Christ compared to the +cleansing of a house from whence the evil tenant has +capriciously wandered forth, confident that it is still his +own, and prepared to return to it with seven other and +worse fiends. A little observation would detect such +illusory improvement. But the case before them was +that of an external summons reluctantly obeyed. It +required the interference of a stronger power, which +could only be the power of God. None could enter +into the strong man's house, and spoil his goods, unless +the strong man were first bound, <q>and then he will +spoil his house.</q> No more distinct assertion of the +personality of evil spirits than this could be devised. +Jesus and the Pharisees are not at all at issue upon this +point. He does not scout as a baseless superstition +their belief that evil spirits are at work in the world. +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +But He declares that His own work is the reversal of +theirs. He is spoiling the strong man, whose terrible +ascendancy over the possessed resembles the dominion +of a man in his own house, among chattels without a +will. +</p> + +<p> +That dominion Christ declares that only a stronger +can overcome, and His argument assumes that the +stronger must needs be the finger of God, the power of +God, come unto them. The supernatural exists only +above us and below. +</p> + +<p> +Ages have passed away since then. Innumerable +schemes have been devised for the expulsion of the +evils under which the world is groaning, and if they are +evils of merely human origin, human power should +suffice for their removal. The march of civilisation +is sometimes appealed to. But what blessings has +civilisation without Christ ever borne to savage men? +The answer is painful: rum, gunpowder, slavery, +massacre, small-pox, pulmonary consumption, and the +extinction of their races, these are all it has been +able to bestow. Education is sometimes spoken of, as +if it would gradually heal our passions and expel vice +and misery from the world, as if the worst crimes and +most flagrant vices of our time were peculiar to the +ignorant and the untaught, as if no forger had ever +learned to write. And sometimes great things are +promised from the advance of science, as if all the +works of dynamite and nitro-glycerine, were, like those +of the Creator, very good. +</p> + +<p> +No man can be deceived by such flattering hopes, +who rightly considers the volcanic energies, the frantic +rage, the unreasoning all-sacrificing recklessness of +human passions and desires. Surely they are set on +fire of hell, and only heaven can quench the conflagration. +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +Jesus has undertaken to do this. His religion +has been a spell of power among the degraded and the +lost; and when we come to consider mankind in bulk, +it is plain enough that no other power has had a really +reclaiming, elevating effect upon tribes and races. In +our own land, what great or lasting work of reformation, +or even of temporal benevolence, has ever gone forward +without the blessing of religion to sustain it? Nowhere +is Satan cast out but by the Stronger than he, binding +him, overmastering the evil principle which tramples +human nature down, as the very first step towards +spoiling his goods. The spiritual victory must precede +the removal of misery, convulsion and disease. There +is no golden age for the world, except the reign of +Christ. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head><q>Eternal Sin.</q></head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>Verily I say unto you, All their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons +of men, and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: +but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, +but is guilty of an eternal sin.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iii. 28, 29 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Having first shown that His works cannot be ascribed +to Satan, Jesus proceeds to utter the most terrible of +warnings, because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. +</p> + +<p> +<q>All their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of +men, and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall +blaspheme, but whosoever shall blaspheme against the +Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness; but is guilty of an +eternal sin.</q> +</p> + +<p> +What is the nature of this terrible offence? It is +plain that their slanderous attack lay in the direction of +it, since they needed warning; and probable that they +had not yet fallen into the abyss, because they could still +be warned against it. At least, if the guilt of some had +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +reached that depth, there must have been others involved +in their offence who were still within reach of +Christ's solemn admonition. It would seem therefore +that in saying, <q>He casteth out devils by Beelzebub.... +He hath an unclean spirit,</q> they approached the +confines and doubtful boundaries between that blasphemy +against the Son of man which shall be forgiven, +and the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which hath +never forgiveness. +</p> + +<p> +It is evident also that any crime declared by Scripture +elsewhere to be incurable, must be identical with +this, however different its guise, since Jesus plainly and +indisputably announces that all other sins but this +shall be forgiven. +</p> + +<p> +Now there are several other passages of the kind. +St. John bade his disciples to pray, when any saw a +brother sinning a sin not unto death, <q>and God will +give him life for them that sin not unto death. There +is a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that +he should make request</q> (1 John v. 16). It is idle to +suppose that, in the case of this sin unto death, the +Apostle only meant to leave his disciples free to pray +or not to pray. If death were not certain, it would +be their duty, in common charity, to pray. But the +sin is so vaguely and even mysteriously referred to, +that we learn little more from that passage than that it +was an overt public act, of which other men could so +distinctly judge the flagrancy that from it they should +withhold their prayers. It has nothing in common +with those unhappy wanderings of thought or affection +which morbid introspection broods upon, until it pleads +guilty to the unpardonable sin, for lapses of which no +other could take cognizance. And in Christ's words, +the very epithet, blasphemy, involves the same public, +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +open revolt against good.<note place='foot'><q>Theology would have been spared much trouble concerning this +passage, and anxious timid souls unspeakable anguish, if men had +adhered strictly to Christ's own expression. For it is not a <emph>sin</emph> against +the Holy Ghost which is here spoken of, but <emph>blasphemy</emph> against the +Holy Ghost.</q>—Lange <q><hi rend='italic'>Life of Christ</hi>,</q> vol. ii. p. 269.</note> And let it be remembered +that every other sin shall be forgiven. +</p> + +<p> +There are also two solemn passages in the Epistle to +the Hebrews (vi. 4-6; x. 26-31). The first of these +declares that it is impossible for men who once experienced +all the enlightening and sweet influences of +God, <q>and then fell away,</q> to be renewed again +unto repentance. But falling upon the road is very +different from thus falling away, or how could Peter +have been recovered? Their fall is total apostasy, +<q>they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and +put Him to an open shame.</q> They are not fruitful +land in which tares are mingled; they bear only thorns +and thistles, and are utterly rejected. And so in the +tenth chapter, they who sin wilfully are men who +tread under foot the Son of God, and count the blood +of the covenant an unholy thing, and do despite +(insult) unto the Spirit of grace. +</p> + +<p> +Again we read that in the last time there will arise +an enemy of God so unparalleled that his movement +will outstrip all others, and be <q><emph>the</emph> falling away,</q> and +he himself will be <q>the man of sin</q> and <q>the son +of perdition,</q> which latter title he only shares with Iscariot. +Now the essence of his portentous guilt is that +<q>he opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is +called God or that is worshipped</q>: it is a monstrous +egotism, <q>setting himself forth as God,</q> and such a +hatred of restraint as makes him <q>the lawless one</q> +(2 Thess. ii. 3-10). +</p> + +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> + +<p> +So far as these passages are at all definite in their +descriptions, they are entirely harmonious. They describe +no sin of the flesh, of impulse, frailty or passion, +nor yet a spiritual lapse of an unguarded hour, of rash +speculation, of erring or misled opinion. They speak +not of sincere failure to accept Christ's doctrine or to +recognise His commission, even though it breathe out +threats and slaughters. They do not even apply to the +dreadful sin of denying Christ in terror, though one +should curse and swear, saying, I know not the man. +They speak of a deliberate and conscious rejection of +good and choice of evil, of the wilful aversion of the +soul from sacred influences, the public denial and +trampling under foot of Christ, the opposing of all that +is called God. +</p> + +<p> +And a comparison of these passages enables us to +understand why this sin never can be pardoned. It is +because good itself has become the food and fuel of +its wickedness, stirring up its opposition, calling out +its rage, that the apostate cannot be renewed again +unto repentance. The sin is rather indomitable than +unpardonable: it has become part of the sinner's +personality; it is incurable, an eternal sin. +</p> + +<p> +Here is nothing to alarm any mourner whose contrition +proves that it has actually been possible to +renew him unto repentance. No penitent has ever yet +been rejected for this guilt, for no penitent has ever +been thus guilty. +</p> + +<p> +And this being so, here is the strongest possible +encouragement for all who desire mercy. Every other +sin, every other blasphemy shall be forgiven. Heaven +does not reject the vilest whom the world hisses at, +the most desperate and bloodstained whose life the +world exacts in vengeance for his outrages. None is +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +lost but the hard and impenitent heart which treasures +up for itself wrath against the day of wrath. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Friends Of Jesus.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And there come His mother and His brethren; and, standing without, +they sent unto Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting +about Him; and they say unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy +brethren without seek for Thee. And He answereth them, and saith, +Who is My mother and My brethren? And looking round on them +which sat round about Him He saith, Behold My mother and My +brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My +brother, and sister, and mother.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iii. 31-35 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have lately read that the relatives of Jesus, hearing +of His self-sacrificing devotion, sought to lay hold on +Him, because they said, He is beside Himself. Their +concern would not be lightened upon hearing of His +rupture with the chiefs of their religion and their nation. +And so it was, that while a multitude hung upon His +lips, some unsympathizing critic, or perhaps some hostile +scribe, interrupted Him with their message. They +desired to speak with Him, possibly with rude intentions, +while in any case, to grant their wish might +easily have led to a painful altercation, offending weak +disciples, and furnishing a scandal to His eager foes. +</p> + +<p> +Their interference must have caused the Lord a +bitter pang. It was sad that they were not among His +hearers, but worse that they should seek to mar His +work. To Jesus, endowed with every innocent human +instinct, worn with labour and aware of gathering +perils, they were an offence of the same kind as +Peter made himself when he became the mouthpiece of +the tempter. For their own sakes, whose faith He was +yet to win, it was needful to be very firm. Moreover, +He was soon to make it a law of the kingdom that men +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +should be ready for His sake to leave brethren, or +sisters, or mother, and in so doing should receive back +all these a hundredfold in the present time (x. 29, 30). +To this law it was now His own duty to conform. +Yet it was impossible for Jesus to be harsh and stern +to a group of relatives with His mother in the midst of +them; and it would be a hard problem for the finest +dramatic genius to reconcile the conflicting claims of +the emergency, fidelity to God and the cause, a striking +rebuke to the officious interference of His kinsfolk, and +a full and affectionate recognition of the relationship +which could not make Him swerve. How shall He +<q>leave</q> His mother and His brethren, and yet not +deny His heart? How shall He be strong without +being harsh? +</p> + +<p> +Jesus reconciles all the conditions of the problem, +as pointing to His attentive hearers, He pronounces +these to be His true relatives, but yet finds no warmer +term to express what He feels for them than the dear +names of mother, sisters, brethren. +</p> + +<p> +Observers whose souls were not warmed as He +spoke, may have supposed that it was cold indifference +to the calls of nature which allowed His mother and +brethren to stand without. In truth, it was not that +He denied the claims of the flesh, but that He was +sensitive to other, subtler, profounder claims of the +spirit and spiritual kinship. He would not carelessly +wound a mother's or a brother's heart, but the life +Divine had also its fellowships and its affinities, and +still less could He throw these aside. No cold sense of +duty detains Him with His congregation while affection +seeks Him in the vestibule; no, it is a burning love, +the love of a brother or even of a son, which binds +Him to His people. +</p> + +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> + +<p> +Happy are they who are in such a case. And Jesus +gives us a ready means of knowing whether we are +among those whom He so wonderfully condescends to +love. <q>Whosoever shall do the will of My Father +which is in heaven.</q> Feelings may ebb, and self-confidence +may be shaken, but obedience depends not +upon excitement, and may be rendered by a breaking +heart. +</p> + +<p> +It is important to observe that this saying declares +that obedience does not earn kinship; but only proves +it, as the fruit proves the tree. Kinship must go +before acceptable service; none can do the will of the +Father who is not already the kinsman of Jesus, for +He says, Whosoever shall (<emph>hereafter</emph>) do the will of My +Father, the same is (<emph>already</emph>) My brother and sister and +mother. There are men who would fain reverse the +process, and do God's will in order to merit the +brotherhood of Jesus. They would drill themselves +and win battles for Him, in order to be enrolled among +His soldiers. They would accept the gospel invitation +as soon as they refute the gospel warnings that without +Him they can do nothing, and that they need the +creation of a new heart and the renewal of a right spirit +within them. But when homage was offered to Jesus as +a Divine teacher and no more, He rejoined, Teaching is +not what is required: holiness does not result from mere +enlightenment: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except +a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of +God. Because the new birth is the condition of all +spiritual power and energy, it follows that if any man +shall henceforth do God's will, he must already be of +the family of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Men may avoid evil through self-respect, from early +training and restraints of conscience, from temporal +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> +prudence or dread of the future. And this is virtuous +only as the paying of a fire-insurance is so. But +secondary motives will never lift any man so high as +to satisfy this sublime standard, the doing of the will +of the Father. That can only be attained, like all true +and glorious service in every cause, by the heart, by +enthusiasm, by love. And Jesus was bound to all who +loved His Father by as strong a cord as united His +perfect heart with brother and sister and mother. +</p> + +<p> +But as there is no true obedience without relationship, +so is there no true relationship unfollowed by obedience. +Christ was not content to say, Whoso doeth +God's will is My kinsman: He asked, Who is My +kinsman? and gave this as an exhaustive reply. He +has none other. Every sheep in His fold hears His +voice and follows Him. We may feel keen emotions as +we listen to passionate declamations, or kneel in an +excited prayer-meeting, or bear our part in an imposing +ritual; we may be moved to tears by thinking of the +dupes of whatever heterodoxy we most condemn; +tender and soft emotions may be stirred in our bosom +by the story of the perfect life and Divine death of +Jesus; and yet we may be as far from a renewed +heart as was that ancient tyrant from genuine compassion, +who wept over the brevity of the lives of the +soldiers whom he sent into a wanton war. +</p> + +<p> +Mere feeling is not life. It moves truly; but only +as a balloon moves, rising by virtue of its emptiness, +driven about by every blast that veers, and sinking +when its inflation is at an end. But mark the living +creature poised on widespread wings; it has a will, an +intention, and an initiative, and as long as its life is +healthy and unenslaved, it moves at its own good +pleasure. How shall I know whether or not I am +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> +a true kinsman of the Lord? By seeing whether +I advance, whether I work, whether I have real and +practical zeal and love, or whether I have grown cold, +and make more allowance for the flesh than I used to +do, and expect less from the spirit. Obedience does +not produce grace. But it proves it, for we can no +more bear fruit except we abide in Christ, than the +branch that does not abide in the vine. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, we observe the individual love, the personal +affection of Christ for each of His people. There is +a love for masses of men and philanthropic causes, +which does not much observe the men who compose +the masses, and upon whom the causes depend. Thus, +one may love his country, and rejoice when her +flag advances, without much care for any soldier who +has been shot down, or has won promotion. And so +we think of Africa or India, without really feeling +much about the individual Egyptian or Hindoo. Who +can discriminate and feel for each one of the multitudes +included in such a word as Want, or Sickness, +or Heathenism? And judging by our own frailty, we +are led to think that Christ's love can mean but little +beyond this. As a statesman who loves the nation +may be said, in some vague way, to love and care for +me, so people think of Christ as loving and pitying +us because we are items in the race He loves. But +He has eyes and a heart, not only for all, but for +each one. Looking down the shadowy vista of the +generations, every sigh, every broken heart, every +blasphemy, is a separate pang to His all-embracing +heart. <q>Before that Philip called thee, when thou +wast under the fig-tree, I saw <emph>thee</emph>,</q> lonely, unconscious, +undistinguished drop in the tide of life, one leaf among +the myriads which rustle and fall in the vast forest of +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> +existence. St. Paul speaks truly of Christ <q>Who loved +me, and gave Himself for me.</q> He shall bring every +secret sin to judgment, and shall we so far wrong Him +as to think His justice more searching, more penetrating, +more individualizing than His love, His memory +than His heart? It is not so. The love He offers +adapts itself to every age and sex: it distinguishes +brother from sister, and sister again from mother. It +is mindful of <q>the least of these My brethren.</q> But +it names no Father except One. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IV.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Parables.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And again He began to teach by the sea side. And there is +gathered unto Him a very great multitude, so that He entered into +a boat, and sat in the sea; and all the multitude were by the sea on +the land. And He taught them many things in parables, and said +unto them in His teaching....</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the +twelve asked of Him the parables. And He said unto them, Unto you +is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are +without, all things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and +not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest +haply they should turn again, and it should be forgiven them. And +He saith unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know +all the parables?</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iv. 1, 2, 10-13 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +As opposition deepened, and to a vulgar ambition, +the temptation to retain disciples by all means +would have become greater, Jesus began to teach in +parables. We know that He had not hitherto done so, +both by the surprise of the Twelve, and by the necessity +which He found, of giving them a clue to the meaning +of such teachings, and so to <q>all the parables.</q> His +own ought to have understood. But He was merciful +to the weakness which confessed its failure and asked +for instruction. +</p> + +<p> +And yet He foresaw that they which were without +would discern no spiritual meaning in such discourse. +It was to have, at the same time, a revealing and a +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> +baffling effect, and therefore it was peculiarly suitable +for the purposes of a Teacher watched by vindictive +foes. Thus, when cross-examined about His authority +by men who themselves professed to know not +whence John's baptism was, He could refuse to be +entrapped, and yet tell of One Who sent His own +Son, His Beloved, to receive the fruit of the vineyard. +</p> + +<p> +This diverse effect is derived from the very nature of +the parables of Jesus. They are not, like some in the +Old Testament, mere fables, in which things occur that +never happen in real life. Jotham's trees seeking a +king, are as incredible as Æsop's fox leaping for grapes. +But Jesus never uttered a parable which was not true +to nature, the kind of thing which one expects to +happen. We cannot say that a rich man in hell actually +spoke to Abraham in heaven. But if he could do so, of +which we are not competent to judge, we can well believe +that he would have spoken just what we read, and +that his pathetic cry, <q>Father Abraham,</q> would have +been as gently answered, <q>Son, remember.</q> There is +no ferocity in the skies; neither has the lost soul +become a fiend. Everything commends itself to our +judgment. And therefore the story not only illustrates, +but appeals, enforces, almost proves. +</p> + +<p> +God in nature does not arrange that all seeds should +grow: men have patience while the germ slowly fructifies, +they know not how; in all things but religion such +sacrifices are made, that the merchant sells all to buy +one goodly pearl; an earthly father kisses his repentant +prodigal; and even a Samaritan can be neighbour to a +Jew in his extremity. So the world is constructed: +such is even the fallen human heart. Is it not reasonable +to believe that the same principles will extend +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +farther; that as God governs the world of matter so He +may govern the world of spirits, and that human helpfulness +and clemency will not outrun the graces of the +Giver of all good? +</p> + +<p> +This is the famous argument from analogy, applied +long before the time of Butler, to purposes farther-reaching +than his. But there is this remarkable +difference, that the analogy is never pressed, men are +left to discover it for themselves, or at least, to ask for +an explanation, because they are conscious of something +beyond the tale, something spiritual, something +which they fain would understand. +</p> + +<p> +Now this difference is not a mannerism; it is intended. +Butler pressed home his analogies because he was +striving to silence gainsayers. His Lord and ours left +men to discern or to be blind, because they had already +opportunity to become His disciples if they would. The +faithful among them ought to be conscious, or at least +they should now become conscious, of the God of grace +in the God of nature. To them the world should be +eloquent of the Father's mind. They should indeed +find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, +sermons in stones. He spoke to the sensitive mind, +which would understand Him, as a wife reads her +husband's secret joys and sorrows by signs no stranger +can understand. Even if she fails to comprehend, she +knows there is something to ask about. And thus, when +they were alone, the Twelve asked Him of the parables. +When they were instructed, they gained not only the +moral lesson, and the sweet pastoral narrative, the idyllic +picture which conveyed it, but also the assurance imparted +by recognizing the same mind of God which is +revealed in His world, or justified by the best impulses +of humanity. Therefore, no parable is sensational. +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +It cannot root itself in the exceptional, the abnormal +events on which men do not reckon, which come upon +us with a shock. For we do not argue from these to +daily life. +</p> + +<p> +But while this mode of teaching was profitable to +His disciples, and protected Him against His foes, it +had formidable consequences for the frivolous empty +followers after a sign. Because they were such they +could only find frivolity and lightness in these stories; +the deeper meaning lay farther below the surface than +such eyes could pierce. Thus the light they had abused +was taken from them. And Jesus explained to His +disciples that, in acting thus, He pursued the fixed rule +of God. The worst penalty of vice is that it loses the +knowledge of virtue, and of levity that it cannot appreciate +seriousness. He taught in parables, as Isaiah +prophesied, <q>that seeing they may see, and not perceive, +and hearing they may hear, and not understand; +lest haply they should turn again and it should be +forgiven them.</q> These last words prove how completely +penal, how free from all caprice, was this terrible +decision of our gentle Lord, that precautions must be +taken against evasion of the consequences of crime. +But it is a warning by no means unique. He said, <q>The +things which make for thy peace ... are hid from thine +eyes</q> (Luke xix. 42). And St. Paul said, <q>If our +gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing</q>; +and still more to the point, <q>The natural man receiveth +not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness +unto him; and he cannot know them, because +they are spiritually discerned</q> (2 Cor. iv. 3; 1 Cor. +ii. 14). To this law Christ, in speaking by parables, +was conscious that He conformed. +</p> + +<p> +But now let it be observed how completely this +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +mode of teaching suited our Lord's habit of mind. If +men could finally rid themselves of His Divine claim, +they would at once recognise the greatest of the sages; +and they would also find in Him the sunniest, sweetest +and most accurate discernment of nature, and its more +quiet beauties, that ever became a vehicle for moral +teaching. The sun and rain bestowed on the evil and +the good, the fountain and the trees which regulate the +waters and the fruit, the death of the seed by which +it buys its increase, the provision for bird and blossom +without anxiety of theirs, the preference for a lily over +Solomon's gorgeous robes, the meaning of a red sky +at sunrise and sunset, the hen gathering her chickens +under her wing, the vine and its branches, the sheep +and their shepherd, the lightning seen over all the +sky, every one of these needed only to be re-set and +it would have become a parable. +</p> + +<p> +All the Gospels, including the fourth, are full of +proofs of this rich and attractive endowment, this +warm sympathy with nature; and this fact is among +the evidences that they all drew the same character, +and drew it faithfully, +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Sower.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Hearken: Behold the sower went forth to sow: and it came to +pass, as he sowed, some <hi rend='italic'>seed</hi> fell by the way side, and the birds came +and devoured it. And other fell on the rocky <hi rend='italic'>ground</hi>, where it had +not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness +of earth: and when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because +it had no root, it withered away. And other fell among the thorns, +and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And +others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and +increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. +And He said, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear....</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the wayside, +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +where the word is sown; and when they have heard, straightway cometh +Satan, and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them. And +these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky <hi rend='italic'>places</hi>, +who, when they have heard the word, straightway receive it with joy; +and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, +when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway +they stumble. And others are they that are sown among the thorns; +these are they that have heard the word, and the cares of the world, and +the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, +choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And those are they that +were sown upon the good ground; such as hear the word, and accept +it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +iv. 3-9, 14-20 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +<q>Hearken</q> Jesus said; willing to caution men against +the danger of slighting His simple story, and to impress +on them that it conveyed more than met their ears. +In so doing He protested in advance against fatalistic +abuses of the parable, as if we were already doomed +to be hard, or shallow, or thorny, or fruitful soil. And +at the close He brought out still more clearly His +protest against such doctrine, by impressing upon all, +that if the vitalising seed were the imparted word, it +was their part to receive and treasure it. Indolence +and shallowness <emph>must</emph> fail to bear fruit: that is the +essential doctrine of the parable; but it is not necessary +that we should remain indolent or shallow: <q>He +that hath ears to hear, let him hear.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And when the Epistle to the Hebrews reproduces +the image of land which bringeth forth thorns and +thistles, our Revised Version rightly brings out the +fact, on which indeed the whole exhortation depends, +that the same piece of land might have borne herbs +meet for those for whose sake it is tilled (vi. 7). +</p> + +<p> +Having said <q>Hearken,</q> Jesus added, <q>Behold.</q> +It has been rightly inferred that the scene was before +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +their eyes. Very possibly some such process was +within sight of the shore on which they were gathered; +but in any case, a process was visible, if they would +but see, of which the tilling of the ground was only a +type. A nobler seed was being scattered for a vaster +harvest, and it was no common labourer, but the true +sower, who went forth to sow. <q>The sower soweth +the word.</q> But who was he? St. Matthew tells us +<q>the sower is the Son of man,</q> and whether the words +were expressly uttered, or only implied, as the silence +of St. Mark and St. Luke might possibly suggest, it is +clear that none of His disciples could mistake His +meaning. Ages have passed and He is the sower still, +by whatever instrument He works, for we are God's +husbandry as well as God's building. And the seed is +the Word of God, so strangely able to work below the +surface of human life, invisible at first, yet vital, and +grasping from within and without, from secret thoughts +and from circumstances, as from the chemical ingredients +of the soil and from the sunshine and the shower, all +that will contribute to its growth, until the field itself +is assimilated, spread from end to end with waving +ears, a corn-field now. This is why Jesus in His +second parable did not any longer say <q>the seed is +the word,</q> but <q>the good seed are the sons of the +kingdom</q> (Matt. xiii. 38). The word planted was able +to identify itself with the heart. +</p> + +<p> +And this seed, the Word of God, is sown broadcast +as all our opportunities are given. A talent was not +refused to him who buried it. Judas was an apostle. +Men may receive the grace of God in vain, and this in +more ways than one. On some it produces no vital +impression whatever; it lies on the surface of a mind +which the feet of earthly interests have trodden hard. +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> +There is no chance for it to expand, to begin its operation +by sending out the smallest tendrils to grasp, to +appropriate anything, to take root. And it may well be +doubted whether any soul, wholly indifferent to religious +truth, ever retained even its theoretic knowledge long. +The foolish heart is darkened. The fowls of the air +catch away for ever the priceless seed of eternity. +Now it is of great importance to observe how Jesus +explained this calamity. We should probably have +spoken of forgetfulness, the fading away of neglected +impressions, or at most of some judicial act of providence +hiding the truth from the careless. But Jesus +said, <q>straightway cometh Satan and taketh away the +word which hath been sown in them.</q> No person +can fairly explain this text away, as men have striven +to explain Christ's language to the demoniacs, by +any theory of the use of popular language, or the +toleration of harmless notions. The introduction of +Satan into this parable is unexpected and uncalled for +by any demand save one, the necessity of telling all +the truth. It is true therefore that an active and +deadly enemy of souls is at work to quicken the +mischief which neglect and indifference would themselves +produce, that evil processes are helped from +beneath as truly as good ones from above; that the +seed which is left to-day upon the surface may be +maliciously taken thence long before it would have +perished by natural decay; that men cannot reckon +upon stopping short in their contempt of grace, since +what they neglect the devil snatches quite away from +them. And as seed is only safe from fowls when +buried in the soil, so is the word of life only safe +against the rapacity of hell when it has sunk down +into our hearts. +</p> + +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> + +<p> +In the story of the early Church, St. Paul sowed +upon such ground as this in Athens. Men who +spent their time in the pursuit of artistic and cultivated +novelties, in hearing and telling some new thing, +mocked the gospel, or at best proposed to hear its +preacher yet again. How long did such a purpose +last? +</p> + +<p> +But there are other dangers to dread, besides absolute +indifference to truth. And the first of these is a +too shallow and easy acquiescence. The message of +salvation is designed to affect the whole of human life +profoundly. It comes to bind a strong man armed, it +summons easy and indifferent hearts to wrestle against +spiritual foes, to crucify the flesh, to die daily. On +these conditions it offers the noblest blessings. But +the conditions are grave and sobering. If one hears +them without solemn and earnest searching of heart, +he has only, at the best, apprehended half the message. +Christ has warned us that we cannot build a tower +without sitting down to count our means, nor fight +a hostile king without reckoning the prospects of +invasion. And it is very striking to compare the +gushing and impulsive sensationalism of some modern +schools, with the deliberate and circumspect action of +St. Paul, even after God had been pleased miraculously +to reveal His Son in him. He went into seclusion. +He returned to Damascus to his first instructor. Fourteen +years afterwards he deliberately laid his gospel +before the Apostles, lest by any means he should be +running or had run in vain. Such is the action of one +penetrated with a sense of reality and responsibility in +his decision; it is not the action likely to result from +teaching men that it suffices to <q>say you believe</q> and +to be <q>made happy.</q> And in this parable, our Saviour +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +has given striking expression to His judgment of the +school which relies upon mere happiness. Next to +those who leave the seed for Satan to snatch away, +He places them <q>who, when they have heard the word, +straightway receive it with joy.</q> They have taken the +promises without the precepts, they have hoped for +the crown without the cross. Their type is the thin +layer of earth spread over a shelf of rock. The water, +which cannot sink down, and the heat reflected up +from the stone, make it for a time almost a hot bed. +Straightway the seed sprang up, because it had no +deepness of earth. But the moisture thus detained +upon the surface vanished utterly in time of drought; +the young roots, unable to penetrate to any deeper +supplies, were scorched; and it withered away. That +superficial heat and moisture was impulsive emotion, +glad to hear of heaven, and love, and privilege, but +forgetful to mortify the flesh, and to be partaker with +Christ in His death. The roots of a real Christian life +must strike deeper down. Consciousness of sin and +its penalty and of the awful price by which that +penalty has been paid, consciousness of what life +should have been and how we have degraded it, +consciousness of what it must yet be made by grace—these +do not lead to joy so immediate, so impulsive, +as the growth of this shallow vegetation. A mature +and settled joy is among <q>the fruits of the spirit:</q> it +is not the first blade that shoots up. +</p> + +<p> +Now because the sense of sin and duty and atonement +have not done their sobering work, the feelings, so easily +quickened, are also easily perverted: <q>When tribulation +or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway +they stumble.</q> These were not counted upon. Neither +trouble of mind nor opposition of wicked men was +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +included in the holiday scheme of the life Divine. And +their pressure is not counter-weighted by that of any +deep convictions. The roots have never penetrated +farther than temporal calamities and trials can reach. +In the time of drought they have <emph>not</emph> enough. They +endure, but only for a while. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul sowed upon just such soil in Galatia. There +his hearers spoke of such blessedness that they would +have plucked out their eyes for him. But he became +their enemy because he told them all the truth, when +only a part was welcome. And as Christ said, Straightway +they stumble, so St. Paul had to marvel that they +were so soon subverted. +</p> + +<p> +If indifference be the first danger, and shallowness +the second, mixed motive is the third. Men there are +who are very earnest, and far indeed from slight views +of truth, who are nevertheless in sore danger, because +they are equally earnest about other things; because +they cannot resign this world, whatever be their +concern about the next; because the soil of their life +would fain grow two inconsistent harvests. Like seed +sown among thorns, <q>choked</q> by their entangling +roots and light-excluding growths, the word in such +hearts, though neither left upon a hard surface nor +forbidden by rock to strike deep into the earth, +is overmastered by an unworthy rivalry. A kind +of vegetation it does produce, but not such as the +tiller seeks: the word becometh unfruitful. It is +the same lesson as when Jesus said, <q>No man can +serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and +mammon.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps it is the one most needed in our time of +feverish religious controversy and heated party spirit, +when every one hath a teaching, hath a revelation, +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +hath a tongue, hath an interpretation, but scarcely +any have denied the world and taken in exchange a +cross. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul found a thorny soil in Corinth which came +behind in no gift, if only gifts had been graces, but +was indulgent, factious and selfish, puffed up amid +flagrant vices, one hungry and another drunken, while +wrangling about the doctrine of the resurrection. +</p> + +<p> +The various evils of this parable are all of them +worldliness, differently manifested. The deadening +effect of habitual forgetfulness of God, treading the soil +so hard that no seed can enter it; the treacherous effect +of secret love of earth, a buried obstruction refusing to +admit the gospel into the recesses of the life, however +it may reach the feelings; and the fierce and stubborn +competition of worldly interests, wherever they are +not resolutely weeded out, against these Jesus spoke +His earliest parable. And it is instructive to review +the foes by which He represented His Gospel as warred +upon. The personal activity of Satan; <q>tribulation or +persecution</q> from without, and within the heart <q>cares</q> +rather for self than for the dependent and the poor, +<q>deceitfulness of riches</q> for those who possess enough +to trust in, or to replace with a fictitious importance +the only genuine value, which is that of character +(although men are still esteemed for being <q>worth</q> a +round sum, a strange estimate, to be made by Christians, +of a being with a soul burning in him); and alike +for rich and poor, <q>the lusts of other things,</q> since +none is too poor to covet, and none so rich that his +desires shall not increase, like some diseases, by being +fed. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, we have those on the good ground, who are +not described by their sensibilities or their enjoyments, +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +but by their loyalty. They <q>hear the word and accept +it and bear fruit.</q> To accept is what distinguishes +them alike from the wayside hearers into whose attention +the word never sinks, from the rocky hearers +who only receive it with a superficial welcome, and +from the thorny hearers who only give it a divided +welcome. It is not said, as if the word were merely +the precepts, that they obey it. The sower of this +seed is not he who bade the soldier not to do violence, +and the publican not to extort: it is He who +said, Repent, and believe the gospel. He implanted +new hopes, convictions, and affections, as the germ +which should unfold in a new life. And the good +fruit is borne by those who honestly <q>accept</q> His +word. +</p> + +<p> +Fruitfulness is never in the gospel the condition by +which life is earned, but it is always the test by which +to prove it. In all the accounts of the final judgment, +we catch the principle of the bold challenge of St. +James, <q>Show me thy faith without thy works, and I +will show thee my faith by my works.</q> The talent +must produce more talents, and the pound more +pounds; the servant must have his loins girt and a +light in his hand; the blessed are they who did unto +Jesus the kindness they did unto the least of His +brethren, and the accursed are they who did it not to +Jesus in His people. +</p> + +<p> +We are not wrong in preaching that honest faith in +Christ is the only condition of acceptance, and the way +to obtain strength for good works. But perhaps we +fail to add, with sufficient emphasis, that good works +are the only sufficient evidence of real faith, of genuine +conversion. Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened and +who constrained the Apostle to abide in her house, was +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +converted as truly as the gaoler who passed through all +the vicissitudes of despair, trembling and astonishment, +and belief. +</p> + +<p> +<q>They bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and an +hundredfold.</q> And all are alike accepted. But the +parable of the pounds shows that all are not alike rewarded, +and in equal circumstances superior efficiency +wins a superior prize. One star differeth from another +star in glory, and they who turn many to righteousness +shall shine as the sun for ever. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Lamp And Stand.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He said unto them, Is the lamp brought to be put under the +bushel, or under the bed? and not to be put on the stand? For there +is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was anything +made secret, but that it should come to light. If any man hath ears to +hear, let him hear. And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: +with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you: and more +shall be given unto you. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and +he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he +hath.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iv. 21-25 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Jesus had now taught that the only good ground was +that in which the good seed bore fruit. And He adds +explicitly, that men receive the truth in order to spread +it, and are given grace that they may become, in turn, +good stewards of the manifold grace of God. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Is the lamp brought to be put under the bushel or +under the bed, and not to be put on the stand?</q> The +language may possibly be due, as men have argued, +to the simple conditions of life among the Hebrew +peasantry, who possessed only one lamp, one corn-measure, +and perhaps one bed. All the greater marvel +is it that amid such surroundings He should have +announced, and not in vain, that His disciples, His +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +Church, should become the light of all humanity, <q>the +lamp.</q> Already He had put forward the same claim +even more explicitly, saying, <q>Ye are the light of the +world.</q> And in each case, He spoke not in the intoxication +of pride or self-assertion, but in all gravity, and +as a solemn warning. The city on the hill could not be +hid. The lamp would burn dimly under the bed; it +would be extinguished entirely by the bushel. Publicity +is the soul of religion, since religion is light. It is +meant to diffuse itself, to be, as He expressed it, like +leaven which may be hid at first, but cannot be concealed, +since it will leaven all the lump. And so, if He +spoke in parables, and consciously hid His meaning by +so doing, this was not to withdraw His teaching from +the masses, it was to shelter the flame which should +presently illuminate all the house. Nothing was hid, +save that it should be manifested, nor made secret, but +that it should come to light. And it has never been +otherwise. Our religion has no privileged inner circle, +no esoteric doctrine; and its chiefs, when men glorified +one or another, asked, What then is Apollos? And +what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed. +Agents only, for conveying to others what they had +received from God. And thus He Who now spoke +in parables, and again charged them not to make +Him known, was able at the end to say, In secret +have I spoken nothing. Therefore He repeats with +emphasis His former words, frequent on His lips +henceforward, and ringing through the messages He +spoke in glory to His Churches. If any man hath +ears to hear, let him hear. None is excluded but +by himself. +</p> + +<p> +Yet another caution follows. If the seed be the Word, +there is sore danger from false teaching; from strewing +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +the ground with adulterated grain. St. Mark, indeed, +has not recorded the Parable of the Tares. But there +are indications of it, and the same thought is audible +in this saying, <q>Take heed what ye hear.</q> The added +words are a little surprising: <q>With what measure ye +mete it shall be measured unto you, and more shall be +given unto you.</q> The last clause expresses exactly +the principle on which the forfeited pound was given to +Him who had ten pounds already, the open hand of +God lavishing additional gifts upon him who was +capable of using them. But does not the whole statement +seem to follow more suitably upon a command to +beware what we teach, and thus <q>mete</q> to others, than +what we hear? A closer examination finds in this +apparent unfitness, a deeper harmony of thought. To +<q>accept</q> the genuine word is the same as to bring +forth fruit for God; it is to reckon with the Lord of +the talents, and to yield the fruit of the vineyard. And +this is to <q>mete,</q> not indeed unto man, but unto God, +Who shows Himself froward with the froward, and +from him that hath not, whose possession is below his +accountability, takes away even that he hath, but gives +exceeding abundantly above all they ask or think to +those who have, who are not disobedient to the heavenly +calling. +</p> + +<p> +All this is most delicately connected with what precedes +it; and the parables, hiding the truth from +some, giving it authority, and colour, and effect to +others, were a striking example of the process here +announced +</p> + +<p> +Never was the warning to be heedful what we hear, +more needed than at present. Men think themselves +free to follow any teacher, especially if he be eloquent, +to read any book, if only it be in demand, and to discuss +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +any theory, provided it be fashionable, while +perfectly well aware that they are neither earnest +inquirers after truth, nor qualified champions against +its assailants. For what then do they read and +hear? For the pleasure of a rounded phrase, or to +augment the prattle of conceited ignorance in a +drawing-room. +</p> + +<p> +Do we wonder when these players with edged tools +injure themselves, and become perverts or agnostics? +It would be more wonderful if they remained unhurt, +since Jesus said, <q>Take heed what ye hear ... from +him that hath not shall be taken even that he hath.</q> +A rash and uninstructed exposure of our intellects to +evil influences, is meting to God with an unjust measure, +as really as a wilful plunge into any other temptation, +since we are bidden to cleanse ourselves from all defilement +of the spirit as well as of the flesh. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Seed Growing Secretly.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast +seed upon the earth; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the +seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth +beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn +in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the +sickle, because the harvest is come.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iv. 26-29 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Mark alone records this parable of a sower who +sleeps by night, and rises for other business by day, +and knows not how the seed springs up. That is not +the sower's concern: all that remains for him is to put +forth the sickle when the harvest is come. +</p> + +<p> +It is a startling parable for us who believe in the +fostering care of the Divine Spirit. And the paradox +is forced on our attention by the words <q>the earth +beareth fruit of herself,</q> contrasting strangely as it +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +does with such other assertions, as that the branch +cannot bear fruit of itself, that without Christ we +can do nothing, and that when we live it is not we but +Christ who liveth in us. +</p> + +<p> +It will often help us to understand a paradox if we +can discover another like it. And exactly such an one +as this will be found in the record of creation. God +rested on the seventh day from all His work, yet we +know that His providence never slumbers, that by +Him all things consist, and that Jesus defended His +own work of healing on a Sabbath day by urging that +the Sabbath of God was occupied in gracious provision +for His world. <q>My Father worketh hitherto, and I +work.</q> Thus the rest of God from creative work +says nothing about His energies in that other field of +providential care. Exactly so Jesus here treats only +of what may be called the creative spiritual work, the +deposit of the seed of life. And the essence of this +remarkable parable is the assertion that we are to expect +an orderly, quiet and gradual development from this +principle of life, not a series of communications from +without, of additional revelations, of semi-miraculous +interferences. The life of grace is a natural process +in the supernatural sphere. In one sense it is all +of God, who maketh His sun to rise, and sendeth +rain, without which the earth could bear no fruit of +herself. In another sense we must work out our own +salvation all the more earnestly because it is God +that worketh in us. +</p> + +<p> +Now this parable, thus explained, has been proved +true in the wonderful history of the Church. She has +grown, not only in extent but by development, as +marvellously as a corn of wheat which is now a waving +wheat-stem with its ripening ear. When Cardinal +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +Newman urged that an ancient Christian, returning +to earth, would recognise the services and the Church +of Rome, and would fail to recognise ours, he was +probably mistaken. To go no farther, there is no +Church on earth so unlike the Churches of the New +Testament as that which offers praise to God in a +strange tongue. St. Paul apprehended that a stranger +in such an assembly would reckon the worshippers mad. +But in any case the argument forgets that the whole +kingdom of God is to resemble seed, not in a drawer, +but in the earth, and advancing towards the harvest. +It must <q>die</q> to much if it will bring forth fruit. +It must acquire strange bulk, strange forms, strange +organisms. It must become, to those who only +knew it as it was, quite as unrecognisable as our +Churches are said to be. And yet the changes must +be those of logical growth, not of corruption. And +this parable tells us they must be accomplished without +any special interference such as marked the sowing +time. Well then, the parable is a prophecy. Movement +after movement has modified the life of the +Church. Even its structure is not all it was. But +these changes have every one been wrought by human +agency, they have come from within it, like the force +which pushes the germ out of the soil, and expands +the bud into the full corn in the ear. There has been +no grafting knife to insert a new principle of richer +life; the gospel and the sacraments of our Lord have +contained in them the promise and potency of all that +was yet to be unfolded, all the gracefulness and all the +fruit. And these words, <q>the earth beareth fruit of +herself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn +in the ear,</q> each so different, and yet so dependent on +what preceded, teach us two great ecclesiastical lessons. +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +They condemn the violent and revolutionary changes, +which would not develop old germs but tear them open +or perhaps pull them up. Much may be distasteful to +the spirit of sordid utilitarianism; a mere husk, which +nevertheless within it shelters precious grain, otherwise +sure to perish. If thus we learn to respect the +old, still more do we learn that what is new has also +its all-important part to play. The blade and the ear +in turn are innovations. We must not condemn those +new forms of Christian activity, Christian association, +and Christian councils, which new times evoke, until +we have considered well whether they are truly expansions, +in the light and heat of our century, of the +sacred life-germ of the ancient faith and the ancient +love. +</p> + +<p> +And what lessons has this parable for the individual? +Surely that of active present faith, not waiting for +future gifts of light or feeling, but confident that the +seed already sown, the seed of the word, has power to +develop into the rich fruit of Christian character. In +this respect the parable supplements the first one. +From that we learned that if the soil were not in fault, +if the heart were honest and good, the seed would +fructify. From this we learn that these conditions +suffice for a perfect harvest. The incessant, all-important +help of God, we have seen, is not denied; it is +taken for granted, as the atmospheric and magnetic +influences upon the grain. So should we reverentially +and thankfully rely upon the aid of God, and then, +instead of waiting for strange visitations and special +stirrings of grace, account that we already possess +enough to make us responsible for the harvest of the +soul. Multitudes of souls, whose true calling is, in +obedient trust, to arise and walk, are at this moment +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> +lying impotent beside some pool which they expect an +angel to stir, and into which they fain would then be +put by some one, they know not whom—multitudes of +expectant, inert, inactive souls, who know not that the +text they have most need to ponder is this: <q>the earth +beareth fruit of itself.</q> For want of this they are +actually, day by day, receiving the grace of God in +vain. +</p> + +<p> +We learn also to be content with gradual progress. +St. John did not blame the children and young men +to whom he wrote, because they were not mature in +wisdom and experience. St. Paul exhorts us to grow +up in all things into Him which is the Head, even +Christ. They do not ask for more than steady growth; +and their Master, as He distrusted the fleeting joy of +hearers whose hearts were shallow, now explicitly bids +us not to be content with any first attainment, not to +count all done if we are converted, but to develop +first the blade, then the ear, and lastly the full corn in +the ear. +</p> + +<p> +Does it seem a tedious weary sentence? Are we +discontent for want of conscious interferences of +heaven? Do we complain that, to human consciousness, +the great Sower sleeps and rises up and leaves +the grain to fare He knows not how? It is only for a +little while. When the fruit is ripe, He will Himself +gather it into His eternal garner. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> + +<div> +<head>The Mustard Seed.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He said, How shall we liken the kingdom of God? or in what +parable shall we set it forth? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, +when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds +that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh +greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the +birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof. And with +many such parables spake He the word unto them, as they were able +to hear it: and without a parable spake He not unto them: but +privately to His own disciples He expounded all things.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +iv. 30-34 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Mark has recorded one other parable of this +great cycle. Jesus now invites the disciples to let +their own minds play upon the subject. Each is to +ask himself a question: How shall we liken the kingdom +of God? or in what parable shall we set it forth? +</p> + +<p> +A gentle pause, time for them to form some splendid +and ambitious image in their minds, and then we can +suppose with what surprise they heard His own +answer, <q>It is like a grain of mustard seed.</q> And +truly some Christians of a later day might be astonished +also, if they could call up a fair image of their +own conceptions of the kingdom of God, and compare +it with this figure, employed by Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +But here one must observe a peculiarity in our +Saviour's use of images. His illustrations of His first +coming, and of His work of grace, which are many, are +all of the homeliest kind. He is a shepherd who seeks +one sheep. He is not an eagle that fluttereth over her +young and beareth them on her pinions, but a hen who +gathereth her chickens under her wings. Never once +does He rise into that high and poetic strain with +which His followers have loved to sing of the Star +of Bethlehem, and which Isaiah lavished beforehand +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +upon the birth of the Prince of Peace. There is no +language more intensely concentrated and glowing than +He has employed to describe the judgment of the +hypocrites who rejected Him, of Jerusalem, and of the +world at last. But when He speaks of His first coming +and its effects, it is not of that sunrise to which all +kings and nations shall hasten, but of a little grain of +mustard seed, which is to become <q>greater than all +the herbs,</q> and put forth great branches, <q>so that the +birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow of +them.</q> When one thinks of such an image for such +an event, of the founding of the kingdom of God, +and its advance to universal supremacy, represented by +the small seed of a shrub which grows to the height +of a tree, and even harbours birds, he is conscious +almost of incongruity. But when one reconsiders it, +he is filled with awe and reverence. For this exactly +expresses the way of thinking natural to One who has +stooped immeasurably down to the task which all +others feel to be so lofty. There is a poem of Shelley, +which expresses the relative greatness of three spirits +by the less and less value which they set on the +splendours of the material heavens. To the first they +are a palace-roof of golden lights, to the second but +the mind's first chamber, to the last only drops which +Nature's mighty heart drives through thinnest veins. +Now that which was to Isaiah the exalting of every +valley and the bringing low of every mountain, and to +Daniel the overthrow of a mighty image whose aspect +was terrible, by a stone cut out without hands, was to +Jesus but the sowing of a grain of mustard seed. +Could any other have spoken thus of the founding of +the kingdom of God? An enthusiast over-values his +work, he can think of nothing else; and he expects +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +immediate revolutions. Jesus was keenly aware that +His work in itself was very small, no more than the +sowing of a seed, and even of the least, popularly +speaking, among all seeds. Clearly He did not over-rate +the apparent effect of His work on earth. And +indeed, what germ of religious teaching could be less +promising than the doctrine of the cross, held by a few +peasants in a despised province of a nation already +subjugated and soon to be overwhelmed? +</p> + +<p> +The image expresses more than the feeble beginning +and victorious issue of His work, more than even the +gradual and logical process by which this final triumph +should be attained. All this we found in the preceding +parable. But here the emphasis is laid on the development +of Christ's influence in unexpected spheres. Unlike +other herbs, the mustard in Eastern climates does +grow into a tree, shoot out great branches from the +main stem, and give shelter to the birds of the air. So +has the Christian faith developed ever new collateral +agencies, charitable, educational, and social: so have +architecture, music, literature, flourished under its +shade, and there is not one truly human interest which +would not be deprived of its best shelter if the rod of +Jesse were hewn down. Nay, we may urge that the +Church itself has become the most potent force in directions +not its own: it broke the chains of the negro; it +asserts the rights of woman and of the poor; its noble +literature is finding a response in the breast of a +hundred degraded races; the herb has become a tree. +</p> + +<p> +And so in the life of individuals, if the seed be allowed +its due scope and place to grow, it gives shelter and +blessing to whatsoever things are honest and lovely, +not only if there be any virtue, but also if there be any +praise. +</p> + +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> + +<p> +Well is it with the nation, and well with the soul, +when the faith of Jesus is not rigidly restricted to a +prescribed sphere, when the leaves which are for the +healing of the nations cast their shadow broad and cool +over all the spaces in which all its birds of song are +nestling. +</p> + +<p> +A remarkable assertion is added. Although the parabolic +mode of teaching was adopted in judgment, yet its +severe effect was confined within the narrowest limits. +His many parables were spoken <q>as they were able to +hear,</q> but only to His own disciples privately was all +their meaning expounded. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Four Miracles.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>And there was a great calm.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iv. 39 (R.V.). +</p> + +<p> +<q>Behold, him that was possessed with devils, sitting, clothed and in +his right mind, <hi rend='italic'>even</hi> him that had the legion.</q>—v. 15 (R.V.). +</p> + +<p> +<q>Who touched Me?</q>—v. 31 (R.V.). +</p> + +<p> +<q>Talitha cumi.</q>—v. 41 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +There are two ways, equally useful, of studying +Scripture, as there are of regarding the other book +of God, the face of Nature. We may bend over a wild +flower, or gaze across a landscape; and it will happen +that a naturalist, pursuing a moth, loses sight of a +mountain-range. It is a well-known proverb, that +one may fail to see the wood for the trees, losing in +details the general effect. And so the careful student +of isolated texts may never perceive the force and +cohesion of a connected passage. +</p> + +<p> +The reader of a Gospel narrative thinks, that by +pondering it as a whole, he secures himself against +any such misfortune. But a narrative dislocated, often +loses as much as a detached verse. The actions of our +Lord are often exquisitely grouped, as becometh Him +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +Who hath made everything not beautiful only, but +especially beautiful in its season. And we should not +be content without combining the two ways of reading +Scripture, the detailed and the rapid,—lingering at +times to apprehend the marvellous force of a solitary +verse, and again sweeping over a broad expanse, like +a surveyor, who, to map a country, stretches his +triangles from mountain peak to peak. +</p> + +<p> +We have reached a point at which St. Mark records a +special outshining of miraculous power. Four striking +works follow each other without a break, and it must +not for a moment be supposed that the narrative is thus +constructed, certain intermediate discourses and events +being sacrificed for the purpose, without a deliberate +and a truthful intention. That intention is to represent +the effect, intense and exalting, produced by such a +cycle of wonders on the minds of His disciples. They +saw them come close upon each other: we should lose +the impression as we read, if other incidents were +allowed to interpose themselves. It is one more +example of St. Mark's desire to throw light, above all +things, upon the energy and power of the sacred life. +</p> + +<p> +We have to observe therefore the bearing of these +four miracles on each other, and upon what precedes, +before studying them one by one. +</p> + +<p> +It was a time of trial. The Pharisees had decided +that He had a devil. His relatives had said He was +beside Himself. His manner of teaching had changed, +because the people should see without perceiving, and +hear without understanding. They who understood +His parables heard much of seed that failed, of success +a great way off, of a kingdom which would indeed be +great at last, but for the present weak and small. And +it is certain that there must have been heavy hearts +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +among those who left, with Him, the populous side of +the lake, to cross over into remote and semi-pagan +retirement. To encourage them, and as if in protest +against His rejection by the authorities, Jesus enters +upon this great cycle of miracles. +</p> + +<p> +They find themselves, as the Church has often since +been placed, and as every human soul has had to feel +itself, far from shore, and tempest-beaten. The rage +of human foes is not so deaf, so implacable, as that of +wind and wave. It is the stress of adverse circumstances +in the direst form. But Jesus proves Himself +to be Master of the forces of nature which would overwhelm +them. +</p> + +<p> +Nay, they learn that His seeming indifference is no +proof that they are neglected, by the rebuke He speaks +to their over-importunate appeals, Why are ye so fearful? +have ye not yet faith? And they, who might +have been shaken by the infidelity of other men, fear +exceedingly as they behold the obedience of the wind +and the sea, and ask, Who then is this? +</p> + +<p> +But in their mission as His disciples, a worse danger +than the enmity of man or convulsions of nature awaits +them. On landing, they are at once confronted by one +whom an evil spirit has made exceeding fierce, so that +no man could pass by that way. It is their way +nevertheless, and they must tread it. And the demoniac +adores, and the evil spirits themselves are +abject in supplication, and at the word of Jesus are +expelled. Even the inhabitants, who will not receive +Him, are awe-struck and deprecatory, and if at their +bidding Jesus turns away again, His followers may +judge whether the habitual meekness of such a one +is due to feebleness or to a noble self-command. +</p> + +<p> +Landing once more, they are soon accosted by a +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +ruler of the synagogue, whom sorrow has purified from +the prejudices of his class. And Jesus is about to heal +the daughter of Jairus, when another form of need is +brought to light. A slow and secret decline, wasting +the vital powers, a silent woe, speechless, stealthily +approaching the Healer—over this grief also He is +Lord. And it is seen that neither the visible actions +of Jesus nor the audible praises of His petitioners can +measure the power that goes out of Him, the physical +benefits which encompass the Teacher as a halo envelopes +flame. +</p> + +<p> +Circumstances, and the fiends of the pit, and the +woes that waste the lives of men, over these He has +been seen to triumph. But behind all that we strive +with here, there lurks the last enemy, and he also shall +be subdued. And now first an example is recorded of +what we know to have already taken place, the conquest +of death by his predicted Spoiler. Youth and +gentle maidenhood, high hope and prosperous circumstances +have been wasted, but the call of Jesus is heard +by the ear that was stopped with dust, and the spirit +obeys Him in the far off realm of the departed, and +they who have just seen such other marvels, are nevertheless +amazed with a great amazement. +</p> + +<p> +No cycle of miracles could be more rounded, symmetrical +and exhaustive; none could better vindicate +to His disciples His impugned authority, or brace their +endangered faith, or fit them for what almost immediately +followed, their own commission, and the first +journey upon which they too cast out many devils, and +anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> + +<div> +<head>The Two Storms.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>And on that day, when even was come, He saith unto them, Let us +go over unto the other side. And leaving the multitude, they take +Him with them, even as He was, in the boat. And other boats were +with Him. And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and the waves +beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. And He +Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion: and they awake Him, +and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And He +awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. +And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto +them, Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith? And they feared +exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the +wind and the sea obey him?</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> iv. 35-41 (R.V.). +</p> + +<p> +<q>And when even was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and +He alone on the land. And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the +wind was contrary unto them, about the fourth watch of the night He +cometh unto them, walking on the sea; and He would have passed by +them: but they, when they saw Him walking on the sea, supposed that +it was an apparition, and cried out: for they all saw Him, and were +troubled. But He straightway spake with them, and saith unto them, +Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And He went up unto them +into the boat; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in +themselves. For they understood not concerning the loaves, but their +hearts were hardened.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 47-52 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Few readers are insensible to the wonderful power +with which the Gospels tell the story of the two storms +upon the lake. The narratives are favourites in every +Sunday school; they form the basis of countless +hymns and poems; and we always recur to them with +fresh delight. +</p> + +<p> +In the first account we see as in a picture the +weariness of the great Teacher, when, the long day +being over and the multitude dismissed, He retreats +across the sea without preparation, and <q>as He was,</q> +and sinks to sleep on the one cushion in the stern, +undisturbed by the raging tempest or by the waves +which beat into the boat. We observe the reluctance +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +of the disciples to arouse Him until the peril is extreme, +and the boat is <q>now</q> filling. We hear from St. +Mark, the associate of St. Peter, the presumptuous and +characteristic cry which expresses terror, and perhaps +dread lest His tranquil slumbers may indicate a separation +between His cause and theirs, who perish while +He is unconcerned. We admire equally the calm and +masterful words which quell the tempest, and those +which enjoin a faith so lofty as to endure the last +extremities of peril without dismay, without agitation +in its prayers. We observe the strange incident, that +no sooner does the storm cease than the waters, +commonly seething for many hours afterwards, grow +calm. And the picture is completed by the mention of +their new dread (fear of the supernatural Man replacing +their terror amid the convulsions of nature), and of +their awestruck questioning among themselves. +</p> + +<p> +In the second narrative we see the ship far out in +the lake, but watched by One, Who is alone upon the +land. Through the gloom He sees them <q>tormented</q> +by fruitless rowing; but though this is the reason why +He comes, He is about to pass them by. The watch +of the night is remembered; it is the fourth. The cry +of their alarm is universal, for they all saw Him and +were troubled. We are told of the promptitude with +which He thereupon relieved their fears; we see Him +climb up into the boat, and the sudden ceasing of the +storm, and their amazement. Nor is that after-thought +omitted in which they blamed themselves for their +astonishment. If their hearts had not been hardened, +the miracle of the loaves would have taught them +that Jesus was the master of the physical world. +</p> + +<p> +Now all this picturesque detail belongs to a single +Gospel. And it is exactly what a believer would +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> +expect. How much soever the healing of disease +might interest St. Luke the physician, who relates all +such events so vividly, it would have impressed the +patient himself yet more, and an account of it by him, +if we had it, would be full of graphic touches. Now +these two miracles were wrought for the rescue of the +apostles themselves. The Twelve took the place held +in others by the lame, the halt and the blind: the +suspense, the appeal, and the joy of deliverance were +all their own. It is therefore no wonder that we find +their accounts of these especial miracles so picturesque. +But this is a solid evidence of the truth of the narratives; +for while the remembrance of such actual events +should thrill with agitated life, there is no reason why +a legend of the kind should be especially clear and +vivid. The same argument might easily be carried +farther. When the disciples began to reproach themselves +for their unbelieving astonishment, they were +naturally conscious of having failed to learn the lesson +which had been taught them just before. Later students +and moralists would have observed that another miracle, +a little earlier, was a still closer precedent, but they +naturally blamed themselves most for being blind to +what was immediately before their eyes. Now when +Jesus walked upon the waters and the disciples were +amazed, it is not said that they forgot how He had +already stilled a tempest, but they considered not the +miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. +In touches like this we find the influence of a bystander +beyond denial. +</p> + +<p> +Every student of Scripture must have observed the +special significance of those parables and miracles +which recur a second time with certain designed variations. +In the miraculous draughts of fishes, Christ +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +Himself avowed an allusion to the catching of men. +And the Church has always discerned a spiritual +intention in these two storms, in one of which Christ +slept, while in the other His disciples toiled alone, and +which express, between them, the whole strain exercised +upon a devout spirit by adverse circumstances. +Dangers never alarmed one who realized both the +presence of Jesus and His vigilant care. Temptation +enters only because this is veiled. Why do adversities +press hard upon me, if indeed I belong to Christ? He +must either be indifferent and sleeping, or else absent +altogether from my frail and foundering bark. It is +thus that we let go our confidence, and incur agonies of +mental suffering, and the rebuke of our Master, even +though He continues to be the Protector of His unworthy +people. +</p> + +<p> +On the voyage of life we may conceive of Jesus +as our Companion, for He is with us always, or as +watching us from the everlasting hills, whither it was +expedient for us that He should go. Nevertheless, we +are storm-tossed and in danger. Although we are His, +and not separated from Him by any conscious disobedience, +yet the conditions of life are unmitigated, +the winds as wild, the waves as merciless, the boat as +cruelly <q>tormented</q> as ever. And no rescue comes: +Jesus is asleep: He cares not that we perish. Then +we pray after a fashion so clamorous, and with supplication +so like demands, that we too appear to have +undertaken to awake our Lord. Then we have to +learn from the first of these miracles, and especially +from its delay. The disciples were safe, had they only +known it, whether Jesus would have interposed of His +own accord, or whether they might still have needed to +appeal to Him, but in a gentler fashion. We may ask +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +help, provided that we do so in a serene and trustful +spirit, anxious for nothing, not seeking to extort a concession, +but approaching with boldness the throne of +grace, on which our Father sits. It is thus that the +peace of God shall rule our hearts and minds, for want +of which the apostles were asked, Where is your faith? +Comparing the narratives, we learn that Jesus reassured +their hearts even before He arose, and then, having +first silenced by His calmness the storm within them, +He stood up and rebuked the storm around. +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine gave a false turn to the application, +when he said, <q>If Jesus were not asleep within thee, +thou wouldst be calm and at rest. But why is He +asleep? Because thy faith is asleep,</q> etc, (Sermon lxiii.) +The sleep of Jesus was natural and right; and it +answers not to our spiritual torpor, but to His apparent +indifference and non-intervention in our time of distress. +And the true lesson of the miracle is that we should +trust Him Whose care fails not when it seems to fail, +Who is able to save to the uttermost, and Whom we +should approach in the direst peril without panic. It +was fitly taught them first when all the powers of the +State and the Church were leagued against Him, and +He as a blind man saw not and as a dumb man opened +not His mouth. +</p> + +<p> +The second storm should have found them braver by +the experience of the first; but spiritually as well as +bodily they were farther removed from Christ. The +people, profoundly moved by the murder of the Baptist, +wished to set Jesus on the throne, and the disciples were +too ambitious to be allowed to be present while He dismissed +the multitudes. They had to be sent away, and +it was from the distant hillside that Jesus saw their +danger. Surely it is instructive, that neither the shades +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +of night, nor the abstracted fervour of His prayers, prevented +him from seeing it, nor the stormlashed waters +from bringing aid. And significant also, that the experience +of remoteness, though not sinful, since He had +sent them away, was yet the result of their own worldliness. +It is when we are out of sympathy with Jesus +that we are most likely to be alone in trouble. None +was in their boat to save them, and in heart also they +had gone out from the presence of their God. Therefore +they failed to trust in His guidance Who had sent +them into the ship: they had no sense of protection or +of supervision; and it was a terrible moment when a +form was vaguely seen to glide over the waves. Christ, +it would seem, would have gone before and led them +to the haven where they would be. Or perhaps He +<q>would have passed by them,</q> as He would afterwards +have gone further than Emmaus, to elicit any +trustful half-recognition which might call to Him and +be rewarded. But they cried out for fear. And so it +is continually with God in His world, men are terrified +at the presence of the supernatural, because they fail +to apprehend the abiding presence of the supernatural +Christ. And yet there is one point at least in every +life, the final moment, in which all else must recede, +and the soul be left alone with the beings of another +world. Then, and in every trial, and especially in all +trials which press in upon us the consciousness of the +spiritual universe, well is it for him who hears the +voice of Jesus saying, It is I, be not afraid. +</p> + +<p> +For only through Jesus, only in His person, has +that unknown universe ceased to be dreadful and +mysterious. Only when He is welcomed does the +storm cease to rage around us. +</p> + +<p> +It was the earlier of these miracles which first taught +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> +the disciples that not only were human disorders under +His control, and gifts and blessings at His disposal, +but also the whole range of nature was subject to Him, +and the winds and the sea obey Him. +</p> + +<p> +Shall we say that His rebuke addressed to these was +a mere figure of speech? Some have inferred that +natural convulsions are so directly the work of evil +angels that the words of Jesus were really spoken +to them. But the plain assertion is that He rebuked +the winds and the waves, and these would not become +identical with Satan even upon the supposition that he +excites them. We ourselves continually personify the +course of nature, and even complain of it, wantonly +enough, and Scripture does not deny itself the use +of ordinary human forms of speech. Yet the very +peculiar word employed by Jesus cannot be without +significance. It is the same with which He had already +confronted the violence of the demoniac in the synagogue, +Be muzzled. At the least it expresses stern +repression, and thus it reminds us that creation itself +is made subject to vanity, the world deranged by sin, +so that all around us requires readjustment as truly as +all within, and Christ shall at last create a new earth +as well as a new heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Some pious people resign themselves much too +passively to the mischiefs of the material universe, +supposing that troubles which are not of their own +making, must needs be a Divine infliction, calling only +for submission. But God sends oppositions to be +conquered as well as burdens to be borne; and even +before the fall the world had to be subdued. And +our final mastery over the surrounding universe was +expressed, when Jesus our Head rebuked the winds, +and stilled the waves when they arose. +</p> + +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> + +<p> +As they beheld, a new sense fell upon His disciples +of a more awful presence than they had yet discerned. +They asked not only what manner of man this is? but, +with surmises which went out beyond the limits of +human greatness, Who then is this, that even the winds +and the sea obey Him? +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter V.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Demoniac Of Gadara.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the +Gerasenes. And when He was come out of the boat, straightway there +met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his +dwelling in the tombs; and no man could any more bind him, no, not +with a chain; because that he had been often bound with fetters and +chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him, and the fetters +broken in pieces: and no man had strength to tame him. And always, +night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, +and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he +ran and worshipped Him; and crying out with a loud voice, he saith, +What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God? +I adjure Thee by God, torment me not. For He said unto him, Come +forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man. And He asked him, What +is thy name? And he saith unto Him, My name is Legion; for we +are many. And he besought Him much that He would not send them +away out of the country. Now there was there on the mountain side a +great herd of swine feeding. And they besought Him, saying, Send us +into the swine, that we may enter into them. And He gave them leave. +And the unclean spirits came out, and entered into the swine: and the +herd rushed down the steep into the sea, <hi rend='italic'>in number</hi> about two thousand; +and they were choked in the sea. And they that fed them fled, and +told it in the city, and in the country. And they came to see what it +was that had come to pass. And they come to Jesus, and behold him +that was possessed with devils sitting, clothed and in his right mind, +<hi rend='italic'>even</hi> him that had the legion: and they were afraid. And they that +saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with +devils, and concerning the swine. And they began to beseech Him to +depart from their borders. And as He was entering into the boat, he +that had been possessed with devils besought Him that he might be +with Him. And He suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go to thy +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +house unto thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath +done for thee, and <hi rend='italic'>how</hi> He had mercy on thee. And he went his way, +and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for +him: and all men did marvel.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> v. 1-20 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Fresh from asserting His mastery over winds +and waves, the Lord was met by a more terrible +enemy, the rage of human nature enslaved and impelled +by the cruelty of hell. The place where He landed was +a theatre not unfit for the tragedy which it revealed. +A mixed race was there, indifferent to religion, rearing +great herds of swine, upon which the law looked askance, +but the profits of which they held so dear that they +would choose to banish a Divine ambassador, and one +who had released them from an incessant peril, rather +than be deprived of these. Now it has already been +shown that the wretches possessed by devils were not of +necessity stained with special guilt. Even children +fell into this misery. But yet we should expect to +find it most rampant in places where God was dishonoured, +in Gerasa and in the coasts of Tyre and +Sidon. And it is so. All misery is the consequence +of sin, although individual misery does not measure +individual guilt. And the places where the shadow of +sin has fallen heaviest are always the haunts of direst +wretchedness. +</p> + +<p> +The first Gospel mentions two demoniacs, but one +was doubtless so pre-eminently fierce, and possibly so +zealous afterward in proclaiming his deliverance, that +only St. Matthew learned the existence of another, +upon whom also Satan had wrought, if not his worst, +enough to show his hatred, and the woes he would fain +bring upon humanity. +</p> + +<p> +Among the few terrible glimpses given us of the +mind of the fallen angels, one is most significant and +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> +sinister. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, +to what haunts does he turn? He has no sympathy +with what is lovely or sublime; in search of rest he +wanders through dry places, deserts of arid sand in +which his misery may be soothed by congenial desolation. +Thus the ruins of the mystic Babylon become +an abode of devils. And thus the unclean spirit, when +he mastered this demoniac, drove him to a foul and +dreary abode among the tombs. One can picture the +victim in some lucid moment, awakening to consciousness +only to shudder in his dreadful home, and scared +back again into that ferocity which is the child of +terror. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'><q rend='pre'>Is it not very like,</q></l> +<l>The horrible conceit of death and night,</l> +<l>Together with the terror of the place</l> +</lg> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<lg> +<l>Oh! if I wake, shall I not be distraught,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Environed with all these hideous fears?</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi>, iv. 3. +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +There was a time when he had been under restraint, +but <q>now no man could any more bind him</q> even +with iron upon feet and wrists. The ferocity of his +cruel subjugator turned his own strength against himself, +so that night and day his howling was heard, as he +cut himself with stones, and his haunts in the tombs +and in the mountains were as dangerous as the lair of +a wild breast, which no man dared pass by. What +strange impulse drove him thence to the feet of Jesus? +Very dreadful is the picture of his conflicting tendencies: +the fiend within him struggling against something +still human and attracted by the Divine, so that he runs +from afar, yet cries aloud, and worships yet disowns +having anything to do with Him; and as if the fiend +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> +had subverted the true personality, and become the very +man, when ordered to come out he adjures Jesus to +torment him not. +</p> + +<p> +And here we observe the knowledge of Christ's rank +possessed by the evil ones. Long before Peter won a +special blessing for acknowledging the Son of the +living God, the demoniac called Him by the very name +which flesh and blood did not reveal to Cephas. For +their chief had tested and discovered Him in the +wilderness, saying twice with dread surmise, If Thou +be the Son of God. It is also noteworthy that the +phrase, the most High God, is the name of Jehovah +among the non-Jewish races. It occurs in both Testaments +in connection with Melchizedek the Canaanite. +It is used throughout the Babylonian proclamations in +the book of Daniel. Micah puts it into the lips of +Balaam. And the damsel with a spirit of divination +employed it in Philippi. Except once, in a Psalm which +tells of the return of apostate Israel to the Most High +God (lxxviii. 35), the epithet is used only in relation +with the nations outside the covenant. Its occurrence +here is probably a sign of the pagan influences by which +Gadara was infected, and for which it was plagued. By +the name of God then, whose Son He loudly confessed +that Jesus was, the fiend within the man adjures Him +to torment Him not. But Jesus had not asked to be +acknowledged: He had bidden the devil to come out. +And persons who substitute loud confessions and +clamorous orthodoxies for obedience should remember +that so did the fiend of Gadara. Jesus replied by +asking, What is thy name? The question was not an +idle one, but had a healing tendency. For the man +was beside himself; it was part of his cure that he was +found in his right mind; and meanwhile his very +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +consciousness was merged in that of the fiends who +tortured him, so that his voice was their voice, and they +returned a vaunting answer through His lips. Our +Lord sought therefore both to calm His excitement and +to remind him of himself, and of what he once had +been before evil beings dethroned his will. These +were not the man, but his enemies by whom he was +<q>carried about,</q> and <q>led captive at their will.</q> And +it is always sobering to think of <q>Myself,</q> the lonely +individual, apart from even those who most influence +me, with a soul to lose or save. With this very +question the Church Catechism begins its work of +arousing and instructing the conscience of each child, +separating him from his fellows in order to lead him on +to the knowledge of the individualising grace of God. +</p> + +<p> +It may be that the fiends within him dictated his +reply, or that he himself, conscious of their tyranny, +cried out in agony, We are many; a regiment like those +of conquering Rome, drilled and armed to trample and +destroy, a legion. This answer distinctly contravened +what Christ had just implied, that he was one, an individual, +and precious in his Maker's eyes. But there +are men and women in every Christian land, whom it +might startle to look within, and see how far their +individuality is oppressed and overlaid by a legion of +impulses, appetites, and conventionalities, which leave +them nothing personal, nothing essential and characteristic, +nothing that deserves a name. The demons, +now conscious of the power which calls them forth, +besought Him to leave them a refuge in that country. +St. Luke throws light upon this petition, as well as +their former complaint, when he tells us they feared to +be sent to <q>the abyss</q> of their final retribution. And +as we read of men who are haunted by a fearful looking +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +for of judgment and a fierceness of fire, so they had no +hope of escape, except until <q>the time.</q> For a little +respite they prayed to be sent even into the swine, and +Jesus gave them leave. +</p> + +<p> +What a difference there is between the proud and +heroic spirits whom Milton celebrated, and these malignant +but miserable beings, haunting the sepulchres like +ghosts, truculent and yet dastardly, as ready to supplicate +as to rend, filled with dread of the appointed time +and of the abyss, clinging to that outlying country as a +congenial haunt, and devising for themselves a last +asylum among the brutes. And yet they are equally +far from the materialistic superstitions of that age and +place; they are not amenable to fumigations or exorcisms, +and they do not upset the furniture in rushing out. +Many questions have been asked about the petition of +the demons and our Lord's consent. But none of them +need much distress the reverential enquirer, who remembers +by what misty horizons all our knowledge is +enclosed. Most absurd is the charge that Jesus acted +indefensibly in destroying property. Is it then so clear +that the owners did not deserve their loss through the +nature of their investments? Was it merely as a man, +or as the Son of the living God, that His consent was +felt to be necessary? And was it any part of His +mission to protect brutes from death? +</p> + +<p> +The loss endured was no greater than when a crop +is beaten down by hail, or a vineyard devastated by +insects, and in these cases an agency beyond the control +of man is sent or permitted by God, Who was in Christ. +</p> + +<p> +A far harder question it is, How could devils enter into +brute creatures? and again, Why did they desire to do +so? But the first of these is only a subdivision of the +vaster problem, at once inevitable and insoluble, How +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +does spirit in any of its forms animate matter, or even +manipulate it? We know not by what strange link a +thought contracts a sinew, and transmutes itself into +words or deeds. And if we believe the dread and +melancholy fact of the possession of a child by a fiend, +what reason have we, beyond prejudice, for doubting +the possession of swine? It must be observed also, +that no such possession is proved by this narrative +to be a common event, but the reverse. The notion +is a last and wild expedient of despair, proposing to +content itself with the uttermost abasement, if only the +demons might still haunt the region where they had +thriven so well. And the consent of Jesus does not +commit Him to any judgment upon the merit or the +possibility of the project. He leaves the experiment +to prove itself, exactly as when Peter would walk upon +the water; and a laconic <q>Go</q> in this case recalls the +<q>Come</q> in that; an assent, without approval, to an +attempt which was about to fail. Not in the world of +brutes could they find shelter from the banishment +they dreaded; for the whole herd, frantic and ungoverned, +rushed headlong into the sea and was +destroyed. The second victory of the series was thus +completed. Jesus was Master over the evil spirits +which afflict humanity, as well as over the fierceness +of the elements which rise against us. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> + +<div> +<head>The Men Of Gadara.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city, and in the +country. And they came to see what it was that had come to pass. +And they come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with devils +sitting, clothed and in his right mind, <hi rend='italic'>even</hi> him that had the legion: +and they were afraid. And they that saw it declared unto them how +it befell him that was possessed with devils, and concerning the swine. +And they began to beseech him to depart from their borders. And as +He was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with devils +besought Him that he might be with Him. And He suffered him not +but saith unto him, Go to thy house unto thy friends, and tell them +how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and <hi rend='italic'>how</hi> He had mercy +on thee. And he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how +great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +v. 14-20 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The expulsion of the demons from the possessed, their +entrance into the herd, and the destruction of the two +thousand swine, were virtually one transaction, and +must have impressed the swineherds in its totality. +They saw on the one hand the restoration of a dangerous +and raging madman, known to be actuated by evil +spirits, the removal of a standing peril which had +already made one tract of country impassable, and (if +they considered such a thing at all) the calming of a +human soul, and its advent within the reach of all +sacred influences. On the other side what was there? +The loss of two thousand swine; and the consciousness +that the kingdom of God was come nigh unto them. +This was always an alarming discovery. Isaiah said, +Woe is me! when his eyes beheld God high and lifted +up. And Peter said, Depart from me, when he learned +by the miraculous draught of fish that the Lord was +there. But Isaiah's concern was because he was a +man of unclean lips, and Peter's was because he was +a sinful man. Their alarm was that of an awakened +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> +conscience, and therefore they became the heralds of +Him Whom they feared. But these men were simply +scared at what they instinctively felt to be dangerous; +and so they took refuge in a crowd, that frequent resort +of the frivolous and conscience-stricken, and told in +the city what they had seen. And when the inhabitants +came forth, a sight met them which might have +won the sternest, the man sitting, clothed (a nice +coincidence, since St. Mark had not mentioned that he +<q>ware no clothes,</q>) and in his right mind, even him +that had the legion, as the narrative emphatically adds. +And doubtless the much debated incident of the swine +had greatly helped to reassure this afflicted soul; the +demons were palpably gone, visibly enough they were +overmastered. But the citizens, like the swineherds, +were merely terrified, neither grateful nor sympathetic; +uninspired with hope of pure teaching, of rescue from +other influences of the evil one, or of any unearthly +kingdom. Their formidable visitant was one to treat +with all respect, but to remove with all speed, <q>and +they began to beseech Him to depart from their +borders.</q> They began, for it did not require long +entreaty; the gospel which was free to all was not to +be forced upon any. But how much did they blindly +fling away, who refused the presence of the meek +and lowly Giver of rest unto souls; and chose to +be denied, as strangers whom He never knew, in the +day when every eye shall see Him. +</p> + +<p> +With how sad a heart must Jesus have turned away. +Yet one soul at least was won, for as He was entering +into the boat, the man who owed all to Him prayed +Him that he might be with Him. Why was the +prayer refused? Doubtless it sprang chiefly from +gratitude and love, thinking it hard to lose so soon the +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +wondrous benefactor, the Man at whose feet he had +sat down, Who alone had looked with pitiful and +helpful eyes on one whom others only sought to +<q>tame.</q> Such feelings are admirable, but they must +be disciplined so as to seek, not their own indulgence, +but their Master's real service. Now a reclaimed demoniac +would have been a suspected companion for +One who was accused of league with the Prince of the +devils. There is no reason to suppose that he had +any fitness whatever to enter the immediate circle of +our Lord's intimate disciples. His special testimony +would lose all its force when he left the district where +he was known; but there, on the contrary, the miracle +could not fail to be impressive, as its extent and permanence +were seen. This man was perhaps the only +missionary who could reckon upon a hearing from +those who banished Jesus from their coasts. And +Christ's loving and unresentful heart would give this +testimony to them in its fulness. It should begin at +his own house and among his friends, who would +surely listen. They should be told how great things +the Lord had done for him, and Jesus expressly added, +how He had mercy upon thee, that so they might learn +their mistake, who feared and shrank from such a kindly +visitant. Here is a lesson for these modern days, when +the conversion of any noted profligate is sure to be +followed by attempts to push him into a vagrant +publicity, not only full of peril in itself, but also removing +him from the familiar sphere in which his consistent +life would be more convincing than all sermons, +and where no suspicion of self-interest could overcloud +the brightness of his testimony. +</p> + +<p> +Possibly there was yet another reason for leaving +him in his home. He may have desired to remain close +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> +to Jesus, lest, when the Saviour was absent, the evil +spirits should resume their sway. In that case it +would be necessary to exercise his faith and convince +him that the words of Jesus were far-reaching and +effectual, even when He was Himself remote. If so, +he learned the lesson well, and became an evangelist +through all the region of Decapolis. And where all +did marvel, we may hope that some were won. What +a revelation of mastery over the darkest and most +dreadful forces of evil, and of respect for the human +will (which Jesus never once coerced by miracle, even +when it rejected Him), what unwearied care for the +rebellious, and what a sense of sacredness in lowly +duties, better for the demoniac than the physical nearness +of his Lord, are combined in this astonishing +narrative, which to invent in the second century would +itself have required miraculous powers. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>With Jairus.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat unto the other +side, a great multitude was gathered unto Him: and He was by the +sea. And there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by +name; and seeing Him, he falleth at His feet, and beseecheth Him +much, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death: <hi rend='italic'>I pray Thee</hi> +that Thou come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be made +whole, and live. And He went with him; and a great multitude +followed Him, and they thronged Him. And a woman, which had an +issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many +physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, +but rather grew worse, having heard the things concerning Jesus, came +in the crowd behind, and touched His garment. For she said, If I +touch but His garments, I shall be made whole. And straightway the +fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she +was healed of her plague. And straightway Jesus, perceiving in Himself +that the power <hi rend='italic'>proceeding</hi> from Him had gone forth, turned Him +about in the crowd, and said, Who touched My garments? And His +disciples said unto Him, Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? And He looked round about to +see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, +knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before Him, +and told Him all the truth. And He said unto her, Daughter, thy +faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. +While He yet spake, they come from the ruler of the synagogue's +<hi rend='italic'>house</hi>, saying, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master +any further? But Jesus not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the +ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe. And He suffered no +man to follow with Him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother +of James. And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; +and He beholdeth a tumult, and <hi rend='italic'>many</hi> weeping and wailing greatly. +And when He was entered in, He saith unto them, Why make ye a +tumult, and weep? the child is not dead, but sleepeth. And they +laughed Him to scorn. But He, having put them all forth, taketh the +father of the child and her mother and them that were with Him, and +goeth in where the child was. And taking the child by the hand, He +saith unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I +say unto thee, Arise. And straightway the damsel rose up, and walked; +for she was twelve years old. And they were amazed straightway with +a great amazement. And He charged them much that no man should +know this; and He commanded that <hi rend='italic'>something</hi> should be given her to +eat.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> v. 21-43 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Repulsed from Decapolis, but consoled by the rescue +and zeal of the demoniac, Jesus returned to the western +shore, and a great multitude assembled. The other +boats which were with Him had doubtless spread the +tidings of the preternatural calm which rescued them +from deadly peril, and it may be that news of the event +of Gadara arrived almost as soon as He Whom they +celebrated. We have seen that St. Mark aims at bringing +the four great miracles of this period into the closest +sequence. And so he passes over a certain brief period +with the words <q>He was by the sea.</q> But in fact +Jesus was reasoning with the Pharisees, and with the +disciples of John, who had assailed Him and His +followers, when one of their natural leaders threw himself +at His feet. +</p> + +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> + +<p> +The contrast is sharp enough, as He rises from a +feast to go to the house of mourning, from eating with +publicans and sinners to accompany a ruler of the +synagogue. These unexpected calls, these sudden +alternations all found Him equally ready to bear the +same noble part, in the most dissimilar scenes, and in +treating temperaments the most unlike. But the contrast +should also be observed between those harsh and +hostile critics who hated Him in the interests of dogma +and of ceremonial, and Jairus, whose views were theirs, +but whose heart was softened by trouble. The danger +of his child was what drove him, perhaps reluctantly +enough, to beseech Jesus much. And nothing could +be more touching than his prayer for his <q>little +daughter,</q> its sequence broken as if with a sob; wistfully +pictorial as to the process, <q>that Thou come and +lay Thy hands upon her,</q> and dilating wistfully too +upon the effect, <q>that she may be made whole and +live.</q> If a miracle were not in question, the dullest +critic in Europe would confess that this exquisite supplication +was not composed by an evangelist, but a +father. And he would understand also why the very +words in their native dialect were not forgotten, which +men had heard awake the dead. +</p> + +<p> +As Jesus went with him, a great multitude followed +Him, and they thronged Him. It is quite evident that +Jesus did not love these gatherings of the idly curious. +Partly from such movements He had withdrawn Himself +to Gadara; and partly to avoid exciting them He +strove to keep many of His miracles a secret. Sensationalism +is neither grace nor a means of grace. And +it must be considered that the perfect Man, as far from +mental apathy or physical insensibility as from morbid +fastidiousness, would find much to shrink away from in +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +the pressure of a city crowd. The contact of inferior +organizations, selfishness driving back the weak and +gentle, vulgar scrutiny and audible comment, and the +desire for some miracle as an idle show, which He would +only work because His gentle heart was full of pity, +all these would be utterly distressing to Him who was +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>The first true gentleman that ever breathed,</q> +</quote> + +<p> +as well as the revelation of God in flesh. It is therefore +noteworthy that we have many examples of His grace +and goodness amid such trying scenes, as when He +spoke to Zacchæus, and called Bartimæus to Him to be +healed. Jesus could be wrathful but He was never +irritated. Of these examples one of the most beautiful +is here recorded, for as He went with Jairus, amidst the +rude and violent thronging of the crowds, moving alone +(as men often are in sympathy and in heart alone amid +seething thoroughfares), He suddenly became aware of +a touch, the timid and stealthy touch of a broken-hearted +woman, pale and wasted with disease, but borne through +the crowd by the last effort of despair and the first +energy of a newborn hope. She ought not to have come +thither, since her touch spread ceremonial uncleanness +far and wide. Nor ought she to have stolen a blessing +instead of praying for it. And if we seek to blame her +still further, we may condemn the superstitious notion +that Christ's gifts of healing were not conscious and +loving actions, but a mere contagion of health, by which +one might profit unfelt and undiscovered. It is urged +indeed that hers was not a faith thus clouded, but so +majestic as to believe that Christ would know and respond +to the silent hint of a gentle touch. And is it +supposed that Jesus would have dragged into publicity +such a perfect lily of the vale as this? and what means +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +her trembling confession, and the discovery that she +could not be hid? But when our keener intellects have +criticised her errors, and our clearer ethics have frowned +upon her misconduct, one fact remains. She is the +only woman upon whom Jesus is recorded to have +bestowed any epithet but a formal one. Her misery +and her faith drew from His guarded lips, the tender +and yet lofty word Daughter. +</p> + +<p> +So much better is the faith which seeks for blessing, +however erroneous be its means, than the heartless +propriety which criticises with most dispassionate +clearness, chiefly because it really seeks nothing for +itself at all. Such faith is always an appeal, and is +responded to, not as she supposed, mechanically, unconsciously, +nor, of course, by the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>opus operatum</foreign> of a +garment touched (or of a sacrament formally received), +but by the going forth of power from a conscious +Giver, in response to the need which has approached +His fulness. He knew her secret and fearful approach +to Him, as He knew the guileless heart of Nathanael, +whom He marked beneath the fig-tree. And He dealt +with her very gently. Doubtless there are many such +concealed woes, secret, untold miseries which eat deep +into gentle hearts, and are never spoken, and cannot, +like Bartimæus, cry aloud for public pity. For these +also there is balm in Gilead, and if the Lord requires +them to confess Him publicly, He will first give them +due strength to do so. This enfeebled and emaciated +woman was allowed to feel in her body that she was +healed of her plague, before she was called upon for +her confession. Jesus asked, Who touched my clothes? +It was one thing to press Him, driven forward by the +multitude around, as circumstances impel so many to +become churchgoers, readers of Scripture, interested in +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> +sacred questions and controversies until they are borne +as by physical propulsion into the closest contact with +our Lord, but not drawn thither by any personal craving +or sense of want, nor expecting any blessed reaction +of <q>the power proceeding from Him.</q> It was another +thing to reach out a timid hand and touch appealingly +even that tasselled fringe of His garment which had +a religious significance, whence perhaps she drew a +semi-superstitious hope. In the face of this incident, +can any orthodoxy forbid us to believe that the grace +of Christ extends, now as of yore, to many a superstitious +and erring approach by which souls reach after +Christ? +</p> + +<p> +The disciples wondered at His question: they knew +not that <q>the flesh presses but faith touches;</q> but as +He continued to look around and seek her that had +done this thing, she fell down and told Him all the +truth. Fearing and trembling she spoke, for indeed +she had been presumptuous, and ventured without +permission. But the chief thing was that she had +ventured, and so He graciously replied, Daughter, thy +faith hath made thee whole, go in peace and be whole +of thy plague. Thus she received more than she had +asked or thought; not only healing for the body, but +also a victory over that self-effacing, fearful, half morbid +diffidence, which long and weakening disease entails. +Thus also, instead of a secret cure, she was given the +open benediction of her Lord, and such confirmation in +her privilege as many more would enjoy if only with +their mouth confession were made unto salvation. +</p> + +<p> +While He yet spoke, and the heart of Jairus was +divided between joy at a new evidence of the power +of Christ, and impatience at every moment of delay, +not knowing that his Benefactor was the Lord of time +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> +itself, the fatal message came, tinged with some little +irony as it asked, Why troublest thou the Teacher +any more? It is quite certain that Jesus had before +now raised the dead, but no miracle of the kind had +acquired such prominence as afterwards to claim a +place in the Gospel narratives. +</p> + +<p> +One is led to suspect that the care of Jesus had prevailed, +and they had not been widely published. To +those who brought this message, perhaps no such case +had travelled, certainly none had gained their credence. +It was in their eyes a thing incredible that He +should raise the dead, and indeed there is a wide +difference between every other miracle and this. We +struggle against all else, but when death comes we feel +that all is over except to bury out of our sight what +once was beautiful and dear. Death is destiny made +visible; it is the irrevocable. Who shall unsay the +words of a bleeding heart, I shall go to him but he +shall not return to me? But Christ came to destroy +him that had the power of death. Even now, through +Him, we are partakers of a more intense and deeper +life, and have not only the hope but the beginning of +immortality. And it was the natural seal upon His +lofty mission, that He should publicly raise up the dead. +For so great a task, shall we say that Jesus now +gathers all His energies? That would be woefully to +misread the story; for a grand simplicity, the easy +bearing of unstrained and amply adequate resources, is +common to all the narratives of life brought back. We +shall hereafter see good reason why Jesus employed +means for other miracles, and even advanced by stages +in the work. But lest we should suppose that effort +was necessary, and His power but just sufficed to overcome +the resistance, none of these supreme miracles +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +is wrought with the slightest effort. Prophets and +apostles may need to stretch themselves upon the bed or +to embrace the corpse; Jesus, in His own noble phrase, +awakes it out of sleep. A wonderful ease and quietness +pervade the narratives, expressing exactly the +serene bearing of the Lord of the dead and of the +living. There is no holding back, no toying with the +sorrow of the bereaved, such as even Euripides, the +tenderest of the Greeks, ascribed to the demigod who +tore from the grip of death the heroic wife of Admetus. +Hercules plays with the husband's sorrow, suggests +the consolation of a new bridal, and extorts the angry +cry, <q>Silence, what have you said? I would not have +believed it of you.</q> But what is natural to a hero, +flushed with victory and the sense of patronage, would +have ill become the absolute self-possession and gentle +grace of Jesus. In every case, therefore, He is full of +encouragement and sympathy, even before His work is +wrought. To the widow of Nain He says, <q>Weep not.</q> +He tells the sister of Lazarus, <q>If thou wilt believe, +thou shalt see the salvation of God.</q> And when these +disastrous tidings shake all the faith of Jairus, Jesus +loses not a moment in reassuring Him: <q>Fear not, +only believe,</q> He says, not heeding the word spoken; +that is to say, Himself unagitated and serene.<note place='foot'>Unless indeed the meaning be rather, <q><emph>ever</emph> hearing the word,</q> +which is not its force in the New Testament (Matt. xviii. 17, twice).</note> +</p> + +<p> +In every case some co-operation was expected from the +bystanders. The bearers of the widow's son halted, expectant, +when this majestic and tender Wayfarer touched +the bier. The friends of Lazarus rolled away the stone +from the sepulchre. But the professional mourners in +the house of Jairus were callous and insensible, and +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> +when He interrupted their clamorous wailing, with the +question, Why make ye tumult and weep? they laughed +Him to scorn; a fit expression of the world's purblind +incredulity, its reliance upon ordinary <q>experience</q> to +disprove all possibilities of the extraordinary and Divine, +and its heartless transition from conventional sorrow +to ghastly laughter, mocking in the presence of death—which +is, in its view, so desperate—the last hope of +humanity. Laughter is not the fitting mood in which +to contradict the Christian hope, that our lost ones are +not dead, but sleep. The new and strange hope for +humanity which Jesus thus asserted, He went on to +prove, but not for them. Exerting that moral ascendency, +which sufficed Him twice to cleanse the Temple, +He put them all forth, as already He had shut out the +crowd, and all His disciples but <q>the elect of His election,</q> +the three who now first obtain a special privilege. +The scene was one of surpassing solemnity and awe; +but not more so than that of Nain, or by the tomb of +<emph>Lazarus</emph>. Why then were not only the idly curious +and the scornful, but nine of His chosen ones excluded? +Surely we may believe, for the sake of the little girl, +whose tender grace of unconscious maidenhood should +not, in its hour of reawakened vitality, be the centre +of a gazing circle. He kept with Him the deeply +reverential and the loving, the ripest apostles and the +parents of the child, since love and reverence are ever +the conditions of real insight. And then, first, was +exhibited the gentle and profound regard of Christ for +children. He did not arouse her, as others, with a call +only, but took her by the hand, while He spoke to her +those Aramaic words, so marvellous in their effect, +which St. Peter did not fail to repeat to St. Mark as he +had heard them, Talitha cumi; Damsel, I say unto thee, +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +Arise. They have an added sweetness when we reflect +that the former word, though applied to a very young +child, is in its root a variation of the word for a little +lamb. How exquisite from the lips of the Good Shepherd, +Who gave His life for the sheep. How strange +to be thus awakened from the mysterious sleep, and to +gaze with a child's fresh eyes into the loving eyes of +Jesus. Let us seek to realise such positions, to comprehend +the marvellous heart which they reveal to us, +and we shall derive more love and trust from the effort +than from all such doctrinal inference and allegorizing +as would dry up, into a <foreign rend='italic'>hortus siccus</foreign>, the sweetest blooms +of the sweetest story ever told. +</p> + +<p> +So shall we understand what happened next in all +three cases. Something preternatural and therefore +dreadful, appeared to hang about the lives so wondrously +restored. The widow of Nain did not dare to +embrace her son until Christ <q>gave him to his mother.</q> +The bystanders did not touch Lazarus, bound hand and +foot, until Jesus bade them <q>loose him and let him go.</q> +And the five who stood about this child's bed, amazed +straightway with a great amazement, had to be reminded +that being now in perfect health, after an illness which +left her system wholly unsupplied, something should be +given her to eat. This is the point at which Euripides +could find nothing fitter for Hercules to utter than the +awkward boast, <q>Thou wilt some day say that the +son of Jove was a capital guest to entertain.</q> What a +contrast. For Jesus was utterly unflushed, undazzled, +apparently unconscious of anything to disturb His +composure. And so far was He from the unhappy +modern notion, that every act of grace must be proclaimed +on the housetop, and every recipient of grace +however young, however unmatured, paraded and exhibited, +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +that He charged them much that no man should +know this. +</p> + +<p> +The story throughout is graphic and full of character; +every touch, every word reveals the Divine Man; and +only reluctance to believe a miracle prevents it from +proving itself to every candid mind. Whether it be accepted +or rejected, it is itself miraculous. It could not +have grown up in the soil which generated the early +myths and legends, by the working of the ordinary laws +of mind. It is beyond their power to invent or to +dream, supernatural in the strictest sense. +</p> + +<p> +This miracle completes the cycle. Nature, distracted +by the Fall, has revolted against Him in vain. Satan, +intrenched in his last stronghold, has resisted, and +humbled himself to entreaties and to desperate contrivances, +in vain. Secret and unspoken woes, and silent +germs of belief, have hidden from Him in vain. Death +itself has closed its bony fingers upon its prey, in vain. +Nothing can resist the power and love, which are +enlisted on behalf of all who put their trust in Jesus. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VI.</head> + +<div> +<head>Rejected In His Own Country.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He went out from thence; and He cometh into His own +country; and His disciples follow Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 1-6 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have seen how St. Mark, to bring out more +vividly the connection between four mighty +signs, their ideal completeness as a whole, and that +mastery over nature and the spiritual world which they +reveal, grouped them resolutely together, excluding +even significant incidents which would break in upon +their sequence. Bearing this in mind, how profoundly +instructive it is that our Evangelist shows us this +Master over storm and demons, over too-silent disease, +and over death, too clamorously bewailed, in the next +place teaching His own countrymen in vain, and an +offence to them. How startling to read, at this juncture, +when legend would surely have thrown all men prostrate +at his feet, of His homely family and His trade, +and how He Who rebuked the storm <q>could there do +no mighty work.</q> +</p> + +<p> +First of all, it is touching to see Jesus turning once +more to <q>His own country,</q> just at this crisis. They +had rejected Him in a frenzy of rage, at the outset of +His ministry. And He had very lately repulsed the +rude attempt of His immediate relatives to interrupt +His mission. But now His heart leads Him thither, +once again to appeal to the companions of His youth, +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> +with the halo of His recent and surpassing works upon +His forehead. He does not abruptly interrupt their +vocations, but waits as before for the Sabbath, and +the hushed assembly in the sacred place. And as He +teaches in the synagogue, they are conscious of His +power. Whence could He have these things? His +wisdom was an equal wonder with His mighty works, +of the reality of which they could not doubt. And what +excuse then had they for listening to His wisdom in +vain? But they went on to ask, Is not this the carpenter? +the Son of Mary? they knew His brothers, +and His sisters were living among them. And they +were offended in Him, naturally enough. It <emph>is</emph> hard to +believe in the supremacy of one, whom circumstances +marked as our equal, and to admit the chieftainship of +one who started side by side with us. In Palestine +it was not disgraceful to be a tradesman, but yet they +could fairly claim equality with <q>the carpenter.</q> And +it is plain enough that they found no impressive or +significant difference from their neighbours in the +<q>sisters</q> of Jesus, nor even in her whom all generations +call blessed. Why then should they abase themselves +before the claims of Jesus? +</p> + +<p> +It is an instructive incident. First of all, it shows +us the perfection of our Lord's abasement. He was not +only a carpenter's son, but what this passage only declares +to us explicitly, He wrought as an artizan, and +consecrated for ever a lowly trade, by the toil of those +holy limbs whose sufferings should redeem the world. +</p> + +<p> +And we learn the abject folly of judging by mere +worldly standards. We are bound to give due honour +and precedence to rank and station. Refusing to do +this, we virtually undertake to dissolve society, and +readjust it upon other principles, or by instincts and +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +intuitions of our own, a grave task, when it is realized. +But we are not to be dazzled, much less to be misled, by +the advantages of station or of birth. Yet if, as it would +seem, Nazareth rejected Christ because He was not a +person of quality, this is only the most extreme and +ironical exhibition of what happens every day, when a +noble character, self-denying, self-controlled and wise, +fails to win the respect which is freely and gladly +granted to vice and folly in a coronet. +</p> + +<p> +And yet, to one who reflected, the very objection they +put forward was an evidence of His mission. His +wisdom was confessed, and His miracles were not +denied; were they less wonderful or more amazing, +more supernatural, as the endowments of the carpenter +whom they knew? Whence, they asked, had He derived +His learning, as if it were not more noble for +being original. +</p> + +<p> +Are we sure that men do not still make the same +mistake? The perfect and lowly humanity of Jesus +is a stumbling block to some who will freely admit +His ideal perfections, and the matchless nobility of His +moral teaching. They will grant anything but the +supernatural origin of Him to Whom they attribute +qualities beyond parallel. But whence had He those +qualities? What is there in the Galilee of the first +century which prepares one for discovering there and +then the revolutionizer of the virtues of the world, the +most original, profound, and unique of all teachers, Him +Whose example is still mightier than His precepts, and +only not more perfect, because these also are without +a flaw, Him Whom even unbelief would shrink from +saluting by so cold a title as that of the most saintly of +the saints. To ask with a clear scrutiny, whence the +teaching of Jesus came, to realize the isolation from all +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> +centres of thought and movement, of this Hebrew, this +provincial among Hebrews, this villager in Galilee, this +carpenter in a village, and then to observe His mighty +works in every quarter of the globe, is enough to satisfy +all candid minds that His earthly circumstances have +something totally unlike themselves behind them. And +the more men give ear to materialism and to materialistic +evolution without an evolving mind, so much the more +does the problem press upon them, Whence hath this +man this wisdom? and what mean these mighty works? +</p> + +<p> +From our Lord's own commentary upon their rejection +we learn to beware of the vulgarising effects of +familiarity. They had seen His holy youth, against +which no slander was ever breathed. And yet, while +His teaching astonished them, He had no honour in +his own house. It is the same result which so often +seems to follow from a lifelong familiarity with Scripture +and the means of grace. We read, almost mechanically, +what melts and amazes the pagan to whom it is a new +word. We forsake, or submit to the dull routine of, +ordinances the most sacred, the most searching, the +most invigorating and the most picturesque. +</p> + +<p> +And yet we wonder that the men of Nazareth could +not discern the divinity of <q>the carpenter,</q> whose +family lived quiet and unassuming lives in their own +village. +</p> + +<p> +It is St. Mark, the historian of the energies of Christ, +who tells us that He <q>could there do no mighty work,</q> +with only sufficient exception to prove that neither +physical power nor compassion was what failed Him, +since <q>He laid His hands upon a few sick folk and +healed them.</q> What then is conveyed by this bold +phrase? Surely the fearful power of the human will +to resist the will of man's compassionate Redeemer. +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> +He would have gathered Jerusalem under His wing, +but she would not; and the temporal results of her +disobedience had to follow; siege, massacre and ruin. +God has no pleasure in the death of him who dieth, +yet death follows, as the inevitable wages of sin. +Therefore, as surely as the miracles of Jesus typified +His gracious purposes for the souls of men, Who +forgiveth all our iniquities, Who healeth all our diseases, +so surely the rejection and defeat of those loving +purposes paralysed the arm stretched out to heal +their sick. +</p> + +<p> +Does it seem as if the words <q>He could not,</q> even +thus explained, convey a certain affront, throw a shadow +upon the glory of our Master? And the words <q>they +mocked, scourged, crucified Him,</q> do these convey no +affront? The suffering of Jesus was not only physical: +His heart was wounded; His overtures were rejected; +His hands were stretched out in vain; His pity and +love were crucified. +</p> + +<p> +But now let this be considered, that men who refuse +His Spirit continually presume upon His mercy, and +expect not to suffer the penalty of their evil deeds. +Alas, that is impossible. Where unbelief rejected His +teaching, He <q>could not</q> work the marvels of His +grace. How shall they escape who reject so great +salvation? +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> + +<div> +<head>The Mission Of The Twelve.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He called unto Him the twelve, and began to send them forth +by two and two; and He gave them authority over the unclean spirits; +and He charged them that they should take nothing for <hi rend='italic'>their</hi> journey, +save a staff only; no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse; but <hi rend='italic'>to +go</hi> shod with sandals: and, <hi rend='italic'>said He</hi>, put not on two coats. And He +said unto them, Wheresoever ye enter into a house, there abide till ye +depart thence. And whatsoever place shall not receive you, and they +hear you not, as ye go forth thence, shake off the dust that is under your +feet for a testimony unto them. And they went out, and preached that +<hi rend='italic'>men</hi> should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with +oil many that were sick, and healed them.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 7-13 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Repulsed a second time from the cradle of His youth, +even as lately from Decapolis, with what a heavy heart +must the Loving One have turned away. Yet we read +of no abatement of His labours. He did not, like the +fiery prophet, wander into the desert and make request +that He might die. And it helps us to realise the +elevation of our Lord, when we reflect how utterly +the discouragement with which we sympathise in the +great Elijah would ruin our conception of Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +It was now that He set on foot new efforts, and +advanced in the training of His elect. For Himself, +He went about the villages, whither slander and prejudice +had not yet penetrated, and was content to +break new ground among the most untaught and +sequestered of the people. The humblest field of +labour was not too lowly for the Lord, although we +meet, every day, with men who are <q>thrown away</q> +and <q>buried</q> in obscure fields of usefulness. We +have not yet learned to follow without a murmur the +Carpenter, and the Teacher in villages, even though we +are soothed in grief by thinking, because we endure the +inevitable, that we are followers of the Man of Sorrows. +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> +At the same moment when democracies and priesthoods +are rejecting their Lord, a king had destroyed His +forerunner. On every account it was necessary to +vary as well as multiply the means for the evangelisation +of the country. Thus the movement would be accelerated, +and it would no longer present one solitary +point of attack to its unscrupulous foes. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus therefore called to Him the Twelve, and began +to send them forth. In so doing, His directions revealed +at once His wisdom and His fears for them. +</p> + +<p> +Not even for unfallen man was it good to be alone. +It was a bitter ingredient in the cup which Christ +Himself drank, that His followers should be scattered +to their own and leave Him alone. And it was at the +last extremity, when he could no longer forbear, that +St. Paul thought it good to be at Athens alone. Jesus +therefore would not send His inexperienced heralds +forth for the first time except by two and two, that each +might sustain the courage and wisdom of his comrade. +And His example was not forgotten. Peter and John +together visited the converts in Samaria. And when +Paul and Barnabas, whose first journey was together, +could no longer agree, each of them took a new comrade +and departed. Perhaps our modern missionaries lose +more in energy than is gained in area by neglecting so +humane a precedent, and forfeiting the special presence +vouchsafed to the common worship of two or three. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark has not recorded the mission of the seventy +evangelists, but this narrative is clearly coloured by +his knowledge of that event. Thus He does not +mention the gift of miraculous power, which was +common to both, but He does tell of the authority +over unclean spirits, which was explicitly given to the +Twelve, and which the Seventy, returning with joy, +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +related that they also had successfully dared to claim. +In conferring such power upon His disciples, Jesus +took the first step towards that marvellous identification +of Himself and His mastery over evil, with all His +followers, that giving of His presence to their assemblies, +His honour to their keeping, His victory to their +experience, and His lifeblood to their veins, which +makes Him the second Adam, represented in all the newborn +race, and which finds its most vivid and blessed +expression in the sacrament where His flesh is meat +indeed and His blood is drink indeed. Now first He +is seen to commit His powers and His honour into +mortal hands. +</p> + +<p> +In doing this, He impressed on them the fact that +they were not sent at first upon a toilsome and +protracted journey. Their personal connection with +Him was not broken but suspended for a little while. +Hereafter, they would need to prepare for hardship, +and he that had two coats should take them. It was +not so now: sandals would suffice their feet; they +should carry no wallet; only a staff was needed for +their brief excursion through a hospitable land. But +hospitality itself would have its dangers for them, +and when warmly received they might be tempted to +be fêted by various hosts, enjoying the first enthusiastic +welcome of each, and refusing to share afterwards the +homely domestic life which would succeed. Yet it was +when they ceased to be strangers that their influence +would really be strongest; and so there was good +reason, both for the sake of the family they might +win, and for themselves who should not become self-indulgent, +why they should not go from house to +house. +</p> + +<p> +These directions were not meant to become universal +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +rules, and we have seen how Jesus afterwards explicitly +varied them. But their spirit is an admonition to all +who are tempted to forget their mission in personal +advantages which it may offer. Thus commissioned +and endowed, they should feel as they went the greatness +of the message they conveyed. Wherever they +were rejected; no false meekness should forbid their +indignant protest, and they should refuse to carry +even the dust of that evil and doomed place upon +their feet. +</p> + +<p> +And they went forth and preached repentance, casting +out many devils, and healing many that were sick. +In doing this, they anointed them with oil, as St. James +afterwards directed, but as Jesus never did. He used +no means, or when faith needed to be helped by a +visible application, it was always the touch of His own +hand or the moisture of His own lip. The distinction +is significant. And also it must be remembered that oil +was never used by disciples for the edification of the +dying, but for the recovery of the sick. +</p> + +<p> +By this new agency the name of Jesus was more +than ever spread abroad, until it reached the ears of +a murderous tyrant, and stirred in his bosom not the +repentance which they preached, but the horrors of +ineffectual remorse. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Herod.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And king Herod heard <hi rend='italic'>thereof;</hi> for His name had become known: +and he said, John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore do +these powers work in him. But others said, It is Elijah. And others +said, <hi rend='italic'>It is</hi> a prophet, <hi rend='italic'>even</hi> as one of the prophets. But Herod, when +he heard <hi rend='italic'>thereof</hi>, said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen. For +Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him +in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife: for he +had married her. For John said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee +to have thy brother's wife. And Herodias set herself against him, and +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +desired to kill him; and she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing +that he was a righteous man and a holy, and kept him safe. And +when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly. +And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday +made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men +of Galilee; and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and +danced, she pleased Herod and them that sat at meat with him; and +the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I +will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask +of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went +out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The +head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste +unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou forthwith give me in +a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding +sorry; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he +would not reject her. And straightway the king sent forth a soldier +of his guard, and commanded to bring his head: and he went and +beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and +gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. And +when his disciples heard <hi rend='italic'>thereof</hi>, they came and took up his corpse, +and laid it in a tomb.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 14-29 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The growing influence of Jesus demanded the mission +of the Twelve, and this in its turn increased His fame +until it alarmed the tetrarch Herod. An Idumæan +ruler of Israel was forced to dread every religious +movement, for all the waves of Hebrew fanaticism beat +against the foreign throne. And Herod Antipas was +especially the creature of circumstances, a weak and +plastic man. He is the Ahab of the New Testament, +and it is a curious coincidence that he should have to +do with its Elijah. As Ahab fasted when he heard his +doom, and postponed the evil by his submission, so +Herod was impressed and agitated by the teaching of +the Baptist. But Ahab surrendered his soul to the +imperious Jezebel, and Herod was ruined by Herodias. +Each is the sport of strong influences from without, +and warns us that a man, no more than a ship, can +hope by drifting to come safe to haven. +</p> + +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> + +<p> +No contrast could be imagined more dramatic than +between the sleek seducer of his brother's wife and the +imperious reformer, rude in garment and frugal of fare, +thundering against the generation of vipers who were +the chiefs of his religion. +</p> + +<p> +How were these two brought together? Did the +Baptist stride unsummoned into the court? Did his +crafty foemen contrive his ruin by inciting the Tetrarch +to consult him? Or did that restless religious curiosity, +which afterwards desired to see Jesus, lead Herod to +consult his forerunner? The abrupt words of John +are not unlike an answer to some feeble question of +casuistry, some plea of extenuating circumstances such +as all can urge in mitigation of their worst deeds. He +simply and boldly states the inflexible ordinance of +God: It is not lawful for thee to have her. +</p> + +<p> +What follows may teach us much. +</p> + +<p> +1. It warns us that good inclinations, veneration for +holiness in others, and ineffectual struggles against our +own vices, do not guarantee salvation. He who feels +them is not God-forsaken, since every such emotion is +a grace. But he must not infer that he never may be +forsaken, or that because he is not wholly indifferent +or disobedient, God will some day make him all that +his better moods desire. Such a man should be warned +by Herod Antipas. Ruggedly and abruptly rebuked, +his soul recognised and did homage to the truthfulness +of his teacher. Admiration replaced the anger in which +he cast him into prison. As he stood between him +and the relentless Herodias, and <q>kept him safely,</q> he +perhaps believed that the gloomy dungeon, and the +utter interruption of a great career, were only for the +Baptist's preservation. Alas, there was another cause. +He was <q>much perplexed</q>: he dared not provoke his +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> +temptress by releasing the man of God. And thus +temporizing, and daily weakening the voice of conscience +by disobedience, he was lost. +</p> + +<p> +2. It is distinctly a bad omen that he <q>heard him +gladly,</q> since he had no claim to well-founded religious +happiness. Our Lord had already observed the +shallowness of men who immediately with joy receive +the word, yet have no root. But this guilty man, +disquieted by the reproaches of memory and the +demands of conscience, found it a relief to hear stern +truth, and to see from far the beauteous light of +righteousness. He would not reform his life, but he +would fain keep his sensibilities alive. It was so that +Italian brigands used to maintain a priest. And it +is so that fraudulent British tradesmen too frequently +pass for religious men. People cry shame on their +hypocrisy. Yet perhaps they less often wear a mask +to deceive others than a cloke to keep their own hearts +warm, and should not be quoted to prove that religion +is a deceit, but as witnesses that even the most worldly +soul craves as much of it as he can assimilate. So it +was with Herod Antipas. +</p> + +<p> +3. But no man can serve two masters. He who refuses +the command of God to choose whom he will serve, +in calmness and meditation, when the means of grace +and the guidance of the Spirit are with him, shall hear +some day the voice of the Tempter, derisive and triumphant, +amid evil companions, when flushed with guilty +excitements and with sensual desires, and deeply committed +by rash words and <q>honour rooted in dishonour,</q> +bidding him choose now, and choose finally. Salome +will tolerate neither weak hesitation nor half measures; +she must herself possess <q>forthwith</q> the head of her +mother's foe, which is worth more than half the kingdom, +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> +since his influence might rob them of it all. And the +king was exceeding sorry, but chose to be a murderer +rather than be taken for a perjurer by the bad companions +who sat with him. What a picture of a craven +soul, enslaved even in the purple. And of the meshes +for his own feet which that man weaves, who gathers +around him such friends that their influence will surely +mislead his lonely soul in its future struggles to be +virtuous. What a lurid light does this passage throw +upon another and a worse scene, when we meet Herod +again, not without the tyrannous influence of his men +of war. +</p> + +<p> +4. We learn the mysterious interconnection of sin +with sin. Vicious luxury and self-indulgence, the +plastic feebleness of character which half yields to John, +yet cannot break with Herodias altogether, these do not +seem likely to end in murder. They have scarcely +strength enough, we feel, for a great crime. Alas, they +have feebleness enough for it, for he who joins in the +dance of the graces may give his hand to the furies +unawares. Nothing formidable is to be seen in Herod, +up to the fatal moment when revelry, and the influence +of his associates, and the graceful dancing of a woman +whose beauty was pitiless, urged him irresistibly forward +to bathe his shrinking hands in blood. And from +this time forward he is a lost man. When a greater +than John is reported to be working miracles, he has a +wild explanation for the new portent, and his agitation +is betrayed in his broken words, <q>John, whom I beheaded, +he is risen.</q> <q>For</q> St. Mark adds with quiet +but grave significance, <q>Herod himself had sent forth +and laid hold upon John, and bound him.</q> Others might +speak of a mere teacher, but the conscience of Herod +will not suffer it to be so; it is his victim; he has learnt +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +the secret of eternity; <q>and therefore do these powers +work in him.</q> Yet Herod was a Sadducee. +</p> + +<p> +5. These words are dramatic enough to prove themselves; +it would have tasked Shakespere to invent them. +But they involve the ascription from the first of unearthly +powers to Jesus, and they disprove, what sceptics would +fain persuade us, that miracles were inevitably ascribed, +by the credulity of the age, to all great teachers, since +John wrought none, and the astonishing theory that +he had graduated in another world, was invented by +Herod to account for those of Jesus. How inevitable +it was that such a man should set at nought our Lord. +Dread, and moral repulsion, and the suspicion that he +himself was the mark against which all the powers of +the avenger would be directed, these would not produce +a mood in which to comprehend One who did not strive +nor cry. To them it was a supreme relief to be able to +despise Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Elsewhere we can trace the gradual cessation of the +alarm of Herod. At first he dreads the presence of the +new Teacher, and yet dares not assail Him openly. +And so, when Jesus was advised to go thence or Herod +would kill Him, He at once knew who had instigated +the crafty monition, and sent back his defiance to that +fox. But even fear quickly dies in a callous heart, and +only curiosity survives. Herod is soon glad to see +Jesus, and hopes that He may work a miracle. For +religious curiosity and the love of spiritual excitement +often survive grace, just as the love of stimulants survives +the healthy appetite for bread. But our Lord, +Who explained so much for Pilate, spoke not a word to +him. And the wretch, whom once the forerunner had +all but won, now set the Christ Himself at nought, and +mocked Him, So yet does the God of this world blind +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> +the eyes of the unbelieving. So great are still the +dangers of hesitation, since not to be for Christ is to +be against Him. +</p> + +<p> +6. But the blood of the martyr was not shed before +his work was done. As the falling blossom admits the +sunshine to the fruit, so the herald died when his +influence might have clashed with the growing influence +of his Lord, Whom the Twelve were at last trained to +proclaim far and wide. At a stroke, his best followers +were naturally transferred to Jesus, Whose way he had +prepared. Rightly, therefore, has St. Mark placed the +narrative at this juncture, and very significantly does +St. Matthew relate that his disciples, when they had +buried him, <q>came and told Jesus.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Upon the path of our Lord Himself this violent death +fell as a heavy shadow. Nor was He unconscious of +its menace, for after the transfiguration He distinctly +connected with a prediction of His own death, the fact +that they had done to Elias also whatsoever they listed. +Such connections of thought help us to realise the truth, +that not once only, but throughout His ministry, He +Who bids us bear our cross while we follow Him, was +consciously bearing His own. We must not limit to +<q>three days</q> the sorrows which redeemed the world. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Bread In The Desert.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus; and they +told Him all things, whatsoever they had done, and whatsoever they +had taught. And He saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a +desert place, and rest awhile. For there were many coming and going, +and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they went away in +the boat to a desert place apart. And <hi rend='italic'>the people</hi> saw them going, and +many knew <hi rend='italic'>them</hi>, and they ran there together on foot from all the +cities, and outwent them. And He came forth and saw a great +multitude, and He had compassion on them, because they were as +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> +sheep not having a shepherd: and He began to teach them many +things. And when the day was now far spent, His disciples came +onto Him, and said, The place is desert, and the day is now far spent: +send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round +about, and buy themselves somewhat to eat. But He answered and +said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, Shall +we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to +eat? And He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go <hi rend='italic'>and</hi> +see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And He +commanded them that all should sit down by companies upon the +green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. +And He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to +heaven, He blessed, and brake the loaves; and He gave to the disciples +to set before them; and the two fishes divided He among them all. +And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up broken pieces, +twelve basketfuls, and also of the fishes. And they that ate the loaves +were five thousand men. And straightway He constrained His +disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before <hi rend='italic'>Him</hi> unto the other +side to Bethsaida, while He Himself sendeth the multitude away. +And after He had taken leave of them He departed into the mountain +to pray.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 30-46 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The Apostles, now first called by that name, because +now first these <q>Messengers</q> had carried the message +of their Lord, returned and told Him all, the miracles +they had performed, and whatever they had taught. +From the latter clause it is plain that to preach <q>that +men should repent,</q> involved arguments, motives, promises, +and perhaps threatenings which rendered it no +meagre announcement. It is in truth a demand which +involves free will and responsibility as its basis, and +has hell or heaven for the result of disobedience or +compliance. Into what controversies may it have led +these first preachers of Jesus! All was now submitted +to the judgment of their Master. And happy are they +still who do not shrink from the healing pain of +bringing all their actions and words to Him, and +hearkening what the Lord will speak. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the whole, they brought a record of success, +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +and around Him also were so many coming and going +that they had no leisure so much as to eat. Whereupon +Jesus draws them aside to rest awhile. For the +balance must never be forgotten between the outer and +the inner life. The Lord Himself spent the following +night in prayer, until He saw the distress of His +disciples, and came to them upon the waves. And the +time was at hand when they, who now rejoiced that +the devils were subject unto them, should learn by +sore humiliation and defeat that this kind goeth not +forth except by prayer. We may be certain that it +was not bodily repose alone that Jesus desired for his +flushed and excited ambassadors, in the hour of their +success. And yet bodily repose also at such a time is +healing, and in the very pause, the silence, the cessation +of the rush, pressure, and excitement of every +conspicuous career, there is an opportunity and even a +suggestion of calm and humble recollection of the soul. +Accordingly they crossed in the boat to some quiet spot, +open and unreclaimed, but very far from such dreariness +as the mention of a desert suggests to us. But +the people saw Him, and watched His course, while outrunning +him along the coast, and their numbers were +augmented from every town as they poured through it, +until He came forth and saw a great multitude, and +knew that His quest of solitude was baffled. Few +things are more trying than the world's remorseless +intrusion upon one's privacy, and subversions of plans +which one has laid, not for himself alone. But Jesus +was as thoughtful for the multitude as He had just +shown Himself to be for His disciples. Not to petulance +but to compassion did their urgency excite Him; +for as they streamed across the wilderness, far from +believing upon Him, but yet conscious of sore need, +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +unsatisfied with the doctrine of their professional +teachers, and just bereaved of the Baptist, they seemed +in the desert like sheep that had no shepherd. And +He patiently taught them many things. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was He careful only for their souls. We have +now reached that remarkable miracle which alone is +related by all the four Evangelists. And the narratives, +while each has its individual and peculiar points, +corroborate each other very strikingly. All four mention +the same kind of basket, quite different from what +appears in the feeding of the four thousand. St. John +alone tells us that it was the season of the Passover, +the middle of the Galilean spring-time; but yet this +agrees exactly with St. Mark's allusion to the <q>green +grass</q> which summer has not yet dried up. All four +have recorded that Jesus <q>blessed</q> or <q>gave thanks,</q> +and three of them that He looked up to heaven while +doing so. What was there so remarkable, so intense +or pathetic in His expression, that it should have +won this three-fold celebration? If we remember the +symbolical meaning of what He did, and that as His +hands were laid upon the bread which He would break, +so His own body should soon be broken for the relief +of the hunger of the world, how can we doubt that +absolute self-devotion, infinite love, and pathetic resignation +were in that wonderful look, which never could +be forgotten? +</p> + +<p> +There could have been but few women and children +among the multitudes who <q>outran Jesus,</q> and these +few would certainly have been trodden down if a rush +of strong and hungry men for bread had taken place. +Therefore St. John mentions that while Jesus bade +<q>the people</q> to be seated, it was the men who were +actually arranged (vi. 10 R.V.). Groups of fifty were +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +easy to keep in order, and a hundred of these were easily +counted. And thus it comes to pass that we know +that there were five thousand men, while the women +and children remained unreckoned, as St. Matthew +asserts, and St. Mark implies. This is a kind of +harmony which we do not find in two versions of any +legend. Nor could any legendary impulse have imagined +the remarkable injunction, which impressed all +four Evangelists, to be frugal when it would seem that +the utmost lavishness was pardonable. They were +not indeed bidden to gather up fragments left behind +upon the ground, for thrift is not meanness; but the +<q>broken pieces</q> which our Lord had provided over and +above should not be lost. <q>This union of economy +with creative power,</q> said Olshausen, <q>could never +have been invented, and yet Nature, that mirror of +the Divine perfections, exhibits the same combination +of boundless munificence with truest frugality.</q> And +Godet adds the excellent remark, that <q>a gift so +obtained was not to be squandered.</q> +</p> + +<p> +There is one apparent discord to set against these +remarkable harmonies, and it will at least serve to +show that they are not calculated and artificial. +</p> + +<p> +St. John represents Jesus as the first to ask Philip, +Whence are we to buy bread? whereas the others +represent the Twelve as urging upon Him the need to +dismiss the multitude, at so late an hour, from a place +so ill provided. The inconsistency is only an apparent +one. It was early in the day, and upon <q>seeing a +great company come unto Him,</q> that Jesus questioned +Philip, who might have remembered an Old Testament +precedent, when Elisha said <q>Give unto the people that +they may eat. And his servitor said, What? shall I +set this before an hundred men? He said, again, +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> +they shall both eat and shall also leave thereof.</q> But +the faith of Philip did not respond, and if any hope of +a miracle were excited, it faded as time passed over. +Hours later, when the day was far spent, the Twelve, +now perhaps excited by Philip's misgiving, and repeating +his calculation about the two hundred pence, urge +Jesus to dismiss the multitude. They took no action +until <q>the time was already past,</q> but Jesus saw the +end from the beginning. And surely the issue taught +them not to distrust their Master's power. Now the +same power is for ever with the Church; and our +heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of food +and raiment. +</p> + +<p> +Even in the working of a miracle, the scantiest +means vouchsafed by Providence are not despised. +Jesus takes the barley-loaves and the fishes, and so +teaches all men that true faith is remote indeed from +the fanaticism which neglects any resources brought +within the reach of our study and our toil. And to +show how really these materials were employed, the +broken pieces which they gathered are expressly said +to have been composed of the barley-loaves and of +the fish. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed it must be remarked that in no miracle of the +Gospel did Jesus actually create. He makes no new +members of the body, but restores old useless ones. +<q>And so, without a substratum to work upon He +creates neither bread nor wine.</q> To do this would not +have been a whit more difficult, but it would have expressed +less aptly His mission, which was not to create +a new system of things, but to renew the old, to recover +the lost sheep, and to heal the sick at heart. +</p> + +<p> +Every circumstance of this miracle is precious. +That vigilant care for the weak which made the people +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> +sit down in groups, and await their turn to be supplied, +is a fine example of the practical eye for details which +was never, before or since, so perfectly united with +profound thought, insight into the mind of God and the +wants of the human race. +</p> + +<p> +The words, Give ye them to eat, may serve as an +eternal rebuke to the helplessness of the Church, face +to face with a starving world, and regarding her own +scanty resources with dismay. In the presence of +heathenism, of dissolute cities, and of semi-pagan peasantries, +she is ever looking wistfully to some costly +far-off supply. And her Master is ever bidding her +believe that the few loaves and fishes in her hand, if +blessed and distributed by Him, will satisfy the famine +of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +For in truth He is Himself this bread. All that +the Gospel of St. John explains, underlies the narratives +of the four. And shame on us, with Christ given to +us to feed and strengthen us, if we think our resources +scanty, if we grudge to share them with mankind, if we +let our thoughts wander away to the various palliatives +for human misery and salves for human anguish, which +from time to time gain the credence of an hour; if we +send the hungry to the country and villages round +about, when Christ the dispenser of the Bread of souls, +for ever present in His Church, is saying, They need +not depart, give ye them to eat. +</p> + +<p> +The sceptical explanations of this narrative are +exquisitely ludicrous. One tells us how, finding themselves +in a desert, <q>thanks to their extreme frugality +they were able to exist, and this was naturally</q> (what, +naturally?) <q>regarded as a miracle.</q> This is called +the legendary explanation, and every one can judge +for himself how much it succeeds in explaining to him. +</p> + +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> + +<p> +Another tells us that Jesus being greater than Moses, +it was felt that He must have outstripped him in +miraculous power. And so the belief grew up that as +Moses fed a nation during forty years, with angels' +food, He, to exceed this, must have bestowed upon +five thousand men one meal of barley bread. +</p> + +<p> +This is called the mythical explanation, and the +credulity which accepts it must not despise Christians, +who only believe their Bibles. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus had called away His followers to rest. The +multitude which beheld this miracle was full of passionate +hate against the tyrant, upon whose hands the +blood of the Baptist was still warm. All they wanted +was a leader. And now they would fain have taken +Jesus by force to thrust this perilous honour upon Him. +Therefore He sent away His disciples first, that ambition +and hope might not agitate and secularise their +minds; and when He had dismissed the multitude He +Himself ascended the neighbouring mountain, to cool +His frame with the pure breezes, and to refresh His +Holy Spirit by communion with His Father. Prayer +was natural to Jesus; but think how much more needful +is it to us. And yet perhaps we have never taken one +hour from sleep for God. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Jesus Walking On The Water.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 47-52 (R.V.). +</p> + +<p> +(See iv. 36, pp. <ref target='Pg133'>133-140</ref>.) +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> + +<div> +<head>Unwashen Hands.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when they had crossed over, they came to the land unto Gennesaret, +and moored to the shore.... Making void the word of God +by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things +ye do.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vi. 53-vii. 13 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +There is a condition of mind which readily accepts the +temporal blessings of religion, and yet neglects, and +perhaps despises, the spiritual truths which they ratify +and seal. When Jesus landed on Gennesaret, He was +straightway known, and as He passed through the +district, there was hasty bearing of all the sick to meet +Him, laying them in public places, and beseeching Him +that they might touch, if no more, the border of His +garment. By the faith which believed in so easy a cure, +a timid woman had recently won signal commendation. +But the very fact that her cure had become public, +while it accounts for the action of these crowds, deprives +it of any special merit. We only read that +as many as touched Him were made whole. And we +know that just now He was forsaken by many even of +His disciples, and had to ask His very apostles, Will +ye also go away? +</p> + +<p> +Thus we find these two conflicting movements: +among the sick and their friends a profound persuasion +that He can heal them; and among those whom He +would fain teach, resentment and revolt against His +doctrine. The combination is strange, but we dare not +call it unfamiliar. We see the opposing tendencies +even in the same man, for sorrow and pain drive to +His knees many a one who will not take upon His neck +the easy yoke. Yet how absurd it is to believe in +Christ's goodness and His power, and still to dare to +sin against Him, still to reject the inevitable inference +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +that His teaching must bring bliss. Men ought to ask +themselves what is involved when they pray to Christ +and yet refuse to serve Him. +</p> + +<p> +As Jesus moved thus around the district, and +responded so amply to their supplication that His very +raiment was charged with health as if with electricity, +which leaps out at a touch, what an effect He must +have produced, even upon the ceremonial purity of the +district. Sickness meant defilement, not for the sufferer +alone, but for his friends, his nurse, and the bearers of +his little pallet. By the recovery of one sick man, a +fountain of Levitical pollution was dried up. And the +harsh and rigid legalist ought to have perceived that +from his own point of view the pilgrimage of Jesus was +like the breath of spring upon a garden, to restore its +freshness and bloom. +</p> + +<p> +It was therefore an act of portentous waywardness +when, at this juncture, a complaint was made of His +indifference to ceremonial cleanness. For of course a +charge against His disciples was really a complaint +against the influence which guided them so ill. +</p> + +<p> +It was not a disinterested complaint. Jerusalem +was alarmed at the new movement resulting from the +mission of the Twelve, their miracles, and the mighty +works which He Himself had lately wrought. And a +deputation of Pharisees and scribes came from this +centre of ecclesiastical prejudice, to bring Him to +account. They do not assail His doctrine, nor charge +Him with violating the law itself, for He had put to +shame their querulous complaints about the sabbath +day. But tradition was altogether upon their side: it +was a weapon ready sharpened for their use against +one so free, unconventional and fearless. +</p> + +<p> +The law had imposed certain restrictions upon the +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> +chosen race, restrictions which were admirably sanitary +in their nature, while aiming also at preserving the +isolation of Israel from the corrupt and foul nations +which lay around. All such restrictions were now +about to pass away, because religion was to become +aggressive, it was henceforth to invade the nations +from whose inroads it had heretofore sought a convert. +But the Pharisees had not been content even with the +severe restrictions of the law. They had not regarded +these as a fence for themselves against spiritual impurity, +but as an elaborate and artificial substitute for +love and trust. And therefore, as love and spiritual +religion faded out of their hearts, they were the more +jealous and sensitive about the letter of the law. They +<q>fenced</q> it with elaborate rules, and precautions against +accidental transgressions, superstitiously dreading an +involuntary infraction of its minutest details. Certain +substances were unclean food. But who could tell +whether some atom of such substance, blown about in +the dust of summer, might adhere to the hand with +which he ate, or to the cups and pots whence his food +was drawn? Moreover, the Gentile nations were unclean, +and it was not possible to avoid all contact with +them in the market-places, returning whence, therefore, +every devout Jew was careful to wash himself, which +washing, though certainly not an immersion, is here +plainly called a baptism. Thus an elaborate system +of ceremonial washing, not for cleansing, but as a religious +precaution, had grown up among the Jews. +</p> + +<p> +But the disciples of Jesus had begun to learn their +emancipation. Deeper and more spiritual conceptions +of God and man and duty had grown up in them. And +the Pharisees saw that they ate their bread with unwashen +hands. It availed nothing that half a population +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> +owed purity and health to their Divine benevolence, if in +the process the letter of a tradition were infringed. It +was necessary to expostulate with Jesus, because they +walked not according to the tradition of the elders, that +dried skin of an old orthodoxy in which prescription +and routine would ever fain shut up the seething +enthusiasms and insights of the present time. +</p> + +<p> +With such attempts to restrict and cramp the free +life of the soul, Jesus could have no sympathy. He +knew well that an exaggerated trust in any form, any +routine or ritual whatever, was due to the need of some +stay and support for hearts which have ceased to trust +in a Father of souls. But He chose to leave them +without excuse by showing their transgression of actual +precepts which real reverence for God would have +respected. Like books of etiquette for people who +have not the instincts of gentlemen; so do ceremonial +religions spring up where the instinct of respect for the +will of God is dull or dead. Accordingly Jesus quotes +against these Pharisees a distinct precept, a word not +of their fathers, but of God, which their tradition had +caused them to trample upon. If any genuine reverence +for His commandment had survived, it would have +been outraged by such a collision between the text and +the gloss, the precept and the precautionary supplement. +But they had never felt the incongruity, never +been jealous enough for the commandment of God to +revolt against the encroaching tradition which insulted +it. The case which Jesus gave, only as one of <q>many +such like things,</q> was an abuse of the system of +vows, and of dedicated property. It would seem that +from the custom of <q>devoting</q> a man's property, +and thus putting it beyond his further control, had +grown up the abuse of consecrating it with such +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> +limitations, that it should still be available for the +owner, but out of his power to give to others. And +thus, by a spell as abject as the taboo of the South Sea +islanders, a man glorified God by refusing help to his +father and mother, without being at all the poorer for +the so-called consecration of his means. And even if +he awoke up to the shameful nature of his deed, it was +too late, for <q>ye no longer suffer him to do ought for +his father of his mother.</q> And yet Moses had made +it a capital offence to <q>speak evil of father or mother.</q> +Did they then allow such slanders? Not at all, and so +they would have refused to confess any aptness in the +quotation. But Jesus was not thinking of the letter of +a precept, but of the spirit and tendency of a religion, +to which they were blind. With what scorn He regarded +their miserable subterfuges, is seen by His +vigorous word, <q>full well do ye make void the commandment +of God that ye may keep your traditions.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Now the root of all this evil was unreality. It was +not merely because their heart was far from God that +they invented hollow formalisms; indifference leads to +neglect, not to a perverted and fastidious earnestness. +But while their hearts were earthly, they had learned +to honour God with their lips. The judgments which +had sent their fathers into exile, the pride of their +unique position among the nations, and the self-interest +of privileged classes, all forbade them to neglect the +worship in which they had no joy, and which, therefore, +they were unable to follow as it reached out into +infinity, panting after God, a living God. There was +no principle of life, growth, aspiration, in their dull +obedience. And what could it turn into but a routine, +a ritual, a verbal homage, and the honour of the lips +only? And how could such a worship fail to shelter +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> +itself in evasions from the heart-searching earnestness +of a law which was spiritual, while the worshipper was +carnal and sold under sin? +</p> + +<p> +It was inevitable that collisions should arise. And +the same results will always follow the same causes. +Wherever men bow the knee for the sake of respectability, +or because they dare not absent themselves +from the outward haunts of piety, yet fail to love God +and their neighbour, there will the form outrage the +spirit, and in vain will they worship, teaching as their +doctrines the traditions of men. +</p> + +<p> +Very completely indeed was the relative position of +Jesus and His critics reversed, since they had expressed +pain at the fruitless effort of His mother to speak with +Him, and He had seemed to set the meanest disciple +upon a level with her. But He never really denied the +voice of nature, and they never really heard it. An +affectation of respect would have satisfied their heartless +formality: He thought it the highest reward of +discipleship to share the warmth of His love. And +therefore, in due time, it was seen that His critics +were all unconscious of the wickedness of filial neglect +which set His heart on fire. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VII.</head> + +<div> +<head>Things Which Defile.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He called to Him the multitude again, and said unto them, +Hear Me all of you, and understand: there is nothing from without +the man, that going into him can defile him: but the things which +proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. And when He +was entered into the house from the multitude, His disciples asked of +Him the parable. And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding +also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth +into the man, <hi rend='italic'>it</hi> cannot defile him; because it goeth not into his heart, +but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? <hi rend='italic'>This He said</hi>, +making all meats clean. And He said, That which proceeded out of +the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of +men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, +covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, +pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile +the man.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vii. 14-23 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +When Jesus had exposed the hypocrisy of the +Pharisees, He took a bold and significant step. +Calling the multitude to Him, He publicly announced +that no diet can really pollute the soul; only its own +actions and desires can do that: not that which entereth +into the man can defile him, but the things +which proceed out of the man. +</p> + +<p> +He does not as yet proclaim the abolition of the law, +but He surely declares that it is only temporary, +because it is conventional, not rooted in the eternal +distinctions between right and wrong, but artificial. +And He shows that its time is short indeed, by charging +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> +the multitude to understand how limited is its +reach, how poor are its effects. +</p> + +<p> +Such teaching, addressed with marked emphasis to +the public, the masses, whom the Pharisees despised +as ignorant of the law, and cursed, was a defiance +indeed. And the natural consequence was an opposition +so fierce that He was driven to betake Himself, +for the only time, and like Elijah in his extremity, to a +Gentile land. And yet there was abundant evidence in +the Old Testament itself that the precepts of the law +were not the life of souls. David ate the shewbread. +The priests profaned the sabbath. Isaiah spiritualized +fasting. Zechariah foretold the consecration of the +Philistines. Whenever the spiritual energies of the +ancient saints received a fresh access, they were seen +to strive against and shake off some of the trammels of +a literal and servile legalism. The doctrine of Jesus +explained and justified what already was felt by the +foremost spirits in Israel. +</p> + +<p> +When they were alone, <q>the disciples asked of Him +the parable,</q> that is, in other words, the saying which +they felt to be deeper than they understood, and full +of far-reaching issues. But Jesus rebuked them for +not understanding what uncleanness really meant. +For Him, defilement was badness, a condition of the +soul. And therefore meats could not defile a man, +because they did not reach the heart, but only the +bodily organs. In so doing, as St. Mark plainly adds, +He made all meats clean, and thus pronounced the +doom of Judaism, and the new dispensation of the +Spirit. In truth, St. Paul did little more than expand +this memorable saying. <q>Nothing that goeth into a +man can defile him,</q> here is the germ of all the decision +about idol meats—<q>neither if <q>one</q> eat is he the better, +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +neither if he eat not is he the worse.</q> <q>The things +which proceed out of the man are those which defile +the man,</q> here is the germ of all the demonstration +that love fulfils the law; and that our true need is to +be renewed inwardly, so that we may bring forth fruit +unto God. +</p> + +<p> +But the true pollution of the man comes from within; +and the life is stained because the heart is impure. For +from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, +like the uncharitable and bitter judgments of His +accusers—and thence come also the sensual indulgences +which men ascribe to the flesh, but which depraved +imaginations excite, and love of God and their neighbour +would restrain—and thence are the sins of +violence which men excuse by pleading sudden provocation, +whereas the spark led to a conflagration only +because the heart was a dry fuel—and thence, plainly +enough, come deceit and railing, pride and folly. +</p> + +<p> +It is a hard saying, but our conscience acknowledges +the truth of it. We are not the toy of circumstances, +but such as we have made ourselves; and our lives +would have been pure if the stream had flowed from +a pure fountain. However modern sentiment may rejoice +in highly coloured pictures of the noble profligate +and his pure minded and elegant victim; of the brigand +or the border ruffian full of kindness, with a heart as +gentle as his hands are red; and however true we +may feel it to be that the worst heart may never have +betrayed itself by the worst actions, but many that are +first shall be last, it still continues to be the fact, and +undeniable when we do not sophisticate our judgment, +that <q>all these evil things proceed from within.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is also true that they <q>further defile the man.</q> The +corruption which already existed in the heart is made +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> +worse by passing into action; shame and fear are +weakened; the will is confirmed in evil; a gap is +opened or widened between the man who commits a +new sin, and the virtue on which he has turned his +back. Few, alas! are ignorant of the defiling power of +a bad action, or even of a sinful thought deliberately +harboured, and the harbouring of which is really an +action, a decision of the will. +</p> + +<p> +This word which makes all meats clean, ought for +ever to decide the question whether certain drinks are +in the abstract unlawful for a Christian. +</p> + +<p> +We must remember that it leaves untouched the +question, what restrictions may be necessary for men +who have depraved and debased their own appetites, +until innocent indulgence <emph>does</emph> reach the heart and +pervert it. Hand and foot are innocent, but men there +are who cannot enter into life otherwise than halt or +maimed. Also it leaves untouched the question, as long +as such men exist, how far may I be privileged to +share and so to lighten the burden imposed on them +by past transgressions? It is surely a noble sign of +religious life in our day, that many thousands can say, +as the Apostle said, of innocent joys, <q>Have we not a +right? ... Nevertheless we did not use this right, but +we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance +to the gospel of Christ.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless the rule is absolute: <q>Whatsoever from +without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him.</q> +And the Church of Christ is bound to maintain, uncompromised +and absolute, the liberty of Christian +souls. +</p> + +<p> +Let us not fail to contrast such teaching as this +of Jesus with that of our modern materialism. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The value of meat and drink is perfectly transcendental,</q> +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> +says one. <q>Man is what he eats,</q> says +another. But it is enough to make us tremble, to ask +what will issue from such teaching if it ever grasps +firmly the mind of a single generation. What will +become of honesty, when the value of what may be +had by theft is transcendental? How shall armies be +persuaded to suffer hardness, and populations to famish +within beleaguered walls, when they learn that <q>man is +what he eats,</q> so that his very essence is visibly enfeebled, +his personality starved out, as he grows pale +and wasted underneath his country's flag? In vain +shall such a generation strive to keep alive the flame +of generous self-devotion. Self-devotion seemed to +their fathers to be the noblest attainment; to them +it can be only a worn-out form of speech to say that +the soul can overcome the flesh. For to them the man +is the flesh; he is the resultant of his nourishment; +what enters into the mouth makes his character, for +it makes him all. +</p> + +<p> +There is that within us all which knows better; +which sets against the aphorism, <q>Man is what he +eats;</q> the text <q>As a man thinketh in his heart so is +he;</q> which will always spurn the doctrine of the brute, +when it is boldly confronted with the doctrine of the +Crucified. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> + +<div> +<head>The Children And The Dogs.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And from thence He arose, and went away into the borders of +Tyre and Sidon. And He entered into a house, and would have no +man know it: and He could not be hid. But straightway a woman, +whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of Him, +came and fell down at His feet. Now the woman was a Greek, a +Syrophœnician by race. And she besought Him that He would cast +forth the devil out of her daughter. And He said unto her, Let the +children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread +and cast it to the dogs. But she answered and saith unto Him, Yea, +Lord: even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. +And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone +out of thy daughter. And she went away unto her house, and found +the child laid upon the bed, and the devil gone out.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vii. 24-30 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The ingratitude and perverseness of His countrymen +have now driven Jesus into retirement <q>on the borders</q> +of heathenism. It it is not clear that He has yet crossed +the frontier, and some presumption to the contrary is +found in the statement that a woman, drawn by a fame +which had long since gone throughout all Syria, <q>came +out of those borders</q> to reach Him. She was not only +<q>a Greek</q> (by language or by creed as conjecture may +decide, though very probably the word means little +more than a Gentile), but even of the especially accursed +race of Canaan, the reprobate of reprobates. And yet +the prophet Zechariah had foreseen a time when the +Philistine also should be a remnant for our God, and +as a chieftain in Judah, and when the most stubborn +race of all the Canaanites should be absorbed in Israel +as thoroughly as that which gave Araunah to the kindliest +intercourse with David, for Ekron should be as a +Jebusite (ix. 7). But the hour for breaking down the +middle wall of partition was not yet fully come. Nor +did any friend plead for this unhappy woman, that she +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +loved the nation and had built a synagogue; nothing +as yet lifted her above the dead level of that paganism +to which Christ, in the days of His flesh and upon +earth, had no commission. Even the great champion +and apostle of the Gentiles confessed that his Lord was +a minister of the circumcision by the grace of God, and +it was by His ministry to the Jews that the Gentiles +were ultimately to be won. We need not be surprised +therefore at His silence when she pleaded, for this +might well be calculated to elicit some expression of +faith, something to separate her from her fellows, and +so enable Him to bless her without breaking down +prematurely all distinctions. Also it must be considered +that nothing could more offend His countrymen +than to grant her prayer, while as yet it was +impossible to hope for any compensating harvest among +her fellows, such as had been reaped in Samaria. +What is surprising is the apparent harshness of expression +which follows that silence, when even His disciples +are induced to intercede for her. But theirs was only +the softness which yields to clamour, as many people give +alms, not to silent worth but to loud and pertinacious +importunity. And they even presumed to throw their +own discomfort into the scale, and urge as a reason for +this intercession, that she crieth after <emph>us</emph>. But Jesus +was occupied with His mission, and unwilling to go +farther than He was sent. +</p> + +<p> +In her agony she pressed nearer still to Him when +He refused, and worshipped Him, no longer as the Son +of David, since what was Hebrew in His commission +made against her; but simply appealed to His compassion, +calling Him Lord. The absence of these +details from St. Mark's narrative is interesting, and +shows the mistake of thinking that his Gospel is simply +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> +the most graphic and the fullest. It is such when our +Lord Himself is in action; its information is derived +from one who pondered and told all things, not as they +were pictorial in themselves, but as they illustrated the +one great figure of the Son of man. And so the +answer of Jesus is fully given, although it does not +appear as if grace were poured into His lips. <q>Let +the children first be filled, for it is not meet to take +the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs.</q> It +might seem that sterner words could scarcely have +been spoken, and that His kindness was only for the +Jews, who even in their ingratitude were to the best +of the Gentiles as children compared with dogs. Yet +she does not contradict Him. Neither does she argue +back,—for the words <q>Truth, Lord, but ...</q> have +rightly disappeared from the Revised Version, and with +them a certain contentious aspect which they give to her +reply. On the contrary she assents, she accepts all the +seeming severity of His view, because her penetrating +faith has detected its kindly undertone, and the triple +opportunity which it offers to a quick and confiding +intelligence. It is indeed touching to reflect how impregnable +was Jesus in controversy with the keenest +intellects of Judaism, with how sharp a weapon He rent +their snares, and retorted their arguments to their +confusion, and then to observe Him inviting, tempting, +preparing the way for an argument which would lead +Him, gladly won, captive to a heathen's and a woman's +importunate and trustful sagacity. It is the same +Divine condescension which gave to Jacob his new +name of Israel because he had striven with God and +prevailed. +</p> + +<p> +And let us reverently ponder the fact that this pagan +mother of a demoniacal child, this woman whose name +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +has perished, is the only person who won a dialectical +victory in striving with the Wisdom of God; such a +victory as a father allows to his eager child, when he +raises gentle obstacles, and even assumes a transparent +mask of harshness, but never passes the limit of the +trust and love which he is probing. +</p> + +<p> +The first and most obvious opportunity which He +gives to her is nevertheless hard to show in English. +He might have used an epithet suitable for those fierce +creatures which prowl through Eastern streets at night +without any master, living upon refuse, a peril even to +men who are unarmed. But Jesus used a diminutive +word, not found elsewhere in the New Testament, and +quite unsuitable to those fierce beasts, a word <q>in +which the idea of uncleanness gives place to that of +dependence, of belonging to man and to the family.</q> +No one applies our colloquial epithet <q>doggie</q> to a +fierce or rabid brute. Thus Jesus really domesticated +the Gentile world. And nobly, eagerly, yet very +modestly she used this tacit concession, when she +repeated His carefully selected word, and inferred from +it that her place was not among those vile <q>dogs</q> +which are <q>without,</q> but with the domestic dogs, the +little dogs underneath the table. +</p> + +<p> +Again, she observed the promise which lurked under +seeming refusal, when He said, <q>Let the children first +be filled,</q> and so implied that her turn should come, +that it was only a question of time. And so she +answers that such dogs as He would make of her and +hers do not fast utterly until their mealtime after the +children have been satisfied; they wait under the table, +and some ungrudged fragments reach them there, some +<q>crumbs.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, and perhaps chiefly, the bread she craves +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +need not be torn from hungry children. Their Benefactor +has had to wander off into concealment, they have +let fall, unheeding, not only crumbs, although her noble +tact expresses it thus lightly to their countryman, but +far more than she divined, even the very Bread of Life. +Surely His own illustration has admitted her right to +profit by the heedlessness of <q>the children.</q> And He +<emph>had</emph> admitted all this: He had meant to be thus overcome. +One loves to think of the first flush of hope in that +trembling mother's heavy heart, as she discerned His +intention and said within herself, <q>Oh, surely I am not +mistaken; He does not really refuse at all; He wills +that I should answer Him and prevail.</q> One supposes +that she looked up, half afraid to utter the great +rejoinder, and took courage when she met His questioning +inviting gaze. +</p> + +<p> +And then comes the glad response, no longer spoken +coldly and without an epithet: <q>O woman, great is thy +faith.</q> He praises not her adroitness nor her humility, +but the faith which would not doubt, in that dark hour, +that light was behind the cloud; and so He sets no +other limit to His reward than the limit of her desires: +<q>Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let us learn that no case is too desperate for prayer, +and perseverance will surely find at last that our Lord +delighteth to be gracious. Let us be certain that the +brightest and most confiding view of all His dealings is +the truest, and man, if only he trusts aright, shall live +by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. +</p> + +<p> +Thus did Jesus declare, in action as in word, the +fading out of all distinction between the ceremonially +clean and unclean. He crossed the limits of the Holy +Land: He found great faith in a daughter of the +accursed race; and He ratified and acted upon her +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +claim that the bread which fell neglected from the table +of the Jew was not forbidden to the hunger of the +Gentile. The history of the Acts of the Apostles is +already here in spirit. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Deaf And Dumb Man.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And again He went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through +Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of +Decapolis. And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and had an +impediment in his speech; and they beseech Him to lay His hand upon +him. And He took him aside from the multitude privately, and put +His fingers into his ears, and He spat, and touched His tongue; and +looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that +is, Be opened. And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue +was loosed, and he spake plain. And He charged them that they +should tell no man: but the more He charged them, so much the more +a great deal they published it. And they were beyond measure astonished, +saying, He hath done all things well: He maketh even the +deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> vii. 31-37 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +There are curious and significant varieties in the methods +by which our Saviour healed. We have seen Him, +when watched on the sabbath by eager and expectant +foes, baffling all their malice by a miracle without a +deed, by refusing to cross the line of the most rigid +and ceremonial orthodoxy, by only commanding an +innocent gesture, Stretch forth thine hand. In sharp +contrast with such a miracle is the one which we have +now reached. There is brought to Him a man who is +deaf, and whose speech therefore could not have been +more than a babble, since it is by hearing that we learn +to articulate; but of whom we are plainly told that he +suffered from organic inability to utter as well as to +hear, for he had an impediment in his speech, the string +of his tongue needed to be loosed, and Jesus touched +his tongue as well as his ears, to heal him. +</p> + +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> + +<p> +It should be observed that no unbelieving theory +can explain the change in our Lord's method. Some +pretend that all the stories of His miracles grew up +afterward, from the sense of awe with which He was +regarded. How does that agree with effort, sighing, +and even gradation in the stages of recovery, following +after the most easy, astonishing and instantaneous +cures? Others believe that the enthusiasm of His +teaching and the charm of His presence conveyed healing +efficacy to the impressible and the nervous. How +does this account for the fact that His earliest miracles +were the prompt and effortless ones, and as time passes +on, He secludes the patient and uses agencies, as if +the resistance to His power were more appreciable? +Enthusiasm would gather force with every new success. +</p> + +<p> +All becomes clear when we accept the Christian +doctrine. Jesus came in the fulness of the love of God, +with both hands filled with gifts. On His part there +is no hesitation and no limit. But on the part of +man there is doubt, misconception, and at last open +hostility. A real chasm is opened between man and +the grace He gives, so that, although not straitened in +Him, they are straitened in their own affections. Even +while they believe in Him as a healer, they no longer +accept Him as their Lord. +</p> + +<p> +And Jesus makes it plain to them that the gift is no +longer so easy, spontaneous and of public right as +formerly. In His own country He could not do many +mighty works. And now, returning by indirect routes, +and privately, from the heathen shores whither Jewish +enmity had driven Him, He will make the multitude +feel a kind of exclusion, taking the patient from among +them, as He does again presently in Bethsaida (chap. viii. +23). There is also, in the deliberate act of seclusion +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +and in the means employed, a stimulus for the faith of +the sufferer, which would scarcely have been needed +a little while before. +</p> + +<p> +The people were unconscious of any reason why this +cure should differ from former ones. And so they +besought Jesus to lay His hand on him, the usual and +natural expression for a conveyance of invisible power. +But even if no other objection had existed, this action +would have meant little to the deaf and dumb man, +living in a silent world, and needing to have his faith +aroused by some yet plainer sign. Jesus therefore +removes him from the crowd whose curiosity would +distract his attention—even as by affliction and pain He +still isolates each of us at times from the world, shutting +us up with God. +</p> + +<p> +He speaks the only language intelligible to such a +man, the language of signs, putting His fingers into his +ears as if to break a seal, conveying the moisture of +His own lip to the silent tongue, as if to impart its +faculty, and then, at what should have been the exultant +moment of conscious and triumphant power, He sighed +deeply. +</p> + +<p> +What an unexpected revelation of the man rather +than the wonder worker. How unlike anything that +theological myth or heroic legend would have invented. +Perhaps, as Keble sings, He thought of those moral +defects for which, in a responsible universe, no miracle +may be wrought, of <q>the deaf heart, the dumb by +choice.</q> Perhaps, according to Stier's ingenious guess, +He sighed because, in our sinful world, the gift of +hearing is so doubtful a blessing, and the faculty of +speech so apt to be perverted. One can almost imagine +that no human endowment is ever given by Him Who +knows all, without a touch of sadness. But it is more +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> +natural to suppose that He Who is touched with the +feeling of our infirmities, and Who bare our sickness, +thought upon the countless miseries of which this was +but a specimen, and sighed for the perverseness by +which the fulness of His compassion was being restrained. +We are reminded by that sigh, however we explain it, +that the only triumphs which made Him rejoice in +Spirit were very different from displays of His physical +ascendancy. +</p> + +<p> +It is interesting to observe that St. Mark, informed +by the most ardent and impressible of the apostles, by +him who reverted, long afterwards, to the voice which +he heard in the holy mount, has recorded several of +the Aramaic words which Jesus uttered at memorable +junctures. <q>Ephphatha, Be opened,</q> He said, and the +bond of his tongue was loosed, and his speech, hitherto +incoherent, became plain. But the Gospel which tells +us the first word he heard is silent about what he said. +Only we read, and this is suggestive enough, that the +command was at once given to him, as well as to the +bystanders, to keep silent. Not copious speech, but +wise restraint, is what the tongue needs most to learn. +To him, as to so many whom Christ had healed, the +injunction came, not to preach without a commission, +not to suppose that great blessings require loud announcement, +or unfit men for lowly and quiet places. +Legend would surely have endowed with special +eloquence the lips which Jesus unsealed. He charged +them that they should tell no man. +</p> + +<p> +It was a double miracle, and the latent unbelief became +clear of the very men who had hoped for some +measure of blessing. For they were beyond measure +astonished, saying He doeth all things well, celebrating +the power which restored the hearing and the speech +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +together. Do we blame their previous incredulity? +Perhaps we also expect some blessing from our Lord, +yet fail to bring Him all we have and all we are for +blessing. Perhaps we should be astonished beyond +measure if we received at the hands of Jesus a sanctification +that extended to all our powers. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VIII.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Four Thousand.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>In those days, when there was again a great multitude, and they +had nothing to eat, He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto +them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with +Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away +fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and some of them are +come from far. And His disciples answered Him, Whence shall one +be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And He +asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And +He commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground: and He took +the seven loaves, and having given thanks, He brake, and gave to His +disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. +And they had a few small fishes: and having blessed them, He commanded +to set these also before them. And they did eat, and were +filled: and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven +baskets. And they were about four thousand: and He sent them away. +And straightway He entered into the boat with His disciples, and +came into the parts of Dalmanutha.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> viii. 1-10 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We now come upon a miracle strangely similar to +that of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. And +it is worth while to ask what would have been the +result, if the Gospels which contain this narrative had +omitted the former one. Scepticism would have scrutinized +every difference between the two, regarding them +as variations of the same story, to discover traces of +the growth of the myth or legend, and entirely to discredit +it. Now however it is plain that the events are +quite distinct; and we cannot doubt but that information +as full would clear away as completely many a +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +perplexity which still entangles us. Archbishop Trench +has well shown that the later narrative cannot have +grown out of the earlier, because it has not grown at +all, but fallen away. A new legend always <q>outstrips +the old, but here ... the numbers fed are smaller, +the supply of food is greater, and the fragments that +remain are fewer.</q> The latter point is however doubtful. +It is likely that the baskets, though fewer, were +larger, for in such a one St. Paul was lowered down +over the wall of Damascus (Acts ix. 25). In all the +Gospels the Greek word for baskets in the former +miracle is different from the latter. And hence arises +an interesting coincidence; for when the disciples had +gone into a desert place, and there gathered the fragments +into wallets, each of them naturally carried one +of these, and accordingly twelve were filled. But here +they had recourse apparently to the large baskets of +persons who sold bread, and the number seven remains +unaccounted for. Scepticism indeed persuades itself +that the whole story is to be spiritualized, the twelve +baskets answering to the twelve apostles who distributed +the Bread of Life, and the seven to the seven deacons. +How came it then that the sorts of baskets are so well +discriminated, that the inferior ministers are represented +by the larger ones, and that the bread is not dealt out +from these baskets but gathered into them? +</p> + +<p> +The second repetition of such a work is a fine proof +of that genuine kindness of heart, to which a miracle is +not merely an evidence, nor rendered useless as soon +as the power to work it is confessed. Jesus did not +shrink from thus repeating Himself, even upon a lower +level, because His object was not spectacular but +beneficent. He sought not to astonish but to bless. +</p> + +<p> +It is plain that Jesus strove to lead His disciples, +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +aware of the former miracle, up to the notion of its +repetition. With this object He marshalled all the +reasons why the people should be relieved. <q>I have +compassion on the multitude, because they continue +with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and +if I send them away fasting to their home, they will +faint in the way; and some of them are come from +far.</q> It is the grand argument from human necessity +to the Divine compassion. It is an argument which +ought to weigh equally with the Church. For if it is +promised that <q>nothing shall be impossible</q> to faith +and prayer, then the deadly wants of debauched cities, +of ignorant and brutal peasantries, and of heathenisms +festering in their corruptions—all these, by their very +urgency, are vehement appeals instead of the discouragements +we take them for. And whenever man +is baffled and in need, there he is entitled to fall back +upon the resources of the Omnipotent. +</p> + +<p> +It may be that the disciples had some glimmering +hope, but they did not venture to suggest anything; +they only asked, Whence shall one be able to fill these +men with bread here in a desert place? It is the cry +of unbelief—<emph>our</emph> cry, when we look at our resources, +and declare our helplessness, and conclude that possibly +God may interpose, but otherwise nothing can be done. +We ought to be the priests of a famishing world (so +ignorant of any relief, so miserable), its interpreters and +intercessors, full of hope and energy. But we are +content to look at our empty treasuries, and ineffective +organizations, and to ask, Whence shall a man be able +to fill these men with bread? +</p> + +<p> +They have ascertained however what resources are +forthcoming, and these He proceeds to use, first demanding +the faith which He will afterwards honour, +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +by bidding the multitudes to sit down. And then His +loving heart is gratified by relieving the hunger which +it pitied, and He promptly sends the multitude away, +refreshed and competent for their journey. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Leaven Of The Pharisees.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, +seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. And He sighed +deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek a sign? +verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. +And He left them, and again entering into <hi rend='italic'>the boat</hi> departed to the +other side. And they forgot to take bread; and they had not in the +boat with them more than one loaf. And He charged them, saying, +Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of +Herod. And they reasoned one with another, saying, We have no +bread. And Jesus perceiving it saith unto them, Why reason ye, because +ye have no bread? do ye not yet perceive, neither understand? have ye +your heart hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear +ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among +the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces took ye up? +They said unto Him, Twelve. And when the seven among the four +thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces took ye up? And they +said unto Him, Seven. And He said unto them, Do ye not yet understand?</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +viii. 11-21 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Whenever a miracle produced a deep and special +impression, the Pharisees strove to spoil its effect by +some counter-demonstration. By so doing, and at least +appearing to hold the field, since Jesus always yielded +this to them, they encouraged their own faction, and +shook the confidence of the feeble and hesitating +multitude. At almost every crisis they might have +been crushed by an appeal to the stormy passions of +those whom the Lord had blessed. Once He might +have been made a king. Again and again His enemies +were conscious that an imprudent word would suffice +to make the people stone them. But that would have +spoiled the real work of Jesus more than to retreat +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +before them, now across the lake, or, just before, +into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Doubtless it was +this constant avoidance of physical conflict, this habitual +repression of the carnal zeal of His supporters, this +refusal to form a party instead of founding a Church, +which renewed incessantly the courage of His often-baffled +foes, and led Him, by the path of steady ceaseless +self-depression, to the cross which He foresaw, +even while maintaining His unearthly calm, amid the +contradiction of sinners against Himself. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the feeding of the four thousand, they demand +of Him a sign from heaven. He had wrought for the +public no miracle of this peculiar kind. And yet +Moses had gone up, in the sight of all Israel, to commune +with God in the mount that burned; Samuel had +been answered by thunder and rain in the wheat +harvest; and Elijah had called down fire both upon his +sacrifice and also upon two captains and their bands of +fifty. Such a miracle was now declared to be the regular +authentication of a messenger from God, and the only +sign which evil spirits could not counterfeit. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover the demand would specially embarrass +Jesus, because He alone was not accustomed to invoke +heaven: His miracles were wrought by the exertion +of His own will. And perhaps the challenge implied +some understanding of what this peculiarity involved, +such as Jesus charged them with, when putting into +their mouth the words, This is the heir, come, let us +kill Him. Certainly the demand ignored much. Conceding +the fact of certain miracles, and yet imposing +new conditions of belief, they shut their eyes to the +unique nature of the works already wrought, the glory +as of the Only-begotten of the Father which they +displayed. They held that thunder and lightning revealed +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +God more certainly than supernatural victories +of compassion, tenderness and love. What could be +done for moral blindness such as this? How could +any sign be devised which unwilling hearts would not +evade? No wonder that hearing this demand, Jesus +sighed deeply in His spirit. It revealed their utter +hardness; it was a snare by which others would be +entangled; and for Himself it foretold the cross. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark simply tells us that He refused to give them +any sign. In St. Matthew He justifies this decision +by rebuking the moral blindness which demanded it. +They had material enough for judgment. The face of +the sky foretold storm and fair weather, and the process +of nature could be anticipated without miracles to +coerce belief. And thus they should have discerned +the import of the prophecies, the course of history, +the signs of the times in which they lived, so plainly +radiant with Messianic promise, so menacing with +storm-clouds of vengeance upon sin. The sign was +refused moreover to an evil and adulterous generation, +as God, in the Old Testament, would not be inquired +of at all by such a people as this. This indignant +rejoinder St. Mark has compressed into the words, +<q>There shall no sign be given unto this generation</q>—this +which has proof enough, and which deserves +none. Men there were to whom a sign from heaven +was not refused. At His baptism, on the Mount of +Transfiguration, and when the Voice answered His +appeal, <q>Father, glorify Thy name,</q> while the multitude +said only that it thundered—at these times His chosen +ones received a sign from heaven. But from those +who had not was taken away even that which they +seemed to have; and the sign of Jonah availed them not. +</p> + +<p> +Once more Jesus <q>left them</q> and crossed the lake. +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +The disciples found themselves with but one loaf, +approaching a wilder district, where the ceremonial +purity of food could not easily be ascertained. But +they had already acted on the principle which Jesus +had formally proclaimed, that all meats were clean. +And therefore it was not too much to expect them to +penetrate below the letter of the words, <q>Take heed, +beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven +of Herod.</q> In giving them this enigma to discover, +He acted according to His usage, wrapping the +spiritual truth in earthly phrases, picturesque and +impressive; and He treated them as life treats every +one of us, which keeps our responsibility still upon the +strain, by presenting new moral problems, fresh questions +and trials of insight, for every added attainment +which lays our old tasks aside. But they understood +Him not. Some new ceremonial appeared to them to +be designed, in which everything would be reversed, +and the unclean should be those hypocrites, the +strictest observers of the old code. Such a mistake, +however blameworthy, reveals the profound sense +of an ever-widening chasm, and an expectation of +a final and hopeless rupture with the chiefs of their +religion. It prepares us for what is soon to come, the +contrast between the popular belief and theirs, and the +selection of a rock on which a new Church is to be +built. In the meantime the dire practical inconvenience +of this announcement led to hot discussion, because +they had no bread. And Jesus, perceiving this, +remonstrated in a series of indignant questions. Personal +want should not have disturbed their judgment, +remembering that twice over He had fed hungry +multitudes, and loaded them with the surplus of His +gift. Their eyes and ears should have taught them +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> +that He was indifferent to such distinctions, and His +doctrine could never result in a new Judaism. How +was it that they did not understand? +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon they perceived that His warning was +figurative. He had spoken to them, after feeding the +five thousand, of spiritual bread which He would give, +even His flesh to be their food. What then could He +have meant by the leaven of the Pharisees but the +imparting of <emph>their</emph> religious tendencies, their teaching, +and their insincerity? +</p> + +<p> +Was there any real danger that these, His chosen +ones, should be shaken by the demand for a sign from +heaven? Did not Philip presently, when Christ spoke +of seeing the Father, eagerly cry out that this, if it +were granted, would suffice them? In these words he +confessed the misgiving which haunted their minds, and +the longing for a heavenly sign. And yet the essence of +the vision of God was in the life and the love which +they had failed to know. If they could not see Him +in these, He must for ever remain invisible to them. +</p> + +<p> +We too require the same caution. When we long +for miracles, neglecting those standing miracles of our +faith, the gospel and the Church: when our reason is +satisfied of a doctrine or a duty, and yet we remain +irresolute, sighing for the impulse of some rare spiritual +enlightenment or excitement, for a revival, or a mission, +or an oration to lift us above ourselves, we are virtually +asking to be shown what we already confess, to +behold a sign, while we possess the evidence. +</p> + +<p> +And the only wisdom of the languid, irresolute will, +which postpones action in hope that feeling may be +deepened, is to pray. It is by the effort of communion +with the unfelt, but confessed Reality above us, that +healthy feeling is to be recovered. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> + +<div> +<head>Men As Trees.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they come unto Bethsaida. And they bring to Him a blind +man, and beseech Him to touch him. And He took hold of the blind +man by the hand, and brought him out of the village; and when He +had spit on his eyes, and laid His hands upon him, He asked him, +Seest thou aught? And he looked up, and said, I see men; for I +behold <hi rend='italic'>them</hi> as trees, walking. Then again He laid His hands upon +his eyes; and he looked stedfastly, and was restored, and saw all +things clearly. And He sent him away to his home, saying, Do not +even enter into the village.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> viii. 22-26 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +When the disciples arrived at Bethsaida, they were met +by the friends of a blind man, who besought Him to +touch him. And this gave occasion to the most remarkable +by far of all the progressive and tentative miracles, +in which means were employed, and the result was +gradually reached. The reasons for advancing to this +cure by progressive stages have been much discussed. +St. Chrysostom and many others have conjectured that +the blind man had but little faith, since he neither +found his own way to Jesus, nor pleaded his own +cause, like Bartimæus. Others brought him, and +interceded for him. This may be so, but since he was +clearly a consenting party, we can infer little from +details which constitutional timidity would explain, or +helplessness (for the resources of the blind are very +various), or the zeal of friends or of paid servants, or +the mere eagerness of a crowd, pushing him forward +in desire to see a marvel. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot expect always to penetrate the motives +which varied our Saviour's mode of action; it is +enough that we can pretty clearly discern some principles +which led to their variety. Many of them, +including all the greatest, were wrought without +instrumentality and without delay, showing His unrestricted +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> +and underived power. Others were gradual, +and wrought by means. These connected His <q>signs</q> +with nature and the God of nature; and they could +be so watched as to silence many a cavil; and they +exhibited, by the very disproportion of the means, the +grandeur of the Worker. In this respect the successive +stages of a miracle were like the subdivisions by which +a skilful architect increases the effect of a <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>façade</foreign> or +an interior. In every case the means employed were +such as to connect the result most intimately with the +person as well as the will of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +It must be repeated also, that the need of secondary +agents shows itself, only as the increasing wilfulness of +Israel separates between Christ and the people. It is +as if the first rush of generous and spontaneous power +had been frozen by the chill of their ingratitude. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus again, as when healing the deaf and dumb, +withdraws from idle curiosity. And we read, what is +very impressive when we remember that any of the +disciples could have been bidden to lead the blind man, +that Jesus Himself drew Him by the hand out of the +village. What would have been affectation in other +cases was a graceful courtesy to the blind. And it reveals +to us the hearty human benignity and condescension +of Him Whom to see was to see the Father, that He +should have clasped in His helpful hand the hand of a +blind suppliant for His grace. Moistening his eyes +from His own lips, and laying His hands upon him, so +as to convey the utmost assurance of power actually +exerted, He asked, Seest thou aught? +</p> + +<p> +The answer is very striking: it is such as the knowledge +of that day could scarcely have imagined; and +yet it is in the closest accord with later scientific +discovery. What we call the act of vision is really a +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> +two-fold process; there is in it the report of the nerves +to the brain, and also an inference, drawn by the mind, +which previous experience has educated to understand +what that report implies. For want of such experience, +an infant thinks the moon as near him as the lamp, and +reaches out for it. And when Christian science does +its Master's work by opening the eyes of men who +have been born blind, they do not know at first what +appearances belong to globes and what to flat and +square objects. It is certain that every image conveyed +to the brain reaches it upside down, and is corrected +there. When Jesus then restored a blind man to the +perfect enjoyment of effective intelligent vision, He +wrought a double miracle; one which instructed the +intelligence of the blind man as well as opened his +eyes. This was utterly unknown to that age. But the +scepticism of our century would complain that to open +the eyes was not enough, and that such a miracle +would have left the man perplexed; and it would refuse to +accept narratives which took no account of this difficulty, +but that the cavil is anticipated. The miracle now before +us refutes it in advance, for it recognises, what no +spectator and no early reader of the marvel could have +understood, the middle stage, when sight is gained but +is still uncomprehended and ineffective. The process +is shown as well as the completed work. Only by their +motion could he at first distinguish living creatures +from lifeless things of far greater bulk. <q>He looked +up,</q> (mark this picturesque detail,) <q>and said, I see +men; for I behold them as trees, walking.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But Jesus leaves no unfinished work: <q>Then again +laid He His hands upon his eyes, and he looked stedfastly, +and was restored, and saw all things clearly.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In this narrative there is a deep significance. That +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +vision, forfeited until grace restores it, by which we +look at the things which are not seen, is not always +quite restored at once. We are conscious of great perplexity, +obscurity and confusion. But a real work of +Christ may have begun amid much that is imperfect, +much that is even erroneous. And the path of the just +is often a haze and twilight at the first, yet is its light +real, and one that shineth more and more unto the +perfect day. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Confession And The Warning.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And Jesus went forth, and His disciples, into the villages of +Cæsarea Philippi: and in the way He asked His disciples, saying unto +them, Who do men say that I am? And they told Him, saying, John +the Baptist: and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets. +And He asked them, But Who say ye that I am? Peter answereth +and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ. And He charged them that +they should tell no man of Him. And He began to teach them, that +the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, +and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days +rise again. And He spake the saying openly.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> viii. 27-32 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have now reached an important stage in the +Gospel narrative, the comparative withdrawal from +evangelistic effort, and the preparation of the disciples +for an approaching tragedy. We find them in the +wild country to the north of the Lake of Galilee, and +even as far withdrawn as to the neighbourhood of the +sources of the Jordan. Not without a deliberate intention +has Jesus led them thither. He wishes them +to realise their separation. He will fix upon their +consciousness the failure of the world to comprehend +Him, and give them the opportunity either to acknowledge +Him, or sink back to the lower level of the crowd. +</p> + +<p> +This is what interests St. Mark; and it is worthy of +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +notice that he, the friend of Peter, mentions not the +special honour bestowed upon him by Christ, nor the +first utterance of the memorable words <q>My Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Who do men say that I am?</q> Jesus asked. The +answer would tell of acceptance or rejection, the +success or failure of His ministry, regarded in itself, +and apart from ultimate issues unknown to mortals. +From this point of view it had very plainly failed. At +the beginning there was a clear hope that this was +He that should come, the Son of David, the Holy One +of God. But now the pitch of men's expectation was +lowered. Some said, John the Baptist, risen from the +dead, as Herod feared; others spoke of Elijah, who +was to come before the great and notable day of the +Lord; in the sadness of His later days some had +begun to see a resemblance to Jeremiah, lamenting the +ruin of his nation; and others fancied a resemblance to +various of the prophets. Beyond this the apostles confessed +that men were not known to go. Their enthusiasm +had cooled, almost as rapidly as in the triumphal +procession, where they who blessed both Him, and +<q>the kingdom that cometh,</q> no sooner felt the chill +of contact with the priestly faction, than their confession +dwindled into <q>This is Jesus, the prophet of +Nazareth.</q> <q>But Who say ye that I am?</q> He +added; and it depended on the answer whether or not +there should prove to be any solid foundation, any +rock, on which to build His Church. Much difference, +much error may be tolerated there, but on one subject +there must be no hesitation. To make Him only a +prophet among others, to honour Him even as the first +among the teachers of mankind, is to empty His life +of its meaning, His death of its efficacy, and His +Church of its authority. And yet the danger was real, +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> +as we may see by the fervent blessing (unrecorded in +our Gospel) which the right answer won. For it was +no longer the bright morning of His career, when all +bare Him witness and wondered; the noon was over +now, and the evening shadows were heavy and lowering. +To confess Him then was to have learned what +flesh and blood could not reveal. +</p> + +<p> +But Peter did not hesitate. In answer to the +question, <q>Who say <emph>ye</emph>? Is your judgment like the +the world's?</q> He does not reply, <q>We believe, we +say,</q> but with all the vigour of a mind at rest, <q>Thou +art the Christ;</q> that is not even a subject of discussion: +the fact is so. +</p> + +<p> +Here one pauses to admire the spirit of the disciples, +so unjustly treated in popular exposition because they +were but human, because there were dangers which +could appal them, and because the course of providence +was designed to teach them how weak is the loftiest +human virtue. Nevertheless, they could part company +with all they had been taught to reverence and with +the unanimous opinion of their native land, they could +watch the slow fading out of public enthusiasm, and +continue faithful, because they knew and revered the +Divine life, and the glory which was hidden from the +wise and prudent. +</p> + +<p> +The confession of Peter is variously stated in the +Gospels. St. Matthew wrote for Jews, familiar with +the notion of a merely human Christ, and St. Luke +for mixed Churches. Therefore the first Gospel gives +the explicit avowal not only of Messiahship, but of +divinity; and the third Gospel implies this. <q>Thou +art the Christ, the Son of the living God</q>—<q>the +Christ of God.</q> But St. Mark wrote for Gentiles, +whose first and only notion of the Messiah was derived +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> +from Christian sources, and steeped in Christian attributes, +so that, for their intelligence, all the great avowal +was implied in the title itself, Thou art the Christ. Yet +it is instructive to see men insisting on the difference, +and even exaggerating it, who know that this Gospel +opens with an assertion of the Divine sonship of Jesus, +and whose theory is that its author worked with the +Gospel of St. Matthew before his eyes. How then, +or why, do they suppose the confession to have been +weakened? +</p> + +<p> +This foundation of His Church being secured, His +Divine Messiahship being confessed in the face of an +unbelieving world, Jesus lost no time in leading His +apostles forward. They were forbidden to tell any +man of Him: the vain hope was to be absolutely +suppressed of winning the people to confess their king. +The effort would only make it harder for themselves +to accept that stern truth which they were now to +learn, that His matchless royalty was to be won by +matchless suffering. Never hitherto had Jesus proclaimed +this truth, as He now did, in so many words. +It had been, indeed, the secret spring of many of His +sayings; and we ought to mark what loving ingenuity +was lavished upon the task of gradually preparing +them for the dread shock of this announcement. The +Bridegroom was to be taken away from them, and +then they should fast. The temple of His body should +be destroyed, and in three days reared again. The +blood of all the slaughtered prophets was to come +upon this generation. It should suffice them when +persecuted unto death, that the disciple was as His +Master. It was still a plainer intimation when He +said, that to follow Him was to take up a cross. His +flesh was promised to them for meat and His blood +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +for drink. (Chap. ii. 20; John ii. 19; Luke xi. 50; +Matt. x. 21, 25; 38; John vi. 54.) Such intimations +Jesus had already given them, and doubtless +many a cold shadow, many a dire misgiving +had crept over their sunny hopes. But these it had +been possible to explain away, and the effort, the +attitude of mental antagonism thus forced upon them, +would make the grief more bitter, the gloom more +deadly, when Jesus spoke openly the saying, thenceforth +so frequently repeated, that He must suffer +keenly, be rejected formally by the chiefs of His +creed and nation, and be killed. When He recurs +to the subject (ix. 31), He adds the horror of being +<q>delivered into the hands of men.</q> In the tenth +chapter we find Him setting His face toward the city +outside which a prophet could not perish, with such +fixed purpose and awful consecration in His bearing +that His followers were amazed and afraid. And +then He reveals the complicity of the Gentiles, who +shall mock and spit upon and scourge and kill Him. +</p> + +<p> +But in every case, without exception, He announced +that on the third day He should arise again. For +neither was He Himself sustained by a sullen and +stoical submission to the worst, nor did He seek so +to instruct His followers. It was for the joy that was +set before Him that He endured the cross. And all +the faithful who suffer with Him shall also reign +together with Him, and are instructed to press +toward the mark for the prize of their high calling. +For we are saved by hope. +</p> + +<p> +But now, contrast with the utmost courage of the +martyrs, who braved the worst, when it emerged at +the last suddenly from the veil which mercifully hides +our future, and which hope can always gild with +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +starry pictures, this courage that looked steadily +forward, disguising nothing, hoping for no escape, +living through all the agony so long before it came, +seeing His wounds in the breaking of bread, and His +blood when wine was poured. Consider how marvellous +was the love, which met with no real sympathy, +nor even comprehension, as He spoke such dreadful +words, and forced Himself to repeat what must have +shaken the barb He carried in His heart, that by-and-by +His followers might be somewhat helped by +remembering that He had told them. +</p> + +<p> +And yet again, consider how immediately the doctrine +of His suffering follows upon the confession of His +Christhood, and judge whether the crucifixion was +merely a painful incident, the sad close of a noble +life and a pure ministry, or in itself a necessary and +cardinal event, fraught with transcendent issues. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Rebuke Of Peter.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He spake the saying openly. And Peter took Him, and +began to rebuke Him.</q> ... <q>And He said unto them, Verily I say unto +you, There be some here of them that stand by, which shall in no +wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with +power.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> viii. 32-ix. 1 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The doctrine of a suffering Messiah was strange in the +time of Jesus. And to the warm-hearted apostle the +announcement that his beloved Master should endure a +shameful death was keenly painful. Moreover, what +had just passed made it specially unwelcome then. +Jesus had accepted and applauded a confession which +implied all honour. He had promised to build a new +Church upon a rock; and claimed, as His to give away, +the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Hopes were thus +excited which could not brook His stern repression; +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> +and the career which the apostle promised himself +was very unlike that defence of a lost cause, and a +persecuted and martyred leader, which now threatened +him. The rebuke of Jesus clearly warns Peter, that he +had miscalculated his own prospect as well as that of +his Lord, and that he must prepare for the burden of a +cross. Above all, it is plain that Peter was intoxicated +by the great position just assigned to him, and allowed +himself an utterly strange freedom of interference with +his Master's plans. He <q>took Him and began to +rebuke Him,</q> evidently drawing Him aside for the +purpose, since Jesus <q>turned about</q> in order to see +the disciples whom He had just addressed. Thus our +narrative implies that commission of the keys to him +which it omits to mention, and we learn how absurd is +the infidel contention that each evangelist was ignorant +of all that he did not record. Did the appeal against +those gloomy forebodings of Jesus, the protest that +such evil must not be, the refusal to recognise a +prophecy in His fears, awaken any answer in the +sinless heart? Sympathy was not there, nor approval, +nor any shade of readiness to yield. But innocent +human desire for escape, the love of life, horror of His +fate, more intense as it vibrated in the apostle's shaken +voice, these He assuredly felt. For He tells us in so +many words that Peter was a stumbling-block to Him, +although He, walking in the clear day, stumbled not. +Jesus, let us repeat it again and again, endured not +like a Stoic, deadening the natural impulses of humanity. +Whatever outraged His tender and perfect nature was +not less dreadful to Him than to us; it was much more +so, because His sensibilities were unblunted and exquisitely +strung. At every thought of what lay before +Him, his soul shuddered like a rudely touched instrument +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +of most delicate structure. And it was necessary +that He should throw back the temptation with indignation +and even vehemence, with the rebuke of heaven +set against the presumptuous rebuke of flesh, <q>Get +thee behind Me ... for thou art mindful not of the +things of God, but the things of men.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But what shall we say to the hard word, <q>Satan</q>? +Assuredly Peter, who remained faithful to Him, did +not take it for an outbreak of bitterness, an exaggerated +epithet of unbridled and undisciplined resentment. +The very time occupied in looking around, the <q>circumspection</q> +which was shown, while it gave emphasis, +removed passion from the saying. +</p> + +<p> +Peter would therefore understand that Jesus heard, +in his voice, the prompting of the great tempter, to +whom He had once already spoken the same words. +He would be warned that soft and indulgent sentiment, +while seeming kind, may become the very snare of +the destroyer. +</p> + +<p> +And the strong word which sobered him will +continue to be a warning to the end of time. +</p> + +<p> +When love of ease or worldly prospects would lead +us to discourage the self-devotion, and repress the +zeal of any convert; when toil or liberality beyond the +recognised level seems a thing to discountenance, not +because it is perhaps misguided, but only because it is +exceptional; when, for a brother or a son, we are tempted +to prefer an easy and prosperous life rather than a +fruitful but stern and even perilous course, then we are +in the same danger as Peter of becoming the mouthpiece +of the Evil One. +</p> + +<p> +Danger and hardness are not to be chosen for their +own sake; but to reject a noble vocation, because these +are in the way, is to mind not the things of God but the +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> +things of men. And yet the temptation is one from +which men are never free, and which intrudes into +what seems most holy. It dared to assail Jesus; and it +is most perilous still, because it often speaks to us, as +then to Him, through compassionate and loving lips. +</p> + +<p> +But now the Lord calls to Himself all the multitude, +and lays down the rule by which discipleship must to +the end be regulated. +</p> + +<p> +The inflexible law is, that every follower of Jesus +must deny himself and take up his cross. It is not +said, Let him devise some harsh and ingenious instrument +of self-torture: wanton self-torture is cruelty, and +is often due to the soul's readiness rather to endure +any other suffering than that which God assigns. Nor +is it said, Let him take up My cross, for the burden +Christ bore devolves upon no other: the fight He +fought is over. +</p> + +<p> +But it speaks of some cross allotted, known, but not +yet accepted, some lowly form of suffering, passive or +active, against which nature pleads, as Jesus heard +His own nature pleading when Peter spoke. In taking +up this cross we must deny self, for it will refuse the +dreadful burden. What it is, no man can tell his +neighbour, for often what seems a fatal besetment is +but a symptom and not the true disease; and the +angry man's irritability, and the drunkard's resort to +stimulants, are due to remorse and self-reproach for a +deeper-hidden evil gnawing the spiritual life away. But +the man himself knows it. Our exhortations miss the +mark when we bid him reform in this direction or in +that, but conscience does not err; and he well discerns +the effort or the renouncement, hateful to him +as the very cross itself, by which alone he can enter +into life. +</p> + +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> + +<p> +To him, that life seems death, the death of all for +which he cares to live, being indeed the death of +selfishness. But from the beginning, when God in +Eden set a barrier against lawless appetite, it was +announced that the seeming life of self-indulgence +and of disobedience was really death. In the day +when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit he surely died. +And thus our Lord declared that whosoever is resolved +to save his life—the life of wayward, isolated selfishness—he +shall lose all its reality, the sap, the sweetness, +and the glow of it. And whosoever is content to lose +all this for the sake of the Great Cause, the cause of +Jesus and His gospel, he shall save it. +</p> + +<p> +It was thus that the great apostle was crucified with +Christ, yet lived, and yet no longer he, for Christ +Himself inspired in his breast a nobler and deeper +life than that which he had lost, for Jesus and the +gospel. The world knows, as the Church does, how +much superior is self-devotion to self-indulgence, and +that one crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age +without a name. Its imagination is not inflamed by +the picture of indolence and luxury, but by resolute +and victorious effort. But it knows not how to master +the rebellious senses, nor how to insure victory in the +struggle, nor how to bestow upon the masses, plunged +in their monotonous toils, the rapture of triumphant +strife. That can only be done by revealing to them +the spiritual responsibilities of life, and the beauty of +His love Who calls the humblest to walk in His own +sacred footsteps. +</p> + +<p> +Very striking is the moderation of Jesus, Who does +not refuse discipleship to self-seeking wishes but only +to the self-seeking will, in which wishes have ripened +into choice, nor does He demand that we should welcome +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +the loss of the inferior life, but only that we +should accept it. He can be touched with the feeling +of our infirmities. +</p> + +<p> +And striking also is this, that He condemns not the +vicious life only: not alone the man whose desires are +sensual and depraved; but all who live for self. No +matter how refined and artistic the personal ambitions +be, to devote ourselves to them is to lose the reality +of life, it is to become querulous or jealous or vain or +forgetful of the claims of other men, or scornful of the +crowd. Not self-culture but self-sacrifice is the vocation +of the child of God. +</p> + +<p> +Many people speak as if this text bade us sacrifice +the present life in hope of gaining another life beyond +the grave. That is apparently the common notion of +saving our <q>souls.</q> But Jesus used one word for the +<q>life</q> renounced and gained. He spoke indeed of +saving it unto life eternal, but His hearers were men +who trusted that they had eternal life, not that it was +a far-off aspiration (John vi. 47, 54). +</p> + +<p> +And it is doubtless in the same sense, thinking of +the freshness and joy which we sacrifice for worldliness, +and how sadly and soon we are disillusionised, that He +went on to ask, What shall it profit a man to gain the +whole world and forfeit His life? Or with what price +shall he buy it back when he discovers his error? +But that discovery is too often postponed beyond the +horizon of mortality. As one desire proves futile, +another catches the eye, and somewhat excites again +the often baffled hope. But the day shall come when +the last self-deception shall be at an end. The cross +of the Son of man, that type of all noble sacrifice, shall +then be replaced by the glory of His Father with the +holy angels; and ignoble compromise, aware of Jesus +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +and His words, yet ashamed of them in a vicious and +self-indulgent age, shall in turn endure His averted face. +What price shall they offer then, to buy back what +they have forfeited? +</p> + +<p> +Men who were standing there should see the beginning +of the end, the approach of the kingdom of God +with power, in the fall of Jerusalem, and the removal +of the Hebrew candlestick out of its place. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IX.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Transfiguration.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and +John, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves: +and He was transfigured before them: and His garments became +glistering, exceeding white: so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. +And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses: and they were +talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and saith to Jesus, Rabbi, it +is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for +Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For He wist not what +to answer; for they became sore afraid. And there came a cloud +overshadowing them: and there came a voice out of the cloud, This is +My beloved Son: hear ye Him. And suddenly looking round about, +they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with themselves.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +ix. 2-8 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The Transfiguration is an event without a parallel +in all the story of our Lord. This breaking forth +of unearthly splendour in a life of self-negation, this +miracle wrought without suffering to be relieved or +want supplied, and in which He seems to be not the +Giver of Help but the Receiver of Glory, arrests our +attention less by the greatness of the marvel than by +its loneliness. +</p> + +<p> +But if myth or legend had to do with the making of +our Gospels, we should have had wonders enough +which bless no suppliant, but only crown the sacred +head with laurels. They are as plentiful in the false +Gospels as in the later stories of Mahomed or Gautama. +Can we find a sufficient difference between these +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> +romantic tales and this memorable event—causes +enough to lead up to it, and ends enough for it to +serve? +</p> + +<p> +An answer is hinted by the stress laid in all three +narratives upon the date of the Transfiguration. It +was <q>after six days</q> according to the first two. +St. Luke reckons the broken portions of the first day +and the last, and makes it <q>about eight days after +these sayings.</q> A week has passed since the solemn +announcement that their Lord was journeying to a +cruel death, that self pity was discordant with the +things of God, that all His followers must in spirit +endure the cross, that life was to be won by losing it. +Of that week no action is recorded, and we may well +believe that it was spent in profound searchings of +heart. The thief Iscariot would more than ever be +estranged. The rest would aspire and struggle and +recoil, and explain away His words in such strange +ways, as when they presently failed to understand what +the rising again from the dead should mean (ver. 10). +But in the deep heart of Jesus there was peace, the +same which He bequeathed to all His followers, the +perfect calm of an absolutely surrendered will. He +had made the dread announcement and rejected the +insidious appeal; the sacrifice was already accomplished +in his inner self, and the word spoken, Lo, I come to do +Thy will, O God. We must steadily resist the notion +that the Transfiguration was required to confirm His +consecration; or, after six days had passed since He +bade Satan get behind Him, to complete and perfect +His decision. Yet doubtless it had its meaning for +Him also. Such times of more than heroic self-devotion +make large demands upon the vital energies. +And He whom the angels more than once sustained, +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> +now sought refreshment in the pure air and solemn +silence of the hills, and above all in communion with His +Father, since we read in St. Luke that He went up +to pray. Who shall say how far-reaching, how all-embracing +such a prayer would be? What age, what +race may not hope to have shared its intercessions, +remembering how He once expressly prayed not for +His immediate followers alone. But we need not +doubt that now, as in the Garden, He prayed also for +Himself, and for support in the approaching death-struggle. +And the Twelve, so keenly tried, would be +especially remembered in this season. And even +among these there would be distinctions; for we know +His manner, we remember that when Satan claimed +to have them all, Jesus prayed especially for Peter, +because his conversion would strengthen his brethren. +Now this principle of benefit to all through the selection +of the fittest, explains why three were chosen to be +the eye-witnesses of His glory. If the others had been +there, perhaps they would have been led away into +millennarian day-dreams. Perhaps the worldly aspirations +of Judas, thus inflamed, would have spread far. +Perhaps they would have murmured against that return +to common life, which St. Peter was so anxious to +postpone. Perhaps even the chosen three were only +saved from intoxicating and delusive hopes by the +sobering knowledge that what they had seen was to +remain a secret until some intervening and mysterious +event. The unripeness of the others for special revelations +was abundantly shown, on the morrow, by their +failure to cast out a devil. It was enough that their +leaders should have this grand confirmation of their +faith. There was among them, henceforth, a secret +fountain of encouragement and trust, amid the darkest +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> +circumstances. The panic in which all forsook Him +might have been final, but for this vision of His glory. +For it is noteworthy that these three are the foremost +afterwards in sincere though frail devotion: one offering +to die with Him, and the others desiring to drink of +His cup and to be baptized with His baptism. +</p> + +<p> +While Jesus prays for them, He is Himself made +the source of their revival. He had lately promised +that they who willed to lose their life should find it +unto life eternal. And now, in Him who had perfectly +so willed, they beheld the eternal glory beaming forth, +until His very garments were steeped in light. There +is no need of proof that the spirit has power over the +body; the question is only of degree. Vile passions +can permanently degrade human comeliness. And there +is a beauty beyond that of line or colour, seen in vivid +hours of emotion, on the features of a mother beside +her sleeping babe, of an orator when his soul burns +within him, of a martyr when his face is as the face of +an angel, and often making fairer than youthful bloom +the old age that has suffered long and been kind. +These help us, however faintly, to believe that there is +a spiritual body, and that we may yet bear the image +of the heavenly. And so once, if only once, it is given +to sinful men to see how a perfect spirit can illuminate +its fleshly tabernacle, as a flame illuminates a lamp, +and what the life is like in which self-crucifixion +issues. In this hour of rapt devotion His body was +steeped in the splendour which was natural to holiness, +and which would never have grown dim but that the +great sacrifice had still to be carried out in action. +We shall best think of the glories of transfiguration +not as poured over Jesus, but as a revelation from +within. Moreover, while they gaze, the conquering +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> +chiefs of the Old Testament approach the Man of +Sorrows. Because the spirit of the hour is that of +self-devotion, they see not Abraham, the prosperous +friend of God, nor Isaiah whose burning words befit +the lips that were touched by fire from an unearthly +altar, but the heroic law-giver and the lion-hearted prophet, +the typical champions of the ancient dispensation. +Elijah had not seen death; a majestic obscurity veiled +the ashes of Moses from excess of honour; yet these +were not offended by the cross which tried so cruelly +the faith of the apostles. They spoke of His decease, +and their word seems to have lingered in the narrative +as strangely appropriate to one of the speakers; it is +Christ's <q>exodus.</q><note place='foot'>Once besides in the New Testament this phrase was applied to +death. That was by St. Peter speaking of his own, when the thought +of the transfiguration was floating in his mind, and its voices lingered +unconsciously in his memory (2 Pet. i. 15, cf. ver. 17). The phrase, +though not unclassical, is not common.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But St. Mark does not linger over this detail, nor +mention the drowsiness with which they struggled; he +leans all the weight of his vivid narrative upon one +great fact, the evidence now given of our Lord's absolute +supremacy. +</p> + +<p> +For, at this juncture Peter interposed. He <q>answered,</q> +a phrase which points to his consciousness that +he was no unconcerned bystander, that the vision was +in some degree addressed to him and his companions. +But he answers at random, and like a man distraught. +<q>Lord, it is good for us to be here,</q> as if it were not +always good to be where Jesus led, even though men +should bear a cross to follow Him. Intoxicated by the +joy of seeing the King in His beauty, and doubtless by +the revulsion of new hope in the stead of his dolorous +forebodings, he proposes to linger there. He will have +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/> +more than is granted, just as, when Jesus washed his +feet, he said <q>not my feet only, but also my hands +and my head.</q> And if this might be, it was fitting that +these superhuman personages should have tabernacles +made for them. No doubt the assertion that he wist +not what to say, bears specially upon this strange offer +to shelter glorified bodies from the night air, and to +provide for each a place of separate repose. The +words are incoherent, but they are quite natural from +one who has so impulsively begun to speak that now +he must talk on, because he knows not how to stop. +They are the words of the very Peter whose actions we +know so well. As he formerly walked upon the sea, +before considering how boisterous were the waves, and +would soon afterwards smite with the sword, and risk +himself in the High Priest's palace, without seeing his +way through either adventure, exactly so in this bewildering +presence he ventures into a sentence without +knowing how to close it. +</p> + +<p> +Now this perfect accuracy of character, so dramatic +and yet so unaffected, is evidence of the truth of this +great miracle. To a frank student who knows human +nature, it is a very admirable evidence. To one who +knows how clumsily such effects are produced by all +but the greatest masters of creative literature, it is +almost decisive. +</p> + +<p> +In speaking thus, he has lowered his Master to the +level of the others, unconscious that Moses and Elijah +were only attendants upon Jesus, who have come from +heaven because He is upon earth, and who speak not +of their achievements but of His sufferings. If Peter +knew it, the hour had struck when their work, the law of +Moses and the utterances of the prophets whom Elijah +represented, should cease to be the chief impulse in +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> +religion, and without being destroyed, should be <q>fulfilled,</q> +and absorbed in a new system. He was there +to whom Moses in the law, and the prophets bore +witness, and in His presence they had no glory by +reason of the glory that excelleth. Yet Peter would +fain build equal tabernacles for all alike. +</p> + +<p> +Now St. Luke tells us that he interposed just when +they were departing, and apparently in the hope of +staying them. But all the narratives convey a strong +impression that his words hastened their disappearance, +and decided the manner of it. For while he yet +spake, as if all the vision were eclipsed on being thus +misunderstood, a cloud swept over the three—bright, +yet overshadowing them—and the voice of God proclaimed +their Lord to be His beloved Son (not faithful +only, like Moses, as a steward over the house), and +bade them, instead of desiring to arrest the flight of +rival teachers, hear Him. +</p> + +<p> +Too often Christian souls err after the same fashion. +We cling to authoritative teachers, familiar ordinances, +and traditional views, good it may be, and even divinely +given, as if they were not intended wholly to lead us +up to Christ. And in many a spiritual eclipse, from +many a cloud which the heart fears to enter, the great +lesson resounds through the conscience of the believer, +Hear Him! +</p> + +<p> +Did the words remind Peter how he had lately begun +to rebuke his Lord? Did the visible glory, the ministration +of blessed spirits and the voice of God, teach +him henceforth to hear and to submit? Alas, he could +again contradict Jesus, and say Thou shalt never wash +my feet. I never will deny Thee. And we, who +wonder and blame him, as easily forget what we are +taught. +</p> + +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> + +<p> +Let it be observed that the miraculous and Divine +Voice reveals nothing new to them. For the words, +This is My beloved Son, and also their drift in raising +Him above all rivalry, were involved in the recent +confession of this very Peter that He was neither +Elijah nor one of the prophets, but the Son of the +Living God. So true is it that we may receive a truth +into our creed, and even apprehend it with such vital +faith as makes us <q>blessed,</q> long before it grasps and +subdues our nature, and saturates the obscure regions +where impulse and excitement are controlled. What +we all need most is not clearer and sounder views, but +the bringing of our thoughts into subjection to the +mind of Jesus. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Descent From The Mount.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And as they were coming down from the mountain, He charged +them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, save +when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead. And they +kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the rising again +from the dead should mean. And they asked Him, saying, The scribes +say that Elijah must first come. And He said unto them, Elijah indeed +cometh first, and restoreth all things: and how is it written of the Son +of man, that He should suffer many things and be set at nought? But I +say unto you, that Elijah is come, and they have also done unto him +whatsoever they listed, even as it is written of Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ix. 9-13 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +In what state of mind did the apostles return from beholding +the glory of the Lord, and His ministers from +another world? They seem to have been excited, demonstrative, +ready to blaze abroad the wonderful event +which ought to put an end to all men's doubts. +</p> + +<p> +They would have been bitterly disappointed, if they +had prematurely exposed their experience to ridicule, +cross-examination, conjectural theories, and all the controversy +which reduces facts to logical form, but strips +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +them of their freshness and vitality. In the first age +as in the nineteenth, it was possible to be witnesses +for the Lord without exposing to coarse and irreverent +handling all the delicate and secret experiences of the +soul with Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore Jesus charged them that they should tell no +man. Silence would force back the impression upon +the depths of their own spirits, and spread its roots +under the surface there. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was it right to make such a startling demand +upon the faith of others before public evidence had been +given, enough to make scepticism blameworthy. His +resurrection from the dead would suffice to unseal their +lips. And the experience of all the Church has justified +that decision. The resurrection is, in fact, the +centre of all the miraculous narratives, the sun which +keeps them in their orbit. Some of them, as isolated +events, might have failed to challenge credence. But +authority and sanction are given to all the rest by this +great and publicly attested marvel, which has modified +history, and the denial of which makes history at once +untrustworthy and incoherent. When Jesus rose from +the dead, the whole significance of His life and its +events was deepened. +</p> + +<p> +This mention of the resurrection called them away +from pleasant day-dreams, by reminding them that +their Master was to die. For Him there was no +illusion. Coming back from the light and voices of +heaven, the cross before Him was as visible as ever +to His undazzled eyes, and He was still the sober and +vigilant friend to warn them against false hopes. They +however found means of explaining the unwelcome +truth away. Various theories were discussed among +them, what the rising from the dead should mean, what +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +should be in fact the limit to their silence. This very +perplexity, and the chill upon their hopes, aided them +to keep the matter close. +</p> + +<p> +One hope was too strong not to be at least hinted +to Jesus. They had just seen Elias. Surely they were +right in expecting his interference, as the scribes had +taught. Instead of a lonely road pursued by the Messiah +to a painful death, should not that great prophet +come as a forerunner and restore all things? How +then was murderous opposition possible? +</p> + +<p> +And Jesus answered that one day this should come to +pass. The herald should indeed reconcile all hearts, +before the great and notable day of the Lord come. +But for the present time there was another question. +That promise to which they clung, was it their only +light upon futurity? Was not the assertion quite as +plain that the Son of Man should suffer many things +and be set at nought? So far was Jesus from that +state of mind in which men buoy themselves up with +false hope. No apparent prophecy, no splendid vision, +deceived His unerring insight. And yet no despair +arrested His energies for one hour. +</p> + +<p> +But, He added, Elias had already been offered to +this generation in vain; they had done to him as they +listed. They had re-enacted what history recorded of +his life on earth. +</p> + +<p> +Then a veil dropped from the disciples' eyes. They +recognised the dweller in lonely places, the man of +hairy garment and ascetic life, persecuted by a feeble +tyrant who cowered before his rebuke, and by the +deadlier hatred of an adulterous queen. They saw how +the very name of Elias raised a probability that the +second prophet should be treated <q>as it is written of</q> +the first. +</p> + +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> + +<p> +If then they had so strangely misjudged the preparation +of His way, what might they not apprehend of the +issue? So should also the Son of man suffer of them. +</p> + +<p> +Do we wonder that they had not hitherto recognised +the prophet? Perhaps, when all is made clear at last, +we shall wonder more at our own refusals of reverence, +our blindness to the meaning of noble lives, our moderate +and qualified respect for men of whom the world +is not worthy. +</p> + +<p> +How much solid greatness would some of us overlook, +if it went with an unpolished and unattractive +exterior? Now the Baptist was a rude and abrupt +person, of little culture, unwelcome in kings' houses. +Yet no greater had been born of woman. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Demoniac Boy.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great multitude +about them, and scribes questioning with them. And straightway all +the multitude, when they saw Him, were greatly amazed, and running +to Him saluted Him. And He asked them, What question ye with +them? And one of the multitude answered Him, Master, I brought +unto Thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; and wheresoever it +taketh him, it dasheth him down: and he foameth, and grindeth his +teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to Thy disciples that they should +cast it out; and they were not able. And He answered them and saith, +O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I +bear with you? bring him unto Me. And they brought him unto Him: +and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tare him grievously; and +he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And He asked his +father, How long time is it since this hath come unto him? And he +said, From a child. And oft-times it hath cast him both into the fire +and into the waters, to destroy him: but if Thou canst do anything, +have compassion on us, and help us. And Jesus said unto him, If +thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth. Straightway +the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help Thou mine +unbelief. And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, +He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf +spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> +And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and <hi rend='italic'>the child</hi> +became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead. +But Jesus took Him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose! +And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him +privately, <hi rend='italic'>saying</hi>, We could not cast it out. And He said unto them, +This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ix. +14-29 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Peter soon had striking evidence that it would not +have been <q>good</q> for them to linger too long upon the +mountain. And our Lord was recalled with painful +abruptness from the glories of transfiguration to the +scepticism of scribes, the failure and shame of disciples, +and the triumph of the powers of evil. +</p> + +<p> +To the Twelve He had explicitly given authority over +devils, and even the Seventy, venturing by faith to cast +them out, had told Him of their success with joy. But +now, in the sorrow and fear of these latter days, deprived +of their Master and of their own foremost three, +oppressed with gloomy forebodings, and infected with +the worldliness which fails to pray, the nine had striven +in vain. It is the only distinct repulse recorded, and +the scribes attacked them keenly. Where was their +Master at this crisis? Did not they profess equally +to have the necessary power? Here was a test, and +some failed, and the others did not present themselves. +We can imagine the miserable scene, contrasting +piteously with what passed on the summit of the hill. +And in the centre was an agonized father and a tortured +lad. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment the crowds, profoundly moved, +rushed to meet the Lord, and on seeing Him, became +aware that failure was at an end. Perhaps the exceeding +brightness lingered still upon His face; perhaps +it was but the unearthly and victorious calm of His +consecration, visible in His mien; what is certain is +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +that they were greatly amazed, and ran to Him and did +homage. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus at once challenged a renewal of the attack +which had been too much for His apostles. <q>What +question ye with them?</q> But awe has fallen upon the +scribes also, and misery is left to tell its own tale. +Their attack by preference upon the disciples is very +natural, and it by no means stands alone. They did +not ask Him, but His followers, why He ate and drank +with sinners, nor whether He paid the half-shekel +(Mark ii. 16; Matt. xvii. 24). When they did complain +to the Master Himself, it was commonly of some fault +in His disciples: Why do Thy disciples fast not? +Why they do on the Sabbath day that which is not +lawful? Why do they eat with defiled hands? (Mark +ii. 18, 24; vii. 5). Their censures of Himself were +usually muttered or silent murmurings, which He discerned, +as when He forgave the sins of the palsied man; +when the Pharisee marvelled that He had not washed +His hands; when He accepted the homage of the +sinful woman, and again when He spoke her pardon +(Mark ii. 8; Luke xi. 38; vii. 39-49). When He healed +the woman whom a spirit of infirmity had bent down +for eighteen years, the ruler of the synagogue spoke to +the people, without venturing to address Jesus. (Luke +xiii. 14). +</p> + +<p> +It is important to observe such indications, unobtrusive, +and related by various evangelists, of the +majesty and impressiveness which surrounded our +Lord, and awed even His bitter foes. +</p> + +<p> +The silence is broken by an unhappy father, who had +been the centre of the group, but whom the abrupt movement +to meet Jesus has merged in the crowd again. +The case of his son is among those which prove that +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +demoniacal possession did not imply the exceptional guilt +of its victims, for though still young, he has suffered +long. The demon which afflicts him is dumb; it works +in the guise of epilepsy, and as a disease it is affected +by the changes of the moon; a malicious design is +visible in frequent falls into fire and water, to destroy +him. The father had sought Jesus with him, and since +He was absent had appealed to His followers, but in +vain. Some consequent injury to his own faith, clearly +implied in what follows, may possibly be detected +already, in the absence of any further petition, and in +the cold epithet, <q>Teacher,</q> which he employs. +</p> + +<p> +Even as an evidence the answer of Jesus is remarkable, +being such as human ingenuity would not have +invented, nor the legendary spirit have conceived. It +would have seemed natural that He should hasten to +vindicate His claims and expose the folly of the scribes, +or else have reproached His followers for the failure +which had compromised Him. +</p> + +<p> +But the scribes were entirely set aside from the +moment when the Good Physician was invoked by a +bleeding heart. Yet the physical trouble is dealt with +deliberately, not in haste, as by one whose mastery is +assured. The passing shadow which has fallen on His +cause only concerns Him as a part of the heavy spiritual +burden which oppresses Him, which this terrible +scene so vividly exhibits. +</p> + +<p> +For the true importance of His words is this, that +they reveal sufferings which are too often forgotten, and +which few are pure enough even to comprehend. The +prevalent evil weighed upon Him. And here the visible +power of Satan, the hostility of the scribes, the failure +of His own, the suspense and agitation of the crowd, +all breathed the spirit of that evil age, alien and harsh +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> +to Him as an infected atmosphere. He blames none +more than others; it is the <q>generation,</q> so faithless +and perverse, which forces Him to exclaim: <q>How long +shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you?</q> +It is the cry of the pain of Jesus. It bids us to consider +Him Who endured such contradiction of sinners, +who were even sinners against Himself. So that the +distress of Jesus was not that of a mere eye-witness +of evil or sufferer by it. His priesthood established a +closer and more agonizing connection between our Lord +and the sins which tortured Him. +</p> + +<p> +Do the words startle us, with the suggestion of a +limit to the forbearance of Jesus, well-nigh reached? +There <emph>was</emph> such a limit. The work of His messenger +had been required, lest His coming should be to smite +the world. His mind was the mind of God, and it +is written, Kiss the Son, lest He be angry. +</p> + +<p> +Now if Jesus looked forward to shame and anguish +with natural shrinking, we here perceive another aspect +in which His coming Baptism of Blood was viewed, +and we discover why He was straitened until it was +accomplished. There is an intimate connection between +this verse and His saying in St. John, <q>If ye loved Me, +ye would rejoice, because I go unto My Father.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But swiftly the mind of Jesus recurs to the misery +which awaits help; and He bids them bring the child +to Him. Now the sweet influence of His presence +would have soothed and mitigated any mere disease. It +is to such influence that sceptical writers are wont to +turn for an explanation, such as it is, of the works He +wrought. But it was the reverse in cases of possession. +There a wild sense of antagonism and revolt was wont +to show itself. And we might learn that this was something +more than epilepsy, even were it left doubtful +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +otherwise, by the outburst of Satanic rage. When he +saw Him, straightway the spirit convulsed him grievously, +and he fell wallowing and foaming. +</p> + +<p> +Yet Jesus is neither hurried nor agitated. In not +one of His miracles does precipitation, or mere impulse, +mingle with His grave and self-contained compassion. +He will question the scribes while the man with a +withered hand awaits His help. He will rebuke the +disciples before quelling the storm. At Nain He will +touch the bier and arrest the bearers. When He feeds +the multitude, He will first command a search for loaves. +He will stand still and call Bartimæus to Him. He +will evoke, even by seeming harshness, the faith of the +woman of Canaan. He will have the stone rolled away +from the sepulchre of Lazarus. When He Himself +rises, the grave-clothes are found folded up, and the +napkin which bound His head laid in a place by itself, +the last tribute of mortals to His mortality not being +flung contemptuously aside. All His miracles are +authenticated by the stamp of the same character—serene, +not in haste nor tardy, since He saw the end +from the beginning. In this case delay is necessary, to +arouse the father, if only by interrogation, from his dull +disappointment and hopelessness. He asks therefore +<q>How long time is it since this came upon him?</q> and the +answer shows that he was now at least a stripling, for he +had suffered ever since he was a child. Then the unhappy +man is swept away by his emotions: as he tells +their sorrows, and thinks what a wretched life or miserable +death lies before his son, he bursts into a passionate +appeal. If Thou canst do anything, do this. +Let pity for such misery, for the misery of father as +well as child, evoke all Thy power to save. The form +is more disrespectful than the substance of his cry; its +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +very vehemence is evidence that some hope is working +in his breast; and there is more real trust in its +wild urgency than in many a reverential and carefully +weighed prayer. +</p> + +<p> +Yet how much rashness, self-assertion, and wilfulness +(which is really unbelief) were mingled with his +germinant faith and needed rebuke. Therefore Christ +responded with his own word: <q>If <emph>thou</emph> canst: thou +sayest it to Me, but I retort the condition upon thyself: +with thee are indeed the issues of thine own application, +for all things are possible to him that believeth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This answer is in two respects important. There +was a time when popular religion dealt too much with +internal experience and attainment. But perhaps there +are schools among us now which verge upon the opposite +extreme. Faith and love are generally strongest +when they forget themselves, and do not say <q>I am +faithful and loving,</q> but <q>Christ is trustworthy, Christ +is adorable.</q> This is true, and these virtues are becoming +artificial, and so false, as soon as they grow +self-complacent. Yet we should give at least enough +attention to our own attainments to warn us of our +deficiencies. And wherever we find a want of blessedness, +we may seek for the reason within ourselves. +Many a one is led to doubt whether Christ <q>can do +anything</q> practical for him, since private prayer and +public ordinances help him little, and his temptations +continue to prevail, whose true need is to be roused +up sharply to the consciousness that it is not Christ +who has failed; it is he himself: his faith is dim, his +grasp on his Lord is half hearted, he is straitened in +his own affections. Our personal experiences should +never teach us confidence, but they may often serve +to humble and warn us. +</p> + +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> + +<p> +This answer also impresses upon us the dignity of +Him who speaks. Failure had already come through +the spiritual defects of His disciples, but for Him, though +<q>meek and lowly of heart,</q> no such danger is even +contemplated. No appeal to Him can be frustrated +except through fault of the suppliant, since all things are +possible to him that believeth. +</p> + +<p> +Now faith is in itself nothing, and may even be pernicious; +all its effect depends upon the object. Trust +reposed in a friend avails or misleads according to his +love and his resources; trust in a traitor is ruinous, +and ruinous in proportion to its energy. And since +trust in Jesus is omnipotent, Who and what is He? +</p> + +<p> +The word pierces like a two-edged sword, and reveals to +the agitated father the conflict, the impurity of his heart. +Unbelief is there, and of himself he cannot conquer +it. Yet is he not entirely unbelieving, else what drew +him thither? What impulse led to that passionate +recital of his griefs, that over-daring cry of anguish? +And what is now this burning sense within him of +a great and inspiring Presence, which urges him to +a bolder appeal for a miracle yet more spiritual and +Divine, a cry well directed to the Author and Finisher +of our faith? Never was medicine better justified by +its operation upon disease, than the treatment which +converted a too-importunate clamour for bodily relief +into a contrite prayer for grace. <q>I believe, help Thou +mine unbelief.</q> The same sense of mixed imperfect and +yet real trust should exist in every one of us, or else our +belief being perfect should be irresistible in the moral +sphere, and in the physical world so resigned, so confident +in the Love which governs, as never to be conscious +of any gnawing importunate desire. And from the +same sense of need, the same cry for help should spring. +</p> + +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> + +<p> +Miraculous legends have gathered around the lives +of many good and gracious men within Christendom +and outside it. But they cannot claim to weigh +against the history of Jesus, until at least one example +can be produced of such direct spiritual action, so profound, +penetrating and effectual, inextricably interwoven +in the tissue of any fable. +</p> + +<p> +All this time the agitation of the people had increased. +A multitude was rushing forward, whose +excitement would do more to distract the father's mind +than further delay to help him. And Jesus, even in +the midst of His treatment of souls, was not blind to +such practical considerations, or to the influence of +circumstances. Unlike modern dealers in sensation, +He can never be shown to have aimed at religious +excitement, while it was His custom to discourage it. +Therefore He now rebuked the unclean spirit in the lad, +addressing it directly speaking as a superior. <q>Thou +deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, come out of +him,</q> and adding, with explicitness which was due perhaps +to the obstinate ferocity of <q>this kind,</q> or perhaps +was intended to help the father's lingering unbelief, +<q>enter no more into him.</q> The evil being obeys, yet +proves his reluctance by screaming and convulsing his +victim for the last time, so that he, though healed, +lies utterly prostrate, and <q>the more part said, He is +dead.</q> It was a fearful exhibition of the disappointed +malice of the pit. But it only calls forth another display +of the power and love of Jesus, Who will not leave the +sufferer to a gradual recovery, nor speak, as to the +fiend, in words of mere authority, but reaches forth +His benign hand, and raises him, restored. Here we +discover the same heart which provided that the +daughter of Jairus should have food, and delivered her +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> +son to the widow of Nain, and was first to remind +others that Lazarus was encumbered by his grave-clothes. +The good works of Jesus were not melodramatic +marvels for stage effect: they were the natural +acts of supernatural power and love. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Jesus And The Disciples.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him +privately, <hi rend='italic'>saying</hi>, We could not cast it out. And He said unto them, +This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer. And they went +forth from thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that +any man should know it. For He taught His disciples, and said unto +them, The Son of man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they +shall kill Him; and when He is killed, after three days He shall rise +again. But they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask +Him. And they came to Capernaum: and when He was in the house +He asked them, What were ye reasoning in the way? But they held +their peace: for they had disputed one with another in the way, who +was the greatest. And He sat down, and called the twelve; and He +saith unto them, If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and +minister of all. And He took a little child, and set him in the midst +of them: and taking him in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever +shall receive one of such little children in My name, receiveth Me; and +whosoever receiveth Me, receiveth not Me but Him that sent Me.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +ix. 28-37 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +When the apostles had failed to expel the demon from +the child, they gave a very natural expression to their +disappointment. Waiting until Jesus was in private +and in the house, they said, <q>We for our parts were +unable to cast it out.</q> They take no blame to themselves. +The tone is rather of perplexity and complaint +because the commission formerly received had not held +good. And it implies the question which is plainly +expressed by St. Matthew, Why could we not cast it +out? Their very unconsciousness of personal blame +is ominous, and Jesus replies that the fault is entirely +their own. They ought to have stimulated, as He did +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +afterwards, what was flagging but not absent in the +father, what their failure must have daunted further in +him. Want of faith had overcome them, says the +fuller account: the brief statement in St. Mark is, <q>This +kind (of demon) can come out by nothing but by +prayer</q>; to which fasting was added as a second condition +by ancient copyists, but without authority. What +is important is to observe the connection between faith +and prayer; so that while the devil would only have +gone out if they had prayed, or even perhaps only if +they had been men of prayer, yet their failure was +through unbelief. It plainly follows that prayer is the +nurse of faith, and would have strengthened it so that +it should prevail. Only in habitual communion with +God can we learn to trust Him aright. There, as we +feel His nearness, as we are reminded that He bends +to hear our cry, as the sense of eternal and perfect +power blends with that of immeasurable love, and His +sympathy becomes a realized abiding fact, as our vainglory +is rebuked by confessions of sin, and of dependence, +it is made possible for man to wield the forces of +the spiritual world and yet not to be intoxicated with +pride. The nearness of God is inconsistent with +boastfulness of man. For want of this, it was better +that the apostles should fail and be humbled, than +succeed and be puffed up. +</p> + +<p> +There are promises still unenjoyed, dormant and +unexercised powers at the disposal of the Church +to-day. If in many Christian families the children are +not practically holy, if purity and consecration are not +leavening our Christian land, where after so many +centuries license is but little abashed and the faith +of Jesus is still disputed, if the heathen are not yet +given for our Lord's inheritance nor the uttermost +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +parts of the earth for His possession—why are we +unable to cast out the devils that afflict our race? It +is because our efforts are so faithless. And this again +is because they are not inspired and elevated by +sufficient communion with our God in prayer. +</p> + +<p> +Further evidences continued to be given of the +dangerous state of the mind of His followers, weighed +down by earthly hopes and fears, wanting in faith and +prayer, and therefore open to the sinister influences +of the thief who was soon to become the traitor. +They were now moving for the last time through +Galilee. It was a different procession from those glad +circuits, not long before, when enthusiasm everywhere +rose high, and sometimes the people would have +crowned Him. Now He would not that any man +should know it. The word which tells of His journey +seems to imply that He avoided the main thoroughfares, +and went by less frequented by-ways. Partly +no doubt His motives were prudential, resulting from +the treachery which He discerned. Partly it was +because His own spirit was heavily weighed upon, +and retirement was what He needed most. And +certainly most of all because crowds and tumult would +have utterly unfitted the apostles to learn the hard +lesson, how vain their daydreams were, and what a +trial lay before their Master. +</p> + +<p> +We read that <q>He taught them</q> this, which implies +more than a single utterance, as also perhaps does the +remarkable phrase in St. Luke, <q>Let these sayings sink +into your ears.</q> When the warning is examined, we +find it almost a repetition of what they had heard after +Peter's great confession. Then they had apparently +supposed the cross of their Lord to be such a figurative +one as all His followers have to bear. Even after the +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +Transfiguration, the chosen three had searched for a +meaning for the resurrection from the dead. But now, +when the words were repeated with a naked, crude, +resolute distinctness, marvellous from the lips of Him +Who should endure the reality, and evidently chosen in +order to beat down their lingering evasive hopes, when +He says <q>They shall kill Him, and when He is killed, +after three days He shall rise again,</q> surely they ought +to have understood. +</p> + +<p> +In fact they comprehended enough to shrink from +hearing more. They did not dare to lift the veil which +covered a mystery so dreadful; they feared to ask +Him. It is a natural impulse, not to know the worst. +Insolvent tradesmen leave their books unbalanced. The +course of history would have run in another channel, +if the great Napoleon had looked in the face the need +to fortify his own capital while plundering others. No +wonder that these Galileans recoiled from searching +what was the calamity which weighed so heavily upon +the mighty spirit of their Master. Do not men stifle +the voice of conscience, and refuse to examine themselves +whether they are in the faith, in the same abject +dread of knowing the facts, and looking the inevitable +in the face? How few there are, who bear to think, +calmly and well, of the certainties of death and judgment? +</p> + +<p> +But at the appointed time, the inevitable arrived for +the disciples. The only effect of their moral cowardice +was that it found them unready, surprised and therefore +fearful, and still worse, prepared to forsake Jesus +by having already in heart drawn away from Him, by +having refused to comprehend and share His sorrows. +It is easy to blame them, to assume that in their place +we should not have been partakers in their evil deeds, +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> +to make little of the chosen foundation stones upon +which Christ would build His New Jerusalem. But +in so doing we forfeit the sobering lessons of their +weakness, who failed, not because they were less than +we, but because they were not more than mortal. And +we who censure them are perhaps indolently refusing +day by day to reflect, to comprehend the meaning of +our own lives and of their tendencies, to realize a +thousand warnings, less terrible only because they continue +to be conditional, but claiming more attention for +that very reason. +</p> + +<p> +Contrast with their hesitation the noble fortitude +with which Christ faced His agony. It was His, and +their concern in it was secondary. Yet for their sakes +He bore to speak of what they could not bear to hear. +Therefore to Him there came no surprise, no sudden +shock; His arrest found Him calm and reassured after +the conflict in the Garden, and after all the preparation +which had already gone forward through all these +latter days. +</p> + +<p> +One only ingredient in His cup of bitterness is now +added to those which had been already mentioned: +<q>The Son of man is delivered up into the hands of +men.</q> And this is the same which He mentioned in the +Garden: <q>The Son of man is betrayed into the hands +of sinners.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It was that from which David recoiled when he said, +<q>Let me fall into the hands of God, but let me not fall +into the hands of men.</q> Suffering has not reached its +height until conscious malice designs the pang, and +says, <q>So would we have it.</q> Especially true was +this of the most tender of all hearts. Yet this also +Jesus foreknew, while He steadfastly set His face to go +toward Jerusalem. +</p> + +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> + +<p> +Faithless inability to grapple with the powers of +darkness, faithless unreadiness to share the cross of +Jesus, what was to be expected next? Estrangement, +jealousy and ambition, the passions of the world heaving +in the bosom of the Church. But while they fail to +discern the spirit of Judas, the Lord discerned theirs, +and asked them in the house, What were ye reasoning +in the way? It was a sweet and gentle prudence, +which had not corrected them publicly nor while their +tempers were still ruffled, nor in the language of severe +rebuke, for by the way they had not only reasoned but +disputed one with another, who was the greatest. +</p> + +<p> +Language of especial honour had been addressed to +Peter. Three had become possessed of a remarkable +secret on the Holy Mount, concerning which hints on +one side, and surmises on the other, may easily have +excited jealousy. The failure of the nine to cast out the +devil would also, as they were not humbled, render +them irritable and self-asserting. +</p> + +<p> +But they held their peace. No one asserted his +right to answer on behalf of all. Peter, who was so +willingly their spokesman at other times, did not vindicate +his boasted pre-eminence now. The claim which seemed +so reasonable while they forgot Jesus, was a thing to +blush for in His presence. And they, who feared to +ask Him of His own sufferings, knew enough to feel the +contrast between their temper, their thoughts and His. +Would that we too by prayer and self-examination, +more often brought our desires and ambitions into the +searching light of the presence of the lowly King of +kings. +</p> + +<p> +The calmness of their Lord was in strange contrast +with their confusion. He pressed no further His +inquiry, but left them to weigh His silence in this respect +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> +against their own. But importing by His action something +deliberate and grave, He sat down and called the +Twelve, and pronounced the great law of Christian +rank, which is lowliness and the lowliest service. <q>If +any man would be the first, he shall be the least of all, +and the servant of all.</q> When Kaisers and Popes +ostentatiously wash the feet of paupers, they do not +really serve, and therefore they exhibit no genuine +lowliness. Christ does not speak of the luxurious +nursing of a sentiment, but of that genuine humility +which effaces itself that it may really become a servant +of the rest. Nor does He prescribe this as a penance, +but as the appointed way to eminence. Something +similar He had already spoken, bidding men sit down +in the lowest room, that the Master of the house might +call them higher. But it is in the next chapter, when +despite this lesson the sons of Zebedee persisted in +claiming the highest places, and the indignation of the +rest betrayed the very passion it resented, that Jesus +fully explains how lowly service, that wholesome +medicine for ambition, is the essence of the very greatness +in pursuit of which men spurn it. +</p> + +<p> +To the precept, which will then be more conveniently +examined, Jesus now added a practical lesson of +amazing beauty. In the midst of twelve rugged and +unsympathetic men, the same who, despite this action, +presently rebuked parents for seeking the blessing of +Christ upon their babes, Jesus sets a little child. What +but the grace and love which shone upon the sacred +face could have prevented this little one from being +utterly disconcerted? But children have a strange +sensibility for love. Presently this happy child was +caught up in His arms, and pressed to His bosom, and +there He seems to have lain while John, possibly conscience-stricken, +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +asked a question and received an unexpected +answer. And the silent pathetic trust of this His +lamb found its way to the heart of Jesus, who presently +spoke of <q>these little ones who believe in Me</q> (v. 42). +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the child illustrated in a double sense +the rule of greatness which He had laid down. So +great is lowliness that Christ Himself may be found +in the person of a little child. And again, so great is +service, that in receiving one, even one, of the multitude +of children who claim our sympathies, we receive the +very Master; and in that lowly Man, who was among +them as He that serveth, is manifested the very God: +whoso receiveth Me receiveth not Me but Him that +sent me. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Offences.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>John said unto Him, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy +Name: and we forbade him, because he followed not us. But Jesus +said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a mighty work +in My name, and be able quickly to speak evil of Me. For he that is +not against us is for us. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water +to drink, because ye are Christ's, verily I say unto you, he shall in no +wise lose his reward. And whosoever shall cause one of these little +ones that believe on Me to stumble, it were better for him if a great +millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. +And if thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off: it is good for thee to +enter into life maimed, rather than having thy two hands to go into hell, +into the unquenchable fire. And if thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut +it off: it is good for thee to enter into life halt, rather than having thy +two feet to be cast into hell. And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, +cast it out: it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with +one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell; where their +worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be +salted with fire. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost its saltness, +wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace +one with another.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> ix. 38-50 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +When Jesus spoke of the blessedness of receiving in +His name even a little child, the conscience of St. John +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> +became uneasy. They had seen one casting out devils +in that name, and had forbidden him, <q>because he +followeth not us.</q> The spirit of partizanship which +these words betray is somewhat softer in St. Luke, but +it exists. He reports <q>because he followeth not +(Jesus) with us.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The behaviour of the disciples all through this period +is unsatisfactory. From the time when Peter contradicted +and rebuked Jesus, down to their final desertion, +there is weakness at every turn. And this is a curious +example of it, that immediately after having failed themselves,<note place='foot'>That the event was recent is implied in the present tense: <q>he +followeth not</q>: <q>forbid him not</q>; the matter is still fresh.</note> +they should rebuke another for doing what their +Master had once declared could not possibly be an evil +work. If Satan cast out Satan his house was divided +against itself: if the finger of God was there no doubt +the kingdom of God was come unto them. +</p> + +<p> +It is interesting and natural that St. John should +have introduced the question. Others were usually +more forward, but that was because he was more +thoughtful. Peter went first into the sepulchre; but he +first, seeing what was there, believed. And it was he +who said <q>It is the Lord,</q> although Peter thereupon +plunged into the lake to reach Him. Discerning and +grave: such is the character from which his Gospel +would naturally come, and it belongs to him who first +discerned the rebuke to their conduct implied in the +words of Jesus. He was right. The Lord answered, +<q>Forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a +mighty work in My name, and be able quickly to speak +evil of Me:</q> his own action would seal his lips; he +would have committed himself. Now this points out a +very serious view of human life, too often overlooked. +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> +The deed of to-day rules to-morrow; one is half enslaved +by the consequences of his own free will. Let +no man, hesitating between two lines of action, ask, +What harm in this? what use in that? without adding, +And what future actions, good or evil, may they carry +in their train? +</p> + +<p> +The man whom they had rebuked was at least certain +to be for a time detached from the opponents of truth, +silent if not remonstrant when it was assailed, diluting +and enfeebling the enmity of its opponents. And so +Christ laid down the principle, <q>He that is not against +us is for us.</q> In St. Luke the words are more plainly +pointed against this party spirit, <q>He that is not against +you is for you.</q> +</p> + +<p> +How shall we reconcile this principle with Christ's +declaration elsewhere, <q>He that is not with Me is +against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me +scattereth</q>? +</p> + +<p> +It is possible to argue that there is no contradiction +whatever, for both deny the existence of a neutral class, +and from this it equally follows that he who is not with +is against, and he who is not against is with us. But +this answer only evades the difficulty, which is, that one +passage reckons seeming neutrality as friendship, while +the other denounces it as enmity. +</p> + +<p> +A closer examination reveals a more profound reconciliation. +In St. Matthew, Christ announced His own +personal claim; in St. Mark He declares that His people +must not share it. Towards Christ Himself, indifference +is practical rejection. The manifestation of God was +not made to be criticised or set aside: He loves them +who love Him; He demands the hearts He died for; +and to give Him less is to refuse Him the travail of His +soul. Therefore He that is not with Christ is against +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> +Him. The man who boasts that he does no harm but +makes no pretence of religion, is proclaiming that one +may innocently refuse Christ. And it is very noteworthy +that St. Matthew's aphorism was evoked, like this, by +a question about the casting out of devils. There the +Pharisees had said that He cast out devils by Beelzebub. +And Jesus had warned all who heard, that in such a +controversy, to be indifferent was to deny him. Here, +the man had himself appealed to the power of Jesus. +He had passed, long ago, the stage of cool semi-contemptuous +indifference. Whether he was a disciple of +the Baptist, not yet entirely won, or a later convert who +shrank from the loss of all things, what is plain is that +he had come far on the way towards Jesus. It does not +follow that he enjoyed a saving faith, for Christ will at +last profess to many who cast out devils in His name, +that He never knew them. But intellectual persuasion +and some active reliance were there. Let them beware +of crushing the germs, because they were not yet developed. +Nor should the disciples suppose that loyalty +to their organization, although Christ was with them, +was the same as loyalty to Him. <q>He that is not +against <emph>you</emph> is for you,</q> according to St. Luke. Nay +more, <q>He that is not against us is for us,</q> according +to St. Mark. But already He had spoken the stronger +word, <q>He that is not for <emph>Me</emph> is against Me.</q> +</p> + +<p> +No verse has been more employed than this in +sectarian controversy. And sometimes it has been +pressed too far. The man whom St. John would have +silenced was not spreading a rival organization; and +we know how the same Apostle wrote, long afterwards, +of those who did so: <q>If they had been of us, they would +have continued with us; but they went out that they +might be made manifest how all they are not of us</q> +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +(1 John ii. 19). This was simply a doer of good without +ecclesiastical sanction, and the warning of the text +is against all who would use the name of discipline +or of order to bridle the zeal, to curb the energies, of +any Christian soul. But it is at least as often the new +movement as the old organization that would silence all +who follow not with it. +</p> + +<p> +But the energies of Christ and His gospel can never +be monopolized by any organization whatsoever. Every +good gift and every perfect gift, wherever we behold it, +is from Him. +</p> + +<p> +All help, then, is to be welcomed; not to hinder is to +speed the cause. And therefore Jesus, repeating a +former saying, adds that whosoever, moved by the +name of Christ, shall give His followers one cup of +water, shall be rewarded. He may be and continue +outside the Church; his after life may be sadly inconsistent +with this one action: that is not the question; +the sole condition is the genuine motive—one impulse of +true respect, one flicker of loyalty, only decided enough +to speed the weary ambassador with the simplest possible +refreshment, should <q>in no wise lose its reward.</q> Does +this imply that the giver should assuredly enter heaven? +Alas, no. But this it says, that every spark of fire in +the smoking flax is tended, every gracious movement +is answered by a gift of further grace, to employ or to +abuse. Not more surely is the thirsty disciple refreshed, +than the feverish worldliness of him who just attains to +render this service is fanned and cooled by breezes from +heaven, he becomes aware of a deeper and nobler life, +he is melted and drawn towards better things. Very +blessed, or very miserable is he who cannot remember +the holy shame, the yearning, the sigh because he is +not always thus, which followed naturally upon some +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> +deed, small in itself perhaps, but good enough to be +inconsistent with his baser self. The deepening of +spiritual capacity is one exceeding great reward of every +act of loyalty to Christ. +</p> + +<p> +This was graciously said of a deed done to the +apostles, despite their failures, rivalries, and rebukes +of those who would fain speed the common cause. +Not, however, because they were apostles, but <q>because +ye are Christ's.</q> And so was the least, so was +the child who clung to Him. But if the slightest sympathy +with these is thus laden with blessing, then to +hinder, to cause to stumble one such little one, how +terrible was that. Better to die a violent and shameful +death, and never sleep in a peaceful grave. +</p> + +<p> +There is a worse peril than from others. We ourselves +may cause ourselves to stumble. We may +pervert beyond recall things innocent, natural, all but +necessary, things near and dear and useful to our +daily life as are our very limbs. The loss of them may +be so lasting a deprivation that we shall enter heaven +maimed. But if the moral evil is irrevocably identified +with the worldly good, we must renounce it. +</p> + +<p> +The hand with its subtle and marvellous power may +well stand for harmless accomplishments now fraught +with evil suggestiveness; for innocent modes of livelihood +which to relinquish means crippled helplessness, +yet which have become hopelessly entangled with +unjust or at least questionable ways; for the great +possessions, honestly come by, which the ruler would +not sell; for all endowments which we can no longer +hope to consecrate, and which make one resemble the +old Chaldeans, whose might was their god, who +sacrificed to their net and burned incense to their drag. +</p> + +<p> +And the foot, with its swiftness in boyhood, its plodding +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +walk along the pavement in maturer age, may +well represent the caprices of youth so hard to curb, +and also the half-mechanical habits which succeed to +these, and by which manhood is ruled, often to its +destruction. If the hand be capacity, resource, and +possession, the foot is swift perilous impulse, and also +fixed habitude, monotonous recurrence, the settled ways +of the world. +</p> + +<p> +Cut off hand and foot, and what is left to the mutilated +trunk, the ravaged and desolated life? Desire +is left; the desire of the eyes. The eyes may not +touch the external world; all may now be correct in +our actions and intercourse with men. But yet greed, +passion, inflamed imagination may desecrate the temple +of the soul. The eyes misled Eve when she saw that +the fruit was good, and David on his palace roof. +Before the eyes of Jesus, Satan spread his third and +worst temptation. And our Lord seems to imply that +this last sacrifice of the worst because the deepest evil +must be made with indignant vehemence; hand and +foot must be cut off, but the eye must be cast out, +though life be half darkened in the process. +</p> + +<p> +These latter days have invented a softer gospel, +which proclaims that even the fallen err if they utterly +renounce any good creature of God, which ought to +be received with thanksgiving; that the duty of +moderation and self-control can never be replaced by +renunciation, and that distrust of any lawful enjoyment +revives the Manichean heresy. Is the eye a good +creature of God? May the foot be received with +thanksgiving? Is the hand a source of lawful enjoyment? +Yet Jesus made these the types of what must, +if it has become an occasion of stumbling, be entirely +cast away. +</p> + +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> + +<p> +He added that in such cases the choice is between +mutilation and the loss of all. It is no longer a +question of the full improvement of every faculty, the +doubling of all the talents, but a choice between living a +life impoverished and half spoiled, and going complete +to Gehenna, to the charnel valley where the refuse +of Jerusalem was burned in a continual fire, and the +worm of corruption never died. The expression is too +metaphorical to decide such questions as that of the +eternal duration of punishment, or of the nature of the +suffering of the lost. The metaphors of Jesus, however, +are not employed to exaggerate His meaning, but +only to express it. And what He said is this: The +man who cherishes one dear and excusable occasion +of offence, who spares himself the keenest spiritual +surgery, shall be cast forth with everything that +defileth, shall be ejected with the offal of the New +Jerusalem, shall suffer corruption like the transgressors +of whom Isaiah first used the tremendous phrase, <q>their +worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched,</q> +shall endure at once internal and external misery, as of +decomposition and of burning. +</p> + +<p> +Such is the most terrible menace that ever crossed +the lips into which grace was poured. And it was not +addressed to the outcast or the Pharisee, but to His +own. They were called to the highest life; on them +the influences of the world was to be as constant and as +disintegrating as that of the weather upon a mountain +top. Therefore they needed solemn warning, and the +counter-pressure of those awful issues known to be +dependent on their stern self-discipline. They could +not, He said in an obscure passage which has been +greatly tampered with, they could not escape fiery +suffering in some form. But the fire which tried would +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> +preserve and bless them if they endured it; every one +shall be salted with fire. But if they who ought to be +the salt of the world received the grace of God in vain, +if the salt have lost its saltness, the case is desperate +indeed. +</p> + +<p> +And since the need of this solemn warning sprang +from their rivalry and partizanship, Jesus concludes +with an emphatic charge to discipline and correct +themselves and to beware of impeding others: to be +searching in the closet, and charitable in the church: +to have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one +another. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter X.</head> + +<div> +<head>Divorce.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He arose from thence, and cometh into the borders of Judæa +and beyond Jordan: and multitudes come together unto Him again; +and, as He was wont, He taught them again. And there came unto Him +Pharisees, and asked Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? +tempting Him. And He answered and said unto them, What did +Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of +divorcement, and to put her away. But Jesus said unto them, For +your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the +beginning of the creation, Male and female made He them. For this +cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his +wife; and the twain shall become one flesh: so that they are no more +twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no +man put asunder. And in the house the disciples asked Him again of +this matter. And He saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his +wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her: and if she +herself shall put away her husband, and marry another, she committeth +adultery.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 1-12 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +It is easy to read without emotion that Jesus arose +from the scene of His last discourse, and came into +the borders of Judæa beyond Jordan. But not without +emotion did Jesus bid farewell to Galilee, to the home +of His childhood and sequestered youth, the cradle of +His Church, the centre of nearly all the love and faith +He had awakened. When closer still to death, His +heart reverted to Galilee, and He promised that when +He was risen He would go thither before His disciples. +Now He had to leave it. And we must not forget that +every step He took towards Jerusalem was a deliberate +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> +approach to His assured and anticipated cross. He +was not like other brave men, who endure death when +it arrives, but are sustained until the crisis by a +thousand flattering hopes and undefined possibilities. +Jesus knew precisely where and how He should suffer. +And now, as He arose from Galilee, every step said, +Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as He entered Perea beyond Jordan, multitudes +came to Him again. Nor did His burdened heart +repress His zeal: rather He found relief in their importunity +and in His Father's business, and so, <q>as He +was wont, He taught them again.</q> These simple words +express the rule He lived by, the patient continuance +in well-doing which neither hostilities nor anxieties +could chill. +</p> + +<p> +Not long was He left undisturbed. The Pharisees +come to Him with a question dangerous in itself, because +there is no conceivable answer which will not +estrange many, and especially dangerous for Jesus, +because already, on the Mount, He has spoken upon +this subject words at seeming variance with His free +views concerning sabbath observance, fasting, and ceremonial +purity. Most perilous of all was the decision +they expected when given by a teacher already under +suspicion, and now within reach of that Herod who had, +during the lifetime of his first wife, married the wife of +a living man. <q>Is it lawful for a man to put away his +wife for every cause?</q> It was a decision upon this +very subject which had proved fatal to the forerunner. +</p> + +<p> +But Jesus spoke out plainly. In a question and +answer which are variously reported, what is clear is +that He carefully distinguished between a command +and a permission of Moses. Divorce had been allowed; +yes, but some reason had been exacted, whatever disputes +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +might exist about its needful gravity, and deliberation +had been enforced by demanding a legal +document, a writing of divorcement. Thus conscience +was bidden to examine its motives, and time was gained +for natural relentings. But after all, Jesus declared +that divorce was only a concession to their hardness of +heart. Thus we learn that Old Testament institutions +were not all and of necessity an expression of the +Divine ideal. They were sometimes a temporary concession, +meant to lead to better things; an expedient +rather than a revelation. +</p> + +<p> +These words contain the germ of St. Paul's doctrine +that the law itself was a schoolmaster, and its function +temporary. +</p> + +<p> +To whatever concessions Moses had been driven, the +original and unshaken design of God was that man and +woman should find the permanent completion of their +lives each in the other. And this is shown by three +separate considerations. The first is the plan of the +creation, making them male and female, and such that +body and soul alike are only perfect when to each its +complement is added, when the masculine element and +the feminine <q>each fulfils defect in each ... the two-celled +heart beating with one full stroke life.</q> Thus +by anticipation Jesus condemned the tame-spirited +verdict of His disciples, that since a man cannot relieve +himself from a union when it proves galling, <q>it is not +good</q> to marry at all. To this he distinctly answered +that such an inference could not prove even tolerable, +except when nature itself, or else some social wrong, or +else absorbing devotion to the cause of God, virtually +cancelled the original design. But already he had here +shown that such prudential calculation degrades man, +leaves him incomplete, traverses the design of God +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> +Who from the beginning of the creation made them +male and female. In our own days, the relation between +the sexes is undergoing a social and legislative revolution. +Now Christ says not a word against the equal +rights of the sexes, and in more than one passage St. +Paul goes near to assert it. But equality is not identity, +either of vocation or capacity. This text asserts the +separate and reciprocal vocation of each, and it is +worthy of consideration, how far the special vocation of +womanhood is consistent with loud assertion of her +<q>separate rights.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Christ's second proof that marriage cannot be dissolved +without sin is that glow of heart, that noble abandonment, +in which a man leaves even father and mother +for the joy of his youth and the love of his espousals. +In that sacred hour, how hideous and base a wanton +divorce would be felt to be. Now man is not free to +live by the mean, calculating, selfish afterthought, which +breathes like a frost on the bloom of his noblest impulses +and aspirations. He should guide himself by the light of +his highest and most generous intuitions. +</p> + +<p> +And the third reason is that no man, by any possibility, +can undo what marriage does. They two are one flesh; +each has become part of the very existence of the other; +and it is simply incredible that a union so profound, so +interwoven with the very tissue of their being, should +lie at the mercy of the caprice or the calculations of one +or other, or of both. Such a union arises from the profoundest +depths of the nature God created, not from +mean cravings of that nature in its degradation; and +like waters springing up from the granite underneath +the soil, it may suffer stain, but it is in itself free from +the contamination of the fall. Despite of monkish and +of Manichean slanders, impure dreams pretending to +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> +especial purity, God is He Who joins together man and +woman in a bond which <q>no man,</q> king or prelate, may +without guilt dissolve. +</p> + +<p> +Of what followed, St. Mark is content to tell us that +in the house, the disciples pressed the question further. +How far did the relaxation which Moses granted +over-rule the original design? To what extent was +every individual bound in actual life? And the answer, +given by Jesus to guide His own people through all +time, is clear and unmistakeable. The tie cannot be +torn asunder without sin. The first marriage holds, +until actual adultery poisons the pure life in it, and +man or woman who breaks through its barriers commits +adultery. The Baptist's judgment of Herod was +confirmed. +</p> + +<p> +So Jesus taught. Ponder well that honest unshrinking +grasp of solid detail, which did not overlook the +physical union whereof is one flesh, that sympathy with +high and chivalrous devotion forsaking all else for its +beloved one, that still more spiritual penetration which +discerned a Divine purpose and a destiny in the correlation +of masculine and feminine gifts, of strength and +grace, of energy and gentleness, of courage and long-suffering—observe +with how easy and yet firm a grasp +He combines all these into one overmastering argument—remember +that when He spoke, the marriage tie was +being relaxed all over the ancient world, even as godless +legislation is to-day relaxing it—reflect that with +such relaxation came inevitably a blight upon the family, +resulting in degeneracy and ruin for the nation, while +every race which learned the lesson of Jesus grew strong +and pure and happy—and then say whether this was +only a Judæan peasant, or the Light of the World +indeed. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> + +<div> +<head>Christ And Little Children.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they brought unto Him little children, that He should touch +them: and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, He +was moved with indignation, and said unto them, Suffer the little +children to come unto Me; forbid them not: for of such is the +kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive +the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein. +And He took them in His arms, and blessed them, laying His hands +upon them.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 13-16 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +This beautiful story gains new loveliness from its context. +The disciples had weighed the advantages and +disadvantages of marriage, and decided in their calculating +selfishness, that the prohibition of divorce made +it <q>not good for a man to marry.</q> But Jesus had +regarded the matter from quite a different position; +and their saying could only be received by those to +whom special reasons forbade the marriage tie. It +was then that the fair blossom and opening flower of +domestic life, the tenderness and winning grace of +childhood, appealed to them for a softer judgment. +Little children (St. Luke says <q>babes</q>) were brought +to Him to bless, to touch them. It was a remarkable +sight. He was just departing from Perea on His last +journey to Jerusalem. The nation was about to abjure +its King and perish, after having invoked His blood to +be not on them only, but on their children. But here +were some at least of the next generation led by +parents who revered Jesus, to receive His blessing. +And who shall dare to limit the influence exerted by +that benediction on their future lives? Is it forgotten +that this very Perea was the haven of refuge for Jewish +believers when the wrath fell upon their nation? +Meanwhile the fresh smile of their unconscious, unstained, +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +unforeboding infancy met the grave smile of +the all-conscious, death-boding Man of Sorrows, as +much purer as it was more profound. +</p> + +<p> +But the disciples were not melted. They were +occupied with grave questions. Babes could understand +nothing, and therefore could receive no conscious +intelligent enlightenment. What then could Jesus do +for them? Many wise persons are still of quite the +same opinion. No spiritual influences, they tell us, can +reach the soul until the brain is capable of drawing +logical distinctions. A gentle mother may breathe +softness and love into a child's nature, or a harsh +nurse may jar and disturb its temper, until the effects +are as visible on the plastic face as is the sunshine or +storm upon the bosom of a lake; but for the grace of +God there is no opening yet. As if soft and loving +influences are not themselves a grace of God. As if +the world were given certain odds in the race, and the +powers of heaven were handicapped. As if the young +heart of every child were a place where sin abounds +(since he is a fallen creature, with an original tendency +towards evil), but where grace doth not at all abound. +Such is the unlovely theory. And as long as it prevails +in the Church we need not wonder at the compensating +error of rationalism, denying evil where so +many of us deny grace. It is the more amiable error +of the two. Since then the disciples could not believe +that edification was for babes, they naturally rebuked +those that brought them. Alas, how often still does +the beauty and innocence of childhood appeal to men +in vain. And this is so, because we see not the Divine +grace, <q>the kingdom of heaven,</q> in these. Their +weakness chafes our impatience, their simplicity irritates +our worldliness, and their touching helplessness +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> +and trustfulness do not find in us heart enough for any +glad response. +</p> + +<p> +In ancient times they had to pass through the fire to +Moloch, and since then through other fires: to fashion +when mothers leave them to the hired kindness of a +nurse, to selfishness when their want appeals to our +charities in vain, and to cold dogmatism, which would +banish them from the baptismal font, as the disciples +repelled them from the embrace of Jesus. But He was +moved with indignation, and reiterated, as men do when +they feel deeply, <q>Suffer the little children to come +unto Me; forbid them not.</q> And He added this conclusive +reason, <q>for of such,</q> of children and childlike +men, <q>is the kingdom of God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +What is the meaning of this remarkable assertion? +To answer aright, let us return in fancy to the morning +of our days; let our flesh, and all our primitive +being, come back to us as those of a little child. +</p> + +<p> +We were not faultless then. The theological dogma +of original sin, however unwelcome to many, is in +harmony with all experience. Impatience is there, and +many a childish fault; and graver evils develop as +surely as life unfolds, just as weeds show themselves +in summer, the germs of which were already mingled +with the better seed in spring. It is plain to all +observers that the weeds of human nature are latent +in the early soil, that this is not pure at the beginning +of each individual life. Does not our new-fangled +science explain this fact by telling us that we have still +in our blood the transmitted influences of our ancestors +the brutes? +</p> + +<p> +But Christ never meant to say that the kingdom of +heaven was only for the immaculate and stainless. If +converted men receive it, in spite of many a haunting +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> +appetite and recurring lust, then the frailties of our +babes shall not forbid us to believe the blessed assurance +that the kingdom is also theirs. +</p> + +<p> +How many hindrances to the Divine life fall away +from us, as our fancy recalls our childhood. What +weary and shameful memories, base hopes, tawdry +splendours, envenomed pleasures, entangling associations +vanish, what sins need to be confessed no longer, +how much evil knowledge fades out that we never now +shall quite unlearn, which haunts the memory even +though the conscience be absolved from it. The days +of our youth are not those evil days, when anything +within us saith, My soul hath no pleasure in the +ways of God. +</p> + +<p> +When we ask to what especial qualities of childhood +did Jesus attach so great value, two kindred attributes +are distinctly indicated in Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +One is humility. The previous chapter showed us +a little child set in the midst of the emulous disciples, +whom Christ instructed that the way to be greatest was +to become like this little child, the least. +</p> + +<p> +A child is not humble through affectation, it never +professes nor thinks about humility. But it understands, +however imperfectly, that it is beset by mysterious +and perilous forces, which it neither comprehends +nor can grapple with. And so are we. Therefore +all its instincts and experiences teach it to submit, to +seek guidance, not to put its own judgment in competition +with those of its appointed guides. To them, +therefore, it clings and is obedient. +</p> + +<p> +Why is it not so with us? Sadly we also know the +peril of self-will, the misleading power of appetite and +passion, the humiliating failures which track the steps +of self-assertion, the distortion of our judgments, the +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/> +feebleness of our wills, the mysteries of life and death +amid which we grope in vain. Milton anticipated Sir +Isaac Newton in describing the wisest +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<q>As children gathering pebbles on the shore.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Par. Reg.</hi>, iv. 330. +</p> +</quote> + +<p> +And if this be so true in the natural world that +its sages become as little children, how much more +in those spiritual realms for which our faculties +are still so infantile, and of which our experience is +so rudimentary. We should all be nearer to the +kingdom, or greater in it, if we felt our dependence, +and like the child were content to obey our Guide and +cling to Him. +</p> + +<p> +The second childlike quality to which Christ attached +value was readiness to receive simply. Dependence +naturally results from humility. Man is proud of +his independence only because he relies on his own +powers; when these are paralysed, as in the sickroom +or before the judge, he is willing again to become a +child in the hands of a nurse or of an advocate. In the +realm of the spirit these natural powers are paralysed. +Learning cannot resist temptation, nor wealth expiate +a sin. And therefore, in the spiritual world, we are +meant to be dependent and receptive. +</p> + +<p> +Christ taught, in the Sermon on the Mount, that to +those who asked Him, God would give His Spirit as +earthly parents give good things to their children. +Here also we are taught to accept, to receive the +kingdom as little children, not flattering ourselves that +our own exertions can dispense with the free gift, not +unwilling to become pensioners of heaven, not distrustful +of the heart which grants, not finding the +bounties irksome which are prompted by a Fathers' +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> +love. What can be more charming in its gracefulness +than the reception of a favour by an affectionate child. +His glad and confident enjoyment are a picture of what +ours might be. +</p> + +<p> +Since children receive the kingdom, and are a pattern +for us in doing so, it is clear that they do not possess +the kingdom as a natural right, but as a gift. But +since they do receive it, they must surely be capable of +receiving also that sacrament which is the sign and seal +of it. It is a startling position indeed which denies +admission into the visible Church to those of whom is +the kingdom of God. It is a position taken up only +because many, who would shrink from any such avowal, +half-unconsciously believe that God becomes gracious +to us only when His grace is attracted by skilful +movements upon our part, by conscious and well-instructed +efforts, by penitence, faith and orthodoxy. +But whatever soul is capable of any taint of sin must +be capable of compensating influences of the Spirit, by +Whom Jeremiah was sanctified, and the Baptist was +filled, even before their birth into this world (Jer. i. 5; +Luke i. 15). Christ Himself, in Whom dwelt bodily all +the fulness of the Godhead, was not therefore incapable +of the simplicity and dependence of infancy. +</p> + +<p> +Having taught His disciples this great lesson, Jesus +let His affections loose. He folded the children in His +tender and pure embrace, and blessed them much, +laying His hands on them, instead of merely touching +them. He blessed them not because they were baptized. +But we baptize our children, because all such have +received the blessing, and are clasped in the arms of +the Founder of the Church. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> + +<div> +<head>The Rich Inquirer.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And as He was going forth into the way, there ran one to Him, +and kneeled to Him, and asked Him, Good Master, what shall I do +that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest +thou Me good? none is good save one, even God. Thou knowest +the commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, +Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honour thy father and +mother. And He said unto him, Master, all these things have I observed +from my youth. And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and +said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, +and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and +come, follow Me. But his countenance fell at the saying, and he +went away sorrowful: for he was one that had great possessions.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +x. 17-22 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The excitement stirred by our Lord's teaching must +often have shown itself in a scene of eagerness like +this which St. Mark describes so well. The Saviour +is just <q>going forth</q> when one rushes to overtake Him, +and kneels down to Him, full of the hope of a great +discovery. He is so frank, so innocent and earnest, as +to win the love of Jesus. And yet he presently goes +away, not as he came, but with a gloomy forehead and +a heavy heart, and doubtless with slow reluctance. +</p> + +<p> +The authorities were now in such avowed opposition +that to be Christ's disciple was disgraceful if not +dangerous to a man of mark. Yet no fear withheld +this young ruler who had so much to lose; he would +not come by night, like Nicodemus before the storm +had gathered which was now so dark; he openly +avowed his belief in the goodness of the Master, and +his own ignorance of some great secret which Jesus +could reveal. +</p> + +<p> +There is indeed a charming frankness in his bearing, +so that we admire even his childlike assertion of his +own virtues, while the heights of a nobility yet unattained +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +are clearly possible for one so dissatisfied, so +anxious for a higher life, so urgent in his questioning, +What shall I do? What lack I yet? That is what +makes the difference between the Pharisee who thanks +God that he is not as other men, and this youth who +has kept all the commandments, yet would fain be +other than he is, and readily confesses that all is not +enough, that some unknown act still awaits achievement. +The goodness which thinks itself upon the +summit will never toil much farther. The conscience +that is really awake cannot be satisfied, but is perplexed +rather and baffled by the virtues of a dutiful and well-ordered +life. For a chasm ever yawns between the +actual and the ideal, what we have done and what we +fain would do. And a spiritual glory, undefined and +perhaps undefinable, floats ever before the eyes of +all men whom the god of this world has not blinded. +This inquirer honestly thinks himself not far from +the great attainment; he expects to reach it by some +transcendant act, some great deed done, and for this he +has no doubt of his own prowess, if only he were well +directed. What shall I do that I may have eternal +life, not of grace, but as a debt—that I may inherit it? +Thus he awaits direction upon the road where heathenism +and semi-heathen Christianity are still toiling, and all +who would purchase the gift of God with money or toil +or merit or bitterness of remorseful tears. +</p> + +<p> +One easily foresees that the reply of Jesus will disappoint +and humble him, but it startles us to see him +pointed back to works and to the law of Moses. +</p> + +<p> +Again, we observe that what this inquirer seeks he +very earnestly believes Jesus to have attained. And +it is no mean tribute to the spiritual elevation of our +Lord, no doubtful indication that amid perils and contradictions +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> +and on His road to the cross the peace of +God sat visibly upon His brow, that one so pure and +yet so keenly aware that his own virtue sufficed not, +and that the kingdom of God was yet unattained, should +kneel in the dust before the Nazarene, and beseech +this good Master to reveal to him all his questioning. +It was a strange request, and it was granted in an unlooked +for way. The demand of the Chaldean tyrant +that his forgotten dream should be interpreted was not +so extravagant as this, that the defect in an unknown +career should be discovered. It was upon a lofty +pedestal indeed that this ruler placed our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +And yet his question supplies the clue to that answer +of Christ which has perplexed so many. The youth is +seeking for himself a purely human merit, indigenous +and underived. And the same, of course, is what he +ascribes to Jesus, to Him who is so far from claiming +independent human attainment, or professing to be +what this youth would fain become, that He said, <q>The +Son can do nothing of Himself ... I can of Mine own +self do nothing.</q> The secret of His human perfection +is the absolute dependence of His humanity upon God, +with Whom He is one. No wonder then that He +repudiates any such goodness as the ruler had in view. +</p> + +<p> +The Socinian finds quite another meaning in His +reply, and urges that by these words Jesus denied His +Deity. There is none good but one, That is God, was +a reason why He should not be called so. Jesus however +does not remonstrate absolutely against being called +good, but against being thus addressed from this ruler's +point of view, by one who regards Him as a mere +teacher and expects to earn the same title for himself. +And indeed the Socinian who appeals to this text +grasps a sword by the blade. For if it denied Christ's +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> +divinity it must exactly to the same extent deny also +Christ's goodness, which he admits. Now it is beyond +question that Jesus differed from all the saints in the +serene confidence with which He regarded the moral +law, from the time when He received the baptism of +repentance only that He might fulfil all righteousness, +to the hour when He cried, <q>Why hast Thou forsaken +Me?</q> and although deserted, claimed God as still His +God. The saints of to-day were the penitents of +yesterday. But He has finished the work that was +given Him to do. He knows that God hears Him +always, and in Him the Prince of this world hath +nothing. And yet there is none good but God. Who +then is He? If this saying does not confess what is +intolerable to a reverential Socinian, what Strauss and +Renan shrank from insinuating, what is alien to the +whole spirit of the Gospels, and assuredly far from +the mind of the evangelists, then it claims all that His +Church rejoices to ascribe to Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover Jesus does not deny even to ordinary men +the possibility of being <q>good.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A good man out of the good treasure of his heart +bringeth forth good things. Some shall hear at last +the words, Well done, good and faithful servant. The +children of the kingdom are good seed among the tares. +Clearly His repugnance is not to the epithet, but to the +spirit in which it is bestowed, to the notion that goodness +can spring spontaneously from the soil of our +humanity. But there is nothing here to discourage +the highest aspirations of the trustful and dependent +soul, who looks for more grace. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrinal importance of this remarkable utterance +is what most affects us, who look back through +the dust of a hundred controversies. But it was very +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> +secondary at the time, and what the ruler doubtless +felt most was a chill sense of repression and perhaps +despair. It was indeed the death-knell of his false +hopes. For if only God is good, how can any mortal +inherit eternal life by a good deed? And Jesus goes on +to deepen this conviction by words which find a wonderful +commentary in St. Paul's doctrine of the function +of the law. It was to prepare men for the gospel by a +challenge, by revealing the standard of true righteousness, +by saying to all who seek to earn heaven, <q>The +man that doeth these things shall live by them.</q> The +attempt was sure to end in failure, for, <q>by the law is +the knowledge of sin.</q> It was exactly upon this principle +that Jesus said <q>Keep the commandments,</q> spiritualizing +them, as St. Matthew tells us, by adding to +the injunctions of the second table, <q>Thou shalt love +thy neighbour as thyself,</q> which saying, we know, +briefly comprehends them all. +</p> + +<p> +But the ruler knew not how much he loved himself: +his easy life had met no searching and stern demand +until now, and his answer has a tone of relief, after +the ominous words he had first heard. <q>Master,</q> and +he now drops the questionable adjective, <q>all these +have I kept from my youth;</q> these never were so +burdensome that he should despair; not these, he +thinks, inspired that unsatisfied longing for some good +thing yet undone. We pity and perhaps blame the +shallow answer, and the dull perception which it +betrayed. But Jesus looked on him and loved him. +And well it is for us that no eyes fully discern our +weakness but those which were so often filled with +sympathetic tears. He sees error more keenly than the +sharpest critic, but he sees earnestness too. And the +love which desired all souls was attracted especially by +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> +one who had felt from his youth up the obligation of +the moral law, and had not consciously transgressed it. +</p> + +<p> +This is not the teaching of those vile proverbs which +declare that wild oats must be sown if one would reap +good corn, and that the greater the sinner the greater +will be the saint. +</p> + +<p> +Nay, even religionists of the sensational school delight +in the past iniquities of those they honour, not only to +glorify God for their recovery, nor with the joy which +is in the presence of the angels over one sinner that +repenteth, but as if these possess through their former +wickedness some passport to special service now. Yet +neither in Scripture nor in the history of the Church +will it appear that men of licentious revolt against +known laws have attained to usefulness of the highest +order. The Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost +from his mother's womb. The Apostle of the Gentiles +was blameless as touching the righteousness of the law. +And each Testament has a special promise for those +who seek the Lord early, who seek His kingdom and +righteousness first. The undefiled are nearest to the +throne. +</p> + +<p> +Now mark how endearing, how unlike the stern zeal +of a propagandist, was Christ's tender and loving gaze; +and hear the encouraging promise of heavenly treasure, +and offer of His own companionship, which presently +softened the severity of His demand; and again, when +all failed, when His followers doubtless scorned the +deserter, ponder the truthful and compassionate words, +How hard it is! +</p> + +<p> +Yet will Christ teach him how far the spirit of the law +pierces, since the letter has not wrought the knowledge +of sin. If he loves his neighbour as himself, let his +needier neighbour receive what he most values. If he +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +loves God supremely, let him be content with treasure +in the hands of God, and with a discipleship which +shall ever reveal to him, more and more profoundly, the +will of God, the true nobility of man, and the way to +that eternal life he seeks. +</p> + +<p> +The socialist would justify by this verse a universal +confiscation. But he forgets that the spirit which +seizes all is widely different from that which gives all +freely: that Zacchæus retained half his goods; that +Joseph of Arimathea was rich; that the property of +Ananias was his own, and when he sold it the price +was in his own power; that St. James warned the rich +in this world only against trusting in riches instead of +trusting God, who gave them all richly, for enjoyment, +although not to be confided in. Soon after this Jesus +accepted a feast from his friends in Bethany, and +rebuked Judas who complained that a costly luxury +had not been sold for the benefit of the poor. Why +then is his demand now so absolute? It is simply an +application of his bold universal rule, that every cause +of stumbling must be sacrificed, be it innocent as hand +or foot or eye. And affluent indeed would be all the +charities and missions of the Church in these latter +days, if the demand were obeyed in cases where it +really applies, if every luxury which enervates and all +pomp which intoxicates were sacrificed, if all who know +that wealth is a snare to them corrected their weakness +by rigorous discipline, their unfruitfulness by a sharp +pruning of superfluous frondage. +</p> + +<p> +The rich man neither remonstrated nor defended +himself. His self-confidence gave way. He felt +that what he could not persuade himself to do was a +<q>good thing.</q> And he who came running went away +sorrowful, and with a face <q>lowering</q> like the sky +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> +which forebodes <q>foul weather.</q> That is too often +the issue of such vaunting offers. Yet feeling his +weakness, and neither resisting nor upbraiding the +faithfulness which exposes him, doubtless he was long +disquieted by new desires, a strange sense of failure +and unworthiness, a clearer vision of that higher life +which had already haunted his reveries. Henceforward +he had no choice but to sink to a baser contentment, +or else rise to a higher self-devotion. Who shall say, +because he failed to decide then, that he persisted for +ever in the great refusal? Yet was it a perilous and +hardening experience, and it was easier henceforward +to live below his ideal, when once he had turned away +from Christ. Nor is there any reason to doubt that the +inner circle of our Lord's immediate followers was then +for ever closed against him. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Who Then Can Be Saved?</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto His disciples, How +hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! +And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answereth +again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that +trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a +camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into +the kingdom of God. And they were astonished exceedingly, saying +unto Him, Then who can be saved? Jesus looking upon them saith, +With men it is impossible, but not with God: for all things are +possible with God. Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have left all, +and have followed thee. Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no +man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or +children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he shall +receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and +sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and +in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; +and the last first.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 23-31 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +As the rich man turned away with the arrow in his +breast, Jesus looked round about on His disciples. +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> +The Gospels, and especially St. Mark, often mention +the gaze of Jesus, and all who know the power of an +intense and pure nature silently searching others, the +piercing intuition, the calm judgment which sometimes +looks out of holy eyes, can well understand the reason. +Disappointed love was in His look, and that compassionate +protest against harsh judgments which presently +went on to admit that the necessary demand was hard. +Some, perhaps, who had begun to scorn the ruler in +his defeat, were reminded of frailties of their own, and +had to ask, Shall I next be judged? And one was +among them, pilfering from the bag what was intended +for the poor, to whom that look of Christ must have +been very terrible. Unless we remember Judas, we +shall not comprehend all the fitness of the repeated +and earnest warnings of Jesus against covetousness. +Never was secret sin dealt with so faithfully as his. +</p> + +<p> +And now Jesus, as He looks around, says, <q>How +hardly shall they that have riches enter into the +kingdom of God.</q> But the disciples were amazed. To +the ancient Jew, from Abraham to Solomon, riches +appeared to be a sign of the Divine favour, and if the +pathetic figure of Job reminded him how much sorrow +might befall the just, yet the story showed even him at +the end more prosperous than at the beginning. In the +time of Jesus, the chiefs of their religion were greedily +using their position as a means of amassing enormous +fortunes. To be told that wealth was a positive hindrance +on the way to God was wonderful indeed. +</p> + +<p> +When Jesus modified His utterance, it was not to +correct Himself, like one who had heedlessly gone +beyond His meaning. His third speech reiterated +the first, declaring that a manifest and proverbial +physical impossibility was not so hard as for a rich +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +man to enter the kingdom of God, here or hereafter. +But He interposed a saying which both explained the +first one and enlarged its scope. <q>Children</q> He +begins, like one who pitied their inexperience and +dealt gently with their perplexities, <q>Children, how +hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the +kingdom of God.</q> And therefore is it hard for all the +rich, since they must wrestle against this temptation to +trust in their possessions. It is exactly in this spirit +that St. James, who quoted Jesus more than any of the +later writers of Scripture, charges the rich that they +be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but +in the living God. Immediately before, Jesus had +told them how alone the kingdom might be entered, +even by becoming as little children; lowly, dependent, +willing to receive all at the hands of a superior. +Would riches help them to do this? Is it easier to +pray for daily bread when one has much goods +laid up for many years? Is it easier to feel that +God alone can make us drink of true pleasures as +of a river, when a hundred luxuries and indulgences +lull us in sloth or allure us into excess? Hereupon +the disciples perceived what was more alarming still, +that not alone do rich men trust in riches, but all who +confound possessions with satisfaction, all who dream +that to have much is to be blessed, as if property were +character. They were right. We may follow the +guidance of Mammon beckoning from afar, with a trust +as idolatrous as if we held his hand. But who could +abide a principle so exacting? It was the revelation +of a new danger, and they were astonished exceedingly, +saying, Then who can be saved? Again Jesus looked +upon them, with solemn but reassuring gaze. They +had learned the secret of the new life, the natural +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> +impossibility throwing us back in helpless appeal to +the powers of the world to come. <q>With men it is +impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible +with God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Peter, not easily nor long to be discouraged, now saw +ground for hope. If the same danger existed for rich +and poor, then either might be encouraged by having +surmounted it, and the apostles had done what the rich +man failed to do—they had left all and followed Jesus. +The claim has provoked undue censure, as if too much +were made out of a very trifling sacrifice, a couple +of boats and a paltry trade. But the objectors have +missed the point; the apostles really broke away from +the service of the world when they left their nets and +followed Jesus. Their world was perhaps a narrow +one, but He Who reckoned two mites a greater offering +than the total of the gifts of many rich casting in much, +was unlikely to despise a fisherman or a publican who +laid all his living upon the altar. The fault, if fault +there were, lay rather in the satisfaction with which +Peter contemplates their decision as now irrevocable and +secure, so that nothing remained except to claim the +reward, which St. Matthew tells us he very distinctly +did. The young man should have had treasure in +heaven: what then should they have? +</p> + +<p> +But in truth, their hardest battles with worldliness +lay still before them, and he who thought he stood might +well take heed lest he fell. They would presently unite +in censuring a woman's costly gift to Him, for Whom +they professed to have surrendered all. Peter himself +would shrink from his Master's side. And what a satire +upon this confident claim would it have been, could the +heart of Judas then and there have been revealed to +them. +</p> + +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> + +<p> +The answer of our Lord is sufficiently remarkable. +St. Matthew tells how frankly and fully He acknowledged +their collective services, and what a large reward He +promised, when they should sit with Him on thrones, +judging their nation. So far was that generous heart +from weighing their losses in a worldly scale, or criticizing +the form of a demand which was not all unreasonable. +</p> + +<p> +But St. Mark lays exclusive stress upon other and +sobering considerations, which also St. Matthew has +recorded. +</p> + +<p> +There is a certain tone of egoism in the words, <q>Lo, +we ... what shall we have?</q> And Jesus corrects this +in the gentlest way, by laying down such a general rule +as implies that many others will do the same, <q>there is +no man</q> whose self sacrifice shall go without its reward. +</p> + +<p> +Secondary and lower motives begin to mingle with +the generous ardour of self-sacrifice as soon as it is +careful to record its losses, and inquire about its wages. +Such motives are not absolutely forbidden, but they must +never push into the foremost place. The crown of glory +animated and sustained St. Paul, but it was for Christ, +and not for this that he suffered the loss of all things. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus accordingly demands purity of motive. The +sacrifice must not be for ambition, even with aspirations +prolonged across the frontiers of eternity: it must be +altogether <q>for My sake and for the gospel's sake.</q> +And here we observe once more the portentous demand +of Christ's person upon His followers. They are servants +of no ethical or theological system, however lofty. +Christ does not regard Himself and them, as alike +devoted to some cause above and external to them all. +To Him they are to be consecrated, and to the gospel, +which, as we have seen, is the story of His Life, Death +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/> +and Resurrection. For Him they are to break the +dearest and strongest of earthly ties. He had just proclaimed +how indissoluble was the marriage bond. No +man should sever those whom God had joined. But St. +Luke informs us that to forsake even a wife for Christ's +sake, was a deed worthy of being rewarded an hundredfold. +Nor does He mention any higher being in whose +name the sacrifice is demanded. Now this is at least +implicitly the view of His own personality, which some +profess to find only in St. John. +</p> + +<p> +Again, there was perhaps an undertone of complaint +in Peter's question, as if no compensation for all their +sacrifices were hitherto bestowed. What should their +compensation be? But Christ declares that losses endured +for Him are abundantly repaid on earth, in this +present time, and even amid the fires of persecution. +Houses and lands are replaced by the consciousness of inviolable +shelter and inexhaustible provision. <q>Whither +wilt thou betake thyself to find covert?</q> asks the menacing +cardinal; but Luther answers, <q>Under the heaven +of God.</q> And if dearest friends be estranged, or of +necessity abandoned, then, in such times of high attainment +and strong spiritual insight, membership in the +Divine family is felt to be no unreal tie, and earthly +relationships are well recovered in the vast fraternity +of souls. Brethren, and sisters, and mothers, are thus +restored an hundredfold; but although a father is also +lost, we do not hear that a hundred fathers shall be +given back, for in the spiritual family that place is +reserved for One. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, Jesus reminded them that the race was not +yet over; that many first shall be last and the last first. +We know how Judas by transgression fell, and how the +persecuting Saul became not a whit behind the very +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> +chiefest apostle. But this word remains for the warning +and incitement of all Christians, even unto the end of +the world. There are <q>many</q> such. +</p> + +<p> +Next after this warning, comes yet another prediction +of His own suffering, with added circumstances of +horror. Would they who were now first remain faithful? +or should another take their bishopric? +</p> + +<p> +With a darkening heart Judas heard, and made his +choice. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> + +<p> +[<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 32-34. See <hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> viii. 31, p. 219.] +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Christ's Cup And Baptism.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And there came near unto him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, +saying unto him, Master, we would that Thou shouldst do for us whatsoever +we shall ask of Thee. And He said unto them, What would ye +I should do for you? And they said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may +sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on <hi rend='italic'>Thy</hi> left hand, in Thy glory. But +Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink +the cup that I drink? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am +baptized with? And they said unto Him, We are able. And Jesus said +unto them, The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism +that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on My right +hand or on My left hand is not Mine to give: but <hi rend='italic'>it is for them</hi> for whom +it hath been prepared.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 35-40 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We learn from St. Matthew that Salome was associated +with her sons, and was indeed the chief speaker in the +earlier part of this incident. +</p> + +<p> +And her request has commonly been regarded as the +mean and shortsighted intrigue of an ambitious woman, +recklessly snatching at an advantage for her family, and +unconscious of the stern and steep road to honour in +the kingdom of Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +Nor can we deny that her prayer was somewhat presumptuous, +or that it was especially unbecoming to aim +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/> +at entangling her Lord in a blindfold promise, desiring +Him to do something undefined, <q>whatsoever we shall +ask of Thee.</q> Jesus was too discreet to answer otherwise +than, <q>What would ye that I should do for you?</q> +And when they asked for the chief seats in the glory +that was yet to be their Master's, no wonder that the +Ten hearing of it, had indignation. But Christ's answer, +and the gentle manner in which He explains His +refusal, when a sharp rebuke is what we would expect +to read, alike suggest that there may have been some +softening, half-justifying circumstance. And this we +find in the period at which the daring request was made. +</p> + +<p> +It was on the road, during the last journey, when a +panic had seized the company; and our Lord, apparently +out of the strong craving for sympathy which +possesses the noblest souls, had once more told the +Twelve what insults and cruel sufferings lay before Him. +It was a time for deep searching of hearts, for the +craven to go back and walk no more with Him, and for +the traitor to think of making His own peace, at any +price, with His Master's foes. +</p> + +<p> +But this dauntless woman could see the clear sky +beyond the storm. Her sons shall be loyal, and win +the prize, whatever be the hazard, and however long +the struggle. +</p> + +<p> +Ignorant and rash she may have been, but it was no +base ambition which chose such a moment to declare +its unshaken ardour, and claim distinction in the kingdom +for which so much must be endured. +</p> + +<p> +And when the stern price was plainly stated, she and +her children were not startled, they conceived themselves +able for the baptism and the cup; and little as +they dreamed of the coldness of the waters, and the +bitterness of the draught, yet Jesus did not declare +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> +them to be deceived. He said, Ye shall indeed share +these. +</p> + +<p> +Nor can we doubt that their faith and loyalty refreshed +His soul amid so much that was sad and selfish. +He knew indeed on what a dreadful seat He was +soon to claim His kingdom, and who should sit upon +His right hand and His left. These could not follow +Him now, but they should follow Him hereafter—one +by the brief pang of the earliest apostolic martyrdom, +and the other by the longest and sorest experience +of that faithless and perverse generation. +</p> + +<p> +1. Very significant is the test of worth which Jesus +propounds to them: not successful service but endurance; +not the active but the passive graces. It is +not our test, except in a few brilliant and conspicuous +martyrdoms. The Church, like the world, has crowns +for learning, eloquence, energy; it applauds the force +by which great things are done. The reformer who +abolishes an abuse, the scholar who defends a doctrine, +the orator who sways a multitude, and the missionary +who adds a new tribe to Christendom,—all these are +sure of honour. Our loudest plaudits are not for simple +men and women, but for high station, genius, and +success. But the Lord looketh upon the heart, not the +brain or the hand; He values the worker, not the work; +the love, not the achievement. And, therefore, one of +the tests He constantly applied was this, the capability +for noble endurance. We ourselves, in our saner +moments, can judge whether it demands more grace +to refute a heretic, or to sustain the long inglorious +agonies of some disease which slowly gnaws away the +heart of life. And doubtless among the heroes for whom +Christ is twining immortal garlands, there is many a +pale and shattered creature, nerveless and unstrung, +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> +tossing on a mean bed, breathing in imperfect English +loftier praises than many an anthem which resounds +through cathedral arches, and laying on the altar of +burnt sacrifice all he has, even his poor frame itself, to +be racked and tortured without a murmur. Culture has +never heightened his forehead nor refined his face: we +look at him, but little dream what the angels see, or +how perhaps because of such an one the great places +which Salome sought were not Christ's to give away +except only to them for whom it was prepared. For +these, at last, the reward shall be His to give, as He +said, <q>To him that overcometh will I give to sit down +with Me upon My throne.</q> +</p> + +<p> +2. Significant also are the phrases by which Christ +expressed the sufferings of His people. Some, which +it is possible to escape, are voluntarily accepted for +Christ's sake, as when the Virgin mother bowed her head +to slander and scorn, and said, <q>Behold the servant of +the Lord, be it unto me according to Thy word.</q> Such +sufferings are a cup deliberately raised by one's own +hand to the reluctant lips. Into other sufferings we +are plunged: they are inevitable. Malice, ill-health, or +bereavement plies the scourge; they come on us like +the rush of billows in a storm; they are a deep and +dreadful baptism. Or we may say that some woes are +external, visible, we are seen to be submerged in them; +but others are like the secret ingredients of a bitter +draught, which the lips know, but the eye of the +bystander cannot analyze. But there is One Who +knows and rewards; even the Man of Sorrows Who +said, The cup which My heavenly Father giveth, shall +I not drink it? +</p> + +<p> +Now it is this standard of excellence, announced by +Jesus, which shall give high place to many of the poor +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> +and ignorant and weak, when rank shall perish, when +tongues shall cease, and when our knowledge, in the +blaze of new revelations, shall utterly vanish away, not +quenched, but absorbed like the starlight at noon. +</p> + +<p> +3. We observe again that men are not said to drink +of another cup as bitter, or to be baptized in other +waters as chill, as tried their Master; but to share +His very baptism and His cup. Not that we can add +anything to His all-sufficient sacrifice. Our goodness +extendeth not to God. But Christ's work availed not +only to reconcile us to the Father, but also to elevate +and consecrate sufferings which would otherwise have +been penal and degrading. Accepting our sorrows in +the grace of Christ, and receiving Him into our hearts, +then our sufferings fill up that which is lacking of the +afflictions of Christ (Col. i. 24), and at the last He will +say, when the glories of heaven are as a robe around +Him, <q>I was hungry, naked, sick, and in prison in the +person of the least of these.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Hence it is that a special nearness to God has ever +been felt in holy sorrow, and in the pain of hearts +which, amid all clamours and tumults of the world, +are hushed and calmed by the example of Him Who +was led as a lamb to the slaughter. +</p> + +<p> +And thus they are not wrong who speak of the +Sacrament of Sorrow, for Jesus, in this passage, applies +to it the language of both sacraments. +</p> + +<p> +It is a harmless superstition even at the worst which +brings to the baptism of many noble houses water from +the stream where Jesus was baptized by John. But +here we read of another and a dread baptism, consecrated +by the fellowship of Christ, in depths which +plummet never sounded, and into which the neophyte +goes down sustained by no mortal hand. +</p> + +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> + +<p> +Here is also the communion of an awful cup. No +human minister sets it in our trembling hand; no +human voice asks, <q>Are ye able to drink the cup that I +drink?</q> Our lips grow pale, and our blood is chill; +but faith responds, <q>We are able.</q> And the tender +and pitying voice of our Master, too loving to spare +one necessary pang, responds with the word of doom: +<q>The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the +baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized.</q> +Even so: it is enough for the servant that he be as his +Master. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Law Of Greatness.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation +concerning James and John. And Jesus called them to Him, and +saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over +the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great ones exercise authority +over them. But it is not so among you; but whosoever would become +great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever would be first +among you, shall be servant of all. For verily the Son of man came +not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom +for many.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 41-45 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +When the Ten heard that James and John had asked +for the chief places in the kingdom, they proved, by +their indignation, that they also nourished the same +ambitious desires which they condemned. But Jesus +called them to Him, for it was not there that angry +passions had broken out. And happy are they who +hear and obey His summons to approach, when, +removed from His purifying gaze by carelessness or +wilfulness, ambition and anger begin to excite their +hearts. +</p> + +<p> +Now Jesus addressed them as being aware of their +hidden emulation. And His treatment of it is remarkable. +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> +He neither condemns, nor praises it, but simply +teaches them what Christian greatness means, and the +conditions on which it may be won. +</p> + +<p> +The greatness of the world is measured by authority +and lordliness. Even there it is an uncertain test; for +the most real power is often wielded by some anonymous +thinker, or by some crafty intriguer, content with +the substance of authority while his puppet enjoys the +trappings. Something of this may perhaps be detected +in the words, <q>They which are accounted to rule over +the Gentiles lord it over them.</q> And it is certain that +<q>their great ones exercise authority over them.</q> But +the Divine greatness is a meek and gentle influence. +To minister to the Church is better than to command it, +and whoever desires to be the chief must become the +servant of all. Thus shall whatever is vainglorious +and egoistic in our ambition defeat itself; the more +one struggles to be great the more he is disqualified: +even benefits rendered to others with this object will +not really be service done for them but for self; nor +will any calculated assumption of humility help one to +become indeed the least, being but a subtle assertion +that he is great, and like the last place in an ecclesiastical +procession, when occupied in a self-conscious spirit. +And thus it comes to pass that the Church knows very +indistinctly who are its greatest sons. As the gift of +two mites by the widow was greater than that of large +sums by the rich, so a small service done in the spirit +of perfect self-effacement,—a service which thought +neither of its merit nor of its reward, but only of a +brother's need, shall be more in the day of reckoning +than sacrifices which are celebrated by the historians +and sung by the poets of the Church. For it may avail +nothing to give all my goods to feed the poor, and my +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> +body to be burned; while a cup of cold water, rendered +by a loyal hand, shall in no wise lose its reward. +</p> + +<p> +Thus Jesus throws open to all men a competition which +has no charms for flesh and blood. And as He spoke of +the entry upon His service, bearing a cross, as being the +following of Himself, so He teaches us, that the greatness +of lowliness, to which we are called, is His own +greatness. <q>For verily the Son of Man came not to +be ministered unto but to minister.</q> Not here, not in +this tarnished and faded world, would He Who was +from everlasting with the Father have sought His own +ease or honour. But the physician came to them that +were sick, and the good Shepherd followed His lost +sheep until He found it. Now this comparison proves +that we also are to carry forward the same restoring +work, or else we might infer that, because He came +to minister to us, we may accept ministration with a +good heart. It is not so. We are the light and the +salt of the earth, and must suffer with Him that we +may also be glorified together. +</p> + +<p> +But He added another memorable phrase. He came +<q>to give His life a ransom in exchange for many.</q> +It is not a question, therefore, of the inspiring example +of His life. Something has been forfeited which must +be redeemed, and Christ has paid the price. Nor is this +done only on behalf of many, but in exchange for them. +</p> + +<p> +So then the crucifixion is not a sad incident in a +great career; it is the mark towards which Jesus +moved, the power by which He redeemed the world. +</p> + +<p> +Surely, we recognise here the echo of the prophet's +words, <q>Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin +... by His knowledge shall My righteous servant +justify many, and He shall bear their iniquities</q> +(Isa. liii. 10, 11). +</p> + +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> + +<p> +The elaborated doctrine of the atonement may not +perhaps be here, much less the subtleties of theologians +who have, to their own satisfaction, known the mind of +the Almighty to perfection. But it is beyond reasonable +controversy that in this verse Jesus declared that +His sufferings were vicarious, and endured in the +sinners' stead. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Bartimæus.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they come to Jericho: and as He went out from Jericho, with +His disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timæus, Bartimæus, a +blind beggar, was sitting by the way side. And when he heard that it +was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, Thou son +of David, have mercy on me. And many rebuked him, that he should +hold his peace: but he cried out the more a great deal, Thou son of +David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and said, Call ye +him. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good +cheer; rise, He calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, +sprang up, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered him, and said, +What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the blind man said +unto Him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto +him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And straightway +he received his sight, and followed Him in the way.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> x. 46-52 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +There is no miracle in the Gospels of which the +accounts are so hard to reconcile as those of the +healing of the blind at Jericho. +</p> + +<p> +It is a small thing that St. Matthew mentions two +blind men, while St. Mark and St. Luke are only aware +of one. The same is true of the demoniacs at Gadara, +and it is easily understood that only an eyewitness +should remember the obscure comrade of a remarkable +and energetic man, who would have spread far and +wide the particulars of his own cure. The fierce and +dangerous demoniac of Gadara was just such a man, +and there is ample evidence of energy and vehemence +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> +in the brief account of Bartimæus. What is really +perplexing is that St. Luke places the miracle at the +entrance to Jericho, but St. Matthew and St. Mark, +as Jesus came out of it. It is too forced and violent +a theory which speaks of an old and a new town, so +close together that one was entered and the other left +at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +It is possible that there were two events, and the +success of one sufferer at the entrance to the town led +others to use the same importunities at the exit. And +this would not be much more remarkable than the two +miracles of the loaves, or the two miraculous draughts +of fish. It is also possible, though unlikely, that the +same supplicant who began his appeals without success +when Jesus entered, resumed His entreaties, with +a comrade, at the gate by which He left. +</p> + +<p> +Such difficulties exist in all the best authenticated +histories: discrepancies of the kind arise continually +between the evidence of the most trustworthy witnesses +in courts of justice. And the student who is humble +as well as devout will not shut his eyes against facts, +merely because they are perplexing, but will remember +that they do nothing to shake the solid narrative itself. +</p> + +<p> +As we read St. Mark's account, we are struck by the +vividness of the whole picture, and especially by the +robust personality of the blind man. The scene is +neither Jerusalem, the city of the Pharisees nor +Galilee, where they have persistently sapped the +popularity of Jesus. Eastward of the Jordan, He has +spent the last peaceful and successful weeks of His +brief and stormy career, and Jericho lies upon the +borders of that friendly district. Accordingly something +is here of the old enthusiasm: a great multitude moves +along with His disciples to the gates, and the rushing +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> +concourse excites the curiosity of the blind son of +Timæus. So does many a religious movement lead to +inquiry and explanation far and wide. But when he, +sitting by the way, and unable to follow, knows that +the great Healer is at hand, but only in passing, and +for a moment, his interest suddenly becomes personal +and ardent, and <q>he began to cry out</q> (the expression +implies that his supplication, beginning as the crowd +drew near, was not one utterance but a prolonged +appeal), <q>and to say, Jesus, Thou Son of David, +have mercy on me.</q> To the crowd his outcry seemed +to be only an intrusion upon One Who was too rapt, +too heavenly, to be disturbed by the sorrows of a blind +beggar. But that was not the view of Bartimæus, +whose personal affliction gave him the keenest interest +in those verses of the Old Testament which spoke of +opening the blind eyes. If he did not understand +their exact force as prophecies, at least they satisfied +him that his petition could not be an insult to the +great Prophet of Whom just such actions were told, for +Whose visit he had often sighed, and Who was now +fast going by, perhaps for ever. The picture is one of +great eagerness, bearing up against great discouragement. +We catch the spirit of the man as he inquires +what the multitude means, as the epithet of his informants, +Jesus of Nazareth, changes on his lips into +Jesus, Thou Son of David, as he persists, without +any vision of Christ to encourage him, and amid the +rebukes of many, in crying out the more a great +deal, although pain is deepening every moment in his +accents, and he will presently need cheering. The +ear of Jesus is quick for such a call, and He stops. +He does not raise His own voice to summon him, +but teaches a lesson of humanity to those who would +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> +fain have silenced the appeal of anguish, and says, Call +ye him. And they obey with a courtier-like change of +tone, saying, Be of good cheer, rise, He calleth thee. +And Bartimæus cannot endure even the slight hindrance +of his loose garment, but flings it aside, and rises and +comes to Jesus, a pattern of the importunity which +prays and never faints, which perseveres amid all +discouragement, which adverse public opinion cannot +hinder. And the Lord asks of him almost exactly the +same question as recently of James and John, What +wilt thou that I should do for thee? But in his reply +there is no aspiring pride: misery knows how precious +are the common gifts, the every-day blessings which we +hardly pause to think about; and he replies, Rabboni, +that I may receive my sight. It is a glad and eager +answer. Many a petition he had urged in vain; and +many a small favour had been discourteously bestowed; +but Jesus, Whose tenderness loves to commend while +He blesses, shares with him, so to speak, the glory of +his healing, as He answers, Go thy way, thy faith hath +made thee whole. By thus fixing his attention upon +his own part in the miracle, so utterly worthless as a +contribution, but so indispensable as a condition, Jesus +taught him to exercise hereafter the same gift of faith. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Go thy way,</q> He said. And Bartimæus <q>followed +Him on the road.</q> Happy is that man whose eyes +are open to discern, and his heart prompt to follow, the +print of those holy feet. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XI.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Triumphant Entry.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when they draw nigh unto Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and +Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sendeth two of His disciples, and +saith unto them, Go your way into the village that is over against you: +and straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon no +man ever yet sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any one say unto +you, Why do ye this? say ye, The Lord hath need of him; and straightway +He will send him back hither. And they went away, and found a +colt tied at the door without in the open street; and they loose him. +And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, +loosing the colt? And they said unto them even as Jesus had said: +and they let them go. And they bring the colt unto Jesus, and cast +on him their garments; and He sat upon him. And many spread their +garments upon the way; and others branches, which they had cut from +the fields. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, +Hosanna: Blessed <hi rend='italic'>is</hi> He that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed +is the kingdom that cometh, <hi rend='italic'>the kingdom</hi> of our father David: Hosanna +in the highest. And He entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and +when He had looked round about upon all things, it being now eventide, +He went out unto Bethany with the twelve.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xi. 1-11 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Jesus had now come near to Jerusalem, into what +was possibly the sacred district of Bethphage, of +which, in that case, Bethany was the border village. +Not without pausing here (as we learn from the fourth +Gospel), yet as the next step forward, He sent two of +His disciples to untie and bring back an ass, which was +fastened with her colt at a spot which He minutely +described. Unless they were challenged they should +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> +simply bring the animals away; but if any one remonstrated, +they should answer, <q>The Lord hath need of them,</q> +and thereupon the owner would not only acquiesce, +but send them. In fact they are to make a requisition, +such as the State often institutes for horses and cattle +during a campaign, when private rights must give way +to a national exigency. And this masterful demand, +this abrupt and decisive rejoinder to a natural objection, +not arguing nor requesting, but demanding, this title +which they are bidden to give to Jesus, by which, +standing thus alone, He is rarely described in Scripture +(chiefly in the later Epistles, when the remembrance of +His earthly style gave place to the influence of habitual +adoration), all this preliminary arrangement makes us +conscious of a change of tone, of royalty issuing its +mandates, and claiming its rights. But what a claim, +what a requisition, when He takes the title of Jehovah, +and yet announces His need of the colt of an ass. It is +indeed the lowliest of all memorable processions which +He plans, and yet, in its very humility, it appeals to +ancient prophecy, and says unto Zion that her King +cometh unto her. The monarchs of the East and the +captains of the West might ride upon horses as for war, +but the King of Sion should come unto her meek, and +sitting upon an ass, upon a colt, the foal of an ass. +Yet there is fitness and dignity in the use of <q>a colt +whereon never man sat,</q> and it reminds us of other +facts, such as that He was the firstborn of a virgin +mother, and rested in a tomb which corruption had +never soiled. +</p> + +<p> +Thus He comes forth, the gentlest of the mighty, +with no swords gleaming around to guard Him, or to +smite the foreigner who tramples Israel, or the worse +foes of her own household. Men who will follow such +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> +a King must lay aside their vain and earthly ambitions, +and awake to the truth that spiritual powers are grander +than any which violence ever grasped. But men who +will not follow Him shall some day learn the same lesson, +perhaps in the crash of their reeling commonwealth, +perhaps not until the armies of heaven follow Him, as +He goes forth, riding now upon a white horse, crowned +with many diadems, smiting the nations with a sharp +sword, and ruling them with an iron rod. +</p> + +<p> +Lowly though His procession was, yet it was palpably +a royal one. When Jehu was proclaimed king at +Ramoth-Gilead, the captains hastened to make him sit +upon the garments of every one of them, expressing +by this national symbol their subjection. Somewhat +the same feeling is in the famous anecdote of Sir Walter +Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth. And thus the disciples +who brought the ass cast on him their garments, and +Jesus sat thereon, and many spread their garments in +the way. Others strewed the road with branches; and +as they went they cried aloud certain verses of that great +song of triumph, which told how the nations, swarming +like bees, were quenched like the light fire of thorns, +how the right hand of the Lord did valiantly, how the +gates of righteousness should be thrown open for the +righteous, and, more significant still, how the stone +which the builders rejected should become the headstone +of the corner. Often had Jesus quoted this +saying when reproached by the unbelief of the rulers, +and now the people rejoiced and were glad in it, as +they sang of His salvation, saying, <q>Hosanna, blessed +is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, Blessed is +the kingdom that cometh, the Kingdom of our father +David, Hosanna in the highest.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such is the narrative as it impressed St. Mark. For +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> +his purpose it mattered nothing that Jerusalem took +no part in the rejoicings, but was perplexed, and said, +Who is this? or that, when confronted by this somewhat +scornful and affected ignorance of the capital, the +voice of Galilee grew weak, and proclaimed no longer +the advent of the kingdom of David, but only Jesus, the +prophet of Nazareth; or that the Pharisees in the +temple avowed their disapproval, while contemptuously +ignoring the Galilean multitude, by inviting Him to +reprove some children. What concerned St. Mark +was that now, at last, Jesus openly and practically +assumed rank as a monarch, allowed men to proclaim +the advent of His kingdom, and proceeded to exercise +its rights by calling for the surrender of property, and +by cleansing the temple with a scourge. The same +avowal of kingship is almost all that he has cared to +record of the remarkable scene before His Roman +judge. +</p> + +<p> +After this heroic fashion did Jesus present Himself +to die. Without a misleading hope, conscious of the +hollowness of His seeming popularity, weeping for the +impending ruin of the glorious city whose walls were +ringing with His praise, and predicting the murderous +triumph of the crafty faction which appears so helpless, +He not only refuses to recede or compromise, +but does not hesitate to advance His claims in a +manner entirely new, and to defy the utmost animosity +of those who still rejected Him. +</p> + +<p> +After such a scene there could be no middle course +between crushing Him, and bowing to Him. He was +no longer a Teacher of doctrines, however revolutionary, +but an Aspirant to practical authority, Who must be +dealt with practically. +</p> + +<p> +There was evidence also of His intention to proceed +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> +upon this new line, when He entered into the temple, +investigated its glaring abuses, and only left it for the +moment because it was now eventide. To-morrow would +show more of His designs. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus is still, and in this world, King. And it will +hereafter avail us nothing to have received His doctrine, +unless we have taken His yoke. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Barren Fig-Tree.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>And on the morrow, when they were come out from Bethany, He +hungered. And seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, He came, if +haply He might find anything thereon: and when He came to it, He +found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. And He +answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee henceforward +for ever. And His disciples heard it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig-tree +withered away from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith +unto Him, Rabbi, behold, the fig-tree which Thou cursedst is withered +away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. +Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be +thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, +but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. +Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, +believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them. And +whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; +that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xi. 12-14, 20-25 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +No sooner has Jesus claimed His kingdom, than He +performs His first and only miracle of judgment. And +it is certain that no mortal, informed that such a +miracle was impending, could have guessed where the +blow would fall. In this miracle an element is predominant +which exists in all, since it is wrought as an +acted dramatized parable, not for any physical advantage, +but wholly for the instruction which it conveys. +Jesus hungered at the very outset of a day of toil, as +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> +He came out from Bethany. And this was not due to +poverty, since the disciples there had recently made +Him a great feast, but to His own absorbing ardour. +The zeal of God's house, which He had seen polluted +and was about to cleanse, had either left Him indifferent +to food until the keen air of morning aroused the sense +of need, or else it had detained Him, all night long, in +prayer and meditation out of doors. As He walks, He +sees afar off a lonely fig-tree covered with leaves, and +comes if haply He might find anything thereon. It is +true that figs would not be in season for two months, +but yet they ought to present themselves before the +leaves did; and since the tree was precocious in the +show and profusion of luxuriance, it ought to bear +early figs. If it failed, it would at least point a powerful +moral; and, therefore, when only leaves appeared +upon it, Jesus cursed it with perpetual barrenness, and +passed on. Not in the dusk of that evening as they +returned, but when they passed by again in the morning +the blight was manifest, the tree was withered from its +very roots. +</p> + +<p> +It is complained that by this act Jesus deprived some +one of his property. But the same retributive justice +of which this was an expression was preparing to +blight, presently, all the possessions of all the nation. +Was this unjust? And of the numberless trees that +are blasted year by year, why should the loss of this +one only be resented? Every physical injury must be +intended to further some spiritual end; but it is not +often that the purpose is so clear, and the lesson so +distinctly learned. +</p> + +<p> +Others blame our Lord's word of sentence, because +a tree, not being a moral agent, ought not to be +punished. It is an obvious rejoinder that neither could +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> +it suffer pain; that the whole action is symbolic; and +that we ourselves justify the Saviour's method of expression +as often as we call one tree <q>good</q> and +another <q>bad,</q> and say that a third <q>ought</q> to bear +fruit, while not much could be <q>expected of</q> a fourth. +It should rather be observed that in this word of +sentence Jesus revealed His tenderness. It would +have been a false and cruel kindness never to work +any miracle except of compassion, and thus to suggest +the inference that He could never strike, whereas indeed, +before that generation passed away, He would break +His enemies in pieces like a potter's vessel. +</p> + +<p> +Yet He came not to destroy men's lives but to save +them. And, therefore, while showing Himself neither +indifferent nor powerless against barren and false pretensions, +He did this only once, and then only by a +sign wrought upon an unsentient tree. +</p> + +<p> +Retribution fell upon it not for its lack of fruit, since +at that season it shared this with all its tribe, but for +ostentatious, much-professing fruitlessness. And thus +it pointed with dread significance to the condition of +God's own people, differing from Greece and Rome and +Syria, not in the want of fruit, but in the show of luxuriant +frondage, in the expectation it excited and mocked. +When the season of the world's fruitfulness was yet +remote, only Israel put forth leaves, and made professions +which were not fulfilled. And the permanent warning +of the miracle is not for heathen men and races, but +for Christians who have a name to live, and who are +called to bear fruit unto God. +</p> + +<p> +While the disciples marvelled at the sudden fulfilment +of its sentence, they could not have forgotten the +parable of a fig-tree in the vineyard, on which care +and labour were lavished, but which must be destroyed +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/> +after one year of respite if it continued to be a cumberer +of the ground. +</p> + +<p> +And Jesus drove the lesson home. He pointed to +<q>this mountain</q> full in front, with the gold and marble +of the temple sparkling like a diadem upon its brow, +and declared that faith is not only able to smite barrenness +with death, but to remove into the midst of the +sea, to plant among the wild and stormswept races of +the immeasurable pagan world, the glory and privilege +of the realized presence of the Lord. To do this was +the purpose of God, hinted by many a prophet, and +clearly announced by Christ Himself. But its accomplishment +was left to His followers, who should succeed +in exact proportion to the union of their will and that +of God, so that the condition of that moral miracle, +transcending all others in marvel and in efficacy, was +simple faith. +</p> + +<p> +And the same rule covers all the exigencies of life. +One who truly relies on God, whose mind and will are +attuned to those of the Eternal, cannot be selfish, or +vindictive, or presumptuous. As far as we rise to the +grandeur of this condition we enter into the Omnipotence +of God, and no limit need be imposed upon the +prevalence of really and utterly believing prayer. The +wishes that ought to be refused will vanish as we attain +that eminence, like the hoar frost of morning as the +sun grows strong. +</p> + +<p> +To this promise Jesus added a precept, the admirable +suitability of which is not at first apparent. Most sins +are made evident to the conscience in the act of prayer. +Drawing nigh to God, we feel our unfitness to be there, +we are made conscious of what He frowns upon, and +if we have such faith as Jesus spoke of, we at once +resign what would grieve the Spirit of adoption. No +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/> +saint is ignorant of the convicting power of prayer. +But it is not of necessity so with resentment for real +grievances. We may think we do well to be angry. +We may confound our selfish fire with the pure flame +of holy zeal, and begin, with confidence enough, yet not +with the mind of Christ, to remove mountains, not because +they impede a holy cause, but because they throw a +shadow upon our own field. And, therefore, Jesus +reminds us that not only wonder-working faith, but +even the forgiveness of our sins requires from us the +forgiveness of our brother. This saying is the clearest +proof of how much is implied in a truly undoubting +heart. And this promise is the sternest rebuke of the +Church, endorsed with such ample powers, and yet after +nineteen centuries confronted by an unconverted world. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Second Cleansing Of The Temple.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they come to Jerusalem: and He entered into the temple, +and began to cast out them that sold and them that bought in the +temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats +of them that sold the doves; and He would not suffer that any man +should carry a vessel through the temple. And He taught, and said +unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer +for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers. And the +chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might +destroy Him: for they feared Him, for all the multitude was astonished +at His teaching. And every evening He went forth out of the city.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xi. 15-19. (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +With the authority of yesterday's triumph still about +Him, Jesus returned to the temple, which He had then +inspected. There at least the priesthood were not +thwarted by popular indifference or ignorance: they +had power to carry out fully their own views; they +were solely responsible for whatever abuses could be +discovered. In fact, the iniquities which moved the +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/> +indignation of Jesus were of their own contrivance, and +they enriched themselves by a vile trade which robbed +the worshippers and profaned the holy house. +</p> + +<p> +Pilgrims from a distance needed the sacred money, +the half-shekel of the sanctuary, still coined for this +one purpose, to offer for a ransom of their souls (Exod. +xxx. 13). And the priests had sanctioned a trade in +the exchange of money under the temple roof, so +fraudulent that the dealers' evidence was refused in the +courts of justice. +</p> + +<p> +Doves were necessary for the purification of the poor, +who could not afford more costly sacrifices, and sheep +and oxen were also in great demand. And since the +unblemished quality of the sacrifices should be attested +by the priests, they had been able to put a fictitious +value upon these animals, by which the family of Annas +in particular had accumulated enormous wealth. +</p> + +<p> +To facilitate this trade, they had dared to bring the +defilement of the cattle market within the precincts of +the House of God. Not indeed into the place where +the Pharisee stood in his pride and <q>prayed with himself,</q> +for that was holy; but the court of the Gentiles +was profane; the din which distracted and the foulness +which revolted Gentile worship was of no account to +the average Jew. But Jesus regarded the scene with +different eyes. How could the sanctity of that holy +place not extend to the court of the stranger and the +proselyte, when it was written, Thy house shall be called +a house of prayer for all the nations? Therefore Jesus +had already, at the outset of His ministry, cleansed +His Father's house. Now, in the fulness of His newly +asserted royalty, He calls it My House: He denounces +the iniquity of their traffic by branding it as a den of +robbers; He casts out the traders themselves, as well +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/> +as the implements of their traffic; and in so doing +He fanned to a mortal heat the hatred of the chief +priests and the scribes, who saw at once their revenues +threatened and their reputation tarnished, and yet dared +not strike, because all the multitude was astonished at +His teaching. +</p> + +<p> +But the wisdom of Jesus did not leave Him within +their reach at night; every evening He went forth out +of the city. +</p> + +<p> +From this narrative we learn the blinding force of +self-interest, for doubtless they were no more sensible +of their iniquity than many a modern slavedealer. +And we must never rest content because our own +conscience acquits us, unless we have by thought and +prayer supplied it with light and guiding. +</p> + +<p> +We learn reverence for sacred places, since the one +exercise of His royal authority which Jesus publicly +displayed was to cleanse the temple, even though upon +the morrow He would relinquish it for ever, to be +<q>your house</q>—and desolate. +</p> + +<p> +We learn also how much apparent sanctity, what +dignity of worship, splendour of offerings, and pomp of +architecture may go along with corruption and unreality. +</p> + +<p> +And yet again, by their overawed and abject helplessness +we learn the might of holy indignation, and the +awakening power of a bold appeal to conscience. <q>The +people hung upon Him, listening,</q> and if all seemed +vain and wasted effort on the following Friday, what +fruit of the teaching of Jesus did not His followers +gather in, as soon as He poured down on them the +gifts of Pentecost. +</p> + +<p> +Did they now recall their own reflections after the +earlier cleansing of the temple? and their Master's +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/> +ominous words? They had then remembered how it +was written, The zeal of thine house shall eat Me up. +And He had said, Destroy this temple, and in three +days I shall raise it up, speaking of the temple of +His Body, which was now about to be thrown down. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Baptism Of John, Whence Was It?</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they come again to Jerusalem: and as He was walking in the +temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the +elders; and they said unto Him, By what authority doest Thou these +things? or who gave Thee this authority to do these things? And Jesus +said unto them, I will ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I +will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, +was it from heaven, or from men? answer Me. And they reasoned with +themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven: He will say, Why +then did ye not believe him? But should we say, From men—they +feared the people: for all verily held John to be a prophet. And +they answered Jesus and say, We know not. And Jesus saith unto +them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xi. 27-33 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The question put to Jesus by the hierarchy of Jerusalem +is recorded in all the synoptic Gospels. But in +some respects the story is most pointed in the narrative +of St. Mark. And it is natural that he, the historian +especially of the energies of Christ, should lay stress +upon a challenge addressed to Him, by reason of His +masterful words and deeds. At the outset, he had +recorded the astonishment of the people because +Jesus taught with authority, because <q>Verily I say</q> +replaced the childish and servile methods by which +the scribe and the Pharisee sustained their most wilful +innovations. +</p> + +<p> +When first he relates a miracle, he tells how their +wonder increased, because with authority Jesus commanded +the unclean spirits and they obeyed, respecting +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/> +His self-reliant word <q>I command thee to come out,</q> +more than the most elaborate incantations and exorcisms. +St. Mark's first record of collision with the priests was +when Jesus carried His claim still farther, and said +<q>The Son of man hath authority</q> (it is the same word) +<q>on earth to forgive sins.</q> Thus we find the Gospel +quite conscious of what so forcibly strikes a careful +modern reader, the assured and independent tone of +Jesus; His bearing, so unlike that of a disciple or a commentator; +His consciousness that the Scriptures themselves +are they which testify of Him, and that only He +can give the life which men think they possess in these. +In the very teaching of lowliness Jesus exempts Himself, +and forbids others to be Master and Lord, because +these titles belong to Him. +</p> + +<p> +Impressive as such claims appear when we awake to +them, it is even more suggestive to reflect that we can +easily read the Gospels and not be struck by them. We +do not start when He bids all the weary to come to Him, +and offers them rest, and yet declares Himself to be +meek and lowly. He is meek and lowly while He makes +such claims. His bearing is that of the highest rank, +joined with the most perfect graciousness; His great +claims never irritate us, because they are palpably His +due, and we readily concede the astonishing elevation +whence He so graciously bends down so low. And this +is one evidence of the truth and power of the character +which the Apostles drew. +</p> + +<p> +How natural is this also, that immediately after Palm +Sunday, when the people have hailed their Messiah, +royal and a Saviour, and when He has accepted their +homage, we find new indications of authority in His +bearing and His actions. He promptly took them at +their word. It was now that He wrought His only +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/> +miracle of judgment, and although it was but the +withering of a tree (since He came not to destroy men's +lives but to save them), yet was there a dread symbolical +sentence involved upon all barren and unfruitful men +and Churches. In the very act of triumphal entry, He +solemnly pronounced judgment upon the guilty city +which would not accept her King. +</p> + +<p> +Arrived at the temple, He surveyed its abuses and +defilements, and returned on the morrow (and so not +spurred by sudden impulse, but of deliberate purpose), +to drive out them that sold and bought. Two years +ago He had needed to scourge the intruders forth, but +now they are overawed by His majesty, and obey His +word. Then, too, they were rebuked for making His +Father's house a house of merchandise, but now it is +His own—<q>My House,</q> but degraded yet farther into +a den of thieves. +</p> + +<p> +But while traffic and pollution shrank away, misery +and privation were attracted to Him; the blind and the +lame came and were healed in the very temple; and the +centre and rallying-place of the priests and scribes beheld +His power to save. This drove them to extremities. +He was carrying the war into the heart of their +territories, establishing Himself in their stronghold, and +making it very plain that since the people had hailed +Him King, and He had responded to their acclaims, He +would not shrink from whatever His view of that great +office might involve. +</p> + +<p> +While they watched, full of bitterness and envy, they +were again impressed, as at the beginning, by the +strange, autocratic, spontaneous manner in which He +worked, making Himself the source of His blessings, +as no prophet had ever done since Moses expiated so +dearly the offence of saying, Must we fetch you water +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/> +out of the rock? Jesus acted after the fashion of Him +Who openeth His hands and satisfieth the desire of +every living thing. Why did He not give the glory to +One above? Why did He not supplicate, nor invoke, +but simply bestow? Where were the accustomed words +of supplication, <q>Hear me, O Lord God, hear me,</q> or, +<q>Where is the Lord God of Israel?</q> +</p> + +<p> +Here they discerned a flaw, a heresy; and they would +force Him either to make a fatal claim, or else to moderate +His pretensions at their bidding, which would +promptly restore their lost influence and leadership. +</p> + +<p> +Nor need we shrink from confessing that our Lord +was justly open to such reproach, unless He was indeed +Divine, unless He was deliberately preparing His followers +for that astonishing revelation, soon to come, +which threw the Church upon her knees in adoration +of her God manifest in flesh. It is hard to understand +how the Socinian can defend his Master against the +charge of encroaching on the rights and honours of +Deity, and (to borrow a phrase from a different connection) +sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty of +God, whereas every priest standeth ministering. If He +were a creature, He culpably failed to tell us the conditions +upon which He received a delegated authority, +and the omission has made His Church ever since +idolatrous. It is one great and remarkable lesson +suggested by this verse: if Jesus were not Divine, +what was He? +</p> + +<p> +Thus it came to pass, in direct consequence upon +the events which opened the great week of the triumph +and the cross of Jesus, that the whole rank and +authority of the temple system confronted Him with a +stern question. They sat in Moses' seat. They were +entitled to examine the pretensions of a new and +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/> +aspiring teacher. They had a perfect right to demand +<q>Tell us by what authority thou doest these things.</q> +The works are not denied, but the source whence they +flow is questioned. +</p> + +<p> +After so many centuries, the question is fresh to-day. +For still the spirit of Christ is working in His world, +openly, palpably, spreading blessings far and wide. +It is exalting multitudes of ignoble lives by hopes that +are profound, far-reaching, and sublime. When savage +realms are explored, it is Christ Who hastens thither +with His gospel, before the trader in rum and gunpowder +can exhibit the charms of a civilization without +a creed. In the gloomiest haunts of disease and +misery, madness, idiotcy, orphanage, and vice, there is +Christ at work, the good Samaritan, pouring oil and +wine into the gaping wounds of human nature, acting +quite upon His own authority, careless who looks +askance, not asking political economy whether genuine +charity is pauperisation, nor questioning the doctrine +of development, whether the progress of the race demands +the pitiless rejection of the unfit, and selection +only of the strongest specimens for survival. That +iron creed may be natural; but if so, ours is supernatural, +it is a law of spirit and life, setting us free from +that base and selfish law of sin and death. The existence +and energy of Christian forces in our modern +world is indisputable: never was Jesus a more popular +and formidable claimant of its crown; never did more +Hosannas follow Him into the temple. But now as +formerly His credentials are demanded: what is His +authority and how has He come by it? +</p> + +<p> +Now we say of modern as of ancient inquiries, that +they are right; investigation is inevitable and a duty. +</p> + +<p> +But see how Jesus dealt with those men of old. +</p> + +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/> + +<p> +Let us not misunderstand Him. He did not merely +set one difficulty against another, as if we should start +some scientific problem, and absolve ourselves from the +duty of answering any inquiry until science had disposed +of this. Doubtless it is logical enough to point +out that all creeds, scientific and religious alike, have +their unsolved problems. But the reply of Jesus was +not a dexterous evasion, it went to the root of things, +and, therefore, it stands good for time and for eternity. +He refused to surrender the advantage of a witness to +whom He was entitled: He demanded that all the facts +and not some alone should be investigated. In truth +their position bound His interrogators to examine His +credentials; to do so was not only their privilege but +their duty. But then they must begin at the beginning. +Had they performed this duty for the Baptist? Who +or what was that mysterious, lonely, stern preacher of +righteousness who had stirred the national heart so +profoundly, and whom all men still revered? They +themselves had sent to question him, and his answer +was notorious: he had said that he was sent before the +Christ; he was only a voice, but a voice which demanded +the preparation of a way before the Lord +Himself, Who was approaching, and a highway for our +God. What was the verdict of these investigators +upon that great movement? What would they make +of the decisive testimony of the Baptist? +</p> + +<p> +As the perilous significance of this consummate rejoinder +bursts on their crafty intelligence, as they recoil +confounded from the exposure they have brought upon +themselves, St. Mark tells how the question was pressed +home, <q>Answer Me!</q> But they dared not call John +an impostor, and yet to confess him was to authenticate +the seal upon our Lord's credentials. And Jesus is +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/> +palpably within His rights in refusing to be questioned +of such authorities as these. Yet immediately afterwards, +with equal skill and boldness, He declared Himself, +and yet defied their malice, in the story of the +lord of a vineyard, who had vainly sent many servants +to claim its fruit, and at the last sent his beloved son. +</p> + +<p> +Now apply the same process to the modern opponents +of the faith, and it will be found that multitudes +of their assaults on Christianity imply the negation of +what they will not and dare not deny. Some will not +believe in miracles because the laws of nature work +uniformly. But their uniformity is undisturbed by +human operations; the will of man wields, without cancelling, +these mighty forces which surround us. And +why may not the will of God do the same, if there be a +God? Ask them whether they deny His existence, +and they will probably declare themselves Agnostics, +which is exactly the ancient answer, <q>We cannot tell.</q> +Now as long as men avow their ignorance of the +existence or non-existence of a Deity, they cannot assert +the impossibility of miracles, for miracles are simply +actions which reveal God, as men's actions reveal their +presence. +</p> + +<p> +Again, a demand is made for such evidence, to +establish the faith, as cannot be had for any fact +beyond the range of the exact sciences. We are asked, +Why should we stake eternity upon anything short of +demonstration? Yet it will be found that the objector +is absolutely persuaded, and acts on his persuasion of +many <q>truths which never can be proved</q>—of the +fidelity of his wife and children, and above all, of the +difference between right and wrong. That is a fundamental +principle: deny it, and society becomes impossible. +And yet sceptical theories are widely diffused +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/> +which really, though unconsciously, sap the very +foundations of morality, or assert that it is not from +heaven but of men, a mere expediency, a prudential +arrangement of society. +</p> + +<p> +Such arguments may well <q>fear the people,</q> for the +instincts of mankind know well that all such explanations +of conscience do really explain it away. +</p> + +<p> +And it is quite necessary in our days, when religion +is impugned, to see whether the assumptions of its +assailants would not compromise time as well as eternity, +and to ask, What think ye of all those fundamental +principles which sustain the family, society, and the +state, while they bear testimony to the Church of +Christ. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XII.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Husbandmen.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And He began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a +vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the wine-press, +and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another +country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that +he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard. +And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And +again he sent unto them another servant: and him they wounded in +the head, and handled shamefully. And he sent another; and him they +killed: and many others; beating some, and killing some. He had +yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them, saying, They will +reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, +This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. +And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. +What, therefore, will the Lord of the vineyard do? He will +come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto +others. Have ye not read even this Scripture:</q> +</p> + +<lg> +<l>The stone which the builders rejected,</l> +<l>The same was made the head of the corner:</l> +<l>This was from the Lord,</l> +<l>And it is marvellous in our eyes?</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q rend='post'>And they sought to lay hold on Him; and they feared the multitude; +for they perceived that He spake the parable against them: and they +left Him, and went away.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xii. 1-12 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +The rulers of His people have failed to make Jesus +responsible to their inquisition. He has exposed +the hollowness of their claim to investigate His commission, +and formally refused to tell them by what +authority He did these things. But what He would +not say for an unjust cross-examination, He proclaimed +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/> +to all docile hearts; and the skill which disarmed His +enemies is not more wonderful than that which in their +hearing answered their question, yet left them no room +for accusation. This was achieved by speaking to them +in parables. The indifferent might hear and not perceive: +the keenness of malice would surely understand +but could not easily impeach a simple story; but to His +own followers it would be given to know the mysteries +of the kingdom of God. +</p> + +<p> +His first words would be enough to arouse attention. +The psalmist had told how God brought a vine out of +Egypt, and cast out the heathen and planted it. Isaiah +had carried the image farther, and sung of a vineyard +in a very fruitful hill. The Well-beloved, Whose it was, +cleared the ground for it, and planted it with the choicest +vine, and built a tower, and hewed out a wine-press, +and looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it had +brought forth wild grapes. Therefore He would lay it +waste. This well-known and recognized type the Lord +now adopted, but modified it to suit His purpose. As +in a former parable the sower slept and rose, and left +the earth to bring forth fruit of itself, so in this, the +Lord of the vineyard let it out to husbandmen and went +into a far country. This is our Lord's own explanation +of that silent time in which no special interpositions +asserted that God was nigh, no prophecies were heard, +no miracles startled the careless. It was the time +when grace already granted should have been peacefully +ripening. Now we live in such a period. Unbelievers +desire a sign. Impatient believers argue that if our +Master is as near us as ever, the same portents must +attest His presence; and, therefore, they recognise the +gift of tongues in hysterical clamour, and stake the +honour of religion upon faith-healing, and those various +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/> +obscure phenomena which the annals of every fanaticism +can rival. But the sober Christian understands +that, even as the Lord of the vineyard went into +another country, so Christ His Son (Who in spiritual +communion is ever with His people) in another sense +has gone into a far country to receive a kingdom and +to return. In the interval, marvels would be simply +an anachronism. The best present evidence of the +faith lies in the superior fruitfulness of the vineyard +He has planted, in the steady advance to rich maturity +of the vine He has imported from another clime. +</p> + +<p> +At this point Jesus begins to add a new significance to +the ancient metaphor. The husbandmen are mentioned. +Men there were in the ancient Church, who were +specially responsible for the culture of the vineyard. As +He spoke, the symbol explained itself. The imposing +array of chief priests and scribes and elders stood by, +who had just claimed as their prerogative that He +should make good His commission to their scrutiny; and +none would be less likely to mistake His meaning than +these self-conscious lovers of chief seats in the synagogues. +The structure of the parable, therefore, admits +their official rank, as frankly as when Jesus bade His +disciples submit to their ordinances because they sit in +Moses' seat. But He passes on, easily and as if unconsciously, +to record that special messengers from +heaven had, at times, interrupted the self-indulgent +quietude of the husbandmen. Because the fruit of the +vineyard had not been freely rendered, a bondservant +was sent to demand it. The epithet implies that the +messenger was lower in rank, although his direct mission +gave him authority even over the keepers of the +vineyard. It expresses exactly the position of the prophets, +few of them of priestly rank, some of them very +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/> +humble in extraction, and very rustic in expression, +but all sent in evil days to faithless husbandmen, to +remind them that the vineyard was not their own, and +to receive the fruits of righteousness. Again and again +the demand is heard, for He sent <q>many others;</q> and +always it is rejected with violence, which sometimes +rises to murder. As they listened, they must have felt +that all this was true, that while prophet after prophet +had come to a violent end, not one had seen the official +hierarchy making common cause with him. And they +must also have felt how ruinous was this rejoinder to +their own demand that the people should forsake a +teacher when they rejected him. Have any of the +rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him? was their +scornful question. But the answer was plain, As long +as they built the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnished +the tombs of the righteous, and said, If we had +been in the days of our fathers, we would not have +been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets, +they confessed that men could not blindly follow a +hierarchy merely as such, since they were not the official +successors of the prophets but of those who slew +them. The worst charge brought against them was +only that they acted according to analogy, and filled up +the deeds of their fathers. It had always been the +same. +</p> + +<p> +The last argument of Stephen, which filled his judges +with madness, was but the echo of this great impeachment. +Which of the prophets did not your fathers +persecute? and they killed them which showed +before of the coming of the Righteous One, of Whom +ye have now become the betrayers and murderers. +</p> + +<p> +That last defiance of heaven, which Stephen thus +denounced, his Master distinctly foretold. And He +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/> +added the appalling circumstance, that however they +might deceive themselves and sophisticate their conscience, +they really knew Him Who He was. They +felt, at the very least, that into His hands should pass +all the authority and power they had so long monopolized: +<q>This is the Heir; come let us kill Him and the +inheritance shall be ours.</q> If there were no more, the +utterance of these words put forth an extraordinary claim. +</p> + +<p> +All that should have been rendered up to heaven and +was withheld, all that previous messengers had demanded +on behalf of God without avail, all <q>the inheritance</q> +which these wicked husbandmen were intercepting, all +this Jesus announces to be His own, while reprehending +the dishonesty of any other claim upon it. And as a +matter of fact, if Jesus be not Divine, He has intercepted +more of the worship due to the Eternal, has attracted +to Himself more of the homage of the loftiest and profoundest +minds, than any false teacher within the pale +of monotheism has ever done. It is the bounden duty +of all who revere Jesus even as a teacher, of all who have +eyes to see that His coming was the greatest upward +step in the progress of humanity, to consider well what +was implied, when, in the act of blaming the usurpers +of the heritage of God, Jesus declared that inheritance +to be His own. But this is not all, though it is what +He declares that the husbandmen were conscious of. +The parable states, not only that He is heir, but heir +by virtue of His special relationship to the Supreme. +Others are bondservants or husbandmen, but He is the +Son. He does not inherit as the worthiest and most +obedient, but by right of birth; and His Father, in the +act of sending Him, expects even these bloodstained +outlaws to reverence His Son. In such a phrase, applied +to such criminals, we are made to feel the lofty +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/> +rank alike of the Father and His Son, which ought to +have overawed even them. And when we read that <q>He +had yet one, a beloved Son,</q> it seems as if the veil of +eternity were uplifted, to reveal a secret and awful intimacy, +of which, nevertheless, some glimmering consciousness +should have controlled the most desperate +heart. +</p> + +<p> +But they only reckoned that if they killed the Heir, +the inheritance would become their own. It seems the +wildest madness, that men should know and feel Who +He was, and yet expect to profit by desecrating His +rights. And yet so it was from the beginning. If +Herod were not fearful that the predicted King of the +Jews was indeed born, the massacre of the Innocents +was idle. If the rulers were not fearful that this counsel +and work was of God, they would not, at Gamaliel's +bidding, have refrained from the Apostles. And it +comes still closer to the point to observe that, if they had +attached no importance, even in their moment of triumph, +to the prediction of His rising from the dead, they +would not have required a guard, nor betrayed the secret +recognition which Jesus here exposes. The same blind +miscalculation is in every attempt to obtain profit or +pleasure by means which are known to transgress the +laws of the all-beholding Judge of all. It is committed +every day, under the pressure of strong temptation, by +men who know clearly that nothing but misery can +result. So true is it that action is decided, not by a +course of logic in the brain, but by the temperament +and bias of our nature as a whole. We need not +suppose that the rulers roundly spoke such words as +these, even to themselves. The infamous motive +lurked in ambush, too far in the back ground of the +mind perhaps even for consciousness. But it was +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/> +there, and it affected their decision, as lurking passions +and self-interests always will, as surely as iron deflects +the compass. <q>They caught Him and killed Him,</q> +said the unfaltering lips of their victim. And He +added a circumstance of pain which we often overlook, +but to which the great minister of the circumcision +was keenly sensitive, and often reverted, the giving +Him up to the Gentiles, to a death accursed among the +Jews; <q>they cast Him forth out of the vineyard.</q> +</p> + +<p> +All evil acts are based upon an overestimate of the +tolerance of God. He had seemed to remain passive +while messenger after messenger was beaten, stoned, or +slain. But now that they had filled up the iniquity of +their fathers, the Lord of the vineyard would come in +person to destroy them, and give the vineyard to others. +This last phrase is strangely at variance with the +notion that the days of a commissioned ministry are +over, as, on the other hand, the whole parable is at +variance with the notion that a priesthood can be +trusted to sit in exclusive judgment upon doctrine for +the Church. +</p> + +<p> +At this point St. Mark omits an incident so striking, +although small, that its absence is significant. The +by-standers said, <q>God forbid!</q> and when the horrified +exclamation betrayed their consciousness of the position, +Jesus was content, without a word, to mark their self-conviction +by His searching gaze. <q>He looked upon +them.</q> The omission would be unaccountable if St. +Mark were simply a powerful narrator of graphic +incidents; but it is explained when we think that for +him the manifestation of a mighty Personage was all +in all, and the most characteristic and damaging +admissions of the hierarchy were as nothing compared +with a word of his Lord. Thereupon he goes straight +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/> +on to record that, besides refuting their claim by the +history of the past, and asserting His own supremacy +in a phrase at once guarded in form and decisive in +import, Jesus also appealed to Scripture. It was +written that by special and marvellous interposition of +the Lord a stone which the recognized builders had +rejected should crown the building. And the quotation +was not only decisive as showing that their rejection +could not close the controversy; it also compensated, +with a promise of final victory, the ominous words in +which their malice had seemed to do its worst. Jesus +often predicted His death, but He never despaired of +His kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +No wonder that the rulers sought to arrest Him, +and perceived that He penetrated and despised their +schemes. And their next device is a natural outcome +from the fact that they feared the people, but did not +discontinue their intrigues; for this was a crafty and +dangerous attempt to estrange from Him the admiring +multitude. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Tribute Money.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they send unto Him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, +that they might catch Him in talk. And when they were come, +they say unto Him, Master, we know that Thou art true, and carest +not for any one: for Thou regardest not the person of men, but of a +truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, +or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But He, knowing their +hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? bring Me a penny, +that I may see it. And they brought it. And He saith unto them, +Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto Him, +Cæsar's. And Jesus said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things +that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's. And they +marvelled greatly at Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xii. 13-17 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The contrast is very striking between this incident and +the last. Instead of a challenge, Jesus is respectfully +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/> +consulted; and instead of a formal concourse of the +authorities of His religion, He is Himself the authority +to Whom a few perplexed people profess to submit their +difficulty. Nevertheless, it is a new and subtle effort +of the enmity of His defeated foes. They have sent to +Him certain Pharisees who will excite the popular +indignation if He yields anything to the foreigner, and +Herodians who will, if He refuses, bring upon Him the +colder and deadlier vengeance of Rome. They flatter, +in order to stimulate, that fearless utterance which +must often have seemed to them so rash: <q>We know +that Thou art true, and carest not for any one, for +Thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth +teachest the way of God.</q> And they appeal to a +higher motive by representing the case to be one of +practical and personal urgency, <q>Shall we give, or +shall we not give?</q> +</p> + +<p> +Never was it more necessary to join the wisdom of +the serpent to the innocence of the dove, for it would +seem that He must needs answer directly, and that no +direct answer can fail to have the gravest consequences. +But in their eagerness to secure this menacing position, +they have left one weak point in the attack. They +have made the question altogether a practical one. +The abstract doctrine of the right to drive out a foreign +power, of the limits of authority and freedom, they +have not raised. It is simply a question of the hour, +Shall we give or shall we not give? +</p> + +<p> +And Jesus baffled them by treating it as such. +There was no longer a national coinage, except only of +the half shekel for the temple tax. When He asked +them for a smaller coin, they produced a Roman penny +stamped with the effigy of Cæsar. Thus they confessed +the use of the Roman currency. Now since they +<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/> +accepted the advantages of subjugation, they ought +also to endure its burdens: since they traded as +Roman subjects, they ought to pay the Roman tribute. +Not He had preached submission, but they had avowed +it; and any consequent unpopularity would fall not +upon Him but them. They had answered their own +question. And Jesus laid down the broad and simple +rule, <q>Render (pay back) unto Cæsar the things that +are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's. +And they marvelled greatly at Him.</q> No wonder they +marvelled, for it would be hard to find in all the records +of philosophy so ready and practical a device to baffle +such cunning intriguers, such keenness in One Whose +life was so far removed from the schools of worldly +wisdom, joined with so firm a grasp on principle, in an +utterance so brief, yet going down so far to the roots +of action. +</p> + +<p> +Now the words of Jesus are words for all time; +even when He deals with a question of the hour, He +treats it from the point of view of eternal fitness and +duty; and this command to render unto Cæsar the +things which are Cæsar's has become the charter of +the state against all usurpations of tyrannous ecclesiastics. +A sphere is recognized in which obedience +to the law is a duty to God. But it is absurd to pretend +that Christ taught blind and servile obedience to +all tyrants in all circumstances, for this would often +make it impossible to obey the second injunction, and +to render unto God the things which are God's,—a +clause which asserts in turn the right of conscience +and the Church against all secular encroachments. +The point to observe is, that the decision of Jesus is +simply an inference, a deduction. St. Matthew has +inserted the word <q>therefore,</q> and it is certainly +<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/> +implied: render unto Cæsar the things which you confess +to be his own, which bear his image upon their +face. +</p> + +<p> +Can we suppose that no such inference gives point +to the second clause? It would then become, like too +many of our pious sayings, a mere supplement, inappropriate, +however excellent, a make weight, and a platitude. +No example of such irrelevance can be found +in the story of our Lord. When, finding the likeness +of Cæsar on the coin, He said, Render, therefore, unto +Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the +things that are God's, He at least suggested that the +reason for both precepts ran parallel, and the image of +the higher and heavenlier Monarch could be found on +what He claims of us. And it is so. He claims all +we have and all we are. <q>The earth is the Lord's, +and the fulness thereof:</q> and <q>I have made thee, +thou art Mine.</q> And for us and ours alike the argument +holds good. All the visible universe bears deeply +stamped into its substance His image and superscription. +The grandeur of mountains and stars, the +fairness of violet and harebell, are alike revelations of +the Creator. The heavens declare His glory: the +firmament showeth His handiwork: the earth is full of +His riches: all the discoveries which expand our +mastery over nature and disease, over time and space, +are proofs of His wisdom and goodness, Who laid the +amazing plan which we grow wise by tracing out. +Find a corner on which contrivance and benevolence +have not stamped the royal image, and we may doubt +whether that bleak spot owes Him tribute. But no +desert is so blighted, no solitude so forlorn. +</p> + +<p> +And we should render unto God the things which +are God's, seeing His likeness in His world. <q>For the +<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/> +invisible things of Him since the creation of the world +are clearly seen, being perceived through the things +which are made, even His everlasting power and +divinity.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And if most of all He demands the love, the heart of +man, here also He can ask, <q>Whose image and superscription +is this?</q> For in the image of God made He +man. It is sometimes urged that this image was quite +effaced when Adam fell. But it was not to protect +the unfallen that the edict was spoken <q>Whoso sheddeth +man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in +the image of God made He man.</q> He was not an +unfallen man of whom St. Paul said that he <q>ought +not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the +image and glory of God;</q> neither were they unfallen, +of whom St. James said, <q>We curse men which are +made after the likeness of God</q> (Gen. ix. 6; 1 Cor. xi. +7; James iii. 9). Common men, for whom the assassin +lurks, who need instruction how to behave in church, +and whom others scorn and curse, these bear upon +them an awful likeness; and even when they refuse +tribute to their king, He can ask them, Whose is this +image? +</p> + +<p> +We see it in the intellect, ever demanding new +worlds to conquer, overwhelming us with its victories +over time and space. <q>In apprehension how like a +God.</q> Alas for us! if we forget that the Spirit of +knowledge and wisdom is no other than the Spirit +of the Lord God. +</p> + +<p> +We see this likeness far more in our moral nature. +It is true that sin has spoiled and wasted this, yet there +survives in man's heart, as nowhere else in our world, +a strange sympathy with the holiness and love of God. +No other of His attributes has the same power to thrill +<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/> +us. Tell me that He lit the stars and can quench them +with a word, and I reverence, perhaps I fear Him; yet +such power is outside and beyond my sphere; it fails to +touch me, it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Even the +rarer human gifts, the power of a Czar, the wisdom of +Bacon, are thus beyond me, I am unkindled, they do +not find me out. But speak of holiness, even the +stainless holiness of God, undefiled through all eternity, +and you shake the foundations of my being. And +why does the reflection that God is pure humble me +more than the knowledge that God is omnipotent? +Because it is my spiritual nature which is most conscious +of the Divine image, blurred and defaced +indeed, but not obliterated yet. Because while I +listen I am dimly conscious of my birthright, my +destiny, that I was born to resemble this, and all +is lost if I come short of it. Because every child and +every sinner feels that it is more possible for him to +be like his God than like Newton, or Shakespere, or +Napoleon. Because the work of grace is to call in +the worn and degraded coinage of humanity, and, as the +mint restamps and reissues the pieces which have +grown thin and worn, so to renew us after the image +of Him that created us. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Christ And The Sadducees.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And there come unto Him Sadducees, which say that there is no +resurrection: and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto +us, If a man's brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no +child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his +brother. There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and +dying left no seed; and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed +behind him; and the third likewise: and the seven left no seed. Last +of all the woman also died. In the resurrection whose wife shall she +be of them? for the seven had her to wife. Jesus said unto them, Is it +<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/> +not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the Scriptures, nor the +power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither +marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven. But as +touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book +of Moses, in <hi rend='italic'>the place concerning</hi> the Bush, how God spake unto him, +saying, I <hi rend='italic'>am</hi> the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God +of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do +greatly err.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xii. 18-27 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Christ came that the thoughts of many hearts might +be revealed. And so it was, that when He had silenced +the examination of the hierarchy, and baffled their craft, +the Sadducees were tempted to assail Him. Like the +rationalists of every age, they stood coldly aloof from +popular movements, and we seldom find them interfering +with Christ or His followers, until their energies were +roused by the preaching of His Resurrection, so directly +opposed to their fundamental doctrines. +</p> + +<p> +Their appearance now is extremely natural. The +repulse of every other party left them the only champions +of orthodoxy against the new movement, with everything +to win by success, and little to lose by failure. +There is a tone of quiet and confident irony in their +interrogation, well befitting an upper-class group, a +secluded party of refined critics, rather than practical +teachers with a mission to their fellow-men. They +break utterly new ground by raising an abstract and +subtle question, a purely intellectual problem, but one +which reduced the doctrine of a resurrection to an +absurdity, if only their premises can be made good. +And this peculiarity is often overlooked in criticism upon +our Lord's answer. Its intellectual subtlety was only +the adoption by Christ of the weapons of his adversaries. +But at the same time, He lays great and special +stress upon the authority of Scripture, in this encounter +with the party which least acknowledged it. +</p> + +<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/> + +<p> +Their objection, stated in its simplest form, is the +complication which would result if the successive ties +for which death makes room must all revive together +when death is abolished. If a woman has married a +second time, whose wife shall she be? But their statement +of the case is ingenious, not only because they +push the difficulty to an absurd and ludicrous extent, +but much more so because they base it upon a Divine +ordinance. If there be a Resurrection, Moses must +answer for all the confusion that will ensue, for Moses +gave the commandment, by virtue of which a woman +married seven times. No offspring of any union gave +it a special claim upon her future life. <q>In the Resurrection, +whose wife shall she be of them?</q> they ask, +conceding with a quiet sarcasm that this absurd event +must needs occur. +</p> + +<p> +For these controversialists the question was solely of +the physical tie, which had made of twain one flesh. +They had no conception that the body can be raised +otherwise than as it perished, and they rightly enough +felt certain that on such a resurrection woeful complications +must ensue. +</p> + +<p> +Now Jesus does not rebuke their question with such +stern words as He had just employed to others, <q>Why +tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?</q> They were doubtless +sincere in their conviction, and at least they had not +come in the disguise of perplexed inquirers and almost +disciples. He blames them, but more gently: <q>Is it +not for this cause that ye err, because ye know not the +Scriptures, nor the power of God?</q> They could not +know one and not the other, but the boastful wisdom +of this world, so ready to point a jibe by quoting Moses, +had never truly grasped the meaning of the writer it +appealed to. +</p> + +<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/> + +<p> +Jesus, it is plain, does not quote Scripture only as +having authority with His opponents: He accepts it +heartily: He declares that human error is due to ignorance +of its depth and range of teaching; and He recognizes +the full roll of the sacred books <q>the Scriptures.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It has rightly been said, that none of the explicit +statements, commonly relied upon, do more to vindicate +for Holy Writ the authority of our Lord, than this +simple incidental question. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus proceeded to restate the doctrine of the Resurrection +and then to prove it; and the more His brief +words are pondered, the more they will expand and +deepen. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul has taught us that the dead in Christ shall +rise first (1 Thess. iv. 16). Of such attainment it is +written, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the +first Resurrection (Rev. xx. 6). +</p> + +<p> +Now since among the lost there could be no question +of family ties, and consequent embarrassments, Jesus +confines His statement to these happy ones, of whom +the Sadducee could think no better than that their new +life should be a reproduction of their existence here,—a +theory which they did wisely in rejecting. He uses +the very language taken up afterwards by His apostle, +and says, <q>When they shall rise from the dead.</q> +And He asserts that marriage is at an end, and they +are as the angels in heaven. Here is no question of +the duration of pure and tender human affection, nor +do these words compromise in any degree the hopes of +faithful hearts, which cling to one another. Surely we +may believe that in a life which is the outcome and resultant +of this life, as truly as the grain is of the seed, +in a life also where nothing shall be forgotten, but on +the contrary we shall know what we know not now, +<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/> +there, tracing back the flood of their immortal energies +to obscure fountains upon earth, and seeing all that each +has owed half unconsciously to the fidelity and wisdom +of the other, the true partners and genuine helpmeets +of this world shall for ever drink some peculiar gladness, +each from the other's joy. There is no reason why the +close of formal unions which include the highest and +most perfect friendships, should forbid such friendships +to survive and flourish in the more kindly atmosphere +of heaven. +</p> + +<p> +What Christ asserts is simply the dissolution of the +tie, as an inevitable consequence of such a change in +the very nature of the blessed ones as makes the tie +incongruous and impossible. In point of fact, marriage +as the Sadducee thought of it, is but the counterpoise +of death, renewing the face which otherwise would +disappear, and when death is swallowed up, it vanishes +as an anachronism. In heaven <q>they are as the +angels,</q> the body itself being made <q>a spiritual body,</q> +set free from the appetites of the flesh, and in harmony +with the glowing aspirations of the Spirit, which now +it weighs upon and retards. If any would object that +to be as the angels is to be without a body, rather +than to possess a spiritual body, it is answer enough +that the context implies the existence of a body, since +no person ever spoke of a resurrection of the soul. +Moreover it is an utterly unwarrantable assumption +that angels are wholly without substance. Many verses +appear to imply the opposite, and the cubits of measurement +of the New Jerusalem were <q>according to the +measure of a man, that is of an angel</q> (Rev. xxi. 17), +which seems to assert a very curious similarity indeed. +</p> + +<p> +The objection of the Sadducees was entirely obviated, +therefore by the broader, bolder, and more spiritual +<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/> +view of a resurrection which Jesus taught. And by +far the greater part of the cavils against this same +doctrine which delight the infidel lecturer and popular +essayist of to-day would also die a natural death, if the +free and spiritual teaching of Jesus, and its expansion +by St. Paul, were understood. But we breathe a wholly +different air when we read the speculations even of so +great a thinker as St. Augustine, who supposed that we +should rise with bodies somewhat greater than our +present ones, because all the hair and nails we ever +trimmed away must be diffused throughout the mass, +lest they should produce deformity by their excessive +proportions (<hi rend='italic'>De Civitate Dei</hi>, xxii. 19). To all such +speculation, he who said, To every seed his own body, +says, Thou fool, thou sowest not that body that shall be. +But though Jesus had met these questions, it did not +follow that His doctrine was true, merely because a +certain difficulty did not apply. And, therefore, He +proceeded to prove it by the same Moses to whom they +had appealed, and whom Jesus distinctly asserts to be +the author of the book of Exodus. God said, <q>I am +the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the +God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of +the living: ye do greatly err.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The argument is not based upon the present tense +of the verb <emph>to be</emph> in this assertion, for in the Greek the +verb is not expressed. In fact the argument is not a +verbal one at all; or else it would be satisfied by the +doctrine of the immortality of the spirit, and would not +establish any resurrection of the body. It is based +upon the immutability of God, and, therefore, the imperishability +of all that ever entered into vital and real +relationship with Him. To cancel such a relationship +would introduce a change into the Eternal. And Moses, +<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/> +to whom they appealed, had heard God expressly +proclaim Himself the God of those who had long since +passed out of time. It was, therefore, clear that His +relationship with them lived on, and this guaranteed +that no portion, even the humblest, of their true +personality should perish. Now the body is as real a +part of humanity, as the soul and spirit are, although a +much lowlier part. And, therefore, it must not really die. +</p> + +<p> +It is solemn to observe how Jesus, in this second +part of His argument, passes from the consideration of +the future of the blessed to that of all mankind; <q>as +touching the dead that they are raised.</q> With others +than the blessed, therefore, God has a real though a +dread relationship. And it will prove hard to reconcile +this argument of Christ with the existence of any time +when any soul shall be extinguished. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The body is for the Lord,</q> said St. Paul, arguing +against the vices of the flesh, <q>and the Lord for the +body.</q> From these words of Christ he may well have +learned that profound and far-reaching doctrine, which +will never have done its work in the Church and in the +world, until whatever defiles, degrades, or weakens that +which the Lord has consecrated is felt to blaspheme +by implication the God of our manhood, unto Whom +all our life ought to be lived; until men are no longer +dwarfed in mines, nor poisoned in foul air, nor massacred +in battle, men whose intimate relationship with God +the Eternal is of such a kind as to guarantee the +resurrection of the poor frames which we destroy. +</p> + +<p> +How much more does this great proclamation frown +upon the sins by which men dishonour their own flesh. +<q>Know ye not,</q> asked the apostle, carrying the same +doctrine to its utmost limit, <q>that your bodies are the +temples of the Holy Ghost?</q> So truly is God our God. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/> + +<div> +<head>The Discerning Scribe.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, +and knowing that He had answered them well, asked Him, +What commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first is, +Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt +love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and +with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou +shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment +greater than these. And the scribe said unto Him, Of a truth, Master, +Thou hast well said that He is one; and there is none other but He: +and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and +with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is much +more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus +saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far +from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask Him any +question.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xii. 28-34 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The praise which Jesus bestowed upon this lawyer is +best understood when we take into account the circumstances, +the pressure of assailants with ensnaring +questions, the sullen disappointment or palpable exasperation +of the party to which the scribe belonged. +He had probably sympathized in their hostility; and +had come expecting and desiring the discomfiture of +Jesus. But if so, he was a candid enemy; and as +each new attempt revealed more clearly the spiritual +insight, the self-possession and balanced wisdom of +Him Who had been represented as a dangerous fanatic, +his unfriendly opinion began to waver. For he too +was at issue with popular views: he had learned in +the Scriptures that God desireth not sacrifice, that +incense might be an abomination to Him, and new +moons and sabbaths things to do away with. And +so, perceiving that He had answered them well, the +scribe asked, upon his own account, a very different +question, not rarely debated in their schools, and often +<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/> +answered with grotesque frivolity, but which he felt +to go down to the very root of things. Instead of +challenging Christ's authority, he tries His wisdom. +Instead of striving to entangle Him in dangerous +politics, or to assail with shallow ridicule the problems +of the life to come, he asks, What commandment is the +first of all? And if we may accept as complete this +abrupt statement of his interrogation, it would seem to +have been drawn from him by a sudden impulse, or +wrenched by an over-mastering desire, despite of reluctance +and false shame. +</p> + +<p> +The Lord answered him with great solemnity and +emphasis. He might have quoted the commandment +only. But He at once supported the precept itself and +also His own view of its importance by including the +majestic prologue, <q>Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, +the Lord is one; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God +with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all +thy mind, and with all thy strength.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The unity of God, what a massive and reassuring +thought! Amid the debasements of idolatry, with its +deification of every impulse and every force, amid the +distractions of chance and change, seemingly so capricious +and even discordant, amid the complexities of the +universe and its phenomena, there is wonderful strength +and wisdom in the reflection that God is one. All +changes obey His hand which holds the rein; by Him +the worlds were made. The exiled patriarch was +overwhelmed by the majesty of the revelation that his +fathers' God was God in Bethel even as in Beer-sheba: +it charmed away the bitter sense of isolation, it unsealed +in him the fountains of worship and trust, and +sent him forward with a new hope of protection and +prosperity. The unity of God, really apprehended, is +<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/> +a basis for the human will to repose upon, and to +become self-consistent and at peace. It was the +parent of the fruitful doctrine of the unity of nature +which underlies all the scientific victories of the modern +world. In religion, St. Paul felt that it implies the +equal treatment of all the human race, when he asked, +<q>Is He the God of Jews only? Is He not the God +of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also, if so be that +God is one</q> (Rom iii. 29 R.V.). To be one, he seems +to say, implies being universal also. And if it thus +excludes the reprobation of races, it disproves equally +that of individual souls, and all thought of such unequal +and partial treatment as should inspire one with +hope of indulgence in guilt, or with fear that his way +is hid from the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +But if this be true, if there be one fountain of all +life and loveliness and joy, of all human tenderness and +all moral glory, how are we bound to love Him. Every +other affection should only deepen our adoring loyalty +to Him Who gives it. No cold or formal service can +meet His claim, Who gives us the power to serve. +No, we must love Him. And as all our nature comes +from Him, so must all be consecrated: that love +must embrace all the affections of <q>heart and soul</q> +panting after Him, as the hart after the waterbrooks; +and all the deep and steady convictions of the <q>mind,</q> +musing on the work of His hand, able to give a reason +for its faith; and all the practical homage of the +<q>strength,</q> living and dying to the Lord. How easy, +then, would be the fulfilment of His commandments in +detail, and how surely it would follow. All the precepts +of the first table are clearly implied in this. +</p> + +<p> +In such another commandment were summed up +also the precepts which concerned our neighbour. +<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/> +When we love him as ourselves (neither exaggerating +his claims beyond our own, nor allowing our own to +trample upon his), then we shall work no ill to our +neighbour, and so love shall fulfil the law. There is +none other commandment greater than these. +</p> + +<p> +The questioner saw all the nobility of this reply; +and the disdain, the anger, and perhaps the persecution +of his associates could not prevent him from an admiring +and reverent repetition of the Saviour's words, and an +avowal that all the ceremonial observances of Judaism +were as nothing compared with this. +</p> + +<p> +While he was thus judging, he was being judged. +As he knew that Jesus had answered well, so Jesus +saw that he answered discreetly; and in view of his unprejudiced +judgment, his spiritual insight, and his frank +approval of One Who was then despised and rejected, +He said, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. +But he was not yet within it, and no man knows his fate. +</p> + +<p> +Sad yet instructive it is to think that he may have +won the approval of Christ, and heard His words, so +full of discernment and of desire for his adherence, and +yet never crossed the invisible and mysterious boundary +which he then approached so nearly. But we also may +know, and admire, and confess the greatness and +goodness of Jesus, without forsaking all to follow Him. +</p> + +<p> +His enemies had been defeated and put to shame, +their murderous hate had been denounced, and the nets +of their cunning had been rent like cobwebs; they had +seen the heart of one of their own order kindled into +open admiration, and they henceforth renounced as +hopeless the attempt to conquer Jesus in debate. No +man after that durst ask Him any questions. +</p> + +<p> +He will now carry the war into their own country. +It will be for them to answer Jesus. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/> + +<div> +<head>David's Lord.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And Jesus answered and said, as He taught in the temple, How say +the scribes that the Christ is the Son of David? David himself said in +the Holy Spirit,—</q> +</p> + +<lg> +<l>The Lord said unto my Lord,</l> +<l>Sit Thou on my right hand,</l> +<l>Till I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q rend='post'>David himself calleth Him Lord; and whence is He His son? And +the common people heard Him gladly. And in His teaching He said, +Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and <hi rend='italic'>to have</hi> +salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and +chief places at feasts: they which devour widows' houses, and for a +pretence make long prayers; these shall receive greater condemnation.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xii. 35-40 (R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Jesus, having silenced in turn His official interrogators +and the Sadducees, and won the heart of His honest +questioner, proceeded to submit a searching problem to +His assailants. Whose son was the Messiah? And +when they gave Him an obvious and shallow answer, +He covered them with confusion publicly. The event +is full of that dramatic interest which St. Mark is so +well able to discern and reproduce. How is it then +that he passes over all this aspect of it, leaves us +ignorant of the defeat and even of the presence of the +scribes, and free to suppose that Jesus stated the whole +problem in one long question, possibly without an +opponent at hand to feel its force? +</p> + +<p> +This is a remarkable proof that his concern was not +really for the pictorial element in the story, but for the +manifestation of the power of his Master, the <q>authority</q> +which resounds through his opening chapters, the +royalty which he exhibits at the close. To him the +vital point is that Jesus, upon openly claiming to be the +Christ, and repelling the vehement attacks which were +<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/> +made upon Him as such, proceeded to unfold the +astonishing greatness which this implied; and that +after asserting the unity of God and His claim upon all +hearts, He demonstrated that the Christ was sharer of +His throne. +</p> + +<p> +The Christ, they said, was the Son of David, and this +was not false: Jesus had wrought many miracles for +suppliants who addressed Him by that title. But +was it all the truth? How then did David call Him +Lord? A greater than David might spring from +among his descendants, and hold rule by an original +and not merely an ancestral claim: He might not reign +as a son of David. Yet this would not explain the fact +that David, who died ages before His coming, was inspired +to call Him <emph>My</emph> Lord. Still less would it satisfy +the assertion that God had bidden Him sit beside Him +on His throne. For the scribes there was a serious +warning in the promise that His enemies should be +made His footstool, and for all the people a startling +revelation in the words which follow, and which the +Epistle to the Hebrews has unfolded, making this Son +of David a priest for ever, after another order than that +of Aaron. +</p> + +<p> +No wonder that the multitude heard with gladness +teaching at once so original, so profound, and so clearly +justified by Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +But it must be observed how remarkably this question +of Jesus follows up His conversation with the +scribe. Then He had based the supreme duty of love +to God upon the supreme doctrine of the Divine Unity. +He now proceeds to show that the throne of Deity +is not a lonely throne, and to demand, Whose Son is +He Who shares it, and Whom David in Spirit accosts +by the same title as his God? +</p> + +<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/> + +<p> +St. Mark is now content to give the merest indication +of the final denunciation with which the Lord +turned His back upon the scribes of Jerusalem, as He +previously broke with those of Galilee. But it is +enough to show how utterly beyond compromise was +the rupture. The people were to beware of them: +their selfish objects were betrayed in their very dress, +and their desire for respectful salutations and seats of +honour. Their prayers were a pretence, and they +devoured widows' houses, acquiring under the cloke of +religion what should have maintained the friendless. +But their affected piety would only bring upon them +a darker doom. +</p> + +<p> +It is a tremendous impeachment. None is entitled +to speak as Jesus did, who is unable to read hearts as +He did. And yet we may learn from it that mere softness +is not the meekness He demands, and that, when +sinister motives are beyond doubt, the spirit of Jesus +is the spirit of burning. +</p> + +<p> +There is an indulgence for the wrongdoer which is +mere feebleness and half compliance, and which shares +in the guilt of Eli. And there is a dreadful anger +which sins not, the wrath of the Lamb. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Widow's Mite.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the +multitude cast money into the treasury: and how many that were rich cast +in much. And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, +which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples, and +said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more +than all they which are casting into the treasury; for they all did cast +in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, +even all her living.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xii. 41-44 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +With words of stern denunciation Jesus for ever left +the temple. Yet He lingered, as if reluctant, in the +<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/> +outer court; and while the storm of His wrath was +still resounding in all hearts, observed and pointed out +an action of the lowliest beauty, a modest flower of +Hebrew piety in the vast desert of formality. It was +not too modest, however, to catch, even in that agitating +hour, the eye of Jesus; and while the scribes were +devouring widows' houses, a poor widow could still, +with two mites which make a farthing, win honourable +mention from the Son of God. Thus He ever observes +realities among pretences, the pure flame of love amid +the sour smoke which wreathes around it. What He +saw was the last pittance, cast to a service which in +reality was no longer God's, yet given with a noble +earnestness, a sacrifice pure from the heart. +</p> + +<p> +1. His praise suggests to us the unknown observation, +the unsuspected influences which surround us. +She little guessed herself to be the one figure, amid a +glittering group and where many were rich, who really +interested the all-seeing Eye. She went away again, +quite unconscious that the Lord had converted her two +mites into a perennial wealth of contentment for lowly +hearts, and instruction for the Church, quite ignorant +that she was approved of Messiah, and that her little +gift was the greatest event of all her story. So are we +watched and judged in our least conscious and our +most secluded hours. +</p> + +<p> +2. We learn St. Paul's lesson, that, <q>if the readiness +is there, it is acceptable according as a man hath, and +not according as he hath not.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In war, in commerce, in the senate, how often does +an accident at the outset blight a career for ever. One +is taken in the net of circumstances, and his dipped +wings can never soar again. But there is no such +disabling accident in religion. God seeth the heart. +<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/> +The world was redeemed by the blighted and thwarted +career of One Who would fain have gathered His own +city under His wing, but was refused and frustrated. +And whether we cast in much, or only possess two +mites, an offering for the rich to mock, He marks, +understands, and estimates aright. +</p> + +<p> +And while the world only sees the quantity, He +weighs the motive of our actions. This is the true +reason why we can judge nothing before the time, why +the great benefactor is not really pointed out by the +splendid benefaction, and why many that are last shall +yet be first, and the first last. +</p> + +<p> +3. The poor widow gave not a greater proportion of +her goods, she gave all; and it has been often remarked +that she had still, in her poverty, the opportunity +of keeping back one half. But her heart went +with her two mites. And, therefore, she was blessed. +We may picture her return to her sordid drudgery, +unaware of the meaning of the new light and peace +which followed her, and why her heart sang for joy. +We may think of the Spirit of Christ which was in her, +leading her afterwards into the Church of Christ, an +obscure and perhaps illiterate convert, undistinguished +by any special gift, and only loved as the first Christians +all loved each other. And we may think of her +now, where the secrets of all hearts are made known, +followed by myriads of the obscure and undistinguished +whom her story has sustained and cheered, and by some +who knew her upon earth, and were astonished to +learn that this was she. Then let us ask ourselves, Is +there any such secret of unobtrusive lowly service, born +of love, which the future will associate with me? +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XIII.</head> + +<div> +<head>Things Perishing And Things Stable.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And as He went forth out of the temple, one of His disciples saith +unto Him, Master, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of +buildings! And Jesus said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? +there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be +thrown down. And as He sat on the Mount of Olives over against the +temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, +Tell us, when shall these things be? and what <hi rend='italic'>shall be</hi> the sign when +these things are all about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to +say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. Many shall +come in My name, saying, I am <hi rend='italic'>He;</hi> and shall lead many astray. And +when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not troubled: <hi rend='italic'>these +things</hi> must needs come to pass: but the end is not yet.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiii. +1-7 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Nothing is more impressive than to stand before +one of the great buildings of the world, and mark +how the toil of man has rivalled the stability of nature, +and his thought its grandeur. It stands up like a crag, +and the wind whistles through its pinnacles as in a +grove, and the rooks float and soar about its towers +as they do among the granite peaks. Face to face +with one of these mighty structures, man feels his own +pettiness, shivering in the wind, or seeking a shadow +from the sun, and thinking how even this breeze may +blight or this heat fever him, and how at the longest +he shall have crumbled into dust for ages, and his +name, and possibly his race, have perished, while this +<pb n='347'/><anchor id='Pg347'/> +same pile shall stretch the same long shadow across +the plain. +</p> + +<p> +No wonder that the great masters of nations have +all delighted in building, for thus they saw their power, +and the immortality for which they hoped, made solid, +embodied and substantial, and it almost seemed as if +they had blended their memory with the enduring +fabric of the world. +</p> + +<p> +Such a building, solid, and vast, and splendid, white +with marble, and blazing with gold, was the temple +which Jesus now forsook. A little afterwards, we read +that its Roman conqueror, whose race were the great +builders of the world, in spite of the rules of war, and +the certainty that the Jews would never remain quietly +in subjection while it stood, <q>was reluctant to burn +down so vast a work as this, since this would be a +mischief to the Romans themselves, as it would be an +ornament to their government while it lasted.</q> +</p> + +<p> +No wonder, then, that one of the disciples, who had +seen Jesus weep for its approaching ruin, and who now +followed His steps as He left it desolate, lingered, and +spoke as if in longing and appeal, <q>Master, see what +manner of stones, and what manner of buildings.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But to the eyes of Jesus all was evanescent as a +bubble, doomed and about to perish: <q>Seest thou +these great buildings, there shall not be left here one +stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The words were appropriate to His solemn mood, +for He had just denounced its guilt and flung its +splendour from Him, calling it no longer <q>My house,</q> +nor <q>My Father's house,</q> but saying, <q>Your house +is left unto you desolate.</q> Little could all the solid +strength of the very foundations of the world itself +avail against the thunderbolt of God. Moreover, it +<pb n='348'/><anchor id='Pg348'/> +was a time when He felt most keenly the consecration, +the approaching surrender of His own life. In such +an hour no splendours distract the penetrating vision; +all the world is brief and frail and hollow to the man +who has consciously given himself to God. It was the +fitting moment at which to utter such a prophecy. +</p> + +<p> +But, as He sat on the opposite slope, and gazed back +upon the towers that were to fall, His three favoured +disciples and Andrew came to ask Him privately when +should these things be, and what would be the sign of +their approach. +</p> + +<p> +It is the common assertion of all unbelievers that +the prophecy which followed has been composed since +what passes for its fulfilment. When Jesus was +murdered, and a terrible fate befel the guilty city, +what more natural than to connect the two events? +And how easily would a legend spring up that the +sufferer foretold the penalty? But there is an obvious +and complete reply. The prediction is too mysterious, +its outlines are too obscure; and the ruin of Jerusalem +is too inexplicably complicated with the final visitation +of the whole earth, to be the issue of any vindictive +imagination working with the history in view. +</p> + +<p> +We are sometimes tempted to complain of this +obscurity. But in truth it is wholesome and designed. +We need not ask whether the original discourse was +thus ambiguous, or they are right who suppose that a +veil has since been drawn between us and a portion of +the answer given by Jesus to His disciples. We know +as much as it is meant that we should know. And +this at least is plain, that any process of conscious or +unconscious invention, working backwards after Jerusalem +fell, would have given us far more explicit +predictions than we possess. And, moreover, that +<pb n='349'/><anchor id='Pg349'/> +what we lose in gratification of our curiosity, we gain +in personal warning to walk warily and vigilantly. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus did not answer the question, When shall these +things be? But He declared, to men who wondered +at the overthrow of their splendid temple, that all +earthly splendours must perish. And He revealed to +them where true permanence may be discovered. +These are two of the central thoughts of the discourse, +and they are worthy of much more attention from its +students than they commonly receive, being overlooked +in the universal eagerness <q>to know the times and +the seasons.</q> They come to the surface in the distinct +words, <q>Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My +words shall not pass away.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Now, if we are to think of this great prophecy as a +lurid reflection thrown back by later superstition on +the storm-clouds of the nation's fall, how shall we +account for its solemn and pensive mood, utterly free +from vindictiveness, entirely suited to Jesus as we +think of Him, when leaving for ever the dishonoured +shrine, and moving forward, as His meditations would +surely do, beyond the occasion which evoked them? +Not such is the manner of resentful controversialists, +eagerly tracing imaginary judgments. They are narrow, +and sharp, and sour. +</p> + +<p> +1. The fall of Jerusalem blended itself, in the thought +of Jesus, with the catastrophe which awaits all that appears +to be great and stable. Nation shall rise against +nation, and kingdom against kingdom, so that, although +armies set their bodies in the gap for these, and heroes +shed their blood like water, yet they are divided among +themselves and cannot stand. This prediction, we must +remember, was made when the iron yoke of Rome imposed +quiet upon as much of the world as a Galilean +<pb n='350'/><anchor id='Pg350'/> +was likely to take into account, and, therefore, was by +no means so easy as it may now appear to us. +</p> + +<p> +Nature itself should be convulsed. Earthquakes +should rend the earth, blight and famine should disturb +the regular course of seed-time and harvest. And these +perturbations should be the working out of a stern law, +and the sure token of sorer woes to come, the beginning +of pangs which should usher in another dispensation, +the birth-agony of a new time. A little later, and +the sun should be darkened, and the moon should withdraw +her light, and the stars should <q>be falling</q> from +heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens should +be darkened. Lastly, the course of history should close, +and the affairs of earth should come to an end, when +the elect should be gathered together to the glorified +Son of Man. +</p> + +<p> +2. It was in sight of the ruin of all these things that +He dared to add, My word shall not pass away. +</p> + +<p> +Heresy should assail it, for many should come in the +name of Christ, saying, I am He, and should lead many +astray. Fierce persecutions should try His followers, +and they should be led to judgment and delivered up. +The worse afflictions of the heart would wring them, +for brother should deliver up brother to death, and +the father his child, and children should rise up against +parents and cause them to be put to death. But all +should be too little to quench the immortality bestowed +upon His elect. In their sore need, the Holy Ghost +should speak in them: when they were caused to be +put to death, he that endureth to the end, the same +shall be saved. +</p> + +<p> +Now these words were treasured up as the utterances +of One Who had just foretold His own approaching +murder, and Who died accordingly amid circumstances +<pb n='351'/><anchor id='Pg351'/> +full of horror and shame. Yet His followers rejoiced +to think that when the sun grew dark, and the stars +were falling, He should be seen in the clouds coming +with great glory. +</p> + +<p> +It is the reversal of human judgment: the announcement +that all is stable which appears unsubstantial, +and all which appears solid is about to melt like snow. +</p> + +<p> +And yet the world itself has since grown old enough +to know that convictions are stronger than empires, and +truths than armed hosts. And this is the King of +Truth. He was born and came into the world to bear +witness to the truth, and every one that is of the truth +heareth His voice. He is the Truth become vital, the +Word which was with God in the beginning. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Impending Judgment.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; +there shall be earthquakes in divers places; there shall be +famines: these things are the beginning of travail. But take ye heed +to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in +synagogues shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye +stand for My sake, for a testimony unto them. And the gospel must +first be preached unto all the nations. And when they lead you <hi rend='italic'>to +judgment</hi>, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall +speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: +for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. And brother shall +deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children +shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And +ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake; but he that endureth +to the end, the same shall be saved. But when ye see the abomination +of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), +then let them that are in Judæa flee unto the mountains: and +let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take +anything out of his house: and let him that is in the field not return +back to take his cloke.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiii. 8-16 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +When we perceive that one central thought in our +Lord's discourse about the last things is the contrast +<pb n='352'/><anchor id='Pg352'/> +between material things which are fleeting, and spiritual +realities which abide, a question naturally arises, which +ought not to be overlooked. Was the prediction itself +anything more than a result of profound spiritual +insight? Are we certain that prophecy in general was +more than keenness of vision? There are flourishing +empires now which perhaps a keen politician, and certainly +a firm believer in retributive justice governing +the world, must consider to be doomed. And one who +felt the transitory nature of earthly resources might +expect a time when the docks of London will resemble +the lagoons of Venice, and the State which now predominates +in Europe shall become partaker of the +decrepitude Spain. But no such presage is a prophecy +in the Christian sense. Even when suggested by religion, +it does not claim any greater certainty than that +of sagacious inference. +</p> + +<p> +The general question is best met by pointing to such +specific and detailed prophecies, especially concerning +the Messiah, as the twenty-second Psalm, the fifty-third +of Isaiah, and the ninth of Daniel. +</p> + +<p> +But the prediction of the fall of Jerusalem, while we +have seen that it has none of the minuteness and +sharpness of an after-thought, is also too definite for a +presentiment. The abomination which defiled the Holy +Place, and yet left one last brief opportunity for hasty +flight, the persecutions by which that catastrophe +would be heralded, and the precipitating of the crisis for +the elect's sake, were details not to be conjectured. So +was the coming of the great retribution, the beginning +of His kingdom within that generation, a limit which +was foretold at least twice besides (Mark ix. 1 and xiv. +62), with which the <q>henceforth</q> in Matthew xxvi. 64 +must be compared. And so was another circumstance +<pb n='353'/><anchor id='Pg353'/> +which is not enough considered: the fact that between +the fall of Jerusalem and the Second Coming, however +long or short the interval, no second event of a similar +character, so universal in its effect upon Christianity, +so epoch-making, should intervene. The coming of +the Son of man should be <q>in those days after that +tribulation.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The intervening centuries lay out like a plain country +between two mountain tops, and did not break the vista, +as the eye passed from the judgment of the ancient +Church, straight on to the judgment of the world. +Shall we say then that Jesus foretold that His coming +would follow speedily? and that He erred? Men have +been very willing to bring this charge, even in the face +of His explicit assertions. <q>After a long time the +Lord of that servant cometh.... While the bridegroom +tarried they all slumbered and slept.... If that wicked +servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His +coming.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is true that these expressions are not found in +St Mark. But instead of them stands a sentence so +startling, so unique, that it has caused to ill-instructed +orthodoxy great searchings of heart. At least, however, +the flippant pretence that Jesus fixed an early +date for His return, ought to be silenced when we read, +<q>Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even +the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father.</q> +</p> + +<p> +These words are not more surprising than that He +increased in wisdom; and marvelled at the faith of some, +and the unbelief of others (Luke ii. 52; Matt. viii. 10; +Mark vi. 6). They are involved in the great assertion, +that He not only took the form of a servant, but emptied +Himself (Phil. ii. 7). But they decide the question +of the genuineness of the discourse; for when could +<pb n='354'/><anchor id='Pg354'/> +they have been invented? And they are to be taken +in connection with others, which speak of Him not +in His low estate, but as by nature and inherently, +the Word and the Wisdom of God; aware of all that +the Father doeth; and Him in Whom dwelleth all the +fulness of the Godhead bodily (John i. 1; Luke xi. 49; +John v. 20; Col. ii. 9). +</p> + +<p> +But these were <q>the days of His flesh;</q> and that +expression is not meant to convey that He has since +laid aside His body, for He says, <q>A spirit hath +not flesh ... as ye see Me have</q> (Heb. v. 7; +Luke xxiv. 39). It must therefore express the limitations, +now removed, by which He once condescended to +be trammelled. What forbids us, then, to believe that +His knowledge, like His power, was limited by a lowliness +not enforced, but for our sakes chosen; and that +as He could have asked for twelve legions of angels, +yet chose to be bound and buffeted, so He could have +known that day and hour, yet submitted to ignorance, +that He might be made like in all points to His +brethren? Souls there are for whom this wonderful +saying, <q>the Son knoweth not,</q> is even more affecting +than the words, <q>The Son of man hath not where to +lay His head.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But now the climax must be observed which made +His ignorance more astonishing than that of the angels +in heaven. The recent discourse must be remembered, +which had asked His enemies to explain the fact that +David called Him Lord, and spoke of God as occupying +no lonely throne. And we must observe His emphatic +expression, that His return shall be that of the Lord +of the House (ver. 35), so unlike the temper which He +impressed on every servant, and clearly teaching the +Epistle to the Hebrews to speak of His fidelity as +<pb n='355'/><anchor id='Pg355'/> +that of a Son over His house, and to contrast it sharply +with that of the most honourable servant (iii. 6). +</p> + +<p> +It is plain, however, that Jesus did not fix, and renounced +the power to fix, a speedy date for His second +coming. He checked the impatience of the early +Church by insisting that none knew the time. +</p> + +<p> +But He drew the closest analogy between that event +and the destruction of Jerusalem, and required a like +spirit in those who looked for each. +</p> + +<p> +Persecution should go before them. Signs would +indicate their approach as surely as the budding of the +fig tree told of summer. And in each case the disciples +of Jesus must be ready. When the siege came, they +should not turn back from the field into the city, nor +escape from the housetop by the inner staircase. +When the Son of man comes, their loins should be +girt, and their lights already burning. But if the end +has been so long delayed, and if there were signs by +which its approach might be known, how could it be +the practical duty of all men, in all the ages, to expect +it? What is the meaning of bidding us to learn from +the fig tree her parable, which is the approach of +summer when her branch becomes tender, and yet +asserting that we know not when the time is, that it +shall come upon us as a snare, that the Master will +surely surprise us, but need not find us unprepared, +because all the Church ought to be always ready? +</p> + +<p> +What does it mean, especially when we observe, +beneath the surface, that our Lord was conscious of +addressing more than that generation, since He declared +to the first hearers, <q>What I say unto you I say unto +all, Watch?</q> It is a strange paradox. But yet the +history of the Church supplies abundant proof that in +no age has the expectation of the Second Advent disappeared, +<pb n='356'/><anchor id='Pg356'/> +and the faithful have always been mocked by +the illusion, or else keen to discern the fact, that He is +near, even at the doors. It is not enough to reflect +that, for each soul, dissolution has been the preliminary +advent of Him who has promised to come again and +receive us unto Himself, and the Angel of Death is +indeed the Angel of the Covenant. It must be asserted +that for the universal Church, the feet of the Lord have +been always upon the threshold, and the time has been +prolonged only because the Judge <emph>standeth</emph> at the door. +The <q>birth pangs</q> of which Jesus spoke have never +been entirely stilled. And the march of time has not +been towards a far-off eternity, but along the margin +of that mysterious ocean, by which it must be engulfed +at last, and into which, fragment by fragment, the beach +it treads is crumbling. +</p> + +<p> +Now this necessity, almost avowed, for giving signs +which should only make the Church aware of her Lord's +continual nearness, without ever enabling her to assign +the date of His actual arrival, is the probable explanation +of what has been already remarked, the manner in +which the judgment of Jerusalem is made to symbolize +the final judgment. But this symbolism makes the +warning spoken to that age for ever fruitful. As they +were not to linger in the guilty city, so we are to let +no earthly interests arrest our flight,—not to turn back, +but promptly and resolutely to flee unto the everlasting +hills. As they should pray that their flight through the +mountains should not be in the winter, so should we +beware of needing to seek salvation in the winter of +the soul, when the storms of passion and appetite are +wildest, when evil habits have made the road slippery +under foot, and sophistry and selfwill have hidden the +gulfs in a treacherous wreath of snow. +</p> + +<pb n='357'/><anchor id='Pg357'/> + +<p> +Heedfulness, a sense of surrounding peril and of +the danger of the times, is meant to inspire us while +we read. The discourse opens with a caution against +heresy: <q>Take heed that no man deceive you.</q> It goes +on to caution them against the weakness of their own +flesh: <q>Take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver +you up.</q> It bids them watch, because they know not +when the time is. And the way to watchfulness is +prayerfulness; so that presently, in the Garden, when +they could not watch with Him one hour, they were +bidden to watch and pray, that they enter not into +temptation. +</p> + +<p> +So is the expectant Church to watch and pray. Nor +must her mood be one of passive idle expectation, +dreamful desire of the promised change, neglect of +duties in the interval. The progress of all art and +science, and even the culture of the ground, is said to +have been arrested by the universal persuasion that the +year One Thousand should see the return of Christ. +The luxury of millennarian expectation seems even +now to relieve some consciences from the active duties +of religion. But Jesus taught His followers that on +leaving His house, to sojourn in a far country, He +regarded them as His servants still, and gave them +every one his work. And it is the companion of that +disciple to whom Jesus gave the keys, and to whom +especially He said, <q>What, couldest thou not watch +with Me one hour?</q> St. Mark it is who specifies the +command to the porter that he should watch. To watch +is not to gaze from the roof across the distant roads. +It is to have girded loins and a kindled lamp; it is +not measured by excited expectation, but by readiness. +Does it seem to us that the world is no longer hostile, +because persecution and torture are at an end? That +<pb n='358'/><anchor id='Pg358'/> +the need is over for a clear distinction between her +and us? This very belief may prove that we are +falling asleep. Never was there an age to which Jesus +did not say Watch. Never one in which His return +would be other than a snare to all whose life is on the +level of the world. +</p> + +<p> +Now looking back over the whole discourse, we +come to ask ourselves, What is the spirit which it +sought to breathe into His Church? Clearly it is that +of loyal expectation of the Absent One. There is in +it no hint, that because we cannot fail to be deceived +without Him, therefore His infallibility and His Vicar +shall for ever be left on earth. His place is empty +until He returns. Whoever says, Lo, here is Christ, +is a deceiver, and it proves nothing that he shall deceive +many. When Christ is manifested again, it +shall be as the blaze of lightning across the sky. +There is perhaps no text in this discourse which directly +assails the Papacy; but the atmosphere which pervades +it is deadly alike to her claims, and to the instincts and +desires on which those claims rely. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='359'/><anchor id='Pg359'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XIV.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Cruse Of Ointment.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>Now after two days was <hi rend='italic'>the feast of</hi> the passover and the unleavened +bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they +might take Him with subtilty, and kill Him: for they said, Not +during the feast, lest haply there shall be a tumult of the people. And +while He was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at +meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of +spikenard very costly; <hi rend='italic'>and</hi> she brake the cruse, and poured it over His +head. But there were some that had indignation among themselves, +<hi rend='italic'>saying</hi>, To what purpose hath this waste of the ointment been made? +For this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred pence, +and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. But Jesus +said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good +work on Me. For ye have the poor always with you, and whensoever +ye will ye can do them good: but Me ye have not always. She hath +done what she could: she hath anointed My body aforehand for the +burying. And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the gospel shall be +preached throughout the whole world, that also which this woman hath +done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 1-9 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Perfection implies not only the absence of +blemishes, but the presence, in equal proportions, +of every virtue and every grace. And so the perfect +life is full of the most striking, and yet the easiest +transitions. We have just read predictions of trial +more startling and intense than any in the ancient +Scripture. If we knew of Jesus only by the various +reports of that discourse, we should think of a recluse +like Elijah or the Baptist, and imagine that His disciples, +<pb n='360'/><anchor id='Pg360'/> +with girded loins, should be more ascetic +than St. Anthony. We are next shown Jesus at a +supper gracefully accepting the graceful homage of a +woman. +</p> + +<p> +From St. John we learn that this feast was given six +days before the passover. The other accounts postponed +the mention of it, plainly because of an incident +which occurred then, but is vitally connected with a +decision arrived at somewhat later by the priests. Two +days before the passover, the council finally determined +that Jesus must be destroyed. They recognised all the +dangers of that course. It must be done with subtlety; +the people must not be aroused; and therefore they +said, Not on the feast-day. It is remarkable, however, +that at the very time when they so determined, Jesus +clearly and calmly made to His disciples exactly the +opposite announcement. <q>After two days the passover +cometh, and the Son of man is delivered up to be +crucified</q> (Matt. xxvi. 2). Thus we find at every turn +of the narrative that their plans are over-ruled, and +they are unconscious agents of a mysterious design, +which their Victim comprehends and accepts. On one +side, perplexity snatches at all base expedients; the +traitor is welcomed, false witnesses are sought after, +and the guards of the sepulchre bribed. On the other +side is clear foresight, the deliberate unmasking of +Judas, and at the trial a circumspect composure, a lofty +silence, and speech more majestic still. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile there is a heart no longer light (for He +foresees His burial), yet not so burdened that He should +decline the entertainment offered Him at Bethany. +</p> + +<p> +This was in the house of Simon the leper, but St. +John tells us that Martha served, Lazarus sat at meat, +and the woman who anointed Jesus was Mary. We +<pb n='361'/><anchor id='Pg361'/> +naturally infer some relationship between Simon and +this favoured family; but the nature of the tie we know +not, and no purpose can be served by guessing. Better +far to let the mind rest upon the sweet picture of Jesus, +at home among those who loved Him; upon the eager +service of Martha; upon the man who had known death, +somewhat silent, one fancies, a remarkable sight for Jesus, +as He sat at meat, and perhaps suggestive of the thought +which found utterance a few days afterwards, that a +banquet was yet to come, when He also, risen from the +grave, should drink new wine among His friends in the +kingdom of God. And there the adoring face of her +who had chosen the better part was turned to her Lord +with a love which comprehended His sorrow and His +danger, while even the Twelve were blind—an insight +which knew the awful presence of One upon his way +to the sepulchre, as well as one who had returned +thence. Therefore she produced a cruse of very +precious ointment, which had been <q>kept</q> for Him, +perhaps since her brother was embalmed. And as such +alabaster flasks were commonly sealed in making, and +only to be opened by breaking off the neck, she +crushed the cruse between her hands and poured it on +His head. On His feet also, according to St. John, +who is chiefly thinking of the embalming of the body, +as the others of the anointing of the head. The discovery +of contradiction here is worthy of the abject +<q>criticism</q> which detects in this account a variation +upon the story of her who was a sinner. As if two +women who loved much might not both express their +loyalty, which could not speak, by so fair and feminine a +device; or as if it were inconceivable that the blameless +Mary should consciously imitate the gentle penitent. +</p> + +<p> +But even as this unworthy controversy breaks in +<pb n='362'/><anchor id='Pg362'/> +upon the tender story, so did indignation and murmuring +spoil that peaceful scene. <q>Why was not this +ointment sold for much, and given to the poor?</q> It +was not common that others should be more thoughtful +of the poor than Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +He fed the multitudes they would have sent away; +He gave sight to Bartimæus whom they rebuked. But +it is still true, that whenever generous impulses express +themselves with lavish hands, some heartless calculator +reckons up the value of what is spent, and especially its +value to <q>the poor;</q> the poor, who would be worse off +if the instincts of love were arrested and the human +heart frozen. Almshouses are not usually built by those +who declaim against church architecture; nor is utilitarianism +famous for its charities. And so we are not +surprised when St. John tells us how the quarrel was +fomented. Iscariot, the dishonest pursebearer, was exasperated +at the loss of a chance of theft, perhaps of +absconding without being so great a loser at the end of +his three unrequited years. True that the chance was +gone, and speech would only betray his estrangement +from Jesus, upon Whom so much good property was +wasted. But evil tempers must express themselves at +times, and Judas had craft enough to involve the rest +in his misconduct. It is the only indication in the +Gospels of intrigue among the Twelve which even +indirectly struck at their Master's honour. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, while the fragrance of the ointment filled the +house, their parsimony grudged the homage which +soothed His heart, and condemned the spontaneous +impulse of Mary's love. +</p> + +<p> +It was for her that Jesus interfered, and His words +went home. +</p> + +<p> +The poor were always with them: opportunities +<pb n='363'/><anchor id='Pg363'/> +would never fail those who were so zealous; and whensoever +they would they could do them good,—whensoever +Judas, for example, would. As for her, she had +wrought a good work (a high-minded and lofty work is +implied rather than a useful one) upon Him, Whom they +should not always have. Soon His body would be in +the hands of sinners, desecrated, outraged. And she +only had comprehended, however dimly, the silent +sorrow of her Master; she only had laid to heart His +warnings; and, unable to save Him, or even to watch +with Him one hour, she (and through all that week +none other) had done what she could. She had +anointed His body beforehand for the burial, and indeed +with clear intention <q>to prepare Him for burial</q> +(Matt. xxvi. 12). +</p> + +<p> +It was for this that His followers had chidden her. +Alas, how often do our shrewd calculations and harsh +judgments miss the very essence of some problem which +only the heart can solve, the silent intention of some +deed which is too fine, too sensitive, to explain itself +except only to that sympathy which understands us all. +Men thought of Jesus as lacking nothing, and would +fain divert His honour to the poor; but this woman +comprehended the lonely heart, and saw the last +inexorable need before Him. Love read the secret in +the eyes of love, and this which Mary did shall be told +while the world stands, as being among the few human +actions which refreshed the lonely One, the purest, the +most graceful, and perhaps the last. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='364'/><anchor id='Pg364'/> + +<div> +<head>The Traitor.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And Judas Iscariot, he that was one of the twelve, went away unto +the chief priests, that he might deliver Him <hi rend='italic'>unto them</hi>. And they, +when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. And +he sought how he might conveniently deliver Him unto them. And on +the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the passover, His +disciples say unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we go and make ready +that Thou mayest eat the passover? And He sendeth two of His +disciples, and saith unto them, Go into the city, and there shall meet +you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him; and wheresoever +he shall enter in, say to the goodman of the house, the Master saith, +Where is My guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with My +disciples? And he will himself shew you a large upper room furnished +and ready: and there make ready for us. And the disciples went +forth, and came into the city, and found as He had said unto them: +and they made ready the passover.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 10-16 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +It was when Jesus rebuked the Twelve for censuring +Mary, that the patience of Judas, chafing in a service +which had grown hateful, finally gave way. He +offered a treacherous and odious help to the chiefs of +his religion, and these pious men, too scrupulous to +cast blood-money into the treasury or to defile themselves +by entering a pagan judgment hall, shuddered +not at the contact of such infamy, warned him not that +perfidy will pollute the holiest cause, cared as little +then for his ruin as when they asked what to them +was his remorseful agony; but were glad, and promised +to give him money. By so doing, they became +accomplices in the only crime by which it is quite +certain that a soul was lost. The supreme <q>offence</q> +was planned and perpetrated by no desperate criminal. +It was the work of an apostle, and his accomplices +were the heads of a divinely given religion. What an +awful example of the deadening power, palsying the +<pb n='365'/><anchor id='Pg365'/> +conscience, petrifying the heart, of religious observances +devoid of real trust and love. +</p> + +<p> +The narrative, as we saw, somewhat displaced the +story of Simon's feast, to connect this incident more +closely with the betrayal. And it now proceeds at +once to the passover, and the final crisis. In so doing, +it pauses at a curious example of circumspection, +intimately linked also with the treason of Judas. The +disciples, unconscious of treachery, asked where they +should prepare the paschal supper. And Jesus gave +them a sign by which to recognise one who had a large +upper room prepared for that purpose, to which he +would make them welcome. It is not quite impossible +that the pitcher of water was a signal preconcerted +with some disciple in Jerusalem, although secret understandings +are not found elsewhere in the life of Jesus. +What concerns us to observe is that the owner of the +house which the bearer entered was a believer. To +him Jesus is <q>the Master,</q> and can say <q>Where is My +guest-chamber?</q> +</p> + +<p> +So obscure a disciple was he, that Peter and John +required a sign to guide them to his house. Yet his +upper room would now receive such a consecration as +the Temple never knew. With strange feelings would +he henceforth enter the scene of the last supper of his +Lord. But now, what if he had only admitted Jesus +with hesitation and after long delay? We should +wonder; yet there are lowlier doors at which the same +Jesus stands and knocks, and would fain come in and +sup. And cold is His welcome to many a chamber +which is neither furnished nor made ready. +</p> + +<p> +The mysterious and reticent indication of the place +is easily understood. Jesus would not enable His +enemies to lay hands upon Him before the time. His +<pb n='366'/><anchor id='Pg366'/> +nights had hitherto been spent at Bethany; now first +it was possible to arrest Him in the darkness, and +hurry on the trial before the Galileans at the feast, +strangers and comparatively isolated, could learn the +danger of their <q>prophet of Galilee.</q> It was only too +certain that when the blow was struck, the light and +fickle adhesion of the populace would transfer itself to +the successful party. Meanwhile, the prudence of +Jesus gave Him time for the Last Supper, and the +wonderful discourse recorded by St. John, and the +conflict and victory in the Garden. When the priests +learned, at a late hour, that Jesus might yet be arrested +before morning, but that Judas could never watch Him +any more, the necessity for prompt action came with +such surprise upon them, that the arrest was accomplished +while they still had to seek false witnesses, and +to consult how a sentence might best be extorted from +the Governor. It is right to observe at every point, +the mastery of Jesus, the perplexity and confusion of +His foes. +</p> + +<p> +And it is also right that we should learn to include, +among the woes endured for us by the Man of Sorrows, +this haunting consciousness that a base vigilance was +to be watched against, that He breathed the air of +treachery and vileness. +</p> + +<p> +Here then, in view of the precautions thus forced +upon our Lord, we pause to reflect upon the awful fall +of Judas, the degradation of an apostle into a hireling, +a traitor, and a spy. Men have failed to believe that +one whom Jesus called to His side should sink so low. +</p> + +<p> +They have not observed how inevitably great goodness +rejected brings out special turpitude, and dark +shadows go with powerful lights; how, in this supreme +tragedy, all the motives, passions, moral and immoral +<pb n='367'/><anchor id='Pg367'/> +impulses are on the tragic scale; what gigantic forms of +baseness, hypocrisy, cruelty, and injustice stalk across +the awful platform, and how the forces of hell strip +themselves, and string their muscles for a last desperate +wrestle against the powers of heaven, so that here is +the very place to expect the extreme apostasy. And +so they have conjectured that Iscariot was only half a +traitor. Some project misled him of forcing his Master +to turn to bay. Then the powers which wasted themselves +in scattering unthanked and unprofitable blessings +would exert themselves to crush the foe. Then he +could claim for himself the credit deserved by much +astuteness, the consideration due to the only man of +political resource among the Twelve. But this well-intending +Judas is equally unknown to the narratives +and the prophecies, and this theory does not harmonise +with any of the facts. Profound reprobation and even +contempt are audible in all the narratives; they are quite +as audible in the reiterated phrase, <q>which was one of +the Twelve,</q> and in almost every mention of his name, +as in the round assertion of St. John, that he was a +thief and stole from the common purse. Only the lowest +motive is discernible in the fact that his project ripened +just when the waste of the ointment spoiled his last +hope from apostleship,—the hope of unjust gain, and in +his bargaining for the miserable price which he still +carried with him when the veil dropped from his inner +eyes, when he awoke to the sorrow of the world +which worketh death, to the remorse which was not +penitence. +</p> + +<p> +One who desired that Jesus should be driven to +counter-measures and yet free to take them, would +probably have favoured His escape when once the +attempt to arrest Him inflicted the necessary spur +<pb n='368'/><anchor id='Pg368'/> +and certainly he would have anxiously avoided any +appearance of insult. But it will be seen that Judas +carefully closed every door against his Lord's escape, +and seized Him with something very like a jibe on +his recreant lips. +</p> + +<p> +No, his infamy cannot be palliated, but it can be +understood. For it is a solemn and awful truth, that in +every defeat of grace the reaction is equal to the action; +they who have been exalted unto heaven are brought +down far below the level of the world; and the principle +is universal that Israel cannot, by willing it, be as the +nations that are round about, to serve other gods. God +Himself gives him statutes that are not good. He makes +fat the heart and blinds the eyes of the apostate. Therefore +it comes that religion without devotion is the +mockery of honest worldlings; that hypocrisy goes so +constantly with the meanest and most sordid lust of +gain, and selfish cruelty; that publicans and harlots +enter heaven before scribes and pharisees; that salt +which has lost its savour is fit neither for the land nor +for the dung-hill. Oh, then, to what place of shame +shall a recreant apostle be thrust down? +</p> + +<p> +Moreover it must be observed that the guilt of Judas, +however awful, is but a shade more dark than that of +his sanctimonious employers, who sought false witnesses +against Christ, extorted by menace and intrigue a +sentence which Pilate openly pronounced to be unjust, +mocked His despairing agony, and on the resurrection +morning bribed a pagan soldiery to lie for the Hebrew +faith. It is plain enough that Jesus could not and did +not choose the apostles through foreknowledge of what +they would hereafter prove, but by His perception of +what they then were, and what they were capable of +becoming, if faithful to the light they should receive. +</p> + +<pb n='369'/><anchor id='Pg369'/> + +<p> +Not one, when chosen first, was ready to welcome +the purely spiritual kingdom, the despised Messiah, +the life of poverty and scorn. They had to learn, and +it was open to them to refuse the discipline. Once at +least they were asked, Will ye also go away? How +severe was the trial may be seen by the rebuke of +Peter, and the petition of <q>Zebedee's children</q> and +their mother. They conquered the same reluctance of +the flesh which overcame the better part in Judas. +But he clung desperately to secular hope, until the last +vestige of such hope was over. Listening to the +warnings of Christ against the cares of this world, the +lust of other things, love of high places and contempt of +lowly service, and watching bright offers rejected and +influential classes estranged, it was inevitable that a +sense of personal wrong, and a vindictive resentment, +should spring up in his gloomy heart. The thorns +choked the good seed. Then came a deeper fall. As +he rejected the pure light of self-sacrifice, and the false +light of his romantic daydreams faded, no curb was +left on the baser instincts which are latent in the human +heart. Self-respect being already lost, and conscience +beaten down, he was allured by low compensations, +and the apostle became a thief. What better than gain, +however sordid, was left to a life so plainly frustrated +and spoiled? That is the temptation of disillusion, as +fatal to middle life as the passions are to early manhood. +And this fall reacted again upon his attitude +towards Jesus. Like all who will not walk in the light, +he hated the light; like all hirelings of two masters, he +hated the one he left. Men ask how Judas could have +consented to accept for Jesus the bloodmoney of a +slave. The truth is that his treason itself yielded him +a dreadful satisfaction, and the insulting kiss, and the +<pb n='370'/><anchor id='Pg370'/> +sneering <q>Rabbi,</q> expressed the malice of his heart. +Well for him if he had never been born. For when his +conscience awoke with a start and told him what thing +he had become, only self-loathing remained to him. +Peter denying Jesus was nevertheless at heart His own; +a look sufficed to melt him. For Judas, Christ was +become infinitely remote and strange, an abstraction, +<q>the innocent blood,</q> no more than that. And so, +when Jesus was passing into the holiest through the +rent veil which was His flesh, this first Antichrist +had already torn with his own hands the tissue of +the curtain which hides eternity. +</p> + +<p> +Now let us observe that all this ruin was the result +of forces continually at work upon human hearts. +Aspiration, vocation, failure, degradation—it is the +summary of a thousand lives. Only it is here exhibited +on a vast and dreadful scale (magnified by the light +which was behind, as images thrown by a lantern upon +a screen) for the instruction and warning of the +world. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Sop.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when it was evening He cometh with the twelve. And as they +sat and were eating, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you shall +betray Me, <hi rend='italic'>even</hi> he that eateth with Me. They began to be sorrowful, +and to say unto Him one by one, Is it I? And He said unto them, <hi rend='italic'>It +is</hi> one of the twelve, he that dippeth with Me in the dish. For the Son +of man goeth, even as it is written of Him: but woe unto that man +through whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man +if he had not been born.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 17-21 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +In the deadly wine which our Lord was made to drink, +every ingredient of mortal bitterness was mingled. +And it shows how far is even His Church from comprehending +Him, that we think so much more of the +<pb n='371'/><anchor id='Pg371'/> +physical than the mental and spiritual horrors which +gather around the closing scene. +</p> + +<p> +But the tone of all the narratives, and perhaps +especially of St. Mark's, is that of the exquisite Collect +which reminds us that our Lord Jesus Christ was contented +to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of +wicked men, as well as to suffer death on the cross. +Treason and outrage, the traitor's kiss and the weakness +of those who loved Him, the hypocrisy of the priest and +the ingratitude of the mob, perjury and a mock trial, +the injustice of His judges, the brutal outrages of the +soldiers, the worse and more malignant mockery of +scribe and Pharisee, and last and direst, the averting +of the face of God, these were more dreadful to Jesus +than the scourging and the nails. +</p> + +<p> +And so there is great stress laid upon His anticipation +of the misconduct of His own. +</p> + +<p> +As the dreadful evening closes in, having come to +the guest chamber <q>with the Twelve</q>—eleven whose +hearts should fail them and one whose heart was dead, +it was <q>as they sat and were eating</q> that the oppression +of the traitor's hypocrisy became intolerable, and +the outraged One spoke out. <q>Verily I say unto you, +One of you shall betray Me, even he that eateth with Me.</q> +The words are interpreted as well as predicted in the +plaintive Psalm which says, <q>Mine own familiar friend +in whom I trusted, which did also eat of My bread, hath +lifted up his heel against Me.</q> And perhaps they are +less a disclosure than a cry. +</p> + +<p> +Every attempt to mitigate the treason of Judas, +every suggestion that he may only have striven too +wilfully to serve our Lord by forcing Him to take +decided measures, must fail to account for the sense of +utter wrong which breathes in the simple and piercing +<pb n='372'/><anchor id='Pg372'/> +complaint <q>one of you ... even he that eateth with +Me.</q> There is a tone in all the narratives which is at +variance with any palliation of the crime. +</p> + +<p> +No theology is worth much if it fails to confess, at +the centre of all the words and deeds of Jesus, a great +and tender human heart. He might have spoken +of teaching and warnings lavished on the traitor, and +miracles which he had beheld in vain. What weighs +heaviest on His burdened spirit is none of these; it is +that one should betray Him who had eaten His bread. +</p> + +<p> +When Brutus was dying he is made to say— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>My heart doth joy, that yet, in all my life,</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>I found no man, but he was true to me.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +But no form of innocent sorrow was to pass Jesus by. +</p> + +<p> +The vagueness in the words <q>one of you shall betray +Me,</q> was doubtless intended to suggest in all a +great searching of heart. Coming just before the +institution of the Eucharistic feast, this incident anticipates +the command which it perhaps suggested: <q>Let +a man examine himself, and so let him eat.</q> It is +good to be distrustful of one's self. And if, as was +natural, the Eleven looked one upon another doubting +of whom He spake, they also began to say to Him, +one by one (first the most timid, and then others as +the circle narrowed), Is it I? For the prince of this +world had something in each of them,—some frailty +there was, some reluctance to bear the yoke, some +longing for the forbidden ways of worldliness, which +alarmed each at this solemn warning, and made him +ask, Is it, can it be possible, that it is I? Religious +self-sufficiency was not then the apostolic mood. Their +questioning is also remarkable as a proof how little +they suspected Judas, how firmly he bore himself even +<pb n='373'/><anchor id='Pg373'/> +as those all-revealing words were spoken, how strong +and wary was the temperament which Christ would +fain have sanctified. For between the Master and him +there could have been no more concealment. +</p> + +<p> +The apostles were right to distrust themselves, and +not to distrust another. They were right, because they +were so feeble, so unlike their Lord. But for Him +there is no misgiving: His composure is serene in +the hour of the power of darkness. And His perfect +spiritual sensibility discerned the treachery, unknown +to others, as instinctively as the eye resents the presence +of a mote imperceptible to the hand. +</p> + +<p> +The traitor's iron nerve is somewhat strained as he +feels himself discovered, and when Jesus is about to +hand a sop to him, he stretches over, and their hands +meet in the dish. That is the appointed sign: <q>It is +one of the Twelve, he that dippeth with Me in the +dish,</q> and as he rushes out into the darkness, to seek +his accomplices and his revenge, Jesus feels the awful +contrast between the betrayer and the Betrayed. For +Himself, He goeth as it is written of Him. This +phrase admirably expresses the co-operation of Divine +purpose and free human will, and by the woe that +follows He refutes all who would make of God's +fore-knowledge an excuse for human sin. He then is +not walking in the dark and stumbling, though men +shall think Him falling. But the life of the false one +is worse than utterly cast away: of him is spoken the +dark and ominous word, never indisputably certain of +any other soul, <q>Good were it for him if that man had +not been born.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>That man!</q> The order and emphasis are very +strange. The Lord, who felt and said that one of His +chosen was a devil, seems here to lay stress upon the +<pb n='374'/><anchor id='Pg374'/> +warning thought, that he who fell so low was human, +and his frightful ruin was evolved from none but human +capabilities for good and evil. In <q>the Son of man</q> +and <q>that man,</q> the same humanity was to be found. +</p> + +<p> +For Himself, He is the same to-day as yesterday. +All that we eat is His. And in the most especial and +far-reaching sense, it is His bread which is broken for +us at His table. Has He never seen traitor except one +who violated so close a bond? Alas, the night when +the Supper of the Lord was given was the same night +when He was betrayed. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Bread And Wine.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And as they were eating, He took bread, and when He had blessed +He brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is My body. +And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave to them, +and they all drank of it. And He said unto them, This is My blood +of the covenant, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I +will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink +it new in the kingdom of God.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 22-25 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +How much does the Gospel of St. Mark tell us about +the Supper of the Lord? He is writing to Gentiles. +He is writing probably before the sixth chapter of +St. John was penned, certainly before it reached his +readers. Now we must not undervalue the reflected +light thrown by one Scripture upon another. Still less +may we suppose that each account conveys all the +doctrine of the Eucharist. But it is obvious that +St. Mark intended his narrative to be complete in +itself, even if not exhaustive. No serious expositor +will ignore the fulness of any word or action in which +later experience can discern meanings, truly involved, +although not apparent at the first. That would be +to deny the inspiring guidance of Him who sees the +<pb n='375'/><anchor id='Pg375'/> +end from the beginning. But it is reasonable to omit +from the interpretation of St. Mark whatever is not +either explicitly there, or else there in germ, waiting +underneath the surface for other influences to develope +it. For instance, the <q>remembrance</q> of Christ +in St. Paul's narrative may (or it may not) mean a +sacrificial memorial to God of His Body and His Blood. +If it be, this notion was to be conveyed to the readers +of this Gospel hereafter, as a quite new fact, resting +upon other authority. It has no place whatever here, +and need only be mentioned to point out that St. Mark +did not feel bound to convey the slightest hint of it. +A communion, therefore, could be profitably celebrated +by persons who had no glimmering of any such conception. +Nor does he rely, for an understanding of +his narrative, upon such familiarity with Jewish ritual +as would enable his readers to draw subtle analogies +as they went along. They were so ignorant of these +observances that he had just explained to them on +what day the passover was sacrificed (ver. 12). +</p> + +<p> +But this narrative conveys enough to make the +Lord's Supper, for every believing heart, the supreme +help to faith, both intellectual and spiritual, and the +mightiest of promises, and the richest gift of grace. +</p> + +<p> +It is hard to imagine that any reader would conceive +that the bread in Christ's hands had become His body, +which still lived and breathed; or that His blood, still +flowing in His veins, was also in the cup He gave to +His disciples. No resort could be made to the glorification +of the risen Body as an escape from the perplexities +of such a notion, for in whatever sense the words are +true, they were spoken of the body of His humiliation, +before which still lay the agony and the tomb. +</p> + +<p> +Instinct would revolt yet more against such a gross +<pb n='376'/><anchor id='Pg376'/> +explanation, because the friends of Jesus are bidden +to eat and drink. And all the analogy of Christ's +language would prove that His vivid style refuses to +be tied down to so lifeless and mechanical a treatment. +Even in this Gospel they could discover that seed was +teaching, and fowls were Satan, and that they were +themselves His mother and His brethren. Further +knowledge of Scripture would not impair this natural +freedom of interpretation. For they would discover +that if animated language were to be frozen to such +literalism, the partakers of the Supper were themselves, +though many, one body and one loaf, that +Onesimus was St. Paul's very heart, that leaven is +hypocrisy, that Hagar is Mount Sinai, and that the veil +of the temple is the flesh of Christ (1 Cor. x. 17; Philem. +ver. 12; Luke xii. 1; Gal. iv. 25; Heb. x. 20). And +they would also find, in the analogous institution of +the paschal feast, a similar use of language (Exod. +xii. 11). +</p> + +<p> +But when they had failed to discern the doctrine of +a transubstantiation, how much was left to them. The +great words remained, in all their spirit and life, <q>Take +ye, this is My Body ... this is My Blood of the +Covenant, which is shed for many.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(1) So then, Christ did not look forward to His +death as to ruin or overthrow. The Supper is an +institution which could never have been devised at +any later period. It comes to us by an unbroken line +from the Founder's hand, and attested by the earliest +witnesses. None could have interpolated a new ordinance +into the simple worship of the early Church, and +the last to suggest such a possibility should be those +sceptics who are deeply interested in exaggerating the estrangements +which existed from the first, and which made +<pb n='377'/><anchor id='Pg377'/> +the Jewish Church a keen critic of Gentile innovation, +and the Gentiles of a Jewish novelty. +</p> + +<p> +Nor could any genius have devised its vivid and +pictorial earnestness, its copious meaning, and its +pathetic power over the heart, except His, Who spoke +of the Good Shepherd and of the Prodigal Son. And +so it tells us plainly what Christ thought about His own +death. Death is to most of us simply the close of life. +To Him it was itself an achievement, and a supreme +one. Now it is possible to remember with exultation +a victory which cost the conqueror's life. But on the +Friday which we call Good, nothing happened except +the crucifixion. The effect on the Church, which is +amazing and beyond dispute, is produced by the death +of her Founder, and by nothing else. The Supper has +no reference to Christ's resurrection. It is as if the +nation exulted in Trafalgar, not in spite of the death +of our great Admiral, but solely because he died; as if +the shot which slew Nelson had itself been the overthrow +of hostile navies. Now the history of religions +offers no parallel to this. The admirers of the Buddha +love to celebrate the long spiritual struggle, the final +illumination, and the career of gentle helpfulness. They +do not derive life and energy from the somewhat vulgar +manner of his death. But the followers of Jesus find +an inspiration (very displeasing to some recent apostles +of good taste) in singing of their Redeemer's blood. +Remove from the Creed (which does not even mention +His three years of teaching) the proclamation of His +death, and there may be left, dimly visible to man, the +outline of a sage among the sages, but there will be no +longer a Messiah, nor a Church. It is because He was +lifted up that He draws all men unto Him. The perpetual +nourishment of the Church, her bread and wine, +<pb n='378'/><anchor id='Pg378'/> +are beyond question the slain body of her Master and +His blood poured out for man. +</p> + +<p> +What are we to make of this admitted fact, that from +the first she thought less of His miracles, His teaching, +and even of His revelation of the Divine character in +a perfect life, than of the doctrine that He who thus +lived, died for the men who slew Him? And what +of this, that Jesus Himself, in the presence of imminent +death, when men review their lives and set a value on +their achievements, embodied in a solemn ordinance +the conviction that all He had taught and done was +less to man than what He was about to suffer? The +Atonement is here proclaimed as a cardinal fact in our +religion, not worked out into doctrinal subtleties, but +placed with marvellous simplicity and force, in the forefront +of the consciousness of the simplest. What the +Incarnation does for our bewildering thoughts of God, +the absolute and unconditioned, that does the Eucharist +for our subtle reasonings upon the Atonement. +</p> + +<p> +(2) The death of Christ is thus precious, because He +Who is sacrificed for us can give Himself away. <q>Take +ye</q> is a distinct offer. And so the communion feast +is not a mere commemoration, such as nations hold for +great deliverances. It is this, but it is much more, +else the language of Christ would apply worse to that +first supper whence all our Eucharistic language is +derived, than to any later celebration. When He was +absent, the bread would very aptly remind them of His +wounded body, and the wine of His blood poured out. +It might naturally be said, Henceforward, to your loving +remembrance this shall be my Body, as indeed, the +words, As oft as ye drink it, are actually linked with +the injunction to do this in remembrance. But scarcely +could it have been said by Jesus, looking His disciples +<pb n='379'/><anchor id='Pg379'/> +in the face, that the elements were then His body and +blood, if nothing more than commemoration were in +His mind. And so long as popular Protestantism fails +to look beyond this, so long will it be hard pressed and +harassed by the evident weight of the words of institution. +These are given in Scripture solely as having +been spoken then, and no interpretation is valid which +attends chiefly to subsequent celebrations, and only in +the second place to the Supper of Jesus and the Eleven. +</p> + +<p> +Now the most strenuous opponent of the doctrine +that any change has passed over the material substance +of the bread and wine, need not resist the palpable +evidence that Christ appointed these to represent Himself. +And how? Not only as sacrificed for His people, +but as verily bestowed upon them. Unless Christ +mocks us, <q>Take ye</q> is a word of absolute assurance. +Christ's Body is not only slain, and His Blood shed on +our behalf; He gives Himself <emph>to</emph> us as well as <emph>for</emph> us; +He is ours. And therefore whoever is convinced that +he may take part in <q>the sacrament of so great a +mystery</q> should realize that he there receives, conveyed +to him by the Author of that wondrous feast, all +that is expressed by the bread and wine. +</p> + +<p> +(3) And yet this very word <q>Take ye,</q> demands our +co-operation in the sacrament. It requires that we +should receive Christ, as it declares that He is ready to +impart Himself, utterly, like food which is taken into the +system, absorbed, assimilated, wrought into bone, into +tissue and into blood. And if any doubt lingered in our +minds of the significance of this word, it is removed +when we remember how belief is identified with feeding, +in St. John's Gospel. <q>I am the bread of life: +he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that +believeth on Me shall never thirst.... He that +<pb n='380'/><anchor id='Pg380'/> +believeth hath eternal life. I am the bread of life.</q> +(John vi. 35, 47, 48.) If it follows that to feed upon +Christ is to believe, it also follows quite as plainly that +belief is not genuine unless it really feeds upon Christ. +</p> + +<p> +It is indeed impossible to imagine a more direct and +vigorous appeal to man to have faith in Christ than +this, that He formally conveys, by the agency of His +Church, to the hands and lips of His disciples, the +appointed emblem of Himself, and of Himself in the act +of blessing them. For the emblem is food in its most +nourishing and in its most stimulating form, in a form +the best fitted to speak of utter self-sacrifice, by the +bruised corn of broken bread, and by the solemn resemblance +to His sacred blood. We are taught to +see, in the absolute absorption of our food into our +bodily system, a type of the completeness wherewith +Christ gives Himself to us. +</p> + +<p> +That gift is not to the Church in the gross, it is +<q>divided among</q> us; it individualizes each believer; +and yet the common food expresses the unity of the +whole Church in Christ. Being many we are one bread. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the institution of a meal reminds us that +faith and emotion do not always exist together. Times +there are when the hunger and thirst of the soul are +like the craving of a sharp appetite for food. But the +wise man will not postpone his meal until such a keen +desire returns, and the Christian will seek for the +Bread of life, however his emotions may flag, and his +soul cleave unto the dust. Silently and often unaware, +as the substance of the body is renovated and restored +by food, shall the inner man be strengthened and +built up by that living Bread. +</p> + +<p> +(4) We have yet to ask the great question, what +is the specific blessing expressed by the elements, and +<pb n='381'/><anchor id='Pg381'/> +therefore surely given to the faithful by the sacrament. +Too many are content to think vaguely of Divine +help, given us for the merit of the death of Christ. +But bread and wine do not express an indefinite +Divine help, they express the body and blood of Christ, +they have to do with His Humanity. We must +beware, indeed, of limiting the notion overmuch. At +the Supper He said not <q>My flesh,</q> but <q>My body,</q> +which is plainly a more comprehensive term. And +in the discourse when He said <q>My Flesh is meat +indeed,</q> He also said <q>I am the bread of life.... +He that eateth Me, the same shall live by Me.</q> And +we may not so carnalize the Body as to exclude the +Person, who bestows Himself. Yet is all the language +so constructed as to force the conviction upon us that +His body and blood, His Humanity, is the special +gift of the Lord's Supper. As man He redeemed us, +and as man He imparts Himself to man. +</p> + +<p> +Thus we are led up to the sublime conception of a new +human force working in humanity. As truly as the +life of our parents is in our veins, and the corruption +which they inherited from Adam is passed on to us, so +truly there is abroad in the world another influence, +stronger to elevate than the infection of the fall is to +degrade; and the heart of the Church is propelling to +its utmost extremities the pure life of the Second Adam, +the Second Man, the new Father of the race. As in +Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; +and we who bear now the image of our earthy progenitor +shall hereafter bear the image of the heavenly. +Meanwhile, even as the waste and dead tissues of our +bodily frame are replaced by new material from every +meal, so does He, the living Bread, impart not only +aid from heaven, but nourishment, strength to our poor +<pb n='382'/><anchor id='Pg382'/> +human nature, so weary and exhausted, and renovation +to what is sinful and decayed. How well does such +a doctrine of the sacrament harmonize with the +declarations of St. Paul: <q>I live, and yet no longer I, +but Christ liveth in me.</q> <q>The Head, from whom all +the body being supplied and knit together through the +joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God</q> +(Gal. ii. 20; Col. ii. 19). +</p> + +<p> +(5) In the brief narrative of St. Mark, there are a +few minor points of interest. +</p> + +<p> +Fasting communions may possibly be an expression +of reverence only. The moment they are pressed +further, or urged as a duty, they are strangely confronted +by the words, <q>While they were eating, Jesus took +bread.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The assertion that <q>they all drank,</q> follows from +the express commandment recorded elsewhere. And +while we remember that the first communicants were +not laymen, yet the emphatic insistence upon this +detail, and with reference only to the cup, is entirely at +variance with the Roman notion of the completeness +of a communion in one kind. +</p> + +<p> +It is most instructive also to observe how the far-reaching +expectation of our Lord looks beyond the +Eleven, and beyond His infant Church, forward to the +great multitude which no man can number, and speaks +of the shedding of His blood <q>for many.</q> He, who is +to see of the travail of His soul and to be satisfied, has +already spoken of a great supper when the house of +God shall be filled. And now He will no more drink +of the fruit of the vine until that great day when the +marriage of the Lamb having come, and His Bride +having made herself ready, He shall drink it new in the +consummated kingdom of God. +</p> + +<pb n='383'/><anchor id='Pg383'/> + +<p> +With the announcement of that kingdom He began +His gospel: how could the mention of it be omitted +from the great gospel of the Eucharist? or how could +the Giver of the earthly feast be silent concerning the +banquet yet to come? +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Warning.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of +Olives. And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended: for it is +written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered +abroad. Howbeit, after I am raised up, I will go before you into +Galilee. But Peter said unto Him, Although all shall be offended, yet +will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that thou +to-day, <hi rend='italic'>even</hi> this night, before the cock crow twice, shalt deny me +thrice. But he spake exceeding vehemently, If I must die with Thee, +I will not deny Thee. And in like manner also said they all.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xiv. 26-31 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Some uncertainty attaches to the position of Christ's +warning to the Eleven in the narrative of the last +evening. Was it given at the supper, or on Mount +Olivet; or were there perhaps premonitory admonitions +on His part, met by vows of faithfulness on +theirs, which at last led Him to speak out so plainly, +and elicited such vainglorious protestations, when they +sat together in the night air? +</p> + +<p> +What concerns us more is the revelation of a calm +and beautiful nature, at every point in the narrative. +Jesus knows and has declared that His life is now +closing, and His blood already <q>being shed for many.</q> +But that does not prevent Him from joining with them +in singing a hymn. It is the only time when we are +told that our Saviour sang, evidently because no other +occasion needed mention; a warning to those who +draw confident inferences from such facts as that <q>none +<pb n='384'/><anchor id='Pg384'/> +ever said He smiled,</q> or that there is no record of His +having been sick. It would surprise such theorists to +observe the number of biographies much longer than any +of the Gospels, which also mention nothing of the kind. +The Psalms usually sung at the close of the feast are cxv. +and the three following. The first tells how the dead +praise not the Lord, but we will praise Him from this +time forth for ever. The second proclaims that the +Lord hath delivered my soul from death, mine eyes +from tears, and my feet from falling. The third bids +all the nations praise the Lord, for His merciful kindness +is great and His truth endureth for ever. And the +fourth rejoices because, although all nations compassed +me about, yet I shall not die, but live and declare the +works of the Lord; and because the stone which the +builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner. +Memories of infinite sadness were awakened by the +words which had so lately rung around His path: +<q>Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord;</q> +but His voice was strong to sing, <q>Bind the sacrifice with +cords, even to the horns of the altar;</q> and it rose to the +exultant close, <q>Thou art my God, and I will praise +Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give +thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy +endureth for ever.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This hymn, from the lips of the Perfect One, could +be no <q>dying swan-song.</q> It uplifted that more than +heroic heart to the wonderful tranquillity which presently +said, <q>When I am risen, I will go before you into +Galilee.</q> It is full of victory. And now they go unto +the Mount of Olives. +</p> + +<p> +Is it enough considered how much of the life of +Jesus was passed in the open air? He preached on +the hill side; He desired that a boat should be at His +<pb n='385'/><anchor id='Pg385'/> +command upon the lake; He prayed upon the mountain; +He was transfigured beside the snows of Hermon; +He oft-times resorted to a garden which had not yet +grown awful; He met His disciples on a Galilean +mountain; and He finally ascended from the Mount +of Olives. His unartificial normal life, a pattern to +us, not as students but as men—was spent by preference +neither in the study nor the street. +</p> + +<p> +In this crisis, most solemn and yet most calm, He +leaves the crowded city into which all the tribes had +gathered, and chooses for His last intercourse with +His disciples, the slopes of the opposite hill side, while +overhead is glowing, in all the still splendour of an +Eastern sky, the full moon of Passover. Here then +is the place for one more emphatic warning. Think +how He loved them. As His mind reverts to the +impending blow, and apprehends it in its most awful +form, the very buffet of God Who Himself will smite +the Shepherd, He remembers to warn His disciples of +their weakness. We feel it to be gracious that He +should think of them at such a time. But if we drew +a little nearer, we should almost hear the beating of +the most loving heart that ever broke. They were +all He had. In them He had confided utterly. Even +as the Father had loved Him, He also had loved them, +the firstfruits of the travail of His soul. He had +ceased to call them servants and had called them +friends. To them He had spoken those affecting +words, <q>Ye are they which have continued with me in +My temptations.</q> How intensely He clung to their +sympathy, imperfect though it was, is best seen by +His repeated appeals to it in the Agony. And He +knew that they loved Him, that the spirit was willing, +that they would weep and lament for Him, sorrowing +<pb n='386'/><anchor id='Pg386'/> +with a sorrow which He hastened to add that He +would turn into joy. +</p> + +<p> +It is the preciousness of their fellowship which +reminds Him how this, like all else, must fail Him. +If there is blame in the words, <q>Ye shall be offended,</q> +this passes at once into exquisite sadness when He +adds that He, Who so lately said, <q>Them that Thou +gavest Me, I have guarded,</q> should Himself be the +cause of their offence, <q>All ye shall be caused to +stumble because of Me.</q> And there is an unfathomable +tenderness, a marvellous allowance for their frailty +in what follows. They were His sheep, and therefore +as helpless, as little to be relied upon, as sheep when +the shepherd is stricken. How natural it was for sheep +to be scattered. +</p> + +<p> +The world has no parallel for such a warning to +comrades who are about to leave their leader, so faithful +and yet so tender, so far from estrangement or +reproach. +</p> + +<p> +If it stood alone it would prove the Founder of the +Church to be not only a great teacher, but a genuine +Son of man. +</p> + +<p> +For Himself, He does not share their weakness, nor +apply to Himself the lesson of distrustfulness which +He teaches them; He is of another nature from these +trembling sheep, the Shepherd of Zechariah, <q>Who is +My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts.</q> He does not +shrink from applying to Himself this text, which +awakens against Him the sword of God (Zechariah +xiii. 7). +</p> + +<p> +Looking now beyond the grave to the resurrection, +and unestranged by their desertion, He resumes at +once the old relation; for as the shepherd goeth before +his sheep, and they follow him, so He will go before +<pb n='387'/><anchor id='Pg387'/> +them into Galilee, to the familiar places, far from the +city where men hate Him. +</p> + +<p> +This last touch of quiet human feeling completes +an utterance too beautiful, too characteristic to be +spurious, yet a prophecy, and one which attests the +ancient predictions, and which involves an amazing +claim. +</p> + +<p> +At first sight it is surprising that the Eleven who +were lately so conscious of weakness that each asked +was he the traitor, should since have become too +self-confident to profit by a solemn admonition. But +a little examination shows the two statements to be +quite consistent. They had wronged themselves by +that suspicion, and never is self-reliance more boastful +than when it is reassured after being shaken. The +institution of the Sacrament had invested them with +new privileges, and drawn them nearer than ever to +their Master. Add to this the infinite tenderness of +the last discourse in St. John, and the prayer which +was for them and not for the world. How did their +hearts burn within them as He said, <q>Holy Father, +keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given Me.</q> +How incredible must it then have seemed to them, +thrilling with real sympathy and loyal gratitude, that +they should forsake such a Master. +</p> + +<p> +Nor must we read in their words merely a loud and +indignant self-assertion, all unworthy of the time and +scene. They were meant to be a solemn vow. The +love they professed was genuine and warm. Only +they forgot their weakness; they did not observe the +words which declared them to be helpless sheep entirely +dependent on the Shepherd, whose support would +speedily seem to fail. +</p> + +<p> +Instead of harsh and unbecoming criticism, which +<pb n='388'/><anchor id='Pg388'/> +repeats almost exactly their fault by implying that we +should not yield to the same pressure, let us learn +the lesson, that religious exaltation, a sense of special +privilege, and the glow of generous emotions, have +their own danger. Unless we continue to be as little +children, receiving the Bread of Life, without any pretence +to have deserved it, and conscious still that our +only protection is the staff of our Shepherd, then the +very notion that we are something, when we are nothing, +will betray us to defeat and shame. +</p> + +<p> +Peter is the loudest in his protestations; and there +is a painful egoism in his boast, that even if the others +fail, he will never deny Him. So in the storm, it is +he who should be called across the waters. And so an +early reading makes him propose that he alone should +build the tabernacles for the wondrous Three. +</p> + +<p> +Naturally enough, this egoism stimulates the rest. +For them, Peter is among those who may fail, while +each is confident that he himself cannot. Thus the +pride of one excites the pride of many. +</p> + +<p> +But Christ has a special humiliation to reveal for +his special self-assertion. That day, and even before +that brief night was over, before the second cock-crowing +(<q>the cock-crow</q> of the rest, being that +which announced the dawn) he shall deny his Master +twice. Peter does not observe that his eager contradictions +are already denying the Master's profoundest +claims. The others join in his renewed protestations, +and their Lord answers them no more. Since +they refuse to learn from Him, they must be left to +the stern schooling of experience. Even before the +betrayal, they had an opportunity to judge how little +their good intentions might avail. For Jesus now +enters Gethsemane. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='389'/><anchor id='Pg389'/> + +<div> +<head>In The Garden.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they come unto a place which was named Gethsemane: and He +saith unto His disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. And He taketh with +Him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly amazed, and +sore troubled. And He saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful +even unto death: abide ye here, and watch. And He went forward +a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the +hour might pass away from Him. And He said, Abba, Father, all +things are possible unto Thee: remove this cup from Me: howbeit not +what I will, but what Thou wilt. And He cometh, and findeth them +sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not +watch one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: +the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again He went +away, and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came, and +found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they wist not +what to answer Him. And He cometh the third time, and saith unto +them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough; the hour is +come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. +Arise, let us be going: behold, he that betrayeth Me is at hand.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xiv. 32-42 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +All Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is profitable; +yet must we approach with reverence and solemn +shrinking, the story of our Saviour's anguish. It is a +subject for caution and for reticence, putting away all +over-curious surmise, all too-subtle theorizing, and +choosing to say too little rather than too much. +</p> + +<p> +It is possible so to argue about the metaphysics of +the Agony as to forget that a suffering human heart +was there, and that each of us owes his soul to the +victory which was decided if not completed in that +fearful place. The Evangelists simply tell us how He +suffered. +</p> + +<p> +Let us begin with the accessories of the scene, and +gradually approach the centre. +</p> + +<p> +In the warning of Jesus to His disciples there was an +undertone of deep sorrow. God will smite Him, and +<pb n='390'/><anchor id='Pg390'/> +they will all be scattered like sheep. However dauntless +be the purport of such words, it is impossible to +lose sight of their melancholy. And when the Eleven +rejected His prophetic warning, and persisted in trusting +the hearts He knew to be so fearful, their professions +of loyalty could only deepen His distress, and intensify +His isolation. +</p> + +<p> +In silence He turns to the deep gloom of the olive +grove, aware now of the approach of the darkest and +deadliest assault. +</p> + +<p> +There was a striking contrast between the scene of +His first temptation and His last; and His experience +was exactly the reverse of that of the first Adam, who +began in a garden, and was driven thence into the +desert, because he failed to refuse himself one pleasure +more beside ten thousand. Jesus began where the +transgression of men had driven them, in the desert +among the wild beasts, and resisted not a luxury, but +the passion of hunger craving for bread. Now He is +in a garden, but how different from theirs. Close by +is a city filled with foemen, whose messengers are +already on His track. Instead of the attraction of +a fruit good for food, and pleasant, and to be desired +to make one wise, there is the grim repulsion of death, +and its anguish, and its shame and mockery. He is +now to be assailed by the utmost terrors of the flesh +and of the spirit. And like the temptation in the +wilderness, the assault is three times renewed. +</p> + +<p> +As the dark <q>hour</q> approached, Jesus confessed +the two conflicting instincts of our human nature in its +extremity—the desire of sympathy, and the desire of +solitude. Leaving eight of the disciples at some distance, +He led still nearer to the appointed place His elect +of His election, on whom He had so often bestowed +<pb n='391'/><anchor id='Pg391'/> +special privilege, and whose faith would be less shaken +by the sight of His human weakness, because they had +beheld His Divine glory on the holy mount. To these +He opened His heart. <q>My soul is exceeding sorrowful, +even unto death; abide ye here and watch.</q> And He +went from them a little. Their neighbourhood was +a support in His dreadful conflict, and He could at +times return to them for sympathy; but they might +not enter with Him into the cloud, darker and deadlier +than that which they feared on Hermon. He would +fain not be desolate, and yet He must be alone. +</p> + +<p> +But when He returned, they were asleep. As Jesus +spoke of watching for one hour, some time had doubtless +elapsed. And sorrow is exhausting. If the spirit +do not seek for support from God, it will be dragged +down by the flesh into heavy sleep, and the brief and +dangerous respite of oblivion. +</p> + +<p> +It was the failure of Peter which most keenly affected +Jesus, not only because his professions had been so +loud, but because much depended on his force of character. +Thus, when Satan had desired to have them, +that he might sift them all like wheat, the prayers of +Jesus were especially for Simon, and it was he when he +was converted who should strengthen the rest. Surely +then he at least might have watched one hour. And +what of John, His nearest human friend, whose head +had reposed upon His bosom? However keen the +pang, the lips of the Perfect Friend were silent; only +He warned them all alike to watch and pray, because +they were themselves in danger of temptation. +</p> + +<p> +That is a lesson for all time. No affection and no +zeal are a substitute for the presence of God realised, +and the protection of God invoked. Loyalty and love +are not enough without watchfulness and prayer, for +<pb n='392'/><anchor id='Pg392'/> +even when the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, and +needs to be upheld. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, in His severest trial and heaviest oppression, +there is neither querulousness nor invective, but a most +ample recognition of their good will, a most generous +allowance for their weakness, a most sedulous desire, +not that He should be comforted, but that they should +escape temptation. +</p> + +<p> +With His yearning heart unsoothed, with another +anxiety added to His heavy burden, Jesus returned to +His vigil. Three times He felt the wound of unrequited +affection, for their eyes were very heavy, and they wist +not what to answer Him when He spoke. +</p> + +<p> +Nor should we omit to contrast their bewildered +stupefaction, with the keen vigilance and self-possession +of their more heavily burdened Lord. +</p> + +<p> +If we reflect that Jesus must needs experience all the +sorrows that human weakness and human wickedness +could inflict, we may conceive of these varied wrongs as +circles with a common centre, on which the cross was +planted. And our Lord has now entered the first of +these; He has looked for pity but there was no man; +His own, although it was grief which pressed them +down, slept in the hour of His anguish, and when He +bade them watch. +</p> + +<p> +It is right to observe that our Saviour had not bidden +them to pray with Him. They should watch and pray. +They should even watch with Him. But to pray for +Him, or even to pray with Him, they were not bidden. +And this is always so. Never do we read that Jesus +and any mortal joined together in any prayer to God. +On the contrary, when two or three of them asked anything +in His name, He took for Himself the position of +the Giver of their petition. And we know certainly +<pb n='393'/><anchor id='Pg393'/> +that He did not invite them to join His prayers, for it +was as He was praying in a certain place that when He +ceased, one of His disciples desired that they also might +be taught to pray (Luke xi. 1). Clearly then they +were not wont to approach the mercy seat hand in +hand with Jesus. And the reason is plain. He came +directly to His Father; no man else came unto the +Father but by Him; there was an essential difference +between His attitude towards God and ours. +</p> + +<p> +Has the Socinian ever asked himself why, in this +hour of His utmost weakness, Jesus sought no help +from the intercession of even the chiefs of the +apostles? +</p> + +<p> +It is in strict harmony with this position, that St. +Matthew tells us, He now said not Our Father, but My +Father. No disciple is taught, in any circumstances to +claim for himself a monopolized or special sonship. He +may be in his closet and the door shut, yet must he +remember his brethren and say, Our Father. That is a +phrase which Jesus never addressed to God. None is +partaker of His Sonship; none joined with Him in +supplication to His Father. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Agony.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And He saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto +death: abide ye here, and watch. And He went forward a little, and +fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might +pass away from Him. And He said, Abba, Father, all things are +possible unto Thee; remove this cup from Me: howbeit not what I +will, but what Thou wilt. And He cometh, and findeth them sleeping, +and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch +one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the +spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again He went +away, and prayed, saying the same words. And again He came, and +found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they wist not +what to answer Him. And He cometh the third time, and saith unto +them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough; the hour is +<pb n='394'/><anchor id='Pg394'/> +come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. +Arise, let us be going: behold, he that betrayeth Me is at hand.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xiv. 34-42 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Sceptics and believers have both remarked that St. +John, the only Evangelist who was said to have been +present, gives no account of the Agony. +</p> + +<p> +It is urged by the former, that the serene composure +of the discourse in his Gospel leaves no room for subsequent +mental conflict and recoil from suffering, which +are inconsistent besides with his conception of a Divine +man, too exalted to be the subject of such emotions. +</p> + +<p> +But do not the others know of composure which bore +to speak of His Body as broken bread, and seeing in +the cup the likeness of His Blood shed, gave it to be +the food of His Church for ever? +</p> + +<p> +Was the resignation less serene which spoke of the +smiting of the Shepherd, and yet of His leading back +the flock to Galilee? If the narrative was rejected as +inconsistent with the calmness of Jesus in the fourth +Gospel, it should equally have repelled the authors of +the other three. +</p> + +<p> +We may grant that emotion, agitation, is inconsistent +with unbelieving conceptions of the Christ of the fourth +Gospel. But this only proves how false those conceptions +are. For the emotion, the agitation, is already there. +At the grave of Lazarus the word which tells that when +He groaned in spirit He was troubled, describes one's +distress in the presence of some palpable opposing +force (John xi. 34). There was, however, a much closer +approach to His emotion in the garden, when the Greek +world first approached Him. Then He contrasted its +pursuit of self-culture with His own doctrine of self-sacrifice, +declaring that even a grain of wheat must +either die or abide by itself alone. To Jesus that +<pb n='395'/><anchor id='Pg395'/> +doctrine was no smooth, easily announced theory, and +so He adds, <q>Now is My soul troubled, and what shall +I say? Father save Me from this hour. But for this +cause came I unto this hour</q> (John xii. 27). +</p> + +<p> +Such is the Jesus of the fourth Gospel, by no means +that of its modern analysts. Nor is enough said, when +we remind them that the Speaker of these words was +capable of suffering; we must add that profound agitation +at the last was inevitable, for One so resolute in +coming to this hour, yet so keenly sensitive of its dread. +</p> + +<p> +The truth is that the silence of St. John is quite in +his manner. It is so that he passes by the Sacraments, +as being familiar to his readers, already instructed +in the gospel story. But he gives previous discourses +in which the same doctrine is expressed which was embodied +in each Sacrament,—the declaration that Nicodemus +must be born of water, and that the Jews must +eat His flesh and drink His blood. It is thus that +instead of the agony, he records that earlier agitation. +And this threefold recurrence of the same expedient +is almost incredible except by design. St. John was +therefore not forgetful of Gethsemane. +</p> + +<p> +A coarser infidelity has much to say about the +shrinking of our Lord from death. Such weakness is +pronounced unworthy, and the bearing of multitudes +of brave men and even of Christian martyrs, unmoved +in the flames, is contrasted with the strong crying and +tears of Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +It would suffice to answer that Jesus also failed not +when the trial came, but before Pontius Pilate witnessed +a good confession, and won upon the cross the +adoration of a fellow-sufferer and the confession of a +Roman soldier. It is more than enough to answer +that His story, so far from relaxing the nerve of human +<pb n='396'/><anchor id='Pg396'/> +fortitude, has made those who love Him stronger to +endure tortures than were emperors and inquisitors +to invent them. What men call His weakness has +inspired ages with fortitude. Moreover, the censure +which such critics, much at ease, pronounce on Jesus +expecting crucifixion, arises entirely from the magnificent +and unique standard by which they try Him; for +who is so hard-hearted as to think less of the valour +of the martyrs because it was bought by many a lonely +and intense conflict with the flesh? +</p> + +<p> +For us, we accept the standard; we deny that Jesus +in the garden came short of absolute perfection; but +we call attention to the fact that much is conceded to us, +when a criticism is ruthlessly applied to our Lord which +would excite indignation and contempt if brought to +bear on the silent sufferings of any hero or martyr but +Himself. +</p> + +<p> +Perfection is exactly what complicates the problem +here. +</p> + +<p> +Conscious of our own weakness, we not only justify +but enjoin upon ourselves every means of attaining as +much nobility as we may. We <q>steel ourselves to +bear,</q> and therefore we are led to expect the same of +Jesus. We aim at some measure of what, in its lowest +stage, is callous insensibility. Now that word is negative; +it asserts the absence or paralysis of a faculty, not +its fulness and activity. Thus we attain victory by a +double process; in part by resolutely turning our mind +away, and only in part by its ascendancy over appreciated +distress. We administer anodynes to the soul. +But Jesus, when he had tasted thereof, would not drink. +The horrors which were closing around Him were +perfectly apprehended, that they might perfectly be +overcome. +</p> + +<pb n='397'/><anchor id='Pg397'/> + +<p> +Thus suffering, He became an example for gentle +womanhood, and tender childhood, as well as man +boastful of his stoicism. Moreover, He introduced into +the world a new type of virtue, much softer and more +emotional than that of the sages. The stoic, to whom +pain is no evil, and the Indian laughing and singing +at the stake, are partly actors and partly perversions +of humanity. But the good Shepherd is also, for His +gentleness, a lamb. And it is His influence which has +opened our eyes to see a charm unknown before, in the +sensibility of our sister and wife and child. Therefore, +since the perfection of manhood means neither the +ignoring of pain nor the denying of it, but the union of +absolute recognition with absolute mastery of its fearfulness, +Jesus, on the approach of agony and shame, +and who shall say what besides, yields Himself +beforehand to the full contemplation of His lot. He +does so, while neither excited by the trial, nor driven +to bay by the scoffs of His murderers, but in solitude, +in the dark, with stealthy footsteps approaching through +the gloom. +</p> + +<p> +And ever since, all who went farthest down into the +dread Valley, and on whom the shadow of death lay +heaviest, found there the footsteps of its conqueror. +It must be added that we cannot measure the keenness +of the sensibility thus exposed to torture. A physical +organization and a spiritual nature fresh from the +creative hand, undegraded by the transmitted heritage +of ages of artificial, diseased and sinful habit, unblunted +by one deviation from natural ways, undrugged by one +excess, was surely capable of a range of feeling as vast +in anguish as in delight. +</p> + +<p> +The sceptic supposes that a torrent of emotion swept +our Saviour off His feet. The only narratives he can +<pb n='398'/><anchor id='Pg398'/> +go upon give quite the opposite impression. He is +seen to fathom all that depth of misery, He allows the +voice of nature to utter all the bitter earnestness of its +reluctance, yet He never loses self-control, nor wavers +in loyalty to His Father, nor renounces His submission +to the Father's will. Nothing in the scene is +more astonishing than its combination of emotion with +self-government. Time after time He pauses, gently +and lovingly admonishes others, and calmly returns to +His intense and anxious vigil. +</p> + +<p> +Thus He has won the only perfect victory. With +a nature so responsive to emotion, He has not refused +to feel, nor abstracted His soul from suffering, nor +silenced the flesh by such an effort as when we shut our +ears against a discord. Jesus sees all, confesses that +He would fain escape, but resigns Himself to God. +</p> + +<p> +In the face of all asceticisms, as of all stoicisms, +Gethsemane is the eternal protest that every part of +human nature is entitled to be heard, provided that the +spirit retains the arbitration over all. +</p> + +<p> +Hitherto nothing has been assumed which a reasonable +sceptic can deny. Nor should such a reader fail to +observe the astonishing revelation of character in the +narrative, its gentle pathos, its intensity beyond what +commonly belongs to gentleness, its affection, its mastery +over the disciples, its filial submission. Even the +rich imaginative way of thinking, which invented the +parables and sacraments, is in the word <q>this cup.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But if the story of Gethsemane can be vindicated +from such a point of view, what shall be said when it +is viewed as the Church regards it? Both Testaments +declare that the sufferings of the Messiah were supernatural. +In the Old Testament it was pleasing to the +Father to bruise Him. The terrible cry of Jesus to a +<pb n='399'/><anchor id='Pg399'/> +God who had forsaken Him is conclusive evidence from +the New Testament. And if we ask what such a cry +may mean, we find that He is a curse for us, and made +to be sin for us, Who knew no sin. +</p> + +<p> +If the older theology drew incredible conclusions +from such words, that is no reason why we should +ignore them. It is incredible that God was angry with +His Son, or that in any sense the Omniscient One +confused the Saviour with the sinful world. It is incredible +that Jesus ever endured estrangement as of +lost souls from the One Whom in Gethsemane He +called Abba Father, and in the hour of utter darkness, +My God, and into whose Fatherly hands He committed +His Spirit. Yet it is clear that He is being treated +otherwise than a sinless Being, as such, ought to +expect. His natural standing-place is exchanged for +ours. And as our exceeding misery, and the bitter +curse of all our sin fell on Him, Who bore it away by +bearing it, our pollution surely affected His purity as +keenly as our stripes tried His sensibility. He shuddered +as well as agonized. The deep waters in which +He sank were defiled as well as cold. Only this can +explain the agony and bloody sweat. And as we, for +whom He endured it, think of this, we can only be +silent and adore. +</p> + +<p> +Once more, Jesus returns to His disciples, but no +longer to look for sympathy, or to bid them watch and +pray. The time for such warnings is now past: the +crisis, <q>the hour</q> is come, and His speech is sad and +solemn. <q>Sleep on now and take your rest, it is +enough.</q> Had the sentence stopped there, none would +ever have proposed to treat it as a question, <q>Do ye +now sleep on and take your rest?</q> It would plainly +have meant, <q>Since ye refuse My counsel and will +<pb n='400'/><anchor id='Pg400'/> +none of my reproof, I strive no further to arouse the +torpid will, the inert conscience, the inadequate affection. +Your resistance prevails against My warning.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But critics fail to reconcile this with what follows, +<q>Arise, let us be going.</q> They fail through supposing +that words of intense emotion must be interpreted like +a syllogism or a lawyer's parchment. +</p> + +<p> +<q>For My part, sleep on; but your sleep is now to +be rudely broken: take your rest so far as respect for +your Master should have kept you watchful; but the +traitor is at hand to break such repose, let him not +find you ignobly slumbering. <q>Arise, he is at hand +that doth betray Me.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +This is not sarcasm, which taunts and wounds. +But there is a lofty and profound irony in the contrast +between their attitude and their circumstances, their +sleep and the eagerness of the traitor. +</p> + +<p> +And so they lost the most noble opportunity ever +given to mortals, not through blank indifference nor +unbelief, but by allowing the flesh to overcome the +spirit. And thus do multitudes lose heaven, sleeping +until the golden hours are gone, and He who said, +<q>Sleep on now,</q> says, <q>He that is unrighteous, let +him be unrighteous still.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Remembering that defilement was far more urgent +than pain in our Saviour's agony, how sad is the +meaning of the words, <q>the Son of man is betrayed +into the hands of sinners,</q> and even of <q>the sinners,</q> +the representatives of all the evil from which He had +kept Himself unspotted. +</p> + +<p> +The one perfect flower of humanity is thrown by +treachery into the polluted and polluting grasp of +wickedness in its many forms; the traitor delivers Him +to hirelings; the hirelings to hypocrites; the hypocrites +<pb n='401'/><anchor id='Pg401'/> +to an unjust and sceptical pagan judge; the judge +to his brutal soldiery; who expose Him to all that +malice can wreak upon the most sensitive organization, +or ingratitude upon the most tender heart. +</p> + +<p> +At every stage an outrage. Every outrage an appeal +to the indignation of Him who held them in the hollow +of His hand. Surely it may well be said, Consider +Him who endured such contradiction; and endured it +from sinners against Himself. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Arrest.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And straightway, while He yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the +twelve, and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the +chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he that betrayed +Him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is +He; take Him, and lead Him away safely. And when he was come, +straightway he came to Him, and saith, Rabbi; and kissed Him. And +they laid hands on Him, and took Him. But a certain one of them +that stood by drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, +and struck off his ear. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are +ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves to seize Me? +I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took Me not; but +<hi rend='italic'>this is done</hi> that the scriptures might be fulfilled. And they all left Him +and fled. And a certain young man followed with Him, having a linen +cloth cast about him, over <hi rend='italic'>his</hi> naked body: and they lay hold on him; +but he left the linen cloth, and fled naked.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 43-52 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +St. Mark has told this tragical story in the most +pointed and the fewest words. The healing of the ear +of Malchus concerns him not, that is but one miracle +among many; and Judas passes from sight unfollowed: +the thought insisted on is of foul treason, pitiable +weakness, brute force predominant, majestic remonstrance +and panic flight. From the central events no +accessories can distract him. +</p> + +<p> +There cometh, he tells us, <q>Judas, one of the Twelve.</q> +Who Judas was, we knew already, but we are to consider +<pb n='402'/><anchor id='Pg402'/> +how Jesus felt it now. Before His eyes is the +catastrophe which His death is confronted to avert—the +death of a soul, a chosen and richly dowered soul +for ever lost—in spite of so many warnings—in spite +of that incessant denunciation of covetousness which +rings through so much of His teaching, which only the +presence of Judas quite explains, and which His terrible +and searching gaze must have made like fire, to sear +since it could not melt—in spite of the outspoken +utterances of these last days, and doubtless in spite of +many prayers, he is lost: one of the Twelve. +</p> + +<p> +And the dark thought would fall cold upon Christ's +heart, of the multitudes more who should receive the +grace of God, His own dying love, in vain. And with +that, the recollection of many an hour of loving-kindness +wasted on this familiar friend in whom He trusted, +and who now gave Him over, as he had been expressly +warned, to so cruel a fate. Even toward Judas, no unworthy +bitterness could pollute that sacred heart, the +fountain of unfathomable compassions, but what speechless +grief must have been there, what inconceivable +horror. For the outrage was dark in form as in essence. +Judas apparently conceived that the Eleven might, as +they had promised, rally around their Lord; and he +could have no perception how impossible it was that +Messiah should stoop to escape under cover of their +devotion, how frankly the good Shepherd would give +His life for the sheep. In the night, he thought, evasion +might yet be attempted, and the town be raised. +But he knew how to make the matter sure. No other +would as surely as himself recognise Jesus in the uncertain +light. If he were to lay hold on Him rudely, +the Eleven would close in, and in the struggle, the +prize might yet be lost. But approaching a little in +<pb n='403'/><anchor id='Pg403'/> +advance, and peaceably, he would ostentatiously kiss +his Master, and so clearly point Him out that the arrest +would be accomplished before the disciples realized what +was being done. +</p> + +<p> +But at every step the intrigue is overmastered by +the clear insight of Jesus. As He foretold the time of +His arrest, while yet the rulers said, Not on the feast +day, so He announced the approach of the traitor, who +was then contriving the last momentary deception of +his polluting kiss. +</p> + +<p> +We have already seen how impossible it is to think +of Judas otherwise than as the Church has always +regarded him, an apostate and a traitor in the darkest +sense. The milder theory is at this stage shattered by +one small yet significant detail. At the supper, when +conscious of being suspected, and forced to speak, he +said not, like the others, <q>Lord,</q> but <q>Rabbi, is it I?</q> +Now they meet again, and the same word is on his +lips, whether by design and in Satanic insolence, or in +hysterical agitation and uncertainty, who can say? +</p> + +<p> +But no loyalty, however misled, inspired that halting +and inadequate epithet, no wild hope of a sudden +blazing out of glories too long concealed is breathed in +the traitor's Rabbi! +</p> + +<p> +With that word, and his envenomed kiss, the <q>much +kissing,</q> which took care that Jesus should not shake +him off, he passes from this great Gospel. Not a word +is here of his remorse, or of the dreadful path down +which he stumbled to his own place. Even the lofty +remonstrance of the Lord is not recorded: it suffices +to have told how he betrayed the Son of man with a +kiss, and so infused a peculiar and subtle poison into +Christ's draught of deadly wine. That, and not the +punishment of that, is what St. Mark recorded for the +<pb n='404'/><anchor id='Pg404'/> +Church, the awful fall of an apostle, chosen of Christ; +the solemn warning to all privileged persons, richly +endowed and highly placed; the door to hell, as Bunyan +has it, from the very gate of Heaven. +</p> + +<p> +A great multitude with swords and staves had come +from the rulers. Possibly some attempt at rescue was +apprehended from the Galileans who had so lately +triumphed around Jesus. More probably the demonstration +was planned to suggest to Pilate that a +dangerous political agitation had to be confronted. +</p> + +<p> +At all events, the multitude did not terrify the disciples: +cries arose from their little band, <q>Lord shall we +smite with the sword?</q> and if Jesus had consented, it +seems that with two swords the Eleven whom declaimers +make to be so craven, would have assailed the multitude +in arms. +</p> + +<p> +Now this is what points the moral of their failure. +Few of us would confess personal cowardice by accepting +a warning from the fears of the fearful. But the +fears of the brave must needs alarm us. It is one +thing to defy death, sword in hand, in some wild +hour of chivalrous effort—although the honours we +shower upon the valiant prove that even such fortitude +is less common than we would fain believe. But there +is a deep which opens beyond this. It is a harder +thing to endure the silent passive anguish to which the +Lamb, dumb before the shearers, calls His followers. +The victories of the spirit are beyond animal strength +of nerve. In their highest forms they are beyond the +noble reach of intellectual resolution. How far beyond +it we may learn by contrasting the excitement and +then the panic of the Eleven with the sublime composure +of their Lord. +</p> + +<p> +One of them, whom we know to have been the +<pb n='405'/><anchor id='Pg405'/> +impulsive Simon, showed his loss of self-control by +what would have been a breach of discipline, even had +resistance been intended. While others asked should +they smite with the sword, he took the decision upon +himself, and struck a feeble and abortive blow, enough +to exasperate but not to disable. In so doing he +added, to the sorrows of Jesus, disobedience, and the +inflaming of angry passion among His captors. +</p> + +<p> +Strange it is, and instructive, that the first act of +violence in the annals of Christianity came not from +her assailants but from her son. And strange to think +with what emotions Jesus must have beheld that blow. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark records neither the healing of Malchus nor +the rebuke of Peter. Throughout the events which +now crowd fast upon us, we shall not find him careful +about fulness of detail. This is never his manner, +though he loves any detail which is graphic, characteristic, +or intensifying. But his concern is with the +spirit of the Lord and of His enemies: he is blind to +no form of injustice or insult which heightened the +sufferings of Jesus, to no manifestation of dignity and +self-control overmastering the rage of hell. If He is +unjustly tried by Caiaphas, it matters nothing that Annas +also wronged Him. If the soldiers of Pilate insulted +Him, it matters nothing that the soldiers of Herod also +set Him at nought. Yet the flight of a nameless +youth is recorded, since it adds a touch to the picture +of His abandonment. +</p> + +<p> +And therefore he records the indignant remonstrance +of Jesus upon the manner of His arrest. He was no +man of violence and blood, to be arrested with a +display of overwhelming force. He needed not to be +sought in concealment and at midnight. +</p> + +<p> +He had spoken daily in the temple, but then their +<pb n='406'/><anchor id='Pg406'/> +malice was defeated, their snares rent asunder, and +the people witnessed their exposure. But all this was +part of His predicted suffering, for Whom not only pain +but injustice was foretold, Who should be taken from +prison and from judgment. +</p> + +<p> +It was a lofty remonstrance. It showed how little +could danger and betrayal disturb His consciousness, +and how clearly He discerned the calculation of His +foes. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment of unmistakable surrender, His +disciples forsook Him and fled. One young man did +indeed follow Him, springing hastily from slumber in +some adjacent cottage, and wrapped only in a linen +cloth. But he too, when seized, fled away, leaving his +only covering in the hands of the soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +This youth may perhaps have been the Evangelist +himself, of whom we know that, a few years later, he +joined Paul and Barnabas at the outset, but forsook +them when their journey became perilous. +</p> + +<p> +It is at least as probable that the incident is recorded +as a picturesque climax to that utter panic which left +Jesus to tread the winepress alone, deserted by all, +though He never forsook any. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Before Caiaphas.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and there come +together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. +And Peter had followed Him afar off, even within, into the court of the +high priest; and he was sitting with the officers, and warming himself in +the light <hi rend='italic'>of the fire</hi>. Now the chief priests and the whole council sought +witness against Jesus to put Him to death; and found it not. For +many bare false witness against Him, and their witness agreed not +together. And there stood up certain, and bare false witness against +Him, saying, We heard Him say, I will destroy this temple that is +made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without +<pb n='407'/><anchor id='Pg407'/> +hands. And not even so did their witness agree together. And the +high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest +Thou nothing? what is it which these witness against Thee? But He +held His peace and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked +Him, and saith unto Him, Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? +And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the +right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the +high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What further need have we of +witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they +all condemned Him to be worthy of death. And some began to spit +on Him, and to cover His face, and to buffet Him, and to say unto +Him, Prophesy: and the officers received Him with blows of their +hands</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 53-65 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +We have now to see the Judge of quick and dead +taken from prison and judgment, the Preacher of +liberty to the captives bound, and the Prince of Life +killed. It is the most solemn page in earthly story; +and as we read St. Mark's account, it will concern us +less to reconcile his statements with those of the other +three, than to see what is taught us by his especial +manner of regarding it. Reconciliation, indeed, is quite +unnecessary, if we bear in mind that to omit a fact is +not to contradict it. For St. Mark is not writing a +history but a Gospel, and his readers are Gentiles, for +whom the details of Hebrew intrigue matter nothing, +and the trial before a Galilean Tetrarch would be only +half intelligible. +</p> + +<p> +St. John, who had been an eye-witness, knew that +the private inquiry before Annas was vital, for there +the decision was taken which subsequent and more +formal assemblies did but ratify. He therefore, writing +last, threw this ray of explanatory light over all that +the others had related. St. Luke recorded in the Acts +(iv. 27) that the apostles recognised, in the consent +of Romans and Jews, and of Herod and Pilate, what +the Psalmist had long foretold, the rage of the heathen +<pb n='408'/><anchor id='Pg408'/> +and the vain imagination of the peoples, and the conjunction +of kings and rulers. His Gospel therefore +lays stress upon the part played by all of these. And +St. Matthew's readers could appreciate every fulfilment +of prophecy, and every touch of local colour. +St. Mark offers to us the essential points: rejection +and cruelty by His countrymen, rejection and cruelty +over again by Rome, and the dignity, the elevation, the +lofty silence and the dauntless testimony of his Lord. +As we read, we are conscious of the weakness of His +crafty foes, who are helpless and baffled, and have no +resort except to abandon their charges and appeal to +His own truthfulness to destroy Him. +</p> + +<p> +He shows us first the informal assembly before +Caiaphas, whither Annas sent Him with that sufficient +sign of his own judgment, the binding of His hands, +and the first buffet, inflicted by an officer, upon His +holy face. It was not yet daylight, and a formal +assembly of the Sanhedrim was impossible. But what +passed now was so complete a rehearsal of the tragedy, +that the regular meeting could be disposed of in a +single verse. +</p> + +<p> +There was confusion and distress among the conspirators. +It was not their intention to have arrested +Jesus on the feast day, at the risk of an uproar +among the people. But He had driven them to do so +by the expulsion of their spy, who, if they delayed +longer, would be unable to guide their officers. And +so they found themselves without evidence, and had +to play the part of prosecutors when they ought to +be impartial judges. There is something frightful in +the spectacle of these chiefs of the religion of Jehovah +suborning perjury as the way to murder; and it +reminds us of the solemn truth, that no wickedness is +<pb n='409'/><anchor id='Pg409'/> +so perfect and heartless as that upon which sacred +influences have long been vainly operating, no corruption +so hateful as that of a dead religion. Presently +they would cause the name of God to be blasphemed +among the heathen, by bribing the Roman guards to +lie about the corpse. And the heart of Jesus was +tried by the disgraceful spectacle of many false +witnesses, found in turn and paraded against Him, +but unable to agree upon any consistent charge, while +yet the shameless proceedings were not discontinued. +At the last stood up witnesses to pervert what He had +spoken at the first cleansing of the temple, which the +second cleansing had so lately recalled to mind. They +represented Him as saying, <q>I am able to destroy this +temple made with hands,</q>—or perhaps, <q>I will +destroy</q> it, for their testimony varied on this grave +point—<q>and in three days I will build another made +without hands.</q> It was for blaspheming the Holy +Place that Stephen died, and the charge was a grave +one; but His words were impudently manipulated to +justify it. There had been no proposal to substitute +a different temple, and no mention of the temple made +with hands. Nor had Jesus ever proposed to destroy +anything. He had spoken of their destroying the +Temple of His Body, and in the use they made of +the prediction they fulfilled it. +</p> + +<p> +As we read of these repeated failures before a tribunal +so unjust, we are led to suppose that opposition must +have sprung up to disconcert them; we remember the +councillor of honourable estate, who had not consented +to their counsel and deed, and we think, What if, even +in that hour of evil, one voice was uplifted for righteousness? +What if Joseph confessed Him in the +conclave, like the penitent thief upon the cross? +</p> + +<pb n='410'/><anchor id='Pg410'/> + +<p> +And now the high priest, enraged and alarmed by +imminent failure, rises in the midst, and in the face of +all law cross-questions the prisoner, Answerest Thou +nothing? What is it which these witness against +Thee? But Jesus will not become their accomplice; +He maintains the silence which contrasts so nobly with +their excitement, which at once sees through their +schemes and leaves them to fall asunder. And the +urgency of the occasion, since hesitation now will give +the city time to rise, drives them to a desperate expedient. +Without discussion of His claims, without +considering that some day there <emph>must</emph> be some Messiah, +(else what is their faith and who are they?) they will +treat it as blasphemous and a capital offence simply +to claim that title. Caiaphas adjures Him by their +common God to answer, Art thou the Christ, the Son +of the Blessed? So then they were not utterly ignorant +of the higher nature of the Son of David: they +remembered the words, Thou art My Son, this day +have I begotten Thee. But the only use they ever +made of their knowledge was to heighten to the uttermost +the Messianic dignity which they would make it +death to claim. And the prisoner knew well the consequences +of replying. But He had come into the +world to bear witness to the truth, and this was the +central truth of all. <q>And Jesus said, I am.</q> Now +Renan tells us that He was the greatest religious +genius who ever lived, or probably ever shall live. +Mill tells us that religion cannot be said to have made +a bad choice in pitching on this Man as the ideal representative +and guide of humanity. And Strauss thinks +that we know enough of Him to assert that His consciousness +was unclouded by the memory of any sin. +Well then, if anything in the life of Jesus is beyond +<pb n='411'/><anchor id='Pg411'/> +controversy, it is this, that the sinless Man, our ideal +representative and guide, the greatest religious genius +of the race, died for asserting upon oath that He was +the Son of God. A good deal has been said lately, +both wise and foolish, about Comparative Religion: is +there anything to compare with this? Lunatics, with +this example before their eyes, have conceived wild and +dreadful infatuations. But these are the words of Him +whose character has dominated nineteen centuries, +and changed the history of the world. And they stand +alone in the records of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +As Jesus spoke the fatal words, as malice and hatred +lighted the faces of His wicked judges with a base and +ignoble joy, what was His own thought? We know +it by the warning that He added. They supposed +themselves judges and irresponsible, but there should +yet be another tribunal, with justice of a far different +kind, and there they should occupy another place. +For all that was passing before His eyes, so false, +hypocritical and murderous, there was no lasting +victory, no impunity, no escape: <q>Ye shall see the +Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and +coming with the clouds of heaven.</q> Therefore His +apostle Peter tells us that in this hour, when He was +reviled and reviled not again, <q>He committed Himself +to Him that judgeth righteously</q> (1 Peter ii. 23). +</p> + +<p> +He had now quoted that great vision in which the +prophet Daniel saw Him brought near unto the +Ancient of Days, and invested with an everlasting +dominion (Dan. vii. 13, 14.). But St. Matthew adds one +memorable word. He did not warn them, and He was +not Himself sustained, only by the mention of a far-off +judgment: He said they should behold Him thus +<q>henceforth.</q> And that very day they saw the veil of +<pb n='412'/><anchor id='Pg412'/> +their temple rent, felt the world convulsed, and remembered +in their terror that He had foretold His own +death and His resurrection, against which they had +still to guard. And in the open sepulchre, and the +supernatural vision told them by its keepers, in great +and notable miracles wrought by the name of Jesus, in +the desertion of a great multitude even of priests, and +their own fear to be found fighting against God, in all +this the rise of that new power was thenceforth plainly +visible, which was presently to bury them and their +children under the ruins of their temple and their +palaces. But for the moment the high-priest was only +relieved; and he proceeded, rending his clothes, to +announce his judgment, before consulting the court, who +had no further need of witnesses, and were quite content +to become formally the accusers before themselves. The +sentence of this irregular and informal court was now +pronounced, to fit them for bearing part, at sunrise, in +what should be an unbiassed trial; and while they +awaited the dawn Jesus was abandoned to the brutality +of their servants, one of whom He had healed that very +night. They spat on the Lord of Glory. They covered +His face, an act which was the symbol of a death sentence +(Esther vii. 8), and then they buffeted Him, and +invited Him to prophesy who smote Him. And the +officers <q>received Him</q> with blows. +</p> + +<p> +What was the meaning of this outburst of savage +cruelty of men whom Jesus had never wronged, and +some of whose friends must have shared His superhuman +gifts of love? Partly it was the instinct of low +natures to trample on the fallen, and partly the result +of partizanship. For these servants of the priests must +have seen many evidences of the hate and dread with +which their masters regarded Jesus. But there was +<pb n='413'/><anchor id='Pg413'/> +doubtless another motive. Not without fear, we may +be certain, had they gone forth to arrest at midnight the +Personage of whom so many miraculous tales were +universally believed. They must have remembered +the captains of fifty whom Elijah consumed with fire. +And in fact there was a moment when they all fell +prostrate before His majestic presence. But now their +terror was at an end: He was helpless in their hands; +and they revenged their fears upon the Author of them. +</p> + +<p> +Thus Jesus suffered shame to make us partakers of +His glory; and the veil of death covered His head, +that He might destroy the face of the covering cast +over all peoples, and the veil that was spread over all +nations. And even in this moment of bitterest outrage +He remembered and rescued a soul in the extreme of +jeopardy, for it was now that the Lord turned and +looked upon Peter. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Fall Of Peter.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And as Peter was beneath in the court, there cometh one of the +maids of the high priest; and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked +upon him, and saith, Thou also wast with the Nazarene, <hi rend='italic'>even</hi> Jesus. +But he denied, saying, I neither know, nor understand what thou +sayest: and he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. And the +maid saw him, and began again to say to them that stood by, This is +<hi rend='italic'>one</hi> of them. But he again denied it. And after a little while again +they that stood by said to Peter, Of a truth thou art <hi rend='italic'>one</hi> of them; for +thou art a Galilæan. But he began to curse, and to swear, I know not +this man of whom ye speak. And straightway the second time the +cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word, how that Jesus said +unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And +when he thought thereon, he wept</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xiv. 66-72 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +The fall of Peter has called forth the easy scorn of +multitudes who never ran any risk for Christ. But if +he had been a coward, and his denial a dastardly +<pb n='414'/><anchor id='Pg414'/> +weakness, it would not be a warning for the whole +Church, but only for feeble natures. Whereas the +lesson which it proclaims is this deep and solemn one, +that no natural endowments can bear the strain of the +spiritual life. Peter had dared to smite when only two +swords were forthcoming against the band of Roman +soldiers and the multitude from the chief priests. After +the panic in which all forsook Jesus, and so fulfilled +the prediction <q>ye shall leave Me alone,</q> none ventured +so far as Peter. John indeed accompanied him; but +John ran little risk, he had influence and was therefore +left unassailed, whereas Peter was friendless and a +mark for all men, and had made himself conspicuous +in the garden. Of those who declaim about his want +of courage few indeed would have dared so much. +And whoever misunderstands him, Jesus did not. He +said to him, <q>Satan hath desired to have you (all) that +he may sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for thee +(especially) that thy strength fail not.</q> Around him +the fiercest of the struggle was to rage, as around some +point of vantage on a battlefield; and it was he, when +once he had turned again, who should stablish his +brethren (Luke xxii. 31, 32). +</p> + +<p> +God forbid that we should speak one light or scornful +word of this great apostle! God grant us, if our footsteps +slip, the heart to weep such tears as his. +</p> + +<p> +Peter was a loving, brave and loyal man. But the +circumstances were not such as human bravery could +deal with. Resistance, which would have kindled his +spirit, had been forbidden to him, and was now impossible. +The public was shut out, and he was practically +alone among his enemies. He had come <q>to see +the end,</q> and it was a miserable sight that he beheld. +Jesus was passive, silent, insulted: His foes fierce, +<pb n='415'/><anchor id='Pg415'/> +unscrupulous and confident. And Peter was more +and more conscious of being alone, in peril, and utterly +without resource. Moreover sleeplessness and misery +lead to physical languor and cold,<note place='foot'> +<q>By the fire the children sit<lb/> +Cold in that atmosphere of death.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>In Memoriam</hi>, xx.</note> and as the officers +had kindled a fire, he was drawn thither, like a moth, +by the double wish to avoid isolation and to warm +himself. In thus seeking to pass for one of the crowd, +he showed himself ashamed of Jesus, and incurred the +menaced penalty, <q>of him shall the Son of man be +ashamed, when He cometh.</q> And the method of self-concealment +which he adopted only showed his face, +strongly illuminated, as St. Mark tells us, by the flame. +</p> + +<p> +If now we ask for the secret of his failing resolution, +we can trace the disease far back. It was self-confidence. +He reckoned himself the one to walk upon the +waters. He could not be silent on the holy mount, +when Jesus held high communion with the inhabitants +of heaven. He rebuked the Lord for dark forebodings. +When Jesus would wash his feet, although expressly +told that he should understand the act hereafter, he +rejoined, Thou shalt never wash my feet, and was +only sobered by the peremptory announcement that +further rebellion would involve rejection. He was sure +that if all the rest were to deny Jesus, he never should +deny Him. In the garden he slept, because he failed +to pray and watch. And then he did not wait to be +directed, but strove to fight the battle of Jesus with the +weapons of the flesh. Therefore he forsook Him and +fled. And the consequences of that hasty blow were +heavy upon him now. It marked him for the attention +of the servants: it drove him to merge himself +in the crowd. But his bearing was too suspicious to +<pb n='416'/><anchor id='Pg416'/> +enable him to escape unquestioned. The first assault +came very naturally, from the maid who kept the door, +and had therefore seen him with John. He denied +indeed, but with hesitation, not so much affirming that +the charge was false as that he could not understand it. +And thereupon he changed his place, either to escape +notice or through mental disquietude; but as he went +into the porch the cock crew. The girl however was +not to be shaken off: she pointed him out to others, +and since he had forsaken the only solid ground, he +now denied the charge angrily and roundly. An hour +passed, such an hour of shame, perplexity and guilt, as +he had never known, and then there came a still more +dangerous attack. They had detected his Galilean +accent, while he strove to pass for one of them. And +a kinsman of Malchus used words as threatening as +were possible without enabling a miracle to be proved, +since the wound had vanished: <q>Did I myself not see +thee in the garden with Him?</q> Whereupon, to prove +that his speech had nothing to do with Jesus, he began +to curse and swear, saying, I know not the man. And +the cock crew a second time, and Peter remembered +the warning of his Lord, which then sounded so harsh, +but now proved to be the means of his salvation. And +the eyes of his Master, full of sorrow and resolution, +fell on him. And he knew that he had added a bitter +pang to the sufferings of the Blessed One. And the +crowd and his own danger were forgotten, and he went +out and wept. +</p> + +<p> +It was for Judas to strive desperately to put himself +right with man: the sorrow of Peter was for himself +and God to know. +</p> + +<p> +What lessons are we taught by this most natural and +humbling story? That he who thinketh he standeth +<pb n='417'/><anchor id='Pg417'/> +must take heed lest he fall. That we are in most danger +when self-confident, and only strong when we are weak. +That the beginning of sin is like the letting out of +water. That Jesus does not give us up when we cast +ourselves away, but as long as a pulse of love survives, +or a spark of loyalty, He will appeal to that by many a +subtle suggestion of memory and of providence, to recall +His wanderer to Himself. +</p> + +<p> +And surely we learn by the fall of this great and +good apostle to restore the fallen in the spirit of meekness, +considering ourselves lest we also be tempted, remembering +also that to Peter, Jesus sent the first tidings +of His resurrection, and that the message found him in +company with John, and therefore in the house with +Mary. What might have been the issue of his anguish +if these holy ones had cast Him off? +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='418'/><anchor id='Pg418'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XV.</head> + +<div> +<head>Pilate.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and +scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, +and carried Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>... And they lead Him out to crucify Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xv. 1-20 +(R.V.). +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +With morning came the formal assembly, which +St. Mark dismisses in a single verse. It was +indeed a disgraceful mockery. Before the trial began +its members had prejudged the case, passed sentence +by anticipation, and abandoned Jesus, as one condemned, +to the brutality of their servants. And now the spectacle +of a prisoner outraged and maltreated moves no +indignation in their hearts. +</p> + +<p> +Let us, for whom His sufferings were endured, reflect +upon the strain and anguish of all these repeated examinations, +these foregone conclusions gravely adopted +in the name of justice, these exhibitions of greed for +blood. Among the <q>unknown sufferings</q> by which +the Eastern Church invokes her Lord, surely not the +least was His outraged moral sense. +</p> + +<p> +As the issue of it all, they led Him away to Pilate, +meaning, by the weight of such an accusing array, to +overpower any possible scruples of the governor, but in +fact fulfilling His words, <q>they shall deliver Him unto +the Gentiles.</q> And the first question recorded by St. +Mark expresses the intense surprise of Pilate. <q>Thou,</q> +<pb n='419'/><anchor id='Pg419'/> +so meek, so unlike the numberless conspirators that I +have tried,—or perhaps, <q>Thou,</q> Whom no sympathising +multitude sustains, and for Whose death the disloyal +priesthood thirsts, <q>Art <emph>Thou</emph> the King of the Jews?</q> +We know how carefully Jesus disentangled His claim from +the political associations which the high priests intended +that it should suggest, how the King of Truth would +not exaggerate any more than understate the case, and +explained that His kingdom was not of this world, that +His servants did not fight, that His royal function was +to uphold the truth, not to expel conquerors. The eyes +of a practised Roman governor saw through the accusation +very clearly. Before him, Jesus was accused of +sedition, but that was a transparent pretext; Jews did +not hate Him for enmity to Rome: He was a rival +teacher and a successful one, and for envy they had +delivered Him. So far all was well. Pilate investigated +the charge, arrived at the correct judgment, and +it only remained that he should release the innocent +man. In reaching this conclusion Jesus had given him +the most prudent and skilful help, but as soon as the +facts became clear, He resumed His impressive and +mysterious silence. Thus, before each of his judges in +turn, Jesus avowed Himself the Messiah and then held +His peace. It was an awful silence, which would not +give that which was holy to the dogs, nor profane the +truth by unavailing protests or controversies. It was, +however, a silence only possible to an exalted nature +full of self-control, since the words actually spoken +redeem it from any suspicion or stain of sullenness. +It is the conscience of Pilate which must henceforth +speak. The Romans were the lawgivers of the ancient +world, and a few years earlier their greatest poet had +boasted that their mission was to spare the helpless +<pb n='420'/><anchor id='Pg420'/> +and to crush the proud. In no man was an act of +deliberate injustice, of complaisance to the powerful at +the cost of the good, more unpardonable than in a +leader of that splendid race, whose laws are still the +favourite study of those who frame and administer our +own. And the conscience of Pilate struggled hard, +aided by superstitious fear. The very silence of Jesus +amid many charges, by none of which His accusers +would stand or fall, excited the wonder of His judge. +His wife's dream aided the effect. And he was still +more afraid when he heard that this strange and elevated +Personage, so unlike any other prisoner whom he had +ever tried, laid claim to be Divine. Thus even in his +desire to save Jesus, his motive was not pure, it was +rather an instinct of self-preservation than a sense of +justice. But there was danger on the other side as +well; since he had already incurred the imperial censure, +he could not without grave apprehensions contemplate +a fresh complaint, and would certainly be ruined +if he were accused of releasing a conspirator against +Cæsar. And accordingly he stooped to mean and +crooked ways, he lost hold of the only clue in the perplexing +labyrinth of expediencies, which is principle, +and his name in the creed of Christendom is spoken +with a shudder—<q>crucified under Pontius Pilate!</q> +</p> + +<p> +It was the time for him to release a prisoner to them, +according to an obscure custom, which some suppose +to have sprung from the release of one of the two +sacrificial goats, and others from the fact that they now +celebrated their own deliverance from Egypt. At +this moment the people began to demand their usual +indulgence, and an evil hope arose in the heart of +Pilate. They would surely welcome One who was in +danger as a patriot: he would himself make the offer, +<pb n='421'/><anchor id='Pg421'/> +and he would put it in this tempting form, <q>Will ye +that I release unto you the King of the Jews?</q> Thus +would the enmity of the priests be gratified, since +Jesus would henceforth be a condemned culprit, and +owe His life to their intercession with the foreigner. +But the proposal was a surrender. The life of Jesus +had not been forfeited; and when it was placed at +their discretion, it was already lawlessly taken away. +Moreover, when the offer was rejected, Jesus was in +the place of a culprit who should not be released. To +the priests, nevertheless, it was a dangerous proposal, +and they needed to stir up the people, or perhaps +Barabbas would not have been preferred. +</p> + +<p> +Instigated by their natural guides, their religious +teachers, the Jews made the tremendous choice, which +has ever since been heavy on their heads and on their +children's. Yet if ever an error could be excused by +the plea of authority, and the duty of submission to +constituted leaders, it was this error. They followed +men who sat in Moses' seat, and who were thus entitled, +according to Jesus Himself, to be obeyed. Yet that +authority has not relieved the Hebrew nation from the +wrath which came upon them to the uttermost. The +salvation they desired was not moral elevation or +spiritual life, and so Jesus had nothing to bestow upon +them; they refused the Holy One and the Just. What +they wanted was the world, the place which Rome held, +and which they fondly hoped was yet to be their own. +Even to have failed in the pursuit of this was better +than to have the words of everlasting life, and so the +name of Barabbas was enough to secure the rejection +of Christ. It would almost seem that Pilate was ready +to release both, if that would satisfy them, for he asks, +in hesitation and perplexity, <q>What shall I do then +<pb n='422'/><anchor id='Pg422'/> +with Him Whom ye call the King of the Jews?</q> Surely +in their excitement for an insurgent, that title, given +by themselves, will awake their pity. But again and +again, like the howl of wolves, resounds their ferocious +cry, Crucify Him, crucify Him. +</p> + +<p> +The irony of Providence is known to every student +of history, but it never was so manifest as here. Under +the pressure of circumstances upon men whom principle +has not made firm, we find a Roman governor striving to +kindle every disloyal passion of his subjects, on behalf +of the King of the Jews,—appealing to men whom he +hated and despised, and whose charges have proved +empty as chaff, to say, What evil has He done? and +even to tell him, on his judgment throne, what he shall +do with their King; we find the men who accused Jesus +of stirring up the people to sedition, now shamelessly +agitating for the release of a red-handed insurgent; +forced moreover to accept the responsibility which they +would fain have devolved on Pilate, and themselves to +pronounce the hateful sentence of crucifixion, unknown +to their law, but for which they had secretly intrigued; +and we find the multitude fiercely clamouring for a +defeated champion of brute force, whose weapon has +snapped in his hands, who has led his followers to +the cross, and from whom there is no more to hope. +What satire upon their hope of a temporal Messiah +could be more bitter than their own cry, <q>We have no +king but Cæsar</q>? And what satire upon this profession +more destructive than their choice of Barabbas and +refusal of Christ? And all the while, Jesus looks on +in silence, carrying out His mournful but effectual plan, +the true Master of the movements which design to +crush Him, and which He has foretold. As He ever +receives gifts for the rebellious, and is the Saviour of +<pb n='423'/><anchor id='Pg423'/> +all men, though especially of them that believe, so now +His passion, which retrieved the erring soul of Peter, +and won the penitent thief, rescues Barabbas from the +cross. His suffering was made visibly vicarious. +</p> + +<p> +One is tempted to pity the feeble judge, the only +person who is known to have attempted to rescue Jesus, +beset by his old faults, which will make an impeachment +fatal, wishing better than he dares to act, hesitating, +sinking inch by inch, and like a bird with broken wing. +No accomplice in this frightful crime is so suggestive +of warning to hearts not entirely hardened. +</p> + +<p> +But pity is lost in sterner emotion as we remember +that this wicked governor, having borne witness to the +perfect innocence of Jesus, was content, in order to +save himself from danger, to watch the Blessed One +enduring all the horrors of a Roman scourging, and +then to yield Him up to die. +</p> + +<p> +It is now the unmitigated cruelty of ancient paganism +which has closed its hand upon our Lord. When +the soldiers led Him away within the court, He was +lost to His nation, which had renounced Him. It is +upon this utter alienation, even more than the locality +where the cross was fixed, that the Epistle to the +Hebrews turns our attention, when it reminds us that +<q>the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought +into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for +sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus +also, that He might sanctify the people through His +own blood, suffered without the gate.</q> The physical +exclusion, the material parallel points to something +deeper, for the inference is that of estrangement. +Those who serve the tabernacle cannot eat of our altar. +Let us go forth unto Him, bearing His reproach. +(Heb. xii. 10-13). +</p> + +<pb n='424'/><anchor id='Pg424'/> + +<p> +Renounced by Israel, and about to become a curse +under the law, He has now to suffer the cruelty of +wantonness, as He has already endured the cruelty of +hatred and fear. Now, more than ever perhaps, He +looks for pity and there is no man. None responded +to the deep appeal of the eyes which had never seen +misery without relieving it. The contempt of the +strong for the weak and suffering, of coarse natures for +sensitive ones, of Romans for Jews, all these were +blended with bitter scorn of the Jewish expectation that +some day Rome shall bow before a Hebrew conqueror, +in the mockery which Jesus now underwent, when they +clad Him in such cast-off purple as the Palace yielded, +thrust a reed into His pinioned hand, crowned Him +with thorns, beat these into His holy head with the +sceptre they had offered Him, and then proceeded to +render the homage of their nation to the Messiah of +Jewish hopes. It may have been this mockery which +suggested to Pilate the inscription for the cross. But +where is the mockery now? In crowning Him King +of sufferings, and Royal among those who weep, they +secured to Him the adherence of all hearts. Christ +was made perfect by the things which He suffered; +and it was not only in spite of insult and anguish but +by means of them that He drew all men unto Him. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Christ Crucified.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from +the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to <hi rend='italic'>go with them</hi>, that +he might bear His cross. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, +which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they offered +Him wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. And they +crucify Him, and part His garments among them, casting lots upon +them, what each should take. And it was the third hour, and they +crucified Him. And the superscription of His accusation was written +<pb n='425'/><anchor id='Pg425'/> +over, <hi rend='smallcaps'>the king of the jews</hi>. And with Him they crucify two +robbers; one on His right hand, and one on His left. And they that +passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ha! Thou +that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself, +and come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests +mocking <hi rend='italic'>Him</hi> among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; +Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now +come down from the cross, that we may see and believe. And +they that were crucified with Him reproached Him.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xv. 21-32 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +At last the preparations were complete and the interval +of mental agony was over. They led Him away to +crucify Him. And upon the road an event of mournful +interest took place. It was the custom to lay the two +arms of the cross upon the doomed man, fastening +them together at such an angle as to pass behind His +neck, while his hands were bound to the ends in front. +And thus it was that Jesus went forth bearing His +cross. Did He think of this when He bade us take +His yoke upon us? Did He wait for events to explain +the words, by making it visibly one and the same to +take His yoke and to take up our cross and follow +Him? +</p> + +<p> +On the road, however, they forced a reluctant stranger +to go with them that he might bear the cross. The +traditional reason is that our Redeemer's strength gave +way, and it became physically impossible for Him to +proceed; but this is challenged upon the ground that +to fail would have been unworthy of our Lord, and +would mar the perfection of His example. How so, +when the failure was a real one? Is there no fitness +in the belief that He who was tempted in all points like +as we are, endured this hardness also, of struggling +with the impossible demands of human cruelty, the +spirit indeed willing but the flesh weak? It is not +easy to believe that any other reason than manifest +<pb n='426'/><anchor id='Pg426'/> +inability, would have induced his persecutors to spare +Him one drop of bitterness, one throb of pain. The +noblest and most delicately balanced frame, like all +other exquisite machines, is not capable of the rudest +strain; and we know that Jesus had once sat wearied +by the well, while the hardy fishers went into the town, +and returned with bread. And this night our gentle +Master had endured what no common victim knew. +Long before the scourging, or even the buffeting began, +His spiritual exhaustion had needed that an angel from +heaven should strengthen Him. And the utmost possibility +of exertion was now reached: the spot where +they met Simon of Cyrene marks this melancholy limit; +and suffering henceforth must be purely passive. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot assert with confidence that Simon and +his family were saved by this event. The coercion put +upon him, the fact that he was seized and <q>impressed</q> +into the service, already seems to indicate sympathy with +Jesus. And we are fain to believe that he who received +the honour, so strange and sad and sacred, the unique +privilege of lifting some little of the crushing burden +of the Saviour, was not utterly ignorant of what he did. +We know at least that the names of his children, +Alexander and Rufus, were familiar in the Church for +which St. Mark was writing, and that in Rome a +Rufus was chosen in the Lord, and his mother was +like a mother to St. Paul (Rom. xvi. 13). With what +feelings may they have recalled the story, <q>him they +compelled to bear His cross.</q> +</p> + +<p> +They led Him to a place where the rounded summit +of a knoll had its grim name from some resemblance to +a human skull, and prepared the crosses there. +</p> + +<p> +It was the custom of the daughters of Jerusalem, +who lamented Him as He went, to provide a stupefying +<pb n='427'/><anchor id='Pg427'/> +draught for the sufferers of this atrocious cruelty. +<q>And they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but +He received it not,</q> although that dreadful thirst, which +was part of the suffering of crucifixion, had already +begun, for He only refused when He had tasted it. +</p> + +<p> +In so doing He rebuked all who seek to drown +sorrows or benumb the soul in wine, all who degrade +and dull their sensibilities by physical excess or indulgence, +all who would rather blind their intelligence +than pay the sharp cost of its exercise. He did not +condemn the use of anodynes, but the abuse of them. +It is one thing to suspend the senses during an operation, +and quite another thing by one's own choice +to pass into eternity without consciousness enough to +commit the soul into its Father's hands. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And they crucify Him.</q> Let the words remain +as the Evangelist left them, to tell their own story of +human sin, and of Divine love which many waters could +not quench, neither could the depths drown it. +</p> + +<p> +Only let us think in silence of all that those words +convey. +</p> + +<p> +In the first sharpness of mortal anguish, Jesus saw +His executioners sit down at ease, all unconscious +of the dread meaning of what was passing by their +side, to part His garments among them, and cast lots +for the raiment which they had stripped from His sacred +form. The Gospels are content thus to abandon those +relics about which so many legends have been woven. +But indeed all through these four wonderful narratives +the self-restraint is perfect. When the Epistles touch +upon the subject of the crucifixion they kindle into +flame. When St. Peter soon afterwards referred to it, +his indignation is beyond question, and Stephen called +the rulers betrayers and murderers (Acts ii. 23, 24; +<pb n='428'/><anchor id='Pg428'/> +iii. 13, 14; vii. 51-53) but not one single syllable of +complaint or comment mingles with the clear flow of +narrative in the four Gospels. The truth is that the +subject was too great, too fresh and vivid in their minds, +to be adorned or enlarged upon. What comment of +St. Mark, what mortal comment, could add to the weight +of the words <q>they crucify Him</q>? Men use no figures +of speech when telling how their own beloved one died. +But it was differently that the next age wrote about +the crucifixion; and perhaps the lofty self-restraint of +the Evangelists has never been attained again. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark tells us that He was crucified at the third +hour, whereas we read in St. John that it was <q>about +the sixth hour</q> when Pilate ascended the seat of +judgment (xix. 14). It seems likely that St. John used +the Roman reckoning, and his computation does not +pretend to be exact; while we must remember that +mental agitation conspired with the darkening of the +sky, to render such an estimate as he offers even more +than usually vague. +</p> + +<p> +It has been supposed that St. Mark's <q>third hour</q> +goes back to the scourging, which, as being a regular +part of Roman crucifixion, he includes, although inflicted +in this case before the sentence. But it will +prove quite as hard to reconcile this distribution of time +with <q>the sixth hour</q> in St. John, while it is at variance +with the context in which St. Mark asserts it. +</p> + +<p> +The small and bitter heart of Pilate keenly resented +his defeat and the victory of the priests. Perhaps it +was when his soldiers offered the scornful homage of +Rome to Israel and her monarch, that he saw the way +to a petty revenge. And all Jerusalem was scandalized +by reading the inscription over a crucified malefactor's +head, The King of the Jews. +</p> + +<pb n='429'/><anchor id='Pg429'/> + +<p> +It needs some reflection to perceive how sharp the +taunt was. A few years ago they had a king, but +the sceptre had departed from Judah; Rome had +abolished him. It was their hope that soon a native +king would for ever sweep away the foreigner from +their fields. But here the Roman exhibited the fate of +such a claim, and professed to inflict its horrors not +upon one whom they disavowed, but upon their king +indeed. We know how angrily and vainly they protested; +and again we seem to recognise the solemn +irony of Providence. For this was their true King, +and they, who resented the superscription, had fixed +their Anointed there. +</p> + +<p> +All the more they would disconnect themselves from +Him, and wreak their passion upon the helpless One +whom they hated. The populace mocked Him openly: +the chief priests, too cultivated to insult avowedly a +dying man, mocked Him <q>among themselves,</q> speaking +bitter words for Him to hear. The multitude repeated +the false charge which had probably done much to +inspire their sudden preference for Barabbas, <q>Thou +that destroyest the temple and buildest it again in three +days, save Thyself and come down from the cross.</q> +</p> + +<p> +They little suspected that they were recalling words +of consolation to His memory, reminding Him that all +this suffering was foreseen, and how it was all to end. +The chief priests spoke also a truth full of consolation, +<q>He saved others, Himself He cannot save,</q> although +it was no physical bar which forbade Him to accept +their challenge. And when they flung at Him His +favourite demand for faith, saying <q>Let the Christ, the +King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we +may see and believe</q> surely they reminded Him of the +great multitude who should not see, and yet should +<pb n='430'/><anchor id='Pg430'/> +believe, when He came back through the gates of +death. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the words they spoke could not afflict Him. +But what horror to the pure soul to behold these yawning +abysses of malignity, these gulfs of pitiless hate. The +affronts hurled at suffering and defeat by prosperous and +exultant malice are especially Satanic. Many diseases +inflict more physical pain than torturers ever invented, +but they do not excite the same horror, because gentle +ministries are there to charm away the despair which +human hate and execration conjure up. +</p> + +<p> +To add to the insult of His disgraceful death, the +Romans had crucified two robbers, doubtless from the +band of Barabbas, one upon each side of Jesus. We +know how this outrage led to the salvation of one of +them, and refreshed the heavy laden soul of Jesus, +oppressed by so much guilt and vileness, with the visible +firstfruit of His passion, giving Him to see of the travail +of His soul, by which He shall yet be satisfied. +</p> + +<p> +But in their first agony and despair, when all voices +were unanimous against the Blessed One, and they +too must needs find some outlet for their frenzy, they +both reproached Him. Thus the circle of human +wrong was rounded. +</p> + +<p> +The traitor, the deserters, the forsworn apostle, the +perjured witnesses, the hypocritical pontiff professing +horror at blasphemy while himself abjuring his national +hope, the accomplices in a sham trial, the murderer +of the Baptist and his men of war, the abject ruler +who declared Him innocent yet gave Him up to die, +the servile throng who waited on the priests, the +soldiers of Herod and of Pilate, the pitiless crowd +which clamoured for His blood, and they who mocked +Him in His agony,—not one of them whom Jesus did +<pb n='431'/><anchor id='Pg431'/> +not compassionate, whose cruelty had not power to +wring His heart. Disciple and foeman, Roman and +Jew, priest and soldier and judge, all had lifted up +their voice against Him. And when the comrades of +His passion joined the cry, the last ingredient of +human cruelty was infused into the cup which James +and John had once proposed to drink with Him. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Death Of Jesus.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the +whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried +with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, +My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And some of +them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth +Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a +reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah +cometh to take Him down. And Jesus uttered a loud voice, and gave +up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the +top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood by over against +Him, saw that He so gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was +the Son of God. And there were also women beholding from afar: +among whom <hi rend='italic'>were</hi> both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of +James the less and of Joses, and Salome; who, when He was in +Galilee, followed Him, and ministered unto Him; and many other +women which came up with Him unto Jerusalem.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xv. 33-41 +(R.V.). +</quote> + +<p> +Three hours of raging human passion, endured with +Godlike patience, were succeeded by three hours of +darkness, hushing mortal hatred into silence, and perhaps +contributing to the penitence of the reviler at His +side. It was a supernatural gloom, since an eclipse of +the sun was impossible during the full moon of Passover. +Shall we say that, as it shall be in the last days, +nature sympathized with humanity, and the angel of +the sun hid his face from his suffering Lord? +</p> + +<p> +Or was it the shadow of a still more dreadful eclipse, +<pb n='432'/><anchor id='Pg432'/> +for now the eternal Father veiled His countenance from +the Son in whom He was well pleased? +</p> + +<p> +In some true sense God forsook Him. And we have +to seek for a meaning of this awful statement—inadequate +no doubt, for all our thoughts must come short of +such a reality, but free from prevarication and evasion. +</p> + +<p> +It is wholly unsatisfactory to regard the verse as +merely the heading of a psalm, cheerful for the most +part, which Jesus inaudibly recited. Why was only +this verse uttered aloud? How false an impression +must have been produced upon the multitude, upon +St. John, upon the penitent thief, if Jesus were suffering +less than the extreme of spiritual anguish. Nay, we +feel that never before can the verse have attained its +fullest meaning, a meaning which no experience of +David could more than dimly shadow forth, since we +ask in our sorrows, Why have we forsaken God? but +Jesus said, Why hast Thou forsaken Me? +</p> + +<p> +And this unconsciousness of any reason for desertion +disproves the old notion that He felt Himself a sinner, +and <q>suffered infinite remorse, as being the chief +sinner in the universe, all the sins of mankind being +His.</q> One who felt thus could neither have addressed +God as <q>My God,</q> nor asked why He was forsaken. +</p> + +<p> +Still less does it allow us to believe that the Father +perfectly identified Jesus with sin, so as to be <q>wroth</q> +with Him, and even <q>to hate Him to the uttermost.</q> +Such notions, the offspring of theories carried to a wild +and irreverent extreme, when carefully examined impute +to the Deity confusion of thought, a mistaking of +the Holy One for a sinner or rather for the aggregate +of sinners. But it is very different when we pass from +the Divine consciousness to the bearing of God toward +Christ our representative, to the outshining or eclipse +<pb n='433'/><anchor id='Pg433'/> +of His favour. That this was overcast is manifest from +the fact that Jesus everywhere else addresses Him as +My Father, here only as My God. Even in the garden +it was Abba Father, and the change indicates not indeed +estrangement of heart, but certainly remoteness. +Thus we have the sense of desertion, combined with +the assurance which once breathed in the words, O God, +Thou art my God. +</p> + +<p> +Thus also it came to pass that He who never forfeited +the most intimate communion and sunny smile of +heaven, should yet give us an example at the last +of that utmost struggle and sternest effort of the soul, +which trusts without experience, without emotion, in +the dark, because God is God, not because I am happy. +</p> + +<p> +But they who would empty the death of Jesus of its +sacrificial import, and leave only the attraction and inspiration +of a sublime life and death, must answer the +hard questions, How came God to forsake the Perfect +One? Or, how came He to charge God with such +desertion? His follower, twice using this very word, +could boast that he was cast down yet not forsaken, and +that at his first trial all men forsook him, yet the Lord +stood by him (2 Cor. iv. 9; 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17). How +came the disciple to be above his Master? +</p> + +<p> +The only explanation is in His own word, that His +life is a ransom in exchange for many (Mark x. 45). +The chastisement of our peace, not the remorse of our +guiltiness, was upon Him. No wonder that St. Mark, +who turns aside from his narrative for no comment, +no exposition, was yet careful to preserve this alone +among the dying words of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +And the Father heard His Son. At that cry the mysterious +darkness passed away; and the soul of Jesus was +relieved from its burden, so that He became conscious +<pb n='434'/><anchor id='Pg434'/> +of physical suffering; and the mockery of the multitude +was converted into awe. It seemed to them that His +Eloi might indeed bring Elias, and the great and notable +day, and they were willing to relieve the thirst which +no stoical hardness forbade that gentlest of all sufferers +to confess. Thereupon the anguish that redeemed the +world was over; a loud voice told that exhaustion was +not complete; and yet Jesus <q>gave up the ghost.</q><note place='foot'>The ingenious and plausible attempt to show that His death was +caused by a physical rupture of the heart has one fatal weakness. +Death came too late for this; the severest pressure was already relieved.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Through the veil, that is to say His flesh, we have +boldness to enter into the holy place; and now that +He had opened the way, the veil of the temple was +rent asunder by no mortal hand, but downward from +the top. The way into the holiest was visibly thrown +open, when sin was expiated, which had forfeited our +right of access. +</p> + +<p> +And the centurion, seeing that His death itself was +abnormal and miraculous, and accompanied with +miraculous signs, said, Truly this was a righteous man. +But such a confession could not rest there: if He was +this, He was all He claimed to be; and the mockery of +His enemies had betrayed the secret of their hate; He +was the Son of God. +</p> + +<p> +<q>When the centurion saw</q> ... <q>There were also +many women beholding.</q> Who can overlook the connection? +Their gentle hearts were not to be utterly overwhelmed: +as the centurion saw and drew his inference, +so they beheld, and felt, however dimly, amid sorrows +that benumb the mind, that still, even in such wreck +and misery, God was not far from Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +When the Lord said, It is finished, there was not only +an end of conscious anguish, but also of contempt and +<pb n='435'/><anchor id='Pg435'/> +insult. His body was not to see corruption, nor was a +bone to be broken, nor should it remain in hostile hands. +</p> + +<p> +Respect for Jewish prejudice prevented the Romans +from leaving it to moulder on the cross, and the +approaching Sabbath was not one to be polluted. And +knowing this, Joseph of Arimathæa boldly went in to +Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. It was only +secretly and in fear that he had been a disciple, but the +deadly crisis had developed what was hidden, he had +opposed the crime of his nation in their council, and in +the hour of seeming overthrow he chose the good part. +Boldly the timid one <q>went in,</q> braving the scowls of +the priesthood, defiling himself moreover, and forfeiting +his share in the sacred feast, in hope to win the further +defilement of contact with the dead. +</p> + +<p> +Pilate was careful to verify so rapid a death; but when +he was certain of the fact, <q>he granted the corpse to +Joseph,</q> as a worthless thing. His frivolity is expressed +alike in the unusual verb<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>I.e.</hi> in the New Testament, where it occurs but once besides.</note> and substantive: he <q>freely-bestowed,</q> +he <q>gave away</q> not <q>the body</q> as when +Joseph spoke of it, but <q>the corpse,</q> the fallen thing, +like a prostrated and uprooted tree that shall revive no +more. Wonderful it is to reflect that God had entered +into eternal union with what was thus given away to +the only man of rank who cared to ask for it. Wonderful +to think what opportunities of eternal gain men +are content to lose; what priceless treasures are given +away, or thrown away as worthless. Wonderful to +imagine the feelings of Joseph in heaven to-day, as he +gazes with gratitude and love upon the glorious Body +which once, for a little, was consigned to his reverent care. +</p> + +<p> +St. John tells us that Nicodemus brought a hundred +pound weight of myrrh and aloes, and they together +<pb n='436'/><anchor id='Pg436'/> +wrapped Him in these, in the linen which had been +provided; and Joseph laid Him in his own new tomb, +undesecrated by mortality. +</p> + +<p> +And there Jesus rested. His friends had no such +hope as would prevent them from closing the door with +a great stone. His enemies set a watch, and sealed +the stone. The broad moon of Passover made the +night as clear as the day, and the multitude of +strangers, who thronged the city and its suburbs, rendered +any attempt at robbery even more hopeless than +at another season. +</p> + +<p> +What indeed could the trembling disciples of an +executed pretender do with such an object as a dead +body? What could they hope from the possession of +it? But if they did not steal it, if the moral glories of +Christianity are not sprung from deliberate mendacity, +why was the body not produced, to abash the wild +dreams of their fanaticism? It was fearfully easy to +identify. The scourging, the cross, and the spear, left +no slight evidence behind, and the broken bones of +the malefactors completed the absolute isolation of the +sacred body of the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +The providence of God left no precaution unsupplied +to satisfy honest and candid inquiry. It remained to +be seen, would He leave Christ's soul in Hades, or +suffer His Holy One (such is the epithet applied to the +body of Jesus) to see corruption? +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, through what is called three days and +nights—a space which touched, but only touched, the +confines of a first and third day, as well as the Saturday +which intervened, Jesus shared the humiliation of +common men, the divorce of soul and body. He slept +as sleep the dead, but His soul was where He promised +that the penitent should come, refreshed in Paradise. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='437'/><anchor id='Pg437'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XVI.</head> + +<div> +<head>Christ Risen.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the +<hi rend='italic'>mother</hi> of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and +anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they come to +the tomb when the sun was risen. And they were saying among themselves, +Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb? +and looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back: for it was exceeding +great. And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man +sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe, and they were amazed. +And he saith unto them, Be not amazed; ye seek Jesus, the Nazarene, +Which hath been crucified: He is risen; He is not here: behold, the +place where they laid Him! But go, tell His disciples and Peter, He +goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto +you. And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and +astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one; +for they were afraid. Now when He was risen early on the first day of +the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had +cast out seven devils. She went and told them that had been with Him, +as they mourned and wept. And they, when they heard that He was +alive, and had been seen of her, disbelieved. And after these things +He was manifested in another form unto two of them, as they walked, +on their way into the country. And they went away and told it unto +the rest: neither believed they them. And afterward He was manifested +unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and He upbraided +them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they +believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen. And He +said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the +whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; +but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. And these signs shall +follow them that believe: in My name shall they cast out devils; they +shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they +drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay +hands on the sick, and they shall recover.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> xvi. 1-18 (R.V.). +</quote> + +<pb n='438'/><anchor id='Pg438'/> + +<p> +The Gospels were not written for the curious but +for the devout. They are most silent therefore +where myth and legend would be most garrulous, and +it is instructive to seek, in the story of Jesus, for +anything similar to the account of the Buddha's +enlightenment under the Bo tree. We read nothing +of the interval in Hades; nothing of the entry of His +crowned and immortal body into the presence chamber +of God; nothing of the resurrection. Did He awake +alone? Was He waited upon by the hierarchy of +heaven, who robed Him in raiment unknown to men? +We are only told what concerns mankind, the sufficient +manifestation of Jesus to His disciples. +</p> + +<p> +And to harmonise the accounts a certain effort is +necessary, because they tell of interviews with men and +women who had to pass through all the vicissitudes +of despair, suspense, rapturous incredulity,<note place='foot'>Can anything surpass that masterstroke of insight and descriptive +power, <q>they still disbelieved for joy</q> (Luke xxiv. 41).</note> and faith. +Each of them contributes a portion of the tale. +</p> + +<p> +From St. John we learn that Mary Magdalene came +early to the sepulchre, from St. Matthew that others +were with her, from St. Mark that these women, dissatisfied +with the unskilful ministrations of men (and +men whose rank knew nothing of such functions), had +brought sweet spices to anoint Him Who was about to +claim their adoration; St. John tells how Mary, seeing +the empty sepulchre, ran to tell Peter and John of its +desecration; the others, that in her absence an angel +told the glad tidings to the women; St. Mark, that +Mary was the first to whom Jesus Himself appeared. +And thenceforth the narrative more easily falls into its +place. +</p> + +<pb n='439'/><anchor id='Pg439'/> + +<p> +This confusion, however perplexing to thoughtless +readers, is inevitable in the independent histories of +such events, derived from the various parties who delighted +to remember, each what had befallen himself. +</p> + +<p> +But even a genuine contradiction would avail nothing +to refute the substantial fact. When the generals of +Henry the Fourth strove to tell him what passed after +he was wounded at Aumale, no two of them agreed in +the course of events which gave them victory. Two +armies beheld the battle of Waterloo, but who can tell +when it began? At ten o'clock, said the Duke of +Wellington. At half past eleven, said General Alava, +who rode beside him. At twelve according to Napoleon +and Drouet; and at one according to Ney. +</p> + +<p> +People who doubt the reality of the resurrection, +because the harmony of the narratives is underneath +the surface, do not deny these facts. They are part +of history. Yet it is certain that the resurrection of +Jesus colours the history of the world more powerfully +to-day, than the events which are so much more recent. +</p> + +<p> +If Christ were not risen, how came these despairing +men and women by their new hope, their energy, their +success among the very men who slew Him? If Christ +be not risen, how has the morality of mankind been +raised? Was it ever known that a falsehood exercised +for ages a quickening and purifying power which no +truth can rival? +</p> + +<p> +From the ninth verse to the end of St. Mark's account +it is curiously difficult to decide on the true reading. +And it must be said that the note in the Revised Version, +however accurate, does not succeed in giving any notion +of the strength of the case in favour of the remainder +of the Gospel. It tells us that the two oldest manuscripts +omit them, but we do not read that in one of +<pb n='440'/><anchor id='Pg440'/> +these a space is left for the insertion of something, +known by the scribe to be wanting there. Nor does it +mention the twelve manuscripts of almost equal antiquity +in which they are contained, nor the early date +at which they were quoted. +</p> + +<p> +The evidence appears to lean towards the belief +that they were added in a later edition, or else torn off +in an early copy from which some transcribers worked. +But unbelief cannot gain anything by converting them +into a separate testimony, of the very earliest antiquity, +to events related in each of the other Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +And the uncertainty itself will be wholesome if it +reminds us that saving faith is not to be reposed in +niceties of criticism, but in a living Christ, the power +and wisdom of God. Jesus blamed men for thinking +that they had eternal life in their inspired Scriptures, +and so refusing to come for life to Him, of Whom those +Scriptures testified. Has sober criticism ever shaken +for one hour that sacred function of Holy Writ? +</p> + +<p> +What then is especially shown us in the closing +words of St. Mark? +</p> + +<p> +Readiness to requite even a spark of grace, and to +bless with the first tidings of a risen Redeemer the +love which sought only to embalm His corpse. Tender +care for the fallen and disheartened, in the message +sent especially to Peter. Immeasurable condescension, +such as rested formerly, a Babe, in a peasant woman's +arms, and announced its Advent to shepherds, now appearing +first of all to a woman <q>out of whom He had +cast seven devils.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A state of mind among the disciples, far indeed from +that rapt and hysterical enthusiasm which men have +fancied, ready to be whirled away in a vortex of religious +propagandism (and to whirl the whole world after +<pb n='441'/><anchor id='Pg441'/> +it), upon the impulse of dreams, hallucinations, voices +mistaken on a misty shore, longings which begot convictions. +Jesus Himself, and no second, no messenger +from Jesus, inspired the zeal which kindled mankind. +The disciples, mourning and weeping, found the glad +tidings incredible, while Mary who had seen Him, +believed. When two, as they walked, beheld Him +in another shape, the rest remained incredulous, +announcing indeed that He had actually risen and +appeared unto Peter, yet so far from a true conviction +that when He actually came to them, they supposed +that they beheld a spirit (Luke xxiv. 34, 37). Yet He +looked in the face those pale discouraged Galileans, +and bade them go into all the world, bearing to the +whole creation the issues of eternal life and death. +And they went forth, and the power and intellect of +the world are won. Whatever unbelievers think about +individual souls, it is plain that the words of the +Nazarene have proved true for communities and nations, +He that believeth and is baptised has been saved, He +that believeth not has been condemned. The nation +and kingdom that has not served Christ has perished. +</p> + +<p> +Nor does any one pretend that the agents in this +marvellous movement were insincere. If all this was +a dream, it was a strange one surely, and demands to +be explained. If it was otherwise, no doubt the finger +of God has come unto us. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='442'/><anchor id='Pg442'/> + +<div> +<head>The Ascension.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q>So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken unto them, was +received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And +they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with +them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mark</hi> +xvi. 19-20 (R.V.) +</quote> + +<p> +We have reached the close of the great Gospel of the +energies of Jesus, His toils, His manner, His searching +gaze, His noble indignation, His love of children, the +consuming zeal by virtue of which He was not more +truly the Lamb of God than the Lion of the tribe of +Judah. St. Mark has just recorded how He bade His +followers carry on His work, defying the serpents of +the world, and renewing the plague-stricken race of +Adam. In what strength did they fulfil this commission? +How did they fare without the Master? And +what is St. Mark's view of the Ascension? +</p> + +<p> +Here, as all through the Gospel, minor points are +neglected. Details are only valued when they carry +some aid for the special design of the Evangelist, who +presses to the core of his subject at once and boldly. +As he omitted the bribes with which Satan tempted +Jesus, and cared not for the testimony of the Baptist +when the voice of God was about to peal from heaven +over the Jordan, as on the holy mount he told not +the subject of which Moses and Elijah spoke, but how +Jesus Himself predicted His death to His disciples, so +now He is silent about the mountain slope, the final +benediction, the cloud which withdrew Him from their +sight and the angels who sent back the dazed apostles +to their homes and their duties. It is not caprice nor +haste that omits so much interesting information. His +mind is fixed on a few central thoughts; what concerns +<pb n='443'/><anchor id='Pg443'/> +him is to link the mighty story of the life and death of +Jesus with these great facts, that He was received up +into Heaven, that He there sat down upon the right +hand of God, and that His disciples were never forsaken +of Him at all, but proved, by the miraculous +spread of the early Church, that His power was among +them still. St. Mark does not record the promise, but +he asserts the fact that Christ was with them all the +days. There is indeed a connection between his two +closing verses, subtle and hard to render into English, +and yet real, which suggests the notion of balance, of +relation between the two movements, the ascent of +Jesus, and the evangelisation of the world, such as +exists, for example, between detachments of an army +co-operating for a common end, so that our Lord, for +His part, ascended, while the disciples, for their part, +went forth and found Him with them still. +</p> + +<p> +But the link is plainer which binds the Ascension to +His previous story of suffering and conflict. It was +<q>then,</q> and <q>after He had spoken unto them,</q> that +<q>the Lord Jesus was received up.</q> In truth His +ascension was but the carrying forward to completion +of His resurrection, which was not a return to the poor +conditions of our mortal life, but an entrance into glory, +only arrested in its progress until He should have quite +convinced His followers that <q>it is I indeed,</q> and made +them understand that <q>thus it is written that the Christ +should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third +day,</q> and filled them with holy shame for their unbelief, +and with courage for their future course, so strange, so +weary, so sublime. +</p> + +<p> +There is something remarkable in the words, <q>He +was received up into heaven.</q> We habitually speak +of Him as ascending, but Scripture more frequently +<pb n='444'/><anchor id='Pg444'/> +declares that He was the subject of the action of +another, and was taken up. St. Luke tells us that, +<q>while they worshipped, He was carried up into +heaven,</q> and again <q>He was received up.... He +was taken up</q> (Luke xxiv. 51; Acts i. 2, 9). Physical +interference is not implied: no angels bore Him aloft; +and the narratives make it clear that His glorious Body, +obedient to its new mysterious nature, arose unaided. +But the decision to depart, and the choice of a time, +came not from Him: He did not go, but was taken. +Never hitherto had He glorified Himself. He had +taught His disciples to be contented in the lowest room +until the Master of the house should bid them come up +higher. And so, when His own supreme victory is +won, and heaven held its breath expectant and astonished, +the conquering Lord was content to walk with +peasants by the Lake of Galilee and on the slopes of +Olivet until the appointed time. What a rebuke to us +who chafe and fret if the recognition of our petty merits +be postponed. +</p> + +<p> +<q>He was received up into heaven!</q> What sublime +mysteries are covered by that simple phrase. It was +He who taught us to make, even of the mammon of +unrighteousness, friends who shall welcome us, when +mammon fails and all things mortal have deserted us, +into everlasting habitations. With what different greetings, +then, do men enter the City of God. Some converts +of the death bed perhaps there are, who scarcely +make their way to heaven, alone, unhailed by one +whom they saved or comforted, and like a vessel which +struggles into port, with rent cordage and tattered sails, +only not a wreck. Others, who aided some few, sparing +a little of their means and energies, are greeted and +blessed by a scanty group. But even our chieftains and +<pb n='445'/><anchor id='Pg445'/> +leaders, the martyrs, sages and philanthropists whose +names brighten the annals of the Church, what is their +influence, and how few have they reached, compared +with that great multitude whom none can number, of +all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, who +cry with a loud voice, Salvation unto our God who +sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Through +Him it pleased the Father to reconcile all things unto +Himself, through Him, whether things upon the earth +or things in the heavens. And surely the supreme +hour in the history of the universe was when, in flesh, +the sore stricken but now the all-conquering Christ re-entered +His native heaven. +</p> + +<p> +And He sat down at the right hand of God. The +expression is, beyond all controversy, borrowed from +that great Psalm which begins by saying, <q>The Lord +said unto my Lord, Sit thou at My right hand,</q> and +which presently makes the announcement never +revealed until then, <q>Thou art a Priest for ever after +the order of Melchizedec</q> (Ps. cx. 1, 4). It is therefore +an anticipation of the argument for the royal +Priesthood of Jesus which is developed in the Epistle +to the Hebrews. Now priesthood is a human function: +every high priest is chosen from among men. And +the Ascension proclaims to us, not the Divinity of the +Eternal Word but the glorification of <q>the Lord +Jesus;</q> not the omnipotence of God the Son, but that +all power is committed unto Him Who is not ashamed +to call us brethren, that His human hands wield the +sceptre as once they held the reed, and the brows then +insulted and torn with thorns are now crowned with +many crowns. In the overthrow of Satan He won +all, and infinitely more than all, of that vast bribe +which Satan once offered for His homage, and the +<pb n='446'/><anchor id='Pg446'/> +angels for ever worship Him who would not for a +moment bend His knee to evil. +</p> + +<p> +Now since He conquered not for Himself but as +Captain of our Salvation, the Ascension also proclaims +the issue of all the holy suffering, all the baffled efforts, +all the cross-bearing of all who follow Christ. +</p> + +<p> +His High Priesthood is with authority. <q>Every +high priest standeth,</q> but He has for ever sat down +on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the +heavens, a Priest sitting upon His throne (Heb. viii. 1; +Zech. vi. 13). And therefore it is His office, Who +pleads for us and represents us, Himself to govern +our destinies. No wonder that His early followers, +with minds which He had opened to understand the +Scriptures, were mighty to cast down strongholds. +Against tribulation and anguish and persecution and +famine and nakedness and peril and sword they were +more than conquerors through Him. For He worked +with them and confirmed His word with signs. And +we have seen that He works with His people still, and +still confirms His gospel, only withdrawing signs of +one order as those of another kind are multiplied. +Wherever they wage a faithful battle, He gives them +victory. Whenever they cry to Him in anguish, the +form of the Son of God is with them in the furnace, +and the smell of fire does not pass upon them. Where +they come, the desert blossoms as a rose; and where +they are received, the serpents of life no longer sting, +its fevers grow cool, and the demons which rend it are +cast out. +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> |