,the ,expositor's ,bible ,the ,gospel ,according to ,st4 ,mark ,by ,the ,very ,rev4 ,g4 ,a4 ,chadwick1 ,d4,d4 ,dean of ,armagh ,hodder ,stoughton ,new ,york ,george ,h4 ,doran ,company #aijj ,,contents ,chapter ,i4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,chapter ,v4 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,chapter ,,vii4 ,chapter ,,viii4 ,chapter ,,ix4 ,chapter ,x4 ,chapter ,,xi4 ,chapter ,,xii4 ,chapter ,,xiii4 ,chapter ,,xiv4 ,chapter ,,xv4 ,chapter ,,xvi4 ,footnotes ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,beginning ,of ,the ,gospel4 8,the beginning of the gospel of ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 ,even as it is written in ,isaiah the prophet1 ,behold1 ,i send ,my messenger before ,thy face1 who shall prepare ,thy way2 ,the voice of one crying in the wilderness1 ,make ye ready the way of the ,lord1 ,make ,his paths straight2 ,john came1 who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins4 ,and there went out unto him all the country of ,juda1 and all they of ,jerusalem2 and they were baptized of him in the river ,jordan1 confessing their sins4 ,and ,john was clothed with camel's hair1 and had a leathern girdle about his loins1 and did eat locusts and wild honey40--,,mark1 i4 #a-f 7,r4,v474 ,the opening of ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel is energetic and full of character4 ,st4 ,matthew traces for ,jews the pedigree of their ,messiah2 ,st4 ,luke's worldwide sympathies linger with the maiden who bore ,jesus1 and the village of ,his boyhood2 and ,st4 ,john's theology proclaims the ,divine origin of the ,eternal ,lord4 ,but ,st4 ,mark trusts the public acts of the ,mighty ,worker to do for the reader what they did for those who first 8beheld ,his glory40 ,how ,he came to earth can safely be left untold3 what ,he was will appear by what ,he wrought4 ,it is enough to record1 with matchless vividness1 the toils1 the energy1 the love and wrath1 the defeat and triumph of the brief career which changed the world4 ,it will prove itself to be the career of 8the ,son of ,god40 ,in so deciding1 he followed the example of the ,apostolic teaching4 ,the first vacant place among the ,twelve was filled by an eye-witness1 competent to tell what ,jesus did 8from the baptism of ,john to the day when ,he was received up10 the very space covered by this ,gospel4 ,that 8,gospel of peace10 which ,cornelius heard from ,st4 ,peter 7and hearing1 received the ,holy ,ghost7 was the same story of ,jesus 8after the baptism which ,john preached40 ,and this is throughout the substance of the primitive teaching4 ,the ,apostles act as men who believe that everything necessary to salvation is 7implicit or explicit7 in the history of those few crowded years4 ,therefore this is 8the gospel40 ,men there are who judge otherwise1 and whose gospel is not the story of salvation wrought1 but the plan of salvation applied1 how the ,atonement avails for us1 how men are converted1 and what privileges they then receive4 ,but in truth men are not converted by preaching conversion1 any more than citizens are made loyal by demanding loyalty4 ,show men their prince1 and convince them that he is gracious and truly royal1 and they will die for him4 ,show them the ,prince of ,life1 and ,he1 being lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,him2 and thus the truest gospel is that which declares ,christ and ,him crucified4 ,as all science springs from the phenomena of the external world1 so do theology and religion spring from the life of ,him who was too adorable to be mortal1 and too loving to be disobeyed4 ,therefore ,st4 ,paul declares that the gospel which he preached to the ,corinthians and by which they were saved1 was1 that ,christ died for our sins and was buried and rose again1 and was seen of sufficient witnesses 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #a-h74 ,and therefore ,st4 ,mark is contented with a very brief record of those wondrous years2 a few facts1 chosen with a keen sense of the intense energy and burning force which they reveal1 are what he is inspired to call the gospel4 ,he presently uses the word in a somewhat larger sense1 telling how ,jesus ,himself1 before the story of ,his life could possibly be unfolded1 preached as 8the gospel of ,god0 that 8the time is fulfilled1 and the kingdom of ,god is at hand10 and added 7what ,st4 ,mark only has preserved for us71 8,repent1 and believe in the gospel0 7i4 #ad-ae74 ,so too it is part of ,st4 ,paul's 8gospel0 that 8,god shall judge the secrets of men by ,jesus ,christ0 7,rom4 ii4 #af74 ,for this also is good news of ,god1 8the gospel of the kingdom40 ,and like 8the gospel of ,jesus ,christ10 it treats of ,his attitude toward us1 more than ours toward ,him1 which latter is the result rather than the substance of it4 ,that ,he rules1 and not the devil2 that we shall answer at last to ,him and to none lower2 that ,satan lied when he claimed to possess all the kingdoms of the earth1 and to dispose of them2 that ,christ has now received from far different hands 8all power on earth02 this is a gospel which the world has not yet learned to welcome1 nor the ,church fully to proclaim4 ,now the scriptural use of this term is quite as important to religious emotion as to accuracy of thought4 ,all true emotions hide their fountain too deep for self-consciousness to find4 ,we feel best when our feeling is forgotten4 ,not while we think about finding peace1 but while we approach ,god as a ,father1 and are anxious for nothing1 but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make known our requests1 is it promised that the peace of ,god which passeth all understanding shall guard our hearts and our thoughts 7,phil4 iv4 #g74 ,and many a soul of the righteous1 whom faith in the true gospel fills with trembling adoration1 is made sad by the inflexible demand for certain realised personal experiences as the title to recognition as a ,christian4 ,that great title belonged at the first to all who would learn of ,jesus3 the disciples were called ,christians4 ,to acquaint ourselves with ,him1 that is to be at peace4 ,meantime1 we observe that the new movement which now begins is not1 like ,judaism1 a law which brings death2 nor like ,buddhism1 a path in which one must walk as best he may3 it differs from all other systems in being essentially the announcement of good tidings from above4 ,yet 8the beginning of the gospel of ,jesus ,christ0 is a profound agitation and widespread alarm4 ,lest the soothing words of ,jesus should blend like music with the slumber of sinners at ease in ,zion1 ,john came preaching repentance1 and what is more1 a baptism of repentance2 not such a lustration as was most familiar to the ,mosaic law1 administered by the worshipper to himself1 but an ablution at other hands1 a confession that one is not only soiled1 but soiled beyond all cleansing of his own4 ,formal ,judaism was one long struggle for self-purification4 ,the dawn of a new system is visible in the movement of all ,juda towards one who bids them throw every such hope away1 and come to him for the baptism of repentance1 and expect ,a ,greater ,one1 who shall baptize them with the ,holy ,ghost and with fire4 ,and the true function of the predicted herald1 the best levelling of the rugged ways of humanity for the ,promised ,one to traverse1 was in this universal diffusion of the sense of sin4 ,for ,christ was not come to call the righteous1 but sinners to repentance4 ,in truth1 the movement of the ,baptist1 with its double aspect1 gathers up all the teaching of the past4 ,he produced conviction1 and he promised help4 ,one lesson of all sacred history is universal failure4 ,the innocence of ,eden cannot last4 ,the law with its promise of life to the man who doeth these things1 issued practically in the knowledge of sin2 it entered that sin might abound2 it made a formal confession of universal sin1 year by year1 continually4 ,and therefore its fitting close was a baptism of repentance universally accepted4 ,alas1 not universally4 ,for while we read of all the nation swayed by one impulse1 and rushing to the stern teacher who had no share in its pleasures or its luxuries1 whose life was separated from its concerns1 and whose food was the simplest that could sustain existence1 yet we know that when they heard how deep his censures pierced1 and how unsparingly he scourged their best loved sins1 the loudest professors of religion rejected the counsel of ,god against themselves1 being not baptized of ,him4 ,nevertheless1 by coming to ,him1 they also had pleaded guilty4 ,something they needed2 they were sore at heart1 and would have welcomed any soothing balm1 although they refused the surgeon's knife4 ,the law did more than convict men2 it inspired hope4 ,the promise of a ,redeemer shone like a rainbow across the dark story of the past4 ,he was the end of all the types1 at once the ,victim and the ,priest4 ,to ,him gave all the prophets witness1 and the ,baptist brought all past attainment to its full height1 and was 8more than a prophet0 when he announced the actual presence of the ,christ1 when he pointed out to the first two ,apostles1 the ,lamb of ,god4 ,at ,the ,jordan4 8,and he preached1 saying1 ,there cometh after me ,he that is mightier than ,i1 the latchet of whose shoes ,i am not worthy to stoop down and unloose4 ,i baptized you with water2 but ,he shall baptize you with the ,holy ,ghost4 ,and it came to pass in those days1 that ,jesus came from ,nazareth of ,galilee1 and was baptized of ,john in the ,jordan4 ,and straightway coming up out of the water1 ,he saw the heavens rent asunder1 and the ,spirit as a dove descending upon ,him3 and a voice came out of the heavens1 ,thou art ,my ,beloved ,son1 in ,thee ,i am well pleased40--,,mark i4 #g-aa 7,r4,v474 ,it was when all men mused in their hearts whether ,john was the ,christ or no1 that he announced the coming of a ,stronger ,one4 ,by thus promptly silencing a whisper1 so honourable to himself1 he showed how strong he really was1 and how unselfish 8a friend of the ,bridegroom40 ,nor was this the vague humility of phrase which is content to be lowly in general1 so long as no specified individual stands higher4 ,his word is definite1 and accepts much for himself4 8,the ,stronger ,one than ,i cometh10 and it is in presence of the might of ,jesus 7whom yet this fiery reformer called a ,lamb71 that he feels himself unworthy to bend to the dust and unbind the latchets or laces of his shoe4 ,so then1 though asceticism be sometimes good1 it is consciously not the highest nor the most effective goodness4 ,perhaps it is the most impressive4 ,without a miracle1 the preaching of ,john shook the nation as widely as that of ,jesus melted it1 and prepared men's hearts for ,his4 ,a king consulted and feared him4 ,and when the ,pharisees were at open feud with ,jesus1 they feared to be stoned if they should pronounce ,john's baptism to be of men4 ,yet is there weakness lurking even in the very quality which gives asceticism its power4 ,that stern seclusion from an evil world1 that peremptory denial of its charms1 why are they so impressive8 ,because they set an example to those who are hard beset1 of the one way of escape1 the cutting off of the hand and foot1 the plucking out of the eye4 ,and our ,lord enjoins such mutilation of the life upon those whom its gifts betray4 ,yet is it as the halt and maimed that such men enter into life4 ,the ascetic is a man who needs to sternly repress and deny his impulses1 who is conscious of traitors within his breast that may revolt if the enemy be suffered to approach too near4 ,it is harder to be a holy friend of publicans and sinners1 a witness for ,god while eating and drinking with these1 than to remain in the desert undefiled4 ,it is greater to convert a sinful woman in familiar converse by the well1 than to shake trembling multitudes by threats of the fire for the chaff and the axe for the barren tree4 ,and ,john confessed this4 ,in the supreme moment of his life1 he added his own confession to that of all his nation4 ,this rugged ascetic had need to be baptized of ,him who came eating and drinking4 ,nay1 he taught that all his work was but superficial1 a baptism with water to reach the surface of men's life1 to check1 at the most1 exaction and violence and neglect of the wants of others1 while the ,greater ,one should baptize with the ,holy ,ghost1 should pierce the depths of human nature1 and thoroughly purge ,his floor4 ,nothing could refute more clearly than our three simple narratives1 the sceptical notion that ,jesus yielded for awhile to the dominating influence of the ,baptist4 ,only from the ,gospels can we at all connect the two4 ,and what we read here is1 that before ,jesus came1 ,john expected his ,superior2 that when they met1 ,john declared his own need to be baptized of ,him1 that he1 nevertheless1 submitted to the will of ,jesus1 and thereupon heard a voice from the heavens which must for ever have destroyed all notion of equality2 that afterwards he only saw ,jesus at a distance1 and made a confession which transferred two of his disciples to our ,lord4 ,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 record4 ,and it too palpably springs from the need to find some human inspiration for the ,word of ,god1 some candle from which the ,sun of ,righteousness took fire1 if one would escape the confession that ,he is not of this world4 ,but here we meet a deeper question3 ,not why ,jesus accepted baptism from an inferior1 but why1 being sinless1 ,he sought for a baptism of repentance4 ,how is this act consistent with absolute and stainless purity8 ,now it sometimes lightens a difficulty to find that it is not occasional nor accidental1 but wrought deep into the plan of a consistent work4 ,and the ,gospels are consistent in representing the innocence of ,jesus as refusing immunity from the consequences of guilt4 ,he was circumcised1 and ,his mother then paid the offering commanded by the law1 although both these actions spoke of defilement4 ,in submitting to the likeness of sinful flesh ,he submitted to its conditions4 ,he was present at feasts in which national confessions led up to sacrifice1 and the sacrificial blood was sprinkled to make atonement for the children of ,israel1 because of all their sins4 ,when ,he tasted death itself1 which passed upon all men1 for that all have sinned1 ,he carried out to the utmost the same stern rule to which at ,his baptism ,he consciously submitted4 ,nor will any theory of ,his atonement suffice1 which is content with believing that ,his humiliations and sufferings1 though inevitable1 were only collateral results of contact with our fallen race4 ,baptism was avoidable1 and that without any compromise of ,his influence1 since the ,pharisees refused it with impunity1 and ,john would fain have exempted ,him4 ,here at least ,he was not 8entangled in the machinery10 but deliberately turned the wheels upon ,himself4 ,and this is the more impressive because1 in another aspect of affairs1 ,he claimed to be out of the reach of ceremonial defilement1 and touched without reluctance disease1 leprosy and the dead4 ,humiliating and penal consequences of sin1 to these ,he bowed ,his head4 ,yet to a confession of personal taint1 never4 ,and all the accounts agree that ,he never was less conscience-stricken than when ,he shared the baptism of repentance4 ,st4 ,matthew implies1 what ,st4 ,luke plainly declares1 that ,he did not come to baptism along with the crowds of penitents1 but separately4 ,and at the point where all others made confession1 in the hour when even the ,baptist1 although filled with the ,holy ,ghost from his mother's womb1 had need to be baptized1 ,he only felt the propriety1 the fitness of fulfilling all righteousness4 ,that mighty task was not even a yoke to ,him1 it was an instinct like that of beauty to an artist1 it was what became ,him4 ,st4 ,mark omits even this evidence of sinlessness4 ,his energetic method is like that of a great commander1 who seizes at all costs the vital point upon the battle field4 ,he constantly omits what is subordinate 7although very conscious of the power of graphic details71 when by so doing he can force the central thought upon the mind4 ,here he concentrates our attention upon the witness from above1 upon the rending asunder of the heavens which unfold all their heights over a bended head1 upon the visible descent of the ,holy ,spirit in ,his fulness1 upon the voice from the heavens which pealed through the souls of these two peerless worshippers1 and proclaimed that ,he who had gone down to the baptismal flood was no sinner to be forgiven1 but the beloved ,son of ,god1 in whom ,he is well pleased4 ,that is our ,evangelist's answer to all misunderstanding of the rite1 and it is enough4 ,how do men think of heaven8 ,perhaps only as a remote point in space1 where flames a material and solid structure into which it is the highest bliss to enter4 ,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 is4 ,if1 however1 only this be heaven1 we should hold that in the revolutions of the solar system it hung just then vertically above the ,jordan1 a few fathoms or miles aloft4 ,but we also believe in a spiritual city1 in which the pillars are living saints1 an all-embracing blessedness and rapture and depth of revelation1 whereinto holy mortals in their highest moments have been 8caught up10 a heaven whose angels ascend and descend upon the ,son of man4 ,in this hour of highest consecration1 these heavens were thrown open--rent asunder--for the gaze of our ,lord and of the ,baptist4 ,they were opened again when the first martyr died4 ,and we read that what eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor heart conceived of the preparation of ,god for them that love ,him1 ,he hath already revealed to them by ,his ,spirit4 ,to others there is only cloud or 8the infinite azure10 as to the the crowd by the ,jordan and the murderers of ,stephen4 ,now it is to be observed that we never read of ,jesus being caught up into heaven for a space1 like ,st4 ,paul or ,st4 ,john4 ,what we read is1 that while on earth the ,son of man is in ,heaven 7,john iii4 #ac717a7 for heaven is the manifestation of ,god1 whose truest glory was revealed in the grace and truth of ,jesus4 ,along with this revelation1 the ,holy ,spirit was manifested wondrously4 ,his appearance1 indeed1 is quite unlike what it was to others4 ,at ,pentecost ,he became visible1 but since each disciple received only a portion1 8according to his several ability10 his fitting symbol was 8tongues parting asunder like as of fire40 ,he came as an element powerful and pervasive1 not as a ,personality bestowed in all ,his vital force on any one4 ,so1 too1 the phrase which ,john used1 when predicting that ,jesus should baptize with the ,holy ,ghost1 slightly though it differs from what is here1 implies7#b7 that only a portion is to be given1 not the fulness4 ,and the angel who foretold to ,zacharias that ,john himself should be filled with the ,holy ,ghost1 conveyed the same limitation in his words4 ,john received all that he was able to receive3 he was filled4 ,but how should mortal capacity exhaust the fulness of ,deity8 ,and ,who is this1 upon ,whom1 while ,john is but an awe-stricken beholder1 the ,spirit of ,god descends in all completeness1 a living organic unity1 like a dove8 ,only the ,infinite is capable of receiving such a gift1 and this is ,he in ,whom dwelleth all the fulness of the ,godhead bodily4 ,no wonder then that 8in bodily form0 as a dove1 the ,spirit of ,god descended upon ,him alone4 ,henceforward ,he became the great ,dispenser1 and 8the ,spirit emanated from ,him as perfume from the rose when it has opened40 ,at the same time was heard a ,voice from heaven4 ,and the bearing of this passage upon the ,trinity becomes clear1 when we combine the manifestation of the ,spirit in living ,personality1 and the ,divine ,voice1 not from the ,dove but from the heavens1 with the announcement that ,jesus is not merely beloved and well-pleasing1 but a ,son1 and in this high sense the only ,son1 since the words are literally 8,thou art the ,son of ,me1 the beloved40 ,and yet ,he is to bring many sons unto glory4 ,is it consistent with due reverence to believe that this voice conveyed a message to our ,lord ,himself8 ,even so liberal a critic as ,neander has denied this4 ,but if we grasp the meaning of what we believe1 that ,he upon taking flesh 8emptied ,himself10 that ,he increased in wisdom during ,his youth1 and that there was a day and hour which to the end of life ,he knew not1 we need not suppose that ,his infancy was so unchildlike as the realisation of ,his mysterious and awful ,personality would make it4 ,there must then have been a period when ,his perfect human development rose up into what ,renan calls 7more accurately than he knows7 identification of ,himself with the object of ,his devotion1 carried to the utmost limit4 ,nor is this period quite undiscoverable1 for when it arrived it would seem highly unnatural to postpone ,his public ministry further4 ,now this reasonable inference is entirely supported by the narrative4 ,st4 ,matthew indeed regards the event from the ,baptist's point of vision4 ,but ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke are agreed that to ,jesus ,himself it was also said1 8,thou art ,my beloved ,son40 ,now this is not the way to teach us that the testimony came only to ,john4 ,and how solemn a thought is this1 that the full certitude of ,his destiny expanded before the eyes of ,jesus1 just when ,he lifted them from those baptismal waters in which ,he stooped so low4 ,the ,temptation4 8,and straightway the ,spirit driveth ,him forth into the wilderness4 ,and ,he was in the wilderness forty days tempted of ,satan2 and ,he was with the wild beasts2 and the angels ministered unto ,him40--,,mark i4 #ab1 #ac 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,mark has not recorded the details of our ,lord's temptations1 and lays more stress upon the duration of the struggle1 than the nature of the last and crowning assaults4 ,but he is careful1 like the others1 to connect it closely with the baptism of ,jesus1 and the miraculous testimony then borne to ,him4 ,it is indeed instructive that ,he should have suffered this affront1 immediately upon being recognised as the ,messiah4 ,but the explanation will not be found in the notion1 which ,milton has popularised1 that only now ,satan was assured of the urgent necessity for attacking ,him3 8,that heard the adversary 444 and with the voice ,divine ,nigh thunderstruck1 the exalted ,man1 to whom ,such high attest was given1 awhile surveyed ,with wonder40 ,as if ,satan forgot the marvels of the sacred infancy4 ,as if the spirits who attack all could have failed to identify1 after thirty years of defeat1 the ,greater ,one whom the ,baptist had everywhere proclaimed4 ,no4 ,but ,satan admirably chose the time for a supreme effort4 ,high places are dizzy1 and especially when one has just attained them2 and therefore it was when the voice of the herald and the ,voice from the heavens were blended in acclaim1 that the ,evil ,one tried all his arts4 ,he had formerly plunged ,elijah into despair and a desire to die1 immediately after fire from heaven responded to the prophet's prayer4 ,soon after this1 he would degrade ,peter to be his mouthpiece1 just when his noblest testimony was borne1 and the highest approval of his ,lord was won4 ,in the flush of their triumphs he found his best opportunity2 but ,jesus remained unflushed1 and met the first recorded temptation1 in the full consciousness of ,messiahship1 by quoting the words which spoke to every man alike1 and as man4 ,it is a lesson which the weakest needs to learn1 for little victories can intoxicate little men4 ,it is easy then to see why the recorded temptations insist upon the exceptional dignity of ,christ1 and urge ,him to seize its advantages1 while ,he insists on bearing the common burden1 and proves ,himself greatest by becoming least of all4 ,the sharp contrast between ,his circumstances and ,his rank drove the temptations deep into ,his consciousness1 and wounded ,his sensibilities1 though they failed to shake ,his will4 ,how unnatural that the ,son of ,god should lack and suffer hunger1 how right that ,he should challenge recognition1 how needful 7though now ,his sacred ,personality is cunningly allowed to fall somewhat into the background7 that ,he should obtain armies and splendour4 ,this explains the possibility of temptation in a sinless nature1 which indeed can only be denied by assuming that sin is part of the original creation4 ,not because we are sinful1 but because we are flesh and blood 7of which ,he became partaker71 when we feel the pains of hunger we are attracted by food1 at whatever price it is offered4 ,in truth1 no man is allured by sin1 but only by the bait and bribe of sin1 except perhaps in the last stages of spiritual decomposition4 ,now1 just as the bait allures1 and not the jaws of the trap1 so the power of a temptation is not its wickedness1 not the guilty service1 but the proffered recompense2 and this appeals to the most upright man1 equally with the most corrupt4 ,thus the stress of a temptation is to be measured by our gravitation1 not towards the sin1 but towards the pleasure or advantage which is entangled with that4 ,and this may be realised even more powerfully by a man of keen feeling and vivid imagination who does not falter1 than by a grosser nature which succumbs4 ,now ,jesus was a perfect man4 ,to ,his exquisite sensibilities1 which had neither inherited nor contracted any blemish1 the pain of hunger at the opening of ,his ministry1 and the horror of the cross at its close1 were not less intense1 but sharper than to ours4 ,and this pain and horror measured the temptation to evade them4 ,the issue never hung in the scales2 even to hesitate would have been to forfeit the delicate bloom of absolute sinlessness2 but1 none the less1 the decision was costly1 the temptation poignant4 ,st4 ,mark has given us no details2 but there is immense and compressed power in the assertion1 only his1 that the temptation lasted all through the forty days4 ,we know the power of an unremitting pressure1 an incessant importunity1 a haunting thought4 ,a very trifling annoyance1 long protracted1 drives men to strange remedies4 ,and the remorseless urgency of ,satan may be measured by what ,st4 ,matthew tells us1 that only after the forty days ,jesus became aware of the pains of hunger4 ,perhaps the assertion that ,he was with the wild beasts may throw some ray of light upon the nature of the temptation4 ,there is no intimation of bodily peril4 ,on the other hand it seems incredible that what is hinted is ,his own consciousness of the supernatural dignity from which 8,the fiery serpent fled1 and noxious worm2 ,the lion and fierce tiger glared aloof40 ,such a consciousness would have relieved the strain of which their presence is evidently a part4 ,nay1 but the oppressive solitude1 the waste region so unlike ,his blooming ,nazareth1 and the ferocity of the brute creation1 all would conspire to suggest those dread misgivings and questionings which are provoked by 8the something that infects the world40 ,surely we may believe that ,he ,who was tempted at all points like as we are1 felt now the deadly chill which falls upon the soul from the shadow of our ruined earth4 ,in our nature ,he bore the assault and overcame4 ,and then ,his human nature condescended to accept help1 such as ours receives1 from the ministering spirits which are sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation4 ,so perfectly was ,he made like unto ,his brethren4 ,the ,early ,preaching ,and ,the ,first ,disciples4 8,now after that ,john was delivered up1 ,jesus came into ,galilee preaching the gospel of ,god1 and saying1 ,the time is fulfilled1 and the kingdom of ,god is at hand2 repent ye1 and believe in the gospel4 ,and passing along by the sea of ,galilee1 ,he saw ,simon and ,andrew the brother of ,simon casting a net in the sea2 for they were fishers4 ,and ,jesus said unto them1 ,come ye after ,me1 and ,i will make you to become fishers of men4 ,and straightway they left the nets1 and followed ,him4 ,and going on a little further1 ,he saw ,james the son of ,zebedee1 and ,john his brother1 who also were in the boat mending the nets4 ,and straightway ,he called them3 and they left their father ,zebedee in the boat with the hired servants1 and went after ,him40--,,mark i4 #ad-bj 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,mark has shown us the ,baptist proclaiming ,christ4 ,he now tells us that when ,john was imprisoned1 ,jesus1 turning from that ,judean ministry which stirred the jealousy of ,john's disciples 7,john iii4 #bf71 8came into ,galilee1 preaching40 ,and one looks twice before observing that ,his teaching is a distinct advance upon the herald's4 ,men are still to repent2 for however slightly modern preachers may heal the hurt of souls1 real contrition is here taken over into the gospel scheme4 ,but the time which was hitherto said to be at hand is now fulfilled4 ,and they are not only to believe the gospel1 but to 8believe in it40 ,reliance1 the effort of the soul by which it ceases equally to be self-confident and to despair1 confiding itself to some word which is a gospel1 or some being who has salvation to bestow1 that is belief in its object4 ,and it is highly important to observe that faith is thus made prominent so early in our ,lord's teaching4 ,the vitalizing power of faith was no discovery of ,st4 ,paul2 it was not evolved by devout meditation after ,jesus had passed from view1 nor introduced into ,his system when opposition forced ,him to bind men to ,him in a stronger allegiance4 ,the power of faith is implied in ,his earliest preaching1 and it is connected with ,his earliest miracles4 ,but no such phrase as the power of faith is ever used4 ,faith is precious only as it leans on what is trustworthy4 ,and it is produced1 not by thinking of faith itself1 but of its proper object4 ,therefore ,christ did not come preaching faith1 but preaching the gospel of ,god1 and bidding men believe in that4 ,shall we not follow ,his example8 ,it is morally certain that ,abraham never heard of salvation by faith1 yet he was justified by faith when he believed in ,him ,who justifieth the ungodly4 ,to preach ,him1 and ,his gospel1 is the way to lead men to be saved by faith4 ,few things are more instructive to consider than the slow1 deliberate1 yet firm steps by which ,christ advanced to the revelation of ,god in flesh4 ,thirty years of silence1 forty days of seclusion after heaven had proclaimed ,him1 leisurely intercourse with ,andrew and ,john1 ,peter and ,nathanael1 and then a brief ministry in a subject nation1 and chiefly in a despised province4 ,it is not the action of a fanatic4 ,it exactly fulfils ,his own description of the kingdom which ,he proclaimed1 which was to exhibit first the blade1 then the ear1 then the full corn in the ear4 ,and it is a lesson to all time1 that the boldest expectations possible to faith do not justify feverish haste and excited longings for immediate prominence or immediate success4 ,the husbandman who has long patience with the seed is not therefore hopeless of the harvest ,passing by the sea of ,galilee1 ,jesus finds two fishermen at their toil1 and bids them follow ,him4 ,both are men of decided and earnest character2 one is to become the spokesman and leader of the ,apostolic band1 and the little which is recorded of the other indicates the same temperament1 somewhat less developed4 ,our ,lord now calls upon them to take a decided step4 ,but here again we find traces of the same deliberate progression1 the same absence of haste1 as in ,his early preaching4 ,he does not1 as unthinking readers fancy1 come upon two utter strangers1 fascinate and arrest them in a moment1 and sweep their lives into the vortex of ,his own4 ,andrew had already heard the ,baptist proclaim the ,lamb of ,god1 had followed ,jesus home1 and had introduced his brother1 to whom ,jesus then gave the new name ,cephas4 ,their faith had since been confirmed by miracles4 ,the demands of our ,lord may be trying1 but they are never unreasonable1 and the faith ,he claims is not a blind credulity4 ,nor does ,he1 even now1 finally and entirely call them away from their occupation4 ,some time is still to elapse1 and a sign1 especially impressive to fishermen1 the miraculous draught of fishes1 is to burn into their minds a profound sense of their unworthiness1 before the vocation now promised shall arrive4 ,then ,he will say1 ,from henceforth ye shall catch men3 now ,he says1 ,i will prepare you for that future1 ,i will make you to become fishers of men4 ,so ungrounded is the suspicion of any confusion between the stories of the three steps by which they rose to their ,apostleship4 ,a little further on1 ,he finds the two sons of ,zebedee1 and calls them also4 ,john had almost certainly been the companion of ,andrew when he followed ,jesus home1 and his brother had become the sharer of his hopes4 ,and if there were any hesitation1 the example of their comrades helped them to decide--so soon1 so inevitably does each disciple begin to be a fisher of other men--and leaving their father1 as we are gracefully told1 not desolate1 but with servants1 they also follow ,jesus4 ,thus ,he asks1 from each group1 the sacrifice involved in following ,him at an inconvenient time4 ,the first are casting their nets and eager in their quest4 ,the others are mending their nets1 perhaps after some large draught had broken them4 ,so ,levi was sitting at the receipt of toll4 ,not one of the ,twelve was chosen to that high rank when idle4 ,very charming1 very powerful still is the spell by which ,christ drew ,his first apostles to ,his side4 ,not yet are they told anything of thrones on which they are to sit and judge the tribes of ,israel1 or that their names shall be engraven on the foundations of the heavenly city besides being great on earth while the world stands4 ,for them1 the capture of men was less lucrative than that of fish1 and less honourable1 for they suffered the loss of all things and were made as the filth of the earth4 ,to learn ,christ's art1 to be made helpful in drawing souls to ,him1 following ,jesus and catching men1 this was enough to attract ,his first ministers2 ,god grant that a time may never come when ministers for whom this is enough1 shall fail4 ,where the spirit of self devotion is absent how can the ,spirit of ,christ exist8 ,teaching ,with ,authority4 8,and they go into ,capernaum2 and straightway on the sabbath day ,he entered into the synagogue and taught4 ,and they were astonished at ,his teaching3 for ,he taught them as having authority1 and not as the scribes40--,,mark i4 #ba1 #bb 7,r4,v474 ,the worship of the synagogues1 not having been instituted by ,moses1 but gradually developed by the public need1 was comparatively free and unconventional4 ,sometimes it happened that remarkable and serious-looking strangers were invited1 if they had any word of exhortation1 to say on 7,acts xiii4 #ae74 ,sometimes one presented himself1 as the custom of our ,lord was 7,luke iv4 #af74 ,amid the dull mechanical tendencies which were then turning the heart of ,judaism to stone1 the synagogue may have been often a centre of life and rallying-place of freedom4 ,in ,galilee1 where such worship predominated over that of the remote ,temple and its hierarchy1 ,jesus found ,his trusted followers and the nucleus of the ,church4 ,in foreign lands1 ,st4 ,paul bore first to his brethren in their synagogues the strange tidings that their ,messiah had expired upon a cross4 ,and before ,his rupture with the chiefs of ,judaism1 the synagogues were fitting places for our ,lord's early teaching4 ,he made use of the existing system1 and applied it1 just as we have seen ,him use the teaching of the ,baptist as a starting-point for ,his own4 ,and this ought to be observed1 that ,jesus revolutionized the world by methods the furthest from being revolutionary4 ,the institutions of ,his age and land were corrupt well-nigh to the core1 but ,he did not therefore make a clean sweep1 and begin again4 ,he did not turn ,his back on the ,temple and synagogues1 nor outrage sabbaths1 nor come to destroy the law and the prophets4 ,he bade ,his followers reverence the seat where the scribes and ,pharisees sat1 and drew the line at their false lives and perilous examples4 ,amid that evil generation ,he found soil wherein ,his seed might germinate1 and was content to hide ,his leaven in the lump where it should gradually work out its destiny4 ,in so doing ,he was at one with ,providence1 which had slowly evolved the convictions of the ,old ,testament1 spending centuries upon the process4 ,now the power which belongs to such moderation has scarcely been recognised until these latter days4 ,the political sagacity of ,somers and ,burke1 and the ecclesiastical wisdom of our own reformers1 had their occult and unsuspected fountains in the method by which ,jesus planted the kingdom which came not with observation4 ,but who taught the ,carpenter8 ,it is therefore significant that all the ,gospels of the ,galilean ministry connect our ,lord's early teaching with the synagogue4 ,st4 ,mark is by no means the evangelist of the discourses4 ,and this adds to the interest with which we find him indicate1 with precise exactitude1 the first great difference that would strike the hearers of ,christ between ,his teaching and that of others4 ,he taught with authority1 and not as the scribes4 ,their doctrine was built with dreary and irrational ingenuity1 upon perverted views of the old law4 ,the shape of a ,hebrew letter1 words whereof the initials would spell some important name1 wire-drawn inferences1 astounding allusions1 ingenuity such as men waste now upon the number of the beast and the measurement of a pyramid1 these were the doctrine of the scribes4 ,and an acute observer would remark that the authority of ,christ's teaching was peculiar in a farther-reaching sense4 ,if1 as seems clear1 ,jesus said1 8,ye have heard that it hath been said0 7not 8by10 but7 8to them of old time1 but ,i say unto you10 ,he then claimed the place1 not of ,moses who heard the ,divine ,voice1 but of ,him ,who spoke4 ,even if this could be doubted1 the same spirit is elsewhere unmistakable4 ,the tables which ,moses brought were inscribed by the finger of ,another3 none could make him the ,supreme arbitrator while overhead the trumpet waxed louder and louder1 while the fiery pillar marshalled their journeying1 while the mysterious ,presence consecrated the mysterious shrine4 ,prophet after prophet opened and closed his message with the words1 8,thus saith the ,lord40 444 8,for the mouth of the ,lord hath spoken it40 ,jesus was content with the attestation1 8,verily1 ,i say unto you40 ,blessed as a wise builder was the hearer and doer of 8these words of ,mine40 ,everywhere in ,his teaching the centre of authority is personal4 ,he distinctly recognises the fact that ,he is adding to the range of the ancient law of respect for human life1 and for purity1 veracity and kindness4 ,but ,he assigns no authority for these additions1 beyond ,his own4 ,persecution by all men is a blessed thing to endure1 if it be for ,his sake and the gospel's4 ,now this is unique4 ,moses or ,isaiah never dreamed that devotion to himself took rank with devotion to his message4 ,nor did ,st4 ,paul4 ,but ,christ opens ,his ministry with the same pretensions as at the close1 when others may not be called ,rabbi1 nor ,master1 because these titles belong to ,him4 ,and the lapse of ages renders this 8authority0 of ,christ more wonderful than at first4 ,the world bows down before something other than ,his clearness of logic or subtlety of inference4 ,he still announces where others argue1 ,he reveals1 imposes on us ,his supremacy1 bids us take ,his yoke and learn4 ,and we still discover in ,his teaching a freshness and profundity1 a universal reach of application and yet an unearthliness of aspect1 which suit so unparalleled a claim4 ,others have constructed cisterns in which to store truth1 or aqueducts to convey it from higher levels4 ,christ is ,himself a fountain2 and not only so1 but the water which ,he gives1 when received aright1 becomes in the faithful heart a well of water springing up in new1 inexhaustible developments4 ,miracles4 8,and straightway there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit40--,,mark i4 #bc 7,r4,v474 ,we have just read that ,christ's teaching astonished the hearers4 ,he was about to astonish them yet more1 for we have now reached the first miracle which ,st4 ,mark records4 ,with what sentiments should such a narrative be approached8 ,the evangelist connects it emphatically with ,christ's assertion of authority4 ,immediately upon the impression which ,his manner of teaching produced1 straightway1 there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit4 ,and upon its expulsion1 what most impressed the people was1 that as ,he taught with authority1 so 8with authority ,he commandeth even the unclean spirits1 and they obey ,him40 ,let us try whether this may not be a providential clue1 to guide us amid the embarrassments which beset1 in our day1 the whole subject of miracles4 ,a miracle1 we are told1 is an interference with the laws of nature2 and it is impossible1 because they are fixed and their operation is uniform4 ,but these bold words need not disconcert any one who has learned to ask1 ,in what sense are the operations of nature uniform8 ,is the operation of the laws which govern the wind uniform1 whether my helm is to port or starboard8 ,can ,i not modify the operation of sanitary laws by deodorization1 by drainage1 by a thousand resources of civilization8 ,the truth is1 that while natural laws remain fixed1 human intelligence profoundly modifies their operation4 ,how then will the objector prove that no higher ,being can as naturally do the same8 ,he answers1 ,because the sum total of the forces of nature is a fixed quantity3 nothing can be added to that sum1 nothing taken from it3 the energy of all our machinery existed ages ago in the heat of tropical suns1 then in vegetation1 and ever since1 though latent1 in our coal beds2 and the claim to add anything to that total is subversive of modern science4 ,but again we ask1 ,if the physician adds nothing to the sum of forces when he banishes one disease by inoculation1 and another by draining a marsh1 why must ,jesus have added to the sum of forces in order to expel a demon or to cool a fever8 ,it will not suffice to answer1 because ,his methods are contrary to experience4 ,beyond experience they are4 ,but so were the marvels of electricity to our parents and of steam to theirs4 ,the chemistry which analyses the stars is not incredible1 although thirty years ago its methods were 8contrary0 to the universal experience of humanity4 ,man is now doing what he never did before1 because he is a more skilful and better informed agent than he ever was4 ,perhaps at this moment1 in the laboratory of some unknown student1 some new force is preparing to amaze the world4 ,but the sum of the forces of nature will remain unchanged4 ,why is it assumed that a miracle must change them8 ,simply because men have already denied ,god1 or at least denied that ,he is present within ,his world1 as truly as the chemist is within it4 ,if we think of ,him as interrupting its processes from without1 laying upon the vast machine so powerful a grasp as to arrest its working1 then indeed the sum of forces is disturbed1 and the complaints of science are justified4 ,this may1 or it may not1 have been the case in creative epochs1 of which science knows no more than of the beginning of life and of consciousness4 ,but it has nothing to say against the doctrine of the miracles of ,jesus4 ,for this doctrine assumes that ,god is ever present in ,his universe2 that by ,him all things consist2 that ,he is not far from any one of us1 for in ,him we live and move and have our being1 although men may be as unconscious of ,him as of gravitation and electricity4 ,when these became known to man1 the stability of law was unaffected4 ,and it is a wild assumption that if a supreme and vital force exist1 a living ,god1 ,he cannot make ,his energies visible without affecting the stability of law4 ,now ,christ ,himself appeals expressly and repeatedly to this immanent presence of ,god as the explanation of ,his 8works40 8,my ,father worketh hitherto1 and ,i work40 8,the ,father loveth the ,son1 and showeth ,him all things that ,himself doeth40 8,i1 by the finger of ,god1 cast out devils40 ,thus a miracle1 even in the ,old ,testament1 is not an interruption of law by ,god1 but a manifestation of ,god who is within nature always2 to common events it is as the lightning to the cloud1 a revelation of the electricity which was already there4 ,god was made known1 when invoked by ,his agents1 in signs from heaven1 in fire and tempest1 in drought and pestilence1 a ,god who judgeth4 ,these are the miracles of ,god interposing for ,his people against their foes4 ,but the miracles of ,christ are those of ,god carrying forward to the uttermost ,his presence in the world1 ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,they are the works of ,him in ,whom dwelleth all the fulness of the ,godhead bodily4 ,and this explains what would otherwise be so perplexing1 the essentially different nature of ,his miracles from those of the ,old ,testament4 ,infidelity pretends that those are the models on which myth or legend formed the miracles of ,jesus1 but the plain answer is that they are built on no model of the kind4 ,the difference is so great as to be startling4 ,tremendous convulsions and visitations of wrath are now unknown1 because ,god is now reconciling the world unto ,himself1 and exhibiting in miracles the presence of ,him ,who is not far from every one of us1 ,his presence in love to redeem the common life of man1 and to bless1 by sharing it4 ,therefore ,his gifts are homely1 they deal with average life and its necessities1 bread and wine and fish are more to the purpose than that man should eat angels' food1 the rescue of storm-tossed fishermen than the engulfment of pursuing armies1 the healing of prevalent disease than the plaguing of ,egypt or the destruction of ,sennacherib4 ,such a ,presence thus manifested is the consistent doctrine of the ,church4 ,it is a theory which men may reject at their own peril if they please4 ,but they must not pretend to refute it by any appeal to either the uniformity of law or the stability of force4 ,men tell us that the divinity of ,jesus was an afterthought2 what shall we say then to this fact1 that men observed from the very first a difference between the manner of ,his miracles and all that was recorded in their ,scriptures1 or that they could have deemed fit8 ,it is exactly the same peculiarity1 carried to the highest pitch2 as they already felt in ,his discourses4 ,they are wrought without any reference whatever to a superior will4 ,moses cried unto the ,lord1 saying1 ,what shall ,i do8 ,elijah said1 ,hear me ,o ,lord1 hear me4 ,but ,jesus said1 ,i will 444 ,i charge thee come out 444 ,i am able to do this4 ,and so marked is the change1 that even ,his followers cast out devils in ,his name1 and say not1 ,where is the ,lord ,god of ,israel8 but1 ,in the ,name of ,jesus ,christ of ,nazareth4 ,his power is inherent1 it is self-possessed1 and ,his acts in the synoptics are only explained by ,his words in ,st4 ,john1 8,what things soever the ,father doeth1 these the ,son also doeth in like manner40 ,no wonder that ,st4 ,mark adds to ,his very first record of a miracle1 that the people were amazed1 and asked1 ,what is this8 a new teaching6 with authority ,he commandeth even the unclean spirits and they do obey ,him6 ,it was divinity which1 without recognising1 they felt1 implicit in ,his bearing4 ,no wonder also that ,his enemies strove hard to make ,him say1 ,who gave ,thee this authority8 ,nor could they succeed in drawing from ,him any sign from heaven4 ,the centre and source of the supernatural1 for human apprehension1 has shifted itself1 and the vision of ,jesus is the vision of the ,father also4 ,the ,demoniac4 8,and straightway there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit2 and he cried out1 saying1 ,what have we to do with ,thee1 ,thou ,jesus of ,nazareth8 art ,thou come to destroy us8 ,i know ,thee ,who ,thou art1 the ,holy ,one of ,god4 ,and ,jesus rebuked him1 saying1 ,hold thy peace1 and come out of him4 ,and the unclean spirit1 tearing him and crying with a loud voice1 came out of him4 ,and they were all amazed1 insomuch that they questioned among themselves1 saying1 ,what is this8 a new teaching6 with authority ,he commandeth even the unclean spirits1 and they obey ,him4 ,and the report of ,him went out straightway everywhere into all the region of ,galilee round about40--,,mark i4 #bc-bh 7,r4,v474 ,we have seen that belief in the stability of natural law does not forbid us to believe in miracles4 ,special objections are urged1 however1 against the belief in demoniacal possession4 ,the very existence of demons is declared to be inconsistent with the omnipotence of ,god1 or else with ,his goodness4 ,and it may be granted that abstract reasoning in an ideal world1 thought moving in a vacuum1 would scarcely evolve a state of things so far removed from the ideal4 ,this1 however1 is an argument against the existence1 not of demons1 but of evil in any shape4 ,it is the familiar insoluble problem of all religions1 ,how can evil exist in the universe of ,god8 ,and it is balanced by the insoluble problem of all irreligious systems3 ,in a universe without ,god1 how can either good or evil exist1 as distinguished from the advantageous and the unprofitable8 ,whence comes the unquestionable difference between a lie and a bad bargain8 ,but the argument against evil spirits professes to be something more than a disguised reproduction of this abstract problem4 ,what more is it8 ,what is gained by denying the fiends1 as long as we cannot deny the fiends incarnate--the men who take pleasure in unrighteousness1 in the seduction and ruin of their fellows1 in the infliction of torture and outrage1 in the ravage and desolation of nations8 ,such freedom has been granted to the human will1 for even these ghastly issues have not been judged so deadly as coercion and moral fatalism4 ,what presumption can possibly remain against the existence of other beings than men1 who have fallen yet farther8 ,if1 indeed1 it be certainly so much farther4 ,for we know that men have lived1 not outcasts from society1 but boastful sons of ,abraham1 who willed to perform the lusts 7 7 of their father the devil4 ,now since we are not told that the wickedness of demons is infinite17#c7 but only that it is abysmal1 and since we know that abysses of wickedness do actually exist1 what sort of vindication of ,deity is this which will believe that such gulfs are yawning only in the bosom of man8 ,it alarms and shocks us to think that evil spirits have power over the human mind1 and still more that such power should extend1 as in cases of possession1 even to the body4 ,evil men1 however1 manifestly wield such power4 8,they got rid of the wicked one10 said ,goethe1 8but they could not get rid of the wicked ones40 ,social and intellectual charm1 high rank1 the mysterious attraction of a strong individuality1 all are employed at times to mislead and debase the shuddering1 reluctant1 mesmerised wills of weaker men and women4 ,and then the mind acts upon the body1 as perhaps it always does4 ,drunkenness and debauchery shake the nerves4 ,paralysis and lunacy tread hard on the footsteps of excess4 ,experience knows no reason for denying that when wickedness conquers the soul it will also deal hardly with the body4 ,but we must not stop here4 ,for the ,gospels do not countenance the popular notion that special wickedness was the cause of the fearful wretchedness of the possessed4 ,young children suffered4 ,jesus often cautioned a sufferer to sin no more lest worse results should follow than those ,he had removed2 but ,he is never known to have addressed this warning to demoniacs4 ,they suffered from the tyranny of ,satan1 rather than from his seduction2 and the analogies which make credible so frightful an outrage upon human nature1 are the wrongs done by despots and mobs1 by invading armies and persecuting religionists4 ,yet people who cannot believe that a demon could throw a child upon the fire1 are not incredulous of ,attila1 ,napoleon1 and the ,inquisition4 ,thus it appears that such a narrative need startle no believer in ,god1 and in moral good and evil1 who considers the unquestionable facts of life4 ,and how often will the observant ,christian be startled at the wild insurrection and surging up of evil thought and dark suggestions1 which he cannot believe to be his own1 which will not be gainsaid nor repulsed4 ,how easily do such experiences fall in with the plain words of ,scripture1 by which the veil is drawn aside1 and the mystery of the spiritual world laid bare4 ,then we learn that man is not only fallen but assaulted1 not only feeble but enslaved1 not only a wandering sheep but led captive by the devil at his will4 ,we turn to the narrative before us4 ,they are still wondering at our ,lord's authoritative manner1 when 8straightway10 for opportunities were countless until unbelief arose1 a man with an unclean spirit attracts attention4 ,we can only conjecture the special meaning of this description4 ,a recent commentator assumes that 8like the rest1 he had his dwelling among the tombs3 an overpowering influence had driven him away from the haunts of men40 7,canon ,luckock1 in loco74 ,to others this feature in the wretchedness of the ,gadarene may perhaps seem rather to be exceptional1 the last touch in the appalling picture of his misery4 ,it may be that nothing more outrageous than morbid gloom or sullen mutterings had hitherto made it necessary to exclude this sufferer from the synagogue4 ,or the language may suggest that he rushed abruptly in1 driven by the frantic hostility of the fiend1 or impelled by some mysterious and lingering hope1 as the demoniac of ,gadara ran to ,christ4 ,what we know is that the sacred ,presence provoked a crisis4 ,there is an unbelief which never can be silent1 never wearies railing at the faith1 and there is a corruption which resents goodness and hates it as a personal wrong4 ,so the demons who possessed men were never able to confront ,jesus calmly4 ,they resent ,his interference2 they cry out2 they disclaim having anything to do with ,him2 they seem indignant that ,he should come to destroy them who have destroyed so many4 ,there is something weird and unearthly in the complaint4 ,but men also are wont to forget their wrong doing when they come to suffer1 and it is recorded that even ,nero had abundance of compassion for himself4 ,weird also and terrible is it1 that this unclean spirit should choose for his confession that pure and exquisite epithet1 the ,holy ,one of ,god4 ,the phrase only recurs in the words of ,st4 ,peter1 8,we have believed and know that ,thou art the ,holy ,one of ,god0 7,john vi4 #fi1 ,r4,v474 ,was it not a mournful association of ideas which then led ,jesus to reply1 8,have ,i not chosen you the ,twelve1 and one of you is a devil87#d70 ,but although the phrase is beautiful1 and possibly 8wild with all regret10 there is no relenting1 no better desire than to be 8let alone40 ,and so ,jesus1 so gentle with sinful men1 yet sometime to be their judge also1 is stern and cold4 8,hold thy peace--be muzzled10 ,he answers1 as to a wild beast1 8and come out of him40 ,whereupon the evil spirit exhibits at once his ferocity and his defeat4 ,tearing and screaming1 he came out1 but we read in ,st4 ,luke that he did the man no harm4 ,and the spectators drew the proper inference4 ,a new power implied a new revelation4 ,something far-reaching and profound might be expected from ,him who commanded even the unclean spirits with authority1 and was obeyed4 ,it is the custom of unbelievers to speak as if the air of ,palestine were then surcharged with belief in the supernatural4 ,miracles were everywhere4 ,thus they would explain away the significance of the popular belief that our ,lord wrought signs and wonders4 ,but in so doing they set themselves a worse problem than they evade4 ,if miracles were so very common1 it would be as easy to believe that ,jesus wrought them as that ,he worked at ,his father's bench4 ,but also it would be as inconclusive4 ,and how then are we to explain the astonishment which all the evangelists so constantly record8 ,on any conceivable theory1 these writers shared the beliefs of that age4 ,and so did the readers who accepted their assurance that all were amazed1 and that ,his report 8went out straightway everywhere into all the region of ,galilee40 ,these are emphatic words1 and both the author and his readers must have considered a miracle to be more surprising than modern critics believe they did4 ,yet we do not read that any one was converted by this miracle4 ,all were amazed1 but wonder is not self-surrender4 ,they were content to let their excitement die out1 as every violent emotion must1 without any change of life1 any permanent devotion to the new ,teacher and ,his doctrine4 ,a ,group ,of ,miracles4 8,and straightway1 when they were come out of the synagogue1 they came into the house of ,simon and ,andrew1 with ,james and ,john4 ,now ,simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever2 and straightway they tell ,him of her3 and ,he came and took her by the hand1 and raised her up2 and the fever left her1 and she ministered unto them4 ,and at even1 when the sun did set1 they brought unto ,him all that were sick1 and them that were possessed with devils4 ,and all the city was gathered together at the door4 ,and ,he healed many that were sick with divers diseases1 and cast out many devils2 and ,he suffered not the devils to speak1 because they knew ,him40--,,mark i4 #bi-cd 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,matthew tells us that on leaving the synagogue they entered into ,peter's house4 ,st4 ,mark1 with his peculiar sources of information1 is aware that ,andrew shared the house with his brother4 ,especial interest attaches to the mention of the mother-in-law of ,peter1 as proving that ,jesus chose a married man to be an apostle1 the very apostle from whom the celibate ministry of ,rome professes to have received the keys4 ,the evidence does not stand alone4 ,when ,st4 ,paul's apostolic authority was impugned1 he insisted that he had the same right to bring with him in his travels a believing wife1 which ,peter exercised4 ,and ,clement of ,alexandria tells us that ,peter's wife acted as his coadjutor1 ministering to women in their own homes1 by which means the gospel of ,christ penetrated without scandal the privacy of women's apartments4 ,thus the notion of a ,zenana mission is by no means modern4 ,the mother of such a wife is afflicted by fever of a kind which still haunts that district4 8,and they tell ,him of her40 ,doubtless there was solicitude and hope in their voices1 even if desire did not take the shape of formal prayer4 ,we are just emerging from that early period when belief in ,his power to heal might still be united with some doubt whether free application might be made to ,him4 ,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 love4 ,any such hesitation was now to be dispelled for ever4 ,it is possible that such is the meaning of the expression1 and if so1 it has a useful lesson4 ,sometimes there are temporal gifts which we scarce know whether we should pray for1 so complex are our feelings1 so entangled our interests with those of others1 so obscure and dubious the springs which move our desire4 ,is it presumptuous to ask8 ,yet can it be right to keep anything back1 in our communion with our ,father8 ,now there is a curious similarity between the expression 8they tell ,jesus of her0 and that phrase which is only applied to prayer when ,st4 ,paul bids us pray for all that is in our hearts4 8,in nothing be anxious1 but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto ,god40 ,so shall the great benediction be fulfilled3 8,the peace of ,god which passeth all understanding1 shall guard your hearts and your thoughts0 7,phil4 iv4 #f1 #g74 ,all that is unholy shall be purified1 all that is unwise subdued1 all that is expedient granted4 ,if this be indeed the force of ,st4 ,mark's phrase1 ,jesus felt their modest reticence to be a strong appeal1 for ,st4 ,luke says 8they besought ,him10 while ,st4 ,matthew merely writes that ,he saw her lying4 ,the 8,interpreter of ,st4 ,peter0 is most likely to have caught the exact shade of anxiety and appeal by which her friends drew ,his attention1 and which was indeed a prayer4 ,the gentle courtesy of our ,lord's healings cannot be too much studied by those who would know ,his mind and love ,him4 ,never does ,he fling a careless blessing as coarse benefactors fling their alms2 we shall hereafter see how far ,he was from leaving fallen bread to be snatched as by a dog1 even by one who would have welcomed a boon thus contemptuously given to her2 and in the hour of ,his arrest1 when ,he would heal the ear of a persecutor1 ,his courtesy appeals to those who had laid hold on ,him1 8,suffer ye thus far40 ,thus ,he went to this woman and took her by the hand and raised her up1 laying a cool touch upon her fevered palm1 bestowing ,his strength upon her weakness1 healing her as ,he would fain heal humanity4 ,for at ,his touch the disease was banished2 with ,his impulse her strength returned4 ,we do not read that she felt bound thereupon to become an obtrusive public witness to ,his powers3 that was not her function2 but in her quiet home she failed not to minister unto ,him who had restored her powers4 ,would that all whose physical powers ,jesus renews from sickness1 might devote their energies to ,him4 ,would that all for whom ,he has calmed the fever of earthly passion1 might arise and be energetic in ,his cause4 ,think of the wonder1 the gladness and gratitude of their humble feast4 ,but if we felt aright the sickness of our souls1 and the grace which heals them1 equal gratitude would fill our lives as ,he sups with us and we with ,him4 ,tidings of the two miracles have quickly gone abroad1 and as the sun sets1 and the restraint of the sabbath is removed1 all the city gathers all the sick around ,his door4 ,now here is a curious example of the peril of pressing too eagerly our inferences from the expressions of an evangelist4 ,st4 ,mark tells us that they brought 8all their sick and them that were possessed with devils4 ,and ,he healed0 7not all1 but7 8many that were sick1 and cast out many devils40 ,how easily we might distinguish between the 8all0 who came1 and the 8many0 who were healed4 ,want of faith would explain the difference1 and spiritual analogies would be found for those who remained unhealed at the feet of the good ,physician4 ,these lessons might be very edifying1 but they would be out of place1 for ,st4 ,matthew tells us that ,he healed them all4 ,but who can fail to contrast this universal movement1 the urgent quest of bodily health1 and the willingness of friends and neighbours to convey their sick to ,jesus1 with our indifference to the health of the soul1 and our neglect to lead others to the ,saviour4 ,disease being the cold shadow of sin1 its removal was a kind of sacrament1 an outward and visible sign that the ,healer of souls was nigh4 ,but the chillness of the shadow afflicts us more than the pollution of the substance1 and few professing ,christians lament a hot temper as sincerely as a fever4 ,as ,jesus drove out the demons1 ,he suffered them not to speak because they knew ,him4 ,we cannot believe that ,his rejection of their impure testimony was prudential only1 whatever possibility there may have been of that charge of complicity which was afterwards actually brought4 ,any help which might have come to ,him from the lips of hell was shocking and revolting to our ,lord4 ,and this is a lesson for all religious and political partisans who stop short of doing evil themselves1 but reject no advantage which the evil deeds of others may bestow4 ,not so cold and negative is the morality of ,jesus4 ,he regards as contamination whatever help fraud1 suppressions of truth1 injustice1 by whomsoever wrought1 can yield4 ,he rejects them by an instinct of abhorrence1 and not only because shame and dishonour have always befallen the purest cause which stooped to unholy alliances4 ,jesus that day showed ,himself powerful alike in the congregation1 in the home1 and in the streets1 and over evil spirits and physical disease alike4 ,jesus ,in ,solitude4 8,and in the morning1 a great while before day1 ,he rose up and went out1 and departed into a desert place1 and there prayed4 ,and ,simon and they that were with him followed after ,him2 and they found ,him1 and say unto ,him1 ,all are seeking ,thee4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,let us go elsewhere into the next towns1 that ,i may preach there also2 for to this end came ,i forth4 ,and ,he went into their synagogues throughout all ,galilee1 and preaching casting out devils40--,,mark i4 #ce-ci 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,mark is pre-eminently the historian of ,christ's activities4 ,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 up4 ,but this evangelist does not omit to tell us by what secret fountains this river of life was fed2 how the active labours of ,jesus were inspired in secret prayers4 ,too often we allow to one side of religion a development which is not excessive1 but disproportionate1 and we are punished when contemplation becomes nerveless1 or energy burns itself away4 ,after feeding the five thousand1 ,st4 ,mark tells us that ,jesus1 while the storm gathered over ,his disciples on the lake1 went up into a mountain to pray4 ,and ,st4 ,luke tells of a whole night of prayer before choosing ,his disciples1 and how it was to pray that ,he climbed the mountain of transfiguration4 ,and we read of ,him going into a desert place with ,his disciples1 and to ,olivet1 and oft-times resorting to the garden where ,judas found ,him1 where1 in the dead of night1 the traitor naturally sought ,him4 ,prayer was the spring of all ,his energies1 and ,his own saying indicated the habit of ,his mortal life as truly as the law of ,his mysterious generation3 8,i live by the ,father40 ,his prayers impress nothing on us more powerfully than the reality of ,his manhood4 ,he1 ,who possesses all things1 bends ,his knees to crave1 and ,his prayers are definite1 no empty form1 no homage without sense of need1 no firing of blank cartridge without an aim4 ,he asks that ,his disciples may be with ,him where ,he is1 that ,simon's strength may fail not1 that ,he may ,himself be saved from a dreadful hour4 8,such touches0 said ,godet 8do not look like an artificial apotheosis of ,jesus1 and they constitute a striking difference between the gospel portrait and the legendary caricature40 ,the entire evening had been passed in healing the diseases of the whole town2 not the light and careless bestowal of a boon which cost nothing1 but wrought with so much sympathy1 such draining of ,his own vital forces1 that ,st4 ,matthew found in it a fulfilment of the prophecy that ,he should ,himself bear our sicknesses4 ,and thus exhausted1 the frame might have been forgiven for demanding some indulgence1 some prolongation of repose4 ,but the course of our ,lord's ministry was now opening up before ,him1 and the hindrances becoming visible4 ,how much was to be hoped from the great impression already made2 how much to be feared from the weakness of ,his followers1 the incipient envy of priest and ,pharisee1 and the volatile excitability of the crowd4 ,at such a time1 to relieve ,his burdened heart with ,divine communion was more to ,jesus than repose1 as1 at another time1 to serve ,him was meat to eat4 ,and therefore1 in the still fresh morning1 long before the dawn1 while every earthly sight was dim but the abysses of heaven were vivid1 declaring without voice1 amid the silence of earth's discord1 the glory and the handiwork of ,his ,father1 ,jesus went into a solitary place and prayed4 ,what is it that makes solitude and darkness dreadful to some1 and oppressive to very many8 ,partly the sense of physical danger1 born of helplessness and uncertainty4 ,this ,he never felt1 who knew that ,he must walk to-day and to-morrow1 and on the third day be perfected4 ,and partly it is the weight of unwelcome reflection1 the searching and rebukes of memory1 fears that come of guilt1 and inward distractions of a nature estranged from the true nature of the universe4 ,jesus was agitated by no inward discords1 upbraided by no remorse4 ,and ,he had probably no reveries2 ,he is never recorded to soliloquise2 solitude to ,him was but another name for communion with ,god ,his ,father2 ,he was never alone1 for ,god was with ,him4 ,this retirement enabled ,him to remain undisturbed until ,his disciples found ,him1 long after the crowds had besieged their dwelling4 ,they had not yet learned how all true external life must rest upon the hidden life of devotion1 and there is an accent of regret in the words1 8,all are seeking ,thee10 as if ,jesus could neglect in self-culture any true opportunity for service4 ,the answer1 noteworthy in itself1 demands especial attention in these times of missions1 demonstrations1 ,salvation ,armies1 and other wise and unwise attempts to gather excited crowds around the cross4 ,mere sensation actually repelled ,jesus4 ,again and again ,he charged men not to make ,him known1 in places where ,he would stay2 while in ,gadara1 which ,he had to leave1 ,his command to the demoniac was the reverse4 ,deep and real convictions are not of kin with sight-seeing and the pursuit of wonders4 ,capernaum has now heard ,his message1 has received its full share of physical blessing1 is exalted unto heaven4 ,those who were looking for redemption knew the gospel1 and ,jesus must preach it in other towns also4 ,therefore1 and not to be the centre of admiring multitudes1 came ,he forth from ,his quiet home4 ,such is the sane and tranquil action of ,jesus1 in face of the excitement caused by ,his many miracles4 ,now the miracles themselves1 and all that depends on them1 are declared to be the creation of the wildest fanaticism1 either during ,his lifetime or developing ,his legend afterwards4 ,and if so1 we have here1 in the action of human mind1 the marvel of modern physicists1 ice from a red-hot retort1 absolute moderation from a dream of frenzy4 ,and this paradox is created in the act of 8explaining0 the miracles4 ,the explanation1 even were it sustained by any evidence1 would be as difficult as any miracle to believe4 ,the ,leper4 8,and there cometh to ,him a leper1 beseeching ,him1 and kneeling down to ,him1 and saying unto ,him1 ,if ,thou wilt1 ,thou canst make me clean4 ,and being moved with compassion1 ,he stretched forth ,his hand1 and touched him1 and saith unto him ,i will2 be thou made clean4 ,and straightway the leprosy departed from him1 and he was made clean4 ,and ,he strictly charged him1 and straightway sent him out1 and saith unto him1 ,see thou say nothing to any man3 but go thy way1 show thyself to the priest1 and offer for thy cleansing the things which ,moses commanded1 for a testimony unto them4 ,but he went out1 and began to publish it much1 and to spread abroad the matter insomuch that ,jesus could no more openly enter into a city1 but was without in desert places3 and they came to ,him from every quarter40--,,mark i4 #dj-de 7,r4,v474 ,the disease of leprosy was peculiarly fearful to a ,jew4 ,in its stealthy beginning1 its irresistible advance1 the utter ruin which it wrought from the blood outward until the flesh was corroded and fell away1 it was a fit type of sin1 at first so trivial in its indications1 but gradually usurping all the nature and corrupting it4 ,and the terrible fact1 that the children of its victims were also doomed1 reminded the ,israelite of the transmission of the taint of ,adam4 ,the story of ,naaman and that of ,gehazi make it almost certain that the leprosy of ,scripture was not contagious1 for they were intimate with kings4 ,but apparently to complete the type1 the law gave to it the artificial contagion of ceremonial uncleanness1 and banished the unhappy sufferer from the dwellings of men4 ,thus he came to be regarded as under an especial ban1 and the prophecy which announced that the illustrious ,man of ,sorrows would be esteemed 8stricken of ,god10 was taken to mean that ,he should be a leper4 ,this banishment of the leper was indeed a remarkable exception to the humanity of the ancient law1 but when his distress began to be extreme1 and 8the plague was turned into white10 he was released from his uncleanness 7,lev4 xiii4 #ag74 ,and this may teach us that sin is to be dreaded most while it is yet insidious2 when developed it gives a sufficient warning against itself4 ,and now such a sufferer appeals to ,jesus4 ,the incident is one of the most pathetic in the ,gospel2 and its graphic details1 and the shining character which it reveals1 make it very perplexing to moderate and thoughtful sceptics4 ,those who believe that the charm of ,his presence was 8worth all the resources of medicine10 agree that ,christ may have cured even leprosy1 and insist that this story1 as told by ,st4 ,mark1 8must be genuine40 ,others suppose that the leper was already cured1 and ,jesus only urged him to fulfil the requirements of the law4 ,and why not deny the story boldly8 ,why linger so longingly over the details1 when credence is refused to what is plainly the mainspring of the whole1 the miraculous power of ,jesus8 ,the answer is plain4 ,honest minds feel the touch of a great nature2 the misery of the suppliant and the compassion of his ,restorer are so vivid as to prove themselves2 no dreamer of a myth1 no process of legend-building1 ever wrought after this fashion4 ,but then1 the misery and compassion being granted1 the whole story is practically conceded4 ,it only remains to ask1 whether the 8presence of the ,saintly ,man0 could work a chemical change in tainted blood4 ,for it must be insisted that the man was 8full of leprosy10 and not1 as one suggests1 already far advanced towards cure4 ,the contrast between his running and kneeling at the very feet of ,jesus1 and the conduct of the ten lepers1 not yet released from their exclusion1 who stood afar off while they cried out 7,luke xvii4 #ab71 is sufficient evidence of this1 even if the express statement of ,st4 ,luke were not decisive4 ,repulsive1 and until now despairing1 only tolerated among men through the completeness of his plague1 this man pushes through the crowd which shrinks from him1 kneels in an agony of supplication1 and says 8,if ,thou wilt1 ,thou canst make me clean40 ,if ,thou wilt6 ,the cruelty of man has taught him to doubt the heart1 even though satisfied of the power of ,jesus4 ,in a few years1 men came to assume the love1 and exult in the reflection that ,he was 8able to keep what #8was' committed to ,him10 8able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think40 ,it did not occur to ,st4 ,paul that any mention of ,his will was needed4 ,nor did ,jesus ,himself ask a later suppliant1 8,believest thou that ,i am willing10 but 8,believest thou that ,i am able to do this80 ,but the charm of this delightful incident is the manner in which our ,lord grants the impassioned prayer4 ,we might have expected a shudder1 a natural recoil from the loathsome spectacle1 and then a wonder-working word4 ,but misery which ,he could relieve did not repel ,jesus2 it attracted ,him4 ,his impulse was to approach4 ,he not only answered 8,i will10--and deep is the will to remove all anguish in the wonderful heart of ,jesus1--but ,he stretched forth an unshrinking hand1 and touched that death in life4 ,it is a parable of all ,his course1 this laying of a clean hand on the sin of the world to cleanse it4 ,at ,his touch1 how was the morbid frame thrilled with delightful pulses of suddenly renovated health4 ,and how was the despairing1 joyless heart1 incredulous of any real will to help him1 soothed and healed by the pure delight of being loved4 ,this is the true lesson of the narrative4 ,st4 ,mark treats the miraculous cure much more lightly than the tender compassion and the swift movement to relieve suffering4 ,and ,he is right4 ,the warm and generous nature revealed by this fine narrative is what1 as we have seen1 most impresses the doubter1 and ought most to comfort the ,church4 ,for ,he is the same yesterday and to-day4 ,and perhaps1 if the divinity of love impressed men as much as that of power1 there would be less denial of the true ,godhead of our ,lord4 ,the touch of a leper made a ,jew unclean4 ,and there is a surprising theory1 that when ,jesus could no more openly enter into a city1 it was because the leper had disobediently published what implied ,his ceremonial defilement4 ,as if our ,lord were one to violate the law by stealth4 ,but is it very remarkable that ,christ1 ,who was born under the law1 never betrayed any anxiety about cleanness4 ,the law of impurity was in fact an expression of human frailty4 ,sin spreads corruption far more easily than virtue diffuses purity4 ,the touch of goodness fails to reproduce goodness4 ,and the prophet ,haggai has laid stress upon this contrast1 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 garment1 but if one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these1 it shall be unclean 7ii4 #ab1 #ac74 ,our hearts know full well how true to nature is the ordinance4 ,but ,christ brought among us a virtue more contagious than our vices are1 being not only a living soul1 but a life-imparting ,spirit4 ,and thus ,he lays ,his hand upon this leper1 upon the bier at ,nain1 upon the corpse of the daughter of ,jairus1 and as fire is kindled at the touch of fire1 so instead of pollution to ,him1 the pureness of healthful life is imparted to the defiling and defiled4 ,and ,his followers also are to possess a religion that is vitalizing1 to be the light of the world1 and the salt of the earth4 ,if we are thus to further ,his cause1 we must not only be zealous but obedient1 ,jesus strictly charged the leper not to fan the flame of an excitement which already impeded ,his work4 ,but there was an invaluable service which he might render3 the formal registration of his cure1 the securing its official recognition by the priests1 and their consent to offer the commanded sacrifices4 ,in many a subsequent controversy1 that 8testimony unto them0 might have been embarrassing indeed4 ,but the leper lost his opportunity1 and put them upon their guard4 ,and as through his impulsive clamour ,jesus could no more openly enter into a city1 but even in desert places was beset by excited crowds1 so is ,he deprived today of many a tranquil ministration and lowly service1 by the zeal which despises order and quiet methods1 by the undisciplined and ill-judged demonstrations of men and women whom ,he has blessed4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,sick ,of ,the ,palsy4 8,and when ,he entered again into ,capernaum after some days1 it was noised that ,he was in the house40--,,mark ii4 #a 7,r4,v474 ,jesus returns to ,capernaum1 and an eager crowd blocks even the approaches to the house where ,he is known to be4 ,st4 ,mark1 as we should expect1 relates the course of events1 the multitudes1 the ingenious device by which a miracle is obtained1 the claim which ,jesus advances to yet greater authority than heretofore1 and the impression produced4 ,but ,st4 ,luke explains that there were 8sitting by10 having obtained the foremost places which they loved1 ,pharisees and doctors of the law from every village of ,galilee and ,juda1 and from ,jerusalem itself4 ,and this concourse1 evidently preconcerted and unfriendly1 explains the first murmurs of opposition recorded by ,st4 ,mark4 ,it was the jealousy of rival teachers which so readily pronounced ,him a blasphemer4 ,the crowds besieged the very passages1 there was no room1 no1 not around the door1 and even if one might struggle forward1 four men bearing a litter might well despair4 ,but with palsied paralysis at stake1 they would not be repulsed4 ,they gained the roof by an outer staircase1 such as the fugitives from ,jerusalem should hereafter use1 not going through the house4 ,then they uncovered and broke up the roof1 by which strong phrases ,st4 ,mark means that they first lifted the tiles which lay in a bed of mortar or mud1 broke through this1 and then tore up the poles and light rafters by which all this covering was supported4 ,then they lowered the sick man upon his pallet1 in front of the ,master as ,he taught4 ,it was an unceremonious act4 ,however carefully performed1 the audience below must have been not only disturbed but inconvenienced1 and doubtless among the precise and unmerciful personages in the chief seats there was many an angry glance1 many a murmur1 many a conjecture of rebukes presently to be inflicted on the intruders4 ,but ,jesus never in any circumstances rebuked for intrusion any suppliant4 ,and now ,he discerned the central spiritual impulse of these men1 which was not obtrusiveness nor disrespect4 ,they believed that neither din while ,he preached1 nor rubbish falling among ,his audience1 nor the strange interruption of a patient and a litter intruded upon ,his discourse1 could weigh as much with ,jesus as the appeal on a sick man's face4 ,and this was faith4 ,these peasants may have been far enough from intellectual discernment of ,christ's ,personality and the scheme of salvation4 ,they had however a strong and practical conviction that ,he would make whole their palsied friend4 ,now the preaching of faith is suspected of endangering good works4 ,but was this persuasion likely to make these men torpid8 ,is it not plain that all spiritual apathy comes not from over-trust but from unbelief1 either doubting that sin is present death1 or else that holiness is life1 and that ,jesus has a gift to bestow1 not in heaven1 but promptly1 which is better to gain than all the world8 ,therefore salvation is linked with faith1 which earns nothing but elicits all1 like the touch that evokes electricity1 but which no man supposes to have made it4 ,because they knew the curse of palsy1 and believed in a present remedy1 these men broke up the roof to come where ,jesus was4 ,they won their blessing1 but not the less it was ,his free gift4 ,jesus saw and rewarded the faith of all the group4 ,the principle of mutual support and co-operation is the basis alike of the family1 the nation1 and the ,church4 ,thus the great ,apostle desired obscure and long-forgotten men and women to help together with him in their prayers4 ,and ,he who visits the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation1 shows mercy unto many more1 unto thousands1 in them that love ,him4 ,what a rebuke is all this to men who think it enough that they should do no harm1 and live inoffensive lives4 ,jesus now bestowed such a blessing as awoke strange misgivings among the bystanders4 ,he divined the true burden of that afflicted heart1 the dreary memories and worse fears which haunted that sick bed1--and how many are even now preparing such remorse and gloom for a bed of pain hereafter6--and perhaps ,he discerned the consciousness of some guilty origin of the disease4 ,certainly ,he saw there one whose thoughts went beyond his malady1 a yearning soul1 with hope glowing like red sparks amid the ashes of his self-reproach1 that a teacher so gracious as men reported ,jesus1 might bring with ,him a gospel indeed4 ,we know that he felt thus1 for ,jesus made him of good cheer by pardon rather than by healing1 and spoke of the cure itself as wrought less for his sake than as evidence4 ,surely that was a great moment when the wistful gaze of eyes which disease had dimmed1 met the eyes which were as a flame of fire1 and knew that all its sullied past was at once comprehended and forgiven4 ,jesus said to him1 8,son1 thy sins are forgiven thee40 ,the term of endearment was new to his lips1 and very emphatic2 the same which ,mary used when she found ,him in the temple1 the same as when ,he argued that even evil men give good gifts unto their children4 ,such a relation towards ,himself ,he recognised in this afflicted penitent4 ,on the other hand1 the dry argumentative temper of the critics is well expressed by the short crackling unemotional utterances of their orthodoxy3 8,why doth this man thus speak8 ,he blasphemeth4 ,who can forgive sins but one1 ,god40 ,there is no zeal in it1 no passion for ,god's honour1 no spiritual insight1 it is as heartless as a syllogism4 ,and in what follows a fine contrast is implied between their perplexed orthodoxy1 and ,christ's profound discernment4 ,for as ,he had just read the sick man's heart1 so ,he 8perceived in ,his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves40 ,and ,he asks them the searching question1 8,whether is easier to say1 ,thy sins be forgiven thee1 or to say1 ,arise and walk80 ,now which is really easier8 ,it is not enough to lay all the emphasis upon 8to say10 as if with ,jesus the ease of an utterance depended on the difficulty of testing it4 ,there is indeed a certain irony in the question4 ,they doubtless imagined that ,jesus was evading their scrutiny by only bestowing what they could not test4 ,to them forgiveness seemed more easily offered than a cure4 ,to the ,christian1 it is less to heal disease1 which is a mere consequence1 than sin1 which is the source of all our woes4 ,to the power of ,jesus they were alike1 and connected with each other as the symptom and the true disease4 ,in truth1 all the compassion which blesses our daily life is a pledge of grace2 and ,he ,who healeth all our diseases forgiveth also all our iniquities4 ,but since healing was the severer test in their reckoning1 ,jesus does not evade it4 ,he restores the palsied man to health1 that they might know that the ,son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins4 ,so then1 pardon does not lie concealed and doubtful in the councils of an unknown world1 it is pronounced on earth4 ,the ,son of man1 wearing our nature and touched with our infirmities1 bestows it still1 in the ,scriptures1 in the ,sacraments1 in the ministrations of ,his servants4 ,wherever ,he discerns faith1 ,he responds with assurance of the absolution and remission of sins4 ,he claims to do this1 as men had so lately observed that ,he both taught and worked miracles1 8with authority40 ,we then saw that this word expressed the direct and personal mastery with which ,he wrought1 and which the apostles never claimed for themselves4 ,therefore this text cannot be quoted in defence of priestly absolutions1 as long as these are hypothetical1 and depend on the recipient's earnestness1 or on any supposition1 any uncertainty whatever4 ,christ did not utter a hypothesis4 ,fortunately1 too1 the argument that men1 priestly men1 must have authority on earth to forgive sins1 because the ,son of man has such authority1 can be brought to an easy test4 ,there is a passage elsewhere1 which asserts ,his authority1 and upon which the claim to share it can be tried4 ,the words are1 8,the ,father gave ,him authority to execute judgment1 because ,he is the ,son of man10 and they are immediately followed by an announcement of the resurrection to judgment 7,john v4 #bg1 #bi74 ,is any one prepared to contend that such authority as that is vested in other sons of men8 ,and if not that1 why this8 ,but if priestly absolutions are not here1 there remains the certainty that ,jesus brought to earth1 to man1 the gift of prompt effective pardon1 to be realized by faith4 ,the sick man is ordered to depart at once4 ,further discourse might perhaps be reserved for others1 but he may not linger1 having received his own bodily and spiritual medicine4 ,the teaching of ,christ is not for curiosity4 ,it is good for the greatly blessed to be alone4 ,and it is sometimes dangerous for obscure people to be thrust into the centre of attention4 ,hereupon1 another touch of nature discovers itself in the narrative1 for it is now easy to pass through the crowd4 ,men who would not in their selfishness give place for palsied misery1 readily make room for the distinguished person who has received a miraculous blessing4 ,the ,son ,of ,man4 8,the ,son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins40--,,mark ii4 #aj4 ,when asserting ,his power to forgive sins1 ,jesus1 for the first time in our ,gospel1 called ,himself the ,son of man4 ,it is a remarkable phrase4 ,the profound reverence which ,he from the first inspired1 restrained all other lips from using it1 save only when the first martyr felt such a rush of sympathy from above poured into his soul1 that the thought of ,christ's humanity was more moving than that of ,his deity4 ,so too it is then alone that ,he is said to be not enthroned in heaven1 but standing1 8the ,son of man1 standing on the right hand of ,god0 7,acts vii4 #ef747e7 ,what then does this title imply8 ,beyond doubt it is derived from ,daniel's vision3 8,behold there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a ,son of man1 and ,he came even to the ,ancient of ,days0 7vii4 #ac74 ,and it was by the bold and unequivocal appropriation of this verse that ,jesus brought upon ,himself the judgment of the council 7,matt4 xxvi4 #fd2 ,mark xiv4 #fb74 ,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 ,god4 ,we wonder at seeing man 8brought nigh0 to ,deity4 ,nor may we suppose that to be 8like unto a ,son of man10 implies only an appearance of manhood4 ,in ,daniel the ,messiah can be cut off4 ,when ,jesus uses the epithet1 and even when ,he quotes the prophecy1 ,he not only resembles a ,son of man1 ,he is truly such2 ,he is most frequently 8the ,son of man10 the pre-eminent1 perhaps the only one47#f7 ,but while the expression intimates a share in the lowliness of human nature1 it does not imply a lowly rank among men4 ,our ,lord often suggested by its use the difference between ,his circumstances and ,his dignity4 8,the ,son of man hath not where to lay ,his head30 8,betrayest thou the ,son of man with a kiss10 in each of these we feel that the title asserts a claim to different treatment4 ,and in the great verse1 ,god 8hath given ,him authority to execute judgment1 because ,he is the ,son of man10 we discern that although human hands are chosen as fittest to do judgment upon humanity1 yet ,his extraordinary dignity is also taken into account4 ,the title belongs to our ,lord's humiliation1 but is far from an additional abasement2 it asserts ,his supremacy over those whom ,he is not ashamed to call brethren4 ,we all are sons of men2 and ,jesus used the phrase when ,he promised that all manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven to us4 ,but there is a higher sense in which1 among thousands of the ignoble1 we single out one 8real man20 and in this sense1 as fulfilling the idea1 ,jesus was the ,second ,man4 ,what a difference exists between the loftiest sons of vulgar men1 and the ,son of our complete humanity1 of the race1 8of ,man40 ,the pre-eminence even of our best and greatest is fragmentary and incomplete4 ,in their veins runs but a portion of the rich life-blood of the race3 but a share of its energy throbs in the greatest bosom4 ,we seldom find the typical thinker in the typical man of action4 ,originality of purpose and of means are not commonly united4 ,to know all that holiness embraces1 we must combine the energies of one saint with the gentler graces of a second and the spiritual insight of a third4 ,there is no man of genius who fails to make himself the child of his nation and his age1 so that ,shakespeare would be impossible in ,france1 ,hugo in ,germany1 ,goethe in ,england4 ,two great nations slay their kings and surrender their liberties to military dictators1 but ,napoleon would have been unendurable to us1 and ,cromwell ridiculous across the channel4 ,large allowances are to be made for the ,greek in ,plato1 the ,roman in ,epictetus1 before we can learn of them4 ,each and all are the sons of their tribe and century1 not of all mankind and all time4 ,but who will point out the ,jewish warp in any word or institution of ,jesus8 ,in the new man which is after ,his image there cannot be ,greek and ,jew1 circumcision and uncircumcision1 barbarian1 ,scythian1 bondman1 freeman1 but ,christ is all and in all1 something of ,him represented by each1 all of them concentrated in ,him4 ,he alone speaks to all men without any foreign accent1 and ,he alone is recognised and understood as widely as the voices of nature1 as the sigh of waves and breezes1 and the still endurance of the stars4 ,reading the ,gospels1 we become aware that four writers of widely different bias and temperament have all found an equally congenial subject1 so that each has given a portrait harmonious with the others1 and yet unique4 ,it is because the sum total of humanity is in ,christ1 that no single writer could have told ,his story4 ,but now consider what this implies4 ,it demands an example from which lonely women and heroic leaders of action should alike take fire4 ,it demands that ,he should furnish meditation for sages in the closet1 and should found a kingdom more brilliant than those of conquerors4 ,it demands that ,he should strike out new paths towards new objects1 and be supremely original without deviating from what is truly sane and human1 for any selfish or cruel or unwholesome joy4 ,it demands the gentleness of a sheep before her shearers1 and such burning wrath as seven times over denounced against the hypocrites of ,jerusalem woe and the damnation of hell4 ,it demands the sensibilities which made ,gethsemane dreadful1 and the strength which made ,calvary sublime4 ,it demands that when we approach ,him we should learn to feel the awe of other worlds1 the nearness of ,god1 the sinfulness of sin1 the folly of laying up much goods for many years2 that life should be made solemn and profound1 but yet that it should not be darkened nor depressed unduly2 that nature and man should be made dear to us1 little children1 and sinners who are scorned yet who love much1 and lepers who stand afar off--yes1 and even the lilies of the field1 and the fowls of the air2 that ,he should not be unaware of the silent processes of nature which bears fruit of itself1 of sunshine and rain1 and the fury of storms and torrents1 and the leap of the lightning across all the sky4 ,thus we can bring to ,jesus every anxiety and every hope1 for ,he1 and only ,he1 was tempted in all points like unto us4 ,universality of power1 of sympathy1 and of influence1 is the import of this title which ,jesus claims4 ,and that demand ,jesus only has satisfied1 ,who is the ,master of ,sages1 the ,friend of sinners1 the ,man of ,sorrows1 and the ,king of kings1 the one perfect blossom on the tree of our humanity1 the ideal of our nature incarnate1 the ,second ,adam in ,whom the fulness of the race is visible4 ,the ,second ,man is the ,lord from ,heaven4 ,and this strange and solitary grandeur ,he foretold1 when ,he took to ,himself this title1 itself equally strange and solitary1 the ,son of man4 ,the ,call ,and ,feast ,of ,levi4 8,and ,he went forth again by the sea side2 and all the multitude resorted unto ,him1 and ,he taught them4 ,and as ,he passed by1 ,he saw ,levi the son of ,alphus sitting at the place of toll1 and ,he saith unto him1 ,follow ,me4 ,and he arose and followed ,him4 ,and it came to pass1 that ,he was sitting at meat in his house1 and many publicans and sinners sat down with ,jesus and ,his disciples3 for there were many1 and they followed ,him4 ,and the scribes of the ,pharisees1 when they saw that ,he was eating with the sinners and publicans1 said unto ,his disciples1 ,he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners4 ,and when ,jesus heard it1 ,he saith unto them1 ,they that are whole have no need of a physician1 but they that are sick3 ,i came not to call the righteous1 but sinners40--,,mark ii4 #ac-ag 7,r4,v474 ,jesus loved the open air4 ,his custom when teaching was to point to the sower1 the lily1 and the bird4 ,he is no pale recluse emerging from a library to instruct1 in the dim religious light of cloisters1 a world unknown except by books4 ,accordingly we find ,him 8again by the sea-side40 ,and however the scribes and ,pharisees may have continued to murmur1 the multitudes resorted to ,him1 confiding in the evidence of their experience1 which never saw it on this fashion4 ,that argument was perfectly logical2 it was an induction1 yet it led them to a result curiously the reverse of theirs who reject miracles for being contrary to experience4 8,yes10 they said1 8we appeal to experience1 but the conclusion is that good deeds which it cannot parallel must come directly from the ,giver of all good40 ,such good deeds continue4 ,the creed of ,christ has re-formed ,europe1 it is awakening ,asia1 it has transformed morality1 and imposed new virtues on the conscience4 ,it is the one religion for the masses1 the lapsed1 and indeed for the sick in body as truly as in soul2 for while science discourses with enthusiasm upon progress by the rejection of the less fit1 our faith cherishes these in hospitals1 asylums1 and retreats1 and prospers by lavishing care upon the outcast and rejected of the world4 ,now this transcends experience3 we never saw it on this fashion2 it is supernatural4 ,or else let scientific atheism produce its reformed magdalens1 and its homes for the hopelessly diseased and imbecile1 and all 8the weakest0 who go1 as she tenderly assures us1 8to the wall40 ,jesus now gave a signal proof of ,his independence of human judgment1 ,his care for the despised and rejected4 ,for such a one ,he completed the rupture between ,himself and the rulers of the people4 ,sitting at the receipt of toll1 in the act of levying from his own nation the dues of the conqueror1 ,levi the publican received the call to become an ,apostle and ,evangelist4 ,it was a resolute defiance of the pharisaic judgment4 ,it was a memorable rebuke for those timid slaves of expediency who nurse their influence1 refuse to give offence1 fear to 8mar their usefulness0 by 8compromising themselves10 and so make their whole life one abject compromise1 and let all emphatic usefulness go by4 ,here is one upon whom the bigot scowls more darkly still than upon ,jesus ,himself1 by whom the ,roman yoke is pressed upon ,hebrew necks1 an apostate in men's judgment from the national faith and hope4 ,and such judgments sadly verify themselves2 a despised man easily becomes despicable4 ,but however ,levi came by so strange and hateful an office1 ,jesus saw in him no slavish earner of vile bread by doing the foreigner's hateful work4 ,he was more willing than they who scorned him to follow the true ,king of ,israel4 ,it is even possible that the national humiliations to which his very office testified led him to other aspirations1 longings after a spiritual kingdom beyond reach of the sword or the exactions of ,rome4 ,for his ,gospel is full of the true kingdom of heaven1 the spiritual fulfilments of prophecy1 and the relations between the ,old ,testament and the ,messiah4 ,here then is an opportunity to show the sneering scribe and carping ,pharisee how little their cynical criticism weighs with ,jesus4 ,he calls the despised agent of the heathen to ,his side1 and is obeyed4 ,and now the name of the publican is engraven upon one of the foundations of the city of ,god4 ,nor did ,jesus refuse to carry such condescension to its utmost limit1 eating and drinking in ,levi's house with many publicans and sinners1 who were already attracted by ,his teaching1 and now rejoiced in ,his familiarity4 ,just in proportion as ,he offended the pharisaic scribes1 so did ,he inspire with new hope the unhappy classes who were taught to consider themselves castaway4 ,his very presence was medicinal1 a rebuke to foul words and thoughts1 an outward and visible sign of grace4 ,it brought pure air and sunshine into a fever-stricken chamber4 ,and this was ,his justification when assailed4 ,he had borne healing to the sick4 ,he had called sinners to repentance4 ,and therefore ,his example has a double message4 ,it rebukes those who look curiously on the intercourse of religious people with the world1 who are plainly of opinion that the leaven should be hid anywhere but in the meal1 who can never fairly understand ,st4 ,paul's permission to go to an idolater's feast4 ,but it gives no licence to go where we cannot be a healing influence1 where the light must be kept in a dark lantern if not under a bushel1 where1 instead of drawing men upward1 we shall only confirm their indolent self-satisfaction4 ,christ's reason for seeking out the sick1 the lost1 is ominous indeed for the self-satisfied4 ,the whole have no need of a physician2 ,he came not to call the righteous4 ,such persons1 whatever else they be1 are not ,christians until they come to a different mind4 ,in calling ,himself the ,physician of sick souls1 ,jesus made a startling claim1 which becomes more emphatic when we observe that ,he also quoted the words of ,hosea1 8,i will have mercy and not sacrifice0 7,matt4 ix4 #ac2 ,hos4 vi4 #f74 ,for this expression occurs in that chapter which tells how the ,lord ,himself hath smitten and will bind us up4 ,and the complaint is just before it that when ,ephraim saw his sickness and ,judah saw his wound1 then went ,ephraim to ,assyria and sent to king ,jareb1 but he is not able to heal you1 neither shall he cure you of your wound 7,hos4 v4 #ac-vi4 #a74 ,as the ,lord ,himself hath torn1 so ,he must heal4 ,now ,jesus comes to that part of ,israel which the ,pharisees despise for being wounded and diseased1 and justifies ,himself by words which must1 from their context1 have reminded every ,jew of the declaration that ,god is the physician1 and it is vain to seek healing elsewhere4 ,and immediately afterwards1 ,he claims to be the ,bridegroom1 whom also ,hosea spoke of as divine4 ,yet men profess that only in ,st4 ,john does ,he advance such claims that we should ask1 ,whom makest ,thou ,thyself8 ,let them try the experiment1 then1 of putting such words into the lips of any mortal4 ,the choice of the apostles1 and most of all that of ,levi1 illustrates the power of the cross to elevate obscure and commonplace lives4 ,he was born1 to all appearance1 to an uneventful1 unobserved existence4 ,we read no remarkable action of the ,apostle ,matthew2 as an ,evangelist he is simple1 orderly and accurate1 as becomes a man of business1 but the graphic energy of ,st4 ,mark1 the pathos of ,st4 ,luke1 the profundity of ,st4 ,john are absent4 ,yet his greatness will outlive the world4 ,now as ,christ provided nobility and a career for this man of the people1 so ,he does for all4 8,are all apostles80 ,nay1 but all may become pillars in the temple of eternity4 ,the gospel finds men plunged in monotony1 in the routine of callings which machinery and the subdivision of labour make ever more colourless1 spiritless1 and dull4 ,it is a small thing that it introduces them to a literature more sublime than ,milton1 more sincere and direct than ,shakespere4 ,it brings their little lives into relationship with eternity4 ,it braces them for a vast struggle1 watched by a great cloud of witnesses4 ,it gives meaning and beauty to the sordid present1 and to the future a hope full of immortality4 ,it brings the ,christ of ,god nearer to the humblest than when of old ,he ate and drank with publicans and sinners4 ,the ,controversy ,concerning ,fasting4 8,and ,john's disciples and the ,pharisees were fasting3 and they come and say unto ,him1 ,why do ,john's disciples and the disciples of the ,pharisees fast1 but ,thy disciples fast not80--,,mark ii4 #ah 7,r4,v474 ,the ,pharisees had just complained to the disciples that ,jesus ate and drank in questionable company4 ,now they join with the followers of the ascetic ,baptist in complaining to ,jesus that ,his disciples eat and drink at improper seasons1 when others fast4 ,and as ,jesus had then replied1 that being a ,physician1 ,he was naturally found among the sick1 so ,he now answered1 that being the ,bridegroom1 fasting in ,his presence is impossible3 8,can the sons of the bridechamber fast while the ,bridegroom is with them80 ,a new spirit is working in ,christianity1 far too mightily to be restrained by ancient usages2 if the new wine be put into such wineskins it will spoil them1 and itself be lost4 ,hereupon three remarkable subjects call for attention3 the immense personal claim advanced2 the view which ,christ takes of fasting2 and1 arising out of this1 the principle which ,he applies to all external rites and ceremonies4 ,i4 ,jesus does not inquire whether the fasts of other men were unreasonable or not4 ,in any case1 ,he declares that ,his mere presence put everything on a new footing for ,his followers who could not fast simply because ,he was by4 ,thus ,he assumes a function high above that of any prophet or teacher3 ,he not only reveals duty1 as a lamp casts light upon the compass by which men steer2 but ,he modifies duty itself1 as iron deflects the needle4 ,this is because ,he is the ,bridegroom4 ,the disciples of ,john would hereupon recall his words of self-effacement2 that ,he was only the friend of the ,bridegroom1 whose fullest joy was to hear the ,bridegroom's exultant voice4 ,but no ,jew could forget the ,old ,testament use of the phrase4 ,it is clear from ,st4 ,matthew that this controversy followed immediately upon the last1 when ,jesus assumed a function ascribed to ,god ,himself by the very passage from ,hosea which ,he then quoted4 ,then ,he was the ,physician for the soul's diseases2 now ,he is the ,bridegroom1 in ,whom centre its hopes1 its joys1 its affections1 its new life4 ,that position in the spiritual existence cannot be given away from ,god without idolatry4 ,the same ,hosea who makes ,god the ,healer1 gives to ,him also1 in the most explicit words1 what ,jesus now claims for ,himself4 8,i will betroth thee unto ,me for ever4444 ,i will even betroth thee unto ,me in faithfulness1 and thou shalt know the ,lord0 7ii4 #ai1 #bj74 ,isaiah too declares 8thy ,maker is thy husband10 and 8as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride1 so shall thy ,god rejoice over thee0 7liv4 #e2 lxii4 #e74 ,and in ,jeremiah1 ,god remembers the love of ,israel's espousals1 who went after ,him in the wilderness1 in a land that was not sown 7ii4 #b74 ,now all this is transferred throughout the ,new ,testament to ,jesus4 ,the ,baptist is not alone in this respect4 ,st4 ,john regards the ,bride as the wife of the ,lamb 7,rev4 xxi4 #i74 ,st4 ,paul would fain present his ,corinthian ,church as a pure virgin to ,christ1 as to one husband 7#b ,cor4 xi4 #b74 ,for him1 the absolute oneness of marriage is a mystery of the union betwixt ,christ and ,his ,church 7,eph4 v4 #cb74 ,if ,jesus be not ,god1 then a relation hitherto exclusively belonging to ,jehovah1 to rob ,him of which is the adultery of the soul1 has been systematically transferred by the ,new ,testament to a creature4 ,his glory has been given to another4 ,this remarkable change is clearly the work of ,jesus ,himself4 ,the marriage supper of which ,he spoke is for the ,king's son4 ,at ,his return the cry will be heard1 ,behold the ,bridegroom cometh4 ,in this earliest passage ,his presence causes the joy of the ,bride1 who said to the ,lord in the ,old ,testament1 ,thou art my ,husband 7,hosea ii4 #af74 ,there is not to be found in the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john a passage more certainly calculated to inspire1 when ,christ's dignity was assured by ,his resurrection and ascension1 the adoration which ,his ,church has always paid to the ,lamb in the midst of the throne4 ,,ii4 ,the presence of the ,bridegroom dispenses with the obligation to fast4 ,yet it is beyond denial that fasting as a religious exercise comes within the circle of ,new ,testament sanctions4 ,jesus ,himself1 when taking our burdens upon ,him1 as ,he had stooped to the baptism of repentance1 condescended also to fast4 ,he taught ,his disciples when they fasted to anoint their head and wash their face4 ,the mention of fasting is indeed a later addition to the words 8this kind 7of demon7 goeth not out but by prayer0 7,mark ix4 #bi71 but we know that the prophets and teachers of ,antioch were fasting when bidden to consecrate ,barnabas and ,saul1 and they fasted again and prayed before they laid their hands upon them 7,acts xiii4 #b1 #c74 ,thus it is right to fast1 at times and from one point of view2 but at other times1 and from ,jewish and formal motives1 it is unnatural and mischievous4 ,it is right when the ,bridegroom is taken away1 a phrase which certainly does not cover all this space between the ,ascension and the ,second ,advent1 since ,jesus still reveals ,himself to ,his own though not unto the world1 and is with ,his ,church all the days4 ,scripture has no countenance for the notion that we lost by the ,ascension in privilege or joy4 ,but when the body would fain rise up against the spirit1 it must be kept under and brought into subjection 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #bg74 ,when the closest domestic joys would interrupt the seclusion of the soul with ,god1 they may be suspended1 though but for a time 7#a ,cor4 vii4 #e74 ,and when the supreme blessing of intercourse with ,god1 the presence of the ,bridegroom1 is obscured or forfeited through sin1 it will then be as inevitable that the loyal heart should turn away from worldly pleasures1 as that the first disciples should reject these in the dread hours of their bereavement4 ,thus ,jesus abolished the superstition that grace may be had by a mechanical observance of a prescribed regimen at an appointed time4 ,he did not deny1 but rather implied the truth1 that body and soul act and counteract so that spiritual impressions may be weakened and forfeited by untimely indulgence of the flesh4 ,by such teaching1 ,jesus carried forward the doctrine already known to the ,old ,testament4 ,there it was distinctly announced that the return from exile abrogated those fasts which commemorated national calamities1 so that 8the fast of the fourth month1 and of the fifth1 and of the seventh and of the tenth shall be to the house of ,israel joy and gladness1 cheerful feasts0 7,zech4 vii4 #c1 viii4 #ai74 ,even while these fasts had lasted they had been futile1 because they were only formal4 8,when ye fasted and mourned1 did ye at all fast unto me8 ,and when ye eat1 and when ye drink1 do ye not eat for yourselves1 and drink for yourselves80 7,zech4 vii4 #e1 #f74 ,and ,isaiah had plainly laid down the great rule1 that a fast and an acceptable day unto the ,lord was not a day to afflict the soul and bow the head1 but to deny and discipline our selfishness for some good end1 to loose the bonds of wickedness1 to undo the bands of the yoke1 and to let the oppressed go free1 to deal bread to the hungry1 and to bring home the poor that is cast out 7,isa4 lviii4 #e-g74 ,the true spirit of fasting breathes an ampler breath in any of the thousand forms of ,christian self-denial1 than in those petty abstinences1 those microscopic observances1 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 whatever4 ,,iii4 ,jesus now applies a great principle to all external rites and ceremonies4 ,they have their value4 ,as the wineskin retains the wine1 so are feelings and aspirations aided1 and even preserved1 by suitable external forms4 ,without these1 emotion would lose itself for want of restraint1 wasted1 like spilt wine1 by diffuseness4 ,and if the forms are unsuitable and outworn1 the same calamity happens1 the strong new feelings break through them1 8and the wine perisheth1 and the skins40 ,in this respect1 how many a sad experience of the ,church attests the wisdom of her ,lord2 what losses have been suffered in the struggle between forms that had stiffened into archaic ceremonialism and new zeal demanding scope for its energy1 between the antiquated phrases of a bygone age and the new experience1 knowledge and requirements of the next1 between the frosty precisions of unsympathetic age and the innocent warmth and freshness of the young1 too often1 alas1 lost to their ,master in passionate revolt against restraints which ,he neither imposed nor smiled upon4 ,therefore the coming of a new revelation meant the repeal of old observances1 and ,christ refused to sew ,his new faith like a patchwork upon ancient institutions1 of which it would only complete the ruin4 ,thus ,he anticipated the decision of ,his apostles releasing the ,gentiles from the law of ,moses4 ,and ,he bestowed on ,his ,church an adaptiveness to various times and places1 not always remembered by missionaries among the heathen1 by fastidious critics of new movements at home1 nor by men who would reduce the lawfulness of modern agencies to a question of precedent and archology4 ,the ,sabbath4 8,and it came to pass1 that ,he was going on the sabbath day through the cornfields2 and ,his disciples began1 as they went1 to pluck the ears of corn4 ,and the ,pharisees said unto ,him1 ,behold1 why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful8 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,did ye never read what ,david did1 when he had need1 and was an hungred1 he1 and they that were with him8 ,how he entered into the house of ,god when ,abiathar was high priest1 and did eat the shewbread1 which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests1 and gave also to them that were with him8 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,the sabbath was made for man1 and not man for the sabbath3 so that the ,son of man is ,lord even of the sabbath40--,,mark ii4 #bc-bh 7,r4,v474 ,twice in succession ,christ had now asserted the freedom of the soul against ,his ,jewish antagonists4 ,he was free to eat with sinners1 for their good1 and ,his followers were free to disregard fasts1 because the ,bridegroom was with them4 ,a third attack in the same series is prepared4 ,the ,pharisees now take stronger ground1 since the law itself enforced the obligation of the ,sabbath4 ,even ,isaiah1 the most free-spirited of all the prophets1 in the same passage where he denounced the fasts of the self-righteous1 bade men to keep their foot from the ,sabbath 7,isa4 lviii4 #ac1 #ad74 ,here they felt sure of their position2 and when they found the disciples1 in a cornfield where the long stems had closed over the path1 8making a way10 which was surely forbidden labour1 and this by 8plucking the ears10 which was reaping1 and then rubbing these in their hands to reject the chaff1 which was winnowing1 they cried out in affected horror1 ,behold1 why do they that which is not lawful8 ,to them it mattered nothing that the disciples really hungered1 and that abstinence1 rather than the slight exertion which they condemned1 would cause real inconvenience and unrest4 ,perhaps the answer of our ,lord has been as much misunderstood as any other words ,he ever spoke4 ,it has been assumed that ,he spoke across the boundary between the new dispensation and the old1 as ,one from whose movements the restraints of ,judaism had entirely fallen away1 to those who were still entangled4 ,and it has been inferred that the ,fourth ,commandment was no more than such a restraint1 now thrown off among the rest4 ,but this is quite a misapprehension both of ,his position and theirs4 ,on earth ,he was a minister of the circumcision4 ,he bade ,his disciples to observe and do all that was commanded from the seat of ,moses4 ,and it is by ,old ,testament precedent1 and from ,old ,testament principles1 that ,he now refutes the objection of the ,pharisees4 ,this is what gives the passage half its charm1 this discovery of freedom like our own in the heart of the stern old ,hebrew discipline1 as a fountain and flowers on the face of a granite crag1 this demonstration that all we now enjoy is developed from what already lay in germ enfolded in the law4 ,david and his followers1 when at extremity1 had eaten the shewbread which it was not lawful for them to eat4 ,it is a striking assertion4 ,we should probably have sought a softer phrase4 ,we should have said that in other circumstances it would have been unlawful1 that only necessity made it lawful2 we should have refused to look straight in the face the naked ugly fact that ,david broke the law4 ,but ,jesus was not afraid of any fact4 ,he saw and declared that the priests in the ,temple itself profaned the ,sabbath when they baked the shewbread and when they circumcised children4 ,they were blameless1 not because the ,fourth ,commandment remained inviolate1 but because circumstances made it right for them to profane the ,sabbath4 ,and ,his disciples were blameless also1 upon the same principle1 that the larger obligation overruled the lesser1 that all ceremonial observance gave way to human need1 that mercy is a better thing than sacrifice4 ,and thus it appeared that the objectors were themselves the transgressors2 they had condemned the guiltless4 ,a little reflection will show that our ,lord's bold method1 ,his startling admission that ,david and the priests alike did that which was not lawful1 is much more truly reverential than our soft modern compromises1 our shifty devices for persuading ourselves that in various permissible and even necessary deviations from prescribed observances1 there is no real infraction of any law whatever4 ,to do this1 we reduce to a minimum the demands of the precept4 ,we train ourselves to think1 not of its full extension1 but of what we can compress it into4 ,therefore1 in future1 even when no urgency exists1 the precept has lost all beyond this minimum2 its sharp edges are filed away4 ,jesus leaves it to resume all its energy1 when mercy no longer forbids the sacrifice4 ,the text1 then1 says nothing about the abolition of a ,day of ,rest4 ,on the contrary1 it declares that this day is not a ,jewish but a universal ordinance1 it is made for man4 ,at the same time1 it refuses to place the ,sabbath among the essential and inflexible laws of right and wrong4 ,it is made for man1 for his physical repose and spiritual culture2 man was not made for it1 as he is for purity1 truth1 and godliness4 ,better for him to die than outrage these2 they are the laws of his very being2 he is royal by serving them2 in obeying them he obeys his ,god4 ,it is not thus with anything external1 ceremonial1 any ritual1 any rule of conduct1 however universal be its range1 however permanent its sanctions4 ,the ,sabbath is such a rule1 permanent1 far-reaching as humanity1 made 8for man40 ,but this very fact1 ,jesus tells us1 is the reason why ,he ,who represented the race and its interests1 was 8,lord even of the ,sabbath40 ,let those who deny the ,divine authority of this great institution ponder well the phrase which asserts its universal range1 and which finds it a large assertion of the mastery of ,christ that ,he is ,lord 8even of the ,sabbath40 ,but those who have scruples about the change of day by which honour is paid to ,christ's resurrection1 and those who would make burdensome and dreary1 a horror to the young and a torpor to the old1 what should be called a delight and honourable1 these should remember that the ordinance is blighted1 root and branch1 when it is forbidden to minister to the physical or spiritual welfare of the human race4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,withered ,hand4 8,and ,he entered again into the synagogue2 and there was a man there which had his hand withered4 ,and they watched ,him1 whether ,he would heal him on the sabbath day2 that they might accuse ,him4 ,and ,he saith unto the man that had his hand withered1 ,stand forth4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good or to do harm8 to save a life1 or to kill8 ,but they held their peace4 ,and when ,he had looked round about on them with anger1 being grieved at the hardening of their heart1 ,he saith unto the man1 ,stretch forth thy hand4 ,and he stretched it forth3 and his hand was restored4 ,and the ,pharisees went out1 and straightway with the ,herodians took counsel against ,him1 how they might destroy ,him40--,,mark iii4 #a-f 7,r4,v474 ,in the controversies just recorded1 we have recognised the ideal ,teacher1 clear to discern and quick to exhibit the decisive point at issue1 careless of small pedantries1 armed with principles and precedents which go to the heart of the dispute4 ,but the perfect man must be competent in more than theory2 and we have now a marvellous example of tact1 decision and self-control in action4 ,when ,sabbath observance is again discussed1 his enemies have resolved to push matters to extremity4 ,they watch1 no longer to cavil1 but that they may accuse ,him4 ,it is in the synagogue2 and their expectations are sharpened by the presence of a pitiable object1 a man whose hand is not only paralyzed in the sinews1 but withered up and hopeless4 ,st4 ,luke tells us that it was the right hand1 which deepened his misery4 ,and ,st4 ,matthew records that they asked ,christ1 ,is it lawful to heal on the ,sabbath day8 thus urging ,him by a challenge to the deed which they condemned4 ,what a miserable state of mind6 ,they believe that ,jesus can work the cure1 since this is the very basis of their plot2 and yet their hostility is not shaken1 for belief in a miracle is not conversion2 to acknowledge a prodigy is one thing1 and to surrender the will is quite another4 ,or how should we see around us so many ,christians in theory1 reprobates in life8 ,they long to see the man healed1 yet there is no compassion in this desire1 hatred urges them to wish what mercy impels ,christ to grant4 ,but while ,he relieves the sufferer1 ,he will also expose their malice4 ,therefore ,he makes ,his intention public1 and whets their expectation1 by calling the man forth into the midst4 ,and then ,he meets their question with another3 ,is it lawful to do good on the ,sabbath day or evil1 to save life or to kill8 ,and when they preserved their calculated silence1 we know how ,he pressed the question home1 reminding them that not one of them would fail to draw ,his own sheep out of a pit upon the ,sabbath day4 ,selfishness made the difference1 for a man was better than a sheep1 but did not1 like the sheep1 belong to them4 ,they do not answer3 instead of warning ,him away from guilt1 they eagerly await the incriminating act3 we can almost see the spiteful subtle smile playing about their bloodless lips2 and ,jesus marks them well4 ,he looked round about them in anger1 but not in bitter personal resentment1 for ,he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts1 and pitied them also1 even while enduring such contradiction of sinners against ,himself4 ,this is the first mention by ,st4 ,mark of that impressive gaze1 afterwards so frequent in every ,gospel1 which searched the scribe who answered well1 and melted the heart of ,peter4 ,and now1 by one brief utterance1 their prey breaks through their meshes4 ,any touch would have been a work1 a formal infraction of the law4 ,therefore there is no touch1 neither is the helpless man bidden to take up any burden1 or instigated to the slightest ritual irregularity4 ,jesus only bids him do what was forbidden to none1 but what had been impossible for him to perform2 and the man succeeds1 he does stretch forth his hand3 he is healed3 the work is done4 ,yet nothing has been done2 as a work of healing not even a word has been said4 ,for ,he who would so often defy their malice has chosen to show once how easily ,he can evade it1 and not one of them is more free from any blame1 however technical1 than ,he4 ,the ,pharisees are so utterly baffled1 so helpless in ,his hands1 so 8filled with madness0 that they invoke against this new foe the help of their natural enemies1 the ,herodians4 ,these appear on the stage because the immense spread of the ,messianic movement endangers the ,iduman dynasty4 ,when first the wise men sought an infant ,king of the ,jews1 the ,herod of that day was troubled4 ,that instinct which struck at ,his cradle is now reawakened1 and will not slumber again until the fatal day when the new ,herod shall set ,him at nought and mock ,him4 ,in the meanwhile these strange allies perplex themselves with the hard question1 ,how is it possible to destroy so acute a foe4 ,while observing their malice1 and the exquisite skill which baffles it1 we must not lose sight of other lessons4 ,it is to be observed that no offence to hypocrites1 no danger to ,himself1 prevented ,jesus from removing human suffering4 ,and also that ,he expects from the man a certain co-operation involving faith3 he must stand forth in the midst2 every one must see his unhappiness2 he is to assume a position which will become ridiculous unless a miracle is wrought4 ,then he must make an effort4 ,in the act of stretching forth his hand the strength to stretch it forth is given2 but he would not have tried the experiment unless he trusted before he discovered the power4 ,such is the faith demanded of our sin-stricken and helpless souls2 a faith which confesses its wretchedness1 believes in the good will of ,god and the promises of ,christ1 and receives the experience of blessing through having acted on the belief that already the blessing is a fact in the ,divine volition4 ,nor may we overlook the mysterious impalpable spiritual power which effects its purposes without a touch1 or even an explicit word of healing import4 ,what is it but the power of ,him ,who spake and it was done1 ,who commanded and it stood fast8 ,and all this vividness of look and bearing1 this innocent subtlety of device combined with a boldness which stung ,his foes to madness1 all this richness and verisimilitude of detail1 this truth to the character of ,jesus1 this spiritual freedom from the trammels of a system petrified and grown rigid1 this observance in a secular act of the requirements of the spiritual kingdom1 all this wealth of internal evidence goes to attest one of the minor miracles which sceptics declare to be incredible4 ,the ,choice ,of ,the ,twelve4 8,and ,jesus with ,his disciples withdrew to the sea3 and a great multitude from ,galilee followed3 and from ,juda1 and from ,jerusalem1 and from ,iduma1 and beyond ,jordan1 and about ,tyre and ,sidon1 a great multitude1 hearing what great things ,he did1 came unto ,him4 ,and ,he spake to ,his disciples1 that a little boat should wait on ,him because of the crowd1 lest they should throng ,him3 for ,he had healed many2 insomuch that as many as had plagues pressed upon ,him that they might touch ,him4 ,and the unclean spirits1 whensoever they beheld ,him1 fell down before ,him1 and cried1 saying1 ,thou art the ,son of ,god4 ,and ,he charged them much that they should not make ,him known4 ,and ,he goeth up into the mountain1 and calleth unto ,him whom ,he ,himself would3 and they went unto ,him4 ,and ,he appointed twelve1 that they might be with ,him1 and that ,he might send them forth to preach1 and to have authority to cast out devils3 and ,simon he surnamed ,peter2 and ,james the son of ,zebedee1 and ,john the brother of ,james2 and them ,he surnamed ,boanerges1 which is1 ,sons of thunder3 and ,andrew1 and ,philip1 and ,bartholomew1 and ,matthew1 and ,thomas1 and ,james the son of ,alphus1 and ,thaddus1 and ,simon the ,cananan1 and ,judas ,iscariot1 which also betrayed ,him40--,,mark iii4 #g-ai 7,r4,v474 ,we have reached a crisis in the labours of the ,lord1 when hatred which has become deadly is preparing a blow4 ,the ,pharisees are aware1 by a series of experiences1 that ,his method is destructive to their system1 that ,he is too fearless to make terms with them1 that ,he will strip the mask off their faces4 ,their rage was presently intensified by an immense extension of ,his fame4 ,and therefore ,he withdrew from the plots which ripen most easily in cities1 the hotbeds of intrigue1 to the open coast4 ,it is ,his first retreat before opposition1 and careful readers of the ,gospels must observe that whenever the pressure of ,his enemies became extreme1 ,he turned for safety to the simple fishermen1 among whom they had no party1 since they had preached no gospel to the poor1 and that ,he was frequently conveyed by water from point to point1 easily reached by followers1 who sometimes indeed outran ,him upon foot1 but where treason had to begin its wiles afresh4 ,hither1 perhaps camping along the beach1 came a great multitude not only from ,galilee but also from ,juda1 and even from the capital1 the headquarters of the priesthood1 and by a journey of several days from ,iduma1 and from ,tyre and ,sidon1 so that afterwards1 even there1 ,he could not be hid4 ,many came to see what great things ,he did1 but others bore with them some afflicted friend1 or were themselves sore stricken by disease4 ,and ,jesus gave like a ,god1 opening ,his hand and satisfying their desires1 8for power went out of ,him1 and healed them all40 ,not yet had the unbelief of man restrained the compassion of ,his heart1 and forced ,him to exhibit another phase of the mind of ,god1 by refusing to give that which is holy to the dogs4 ,as yet1 therefore1 ,he healeth all their diseases4 ,then arose an unbecoming and irreverent rush of as many as had plagues to touch ,him4 ,a more subtle danger mingled itself with this peril from undue eagerness4 ,for unclean spirits1 who knew ,his mysterious personality1 observed that this was still a secret1 and was no part of ,his teaching1 since ,his disciples could not bear it yet4 ,many months afterwards1 flesh and blood had not revealed it even to ,peter4 ,and therefore the demons made malicious haste to proclaim ,him the ,son of ,god1 and ,jesus was obliged to charge them much that they should not make ,him known4 ,this action of ,his may teach ,his followers to be discreet4 ,falsehood indeed is always evil1 but at times reticence is a duty1 because certain truths are a medicine too powerful for some stages of spiritual disease4 ,the strong sun which ripens the grain in autumn1 would burn up the tender germs of spring4 ,but it was necessary to teach as well as to heal4 ,and ,jesus showed his ready practical ingenuity1 by arranging that a little boat should wait on ,him1 and furnish at once a pulpit and a retreat4 ,and now ,jesus took action distinctly ,messianic4 ,the harvest of souls was plenteous1 but the appointed labourers were unfaithful1 and a new organisation was to take their place4 ,the sacraments and the apostolate are indeed the only two institutions bestowed upon ,his ,church by ,christ ,himself2 but the latter is enough to show that1 so early in ,his course1 ,he saw ,his way to a revolution4 ,he appointed twelve apostles1 in clear allusion to the tribes of a new ,israel1 a spiritual circumcision1 another peculiar people4 ,a new ,jerusalem should arise1 with their names engraven upon its twelve foundation stones4 ,but since all great changes arrive1 not by manufacture but by growth1 and in co-operation with existing circumstances1 since nations and constitutions are not made but evolved1 so was it also with the ,church of ,christ4 ,the first distinct and format announcement of a new sheepfold1 entered by a new and living ,way1 only came when evoked by the action of ,his enemies in casting out the man who was born blind4 ,by that time1 the apostles were almost ready to take their place in it4 ,they had learned much4 ,they had watched the marvellous career to which their testimony should be rendered4 ,by exercise they had learned the reality1 and by failure the condition of the miraculous powers which they should transmit4 ,but long before1 at the period we have now reached1 the apostles had been chosen under pressure of the necessity to meet the hostility of the ,pharisees with a counter-agency1 and to spread the knowledge of ,his power and doctrine farther than ,one ,teacher1 however endowed1 could reach4 ,they were to be workers together with ,him4 ,st4 ,mark tells us that ,he went up into the mountain1 the well known hill of the neighbourhood1 as ,st4 ,luke also implies1 and there called unto ,him whom ,he ,himself would4 ,the emphasis refutes a curious conjecture1 that ,judas may have been urged upon ,him with such importunity by the rest that to reject became a worse evil than to receive him47#g7 ,the choice was all ,his own1 and in their early enthusiasm not one whom ,he summoned refused the call4 ,out of these ,he chose the ,twelve1 elect of the election4 ,we learn from ,st4 ,luke 7v4 #ab7 that ,his choice1 fraught with such momentous issues1 was made after a whole night of prayer1 and from ,st4 ,matthew that ,he also commanded the whole body of ,his disciples to pray the ,lord of the ,harvest1 not that they themselves should be chosen1 but that ,he would send forth labourers into ,his harvest4 ,now who were these by whose agency the downward course of humanity was reversed1 and the traditions of a ,divine faith were poured into a new mould8 ,it must not be forgotten that their ranks were afterwards recruited from the purest ,hebrew blood and ripest culture of the time4 ,the addition of ,saul of ,tarsus proved that knowledge and position were no more proscribed than indispensable4 ,yet is it in the last degree suggestive1 that ,jesus drew ,his personal followers from classes1 not indeed oppressed by want1 but lowly1 unwarped by the prejudices of the time1 living in close contact with nature and with unsophisticated men1 speaking and thinking the words and thoughts of the race and not of its coteries1 and face to face with the great primitive wants and sorrows over which artificial refinement spreads a thin1 but often a baffling veil4 ,with one exception the ,nazarene called ,galileans to ,his ministry2 and the ,carpenter was followed by a group of fishermen1 by a despised publican1 by a zealot whose love of ,israel had betrayed him into wild and lawless theories at least1 perhaps into evil deeds1 and by several whose previous life and subsequent labours are unknown to earthly fame4 ,such are the ,judges enthroned over the twelve tribes of ,israel4 ,a mere comparison of the lists refutes the notion that any one ,evangelist has worked up the materials of another1 so diverse are they1 and yet so easily reconciled4 ,matthew in one is ,levi in another4 ,thaddus1 ,jude1 and ,lebbus1 are interchangeable4 ,the order of the ,twelve differs in all the four lists1 and yet there are such agreements1 even in this respect1 as to prove that all the ,evangelists were writing about what they understood4 ,divide the ,twelve into three ranks of four1 and in none of the four catalogues will any name1 or its equivalent1 be found to have wandered out of its subdivision1 out of the first1 second1 or third rank1 in which doubtless that apostle habitually followed ,jesus4 ,within each rank there is the utmost diversity of place1 except that the foremost name in each is never varied2 ,peter1 ,philip1 and the ,lesser ,james1 hold the first1 fifth1 and ninth place in every catalogue4 ,and the traitor is always last4 ,these are coincidences too slight for design and too striking for accident1 they are the natural signs of truth4 ,for they indicate1 without obtruding or explaining1 some arrangement of the ranks1 and some leadership of an individual in each4 ,moreover1 the group of the apostles presents a wonderfully lifelike aspect4 ,fear1 ambition1 rivalry1 perplexity1 silence when speech is called for1 and speech when silence is befitting1 vows1 failures1 and yet real loyalty1 alas6 we know them all4 ,the incidents which are recorded of the chosen of ,christ no inventor of the second century would have dared to devise2 and as we study them1 we feel the touch of genuine life2 not of colossal statues such as repose beneath the dome of ,st4 ,peter's1 but of men1 genuine1 simple and even somewhat childlike1 yet full of strong1 fresh1 unsophisticated feeling1 fit therefore to become a great power1 and especially so in the capacity of witnesses for an ennobling yet controverted fact4 ,characteristics ,of ,the ,twelve4 8,and ,he appointed twelve1 that they might be with ,him1 and that ,he might send them forth to preach1 and to have authority to cast out devils3 and ,simon ,he surnamed ,peter2 and ,james the son of ,zebedee1 and ,john the brother of ,james2 and them ,he surnamed ,boanerges1 which is1 ,sons of thunder3 and ,andrew1 and ,philip1 and ,bartholomew1 and ,matthew1 and ,thomas1 and ,james the son of ,alphus1 and ,thaddus1 and ,simon the ,cananan1 and ,judas ,iscariot1 which also betrayed ,him40--,,mark iii4 #ad-ai 7,r4,v474 ,the pictures of the ,twelve1 then1 are drawn from a living group4 ,and when they are examined in detail1 this appearance of vitality is strengthened1 by the richest and most vivid indications of individual character1 such indeed as in several cases to throw light upon the choice of ,jesus4 ,to invent such touches is the last attainment of dramatic genius1 and the artist rarely succeeds except by deliberate and palpable character-painting4 ,the whole story of ,hamlet and of ,lear is constructed with this end in view1 but no one has ever conjectured that the ,gospels were psychological studies4 ,if1 then1 we can discover several well-defined characters1 harmoniously drawn by various writers1 as natural as the central figure is supernatural1 and to be recognised equally in the common and the miraculous narratives1 this will be an evidence of the utmost value4 ,we are all familiar with the impetuous vigour of ,st4 ,peter1 a quality which betrayed him into grave and well-nigh fatal errors1 but when chastened by suffering made him a noble and formidable leader of the ,twelve4 ,we recognise it when ,he says1 8,thou shalt never wash my feet10 8,though all men should deny ,thee1 yet will ,i never deny ,thee10 8,lord1 to whom should we go8 ,thou hast the words of everlasting life10 8,thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god10 and in his rebuke of ,jesus for self-sacrifice1 and in his rash blow in the garden4 ,does this1 the best established mental quality of any apostle1 fail or grow faint in the miraculous stories which are condemned as the accretions of a later time8 ,in such stories he is related to have cried out1 8,depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord10 he would walk upon the sea to ,jesus1 he proposed to shelter ,moses and ,elijah from the night air in booths 7a notion so natural to a bewildered man1 so exquisite in its officious well-meaning absurdity as to prove itself1 for who could have invented it871 he ventured into the empty sepulchre while ,john stood awe-stricken at the portal1 he plunged into the lake to seek his risen ,master on the shore1 and he was presently the first to draw the net to land4 ,observe the restless curiosity which beckoned to ,john to ask who was the traitor1 and compare it with his question1 8,lord1 and what shall this man do80 ,but the second of these was after the resurrection1 and in answer to a prophecy4 ,everywhere we find a real person and the same1 and the vehemence is everywhere that of a warm heart1 which could fail signally but could weep bitterly as well1 which could learn not to claim1 though twice invited1 greater love than that of others1 but when asked 8,lovest thou ,me0 at all1 broke out into the passionate appeal1 8,lord1 ,thou knowest all things1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee40 ,dull is the ear of the critic which fails to recognise here the voice of ,simon4 ,yet the story implies the resurrection4 ,the mind of ,jesus was too lofty and grave for epigram2 but ,he put the wilful self-reliance which ,peter had to subdue even to crucifixion1 into one delicate and subtle phrase3 8,when thou wast young1 thou girdedst thyself1 and walkedst whither thou wouldest40 ,that self-willed stride1 with the loins girded1 is the natural gait of ,peter1 when he was young4 ,st4 ,james1 the first apostolic martyr1 seems to have over-topped for a while his greater brother ,st4 ,john1 before whom he is usually named1 and who is once distinguished as 8the brother of ,james40 ,he shares with him the title of a ,son of ,thunder 7,mark iii4 #ag74 ,they were together in desiring to rival the fiery and avenging miracle of ,elijah1 and to partake of the profound baptism and bitter cup of ,christ4 ,it is an undesigned coincidence in character1 that while the latter of these events is recorded by ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark1 the former1 which1 it will be observed implies perfect confidence in the supernatural power of ,christ1 is found in ,st4 ,luke alone1 who has not mentioned the title it justifies so curiously 7,matt4 xx4 #bj2 ,mark x4 #ce2 ,luke ix4 #ed74 ,it is more remarkable that he whom ,christ bade to share his distinctive title with another1 should not once be named as having acted or spoken by himself4 ,with a fire like that of ,peter1 but no such power of initiative and of chieftainship1 how natural it is that his appointed task was martyrdom4 ,is it objected that his brother also1 the great apostle ,st4 ,john1 received only a share in that divided title8 ,but the family trait is quite as palpable in him4 ,the deeds of ,john were seldom wrought upon his own responsibility1 never if we except the bringing of ,peter into the palace of the high priest4 ,he is a keen observer and a deep thinker4 ,but he cannot1 like his ,master1 combine the quality of leader with those of student and sage4 ,in company with ,andrew he found the ,messiah4 ,we have seen ,james leading him for a time4 ,it was in obedience to a sign from ,peter that ,he asked who was the traitor4 ,with ,peter1 when ,jesus was arrested1 he followed afar off4 ,it is very characteristic that he shrank from entering the sepulchre until ,peter1 coming up behind1 went in first1 although it was ,john who thereupon 8saw and believed407#h7 ,with like discernment1 he was the first to recognise ,jesus beside the lake1 but then it was equally natural that he should tell ,peter1 and follow in the ship1 dragging the net to land1 as that ,peter should gird himself and plunge into the lake4 ,peter1 when ,jesus drew him aside1 turned and saw the disciple whom ,jesus loved following1 with the same silent1 gentle1 and sociable affection1 which had so recently joined him with the saddest and tenderest of all companions underneath the cross4 ,at this point there is a delicate and suggestive turn of phrase4 ,by what incident would any pen except his own have chosen to describe the beloved disciple as ,peter then beheld him8 ,assuredly we should have written1 ,the disciple whom ,jesus loved1 who also followed ,him to ,calvary1 and to whom ,he confided ,his mother4 ,but from ,st4 ,john himself there would have been a trace of boastfulness in such a phrase4 ,now the author of the ,fourth ,gospel1 choosing rather to speak of privilege than service1 wrote 8,the disciple whom ,jesus loved1 which also leaned back on ,his breast at the supper1 and said1 ,lord1 who is he that betrayeth ,thee80 ,st4 ,john was again with ,st4 ,peter at the ,beautiful ,gate1 and although it was not he who healed the cripple1 yet his co-operation is implied in the words1 8,peter1 fastening his eyes on him1 with ,john40 ,and when the ,council would fain have silenced them1 the boldness which spoke in ,peter's reply was 8the boldness of ,peter and ,john40 ,could any series of events justify more perfectly a title which implied much zeal1 yet zeal that did not demand a specific unshared epithet8 ,but these events are interwoven with the miraculous narratives4 ,add to this the keenness and deliberation which so much of his story exhibits1 which at the beginning tendered no hasty homage1 but followed ,jesus to examine and to learn1 which saw the meaning of the orderly arrangment of the graveclothes in the empty tomb1 which was first to recognise the ,lord upon the beach1 which before this had felt something in ,christ's regard for the least and weakest1 inconsistent with the forbidding of any one to cast out devils1 and we have the very qualities required to supplement those of ,peter1 without being discordant or uncongenial4 ,and therefore it is with ,peter1 even more than with his brother1 that we have seen ,john associated4 ,in fact ,christ1 who sent out ,his apostles by two and two1 joins these in such small matters as the tracking a man with a pitcher into the house where ,he would keep the ,passover4 ,and so1 when ,mary of ,magdala would announce the resurrection1 she found the penitent ,simon in company with this loving ,john1 comforted1 and ready to seek the tomb where he met the ,lord of all ,pardons4 ,all this is not only coherent1 and full of vital force1 but it also strengthens powerfully the evidence for his authorship of the ,gospel1 written the last1 looking deepest into sacred mysteries1 and comparatively unconcerned for the mere flow of narrative1 but tender with private and loving discourse1 with thoughts of the protecting ,shepherd1 the sustaining ,vine1 the ,friend ,who wept by a grave1 ,who loved ,john1 ,who provided amid tortures for ,his mother1 ,who knew that ,peter loved ,him1 and bade him feed the lambs--and yet thunderous as becomes a ,boanerges1 with indignation half suppressed against 8the ,jews0 7so called as if he had renounced his murderous nation71 against the selfish high-priest of 8that same year10 and against the son of perdition1 for whom certain astute worldlings have surmised that his wrath was such as they best understand1 personal1 and perhaps a little spiteful4 ,the temperament of ,john1 revealed throughout1 was that of ,august1 brooding and warm and hushed and fruitful1 with low rumblings of tempest in the night4 ,it is remarkable that such another family resemblance as between ,james and ,john exists between ,peter and ,andrew4 ,the directness and self-reliance of his greater brother may be discovered in the few incidents recorded of ,andrew also4 ,at the beginning1 and after one interview with ,jesus1 when he finds his brother1 and becomes the first of the ,twelve to spread the gospel1 he utters the short unhesitating announcement1 8,we have found the ,messiah40 ,when ,philip is uncertain about introducing the ,greeks who would see ,jesus1 he consults ,andrew1 and there is no more hesitation1 ,andrew and ,philip tell ,jesus4 ,and in just the same way1 when ,philip argues that two hundred pennyworth of bread are not enough for the multitude1 ,andrew intervenes with practical information about the five barley loaves and the two small fishes1 insufficient although they seem4 ,a man prompt and ready1 and not blind to the resources that exist because they appear scanty4 ,twice we have found ,philip mentioned in conjunction with him4 ,it was ,philip1 apparently accosted by the ,greeks because of his ,gentile name1 who could not take upon himself the responsibility of telling ,jesus of their wish4 ,and it was he1 when consulted about the feeding of the five thousand1 who went off into a calculation of the price of the food required--two hundred pennyworth1 he says1 would not suffice4 ,is it not highly consistent with this slow deliberation1 that he should have accosted ,nathanael with a statement so measured and explicit3 8,we have found ,him1 of whom ,moses in the law1 and the prophets did write1 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the ,son of ,joseph40 ,what a contrast to ,andrew's terse announcement1 8,we have found the ,messiah40 ,and how natural that ,philip should answer the objection1 8,can any good thing come out of ,nazareth80 with the passionless reasonable invitation1 8,come and see40 ,it was in the same unimaginative prosaic way that he said long after1 8,lord1 show us the ,father1 and it sufficeth us40 ,to this comparatively sluggish temperament1 therefore1 ,jesus ,himself had to address the first demand ,he made on any4 8,follow me10 ,he said1 and was obeyed4 ,it would not be easy to compress into such brief and incidental notices a more graphic indication of character4 ,of the others we know little except the names4 ,the choice of ,matthew1 the man of business1 is chiefly explained by the nature of his ,gospel1 so explicit1 orderly1 and methodical1 and until it approaches the crucifixion1 so devoid of fire4 ,but when we come to ,thomas1 we are once more aware of a defined and vivid personality1 somewhat perplexed and melancholy1 of little hope but settled loyalty4 ,all the three sayings reported of him belong to a dejected temperament3 8,let us also go1 that we may die with ,him0--as if there could be no brighter meaning than death in ,christ's proposal to interrupt a dead man's sleep4 8,lord1 we know not whither ,thou goest1 and how can we know the way80--these words express exactly the same despondent failure to apprehend4 ,and so it comes to pass that nothing short of tangible experience will convince him of the resurrection4 ,and yet there is a warm and devoted heart to be recognised in the proposal to share ,christ's death1 in the yearning to know whither ,he went1 and even in that agony of unbelief1 which dwelt upon the cruel details of suffering1 until it gave way to one glad cry of recognition and of worship2 therefore his demand was granted1 although a richer blessing was reserved for those who1 not having seen1 believed4 ,the ,apostle ,judas4 8,and ,judas ,iscariot1 which also betrayed ,him40--,,mark iii4 #ai4 ,the evidential value of what has been written about the apostles will1 to some minds1 seem to be overborne by the difficulties which start up at the name of ,judas4 ,and yet the fact that ,jesus chose him--that awful fact which has offended many--is in harmony with all that we see around us1 with the prodigious powers bestowed upon ,napoleon and ,voltaire1 bestowed in full knowledge of the dark results1 yet given because the issues of human freewill never cancel the trusts imposed on human responsibility4 ,therefore the issues of the freewill of ,judas did not cancel the trust imposed upon his responsibility2 and ,jesus acted not on ,his foreknowledge of the future1 but on the mighty possibilities1 for good as for evil1 which heaved in the bosom of the fated man as he stood upon the mountain sward4 ,in the story of ,judas1 the principles which rule the world are made visible4 ,from ,adam to this day men have been trusted who failed and fell1 and out of their very downfall1 but not by precipitating it1 the plans of ,god have evolved themselves4 ,it is not possible to make such a study of the character of ,judas as of some others of the ,twelve4 ,a traitor is naturally taciturn4 ,no word of his draws our attention to the fact that he had gained possession of the bag1 even though one who had sat at the receipt of custom might more naturally have become the treasurer4 ,we do not hear his voice above the rest1 until ,st4 ,john explains the source of the general discontent1 which remonstrated against the waste of ointment4 ,he is silent even at the feast1 in despite of the words which revealed his guilty secret1 until a slow and tardy question is wrung from him1 not 8,is it ,i1 ,lord80 but 8,rabbi1 is it ,i80 ,his influence is like that of a subtle poison1 not discerned until its effects betray it4 ,but many words of ,jesus acquire new force and energy when we observe that1 whatever their drift beside1 they were plainly calculated to influence and warn ,iscariot4 ,such are the repeated and urgent warnings against covetousness1 from the first parable1 spoken so shortly after his vocation1 which reckons the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things among the tares that choke the seed1 down to the declaration that they who trust in riches shall hardly enter the kingdom4 ,such are the denunciations against hypocrisy1 spoken openly1 as in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 or to ,his own apart1 as when ,he warned them of the leaven of the ,pharisees which is hypocrisy1 that secret vice which was eating out the soul of one among them4 ,such were the opportunities given to retreat without utter dishonour1 as when ,he said1 8,do ye also will to go away8 444 ,did ,i not choose you the ,twelve1 and one of you is a devil80 7,john vi4 #fg1 #gj74 ,and such also were the awful warnings given of the solemn responsibilities of special privileges4 ,the exalted city which is brought down to hell1 the salt which is trodden under foot1 the men whose sin remained because they can claim to see1 and still more plainly1 the first that shall be last1 and the man for whom it were good that he had not been born4 ,in many besides the last of these1 ,judas must have felt himself sternly because faithfully dealt with4 ,and the exasperation which always results from rejected warnings1 the sense of a presence utterly repugnant to his nature1 may have largely contributed to his final and disastrous collapse4 ,in the life of ,judas there was a mysterious impersonation of all the tendencies of godless ,judaism1 and his dreadful personality seems to express the whole movement of the nation which rejected ,christ4 ,we see this in the powerful attraction felt toward ,messiah before ,his aims were understood1 in the deadly estrangement and hostility which were kindled by the gentle and self-effacing ways of ,jesus1 in the treachery of ,judas in the garden and the unscrupulous wiliness of the priests accusing ,christ before the governor1 in the fierce intensity of rage which turned his hands against himself and which destroyed the nation under ,titus4 ,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 race4 ,we are apt to think of a gross love of money as inconsistent with intense passion1 but in ,shylock1 the compatriot of ,judas1 ,shakespeare combines the two4 ,contemplating this blighted and sinister career1 the lesson is burnt in upon the conscience1 that since ,judas by transgression fell1 no place in the ,church of ,christ can render any man secure4 ,and since1 falling1 he was openly exposed1 none may flatter himself that the cause of ,christ is bound up with his reputation1 that the mischief must needs be averted which his downfall would entail1 that ,providence must needs avert from him the natural penalties of evil-doing4 ,though one was as the signet upon the ,lord's hand1 yet was he plucked thence4 ,there is no security for any soul anywhere except where love and trust repose1 upon the bosom of ,christ4 ,now if this be true1 and if sin and scandal may conceivably penetrate even the inmost circle of the chosen1 how great an error is it to break1 because of these offences1 the unity of the ,church1 and institute some new communion1 purer far than the ,churches of ,corinth and ,galatia1 which were not abandoned but reformed1 and more impenetrable to corruption than the little group of those who ate and drank with ,jesus4 ,christ ,and ,beelzebub4 8,and the multitude cometh together again1 so that they could not so much as eat bread4 ,and when his friends heard it1 they went out to lay hold on ,him3 for they said1 ,he is beside ,himself4 ,and the scribes which came down from ,jerusalem said1 ,he hath ,beelzebub1 and1 ,by the prince of the devils casteth ,he out the devils4 ,and ,he called them unto ,him1 and said unto them in parables1 ,how can ,satan cast out ,satan8 ,and if a kingdom be divided against itself1 that kingdom cannot stand4 ,and if an house be divided against itself1 that house will not be able to stand4 ,and if ,satan hath risen up against himself1 and is divided1 he cannot stand1 but hath an end4 ,but no one can enter into the house of the strong man1 and spoil his goods1 except he first bind the strong man2 and then he will spoil his house40--,,mark iii4 #bj-bg 7,r4,v474 ,while ,christ was upon the mountain with ,his more immediate followers1 the excitement in the plain did not exhaust itself2 for even when ,he entered into a house1 the crowds prevented ,him and ,his followers from taking necessary food4 ,and when ,his friends heard of this1 they judged ,him as men who profess to have learned the lesson of ,his life still judge1 too often1 all whose devotion carries them beyond the boundaries of convention and of convenience4 ,for there is a curious betrayal of the popular estimate of this world and the world to come1 in the honour paid to those who cast away life in battle1 or sap it slowly in pursuit of wealth or honours1 and the contempt expressed for those who compromise it on behalf of souls1 for which ,christ died4 ,whenever by exertion in any unselfish cause health is broken1 or fortune impaired1 or influential friends estranged1 the follower of ,christ is called an enthusiast1 a fanatic1 or even more plainly a man of unsettled mind4 ,he may be comforted by remembering that ,jesus was said to be beside ,himself when teaching and healing left ,him not leisure even to eat4 ,to this incessant and exhausting strain upon ,his energies and sympathies1 ,st4 ,matthew applies the prophetic words1 8,himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases0 7viii4 #ag74 ,and it is worth while to compare with that passage and the one before us1 ,renan's assertion1 that ,he traversed ,galilee 8in the midst of a perpetual fte10 and that 8joyous ,galilee celebrated in ftes the approach of the well-beloved40 7,vie de ,j41 pp4 #aig1 #bjb74 ,the contrast gives a fine illustration of the inaccurate shallowness of the ,frenchman's whole conception of the sacred life4 ,but it is remarkable that while ,his friends could not yet believe ,his claims1 and even strove to lay hold on ,him1 no worse suspicion ever darkened the mind of those who knew ,him best than that ,his reason had been disturbed4 ,not these called ,him gluttonous and a winebibber4 ,not these blasphemed ,his motives4 ,but the envoys of the priestly faction1 partisans from ,jerusalem1 were ready with an atrocious suggestion4 ,he was ,himself possessed with a worse devil1 before whom the lesser ones retired4 ,by the prince of the devils ,he cast out the devils4 ,to this desperate evasion1 ,st4 ,matthew tells us1 they were driven by a remarkable miracle1 the expulsion of a blind and dumb spirit1 and the perfect healing of his victim4 ,now the literature of the world cannot produce invective more terrible than ,jesus had at ,his command for these very scribes and ,pharisees1 hypocrites4 ,this is what gives majesty to ,his endurance4 ,no personal insult1 no resentment at ,his own wrong1 could ruffle the sublime composure which1 upon occasion1 gave way to a moral indignation equally sublime4 ,calmly ,he calls ,his traducers to look ,him in the face1 and appeals to their own reason against their blasphemy4 ,neither kingdom nor house divided against itself can stand4 ,and if ,satan be divided against himself and his evil works1 undoing the miseries and opening the eyes of men1 his kingdom has an end4 ,all the experience of the world since the beginning was proof enough that such a suicide of evil was beyond hope4 ,the best refutation of the notion that ,satan had risen up against himself and was divided was its clear expression4 ,but what was the alternative8 ,if ,satan were not committing suicide1 he was overpowered4 ,there is indeed a fitful temporary reformation1 followed by a deeper fall1 which ,st4 ,matthew tells us that ,christ compared to the cleansing of a house from whence the evil tenant has capriciously wandered forth1 confident that it is still his own1 and prepared to return to it with seven other and worse fiends4 ,a little observation would detect such illusory improvement4 ,but the case before them was that of an external summons reluctantly obeyed4 ,it required the interference of a stronger power1 which could only be the power of ,god4 ,none could enter into the strong man's house1 and spoil his goods1 unless the strong man were first bound1 8and then he will spoil his house40 ,no more distinct assertion of the personality of evil spirits than this could be devised4 ,jesus and the ,pharisees are not at all at issue upon this point4 ,he does not scout as a baseless superstition their belief that evil spirits are at work in the world4 ,but ,he declares that ,his own work is the reversal of theirs4 ,he is spoiling the strong man1 whose terrible ascendancy over the possessed resembles the dominion of a man in his own house1 among chattels without a will4 ,that dominion ,christ declares that only a stronger can overcome1 and ,his argument assumes that the stronger must needs be the finger of ,god1 the power of ,god1 come unto them4 ,the supernatural exists only above us and below4 ,ages have passed away since then4 ,innumerable schemes have been devised for the expulsion of the evils under which the world is groaning1 and if they are evils of merely human origin1 human power should suffice for their removal4 ,the march of civilisation is sometimes appealed to4 ,but what blessings has civilisation without ,christ ever borne to savage men8 ,the answer is painful3 rum1 gunpowder1 slavery1 massacre1 small-pox1 pulmonary consumption1 and the extinction of their races1 these are all it has been able to bestow4 ,education is sometimes spoken of1 as if it would gradually heal our passions and expel vice and misery from the world1 as if the worst crimes and most flagrant vices of our time were peculiar to the ignorant and the untaught1 as if no forger had ever learned to write4 ,and sometimes great things are promised from the advance of science1 as if all the works of dynamite and nitro-glycerine1 were1 like those of the ,creator1 very good4 ,no man can be deceived by such flattering hopes1 who rightly considers the volcanic energies1 the frantic rage1 the unreasoning all-sacrificing recklessness of human passions and desires4 ,surely they are set on fire of hell1 and only heaven can quench the conflagration4 ,jesus has undertaken to do this4 ,his religion has been a spell of power among the degraded and the lost2 and when we come to consider mankind in bulk1 it is plain enough that no other power has had a really reclaiming1 elevating effect upon tribes and races4 ,in our own land1 what great or lasting work of reformation1 or even of temporal benevolence1 has ever gone forward without the blessing of religion to sustain it8 ,nowhere is ,satan cast out but by the ,stronger than he1 binding him1 overmastering the evil principle which tramples human nature down1 as the very first step towards spoiling his goods4 ,the spiritual victory must precede the removal of misery1 convulsion and disease4 ,there is no golden age for the world1 except the reign of ,christ4 8,eternal ,sin40 8,verily ,i say unto you1 ,all their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men1 and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme3 but whosoever shall blaspheme against the ,holy ,spirit hath never forgiveness1 but is guilty of an eternal sin40--,,mark iii4 #bh1 #bi 7,r4,v474 ,having first shown that ,his works cannot be ascribed to ,satan1 ,jesus proceeds to utter the most terrible of warnings1 because they said1 ,he hath an unclean spirit4 8,all their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men1 and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme1 but whosoever shall blaspheme against the ,holy ,spirit hath never forgiveness2 but is guilty of an eternal sin40 ,what is the nature of this terrible offence8 ,it is plain that their slanderous attack lay in the direction of it1 since they needed warning2 and probable that they had not yet fallen into the abyss1 because they could still be warned against it4 ,at least1 if the guilt of some had reached that depth1 there must have been others involved in their offence who were still within reach of ,christ's solemn admonition4 ,it would seem therefore that in saying1 8,he casteth out devils by ,beelzebub4444 ,he hath an unclean spirit10 they approached the confines and doubtful boundaries between that blasphemy against the ,son of man which shall be forgiven1 and the blasphemy against the ,holy ,spirit which hath never forgiveness4 ,it is evident also that any crime declared by ,scripture elsewhere to be incurable1 must be identical with this1 however different its guise1 since ,jesus plainly and indisputably announces that all other sins but this shall be forgiven4 ,now there are several other passages of the kind4 ,st4 ,john bade his disciples to pray1 when any saw a brother sinning a sin not unto death1 8and ,god will give him life for them that sin not unto death4 ,there is a sin unto death3 not concerning this do ,i say that he should make request0 7#a ,john v4 #af74 ,it is idle to suppose that1 in the case of this sin unto death1 the ,apostle only meant to leave his disciples free to pray or not to pray4 ,if death were not certain1 it would be their duty1 in common charity1 to pray4 ,but the sin is so vaguely and even mysteriously referred to1 that we learn little more from that passage than that it was an overt public act1 of which other men could so distinctly judge the flagrancy that from it they should withhold their prayers4 ,it has nothing in common with those unhappy wanderings of thought or affection which morbid introspection broods upon1 until it pleads guilty to the unpardonable sin1 for lapses of which no other could take cognizance4 ,and in ,christ's words1 the very epithet1 blasphemy1 involves the same public1 open revolt against good47#i7 ,and let it be remembered that every other sin shall be forgiven4 ,there are also two solemn passages in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews 7vi4 #d-f2 x4 #bf-ca74 ,the first of these declares that it is impossible for men who once experienced all the enlightening and sweet influences of ,god1 8and then fell away10 to be renewed again unto repentance4 ,but falling upon the road is very different from thus falling away1 or how could ,peter have been recovered8 ,their fall is total apostasy1 8they crucify to themselves the ,son of ,god afresh1 and put ,him to an open shame40 ,they are not fruitful land in which tares are mingled2 they bear only thorns and thistles1 and are utterly rejected4 ,and so in the tenth chapter1 they who sin wilfully are men who tread under foot the ,son of ,god1 and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing1 and do despite 7insult7 unto the ,spirit of grace4 ,again we read that in the last time there will arise an enemy of ,god so unparalleled that his movement will outstrip all others1 and be 8the falling away10 and he himself will be 8the man of sin0 and 8the son of perdition10 which latter title he only shares with ,iscariot4 ,now the essence of his portentous guilt is that 8he opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called ,god or that is worshipped03 it is a monstrous egotism1 8setting himself forth as ,god10 and such a hatred of restraint as makes him 8the lawless one0 7#b ,thess4 ii4 #c-aj74 ,so far as these passages are at all definite in their descriptions1 they are entirely harmonious4 ,they describe no sin of the flesh1 of impulse1 frailty or passion1 nor yet a spiritual lapse of an unguarded hour1 of rash speculation1 of erring or misled opinion4 ,they speak not of sincere failure to accept ,christ's doctrine or to recognise ,his commission1 even though it breathe out threats and slaughters4 ,they do not even apply to the dreadful sin of denying ,christ in terror1 though one should curse and swear1 saying1 ,i know not the man4 ,they speak of a deliberate and conscious rejection of good and choice of evil1 of the wilful aversion of the soul from sacred influences1 the public denial and trampling under foot of ,christ1 the opposing of all that is called ,god4 ,and a comparison of these passages enables us to understand why this sin never can be pardoned4 ,it is because good itself has become the food and fuel of its wickedness1 stirring up its opposition1 calling out its rage1 that the apostate cannot be renewed again unto repentance4 ,the sin is rather indomitable than unpardonable3 it has become part of the sinner's personality2 it is incurable1 an eternal sin4 ,here is nothing to alarm any mourner whose contrition proves that it has actually been possible to renew him unto repentance4 ,no penitent has ever yet been rejected for this guilt1 for no penitent has ever been thus guilty4 ,and this being so1 here is the strongest possible encouragement for all who desire mercy4 ,every other sin1 every other blasphemy shall be forgiven4 ,heaven does not reject the vilest whom the world hisses at1 the most desperate and bloodstained whose life the world exacts in vengeance for his outrages4 ,none is lost but the hard and impenitent heart which treasures up for itself wrath against the day of wrath4 ,the ,friends ,of ,jesus4 8,and there come ,his mother and ,his brethren2 and1 standing without1 they sent unto ,him1 calling ,him4 ,and a multitude was sitting about ,him2 and they say unto ,him1 ,behold1 ,thy mother and ,thy brethren without seek for ,thee4 ,and ,he answereth them1 and saith1 ,who is ,my mother and ,my brethren8 ,and looking round on them which sat round about ,him ,he saith1 ,behold ,my mother and ,my brethren6 ,for whosoever shall do the will of ,god1 the same is ,my brother1 and sister1 and mother40--,,mark iii4 #ca-ce 7,r4,v474 ,we have lately read that the relatives of ,jesus1 hearing of ,his self-sacrificing devotion1 sought to lay hold on ,him1 because they said1 ,he is beside ,himself4 ,their concern would not be lightened upon hearing of ,his rupture with the chiefs of their religion and their nation4 ,and so it was1 that while a multitude hung upon ,his lips1 some unsympathizing critic1 or perhaps some hostile scribe1 interrupted ,him with their message4 ,they desired to speak with ,him1 possibly with rude intentions1 while in any case1 to grant their wish might easily have led to a painful altercation1 offending weak disciples1 and furnishing a scandal to ,his eager foes4 ,their interference must have caused the ,lord a bitter pang4 ,it was sad that they were not among ,his hearers1 but worse that they should seek to mar ,his work4 ,to ,jesus1 endowed with every innocent human instinct1 worn with labour and aware of gathering perils1 they were an offence of the same kind as ,peter made himself when he became the mouthpiece of the tempter4 ,for their own sakes1 whose faith ,he was yet to win1 it was needful to be very firm4 ,moreover1 ,he was soon to make it a law of the kingdom that men should be ready for ,his sake to leave brethren1 or sisters1 or mother1 and in so doing should receive back all these a hundredfold in the present time 7x4 #bi1 #cj74 ,to this law it was now ,his own duty to conform4 ,yet it was impossible for ,jesus to be harsh and stern to a group of relatives with ,his mother in the midst of them2 and it would be a hard problem for the finest dramatic genius to reconcile the conflicting claims of the emergency1 fidelity to ,god and the cause1 a striking rebuke to the officious interference of ,his kinsfolk1 and a full and affectionate recognition of the relationship which could not make ,him swerve4 ,how shall ,he 8leave0 ,his mother and ,his brethren1 and yet not deny ,his heart8 ,how shall ,he be strong without being harsh8 ,jesus reconciles all the conditions of the problem1 as pointing to ,his attentive hearers1 ,he pronounces these to be ,his true relatives1 but yet finds no warmer term to express what ,he feels for them than the dear names of mother1 sisters1 brethren4 ,observers whose souls were not warmed as ,he spoke1 may have supposed that it was cold indifference to the calls of nature which allowed ,his mother and brethren to stand without4 ,in truth1 it was not that ,he denied the claims of the flesh1 but that ,he was sensitive to other1 subtler1 profounder claims of the spirit and spiritual kinship4 ,he would not carelessly wound a mother's or a brother's heart1 but the life ,divine had also its fellowships and its affinities1 and still less could ,he throw these aside4 ,no cold sense of duty detains ,him with ,his congregation while affection seeks ,him in the vestibule2 no1 it is a burning love1 the love of a brother or even of a son1 which binds ,him to ,his people4 ,happy are they who are in such a case4 ,and ,jesus gives us a ready means of knowing whether we are among those whom ,he so wonderfully condescends to love4 8,whosoever shall do the will of ,my ,father which is in heaven40 ,feelings may ebb1 and self-confidence may be shaken1 but obedience depends not upon excitement1 and may be rendered by a breaking heart4 ,it is important to observe that this saying declares that obedience does not earn kinship2 but only proves it1 as the fruit proves the tree4 ,kinship must go before acceptable service2 none can do the will of the ,father who is not already the kinsman of ,jesus1 for ,he says1 ,whosoever shall 7hereafter7 do the will of ,my ,father1 the same is 7already7 ,my brother and sister and mother4 ,there are men who would fain reverse the process1 and do ,god's will in order to merit the brotherhood of ,jesus4 ,they would drill themselves and win battles for ,him1 in order to be enrolled among ,his soldiers4 ,they would accept the gospel invitation as soon as they refute the gospel warnings that without ,him they can do nothing1 and that they need the creation of a new heart and the renewal of a right spirit within them4 ,but when homage was offered to ,jesus as a ,divine teacher and no more1 ,he rejoined1 ,teaching is not what is required3 holiness does not result from mere enlightenment3 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto thee1 except a man be born again1 he cannot see the kingdom of ,god4 ,because the new birth is the condition of all spiritual power and energy1 it follows that if any man shall henceforth do ,god's will1 he must already be of the family of ,christ4 ,men may avoid evil through self-respect1 from early training and restraints of conscience1 from temporal prudence or dread of the future4 ,and this is virtuous only as the paying of a fire-insurance is so4 ,but secondary motives will never lift any man so high as to satisfy this sublime standard1 the doing of the will of the ,father4 ,that can only be attained1 like all true and glorious service in every cause1 by the heart1 by enthusiasm1 by love4 ,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 mother4 ,but as there is no true obedience without relationship1 so is there no true relationship unfollowed by obedience4 ,christ was not content to say1 ,whoso doeth ,god's will is ,my kinsman3 ,he asked1 ,who is ,my kinsman8 and gave this as an exhaustive reply4 ,he has none other4 ,every sheep in ,his fold hears ,his voice and follows ,him4 ,we may feel keen emotions as we listen to passionate declamations1 or kneel in an excited prayer-meeting1 or bear our part in an imposing ritual2 we may be moved to tears by thinking of the dupes of whatever heterodoxy we most condemn2 tender and soft emotions may be stirred in our bosom by the story of the perfect life and ,divine death of ,jesus2 and yet we may be as far from a renewed heart as was that ancient tyrant from genuine compassion1 who wept over the brevity of the lives of the soldiers whom he sent into a wanton war4 ,mere feeling is not life4 ,it moves truly2 but only as a balloon moves1 rising by virtue of its emptiness1 driven about by every blast that veers1 and sinking when its inflation is at an end4 ,but mark the living creature poised on widespread wings2 it has a will1 an intention1 and an initiative1 and as long as its life is healthy and unenslaved1 it moves at its own good pleasure4 ,how shall ,i know whether or not ,i am a true kinsman of the ,lord8 ,by seeing whether ,i advance1 whether ,i work1 whether ,i have real and practical zeal and love1 or whether ,i have grown cold1 and make more allowance for the flesh than ,i used to do1 and expect less from the spirit4 ,obedience does not produce grace4 ,but it proves it1 for we can no more bear fruit except we abide in ,christ1 than the branch that does not abide in the vine4 ,lastly1 we observe the individual love1 the personal affection of ,christ for each of ,his people4 ,there is a love for masses of men and philanthropic causes1 which does not much observe the men who compose the masses1 and upon whom the causes depend4 ,thus1 one may love his country1 and rejoice when her flag advances1 without much care for any soldier who has been shot down1 or has won promotion4 ,and so we think of ,africa or ,india1 without really feeling much about the individual ,egyptian or ,hindoo4 ,who can discriminate and feel for each one of the multitudes included in such a word as ,want1 or ,sickness1 or ,heathenism8 ,and judging by our own frailty1 we are led to think that ,christ's love can mean but little beyond this4 ,as a statesman who loves the nation may be said1 in some vague way1 to love and care for me1 so people think of ,christ as loving and pitying us because we are items in the race ,he loves4 ,but ,he has eyes and a heart1 not only for all1 but for each one4 ,looking down the shadowy vista of the generations1 every sigh1 every broken heart1 every blasphemy1 is a separate pang to ,his all-embracing heart4 8,before that ,philip called thee1 when thou wast under the fig-tree1 ,i saw thee10 lonely1 unconscious1 undistinguished drop in the tide of life1 one leaf among the myriads which rustle and fall in the vast forest of existence4 ,st4 ,paul speaks truly of ,christ 8,who loved me1 and gave ,himself for me40 ,he shall bring every secret sin to judgment1 and shall we so far wrong ,him as to think ,his justice more searching1 more penetrating1 more individualizing than ,his love1 ,his memory than ,his heart8 ,it is not so4 ,the love ,he offers adapts itself to every age and sex3 it distinguishes brother from sister1 and sister again from mother4 ,it is mindful of 8the least of these ,my brethren40 ,but it names no ,father except ,one4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,parables4 8,and again ,he began to teach by the sea side4 ,and there is gathered unto ,him a very great multitude1 so that ,he entered into a boat1 and sat in the sea2 and all the multitude were by the sea on the land4 ,and ,he taught them many things in parables1 and said unto them in ,his teaching4444 8,and when ,he was alone1 they that were about ,him with the twelve asked of ,him the parables4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of ,god3 but unto them that are without1 all things are done in parables3 that seeing they may see1 and not perceive2 and hearing they may hear1 and not understand2 lest haply they should turn again1 and it should be forgiven them4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,know ye not this parable8 and how shall ye know all the parables80--,,mark iv4 #a1 #b1 #aj-ac 7,r4,v474 ,as opposition deepened1 and to a vulgar ambition1 the temptation to retain disciples by all means would have become greater1 ,jesus began to teach in parables4 ,we know that ,he had not hitherto done so1 both by the surprise of the ,twelve1 and by the necessity which ,he found1 of giving them a clue to the meaning of such teachings1 and so to 8all the parables40 ,his own ought to have understood4 ,but ,he was merciful to the weakness which confessed its failure and asked for instruction4 ,and yet ,he foresaw that they which were without would discern no spiritual meaning in such discourse4 ,it was to have1 at the same time1 a revealing and a baffling effect1 and therefore it was peculiarly suitable for the purposes of a ,teacher watched by vindictive foes4 ,thus1 when cross-examined about ,his authority by men who themselves professed to know not whence ,john's baptism was1 ,he could refuse to be entrapped1 and yet tell of ,one ,who sent ,his own ,son1 ,his ,beloved1 to receive the fruit of the vineyard4 ,this diverse effect is derived from the very nature of the parables of ,jesus4 ,they are not1 like some in the ,old ,testament1 mere fables1 in which things occur that never happen in real life4 ,jotham's trees seeking a king1 are as incredible as sop's fox leaping for grapes4 ,but ,jesus never uttered a parable which was not true to nature1 the kind of thing which one expects to happen4 ,we cannot say that a rich man in hell actually spoke to ,abraham in heaven4 ,but if he could do so1 of which we are not competent to judge1 we can well believe that he would have spoken just what we read1 and that his pathetic cry1 8,father ,abraham10 would have been as gently answered1 8,son1 remember40 ,there is no ferocity in the skies2 neither has the lost soul become a fiend4 ,everything commends itself to our judgment4 ,and therefore the story not only illustrates1 but appeals1 enforces1 almost proves4 ,god in nature does not arrange that all seeds should grow3 men have patience while the germ slowly fructifies1 they know not how2 in all things but religion such sacrifices are made1 that the merchant sells all to buy one goodly pearl2 an earthly father kisses his repentant prodigal2 and even a ,samaritan can be neighbour to a ,jew in his extremity4 ,so the world is constructed3 such is even the fallen human heart4 ,is it not reasonable to believe that the same principles will extend farther2 that as ,god governs the world of matter so ,he may govern the world of spirits1 and that human helpfulness and clemency will not outrun the graces of the ,giver of all good8 ,this is the famous argument from analogy1 applied long before the time of ,butler1 to purposes farther-reaching than his4 ,but there is this remarkable difference1 that the analogy is never pressed1 men are left to discover it for themselves1 or at least1 to ask for an explanation1 because they are conscious of something beyond the tale1 something spiritual1 something which they fain would understand4 ,now this difference is not a mannerism2 it is intended4 ,butler pressed home his analogies because he was striving to silence gainsayers4 ,his ,lord and ours left men to discern or to be blind1 because they had already opportunity to become ,his disciples if they would4 ,the faithful among them ought to be conscious1 or at least they should now become conscious1 of the ,god of grace in the ,god of nature4 ,to them the world should be eloquent of the ,father's mind4 ,they should indeed find tongues in trees1 books in the running brooks1 sermons in stones4 ,he spoke to the sensitive mind1 which would understand ,him1 as a wife reads her husband's secret joys and sorrows by signs no stranger can understand4 ,even if she fails to comprehend1 she knows there is something to ask about4 ,and thus1 when they were alone1 the ,twelve asked ,him of the parables4 ,when they were instructed1 they gained not only the moral lesson1 and the sweet pastoral narrative1 the idyllic picture which conveyed it1 but also the assurance imparted by recognizing the same mind of ,god which is revealed in ,his world1 or justified by the best impulses of humanity4 ,therefore1 no parable is sensational4 ,it cannot root itself in the exceptional1 the abnormal events on which men do not reckon1 which come upon us with a shock4 ,for we do not argue from these to daily life4 ,but while this mode of teaching was profitable to ,his disciples1 and protected ,him against ,his foes1 it had formidable consequences for the frivolous empty followers after a sign4 ,because they were such they could only find frivolity and lightness in these stories2 the deeper meaning lay farther below the surface than such eyes could pierce4 ,thus the light they had abused was taken from them4 ,and ,jesus explained to ,his disciples that1 in acting thus1 ,he pursued the fixed rule of ,god4 ,the worst penalty of vice is that it loses the knowledge of virtue1 and of levity that it cannot appreciate seriousness4 ,he taught in parables1 as ,isaiah prophesied1 8that seeing they may see1 and not perceive1 and hearing they may hear1 and not understand2 lest haply they should turn again and it should be forgiven them40 ,these last words prove how completely penal1 how free from all caprice1 was this terrible decision of our gentle ,lord1 that precautions must be taken against evasion of the consequences of crime4 ,but it is a warning by no means unique4 ,he said1 8,the things which make for thy peace 444 are hid from thine eyes0 7,luke xix4 #db74 ,and ,st4 ,paul said1 8,if our gospel is veiled1 it is veiled in them that are perishing02 and still more to the point1 8,the natural man receiveth not the things of the ,spirit of ,god1 for they are foolishness unto him2 and he cannot know them1 because they are spiritually discerned0 7#b ,cor4 iv4 #c2 #a ,cor4 ii4 #ad74 ,to this law ,christ1 in speaking by parables1 was conscious that ,he conformed4 ,but now let it be observed how completely this mode of teaching suited our ,lord's habit of mind4 ,if men could finally rid themselves of ,his ,divine claim1 they would at once recognise the greatest of the sages2 and they would also find in ,him the sunniest1 sweetest and most accurate discernment of nature1 and its more quiet beauties1 that ever became a vehicle for moral teaching4 ,the sun and rain bestowed on the evil and the good1 the fountain and the trees which regulate the waters and the fruit1 the death of the seed by which it buys its increase1 the provision for bird and blossom without anxiety of theirs1 the preference for a lily over ,solomon's gorgeous robes1 the meaning of a red sky at sunrise and sunset1 the hen gathering her chickens under her wing1 the vine and its branches1 the sheep and their shepherd1 the lightning seen over all the sky1 every one of these needed only to be re-set and it would have become a parable4 ,all the ,gospels1 including the fourth1 are full of proofs of this rich and attractive endowment1 this warm sympathy with nature2 and this fact is among the evidences that they all drew the same character1 and drew it faithfully1 ,the ,sower4 8,hearken3 ,behold the sower went forth to sow3 and it came to pass1 as he sowed1 some seed fell by the way side1 and the birds came and devoured it4 ,and other fell on the rocky ground1 where it had not much earth2 and straightway it sprang up1 because it had no deepness of earth3 and when the sun was risen1 it was scorched2 and because it had no root1 it withered away4 ,and other fell among the thorns1 and the thorns grew up1 and choked it1 and it yielded no fruit4 ,and others fell into the good ground1 and yielded fruit1 growing up and increasing2 and brought forth1 thirtyfold1 and sixtyfold1 and a hundredfold4 ,and ,he said1 ,who hath ears to hear1 let him hear4444 8,the sower soweth the word4 ,and these are they by the wayside1 where the word is sown2 and when they have heard1 straightway cometh ,satan1 and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them4 ,and these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky places1 who1 when they have heard the word1 straightway receive it with joy2 and they have no root in themselves1 but endure for a while2 then1 when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word1 straightway they stumble4 ,and others are they that are sown among the thorns2 these are they that have heard the word1 and the cares of the world1 and the deceitfulness of riches1 and the lusts of other things entering in1 choke the word1 and it becometh unfruitful4 ,and those are they that were sown upon the good ground2 such as hear the word1 and accept it1 and bear fruit1 thirtyfold1 and sixtyfold1 and a hundredfold40--,,mark iv4 #c-i1 #ad-bj 7,r4,v474 8,hearken0 ,jesus said2 willing to caution men against the danger of slighting ,his simple story1 and to impress on them that it conveyed more than met their ears4 ,in so doing ,he protested in advance against fatalistic abuses of the parable1 as if we were already doomed to be hard1 or shallow1 or thorny1 or fruitful soil4 ,and at the close ,he brought out still more clearly ,his protest against such doctrine1 by impressing upon all1 that if the vitalising seed were the imparted word1 it was their part to receive and treasure it4 ,indolence and shallowness must fail to bear fruit3 that is the essential doctrine of the parable2 but it is not necessary that we should remain indolent or shallow3 8,he that hath ears to hear1 let him hear40 ,and when the ,epistle to the ,hebrews reproduces the image of land which bringeth forth thorns and thistles1 our ,revised ,version rightly brings out the fact1 on which indeed the whole exhortation depends1 that the same piece of land might have borne herbs meet for those for whose sake it is tilled 7vi4 #g74 ,having said 8,hearken10 ,jesus added1 8,behold40 ,it has been rightly inferred that the scene was before their eyes4 ,very possibly some such process was within sight of the shore on which they were gathered2 but in any case1 a process was visible1 if they would but see1 of which the tilling of the ground was only a type4 ,a nobler seed was being scattered for a vaster harvest1 and it was no common labourer1 but the true sower1 who went forth to sow4 8,the sower soweth the word40 ,but who was he8 ,st4 ,matthew tells us 8the sower is the ,son of man10 and whether the words were expressly uttered1 or only implied1 as the silence of ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke might possibly suggest1 it is clear that none of ,his disciples could mistake ,his meaning4 ,ages have passed and ,he is the sower still1 by whatever instrument ,he works1 for we are ,god's husbandry as well as ,god's building4 ,and the seed is the ,word of ,god1 so strangely able to work below the surface of human life1 invisible at first1 yet vital1 and grasping from within and without1 from secret thoughts and from circumstances1 as from the chemical ingredients of the soil and from the sunshine and the shower1 all that will contribute to its growth1 until the field itself is assimilated1 spread from end to end with waving ears1 a corn-field now4 ,this is why ,jesus in ,his second parable did not any longer say 8the seed is the word10 but 8the good seed are the sons of the kingdom0 7,matt4 xiii4 #ch74 ,the word planted was able to identify itself with the heart4 ,and this seed1 the ,word of ,god1 is sown broadcast as all our opportunities are given4 ,a talent was not refused to him who buried it4 ,judas was an apostle4 ,men may receive the grace of ,god in vain1 and this in more ways than one4 ,on some it produces no vital impression whatever2 it lies on the surface of a mind which the feet of earthly interests have trodden hard4 ,there is no chance for it to expand1 to begin its operation by sending out the smallest tendrils to grasp1 to appropriate anything1 to take root4 ,and it may well be doubted whether any soul1 wholly indifferent to religious truth1 ever retained even its theoretic knowledge long4 ,the foolish heart is darkened4 ,the fowls of the air catch away for ever the priceless seed of eternity4 ,now it is of great importance to observe how ,jesus explained this calamity4 ,we should probably have spoken of forgetfulness1 the fading away of neglected impressions1 or at most of some judicial act of providence hiding the truth from the careless4 ,but ,jesus said1 8straightway cometh ,satan and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them40 ,no person can fairly explain this text away1 as men have striven to explain ,christ's language to the demoniacs1 by any theory of the use of popular language1 or the toleration of harmless notions4 ,the introduction of ,satan into this parable is unexpected and uncalled for by any demand save one1 the necessity of telling all the truth4 ,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 produce1 that evil processes are helped from beneath as truly as good ones from above2 that the seed which is left to-day upon the surface may be maliciously taken thence long before it would have perished by natural decay2 that men cannot reckon upon stopping short in their contempt of grace1 since what they neglect the devil snatches quite away from them4 ,and as seed is only safe from fowls when buried in the soil1 so is the word of life only safe against the rapacity of hell when it has sunk down into our hearts4 ,in the story of the early ,church1 ,st4 ,paul sowed upon such ground as this in ,athens4 ,men who spent their time in the pursuit of artistic and cultivated novelties1 in hearing and telling some new thing1 mocked the gospel1 or at best proposed to hear its preacher yet again4 ,how long did such a purpose last8 ,but there are other dangers to dread1 besides absolute indifference to truth4 ,and the first of these is a too shallow and easy acquiescence4 ,the message of salvation is designed to affect the whole of human life profoundly4 ,it comes to bind a strong man armed1 it summons easy and indifferent hearts to wrestle against spiritual foes1 to crucify the flesh1 to die daily4 ,on these conditions it offers the noblest blessings4 ,but the conditions are grave and sobering4 ,if one hears them without solemn and earnest searching of heart1 he has only1 at the best1 apprehended half the message4 ,christ has warned us that we cannot build a tower without sitting down to count our means1 nor fight a hostile king without reckoning the prospects of invasion4 ,and it is very striking to compare the gushing and impulsive sensationalism of some modern schools1 with the deliberate and circumspect action of ,st4 ,paul1 even after ,god had been pleased miraculously to reveal ,his ,son in him4 ,he went into seclusion4 ,he returned to ,damascus to his first instructor4 ,fourteen years afterwards he deliberately laid his gospel before the ,apostles1 lest by any means he should be running or had run in vain4 ,such is the action of one penetrated with a sense of reality and responsibility in his decision2 it is not the action likely to result from teaching men that it suffices to 8say you believe0 and to be 8made happy40 ,and in this parable1 our ,saviour has given striking expression to ,his judgment of the school which relies upon mere happiness4 ,next to those who leave the seed for ,satan to snatch away1 ,he places them 8who1 when they have heard the word1 straightway receive it with joy40 ,they have taken the promises without the precepts1 they have hoped for the crown without the cross4 ,their type is the thin layer of earth spread over a shelf of rock4 ,the water1 which cannot sink down1 and the heat reflected up from the stone1 make it for a time almost a hot bed4 ,straightway the seed sprang up1 because it had no deepness of earth4 ,but the moisture thus detained upon the surface vanished utterly in time of drought2 the young roots1 unable to penetrate to any deeper supplies1 were scorched2 and it withered away4 ,that superficial heat and moisture was impulsive emotion1 glad to hear of heaven1 and love1 and privilege1 but forgetful to mortify the flesh1 and to be partaker with ,christ in ,his death4 ,the roots of a real ,christian life must strike deeper down4 ,consciousness of sin and its penalty and of the awful price by which that penalty has been paid1 consciousness of what life should have been and how we have degraded it1 consciousness of what it must yet be made by grace--these do not lead to joy so immediate1 so impulsive1 as the growth of this shallow vegetation4 ,a mature and settled joy is among 8the fruits of the spirit30 it is not the first blade that shoots up4 ,now because the sense of sin and duty and atonement have not done their sobering work1 the feelings1 so easily quickened1 are also easily perverted3 8,when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word1 straightway they stumble40 ,these were not counted upon4 ,neither trouble of mind nor opposition of wicked men was included in the holiday scheme of the life ,divine4 ,and their pressure is not counter-weighted by that of any deep convictions4 ,the roots have never penetrated farther than temporal calamities and trials can reach4 ,in the time of drought they have not enough4 ,they endure1 but only for a while4 ,st4 ,paul sowed upon just such soil in ,galatia4 ,there his hearers spoke of such blessedness that they would have plucked out their eyes for him4 ,but he became their enemy because he told them all the truth1 when only a part was welcome4 ,and as ,christ said1 ,straightway they stumble1 so ,st4 ,paul had to marvel that they were so soon subverted4 ,if indifference be the first danger1 and shallowness the second1 mixed motive is the third4 ,men there are who are very earnest1 and far indeed from slight views of truth1 who are nevertheless in sore danger1 because they are equally earnest about other things2 because they cannot resign this world1 whatever be their concern about the next2 because the soil of their life would fain grow two inconsistent harvests4 ,like seed sown among thorns1 8choked0 by their entangling roots and light-excluding growths1 the word in such hearts1 though neither left upon a hard surface nor forbidden by rock to strike deep into the earth1 is overmastered by an unworthy rivalry4 ,a kind of vegetation it does produce1 but not such as the tiller seeks3 the word becometh unfruitful4 ,it is the same lesson as when ,jesus said1 8,no man can serve two masters4 ,ye cannot serve ,god and mammon40 ,perhaps it is the one most needed in our time of feverish religious controversy and heated party spirit1 when every one hath a teaching1 hath a revelation1 hath a tongue1 hath an interpretation1 but scarcely any have denied the world and taken in exchange a cross4 ,st4 ,paul found a thorny soil in ,corinth which came behind in no gift1 if only gifts had been graces1 but was indulgent1 factious and selfish1 puffed up amid flagrant vices1 one hungry and another drunken1 while wrangling about the doctrine of the resurrection4 ,the various evils of this parable are all of them worldliness1 differently manifested4 ,the deadening effect of habitual forgetfulness of ,god1 treading the soil so hard that no seed can enter it2 the treacherous effect of secret love of earth1 a buried obstruction refusing to admit the gospel into the recesses of the life1 however it may reach the feelings2 and the fierce and stubborn competition of worldly interests1 wherever they are not resolutely weeded out1 against these ,jesus spoke ,his earliest parable4 ,and it is instructive to review the foes by which ,he represented ,his ,gospel as warred upon4 ,the personal activity of ,satan2 8tribulation or persecution0 from without1 and within the heart 8cares0 rather for self than for the dependent and the poor1 8deceitfulness of riches0 for those who possess enough to trust in1 or to replace with a fictitious importance the only genuine value1 which is that of character 7although men are still esteemed for being 8worth0 a round sum1 a strange estimate1 to be made by ,christians1 of a being with a soul burning in him72 and alike for rich and poor1 8the lusts of other things10 since none is too poor to covet1 and none so rich that his desires shall not increase1 like some diseases1 by being fed4 ,lastly1 we have those on the good ground1 who are not described by their sensibilities or their enjoyments1 but by their loyalty4 ,they 8hear the word and accept it and bear fruit40 ,to accept is what distinguishes them alike from the wayside hearers into whose attention the word never sinks1 from the rocky hearers who only receive it with a superficial welcome1 and from the thorny hearers who only give it a divided welcome4 ,it is not said1 as if the word were merely the precepts1 that they obey it4 ,the sower of this seed is not he who bade the soldier not to do violence1 and the publican not to extort3 it is ,he who said1 ,repent1 and believe the gospel4 ,he implanted new hopes1 convictions1 and affections1 as the germ which should unfold in a new life4 ,and the good fruit is borne by those who honestly 8accept0 ,his word4 ,fruitfulness is never in the gospel the condition by which life is earned1 but it is always the test by which to prove it4 ,in all the accounts of the final judgment1 we catch the principle of the bold challenge of ,st4 ,james1 8,show me thy faith without thy works1 and ,i will show thee my faith by my works40 ,the talent must produce more talents1 and the pound more pounds2 the servant must have his loins girt and a light in his hand2 the blessed are they who did unto ,jesus the kindness they did unto the least of ,his brethren1 and the accursed are they who did it not to ,jesus in ,his people4 ,we are not wrong in preaching that honest faith in ,christ is the only condition of acceptance1 and the way to obtain strength for good works4 ,but perhaps we fail to add1 with sufficient emphasis1 that good works are the only sufficient evidence of real faith1 of genuine conversion4 ,lydia1 whose heart the ,lord opened and who constrained the ,apostle to abide in her house1 was converted as truly as the gaoler who passed through all the vicissitudes of despair1 trembling and astonishment1 and belief4 8,they bear fruit1 thirtyfold and sixtyfold and an hundredfold40 ,and all are alike accepted4 ,but the parable of the pounds shows that all are not alike rewarded1 and in equal circumstances superior efficiency wins a superior prize4 ,one star differeth from another star in glory1 and they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the sun for ever4 ,lamp ,and ,stand4 8,and ,he said unto them1 ,is the lamp brought to be put under the bushel1 or under the bed8 and not to be put on the stand8 ,for there is nothing hid1 save that it should be manifested2 neither was anything made secret1 but that it should come to light4 ,if any man hath ears to hear1 let him hear4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,take heed what ye hear3 with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you3 and more shall be given unto you4 ,for he that hath1 to him shall be given3 and he that hath not1 from him shall be taken away even that which he hath40--,,mark iv4 #ba-be 7,r4,v474 ,jesus had now taught that the only good ground was that in which the good seed bore fruit4 ,and ,he adds explicitly1 that men receive the truth in order to spread it1 and are given grace that they may become1 in turn1 good stewards of the manifold grace of ,god4 8,is the lamp brought to be put under the bushel or under the bed1 and not to be put on the stand80 ,the language may possibly be due1 as men have argued1 to the simple conditions of life among the ,hebrew peasantry1 who possessed only one lamp1 one corn-measure1 and perhaps one bed4 ,all the greater marvel is it that amid such surroundings ,he should have announced1 and not in vain1 that ,his disciples1 ,his ,church1 should become the light of all humanity1 8the lamp40 ,already ,he had put forward the same claim even more explicitly1 saying1 8,ye are the light of the world40 ,and in each case1 ,he spoke not in the intoxication of pride or self-assertion1 but in all gravity1 and as a solemn warning4 ,the city on the hill could not be hid4 ,the lamp would burn dimly under the bed2 it would be extinguished entirely by the bushel4 ,publicity is the soul of religion1 since religion is light4 ,it is meant to diffuse itself1 to be1 as ,he expressed it1 like leaven which may be hid at first1 but cannot be concealed1 since it will leaven all the lump4 ,and so1 if ,he spoke in parables1 and consciously hid ,his meaning by so doing1 this was not to withdraw ,his teaching from the masses1 it was to shelter the flame which should presently illuminate all the house4 ,nothing was hid1 save that it should be manifested1 nor made secret1 but that it should come to light4 ,and it has never been otherwise4 ,our religion has no privileged inner circle1 no esoteric doctrine2 and its chiefs1 when men glorified one or another1 asked1 ,what then is ,apollos8 ,and what is ,paul8 ,ministers through whom ye believed4 ,agents only1 for conveying to others what they had received from ,god4 ,and thus ,he ,who now spoke in parables1 and again charged them not to make ,him known1 was able at the end to say1 ,in secret have ,i spoken nothing4 ,therefore ,he repeats with emphasis ,his former words1 frequent on ,his lips henceforward1 and ringing through the messages ,he spoke in glory to ,his ,churches4 ,if any man hath ears to hear1 let him hear4 ,none is excluded but by himself4 ,yet another caution follows4 ,if the seed be the ,word1 there is sore danger from false teaching2 from strewing the ground with adulterated grain4 ,st4 ,mark1 indeed1 has not recorded the ,parable of the ,tares4 ,but there are indications of it1 and the same thought is audible in this saying1 8,take heed what ye hear40 ,the added words are a little surprising3 8,with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you1 and more shall be given unto you40 ,the last clause expresses exactly the principle on which the forfeited pound was given to ,him who had ten pounds already1 the open hand of ,god lavishing additional gifts upon him who was capable of using them4 ,but does not the whole statement seem to follow more suitably upon a command to beware what we teach1 and thus 8mete0 to others1 than what we hear8 ,a closer examination finds in this apparent unfitness1 a deeper harmony of thought4 ,to 8accept0 the genuine word is the same as to bring forth fruit for ,god2 it is to reckon with the ,lord of the talents1 and to yield the fruit of the vineyard4 ,and this is to 8mete10 not indeed unto man1 but unto ,god1 ,who shows ,himself froward with the froward1 and from him that hath not1 whose possession is below his accountability1 takes away even that he hath1 but gives exceeding abundantly above all they ask or think to those who have1 who are not disobedient to the heavenly calling4 ,all this is most delicately connected with what precedes it2 and the parables1 hiding the truth from some1 giving it authority1 and colour1 and effect to others1 were a striking example of the process here announced ,never was the warning to be heedful what we hear1 more needed than at present4 ,men think themselves free to follow any teacher1 especially if he be eloquent1 to read any book1 if only it be in demand1 and to discuss any theory1 provided it be fashionable1 while perfectly well aware that they are neither earnest inquirers after truth1 nor qualified champions against its assailants4 ,for what then do they read and hear8 ,for the pleasure of a rounded phrase1 or to augment the prattle of conceited ignorance in a drawing-room4 ,do we wonder when these players with edged tools injure themselves1 and become perverts or agnostics8 ,it would be more wonderful if they remained unhurt1 since ,jesus said1 8,take heed what ye hear 444 from him that hath not shall be taken even that he hath40 ,a rash and uninstructed exposure of our intellects to evil influences1 is meting to ,god with an unjust measure1 as really as a wilful plunge into any other temptation1 since we are bidden to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the spirit as well as of the flesh4 ,the ,seed ,growing ,secretly4 8,and ,he said1 ,so is the kingdom of ,god1 as if a man should cast seed upon the earth2 and should sleep and rise night and day1 and the seed should spring up and grow1 he knoweth not how4 ,the earth beareth fruit of herself2 first the blade1 then the ear1 then the full corn in the ear4 ,but when the fruit is ripe1 straightway he putteth forth the sickle1 because the harvest is come40--,,mark iv4 #bf-bi 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,mark alone records this parable of a sower who sleeps by night1 and rises for other business by day1 and knows not how the seed springs up4 ,that is not the sower's concern3 all that remains for him is to put forth the sickle when the harvest is come4 ,it is a startling parable for us who believe in the fostering care of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,and the paradox is forced on our attention by the words 8the earth beareth fruit of herself10 contrasting strangely as it does with such other assertions1 as that the branch cannot bear fruit of itself1 that without ,christ we can do nothing1 and that when we live it is not we but ,christ who liveth in us4 ,it will often help us to understand a paradox if we can discover another like it4 ,and exactly such an one as this will be found in the record of creation4 ,god rested on the seventh day from all ,his work1 yet we know that ,his providence never slumbers1 that by ,him all things consist1 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 world4 8,my ,father worketh hitherto1 and ,i work40 ,thus the rest of ,god from creative work says nothing about ,his energies in that other field of providential care4 ,exactly so ,jesus here treats only of what may be called the creative spiritual work1 the deposit of the seed of life4 ,and the essence of this remarkable parable is the assertion that we are to expect an orderly1 quiet and gradual development from this principle of life1 not a series of communications from without1 of additional revelations1 of semi-miraculous interferences4 ,the life of grace is a natural process in the supernatural sphere4 ,in one sense it is all of ,god1 who maketh ,his sun to rise1 and sendeth rain1 without which the earth could bear no fruit of herself4 ,in another sense we must work out our own salvation all the more earnestly because it is ,god that worketh in us4 ,now this parable1 thus explained1 has been proved true in the wonderful history of the ,church4 ,she has grown1 not only in extent but by development1 as marvellously as a corn of wheat which is now a waving wheat-stem with its ripening ear4 ,when ,cardinal ,newman urged that an ancient ,christian1 returning to earth1 would recognise the services and the ,church of ,rome1 and would fail to recognise ours1 he was probably mistaken4 ,to go no farther1 there is no ,church on earth so unlike the ,churches of the ,new ,testament as that which offers praise to ,god in a strange tongue4 ,st4 ,paul apprehended that a stranger in such an assembly would reckon the worshippers mad4 ,but in any case the argument forgets that the whole kingdom of ,god is to resemble seed1 not in a drawer1 but in the earth1 and advancing towards the harvest4 ,it must 8die0 to much if it will bring forth fruit4 ,it must acquire strange bulk1 strange forms1 strange organisms4 ,it must become1 to those who only knew it as it was1 quite as unrecognisable as our ,churches are said to be4 ,and yet the changes must be those of logical growth1 not of corruption4 ,and this parable tells us they must be accomplished without any special interference such as marked the sowing time4 ,well then1 the parable is a prophecy4 ,movement after movement has modified the life of the ,church4 ,even its structure is not all it was4 ,but these changes have every one been wrought by human agency1 they have come from within it1 like the force which pushes the germ out of the soil1 and expands the bud into the full corn in the ear4 ,there has been no grafting knife to insert a new principle of richer life2 the gospel and the sacraments of our ,lord have contained in them the promise and potency of all that was yet to be unfolded1 all the gracefulness and all the fruit4 ,and these words1 8the earth beareth fruit of herself1 first the blade1 then the ear1 then the full corn in the ear10 each so different1 and yet so dependent on what preceded1 teach us two great ecclesiastical lessons4 ,they condemn the violent and revolutionary changes1 which would not develop old germs but tear them open or perhaps pull them up4 ,much may be distasteful to the spirit of sordid utilitarianism2 a mere husk1 which nevertheless within it shelters precious grain1 otherwise sure to perish4 ,if thus we learn to respect the old1 still more do we learn that what is new has also its all-important part to play4 ,the blade and the ear in turn are innovations4 ,we must not condemn those new forms of ,christian activity1 ,christian association1 and ,christian councils1 which new times evoke1 until we have considered well whether they are truly expansions1 in the light and heat of our century1 of the sacred life-germ of the ancient faith and the ancient love4 ,and what lessons has this parable for the individual8 ,surely that of active present faith1 not waiting for future gifts of light or feeling1 but confident that the seed already sown1 the seed of the word1 has power to develop into the rich fruit of ,christian character4 ,in this respect the parable supplements the first one4 ,from that we learned that if the soil were not in fault1 if the heart were honest and good1 the seed would fructify4 ,from this we learn that these conditions suffice for a perfect harvest4 ,the incessant1 all-important help of ,god1 we have seen1 is not denied2 it is taken for granted1 as the atmospheric and magnetic influences upon the grain4 ,so should we reverentially and thankfully rely upon the aid of ,god1 and then1 instead of waiting for strange visitations and special stirrings of grace1 account that we already possess enough to make us responsible for the harvest of the soul4 ,multitudes of souls1 whose true calling is1 in obedient trust1 to arise and walk1 are at this moment lying impotent beside some pool which they expect an angel to stir1 and into which they fain would then be put by some one1 they know not whom--multitudes of expectant1 inert1 inactive souls1 who know not that the text they have most need to ponder is this3 8the earth beareth fruit of itself40 ,for want of this they are actually1 day by day1 receiving the grace of ,god in vain4 ,we learn also to be content with gradual progress4 ,st4 ,john did not blame the children and young men to whom he wrote1 because they were not mature in wisdom and experience4 ,st4 ,paul exhorts us to grow up in all things into ,him which is the ,head1 even ,christ4 ,they do not ask for more than steady growth2 and their ,master1 as ,he distrusted the fleeting joy of hearers whose hearts were shallow1 now explicitly bids us not to be content with any first attainment1 not to count all done if we are converted1 but to develop first the blade1 then the ear1 and lastly the full corn in the ear4 ,does it seem a tedious weary sentence8 ,are we discontent for want of conscious interferences of heaven8 ,do we complain that1 to human consciousness1 the great ,sower sleeps and rises up and leaves the grain to fare ,he knows not how8 ,it is only for a little while4 ,when the fruit is ripe1 ,he will ,himself gather it into ,his eternal garner4 ,the ,mustard ,seed4 8,and ,he said1 ,how shall we liken the kingdom of ,god8 or in what parable shall we set it forth8 ,it is like a grain of mustard seed1 which1 when it is sown upon the earth1 though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth1 yet when it is sown1 groweth up1 and becometh greater than all the herbs1 and putteth out great branches2 so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof4 ,and with many such parables spake ,he the word unto them1 as they were able to hear it3 and without a parable spake ,he not unto them3 but privately to ,his own disciples ,he expounded all things40--,,mark iv4 #cj-cd 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,mark has recorded one other parable of this great cycle4 ,jesus now invites the disciples to let their own minds play upon the subject4 ,each is to ask himself a question3 ,how shall we liken the kingdom of ,god8 or in what parable shall we set it forth8 ,a gentle pause1 time for them to form some splendid and ambitious image in their minds1 and then we can suppose with what surprise they heard ,his own answer1 8,it is like a grain of mustard seed40 ,and truly some ,christians of a later day might be astonished also1 if they could call up a fair image of their own conceptions of the kingdom of ,god1 and compare it with this figure1 employed by ,jesus4 ,but here one must observe a peculiarity in our ,saviour's use of images4 ,his illustrations of ,his first coming1 and of ,his work of grace1 which are many1 are all of the homeliest kind4 ,he is a shepherd who seeks one sheep4 ,he is not an eagle that fluttereth over her young and beareth them on her pinions1 but a hen who gathereth her chickens under her wings4 ,never once does ,he rise into that high and poetic strain with which ,his followers have loved to sing of the ,star of ,bethlehem1 and which ,isaiah lavished beforehand upon the birth of the ,prince of ,peace4 ,there is no language more intensely concentrated and glowing than ,he has employed to describe the judgment of the hypocrites who rejected ,him1 of ,jerusalem1 and of the world at last4 ,but when ,he speaks of ,his first coming and its effects1 it is not of that sunrise to which all kings and nations shall hasten1 but of a little grain of mustard seed1 which is to become 8greater than all the herbs10 and put forth great branches1 8so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow of them40 ,when one thinks of such an image for such an event1 of the founding of the kingdom of ,god1 and its advance to universal supremacy1 represented by the small seed of a shrub which grows to the height of a tree1 and even harbours birds1 he is conscious almost of incongruity4 ,but when one reconsiders it1 he is filled with awe and reverence4 ,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 lofty4 ,there is a poem of ,shelley1 which expresses the relative greatness of three spirits by the less and less value which they set on the splendours of the material heavens4 ,to the first they are a palace-roof of golden lights1 to the second but the mind's first chamber1 to the last only drops which ,nature's mighty heart drives through thinnest veins4 ,now that which was to ,isaiah the exalting of every valley and the bringing low of every mountain1 and to ,daniel the overthrow of a mighty image whose aspect was terrible1 by a stone cut out without hands1 was to ,jesus but the sowing of a grain of mustard seed4 ,could any other have spoken thus of the founding of the kingdom of ,god8 ,an enthusiast over-values his work1 he can think of nothing else2 and he expects immediate revolutions4 ,jesus was keenly aware that ,his work in itself was very small1 no more than the sowing of a seed1 and even of the least1 popularly speaking1 among all seeds4 ,clearly ,he did not over-rate the apparent effect of ,his work on earth4 ,and indeed1 what germ of religious teaching could be less promising than the doctrine of the cross1 held by a few peasants in a despised province of a nation already subjugated and soon to be overwhelmed8 ,the image expresses more than the feeble beginning and victorious issue of ,his work1 more than even the gradual and logical process by which this final triumph should be attained4 ,all this we found in the preceding parable4 ,but here the emphasis is laid on the development of ,christ's influence in unexpected spheres4 ,unlike other herbs1 the mustard in ,eastern climates does grow into a tree1 shoot out great branches from the main stem1 and give shelter to the birds of the air4 ,so has the ,christian faith developed ever new collateral agencies1 charitable1 educational1 and social3 so have architecture1 music1 literature1 flourished under its shade1 and there is not one truly human interest which would not be deprived of its best shelter if the rod of ,jesse were hewn down4 ,nay1 we may urge that the ,church itself has become the most potent force in directions not its own3 it broke the chains of the negro2 it asserts the rights of woman and of the poor2 its noble literature is finding a response in the breast of a hundred degraded races2 the herb has become a tree4 ,and so in the life of individuals1 if the seed be allowed its due scope and place to grow1 it gives shelter and blessing to whatsoever things are honest and lovely1 not only if there be any virtue1 but also if there be any praise4 ,well is it with the nation1 and well with the soul1 when the faith of ,jesus is not rigidly restricted to a prescribed sphere1 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 nestling4 ,a remarkable assertion is added4 ,although the parabolic mode of teaching was adopted in judgment1 yet its severe effect was confined within the narrowest limits4 ,his many parables were spoken 8as they were able to hear10 but only to ,his own disciples privately was all their meaning expounded4 ,four ,miracles4 8,and there was a great calm40--,,mark iv4 #ci 7,r4,v474 8,behold1 him that was possessed with devils1 sitting1 clothed and in his right mind1 even him that had the legion40--v4 #ae 7,r4,v474 8,who touched ,me80--v4 #ca 7,r4,v474 8,talitha cumi40--v4 #da 7,r4,v474 ,there are two ways1 equally useful1 of studying ,scripture1 as there are of regarding the other book of ,god1 the face of ,nature4 ,we may bend over a wild flower1 or gaze across a landscape2 and it will happen that a naturalist1 pursuing a moth1 loses sight of a mountain-range4 ,it is a well-known proverb1 that one may fail to see the wood for the trees1 losing in details the general effect4 ,and so the careful student of isolated texts may never perceive the force and cohesion of a connected passage4 ,the reader of a ,gospel narrative thinks1 that by pondering it as a whole1 he secures himself against any such misfortune4 ,but a narrative dislocated1 often loses as much as a detached verse4 ,the actions of our ,lord are often exquisitely grouped1 as becometh ,him ,who hath made everything not beautiful only1 but especially beautiful in its season4 ,and we should not be content without combining the two ways of reading ,scripture1 the detailed and the rapid1--lingering at times to apprehend the marvellous force of a solitary verse1 and again sweeping over a broad expanse1 like a surveyor1 who1 to map a country1 stretches his triangles from mountain peak to peak4 ,we have reached a point at which ,st4 ,mark records a special outshining of miraculous power4 ,four striking works follow each other without a break1 and it must not for a moment be supposed that the narrative is thus constructed1 certain intermediate discourses and events being sacrificed for the purpose1 without a deliberate and a truthful intention4 ,that intention is to represent the effect1 intense and exalting1 produced by such a cycle of wonders on the minds of ,his disciples4 ,they saw them come close upon each other3 we should lose the impression as we read1 if other incidents were allowed to interpose themselves4 ,it is one more example of ,st4 ,mark's desire to throw light1 above all things1 upon the energy and power of the sacred life4 ,we have to observe therefore the bearing of these four miracles on each other1 and upon what precedes1 before studying them one by one4 ,it was a time of trial4 ,the ,pharisees had decided that ,he had a devil4 ,his relatives had said ,he was beside ,himself4 ,his manner of teaching had changed1 because the people should see without perceiving1 and hear without understanding4 ,they who understood ,his parables heard much of seed that failed1 of success a great way off1 of a kingdom which would indeed be great at last1 but for the present weak and small4 ,and it is certain that there must have been heavy hearts among those who left1 with ,him1 the populous side of the lake1 to cross over into remote and semi-pagan retirement4 ,to encourage them1 and as if in protest against ,his rejection by the authorities1 ,jesus enters upon this great cycle of miracles4 ,they find themselves1 as the ,church has often since been placed1 and as every human soul has had to feel itself1 far from shore1 and tempest-beaten4 ,the rage of human foes is not so deaf1 so implacable1 as that of wind and wave4 ,it is the stress of adverse circumstances in the direst form4 ,but ,jesus proves ,himself to be ,master of the forces of nature which would overwhelm them4 ,nay1 they learn that ,his seeming indifference is no proof that they are neglected1 by the rebuke ,he speaks to their over-importunate appeals1 ,why are ye so fearful8 have ye not yet faith8 ,and they1 who might have been shaken by the infidelity of other men1 fear exceedingly as they behold the obedience of the wind and the sea1 and ask1 ,who then is this8 ,but in their mission as ,his disciples1 a worse danger than the enmity of man or convulsions of nature awaits them4 ,on landing1 they are at once confronted by one whom an evil spirit has made exceeding fierce1 so that no man could pass by that way4 ,it is their way nevertheless1 and they must tread it4 ,and the demoniac adores1 and the evil spirits themselves are abject in supplication1 and at the word of ,jesus are expelled4 ,even the inhabitants1 who will not receive ,him1 are awe-struck and deprecatory1 and if at their bidding ,jesus turns away again1 ,his followers may judge whether the habitual meekness of such a one is due to feebleness or to a noble self-command4 ,landing once more1 they are soon accosted by a ruler of the synagogue1 whom sorrow has purified from the prejudices of his class4 ,and ,jesus is about to heal the daughter of ,jairus1 when another form of need is brought to light4 ,a slow and secret decline1 wasting the vital powers1 a silent woe1 speechless1 stealthily approaching the ,healer--over this grief also ,he is ,lord4 ,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 ,him1 the physical benefits which encompass the ,teacher as a halo envelopes flame4 ,circumstances1 and the fiends of the pit1 and the woes that waste the lives of men1 over these ,he has been seen to triumph4 ,but behind all that we strive with here1 there lurks the last enemy1 and he also shall be subdued4 ,and now first an example is recorded of what we know to have already taken place1 the conquest of death by his predicted ,spoiler4 ,youth and gentle maidenhood1 high hope and prosperous circumstances have been wasted1 but the call of ,jesus is heard by the ear that was stopped with dust1 and the spirit obeys ,him in the far off realm of the departed1 and they who have just seen such other marvels1 are nevertheless amazed with a great amazement4 ,no cycle of miracles could be more rounded1 symmetrical and exhaustive2 none could better vindicate to ,his disciples ,his impugned authority1 or brace their endangered faith1 or fit them for what almost immediately followed1 their own commission1 and the first journey upon which they too cast out many devils1 and anointed with oil many that were sick1 and healed them4 ,the ,two ,storms4 8,and on that day1 when even was come1 ,he saith unto them1 ,let us go over unto the other side4 ,and leaving the multitude1 they take ,him with them1 even as ,he was1 in the boat4 ,and other boats were with ,him4 ,and there ariseth a great storm of wind1 and the waves beat into the boat1 insomuch that the boat was now filling4 ,and ,he ,himself was in the stern1 asleep on the cushion3 and they awake ,him1 and say unto ,him1 ,master1 carest ,thou not that we perish8 ,and ,he awoke1 and rebuked the wind1 and said unto the sea1 ,peace1 be still4 ,and the wind ceased1 and there was a great calm4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,why are ye fearful8 have ye not yet faith8 ,and they feared exceedingly1 and said one to another1 ,who then is this1 that even the wind and the sea obey him80--,,mark iv4 #ce-da 7,r4,v474 8,and when even was come1 the boat was in the midst of the sea1 and ,he alone on the land4 ,and seeing them distressed in rowing1 for the wind was contrary unto them1 about the fourth watch of the night ,he cometh unto them1 walking on the sea2 and ,he would have passed by them3 but they1 when they saw ,him walking on the sea1 supposed that it was an apparition1 and cried out3 for they all saw ,him1 and were troubled4 ,but ,he straightway spake with them1 and saith unto them1 ,be of good cheer3 it is ,i2 be not afraid4 ,and ,he went up unto them into the boat2 and the wind ceased3 and they were sore amazed in themselves4 ,for they understood not concerning the loaves1 but their hearts were hardened40--,,mark vi4 #dg-eb 7,r4,v474 ,few readers are insensible to the wonderful power with which the ,gospels tell the story of the two storms upon the lake4 ,the narratives are favourites in every ,sunday school2 they form the basis of countless hymns and poems2 and we always recur to them with fresh delight4 ,in the first account we see as in a picture the weariness of the great ,teacher1 when1 the long day being over and the multitude dismissed1 ,he retreats across the sea without preparation1 and 8as ,he was10 and sinks to sleep on the one cushion in the stern1 undisturbed by the raging tempest or by the waves which beat into the boat4 ,we observe the reluctance of the disciples to arouse ,him until the peril is extreme1 and the boat is 8now0 filling4 ,we hear from ,st4 ,mark1 the associate of ,st4 ,peter1 the presumptuous and characteristic cry which expresses terror1 and perhaps dread lest ,his tranquil slumbers may indicate a separation between ,his cause and theirs1 who perish while ,he is unconcerned4 ,we admire equally the calm and masterful words which quell the tempest1 and those which enjoin a faith so lofty as to endure the last extremities of peril without dismay1 without agitation in its prayers4 ,we observe the strange incident1 that no sooner does the storm cease than the waters1 commonly seething for many hours afterwards1 grow calm4 ,and the picture is completed by the mention of their new dread 7fear of the supernatural ,man replacing their terror amid the convulsions of nature71 and of their awestruck questioning among themselves4 ,in the second narrative we see the ship far out in the lake1 but watched by ,one1 ,who is alone upon the land4 ,through the gloom ,he sees them 8tormented0 by fruitless rowing2 but though this is the reason why ,he comes1 ,he is about to pass them by4 ,the watch of the night is remembered2 it is the fourth4 ,the cry of their alarm is universal1 for they all saw ,him and were troubled4 ,we are told of the promptitude with which ,he thereupon relieved their fears2 we see ,him climb up into the boat1 and the sudden ceasing of the storm1 and their amazement4 ,nor is that after-thought omitted in which they blamed themselves for their astonishment4 ,if their hearts had not been hardened1 the miracle of the loaves would have taught them that ,jesus was the master of the physical world4 ,now all this picturesque detail belongs to a single ,gospel4 ,and it is exactly what a believer would expect4 ,how much soever the healing of disease might interest ,st4 ,luke the physician1 who relates all such events so vividly1 it would have impressed the patient himself yet more1 and an account of it by him1 if we had it1 would be full of graphic touches4 ,now these two miracles were wrought for the rescue of the apostles themselves4 ,the ,twelve took the place held in others by the lame1 the halt and the blind3 the suspense1 the appeal1 and the joy of deliverance were all their own4 ,it is therefore no wonder that we find their accounts of these especial miracles so picturesque4 ,but this is a solid evidence of the truth of the narratives2 for while the remembrance of such actual events should thrill with agitated life1 there is no reason why a legend of the kind should be especially clear and vivid4 ,the same argument might easily be carried farther4 ,when the disciples began to reproach themselves for their unbelieving astonishment1 they were naturally conscious of having failed to learn the lesson which had been taught them just before4 ,later students and moralists would have observed that another miracle1 a little earlier1 was a still closer precedent1 but they naturally blamed themselves most for being blind to what was immediately before their eyes4 ,now when ,jesus walked upon the waters and the disciples were amazed1 it is not said that they forgot how ,he had already stilled a tempest1 but they considered not the miracle of the loaves1 for their heart was hardened4 ,in touches like this we find the influence of a bystander beyond denial4 ,every student of ,scripture must have observed the special significance of those parables and miracles which recur a second time with certain designed variations4 ,in the miraculous draughts of fishes1 ,christ ,himself avowed an allusion to the catching of men4 ,and the ,church has always discerned a spiritual intention in these two storms1 in one of which ,christ slept1 while in the other ,his disciples toiled alone1 and which express1 between them1 the whole strain exercised upon a devout spirit by adverse circumstances4 ,dangers never alarmed one who realized both the presence of ,jesus and ,his vigilant care4 ,temptation enters only because this is veiled4 ,why do adversities press hard upon me1 if indeed ,i belong to ,christ8 ,he must either be indifferent and sleeping1 or else absent altogether from my frail and foundering bark4 ,it is thus that we let go our confidence1 and incur agonies of mental suffering1 and the rebuke of our ,master1 even though ,he continues to be the ,protector of ,his unworthy people4 ,on the voyage of life we may conceive of ,jesus as our ,companion1 for ,he is with us always1 or as watching us from the everlasting hills1 whither it was expedient for us that ,he should go4 ,nevertheless1 we are storm-tossed and in danger4 ,although we are ,his1 and not separated from ,him by any conscious disobedience1 yet the conditions of life are unmitigated1 the winds as wild1 the waves as merciless1 the boat as cruelly 8tormented0 as ever4 ,and no rescue comes3 ,jesus is asleep3 ,he cares not that we perish4 ,then we pray after a fashion so clamorous1 and with supplication so like demands1 that we too appear to have undertaken to awake our ,lord4 ,then we have to learn from the first of these miracles1 and especially from its delay4 ,the disciples were safe1 had they only known it1 whether ,jesus would have interposed of ,his own accord1 or whether they might still have needed to appeal to ,him1 but in a gentler fashion4 ,we may ask help1 provided that we do so in a serene and trustful spirit1 anxious for nothing1 not seeking to extort a concession1 but approaching with boldness the throne of grace1 on which our ,father sits4 ,it is thus that the peace of ,god shall rule our hearts and minds1 for want of which the apostles were asked1 ,where is your faith8 ,comparing the narratives1 we learn that ,jesus reassured their hearts even before ,he arose1 and then1 having first silenced by ,his calmness the storm within them1 ,he stood up and rebuked the storm around4 ,st4 ,augustine gave a false turn to the application1 when he said1 8,if ,jesus were not asleep within thee1 thou wouldst be calm and at rest4 ,but why is ,he asleep8 ,because thy faith is asleep10 etc1 7,sermon lxiii47 ,the sleep of ,jesus was natural and right2 and it answers not to our spiritual torpor1 but to ,his apparent indifference and non-intervention in our time of distress4 ,and the true lesson of the miracle is that we should trust ,him ,whose care fails not when it seems to fail1 ,who is able to save to the uttermost1 and ,whom we should approach in the direst peril without panic4 ,it was fitly taught them first when all the powers of the ,state and the ,church were leagued against ,him1 and ,he as a blind man saw not and as a dumb man opened not ,his mouth4 ,the second storm should have found them braver by the experience of the first2 but spiritually as well as bodily they were farther removed from ,christ4 ,the people1 profoundly moved by the murder of the ,baptist1 wished to set ,jesus on the throne1 and the disciples were too ambitious to be allowed to be present while ,he dismissed the multitudes4 ,they had to be sent away1 and it was from the distant hillside that ,jesus saw their danger4 ,surely it is instructive1 that neither the shades of night1 nor the abstracted fervour of ,his prayers1 prevented him from seeing it1 nor the stormlashed waters from bringing aid4 ,and significant also1 that the experience of remoteness1 though not sinful1 since ,he had sent them away1 was yet the result of their own worldliness4 ,it is when we are out of sympathy with ,jesus that we are most likely to be alone in trouble4 ,none was in their boat to save them1 and in heart also they had gone out from the presence of their ,god4 ,therefore they failed to trust in ,his guidance ,who had sent them into the ship3 they had no sense of protection or of supervision2 and it was a terrible moment when a form was vaguely seen to glide over the waves4 ,christ1 it would seem1 would have gone before and led them to the haven where they would be4 ,or perhaps ,he 8would have passed by them10 as ,he would afterwards have gone further than ,emmaus1 to elicit any trustful half-recognition which might call to ,him and be rewarded4 ,but they cried out for fear4 ,and so it is continually with ,god in ,his world1 men are terrified at the presence of the supernatural1 because they fail to apprehend the abiding presence of the supernatural ,christ4 ,and yet there is one point at least in every life1 the final moment1 in which all else must recede1 and the soul be left alone with the beings of another world4 ,then1 and in every trial1 and especially in all trials which press in upon us the consciousness of the spiritual universe1 well is it for him who hears the voice of ,jesus saying1 ,it is ,i1 be not afraid4 ,for only through ,jesus1 only in ,his person1 has that unknown universe ceased to be dreadful and mysterious4 ,only when ,he is welcomed does the storm cease to rage around us4 ,it was the earlier of these miracles which first taught the disciples that not only were human disorders under ,his control1 and gifts and blessings at ,his disposal1 but also the whole range of nature was subject to ,him1 and the winds and the sea obey ,him4 ,shall we say that ,his rebuke addressed to these was a mere figure of speech8 ,some have inferred that natural convulsions are so directly the work of evil angels that the words of ,jesus were really spoken to them4 ,but the plain assertion is that ,he rebuked the winds and the waves1 and these would not become identical with ,satan even upon the supposition that he excites them4 ,we ourselves continually personify the course of nature1 and even complain of it1 wantonly enough1 and ,scripture does not deny itself the use of ordinary human forms of speech4 ,yet the very peculiar word employed by ,jesus cannot be without significance4 ,it is the same with which ,he had already confronted the violence of the demoniac in the synagogue1 ,be muzzled4 ,at the least it expresses stern repression1 and thus it reminds us that creation itself is made subject to vanity1 the world deranged by sin1 so that all around us requires readjustment as truly as all within1 and ,christ shall at last create a new earth as well as a new heaven4 ,some pious people resign themselves much too passively to the mischiefs of the material universe1 supposing that troubles which are not of their own making1 must needs be a ,divine infliction1 calling only for submission4 ,but ,god sends oppositions to be conquered as well as burdens to be borne2 and even before the fall the world had to be subdued4 ,and our final mastery over the surrounding universe was expressed1 when ,jesus our ,head rebuked the winds1 and stilled the waves when they arose4 ,as they beheld1 a new sense fell upon ,his disciples of a more awful presence than they had yet discerned4 ,they asked not only what manner of man this is8 but1 with surmises which went out beyond the limits of human greatness1 ,who then is this1 that even the winds and the sea obey ,him8 ,,chapter ,v4 ,the ,demoniac ,of ,gadara4 8,and they came to the other side of the sea1 into the country of the ,gerasenes4 ,and when ,he was come out of the boat1 straightway there met ,him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit1 who had his dwelling in the tombs2 and no man could any more bind him1 no1 not with a chain2 because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains1 and the chains had been rent asunder by him1 and the fetters broken in pieces3 and no man had strength to tame him4 ,and always1 night and day1 in the tombs and in the mountains1 he was crying out1 and cutting himself with stones4 ,and when he saw ,jesus from afar1 he ran and worshipped ,him2 and crying out with a loud voice1 he saith1 ,what have ,i to do with ,thee1 ,jesus1 ,thou ,son of the ,most ,high ,god8 ,i adjure ,thee by ,god1 torment me not4 ,for ,he said unto him1 ,come forth1 thou unclean spirit1 out of the man4 ,and ,he asked him1 ,what is thy name8 ,and he saith unto ,him1 ,my name is ,legion2 for we are many4 ,and he besought ,him much that ,he would not send them away out of the country4 ,now there was there on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding4 ,and they besought ,him1 saying1 ,send us into the swine1 that we may enter into them4 ,and ,he gave them leave4 ,and the unclean spirits came out1 and entered into the swine3 and the herd rushed down the steep into the sea1 in number about two thousand2 and they were choked in the sea4 ,and they that fed them fled1 and told it in the city1 and in the country4 ,and they came to see what it was that had come to pass4 ,and they come to ,jesus1 and behold him that was possessed with devils sitting1 clothed and in his right mind1 even him that had the legion3 and they were afraid4 ,and they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with devils1 and concerning the swine4 ,and they began to beseech ,him to depart from their borders4 ,and as ,he was entering into the boat1 he that had been possessed with devils besought ,him that he might be with ,him4 ,and ,he suffered him not1 but saith unto him1 ,go to thy house unto thy friends1 and tell them how great things the ,lord hath done for thee1 and how ,he had mercy on thee4 ,and he went his way1 and began to publish in ,decapolis how great things ,jesus had done for him3 and all men did marvel40--,,mark v4 #a-bj 7,r4,v474 ,fresh from asserting ,his mastery over winds and waves1 the ,lord was met by a more terrible enemy1 the rage of human nature enslaved and impelled by the cruelty of hell4 ,the place where ,he landed was a theatre not unfit for the tragedy which it revealed4 ,a mixed race was there1 indifferent to religion1 rearing great herds of swine1 upon which the law looked askance1 but the profits of which they held so dear that they would choose to banish a ,divine ambassador1 and one who had released them from an incessant peril1 rather than be deprived of these4 ,now it has already been shown that the wretches possessed by devils were not of necessity stained with special guilt4 ,even children fell into this misery4 ,but yet we should expect to find it most rampant in places where ,god was dishonoured1 in ,gerasa and in the coasts of ,tyre and ,sidon4 ,and it is so4 ,all misery is the consequence of sin1 although individual misery does not measure individual guilt4 ,and the places where the shadow of sin has fallen heaviest are always the haunts of direst wretchedness4 ,the first ,gospel mentions two demoniacs1 but one was doubtless so pre-eminently fierce1 and possibly so zealous afterward in proclaiming his deliverance1 that only ,st4 ,matthew learned the existence of another1 upon whom also ,satan had wrought1 if not his worst1 enough to show his hatred1 and the woes he would fain bring upon humanity4 ,among the few terrible glimpses given us of the mind of the fallen angels1 one is most significant and sinister4 ,when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man1 to what haunts does he turn8 ,he has no sympathy with what is lovely or sublime2 in search of rest he wanders through dry places1 deserts of arid sand in which his misery may be soothed by congenial desolation4 ,thus the ruins of the mystic ,babylon become an abode of devils4 ,and thus the unclean spirit1 when he mastered this demoniac1 drove him to a foul and dreary abode among the tombs4 ,one can picture the victim in some lucid moment1 awakening to consciousness only to shudder in his dreadful home1 and scared back again into that ferocity which is the child of terror4 8,is it not very like1 ,the horrible conceit of death and night1 ,together with the terror of the place ,oh6 if ,i wake1 shall ,i not be distraught1 ,environed with all these hideous fears80 ,romeo and ,juliet1 iv4 #c4 ,there was a time when he had been under restraint1 but 8now no man could any more bind him0 even with iron upon feet and wrists4 ,the ferocity of his cruel subjugator turned his own strength against himself1 so that night and day his howling was heard1 as he cut himself with stones1 and his haunts in the tombs and in the mountains were as dangerous as the lair of a wild breast1 which no man dared pass by4 ,what strange impulse drove him thence to the feet of ,jesus8 ,very dreadful is the picture of his conflicting tendencies3 the fiend within him struggling against something still human and attracted by the ,divine1 so that he runs from afar1 yet cries aloud1 and worships yet disowns having anything to do with ,him2 and as if the fiend had subverted the true personality1 and become the very man1 when ordered to come out he adjures ,jesus to torment him not4 ,and here we observe the knowledge of ,christ's rank possessed by the evil ones4 ,long before ,peter won a special blessing for acknowledging the ,son of the living ,god1 the demoniac called ,him by the very name which flesh and blood did not reveal to ,cephas4 ,for their chief had tested and discovered ,him in the wilderness1 saying twice with dread surmise1 ,if ,thou be the ,son of ,god4 ,it is also noteworthy that the phrase1 the most ,high ,god1 is the name of ,jehovah among the non-,jewish races4 ,it occurs in both ,testaments in connection with ,melchizedek the ,canaanite4 ,it is used throughout the ,babylonian proclamations in the book of ,daniel4 ,micah puts it into the lips of ,balaam4 ,and the damsel with a spirit of divination employed it in ,philippi4 ,except once1 in a ,psalm which tells of the return of apostate ,israel to the ,most ,high ,god 7lxxviii4 #ce71 the epithet is used only in relation with the nations outside the covenant4 ,its occurrence here is probably a sign of the pagan influences by which ,gadara was infected1 and for which it was plagued4 ,by the name of ,god then1 whose ,son ,he loudly confessed that ,jesus was1 the fiend within the man adjures ,him to torment ,him not4 ,but ,jesus had not asked to be acknowledged3 ,he had bidden the devil to come out4 ,and persons who substitute loud confessions and clamorous orthodoxies for obedience should remember that so did the fiend of ,gadara4 ,jesus replied by asking1 ,what is thy name8 ,the question was not an idle one1 but had a healing tendency4 ,for the man was beside himself2 it was part of his cure that he was found in his right mind2 and meanwhile his very consciousness was merged in that of the fiends who tortured him1 so that his voice was their voice1 and they returned a vaunting answer through ,his lips4 ,our ,lord sought therefore both to calm ,his excitement and to remind him of himself1 and of what he once had been before evil beings dethroned his will4 ,these were not the man1 but his enemies by whom he was 8carried about10 and 8led captive at their will40 ,and it is always sobering to think of 8,myself10 the lonely individual1 apart from even those who most influence me1 with a soul to lose or save4 ,with this very question the ,church ,catechism begins its work of arousing and instructing the conscience of each child1 separating him from his fellows in order to lead him on to the knowledge of the individualising grace of ,god4 ,it may be that the fiends within him dictated his reply1 or that he himself1 conscious of their tyranny1 cried out in agony1 ,we are many2 a regiment like those of conquering ,rome1 drilled and armed to trample and destroy1 a legion4 ,this answer distinctly contravened what ,christ had just implied1 that he was one1 an individual1 and precious in his ,maker's eyes4 ,but there are men and women in every ,christian land1 whom it might startle to look within1 and see how far their individuality is oppressed and overlaid by a legion of impulses1 appetites1 and conventionalities1 which leave them nothing personal1 nothing essential and characteristic1 nothing that deserves a name4 ,the demons1 now conscious of the power which calls them forth1 besought ,him to leave them a refuge in that country4 ,st4 ,luke throws light upon this petition1 as well as their former complaint1 when he tells us they feared to be sent to 8the abyss0 of their final retribution4 ,and as we read of men who are haunted by a fearful looking for of judgment and a fierceness of fire1 so they had no hope of escape1 except until 8the time40 ,for a little respite they prayed to be sent even into the swine1 and ,jesus gave them leave4 ,what a difference there is between the proud and heroic spirits whom ,milton celebrated1 and these malignant but miserable beings1 haunting the sepulchres like ghosts1 truculent and yet dastardly1 as ready to supplicate as to rend1 filled with dread of the appointed time and of the abyss1 clinging to that outlying country as a congenial haunt1 and devising for themselves a last asylum among the brutes4 ,and yet they are equally far from the materialistic superstitions of that age and place2 they are not amenable to fumigations or exorcisms1 and they do not upset the furniture in rushing out4 ,many questions have been asked about the petition of the demons and our ,lord's consent4 ,but none of them need much distress the reverential enquirer1 who remembers by what misty horizons all our knowledge is enclosed4 ,most absurd is the charge that ,jesus acted indefensibly in destroying property4 ,is it then so clear that the owners did not deserve their loss through the nature of their investments8 ,was it merely as a man1 or as the ,son of the living ,god1 that ,his consent was felt to be necessary8 ,and was it any part of ,his mission to protect brutes from death8 ,the loss endured was no greater than when a crop is beaten down by hail1 or a vineyard devastated by insects1 and in these cases an agency beyond the control of man is sent or permitted by ,god1 ,who was in ,christ4 ,a far harder question it is1 ,how could devils enter into brute creatures8 and again1 ,why did they desire to do so8 ,but the first of these is only a subdivision of the vaster problem1 at once inevitable and insoluble1 ,how does spirit in any of its forms animate matter1 or even manipulate it8 ,we know not by what strange link a thought contracts a sinew1 and transmutes itself into words or deeds4 ,and if we believe the dread and melancholy fact of the possession of a child by a fiend1 what reason have we1 beyond prejudice1 for doubting the possession of swine8 ,it must be observed also1 that no such possession is proved by this narrative to be a common event1 but the reverse4 ,the notion is a last and wild expedient of despair1 proposing to content itself with the uttermost abasement1 if only the demons might still haunt the region where they had thriven so well4 ,and the consent of ,jesus does not commit ,him to any judgment upon the merit or the possibility of the project4 ,he leaves the experiment to prove itself1 exactly as when ,peter would walk upon the water2 and a laconic 8,go0 in this case recalls the 8,come0 in that2 an assent1 without approval1 to an attempt which was about to fail4 ,not in the world of brutes could they find shelter from the banishment they dreaded2 for the whole herd1 frantic and ungoverned1 rushed headlong into the sea and was destroyed4 ,the second victory of the series was thus completed4 ,jesus was ,master over the evil spirits which afflict humanity1 as well as over the fierceness of the elements which rise against us4 ,the ,men ,of ,gadara4 8,and they that fed them fled1 and told it in the city1 and in the country4 ,and they came to see what it was that had come to pass4 ,and they come to ,jesus1 and behold him that was possessed with devils sitting1 clothed and in his right mind1 even him that had the legion3 and they were afraid4 ,and they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with devils1 and concerning the swine4 ,and they began to beseech him to depart from their borders4 ,and as ,he was entering into the boat1 he that had been possessed with devils besought ,him that he might be with ,him4 ,and ,he suffered him not but saith unto him1 ,go to thy house unto thy friends1 and tell them how great things the ,lord hath done for thee1 and how ,he had mercy on thee4 ,and he went his way1 and began to publish in ,decapolis how great things ,jesus had done for him3 and all men did marvel40--,,mark v4 #ad-bj 7,r4,v474 ,the expulsion of the demons from the possessed1 their entrance into the herd1 and the destruction of the two thousand swine1 were virtually one transaction1 and must have impressed the swineherds in its totality4 ,they saw on the one hand the restoration of a dangerous and raging madman1 known to be actuated by evil spirits1 the removal of a standing peril which had already made one tract of country impassable1 and 7if they considered such a thing at all7 the calming of a human soul1 and its advent within the reach of all sacred influences4 ,on the other side what was there8 ,the loss of two thousand swine2 and the consciousness that the kingdom of ,god was come nigh unto them4 ,this was always an alarming discovery4 ,isaiah said1 ,woe is me6 when his eyes beheld ,god high and lifted up4 ,and ,peter said1 ,depart from me1 when he learned by the miraculous draught of fish that the ,lord was there4 ,but ,isaiah's concern was because he was a man of unclean lips1 and ,peter's was because he was a sinful man4 ,their alarm was that of an awakened conscience1 and therefore they became the heralds of ,him ,whom they feared4 ,but these men were simply scared at what they instinctively felt to be dangerous2 and so they took refuge in a crowd1 that frequent resort of the frivolous and conscience-stricken1 and told in the city what they had seen4 ,and when the inhabitants came forth1 a sight met them which might have won the sternest1 the man sitting1 clothed 7a nice coincidence1 since ,st4 ,mark had not mentioned that he 8ware no clothes107 and in his right mind1 even him that had the legion1 as the narrative emphatically adds4 ,and doubtless the much debated incident of the swine had greatly helped to reassure this afflicted soul2 the demons were palpably gone1 visibly enough they were overmastered4 ,but the citizens1 like the swineherds1 were merely terrified1 neither grateful nor sympathetic2 uninspired with hope of pure teaching1 of rescue from other influences of the evil one1 or of any unearthly kingdom4 ,their formidable visitant was one to treat with all respect1 but to remove with all speed1 8and they began to beseech ,him to depart from their borders40 ,they began1 for it did not require long entreaty2 the gospel which was free to all was not to be forced upon any4 ,but how much did they blindly fling away1 who refused the presence of the meek and lowly ,giver of rest unto souls2 and chose to be denied1 as strangers whom ,he never knew1 in the day when every eye shall see ,him4 ,with how sad a heart must ,jesus have turned away4 ,yet one soul at least was won1 for as ,he was entering into the boat1 the man who owed all to ,him prayed ,him that he might be with ,him4 ,why was the prayer refused8 ,doubtless it sprang chiefly from gratitude and love1 thinking it hard to lose so soon the wondrous benefactor1 the ,man at whose feet he had sat down1 ,who alone had looked with pitiful and helpful eyes on one whom others only sought to 8tame40 ,such feelings are admirable1 but they must be disciplined so as to seek1 not their own indulgence1 but their ,master's real service4 ,now a reclaimed demoniac would have been a suspected companion for ,one who was accused of league with the ,prince of the devils4 ,there is no reason to suppose that he had any fitness whatever to enter the immediate circle of our ,lord's intimate disciples4 ,his special testimony would lose all its force when he left the district where he was known2 but there1 on the contrary1 the miracle could not fail to be impressive1 as its extent and permanence were seen4 ,this man was perhaps the only missionary who could reckon upon a hearing from those who banished ,jesus from their coasts4 ,and ,christ's loving and unresentful heart would give this testimony to them in its fulness4 ,it should begin at his own house and among his friends1 who would surely listen4 ,they should be told how great things the ,lord had done for him1 and ,jesus expressly added1 how ,he had mercy upon thee1 that so they might learn their mistake1 who feared and shrank from such a kindly visitant4 ,here is a lesson for these modern days1 when the conversion of any noted profligate is sure to be followed by attempts to push him into a vagrant publicity1 not only full of peril in itself1 but also removing him from the familiar sphere in which his consistent life would be more convincing than all sermons1 and where no suspicion of self-interest could overcloud the brightness of his testimony4 ,possibly there was yet another reason for leaving him in his home4 ,he may have desired to remain close to ,jesus1 lest1 when the ,saviour was absent1 the evil spirits should resume their sway4 ,in that case it would be necessary to exercise his faith and convince him that the words of ,jesus were far-reaching and effectual1 even when ,he was ,himself remote4 ,if so1 he learned the lesson well1 and became an evangelist through all the region of ,decapolis4 ,and where all did marvel1 we may hope that some were won4 ,what a revelation of mastery over the darkest and most dreadful forces of evil1 and of respect for the human will 7which ,jesus never once coerced by miracle1 even when it rejected ,him71 what unwearied care for the rebellious1 and what a sense of sacredness in lowly duties1 better for the demoniac than the physical nearness of his ,lord1 are combined in this astonishing narrative1 which to invent in the second century would itself have required miraculous powers4 ,with ,jairus4 8,and when ,jesus had crossed over again in the boat unto the other side1 a great multitude was gathered unto ,him3 and ,he was by the sea4 ,and there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue1 ,jairus by name2 and seeing ,him1 he falleth at ,his feet1 and beseecheth ,him much1 saying1 ,my little daughter is at the point of death3 ,i pray ,thee that ,thou come and lay ,thy hands on her1 that she may be made whole1 and live4 ,and ,he went with him2 and a great multitude followed ,him1 and they thronged ,him4 ,and a woman1 which had an issue of blood twelve years1 and had suffered many things of many physicians1 and had spent all that she had1 and was nothing bettered1 but rather grew worse1 having heard the things concerning ,jesus1 came in the crowd behind1 and touched ,his garment4 ,for she said1 ,if ,i touch but ,his garments1 ,i shall be made whole4 ,and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up2 and she felt in her body that she was healed of her plague4 ,and straightway ,jesus1 perceiving in ,himself that the power proceeding from ,him had gone forth1 turned ,him about in the crowd1 and said1 ,who touched ,my garments8 ,and ,his disciples said unto ,him1 ,thou seest the multitude thronging ,thee1 and sayest ,thou1 ,who touched ,me8 ,and ,he looked round about to see her that had done this thing4 ,but the woman fearing and trembling1 knowing what had been done to her1 came and fell down before ,him1 and told ,him all the truth4 ,and ,he said unto her1 ,daughter1 thy faith hath made thee whole2 go in peace1 and be whole of thy plague4 ,while ,he yet spake1 they come from the ruler of the synagogue's house1 saying1 ,thy daughter is dead3 why troublest thou the ,master any further8 ,but ,jesus not heeding the word spoken1 saith unto the ruler of the synagogue1 ,fear not1 only believe4 ,and ,he suffered no man to follow with ,him1 save ,peter1 and ,james1 and ,john the brother of ,james4 ,and they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue2 and ,he beholdeth a tumult1 and many weeping and wailing greatly4 ,and when ,he was entered in1 ,he saith unto them1 ,why make ye a tumult1 and weep8 the child is not dead1 but sleepeth4 ,and they laughed ,him to scorn4 ,but ,he1 having put them all forth1 taketh the father of the child and her mother and them that were with ,him1 and goeth in where the child was4 ,and taking the child by the hand1 ,he saith unto her1 ,talitha cumi2 which is1 being interpreted1 ,damsel1 ,i say unto thee1 ,arise4 ,and straightway the damsel rose up1 and walked2 for she was twelve years old4 ,and they were amazed straightway with a great amazement4 ,and ,he charged them much that no man should know this2 and ,he commanded that something should be given her to eat40--,,mark v4 #ba-dc 7,r4,v474 ,repulsed from ,decapolis1 but consoled by the rescue and zeal of the demoniac1 ,jesus returned to the western shore1 and a great multitude assembled4 ,the other boats which were with ,him had doubtless spread the tidings of the preternatural calm which rescued them from deadly peril1 and it may be that news of the event of ,gadara arrived almost as soon as ,he ,whom they celebrated4 ,we have seen that ,st4 ,mark aims at bringing the four great miracles of this period into the closest sequence4 ,and so he passes over a certain brief period with the words 8,he was by the sea40 ,but in fact ,jesus was reasoning with the ,pharisees1 and with the disciples of ,john1 who had assailed ,him and ,his followers1 when one of their natural leaders threw himself at ,his feet4 ,the contrast is sharp enough1 as ,he rises from a feast to go to the house of mourning1 from eating with publicans and sinners to accompany a ruler of the synagogue4 ,these unexpected calls1 these sudden alternations all found ,him equally ready to bear the same noble part1 in the most dissimilar scenes1 and in treating temperaments the most unlike4 ,but the contrast should also be observed between those harsh and hostile critics who hated ,him in the interests of dogma and of ceremonial1 and ,jairus1 whose views were theirs1 but whose heart was softened by trouble4 ,the danger of his child was what drove him1 perhaps reluctantly enough1 to beseech ,jesus much4 ,and nothing could be more touching than his prayer for his 8little daughter10 its sequence broken as if with a sob2 wistfully pictorial as to the process1 8that ,thou come and lay ,thy hands upon her10 and dilating wistfully too upon the effect1 8that she may be made whole and live40 ,if a miracle were not in question1 the dullest critic in ,europe would confess that this exquisite supplication was not composed by an evangelist1 but a father4 ,and he would understand also why the very words in their native dialect were not forgotten1 which men had heard awake the dead4 ,as ,jesus went with him1 a great multitude followed ,him1 and they thronged ,him4 ,it is quite evident that ,jesus did not love these gatherings of the idly curious4 ,partly from such movements ,he had withdrawn ,himself to ,gadara2 and partly to avoid exciting them ,he strove to keep many of ,his miracles a secret4 ,sensationalism is neither grace nor a means of grace4 ,and it must be considered that the perfect ,man1 as far from mental apathy or physical insensibility as from morbid fastidiousness1 would find much to shrink away from in the pressure of a city crowd4 ,the contact of inferior organizations1 selfishness driving back the weak and gentle1 vulgar scrutiny and audible comment1 and the desire for some miracle as an idle show1 which ,he would only work because ,his gentle heart was full of pity1 all these would be utterly distressing to ,him who was 8,the first true gentleman that ever breathed10 as well as the revelation of ,god in flesh4 ,it is therefore noteworthy that we have many examples of ,his grace and goodness amid such trying scenes1 as when ,he spoke to ,zacchus1 and called ,bartimus to ,him to be healed4 ,jesus could be wrathful but ,he was never irritated4 ,of these examples one of the most beautiful is here recorded1 for as ,he went with ,jairus1 amidst the rude and violent thronging of the crowds1 moving alone 7as men often are in sympathy and in heart alone amid seething thoroughfares71 ,he suddenly became aware of a touch1 the timid and stealthy touch of a broken-hearted woman1 pale and wasted with disease1 but borne through the crowd by the last effort of despair and the first energy of a newborn hope4 ,she ought not to have come thither1 since her touch spread ceremonial uncleanness far and wide4 ,nor ought she to have stolen a blessing instead of praying for it4 ,and if we seek to blame her still further1 we may condemn the superstitious notion that ,christ's gifts of healing were not conscious and loving actions1 but a mere contagion of health1 by which one might profit unfelt and undiscovered4 ,it is urged indeed that hers was not a faith thus clouded1 but so majestic as to believe that ,christ would know and respond to the silent hint of a gentle touch4 ,and is it supposed that ,jesus would have dragged into publicity such a perfect lily of the vale as this8 and what means her trembling confession1 and the discovery that she could not be hid8 ,but when our keener intellects have criticised her errors1 and our clearer ethics have frowned upon her misconduct1 one fact remains4 ,she is the only woman upon whom ,jesus is recorded to have bestowed any epithet but a formal one4 ,her misery and her faith drew from ,his guarded lips1 the tender and yet lofty word ,daughter4 ,so much better is the faith which seeks for blessing1 however erroneous be its means1 than the heartless propriety which criticises with most dispassionate clearness1 chiefly because it really seeks nothing for itself at all4 ,such faith is always an appeal1 and is responded to1 not as she supposed1 mechanically1 unconsciously1 nor1 of course1 by the opus operatum of a garment touched 7or of a sacrament formally received71 but by the going forth of power from a conscious ,giver1 in response to the need which has approached ,his fulness4 ,he knew her secret and fearful approach to ,him1 as ,he knew the guileless heart of ,nathanael1 whom ,he marked beneath the fig-tree4 ,and ,he dealt with her very gently4 ,doubtless there are many such concealed woes1 secret1 untold miseries which eat deep into gentle hearts1 and are never spoken1 and cannot1 like ,bartimus1 cry aloud for public pity4 ,for these also there is balm in ,gilead1 and if the ,lord requires them to confess ,him publicly1 ,he will first give them due strength to do so4 ,this enfeebled and emaciated woman was allowed to feel in her body that she was healed of her plague1 before she was called upon for her confession4 ,jesus asked1 ,who touched my clothes8 ,it was one thing to press ,him1 driven forward by the multitude around1 as circumstances impel so many to become churchgoers1 readers of ,scripture1 interested in sacred questions and controversies until they are borne as by physical propulsion into the closest contact with our ,lord1 but not drawn thither by any personal craving or sense of want1 nor expecting any blessed reaction of 8the power proceeding from ,him40 ,it was another thing to reach out a timid hand and touch appealingly even that tasselled fringe of ,his garment which had a religious significance1 whence perhaps she drew a semi-superstitious hope4 ,in the face of this incident1 can any orthodoxy forbid us to believe that the grace of ,christ extends1 now as of yore1 to many a superstitious and erring approach by which souls reach after ,christ8 ,the disciples wondered at ,his question3 they knew not that 8the flesh presses but faith touches20 but as ,he continued to look around and seek her that had done this thing1 she fell down and told ,him all the truth4 ,fearing and trembling she spoke1 for indeed she had been presumptuous1 and ventured without permission4 ,but the chief thing was that she had ventured1 and so ,he graciously replied1 ,daughter1 thy faith hath made thee whole1 go in peace and be whole of thy plague4 ,thus she received more than she had asked or thought2 not only healing for the body1 but also a victory over that self-effacing1 fearful1 half morbid diffidence1 which long and weakening disease entails4 ,thus also1 instead of a secret cure1 she was given the open benediction of her ,lord1 and such confirmation in her privilege as many more would enjoy if only with their mouth confession were made unto salvation4 ,while ,he yet spoke1 and the heart of ,jairus was divided between joy at a new evidence of the power of ,christ1 and impatience at every moment of delay1 not knowing that his ,benefactor was the ,lord of time itself1 the fatal message came1 tinged with some little irony as it asked1 ,why troublest thou the ,teacher any more8 ,it is quite certain that ,jesus had before now raised the dead1 but no miracle of the kind had acquired such prominence as afterwards to claim a place in the ,gospel narratives4 ,one is led to suspect that the care of ,jesus had prevailed1 and they had not been widely published4 ,to those who brought this message1 perhaps no such case had travelled1 certainly none had gained their credence4 ,it was in their eyes a thing incredible that ,he should raise the dead1 and indeed there is a wide difference between every other miracle and this4 ,we struggle against all else1 but when death comes we feel that all is over except to bury out of our sight what once was beautiful and dear4 ,death is destiny made visible2 it is the irrevocable4 ,who shall unsay the words of a bleeding heart1 ,i shall go to him but he shall not return to me8 ,but ,christ came to destroy him that had the power of death4 ,even now1 through ,him1 we are partakers of a more intense and deeper life1 and have not only the hope but the beginning of immortality4 ,and it was the natural seal upon ,his lofty mission1 that ,he should publicly raise up the dead4 ,for so great a task1 shall we say that ,jesus now gathers all ,his energies8 ,that would be woefully to misread the story2 for a grand simplicity1 the easy bearing of unstrained and amply adequate resources1 is common to all the narratives of life brought back4 ,we shall hereafter see good reason why ,jesus employed means for other miracles1 and even advanced by stages in the work4 ,but lest we should suppose that effort was necessary1 and ,his power but just sufficed to overcome the resistance1 none of these supreme miracles is wrought with the slightest effort4 ,prophets and apostles may need to stretch themselves upon the bed or to embrace the corpse2 ,jesus1 in ,his own noble phrase1 awakes it out of sleep4 ,a wonderful ease and quietness pervade the narratives1 expressing exactly the serene bearing of the ,lord of the dead and of the living4 ,there is no holding back1 no toying with the sorrow of the bereaved1 such as even ,euripides1 the tenderest of the ,greeks1 ascribed to the demigod who tore from the grip of death the heroic wife of ,admetus4 ,hercules plays with the husband's sorrow1 suggests the consolation of a new bridal1 and extorts the angry cry1 8,silence1 what have you said8 ,i would not have believed it of you40 ,but what is natural to a hero1 flushed with victory and the sense of patronage1 would have ill become the absolute self-possession and gentle grace of ,jesus4 ,in every case1 therefore1 ,he is full of encouragement and sympathy1 even before ,his work is wrought4 ,to the widow of ,nain ,he says1 8,weep not40 ,he tells the sister of ,lazarus1 8,if thou wilt believe1 thou shalt see the salvation of ,god40 ,and when these disastrous tidings shake all the faith of ,jairus1 ,jesus loses not a moment in reassuring ,him3 8,fear not1 only believe10 ,he says1 not heeding the word spoken2 that is to say1 ,himself unagitated and serene47#aj7 ,in every case some co-operation was expected from the bystanders4 ,the bearers of the widow's son halted1 expectant1 when this majestic and tender ,wayfarer touched the bier4 ,the friends of ,lazarus rolled away the stone from the sepulchre4 ,but the professional mourners in the house of ,jairus were callous and insensible1 and when ,he interrupted their clamorous wailing1 with the question1 ,why make ye tumult and weep8 they laughed ,him to scorn2 a fit expression of the world's purblind incredulity1 its reliance upon ordinary 8experience0 to disprove all possibilities of the extraordinary and ,divine1 and its heartless transition from conventional sorrow to ghastly laughter1 mocking in the presence of death--which is1 in its view1 so desperate--the last hope of humanity4 ,laughter is not the fitting mood in which to contradict the ,christian hope1 that our lost ones are not dead1 but sleep4 ,the new and strange hope for humanity which ,jesus thus asserted1 ,he went on to prove1 but not for them4 ,exerting that moral ascendency1 which sufficed ,him twice to cleanse the ,temple1 ,he put them all forth1 as already ,he had shut out the crowd1 and all ,his disciples but 8the elect of ,his election10 the three who now first obtain a special privilege4 ,the scene was one of surpassing solemnity and awe2 but not more so than that of ,nain1 or by the tomb of ,lazarus4 ,why then were not only the idly curious and the scornful1 but nine of ,his chosen ones excluded8 ,surely we may believe1 for the sake of the little girl1 whose tender grace of unconscious maidenhood should not1 in its hour of reawakened vitality1 be the centre of a gazing circle4 ,he kept with ,him the deeply reverential and the loving1 the ripest apostles and the parents of the child1 since love and reverence are ever the conditions of real insight4 ,and then1 first1 was exhibited the gentle and profound regard of ,christ for children4 ,he did not arouse her1 as others1 with a call only1 but took her by the hand1 while ,he spoke to her those ,aramaic words1 so marvellous in their effect1 which ,st4 ,peter did not fail to repeat to ,st4 ,mark as he had heard them1 ,talitha cumi2 ,damsel1 ,i say unto thee1 ,arise4 ,they have an added sweetness when we reflect that the former word1 though applied to a very young child1 is in its root a variation of the word for a little lamb4 ,how exquisite from the lips of the ,good ,shepherd1 ,who gave ,his life for the sheep4 ,how strange to be thus awakened from the mysterious sleep1 and to gaze with a child's fresh eyes into the loving eyes of ,jesus4 ,let us seek to realise such positions1 to comprehend the marvellous heart which they reveal to us1 and we shall derive more love and trust from the effort than from all such doctrinal inference and allegorizing as would dry up1 into a hortus siccus1 the sweetest blooms of the sweetest story ever told4 ,so shall we understand what happened next in all three cases4 ,something preternatural and therefore dreadful1 appeared to hang about the lives so wondrously restored4 ,the widow of ,nain did not dare to embrace her son until ,christ 8gave him to his mother40 ,the bystanders did not touch ,lazarus1 bound hand and foot1 until ,jesus bade them 8loose him and let him go40 ,and the five who stood about this child's bed1 amazed straightway with a great amazement1 had to be reminded that being now in perfect health1 after an illness which left her system wholly unsupplied1 something should be given her to eat4 ,this is the point at which ,euripides could find nothing fitter for ,hercules to utter than the awkward boast1 8,thou wilt some day say that the son of ,jove was a capital guest to entertain40 ,what a contrast4 ,for ,jesus was utterly unflushed1 undazzled1 apparently unconscious of anything to disturb ,his composure4 ,and so far was ,he from the unhappy modern notion1 that every act of grace must be proclaimed on the housetop1 and every recipient of grace however young1 however unmatured1 paraded and exhibited1 that ,he charged them much that no man should know this4 ,the story throughout is graphic and full of character2 every touch1 every word reveals the ,divine ,man2 and only reluctance to believe a miracle prevents it from proving itself to every candid mind4 ,whether it be accepted or rejected1 it is itself miraculous4 ,it could not have grown up in the soil which generated the early myths and legends1 by the working of the ordinary laws of mind4 ,it is beyond their power to invent or to dream1 supernatural in the strictest sense4 ,this miracle completes the cycle4 ,nature1 distracted by the ,fall1 has revolted against ,him in vain4 ,satan1 intrenched in his last stronghold1 has resisted1 and humbled himself to entreaties and to desperate contrivances1 in vain4 ,secret and unspoken woes1 and silent germs of belief1 have hidden from ,him in vain4 ,death itself has closed its bony fingers upon its prey1 in vain4 ,nothing can resist the power and love1 which are enlisted on behalf of all who put their trust in ,jesus4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,rejected ,in ,his ,own ,country4 8,and ,he went out from thence2 and ,he cometh into ,his own country2 and ,his disciples follow ,him40--,,mark vi4 #a-f 7,r4,v474 ,we have seen how ,st4 ,mark1 to bring out more vividly the connection between four mighty signs1 their ideal completeness as a whole1 and that mastery over nature and the spiritual world which they reveal1 grouped them resolutely together1 excluding even significant incidents which would break in upon their sequence4 ,bearing this in mind1 how profoundly instructive it is that our ,evangelist shows us this ,master over storm and demons1 over too-silent disease1 and over death1 too clamorously bewailed1 in the next place teaching ,his own countrymen in vain1 and an offence to them4 ,how startling to read1 at this juncture1 when legend would surely have thrown all men prostrate at his feet1 of ,his homely family and ,his trade1 and how ,he ,who rebuked the storm 8could there do no mighty work40 ,first of all1 it is touching to see ,jesus turning once more to 8,his own country10 just at this crisis4 ,they had rejected ,him in a frenzy of rage1 at the outset of ,his ministry4 ,and ,he had very lately repulsed the rude attempt of ,his immediate relatives to interrupt ,his mission4 ,but now ,his heart leads ,him thither1 once again to appeal to the companions of ,his youth1 with the halo of ,his recent and surpassing works upon ,his forehead4 ,he does not abruptly interrupt their vocations1 but waits as before for the ,sabbath1 and the hushed assembly in the sacred place4 ,and as ,he teaches in the synagogue1 they are conscious of ,his power4 ,whence could ,he have these things8 ,his wisdom was an equal wonder with ,his mighty works1 of the reality of which they could not doubt4 ,and what excuse then had they for listening to ,his wisdom in vain8 ,but they went on to ask1 ,is not this the carpenter8 the ,son of ,mary8 they knew ,his brothers1 and ,his sisters were living among them4 ,and they were offended in ,him1 naturally enough4 ,it is hard to believe in the supremacy of one1 whom circumstances marked as our equal1 and to admit the chieftainship of one who started side by side with us4 ,in ,palestine it was not disgraceful to be a tradesman1 but yet they could fairly claim equality with 8the carpenter40 ,and it is plain enough that they found no impressive or significant difference from their neighbours in the 8sisters0 of ,jesus1 nor even in her whom all generations call blessed4 ,why then should they abase themselves before the claims of ,jesus8 ,it is an instructive incident4 ,first of all1 it shows us the perfection of our ,lord's abasement4 ,he was not only a carpenter's son1 but what this passage only declares to us explicitly1 ,he wrought as an artizan1 and consecrated for ever a lowly trade1 by the toil of those holy limbs whose sufferings should redeem the world4 ,and we learn the abject folly of judging by mere worldly standards4 ,we are bound to give due honour and precedence to rank and station4 ,refusing to do this1 we virtually undertake to dissolve society1 and readjust it upon other principles1 or by instincts and intuitions of our own1 a grave task1 when it is realized4 ,but we are not to be dazzled1 much less to be misled1 by the advantages of station or of birth4 ,yet if1 as it would seem1 ,nazareth rejected ,christ because ,he was not a person of quality1 this is only the most extreme and ironical exhibition of what happens every day1 when a noble character1 self-denying1 self-controlled and wise1 fails to win the respect which is freely and gladly granted to vice and folly in a coronet4 ,and yet1 to one who reflected1 the very objection they put forward was an evidence of ,his mission4 ,his wisdom was confessed1 and ,his miracles were not denied2 were they less wonderful or more amazing1 more supernatural1 as the endowments of the carpenter whom they knew8 ,whence1 they asked1 had ,he derived ,his learning1 as if it were not more noble for being original4 ,are we sure that men do not still make the same mistake8 ,the perfect and lowly humanity of ,jesus is a stumbling block to some who will freely admit ,his ideal perfections1 and the matchless nobility of ,his moral teaching4 ,they will grant anything but the supernatural origin of ,him to ,whom they attribute qualities beyond parallel4 ,but whence had ,he those qualities8 ,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 world1 the most original1 profound1 and unique of all teachers1 ,him ,whose example is still mightier than ,his precepts1 and only not more perfect1 because these also are without a flaw1 ,him ,whom even unbelief would shrink from saluting by so cold a title as that of the most saintly of the saints4 ,to ask with a clear scrutiny1 whence the teaching of ,jesus came1 to realize the isolation from all centres of thought and movement1 of this ,hebrew1 this provincial among ,hebrews1 this villager in ,galilee1 this carpenter in a village1 and then to observe ,his mighty works in every quarter of the globe1 is enough to satisfy all candid minds that ,his earthly circumstances have something totally unlike themselves behind them4 ,and the more men give ear to materialism and to materialistic evolution without an evolving mind1 so much the more does the problem press upon them1 ,whence hath this man this wisdom8 and what mean these mighty works8 ,from our ,lord's own commentary upon their rejection we learn to beware of the vulgarising effects of familiarity4 ,they had seen ,his holy youth1 against which no slander was ever breathed4 ,and yet1 while ,his teaching astonished them1 ,he had no honour in his own house4 ,it is the same result which so often seems to follow from a lifelong familiarity with ,scripture and the means of grace4 ,we read1 almost mechanically1 what melts and amazes the pagan to whom it is a new word4 ,we forsake1 or submit to the dull routine of1 ordinances the most sacred1 the most searching1 the most invigorating and the most picturesque4 ,and yet we wonder that the men of ,nazareth could not discern the divinity of 8the carpenter10 whose family lived quiet and unassuming lives in their own village4 ,it is ,st4 ,mark1 the historian of the energies of ,christ1 who tells us that ,he 8could there do no mighty work10 with only sufficient exception to prove that neither physical power nor compassion was what failed ,him1 since 8,he laid ,his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them40 ,what then is conveyed by this bold phrase8 ,surely the fearful power of the human will to resist the will of man's compassionate ,redeemer4 ,he would have gathered ,jerusalem under ,his wing1 but she would not2 and the temporal results of her disobedience had to follow2 siege1 massacre and ruin4 ,god has no pleasure in the death of him who dieth1 yet death follows1 as the inevitable wages of sin4 ,therefore1 as surely as the miracles of ,jesus typified ,his gracious purposes for the souls of men1 ,who forgiveth all our iniquities1 ,who healeth all our diseases1 so surely the rejection and defeat of those loving purposes paralysed the arm stretched out to heal their sick4 ,does it seem as if the words 8,he could not10 even thus explained1 convey a certain affront1 throw a shadow upon the glory of our ,master8 ,and the words 8they mocked1 scourged1 crucified ,him10 do these convey no affront8 ,the suffering of ,jesus was not only physical3 ,his heart was wounded2 ,his overtures were rejected2 ,his hands were stretched out in vain2 ,his pity and love were crucified4 ,but now let this be considered1 that men who refuse ,his ,spirit continually presume upon ,his mercy1 and expect not to suffer the penalty of their evil deeds4 ,alas1 that is impossible4 ,where unbelief rejected ,his teaching1 ,he 8could not0 work the marvels of ,his grace4 ,how shall they escape who reject so great salvation8 ,the ,mission ,of ,the ,twelve4 8,and ,he called unto ,him the twelve1 and began to send them forth by two and two2 and ,he gave them authority over the unclean spirits2 and ,he charged them that they should take nothing for their journey1 save a staff only2 no bread1 no wallet1 no money in their purse2 but to go shod with sandals3 and1 said ,he1 put not on two coats4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,wheresoever ye enter into a house1 there abide till ye depart thence4 ,and whatsoever place shall not receive you1 and they hear you not1 as ye go forth thence1 shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony unto them4 ,and they went out1 and preached that men should repent4 ,and they cast out many devils1 and anointed with oil many that were sick1 and healed them40--,,mark vi4 #g-ac 7,r4,v474 ,repulsed a second time from the cradle of ,his youth1 even as lately from ,decapolis1 with what a heavy heart must the ,loving ,one have turned away4 ,yet we read of no abatement of ,his labours4 ,he did not1 like the fiery prophet1 wander into the desert and make request that ,he might die4 ,and it helps us to realise the elevation of our ,lord1 when we reflect how utterly the discouragement with which we sympathise in the great ,elijah would ruin our conception of ,jesus4 ,it was now that ,he set on foot new efforts1 and advanced in the training of ,his elect4 ,for ,himself1 ,he went about the villages1 whither slander and prejudice had not yet penetrated1 and was content to break new ground among the most untaught and sequestered of the people4 ,the humblest field of labour was not too lowly for the ,lord1 although we meet1 every day1 with men who are 8thrown away0 and 8buried0 in obscure fields of usefulness4 ,we have not yet learned to follow without a murmur the ,carpenter1 and the ,teacher in villages1 even though we are soothed in grief by thinking1 because we endure the inevitable1 that we are followers of the ,man of ,sorrows4 ,at the same moment when democracies and priesthoods are rejecting their ,lord1 a king had destroyed ,his forerunner4 ,on every account it was necessary to vary as well as multiply the means for the evangelisation of the country4 ,thus the movement would be accelerated1 and it would no longer present one solitary point of attack to its unscrupulous foes4 ,jesus therefore called to ,him the ,twelve1 and began to send them forth4 ,in so doing1 ,his directions revealed at once ,his wisdom and ,his fears for them4 ,not even for unfallen man was it good to be alone4 ,it was a bitter ingredient in the cup which ,christ ,himself drank1 that ,his followers should be scattered to their own and leave ,him alone4 ,and it was at the last extremity1 when he could no longer forbear1 that ,st4 ,paul thought it good to be at ,athens alone4 ,jesus therefore would not send ,his inexperienced heralds forth for the first time except by two and two1 that each might sustain the courage and wisdom of his comrade4 ,and ,his example was not forgotten4 ,peter and ,john together visited the converts in ,samaria4 ,and when ,paul and ,barnabas1 whose first journey was together1 could no longer agree1 each of them took a new comrade and departed4 ,perhaps our modern missionaries lose more in energy than is gained in area by neglecting so humane a precedent1 and forfeiting the special presence vouchsafed to the common worship of two or three4 ,st4 ,mark has not recorded the mission of the seventy evangelists1 but this narrative is clearly coloured by his knowledge of that event4 ,thus ,he does not mention the gift of miraculous power1 which was common to both1 but ,he does tell of the authority over unclean spirits1 which was explicitly given to the ,twelve1 and which the ,seventy1 returning with joy1 related that they also had successfully dared to claim4 ,in conferring such power upon ,his disciples1 ,jesus took the first step towards that marvellous identification of ,himself and ,his mastery over evil1 with all ,his followers1 that giving of ,his presence to their assemblies1 ,his honour to their keeping1 ,his victory to their experience1 and ,his lifeblood to their veins1 which makes ,him the second ,adam1 represented in all the newborn race1 and which finds its most vivid and blessed expression in the sacrament where ,his flesh is meat indeed and ,his blood is drink indeed4 ,now first ,he is seen to commit ,his powers and ,his honour into mortal hands4 ,in doing this1 ,he impressed on them the fact that they were not sent at first upon a toilsome and protracted journey4 ,their personal connection with ,him was not broken but suspended for a little while4 ,hereafter1 they would need to prepare for hardship1 and he that had two coats should take them4 ,it was not so now3 sandals would suffice their feet2 they should carry no wallet2 only a staff was needed for their brief excursion through a hospitable land4 ,but hospitality itself would have its dangers for them1 and when warmly received they might be tempted to be fted by various hosts1 enjoying the first enthusiastic welcome of each1 and refusing to share afterwards the homely domestic life which would succeed4 ,yet it was when they ceased to be strangers that their influence would really be strongest2 and so there was good reason1 both for the sake of the family they might win1 and for themselves who should not become self-indulgent1 why they should not go from house to house4 ,these directions were not meant to become universal rules1 and we have seen how ,jesus afterwards explicitly varied them4 ,but their spirit is an admonition to all who are tempted to forget their mission in personal advantages which it may offer4 ,thus commissioned and endowed1 they should feel as they went the greatness of the message they conveyed4 ,wherever they were rejected2 no false meekness should forbid their indignant protest1 and they should refuse to carry even the dust of that evil and doomed place upon their feet4 ,and they went forth and preached repentance1 casting out many devils1 and healing many that were sick4 ,in doing this1 they anointed them with oil1 as ,st4 ,james afterwards directed1 but as ,jesus never did4 ,he used no means1 or when faith needed to be helped by a visible application1 it was always the touch of ,his own hand or the moisture of ,his own lip4 ,the distinction is significant4 ,and also it must be remembered that oil was never used by disciples for the edification of the dying1 but for the recovery of the sick4 ,by this new agency the name of ,jesus was more than ever spread abroad1 until it reached the ears of a murderous tyrant1 and stirred in his bosom not the repentance which they preached1 but the horrors of ineffectual remorse4 ,herod4 8,and king ,herod heard thereof2 for ,his name had become known3 and he said1 ,john the ,baptist is risen from the dead1 and therefore do these powers work in him4 ,but others said1 ,it is ,elijah4 ,and others said1 ,it is a prophet1 even as one of the prophets4 ,but ,herod1 when he heard thereof1 said1 ,john1 whom ,i beheaded1 he is risen4 ,for ,herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon ,john1 and bound him in prison for the sake of ,herodias1 his brother ,philip's wife3 for he had married her4 ,for ,john said unto ,herod1 ,it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife4 ,and ,herodias set herself against him1 and desired to kill him2 and she could not2 for ,herod feared ,john1 knowing that he was a righteous man and a holy1 and kept him safe4 ,and when he heard him1 he was much perplexed2 and he heard him gladly4 ,and when a convenient day was come1 that ,herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords1 and the high captains1 and the chief men of ,galilee2 and when the daughter of ,herodias herself came in and danced1 she pleased ,herod and them that sat at meat with him2 and the king said unto the damsel1 ,ask of me whatsoever thou wilt1 and ,i will give it thee4 ,and he sware unto her1 ,whatsoever thou shalt ask of me1 ,i will give it thee1 unto the half of my kingdom4 ,and she went out1 and said unto her mother1 ,what shall ,i ask8 ,and she said1 ,the head of ,john the ,baptist4 ,and she came in straightway with haste unto the king1 and asked1 saying1 ,i will that thou forthwith give me in a charger the head of ,john the ,baptist4 ,and the king was exceeding sorry2 but for the sake of his oaths1 and of them that sat at meat1 he would not reject her4 ,and straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard1 and commanded to bring his head3 and he went and beheaded him in the prison1 and brought his head in a charger1 and gave it to the damsel2 and the damsel gave it to her mother4 ,and when his disciples heard thereof1 they came and took up his corpse1 and laid it in a tomb40--,,mark vi4 #ad-bi 7,r4,v474 ,the growing influence of ,jesus demanded the mission of the ,twelve1 and this in its turn increased ,his fame until it alarmed the tetrarch ,herod4 ,an ,iduman ruler of ,israel was forced to dread every religious movement1 for all the waves of ,hebrew fanaticism beat against the foreign throne4 ,and ,herod ,antipas was especially the creature of circumstances1 a weak and plastic man4 ,he is the ,ahab of the ,new ,testament1 and it is a curious coincidence that he should have to do with its ,elijah4 ,as ,ahab fasted when he heard his doom1 and postponed the evil by his submission1 so ,herod was impressed and agitated by the teaching of the ,baptist4 ,but ,ahab surrendered his soul to the imperious ,jezebel1 and ,herod was ruined by ,herodias4 ,each is the sport of strong influences from without1 and warns us that a man1 no more than a ship1 can hope by drifting to come safe to haven4 ,no contrast could be imagined more dramatic than between the sleek seducer of his brother's wife and the imperious reformer1 rude in garment and frugal of fare1 thundering against the generation of vipers who were the chiefs of his religion4 ,how were these two brought together8 ,did the ,baptist stride unsummoned into the court8 ,did his crafty foemen contrive his ruin by inciting the ,tetrarch to consult him8 ,or did that restless religious curiosity1 which afterwards desired to see ,jesus1 lead ,herod to consult his forerunner8 ,the abrupt words of ,john are not unlike an answer to some feeble question of casuistry1 some plea of extenuating circumstances such as all can urge in mitigation of their worst deeds4 ,he simply and boldly states the inflexible ordinance of ,god3 ,it is not lawful for thee to have her4 ,what follows may teach us much4 #a4 ,it warns us that good inclinations1 veneration for holiness in others1 and ineffectual struggles against our own vices1 do not guarantee salvation4 ,he who feels them is not ,god-forsaken1 since every such emotion is a grace4 ,but he must not infer that he never may be forsaken1 or that because he is not wholly indifferent or disobedient1 ,god will some day make him all that his better moods desire4 ,such a man should be warned by ,herod ,antipas4 ,ruggedly and abruptly rebuked1 his soul recognised and did homage to the truthfulness of his teacher4 ,admiration replaced the anger in which he cast him into prison4 ,as he stood between him and the relentless ,herodias1 and 8kept him safely10 he perhaps believed that the gloomy dungeon1 and the utter interruption of a great career1 were only for the ,baptist's preservation4 ,alas1 there was another cause4 ,he was 8much perplexed03 he dared not provoke his temptress by releasing the man of ,god4 ,and thus temporizing1 and daily weakening the voice of conscience by disobedience1 he was lost4 #b4 ,it is distinctly a bad omen that he 8heard him gladly10 since he had no claim to well-founded religious happiness4 ,our ,lord had already observed the shallowness of men who immediately with joy receive the word1 yet have no root4 ,but this guilty man1 disquieted by the reproaches of memory and the demands of conscience1 found it a relief to hear stern truth1 and to see from far the beauteous light of righteousness4 ,he would not reform his life1 but he would fain keep his sensibilities alive4 ,it was so that ,italian brigands used to maintain a priest4 ,and it is so that fraudulent ,british tradesmen too frequently pass for religious men4 ,people cry shame on their hypocrisy4 ,yet perhaps they less often wear a mask to deceive others than a cloke to keep their own hearts warm1 and should not be quoted to prove that religion is a deceit1 but as witnesses that even the most worldly soul craves as much of it as he can assimilate4 ,so it was with ,herod ,antipas4 #c4 ,but no man can serve two masters4 ,he who refuses the command of ,god to choose whom he will serve1 in calmness and meditation1 when the means of grace and the guidance of the ,spirit are with him1 shall hear some day the voice of the ,tempter1 derisive and triumphant1 amid evil companions1 when flushed with guilty excitements and with sensual desires1 and deeply committed by rash words and 8honour rooted in dishonour10 bidding him choose now1 and choose finally4 ,salome will tolerate neither weak hesitation nor half measures2 she must herself possess 8forthwith0 the head of her mother's foe1 which is worth more than half the kingdom1 since his influence might rob them of it all4 ,and the king was exceeding sorry1 but chose to be a murderer rather than be taken for a perjurer by the bad companions who sat with him4 ,what a picture of a craven soul1 enslaved even in the purple4 ,and of the meshes for his own feet which that man weaves1 who gathers around him such friends that their influence will surely mislead his lonely soul in its future struggles to be virtuous4 ,what a lurid light does this passage throw upon another and a worse scene1 when we meet ,herod again1 not without the tyrannous influence of his men of war4 #d4 ,we learn the mysterious interconnection of sin with sin4 ,vicious luxury and self-indulgence1 the plastic feebleness of character which half yields to ,john1 yet cannot break with ,herodias altogether1 these do not seem likely to end in murder4 ,they have scarcely strength enough1 we feel1 for a great crime4 ,alas1 they have feebleness enough for it1 for he who joins in the dance of the graces may give his hand to the furies unawares4 ,nothing formidable is to be seen in ,herod1 up to the fatal moment when revelry1 and the influence of his associates1 and the graceful dancing of a woman whose beauty was pitiless1 urged him irresistibly forward to bathe his shrinking hands in blood4 ,and from this time forward he is a lost man4 ,when a greater than ,john is reported to be working miracles1 he has a wild explanation for the new portent1 and his agitation is betrayed in his broken words1 8,john1 whom ,i beheaded1 he is risen40 8,for0 ,st4 ,mark adds with quiet but grave significance1 8,herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon ,john1 and bound him40 ,others might speak of a mere teacher1 but the conscience of ,herod will not suffer it to be so2 it is his victim2 he has learnt the secret of eternity2 8and therefore do these powers work in him40 ,yet ,herod was a ,sadducee4 #e4 ,these words are dramatic enough to prove themselves2 it would have tasked ,shakespere to invent them4 ,but they involve the ascription from the first of unearthly powers to ,jesus1 and they disprove1 what sceptics would fain persuade us1 that miracles were inevitably ascribed1 by the credulity of the age1 to all great teachers1 since ,john wrought none1 and the astonishing theory that he had graduated in another world1 was invented by ,herod to account for those of ,jesus4 ,how inevitable it was that such a man should set at nought our ,lord4 ,dread1 and moral repulsion1 and the suspicion that he himself was the mark against which all the powers of the avenger would be directed1 these would not produce a mood in which to comprehend ,one who did not strive nor cry4 ,to them it was a supreme relief to be able to despise ,christ4 ,elsewhere we can trace the gradual cessation of the alarm of ,herod4 ,at first he dreads the presence of the new ,teacher1 and yet dares not assail ,him openly4 ,and so1 when ,jesus was advised to go thence or ,herod would kill ,him1 ,he at once knew who had instigated the crafty monition1 and sent back his defiance to that fox4 ,but even fear quickly dies in a callous heart1 and only curiosity survives4 ,herod is soon glad to see ,jesus1 and hopes that ,he may work a miracle4 ,for religious curiosity and the love of spiritual excitement often survive grace1 just as the love of stimulants survives the healthy appetite for bread4 ,but our ,lord1 ,who explained so much for ,pilate1 spoke not a word to him4 ,and the wretch1 whom once the forerunner had all but won1 now set the ,christ ,himself at nought1 and mocked ,him1 ,so yet does the ,god of this world blind the eyes of the unbelieving4 ,so great are still the dangers of hesitation1 since not to be for ,christ is to be against ,him4 #f4 ,but the blood of the martyr was not shed before his work was done4 ,as the falling blossom admits the sunshine to the fruit1 so the herald died when his influence might have clashed with the growing influence of his ,lord1 ,whom the ,twelve were at last trained to proclaim far and wide4 ,at a stroke1 his best followers were naturally transferred to ,jesus1 ,whose way he had prepared4 ,rightly1 therefore1 has ,st4 ,mark placed the narrative at this juncture1 and very significantly does ,st4 ,matthew relate that his disciples1 when they had buried him1 8came and told ,jesus40 ,upon the path of our ,lord ,himself this violent death fell as a heavy shadow4 ,nor was ,he unconscious of its menace1 for after the transfiguration ,he distinctly connected with a prediction of ,his own death1 the fact that they had done to ,elias also whatsoever they listed4 ,such connections of thought help us to realise the truth1 that not once only1 but throughout ,his ministry1 ,he ,who bids us bear our cross while we follow ,him1 was consciously bearing ,his own4 ,we must not limit to 8three days0 the sorrows which redeemed the world4 ,bread ,in ,the ,desert4 8,and the apostles gather themselves together unto ,jesus2 and they told ,him all things1 whatsoever they had done1 and whatsoever they had taught4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,come ye yourselves apart into a desert place1 and rest awhile4 ,for there were many coming and going1 and they had no leisure so much as to eat4 ,and they went away in the boat to a desert place apart4 ,and the people saw them going1 and many knew them1 and they ran there together on foot from all the cities1 and outwent them4 ,and ,he came forth and saw a great multitude1 and ,he had compassion on them1 because they were as sheep not having a shepherd3 and ,he began to teach them many things4 ,and when the day was now far spent1 ,his disciples came onto ,him1 and said1 ,the place is desert1 and the day is now far spent3 send them away1 that they may go into the country and villages round about1 and buy themselves somewhat to eat4 ,but ,he answered and said unto them1 ,give ye them to eat4 ,and they say unto ,him1 ,shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread1 and give them to eat8 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,how many loaves have ye8 go and see4 ,and when they knew1 they say1 ,five1 and two fishes4 ,and ,he commanded them that all should sit down by companies upon the green grass4 ,and they sat down in ranks1 by hundreds1 and by fifties4 ,and ,he took the five loaves and the two fishes1 and looking up to heaven1 ,he blessed1 and brake the loaves2 and ,he gave to the disciples to set before them2 and the two fishes divided ,he among them all4 ,and they did all eat1 and were filled4 ,and they took up broken pieces1 twelve basketfuls1 and also of the fishes4 ,and they that ate the loaves were five thousand men4 ,and straightway ,he constrained ,his disciples to enter into the boat1 and to go before ,him unto the other side to ,bethsaida1 while ,he ,himself sendeth the multitude away4 ,and after ,he had taken leave of them ,he departed into the mountain to pray40--,,mark vi4 #cj-df 7,r4,v474 ,the ,apostles1 now first called by that name1 because now first these 8,messengers0 had carried the message of their ,lord1 returned and told ,him all1 the miracles they had performed1 and whatever they had taught4 ,from the latter clause it is plain that to preach 8that men should repent10 involved arguments1 motives1 promises1 and perhaps threatenings which rendered it no meagre announcement4 ,it is in truth a demand which involves free will and responsibility as its basis1 and has hell or heaven for the result of disobedience or compliance4 ,into what controversies may it have led these first preachers of ,jesus6 ,all was now submitted to the judgment of their ,master4 ,and happy are they still who do not shrink from the healing pain of bringing all their actions and words to ,him1 and hearkening what the ,lord will speak4 ,upon the whole1 they brought a record of success1 and around ,him also were so many coming and going that they had no leisure so much as to eat4 ,whereupon ,jesus draws them aside to rest awhile4 ,for the balance must never be forgotten between the outer and the inner life4 ,the ,lord ,himself spent the following night in prayer1 until ,he saw the distress of ,his disciples1 and came to them upon the waves4 ,and the time was at hand when they1 who now rejoiced that the devils were subject unto them1 should learn by sore humiliation and defeat that this kind goeth not forth except by prayer4 ,we may be certain that it was not bodily repose alone that ,jesus desired for his flushed and excited ambassadors1 in the hour of their success4 ,and yet bodily repose also at such a time is healing1 and in the very pause1 the silence1 the cessation of the rush1 pressure1 and excitement of every conspicuous career1 there is an opportunity and even a suggestion of calm and humble recollection of the soul4 ,accordingly they crossed in the boat to some quiet spot1 open and unreclaimed1 but very far from such dreariness as the mention of a desert suggests to us4 ,but the people saw ,him1 and watched ,his course1 while outrunning him along the coast1 and their numbers were augmented from every town as they poured through it1 until ,he came forth and saw a great multitude1 and knew that ,his quest of solitude was baffled4 ,few things are more trying than the world's remorseless intrusion upon one's privacy1 and subversions of plans which one has laid1 not for himself alone4 ,but ,jesus was as thoughtful for the multitude as ,he had just shown ,himself to be for ,his disciples4 ,not to petulance but to compassion did their urgency excite ,him2 for as they streamed across the wilderness1 far from believing upon ,him1 but yet conscious of sore need1 unsatisfied with the doctrine of their professional teachers1 and just bereaved of the ,baptist1 they seemed in the desert like sheep that had no shepherd4 ,and ,he patiently taught them many things4 ,nor was ,he careful only for their souls4 ,we have now reached that remarkable miracle which alone is related by all the four ,evangelists4 ,and the narratives1 while each has its individual and peculiar points1 corroborate each other very strikingly4 ,all four mention the same kind of basket1 quite different from what appears in the feeding of the four thousand4 ,st4 ,john alone tells us that it was the season of the ,passover1 the middle of the ,galilean spring-time2 but yet this agrees exactly with ,st4 ,mark's allusion to the 8green grass0 which summer has not yet dried up4 ,all four have recorded that ,jesus 8blessed0 or 8gave thanks10 and three of them that ,he looked up to heaven while doing so4 ,what was there so remarkable1 so intense or pathetic in ,his expression1 that it should have won this three-fold celebration8 ,if we remember the symbolical meaning of what ,he did1 and that as ,his hands were laid upon the bread which ,he would break1 so ,his own body should soon be broken for the relief of the hunger of the world1 how can we doubt that absolute self-devotion1 infinite love1 and pathetic resignation were in that wonderful look1 which never could be forgotten8 ,there could have been but few women and children among the multitudes who 8outran ,jesus10 and these few would certainly have been trodden down if a rush of strong and hungry men for bread had taken place4 ,therefore ,st4 ,john mentions that while ,jesus bade 8the people0 to be seated1 it was the men who were actually arranged 7vi4 #aj ,r4,v474 ,groups of fifty were easy to keep in order1 and a hundred of these were easily counted4 ,and thus it comes to pass that we know that there were five thousand men1 while the women and children remained unreckoned1 as ,st4 ,matthew asserts1 and ,st4 ,mark implies4 ,this is a kind of harmony which we do not find in two versions of any legend4 ,nor could any legendary impulse have imagined the remarkable injunction1 which impressed all four ,evangelists1 to be frugal when it would seem that the utmost lavishness was pardonable4 ,they were not indeed bidden to gather up fragments left behind upon the ground1 for thrift is not meanness2 but the 8broken pieces0 which our ,lord had provided over and above should not be lost4 8,this union of economy with creative power10 said ,olshausen1 8could never have been invented1 and yet ,nature1 that mirror of the ,divine perfections1 exhibits the same combination of boundless munificence with truest frugality40 ,and ,godet adds the excellent remark1 that 8a gift so obtained was not to be squandered40 ,there is one apparent discord to set against these remarkable harmonies1 and it will at least serve to show that they are not calculated and artificial4 ,st4 ,john represents ,jesus as the first to ask ,philip1 ,whence are we to buy bread8 whereas the others represent the ,twelve as urging upon ,him the need to dismiss the multitude1 at so late an hour1 from a place so ill provided4 ,the inconsistency is only an apparent one4 ,it was early in the day1 and upon 8seeing a great company come unto ,him10 that ,jesus questioned ,philip1 who might have remembered an ,old ,testament precedent1 when ,elisha said 8,give unto the people that they may eat4 ,and his servitor said1 ,what8 shall ,i set this before an hundred men8 ,he said1 again1 they shall both eat and shall also leave thereof40 ,but the faith of ,philip did not respond1 and if any hope of a miracle were excited1 it faded as time passed over4 ,hours later1 when the day was far spent1 the ,twelve1 now perhaps excited by ,philip's misgiving1 and repeating his calculation about the two hundred pence1 urge ,jesus to dismiss the multitude4 ,they took no action until 8the time was already past10 but ,jesus saw the end from the beginning4 ,and surely the issue taught them not to distrust their ,master's power4 ,now the same power is for ever with the ,church2 and our heavenly ,father knoweth that we have need of food and raiment4 ,even in the working of a miracle1 the scantiest means vouchsafed by ,providence are not despised4 ,jesus takes the barley-loaves and the fishes1 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 toil4 ,and to show how really these materials were employed1 the broken pieces which they gathered are expressly said to have been composed of the barley-loaves and of the fish4 ,indeed it must be remarked that in no miracle of the ,gospel did ,jesus actually create4 ,he makes no new members of the body1 but restores old useless ones4 8,and so1 without a substratum to work upon ,he creates neither bread nor wine40 ,to do this would not have been a whit more difficult1 but it would have expressed less aptly ,his mission1 which was not to create a new system of things1 but to renew the old1 to recover the lost sheep1 and to heal the sick at heart4 ,every circumstance of this miracle is precious4 ,that vigilant care for the weak which made the people sit down in groups1 and await their turn to be supplied1 is a fine example of the practical eye for details which was never1 before or since1 so perfectly united with profound thought1 insight into the mind of ,god and the wants of the human race4 ,the words1 ,give ye them to eat1 may serve as an eternal rebuke to the helplessness of the ,church1 face to face with a starving world1 and regarding her own scanty resources with dismay4 ,in the presence of heathenism1 of dissolute cities1 and of semi-pagan peasantries1 she is ever looking wistfully to some costly far-off supply4 ,and her ,master is ever bidding her believe that the few loaves and fishes in her hand1 if blessed and distributed by ,him1 will satisfy the famine of mankind4 ,for in truth ,he is ,himself this bread4 ,all that the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john explains1 underlies the narratives of the four4 ,and shame on us1 with ,christ given to us to feed and strengthen us1 if we think our resources scanty1 if we grudge to share them with mankind1 if we let our thoughts wander away to the various palliatives for human misery and salves for human anguish1 which from time to time gain the credence of an hour2 if we send the hungry to the country and villages round about1 when ,christ the dispenser of the ,bread of souls1 for ever present in ,his ,church1 is saying1 ,they need not depart1 give ye them to eat4 ,the sceptical explanations of this narrative are exquisitely ludicrous4 ,one tells us how1 finding themselves in a desert1 8thanks to their extreme frugality they were able to exist1 and this was naturally0 7what1 naturally87 8regarded as a miracle40 ,this is called the legendary explanation1 and every one can judge for himself how much it succeeds in explaining to him4 ,another tells us that ,jesus being greater than ,moses1 it was felt that ,he must have outstripped him in miraculous power4 ,and so the belief grew up that as ,moses fed a nation during forty years1 with angels' food1 ,he1 to exceed this1 must have bestowed upon five thousand men one meal of barley bread4 ,this is called the mythical explanation1 and the credulity which accepts it must not despise ,christians1 who only believe their ,bibles4 ,jesus had called away ,his followers to rest4 ,the multitude which beheld this miracle was full of passionate hate against the tyrant1 upon whose hands the blood of the ,baptist was still warm4 ,all they wanted was a leader4 ,and now they would fain have taken ,jesus by force to thrust this perilous honour upon ,him4 ,therefore ,he sent away ,his disciples first1 that ambition and hope might not agitate and secularise their minds2 and when ,he had dismissed the multitude ,he ,himself ascended the neighbouring mountain1 to cool ,his frame with the pure breezes1 and to refresh ,his ,holy ,spirit by communion with ,his ,father4 ,prayer was natural to ,jesus2 but think how much more needful is it to us4 ,and yet perhaps we have never taken one hour from sleep for ,god4 ,jesus ,walking ,on ,the ,water4 ,,mark vi4 #dg-eb 7,r4,v474 7,see iv4 #cf1 pp4 #acc-adj47 ,unwashen ,hands4 8,and when they had crossed over1 they came to the land unto ,gennesaret1 and moored to the shore4444 ,making void the word of ,god by your tradition1 which ye have delivered3 and many such like things ye do40--,,mark vi4 #ec-vii4 #ac 7,r4,v474 ,there is a condition of mind which readily accepts the temporal blessings of religion1 and yet neglects1 and perhaps despises1 the spiritual truths which they ratify and seal4 ,when ,jesus landed on ,gennesaret1 ,he was straightway known1 and as ,he passed through the district1 there was hasty bearing of all the sick to meet ,him1 laying them in public places1 and beseeching ,him that they might touch1 if no more1 the border of ,his garment4 ,by the faith which believed in so easy a cure1 a timid woman had recently won signal commendation4 ,but the very fact that her cure had become public1 while it accounts for the action of these crowds1 deprives it of any special merit4 ,we only read that as many as touched ,him were made whole4 ,and we know that just now ,he was forsaken by many even of ,his disciples1 and had to ask ,his very apostles1 ,will ye also go away8 ,thus we find these two conflicting movements3 among the sick and their friends a profound persuasion that ,he can heal them2 and among those whom ,he would fain teach1 resentment and revolt against ,his doctrine4 ,the combination is strange1 but we dare not call it unfamiliar4 ,we see the opposing tendencies even in the same man1 for sorrow and pain drive to ,his knees many a one who will not take upon ,his neck the easy yoke4 ,yet how absurd it is to believe in ,christ's goodness and ,his power1 and still to dare to sin against ,him1 still to reject the inevitable inference that ,his teaching must bring bliss4 ,men ought to ask themselves what is involved when they pray to ,christ and yet refuse to serve ,him4 ,as ,jesus moved thus around the district1 and responded so amply to their supplication that ,his very raiment was charged with health as if with electricity1 which leaps out at a touch1 what an effect ,he must have produced1 even upon the ceremonial purity of the district4 ,sickness meant defilement1 not for the sufferer alone1 but for his friends1 his nurse1 and the bearers of his little pallet4 ,by the recovery of one sick man1 a fountain of ,levitical pollution was dried up4 ,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 garden1 to restore its freshness and bloom4 ,it was therefore an act of portentous waywardness when1 at this juncture1 a complaint was made of ,his indifference to ceremonial cleanness4 ,for of course a charge against ,his disciples was really a complaint against the influence which guided them so ill4 ,it was not a disinterested complaint4 ,jerusalem was alarmed at the new movement resulting from the mission of the ,twelve1 their miracles1 and the mighty works which ,he ,himself had lately wrought4 ,and a deputation of ,pharisees and scribes came from this centre of ecclesiastical prejudice1 to bring ,him to account4 ,they do not assail ,his doctrine1 nor charge ,him with violating the law itself1 for ,he had put to shame their querulous complaints about the sabbath day4 ,but tradition was altogether upon their side3 it was a weapon ready sharpened for their use against one so free1 unconventional and fearless4 ,the law had imposed certain restrictions upon the chosen race1 restrictions which were admirably sanitary in their nature1 while aiming also at preserving the isolation of ,israel from the corrupt and foul nations which lay around4 ,all such restrictions were now about to pass away1 because religion was to become aggressive1 it was henceforth to invade the nations from whose inroads it had heretofore sought a convert4 ,but the ,pharisees had not been content even with the severe restrictions of the law4 ,they had not regarded these as a fence for themselves against spiritual impurity1 but as an elaborate and artificial substitute for love and trust4 ,and therefore1 as love and spiritual religion faded out of their hearts1 they were the more jealous and sensitive about the letter of the law4 ,they 8fenced0 it with elaborate rules1 and precautions against accidental transgressions1 superstitiously dreading an involuntary infraction of its minutest details4 ,certain substances were unclean food4 ,but who could tell whether some atom of such substance1 blown about in the dust of summer1 might adhere to the hand with which he ate1 or to the cups and pots whence his food was drawn8 ,moreover1 the ,gentile nations were unclean1 and it was not possible to avoid all contact with them in the market-places1 returning whence1 therefore1 every devout ,jew was careful to wash himself1 which washing1 though certainly not an immersion1 is here plainly called a baptism4 ,thus an elaborate system of ceremonial washing1 not for cleansing1 but as a religious precaution1 had grown up among the ,jews4 ,but the disciples of ,jesus had begun to learn their emancipation4 ,deeper and more spiritual conceptions of ,god and man and duty had grown up in them4 ,and the ,pharisees saw that they ate their bread with unwashen hands4 ,it availed nothing that half a population owed purity and health to their ,divine benevolence1 if in the process the letter of a tradition were infringed4 ,it was necessary to expostulate with ,jesus1 because they walked not according to the tradition of the elders1 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 time4 ,with such attempts to restrict and cramp the free life of the soul1 ,jesus could have no sympathy4 ,he knew well that an exaggerated trust in any form1 any routine or ritual whatever1 was due to the need of some stay and support for hearts which have ceased to trust in a ,father of souls4 ,but ,he chose to leave them without excuse by showing their transgression of actual precepts which real reverence for ,god would have respected4 ,like books of etiquette for people who have not the instincts of gentlemen2 so do ceremonial religions spring up where the instinct of respect for the will of ,god is dull or dead4 ,accordingly ,jesus quotes against these ,pharisees a distinct precept1 a word not of their fathers1 but of ,god1 which their tradition had caused them to trample upon4 ,if any genuine reverence for ,his commandment had survived1 it would have been outraged by such a collision between the text and the gloss1 the precept and the precautionary supplement4 ,but they had never felt the incongruity1 never been jealous enough for the commandment of ,god to revolt against the encroaching tradition which insulted it4 ,the case which ,jesus gave1 only as one of 8many such like things10 was an abuse of the system of vows1 and of dedicated property4 ,it would seem that from the custom of 8devoting0 a man's property1 and thus putting it beyond his further control1 had grown up the abuse of consecrating it with such limitations1 that it should still be available for the owner1 but out of his power to give to others4 ,and thus1 by a spell as abject as the taboo of the ,south ,sea islanders1 a man glorified ,god by refusing help to his father and mother1 without being at all the poorer for the so-called consecration of his means4 ,and even if he awoke up to the shameful nature of his deed1 it was too late1 for 8ye no longer suffer him to do ought for his father of his mother40 ,and yet ,moses had made it a capital offence to 8speak evil of father or mother40 ,did they then allow such slanders8 ,not at all1 and so they would have refused to confess any aptness in the quotation4 ,but ,jesus was not thinking of the letter of a precept1 but of the spirit and tendency of a religion1 to which they were blind4 ,with what scorn ,he regarded their miserable subterfuges1 is seen by ,his vigorous word1 8full well do ye make void the commandment of ,god that ye may keep your traditions40 ,now the root of all this evil was unreality4 ,it was not merely because their heart was far from ,god that they invented hollow formalisms2 indifference leads to neglect1 not to a perverted and fastidious earnestness4 ,but while their hearts were earthly1 they had learned to honour ,god with their lips4 ,the judgments which had sent their fathers into exile1 the pride of their unique position among the nations1 and the self-interest of privileged classes1 all forbade them to neglect the worship in which they had no joy1 and which1 therefore1 they were unable to follow as it reached out into infinity1 panting after ,god1 a living ,god4 ,there was no principle of life1 growth1 aspiration1 in their dull obedience4 ,and what could it turn into but a routine1 a ritual1 a verbal homage1 and the honour of the lips only8 ,and how could such a worship fail to shelter itself in evasions from the heart-searching earnestness of a law which was spiritual1 while the worshipper was carnal and sold under sin8 ,it was inevitable that collisions should arise4 ,and the same results will always follow the same causes4 ,wherever men bow the knee for the sake of respectability1 or because they dare not absent themselves from the outward haunts of piety1 yet fail to love ,god and their neighbour1 there will the form outrage the spirit1 and in vain will they worship1 teaching as their doctrines the traditions of men4 ,very completely indeed was the relative position of ,jesus and ,his critics reversed1 since they had expressed pain at the fruitless effort of ,his mother to speak with ,him1 and ,he had seemed to set the meanest disciple upon a level with her4 ,but ,he never really denied the voice of nature1 and they never really heard it4 ,an affectation of respect would have satisfied their heartless formality3 ,he thought it the highest reward of discipleship to share the warmth of ,his love4 ,and therefore1 in due time1 it was seen that ,his critics were all unconscious of the wickedness of filial neglect which set ,his heart on fire4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,things ,which ,defile4 8,and ,he called to ,him the multitude again1 and said unto them1 ,hear ,me all of you1 and understand3 there is nothing from without the man1 that going into him can defile him3 but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man4 ,and when ,he was entered into the house from the multitude1 ,his disciples asked of ,him the parable4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,are ye so without understanding also8 ,perceive ye not1 that whatsoever from without goeth into the man1 it cannot defile him2 because it goeth not into his heart1 but into his belly1 and goeth out into the draught8 ,this ,he said1 making all meats clean4 ,and ,he said1 ,that which proceeded out of the man1 that defileth the man4 ,for from within1 out of the heart of men1 evil thoughts proceed1 fornications1 thefts1 murders1 adulteries1 covetings1 wickednesses1 deceit1 lasciviousness1 an evil eye1 railing1 pride1 foolishness3 all these evil things proceed from within1 and defile the man40--,,mark vii4 #ad-bc 7,r4,v474 ,when ,jesus had exposed the hypocrisy of the ,pharisees1 ,he took a bold and significant step4 ,calling the multitude to ,him1 ,he publicly announced that no diet can really pollute the soul2 only its own actions and desires can do that3 not that which entereth into the man can defile him1 but the things which proceed out of the man4 ,he does not as yet proclaim the abolition of the law1 but ,he surely declares that it is only temporary1 because it is conventional1 not rooted in the eternal distinctions between right and wrong1 but artificial4 ,and ,he shows that its time is short indeed1 by charging the multitude to understand how limited is its reach1 how poor are its effects4 ,such teaching1 addressed with marked emphasis to the public1 the masses1 whom the ,pharisees despised as ignorant of the law1 and cursed1 was a defiance indeed4 ,and the natural consequence was an opposition so fierce that ,he was driven to betake ,himself1 for the only time1 and like ,elijah in his extremity1 to a ,gentile land4 ,and yet there was abundant evidence in the ,old ,testament itself that the precepts of the law were not the life of souls4 ,david ate the shewbread4 ,the priests profaned the sabbath4 ,isaiah spiritualized fasting4 ,zechariah foretold the consecration of the ,philistines4 ,whenever the spiritual energies of the ancient saints received a fresh access1 they were seen to strive against and shake off some of the trammels of a literal and servile legalism4 ,the doctrine of ,jesus explained and justified what already was felt by the foremost spirits in ,israel4 ,when they were alone1 8the disciples asked of ,him the parable10 that is1 in other words1 the saying which they felt to be deeper than they understood1 and full of far-reaching issues4 ,but ,jesus rebuked them for not understanding what uncleanness really meant4 ,for ,him1 defilement was badness1 a condition of the soul4 ,and therefore meats could not defile a man1 because they did not reach the heart1 but only the bodily organs4 ,in so doing1 as ,st4 ,mark plainly adds1 ,he made all meats clean1 and thus pronounced the doom of ,judaism1 and the new dispensation of the ,spirit4 ,in truth1 ,st4 ,paul did little more than expand this memorable saying4 8,nothing that goeth into a man can defile him10 here is the germ of all the decision about idol meats--8neither if #8one' eat is he the better1 neither if he eat not is he the worse40 8,the things which proceed out of the man are those which defile the man10 here is the germ of all the demonstration that love fulfils the law2 and that our true need is to be renewed inwardly1 so that we may bring forth fruit unto ,god4 ,but the true pollution of the man comes from within2 and the life is stained because the heart is impure4 ,for from within1 out of the heart of men1 evil thoughts proceed1 like the uncharitable and bitter judgments of ,his accusers--and thence come also the sensual indulgences which men ascribe to the flesh1 but which depraved imaginations excite1 and love of ,god and their neighbour would restrain--and thence are the sins of violence which men excuse by pleading sudden provocation1 whereas the spark led to a conflagration only because the heart was a dry fuel--and thence1 plainly enough1 come deceit and railing1 pride and folly4 ,it is a hard saying1 but our conscience acknowledges the truth of it4 ,we are not the toy of circumstances1 but such as we have made ourselves2 and our lives would have been pure if the stream had flowed from a pure fountain4 ,however modern sentiment may rejoice in highly coloured pictures of the noble profligate and his pure minded and elegant victim2 of the brigand or the border ruffian full of kindness1 with a heart as gentle as his hands are red2 and however true we may feel it to be that the worst heart may never have betrayed itself by the worst actions1 but many that are first shall be last1 it still continues to be the fact1 and undeniable when we do not sophisticate our judgment1 that 8all these evil things proceed from within40 ,it is also true that they 8further defile the man40 ,the corruption which already existed in the heart is made worse by passing into action2 shame and fear are weakened2 the will is confirmed in evil2 a gap is opened or widened between the man who commits a new sin1 and the virtue on which he has turned his back4 ,few1 alas6 are ignorant of the defiling power of a bad action1 or even of a sinful thought deliberately harboured1 and the harbouring of which is really an action1 a decision of the will4 ,this word which makes all meats clean1 ought for ever to decide the question whether certain drinks are in the abstract unlawful for a ,christian4 ,we must remember that it leaves untouched the question1 what restrictions may be necessary for men who have depraved and debased their own appetites1 until innocent indulgence does reach the heart and pervert it4 ,hand and foot are innocent1 but men there are who cannot enter into life otherwise than halt or maimed4 ,also it leaves untouched the question1 as long as such men exist1 how far may ,i be privileged to share and so to lighten the burden imposed on them by past transgressions8 ,it is surely a noble sign of religious life in our day1 that many thousands can say1 as the ,apostle said1 of innocent joys1 8,have we not a right8 444 ,nevertheless we did not use this right1 but we bear all things1 that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of ,christ40 ,nevertheless the rule is absolute3 8,whatsoever from without goeth into the man1 it cannot defile him40 ,and the ,church of ,christ is bound to maintain1 uncompromised and absolute1 the liberty of ,christian souls4 ,let us not fail to contrast such teaching as this of ,jesus with that of our modern materialism4 8,the value of meat and drink is perfectly transcendental10 says one4 8,man is what he eats10 says another4 ,but it is enough to make us tremble1 to ask what will issue from such teaching if it ever grasps firmly the mind of a single generation4 ,what will become of honesty1 when the value of what may be had by theft is transcendental8 ,how shall armies be persuaded to suffer hardness1 and populations to famish within beleaguered walls1 when they learn that 8man is what he eats10 so that his very essence is visibly enfeebled1 his personality starved out1 as he grows pale and wasted underneath his country's flag8 ,in vain shall such a generation strive to keep alive the flame of generous self-devotion4 ,self-devotion seemed to their fathers to be the noblest attainment2 to them it can be only a worn-out form of speech to say that the soul can overcome the flesh4 ,for to them the man is the flesh2 he is the resultant of his nourishment2 what enters into the mouth makes his character1 for it makes him all4 ,there is that within us all which knows better2 which sets against the aphorism1 8,man is what he eats20 the text 8,as a man thinketh in his heart so is he20 which will always spurn the doctrine of the brute1 when it is boldly confronted with the doctrine of the ,crucified4 ,the ,children ,and ,the ,dogs4 8,and from thence ,he arose1 and went away into the borders of ,tyre and ,sidon4 ,and ,he entered into a house1 and would have no man know it3 and ,he could not be hid4 ,but straightway a woman1 whose little daughter had an unclean spirit1 having heard of ,him1 came and fell down at ,his feet4 ,now the woman was a ,greek1 a ,syrophnician by race4 ,and she besought ,him that ,he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter4 ,and ,he said unto her1 ,let the children first be filled3 for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs4 ,but she answered and saith unto ,him1 ,yea1 ,lord3 even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs4 ,and ,he said unto her1 ,for this saying go thy way2 the devil is gone out of thy daughter4 ,and she went away unto her house1 and found the child laid upon the bed1 and the devil gone out40--,,mark vii4 #bd-cj 7,r4,v474 ,the ingratitude and perverseness of ,his countrymen have now driven ,jesus into retirement 8on the borders0 of heathenism4 ,it it is not clear that ,he has yet crossed the frontier1 and some presumption to the contrary is found in the statement that a woman1 drawn by a fame which had long since gone throughout all ,syria1 8came out of those borders0 to reach ,him4 ,she was not only 8a ,greek0 7by language or by creed as conjecture may decide1 though very probably the word means little more than a ,gentile71 but even of the especially accursed race of ,canaan1 the reprobate of reprobates4 ,and yet the prophet ,zechariah had foreseen a time when the ,philistine also should be a remnant for our ,god1 and as a chieftain in ,judah1 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 ,david1 for ,ekron should be as a ,jebusite 7ix4 #g74 ,but the hour for breaking down the middle wall of partition was not yet fully come4 ,nor did any friend plead for this unhappy woman1 that she loved the nation and had built a synagogue2 nothing as yet lifted her above the dead level of that paganism to which ,christ1 in the days of ,his flesh and upon earth1 had no commission4 ,even the great champion and apostle of the ,gentiles confessed that his ,lord was a minister of the circumcision by the grace of ,god1 and it was by ,his ministry to the ,jews that the ,gentiles were ultimately to be won4 ,we need not be surprised therefore at ,his silence when she pleaded1 for this might well be calculated to elicit some expression of faith1 something to separate her from her fellows1 and so enable ,him to bless her without breaking down prematurely all distinctions4 ,also it must be considered that nothing could more offend ,his countrymen than to grant her prayer1 while as yet it was impossible to hope for any compensating harvest among her fellows1 such as had been reaped in ,samaria4 ,what is surprising is the apparent harshness of expression which follows that silence1 when even ,his disciples are induced to intercede for her4 ,but theirs was only the softness which yields to clamour1 as many people give alms1 not to silent worth but to loud and pertinacious importunity4 ,and they even presumed to throw their own discomfort into the scale1 and urge as a reason for this intercession1 that she crieth after us4 ,but ,jesus was occupied with ,his mission1 and unwilling to go farther than ,he was sent4 ,in her agony she pressed nearer still to ,him when ,he refused1 and worshipped ,him1 no longer as the ,son of ,david1 since what was ,hebrew in ,his commission made against her2 but simply appealed to ,his compassion1 calling ,him ,lord4 ,the absence of these details from ,st4 ,mark's narrative is interesting1 and shows the mistake of thinking that his ,gospel is simply the most graphic and the fullest4 ,it is such when our ,lord ,himself is in action2 its information is derived from one who pondered and told all things1 not as they were pictorial in themselves1 but as they illustrated the one great figure of the ,son of man4 ,and so the answer of ,jesus is fully given1 although it does not appear as if grace were poured into ,his lips4 8,let the children first be filled1 for it is not meet to take the children's bread1 and to cast it to the dogs40 ,it might seem that sterner words could scarcely have been spoken1 and that ,his kindness was only for the ,jews1 who even in their ingratitude were to the best of the ,gentiles as children compared with dogs4 ,yet she does not contradict ,him4 ,neither does she argue back1--for the words 8,truth1 ,lord1 but 4440 have rightly disappeared from the ,revised ,version1 and with them a certain contentious aspect which they give to her reply4 ,on the contrary she assents1 she accepts all the seeming severity of ,his view1 because her penetrating faith has detected its kindly undertone1 and the triple opportunity which it offers to a quick and confiding intelligence4 ,it is indeed touching to reflect how impregnable was ,jesus in controversy with the keenest intellects of ,judaism1 with how sharp a weapon ,he rent their snares1 and retorted their arguments to their confusion1 and then to observe ,him inviting1 tempting1 preparing the way for an argument which would lead ,him1 gladly won1 captive to a heathen's and a woman's importunate and trustful sagacity4 ,it is the same ,divine condescension which gave to ,jacob his new name of ,israel because he had striven with ,god and prevailed4 ,and let us reverently ponder the fact that this pagan mother of a demoniacal child1 this woman whose name has perished1 is the only person who won a dialectical victory in striving with the ,wisdom of ,god2 such a victory as a father allows to his eager child1 when he raises gentle obstacles1 and even assumes a transparent mask of harshness1 but never passes the limit of the trust and love which he is probing4 ,the first and most obvious opportunity which ,he gives to her is nevertheless hard to show in ,english4 ,he might have used an epithet suitable for those fierce creatures which prowl through ,eastern streets at night without any master1 living upon refuse1 a peril even to men who are unarmed4 ,but ,jesus used a diminutive word1 not found elsewhere in the ,new ,testament1 and quite unsuitable to those fierce beasts1 a word 8in which the idea of uncleanness gives place to that of dependence1 of belonging to man and to the family40 ,no one applies our colloquial epithet 8doggie0 to a fierce or rabid brute4 ,thus ,jesus really domesticated the ,gentile world4 ,and nobly1 eagerly1 yet very modestly she used this tacit concession1 when she repeated ,his carefully selected word1 and inferred from it that her place was not among those vile 8dogs0 which are 8without10 but with the domestic dogs1 the little dogs underneath the table4 ,again1 she observed the promise which lurked under seeming refusal1 when ,he said1 8,let the children first be filled10 and so implied that her turn should come1 that it was only a question of time4 ,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 satisfied2 they wait under the table1 and some ungrudged fragments reach them there1 some 8crumbs40 ,moreover1 and perhaps chiefly1 the bread she craves need not be torn from hungry children4 ,their ,benefactor has had to wander off into concealment1 they have let fall1 unheeding1 not only crumbs1 although her noble tact expresses it thus lightly to their countryman1 but far more than she divined1 even the very ,bread of ,life4 ,surely ,his own illustration has admitted her right to profit by the heedlessness of 8the children40 ,and ,he had admitted all this3 ,he had meant to be thus overcome4 ,one loves to think of the first flush of hope in that trembling mother's heavy heart1 as she discerned ,his intention and said within herself1 8,oh1 surely ,i am not mistaken2 ,he does not really refuse at all2 ,he wills that ,i should answer ,him and prevail40 ,one supposes that she looked up1 half afraid to utter the great rejoinder1 and took courage when she met ,his questioning inviting gaze4 ,and then comes the glad response1 no longer spoken coldly and without an epithet3 8,o woman1 great is thy faith40 ,he praises not her adroitness nor her humility1 but the faith which would not doubt1 in that dark hour1 that light was behind the cloud2 and so ,he sets no other limit to ,his reward than the limit of her desires3 8,be it unto thee even as thou wilt40 ,let us learn that no case is too desperate for prayer1 and perseverance will surely find at last that our ,lord delighteth to be gracious4 ,let us be certain that the brightest and most confiding view of all ,his dealings is the truest1 and man1 if only he trusts aright1 shall live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of ,god4 ,thus did ,jesus declare1 in action as in word1 the fading out of all distinction between the ceremonially clean and unclean4 ,he crossed the limits of the ,holy ,land3 ,he found great faith in a daughter of the accursed race2 and ,he ratified and acted upon her claim that the bread which fell neglected from the table of the ,jew was not forbidden to the hunger of the ,gentile4 ,the history of the ,acts of the ,apostles is already here in spirit4 ,the ,deaf ,and ,dumb ,man4 8,and again ,he went out from the borders of ,tyre1 and came through ,sidon unto the sea of ,galilee1 through the midst of the borders of ,decapolis4 ,and they bring unto ,him one that was deaf1 and had an impediment in his speech2 and they beseech ,him to lay ,his hand upon him4 ,and ,he took him aside from the multitude privately1 and put ,his fingers into his ears1 and ,he spat1 and touched ,his tongue2 and looking up to heaven1 ,he sighed1 and saith unto him1 ,ephphatha1 that is1 ,be opened4 ,and his ears were opened1 and the bond of his tongue was loosed1 and he spake plain4 ,and ,he charged them that they should tell no man3 but the more ,he charged them1 so much the more a great deal they published it4 ,and they were beyond measure astonished1 saying1 ,he hath done all things well3 ,he maketh even the deaf to hear1 and the dumb to speak40--,,mark vii4 #ca-cg 7,r4,v474 ,there are curious and significant varieties in the methods by which our ,saviour healed4 ,we have seen ,him1 when watched on the sabbath by eager and expectant foes1 baffling all their malice by a miracle without a deed1 by refusing to cross the line of the most rigid and ceremonial orthodoxy1 by only commanding an innocent gesture1 ,stretch forth thine hand4 ,in sharp contrast with such a miracle is the one which we have now reached4 ,there is brought to ,him a man who is deaf1 and whose speech therefore could not have been more than a babble1 since it is by hearing that we learn to articulate2 but of whom we are plainly told that he suffered from organic inability to utter as well as to hear1 for he had an impediment in his speech1 the string of his tongue needed to be loosed1 and ,jesus touched his tongue as well as his ears1 to heal him4 ,it should be observed that no unbelieving theory can explain the change in our ,lord's method4 ,some pretend that all the stories of ,his miracles grew up afterward1 from the sense of awe with which ,he was regarded4 ,how does that agree with effort1 sighing1 and even gradation in the stages of recovery1 following after the most easy1 astonishing and instantaneous cures8 ,others believe that the enthusiasm of ,his teaching and the charm of ,his presence conveyed healing efficacy to the impressible and the nervous4 ,how does this account for the fact that ,his earliest miracles were the prompt and effortless ones1 and as time passes on1 ,he secludes the patient and uses agencies1 as if the resistance to ,his power were more appreciable8 ,enthusiasm would gather force with every new success4 ,all becomes clear when we accept the ,christian doctrine4 ,jesus came in the fulness of the love of ,god1 with both hands filled with gifts4 ,on ,his part there is no hesitation and no limit4 ,but on the part of man there is doubt1 misconception1 and at last open hostility4 ,a real chasm is opened between man and the grace ,he gives1 so that1 although not straitened in ,him1 they are straitened in their own affections4 ,even while they believe in ,him as a healer1 they no longer accept ,him as their ,lord4 ,and ,jesus makes it plain to them that the gift is no longer so easy1 spontaneous and of public right as formerly4 ,in ,his own country ,he could not do many mighty works4 ,and now1 returning by indirect routes1 and privately1 from the heathen shores whither ,jewish enmity had driven ,him1 ,he will make the multitude feel a kind of exclusion1 taking the patient from among them1 as ,he does again presently in ,bethsaida 7chap4 viii4 #bc74 ,there is also1 in the deliberate act of seclusion and in the means employed1 a stimulus for the faith of the sufferer1 which would scarcely have been needed a little while before4 ,the people were unconscious of any reason why this cure should differ from former ones4 ,and so they besought ,jesus to lay ,his hand on him1 the usual and natural expression for a conveyance of invisible power4 ,but even if no other objection had existed1 this action would have meant little to the deaf and dumb man1 living in a silent world1 and needing to have his faith aroused by some yet plainer sign4 ,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 world1 shutting us up with ,god4 ,he speaks the only language intelligible to such a man1 the language of signs1 putting ,his fingers into his ears as if to break a seal1 conveying the moisture of ,his own lip to the silent tongue1 as if to impart its faculty1 and then1 at what should have been the exultant moment of conscious and triumphant power1 ,he sighed deeply4 ,what an unexpected revelation of the man rather than the wonder worker4 ,how unlike anything that theological myth or heroic legend would have invented4 ,perhaps1 as ,keble sings1 ,he thought of those moral defects for which1 in a responsible universe1 no miracle may be wrought1 of 8the deaf heart1 the dumb by choice40 ,perhaps1 according to ,stier's ingenious guess1 ,he sighed because1 in our sinful world1 the gift of hearing is so doubtful a blessing1 and the faculty of speech so apt to be perverted4 ,one can almost imagine that no human endowment is ever given by ,him ,who knows all1 without a touch of sadness4 ,but it is more natural to suppose that ,he ,who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 and ,who bare our sickness1 thought upon the countless miseries of which this was but a specimen1 and sighed for the perverseness by which the fulness of ,his compassion was being restrained4 ,we are reminded by that sigh1 however we explain it1 that the only triumphs which made ,him rejoice in ,spirit were very different from displays of ,his physical ascendancy4 ,it is interesting to observe that ,st4 ,mark1 informed by the most ardent and impressible of the apostles1 by him who reverted1 long afterwards1 to the voice which he heard in the holy mount1 has recorded several of the ,aramaic words which ,jesus uttered at memorable junctures4 8,ephphatha1 ,be opened10 ,he said1 and the bond of his tongue was loosed1 and his speech1 hitherto incoherent1 became plain4 ,but the ,gospel which tells us the first word he heard is silent about what he said4 ,only we read1 and this is suggestive enough1 that the command was at once given to him1 as well as to the bystanders1 to keep silent4 ,not copious speech1 but wise restraint1 is what the tongue needs most to learn4 ,to him1 as to so many whom ,christ had healed1 the injunction came1 not to preach without a commission1 not to suppose that great blessings require loud announcement1 or unfit men for lowly and quiet places4 ,legend would surely have endowed with special eloquence the lips which ,jesus unsealed4 ,he charged them that they should tell no man4 ,it was a double miracle1 and the latent unbelief became clear of the very men who had hoped for some measure of blessing4 ,for they were beyond measure astonished1 saying ,he doeth all things well1 celebrating the power which restored the hearing and the speech together4 ,do we blame their previous incredulity8 ,perhaps we also expect some blessing from our ,lord1 yet fail to bring ,him all we have and all we are for blessing4 ,perhaps we should be astonished beyond measure if we received at the hands of ,jesus a sanctification that extended to all our powers4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,the ,four ,thousand4 8,in those days1 when there was again a great multitude1 and they had nothing to eat1 ,he called unto ,him ,his disciples1 and saith unto them1 ,i have compassion on the multitude1 because they continue with ,me now three days1 and have nothing to eat3 and if ,i send them away fasting to their home1 they will faint in the way2 and some of them are come from far4 ,and ,his disciples answered ,him1 ,whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place8 ,and ,he asked them1 ,how many loaves have ye8 ,and they said1 ,seven4 ,and ,he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground3 and ,he took the seven loaves1 and having given thanks1 ,he brake1 and gave to ,his disciples1 to set before them2 and they set them before the multitude4 ,and they had a few small fishes3 and having blessed them1 ,he commanded to set these also before them4 ,and they did eat1 and were filled3 and they took up1 of broken pieces that remained over1 seven baskets4 ,and they were about four thousand3 and ,he sent them away4 ,and straightway ,he entered into the boat with ,his disciples1 and came into the parts of ,dalmanutha40--,,mark viii4 #a-aj 7,r4,v474 ,we now come upon a miracle strangely similar to that of the ,feeding of the ,five ,thousand4 ,and it is worth while to ask what would have been the result1 if the ,gospels which contain this narrative had omitted the former one4 ,scepticism would have scrutinized every difference between the two1 regarding them as variations of the same story1 to discover traces of the growth of the myth or legend1 and entirely to discredit it4 ,now however it is plain that the events are quite distinct2 and we cannot doubt but that information as full would clear away as completely many a perplexity which still entangles us4 ,archbishop ,trench has well shown that the later narrative cannot have grown out of the earlier1 because it has not grown at all1 but fallen away4 ,a new legend always 8outstrips the old1 but here 444 the numbers fed are smaller1 the supply of food is greater1 and the fragments that remain are fewer40 ,the latter point is however doubtful4 ,it is likely that the baskets1 though fewer1 were larger1 for in such a one ,st4 ,paul was lowered down over the wall of ,damascus 7,acts ix4 #be74 ,in all the ,gospels the ,greek word for baskets in the former miracle is different from the latter4 ,and hence arises an interesting coincidence2 for when the disciples had gone into a desert place1 and there gathered the fragments into wallets1 each of them naturally carried one of these1 and accordingly twelve were filled4 ,but here they had recourse apparently to the large baskets of persons who sold bread1 and the number seven remains unaccounted for4 ,scepticism indeed persuades itself that the whole story is to be spiritualized1 the twelve baskets answering to the twelve apostles who distributed the ,bread of ,life1 and the seven to the seven deacons4 ,how came it then that the sorts of baskets are so well discriminated1 that the inferior ministers are represented by the larger ones1 and that the bread is not dealt out from these baskets but gathered into them8 ,the second repetition of such a work is a fine proof of that genuine kindness of heart1 to which a miracle is not merely an evidence1 nor rendered useless as soon as the power to work it is confessed4 ,jesus did not shrink from thus repeating ,himself1 even upon a lower level1 because ,his object was not spectacular but beneficent4 ,he sought not to astonish but to bless4 ,it is plain that ,jesus strove to lead ,his disciples1 aware of the former miracle1 up to the notion of its repetition4 ,with this object ,he marshalled all the reasons why the people should be relieved4 8,i have compassion on the multitude1 because they continue with ,me now three days1 and have nothing to eat3 and if ,i send them away fasting to their home1 they will faint in the way2 and some of them are come from far40 ,it is the grand argument from human necessity to the ,divine compassion4 ,it is an argument which ought to weigh equally with the ,church4 ,for if it is promised that 8nothing shall be impossible0 to faith and prayer1 then the deadly wants of debauched cities1 of ignorant and brutal peasantries1 and of heathenisms festering in their corruptions--all these1 by their very urgency1 are vehement appeals instead of the discouragements we take them for4 ,and whenever man is baffled and in need1 there he is entitled to fall back upon the resources of the ,omnipotent4 ,it may be that the disciples had some glimmering hope1 but they did not venture to suggest anything2 they only asked1 ,whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place8 ,it is the cry of unbelief--our cry1 when we look at our resources1 and declare our helplessness1 and conclude that possibly ,god may interpose1 but otherwise nothing can be done4 ,we ought to be the priests of a famishing world 7so ignorant of any relief1 so miserable71 its interpreters and intercessors1 full of hope and energy4 ,but we are content to look at our empty treasuries1 and ineffective organizations1 and to ask1 ,whence shall a man be able to fill these men with bread8 ,they have ascertained however what resources are forthcoming1 and these ,he proceeds to use1 first demanding the faith which ,he will afterwards honour1 by bidding the multitudes to sit down4 ,and then ,his loving heart is gratified by relieving the hunger which it pitied1 and ,he promptly sends the multitude away1 refreshed and competent for their journey4 ,the ,leaven ,of ,the ,pharisees4 8,and the ,pharisees came forth1 and began to question with ,him1 seeking of ,him a sign from heaven1 tempting ,him4 ,and ,he sighed deeply in ,his spirit1 and saith1 ,why doth this generation seek a sign8 verily ,i say unto you1 ,there shall no sign be given unto this generation4 ,and ,he left them1 and again entering into the boat departed to the other side4 ,and they forgot to take bread2 and they had not in the boat with them more than one loaf4 ,and ,he charged them1 saying1 ,take heed1 beware of the leaven of the ,pharisees and the leaven of ,herod4 ,and they reasoned one with another1 saying1 ,we have no bread4 ,and ,jesus perceiving it saith unto them1 ,why reason ye1 because ye have no bread8 do ye not yet perceive1 neither understand8 have ye your heart hardened8 ,having eyes1 see ye not8 and having ears1 hear ye not8 and do ye not remember8 ,when ,i brake the five loaves among the five thousand1 how many baskets full of broken pieces took ye up8 ,they said unto ,him1 ,twelve4 ,and when the seven among the four thousand1 how many basketfuls of broken pieces took ye up8 ,and they said unto ,him1 ,seven4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,do ye not yet understand80--,,mark viii4 #aa-ba 7,r4,v474 ,whenever a miracle produced a deep and special impression1 the ,pharisees strove to spoil its effect by some counter-demonstration4 ,by so doing1 and at least appearing to hold the field1 since ,jesus always yielded this to them1 they encouraged their own faction1 and shook the confidence of the feeble and hesitating multitude4 ,at almost every crisis they might have been crushed by an appeal to the stormy passions of those whom the ,lord had blessed4 ,once ,he might have been made a king4 ,again and again ,his enemies were conscious that an imprudent word would suffice to make the people stone them4 ,but that would have spoiled the real work of ,jesus more than to retreat before them1 now across the lake1 or1 just before1 into the coasts of ,tyre and ,sidon4 ,doubtless it was this constant avoidance of physical conflict1 this habitual repression of the carnal zeal of ,his supporters1 this refusal to form a party instead of founding a ,church1 which renewed incessantly the courage of ,his often-baffled foes1 and led ,him1 by the path of steady ceaseless self-depression1 to the cross which ,he foresaw1 even while maintaining ,his unearthly calm1 amid the contradiction of sinners against ,himself4 ,upon the feeding of the four thousand1 they demand of ,him a sign from heaven4 ,he had wrought for the public no miracle of this peculiar kind4 ,and yet ,moses had gone up1 in the sight of all ,israel1 to commune with ,god in the mount that burned2 ,samuel had been answered by thunder and rain in the wheat harvest2 and ,elijah had called down fire both upon his sacrifice and also upon two captains and their bands of fifty4 ,such a miracle was now declared to be the regular authentication of a messenger from ,god1 and the only sign which evil spirits could not counterfeit4 ,moreover the demand would specially embarrass ,jesus1 because ,he alone was not accustomed to invoke heaven3 ,his miracles were wrought by the exertion of ,his own will4 ,and perhaps the challenge implied some understanding of what this peculiarity involved1 such as ,jesus charged them with1 when putting into their mouth the words1 ,this is the heir1 come1 let us kill ,him4 ,certainly the demand ignored much4 ,conceding the fact of certain miracles1 and yet imposing new conditions of belief1 they shut their eyes to the unique nature of the works already wrought1 the glory as of the ,only-begotten of the ,father which they displayed4 ,they held that thunder and lightning revealed ,god more certainly than supernatural victories of compassion1 tenderness and love4 ,what could be done for moral blindness such as this8 ,how could any sign be devised which unwilling hearts would not evade8 ,no wonder that hearing this demand1 ,jesus sighed deeply in ,his spirit4 ,it revealed their utter hardness2 it was a snare by which others would be entangled2 and for ,himself it foretold the cross4 ,st4 ,mark simply tells us that ,he refused to give them any sign4 ,in ,st4 ,matthew ,he justifies this decision by rebuking the moral blindness which demanded it4 ,they had material enough for judgment4 ,the face of the sky foretold storm and fair weather1 and the process of nature could be anticipated without miracles to coerce belief4 ,and thus they should have discerned the import of the prophecies1 the course of history1 the signs of the times in which they lived1 so plainly radiant with ,messianic promise1 so menacing with storm-clouds of vengeance upon sin4 ,the sign was refused moreover to an evil and adulterous generation1 as ,god1 in the ,old ,testament1 would not be inquired of at all by such a people as this4 ,this indignant rejoinder ,st4 ,mark has compressed into the words1 8,there shall no sign be given unto this generation0--this which has proof enough1 and which deserves none4 ,men there were to whom a sign from heaven was not refused4 ,at ,his baptism1 on the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 and when the ,voice answered ,his appeal1 8,father1 glorify ,thy name10 while the multitude said only that it thundered--at these times ,his chosen ones received a sign from heaven4 ,but from those who had not was taken away even that which they seemed to have2 and the sign of ,jonah availed them not4 ,once more ,jesus 8left them0 and crossed the lake4 ,the disciples found themselves with but one loaf1 approaching a wilder district1 where the ceremonial purity of food could not easily be ascertained4 ,but they had already acted on the principle which ,jesus had formally proclaimed1 that all meats were clean4 ,and therefore it was not too much to expect them to penetrate below the letter of the words1 8,take heed1 beware of the leaven of the ,pharisees1 and the leaven of ,herod40 ,in giving them this enigma to discover1 ,he acted according to ,his usage1 wrapping the spiritual truth in earthly phrases1 picturesque and impressive2 and ,he treated them as life treats every one of us1 which keeps our responsibility still upon the strain1 by presenting new moral problems1 fresh questions and trials of insight1 for every added attainment which lays our old tasks aside4 ,but they understood ,him not4 ,some new ceremonial appeared to them to be designed1 in which everything would be reversed1 and the unclean should be those hypocrites1 the strictest observers of the old code4 ,such a mistake1 however blameworthy1 reveals the profound sense of an ever-widening chasm1 and an expectation of a final and hopeless rupture with the chiefs of their religion4 ,it prepares us for what is soon to come1 the contrast between the popular belief and theirs1 and the selection of a rock on which a new ,church is to be built4 ,in the meantime the dire practical inconvenience of this announcement led to hot discussion1 because they had no bread4 ,and ,jesus1 perceiving this1 remonstrated in a series of indignant questions4 ,personal want should not have disturbed their judgment1 remembering that twice over ,he had fed hungry multitudes1 and loaded them with the surplus of ,his gift4 ,their eyes and ears should have taught them that ,he was indifferent to such distinctions1 and ,his doctrine could never result in a new ,judaism4 ,how was it that they did not understand8 ,thereupon they perceived that ,his warning was figurative4 ,he had spoken to them1 after feeding the five thousand1 of spiritual bread which ,he would give1 even ,his flesh to be their food4 ,what then could ,he have meant by the leaven of the ,pharisees but the imparting of their religious tendencies1 their teaching1 and their insincerity8 ,was there any real danger that these1 ,his chosen ones1 should be shaken by the demand for a sign from heaven8 ,did not ,philip presently1 when ,christ spoke of seeing the ,father1 eagerly cry out that this1 if it were granted1 would suffice them8 ,in these words he confessed the misgiving which haunted their minds1 and the longing for a heavenly sign4 ,and yet the essence of the vision of ,god was in the life and the love which they had failed to know4 ,if they could not see ,him in these1 ,he must for ever remain invisible to them4 ,we too require the same caution4 ,when we long for miracles1 neglecting those standing miracles of our faith1 the gospel and the ,church3 when our reason is satisfied of a doctrine or a duty1 and yet we remain irresolute1 sighing for the impulse of some rare spiritual enlightenment or excitement1 for a revival1 or a mission1 or an oration to lift us above ourselves1 we are virtually asking to be shown what we already confess1 to behold a sign1 while we possess the evidence4 ,and the only wisdom of the languid1 irresolute will1 which postpones action in hope that feeling may be deepened1 is to pray4 ,it is by the effort of communion with the unfelt1 but confessed ,reality above us1 that healthy feeling is to be recovered4 ,men ,as ,trees4 8,and they come unto ,bethsaida4 ,and they bring to ,him a blind man1 and beseech ,him to touch him4 ,and ,he took hold of the blind man by the hand1 and brought him out of the village2 and when ,he had spit on his eyes1 and laid ,his hands upon him1 ,he asked him1 ,seest thou aught8 ,and he looked up1 and said1 ,i see men2 for ,i behold them as trees1 walking4 ,then again ,he laid ,his hands upon his eyes2 and he looked stedfastly1 and was restored1 and saw all things clearly4 ,and ,he sent him away to his home1 saying1 ,do not even enter into the village40--,,mark viii4 #bb-bf 7,r4,v474 ,when the disciples arrived at ,bethsaida1 they were met by the friends of a blind man1 who besought ,him to touch him4 ,and this gave occasion to the most remarkable by far of all the progressive and tentative miracles1 in which means were employed1 and the result was gradually reached4 ,the reasons for advancing to this cure by progressive stages have been much discussed4 ,st4 ,chrysostom and many others have conjectured that the blind man had but little faith1 since he neither found his own way to ,jesus1 nor pleaded his own cause1 like ,bartimus4 ,others brought him1 and interceded for him4 ,this may be so1 but since he was clearly a consenting party1 we can infer little from details which constitutional timidity would explain1 or helplessness 7for the resources of the blind are very various71 or the zeal of friends or of paid servants1 or the mere eagerness of a crowd1 pushing him forward in desire to see a marvel4 ,we cannot expect always to penetrate the motives which varied our ,saviour's mode of action2 it is enough that we can pretty clearly discern some principles which led to their variety4 ,many of them1 including all the greatest1 were wrought without instrumentality and without delay1 showing ,his unrestricted and underived power4 ,others were gradual1 and wrought by means4 ,these connected ,his 8signs0 with nature and the ,god of nature2 and they could be so watched as to silence many a cavil2 and they exhibited1 by the very disproportion of the means1 the grandeur of the ,worker4 ,in this respect the successive stages of a miracle were like the subdivisions by which a skilful architect increases the effect of a faade or an interior4 ,in every case the means employed were such as to connect the result most intimately with the person as well as the will of ,christ4 ,it must be repeated also1 that the need of secondary agents shows itself1 only as the increasing wilfulness of ,israel separates between ,christ and the people4 ,it is as if the first rush of generous and spontaneous power had been frozen by the chill of their ingratitude4 ,jesus again1 as when healing the deaf and dumb1 withdraws from idle curiosity4 ,and we read1 what is very impressive when we remember that any of the disciples could have been bidden to lead the blind man1 that ,jesus ,himself drew ,him by the hand out of the village4 ,what would have been affectation in other cases was a graceful courtesy to the blind4 ,and it reveals to us the hearty human benignity and condescension of ,him ,whom to see was to see the ,father1 that ,he should have clasped in ,his helpful hand the hand of a blind suppliant for ,his grace4 ,moistening his eyes from ,his own lips1 and laying ,his hands upon him1 so as to convey the utmost assurance of power actually exerted1 ,he asked1 ,seest thou aught8 ,the answer is very striking3 it is such as the knowledge of that day could scarcely have imagined2 and yet it is in the closest accord with later scientific discovery4 ,what we call the act of vision is really a two-fold process2 there is in it the report of the nerves to the brain1 and also an inference1 drawn by the mind1 which previous experience has educated to understand what that report implies4 ,for want of such experience1 an infant thinks the moon as near him as the lamp1 and reaches out for it4 ,and when ,christian science does its ,master's work by opening the eyes of men who have been born blind1 they do not know at first what appearances belong to globes and what to flat and square objects4 ,it is certain that every image conveyed to the brain reaches it upside down1 and is corrected there4 ,when ,jesus then restored a blind man to the perfect enjoyment of effective intelligent vision1 ,he wrought a double miracle2 one which instructed the intelligence of the blind man as well as opened his eyes4 ,this was utterly unknown to that age4 ,but the scepticism of our century would complain that to open the eyes was not enough1 and that such a miracle would have left the man perplexed2 and it would refuse to accept narratives which took no account of this difficulty1 but that the cavil is anticipated4 ,the miracle now before us refutes it in advance1 for it recognises1 what no spectator and no early reader of the marvel could have understood1 the middle stage1 when sight is gained but is still uncomprehended and ineffective4 ,the process is shown as well as the completed work4 ,only by their motion could he at first distinguish living creatures from lifeless things of far greater bulk4 8,he looked up10 7mark this picturesque detail17 8and said1 ,i see men2 for ,i behold them as trees1 walking40 ,but ,jesus leaves no unfinished work3 8,then again laid ,he ,his hands upon his eyes1 and he looked stedfastly1 and was restored1 and saw all things clearly40 ,in this narrative there is a deep significance4 ,that vision1 forfeited until grace restores it1 by which we look at the things which are not seen1 is not always quite restored at once4 ,we are conscious of great perplexity1 obscurity and confusion4 ,but a real work of ,christ may have begun amid much that is imperfect1 much that is even erroneous4 ,and the path of the just is often a haze and twilight at the first1 yet is its light real1 and one that shineth more and more unto the perfect day4 ,the ,confession ,and ,the ,warning4 8,and ,jesus went forth1 and ,his disciples1 into the villages of ,csarea ,philippi3 and in the way ,he asked ,his disciples1 saying unto them1 ,who do men say that ,i am8 ,and they told ,him1 saying1 ,john the ,baptist3 and others1 ,elijah2 but others1 ,one of the prophets4 ,and ,he asked them1 ,but ,who say ye that ,i am8 ,peter answereth and saith unto ,him1 ,thou art the ,christ4 ,and ,he charged them that they should tell no man of ,him4 ,and ,he began to teach them1 that the ,son of man must suffer many things1 and be rejected by the elders1 and the chief priests1 and the scribes1 and be killed1 and after three days rise again4 ,and ,he spake the saying openly40--,,mark viii4 #bg-cb 7,r4,v474 ,we have now reached an important stage in the ,gospel narrative1 the comparative withdrawal from evangelistic effort1 and the preparation of the disciples for an approaching tragedy4 ,we find them in the wild country to the north of the ,lake of ,galilee1 and even as far withdrawn as to the neighbourhood of the sources of the ,jordan4 ,not without a deliberate intention has ,jesus led them thither4 ,he wishes them to realise their separation4 ,he will fix upon their consciousness the failure of the world to comprehend ,him1 and give them the opportunity either to acknowledge ,him1 or sink back to the lower level of the crowd4 ,this is what interests ,st4 ,mark2 and it is worthy of notice that he1 the friend of ,peter1 mentions not the special honour bestowed upon him by ,christ1 nor the first utterance of the memorable words 8,my ,church40 8,who do men say that ,i am80 ,jesus asked4 ,the answer would tell of acceptance or rejection1 the success or failure of ,his ministry1 regarded in itself1 and apart from ultimate issues unknown to mortals4 ,from this point of view it had very plainly failed4 ,at the beginning there was a clear hope that this was ,he that should come1 the ,son of ,david1 the ,holy ,one of ,god4 ,but now the pitch of men's expectation was lowered4 ,some said1 ,john the ,baptist1 risen from the dead1 as ,herod feared2 others spoke of ,elijah1 who was to come before the great and notable day of the ,lord2 in the sadness of ,his later days some had begun to see a resemblance to ,jeremiah1 lamenting the ruin of his nation2 and others fancied a resemblance to various of the prophets4 ,beyond this the apostles confessed that men were not known to go4 ,their enthusiasm had cooled1 almost as rapidly as in the triumphal procession1 where they who blessed both ,him1 and 8the kingdom that cometh10 no sooner felt the chill of contact with the priestly faction1 than their confession dwindled into 8,this is ,jesus1 the prophet of ,nazareth40 8,but ,who say ye that ,i am80 ,he added2 and it depended on the answer whether or not there should prove to be any solid foundation1 any rock1 on which to build ,his ,church4 ,much difference1 much error may be tolerated there1 but on one subject there must be no hesitation4 ,to make ,him only a prophet among others1 to honour ,him even as the first among the teachers of mankind1 is to empty ,his life of its meaning1 ,his death of its efficacy1 and ,his ,church of its authority4 ,and yet the danger was real1 as we may see by the fervent blessing 7unrecorded in our ,gospel7 which the right answer won4 ,for it was no longer the bright morning of ,his career1 when all bare ,him witness and wondered2 the noon was over now1 and the evening shadows were heavy and lowering4 ,to confess ,him then was to have learned what flesh and blood could not reveal4 ,but ,peter did not hesitate4 ,in answer to the question1 8,who say ye8 ,is your judgment like the the world's80 ,he does not reply1 8,we believe1 we say10 but with all the vigour of a mind at rest1 8,thou art the ,christ20 that is not even a subject of discussion3 the fact is so4 ,here one pauses to admire the spirit of the disciples1 so unjustly treated in popular exposition because they were but human1 because there were dangers which could appal them1 and because the course of providence was designed to teach them how weak is the loftiest human virtue4 ,nevertheless1 they could part company with all they had been taught to reverence and with the unanimous opinion of their native land1 they could watch the slow fading out of public enthusiasm1 and continue faithful1 because they knew and revered the ,divine life1 and the glory which was hidden from the wise and prudent4 ,the confession of ,peter is variously stated in the ,gospels4 ,st4 ,matthew wrote for ,jews1 familiar with the notion of a merely human ,christ1 and ,st4 ,luke for mixed ,churches4 ,therefore the first ,gospel gives the explicit avowal not only of ,messiahship1 but of divinity2 and the third ,gospel implies this4 8,thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god0--8the ,christ of ,god40 ,but ,st4 ,mark wrote for ,gentiles1 whose first and only notion of the ,messiah was derived from ,christian sources1 and steeped in ,christian attributes1 so that1 for their intelligence1 all the great avowal was implied in the title itself1 ,thou art the ,christ4 ,yet it is instructive to see men insisting on the difference1 and even exaggerating it1 who know that this ,gospel opens with an assertion of the ,divine sonship of ,jesus1 and whose theory is that its author worked with the ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew before his eyes4 ,how then1 or why1 do they suppose the confession to have been weakened8 ,this foundation of ,his ,church being secured1 ,his ,divine ,messiahship being confessed in the face of an unbelieving world1 ,jesus lost no time in leading ,his apostles forward4 ,they were forbidden to tell any man of ,him3 the vain hope was to be absolutely suppressed of winning the people to confess their king4 ,the effort would only make it harder for themselves to accept that stern truth which they were now to learn1 that ,his matchless royalty was to be won by matchless suffering4 ,never hitherto had ,jesus proclaimed this truth1 as ,he now did1 in so many words4 ,it had been1 indeed1 the secret spring of many of ,his sayings2 and we ought to mark what loving ingenuity was lavished upon the task of gradually preparing them for the dread shock of this announcement4 ,the ,bridegroom was to be taken away from them1 and then they should fast4 ,the temple of ,his body should be destroyed1 and in three days reared again4 ,the blood of all the slaughtered prophets was to come upon this generation4 ,it should suffice them when persecuted unto death1 that the disciple was as ,his ,master4 ,it was still a plainer intimation when ,he said1 that to follow ,him was to take up a cross4 ,his flesh was promised to them for meat and ,his blood for drink4 7,chap4 ii4 #bj2 ,john ii4 #ai2 ,luke xi4 #ej2 ,matt4 x4 #ba1 #be2 #ch2 ,john vi4 #ed47 ,such intimations ,jesus had already given them1 and doubtless many a cold shadow1 many a dire misgiving had crept over their sunny hopes4 ,but these it had been possible to explain away1 and the effort1 the attitude of mental antagonism thus forced upon them1 would make the grief more bitter1 the gloom more deadly1 when ,jesus spoke openly the saying1 thenceforth so frequently repeated1 that ,he must suffer keenly1 be rejected formally by the chiefs of ,his creed and nation1 and be killed4 ,when ,he recurs to the subject 7ix4 #ca71 ,he adds the horror of being 8delivered into the hands of men40 ,in the tenth chapter we find ,him setting ,his face toward the city outside which a prophet could not perish1 with such fixed purpose and awful consecration in ,his bearing that ,his followers were amazed and afraid4 ,and then ,he reveals the complicity of the ,gentiles1 who shall mock and spit upon and scourge and kill ,him4 ,but in every case1 without exception1 ,he announced that on the third day ,he should arise again4 ,for neither was ,he ,himself sustained by a sullen and stoical submission to the worst1 nor did ,he seek so to instruct ,his followers4 ,it was for the joy that was set before ,him that ,he endured the cross4 ,and all the faithful who suffer with ,him shall also reign together with ,him1 and are instructed to press toward the mark for the prize of their high calling4 ,for we are saved by hope4 ,but now1 contrast with the utmost courage of the martyrs1 who braved the worst1 when it emerged at the last suddenly from the veil which mercifully hides our future1 and which hope can always gild with starry pictures1 this courage that looked steadily forward1 disguising nothing1 hoping for no escape1 living through all the agony so long before it came1 seeing ,his wounds in the breaking of bread1 and ,his blood when wine was poured4 ,consider how marvellous was the love1 which met with no real sympathy1 nor even comprehension1 as ,he spoke such dreadful words1 and forced ,himself to repeat what must have shaken the barb ,he carried in ,his heart1 that by-and-by ,his followers might be somewhat helped by remembering that ,he had told them4 ,and yet again1 consider how immediately the doctrine of ,his suffering follows upon the confession of ,his ,christhood1 and judge whether the crucifixion was merely a painful incident1 the sad close of a noble life and a pure ministry1 or in itself a necessary and cardinal event1 fraught with transcendent issues4 ,the ,rebuke ,of ,peter4 8,and ,he spake the saying openly4 ,and ,peter took ,him1 and began to rebuke ,him40 444 8,and ,he said unto them1 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,there be some here of them that stand by1 which shall in no wise taste of death1 till they see the kingdom of ,god come with power40--,,mark viii4 #cb-;ix4 #a 7,r4,v474 ,the doctrine of a suffering ,messiah was strange in the time of ,jesus4 ,and to the warm-hearted apostle the announcement that his beloved ,master should endure a shameful death was keenly painful4 ,moreover1 what had just passed made it specially unwelcome then4 ,jesus had accepted and applauded a confession which implied all honour4 ,he had promised to build a new ,church upon a rock2 and claimed1 as ,his to give away1 the keys of the kingdom of heaven4 ,hopes were thus excited which could not brook ,his stern repression2 and the career which the apostle promised himself was very unlike that defence of a lost cause1 and a persecuted and martyred leader1 which now threatened him4 ,the rebuke of ,jesus clearly warns ,peter1 that he had miscalculated his own prospect as well as that of his ,lord1 and that he must prepare for the burden of a cross4 ,above all1 it is plain that ,peter was intoxicated by the great position just assigned to him1 and allowed himself an utterly strange freedom of interference with his ,master's plans4 ,he 8took ,him and began to rebuke ,him10 evidently drawing ,him aside for the purpose1 since ,jesus 8turned about0 in order to see the disciples whom ,he had just addressed4 ,thus our narrative implies that commission of the keys to him which it omits to mention1 and we learn how absurd is the infidel contention that each evangelist was ignorant of all that he did not record4 ,did the appeal against those gloomy forebodings of ,jesus1 the protest that such evil must not be1 the refusal to recognise a prophecy in ,his fears1 awaken any answer in the sinless heart8 ,sympathy was not there1 nor approval1 nor any shade of readiness to yield4 ,but innocent human desire for escape1 the love of life1 horror of ,his fate1 more intense as it vibrated in the apostle's shaken voice1 these ,he assuredly felt4 ,for ,he tells us in so many words that ,peter was a stumbling-block to ,him1 although ,he1 walking in the clear day1 stumbled not4 ,jesus1 let us repeat it again and again1 endured not like a ,stoic1 deadening the natural impulses of humanity4 ,whatever outraged ,his tender and perfect nature was not less dreadful to ,him than to us2 it was much more so1 because ,his sensibilities were unblunted and exquisitely strung4 ,at every thought of what lay before ,him1 his soul shuddered like a rudely touched instrument of most delicate structure4 ,and it was necessary that ,he should throw back the temptation with indignation and even vehemence1 with the rebuke of heaven set against the presumptuous rebuke of flesh1 8,get thee behind ,me 444 for thou art mindful not of the things of ,god1 but the things of men40 ,but what shall we say to the hard word1 8,satan08 ,assuredly ,peter1 who remained faithful to ,him1 did not take it for an outbreak of bitterness1 an exaggerated epithet of unbridled and undisciplined resentment4 ,the very time occupied in looking around1 the 8circumspection0 which was shown1 while it gave emphasis1 removed passion from the saying4 ,peter would therefore understand that ,jesus heard1 in his voice1 the prompting of the great tempter1 to whom ,he had once already spoken the same words4 ,he would be warned that soft and indulgent sentiment1 while seeming kind1 may become the very snare of the destroyer4 ,and the strong word which sobered him will continue to be a warning to the end of time4 ,when love of ease or worldly prospects would lead us to discourage the self-devotion1 and repress the zeal of any convert2 when toil or liberality beyond the recognised level seems a thing to discountenance1 not because it is perhaps misguided1 but only because it is exceptional2 when1 for a brother or a son1 we are tempted to prefer an easy and prosperous life rather than a fruitful but stern and even perilous course1 then we are in the same danger as ,peter of becoming the mouthpiece of the ,evil ,one4 ,danger and hardness are not to be chosen for their own sake2 but to reject a noble vocation1 because these are in the way1 is to mind not the things of ,god but the things of men4 ,and yet the temptation is one from which men are never free1 and which intrudes into what seems most holy4 ,it dared to assail ,jesus2 and it is most perilous still1 because it often speaks to us1 as then to ,him1 through compassionate and loving lips4 ,but now the ,lord calls to ,himself all the multitude1 and lays down the rule by which discipleship must to the end be regulated4 ,the inflexible law is1 that every follower of ,jesus must deny himself and take up his cross4 ,it is not said1 ,let him devise some harsh and ingenious instrument of self-torture3 wanton self-torture is cruelty1 and is often due to the soul's readiness rather to endure any other suffering than that which ,god assigns4 ,nor is it said1 ,let him take up ,my cross1 for the burden ,christ bore devolves upon no other3 the fight ,he fought is over4 ,but it speaks of some cross allotted1 known1 but not yet accepted1 some lowly form of suffering1 passive or active1 against which nature pleads1 as ,jesus heard ,his own nature pleading when ,peter spoke4 ,in taking up this cross we must deny self1 for it will refuse the dreadful burden4 ,what it is1 no man can tell his neighbour1 for often what seems a fatal besetment is but a symptom and not the true disease2 and the angry man's irritability1 and the drunkard's resort to stimulants1 are due to remorse and self-reproach for a deeper-hidden evil gnawing the spiritual life away4 ,but the man himself knows it4 ,our exhortations miss the mark when we bid him reform in this direction or in that1 but conscience does not err2 and he well discerns the effort or the renouncement1 hateful to him as the very cross itself1 by which alone he can enter into life4 ,to him1 that life seems death1 the death of all for which he cares to live1 being indeed the death of selfishness4 ,but from the beginning1 when ,god in ,eden set a barrier against lawless appetite1 it was announced that the seeming life of self-indulgence and of disobedience was really death4 ,in the day when ,adam ate of the forbidden fruit he surely died4 ,and thus our ,lord declared that whosoever is resolved to save his life--the life of wayward1 isolated selfishness--he shall lose all its reality1 the sap1 the sweetness1 and the glow of it4 ,and whosoever is content to lose all this for the sake of the ,great ,cause1 the cause of ,jesus and ,his gospel1 he shall save it4 ,it was thus that the great apostle was crucified with ,christ1 yet lived1 and yet no longer he1 for ,christ ,himself inspired in his breast a nobler and deeper life than that which he had lost1 for ,jesus and the gospel4 ,the world knows1 as the ,church does1 how much superior is self-devotion to self-indulgence1 and that one crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name4 ,its imagination is not inflamed by the picture of indolence and luxury1 but by resolute and victorious effort4 ,but it knows not how to master the rebellious senses1 nor how to insure victory in the struggle1 nor how to bestow upon the masses1 plunged in their monotonous toils1 the rapture of triumphant strife4 ,that can only be done by revealing to them the spiritual responsibilities of life1 and the beauty of ,his love ,who calls the humblest to walk in ,his own sacred footsteps4 ,very striking is the moderation of ,jesus1 ,who does not refuse discipleship to self-seeking wishes but only to the self-seeking will1 in which wishes have ripened into choice1 nor does ,he demand that we should welcome the loss of the inferior life1 but only that we should accept it4 ,he can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities4 ,and striking also is this1 that ,he condemns not the vicious life only3 not alone the man whose desires are sensual and depraved2 but all who live for self4 ,no matter how refined and artistic the personal ambitions be1 to devote ourselves to them is to lose the reality of life1 it is to become querulous or jealous or vain or forgetful of the claims of other men1 or scornful of the crowd4 ,not self-culture but self-sacrifice is the vocation of the child of ,god4 ,many people speak as if this text bade us sacrifice the present life in hope of gaining another life beyond the grave4 ,that is apparently the common notion of saving our 8souls40 ,but ,jesus used one word for the 8life0 renounced and gained4 ,he spoke indeed of saving it unto life eternal1 but ,his hearers were men who trusted that they had eternal life1 not that it was a far-off aspiration 7,john vi4 #dg1 #ed74 ,and it is doubtless in the same sense1 thinking of the freshness and joy which we sacrifice for worldliness1 and how sadly and soon we are disillusionised1 that ,he went on to ask1 ,what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit ,his life8 ,or with what price shall he buy it back when he discovers his error8 ,but that discovery is too often postponed beyond the horizon of mortality4 ,as one desire proves futile1 another catches the eye1 and somewhat excites again the often baffled hope4 ,but the day shall come when the last self-deception shall be at an end4 ,the cross of the ,son of man1 that type of all noble sacrifice1 shall then be replaced by the glory of ,his ,father with the holy angels2 and ignoble compromise1 aware of ,jesus and ,his words1 yet ashamed of them in a vicious and self-indulgent age1 shall in turn endure ,his averted face4 ,what price shall they offer then1 to buy back what they have forfeited8 ,men who were standing there should see the beginning of the end1 the approach of the kingdom of ,god with power1 in the fall of ,jerusalem1 and the removal of the ,hebrew candlestick out of its place4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,transfiguration4 8,and after six days ,jesus taketh with ,him ,peter1 and ,james1 and ,john1 and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves3 and ,he was transfigured before them3 and ,his garments became glistering1 exceeding white3 so as no fuller on earth can whiten them4 ,and there appeared unto them ,elijah with ,moses3 and they were talking with ,jesus4 ,and ,peter answered and saith to ,jesus1 ,rabbi1 it is good for us to be here3 and let us make three tabernacles2 one for ,thee1 and one for ,moses1 and one for ,elijah4 ,for ,he wist not what to answer2 for they became sore afraid4 ,and there came a cloud overshadowing them3 and there came a voice out of the cloud1 ,this is ,my beloved ,son3 hear ye ,him4 ,and suddenly looking round about1 they saw no one any more1 save ,jesus only with themselves40--,,mark ix4 #b-h 7,r4,v474 ,the ,transfiguration is an event without a parallel in all the story of our ,lord4 ,this breaking forth of unearthly splendour in a life of self-negation1 this miracle wrought without suffering to be relieved or want supplied1 and in which ,he seems to be not the ,giver of ,help but the ,receiver of ,glory1 arrests our attention less by the greatness of the marvel than by its loneliness4 ,but if myth or legend had to do with the making of our ,gospels1 we should have had wonders enough which bless no suppliant1 but only crown the sacred head with laurels4 ,they are as plentiful in the false ,gospels as in the later stories of ,mahomed or ,gautama4 ,can we find a sufficient difference between these romantic tales and this memorable event--causes enough to lead up to it1 and ends enough for it to serve8 ,an answer is hinted by the stress laid in all three narratives upon the date of the ,transfiguration4 ,it was 8after six days0 according to the first two4 ,st4 ,luke reckons the broken portions of the first day and the last1 and makes it 8about eight days after these sayings40 ,a week has passed since the solemn announcement that their ,lord was journeying to a cruel death1 that self pity was discordant with the things of ,god1 that all ,his followers must in spirit endure the cross1 that life was to be won by losing it4 ,of that week no action is recorded1 and we may well believe that it was spent in profound searchings of heart4 ,the thief ,iscariot would more than ever be estranged4 ,the rest would aspire and struggle and recoil1 and explain away ,his words in such strange ways1 as when they presently failed to understand what the rising again from the dead should mean 7ver4 #aj74 ,but in the deep heart of ,jesus there was peace1 the same which ,he bequeathed to all ,his followers1 the perfect calm of an absolutely surrendered will4 ,he had made the dread announcement and rejected the insidious appeal2 the sacrifice was already accomplished in his inner self1 and the word spoken1 ,lo1 ,i come to do ,thy will1 ,o ,god4 ,we must steadily resist the notion that the ,transfiguration was required to confirm ,his consecration2 or1 after six days had passed since ,he bade ,satan get behind ,him1 to complete and perfect ,his decision4 ,yet doubtless it had its meaning for ,him also4 ,such times of more than heroic self-devotion make large demands upon the vital energies4 ,and ,he whom the angels more than once sustained1 now sought refreshment in the pure air and solemn silence of the hills1 and above all in communion with ,his ,father1 since we read in ,st4 ,luke that ,he went up to pray4 ,who shall say how far-reaching1 how all-embracing such a prayer would be8 ,what age1 what race may not hope to have shared its intercessions1 remembering how ,he once expressly prayed not for ,his immediate followers alone4 ,but we need not doubt that now1 as in the ,garden1 ,he prayed also for ,himself1 and for support in the approaching death-struggle4 ,and the ,twelve1 so keenly tried1 would be especially remembered in this season4 ,and even among these there would be distinctions2 for we know ,his manner1 we remember that when ,satan claimed to have them all1 ,jesus prayed especially for ,peter1 because his conversion would strengthen his brethren4 ,now this principle of benefit to all through the selection of the fittest1 explains why three were chosen to be the eye-witnesses of ,his glory4 ,if the others had been there1 perhaps they would have been led away into millennarian day-dreams4 ,perhaps the worldly aspirations of ,judas1 thus inflamed1 would have spread far4 ,perhaps they would have murmured against that return to common life1 which ,st4 ,peter was so anxious to postpone4 ,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 event4 ,the unripeness of the others for special revelations was abundantly shown1 on the morrow1 by their failure to cast out a devil4 ,it was enough that their leaders should have this grand confirmation of their faith4 ,there was among them1 henceforth1 a secret fountain of encouragement and trust1 amid the darkest circumstances4 ,the panic in which all forsook ,him might have been final1 but for this vision of ,his glory4 ,for it is noteworthy that these three are the foremost afterwards in sincere though frail devotion3 one offering to die with ,him1 and the others desiring to drink of ,his cup and to be baptized with ,his baptism4 ,while ,jesus prays for them1 ,he is ,himself made the source of their revival4 ,he had lately promised that they who willed to lose their life should find it unto life eternal4 ,and now1 in ,him who had perfectly so willed1 they beheld the eternal glory beaming forth1 until ,his very garments were steeped in light4 ,there is no need of proof that the spirit has power over the body2 the question is only of degree4 ,vile passions can permanently degrade human comeliness4 ,and there is a beauty beyond that of line or colour1 seen in vivid hours of emotion1 on the features of a mother beside her sleeping babe1 of an orator when his soul burns within him1 of a martyr when his face is as the face of an angel1 and often making fairer than youthful bloom the old age that has suffered long and been kind4 ,these help us1 however faintly1 to believe that there is a spiritual body1 and that we may yet bear the image of the heavenly4 ,and so once1 if only once1 it is given to sinful men to see how a perfect spirit can illuminate its fleshly tabernacle1 as a flame illuminates a lamp1 and what the life is like in which self-crucifixion issues4 ,in this hour of rapt devotion ,his body was steeped in the splendour which was natural to holiness1 and which would never have grown dim but that the great sacrifice had still to be carried out in action4 ,we shall best think of the glories of transfiguration not as poured over ,jesus1 but as a revelation from within4 ,moreover1 while they gaze1 the conquering chiefs of the ,old ,testament approach the ,man of ,sorrows4 ,because the spirit of the hour is that of self-devotion1 they see not ,abraham1 the prosperous friend of ,god1 nor ,isaiah whose burning words befit the lips that were touched by fire from an unearthly altar1 but the heroic law-giver and the lion-hearted prophet1 the typical champions of the ancient dispensation4 ,elijah had not seen death2 a majestic obscurity veiled the ashes of ,moses from excess of honour2 yet these were not offended by the cross which tried so cruelly the faith of the apostles4 ,they spoke of ,his decease1 and their word seems to have lingered in the narrative as strangely appropriate to one of the speakers2 it is ,christ's 8exodus407#aa7 ,but ,st4 ,mark does not linger over this detail1 nor mention the drowsiness with which they struggled2 he leans all the weight of his vivid narrative upon one great fact1 the evidence now given of our ,lord's absolute supremacy4 ,for1 at this juncture ,peter interposed4 ,he 8answered10 a phrase which points to his consciousness that he was no unconcerned bystander1 that the vision was in some degree addressed to him and his companions4 ,but he answers at random1 and like a man distraught4 8,lord1 it is good for us to be here10 as if it were not always good to be where ,jesus led1 even though men should bear a cross to follow ,him4 ,intoxicated by the joy of seeing the ,king in ,his beauty1 and doubtless by the revulsion of new hope in the stead of his dolorous forebodings1 he proposes to linger there4 ,he will have more than is granted1 just as1 when ,jesus washed his feet1 he said 8not my feet only1 but also my hands and my head40 ,and if this might be1 it was fitting that these superhuman personages should have tabernacles made for them4 ,no doubt the assertion that he wist not what to say1 bears specially upon this strange offer to shelter glorified bodies from the night air1 and to provide for each a place of separate repose4 ,the words are incoherent1 but they are quite natural from one who has so impulsively begun to speak that now he must talk on1 because he knows not how to stop4 ,they are the words of the very ,peter whose actions we know so well4 ,as he formerly walked upon the sea1 before considering how boisterous were the waves1 and would soon afterwards smite with the sword1 and risk himself in the ,high ,priest's palace1 without seeing his way through either adventure1 exactly so in this bewildering presence he ventures into a sentence without knowing how to close it4 ,now this perfect accuracy of character1 so dramatic and yet so unaffected1 is evidence of the truth of this great miracle4 ,to a frank student who knows human nature1 it is a very admirable evidence4 ,to one who knows how clumsily such effects are produced by all but the greatest masters of creative literature1 it is almost decisive4 ,in speaking thus1 he has lowered his ,master to the level of the others1 unconscious that ,moses and ,elijah were only attendants upon ,jesus1 who have come from heaven because ,he is upon earth1 and who speak not of their achievements but of ,his sufferings4 ,if ,peter knew it1 the hour had struck when their work1 the law of ,moses and the utterances of the prophets whom ,elijah represented1 should cease to be the chief impulse in religion1 and without being destroyed1 should be 8fulfilled10 and absorbed in a new system4 ,he was there to whom ,moses in the law1 and the prophets bore witness1 and in ,his presence they had no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth4 ,yet ,peter would fain build equal tabernacles for all alike4 ,now ,st4 ,luke tells us that he interposed just when they were departing1 and apparently in the hope of staying them4 ,but all the narratives convey a strong impression that his words hastened their disappearance1 and decided the manner of it4 ,for while he yet spake1 as if all the vision were eclipsed on being thus misunderstood1 a cloud swept over the three--bright1 yet overshadowing them--and the voice of ,god proclaimed their ,lord to be ,his beloved ,son 7not faithful only1 like ,moses1 as a steward over the house71 and bade them1 instead of desiring to arrest the flight of rival teachers1 hear ,him4 ,too often ,christian souls err after the same fashion4 ,we cling to authoritative teachers1 familiar ordinances1 and traditional views1 good it may be1 and even divinely given1 as if they were not intended wholly to lead us up to ,christ4 ,and in many a spiritual eclipse1 from many a cloud which the heart fears to enter1 the great lesson resounds through the conscience of the believer1 ,hear ,him6 ,did the words remind ,peter how he had lately begun to rebuke his ,lord8 ,did the visible glory1 the ministration of blessed spirits and the voice of ,god1 teach him henceforth to hear and to submit8 ,alas1 he could again contradict ,jesus1 and say ,thou shalt never wash my feet4 ,i never will deny ,thee4 ,and we1 who wonder and blame him1 as easily forget what we are taught4 ,let it be observed that the miraculous and ,divine ,voice reveals nothing new to them4 ,for the words1 ,this is ,my beloved ,son1 and also their drift in raising ,him above all rivalry1 were involved in the recent confession of this very ,peter that ,he was neither ,elijah nor one of the prophets1 but the ,son of the ,living ,god4 ,so true is it that we may receive a truth into our creed1 and even apprehend it with such vital faith as makes us 8blessed10 long before it grasps and subdues our nature1 and saturates the obscure regions where impulse and excitement are controlled4 ,what we all need most is not clearer and sounder views1 but the bringing of our thoughts into subjection to the mind of ,jesus4 ,the ,descent ,from ,the ,mount4 8,and as they were coming down from the mountain1 ,he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen1 save when the ,son of man should have risen again from the dead4 ,and they kept the saying1 questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean4 ,and they asked ,him1 saying1 ,the scribes say that ,elijah must first come4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,elijah indeed cometh first1 and restoreth all things3 and how is it written of the ,son of man1 that ,he should suffer many things and be set at nought8 ,but ,i say unto you1 that ,elijah is come1 and they have also done unto him whatsoever they listed1 even as it is written of ,him40--,,mark ix4 #i-ac 7,r4,v474 ,in what state of mind did the apostles return from beholding the glory of the ,lord1 and ,his ministers from another world8 ,they seem to have been excited1 demonstrative1 ready to blaze abroad the wonderful event which ought to put an end to all men's doubts4 ,they would have been bitterly disappointed1 if they had prematurely exposed their experience to ridicule1 cross-examination1 conjectural theories1 and all the controversy which reduces facts to logical form1 but strips them of their freshness and vitality4 ,in the first age as in the nineteenth1 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 ,christ4 ,therefore ,jesus charged them that they should tell no man4 ,silence would force back the impression upon the depths of their own spirits1 and spread its roots under the surface there4 ,nor was it right to make such a startling demand upon the faith of others before public evidence had been given1 enough to make scepticism blameworthy4 ,his resurrection from the dead would suffice to unseal their lips4 ,and the experience of all the ,church has justified that decision4 ,the resurrection is1 in fact1 the centre of all the miraculous narratives1 the sun which keeps them in their orbit4 ,some of them1 as isolated events1 might have failed to challenge credence4 ,but authority and sanction are given to all the rest by this great and publicly attested marvel1 which has modified history1 and the denial of which makes history at once untrustworthy and incoherent4 ,when ,jesus rose from the dead1 the whole significance of ,his life and its events was deepened4 ,this mention of the resurrection called them away from pleasant day-dreams1 by reminding them that their ,master was to die4 ,for ,him there was no illusion4 ,coming back from the light and voices of heaven1 the cross before ,him was as visible as ever to ,his undazzled eyes1 and ,he was still the sober and vigilant friend to warn them against false hopes4 ,they however found means of explaining the unwelcome truth away4 ,various theories were discussed among them1 what the rising from the dead should mean1 what should be in fact the limit to their silence4 ,this very perplexity1 and the chill upon their hopes1 aided them to keep the matter close4 ,one hope was too strong not to be at least hinted to ,jesus4 ,they had just seen ,elias4 ,surely they were right in expecting his interference1 as the scribes had taught4 ,instead of a lonely road pursued by the ,messiah to a painful death1 should not that great prophet come as a forerunner and restore all things8 ,how then was murderous opposition possible8 ,and ,jesus answered that one day this should come to pass4 ,the herald should indeed reconcile all hearts1 before the great and notable day of the ,lord come4 ,but for the present time there was another question4 ,that promise to which they clung1 was it their only light upon futurity8 ,was not the assertion quite as plain that the ,son of ,man should suffer many things and be set at nought8 ,so far was ,jesus from that state of mind in which men buoy themselves up with false hope4 ,no apparent prophecy1 no splendid vision1 deceived ,his unerring insight4 ,and yet no despair arrested ,his energies for one hour4 ,but1 ,he added1 ,elias had already been offered to this generation in vain2 they had done to him as they listed4 ,they had re-enacted what history recorded of his life on earth4 ,then a veil dropped from the disciples' eyes4 ,they recognised the dweller in lonely places1 the man of hairy garment and ascetic life1 persecuted by a feeble tyrant who cowered before his rebuke1 and by the deadlier hatred of an adulterous queen4 ,they saw how the very name of ,elias raised a probability that the second prophet should be treated 8as it is written of0 the first4 ,if then they had so strangely misjudged the preparation of ,his way1 what might they not apprehend of the issue8 ,so should also the ,son of man suffer of them4 ,do we wonder that they had not hitherto recognised the prophet8 ,perhaps1 when all is made clear at last1 we shall wonder more at our own refusals of reverence1 our blindness to the meaning of noble lives1 our moderate and qualified respect for men of whom the world is not worthy4 ,how much solid greatness would some of us overlook1 if it went with an unpolished and unattractive exterior8 ,now the ,baptist was a rude and abrupt person1 of little culture1 unwelcome in kings' houses4 ,yet no greater had been born of woman4 ,the ,demoniac ,boy4 8,and when they came to the disciples1 they saw a great multitude about them1 and scribes questioning with them4 ,and straightway all the multitude1 when they saw ,him1 were greatly amazed1 and running to ,him saluted ,him4 ,and ,he asked them1 ,what question ye with them8 ,and one of the multitude answered ,him1 ,master1 ,i brought unto ,thee my son1 which hath a dumb spirit2 and wheresoever it taketh him1 it dasheth him down3 and he foameth1 and grindeth his teeth1 and pineth away3 and ,i spake to ,thy disciples that they should cast it out2 and they were not able4 ,and ,he answered them and saith1 ,o faithless generation1 how long shall ,i be with you8 how long shall ,i bear with you8 bring him unto ,me4 ,and they brought him unto ,him3 and when ,he saw him1 straightway the spirit tare him grievously2 and he fell on the ground1 and wallowed foaming4 ,and ,he asked his father1 ,how long time is it since this hath come unto him8 ,and he said1 ,from a child4 ,and oft-times it hath cast him both into the fire and into the waters1 to destroy him3 but if ,thou canst do anything1 have compassion on us1 and help us4 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,if thou canst6 ,all things are possible to him that believeth4 ,straightway the father of the child cried out1 and said1 ,i believe2 help ,thou mine unbelief4 ,and when ,jesus saw that a multitude came running together1 ,he rebuked the unclean spirit1 saying unto him1 ,thou dumb and deaf spirit1 ,i command thee1 come out of him1 and enter no more into him4 ,and having cried out1 and torn him much1 he came out3 and the child became as one dead2 insomuch that the more part said1 ,he is dead4 ,but ,jesus took ,him by the hand1 and raised him up2 and he arose6 ,and when ,he was come into the house1 ,his disciples asked ,him privately1 saying1 ,we could not cast it out4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,this kind can come out by nothing1 save by prayer40--,,mark ix4 #ad-bi 7,r4,v474 ,peter soon had striking evidence that it would not have been 8good0 for them to linger too long upon the mountain4 ,and our ,lord was recalled with painful abruptness from the glories of transfiguration to the scepticism of scribes1 the failure and shame of disciples1 and the triumph of the powers of evil4 ,to the ,twelve ,he had explicitly given authority over devils1 and even the ,seventy1 venturing by faith to cast them out1 had told ,him of their success with joy4 ,but now1 in the sorrow and fear of these latter days1 deprived of their ,master and of their own foremost three1 oppressed with gloomy forebodings1 and infected with the worldliness which fails to pray1 the nine had striven in vain4 ,it is the only distinct repulse recorded1 and the scribes attacked them keenly4 ,where was their ,master at this crisis8 ,did not they profess equally to have the necessary power8 ,here was a test1 and some failed1 and the others did not present themselves4 ,we can imagine the miserable scene1 contrasting piteously with what passed on the summit of the hill4 ,and in the centre was an agonized father and a tortured lad4 ,at this moment the crowds1 profoundly moved1 rushed to meet the ,lord1 and on seeing ,him1 became aware that failure was at an end4 ,perhaps the exceeding brightness lingered still upon ,his face2 perhaps it was but the unearthly and victorious calm of ,his consecration1 visible in ,his mien2 what is certain is that they were greatly amazed1 and ran to ,him and did homage4 ,jesus at once challenged a renewal of the attack which had been too much for ,his apostles4 8,what question ye with them80 ,but awe has fallen upon the scribes also1 and misery is left to tell its own tale4 ,their attack by preference upon the disciples is very natural1 and it by no means stands alone4 ,they did not ask ,him1 but ,his followers1 why ,he ate and drank with sinners1 nor whether ,he paid the half-shekel 7,mark ii4 #af2 ,matt4 xvii4 #bd74 ,when they did complain to the ,master ,himself1 it was commonly of some fault in ,his disciples3 ,why do ,thy disciples fast not8 ,why they do on the ,sabbath day that which is not lawful8 ,why do they eat with defiled hands8 7,mark ii4 #ah1 #bd2 vii4 #e74 ,their censures of ,himself were usually muttered or silent murmurings1 which ,he discerned1 as when ,he forgave the sins of the palsied man2 when the ,pharisee marvelled that ,he had not washed ,his hands2 when ,he accepted the homage of the sinful woman1 and again when ,he spoke her pardon 7,mark ii4 #h2 ,luke xi4 #ch2 vii4 #ci-di74 ,when ,he healed the woman whom a spirit of infirmity had bent down for eighteen years1 the ruler of the synagogue spoke to the people1 without venturing to address ,jesus4 7,luke xiii4 #ad74 ,it is important to observe such indications1 unobtrusive1 and related by various evangelists1 of the majesty and impressiveness which surrounded our ,lord1 and awed even ,his bitter foes4 ,the silence is broken by an unhappy father1 who had been the centre of the group1 but whom the abrupt movement to meet ,jesus has merged in the crowd again4 ,the case of his son is among those which prove that demoniacal possession did not imply the exceptional guilt of its victims1 for though still young1 he has suffered long4 ,the demon which afflicts him is dumb2 it works in the guise of epilepsy1 and as a disease it is affected by the changes of the moon2 a malicious design is visible in frequent falls into fire and water1 to destroy him4 ,the father had sought ,jesus with him1 and since ,he was absent had appealed to ,his followers1 but in vain4 ,some consequent injury to his own faith1 clearly implied in what follows1 may possibly be detected already1 in the absence of any further petition1 and in the cold epithet1 8,teacher10 which he employs4 ,even as an evidence the answer of ,jesus is remarkable1 being such as human ingenuity would not have invented1 nor the legendary spirit have conceived4 ,it would have seemed natural that ,he should hasten to vindicate ,his claims and expose the folly of the scribes1 or else have reproached ,his followers for the failure which had compromised ,him4 ,but the scribes were entirely set aside from the moment when the ,good ,physician was invoked by a bleeding heart4 ,yet the physical trouble is dealt with deliberately1 not in haste1 as by one whose mastery is assured4 ,the passing shadow which has fallen on ,his cause only concerns ,him as a part of the heavy spiritual burden which oppresses ,him1 which this terrible scene so vividly exhibits4 ,for the true importance of ,his words is this1 that they reveal sufferings which are too often forgotten1 and which few are pure enough even to comprehend4 ,the prevalent evil weighed upon ,him4 ,and here the visible power of ,satan1 the hostility of the scribes1 the failure of ,his own1 the suspense and agitation of the crowd1 all breathed the spirit of that evil age1 alien and harsh to ,him as an infected atmosphere4 ,he blames none more than others2 it is the 8generation10 so faithless and perverse1 which forces ,him to exclaim3 8,how long shall ,i be with you8 how long shall ,i bear with you80 ,it is the cry of the pain of ,jesus4 ,it bids us to consider ,him ,who endured such contradiction of sinners1 who were even sinners against ,himself4 ,so that the distress of ,jesus was not that of a mere eye-witness of evil or sufferer by it4 ,his priesthood established a closer and more agonizing connection between our ,lord and the sins which tortured ,him4 ,do the words startle us1 with the suggestion of a limit to the forbearance of ,jesus1 well-nigh reached8 ,there was such a limit4 ,the work of ,his messenger had been required1 lest ,his coming should be to smite the world4 ,his mind was the mind of ,god1 and it is written1 ,kiss the ,son1 lest ,he be angry4 ,now if ,jesus looked forward to shame and anguish with natural shrinking1 we here perceive another aspect in which ,his coming ,baptism of ,blood was viewed1 and we discover why ,he was straitened until it was accomplished4 ,there is an intimate connection between this verse and ,his saying in ,st4 ,john1 8,if ye loved ,me1 ye would rejoice1 because ,i go unto ,my ,father40 ,but swiftly the mind of ,jesus recurs to the misery which awaits help2 and ,he bids them bring the child to ,him4 ,now the sweet influence of ,his presence would have soothed and mitigated any mere disease4 ,it is to such influence that sceptical writers are wont to turn for an explanation1 such as it is1 of the works ,he wrought4 ,but it was the reverse in cases of possession4 ,there a wild sense of antagonism and revolt was wont to show itself4 ,and we might learn that this was something more than epilepsy1 even were it left doubtful otherwise1 by the outburst of ,satanic rage4 ,when he saw ,him1 straightway the spirit convulsed him grievously1 and he fell wallowing and foaming4 ,yet ,jesus is neither hurried nor agitated4 ,in not one of ,his miracles does precipitation1 or mere impulse1 mingle with ,his grave and self-contained compassion4 ,he will question the scribes while the man with a withered hand awaits ,his help4 ,he will rebuke the disciples before quelling the storm4 ,at ,nain ,he will touch the bier and arrest the bearers4 ,when ,he feeds the multitude1 ,he will first command a search for loaves4 ,he will stand still and call ,bartimus to ,him4 ,he will evoke1 even by seeming harshness1 the faith of the woman of ,canaan4 ,he will have the stone rolled away from the sepulchre of ,lazarus4 ,when ,he ,himself rises1 the grave-clothes are found folded up1 and the napkin which bound ,his head laid in a place by itself1 the last tribute of mortals to ,his mortality not being flung contemptuously aside4 ,all ,his miracles are authenticated by the stamp of the same character--serene1 not in haste nor tardy1 since ,he saw the end from the beginning4 ,in this case delay is necessary1 to arouse the father1 if only by interrogation1 from his dull disappointment and hopelessness4 ,he asks therefore 8,how long time is it since this came upon him80 and the answer shows that he was now at least a stripling1 for he had suffered ever since he was a child4 ,then the unhappy man is swept away by his emotions3 as he tells their sorrows1 and thinks what a wretched life or miserable death lies before his son1 he bursts into a passionate appeal4 ,if ,thou canst do anything1 do this4 ,let pity for such misery1 for the misery of father as well as child1 evoke all ,thy power to save4 ,the form is more disrespectful than the substance of his cry2 its very vehemence is evidence that some hope is working in his breast2 and there is more real trust in its wild urgency than in many a reverential and carefully weighed prayer4 ,yet how much rashness1 self-assertion1 and wilfulness 7which is really unbelief7 were mingled with his germinant faith and needed rebuke4 ,therefore ,christ responded with his own word3 8,if thou canst3 thou sayest it to ,me1 but ,i retort the condition upon thyself3 with thee are indeed the issues of thine own application1 for all things are possible to him that believeth40 ,this answer is in two respects important4 ,there was a time when popular religion dealt too much with internal experience and attainment4 ,but perhaps there are schools among us now which verge upon the opposite extreme4 ,faith and love are generally strongest when they forget themselves1 and do not say 8,i am faithful and loving10 but 8,christ is trustworthy1 ,christ is adorable40 ,this is true1 and these virtues are becoming artificial1 and so false1 as soon as they grow self-complacent4 ,yet we should give at least enough attention to our own attainments to warn us of our deficiencies4 ,and wherever we find a want of blessedness1 we may seek for the reason within ourselves4 ,many a one is led to doubt whether ,christ 8can do anything0 practical for him1 since private prayer and public ordinances help him little1 and his temptations continue to prevail1 whose true need is to be roused up sharply to the consciousness that it is not ,christ who has failed2 it is he himself3 his faith is dim1 his grasp on his ,lord is half hearted1 he is straitened in his own affections4 ,our personal experiences should never teach us confidence1 but they may often serve to humble and warn us4 ,this answer also impresses upon us the dignity of ,him who speaks4 ,failure had already come through the spiritual defects of ,his disciples1 but for ,him1 though 8meek and lowly of heart10 no such danger is even contemplated4 ,no appeal to ,him can be frustrated except through fault of the suppliant1 since all things are possible to him that believeth4 ,now faith is in itself nothing1 and may even be pernicious2 all its effect depends upon the object4 ,trust reposed in a friend avails or misleads according to his love and his resources2 trust in a traitor is ruinous1 and ruinous in proportion to its energy4 ,and since trust in ,jesus is omnipotent1 ,who and what is ,he8 ,the word pierces like a two-edged sword1 and reveals to the agitated father the conflict1 the impurity of his heart4 ,unbelief is there1 and of himself he cannot conquer it4 ,yet is he not entirely unbelieving1 else what drew him thither8 ,what impulse led to that passionate recital of his griefs1 that over-daring cry of anguish8 ,and what is now this burning sense within him of a great and inspiring ,presence1 which urges him to a bolder appeal for a miracle yet more spiritual and ,divine1 a cry well directed to the ,author and ,finisher of our faith8 ,never was medicine better justified by its operation upon disease1 than the treatment which converted a too-importunate clamour for bodily relief into a contrite prayer for grace4 8,i believe1 help ,thou mine unbelief40 ,the same sense of mixed imperfect and yet real trust should exist in every one of us1 or else our belief being perfect should be irresistible in the moral sphere1 and in the physical world so resigned1 so confident in the ,love which governs1 as never to be conscious of any gnawing importunate desire4 ,and from the same sense of need1 the same cry for help should spring4 ,miraculous legends have gathered around the lives of many good and gracious men within ,christendom and outside it4 ,but they cannot claim to weigh against the history of ,jesus1 until at least one example can be produced of such direct spiritual action1 so profound1 penetrating and effectual1 inextricably interwoven in the tissue of any fable4 ,all this time the agitation of the people had increased4 ,a multitude was rushing forward1 whose excitement would do more to distract the father's mind than further delay to help him4 ,and ,jesus1 even in the midst of ,his treatment of souls1 was not blind to such practical considerations1 or to the influence of circumstances4 ,unlike modern dealers in sensation1 ,he can never be shown to have aimed at religious excitement1 while it was ,his custom to discourage it4 ,therefore ,he now rebuked the unclean spirit in the lad1 addressing it directly speaking as a superior4 8,thou deaf and dumb spirit1 ,i command thee1 come out of him10 and adding1 with explicitness which was due perhaps to the obstinate ferocity of 8this kind10 or perhaps was intended to help the father's lingering unbelief1 8enter no more into him40 ,the evil being obeys1 yet proves his reluctance by screaming and convulsing his victim for the last time1 so that he1 though healed1 lies utterly prostrate1 and 8the more part said1 ,he is dead40 ,it was a fearful exhibition of the disappointed malice of the pit4 ,but it only calls forth another display of the power and love of ,jesus1 ,who will not leave the sufferer to a gradual recovery1 nor speak1 as to the fiend1 in words of mere authority1 but reaches forth ,his benign hand1 and raises him1 restored4 ,here we discover the same heart which provided that the daughter of ,jairus should have food1 and delivered her son to the widow of ,nain1 and was first to remind others that ,lazarus was encumbered by his grave-clothes4 ,the good works of ,jesus were not melodramatic marvels for stage effect3 they were the natural acts of supernatural power and love4 ,jesus ,and ,the ,disciples4 8,and when ,he was come into the house1 ,his disciples asked ,him privately1 saying1 ,we could not cast it out4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,this kind can come out by nothing1 save by prayer4 ,and they went forth from thence1 and passed through ,galilee2 and ,he would not that any man should know it4 ,for ,he taught ,his disciples1 and said unto them1 ,the ,son of man is delivered up into the hands of men1 and they shall kill ,him2 and when ,he is killed1 after three days ,he shall rise again4 ,but they understood not the saying1 and were afraid to ask ,him4 ,and they came to ,capernaum3 and when ,he was in the house ,he asked them1 ,what were ye reasoning in the way8 ,but they held their peace3 for they had disputed one with another in the way1 who was the greatest4 ,and ,he sat down1 and called the twelve2 and ,he saith unto them1 ,if any man would be first1 he shall be last of all1 and minister of all4 ,and ,he took a little child1 and set him in the midst of them3 and taking him in ,his arms1 ,he said unto them1 ,whosoever shall receive one of such little children in ,my name1 receiveth ,me2 and whosoever receiveth ,me1 receiveth not ,me but ,him that sent ,me40--,,mark ix4 #bh-cg 7,r4,v474 ,when the apostles had failed to expel the demon from the child1 they gave a very natural expression to their disappointment4 ,waiting until ,jesus was in private and in the house1 they said1 8,we for our parts were unable to cast it out40 ,they take no blame to themselves4 ,the tone is rather of perplexity and complaint because the commission formerly received had not held good4 ,and it implies the question which is plainly expressed by ,st4 ,matthew1 ,why could we not cast it out8 ,their very unconsciousness of personal blame is ominous1 and ,jesus replies that the fault is entirely their own4 ,they ought to have stimulated1 as ,he did afterwards1 what was flagging but not absent in the father1 what their failure must have daunted further in him4 ,want of faith had overcome them1 says the fuller account3 the brief statement in ,st4 ,mark is1 8,this kind 7of demon7 can come out by nothing but by prayer02 to which fasting was added as a second condition by ancient copyists1 but without authority4 ,what is important is to observe the connection between faith and prayer2 so that while the devil would only have gone out if they had prayed1 or even perhaps only if they had been men of prayer1 yet their failure was through unbelief4 ,it plainly follows that prayer is the nurse of faith1 and would have strengthened it so that it should prevail4 ,only in habitual communion with ,god can we learn to trust ,him aright4 ,there1 as we feel ,his nearness1 as we are reminded that ,he bends to hear our cry1 as the sense of eternal and perfect power blends with that of immeasurable love1 and ,his sympathy becomes a realized abiding fact1 as our vainglory is rebuked by confessions of sin1 and of dependence1 it is made possible for man to wield the forces of the spiritual world and yet not to be intoxicated with pride4 ,the nearness of ,god is inconsistent with boastfulness of man4 ,for want of this1 it was better that the apostles should fail and be humbled1 than succeed and be puffed up4 ,there are promises still unenjoyed1 dormant and unexercised powers at the disposal of the ,church to-day4 ,if in many ,christian families the children are not practically holy1 if purity and consecration are not leavening our ,christian land1 where after so many centuries license is but little abashed and the faith of ,jesus is still disputed1 if the heathen are not yet given for our ,lord's inheritance nor the uttermost parts of the earth for ,his possession--why are we unable to cast out the devils that afflict our race8 ,it is because our efforts are so faithless4 ,and this again is because they are not inspired and elevated by sufficient communion with our ,god in prayer4 ,further evidences continued to be given of the dangerous state of the mind of ,his followers1 weighed down by earthly hopes and fears1 wanting in faith and prayer1 and therefore open to the sinister influences of the thief who was soon to become the traitor4 ,they were now moving for the last time through ,galilee4 ,it was a different procession from those glad circuits1 not long before1 when enthusiasm everywhere rose high1 and sometimes the people would have crowned ,him4 ,now ,he would not that any man should know it4 ,the word which tells of ,his journey seems to imply that ,he avoided the main thoroughfares1 and went by less frequented by-ways4 ,partly no doubt ,his motives were prudential1 resulting from the treachery which ,he discerned4 ,partly it was because ,his own spirit was heavily weighed upon1 and retirement was what ,he needed most4 ,and certainly most of all because crowds and tumult would have utterly unfitted the apostles to learn the hard lesson1 how vain their daydreams were1 and what a trial lay before their ,master4 ,we read that 8,he taught them0 this1 which implies more than a single utterance1 as also perhaps does the remarkable phrase in ,st4 ,luke1 8,let these sayings sink into your ears40 ,when the warning is examined1 we find it almost a repetition of what they had heard after ,peter's great confession4 ,then they had apparently supposed the cross of their ,lord to be such a figurative one as all ,his followers have to bear4 ,even after the ,transfiguration1 the chosen three had searched for a meaning for the resurrection from the dead4 ,but now1 when the words were repeated with a naked1 crude1 resolute distinctness1 marvellous from the lips of ,him ,who should endure the reality1 and evidently chosen in order to beat down their lingering evasive hopes1 when ,he says 8,they shall kill ,him1 and when ,he is killed1 after three days ,he shall rise again10 surely they ought to have understood4 ,in fact they comprehended enough to shrink from hearing more4 ,they did not dare to lift the veil which covered a mystery so dreadful2 they feared to ask ,him4 ,it is a natural impulse1 not to know the worst4 ,insolvent tradesmen leave their books unbalanced4 ,the course of history would have run in another channel1 if the great ,napoleon had looked in the face the need to fortify his own capital while plundering others4 ,no wonder that these ,galileans recoiled from searching what was the calamity which weighed so heavily upon the mighty spirit of their ,master4 ,do not men stifle the voice of conscience1 and refuse to examine themselves whether they are in the faith1 in the same abject dread of knowing the facts1 and looking the inevitable in the face8 ,how few there are1 who bear to think1 calmly and well1 of the certainties of death and judgment8 ,but at the appointed time1 the inevitable arrived for the disciples4 ,the only effect of their moral cowardice was that it found them unready1 surprised and therefore fearful1 and still worse1 prepared to forsake ,jesus by having already in heart drawn away from ,him1 by having refused to comprehend and share ,his sorrows4 ,it is easy to blame them1 to assume that in their place we should not have been partakers in their evil deeds1 to make little of the chosen foundation stones upon which ,christ would build ,his ,new ,jerusalem4 ,but in so doing we forfeit the sobering lessons of their weakness1 who failed1 not because they were less than we1 but because they were not more than mortal4 ,and we who censure them are perhaps indolently refusing day by day to reflect1 to comprehend the meaning of our own lives and of their tendencies1 to realize a thousand warnings1 less terrible only because they continue to be conditional1 but claiming more attention for that very reason4 ,contrast with their hesitation the noble fortitude with which ,christ faced ,his agony4 ,it was ,his1 and their concern in it was secondary4 ,yet for their sakes ,he bore to speak of what they could not bear to hear4 ,therefore to ,him there came no surprise1 no sudden shock2 ,his arrest found ,him calm and reassured after the conflict in the ,garden1 and after all the preparation which had already gone forward through all these latter days4 ,one only ingredient in ,his cup of bitterness is now added to those which had been already mentioned3 8,the ,son of man is delivered up into the hands of men40 ,and this is the same which ,he mentioned in the ,garden3 8,the ,son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners40 ,it was that from which ,david recoiled when he said1 8,let me fall into the hands of ,god1 but let me not fall into the hands of men40 ,suffering has not reached its height until conscious malice designs the pang1 and says1 8,so would we have it40 ,especially true was this of the most tender of all hearts4 ,yet this also ,jesus foreknew1 while ,he steadfastly set ,his face to go toward ,jerusalem4 ,faithless inability to grapple with the powers of darkness1 faithless unreadiness to share the cross of ,jesus1 what was to be expected next8 ,estrangement1 jealousy and ambition1 the passions of the world heaving in the bosom of the ,church4 ,but while they fail to discern the spirit of ,judas1 the ,lord discerned theirs1 and asked them in the house1 ,what were ye reasoning in the way8 ,it was a sweet and gentle prudence1 which had not corrected them publicly nor while their tempers were still ruffled1 nor in the language of severe rebuke1 for by the way they had not only reasoned but disputed one with another1 who was the greatest4 ,language of especial honour had been addressed to ,peter4 ,three had become possessed of a remarkable secret on the ,holy ,mount1 concerning which hints on one side1 and surmises on the other1 may easily have excited jealousy4 ,the failure of the nine to cast out the devil would also1 as they were not humbled1 render them irritable and self-asserting4 ,but they held their peace4 ,no one asserted his right to answer on behalf of all4 ,peter1 who was so willingly their spokesman at other times1 did not vindicate his boasted pre-eminence now4 ,the claim which seemed so reasonable while they forgot ,jesus1 was a thing to blush for in ,his presence4 ,and they1 who feared to ask ,him of ,his own sufferings1 knew enough to feel the contrast between their temper1 their thoughts and ,his4 ,would that we too by prayer and self-examination1 more often brought our desires and ambitions into the searching light of the presence of the lowly ,king of kings4 ,the calmness of their ,lord was in strange contrast with their confusion4 ,he pressed no further ,his inquiry1 but left them to weigh ,his silence in this respect against their own4 ,but importing by ,his action something deliberate and grave1 ,he sat down and called the ,twelve1 and pronounced the great law of ,christian rank1 which is lowliness and the lowliest service4 8,if any man would be the first1 he shall be the least of all1 and the servant of all40 ,when ,kaisers and ,popes ostentatiously wash the feet of paupers1 they do not really serve1 and therefore they exhibit no genuine lowliness4 ,christ does not speak of the luxurious nursing of a sentiment1 but of that genuine humility which effaces itself that it may really become a servant of the rest4 ,nor does ,he prescribe this as a penance1 but as the appointed way to eminence4 ,something similar ,he had already spoken1 bidding men sit down in the lowest room1 that the ,master of the house might call them higher4 ,but it is in the next chapter1 when despite this lesson the sons of ,zebedee persisted in claiming the highest places1 and the indignation of the rest betrayed the very passion it resented1 that ,jesus fully explains how lowly service1 that wholesome medicine for ambition1 is the essence of the very greatness in pursuit of which men spurn it4 ,to the precept1 which will then be more conveniently examined1 ,jesus now added a practical lesson of amazing beauty4 ,in the midst of twelve rugged and unsympathetic men1 the same who1 despite this action1 presently rebuked parents for seeking the blessing of ,christ upon their babes1 ,jesus sets a little child4 ,what but the grace and love which shone upon the sacred face could have prevented this little one from being utterly disconcerted8 ,but children have a strange sensibility for love4 ,presently this happy child was caught up in ,his arms1 and pressed to ,his bosom1 and there ,he seems to have lain while ,john1 possibly conscience-stricken1 asked a question and received an unexpected answer4 ,and the silent pathetic trust of this ,his lamb found its way to the heart of ,jesus1 who presently spoke of 8these little ones who believe in ,me0 7v4 #db74 ,meanwhile the child illustrated in a double sense the rule of greatness which ,he had laid down4 ,so great is lowliness that ,christ ,himself may be found in the person of a little child4 ,and again1 so great is service1 that in receiving one1 even one1 of the multitude of children who claim our sympathies1 we receive the very ,master2 and in that lowly ,man1 who was among them as ,he that serveth1 is manifested the very ,god3 whoso receiveth ,me receiveth not ,me but ,him that sent me4 ,offences4 8,john said unto ,him1 ,master1 we saw one casting out devils in ,thy ,name3 and we forbade him1 because he followed not us4 ,but ,jesus said1 ,forbid him not3 for there is no man which shall do a mighty work in ,my name1 and be able quickly to speak evil of ,me4 ,for he that is not against us is for us4 ,for whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink1 because ye are ,christ's1 verily ,i say unto you1 he shall in no wise lose his reward4 ,and whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on ,me to stumble1 it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck1 and he were cast into the sea4 ,and if thy hand cause thee to stumble1 cut it off3 it is good for thee to enter into life maimed1 rather than having thy two hands to go into hell1 into the unquenchable fire4 ,and if thy foot cause thee to stumble1 cut it off3 it is good for thee to enter into life halt1 rather than having thy two feet to be cast into hell4 ,and if thine eye cause thee to stumble1 cast it out3 it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of ,god with one eye1 rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell2 where their worm dieth not1 and the fire is not quenched4 ,for every one shall be salted with fire4 ,salt is good3 but if the salt have lost its saltness1 wherewith will ye season it8 ,have salt in yourselves1 and be at peace one with another40--,,mark ix4 #ch-ej 7,r4,v474 ,when ,jesus spoke of the blessedness of receiving in ,his name even a little child1 the conscience of ,st4 ,john became uneasy4 ,they had seen one casting out devils in that name1 and had forbidden him1 8because he followeth not us40 ,the spirit of partizanship which these words betray is somewhat softer in ,st4 ,luke1 but it exists4 ,he reports 8because he followeth not 7,jesus7 with us40 ,the behaviour of the disciples all through this period is unsatisfactory4 ,from the time when ,peter contradicted and rebuked ,jesus1 down to their final desertion1 there is weakness at every turn4 ,and this is a curious example of it1 that immediately after having failed themselves17#ab7 they should rebuke another for doing what their ,master had once declared could not possibly be an evil work4 ,if ,satan cast out ,satan his house was divided against itself3 if the finger of ,god was there no doubt the kingdom of ,god was come unto them4 ,it is interesting and natural that ,st4 ,john should have introduced the question4 ,others were usually more forward1 but that was because he was more thoughtful4 ,peter went first into the sepulchre2 but he first1 seeing what was there1 believed4 ,and it was he who said 8,it is the ,lord10 although ,peter thereupon plunged into the lake to reach ,him4 ,discerning and grave3 such is the character from which his ,gospel would naturally come1 and it belongs to him who first discerned the rebuke to their conduct implied in the words of ,jesus4 ,he was right4 ,the ,lord answered1 8,forbid him not1 for there is no man which shall do a mighty work in ,my name1 and be able quickly to speak evil of ,me30 his own action would seal his lips2 he would have committed himself4 ,now this points out a very serious view of human life1 too often overlooked4 ,the deed of to-day rules to-morrow2 one is half enslaved by the consequences of his own free will4 ,let no man1 hesitating between two lines of action1 ask1 ,what harm in this8 what use in that8 without adding1 ,and what future actions1 good or evil1 may they carry in their train8 ,the man whom they had rebuked was at least certain to be for a time detached from the opponents of truth1 silent if not remonstrant when it was assailed1 diluting and enfeebling the enmity of its opponents4 ,and so ,christ laid down the principle1 8,he that is not against us is for us40 ,in ,st4 ,luke the words are more plainly pointed against this party spirit1 8,he that is not against you is for you40 ,how shall we reconcile this principle with ,christ's declaration elsewhere1 8,he that is not with ,me is against ,me1 and he that gathereth not with ,me scattereth08 ,it is possible to argue that there is no contradiction whatever1 for both deny the existence of a neutral class1 and from this it equally follows that he who is not with is against1 and he who is not against is with us4 ,but this answer only evades the difficulty1 which is1 that one passage reckons seeming neutrality as friendship1 while the other denounces it as enmity4 ,a closer examination reveals a more profound reconciliation4 ,in ,st4 ,matthew1 ,christ announced ,his own personal claim2 in ,st4 ,mark ,he declares that ,his people must not share it4 ,towards ,christ ,himself1 indifference is practical rejection4 ,the manifestation of ,god was not made to be criticised or set aside3 ,he loves them who love ,him2 ,he demands the hearts ,he died for2 and to give ,him less is to refuse ,him the travail of ,his soul4 ,therefore ,he that is not with ,christ is against ,him4 ,the man who boasts that he does no harm but makes no pretence of religion1 is proclaiming that one may innocently refuse ,christ4 ,and it is very noteworthy that ,st4 ,matthew's aphorism was evoked1 like this1 by a question about the casting out of devils4 ,there the ,pharisees had said that ,he cast out devils by ,beelzebub4 ,and ,jesus had warned all who heard1 that in such a controversy1 to be indifferent was to deny him4 ,here1 the man had himself appealed to the power of ,jesus4 ,he had passed1 long ago1 the stage of cool semi-contemptuous indifference4 ,whether he was a disciple of the ,baptist1 not yet entirely won1 or a later convert who shrank from the loss of all things1 what is plain is that he had come far on the way towards ,jesus4 ,it does not follow that he enjoyed a saving faith1 for ,christ will at last profess to many who cast out devils in ,his name1 that ,he never knew them4 ,but intellectual persuasion and some active reliance were there4 ,let them beware of crushing the germs1 because they were not yet developed4 ,nor should the disciples suppose that loyalty to their organization1 although ,christ was with them1 was the same as loyalty to ,him4 8,he that is not against you is for you10 according to ,st4 ,luke4 ,nay more1 8,he that is not against us is for us10 according to ,st4 ,mark4 ,but already ,he had spoken the stronger word1 8,he that is not for ,me is against ,me40 ,no verse has been more employed than this in sectarian controversy4 ,and sometimes it has been pressed too far4 ,the man whom ,st4 ,john would have silenced was not spreading a rival organization2 and we know how the same ,apostle wrote1 long afterwards1 of those who did so3 8,if they had been of us1 they would have continued with us2 but they went out that they might be made manifest how all they are not of us0 7#a ,john ii4 #ai74 ,this was simply a doer of good without ecclesiastical sanction1 and the warning of the text is against all who would use the name of discipline or of order to bridle the zeal1 to curb the energies1 of any ,christian soul4 ,but it is at least as often the new movement as the old organization that would silence all who follow not with it4 ,but the energies of ,christ and ,his gospel can never be monopolized by any organization whatsoever4 ,every good gift and every perfect gift1 wherever we behold it1 is from ,him4 ,all help1 then1 is to be welcomed2 not to hinder is to speed the cause4 ,and therefore ,jesus1 repeating a former saying1 adds that whosoever1 moved by the name of ,christ1 shall give ,his followers one cup of water1 shall be rewarded4 ,he may be and continue outside the ,church2 his after life may be sadly inconsistent with this one action3 that is not the question2 the sole condition is the genuine motive--one impulse of true respect1 one flicker of loyalty1 only decided enough to speed the weary ambassador with the simplest possible refreshment1 should 8in no wise lose its reward40 ,does this imply that the giver should assuredly enter heaven8 ,alas1 no4 ,but this it says1 that every spark of fire in the smoking flax is tended1 every gracious movement is answered by a gift of further grace1 to employ or to abuse4 ,not more surely is the thirsty disciple refreshed1 than the feverish worldliness of him who just attains to render this service is fanned and cooled by breezes from heaven1 he becomes aware of a deeper and nobler life1 he is melted and drawn towards better things4 ,very blessed1 or very miserable is he who cannot remember the holy shame1 the yearning1 the sigh because he is not always thus1 which followed naturally upon some deed1 small in itself perhaps1 but good enough to be inconsistent with his baser self4 ,the deepening of spiritual capacity is one exceeding great reward of every act of loyalty to ,christ4 ,this was graciously said of a deed done to the apostles1 despite their failures1 rivalries1 and rebukes of those who would fain speed the common cause4 ,not1 however1 because they were apostles1 but 8because ye are ,christ's40 ,and so was the least1 so was the child who clung to ,him4 ,but if the slightest sympathy with these is thus laden with blessing1 then to hinder1 to cause to stumble one such little one1 how terrible was that4 ,better to die a violent and shameful death1 and never sleep in a peaceful grave4 ,there is a worse peril than from others4 ,we ourselves may cause ourselves to stumble4 ,we may pervert beyond recall things innocent1 natural1 all but necessary1 things near and dear and useful to our daily life as are our very limbs4 ,the loss of them may be so lasting a deprivation that we shall enter heaven maimed4 ,but if the moral evil is irrevocably identified with the worldly good1 we must renounce it4 ,the hand with its subtle and marvellous power may well stand for harmless accomplishments now fraught with evil suggestiveness2 for innocent modes of livelihood which to relinquish means crippled helplessness1 yet which have become hopelessly entangled with unjust or at least questionable ways2 for the great possessions1 honestly come by1 which the ruler would not sell2 for all endowments which we can no longer hope to consecrate1 and which make one resemble the old ,chaldeans1 whose might was their god1 who sacrificed to their net and burned incense to their drag4 ,and the foot1 with its swiftness in boyhood1 its plodding walk along the pavement in maturer age1 may well represent the caprices of youth so hard to curb1 and also the half-mechanical habits which succeed to these1 and by which manhood is ruled1 often to its destruction4 ,if the hand be capacity1 resource1 and possession1 the foot is swift perilous impulse1 and also fixed habitude1 monotonous recurrence1 the settled ways of the world4 ,cut off hand and foot1 and what is left to the mutilated trunk1 the ravaged and desolated life8 ,desire is left2 the desire of the eyes4 ,the eyes may not touch the external world2 all may now be correct in our actions and intercourse with men4 ,but yet greed1 passion1 inflamed imagination may desecrate the temple of the soul4 ,the eyes misled ,eve when she saw that the fruit was good1 and ,david on his palace roof4 ,before the eyes of ,jesus1 ,satan spread his third and worst temptation4 ,and our ,lord seems to imply that this last sacrifice of the worst because the deepest evil must be made with indignant vehemence2 hand and foot must be cut off1 but the eye must be cast out1 though life be half darkened in the process4 ,these latter days have invented a softer gospel1 which proclaims that even the fallen err if they utterly renounce any good creature of ,god1 which ought to be received with thanksgiving2 that the duty of moderation and self-control can never be replaced by renunciation1 and that distrust of any lawful enjoyment revives the ,manichean heresy4 ,is the eye a good creature of ,god8 ,may the foot be received with thanksgiving8 ,is the hand a source of lawful enjoyment8 ,yet ,jesus made these the types of what must1 if it has become an occasion of stumbling1 be entirely cast away4 ,he added that in such cases the choice is between mutilation and the loss of all4 ,it is no longer a question of the full improvement of every faculty1 the doubling of all the talents1 but a choice between living a life impoverished and half spoiled1 and going complete to ,gehenna1 to the charnel valley where the refuse of ,jerusalem was burned in a continual fire1 and the worm of corruption never died4 ,the expression is too metaphorical to decide such questions as that of the eternal duration of punishment1 or of the nature of the suffering of the lost4 ,the metaphors of ,jesus1 however1 are not employed to exaggerate ,his meaning1 but only to express it4 ,and what ,he said is this3 ,the man who cherishes one dear and excusable occasion of offence1 who spares himself the keenest spiritual surgery1 shall be cast forth with everything that defileth1 shall be ejected with the offal of the ,new ,jerusalem1 shall suffer corruption like the transgressors of whom ,isaiah first used the tremendous phrase1 8their worm shall not die1 neither shall their fire be quenched10 shall endure at once internal and external misery1 as of decomposition and of burning4 ,such is the most terrible menace that ever crossed the lips into which grace was poured4 ,and it was not addressed to the outcast or the ,pharisee1 but to ,his own4 ,they were called to the highest life2 on them the influences of the world was to be as constant and as disintegrating as that of the weather upon a mountain top4 ,therefore they needed solemn warning1 and the counter-pressure of those awful issues known to be dependent on their stern self-discipline4 ,they could not1 ,he said in an obscure passage which has been greatly tampered with1 they could not escape fiery suffering in some form4 ,but the fire which tried would preserve and bless them if they endured it2 every one shall be salted with fire4 ,but if they who ought to be the salt of the world received the grace of ,god in vain1 if the salt have lost its saltness1 the case is desperate indeed4 ,and since the need of this solemn warning sprang from their rivalry and partizanship1 ,jesus concludes with an emphatic charge to discipline and correct themselves and to beware of impeding others3 to be searching in the closet1 and charitable in the church3 to have salt in yourselves1 and be at peace with one another4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,divorce4 8,and ,he arose from thence1 and cometh into the borders of ,juda and beyond ,jordan3 and multitudes come together unto ,him again2 and1 as ,he was wont1 ,he taught them again4 ,and there came unto ,him ,pharisees1 and asked ,him1 ,is it lawful for a man to put away his wife8 tempting ,him4 ,and ,he answered and said unto them1 ,what did ,moses command you8 ,and they said1 ,moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement1 and to put her away4 ,but ,jesus said unto them1 ,for your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment4 ,but from the beginning of the creation1 ,male and female made ,he them4 ,for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother1 and shall cleave to his wife2 and the twain shall become one flesh3 so that they are no more twain1 but one flesh4 ,what therefore ,god hath joined together1 let no man put asunder4 ,and in the house the disciples asked ,him again of this matter4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,whosoever shall put away his wife1 and marry another1 committeth adultery against her3 and if she herself shall put away her husband1 and marry another1 she committeth adultery40--,,mark x4 #a-ab 7,r4,v474 ,it is easy to read without emotion that ,jesus arose from the scene of ,his last discourse1 and came into the borders of ,juda beyond ,jordan4 ,but not without emotion did ,jesus bid farewell to ,galilee1 to the home of ,his childhood and sequestered youth1 the cradle of ,his ,church1 the centre of nearly all the love and faith ,he had awakened4 ,when closer still to death1 ,his heart reverted to ,galilee1 and ,he promised that when ,he was risen ,he would go thither before ,his disciples4 ,now ,he had to leave it4 ,and we must not forget that every step ,he took towards ,jerusalem was a deliberate approach to ,his assured and anticipated cross4 ,he was not like other brave men1 who endure death when it arrives1 but are sustained until the crisis by a thousand flattering hopes and undefined possibilities4 ,jesus knew precisely where and how ,he should suffer4 ,and now1 as ,he arose from ,galilee1 every step said1 ,lo1 ,i come to do ,thy will1 ,o ,god4 ,as soon as ,he entered ,perea beyond ,jordan1 multitudes came to ,him again4 ,nor did ,his burdened heart repress ,his zeal3 rather ,he found relief in their importunity and in ,his ,father's business1 and so1 8as ,he was wont1 ,he taught them again40 ,these simple words express the rule ,he lived by1 the patient continuance in well-doing which neither hostilities nor anxieties could chill4 ,not long was ,he left undisturbed4 ,the ,pharisees come to ,him with a question dangerous in itself1 because there is no conceivable answer which will not estrange many1 and especially dangerous for ,jesus1 because already1 on the ,mount1 ,he has spoken upon this subject words at seeming variance with ,his free views concerning sabbath observance1 fasting1 and ceremonial purity4 ,most perilous of all was the decision they expected when given by a teacher already under suspicion1 and now within reach of that ,herod who had1 during the lifetime of his first wife1 married the wife of a living man4 8,is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause80 ,it was a decision upon this very subject which had proved fatal to the forerunner4 ,but ,jesus spoke out plainly4 ,in a question and answer which are variously reported1 what is clear is that ,he carefully distinguished between a command and a permission of ,moses4 ,divorce had been allowed2 yes1 but some reason had been exacted1 whatever disputes might exist about its needful gravity1 and deliberation had been enforced by demanding a legal document1 a writing of divorcement4 ,thus conscience was bidden to examine its motives1 and time was gained for natural relentings4 ,but after all1 ,jesus declared that divorce was only a concession to their hardness of heart4 ,thus we learn that ,old ,testament institutions were not all and of necessity an expression of the ,divine ideal4 ,they were sometimes a temporary concession1 meant to lead to better things2 an expedient rather than a revelation4 ,these words contain the germ of ,st4 ,paul's doctrine that the law itself was a schoolmaster1 and its function temporary4 ,to whatever concessions ,moses had been driven1 the original and unshaken design of ,god was that man and woman should find the permanent completion of their lives each in the other4 ,and this is shown by three separate considerations4 ,the first is the plan of the creation1 making them male and female1 and such that body and soul alike are only perfect when to each its complement is added1 when the masculine element and the feminine 8each fulfils defect in each 444 the two-celled heart beating with one full stroke life40 ,thus by anticipation ,jesus condemned the tame-spirited verdict of ,his disciples1 that since a man cannot relieve himself from a union when it proves galling1 8it is not good0 to marry at all4 ,to this he distinctly answered that such an inference could not prove even tolerable1 except when nature itself1 or else some social wrong1 or else absorbing devotion to the cause of ,god1 virtually cancelled the original design4 ,but already he had here shown that such prudential calculation degrades man1 leaves him incomplete1 traverses the design of ,god ,who from the beginning of the creation made them male and female4 ,in our own days1 the relation between the sexes is undergoing a social and legislative revolution4 ,now ,christ says not a word against the equal rights of the sexes1 and in more than one passage ,st4 ,paul goes near to assert it4 ,but equality is not identity1 either of vocation or capacity4 ,this text asserts the separate and reciprocal vocation of each1 and it is worthy of consideration1 how far the special vocation of womanhood is consistent with loud assertion of her 8separate rights40 ,christ's second proof that marriage cannot be dissolved without sin is that glow of heart1 that noble abandonment1 in which a man leaves even father and mother for the joy of his youth and the love of his espousals4 ,in that sacred hour1 how hideous and base a wanton divorce would be felt to be4 ,now man is not free to live by the mean1 calculating1 selfish afterthought1 which breathes like a frost on the bloom of his noblest impulses and aspirations4 ,he should guide himself by the light of his highest and most generous intuitions4 ,and the third reason is that no man1 by any possibility1 can undo what marriage does4 ,they two are one flesh2 each has become part of the very existence of the other2 and it is simply incredible that a union so profound1 so interwoven with the very tissue of their being1 should lie at the mercy of the caprice or the calculations of one or other1 or of both4 ,such a union arises from the profoundest depths of the nature ,god created1 not from mean cravings of that nature in its degradation2 and like waters springing up from the granite underneath the soil1 it may suffer stain1 but it is in itself free from the contamination of the fall4 ,despite of monkish and of ,manichean slanders1 impure dreams pretending to especial purity1 ,god is ,he ,who joins together man and woman in a bond which 8no man10 king or prelate1 may without guilt dissolve4 ,of what followed1 ,st4 ,mark is content to tell us that in the house1 the disciples pressed the question further4 ,how far did the relaxation which ,moses granted over-rule the original design8 ,to what extent was every individual bound in actual life8 ,and the answer1 given by ,jesus to guide ,his own people through all time1 is clear and unmistakeable4 ,the tie cannot be torn asunder without sin4 ,the first marriage holds1 until actual adultery poisons the pure life in it1 and man or woman who breaks through its barriers commits adultery4 ,the ,baptist's judgment of ,herod was confirmed4 ,so ,jesus taught4 ,ponder well that honest unshrinking grasp of solid detail1 which did not overlook the physical union whereof is one flesh1 that sympathy with high and chivalrous devotion forsaking all else for its beloved one1 that still more spiritual penetration which discerned a ,divine purpose and a destiny in the correlation of masculine and feminine gifts1 of strength and grace1 of energy and gentleness1 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 spoke1 the marriage tie was being relaxed all over the ancient world1 even as godless legislation is to-day relaxing it--reflect that with such relaxation came inevitably a blight upon the family1 resulting in degeneracy and ruin for the nation1 while every race which learned the lesson of ,jesus grew strong and pure and happy--and then say whether this was only a ,judan peasant1 or the ,light of the ,world indeed4 ,christ ,and ,little ,children4 8,and they brought unto ,him little children1 that ,he should touch them3 and the disciples rebuked them4 ,but when ,jesus saw it1 ,he was moved with indignation1 and said unto them1 ,suffer the little children to come unto ,me2 forbid them not3 for of such is the kingdom of ,god4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child1 he shall in no wise enter therein4 ,and ,he took them in ,his arms1 and blessed them1 laying ,his hands upon them40--,,mark x4 #ac-af 7,r4,v474 ,this beautiful story gains new loveliness from its context4 ,the disciples had weighed the advantages and disadvantages of marriage1 and decided in their calculating selfishness1 that the prohibition of divorce made it 8not good for a man to marry40 ,but ,jesus had regarded the matter from quite a different position2 and their saying could only be received by those to whom special reasons forbade the marriage tie4 ,it was then that the fair blossom and opening flower of domestic life1 the tenderness and winning grace of childhood1 appealed to them for a softer judgment4 ,little children 7,st4 ,luke says 8babes07 were brought to ,him to bless1 to touch them4 ,it was a remarkable sight4 ,he was just departing from ,perea on ,his last journey to ,jerusalem4 ,the nation was about to abjure its ,king and perish1 after having invoked ,his blood to be not on them only1 but on their children4 ,but here were some at least of the next generation led by parents who revered ,jesus1 to receive ,his blessing4 ,and who shall dare to limit the influence exerted by that benediction on their future lives8 ,is it forgotten that this very ,perea was the haven of refuge for ,jewish believers when the wrath fell upon their nation8 ,meanwhile the fresh smile of their unconscious1 unstained1 unforeboding infancy met the grave smile of the all-conscious1 death-boding ,man of ,sorrows1 as much purer as it was more profound4 ,but the disciples were not melted4 ,they were occupied with grave questions4 ,babes could understand nothing1 and therefore could receive no conscious intelligent enlightenment4 ,what then could ,jesus do for them8 ,many wise persons are still of quite the same opinion4 ,no spiritual influences1 they tell us1 can reach the soul until the brain is capable of drawing logical distinctions4 ,a gentle mother may breathe softness and love into a child's nature1 or a harsh nurse may jar and disturb its temper1 until the effects are as visible on the plastic face as is the sunshine or storm upon the bosom of a lake2 but for the grace of ,god there is no opening yet4 ,as if soft and loving influences are not themselves a grace of ,god4 ,as if the world were given certain odds in the race1 and the powers of heaven were handicapped4 ,as if the young heart of every child were a place where sin abounds 7since he is a fallen creature1 with an original tendency towards evil71 but where grace doth not at all abound4 ,such is the unlovely theory4 ,and as long as it prevails in the ,church we need not wonder at the compensating error of rationalism1 denying evil where so many of us deny grace4 ,it is the more amiable error of the two4 ,since then the disciples could not believe that edification was for babes1 they naturally rebuked those that brought them4 ,alas1 how often still does the beauty and innocence of childhood appeal to men in vain4 ,and this is so1 because we see not the ,divine grace1 8the kingdom of heaven10 in these4 ,their weakness chafes our impatience1 their simplicity irritates our worldliness1 and their touching helplessness and trustfulness do not find in us heart enough for any glad response4 ,in ancient times they had to pass through the fire to ,moloch1 and since then through other fires3 to fashion when mothers leave them to the hired kindness of a nurse1 to selfishness when their want appeals to our charities in vain1 and to cold dogmatism1 which would banish them from the baptismal font1 as the disciples repelled them from the embrace of ,jesus4 ,but ,he was moved with indignation1 and reiterated1 as men do when they feel deeply1 8,suffer the little children to come unto ,me2 forbid them not40 ,and ,he added this conclusive reason1 8for of such10 of children and childlike men1 8is the kingdom of ,god40 ,what is the meaning of this remarkable assertion8 ,to answer aright1 let us return in fancy to the morning of our days2 let our flesh1 and all our primitive being1 come back to us as those of a little child4 ,we were not faultless then4 ,the theological dogma of original sin1 however unwelcome to many1 is in harmony with all experience4 ,impatience is there1 and many a childish fault2 and graver evils develop as surely as life unfolds1 just as weeds show themselves in summer1 the germs of which were already mingled with the better seed in spring4 ,it is plain to all observers that the weeds of human nature are latent in the early soil1 that this is not pure at the beginning of each individual life4 ,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 brutes8 ,but ,christ never meant to say that the kingdom of heaven was only for the immaculate and stainless4 ,if converted men receive it1 in spite of many a haunting appetite and recurring lust1 then the frailties of our babes shall not forbid us to believe the blessed assurance that the kingdom is also theirs4 ,how many hindrances to the ,divine life fall away from us1 as our fancy recalls our childhood4 ,what weary and shameful memories1 base hopes1 tawdry splendours1 envenomed pleasures1 entangling associations vanish1 what sins need to be confessed no longer1 how much evil knowledge fades out that we never now shall quite unlearn1 which haunts the memory even though the conscience be absolved from it4 ,the days of our youth are not those evil days1 when anything within us saith1 ,my soul hath no pleasure in the ways of ,god4 ,when we ask to what especial qualities of childhood did ,jesus attach so great value1 two kindred attributes are distinctly indicated in ,scripture4 ,one is humility4 ,the previous chapter showed us a little child set in the midst of the emulous disciples1 whom ,christ instructed that the way to be greatest was to become like this little child1 the least4 ,a child is not humble through affectation1 it never professes nor thinks about humility4 ,but it understands1 however imperfectly1 that it is beset by mysterious and perilous forces1 which it neither comprehends nor can grapple with4 ,and so are we4 ,therefore all its instincts and experiences teach it to submit1 to seek guidance1 not to put its own judgment in competition with those of its appointed guides4 ,to them1 therefore1 it clings and is obedient4 ,why is it not so with us8 ,sadly we also know the peril of self-will1 the misleading power of appetite and passion1 the humiliating failures which track the steps of self-assertion1 the distortion of our judgments1 the feebleness of our wills1 the mysteries of life and death amid which we grope in vain4 ,milton anticipated ,sir ,isaac ,newton in describing the wisest 8,as children gathering pebbles on the shore40 ,par4 ,reg41 iv4 #ccj4 ,and if this be so true in the natural world that its sages become as little children1 how much more in those spiritual realms for which our faculties are still so infantile1 and of which our experience is so rudimentary4 ,we should all be nearer to the kingdom1 or greater in it1 if we felt our dependence1 and like the child were content to obey our ,guide and cling to ,him4 ,the second childlike quality to which ,christ attached value was readiness to receive simply4 ,dependence naturally results from humility4 ,man is proud of his independence only because he relies on his own powers2 when these are paralysed1 as in the sickroom or before the judge1 he is willing again to become a child in the hands of a nurse or of an advocate4 ,in the realm of the spirit these natural powers are paralysed4 ,learning cannot resist temptation1 nor wealth expiate a sin4 ,and therefore1 in the spiritual world1 we are meant to be dependent and receptive4 ,christ taught1 in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 that to those who asked ,him1 ,god would give ,his ,spirit as earthly parents give good things to their children4 ,here also we are taught to accept1 to receive the kingdom as little children1 not flattering ourselves that our own exertions can dispense with the free gift1 not unwilling to become pensioners of heaven1 not distrustful of the heart which grants1 not finding the bounties irksome which are prompted by a ,fathers' love4 ,what can be more charming in its gracefulness than the reception of a favour by an affectionate child4 ,his glad and confident enjoyment are a picture of what ours might be4 ,since children receive the kingdom1 and are a pattern for us in doing so1 it is clear that they do not possess the kingdom as a natural right1 but as a gift4 ,but since they do receive it1 they must surely be capable of receiving also that sacrament which is the sign and seal of it4 ,it is a startling position indeed which denies admission into the visible ,church to those of whom is the kingdom of ,god4 ,it is a position taken up only because many1 who would shrink from any such avowal1 half-unconsciously believe that ,god becomes gracious to us only when ,his grace is attracted by skilful movements upon our part1 by conscious and well-instructed efforts1 by penitence1 faith and orthodoxy4 ,but whatever soul is capable of any taint of sin must be capable of compensating influences of the ,spirit1 by ,whom ,jeremiah was sanctified1 and the ,baptist was filled1 even before their birth into this world 7,jer4 i4 #e2 ,luke i4 #ae74 ,christ ,himself1 in ,whom dwelt bodily all the fulness of the ,godhead1 was not therefore incapable of the simplicity and dependence of infancy4 ,having taught ,his disciples this great lesson1 ,jesus let ,his affections loose4 ,he folded the children in ,his tender and pure embrace1 and blessed them much1 laying ,his hands on them1 instead of merely touching them4 ,he blessed them not because they were baptized4 ,but we baptize our children1 because all such have received the blessing1 and are clasped in the arms of the ,founder of the ,church4 ,the ,rich ,inquirer4 8,and as ,he was going forth into the way1 there ran one to ,him1 and kneeled to ,him1 and asked ,him1 ,good ,master1 what shall ,i do that ,i may inherit eternal life8 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,why callest thou ,me good8 none is good save one1 even ,god4 ,thou knowest the commandments1 ,do not kill1 ,do not commit adultery1 ,do not steal1 ,do not bear false witness1 ,do not defraud1 ,honour thy father and mother4 ,and ,he said unto him1 ,master1 all these things have ,i observed from my youth4 ,and ,jesus looking upon him loved him1 and said unto him1 ,one thing thou lackest3 go1 sell whatsoever thou hast1 and give to the poor1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven3 and come1 follow ,me4 ,but his countenance fell at the saying1 and he went away sorrowful3 for he was one that had great possessions40--,,mark x4 #ag-bb 7,r4,v474 ,the excitement stirred by our ,lord's teaching must often have shown itself in a scene of eagerness like this which ,st4 ,mark describes so well4 ,the ,saviour is just 8going forth0 when one rushes to overtake ,him1 and kneels down to ,him1 full of the hope of a great discovery4 ,he is so frank1 so innocent and earnest1 as to win the love of ,jesus4 ,and yet he presently goes away1 not as he came1 but with a gloomy forehead and a heavy heart1 and doubtless with slow reluctance4 ,the authorities were now in such avowed opposition that to be ,christ's disciple was disgraceful if not dangerous to a man of mark4 ,yet no fear withheld this young ruler who had so much to lose2 he would not come by night1 like ,nicodemus before the storm had gathered which was now so dark2 he openly avowed his belief in the goodness of the ,master1 and his own ignorance of some great secret which ,jesus could reveal4 ,there is indeed a charming frankness in his bearing1 so that we admire even his childlike assertion of his own virtues1 while the heights of a nobility yet unattained are clearly possible for one so dissatisfied1 so anxious for a higher life1 so urgent in his questioning1 ,what shall ,i do8 ,what lack ,i yet8 ,that is what makes the difference between the ,pharisee who thanks ,god that he is not as other men1 and this youth who has kept all the commandments1 yet would fain be other than he is1 and readily confesses that all is not enough1 that some unknown act still awaits achievement4 ,the goodness which thinks itself upon the summit will never toil much farther4 ,the conscience that is really awake cannot be satisfied1 but is perplexed rather and baffled by the virtues of a dutiful and well-ordered life4 ,for a chasm ever yawns between the actual and the ideal1 what we have done and what we fain would do4 ,and a spiritual glory1 undefined and perhaps undefinable1 floats ever before the eyes of all men whom the god of this world has not blinded4 ,this inquirer honestly thinks himself not far from the great attainment2 he expects to reach it by some transcendant act1 some great deed done1 and for this he has no doubt of his own prowess1 if only he were well directed4 ,what shall ,i do that ,i may have eternal life1 not of grace1 but as a debt--that ,i may inherit it8 ,thus he awaits direction upon the road where heathenism and semi-heathen ,christianity are still toiling1 and all who would purchase the gift of ,god with money or toil or merit or bitterness of remorseful tears4 ,one easily foresees that the reply of ,jesus will disappoint and humble him1 but it startles us to see him pointed back to works and to the law of ,moses4 ,again1 we observe that what this inquirer seeks he very earnestly believes ,jesus to have attained4 ,and it is no mean tribute to the spiritual elevation of our ,lord1 no doubtful indication that amid perils and contradictions and on ,his road to the cross the peace of ,god sat visibly upon ,his brow1 that one so pure and yet so keenly aware that his own virtue sufficed not1 and that the kingdom of ,god was yet unattained1 should kneel in the dust before the ,nazarene1 and beseech this good ,master to reveal to him all his questioning4 ,it was a strange request1 and it was granted in an unlooked for way4 ,the demand of the ,chaldean tyrant that his forgotten dream should be interpreted was not so extravagant as this1 that the defect in an unknown career should be discovered4 ,it was upon a lofty pedestal indeed that this ruler placed our ,lord4 ,and yet his question supplies the clue to that answer of ,christ which has perplexed so many4 ,the youth is seeking for himself a purely human merit1 indigenous and underived4 ,and the same1 of course1 is what he ascribes to ,jesus1 to ,him who is so far from claiming independent human attainment1 or professing to be what this youth would fain become1 that ,he said1 8,the ,son can do nothing of ,himself 444 ,i can of ,mine own self do nothing40 ,the secret of ,his human perfection is the absolute dependence of ,his humanity upon ,god1 with ,whom ,he is one4 ,no wonder then that ,he repudiates any such goodness as the ruler had in view4 ,the ,socinian finds quite another meaning in ,his reply1 and urges that by these words ,jesus denied ,his ,deity4 ,there is none good but one1 ,that is ,god1 was a reason why ,he should not be called so4 ,jesus however does not remonstrate absolutely against being called good1 but against being thus addressed from this ruler's point of view1 by one who regards ,him as a mere teacher and expects to earn the same title for himself4 ,and indeed the ,socinian who appeals to this text grasps a sword by the blade4 ,for if it denied ,christ's divinity it must exactly to the same extent deny also ,christ's goodness1 which he admits4 ,now it is beyond question that ,jesus differed from all the saints in the serene confidence with which ,he regarded the moral law1 from the time when ,he received the baptism of repentance only that ,he might fulfil all righteousness1 to the hour when ,he cried1 8,why hast ,thou forsaken ,me80 and although deserted1 claimed ,god as still ,his ,god4 ,the saints of to-day were the penitents of yesterday4 ,but ,he has finished the work that was given ,him to do4 ,he knows that ,god hears ,him always1 and in ,him the ,prince of this world hath nothing4 ,and yet there is none good but ,god4 ,who then is ,he8 ,if this saying does not confess what is intolerable to a reverential ,socinian1 what ,strauss and ,renan shrank from insinuating1 what is alien to the whole spirit of the ,gospels1 and assuredly far from the mind of the evangelists1 then it claims all that ,his ,church rejoices to ascribe to ,christ4 ,moreover ,jesus does not deny even to ordinary men the possibility of being 8good40 ,a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things4 ,some shall hear at last the words1 ,well done1 good and faithful servant4 ,the children of the kingdom are good seed among the tares4 ,clearly ,his repugnance is not to the epithet1 but to the spirit in which it is bestowed1 to the notion that goodness can spring spontaneously from the soil of our humanity4 ,but there is nothing here to discourage the highest aspirations of the trustful and dependent soul1 who looks for more grace4 ,the doctrinal importance of this remarkable utterance is what most affects us1 who look back through the dust of a hundred controversies4 ,but it was very secondary at the time1 and what the ruler doubtless felt most was a chill sense of repression and perhaps despair4 ,it was indeed the death-knell of his false hopes4 ,for if only ,god is good1 how can any mortal inherit eternal life by a good deed8 ,and ,jesus goes on to deepen this conviction by words which find a wonderful commentary in ,st4 ,paul's doctrine of the function of the law4 ,it was to prepare men for the gospel by a challenge1 by revealing the standard of true righteousness1 by saying to all who seek to earn heaven1 8,the man that doeth these things shall live by them40 ,the attempt was sure to end in failure1 for1 8by the law is the knowledge of sin40 ,it was exactly upon this principle that ,jesus said 8,keep the commandments10 spiritualizing them1 as ,st4 ,matthew tells us1 by adding to the injunctions of the second table1 8,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself10 which saying1 we know1 briefly comprehends them all4 ,but the ruler knew not how much he loved himself3 his easy life had met no searching and stern demand until now1 and his answer has a tone of relief1 after the ominous words he had first heard4 8,master10 and he now drops the questionable adjective1 8all these have ,i kept from my youth20 these never were so burdensome that he should despair2 not these1 he thinks1 inspired that unsatisfied longing for some good thing yet undone4 ,we pity and perhaps blame the shallow answer1 and the dull perception which it betrayed4 ,but ,jesus looked on him and loved him4 ,and well it is for us that no eyes fully discern our weakness but those which were so often filled with sympathetic tears4 ,he sees error more keenly than the sharpest critic1 but he sees earnestness too4 ,and the love which desired all souls was attracted especially by one who had felt from his youth up the obligation of the moral law1 and had not consciously transgressed it4 ,this is not the teaching of those vile proverbs which declare that wild oats must be sown if one would reap good corn1 and that the greater the sinner the greater will be the saint4 ,nay1 even religionists of the sensational school delight in the past iniquities of those they honour1 not only to glorify ,god for their recovery1 nor with the joy which is in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth1 but as if these possess through their former wickedness some passport to special service now4 ,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 order4 ,the ,baptist was filled with the ,holy ,ghost from his mother's womb4 ,the ,apostle of the ,gentiles was blameless as touching the righteousness of the law4 ,and each ,testament has a special promise for those who seek the ,lord early1 who seek ,his kingdom and righteousness first4 ,the undefiled are nearest to the throne4 ,now mark how endearing1 how unlike the stern zeal of a propagandist1 was ,christ's tender and loving gaze2 and hear the encouraging promise of heavenly treasure1 and offer of ,his own companionship1 which presently softened the severity of ,his demand2 and again1 when all failed1 when ,his followers doubtless scorned the deserter1 ponder the truthful and compassionate words1 ,how hard it is6 ,yet will ,christ teach him how far the spirit of the law pierces1 since the letter has not wrought the knowledge of sin4 ,if he loves his neighbour as himself1 let his needier neighbour receive what he most values4 ,if he loves ,god supremely1 let him be content with treasure in the hands of ,god1 and with a discipleship which shall ever reveal to him1 more and more profoundly1 the will of ,god1 the true nobility of man1 and the way to that eternal life he seeks4 ,the socialist would justify by this verse a universal confiscation4 ,but he forgets that the spirit which seizes all is widely different from that which gives all freely3 that ,zacchus retained half his goods2 that ,joseph of ,arimathea was rich2 that the property of ,ananias was his own1 and when he sold it the price was in his own power2 that ,st4 ,james warned the rich in this world only against trusting in riches instead of trusting ,god1 who gave them all richly1 for enjoyment1 although not to be confided in4 ,soon after this ,jesus accepted a feast from his friends in ,bethany1 and rebuked ,judas who complained that a costly luxury had not been sold for the benefit of the poor4 ,why then is his demand now so absolute8 ,it is simply an application of his bold universal rule1 that every cause of stumbling must be sacrificed1 be it innocent as hand or foot or eye4 ,and affluent indeed would be all the charities and missions of the ,church in these latter days1 if the demand were obeyed in cases where it really applies1 if every luxury which enervates and all pomp which intoxicates were sacrificed1 if all who know that wealth is a snare to them corrected their weakness by rigorous discipline1 their unfruitfulness by a sharp pruning of superfluous frondage4 ,the rich man neither remonstrated nor defended himself4 ,his self-confidence gave way4 ,he felt that what he could not persuade himself to do was a 8good thing40 ,and he who came running went away sorrowful1 and with a face 8lowering0 like the sky which forebodes 8foul weather40 ,that is too often the issue of such vaunting offers4 ,yet feeling his weakness1 and neither resisting nor upbraiding the faithfulness which exposes him1 doubtless he was long disquieted by new desires1 a strange sense of failure and unworthiness1 a clearer vision of that higher life which had already haunted his reveries4 ,henceforward he had no choice but to sink to a baser contentment1 or else rise to a higher self-devotion4 ,who shall say1 because he failed to decide then1 that he persisted for ever in the great refusal8 ,yet was it a perilous and hardening experience1 and it was easier henceforward to live below his ideal1 when once he had turned away from ,christ4 ,nor is there any reason to doubt that the inner circle of our ,lord's immediate followers was then for ever closed against him4 ,who ,then ,can ,be ,saved8 8,and ,jesus looked round about1 and saith unto ,his disciples1 ,how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of ,god6 ,and the disciples were amazed at ,his words4 ,but ,jesus answereth again1 and saith unto them1 ,children1 how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of ,god6 ,it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye1 than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of ,god4 ,and they were astonished exceedingly1 saying unto ,him1 ,then who can be saved8 ,jesus looking upon them saith1 ,with men it is impossible1 but not with ,god3 for all things are possible with ,god4 ,peter began to say unto ,him1 ,lo1 we have left all1 and have followed thee4 ,jesus said1 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,there is no man that hath left house1 or brethren1 or sisters1 or mother1 or father1 or children1 or lands1 for my sake1 and for the gospel's sake1 but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time1 houses1 and brethren1 and sisters1 and mothers1 and children1 and lands1 with persecutions2 and in the world to come eternal life4 ,but many that are first shall be last2 and the last first40--,,mark x4 #bc-ca 7,r4,v474 ,as the rich man turned away with the arrow in his breast1 ,jesus looked round about on ,his disciples4 ,the ,gospels1 and especially ,st4 ,mark1 often mention the gaze of ,jesus1 and all who know the power of an intense and pure nature silently searching others1 the piercing intuition1 the calm judgment which sometimes looks out of holy eyes1 can well understand the reason4 ,disappointed love was in ,his look1 and that compassionate protest against harsh judgments which presently went on to admit that the necessary demand was hard4 ,some1 perhaps1 who had begun to scorn the ruler in his defeat1 were reminded of frailties of their own1 and had to ask1 ,shall ,i next be judged8 ,and one was among them1 pilfering from the bag what was intended for the poor1 to whom that look of ,christ must have been very terrible4 ,unless we remember ,judas1 we shall not comprehend all the fitness of the repeated and earnest warnings of ,jesus against covetousness4 ,never was secret sin dealt with so faithfully as his4 ,and now ,jesus1 as ,he looks around1 says1 8,how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of ,god40 ,but the disciples were amazed4 ,to the ancient ,jew1 from ,abraham to ,solomon1 riches appeared to be a sign of the ,divine favour1 and if the pathetic figure of ,job reminded him how much sorrow might befall the just1 yet the story showed even him at the end more prosperous than at the beginning4 ,in the time of ,jesus1 the chiefs of their religion were greedily using their position as a means of amassing enormous fortunes4 ,to be told that wealth was a positive hindrance on the way to ,god was wonderful indeed4 ,when ,jesus modified ,his utterance1 it was not to correct ,himself1 like one who had heedlessly gone beyond ,his meaning4 ,his third speech reiterated the first1 declaring that a manifest and proverbial physical impossibility was not so hard as for a rich man to enter the kingdom of ,god1 here or hereafter4 ,but ,he interposed a saying which both explained the first one and enlarged its scope4 8,children0 ,he begins1 like one who pitied their inexperience and dealt gently with their perplexities1 8,children1 how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of ,god40 ,and therefore is it hard for all the rich1 since they must wrestle against this temptation to trust in their possessions4 ,it is exactly in this spirit that ,st4 ,james1 who quoted ,jesus more than any of the later writers of ,scripture1 charges the rich that they be not high-minded1 nor trust in uncertain riches1 but in the living ,god4 ,immediately before1 ,jesus had told them how alone the kingdom might be entered1 even by becoming as little children2 lowly1 dependent1 willing to receive all at the hands of a superior4 ,would riches help them to do this8 ,is it easier to pray for daily bread when one has much goods laid up for many years8 ,is it easier to feel that ,god alone can make us drink of true pleasures as of a river1 when a hundred luxuries and indulgences lull us in sloth or allure us into excess8 ,hereupon the disciples perceived what was more alarming still1 that not alone do rich men trust in riches1 but all who confound possessions with satisfaction1 all who dream that to have much is to be blessed1 as if property were character4 ,they were right4 ,we may follow the guidance of ,mammon beckoning from afar1 with a trust as idolatrous as if we held his hand4 ,but who could abide a principle so exacting8 ,it was the revelation of a new danger1 and they were astonished exceedingly1 saying1 ,then who can be saved8 ,again ,jesus looked upon them1 with solemn but reassuring gaze4 ,they had learned the secret of the new life1 the natural impossibility throwing us back in helpless appeal to the powers of the world to come4 8,with men it is impossible1 but not with ,god1 for all things are possible with ,god40 ,peter1 not easily nor long to be discouraged1 now saw ground for hope4 ,if the same danger existed for rich and poor1 then either might be encouraged by having surmounted it1 and the apostles had done what the rich man failed to do--they had left all and followed ,jesus4 ,the claim has provoked undue censure1 as if too much were made out of a very trifling sacrifice1 a couple of boats and a paltry trade4 ,but the objectors have missed the point2 the apostles really broke away from the service of the world when they left their nets and followed ,jesus4 ,their world was perhaps a narrow one1 but ,he ,who reckoned two mites a greater offering than the total of the gifts of many rich casting in much1 was unlikely to despise a fisherman or a publican who laid all his living upon the altar4 ,the fault1 if fault there were1 lay rather in the satisfaction with which ,peter contemplates their decision as now irrevocable and secure1 so that nothing remained except to claim the reward1 which ,st4 ,matthew tells us he very distinctly did4 ,the young man should have had treasure in heaven3 what then should they have8 ,but in truth1 their hardest battles with worldliness lay still before them1 and he who thought he stood might well take heed lest he fell4 ,they would presently unite in censuring a woman's costly gift to ,him1 for ,whom they professed to have surrendered all4 ,peter himself would shrink from his ,master's side4 ,and what a satire upon this confident claim would it have been1 could the heart of ,judas then and there have been revealed to them4 ,the answer of our ,lord is sufficiently remarkable4 ,st4 ,matthew tells how frankly and fully ,he acknowledged their collective services1 and what a large reward ,he promised1 when they should sit with ,him on thrones1 judging their nation4 ,so far was that generous heart from weighing their losses in a worldly scale1 or criticizing the form of a demand which was not all unreasonable4 ,but ,st4 ,mark lays exclusive stress upon other and sobering considerations1 which also ,st4 ,matthew has recorded4 ,there is a certain tone of egoism in the words1 8,lo1 we 444 what shall we have80 ,and ,jesus corrects this in the gentlest way1 by laying down such a general rule as implies that many others will do the same1 8there is no man0 whose self sacrifice shall go without its reward4 ,secondary and lower motives begin to mingle with the generous ardour of self-sacrifice as soon as it is careful to record its losses1 and inquire about its wages4 ,such motives are not absolutely forbidden1 but they must never push into the foremost place4 ,the crown of glory animated and sustained ,st4 ,paul1 but it was for ,christ1 and not for this that he suffered the loss of all things4 ,jesus accordingly demands purity of motive4 ,the sacrifice must not be for ambition1 even with aspirations prolonged across the frontiers of eternity3 it must be altogether 8for ,my sake and for the gospel's sake40 ,and here we observe once more the portentous demand of ,christ's person upon ,his followers4 ,they are servants of no ethical or theological system1 however lofty4 ,christ does not regard ,himself and them1 as alike devoted to some cause above and external to them all4 ,to ,him they are to be consecrated1 and to the gospel1 which1 as we have seen1 is the story of ,his ,life1 ,death and ,resurrection4 ,for ,him they are to break the dearest and strongest of earthly ties4 ,he had just proclaimed how indissoluble was the marriage bond4 ,no man should sever those whom ,god had joined4 ,but ,st4 ,luke informs us that to forsake even a wife for ,christ's sake1 was a deed worthy of being rewarded an hundredfold4 ,nor does ,he mention any higher being in whose name the sacrifice is demanded4 ,now this is at least implicitly the view of ,his own personality1 which some profess to find only in ,st4 ,john4 ,again1 there was perhaps an undertone of complaint in ,peter's question1 as if no compensation for all their sacrifices were hitherto bestowed4 ,what should their compensation be8 ,but ,christ declares that losses endured for ,him are abundantly repaid on earth1 in this present time1 and even amid the fires of persecution4 ,houses and lands are replaced by the consciousness of inviolable shelter and inexhaustible provision4 8,whither wilt thou betake thyself to find covert80 asks the menacing cardinal2 but ,luther answers1 8,under the heaven of ,god40 ,and if dearest friends be estranged1 or of necessity abandoned1 then1 in such times of high attainment and strong spiritual insight1 membership in the ,divine family is felt to be no unreal tie1 and earthly relationships are well recovered in the vast fraternity of souls4 ,brethren1 and sisters1 and mothers1 are thus restored an hundredfold2 but although a father is also lost1 we do not hear that a hundred fathers shall be given back1 for in the spiritual family that place is reserved for ,one4 ,lastly1 ,jesus reminded them that the race was not yet over2 that many first shall be last and the last first4 ,we know how ,judas by transgression fell1 and how the persecuting ,saul became not a whit behind the very chiefest apostle4 ,but this word remains for the warning and incitement of all ,christians1 even unto the end of the world4 ,there are 8many0 such4 ,next after this warning1 comes yet another prediction of ,his own suffering1 with added circumstances of horror4 ,would they who were now first remain faithful8 or should another take their bishopric8 ,with a darkening heart ,judas heard1 and made his choice4 ,,mark x4 #cb-cd4 ,see ,,mark viii4 #ca1 p4 #bai4 ,christ's ,cup ,and ,baptism4 8,and there came near unto him ,james and ,john1 the sons of ,zebedee1 saying unto him1 ,master1 we would that ,thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall ask of ,thee4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,what would ye ,i should do for you8 ,and they said unto ,him1 ,grant unto us that we may sit1 one on ,thy right hand1 and one on ,thy left hand1 in ,thy glory4 ,but ,jesus said unto them1 ,ye know not what ye ask4 ,are ye able to drink the cup that ,i drink8 or to be baptized with the baptism that ,i am baptized with8 ,and they said unto ,him1 ,we are able4 ,and ,jesus said unto them1 ,the cup that ,i drink ye shall drink2 and with the baptism that ,i am baptized withal shall ye be baptized3 but to sit on ,my right hand or on ,my left hand is not ,mine to give3 but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared40--,,mark x4 #ce-dj 7,r4,v474 ,we learn from ,st4 ,matthew that ,salome was associated with her sons1 and was indeed the chief speaker in the earlier part of this incident4 ,and her request has commonly been regarded as the mean and shortsighted intrigue of an ambitious woman1 recklessly snatching at an advantage for her family1 and unconscious of the stern and steep road to honour in the kingdom of ,jesus4 ,nor can we deny that her prayer was somewhat presumptuous1 or that it was especially unbecoming to aim at entangling her ,lord in a blindfold promise1 desiring ,him to do something undefined1 8whatsoever we shall ask of ,thee40 ,jesus was too discreet to answer otherwise than1 8,what would ye that ,i should do for you80 ,and when they asked for the chief seats in the glory that was yet to be their ,master's1 no wonder that the ,ten hearing of it1 had indignation4 ,but ,christ's answer1 and the gentle manner in which ,he explains ,his refusal1 when a sharp rebuke is what we would expect to read1 alike suggest that there may have been some softening1 half-justifying circumstance4 ,and this we find in the period at which the daring request was made4 ,it was on the road1 during the last journey1 when a panic had seized the company2 and our ,lord1 apparently out of the strong craving for sympathy which possesses the noblest souls1 had once more told the ,twelve what insults and cruel sufferings lay before ,him4 ,it was a time for deep searching of hearts1 for the craven to go back and walk no more with ,him1 and for the traitor to think of making ,his own peace1 at any price1 with ,his ,master's foes4 ,but this dauntless woman could see the clear sky beyond the storm4 ,her sons shall be loyal1 and win the prize1 whatever be the hazard1 and however long the struggle4 ,ignorant and rash she may have been1 but it was no base ambition which chose such a moment to declare its unshaken ardour1 and claim distinction in the kingdom for which so much must be endured4 ,and when the stern price was plainly stated1 she and her children were not startled1 they conceived themselves able for the baptism and the cup2 and little as they dreamed of the coldness of the waters1 and the bitterness of the draught1 yet ,jesus did not declare them to be deceived4 ,he said1 ,ye shall indeed share these4 ,nor can we doubt that their faith and loyalty refreshed ,his soul amid so much that was sad and selfish4 ,he knew indeed on what a dreadful seat ,he was soon to claim ,his kingdom1 and who should sit upon ,his right hand and ,his left4 ,these could not follow ,him now1 but they should follow ,him hereafter--one by the brief pang of the earliest apostolic martyrdom1 and the other by the longest and sorest experience of that faithless and perverse generation4 #a4 ,very significant is the test of worth which ,jesus propounds to them3 not successful service but endurance2 not the active but the passive graces4 ,it is not our test1 except in a few brilliant and conspicuous martyrdoms4 ,the ,church1 like the world1 has crowns for learning1 eloquence1 energy2 it applauds the force by which great things are done4 ,the reformer who abolishes an abuse1 the scholar who defends a doctrine1 the orator who sways a multitude1 and the missionary who adds a new tribe to ,christendom1--all these are sure of honour4 ,our loudest plaudits are not for simple men and women1 but for high station1 genius1 and success4 ,but the ,lord looketh upon the heart1 not the brain or the hand2 ,he values the worker1 not the work2 the love1 not the achievement4 ,and1 therefore1 one of the tests ,he constantly applied was this1 the capability for noble endurance4 ,we ourselves1 in our saner moments1 can judge whether it demands more grace to refute a heretic1 or to sustain the long inglorious agonies of some disease which slowly gnaws away the heart of life4 ,and doubtless among the heroes for whom ,christ is twining immortal garlands1 there is many a pale and shattered creature1 nerveless and unstrung1 tossing on a mean bed1 breathing in imperfect ,english loftier praises than many an anthem which resounds through cathedral arches1 and laying on the altar of burnt sacrifice all he has1 even his poor frame itself1 to be racked and tortured without a murmur4 ,culture has never heightened his forehead nor refined his face3 we look at him1 but little dream what the angels see1 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 prepared4 ,for these1 at last1 the reward shall be ,his to give1 as ,he said1 8,to him that overcometh will ,i give to sit down with ,me upon ,my throne40 #b4 ,significant also are the phrases by which ,christ expressed the sufferings of ,his people4 ,some1 which it is possible to escape1 are voluntarily accepted for ,christ's sake1 as when the ,virgin mother bowed her head to slander and scorn1 and said1 8,behold the servant of the ,lord1 be it unto me according to ,thy word40 ,such sufferings are a cup deliberately raised by one's own hand to the reluctant lips4 ,into other sufferings we are plunged3 they are inevitable4 ,malice1 ill-health1 or bereavement plies the scourge2 they come on us like the rush of billows in a storm2 they are a deep and dreadful baptism4 ,or we may say that some woes are external1 visible1 we are seen to be submerged in them2 but others are like the secret ingredients of a bitter draught1 which the lips know1 but the eye of the bystander cannot analyze4 ,but there is ,one ,who knows and rewards2 even the ,man of ,sorrows ,who said1 ,the cup which ,my heavenly ,father giveth1 shall ,i not drink it8 ,now it is this standard of excellence1 announced by ,jesus1 which shall give high place to many of the poor and ignorant and weak1 when rank shall perish1 when tongues shall cease1 and when our knowledge1 in the blaze of new revelations1 shall utterly vanish away1 not quenched1 but absorbed like the starlight at noon4 #c4 ,we observe again that men are not said to drink of another cup as bitter1 or to be baptized in other waters as chill1 as tried their ,master2 but to share ,his very baptism and ,his cup4 ,not that we can add anything to ,his all-sufficient sacrifice4 ,our goodness extendeth not to ,god4 ,but ,christ's work availed not only to reconcile us to the ,father1 but also to elevate and consecrate sufferings which would otherwise have been penal and degrading4 ,accepting our sorrows in the grace of ,christ1 and receiving ,him into our hearts1 then our sufferings fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of ,christ 7,col4 i4 #bd71 and at the last ,he will say1 when the glories of heaven are as a robe around ,him1 8,i was hungry1 naked1 sick1 and in prison in the person of the least of these40 ,hence it is that a special nearness to ,god has ever been felt in holy sorrow1 and in the pain of hearts which1 amid all clamours and tumults of the world1 are hushed and calmed by the example of ,him ,who was led as a lamb to the slaughter4 ,and thus they are not wrong who speak of the ,sacrament of ,sorrow1 for ,jesus1 in this passage1 applies to it the language of both sacraments4 ,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 ,john4 ,but here we read of another and a dread baptism1 consecrated by the fellowship of ,christ1 in depths which plummet never sounded1 and into which the neophyte goes down sustained by no mortal hand4 ,here is also the communion of an awful cup4 ,no human minister sets it in our trembling hand2 no human voice asks1 8,are ye able to drink the cup that ,i drink80 ,our lips grow pale1 and our blood is chill2 but faith responds1 8,we are able40 ,and the tender and pitying voice of our ,master1 too loving to spare one necessary pang1 responds with the word of doom3 8,the cup that ,i drink ye shall drink2 and with the baptism that ,i am baptized withal shall ye be baptized40 ,even so3 it is enough for the servant that he be as his ,master4 ,the ,law ,of ,greatness4 8,and when the ten heard it1 they began to be moved with indignation concerning ,james and ,john4 ,and ,jesus called them to ,him1 and saith unto them1 ,ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the ,gentiles lord it over them2 and their great ones exercise authority over them4 ,but it is not so among you2 but whosoever would become great among you1 shall be your minister3 and whosoever would be first among you1 shall be servant of all4 ,for verily the ,son of man came not to be ministered unto1 but to minister1 and to give ,his life a ransom for many40--,,mark x4 #da-de 7,r4,v474 ,when the ,ten heard that ,james and ,john had asked for the chief places in the kingdom1 they proved1 by their indignation1 that they also nourished the same ambitious desires which they condemned4 ,but ,jesus called them to ,him1 for it was not there that angry passions had broken out4 ,and happy are they who hear and obey ,his summons to approach1 when1 removed from ,his purifying gaze by carelessness or wilfulness1 ambition and anger begin to excite their hearts4 ,now ,jesus addressed them as being aware of their hidden emulation4 ,and ,his treatment of it is remarkable4 ,he neither condemns1 nor praises it1 but simply teaches them what ,christian greatness means1 and the conditions on which it may be won4 ,the greatness of the world is measured by authority and lordliness4 ,even there it is an uncertain test2 for the most real power is often wielded by some anonymous thinker1 or by some crafty intriguer1 content with the substance of authority while his puppet enjoys the trappings4 ,something of this may perhaps be detected in the words1 8,they which are accounted to rule over the ,gentiles lord it over them40 ,and it is certain that 8their great ones exercise authority over them40 ,but the ,divine greatness is a meek and gentle influence4 ,to minister to the ,church is better than to command it1 and whoever desires to be the chief must become the servant of all4 ,thus shall whatever is vainglorious and egoistic in our ambition defeat itself2 the more one struggles to be great the more he is disqualified3 even benefits rendered to others with this object will not really be service done for them but for self2 nor will any calculated assumption of humility help one to become indeed the least1 being but a subtle assertion that he is great1 and like the last place in an ecclesiastical procession1 when occupied in a self-conscious spirit4 ,and thus it comes to pass that the ,church knows very indistinctly who are its greatest sons4 ,as the gift of two mites by the widow was greater than that of large sums by the rich1 so a small service done in the spirit of perfect self-effacement1--a service which thought neither of its merit nor of its reward1 but only of a brother's need1 shall be more in the day of reckoning than sacrifices which are celebrated by the historians and sung by the poets of the ,church4 ,for it may avail nothing to give all my goods to feed the poor1 and my body to be burned2 while a cup of cold water1 rendered by a loyal hand1 shall in no wise lose its reward4 ,thus ,jesus throws open to all men a competition which has no charms for flesh and blood4 ,and as ,he spoke of the entry upon ,his service1 bearing a cross1 as being the following of ,himself1 so ,he teaches us1 that the greatness of lowliness1 to which we are called1 is ,his own greatness4 8,for verily the ,son of ,man came not to be ministered unto but to minister40 ,not here1 not in this tarnished and faded world1 would ,he ,who was from everlasting with the ,father have sought ,his own ease or honour4 ,but the physician came to them that were sick1 and the good ,shepherd followed ,his lost sheep until ,he found it4 ,now this comparison proves that we also are to carry forward the same restoring work1 or else we might infer that1 because ,he came to minister to us1 we may accept ministration with a good heart4 ,it is not so4 ,we are the light and the salt of the earth1 and must suffer with ,him that we may also be glorified together4 ,but ,he added another memorable phrase4 ,he came 8to give ,his life a ransom in exchange for many40 ,it is not a question1 therefore1 of the inspiring example of ,his life4 ,something has been forfeited which must be redeemed1 and ,christ has paid the price4 ,nor is this done only on behalf of many1 but in exchange for them4 ,so then the crucifixion is not a sad incident in a great career2 it is the mark towards which ,jesus moved1 the power by which ,he redeemed the world4 ,surely1 we recognise here the echo of the prophet's words1 8,thou shalt make ,his soul an offering for sin 444 by ,his knowledge shall ,my righteous servant justify many1 and ,he shall bear their iniquities0 7,isa4 liii4 #aj1 #aa74 ,the elaborated doctrine of the atonement may not perhaps be here1 much less the subtleties of theologians who have1 to their own satisfaction1 known the mind of the ,almighty to perfection4 ,but it is beyond reasonable controversy that in this verse ,jesus declared that ,his sufferings were vicarious1 and endured in the sinners' stead4 ,bartimus4 8,and they come to ,jericho3 and as ,he went out from ,jericho1 with ,his disciples and a great multitude1 the son of ,timus1 ,bartimus1 a blind beggar1 was sitting by the way side4 ,and when he heard that it was ,jesus of ,nazareth1 he began to cry out1 and say1 ,jesus1 ,thou son of ,david1 have mercy on me4 ,and many rebuked him1 that he should hold his peace3 but he cried out the more a great deal1 ,thou son of ,david1 have mercy on me4 ,and ,jesus stood still1 and said1 ,call ye him4 ,and they called the blind man1 saying unto him1 ,be of good cheer2 rise1 ,he calleth thee4 ,and he1 casting away his garment1 sprang up1 and came to ,jesus4 ,and ,jesus answered him1 and said1 ,what wilt thou that ,i should do unto thee8 ,and the blind man said unto ,him1 ,rabboni1 that ,i may receive my sight4 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,go thy way2 thy faith hath made thee whole4 ,and straightway he received his sight1 and followed ,him in the way40--,,mark x4 #df-eb 7,r4,v474 ,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 ,jericho4 ,it is a small thing that ,st4 ,matthew mentions two blind men1 while ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke are only aware of one4 ,the same is true of the demoniacs at ,gadara1 and it is easily understood that only an eyewitness should remember the obscure comrade of a remarkable and energetic man1 who would have spread far and wide the particulars of his own cure4 ,the fierce and dangerous demoniac of ,gadara was just such a man1 and there is ample evidence of energy and vehemence in the brief account of ,bartimus4 ,what is really perplexing is that ,st4 ,luke places the miracle at the entrance to ,jericho1 but ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark1 as ,jesus came out of it4 ,it is too forced and violent a theory which speaks of an old and a new town1 so close together that one was entered and the other left at the same time4 ,it is possible that there were two events1 and the success of one sufferer at the entrance to the town led others to use the same importunities at the exit4 ,and this would not be much more remarkable than the two miracles of the loaves1 or the two miraculous draughts of fish4 ,it is also possible1 though unlikely1 that the same supplicant who began his appeals without success when ,jesus entered1 resumed ,his entreaties1 with a comrade1 at the gate by which ,he left4 ,such difficulties exist in all the best authenticated histories3 discrepancies of the kind arise continually between the evidence of the most trustworthy witnesses in courts of justice4 ,and the student who is humble as well as devout will not shut his eyes against facts1 merely because they are perplexing1 but will remember that they do nothing to shake the solid narrative itself4 ,as we read ,st4 ,mark's account1 we are struck by the vividness of the whole picture1 and especially by the robust personality of the blind man4 ,the scene is neither ,jerusalem1 the city of the ,pharisees nor ,galilee1 where they have persistently sapped the popularity of ,jesus4 ,eastward of the ,jordan1 ,he has spent the last peaceful and successful weeks of ,his brief and stormy career1 and ,jericho lies upon the borders of that friendly district4 ,accordingly something is here of the old enthusiasm3 a great multitude moves along with ,his disciples to the gates1 and the rushing concourse excites the curiosity of the blind son of ,timus4 ,so does many a religious movement lead to inquiry and explanation far and wide4 ,but when he1 sitting by the way1 and unable to follow1 knows that the great ,healer is at hand1 but only in passing1 and for a moment1 his interest suddenly becomes personal and ardent1 and 8he began to cry out0 7the expression implies that his supplication1 beginning as the crowd drew near1 was not one utterance but a prolonged appeal71 8and to say1 ,jesus1 ,thou ,son of ,david1 have mercy on me40 ,to the crowd his outcry seemed to be only an intrusion upon ,one ,who was too rapt1 too heavenly1 to be disturbed by the sorrows of a blind beggar4 ,but that was not the view of ,bartimus1 whose personal affliction gave him the keenest interest in those verses of the ,old ,testament which spoke of opening the blind eyes4 ,if he did not understand their exact force as prophecies1 at least they satisfied him that his petition could not be an insult to the great ,prophet of ,whom just such actions were told1 for ,whose visit he had often sighed1 and ,who was now fast going by1 perhaps for ever4 ,the picture is one of great eagerness1 bearing up against great discouragement4 ,we catch the spirit of the man as he inquires what the multitude means1 as the epithet of his informants1 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 changes on his lips into ,jesus1 ,thou ,son of ,david1 as he persists1 without any vision of ,christ to encourage him1 and amid the rebukes of many1 in crying out the more a great deal1 although pain is deepening every moment in his accents1 and he will presently need cheering4 ,the ear of ,jesus is quick for such a call1 and ,he stops4 ,he does not raise ,his own voice to summon him1 but teaches a lesson of humanity to those who would fain have silenced the appeal of anguish1 and says1 ,call ye him4 ,and they obey with a courtier-like change of tone1 saying1 ,be of good cheer1 rise1 ,he calleth thee4 ,and ,bartimus cannot endure even the slight hindrance of his loose garment1 but flings it aside1 and rises and comes to ,jesus1 a pattern of the importunity which prays and never faints1 which perseveres amid all discouragement1 which adverse public opinion cannot hinder4 ,and the ,lord asks of him almost exactly the same question as recently of ,james and ,john1 ,what wilt thou that ,i should do for thee8 ,but in his reply there is no aspiring pride3 misery knows how precious are the common gifts1 the every-day blessings which we hardly pause to think about2 and he replies1 ,rabboni1 that ,i may receive my sight4 ,it is a glad and eager answer4 ,many a petition he had urged in vain2 and many a small favour had been discourteously bestowed2 but ,jesus1 ,whose tenderness loves to commend while ,he blesses1 shares with him1 so to speak1 the glory of his healing1 as ,he answers1 ,go thy way1 thy faith hath made thee whole4 ,by thus fixing his attention upon his own part in the miracle1 so utterly worthless as a contribution1 but so indispensable as a condition1 ,jesus taught him to exercise hereafter the same gift of faith4 8,go thy way10 ,he said4 ,and ,bartimus 8followed ,him on the road40 ,happy is that man whose eyes are open to discern1 and his heart prompt to follow1 the print of those holy feet4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,the ,triumphant ,entry4 8,and when they draw nigh unto ,jerusalem1 unto ,bethphage and ,bethany1 at the ,mount of ,olives1 ,he sendeth two of ,his disciples1 and saith unto them1 ,go your way into the village that is over against you3 and straightway as ye enter into it1 ye shall find a colt tied1 whereon no man ever yet sat2 loose him1 and bring him4 ,and if any one say unto you1 ,why do ye this8 say ye1 ,the ,lord hath need of him2 and straightway ,he will send him back hither4 ,and they went away1 and found a colt tied at the door without in the open street2 and they loose him4 ,and certain of them that stood there said unto them1 ,what do ye1 loosing the colt8 ,and they said unto them even as ,jesus had said3 and they let them go4 ,and they bring the colt unto ,jesus1 and cast on him their garments2 and ,he sat upon him4 ,and many spread their garments upon the way2 and others branches1 which they had cut from the fields4 ,and they that went before1 and they that followed1 cried1 ,hosanna3 ,blessed is ,he that cometh in the name of the ,lord3 ,blessed is the kingdom that cometh1 the kingdom of our father ,david3 ,hosanna in the highest4 ,and ,he entered into ,jerusalem1 into the temple2 and when ,he had looked round about upon all things1 it being now eventide1 ,he went out unto ,bethany with the twelve40--,,mark xi4 #a-aa 7,r4,v474 ,jesus had now come near to ,jerusalem1 into what was possibly the sacred district of ,bethphage1 of which1 in that case1 ,bethany was the border village4 ,not without pausing here 7as we learn from the fourth ,gospel71 yet as the next step forward1 ,he sent two of ,his disciples to untie and bring back an ass1 which was fastened with her colt at a spot which ,he minutely described4 ,unless they were challenged they should simply bring the animals away2 but if any one remonstrated1 they should answer1 8,the ,lord hath need of them10 and thereupon the owner would not only acquiesce1 but send them4 ,in fact they are to make a requisition1 such as the ,state often institutes for horses and cattle during a campaign1 when private rights must give way to a national exigency4 ,and this masterful demand1 this abrupt and decisive rejoinder to a natural objection1 not arguing nor requesting1 but demanding1 this title which they are bidden to give to ,jesus1 by which1 standing thus alone1 ,he is rarely described in ,scripture 7chiefly in the later ,epistles1 when the remembrance of ,his earthly style gave place to the influence of habitual adoration71 all this preliminary arrangement makes us conscious of a change of tone1 of royalty issuing its mandates1 and claiming its rights4 ,but what a claim1 what a requisition1 when ,he takes the title of ,jehovah1 and yet announces ,his need of the colt of an ass4 ,it is indeed the lowliest of all memorable processions which ,he plans1 and yet1 in its very humility1 it appeals to ancient prophecy1 and says unto ,zion that her ,king cometh unto her4 ,the monarchs of the ,east and the captains of the ,west might ride upon horses as for war1 but the ,king of ,sion should come unto her meek1 and sitting upon an ass1 upon a colt1 the foal of an ass4 ,yet there is fitness and dignity in the use of 8a colt whereon never man sat10 and it reminds us of other facts1 such as that ,he was the firstborn of a virgin mother1 and rested in a tomb which corruption had never soiled4 ,thus ,he comes forth1 the gentlest of the mighty1 with no swords gleaming around to guard ,him1 or to smite the foreigner who tramples ,israel1 or the worse foes of her own household4 ,men who will follow such a ,king must lay aside their vain and earthly ambitions1 and awake to the truth that spiritual powers are grander than any which violence ever grasped4 ,but men who will not follow ,him shall some day learn the same lesson1 perhaps in the crash of their reeling commonwealth1 perhaps not until the armies of heaven follow ,him1 as ,he goes forth1 riding now upon a white horse1 crowned with many diadems1 smiting the nations with a sharp sword1 and ruling them with an iron rod4 ,lowly though ,his procession was1 yet it was palpably a royal one4 ,when ,jehu was proclaimed king at ,ramoth-,gilead1 the captains hastened to make him sit upon the garments of every one of them1 expressing by this national symbol their subjection4 ,somewhat the same feeling is in the famous anecdote of ,sir ,walter ,raleigh and ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,and thus the disciples who brought the ass cast on him their garments1 and ,jesus sat thereon1 and many spread their garments in the way4 ,others strewed the road with branches2 and as they went they cried aloud certain verses of that great song of triumph1 which told how the nations1 swarming like bees1 were quenched like the light fire of thorns1 how the right hand of the ,lord did valiantly1 how the gates of righteousness should be thrown open for the righteous1 and1 more significant still1 how the stone which the builders rejected should become the headstone of the corner4 ,often had ,jesus quoted this saying when reproached by the unbelief of the rulers1 and now the people rejoiced and were glad in it1 as they sang of ,his salvation1 saying1 8,hosanna1 blessed is ,he that cometh in the name of the ,lord1 ,blessed is the kingdom that cometh1 the ,kingdom of our father ,david1 ,hosanna in the highest40 ,such is the narrative as it impressed ,st4 ,mark4 ,for his purpose it mattered nothing that ,jerusalem took no part in the rejoicings1 but was perplexed1 and said1 ,who is this8 or that1 when confronted by this somewhat scornful and affected ignorance of the capital1 the voice of ,galilee grew weak1 and proclaimed no longer the advent of the kingdom of ,david1 but only ,jesus1 the prophet of ,nazareth2 or that the ,pharisees in the temple avowed their disapproval1 while contemptuously ignoring the ,galilean multitude1 by inviting ,him to reprove some children4 ,what concerned ,st4 ,mark was that now1 at last1 ,jesus openly and practically assumed rank as a monarch1 allowed men to proclaim the advent of ,his kingdom1 and proceeded to exercise its rights by calling for the surrender of property1 and by cleansing the temple with a scourge4 ,the same avowal of kingship is almost all that he has cared to record of the remarkable scene before ,his ,roman judge4 ,after this heroic fashion did ,jesus present ,himself to die4 ,without a misleading hope1 conscious of the hollowness of ,his seeming popularity1 weeping for the impending ruin of the glorious city whose walls were ringing with ,his praise1 and predicting the murderous triumph of the crafty faction which appears so helpless1 ,he not only refuses to recede or compromise1 but does not hesitate to advance ,his claims in a manner entirely new1 and to defy the utmost animosity of those who still rejected ,him4 ,after such a scene there could be no middle course between crushing ,him1 and bowing to ,him4 ,he was no longer a ,teacher of doctrines1 however revolutionary1 but an ,aspirant to practical authority1 ,who must be dealt with practically4 ,there was evidence also of ,his intention to proceed upon this new line1 when ,he entered into the temple1 investigated its glaring abuses1 and only left it for the moment because it was now eventide4 ,to-morrow would show more of ,his designs4 ,jesus is still1 and in this world1 ,king4 ,and it will hereafter avail us nothing to have received ,his doctrine1 unless we have taken ,his yoke4 ,the ,barren ,fig-,tree4 8,and on the morrow1 when they were come out from ,bethany1 ,he hungered4 ,and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves1 ,he came1 if haply ,he might find anything thereon3 and when ,he came to it1 ,he found nothing but leaves2 for it was not the season of figs4 ,and ,he answered and said unto it1 ,no man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever4 ,and ,his disciples heard it40 8,and as they passed by in the morning1 they saw the fig-tree withered away from the roots4 ,and ,peter calling to remembrance saith unto ,him1 ,rabbi1 behold1 the fig-tree which ,thou cursedst is withered away4 ,and ,jesus answering saith unto them1 ,have faith in ,god4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,whosoever shall say unto this mountain1 ,be thou taken up and cast into the sea2 and shall not doubt in his heart1 but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass2 he shall have it4 ,therefore ,i say unto you1 ,all things whatsoever ye pray and ask for1 believe that ye have received them1 and ye shall have them4 ,and whensoever ye stand praying1 forgive1 if ye have aught against any one2 that your ,father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses40--,,mark xi4 #ab-ad1 #bj-be 7,r4,v474 ,no sooner has ,jesus claimed ,his kingdom1 than ,he performs ,his first and only miracle of judgment4 ,and it is certain that no mortal1 informed that such a miracle was impending1 could have guessed where the blow would fall4 ,in this miracle an element is predominant which exists in all1 since it is wrought as an acted dramatized parable1 not for any physical advantage1 but wholly for the instruction which it conveys4 ,jesus hungered at the very outset of a day of toil1 as ,he came out from ,bethany4 ,and this was not due to poverty1 since the disciples there had recently made ,him a great feast1 but to ,his own absorbing ardour4 ,the zeal of ,god's house1 which ,he had seen polluted and was about to cleanse1 had either left ,him indifferent to food until the keen air of morning aroused the sense of need1 or else it had detained ,him1 all night long1 in prayer and meditation out of doors4 ,as ,he walks1 ,he sees afar off a lonely fig-tree covered with leaves1 and comes if haply ,he might find anything thereon4 ,it is true that figs would not be in season for two months1 but yet they ought to present themselves before the leaves did2 and since the tree was precocious in the show and profusion of luxuriance1 it ought to bear early figs4 ,if it failed1 it would at least point a powerful moral2 and1 therefore1 when only leaves appeared upon it1 ,jesus cursed it with perpetual barrenness1 and passed on4 ,not in the dusk of that evening as they returned1 but when they passed by again in the morning the blight was manifest1 the tree was withered from its very roots4 ,it is complained that by this act ,jesus deprived some one of his property4 ,but the same retributive justice of which this was an expression was preparing to blight1 presently1 all the possessions of all the nation4 ,was this unjust8 ,and of the numberless trees that are blasted year by year1 why should the loss of this one only be resented8 ,every physical injury must be intended to further some spiritual end2 but it is not often that the purpose is so clear1 and the lesson so distinctly learned4 ,others blame our ,lord's word of sentence1 because a tree1 not being a moral agent1 ought not to be punished4 ,it is an obvious rejoinder that neither could it suffer pain2 that the whole action is symbolic2 and that we ourselves justify the ,saviour's method of expression as often as we call one tree 8good0 and another 8bad10 and say that a third 8ought0 to bear fruit1 while not much could be 8expected of0 a fourth4 ,it should rather be observed that in this word of sentence ,jesus revealed ,his tenderness4 ,it would have been a false and cruel kindness never to work any miracle except of compassion1 and thus to suggest the inference that ,he could never strike1 whereas indeed1 before that generation passed away1 ,he would break ,his enemies in pieces like a potter's vessel4 ,yet ,he came not to destroy men's lives but to save them4 ,and1 therefore1 while showing ,himself neither indifferent nor powerless against barren and false pretensions1 ,he did this only once1 and then only by a sign wrought upon an unsentient tree4 ,retribution fell upon it not for its lack of fruit1 since at that season it shared this with all its tribe1 but for ostentatious1 much-professing fruitlessness4 ,and thus it pointed with dread significance to the condition of ,god's own people1 differing from ,greece and ,rome and ,syria1 not in the want of fruit1 but in the show of luxuriant frondage1 in the expectation it excited and mocked4 ,when the season of the world's fruitfulness was yet remote1 only ,israel put forth leaves1 and made professions which were not fulfilled4 ,and the permanent warning of the miracle is not for heathen men and races1 but for ,christians who have a name to live1 and who are called to bear fruit unto ,god4 ,while the disciples marvelled at the sudden fulfilment of its sentence1 they could not have forgotten the parable of a fig-tree in the vineyard1 on which care and labour were lavished1 but which must be destroyed after one year of respite if it continued to be a cumberer of the ground4 ,and ,jesus drove the lesson home4 ,he pointed to 8this mountain0 full in front1 with the gold and marble of the temple sparkling like a diadem upon its brow1 and declared that faith is not only able to smite barrenness with death1 but to remove into the midst of the sea1 to plant among the wild and stormswept races of the immeasurable pagan world1 the glory and privilege of the realized presence of the ,lord4 ,to do this was the purpose of ,god1 hinted by many a prophet1 and clearly announced by ,christ ,himself4 ,but its accomplishment was left to ,his followers1 who should succeed in exact proportion to the union of their will and that of ,god1 so that the condition of that moral miracle1 transcending all others in marvel and in efficacy1 was simple faith4 ,and the same rule covers all the exigencies of life4 ,one who truly relies on ,god1 whose mind and will are attuned to those of the ,eternal1 cannot be selfish1 or vindictive1 or presumptuous4 ,as far as we rise to the grandeur of this condition we enter into the ,omnipotence of ,god1 and no limit need be imposed upon the prevalence of really and utterly believing prayer4 ,the wishes that ought to be refused will vanish as we attain that eminence1 like the hoar frost of morning as the sun grows strong4 ,to this promise ,jesus added a precept1 the admirable suitability of which is not at first apparent4 ,most sins are made evident to the conscience in the act of prayer4 ,drawing nigh to ,god1 we feel our unfitness to be there1 we are made conscious of what ,he frowns upon1 and if we have such faith as ,jesus spoke of1 we at once resign what would grieve the ,spirit of adoption4 ,no saint is ignorant of the convicting power of prayer4 ,but it is not of necessity so with resentment for real grievances4 ,we may think we do well to be angry4 ,we may confound our selfish fire with the pure flame of holy zeal1 and begin1 with confidence enough1 yet not with the mind of ,christ1 to remove mountains1 not because they impede a holy cause1 but because they throw a shadow upon our own field4 ,and1 therefore1 ,jesus reminds us that not only wonder-working faith1 but even the forgiveness of our sins requires from us the forgiveness of our brother4 ,this saying is the clearest proof of how much is implied in a truly undoubting heart4 ,and this promise is the sternest rebuke of the ,church1 endorsed with such ample powers1 and yet after nineteen centuries confronted by an unconverted world4 ,the ,second ,cleansing ,of ,the ,temple4 8,and they come to ,jerusalem3 and ,he entered into the temple1 and began to cast out them that sold and them that bought in the temple1 and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers1 and the seats of them that sold the doves2 and ,he would not suffer that any man should carry a vessel through the temple4 ,and ,he taught1 and said unto them1 ,is it not written1 ,my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations8 but ye have made it a den of robbers4 ,and the chief priests and the scribes heard it1 and sought how they might destroy ,him3 for they feared ,him1 for all the multitude was astonished at ,his teaching4 ,and every evening ,he went forth out of the city40--,,mark xi4 #ae-ai4 7,r4,v474 ,with the authority of yesterday's triumph still about ,him1 ,jesus returned to the temple1 which ,he had then inspected4 ,there at least the priesthood were not thwarted by popular indifference or ignorance3 they had power to carry out fully their own views2 they were solely responsible for whatever abuses could be discovered4 ,in fact1 the iniquities which moved the indignation of ,jesus were of their own contrivance1 and they enriched themselves by a vile trade which robbed the worshippers and profaned the holy house4 ,pilgrims from a distance needed the sacred money1 the half-shekel of the sanctuary1 still coined for this one purpose1 to offer for a ransom of their souls 7,exod4 xxx4 #ac74 ,and the priests had sanctioned a trade in the exchange of money under the temple roof1 so fraudulent that the dealers' evidence was refused in the courts of justice4 ,doves were necessary for the purification of the poor1 who could not afford more costly sacrifices1 and sheep and oxen were also in great demand4 ,and since the unblemished quality of the sacrifices should be attested by the priests1 they had been able to put a fictitious value upon these animals1 by which the family of ,annas in particular had accumulated enormous wealth4 ,to facilitate this trade1 they had dared to bring the defilement of the cattle market within the precincts of the ,house of ,god4 ,not indeed into the place where the ,pharisee stood in his pride and 8prayed with himself10 for that was holy2 but the court of the ,gentiles was profane2 the din which distracted and the foulness which revolted ,gentile worship was of no account to the average ,jew4 ,but ,jesus regarded the scene with different eyes4 ,how could the sanctity of that holy place not extend to the court of the stranger and the proselyte1 when it was written1 ,thy house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations8 ,therefore ,jesus had already1 at the outset of ,his ministry1 cleansed ,his ,father's house4 ,now1 in the fulness of ,his newly asserted royalty1 ,he calls it ,my ,house3 ,he denounces the iniquity of their traffic by branding it as a den of robbers2 ,he casts out the traders themselves1 as well as the implements of their traffic2 and in so doing ,he fanned to a mortal heat the hatred of the chief priests and the scribes1 who saw at once their revenues threatened and their reputation tarnished1 and yet dared not strike1 because all the multitude was astonished at ,his teaching4 ,but the wisdom of ,jesus did not leave ,him within their reach at night2 every evening ,he went forth out of the city4 ,from this narrative we learn the blinding force of self-interest1 for doubtless they were no more sensible of their iniquity than many a modern slavedealer4 ,and we must never rest content because our own conscience acquits us1 unless we have by thought and prayer supplied it with light and guiding4 ,we learn reverence for sacred places1 since the one exercise of ,his royal authority which ,jesus publicly displayed was to cleanse the temple1 even though upon the morrow ,he would relinquish it for ever1 to be 8your house0--and desolate4 ,we learn also how much apparent sanctity1 what dignity of worship1 splendour of offerings1 and pomp of architecture may go along with corruption and unreality4 ,and yet again1 by their overawed and abject helplessness we learn the might of holy indignation1 and the awakening power of a bold appeal to conscience4 8,the people hung upon ,him1 listening10 and if all seemed vain and wasted effort on the following ,friday1 what fruit of the teaching of ,jesus did not ,his followers gather in1 as soon as ,he poured down on them the gifts of ,pentecost4 ,did they now recall their own reflections after the earlier cleansing of the temple8 and their ,master's ominous words8 ,they had then remembered how it was written1 ,the zeal of thine house shall eat ,me up4 ,and ,he had said1 ,destroy this temple1 and in three days ,i shall raise it up1 speaking of the temple of ,his ,body1 which was now about to be thrown down4 ,the ,baptism ,of ,john1 ,whence ,was ,it8 8,and they come again to ,jerusalem3 and as ,he was walking in the temple1 there come to ,him the chief priests1 and the scribes1 and the elders2 and they said unto ,him1 ,by what authority doest ,thou these things8 or who gave ,thee this authority to do these things8 ,and ,jesus said unto them1 ,i will ask of you one question1 and answer ,me1 and ,i will tell you by what authority ,i do these things4 ,the baptism of ,john1 was it from heaven1 or from men8 answer ,me4 ,and they reasoned with themselves1 saying1 ,if we shall say1 ,from heaven3 ,he will say1 ,why then did ye not believe him8 ,but should we say1 ,from men--they feared the people3 for all verily held ,john to be a prophet4 ,and they answered ,jesus and say1 ,we know not4 ,and ,jesus saith unto them1 ,neither tell ,i you by what authority ,i do these things40--,,mark xi4 #bg-cc 7,r4,v474 ,the question put to ,jesus by the hierarchy of ,jerusalem is recorded in all the synoptic ,gospels4 ,but in some respects the story is most pointed in the narrative of ,st4 ,mark4 ,and it is natural that he1 the historian especially of the energies of ,christ1 should lay stress upon a challenge addressed to ,him1 by reason of ,his masterful words and deeds4 ,at the outset1 he had recorded the astonishment of the people because ,jesus taught with authority1 because 8,verily ,i say0 replaced the childish and servile methods by which the scribe and the ,pharisee sustained their most wilful innovations4 ,when first he relates a miracle1 he tells how their wonder increased1 because with authority ,jesus commanded the unclean spirits and they obeyed1 respecting ,his self-reliant word 8,i command thee to come out10 more than the most elaborate incantations and exorcisms4 ,st4 ,mark's first record of collision with the priests was when ,jesus carried ,his claim still farther1 and said 8,the ,son of man hath authority0 7it is the same word7 8on earth to forgive sins40 ,thus we find the ,gospel quite conscious of what so forcibly strikes a careful modern reader1 the assured and independent tone of ,jesus2 ,his bearing1 so unlike that of a disciple or a commentator2 ,his consciousness that the ,scriptures themselves are they which testify of ,him1 and that only ,he can give the life which men think they possess in these4 ,in the very teaching of lowliness ,jesus exempts ,himself1 and forbids others to be ,master and ,lord1 because these titles belong to ,him4 ,impressive as such claims appear when we awake to them1 it is even more suggestive to reflect that we can easily read the ,gospels and not be struck by them4 ,we do not start when ,he bids all the weary to come to ,him1 and offers them rest1 and yet declares ,himself to be meek and lowly4 ,he is meek and lowly while ,he makes such claims4 ,his bearing is that of the highest rank1 joined with the most perfect graciousness2 ,his great claims never irritate us1 because they are palpably ,his due1 and we readily concede the astonishing elevation whence ,he so graciously bends down so low4 ,and this is one evidence of the truth and power of the character which the ,apostles drew4 ,how natural is this also1 that immediately after ,palm ,sunday1 when the people have hailed their ,messiah1 royal and a ,saviour1 and when ,he has accepted their homage1 we find new indications of authority in ,his bearing and ,his actions4 ,he promptly took them at their word4 ,it was now that ,he wrought ,his only miracle of judgment1 and although it was but the withering of a tree 7since ,he came not to destroy men's lives but to save them71 yet was there a dread symbolical sentence involved upon all barren and unfruitful men and ,churches4 ,in the very act of triumphal entry1 ,he solemnly pronounced judgment upon the guilty city which would not accept her ,king4 ,arrived at the temple1 ,he surveyed its abuses and defilements1 and returned on the morrow 7and so not spurred by sudden impulse1 but of deliberate purpose71 to drive out them that sold and bought4 ,two years ago ,he had needed to scourge the intruders forth1 but now they are overawed by ,his majesty1 and obey ,his word4 ,then1 too1 they were rebuked for making ,his ,father's house a house of merchandise1 but now it is ,his own--8,my ,house10 but degraded yet farther into a den of thieves4 ,but while traffic and pollution shrank away1 misery and privation were attracted to ,him2 the blind and the lame came and were healed in the very temple2 and the centre and rallying-place of the priests and scribes beheld ,his power to save4 ,this drove them to extremities4 ,he was carrying the war into the heart of their territories1 establishing ,himself in their stronghold1 and making it very plain that since the people had hailed ,him ,king1 and ,he had responded to their acclaims1 ,he would not shrink from whatever ,his view of that great office might involve4 ,while they watched1 full of bitterness and envy1 they were again impressed1 as at the beginning1 by the strange1 autocratic1 spontaneous manner in which ,he worked1 making ,himself the source of ,his blessings1 as no prophet had ever done since ,moses expiated so dearly the offence of saying1 ,must we fetch you water out of the rock8 ,jesus acted after the fashion of ,him ,who openeth ,his hands and satisfieth the desire of every living thing4 ,why did ,he not give the glory to ,one above8 ,why did ,he not supplicate1 nor invoke1 but simply bestow8 ,where were the accustomed words of supplication1 8,hear me1 ,o ,lord ,god1 hear me10 or1 8,where is the ,lord ,god of ,israel80 ,here they discerned a flaw1 a heresy2 and they would force ,him either to make a fatal claim1 or else to moderate ,his pretensions at their bidding1 which would promptly restore their lost influence and leadership4 ,nor need we shrink from confessing that our ,lord was justly open to such reproach1 unless ,he was indeed ,divine1 unless ,he was deliberately preparing ,his followers for that astonishing revelation1 soon to come1 which threw the ,church upon her knees in adoration of her ,god manifest in flesh4 ,it is hard to understand how the ,socinian can defend his ,master against the charge of encroaching on the rights and honours of ,deity1 and 7to borrow a phrase from a different connection7 sitting down at the right hand of the ,majesty of ,god1 whereas every priest standeth ministering4 ,if ,he were a creature1 ,he culpably failed to tell us the conditions upon which ,he received a delegated authority1 and the omission has made ,his ,church ever since idolatrous4 ,it is one great and remarkable lesson suggested by this verse3 if ,jesus were not ,divine1 what was ,he8 ,thus it came to pass1 in direct consequence upon the events which opened the great week of the triumph and the cross of ,jesus1 that the whole rank and authority of the temple system confronted ,him with a stern question4 ,they sat in ,moses' seat4 ,they were entitled to examine the pretensions of a new and aspiring teacher4 ,they had a perfect right to demand 8,tell us by what authority thou doest these things40 ,the works are not denied1 but the source whence they flow is questioned4 ,after so many centuries1 the question is fresh to-day4 ,for still the spirit of ,christ is working in ,his world1 openly1 palpably1 spreading blessings far and wide4 ,it is exalting multitudes of ignoble lives by hopes that are profound1 far-reaching1 and sublime4 ,when savage realms are explored1 it is ,christ ,who hastens thither with ,his gospel1 before the trader in rum and gunpowder can exhibit the charms of a civilization without a creed4 ,in the gloomiest haunts of disease and misery1 madness1 idiotcy1 orphanage1 and vice1 there is ,christ at work1 the good ,samaritan1 pouring oil and wine into the gaping wounds of human nature1 acting quite upon ,his own authority1 careless who looks askance1 not asking political economy whether genuine charity is pauperisation1 nor questioning the doctrine of development1 whether the progress of the race demands the pitiless rejection of the unfit1 and selection only of the strongest specimens for survival4 ,that iron creed may be natural2 but if so1 ours is supernatural1 it is a law of spirit and life1 setting us free from that base and selfish law of sin and death4 ,the existence and energy of ,christian forces in our modern world is indisputable3 never was ,jesus a more popular and formidable claimant of its crown2 never did more ,hosannas follow ,him into the temple4 ,but now as formerly ,his credentials are demanded3 what is ,his authority and how has ,he come by it8 ,now we say of modern as of ancient inquiries1 that they are right2 investigation is inevitable and a duty4 ,but see how ,jesus dealt with those men of old4 ,let us not misunderstand ,him4 ,he did not merely set one difficulty against another1 as if we should start some scientific problem1 and absolve ourselves from the duty of answering any inquiry until science had disposed of this4 ,doubtless it is logical enough to point out that all creeds1 scientific and religious alike1 have their unsolved problems4 ,but the reply of ,jesus was not a dexterous evasion1 it went to the root of things1 and1 therefore1 it stands good for time and for eternity4 ,he refused to surrender the advantage of a witness to whom ,he was entitled3 ,he demanded that all the facts and not some alone should be investigated4 ,in truth their position bound ,his interrogators to examine ,his credentials2 to do so was not only their privilege but their duty4 ,but then they must begin at the beginning4 ,had they performed this duty for the ,baptist8 ,who or what was that mysterious1 lonely1 stern preacher of righteousness who had stirred the national heart so profoundly1 and whom all men still revered8 ,they themselves had sent to question him1 and his answer was notorious3 he had said that he was sent before the ,christ2 he was only a voice1 but a voice which demanded the preparation of a way before the ,lord ,himself1 ,who was approaching1 and a highway for our ,god4 ,what was the verdict of these investigators upon that great movement8 ,what would they make of the decisive testimony of the ,baptist8 ,as the perilous significance of this consummate rejoinder bursts on their crafty intelligence1 as they recoil confounded from the exposure they have brought upon themselves1 ,st4 ,mark tells how the question was pressed home1 8,answer ,me60 ,but they dared not call ,john an impostor1 and yet to confess him was to authenticate the seal upon our ,lord's credentials4 ,and ,jesus is palpably within ,his rights in refusing to be questioned of such authorities as these4 ,yet immediately afterwards1 with equal skill and boldness1 ,he declared ,himself1 and yet defied their malice1 in the story of the lord of a vineyard1 who had vainly sent many servants to claim its fruit1 and at the last sent his beloved son4 ,now apply the same process to the modern opponents of the faith1 and it will be found that multitudes of their assaults on ,christianity imply the negation of what they will not and dare not deny4 ,some will not believe in miracles because the laws of nature work uniformly4 ,but their uniformity is undisturbed by human operations2 the will of man wields1 without cancelling1 these mighty forces which surround us4 ,and why may not the will of ,god do the same1 if there be a ,god8 ,ask them whether they deny ,his existence1 and they will probably declare themselves ,agnostics1 which is exactly the ancient answer1 8,we cannot tell40 ,now as long as men avow their ignorance of the existence or non-existence of a ,deity1 they cannot assert the impossibility of miracles1 for miracles are simply actions which reveal ,god1 as men's actions reveal their presence4 ,again1 a demand is made for such evidence1 to establish the faith1 as cannot be had for any fact beyond the range of the exact sciences4 ,we are asked1 ,why should we stake eternity upon anything short of demonstration8 ,yet it will be found that the objector is absolutely persuaded1 and acts on his persuasion of many 8truths which never can be proved0--of the fidelity of his wife and children1 and above all1 of the difference between right and wrong4 ,that is a fundamental principle3 deny it1 and society becomes impossible4 ,and yet sceptical theories are widely diffused which really1 though unconsciously1 sap the very foundations of morality1 or assert that it is not from heaven but of men1 a mere expediency1 a prudential arrangement of society4 ,such arguments may well 8fear the people10 for the instincts of mankind know well that all such explanations of conscience do really explain it away4 ,and it is quite necessary in our days1 when religion is impugned1 to see whether the assumptions of its assailants would not compromise time as well as eternity1 and to ask1 ,what think ye of all those fundamental principles which sustain the family1 society1 and the state1 while they bear testimony to the ,church of ,christ4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,the ,husbandmen4 8,and ,he began to speak unto them in parables4 ,a man planted a vineyard1 and set a hedge about it1 and digged a pit for the wine-press1 and built a tower1 and let it out to husbandmen1 and went into another country4 ,and at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant1 that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard4 ,and they took him1 and beat him1 and sent him away empty4 ,and again he sent unto them another servant3 and him they wounded in the head1 and handled shamefully4 ,and he sent another2 and him they killed3 and many others2 beating some1 and killing some4 ,he had yet one1 a beloved son3 he sent him last unto them1 saying1 ,they will reverence my son4 ,but those husbandmen said among themselves1 ,this is the heir2 come1 let us kill him1 and the inheritance shall be ours4 ,and they took him1 and killed him1 and cast him forth out of the vineyard4 ,what1 therefore1 will the ,lord of the vineyard do8 ,he will come and destroy the husbandmen1 and will give the vineyard unto others4 ,have ye not read even this ,scripture3 ,the stone which the builders rejected1 ,the same was made the head of the corner3 ,this was from the ,lord1 ,and it is marvellous in our eyes8 ,and they sought to lay hold on ,him2 and they feared the multitude2 for they perceived that ,he spake the parable against them3 and they left ,him1 and went away40--,,mark xii4 #a-ab 7,r4,v474 ,the rulers of ,his people have failed to make ,jesus responsible to their inquisition4 ,he has exposed the hollowness of their claim to investigate ,his commission1 and formally refused to tell them by what authority ,he did these things4 ,but what ,he would not say for an unjust cross-examination1 ,he proclaimed to all docile hearts2 and the skill which disarmed ,his enemies is not more wonderful than that which in their hearing answered their question1 yet left them no room for accusation4 ,this was achieved by speaking to them in parables4 ,the indifferent might hear and not perceive3 the keenness of malice would surely understand but could not easily impeach a simple story2 but to ,his own followers it would be given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of ,god4 ,his first words would be enough to arouse attention4 ,the psalmist had told how ,god brought a vine out of ,egypt1 and cast out the heathen and planted it4 ,isaiah had carried the image farther1 and sung of a vineyard in a very fruitful hill4 ,the ,well-beloved1 ,whose it was1 cleared the ground for it1 and planted it with the choicest vine1 and built a tower1 and hewed out a wine-press1 and looked that it should bring forth grapes1 but it had brought forth wild grapes4 ,therefore ,he would lay it waste4 ,this well-known and recognized type the ,lord now adopted1 but modified it to suit ,his purpose4 ,as in a former parable the sower slept and rose1 and left the earth to bring forth fruit of itself1 so in this1 the ,lord of the vineyard let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country4 ,this is our ,lord's own explanation of that silent time in which no special interpositions asserted that ,god was nigh1 no prophecies were heard1 no miracles startled the careless4 ,it was the time when grace already granted should have been peacefully ripening4 ,now we live in such a period4 ,unbelievers desire a sign4 ,impatient believers argue that if our ,master is as near us as ever1 the same portents must attest ,his presence2 and1 therefore1 they recognise the gift of tongues in hysterical clamour1 and stake the honour of religion upon faith-healing1 and those various obscure phenomena which the annals of every fanaticism can rival4 ,but the sober ,christian understands that1 even as the ,lord of the vineyard went into another country1 so ,christ ,his ,son 7,who in spiritual communion is ever with ,his people7 in another sense has gone into a far country to receive a kingdom and to return4 ,in the interval1 marvels would be simply an anachronism4 ,the best present evidence of the faith lies in the superior fruitfulness of the vineyard ,he has planted1 in the steady advance to rich maturity of the vine ,he has imported from another clime4 ,at this point ,jesus begins to add a new significance to the ancient metaphor4 ,the husbandmen are mentioned4 ,men there were in the ancient ,church1 who were specially responsible for the culture of the vineyard4 ,as ,he spoke1 the symbol explained itself4 ,the imposing array of chief priests and scribes and elders stood by1 who had just claimed as their prerogative that ,he should make good ,his commission to their scrutiny2 and none would be less likely to mistake ,his meaning than these self-conscious lovers of chief seats in the synagogues4 ,the structure of the parable1 therefore1 admits their official rank1 as frankly as when ,jesus bade ,his disciples submit to their ordinances because they sit in ,moses' seat4 ,but ,he passes on1 easily and as if unconsciously1 to record that special messengers from heaven had1 at times1 interrupted the self-indulgent quietude of the husbandmen4 ,because the fruit of the vineyard had not been freely rendered1 a bondservant was sent to demand it4 ,the epithet implies that the messenger was lower in rank1 although his direct mission gave him authority even over the keepers of the vineyard4 ,it expresses exactly the position of the prophets1 few of them of priestly rank1 some of them very humble in extraction1 and very rustic in expression1 but all sent in evil days to faithless husbandmen1 to remind them that the vineyard was not their own1 and to receive the fruits of righteousness4 ,again and again the demand is heard1 for ,he sent 8many others20 and always it is rejected with violence1 which sometimes rises to murder4 ,as they listened1 they must have felt that all this was true1 that while prophet after prophet had come to a violent end1 not one had seen the official hierarchy making common cause with him4 ,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 him4 ,have any of the rulers or of the ,pharisees believed on ,him8 was their scornful question4 ,but the answer was plain1 ,as long as they built the sepulchres of the prophets1 and garnished the tombs of the righteous1 and said1 ,if we had been in the days of our fathers1 we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets1 they confessed that men could not blindly follow a hierarchy merely as such1 since they were not the official successors of the prophets but of those who slew them4 ,the worst charge brought against them was only that they acted according to analogy1 and filled up the deeds of their fathers4 ,it had always been the same4 ,the last argument of ,stephen1 which filled his judges with madness1 was but the echo of this great impeachment4 ,which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute8 and they killed them which showed before of the coming of the ,righteous ,one1 of ,whom ye have now become the betrayers and murderers4 ,that last defiance of heaven1 which ,stephen thus denounced1 his ,master distinctly foretold4 ,and ,he added the appalling circumstance1 that however they might deceive themselves and sophisticate their conscience1 they really knew ,him ,who ,he was4 ,they felt1 at the very least1 that into ,his hands should pass all the authority and power they had so long monopolized3 8,this is the ,heir2 come let us kill ,him and the inheritance shall be ours40 ,if there were no more1 the utterance of these words put forth an extraordinary claim4 ,all that should have been rendered up to heaven and was withheld1 all that previous messengers had demanded on behalf of ,god without avail1 all 8the inheritance0 which these wicked husbandmen were intercepting1 all this ,jesus announces to be ,his own1 while reprehending the dishonesty of any other claim upon it4 ,and as a matter of fact1 if ,jesus be not ,divine1 ,he has intercepted more of the worship due to the ,eternal1 has attracted to ,himself more of the homage of the loftiest and profoundest minds1 than any false teacher within the pale of monotheism has ever done4 ,it is the bounden duty of all who revere ,jesus even as a teacher1 of all who have eyes to see that ,his coming was the greatest upward step in the progress of humanity1 to consider well what was implied1 when1 in the act of blaming the usurpers of the heritage of ,god1 ,jesus declared that inheritance to be ,his own4 ,but this is not all1 though it is what ,he declares that the husbandmen were conscious of4 ,the parable states1 not only that ,he is heir1 but heir by virtue of ,his special relationship to the ,supreme4 ,others are bondservants or husbandmen1 but ,he is the ,son4 ,he does not inherit as the worthiest and most obedient1 but by right of birth2 and ,his ,father1 in the act of sending ,him1 expects even these bloodstained outlaws to reverence ,his ,son4 ,in such a phrase1 applied to such criminals1 we are made to feel the lofty rank alike of the ,father and ,his ,son1 which ought to have overawed even them4 ,and when we read that 8,he had yet one1 a beloved ,son10 it seems as if the veil of eternity were uplifted1 to reveal a secret and awful intimacy1 of which1 nevertheless1 some glimmering consciousness should have controlled the most desperate heart4 ,but they only reckoned that if they killed the ,heir1 the inheritance would become their own4 ,it seems the wildest madness1 that men should know and feel ,who ,he was1 and yet expect to profit by desecrating ,his rights4 ,and yet so it was from the beginning4 ,if ,herod were not fearful that the predicted ,king of the ,jews was indeed born1 the massacre of the ,innocents was idle4 ,if the rulers were not fearful that this counsel and work was of ,god1 they would not1 at ,gamaliel's bidding1 have refrained from the ,apostles4 ,and it comes still closer to the point to observe that1 if they had attached no importance1 even in their moment of triumph1 to the prediction of ,his rising from the dead1 they would not have required a guard1 nor betrayed the secret recognition which ,jesus here exposes4 ,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 all4 ,it is committed every day1 under the pressure of strong temptation1 by men who know clearly that nothing but misery can result4 ,so true is it that action is decided1 not by a course of logic in the brain1 but by the temperament and bias of our nature as a whole4 ,we need not suppose that the rulers roundly spoke such words as these1 even to themselves4 ,the infamous motive lurked in ambush1 too far in the back ground of the mind perhaps even for consciousness4 ,but it was there1 and it affected their decision1 as lurking passions and self-interests always will1 as surely as iron deflects the compass4 8,they caught ,him and killed ,him10 said the unfaltering lips of their victim4 ,and ,he added a circumstance of pain which we often overlook1 but to which the great minister of the circumcision was keenly sensitive1 and often reverted1 the giving ,him up to the ,gentiles1 to a death accursed among the ,jews2 8they cast ,him forth out of the vineyard40 ,all evil acts are based upon an overestimate of the tolerance of ,god4 ,he had seemed to remain passive while messenger after messenger was beaten1 stoned1 or slain4 ,but now that they had filled up the iniquity of their fathers1 the ,lord of the vineyard would come in person to destroy them1 and give the vineyard to others4 ,this last phrase is strangely at variance with the notion that the days of a commissioned ministry are over1 as1 on the other hand1 the whole parable is at variance with the notion that a priesthood can be trusted to sit in exclusive judgment upon doctrine for the ,church4 ,at this point ,st4 ,mark omits an incident so striking1 although small1 that its absence is significant4 ,the by-standers said1 8,god forbid60 and when the horrified exclamation betrayed their consciousness of the position1 ,jesus was content1 without a word1 to mark their self-conviction by ,his searching gaze4 8,he looked upon them40 ,the omission would be unaccountable if ,st4 ,mark were simply a powerful narrator of graphic incidents2 but it is explained when we think that for him the manifestation of a mighty ,personage was all in all1 and the most characteristic and damaging admissions of the hierarchy were as nothing compared with a word of his ,lord4 ,thereupon he goes straight on to record that1 besides refuting their claim by the history of the past1 and asserting ,his own supremacy in a phrase at once guarded in form and decisive in import1 ,jesus also appealed to ,scripture4 ,it was written that by special and marvellous interposition of the ,lord a stone which the recognized builders had rejected should crown the building4 ,and the quotation was not only decisive as showing that their rejection could not close the controversy2 it also compensated1 with a promise of final victory1 the ominous words in which their malice had seemed to do its worst4 ,jesus often predicted ,his death1 but ,he never despaired of ,his kingdom4 ,no wonder that the rulers sought to arrest ,him1 and perceived that ,he penetrated and despised their schemes4 ,and their next device is a natural outcome from the fact that they feared the people1 but did not discontinue their intrigues2 for this was a crafty and dangerous attempt to estrange from ,him the admiring multitude4 ,the ,tribute ,money4 8,and they send unto ,him certain of the ,pharisees and of the ,herodians1 that they might catch ,him in talk4 ,and when they were come1 they say unto ,him1 ,master1 we know that ,thou art true1 and carest not for any one3 for ,thou regardest not the person of men1 but of a truth teachest the way of ,god3 ,is it lawful to give tribute unto ,csar1 or not8 ,shall we give1 or shall we not give8 ,but ,he1 knowing their hypocrisy1 said unto them1 ,why tempt ye ,me8 bring ,me a penny1 that ,i may see it4 ,and they brought it4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,whose is this image and superscription8 ,and they said unto ,him1 ,csar's4 ,and ,jesus said unto them1 ,render unto ,csar the things that are ,csar's1 and unto ,god the things that are ,god's4 ,and they marvelled greatly at ,him40--,,mark xii4 #ac-ag 7,r4,v474 ,the contrast is very striking between this incident and the last4 ,instead of a challenge1 ,jesus is respectfully consulted2 and instead of a formal concourse of the authorities of ,his religion1 ,he is ,himself the authority to ,whom a few perplexed people profess to submit their difficulty4 ,nevertheless1 it is a new and subtle effort of the enmity of ,his defeated foes4 ,they have sent to ,him certain ,pharisees who will excite the popular indignation if ,he yields anything to the foreigner1 and ,herodians who will1 if ,he refuses1 bring upon ,him the colder and deadlier vengeance of ,rome4 ,they flatter1 in order to stimulate1 that fearless utterance which must often have seemed to them so rash3 8,we know that ,thou art true1 and carest not for any one1 for ,thou regardest not the person of men1 but of a truth teachest the way of ,god40 ,and they appeal to a higher motive by representing the case to be one of practical and personal urgency1 8,shall we give1 or shall we not give80 ,never was it more necessary to join the wisdom of the serpent to the innocence of the dove1 for it would seem that ,he must needs answer directly1 and that no direct answer can fail to have the gravest consequences4 ,but in their eagerness to secure this menacing position1 they have left one weak point in the attack4 ,they have made the question altogether a practical one4 ,the abstract doctrine of the right to drive out a foreign power1 of the limits of authority and freedom1 they have not raised4 ,it is simply a question of the hour1 ,shall we give or shall we not give8 ,and ,jesus baffled them by treating it as such4 ,there was no longer a national coinage1 except only of the half shekel for the temple tax4 ,when ,he asked them for a smaller coin1 they produced a ,roman penny stamped with the effigy of ,csar4 ,thus they confessed the use of the ,roman currency4 ,now since they accepted the advantages of subjugation1 they ought also to endure its burdens3 since they traded as ,roman subjects1 they ought to pay the ,roman tribute4 ,not ,he had preached submission1 but they had avowed it2 and any consequent unpopularity would fall not upon ,him but them4 ,they had answered their own question4 ,and ,jesus laid down the broad and simple rule1 8,render 7pay back7 unto ,csar the things that are ,csar's1 and unto ,god the things that are ,god's4 ,and they marvelled greatly at ,him40 ,no wonder they marvelled1 for it would be hard to find in all the records of philosophy so ready and practical a device to baffle such cunning intriguers1 such keenness in ,one ,whose life was so far removed from the schools of worldly wisdom1 joined with so firm a grasp on principle1 in an utterance so brief1 yet going down so far to the roots of action4 ,now the words of ,jesus are words for all time2 even when ,he deals with a question of the hour1 ,he treats it from the point of view of eternal fitness and duty2 and this command to render unto ,csar the things which are ,csar's has become the charter of the state against all usurpations of tyrannous ecclesiastics4 ,a sphere is recognized in which obedience to the law is a duty to ,god4 ,but it is absurd to pretend that ,christ taught blind and servile obedience to all tyrants in all circumstances1 for this would often make it impossible to obey the second injunction1 and to render unto ,god the things which are ,god's1--a clause which asserts in turn the right of conscience and the ,church against all secular encroachments4 ,the point to observe is1 that the decision of ,jesus is simply an inference1 a deduction4 ,st4 ,matthew has inserted the word 8therefore10 and it is certainly implied3 render unto ,csar the things which you confess to be his own1 which bear his image upon their face4 ,can we suppose that no such inference gives point to the second clause8 ,it would then become1 like too many of our pious sayings1 a mere supplement1 inappropriate1 however excellent1 a make weight1 and a platitude4 ,no example of such irrelevance can be found in the story of our ,lord4 ,when1 finding the likeness of ,csar on the coin1 ,he said1 ,render1 therefore1 unto ,csar the things that are ,csar's1 and unto ,god the things that are ,god's1 ,he at least suggested that the reason for both precepts ran parallel1 and the image of the higher and heavenlier ,monarch could be found on what ,he claims of us4 ,and it is so4 ,he claims all we have and all we are4 8,the earth is the ,lord's1 and the fulness thereof30 and 8,i have made thee1 thou art ,mine40 ,and for us and ours alike the argument holds good4 ,all the visible universe bears deeply stamped into its substance ,his image and superscription4 ,the grandeur of mountains and stars1 the fairness of violet and harebell1 are alike revelations of the ,creator4 ,the heavens declare ,his glory3 the firmament showeth ,his handiwork3 the earth is full of ,his riches3 all the discoveries which expand our mastery over nature and disease1 over time and space1 are proofs of ,his wisdom and goodness1 ,who laid the amazing plan which we grow wise by tracing out4 ,find a corner on which contrivance and benevolence have not stamped the royal image1 and we may doubt whether that bleak spot owes ,him tribute4 ,but no desert is so blighted1 no solitude so forlorn4 ,and we should render unto ,god the things which are ,god's1 seeing ,his likeness in ,his world4 8,for the invisible things of ,him since the creation of the world are clearly seen1 being perceived through the things which are made1 even ,his everlasting power and divinity40 ,and if most of all ,he demands the love1 the heart of man1 here also ,he can ask1 8,whose image and superscription is this80 ,for in the image of ,god made ,he man4 ,it is sometimes urged that this image was quite effaced when ,adam fell4 ,but it was not to protect the unfallen that the edict was spoken 8,whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed1 for in the image of ,god made ,he man40 ,he was not an unfallen man of whom ,st4 ,paul said that he 8ought not to have his head veiled1 forasmuch as he is the image and glory of ,god20 neither were they unfallen1 of whom ,st4 ,james said1 8,we curse men which are made after the likeness of ,god0 7,gen4 ix4 #f2 #a ,cor4 xi4 #g2 ,james iii4 #i74 ,common men1 for whom the assassin lurks1 who need instruction how to behave in church1 and whom others scorn and curse1 these bear upon them an awful likeness2 and even when they refuse tribute to their king1 ,he can ask them1 ,whose is this image8 ,we see it in the intellect1 ever demanding new worlds to conquer1 overwhelming us with its victories over time and space4 8,in apprehension how like a ,god40 ,alas for us6 if we forget that the ,spirit of knowledge and wisdom is no other than the ,spirit of the ,lord ,god4 ,we see this likeness far more in our moral nature4 ,it is true that sin has spoiled and wasted this1 yet there survives in man's heart1 as nowhere else in our world1 a strange sympathy with the holiness and love of ,god4 ,no other of ,his attributes has the same power to thrill us4 ,tell me that ,he lit the stars and can quench them with a word1 and ,i reverence1 perhaps ,i fear ,him2 yet such power is outside and beyond my sphere2 it fails to touch me1 it is high1 ,i cannot attain unto it4 ,even the rarer human gifts1 the power of a ,czar1 the wisdom of ,bacon1 are thus beyond me1 ,i am unkindled1 they do not find me out4 ,but speak of holiness1 even the stainless holiness of ,god1 undefiled through all eternity1 and you shake the foundations of my being4 ,and why does the reflection that ,god is pure humble me more than the knowledge that ,god is omnipotent8 ,because it is my spiritual nature which is most conscious of the ,divine image1 blurred and defaced indeed1 but not obliterated yet4 ,because while ,i listen ,i am dimly conscious of my birthright1 my destiny1 that ,i was born to resemble this1 and all is lost if ,i come short of it4 ,because every child and every sinner feels that it is more possible for him to be like his ,god than like ,newton1 or ,shakespere1 or ,napoleon4 ,because the work of grace is to call in the worn and degraded coinage of humanity1 and1 as the mint restamps and reissues the pieces which have grown thin and worn1 so to renew us after the image of ,him that created us4 ,christ ,and ,the ,sadducees4 8,and there come unto ,him ,sadducees1 which say that there is no resurrection3 and they asked ,him1 saying1 ,master1 ,moses wrote unto us1 ,if a man's brother die1 and leave a wife behind him1 and leave no child1 that his brother should take his wife1 and raise up seed unto his brother4 ,there were seven brethren3 and the first took a wife1 and dying left no seed2 and the second took her1 and died1 leaving no seed behind him2 and the third likewise3 and the seven left no seed4 ,last of all the woman also died4 ,in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of them8 for the seven had her to wife4 ,jesus said unto them1 ,is it not for this cause that ye err1 that ye know not the ,scriptures1 nor the power of ,god8 ,for when they shall rise from the dead1 they neither marry1 nor are given in marriage2 but are as angels in heaven4 ,but as touching the dead1 that they are raised2 have ye not read in the book of ,moses1 in the place concerning the ,bush1 how ,god spake unto him1 saying1 ,i am the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob8 ,he is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living3 ye do greatly err40--,,mark xii4 #ah-bg 7,r4,v474 ,christ came that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed4 ,and so it was1 that when ,he had silenced the examination of the hierarchy1 and baffled their craft1 the ,sadducees were tempted to assail ,him4 ,like the rationalists of every age1 they stood coldly aloof from popular movements1 and we seldom find them interfering with ,christ or ,his followers1 until their energies were roused by the preaching of ,his ,resurrection1 so directly opposed to their fundamental doctrines4 ,their appearance now is extremely natural4 ,the repulse of every other party left them the only champions of orthodoxy against the new movement1 with everything to win by success1 and little to lose by failure4 ,there is a tone of quiet and confident irony in their interrogation1 well befitting an upper-class group1 a secluded party of refined critics1 rather than practical teachers with a mission to their fellow-men4 ,they break utterly new ground by raising an abstract and subtle question1 a purely intellectual problem1 but one which reduced the doctrine of a resurrection to an absurdity1 if only their premises can be made good4 ,and this peculiarity is often overlooked in criticism upon our ,lord's answer4 ,its intellectual subtlety was only the adoption by ,christ of the weapons of his adversaries4 ,but at the same time1 ,he lays great and special stress upon the authority of ,scripture1 in this encounter with the party which least acknowledged it4 ,their objection1 stated in its simplest form1 is the complication which would result if the successive ties for which death makes room must all revive together when death is abolished4 ,if a woman has married a second time1 whose wife shall she be8 ,but their statement of the case is ingenious1 not only because they push the difficulty to an absurd and ludicrous extent1 but much more so because they base it upon a ,divine ordinance4 ,if there be a ,resurrection1 ,moses must answer for all the confusion that will ensue1 for ,moses gave the commandment1 by virtue of which a woman married seven times4 ,no offspring of any union gave it a special claim upon her future life4 8,in the ,resurrection1 whose wife shall she be of them80 they ask1 conceding with a quiet sarcasm that this absurd event must needs occur4 ,for these controversialists the question was solely of the physical tie1 which had made of twain one flesh4 ,they had no conception that the body can be raised otherwise than as it perished1 and they rightly enough felt certain that on such a resurrection woeful complications must ensue4 ,now ,jesus does not rebuke their question with such stern words as ,he had just employed to others1 8,why tempt ye me1 ye hypocrites80 ,they were doubtless sincere in their conviction1 and at least they had not come in the disguise of perplexed inquirers and almost disciples4 ,he blames them1 but more gently3 8,is it not for this cause that ye err1 because ye know not the ,scriptures1 nor the power of ,god80 ,they could not know one and not the other1 but the boastful wisdom of this world1 so ready to point a jibe by quoting ,moses1 had never truly grasped the meaning of the writer it appealed to4 ,jesus1 it is plain1 does not quote ,scripture only as having authority with ,his opponents3 ,he accepts it heartily3 ,he declares that human error is due to ignorance of its depth and range of teaching2 and ,he recognizes the full roll of the sacred books 8the ,scriptures40 ,it has rightly been said1 that none of the explicit statements1 commonly relied upon1 do more to vindicate for ,holy ,writ the authority of our ,lord1 than this simple incidental question4 ,jesus proceeded to restate the doctrine of the ,resurrection and then to prove it2 and the more ,his brief words are pondered1 the more they will expand and deepen4 ,st4 ,paul has taught us that the dead in ,christ shall rise first 7#a ,thess4 iv4 #af74 ,of such attainment it is written1 ,blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first ,resurrection 7,rev4 xx4 #f74 ,now since among the lost there could be no question of family ties1 and consequent embarrassments1 ,jesus confines ,his statement to these happy ones1 of whom the ,sadducee could think no better than that their new life should be a reproduction of their existence here1--a theory which they did wisely in rejecting4 ,he uses the very language taken up afterwards by ,his apostle1 and says1 8,when they shall rise from the dead40 ,and ,he asserts that marriage is at an end1 and they are as the angels in heaven4 ,here is no question of the duration of pure and tender human affection1 nor do these words compromise in any degree the hopes of faithful hearts1 which cling to one another4 ,surely we may believe that in a life which is the outcome and resultant of this life1 as truly as the grain is of the seed1 in a life also where nothing shall be forgotten1 but on the contrary we shall know what we know not now1 there1 tracing back the flood of their immortal energies to obscure fountains upon earth1 and seeing all that each has owed half unconsciously to the fidelity and wisdom of the other1 the true partners and genuine helpmeets of this world shall for ever drink some peculiar gladness1 each from the other's joy4 ,there is no reason why the close of formal unions which include the highest and most perfect friendships1 should forbid such friendships to survive and flourish in the more kindly atmosphere of heaven4 ,what ,christ asserts is simply the dissolution of the tie1 as an inevitable consequence of such a change in the very nature of the blessed ones as makes the tie incongruous and impossible4 ,in point of fact1 marriage as the ,sadducee thought of it1 is but the counterpoise of death1 renewing the face which otherwise would disappear1 and when death is swallowed up1 it vanishes as an anachronism4 ,in heaven 8they are as the angels10 the body itself being made 8a spiritual body10 set free from the appetites of the flesh1 and in harmony with the glowing aspirations of the ,spirit1 which now it weighs upon and retards4 ,if any would object that to be as the angels is to be without a body1 rather than to possess a spiritual body1 it is answer enough that the context implies the existence of a body1 since no person ever spoke of a resurrection of the soul4 ,moreover it is an utterly unwarrantable assumption that angels are wholly without substance4 ,many verses appear to imply the opposite1 and the cubits of measurement of the ,new ,jerusalem were 8according to the measure of a man1 that is of an angel0 7,rev4 xxi4 #ag71 which seems to assert a very curious similarity indeed4 ,the objection of the ,sadducees was entirely obviated1 therefore by the broader1 bolder1 and more spiritual view of a resurrection which ,jesus taught4 ,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 death1 if the free and spiritual teaching of ,jesus1 and its expansion by ,st4 ,paul1 were understood4 ,but we breathe a wholly different air when we read the speculations even of so great a thinker as ,st4 ,augustine1 who supposed that we should rise with bodies somewhat greater than our present ones1 because all the hair and nails we ever trimmed away must be diffused throughout the mass1 lest they should produce deformity by their excessive proportions 7,de ,civitate ,dei1 xxii4 #ai74 ,to all such speculation1 he who said1 ,to every seed his own body1 says1 ,thou fool1 thou sowest not that body that shall be4 ,but though ,jesus had met these questions1 it did not follow that ,his doctrine was true1 merely because a certain difficulty did not apply4 ,and1 therefore1 ,he proceeded to prove it by the same ,moses to whom they had appealed1 and whom ,jesus distinctly asserts to be the author of the book of ,exodus4 ,god said1 8,i am the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob4 ,he is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living3 ye do greatly err40 ,the argument is not based upon the present tense of the verb to be in this assertion1 for in the ,greek the verb is not expressed4 ,in fact the argument is not a verbal one at all2 or else it would be satisfied by the doctrine of the immortality of the spirit1 and would not establish any resurrection of the body4 ,it is based upon the immutability of ,god1 and1 therefore1 the imperishability of all that ever entered into vital and real relationship with ,him4 ,to cancel such a relationship would introduce a change into the ,eternal4 ,and ,moses1 to whom they appealed1 had heard ,god expressly proclaim ,himself the ,god of those who had long since passed out of time4 ,it was1 therefore1 clear that ,his relationship with them lived on1 and this guaranteed that no portion1 even the humblest1 of their true personality should perish4 ,now the body is as real a part of humanity1 as the soul and spirit are1 although a much lowlier part4 ,and1 therefore1 it must not really die4 ,it is solemn to observe how ,jesus1 in this second part of ,his argument1 passes from the consideration of the future of the blessed to that of all mankind2 8as touching the dead that they are raised40 ,with others than the blessed1 therefore1 ,god has a real though a dread relationship4 ,and it will prove hard to reconcile this argument of ,christ with the existence of any time when any soul shall be extinguished4 8,the body is for the ,lord10 said ,st4 ,paul1 arguing against the vices of the flesh1 8and the ,lord for the body40 ,from these words of ,christ he may well have learned that profound and far-reaching doctrine1 which will never have done its work in the ,church and in the world1 until whatever defiles1 degrades1 or weakens that which the ,lord has consecrated is felt to blaspheme by implication the ,god of our manhood1 unto ,whom all our life ought to be lived2 until men are no longer dwarfed in mines1 nor poisoned in foul air1 nor massacred in battle1 men whose intimate relationship with ,god the ,eternal is of such a kind as to guarantee the resurrection of the poor frames which we destroy4 ,how much more does this great proclamation frown upon the sins by which men dishonour their own flesh4 8,know ye not10 asked the apostle1 carrying the same doctrine to its utmost limit1 8that your bodies are the temples of the ,holy ,ghost80 ,so truly is ,god our ,god4 ,the ,discerning ,scribe4 8,and one of the scribes came1 and heard them questioning together1 and knowing that ,he had answered them well1 asked ,him1 ,what commandment is the first of all8 ,jesus answered1 ,the first is1 ,hear1 ,o ,israel2 ,the ,lord our ,god1 the ,lord is one3 and thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy mind1 and with all thy strength4 ,the second is this1 ,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4 ,there is none other commandment greater than these4 ,and the scribe said unto ,him1 ,of a truth1 ,master1 ,thou hast well said that ,he is one2 and there is none other but ,he3 and to love ,him with all the heart1 and with all the understanding1 and with all the strength1 and to love his neighbour as himself1 is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices4 ,and when ,jesus saw that he answered discreetly1 ,he said unto him1 ,thou art not far from the kingdom of ,god4 ,and no man after that durst ask ,him any question40--,,mark xii4 #bh-cd 7,r4,v474 ,the praise which ,jesus bestowed upon this lawyer is best understood when we take into account the circumstances1 the pressure of assailants with ensnaring questions1 the sullen disappointment or palpable exasperation of the party to which the scribe belonged4 ,he had probably sympathized in their hostility2 and had come expecting and desiring the discomfiture of ,jesus4 ,but if so1 he was a candid enemy2 and as each new attempt revealed more clearly the spiritual insight1 the self-possession and balanced wisdom of ,him ,who had been represented as a dangerous fanatic1 his unfriendly opinion began to waver4 ,for he too was at issue with popular views3 he had learned in the ,scriptures that ,god desireth not sacrifice1 that incense might be an abomination to ,him1 and new moons and sabbaths things to do away with4 ,and so1 perceiving that ,he had answered them well1 the scribe asked1 upon his own account1 a very different question1 not rarely debated in their schools1 and often answered with grotesque frivolity1 but which he felt to go down to the very root of things4 ,instead of challenging ,christ's authority1 he tries ,his wisdom4 ,instead of striving to entangle ,him in dangerous politics1 or to assail with shallow ridicule the problems of the life to come1 he asks1 ,what commandment is the first of all8 ,and if we may accept as complete this abrupt statement of his interrogation1 it would seem to have been drawn from him by a sudden impulse1 or wrenched by an over-mastering desire1 despite of reluctance and false shame4 ,the ,lord answered him with great solemnity and emphasis4 ,he might have quoted the commandment only4 ,but ,he at once supported the precept itself and also ,his own view of its importance by including the majestic prologue1 8,hear1 ,o ,israel2 the ,lord our ,god1 the ,lord is one2 and thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy mind1 and with all thy strength40 ,the unity of ,god1 what a massive and reassuring thought6 ,amid the debasements of idolatry1 with its deification of every impulse and every force1 amid the distractions of chance and change1 seemingly so capricious and even discordant1 amid the complexities of the universe and its phenomena1 there is wonderful strength and wisdom in the reflection that ,god is one4 ,all changes obey ,his hand which holds the rein2 by ,him the worlds were made4 ,the exiled patriarch was overwhelmed by the majesty of the revelation that his fathers' ,god was ,god in ,bethel even as in ,beer-sheba3 it charmed away the bitter sense of isolation1 it unsealed in him the fountains of worship and trust1 and sent him forward with a new hope of protection and prosperity4 ,the unity of ,god1 really apprehended1 is a basis for the human will to repose upon1 and to become self-consistent and at peace4 ,it was the parent of the fruitful doctrine of the unity of nature which underlies all the scientific victories of the modern world4 ,in religion1 ,st4 ,paul felt that it implies the equal treatment of all the human race1 when he asked1 8,is ,he the ,god of ,jews only8 ,is ,he not the ,god of ,gentiles also8 ,yea1 of ,gentiles also1 if so be that ,god is one0 7,rom iii4 #bi ,r4,v474 ,to be one1 he seems to say1 implies being universal also4 ,and if it thus excludes the reprobation of races1 it disproves equally that of individual souls1 and all thought of such unequal and partial treatment as should inspire one with hope of indulgence in guilt1 or with fear that his way is hid from the ,lord4 ,but if this be true1 if there be one fountain of all life and loveliness and joy1 of all human tenderness and all moral glory1 how are we bound to love ,him4 ,every other affection should only deepen our adoring loyalty to ,him ,who gives it4 ,no cold or formal service can meet ,his claim1 ,who gives us the power to serve4 ,no1 we must love ,him4 ,and as all our nature comes from ,him1 so must all be consecrated3 that love must embrace all the affections of 8heart and soul0 panting after ,him1 as the hart after the waterbrooks2 and all the deep and steady convictions of the 8mind10 musing on the work of ,his hand1 able to give a reason for its faith2 and all the practical homage of the 8strength10 living and dying to the ,lord4 ,how easy1 then1 would be the fulfilment of ,his commandments in detail1 and how surely it would follow4 ,all the precepts of the first table are clearly implied in this4 ,in such another commandment were summed up also the precepts which concerned our neighbour4 ,when we love him as ourselves 7neither exaggerating his claims beyond our own1 nor allowing our own to trample upon his71 then we shall work no ill to our neighbour1 and so love shall fulfil the law4 ,there is none other commandment greater than these4 ,the questioner saw all the nobility of this reply2 and the disdain1 the anger1 and perhaps the persecution of his associates could not prevent him from an admiring and reverent repetition of the ,saviour's words1 and an avowal that all the ceremonial observances of ,judaism were as nothing compared with this4 ,while he was thus judging1 he was being judged4 ,as he knew that ,jesus had answered well1 so ,jesus saw that he answered discreetly2 and in view of his unprejudiced judgment1 his spiritual insight1 and his frank approval of ,one ,who was then despised and rejected1 ,he said1 ,thou art not far from the kingdom of ,god4 ,but he was not yet within it1 and no man knows his fate4 ,sad yet instructive it is to think that he may have won the approval of ,christ1 and heard ,his words1 so full of discernment and of desire for his adherence1 and yet never crossed the invisible and mysterious boundary which he then approached so nearly4 ,but we also may know1 and admire1 and confess the greatness and goodness of ,jesus1 without forsaking all to follow ,him4 ,his enemies had been defeated and put to shame1 their murderous hate had been denounced1 and the nets of their cunning had been rent like cobwebs2 they had seen the heart of one of their own order kindled into open admiration1 and they henceforth renounced as hopeless the attempt to conquer ,jesus in debate4 ,no man after that durst ask ,him any questions4 ,he will now carry the war into their own country4 ,it will be for them to answer ,jesus4 ,david's ,lord4 8,and ,jesus answered and said1 as ,he taught in the temple1 ,how say the scribes that the ,christ is the ,son of ,david8 ,david himself said in the ,holy ,spirit1-- ,the ,lord said unto my ,lord1 ,sit ,thou on my right hand1 ,till ,i make ,thine enemies the footstool of ,thy feet4 ,david himself calleth ,him ,lord2 and whence is ,he ,his son8 ,and the common people heard ,him gladly4 ,and in ,his teaching ,he said1 ,beware of the scribes1 which desire to walk in long robes1 and to have salutations in the marketplaces1 and chief seats in the synagogues1 and chief places at feasts3 they which devour widows' houses1 and for a pretence make long prayers2 these shall receive greater condemnation40--,,mark xii4 #ce-dj 7,r4,v474 ,jesus1 having silenced in turn ,his official interrogators and the ,sadducees1 and won the heart of ,his honest questioner1 proceeded to submit a searching problem to ,his assailants4 ,whose son was the ,messiah8 ,and when they gave ,him an obvious and shallow answer1 ,he covered them with confusion publicly4 ,the event is full of that dramatic interest which ,st4 ,mark is so well able to discern and reproduce4 ,how is it then that he passes over all this aspect of it1 leaves us ignorant of the defeat and even of the presence of the scribes1 and free to suppose that ,jesus stated the whole problem in one long question1 possibly without an opponent at hand to feel its force8 ,this is a remarkable proof that his concern was not really for the pictorial element in the story1 but for the manifestation of the power of his ,master1 the 8authority0 which resounds through his opening chapters1 the royalty which he exhibits at the close4 ,to him the vital point is that ,jesus1 upon openly claiming to be the ,christ1 and repelling the vehement attacks which were made upon ,him as such1 proceeded to unfold the astonishing greatness which this implied2 and that after asserting the unity of ,god and ,his claim upon all hearts1 ,he demonstrated that the ,christ was sharer of ,his throne4 ,the ,christ1 they said1 was the ,son of ,david1 and this was not false3 ,jesus had wrought many miracles for suppliants who addressed ,him by that title4 ,but was it all the truth8 ,how then did ,david call ,him ,lord8 ,a greater than ,david might spring from among his descendants1 and hold rule by an original and not merely an ancestral claim3 ,he might not reign as a son of ,david4 ,yet this would not explain the fact that ,david1 who died ages before ,his coming1 was inspired to call ,him ,my ,lord4 ,still less would it satisfy the assertion that ,god had bidden ,him sit beside ,him on ,his throne4 ,for the scribes there was a serious warning in the promise that ,his enemies should be made ,his footstool1 and for all the people a startling revelation in the words which follow1 and which the ,epistle to the ,hebrews has unfolded1 making this ,son of ,david a priest for ever1 after another order than that of ,aaron4 ,no wonder that the multitude heard with gladness teaching at once so original1 so profound1 and so clearly justified by ,scripture4 ,but it must be observed how remarkably this question of ,jesus follows up ,his conversation with the scribe4 ,then ,he had based the supreme duty of love to ,god upon the supreme doctrine of the ,divine ,unity4 ,he now proceeds to show that the throne of ,deity is not a lonely throne1 and to demand1 ,whose ,son is ,he ,who shares it1 and ,whom ,david in ,spirit accosts by the same title as his ,god8 ,st4 ,mark is now content to give the merest indication of the final denunciation with which the ,lord turned ,his back upon the scribes of ,jerusalem1 as ,he previously broke with those of ,galilee4 ,but it is enough to show how utterly beyond compromise was the rupture4 ,the people were to beware of them3 their selfish objects were betrayed in their very dress1 and their desire for respectful salutations and seats of honour4 ,their prayers were a pretence1 and they devoured widows' houses1 acquiring under the cloke of religion what should have maintained the friendless4 ,but their affected piety would only bring upon them a darker doom4 ,it is a tremendous impeachment4 ,none is entitled to speak as ,jesus did1 who is unable to read hearts as ,he did4 ,and yet we may learn from it that mere softness is not the meekness ,he demands1 and that1 when sinister motives are beyond doubt1 the spirit of ,jesus is the spirit of burning4 ,there is an indulgence for the wrongdoer which is mere feebleness and half compliance1 and which shares in the guilt of ,eli4 ,and there is a dreadful anger which sins not1 the wrath of the ,lamb4 ,the ,widow's ,mite4 8,and ,he sat down over against the treasury1 and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury3 and how many that were rich cast in much4 ,and there came a poor widow1 and she cast in two mites1 which make a farthing4 ,and ,he called unto ,him ,his disciples1 and said unto them1 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,this poor widow cast in more than all they which are casting into the treasury2 for they all did cast in of their superfluity2 but she of her want did cast in all that she had1 even all her living40--,,mark xii4 #da-dd 7,r4,v474 ,with words of stern denunciation ,jesus for ever left the temple4 ,yet ,he lingered1 as if reluctant1 in the outer court2 and while the storm of ,his wrath was still resounding in all hearts1 observed and pointed out an action of the lowliest beauty1 a modest flower of ,hebrew piety in the vast desert of formality4 ,it was not too modest1 however1 to catch1 even in that agitating hour1 the eye of ,jesus2 and while the scribes were devouring widows' houses1 a poor widow could still1 with two mites which make a farthing1 win honourable mention from the ,son of ,god4 ,thus ,he ever observes realities among pretences1 the pure flame of love amid the sour smoke which wreathes around it4 ,what ,he saw was the last pittance1 cast to a service which in reality was no longer ,god's1 yet given with a noble earnestness1 a sacrifice pure from the heart4 #a4 ,his praise suggests to us the unknown observation1 the unsuspected influences which surround us4 ,she little guessed herself to be the one figure1 amid a glittering group and where many were rich1 who really interested the all-seeing ,eye4 ,she went away again1 quite unconscious that the ,lord had converted her two mites into a perennial wealth of contentment for lowly hearts1 and instruction for the ,church1 quite ignorant that she was approved of ,messiah1 and that her little gift was the greatest event of all her story4 ,so are we watched and judged in our least conscious and our most secluded hours4 #b4 ,we learn ,st4 ,paul's lesson1 that1 8if the readiness is there1 it is acceptable according as a man hath1 and not according as he hath not40 ,in war1 in commerce1 in the senate1 how often does an accident at the outset blight a career for ever4 ,one is taken in the net of circumstances1 and his dipped wings can never soar again4 ,but there is no such disabling accident in religion4 ,god seeth the heart4 ,the world was redeemed by the blighted and thwarted career of ,one ,who would fain have gathered ,his own city under ,his wing1 but was refused and frustrated4 ,and whether we cast in much1 or only possess two mites1 an offering for the rich to mock1 ,he marks1 understands1 and estimates aright4 ,and while the world only sees the quantity1 ,he weighs the motive of our actions4 ,this is the true reason why we can judge nothing before the time1 why the great benefactor is not really pointed out by the splendid benefaction1 and why many that are last shall yet be first1 and the first last4 #c4 ,the poor widow gave not a greater proportion of her goods1 she gave all2 and it has been often remarked that she had still1 in her poverty1 the opportunity of keeping back one half4 ,but her heart went with her two mites4 ,and1 therefore1 she was blessed4 ,we may picture her return to her sordid drudgery1 unaware of the meaning of the new light and peace which followed her1 and why her heart sang for joy4 ,we may think of the ,spirit of ,christ which was in her1 leading her afterwards into the ,church of ,christ1 an obscure and perhaps illiterate convert1 undistinguished by any special gift1 and only loved as the first ,christians all loved each other4 ,and we may think of her now1 where the secrets of all hearts are made known1 followed by myriads of the obscure and undistinguished whom her story has sustained and cheered1 and by some who knew her upon earth1 and were astonished to learn that this was she4 ,then let us ask ourselves1 ,is there any such secret of unobtrusive lowly service1 born of love1 which the future will associate with me8 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,things ,perishing ,and ,things ,stable4 8,and as ,he went forth out of the temple1 one of ,his disciples saith unto ,him1 ,master1 behold1 what manner of stones and what manner of buildings6 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,seest thou these great buildings8 there shall not be left here one stone upon another1 which shall not be thrown down4 ,and as ,he sat on the ,mount of ,olives over against the temple1 ,peter and ,james and ,john and ,andrew asked ,him privately1 ,tell us1 when shall these things be8 and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished8 ,and ,jesus began to say unto them1 ,take heed that no man lead you astray4 ,many shall come in ,my name1 saying1 ,i am ,he2 and shall lead many astray4 ,and when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars1 be not troubled3 these things must needs come to pass3 but the end is not yet40--,,mark xiii4 #a-g 7,r4,v474 ,nothing is more impressive than to stand before one of the great buildings of the world1 and mark how the toil of man has rivalled the stability of nature1 and his thought its grandeur4 ,it stands up like a crag1 and the wind whistles through its pinnacles as in a grove1 and the rooks float and soar about its towers as they do among the granite peaks4 ,face to face with one of these mighty structures1 man feels his own pettiness1 shivering in the wind1 or seeking a shadow from the sun1 and thinking how even this breeze may blight or this heat fever him1 and how at the longest he shall have crumbled into dust for ages1 and his name1 and possibly his race1 have perished1 while this same pile shall stretch the same long shadow across the plain4 ,no wonder that the great masters of nations have all delighted in building1 for thus they saw their power1 and the immortality for which they hoped1 made solid1 embodied and substantial1 and it almost seemed as if they had blended their memory with the enduring fabric of the world4 ,such a building1 solid1 and vast1 and splendid1 white with marble1 and blazing with gold1 was the temple which ,jesus now forsook4 ,a little afterwards1 we read that its ,roman conqueror1 whose race were the great builders of the world1 in spite of the rules of war1 and the certainty that the ,jews would never remain quietly in subjection while it stood1 8was reluctant to burn down so vast a work as this1 since this would be a mischief to the ,romans themselves1 as it would be an ornament to their government while it lasted40 ,no wonder1 then1 that one of the disciples1 who had seen ,jesus weep for its approaching ruin1 and who now followed ,his steps as ,he left it desolate1 lingered1 and spoke as if in longing and appeal1 8,master1 see what manner of stones1 and what manner of buildings40 ,but to the eyes of ,jesus all was evanescent as a bubble1 doomed and about to perish3 8,seest thou these great buildings1 there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down40 ,the words were appropriate to ,his solemn mood1 for ,he had just denounced its guilt and flung its splendour from ,him1 calling it no longer 8,my house10 nor 8,my ,father's house10 but saying1 8,your house is left unto you desolate40 ,little could all the solid strength of the very foundations of the world itself avail against the thunderbolt of ,god4 ,moreover1 it was a time when ,he felt most keenly the consecration1 the approaching surrender of ,his own life4 ,in such an hour no splendours distract the penetrating vision2 all the world is brief and frail and hollow to the man who has consciously given himself to ,god4 ,it was the fitting moment at which to utter such a prophecy4 ,but1 as ,he sat on the opposite slope1 and gazed back upon the towers that were to fall1 ,his three favoured disciples and ,andrew came to ask ,him privately when should these things be1 and what would be the sign of their approach4 ,it is the common assertion of all unbelievers that the prophecy which followed has been composed since what passes for its fulfilment4 ,when ,jesus was murdered1 and a terrible fate befel the guilty city1 what more natural than to connect the two events8 ,and how easily would a legend spring up that the sufferer foretold the penalty8 ,but there is an obvious and complete reply4 ,the prediction is too mysterious1 its outlines are too obscure2 and the ruin of ,jerusalem is too inexplicably complicated with the final visitation of the whole earth1 to be the issue of any vindictive imagination working with the history in view4 ,we are sometimes tempted to complain of this obscurity4 ,but in truth it is wholesome and designed4 ,we need not ask whether the original discourse was thus ambiguous1 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 disciples4 ,we know as much as it is meant that we should know4 ,and this at least is plain1 that any process of conscious or unconscious invention1 working backwards after ,jerusalem fell1 would have given us far more explicit predictions than we possess4 ,and1 moreover1 that what we lose in gratification of our curiosity1 we gain in personal warning to walk warily and vigilantly4 ,jesus did not answer the question1 ,when shall these things be8 ,but ,he declared1 to men who wondered at the overthrow of their splendid temple1 that all earthly splendours must perish4 ,and ,he revealed to them where true permanence may be discovered4 ,these are two of the central thoughts of the discourse1 and they are worthy of much more attention from its students than they commonly receive1 being overlooked in the universal eagerness 8to know the times and the seasons40 ,they come to the surface in the distinct words1 8,heaven and earth shall pass away1 but ,my words shall not pass away40 ,now1 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 fall1 how shall we account for its solemn and pensive mood1 utterly free from vindictiveness1 entirely suited to ,jesus as we think of ,him1 when leaving for ever the dishonoured shrine1 and moving forward1 as ,his meditations would surely do1 beyond the occasion which evoked them8 ,not such is the manner of resentful controversialists1 eagerly tracing imaginary judgments4 ,they are narrow1 and sharp1 and sour4 #a4 ,the fall of ,jerusalem blended itself1 in the thought of ,jesus1 with the catastrophe which awaits all that appears to be great and stable4 ,nation shall rise against nation1 and kingdom against kingdom1 so that1 although armies set their bodies in the gap for these1 and heroes shed their blood like water1 yet they are divided among themselves and cannot stand4 ,this prediction1 we must remember1 was made when the iron yoke of ,rome imposed quiet upon as much of the world as a ,galilean was likely to take into account1 and1 therefore1 was by no means so easy as it may now appear to us4 ,nature itself should be convulsed4 ,earthquakes should rend the earth1 blight and famine should disturb the regular course of seed-time and harvest4 ,and these perturbations should be the working out of a stern law1 and the sure token of sorer woes to come1 the beginning of pangs which should usher in another dispensation1 the birth-agony of a new time4 ,a little later1 and the sun should be darkened1 and the moon should withdraw her light1 and the stars should 8be falling0 from heaven1 and the powers that are in the heavens should be darkened4 ,lastly1 the course of history should close1 and the affairs of earth should come to an end1 when the elect should be gathered together to the glorified ,son of ,man4 #b4 ,it was in sight of the ruin of all these things that ,he dared to add1 ,my word shall not pass away4 ,heresy should assail it1 for many should come in the name of ,christ1 saying1 ,i am ,he1 and should lead many astray4 ,fierce persecutions should try ,his followers1 and they should be led to judgment and delivered up4 ,the worse afflictions of the heart would wring them1 for brother should deliver up brother to death1 and the father his child1 and children should rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death4 ,but all should be too little to quench the immortality bestowed upon ,his elect4 ,in their sore need1 the ,holy ,ghost should speak in them3 when they were caused to be put to death1 he that endureth to the end1 the same shall be saved4 ,now these words were treasured up as the utterances of ,one ,who had just foretold ,his own approaching murder1 and ,who died accordingly amid circumstances full of horror and shame4 ,yet ,his followers rejoiced to think that when the sun grew dark1 and the stars were falling1 ,he should be seen in the clouds coming with great glory4 ,it is the reversal of human judgment3 the announcement that all is stable which appears unsubstantial1 and all which appears solid is about to melt like snow4 ,and yet the world itself has since grown old enough to know that convictions are stronger than empires1 and truths than armed hosts4 ,and this is the ,king of ,truth4 ,he was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth1 and every one that is of the truth heareth ,his voice4 ,he is the ,truth become vital1 the ,word which was with ,god in the beginning4 ,the ,impending ,judgment4 8,for nation shall rise against nation1 and kingdom against kingdom2 there shall be earthquakes in divers places2 there shall be famines3 these things are the beginning of travail4 ,but take ye heed to yourselves3 for they shall deliver you up to councils2 and in synagogues shall ye be beaten2 and before governors and kings shall ye stand for ,my sake1 for a testimony unto them4 ,and the gospel must first be preached unto all the nations4 ,and when they lead you to judgment1 and deliver you up1 be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak3 but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour1 that speak ye3 for it is not ye that speak1 but the ,holy ,ghost4 ,and brother shall deliver up brother to death1 and the father his child2 and children shall rise up against parents1 and cause them to be put to death4 ,and ye shall be hated of all men for ,my name's sake2 but he that endureth to the end1 the same shall be saved4 ,but when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not 7let him that readeth understand71 then let them that are in ,juda flee unto the mountains3 and let him that is on the housetop not go down1 nor enter in1 to take anything out of his house3 and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloke40--,,mark xiii4 #h-af 7,r4,v474 ,when we perceive that one central thought in our ,lord's discourse about the last things is the contrast between material things which are fleeting1 and spiritual realities which abide1 a question naturally arises1 which ought not to be overlooked4 ,was the prediction itself anything more than a result of profound spiritual insight8 ,are we certain that prophecy in general was more than keenness of vision8 ,there are flourishing empires now which perhaps a keen politician1 and certainly a firm believer in retributive justice governing the world1 must consider to be doomed4 ,and one who felt the transitory nature of earthly resources might expect a time when the docks of ,london will resemble the lagoons of ,venice1 and the ,state which now predominates in ,europe shall become partaker of the decrepitude ,spain4 ,but no such presage is a prophecy in the ,christian sense4 ,even when suggested by religion1 it does not claim any greater certainty than that of sagacious inference4 ,the general question is best met by pointing to such specific and detailed prophecies1 especially concerning the ,messiah1 as the twenty-second ,psalm1 the fifty-third of ,isaiah1 and the ninth of ,daniel4 ,but the prediction of the fall of ,jerusalem1 while we have seen that it has none of the minuteness and sharpness of an after-thought1 is also too definite for a presentiment4 ,the abomination which defiled the ,holy ,place1 and yet left one last brief opportunity for hasty flight1 the persecutions by which that catastrophe would be heralded1 and the precipitating of the crisis for the elect's sake1 were details not to be conjectured4 ,so was the coming of the great retribution1 the beginning of ,his kingdom within that generation1 a limit which was foretold at least twice besides 7,mark ix4 #a and xiv4 #fb71 with which the 8henceforth0 in ,matthew xxvi4 #fd must be compared4 ,and so was another circumstance which is not enough considered3 the fact that between the fall of ,jerusalem and the ,second ,coming1 however long or short the interval1 no second event of a similar character1 so universal in its effect upon ,christianity1 so epoch-making1 should intervene4 ,the coming of the ,son of man should be 8in those days after that tribulation40 ,the intervening centuries lay out like a plain country between two mountain tops1 and did not break the vista1 as the eye passed from the judgment of the ancient ,church1 straight on to the judgment of the world4 ,shall we say then that ,jesus foretold that ,his coming would follow speedily8 and that ,he erred8 ,men have been very willing to bring this charge1 even in the face of ,his explicit assertions4 8,after a long time the ,lord of that servant cometh4444 ,while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept4444 ,if that wicked servant shall say in his heart1 ,my ,lord delayeth ,his coming40 ,it is true that these expressions are not found in ,st ,mark4 ,but instead of them stands a sentence so startling1 so unique1 that it has caused to ill-instructed orthodoxy great searchings of heart4 ,at least1 however1 the flippant pretence that ,jesus fixed an early date for ,his return1 ought to be silenced when we read1 8,of that day or that hour knoweth no one1 not even the angels of heaven1 nor the ,son1 but the ,father40 ,these words are not more surprising than that ,he increased in wisdom2 and marvelled at the faith of some1 and the unbelief of others 7,luke ii4 #eb2 ,matt4 viii4 #aj2 ,mark vi4 #f74 ,they are involved in the great assertion1 that ,he not only took the form of a servant1 but emptied ,himself 7,phil4 ii4 #g74 ,but they decide the question of the genuineness of the discourse2 for when could they have been invented8 ,and they are to be taken in connection with others1 which speak of ,him not in ,his low estate1 but as by nature and inherently1 the ,word and the ,wisdom of ,god2 aware of all that the ,father doeth2 and ,him in ,whom dwelleth all the fulness of the ,godhead bodily 7,john i4 #a2 ,luke xi4 #di2 ,john v4 #bj2 ,col4 ii4 #i74 ,but these were 8the days of ,his flesh20 and that expression is not meant to convey that ,he has since laid aside ,his body1 for ,he says1 8,a spirit hath not flesh 444 as ye see ,me have0 7,heb4 v4 #g2 ,luke xxiv4 #ci74 ,it must therefore express the limitations1 now removed1 by which ,he once condescended to be trammelled4 ,what forbids us1 then1 to believe that ,his knowledge1 like ,his power1 was limited by a lowliness not enforced1 but for our sakes chosen2 and that as ,he could have asked for twelve legions of angels1 yet chose to be bound and buffeted1 so ,he could have known that day and hour1 yet submitted to ignorance1 that ,he might be made like in all points to ,his brethren8 ,souls there are for whom this wonderful saying1 8the ,son knoweth not10 is even more affecting than the words1 8,the ,son of man hath not where to lay ,his head40 ,but now the climax must be observed which made ,his ignorance more astonishing than that of the angels in heaven4 ,the recent discourse must be remembered1 which had asked ,his enemies to explain the fact that ,david called ,him ,lord1 and spoke of ,god as occupying no lonely throne4 ,and we must observe ,his emphatic expression1 that ,his return shall be that of the ,lord of the ,house 7ver4 #ce71 so unlike the temper which ,he impressed on every servant1 and clearly teaching the ,epistle to the ,hebrews to speak of ,his fidelity as that of a ,son over ,his house1 and to contrast it sharply with that of the most honourable servant 7iii4 #f74 ,it is plain1 however1 that ,jesus did not fix1 and renounced the power to fix1 a speedy date for ,his second coming4 ,he checked the impatience of the early ,church by insisting that none knew the time4 ,but ,he drew the closest analogy between that event and the destruction of ,jerusalem1 and required a like spirit in those who looked for each4 ,persecution should go before them4 ,signs would indicate their approach as surely as the budding of the fig tree told of summer4 ,and in each case the disciples of ,jesus must be ready4 ,when the siege came1 they should not turn back from the field into the city1 nor escape from the housetop by the inner staircase4 ,when the ,son of man comes1 their loins should be girt1 and their lights already burning4 ,but if the end has been so long delayed1 and if there were signs by which its approach might be known1 how could it be the practical duty of all men1 in all the ages1 to expect it8 ,what is the meaning of bidding us to learn from the fig tree her parable1 which is the approach of summer when her branch becomes tender1 and yet asserting that we know not when the time is1 that it shall come upon us as a snare1 that the ,master will surely surprise us1 but need not find us unprepared1 because all the ,church ought to be always ready8 ,what does it mean1 especially when we observe1 beneath the surface1 that our ,lord was conscious of addressing more than that generation1 since ,he declared to the first hearers1 8,what ,i say unto you ,i say unto all1 ,watch80 ,it is a strange paradox4 ,but yet the history of the ,church supplies abundant proof that in no age has the expectation of the ,second ,advent disappeared1 and the faithful have always been mocked by the illusion1 or else keen to discern the fact1 that ,he is near1 even at the doors4 ,it is not enough to reflect that1 for each soul1 dissolution has been the preliminary advent of ,him who has promised to come again and receive us unto ,himself1 and the ,angel of ,death is indeed the ,angel of the ,covenant4 ,it must be asserted that for the universal ,church1 the feet of the ,lord have been always upon the threshold1 and the time has been prolonged only because the ,judge standeth at the door4 ,the 8birth pangs0 of which ,jesus spoke have never been entirely stilled4 ,and the march of time has not been towards a far-off eternity1 but along the margin of that mysterious ocean1 by which it must be engulfed at last1 and into which1 fragment by fragment1 the beach it treads is crumbling4 ,now this necessity1 almost avowed1 for giving signs which should only make the ,church aware of her ,lord's continual nearness1 without ever enabling her to assign the date of ,his actual arrival1 is the probable explanation of what has been already remarked1 the manner in which the judgment of ,jerusalem is made to symbolize the final judgment4 ,but this symbolism makes the warning spoken to that age for ever fruitful4 ,as they were not to linger in the guilty city1 so we are to let no earthly interests arrest our flight1--not to turn back1 but promptly and resolutely to flee unto the everlasting hills4 ,as they should pray that their flight through the mountains should not be in the winter1 so should we beware of needing to seek salvation in the winter of the soul1 when the storms of passion and appetite are wildest1 when evil habits have made the road slippery under foot1 and sophistry and selfwill have hidden the gulfs in a treacherous wreath of snow4 ,heedfulness1 a sense of surrounding peril and of the danger of the times1 is meant to inspire us while we read4 ,the discourse opens with a caution against heresy3 8,take heed that no man deceive you40 ,it goes on to caution them against the weakness of their own flesh3 8,take heed to yourselves1 for they shall deliver you up40 ,it bids them watch1 because they know not when the time is4 ,and the way to watchfulness is prayerfulness2 so that presently1 in the ,garden1 when they could not watch with ,him one hour1 they were bidden to watch and pray1 that they enter not into temptation4 ,so is the expectant ,church to watch and pray4 ,nor must her mood be one of passive idle expectation1 dreamful desire of the promised change1 neglect of duties in the interval4 ,the progress of all art and science1 and even the culture of the ground1 is said to have been arrested by the universal persuasion that the year ,one ,thousand should see the return of ,christ4 ,the luxury of millennarian expectation seems even now to relieve some consciences from the active duties of religion4 ,but ,jesus taught ,his followers that on leaving ,his house1 to sojourn in a far country1 ,he regarded them as ,his servants still1 and gave them every one his work4 ,and it is the companion of that disciple to whom ,jesus gave the keys1 and to whom especially ,he said1 8,what1 couldest thou not watch with ,me one hour80 ,st4 ,mark it is who specifies the command to the porter that he should watch4 ,to watch is not to gaze from the roof across the distant roads4 ,it is to have girded loins and a kindled lamp2 it is not measured by excited expectation1 but by readiness4 ,does it seem to us that the world is no longer hostile1 because persecution and torture are at an end8 ,that the need is over for a clear distinction between her and us8 ,this very belief may prove that we are falling asleep4 ,never was there an age to which ,jesus did not say ,watch4 ,never one in which ,his return would be other than a snare to all whose life is on the level of the world4 ,now looking back over the whole discourse1 we come to ask ourselves1 ,what is the spirit which it sought to breathe into ,his ,church8 ,clearly it is that of loyal expectation of the ,absent ,one4 ,there is in it no hint1 that because we cannot fail to be deceived without ,him1 therefore ,his infallibility and ,his ,vicar shall for ever be left on earth4 ,his place is empty until ,he returns4 ,whoever says1 ,lo1 here is ,christ1 is a deceiver1 and it proves nothing that he shall deceive many4 ,when ,christ is manifested again1 it shall be as the blaze of lightning across the sky4 ,there is perhaps no text in this discourse which directly assails the ,papacy2 but the atmosphere which pervades it is deadly alike to her claims1 and to the instincts and desires on which those claims rely4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,the ,cruse ,of ,ointment4 8,now after two days was the feast of the passover and the unleavened bread3 and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take ,him with subtilty1 and kill ,him3 for they said1 ,not during the feast1 lest haply there shall be a tumult of the people4 ,and while ,he was in ,bethany in the house of ,simon the leper1 as ,he sat at meat1 there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of spikenard very costly2 and she brake the cruse1 and poured it over ,his head4 ,but there were some that had indignation among themselves1 saying1 ,to what purpose hath this waste of the ointment been made8 ,for this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred pence1 and given to the poor4 ,and they murmured against her4 ,but ,jesus said1 ,let her alone2 why trouble ye her8 she hath wrought a good work on ,me4 ,for ye have the poor always with you1 and whensoever ye will ye can do them good3 but ,me ye have not always4 ,she hath done what she could3 she hath anointed ,my body aforehand for the burying4 ,and verily ,i say unto you1 ,wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world1 that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her40--,,mark xiv4 #a-i 7,r4,v474 ,perfection implies not only the absence of blemishes1 but the presence1 in equal proportions1 of every virtue and every grace4 ,and so the perfect life is full of the most striking1 and yet the easiest transitions4 ,we have just read predictions of trial more startling and intense than any in the ancient ,scripture4 ,if we knew of ,jesus only by the various reports of that discourse1 we should think of a recluse like ,elijah or the ,baptist1 and imagine that ,his disciples1 with girded loins1 should be more ascetic than ,st4 ,anthony4 ,we are next shown ,jesus at a supper gracefully accepting the graceful homage of a woman4 ,from ,st4 ,john we learn that this feast was given six days before the passover4 ,the other accounts postponed the mention of it1 plainly because of an incident which occurred then1 but is vitally connected with a decision arrived at somewhat later by the priests4 ,two days before the passover1 the council finally determined that ,jesus must be destroyed4 ,they recognised all the dangers of that course4 ,it must be done with subtlety2 the people must not be aroused2 and therefore they said1 ,not on the feast-day4 ,it is remarkable1 however1 that at the very time when they so determined1 ,jesus clearly and calmly made to ,his disciples exactly the opposite announcement4 8,after two days the passover cometh1 and the ,son of man is delivered up to be crucified0 7,matt4 xxvi4 #b74 ,thus we find at every turn of the narrative that their plans are over-ruled1 and they are unconscious agents of a mysterious design1 which their ,victim comprehends and accepts4 ,on one side1 perplexity snatches at all base expedients2 the traitor is welcomed1 false witnesses are sought after1 and the guards of the sepulchre bribed4 ,on the other side is clear foresight1 the deliberate unmasking of ,judas1 and at the trial a circumspect composure1 a lofty silence1 and speech more majestic still4 ,meanwhile there is a heart no longer light 7for ,he foresees ,his burial71 yet not so burdened that ,he should decline the entertainment offered ,him at ,bethany4 ,this was in the house of ,simon the leper1 but ,st4 ,john tells us that ,martha served1 ,lazarus sat at meat1 and the woman who anointed ,jesus was ,mary4 ,we naturally infer some relationship between ,simon and this favoured family2 but the nature of the tie we know not1 and no purpose can be served by guessing4 ,better far to let the mind rest upon the sweet picture of ,jesus1 at home among those who loved ,him2 upon the eager service of ,martha2 upon the man who had known death1 somewhat silent1 one fancies1 a remarkable sight for ,jesus1 as ,he sat at meat1 and perhaps suggestive of the thought which found utterance a few days afterwards1 that a banquet was yet to come1 when ,he also1 risen from the grave1 should drink new wine among ,his friends in the kingdom of ,god4 ,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 danger1 while even the ,twelve were blind--an insight which knew the awful presence of ,one upon his way to the sepulchre1 as well as one who had returned thence4 ,therefore she produced a cruse of very precious ointment1 which had been 8kept0 for ,him1 perhaps since her brother was embalmed4 ,and as such alabaster flasks were commonly sealed in making1 and only to be opened by breaking off the neck1 she crushed the cruse between her hands and poured it on ,his head4 ,on ,his feet also1 according to ,st4 ,john1 who is chiefly thinking of the embalming of the body1 as the others of the anointing of the head4 ,the discovery of contradiction here is worthy of the abject 8criticism0 which detects in this account a variation upon the story of her who was a sinner4 ,as if two women who loved much might not both express their loyalty1 which could not speak1 by so fair and feminine a device2 or as if it were inconceivable that the blameless ,mary should consciously imitate the gentle penitent4 ,but even as this unworthy controversy breaks in upon the tender story1 so did indignation and murmuring spoil that peaceful scene4 8,why was not this ointment sold for much1 and given to the poor80 ,it was not common that others should be more thoughtful of the poor than ,jesus4 ,he fed the multitudes they would have sent away2 ,he gave sight to ,bartimus whom they rebuked4 ,but it is still true1 that whenever generous impulses express themselves with lavish hands1 some heartless calculator reckons up the value of what is spent1 and especially its value to 8the poor20 the poor1 who would be worse off if the instincts of love were arrested and the human heart frozen4 ,almshouses are not usually built by those who declaim against church architecture2 nor is utilitarianism famous for its charities4 ,and so we are not surprised when ,st4 ,john tells us how the quarrel was fomented4 ,iscariot1 the dishonest pursebearer1 was exasperated at the loss of a chance of theft1 perhaps of absconding without being so great a loser at the end of his three unrequited years4 ,true that the chance was gone1 and speech would only betray his estrangement from ,jesus1 upon ,whom so much good property was wasted4 ,but evil tempers must express themselves at times1 and ,judas had craft enough to involve the rest in his misconduct4 ,it is the only indication in the ,gospels of intrigue among the ,twelve which even indirectly struck at their ,master's honour4 ,thus1 while the fragrance of the ointment filled the house1 their parsimony grudged the homage which soothed ,his heart1 and condemned the spontaneous impulse of ,mary's love4 ,it was for her that ,jesus interfered1 and ,his words went home4 ,the poor were always with them3 opportunities would never fail those who were so zealous2 and whensoever they would they could do them good1--whensoever ,judas1 for example1 would4 ,as for her1 she had wrought a good work 7a high-minded and lofty work is implied rather than a useful one7 upon ,him1 ,whom they should not always have4 ,soon ,his body would be in the hands of sinners1 desecrated1 outraged4 ,and she only had comprehended1 however dimly1 the silent sorrow of her ,master2 she only had laid to heart ,his warnings2 and1 unable to save ,him1 or even to watch with ,him one hour1 she 7and through all that week none other7 had done what she could4 ,she had anointed ,his body beforehand for the burial1 and indeed with clear intention 8to prepare ,him for burial0 7,matt4 xxvi4 #ab74 ,it was for this that ,his followers had chidden her4 ,alas1 how often do our shrewd calculations and harsh judgments miss the very essence of some problem which only the heart can solve1 the silent intention of some deed which is too fine1 too sensitive1 to explain itself except only to that sympathy which understands us all4 ,men thought of ,jesus as lacking nothing1 and would fain divert ,his honour to the poor2 but this woman comprehended the lonely heart1 and saw the last inexorable need before ,him4 ,love read the secret in the eyes of love1 and this which ,mary did shall be told while the world stands1 as being among the few human actions which refreshed the lonely ,one1 the purest1 the most graceful1 and perhaps the last4 ,the ,traitor4 8,and ,judas ,iscariot1 he that was one of the twelve1 went away unto the chief priests1 that he might deliver ,him unto them4 ,and they1 when they heard it1 were glad1 and promised to give him money4 ,and he sought how he might conveniently deliver ,him unto them4 ,and on the first day of unleavened bread1 when they sacrificed the passover1 ,his disciples say unto ,him1 ,where wilt ,thou that we go and make ready that ,thou mayest eat the passover8 ,and ,he sendeth two of ,his disciples1 and saith unto them1 ,go into the city1 and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water3 follow him2 and wheresoever he shall enter in1 say to the goodman of the house1 the ,master saith1 ,where is ,my guest-chamber1 where ,i shall eat the passover with ,my disciples8 ,and he will himself shew you a large upper room furnished and ready3 and there make ready for us4 ,and the disciples went forth1 and came into the city1 and found as ,he had said unto them3 and they made ready the passover40--,,mark xiv4 #aj-af 7,r4,v474 ,it was when ,jesus rebuked the ,twelve for censuring ,mary1 that the patience of ,judas1 chafing in a service which had grown hateful1 finally gave way4 ,he offered a treacherous and odious help to the chiefs of his religion1 and these pious men1 too scrupulous to cast blood-money into the treasury or to defile themselves by entering a pagan judgment hall1 shuddered not at the contact of such infamy1 warned him not that perfidy will pollute the holiest cause1 cared as little then for his ruin as when they asked what to them was his remorseful agony2 but were glad1 and promised to give him money4 ,by so doing1 they became accomplices in the only crime by which it is quite certain that a soul was lost4 ,the supreme 8offence0 was planned and perpetrated by no desperate criminal4 ,it was the work of an apostle1 and his accomplices were the heads of a divinely given religion4 ,what an awful example of the deadening power1 palsying the conscience1 petrifying the heart1 of religious observances devoid of real trust and love4 ,the narrative1 as we saw1 somewhat displaced the story of ,simon's feast1 to connect this incident more closely with the betrayal4 ,and it now proceeds at once to the passover1 and the final crisis4 ,in so doing1 it pauses at a curious example of circumspection1 intimately linked also with the treason of ,judas4 ,the disciples1 unconscious of treachery1 asked where they should prepare the paschal supper4 ,and ,jesus gave them a sign by which to recognise one who had a large upper room prepared for that purpose1 to which he would make them welcome4 ,it is not quite impossible that the pitcher of water was a signal preconcerted with some disciple in ,jerusalem1 although secret understandings are not found elsewhere in the life of ,jesus4 ,what concerns us to observe is that the owner of the house which the bearer entered was a believer4 ,to him ,jesus is 8the ,master10 and can say 8,where is ,my guest-chamber80 ,so obscure a disciple was he1 that ,peter and ,john required a sign to guide them to his house4 ,yet his upper room would now receive such a consecration as the ,temple never knew4 ,with strange feelings would he henceforth enter the scene of the last supper of his ,lord4 ,but now1 what if he had only admitted ,jesus with hesitation and after long delay8 ,we should wonder2 yet there are lowlier doors at which the same ,jesus stands and knocks1 and would fain come in and sup4 ,and cold is ,his welcome to many a chamber which is neither furnished nor made ready4 ,the mysterious and reticent indication of the place is easily understood4 ,jesus would not enable ,his enemies to lay hands upon ,him before the time4 ,his nights had hitherto been spent at ,bethany2 now first it was possible to arrest ,him in the darkness1 and hurry on the trial before the ,galileans at the feast1 strangers and comparatively isolated1 could learn the danger of their 8prophet of ,galilee40 ,it was only too certain that when the blow was struck1 the light and fickle adhesion of the populace would transfer itself to the successful party4 ,meanwhile1 the prudence of ,jesus gave ,him time for the ,last ,supper1 and the wonderful discourse recorded by ,st4 ,john1 and the conflict and victory in the ,garden4 ,when the priests learned1 at a late hour1 that ,jesus might yet be arrested before morning1 but that ,judas could never watch ,him any more1 the necessity for prompt action came with such surprise upon them1 that the arrest was accomplished while they still had to seek false witnesses1 and to consult how a sentence might best be extorted from the ,governor4 ,it is right to observe at every point1 the mastery of ,jesus1 the perplexity and confusion of ,his foes4 ,and it is also right that we should learn to include1 among the woes endured for us by the ,man of ,sorrows1 this haunting consciousness that a base vigilance was to be watched against1 that ,he breathed the air of treachery and vileness4 ,here then1 in view of the precautions thus forced upon our ,lord1 we pause to reflect upon the awful fall of ,judas1 the degradation of an apostle into a hireling1 a traitor1 and a spy4 ,men have failed to believe that one whom ,jesus called to ,his side should sink so low4 ,they have not observed how inevitably great goodness rejected brings out special turpitude1 and dark shadows go with powerful lights2 how1 in this supreme tragedy1 all the motives1 passions1 moral and immoral impulses are on the tragic scale2 what gigantic forms of baseness1 hypocrisy1 cruelty1 and injustice stalk across the awful platform1 and how the forces of hell strip themselves1 and string their muscles for a last desperate wrestle against the powers of heaven1 so that here is the very place to expect the extreme apostasy4 ,and so they have conjectured that ,iscariot was only half a traitor4 ,some project misled him of forcing his ,master to turn to bay4 ,then the powers which wasted themselves in scattering unthanked and unprofitable blessings would exert themselves to crush the foe4 ,then he could claim for himself the credit deserved by much astuteness1 the consideration due to the only man of political resource among the ,twelve4 ,but this well-intending ,judas is equally unknown to the narratives and the prophecies1 and this theory does not harmonise with any of the facts4 ,profound reprobation and even contempt are audible in all the narratives2 they are quite as audible in the reiterated phrase1 8which was one of the ,twelve10 and in almost every mention of his name1 as in the round assertion of ,st4 ,john1 that he was a thief and stole from the common purse4 ,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 apostleship1--the hope of unjust gain1 and in his bargaining for the miserable price which he still carried with him when the veil dropped from his inner eyes1 when he awoke to the sorrow of the world which worketh death1 to the remorse which was not penitence4 ,one who desired that ,jesus should be driven to counter-measures and yet free to take them1 would probably have favoured ,his escape when once the attempt to arrest ,him inflicted the necessary spur and certainly he would have anxiously avoided any appearance of insult4 ,but it will be seen that ,judas carefully closed every door against his ,lord's escape1 and seized ,him with something very like a jibe on his recreant lips4 ,no1 his infamy cannot be palliated1 but it can be understood4 ,for it is a solemn and awful truth1 that in every defeat of grace the reaction is equal to the action2 they who have been exalted unto heaven are brought down far below the level of the world2 and the principle is universal that ,israel cannot1 by willing it1 be as the nations that are round about1 to serve other gods4 ,god ,himself gives him statutes that are not good4 ,he makes fat the heart and blinds the eyes of the apostate4 ,therefore it comes that religion without devotion is the mockery of honest worldlings2 that hypocrisy goes so constantly with the meanest and most sordid lust of gain1 and selfish cruelty2 that publicans and harlots enter heaven before scribes and pharisees2 that salt which has lost its savour is fit neither for the land nor for the dung-hill4 ,oh1 then1 to what place of shame shall a recreant apostle be thrust down8 ,moreover it must be observed that the guilt of ,judas1 however awful1 is but a shade more dark than that of his sanctimonious employers1 who sought false witnesses against ,christ1 extorted by menace and intrigue a sentence which ,pilate openly pronounced to be unjust1 mocked ,his despairing agony1 and on the resurrection morning bribed a pagan soldiery to lie for the ,hebrew faith4 ,it is plain enough that ,jesus could not and did not choose the apostles through foreknowledge of what they would hereafter prove1 but by ,his perception of what they then were1 and what they were capable of becoming1 if faithful to the light they should receive4 ,not one1 when chosen first1 was ready to welcome the purely spiritual kingdom1 the despised ,messiah1 the life of poverty and scorn4 ,they had to learn1 and it was open to them to refuse the discipline4 ,once at least they were asked1 ,will ye also go away8 ,how severe was the trial may be seen by the rebuke of ,peter1 and the petition of 8,zebedee's children0 and their mother4 ,they conquered the same reluctance of the flesh which overcame the better part in ,judas4 ,but he clung desperately to secular hope1 until the last vestige of such hope was over4 ,listening to the warnings of ,christ against the cares of this world1 the lust of other things1 love of high places and contempt of lowly service1 and watching bright offers rejected and influential classes estranged1 it was inevitable that a sense of personal wrong1 and a vindictive resentment1 should spring up in his gloomy heart4 ,the thorns choked the good seed4 ,then came a deeper fall4 ,as he rejected the pure light of self-sacrifice1 and the false light of his romantic daydreams faded1 no curb was left on the baser instincts which are latent in the human heart4 ,self-respect being already lost1 and conscience beaten down1 he was allured by low compensations1 and the apostle became a thief4 ,what better than gain1 however sordid1 was left to a life so plainly frustrated and spoiled8 ,that is the temptation of disillusion1 as fatal to middle life as the passions are to early manhood4 ,and this fall reacted again upon his attitude towards ,jesus4 ,like all who will not walk in the light1 he hated the light2 like all hirelings of two masters1 he hated the one he left4 ,men ask how ,judas could have consented to accept for ,jesus the bloodmoney of a slave4 ,the truth is that his treason itself yielded him a dreadful satisfaction1 and the insulting kiss1 and the sneering 8,rabbi10 expressed the malice of his heart4 ,well for him if he had never been born4 ,for when his conscience awoke with a start and told him what thing he had become1 only self-loathing remained to him4 ,peter denying ,jesus was nevertheless at heart ,his own2 a look sufficed to melt him4 ,for ,judas1 ,christ was become infinitely remote and strange1 an abstraction1 8the innocent blood10 no more than that4 ,and so1 when ,jesus was passing into the holiest through the rent veil which was ,his flesh1 this first ,antichrist had already torn with his own hands the tissue of the curtain which hides eternity4 ,now let us observe that all this ruin was the result of forces continually at work upon human hearts4 ,aspiration1 vocation1 failure1 degradation--it is the summary of a thousand lives4 ,only it is here exhibited on a vast and dreadful scale 7magnified by the light which was behind1 as images thrown by a lantern upon a screen7 for the instruction and warning of the world4 ,the ,sop4 8,and when it was evening ,he cometh with the twelve4 ,and as they sat and were eating1 ,jesus said1 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,one of you shall betray ,me1 even he that eateth with ,me4 ,they began to be sorrowful1 and to say unto ,him one by one1 ,is it ,i8 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,it is one of the twelve1 he that dippeth with ,me in the dish4 ,for the ,son of man goeth1 even as it is written of ,him3 but woe unto that man through whom the ,son of man is betrayed6 good were it for that man if he had not been born40--,,mark xiv4 #ag-ba 7,r4,v474 ,in the deadly wine which our ,lord was made to drink1 every ingredient of mortal bitterness was mingled4 ,and it shows how far is even ,his ,church from comprehending ,him1 that we think so much more of the physical than the mental and spiritual horrors which gather around the closing scene4 ,but the tone of all the narratives1 and perhaps especially of ,st4 ,mark's1 is that of the exquisite ,collect which reminds us that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ was contented to be betrayed1 and given up into the hands of wicked men1 as well as to suffer death on the cross4 ,treason and outrage1 the traitor's kiss and the weakness of those who loved ,him1 the hypocrisy of the priest and the ingratitude of the mob1 perjury and a mock trial1 the injustice of ,his judges1 the brutal outrages of the soldiers1 the worse and more malignant mockery of scribe and ,pharisee1 and last and direst1 the averting of the face of ,god1 these were more dreadful to ,jesus than the scourging and the nails4 ,and so there is great stress laid upon ,his anticipation of the misconduct of ,his own4 ,as the dreadful evening closes in1 having come to the guest chamber 8with the ,twelve0--eleven whose hearts should fail them and one whose heart was dead1 it was 8as they sat and were eating0 that the oppression of the traitor's hypocrisy became intolerable1 and the outraged ,one spoke out4 8,verily ,i say unto you1 ,one of you shall betray ,me1 even he that eateth with ,me40 ,the words are interpreted as well as predicted in the plaintive ,psalm which says1 8,mine own familiar friend in whom ,i trusted1 which did also eat of ,my bread1 hath lifted up his heel against ,me40 ,and perhaps they are less a disclosure than a cry4 ,every attempt to mitigate the treason of ,judas1 every suggestion that he may only have striven too wilfully to serve our ,lord by forcing ,him to take decided measures1 must fail to account for the sense of utter wrong which breathes in the simple and piercing complaint 8one of you 444 even he that eateth with ,me40 ,there is a tone in all the narratives which is at variance with any palliation of the crime4 ,no theology is worth much if it fails to confess1 at the centre of all the words and deeds of ,jesus1 a great and tender human heart4 ,he might have spoken of teaching and warnings lavished on the traitor1 and miracles which he had beheld in vain4 ,what weighs heaviest on ,his burdened spirit is none of these2 it is that one should betray ,him who had eaten ,his bread4 ,when ,brutus was dying he is made to say-- 8,my heart doth joy1 that yet1 in all my life1 ,i found no man1 but he was true to me40 ,but no form of innocent sorrow was to pass ,jesus by4 ,the vagueness in the words 8one of you shall betray ,me10 was doubtless intended to suggest in all a great searching of heart4 ,coming just before the institution of the ,eucharistic feast1 this incident anticipates the command which it perhaps suggested3 8,let a man examine himself1 and so let him eat40 ,it is good to be distrustful of one's self4 ,and if1 as was natural1 the ,eleven looked one upon another doubting of whom ,he spake1 they also began to say to ,him1 one by one 7first the most timid1 and then others as the circle narrowed71 ,is it ,i8 ,for the prince of this world had something in each of them1--some frailty there was1 some reluctance to bear the yoke1 some longing for the forbidden ways of worldliness1 which alarmed each at this solemn warning1 and made him ask1 ,is it1 can it be possible1 that it is ,i8 ,religious self-sufficiency was not then the apostolic mood4 ,their questioning is also remarkable as a proof how little they suspected ,judas1 how firmly he bore himself even as those all-revealing words were spoken1 how strong and wary was the temperament which ,christ would fain have sanctified4 ,for between the ,master and him there could have been no more concealment4 ,the apostles were right to distrust themselves1 and not to distrust another4 ,they were right1 because they were so feeble1 so unlike their ,lord4 ,but for ,him there is no misgiving3 ,his composure is serene in the hour of the power of darkness4 ,and ,his perfect spiritual sensibility discerned the treachery1 unknown to others1 as instinctively as the eye resents the presence of a mote imperceptible to the hand4 ,the traitor's iron nerve is somewhat strained as he feels himself discovered1 and when ,jesus is about to hand a sop to him1 he stretches over1 and their hands meet in the dish4 ,that is the appointed sign3 8,it is one of the ,twelve1 he that dippeth with ,me in the dish10 and as he rushes out into the darkness1 to seek his accomplices and his revenge1 ,jesus feels the awful contrast between the betrayer and the ,betrayed4 ,for ,himself1 ,he goeth as it is written of ,him4 ,this phrase admirably expresses the co-operation of ,divine purpose and free human will1 and by the woe that follows ,he refutes all who would make of ,god's fore-knowledge an excuse for human sin4 ,he then is not walking in the dark and stumbling1 though men shall think ,him falling4 ,but the life of the false one is worse than utterly cast away3 of him is spoken the dark and ominous word1 never indisputably certain of any other soul1 8,good were it for him if that man had not been born40 8,that man60 ,the order and emphasis are very strange4 ,the ,lord1 who felt and said that one of ,his chosen was a devil1 seems here to lay stress upon the warning thought1 that he who fell so low was human1 and his frightful ruin was evolved from none but human capabilities for good and evil4 ,in 8the ,son of man0 and 8that man10 the same humanity was to be found4 ,for ,himself1 ,he is the same to-day as yesterday4 ,all that we eat is ,his4 ,and in the most especial and far-reaching sense1 it is ,his bread which is broken for us at ,his table4 ,has ,he never seen traitor except one who violated so close a bond8 ,alas1 the night when the ,supper of the ,lord was given was the same night when ,he was betrayed4 ,bread ,and ,wine4 8,and as they were eating1 ,he took bread1 and when ,he had blessed ,he brake it1 and gave to them1 and said1 ,take ye3 this is ,my body4 ,and ,he took a cup1 and when ,he had given thanks1 ,he gave to them1 and they all drank of it4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,this is ,my blood of the covenant1 which is shed for many4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,i will no more drink of the fruit of the vine1 until that day when ,i drink it new in the kingdom of ,god40--,,mark xiv4 #bb-be 7,r4,v474 ,how much does the ,gospel of ,st4 ,mark tell us about the ,supper of the ,lord8 ,he is writing to ,gentiles4 ,he is writing probably before the sixth chapter of ,st4 ,john was penned1 certainly before it reached his readers4 ,now we must not undervalue the reflected light thrown by one ,scripture upon another4 ,still less may we suppose that each account conveys all the doctrine of the ,eucharist4 ,but it is obvious that ,st4 ,mark intended his narrative to be complete in itself1 even if not exhaustive4 ,no serious expositor will ignore the fulness of any word or action in which later experience can discern meanings1 truly involved1 although not apparent at the first4 ,that would be to deny the inspiring guidance of ,him who sees the end from the beginning4 ,but it is reasonable to omit from the interpretation of ,st4 ,mark whatever is not either explicitly there1 or else there in germ1 waiting underneath the surface for other influences to develope it4 ,for instance1 the 8remembrance0 of ,christ in ,st4 ,paul's narrative may 7or it may not7 mean a sacrificial memorial to ,god of ,his ,body and ,his ,blood4 ,if it be1 this notion was to be conveyed to the readers of this ,gospel hereafter1 as a quite new fact1 resting upon other authority4 ,it has no place whatever here1 and need only be mentioned to point out that ,st4 ,mark did not feel bound to convey the slightest hint of it4 ,a communion1 therefore1 could be profitably celebrated by persons who had no glimmering of any such conception4 ,nor does he rely1 for an understanding of his narrative1 upon such familiarity with ,jewish ritual as would enable his readers to draw subtle analogies as they went along4 ,they were so ignorant of these observances that he had just explained to them on what day the passover was sacrificed 7ver4 #ab74 ,but this narrative conveys enough to make the ,lord's ,supper1 for every believing heart1 the supreme help to faith1 both intellectual and spiritual1 and the mightiest of promises1 and the richest gift of grace4 ,it is hard to imagine that any reader would conceive that the bread in ,christ's hands had become ,his body1 which still lived and breathed2 or that ,his blood1 still flowing in ,his veins1 was also in the cup ,he gave to ,his disciples4 ,no resort could be made to the glorification of the risen ,body as an escape from the perplexities of such a notion1 for in whatever sense the words are true1 they were spoken of the body of ,his humiliation1 before which still lay the agony and the tomb4 ,instinct would revolt yet more against such a gross explanation1 because the friends of ,jesus are bidden to eat and drink4 ,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 treatment4 ,even in this ,gospel they could discover that seed was teaching1 and fowls were ,satan1 and that they were themselves ,his mother and ,his brethren4 ,further knowledge of ,scripture would not impair this natural freedom of interpretation4 ,for they would discover that if animated language were to be frozen to such literalism1 the partakers of the ,supper were themselves1 though many1 one body and one loaf1 that ,onesimus was ,st4 ,paul's very heart1 that leaven is hypocrisy1 that ,hagar is ,mount ,sinai1 and that the veil of the temple is the flesh of ,christ 7#a ,cor4 x4 #ag2 ,philem4 ver4 #ab2 ,luke xii4 #a2 ,gal4 iv4 #be2 ,heb4 x4 #bj74 ,and they would also find1 in the analogous institution of the paschal feast1 a similar use of language 7,exod4 xii4 #aa74 ,but when they had failed to discern the doctrine of a transubstantiation1 how much was left to them4 ,the great words remained1 in all their spirit and life1 8,take ye1 this is ,my ,body 444 this is ,my ,blood of the ,covenant1 which is shed for many40 7#a7 ,so then1 ,christ did not look forward to ,his death as to ruin or overthrow4 ,the ,supper is an institution which could never have been devised at any later period4 ,it comes to us by an unbroken line from the ,founder's hand1 and attested by the earliest witnesses4 ,none could have interpolated a new ordinance into the simple worship of the early ,church1 and the last to suggest such a possibility should be those sceptics who are deeply interested in exaggerating the estrangements which existed from the first1 and which made the ,jewish ,church a keen critic of ,gentile innovation1 and the ,gentiles of a ,jewish novelty4 ,nor could any genius have devised its vivid and pictorial earnestness1 its copious meaning1 and its pathetic power over the heart1 except ,his1 ,who spoke of the ,good ,shepherd and of the ,prodigal ,son4 ,and so it tells us plainly what ,christ thought about ,his own death4 ,death is to most of us simply the close of life4 ,to ,him it was itself an achievement1 and a supreme one4 ,now it is possible to remember with exultation a victory which cost the conqueror's life4 ,but on the ,friday which we call ,good1 nothing happened except the crucifixion4 ,the effect on the ,church1 which is amazing and beyond dispute1 is produced by the death of her ,founder1 and by nothing else4 ,the ,supper has no reference to ,christ's resurrection4 ,it is as if the nation exulted in ,trafalgar1 not in spite of the death of our great ,admiral1 but solely because he died2 as if the shot which slew ,nelson had itself been the overthrow of hostile navies4 ,now the history of religions offers no parallel to this4 ,the admirers of the ,buddha love to celebrate the long spiritual struggle1 the final illumination1 and the career of gentle helpfulness4 ,they do not derive life and energy from the somewhat vulgar manner of his death4 ,but the followers of ,jesus find an inspiration 7very displeasing to some recent apostles of good taste7 in singing of their ,redeemer's blood4 ,remove from the ,creed 7which does not even mention ,his three years of teaching7 the proclamation of ,his death1 and there may be left1 dimly visible to man1 the outline of a sage among the sages1 but there will be no longer a ,messiah1 nor a ,church4 ,it is because ,he was lifted up that ,he draws all men unto ,him4 ,the perpetual nourishment of the ,church1 her bread and wine1 are beyond question the slain body of her ,master and ,his blood poured out for man4 ,what are we to make of this admitted fact1 that from the first she thought less of ,his miracles1 ,his teaching1 and even of ,his revelation of the ,divine character in a perfect life1 than of the doctrine that ,he who thus lived1 died for the men who slew ,him8 ,and what of this1 that ,jesus ,himself1 in the presence of imminent death1 when men review their lives and set a value on their achievements1 embodied in a solemn ordinance the conviction that all ,he had taught and done was less to man than what ,he was about to suffer8 ,the ,atonement is here proclaimed as a cardinal fact in our religion1 not worked out into doctrinal subtleties1 but placed with marvellous simplicity and force1 in the forefront of the consciousness of the simplest4 ,what the ,incarnation does for our bewildering thoughts of ,god1 the absolute and unconditioned1 that does the ,eucharist for our subtle reasonings upon the ,atonement4 7#b7 ,the death of ,christ is thus precious1 because ,he ,who is sacrificed for us can give ,himself away4 8,take ye0 is a distinct offer4 ,and so the communion feast is not a mere commemoration1 such as nations hold for great deliverances4 ,it is this1 but it is much more1 else the language of ,christ would apply worse to that first supper whence all our ,eucharistic language is derived1 than to any later celebration4 ,when ,he was absent1 the bread would very aptly remind them of ,his wounded body1 and the wine of ,his blood poured out4 ,it might naturally be said1 ,henceforward1 to your loving remembrance this shall be my ,body1 as indeed1 the words1 ,as oft as ye drink it1 are actually linked with the injunction to do this in remembrance4 ,but scarcely could it have been said by ,jesus1 looking ,his disciples in the face1 that the elements were then ,his body and blood1 if nothing more than commemoration were in ,his mind4 ,and so long as popular ,protestantism fails to look beyond this1 so long will it be hard pressed and harassed by the evident weight of the words of institution4 ,these are given in ,scripture solely as having been spoken then1 and no interpretation is valid which attends chiefly to subsequent celebrations1 and only in the second place to the ,supper of ,jesus and the ,eleven4 ,now the most strenuous opponent of the doctrine that any change has passed over the material substance of the bread and wine1 need not resist the palpable evidence that ,christ appointed these to represent ,himself4 ,and how8 ,not only as sacrificed for ,his people1 but as verily bestowed upon them4 ,unless ,christ mocks us1 8,take ye0 is a word of absolute assurance4 ,christ's ,body is not only slain1 and ,his ,blood shed on our behalf2 ,he gives ,himself to us as well as for us2 ,he is ours4 ,and therefore whoever is convinced that he may take part in 8the sacrament of so great a mystery0 should realize that he there receives1 conveyed to him by the ,author of that wondrous feast1 all that is expressed by the bread and wine4 7#c7 ,and yet this very word 8,take ye10 demands our co-operation in the sacrament4 ,it requires that we should receive ,christ1 as it declares that ,he is ready to impart ,himself1 utterly1 like food which is taken into the system1 absorbed1 assimilated1 wrought into bone1 into tissue and into blood4 ,and if any doubt lingered in our minds of the significance of this word1 it is removed when we remember how belief is identified with feeding1 in ,st4 ,john's ,gospel4 8,i am the bread of life3 he that cometh to ,me shall not hunger1 and he that believeth on ,me shall never thirst4444 ,he that believeth hath eternal life4 ,i am the bread of life40 7,john vi4 #ce1 #dg1 #dh47 ,if it follows that to feed upon ,christ is to believe1 it also follows quite as plainly that belief is not genuine unless it really feeds upon ,christ4 ,it is indeed impossible to imagine a more direct and vigorous appeal to man to have faith in ,christ than this1 that ,he formally conveys1 by the agency of ,his ,church1 to the hands and lips of ,his disciples1 the appointed emblem of ,himself1 and of ,himself in the act of blessing them4 ,for the emblem is food in its most nourishing and in its most stimulating form1 in a form the best fitted to speak of utter self-sacrifice1 by the bruised corn of broken bread1 and by the solemn resemblance to ,his sacred blood4 ,we are taught to see1 in the absolute absorption of our food into our bodily system1 a type of the completeness wherewith ,christ gives ,himself to us4 ,that gift is not to the ,church in the gross1 it is 8divided among0 us2 it individualizes each believer2 and yet the common food expresses the unity of the whole ,church in ,christ4 ,being many we are one bread4 ,moreover1 the institution of a meal reminds us that faith and emotion do not always exist together4 ,times there are when the hunger and thirst of the soul are like the craving of a sharp appetite for food4 ,but the wise man will not postpone his meal until such a keen desire returns1 and the ,christian will seek for the ,bread of life1 however his emotions may flag1 and his soul cleave unto the dust4 ,silently and often unaware1 as the substance of the body is renovated and restored by food1 shall the inner man be strengthened and built up by that living ,bread4 7#d7 ,we have yet to ask the great question1 what is the specific blessing expressed by the elements1 and therefore surely given to the faithful by the sacrament4 ,too many are content to think vaguely of ,divine help1 given us for the merit of the death of ,christ4 ,but bread and wine do not express an indefinite ,divine help1 they express the body and blood of ,christ1 they have to do with ,his ,humanity4 ,we must beware1 indeed1 of limiting the notion overmuch4 ,at the ,supper ,he said not 8,my flesh10 but 8,my body10 which is plainly a more comprehensive term4 ,and in the discourse when ,he said 8,my ,flesh is meat indeed10 ,he also said 8,i am the bread of life4444 ,he that eateth ,me1 the same shall live by ,me40 ,and we may not so carnalize the ,body as to exclude the ,person1 who bestows ,himself4 ,yet is all the language so constructed as to force the conviction upon us that ,his body and blood1 ,his ,humanity1 is the special gift of the ,lord's ,supper4 ,as man ,he redeemed us1 and as man ,he imparts ,himself to man4 ,thus we are led up to the sublime conception of a new human force working in humanity4 ,as truly as the life of our parents is in our veins1 and the corruption which they inherited from ,adam is passed on to us1 so truly there is abroad in the world another influence1 stronger to elevate than the infection of the fall is to degrade2 and the heart of the ,church is propelling to its utmost extremities the pure life of the ,second ,adam1 the ,second ,man1 the new ,father of the race4 ,as in ,adam all die1 even so in ,christ shall all be made alive2 and we who bear now the image of our earthy progenitor shall hereafter bear the image of the heavenly4 ,meanwhile1 even as the waste and dead tissues of our bodily frame are replaced by new material from every meal1 so does ,he1 the living ,bread1 impart not only aid from heaven1 but nourishment1 strength to our poor human nature1 so weary and exhausted1 and renovation to what is sinful and decayed4 ,how well does such a doctrine of the sacrament harmonize with the declarations of ,st4 ,paul3 8,i live1 and yet no longer ,i1 but ,christ liveth in me40 8,the ,head1 from whom all the body being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands1 increaseth with the increase of ,god0 7,gal4 ii4 #bj2 ,col4 ii4 #ai74 7#e7 ,in the brief narrative of ,st4 ,mark1 there are a few minor points of interest4 ,fasting communions may possibly be an expression of reverence only4 ,the moment they are pressed further1 or urged as a duty1 they are strangely confronted by the words1 8,while they were eating1 ,jesus took bread40 ,the assertion that 8they all drank10 follows from the express commandment recorded elsewhere4 ,and while we remember that the first communicants were not laymen1 yet the emphatic insistence upon this detail1 and with reference only to the cup1 is entirely at variance with the ,roman notion of the completeness of a communion in one kind4 ,it is most instructive also to observe how the far-reaching expectation of our ,lord looks beyond the ,eleven1 and beyond ,his infant ,church1 forward to the great multitude which no man can number1 and speaks of the shedding of ,his blood 8for many40 ,he1 who is to see of the travail of ,his soul and to be satisfied1 has already spoken of a great supper when the house of ,god shall be filled4 ,and now ,he will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until that great day when the marriage of the ,lamb having come1 and ,his ,bride having made herself ready1 ,he shall drink it new in the consummated kingdom of ,god4 ,with the announcement of that kingdom ,he began ,his gospel3 how could the mention of it be omitted from the great gospel of the ,eucharist8 or how could the ,giver of the earthly feast be silent concerning the banquet yet to come8 ,the ,warning4 8,and when they had sung a hymn1 they went out into the mount of ,olives4 ,and ,jesus saith unto them1 ,all ye shall be offended3 for it is written1 ,i will smite the shepherd1 and the sheep shall be scattered abroad4 ,howbeit1 after ,i am raised up1 ,i will go before you into ,galilee4 ,but ,peter said unto ,him1 ,although all shall be offended1 yet will not ,i4 ,and ,jesus saith unto him1 ,verily ,i say unto thee1 that thou to-day1 even this night1 before the cock crow twice1 shalt deny me thrice4 ,but he spake exceeding vehemently1 ,if ,i must die with ,thee1 ,i will not deny ,thee4 ,and in like manner also said they all40--,,mark xiv4 #bf-ca 7,r4,v474 ,some uncertainty attaches to the position of ,christ's warning to the ,eleven in the narrative of the last evening4 ,was it given at the supper1 or on ,mount ,olivet2 or were there perhaps premonitory admonitions on ,his part1 met by vows of faithfulness on theirs1 which at last led ,him to speak out so plainly1 and elicited such vainglorious protestations1 when they sat together in the night air8 ,what concerns us more is the revelation of a calm and beautiful nature1 at every point in the narrative4 ,jesus knows and has declared that ,his life is now closing1 and ,his blood already 8being shed for many40 ,but that does not prevent ,him from joining with them in singing a hymn4 ,it is the only time when we are told that our ,saviour sang1 evidently because no other occasion needed mention2 a warning to those who draw confident inferences from such facts as that 8none ever said ,he smiled10 or that there is no record of ,his having been sick4 ,it would surprise such theorists to observe the number of biographies much longer than any of the ,gospels1 which also mention nothing of the kind4 ,the ,psalms usually sung at the close of the feast are cxv4 and the three following4 ,the first tells how the dead praise not the ,lord1 but we will praise ,him from this time forth for ever4 ,the second proclaims that the ,lord hath delivered my soul from death1 mine eyes from tears1 and my feet from falling4 ,the third bids all the nations praise the ,lord1 for ,his merciful kindness is great and ,his truth endureth for ever4 ,and the fourth rejoices because1 although all nations compassed me about1 yet ,i shall not die1 but live and declare the works of the ,lord2 and because the stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner4 ,memories of infinite sadness were awakened by the words which had so lately rung around ,his path3 8,blessed is ,he that cometh in the name of the ,lord20 but ,his voice was strong to sing1 8,bind the sacrifice with cords1 even to the horns of the altar20 and it rose to the exultant close1 8,thou art my ,god1 and ,i will praise ,thee3 ,thou art my ,god1 ,i will exalt ,thee4 ,o give thanks unto the ,lord for ,he is good1 for ,his mercy endureth for ever40 ,this hymn1 from the lips of the ,perfect ,one1 could be no 8dying swan-song40 ,it uplifted that more than heroic heart to the wonderful tranquillity which presently said1 8,when ,i am risen1 ,i will go before you into ,galilee40 ,it is full of victory4 ,and now they go unto the ,mount of ,olives4 ,is it enough considered how much of the life of ,jesus was passed in the open air8 ,he preached on the hill side2 ,he desired that a boat should be at ,his command upon the lake2 ,he prayed upon the mountain2 ,he was transfigured beside the snows of ,hermon2 ,he oft-times resorted to a garden which had not yet grown awful2 ,he met ,his disciples on a ,galilean mountain2 and ,he finally ascended from the ,mount of ,olives4 ,his unartificial normal life1 a pattern to us1 not as students but as men--was spent by preference neither in the study nor the street4 ,in this crisis1 most solemn and yet most calm1 ,he leaves the crowded city into which all the tribes had gathered1 and chooses for ,his last intercourse with ,his disciples1 the slopes of the opposite hill side1 while overhead is glowing1 in all the still splendour of an ,eastern sky1 the full moon of ,passover4 ,here then is the place for one more emphatic warning4 ,think how ,he loved them4 ,as ,his mind reverts to the impending blow1 and apprehends it in its most awful form1 the very buffet of ,god ,who ,himself will smite the ,shepherd1 ,he remembers to warn ,his disciples of their weakness4 ,we feel it to be gracious that ,he should think of them at such a time4 ,but if we drew a little nearer1 we should almost hear the beating of the most loving heart that ever broke4 ,they were all ,he had4 ,in them ,he had confided utterly4 ,even as the ,father had loved ,him1 ,he also had loved them1 the firstfruits of the travail of ,his soul4 ,he had ceased to call them servants and had called them friends4 ,to them ,he had spoken those affecting words1 8,ye are they which have continued with me in ,my temptations40 ,how intensely ,he clung to their sympathy1 imperfect though it was1 is best seen by ,his repeated appeals to it in the ,agony4 ,and ,he knew that they loved ,him1 that the spirit was willing1 that they would weep and lament for ,him1 sorrowing with a sorrow which ,he hastened to add that ,he would turn into joy4 ,it is the preciousness of their fellowship which reminds ,him how this1 like all else1 must fail ,him4 ,if there is blame in the words1 8,ye shall be offended10 this passes at once into exquisite sadness when ,he adds that ,he1 ,who so lately said1 8,them that ,thou gavest ,me1 ,i have guarded10 should ,himself be the cause of their offence1 8,all ye shall be caused to stumble because of ,me40 ,and there is an unfathomable tenderness1 a marvellous allowance for their frailty in what follows4 ,they were ,his sheep1 and therefore as helpless1 as little to be relied upon1 as sheep when the shepherd is stricken4 ,how natural it was for sheep to be scattered4 ,the world has no parallel for such a warning to comrades who are about to leave their leader1 so faithful and yet so tender1 so far from estrangement or reproach4 ,if it stood alone it would prove the ,founder of the ,church to be not only a great teacher1 but a genuine ,son of man4 ,for ,himself1 ,he does not share their weakness1 nor apply to ,himself the lesson of distrustfulness which ,he teaches them2 ,he is of another nature from these trembling sheep1 the ,shepherd of ,zechariah1 8,who is ,my fellow1 saith the ,lord of ,hosts40 ,he does not shrink from applying to ,himself this text1 which awakens against ,him the sword of ,god 7,zechariah xiii4 #g74 ,looking now beyond the grave to the resurrection1 and unestranged by their desertion1 ,he resumes at once the old relation2 for as the shepherd goeth before his sheep1 and they follow him1 so ,he will go before them into ,galilee1 to the familiar places1 far from the city where men hate ,him4 ,this last touch of quiet human feeling completes an utterance too beautiful1 too characteristic to be spurious1 yet a prophecy1 and one which attests the ancient predictions1 and which involves an amazing claim4 ,at first sight it is surprising that the ,eleven who were lately so conscious of weakness that each asked was he the traitor1 should since have become too self-confident to profit by a solemn admonition4 ,but a little examination shows the two statements to be quite consistent4 ,they had wronged themselves by that suspicion1 and never is self-reliance more boastful than when it is reassured after being shaken4 ,the institution of the ,sacrament had invested them with new privileges1 and drawn them nearer than ever to their ,master4 ,add to this the infinite tenderness of the last discourse in ,st4 ,john1 and the prayer which was for them and not for the world4 ,how did their hearts burn within them as ,he said1 8,holy ,father1 keep them in ,thy name whom ,thou hast given ,me40 ,how incredible must it then have seemed to them1 thrilling with real sympathy and loyal gratitude1 that they should forsake such a ,master4 ,nor must we read in their words merely a loud and indignant self-assertion1 all unworthy of the time and scene4 ,they were meant to be a solemn vow4 ,the love they professed was genuine and warm4 ,only they forgot their weakness2 they did not observe the words which declared them to be helpless sheep entirely dependent on the ,shepherd1 whose support would speedily seem to fail4 ,instead of harsh and unbecoming criticism1 which repeats almost exactly their fault by implying that we should not yield to the same pressure1 let us learn the lesson1 that religious exaltation1 a sense of special privilege1 and the glow of generous emotions1 have their own danger4 ,unless we continue to be as little children1 receiving the ,bread of ,life1 without any pretence to have deserved it1 and conscious still that our only protection is the staff of our ,shepherd1 then the very notion that we are something1 when we are nothing1 will betray us to defeat and shame4 ,peter is the loudest in his protestations2 and there is a painful egoism in his boast1 that even if the others fail1 he will never deny ,him4 ,so in the storm1 it is he who should be called across the waters4 ,and so an early reading makes him propose that he alone should build the tabernacles for the wondrous ,three4 ,naturally enough1 this egoism stimulates the rest4 ,for them1 ,peter is among those who may fail1 while each is confident that he himself cannot4 ,thus the pride of one excites the pride of many4 ,but ,christ has a special humiliation to reveal for his special self-assertion4 ,that day1 and even before that brief night was over1 before the second cock-crowing 78the cock-crow0 of the rest1 being that which announced the dawn7 he shall deny his ,master twice4 ,peter does not observe that his eager contradictions are already denying the ,master's profoundest claims4 ,the others join in his renewed protestations1 and their ,lord answers them no more4 ,since they refuse to learn from ,him1 they must be left to the stern schooling of experience4 ,even before the betrayal1 they had an opportunity to judge how little their good intentions might avail4 ,for ,jesus now enters ,gethsemane4 ,in ,the ,garden4 8,and they come unto a place which was named ,gethsemane3 and ,he saith unto ,his disciples1 ,sit ye here1 while ,i pray4 ,and ,he taketh with ,him ,peter and ,james and ,john1 and began to be greatly amazed1 and sore troubled4 ,and ,he saith unto them1 ,my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death3 abide ye here1 and watch4 ,and ,he went forward a little1 and fell on the ground1 and prayed that1 if it were possible1 the hour might pass away from ,him4 ,and ,he said1 ,abba1 ,father1 all things are possible unto ,thee3 remove this cup from ,me3 howbeit not what ,i will1 but what ,thou wilt4 ,and ,he cometh1 and findeth them sleeping1 and saith unto ,peter1 ,simon1 sleepest thou8 couldest thou not watch one hour8 ,watch and pray1 that ye enter not into temptation3 the spirit indeed is willing1 but the flesh is weak4 ,and again ,he went away1 and prayed1 saying the same words4 ,and again ,he came1 and found them sleeping1 for their eyes were very heavy2 and they wist not what to answer ,him4 ,and ,he cometh the third time1 and saith unto them1 ,sleep on now1 and take your rest3 it is enough2 the hour is come2 behold1 the ,son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners4 ,arise1 let us be going3 behold1 he that betrayeth ,me is at hand40--,,mark xiv4 #cb-db 7,r4,v474 ,all ,scripture1 given by inspiration of ,god1 is profitable2 yet must we approach with reverence and solemn shrinking1 the story of our ,saviour's anguish4 ,it is a subject for caution and for reticence1 putting away all over-curious surmise1 all too-subtle theorizing1 and choosing to say too little rather than too much4 ,it is possible so to argue about the metaphysics of the ,agony as to forget that a suffering human heart was there1 and that each of us owes his soul to the victory which was decided if not completed in that fearful place4 ,the ,evangelists simply tell us how ,he suffered4 ,let us begin with the accessories of the scene1 and gradually approach the centre4 ,in the warning of ,jesus to ,his disciples there was an undertone of deep sorrow4 ,god will smite ,him1 and they will all be scattered like sheep4 ,however dauntless be the purport of such words1 it is impossible to lose sight of their melancholy4 ,and when the ,eleven rejected ,his prophetic warning1 and persisted in trusting the hearts ,he knew to be so fearful1 their professions of loyalty could only deepen ,his distress1 and intensify ,his isolation4 ,in silence ,he turns to the deep gloom of the olive grove1 aware now of the approach of the darkest and deadliest assault4 ,there was a striking contrast between the scene of ,his first temptation and ,his last2 and ,his experience was exactly the reverse of that of the first ,adam1 who began in a garden1 and was driven thence into the desert1 because he failed to refuse himself one pleasure more beside ten thousand4 ,jesus began where the transgression of men had driven them1 in the desert among the wild beasts1 and resisted not a luxury1 but the passion of hunger craving for bread4 ,now ,he is in a garden1 but how different from theirs4 ,close by is a city filled with foemen1 whose messengers are already on ,his track4 ,instead of the attraction of a fruit good for food1 and pleasant1 and to be desired to make one wise1 there is the grim repulsion of death1 and its anguish1 and its shame and mockery4 ,he is now to be assailed by the utmost terrors of the flesh and of the spirit4 ,and like the temptation in the wilderness1 the assault is three times renewed4 ,as the dark 8hour0 approached1 ,jesus confessed the two conflicting instincts of our human nature in its extremity--the desire of sympathy1 and the desire of solitude4 ,leaving eight of the disciples at some distance1 ,he led still nearer to the appointed place ,his elect of ,his election1 on whom ,he had so often bestowed special privilege1 and whose faith would be less shaken by the sight of ,his human weakness1 because they had beheld ,his ,divine glory on the holy mount4 ,to these ,he opened ,his heart4 8,my soul is exceeding sorrowful1 even unto death2 abide ye here and watch40 ,and ,he went from them a little4 ,their neighbourhood was a support in ,his dreadful conflict1 and ,he could at times return to them for sympathy2 but they might not enter with ,him into the cloud1 darker and deadlier than that which they feared on ,hermon4 ,he would fain not be desolate1 and yet ,he must be alone4 ,but when ,he returned1 they were asleep4 ,as ,jesus spoke of watching for one hour1 some time had doubtless elapsed4 ,and sorrow is exhausting4 ,if the spirit do not seek for support from ,god1 it will be dragged down by the flesh into heavy sleep1 and the brief and dangerous respite of oblivion4 ,it was the failure of ,peter which most keenly affected ,jesus1 not only because his professions had been so loud1 but because much depended on his force of character4 ,thus1 when ,satan had desired to have them1 that he might sift them all like wheat1 the prayers of ,jesus were especially for ,simon1 and it was he when he was converted who should strengthen the rest4 ,surely then he at least might have watched one hour4 ,and what of ,john1 ,his nearest human friend1 whose head had reposed upon ,his bosom8 ,however keen the pang1 the lips of the ,perfect ,friend were silent2 only ,he warned them all alike to watch and pray1 because they were themselves in danger of temptation4 ,that is a lesson for all time4 ,no affection and no zeal are a substitute for the presence of ,god realised1 and the protection of ,god invoked4 ,loyalty and love are not enough without watchfulness and prayer1 for even when the spirit is willing1 the flesh is weak1 and needs to be upheld4 ,thus1 in ,his severest trial and heaviest oppression1 there is neither querulousness nor invective1 but a most ample recognition of their good will1 a most generous allowance for their weakness1 a most sedulous desire1 not that ,he should be comforted1 but that they should escape temptation4 ,with ,his yearning heart unsoothed1 with another anxiety added to ,his heavy burden1 ,jesus returned to ,his vigil4 ,three times ,he felt the wound of unrequited affection1 for their eyes were very heavy1 and they wist not what to answer ,him when ,he spoke4 ,nor should we omit to contrast their bewildered stupefaction1 with the keen vigilance and self-possession of their more heavily burdened ,lord4 ,if we reflect that ,jesus must needs experience all the sorrows that human weakness and human wickedness could inflict1 we may conceive of these varied wrongs as circles with a common centre1 on which the cross was planted4 ,and our ,lord has now entered the first of these2 ,he has looked for pity but there was no man2 ,his own1 although it was grief which pressed them down1 slept in the hour of ,his anguish1 and when ,he bade them watch4 ,it is right to observe that our ,saviour had not bidden them to pray with ,him4 ,they should watch and pray4 ,they should even watch with ,him4 ,but to pray for ,him1 or even to pray with ,him1 they were not bidden4 ,and this is always so4 ,never do we read that ,jesus and any mortal joined together in any prayer to ,god4 ,on the contrary1 when two or three of them asked anything in ,his name1 ,he took for ,himself the position of the ,giver of their petition4 ,and we know certainly that ,he did not invite them to join ,his prayers1 for it was as ,he was praying in a certain place that when ,he ceased1 one of ,his disciples desired that they also might be taught to pray 7,luke xi4 #a74 ,clearly then they were not wont to approach the mercy seat hand in hand with ,jesus4 ,and the reason is plain4 ,he came directly to ,his ,father2 no man else came unto the ,father but by ,him2 there was an essential difference between ,his attitude towards ,god and ours4 ,has the ,socinian ever asked himself why1 in this hour of ,his utmost weakness1 ,jesus sought no help from the intercession of even the chiefs of the apostles8 ,it is in strict harmony with this position1 that ,st4 ,matthew tells us1 ,he now said not ,our ,father1 but ,my ,father4 ,no disciple is taught1 in any circumstances to claim for himself a monopolized or special sonship4 ,he may be in his closet and the door shut1 yet must he remember his brethren and say1 ,our ,father4 ,that is a phrase which ,jesus never addressed to ,god4 ,none is partaker of ,his ,sonship2 none joined with ,him in supplication to ,his ,father4 ,the ,agony4 8,and ,he saith unto them1 ,my soul is exceeding sorrowful1 even unto death3 abide ye here1 and watch4 ,and ,he went forward a little1 and fell on the ground1 and prayed that1 if it were possible1 the hour might pass away from ,him4 ,and ,he said1 ,abba1 ,father1 all things are possible unto ,thee2 remove this cup from ,me3 howbeit not what ,i will1 but what ,thou wilt4 ,and ,he cometh1 and findeth them sleeping1 and saith unto ,peter1 ,simon1 sleepest thou8 couldest thou not watch one hour8 ,watch and pray1 that ye enter not into temptation3 the spirit indeed is willing1 but the flesh is weak4 ,and again ,he went away1 and prayed1 saying the same words4 ,and again ,he came1 and found them sleeping1 for their eyes were very heavy2 and they wist not what to answer ,him4 ,and ,he cometh the third time1 and saith unto them1 ,sleep on now1 and take your rest3 it is enough2 the hour is come2 behold1 the ,son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners4 ,arise1 let us be going3 behold1 he that betrayeth ,me is at hand40--,,mark xiv4 #cd-db 7,r4,v474 ,sceptics and believers have both remarked that ,st4 ,john1 the only ,evangelist who was said to have been present1 gives no account of the ,agony4 ,it is urged by the former1 that the serene composure of the discourse in his ,gospel leaves no room for subsequent mental conflict and recoil from suffering1 which are inconsistent besides with his conception of a ,divine man1 too exalted to be the subject of such emotions4 ,but do not the others know of composure which bore to speak of ,his ,body as broken bread1 and seeing in the cup the likeness of ,his ,blood shed1 gave it to be the food of ,his ,church for ever8 ,was the resignation less serene which spoke of the smiting of the ,shepherd1 and yet of ,his leading back the flock to ,galilee8 ,if the narrative was rejected as inconsistent with the calmness of ,jesus in the fourth ,gospel1 it should equally have repelled the authors of the other three4 ,we may grant that emotion1 agitation1 is inconsistent with unbelieving conceptions of the ,christ of the fourth ,gospel4 ,but this only proves how false those conceptions are4 ,for the emotion1 the agitation1 is already there4 ,at the grave of ,lazarus the word which tells that when ,he groaned in spirit ,he was troubled1 describes one's distress in the presence of some palpable opposing force 7,john xi4 #cd74 ,there was1 however1 a much closer approach to ,his emotion in the garden1 when the ,greek world first approached ,him4 ,then ,he contrasted its pursuit of self-culture with ,his own doctrine of self-sacrifice1 declaring that even a grain of wheat must either die or abide by itself alone4 ,to ,jesus that doctrine was no smooth1 easily announced theory1 and so ,he adds1 8,now is ,my soul troubled1 and what shall ,i say8 ,father save ,me from this hour4 ,but for this cause came ,i unto this hour0 7,john xii4 #bg74 ,such is the ,jesus of the fourth ,gospel1 by no means that of its modern analysts4 ,nor is enough said1 when we remind them that the ,speaker of these words was capable of suffering2 we must add that profound agitation at the last was inevitable1 for ,one so resolute in coming to this hour1 yet so keenly sensitive of its dread4 ,the truth is that the silence of ,st4 ,john is quite in his manner4 ,it is so that he passes by the ,sacraments1 as being familiar to his readers1 already instructed in the gospel story4 ,but he gives previous discourses in which the same doctrine is expressed which was embodied in each ,sacrament1--the declaration that ,nicodemus must be born of water1 and that the ,jews must eat ,his flesh and drink ,his blood4 ,it is thus that instead of the agony1 he records that earlier agitation4 ,and this threefold recurrence of the same expedient is almost incredible except by design4 ,st4 ,john was therefore not forgetful of ,gethsemane4 ,a coarser infidelity has much to say about the shrinking of our ,lord from death4 ,such weakness is pronounced unworthy1 and the bearing of multitudes of brave men and even of ,christian martyrs1 unmoved in the flames1 is contrasted with the strong crying and tears of ,jesus4 ,it would suffice to answer that ,jesus also failed not when the trial came1 but before ,pontius ,pilate witnessed a good confession1 and won upon the cross the adoration of a fellow-sufferer and the confession of a ,roman soldier4 ,it is more than enough to answer that ,his story1 so far from relaxing the nerve of human fortitude1 has made those who love ,him stronger to endure tortures than were emperors and inquisitors to invent them4 ,what men call ,his weakness has inspired ages with fortitude4 ,moreover1 the censure which such critics1 much at ease1 pronounce on ,jesus expecting crucifixion1 arises entirely from the magnificent and unique standard by which they try ,him2 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 flesh8 ,for us1 we accept the standard2 we deny that ,jesus in the garden came short of absolute perfection2 but we call attention to the fact that much is conceded to us1 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 ,himself4 ,perfection is exactly what complicates the problem here4 ,conscious of our own weakness1 we not only justify but enjoin upon ourselves every means of attaining as much nobility as we may4 ,we 8steel ourselves to bear10 and therefore we are led to expect the same of ,jesus4 ,we aim at some measure of what1 in its lowest stage1 is callous insensibility4 ,now that word is negative2 it asserts the absence or paralysis of a faculty1 not its fulness and activity4 ,thus we attain victory by a double process2 in part by resolutely turning our mind away1 and only in part by its ascendancy over appreciated distress4 ,we administer anodynes to the soul4 ,but ,jesus1 when he had tasted thereof1 would not drink4 ,the horrors which were closing around ,him were perfectly apprehended1 that they might perfectly be overcome4 ,thus suffering1 ,he became an example for gentle womanhood1 and tender childhood1 as well as man boastful of his stoicism4 ,moreover1 ,he introduced into the world a new type of virtue1 much softer and more emotional than that of the sages4 ,the stoic1 to whom pain is no evil1 and the ,indian laughing and singing at the stake1 are partly actors and partly perversions of humanity4 ,but the good ,shepherd is also1 for ,his gentleness1 a lamb4 ,and it is ,his influence which has opened our eyes to see a charm unknown before1 in the sensibility of our sister and wife and child4 ,therefore1 since the perfection of manhood means neither the ignoring of pain nor the denying of it1 but the union of absolute recognition with absolute mastery of its fearfulness1 ,jesus1 on the approach of agony and shame1 and who shall say what besides1 yields ,himself beforehand to the full contemplation of ,his lot4 ,he does so1 while neither excited by the trial1 nor driven to bay by the scoffs of ,his murderers1 but in solitude1 in the dark1 with stealthy footsteps approaching through the gloom4 ,and ever since1 all who went farthest down into the dread ,valley1 and on whom the shadow of death lay heaviest1 found there the footsteps of its conqueror4 ,it must be added that we cannot measure the keenness of the sensibility thus exposed to torture4 ,a physical organization and a spiritual nature fresh from the creative hand1 undegraded by the transmitted heritage of ages of artificial1 diseased and sinful habit1 unblunted by one deviation from natural ways1 undrugged by one excess1 was surely capable of a range of feeling as vast in anguish as in delight4 ,the sceptic supposes that a torrent of emotion swept our ,saviour off ,his feet4 ,the only narratives he can go upon give quite the opposite impression4 ,he is seen to fathom all that depth of misery1 ,he allows the voice of nature to utter all the bitter earnestness of its reluctance1 yet ,he never loses self-control1 nor wavers in loyalty to ,his ,father1 nor renounces ,his submission to the ,father's will4 ,nothing in the scene is more astonishing than its combination of emotion with self-government4 ,time after time ,he pauses1 gently and lovingly admonishes others1 and calmly returns to ,his intense and anxious vigil4 ,thus ,he has won the only perfect victory4 ,with a nature so responsive to emotion1 ,he has not refused to feel1 nor abstracted ,his soul from suffering1 nor silenced the flesh by such an effort as when we shut our ears against a discord4 ,jesus sees all1 confesses that ,he would fain escape1 but resigns ,himself to ,god4 ,in the face of all asceticisms1 as of all stoicisms1 ,gethsemane is the eternal protest that every part of human nature is entitled to be heard1 provided that the spirit retains the arbitration over all4 ,hitherto nothing has been assumed which a reasonable sceptic can deny4 ,nor should such a reader fail to observe the astonishing revelation of character in the narrative1 its gentle pathos1 its intensity beyond what commonly belongs to gentleness1 its affection1 its mastery over the disciples1 its filial submission4 ,even the rich imaginative way of thinking1 which invented the parables and sacraments1 is in the word 8this cup40 ,but if the story of ,gethsemane can be vindicated from such a point of view1 what shall be said when it is viewed as the ,church regards it8 ,both ,testaments declare that the sufferings of the ,messiah were supernatural4 ,in the ,old ,testament it was pleasing to the ,father to bruise ,him4 ,the terrible cry of ,jesus to a ,god who had forsaken ,him is conclusive evidence from the ,new ,testament4 ,and if we ask what such a cry may mean1 we find that ,he is a curse for us1 and made to be sin for us1 ,who knew no sin4 ,if the older theology drew incredible conclusions from such words1 that is no reason why we should ignore them4 ,it is incredible that ,god was angry with ,his ,son1 or that in any sense the ,omniscient ,one confused the ,saviour with the sinful world4 ,it is incredible that ,jesus ever endured estrangement as of lost souls from the ,one ,whom in ,gethsemane ,he called ,abba ,father1 and in the hour of utter darkness1 ,my ,god1 and into whose ,fatherly hands ,he committed ,his ,spirit4 ,yet it is clear that ,he is being treated otherwise than a sinless ,being1 as such1 ought to expect4 ,his natural standing-place is exchanged for ours4 ,and as our exceeding misery1 and the bitter curse of all our sin fell on ,him1 ,who bore it away by bearing it1 our pollution surely affected ,his purity as keenly as our stripes tried ,his sensibility4 ,he shuddered as well as agonized4 ,the deep waters in which ,he sank were defiled as well as cold4 ,only this can explain the agony and bloody sweat4 ,and as we1 for whom ,he endured it1 think of this1 we can only be silent and adore4 ,once more1 ,jesus returns to ,his disciples1 but no longer to look for sympathy1 or to bid them watch and pray4 ,the time for such warnings is now past3 the crisis1 8the hour0 is come1 and ,his speech is sad and solemn4 8,sleep on now and take your rest1 it is enough40 ,had the sentence stopped there1 none would ever have proposed to treat it as a question1 8,do ye now sleep on and take your rest80 ,it would plainly have meant1 8,since ye refuse ,my counsel and will none of my reproof1 ,i strive no further to arouse the torpid will1 the inert conscience1 the inadequate affection4 ,your resistance prevails against ,my warning40 ,but critics fail to reconcile this with what follows1 8,arise1 let us be going40 ,they fail through supposing that words of intense emotion must be interpreted like a syllogism or a lawyer's parchment4 8,for ,my part1 sleep on2 but your sleep is now to be rudely broken3 take your rest so far as respect for your ,master should have kept you watchful2 but the traitor is at hand to break such repose1 let him not find you ignobly slumbering4 #8,arise1 he is at hand that doth betray ,me4' 0 ,this is not sarcasm1 which taunts and wounds4 ,but there is a lofty and profound irony in the contrast between their attitude and their circumstances1 their sleep and the eagerness of the traitor4 ,and so they lost the most noble opportunity ever given to mortals1 not through blank indifference nor unbelief1 but by allowing the flesh to overcome the spirit4 ,and thus do multitudes lose heaven1 sleeping until the golden hours are gone1 and ,he who said1 8,sleep on now10 says1 8,he that is unrighteous1 let him be unrighteous still40 ,remembering that defilement was far more urgent than pain in our ,saviour's agony1 how sad is the meaning of the words1 8the ,son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners10 and even of 8the sinners10 the representatives of all the evil from which ,he had kept ,himself unspotted4 ,the one perfect flower of humanity is thrown by treachery into the polluted and polluting grasp of wickedness in its many forms2 the traitor delivers ,him to hirelings2 the hirelings to hypocrites2 the hypocrites to an unjust and sceptical pagan judge2 the judge to his brutal soldiery2 who expose ,him to all that malice can wreak upon the most sensitive organization1 or ingratitude upon the most tender heart4 ,at every stage an outrage4 ,every outrage an appeal to the indignation of ,him who held them in the hollow of ,his hand4 ,surely it may well be said1 ,consider ,him who endured such contradiction2 and endured it from sinners against ,himself4 ,the ,arrest4 8,and straightway1 while ,he yet spake1 cometh ,judas1 one of the twelve1 and with him a multitude with swords and staves1 from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders4 ,now he that betrayed ,him had given them a token1 saying1 ,whomsoever ,i shall kiss1 that is ,he2 take ,him1 and lead ,him away safely4 ,and when he was come1 straightway he came to ,him1 and saith1 ,rabbi2 and kissed ,him4 ,and they laid hands on ,him1 and took ,him4 ,but a certain one of them that stood by drew his sword1 and smote the servant of the high priest1 and struck off his ear4 ,and ,jesus answered and said unto them1 ,are ye come out1 as against a robber1 with swords and staves to seize ,me8 ,i was daily with you in the temple teaching1 and ye took ,me not2 but this is done that the scriptures might be fulfilled4 ,and they all left ,him and fled4 ,and a certain young man followed with ,him1 having a linen cloth cast about him1 over his naked body3 and they lay hold on him2 but he left the linen cloth1 and fled naked40--,,mark xiv4 #dc-eb 7,r4,v474 ,st4 ,mark has told this tragical story in the most pointed and the fewest words4 ,the healing of the ear of ,malchus concerns him not1 that is but one miracle among many2 and ,judas passes from sight unfollowed3 the thought insisted on is of foul treason1 pitiable weakness1 brute force predominant1 majestic remonstrance and panic flight4 ,from the central events no accessories can distract him4 ,there cometh1 he tells us1 8,judas1 one of the ,twelve40 ,who ,judas was1 we knew already1 but we are to consider how ,jesus felt it now4 ,before ,his eyes is the catastrophe which ,his death is confronted to avert--the death of a soul1 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 teaching1 which only the presence of ,judas quite explains1 and which ,his terrible and searching gaze must have made like fire1 to sear since it could not melt--in spite of the outspoken utterances of these last days1 and doubtless in spite of many prayers1 he is lost3 one of the ,twelve4 ,and the dark thought would fall cold upon ,christ's heart1 of the multitudes more who should receive the grace of ,god1 ,his own dying love1 in vain4 ,and with that1 the recollection of many an hour of loving-kindness wasted on this familiar friend in whom ,he trusted1 and who now gave ,him over1 as he had been expressly warned1 to so cruel a fate4 ,even toward ,judas1 no unworthy bitterness could pollute that sacred heart1 the fountain of unfathomable compassions1 but what speechless grief must have been there1 what inconceivable horror4 ,for the outrage was dark in form as in essence4 ,judas apparently conceived that the ,eleven might1 as they had promised1 rally around their ,lord2 and he could have no perception how impossible it was that ,messiah should stoop to escape under cover of their devotion1 how frankly the good ,shepherd would give ,his life for the sheep4 ,in the night1 he thought1 evasion might yet be attempted1 and the town be raised4 ,but he knew how to make the matter sure4 ,no other would as surely as himself recognise ,jesus in the uncertain light4 ,if he were to lay hold on ,him rudely1 the ,eleven would close in1 and in the struggle1 the prize might yet be lost4 ,but approaching a little in advance1 and peaceably1 he would ostentatiously kiss his ,master1 and so clearly point ,him out that the arrest would be accomplished before the disciples realized what was being done4 ,but at every step the intrigue is overmastered by the clear insight of ,jesus4 ,as ,he foretold the time of ,his arrest1 while yet the rulers said1 ,not on the feast day1 so ,he announced the approach of the traitor1 who was then contriving the last momentary deception of his polluting kiss4 ,we have already seen how impossible it is to think of ,judas otherwise than as the ,church has always regarded him1 an apostate and a traitor in the darkest sense4 ,the milder theory is at this stage shattered by one small yet significant detail4 ,at the supper1 when conscious of being suspected1 and forced to speak1 he said not1 like the others1 8,lord10 but 8,rabbi1 is it ,i80 ,now they meet again1 and the same word is on his lips1 whether by design and in ,satanic insolence1 or in hysterical agitation and uncertainty1 who can say8 ,but no loyalty1 however misled1 inspired that halting and inadequate epithet1 no wild hope of a sudden blazing out of glories too long concealed is breathed in the traitor's ,rabbi6 ,with that word1 and his envenomed kiss1 the 8much kissing10 which took care that ,jesus should not shake him off1 he passes from this great ,gospel4 ,not a word is here of his remorse1 or of the dreadful path down which he stumbled to his own place4 ,even the lofty remonstrance of the ,lord is not recorded3 it suffices to have told how he betrayed the ,son of man with a kiss1 and so infused a peculiar and subtle poison into ,christ's draught of deadly wine4 ,that1 and not the punishment of that1 is what ,st4 ,mark recorded for the ,church1 the awful fall of an apostle1 chosen of ,christ2 the solemn warning to all privileged persons1 richly endowed and highly placed2 the door to hell1 as ,bunyan has it1 from the very gate of ,heaven4 ,a great multitude with swords and staves had come from the rulers4 ,possibly some attempt at rescue was apprehended from the ,galileans who had so lately triumphed around ,jesus4 ,more probably the demonstration was planned to suggest to ,pilate that a dangerous political agitation had to be confronted4 ,at all events1 the multitude did not terrify the disciples3 cries arose from their little band1 8,lord shall we smite with the sword80 and if ,jesus had consented1 it seems that with two swords the ,eleven whom declaimers make to be so craven1 would have assailed the multitude in arms4 ,now this is what points the moral of their failure4 ,few of us would confess personal cowardice by accepting a warning from the fears of the fearful4 ,but the fears of the brave must needs alarm us4 ,it is one thing to defy death1 sword in hand1 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 believe4 ,but there is a deep which opens beyond this4 ,it is a harder thing to endure the silent passive anguish to which the ,lamb1 dumb before the shearers1 calls ,his followers4 ,the victories of the spirit are beyond animal strength of nerve4 ,in their highest forms they are beyond the noble reach of intellectual resolution4 ,how far beyond it we may learn by contrasting the excitement and then the panic of the ,eleven with the sublime composure of their ,lord4 ,one of them1 whom we know to have been the impulsive ,simon1 showed his loss of self-control by what would have been a breach of discipline1 even had resistance been intended4 ,while others asked should they smite with the sword1 he took the decision upon himself1 and struck a feeble and abortive blow1 enough to exasperate but not to disable4 ,in so doing he added1 to the sorrows of ,jesus1 disobedience1 and the inflaming of angry passion among ,his captors4 ,strange it is1 and instructive1 that the first act of violence in the annals of ,christianity came not from her assailants but from her son4 ,and strange to think with what emotions ,jesus must have beheld that blow4 ,st4 ,mark records neither the healing of ,malchus nor the rebuke of ,peter4 ,throughout the events which now crowd fast upon us1 we shall not find him careful about fulness of detail4 ,this is never his manner1 though he loves any detail which is graphic1 characteristic1 or intensifying4 ,but his concern is with the spirit of the ,lord and of ,his enemies3 he is blind to no form of injustice or insult which heightened the sufferings of ,jesus1 to no manifestation of dignity and self-control overmastering the rage of hell4 ,if ,he is unjustly tried by ,caiaphas1 it matters nothing that ,annas also wronged ,him4 ,if the soldiers of ,pilate insulted ,him1 it matters nothing that the soldiers of ,herod also set ,him at nought4 ,yet the flight of a nameless youth is recorded1 since it adds a touch to the picture of ,his abandonment4 ,and therefore he records the indignant remonstrance of ,jesus upon the manner of ,his arrest4 ,he was no man of violence and blood1 to be arrested with a display of overwhelming force4 ,he needed not to be sought in concealment and at midnight4 ,he had spoken daily in the temple1 but then their malice was defeated1 their snares rent asunder1 and the people witnessed their exposure4 ,but all this was part of ,his predicted suffering1 for ,whom not only pain but injustice was foretold1 ,who should be taken from prison and from judgment4 ,it was a lofty remonstrance4 ,it showed how little could danger and betrayal disturb ,his consciousness1 and how clearly ,he discerned the calculation of ,his foes4 ,at this moment of unmistakable surrender1 ,his disciples forsook ,him and fled4 ,one young man did indeed follow ,him1 springing hastily from slumber in some adjacent cottage1 and wrapped only in a linen cloth4 ,but he too1 when seized1 fled away1 leaving his only covering in the hands of the soldiers4 ,this youth may perhaps have been the ,evangelist himself1 of whom we know that1 a few years later1 he joined ,paul and ,barnabas at the outset1 but forsook them when their journey became perilous4 ,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 alone1 deserted by all1 though ,he never forsook any4 ,before ,caiaphas4 8,and they led ,jesus away to the high priest3 and there come together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes4 ,and ,peter had followed ,him afar off1 even within1 into the court of the high priest2 and he was sitting with the officers1 and warming himself in the light of the fire4 ,now the chief priests and the whole council sought witness against ,jesus to put ,him to death2 and found it not4 ,for many bare false witness against ,him1 and their witness agreed not together4 ,and there stood up certain1 and bare false witness against ,him1 saying1 ,we heard ,him say1 ,i will destroy this temple that is made with hands1 and in three days ,i will build another made without hands4 ,and not even so did their witness agree together4 ,and the high priest stood up in the midst1 and asked ,jesus1 saying1 ,answerest ,thou nothing8 what is it which these witness against ,thee8 ,but ,he held ,his peace and answered nothing4 ,again the high priest asked ,him1 and saith unto ,him1 ,art ,thou the ,christ1 the ,son of the ,blessed8 ,and ,jesus said1 ,i am3 and ye shall see the ,son of man sitting at the right hand of power1 and coming with the clouds of heaven4 ,and the high priest rent his clothes1 and saith1 ,what further need have we of witnesses8 ,ye have heard the blasphemy3 what think ye8 ,and they all condemned ,him to be worthy of death4 ,and some began to spit on ,him1 and to cover ,his face1 and to buffet ,him1 and to say unto ,him1 ,prophesy3 and the officers received ,him with blows of their hands0--,,mark xiv4 #ec-fe 7,r4,v474 ,we have now to see the ,judge of quick and dead taken from prison and judgment1 the ,preacher of liberty to the captives bound1 and the ,prince of ,life killed4 ,it is the most solemn page in earthly story2 and as we read ,st4 ,mark's account1 it will concern us less to reconcile his statements with those of the other three1 than to see what is taught us by his especial manner of regarding it4 ,reconciliation1 indeed1 is quite unnecessary1 if we bear in mind that to omit a fact is not to contradict it4 ,for ,st4 ,mark is not writing a history but a ,gospel1 and his readers are ,gentiles1 for whom the details of ,hebrew intrigue matter nothing1 and the trial before a ,galilean ,tetrarch would be only half intelligible4 ,st4 ,john1 who had been an eye-witness1 knew that the private inquiry before ,annas was vital1 for there the decision was taken which subsequent and more formal assemblies did but ratify4 ,he therefore1 writing last1 threw this ray of explanatory light over all that the others had related4 ,st4 ,luke recorded in the ,acts 7iv4 #bg7 that the apostles recognised1 in the consent of ,romans and ,jews1 and of ,herod and ,pilate1 what the ,psalmist had long foretold1 the rage of the heathen and the vain imagination of the peoples1 and the conjunction of kings and rulers4 ,his ,gospel therefore lays stress upon the part played by all of these4 ,and ,st4 ,matthew's readers could appreciate every fulfilment of prophecy1 and every touch of local colour4 ,st4 ,mark offers to us the essential points3 rejection and cruelty by ,his countrymen1 rejection and cruelty over again by ,rome1 and the dignity1 the elevation1 the lofty silence and the dauntless testimony of his ,lord4 ,as we read1 we are conscious of the weakness of ,his crafty foes1 who are helpless and baffled1 and have no resort except to abandon their charges and appeal to ,his own truthfulness to destroy ,him4 ,he shows us first the informal assembly before ,caiaphas1 whither ,annas sent ,him with that sufficient sign of his own judgment1 the binding of ,his hands1 and the first buffet1 inflicted by an officer1 upon ,his holy face4 ,it was not yet daylight1 and a formal assembly of the ,sanhedrim was impossible4 ,but what passed now was so complete a rehearsal of the tragedy1 that the regular meeting could be disposed of in a single verse4 ,there was confusion and distress among the conspirators4 ,it was not their intention to have arrested ,jesus on the feast day1 at the risk of an uproar among the people4 ,but ,he had driven them to do so by the expulsion of their spy1 who1 if they delayed longer1 would be unable to guide their officers4 ,and so they found themselves without evidence1 and had to play the part of prosecutors when they ought to be impartial judges4 ,there is something frightful in the spectacle of these chiefs of the religion of ,jehovah suborning perjury as the way to murder2 and it reminds us of the solemn truth1 that no wickedness is so perfect and heartless as that upon which sacred influences have long been vainly operating1 no corruption so hateful as that of a dead religion4 ,presently they would cause the name of ,god to be blasphemed among the heathen1 by bribing the ,roman guards to lie about the corpse4 ,and the heart of ,jesus was tried by the disgraceful spectacle of many false witnesses1 found in turn and paraded against ,him1 but unable to agree upon any consistent charge1 while yet the shameless proceedings were not discontinued4 ,at the last stood up witnesses to pervert what ,he had spoken at the first cleansing of the temple1 which the second cleansing had so lately recalled to mind4 ,they represented ,him as saying1 8,i am able to destroy this temple made with hands10--or perhaps1 8,i will destroy0 it1 for their testimony varied on this grave point--8and in three days ,i will build another made without hands40 ,it was for blaspheming the ,holy ,place that ,stephen died1 and the charge was a grave one2 but ,his words were impudently manipulated to justify it4 ,there had been no proposal to substitute a different temple1 and no mention of the temple made with hands4 ,nor had ,jesus ever proposed to destroy anything4 ,he had spoken of their destroying the ,temple of ,his ,body1 and in the use they made of the prediction they fulfilled it4 ,as we read of these repeated failures before a tribunal so unjust1 we are led to suppose that opposition must have sprung up to disconcert them2 we remember the councillor of honourable estate1 who had not consented to their counsel and deed1 and we think1 ,what if1 even in that hour of evil1 one voice was uplifted for righteousness8 ,what if ,joseph confessed ,him in the conclave1 like the penitent thief upon the cross8 ,and now the high priest1 enraged and alarmed by imminent failure1 rises in the midst1 and in the face of all law cross-questions the prisoner1 ,answerest ,thou nothing8 ,what is it which these witness against ,thee8 ,but ,jesus will not become their accomplice2 ,he maintains the silence which contrasts so nobly with their excitement1 which at once sees through their schemes and leaves them to fall asunder4 ,and the urgency of the occasion1 since hesitation now will give the city time to rise1 drives them to a desperate expedient4 ,without discussion of ,his claims1 without considering that some day there must be some ,messiah1 7else what is their faith and who are they87 they will treat it as blasphemous and a capital offence simply to claim that title4 ,caiaphas adjures ,him by their common ,god to answer1 ,art thou the ,christ1 the ,son of the ,blessed8 ,so then they were not utterly ignorant of the higher nature of the ,son of ,david3 they remembered the words1 ,thou art ,my ,son1 this day have ,i begotten ,thee4 ,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 claim4 ,and the prisoner knew well the consequences of replying4 ,but ,he had come into the world to bear witness to the truth1 and this was the central truth of all4 8,and ,jesus said1 ,i am40 ,now ,renan tells us that ,he was the greatest religious genius who ever lived1 or probably ever shall live4 ,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 humanity4 ,and ,strauss thinks that we know enough of ,him to assert that ,his consciousness was unclouded by the memory of any sin4 ,well then1 if anything in the life of ,jesus is beyond controversy1 it is this1 that the sinless ,man1 our ideal representative and guide1 the greatest religious genius of the race1 died for asserting upon oath that ,he was the ,son of ,god4 ,a good deal has been said lately1 both wise and foolish1 about ,comparative ,religion3 is there anything to compare with this8 ,lunatics1 with this example before their eyes1 have conceived wild and dreadful infatuations4 ,but these are the words of ,him whose character has dominated nineteen centuries1 and changed the history of the world4 ,and they stand alone in the records of mankind4 ,as ,jesus spoke the fatal words1 as malice and hatred lighted the faces of ,his wicked judges with a base and ignoble joy1 what was ,his own thought8 ,we know it by the warning that ,he added4 ,they supposed themselves judges and irresponsible1 but there should yet be another tribunal1 with justice of a far different kind1 and there they should occupy another place4 ,for all that was passing before ,his eyes1 so false1 hypocritical and murderous1 there was no lasting victory1 no impunity1 no escape3 8,ye shall see the ,son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven40 ,therefore ,his apostle ,peter tells us that in this hour1 when ,he was reviled and reviled not again1 8,he committed ,himself to ,him that judgeth righteously0 7#a ,peter ii4 #bc74 ,he had now quoted that great vision in which the prophet ,daniel saw ,him brought near unto the ,ancient of ,days1 and invested with an everlasting dominion 7,dan4 vii4 #ac1 #ad474 ,but ,st4 ,matthew adds one memorable word4 ,he did not warn them1 and ,he was not ,himself sustained1 only by the mention of a far-off judgment3 ,he said they should behold ,him thus 8henceforth40 ,and that very day they saw the veil of their temple rent1 felt the world convulsed1 and remembered in their terror that ,he had foretold ,his own death and ,his resurrection1 against which they had still to guard4 ,and in the open sepulchre1 and the supernatural vision told them by its keepers1 in great and notable miracles wrought by the name of ,jesus1 in the desertion of a great multitude even of priests1 and their own fear to be found fighting against ,god1 in all this the rise of that new power was thenceforth plainly visible1 which was presently to bury them and their children under the ruins of their temple and their palaces4 ,but for the moment the high-priest was only relieved2 and he proceeded1 rending his clothes1 to announce his judgment1 before consulting the court1 who had no further need of witnesses1 and were quite content to become formally the accusers before themselves4 ,the sentence of this irregular and informal court was now pronounced1 to fit them for bearing part1 at sunrise1 in what should be an unbiassed trial2 and while they awaited the dawn ,jesus was abandoned to the brutality of their servants1 one of whom ,he had healed that very night4 ,they spat on the ,lord of ,glory4 ,they covered ,his face1 an act which was the symbol of a death sentence 7,esther vii4 #h71 and then they buffeted ,him1 and invited ,him to prophesy who smote ,him4 ,and the officers 8received ,him0 with blows4 ,what was the meaning of this outburst of savage cruelty of men whom ,jesus had never wronged1 and some of whose friends must have shared ,his superhuman gifts of love8 ,partly it was the instinct of low natures to trample on the fallen1 and partly the result of partizanship4 ,for these servants of the priests must have seen many evidences of the hate and dread with which their masters regarded ,jesus4 ,but there was doubtless another motive4 ,not without fear1 we may be certain1 had they gone forth to arrest at midnight the ,personage of whom so many miraculous tales were universally believed4 ,they must have remembered the captains of fifty whom ,elijah consumed with fire4 ,and in fact there was a moment when they all fell prostrate before ,his majestic presence4 ,but now their terror was at an end3 ,he was helpless in their hands2 and they revenged their fears upon the ,author of them4 ,thus ,jesus suffered shame to make us partakers of ,his glory2 and the veil of death covered ,his head1 that ,he might destroy the face of the covering cast over all peoples1 and the veil that was spread over all nations4 ,and even in this moment of bitterest outrage ,he remembered and rescued a soul in the extreme of jeopardy1 for it was now that the ,lord turned and looked upon ,peter4 ,the ,fall ,of ,peter4 8,and as ,peter was beneath in the court1 there cometh one of the maids of the high priest2 and seeing ,peter warming himself1 she looked upon him1 and saith1 ,thou also wast with the ,nazarene1 even ,jesus4 ,but he denied1 saying1 ,i neither know1 nor understand what thou sayest3 and he went out into the porch2 and the cock crew4 ,and the maid saw him1 and began again to say to them that stood by1 ,this is one of them4 ,but he again denied it4 ,and after a little while again they that stood by said to ,peter1 ,of a truth thou art one of them2 for thou art a ,galilan4 ,but he began to curse1 and to swear1 ,i know not this man of whom ye speak4 ,and straightway the second time the cock crew4 ,and ,peter called to mind the word1 how that ,jesus said unto him1 ,before the cock crow twice1 thou shalt deny ,me thrice4 ,and when he thought thereon1 he wept0--,,mark xiv4 #ff-gb 7,r4,v474 ,the fall of ,peter has called forth the easy scorn of multitudes who never ran any risk for ,christ4 ,but if he had been a coward1 and his denial a dastardly weakness1 it would not be a warning for the whole ,church1 but only for feeble natures4 ,whereas the lesson which it proclaims is this deep and solemn one1 that no natural endowments can bear the strain of the spiritual life4 ,peter had dared to smite when only two swords were forthcoming against the band of ,roman soldiers and the multitude from the chief priests4 ,after the panic in which all forsook ,jesus1 and so fulfilled the prediction 8ye shall leave ,me alone10 none ventured so far as ,peter4 ,john indeed accompanied him2 but ,john ran little risk1 he had influence and was therefore left unassailed1 whereas ,peter was friendless and a mark for all men1 and had made himself conspicuous in the garden4 ,of those who declaim about his want of courage few indeed would have dared so much4 ,and whoever misunderstands him1 ,jesus did not4 ,he said to him1 8,satan hath desired to have you 7all7 that he may sift you like wheat1 but ,i have prayed for thee 7especially7 that thy strength fail not40 ,around him the fiercest of the struggle was to rage1 as around some point of vantage on a battlefield2 and it was he1 when once he had turned again1 who should stablish his brethren 7,luke xxii4 #ca1 #cb74 ,god forbid that we should speak one light or scornful word of this great apostle6 ,god grant us1 if our footsteps slip1 the heart to weep such tears as his4 ,peter was a loving1 brave and loyal man4 ,but the circumstances were not such as human bravery could deal with4 ,resistance1 which would have kindled his spirit1 had been forbidden to him1 and was now impossible4 ,the public was shut out1 and he was practically alone among his enemies4 ,he had come 8to see the end10 and it was a miserable sight that he beheld4 ,jesus was passive1 silent1 insulted3 ,his foes fierce1 unscrupulous and confident4 ,and ,peter was more and more conscious of being alone1 in peril1 and utterly without resource4 ,moreover sleeplessness and misery lead to physical languor and cold17#ac7 and as the officers had kindled a fire1 he was drawn thither1 like a moth1 by the double wish to avoid isolation and to warm himself4 ,in thus seeking to pass for one of the crowd1 he showed himself ashamed of ,jesus1 and incurred the menaced penalty1 8of him shall the ,son of man be ashamed1 when ,he cometh40 ,and the method of self-concealment which he adopted only showed his face1 strongly illuminated1 as ,st4 ,mark tells us1 by the flame4 ,if now we ask for the secret of his failing resolution1 we can trace the disease far back4 ,it was self-confidence4 ,he reckoned himself the one to walk upon the waters4 ,he could not be silent on the holy mount1 when ,jesus held high communion with the inhabitants of heaven4 ,he rebuked the ,lord for dark forebodings4 ,when ,jesus would wash his feet1 although expressly told that he should understand the act hereafter1 he rejoined1 ,thou shalt never wash my feet1 and was only sobered by the peremptory announcement that further rebellion would involve rejection4 ,he was sure that if all the rest were to deny ,jesus1 he never should deny ,him4 ,in the garden he slept1 because he failed to pray and watch4 ,and then he did not wait to be directed1 but strove to fight the battle of ,jesus with the weapons of the flesh4 ,therefore he forsook ,him and fled4 ,and the consequences of that hasty blow were heavy upon him now4 ,it marked him for the attention of the servants3 it drove him to merge himself in the crowd4 ,but his bearing was too suspicious to enable him to escape unquestioned4 ,the first assault came very naturally1 from the maid who kept the door1 and had therefore seen him with ,john4 ,he denied indeed1 but with hesitation1 not so much affirming that the charge was false as that he could not understand it4 ,and thereupon he changed his place1 either to escape notice or through mental disquietude2 but as he went into the porch the cock crew4 ,the girl however was not to be shaken off3 she pointed him out to others1 and since he had forsaken the only solid ground1 he now denied the charge angrily and roundly4 ,an hour passed1 such an hour of shame1 perplexity and guilt1 as he had never known1 and then there came a still more dangerous attack4 ,they had detected his ,galilean accent1 while he strove to pass for one of them4 ,and a kinsman of ,malchus used words as threatening as were possible without enabling a miracle to be proved1 since the wound had vanished3 8,did ,i myself not see thee in the garden with ,him80 ,whereupon1 to prove that his speech had nothing to do with ,jesus1 he began to curse and swear1 saying1 ,i know not the man4 ,and the cock crew a second time1 and ,peter remembered the warning of his ,lord1 which then sounded so harsh1 but now proved to be the means of his salvation4 ,and the eyes of his ,master1 full of sorrow and resolution1 fell on him4 ,and he knew that he had added a bitter pang to the sufferings of the ,blessed ,one4 ,and the crowd and his own danger were forgotten1 and he went out and wept4 ,it was for ,judas to strive desperately to put himself right with man3 the sorrow of ,peter was for himself and ,god to know4 ,what lessons are we taught by this most natural and humbling story8 ,that he who thinketh he standeth must take heed lest he fall4 ,that we are in most danger when self-confident1 and only strong when we are weak4 ,that the beginning of sin is like the letting out of water4 ,that ,jesus does not give us up when we cast ourselves away1 but as long as a pulse of love survives1 or a spark of loyalty1 ,he will appeal to that by many a subtle suggestion of memory and of providence1 to recall ,his wanderer to ,himself4 ,and surely we learn by the fall of this great and good apostle to restore the fallen in the spirit of meekness1 considering ourselves lest we also be tempted1 remembering also that to ,peter1 ,jesus sent the first tidings of ,his resurrection1 and that the message found him in company with ,john1 and therefore in the house with ,mary4 ,what might have been the issue of his anguish if these holy ones had cast ,him off8 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,pilate4 8,and straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes1 and the whole council1 held a consultation1 and bound ,jesus1 and carried ,him away1 and delivered ,him up to ,pilate40 8444 ,and they lead ,him out to crucify ,him40--,,mark xv4 #a-bj 7,r4,v474 ,with morning came the formal assembly1 which ,st4 ,mark dismisses in a single verse4 ,it was indeed a disgraceful mockery4 ,before the trial began its members had prejudged the case1 passed sentence by anticipation1 and abandoned ,jesus1 as one condemned1 to the brutality of their servants4 ,and now the spectacle of a prisoner outraged and maltreated moves no indignation in their hearts4 ,let us1 for whom ,his sufferings were endured1 reflect upon the strain and anguish of all these repeated examinations1 these foregone conclusions gravely adopted in the name of justice1 these exhibitions of greed for blood4 ,among the 8unknown sufferings0 by which the ,eastern ,church invokes her ,lord1 surely not the least was ,his outraged moral sense4 ,as the issue of it all1 they led ,him away to ,pilate1 meaning1 by the weight of such an accusing array1 to overpower any possible scruples of the governor1 but in fact fulfilling ,his words1 8they shall deliver ,him unto the ,gentiles40 ,and the first question recorded by ,st4 ,mark expresses the intense surprise of ,pilate4 8,thou10 so meek1 so unlike the numberless conspirators that ,i have tried1--or perhaps1 8,thou10 ,whom no sympathising multitude sustains1 and for ,whose death the disloyal priesthood thirsts1 8,art ,thou the ,king of the ,jews80 ,we know how carefully ,jesus disentangled ,his claim from the political associations which the high priests intended that it should suggest1 how the ,king of ,truth would not exaggerate any more than understate the case1 and explained that ,his kingdom was not of this world1 that ,his servants did not fight1 that ,his royal function was to uphold the truth1 not to expel conquerors4 ,the eyes of a practised ,roman governor saw through the accusation very clearly4 ,before him1 ,jesus was accused of sedition1 but that was a transparent pretext2 ,jews did not hate ,him for enmity to ,rome3 ,he was a rival teacher and a successful one1 and for envy they had delivered ,him4 ,so far all was well4 ,pilate investigated the charge1 arrived at the correct judgment1 and it only remained that he should release the innocent man4 ,in reaching this conclusion ,jesus had given him the most prudent and skilful help1 but as soon as the facts became clear1 ,he resumed ,his impressive and mysterious silence4 ,thus1 before each of his judges in turn1 ,jesus avowed ,himself the ,messiah and then held ,his peace4 ,it was an awful silence1 which would not give that which was holy to the dogs1 nor profane the truth by unavailing protests or controversies4 ,it was1 however1 a silence only possible to an exalted nature full of self-control1 since the words actually spoken redeem it from any suspicion or stain of sullenness4 ,it is the conscience of ,pilate which must henceforth speak4 ,the ,romans were the lawgivers of the ancient world1 and a few years earlier their greatest poet had boasted that their mission was to spare the helpless and to crush the proud4 ,in no man was an act of deliberate injustice1 of complaisance to the powerful at the cost of the good1 more unpardonable than in a leader of that splendid race1 whose laws are still the favourite study of those who frame and administer our own4 ,and the conscience of ,pilate struggled hard1 aided by superstitious fear4 ,the very silence of ,jesus amid many charges1 by none of which ,his accusers would stand or fall1 excited the wonder of ,his judge4 ,his wife's dream aided the effect4 ,and he was still more afraid when he heard that this strange and elevated ,personage1 so unlike any other prisoner whom he had ever tried1 laid claim to be ,divine4 ,thus even in his desire to save ,jesus1 his motive was not pure1 it was rather an instinct of self-preservation than a sense of justice4 ,but there was danger on the other side as well2 since he had already incurred the imperial censure1 he could not without grave apprehensions contemplate a fresh complaint1 and would certainly be ruined if he were accused of releasing a conspirator against ,csar4 ,and accordingly he stooped to mean and crooked ways1 he lost hold of the only clue in the perplexing labyrinth of expediencies1 which is principle1 and his name in the creed of ,christendom is spoken with a shudder--8crucified under ,pontius ,pilate60 ,it was the time for him to release a prisoner to them1 according to an obscure custom1 which some suppose to have sprung from the release of one of the two sacrificial goats1 and others from the fact that they now celebrated their own deliverance from ,egypt4 ,at this moment the people began to demand their usual indulgence1 and an evil hope arose in the heart of ,pilate4 ,they would surely welcome ,one who was in danger as a patriot3 he would himself make the offer1 and he would put it in this tempting form1 8,will ye that ,i release unto you the ,king of the ,jews80 ,thus would the enmity of the priests be gratified1 since ,jesus would henceforth be a condemned culprit1 and owe ,his life to their intercession with the foreigner4 ,but the proposal was a surrender4 ,the life of ,jesus had not been forfeited2 and when it was placed at their discretion1 it was already lawlessly taken away4 ,moreover1 when the offer was rejected1 ,jesus was in the place of a culprit who should not be released4 ,to the priests1 nevertheless1 it was a dangerous proposal1 and they needed to stir up the people1 or perhaps ,barabbas would not have been preferred4 ,instigated by their natural guides1 their religious teachers1 the ,jews made the tremendous choice1 which has ever since been heavy on their heads and on their children's4 ,yet if ever an error could be excused by the plea of authority1 and the duty of submission to constituted leaders1 it was this error4 ,they followed men who sat in ,moses' seat1 and who were thus entitled1 according to ,jesus ,himself1 to be obeyed4 ,yet that authority has not relieved the ,hebrew nation from the wrath which came upon them to the uttermost4 ,the salvation they desired was not moral elevation or spiritual life1 and so ,jesus had nothing to bestow upon them2 they refused the ,holy ,one and the ,just4 ,what they wanted was the world1 the place which ,rome held1 and which they fondly hoped was yet to be their own4 ,even to have failed in the pursuit of this was better than to have the words of everlasting life1 and so the name of ,barabbas was enough to secure the rejection of ,christ4 ,it would almost seem that ,pilate was ready to release both1 if that would satisfy them1 for he asks1 in hesitation and perplexity1 8,what shall ,i do then with ,him ,whom ye call the ,king of the ,jews80 ,surely in their excitement for an insurgent1 that title1 given by themselves1 will awake their pity4 ,but again and again1 like the howl of wolves1 resounds their ferocious cry1 ,crucify ,him1 crucify ,him4 ,the irony of ,providence is known to every student of history1 but it never was so manifest as here4 ,under the pressure of circumstances upon men whom principle has not made firm1 we find a ,roman governor striving to kindle every disloyal passion of his subjects1 on behalf of the ,king of the ,jews1--appealing to men whom he hated and despised1 and whose charges have proved empty as chaff1 to say1 ,what evil has ,he done8 and even to tell him1 on his judgment throne1 what he shall do with their ,king2 we find the men who accused ,jesus of stirring up the people to sedition1 now shamelessly agitating for the release of a red-handed insurgent2 forced moreover to accept the responsibility which they would fain have devolved on ,pilate1 and themselves to pronounce the hateful sentence of crucifixion1 unknown to their law1 but for which they had secretly intrigued2 and we find the multitude fiercely clamouring for a defeated champion of brute force1 whose weapon has snapped in his hands1 who has led his followers to the cross1 and from whom there is no more to hope4 ,what satire upon their hope of a temporal ,messiah could be more bitter than their own cry1 8,we have no king but ,csar08 ,and what satire upon this profession more destructive than their choice of ,barabbas and refusal of ,christ8 ,and all the while1 ,jesus looks on in silence1 carrying out ,his mournful but effectual plan1 the true ,master of the movements which design to crush ,him1 and which ,he has foretold4 ,as ,he ever receives gifts for the rebellious1 and is the ,saviour of all men1 though especially of them that believe1 so now ,his passion1 which retrieved the erring soul of ,peter1 and won the penitent thief1 rescues ,barabbas from the cross4 ,his suffering was made visibly vicarious4 ,one is tempted to pity the feeble judge1 the only person who is known to have attempted to rescue ,jesus1 beset by his old faults1 which will make an impeachment fatal1 wishing better than he dares to act1 hesitating1 sinking inch by inch1 and like a bird with broken wing4 ,no accomplice in this frightful crime is so suggestive of warning to hearts not entirely hardened4 ,but pity is lost in sterner emotion as we remember that this wicked governor1 having borne witness to the perfect innocence of ,jesus1 was content1 in order to save himself from danger1 to watch the ,blessed ,one enduring all the horrors of a ,roman scourging1 and then to yield ,him up to die4 ,it is now the unmitigated cruelty of ancient paganism which has closed its hand upon our ,lord4 ,when the soldiers led ,him away within the court1 ,he was lost to ,his nation1 which had renounced ,him4 ,it is upon this utter alienation1 even more than the locality where the cross was fixed1 that the ,epistle to the ,hebrews turns our attention1 when it reminds us that 8the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin1 are burned without the camp4 ,wherefore ,jesus also1 that ,he might sanctify the people through ,his own blood1 suffered without the gate40 ,the physical exclusion1 the material parallel points to something deeper1 for the inference is that of estrangement4 ,those who serve the tabernacle cannot eat of our altar4 ,let us go forth unto ,him1 bearing ,his reproach4 7,heb4 xii4 #aj-ac74 ,renounced by ,israel1 and about to become a curse under the law1 ,he has now to suffer the cruelty of wantonness1 as ,he has already endured the cruelty of hatred and fear4 ,now1 more than ever perhaps1 ,he looks for pity and there is no man4 ,none responded to the deep appeal of the eyes which had never seen misery without relieving it4 ,the contempt of the strong for the weak and suffering1 of coarse natures for sensitive ones1 of ,romans for ,jews1 all these were blended with bitter scorn of the ,jewish expectation that some day ,rome shall bow before a ,hebrew conqueror1 in the mockery which ,jesus now underwent1 when they clad ,him in such cast-off purple as the ,palace yielded1 thrust a reed into ,his pinioned hand1 crowned ,him with thorns1 beat these into ,his holy head with the sceptre they had offered ,him1 and then proceeded to render the homage of their nation to the ,messiah of ,jewish hopes4 ,it may have been this mockery which suggested to ,pilate the inscription for the cross4 ,but where is the mockery now8 ,in crowning ,him ,king of sufferings1 and ,royal among those who weep1 they secured to ,him the adherence of all hearts4 ,christ was made perfect by the things which ,he suffered2 and it was not only in spite of insult and anguish but by means of them that ,he drew all men unto ,him4 ,christ ,crucified4 8,and they compel one passing by1 ,simon of ,cyrene1 coming from the country1 the father of ,alexander and ,rufus1 to go with them1 that he might bear ,his cross4 ,and they bring ,him unto the place ,golgotha1 which is1 being interpreted1 ,the place of a skull4 ,and they offered ,him wine mingled with myrrh3 but ,he received it not4 ,and they crucify ,him1 and part ,his garments among them1 casting lots upon them1 what each should take4 ,and it was the third hour1 and they crucified ,him4 ,and the superscription of ,his accusation was written over1 ,,the ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,jews4 ,and with ,him they crucify two robbers2 one on ,his right hand1 and one on ,his left4 ,and they that passed by railed on ,him1 wagging their heads1 and saying1 ,ha6 ,thou that destroyest the temple1 and buildest it in three days1 save ,thyself1 and come down from the cross4 ,in like manner also the chief priests mocking ,him among themselves with the scribes said1 ,he saved others2 ,himself ,he cannot save4 ,let the ,christ1 the ,king of ,israel1 now come down from the cross1 that we may see and believe4 ,and they that were crucified with ,him reproached ,him40--,,mark xv4 #ba-cb 7,r4,v474 ,at last the preparations were complete and the interval of mental agony was over4 ,they led ,him away to crucify ,him4 ,and upon the road an event of mournful interest took place4 ,it was the custom to lay the two arms of the cross upon the doomed man1 fastening them together at such an angle as to pass behind ,his neck1 while his hands were bound to the ends in front4 ,and thus it was that ,jesus went forth bearing ,his cross4 ,did ,he think of this when ,he bade us take ,his yoke upon us8 ,did ,he wait for events to explain the words1 by making it visibly one and the same to take ,his yoke and to take up our cross and follow ,him8 ,on the road1 however1 they forced a reluctant stranger to go with them that he might bear the cross4 ,the traditional reason is that our ,redeemer's strength gave way1 and it became physically impossible for ,him to proceed2 but this is challenged upon the ground that to fail would have been unworthy of our ,lord1 and would mar the perfection of ,his example4 ,how so1 when the failure was a real one8 ,is there no fitness in the belief that ,he who was tempted in all points like as we are1 endured this hardness also1 of struggling with the impossible demands of human cruelty1 the spirit indeed willing but the flesh weak8 ,it is not easy to believe that any other reason than manifest inability1 would have induced his persecutors to spare ,him one drop of bitterness1 one throb of pain4 ,the noblest and most delicately balanced frame1 like all other exquisite machines1 is not capable of the rudest strain2 and we know that ,jesus had once sat wearied by the well1 while the hardy fishers went into the town1 and returned with bread4 ,and this night our gentle ,master had endured what no common victim knew4 ,long before the scourging1 or even the buffeting began1 ,his spiritual exhaustion had needed that an angel from heaven should strengthen ,him4 ,and the utmost possibility of exertion was now reached3 the spot where they met ,simon of ,cyrene marks this melancholy limit2 and suffering henceforth must be purely passive4 ,we cannot assert with confidence that ,simon and his family were saved by this event4 ,the coercion put upon him1 the fact that he was seized and 8impressed0 into the service1 already seems to indicate sympathy with ,jesus4 ,and we are fain to believe that he who received the honour1 so strange and sad and sacred1 the unique privilege of lifting some little of the crushing burden of the ,saviour1 was not utterly ignorant of what he did4 ,we know at least that the names of his children1 ,alexander and ,rufus1 were familiar in the ,church for which ,st4 ,mark was writing1 and that in ,rome a ,rufus was chosen in the ,lord1 and his mother was like a mother to ,st4 ,paul 7,rom4 xvi4 #ac74 ,with what feelings may they have recalled the story1 8him they compelled to bear ,his cross40 ,they led ,him to a place where the rounded summit of a knoll had its grim name from some resemblance to a human skull1 and prepared the crosses there4 ,it was the custom of the daughters of ,jerusalem1 who lamented ,him as ,he went1 to provide a stupefying draught for the sufferers of this atrocious cruelty4 8,and they offered ,him wine mixed with myrrh1 but ,he received it not10 although that dreadful thirst1 which was part of the suffering of crucifixion1 had already begun1 for ,he only refused when ,he had tasted it4 ,in so doing ,he rebuked all who seek to drown sorrows or benumb the soul in wine1 all who degrade and dull their sensibilities by physical excess or indulgence1 all who would rather blind their intelligence than pay the sharp cost of its exercise4 ,he did not condemn the use of anodynes1 but the abuse of them4 ,it is one thing to suspend the senses during an operation1 and quite another thing by one's own choice to pass into eternity without consciousness enough to commit the soul into its ,father's hands4 8,and they crucify ,him40 ,let the words remain as the ,evangelist left them1 to tell their own story of human sin1 and of ,divine love which many waters could not quench1 neither could the depths drown it4 ,only let us think in silence of all that those words convey4 ,in the first sharpness of mortal anguish1 ,jesus saw ,his executioners sit down at ease1 all unconscious of the dread meaning of what was passing by their side1 to part ,his garments among them1 and cast lots for the raiment which they had stripped from ,his sacred form4 ,the ,gospels are content thus to abandon those relics about which so many legends have been woven4 ,but indeed all through these four wonderful narratives the self-restraint is perfect4 ,when the ,epistles touch upon the subject of the crucifixion they kindle into flame4 ,when ,st4 ,peter soon afterwards referred to it1 his indignation is beyond question1 and ,stephen called the rulers betrayers and murderers 7,acts ii4 #bc1 #bd2 iii4 #ac1 #ad2 vii4 #ea-ec7 but not one single syllable of complaint or comment mingles with the clear flow of narrative in the four ,gospels4 ,the truth is that the subject was too great1 too fresh and vivid in their minds1 to be adorned or enlarged upon4 ,what comment of ,st4 ,mark1 what mortal comment1 could add to the weight of the words 8they crucify ,him08 ,men use no figures of speech when telling how their own beloved one died4 ,but it was differently that the next age wrote about the crucifixion2 and perhaps the lofty self-restraint of the ,evangelists has never been attained again4 ,st4 ,mark tells us that ,he was crucified at the third hour1 whereas we read in ,st4 ,john that it was 8about the sixth hour0 when ,pilate ascended the seat of judgment 7xix4 #ad74 ,it seems likely that ,st4 ,john used the ,roman reckoning1 and his computation does not pretend to be exact2 while we must remember that mental agitation conspired with the darkening of the sky1 to render such an estimate as he offers even more than usually vague4 ,it has been supposed that ,st4 ,mark's 8third hour0 goes back to the scourging1 which1 as being a regular part of ,roman crucifixion1 he includes1 although inflicted in this case before the sentence4 ,but it will prove quite as hard to reconcile this distribution of time with 8the sixth hour0 in ,st4 ,john1 while it is at variance with the context in which ,st4 ,mark asserts it4 ,the small and bitter heart of ,pilate keenly resented his defeat and the victory of the priests4 ,perhaps it was when his soldiers offered the scornful homage of ,rome to ,israel and her monarch1 that he saw the way to a petty revenge4 ,and all ,jerusalem was scandalized by reading the inscription over a crucified malefactor's head1 ,the ,king of the ,jews4 ,it needs some reflection to perceive how sharp the taunt was4 ,a few years ago they had a king1 but the sceptre had departed from ,judah2 ,rome had abolished him4 ,it was their hope that soon a native king would for ever sweep away the foreigner from their fields4 ,but here the ,roman exhibited the fate of such a claim1 and professed to inflict its horrors not upon one whom they disavowed1 but upon their king indeed4 ,we know how angrily and vainly they protested2 and again we seem to recognise the solemn irony of ,providence4 ,for this was their true ,king1 and they1 who resented the superscription1 had fixed their ,anointed there4 ,all the more they would disconnect themselves from ,him1 and wreak their passion upon the helpless ,one whom they hated4 ,the populace mocked ,him openly3 the chief priests1 too cultivated to insult avowedly a dying man1 mocked ,him 8among themselves10 speaking bitter words for ,him to hear4 ,the multitude repeated the false charge which had probably done much to inspire their sudden preference for ,barabbas1 8,thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it again in three days1 save ,thyself and come down from the cross40 ,they little suspected that they were recalling words of consolation to ,his memory1 reminding ,him that all this suffering was foreseen1 and how it was all to end4 ,the chief priests spoke also a truth full of consolation1 8,he saved others1 ,himself ,he cannot save10 although it was no physical bar which forbade ,him to accept their challenge4 ,and when they flung at ,him ,his favourite demand for faith1 saying 8,let the ,christ1 the ,king of ,israel1 now come down from the cross1 that we may see and believe0 surely they reminded ,him of the great multitude who should not see1 and yet should believe1 when ,he came back through the gates of death4 ,thus the words they spoke could not afflict ,him4 ,but what horror to the pure soul to behold these yawning abysses of malignity1 these gulfs of pitiless hate4 ,the affronts hurled at suffering and defeat by prosperous and exultant malice are especially ,satanic4 ,many diseases inflict more physical pain than torturers ever invented1 but they do not excite the same horror1 because gentle ministries are there to charm away the despair which human hate and execration conjure up4 ,to add to the insult of ,his disgraceful death1 the ,romans had crucified two robbers1 doubtless from the band of ,barabbas1 one upon each side of ,jesus4 ,we know how this outrage led to the salvation of one of them1 and refreshed the heavy laden soul of ,jesus1 oppressed by so much guilt and vileness1 with the visible firstfruit of ,his passion1 giving ,him to see of the travail of ,his soul1 by which ,he shall yet be satisfied4 ,but in their first agony and despair1 when all voices were unanimous against the ,blessed ,one1 and they too must needs find some outlet for their frenzy1 they both reproached ,him4 ,thus the circle of human wrong was rounded4 ,the traitor1 the deserters1 the forsworn apostle1 the perjured witnesses1 the hypocritical pontiff professing horror at blasphemy while himself abjuring his national hope1 the accomplices in a sham trial1 the murderer of the ,baptist and his men of war1 the abject ruler who declared ,him innocent yet gave ,him up to die1 the servile throng who waited on the priests1 the soldiers of ,herod and of ,pilate1 the pitiless crowd which clamoured for ,his blood1 and they who mocked ,him in ,his agony1--not one of them whom ,jesus did not compassionate1 whose cruelty had not power to wring ,his heart4 ,disciple and foeman1 ,roman and ,jew1 priest and soldier and judge1 all had lifted up their voice against ,him4 ,and when the comrades of ,his passion joined the cry1 the last ingredient of human cruelty was infused into the cup which ,james and ,john had once proposed to drink with ,him4 ,the ,death ,of ,jesus4 8,and when the sixth hour was come1 there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour4 ,and at the ninth hour ,jesus cried with a loud voice1 ,eloi1 ,eloi1 lama sabachthani8 which is1 being interpreted1 ,my ,god1 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 ,and some of them that stood by1 when they heard it1 said1 ,behold1 ,he calleth ,elijah4 ,and one ran1 and filling a sponge full of vinegar1 put it on a reed1 and gave ,him to drink1 saying1 ,let be2 let us see whether ,elijah cometh to take ,him down4 ,and ,jesus uttered a loud voice1 and gave up the ghost4 ,and the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom4 ,and when the centurion1 which stood by over against ,him1 saw that ,he so gave up the ghost1 he said1 ,truly this man was the ,son of ,god4 ,and there were also women beholding from afar3 among whom were both ,mary ,magdalene1 and ,mary the mother of ,james the less and of ,joses1 and ,salome2 who1 when ,he was in ,galilee1 followed ,him1 and ministered unto ,him2 and many other women which came up with ,him unto ,jerusalem40--,,mark xv4 #cc-da 7,r4,v474 ,three hours of raging human passion1 endured with ,godlike patience1 were succeeded by three hours of darkness1 hushing mortal hatred into silence1 and perhaps contributing to the penitence of the reviler at ,his side4 ,it was a supernatural gloom1 since an eclipse of the sun was impossible during the full moon of ,passover4 ,shall we say that1 as it shall be in the last days1 nature sympathized with humanity1 and the angel of the sun hid his face from his suffering ,lord8 ,or was it the shadow of a still more dreadful eclipse1 for now the eternal ,father veiled ,his countenance from the ,son in whom ,he was well pleased8 ,in some true sense ,god forsook ,him4 ,and we have to seek for a meaning of this awful statement--inadequate no doubt1 for all our thoughts must come short of such a reality1 but free from prevarication and evasion4 ,it is wholly unsatisfactory to regard the verse as merely the heading of a psalm1 cheerful for the most part1 which ,jesus inaudibly recited4 ,why was only this verse uttered aloud8 ,how false an impression must have been produced upon the multitude1 upon ,st4 ,john1 upon the penitent thief1 if ,jesus were suffering less than the extreme of spiritual anguish4 ,nay1 we feel that never before can the verse have attained its fullest meaning1 a meaning which no experience of ,david could more than dimly shadow forth1 since we ask in our sorrows1 ,why have we forsaken ,god8 but ,jesus said1 ,why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 ,and this unconsciousness of any reason for desertion disproves the old notion that ,he felt ,himself a sinner1 and 8suffered infinite remorse1 as being the chief sinner in the universe1 all the sins of mankind being ,his40 ,one who felt thus could neither have addressed ,god as 8,my ,god10 nor asked why ,he was forsaken4 ,still less does it allow us to believe that the ,father perfectly identified ,jesus with sin1 so as to be 8wroth0 with ,him1 and even 8to hate ,him to the uttermost40 ,such notions1 the offspring of theories carried to a wild and irreverent extreme1 when carefully examined impute to the ,deity confusion of thought1 a mistaking of the ,holy ,one for a sinner or rather for the aggregate of sinners4 ,but it is very different when we pass from the ,divine consciousness to the bearing of ,god toward ,christ our representative1 to the outshining or eclipse of ,his favour4 ,that this was overcast is manifest from the fact that ,jesus everywhere else addresses ,him as ,my ,father1 here only as ,my ,god4 ,even in the garden it was ,abba ,father1 and the change indicates not indeed estrangement of heart1 but certainly remoteness4 ,thus we have the sense of desertion1 combined with the assurance which once breathed in the words1 ,o ,god1 ,thou art my ,god4 ,thus also it came to pass that ,he who never forfeited the most intimate communion and sunny smile of heaven1 should yet give us an example at the last of that utmost struggle and sternest effort of the soul1 which trusts without experience1 without emotion1 in the dark1 because ,god is ,god1 not because ,i am happy4 ,but they who would empty the death of ,jesus of its sacrificial import1 and leave only the attraction and inspiration of a sublime life and death1 must answer the hard questions1 ,how came ,god to forsake the ,perfect ,one8 ,or1 how came ,he to charge ,god with such desertion8 ,his follower1 twice using this very word1 could boast that he was cast down yet not forsaken1 and that at his first trial all men forsook him1 yet the ,lord stood by him 7#b ,cor4 iv4 #i2 #b ,tim4 iv4 #af1 #ag74 ,how came the disciple to be above his ,master8 ,the only explanation is in ,his own word1 that ,his life is a ransom in exchange for many 7,mark x4 #de74 ,the chastisement of our peace1 not the remorse of our guiltiness1 was upon ,him4 ,no wonder that ,st4 ,mark1 who turns aside from his narrative for no comment1 no exposition1 was yet careful to preserve this alone among the dying words of ,christ4 ,and the ,father heard ,his ,son4 ,at that cry the mysterious darkness passed away2 and the soul of ,jesus was relieved from its burden1 so that ,he became conscious of physical suffering2 and the mockery of the multitude was converted into awe4 ,it seemed to them that ,his ,eloi might indeed bring ,elias1 and the great and notable day1 and they were willing to relieve the thirst which no stoical hardness forbade that gentlest of all sufferers to confess4 ,thereupon the anguish that redeemed the world was over2 a loud voice told that exhaustion was not complete2 and yet ,jesus 8gave up the ghost407#ad7 ,through the veil1 that is to say ,his flesh1 we have boldness to enter into the holy place2 and now that ,he had opened the way1 the veil of the temple was rent asunder by no mortal hand1 but downward from the top4 ,the way into the holiest was visibly thrown open1 when sin was expiated1 which had forfeited our right of access4 ,and the centurion1 seeing that ,his death itself was abnormal and miraculous1 and accompanied with miraculous signs1 said1 ,truly this was a righteous man4 ,but such a confession could not rest there3 if ,he was this1 ,he was all ,he claimed to be2 and the mockery of ,his enemies had betrayed the secret of their hate2 ,he was the ,son of ,god4 8,when the centurion saw0 444 8,there were also many women beholding40 ,who can overlook the connection8 ,their gentle hearts were not to be utterly overwhelmed3 as the centurion saw and drew his inference1 so they beheld1 and felt1 however dimly1 amid sorrows that benumb the mind1 that still1 even in such wreck and misery1 ,god was not far from ,jesus4 ,when the ,lord said1 ,it is finished1 there was not only an end of conscious anguish1 but also of contempt and insult4 ,his body was not to see corruption1 nor was a bone to be broken1 nor should it remain in hostile hands4 ,respect for ,jewish prejudice prevented the ,romans from leaving it to moulder on the cross1 and the approaching ,sabbath was not one to be polluted4 ,and knowing this1 ,joseph of ,arimatha boldly went in to ,pilate and asked for the body of ,jesus4 ,it was only secretly and in fear that he had been a disciple1 but the deadly crisis had developed what was hidden1 he had opposed the crime of his nation in their council1 and in the hour of seeming overthrow he chose the good part4 ,boldly the timid one 8went in10 braving the scowls of the priesthood1 defiling himself moreover1 and forfeiting his share in the sacred feast1 in hope to win the further defilement of contact with the dead4 ,pilate was careful to verify so rapid a death2 but when he was certain of the fact1 8he granted the corpse to ,joseph10 as a worthless thing4 ,his frivolity is expressed alike in the unusual verb7#ae7 and substantive3 he 8freely-bestowed10 he 8gave away0 not 8the body0 as when ,joseph spoke of it1 but 8the corpse10 the fallen thing1 like a prostrated and uprooted tree that shall revive no more4 ,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 it4 ,wonderful to think what opportunities of eternal gain men are content to lose2 what priceless treasures are given away1 or thrown away as worthless4 ,wonderful to imagine the feelings of ,joseph in heaven to-day1 as he gazes with gratitude and love upon the glorious ,body which once1 for a little1 was consigned to his reverent care4 ,st4 ,john tells us that ,nicodemus brought a hundred pound weight of myrrh and aloes1 and they together wrapped ,him in these1 in the linen which had been provided2 and ,joseph laid ,him in his own new tomb1 undesecrated by mortality4 ,and there ,jesus rested4 ,his friends had no such hope as would prevent them from closing the door with a great stone4 ,his enemies set a watch1 and sealed the stone4 ,the broad moon of ,passover made the night as clear as the day1 and the multitude of strangers1 who thronged the city and its suburbs1 rendered any attempt at robbery even more hopeless than at another season4 ,what indeed could the trembling disciples of an executed pretender do with such an object as a dead body8 ,what could they hope from the possession of it8 ,but if they did not steal it1 if the moral glories of ,christianity are not sprung from deliberate mendacity1 why was the body not produced1 to abash the wild dreams of their fanaticism8 ,it was fearfully easy to identify4 ,the scourging1 the cross1 and the spear1 left no slight evidence behind1 and the broken bones of the malefactors completed the absolute isolation of the sacred body of the ,lord4 ,the providence of ,god left no precaution unsupplied to satisfy honest and candid inquiry4 ,it remained to be seen1 would ,he leave ,christ's soul in ,hades1 or suffer ,his ,holy ,one 7such is the epithet applied to the body of ,jesus7 to see corruption8 ,meantime1 through what is called three days and nights--a space which touched1 but only touched1 the confines of a first and third day1 as well as the ,saturday which intervened1 ,jesus shared the humiliation of common men1 the divorce of soul and body4 ,he slept as sleep the dead1 but ,his soul was where ,he promised that the penitent should come1 refreshed in ,paradise4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,christ ,risen4 8,and when the sabbath was past1 ,mary ,magdalene1 and ,mary the mother of ,james1 and ,salome1 bought spices1 that they might come and anoint ,him4 ,and very early on the first day of the week1 they come to the tomb when the sun was risen4 ,and they were saying among themselves1 ,who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb8 and looking up1 they see that the stone is rolled back3 for it was exceeding great4 ,and entering into the tomb1 they saw a young man sitting on the right side1 arrayed in a white robe1 and they were amazed4 ,and he saith unto them1 ,be not amazed2 ye seek ,jesus1 the ,nazarene1 ,which hath been crucified3 ,he is risen2 ,he is not here3 behold1 the place where they laid ,him6 ,but go1 tell ,his disciples and ,peter1 ,he goeth before you into ,galilee3 there shall ye see ,him1 as ,he said unto you4 ,and they went out1 and fled from the tomb2 for trembling and astonishment had come upon them2 and they said nothing to any one2 for they were afraid4 ,now when ,he was risen early on the first day of the week1 ,he appeared first to ,mary ,magdalene1 from whom ,he had cast out seven devils4 ,she went and told them that had been with ,him1 as they mourned and wept4 ,and they1 when they heard that ,he was alive1 and had been seen of her1 disbelieved4 ,and after these things ,he was manifested in another form unto two of them1 as they walked1 on their way into the country4 ,and they went away and told it unto the rest3 neither believed they them4 ,and afterward ,he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat2 and ,he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart1 because they believed not them which had seen ,him after ,he was risen4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,go ye into all the world1 and preach the gospel to the whole creation4 ,he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved2 but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned4 ,and these signs shall follow them that believe3 in ,my name shall they cast out devils2 they shall speak with new tongues2 they shall take up serpents1 and if they drink any deadly thing1 it shall in no wise hurt them2 they shall lay hands on the sick1 and they shall recover40--,,mark xvi4 #a-ah 7,r4,v474 ,the ,gospels were not written for the curious but for the devout4 ,they are most silent therefore where myth and legend would be most garrulous1 and it is instructive to seek1 in the story of ,jesus1 for anything similar to the account of the ,buddha's enlightenment under the ,bo tree4 ,we read nothing of the interval in ,hades2 nothing of the entry of ,his crowned and immortal body into the presence chamber of ,god2 nothing of the resurrection4 ,did ,he awake alone8 ,was ,he waited upon by the hierarchy of heaven1 who robed ,him in raiment unknown to men8 ,we are only told what concerns mankind1 the sufficient manifestation of ,jesus to ,his disciples4 ,and to harmonise the accounts a certain effort is necessary1 because they tell of interviews with men and women who had to pass through all the vicissitudes of despair1 suspense1 rapturous incredulity17#af7 and faith4 ,each of them contributes a portion of the tale4 ,from ,st4 ,john we learn that ,mary ,magdalene came early to the sepulchre1 from ,st4 ,matthew that others were with her1 from ,st4 ,mark that these women1 dissatisfied with the unskilful ministrations of men 7and men whose rank knew nothing of such functions71 had brought sweet spices to anoint ,him ,who was about to claim their adoration2 ,st4 ,john tells how ,mary1 seeing the empty sepulchre1 ran to tell ,peter and ,john of its desecration2 the others1 that in her absence an angel told the glad tidings to the women2 ,st4 ,mark1 that ,mary was the first to whom ,jesus ,himself appeared4 ,and thenceforth the narrative more easily falls into its place4 ,this confusion1 however perplexing to thoughtless readers1 is inevitable in the independent histories of such events1 derived from the various parties who delighted to remember1 each what had befallen himself4 ,but even a genuine contradiction would avail nothing to refute the substantial fact4 ,when the generals of ,henry the ,fourth strove to tell him what passed after he was wounded at ,aumale1 no two of them agreed in the course of events which gave them victory4 ,two armies beheld the battle of ,waterloo1 but who can tell when it began8 ,at ten o'clock1 said the ,duke of ,wellington4 ,at half past eleven1 said ,general ,alava1 who rode beside him4 ,at twelve according to ,napoleon and ,drouet2 and at one according to ,ney4 ,people who doubt the reality of the resurrection1 because the harmony of the narratives is underneath the surface1 do not deny these facts4 ,they are part of history4 ,yet it is certain that the resurrection of ,jesus colours the history of the world more powerfully to-day1 than the events which are so much more recent4 ,if ,christ were not risen1 how came these despairing men and women by their new hope1 their energy1 their success among the very men who slew ,him8 ,if ,christ be not risen1 how has the morality of mankind been raised8 ,was it ever known that a falsehood exercised for ages a quickening and purifying power which no truth can rival8 ,from the ninth verse to the end of ,st4 ,mark's account it is curiously difficult to decide on the true reading4 ,and it must be said that the note in the ,revised ,version1 however accurate1 does not succeed in giving any notion of the strength of the case in favour of the remainder of the ,gospel4 ,it tells us that the two oldest manuscripts omit them1 but we do not read that in one of these a space is left for the insertion of something1 known by the scribe to be wanting there4 ,nor does it mention the twelve manuscripts of almost equal antiquity in which they are contained1 nor the early date at which they were quoted4 ,the evidence appears to lean towards the belief that they were added in a later edition1 or else torn off in an early copy from which some transcribers worked4 ,but unbelief cannot gain anything by converting them into a separate testimony1 of the very earliest antiquity1 to events related in each of the other ,gospels4 ,and the uncertainty itself will be wholesome if it reminds us that saving faith is not to be reposed in niceties of criticism1 but in a living ,christ1 the power and wisdom of ,god4 ,jesus blamed men for thinking that they had eternal life in their inspired ,scriptures1 and so refusing to come for life to ,him1 of ,whom those ,scriptures testified4 ,has sober criticism ever shaken for one hour that sacred function of ,holy ,writ8 ,what then is especially shown us in the closing words of ,st4 ,mark8 ,readiness to requite even a spark of grace1 and to bless with the first tidings of a risen ,redeemer the love which sought only to embalm ,his corpse4 ,tender care for the fallen and disheartened1 in the message sent especially to ,peter4 ,immeasurable condescension1 such as rested formerly1 a ,babe1 in a peasant woman's arms1 and announced its ,advent to shepherds1 now appearing first of all to a woman 8out of whom ,he had cast seven devils40 ,a state of mind among the disciples1 far indeed from that rapt and hysterical enthusiasm which men have fancied1 ready to be whirled away in a vortex of religious propagandism 7and to whirl the whole world after it71 upon the impulse of dreams1 hallucinations1 voices mistaken on a misty shore1 longings which begot convictions4 ,jesus ,himself1 and no second1 no messenger from ,jesus1 inspired the zeal which kindled mankind4 ,the disciples1 mourning and weeping1 found the glad tidings incredible1 while ,mary who had seen ,him1 believed4 ,when two1 as they walked1 beheld ,him in another shape1 the rest remained incredulous1 announcing indeed that ,he had actually risen and appeared unto ,peter1 yet so far from a true conviction that when ,he actually came to them1 they supposed that they beheld a spirit 7,luke xxiv4 #cd1 #cg74 ,yet ,he looked in the face those pale discouraged ,galileans1 and bade them go into all the world1 bearing to the whole creation the issues of eternal life and death4 ,and they went forth1 and the power and intellect of the world are won4 ,whatever unbelievers think about individual souls1 it is plain that the words of the ,nazarene have proved true for communities and nations1 ,he that believeth and is baptised has been saved1 ,he that believeth not has been condemned4 ,the nation and kingdom that has not served ,christ has perished4 ,nor does any one pretend that the agents in this marvellous movement were insincere4 ,if all this was a dream1 it was a strange one surely1 and demands to be explained4 ,if it was otherwise1 no doubt the finger of ,god has come unto us4 ,the ,ascension4 8,so then the ,lord ,jesus1 after ,he had spoken unto them1 was received up into heaven1 and sat down at the right hand of ,god4 ,and they went forth1 and preached everywhere1 the ,lord working with them1 and confirming the word by the signs that followed4 ,amen40--,,mark xvi4 #ai-bj 7,r4,v47 ,we have reached the close of the great ,gospel of the energies of ,jesus1 ,his toils1 ,his manner1 ,his searching gaze1 ,his noble indignation1 ,his love of children1 the consuming zeal by virtue of which ,he was not more truly the ,lamb of ,god than the ,lion of the tribe of ,judah4 ,st4 ,mark has just recorded how ,he bade ,his followers carry on ,his work1 defying the serpents of the world1 and renewing the plague-stricken race of ,adam4 ,in what strength did they fulfil this commission8 ,how did they fare without the ,master8 ,and what is ,st4 ,mark's view of the ,ascension8 ,here1 as all through the ,gospel1 minor points are neglected4 ,details are only valued when they carry some aid for the special design of the ,evangelist1 who presses to the core of his subject at once and boldly4 ,as he omitted the bribes with which ,satan tempted ,jesus1 and cared not for the testimony of the ,baptist when the voice of ,god was about to peal from heaven over the ,jordan1 as on the holy mount he told not the subject of which ,moses and ,elijah spoke1 but how ,jesus ,himself predicted ,his death to ,his disciples1 so now ,he is silent about the mountain slope1 the final benediction1 the cloud which withdrew ,him from their sight and the angels who sent back the dazed apostles to their homes and their duties4 ,it is not caprice nor haste that omits so much interesting information4 ,his mind is fixed on a few central thoughts2 what concerns him is to link the mighty story of the life and death of ,jesus with these great facts1 that ,he was received up into ,heaven1 that ,he there sat down upon the right hand of ,god1 and that ,his disciples were never forsaken of ,him at all1 but proved1 by the miraculous spread of the early ,church1 that ,his power was among them still4 ,st4 ,mark does not record the promise1 but he asserts the fact that ,christ was with them all the days4 ,there is indeed a connection between his two closing verses1 subtle and hard to render into ,english1 and yet real1 which suggests the notion of balance1 of relation between the two movements1 the ascent of ,jesus1 and the evangelisation of the world1 such as exists1 for example1 between detachments of an army co-operating for a common end1 so that our ,lord1 for ,his part1 ascended1 while the disciples1 for their part1 went forth and found ,him with them still4 ,but the link is plainer which binds the ,ascension to ,his previous story of suffering and conflict4 ,it was 8then10 and 8after ,he had spoken unto them10 that 8the ,lord ,jesus was received up40 ,in truth ,his ascension was but the carrying forward to completion of ,his resurrection1 which was not a return to the poor conditions of our mortal life1 but an entrance into glory1 only arrested in its progress until ,he should have quite convinced ,his followers that 8it is ,i indeed10 and made them understand that 8thus it is written that the ,christ should suffer1 and rise again from the dead the third day10 and filled them with holy shame for their unbelief1 and with courage for their future course1 so strange1 so weary1 so sublime4 ,there is something remarkable in the words1 8,he was received up into heaven40 ,we habitually speak of ,him as ascending1 but ,scripture more frequently declares that ,he was the subject of the action of another1 and was taken up4 ,st4 ,luke tells us that1 8while they worshipped1 ,he was carried up into heaven10 and again 8,he was received up4444 ,he was taken up0 7,luke xxiv4 #ea2 ,acts i4 #b1 #i74 ,physical interference is not implied3 no angels bore ,him aloft2 and the narratives make it clear that ,his glorious ,body1 obedient to its new mysterious nature1 arose unaided4 ,but the decision to depart1 and the choice of a time1 came not from ,him3 ,he did not go1 but was taken4 ,never hitherto had ,he glorified ,himself4 ,he had taught ,his disciples to be contented in the lowest room until the ,master of the house should bid them come up higher4 ,and so1 when ,his own supreme victory is won1 and heaven held its breath expectant and astonished1 the conquering ,lord was content to walk with peasants by the ,lake of ,galilee and on the slopes of ,olivet until the appointed time4 ,what a rebuke to us who chafe and fret if the recognition of our petty merits be postponed4 8,he was received up into heaven60 ,what sublime mysteries are covered by that simple phrase4 ,it was ,he who taught us to make1 even of the mammon of unrighteousness1 friends who shall welcome us1 when mammon fails and all things mortal have deserted us1 into everlasting habitations4 ,with what different greetings1 then1 do men enter the ,city of ,god4 ,some converts of the death bed perhaps there are1 who scarcely make their way to heaven1 alone1 unhailed by one whom they saved or comforted1 and like a vessel which struggles into port1 with rent cordage and tattered sails1 only not a wreck4 ,others1 who aided some few1 sparing a little of their means and energies1 are greeted and blessed by a scanty group4 ,but even our chieftains and leaders1 the martyrs1 sages and philanthropists whose names brighten the annals of the ,church1 what is their influence1 and how few have they reached1 compared with that great multitude whom none can number1 of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues1 who cry with a loud voice1 ,salvation unto our ,god who sitteth upon the throne1 and unto the ,lamb4 ,through ,him it pleased the ,father to reconcile all things unto ,himself1 through ,him1 whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens4 ,and surely the supreme hour in the history of the universe was when1 in flesh1 the sore stricken but now the all-conquering ,christ re-entered ,his native heaven4 ,and ,he sat down at the right hand of ,god4 ,the expression is1 beyond all controversy1 borrowed from that great ,psalm which begins by saying1 8,the ,lord said unto my ,lord1 ,sit thou at ,my right hand10 and which presently makes the announcement never revealed until then1 8,thou art a ,priest for ever after the order of ,melchizedec0 7,ps4 cx4 #a1 #d74 ,it is therefore an anticipation of the argument for the royal ,priesthood of ,jesus which is developed in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,now priesthood is a human function3 every high priest is chosen from among men4 ,and the ,ascension proclaims to us1 not the ,divinity of the ,eternal ,word but the glorification of 8the ,lord ,jesus20 not the omnipotence of ,god the ,son1 but that all power is committed unto ,him ,who is not ashamed to call us brethren1 that ,his human hands wield the sceptre as once they held the reed1 and the brows then insulted and torn with thorns are now crowned with many crowns4 ,in the overthrow of ,satan ,he won all1 and infinitely more than all1 of that vast bribe which ,satan once offered for ,his homage1 and the angels for ever worship ,him who would not for a moment bend ,his knee to evil4 ,now since ,he conquered not for ,himself but as ,captain of our ,salvation1 the ,ascension also proclaims the issue of all the holy suffering1 all the baffled efforts1 all the cross-bearing of all who follow ,christ4 ,his ,high ,priesthood is with authority4 8,every high priest standeth10 but ,he has for ever sat down on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens1 a ,priest sitting upon ,his throne 7,heb4 viii4 #a2 ,zech4 vi4 #ac74 ,and therefore it is ,his office1 ,who pleads for us and represents us1 ,himself to govern our destinies4 ,no wonder that ,his early followers1 with minds which ,he had opened to understand the ,scriptures1 were mighty to cast down strongholds4 ,against tribulation and anguish and persecution and famine and nakedness and peril and sword they were more than conquerors through ,him4 ,for ,he worked with them and confirmed ,his word with signs4 ,and we have seen that ,he works with ,his people still1 and still confirms ,his gospel1 only withdrawing signs of one order as those of another kind are multiplied4 ,wherever they wage a faithful battle1 ,he gives them victory4 ,whenever they cry to ,him in anguish1 the form of the ,son of ,god is with them in the furnace1 and the smell of fire does not pass upon them4 ,where they come1 the desert blossoms as a rose2 and where they are received1 the serpents of life no longer sting1 its fevers grow cool1 and the demons which rend it are cast out4 ,,footnotes #a ,cf4 the admirable note in ,archdeacon ,watkins' 8,commentary on ,john40 #b ,by the absence of the article in the ,greek4 #c ,the opposite is asserted by the fact that one demon may ally himself with seven others worse4 #d ,the connection would be almost certain if the word 8devil0 were alike in both4 ,but in all these narratives it is 8demon10 there being in ,scripture but one devil4 #e ,the exceptions in the ,revelation are only apparent4 ,st4 ,john does not call ,jesus the ,son of man 7i4 #ac71 nor see ,him1 but only the type of ,him1 standing 7v4 #f74 #f ,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 men1 but took the description in ,daniel for ,his own4 ,ezekiel himself indeed never employs the phrase3 he only records it4 #g ,lange4 ,life of ,christ1 li4 p4 #agi4 #h ,it is also very natural that1 in telling the story1 he should remember how1 while hesitating to enter1 he 8stooped down0 to gaze1 in the wild dawn of his new hope4 #i 8,theology would have been spared much trouble concerning this passage1 and anxious timid souls unspeakable anguish1 if men had adhered strictly to ,christ's own expression4 ,for it is not a sin against the ,holy ,ghost which is here spoken of1 but blasphemy against the ,holy ,ghost40--,lange 8,life of ,christ10 vol4 ii4 p4 #bfi4 #aj ,unless indeed the meaning be rather1 8ever hearing the word10 which is not its force in the ,new ,testament 7,matt4 xviii4 #ag1 twice74 #aa ,once besides in the ,new ,testament this phrase was applied to death4 ,that was by ,st4 ,peter speaking of his own1 when the thought of the transfiguration was floating in his mind1 and its voices lingered unconsciously in his memory 7#b ,pet4 i4 #ae1 cf4 ver4 #ag74 ,the phrase1 though not unclassical1 is not common4 #ab ,that the event was recent is implied in the present tense3 8he followeth not03 8forbid him not02 the matter is still fresh4 #ac 8,by the fire the children sit ,cold in that atmosphere of death40--,in ,memoriam1 xx4 #ad ,the ingenious and plausible attempt to show that ,his death was caused by a physical rupture of the heart has one fatal weakness4 ,death came too late for this2 the severest pressure was already relieved4 #ae ,i4e4 in the ,new ,testament1 where it occurs but once besides4 #af ,can anything surpass that masterstroke of insight and descriptive power1 8they still disbelieved for joy0 7,luke xxiv4 #da74