,libraries7 ,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,sir ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of ,the ,expositor1 etc4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,according ,,to ,,st4 ,,luke ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,henry ,,burton1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,publishers ,,london ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,page ,,the ,,genesis ,,of ,,the ,,gospel #a ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,mute ,,priest #ae ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,psalms #bi ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,virgin ,,mother #dg ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,adoration ,,of ,,the ,,shepherds #fg ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,voice ,,in ,,the ,,wilderness #hj ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,temptation #aje ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,the ,,jubilee #abh ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,a ,,sabbath ,,in ,,galilee #adh ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,calling ,,of ,,the ,,four #afb ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,concerning ,,prayer #agg ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,the ,,faith ,,of ,,the ,,centurion #aie ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,anointing ,,of ,,the ,,feet #bji ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,sower #bbe ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god #bda ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,healing #bee ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,miracle ,,of ,,the ,,loaves #bfi ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,transfiguration #bha ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,good ,,samaritan #bid ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,the ,,two ,,sisters #cjf ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,lost ,,and ,,found #cag ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,gospel #ccf ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,eschatology ,,of ,,the ,,gospel #ceb ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,watch ,,in ,,gethsemane #cfd ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,passion #cgg ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,first ,,lord',s ,,day #djj ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,genesis ,,of ,,the ,,gospel4 ,the four walls and the twelve gates of the ,seer looked in different directions1 but together they guarded1 and opened into1 one ,city of ,god4 ,so the four ,gospels look in different directions2 each has its own peculiar aspect and inscription2 but together they lead towards1 and unveil1 one ,christ1 which is1 and which was1 and which is to come1 the ,almighty4 ,they are the successive quarterings of the one ,light4 ,we call them four ,gospels1 though in reality they form but one1 just as the seven arches of colour weave one bow2 and that there should be four1 and not three or five1 was the purpose and design of the ,mind which is above all minds4 ,there are diversities of operations even in making ,testaments1 ,new or ,old2 but it is one ,spirit who is over all1 and in all2 and back of all diversity is a heavenly unity--a unity that is not broken1 but rather beautified1 by the variety of its component parts4 ,turning to the third ,gospel1 its opening sentences strike a key-note unlike the tone of the other three4 ,matthew1 the ,levite ,apostle1 schooled in the receipt of custom--where parleying and preambling were not allowed--goes to his subject with sharp abruptness1 beginning his story with a genesis1 the book of the generation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,mark1 too1 and ,john1 without staying for any prelude1 proceed at once to their portrayals of the ,divine ,life1 each starting with the same word beginning--though between the beginning of ,st4 ,mark and that of ,st4 ,john there is room for an eternity4 ,st4 ,luke1 on the other hand1 stays to give to his ,gospel a somewhat lengthy preface1 a kind of vestibule1 where we become acquainted with the presence and personality of the verger1 before passing within the temple proper4 ,it is true the ,evangelist does not here inscribe his name2 it is true that after inserting these lines of explanation1 he loses sight of himself completely1 with a sublime repressing of himself such as ,john did not know2 but that he here throws the shadow of himself upon the page of ,scripture1 calling the attention of all people and ages to the me also1 shows clearly that the personal element cannot be eliminated from the question of inspiration4 ,light is the same in its nature2 it moves only in straight lines2 it is governed by fixed laws2 but in its reflections it is infinitely varied1 turning to purple1 blue1 or gold1 according to the nature of the medium and reflecting substance4 ,and what1 indeed1 is beauty1 what the harmony of colours1 but the visible music as the same light plays upon the diverse keys8 ,exactly the same law rules in inspiration4 ,as the ,divine ,love needed an incarnation1 an enshrining in human flesh1 that the ,divine ,word might be vocal1 so the ,divine ,light needs its incarnation too4 ,indeed1 we can scarcely conceive of any revelation of the ,divine ,mind but as coming through a human mind4 ,it needs the human element to analyze and to throw it forward1 just as the electric spark needs the dull carbon-point to make it visible4 ,heaven and earth are here1 as elsewhere1 threads of the same loom1 and if we take out one1 even the earthly woof of the humanities1 we leave only a tangle2 and if it is true of works of art that to know them we must know the man who produced them1 it is equally important1 if we would know the ,scripture1 that we have some knowledge of the scribe4 ,and especially important is it here1 for there are few books of ,scripture on which the writer's own personality is more deeply impressed than on the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke4 ,the me also is only legible in the third verse1 but we may read it1 between the lines1 through the whole ,gospel4 ,concerning the life of ,st4 ,luke the facts are few4 ,it has been thought by some that he was one of the certain ,greeks who came to ,jerusalem to worship2 while others1 again1 suppose him to be the nameless one of the two ,emmaus travellers4 ,but both these suppositions are set aside by the fact that the ,evangelist carefully separates himself from those who were eye-witnesses1 which he could not well have done had he taken part in those closing scenes of the ,lord's life1 or had he been honoured with that infallible proof of the ,lord's resurrection4 ,that he was a ,gentile is evident2 his speech bewrayeth him2 for he speaks with a ,grecian accent1 while ,greek idioms are sprinkled over his pages4 ,indeed1 ,st4 ,paul speaks of him as not being of the circumcision 7,col4 iv4 #aa1 #ad71 and he himself1 in ,acts i4 #ai1 speaks of the dwellers at ,jerusalem1 and the ,aceldama of their proper tongue4 ,tradition1 with unanimous voice1 represents him as a native of ,antioch1 in ,syria4 ,responding to the ,divine ,voice that bids him write1 ,st4 ,luke brings to the task new and special qualifications4 ,familiar with the ,old ,testament ,scriptures--at least in their ,septuagint form1 as his many quotations show--intimately acquainted with the ,hebrew faith and ritual1 he yet brings to his work a mind unwarped by its traditions4 ,he knows nothing of that narrowness of spirit that ,hebraism unconsciously engendered1 with its insulation from the great outer world4 ,his mount of vision was not ,mount ,zion1 but a new ,pisgah1 lying outside the sacred borders1 and showing him all the kingdoms of the world1 as the ,divine thought of humanity took possession of him4 ,and not only so1 we must remember that his connection with ,christianity has been mainly through ,st4 ,paul1 who was the ,apostle of the uncircumcision4 ,for months1 if not for years1 he has been his close companion1 reading his innermost thoughts2 and so long and so close together have they been1 their two hearts have learned to beat in a perfect synchronism4 ,besides1 we must not forget that the ,gentile question--their status in the new kingdom1 and the conditions demanded of them--had been the burning question of the early ,church1 and that it was at this same ,antioch it had reached its height4 ,it was at ,antioch the ,apostle ,peter had dissembled1 so soon forgetting the lessons of the ,csarean ,pentecost1 holding himself aloof from the ,gentile converts until ,paul felt constrained to rebuke him publicly2 and it was to ,antioch came the decree of the ,jerusalem ,council1 that ,magna ,charta which recognized and enfranchised manhood1 giving the privileges of the new kingdom to ,gentiles1 without imposing upon them the ,judaic anachronism of circumcision4 ,we can therefore well understand the bent of ,st4 ,luke's mind and the drift of his sympathies2 and we may expect that his pen--though it is a reed shaken with the breath of a higher inspiration--will at the same time move in the direction of these sympathies4 ,and it is exactly this--its gentility1 if we may be allowed to give a new accent and a new meaning to an old word--that is a prominent feature of the third ,gospel4 ,not1 however1 that ,st4 ,luke decries ,judaism1 or that he denies the advantage the ,jews have2 he cannot do this without erasing ,scripture and silencing history2 but what he does is to lift up the ,son of man in front of their tabernacle of witness4 ,he does not level down ,judaism2 he levels up ,christianity1 letting humanity absorb nationality4 ,and so the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke is the ,gospel of the world1 greeting all nations1 and kindreds1 and peoples1 and tongues with its peace on earth4 ,st4 ,matthew traces the genealogy of ,christ back to ,abraham2 ,st4 ,luke goes farther back1 to the fountain-head1 where all the divergent streams meet and mingle1 as he traces the descent to ,adam1 the ,son of ,god4 ,matthew shows us the wise men1 lost in ,jerusalem1 and inquiring1 ,where is ,he that is born ,king of the ,jews8 ,but ,st4 ,luke gives1 instead1 the good tidings to all people2 and then he repeats the angel song1 which is the key-note of his ,gospel1 ,glory to ,god in the highest1 444 goodwill toward men4 ,it is ,st4 ,luke only who records the first discourse at ,nazareth1 showing how in ancient times1 even1 the mercy of ,god flowed out towards a ,gentile widow and a ,gentile leper4 ,st4 ,luke alone mentions the mission of the ,seventy1 whose very number was a prophecy of a world-wide ,gospel1 seventy being the recognized symbol of the ,gentile world1 as twelve stood for the ,hebrew people4 ,st4 ,luke alone gives us the parable of the ,good ,samaritan1 showing that all the virtues did not reside in ,israel1 but that there was more of humanity1 and so more of ,divinity1 in the compassionate ,samaritan than in their priest and ,levite4 ,st4 ,luke alone records the call of ,zacchus1 the ,gentile publican1 telling how ,jesus cancelled their laws of heredity1 passing him up among the sons of ,abraham4 ,st4 ,luke alone gives us the twin parables of the lost coin and the lost man1 showing how ,jesus had come to seek and to save that which was lost1 which was humanity1 here1 and there1 and everywhere4 ,and so there breathes all through this ,gospel a catholic spirit1 more pronounced than in the rest1 a spirit whose rhythm and deep meaning have been caught in the lines-- ,there's a wideness in ,god's mercy1 ,like the wideness of the sea4 ,the only other fact of the ,evangelist's life we will here notice is that of his profession2 and we notice this simply because it enters as a factor into his work1 reappearing there frequently4 ,he was a physician2 and from this fact some have supposed that he was a freedman1 since many of the ,roman physicians were of that class4 ,but this by no means follows4 ,all physicians were not freedmen2 while the language and style of ,st4 ,luke show him to be an educated man1 one1 too1 who walked in the upper classes of society4 ,where he speaks natively1 as here in the introduction1 he uses a pure ,greek1 somewhat rounded and ornate1 in which there is a total absence of those rusticisms common in ,st4 ,mark4 ,that he followed his calling at ,troas1 where he first joined ,st4 ,paul1 is probable2 but that he practised it on board one of the large corn-ships of the ,mediterranean is a pure conjecture1 for which even his nautical language affords no presumption2 for one cannot be at sea for a few weeks--especially with an observant eye and attentive ear1 as ,st4 ,luke's were--without falling naturally into nautical language4 ,one's speech soon tastes of salt4 ,the calling of a physician naturally develops certain powers of analysis and synthesis4 ,it is the art of putting things together4 ,from the seen or felt symptoms he traces out the unseen cause4 ,setting down the known quantities1 by processes of comparison or of elimination he finds the unknown quantity1 which is the disease1 its nature and its seat4 ,and so on the pages of the third ,gospel we frequently find the shadow of the physician4 ,it appears even in his brief preface2 for as he sits down with ample materials before him--on one side the first-hand testimony of eye-witnesses1 and on the other the many and somewhat garbled narratives of anonymous scribes--we see the physician-,evangelist exercising a judicious selection1 and thus compounding or distilling his pure elixir4 ,then1 too1 a skilled and educated physician would find easy access into the higher circles of society1 his very calling furnishing him with letters of introduction4 ,and so1 indeed1 we find it4 ,our physician dedicates his ,gospel1 and also the ,acts1 to1 not the most excellent1 but the most noble ,theophilus1 giving to him the same title that he afterwards gave to ,felix and to ,festus4 ,perhaps its ,english equivalent would be the honourable4 ,at any rate it shows that this ,theophilus was no mere myth1 a locution for any friend of ,god1 but that he was a person of rank and influence1 possibly a ,roman governor4 ,then1 too1 ,st4 ,luke's mention of certain names omitted by the other ,evangelists1 such as ,chuza and ,manaen1 would suggest that probably he had some personal acquaintance with the members of ,herod's household4 ,be this as it may1 we recognize the physician in ,st4 ,luke's habits of observation1 his attention to detail1 his fondness for grouping together resemblances and contrasts1 his fuller reference to miracles of healing1 and his psychological observations4 ,we find in him a student of the humanities4 ,even in his portrayal of the ,christ it is the human side of the ,divine nature that he emphasizes2 while all through his ,gospel1 his thought of humanity1 like a wide-reaching sky1 overlooks and embraces all such earthly distinctions as position1 sex1 or race4 ,with a somewhat high-sounding word ,forasmuch1 which here makes its solitary appearance in the pages of ,scripture--a word1 too1 which1 like its ,english equivalent1 is a treble compound--the ,evangelist calls our attention to his work1 and states his reasons for undertaking it4 ,it is impossible for us to fix either the date or the place where this ,gospel was written1 but probably it was some time between ,a4,d4 #eh-fj4 ,now1 what was the position of the ,church at that date1 thirty-five years after the ,crucifixion8 ,the fiery tongues of ,pentecost had flashed far and wide1 and from their heliogram even distant nations had read the message of peace and love4 ,philip had witnessed the wonderful revival in the 7a7 city of ,samaria4 ,antioch1 ,csarea1 ,damascus1 ,lystra1 ,philippi1 ,athens1 ,rome--these names indicate1 but do not attempt to measure1 the wide and ever-widening circle of light4 ,in nearly every town of any size there is the nucleus of a ,church2 while ,apostles1 ,evangelists1 and ,christian merchants are proclaiming the new kingdom and the new laws everywhere4 ,and since the visits of the ,apostles would be necessarily brief1 it would only be a natural and general wish that some permanent record should be made of their narratives and teaching4 ,in other places1 which lay beyond the line of ,apostles' travel1 the story would reach them1 passed from mouth to mouth1 with all the additions of rumour1 and exaggerations of ,eastern loquacity4 ,it is to these ephemeral ,gospels the ,evangelist now refers2 and distinguishing1 as he does1 the many from the eye-witnesses and ministers of the word1 he shows that he does not refer to the ,gospels of ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark--which probably he has not seen--for one was an ,apostle1 and both were eye-witnesses4 ,there is no censure implied in these words1 nor does the expression taken in hand in itself imply failure2 but evidently1 to ,st4 ,luke's mind1 these manifold narratives were incomplete and unsatisfactory4 ,they contain some of the truth1 but not all that the world should know4 ,some are put together by unskilled hands1 and some have more or less of fable blended with them4 ,they need sifting1 winnowing1 that the chaff may be blown away1 and the seed tares separated from the wheat4 ,such is the physician's reason for now assuming the rle of an ,evangelist4 ,the forasmuch1 before being entered on the pages of his ,scriptures1 had struck upon the ,evangelist's soul1 setting it vibrating like a bell1 and moving mind and hand alike in sympathy4 ,and so we see how1 in ways simple and purely natural1 ,scripture grows4 ,st4 ,luke was not conscious of any special influence resting upon him4 ,he did not pose as an oracle or as the mouthpiece of an oracle1 though he was all that1 and vastly more4 ,he does not even know that he is doing any great work2 and who ever does8 ,a generous1 unselfish thought takes possession of him4 ,he will sacrifice leisure and ease1 that he may throw forward to others the light that has fallen upon his own heart and life4 ,he will be a truth-seeker1 and a light-bearer for others4 ,here1 then1 we see how a human mind falls into gear with the ,divine mind1 and human thought gets into the rhythm and swing of the higher thought4 ,simply natural1 purely human are all his processes of reasoning1 comparing1 and planning1 and the whole ,gospel is but the perfect bloom of this seed-thought4 ,but whence came this thought8 ,that is the question4 ,did it not grow out of these manifold narratives8 and did not the narratives themselves grow out of the wonderful ,life1 the ,life which was itself but a ,divine ,thought and ,word incarnate8 ,and so we cannot separate heaven from earth1 we cannot eliminate the ,divine from even our little lives2 and though ,st4 ,luke did not recognize it as such--he was an ordinary man1 doing an ordinary thing--yet we1 standing a few centuries back1 and seeing how the ,church has hidden in her ark the omer of manna that he gathered1 to be carried on and down till time itself shall be no more1 we see another ,apocalyptic vision1 and we hear a ,voice ,divine that commands him write4 ,when ,st4 ,luke wrote1 ,it seemed good to me also1 he doubtless wrote the pronoun small2 for it was the me of his obscure1 retiring self2 but high above the human thought we see the ,divine purpose1 and as we watch1 the smaller me grows into the ,,me1 which is a shadow of the great ,i ,,am4 ,and so while the many treatises1 those which were purely human1 have passed out of sight1 buried deep in their unknown sepulchres1 this ,gospel has survived and become immortal--immortal because ,god was behind it1 and ,god was in it4 ,so in the mind of ,st4 ,luke the thought ripens into a purpose4 ,since others have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us1 he himself will do the same2 for has he not a special fitness for the task1 and peculiar advantages8 ,he has long been intimately associated with those who from the very first were eye-witnesses and ministers of the ,word1 the chosen companion of one ,apostle1 and doubtless1 owing to his visit to ,jerusalem and to his prolonged residence at ,csarea1 personally acquainted with the rest4 ,his shall not be a ,gospel of surmise or of rumour2 it shall only contain the record of facts--facts which he himself has investigated1 and for the truth of which he gives his guarantee4 ,the clause having traced the course of all things accurately from the first--which is a more exact rendering than that of the ,authorized ,version1 having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first--shows us the keen1 searching eye of the physician4 ,he looks into things4 ,he distinguishes between the ,to seem and the ,to be1 the actual and the apparent4 ,he takes nothing for granted1 but proves all things4 ,he investigates his facts before he endorses them1 sounding them1 as it were1 and reading not only their outer voice1 which may be assumed1 and so untrue1 but with his stethoscope of patient research listening for the unconscious voices that speak within1 and so finding out the reality4 ,he himself is committed to nothing4 ,he is not anxious to make up a story4 ,himself a searcher after truth1 his one concern is to know1 and then to tell1 the truth1 naturally1 simply1 with no fictitious adornment or dressing up of his own4 ,and having submitted the facts of the ,divine ,life to a close scrutiny1 and satisfied himself of their absolute truth1 and having thrown aside the many guesses and fables which somehow have woven themselves around the wonderful ,name1 he will write down1 in historical order as far as may be1 the story1 so that his friend ,theophilus may know the certainty of the things in which he has been instructed1 or orally catechized1 as the word would mean4 ,where1 then1 it may be asked1 is there room for inspiration8 ,if the genesis of the ,gospel is so purely human1 where is there room for the touch of the ,divine8 ,why should the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke be canonized1 incorporated into ,holy ,scripture1 while the writings of others are thrown back into an ,apocrypha1 or still farther back into oblivion8 ,the very questions will suggest an answer4 ,that touch of the ,divine which we call inspiration is not always an equal touch4 ,now it is a pressure from above that is overwhelming4 ,the writer is carried out of himself1 borne up into regions where ,sight and ,reason in their loftiest flights cannot come1 as the prophet foretells events no human mind could foresee1 much less describe4 ,in the case of ,st4 ,luke there was no need for this abnormal pressure1 or for these prophetic ecstasies4 ,he was to record1 for the most part1 facts of recent occurrence1 facts that had been witnessed1 and could now be attested1 by persons still living2 and a fact is a fact1 whether it is inspired or no4 ,inspiration may record a fact1 while others are omitted1 showing that this fact has a certain value above others2 but if it is true1 inspiration itself cannot make it more true4 ,nevertheless1 there is the touch of the ,divine even here4 ,what is the meaning of this new departure8 for it is a new and a wide departure4 ,why does not ,thomas write a ,gospel8 or ,philip1 or ,paul8 ,why should the ,evangelist-mantle be carried outside the bounds of the sacred land1 to be thrown around a ,gentile1 who cannot speak the sacred tongue except with a foreign ,shibboleth8 ,ah1 we see here the movings of the ,holy ,ghost6 selecting the separate agents for the separate tasks1 and dividing to every man severally as ,he will4 ,and not only does the ,holy ,spirit summon him to the work1 ,he qualifies him for it1 furnishing him with materials1 and guiding his mind as to what shall be omitted and what retained4 ,it is the same ,spirit1 who moved holy men of old to speak and write the things of ,god1 who now touches the mind and heart of the four ,evangelists1 enabling them to give the four versions of the one ,story1 in different language1 and with sundry differences of detail1 but with no contradiction of thought1 each being1 in a sense1 the complement of the rest1 the four quarters making one rounded and perfect whole4 ,perhaps at first sight our subject may not seem to have any reference to our smaller lives2 for who of us can be ,evangelists or ,apostles1 in the highest meaning of the words8 ,and yet it has1 if we look into it1 a very practical bearing upon our lives1 even the commonplace1 every-day life4 ,whence come our gifts8 ,who makes these gifts to differ8 ,who gives us the differing taste and nature8 for we are not consulted as to our nature any more than as to our nativities4 ,the fact is1 our human is touched by the ,divine at every point4 ,what are the chequered scenes of our lives but the black or the white squares to which the ,unseen ,hand moves us at will8 ,earth's problem is but ,heaven's purpose4 ,and are not we1 too1 writing scriptures8 putting ,god's thoughts into words and deeds1 so that men may read them and know them8 ,verily we are2 and our writing is for eternity4 ,in the volume of our book are no omissions or erasures4 ,listen1 then1 to the heavenly call4 ,be obedient to your heavenly vision4 ,leave mind and heart open to the play of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,keep self out of sight4 ,delight in ,god's will1 and do it4 ,so will you make your lowlier life another ,testament1 written ever with ,gospels and ,epistles1 and closing at last with an ,apocalypse4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,mute ,,priest4 ,,luke i4 #e-be1 #eg-hj4 ,after his personal prelude1 our ,evangelist goes on to give in detail the pre-,advent revelations1 so connecting the thread of his narrative with the broken-off thread of the ,old ,testament4 ,his language1 however1 suddenly changes its character and accent2 and its frequent ,hebraisms show plainly that he is no longer giving his own words1 but that he is simply recording the narratives as they were told him1 possibly by some member of the ,holy ,family4 ,there was in the days of ,herod1 king of ,juda4 ,even the surface-reader of ,scripture will observe how little is made in its pages of the time-element4 ,there is a purposed vagueness in its chronology1 which scarcely accords with our ,western ideas of accuracy and precision4 ,we observe times and seasons4 ,we strike off the years with the clang of bells or the hush of solemn services4 ,each day with us is lifted up into prominence1 having a personality and history all its own1 and as we write its history1 we keep it clear of all its to-morrows and its yesterdays4 ,and so the day grows naturally into a date1 and dates combine into chronologies1 where everything is sharp1 exact4 ,not so1 however1 was it1 or indeed is it1 in the ,eastern world4 ,time there1 if we may speak temporally1 was of little moment4 ,to that slow-moving and slow-thinking world one day was a trifle1 something atomic2 it took a number of them to make an appreciable quantity4 ,and so they divided their time1 in ordinary speech1 not minutely as we do1 due into larger periods1 measuring its distances by the shadows of their striking events4 ,why is it that we have four ,gospels1 and in fact a whole ,new ,testament1 without a date8 for it cannot possibly be a chance omission4 ,is the time-element so subdued and set back1 lest the things temporal should lead off our minds from the things spiritual and eternal8 ,for what is time1 after all1 but a negative quantity8 an empty space1 in itself all silent and dead1 until our thoughts and deeds strike against it and make it vocal8 ,nay1 even in the heavenly life we see the same losing of the time-element1 for we read1 ,there should be time no longer4 ,not that it will then disappear1 swallowed up in that infinite duration we call eternity4 ,that would make heaven a confusion2 for to finite minds eternity itself must come in measured beats1 striking1 like the waves along the shore1 in rhythmic intervals4 ,but our time will be no longer4 ,it must needs be transfigured1 ceasing to be earthly1 that it may become heavenly in its measurement and in its speech4 ,and so in the ,bible1 which is a ,divine-human book1 written for the ages1 ,god has purposely veiled the times1 at any rate the days of earthly reckoning4 ,even the day of our ,lord's birth1 and the day of ,his death1 our chronologies cannot determine3 we measure1 we guess1 but it is randomly1 like the blinded men of ,sodom1 who wearied themselves to find the door4 ,in ,heaven's reckoning deeds are more than days4 ,time-beats by themselves are only broken silences1 but put a soul among them1 and you make songs1 anthems1 and all kinds of music4 ,in those days may be a common ,hebraism1 but may it not be something more8 may it not be an idiom of celestial speech1 the heavenly way of referring to earthly things8 ,at any rate we know this1 that while ,heaven is careful to give us the purpose1 the promise1 and the fulfilment1 the ,divine ,spirit does not care to give us the exact moment when the promise became a realization4 ,and that it is so shows that it is best it should be so4 ,silence sometimes may be better than speech4 ,but in saying all this we do not say that ,heaven is unobservant of earthly times and seasons4 ,they are a part of the ,divine order1 stamped on all lives1 on all worlds4 ,our days and nights keep their alternate step2 our seasons observe their processional order1 singing in antiphonal responses2 while our world1 geared in with other worlds1 strikes off our earthly years and days with an absolute precision4 ,so1 now1 the time of the ,advent has been ,divinely chosen1 for whole millenniums unalterably fixed2 nor have the cries of ,israel's impatient hopes been allowed to hurry forward the ,divine purpose1 so making it premature4 ,but why should the ,advent be so long delayed8 ,in our off-handed way of thinking we might have supposed the ,redeemer would have come directly after the ,fall2 and as far as ,heaven was concerned1 there was no reason why the ,incarnation and the ,redemption should not be effected immediately4 ,the ,divine ,son was even then prepared to lay aside ,his glories1 and to become incarnate4 ,he might have been born of the ,virgin of ,eden1 as well as of the ,virgin of ,galilee2 and even then ,he might have offered unto ,god that perfect obedience by which the many are made righteous4 ,why1 then1 this strange delay1 as the months lengthen into years1 and the years into centuries8 ,the ,patriarchs come and go1 and only see the promise afar off4 ,then come centuries of oppression1 as ,canaan is completely eclipsed by the dark shadow of ,egypt2 then the ,exodus1 the wanderings1 the conquest4 ,the ,judges administer a rough-handed justice2 ,kings play with their little crowns2 ,prophets rebuke and prophesy1 telling of the ,wonderful who shall be2 but still the ,messiah delays ,his coming4 ,why this strange postponement of the world's hopes1 as if prophecy dealt in illusions only8 ,we find the answer in ,st4 ,paul's ,epistle to the ,galatians 7chap4 iv4 #d74 ,the fulness of the time was not yet come4 ,the time was maturing1 but was not yet ripe4 ,heaven was long ago prepared for an ,incarnation1 but ,earth was not2 and had the ,advent occurred at an earlier stage of the world's history1 it would have been an anachronism the age would have misunderstood4 ,there must be a leading up to ,god's gifts1 or ,his blessings cease to be blessings4 ,the world must be prepared for the ,christ1 or virtually ,he is no ,christ1 no ,saviour to them4 ,the ,christ must come into the world's mind as a familiar thought1 ,he must come into the world's heart as a deep-felt need1 before ,he can come as the ,word ,incarnate4 ,and when is this fulness of the time8 ,in the days of ,herod1 king of ,juda4 ,such is the phrase that now strikes the ,divine hour1 and leads in the dawn of a new dispensation4 ,and what dark days were those to the ,hebrew people1 when on the throne of their ,david sat that ,idumean shadow of the dread ,csar6 ,their land swarms with ,gentile hordes1 and on the soil devoted to ,jehovah rise stately1 splendid temples1 dedicated to strange gods4 ,it is one irruption of ,paganism1 as if the ,roman ,pantheon had emptied itself upon the ,holy ,land4 ,nay1 it seemed as if the ,hebrew faith itself would become extinct1 strangled by heathen fables1 or at any rate that she would survive1 only the ghost of her other self1 walking like an apparition1 with veiled face and sealed lips1 amid the scenes of her former glories4 ,the days of ,herod were the ,hebrew midnight1 but they give us the ,bright and ,morning ,star4 ,and so upon this dial-plate of ,scripture the great ,herod1 with all his royalties1 is nothing more than the dark1 empty shadow which marks a ,divine hour1 the fulness of the time4 ,israel's corporate life began with four centuries of silence and oppression1 when ,egypt gave them the doubled task1 and ,heaven grew strangely still1 giving them neither voice nor vision4 ,is it but one of the chance repetitions of history that ,israel's national life should end1 too1 with four hundred years of silence8 for such is the coincidence1 if1 indeed1 we may not call it something more4 ,it is1 however1 just such a coincidence as the ,hebrew mind1 quick to trace resemblances and to discern signs1 would grasp firmly and eagerly4 ,it would revive their long-deferred and dying hopes1 overlaying the near future with its gold4 ,possibly it was this very coincidence that now transformed their hope into expectation1 and set their hearts listening for the advent of the ,messiah4 ,did not ,moses come when the task was doubled8 ,and was not the four hundred years' silence broken by the thunders of the ,exodus1 as the ,i ,,am1 once again asserting ,himself1 sent redemption to ,his people8 ,and so1 counting back their silent years since ,heaven's last voice came to them through their prophet ,malachi1 they caught in its very silences a sound of hope1 the footfall of the forerunner1 and the voice of the coming ,lord4 ,but where1 and how1 shall the long silence be broken8 ,we must go for our answer--and here1 again1 we see a correspondence between the new ,exodus and the old--to the tribe of ,levi1 and to the house of ,amram and ,jochebed4 ,residing in one of the priestly cities of the hill-country of ,juda--though not in ,hebron1 as is commonly supposed1 for it is most unlikely that a name so familiar and sacred in the ,old ,testament would here be omitted in the ,new--was a certain priest named ,zacharias4 ,himself a descendant of ,aaron1 his wife1 too1 was of the same lineage2 and besides being of the daughters of ,aaron1 she bore the name of their ancestral mother1 ,elisabeth4 ,like ,abraham and ,sarah1 they were both well advanced in years1 and childless4 ,but if they were not allowed to have any lien upon posterity1 throwing themselves forward into future generations1 they made up the lack of earthly relationships by cultivating the heavenly4 ,forbidden1 as they thought1 to look forward down the lines of earthly hopes1 they could and did look heavenward2 for we read that they were both righteous--a word implying a ,mosaic perfection--walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the ,lord blameless4 ,we may not be able1 perhaps1 to give the precise distinction between commandments and ordinances1 for they were sometimes used interchangeably2 but if1 as the general use of the words allows us1 we refer the commandments to the moral1 and the ordinances to the ceremonial law1 we see how wide is the ground they cover1 embracing1 as they do1 the 7then7 whole duty of man4 ,rarely1 if ever1 do the ,scriptures speak in such eulogistic terms2 and that they should here be applied to ,zacharias and ,elisabeth shows that they were advanced in saintliness1 as well as in years4 ,possibly ,st4 ,luke had another object in view in giving us the portraits of these two pre-,advent ,christians1 completing in the next chapter the quarternion1 by his mention of ,simeon and ,anna4 ,it is somewhat strange1 to say the least1 that the ,gentile ,evangelist should be the one to give us this remarkable group--the four aged ,templars1 who1 when it was yet dark1 rose to chant their matins and to anticipate the dawn4 ,whether the ,evangelist intended it or not1 his narrative salutes the ,old1 while it heralds the ,new dispensation1 paying to that ,old a high though unconscious tribute4 ,it shows us that ,hebraism was not yet dead2 for if on its central stem1 within the limited area of its ,temple courts1 such a cluster of beautiful lives could be found1 who will tell the harvest of its outlying branches8 ,judaism was not altogether a piece of mechanism1 elaborate and exact1 with a soulless1 metallic click of rites and ceremonies4 ,it was an organism1 living and sentient4 ,it had nerves and blood4 ,possessed of a heart itself1 it touched the hearts of its children4 ,it gave them aspirations and inspirations without number2 and even its shadows were the interpreters1 as they were the creations1 of the heavenly light4 ,and if now it is doomed to pass away1 outdated and superseded1 it is not because it is bad1 worthless2 for it was a ,divine conception1 the good thing1 preparing for and proclaiming ,god's better thing4 ,judaism was the glorious angel1 keeping the gates of light2 and now1 behold1 she swings back the gates1 welcomes the ,morning1 and herself then disappears4 ,it is the autumn service for the course of ,abia--which is the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priesthood was divided--and ,zacharias proceeds to ,jerusalem1 to perform whatever part of the service the lot may assign to him4 ,it is probably the evening of the ,sabbath--the presence of the multitude would almost imply that--and this evening the lot gives to ,zacharias the coveted distinction--which could only come once in a lifetime--of burning incense in the ,holy ,place4 ,at a given signal1 between the slaying and the offering of the lamb1 ,zacharias1 barefooted and robed in white1 passes up the steps1 accompanied by two assistants1 one bearing a golden censer containing half a pound of the sweet-smelling incense1 the other bearing a golden vessel of burning coals taken from the altar4 ,slowly and reverently they pass within the ,holy ,place1 which none but ,levites are permitted to enter2 and having arranged the incense1 and spread the live coals upon the altar1 the assistants retire1 leaving ,zacharias alone--alone in the dim light of the seven-branched candlestick1 alone beside that veil he may not uplift1 and which hides from his sight the ,holy of ,holies1 where ,god dwells in the thick darkness4 ,such is the place1 and such the supreme moment1 when ,heaven breaks the silence of four hundred years4 ,it is no concern of ours to explain the phenomenon that followed1 or to tone down its supernatural elements4 ,given an ,incarnation1 and then the supernatural becomes not only probable1 but necessary4 ,indeed1 we could not well conceive of any new revelation without it2 and instead of its being a weakness1 a blemish on the page of ,scripture1 it is rather a proof of its heavenliness1 a hall-mark that stamps its ,divinity4 ,nor is there any need1 believing as we do in the existence of intelligences other and higher than ourselves1 that we apologize for the appearance of angels1 here and elsewhere1 in the story2 such deference to ,sadducean doubts is not required4 ,suddenly1 as ,zacharias stands with uplifted hands1 joining in the prayers offered by the silent multitude without1 an angel appears4 ,he stands on the right side of the altar of incense1 half-veiled by the fragrant smoke1 which curling upwards1 filled the place4 ,no wonder that the lone priest is filled with fear1 and that he is troubled--a word implying an outward tremor1 as if the very body shook with the unwonted agitation of the soul4 ,the angel does not at first announce his name1 but seeks rather to calm the heart of the priest1 stilling its tumult with a ,fear not1 as ,jesus stilled the waters with ,his ,peace4 ,then he makes known his message1 speaking in language most homely and most human3 ,thy prayer is heard4 ,perhaps a more exact rendering would be1 ,thy request was granted1 for the substantive implies a specific prayer1 while the verb indicates a hearing that becomes an assenting4 ,what the prayer was we may gather from the angel's words2 for the whole message1 both in its promise and its prophecy1 is but an amplification of its first clause4 ,to the ,jew1 childlessness was the worst of all bereavements4 ,it implied1 at least they thought so1 the ,divine displeasure2 while it effectually cut them off from any personal share in those cherished ,messianic hopes4 ,to the ,hebrew heart the message1 ,unto you a son is born1 was the music of a lower ,gospel4 ,it marked an epoch in their life-history2 it brought the fulfilment of their desires1 and a wealth of added dignities4 ,and ,zacharias had prayed1 earnestly and long1 that a son might be born to them2 but the bright hope1 with the years1 had grown distant and dim1 until at last it had dropped down beyond the horizon of their thoughts1 and become an impossibility4 ,but those prayers were heard1 yea1 and granted1 too1 in the ,divine purpose2 and if the answer has been delayed1 it was that it might come freighted with a larger blessing4 ,but in saying that this was the specific prayer of ,zacharias we do not wish to disparage his motives1 confining his thoughts and aspirations within a circle so narrow and selfish4 ,this lesser hope of offspring1 like a satellite1 revolved around the larger hope of a ,messiah1 and indeed grew out of it4 ,it drew all its brightness and all its beauty from that larger hope1 the hope that lighted up the dark ,hebrew sky with the auroras of a new and fadeless dawn4 ,when mariners take the sun1 as they call it1 reading from its disc their longitudes1 they bring it down to their horizon-level4 ,they get the higher in the lower vision1 and the real direction of their looks is not the apparent direction4 ,and if ,zacharias' thoughts and prayers seem to have an earthward drift1 his soul looks higher than his speech2 and if he looks along the horizon-level of earthly hopes1 it is that he may read the heavenly promise4 ,it is not a son that he is looking for1 but the ,son1 the ,seed in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed4 ,and so1 when the silent tongue regains its powers of speech1 it gives its first and highest doxologies for that other ,child1 who is ,himself the promised redemption and a horn of salvation2 his own child he sets back1 far back in the shadow 7or rather the light7 of ,him whom he calls the ,lord4 ,it is the near realization of both these hopes that the angel now announces4 ,a son shall be born to them1 even in their advanced years1 and they shall call his name ,john1 which means ,the ,lord is gracious4 ,many will rejoice with them at his birth1 for that birth will be the awakening of new hopes1 the first hour of a new day4 ,great in the sight of the ,lord1 he must be a ,nazarite1 abstaining wholly from wine and strong drink--the two ,greek words including all intoxicants1 however made4 ,filled with the ,holy ,ghost from his mother's womb--that original bias or propensity to evil1 if not obliterated1 yet more than neutralized--he shall be the ,elijah 7in spirit and in power7 of ,malachi's prophecy1 turning many of ,israel's children to the ,lord their ,god4 ,going before ,him--and the antecedent of ,him must be the ,lord their ,god of the preceding verse1 so early is the purple of ,divinity thrown around the ,christ--he shall turn the hearts of fathers to their children1 restoring peace and order to domestic life1 and the disobedient he shall incline to walk in the wisdom of the just 7,r4,v471 bringing back the feet that have erred and slipped to the paths of uprightness1 which are the ways of wisdom4 ,in short1 he shall be the herald1 making ready a people prepared for the ,lord1 running before the royal chariot1 proclaiming the coming ,one1 and preparing ,his way1 then leaving his own little footprints to disappear1 thrown up in the chariot-dust of ,him who was greater and mightier than he4 ,we can easily understand1 even if we may not apologize for1 the incredulity of ,zacharias4 ,there are crises in our life when1 under profound emotion1 ,reason herself seems bewildered1 and ,faith loses her steadiness of vision4 ,the storm of feeling throws the reflective powers into confusion1 and thought becomes blurred and indistinct1 and speech incoherent and wild4 ,and such a crisis was it now1 but intensified to the mind of ,zacharias by all these additions of the supernatural4 ,the vision1 with its accessories of place and time1 the message1 so startling1 even though so welcome1 must necessarily produce a strange pertubation of soul2 and what surprise need there be that when the priest does speak it is in the lisping accents of unbelief8 ,could it well have been otherwise8 ,peter wist not that it was true which was done by the angel1 but thought he saw a vision2 and though ,zacharias has none of these doubts of unreality--it is to him no dream of the moment's ecstasy--still he is not yet aware of the rank and dignity of his angel-visitant1 while he is perplexed at the message1 which so directly contravenes both reason and experience4 ,he does not doubt the ,divine power1 let it be observed1 but he does seek for a sign that the angel speaks with ,divine authority4 ,whereby shall ,i know this8 he asks1 reminding us by his question of ,jacob's ,tell me thy name4 ,the angel replies1 in substance1 ,you ask whereby you may know this2 that is1 you wish to know by whose authority ,i declare this message to you4 ,well1 ,i am ,gabriel1 that stand in the presence of ,god2 and ,i was sent to speak unto you1 and to bring you these good tidings4 ,and since you ask for a sign1 an endorsement of my message1 you shall have one4 ,i put the seal of silence upon your lips1 and you shall not be able to speak until the day when these things shall come to pass1 because you believed not my words4 ,then the vision ends2 ,gabriel returns to the songs and anthems of the skies1 leaving ,zacharias to carry1 in awful stillness of soul1 this new secret of the ,lord4 ,this infliction of dumbness upon ,zacharias has generally been regarded as a rebuke and punishment for his unbelief2 but if we refer to the parallel cases of ,abraham and of ,gideon1 such is not ,heaven's wonted answer to the request for a sign4 ,we must understand it rather as the proof ,zacharias sought1 something at once supernatural and significant1 that should help his stumbling faith4 ,such a sign1 and a most effective one1 it was4 ,unlike ,gideon's dew1 that would soon evaporate1 leaving nothing but a memory1 this was ever present1 ever felt1 at least until faith was exchanged for sight4 ,nor was it dumbness simply1 for the word 7ver4 #bb7 rendered speechless implies inability to hear as well as inability to speak2 and this1 coupled with the fact mentioned in ver4 #fb1 that they made signs to him--which they would scarcely have done could he have heard their voices--compels us to suppose that ,zacharias had suddenly become deaf as well as dumb4 ,heaven put the seal of silence upon his lips and ears1 that so its own voice might be more clear and loud2 and so the profound silences of ,zacharias' soul were but the blank spaces on which ,heaven s sweet music was written4 ,how long the interview with the angel lasted we cannot tell4 ,it must1 however1 have been brief2 for at a given signal1 the stroke of the ,magrephah1 the attendant priest would re-enter the ,holy ,place1 to light the two lamps that had been left unlighted4 ,and here we must look for the tarrying that so perplexed the multitude1 who were waiting outside1 in silence1 for the benediction of the incensing priest4 ,re-entering the ,holy ,place1 the attendant finds ,zacharias smitten as by a sudden paralysis--speechless1 deaf1 and overcome by emotion4 ,what wonder that the strange excitement makes them oblivious of time1 and1 for the moment1 all-forgetful of their ,temple duties6 ,the priests are in their places1 grouped together on the steps leading up to the ,holy ,place2 the sacrificing priest has ascended the great brazen altar2 ready to cast the pieces of the slain lamb upon the sacred fire2 the ,levites stand ready with their trumpets and their psalms--all waiting for the priests who linger so long in the ,holy ,place4 ,at length they appear1 taking up their position on the top of the steps1 above the rows of priests1 and above the silent multitude4 ,but ,zacharias cannot pronounce the usual benediction to-day4 ,the ,jehovah bless thee and keep thee is unsaid2 the priest can only beckon to them1 perhaps laying his finger on the silent lips1 and then pointing to the silent heavens--to them indeed silent1 but to himself all vocal now4 ,and so the mute priest1 after the days of his ministration are completed1 returns to his home in the hill-country1 to wait the fulfilment of the promises1 and out of his deep silences to weave a song that should be immortal2 for the ,benedictus1 whose music girdles the world to-day1 before it struck upon the world's ear and heart1 had1 through those quiet months1 filled the hushed temple of his soul1 lifting up the priest and the prophet among the poets1 and passing down the name of ,zacharias as one of the first sweet singers of the new ,israel4 ,and so the ,old meets1 and merges into the ,new2 and at the marriage it is the speaking hands of the mute priest that join together the two ,dispensations1 as each gives itself to the other1 never more to be put asunder1 but to be no longer twain1 but one1 one ,purpose1 one ,plan1 one ,divine ,thought1 one ,divine ,word4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,psalms4 ,unlike modern church builders1 ,st4 ,luke sets his chancel by the porch4 ,no sooner have we passed through the vestibule of his ,gospel than we find ourselves within a circle of harmonies4 ,on the one side are ,zacharias and ,simeon1 the one chanting his ,benedictus1 and the other his ,nunc ,dimittis4 ,facing them1 as if in antiphon1 are ,elisabeth and ,mary1 the one singing her ,beatitude1 and the other her ,magnificat2 while overhead1 in the frescoed and star-lighted sky1 are vast multitudes of the heavenly host enriching the ,advent music with their ,glorias4 ,what means this grand irruption of song8 and why is ,st4 ,luke1 the ,gentile ,evangelist1 the only one who repeats to us these ,hebrew psalms8 ,at first it would seem as if their natural place would be as a prelude to ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel1 which is the ,gospel of the ,hebrews4 ,but strangely enough1 ,st4 ,matthew passes them by in silence1 just as he omits the two angelic visions4 ,st4 ,matthew is evidently intent on one thing4 ,beginning a ,new ,testament1 as he is1 he seems especially anxious that there shall be no rent or even seam between the ,old and the ,new2 and so1 in his first pages1 after giving us the genealogy1 running the line of descent up to ,abraham1 he laces up the threads of his narrative with the broken-off threads of the old prophecies1 so that the written ,word may be a vestment of the ,incarnate ,word1 which shall be without seam1 woven from the top throughout4 ,and so really the ,advent hymns would not have suited ,st4 ,matthew's purpose4 ,their ring would not have been in accord with the tone of his story2 and had we found them in his first chapters1 we should instinctively have felt that they were out of place1 as if we saw a rose blossoming on a widespread oak4 ,st4 ,luke1 however1 is portraying the ,son of man4 ,coming to redeem humanity1 he shows how ,he was first born into that humanity1 making ,his advent in a purely human fashion4 ,and so the two conceptions form a fit beginning for his ,gospel2 while over the ,divine ,birth and ,childhood he lingers reverently and long1 paying it however1 only the homage ,heaven had paid it before4 ,then1 too1 was there not a touch of poetry about our ,evangelist8 ,tradition has been almost unanimous in saying that he was a painter2 and certainly in the grouping of his figures1 and his careful play upon the lights and shadows1 we can discover traces of his artistic skill1 in word-painting at any rate4 ,his was evidently a soul attuned to harmonies1 quick to discern any accordant or discordant strains4 ,nor must we forget that ,st4 ,luke's mind is open to certain occult influences1 whose presence we may indeed detect1 but whose power we are not able to gauge4 ,as we have already seen1 it was the manifold narratives of anonymous writers that first moved him to take up the pen of the historian2 and to those narratives we doubtless owe something of the peculiar cast and colouring of ,st4 ,luke's story4 ,it is with the ,nativity that tradition would be most likely to take liberties4 ,the facts of the ,advent1 strange enough in themselves1 would at the hands of rumour undergo a process of developing1 like the magnified and somewhat grotesque shadows of himself the traveller casts on ,alpine mists4 ,it was doubtless owing to these enlargements and distortions of tradition that ,st4 ,luke was led to speak of the ,advent so fully1 going into the minuti of detail1 and inserting1 as is probable1 from the ,hebrew tone of these first two chapters1 the account as given orally1 or written1 by some members of the ,holy ,family4 ,it must be admitted that to some inquiring and honest minds these ,advent psalms have been a difficulty1 an enigma1 if not a stumbling-block4 ,as the bells that summon to worship half-deafen the ear of the worshipper on a too near approach1 or they become merely a confused and unmeaning noise if he climbs up into the belfry and watches the swing of their brazen lips1 so this burst of music in our third ,gospel has been too loud for certain sensitive ears4 ,it has shaken somewhat the foundations of their faith4 ,they think it gives an unreality1 a certain mythical flavour1 to the story1 that these four pious people1 who have always led a quiet1 prosaic kind of life1 should now suddenly break out into impromptu songs1 and when these are ended lapse again into complete silence1 like the century plant1 which throws out a solitary blossom in the course of a hundred years4 ,and so they come to regard these ,hebrew psalms as an interpolation1 an afterthought1 thrown into the story for effect4 ,but let us not forget that we are dealing now with ,eastern mind1 which is naturally vivacious1 imaginative1 and highly poetical4 ,even our colder tongue1 in this glacial period of nineteenth-century civilization1 is full of poetry4 ,the language of common every-day life--to those who have ears to hear--is full of tropes1 metaphors1 and parables4 ,take up the commonest words of daily speech1 and put them to your ear1 and they will sing like shells from the sea4 ,there are whole poems in them--epics1 idylls1 of every sort2 and let our colder speech get among the sweet influences of religion1 and like the iceberg adrift in the ,gulf ,stream1 it loses its rigidity and frigidity at once1 melting in liquid1 rhythmic measures1 throwing itself away in hymns and jubilates4 ,the fact is1 the world is full of music4 ,as the ,sage of ,chelsea said1 ,see deep enough1 and you see musically1 the heart of ,nature being everywhere music if you can only reach it4 ,and it is so4 ,you can touch nothing but there are harmonies slumbering within it1 or itself is a stray note of some grander song4 ,dead wood from the forest1 dead ore from the mine1 dead tusks of the beast--these are the base things that strike our music2 and only put a mind within them1 and a living soul with a living touch before them1 and you have songs and anthems without number4 ,but to ,eastern minds poetry was a sort of native language4 ,its inspiration was in the air4 ,their ordinary speech was ornate and efflorescent1 throwing itself out in simile and hyperbole4 ,it only needed some small excitement1 and they fell naturally into the couplet form of utterance4 ,even to-day the children swing under the mulberry-trees to songs and choruses2 hucksters extol their wares in measured verse2 and the ,bethany fruit-girl sings in the market1 ,o lady1 take of our fruit1 without money and without price3 it is yours2 take all that you will6 ,and so it need not surprise us1 much less trouble us1 that ,simeon and ,elisabeth1 ,zacharias and ,mary1 should each speak in measured cadences4 ,their speech blossomed with flowers of rhetoric1 just as naturally as their hills were ablaze with daisies and anemones4 ,besides1 they were now under the direct inspiration of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,we read1 ,elisabeth was filled with the ,holy ,ghost2 and again1 ,zacharias was filled with the ,holy ,ghost2 ,simeon came in the ,spirit into the ,temple2 while ,mary now seemed to live in one conscious1 constant inspiration4 ,it is said that a poet is born1 not made2 and if he be not thus free-born no great sum1 either of gold or toil1 will ever pass him up within the favoured circle4 ,and the same is true of the poet's creations4 ,sacred hymns are not the product of the unaided intellect4 ,they do not come at the bidding of any human will4 ,they are inspirations4 ,there is the overshadowing of the ,holy ,spirit in their conception4 ,the human mind1 heart1 and lips are but the instrument1 a kind of olian lyre1 played upon by the ,higher ,breath1 which comes and goes--how1 the singer himself can never tell2 for ,in the song ,the singer has been lost4 ,it was when filled with the ,spirit that ,bezaleel put into his gold and silver the thoughts of ,god2 it was when the ,spirit of ,god came upon him that ,balaam took up his parable1 putting into stately numbers ,israel's forward march and endless victories4 ,and so the sacred psalm is the highest type of inspiration2 it is a voice from no earthly ,parnassus1 but from the ,mount of ,god itself--the nearest approach to the celestial harmonies1 the harmonies of that city whose very walls are poetry1 and whose gates are praise4 ,and so1 after all1 it was but fitting and perfectly natural that the ,gospel that ,heaven had been so long time preparing should break upon the world amid the harmonies of music4 ,instead of apologizing for its presence1 as if it were but an interlude improvised for the occasion1 we should have noted and mourned its absence1 as when one mourns for the sound of a voice that is still4 ,when the ark of ,god was brought up from ,baale ,judah it was encircled with one wide wreath of music1 a travelling orchestra of harps and psalteries1 castanets and cymbals2 and as now that ,ark of all the promises is borne across from the ,old to the ,new ,dispensation1 as the promise becomes a fulfilment1 and the hope a realization1 shall there not be the voice of song and gladness8 ,our sense of the fitness of things expects it2 ,heaven's law of the harmonies demands it2 and had there not been this burst of praise and song1 we should have listened for the very stones to cry out1 rebuking the strange silence4 ,but the voice was not silent4 ,the singers were there1 in their places2 and they sang1 not because they would1 but because they must4 ,a heavenly pressure1 a sweet constraint1 was upon them4 ,if ,wealth lays down her tribute of gold1 with frankincense and myrrh1 ,poetry weaves for the ,holy ,child her beautiful songs1 and crowns ,him with her fadeless amaranth2 and so around the earthly cradle of the ,lord1 as around ,his heavenly throne1 we have angelic songs1 and the voices of harpers1 harping with their harps4 ,turning now to the four ,gospel-psalmists--not1 however1 to analyze1 but to listen to their song--we meet first with ,elisabeth4 ,this aged daughter of ,aaron1 and wife of ,zacharias1 as we have seen1 resided somewhere in the hill-country of ,juda1 in their quiet1 childless home4 ,righteous1 blameless1 and devout1 religion to her was no mere form2 it was her life4 ,the ,temple services1 with which she was closely associated1 were to her no cold clatter of dead rites2 they were realities1 full of life and full of music1 as her heart had caught their deeper meaning4 ,but the ,temple1 while it attracted her thoughts and hopes1 did not enclose them2 its songs and services were to her but so many needles1 swinging round on their marble pivot1 and pointing beyond to the ,living ,god1 the ,god who dwelt not in temples made with hands1 but who1 then as now1 inhabits the purified temple of the heart4 ,long past the time when motherly hopes were possible1 the fretting had subsided1 and her spirit had become1 first acquiescent1 then quiescent4 ,but these hopes had been miraculously rekindled1 as she slowly read the vision of the ,temple from the writing-table of her dumb husband4 ,the shadow of her dial had gone backward2 and instead of its being evening1 with gathering shadows and ever-lessening light1 she found herself back in the glow of the morning1 her whole life lifted to a higher level4 ,she was to be the mother1 if not of the ,christ1 yet of ,his forerunner4 ,and so the ,christ was near at hand1 this was certain1 and she had the secret prophecy and promise of ,his advent4 ,and ,elisabeth finds herself exalted--borne up1 as it were1 into ,paradise1 among visions and such swells of hosannas that she cannot utter them2 they are too sweet and too deep for her shallow words4 ,was it not this1 the storm of inward commotion1 that drove her to hide herself for the five months8 ,heaven has come so near to her1 such thoughts and visions fill her mind1 that she cannot bear the intrusions and jars of earthly speech2 and ,elisabeth passes into a voluntary seclusion and silence1 keeping strange company with the dumb and deaf ,zacharias4 ,at length the silence is broken by the unexpected appearance of her ,nazareth relative4 ,mary1 fresh from her hasty journey1 entered into the house of ,zacharias and saluted ,elisabeth4 ,it is a singular expression1 and evidently denotes that the visit of the ,virgin was altogether unlooked for4 ,there is no going out to meet the expected guest1 as was common in ,eastern hospitalities2 there was even no welcome by the gate2 but like an apparition1 ,mary passes within1 and salutes the surprised ,elisabeth1 who returns the salutation1 not1 however1 in any of the prescribed forms1 but in a benediction of measured verse3-- ,blessed art thou among women1 ,and blessed is the fruit of thy womb6 ,and whence is this to me1 ,that the mother of my ,lord should come unto me8 ,for1 behold1 when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears ,the babe leaped in my womb for joy4 ,and blessed is she that believed1 ,for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the ,lord4 ,the whole canticle--and it is ,hebrew poetry1 as its parallelisms and strophes plainly show--is one apostrophe to the ,virgin4 ,striking the key-note in its ,blessed art thou1 the thou moves on1 distinct and clear1 amid all variations1 to the end1 reaching its climax in its central phrase1 ,the mother of my ,lord4 ,as one hails the morning star1 not so much for its own light as for its promise of the greater light1 the dayspring that is behind it1 so ,elisabeth salutes the morning star of the new dawn1 at the same time paying homage to the ,sun1 whose near approach the star heralds4 ,and why is ,mary so blessed among women8 ,why should ,elisabeth1 forgetting the dignity of years1 bow so deferentially before her youthful relative1 crowning her with a song8 ,who has informed her of the later revelation at ,nazareth8 ,it is not necessary to suppose that ,elisabeth1 in her seclusion1 had received any corroborative vision1 or even that she had been supernaturally enlightened4 ,had she not the message the angel delivered to ,zacharias8 and was not that enough8 ,her son was to be the ,christ's forerunner1 going1 as the angel said1 before the face of the ,lord4 ,three times had the angel designated the ,coming ,one as the ,lord1 and this was the word she had carried with her into her seclusion4 ,what it meant she did not fully understand2 but she knew this1 that it was ,he of whom ,moses and the prophets had written1 the ,shiloh1 the ,wonderful2 and as she put together the detached ,scriptures1 adding1 doubtless1 some guesses of her own1 the ,christ grew as a conception of her mind and the desire of her heart into such colossal proportions that even her own offspring was dwarfed in comparison1 and the thoughts of her own maternity became1 in the rush of greater thoughts1 only as the stray eddies of the stream4 ,that such was the drift of her thoughts during the five quiet months is evident2 for now1 taught of the ,holy ,ghost that her kinswoman is to be the mother of the expected ,one1 she greets the unborn ,christ with her lesser ,benedictus4 ,like the old painters1 she puts her aureole of song around the mother's head1 but it is easy to see that the mother's honours are but the far-off reflections from the ,child4 ,is ,mary blessed among women8 it is not because of any wealth of native grace1 but because of the fruit of her womb4 ,does ,elisabeth throw herself right back in the shade1 asking almost abjectly1 ,whence is this to me8 it is because1 like the centurion1 she feels herself unworthy that even the unborn ,lord should come under her roof4 ,and so1 while this song is really an ode to the ,virgin1 it is virtually ,elisabeth's salute of the ,christ who is to be1 a salute in which her own offspring takes part1 for she speaks of his leaping in her womb1 as if he were a participant in her joy1 interpreting its movements as a sort of ,hail1 ,master6 ,the canticle thus becomes invested with a higher significance4 ,its words say much1 but suggest more4 ,it carries our thought out from the seen to the unseen1 from the mother to the ,holy ,child1 and ,elisabeth's song thus becomes the earliest ,hosannah to the ,son of ,david1 the first prelude to the unceasing anthems that are to follow4 ,it will be observed that in the last line the song drops out of the first and the second personals into the third4 ,it is no longer the frequent thy1 thou1 my1 but she3 ,happy is she that believed4 ,why is this change8 ,why does she not end as she began--,happy art thou who hast believed8 ,simply because she is no longer speaking of ,mary alone4 ,she puts herself as well within this beatitude1 and at the same time states a general law1 how faith ripens into a harvest of blessedness4 ,the last line thus becomes the ,amen of the song4 ,it reaches up among the eternal ,verilies1 and sets them ringing4 ,it speaks of the ,divine faithfulness1 out of which and within which human faith grows as an acorn within its cup4 ,and who could have better right to sing of the blessedness of faith1 and to introduce this ,new ,testament grace--not unknown in the ,old ,testament1 but unnamed--as she who was herself such an exemplification of her theme8 ,how calmly her own heart reposed on the ,divine word6 ,how before her far-seeing and foreseeing vision valleys were exalted1 mountains and hills made low1 that the way of the ,lord might appear6 ,elisabeth sees the unseen ,christ1 lays before ,him the tribute of her song1 the treasures of her affection and devotion2 even before the ,magi had saluted the ,child-,king1 ,elisabeth's heart had gone out to meet ,him with her hosannas1 and her lips had greeted ,him ,my ,lord4 ,elisabeth is thus the first singer of the ,new ,dispensation2 and though her song is more a bud of poetry than the ripe1 blossomed flower1 enfolding rather than unfolding its hidden beauties1 it pours out a fragrance sweeter than spikenard on the feet of the ,coming ,one1 while it throws around ,him the purple of new royalties4 ,turning now to the song of ,mary1 our ,magnificat1 we come to poetry of a higher order4 ,elisabeth's introit was evidently spoken under intense feeling2 it was the music of the storm2 for she lifted up her voice with a loud cry4 ,mary's song1 on the other hand1 is calm1 the hymn of the quiet resting-place4 ,there is no unnatural excitement now1 no inward perturbation1 half mental and half physical4 ,mary was perfectly self-possessed1 as if the spell of some ,divine peace were upon her soul2 and as ,elisabeth's loud cry ceased1 ,mary said--so it reads--her response4 ,but if the voice was lower1 the thought was higher1 more majestic in its sweep4 ,elisabeth's song was on the lower heights4 ,the mother of my ,lord1 this was its starting-place1 and the centre around which its circles were described2 and though its wings beat now and again against the infinities1 it does not attempt to explore them1 but returns timidly to its nest4 ,but ,elisabeth's loftiest reach is ,mary's starting-point2 her song begins where the song of ,elisabeth ends4 ,striking her key-note in the first line1 ,the ,lord1 this is her one thought1 the ,alpha and ,omega of her psalm4 ,we call it the ,magnificat2 it is a ,te ,deum1 full of suggested doxologies4 ,beginning with the personal1 as she is almost compelled to do by the intense personality of ,elizabeth's song1 ,mary hastes to gather up the eulogies bestowed upon herself1 and to bear them forward to ,him who merits all praise1 as ,he is the ,source of all blessing4 ,her soul magnifies the ,lord1 not that she1 by any weak words of hers1 can add to ,his greatness1 which is infinite1 but even she may give the ,lord a wider place within her thoughts and heart2 and whoever is silent1 her song shall make the voice of ,his praise to be heard4 ,her spirit hath rejoiced in ,god her ,saviour1 and why8 ,has ,he not looked down on her low estate1 and done great things for her8 ,the bondmaid of the ,lord1 as she a second time calls herself1 glorying in her bonds1 such is her promotion and exaltation that all generations shall call her blessed4 ,then1 with a beautiful effacement of self1 which henceforth is not even to be a mote playing in the sunshine1 she sings of ,jehovah--,his holiness1 ,his might1 ,his mercy1 ,his faithfulness4 ,mary's song1 both in its tone and language1 belongs to the ,old ,dispensation4 ,thoroughly ,hebraic1 and all inlaid with ,old ,testament quotations1 it is the swan-song of ,hebraism4 ,there is not a single phrase1 perhaps not a single word1 that bears a distinctive ,christian stamp2 for the ,saviour of the first strophe is the ,saviour of the ,old ,testament1 and not of the ,new1 with a national rather than an evangelical meaning4 ,the heart of the singer is turned to the past rather than to the future4 ,indeed1 with the solitary exception1 how all generations shall call her blessed1 there is no passing glimpse into the future4 ,instead of speaking of the ,expected ,one1 and blessing the fruit of her womb1 her song does not even mention ,him4 ,she tells how the ,lord hath done great things for her1 but what those great things are she does not say2 she might1 as far as her own song tells us1 be simply a later ,miriam1 singing of some family or personal deliverance1 a salvation which was one of a thousand4 ,a true daughter of ,israel1 she dwells among her own people1 and her very broadest vision sees in her offspring no world-wide blessing1 only a ,deliverer for ,israel1 ,his servant4 ,does she speak of mercy8 it is not that wider mercy that like a sea laves every shore1 bearing on its still bosom a redeemed humanity2 it is the narrower mercy toward ,abraham and his seed for ever4 ,mary recognizes the unity of the ,godhead1 but she does not recognize the unity1 the brotherhood of man4 ,her thought goes back to our fathers1 but there it halts2 the shrunken sinew of ,hebrew thought could not cross the prior centuries1 to find the world's common father in ,paradise4 ,but in saying this we do not depreciate ,mary's song4 ,it is1 and ever will be1 the ,magnificat1 great in its theme1 and great in its conception4 ,following the flight of ,hannah's song1 and making use of its wings at times1 it soars far above1 and sweeps far beyond its original4 ,not even ,david sings of ,jehovah in more exalted strains4 ,the holiness of ,god1 the might supreme above all powers1 the faithfulness that cannot forget1 and that never fails to fulfil1 the ,divine choice and exaltation of the lowly--these four chief chords of the ,hebrew ,psalter ,mary strikes with a touch that is sweet as it is clear4 ,mary sang of ,god2 she did not sing of the ,christ4 ,indeed1 how could she8 ,the ,christ to be was part of her own life1 part of herself2 how could she sing ,his praise without an appearance of egotism and self-gratulation8 ,there are times when silence is more eloquent than speech2 and ,mary's silence about the ,christ was but the silence of the winged cherubim1 as they bend over the ark1 beholding and feeling a mystery they can neither know nor tell4 ,it was the hush inspired by a near and glorious presence4 ,and so the ,magnificat1 while it tells us nothing of the ,christ1 swings our thoughts around towards ,him1 sets us listening for ,his advent2 and ,mary's silence is but the setting for the ,incarnate ,,word4 ,the song of ,zacharias follows that of ,mary1 not only in the order of time1 but also in its sequence of thought4 ,it forms a natural postlude to the ,magnificat1 while both are but different parts of one song1 this earliest ,messiah4 ,it is something remarkable that our first three ,christian hymns should have their birth in the same nameless city of ,judah1 in the same house1 and probably in the same chamber2 for the room1 which now is filled with the priest's relatives1 and where ,zacharias breaks the long silence with his prophetic ,benedictus1 is doubtless the same room where ,elisabeth chanted her greeting1 and ,mary sang her ,magnificat4 ,the song of ,mary circled about the throne of ,jehovah1 nor could she leave that throne1 even to tell the great things the ,lord had done for her4 ,zacharias1 coming down from his mount of vision and of silence1 gives us a wider outlook into the ,divine purpose4 ,he sings of the salvation of the ,lord2 and salvation1 as it is the key-note of the heavenly song1 is the key-note of the ,benedictus4 ,does he bless the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel8 it is because ,he has visited 7or looked upon7 ,his people1 and wrought redemption for them2 it is because ,he has provided an abundant salvation1 or a horn of salvation1 as he calls it4 ,has ,god remembered ,his covenant1 the oath ,he sware unto ,abraham8 has ,he shown mercy towards their fathers8 that mercy and faithfulness are seen in this wonderful salvation--a salvation from their enemies1 and from the hand of all that hate them4 ,is his child to be the prophet of the ,most ,high1 going before the face of the ,lord1 and making ready ,his ways8 it is that he may give knowledge of this salvation1 in the remission of sins4 ,then the psalm ends1 falling back on its key-note2 for who are they who sit in darkness and the shadow of death1 but a people lost8 ,and who is the ,day-spring who visits them from on high1 who shines upon their darkness1 turning it into day1 and guiding their lost feet into the way of peace1 but the ,redeemer1 the ,saviour1 whose name is ,wonderful8 ,and so the ,benedictus1 while retaining the form and the very language of the ,old1 breathes the spirit of the ,new ,dispensation4 ,it is a fragrant breeze1 blowing off from the shores of a new1 and now near world1 a world already seen and possessed by ,zacharias in the anticipations of faith4 ,the ,saviour whose advent the inspired priest proclaims is no mere national deliverer1 driving back those eagles of ,rome1 and rebuilding the throne of his father ,david4 ,he might be all that--for even prophetic vision had not sweep of the whole horizon2 it only saw the little segment of the circle that was ,divinely illumined--but to ,zacharias ,he was more1 a great deal more4 ,he was a ,redeemer as well as ,deliverer2 and a redemption--for it was a ,temple word--meant a price laid down1 something given4 ,the salvation of which ,zacharias speaks is not simply a deliverance from our political enemies1 and from the hand of all that hate us4 ,it was a salvation higher1 broader1 deeper than that1 a salvation that reached to the profound depths of the human soul1 and that sounded its jubilee there1 in the remission of sin and deliverance from sin4 ,sin was the enemy to be vanquished and destroyed1 and the shadow of death was but the shadow of sin4 ,and ,zacharias sings of this great redemption that leads to salvation1 while the salvation leads into the ,divine peace1 to holiness and righteousness1 and a service that is without fear4 ,the ark of ,israel was borne by four of the sons of ,kohath2 and here this ark of song and prophecy is borne of four sweet singers1 the sexes dividing the honours equally4 ,we have listened to the songs of three1 and have seen how they follow each other in a regular1 rhythmic succession1 the thought moving forward and outward in ever-widening circles4 ,where is the fourth8 and what is the burden of his song8 ,it is heard within the precincts of the ,temple1 as the parents bring the ,child ,jesus1 to introduce ,him to the visible sanctities of religion1 and to consecrate ,him to the ,lord4 ,it is the ,nunc ,dimittis of the aged ,simeon4 ,he too sings of salvation1 ,thy salvation as he calls it4 ,it is the consolation of ,israel he has looked for so ardently and so long1 and which the ,holy ,ghost had assured him he should behold before his promotion to the higher temple4 ,but the vision of ,simeon was wider than that of ,zacharias1 as that in turn was wider and clearer than the vision of ,mary4 ,zacharias saw the spiritual nature of this near salvation1 and he described it in words singularly deep and accurate2 but its breadth he did not seem to realize4 ,the theocracy was the atmosphere in which he lived and moved2 and even his vision was theocratic1 and so somewhat narrow4 ,his ,benedictus was for the ,god of ,israel1 and the redemption he sang was for ,his people4 ,the horn of salvation is for us2 and all through his psalm these first personal pronouns are frequent and emphatic1 as if he would still insulate this favoured people1 and give them a monopoly even of redemption4 ,the aged ,simeon1 however1 stands on a higher ,pisgah4 ,his is the nearer and the clearer vision4 ,standing as he does in the ,court of the ,gentiles1 and holding in his arms the ,infant ,christ1 the ,lord's ,christ1 he sees in ,him a ,saviour for humanity1 the ,lamb of ,god1 who taketh away the sin of the world4 ,still1 as ever1 the glory of ,god's people ,israel1 but likewise a light for the unveiling of the ,gentiles4 ,like the sentry who keeps watch through the night till the sunrise1 ,simeon has been watching and longing for the ,day-spring from on high1 reading from the stars of promise the wearing of the night1 and with the music of fond hopes keeping his heart awake till dawn of morn4 ,now at length the consummation1 which is the consolation1 comes4 ,simeon sees in the ,child ,jesus the world's hope and ,light1 a salvation prepared before the face of all people4 ,and seeing this1 he sees all he desires4 ,earth can give no brighter vision1 no deeper joy1 and all his request is-- ,now lettest ,thou ,thy servant depart1 ,o ,lord1 ,according to ,thy word1 in peace2 ,for mine eyes have seen ,thy salvation4 ,and so the four psalms of the ,gospels form in reality but one song1 the notes rising higher and still higher1 until they reach the very pinnacle of the new temple--,god's purpose and plan of redemption2 that temple whose altar is a cross1 and whose ,victim is the ,lamb slain from the foundation of the world2 that temple where courts and dividing-lines all disappear2 where the ,holiest of all lies open to a redeemed humanity1 and ,jews and ,gentiles1 bond and free1 old and young1 are alike kings and priests unto ,god4 ,and so the ,gospel psalms throw back1 as it were1 in a thousand echoes1 the ,glorias of the ,advent angels1 as they sing-- ,glory to ,god in the highest1 ,and on earth peace4 ,and what is this but earth's prelude or rehearsal for the heavenly song1 as all nations1 and kindreds1 and peoples1 and tongues1 falling down before the ,lamb in the midst of the throne1 sing1 ,salvation unto our ,god1 which sitteth upon the throne1 and unto the ,,lamb8 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,virgin ,,mother4 ,the ,beautiful ,gate of the ,jewish ,temple opened into the ,court of the ,women--so named from the fact that they were not allowed any nearer approach towards the ,holy ,place4 ,and as we open the gate of the third ,gospel we enter the ,court of the ,women2 for more than any other ,evangelist1 ,st4 ,luke records their loving and varied ministries4 ,perhaps this is owing to his profession1 which naturally would bring him into more frequent contact with feminine life4 ,or perhaps it is a little ,philippian colour thrown into his ,gospel2 for we must not forget that ,st4 ,luke had been left by the ,apostle ,paul at ,philippi1 to superintend the ,church that had been cradled in the prayers of the river-side women4 ,it may be a tinge of ,lydia's purple2 or to speak more broadly and more literally1 it may be the subtle1 unconscious influences of that ,philippian circle that have given a certain feminity to our third ,gospel4 ,st4 ,luke alone gives us the psalms of the three women1 ,anna1 ,elisabeth1 and ,mary2 he alone gives us the names of ,susanna and ,joanna1 who ministered to ,christ of their substance2 he alone gives us that ,galilean idyll1 where the nameless woman bathes ,his feet with tears1 and at the same time rains a hot rebuke on the cold civilities of the ,pharisee1 ,simon2 he alone tells of the widow of ,zarephath1 who welcomed and saved a prophet men were seeking to slay2 he alone tells us of the widow of ,nain1 of the woman bent with infirmity1 and of the woman grieving over her lost piece of silver4 ,and as ,st4 ,luke opens his ,gospel with woman's tribute of song1 so in his last chapter he paints for us that group of women1 constant amid man's inconstancies1 coming ere the break of day1 to wrap around the body of the dead ,christ the precious and fragrant offering of devotion4 ,so1 in this ,paradise ,restored1 do ,eve's daughters roll back the reproach of their mother4 ,but ever first and foremost among the women of the ,gospels we must place the ,virgin ,mother1 whose character and position in the ,gospel story we are now to consider4 ,we need not stay to discuss the question--perhaps we ought not to stay even to give it a passing notice--whether there might have been an ,incarnation even had there been no sin4 ,it is not an impossible1 it is not an improbable supposition1 that the ,christ would have come into the world even had man kept his first estate of innocence and bliss4 ,but then it would have been the ,christ simply1 and not ,jesus ,christ4 ,he would have come into the world1 not as its ,redeemer1 but as the ,son and ,heir1 laying tribute on all its harvests2 ,he would have come as the flower and crown of a perfected humanity1 to show the possibilities of that humanity1 its absolute perfections4 ,but leaving the might-have-beens1 in whose tenuous spaces there is room for the nebul of fancies and of guesses without number1 let us narrow our vision within the horizon of the real1 the actual4 ,given the necessity for an ,incarnation1 there are two modes in which that ,incarnation may be brought about--by creation1 or by birth4 ,the first ,adam came into the world by the creative act of ,god4 ,without the intervention of second causes1 or any waiting for the slow lapse of time1 ,god spake1 and it was done4 ,will ,scripture repeat itself here1 in the new ,genesis8 and will the second ,adam1 coming into the world to repair the ruin wrought by the first1 come as did the first8 ,we can easily conceive such an advent to be possible2 and if we regarded simply the analogies of the case1 we might even suppose it to be probable4 ,but how different a ,christ it would have been6 ,he might still have been bone of our bone1 flesh of our flesh2 ,he might have spoken the same truths1 in the same speech and tone2 but ,he must have lived apart from the world4 ,it would not be our humanity that ,he wore2 it would only be its shadow1 its semblance1 playing before our minds like an illusion4 ,no1 the ,messiah must not be simply a second ,adam2 ,he must be the ,son of man1 and ,he cannot become ,humanity's ,son except by a human birth4 ,any other advent1 even though it had satisfied the claims of reason1 would have failed to satisfy those deeper voices of the heart4 ,and so1 on the first pages of ,scripture1 before ,eden's gate is shut and locked by bolts of flame1 ,heaven signifies its intention and decision4 ,the coming ,one1 who shall bruise the serpent's head1 shall be the woman's ,seed--the ,son of woman1 that so ,he may become more truly the ,son of man2 while later a strange expression finds its way into the sacred prophecy1 how a ,virgin shall conceive1 and bear a son4 ,it is true these words primarily might have a local meaning and fulfilment--though what that narrower meaning was no one can tell with any approach to certainty2 but looking at the singularity of the expression1 and coupling it with the story of the ,advent1 we can but see in it a deeper meaning and a wider purpose4 ,evidently it was that the virgin-conception might strike upon the world's ear and become a familiar thought1 and that it might throw backwards across the pages of the ,old ,testament the shadow of the ,virgin ,mother4 ,we have already seen how the thought of a ,messianic motherhood had dropped deep within the heart of the ,hebrew people1 awaking hopes1 and prayers1 and all sorts of beautiful dreams--dreams1 alas6 that vanished with the years1 and hopes that blossomed but to fade4 ,but now the hour is coming1 that supreme hour for which the centuries have all been waiting4 ,the forerunner is already announced1 and in twelve short weeks he who loved to call himself a ,voice will break the strange silence of that ,judan home4 ,whence will come his ,lord1 who shall be greater than he8 ,where shall we find the ,mother-elect1 for whom such honours have been reserved--honours such as no mortal has ever yet borne1 and as none will ever bear again8 ,st4 ,luke tells us1 ,now in the sixth month the angel ,gabriel was sent from ,god unto a city of ,galilee1 named ,nazareth1 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was ,joseph1 of the house of ,david2 and the virgin's name was ,mary 7,r4,v474 ,and so the ,mother-designate takes her place in this firmament of ,scripture1 silently and serenely as a morning star1 which indeed she is2 for she shines in a borrowed splendour1 taking her glories all from ,him around whom she revolves1 from ,him who was both her ,son and her ,sun4 ,it will be seen in the above verse how particular the ,evangelist is in his topographical reference1 putting a kind of emphasis upon the name which now appears for the first time upon the pages of ,scripture4 ,when we remember how ,nazareth was honoured by the angel visit2 how it was1 not the chance1 but the chosen home of the ,christ for thirty years2 how it watched and guarded the ,divine ,infancy1 throwing into that life its powerful though unconscious influences1 even as the dead soil throws itself forward and upward into each separate flower and farthest leaf2 when we remember how it linked its own name with the ,name of ,jesus1 becoming almost a part of it2 how it wrote its name upon the cross1 then handing it down to the ages as the name and watchword of a sect that should conquer the world1 we must admit that ,nazareth is by no means the least among the cities of ,israel4 ,and yet we search in vain through the ,old ,testament for the name of ,nazareth4 ,history1 poetry1 and prophecy alike pass it by in silence4 ,and so the ,hebrew mind1 while rightly linking the expected ,one with ,bethlehem1 never associated the ,christ with ,nazareth4 ,indeed1 its moralities had become so questionable and proverbial that while the whole of ,galilee was too dry a ground to grow a prophet1 ,nazareth was thought incapable of producing any good thing4 ,was1 then1 the ,nazareth chapter of the ,christ-life an afterthought of the ,divine ,mind1 like the marginal reading of an author's proof1 put in to fill up a blank or to be a substitute for some erasure8 ,not so4 ,it had been in the ,divine ,mind from the beginning2 yea1 it had been in the authorized text1 though men had not read it plainly4 ,it is ,st4 ,matthew who first calls our attention to it4 ,writing1 as he does1 mainly for ,hebrew readers1 he is constantly looping up his story with the ,old ,testament prophecies2 and speaking of the return from ,egypt1 he says they came and dwelt in a city called ,nazareth3 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets1 that ,he should be called a ,nazarene4 ,we said just now that the name of ,nazareth was not found in the ,old ,testament4 ,but if we do not find the proper name1 we find the word which is identical with the name4 ,it is now regarded by competent authorities as proved that the ,hebrew name for ,nazareth was ,netser4 ,taking now this word in our mind1 and turning to ,isaiah xi4 #a1 we read1 ,and there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of ,jesse1 and a branch ,netser out of his roots shall bear fruit3 and the ,spirit of the ,lord shall rest upon ,him4 ,here1 then1 evidently1 is the prophetic voice to which ,st4 ,matthew refers2 and one little word--the name of ,nazareth--becomes the golden link binding in one the ,prophecies and the ,gospels4 ,returning to our main subject1 it is to this secluded1 and somewhat despised city of ,nazareth the angel ,gabriel is now sent1 to announce the approaching birth of ,christ4 ,st4 ,luke1 in his nominative way of speaking1 says he came to a ,virgin betrothed to a man whose name was ,joseph1 of the house of ,david2 and the ,virgin's name was ,mary4 ,it is difficult for us to form an unbiassed estimate of the character before us1 as our minds are feeling the inevitable recoil from ,roman assumptions4 ,we are confused with the childish prattle of their ,ave ,marias2 we are amused at their dogmas of ,immaculate ,conceptions and ,ever ,virginities2 we are surprised and shocked at their apotheosis of the ,virgin1 as they lift her to a throne practically higher than that of her ,son1 worshipped in devouter homage1 supplicated with more earnest and more frequent prayers1 and at the blasphemies of their ,mariolatry1 which make her supreme on earth and supreme in heaven4 ,this undue exaltation of the ,virgin ,mother1 which becomes an adoration pure and simple1 sends our ,protestant thought with a violent swing to the extreme of the other side1 considerably over the line of the golden mean4 ,and so we find it hard to dissociate in our minds the ,virgin ,mother from these ,marian assumptions and divinations2 for which1 however1 she herself is in no way responsible1 and against which she would be the first to protest4 ,seen only through these ,romish haloes1 and atmospheres highly incensed1 her very name has been distorted1 and her features1 spoiled of all grace and sweet serenity1 have ceased to be attractive4 ,but this is not just4 ,if ,rome weights one scale with crowns1 and sceptres1 and piles of imperial purple1 we need not load down the other with our prejudices1 satires1 and negations4 ,two wrongs will not make a right4 ,it is neither on the crest of the wave1 nor yet in the deep trough of the billows1 that we shall find the mean sea-level1 from which we can measure all heights1 running out our lines even among the stars4 ,can we not find that mean sea-level now1 hushing alike the voices of adulation and of depreciation8 ,laying aside the traditions of antiquity and the legends of scribulous monks1 laying aside1 too1 the coloured glasses of our prejudice1 with which we have been wont to protect our eyes from the glare of ,roman suns1 may we not get a true portraiture of the ,virgin ,mother1 in all the native naturalness of ,scripture8 ,we think we can4 ,she comes upon us silently and suddenly1 emerging from an obscurity whose secrets we cannot read4 ,no mention is made of her parents2 tradition only has supplied us with their names--,joachim and ,anna4 ,but whether ,joachim or not1 it is certain that her father was of the tribe of ,judah1 and of the house of ,david4 ,having this fact to guide us1 and also another fact1 that ,mary was closely related to ,elisabeth--though not necessarily her cousin--who was of the tribe of ,levi and a daughter of ,aaron1 then it becomes probable1 at least1 that the unnamed mother of the ,virgin was of the tribe of ,levi1 and so the connecting link between the houses of ,levi and ,judah--a probability which receives an indirect but strong confirmation in the fact that ,nazareth was intimately connected with ,jerusalem and the ,temple1 one of the cities selected as a residence of the priests4 ,may we not1 then1 suppose that this unnamed mother of the ,virgin was a daughter of one of the priests then residing at ,nazareth1 and that ,mary's relatives on the mother's side--some of them--were also priests1 going up at stated times to ,jerusalem1 to perform their course of ,temple services8 ,it is certainly a most natural supposition1 and one1 too1 that will help to remove some subsequent difficulties in the story2 as1 for instance1 the journey of ,mary to ,juda4 ,some honest minds have stumbled at that long journey of a hundred miles1 while others have grown pathetic in their descriptions of that lonely pilgrimage of the ,galilean ,virgin4 ,but it is neither necessary nor likely that ,mary should take the journey alone4 ,her connection with the priesthood1 if our supposition be correct1 would find her an escort1 even among her own relatives1 as least as far as ,jerusalem2 and since the priestly courses were half-yearly in their service1 it would be just the time the course of ,abijah1 in which ,zacharias served1 would be returning once again to their ,judan homes4 ,it is only a supposition1 it is true1 but it is a supposition that is extremely natural and more than probable2 and if we look through it1 taking ,levi and ,judah as our binocular lenses1 it carries a thread of light through otherwise dark places2 while throwing our sight forward1 it brings distant ,nazareth in line with ,jerusalem and the hill-country of ,juda4 ,betrothed to ,joseph1 who was of the royal line1 and as some think1 the legal heir to ,david's throne1 ,mary was probably not more than twenty years of age4 ,whether an orphan or not we cannot tell1 though the silence of ,scripture would almost lead us to suppose that she was4 ,papias1 however1 who was a disciple of ,st4 ,john1 states that she had two sisters--,mary the wife of ,cleophas1 and ,mary ,salome the wife of ,zebedee4 ,if this be so--and there is no reason why we should discredit the statement--then ,mary the ,virgin ,mother would probably be the eldest of the three sisters1 the house-mother in the ,nazareth home4 ,where it was that the angel appeared to her we cannot tell4 ,tradition1 with one of its random guesses1 has fixed the spot in the suburbs1 beside the fountain4 ,but there is something incongruous and absurd in the selection of such a place for an angelic appearance--the public resort and lounge1 where the clatter of feminine gossip was about as constant as the flow and sparkle of its waters4 ,indeed1 the very form of the participle disposes of that tradition1 for we read1 ,he came in unto her1 implying that it was within her holy place of home the angel found her4 ,nor is there any need to suppose1 as some do1 that it was in her quiet chamber of devotion1 where she was observing the stated hours of prayer4 ,celestials do not draw that broad line of distinction between so-called secular and sacred duties4 ,to them work is but another form of worship1 and all duties to them are sacred1 even when they lie among life's temporal1 and so-called secular things4 ,indeed1 ,heaven reserves its highest visions1 not for those quiet moments of still devotion1 but for the hours of busy toil1 when mind and body are given to the trivial rounds and the common tasks of every-day life4 ,moses is at his shepherding when the bush calls him aside1 with its tongues of fire2 ,gideon is threshing out his wheat when ,god's angel greets him and summons him to the higher task2 and ,zacharias is performing the routine service of his priestly office when ,gabriel salutes him with the first voice of a ,new ,dispensation4 ,and so all the analogies would lead us to suppose that the ,virgin was quietly engaged in her domestic duties1 offering the sacrifice of her daily task1 as ,zacharias offered his incense of stacte and onycha1 when ,gabriel addressed her1 ,hail1 thou that art highly favoured1 the ,lord is with thee 7,r4,v474 ,the ,romanists1 eager to accord ,divine honours to the ,virgin ,mother as the dispenser of blessing and of grace1 interpret the phrase1 ,thou that art full of grace4 ,it is1 perhaps1 not an inapt rendering of the word1 and is certainly more euphonious than our marginal reading much graced2 but when they make the grace an inherent1 and not a derived grace1 their doctrine slants off from all ,scripture1 and is opposed to all reason4 ,that the word itself gives no countenance to such an enthronement of ,mary1 is evident1 for ,st4 ,paul makes use of the same word when speaking of himself and the ,ephesian ,christians 7,eph4 i4 #f71 where we render it ,his grace1 which ,he freely bestowed on us in the ,beloved4 ,but criticism apart1 never before had an angel so addressed a mortal1 for even ,daniel's greatly beloved falls below this ,nazareth greeting4 ,when ,gabriel came to ,zacharias there was not even a ,hail2 it was simply a ,fear not1 and then the message2 but now he gives to ,mary a ,hail and two beatitudes besides3 ,thou art highly favoured2 the ,lord is with thee4 ,and do these words mean nothing8 ,are they but a few heavenly courtesies whose only meaning is in their sound8 ,heaven does not speak thus with random1 unmeaning words4 ,its voices are true1 and deep as they are true1 never meaning less1 but often more than they say4 ,that the angel should so address her is certain proof that the ,virgin possessed a peculiar fitness for the ,divine honours she was now to receive--honours which had been so long held back1 as if in reserve for herself alone4 ,it is only they who look heavenward who see heavenly things4 ,there must be a heart aflame before the bush burns2 and when the bush is alight it is only he who sees takes off his shoes4 ,the glimpses we get of the ,virgin are few and brief2 she is soon eclipsed--if we may be allowed that shadowy word--by the greater glories of her ,son2 but why should she be selected as the mother of the human ,christ8 why should her life nourish ,his8 why should the thirty years be spent in her daily presence1 her face being the first vision of awaking consciousness1 as it was in the last earthward look from the cross8--why all this1 except that there was a wealth of beauty and of grace about her nature1 a certain tinge of heavenliness that made it fitting the ,messiah should be born of her rather than of any woman else8 ,as we have seen1 the royal and the priestly lines meet in her1 and ,mary unites in herself all the dignity of the one with the sanctity of the other4 ,with what delicacy and grace she receives the angel's message6 ,greatly troubled at first--not1 however1 like ,zacharias1 at the sight of the messenger1 but at his message--she soon recovers herself1 and casts in her mind what manner of salutation this might be4 ,this sentence just describes one prominent feature of her character1 her reflective1 reasoning mind4 ,sparing of words1 except when under the inspiration of some ,magnificat1 she lived much within herself4 ,she loved the companionship of her own thoughts1 finding a certain music in their still monologue4 ,when the shepherds made known the saying of the angel about this child1 repeating the angelic song1 perhaps1 with sundry variations of their own1 ,mary is neither elated nor astonished4 ,whatever her feelings--and they must have been profoundly moved--she carefully conceals them4 ,instead of telling out her own deep secrets1 letting herself drift out on the ecstasies of the moment1 ,mary is silent1 serenely quiet1 unwilling that even a shadow of herself should dim the brightness of ,his rising4 ,she kept1 so we read1 all these sayings1 pondering them in her heart2 or putting them together1 as the ,greek word means1 and so forming1 as in a mental mosaic1 her picture of the ,christ who was to be4 ,and so1 in later years1 we read 7ii4 #ea7 how ,his mother kept all these sayings in her heart1 gathering up the fragmentary sentences of the ,divine ,childhood and ,youth1 and hiding them1 as a treasure peculiarly her own1 in the deep1 still chambers of her soul4 ,and what those still chambers of her soul were1 how heavenly the atmosphere that enswathed them1 how hallowed by the ,divine ,presence1 her ,magnificat will show2 for that inspired psalm is but an opened window1 letting the music pass without1 as it throws the light within1 showing us the temple of a quiet1 devout1 and thoughtful soul4 ,with what complacency and with what little surprise she received the angel's message6 ,the ,incarnation does not come upon her as a new thought1 a thought for which her mind cannot possibly find room1 and human speech can weave no fitting dress4 ,it disturbs neither her reason nor her faith4 ,versed in ,scripture as she is1 it comes rather as a familiar thought--a heavenly dove1 it is true1 but gliding down within her mind in a perfect1 because a heavenly naturalness4 ,and when the angel announces that the ,son of the ,most ,high1 whose name shall be called ,jesus1 and who shall reign over the house of ,jacob for ever1 shall be born of herself1 there is no exclamation of astonishment1 no word of incredulity as to whether this can be1 but simply a question as to the manner of its accomplishment3 ,how shall this be1 seeing that ,i know not a man8 ,the ,christ had evidently been conceived in her mind1 and cradled in her heart1 even before ,he became a conception of her womb4 ,and what an absolute self-surrender to the ,divine purpose6 ,no sooner has the angel told her that the ,holy ,ghost shall come upon her1 and the power of the ,most ,high overshadow her1 than she bows to the ,supreme ,will in a lowly1 reverential acquiescence3 ,behold1 the handmaid bondmaid of the ,lord2 be it unto me according to thy word4 ,so do the human and the ,divine wills meet and mingle4 ,heaven touches earth1 comes down into it1 that earth may evermore touch heaven1 and indeed form part of it4 ,the angel departs1 leaving her alone with her great secret2 and little by little it dawns upon her1 as it could not have done at first1 what this secret means for her4 ,a great honour it is1 a great joy it will be2 but ,mary finds1 as we all find1 the path to heaven's glories lies through suffering2 the way into the wealthy place is through the fire4 ,how can she carry this great secret herself8 and yet how can she tell it8 ,who will believe her report8 ,will not these ,nazarenes laugh at her story of the vision1 except that the matter would be too grave for a smile8 ,it is her own secret yet1 but it cannot be a secret long2 and then--who can defend her1 and ward off the inevitable shame8 ,where can she find shelter from the venomed shafts that will be hurled from every side--where1 save in her consciousness of unsullied purity1 and in the shadow of the ,highest8 ,was it thoughts like these that now agitated her mind1 deciding her to make the hasty visit to ,elisabeth8 or was it that she might find sympathy and counsel in communion with a kindred soul1 one that age had made wise1 and grace made beautiful8 ,probably it was both2 but in this journey we will not follow her now1 except to see how her faith in ,god never once wavered4 ,we have already listened to her sweet song2 but what a sublime faith it shows1 that she can sing in face of this gathering storm1 a storm of suspicion and of shame1 when ,joseph himself will seek to put her away1 lest his character should suffer too6 ,but ,mary believed1 even though she felt and smarted4 ,she endured as seeing ,him who is invisible4 ,could she not safely leave her character to ,him8 ,would not the ,lord avenge ,his own elect8 ,would not ,divine ,wisdom justify her child8 ,faith and hope said ,yes2 and ,mary's soul1 like a nightingale1 trilled out her ,magnificat when earth's light was disappearing1 and the shadows were falling thick and fast on every side4 ,it is on her return to ,nazareth1 after her three months' absence1 that the episode occurs narrated by ,st4 ,matthew4 ,it is thrown into the story almost by way of parenthesis1 but it casts a vivid light on the painful experience through which she was now called to pass4 ,her prolonged absence1 most unusual for one betrothed1 was in itself puzzling2 but she returns to find only a scant welcome4 ,she finds herself suspected of shame and sin1 the white flower of her blameless life dashed and stained with black aspersions4 ,even ,joseph's confidence in her is shaken1 so shaken that he must put her away and have the betrothal cancelled4 ,and so the clouds darken about the ,virgin2 she is left almost alone in the sharp travail of her soul1 charged with sin1 even when she is preparing for the world a ,saviour1 and likely1 unless ,heaven speedily interpose1 to become an outcast1 if not a martyr1 thrown outside the circle of human courtesies and sympathies as a social leper4 ,like another heir of all the promises1 she too is led as a lamb to the slaughter1 a victim bound1 and all but sacrificed1 upon the altar of the public conscience4 ,but ,heaven did intervene1 even as it stayed the knife of ,abraham4 ,an angel appears to ,joseph1 throwing around the suspected one the mantle of unsullied innocence1 and assuring him that her explanation1 though passing strange1 was truth itself4 ,and so the ,lord did avenge ,his own elect1 stilling the babble of unfriendly tongues1 restoring to her all the lost confidences1 together with a wealth of added hopes and prospective honours4 ,not1 however1 out of ,galilee must the ,shiloh come1 but out of ,judah2 and not ,nazareth1 but ,bethlehem ,ephratah is the designated place of ,his coming forth who shall be the ,governor and ,shepherd of ,my people ,israel4 ,what means1 then1 this apparent divergence of the ,providence from the ,prophecy1 the whole drift of the one being northward1 while the other points steadily to the south8 ,it is only a seeming divergence1 the backward flash of the wheel that all the time is moving steadily1 swiftly forward4 ,the ,prophecy and the ,providence are but the two staves of the ark1 moving in different but parallel lines1 and bearing between them the ,divine purpose4 ,already the line is laid that links ,nazareth with ,bethlehem1 the line of descent we call lineage2 and now we see ,providence setting in motion another force1 the ,imperial ,will1 which1 moving along this line1 makes the purpose a realization4 ,nor was it the ,imperial ,will only2 it was the ,imperial ,will acting through ,jewish prejudices4 ,these two forces1 antagonistic1 if not opposite1 were the centrifugal and centripetal forces that kept the ,divine ,purpose moving in its appointed round and keeping ,divine hours4 ,had the registration decreed by ,csar been conducted after the ,roman manner1 ,joseph and ,mary would not have been required to go up to ,bethlehem2 but when1 out of deference to ,jewish prejudice1 the registration was made in the ,hebrew mode1 this compelled them1 both being descendants of ,david1 to go up to their ancestral city4 ,it has been thought by some that ,mary possessed some inherited property in ,bethlehem2 and the narrative would suggest that there were other links that bound them to the city2 for evidently they intended to make ,bethlehem henceforth their place of residence1 and they would have done so had not a ,divine monition broken in upon their purpose 7,matt4 ii4 #bc74 ,and so they move southward1 obeying the mandate of ,csar1 who now is simply the executor of the higher ,will1 the ,will that moves silently but surely1 back of all thrones1 principalities1 and powers4 ,we will not attempt to gild the gold1 by enlarging upon the story of the ,nativity1 and so robbing it of its sweet simplicity4 ,the toilsome journey2 its inhospitable ending2 the stable and the manger2 the angelic symphonies in the distance2 the adoration of the shepherds--all form one sweet idyll1 no word of which we can spare2 and as the ,church chants her ,te ,deum all down the ages this will not be one of its lowest strains3-- ,when ,thou tookest upon ,thee to deliver man ,thou didst not abhor the ,virgin's womb4 ,and so the ,virgin becomes the ,virgin ,mother1 graduating into motherhood amid the acclamations of the sky1 and borne on to her exalted honours in the sweep of ,imperial decrees4 ,after the ,nativity she sinks back into a second--a far-off second--place1 for the greater glory doth dim the less2 and twice only does her voice break the silence of the thirty years4 ,we hear it first in the ,temple1 as1 in tones tremulous with anxiety and sorrow1 she asks1 ,son1 why hast ,thou thus dealt with us8 ,behold1 ,thy father and ,i sought ,thee sorrowing4 ,the whole incident is perplexing1 and if we read it superficially1 not staying to read between the lines1 it certainly places the mother in anything but a favourable light4 ,let us observe1 however1 that there was no necessity that the mother should have made this pilgrimage1 and evidently she had made it so that she might be near her precious charge4 ,but now she strangely loses sight of ,him1 and goes even a day's journey without discovering her loss4 ,how is this8 ,has she suddenly grown careless8 or does she lose both herself and her charge in the excitements of the return journey8 ,thoughtfulness1 as we have seen1 was a characteristic feature of her life4 ,hers was the harvest of the quiet eye1 and her thoughts centred not on herself1 but on her ,divine ,son2 ,he was her ,alpha and ,omega1 her first1 her last1 her only thought4 ,it is altogether outside the range of possibilities that she now could be so negligent of her maternal duties1 and so we are compelled to seek for our explanation elsewhere4 ,may we not find it in this8 ,the parents had left ,jerusalem earlier in the day1 arranging for the child ,jesus to follow with another part of the same company1 which1 leaving later1 would overtake them at their first camp4 ,but ,jesus not appearing when the second company starts1 they imagine that ,he has gone on with the first company1 and so proceed without ,him4 ,this seems the only probable solution of the difficulty2 at any rate it makes plain and perfectly natural what else is most obscure and perplexing4 ,mary's mistake1 however--and it was not her fault--opens to us a page in the sealed volume of the ,divine ,boyhood1 letting us hear its solitary voice--,wist ye not that ,i must be in ,my ,father's house8 ,we see the mother again at ,cana1 where she is an invited and honoured guest at the marriage1 moving about among the servants with a certain quiet authority1 and telling her ,divine ,son of the breakdown in the hospitalities3 ,they have no wine4 ,we cannot now go into details1 but evidently there was no distancing reserve between the mother and her ,son4 ,she goes to ,him naturally2 she speaks to ,him freely and frankly1 as any widow would speak to the son on whom she leaned4 ,nay1 she seems to know1 as by a sort of intuition1 of the superhuman powers that are lying dormant in that quiet ,son of hers1 and she so correctly reads the horoscope of ,heaven as to expect this will be the hour and the place of their manifestation4 ,perhaps her mind did not grasp the true ,divinity of her ,son--indeed1 it could not have done so before the ,resurrection--but that ,he is the ,messiah she has no doubt1 and so1 strong in her confidence1 she says to the servants1 ,whatsoever ,he saith unto you1 do it4 ,and her faith must have been great indeed1 when it required a whatsoever to measure it4 ,some have thought they could detect a tinge of impatience and a tone of rebuke in the reply of ,jesus2 and doubtless there is a little sharpness in our ,english rendering of it4 ,it does sound to our ears somewhat unfilial and harsh4 ,but to the ,greeks the address ,woman was both courteous and respectful1 and ,jesus ,himself uses it in that last tender salute from the cross4 ,certainly1 she did not take it as a rebuke1 for one harsh word1 like the touch on the sensitive plant1 would have thrown her back into silence2 whereas she goes off directly to the servants with her whatsoever4 ,we get one more brief glimpse of her at ,capernaum1 as she and her other sons come out to ,jesus to urge ,him to desist from ,his long speaking4 ,it is but a simple narrative1 but it serves to throw a side-light on that home-life now removed to ,capernaum4 ,it shows us the thoughtful1 loving mother1 as1 forgetful of herself and full of solicitude for ,him1 who1 she fears1 will tax ,himself beyond ,his strength1 she comes out to persuade ,him home4 ,but what is the meaning of that strange answer1 and the significant gesture8 ,mother1 brethren8 ,it is as if ,jesus did not understand the words4 ,they are something ,he has now outgrown1 something ,he must now lay aside1 as ,he gives ,himself to the world at large4 ,as there comes a time in the life of each when the mother is forsaken--left1 that he may follow a higher call1 and be himself a man--so ,jesus now steps out into a world where ,mary's heart1 indeed1 may still follow1 but a world her mind may not enter4 ,the earthly relation is henceforth to be overshadowed by the heavenly4 ,the ,son of ,mary grows into the ,son of man1 belonging now to no special one1 but to humanity at large1 finding in all1 even in us1 who do the will of the ,father in heaven1 a brother1 a sister1 a mother4 ,not that ,jesus forgets her4 ,oh1 no6 ,even amid the agonies of the cross ,he thinks of her2 ,he singles her out among the crowd1 bespeaking for her a place--the place ,he ,himself has filled--in the heart of ,his nearest earthly friend2 and amid the prayer for ,his murderers1 and the ,eloi1 ,eloi of a terrible forsaking1 ,he says to the ,apostle of love1 ,behold thy mother1 and to her1 ,behold thy son4 ,and so the ,virgin ,mother takes her place in the focal point of all the histories4 ,through no choice1 no conceit or forwardness of her own1 but by the grace of ,god and by an inherent fitness1 she becomes the connecting-link between earth and heaven4 ,and throwing1 as she does1 her unconscious shadow back within the ,paradise ,lost1 and forward through the ,gospels to the ,paradise ,regained1 shall we not magnify the ,lord with her8 shall we not magnify the ,lord for her1 as1 with all the generations1 we call her blessed8 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,adoration ,,of ,,the ,,shepherds4 ,,luke ii4 #h-ba4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,mark omits entirely the ,nativity1 passing at once to the words and miracles of ,his public ministry4 ,st4 ,john1 too1 dismisses the ,advent and the earlier years of the ,divine ,life with one solitary phrase1 how the ,word1 which in the beginning was with ,god and was ,god1 became flesh and dwelt among us 7i4 #ad74 ,st4 ,luke1 however1 whose ,gospel is the ,gospel of the ,humanity1 lingers reverently over the ,nativity1 throwing a variety of side-lights upon the cradle of the ,holy ,child4 ,already has he shown how the ,roman ,state prepared the cradle of the ,infancy1 and how ,csar ,augustus unconsciously wrought out the purpose of ,god1 the breath of his imperial decree being but part of a higher inspiration2 and now he proceeds to show how the shepherds of ,juda bring the greetings of the ,hebrew world1 the wave-sheaf of the ripening harvests of homage which yet will be laid1 by ,jew and ,gentile alike1 at the feet of ,him who was ,son of ,david and ,son of man4 ,it is generally supposed that these anonymous shepherds were residents of ,bethlehem1 and tradition has fixed the exact spot where they were favoured with this ,advent apocalypse1 about a thousand paces from the modern village4 ,it is a historic fact that there was a tower near that site1 called ,eder1 or the ,tower of the ,flock1 around which were pastured the flocks destined for the ,temple sacrifice2 but the topography of ver4 #h is purposely vague4 ,the expression in that same country1 written by one who both in years and in distance was far removed from the events recorded1 would describe any circle within the radius of a few miles from ,bethlehem as its centre1 and the very vagueness of the expression seems to push back the scene of the ,advent music to a farther distance than a thousand paces4 ,and this view is confirmed by the language of the shepherds themselves1 who1 when the vision has faded1 say one to another1 ,let us now go even unto ,bethlehem1 and see this thing that is come to pass2 for they scarcely would have needed1 or used1 the adverbial even were they keeping their flocks so close up to the walls of the city4 ,we may therefore infer1 with some amount of probability1 that whether the shepherds were residents of ,bethlehem or not1 when they kept watch over their flocks1 it was not on the traditional site1 but farther away over the hills4 ,indeed1 it is difficult1 and very often impossible1 for us to fix the precise locality of these sacred scenes1 these bright points of intersection1 where ,heaven's glories flash out against the dull carbon-points of earth2 and the voices of tradition are at best but doubtful guesses4 ,it would almost seem as if ,god ,himself had wiped out these memories1 hiding them away1 as ,he hid the sepulchre of ,moses1 lest the world should pay them too great a homage1 and lest we might think that one place lay nearer to heaven than another1 when all places are equally distant1 or rather equally near4 ,it is enough to know that somewhere on these lonely hills came the vision of the angels1 perhaps on the very spot where ,david was minding his sheep when ,heaven summoned him to a higher task1 passing him up among the kings4 ,while the shepherds were watching the watches of the night over their flock1 as the ,evangelist expresses it1 referring to the pastoral custom of dividing the night into watches1 and keeping watch by turns1 suddenly an angel of the ,lord stood by them1 and the glory of the ,lord shone round about them4 ,when the angel appeared to ,zacharias1 and when ,gabriel brought to ,mary her evangel1 we do not read of any supernatural portent1 any celestial glory1 attending them4 ,possibly because their appearances were in the broad daylight1 when the glory would be masked1 invisible2 but now1 in the dead of night1 the angelic form is bright and luminous1 throwing all around them a sort of heavenly halo1 in which even the lustrous ,syrian stars grow dim4 ,dazzled by the sudden burst of glory1 the shepherds were awed by the vision1 and stricken with a great fear1 until the angel1 borrowing the tones and accents of their own speech1 addressed to them his message1 the message he had been commissioned to bring3 ,be not afraid2 for behold1 ,i bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people3 for there is born to you this day in the city of ,david a ,saviour1 which is ,christ the ,lord4 ,and then he gave them a sign by which they might recognize the ,saviour ,lord3 ,ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes1 and lying in a manger4 ,from the indefinite wording of the narrative we should infer that the angel who brought the message to the shepherds was not ,gabriel1 who had before brought the good tidings to ,mary4 ,but whether or not the messenger was the same1 the two messages are almost identical in structure and in thought1 the only difference being the personal element of the equation1 and the shifting of the time from the future to the present tense4 ,both strike the same key-note1 the ,fear not with which they seek to still the vibrations of the heart1 that the ,virgin and the shepherds may not have their vision blurred and tremulous through the agitation of the mind4 ,both make mention of the name of ,david1 which name was the key-word which unlocked all ,messianic hopes4 ,both speak of the ,child as a ,saviour--though ,gabriel wraps up the title within the name1 ,thou shalt call ,his name ,jesus2 for1 as ,st4 ,matthew explains it1 it is ,he that shall save ,his people from their sins4 ,both1 too1 speak of ,him as the ,messiah2 for when the angel now calls ,him the ,christ it was the same ,anointed one who1 as ,gabriel had said1 should reign over the house of ,jacob for ever2 while in the last august title now given by the angel1 ,lord1 we may recognize the higher ,divinity--that ,he is1 in some unique1 and to us incomprehensible sense1 the ,son of the ,most ,high 7i4 #cb74 ,such1 then1 is the triple crown the angel now bears to the cradle of the ,holy ,child4 ,what ,he will be to the world is still but a prophecy2 but as ,he1 the ,firstborn1 is now brought into the world1 ,god commands all the angels to worship ,him 7,heb4 i4 #f72 and with united voice--though the antiphon sings back over a nine months silence--they salute the ,child of ,bethlehem as ,saviour1 ,messiah1 ,lord4 ,the one title sets up ,his throne facing the lower world1 commanding the powers of darkness1 and looking at the moral conditions of men2 the second throws the shadow of ,his throne over the political relations of men1 making it dominate all thrones2 while the third title sets up ,his throne facing the heavens themselves1 vesting ,him with a supreme1 a ,divine authority4 ,no sooner was the message ended than suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host1 praising ,god and saying-- ,glory to ,god in the highest1 ,and on earth peace among men in whom ,he is well pleased4 ,the ,revised ,version lacks the rhythmic qualities of the ,authorized ,version2 and the wordy clause among men in whom ,he is well pleased seems but a poor substitute for the terse and clear good-will toward men1 which is an expression easy of utterance1 and which seemed to have earned a prescriptive right to a place in our ,advent music4 ,the revised rendering1 however1 is certainly more in accord with the grammatical construction of the original1 whose idiomatic form can scarcely be put into ,english1 except in a way somewhat circuitous and involved4 ,in both expressions the underlying thought is the same1 representing man as the object of the ,divine good-pleasure1 that ,divine benevolence--using the word in its etymological sense--which enfolds1 in the germ1 the ,divine favour1 compassion1 mercy1 and love4 ,there is thus a triple parallelism running through the song1 the ,glory to ,god in the highest finding its corresponding terms in the peace among 7or to7 men in whom ,he is well pleased on earth2 while altogether it forms one complete circle of praise1 the good-pleasure to man1 the peace on earth1 the glory to ,god marking off its three segments4 ,and so the song harmonizes with the message2 indeed1 it is that message in an altered shape2 no longer walking in common prosaic ways1 but winged now1 it moves in its higher circles with measured beat1 leaving a path from the cradle of the ,infancy to the highest heavens all strewn with ,glorias4 ,and what is the triplicity of the song but another rendering of the three august titles of the message--,saviour1 ,messiah1 ,lord8 the ,saviour being the expression of the ,divine good-pleasure2 the ,messiah telling of ,his reign upon earth who is ,himself the ,prince of peace2 while the ,lord1 which1 as we have seen1 corresponds with the ,son of the ,most ,high1 leads us up directly to the heavenlies1 to ,him who commands and who deserves all doxologies4 ,but is this song only a song in some far-distant sky--a sweet memory indeed1 but no experience8 ,is it not rather the original from which copies may be struck for our individual lives8 ,there is for each of us an advent1 if we will accept it2 for what is regeneration but the beginning of the ,divine life within our life1 the advent of the ,christ ,himself8 ,and let but that supreme hour come to us when place and room are made for ,him who is at once the expression of the ,divine favour and the incarnation of the ,divine love1 and the new era dawns1 the reign of peace1 the peace of ,god1 because the peace with ,god1 through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,then will the heart throw off its ,glorias1 not in one burst of song1 which subsides quickly into silence1 but in one perpetual anthem1 which ever becomes more loud and sweet as the day of its perfected redemption draweth nigh2 for when the ,divine displeasure is turned away1 and a ,divine peace or comfort takes its place1 who can but say1 ,o ,lord1 ,i will praise ,thee8 ,directly the angel-song had ceased1 and the singers had disappeared in the deep silence whence they came1 the shepherds1 garnering up their scattered thoughts1 said one to another 7as if their hearts were speaking all at once and all in unison71 ,let us now go even unto ,bethlehem1 and see this thing that is come to pass which the ,lord hath made known unto us4 ,the response was immediate4 ,they do not shut out this heavenly truth by doubt and vain questioning2 they do not keep it at a distance from them1 as if it only indirectly and distantly concerned themselves1 but yield themselves up to it entirely2 and as they go hastily to ,bethlehem1 in the quick step and in the rapid beating of their heart1 we can trace the vibrations of the angel-song4 ,and why is this8 ,why is it that the message does not come upon them as a surprise8 ,why are these men ready with such a perfect acquiescence1 their hearts leaping forward to meet and embrace this ,gospel of the angels8 ,we shall probably find our answer in the character of the men themselves4 ,they pass into history unnamed2 and after playing their brief part1 they disappear1 lost in the incense-cloud of their own praises4 ,but evidently these shepherds were no mean1 no common men4 ,they were ,hebrews1 possibly of the royal line2 at any rate they were ,davids in their loftiness of thought1 of hope and aspiration4 ,they were devout1 ,god-fearing men4 ,like their father ,jacob1 they too were citizens of two worlds2 they could lead their flocks into green pastures1 and mend the fold2 or they could turn aside from flock and fold to wrestle with ,god's angels1 and prevail4 ,heaven's revelations come to noble minds1 as the loftiest peaks are always the first to hail the dawn4 ,and can we suppose that ,heaven would so honour them1 lighting up the sky with an aureole of glory for their sole benefit1 sending this multitude to sing to them a sweet chorale1 if the men themselves had nothing heavenly about them1 if their selfish1 sordid mind could soar no higher than their flocks1 and have no wider range than the markets for their wool8 ,let but a flute ,play 'neath the fine-mixed metal1 ,then shall the huge bell tremble1 then the mass ,with myriad waves concurrent shall respond ,in low1 soft unison4 ,but there must be the music hidden within1 or there is no unison4 ,and we may be sure of this1 that the angel-song had passed by them as a cold night-wind1 had not their hearts been tuned up by intense desire1 until they struck responsive to the angel-voice4 ,though they knew it not1 they had led their flock to the mount of ,god2 and up the steps of sacred hopes and lofty aspirations they had climbed1 until their lives had got within the circle of heavenly harmonies1 and they were worthy to be the first apostles of the ,new ,dispensation4 ,in our earthly modes of thinking we push the sacred and the secular far apart1 as if they were two different worlds1 or1 at any rate1 as opposite hemispheres of the same world1 with but few points of contact between them4 ,it is not so4 ,the secular is the sacred on its under1 its earthward side4 ,it is a part of that great whole we call duty1 and in our earthly callings1 if they are but pure and honest1 we may hear the echoes of a heavenly call4 ,the temple of ,worship and the temple of ,work are not separated by indefinable spaces2 they are contiguous1 leaning upon each other1 while they both front the same ,divine purpose4 ,nor can it be simply a coincidence that ,heaven's revelations should nearly always come to man in the moments of earthly toil1 rather than in the hours of leisure or of so-called worship4 ,it was from his shepherding the burning bush beckoned ,moses aside2 while ,heaven's messenger found ,gideon on the threshing-floor1 and ,elisha in the furrow4 ,in the ,new ,testament1 too1 in all the cases whose circumstances are recorded1 the ,divine call reached the disciples when engaged in their every-day task1 sitting at the receipt of custom1 and casting or mending their nets4 ,the fact is significant4 ,in the estimate of ,heaven1 instead of a discount being put upon the common tasks of life1 those tasks are dignified and ennobled4 ,they look towards heaven1 and if the heart be only set in that direction they lead too up towards heaven4 ,our weeks are not unlike the sheet of ,peter's vision2 we take care to tie up the two ends1 attaching them to heaven1 and then we leave what we call the week-days bulging down earthward in purely secular fashion4 ,but would not our weeks1 and our whole life1 swing on a higher and holier level1 could we but recognize the fact that all days are the ,lord's days1 and did we but attach each day and each deed to heaven8 ,such is the truest1 noblest life1 that takes the trivial rounds as a part of its sacred duties1 doing them all as unto the ,lord4 ,so1 as we sanctify life's common things1 they cease to be common1 and the earthly becomes less earthly as we learn to see more of heaven in it4 ,in the weaving of our life some of its threads stretch earthward1 and some heavenward2 but they cross and interlace1 and together they form the warp and woof of one fabric1 which should be1 like the garment of the ,master1 without seam1 woven from the top throughout4 ,happy is that life which1 keeping an open eye over the flock1 keeps too a heart open towards heaven1 ready to listen to the angelic music1 and ready to transfer its rhythm to their own hastening feet or their praising lips4 ,our ,evangelist tells us that they came in haste in search of the young ,child1 and we may almost detect that haste in the very accents of their speech4 ,it is1 ,let us now go across even to ,bethlehem1 allowing the prefix its proper meaning2 as if their eager hearts could not stay to go round by the ordinary road1 but like bees scenting a held of clover1 they too must make their cross-country way to ,bethlehem4 ,though the angel had not given explicit directions1 the city of ,david was not so large but that they could easily discover the object of their search--the ,child1 as had been told them1 wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manager4 ,it has been thought by some that the inn is a mistranslation1 and that it really was the guest-chamber of some friend4 ,it is true the word is rendered guest-chamber on the other two occasions of its use 7,mark xiv4 #ad2 ,luke xxii4 #aa71 but it also signified a public guest-house1 as well as a private guest-chamber2 and such evidently is its meaning here1 for private hospitality1 even had its guest-chamber been preoccupied1 would certainly1 under the circumstances1 have offered something more human than a stable4 ,that would not have been its only alternative4 ,it is an interesting coincidence1 and one serving to link together the ,old and the ,new ,testament1 that ,jeremiah speaks of a certain geruth1 or inn1 as it may read1 which is by ,beth-lehem 7,jer4 xli4 #ag74 ,how it came into the possession of ,chimham1 who was a ,gileadite1 we are not told2 but we are told that because of the kindness shown to ,david in his exile by ,barzillai1 his son ,chimham received special marks of the royal favour1 and was1 in fact1 treated almost as an adopted son 7#a ,kings ii4 #g74 ,what is certain is that the khan of ,bethlehem bore1 for successive generations1 the name of ,chimham2 which fact is in itself evidence that ,chimham was its builder1 as the well of ,jacob retained1 through all the changes of inheritance1 the name of the patriarch whose thought and gift it was4 ,in all probability1 therefore1 the inn was built by ,chimham1 on that part of the paternal estate which ,david inherited2 and as the khans of the ,east cling with remarkable tenacity to their original sites1 it is probable1 to say the least1 that the inn of ,chimham and the inn of ,bethlehem1 in which there was no room for the two late-comers from ,nazareth1 were1 if not identical1 at any rate related structures--so strangely does the cycle of history complete itself1 and the ,old merge into the ,new4 ,and so1 while ,prophecy sings audibly and sweetly of the place which yet shall give birth to the ,governor who shall rule over ,israel1 ,history puts up her silent hand1 and salutes ,beth-lehem ,ephratah as by no means the least among the cities of ,judah4 ,but not in the inn do the shepherds find the happy parents--the spring-tide of the unusual immigration had completely flooded that1 leaving no standing-place for the son and daughter of ,david--but they find them in a stable1 probably in some adjoining cave1 the swaddled ,child1 as the angels had foretold1 lying in the manger4 ,art has lingered reverently and long over this stable scene1 hiding with exquisite draperies its baldness and meanness1 and lighting up its darkness with wreaths of golden glory2 but these splendours are apocryphal1 existing only in the mind of the beholder2 they are the luminous mist of an adoring love4 ,what the shepherds do find is an extemporized apartment1 mean in the extreme2 two strangers fresh from ,nazareth1 both young and both poor2 and a new-born infant asleep in the manger1 with a group of sympathizing spectators1 who have brought1 in the emergency1 all kinds of proffered helps4 ,it seems a strange ending for an angel-song1 a far drop from the superhuman to the subhuman4 ,will it shake the faith of these apostle-shepherds8 ,will it shatter their bright hope8 ,and chagrined that their auroral dream should have so poor a realization1 will they return to their flocks with heavy hearts and sad8 ,not they4 ,they prostrate themselves before the ,infant ,presence1 repeating over and over the heavenly words the angels had spoken unto them concerning the ,child1 and while ,mary announces the name as ,jesus1 they salute ,him1 as the angels had greeted ,him before1 as ,saviour1 ,messiah1 ,lord2 thus putting on the head of the ,child ,jesus that triple crown1 symbol of a supremacy which knows no limit either in space or time4 ,it was the ,te ,deum of a redeemed humanity1 which succeeding years have only made more deep1 more full1 and which in ever-rising tones will yet grow into the ,alleluias of the heavens4 ,saviour1 ,messiah1 ,lord6 these titles struck upon ,mary's ear not with surprise1 for she has grown accustomed to surprises now1 but with a thrill of wonder4 ,she could not yet spell out all their deep meaning1 and so she pondered them in her heart1 hiding them away in her maternal soul1 that their deep secrets might ripen and blossom in the summer of the after-years4 ,the shepherds appear no more in the ,gospel story4 ,we see them returning to their task glorifying and praising ,god for all the things that they had heard and seen1 and then the mantle of a deep silence falls upon them4 ,as a lark1 rising heavenward1 loses itself from our sight1 becoming a sweet song in the sky1 so these anonymous shepherds1 these first disciples of the ,lord1 having laid their tribute at ,his feet--in the name of humanity saluting the ,christ who was to be--now pass out of our sight1 leaving for us the example of their heavenward look and their simple faith1 and leaving1 too1 their ,glorias1 which in multiplied reverberations fill all lands and all times1 the earthly prelude of the ,new1 the eternal ,song4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,voice ,,in ,,the ,,wilderness4 ,when the ,old ,testament closed1 prophecy had thrown upon the screen of the future the shadows of two persons1 cast in heavenly light4 ,sketched in outline rather than in detail1 still their personalities were sufficiently distinct as to attract the gaze and hopes of the intervening centuries2 while their differing1 though related missions were clearly recognized4 ,one was the ,coming ,one1 who should bring the consolation of ,israel1 and who should ,himself be that ,consolation2 and gathering into one august title all such glittering epithets as ,star1 ,shiloh1 and ,emmanuel1 prophecy reverently saluted ,him as the ,lord1 paying ,him prospective homage and adoration4 ,the other was to be the herald of another ,dispensation1 proclaiming the new kingdom and the new ,king1 running before the royal chariot1 even as ,elijah ran before ,ahab to the ivory palace at ,jezreel1 his voice then dying away in silence1 as he himself passes out of sight behind the throne4 ,such were the two figures that prophecy1 in a series of dissolving views1 had thrown forward from the ,old into the ,new ,testament2 and such was the signal honour accorded to the ,baptist1 that while many of the ,old ,testament characters appear as reflections in the ,new1 his is the only human shadow thrown back from the ,new into the ,old4 ,the forerunner thus had a virtual existence long before the time of the ,advent4 ,known by his synonym of ,elias1 the prophesied1 he became as a real presence1 moving here and there among their thoughts and dreams1 and lighting up their long night with the beacon-fires of new and bright hopes4 ,his voice seemed familiar1 even though it came to them in far-distant echoes1 and the listening centuries had caught exactly both its accent and its message4 ,and so the preparer of the way found his own path prepared2 for ,john's path and the way of the ,lord were the same2 it was the way of obedience and of sacrifice4 ,the two lives were thus thrown into conjunction from the first1 the lesser light revolving around the ,greater1 as they fulfil their separate courses--separate indeed1 as far as the human must ever be separated from the ,divine1 yet most closely related4 ,living thus through the pre-,advent centuries1 both in the ,divine purpose and in the thoughts and hopes of men1 so early designated to his heraldic office1 ,my messenger1 in a singular sense1 as no other of mortals could ever be1 it is no matter of apology1 or even of surprise1 that his birth should be attended by so much of the supernatural4 ,the ,divine designation seems to imply1 almost to demand1 a ,divine declaration2 and in the birth-story of the ,baptist the flashes of the supernatural1 such as the angelic announcement and the miraculous conception1 come with a simple naturalness4 ,the prelude is in perfect symphony with the song4 ,st4 ,luke is the only ,evangelist who gives us the birth-story4 ,the other three speak only of his mission1 introducing him to us abruptly1 as1 like another ,moses1 he comes down from his new ,sinai with the tables of the law in his hands and the strange light upon his face4 ,st4 ,luke takes us back to the infancy1 that we may see the beginnings of things1 the ,divine purpose enwrapped in swaddling clothes1 as it once was set adrift in a rush-plaited ark4 ,before the message he puts the man1 and before the man he puts the child--for is not the child a prophecy or invoice of the man8--while all around the child he puts the environment of home1 showing us the subtle1 powerful influences that touched and shaped the young prophet-life4 ,as a plant carries up into its outmost leaves the ingredients of the rock around which its fibres cling1 so each upspringing life--even the life of a prophet--carries into its farthest reaches the unconscious influence of its home associations4 ,and so ,st4 ,luke sketches for us that quiet home in the hill-country1 whose windows opened and whose doors turned toward ,jerusalem1 the city of the great and invisible ,king4 ,he shows us ,zacharias and ,elisabeth1 true saints of ,god1 devout of heart and blameless of life1 down into whose placid lives an angel came1 rippling them with the excitements of new promises and hopes4 ,where could the first meridian of the ,new ,dispensation run better than through the home of these seers of things unseen1 these watchers for the dawn8 ,where could be so fitting a receptacle for the ,divine purpose1 where it could so soon and so well ripen8 ,had not ,god elected them to this high honour1 and ,himself prepared them for it8 ,had ,he not purposely kept back all earlier1 lower shoots1 that their whole growth should be upward1 one reaching out towards heaven1 like the palm1 its fruit clustering around its outmost branches8 ,we can easily imagine what intense emotion the message of the angel would produce1 and that ,zacharias would not so much miss the intercourse of human speech now that ,god's thoughts were audible in his soul4 ,what loving preparation would ,elisabeth make for this child of hers1 who was to be great in the sight of the ,lord6 what music she would strike out from its name1 ,john 7the ,grace of ,jehovah71 the name which was both the sesame and symbol of the ,new ,dispensation6 ,how her eager heart would outrun the slow months1 as she threw herself forward in anticipation among the joys of maternity1 a motherhood so exalted6 ,and why did she hide herself for the five months1 but that she might prepare herself for her great mission8 that in her seclusion she might hear more distinctly the voices that spake to her from above1 or that in the silence she might hear her own heart sing8 ,but neither the eagerness of ,elisabeth nor the dumbness of ,zacharias is allowed to hasten the ,divine purpose4 ,that purpose1 like the cloud of old1 accommodates itself to human conditions1 the slow processions of the humanities2 and not until the time is full does the hope become a realization1 and the infant voice utter its first cry4 ,and now is gathered the first congregation of the new era4 ,it is but a family gathering1 as the neighbours and relatives come together for the circumcising of the child--which rite was always performed on the corresponding day of the week after its birth2 but it is significant as being the first of those ever-widening circles that moving outwards from its central impulse1 spread rapidly over the land1 as they are now rapidly spreading over all lands4 ,zacharias1 of course1 was present2 but mute and deaf1 he could only sit apart1 a silent spectator4 ,elisabeth1 as we may gather from various references and hints1 was of modest and retiring disposition1 fond of putting herself in the shade1 of standing behind2 and so now the conduct of the ceremony seems to have fallen into the hands of some of the relatives4 ,presuming that the general custom will be observed1 that the first-born child will take the name of the father1 they proceed to name it ,zacharias4 ,this1 however1 ,elisabeth cannot allow1 and with an emphatic negative1 she says1 ,not so2 but he shall be called ,john4 ,persistent still in their own course1 and not satisfied with the mother's affirmation1 the friends turn to the aged and mute priest1 and by signs ask how they shall name the child 7and had ,zacharias heard the conversation1 he certainly would not have waited for their question1 but would have spoken or written at once72 and ,zacharias1 calling for the writing-table1 which doubtless had been his close companion1 giving him his only touch of the outer world for the still nine months1 wrote1 ,his name is ,john4 ,ah1 they are too late6 the child was named even long before its birth1 named1 too1 within the ,holy ,place of the ,temple1 and by an angel of ,god4 ,john and ,jesus1 those two names1 since the visit of the ,virgin1 have been like two bells of gold1 throwing waves of music across heart and home1 ringing their welcome to the ,christ who is to be1 the ,christ who is now so near4 ,his name is ,john2 and with that brief stroke of his pen ,zacharias half rebukes these intrusions and interferences of the relatives1 and at the same time makes avowal of his own faith4 ,and as he wrote the name ,john1 his present obedience making atonement for a past unbelief1 instantly the paralyzed tongue was loosed1 and he spake1 blessing ,god1 throwing the name of his child into a psalm2 for what is the ,benedictus of ,zacharias but ,john written large and full1 one sweet and loud magnifying of the ,grace and ,favour of ,jehovah8 ,it is only a natural supposition that when the inspiration of the song had passed away1 ,zacharias' speech would begin just where it was broken off1 and that he would narrate to the guests the strange vision of the ,temple1 with the angel's prophecy concerning the child4 ,and as the guests depart to their own homes1 each one carries the story of this new apocalypse1 as he goes to spread the evangel1 and to wake among the neighbouring hills the echoes of ,zacharias' song4 ,no wonder that fear came upon all that dwelt round about1 and that they who pondered these things in their hearts should ask1 ,what then shall this child be8 ,and here the narrative of the childhood suddenly ends1 for with two brief sentences our ,evangelist dismisses the thirty succeeding years4 ,he tells us that the hand of the ,lord was with the child1 doubtless arranging its circumstances1 giving it opportunities1 preparing it for the rugged manhood and the rugged mission which should follow in due course2 and that the child grew1 and waxed strong in spirit1 the very same expression he afterwards uses in reference to the ,holy ,child1 an expression we can best interpret by the angel's prophecy1 ,he shall be filled with the ,holy ,ghost even from his mother's womb4 ,his native strength of spirit was made doubly strong by the touch of the ,divine ,spirit1 as the iron1 coming from its baptism of fire1 is hardened and tempered into steel4 ,and so we see that in the ,divine economy even a consecrated childhood is a possible experience2 and that it is comparatively infrequent is owing rather to our warped views1 which possibly may need some readjustment1 than to the ,divine purpose and provision4 ,is the child born into the ,divine displeasure1 branded from its birth with the mark of ,cain8 ,is it not rather born into the ,divine mercy1 and all enswathed in the abundance of ,divine love8 ,true1 it is born of a sinful race1 with tendencies to self-will which may lead it astray2 but it is just as true that it is born within the covenant of grace2 that around its earliest and most helpless years is thrown the gis of ,christ's atonement2 and that these innate tendencies are held in check and neutralized by what is called prevenient grace4 ,in the struggle for that child-life are the powers of darkness the first in the field1 outmarching and out-manuvring the powers of light8 ,why1 the very thought is half-libellous4 ,heaven's touch is upon the child from the first4 ,ignore it as we may1 deny it as some will1 yet back in life's earliest dawn the ,divine ,spirit is brooding over the unformed world1 parting its firmaments of right and wrong1 and fashioning a new ,paradise4 ,is evil the inevitable8 ,must each life taste the forbidden fruit before it can attain to a knowledge of the good8 ,in other words1 is sin a great though dire necessity8 ,if a necessity1 then it is no longer sin1 and we must seek for another and more appropriate name4 ,no2 childhood is ,christ's purchased and peculiar possession2 and the best type of religious experience is that which is marked by no rapid transitions1 which breaks upon the soul softly and sweetly as a dawn1 its beginnings imperceptible1 and so unremembered4 ,so not without meaning is it that right at the gate of the ,new ,dispensation we find the cradle of a consecrated childhood4 ,placed there by the gate1 so that all may see it1 and placed in the light1 so that all may read it1 the childhood of the ,baptist tells us what our childhood might oftener be1 if only its earthly guardians--whose hands are so powerful to impress and mould the plastic soul--were1 like ,zacharias and ,elisabeth1 themselves prayerful1 blameless1 and devout4 ,now the scene shifts2 for we read he was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto ,israel4 ,from the fact that this clause is intimately connected with the preceding1 and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit--the two clauses having but one subject--some have supposed that ,john was but a child when he turned away from the parental roof and sought the wilderness4 ,but this does not follow4 ,the two parts of the sentence are only separated by a comma1 but that pause may bridge over a chasm wide enough for the flow of numerous years1 and between the childhood and the wilderness the narrative would almost compel us to put a considerable space4 ,as his physical development was1 in mode and proportion1 purely human1 with no hint of anything unnatural or even supernatural1 so we may suppose was his mental and spiritual development4 ,the voice must become articulate2 it must play upon the alphabet1 and turn sound into speech4 ,it must learn1 that it may think2 it must study1 that it may know4 ,and so the human teacher is indispensable4 ,children reared of wolves may learn to bark1 but1 in spite of mythology1 they will not build cities and found empires4 ,and where could the child find better instructors than in his own parents1 whose quiet lives had been passed in an atmosphere of prayer1 and to whom the very jots and tittles of the law were familiar and dear8 ,indeed1 we can scarcely suppose that after having prepared ,zacharias and ,elisabeth for their great mission1 working what is something like a miracle1 that she and no one else shall be the mother of the forerunner1 the child should then be torn away from its natural guardians before the processes of its education are complete4 ,it is true they were both well stricken in years1 but that phrase would cover any period from threescore years and upwards1 and to that threescore the usual longevity of the ,temple ministrants would easily allow another twenty years to be added4 ,may we not1 then1 suppose that the child-,baptist studied and played under the parental roof1 the bright focus to which their hopes1 and thoughts1 and prayers converged2 that here1 too1 he spent his boyhood and youth1 preparing for that priestly office to which his lineage entitled and designated him8 for why should not the messenger of the ,lord be priest as well8 ,we have no further mention of ,zacharias and ,elisabeth1 but it is not improbable that their death was the occasion of ,john's retirement to the deserts1 now a young man1 perhaps1 of twenty years4 ,according to custom1 ,john now should have been introduced and consecrated to the priesthood1 twenty years being the general age of the initiates2 but in obedience to a higher call1 ,john renounces the priesthood1 and breaks with the ,temple at once and for ever4 ,retiring to the deserts1 which1 wild and gloomy1 stretch westward from the ,dead ,sea1 and assuming the old prophet garb--a loose dress of camel's hair1 bound with a thong of leather--the student becomes the recluse4 ,inhabiting some mountain cave1 tasting only the coarse fare that nature offered--locusts and wild honey--the new ,elias has come and has found his ,cherith2 and here1 withdrawn far from the madding crowd and the incessant babble of human talk1 with no companions save the wild beasts and the bright constellations of that ,syrian sky1 as they wheel round in their nightly dance1 the lonely man opens his heart to ,god's great thoughts and purposes1 and by constant prayer keeps his clear1 trumpet voice in drill4 ,evidently1 ,john had seen enough of so-called society1 with its cold conventionalities and hypocrisies2 his keen eye had seen only too easily the hollowness and corruption that lay beneath the outer gloss and varnish--the thin veneer that but half concealed the worminess and rottenness that lay beneath4 ,john goes out into the desert like another scapegoat1 bearing deep within his heart the sins of his nation--sins1 alas1 which are yet unrepented of and unforgiven6 ,it was doubtless thoughts like these1 and the constant brooding upon them1 which gave to the ,baptist the touch of melancholy that we can detect both in his features and his speech4 ,austere in person1 with a wail in his voice like the sighing of the wind1 or charged at times with suppressed thunders1 the ,baptist reminds us of the ,peri1 who ,at the gate ,of ,eden stood disconsolate4 ,sin had become to ,john an awful fact4 ,he could see nothing else4 ,the fragments of the law's broken tables strewed the land1 even the courts of the ,temple itself1 and men were everywhere tripping against them and falling4 ,but ,john did see something else2 it was the day of the ,lord1 now very near1 the day that should come scathing and burning as a furnace1 unless1 meanwhile1 ,israel should repent4 ,so the prophet mused1 and as he mused the fire burned within his soul1 even the fire of the ,refiner1 the fire of ,god4 ,our ,evangelist characterizes the opening of ,john's ministry with an official word4 ,he calls it a showing1 a manifestation1 putting upon the very word the stamp and sanction of a ,divine appointment4 ,he is careful1 too1 to mark the time1 so giving the ,gospel story its place among the chronologies of the world2 which he does in a most elaborate way4 ,he first reads the time on the horoscope of the ,empire1 whose swinging pendulum was a rising or a falling throne2 and he states that it was the fifteenth year of the reign of ,tiberius ,csar1 counting the two years of his joint rule with ,augustus4 ,then1 as if that were not enough1 he notes the hour as indicated on the four quarters of the ,hebrew commonwealth1 the hour when ,pilate1 ,herod1 ,philip1 and ,lysanias were in conjunction1 ruling in their divided heavens4 ,then1 as if that even were not enough1 he marks the ecclesiastical hour as indicated by the marble time-piece of the ,temple2 it was when ,annas and ,caiaphas held jointly the high priesthood4 ,what is the meaning of this elaborate mechanism1 wheels within wheels8 ,is it because the hour is so important1 that it needs the hands of an emperor1 a governor1 three tetrarchs1 and two high priests to point it8 ,ewald is doubtless right in saying that ,st4 ,luke1 as the historian1 wished to frame the ,gospel history into the great history of the world by giving precise dates2 but if that were the ,evangelist's main reason1 such an accumulation of time-evidence were scarcely necessary2 for what do the subsequent statements add to the precision of the first--,in the fifteenth year of ,tiberius8 ,we must1 then1 seek for the ,evangelist's meaning elsewhere4 ,among the oldest of the ,hebrew prophecies concerning the ,messiah was that of ,jacob4 ,closing his life1 as ,moses did afterwards1 with a wonderful vision1 he looked down on the far-off years1 and speaking of the coming ,seed1 he said1 ,the sceptre shall not depart from ,judah1 nor a lawgiver from between his feet1 until ,shiloh come 7,gen4 xlix4 #aj74 ,might not this prophecy have been in the thought of the ,evangelist when he stayed so much longer than his wont to note times and seasons8 ,why does he mention ,herod and ,pilate1 ,philip and ,lysanias1 but to show how the sceptre has1 alas1 departed from ,judah1 and the lawgiver from between his feet1 and how the chosen land is torn to pieces by the ,roman eagles8 ,and why does he name ,annas and ,caiaphas1 but to show how the same disintegrating forces are at work even within the ,temple1 when the rightful high priest can be set aside and superseded by the nominee of a foreign and a ,pagan power8 ,verily the glory has departed from ,israel2 and if ,st4 ,luke introduces foreign emperors1 tetrarchs1 and governors1 it is that they may ring a muffled peal over the grave of a dead nation1 a funeral knell1 which1 however1 shall be the signal for the coming of the ,shiloh1 and the gathering of the people unto ,him4 ,such were the times--times of disorganization1 disorder1 and almost despair--when the word of ,god came unto ,john in the wilderness4 ,it came upon him1 as it literally reads1 probably in one of those wonderful theophanies1 as when ,god spake to ,moses from the flaming bush1 or as when ,he appeared to ,elijah upon ,horeb1 sending him back to an unfinished task4 ,john obeyed4 ,emerging from his wilderness retreat1 clad in his strange attire1 spare in build1 his features sharp and worn with fasting1 his long1 dishevelled hair telling of his ,nazarite vow1 he moves down to the ,jordan like an apparition4 ,his appearance is everywhere hailed with mingled curiosity and delight4 ,crowds come in ever-increasing numbers1 not one class only1 but all classes--priests1 soldiers1 officials1 people--until it seemed as if the cities had emptied themselves into the ,jordan valley4 ,and what went they out for to see8 ,a reed shaken with the wind8 ,a prophesier of smooth things8 ,a preacher of revolt against tyranny8 ,nay2 ,john was no wind-shaken reed1 he was rather the heavenly wind itself1 swaying the multitudes at will1 and bending hearts and consciences into penitence and prayer4 ,john was no preacher of revolt against the powers that be2 in his mind1 ,israel had revolted more and more1 and he must bring them back to their allegiance1 or himself die in the attempt4 ,john was no preacher of smooth things2 there was not even the charm of variety about his speech4 ,the one burden of his message was1 ,repent3 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand4 ,but the effect was marvellous4 ,the lone voice from the wilderness swept over the land like the breath of ,god4 ,borne forwards on a thousand lips1 it echoed through the cities and penetrated into remotest places4 ,juda1 ,samaria1 and even distant ,galilee felt the quiver of the strange voice1 and even from the shore of the ,northern ,sea men came to sit at the feet of the new teacher1 and to call themselves ,john's disciples4 ,so widespread and so deep was the movement1 it sent its ripples even within the royal palace1 awaking the curiosity1 and perhaps the conscience1 of ,herod himself4 ,it was a genuine revival of religion1 such as ,juda had not witnessed since the days of ,ezra1 the awaking of the national conscience and of the national hope4 ,perhaps it would be difficult1 by any analysis of ours1 to discover or to define the secret of ,john's success4 ,it was the resultant1 not of one force1 but of many4 ,for instance1 the hour was favourable4 ,it was the ,sabbatic year1 when field-work was in the main suspended1 and men everywhere had leisure mind and hand lying1 as it were1 fallow4 ,then1 too1 the very dress of the ,baptist would not be without its influence1 especially on a mind so sensitive to form and colour as the ,hebrew mind was4 ,dress to them was a form of duty4 ,they were accustomed to weave into their tassels sacred symbols1 so making the external speak of the eternal4 ,their hands played on the parti-coloured threads most faithfully and sacredly2 for were not these the chords of ,divine harmonies8 ,but here is one who discards both the priestly and the civilian dress1 and who wears1 instead1 the rough camel's hair robe of the old prophets4 ,the very dress would thus appeal most powerfully to their imagination1 carrying back their thoughts to the time of the ,theocracy1 when ,jehovah was not silent as now1 and when ,heaven was so near1 speaking by some ,samuel or ,elijah4 ,are those days returning8 they would ask4 ,is this the ,elias who was to come and restore all things8 ,surely it must be4 ,and in the rustle of the ,baptist's robe they heard the rustle of ,elijah's mantle1 dropping a second time by these ,jordan banks4 ,then1 too1 there was the personal charm of the man4 ,john was young1 if years are our reckoning1 for he counted but thirty2 but in his case the verve and energy of youth were blended with the discretion and saintliness of age4 ,what was the world to him1 its fame1 its luxury and wealth8 ,they were only the dust he shook from his feet1 as his spirit sighed for and soared after ,heaven's better things4 ,he asks nothing of earth but her plainest fare1 a couch of grass1 and by-and-by a grave4 ,then1 too1 there was a positiveness about the man1 that would naturally attract1 in a drifting1 shifting1 vacillating age4 ,the strong will is magnetic2 the weaker wills follow and cluster round it1 as swarming bees cluster around their queen4 ,and ,john was intensely positive4 ,his speech was clear-cut and incisive1 with a tremendous earnestness in it1 as if a ,thus saith the ,lord were at his heart4 ,john's mood was not the subjunctive1 where his words could eddy among the mays and mights2 it was plainly the indicative1 or better still1 the imperative4 ,he spoke as one who believed1 and who intensely felt what he believed4 ,then1 too1 there was a certain nobleness about his courage4 ,he knew no rank1 no party2 he was superior to all4 ,he feared ,god too much to have any fear of man4 ,he spake no word for the sake of pleasing1 and he kept back no word--even the hot rebuke--for fear of offending4 ,truth to him was more than titles1 and right was the only royalty4 ,how he painted the ,pharisees--those shiny1 slimy men1 with creeping1 sinuous ways--with that dark epithet brood of vipers6 ,with what a fearless courage he denounced the incest of ,herod6 ,he will not level down ,sinai1 accommodating it to royal passions6 ,not he4 ,it is not lawful for thee to have her--such were his words1 that rolled in upon ,herod's conscience like a peal of ,sinai's thunder1 telling him that law was law1 that right was more than might1 and purity more than power4 ,then1 too1 there was something about his message that was attractive4 ,that word the kingdom of heaven struck upon the national heart like a bell1 and set it vibrating with new hopes1 and awaking all kinds of beautiful dreams of recovered pre-eminence and power4 ,but while all these were auxiliaries1 factors1 and co-efficients in the problem of the ,baptist's success1 they are not sufficient in themselves to account for that success4 ,it is not difficult for a man of superior mental attainment1 and of strong individuality1 to attract a following1 especially if that following be in the direction of self-interest4 ,the emotions and passions of humanity lie near the surface2 they can be easily swept into a storm by the strong or by the pathetic voice4 ,but to reach the conscience1 to lift up the veil1 and to pass within to that ,most ,holy of the human soul is what man1 unaided1 cannot do4 ,only the ,divine ,voice can break those deep silences of the heart2 or if the human voice is used the power is not in the words of human speech--those words1 even the best1 are but the dead wires along which the ,divine ,voice moves--it is the power of ,god4 ,some men live near to ,god1 as my right arm ,is near to me2 and then they walk about ,mailed in full proof of faith1 and bear a charm ,that mocks at fear1 and bars the door on doubt1 ,and dares the impossible4 ,just such a man was the ,baptist4 ,he was a man of ,god4 ,he lived1 and moved1 and had his being in ,god4 ,self to him was an extinct passion4 ,envy1 pride1 ambition1 jealousy1 these were unknown tongues2 his pure soul understood not their meaning4 ,like his great prototype1 the ,spirit of the ,lord ,god was upon him4 ,his life was one conscious inspiration2 and ,john himself had been baptized with the baptism of which he spoke1 but which he himself could not give1 the baptism of the ,holy ,ghost and of fire4 ,this only will account for the wonderful effects produced by his preaching4 ,john1 in his own experience1 had antedated ,pentecost1 receiving the power from on high1 and as he spoke it was with a tongue of fire1 a voice in whose accent and tone the people could detect the deeper ,voice of ,god4 ,but if ,john could not baptize with the higher baptism1 usurping the functions of the ,one coming after1 he could1 and he did1 institute a lower1 symbolic baptism of water1 that thus the visible might lead up to the invisible4 ,in what mode ,john's baptism was administered we cannot tell1 nor is it material that we should know4 ,we do know1 however1 that the baptism of the ,spirit--and in ,john's mind the two were closely related--was constantly referred to in ,scripture as an effusion1 a pouring out1 a sprinkling1 and never once as an immersion4 ,and what was the baptism of fire to the mind of ,john8 ,was it not that which the prophet ,isaiah had experienced1 when the angel touched his lips with the live coal taken from the altar1 pronouncing over him the great absolution1 ,lo1 this hath touched thy lips2 and thine iniquity is taken away1 and thy sin purged 7,isa4 vi4 #g78 ,at best1 the baptism of water is but a shadow of the better thing1 the outward symbol of an inward grace4 ,we need not quarrel about modes and forms4 ,scripture has purposely left them indeterminate1 so that we need not wrangle about them4 ,there is no need that we exalt the shadow1 levelling it up to the substance2 and still less should we level it down1 turning it into a playground for the schools4 ,thus far the lives of ,jesus and ,john have lain apart4 ,one growing up in the hill-country of ,galilee1 the other in the hill-country of ,juda1 and then in the isolation of the wilderness1 they have never looked in each other's face1 though they have doubtless heard often of each other's mission4 ,they meet at last4 ,john had been constantly telling of ,,one who was coming after--after1 indeed1 in order of time1 but before1 infinitely before1 in pre-eminence and authority4 ,mightier than he1 ,he was the ,lord4 ,john would deem it an honour to kneel down before so august a ,master1 to untie and bear away ,his shoes2 for in such a ,presence servility was both becoming and ennobling4 ,with such words as these the crier in the wilderness had been transferring the people's thought from himself1 and setting their hearts listening for the ,coming ,one1 so preparing and broadening ,his way4 ,suddenly1 in one of the pauses of his ministrations1 a ,stranger presents ,himself1 and asks that the rite of baptism may be administered to ,him4 ,there is nothing peculiar about ,his dress2 ,he is younger than the ,baptist--much younger1 apparently1 for the rough1 ascetic life has prematurely aged him--but such is the grace and dignity of ,his person1 such the mingled strength and beauty of ,his manhood1 that even ,john1 who never quailed in the presence of mortal before1 is awed and abashed now4 ,discerning the innate royalty of the ,stranger1 and receiving a monition from the ,higher ,world1 with which he kept up close correspondence1 the ,baptist is assured that it is ,he1 the ,lord and ,christ4 ,immediately his whole manner changes4 ,the voice that has swept over the land like a whirlwind1 now is hushed1 subdued1 speaking softly1 deferentially1 reverentially4 ,here is a ,presence in which his imperatives all melt away and disappear1 a ,will that is infinitely higher than his own1 a ,person for whom his baptism is out of place4 ,john is perplexed2 he hesitates1 he demurs4 ,i have need to be baptized of ,thee1 and comest ,thou to me8 and ,john1 ,elias-like1 would fain have wrapped his mantle around his face1 burying out of sight his little me1 in the presence of the ,lord4 ,but ,jesus said1 ,suffer it now3 for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness 7,matt4 iii4 #ae74 ,the baptism of ,jesus was evidently a new kind of baptism1 one in which the usual formulas were strangely out of place2 and the question naturally arises1 ,why should ,jesus submit to1 and even ask for1 a baptism that was so associated with repentance and sin8 ,could there be any place for repentance1 any room for confession1 in the ,sinless ,one8 ,john felt the anomaly1 and so shrank from administering the rite1 till the reply of ,jesus put ,his baptism on different ground--ground altogether clear of any personal demerit4 ,jesus asked for baptism1 not for the washing away of sin1 but that ,he might fulfil all righteousness4 ,he was baptized1 not for ,his own sake1 but for the world's sake4 ,coming to redeem humanity1 ,he would identify ,himself with that humanity1 even the sinful humanity that it was4 ,son of ,god1 ,he would become a true ,son of man1 that through ,his redemption all other sons of men might become true sons of ,god4 ,bearing the sins of many1 taking away the sin of the world1 that heavy burden lay at ,his heart from the first2 ,he could not lay it down until ,he left it nailed to ,his cross4 ,himself knowing no sin1 ,he yet becomes the ,sin-offering1 and is numbered among the transgressors4 ,and as ,jesus went to the cross and into the grave mediatorially1 as ,humanity's ,son1 so ,jesus now passes into the baptismal waters mediatorially1 repenting for that world whose heart is still hard1 and whose eyes are dry of godly tears1 and confessing the sin which ,he in love has made ,his own1 the sin of the world1 the sin ,he has come to make atonement for and to bear away4 ,such is the meaning of the ,jordan baptism1 in which ,jesus puts the stamp of ,divinity upon ,john's mission1 while ,john bears witness to the sinlessness of ,jesus4 ,but a ,higher ,witness came than even that of ,john2 for no sooner was the rite administered1 and the river-bank regained1 than the heavens were opened1 and the ,spirit of ,god1 in the form of a fiery dove1 descended and alighted on the head of ,jesus2 while a ,voice out of the ,unseen proclaimed1 ,this is ,my beloved ,son1 in whom ,i am well pleased4 ,and so the ,son of man receives the heavenly1 as well as the earthly baptism4 ,baptized with water1 ,he is now baptized with the ,holy ,ghost and with fire1 anointed with the unction of the ,holy ,one4 ,but why should the ,holy ,spirit descend upon ,jesus in the form of a dove1 and afterwards upon the disciples in the form of cloven tongues of fire8 ,we can understand the symbolism of the cloven tongues2 for was not their mission to preach and teach1 spreading and establishing the kingdom by a consecrated speech--the ,divine word carried forward by the human voice8 ,what1 then1 is the meaning of the dove-form8 ,does it refer to the dove of the ,old ,dispensation1 which bearing the olive-leaf in its mouth1 preached its ,gospel to the dwellers in the ark1 telling of the abatement of the angry waters1 and of a salvation that was near8 ,and was not ,jesus a heavenly ,dove1 bearing to the world the olive-branch of reconciliation and of peace1 proclaiming the fuller1 wider ,gospel of mercy and of love8 ,the supposition1 at any rate1 is a possible one1 while the words of ,jesus would almost make it a probable one2 for speaking of this same baptism of the ,spirit1 ,he says--and in ,his words we can hear the beat and whir of dove-wings--,he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor3 ,he hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives1 444 to set at liberty them that are bruised 7iv4 #ah74 ,the interview between ,jesus and ,john was but brief1 and in all probability final4 ,they spend the following night near to each other1 but apart4 ,the day after1 ,john sees ,jesus walking1 but the narrative would imply that they did not meet4 ,john only points to ,him and says1 ,behold the ,lamb of ,god1 which taketh away the sin of the world2 and they part1 each to follow his separate path1 and to accomplish his separate mission4 ,the ,lamb of ,god1 which taketh away the sin of the world4 ,such was ,john's testimony to ,jesus1 in the moment of his clearest illumination4 ,he saw in ,jesus1 not as one learned writer would have us suppose1 the sheep of ,david's pastoral1 its life encircled with green pastures and still waters--not this1 but a lamb1 the ,lamb of ,god1 the ,paschal ,lamb1 led all uncomplaining to the slaughter1 and by its death bearing away sin--not either the sin of a year or the sin of a race1 but the sin of the world4 ,never had prophet so prophesied before2 never had mortal eye seen so clearly and so deeply into ,god's great mystery of mercy4 ,how1 then1 can we explain that mood of disappointment and of doubt which afterwards fell upon ,john8 ,what does it mean that from his prison he should send two of his disciples to ,jesus with the strange question1 ,art ,thou ,he that cometh1 or look we for another8 7vii4 #ai74 ,john is evidently disappointed--yes1 and dejected too2 and the ,elias still1 ,herod's prison is to him the juniper of the desert4 ,he thought the ,christ would be one like unto himself1 crying in the wilderness1 but with a louder voice and more penetrating accent4 ,he would be some ardent ,reformer1 with axe in hand1 or fan1 and with baptism of fire4 ,but lo1 ,jesus comes so different from his thought--with no axe in hand that he can see1 with no baptism of fire that he can hear of1 a ,sower rather than a ,winnower1 scattering thoughts1 principles1 beatitudes1 and parables1 telling not so much of the wrath to come as of the love that is already come1 if men will but repent and receive it--that ,john is fairly perplexed1 and actually sends to ,jesus for some word that shall be a solvent for his doubts4 ,it only shows how this ,elias1 too1 was a man of like passions with ourselves1 and that even prophets' eyes were sometimes dim1 reading ,god's purposes with a blurred vision4 ,jesus returns a singular answer4 ,he says neither ,yes nor ,no2 but ,he goes out and works ,his accustomed miracles1 and then dismisses the two disciples with the message1 ,go your way1 and tell ,john what things ye have seen and heard2 how that the blind see1 the lame walk1 the lepers are cleansed1 the deaf hear1 the dead are raised1 to the poor the ,gospel is preached4 ,and blessed is he1 whosoever shall not be offended in ,me4 ,these words are in part a quotation from ,john's favourite prophet1 ,isaiah1 who emphasized as no other prophet did the evangelistic character of ,christ's mission--which characteristic ,john seems to have overlooked4 ,in his thought the ,christ was ,judge1 the great ,refiner1 sifting the base from the pure1 and casting it into some ,gehenna of burnings4 ,but ,jesus reminds ,john that mercy is before and above judgment2 that ,he has come1 not to condemn the world1 but to save it1 and to save it1 not by reiterations of the law1 but by a manifestation of love4 ,ebal and ,sinai have had their word2 now ,gerizim and ,calvary must speak4 ,and so this greatest of the prophets was but human1 and therefore fallible4 ,he saw the ,christ1 no longer afar off1 but near--yea1 present2 but he saw in part1 and he prophesied in part4 ,he did not see the whole ,christ1 or grasp the full purport of ,his mission4 ,he stood on the threshold of the kingdom2 but the least of those who should pass within that kingdom should stand on a higher vantage-ground1 and so be greater than he4 ,indeed1 it seems scarcely possible that ,john could have fully understood ,jesus2 the two were so entirely different4 ,in dress1 in address1 in mode of life1 in thought the two were exact opposites4 ,john occupies the border-region between the ,old and the ,new2 and though his life appears in the ,new1 he himself belongs rather to the ,old ,dispensation4 ,his accent is ,mosaic1 his message a tritonomy1 a third giving of the law4 ,when asked the all-important question1 ,what shall we do8 ,john laid stress on works of charity1 and by his metaphor of the two coats he showed that men should endeavour to equalize their mercies4 ,and when publicans and soldiers ask the same question ,john gives a sort of transcript of the old tables1 striking the negatives of duty3 ,extort no more than that which is appointed you2 ,do violence to no man4 ,jesus would have answered in the simple positive that covered all classes and all cases alike3 ,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4 ,but such was the difference between the ,old and the ,new3 the one said1 ,do1 and thou shalt live2 the other said1 ,live1 and thou shalt do4 ,the voice of ,john awoke the conscience1 but he could not give it rest4 ,he was the preparer of the way2 ,jesus was the ,way1 as ,he was the ,truth and the ,life4 ,john was the ,voice2 ,jesus was the ,word4 ,john must decrease and disappear2 ,jesus must increase1 filling all times and all climes with ,his glorious1 abiding presence4 ,but the mission of ,john is drawing to a close1 and dark clouds are gathering in the west4 ,the popular idol still1 a hostile current has set against him4 ,the ,pharisees1 unforgetting and unforgiving1 are deadly bitter1 creeping across his path1 and hissing out their ,devil2 while ,herod1 who in his better moods had invited the ,baptist to his palace1 now casts him into prison4 ,he will silence the voice he has failed to bribe1 the voice that beat against the chambers of his revelry1 like a strange midnight gust1 and that set him trembling like an aspen4 ,we need not linger over the last sad tragedy--how the royal birthday was kept1 with a banquet to the ,state officials2 how the courtesan daughter of ,herodias came in and danced before the guests2 and how the half-drunken ,herod swore a rash oath1 that he would give her anything she might ask1 up to the half of his kingdom4 ,herodias knew well what wine and passion would do for ,herod4 ,she even guessed his promise beforehand1 and had given full directions to her daughter2 and soon as the rash oath had fallen from his lips--before he could recall or change his words--sharp and quick the request is made1 ,give me here ,john ,baptist's head in a charger4 ,there is a momentary conflict1 and ,herod gives the fearful word4 ,the head of ,john is brought into the banquet-hall before the assembled guests--the long flowing locks1 the eyes that even in death seemed to sparkle with the fire of ,god2 the lips sacred to purity and truth1 the lips that could not gloss a sin1 even the sin of a ,herod4 ,yes2 it is there1 the head of ,john the ,baptist4 ,the courtiers see it1 and smile2 ,herod sees it1 but does not smile4 ,that face haunts him2 he never forgets it4 ,the dead prophet lives still1 and becomes to ,herod another conscience4 ,and she brought it to her mother4 ,and his disciples came1 and took up the corpse1 and buried him2 and they went and told ,jesus 7,matt4 xiv4 #aa1 #ab74 ,such is the finis to a consecrated life1 and such the work achieved by one man1 in a ministry that was only counted by months4 ,shall not this be his epitaph1 recording his faithfulness and zeal1 and at the same time rebuking our aimlessness and sloth8-- ,he liveth long who liveth well2 ,all other life is short and vain3 ,he liveth longest who can tell ,of living most for heavenly gain4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,temptation4 ,the waters of the ,jordan do not more effectually divide the ,holy ,land than they bisect the ,holy ,life4 ,the thirty years of ,nazareth were quiet enough1 amid the seclusions of nature and the attractions of home2 but the double baptism by the ,jordan now remits that sweet idyll to the past4 ,the ,i ,,am of the ,new ,testament moves forward from the passive to the active voice2 the long peace is exchanged for the conflict whose consummation will be the ,divine ,passion4 ,the subject of our ,lord's temptation is mysterious1 and therefore difficult4 ,lying in part within the domain of human consciousness and experience1 it stretches far beyond our sight1 throwing its dark projections into the realm of spirit1 that realm1 dusk with horrid shade1 which ,reason may not traverse1 and which ,revelation itself has not illumined1 save by occasional lines of light1 thrown into1 rather than across it4 ,we cannot1 perhaps1 hope to have a perfect understanding of it1 for in a subject so wide and deep there is room for the play of many hypotheses2 but inspiration would not have recorded the event so minutely had it not a direct bearing upon the whole of the ,divine ,life1 and were it not full of pregnant lessons for all times4 ,to ,him who suffered within it1 it was a wilderness indeed2 but to us the wilderness and the solitary place have become glad1 and the desert 444 blossoms as the rose4 ,let us1 then1 seek the wilderness reverently yet hopefully1 and in doing so let us carry in our minds these two guiding thoughts--they will prove a silken thread for the labyrinth--first1 that ,jesus was tempted as man2 and second1 that ,jesus was tempted as the ,son of man4 ,jesus was tempted as man4 ,it is true that in ,his ,person the human and the ,divine natures were in some mysterious way united2 that in ,his flesh was the great mystery1 the manifestation of ,god2 but now we must regard ,him as divested of these dignities and ,divinities4 ,they are laid aside1 with all other pre-mundane glories2 and whatever ,his miraculous power1 for the present it is as if it were not4 ,jesus takes with ,him into the wilderness our manhood1 a perfect humanity of flesh and blood1 of bone and nerve2 no ,docetic shadow1 but a real body1 made in all things like unto ,his brethren2 and ,he goes into the wilderness1 to be tempted1 not in some unearthly way1 as one spirit might be tempted of another1 but to be tempted in all points like as we are1 in a fashion perfectly human4 ,then1 too1 ,jesus was tempted as the ,son of man1 not only as the perfect ,man1 but as the representative ,man4 ,as the first ,adam1 by disobedience1 fell1 and fallen1 was driven forth into the wilderness1 so the second ,adam comes to take the place of the first4 ,tracking the steps of the first ,adam1 ,he too goes out into the wilderness1 that ,he may spoil the spoiler1 and that by ,his perfect obedience ,he may lead a fallen but redeemed humanity back again to ,paradise1 reversing the whole drift of the ,fall1 and turning it into a rising again for many4 ,and so ,jesus goes1 as the ,representative ,man1 to do battle for humanity1 and to receive in ,his own ,person1 not one form of temptation1 as the first ,adam did1 but every form that malignant ,evil can devise1 or that humanity can know4 ,bearing these two facts in mind1 we will consider--7#a7 the circumstances of the ,temptation1 and 7#b7 the nature of the temptation4 #a4 ,the circumstances of the ,temptation4 ,and ,jesus1 full of the ,holy ,spirit1 returned from the ,jordan1 and was led by the ,spirit in the wilderness4 ,the ,temptation1 then1 occurred immediately after the twofold baptism2 or1 as ,st4 ,mark expresses it1 using his characteristic word1 ,and straightway the ,spirit driveth ,him forth into the wilderness 7,mark i4 #ab74 ,evidently there is some connection between the ,jordan and the wilderness1 and there were ,divine reasons why the test should be placed directly after the baptism4 ,those ,jordan waters were the inauguration for ,his mission--a kind of ,beautiful ,gate1 leading up to the different courts and courses of ,his public ministry1 and then up to the altar of sacrifice4 ,the baptism of the ,spirit was ,his anointing for that ministry1 and borrowing our light from the after ,pentecostal days1 ,his enduement of power for that ministry4 ,the ,divine purpose1 which had been gradually shaping itself to ,his mind1 now opens in one vivid revelation4 ,the veil of mist in which that purpose had been enwrapped is swept away by the ,spirit's breath1 disclosing to ,his view the path redeeming ,love must take1 even the way of the cross4 ,it is probable1 too1 that ,he received at the same time1 if not the enduement1 at least the consciousness of miraculous power2 for ,st4 ,john1 with one stroke of his pen1 brushes away those glossy webs that later tradition has spun1 the miracles of the ,childhood4 ,the ,scriptures do not represent ,jesus as any prodigy4 ,his childhood1 youth1 and manhood were like the corresponding phases of other lives2 and the ,gospels certainly put no aureole about ,his head--that was the afterglow of traditional fancy4 ,now1 however1 as ,he leaves the wilderness1 ,he goes to open ,his mission at ,cana1 where ,he works ,his first miracle1 turning1 by a look1 the water into wine4 ,the whole ,temptation1 as we shall see1 was one prolonged attack upon ,his miraculous power1 seeking to divert it into unlawful channels2 which makes it more than probable that this power was first consciously received at the baptism--the second baptism of fire2 it was a part of the anointing of the ,lord ,he then experienced4 ,we read that ,jesus now was full of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it is an expression not infrequent in the pages of the ,new ,testament1 for we have already met with it in connection with ,zacharias and ,elisabeth2 and ,st4 ,luke makes use of it several times in his later treatise on the ,acts4 ,in these cases1 however1 it generally marked some special and sudden illumination or inspiration1 which was more or less temporary1 the inspiration passing away when its purpose was served4 ,but whether this filling of the ,spirit was temporary1 or permanent1 as in the case of ,stephen and ,barnabas1 the expression always marked the highest elevation of human life1 when the human spirit was in entire subordination to the ,divine4 ,to ,jesus1 now1 the ,holy ,spirit is given without measure2 and we1 who in our far-off experiences can recall moments of ,divine baptisms1 when our spirits seemed for the time to be caught up into ,paradise1 hearing voices and beholding visions we might not utter1 even we may understand in part--though but in part--what must have been the emotions and ecstasies of that memorable hour by the ,jordan4 ,how much the opened heavens would mean to ,him1 to whom they had been so long and strangely closed6 ,how the ,voice that declared ,his heavenly ,sonship1 ,this is ,my beloved ,son1 must have sent its vibrations quivering through soul and spirit1 almost causing the tabernacle of ,his flesh to tremble with the new excitements6 ,mysterious though it may seem to us1 who ask impotently1 ,how can these things be8 yet unless we strip the heavenly baptism of all reality1 reducing it to a mere play of words1 we must suppose that ,jesus1 who now becomes ,jesus ,christ1 was henceforth more directly and completely than before under the conscious inspiration of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,what was an atmosphere enswathing the young life1 bringing to that life its treasures of grace1 beauty1 and strength1 now becomes a breath1 or rather a rushing wind1 of ,god1 carrying that life forward upon its mission and upward to its goal4 ,and so we read1 ,he was led by the ,spirit in the wilderness4 ,the verb generally implies pressure1 constraint2 it is the enforced leading of the weaker by the stronger4 ,in this case1 however1 the pressure was not upon a resisting1 but a yielding medium4 ,the will of ,jesus swung round instantly and easily1 moving like a vane only in the direction of the ,higher ,will4 ,the narrative would imply that ,his own thought and purpose had been to return to ,galilee2 but the ,divine ,spirit moves upon ,him with such clearness and force--driveth is ,st4 ,mark's expressive word--that ,he yields ,himself up to the higher impulse1 and allows ,himself to be carried1 not exactly as the heath is swept before the wind1 but in a passive-active way1 into the wilderness4 ,the wilderness was thus a ,divine interjection1 thrown across the path of the ,son of ,god and ,son of man4 ,where it was is a point of no great moment4 ,that it was in the ,desert of ,sinai1 as some suppose1 is most unlikely4 ,jesus did not so venerate places2 nor was it like ,him to make distant excursions to put ,himself in the track of ,moses or ,elijah4 ,he beckons them to ,him4 ,he does not go to them1 not even to make historical repetitions4 ,there is no reason why we may not accept the traditional site of the ,quarantania1 the wild1 mountainous region1 intersected by deep1 dark gorges1 that sweeps westward from ,jericho4 ,it is enough to know that it was a wilderness indeed1 a wildness1 unsoftened by the touch of human strength or skill2 a still1 vacant solitude1 where only the wild beasts1 preying upon each other1 or prowling outward to the fringe of civilization1 could survive4 ,in the narrative of the ,transfiguration we read that ,moses and ,elias appeared on the holy mount talking with ,jesus2 and that these two only1 of all departed saints1 should be allowed that privilege--the one representing the ,law1 and the other the ,prophets--shows that there was some intimate connection between their several missions4 ,at any rate1 we know that the emancipator and the regenerator of ,israel were specially commissioned to bear ,heaven's salutation to the ,redeemer4 ,it would be an interesting study1 did it lie within the scope of our subject1 to trace out the many resemblances between the three4 ,we may1 however1 notice how in the three lives the same prolonged fast occurs1 in each case covering the same period of forty days2 for though the expression of ,st4 ,matthew would not of necessity imply a total abstention from food1 the more concise statement of ,st4 ,luke removes all doubt1 for we read1 ,he did eat nothing in those days4 ,why there should be this fast is more difficult to answer1 and our so-called reasons can be only guesses4 ,we know1 however1 that the flesh and the spirit1 though closely associated1 have but few things in common4 ,like the centripetal and the centrifugal forces in nature1 their tendencies and propulsions are in different and opposite directions4 ,the one looks earthward1 the other heavenward4 ,let the flesh prevail1 and the life gravitates downwards1 the sensual takes the place of the spiritual4 ,let the flesh be placed under restraint and control1 taught its subordinate position1 and there is a general uplift to the life1 the untrammelled spirit moving upwards toward heaven and ,god4 ,and so in the ,scriptures we find the duty of fasting prescribed2 and though the ,rabbis have treated it in an ad absurdum fashion1 bringing it into disrepute1 still the duty has not ceased1 though the practice may be well-nigh obsolete4 ,and so we find in ,apostolic days that prayer was often joined to fasting1 especially when a question of importance was under consideration4 ,the hours of fasting1 too1 as we may learn from the cases of the centurion and of ,peter1 were the perihelion of the ,christian life1 when it swung up in its nearest approaches to heaven1 getting amid the circles of the angels and of celestial visions4 ,possibly in the case before us there was such an absorption of spirit1 such rapture 7using the word in its etymological1 rather than in its derived meaning71 that the claims of the body were utterly forgotten1 and its ordinary functions were temporarily suspended2 for to the spirit caught up into ,paradise it matters little whether in the body or out of it4 ,then1 too1 the fast was closely related to the temptation2 it was the preparation for it4 ,if ,jesus is tempted as the ,son of man1 it must be our humanity1 not at its strongest1 but at its weakest4 ,it must be under conditions so hard1 no other man could have them harder4 ,as an athlete1 before the contest1 trains up his body1 bringing each muscle and nerve to its very best1 so ,jesus1 before meeting the great adversary in single combat1 trains down ,his body1 reducing its physical strength1 until it touches the lowest point of human weakness4 ,and so1 fighting the battle of humanity1 ,he gives the adversary every advantage4 ,he allows him choice of place1 of time1 of weapons and conditions1 so that ,his victory may be more complete4 ,alone in the wild1 dreary solitude1 cut off from all human sympathies1 weak and emaciated with the long fast1 the ,second ,adam waits the attack of the tempter1 who found the first ,adam too easy a prey4 #b4 ,the nature of the ,temptation4 ,in what form the tempter came to ,him1 or whether he came in any form at all1 we cannot tell4 ,scripture observes a prudent silence1 a silence which has been made the occasion of much speculative and random speech on the part of its would-be interpreters4 ,it will serve no good purpose even to enumerate the different forms the tempter is said to have assumed2 for what need can there be for any incarnation of the evil spirit8 and why clamour for the supernatural when the natural will suffice8 ,if ,jesus was tempted as we are1 will not our experiences throw the truest light on ,his8 ,we see no shape4 ,the evil one confronts us2 he presents thoughts to our minds2 he injects some proud or evil imagination2 but he himself is masked1 unseen1 even when we are distinctly conscious of his presence4 ,just so we may suppose the tempter came to ,him4 ,recalling the declaration made at the baptism1 the announcement of ,his ,divine ,sonship1 the devil says1 ,if 7or rather ,since1 for the tempter is too wary to suggest a doubt as to ,his relationship with ,god7 ,thou art the ,son of ,god1 command this stone that it become bread4 ,it is as if he said1 ,you are a-hungered1 exhausted1 ,your strength worn away by ,your long fast4 ,this desert1 as ,you see1 is wild and sterile2 it can offer ,you nothing with which to supply ,your physical wants2 but ,you have the remedy in ,your own hands4 ,the heavenly ,voice proclaimed ,you as ,god's ,son--nay1 ,his beloved ,son4 ,you were invested1 too1 not simply with ,divine dignities1 but with ,divine powers1 with authority1 supreme and absolute1 over all creatures4 ,make use now of this newly given power4 ,speak in these newly learned tones of ,divine authority1 and command this stone that it become bread4 ,such was the thought suddenly suggested to the mind of ,jesus1 and which would have found a ready response from the shrinking flesh1 had it been allowed to speak4 ,and was not the thought fair and reasonable1 to our thinking1 all innocent of wrong8 ,suppose ,jesus should command the stone into bread1 is it any more marvellous than commanding the water into wine8 ,is not all bread stone1 dead earth transformed by the touch of life8 ,if ,jesus can make use of ,his miraculous power for the benefit of others1 why should ,he not use it in the emergencies of ,his own life8 ,the thought seemed reasonable and specious enough2 and at first glance we do not see how the wings of this dove are tipped1 not with silver1 but with soot from the pots4 ,but stop4 ,what does this thought of ,satan mean8 ,is it as guileless and guiltless as it seems8 ,not quite2 for it means that ,jesus shall be no longer the ,son of man4 ,hitherto ,his life has been a purely human life4 ,made in all things like unto ,his brethren1 from ,his helpless infancy1 through the gleefulness of childhood1 the discipline of youth1 and the toil of manhood1 ,his life has been nourished from purely human sources4 ,his brooks in the way have been no secret springs1 flowing for ,himself alone2 they have been the common brooks1 open and free to all1 and where any other child of man might drink4 ,but now ,satan tempts ,him to break with the past1 to throw up ,his ,son-of-manhood1 and to fall back upon ,his miraculous power in this1 and so in every other emergency of life4 ,had ,satan succeeded1 and had ,jesus wrought this miracle for ,himself1 putting around ,his human nature the shield of ,his ,divinity1 then ,jesus would have ceased to be man4 ,he would have forsaken the plane of human life for celestial altitudes1 with a wide gulf--and oh1 how wide6--between ,himself and those ,he had come to redeem4 ,and let the perfect humanity go1 and the redemption goes with it2 for if ,jesus1 just by an appeal to ,his miraculous power1 can surmount every difficulty1 escape any danger1 then you leave no room for the ,passion1 and no ground on which the cross may rest4 ,again1 the suggestion of ,satan was a temptation to distrust4 ,the emphasis lay upon the title1 ,son of ,god4 ,the ,voice proclaimed ,you1 in a peculiar sense1 the beloved ,son of ,god2 but where have been the marks of that special love8 ,where are the honours1 the heritage of joy1 the ,son should have8 ,instead of that1 ,he gives ,you a wilderness of solitude and privation2 and ,he who rained manna upon ,israel1 and who sent an angel to prepare a cake for ,elias1 leaves ,you to pine and hunger4 ,why wait longer for help which has already tarried too long8 ,act now for ,yourself4 ,your resources are ample2 use them in commanding this stone into bread4 ,such was the drift of the tempter's words2 it was to make ,jesus doubt the ,father's love and care1 to lead ,him to act1 not in opposition to1 but independently of1 the ,father's will4 ,it was an artful endeavour to throw the will of ,jesus out of gear with the ,higher ,will1 and to set it revolving around its own self-centre4 ,it was1 in reality1 the same temptation1 in a slightly altered form1 which had been only too successful with the first ,adam4 ,the thought1 however1 was no sooner suggested than it was rejected2 for ,jesus had a wonderful power of reading thought1 of looking into its very heart2 and ,he meets the evil suggestion1 not with an answer of ,his own1 but with a singularly apt quotation from the ,old ,testament3 ,it is written1 ,man shall not live by bread alone4 ,the reference is to a parallel experience in the history of ,israel1 a narrative from which doubtless ,jesus had drawn both strength and solace during ,his prolonged desert fast4 ,had not the ,divine ,voice adopted ,israel to a special relationship and privilege1 announcing within the palace of ,pharaoh1 ,israel is ,my ,son1 ,my firstborn8 7,exod4 iv4 #bb74 ,and yet had not ,god led ,israel for forty years through the desert1 suffering him to hunger1 that ,he might humble and prove him1 and show him that men are ,better than sheep and goats1 ,that nourish a blind life within the brain2 that man has a nature1 a life1 that cannot live on bread1 but--as ,st4 ,matthew completes the quotation--by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of ,god8 ,some have supposed that by bread alone ,jesus refers to the manifold provision ,god has made for man's physical sustenance2 that ,he is not limited to one course1 but that ,he can just as easily supply flesh1 or manna1 or a thousand things besides4 ,but evidently such is not the meaning of ,jesus4 ,it was not ,his wont to speak in such literal1 commonplace ways4 ,his thought moved in higher circles than ,his speech1 and we must look upward through the letter to find the higher spirit4 ,i have meat to eat that ye know not of1 said ,jesus to ,his disciples2 and when ,he caught the undertone of their literalistic questions ,he explained ,his meaning in words that will interpret ,his answer to the tempter3 ,my meat is to do the will of ,him that sent ,me4 ,so now it is as if ,he said1 ,the ,will of ,god is ,my meat4 ,that ,will brought ,me hither2 that ,will detains ,me here4 ,nay1 that ,will commands ,me to fast and hunger1 and so abstinence from food is itself ,my food4 ,i do not fear4 ,this wilderness is but the stone-paved court of ,my ,father's house1 whose many chambers are filled with treasures1 'bread enough and to spare1' and can ,i perish with hunger8 ,i wait ,his time2 ,i accept ,his will2 nor will ,i taste of bread that is not of ,his sending4 ,the tempter was foiled4 ,the specious temptation fell upon the mind of ,jesus like a spark in the sea1 to be quenched1 instantly and utterly2 and though ,satan found a powerful lever in the pinch of the terrible hunger--one of the sorest pains our human nature can feel--yet even then he could not wrench the will of ,jesus from the will of ,god4 ,the first ,adam doubted1 and then disobeyed2 the ,second ,adam rests in ,god's will and word2 and like the limpet on the rocks1 washed by angry waves1 the pressure of the outward storm only unites ,his will more firmly to the ,father's2 nor does it for one moment break in upon that rest of soul4 ,and ,jesus never did make use of ,his miraculous power solely for ,his own benefit4 ,he would live as a man among men1 feeling--probably more intensely than we do--all the weaknesses and pains of humanity1 that ,he might be more truly the ,son of man1 the sympathizing ,high ,priest1 the perfect ,saviour4 ,he became in all points--sin excepted--one with us1 so that we might become one with ,him1 sharing with ,him the ,father's love on earth1 and then sharing ,his heavenly joys4 ,baffled1 but not confessing himself beaten1 the tempter returns to the charge4 ,st4 ,luke here inverts the order of ,st4 ,matthew1 giving as the second temptation what ,st4 ,matthew places last4 ,we prefer the order of ,st4 ,luke1 not only because in general he is more observant of chronology1 but because there is in the three temptations what we might call a certain seriality1 which demands the second place for the mountain temptation4 ,it is not necessary that we put a literal stress upon the narrative1 supposing that ,jesus was transported bodily to the exceeding high mountain4 ,not only has such a supposition an air of the incredulous about it1 but it is set aside by the terms of the narrative itself2 for the expression he showed ,him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time cannot be forced into a literalistic mould4 ,it is easier and more natural to suppose that this and the succeeding temptation were presented only to the spirit of ,jesus1 without any physical accessories2 for after all1 it is not the eye that sees1 but the soul4 ,the bodily eye had not seen the great sheet let down from heaven1 but it was a real vision1 nevertheless1 leading to very practical results--the readjustment of ,peter's views of duty1 and the opening of the door of grace and privilege to the ,gentiles4 ,it was but a mental picture1 as the man of ,macedonia appeared to ,paul1 but the vision was intensely real--more real1 if that were possible1 than the leagues of intervening sea2 and louder to him than all the voices of the deep--of winds1 and waves1 and storm--was the voice1 ,come over and help us1 the cry which only the ear of the soul had heard4 ,it was in a similar manner1 probably1 that the second temptation was presented to ,jesus4 ,he finds ,himself upon a lofty eminence1 when suddenly1 in a moment of time1 as ,st4 ,luke expresses it1 the world lies unveiled at ,his feet4 ,here are fields white with ripened harvests1 vineyards red with clustering grapes1 groves of olives shimmering in the sunlight like frosted silver1 rivers threading their way through a sea of green2 here are cities on cities innumerable1 quivering with the tread of uncounted millions1 streets set with statues1 and adorned with temples1 palaces1 and parks2 here are the flagged ,roman roads1 all pointing to the world's great centre1 thronged with chariots and horsemen1 the legions of war1 and the caravans of trade4 ,beyond are seas where a thousand ships are skimming over the blue2 while still beyond1 all environed with temples1 is the palace of the ,csars1 the marble pivot around which the world revolves4 ,such was the splendid scene set before the mind of ,jesus4 ,all this is mine1 said ,satan1 speaking a half-truth which is often but a whole lie2 for he was indeed the prince of the power of the air1 ruling1 however1 not in absolute kingship1 but as a pretender1 a usurper2 and ,i give it to whom ,i will4 ,only worship me 7or rather1 'do homage to me as ,your superior'71 and all shall be thine4 ,amplified1 the temptation was this3 ,you are the ,son of ,god1 the ,messiah-,king1 but a ,king without a retinue1 without a throne4 ,i know well all the devious1 somewhat slippery ways to royalty2 and if ,you will but assent to my plan1 and work on my lines1 ,i can assure ,you of a throne that is higher1 and of a realm that is vaster1 than that of ,csar4 ,to begin with3 ,you have powers not given to other mortals1 miraculous powers4 ,you can command nature as easily as ,you can obey her4 ,trade with these at first1 freely4 ,startle men with prodigies1 and so create a name and gain a following4 ,then when that is sufficiently large set up the standard of revolt4 ,the priesthood and the people will flock to it2 ,pharisees and ,sadducees1 giving up their paper-chases after phantoms1 shadows1 will forget their strife in the peace of a common war1 and before a united people4 ,rome's legions must retire4 ,then1 pushing out ,your borders1 and avoiding reverse and disaster by a continual appeal to ,your miraculous powers1 one after another ,you will make the neighbouring nations dependent and tributary4 ,so1 little by little1 ,you will hem in the might of ,rome1 until by one desperate struggle ,you will vanquish the ,empire4 ,the lines of history will then be all reversed4 ,jerusalem will become the mistress1 the capital of the world2 along all these roads swift messengers shall carry ,your decrees2 ,your word shall be law1 and ,your will over all human wills shall be supreme4 ,such was the meaning of the second temptation4 ,it was the chord of ambition ,satan sought to strike1 a chord whose vibrations are so powerful in the human heart1 often drowning or deafening other and sweeter voices4 ,he put before ,jesus the highest possible goal1 that of universal empire1 and showed how that goal was comparatively easy of attainment1 if ,jesus would only follow his directions and work on his plans4 ,the objective point at which the tempter aimed was1 as in the first temptation1 to shift ,jesus from the ,divine purpose1 to detach ,his will from the ,father's will1 and to induce ,him to set up a sort of independence4 ,the life of ,jesus1 instead of moving on steadily around its ,divine centre1 striking in with absolute precision to the beat of the ,divine purpose1 should revolve only around the centre of its narrower self1 exchanging its grander1 heavenlier sweep for certain intermittent1 eccentric motions of its own4 ,if ,satan could not prevent the founding of the kingdom1 he would1 if it were possible1 change its character4 ,it should not be the kingdom of heaven1 but a kingdom of earth1 pure and simple1 under earthly conditions and earthly laws4 ,might should take the place of right1 and force the place of love4 ,he would set ,jesus after gaining the whole world1 that so ,he might forget that ,his mission was to save it4 ,instead of a ,saviour1 they should have a ,sovereign1 decked with this world's glory and the pomps of earthly empire4 ,it is easy to see that if ,jesus had been merely man the temptation would have been most subtle and most powerful2 for how many of the sons of men1 alas1 have been led astray from the ,divine purpose with a far less bait than a whole world6 ,a momentary pleasure1 a handful of glittering dust the more1 some dream of place or fame--these are more than enough to tempt men to break with ,god4 ,but while ,jesus was man1 the ,perfect ,man1 ,he was more4 ,the ,holy ,spirit was now given to ,him without measure4 ,from the beginning ,his will had been subordinate to the ,father's1 growing up within it and configuring itself to it1 even as the ductile metal receives the shape of the mould4 ,the ,divine purpose1 too1 had now been revealed to ,him in the vivid enlightenment of the ,baptism2 for the shadow of the cross was thrown back over ,his life1 at any rate as far as the ,jordan4 ,and so the second temptation fell harmless as the first4 ,the chord of ambition ,satan sought to strike was not found in the pure soul of ,jesus1 and all these visions of victory and empire awoke no response in ,his heart1 any more than the flower-wreaths laid upon the breast of the dead can quicken the beat of the now silent heart4 ,the answer of ,jesus was prompt and decisive4 ,not deigning to use any words of ,his own1 or to hold any parley1 even the shortest1 ,he meets the word of the tempter with a ,divine word3 ,it is written1 ,thou shalt worship the ,lord thy ,god1 and ,him only shalt thou serve4 ,the tempting thought is something foreign to the mind of ,jesus1 something unwelcome1 repulsive1 and it is rejected instantly4 ,instead of allowing ,himself to be diverted from the ,divine purpose1 ,his will detached from the ,father's will1 ,he turns to that will and word at once4 ,it is ,his refuge1 ,his home4 ,the thought of ,jesus cannot pass beyond the circle of that will1 any more than a dove can pass beyond the over-arching sky4 ,he sees the ,throne that is above all thrones1 and gazing upon that1 worshipping only the ,great ,king1 who is over all and in all1 the thrones and crowns of earthly dominion are but as motes of the air4 ,the victory was complete4 ,quickly as it came1 the splendid vision conjured up by the tempter disappeared1 and ,jesus turned away from the path of earthly glory1 where power without measure and honours without number awaited ,him1 to tread the solitary1 lowly path of submission and of sacrifice1 the path that had a crucifixion1 and not a coronation1 as its goal4 ,twice baffled1 the enemy comes once again to the charge1 completing the series with the pinnacle temptation1 to which ,st4 ,luke naturally1 and as we think rightly1 gives the third place4 ,it follows the other two in orderly sequence1 and it cannot well be placed second1 as in ,st4 ,matthew1 without a certain overlapping of thought4 ,if we must adhere to the literalistic interpretation1 and suppose ,jesus led up to ,jerusalem bodily1 then1 perhaps1 ,st4 ,matthew's order would be more natural1 as that would not necessitate a return to the wilderness4 ,but that is an interpretation to which we are not bound4 ,neither the words of the narrative nor the conditions of the temptation require it2 and when art represents ,jesus as flying with the tempter through the air it is a representation both grotesque and gratuitous4 ,thus far1 in his temptations1 ,satan has been foiled by the faith of ,jesus1 the implicit trust ,he reposed in the ,father2 but if he cannot break in upon that trust1 causing it to doubt or disobey1 may he not push the virtue too far1 goading ,him to sin in loving virtue8 ,if the mind and heart of ,jesus are so grooved in with the lines of the ,divine will that he cannot throw them off the metals1 or make them reverse their wheels1 perhaps he may push them forward so fast and so far as to bring about the collision he seeks--the clash of the two wills4 ,it is the only chance left him1 a forlorn hope1 it is true1 but still a hope1 and ,satan moves forward1 if perchance he may realize it4 ,as in the second temptation1 the wilderness fades out of sight4 ,suddenly ,jesus finds ,himself standing on the pinnacle of the ,temple1 probably the eastern corner of the royal portico4 ,on the one side1 deep below1 were the ,temple courts1 crowded with throngs of worshippers2 on the other lay the gorge of the ,kedron1 a giddy depth1 which made the eye of the down looker to swim1 and the brain to reel4 ,if 7or rather ',since'7 said ,satan1 ,thou art the ,son of ,god1 cast ,thyself down from hence2 for it is written1 ,he shall give ,his angels charge concerning ,thee1 to guard ,thee2 on their hands they shall bear ,thee up1 lest haply ,thou dash ,thy foot against a stone4 ,it is as if he said1 ,you are the ,son of ,god1 in a special1 favoured sense4 ,you are set in title and authority above the angels2 they are ,your ministering servants2 and ,you reciprocate the trust ,heaven reposes in ,you4 ,the will of ,god is more to ,you than life itself2 the word of ,god outweighs with ,you thrones and empires4 ,and ,you do well4 ,continue thus1 and no harm can overtake ,you4 ,and just to show how absolute is ,your faith in ,god1 cast ,yourself down from this height4 ,you need not fear1 for ,you will but throw ,yourself upon the word of ,god2 and ,you have only to speak1 and unseen angels will crowd the air1 bearing ,you up in their hands4 ,cast ,yourself down1 and so test and attest ,your faith in ,god2 and doing so ,you will give to these multitudes indubitable proof of ,your ,sonship and ,messiahship4 ,such was the argument1 specious1 but fallacious1 of the tempter4 ,misquoting ,scripture by omitting its qualifying clause1 distorting the truth into a dangerous error1 he sought to impale his ,victim on the horn of a dilemma4 ,but ,jesus was on the alert4 ,he recognized at once the seductive thought1 though1 ,jacob-like1 it had come robed in the assumed dress of ,scripture4 ,is not obedience as sacred as trust8 ,is not obedience the life1 the soul of trust1 without which the trust itself is but a semblance1 a decaying1 corrupt thing8 ,but ,satan asks ,him to disobey1 to set ,himself above the laws by which the world is governed4 ,instead of ,his will being entirely subordinate1 conforming itself in all things to the ,divine will1 if ,he should cast ,himself down from this pinnacle it would be putting pressure upon that ,divine will1 forcing it to repeal its own physical laws1 or at any rate to suspend their action for a time4 ,and what would that be but insubordination1 no longer faith1 due presumption1 a tempting1 and not a trusting ,god8 ,the ,divine promises are not cheques made payable to bearer1 regardless of character1 place1 or time1 and to be realized by any one who may happen to possess himself of them1 anywhere4 ,they are cheques drawn out to order1 crossed cheques1 too1 negotiated only as the conditions of character and time are fulfilled4 ,the ,divine protection and guardianship are indeed assured to every child of ,god1 but only as he dwelleth in the secret place of the ,most ,high1 as he abides under the shadow of the ,almighty2 in other words1 so long as thy ways are ,his ways4 ,step out from that pavilion of the ,most ,high1 and you step from under the bright bow of promise4 ,put yourself above1 or put yourself out of1 the ,divine order of things1 and the very promise becomes a threatening1 and the cloud that else would protect and guide becomes a cloud full of suppressed thunders1 and flashing in vivid lightnings its thousand swords of flame4 ,faith and fidelity are thus inseparable4 ,the one is the calyx1 the other the involved corolla2 and as they open outwards into the perfect flower they turn towards the ,divine will1 configuring themselves in all things to that will4 ,a third time ,jesus replied to the tempter in words of ,old ,testament ,scripture1 and a third time1 too1 from the same book of ,deuteronomy4 ,it will be observed1 however1 that the terms of ,his reply are slightly altered4 ,he no longer uses the ,it is written1 since ,satan himself has borrowed that word1 but substitutes another3 ,it is said1 ,thou shalt not tempt the ,lord thy ,god4 ,it has been thought by some that ,jesus used the quotation in an accommodated sense1 referring the ,thou to the tempter himself1 and so making the ,lord thy ,god an attestation of ,his own ,divinity4 ,but such an interpretation is forced and unnatural4 ,jesus would not be likely to hide the deep secret from ,his own disciples1 and announce it for the first time to the ears of the seducer4 ,it is an impossible supposition4 ,besides1 too1 it was as man that ,jesus was tempted4 ,only on the side of ,his humanity could the enemy approach ,him1 and for ,jesus now to take refuge in ,his ,divinity would strip the temptation of all its meaning1 making it a mere acting4 ,but ,jesus does not so throw up humanity1 or which is the same thing1 take ,himself out of it1 and when ,he says1 ,thou shalt not tempt the ,lord thy ,god ,he includes ,himself in the thou4 ,son though ,he is1 ,he must put ,himself under the law that prescribes the relations of man towards ,god4 ,he must learn obedience as other sons of men4 ,he must submit1 that ,he may serve1 not seeking to impose ,his will upon the ,father's will1 even by way of suggestion1 much less by way of demand1 but waiting upon that will in an absolute self-surrender and instant acquiescence4 ,moses must not command the cloud2 all that he is permitted to do is to observe it and follow4 ,to go before ,god is to go without ,god1 and to go without ,him is to go against ,him2 and as to the angels bearing ,him up in their hands1 that depends altogether upon the path and the errand4 ,let it be the ,divinely ordered path1 and the unseen convoys of heaven will attend1 a sleepless1 invincible guard2 but let it be some self-chosen path1 some forbidden way1 and the angel's sword will flash its warning1 and send the foot of the unfaithful servant crushing against the wall4 ,and so the third temptation failed1 as did the other two4 ,with but a little tension1 ,satan had made the will of the first ,adam to strike a discordant note1 throwing it out of all harmony with the ,higher ,will2 but by no pressure1 no enticements1 can he influence the ,second ,adam4 ,his will vibrates in a perfect consonance with the ,father's1 even under the terrible pressure of hunger1 and the more terrible pressure1 the fearful impact of evil4 ,so ,satan completed1 and so ,jesus resisted1 every temptation--that is1 every form of temptation4 ,in the first1 ,jesus was tempted on the side of ,his physical nature2 in the second the attack was on the side of ,his intellectual nature1 looking out on ,his political life2 while in the third the assault was on the side of ,his spiritual life4 ,in the first ,he is tempted as the ,man1 in the second as the ,messiah1 and in the third as the ,divine ,son4 ,in the first temptation ,he is asked to make use of ,his newly received miraculous power over nature--passive1 unthinking nature2 in the second ,he is asked to throw it over the world1 which in this case is a synonym for humankind2 while in the third ,he is asked to widen the realm of ,his authority1 and to command the angels1 nay1 ,god ,himself4 ,so the three temptations are really one1 though the fields of battle lie in three several planes4 ,and the aim was one4 ,it was to create a divergence between the two wills1 and to set the ,son in a sort of antagonism to the ,father1 which would have been another ,absalom revolt1 a ,divine mutiny it is impossible for us even to conceive4 ,st4 ,luke omits in his narrative the ministry of angels mentioned by the other two ,synoptists1 a sweet postlude we should have missed much1 had it been wanting2 but he gives us instead the retreat of the adversary3 ,he departed from ,him for a season4 ,how long a season it was we do not know1 but a brief one it must have been1 for again and again in the story of the ,gospels we see the dark shadow of the evil one2 while in ,gethsemane the prince of this world cometh1 but to find nothing in ,me4 ,and what was the horror of great darkness1 that strange eclipse of soul ,jesus suffered upon ,calvary1 but the same fearful presence1 intercepting for a time even the ,father's smile1 and throwing upon the pure and patient ,sufferer a strip of the outer darkness itself8 ,the test was over4 ,tried in the fires of a persistent assault1 the faith and obedience of ,jesus were found perfect4 ,the shafts of the tempter had recoiled upon himself1 leaving all stainless and scatheless the pure soul of ,jesus4 ,the ,son of man had conquered1 that all other sons of men may learn the secret of constant and complete victory2 how faith overcomes1 putting to flight the armies of the aliens1 and making even the weakest child of ,god more than conqueror4 ,and from the wilderness1 where innocence has ripened into virtue1 ,jesus passes up1 like another ,moses1 in the power of the ,spirit1 to challenge the world's magicians1 to baffle their sleight of hand and skill of speech1 and to proclaim to redeemed humanity a new ,exodus1 a life-long ,jubilee4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,the ,,jubilee4 ,immediately after the ,temptation ,jesus returned1 in the power of the ,spirit1 and with all the added strength of ,his recent victories1 to ,galilee4 ,into what parts of ,galilee ,he came1 our ,evangelist does not say2 but omitting the visit to ,cana1 and dismissing the first ,galilean tour with a sentence--how ,he taught in their synagogues1 being glorified of all--,st4 ,luke goes on to record in detail the visit of ,jesus to ,nazareth1 and ,his rejection by ,his townsmen4 ,in putting this narrative in the forefront of his ,gospel is ,st4 ,luke committing a chronological error8 or is he1 as some suppose1 purposely antedating the ,nazareth story1 that it may stand as a frontispiece to his ,gospel1 or that it may serve as a key for the after-music8 ,this is the view held by most of our expositors and harmonists1 but1 as it appears to us1 on insufficient grounds2 the balance of probability is against it4 ,it is true that ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark record a visit to ,nazareth which evidently occurred at a later period of ,his ministry4 ,it is true also that between their narratives and this of ,st4 ,luke there are some striking resemblances1 such as the teaching in the synagogue the astonishment of ,his hearers1 their reference to ,his parentage1 and then the reply of ,jesus as to a prophet receiving scant honour in his own country--resemblances which would seem to indicate that the two narratives were in reality one4 ,but still it is possible to push these resemblances too far1 reading out from them what we have first read into them4 ,let us for the moment suppose that ,jesus made two visits to ,nazareth2 and is not such a supposition both reasonable and natural8 ,it is not necessary that the first rejection should be a final rejection1 for did not the ,jews seek again and again to kill ,him1 before the cross saw their dire purpose realized8 ,remaining for so long in ,galilee1 would it not be a most natural wish on the part of ,jesus to see the home of ,his boyhood once again1 and to give to ,his townspeople one parting word before taking ,his farewell of ,galilee8 ,and suppose ,he did1 what then8 ,would ,he not naturally go to the synagogue--as was ,his custom in every place--and speak8 ,and would they not listen with the same astonishment1 and then harp on the very same questions as to ,his parentage and brotherhood--questions that would have their readiest and fittest answer in the same familiar proverb8 ,instead1 then1 of these resemblances identifying the two narratives1 and proving that ,st4 ,luke's story is but an amplification of the narratives of the other ,synoptists1 the resemblances themselves are what we might naturally expect in our supposition of a second visit4 ,but if there are certain coincidences between the two narratives1 there are marked differences1 which make it extremely improbable that the ,synoptists are recording one event4 ,in the visit recorded by ,st4 ,luke there were no miracles wrought2 while ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark tell us that ,he could not do many mighty works there1 because of their unbelief1 but that ,he laid ,his hands on a few sick folk1 and healed them4 ,in the narrative by ,st4 ,mark we read that ,his disciples were with ,him while ,st4 ,luke makes no mention of ,his disciples2 but ,st4 ,luke does mention the tragic ending of the visit1 the attempt of the men of ,nazareth to hurl ,him down from a lofty cliff1 an incident ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark omit altogether4 ,but can we suppose the men of ,nazareth would have attempted this1 had the strong body-guard of disciples been with ,jesus8 ,would they be likely to stand by1 timidly acquiescent8 ,would not ,peter's sword have flashed instantly from its scabbard1 in defence of ,him whom he served and dearly loved8 ,that ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark should make no reference to this scene of violence1 had it occurred at the visit they record1 is strange and unaccountable2 and the omission is certainly an indication1 if not a proof1 that the ,synoptists are describing two separate visits to ,nazareth--the one1 as narrated by ,st4 ,luke1 at the commencement of ,his ministry2 and the other at a later date1 probably towards its close4 ,and with this view the substance of the ,nazareth address perfectly accords4 ,the whole address has the ring of an inaugural message2 it is the voice of an opening spring1 and not of a waning summer4 ,this day is this ,scripture fulfilled in your ears is the blast of the silver trumpet announcing the beginning of the ,messianic year1 the year of a truer1 wider ,jubilee4 ,it seems to us1 therefore1 that the chronology of ,st4 ,luke is perfectly correct1 as he places in the forefront of his ,gospel the earlier visit to ,nazareth1 and the violent treatment ,jesus there received4 ,at the second visit there was still a widespread unbelief1 which caused ,jesus to marvel2 but there was no attempt at violence1 for ,his disciples were with ,him now1 while the report of ,his ,judan ministry1 which had gone before ,him1 and the miracles ,he wrought in their presence1 had softened down even ,nazareth prejudices and asperities4 ,the events of the first ,galilean tour were probably in the following order4 ,jesus1 with ,his five disciples1 goes to ,cana1 invited guests at the marriage1 and here ,he opens ,his miraculous commission1 by turning the water into wine4 ,from ,cana they proceed to ,capernaum1 where they remain for a short time1 ,jesus preaching in their synagogue1 and probably continuing ,his miraculous works4 ,leaving ,his disciples behind at ,capernaum--for between the preliminary call by the ,jordan and the final call by the lake the fisher-disciples get back to their old occupations for a while--,jesus goes up to ,nazareth1 with ,his mother and ,his brethren4 ,thence1 after ,his violent rejection1 ,he returns to ,capernaum1 where ,he calls ,his disciples from their boats and receipt of custom1 probably completing the sacred number before setting out on ,his journey southward to ,jerusalem4 ,if this harmony be correct--and the weight of probability seems to be in its favour--then the address at ,nazareth1 which is the subject for our consideration now1 would be the first recorded utterance of ,jesus2 for thus far ,cana gives us one startling miracle1 while in ,capernaum we find the report of ,his acts1 rather than the echoes of ,his words4 ,and that ,st4 ,luke alone should give us this incident1 recording it in such a graphic manner1 would almost imply that he had received the account from an eye-witness1 probably--if we may gather anything from the ,nazarene tone of ,st4 ,luke's earlier pages--from some member of the ,holy ,family4 ,jesus has now fairly embarked upon ,his ,messianic mission1 and ,he begins that mission1 as prophecy had long foretold ,he should1 in ,galilee of the ,gentiles4 ,the rumour of ,his wonderful deeds at ,cana and ,capernaum had already preceded ,him thither1 when ,jesus came once again to the home of ,his childhood and youth4 ,going1 as had been ,his custom from boyhood1 into the synagogue on the ,sabbath day 7,st4 ,luke is writing for ,gentiles who are unversed in ,jewish customs71 ,jesus stood up to read4 ,the ,megilloth1 or ,book of the ,prophets1 having been handed to ,him1 ,he unrolled the book1 and read the passage in ,isaiah 7lxi4 #a7 to which ,his mind had been ,divinely directed1 or which ,he had purposely chosen3-- ,the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon ,me1 ,because ,he anointed ,me to preach good tidings to the poor1 ,he hath sent ,me to proclaim release to the captives1 ,and recovering of sight to the blind1 ,to set at liberty them that are bruised1 ,to proclaim the acceptable year of the ,lord4 ,then closing1 or rolling up1 the book1 and handing it back to the attendant1 ,jesus sat down1 and began ,his discourse4 ,the ,evangelist does not record any of the former part of the discourse1 but simply gives us the effect produced1 in the riveted gaze and the rising astonishment of ,his auditors1 as they caught up eagerly ,his sweet and gracious words4 ,doubtless1 ,he would explain the words of the prophet1 first in their literal1 and then in their prophetic sense2 and so far ,he carried the hearts of ,his hearers with ,him1 for who could speak of their ,messianic hopes without awaking sweet music in the ,hebrew heart8 ,but directly ,jesus applies the passage to ,himself1 and says1 ,this day is this ,scripture fulfilled in your ears1 the fashion of their countenance alters2 the ,divine emphasis ,he puts upon the ,me curdles in their heart1 turning their pleasure and wonder into incredulity1 envy1 and a perfect frenzy of rage4 ,the primary reference of the prophecy seems to have been to the return of ,israel from captivity4 ,it was a political ,jubilee he proclaimed1 when ,zion should have a garland for ashes1 when the captive should be free1 and aliens should be their servants4 ,but the flowers of ,scripture are mostly double2 its pictures and parables have often a nearer meaning1 and another more remote1 or a spiritual1 involved in the literal sense4 ,that it was so here is evident1 for ,jesus takes this ,scripture--which we might call a ,babylonish garment1 woven out of the ,exile--and wraps it around ,himself1 as if it belonged to ,himself alone1 and were so intended from the very first4 ,his touch thus invests it with a new significance2 and making this ,scripture a vestment for ,himself1 ,jesus1 so to speak1 shakes out its narrower folds1 and gives it a wider1 an eternal meaning4 ,but why should ,jesus select this passage above all others8 ,were not the ,old ,testament ,scriptures full of types1 and shadows1 and prophecies which testified of ,him1 any one of which ,he might have appropriated now8 ,yes1 but no other passage so completely answered ,his design1 no other was so clearly and fully declarative of ,his earthly mission4 ,and so ,jesus selected this picture of ,isaiah1 which was at once a prophecy and an epitome of ,his own ,gospel1 as ,his inaugural message1 ,his manifesto4 ,the ,mosaic ,code1 in its play upon the temporal octaves1 had made provision1 not only for a weekly ,sabbath1 and for a ,sabbath year1 but it completed its cycle of festivals by setting apart each fiftieth year as a year of special grace and gladness4 ,it was the year of redemption and restoration1 when all debts were remitted1 when the family inheritance1 which by the pressure of the times had been alienated1 reverted to its original owner1 and when those who had mortgaged their personal liberty regained their freedom4 ,the ,jubilee year1 as they called it--putting into its name the play of the priestly trumpets which ushered it in--was thus the ,divine safeguard against monopolies1 a ,divine provision for a periodic redistribution of the wealth and privileges of the theocracy2 while at the same time it served to keep intact the separate threads of family life1 running its lines of lineage down through the centuries1 and across into the ,new ,testament4 ,seizing upon this1 the gladdest festival of ,hebrew life1 ,jesus likens ,himself to one of the priests1 who with trumpet of silver proclaims the acceptable year of the ,lord4 ,he finds in that ,jubilee a type of ,his ,messianic year1 a year that shall bring1 not to one chosen race alone1 but to a world of debtors and captives1 remissions and manumissions without number1 ushering in an era of liberty and gladness4 ,and so in these words1 adapted and adopted from ,isaiah1 ,jesus announces ,himself as the world's ,evangelist1 and ,healer1 and ,emancipator2 or separating the general message into its prismatic colours1 we have the three characteristics of ,christ's ,gospel--7#a7 as the ,gospel of ,love2 7#b7 the ,gospel of ,light2 and 7#c7 the ,gospel of ,liberty4 #a4 ,the ,gospel of ,jesus was the ,gospel of ,love4 ,he anointed ,me to preach good tidings to the poor4 ,that there is a ,gospel even in the ,old ,testament no one will attempt to deny1 and able writers have delighted in tracing out the evangelism that1 like hidden veins of gold1 runs here and there1 now embedded deep in historical strata1 and now cropping out in the current of prophetical speech4 ,still1 an ear but little trained to harmonies can detect a marvellous difference between the tone of the ,old and the tone of the ,new ,dispensation4 ,evangelists is scarcely the name we should give to the prophets and preachers of the ,old ,testament1 if we except that prophet of the dawn1 ,isaiah4 ,they came1 not as the bearers of glad tidings1 but with the pressure1 the burden of a terrible woe upon them4 ,with a voice of threat and doom they recall ,israel back to the ways of fidelity and purity1 and with the caustic of biting words they seek to burn out the cancer of national corruption4 ,they were no doves1 those old-time prophets1 building their nests in the blossoming olives1 in soft accents telling of a winter past and a summer near2 they were storm-birds rather1 beating with swift1 sad wings on the crest of sullen waves1 or whirling about among the torn shrouds4 ,even the eremite ,baptist brought no evangel4 ,he was a sad man1 with a sad message1 telling1 not of the right which men should do1 but of the wrong they should not do1 his ministry1 like that of the law1 being a ministry of condemnation4 ,jesus1 however1 announces ,himself as the world's ,evangelist4 ,he declares that ,he is anointed and commissioned to be the bearer of good1 glad tidings to man4 ,at once the ,morning ,star and ,sun1 ,he comes to herald a new day2 nay1 ,he comes to make that day4 ,and so it was4 ,we cannot listen to the words of ,jesus without noticing the high and heavenly pitch to which their music is set4 ,beginning with the ,beatitudes1 they move on in the higher spaces1 striking the notes of courage1 hope1 and faith1 and at last1 in the guest-chamber1 dropping down to their key-note1 as they close with an eirenicon and a benediction4 ,how little ,jesus played upon men's fears6 how1 instead1 ,he sought to inspire them with new hopes1 telling of the possibilities of goodness1 the perfections which were within reach of even the human endeavour6 ,how seldom you catch the tone of despondency in ,his words6 ,as ,he summons men to a life of purity1 unselfishness1 and faith1 ,his are not the voice and mien of one who commands to a forlorn hope4 ,there is the ring of courage1 conviction1 certainty about ,his tone1 a hopefulness that was itself half a victory4 ,jesus was no ,pessimist1 reading over the grave of departed glories ,his ashes to ashes2 ,he who knew our human nature best had most hopes of it1 for ,he saw the ,deity that was around it and within it4 ,and just here we touch what we may call the fundamental chord in the ,gospel of ,jesus1 the ,fatherhood of ,god2 for though we can detect other strains running through the music of the ,gospel1 such as the ,love of ,god1 the ,grace of ,god1 and the ,kingdom of ,god1 yet these are but the consonant notes completing the harmonic scale1 or the variations that play about the ,divine ,fatherhood4 ,to the ,hebrew conception of ,god this was an element altogether new4 ,to their mind ,jehovah is the ,lord of hosts1 an invisible1 absolute ,power1 inhabiting the thick darkness1 and speaking in the fire4 ,sinai thus throws its shadow across the ,old ,testament ,scriptures1 and men inhale an atmosphere of law rather than of love4 ,but what a transformation was wrought in the world's thought and life as ,jesus unfolded the ,divine ,fatherhood6 ,it altered the whole aspect of man's relation to ,god1 with a change as marked and glorious as when our earth turns its face more directly to the sun1 to find its summer4 ,the ,great ,king1 whose will commanded all forces1 became the ,great ,father1 in whose compassionate heart the toiling children of men might find refuge and rest4 ,the ,everlasting ,arms were none the less strong and omnipotent2 but as ,jesus uncovered them they seemed less distant1 less rigid2 they became so near and so gentle1 the weakest child of earth might not fear to lay its tired heart upon them4 ,law was none the less mighty1 none the less majestic1 but it was now a transfigured law1 all lighted up and suffused with love4 ,no longer was life one round of servile tasks1 demanded by an inexorable1 invisible ,pharaoh2 no longer was it a trampled playground1 where all the flowers are crushed1 as ,fate and ,chance take their alternate innings4 ,no2 life was ennobled1 adorned with new and rare beauties2 and when ,jesus opened the gate of the ,divine ,fatherhood the light that was beyond1 and that never was on sea or land1 shone through1 putting a heavenliness upon the earthly1 and a ,divineness upon the human life4 ,what better1 gladder tidings could the poor 7whether in spirit or in life7 hear than this--that heaven was no longer a distant dream1 but a present and most precious reality1 touching at every point1 and enfolding their little lives2 that ,god was no longer hostile1 or even indifferent to them1 but that ,he cared for them with an infinite care1 and loved them with an infinite love8 ,thus did ,jesus proclaim the good tidings2 for love1 grace1 redemption1 and heaven itself are all found within the compass of the ,fatherhood4 ,and ,he who gave to ,his disciples1 in the ,paternoster1 a golden key for heaven's audience-chamber1 speaks that sacred name ,father even amid the agonies of the cross1 putting the silver trumpet to ,his parched and quivering lips1 so that earth may hear once again the music of its new and more glorious ,jubilee4 #b4 ,the ,gospel of ,jesus was a ,gospel of ,light4 ,and recovering of sight to the blind1 which is the ,septuagint rendering of the ,hebrew passage in ,isaiah1 the opening of the prison to them that are bound4 ,at first sight this appears to be a break in the ,jubilee idea2 for physical cures1 such as the healing of the blind1 did not come within the scope of ,jubilatic mercies4 ,the original expression1 however1 contains a blending of figures1 which together preserve the unity of the prophetic picture4 ,literally it reads1 ,the opening of the eyes to them that are bound2 the figure being that of a captive1 whose long captivity in the darkness has filmed his vision1 and who now passes through the opened door of his prison into the light of day4 ,in what way shall we interpret these words8 ,are they to be taken literally1 or spiritually8 or are both methods equally legitimate8 ,evidently they are both intended1 for ,jesus was the ,light-bringer in more senses than one4 ,that the ,messiah should signalize ,his advent by performing wonders and signs1 and by working physical cures1 was certainly the teaching of prophecy1 as it was a fixed and prominent hope in the expectation of the ,jews4 ,and so1 when the despondent ,baptist sent two of his disciples to ask ,art ,thou ,he that should come8 ,jesus gave no direct answer1 but turning from ,his questioners to the multitude of sick who pressed around ,him1 ,he healed their sick1 and gave sight to many that were blind4 ,then returning to the surprised strangers1 ,he bids them carry back to their master these visible proofs of ,his ,messiahship--how that lepers are cleansed1 and the blind receive their sight4 ,jesus ,himself had a wonderful power of vision4 ,his eyes were divinely bright1 for they carried their own light4 ,not only had ,he the gift of prescience1 the forward-looking eye2 ,he had what for want of a word we may call the gift of perscience1 the eye that looked within1 that saw the heart and soul of things4 ,what a strange fascination there was in ,his very look6 how it flashed like a subtle lightning1 striking and scathing with its holy indignation the half-veiled meanness and hypocrisy6 and how again1 like a beam of light1 it fell upon ,peter's soul1 thawing the chilled heart1 and opening the closed fountain of his tears1 as an ,alpine summer falls on the rigid glacier1 and sends it rippling and singing through the lower vales4 ,and had not ,jesus an especial sympathy for cases of ophthalmic distress1 paying to the blind a peculiar attention8 ,how quickly ,he responded to ,bartimus--,what is it that ,i shall do for thee8--as if ,bartimus were conferring the benefit by making his request4 ,where on the pages of the four ,gospels do we find a picture more full of beauty and sublimity than when we read of ,jesus taking the blind man by the hand1 and leading him out of the town8 ,what moral grandeur and what touching pathos are there6 and how that stoop of gentleness makes ,him great6 ,no other case is there of such prolonged and tender sympathy1 where ,he not only opens the gates of day for the benighted1 but leads the benighted one up to the gates4 ,and why does ,jesus make this difference in ,his miracles1 that while other cures are wrought instantly1 even the raising of the dead1 with nothing more than a look1 a word1 or a touch1 in healing the blind ,he should work the cure1 as it were1 in parts1 or by using such intermediaries as clay1 saliva1 or the water of ,siloam's pool8 ,must it not have been intentional8 ,it would seem so1 though what the purpose might be we can only guess4 ,was it so gradual an inletting of the light1 because a glare too bright and sudden would only confuse and blind8 or did ,jesus linger over the cure with the pleasure of one who loves to watch the dawn1 as it paints the east with vermilion and gold8 or did ,jesus make use of the saliva and clay1 that like crystal lenses1 they might magnify ,his power1 and show how ,his will was supreme1 that ,he had a thousand ways of restoring sight1 and that ,he had only to command even unlikely things1 and light1 or rather sight1 should be8 ,we do not know the purpose1 but we do know that physical sight was somehow a favourite gift of the ,lord ,jesus1 one that ,he handed to men carefully and tenderly4 ,nay1 ,he ,himself said that the man of ,jerusalem had been born blind that the works of ,god should be manifest in him2 that is1 his firmament had been for forty years darkened that his age1 and all coming ages1 might see shining within it the constellations of ,divine ,pity and ,divine ,power4 ,but while ,jesus knew well the anatomy of the natural eye1 and could and did heal it of its disorders1 putting within the sunken socket the rounded ball1 or restoring to the optic nerve its lost powers1 this was not the only sight ,he brought4 ,to the companion clauses of this prophecy1 where ,jesus proclaims deliverance to the captives1 and sets at liberty them that are bruised1 we are compelled to give a spiritual interpretation2 and so the recovering of sight to the blind demands a far wider horizon than the literalistic sense offers4 ,it speaks of the true ,light which lighteth every man1 that spiritual photosphere that environs and enswathes the soul1 and of the opening and adjusting of the spiritual sense2 for as sight without light is darkness1 so light without sight is darkness still4 ,the two facts are thus related1 each useless apart from the other1 but together producing what we call vision4 ,the recovering of sight to the blind is thus the universal miracle4 ,it is the ,let light be of the new ,genesis1 or1 as we prefer to call it1 the regeneration4 ,it is the dawn1 which1 breaking over the soul1 broadens unto the perfect day1 the heavenly1 the eternal noon4 ,jesus ,himself recognized this binoculism1 this double vision4 ,he says 7,john xvi4 #af71 ,a little while1 and ye behold ,me no more2 and again a little while1 and ye shall see ,me1 using two altogether different words--the one speaking of the vision of the sense1 the other of the deeper vision of the soul4 ,and it was so4 ,the disciples' vision of the ,christ1 at least so long as the bodily presence was with them1 was the earthly1 physical vision4 ,the spiritual ,christ was1 in a sense1 lost1 masked in the corporeal4 ,the veil of ,his flesh hung dense and heavy before their eyes1 and not until it was uplifted on the cross1 not until it was rent in twain1 did they see the mysterious ,holy ,presence that dwelt within the veil4 ,nor was the clearer vision given them even now4 ,the dust of the sepulchre was in their eyes1 blurring1 and for a time half-blinding them--the anointing with the clay4 ,the emptied grave1 the ,resurrection1 was their pool of ,siloam1 washing away the blinding clay1 the dust of their gross1 materialistic thoughts4 ,henceforth they saw ,christ1 not1 as before1 ever coming and going1 but as the ever-present1 the abiding ,one4 ,in the fuller light of the ,pentecostal flames the unseen ,christ became more near and more real than the seen ,christ ever was4 ,seeing ,him as visible1 their minds were holden1 somewhat perplexed2 they could neither accomplish much nor endure much2 but seeing ,him who had become invisible1 they were a company of invincibles4 ,they could do and they could endure anything2 for was not the ,i ,,am with them always8 ,now1 even in the physical vision there is a wonderful correspondence between the sight and the soul1 the prospect and introspect4 ,as men read the outward world they see pretty much the shadow of themselves1 their thoughts1 feelings1 and ideas4 ,in the ,german fable the travelled stork had nothing to say about the beauty of the fields and wonders of the cities over which it passed1 but it could discourse at length about the delicious frogs it had found in a certain ditch4 ,exactly the same law rules up in the higher vision4 ,men see what they themselves love and are2 the sight is but a sort of projection of the soul4 ,as ,st4 ,paul says1 ,the natural man receiveth not the things of ,god2 the things which ,god hath prepared for them that love ,him are things which eye saw not1 and ear heard not4 ,and so ,jesus gives sight by renewing the soul2 ,he creates around us a new heaven and a new earth1 by creating a new1 a clean heart within us4 ,within every soul there are the possibilities of a ,paradise1 but these possibilities are dormant4 ,the natural heart is a chaos of confusion and darkness1 until it turns towards ,jesus as its ,saviour and its ,sun1 and henceforth revolves around ,him in its ever-narrowing circles4 #c4 ,the ,gospel of ,jesus was a ,gospel of ,liberty4 ,he hath sent ,me to proclaim release to the captives1 to set at liberty them that are bruised4 ,the latter clause is not in the original prophecy1 but is a rough adaptation of another passage in ,isaiah 7lviii4 #f74 ,probably it was quoted by ,jesus in ,his address1 and so was inserted by the ,evangelist with the passages read2 for in the ,new ,testament the quotations from the ,old are grouped together by affinities of spirit1 rather than by the law of textual continuity4 ,the two passages are one in their proclamation and promise of liberty1 but they by no means cover the same ground4 ,the former speaks of the liberation of captives1 those whom the exigencies of war or some change of fortune have thrown into prison2 the latter speaks of deliverance to the oppressed1 those whose personal liberties may not be impawned1 but whose lives are made hard and bitter under severe exactions1 and whose spirits are broken1 crushed beneath a weight of accumulated ills4 ,speaking generally1 we should call the one an amnesty1 and the other an enfranchisement2 for one is the offer of freedom to the captive1 the other of freedom to the slave2 while together they form an act of emancipation for humanity1 enfranchising and ennobling each individual son of man1 and giving to him1 even the poorest1 the freedom of ,god's world4 ,in what sense1 then1 is ,jesus the great ,emancipator8 ,it would be easy to show that ,jesus1 personally1 was a lover of freedom4 ,he could not brook restraints4 ,antiquity1 conventionalism1 had no charms for ,him4 ,keenly in touch with the present1 ,he did not care to take the cold1 clammy hand of a dead ,past1 or allow it to prescribe ,his actions4 ,between the right and the wrong1 the good and the evil1 ,he put a wall of adamant1 ,god's eternal ,no2 but within the sphere of the right1 the good1 ,he left room for largest liberties4 ,he observed forms--occasionally1 at least--but formalism ,he could not endure4 ,and so ,jesus was constantly coming into collision with the ,pharisaic school of thought1 the school of routinists1 casuists1 whose religion was a glossary of terms1 a volume of formulas and negations4 ,to the ,pharisee religion was a cold1 dead thing1 a mummy1 all enswathed in the cerecloths of tradition2 to ,jesus it was a living soul within a living form1 an angel of grace and beauty1 whose wings would bear her aloft to higher1 heavenlier spheres1 and whose feet and hands fitted her just as well for the common walks of life1 in a beautiful1 every-day ministry of blessing4 ,and how ,jesus loved to give personal liberty to man--to remove the restrictions disease had put around their activities1 and to leave them physically1 mentally free6 ,and what were ,his miracles of healing but proclamations of liberty1 in the lowest sense of that word8 ,he found the human body enfeebled1 enslaved2 here it was an arm1 there an eye1 so held in the grip of disease that it was as if dead4 ,but ,jesus said to ,disease1 ,loose that half-strangled life and let it go1 and in an instant it was free to act and feel1 finding its lesser jubilee4 ,jesus saw the human mind led into captivity4 ,reason was dethroned and immured in the dungeon1 while the feet of lawless passions were trampling overhead4 ,but when ,jesus healed the demoniac1 the imbecile1 the lunatic1 what was it but a mental jubilee1 as ,he gives peace to a distracted soul1 and leads banished ,reason back to her ,jerusalem8 ,but these deliverances and liberties1 glorious as they are1 are but figures of the true1 which is the enfranchisement of the soul4 ,the disciples were perplexed and sorely disappointed that ,jesus should die without having wrought any redemption for ,israel4 ,this was their one dream1 that the ,messiah should break in pieces the hated ,roman yoke1 and effect a political deliverance4 ,but they see ,him moving steadily to ,his goal1 taking no note of their aspirations1 or noticing them only to rebuke them1 and scarce giving a passing glance to these ,roman eagles1 which darken the sky1 and cast their ominous shadows over the homes and fields of ,israel4 ,but ,jesus had not come into the world to effect any local1 political redemption2 another ,moses could have done that4 ,he had come to lead captive the captivity of ,sin1 as ,zacharias had foretold1 that being delivered out of the hand of our 7spiritual7 enemies1 we might serve ,him without fear1 in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life4 ,the sphere of ,his mission was where ,his kingdom should be1 in the great interior of the heart4 ,a ,prophet like unto ,moses1 but infinitely greater than he1 ,he too leaves the palace1 of the ,eternal1 laying aside1 not the robes of a prospective royalty1 but the glories ,he possessed with the ,father2 ,he too assumes the dress1 the speech1 nay1 the very nature1 of the race ,he has come to redeem4 ,and when no other ransom was sufficient ,he offered ,himself without spot to ,god1 our ,passover1 sacrificed for us1 so sprinkling the doorway of the new ,exodus with ,his own blood4 ,but here we stand on the threshold of a great mystery2 for if angels bend over the mercyseat1 desiring1 but in vain1 to read the secret of redemption1 how can our finite minds grasp the great thought and purpose of ,god8 ,we do know this1 however1 for it is the oft-repeated truth of ,scripture1 that the life1 or1 as ,st4 ,peter puts it1 the precious blood of ,christ1 was1 in a certain sense1 our ransom1 the price of our redemption4 ,we say in a certain sense1 for the figure breaks down if we press it unduly1 as if ,heaven had held a parley with the power that had enslaved man1 and1 at a stipulated price1 had bought him off4 ,that certainly was no part of the ,divine purpose and fact of redemption4 ,but an atonement was needed in order to make salvation possible2 for how could ,god1 infinitely holy and just1 remit the penalty due to sin with no expression of ,his abhorrence of sin1 without destroying the dignity of law1 and reducing justice to a mere name8 ,but the obedience and death of ,christ were a satisfaction of infinite worth4 ,they upheld the majesty of law1 and at the same time made way for the interventions of ,divine ,love4 ,the cross of ,jesus was thus the place where ,mercy and ,truth met together1 and ,righteousness and ,peace kissed each other4 ,it was at once the visible expression of ,god's deep hatred of sin1 and of ,his deep love to the sinner4 ,and so1 not virtually simply1 in some far-off sense1 but in truest reality1 ,jesus died for our sins1 ,himself tasting death that we might have life1 even the life more abundant1 the life everlasting2 suffering ,himself to be led captive by the powers of sin1 bound to the cross and imprisoned in a grave1 that men might be free in all the glorious liberty of the children of ,god4 ,but this deliverance from sin1 the pardon for past offences1 is but one part of the salvation ,jesus provides and proclaims4 ,heaven's angel may light up the dungeon of the imprisoned soul2 he may strike off its fetters1 and lead it forth into light and liberty2 but if ,satan can reverse all this1 and fling back the soul into captivity1 what is that but a partial1 intermittent salvation1 so unlike ,him whose name is ,wonderful8 ,the angel said1 ,he shall save ,his people1 not from the effects of their sin1 from its guilt and condemnation alone1 but from their sins4 ,that is1 ,he shall give to the pardoned soul power over sin2 it shall no longer have dominion over him2 captivity itself shall be led captive2 for ,his grace1 ,his love1 ,his care ,are wider than our utmost need1 ,and higher than our prayer4 ,yes1 verily2 and the life that is hid with ,christ in ,god1 that1 with no side-glances at self1 is set apart utterly to do the ,divine will1 that abandons itself to the perfect keeping of the perfect ,saviour1 will find on earth the acceptable year of the ,lord1 its years1 henceforth1 years of liberty and victory1 a prolonged ,jubilee4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,a ,,sabbath ,,in ,,galilee4 ,we should naturally expect that our physician-,evangelist would have a peculiar interest in ,christ's connection with human suffering and disease1 and in this we are not mistaken4 ,it is almost a superfluous task to consider what our ,gospels would have been had there been no miracles of healing to record2 but we may safely say that such a blank would be inexplicable1 if not impossible4 ,even had prophecy been utterly silent on the subject1 should we not look for the ,christ to signalize ,his advent and reign upon earth by manifestations of ,his ,divine power8 ,a ,man amongst men1 human yet superhuman1 how can ,he manifest the ,divinity that is within1 except by the flashings forth of ,his supernatural power8 ,speech1 however eloquent1 however true1 could not do this4 ,there must be a background of deeds1 visible credentials of authority and power1 or else the words are weak and vain--but the play of a borealis in the sky1 beautiful and bright indeed1 but distant1 inoperative1 and cold4 ,if the prophets of old1 who were but acolytes swinging their lamps and singing their songs before the coming ,christ1 were allowed to attest their commission by occasional enduements of miraculous power1 must not the ,christ ,himself prove ,his super-humanity by fuller measures and exhibitions of the same power8 ,and where can ,he manifest this so well as in connection with the world's suffering1 need1 and pain8 ,here is a background prepared1 and all dark enough in sooth2 where can ,he write so well that men may read ,his messages of good-will1 love1 and peace8 ,where can ,he put ,his sign manual1 ,his ,divine autograph1 better than on this firmament of human sorrow1 disease1 and woe8 ,and so the miracles of healing fall naturally into the story2 they are the natural and necessary accompaniments of the ,divine life upon earth4 ,the first miracle that ,jesus wrought was in the home at ,cana2 ,his first miracle of healing was in the synagogue4 ,he thus placed ,himself in the two pivotal centres of our earthly life2 for that life1 with its heavenward and earthward aspects1 revolves about the synagogue and the home4 ,he touches our human life alike on its temporal and its spiritual side4 ,to a nature like that of ,jesus1 which had an intense love for what was real and true1 and as intense a scorn for what was superficial and unreal1 it would seem as if a ,hebrew synagogue would offer but few attractions4 ,true1 it served as the visible symbol of religion2 it was the shrine where the ,law and the ,prophets spoke2 what spiritual life there was circled and eddied around its door2 while its walls1 pointing to ,jerusalem1 kept the scattered populations in touch with the ,temple1 that marbled dream of ,hebraism2 but in saying this we say nearly all4 ,the tides of worldliness and formality1 which1 sweeping through the ,temple gates1 had left a scum of mire even upon the sacred courts1 chilling devotion and almost extinguishing faith1 had swept over the threshold of the synagogue4 ,there the scribes had usurped ,moses' seat1 exalting ,tradition as a sort of essence of ,scripture1 and deadening the majestic voices of the law in the jargon of their vain repetitions4 ,but ,jesus does not absent ,himself from the service of the synagogue because the fires upon its altars are dulled and quenched by the down-draught of the times4 ,to ,him it is the house of ,god1 and if others see it not1 ,he sees a ladder of light1 with ascending and descending angels4 ,if others hear but the voices of man1 all broken and confused1 ,he hears the ,diviner voice1 still and small2 ,he hears the music of the heavenly host1 throwing down their ,glorias upon earth4 ,the pure in heart can find and see ,god anywhere4 ,he who worships truly carries his ,holy of holies within him4 ,he who takes his own fire need never complain of the cold1 and with wood and fire all prepared1 he can find or he can build an altar upon any mount4 ,happy is the soul that has learned to lean upon ,god1 who can say1 amid all the distractions and interventions of man1 ,my soul1 wait thou only upon ,god4 ,to such a one1 whose soul is athirst for ,god1 the ,valley of ,baca becomes a well1 while the hot rock pours out its streams of blessing4 ,the art of worship avails nothing if the heart of worship is gone2 but if that remain1 subtle attractions will ever draw it to the place where ,his name is recorded1 and where ,his honour dwelleth4 ,in his earlier chapters ,st4 ,luke is careful to light his ,sabbath lamp1 telling that such and such miracles were wrought on that day1 because the ,sabbath question was one on which ,jesus soon came into collision with the ,pharisees4 ,by their traditions1 and the withs of dry and sharp legalities1 they had strangled the ,sabbath1 until life was well-nigh extinct4 ,they had made rigorous and exacting what ,god had made bright and restful1 fencing it around with negations1 and burdening it with penalties4 ,jesus broke the withs that bound her1 let the freer air play upon her face1 and then led her back to the sweet liberties of her earlier years4 ,how ,he does it the sequel will show4 ,the ,sabbath morning finds ,jesus repairing to the synagogue at ,capernaum1 a sanctuary built by a ,gentile centurion1 and presided over by ,jairus1 both of whom are yet to be brought into close personal relationship with ,christ4 ,from the silence of the narrative we should infer that the courtesy offered at ,nazareth was not repeated at ,capernaum--that of being invited to read the lesson from the ,book of the ,prophets4 ,but whether so or not1 ,he was allowed to address the congregation1 a privilege which was often accorded to any eminent stranger who might be present4 ,of the subject of the discourse we know nothing4 ,possibly it was suggested by some passing scene or incident1 as the sculptured pot of manna1 in this same synagogue1 called forth the remarkable address about the earthly and the heavenly bread 7,john vi4 #ca74 ,but if the substance of the discourse is lost to us1 its effect is not4 ,it awoke the same feeling of surprise at ,capernaum as it had done before among the more rustic minds of ,nazareth4 ,there1 however1 it was the graciousness of ,his words1 their mingled sweetness and light1 which so caused them to wonder2 here at ,capernaum it was the authority with which ,he spoke that so astonished them1 so different from the speech of the scribes1 which1 for the most part1 was but an iteration of quibbles and trivialities1 with just as much of originality as the old clo' cries of our modern streets4 ,the speech of ,jesus came as a breath from the upper air2 it was the intense language of ,one who possessed the truth1 and who was ,himself possessed by the truth4 ,he dealt in principles1 not platitudes2 in eternal facts1 and not in the fancies of gossamer that tradition so delighted to spin4 ,others might speak with the hesitancy of doubt2 ,jesus spoke in verilys and verities1 the very essences of truth4 ,and so ,his word fell upon the ears of men with the tones of an oracle2 they felt themselves addressed by the unseen ,deity who was behind2 they had not learned1 as we have1 that the ,deity of their oracle was within4 ,no wonder that they are astonished at ,his authority--an authority so perfectly free from any assumptions2 they will wonder still more when they find that demons1 too1 recognize this authority1 and obey it4 ,while ,jesus was still speaking--the tense of the verb implies an unfinished discourse--suddenly ,he was interrupted by a loud1 wild shout3 ,ah1 what have we to do with ,thee1 ,thou ,jesus of ,nazareth8 ,art ,thou come to destroy us8 ,i know ,thee1 who ,thou art1 the ,holy ,one of ,god4 ,it was the cry of a man who1 as our ,evangelist expresses it1 had a spirit of an unclean devil4 ,the phrase is a singular one1 in fact unique1 and savours a little of tautology2 for ,st4 ,luke uses the words spirit and devil as synonyms 7ix4 #ci74 ,later in his ,gospel he would simply have said he had an unclean devil2 why1 then1 does he here amplify the phrase1 and say he had a spirit of an unclean devil8 ,we can1 of course1 only conjecture1 but might it not be because to the ,gentile mind--to which he is writing--the powers of evil were represented as personifications1 having a corporeal existence8 ,and so in his first reference to demoniacal possession he pauses to explain that these demons are evil spirits1 with existences altogether separate from the diseased humanity which temporarily they were allowed to inhabit and to rule4 ,neither can we determine with certainty the meaning of the phrase an unclean devil1 though probably it was so called because it drove its victim to haunt unclean places1 like the ,gadarene1 who had his dwelling among the tombs4 ,the whole subject of demonology has been called in question by certain modern critics4 ,they aver that it is simply an after-growth of ,paganism1 the seeds of worn-out mythologies which had been blown over into the ,christian mind2 and eliminating from them all that is supernatural1 they reduce the so-called possessions to the natural effects of purely natural causes1 physical and mental4 ,it is confessedly a subject difficult as it is mysterious2 but we are not inclined1 at the bidding of rationalistic clamour1 so to strike out the supernatural4 ,indeed1 we cannot1 without impaling ourselves upon this dilemma1 that ,jesus1 knowingly or unknowingly1 taught as the truth what was not true4 ,that ,jesus lent the weight of ,his testimony to the popular belief is evident2 never once1 in all ,his allusions1 does ,he call it in question1 nor hint that ,he is speaking now only in an accommodated sense1 borrowing the accents of current speech4 ,to ,him the existence and presence of evil spirits was just as patent and as solemn a fact as was the existence of the arch-spirit1 even ,satan himself4 ,and granting the existence of evil spirits1 who will show us the line of limitation1 the ,hitherto1 but no farther1 where their influence is stayed8 ,have we not seen1 in mesmerism1 cases of real possession1 where the weaker human will has been completely overpowered by the stronger will8 when the subject was no longer himself1 but his thoughts1 words1 and acts were those of another8 ,and are there not1 in the experiences of all medical men1 and of ministers of religion1 cases of depravity so utterly foul and loathsome that they cannot be explained except by the ,jewish taunt1 ,he hath a devil8 ,according to the teaching of ,scripture1 the evil spirit possessed the man in the entirety of his being1 commanding his own spirit1 ruling both body and mind4 ,now it touched the tongue with a certain glibness of speech1 becoming a spirit of divination1 and now it touched it with dumbness1 putting upon the life the spell of an awful silence4 ,not that the obscurity of the eclipse was always the same4 ,there were more lucid moments1 the penumbras of brightness1 when1 for a brief interval1 the consciousness seemed to awake1 and the human will seemed struggling to assert itself2 as is seen in the occasional dualism of its speech1 when the ,i emerges from the we1 only1 however1 to be drawn back again1 to have its identity swallowed up as before4 ,such is the character who1 leaving the graves of the dead for the abodes of the living1 now breaks through the ceremonial ban1 and enters the synagogue4 ,rushing wildly within--for we can scarcely suppose him to be a quiet worshipper2 the rules of the synagogue would not have allowed that--and approaching ,jesus1 he abruptly breaks in upon the discourse of ,jesus with his cry of mingled fear and passion4 ,of the cry itself we need not speak1 except to notice its question and its confession4 ,art ,thou come to destroy us8 he asks1 as if1 somehow1 the secret of the ,redeemer's mission had been told to these powers of darkness4 ,did they know that ,he had come to destroy the works of the devil1 and ultimately to destroy1 with an everlasting destruction1 him who had the power of death1 that is1 the devil8 ,possibly they did1 for1 citizens of two worlds1 the visible and the invisible1 should not their horizon be wider than our own8 ,at any rate1 their knowledge1 in some points1 was in advance of the nascent faith of the disciples4 ,they knew and confessed the ,divinity of ,christ's mission1 and the ,divinity of ,his ,person1 crying1 ,i know ,thee1 who ,thou art1 the ,holy ,one of ,god2 ,thou art the ,son of ,god 7iv4 #da71 when as yet the faith of the disciples was only a nebula of mist1 made up in part of unreal hopes and random guesses4 ,indeed1 we seldom find the demons yielding to the power of ,christ1 or to the delegated power of ,his disciples1 but they make their confession of superior knowledge as if they possessed a more intimate acquaintance with ,christ4 ,jesus ,i know1 and ,paul ,i know1 said the demon1 which the sons of ,sceva could not exorcise 7,acts xix4 #ae71 while now the demon of ,capernaum boasts1 ,i know ,thee1 who ,thou art1 the ,holy ,one of ,god4 ,nor was it a vain boast either1 for our ,evangelist asserts that ,jesus did not suffer the demons to speak1 because they knew that ,he was the ,christ 7ver4 #da74 ,they knew ,jesus1 but they feared and hated ,him4 ,in a certain sense they believed1 but their belief only caused them to tremble1 while it left them demons still4 ,just so is it now3-- ,there are1 too1 who believe in hell and lie2 ,there are who waste their souls in working out ,life's problem1 on these sands betwixt two tides1 ,and end1 ',now give us the beasts' part1 in death4' ,saving faith is thus more than a bare assent of the mind1 more than some cold belief1 or vain repetition of a creed4 ,a creed may be complete and beautiful1 but it is not the ,christ2 it is only the vesture the ,christ wears2 and alas1 there are many still who will chaffer about1 and cast lots for1 a creed1 who will go directly and crucify the ,christ ,himself6 ,the faith that saves1 besides the assent of the mind1 must have the consent of the will and the surrender of the life4 ,it is with the heart1 and not only with the mind1 man believeth unto righteousness4 ,the interruption brought the discourse of ,jesus to an abrupt end1 but it served to point the discourse with further exclamations of surprise1 while it offered space for a new manifestation of ,divine authority and power4 ,it did not in the least disconcert the ,master1 though it had doubtless sent a thrill of excitement through the whole congregation4 ,he did not even rise from ,his seat 7ver4 #ch71 but retaining the teaching posture1 and not deigning a reply to the questions of the demon1 ,he rebuked the evil spirit1 saying1 ,hold thy peace1 and come out of him1 thus recognizing the dual will1 and distinguishing between the possessor and the possessed4 ,the command was obeyed instantly and utterly2 though1 as if to make one last supreme effort1 he throws his victim down upon the floor of the synagogue1 like ,samson ,agonistes1 pulling to the ground the temple of his imprisonment4 ,it was1 however1 a vain attempt1 for he did him no hurt4 ,the roaring lion had indeed been muzzled--which is the primitive meaning of the verb rendered ,hold thy peace--by the omnipotent word of ,jesus4 ,they were astonished at ,his teaching before1 but how much more so now6 ,then it was a convincing word2 now it is a commanding word4 ,they hear the voice of ,jesus1 sweeping like suppressed thunder over the boundaries of the invisible world1 and commanding even devils1 driving them forth1 just with one rebuke1 from the temple of the human soul1 as afterwards ,he drove the traders from ,his ,father's house with ,his whip of small cords4 ,no wonder that amazement came upon all1 or that they asked1 ,what is this word8 for with authority and power ,he commandeth the unclean spirits1 and they come out4 ,and so ,jesus began ,his miracles of healing at the outmost marge of human misery4 ,with the finger of ,his love1 with the touch of ,his omnipotence1 ,he swept the uttermost circle of our human need1 writing on that far and low horizon ,his wonderful name1 ,mighty to save4 ,and since none are outcasts from ,his mercy save those who outcast themselves1 why should we limit the ,holy ,one of ,israel8 why should we despair of any8 ,life and hope should be coeval4 ,immediately on retiring from the synagogue1 ,jesus passes out of ,capernaum1 and along the shore to ,bethsaida1 and enters1 together with ,james and ,john1 the house of ,peter and ,andrew 7,john i4 #dd74 ,it is a singular coincidence that the ,apostle ,peter1 with whose name the ,romish ,church takes such liberties1 and who is himself the ,rock on which they rear their huge fabric of priestly assumptions1 should be the only ,apostle of whose married life we read2 for though ,john afterwards possesses a home1 its only inmate besides1 as far as the records show1 is the new mother he leads away from the cross4 ,it is true we have not the name of ,peter's wife1 but we find her shadow1 as well as that of her husband1 thrown across the pages of the ,new ,testament2 cleaving to her mother even while she follows another2 ministering to ,jesus1 and for a time finding ,him a home2 while later we see her sharing the privations and the perils of her husband's wandering life 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #e74 ,verily1 ,rome has drifted far from the ,rock of her anchorage1 the example of her patron saint2 and between the ,vatican of the modern ,pontiff and the sweet domesticities of ,bethsaida is a gulf of divergence which only a powerful imagination can cross4 ,no sooner1 however1 has ,jesus entered the house than ,he is told how ,peter's mother-in-law has been suddenly stricken down by a violent fever1 probably a local fever for which that lake-shore was notorious1 and which was bred from the malaria of the marsh4 ,our physician-,evangelist does not stay to diagnose the malady1 but he speaks of it as a great fever1 thus giving us an idea of its virulence and consequent danger4 ,and they besought ,him for her2 not that ,he was at all reluctant to grant their request1 for the tense of the verb implies that once asking was sufficient2 but evidently there was the beseeching look and tone of a mingled love and fear4 ,jesus responds instantly2 for can ,he come fresh from the healing of a stranger1 to allow a dread shadow to darken the home and the hearts of ,his own8 ,seeking the sick chamber1 ,he bends over the fever-stricken one1 and taking her hand in ,his 7,mark i4 #ca71 ,he speaks some word of command1 rebuking the fever1 as ,st4 ,luke expresses it4 ,in a moment the fatal fire is quenched1 the throbbing heart regains its normal beat1 a delicious coolness takes the place of the burning heat1 while the fever-flush steals away to make place for the bloom of health4 ,the cure was perfect and instant4 ,the lost strength returned1 and immediately she arose and ministered unto them1 preparing1 doubtless1 the evening meal4 ,may we not throw the light of this narrative upon one of the questions of the day8 ,men speak of the reign of law1 and the drift of modern scientific thought is against any interference--even ,divine--with the ordinary operations of physical law4 ,as the visible universe is opened up and explored the heavens are crowded back and back1 until they seem nothing but a golden mist1 some distant dream4 ,nature's laws are seen to be so uniform1 so ruthlessly exact1 that certain of those who should be teachers of a higher faith are suggesting the impossibility of any interference with their ordinary operations4 ,you do but waste your breath1 they say1 in asking for any immunities from ,nature's penalties1 or for any deviation from her fixed rules4 ,they are invariable1 inviolate4 ,be content rather to be conformed1 mentally and morally1 to ,god's will4 ,but is prayer to have so restricted an area8 is the physical world to be buried so deep in law that it shall give no rest to prayer1 not even for the sole of her foot8 ,entire conformity to ,god's will is1 indeed1 the highest aim and privilege of life1 and he who prays the most seeks most for this2 but has ,god no will in the world of physics1 in the realm of matter8 ,shall we push ,him back to the narrow ledge of a primal ,genesis8 or shall we leave ,him chained to that frontier coast1 another ,prometheus bound8 ,it is well to respect and to honour law1 but ,nature's laws are complex1 manifold4 ,they can form combinations numberless1 working different or opposite results4 ,he who searches for the springs of life will ,reach the law within the law2 and who can tell whether there is not a law of prayer and faith1 thrown by the ,unseen ,hand across all the warp of created things1 binding the whole round earth about the feet of ,god8 ,reason says1 ,it might be so1 and ,scripture says1 ,it is so4 ,was ,jesus angry when they told ,him of the fever-stricken1 and they implored ,his intervention8 ,did ,he say1 ,you mistake ,my mission4 ,i must not interfere with the course of the fever2 it must have its range4 ,if she lives1 she lives2 and if she dies1 she dies2 and whether the one or the other1 you must be patient1 you must be content8 ,but such were not the words of ,jesus1 with their latent fatalism4 ,he heard the prayer1 and at once granted it1 not by annulling ,nature's laws1 nor even suspending them1 but by introducing a higher law4 ,even though the fever was the result of natural causes1 and though it probably might have been prevented1 had they but drained the marsh or planted it with the eucalyptus1 yet this does not shut out all interventions of ,divine mercy4 ,the ,divine compassion makes some allowance for our human ignorance1 when it is not wilful1 and for our human impotence4 ,the fever left her1 and immediately she rose up and ministered unto them4 ,yes1 and there are fevers of the spirit as well as of the flesh1 when the heart is quick and flurried1 the brain hot with anxious thought1 when the fret and jar of life seem eating our strength away1 and our disquiet spirit finds its rest broken by the pressure of some fearful nightmare4 ,and how soon does this soul-fever strike us down6 how it unfits us for our ministry of blessing1 robbing us of the heart at leisure from itself1 and filling the soul with sad1 distressing fears1 until our life seems like the helpless1 withered leaf1 whirled and tossed hither and thither by the wind6 ,for the fever of the body there may not always be relief1 but for the fever of the spirit there is a possible and a perfect cure4 ,it is the touch of ,jesus4 ,a close personal contact with the living and loving ,christ will rebuke the fever of your heart2 it will give to your soul a quietness and restfulness that are ,divine2 and with the touch of ,his omnipotence upon you1 and with all the elation of conscious strength1 you too will arise into a nobler life1 a life which will find its supremest joy in ministering unto others1 and so ministering unto ,him4 ,such was the ,sabbath in ,galilee in which ,jesus began ,his miracles of healing4 ,but if it saw the beginning of ,his miracles1 it did not see their end2 for soon as the sun had set1 and the ,sabbath restraint was over1 all that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto ,him1 and ,he laid ,his hands on every one of them1 and healed them4 ,a marvellous ending of a marvellous day6 ,jesus throws out by handfuls ,his largesse of blessing1 health1 which is the highest wealth1 showing that there is no end to ,his power1 as there is no limit to ,his love2 that ,his will is supreme over all forces and all laws2 that ,he is1 and ever will be1 the perfect ,saviour1 binding up the broken in heart1 assuaging all griefs1 and healing all wounds6 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,calling ,,of ,,the ,,four4 ,when ,peter and his companions had the interview with ,jesus by the ,jordan1 and were summoned to follow ,him1 it was the designation1 rather than the appointment1 to the ,apostleship4 ,they did accompany ,him to ,cana1 and thence to ,capernaum2 but here their paths diverged for a time1 ,jesus passing on alone to ,nazareth1 while the novitiate disciples fall back again into the routine of secular life4 ,now1 however1 ,his mission is fairly inaugurated1 and ,he must attach them permanently to ,his person4 ,he must lay ,his hand1 where ,his thoughts have long been1 upon the future1 making provision for the stability and permanence of ,his work1 that so the kingdom may survive and flourish when the ,ascension clouds have made the ,king ,himself invisible4 ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark insert their abridged narrative of the call before the healing of the demoniac and the cure of ,peter's mother-in-law2 and most expositors think that ,st4 ,luke's setting in order1 in this case at least1 is wrong2 that he has preferred to have a chronological inaccuracy1 so that ,his miracles may be gathered into related groups4 ,but that our ,evangelist is in error is by no means certain2 indeed1 we are inclined to think that the balance of probability is on the side of his arrangement4 ,how else shall we account for the crowds who now press upon ,jesus so importunately and with such ,galilean ardour8 ,it was not the rumour of ,his ,judan miracles which had awoke this tempest of excitement1 for the journey to ,jerusalem was not yet taken4 ,and what else could it be1 if the miraculous draught of fishes was the first of the ,capernaum miracles8 ,but suppose that we retain the order of ,st4 ,luke1 that the call followed closely upon that memorable ,sabbath1 then the crowds fall into the story naturally2 it is the multitude which had gathered about the door when the ,sabbath sun had set1 putting an after-glow upon the hills1 and on whose sick ,he wrought ,his miracles of healing4 ,nor does the fact that ,jesus went to be a guest in ,peter's house require us to invert the order of ,st4 ,luke2 for the casual acquaintance by the ,jordan had since ripened into intimacy1 so that ,peter would naturally offer hospitality to his ,master on ,his coming to ,capernaum4 ,again1 too1 going back to the ,sabbath in the synagogue1 we read how they were astonished at ,his doctrine2 for ,his word was with authority2 and when that astonishment was heightened into amazement1 as they saw the demon cowed and silenced1 this was their exclamation1 ,what a word is this6 ,and does not ,peter refer to this1 when the same voice that commanded the demon now commands them to ,let down the nets1 and he answers1 ,at ,thy word ,i will8 ,it certainly seems as if the word of the sea-shore were an echo from the synagogue1 and so a word that justifies the order of our ,evangelist4 ,it was probably still early in the morning--for the days of ,jesus began back at the dawn1 and very often before--when ,he sought the quiet of the sea-shore1 possibly to find a still hour for devotion1 or perhaps to see how ,his friends had fared with their all-night fishing4 ,little quiet1 however1 could ,he find1 for from ,capernaum and ,bethsaida comes a hurrying and intrusive crowd1 surging around ,him with the swirl and roar of confused voices1 and pressing inconveniently near4 ,not that the crowd was hostile2 it was a friendly but inquisitive multitude1 eager1 not so much to see a repetition of ,his miracles1 as to hear ,him speak1 in those rare1 sweet accents1 the word of ,god4 ,the expression characterizes the whole teaching of ,jesus4 ,though ,his words were meant for earth1 for human ears and for human hearts1 there was no earthliness about them4 ,on the topics in which man is most exercised and garrulous1 such as local or national events1 ,jesus is strangely silent4 ,he scarcely gives them a passing thought2 for what were the events of the day to ,him who was before ,abraham1 and who saw the two eternities8 what to ,him was the gossip of the hour1 how ,rome's armies marched and fought1 or how the dogs of faction bayed8 ,to ,his mind these were but as dust caught in the eddies of the wind4 ,the thoughts of ,jesus were high4 ,like the figures of the prophet's vision1 they had feet indeed1 so that they could alight and rest awhile on earthly things--though even here they only touched earth at points which were common to humanity1 and they were winged1 too1 having the sweep of the lower spaces and of the highest heavens4 ,and so there was a heavenliness upon the words of ,jesus1 and a sweetness1 as if celestial harmonies were imprisoned within them4 ,they set men looking upwards1 and listening2 for the heavens seemed nearer as ,he spoke1 and they were no longer dumb4 ,and not only did the words of ,jesus bring to men a clearer revelation of ,god1 correcting the hard views which man1 in his fears and his sins1 had formed of ,him1 but men felt the ,divineness of ,his speech2 that ,jesus was the ,bearer of a new evangel1 ,god's latest message of hope and love4 ,and ,he was the ,bearer of such a message2 ,he was ,himself that ,evangel1 the ,word of ,god incarnate1 that men might hear of heavenly things in the common accents of earthly speech4 ,nor was ,jesus loth to deliver ,his message2 ,he needed no constraining to speak of the things pertaining to the kingdom of ,god4 ,only let ,him see the listening heart1 the void of a sincere longing1 and ,his speech distilled as the dew4 ,and so no time was to ,him inopportune2 the break of day1 the noon1 the night were all alike to ,him4 ,no place was out of harmony with ,his message--the ,temple-court1 the synagogue1 the domestic hearth1 the mountain1 the lake-shore2 ,he consecrated all alike with the music of ,his speech4 ,nay1 even upon the cross1 amid its agonies1 ,he opens ,his lips once more1 though parched with terrible thirst1 to speak peace within a penitent soul1 and to open for it the gate of ,paradise4 ,drawn up on the shore1 close by the water's edge1 are two boats1 empty now1 for ,simon and his partners are busy washing their nets1 after their night of fruitless toil4 ,seeking for freer space than the pushing crowd will allow ,him1 and also wanting a point of vantage1 where ,his voice will command a wider range of listeners1 ,jesus gets into ,simon's boat1 and requests him to put out a little from the land4 ,and ,he sat down1 and taught the multitudes out of the boat1 assuming the posture of the teacher1 even though the occasion partook so largely of the impromptu character4 ,when ,he dispensed the material bread ,he made the multitudes sit down2 but when ,he dispensed the living bread1 the heavenly manna1 ,he left the multitudes standing1 while ,he ,himself sat down1 so claiming the authority of a ,master1 as ,his posture emphasized ,his words4 ,it is somewhat singular that when our ,evangelist has been so careful and minute in his description of the scene1 giving us a sort of photograph of that lakeside group1 with bits of artistic colouring thrown in1 that then he should omit entirely the subject-matter of the discourse4 ,but so he does1 and we try in vain to fill up the blank4 ,did ,he1 as at ,nazareth1 turn the lamps of prophecy full upon ,himself1 and tell them how the great ,light had at last risen upon ,galilee of the nations8 or did ,he let ,his speech reflect the shimmer of the lake1 as ,he told in parable how the kingdom of heaven was like unto a net that was cast into the sea1 and gathered of every kind8 ,possibly ,he did1 but ,his words1 whatever they were1 like the pipes of ,pan1 died with the ears and hearts of those who heard them4 ,when ,he had left speaking1 having dismissed the multitude with ,his benediction1 ,he turns to give to ,his future disciples1 ,peter and ,andrew1 a private lesson4 ,put out into the deep1 ,he said1 including ,andrew now in ,his plural imperative1 and let down your nets for a draught4 ,it was a commanding voice1 altogether different in its tone from the last words ,he addressed to ,peter1 when ,he requested him to put out a little from the land4 ,then ,he spoke as the ,friend1 possibly the ,guest1 with a certain amount of deference2 now ,he steps up to a very throne of power1 a throne which in ,peter's life ,he never more abdicates4 ,simon recognizes the altered conditions1 that a ,higher ,will is now in the boat1 where hitherto his own will has been supreme2 and saluting ,him as ,master1 he says1 ,we toiled all night1 and took nothing2 but at ,thy word ,i will let down the nets4 ,he does not demur2 he does not hesitate one moment4 ,though himself weary with his night-long labours1 and though the command of the ,master went directly against his nautical experiences1 he sinks his thoughts and his doubts in the word of his ,lord4 ,it is true he speaks of the failure of the night1 how they have taken nothing2 but instead of making that a plea for hesitancy and doubt1 it is the foil to make his unquestioning faith stand out in bolder relief4 ,peter was the man of impulse1 the man of action1 with a swift-beating heart and an ever-ready hand4 ,to his forward-stepping mind decision was easy and immediate2 and so1 almost before the command was completed1 his swift lips had made answer1 ,i will let down the nets4 ,it was the language of a prompt and full obedience4 ,it showed that ,simon's nature was responsive and genuine1 that when a ,christly word struck upon his soul it set his whole being vibrating1 and drove out all meaner thoughts4 ,he had learned to obey1 which was the first lesson of discipleship2 and having learned to obey1 he was therefore fit to rule1 qualified for leadership1 and worthy of being entrusted with the keys of the kingdom4 ,and how much is missed in life through feebleness of resolve1 a lack of decision6 ,how many are the invertebrate souls1 lacking in will and void of purpose1 who1 instead of piercing waves and conquering the flow of adverse tides1 like the medus1 can only drift1 all limp and languid1 in the current of circumstance6 ,such men do not make apostles2 they are but ciphers of flesh and blood1 of no value by themselves1 and only of any worth as they are attached to the unit of some stronger will4 ,a poor broken thing is a life spent in the subjunctive mood1 among the mights and shoulds1 where the ,i will waits upon ,i would4 ,that is the truest1 worthiest life that is divided between the indicative and the imperative4 ,as in shaking pebbles the smaller ones drop down to the bottom1 their place determined by their size1 so in the shaking together of human lives1 in the rub and jostle of the world1 the strong wills invariably come to the top4 ,and how much do even ,christians lose1 through their partial or their slow obedience6 ,how we hesitate and question1 when our duty is simply to obey6 ,how we cling to our own ways1 modes1 and wills1 when the ,christ is commanding us forward to some higher service6 ,how strangely we forget that in the grammar of life the ,thou willest should be the first person1 and the ,i will a far-off second6 ,when the soldier hears the word of command he becomes deaf to all other voices1 even the voice of danger1 or the voice of death itself2 and when ,christ speaks to us ,his word should completely fill the soul1 leaving no room for hesitancy1 no place for doubt4 ,said the mother to the servants of ,cana1 ,whatsoever ,he saith unto you1 do it4 ,that whatsoever is the line of duty1 and the line of beauty too4 ,he who makes ,christ's will his will1 who does implicitly whatsoever ,he saith1 will find a ,cana anywhere1 where life's water turns to wine1 and where life's common things are exalted into sacraments4 ,he who walks up to the light will surely walk in the light4 ,we can imagine with what alacrity ,simon obeys the ,master's word1 and how the disappointment of the night and all sense of fatigue are lost in the exhilaration of the new hopes4 ,seconded by the more quiet ,andrew1 who catches the enthusiasm of his brother's faith1 he pulls out into deep water1 where they let down the nets4 ,immediately they enclosed a great multitude of fishes1 a weight altogether beyond their power to lift2 and as they saw the nets beginning to give way with the strain1 ,peter beckoned to his partners1 ,james and ,john1 whose boat1 probably1 was still drawn up on the shore4 ,coming to their assistance1 together they secured the spoil1 completely filling the two boats1 until they were in danger of sinking with the over-weight4 ,here1 then1 we find a miracle of a new order4 ,hitherto1 in the narrative of our ,evangelist1 ,jesus has shown ,his supernatural power only in connection with humanity1 driving away the ills and diseases which preyed upon the human body and the human soul4 ,and not even here did ,jesus make use of that power randomly1 making it common and cheap2 it was called forth by the constraint of a great need and a great desire4 ,now1 however1 there is neither the desire nor the need4 ,it was not the first time1 nor was it to be the last1 that ,peter and ,andrew had spent a night in fruitless toil4 ,that was a lesson they had early to learn1 and which they were never allowed long to forget4 ,they had been quite content to leave their boat1 as indeed they had intended1 on the sands1 until the evening should recall them to their task4 ,but ,jesus volunteers ,his help1 and works a miracle--whether of omnipotence1 or omniscience1 or of both1 it matters not1 and not either to relieve some present distress1 or to still some pain1 but that ,he might fill the empty boats with fishes4 ,we must not1 however1 assess the value of the miracle at the market-price of the take1 for evidently ,jesus had some ulterior motive and design4 ,as the leaden types1 lying detached and meaningless in the case1 can be arranged into words and be made to voice the very highest thought1 so these boats and oars1 nets and fish are but so many characters1 the ,divine code as we may call it1 spelling out1 first to these fishermen1 and then to mankind in general1 the deep thought and purpose of ,christ4 ,can we discover that meaning8 ,we think we may4 ,in the first place1 the miracle shows us the supremacy of ,christ4 ,we may almost read the ,divineness of ,christ's mission in the manner of its manifestation4 ,had ,jesus been man only1 ,his thoughts running on human lines1 and ,his plans built after human models1 ,he would have arranged for another ,epiphany at the beginning of ,his ministry1 showing ,his credentials at the first1 and announcing in full the purpose of ,his mission4 ,that would have been the way of man1 fond as he is of surprises and sudden transitions2 but such is not the way of ,god4 ,the forces of heaven do not move forward in leaps and somersaults2 their advances are gradual and rhythmic4 ,evolution1 and not revolution1 is the ,divine law1 in the realm of matter and of mind alike4 ,the dawn must precede the day4 ,and just so the life of the ,divine ,son is manifested4 ,he who is the ,light of the world comes into that world softly as a sunrise1 lighting up little by little the horizon of ,his disciples' thought1 lest a revelation which was too full and too sudden should only dazzle and blind them4 ,so far they have seen ,him exercise ,his power over diseases and demons1 or1 as at ,cana1 over inorganic matter2 now they see that power moving out in new directions4 ,jesus sets up ,his throne to face the sea1 the sea with which they were so familiar1 and over which they claimed some sort of lordship4 ,but even here1 upon their own element1 ,jesus is supreme4 ,he sees what they do not2 ,he knows these deeps1 filling up with ,his omniscience the blanks they seek to fill with their random guesses4 ,here1 hitherto1 their wills have been all-powerful2 they could take their boats and cast their nets just when and where they would2 but now they feel the touch of a ,higher ,will1 and ,christ's word fills their hearts1 impelling them onward1 even as their boats were driven of the wind4 ,jesus now assumes the command4 ,his ,will1 like a magnet1 attracts to itself and controls their lesser wills2 and as ,his word now launches out the boat and casts the nets1 so shortly1 at that same word1 will boats and nets1 and the sea itself1 be left behind4 ,and did not that ,divine ,will move beneath the water as well as above it1 controlling the movements of the shoal of fishes1 as on the surface it was controlling the thoughts and moving the hands of the fishermen8 ,it is true that in ,gennesaret1 as in our modern seas1 the fish sometimes moved in such dense shoals that an enormous take would be an event purely natural1 a wonder indeed1 but no miracle4 ,possibly it was so here1 in which case the narrative would resolve itself into a miracle of omniscience1 as ,jesus saw1 what even the trained eyes of the fishermen had not seen1 the movements of the shoal1 then regulating ,his commands1 so making the oars above and the fins below strike the water in unison4 ,but was this all8 ,evidently not1 to ,peter's mind1 at any rate4 ,had it been all to him1 a purely natural phenomenon1 or had he seen in it only the prescience of ,christ1 a vision somewhat clearer and farther than his own1 it would not have created such feelings of surprise and awe4 ,he might still have wondered1 but he scarcely would have worshipped4 ,but ,peter feels himself in the presence of a ,power that knows no limit1 ,one who has supreme authority over diseases and demons1 and who now commands even the fishes of the sea4 ,in this sudden wealth of spoil he reads the majesty and glory of the new-found ,christ1 whose word1 spoken or unspoken1 is omnipotent1 alike in the heights above and in the depths beneath4 ,and so the moment his thoughts are disengaged from the pressing task he prostrates himself at the feet of ,jesus1 crying with awe-stricken speech1 ,depart from me2 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord6 ,we are not1 perhaps1 to interpret this literally1 for ,peter's lips were apt to become tremulous with the excitement of the moment1 and to say words which in a cooler mood he would recall1 or at least modify4 ,so here1 it surely was not his meaning that the ,lord1 as he now calls ,jesus1 should leave him2 for how indeed should ,he depart1 now that they are afloat upon the deep1 far from land8 ,but such had been the revelation of the power and holiness of ,jesus1 borne in by the miracle upon ,peter's soul1 that he felt himself thrown back1 morally and in every way1 to an infinite distance from ,christ4 ,his boat was unworthy to carry1 as the house of the centurion was unworthy to receive1 such infinite perfections as now he saw in ,jesus4 ,it was an apocalypse indeed1 revealing1 together with the purity and power of ,christ1 the littleness1 the nothingness of his sinful self2 that1 as ,elijah covered his face when the ,lord passed by1 so ,peter feels as if he ought to draw the veil of an infinite distance around himself--the distance which would ever be between him and the ,lord1 were not ,his mercy and ,his love just as infinite as ,his power4 ,the fuller meaning of the miracle1 however1 becomes apparent when we interpret it in the light of the call which immediately followed4 ,reading the sudden fear which has come over ,peter's soul1 and which has thrown his speech somewhat into confusion1 ,jesus first stills the agitation of his heart by a word of assurance and of cheer4 ,fear not1 ,he says1 for from henceforth thou shalt catch men4 ,it will be observed that ,st4 ,luke puts the commission of ,christ in the singular number1 as addressed to ,peter alone1 while ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark put it in the plural1 as including ,andrew as well3 ,i will make you to become fishers of men4 ,the difference1 however1 is but immaterial1 and possibly the reason why ,st4 ,luke introduces the ,apostle ,peter with such a frequent nomination--for ,simon is a familiar name in these early chapters--making his call so emphatic and prominent1 was because in the partisan times which came but too early in the ,church the ,gentile ,christians1 for whom our ,evangelist is writing1 might think unworthily and speak disparagingly of him who was the ,apostle of the ,circumcision4 ,be this as it may1 ,simon and ,andrew are now summoned to1 and commissioned for1 a higher service4 ,that henceforth strikes across their life like a high watershed1 severing the old from the new1 their future from their past1 and throwing all the currents of their thoughts and plans into different and opposite directions4 ,they are to be fishers of men1 and ,jesus1 who so delights in giving object-lessons to ,his disciples1 uses the miracle as a sort of background1 on which ,he may write their commission in large and lasting characters2 it is the ,divine seal upon their credentials4 ,not that they understood the full purport of ,his words at once4 ,the phrase fishers of men was one of those seed-thoughts which needed pondering in the heart2 it would gradually unfold itself in the after-months of discipleship1 ripening at last in the summer heat and summer light of the ,pentecost4 ,they were now to be fishers of the higher art1 their quest the souls of men4 ,this must now be the one object1 the supreme aim of their life1 a life now ennobled by a higher call4 ,plans1 journeys1 thoughts1 and words1 all must bear the stamp of their great commission1 which is to catch men1 not unto death1 however1 as the fish expire when taken from their native element1 but unto life--for such is the meaning of the word4 ,and to take them alive is to save them2 it is to take them out of an element which stifles and destroys1 and to draw them1 by the constraints of truth and love1 within the kingdom of heaven1 which kingdom is righteousness and life1 even eternal life4 ,but if the full meaning of the ,master's words grows upon them--an aftermath to be harvested in later months--enough is understood to make the line of present duty plain4 ,that henceforth is clear1 sharp1 and imperative4 ,it leaves room neither for excuse nor postponement4 ,and so immediately1 when they had brought their boats to land1 they left all and followed ,him1 to learn by following how they too might be winners of souls1 and in a lesser1 lower sense1 saviours of men4 ,the story of ,st4 ,luke closes somewhat abruptly1 with no further reference to ,simon's partners2 and having beckoned them into his central scene1 and filled their boat1 then1 as in a dissolving-view1 the pen of our ,evangelist draws around them the haze of silence1 and they disappear4 ,the other ,synoptists1 however1 fill up the blank1 telling how ,jesus came to them1 probably later in the day1 for they were mending the nets1 which had been tangled and somewhat torn with the weight of spoil they had just taken4 ,speaking no word of explanation1 and giving no word of promise1 ,he simply says1 with that commanding voice of ,his1 ,follow ,me1 thus putting ,himself above all associations and all relationships1 as ,leader and ,lord4 ,james and ,john recognize the call1 for which doubtless they had been prepared1 as being for themselves alone1 and instantly leaving the father1 the hired servants1 and the half-mended nets1 and breaking utterly with their past1 they follow ,jesus1 giving to ,him1 with the exception of one dark1 hesitating hour1 a life-long devotion4 ,and forsaking all1 the four disciples found all4 ,they exchanged a dead self for a living ,christ1 earth for heaven4 ,following the ,lord fully1 with no side-glances at self or selfish gain--at any rate after the enduement and the enlightenment of ,pentecost--they found in the presence and friendship of the ,lord the hundredfold in the present life4 ,allying themselves with ,christ1 they too rose with the rising ,sun4 ,obscure fishermen1 they wrote their names among the immortals as the first ,apostles of the new faith1 bearers of the keys of the kingdom4 ,following ,christ1 they led the world2 and as the ,light that rose over ,galilee of the nations becomes ever more intense and bright1 so it makes ever more intense and vivid the shadows of these ,galilean fishermen1 as it throws them across all lands and times4 ,and such even now is the truest and noblest life4 ,the life which is hid with ,christ is the life that shines the farthest and that tells the most4 ,whether in the more quiet paths and scenes of discipleship or in the more responsible and public duties of the apostolate1 ,jesus demands of us a true1 whole-souled1 and life-long devotion4 ,and1 here indeed1 the paradox is true1 for by losing life we find it1 even the life more abundant2 for ,men may rise on stepping-stones ,of their dead selves to higher things4 ,nay1 they may attain to the highest things1 even to the highest heavens4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,concerning ,,prayer4 ,when the ,greeks called man 1 or the uplooking one1 they did but crystallize in a word what is a universal fact1 the religious instinct of humanity4 ,everywhere1 and through all times1 man has felt1 as by a sort of intuition1 that earth was no ,ultima ,thule1 with nothing beyond but oceans of vacancy and silence1 but that it lay in the over-shadow of other worlds1 between which and their own were subtle modes of correspondence4 ,they felt themselves to be in the presence of ,powers other and higher than human1 who somehow influenced their destiny1 whose favour they must win1 and whose displeasure they must avert4 ,and so ,paganism reared her altars1 almost numberless1 dedicating them even to the ,unknown ,god1 lest some anonymous deity should be grieved at being omitted from the enumeration4 ,the prevalence of false religions in the world1 the garrulous babble of mythology1 does but voice the religious instinct of man2 it is but another ,tower of ,babel1 by which men hope to find and to scale the heavens which must be somewhere overhead4 ,in the ,old ,testament1 however1 we find the clearer revelation4 ,what to the unaided eye of reason and of nature seemed but a wave of golden mist athwart the sky--a meeting of gentle lights without a name--now becomes a wide-reaching and shining realm1 peopled with intelligences of divers ranks and orders2 while in the centre of all is the city and the throne of the ,invisible ,king1 ,jehovah1 ,lord of ,sabaoth4 ,in the breath of the new morning the gossamer threads ,polytheism had been spinning through the night were swept away1 and on the pillars of the ,new ,jerusalem1 that celestial city of which their own ,salem was a far-off and broken type1 they read the inscription1 ,hear1 ,o ,israel3 the ,lord our ,god is one ,lord4 ,but while the ,old ,testament revealed the unity of the ,godhead1 it emphasized especially ,his sovereignty1 the glories of ,his holiness1 and the thunders of ,his power4 ,he is the great ,creator1 arranging ,his universe1 commanding evolutions and revolutions1 and giving to each molecule of matter its secret affinities and repulsions4 ,and again ,he is the ,lawgiver1 the great ,judge1 speaking out of the cloudy pillar and the windy tempest1 dividing the firmaments of ,right and ,wrong1 whose holiness hates sin with an infinite hatred1 and whose justice1 with sword of flame1 pursues the wrong-doer like an unforgetting ,nemesis4 ,it is only natural1 therefore1 that with such conceptions of ,god1 the heavens should appear distant and somewhat cold4 ,the quiet that was upon the world was the hush of awe1 of fear1 rather than of love2 for while the goodness of ,god was a familiar and favourite theme1 and while the mercy of ,god1 which endureth for ever1 was the refrain1 oft repeated1 of their loftiest songs1 the love of ,god was a height the ,old ,dispensation had not explored1 and the ,fatherhood of ,god1 that new world of perpetual summer1 lay all undiscovered1 or but dimly apprehended through the mist4 ,the ,divine love and the ,divine ,fatherhood were truths which seemed to be held in reserve for the ,new ,dispensation2 and as the light needs the subtle and sympathetic ether before it can reach our outlying world1 so the love and the ,fatherhood of ,god are borne in upon us by ,him who was ,himself the ,divine ,son and the incarnation of the ,divine love4 ,it is just here where the teaching of ,jesus concerning prayer begins4 ,he does not seek to explain its philosophy2 ,he does not give hints as to any observance of time or place2 but leaving these questions to adjust themselves1 ,he seeks to bring heaven into closer touch with earth4 ,and how can ,he do this so well as by revealing the ,fatherhood of ,god8 ,when the electric wire linked the ,new with the ,old ,world the distances were annihilated1 the thousand leagues of sea were as if they were not2 and when ,jesus threw across1 between earth and heaven1 that word ,father1 the wide distances vanished1 and even the silences became vocal4 ,in the ,psalms1 those loftiest utterances of devotion1 ,religion only once ventured to call ,god ,father2 and then1 as if frightened at her own temerity1 she lapses into silence1 and never speaks the familiar word again4 ,but how different the language of the ,gospels6 ,it is a name that ,jesus is never weary of repeating1 striking its music upwards of seventy times1 as if by the frequent iteration ,he would lodge the heavenly word deep within the world's heart4 ,this is ,his first lesson in the science of prayer3 ,he drills them on the ,divine ,fatherhood1 setting them on that word1 as it were1 to practise the scales2 for as he who has practised well the scales has acquired the key to all harmonies1 so he who has learned well the ,father has learned the secret of heaven1 the sesame that opens all its doors and unlocks all its treasures4 ,when ye pray1 said ,jesus1 replying to a disciple who sought instruction in the heavenly language1 say1 ,father1 thus giving us what was ,his own pass-word to the courts of heaven4 ,it is as if ,he said1 ,if you would pray acceptably put yourself in the right position4 ,seek to realize1 and then to claim1 your true relationship4 ,do not look upon ,god as a distant and cold abstraction1 or as some blind force2 do not regard ,him as being hostile to you or as careless about you4 ,else your prayer will be some wail of bitterness1 a cry coming out of the dark1 and losing itself in the dark again4 ,but look upon ,god as your ,father1 your living1 loving1 heavenly ,father2 and then step up with a holy boldness into the child-place1 and all heaven opens before you there4 ,and not only does ,jesus thus show us the ,father1 but ,he takes pains to show us that it is a real1 and not some fictitious ,fatherhood4 ,he tells us that the word means far more in its heavenly than in its earthly use2 that the earthly meaning1 in fact1 is but a shadow of the heavenly4 ,for if ye then1 ,he says1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts unto your children3 how much more shall your heavenly ,father give the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask ,him8 ,he thus sets us a problem in ,divine proportion4 ,he gives us the human fatherhood1 with all it implies1 as our known quantities1 and from these ,he leaves us to work out the unknown quantity1 which is the ,divine ability and willingness to give good gifts to men2 for the ,holy ,spirit includes in ,himself all spiritual gifts4 ,it is a problem1 however1 which our earthly figures cannot solve4 ,the nearest that we can approach to the answer is that the ,divine ,fatherhood is the human fatherhood multiplied by that how much more--a factor which gives us an infinite series4 ,again1 ,jesus teaches that character is an important condition of prayer1 and that in this realm heart is more than any art4 ,words alone do not constitute prayer1 for they may be only like the bubbles of the children's play1 iridescent but hollow1 never climbing the sky1 but returning to the earth whence they came4 ,and so when the scribes and ,pharisees make long prayers1 striking devotional attitudes1 and putting on airs of sanctity1 ,jesus could not endure them4 ,they were a weariness and abomination to ,him2 for ,he read their secret heart1 and found it vain and proud4 ,in ,his parable 7xviii4 #aa7 ,he puts the genuine and the counterfeit prayer side by side1 drawing the sharp contrast between them4 ,he gives us that of the ,pharisee wordy1 inflated1 full of the self-eulogizing ,i4 ,it is the prayerless prayer1 that had no need1 and which was simply an incense burned before the clayey image of himself4 ,then ,he gives us the few brief words of the publican1 the cry of a broken heart1 ,god be merciful to me1 a sinner1 a prayer which reached directly the highest heaven1 and which came back freighted with the peace of ,god4 ,if ,i regard iniquity in my heart1 the ,psalmist said1 the ,lord will not hear me4 ,and it is true4 ,if there be the least unforgiven sin within the soul we spread forth our hands1 we make many prayers1 in vain2 we do but utter wild1 delirious cries that ,heaven will not hear1 or at any rate regard4 ,the first cry of true prayer is the cry for mercy1 pardon2 and until this is spoken1 until we step up by faith into the child-position1 we do but offer vain oblations4 ,nay1 even in the regenerate heart1 if there be a temporary lapse1 and unholy tempers brood within1 the lips of prayer become paralyzed at once1 or they only stammer in incoherent speech4 ,we may with filled hands compass the altar of ,god1 but neither gifts nor prayers can be accepted if there be bitterness and jealousy within1 or if our brother has aught against us4 ,the wrong must be righted with our brother1 or we cannot be right with ,god4 ,how can we ask for forgiveness if we ourselves cannot forgive8 ,how can we ask for mercy if we are hard and merciless1 gripping the throat of each offender1 as we demand the uttermost farthing8 ,he who can pray for them who despitefully use him is in the way of the ,divine commandment2 he has climbed to the dome of the temple1 where the whispers of prayer1 and even its inarticulate aspirations1 are heard in heaven4 ,and so the connection is most close and constant between praying and living1 and they pray most and best who at the same time make their life a prayer4 ,again1 ,jesus maps out for us the realm of prayer1 showing the wide areas it should cover4 ,st4 ,luke gives us an abbreviated form of the prayer recorded by ,st4 ,matthew1 and which we call the ,lord's ,prayer4 ,it is a disputed point1 though not a material one1 whether the two prayers are but varied renderings of one and the same utterance1 or whether ,jesus gave1 on a later occasion1 an epitomized form of the prayer ,he had prescribed before1 though from the circumstantial evidence of ,st4 ,luke we incline to the latter view4 ,the two forms1 however1 are identical in substance4 ,it is scarcely likely that ,jesus intended it to be a rigid formula1 to which we should be slavishly bound2 for the varied renderings of the two ,evangelists show plainly that ,heaven does not lay stress upon the ipsissima verba4 ,we must take it rather as a ,divine model1 laying down the lines on which our prayers should move4 ,it is1 in fact1 a sort of prayer-microcosm1 giving a miniature reflection of the whole world of prayer1 as a drop of dew will give a reflection of the encircling sky4 ,it gives us what we may call the species of prayer1 whose genera branch off into infinite varieties2 nor can we readily conceive of any petition1 however particular or private1 whose root-stem is not found in the few but comprehensive words of the ,lord's ,prayer4 ,it covers every want of man1 just as it befits every place and time4 ,running through the prayer are two marked divisions1 the one general1 the other particular and personal2 and in the ,divine order1 contrary to our human wont1 the general stands first1 and the personal second4 ,our prayers often move in narrow circles1 like the homing birds coming back to this centred self of ours1 and sometimes we forget to give them the wider sweeps over a redeemed humanity4 ,but ,jesus says1 ,when ye pray1 say1 ,father1 hallowed be ,thy name4 ,thy kingdom come4 ,it is a temporary erasure of self1 as the soul of the worshipper is absorbed in ,god4 ,in its nearness to the throne it forgets for awhile its own little needs2 its low-flying thoughts are caught up into the higher currents of the ,divine thought and purpose1 moving outwards with them4 ,and this is the first petition1 that the name of ,god may be hallowed throughout the world2 that is1 that men's conceptions of the ,deity may become just and holy1 until earth gives back in echo the ,trisagion of the seraphim4 ,the second petition is a continuation of the first2 for just in proportion as men's conceptions of ,god are corrected and hallowed will the kingdom of ,god be set up on earth4 ,the first petition1 like that of the ,psalmist1 is for the sending out of ,thy light and ,thy truth2 the second is that humanity may be led to the holy hill1 praising ,god upon the harp1 and finding in ,god their exceeding joy4 ,to find ,god as the ,father-,king is to step up within the kingdom4 ,the prayer now descends into the lower plane of personal wants1 covering 7#a7 our physical1 and 7#b7 our spiritual needs4 ,the former are met with one petition1 ,give us day by day our daily bread1 a sentence confessedly obscure1 and which has given rise to much dispute4 ,some interpret it in a spiritual sense alone1 since1 as they say1 any other interpretation would break in upon the uniformity of the prayer1 whose other terms are all spiritual4 ,but if1 as we have suggested1 the whole prayer must be regarded as an epitome of prayer in general1 then it must include somewhere our physical needs1 or a large and important domain of our life is left uncovered4 ,as to the meaning of the singular adjective we need not say much4 ,that it can scarcely mean to-morrow's bread is evident from the warning ,jesus gives against taking thought for the morrow1 and we must not allow the prayer to traverse the command4 ,the most natural and likely interpretation is that which the heart of mankind has always given it1 as our daily bread1 or bread sufficient for the day4 ,jesus thus selects1 what is the most common of our physical wants1 the bread which comes to us in such purely natural1 matter-of-course ways1 as the specimen need of our physical life4 ,but when ,he thus lifts up this common1 ever-recurring mercy into the region of prayer ,he puts a halo of ,divineness about it1 and by including this ,he teaches us that there is no want of even our physical life which is excluded from the realm of prayer4 ,if we are invited to speak with ,god concerning our daily bread1 then certainly we need not be silent as to aught else4 ,our spiritual needs are included in the two petitions1 ,and forgive us our sins2 for we ourselves also forgive everyone that is indebted to us4 ,and bring us not into temptation4 ,the parenthesis does not imply that all debts should be remitted1 for payment of these is enjoined as one of the duties of life4 ,the indebtedness spoken of is rather the ,new ,testament indebtedness1 the failure of duty or courtesy1 the omission of some ought of life or some injury or offence4 ,it is that human forgiveness1 the opposite of resentment1 which grows up under the shadow of the ,divine forgiveness4 ,the former of these petitions1 then1 is for the forgiveness of all past sin1 while the latter is for deliverance from present sinning2 for when we pray1 ,bring us not into temptation1 it is a prayer that we may not be tempted above that we are able1 which1 amplified1 means that in all our temptations we may be victorious1 kept by the power of ,god4 ,such1 then1 is the wide realm of prayer1 as indicated by ,jesus4 ,he assures us that there is no department of our being1 no circumstance of our life1 which does not lie within its range2 that ,the whole round world is every way ,bound with gold chains about the feet of ,god1 and that on these golden chains1 as on a harp1 the touch of prayer may wake sweet music1 far-off or near alike4 ,and how much we miss through restraining prayer1 reserving it for special occasions1 or for the greater crises of life6 ,but if we would only loop up with heaven each successive hour1 if we would only run the thread of prayer through the common events and the common tasks1 we should find the whole day and the whole life swinging on a higher1 calmer level4 ,the common task would cease to be common1 and the earthly would be less earthly1 if we only threw a bit of heaven upon it1 or we opened it out to heaven4 ,if in everything we could but make our requests known unto ,god--that is1 if prayer became the habitual act of life--we should find that heaven was no longer the land afar off1 but that it was close upon us1 with all its proffered ministries4 ,again1 ,jesus teaches the importance of earnestness and importunity in prayer4 ,he sketches the picture--for it is scarcely a parable--of the man whose hospitality is claimed1 late at night1 by a passing friend1 but who has no provision made for the emergency4 ,he goes over to another friend1 and rousing him up at midnight1 he asks for the loan of three loaves4 ,and with what result8 ,does the man answer from within1 ,trouble me not3 the door is now shut1 and my children are with me in bed2 ,i cannot rise and give thee8 ,no1 that would be an impossible answer2 for though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend1 yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth 7xi4 #h74 ,it is the unreasonableness1 or at any rate the untimeliness of the request ,jesus seems to emphasize4 ,the man himself is thoughtless1 improvident in his household management4 ,he disturbs his neighbour1 waking up his whole family at midnight for such a trivial matter as the loan of three loaves4 ,but he gains his request1 not1 either1 on the ground of friendship1 but through sheer audacity1 impudence2 for such is the meaning of the word1 rather than importunity4 ,the lesson is easily learned1 for the suppressed comparison would be1 ,if man1 being evil1 will put himself out of the way to serve a friend1 even at this untimely hour1 filling up by his thoughtfulness his friend's lack of thought1 how much more will the heavenly ,father give to ,his child such things as are needful8 ,we have the same lesson taught in the parable of the ,unjust ,judge 7xviii4 #a71 that men ought always to pray1 and not to faint4 ,here1 however1 the characters are reversed4 ,the suppliant is a poor and a wronged widow1 while the person addressed is a hard1 selfish1 godless man1 who boasts of his atheism4 ,she asks1 not for a favour1 but for her rights--that she may have due protection from some extortionate adversary1 who somehow has got her in his power2 for justice rather than vengeance is her demand4 ,but he would not for awhile1 and all her cries for pity and for help beat upon that callous heart only as the surf upon a rocky shore1 to be thrown back upon itself4 ,but afterwards he said within himself1 ,though ,i fear not ,god1 nor regard man1 yet because this widow troubleth me1 ,i will avenge her1 lest she wear me out by her continual coming4 ,and so he is moved to take her part against her adversary1 not for any motive of compassion or sense of justice1 but through mere selfishness1 that he may escape the annoyance of her frequent visits--lest her continual coming worry me1 as the colloquial expression might be rendered4 ,here the comparison1 or contrast rather1 is expressed1 at any rate in part4 ,it is1 ,if an unjust and abandoned judge grants a just petition at last1 out of base motives1 when it is often urged1 to a defenceless person for whom he cares nothing1 how much more shall a just and merciful ,god hear the cry and avenge the cause of those whom ,he loves8#a #a ,farrar ,it is a resolute persistence in prayer the parable urges1 the continued asking1 and seeking1 and knocking that ,jesus both commended and commanded 7xi4 #i71 and which has the promise of such certain answers1 and not the tantalizing mockeries of stones for bread1 or scorpions for fish4 ,some blessings lie near at hand2 we have only to ask1 and we receive--receive even while we ask4 ,but other blessings lie farther off1 and they can only be ours by a continuance in prayer1 by a persistent importunity4 ,not that our heavenly ,father needs any wearying into mercy2 but the blessing may not be ripe1 or we ourselves may not be fully prepared to receive it4 ,a blessing for which we are unprepared would only be an untimely blessing1 and like a ,december swallow1 it would soon die1 without nest or brood4 ,and sometimes the long delay is but a test of faith1 whetting and sharpening the desire1 until our very life seems to depend upon the granting of our prayer4 ,so long as our prayers are among the may-be's and mights there are fears and doubts alternating with our hope and faith4 ,but when the desires are intensified1 and our prayers rise into the must-be's1 then the answers are near at hand2 for that must be is the soul's ,mahanaim1 where the angels meet us1 and ,god ,himself says ,i will4 ,delays in our prayers are by no means denials2 they are often but the lengthened summer for the ripening of our blessings1 making them larger and more sweet4 ,and now we have only to consider1 which we must do briefly1 the practice of ,jesus1 the place of prayer in ,his own life2 and we shall find that in every point it coincides exactly with ,his teaching4 ,to us of the clouded vision heaven is sometimes a hope more than a reality4 ,it is an unseen goal1 luring us across the wilderness1 and which one of these days we may possess2 but it is not to us as the wide-reaching1 encircling sky1 throwing its sunshine into each day1 and lighting up our nights with its thousand lamps4 ,to ,jesus1 heaven was more and nearer than it is to us4 ,he had left it behind2 and yet ,he had not left it1 for ,he speaks of ,himself1 the ,son of man1 as being now in heaven4 ,and so ,he was4 ,his feet were upon earth1 at home amid its dust2 but ,his heart1 ,his truer life1 were all above4 ,and how constant ,his correspondence1 or rather communion1 with heaven6 ,at first sight it appears strange to us that ,jesus should need the sustenance of prayer1 or that ,he could even adopt its language4 ,but when ,he became the ,son of man ,he voluntarily assumed the needs of humanity2 ,he emptied ,himself1 as the ,apostle expresses a great mystery1 as if for the time divesting ,himself of all ,divine prerogatives1 choosing to live as man amongst men4 ,and so ,jesus prayed4 ,he was wont1 even as we are1 to refresh a wasted strength by draughts from the celestial springs2 and as ,antus1 in his wrestling1 recovered himself as he touched the ground1 so we find ,jesus1 in the great crises of ,his life1 falling back upon ,heaven4 ,st4 ,luke1 in his narrative of the ,baptism1 inserts one fact the other ,synoptists omit--that ,jesus was in the act of prayer when the heavens were opened1 and the ,holy ,ghost descended1 in the semblance of a dove1 upon ,him4 ,it is as if the opened heavens1 the descending dove1 and the audible voice were but the answer to ,his prayer4 ,and why not8 ,standing on the threshold of ,his mission1 would ,he not naturally ask that a double portion of the ,spirit might be ,his--that ,heaven might put its manifest seal upon that mission1 if not for the confirmation of ,his own faith1 yet for that of ,his forerunner8 ,at any rate1 the fact is plain that it was while ,he was in the act of prayer that ,he received that second and higher baptism1 even the baptism of the ,spirit4 ,a second epoch in that ,divine life was when ,jesus formally instituted the ,apostleship1 calling and initiating the ,twelve into the closer brotherhood4 ,it was1 so to speak1 the appointment of a regency1 who should exercise authority and rule in the new kingdom1 sitting1 as ,jesus figuratively expresses it 7xxii4 #cj71 on thrones1 judging the twelve tribes of ,israel4 ,it is easy to see what tremendous issues were involved in this appointment2 for were these foundation-stones untrue1 warped by jealousies and vain ambitions1 the whole superstructure would have been weakened1 thrown out of the square4 ,and so before the selection is made1 a selection demanding such insight and foresight1 such a balancing of complementary gifts1 ,jesus devotes the whole night to prayer1 seeking the solitude of the mountain-height1 and in the early dawn coming down1 with the dews of night upon ,his garment and with the dews of heaven upon ,his soul1 which1 like crystals or lenses of light1 made the invisible visible and the distant near4 ,a third crisis in that ,divine life was at the ,transfiguration1 when the summit was reached1 the borderline between earth and heaven1 where1 amid celestial greetings and overshadowing clouds of glory1 that sinless life would have had its natural transition into heaven4 ,and here again we find the same coincidence of prayer4 ,both ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke state that the high mountain was climbed for the express purpose of communion with ,heaven2 they went up into the mountain to pray4 ,it is only ,st4 ,luke1 however1 who states that it was as ,he was praying the fashion of ,his countenance was altered1 thus making the vision an answer1 or at least a corollary1 to the prayer4 ,he is at a point where two ways meet3 the one passes into heaven at once1 from that high level to which by a sinless life ,he has attained2 the other path sweeps suddenly downward to a valley of agony1 a cross of shame1 a tomb of death2 and after this wide dtour the heavenly heights are reached again4 ,which path will ,he choose8 ,if ,he takes the one ,he passes solitary into heaven2 if ,he takes the other ,he brings with ,him a redeemed humanity4 ,and does not this give us1 in a sort of echo1 the burden of ,his prayer8 ,he finds the shadow of the cross thrown over this heaven-lighted summit--for when ,moses and ,elias appear they would not introduce a subject altogether new2 they would in their conversation strike in with the theme with which ,his mind is already preoccupied1 that is the decease ,he should accomplish at ,jerusalem--and as the chill of that shadow settles upon ,him1 causing the flesh to shrink and quiver for a while1 would ,he not seek for the strength ,he needs8 ,would ,he not ask1 as later1 in the garden1 that the cup might pass from ,him2 or if that should not be possible1 that ,his will might not conflict with the ,father's will1 even for a passing moment8 ,at any rate we may suppose that the vision was1 in some way1 ,heaven's answer to ,his prayer1 giving ,him the solace and strengthening that ,he sought1 as the ,father's voice attested ,his ,sonship1 and celestials came forth to salute the ,well-beloved1 and to hearten ,him on towards ,his dark goal4 ,just so was it when ,jesus kept ,his fourth watch in ,gethsemane4 ,what ,gethsemane was1 and what its fearful agony meant1 we shall consider in a later chapter4 ,it is enough for our present purpose to see how ,jesus consecrated that deep valley1 as before ,he had consecrated the ,transfiguration height1 to prayer4 ,leaving the three outside the veil of the darkness1 ,he passes into ,gethsemane1 as into another ,holy of holies1 there to offer up for ,his own and for ,himself the sacrifice of prayer2 while as our ,high ,priest ,he sprinkles with ,his own blood1 that blood of the everlasting covenant1 the sacred ground4 ,and what prayer was that6 how intensely fervent6 ,that if it were possible the dread cup might pass from ,him1 but that either way the ,father's will might be done6 ,and that prayer was the prelude to victory2 for as the first ,adam fell by the assertion of self1 the clashing of his will with ,god's1 the second ,adam conquers by the total surrender of ,his will to the will of the ,father4 ,the agony was lost in the acquiescence4 ,but it was not alone in the great crises of ,his life that ,jesus fell back upon ,heaven4 ,prayer with ,him was habitual1 the fragrant atmosphere in which ,he lived1 and moved1 and spoke4 ,his words glide as by a natural transition into its language1 as a bird whose feet have lightly touched the ground suddenly takes to its wings2 and again and again we find ,him pausing in the weaving of ,his speech1 to throw across the earthward warp the heavenward woof of prayer4 ,it was a necessity of ,his life2 and if the intrusive crowds allowed ,him no time for its exercise1 ,he was wont to elude them1 to find upon the mountain or in the desert ,his prayer-chamber beneath the stars4 ,and how frequently we read of ,his looking up to heaven amid the pauses of ,his daily task6 stopping before ,he breaks the bread1 and on the mirror of ,his upturned glance leading the thoughts and thanks of the multitude to the ,all-,father1 who giveth to all ,his creatures their meat in due season2 or pausing as ,he works some impromptu miracle1 before speaking the omnipotent ,ephphatha1 that on ,his upward look ,he may signal to the skies6 ,and what a light is turned upon ,his life and ,his relation to ,his disciples by a simple incident that occurs on the night of the betrayal6 ,reading the sign of the times1 in ,his forecast of the dark to-morrow1 ,he sees the terrible strain that will be put upon ,peter's faith1 and which ,he likens to a ,satanic sifting4 ,with prescient eye ,he sees the temporary collapse2 how1 in the fierce heat of the trial1 the rock will be thrown into a state of flux2 so weak and pliant1 it will be all rippled by agitation and unrest1 or driven back at the mere breath of a servant-girl4 ,he says mournfully1 ,simon1 ,simon1 behold4 ,satan asked to have you1 that he might sift you as wheat3 but ,i made supplication for thee1 that thy faith fail not 7xxii4 #ca74 ,so completely does ,jesus identify ,himself with ,his own1 making their separate needs ,his care 7for this doubtless was no solitary case72 but just as the ,high ,priest carried on his breastplate the twelve tribal names1 thus bringing all ,israel within the light of ,urim and ,thummim1 so ,jesus carries within ,his heart both the name and the need of each separate disciple1 asking for them in prayer what1 perhaps1 they have failed to ask for themselves4 ,nor are the prayers of ,jesus limited by any such narrow circle2 they compassed the world1 lighting up all horizons2 and even upon the cross1 amid the jeers and laughter of the crowd1 ,he forgets ,his own agonies1 as with parched lips ,he prays for ,his murderers1 ,father1 forgive them2 for they know not what they do4 ,thus1 more than any son of man1 did ,jesus pray without ceasing1 in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving making request unto ,god4 ,shall we not copy ,his bright example8 shall we not1 too1 live1 labour1 and endure1 as seeing ,him who is invisible8 ,he who lives a life of prayer will never question its reality4 ,he who sees ,god in everything1 and everything in ,god1 will turn his life into a south land1 with upper and nether springs of blessing in ceaseless flow2 for the life that lies full heavenward lies in perpetual summer1 in the eternal noon4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,the ,,faith ,,of ,,the ,,centurion4 ,,luke vii4 #a-aj4 ,our ,evangelist prefaces the narrative of the healing of the centurion's servant with one of his characteristic time-marks1 the shadow upon his dial-plate being the shadow of the new mount of ,god3 ,after ,he had ended all ,his sayings in the ears of the people1 ,he entered into ,capernaum4 ,the language is unusually weighty1 almost solemn1 as if the ,sermon on the ,mount were not so much a sermon as a manifesto1 the formal proclamation of the kingdom of heaven4 ,our word ended1 too1 is scarcely an equivalent of the original word1 whose underlying idea is that of fullness1 completion4 ,it is more than a full-stop to point a sentence2 it is a word that characterizes the sentence itself1 suggesting1 if not implying1 that these sayings of ,his formed a complete and rounded whole1 a body of moral and ethical truth which was perfect in itself4 ,the ,mount of ,beatitudes thus stands before us as the ,sinai of the ,new ,testament1 giving its laws to all peoples and to all times4 ,but how different the aspect of the two mounts6 ,then the people dare not touch the mountain2 now they press close up to the ,prophet like unto ,moses to hear the word of ,god4 ,then the ,law came in a cluster of restrictions and negations2 it now speaks in commands most positive1 in principles permanent as time itself2 while from this new ,sinai the clouds have disappeared1 the thunders ceased1 leaving a sky serene and bright1 and a heaven which is strangely near4 ,returning to ,capernaum--which city1 after the ejection from ,nazareth1 became the home of ,jesus1 and the centre of ,his ,galilean ministry--,he was met by a deputation of ,jewish elders1 who came to intercede with ,him on behalf of a centurion whose servant was lying dangerously ill and apparently at the point of death4 ,the narrative thus gives us1 as its dramatis person1 the ,sufferer1 the ,intercessor1 and the ,healer4 ,as we read the story our thought is arrested1 and naturally so1 by the central figure4 ,the imposing shadow of the centurion so completely fills our range of vision that it throws into the background the nameless one who in his secret chamber is struggling vainly in the tightening grip of death4 ,but who is he who can command such a service8 around whose couch is such a multitude of ministering feet8 who is he whose panting breath can throw over the heart of his master1 and over his face1 the ripple-marks of a great sorrow1 which sends hither and thither1 as the wind tosses the dry leaves1 soldiers of the army1 elders of the ,jews1 friends of the master1 and which makes even the feet of the ,lord hasten with ,his succour8 ,and a certain centurion's servant1 who was dear unto him1 was sick and at the point of death4 ,such is the brief sentence which describes a character1 and sums up the whole of an obscure life4 ,we are not able to define precisely his position1 for the word leaves us in doubt whether he were a slave or a servant of the centurion4 ,probably--if we may throw the light of the whole narrative upon the word--he was a confidential servant1 living in the house of his master1 on terms of more than usual intimacy4 ,what those terms were we may easily discover by opening out the word dear1 reading its depths as well as its surface-meaning4 ,in its lower sense it means valuable1 worth-y 7putting its ancient accent upon the modern word74 ,it sets the man1 not over against the tables of the ,law1 but against the law of the tables1 weighing him in the balances of trade1 and estimating him by the scale of commercial values4 ,but in this meaner1 worldly mode of reckoning he is not found wanting4 ,he is a servant proved and approved4 ,like ,eliezer of old1 he has identified himself with his master's interests1 listening for his voice1 and learning to read even the wishes which were unexpressed in words4 ,adjusting his will to the higher will1 like a vane answering the currents of the wind1 his hands1 his feet1 and his whole self have swung round to fall into the unit of his master's purpose4 ,faithful in his service1 whether that service were under the master's eye or not1 and faithful alike in the great and the little things1 he has entered into his master's confidence1 and so into his joy4 ,losing his own personality1 he is content to be something between a cipher and a unit1 only a hand4 ,but he is the master's right hand1 strong and ever ready1 so useful as to be almost an integral part of the master's self1 without which the master's life would be incomplete and strangely bereaved4 ,all this we may learn from the lower meaning of the phrase was dear unto him4 ,but the word has a higher meaning1 one that is properly rendered by our dear4 ,it implies esteem1 affection1 transferring our thought from the subject to the object1 from the character of the servant to the influence it has exerted upon the master1 ,the word is thus an index1 a barometrical reading1 measuring for us the pressure of that influence1 and recording for us the high sentiments of regard and affection it has evoked4 ,as the trees around the pond lean towards the water which laves their roots1 so the strong soul of the centurion1 drawn by the attractions of a lowly but a noble life1 leans toward1 until it leans upon1 his servant1 giving him its confidence1 its esteem and love1 that golden fruitage of the heart4 ,that such was the mutual relation of the master and the servant is evident1 for ,jesus1 who read motives and heard thoughts1 would not so freely and promptly have placed ,his miraculous power at the disposal of the centurion had his sorrow been only the selfish sorrow of losing what was commercially valuable4 ,to an appeal of selfishness1 though thrown forward and magnified by the sounding-boards of all the synagogues1 the ears of ,jesus would have been perfectly deaf2 but when it was the cry of a genuine sorrow1 the moan of a vicarious pain1 an unselfish1 disinterested grief1 then the ears of ,jesus were quick to hear1 and ,his feet swift to respond4 ,it is impossible for us to define exactly what the sickness was1 though the statement of ,st4 ,matthew that it was palsy1 and that he was grievously tormented1 would suggest that it might be an acute case of inflammatory rheumatism4 ,but whatever it might be1 it was a most painful1 and as every one thought a mortal sickness1 one that left no room for hope1 save this last hope in the ,divine mercy4 ,but what a lesson is here for our times1 as indeed for all times1 the lesson of humanity6 ,how little does ,heaven make of rank and station6 ,jesus does not even see them2 ,he ignores them utterly4 ,to ,his mind ,humanity is one1 and the broad lines of distinction1 the impassable barriers ,society is fond of drawing or setting up1 to ,him are but imaginary meridians of the sea1 a name1 but nothing more4 ,it is but a nameless servant of a nameless master1 one1 too1 of many1 for a hundred others are ready1 with military precision1 to do that same master's will2 but ,jesus does not hesitate4 ,he who voluntarily took upon ,himself the form of a servant1 as ,he came into the world not to be ministered unto1 but to minister1 now becomes the ,servant of a servant1 saying to him who knew only how to obey1 how to serve1 ,here am ,i2 command ,me2 use ,me as thou wilt4 ,all service is honourable1 if we serve not ourselves1 but our fellows1 and it is doubly so if1 serving man1 we serve ,god too4 ,as the sunshine looks down into1 and strews with flowers1 the lowest vales1 so the ,divine compassion falls on the lowliest lives1 and the ,divine grace makes them sweet and beautiful4 ,christianity is the great leveller1 but it levels upwards1 and if we possess the mind of ,christ1 ,his ,spirit dwelling and ruling within1 we too1 like the great ,apostle1 shall know no man after the flesh2 the accidents of birth1 and rank1 and fortune will sink back into the trifles that they are2 for however these may vary1 it is an eternal truth1 though spoken by a son of the soil and the heather-- ,a man's a man for a' that4 ,it is not easy to tell how the seed-thought is borne into a heart1 there to germinate and ripen2 for influences are subtle1 invisible things4 ,like the pollen of a flower1 which may be carried on the antenn of some unconscious insect1 or borne into the future by the passing breeze1 so influences which will yet ripen into character and make destinies are thrown off unconsciously from our common deeds1 or they are borne on the wings of the chance1 casual word4 ,the case of the centurion is no exception4 ,by what steps he has been brought into the clearer light we cannot tell1 but evidently this ,pagan officer is now a proselyte to the ,hebrew faith and worship1 the window of his soul open towards ,jerusalem1 while his professional life still looks towards ,rome1 as he renders to ,csar the allegiance and service which are ,csar's due4 ,and what a testimony it is to the vitality and reproductive power of the ,hebrew faith1 that it should boast of at least three centurions1 in the imperial ranks1 of whom ,scripture makes honourable mention--one at ,capernaum2 another1 ,cornelius1 at ,csarea1 whose prayers and alms were had in remembrance of ,heaven2 and the third in ,jerusalem1 witnessing a good confession upon ,calvary1 and proclaiming within the shadow of the cross the ,divinity of the ,crucified4 ,it shows how the ,paganism of ,rome failed to satisfy the aspirations of the soul1 and how ,mars1 red and lurid through the night1 paled and disappeared at the rising of the ,sun4 ,although identifying himself with the religious life of the city1 the centurion had not yet had any personal interview with ,jesus4 ,possibly his military duties prevented his attendance at the synagogue1 so that he had not seen the cures ,jesus there wrought upon the demoniac and the man with the withered hand4 ,the report of them1 however1 must soon have reached him1 intimate as he was with the officials of the synagogue2 while the nobleman1 the cure of whose sick son is narrated by ,st4 ,john 7iv4 #df71 would probably be amongst his personal friends1 an acquaintance at any rate4 ,the centurion heard of ,jesus1 but he could not have heard had not some one spoken of ,him4 ,the ,christ was borne into his mind and heart on the breath of common speech2 that is1 the little human word grew into the ,divine ,word4 ,it was the verbal testimony as to what ,jesus had done that now led to the still greater things ,he was prepared to do4 ,and such is the place and power of testimony to-day4 ,it is the most persuasive1 the most effective form of speech4 ,testimony will often win where argument has failed1 and gold itself is all-powerless to extend the frontiers of the heavenly kingdom until it is melted down and exchanged for the higher currency of speech4 ,it is first the human voice crying in the wilderness1 and then the incarnate ,word1 whose coming makes the wilderness to be glad1 and the desert places of life to sing4 ,and so1 while a sword of flame guards the ,paradise ,lost1 it is a tongue of flame1 that symbol of a perpetual ,pentecost1 which calls man back1 redeemed now1 to the ,paradise ,restored4 ,if ,christians would only speak more for ,christ2 if1 shaking off that foolish reserve1 they would in simple language testify to what they themselves have seen1 and known1 and experienced1 how rapidly would the kingdom come1 the kingdom for which we pray1 indeed1 but for which1 alas1 we are afraid to speak6 ,nations then would be born in a day1 and the millennium1 instead of being the distant or the forlorn hope it is1 would be a speedy realization4 ,we should be in the fringe of it directly4 ,it is said that on one of the ,alpine glaciers the guides forbid travellers to speak1 lest the mere tremor of the human voice should loosen and bring down the deadly avalanche4 ,whether this be so or not1 it was some unnamed voice that now sent the centurion to ,christ1 and brought the ,christ to him4 ,it was probably a sudden relapse1 with increased paroxysms of pain1 on the part of the sufferer1 which now decided the centurion to make his appeal to ,jesus1 sending a deputation of ,jewish elders1 as the day was on the wane1 to the house to which ,jesus had now returned4 ,they make their request that ,he would come and save the servant of the centurion1 who was now lying at the point of death4 ,true advocates1 and skilful1 were these elders4 ,they made the centurion's cause their own1 as if their hearts had caught the rhythmic beat of his great sorrow1 and when ,jesus held back a little--as ,he often did1 to test the intensity of the desire and the sincerity of the suppliant--they besought ,him earnestly1 or kept on beseeching1 as the tense of the verb would imply1 crowning their entreaty with the plea1 ,he is worthy that ,thou shouldest do this1 for he loveth our nation1 and himself built us our synagogue4 ,possibly they feared--putting a ,hebrew construction upon ,his sympathies--that ,jesus would demur1 and perhaps refuse1 because their client was a foreigner4 ,they did not know1 what we know so well1 that the mercy of ,jesus was as broad as it was deep1 knowing no bounds where its waves of blessing are stayed4 ,but how forceful and prevalent was their plea6 ,though they knew it not1 these elders do but ask ,jesus to illustrate the words ,he has just spoken1 ,give1 and it shall be given unto you4 ,and had not ,jesus laid this down as one of the laws of mercy1 that action and reaction are equal8 ,had ,he not been describing the orbit in which blessings travel1 showing that though its orbit be apparently eccentric at times1 like the boomerang1 that wheels round and comes back to the hand that threw it forward1 the mercy shown will eventually come back to him who showed it1 with a wealth of heavenly usury8 ,and so their plea was the one of all others to be availing4 ,it was the precept of the mount evolved into practice4 ,it was1 ,bless him1 for he has richly blessed us4 ,he has opened his hand1 showering his favours upon us2 do ,thou open ,thine hand now1 and show him that the ,god of the ,hebrews is a ,god who hears1 and heeds1 and helps4 ,it has been thought1 from the language of the elders1 that the synagogue built by the centurion was the only one that ,capernaum possessed2 for they speak of it as the synagogue4 ,but this does not follow1 and indeed it is most improbable4 ,they might still call it the synagogue1 not because it was the only one1 but because it was the one foremost and uppermost in their thought1 the one in which they were particularly interested4 ,the definite article no more proves this to be the only synagogue in ,capernaum than the phrase the house 7ver4 #aj7 proves the house of the centurion to be the only house of the city4 ,the fact is that in the ,gospel age ,capernaum was a busy and important place1 as shown by its possessing a garrison of soldiers1 and by its being the place of custom1 situated as it was on the great highway of trade4 ,and if ,jerusalem could boast of four hundred synagogues1 and ,tiberias--a city not even named by the ,synoptists--fourteen1 ,capernaum certainly would possess more than one4 ,indeed1 had ,capernaum been the insignificant village that one synagogue would imply1 then1 instead of deserving the bitter woes ,jesus pronounced upon it1 it would have deserved the highest commendation1 as the most fruitful field in all ,his ministry1 giving ,him1 besides other disciples1 a ruler of the ,jews and the commandant of the garrison4 ,that it deserved such bitter woes proves that ,capernaum had a population both dense and1 in the general1 hostile to ,jesus1 compared with which ,his friends and adherents were a feeble few4 ,in spite of the negative manner ,jesus purposely showed at the first1 ,he fully intended to grant all the elders had asked1 and allowing them now to guide ,him1 ,he went with them4 ,when1 however1 they were come near the house1 the centurion sent other friends to intercept ,jesus1 and to urge ,him not to take any further trouble4 ,the message1 which they deliver in the exact form in which it was given to them1 is so characteristic and exquisitely beautiful that it is best to give it entire3 ,lord1 trouble not ,thyself3 for ,i am not worthy that ,thou shouldest come under my roof3 wherefore neither thought ,i myself worthy to come unto ,thee3 but say the word1 and my servant shall be healed4 ,for ,i also am a man set under authority1 having under myself soldiers3 and ,i say to this one1 ,go1 and he goeth2 and to another1 ,come1 and he cometh2 and to my servant1 ,do this1 and he doeth it4 ,the narrative of ,st4 ,matthew differs slightly from that of ,st4 ,luke1 in that he omits all reference to the two deputations1 speaking of the interview as being personal with the centurion4 ,but ,st4 ,matthew's is evidently an abbreviated narrative1 and he passes over the intermediaries1 in accordance with the maxim that he who acts through another does it per se4 ,but both agree as to the terms of the message1 a message which is at once a marvel and a rebuke to us1 and one which was indeed deserving of being twice recorded and eulogized in the pages of the ,gospels4 ,and how the message reveals the man1 disclosing as in a transparency the character of this nameless foreigner6 ,we have already seen how broad were his sympathies1 and how generous his deeds1 as he makes room in his large heart for a conquered and despised people1 at his own cost building a temple for the exercises of their faith4 ,we have seen1 too1 what a wealth of tenderness and benevolence was hiding beneath a somewhat stern exterior1 in his affection for a servant1 and his anxious solicitude for that servant's health4 ,but now we see in the centurion other graces of character1 that set him high amongst those outside saints who worshipped in the outer courts1 until such time as the veil of the ,temple was rent in twain1 and the way into the ,holiest was opened for all4 ,and what a beautiful humility is here6 what an absence of assumption or of pride6 ,occupying an honoured position1 representing in his own person an empire which was world-wide1 surrounded by troops of friends1 and by all the comforts wealth could buy1 accustomed to speak in imperative1 if not in imperious ways1 yet as he turns towards ,jesus it is with a respectful1 yea1 a reverential demeanour4 ,he feels himself in the presence of some ,higher ,being1 an unseen but august ,csar4 ,nay1 not in ,his presence either1 for into that audience-chamber he feels that he has neither the fitness nor the right to intrude4 ,all that he can do is to send forward his petition by the hands of worthier advocates1 who have access to ,him1 while he himself keeps back out of sight1 with bared feet standing by the outer gate4 ,others can speak well and highly of him1 recounting his noble deeds1 but of himself he has nothing good to say2 he can only speak of self in terms of disparagement1 as he emphasizes his littleness1 his unworthiness4 ,nor was it with him the conventional hyperbole of ,eastern manners2 it was the language of deepest1 sincerest truth1 when he said that he was not worthy even to speak with ,christ1 or to receive such a ,guest beneath his roof4 ,between himself and the ,one he reverently addressed as ,lord there was an infinite distance2 for one was human1 while the ,other was ,divine4 ,and what a rare and remarkable faith6 ,in his thought ,jesus is an ,imperator1 commanding all forces1 as ,he rules the invisible realms4 ,his will is supreme over all substances1 across all distances4 ,thou hast no need1 ,lord1 to take any trouble about my poor request4 ,there is no necessity that ,thou shouldest take one step1 or even lift up a finger2 ,thou hast only to speak the word1 and it is done2 and then he gives that wonderfully graphic illustration borrowed from his own military life4 ,the passage ,for ,i also am a man set under authority is generally rendered as referring to his own subordinate position under the ,chiliarch4 ,but such a rendering1 as it seems to us1 breaks the continuity of thought1 and grammatically is scarcely accurate4 ,the whole passage is an amplification and description of the word of ver4 #g1 and the also introduces something the centurion and ,jesus possess in common1 i4e41 the power to command2 for the ,i also certainly corresponds with the ,thou which is implied1 but not expressed4 ,but the centurion did not mean to imply that ,jesus possessed only limited1 delegated powers2 this was farthest from his thought1 and formed no part of the comparison4 ,but let the clause ,i also am a man set under authority be rendered1 not as referring to the authority which is above him1 but to that which is upon him--,i also am vested with authority1 or ,authority is put upon me--and the meaning becomes clear4 ,the also is no longer warped into an ungrammatical meaning1 introducing a contrast rather than a likeness2 while the clause which follows1 having under myself soldiers1 takes its proper place as an enlargement and explanation of the authority with which the centurion is invested4 ,the centurion speaks in a soldierly way4 ,there is a crispness and sharpness about his tones--that shibboleth of militaryism4 ,he says1 ,my word is all-powerful in the ranks which ,i command4 ,i have but to say ',come1' or ',go1' and my word is instantly obeyed4 ,the soldier upon whose ear it falls dare not hesitate1 any more than he dare refuse4 ,he 'goes' at my word1 anywhither1 on some forlorn hope it may be1 or to his grave4 ,and such is the obedience1 instant and absolute1 that military service demands4 ,the soldier must not question1 he must obey2 he must not reason1 he must act2 for when the word of command--that leaded word of authority--falls upon his ear1 it completely fills his soul1 and makes him deaf to all other1 meaner voices4 ,such was the thought in the centurion's mind1 and from the go and come of military authority to the higher word of ,jesus the transition is easy4 ,but how strong the faith that could give to ,jesus such an enthronement1 that could clothe ,his word with such superhuman power6 ,yonder1 in his secluded chamber1 lies the sufferer1 his nerves quivering in their pain1 while the mortal sickness physicians and remedies have all failed to touch1 much less to remove1 has dragged him close up to the gate of death4 ,but this word of ,jesus shall be all-sufficient4 ,spoken here and now1 it shall pass over the intervening streets and through the interposing walls and doors2 it shall say to these demons of evil1 ,loose him1 and let him go1 and in a moment the torturing pain shall cease1 the fluttering heart shall resume its healthy1 steady beat1 the rigid muscles shall become pliant as before1 while through arteries and veins the life-blood--its poison all extracted now--shall regain its healthful1 quiet flow4 ,the centurion believed all this of the word of ,jesus1 and even more4 ,in his heart it was a word all-potent1 if not omnipotent1 like to the word of ,him who spake1 and it was done1 who commanded1 and it stood fast4 ,and if the word of ,jesus in these realms of life and death was so imperative and all-commanding1 could the ,christ ,himself be less than ,divine8 ,to find such confidence reposed in ,himself was to ,jesus something new2 and to find this rarest plant of faith growing up on ,gentile soil was a still greater marvel and turning to the multitude which clustered thick and eager around1 ,he said to them1 ,i have not found so great faith1 no1 not in ,israel4 ,and commending the centurion's faith1 ,he honours it too1 doing all he requested1 and even more1 though without the word4 ,jesus does not even say ,i will1 or ,be it so1 but ,he works the instant and perfect cure by a mere volition4 ,he wills it1 and it is done1 so that when the friends returned to the house they found the servant whole4 ,of the sequel we know nothing4 ,we do not even read that ,jesus saw the man at whose faith ,he had so marvelled4 ,but doubtless ,he did1 for ,his heart was drawn strangely to him1 and doubtless ,he gave to him many of those words for which his soul had longed and listened1 words in which were held1 as in solution1 all authority and all truth4 ,and doubtless1 too1 in the after-years1 ,jesus crowned that life of faithful but unnoted service with the higher word1 the heavenly ,well done4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,anointing ,,of ,,the ,,feet4 ,,luke vii4 #cf-ej4 ,whether the narrative of the ,anointing is inserted in its chronological order we cannot say1 for the ,evangelist gives us no word by which we may recognize either its time or its place-relation2 but we can easily see that it falls into the story artistically1 with a singular fitness4 ,going back to the context1 we find ,jesus pronouncing a high eulogium upon ,john the ,baptist4 ,hereupon the ,evangelist adds a statement of his own1 calling attention to the fact that even ,john's ministry failed to reach and influence the ,pharisees and lawyers1 who rejected the counsel of ,god1 and declined the baptism of ,his messenger4 ,then ,jesus1 in one of ,his brief but exquisite parables1 sketches the character of the ,pharisees4 ,recalling a scene of the market-place1 where the children were accustomed to play at weddings and funerals--which1 by the way1 are the only games at which the children of the land play to-day--and where sometimes the play was spoiled and stopped by some of the children getting into a pet1 and lapsing into a sullen silence1 ,jesus says that is just a picture of the childish perversity of the ,pharisees4 ,they respond neither to the mourning of the one nor to the music of the other1 but because ,john came neither eating bread nor drinking wine1 they can him a maniac1 and say1 ,he hath a devil2 while of ,jesus1 who has no ascetic ways1 but mingles in the gatherings of social life1 a ,man amongst men1 they say1 ,behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber1 a friend of publicans and sinners4 ,and having recorded this1 our ,evangelist inserts1 as an appropriate sequel1 the account of the supper in the ,pharisee's house1 with its idyllic interlude1 played by a woman's hand1 a narrative which shows how ,wisdom is justified of all her children1 and how these condescensions of ,jesus1 ,his intercourse with even those who were ceremonially or morally unclean1 were both proper and beautiful4 ,it was in one of the ,galilean towns1 perhaps at ,nain1 where ,jesus was surprised at receiving an invitation to the house of a ,pharisee4 ,such courtesies on the part of a class who prided themselves on their exclusiveness1 and who were bitterly intolerant of all who were outside their narrow circle1 were exceptional and rare4 ,besides1 the teaching of ,jesus was diametrically opposed to the leaven of the ,pharisees4 ,between the caste of the one and the ,catholicism of the other was a wide gulf of divergence4 ,to ,jesus the heart was everything1 and the outflowing issues were coloured by its hues2 to the ,pharisees the hand1 the outward touch1 was more than heart1 and contact more than conduct4 ,jesus laid a ,divine emphasis upon character2 the cleanness ,he demanded was moral cleanness1 purity of heart2 that of the ,pharisees was a ceremonial cleanness1 the avoidance of things which were under a ceremonial ban4 ,and so they magnified the jots and tittles1 scrupulously tithing their mint and anise1 while they overlooked completely the moralities of the heart1 and reduced to a mere nothing those grander virtues of mercy and of justice4 ,between the ,separatists and ,jesus there was therefore constant friction1 which afterwards developed into open hostility2 and while they ever sought to damage ,him with opprobrious epithets1 and to bring ,his teaching into disrepute1 ,he did not fail to expose their hollowness and insincerity1 tearing off the veneer with which they sought to hide the brood of viperous things their creed had gendered1 and to hurl against their whited sepulchres ,his indignant woes4 ,it would almost seem as if ,jesus hesitated in accepting the invitation1 for the tense of the verb desired implies that the request was repeated4 ,possibly other arrangements had been made1 or perhaps ,jesus sought to draw out and test the sincerity of the ,pharisee1 who in kind and courteous words offered his hospitality4 ,the hesitation would certainly not arise from any reluctance on ,his part1 for ,jesus refused no open door2 he welcomed any opportunity of influencing a soul4 ,as the shepherd of ,his own parable went over the mountainous paths in quest of his lone1 lost sheep1 so ,jesus was glad to risk unkind aspersions1 and to bear the fierce light of hostile1 questioning eyes1 if ,he might but rescue a soul1 and win some erring one back to virtue and to truth4 ,the character of the host we cannot exactly determine4 ,the narrative lights up his features but indistinctly1 for the nameless sinner is the central object of the picture1 while ,simon stands in the background1 out of focus1 and so somewhat veiled in obscurity4 ,to many he appears as the cold and heartless censor1 distant and haughty1 seeking by the guile of hospitality to entrap ,jesus1 hiding behind the mask of friendship some dark and sinister motive4 ,but such deep shadows are cast by our own thoughts rather than by the narrative2 they are the random guesses after truth1 instead of the truth itself4 ,it will be noticed that ,jesus does not impugn in the least his motive in proffering his hospitality2 and this1 though but a negative evidence1 is not without its weight1 when on a similar occasion the evil motive was brought to light4 ,the only charge laid against him--if charge it be--was the omission of certain points of etiquette that ,eastern hospitality was accustomed to observe1 and even here there is nothing to show that ,jesus was treated differently from the other invited guests4 ,the omission1 while it failed to single out ,jesus for special honour1 might still mean no disrespect2 and at the most it was a breach of manners1 deportment1 rather than of morals1 just one of those lapses ,jesus was most ready to overlook and forgive4 ,we shall form a juster estimate of the man's character if we regard him as a seeker after truth4 ,evidently he has felt a drawing towards ,jesus2 indeed1 ver4 #dg would almost imply that he had received some personal benefit at ,his hands4 ,be this as it may1 he is desirous of a closer and a freer intercourse4 ,his mind is perplexed1 the balances of his judgment swinging in alternate and opposite ways4 ,a new problem has presented itself to him1 and in that problem is one factor he cannot yet value4 ,it is the unknown quantity1 ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,who is ,he8 what is ,he8 ,a prophet--the ,prophet--the ,christ8 ,such are the questions running through his mind--questions which must be answered soon1 as his thoughts and opinions have ripened into convictions4 ,and so he invites ,jesus to his house and board1 that in the nearer vision and the unfettered freedom of social intercourse he may solve the great enigma4 ,nay1 he invites ,jesus with a degree of earnestness1 putting upon ,him the constraint of a great desire2 and leaving his heart open to conviction1 ready to embrace the truth as soon as he recognizes it to be truth1 he flings open the door of his hospitalities1 though in so doing he shakes the whole fabric of ,pharisaic exclusiveness and sanctity4 ,seeking after truth1 the truth finds him4 ,there was a simplicity and freeness in the social life of the ,east which our ,western civilization can scarcely understand4 ,the door of the guest-chamber was left open1 and the uninvited1 even comparative strangers1 were allowed to pass in and out during the entertainment2 or they might take their seats by the wall1 as spectators and listeners4 ,it was so here4 ,no sooner have the guests taken their places1 reclining around the table1 their bared feet projecting behind them1 than the usual drift of the uninvited set in1 amongst whom1 almost unnoticed in the excitements of the hour1 was a woman of the city4 ,simon in his soliloquy speaks of her as a sinner2 but had we his testimony only1 we should hesitate in giving to the word its usually received meaning2 for sinner was a pet term of the ,pharisees1 applied to all who were outside their circle1 and even to ,jesus ,himself4 ,but when our ,evangelist1 in describing her character1 makes use of the same word1 we can only interpret the sinner in one way1 in its sensual1 depraved meaning4 ,and with this agrees the phrase a woman which was in the city1 which seems to indicate the loose relations of her too-public life4 ,bearing in her hand an alabaster cruse of ointment1 for a purpose which soon became apparent1 she passed over to the place where ,jesus sat1 and stood directly behind ,him4 ,accustomed as she had been to hide her deeds in the veil of darkness1 nothing but the current of a deep emotion could have carried her thus through the door of the guest-chamber1 setting her1 alone of her sex1 full in the glare of the lamps and the light of scornful eyes2 and no sooner has she reached her goal than the storm of the heart breaks in a rain of tears1 which fall hot and fast upon the feet of the ,master4 ,this1 however1 is no part of her plan2 they were impromptu tears she could not restrain2 and instantly she stoops down1 and with the loosened tresses of her hair she wipes ,his feet1 kissing them passionately as she did so4 ,there is a delicate meaning in the construction of the ,greek verb1 she began to wet ,his feet with her tears2 it implies that the action was not continued1 as when afterwards she anointed ,his feet4 ,it was momentary1 instantaneous1 checked soon as it was discovered4 ,then pouring from her flask the fragrant nard1 she proceeded with loving1 leisurely haste to anoint ,his feet1 until the whole chamber was redolent of the sweet perfume4 ,but what is the meaning of this strange episode1 this song without words1 struck by the woman's hands as from a lyre of alabaster8 ,it was evidently something determined1 prearranged4 ,the phrase when she knew that ,he was sitting at meat means something more than she heard4 ,her knowledge as to where ,jesus was had not come to her in a casual way1 in the vagrant gossip of the town2 it had come by search and inquiry on her part1 as if the plan were already determined1 and she were eager to carry it out4 ,the cruse of ointment that she brings also reveals the settled resolve that she came on purpose1 and she came only1 to anoint the feet of ,jesus4 ,the word1 too1 rendered she brought has a deeper meaning than our translation conveys4 ,it is a word that is used in ten other passages of the ,new ,testament1 where it is invariably rendered receive1 or received1 referring to something received as a wage1 or as a gift1 or as a prize4 ,used here in the narrative1 it implies that the cruse of ointment had not been bought2 it was something she had received as a gift1 or possibly as the wages of her sin4 ,and not only was it prearranged1 part of a deliberate intention1 but evidently it was not displeasing to ,jesus4 ,he did not resent it4 ,he gives ,himself up passively to the woman's will4 ,he allows her to touch1 and even to kiss ,his feet1 though ,he knows that to society she is a moral leper1 and that her fragrant ointment is possibly the reward of her shame4 ,we must1 then1 look behind the deed to the motive4 ,to ,jesus the ointment and the tears were full of meaning1 eloquent beyond any power of words4 ,can we discover that meaning1 and read why they were so welcome8 ,we think we may4 ,and here let us say that ,simon's thoughts were perfectly natural and correct1 with no word or tone that we can censure4 ,canon ,farrar1 it is true1 detects in the ,this man with which he speaks of ,jesus a supercilious scorn2 but we fail to see the least scorn1 or even disrespect1 for the pronoun ,simon uses is the identical word used by ,st4 ,matthew 7,matt4 iii4 #c71 of ,john the ,baptist1 when he says1 ,this is he that was spoken of by the prophet ,esaias1 and the word of the voice from heaven which said1 ,this is ,my beloved ,son 7,matt4 iii4 #ag74 ,that the woman was a sinner ,simon knew well2 and would not ,jesus know it too1 if ,he were a prophet8 ,doubtless ,he would2 but as ,simon marks no sign of disapproval upon the face of ,jesus1 the enigmatical if grows larger in his mind1 and he begins to think that ,jesus has scarcely the keen insight--the power of seeing through things--that a true prophet would have4 ,simon's reasoning was right1 but his facts were wrong4 ,he imagined that ,jesus did not know who and what manner of woman this was2 whereas ,jesus knew more than he1 for ,he knew not only the past of shame1 but a present of forgiveness and hope4 ,and what did the tears and the ointment mean1 that ,jesus should receive them so readily1 and that ,he should speak of them so approvingly8 ,the parable ,jesus spoke to ,simon will explain it4 ,simon1 ,i have somewhat to say unto thee1 said ,jesus1 answering his thoughts--for ,he had heard them--by words4 ,and falling naturally into the parabolic form of speech--as ,he did when ,he wanted to make ,his meaning more startling and impressive--,he said1 ,a certain money-lender had two debtors3 the one owed five hundred pence1 and the other fifty4 ,when they had not wherewith to pay1 he forgave them both4 ,which of them therefore will love him most8 ,a question to which ,simon could promptly answer1 ,he1 ,i suppose1 to whom he forgave the most4 ,it is clear1 then1 whatever others might see in the woman's deed1 that ,jesus read in it the expression of her love1 and that ,he accepted it as such2 the tears and outpoured ointment were the broken utterances of an affection which was too deep for words4 ,but if her offering--as it certainly was--was the gift of love1 how shall we explain her tears8 for love1 in the presence of the beloved1 does not weep so passionately1 indeed does not weep at all1 except1 it may be1 tears of joy1 or tears of a mutual sorrow4 ,in this way3 ,as the wind blows landward from the sea1 the mountain ranges cool the clouds1 and cause them to unlock their treasures1 in the fertile and refreshing rains2 so in the heart of this sinner a cloud of recollections is blown up suddenly from her dark past2 the memories of her shame--even though that shame be now forgiven--sweep across her soul with resistless force1 for penitence does not end when forgiveness is assured2 and as she finds herself in the presence of ,infinite ,purity1 what wonder that the heart's great deeps are broken up1 and that the wild storm of conflicting emotions within should find relief in a rain of tears8 ,tears of penitence they doubtless were1 bitter with the sorrow and the shame of years of guilt2 but they were tears of gratitude and holy love as well1 all suffused and brightened by the touch of mercy and the light of hope4 ,and so the passionate weeping was no acted grief1 no hysterical tempest2 it was the perfectly natural accompaniment of profound emotion1 that storm of mingled but diverse elements which now swept through her soul4 ,her tears1 like the dew-drops that hang upon leaf and flower1 were wrought in the darkness1 fashioned by the ,night1 and at the same time they were the jewels that graced the robe of a new dawn1 the dawn of a better1 a purer life4 ,but how came this new affection within her heart1 an affection so deep that it must have tears and anointings for its expression--this new affection1 which has become a pure and holy passion1 and which breaks through conventional bonds1 as it has broken through the old habits1 the ill usages of a life8 ,jesus ,himself traces for us this affection to its source4 ,he tells us--for the parable is all meaningless unless we recognize in the five-hundred-pence debtor the sinning woman--that her great love grows out of her great forgiveness1 a past forgiveness too1 for ,jesus speaks of the change as already accomplished3 ,her sins1 which were many1 are 7have been7 forgiven4 ,and here we touch an unwritten chapter of the ,divine life2 for as the woman's love flows up around ,jesus1 casting its treasures at ,his feet1 so the forgiveness must first have come from ,jesus4 ,his voice it must have been which said1 ,let there be light1 and which turned the chaos of her dark soul into another ,paradise4 ,at any rate1 she thinks she owes to ,him her all4 ,her new creation1 with its deliverance from the tyrannous past2 her new joys and hopes1 the spring-blossom of a new and heavenly existence2 the conscious purity which has now taken the place of lust--she owes all to the word and power of ,jesus4 ,but when this change took place1 or when1 in the great transit1 this ,venus of the moral firmament passed across the disc of the ,sun1 we do not know4 ,st4 ,john inserts in his story one little incident1 which is like a piece of mosaic dropped out from the ,gospels of the ,synoptists1 of a woman who was taken in her sin and brought to ,jesus4 ,and when the hands of her accusers were not clean enough to cast the first stone1 but they shrank one by one out of sight1 self-condemned1 ,jesus bade the penitent one to go in peace1 and sin no more4#b ,are the two characters identical8 and does the forgiven one1 dismissed into peace1 now return to bring to her ,saviour her offering of gratitude and love8 ,we can only say that such an identification is at least possible1 and more so far than the improbable identification of tradition1 which confounds this nameless sinner with ,mary ,magdalene1 which is an assumption perfectly baseless and most unlikely4 #b ,the narrative is of doubtful authenticity2 but even should it be proved to be a postscript by some later scribe1 it would still point to a tradition1 which1 as ,stier says1 was well founded and genuine4 ,and so in this erring one1 who now puts her crown of fragrance upon the feet of ,jesus1 since she is unworthy to put it upon ,his head1 we see a penitent and forgiven soul4 ,somewhere ,jesus found her1 out on the forbidden paths1 the paths of sin1 which1 steep and slippery1 lead down to death2 ,his look arrested her1 for it cast within her heart the light of a new hope2 ,his presence1 which was the embodiment of a purity infinite and absolute1 shot through her soul the deep consciousness and conviction of her guilt2 and doubtless upon her ears had fallen the words of the great absolution and the ,divine benediction1 ,thy sins are all forgiven2 go in peace1 words which to her made all things new--a new heart within1 and a new earth around4 ,and now1 regenerate and restored1 the sad past forgiven1 all the currents of her thought and life reversed1 the love of sin turned into a perfect loathing1 her language1 spoken in tears1 kisses1 and fragrant nard1 is the language of the ,psalmist1 ,o ,lord1 ,i will praise ,thee2 for though ,thou wast angry with me1 ,thine anger is turned away1 and ,thou comfortedst me4 ,it was the ,magnificat of a forgiven and a loving soul4 ,simon had watched the woman's actions in silence1 though in evident displeasure4 ,he would have resented her touch1 and have forbade even her presence2 but found under his roof1 she became in a certain sense a guest1 shielded by the hospitable courtesies of ,eastern life4 ,but if he said nothing1 he thought much1 and his thoughts were hard and bitter4 ,he looked upon the woman as a moral leper1 an outcast4 ,there was defilement in her touch1 and he would have shaken it off from him as if it were a viper1 fit only to be cast into the fire of a burning indignation4 ,now ,jesus must teach him a lesson1 and throw his thoughts back upon himself4 ,and first ,he teaches him that there is forgiveness for sin1 even the sin of uncleanness2 and in this we see the bringing in of a better hope4 ,the ,law said1 ,the soul that sinneth1 it shall surely die2 it shall be cut off from the people of ,israel4 ,the ,law had but one voice for the adulterer and adulteress1 the voice which was the knell of a sharp and fearful doom1 without reprieve or mercy of any kind4 ,it cast upon them the deadly rain of stones1 as if it would hurl a whole ,sinai upon them4 ,but ,jesus comes to man with a message of mercy and of hope4 ,he proclaims a deliverance from the sin1 and a pardon for the sinner2 nay1 ,he offers ,himself1 as at once the ,forgiver of sin and the ,saviour from sin4 ,let ,him but see it repented of2 let ,him but see the tears of penitence1 or hear the sighs of a broken and contrite heart1 and ,he steps forward at once to deliver and to save4 ,the valley of ,achor1 where the ,law sets up its memorial of shame1 ,jesus turns into a door of hope4 ,he speaks life where the ,law spoke death2 ,he offers hope where the ,law gave but despair2 and where exacting ,law gave pains and fearful punishment only1 the ,mediator of the ,new ,covenant1 to the penitent though erring ones1 spoke pardon and peace1 even the perfect peace1 the eternal peace4 ,and ,jesus teaches ,simon another lesson4 ,he teaches him to judge himself1 and not either by his own fictitious standard1 by the ,pharisaic table of excellence1 but by the ,divine standard4 ,holding up as a mirror the example of the woman1 ,jesus gives to ,simon a portrait of his own self1 as seen in the heavenly light1 all shrunken and dwarfed1 the large ,i of ,pharisaic complacency becoming1 in comparison1 small indeed4 ,turning to the woman1 ,he said unto ,simon1 ,seest thou this woman8 7,and ,simon had not seen her2 he had only seen her shadow1 the shadow of her sinful past74 ,i entered into thine house2 thou gavest ,me no water for ,my feet3 but she hath wetted ,my feet with her tears1 and wiped them with her hair4 ,thou gavest ,me no kiss3 but she1 since the time ,i came in1 hath not ceased to kiss ,my feet4 ,my head with oil thou didst not anoint3 but she hath anointed ,my feet with ointment4 ,it is a problem of the pronouns1 in which the ,i being given1 it is desired to find the relative values of thou and she4 ,and how beautifully does ,jesus work it out1 according to the rules of ,divine proportions6 ,with what antithetical skill does ,he make ,his comparison1 or rather ,his contrast6 ,thou gavest me no water for ,my feet2 she hath wetted ,my feet with her tears1 and wiped them with her hair4 ,thou gavest me no kiss3 she hath not ceased to kiss my feet4 ,my head with oil thou didst not anoint3 she hath anointed ,my feet with ointment4 ,and so ,jesus sets over against the omissions of ,simon the loving and lavish attentions of the woman2 and while reproving him1 not for a lack of civility1 but for a want of heartiness in his reception of ,himself1 ,he shows how deep and full run the currents of her affection1 breaking through the banks and bounds of conventionality in their sweet overflow1 while as yet the currents of his love were intermittent1 shallow1 and somewhat cold4 ,he does not denounce this ,simon as having no part or lot in this matter4 ,no2 ,he even credits him with a little love1 as ,he speaks of him as a pardoned1 justified soul4 ,and it was true4 ,the heart of ,simon had been drawn toward ,jesus1 and in the urgent invitation and these proffered hospitalities we can discern a nascent affection4 ,his love is yet but in the bud4 ,it is there1 a thing of life2 but it is confined1 constrained1 and lacking the sweetness of the ripened and opened flower4 ,jesus does not cut off the budding affection1 and cast it out amongst the withered and dead things1 but sprinkling it with the dew of ,his speech1 and throwing upon it the sunshine of ,his approving look1 ,he leaves it to develop1 ripening into an after-harvest of fragrance and of beauty4 ,and why was ,simon's love more feeble and immature than that of the woman8 ,first1 because he did not see so much in ,jesus as she did4 ,he was yet stumbling over the if1 with some lingering doubts as to whether ,he were the prophet2 to her ,he is more than a prophet1 even her ,lord and her ,saviour1 covering her past with a mantle of mercy1 and opening within her heart a heaven4 ,then1 too1 ,simon's forgiveness was not so great as hers4 ,not that any forgiveness can be less than entire2 for when ,heaven saves it is not a salvation by instalments--certain sins remitted1 while others are held back uncancelled4 ,but ,simon's views of sin were not so sharp and vivid as were those of the woman4 ,the atmosphere of ,phariseeism in its moral aspects was hazy2 it magnified human virtues1 and created all sorts of illusive mirages of self-righteousness and reputed holiness1 and doubtless ,simon's vision had been impaired by the refracting atmosphere of his creed4 ,the greatness of our salvation is ever measured by the greatness of our danger and our guilt4 ,the heavier the burden and weight of condemnation1 the deeper is the peace and the higher are the ecstasies of joy when that condemnation is removed4 ,shall we say1 then1 ,we must sin more1 that love may more abound8 ,nay1 we need not1 we must not2 for as ,godet says1 ,what is wanting to the best of us1 in order to love much1 is not sin1 but the knowledge of it4 ,and this deeper knowledge of sin1 the more vivid realization of its guilt1 its virulence1 its all-pervasiveness1 comes just in proportion as we approach ,christ4 ,standing close up to the cross1 feeling the mortal agonies of ,him whose death was necessary as sin's atonement1 in that vivid light of redeeming love even the strict moralist1 the ,pharisee of the ,pharisees1 could speak of himself as the chief of sinners4 ,the lesson was over1 and ,jesus dismissed the woman--who1 with her empty alabaster flask1 had lingered at the feast1 and who had heard all the conversation--with the double assurance of pardon3 ,thy sins are forgiven2 thy faith hath saved thee2 go in peace4 ,and such is the ,divine order everywhere and always--,faith1 ,love1 ,peace4 ,faith is the procuring cause1 or the condition of salvation2 love and peace are its after-fruits2 for without faith1 love would be only fear1 and peace itself would be unrest4 ,she went in peace1 the peace of ,god1 which passeth all understanding2 but she left behind her the music of her tears and the sweet fragrance of her deed1 a fragrance and a music which have filled the whole world1 and which1 floating across the valley of death1 will pass up into heaven itself6 ,there was still one little whisper of murmuring1 or questioning rather2 for the guests were startled by the boldness of ,his words1 and asked among themselves1 ,who is this that even forgiveth sins8 ,but it will be noticed that ,simon himself is no longer among the questioners1 the doubters4 ,jesus is to him the ,prophet1 and more than a prophet1 for who can forgive sins but ,god alone8 ,and though we hear no more of him or of his deeds1 we may rest assured that his conquered heart was given without reserve to ,jesus1 and that he too learned to love with a true affection1 even with the perfect love1 which casteth out fear4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,sower4 ,,luke viii4 #a-ah4 ,in a single parenthetical sentence our ,evangelist indicates a marked change in the mode of the ,divine ministry4 ,hitherto ,his own city1 ,capernaum1 has been a sort of centre1 from which the lines of light and blessing have radiated4 ,now1 however1 ,he leaves ,capernaum1 and makes a circuit through the province of ,galilee1 going through its cities and villages in a systematic1 and as the verb would imply1 a leisurely way1 preaching the good tidings of the kingdom of ,god4 ,though no mention is made of them1 we are not to suppose that miracles were suspended2 but evidently they were set in the background1 as secondary things1 the by-plays or asides of the ,divine ,teacher1 who now is intent upon delivering ,his message1 the last message1 too1 that they would hear from ,him4 ,accompanying ,him1 and forming an imposing demonstration1 were ,his twelve disciples1 together with many women1 who ministered unto them of their substance1 among whom were three prominent ones1 probably persons of position and influence--,mary of ,magdala1 ,joanna1 wife of ,chuza1 ,herod's steward1 and ,susanna1 who had been healed by ,jesus of evil spirits and infirmities--which last word1 in ,new ,testament language1 is a synonym for physical weakness and disorder4 ,of the particulars and results of this mission we know nothing1 unless we may see1 in the great multitude which followed and thronged ,jesus on ,his return1 the harvest reaped from the ,galilean hills4 ,our ,evangelist1 at any rate1 links them together1 as if the great multitude which now lines the shore was1 in part at least1 the cloud of eager souls which had been caught up and borne along on ,his fervid speech1 as the echoes of the kingdom went resounding among the hills and vales of ,galilee4 ,returning to ,capernaum1 whither the crowds follow ,him1 every city sending its contingent of curious or conquered souls1 ,jesus1 as ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark inform us1 leaves the house1 and seeks the open stretch of shore1 where from a boat--probably the familiar boat of ,simon--,he addresses the multitudes1 adopting now1 as ,his favourite mode of speech1 the amplified parable4 ,it is probable that ,he had observed on the part of ,his disciples an undue elation of spirit4 ,reading the crowds numerically1 and not discerning the different motives which had brought them together1 their eyes deceived them4 ,they imagined that these eager multitudes were but a wave-sheaf of the harvest already ripe1 which only waited their gathering-in4 ,but it is not so2 and ,jesus sifts and winnows ,his audience1 to show ,his disciples that the apparent is not always the real1 and that between the hearers of the word and the doers there will ever be a wide margin of disappointment and comparative failure4 ,the harvest1 in ,god's husbandry1 as in man's1 does not depend altogether upon the quality of the seed or the faithfulness of the sower1 but upon the nature of the soil on which it falls4 ,as the sower went forth to sow his seed1 some fell by the way-side1 and it was trodden under-foot1 and the birds of the heaven devoured it4 ,in his carefulness to cover all his ground1 the sower had gone close up to the boundary1 and some of the seed had fallen on the edge of the bare and trampled path1 where it lay homeless and exposed4 ,it was in contact with the earth1 but it was a mechanical1 and not a vital touch4 ,there was no correspondence1 no communion between them4 ,instead of welcoming and nourishing the seed1 it held it aloof1 in a cold1 repelling way4 ,had the soil been sympathetic and receptive1 it held within itself all the elements of growth4 ,touched by the subtle life that was hidden within the seed1 the dead earth itself had lived1 growing up into blades of promise1 and from the full ear throwing itself forward into the future years4 ,but the earth was hard and unreceptive2 its possibilities of blessing were locked up and buried beneath a crust of trampled soil that was callous and unresponsive as the rock itself4 ,and so the seed lay unwelcomed and alone1 and the life which the warm touch of earth would have loosened and set free remained within its husk as a dead thing1 without voice or hearing4 ,there was nothing else for it but to be ground into dust by the passing foot or to be picked up by the foraging birds4 ,the parable was at once a prophecy and an experience4 ,forming a part of the crowd which surrounded ,jesus was an outer ring of hearers who came but to criticize and to cavil4 ,they had no desire to be taught--at any rate by such a teacher4 ,they were themselves the knowing ones1 the learned1 and they looked with suspicion and ill-concealed scorn upon the youthful ,nazarene4 ,turning upon the ,speaker a cold1 questioning glance1 or exchanging signals with one another1 they were evidently hostile to ,jesus1 listening1 it is true1 but with a feline alertness1 hoping to entrap the sweet ,singer in ,his speech4 ,upon these1 and such as these1 the word of ,god1 even when spoken by the ,divine ,son1 made no impression4 ,it was a speaking to the rocks1 with no other result than the awaking of a few echoes of mockery and banter4 ,the experience is still true4 ,among those who frequent the house of ,god are many whose worship is a cold1 conventional thing4 ,drawn thither by custom1 by the social instinct1 or by the love of change1 they pass within the gates of the ,lord's house1 ostensibly to worship4 ,but they are insincere1 indifferent2 they bring their body1 and deposit it in the accustomed pew1 but they might as well have put there a bag of ashes or an automaton of brass4 ,their mind is not here1 and the cold1 stolid features1 unlighted by any passing gleam1 tell too surely of a vacancy or vagrancy of thought4 ,and even while the lips are throwing off mechanically ,jubilates and ,te ,deums their heart is far from ,me1 chasing some phantom will o' the wisp1 or dreaming their dreams of pleasure1 gain1 and ease4 ,the worship of ,god they themselves would call it1 but ,god does not recognize it4 ,he calls their prayers a weariness1 their incense an abomination4 ,theirs is but a worship of ,self1 as1 setting up their image of clay1 they summon earth's musicians to play their sweet airs about it4 ,god1 with them1 is set back1 ignored1 proscribed4 ,the personal ,i is writ so large1 and is so all-pervasive1 that there is no room for the ,i ,,am4 ,living for earth1 all the fibres of their being growing downwards towards it1 heaven is not even a cloud drifting across their distant vision2 it is an empty space1 a vacancy4 ,to the voices of earth their ears are keenly sensitive2 its very whispers thrill them with new excitements2 but to the voices of ,heaven they are deaf2 the still1 small voice is all unheard1 and even the thunders of ,god are so muffled as to be unrecognized and scarcely audible4 ,and so the word of ,god falls upon their ears in vain4 ,it drops upon a soil that is impervious and antipathetic1 a heart which knows no penitence1 and a life whose fancied goodness has no room for mercy1 or which finds such complete satisfaction in the gains of unrighteousness or the pleasures of sin that it is purposely and persistently deaf to all higher1 holier voices4 ,ulysses filled his ears with wax1 lest he should yield himself up to the enchantments of the sirens4 ,the fable is true1 even when read in reversed lines2 for when ,virtue1 ,purity1 and ,faith invite men to their resting-place1 calling them to the ,islands of the ,blessed1 and to the ,paradise of ,god1 they charm in vain4 ,deafening their ears1 and not deigning to give a passing thought to the higher call1 men drift past the heaven which might have been theirs1 until these holier voices are silenced by the awful distance4 ,that the word of ,god is inoperative here is through no fault1 either of the seed or of the sower4 ,that word is still quick and powerful1 but it is sterile1 because it finds nothing on which it may grow4 ,it is not understood1 as ,jesus ,himself explains4 ,it falls upon the outward ear alone1 and there only as unmeaning sound1 like the accents of some unknown tongue4 ,and so the wicked one easily takes away the word from their heart2 for1 as the preposition itself implies1 that word had not fallen into the heart2 it was lying on it in a superficial way1 like the seed cast upon the trampled path4 ,is there1 then1 no hope for these way-side hearers8 and sparing our strength and toil1 shall we leave them for soils more promising8 ,by no means4 ,the fallow ground may be broken up2 the ploughshare can loosen the hardened1 unproductive earth4 ,pulverized by the teeth of the harrow or the teeth of the frost1 the barren track itself disappears2 it passes up into the advanced classes1 giving back the seed with which it is now entrusted1 with a thirty1 sixty1 or a hundredfold increase4 ,and this is true in the higher husbandry1 in which we are permitted to be ,god's fellow-workers4 ,the heart which to-day is indifferent or repellent1 to-morrow1 chastened by sickness or torn by the ploughshare of some keen grief1 may hail with eagerness the message it rejected and even scorned before4 ,amid the penury and shame of the far country1 the father's house1 from which he had wantonly turned1 now comes to the prodigal like a sweet dream1 and even its bread has all the aroma and sweetness of ambrosial food4 ,no matter how disappointing the soil1 we are to do our duty1 which is to sow beside all waters2 nor should any calculations of imaginary productiveness make us slack our hand or cast away our hope4 ,when the ,spirit is poured out from on high1 even the wilderness becomes as a fruitful field1 and death itself becomes instinct with life4 ,and other fell on the rock2 and as soon as it grew it withered away1 because it had no moisture4 ,here is a second quality of soil4 ,it is not1 however1 a soil that is weakened by an intermixture of gravel or of stones1 but rather a soil that is thinly spread upon the rock4 ,it is good soil as far as it goes1 but it is shallow4 ,it receives the seed gladly1 as if that were its one mission1 as indeed it is2 it gives the seed a hiding-place1 throwing over it a mantle of earth1 so that the birds shall not devour it4 ,it lays its warm touch upon the enveloping husk1 as the ,master once laid ,his finger upon the bier1 and to the imprisoned life which was within it said1 ,arise and multiply4 ,pass up into the sunlight1 and give ,god's children bread4 ,and the seed responds1 obeys4 ,the emerging life throws out its two wings--one downwards1 as its roots clasp the soil2 one upwards1 as the blade1 pushing the clods aside1 makes for the light and the heavens that are above it4 ,surely1 we should say1 if we read the future from the present merely1 the hundredfold is here4 ,pull down your barns and build greater1 for never was seed received more kindly1 never were the beginnings of life more auspicious1 and never was promise so great4 ,ah that the promise should so soon be a disappointment1 and the forecast be so soon belied6 ,the soil has no depth4 ,it is simply a thin covering spread over the rock4 ,it offers no room for growth4 ,the life it nourishes can be nothing more than an ephemeral life1 which owns but a to-day1 whose to-morrow will be in the oven of a burning heat4 ,the growth is entirely superficial1 for its roots come directly to the hard1 impenetrable rock1 which1 yielding no support1 but cutting off all supplies from the unseen reservoirs beneath1 turns back the incipient life all starved and shrunken4 ,the result is a sudden withering and decay4 ,a foundling1 left1 not by some iron gate which the touch of mercy might open1 but by a dead wall of cold1 unresponsive stone1 the plant throws up its arms into the air1 in its vain struggle for life1 and then wilts and droops1 lying at last1 a dead and shrivelled thing1 on the dry bosom of the earth which had given it its untimely birth4 ,such1 says ,jesus1 are many who hear the word4 ,unlike those by the way-side1 these do not reject it4 ,they listen1 bending toward that word with attentive ears and eager hearts4 ,nay1 they receive it with joy2 it strikes upon their soul with the music of a new evangel4 ,but the work is not thorough2 it is superficial1 external4 ,they have no root in a deep and settled conviction1 only a green blade of profession and of mock promise1 and when the testing-time comes1 as it comes to all1 the time of temptation1 they fall away1 or they stand off1 as the verb might be literally rendered4 ,in this second class we must place a large proportion of those who heard and who followed ,jesus4 ,there was something attractive about ,his manner and about ,his message4 ,again and again we read how they pressed upon ,him to hear ,his words1 the multitude hanging on ,his lips as the bees will cluster upon a honeyed leaf4 ,thousands upon thousands thus came within the spell of ,his voice1 now wondering at ,his gracious words1 and now stunned with astonishment1 as they marked the authority with which ,he spoke1 the compressed thunder that was in ,his tones4 ,but in how many cases are we forced to admit the interest to be but momentary6 ,it was with many--shall we say with most8--merely a passing excitement1 the effervescence of personal contact4 ,the words of ,jesus came as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice1 and for the moment the hearts of the multitudes were set vibrating in responsive harmonies4 ,but the music ceased when the ,singer was absent4 ,the impressions were not permanent1 and even the emotions had soon passed away1 almost from memory4 ,st4 ,john speaks of one sifting in ,galilee when many of ,his disciples went back1 and walked no more with ,him 7vi4 #ff71 showing that with them at least it was an attachment rather than an attachment that bound them to ,himself4 ,the bond of union was the hope of some personal gain1 rather than the bond of a pure and deep affection4 ,and so directly ,he speaks of ,his approaching death1 of ,his flesh and blood which ,he shall give them to eat and to drink1 like an icy breath from the north1 those words chill their devotion1 turning their zeal and ardour into a cold indifference1 if not into an open hostility4 ,and this same winnowing of ,galilee is repeated in ,juda4 ,we read of multitudes who escorted ,jesus down the ,mount of ,olives1 strewing ,his path with garments1 giving ,him a royal welcome to the city of the ,great ,king4 ,but how soon a change came o'er the spirit of their dream6 how soon the hosannahs died away6 ,as a hawk in the sky will still in a moment the warbling of the birds1 so the uplifted cross threw its cold shadow upon their hearts1 drowning the brief hosannahs in a strange silence4 ,the cross was the fan in the ,masters hand1 with which ,he throughly purged ,his floor1 separating the true from the false4 ,it blew away into the deep valley of ,oblivion the chaff1 the dead superficialities1 the barren yawns1 leaving as the residuum of the sifted multitudes a mere handful of a hundred and twenty names4 ,these pro tem4 believers are indigenous to every soil4 ,there never is a great movement afloat--philanthropic1 political or spiritual--but numberless smaller craft are lifted up on its swell4 ,for a moment they seem instinct with life1 but having no propelling power in themselves1 they drop behind1 soon to be embedded in the mire4 ,and especially is this true in the region of spiritual dynamics4 ,in all so-called revivals of religion1 when the ,church rejoices in a deepened and quickened life1 when a cooling zeal has been rewarmed at the heavenly fires1 and converts are multiplied1 in the accessions which follow almost invariably will be found a proportion of what we may call casuals4 ,we cannot say they are counterfeits1 for the work1 as far as it goes1 seems real1 and the change1 both in their thought and life1 is clearly marked4 ,but they are unstable souls1 prone to drifting1 their direction given in the main by the set of the current in which they happen to be4 ,and so when they reach the point--which all must reach sooner or later--where two seas meet1 the cross current of enticement and temptation bears hard upon them1 and they make shipwreck of faith4 ,others1 again1 are led by impulse4 ,religion with them is mainly a matter of feeling4 ,overlooking the fact that the emotions are easily stirred1 that they respond to the passing breath just as the sea ripples to the breeze1 they substitute emotion for conviction1 feeling for faith4 ,but these have no foundation1 no root1 no independent life1 and when the excitements on which they feed are withdrawn1 when the emotion subsides1 the high tide of fervour falling back to its mean sea-level1 they lose heart and hope4 ,they are even ready to pity themselves as the objects of an illusion4 ,but the illusion was one of their own making4 ,they set the pleasant before the right1 delight before duty1 comfort before ,christ1 and instead of finding their heaven in doing the will of ,god1 no matter what the emotions1 they sought their heaven in their own personal happiness1 and so they missed both4 ,they endure for a while4 ,and of how many are these words true6 ,verily we must not count our fruits from the blossoms of spring1 nor must we reckon our harvest in that easy1 hopeful way of multiplying each seed1 or even each blade1 by the hundredfold1 for the blade may be only a short-lived blade and nothing more4 ,and other fell amidst the thorns2 and the thorns grew with it1 and choked it4 ,here is a third quality of soil in the ascending series4 ,in the first1 the trampled path1 life was not possible2 the seed could find not the least response4 ,in the second there was life4 ,the thinly sprinkled soil gave the seed a home1 a rooting2 but lacking depth of earth and the necessary moisture1 the life was precarious1 ephemeral4 ,it died away in the blade1 and never reached its fruitage4 ,now1 however1 we have a deeper1 richer soil1 with an abundance of vitality1 one capable of sustaining an exuberant life4 ,but it is not clean2 it is already thickly sown with thorns1 and the two growths running up side by side1 the hardier gets the mastery4 ,and though the corn-life struggles up into the ear1 bearing a sort of fruit1 it is a grain that is dwarfed and shrivelled1 a mere husk and shell1 which no leaven can transmute into bread4 ,it brings forth fruit1 as the exposition of the parable indicates1 but it has not strength to complete its task2 it does not ripen it1 bringing the fruit to perfection4 ,such1 says ,jesus1 is another and a large class of hearers4 ,they are naturally capable of doing great things4 ,possessing strong wills1 and a large amount of energy1 they are just the lives to be fruitful1 impressing themselves upon others1 and so throwing their manifold influence down into the future4 ,but they do not1 and for the simple reason that they do not give to the word a whole heart4 ,their attentions and energies are divided4 ,instead of seeking first the kingdom of ,god1 making that the supreme quest of life1 it is with them but one of many things to be desired and sought4 ,chief among the hindrances to a perfected growth and fruitfulness1 ,jesus mentions three2 namely1 cares1 riches1 and pleasures4 ,by the cares of life we must understand-- interpreting the word by its related word in ,matthew vi4 #cd--the anxieties of life4 ,it is the anxious thought1 mainly about the to-morrow1 which presses upon the heart as a sore and constant burden4 ,it is the fearfulness and unrest of soul which gloom the spirit and shroud the life1 making the ,divine peace itself a fret and worry4 ,and how many ,christians find this to be the normal experience6 ,they love ,god1 they seek to serve ,him2 but they are weighted and weary4 ,instead of having the hopeful1 buoyant spirit which rises to the crest of passing waves1 it is a heart depressed and sad1 living in the deeps4 ,and so the brightness of their life is dimmed2 they walk not in the light1 as ,he is in the light1 but beneath a sky frequently overcast1 their days bringing only a little glooming light1 much like a shade4 ,and so their spiritual life is stunted1 their usefulness impaired4 ,instead of having a heart at leisure from itself1 they are engrossed with their own unsatisfactory experiences4 ,instead of looking upwards to the heavens which are their own1 or outwards upon the crying needs of earth1 they look inward with frequent and morbid introspection2 and instead of lending a hand to the fallen1 that a brotherly touch might help them to rise1 their hands find full employment in steadying the world1 or worlds1 of care which1 ,atlas-like1 they are doomed to carry4 ,self-doomed1 we should have said2 for the ,divine ,voice invites us to cast all our anxiety upon ,him1 assuring us that ,he careth for us1 an assurance and an invitation which make our anxieties1 the fret and fever of life1 altogether superfluous4 ,exactly the same effect of making the spiritual life incomplete1 and so unproductive1 is caused by riches and pleasures1 or1 as we might render the expression1 by the pursuit after riches or after pleasure4 ,not that the ,scriptures condemn wealth in itself4 ,it is1 per se1 of a neutral character1 whether a blessing or a bane depends on how it is earned and how it is held4 ,nor do the ,scriptures condemn legitimate modes and measures of business2 they condemn waste and indolence1 but they commend industry1 diligence1 thrift4 ,but the evil is in making wealth the chief aim of life4 ,it is deceptive1 promising satisfaction which it never gives1 creating a thirst which it is powerless to slake1 until the desire1 ever more greedy and clamorous1 grows into a love of money1 a pure worship of ,mammon4 ,religion and business may well go together1 for ,god has joined them in one4 ,each keeping its proper place1 religion first and most1 and business a far-off second1 together they are the centrifugal and centripetal forces that keep the life revolving steadily around its ,divine centre4 ,but let the positions be reversed2 let business be the first1 chief thought1 let religion sink down to some second or third place1 and the life swings farther and farther from its pivotal centre1 into wildernesses of dearth and cold4 ,to give due thought to earthly things is right2 nay1 we may give all diligence to make our earthly1 as well as our heavenly calling sure2 but when business gets imperious in its demands1 swallowing up all our thought and energy1 leaving no time for spiritual exercises or for personal service for ,christ1 then the religious life declines4 ,crowded back into the chance corners1 with nothing left it but the brief interstices of a busy life1 religion can do little more than maintain a profession2 its helpfulness is1 in the main1 remitted to the past1 and its fruitfulness is postponed to that uncertain nowhere of the ,greek calends4 ,the same is true with regard to the pleasures of life4 ,the word pleasure is a somewhat infrequent word in the ,new ,testament1 and generally it is used of the lower1 sensual pleasures4 ,we are not obliged1 however1 to give the word its lowest meaning2 indeed1 the analogy of the parable would scarcely allow such an interpretation4 ,sinful pleasure would not check growth2 it would simply prevent it1 making a spiritual life impossible4 ,we must therefore interpret the pleasures which retard the upward growth1 and render it infertile1 as the lawful pleasures of life1 such as the delights of the eye and ear1 the gratification of the tastes1 the enjoyments of domestic or social life4 ,perfectly innocent and pure in themselves1 purposely designed for our enjoyment1 as ,st4 ,paul plainly intimates 7#a ,tim4 vi4 #ag71 they are pleasures which we have no right to treat with the stoic's disdain1 nor with the ascetic's aversion4 ,but the snare is in permitting these desires to step out of their proper place1 in allowing them to have a controlling influence4 ,as servants their ministry is helpful and benign2 but if we make them lords1 then1 like the ill uses of a life1 we find it difficult to put them down2 they rather put us down1 making us their thrall4 ,to please ,god should be the one absorbing pursuit and passion of life1 and wholly bent on this1 if other pure enjoyments come in our way we may receive them thankfully4 ,but if we make our personal gratification the aim1 if our thoughts and plans are set on this rather than upon the pleasing of ,god1 then our spiritual life is enfeebled and stifled1 and the fruit we should bear shrivels up into chaff4 ,then we become selfish and self-willed1 and the pure pleasures of life1 which like ,vestal ,virgins minister within the temple of ,god1 leading us ever to ,him1 turn round to burn perpetual incense before our enlarged and exalted ,self4 ,he who stops to confer with flesh and blood1 who is ever consulting his own likes and leanings1 can never be an apostle to others4 ,and other fell into the good ground1 and grew1 and brought forth fruit a hundredfold4 ,here is the highest quality of soil4 ,not hard1 like the trampled path1 nor shallow1 like the covering of the rock1 not preoccupied with the roots of other growths1 this is mellow1 deep1 clean1 and rich4 ,the seed falls1 not by1 or in1 or among1 but into it1 while seed and soil together grow up in an affluence of life1 and passing through the blade-age and the earing1 it ripens into a harvest of a hundredfold4 ,such1 says ,jesus1 are they who1 in an honest and good heart1 having heard the word1 hold it fast1 and bring forth fruit with patience4 ,here1 then1 we reach the germ of the parable1 the secret of fruitfulness4 ,the one difference between the saint and the sinner1 between the hundredfold hearer and him whose life is spent in throwing out promises of a harvest which never ripens1 is their different attitude towards the word of ,god4 ,in the one case that word is rejected altogether1 or it is a concept of the mind alone1 an aurora of the ,arctic night1 distant and cold1 which some mistake for the dawn of a new day4 ,in the other the word passes through the mind into the deepest heart2 it conquers and rules the whole being2 it becomes a part of one's very self1 the soul of the soul4 ,thy word have ,i hid in my heart1 said the ,psalmist1 and he who puts the ,divine word there1 before all earthly and selfish voices1 letting that ,divine ,voice fill up that most sacred temple of the heart1 will make his outer life both beautiful and fruitful4 ,he will walk the earth as one of ,god's seers1 ever beholding ,him who is invisible1 speaking by life or lips in heavenly tones1 and by his own steadfast1 upward gaze lifting the hearts and thoughts of men above the world's uncertain haze4 ,such is the ,divine law of life2 the measure of our faith is the measure of our fruitfulness4 ,if we but half believe in the promises of ,god or in the eternal realities1 then the sinews of our soul are houghed1 and there comes over us the sad paralysis of doubt4 ,how can we bring forth fruit except we abide in ,him8 and how can we abide in ,him but by letting ,his words abide in us8 ,but having ,his words abiding in us1 then ,his peace1 ,his joy1 ,his life are ours1 and we1 who without ,him are poor1 dead things1 now become strong in ,his infinite strength1 and fruitful with a ,divine fruitfulness2 and to our lives1 which were all barren and dead1 will men come for the words that help and heal1 while the ,master ,himself gathers from them ,his thirty1 sixty1 or hundredfold1 the fruitage of a whole-hearted1 patient faith4 ,let us take heed1 therefore1 how we hear1 for on the character of the hearing depends the character of the life4 ,nor is the truth given us for ourselves alone2 it is given that it may become incarnate in us1 so that others may see and feel the truth that is in us1 even as men cannot help seeing the light which is manifest4 ,and so the parable closes with the account of the visit of ,his mother and brethren1 who came1 as ,st4 ,matthew informs us1 to take ,him home2 and when the message was passed on to ,him that ,his mother and ,his brethren wished to see ,him1 this was ,his remarkable answer1 claiming relationship with all whose hearts vibrate to the same word3 ,my mother and ,my brethren are those which hear the word of ,god1 and ,,do ,,it4 ,it is the secret of the ,divine life on earth2 they hear1 and they do4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god4 ,in considering the words of ,jesus1 if we may not be able to measure their depth or to scale their height1 we can with absolute certainty discover their drift1 and see in what direction they move1 and we shall find that their orbit is an ellipse4 ,moving around the two centres1 sin and salvation1 they describe what is not a geometric figure1 but a glorious reality1 the kingdom of ,god4 ,it is not unlikely that the expression was one of the current phrases of the times1 a golden casket1 holding within it the dream of a restored ,hebraism2 for we find1 without any collusion or rehearsal of parts1 the ,baptist making use of the identical words in his inaugural address1 while it is certain the disciples themselves so misunderstood the thought of their ,master as to refer ,his kingdom to that narrow realm of ,hebrew sympathies and hopes4 ,nor did they see their error until1 in the light of ,pentecostal flames1 their own dream disappeared1 and the new kingdom1 opening out like a receding sky1 embraced a world within its folds4 ,that ,jesus adopted the phrase1 liable to misconstruction as it was1 and that ,he used it so repeatedly1 making it the centre of so many parables and discourses1 shows how completely the kingdom of ,god possessed both ,his mind and heart4 ,indeed1 so accustomed were ,his thoughts and words to flow in this direction that even the valley of ,death1 lying darkly between ,his two lives1 could not alter their course1 or turn ,his thoughts out of their familiar channel2 and as we find the ,christ beyond the cross and tomb1 amid the resurrection glories1 we hear ,him speaking still of the things pertaining to the kingdom of ,god4 ,it will be observed that ,jesus uses the two expressions the kingdom of ,god and the kingdom of heaven interchangeably4 ,but in what sense is it the kingdom of heaven8 ,does it mean that the celestial realm will so far extend its bounds as to embrace our outlying and low-lying world8 ,not exactly1 for the conditions of the two realms are so diverse4 ,the one is the perfected1 the visible kingdom1 where the throne is set1 and the ,king ,himself is manifest1 its citizens1 angels1 heavenly intelligences1 and saints now freed from the cumbering clay of mortality1 and for ever safe from the solicitations of evil4 ,this ,new ,jerusalem does not come down to earth1 except in the vision of the seer1 as it were in a shadow4 ,and yet the two kingdoms are in close correspondence1 after all2 for what is the kingdom of ,god in heaven but ,his eternal rule over the spirits of the redeemed and of the unredeemed8 what are the harmonies of heaven but the harmonies of surrendered wills1 as1 without any hesitation or discord1 they strike in with the ,divine ,will in absolute precision8 ,to this extent1 then1 at least1 heaven may project itself upon earth2 the spirits of men not yet made perfect may be in subjection to the ,supreme ,spirit2 the separate wills of a redeemed humanity1 striking in with the ,divine ,will1 may swell the heavenly harmonies with their earthly music4 ,and so ,jesus speaks of this kingdom as being within you4 ,as if ,he said1 ,you are looking in the wrong direction4 ,you expect the kingdom of ,god to be set up around you1 with its visible symbols of flags and coins1 on which is the image of some new ,csar4 ,you are mistaken4 ,the kingdom1 like its ,king1 is unseen2 it seeks1 not countries1 but consciences2 its realm is in the heart1 in the great interior of the soul4 ,and is not this the reason why it is called1 with such emphatic repetition1 the kingdom1 as if it were1 if not the only1 at any rate the highest kingdom of ,god on earth8 ,we speak of a kingdom of ,nature1 and who will know its secrets as ,he who was both ,nature's child and ,nature's ,lord8 ,and how far-reaching a realm is that6 from the motes that swim in the air to the most distant stars1 which themselves are but the gateway to the unseen ,beyond6 ,what forces are here1 forces of chemical affinities and repulsions1 of gravitation and of life6 ,what successions and transformations can ,nature show6 what infinite varieties of substance1 form1 and colour6 what a realm of harmony and peace1 with no irruptions of discordant elements6 ,surely one would think1 if ,god has a kingdom upon earth1 this kingdom of ,nature is it4 ,but no2 ,jesus does not often refer to that1 except as ,he makes ,nature speak in ,his parables1 or as ,he uses the sparrows1 the grass1 and the lilies as so many lenses through which our weak human vision may see ,god4 ,the kingdom of ,god on earth is as much higher than the kingdom of ,nature as spirit is above matter1 as love is more and greater than power4 ,we said just now how completely the thought of the kingdom possessed the mind and heart of ,jesus4 ,we might go one step farther1 and say how completely ,jesus identified ,himself with that kingdom4 ,he puts4 ,himself in its pivotal centre1 with all possible naturalness1 and with an ease that assumption cannot feign4 ,he gathers up its royalties and draws them around ,his own ,person4 ,he speaks of it as ,my kingdom2 and this1 not alone in familiar discourse with ,his disciples1 but when face to face with the representative of earth's greatest power4 ,nor is the personal pronoun some chance word1 used in a far-off1 accommodated sense2 it is the crucial word of the sentence1 underscored and emphasized by a threefold repetition2 it is the word ,he will not strike out1 nor recall1 even to save ,himself from the cross4 ,he never speaks of the kingdom but even ,his enemies acknowledge the authority that rings in ,his tones1 the authority of conscious power1 as well as of perfect knowledge4 ,when ,his ministry is drawing to a close ,he says to ,peter1 ,i will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven2 which language may be understood as the official designation of the ,apostle ,peter to a position of pre-eminence in the ,church1 as its first leader4 ,but whatever it may mean1 it shows that the keys of the kingdom are ,his2 ,he can bestow them on whom ,he will4 ,the kingdom of heaven is not a realm in which authority and honours move upwards from below1 the blossoming of the people's will2 it is an absolute monarchy1 an autocracy1 and ,jesus ,himself is here ,king supreme1 ,his will swaying the lesser wills of men1 and rearranging their positions1 as the angel had foretold3 ,he shall reign over the house of ,david for ever1 and of ,his kingdom there shall be no end4 ,given ,him of the ,father it is 7xxii4 #bi2 i4 #cb71 but the kingdom is ,his1 not either as a metaphor1 but really1 absolutely1 inalienably2 nor is there admittance within that kingdom but by ,him who is the ,way1 as ,he is the ,life4 ,we enter into the kingdom1 or the kingdom enters into us1 as we find1 and then crown the ,king1 as we sanctify in our hearts ,christ as ,lord 7#a ,pet4 iii4 #ae74 ,this brings us to the question of citizenship1 the conditions and demands of the kingdom2 and here we see how far this new dynasty is removed from the kingdoms of this world4 ,they deal with mankind in groups2 they look at birth1 not character2 and their bounds are well defined by rivers1 mountains1 seas1 or by accurately surveyed lines4 ,the kingdom of heaven1 on the other hand1 dispenses with all space-limits1 all physical configurations1 and regards mankind as one group1 a unity1 a lapsed but a redeemed world4 ,but while opening its gates and offering its privileges to all alike1 irrespective of class or circumstance1 it is most eclective in its requirements1 and most rigid in the application of its test1 its one test of character4 ,indeed1 the laws of the heavenly kingdom are a complete reversal of the lines of worldly policy4 ,take1 for instance1 the two estimates of wealth1 and see how different the position it occupies in the two societies4 ,the world makes wealth its summum bonum2 or if not exactly in itself the highest good1 in commercial values it is equivalent to the highest good1 which is position4 ,gold is all-powerful1 the goal of man's vain ambitions1 the panacea of earthly ill4 ,men chase it in hot1 feverish haste1 trampling upon each other in the mad scramble1 and worshipping it in a blind idolatry4 ,but where is wealth in the new kingdom8 ,the worlds first becomes the last4 ,it has no purchasing-power here2 its golden key cannot open the least of these heavenly gates4 ,jesus sets it back1 far back1 in ,his estimate of the good4 ,he speaks of it as if it were an encumbrance1 a dead weight1 that must be lifted1 and that handicaps the heavenly athlete4 ,how hardly1 said ,jesus1 when the rich ruler turned away very sorrowful1 shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of ,god6 7xviii4 #bd72 and then1 by way of illustration1 ,he shows us the picture of the camel passing through the so-called needle's eye of an ,eastern door4 ,he does not say that such a thing is impossible1 for the camel could pass through the needle's eye1 but it must first kneel down and be stripped of all its baggage1 before it can pass the narrow door1 within the larger1 but now closed gate4 ,wealth may have its uses1 and noble uses too1 within the kingdom--for it is somewhat remarkable how the faith of the two rich disciples shone out the brightest1 when the faith of the rest suffered a temporary eclipse from the passing cross--but he who possesses it must be as if he possessed it not4 ,he must not regard it as his own1 but as talents given him in trust by his ,lord1 their image and superscription being that of the ,invisible ,king4 ,again1 ,jesus sets down vacillation1 hesitancy1 as a disqualification for citizenship in ,his kingdom4 ,at the close of ,his ,galilean ministry our ,evangelist introduces us to a group of embryo disciples4 ,the first of the three says1 ,lord1 ,i will follow ,thee whithersoever ,thou goest 7ix4 #eg74 ,bold words they were1 and doubtless well meant1 but it was the language of a passing impulse1 rather than of a settled conviction2 it was the coruscation of a glowing1 ardent temperament4 ,he had not counted the cost4 ,the large word whithersoever might1 indeed1 easily be spoken1 but it held within it a ,gethsemane and a ,calvary1 paths of sorrow1 shame1 and death he was not prepared to face4 ,and so ,jesus neither welcomed nor dismissed him1 but opening out one part of his whithersoever1 ,he gave it back to him in the words1 ,the foxes have holes1 and the birds of the heaven have nests2 but the ,son of man hath not where to lay ,his head4 ,the second responds to the ,follow ,me of ,christ with the request that he might be allowed first to go and bury his father4 ,it was a most natural request1 but participation in these funeral rites would entail a ceremonial uncleanness of seven days1 by which time ,jesus would be far away4 ,besides1 ,jesus must teach him1 and the ages after him1 that ,his claims were paramount2 that when ,he commands obedience must be instant and absolute1 with no interventions1 no postponement4 ,jesus replies to him in that enigmatical way of ,his1 ,leave the dead to bury their own dead3 but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of ,god2 indicating that this supreme crisis of his life is virtually a passing from death to life1 a resurrection from earth to things above4 ,the last in this group of three volunteers his pledge1 ,i will follow ,thee1 ,lord2 but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house 7ix4 #fa72 but to him ,jesus replies1 mournfully and sorrowfully1 ,no man1 having put his hand to the plough1 and looking back1 is fit for the kingdom of ,god 7ix4 #fb74 ,why does ,jesus treat these two candidates so differently8 ,they both say1 ,i will follow ,thee1 the one in word1 the other by implication2 they both request a little time for what they regard a filial duty2 why1 then1 be treated so differently1 the one thrust forward to a still higher service1 commissioned to preach the kingdom1 and afterwards1 if we may accept the tradition that he was ,philip the ,evangelist1 passing up into the diaconate2 the other1 unwelcomed and uncommissioned1 but disapproved as not fit for the kingdom8 ,why there should be this wide divergence between the two lives we cannot see1 either from their manner or their words4 ,it must have been a difference in the moral attitude of the two men1 and which ,he who heard thoughts and read motives detected at once4 ,in the case of the former there was the fixed1 determined resolve1 which the bier of a dead father might hold back a little1 but which it could not break or bend4 ,but ,jesus saw in the other a double-minded soul1 whose feet and heart moved in diverse1 opposite ways1 who gave1 not his whole1 but a very partial1 self to his work2 and this halting1 wavering one ,he dismissed with the words of forecasted doom1 ,not fit for the kingdom of ,god4 ,it is a hard saying1 with a seeming severity about it2 but is it not a truth universal and eternal8 ,are any kingdoms1 either of knowledge or power1 won and held by the irresolute and wavering8 ,like the stricken men of ,sodom1 they weary themselves to find the door of the kingdom2 or if they do see the ,beautiful ,gates of a better life1 they sit with the lame man1 outside1 or they linger on the steps1 hearing the music indeed1 but hearing it from afar4 ,it is a truth of both dispensations1 written in all the books2 the ,reubens who are unstable as water can never excel2 the elder born1 in the accident of years1 they may be1 but the birthright passes by them1 to be inherited and enjoyed by others4 ,but if the gates of the kingdom are irrevocably closed against the half-hearted1 the self-indulgent1 and the proud1 there is a sesame to which they open gladly4 ,blessed are ye poor1 so reads the first and great ,beatitude3 for yours is the kingdom of ,god 7vi4 #bj72 and beginning with this present realization1 ,jesus goes on to speak of the strange contrasts and inversions the perfected kingdom will show1 when the weepers will laugh1 the hungry be full1 and those who are despised and persecuted will rejoice in their exceeding great reward4 ,but who are the poor to whom the gates of the kingdom are open so soon and so wide8 ,at first sight it would appear as if we must give a literal interpretation to the word1 reading it in a worldly1 temporal sense2 but this is not necessary4 ,jesus was now directly addressing ,his disciples 7vi4 #bj71 though1 doubtless1 ,his words were intended to pass beyond them1 to those ever-enlarging circles of humanity who in the after-years should press forward to hear ,him4 ,but evidently the disciples were in no weeping mood to-day2 they would be elated and joyful over the recent miracles4 ,neither should we call them poor1 in the worldly sense of that word1 for most of them had been called from honourable positions in society1 while some had even hired servants to wait upon and assist them4 ,indeed1 it was not the wont of ,jesus to recognize the class distinctions ,society was so fond of drawing and defining4 ,he appraised men1 not by their means1 but by the manhood which was in them2 and when ,he found a nobility of soul--whether in the higher or the lower walks of life it made no difference--,he stepped forward to recognize and to salute it4 ,we must therefore give to these words of ,jesus1 as to so many others1 the deeper meaning1 making the blessed of this ,beatitude1 who are now welcomed to the opened gate of the kingdom1 the poor in spirit1 as1 indeed1 ,st4 ,matthew writes it4 ,what this spirit-poverty is1 ,jesus ,himself explains1 in a brief but wonderfully realistic parable4 ,he draws for us the picture of two men at their ,temple devotions4 ,the one1 a ,pharisee1 stands erect1 with head uplifted1 as if it were quite on a level with the heaven he was addressing1 and with supercilious pride he counts his beads of rounded egotisms4 ,he calls it a worship of ,god1 when it is but a worship of self4 ,he inflates the great ,i1 and then plays upon it1 making it strike sharp and loud1 like the tom-tom of a heathen fetish4 ,such is the man who fancies that he is rich toward ,god1 that he has need of nothing1 not even of mercy1 when all the time he is utterly blind and miserably poor4 ,the other is a publican1 and so presumably rich4 ,but how different his posture6 ,with heart broken and contrite1 self with him is a nothing1 a zero2 nay1 in his lowly estimate it had become a minus quantity1 less than nothing1 deserving only rebuke and chastisement4 ,disclaiming any good1 either inherent or acquired1 he puts the deep need and hunger of his soul into one broken cry1 ,god be merciful to me a sinner 7xviii4 #ac74 ,such are the two characters ,jesus portrays as standing by the gate of the kingdom1 the one proud in spirit1 the other poor in spirit2 the one throwing upon the heavens the shadow of his magnified self1 the other shrinking up into the pauper1 the nothing that he was4 ,but ,jesus tells us that he was justified1 accepted1 rather than the other4 ,with nought he could call his own1 save his deep need and his great sin1 he finds an opened gate and a welcome within the kingdom2 while the proud in spirit is sent empty away1 or carrying back only the tithed mint and anise1 and all the vain oblations ,heaven could not accept4 ,blessed indeed are such poor2 for ,he giveth grace unto the lowly1 while the proud ,he knoweth afar off4 ,the humble1 the meek1 these shall inherit the earth1 ay1 and the heavens too1 and they shall know how true is the paradox1 having nothing1 yet possessing all things4 ,the fruit of the tree of life hangs low1 and he must stoop who would gather it4 ,he who would enter ,god's kingdom must first become as a little child1 knowing nothing as yet1 but longing to know even the mysteries of the kingdom1 and having nothing but the plea of a great mercy and a great need4 ,and are they not blessed who are citizens of the kingdom--with righteousness1 peace1 and joy all their own1 a peace which is perfect and ,divine1 and a joy which no man taketh from them8 ,are they not blessed1 thrice blessed1 when the bright shadow of the ,throne covers all their earthly life1 making its dark places light1 and weaving rainbows out of their very tears8 ,he who through the strait gate of repentance passes within the kingdom finds it the kingdom of heaven indeed1 his earthly years the beginnings of the heavenly life4 ,and now we touch a point ,jesus ever loved to illustrate and emphasize1 the manner of the kingdom's growth1 as with ever-widening frontiers it sweeps outward in its conquest of a world4 ,it was a beautiful dream of ,hebrew prophecy that in the latter days the kingdom of ,god1 or the kingdom of the ,messiah1 should overlap the bounds of human empires1 and ultimately cover the whole earth4 ,looking through her kaleidoscope of ever-shifting but harmonious figures1 ,prophecy was never weary of telling of the ,golden ,age she saw in the far future1 when the shadows would lift1 and a new ,dawn1 breaking out of ,jerusalem1 would steal over the world4 ,even the ,gentiles should be drawn to its light1 and kings to the brightness of its rising2 the seas should offer their abundance as a willing tribute1 and the isles should wait for and welcome its laws4 ,taking up into itself the petty strifes and jealousies of men1 the discords of earth should cease2 humanity should again become a unit1 restored and regenerate fellow-citizens of the new kingdom1 the kingdom which should have no end1 no boundaries either of space or time4 ,such was the dream of ,prophecy1 the kingdom ,jesus sets ,himself to found and realize upon earth4 ,but how8 ,disclaiming any rivalry with ,pilate1 or with his imperial master1 ,jesus said1 ,my kingdom is not of this world1 so lifting it altogether out of the mould in which earthly dynasties are cast4 ,this world uses force2 its kingdoms are won and held by metallic processes1 tinctures of iron and steel4 ,in the kingdom of ,god carnal weapons are out of place2 its only forces are truth and love1 and he who takes the sword to advance this cause wounds but himself1 after the vain manner of ,baal's priests4 ,this world counts heads or hands2 the kingdom of ,god numbers its citizens by hearts alone4 ,this world believes in pomp and show1 in outward visibilities and symbols2 the kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation2 its voices are gentle as a zephyr1 its footsteps noiseless as the coming of spring4 ,if man had had the ordering of the kingdom he would have summoned to his aid all kinds of portents and surprises2 he would have arranged processions of imposing events2 but ,jesus likens the coming of the kingdom to a grain of mustard-seed cast into a garden1 or to a handful of leaven hid in three sata of meal4 ,the two parables1 with minor distinctions1 are one in their import1 the leading thought common to both being the contrast between its ultimate growth and the smallness and obscurity of its beginnings4 ,in both the recreative force is a hidden force1 buried out of sight1 in the soil or in the meal4 ,in both the force works outward from its centre1 the invisible becoming visible1 the inner life assuming an outer1 external form4 ,in both we see the touch of life upon death2 for left to itself1 the soil never would be anything more than dead earth1 as the meal would be nothing more than dust1 the broken ashes of a life that was departed4 ,in both there is extension by assimilation1 the leaven throwing itself out among the particles of kindred meal1 while the tree attracts to itself the kindred elements of the soil4 ,in both there is the mediation of the human hand2 but as if to show that the kingdom offers equal privilege to male and female1 with like possibilities of service1 the one parable shows us the hand of a man1 the other the hand of a woman4 ,in both there is a perfect work1 a consummation1 the one parable showing us the whole mass leavened1 the other showing us the wide-spreading tree1 with the birds nesting in its branches4 ,such1 in outline1 is the rise and progress of the kingdom of ,god in the heart of the individual man1 and in the world2 for the human soul is the protoplasm1 the germ-cell1 out of which this world-wide kingdom is evolved4 ,the mass is leavened only by the leavening of the separate units4 ,and how comes the kingdom of ,god within the soul and life of man8 ,not with observation or supernatural portents1 but silently as the flashing forth of light4 ,thought1 desire1 purpose1 prayer--these are the wheels of the chariot in which the ,lord comes to ,his temple1 the ,king into ,his kingdom4 ,and when the kingdom of ,god is set up within you the outer life shapes itself to the new purpose and aim1 the writ and will of the ,king running unhindered through every department1 even to its outmost frontier1 while thoughts1 feelings1 desires1 and all the golden coinage of the heart bear1 not1 as before1 the image of ,self1 but the image and superscription of the ,invisible ,king--the ,not ,i1 but ,christ4 ,and so the honour of the kingdom is in our keeping1 as the growths of the kingdom are in our hands4 ,the ,divine ,cloud adjusts its pace to our human steps1 alas1 often far too slow6 ,shall the leaven stop with us1 as we make religion a kind of sanctified selfishness1 doing nothing but gauging the emotions and singing its little doxologies8 ,do we forget that the weak human hand carries the ,ark of ,god1 and pushes forward the boundaries of the kingdom8 ,do we forget that hearts are only won by hearts8 ,the kingdom of ,god on earth is the kingdom of surrendered wills and of consecrated lives4 ,shall we not1 then1 pray1 ,thy kingdom come1 and living more nearly as we pray1 seek a redeemed humanity as subjects of our ,king8 ,so will the ,divine purpose become a realization1 and the morning which now is always somewhere in the world will be everywhere1 the promise and the dawn of a heavenly day1 the eternal ,sabbath6 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,healing4 ,it is only natural that our ,evangelist should linger with a professional as well as a personal interest over ,christ's connection with human suffering and disease1 and that in recounting the miracles of healing he should be peculiarly at home2 the theme would be in such thorough accord with his studies and tastes4 ,it is true he does not refer to these miracles as being a fulfilment of prophecy2 it is left for ,st4 ,matthew1 who weaves his ,gospel on the unfinished warp of the ,old ,testament1 to recall the words of ,isaiah1 how ,himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases2 yet our physician-,evangelist evidently lingers over the pathological side of his ,gospel with an intense interest4 ,st4 ,john passes by the miracles of healing in comparative silence1 though he stays to give us two cases which are omitted by the ,synoptists--that of the nobleman's son at ,capernaum1 and that of the impotent man at ,bethesda4 ,but ,st4 ,john's ,gospel moves in more etherial spheres1 and the touches he chronicles are rather the touches of mind with mind1 spirit with spirit1 than the physical touches through the coarser medium of the flesh4 ,the ,synoptists1 however1 especially their earlier chapters1 bring the works of ,christ into prominence1 travelling too very much over the same ground1 though each introduces some special facts omitted by the rest1 while in their record of the same fact each ,evangelist throws some additional colouring4 ,grouping together the miracles of healing--for our space will not allow a separate treatment of each--our thought is first arrested by the variety of forms in which suffering and disease presented themselves to ,jesus1 the wideness of the ground1 physical and psychical1 the miracles of healing cover4 ,our ,evangelist mentions fourteen different cases1 not1 however1 as including the whole1 or even the greater part1 but rather as being typical1 representative cases4 ,they are1 as it were1 the nearer constellations1 localized and named2 but again and again in his narrative we find whole groups and clusters lying farther back1 making a sort of ,milky ,way of light1 whose thickly clustered worlds baffle all our attempts at enumeration4 ,such are the women of chap4 viii4 ver4 #b1 who had been healed of their infirmities1 but whose record is omitted in the ,gospel story2 and such1 too1 are those groups of cures mentioned in chapters iv4 #dj1 v4 #ae1 vi4 #ai1 and vii4 #ba1 when the ,divine power seemed to culminate1 throwing itself out in a largesse of blessing1 fairly raining down its bright gifts of healing like meteoric showers4 ,turning now to the typical cases mentioned by ,st4 ,luke1 they are as follows3 the man possessed of an unclean demon2 ,peter's wife's mother1 who was sick of a fever2 a leper1 a paralytic1 the man with the withered hand1 the servant of the centurion1 the demoniac1 the woman with an issue1 the boy possessed with a demon1 the man with a dumb demon1 the woman with an infirmity1 the man with the dropsy1 the ten lepers1 and blind ,bartimus4 ,the list1 like so many lines of dark meridians1 measures off the entire circumference of the world of suffering1 beginning with the withered hand1 and going on and down to that sacrament of death1 leprosy1 and to that yet further deep1 demoniacal possession4 ,some diseases were of more recent origin1 as the case of fever2 others were chronic1 of twelve or eighteen years' standing1 or lifelong1 as in the case of the possessed boy4 ,in some a solitary organ was affected1 as when the hand had withered1 or the tongue was tied by some power of evil1 or the eyes had lost their gift of vision4 ,in others the whole person was diseased1 as when the fires of the fever shot through the heated veins1 or the leprosy was covering the flesh with the white scales of death4 ,but whatever its nature or its stage1 the disease was acute1 as far as human probabilities went1 past all hope of healing4 ,it was no slight attack1 but a great fever which had stricken down the mother-in-law of ,peter1 the intensive adjective showing that it had reached its danger-point4 ,and where among human means was there hope for a restored vision1 when for years the last glimmer of light had faded away1 when even the optic nerve was atrophied by the long disuse8 and where1 among the limited pharmacopias of ancient or even among the vastly extended lists of modern times1 was there a cure for the leper1 who carried1 burned into his very flesh1 his sentence of death8 ,no1 it was not the trivial1 temporary cases of sickness ,jesus took in hand2 but ,he passed into that innermost shrine of the temple of suffering1 the shrine that lay in perpetual night1 and over whose doorway was the inscription of ,dante's ,inferno1 ,all hope abandon1 ye who enter here6 ,but when ,jesus entered this grim abode ,he turned its darkness to light1 its sighs to songs1 bringing hope to despairing ones1 and leading back into the light of day these captives of ,death1 as ,orpheus is fabled to have brought back to earth the lost ,eurydice4 ,and not only are the cases so varied in their character1 and humanly speaking1 hopeless in their nature1 but they were presented to ,jesus in such a diversity of ways4 ,they are none of them arranged for1 studied4 ,they could not have formed any plan or routine of mercy1 nor were they timed for the purpose of producing spectacular effects4 ,they were nearly all of them impromptu1 extemporary events1 coming without ,his seeking1 and coming often as interruptions to ,his own plans4 ,now it is in the synagogue1 in the pauses of public worship1 that ,jesus rebukes an unclean devil1 or ,he bids the cripple stretch out his withered hand4 ,now it is in the city1 amid the crowd1 or out upon the plain2 now it is within the house of a chief ,pharisee1 in the very midst of an entertainment2 while at other times ,he is walking on the road1 when1 without even stopping in ,his journey1 ,he wills the leper clean1 or ,he throws the gift of life and health forward to the centurion's servant1 whom ,he has not seen4 ,no times were inopportune to ,him1 and no places were foreign to the ,son of man1 where men suffered and pain abode4 ,jesus refused no request on the ground that the time was not well chosen1 and though ,he did again and again refuse the request of selfish interest or vain ambition1 ,he never once turned a deaf ear to the cry of sorrow or of pain1 no matter when or whence it came4 ,and if we consider ,his methods of healing we find the same diversity4 ,perhaps we ought not to use that word1 for there was a singular absence of method4 ,there was nothing set1 artificial in ,his way1 but an easy freedom1 a beautiful naturalness4 ,in one respect1 and perhaps in one only1 are all similar1 and that is in the absence of intermediaries4 ,there was no use of means1 no prescription of remedies2 for in the seeming exception1 the clay with which ,he anointed the eyes of the blind1 and the waters of ,siloam which ,he prescribed1 were not remedial in themselves2 the washing was rather the test of the man's faith1 while the anointing was a sort of aside1 spoken1 not to the man himself1 but to the group of onlookers1 preparing them for the fresh manifestation of ,his power4 ,generally a word was enough1 though we read of ,his healing touch1 and twice of the symbolic laying on of hands4 ,and by-the-way1 it is somewhat singular that ,jesus made use of the touch at the healing of the leper1 when the touch meant ceremonial uncleanness4 ,why does ,he not speak the word only1 as ,he did afterwards at the healing of the ten8 ,and why does ,he1 as it were1 go out of ,his way to put ,himself in personal contact with a leper1 who was under a ceremonial ban8 ,was it not to show that a new era had dawned1 an era in which uncleanness should be that of the heart1 the life1 and no longer the outward uncleanness1 which any accident of contact might induce8 ,did not the touching of the leper mean the abrogation of the multiplied bans of the ,old ,dispensation1 just as afterwards a heavenly vision coming to ,peter wiped out the dividing-line between clean and unclean meats8 ,and why did not the touch of the leper make ,jesus ceremonially unclean8 for we do not read that it did1 or that ,he altered ,his plans one whit because of it4 ,perhaps we find our answer in the ,levitical regulations respecting the leprosy4 ,we read 7,lev4 xiv4 #bh7 that at the cleansing of the leper the priest was to dip his right finger in the blood and in the oil1 and put it on the ear1 and hand1 and foot of the person cleansed4 ,the finger of the priest was thus the index or sign of purity1 the lifting up of the ban which his leprosy had put around and over him4 ,and when ,jesus touched the leper it was the priestly touch2 it carried its own cleansing with it1 imparting power and purity1 instead of contracting the defilement of another4 ,but if ,jesus touched the leper1 and permitted the woman of ,capernaum to touch ,him1 or at any rate ,his garment1 ,he studiously avoided any personal contact with those possessed of devils4 ,he recognized here the presence of evil spirits1 the powers of darkness1 which have enthralled the weaker human spirit1 and for these a word is enough4 ,but how different a word to ,his other words of healing1 when ,he said to the leper1 ,i will2 be thou clean1 and to ,bartimus1 ,receive thy sight6 ,now it is a word sharp1 imperative1 not spoken to the poor helpless victim1 but thrown over and beyond him1 to the dark personality1 which held a human soul in a vile1 degrading bondage4 ,and so while the possessed boy lay writhing and foaming on the ground1 ,jesus laid no hand upon him2 it was not till after ,he had spoken the mighty word1 and the demon had departed from him1 that ,jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up4 ,but whether by word or by touch1 the miracles were wrought with consummate ease2 there were none of those artistic flourishes which mere performers use as a blind to cover their sleight of hand4 ,there was no straining for effect1 no apparent effort4 ,jesus ,himself seemed perfectly unconscious that ,he was doing anything marvellous or even unusual4 ,the words of power fell naturally from ,his lips1 like the falling of leaves from the tree of life1 carrying1 wheresoever they might go1 healing for the nations4 ,but if the method of the cures is wonderful1 the unstudied ease and simple naturalness of the ,healer1 the completeness of the cures is even more so4 ,in all the multitudes of cases there was no failure4 ,we find the disciples baffled and chagrined1 attempting what they cannot perform1 as with the possessed boy2 but with ,jesus failure was an impossible word4 ,nor did ,jesus simply make them better1 bringing them into a state of convalescence1 and so putting them in the way of getting well4 ,the cure was instant and complete2 immediately is ,st4 ,luke's frequent and favourite word2 so much so that she who half an hour ago was stricken down with malignant fever1 and apparently at the point of death1 now is going about her ordinary duties as if nothing had happened1 ministering to ,peter's many guests4 ,though ,nature possesses a great deal of resilient force1 her periods of convalescence1 when the disease itself is checked1 are more or less prolonged1 and weeks1 or sometimes months1 must elapse before the spring-tides of health return1 bringing with them a sweet overflow1 an exuberance of life4 ,not so1 however1 when ,jesus was the ,healer4 ,at ,his word1 or at the mere beckoning of ,his finger1 the tides of health1 which had gone far out in the ebb1 suddenly returned in all their spring fulness1 lifting high on their wave the bark which through hopeless years had been settling down into its miry grave4 ,eighteen years of disease had made the woman quite deformed2 the contracting muscles had bent the form ,god made to stand erect1 so that she could in no wise lift herself up2 but when ,jesus said1 ,woman1 thou art loosed from thine infirmity1 and laid ,his hands upon her1 in an instant the tightened muscles relaxed1 the bent form regained its earlier grace1 for she was made straight1 and glorified ,god4 ,one moment1 with the ,christ in it1 was more than eighteen years of disease1 and with the most perfect ease it could undo all the eighteen years had done4 ,and this is but a specimen case1 for the same completeness characterizes all the cures that ,jesus wrought4 ,they were made whole1 as it reads1 no matter what the malady might be2 and though disease had loosened all the thousand strings1 so that the wonderful harp was reduced to silence1 or at best could but strike discordant notes1 the hand of ,jesus has but to touch it1 and in an instant each string recovers its pristine tone1 the jarring sounds vanish1 and body1 mind1 and soul according well1 awake sweet music as before4 ,but though ,jesus wrought these many and complete cures1 making the healing of the sick a sort of pastime1 the interludes in that ,divine ,messiah1 still ,he did not work these miracles indiscriminately1 without method or conditions4 ,he freely placed ,his service at the disposal of others1 giving ,himself up to one tireless round of mercy2 but it is evident there was some selection for these gifts of healing4 ,the healing power was not thrown out randomly1 falling on any one it might chance to strike2 it flowed out in certain directions only1 in ordered channels2 it followed certain lines and laws4 ,for instance1 these circles of healing were geographically narrow4 ,they followed the personal presence of ,jesus1 and with one or two exceptions1 were never found apart from that presence2 so that1 many as they were1 they would form but a small part of suffering humanity4 ,and even within these circles of ,his visible presence we are not to suppose that all were healed4 ,some were taken1 and others were left1 to a suffering from which only death would release them4 ,can we discover the law of this election of mercy8 ,we think we may4 7#a7 ,in the first place1 there must be the need for the ,divine intervention4 ,this perhaps goes without saying1 and does not seem to mean much1 since among those who were left unhealed there were needs just as great as those of the more favoured ones4 ,but while the need in some cases was not enough to secure the ,divine mercy1 in other cases it was all that was asked4 ,if the disease was mental or psychical1 with reason all bewildered1 and the firmaments of ,right and ,wrong mixed confusedly together1 making a chaos of the soul1 that was all ,jesus required4 ,at other times ,he waited for the desire to be evoked and the request to be made2 but for these cases of lunacy1 epilepsy1 and demoniacal possession ,he waived the other conditions1 and without waiting for the request1 as in the synagogue 7iv4 #cd7 or on the ,gadarene coast1 ,he spoke the word1 which brought order to a distracted soul1 and which led ,reason back to her ,jerusalem1 to the long-vacant throne4 ,for others the need itself was not sufficient2 there must be the request4 ,our desire for any blessing is our appraisement of its value1 and ,jesus dispensed ,his gifts of healing on the ,divine conditions1 ,ask1 and ye shall receive2 seek1 and ye shall find4 ,how the request came1 whether from the sufferer himself or through some intercessor1 it did not matter2 for no request for healing came to ,jesus to be disregarded or denied4 ,nor was it always needful to put the request into words4 ,prayer is too grand and great a thing for the lips to have a monopoly of it1 and the deepest prayers may be put into acts as well as into words1 as they are sometimes uttered in inarticulate sighs1 and in groans which are too deep for words4 ,and was it not truest prayer1 as the multitudes carried their sick and laid them down at the feet of ,jesus1 even had their voice spoken no solitary word8 and was it not truest prayer1 as they put themselves1 with their bent forms and withered hands right in ,his way1 not able to speak one single word1 but throwing across to ,him the piteous but hopeful look8 ,the request was thus the expression of their desire1 and at the same time the expression of their faith1 telling of the trust they reposed in ,his pity and ,his power1 a trust ,he was always delighted to see1 and to which ,he always responded1 as ,he ,himself said again and again1 ,thy faith hath saved thee4 ,faith then1 as now1 was the sesame to which all ,heaven's gates fly open2 and as in the case of the paralytic who was borne of four1 and let down through the roof1 even a vicarious faith prevails with ,jesus1 as it brings to their friend a double and complete salvation4 ,and so they who sought ,jesus as their ,healer found ,him1 and they who believed entered into ,his rest1 this lower rest of a perfect health and perfect life2 while they who were indifferent and they who doubted were left behind1 crushed by the sorrow that ,he would have removed1 and tortured by pains that ,his touch would have completely stilled4 ,and now it remains for us to gather up the light of these miracles1 and to focus it on ,him who was the central ,figure1 ,jesus1 the ,divine ,healer4 ,and 7#a7 the miracles of healing speak of the knowledge of ,jesus4 ,the question1 ,what is man8 has been the standing question of the ages1 but it is still unanswered1 or answered but in part4 ,his complex nature is still a mystery1 the eternal riddle of the ,sphinx1 and dipus comes not4 ,physiology can number and name the bones and muscles1 can tell the forms and functions of the different organs2 chemistry can resolve the body into its constituent elements1 and weigh out their exact proportions2 philosophy can map out the departments of the mind2 but man remains the great enigma4 ,biology carries her silken clue right up to the primordial cell2 but here she finds a ,gordian knot1 which her keenest instruments cannot cut1 or her keenest wit unravel4 ,within that complex nature of ours are oceans of mystery which ,thought may indeed explore1 but which she cannot fathom1 paths which the vulture eye of ,reason hath not seen1 whose voices are the voices of unknown tongues1 answering each other through the mist4 ,but how familiar did ,jesus seem with all these life-secrets6 how intimate with all the life-forces6 ,how versed ,he was in etiology1 knowing without possibility of mistake whence diseases came1 and just where they looked6 ,it was no mystery to ,him how the hand had shrunk1 shrivelling into a mass of bones1 with no skill in its fingers1 and no life in its cloyed-up veins1 or how the eyes had lost their power of vision4 ,his knowledge of the human frame was an exact and perfect knowledge1 reading its innermost secrets1 as in a transparency1 knowing to a certainty what links had dropped out of the subtle mechanism1 and what had been warped out of place1 and knowing well just at what point and to what an extent to apply the healing remedy1 which was ,his own volition4 ,all earth and all heaven were without a covering to ,his gaze2 and what was this but ,omniscience8 7#b7 ,again1 the miracles of healing speak of the compassion of ,jesus4 ,it was with no reluctance that ,he wrought these works of mercy2 it was ,his delight4 ,his heart was drawn towards suffering and pain by the magnetism of a ,divine sympathy1 or rather1 we ought to say1 towards the sufferers themselves2 for suffering and pain1 like sin and woe1 were exotics in ,his ,father's garden1 the deadly nightshade an enemy had sown4 ,and so we mark a great tenderness in all ,his dealings with the afflicted4 ,he does not apply the caustic of bitter and biting words4 ,even when1 as we may suppose1 the suffering is the harvest of earlier sin1 as in the case of the paralytic1 ,jesus speaks no harsh reproaches2 ,he says simply and kindly1 ,go in peace1 and sin no more4 ,and do we not find here a reason why these miracles of healing were so frequent in ,his ministry8 ,was it not because in ,his mind sickness was somehow related to sin8 ,if miracles were needed to attest the ,divineness of ,his mission1 there was no need of the constant succession of them1 no need1 that they should form a part1 and a large part1 of the daily task4 ,sickness is1 so to speak1 something unnaturally natural4 ,it results from the transgression of some physical law1 as sin is the transgression of some moral law2 and ,he who is man's ,saviour brings a complete salvation1 a redemption for the body as well as a redemption for the soul4 ,indeed1 the diseases of the body are but the shadows1 seen and felt1 of the deeper diseases of the soul1 and with ,jesus the physical healing was but a step to the higher truth and higher experience1 that spiritual cleansing1 that inner creation of a right spirit1 a perfect heart4 ,and so ,jesus carried on the two works side by side2 they were the two parts of ,his one and great salvation2 and as ,he loved and pitied the sinner1 so ,he pitied and loved the sufferer2 ,his sympathies all went out to meet him1 preparing the way for ,his healing virtues to follow4 7#c7 ,again1 the miracles of healing speak of the power of ,jesus4 ,this was seen indirectly when we considered the completeness of the cures1 and the wide field they covered1 and we need not enlarge upon it now4 ,but what a consciousness of might there was in ,jesus6 ,others1 prophets and apostles1 have healed the sick1 but their power was delegated4 ,it came as in waves of ,divine impulse1 intermittent and temporary4 ,the power that ,jesus wielded was inherent and absolute1 deeps which knew neither cessation nor diminution4 ,his will was supreme over all forces4 ,nature's potencies are diffused and isolated1 slumbering in herb or metal1 flower or leaf1 in mountain or sea4 ,but all are inert and useless until man distils them with his subtle alchemies1 and then applies them by his slow processes1 dissolving the tinctures in the blood1 sending on its warm currents the healing virtue1 if haply it may reach its goal and accomplish its mission4 ,but all these potencies lay in the hand or in the will of ,christ4 ,the forces of life all were marshalled under ,his bidding4 ,he had but to say to one ,go1 and it went1 here or there1 or anywhither2 nor does it go for nought2 it accomplishes its high behest1 the great ,master's will4 ,nay1 the power of ,jesus is supreme even in that outlying and dark world of evil spirits4 ,the demons fly at ,his rebuke2 and let ,him throw but one healing word across the dark1 chaotic soul of one possessed1 and in an instant ,reason dawns2 bright thoughts play on the horizon2 the firmaments of ,right and ,wrong separate to infinite distances2 and out of the darkness a ,paradise emerges1 of beauty and light1 where the new son of ,god resides1 and ,god ,himself comes down in the cool and the heat of the days alike4 ,what power is this8 ,is it not the power of ,god8 is it not ,omnipotence8 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,miracle ,,of ,,the ,,loaves4 ,,luke ix4 #a-ag4 ,the ,galilean ministry was drawing to a close1 for the great ,light which had risen over the northern province must now move southward1 to set behind a cross and a grave4 ,jesus1 however1 is reluctant to leave these borders1 amid whose hills the greater part of ,his life has been spent1 and among whose composite population ,his greatest successes have been won1 without one last effort4 ,calling together the ,twelve1 who hitherto have been ,apostles in promise and in name rather than in fact1 ,he lays ,his plans before them4 ,dividing the district into sections1 so as to equalize their labours and prevent any overlapping1 ,he sends them out in pairs2 for in the ,divine arithmetic two are more than twice one1 more than the sum of the separate units by all the added force and strength of fellowship4 ,they are to be the heralds of the new kingdom1 to preach the kingdom of ,god1 their insignia no outward1 visible badge1 but the investiture of authority over all demons1 and power over all diseases4 ,apostles of the ,unseen1 servants of the ,invisible ,king1 they must dismiss all worldly cares2 they must not even make provision for their journey1 weighting themselves with such impedimenta as wallets stored with bread or changes of raiment4 ,they must go forth in an absolute trust in ,god1 thus proving themselves citizens of the heavenly kingdom1 whose gates they open to all who will repent and step up into them4 ,they may take a staff1 for that will help rather than hinder on the steep mountain paths2 but since the ,king's business requireth haste1 they must not spend their time in the interminable salutations of the age1 nor in going about from house to house2 such changes would only distract1 diverting to themselves the thought which should be centred upon their mission4 ,should any city not receive them1 they must retire at once1 shaking off1 as they depart1 the very dust from their feet1 as a testimony against them4 ,such were the directions1 as ,jesus dismissed the ,twelve1 sending them to reap the ,galilean harvest1 and at the same time to prepare them for the wider fields which after the ,pentecost would open to them on every side4 ,it is only by incidental allusions that we learn anything as to the success of the mission1 but when our ,evangelist says they went throughout the villages1 preaching the ,gospel and healing everywhere1 these frequent miracles of healing would imply that they found a sympathetic and receptive people4 ,nor were the impulses of the new movement confined to the lower reaches of society2 for even the palace felt its vibrations1 and ,st4 ,luke1 who seems to have had private means of information within the ,court1 possibly through ,chuza and ,manaen1 pauses to give us a kind of silhouette of the ,tetrarch4 ,herod himself is perplexed4 ,like a vane1 that fox swings round to the varying gusts of public opinion that come eddying within the palace from the excited world outside2 and as some say that ,jesus is ,elias1 and others one of the old prophets1 while others aver that ,he is ,john himself1 risen from the dead1 this last rumour falls upon the ears of ,herod like alarming thunders1 making him quiver like an aspen4 ,and he sought to see ,jesus4 ,the conscience that makes cowards of us all had unnerved him1 and he longed by a personal acquaintance with ,jesus to waive back out of his sight the apparition of the murdered prophet4 ,who ,jesus might be did not much concern ,herod4 ,he might be ,elias1 or one of the old prophets1 anything but ,john2 and so when ,herod did see ,jesus afterwards1 and saw that ,he was not the risen ,baptist1 but the ,man of ,galilee1 his courage revived1 and he gave ,jesus into the hands of his cohorts1 that they might mock ,him with the faded purple4 ,what steps ,herod took to secure an interview we do not know2 but the verb indicates more than a wish on his part2 it implies some plan or attempt to gratify the wish2 and probably it was these advances of ,herod1 together with the ,apostles' need of rest after the strain and excitements of their mission1 which prompted ,jesus to seek a place of retirement outside the bounds of ,antipas4 ,on the northern shore of the ,sea of ,galilee1 and on the eastern bank of the ,jordan1 was a second ,bethsaida1 or ,house of ,fish as the name means1 built by ,philip1 and to which1 in honour of ,csar's daughter1 he gave the surname of ,julias4 ,the city itself stood on the hills1 some three or four miles back from the shore2 while between the city and the lake swept a wide and silent plain1 all untilled1 as the ,new ,testament desert means1 but rich in pasturage1 as the much grass of ,john vi4 #aj would show4 ,this still shore offered1 as it seemed1 a safe refuge from the exacting and intrusive crowds of ,capernaum1 whose constant coming and going left them no leisure so much as to eat2 and bidding them launch the familiar boat1 ,jesus and the twelve sail away to the other side4 ,the excited crowds1 however1 which followed them to the water's edge1 are not so easily to be shaken off2 but guessing the direction of the boat1 they seek to head her off by a quick detour round the shore4 ,and some of them do2 for when the boat grates on the northern shingle some of the swift-footed ones are already there2 while stretching back for miles is a stream of humanity1 of both sexes and of all ages1 but all fired with one purpose4 ,the desert has suddenly grown populous4 ,and how does ,jesus bear this interruption to ,his plans8 ,does ,he chafe at this intrusion of the people upon ,his quiet hours8 ,does ,he resent their importunity1 calling it impertinence1 then driving them from ,him with a whip of sharp words8 ,not so4 ,jesus was accustomed to interruptions2 they formed almost the staple of ,his life4 ,nor did ,he repulse one solitary soul which sought sincerely ,his mercy1 no matter how unseasonable the hour1 as men would read the hours4 ,so now ,jesus received them1 or welcomed them1 as it is in the ,r4,v4 ,it is a favourite word with ,st4 ,luke1 found in his ,gospel more frequently than in the other three ,gospels together4 ,applied to persons1 it means nearly always to receive as guests1 to welcome to hospitality and home4 ,and such is its meaning here4 ,jesus takes the place of the host4 ,true1 it is a desert place1 but it is a part of the ,all-,father's world1 a room of the ,father's house1 carpeted with grass and ablaze with flowers2 and ,jesus1 by ,his welcome1 transforms the desert into a guest-chamber1 where in a new way ,he keeps the ,passover with ,his disciples1 at the same time entertaining ,his thousands of self-bidden guests1 giving to them truth1 speaking of the kingdom of ,god1 and giving health1 healing those that had need of healing4 ,it was toward evening1 when the day began to wear away1 that ,jesus gave to a bright and busy day its crowning benediction4 ,the thought had already ripened into purpose1 in ,his mind1 to spread a table for them in the wilderness2 for how could ,he1 the compassionate ,one1 send them to their homes famishing and faint8 ,these poor1 shepherdless sheep have put themselves into ,his care4 ,their simple1 unproviding confidence has made ,him in a sense responsible1 and can ,he disappoint that confidence8 ,it is true they have been thoughtless and improvident4 ,they have let the enthusiasm of the hour carry them away1 without making any provision of the necessary food2 but even this does not check the flow of the ,divine compassion1 for ,jesus proceeds to fill up their lack of thought by ,his ,divine thoughtfulness1 and their scarcity with ,his ,divine affluence4 ,according to ,st4 ,john1 it was ,jesus who took the initiative1 as ,he put the test-question to ,philip1 ,whence shall we buy bread1 that these may eat8 ,philip does not reply to the whence2 that may stand aside awhile1 as in mathematical language he speaks to the previous question1 which is their ability to buy4 ,two hundred pennyworth of bread1 he said1 is not sufficient for them1 that every one may take a little4 ,he does not say how much would be required to satisfy the hunger of the multitude2 his reckoning is not for a feast1 but for a taste1 to every one a little4 ,nor does he calculate the full cost of even this1 but says simply1 ,two hundred pennyworth would not be sufficient4 ,evidently1 in ,philip's mind the two hundred1 pence is the known quantity of the equation1 and he works out his calculation from that1 as he proves the impossibility of buying bread for this vast company anywhere4 ,we may therefore conclude that the two hundred pence represented the value of the common purse1 the purchasing power of the ,apostolic community2 and this was a sum altogether inadequate to meet the cost of providing bread for the multitude4 ,the only alternative1 as far as the disciples see1 is to dismiss them1 and let them requisition for themselves2 and in a peremptory manner they ask ,jesus to send the multitude away1 reminding ,him of what certainly they had no need to remind ,him1 that they were here in a desert place4 ,the disciples had spoken in their subjunctive1 non possumus1 way2 it is now time for ,jesus to speak1 which ,he does1 not in interrogatives longer1 but in ,his imperative1 commanding tone3 ,give ye them to eat1 a word which throws the disciples back upon themselves in astonishment and utter helplessness4 ,what can they do8 ,the whole available supply1 as ,andrew reports it1 is but five barley loaves and two small fishes1 which a lad has brought1 possibly for their own refreshment4 ,five flat loaves of barley1 which was the food of the poorest of the poor1 and two small fishes1 as ,st4 ,john calls them1 throwing a bit of local colouring into the narrative by his diminutive word--these are the foundation repast1 which ,jesus asks to be brought to ,himself1 that from ,himself it may go1 broken and enlarged1 to the multitude of guests4 ,meantime the crowd is just as large1 and perhaps more excited and impatient than before2 for they would not understand these asides between the disciples and the ,master1 nor could they read as yet ,his compassionate and benevolent thought4 ,it would be a pushing1 jostling crowd1 as these thousands were massed on the hill-side4 ,some are gathered in little groups1 discussing the ,messiahship2 others are clustered round some relative or friend1 who to-day has been wonderfully healed2 while others1 of the forward sort1 are selfishly elbowing their way to the front4 ,the whole scene is a kaleidoscope of changing form and colour1 a perfect chaos of confusion4 ,but ,jesus speaks again3 ,make them sit down in companies2 and those words1 thrown across the seething mass1 reduce it to order1 crystallizing it1 as it were1 into measured and numbered lines4 ,st4 ,mark1 half-playfully1 likens it to a garden1 with its parterres of flowers2 and such indeed it was1 but it was a garden of the higher cult1 with its variegated beds of humanity1 a hundred men broad1 and fifty deep4 ,when order was secured1 and all were in their places1 ,jesus takes ,his place as the host at the head of the extemporized table1 and though it is most frugal fare1 ,he holds the barley loaves heavenward1 and lifting up ,his eyes1 ,he blesses ,god1 probably in the words of the usual formula1 ,blessed art ,thou1 ,jehovah our ,god1 ,king of the world1 ,who causeth to come forth bread from the earth4 ,then breaking the bread1 ,he distributes it among the disciples1 bidding them bear it to the people4 ,it is not a matter of moment as to the exact point where the supernatural came in1 whether it was in the breaking or the distributing4 ,somewhere a power which must have been ,divine touched the bread1 for the broken pieces strangely grew1 enlarging rapidly as they were minished4 ,it is just possible that we have a clue to the mystery in the tense of the verb1 for the imperfect1 which denotes continued action1 would read1 ,he brake1 or ,he kept on breaking1 from which we might almost infer that the miracle was coincident with the touch4 ,but whether so or not1 the power was equal to the occasion1 and the supply over and above the largest need1 completely satisfying the hunger of the five thousand men1 besides the off-group of women and children1 who1 though left out of the enumeration1 were within the circle of the miracle1 the remembered and satisfied guests of the ,master4 ,it now remains for us to gather up the meaning and the practical lessons of the miracle4 ,and first1 it reveals to us the ,divine pity4 ,when ,jesus called ,himself the ,son of man it was a title full of deep meaning1 and most appropriate4 ,he was the true1 the ideal ,humanity1 humanity as it would have been without the warps and discolourations that sin has made1 and within ,his heart were untold depths of sympathy1 the fellow-feeling that makes man wondrous kind4 ,to the haughty and the proud ,he was stern1 lowering upon them with a withering scorn2 to the unreal1 the false1 the unclean ,he was severity itself1 with lightnings in ,his looks and terrible thunders in ,his woes2 but for troubled and tired souls ,he had nothing but tenderness and gentleness1 and a compassion that was infinite4 ,even had ,he not called the weary and heavy-laden to ,himself1 they would have sought ,him2 they would have read the ,come in the sunlight of ,his face4 ,jesus felt for others a vicarious pain1 a vicarious sorrow1 ,his heart responding to it at once1 as the delicately poised needle responds to the subtle sparks that flash in upon it from without4 ,so here2 ,he receives the multitude kindly1 even though they are strangers1 and though they have thwarted ,his purpose and broken in upon ,his rest1 and as this stream of human life flows out to ,him ,his compassion flows out to them4 ,he commiserates their forlorn condition1 wandering like straying sheep upon the mountains2 ,he gives ,himself up to them1 healing all that were sick1 assuaging the pain or restoring the lost sense2 while at the same time ,he ministers to a higher nature1 telling them of the kingdom of ,god1 which had come nigh to them1 and which was theirs if they would surrender themselves to it and obey4 ,nor was even this enough to satisfy the promptings of ,his deep pity1 but all-forgetful of ,his own weariness1 ,he lengthens out this day of mercy1 staying to minister to their lower1 physical wants1 as ,he spreads for them a table in the wilderness4 ,verily ,he was1 incarnate1 as ,he is in ,his glory1 touched with the feelings of our infirmities4 ,again1 we see the ,divine love of order and arrangement4 ,nothing was done until the crowding and confusion had ceased1 and even the ,divine beneficence waits until the turbulent mass has become quiet1 settled down into serried lines1 the five thousand making two perfect squares4 ,order1 it is said1 is ,heaven's first law2 but whether the first or the second1 certain it is that ,heaven gives us the perfection of order4 ,it is only in the lawless wills of man that time is broke1 and no proportion kept4 ,in the heavenly state nothing is out of place or out of time4 ,all wills there play into each other with such absolute precision that life itself is a song1 a ,gloria in ,excelsis4 ,and how this is seen in all the works of ,god6 ,what rhythmic motions are in the marches of the stars and the processions of the seasons6 ,to everything a place1 to everything a time2 such is the unwritten law of the realm of physics1 where ,law is supreme1 and anarchy is unknown4 ,so in our earthly lives1 on their secular and on their spiritual side alike1 order is time1 order is strength1 and he who is deficient in this grace should practise on it the more4 ,avoid slovenliness2 it is a distant relation of sin itself4 ,arrange your duties1 and do not let them crowd one upon the other4 ,set the greater duties1 not abreast1 but one behind the other1 filling up the spaces with the smaller ones4 ,do not let things drift1 or your life1 built for carrying precious argosies1 and accomplishing something1 will break up into pieces1 the flotsam and jetsam of a barren shore4 ,in prayer be orderly4 ,arrange your desires4 ,let some come first1 while others stand back in the second or the third row1 waiting their turn4 ,if your relations with your fellows have got a little disarranged1 atwist1 seek to readjust the disturbed relation4 ,oppose what is evil and mean with all your might2 but if no principle is involved1 even at the cost of a little feeling1 seek to have things put square4 ,to get things into a tangle requires no great skill2 but he who would be a true artist1 keeping the ,divine pattern before him1 and ever working towards it1 if not up to it1 may reduce the tangled skein to harmony1 and like the ,gobelin tapestry-makers1 weave a life that is noble and beautiful1 a life on which men will love to gaze4 ,again1 we see the ,divine concern for little things4 ,abundance always tempts to extravagance and waste4 ,and so here2 the broken remnants of the repast might have been thrown away as of no account2 but ,jesus bade them1 ,gather up the fragments1 that nothing be lost2 and we read they filled with the broken bread1 which remained over and above to them that had eaten1 twelve baskets full--and1 by the way1 the word rendered basket here corresponds with the frugal fare1 for1 made of willow or of wicker1 it was of the coarsest kind1 used only by the poor4 ,what became of the fragments1 which outweighed the original supply1 we do not read2 but though they were only the crumbs of the ,divine bounty1 and though there was no present use for them1 ,jesus would not allow them to be wasted4 ,but the true meaning of the narrative lies deeper than this4 ,it is a miracle of a new order1 this multiplying of the loaves4 ,in ,his other miracles ,jesus has wrought on the line of ,nature1 accelerating her slower processes1 and accomplishing in an instant1 by ,his mere volition1 what by natural causes must have been the work of time1 but which in the specific cases would have been purely impossible1 owing to the enfeeblement of nature by disease4 ,sight1 hearing1 even life itself1 come to man through channels purely natural2 but ,nature never yet has made bread4 ,she grows the corn1 but there her part ends1 while ,science must do the rest1 first reducing the corn to flour1 then kneading it into dough1 and by the burning fires of the oven transmuting the dough to bread4 ,why does ,jesus here depart from ,his usual order1 creating what neither nature nor science can produce alone1 but which requires their concurrent forces8 ,let us see4 ,to ,jesus these visible1 tangible things were but the dead keys ,his hand touched1 as ,he called forth some deeper1 farther-off music1 some spiritual truth that by any other method men would be slow to learn4 ,of what1 then1 is this bread of the desert the emblem8 ,st4 ,john tells us that when the miracle occurred the ,passover was nigh at hand1 and this time-mark helps to explain the overcrowding into the desert1 for probably many of the five thousand were men who were now on their way to ,jerusalem1 and who had stayed at ,capernaum and the neighbouring cities for the night4 ,this supposition1 too1 is considerably strengthened by the words of the disciples1 as they suggest that they should go and lodge in the neighbouring cities and villages1 which word implies that they were not residents of that locality1 but passing strangers4 ,and as ,jesus cannot now go up to ,jerusalem to the feast1 ,he gathers the shepherdless thousands about ,him1 and keeps a sort of ,passover in the open guest-chamber of the mountainside4 ,that such was the thought of the ,master1 making it an anterior sacrament1 is evident from the address ,jesus gave the following day at ,capernaum1 in which ,he passes1 by a natural transition1 from the broken bread with which ,he satisfied their physical hunger to ,himself as the ,bread come down from heaven1 the living ,bread as ,he called it1 which was ,his flesh4 ,there is thus a ,eucharistic meaning in the miracle of the loaves1 and this northern hill signals in its subtle correspondences on to ,jerusalem1 to another hill1 where ,his body was bruised and broken for our iniquities1 and ,his blood was poured out1 a precious oblation for sin4 ,and as that ,blood was typified by the wine of the first miracle at ,cana1 so now ,jesus completes the prophetic sacrament by the miraculous creation of bread from the five seminal loaves1 bread which ,he ,himself has consecrated to the holier use1 as the visible emblem of that ,body which was given for us1 men1 women1 and children alike1 even for a redeemed humanity4 ,cana and the desert-place thus draw near together1 while both look across to ,calvary2 and as the ,church keeps now her ,eucharistic feast1 taking from the one the consecrated bread1 and from the other the consecrated wine1 she shows forth the ,lord's death till ,he come4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,transfiguration4 ,the ,transfiguration of ,christ marks the culminating point in the ,divine life2 the few remaining months are a rapid descent into the valley of ,sacrifice and ,death4 ,the story is told by each of the three ,synoptists1 with an almost equal amount of detail1 and all agree as to the time when it occurred2 for though ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark make the interval six days1 while ,st4 ,luke speaks of it as about eight1 there is no real disagreement2 ,st4 ,luke's reckoning is inclusive4 ,as to the locality1 too1 they all agree1 though in a certain indefinite way4 ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark leave it indeterminate1 simply saying that it was a high mountain1 while ,st4 ,luke calls it the mountain4 ,tradition has long localised the scene upon ,mount ,tabor1 but evidently she has read off her bearings from her own fancies1 rather than from the facts of the narrative4 ,to say nothing of the distance of ,mount ,tabor from ,csarea ,philippi--which1 though a difficulty1 is not an insuperable one1 since it might easily be covered in less than the six intervening days--,tabor is but one of the group of heights which fringe the ,plain of ,esdraelon1 and so one to which the definite article would not1 and could not1 be applied4 ,besides1 ,tabor now was crowned by a ,roman fortress1 and so could scarcely be said to be apart from the strifes and ways of men1 while it stood within the borders of ,galilee1 whereas ,st4 ,mark1 by implication1 sets his high mountain outside the ,galilean bounds 7ix4 #cj74 ,but if ,tabor fails to meet the requirements of the narrative1 ,mount ,hermon answers them exactly1 throwing its spurs close up to ,csarea ,philippi1 while its snow-crowned peak shone out pure and white above the lesser heights of ,galilee4 ,it is not an unmeaning coincidence that each of the ,evangelists should introduce his narrative with the same temporal word1 after4 ,that word is something more than a connecting link1 a bridge thrown over a blank space of days2 it is rather1 when taken in connection with the preceding narrative1 the key which unlocks the whole meaning and mystery of the ,transfiguration4 ,after these sayings1 writes ,st4 ,luke4 ,what sayings8 ,let us go back a little1 and see4 ,jesus had asked ,his disciples as to the drift of popular opinion about ,himself1 and had drawn from ,peter the memorable confession--that first ,apostle's ,creed--,thou art the ,christ of ,god4 ,immediately1 however1 ,jesus leads down their minds from these celestial heights to the lowest depths of degradation1 dishonour1 and death1 as ,he says1 ,the ,son of man must suffer many things1 and be rejected of the elders1 chief priests1 and scribes1 and be killed1 and the third day be raised up4 ,those words shattered their bright dream at once4 ,like some fearful nightmare1 the foreshadow of the cross fell upon their hearts1 filling them with fear and gloom1 and striking down hope1 and courage1 yea1 even faith itself4 ,it would almost seem as if the disciples were unnerved1 paralyzed by the blow1 and as if an atrophy had stolen over their hearts and lips alike2 for the next six days are one void of silence1 without word or deed1 as far as the records show4 ,how shall their lost hope be recalled1 or courage be revived8 ,how shall they be taught that death does not end all--that the enigma was true of ,himself1 as well as of them1 that ,he shall find ,his life by losing it8 ,the ,transfiguration is the answer4 ,taking with ,him ,peter1 ,john1 and ,james--the three who shall yet be witnesses of ,his agony--,jesus retires to the mountain height1 probably intending1 as our ,evangelist indicates1 to spend the night in prayer4 ,keeping the midnight watch was nothing new to these disciples2 it was their frequent experience upon the ,galilean lake2 but now1 left to the quiet of their own thoughts1 and with none of the excitements of the spoil about them1 they yield to the cravings of nature and fall asleep4 ,awaking1 they find their ,master still engaged in prayer1 all oblivious of earthly hours1 and as they watch ,he is transfigured before them4 ,the fashion1 or appearance1 of ,his countenance1 as ,st4 ,luke tersely puts it1 became another1 all suffused with a heavenly radiance1 while ,his very garments became lustrous with a whiteness which was beyond the fuller's art and beyond the whiteness of the snow1 and all iridescent1 flashing and sparkling as if set with stars4 ,suddenly1 ere their eyes have grown accustomed to the new splendours1 two celestial visitants appear1 wearing the glorious body of the heavenly life and conversing with ,jesus4 ,such was the scene upon the holy mount1 which the ,apostles could never forget1 and which ,st4 ,peter recalls with a lingering wonder and delight in the far-off after-years 7#b ,pet4 i4 #ah74 ,can we push aside the outward draperies1 and read the ,divine thought and purpose that are hidden within8 ,we think we may4 ,and-- #a4 ,we see the place and meaning of the ,transfiguration in the life of ,jesus4 ,hitherto the humanity of ,jesus had been naturally and perfectly human2 for though heavenly signs have1 as at the ,advent and the ,baptism1 borne witness to its super-humanity1 these signs have been temporary and external1 shining or alighting upon it from without4 ,now1 however1 the sign is from within4 ,the brightness of the outer flesh is but the outshining of the inner glory4 ,and what was that glory but the glory of the ,lord1 a manifestation of the ,deity1 that fulness of the ,godhead which dwelt within8 ,the faces of other sons of men have shone1 as when ,moses stepped downwards from the mount1 or as ,stephen looked upwards to the opened heavens2 but it was the shining of a reflected glory1 like the sunlight upon the moon4 ,but when the humanity of ,jesus was thus transfigured it was a native glory1 the inward radiance of the soul stealing through1 and lighting up1 the enveloping globe of human flesh4 ,it is easy to see why this celestial appearance should not be the normal manifestation of the ,christ2 for had it been1 ,he would no longer have been the ,son of man4 ,between ,himself and the humanity ,he had come to redeem would have been a gulf wide and profound1 while the ,fatherhood of ,god would have been a truth lying back in the vistas of the unknown1 a truth unfelt2 for men only reach up to that ,fatherhood through the ,brotherhood of ,christ4 ,but if we ask why now1 just for once1 there should be this transfiguring of the ,person of ,jesus1 the answer is not so evident4 ,godet has a suggestion which is as natural as it is beautiful4 ,he represents the ,transfiguration as the natural issue of a perfect1 a sinless his1 a life in which death should have no place1 as it would have had no place in the life of unfallen man4 ,innocence1 holiness1 glory--these would have been the successive steps connecting earth with heaven1 an ever-upward path1 across which death would not even have cast a shadow4 ,such would have been the path opened to the first ,adam1 had not sin intervened1 bringing death as its wage and penalty4 ,and now1 as the ,second ,adam takes the place of the first1 moving steadily along the path of obedience from which the first ,adam swerved1 should we not naturally look for that life to end in some translation or transfiguration1 the body of the earthly life blossoming into the body of the heavenly8 and where else so appropriately as here1 upon the holy mount1 when the spirits of the perfected come forth to meet ,him1 and the chariot of cloud is ready to convey ,him to the heavens which are so near8 ,it is thus something more than conjecture--it is a probability--that had the life of ,jesus been by itself1 detached from mankind in general1 the ,transfiguration had been the mode and the beginning of the glorification4 ,the way to the heavens1 from which ,he was self-exiled1 was open to ,him from the mount of glory1 but ,he preferred to pass up by the mount of passion and of sacrifice4 ,the burden of the world's redemption is upon ,him1 and that eternal purpose leads ,him down from the ,transfiguration glories1 and onwards to a cross and grave4 ,he chooses to die1 with and for man1 rather than to live and reign without man4 ,but not only does the holy mount throw its light on what would have been the path of unfallen man1 it gives us in prophecy a vision of the resurrection life4 ,compare the picture of the transfigured ,christ1 as drawn by the ,synoptists1 with the picture1 drawn by ,john himself1 of the ,christ of the ,exaltation1 and how strikingly similar they are6 7,rev4 i4 #ac-ag74 ,in both descriptions we have an affluence of metaphor and simile1 which affluence was itself but the stammering of our weak human speech1 as it seeks to tell the unutterable4 ,in both we have a whiteness like the snow1 while to portray the countenance ,st4 ,john repeats almost verbatim ,st4 ,matthew's words1 ,his face did shine as the sun4 ,evidently the ,christ of the ,transfiguration and the ,christ of the ,exaltation are one and the same ,person2 and why do we blame ,peter for speaking in such random1 delirious words upon the mount1 when ,john1 by the glory of that same vision1 in ,patmos1 is stricken to the ground as if dead1 not able to speak at all8 ,when ,peter spoke1 somewhat incoherently1 about the three tabernacles1 it was not1 as some aver1 the random speech of one who was but half awake1 but of one whose reason was dazzled and confused with the blinding glory4 ,and so the ,transfiguration anticipates the ,glorification1 investing the sacred ,person with those same robes of light and royalty ,he had laid aside for a time1 but which ,he will shortly assume again--the habiliments of an eternal re-enthronement4 #b4 ,again1 the holy mount shows us the place of death in the life of man4 ,we read1 ,there talked with ,him two men1 which were ,moses and ,elijah2 and as if the ,evangelist would emphasize the fact that it was no apparition1 existing only in their heated imagination1 he repeats the statement 7ver4 #ce7 that they were two men4 ,strange gathering--,moses1 ,elias1 and ,christ6--the ,law in the person of ,moses1 the ,prophets in the person of ,elias1 both doing homage to the ,christ1 who was ,himself the fulfilment of prophecy and law4 ,but what the ,evangelist seems to note particularly is the humanness of the two celestials4 ,though the earthly life of each ended in an abrupt1 unearthly way1 the one having a translation1 the other a ,divine interment 7whatever that may mean71 they have both been residents of the heavenly world for centuries4 ,but as they appear to-day in glory1 that is1 with the glorified body of the heavenly life1 outwardly1 visibly1 their bodies are still human4 ,there is nothing about their form and build that is grotesque1 or even unearthly4 ,they have not even the traditional but fictitious wings with which poetry is wont to set on the inhabitants of the sky4 ,they are still men1 with bodies resembling1 both in size and form1 the old body of earth4 ,but if the appearance of these men reminds us of earth1 if we wait awhile1 we see that their natures are very unearthly1 not unnatural so much as supernatural4 ,they glide down through the air with the ease of a bird and the swiftness of light1 and when the interview ends1 and they go their separate ways1 these heavenly men gather up their robes and vanish1 strangely and suddenly as they came4 ,and yet they can make use of earthly supports1 even the grosser forms of matter1 planting their feet upon the grass as naturally as when ,moses climbed up ,pisgah or as ,elijah stood in ,horeb's cave4 ,and not only do the bodies of these celestials retain still the image of the earthly life1 but the bent of their minds is the same1 the set and drift of their thoughts following the old directions4 ,the earthly lives of ,moses and ,elias had been spent in different lands1 in different times2 five hundred eventful years pushed them far apart2 but their mission had been one4 ,both were prophets of the ,highest1 the one bringing ,god's law down to the people1 the other leading a lapsed people back and up to ,god's law4 ,yes1 and they are prophets still1 but with a nearer vision now4 ,no longer do they gaze through the crimson lenses of the sacrificial blood1 beholding the ,promised ,one afar off4 ,they have read the ,divine thought and purpose of redemption2 they are initiated into its mysteries2 and now that the cross is close at hand1 they come to bring to the world's ,saviour their heavenly greetings1 and to invest ,him1 by anticipation1 with robes of glory1 soon to be ,his for evermore4 ,such is the apocalypse of the holy mount4 ,the veil which hides from our dull eye of sense the hereafter was lifted up4 ,the heavens were opened to them1 no longer far away beyond the cold stars1 but near them1 touching them on every side4 ,they saw the saints of other days interesting themselves in earthly events--in one event at least1 and speaking of that death which they mourned and feared1 calmly1 as a thing expected and desired1 but calling it by its new and softened name1 a departure1 an exodus4 ,and as they see the past centuries saluting ,him whom they have learned to call the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 as the truth of immortality is borne in upon them1 not as a vague conception of the mind1 but by oral and ocular demonstration1 would they not see the shadow of the coming death in a different light8 would not the painful pressure upon their spirits be eased somewhat1 if not1 indeed1 entirely removed8 and-- ,the ,apostle's heart of rock ,be nerved against temptation's shock8 ,would they not more patiently endure1 now that they had become apostles of the ,invisible1 seers of the ,unseen8 ,but if the glory of the holy mount sets in a fairer light the cross and grave of ,christ1 may we not throw from the mirror of our thought some of its light upon our lowlier graves8 ,what is death1 after all1 but the transition into life8 ,retaining its earthly accent1 we call it a decease2 but that is true only of the corporeal nature1 that body of flesh and blood which cannot inherit the higher kingdom of glory to which we pass4 ,there is no break in the continuity of the soul's existence1 not even one parenthetic hour4 ,when ,he who was the ,resurrection and the ,life said1 ,to-day shalt thou be with ,me in paradise1 that word passed on a forgiven soul directly to a state of conscious blessedness4 ,from the azure deep of air does the eagle look regretfully upon the eyrie of its crag1 where it lay in its unfledged weakness8 or does it mourn the broken shell from which its young life emerged8 ,and why should we mourn1 or weep with unrestrained tears1 when the shell is broken that the freed spirit may soar up to the regions of the blessed1 and range the eternities of ,god8 ,paganism closed the story of human life with an interrogation-point1 and sought to fill up with guesses the blank she did not know4 ,christianity speaks with clearer voice2 hers is a sure and certain hope1 for ,he who hath abolished death hath brought life and immortality to light4 ,earth's exodus is heaven's genesis1 and what we call the end celestials call the beginning4 ,and not only does the mount speak of the certainties of the after-life1 it gives1 in a binocular vision1 the likeness of the resurrection body1 answering1 in part1 the standing question1 ,how are the dead raised up8 ,the body of the heavenly life must have some correspondence with1 and resemblance to1 the body of our earthly life4 ,it will1 in a sense1 grow out of it4 ,it will not be something entirely new1 but the old refined1 spiritualized1 the dross and earthliness all removed1 the marks of care1 and pain1 and sin all wiped out4 ,and more1 the ,transfiguration mount gives us indubitable proof that heaven and earth lie1 virtually1 close together1 and that the so-called departed are not entirely severed from earthly things2 they can still read the shadows upon earthly dials1 and hear the strike of earthly hours4 ,they are not so absorbed and lost in the new glories as to take no note of earthly events2 nor are they restrained from visiting1 at permitted times1 the earth they have not wholly left2 for as heaven was theirs1 when on earth1 in hope and anticipation1 so now1 in heaven1 earth is theirs in thought and memory4 ,they have still interests here1 associations they cannot forget1 friends who are still beloved1 and harvests of influence they still may reap4 ,with the absurdities and follies of so-called ,spiritualism we have no sort of sympathy--they are the vagaries of weak minds2 but even their eccentricities and excesses shall not be allowed to rob us of what is a truly ,christian hope1 that they who cared for us on earth care for us still1 and that they who loved and prayed for us below love us none the less1 and pray for us none the less frequently1 now that the conflict with them is over1 and the eternal rest begun4 ,and why may not their spirits touch ours1 influencing our mind and heart1 even when we are not conscious whence those influences come8 for are they not1 with the angels1 ministering spirits1 sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation8 ,the ,mount of ,transfiguration does indeed stand apart1 for on its summit the paths of the celestials and of the terrestrials meet and merge2 and it is high indeed1 for it touches heaven4 #c4 ,again1 the holy mount shows us the place of death in the life of ,jesus4 ,how long the vision lasted we cannot tell1 but in all probability the interview was but brief4 ,what supreme moments they were6 and what a rush of tumultuous thoughts1 we may suppose1 would fill the minds of the two saints1 as they stand again on the familiar earth6 ,but listen6 ,they speak no word to revive the old-time memories2 they bring no tidings of the heavenly world2 they do not even ask1 as they well might1 the thousand questions concerning ,his life and ministry4 ,they think1 they speak1 of one thing only1 the decease which ,he was about to accomplish at ,jerusalem4 ,here1 then1 we see the drift of heavenly minds1 and here we learn a truth which is wonderfully true1 that the death of ,jesus1 the cross of ,jesus1 was the one central thought of heaven1 as it is the one central hope of earth4 ,but how can it be such if the life of ,jesus is all we need1 and if the death is but an ordinary death1 an appendix1 necessary indeed1 but unimportant8 ,such is the belief of some1 but such certainly is not the teaching of this narrative1 nor of the other ,scriptures4 ,heaven sets the cross of ,jesus in the midst1 the one central fact of history4 ,he was born that ,he might die2 ,he lived that ,he might die4 ,all the lines of ,his human life converge upon ,calvary1 as ,he ,himself said1 ,for unto this hour came ,i into the world4 ,and why is that death so all-important1 bending towards its cross all the lines of ,scripture1 as it now monopolizes the speech of these two celestials8 ,why8 ,there is but one answer which is satisfactory1 the answer ,st4 ,peter himself gives3 ,his own ,self bare our sins in ,his body upon the tree1 that we1 having died unto sins1 might live unto righteousness 7#a ,pet4 ii4 #bd74 ,and so the ,mount of ,transfiguration looks towards the ,mount of ,sacrifice4 ,it lights up ,calvary1 and lays a wreath of glory upon the cross4 ,we need not speak again of ,peter's random words1 as he seeks to detain the celestial visitants4 ,he would fain prolong what to him is a ,feast of ,tabernacles1 and he suggests the building of three booths upon the mountain slope--one for ,thee1 putting his ,lord first1 and one for ,moses1 and one for ,elias4 ,he makes no mention of himself or of his companions4 ,he is content to remain outside1 so that he may only be near1 as it were on the fringe of the transfiguring glories4 ,but what a strange request6 what wandering1 delirious words1 almost enough to make celestials smile6 ,well might the ,evangelist excuse ,peter's random words by saying1 ,not knowing what he said4 ,but if ,peter gets no answer to his request1 and if he is not permitted to build the tabernacles1 ,heaven spreads over the group its canopy of cloud1 that ,shekinah-cloud whose very shadow was brightness2 while once again1 as at the ,baptism1 a ,voice speaks out of the cloud1 the voice of the ,father3 ,this is ,my ,son1 ,my ,chosen2 hear ye ,him4 ,and so the mountain pageant fades2 for when the cloud has passed away ,moses and ,elias have disappeared1 ,jesus only is left with the three disciples4 ,then they retrace their steps down the mountain side1 the three carrying in their heart a precious memory1 the strains of a lingering music1 which they only put into words when the ,son of man is risen from the dead2 while ,jesus turns1 not reluctantly1 from the opened door and the welcome of ,heaven1 to make an atonement upon ,calvary1 and through the veil of ,his rent flesh to make a way for sinful man even into the ,holiest4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,good ,,samaritan4 ,,luke x4 #be-cg4 ,it would scarcely have accorded with the traditions of human nature had the teachers of religion looked favourably upon ,jesus4 ,stepping1 as ,he did1 within their domain1 without any human ordination or scholastic authority1 they naturally resented the intrusion1 and when the teaching of the new ,rabbi so distinctly contravened their own interpretation of the law their curiosity deepened into jealousy1 and curdled at last into a virulent hate4 ,the ecclesiastical atmosphere was charged with electricity1 but it only manifested itself at first in the harmless play of summer lightning1 the cross-fire of half-earnest and half-captious questions2 later it was the forked lightning that struck ,him down into a grave4 ,we have no means of localizing1 either in point of time or place1 the incident here recorded by our ,evangelist1 and which1 by the way1 only ,st4 ,luke mentions4 ,it stands by itself1 bearing in its dependent parable of the ,good ,samaritan an exquisite and perfect flower1 from whose deep cup has dropped the very nectar of the gods4 ,it was probably during one of ,his public discourses that a certain lawyer1 or scribe--for the two titles are used interchangeably--stood up and tempted ,him4 ,he sought to prove ,him by questions1 as the word means here1 hoping to entrap ,jesus amid the vagaries of ,rabbinical tradition4 ,teacher1 said he1 hiding his sinister motive behind a veil of courtesy and apparent candour1 what shall ,i do to inherit eternal life8 ,had the question been sincere1 ,jesus would probably have given a direct answer2 but reading the under-current of his thought1 which moved transversely to the surface-current of his speech1 ,jesus simply answered his question by asking another3 ,what is written in the ,law8 ,how readest thou8 ,with a readiness which implied a perfect familiarity with the ,law1 he replied1 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy strength1 and with all thy mind2 and thy neighbour as thyself4 ,some expositors have thought that the ,evangelist here gives the summary of what was a lengthened conversation1 and that ,jesus ,himself led the mind of the lawyer to join together these detached portions of ,scripture--one from ,deuteronomy vi4 #e1 and the other from ,leviticus xix4 #ah4 ,it is true there is a striking resemblance between the answer of the lawyer and the answer ,jesus ,himself gave subsequently to a similar question 7,mark xii4 #cj1 #ca72 but there is no necessity for us to apologize for the resemblance1 as if it were improbable and unnatural4 ,the fact is1 as the narrative of ,mark xii4 plainly indicates1 that these two sentences were held in general consent as the epitome of the ,law1 its first and its second commandment4 ,even the scribe assents to this as an axiomatic truth he has no wish to challenge4 ,it will be observed that a fourth term is added to the three of the original1 possibly on account of the ,septuagint rendering1 which translated the ,hebrew heart by mind4 ,godet suggests that since the term heart is the most general term1 denoting in ,scripture the central focus from which all the rays of the moral life go forth1 that it stands in apposition to the other three1 the one in its three particulars4 ,this1 which is the most natural interpretation1 would refer the mind to the intellectual faculties1 the soul to the emotional faculties1 the sensibilities1 and the might to the will1 which rules all force2 while by the heart is meant the unit1 the centred self1 into which the others merge1 and of which they form a part4 ,jesus commended him for his answer3 ,thou hast answered right3 this do1 and thou shalt live--words which brushed away completely the ,hebraic figment of inherited life4 ,that life was not something that should be reached by processes of loving4 ,the life should precede the love1 and should give birth to it3 the love should grow out of the life1 its blossoming flower4 ,having the tables so turned upon himself1 and wishing to justify1 or to put himself right1 the stranger asks still another question3 ,and who is my neighbour8 doubtless hoping to cover his retreat in the smoke of a burning question4 ,to our minds1 made familiar with the thought of humanity1 it seems as if a question so simple scarcely deserved such an elaborate answer as ,jesus gave to it4 ,but the thought of humanity had not yet possessed the world2 indeed1 it had only just come to earth1 to be spoken by1 and incarnate in1 ,him who was the ,son of man4 ,to the ,jew the question of the lawyer was a most important one4 ,the word neighbour could be spoken in a breath2 but unwind that word1 and it measures off the whole of our earthly life1 it covers all our practical1 every-day duties4 ,it ran through the pages of the ,law1 the ark in which the ,golden ,rule was hidden2 or like a silent angel1 it flashed its sword across life's forbidden paths4 ,but if the ,jew could not erase this broad word from the pages of the ,law1 he could narrow and emasculate its meaning by an interpretation of his own4 ,and this they had done1 making this ,divine word almost of none effect by their tradition4 ,to the ,jewish mind neighbour was simply ,jew spelt large4 ,the only neighbourhood they recognized was the narrow neighbourhood of ,hebrew speech and ,hebrew sympathies4 ,the ,hebrew mind was isolated as their land1 and all who could not frame their shibboleths were barbarians1 ,gentiles1 whom they were at perfect liberty to spoil1 as with anathemas and swords they chased them over their ,jordans4 ,jesus1 however1 is on the alert2 and how wisely ,he answers6 ,he does not declaim against the narrowness of ,hebrew thought2 ,he utters no denunciatory word against their proud and false exclusiveness4 ,he quietly unfolds the word1 spreading it out into an exquisite parable1 that all coming times may see how beautiful1 how ,divine the word neighbour is4 ,he said1 ,a certain man was going down from ,jerusalem to ,jericho2 and he fell among robbers1 which both stripped him1 and beat him1 and departed1 leaving him half dead4 ,the parables of ,jesus1 though drawn from real life1 had no local colouring4 ,they grouped themselves around some well-known fact of nature1 or some general custom of social life2 and so their spirit was national or cosmopolitan1 rather than local4 ,here1 however1 ,jesus departs from ,his usual manner1 giving to ,his parable a local habitation4 ,it is the road which led steeply down from ,jerusalem to ,jericho1 and which for centuries has been so infested with robbers or bandits as to earn for itself the darkly ominous name of the ,bloody ,way4 ,possibly that name itself is an outgrowth from the parable2 but whether so or not1 it is scarcely to be supposed that it had so evil a character in the days of ,christ4 ,as ,jericho then was a populous city1 and intimately connected with ,jerusalem in its social and business life1 the road would be much frequented4 ,indeed1 the parable indicates as much2 for ,jesus1 whose words were never untrue to nature or to history1 represents ,his three travellers as all journeying singly2 while the khan or inn shows1 in its reflection1 a constant stream of travel4 ,our anonymous traveller1 however1 does not find it so safe as he had anticipated4 ,attacked1 in one of its dusky ravines1 by a band of brigands1 they strip him of his clothing1 with whatever the girdle-purse might contain1 and beating him out of sheer devilry1 they leave him by the road-side1 unable to walk1 unable even to rise1 a living-dying man4 ,and by chance1 a certain priest was going down that way2 and when he saw him he passed by on the other side4 ,and in like manner a ,levite also1 when he came to the place and saw him1 passed by on the other side4 ,as in a tableaux vivants1 ,jesus shows us the two ecclesiastics1 who come in sight in the happy1 coincidental way that ,romance so delights in4 ,they had probably just completed their course of ,temple service1 and were now going down to ,jericho1 which was a favourite residence of the priests1 for the somewhat long interval their sacred duties allowed them4 ,they had1 therefore1 no pressure of business upon them2 indeed1 the verb would almost imply that the priest was walking leisurely along4 ,but they bring no help to the wounded man4 ,directly they see him1 instead of being drawn to him by the attractions of sympathy1 something1 either the shock or the fright1 acts upon them as a centrifugal force1 and sends them describing an arc of a circle around that centre of groans and blood4 ,at any rate they passed by on the other side1 leaving behind them neither deed nor word of mercy1 but leaving behind them a shadow of themselves which1 while time itself lasts1 will be vivid1 cold1 and repelling4 ,it is just possible1 however1 that they do not deserve all the unmeasured censure which the critics and the centuries have given1 and are still likely to give4 ,it is very easy for us to condemn their action as selfish1 heartless2 but let us put ourselves in their place1 alone in the lonely pass1 with this proof of an imminent danger sprung suddenly upon us1 and it is possible that we ourselves should not have been quite so brave as by our safe firesides we imagine ourselves to be4 ,the fact is it needed something more than sympathy to make them turn aside and befriend the wounded man2 it needed physical courage1 and that of the highest kind1 and this wanting1 sympathy itself would not be sufficient4 ,the heart might long to help1 even when the feet were hastening away4 ,a sudden inrush of fear1 even of vague alarm1 will sometimes drive us contrary to the drift of our sympathies1 just as our feet are lifted and we ourselves carried onwards by a surging crowd4 ,whether this be a correct interpretation of their conduct or not1 it certainly harmonizes with the general attitude of ,jesus towards the priesthood4 ,the chief priests were always and bitterly hostile1 but we have reasonable ground for supposing that the priests1 as a body1 looked favouringly upon ,jesus4 ,the bolts of terrible woes are hurled against ,pharisees and scribes1 yet ,jesus does not condemn the priests in a single word2 while in that aftermath of the ,pentecost the ,temple courts yielded the richest harvests1 as a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith4 ,if1 then1 ,jesus now holds up the priesthood to execration1 setting these ecclesiastics in the pillory of ,his parable1 that the coming centuries may throw sharp words at them1 it is certainly an exceptional mood4 ,the sweet silence has curdled into acrid speech4 ,but even here ,jesus does not condemn1 except1 as it would seem1 by implication1 the conduct of the priest and ,levite4 ,they come into the parable rather as accessories1 and ,jesus makes use of them as a foil1 to throw out into bolder relief the central figure1 which is the ,samaritan1 and so to emphasize ,his central truth1 which is the real answer to the lawyer's question1 that neighbour is too broad1 and too human1 a word to be cut off and eliminated by any boundaries of race4 ,but in thus casting a mantle of charity around our priest and ,levite1 we must admit that the character is sometimes true even down to recent days4 ,ecclesiasticism and religion1 alas6 are not always synonyms4 ,revolted ,israel sins and sacrifices by turns1 and seeking to keep the balance in equal poise1 she puts over against her multitude of sins her multitude of sacrifices4 ,religiousness may be at times but a cloak for moral laxity1 and to some rite is more than right4 ,there are those1 alas6 to-day1 who wear the livery of the ,temple1 to whom religion is a routine mechanism of dead things1 rather than the commerce of living hearts1 who open with hireling hand the ,temple gates1 who chant with hireling lips how ,his mercy endureth for ever1 and then step down from their sacred ,jerusalem1 to toss justice and mercy to the winds1 as they defraud the widow and oppress the poor4 ,but a certain ,samaritan1 as he journeyed1 came where he was3 and when he saw him1 he was moved with compassion1 and came to him1 and bound up his wounds1 pouring on them oil and wine2 and he set him on his own beast1 and brought him to an inn1 and took care of him4 ,at first sight it would appear as if ,jesus had weakened the narrative by a topographical inaccuracy1 as if ,he had gone out of ,his way to place a ,samaritan on the road to ,jericho1 which was altogether out of the line of ,samaritan travel4 ,but it is a deliberate purpose on the part of ,jesus1 and not a lapsus lingu1 that introduces this ,samaritan2 for this is the gist of the whole parable4 ,the man who had fallen among the robbers was doubtless a ,jew2 for had it been otherwise1 the fact would have been stated4 ,now there was no question as to whether the word neighbour embraced their fellow-countrymen2 the question was whether it passed beyond their national bounds1 opening up lines of duty across the outlying world4 ,it is therefore almost a necessity that the one who teaches this lesson should be himself an alien1 a foreigner1 and ,jesus chooses the ,samaritan as being of a race against which ,jewish antipathies were especially strong1 but for which ,he ,himself had a special regard and warmest sympathy4 ,though occupying adjacent territory1 the ,jews and the ,samaritans practically were far apart1 antipodal races we might almost call them4 ,between them lay a wide and deep chasm that trade even could not bridge1 and across which the courtesies and sympathies of life never passed4 ,the ,jews have no dealings with the ,samaritans1 said the flippant woman of ,samaria1 as she voiced a jealousy and hatred which were as mutual as they were deep4 ,but here1 in this ideal ,samaritan1 is a noble exception4 ,though belonging to a lowly and obscure race1 his thoughts are high4 ,the ear of his soul has so caught the rhythm of ,divine harmonies that it does not hear longer the little lisping shibboleths of earthly speech2 and while the sympathies of smaller hearts flow like a stream down in their well-defined and accustomed channel1 seldom knowing any overflow1 save in some rare freshet of impulse and of feeling1 the sympathies of the ,samaritan moved outward like the currents of the wind1 sweeping across all chasms and over all mountain heights of division1 bearing their clouds of blessing anywhither as the need required4 ,it makes no difference to him that the fallen man is of an alien race4 ,he is a man1 and that is enough2 and he is down1 and must be raised2 he is in need1 and must be helped4 ,the priest and ,levite thought first and most of themselves1 and giving to the man but a brief and scared look1 they passed on with a quickened pace4 ,not so with the ,samaritan2 he loses all thought of himself1 and is perfectly oblivious to the danger he himself may be running4 ,upon his great soul he feels the pressure of this must2 it runs along the tightened muscles of his arm1 as he checks his steed4 ,he himself comes down1 dismounting1 that he may help the man to rise4 ,he opens his flask and puts his wine to the lips1 that their groans may cease1 or that they may be soothed down into inarticulate speech4 ,the oil he has brought for his own food he pours upon the wounds1 and when the man has sufficiently recovered he lifts him upon his own beast and takes him to the inn4 ,nor is this enough for his great heart1 but continuing his journey on the morrow1 he first arranges with his host that the man shall be well cared for1 giving him two pence1 which was the two days' wages of a labouring man1 at the same time telling him that he must not limit his attentions to the sum he pays in advance1 but that if anything more should be needed he would pay the balance on his return4 ,we do not read whether it was needed or not1 for the ,samaritan1 mounting his steed1 passes out of our hearing and out of our sight4 ,not quite out of our hearing1 however1 for ,heaven has caught his gentle1 loving words1 and hidden them within this parable1 that all coming times may listen to their music2 nor out of our sight either1 for his photograph was caught in the sunlight of the ,master's speech2 and as we turn over the pages of ,inspiration there is no picture more beautiful than that of the nameless ,samaritan1 whom all the world calls the ,good1 the man who knew so much better than his age what humanity and mercy meant4 ,in the new light the lawyer can answer his own question now1 and he does2 for when ,jesus asks1 ,which of these three1 thinkest thou1 proved neighbour unto him that fell among the robbers8 he replies1 with no hesitation1 but with a lingering prejudice that does not care to pronounce the1 to him1 outlandish name1 ,he that showed mercy on him4 ,the lesson is learned1 the lesson of humanity1 for the whole parable is but an amplification of the ,golden ,rule1 and ,jesus dismisses the subject and the scholar with the personal application1 which is but a corollary of the proposition ,he has demonstrated1 ,go thou and do likewise4 ,go and do to others as you would have them do to you1 were the circumstances reversed and your places changed4 ,read off your duty1 not from your own low standpoint merely1 but in a binocular vision1 as you put yourself in his place2 so will you find that the line of duty and the line of beauty are one4 ,the practical lessons of the parable are easy to trace1 as they are of universal application4 ,the first1 lesson it teaches is the lesson of humanity1 the neighbourhood and brotherhood of man4 ,it is a convenience1 and perhaps a necessity1 of human life1 that the great mass of humanity should be broken up into fragments1 sections1 with differing customs1 languages1 and names4 ,it gives to the world the stimulus of competition and helpful rivalries4 ,but these distinctions are superficial1 temporary1 and beneath this diversity of speech and thought there is the deeper unity of soul4 ,we emphasize our differences2 we pride ourselves upon them2 but how little does ,heaven make of them6 ,heaven does not even see them4 ,our national boundaries may climb up over the ,alps1 but they cannot touch the sky4 ,those skies look down and smile on all alike1 divinely impartial in their gifts of beauty and of light4 ,and how little of the provincial1 or even national1 there was about ,jesus6 ,though ,he kept ,himself almost entirely within the borders of the ,holy ,land1 never going far from ,his central pivot1 which was ,jerusalem1 and its cross1 yet ,he belonged to the world1 as the world belonged to ,him4 ,he called ,himself the ,son of man1 at once humanity's flower1 and humanity's ,son and ,saviour4 ,and as over the cradle of the ,son of man the far east and the far west together leaned1 so around ,his cross was the meeting-place of the races4 ,the three chief languages inscribed upon it proclaimed ,his royalty1 while the cross itself1 on which the ,sacrifice for humanity was to be offered1 was itself the gift of humanity at large1 as ,asia provided it1 and ,europe prepared it1 and ,africa1 in the person of the ,cyrenean1 bore it4 ,in the mind of ,jesus1 as in the purpose of ,god1 humanity was not a group of fractions1 but a unit one and indivisible1 made of one blood1 and by one ,blood redeemed4 ,in the heart of ,jesus there was the enthusiasm of humanity1 all-absorbing and complete1 and that enthusiasm takes possession of us1 a new force generated in our lives1 as we approach in spirit the great ,ideal ,man4 ,the second lesson of the parable is the lesson of mercy1 the beauty of self-sacrifice4 ,it was because the ,samaritan forgot himself that all the world has remembered and applauded him4 ,it is because of his stoop of self-renouncing love that his character is so exalted1 his memory so dear1 and that his very name1 which is a title without a name1 floats down the ages like a sweet song4 ,go and do thou likewise is the ,master's word to us4 ,discipline your heart that you may see in man everywhere a brother1 whose keeper you are4 ,let fraternity be1 not a theory only1 but a realized fact1 and then a factor of your life4 ,train your eye to watch for others' needs1 to read another's woe4 ,train your soul to sympathy1 and your hand to helpfulness2 for in our world there is room enough for both4 ,bethesda's porches stretch far as our eye can reach1 all crowded1 too1 with the sorrowing1 the sick1 and the sad1 thick enough indeed1 but not so close as that an angel's foot may not step between them1 and not so sad but an angel's voice may soothe and cheer4 ,he who lifts another's load1 who soothes another's smart1 who brightens a life that else would be dark1 who puts a music within a brother's soul1 though it be only for a passing moment1 wakes even a sweeter music within his own1 for he enters on earth into his ,master's joy1 the joy of a redeeming1 self-sacrificing love4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,the ,,two ,,sisters4 ,,luke x4 #ch-db4 ,at first sight it appears as if our ,evangelist had departed from the orderly arrangement of which he speaks in his prelude1 in thus linking this domestic scene of ,juda with ,his northern ,galilean journey1 and to the casual glance this home-flower does certainly seem an exotic in this garden of the ,lord4 ,the strangeness1 the out-of-placeness1 however1 vanishes entirely upon a nearer1 closer view4 ,if1 as is probable1 the parable of the ,good ,samaritan was spoken during that northward journey1 its scene lies away in ,juda1 in the dangerous road that sweeps down from ,jerusalem to ,jericho4 ,now1 this road to ,jericho lay through the village of ,bethany1 and in the ,evangelist's mind the two places are intimately connected1 as we see 7chap4 xix4 vv4 #a1 #bi72 so that the idyll of ,bethany would follow the parable of the ,good ,samaritan with a certain naturalness1 the one recalling the other by the simple association of ideas4 ,then1 too1 it harmonizes so thoroughly with its context1 as it comes between a parable on works and a chapter on prayer4 ,in the one1 man is the doer1 heart and hand going out in the beautiful ministries of love2 in the other1 man is the receiver1 waiting upon ,god1 opening hand and heart for the inflow of ,divine grace4 ,in one it is ,love in action that we see2 in the other it is ,love at rest1 at rest from activities of her own1 in quest of further good4 ,this is exactly the picture our ,evangelist draws of the two sisters1 and which might have served as a parable had it not been so plainly taken from real life4 ,perhaps1 too1 another consideration influenced the ,evangelist1 and one that is suggested by the studied vagueness of the narrative4 ,he gives no clue as to where the little incident occurred1 for the certain village might be equally appropriate in ,samaria or ,juda2 while the two names1 ,martha and ,mary1 apart from the corroboration of ,st4 ,john's ,gospel1 would not enable us to localize the scene4 ,it is evident that ,st4 ,luke wished to throw around them a sort of incognito1 probably because they were still living when he wrote1 and too great publicity might subject them to inconvenience1 or even to something more4 ,and so ,st4 ,luke considerately masks the picture1 shutting off the background of locality1 while ,st4 ,john1 who writes at a later date1 when ,jerusalem has fallen1 and who is under no such obligation of reserve1 fixes the scene precisely2 for there can be no doubt that the ,mary and ,martha of his ,gospel1 of ,bethany1 are the ,martha and ,mary of ,st4 ,luke2 their very characters1 as well as names1 are identical4 ,it was in one of ,his journeys to the south1 though we have no means of telling which1 that ,he came to ,bethany1 a small village on the eastern slope of ,olivet1 and about three-quarters of an hour from ,jerusalem4 ,there are several indications in the ,gospels that this was a favourite resort of ,jesus during ,his ,judan ministry 7,matt4 xxi4 #a2 ,john viii4 #a72 and it is somewhat singular that the only nights that we read ,he spent in ,jerusalem were the night in the garden and the two nights ,he slept in its grave4 ,he preferred the quiet haven of ,bethany2 and though we cannot with absolute certainty recognize the village home where ,jesus had such frequent welcome1 yet throwing the side-light of ,john xi4 #e upon the haze1 it seems in part to lift2 for the deep affection ,jesus had for the three implies a close and ripened intimacy4 ,st4 ,john1 in his allusions to the family1 makes ,mary prominent1 giving precedence to her name1 as he calls ,bethany the village of ,mary and her sister ,martha 7,john xi4 #a74 ,st4 ,luke1 however1 makes ,martha the central figure of his picture1 while ,mary is set back in the shade1 or rather in the sunshine of that ,presence which was and is the ,light of the world4 ,it was1 ,martha received ,him into her house4 ,she was the recognized head of the family1 the lady in fact1 as well as by the implication of her name1 which was the native equivalent of lady4 ,it was she who gave the invitation to the ,master1 and on her devolved all the care of the entertainment1 the preparation of the feast1 and the reception of the guests2 for though the change of pronoun in ver4 #ch from they to ,him would lead us to suppose that the disciples had gone another way1 and were not with ,him now1 still the much serving would show that it was a special occasion1 and that others had been invited to meet ,jesus4 ,it is a significant coincidence that ,st4 ,john1 speaking 7xii4 #b7 of another supper at ,bethany1 in the house of ,simon1 states that ,martha served1 using the same word that ,jesus addressed to her in the narrative of ,st4 ,luke4 ,evidently ,martha was a server4 ,this was her forte1 so much so that her services were in requisition outside her own house4 ,hers was a culinary skill1 and she delighted with her sleight of hand to effect all sorts of transformations1 as1 conjuring with her fire1 she called forth the pleasures and harmonies of taste4 ,in this case1 however1 she overdid it2 she went beyond her strength4 ,perhaps her guests outnumbered her invitations1 or something unforeseen had upset her plans1 so that some of the viands were belated4 ,at any rate1 she was cumbered1 distracted1 put about as our modern colloquialism would have it4 ,perhaps we might say she was put out as well1 for we can certainly detect a trace of irritability both in her manner and in her speech4 ,she breaks in suddenly among the guests 7the aorist participle gives the rustle of a quick movement71 and in the hearing of them all she says to ,jesus1 ,lord1 dost ,thou not care that my sister did leave me to serve alone8 bid her therefore that she help me4 ,her tone is sharp1 querulous1 and her words send a deep chill across the table1 as when a sea-fret drifts coldly inland4 ,if ,mary was in the wrong thus to sit at the feet of ,jesus1 ,martha certainly was not in the right4 ,there was no occasion to give this public reprimand1 this round-hand rebuke4 ,she might have come and secretly called her1 as she did afterwards1 on the day of their sorrow1 and probably ,mary would have risen as quickly now as then4 ,but ,martha is overweighted1 ruffled2 her feelings get the better of her judgment1 and she speaks1 out of the impatience of her heart1 words she never would have spoken had she but known that ,inspiration would keep their echoes reverberating down all the years of time4 ,and besides1 her words were somewhat lacking in respect to the ,master4 ,true1 she addresses ,him as ,lord2 but having done this1 she goes off into an interrogative with an implied censure in it1 and closes with an imperative1 which1 to say the least1 was not becoming1 while all through an undue emphasis is laid upon the first personal pronoun1 the me of her aggrieved self4 ,turning to the other sister1 we find a striking contrast1 for ,mary1 as our ,evangelist puts it1 also sat at the ,lord's feet1 and heard ,his word4 ,this does not imply any forwardness on her part1 or any desire to make herself conspicuous2 the whole drift of her nature was in the opposite direction4 ,sitting at ,his feet now that they were reclining at the table1 meant sitting behind ,him1 alone amid the company1 and screened from their too-curious gaze by ,him who drew all eyes to ,himself4 ,nor does she break through her womanly reserve to take part in the conversation2 she simply heard ,his word2 or she kept listening1 as the imperfect tense denotes4 ,she put herself in the listening attitude1 content to be in the shadow1 outside the charmed circle1 if she only might hear ,him speak1 whose words fell like a rain of music upon her soul4 ,her sister chided her for this1 and the large family of modern ,marthas--for feminine sentiment is almost entirely on ,martha's side--blame her severely1 for what they call the selfishness of her conduct1 seeking her own enjoyment1 even though others must pay the price of it4 ,but was ,mary so utterly selfish8 and did she sacrifice duty to gratify her inclination8 ,not at all1 and certainly not to the extent our ,marthas would have us believe4 ,mary had assisted in the preparations and the reception1 as the also of ver4 #ci shows2 while ,martha's own words1 ,my sister did leave me to serve alone1 themselves imply that ,mary had shared the labours of the entertainment before taking her place at the feet of ,jesus4 ,the probability is that she had completed her task2 and now that ,he who spake as never man spake before was conversing with the guests1 she could not forego the privilege of listening to the voice she might not hear again4 ,it is to ,jesus1 however1 that we must go with our rivalry of claims4 ,he is our ,court of ,equity4 ,his estimate of character was never at fault4 ,he looked at the essences of things1 the soul of things1 and not to the outward wrappings of circumstance1 and ,he read that palimpsest of motive1 the underlying thought1 more easily than others could read the outward act4 ,and certainly ,jesus had no apology for selfishness2 ,his whole life was one war against it1 and against sin1 which is but selfishness ripened4 ,but how does ,jesus adjust this sisterly difference8 ,does ,he dismiss the listener1 and send her back to an unfinished task8 ,does ,he pass on to her ,martha's warm reproof8 ,not at all2 but ,he gently reproves the elder sister4 ,martha1 ,martha1 ,he said1 as if her mind had wandered1 and the iteration was necessary to call her to herself1 thou art anxious and troubled about many things3 but one thing is needful3 for ,mary hath chosen the good part1 which shall not be taken away from her4 ,it is easy to see from this where ,jesus thought the blame should rest4 ,it was ,martha who had taken too much upon herself4 ,her generous heart had gone beyond her strength1 and far beyond the need4 ,wishing to do honour to her ,guest1 studying to please ,him1 she had been over-lavish in her entertainment1 until she had become worried--anxious1 troubled1 as ,jesus said1 the former word referring to the inner disquiet1 the unrest of soul1 and the latter to the outward perturbation1 the tremor of the nerves1 and the cloudiness that looked from her eyes4 ,the fact was that ,martha had misread the tastes of her ,guest4 ,she thought to please ,him by the abundance of her provision1 the largeness of her hospitality2 but for these lower pleasures of sense and of taste ,jesus cared little4 ,he had meat to eat that others knew not of1 and to do the will of ,him that sent ,him was to ,jesus more than any ambrosia or nectar of the gods4 ,the more simple the repast1 the more it pleased ,him1 whose thoughts were high in the heavenly places1 even while ,his feet and the mortal body ,he wore touched lightly the earth4 ,and so while ,martha's motive was pure1 her judgment was mistaken1 and her eager heart tempted her to works of supererogation1 to an excess of care which was anxiety1 the fret and fever of the soul4 ,had she been content with a modest service1 such as would have pleased her ,guest1 she too might have found time to sit at ,his feet1 and to have found there an ,elim of rest and a ,mount of ,beatitudes4 ,but while ,jesus has a kind rebuke for ,martha1 ,he has only words of commendation for her sister1 whom she has been so openly and sharply upbraiding4 ,mary1 ,he said1 speaking the name ,martha had not uttered1 hath chosen the good part1 which shall not be taken away from her4 ,he answers ,martha in her own language1 her native tongue2 for in speaking of ,mary's choice as the good part1 it is a culinary phrase1 the parlance of the kitchen or the table1 meaning the choice bit4 ,the phrase is in apposition with the one thing which is needful1 which itself is the antithesis to the many things of ,martha's care4 ,what the one thing is of which ,jesus speaks we cannot say with certainty1 and almost numberless have been the interpretations given to it4 ,but without going into them1 can we not find the truest interpretation in the ,lord's own words8 ,we think we may1 for in the ,sermon on the ,mount we have an exact parallel to the narrative4 ,he finds people burdened1 anxious about the things of this life1 wearying themselves with the interminable questions1 ,what shall we eat8 or ,what shall we drink8 as if life had no quest higher and vaster than these4 ,and ,jesus rebukes this spirit of anxiety1 exorcising it by an appeal to the lilies and the grass of the field2 and summing up ,his condemnation of anxiety1 ,he adds the injunction1 ,seek ye ,his kingdom1 and these things shall be added unto you 7xii4 #ca74 ,here1 again1 we have the many things of human care and strife contrasted with the one thing which is of supremest moment4 ,first1 the kingdom2 this in the mind of ,jesus was the summum bonum1 the highest good of man1 compared with which the many things for which men strive and toil are but the dust of the balances4 ,and this was the choice of ,mary4 ,she sought the kingdom of ,god1 sitting at the feet of ,him who proclaimed it1 and who was1 though she knew it not as yet1 ,himself the ,king4 ,martha too sought the kingdom1 but her distracted mind showed that that was not her only1 perhaps not her chief quest4 ,earthly things weighed too heavily upon her mind and heart1 and through their dust the heavenly things became somewhat obscured4 ,mary's heart was set heavenward4 ,she was the listener1 eager to know the will of ,god1 that she might do it4 ,martha was so busied with her own activities that she could not give her thoughts to ,christ2 ,mary ceased from her works1 that so she might enter into ,his rest1 setting the world behind her1 that her undivided gaze might be upon ,him who was truly her ,lord4 ,and so ,jesus loved ,martha1 yet pitied and chided her1 while ,he loved and commended ,mary4 ,nor was the good part ever taken from her1 for again and again we find her returning to the feet of ,jesus4 ,in the day of their great sorrow1 as soon as she heard that the ,master had come and called her1 she arose quickly1 and coming to ,jesus1 though it was the bare1 dusty ground1 she fell at ,his feet1 seeking strength and help where she before had sought light and truth4 ,and once more3 when the shadow of the cross came vividly near1 when ,simon gave the feast which ,martha served1 ,mary sought those feet again1 to pour upon them the precious and fragrant nard1 the sweet odours of which filled all the house1 as they have since filled all the world4 ,yes1 ,mary did not sit at the feet of ,jesus in vain2 she had learned to know ,christ as few of the disciples did2 for when ,jesus said1 ,she has done it for ,my burying1 ,he intends us to infer that ,mary feels1 stealing over her retiring but loving soul1 the cold and awful shadow of the cross4 ,her broken alabaster and its poured-out spikenard are her unspoken ode to the ,redeemer1 her pre-dated homage to the ,crucified4 ,and so we find in ,mary the truest type of service4 ,hers was not always the passive attitude1 receiving and never giving1 absorbing and not diffusing4 ,there was the service before the session2 her hands had prepared and wrought for ,christ before she placed herself at ,his feet1 and the sacrifice followed1 as she brought her costly gift1 to the astonishment of all the rest1 her sweet and healing balm for the wounds which were soon to follow4 ,the life that is all receptive1 that has no active ministries of love1 no waiting upon ,christ in the person of ,his followers1 is an unnatural1 an unhealthy life1 a piece of morbid selfishness which neither pleases ,god nor blesses man4 ,on the other hand1 the life that is always busy1 that is in a constant swirl of outward duties1 flying here and there like the stormy petrel over the unresting waves1 will soon weary or wear itself out1 or it will grow into an automaton1 a mechanism without a soul4 ,receiving1 giving1 praying1 working--these are the alternate chords on which the music of our lives should be struck4 ,heavenward1 earthward1 should be the alternate looks--heavenward in our waiting upon ,god1 and earthward in our service for man4 ,that life shines the most and is seen the farthest which reflects most of the heavenly light2 and he serves ,christ the best who now sits humbly and prayerfully at ,his feet1 and then goes forth to be a living echo of ,his voice1 breaking for ,him the alabaster of a self-sacrificing love4 ,as one has beautifully expressed it1 ,the effective life and the receptive life are one4 ,no sweep of arm that does some work for ,god but harvests also some more of the truth of ,god and sweeps it into the treasury of the life4#c #c ,phillips ,brooks4 ,but if ,mary gives us a type of the truest and best service1 ,martha shows us a kind of service which is only too common4 ,she gave to ,jesus a right loving welcome1 and was delighted with the privilege of ministering to ,his wants2 but the coming of ,jesus brought her1 not peace1 but distraction--not rest1 but worry4 ,her very service ruffled and irritated her1 until mind and heart were like the tempestuous lake ere the spell of the ,divine ,peace fell upon it4 ,and all the time the ,christ was near1 who could bear each burden1 and still all the disquiet of the soul6 ,but ,martha was all absorbed in the thought of what she could do for ,him1 and she forgot how much more ,he could do for her1 giving to her chafed spirit quietness and rest1 even amid her toil4 ,the ,divine ,peace was near her1 within her home1 but the hurryings of her restless will and her manifold activities effectually excluded that peace from her heart4 ,and how many who call themselves ,christians are true ,marthas1 serving ,christ1 but feeling the yoke to chafe1 and the burden to weight them6 perhaps preaching to others the ,gospel of rest and peace1 and themselves knowing little of its experience and blessedness--like the camels of the desert1 which carry their treasures of corn and sweet spices to others1 and themselves feed on the bitter and prickly herbs4 ,ah1 you are too much upon your feet6 ,cease for awhile from your own works1 and let ,god work in you4 ,wait in ,his presence4 ,let ,his words take hold of you1 and ,his love enthuse you2 so will you find rest amid your toil1 calmness amid the strife1 and you will prove that the fret and the fever of life will all disappear at the touch of the living ,christ4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,lost ,,and ,,found4 ,,luke xv4 ,in this chapter we see how the waves of influence1 moving outward from their ,divine centre1 touch the outermost fringe of humanity1 sending the pulsations of new excitements and new hopes through classes ,religion and ,society both had banned4 ,now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto ,him1 for to hear ,him4 ,it was evidently a movement widespread and deep4 ,the hostility of ,pharisees and scribes would naturally give to these outcasts a certain bias in ,his favour1 causing their hearts to lean towards him1 while ,his words of hope fell upon their lives like the breaking of a new dawn4 ,nor did ,jesus forbid their approach4 ,instead of looking upon it as an intrusion1 an impertinence1 the attraction was mutual4 ,instead of receiving them with a cold and scant courtesy1 ,he welcomed them1 receiving them gladly1 as the verb of the ,pharisees' murmur implies4 ,he even mingled with them in social intercourse1 with an acceptance1 if not an interchange1 of hospitality4 ,to the ,pharisaic mind1 however1 this was a flagrant lapse1 a breach of the proprieties which was unpardonable and half criminal1 and they gave vent to their disapprobation and disgust in the loud and scornful murmur1 ,this man receiveth sinners1 and eateth with them4 ,it is from this hard sentence of withering contempt1 as from a prickly and bitter calyx1 we have the trifoliate parables of the ,lost ,sheep1 the ,lost ,coin1 and the ,lost ,man1 the last of which is perhaps the crown and flower of all the parables4 ,with minor differences1 the three parables are really one1 emphasizing1 as they reiterate1 the one truth how ,heaven seeks after the lost of earth1 and how it rejoices when the lost is found4 ,the first parable is pastoral3 ,what man of you1 asks ,jesus1 using the ,tu quoque retort1 having a hundred sheep1 and having lost one of them1 doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness1 and go after that which is lost1 until he find it8 ,it is one of those questions which only need to be asked to be answered1 an interrogative which is axiomatic and self-evident4 ,jesus tries to set his detractors in ,his place1 that they may think ,his thoughts1 feel ,his feelings1 as they look out on the world from ,his standpoint2 but since they cannot follow ,him to these redemptive heights1 ,he comes down to the lower level of their vision4 ,suppose you have a hundred sheep1 and one of them1 getting separated from the rest1 goes astray1 what do you do8 ,dismissing it from your thought1 do you leave it to its fate1 the certain slaughter that awaits it from the wild beasts8 or do you seek to minimize your loss1 working it out by the rule of proportion as you ask1 ',what is one to ninety-nine8' then writing off the lost one1 not as a unit1 but as a common fraction8 ,no2 such a supposition is incredible and impossible4 ,you would go in search of the lost directly4 ,turning your back upon the ninety and nine1 and turning your thoughts from them too1 you would leave them in their mountain pasture1#d as you sought the lost one4 ,calling it by its name1 you would climb the terraced hills1 and awake the echoes of the wadies1 until the flinty heart of the mountain had felt the sympathy of your sorrow1 repeating with you the lost wanderer's name4 ,and when at last you found it you would not chide or punish it2 you would not even force it to retrace its steps across the weary distance1 but taking compassion on its weakness1 you would lift it upon your shoulders and bear it rejoicing home4 ,then forgetful of your own weariness1 fatigue and anxiety swallowed up in the new-found joy1 you would go round to your neighbours1 to break the good news to them1 and so all would rejoice together4 #d ,the word rendered wilderness means any land unenclosed4 ,such is the picture1 warm in colour and instinct with life1 ,jesus sketches in a few well-chosen words4 ,he delicately conceals all reference to ,himself2 but even the chromatic vision of the ,pharisees would plainly perceive how complete was its justification of ,his own conduct1 in mingling thus with the erring and the lost2 while to us the parable is but a veil of words1 through which we discern the form and features of the ,good ,shepherd1 who gave even ,his life for the sheep1 seeking that ,he might save that which was lost4 ,the second1 which is a twin parable1 is from domestic life4 ,as in the parables of the kingdom1 ,jesus sets beside the man with the mustard-seed the woman with her leaven1 so here ,he makes the same distinction1 clothing the ,truth both in a masculine and a feminine dress4 ,he asks again1 ,or what woman 7,he does not say of you1 for if women were present amongst ,his hearers they would be in the background7 having ten pieces of silver1 if she lose one piece1 doth not light a lamp1 and sweep the house1 and seek diligently until she find it8 ,and when she hath found it1 she calleth together her friends and neighbours1 saying1 ,rejoice with me1 for ,i have found the piece which ,i had lost4 ,much objection has been taken to this parable for its supposed want of naturalness and reality4 ,is it likely1 our objectors say1 that the loss of a small coin like a drachma1 whose value was about sevenpence-halfpenny1 could be the occasion of so much concern1 and that its recovery should be enough to call forth the congratulations of all the village matrons8 ,surely that is not parable1 but hyperbole4 ,but things have a real as well as an intrinsic value1 and what to others would be common and cheap1 to its possessor might be a treasure beyond reckoning1 with all the added values of association and sentiment4 ,so the ten drachmas of the woman might have a history2 they might have been a family heirloom1 moving quietly down the generations1 with whole poems1 ay1 and even tragedies1 hidden within them4 ,or we can conceive of a poverty so dire and strait that even one small coin in the emergent circumstance might grow into a value far beyond its intrinsic worth4 ,but the parable does not need all these suppositions to steady it and keep it from falling to the ground4 ,when rightly understood it becomes singularly natural1 the truth of truth1 if such an essence can be distilled in human speech4 ,the probable interpretation is that the ten drachmas were the ten coins worn as a frontlet by the women of the east4 ,this frontlet was given by the bridegroom to the bride at the time of marriage1 and like the ring of western life1 it was invested with a kind of sanctity4 ,it must be worn on all public occasions1 and guarded with a jealous1 sacred care2 for should one of its pieces be lost1 it would be regarded as an indication that the possessor had not only been careless1 but also that she had been unfaithful to her marriage vow4 ,throwing1 then1 this light of eastern custom upon the parable1 how vivid and lifelike it becomes6 ,with what intense eagerness would she seek for the missing coin6 ,lighting her lamp--for the house would be but dimly lighted with its open door and its small unglazed window--how carefully and almost tremblingly she would peer along its shelves1 and sweep out the corners of her few rooms6 and how great would be her joy as she saw it glistening in the dust6 ,her whole soul would go out after it1 as if it were a living1 sentient thing4 ,she would clasp it in her hand1 and even press it to her lips2 for has it not taken a heavy care and sorrow from her heart8 ,that one coin rising from the dust has been to her like the rising of another sun1 filling her home with light and her life with melody2 and what wonder that she hastens to communicate her joy1 as1 standing by her door1 after the eastern wont1 she holds up the missing treasure1 and calls on her neighbours and friends 7the substantives are feminine now7 to rejoice with her4 ,the third parable carries the thought still higher1 forming the crown of the ascending series4 ,not only is there a mathematical progression1 as the lost fraction increases from one-hundredth to one-tenth1 and then to one-half of the whole1 but the intrinsic value of the loss rises in a corresponding series4 ,in the first it was a lost sheep1 a loss which might soon be replaced1 and which would soon be forgotten2 in the second it was a lost coin1 which1 as we have seen1 meant the loss of what was more valuable than gold1 even honour and character2 while in the third it is a lost child4 ,we call it the parable of the ,prodigal ,son2 it might with equal propriety be called the ,parable of the ,bereaved ,father1 for the whole story crystallizes about that name1 repeating it1 in one form or another1 no less than twelve times4 ,a certain man1 so begins this parabolic ,paternoster1 had two sons4 ,tired of the restraints of home and the surveillance of the father's eye1 the younger of them determined to see the world for himself1 in order1 as the sequel shows1 that he might have a free hand1 and give loose reins to his passions4 ,with a cold1 impertinent bluntness1 he says to the father1 whose death he thus anticipates1 ,father1 give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me1 a command whose sharp1 imperative tone shows but too plainly the proud1 masterful spirit of the youth4 ,he respects neither age nor law2 for though the paternal estate could be divided during the father's life1 no son1 much less the younger1 had any right to demand it4 ,the father grants the request1 dividing unto them1 as it reads1 his living2 for the same line which marks off the portion of the younger marks out too that of the elder son1 though he holds his portion as yet only in promise4 ,not many days after--for having found its wings1 the foolish bird is in haste to fly--the youth gathers all together1 and then takes his journey into a far country4 ,the down grades of life are generally steep and short1 and so one sentence is enough to describe this descensus ,averni1 down which the youth plunges so insanely3 ,he wasted his substance with riotous living1 scattering it1 as the verb means1 throwing it away after low1 illicit pleasures4 ,and when he had spent all--the all he had scrambled for and gathered a short while before--there arose a mighty famine in that country2 and he began to be in want2 and so great were his straits1 so remorseless the pangs of hunger1 that he was glad to attach himself to a citizen of that country as swineherd1 living out in the fields with his drove1 like the swineherds of ,gadara4 ,but such was the pressure of the famine that his mere pittance could not cope with famine prices1 and again and again he hungered to have his fill of the carob-pods1 which were dealt out statedly and sparingly to the swine4 ,but no man gave even these to him2 he was forgotten1 as one already dead4 ,such is the picture ,jesus draws of the lost man1 a picture of abject misery and degradation4 ,when the sheep wandered it strayed unwittingly1 blindly1 getting farther from its fellows and its fold even when bleating vainly for them4 ,when the drachma was lost it did not lose itself1 nor had it any consciousness that it had dropped out of its proper environment4 ,but in the case of the lost man it was altogether different4 ,here it is a wilful perversity1 which breaks through the restraints of home1 tramples upon its endearments1 and throws up a blighted life1 scarred and pealed amid the husks and swine of a far country4 ,and it is this element of perversity1 self-will1 which explains1 as indeed it necessitates1 another marked difference in the parables4 ,when the sheep and the drachma were lost there was an eager search1 as the shepherd followed the wanderer over the mountain gullies1 and the woman with broom and lamp went after the lost coin4 ,but when the youth is lost1 flinging himself away1 the father does not follow him1 except in thought1 and love1 and prayer4 ,he sits still in the house1 nursing a bitter grief1 and the work on the farm goes on just as usual1 for the service of the younger brother would probably be not much missed4 ,and why does not the father summon his servants1 bidding them go after the lost child1 bringing him home1 if necessary1 by force8 ,simply because such a finding would be no finding4 ,they might indeed carry the wanderer home1 setting down his feet by the familiar door2 but of what use is that if his heart is still wayward and his will rebellious8 ,home would not be home to him2 and with his heart in the far country1 he would walk even in his father's fields and in his father's house as an alien1 a foreigner4 ,and so all embassies1 all messages would be in vain2 and even a father's love can do no more than wait1 patiently and prayerfully1 in hopes that a better spirit may yet come over him1 and that some rebound of feeling may bring him home1 a humbled penitent4 ,the change comes at length1 and the slow morning dawns4 ,when the photographer wishes to develop the picture that is hidden in the film of the sensitive plate he carries it to a darkened room1 and bathed in the developing solution the latent image gradually appears1 even to the minutest details4 ,it was so here2 for when in his extremest need1 with the pinch of a fearful hunger upon him1 and the felt darkness of a painful isolation surrounding him1 there came into the prodigal's soul a sweet picture of the far-away home1 the home which might still have been his but for his wantonness1 but which is his now only in memory4 ,it is true his first thoughts of that home were not very lofty2 they only crouched with the dogs under the father's table1 or hovered around the plentiful board of the servants1 attracted by the bread enough and to spare4 ,but such is the natural association of ideas2 the carob-pods of the swine naturally suggest the bread of the servants1 while this in turn opens up all the chambers of the father's house1 reviving its half-faded images of happiness and love1 and awaking all the sweet memories that sin had stifled and silenced4 ,that it was so here1 the lower leading up to the higher thought1 is evident from the young man's soliloquy3 ,i will arise and go to my father1 and will say unto him1 ,father1 ,i have sinned against ,heaven and in thy sight3 ,i am no more worthy to be called thy son3 make me as one of thy hired servants4 ,the hunger for the servants' bread is all forgotten now1 swallowed up in the hunger of the soul1 as it pines for the father's presence and for the father's smile1 longing for the lost ,eden4 ,the very name father strikes with a strange music upon his awakened and penitent soul1 making him for the time half-oblivious to his present wretchedness2 and as ,memory recalls a bright but vanished past1 ,hope peoples the dark sky with a heavenly host1 who sing a new ,advent1 the dawn of a heavenly day4 ,an ,advent8 ,perhaps it was an ,easter rather1 with a resurrection from earth to things above1 an ,easter whose anthem1 in songs without end1 was1 ,i will arise and go to my father1 that ,resurgam of a new and holier life4 ,no sooner is the ,i will spoken than there is a reversing of all the wheels4 ,the hands follow whither the heart has gone2 the feet shake off the dust of the far country1 retracing the steps they measured so foolishly and lightly before2 while the eyes1 washed by their bitter tears-- ,not backward are their glances bent1 ,but onward to the ,father's house4 ,and he arose and came to his father4 ,he came to himself first2 and having found that better self1 he became conscious of the void he had not felt before4 ,for the first time he realizes how much the father is to him1 and how terrible the bereavement and loss he inflicted upon himself when he put between that father and himself the desert of an awful distance4 ,and as the bright memories of other days flash up within his soul1 like the converging rays of a borealis1 they all turn towards and centre in the father4 ,servants1 home1 and loaves of bread alike speak of him whose very shadow is brightness to the self-orphaned child4 ,he yearns for the father's presence with a strange and intense yearning2 and could that presence be his again1 even if he were nothing more than a servant1 with but casual interviews1 hearing his voice but in its commanding tones1 he would be content and happy4 ,and so he comes and seeks the father2 will the father relent and receive him8 ,can he overlook and forgive the waywardness and wantonness which have embittered his old age8 ,can he receive him back even as a servant1 a child who has scorned his authority1 slighted his love1 and squandered his substance in riotous living8 ,does the father say1 ,he has made his own bed1 and he must lie upon it2 he has had his portion1 even to the swept-up crumbs1 and there is nothing left for him now8 ,no1 for there is something left1 a treasure which he might scorn1 indeed1 but which he could not throw away1 even a heritage of love4 ,and what a picture the parable draws of the love that hopeth and endureth all things6 ,but while he was yet afar off1 his father saw him1 and was moved with compassion1 and ran1 and fell on his neck1 and kissed him4 ,as the moon in her revolutions lifts up the tides1 drawing the deep oceans to herself1 so do the unsounded depths of the father's heart turn towards the prodigal whose life has set1 dropping out of sight behind wildernesses of darkness4 ,thought1 prayer1 pity1 compassion1 love flow out towards the attraction they can no longer see4 ,nay1 it seems as if the father's vision were transfixed riveted to the spot where the form of his erring lad vanished out of sight2 for no sooner has the youth come within sight of the home1 than the father's eyes1 made telescopic with love1 discern him1 and as if by intuition1 recognize him1 even though his attire be mean and tattered1 and his step has no longer the lightness of innocence nor the firmness of integrity4 ,it is1 it is his child1 the erring but now repenting child1 and the pent-up emotions of the father's soul rush out as in a tumultuous freshet to meet him4 ,he even ran to meet him1 all forgetful of the dignity of years1 and throwing himself upon his neck1 he kissed him1 not either with the cold kiss of courtesy1 but with the warm1 fervent kiss of love1 as the intensive prefix of the verb implies4 ,so far this scene of reconciliation has been as a dumb show4 ,the storm of emotion so interrupted the electric flow of quiet thought and speech that no word was spoken in the mutual embrace4 ,when1 however1 the power of speech returns the youth is the first to break the silence4 ,father1 he said1 repeating the words of his mental resolve when in the far country1 ,i have sinned against ,heaven1 and in thy sight3 ,i am no more worthy to be called thy son4 ,it is no longer the sense of physical need1 but the deeper sense of guilt1 that now presses upon his soul4 ,the moral nature1 which by the anodynes of sin had been thrown into a state of coma1 awakes to a vivid consciousness1 and in the new awakening1 in the broadening light of the new dawn1 he sees one thing only1 and that is his sin1 a sin which has thrown its blackness over the wasted years1 which has embittered a father's heart1 and which cast its shadow even into heaven itself4 ,nor is it the conviction of sin only2 there is a full and frank confession of it1 with no attempt at palliation or excuse4 ,he does not seek to gloss it over1 but smiting his breast with bitter reproaches1 he confesses his sin with a humble1 lowly1 penitent1 and obedient heart1 hoping for the mercy and forgiveness he is conscious he does not deserve4 ,nor does he hope in vain4 ,even before the confession is completed1 the absolution is spoken1 virtually at least2 for without allowing the youth to finish his sentence1 in which he offers to renounce his sonship and to accept a menial position1 the father calls to the servants1 ,bring forth quickly the best robe1 and put it on him2 and put a ring on his hand1 and shoes on his feet3 and bring the fatted calf1 and kill it1 and let us eat and make merry4 ,in this peal of imperatives we detect the rapid beating of the father's heart1 the loving1 eager haste to wipe out all the sad marks that sin has left4 ,in the luminous atmosphere of the father's love the youth is no more the prodigal2 he is as one transfigured2 and now that the chrysalis has left the mire1 and crept up into the sunlight1 it must have a dress befitting its new summer life1 wings of gauze1 and robes of rainbow hues4 ,the best1 or the first robe as it is in the ,greek1 must be brought out for him2 a signet-ring1 the pledge of authority1 must be put upon his hand2 shoes1 the badge of freedom1 must be found for the tired and bared feet2 while for the merry-making which is extemporized1 the domestic festa which is the crown of these rejoicings1 the fatted calf1 which was in reserve for some high festival1 must be killed4 ,and all this is spoken in a breath1 in a sort of bewilderment1 the ecstasy of an excessive joy2 and forgetting that the simple command is enough for servants1 the master must needs tell out his joy to them3 ,for this my son was dead1 and is alive again2 he was lost1 and is found4 ,if the three parables were all through coincident1 the parable of the ,prodigal ,son should close at this point1 the curtain dropping over the festive scene1 where songs1 and music1 and the rhythm of the dance are the outward and weak expressions of the father's joy over the son who comes back from the far country1 as one alive from the dead4 ,but ,jesus has another purpose2 ,he must not only plead the cause of the outcast and the low1 setting open for them the door of mercy and of hope2 ,he must also rebuke and silence the unreasoning murmur of the ,pharisees and scribes--which ,he does in the picture of the ,elder ,brother4 ,coming from the field1 the heir is surprised to find the whole house given up to an impromptu feast4 ,he hears the sounds of merriment and music1 but its strains fall strange and harsh upon his ear4 ,what can it mean8 ,why was he not consulted8 ,why should his father thus take occasion of his absence in the fields to invite his friends and neighbours8 ,the proud spirit chafes under the slight1 and calling one of the servants1 he asks what it all means4 ,the answer is not reassuring1 for it only perplexes and pains him the more3 ,thy brother is come2 and thy father hath killed the fatted calf1 because he hath received him safe and sound--an answer which does but deepen his displeasure1 turning his sullenness to anger4 ,and would not go in4 ,they may end the feast1 as they began it1 without him4 ,the festive joy is something foreign to his nature2 it awakes but feelings of repulsion1 and all its music is to him a grating discord1 a ,miserere4 ,but let us not be too severe upon the elder brother4 ,he was not perfect1 by any means1 but in any appraisement of his character there are certain veinings of worth and nobleness that must not be omitted4 ,we have already seen how1 in the division of the father's goods1 when he divided unto them his living1 while the younger took away his portion1 and swiftly scattered it in riotous living1 the elder brother took no advantage of the deed of gift4 ,he did not dispossess the father1 securing for himself the paternal estate4 ,he put it back into his father's hands1 content with the filial relation of dependence and obedience4 ,the father's word was still his law4 ,he was the dutiful son2 and when he said1 ,these many years do ,i serve thee1 and ,i never transgressed a commandment of thine1 the boast was no exaggeration but the statement of a simple truth4 ,compared with the life of the prodigal1 the life of the elder brother had been consistent1 conscientious1 and moral4 ,where1 then1 was his failure1 his lack8 ,it was just here1 in the lack of heart1 the absence of affection4 ,he bore the name of a son1 but he carried the heart of a servant4 ,his nature was servile1 rather than filial2 and while his hands offered a service unremitting and precise1 it was the cold service of an impassive mechanism4 ,instead of love passing out in living heart-throbs1 suffusing all the life with its warmth1 and clothing it in its own iridescent colouring1 it was only a metallic mainspring called duty4 ,the father's presence is not the delight to him2 he does not once mention that tender name in which the repenting one finds such a heaven2 and when he draws the picture of his highest happiness1 the feast of his earthly ,walhalla1 my friends are there1 though the father is excluded4 ,and so between the father and the elder brother1 with all this seeming nearness1 there was a distance of reserve1 and where the voices of affection and of constant communion should have been heard there was too often a vacancy of silence4 ,it takes a heart to read a heart2 and since this was wanting in the elder brother1 he could not know the heart of the father2 he could not understand his wild joy4 ,he had no patience with his younger brother2 and had he received him back at all1 it would have been with a haughty stiffness1 and with a lowering in his looks1 which should have been at once a rebuke for the past and a warning for the future4 ,the father looked on his son's repentance2 the elder brother did not regard the repentance at all2 perhaps he had not heard of it1 or perhaps he could not understand it2 it was something that lay out of the plane of his consciousness4 ,he saw the sin only1 how the younger son had devoured his living with harlots2 and so he was severe1 exacting1 bitter4 ,he would have brought out the sackcloth1 but nothing more2 while as to the music and the fatted calf1 they would appear to his loveless soul as an absurd anachronism4 ,but far removed as he is from the father's spirit1 he is still his son2 and though the father rejoices more over the younger than over the elder1 as was but natural1 he loves them both with an equal love4 ,he cannot bear that there should be any estrangement now2 and he even leaves the festive throng1 and the son he has welcomed and robed1 and going out1 he begs1 he entreats the elder brother to pass in1 and to throw himself into the general joy4 ,and when the elder son complains that1 with all his years of obedient1 dutiful service1 he has never had even a kid1 much less a fatted calf1 on which to feast his friends1 the father says1 lovingly1 but chidingly1 ,son--or ,child1 rather1 for it is a term of greater endearment than the son he had just used before--thou art ever with me1 and all that is mine is thine4 ,but it was meet to make merry and be glad3 for this thy brother was dead1 and is alive again2 and was lost1 and is found4 ,he plays upon the child as upon a harp1 that he may drive away the evil spirits of jealousy and anger1 and that even within the servant-heart he may awake some chords1 if only the far-off echoes of a lost childhood4 ,he reminds him how vastly different their two positions are4 ,for him there has been no break in their intercourse2 the father's house has been his home2 he has had the free range of all3 to the younger that home has been nothing but a distant memory1 with a waste of dreary years between4 ,he has been heir and lord of all2 and so completely have father and son been identified1 their separate personalities merged the one in the other1 that the possessive pronouns1 the mine and the thine1 are used interchangeably4 ,the younger returns penniless1 disinherited by his own misdeed4 ,nay1 he has been as one dead2 for what was the far country but a vault of slimy things1 the sepulchre of a dead soul8 ,and should we not make merry and be glad1 when thy brother 7it is the antithesis to thy son of ver4 #cj1 a mutual thy7 comes back to us as one raised from the dead8 ,whether the father's pleading prevailed1 or not1 we are not told4 ,we can but hope it did1 and that the elder brother1 with his asperities all dissolved1 and his jealousies removed1 did pass within to share the general joy1 and to embrace a lost brother4 ,then he too would know the sweetness of forgiveness1 and taught by the erring but now forgiven one1 he too would learn to spell out more correctly that deep word father1 the word he had stammered at1 and perhaps misspelt before1 as the fatherhood and the brotherhood became to him not ideas merely1 but bright realities4 ,gathering up now the lessons of the parables1 they show us 7#a7 the ,divine grief over sin4 ,in the first two this is the prominent thought1 the sorrow of the loser4 ,god is represented as losing that which is of worth to ,him1 something serviceable1 and therefore valuable4 ,in the third parable the same idea is suggested rather than stated2 but the thought is carried farther1 for now it is more than a loss1 it is a bereavement the father suffers4 ,the retreating form of the wanderer throws back its shadow across the father's home and heart1 a shadow that congeals and stays1 and that is darker than the shadow of ,death itself4 ,it is the ,divine ,grief1 whose depths we cannot sound1 and from whose mystery we must stand back1 not one stone's cast1 but many4 ,the parables show 7#b7 the sad state of the sinner4 ,in the case of the ,lost ,sheep and the ,lost ,coin we see his perfect helplessness to recover himself1 and that he must remain lost1 unless ,one higher than himself undertakes his cause1 and help is laid upon ,one that is mighty4 ,it is the third parable1 however1 which especially emphasizes the downward course of sin and the deepening wretchedness of the sinner4 ,the flowery path leads on to a valley of desolation4 ,the way of transgressors is ever a downward path2 and let an evil spirit possess a soul1 it hurries him directly down the steep place1 where1 unless the flight be checked1 a certain destruction awaits him4 ,sin degrades and isolates4 ,want1 sorrow1 penury1 and pain are but a part of its viperous brood1 and he who plays with sin1 calling it freedom1 will find his rod blossom with bitter fruit1 or he will see it grow into a serpent with poison in its fangs4 ,the parables show 7#c7 ,god's willingness and eagerness to save4 ,the long and eager search after the lost sheep and the lost coin show1 though but imperfectly1 the supreme efforts ,god makes for man's salvation4 ,he is not left to wander unrebuked and unsought4 ,there is no forbidden path along which men insanely rush1 but some bright angel stands beside it1 warning back the sinner1 it may be with a drawn sword1 some terror of the ,lord1 or it may be with a cross1 the sacrifice of an infinite love4 ,though ,he could send ,his armies to destroy1 ,he sends ,his messengers to win us back to obedience and to love--,conscience1 ,memory1 ,reason1 the ,word1 the ,spirit1 and even the well-beloved ,son4 ,nor is the great search discontinued1 until it has proved to be in vain4 ,the parables show 7#d7 the eager interest ,heaven takes in man's salvation1 and the deep joy there is among the angels over his repentance and recovery4 ,and so the three parables close with a ,jubilate4 ,the shepherd rejoices over his recovered sheep more than over the ninety and nine which went not astray2 the woman rejoices over the one coin found more than over the nine which were not lost4 ,and this is perfectly natural4 ,the joy of acquisition is more than the joy of possession2 and as the crest of the waves is thrown up above the mean sea-level by the alternate depths of depression1 so the very sorrow and grief over the loss and bereavement1 now that the lost is found and the dead is alive1 throw up the emotions beyond their mean level1 up to the summits of an exuberant joy4 ,and whether ,jesus meant1 by the ninety and nine just persons who needed no repentance the unfallen intelligences of heaven1 or whether1 as ,godet thinks1 ,he referred to those who under the ,old ,covenant were sincere doers of the ,law1 and who found their righteousness therein 7,deut4 vi4 #be71 it is still true1 and a truth stamped with a ,divine ,verily1 that more than the joy of ,heaven over these is its joy over the sinner that repented1 the dead who now was alive1 and the lost who now was found6 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,gospel4 ,whatever of truth there may be in the charge of other-worldliness1 as brought against the modern exponents of ,christianity1 such a charge could not even be whispered against its ,divine ,founder4 ,it is just possible that the ,church had been gazing too steadfastly up into heaven1 and that she had not been studying the science of the ,humanities as zealously as she ought1 and as she has done since2 but ,jesus did not allow even heavenly things to obliterate or to blur the lines of earthly duty4 ,we might have supposed that coming down from heaven1 and familiar with its secrets1 ,he would have much to say about the ,new ,world1 its position in space1 its society and manner of life4 ,but no2 ,jesus says little about the life which is to come2 it is the life which now is that engrosses ,his attention1 and almost monopolizes ,his speech4 ,life with ,him was not in the future tense2 it was one living present1 real1 earnest1 but fugitive4 ,indeed1 that future was but the present projected over into eternity4 ,and so ,jesus1 founding the kingdom of ,god on earth1 and summoning all men into it1 if he did not bring commandments written and lithographed1 like ,moses1 yet ,he did lay down principles and rules of conduct1 marking out1 in all departments of human life1 the straight and white lines of duty1 the eternal ought4 ,it is true that ,jesus ,himself did not originate much in this department of ,christian ethics1 and probably for most of ,his sayings we can find a symphony struck from the pages of earlier1 and perhaps heathen moralists2 but in the wide realm of ,right there can be no new law4 ,principles may be evolved1 interpreted2 they cannot be created4 ,right1 like ,truth1 holds the eternal years2 and through the millenniums before ,christ1 as through the millenniums after1 ,conscience1 that ethical intellect which speaks to all men if they will but draw near to her ,sinai and listen1 spoke to some in clear1 authoritative tones4 ,but if ,jesus did no more1 ,he gathered up the broken lights of earth1 the intermittent flashes which had played on the horizon before1 into one steady electric beam1 which lights up our human life outward to its farthest reach1 and onward to its farthest goal4 ,in the mind of ,jesus conduct was the outward and visible expression of some inner invisible force4 ,as our earth moves round its elliptic in obedience to the subtle attractions of other outlying worlds1 so the orbits of human lives1 whether symmetrical or eccentric1 are determined mainly by the two forces' ,character and ,circumstance4 ,conduct is character in motion2 for men do what they themselves are1 i4e4 as far as circumstances will allow4 ,and it is just at this point the ethical teaching of ,jesus begins4 ,he recognizes the imperium in imperio1 that hidden world of thought1 feeling1 sentiment1 and desire which1 itself invisible1 is the mould in which things visible are cast4 ,and so ,jesus1 in ,his influence upon men1 worked outward from within4 ,he sought1 not reform1 but regeneration1 moulding the life by changing the character2 for1 to use ,his own figure1 how could the thorn produce grapes1 or the thistle figs8 ,and so when ,jesus was asked1 ,what shall ,i do that ,i may inherit eternal life8 ,he gave an answer which at first sight seemed to ignore the question entirely4 ,he said no word about doing1 but threw the questioner back upon being1 asking what was written in the law3 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy strength1 and with all thy mind2 and thy neighbour as thyself 7x4 #bg74 ,and as ,jesus here makes ,love the condition of eternal life1 its sine qua non1 so ,he makes it the one all-embracing duty1 the fulfilling of the law4 ,if a man love ,god supremely1 and his neighbour as himself1 he cannot do more2 for all other commandments are included in these1 the sub-sections of the greater law4 ,jesus thus sought to create a new force1 hiding it within the heart1 as the mainspring of duty1 providing for that duty both aim and inspiration4 ,we call it a new force1 and such it was practically2 for though it was1 in a way1 embedded in their law1 it was mainly as a dead letter1 so much so that when ,jesus bade ,his disciples to love one another ,he called it a new commandment4 ,here1 then1 we find what is at once the rule of conduct and its motive4 ,in the new system of ethics1 as taught and enforced by ,jesus1 and illustrated by ,his life1 the ,law of ,love was to be supreme4 ,it was to be to the moral world what gravitation is to the natural1 a silent but mighty and all-pervasive force1 throwing its spell upon the isolated actions of the common day1 giving impulse and direction to the whole current of life1 ruling alike the little eddies of thought and the wider sweeps of benevolent activities4 ,to ,jesus the soul of improvement was the improvement of the soul4 ,he laid ,his hand upon the heart's innermost shrine1 building up that unseen temple four-square1 like the city of the ,apocalypse1 and lighting up all its windows with the warm1 iridescent light of love4 ,with this1 then1 as the foundation-tone1 running through all the spaces and along all the lines of life1 the thoughts1 desires1 words1 and acts must all harmonize with love2 and if they do not1 if they strike a note that is foreign to its key-tone1 it breaks the harmony at once1 throwing jars and discords into the music4 ,such a breach of the harmonic law would be called a mistake1 but when it is a breach of ,christ's moral law it is more than a mistake1 it is a wrong4 ,before passing to the outer life ,jesus pauses1 in this ,gospel1 to correct certain dissonances of mind and soul1 of thought and feeling1 which put us in a wrong attitude towards our fellows4 ,first of all1 ,he forbids us to sit in judgment upon others4 ,he says1 ,judge not1 and ye shall not be judged3 and condemn not1 and ye shall not be condemned 7vi4 #cg74 ,this does not mean that we close our eyes with a voluntary blindness1 working our way through life like moles2 nor does it mean that we keep our opinions in a state of flux1 not allowing them to crystallize into thought1 or to harden into the leaden alphabets of human speech4 ,there is within us all a moral sense1 a miniature ,sinai1 and we can no more suppress its thunders or sheath its lightnings than we can hush the breakers of the shore into silence1 or suppress the play of the ,northern ,lights4 ,but in that unconscious judgment we pass upon the actions of others1 with our condemnation of the wrong1 we pass our sentence upon the wrong-doer1 mentally ejecting him from the courtesies and sympathies of life1 and if we allow him to live at all1 compelling him to live apart1 as a moral incurable4 ,and so1 with our hatred of the sin1 we learn to hate the sinner1 and calling from him both our charities and our hopes1 we hurl him down into some little ,gehenna of our own4 ,but it is exactly this feeling1 this kind of judgment1 the ,law of ,love condemns4 ,we may hate the sin1 and yet the sinner love1 keeping him still within the circle of our sympathies and our hopes4 ,it is not meet that we should be merciless who have ourselves experienced so much of mercy2 nor is it for us to hale others off to prison1 or ruthlessly to exact the uttermost farthing1 when we ourselves at the very best are erring and unfaithful servants1 standing so much and so often in need of forgiveness4 ,but there is another judging that the command of ,christ condemns1 and that is the hasty and the false judgments we pass on the motives and lives of others4 ,how apt we are to depreciate the worth of others who do not happen to belong to our circle6 ,we look so intently for their faults and foibles that we become blind to their excellences4 ,we forget that there is some good in every person1 some that we can see if we only look1 and we may be always sure that there is some we cannot see4 ,we should not prejudge4 ,we should not form our opinion upon an ex parte statement4 ,we should not leave the heart too open to the flying germs of rumour1 and we should discount heavily any damaging1 disparaging statement4 ,we should not allow ourselves to draw too many inferences1 for he who is given to drawing inferences draws largely on his imagination4 ,we should think slowly in our judgment of others1 for he who leaps to conclusions generally takes his leap in the dark4 ,we should learn to wait for the second thoughts1 for they are often truer than the first4 ,nor is it wise to use too much the spur of the moment2 it is a sharp weapon1 and is apt to cut both ways4 ,we should not interpret others' motives by our own feelings1 nor should we suppose too much4 ,above all1 we should be charitable1 judging of others as we judge ourselves4 ,perhaps the beam that is in a brother's eye is but the magnified mote that is in our own4 ,it is better to learn the art of appreciating than that of depreciating2 for though the one is easy1 and the other difficult1 yet he who looks for the good1 and exalts the good1 will make the very wilderness to blossom and be glad2 while he who depreciates everything outside his own little self impoverishes life1 and makes the very garden of the ,lord one arid1 barren desert4 ,again1 ,jesus condemns pride1 as being a direct contravention of ,his ,law of ,love4 ,love rejoices in the possessions and gifts of others1 nor would she care to add to her own if it must be at the cost of theirs4 ,love is an equalizer1 levelling up the inequalities the accidents of life have made1 and preferring to stand on some lower level with her fellows than to sit solitary on some lofty and cold ,olympus4 ,pride1 on the other hand1 is a repelling1 separating force4 ,scorning those who occupy the lower places1 she is contented only on her ,olympian summit1 where she keeps herself warm with the fires of her self-adulation4 ,the proud heart is the loveless heart1 one huge inflation2 if she carries others at all1 it is only as a steadying ballast2 she will not hesitate to throw them over and throw them down1 as mere dust or sand1 if their fall will help her to rise4 ,pride1 like the eagle1 builds her nest on high1 bringing forth whole broods of loveless1 preying passions1 hatreds1 jealousies1 and hypocrisies4 ,pride sees no brotherhood in man2 humanity to her means no more than so many serfs to wait upon her pleasure1 or so many victims for her sacrifice6 ,and how ,jesus loved to prick these bubbles of airy nothings1 showing up these vanities as the very essence of selfishness6 ,he did not spare ,his words1 even though they stung1 when ,he marked how they chose out the chief seats at the friendly supper 7xiv4 #g72 and one of ,his bitter woes ,he hurled at the ,pharisees just because they loved the chief seats in the synagogues1 worshipping ,self1 when they pretended to worship ,god1 so making the house of ,god itself an arena for the sport and play of their proud ambitions4 ,he that is least among you all1 ,he said1 when rebuking the disciples' lust for pre-eminence1 the same is great4 ,and such is ,heaven's law3 humility is the cardinal virtue1 the strait and low gate which opens into the very heart of the kingdom4 ,humility is the one and the only way of heavenly preferments and eternal promotions2 for in the life to come there will be strange contrasts and inversions1 as he that exalted himself is now humbled1 and he that humbled himself is now exalted 7xiv4 #aa74 ,tracing now the lines of duty as they run across the outer life1 we find them following the same directions4 ,as the golden milestone of the ,forum marked the centre of the empire1 towards which its roads converged1 and from which all distances were measured1 so in the ,christian commonwealth ,jesus makes ,love the capital1 the central1 controlling power2 while at the focal point of all the duties ,he sets up ,his ,golden ,rule1 which gives direction to all the paths of human conduct3 ,and as ye would that men should do to you1 do ye also to them likewise 7vi4 #ca74 ,in this general law we have what we might call the ethical compass1 for it embraces within its circle the whole duty of man towards his fellow2 and it only needs an adjusted conscience1 like the delicately poised needle1 and the line of the ought can be read off at once1 even in those uncertain latitudes where no specific law is found4 ,are we in doubt as to what course of conduct to pursue1 as to the kind of treatment we should accord to our fellow8 we can always find the via recta by a short mental transposition4 ,we have only to put ourselves in his place1 and to imagine our relative positions reversed1 and from the would of our supposed desires and hopes we read the ought of present duty4 ,the ,golden ,rule is thus a practical exposition of the ,second ,commandment1 investing our neighbour with the same luminous atmosphere we throw about ourselves1 the atmosphere of a benevolent1 beneficent love4 ,but beyond this general law ,jesus gives us a prescript as to the treatment of enemies4 ,he says1 ,love your enemies1 do good to them that hate you1 bless them that curse you1 pray for them that despitefully use you4 ,to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other3 and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also 7vi4 #bg-bi74 ,in considering these injunctions we must bear in mind that the word enemy in its ,new ,testament meaning had not the wide and general signification it has to-day4 ,it then stood in antithesis to the word neighbour1 as in ,matt4 v4 #dc2 and as the word neighbour to the ,jew included those1 and those only1 who were of the ,hebrew race and faith1 the word enemy referred to those outside1 who were aliens from the commonwealth of ,israel4 ,to the ,hebrew mind it stood as a synonym for ,gentile4 ,in these words1 then1 we find1 not a general and universal law1 but the special instructions as to their course of conduct in dealing with the ,gentiles1 to whom they would shortly be sent4 ,no matter what their treatment1 they must bear it with an uncomplaining patience4 ,stripped1 beaten1 they must not resist1 much less retaliate2 they must not allow any vindictive feelings to possess them1 nor must they take in their own hot hand the sword of a sweet revenge4 ,nay1 they must even bear a good-will towards their enemies1 repaying their hate with love1 their spite and enmity with prayers1 and their curses with sincerest benedictions4 ,it will be observed that no mention is made of repentance or of restitution3 without waiting for these1 or even expecting them1 they must be prepared to forgive and prepared to love their enemies1 even while they are shamefully treating them4 ,and what else1 under the circumstances1 could they have done8 ,if they appealed to the secular power it would simply have been an appeal to a heathen court1 from enemies to enemies4 ,and as to waiting for repentance1 their enemies are only treating them as enemies1 aliens and foreigners1 wronging them1 it is true1 but ignorantly1 and not through any personal malice4 ,they must forgive just for the same reason that ,jesus forgave ,his ,roman murderers1 for they know not what they do4 ,we cannot1 therefore1 take these injunctions1 which evidently had a special and temporary application1 as the literal rule of conduct towards those who are unfriendly or hostile to us4 ,this1 however1 is plain1 that even our enemies1 whose enmity is directly personal rather than sectional or racial1 are not to be excluded from the ,law of ,love4 ,we must bear them neither hatred nor resentment2 we must guard our hearts sacredly from all malevolent1 vindictive feelings4 ,we must not be our own avenger1 taking vengeance upon our adversaries1 as we let loose the barking ,cerberus to track and run them down4 ,all such feelings are contrary to the ,law of ,love1 and so are contraband1 entirely foreign to the heart that calls itself ,christian4 ,but with all this we are not to meet all sorts of injuries and wrongs without protest or resistance4 ,we cannot condone a wrong without being accomplices in the wrong4 ,to defend our property and life is just as much our duty as it was the wisdom and the duty of those to whom ,jesus spoke to offer an uncomplaining cheek to the ,gentile smiter4 ,not to do this is to encourage crime1 and to put a premium upon evil4 ,nor is it inconsistent with a true love to seek to punish1 by lawful means1 the wrong-doer4 ,justice here is the highest type of mercy1 and pains and penalties have a remedial virtue1 taming the passions which had grown too wild1 or straightening the conscience that had become warped4 ,and so ,jesus1 speaking of the offences1 the occasions of stumbling that would come1 said1 ,if thy brother sin1 rebuke him2 and if he repent1 forgive him 7xvii4 #c74 ,it is not the patient1 silent acquiescence now4 ,no1 we must rebuke the brother who has sinned against us and wronged us4 ,and if this is vain1 we must tell it to the ,church1 as ,st4 ,matthew completes the injunction 7xviii4 #ag72 and if the offender will not hear the ,church1 he must be cast out1 ejected from their fellowship1 and becoming to their thought as a heathen or a publican4 ,the wrong1 though it is a brother who does it1 must not be glossed over with the enamel of a euphemism2 nor must it be hushed up1 veiled by a silence4 ,it must be brought to the light of day2 it must be rebuked and punished2 nor must it be forgiven until it is repented of4 ,let there be1 however1 a genuine repentance1 and there must be on our part the prompt and complete forgiveness of the wrong4 ,we must set it back out of our sight1 amongst the forgotten things4 ,and if the wrong be repeated1 if the repentance be repeated1 the forgiveness must be repeated too1 not only for seven times seven offences1 but for seventy times seven4 ,nor is it left to our option whether we forgive or no2 it is a duty1 absolute and imperative2 we must forgive1 as we ourselves hope to be forgiven4 ,again1 ,jesus treats of the true use of wealth4 ,he ,himself assumed a voluntary poverty4 ,silver and gold had ,he none2 indeed1 the only coin that we read ,he handled was the borrowed ,roman penny1 with ,csar's inscription upon it4 ,but while ,jesus ,himself preferred poverty1 choosing to live on the outflowing charities of those who felt it both a privilege and an honour to minister to ,him of their substance1 yet ,he did not condemn wealth4 ,it was not a wrong per se4 ,in the ,old ,testament it had been regarded as a sign of ,heaven's special favour1 and amongst the rich ,jesus ,himself found some of ,his warmest1 truest friends--friends who came nobly to the front when some who had made louder professions had ignominiously fled4 ,nor did ,jesus require the renunciation of wealth as the condition of discipleship4 ,he did not advocate that fictitious galit of the ,commune4 ,he sought rather to level up than to level down4 ,it is true ,he did say to the ruler1 ,sell all that thou hast1 and distribute unto the poor2 but this was an exceptional case#e and probably it was put before him as a test command1 like the command to ,abraham that he should sacrifice his son--which was not intended to be carried out literally1 but only as far as the intention1 the will4 ,there was no such demand made from ,nicodemus1 and when ,zacchus testified that it had been his practice 7the present tense would indicate a retrospective rather than a prospective rule7 to give one-half of his income to the poor1 ,jesus does not find fault with his division1 and demand the other half2 ,he commends him1 and passes him up1 right over the excommunication of the rabbis1 among the true sons of ,abraham4 ,jesus did not pose as an assessor2 ,he left men to divide their own inheritance4 ,it was enough for ,him if ,he could put within the soul this new force1 the moral dynamic of love to ,god and man2 then the outward relations would shape themselves1 regulated as by some automatic action4 #e ,this demand was made from the ,apostles 7xii4 #cc71 but not from others beyond the ,apostolic circle4 ,but with all this1 ,jesus recognized the peculiar temptations and dangers of wealth4 ,he saw how riches tend to engross and monopolize the thought1 diverting it from higher things1 and so ,he classed riches with cares1 pleasures1 which choke the ,word of life1 and make it unfruitful4 ,he saw how wealth tended to selfishness2 that it acted as an astringent1 closing up the valves of the heart1 and thus shutting down the outflow of its sympathies4 ,and so ,jesus1 whenever ,he spoke of wealth1 spoke in words of warning3 ,how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of ,god6 ,he said1 when ,he saw how the rich ruler set wealth before faith and hope4 ,and singularly enough1 the only times ,jesus1 in ,his parables1 lifts up the curtain of doom it is to tell of certain rich men--the one1 whose soul swung selfishly between his banquets and his barns1 and who1 alas6 had laid up no treasures in heaven2 and the other1 who exchanged his purple and fine linen for the folds of enveloping flames1 and the sumptuous fare of earth for eternal want1 the eternal hunger and thirst of the after-retribution6 ,what1 then1 is the true use of wealth8 and how may we so hold it that it shall prove a blessing1 and not a bane8 ,in the first place1 we must hold it in our hand1 and not lay it up in the heart4 ,we must possess it2 it must not possess us4 ,we may give our thought1 moderately1 to it1 but our affections must not be allowed to centre upon it4 ,we read that the ,pharisees were lovers of money 7xvi4 #ad71 and that argentic passion was the root of all their evils4 ,the love of money1 like an opiate1 little by little1 steals over the whole frame1 deadening the sensibility1 perverting the judgment1 and weakening the will1 producing a kind of intoxication1 in which the better reason is lost1 and the confused speech can only articulate1 with ,shylock1 ,my ducats1 my ducats6 ,the true way of holding wealth is to hold it in trust1 recognizing ,god's ownership and our stewardship4 ,bank it up1 give it no outlet1 and your wealth becomes a stagnant pool1 breeding malaria and burning fevers2 but open the channel1 give it an outlet1 and it will bring life and music to a thousand lower vales1 increasing the happiness of others1 and increasing your own the more4 ,and so ,jesus strikes in with ,his frequent imperative1 ,give--,give1 and it shall be given unto you2 good measure1 pressed down1 shaken together1 running over1 shall they give into your bosom 7vi4 #ch74 ,and this is the true use of wealth1 its consecration to the needs of humanity4 ,and may we not say that here is its truest pleasure8 ,he who has learned the art of generous giving1 who makes his life one large-hearted benevolence1 living for others and not for himself1 has acquired an art that is beautiful and ,divine1 an art that turns the deserts into gardens of the ,lord1 and that peoples the sky overhead with unseen singing ,ariels4 ,giving and living are heavenly synonyms1 and he who giveth most liveth best4 ,but not from the words of ,jesus alone do we read off the lines of our duty4 ,he is in ,his own ,person a ,polar ,star1 to whom all the meridians of our round life turn1 and from whom they emanate4 ,his life is thus our law1 ,his example our pattern4 ,do we wish to learn what are the duties of children to their parents8 the thirty silent years of ,nazareth speak in answer4 ,they show us how the ,boy ,jesus is in subjection to ,his parents1 giving to them a perfect obedience1 a perfect trust1 and a perfect love4 ,they show us the ,divine ,youth1 still shut in within that narrow circle1 ministering to that circle1 by hard manual toil becoming the stay of that fatherless home4 ,do we wish to learn our duties to the ,state8 ,see how ,jesus walked in a land across which the ,roman eagle had cast its shadow6 ,he did not preach a crusade against the barbarian invaders4 ,he recognized in their presence and power the ordination of ,god--that they had been sent to chastise a lapsed ,israel4 ,and so ,jesus spoke no word of denunciation1 no fiery word1 which might have proved the spark of a revolution4 ,he took ,himself away from the multitudes when they would by force make ,him ,king4 ,he spoke in respectful terms of the powers that were2 ,he even justified the payment of tribute to ,csar1 acknowledging his lordship1 while at the same time ,he spoke of the higher tribute to the great ,over-,lord1 even ,god4 ,when upon ,his trial for life or death1 before a ,roman tribunal1 ,he even stayed to apologize for ,pilate's weakness1 casting the heavier sin back on the hierarchy that had bought ,him and delivered ,him up2 while upon the cross1 amid its untold agonies1 though ,his lips were glued by a fearful thirst1 ,he opened them to breathe a last prayer for ,his ,roman executioners3 ,father1 forgive them2 for they know not what they do4 ,but was ,jesus1 then1 an alien from ,his kinsmen according to the flesh8 ,was patriotism to ,him an unknown force8 ,did ,he know nothing of love of country1 that inspiration which has turned common men into heroes and martyrs1 that love which oceans cannot quench1 nor distance weaken1 which throws an auroral brightness around the most sterile shores1 and which makes the emigrant sick with a strange ,heimweh8 ,did the ,son of man1 the ideal ,man1 know nothing at all of this8 ,he did know it1 and know it well4 ,he identified ,himself thoroughly with ,his people2 ,he placed ,himself under the law1 observing its rites and ceremonies4 ,after the ,childhood-exile in ,egypt1 ,he scarcely passed out of the sacred bounds2 no storms of rough persecution could dislodge the heavenly ,dove1 or send ,him wheeling off from ,his native hills4 ,and if ,he did not preach rebellion1 ,he did preach that righteousness which gives to a nation its truest wealth and widest liberty4 ,he did denounce the ,pharisaic shams1 the hollow hypocrisies1 which had eaten away the nation's heart and strength4 ,and how ,he loved ,jerusalem1 forgetting ,his own triumph in the vision of her humiliation1 and weeping for the desolations which were coming sure and fast6 ,this1 the ,holy ,city1 was the centre to which ,he ever returned1 and to which ,he gave ,his last bequest--,his cross and ,his grave4 ,nay1 when the cross is taken down1 and the grave is vacant1 ,he lingers to give ,his ,apostles their commission2 and when ,he bids them1 ,go ye out into all the world1 ,he adds1 beginning at ,jerusalem4 ,the ,son of man is the ,son of ,david still1 and within ,his deep love for humanity at large was a peculiar love for ,his own1 as the ark itself was enshrined within the ,holy of holies4 ,and so we might traverse the whole ethical domain1 and we should find no duty which is not enforced or suggested by the words or the life of the great ,teacher4 ,as ,dr4 ,dorner says1 ,there is only one morality2 the original of it is in ,god2 the copy of it is in the ,man of ,god4 ,happy is ,he who sees this ,polar ,star1 whose light shines clear and calm above the rush of human years and the ebbs and flows of human life6 ,happier still is he who shapes his course by it1 who reads off all his bearings from its light6 ,he who builds his life after the ,divine model1 reading the ,christ-life into his own1 will build up another city of ,god on earth1 four-square and compact together1 a city of peace1 because a city of righteousness and a city of love4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,eschatology ,,of ,,the ,,gospel4 ,coifi1 in his parable to the thanes and nobles of the ,north ,humber country1 likened the present life of man to the flight of a sparrow through one of their lighted halls1 coming out of the night1 and then disappearing in the dark winter whence it came2 and he asked for ,christianity a candid hearing1 if perhaps she might tell the secrets of the beyond4 ,and so indeed she does1 lighting up the dark winter with a bright1 though a partial apocalypse4 ,it is not our purpose to enter into a general discussion of the subject2 our task is simply to arrest the beams of inspired light hiding within this ,gospel1 and by a sort of spectrum analysis to read from them what they are permitted to reveal4 ,and-- #a4 ,the ,gospel teaches that the grave is not the end of life4 ,it may seem as if we were stating but a truism in saying this2 yet if a truism1 it perhaps has not been allowed its due place in our thought1 and its restatement may not be altogether a superfluous word4 ,we cannot study the life of ,jesus without noticing that ,his views of earth were not the views of men in general4 ,to them this world was everything2 to possess it1 even in some infinitesimal quantity1 was their supreme ambition2 and though in their better1 clearer moments they caught glimpses of worlds other than their own1 yet to their distant vision they were as the twinkling stars of the azure1 far off and cold1 soon losing themselves in the haze of unreality1 or setting in the shadows of the imposing earth4 ,to ,jesus earth was but a fragment of a vaster whole1 a fragment whose substances were but the shadows of higher1 heavenlier realities4 ,nor were these outlying spaces to ,his mind voids of silence1 a dark inane1 without life or thought2 they were peopled with intelligences whose personalities were as distinctly marked as is this human ,ego1 and whose movements1 unweighted by the gyves of flesh1 seemed subtle and swift as thought itself4 ,with one of these worlds ,jesus was perfectly familiar4 ,with heaven1 which was the abode of ,his ,father and innumerable hosts of angels1 ,he was in close and constant correspondence1 and the frequent prayer1 the frequent upward looks tell us how near and how intensely real the heavenly places were to ,him4 ,but in the mind of ,jesus this empyrean of happiness and light had its antipodes of woe and darkness1 a penal realm of fearful shadow1 and which1 borrowing the language of the city1 ,he called the ,gehenna of burning4 ,such were the two invisible realms1 lying away from earth1 yet closely touching it from opposite directions1 and to one or other of which all the paths of human life turned1 to find their goal and their self-chosen destiny4 ,and not only so1 but the transition from the ,seen to the ,unseen was not to ,jesus the abrupt and total change that it seems to man4 ,to us the dividing-line is both dark and broad4 ,it seems to us a transmigration to some new and strange world1 where we must begin life de novo4 ,to ,jesus the line was narrow1 like one of the imaginary meridians of earth1 the here shading off into the hereafter1 while both were but the hemispheres of one round life4 ,and so ,jesus did not often speak of death2 that was too human a word4 ,he preferred the softer names of sleep or exodus1 thus making death the quickener of life1 or likening it to a triumphal march from bondage to liberty4 ,nor was the ,valley of the ,shadow to ,jesus a strange1 unfamiliar place4 ,he knew all its secrets1 all its windings4 ,it was ,his own territory1 where ,his will was supreme4 ,again and again ,he throws a commanding voice across the valley1 a voice which goes reverberating among the heights beyond1 and instantly the departed spirit retraces its steps1 to animate again the cold clay it had forsaken4 ,he is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living1 said ,jesus1 as ,he claimed for ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob an existence altogether apart from the crumbling dust of ,hebron2 and as we see ,moses and ,elias coming to the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 we see that the departed have not so far departed as to take no interest in earthly things1 and as not to hear the strike of earthly hours4 ,and how clearly this is seen in the resurrection life of ,jesus1 with which this ,gospel closes6 ,death and the ,grave have done their worst to ,him1 but how little is that worst6 how insignificant the blank it makes in the ,divine ,life6 ,the few hours in the grave were but a semibreve rest in the music of that ,life2 the ,easter morning struck a fresh bar1 and the music went on1 in the higher spaces1 it is true1 but in the same key and in the same sweet strain4 ,and just so is it with all human life2 the grave is not our goal4 ,conditions and circumstances will of necessity change1 as the mortal puts on immortality1 but the life itself will be one and the same life1 here amid things visible and temporal1 and there amid the invisible and eternal4 #b4 ,the ,gospel shows in what respects the conditions of the after-life will be changed4 ,in chapter xx4 #bg we read how that the ,sadducees came to ,jesus1 tempting ,him4 ,they were the cold materialists of the age1 denying the existence of spirits1 and so denying the resurrection4 ,they put before ,him an extreme1 though not impossible case1 of a woman who had been the wife1 successively1 of seven brethren2 and they ask1 with the ripple of an inward laugh in their question1 ,in the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be8 ,jesus answered1 ,the sons of this world marry1 and are given in marriage3 but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world1 and the resurrection from the dead1 neither marry1 nor are given in marriage3 for neither can they die any more3 for they are equal unto the angels2 and are sons of ,god1 being sons of the resurrection4 ,it will be observed how ,jesus plays with the word around which the ,sadducean mind revolves4 ,to them marriage was a key-word which locked up the gates of an after-life1 and threw back the resurrection among the impossibilities and absurdities4 ,but ,jesus takes up their key-word1 and turning it round and round in ,his speech1 ,he makes it unlock and open the inner soul of these men1 showing how1 in spite of their intellectuality1 the drift of their thoughts was but low and sensual4 ,at the same time ,jesus shows that their test-word is altogether mundane4 ,it is made for earth alone2 for having a nature of flesh and blood1 it cannot enter into the higher kingdom of glory4 ,marriage has its place in the life whose termini are birth and death4 ,it exists mainly for the perpetuation and increase of the human race4 ,it has thus to do with the lower nature of man1 the physical1 the earthly2 but in the world to come birth1 marriage1 death will be outdated1 obsolete terms4 ,man then will be equal unto the angels1 the coarser nature which fitted him for earth being shaken off and left behind1 amongst other mortalities4 ,and exactly the same truth is taught by the three posthumous appearances recorded in this ,gospel4 ,when they appeared upon the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 ,moses and ,elias had been residents of the other world1 the one for nine1 the other for fourteen centuries4 ,but while possessing the form1 and perhaps the features of the old body of earth1 the glorious body they wear now is under conditions and laws altogether different4 ,how easy and arial are its movements6 ,though it possesses no wings1 it has the lightness and buoyancy of a bird1 moving through space swiftly and silently as the light pulses through the ether4 ,or take the body of ,christ's resurrection life4 ,it has not yet become the glorified body of the heavenly life2 it is in its transition state1 between the two2 yet how changed it is6 ,lifted above the needs and laws of our earth-bound nature1 the risen ,christ no longer lives among ,his own2 ,he dwells apart1 where we cannot tell4 ,when ,he does appear ,he comes in upon them suddenly1 giving no warning of ,his approach2 and then1 after the bright though brief apocalypse1 ,he vanishes as mysteriously as ,he came1 passing at the last on the clouds to heaven4 ,there is thus some correspondence between the body of the old and that of the new life1 though how far the resemblance extends we cannot tell2 we can only fall back upon the ,apostle's words1 which to our human ear sound like a paradox1 but which give us our only solution of the enigma1 ,it is raised a spiritual body 7i ,cor4 xv4 #dd74 ,it is no longer the natural body1 but a supernatural one1 with a spiritual instead of a material form1 and under spiritual laws4 ,but taking the ,apostle's words as our base-line1 and measuring from them1 we may throw our lines of sight across the hereafter1 reading at least as much as this1 that whatever may be the pleasures or the pains of the after-life1 they will be of a spiritual1 and not of a physical kind4 ,it is just here that our vision sometimes gets blurred and indistinct1 as all the descriptions of that after-life1 even in ,scripture1 are given in earthly figures4 ,and so we have built up before us a material heaven1 with jasper walls1 and gates of pearl1 and gardens of perennial fruits1 with crowns and other palace delights4 ,but it is evident that these are but the earthly shadows of the heavenly realities1 the darkened glasses of our earthly speech1 which help our dull vision to gaze upon glories which the eye of our mortality hath not seen1 and which its heart cannot conceive1 except dimly1 as a few broken lights pass through the dark lenses of these earthly figures4 ,what new senses may be created we do not know1 but if the body of the after-life is a spiritual body1 then its whole environment must be changed4 ,material substances can no longer affect it1 either to cause pleasure or pain2 and though we may not yet tell in what the delights of the one state1 or the pains of the other will consist1 we do know that they must be something other than literal palms and crowns1 and other than material fires4 ,these figures are but the stammerings of our earthly speech1 as it tries to tell the unutterable4 #c4 ,our ,gospel teaches that character determines destiny4 ,a man's life1 said ,jesus1 when rebuking covetousness 7xii4 #ae71 consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth4 ,these are not life's noblest aim1 nor its truest wealth4 ,they are but the accidents of life1 the particles of floating dust1 caught up by the stream2 they will be left behind soon as the sediment1 if not before1 when they reach the barrier of the grave4 ,a man's possessions do not constitute the true life2 they do not make the real self1 the man4 ,here it is not what a man has1 but what a man is4 ,and a man is just what his heart makes him4 ,the outer life is but the blossoming of the inner soul1 and what we call character1 in its objective meaning1 is but the subtle and silent influence1 the odour1 as we might call it1 fragrant or otherwise1 which the soul unconsciously throws out4 ,and even in this world character is more than circumstance1 for it gives aim and direction to the whole life4 ,men do not always reach their goal in earthly things1 but in the moral world each man goes to his own place1 the place he himself has chosen and sought2 he is the arbiter of his own destiny4 ,and what we find to be a law of earth is the law of the kingdom of heaven1 as ,jesus was constantly affirming4 ,the future life would simply be the present life1 with eternity as its coefficient4 ,destiny itself would be but the harvest of earthly deeds1 the hereafter being only the after-here4 ,jesus shows us how while on earth we may lay up treasures in the heavens1 making for ourselves purses which wax not old1 and thus becoming rich toward ,god4 ,he draws a vivid picture of a certain rich man1 whose one estimate of life was the abundance of the things which he possessed1 the size and affluence of his barns1 and whose soul was required of him just when he was congratulating it on the years of guaranteed plenty1 bidding it1 ,take thine ease1 eat1 drink1 and be merry 7xii4 #af-ab74 ,he does not here trace for us the destiny of such a soul--,he does this in another parable--but ,he pictures it as suddenly torn away1 and eternally separated1 from all it had possessed before1 leaving it1 perhaps1 to be squandered thriftlessly1 or consumed by the fires of lust2 while1 starved and shrivelled1 the pauper soul is driven out from its earthly stewardship1 to find1 alas6 no welcome in the eternal tabernacles4 ,in the appraisement of this world such a man would be deemed wise and happy1 but to ,heaven he is the foolish one1 committing the great1 the eternal folly4 ,the same lesson is taught in the parables of the ,housebuilders 7vi4 #dg7 and of the ,talents 7xix4 #ab74 ,in each there comes the inevitable test1 the down-rush of the flood and the reckoning of the lord1 a test which leaves the obedient secure and happy1 the faithful promoted to honour and rewards1 passed up among the kings2 but the disobedient1 if not entombed in the ruins of their false hopes1 yet all shelterless from the pitiless storm1 and the unfaithful and slothful servant stripped of even the little he had1 passed downwards into dishonour and shame4 ,in another parable1 that of the ,rich ,man and ,lazarus 7xvi4 #ai-ca7 we have a light thrown upon our subject which is at once vivid and lurid4 ,in a few graphic words ,he draws for us the picture of strange contrasts4 ,the one is rich1 dwelling in a palatial residence1 whose imposing gateway looked down upon the vulgar crowd2 clothed in garments of ,tyrian purple and of ,egyptian byssus1 which only great wealth could purchase1 and faring sumptuously every day4 ,so1 with perpetual banquets1 the rich man lived his selfish1 sensual life4 ,with thought all centred upon himself1 and that his lowest self1 he has no thoughts or sympathies to spare for the outlying world4 ,they do not even travel so far as to the poor beggar who is cast daily at his gate1 in hopes that some of the shaken-out crumbs of the banquet may fall within his reach4 ,such is the contrast--the extreme of wealth1 and the extreme of poverty2 the one with troops of friends1 the other friendless--for the verb shows that the hands which laid him down by the rich man's gate were not the gentle hands of affection1 but the rough hands of duty or of a cold charity2 the one clothed in splendid attire1 the other not possessing enough even to cover his sores2 the one gorged to repletion1 the other shrunken and starved2 the one the anonymous ,epicurean1 the other possessing a name indeed1 but nought beside1 but a name that had a ,divinity hidden within it1#f and which was an index to the soul that bore it4 ,such were the two characters ,jesus portrayed2 and then1 lifting up the veil of shadows1 ,he shows how the marked contrast reappears in the after-life1 but with a strange inverting4 ,now the poor man is blessed1 the rich in distress2 the one is enfolded in ,abraham's bosom1 the other enveloped in flames2 the one has all the delights of ,paradise1 the other begs for just a drop of water with which to cool the parched tongue4 #f ,the name ,lazarus is derived from ,el-ezer1 or ,god helps4 ,it may be said that this is simply parable1 set forth in language which must not be taken literally4 ,so it is2 but the parables of ,jesus were not mere word-pictures2 they field in solution essential truth4 ,and when we have eliminated all this figurative colouring there is still left this residuary1 elementary truth1 that character determines destiny3 that we cast into our future the shadow of our present selves2 that the good will be blessed1 and the evil unblessed1 which means accursed2 and that heaven and hell are tremendous realities1 whose pleasures and whose pains lie alike deep beyond the sounding of our weak speech4 ,when the rich man forgot his duties to humanity2 when he banished ,god from his mansion1 and proscribed mercy from his thoughts2 when he left ,heaven's foundling to the dogs1 he was writing out his book of doom1 passing sentence upon himself4 ,the tree lies as it falls1 and it falls as it leans2 and where is there place for the unforgiven1 the unregenerate1 for the sensual and the selfish1 the unjust and the unclean1 but somewhere in the outer darkness they themselves have helped to make8 ,to the sensual and the vile heaven itself would be a hell1 its very joys curdling into pain1 its streets1 thronged with the multitudes of the redeemed1 offering to the guilty and unrenewed soul but a solitude of silence and anguish2 and even were there no final judgment1 no solemn pronouncement of destiny1 the evil could never blend with the good1 the pure with the vile2 they would gravitate1 even as they do now1 in opposite directions1 each seeking its own place4 ,wherever and whatever our final heaven may be1 no one is an outcast but who casts himself out1 a self-immolation1 a suicide4 ,but is it destiny8 it may be asked4 ,may there not be an after-probation1 so that character itself may be transformed8 may not the great gulf itself disappear1 or at last be bridged over1 so that the repentant may pass out of its penal but purifying fires8 ,such1 indeed1 is the belief1 or rather the hope1 of some2 but the larger hope as they are pleased to call it1 as far as this ,gospel is concerned1 is a beautiful but illusive dream4 ,he who was ,himself the ,resurrection and the ,life1 and who holds in ,his own hands the keys of death and of ,hades1 gives no hint of such a posthumous palingenesis4 ,he speaks again and again of a day of test and scrutiny1 when actions will be weighed and characters assayed1 and when men will be judged according to their works4 ,now it is at the coming of the ,son of man1 in the glory of ,his ,father1 and with a retinue of holy angels2 now it is the returning of the lord1 and the reckoning with his servants2 while again it is at the end of the world1 as the angel-reapers separate the wheat from the tares2 or as ,he ,himself1 the great ,judge1 with ,his ,come ye1 passes on the faithful to the heavenly kingdom1 and at the same time1 with ,his ,depart ye1 drives from ,his presence the unfaithful and unforgiven into the outer darkness4 ,nor does ,jesus say one word to suggest that the judgment is not final4 ,the blasphemy against the ,holy ,ghost1 whatever that may mean1 shall not be forgiven 7xii4 #aj71 or1 as ,st4 ,matthew expresses it1 neither in this world1 nor in that which is to come4 ,the unfaithful servant is cut asunder 7xii4 #df72 the enemies who would not have their ,lord to reign over them are slain 7xix4 #bg72 and when once the door is shut it is all in vain that those outside cry1 ,lord1 open to us6 ,they had an open door1 but they slighted and scorned it1 and now they must abide by their choice1 outside the door1 outside the kingdom1 with the workers of iniquity1 where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth 7xiii4 #bh74 ,or if we turn again to the parable of the ,rich ,man1 where is there room for the larger hope8 where is the suggestion that these pains of hell may be lessened2 and ultimately escaped altogether8 ,we listen in vain for one syllable of hope4 ,in vain he makes his appeal to father ,abraham2 in vain he entreats the good offices of ,lazarus2 in vain he asks for a momentary alleviation of his pain1 in the boon of one drop of water3 between him and help1 yea1 between him and hope1 is a great gulf fixed1 444 that none may cross 7xvi4 #bf74 ,that none may cross4 ,such are the words of ,jesus1 though here put in the mouth of ,abraham2 and if finality is not here1 where can we find it8 ,what may be the judgment passed upon those who1 though erring1 are ignorant1 we cannot tell1 though ,jesus plainly indicates that the number of the stripes will vary1 as they knew1 or they did not know1 the ,lord's will2 but for those who had the light1 and turned from it1 who saw the right1 but did it not1 who heard the ,gospel of love1 with its great salvation1 and only rejected it--for these there is only an outer darkness of eternal hopelessness4 ,and what is the outer darkness itself but the darkness of their own inner blindness1 a blindness which was wilful and persistent8 ,our ,gospel thus teaches that death does not alter character1 that character makes destiny1 and that destiny once determined is unalterable and eternal4 ,or1 to put it in the words of the angel to the seer1 ,he that is unrighteous1 let him do unrighteousness still3 and he that is filthy1 let him be made filthy still3 and he that is righteous1 let him do righteousness still3 and he that is holy1 let him be made holy still 7,rev4 xxii4 #aa74 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,watch ,,in ,,gethsemane4 ,hitherto the life of ,jesus has been comparatively free from sorrow and from pain4 ,with the exception of the narrow strip of wilderness which fell between the ,baptism and ,his inaugural miracle1 the ,divine ,life has lain for the most part in the sunshine1 above the fret and fever of anxious thought and care4 ,true1 ,he had enemies1 whose hatred was persistent and virulent2 the shafts of calumny fell around ,him in one steady rain2 ,his motives were constantly misconstrued1 ,his words misunderstood2 but with all this ,his life was peace4 ,how could ,he have spoken of rest of soul1 and have promised it to the weary and heavy-laden1 if ,he ,himself were a stranger to its experience8 ,how could ,he have awoke such songs and shouts of gladness1 or have strewn the lives of men with such unusual brightness1 without having that brightness and music coming back in reflections and echoes within ,his own heart--that heart which was the fontal source of their new-found joys8 ,and if many doubted1 or even hated ,him1 there were many who admired and feared1 and not a few who loved and adored ,him1 and who were glad to place at ,his disposal their entire substance1 nay1 their entire selves4 ,but if ,his anointing thus far has been the anointing of gladness1 there is a baptism of sorrow and anguish prepared for ,him1 and to that ordeal ,he now proceeds1 first girding up ,his soul with the music of a thanksgiving psalm4 ,let us1 too1 arise and follow ,him2 but taking off our shoes1 let us step softly and reverently into the mystery of the ,divine sorrow2 for though we must ever stand back from that mystery more than a stone's cast1 perhaps1 if we keep mind and heart awake and alert1 we may read something of its deep meaning4 ,the whole scene of ,gethsemane is unique4 ,like the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 the ,garden of the ,agony stands apart from all other paths1 in a profound isolation4 ,and in more senses than this these two august scenes are related and coincident4 ,indeed1 we cannot fully understand the mystery of the ,garden but as we allow the mystery of the ,mount to explain it1 in part at least1 so threading the light of the one into the darkness of the other4 ,on the ,mount of ,transfiguration the ,divine ,life1 as we have seen1 reached its culminating point1 its perihelion as we may call it1 where it touched the very heavens for one brief night1 passing through its out-streaming glories and crossing the paths of celestials4 ,in ,gethsemane we have the antipodal fact2 we see the ,divine ,life in its far aphelion1 where it touches hell itself1 moving round in an awful gloom1 and crossing the paths of the powers of darkness4 ,and so our best outlook into ,gethsemane is not from the ,mount of ,olives--though the two names are related1 as the two places are adjacent1 ,gethsemane lying at the foot of ,olivet--but from that more distant ,mount of ,transfiguration4 ,leaving the guest-chamber1 where a ,passover of a new order has been instituted1 and the cup1 with its fruit of the vine1 has received a higher consecration1 ,jesus leads the broken band down the stairs1 which still vibrate with the heavy tread of the traitor1 and in the still1 full moonlight they pass out of the city1 the gates being open because of the ,passover4 ,descending the steep ravine1 and crossing the brook ,kedron1 they enter the enclosure of ,gethsemane4 ,both ,st4 ,luke and ,st4 ,john tell us that ,he was accustomed to resort thither--for1 strangely enough1 we do not read of ,jesus spending so much as one night within the city walls--and so probably the garden belonged to one of ,his adherents1 possibly to ,st4 ,mark4 ,bidding the eight remain near the entrance1 and exhorting them to pray that they enter not into1 or1 as it means here1 that they yield not to1 the temptation which is shortly to come upon them1 ,jesus takes ,peter1 ,james1 and ,john farther into the garden4 ,they were witnesses of ,his ,transfiguration1 when ,his face shone like the sun1 and the spirits of the perfected came to do ,him homage2 they must now see a transfiguration of sorrow1 as that face is furrowed by the sharp lines of pain1 and half-masked by a veil of blood4 ,from the narratives of ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark it would appear as if ,jesus now experienced a sudden change of feeling4 ,in the guest-chamber ,he was calmly confident2 and though we may detect in ,his words and symbolic acts a certain undertone of sadness1 the salutation of one about to die1 yet there was no tremor1 no fear4 ,he spoke of ,his own death1 which now was near at hand1 as calmly as if the ,mount of ,sacrifice were but another mountain of spices2 while to ,his disciples ,he spoke words of cheer and hope1 putting around their hearts a soothing1 healing balm1 even before the dreadful wound is made4 ,but now all this is changed3 ,he began to be greatly amazed and sore troubled 7,st4 ,mark xiv4 #cc74 ,the word we here render amazed1 as ,st4 ,mark uses it1 has sometimes the element of fear within it1 as when the women were amazed1 or affrighted1 by the vision of the angels 7xvi4 #e72 and such1 we are inclined to think1 is its meaning here4 ,it was not so much wonder as it was trepidation1 and a certain dread1 which now fell of a sudden upon the ,master4 ,over that pure soul1 which ever lay calm and serene as the bright heaven which stooped to embrace it1 has broken a storm of conflicting winds1 and dense1 murky clouds1 and all is disquiet and distress1 where before was nothing but peace4 ,my soul is exceeding sorrowful1 even unto death2 such is the strange confession of tremulous lips1 as for once ,he opens the infinite depths of ,his heart1 and shows the mortal grief which has suddenly fallen there4 ,it is the first contact of the eclipse1 as between ,himself and the ,father's smile another world is passing1 the world of the outer darkness1 even hell1 throwing down upon ,his soul a chilling1 awful shadow4 ,jesus understands its meaning4 ,it is the signal for the final battle1 the shadow of the prince of this world1 who1 rallying all his forces1 cometh to find nothing in ,me4 ,jesus accepts the challenge1 and that ,he may meet the enemy single-handed1 with no earthly supports1 ,he bids the three1 ,abide ye here1 and watch with ,me4 ,with ,me1 and not for ,me2 for what could avail to ,him the vigilance of human eyes amid this felt darkness of the soul8 ,it was not for ,himself ,he bade them watch1 but for themselves1 that waking and praying they might gain a strength which would be proof against temptation1 the test which would be keenly severe1 and which now was close at hand4 ,and ,he was parted from them about a stone's cast4 ,the verb implies a measure of constraint1 as if1 in the conflict of emotion1 the longing for some human presence and human sympathy held ,him back4 ,and why not8 ,is not the very presence of a friend a solace in grief1 even if no words are spoken8 and does not the aloneness of a sorrow make the sorrow tenfold more bitter8 ,not like the stricken deer that left the herd1 the human heart1 when wounded or sore pressed1 yearns for sympathy1 finding in the silent look or in the touch of a hand a grateful anodyne4 ,but this wine-press ,he must tread alone1 and of the people there must be none with ,him2 and so the three who are most favoured and most beloved are left back at a stone's cast from the physical suffering of ,christ1 while from ,his heart-agony they must stand back at an infinite distance4 ,it was while ,jesus was praying upon the holy mount that the heavens were opened unto ,him2 and now1 as another cloud envelopes ,him1 not of glory1 but of a thick darkness1 it finds ,him in the same attitude of prayer4 ,he at whose feet sinful man had knelt1 all unrebuked1 ,himself now kneels1 as ,he sends to heaven the earnest and almost bitter cry1 ,o ,my ,father1 if it be possible1 let this cup pass from ,me6 ,the three ,evangelists differ in their wording of the ,saviour's petition1 showing that the spirit is more than the letter of prayer2 that ,heaven thinks more of the inner thought than of the outward drapery of words2 but the thought of the three is identical1 while all make prominent the central figure of the cup4 ,the cups of ,scripture are of divers patterns and of varied meanings4 ,there was the cup of blessing1 like that of the ,psalmist 7,psalm xxiii4 #e71 filled to the brim and running over with mercy4 ,there was the cup of salvation1 that sacrament of the ,old ,testament which kept in memory one deliverance1 that of ,israel1 while it prophesied of another1 the great salvation which was to come4 ,what1 then1 was the cup ,jesus so feared to drink1 and which ,he asked1 so earnestly and repeatedly1 that it might pass from ,him8 ,was it the fear of death8 ,certainly not2 for how could ,he be afraid of death1 who had so triumphed over it1 and who had proclaimed ,himself the ,resurrection and the ,life8 ,how could ,he fear death1 when ,he knew so well the seraph face that smiled beneath the frowning mask1 and knew that it would end for ever all ,his sufferings and ,his pain8 ,death to ,him was a familiar thought4 ,he spoke of it freely1 not either with the hard indifference of the ,stoic1 or with the palsied speech of one whose lips shake with an inward fear1 but in calm1 sweet accents1 as any child of earth might speak of going home4 ,was this cup1 then1 the death itself8 and when ,he asked that it might pass away1 was ,he suggesting that possibly some mode of atonement might be found other than the cross8 ,we think not4 ,jesus knew full well that ,his earthly life would have1 and could have1 but one issue4 ,death would be its goal1 as it was its object4 ,whether1 as ,holman ,hunt represents1 the cross threw its shadow back as far as the shop at ,nazareth1 we do not know1 for the record is silent4 ,but we do know that the shadow of death lay across the whole of ,his public life1 for we find it appearing in ,his words4 ,the cross was a dark and vivid certainty that ,he wished neither to forget nor to evade1 for must not the ,son of man be lifted up1 that ,he may draw all men to ,himself8 ,must not the corn of wheat be hidden in its grave before it can become fruitful1 throwing itself forward down the years in hundredfold multiplications8 ,yes2 death to ,jesus is the inevitable1 and long before the ,roman soldiers have pieced together the transverse beams ,jesus had made ,his cross1 fashioning it in ,his thought1 and hiding it in ,his words4 ,nay1 ,he has this very night instituted a new sacrament1 in which1 for all generations1 the broken bread shall be the emblem of ,his bruised and broken body1 and the wine1 of ,his blood1 the blood of the ,new ,testament1 which is shed for man4 ,and does ,jesus now seek1 by reiterated prayers1 to shift that cross from the ,divine purpose1 substituting in its place something less painful1 less cruel8 does ,he seek now to annul ,his own predictions1 and to make ,his own sacrament void and meaningless8 ,this cannot be2 and so1 whatever the cup may mean1 we cannot take it as a synonym for ,his death4 ,what1 then1 is its meaning8 ,the ,psalmist had long before sung-- ,for in the hand of the ,lord there is a cup1 and the wine foameth2 ,it is full of mixture1 and ,he poureth out of the same3 ,surely the dregs thereof1 all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out1 and drink them 7,psalm lxxv4 #h72 while ,st4 ,john1 speaking of the last woes 7,rev4 xiv4 #aj71 tells how they who have the mark of the beast upon their foreheads shall drink of the wine of the wrath of ,god1 which is prepared unmixed in the cup of ,his anger4 ,here1 then1 is the cup which now is set before the ,son of man1 the very touch of which fills ,his soul with unutterable dread4 ,it is the cup of ,god's anger1 filled to the brim with its strange red wine1 the wine of ,his wrath4 ,jesus comes to earth as the ,representative ,man1 the ,second ,adam1 in whom all shall be made alive4 ,he voluntarily assumes the place of the transgressor1 as ,st4 ,paul writes 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ba71 ,him who knew no sin ,he made to be sin on our behalf2 that we might become the righteousness of ,god in ,him1 a passage which corresponds exactly with the prophetic idea of substitution1 as given by ,isaiah 7liii4 #e71 ,he was wounded for our transgressions1 ,he was bruised for our iniquities3 the chastisement of our peace was upon ,him2 and with ,his stripes we are healed4 ,and so the iniquity of us all was laid on ,him1 the ,holy ,one4 ,in ,his own ,person ,he must feel1 in its concentrated forms1 the smart and consequence of sin2 and as ,his physical sufferings are the extremest pain even sin can produce1 so ,jesus must suffer1 too1 all the mental anguish1 the agony of a soul bereft of ,god4 ,and as ,jesus1 on the ,transfiguration mount1 passed up to the very gate of heaven1 so lighting up with splendour and glory the lost path of unfallen man1 so now1 in the ,garden1 ,jesus tracks the path of fallen man1 right on to its fearful consummation1 which is the outer darkness of hell itself4 ,this vivid consciousness has been graciously withheld from ,him hitherto2 for the terrible pressure would simply have unfitted ,him for ,his ministry of blessing2 for how could ,he have been the kindly ,light1 leading humanity homeward1 heavenward1 if that ,light ,himself were hidden in encircling gloom1 and lost in a felt darkness8 ,but ere ,his mission is complete this is an experience that ,he must know4 ,identifying ,himself with sin1 ,he must feel its very farthest consequence1 the awful solitude1 and the unutterable anguish1 of a soul now bereft of hope and forsaken of ,god4 ,in the heathen fable ,orpheus goes down1 lyre in hand1 to the ,plutonic realm1 to bring back again to life and love the lost ,eurydice2 but ,jesus1 in ,his vicarious sufferings1 goes down to hell itself1 that ,he may win back from their sins1 and bear in triumph to the upper heavens1 a lost humanity4 ,rising from the ground1 and going back to ,his three disciples1 ,he finds them asleep4 ,the ,synoptists all seek to explain1 and to apologize for1 their unnatural slumber1 ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark telling us that their eyes were heavy1 while ,st4 ,luke states that their sleep was the result of their grief2 for1 happily1 in the wonderful compensations of nature1 intense grief does tend to induce somnolence4 ,but while the ,evangelists refer their slumber to natural causes1 might there not be something more in it1 some supernatural element8 ,sleep can be caused by natural means1 and yet be an unnatural sleep1 as when narcotics benumb the senses1 or some mesmeric spell muffles the speech1 and makes the soul for a time unconscious4 ,and might it not have been some invisible touch which made their eyes so heavy8 for it is an exact repetition of their attitude when on the holy mount1 and in that sleep sorrow certainly had no part4 ,when ,st4 ,john saw the vision upon ,patmos1 he fell at ,his feet as one dead2 and when ,saul beheld the light1 near ,damascus1 he fell to the ground4 ,and how often we find the celestial vision connected with a trance-like state6 and why may not the trance be an effect of the vision1 just as well as its cause1 or rather its circumstance8 ,at any rate1 the fact is plain1 that supernatural visions tend to lock up the natural senses1 the veil which is uplifted before the unseen world being wrapped around the eyes and the soul of the seer4 ,and this1 we are inclined to think1 was a possible1 partial cause for the slumber upon the mount and in the garden1 a sleep which1 under the circumstances1 was strangely unnatural and almost unpardonable4 ,addressing ,himself directly to ,peter1 who had promised to follow ,his ,lord unto death1 but whose heart now strangely lagged behind1 and calling him by his earlier name--for ,jesus only once made use of the name ,he ,himself had chosen2 the ,rock was at present in a state of flux1 and had not yet settled down to its petrine character--,he said1 ,what1 ,simon1 could ye not watch with ,me one hour8 ,watch and pray1 that ye enter not into temptation4 ,then1 for a moment forgetting ,his own sorrow1 and putting ,himself in their place1 ,he makes the apology for them which their lips are afraid to utter3 ,the spirit indeed is willing1 but the flesh is weak2 so compassionate is ,he over human weakness and infirmity1 even while ,he is severity itself towards falsity and sin4 ,st4 ,luke records the narrative only in a condensed form1 giving us the salient points1 but not entering so fully into detail4 ,it is from ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark that we learn how ,jesus went back a second time1 and falling prostrate on the ground1 prayed still in the self-same words1 and how ,he returned to ,his disciples to find them again asleep2 even the reproof of the ,master has not been able to counterbalance the pressure of the supernatural heaviness4 ,no word is spoken this time--at any rate the ,evangelists have not repeated them for us--but how eloquent would be that look of disappointment and of grief6 and how that rebuke would fall burning hot upon their heart1 focussed in the lenses of ,his sad and tearful eyes6 ,but the three are dazed1 bewildered1 and for once the ready tongue of ,peter is speechless2 they wist not what to answer ,him 7,mark xiv4 #dj74 ,not yet1 however1 is the conflict ended4 ,three times did the tempter come to ,him in the wilderness1 and three times is the fierce battle to be waged in the garden1 the last the sorest4 ,it would almost seem as if the three assaults were descending steps of sorrow1 each marking some lower deep in the dark mystery2 for now the death-sorrow becomes an agony of spirit1 a pressure from within so fearful as to arrest the flow of blood1 forcing it through the opened pores in an awful sweat1 until great drops1 or clots1 of blood gathered upon ,his face1 and then fell to the ground4 ,could there be possibly1 even for the lost1 an anguish more intense8 and was not ,jesus then1 as man's ,surety1 wringing out and drinking the very last dregs of that cup of ,his anger which the wicked of the earth1 if unredeemed1 had been doomed to drink8 ,verily ,he was1 and the bloody sweat was a part1 an earnest1 of our atonement1 sprinkling with its redemptive virtues the very ground which was cursed for man's sake 7,gen4 iii4 #ag74 ,it was the pledge and the foregathered fruit of a death already virtually accomplished1 in the absolute surrender of the ,divine ,son as man's sacrifice4 ,and so the thrice-uttered prayer of ,jesus1 even though ,he prayed the more earnestly1 was not granted4 ,it was heard1 and it was answered1 but not in the specific way of the request4 ,like ,paul's prayer for the removal of the thorn1 and which1 though not granted1 was yet answered in the promise of the sufficient grace1 so now the thrice-uttered prayer of ,jesus does not remove the cup4 ,it is there1 and it is there for ,him to drink1 as ,he tastes for man both of the earthly death and of the bitterness of the after1 the second death4 ,but the answer came in the strengthening of ,his soul1 and in the heavenly greetings the angel brought down to ,him when the conflict was over4 ,but in this reiterated prayer for the removal of the cup there was no conflict between ,himself and the ,father4 ,the request itself was enveloped in submission1 the contingent if which preceded it1 and the not ,my win1 but ,thine1 which followed1 completely enclosing it4 ,the will of ,jesus was ever adjusted to the will of the ,father1 working within it in an absolute precision1 with no momentary breaks4 ,but here the if implies uncertainty1 doubt4 ,even ,jesus is not quite sure as to what1 in the special case1 the ,father's will may involve1 and so1 while ,he asks for the removal of the cup1 this is the smaller request1 inlaid within the larger1 deeper prayer1 that not ,my will1 but ,thine1 be done4 ,jesus did not seek to bend the ,father's will1 and make it conform to ,his desires1 but ,he sought1 whatever might be the cost1 to configure ,his desires to that all-wise and all-loving ,will4 ,so in our smaller lives there may be hours of distress and uncertainty4 ,we may see1 mingled for us1 cups of sorrow1 loss1 or pain1 which we fear to drink1 and the shrinking flesh may seek to be exempted from the ordeal2 but let us not too hastily ask that they may be put away1 for fear we may dismiss some cup of blessing from our life4 ,let us seek rather for a perfect submission to the will of ,god1 conforming all our desires and all our prayers to that will4 ,so in that perfect acquiescence there will be for us a perfect rest4 ,gethsemane itself will become bright and all musical with songs1 and where the powers of darkness mocked us ,heaven's angels will come1 with their sweet ministry4 ,nay1 the cup of sorrow and of pain1 at which we trembled before1 if we see how ,god's will has wrought and filled it1 and we embrace that will1 the cup of sorrow will be a transfigured cup1 a golden chalice of the ,king1 all filled to the brim1 and running over1 with the new wine of the kingdom4 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,passion4 ,,luke xxii4 #dg-xxiii4 ,while ,jesus kept ,his sad watch in ,gethsemane1 treading the winepress alone1 ,his enemies kept theirs in the city4 ,the step of ,judas1 as he passed out into the night1 went verberating within the house of the high priest1 and onwards into the palace of ,pilate himself1 awaking a thousand echoes1 as swift messengers flew hither and thither1 bearing the hurried summons1 calling the rulers and elders from their repose1 and marshalling the ,roman cohort4 ,hitherto the powers of darkness have been restrained1 and though they have1 again and again1 attempted the life of ,jesus1 as if some occult spell were upon them1 they could not accomplish their purpose4 ,far back in the ,infancy ,herod had sought to kill ,him2 but though his cold steel reaped a bloody swath in ,ramah1 it could not touch the ,divine ,child4 ,the men of ,nazareth had sought to hurl ,him down the sheer precipice1 but ,he escaped2 ,jesus had not come into the world to die at ,nazareth1 thrown off1 as by an accident1 from a ,galilean cliff4 ,he had come to accomplish ,his decease1 as the celestials put it upon the mount1 at ,jerusalem1 and that too1 as ,he indicated plainly and frequently in ,his speech1 upon a cross4 ,now1 however1 the hour of darkness has struck1 and the fulness of the time has come4 ,the cross and the ,victim both are ready1 and ,heaven itself consents to the great sacrifice4 ,strangely enough1 the first overture of the ,passion music is by one of the twelve--as our ,evangelist names him1 ,judas who was called ,iscariot1 being of the number of the twelve 7xxii4 #c74 ,it will be observed that ,st4 ,luke puts a parenthesis of forty verses between the actual betrayal and its preliminary stages1 so throwing the conception of the plot back to an earlier date than the eve of the ,last ,supper1 and the subsequent narrative is best read in the light of its programme4 ,at first sight it would appear as if the part of the betrayer were superfluous1 seeing that ,jesus came almost daily into the ,temple1 where ,he spoke openly1 without either reserve or fear4 ,what need could there be for any intermediary to come between the chief priests and the ,victim of their hate8 ,was not ,his person familiar to all the ,temple officials8 and could they not apprehend ,him almost at any hour8 ,yes1 but one thing stood in the way1 and that was the fear of the people4 ,jesus evidently had an influential following2 the popular sympathies were on ,his side2 and had the attack been made upon ,him during the day1 in the thronged streets of the city or in the ,temple courts1 there would have been1 almost to a certainty1 a popular rising on ,his behalf4 ,the arrest must be made in the absence of the multitude 7xxii4 #f71 which means that they must fall upon ,him in one of ,his quiet hours1 and in one of ,his quiet retreats2 it must be a night attack1 when the multitudes are asleep4 ,here1 then1 is room for the betrayer1 who comes at the opportune moment1 and offers himself for the despicable task1 a task which has made the name of ,judas a synonym for all that is treacherous and vile4 ,how the base thought could ever have come into the mind of ,judas it were hard to tell1 but it certainly was not sprung upon him as a surprise4 ,but men lean in the direction of their weakness1 and when they fall it is generally on their weakest side1 the side on which temptation is the strongest4 ,it was so here4 ,st4 ,john writes him down in a single sentence3 ,he was a thief1 and having the bag1 took away what was put therein 7,john xii4 #f74 ,his ruling passion was the love of money1 and in the delirium of this fever his hot hands dashed to the ground and broke in pieces the tables of law and equity alike1 striking at all the moralities4 ,and between robbing his ,master and betraying ,him there was no great distance to traverse1 especially when conscience lay in a numb stupor1 drugged by opiates1 these tinctures of silver4 ,here1 then1 is a betrayer ready to their hand4 ,he knows what hour is best1 and how to conduct them to ,his secret retreats4 ,and so ,judas communed with the chief priests and captains1 or he talked it over with them as the word means1 the secret conference ending in a bargain1 as they covenanted to give him money 7xxii4 #e74 ,it was a hard and fast bargain2 for the word covenanted has about it a metallic ring1 and opening it out1 it lets us see the wordy chaffering1 as ,judas abates his price to the offer of the high priests1 the thirty pieces of silver1 which was the market price of an ordinary slave4 ,not that ,judas intended to be a participator in ,his death1 as the sequel of his remorse shows4 ,he probably thought and hoped that his ,master would escape1 slipping through the meshes they so cunningly had thrown about ,him2 but having done his part of the covenant1 his reward would be sure1 for the thirty pieces were already in his possession4 ,ah1 he little dreamed how far-reaching his action would be6 ,that silver key of his would set in motion the ponderous wheel which would not stop until his ,master was its ,victim1 lying all crushed and bleeding beneath it6 ,he only discovered his mistake when1 alas6 it was too late for remedy4 ,gladly would he have given back his thirty pieces1 ay1 and thirty times thirty1 to have called back his treacherous ,hail1 but he could not4 ,that ,hail1 ,master1 had gone beyond his recall1 reverberating down the ages and up among the stars1 while even its echoes1 as they came back to him in painful memories1 threw him out of the world an unloved and guilty suicide6 ,what with the cunning of the high priests and the cold calculations of ,judas1 whose mind was practised in weighing chances and providing for contingences1 the plot is laid deeply and well4 ,no detail is omitted3 the band of soldiers1 who shall put the stamp of officialism upon the procedure1 while at the same time they cower the populace and repress any attempt at rescue2 the swords and staves1 should they have to resort to force2 the lanterns and torches1 with which to light up the dark hiding-places of the garden2 the cords or chains1 with which to bind their ,prisoner2 the kiss1 which should be at once the sign of recognition and the signal for the arrest1 all are prearranged and provided2 while out of sight the high priests are keeping their midnight watch1 ready for the mock trial1 for which the suborned witnesses are even now rehearsing their parts4 ,could worldly prudence or malicious skill go farther8 ,stealthily as the leopard approaches its victim1 the motley crowd enter the garden1 coming with muffled steps to take and lead away the ,lamb of ,god4 ,only the glimmer of their torches gave notice of their approach1 and even these burned dull in the intense moonlight4 ,but ,jesus needed no audible or visible warning1 for ,he ,himself knew just how events were drifting1 reading the near future as plainly as the near past2 and before they have come in sight ,he has awoke the three sleeping sentinels with a word which will effectually drive slumber from their eyelids3 ,arise1 let us be going3 behold1 he is at hand that betrayeth ,me 7,matt4 xxvi4 #df74 ,it will be seen from this that ,jesus could easily have eluded ,his pursuers had ,he cared to do so4 ,even without any appeal to ,his supernatural powers1 ,he could have withdrawn ,himself under cover of the night1 and have left the human sleuth-hounds foiled of their prey and vainly baying at the moon4 ,but instead of this1 ,he makes no attempt at flight4 ,he even seeks the glades of ,gethsemane1 when by simply going elsewhere ,he might have disconcerted their plot and brought their counsel to nought4 ,and now ,he yields ,himself up to ,his death1 not passively merely1 but with the entire and active concurrence of ,his will4 ,he offered ,himself1 as the writer of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews expresses it 7,heb4 ix4 #ad71 a free-will ,offering1 a voluntary ,sacrifice4 ,he could1 as ,he ,himself said1 have called legions of angels to ,his help2 but ,he would not give the signal1 though it were no more than one uplifted look4 ,and so ,he does not refuse even the kiss of treachery2 ,he suffers the hot lips of the traitor to burn ,his cheeks2 and when others would have shaken off the viper into the fire1 or have crushed it with the heel of a righteous indignation1 ,jesus receives patiently the stamp of infamy1 ,his only word being a question of surprise1 not at the treachery itself1 but at its mode3 ,betrayest thou the ,son of man with a kiss8 ,and when for the moment1 as ,st4 ,john tells us1 a strange awe fell upon the multitude1 and they went backward and fell to the ground1 ,jesus1 as it were1 called in the outshining glories1 masking them with the tired and blood-stained humanity that ,he wore1 so stilling the tremor that was upon ,his enemies1 as ,he nerved the very hands that should take ,him4 ,and again1 when they do bind ,him1 ,he offers no resistance2 but when ,peter's quick sword flashes from its scabbard1 and takes off the right ear of ,malchus1 the servant of the high priest1 and so one of the leaders in the arrest1 ,jesus asks for the use of ,his manacled hand--for so we read the ,suffer ye thus far--and touching the ear1 heals it at once4 ,he ,himself is willing to be wounded even unto death1 but ,his alone must be the wounds4 ,his enemies must not share ,his pain1 nor must ,his disciples pass with ,him into this temple of ,his sufferings2 and ,he even stays to ask for them a free parole3 ,let these go their way4 ,but while for the disciples ,jesus has but words of tender rebuke or of prayer1 while for ,malchus ,he has a word and a touch of mercy1 and while even for ,judas ,he has an endearing epithet1 friend1 for the chief priests1 captains1 and elders ,he has severer words4 ,they are the ringleaders1 the plotters4 ,all this commotion1 this needless parade of hostile strength1 these superfluous insults are but the foaming of their rabid frenzy1 the blossoming of their malicious hate2 and turning to them as they stand gloating in their supercilious scorn1 ,he asks1 ,are ye come out1 as against a robber1 with swords and staves8 ,when ,i was daily with you in the ,temple1 ye stretched not forth your hands against ,me3 but this is your hour1 and the power of darkness4 ,true words1 for they who should have been priests of ,heaven are in league with hell1 willing ministers of the powers of darkness4 ,and this was indeed their hour1 but the hour of their victory would prove the hour of their doom4 ,st4 ,luke1 as do the other ,synoptists1 omits the preliminary trial before ,annas1 the ex-high priest 7,john xviii4 #ac71 and leads us direct to the palace of ,caiaphas1 whither they conduct ,jesus bound4 ,instead1 however1 of pursuing the main narrative1 he lingers to gather up the side-lights of the palace-yard1 as they cast a lurid light upon the character of ,simon4 ,some time before1 ,jesus had forewarned him of a coming ordeal1 and which ,he called a ,satanic sifting2 while only a few hours ago ,he had prophesied that this night1 before the cock should crow twice1 ,peter would thrice deny ,him--a singular prediction1 and one which at the time seemed most unlikely1 but which proved true to the very letter4 ,after the encounter in the garden1 ,peter retires from our sight for awhile2 but his flight was neither far nor long1 for as the procession moves up towards the city ,peter and ,john follow it as a rear-guard1 on to the house of ,annas1 and now to the house of ,caiaphas4 ,we need not repeat the details of the story--how ,john passed him through the door into the inner court1 and how he sat1 or stood1 as ,st4 ,john puts it1 by the charcoal fire1 warming himself with the officers and servants4 ,the differing verbs only show the restlessness of the man1 which was a life-long characteristic of ,peter1 but which would be doubly accentuated here1 with suspecting eyes focussed upon him4 ,indeed1 in the whole scene of the courtyard1 as sketched for us in the varying but not discordant narratives of the ,evangelists1 we may detect the vibrations of constant movement and the ripple-marks of intense excitement4 ,when challenged the first time1 by the maid who kept the door1 ,peter answered with a sharp1 blunt negative3 he was not a disciple2 he did not even know ,him4 ,at the second challenge1 by another maid1 he replied with an absolute denial1 but added to his denial the confirmation of an oath4 ,at the third challenge1 by one of the men standing near1 he denied as before1 but added to his denial both an oath and an anathema4 ,it is rather unfortunate that our version renders it 7,matt4 xxvi4 #gd2 ,mark xiv4 #ga71 ,he began to curse and to swear2 for these words have a peculiarly ill savour1 a taste of ,billingsgate1 which the original words have not4 ,to our ear1 to curse and to swear are the accomplishments of a loose and a foul tongue1 which throws out its fires of passion in profanity1 or in coarse obscenities1 as it revels in immoralities of speech4 ,the words in the ,new ,testament1 however1 have a meaning altogether different4 ,here to swear means to take an oath1 as in our courts of law1 or rather to make an affirmation4 ,even ,god ,himself is spoken of as swearing1 as in the song of ,zacharias 7i4 #gc71 where ,he is said to have remembered ,his holy covenant1 the oath which ,he sware unto ,abraham our father4 ,indeed1 this form of speech1 the oath or affirmation1 had come into too general use1 as we may see from the paragraph upon oaths in the ,sermon on the ,mount 7,matt4 v4 #cc-cg74 ,jesus here condemned it1 it is true1 for to ,him who was ,truth itself our word should be as our bond2 but ,his reference to it shows how prevalent the custom was1 even amongst strict legalists and moralists4 ,when1 then1 ,peter swore1 it does not mean that he suddenly became profane1 but simply that he backed up his denial with a solemn affirmation4 ,so1 too1 with the word curse2 it has not our modern meaning4 ,literally rendered1 it would be1 ,he put himself under an anathema1 which anathema was the bond or penalty he was willing to pay if his words should not be true4 ,in ,acts xxiii4 #ab we have the cognate word1 where the anathema was1 ,they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed ,paul4 ,the curse thus was nothing immoral in itself2 it was a form of speech even the purest might use1 a sort of underlined affirmation4 ,but though the language of ,peter was neither profane nor foul1 though in his oath and in his curse there is nothing for which the purest taste need apologize1 yet here was his sin1 his grievous sin3 he made use of the oath and the curse to back up a deliberate and cowardly lie1 even as men to-day will kiss the book to make ,god's ,word of truth a cover for perjury4 ,how shall we explain the sad fall of this captain-disciple1 who was first and foremost of the ,twelve8 ,were these denials but the wild and wandering cries of some delirium8 ,we find that ,peter's lips did sometimes throw off unreasoning and untimely words1 speaking like one in a dream1 as he proposed the three tabernacles on the mount1 not knowing what he said4 ,but this is no delirium1 no ecstasy2 his mind is clear as the sky overhead1 his thought bright and sharp as was his sword just now4 ,no1 it was not a failure in the reason2 it was a sadder failure in the heart4 ,of physical courage ,simon had an abundance1 but he was somewhat deficient in moral courage4 ,his surname ,peter was as yet but a forename1 a prophecy2 for the rock-granite was yet in a state of flux1 pliant1 somewhat wavering1 and too easily impressed4 ,it must be dipped in baths of hissing tears ere it hardens into the foundation-rock for the new temple4 ,in the garden he was too ready1 too brave4 ,shall we smite with the sword8 he asked1 matching the we1 which numbered two swords1 against a whole ,roman cohort2 but that was in the presence of his ,master1 and in the consciousness of strength which that ,presence gave4 ,it is different now4 ,his ,master is ,himself a bound and helpless ,prisoner4 ,his own sword is taken from him1 or1 which is the same thing1 it is ordered to its sheath4 ,the bright dream of temporal sovereignty1 which like a beautiful mirage had played on the horizon of his thought1 had suddenly faded1 withdrawing itself into the darkness4 ,simon is disappointed1 perplexed1 bewildered1 and with hopes shattered1 faith stunned1 and love itself in a momentary conflict with self-love1 he loses heart and becomes demoralized1 his better nature falling to pieces like a routed army4 ,such were the conditions of ,peter's denial1 the strain and pressure under which his courage and his faith gave way1 and almost before he knew it he had thrice denied his ,lord1 tossing away the ,christ he would die for on his cold1 impetuous words1 as1 with a tinge of disrespect in his tone and word1 he called ,him the ,man4 ,but hardly had the denial been made and the anathema been said when suddenly the cock crew4 ,it was but the familiar call of an unwitting bird1 but it smote upon ,peter's ear like a near clap of thunder2 it brought to his mind those words of his ,master1 which he had thought were uncertain parable1 but which he finds now were certain prophecy1 and thus let in a rush of sweet1 old-time memories4 ,conscience-stricken1 and with a load of terrible guilt pressing upon his soul1 he looks up timidly towards the ,lord he has forsworn4 ,will ,he deny him1 on one of ,his bitter woes casting him down to the ,gehenna he deserves8 ,no2 ,jesus looks upon ,peter2 nay1 ,he even turns round toward him1 that ,he may look2 and as ,peter saw that look1 the face all streaked with blood and lined with an unutterable anguish1 when he felt that glance fixed upon him of an upbraiding but a pitying and forgiving love1 that look of ,jesus pierced the inmost soul of the denying1 agnostic disciple1 breaking up the fountains of his heart1 and sending him out to weep bitterly4 ,that look was the supreme moment in ,peter's life4 ,it forgave1 while it rebuked him2 it passed through his nature like refining fire1 burning out what was weak1 and selfish and sordid1 and transforming ,simon1 the boaster1 the man of words1 into ,peter1 the man of deeds1 the man of rock4 ,but if in the outer court truth is thrown to the winds1 within the palace justice herself is parodied4 ,it would seem as if the first interview of ,caiaphas with ,jesus were private1 or in the presence at most of a few personal attendants4 ,but at this meeting1 as the ,high ,priest of the ,new was arraigned before the high priest of the ,old ,dispensation1 nothing was elicited4 ,questioned as to ,his disciples and as to ,his doctrine1 ,jesus maintained a dignified silence1 only speaking to remind ,his pseudo-judge that there were certain rules of procedure with which he himself was bound to comply4 ,he would not enlighten him2 what ,he had said ,he had said openly1 in the ,temple2 and if he wished to know he must appeal to those who heard ,him1 he must call his witnesses2 an answer which brought ,him a sharp and cruel blow from one of the officers1 the first of a sad rain of blows which bruised ,his flesh and made ,his visage marred more than any man's4 ,the private interview ended1 the doors were thrown open to the mixed company of chief priests1 elders1 and scribes1 probably the same as had witnessed the arrest1 with others of the council who had been hastily summoned1 and who were known to be avowedly hostile to ,jesus4 ,it certainly was not a properly constituted tribunal1 a council of the ,sanhedrim1 which alone had the power to adjudicate on questions purely religious4 ,it was rather a packed jury1 a ,star ,chamber of self-appointed assessors4 ,with the exception that witnesses were called 7and even these were false1 with discrepant stories which neutralized their testimony and made it valueless71 the whole proceedings were a hurried travesty of justice1 unconstitutional1 and so illegal4 ,but such was the virulent hate of the hierarchy of the ,temple1 they were prepared to break through all legalities to gain their end2 yea1 they would even have broken the tables of the law themselves1 if they might only have stoned the ,nazarene with the fragments1 and then have buried ,him under the rude cairn4 ,the only testimony they could find was that ,he had said ,he would destroy the temple made with hands1 and in three days build another made without hands 7,mark xiv4 #eh72 and even in this the statements of the two witnesses did not agree1 while both were garbled misrepresentations of the truth4 ,hitherto ,jesus had remained silent1 and when ,caiaphas sprang from his seat1 asking1 ,answerest ,thou nothing8 seeking to extract some broken speech by the pressure of an imperious mien and browbeating words1 ,jesus answered by a majestic silence4 ,why should ,he cast ,his pearls before these swine1 who were even now turning upon ,him to rend ,him8 ,but when the high priest asked1 ,art ,thou the ,christ8 ,jesus replied1 ,if ,i tell you1 ye will not believe3 and if ,i ask you1 ye will not answer4 ,but from henceforth shall the ,son of man be seated at the right hand of the power of ,god2 thus anticipating ,his enthronement far above all principalities and powers1 in ,his eternal reign4 ,the words ,son of man struck with loud vibrations upon the ears of ,his enraged jurors1 suggesting the antithesis1 and immediately all speak at once1 as they clamour1 ,art ,thou1 then1 the ,son of ,god8 a question which ,caiaphas repeats as an adjuration1 and which ,jesus answers with a brief1 calm1 ,ye say that ,i am4 ,it was a ,divine confession1 at once the confession of ,his ,messiahship and a confession of ,his ,divinity4 ,it was all that ,his enemies wanted2 there was no need of further witnesses1 and ,caiaphas rent his clothes and asked his echoes of what the blasphemer was worthy8 ,and opening their clenched teeth1 his echoes shouted1 ,death6 ,the lingering dawn had not broken when the high priest and his barking hounds had run their ,prey down to death--that is1 as far as they were allowed to go2 and as the meeting of the full council could not be held till the broad daylight1 the men who have ,jesus in charge extemporize a little interlude of their own4 ,setting ,jesus in the midst1 they mock ,him1 and make sport of ,him1 heaping upon that ,face1 still streaked with its sweat of blood1 all the indignities a malign ingenuity can suggest4 ,now they cover ,his face 7,mark xiv4 #fe71 throwing around it one of their loose robes2 now they blindfold ,him1 and then strike ,him on the face 7xxii4 #fd71 as they derisively ask that ,he will prophecy who smote ,him2 while1 again1 they spit in ,his face 7,matt4 xxvi4 #fg71 besmearing it with the venom of unclean1 hissing lips6 ,and amid it all the patient ,sufferer answers not a word2 ,he is silent1 dumb1 the ,lamb before ,his shearers4 ,soon as the day had fairly broke1 the ,sanhedrists1 with the chief priests1 meet in full council1 to give effect to the decision of the earlier conclave2 and since it is not in their power to do more1 they determine to hand ,jesus over to the secular power1 going to ,pilate in a body1 thus giving their informal endorsement to the demand for ,his death4 ,so now the scene shifts from the palace of ,caiaphas to the ,prtorium1 a short distance as measured by the linear scale1 but a far remove if we gauge thought or if we consider climatic influences4 ,the palace of ,caiaphas lay toward the ,orient2 the ,prtorium was a growth of the ,occident1 a bit of ,western life transplanted to the once fruitful1 but now sterile ,east4 ,within the palace the air was close and mouldy2 thought could not breathe1 and religion was little more than a mummy1 tightly bound by the grave-clothes of tradition1 and all scented with old-time cosmetics4 ,within the ,prtorium the atmosphere was at least freer2 there was more room to breathe2 for ,rome was a sort of libertine in religion1 finding room within her ,pantheon for all the deities of this and almost any other world4 ,in matters of religion the ,roman power was perfectly indifferent1 her only policy the policy of laissez faire2 and when ,pilate first saw ,jesus and ,his crowd of accusers he sought to dismiss them at once1 remitting ,him to be judged according to your law1 putting1 doubtless1 an inflection of contempt upon the your4 ,it was not until they had shifted the charge altogether1 making it one of sedition instead of blasphemy1 as they accuse ,jesus of perverting our nation1 and forbidding to give tribute to ,csar1 that ,pilate took the case seriously in hand4 ,but from the first his sympathies evidently were with the strange and lonely ,prophet4 ,left comparatively alone with ,pilate--for the crowd would not risk the defilement of the ,prtorium--,jesus still maintained a dignified reserve and silence1 not even speaking to ,pilate's question of surprise1 ,answerest ,thou nothing8 ,jesus would speak no word in self-defence1 not even to take out the twist ,his accusers had put into ,his words1 as they distorted their meaning4 ,when1 however1 ,he was questioned as to ,his mission and ,royalty ,he spoke directly1 as ,he had spoken before to ,caiaphas1 not1 however1 claiming to be ,king of the ,jews1 as ,his enemies asserted1 but ,lord of a kingdom which was not of this world2 that is1 not like earthly empires1 whose bounds are mountains and seas1 and whose thrones rest upon pillars of steel1 the carnal weapons which first upbuild1 and then support them4 ,he was a ,king indeed2 but ,his realm was the wide realm of mind and heart2 ,his was a kingdom in which love was law1 and love was force1 a kingdom which had no limitations of speech1 and no bounds1 either of time or space4 ,pilate was perplexed and awed4 ,governor though he was1 he mentally did homage before the strange ,imperator whose nature was imperial1 whatever ,his realm might be4 ,i find no fault in this ,man1 he said1 attesting the innocence he had discovered in the mien and tones of his ,prisoner2 but his attestation only awoke a fiercer cry from the chief priests1 that ,he was a seditious person1 stirring up the people1 and preparing insurrection even from ,galilee to ,jerusalem4 ,the word ,galilee caught ,pilate's ear1 and at once suggested a plan that would shift the responsibility from himself4 ,he would change the venue from ,juda to ,galilee2 and since the ,prisoner was a ,galilean1 he would send ,him to the ,tetrarch of ,galilee1 ,herod1 who happened to be in ,jerusalem at the time4 ,it was the stratagem of a wavering mind1 of a man whose courage was not equal to his convictions1 of a man with a double purpose4 ,he would like to save his ,prisoner1 but he must save himself2 and when the two purposes came into collision1 as they did soon1 the might of a timid desire had to give way to the must of a prudential necessity2 the ,christ was pushed aside and nailed to a cross1 that ,self might survive and reign4 ,and so ,pilate sent ,him to ,herod4 ,herod was proud to have this deference shown him in ,jerusalem1 and by his rival1 too1 and exceeding glad that1 by a caprice of fortune1 his long-cherished desire1 which had been baffled hitherto1 of seeing the ,prophet of ,galilee1 should be realized4 ,he found it1 however1 a disappointing and barren interview2 for ,jesus would work no miracle1 as he had hoped2 ,he would not even speak4 ,to all the questions and threats of ,herod1 ,jesus maintained a rigid and almost scornful silence2 and though to ,pilate ,he had spoken at some length1 ,jesus would have no intercourse with the murderer of the ,baptist4 ,herod had silenced the ,voice of the wilderness2 he should not hear the ,incarnate ,word4 ,jesus thus set ,herod at nought1 counting him as a nothing1 ignoring him purposely and utterly2 and stung with rage that his authority should be thus contemned before the chief priests and scribes1 ,herod set his ,victim at nought1 mocking ,him in coarse banter2 and as if the whole proceeding were but a farce1 a bit of comedy1 he invests ,him with one of his glittering robes1 and sends the ,prophet-,king back to ,pilate4 ,for a brief space ,jesus finds shelter by the judgment-seat1 removed from the presence of ,his accusers1 though still within hearing of their cries1 as ,pilate himself keeps the wolves at bay4 ,intensely desirous of acquitting his ,prisoner1 he leaves the seat of judgment to become ,his advocate4 ,he appeals to their sense of justice2 that ,jesus is entirely innocent of any crime or fault4 ,they reply that according to their law ,he ought to die1 because ,he called ,himself the ,son of ,god4 ,he appeals to their custom of having some prisoner released at this feast1 and he suggests that it would be a personal favour if they would permit him to release ,jesus4 ,they answer1 ,not this man1 but ,barabbas4 ,he offers to meet them half-way1 in a sort of compromise1 and out of deference to their wishes he will chastise ,jesus if they will consent to let ,him go2 but it is not chastisement they want--they themselves could have done that--but death4 ,he appeals to their pity1 leading ,jesus forth1 wearing the purple robe1 as if to ask1 ,is it not enough already8 but they cry even more fiercely for ,his death4 ,then he yields so far to their clamour as to deliver up ,jesus to be mocked and scourged1 as the soldiers play at royalty1 arraying ,him in the purple robe1 putting a reed in ,his hand as a mock sceptre1 and a crown of thorns upon ,his head1 then turning to smite ,him on the head1 to spit in ,his face1 and to kneel before ,him in mock homage1 saluting ,him1 ,hail1 ,king of the ,jews6 ,and ,pilate allows all this1 himself leading ,jesus forth in this mock array1 as he bids the crowd1 ,behold your ,king6 ,and why8 has ,he experienced such a revulsion of feeling towards his ,prisoner that he can now vie with the chief priests in his coarse insult of ,jesus8 ,not so2 but it is ,pilate's last appeal4 ,it is a sop thrown out to the mob1 in hopes that it may slake their terrible blood-thirst1 a sacrifice of pain and shame which may perhaps prevent the greater sacrifice of life2 while at the same time it is an ocular demonstration of the incongruity of their charge2 for ,his ,kingship1 whatever it might be1 was nothing the ,roman power had to fear2 it was not even to be taken in a serious way2 it was a matter for ridicule1 and not for revenge1 something they could easily afford to play with4 ,but this last appeal was futile as the others had been1 and the crowd only became more fierce as they saw in ,pilate traces of weakening and wavering4 ,at last the courage of ,pilate breaks down utterly before the threat that he will not be ,csar's friend if he let this man go1 and he delivers up ,jesus to their will1 not1 however1 before he has called for water1 and by a symbolic washing of his hands has thrown back1 or tried to throw back1 upon his accusers1 the crime of shedding innocent blood4 ,weak1 wavering ,pilate-- ,making his high place the lawless perch ,of winged ambitions2 overridden by his fears2 governor1 but governed by his subjects2 sitting on the judgment-seat1 and then abdicating his position of judge2 the personification of law1 and condemning the ,innocent contrary to the law2 giving up to the extremest penalty and punishment ,one whom he has thrice proclaimed as guiltless1 without fault1 and that1 too1 in the face of a ,heaven-sent warning dream6 ,in the wild inrush of his fears1 which swept over him like an inbreaking sea1 his own weak will was borne down1 and reason1 right1 conscience1 all were drowned4 ,verily ,pilate washes his hands in vain2 he cannot wipe off his responsibility or wipe out the deep stains of blood4 ,and now we come to the last act of the strange drama1 which the four ,evangelists give from their different stand-points1 and so with varying but not differing details4 ,we will read it mainly from the narrative of ,st4 ,luke4 ,the shadow of the cross has long been a vivid conception of ,his mind2 and again and again we can see its reflection in the current of ,his clear speech2 now1 however1 it is present to ,his sight1 close at hand1 a grim and terrible reality4 ,it is laid upon the shoulder of the ,sufferer1 and the ,victim carries ,his altar through the streets of the city and up towards the ,mount of ,sacrifice1 until ,he faints beneath the burden1 when the precious load is laid upon ,simon the ,cyrenian1 who1 coming out of the country1 met the procession as it issued from the gate4 ,it was probably during this halt by the way that the incident occurred1 related only by our ,evangelist1 when the women who followed with the multitude broke out into loud lamentation and weeping1 the first expression of human sympathy ,jesus has received through all the agonies of the long morning4 ,and even this sympathy ,he gave back to those who proffered it1 bidding these daughters of ,jerusalem weep not for ,him1 but for themselves and for their children1 because of the day of doom which was fast coming upon their city and on them4 ,thus ,jesus pushes from ,him the cup of human sympathy1 as afterwards ,he refused the cup of mingled wine and myrrh3 ,he would drink the bitter draught unsweetened2 alone and all unaided ,he would wrestle with death1 and conquer4 ,it is somewhat singular that none of the ,evangelists have left us a clue by which we can recognize1 with any certainty1 the scene of the ,crucifixion4 ,in our thoughts and in our songs ,calvary is a mount1 towering high among the mounts of ,god1 higher than ,sinai itself4 ,and such it is1 potentially2 for it has the sweep of all the earth1 and touches heaven4 ,but the ,scriptures do not call it a mount1 but only a place4 ,indeed1 the name of ,calvary does not appear in ,scripture1 except as the ,latin translation of the ,greek ,kranion1 or the ,hebrew ,golgotha1 both of which mean the place of the skull4 ,all that we can safely say is that it was probably some rounded eminence1 as the name would indicate1 and as modern explorations would suggest1 on the north of the city1 near the tomb of ,jeremiah4 ,but if the site of the cross is only given us in a casual way1 its position is noted by all the ,evangelists with exactness4 ,it was between the crosses of two malefactors or bandits2 as ,st4 ,john puts it1 in an emphatic1 ,divine tautology1 ,on either side one1 and ,jesus in the midst4 ,possibly they intended it as their last insult1 heaping shame upon shame2 but unwittingly they only fulfilled the ,scripture1 which had prophesied that ,he would be numbered among the transgressors1 and that ,he would make ,his grave with the wicked in ,his death4 ,st4 ,luke omits several details1 which ,st4 ,john1 who was an eye-witness1 could give more fully2 but he stays to speak of the parting of ,his raiment1 and he adds1 what the others omit1 the prayer for ,his executioners1 ,father1 forgive them2 for they know not what they do1 an incident he probably had heard from one of the band of crucifiers1 perhaps the centurion himself4 ,with a true artistic skill1 however1 and with brief touches1 he draws for us the scene on which all ages will reverently gaze4 ,in the foreground is the cross of ,jesus1 with its trilingual superscription1 ,this is the ,king of the ,jews2 while close beside it are the crosses of the thieves1 whose very faces ,st4 ,luke lights up with life and character4 ,standing near are the soldiers1 relieving the ennui with cruel sport1 as they rail at the ,christ1 offering ,him vinegar1 and bidding ,him come down4 ,then we have the rulers1 crowding up near the cross1 scoffing1 and pelting their ,victim with ribald jests1 the people standing back1 beholding2 while afar off1 in the distance1 are ,his acquaintance and the women from ,galilee4 ,but if our ,evangelist touches these incidents lightly1 he lingers to give us one scene of the cross in full1 which the other ,evangelists omit4 ,has ,jesus found an advocate in ,pilate8 has ,he found a cross-bearer in the ,cyrenian1 and sympathisers in the lamenting women8 ,he finds now upon ,his cross a testimony to ,his ,messiahship more clear and more eloquent than the hieroglyphs of ,pilate2 for when one of the thieves railed upon ,him1 shouting out ,christ in mockery1 ,jesus made no reply4 ,the other answered for ,him1 rebuking his fellow1 while attesting the innocence of ,jesus4 ,then1 with a prayer in which penitence and faith were strangely blended1 he turned to the ,divine ,victim and said1 ,jesus1 remember me when ,thou comest in ,thy kingdom4 ,rare faith6 ,through the tears of his penitence1 as through lenses of light1 he sees the new ,dawn to which this fearful night will give birth1 the kingdom which is sure to come1 and which1 coming1 will abide1 and he salutes the dying ,one as ,christ1 the ,king6 ,jesus did not reply to the railer2 ,he received in silence his barbed taunts2 but to this cry for mercy ,jesus had a quick response--,to-day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise1 so admitting the penitent into ,his kingdom at once1 and1 ere the day is spent1 passing him up to the abodes of the ,blessed1 even to ,paradise itself4 ,and now there comes the hush of a great silence and the awe of a strange darkness4 ,from the sixth to the ninth hour1 over the cross1 and the city1 and the land1 hung the shadow of an untimely night1 when the sun's light failed1 as our ,evangelist puts it2 while in the ,temple was another portent1 the veil1 which was suspended between the ,holy ,place and the ,most ,holy1 being rent in the midst6 ,the mysterious darkness was but the pall for a mysterious death2 for ,jesus cried with a loud voice into the gloom1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my spirit1 and then1 as it reads in language which is not applied to mortal man1 ,he gave up the ghost4 ,he dismissed ,his spirit1 a perfectly voluntary ,sacrifice1 laying down the life which no man was able to take from ,him4 ,and why8 ,what meant this death1 which was at once the end and the crown of ,his life8 ,what meant the cross1 which thus draws to itself all the lines of ,his earthly life1 while it throws its shadow back into the ,old ,dispensation1 over all its altars and its passovers8 ,to other mortals death is but an appendix to the life1 a negation1 a something we could dispense with1 were it possible thus to be exempt from the bond we all must pay to ,nature4 ,but not so was it with ,jesus4 ,he was born that ,he might die2 ,he lived that ,he might die2 it was for this hour on ,calvary that ,he came into the world1 the ,word being made flesh1 that the sacred flesh might be transfixed to a cross1 and buried in an earthly grave4 ,surely1 then1 it was not as man that ,jesus died2 ,he died for man2 ,he died as the ,son of ,god6 ,and when upon the cross the horror of a great darkness fell upon ,his soul1 and ,he who had borne every torture that earth could inflict without one murmur of impatience or cry of pain1 cried1 with a terrible anguish in ,his voice1 ,my ,god1 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 we can interpret the great horror and the strange cry but in one way3 the ,lamb of ,god was bearing away the sin of the world2 ,he was tasting for man the bitter pains of the second death2 and as ,he drinks the cup of the wrath of ,god against sin ,he feels passing over ,him the awful loneliness of a soul bereft of ,god1 the chill of the outer darkness itself4 ,jesus lived as our ,example2 ,he died as our ,atonement1 opening by ,his blood the ,holiest of all1 even ,his highest heaven4 ,and so the cross of ,jesus must ever remain in the midst1 the one bright centre of all our hopes and all our songs2 it must be in the midst of our toil1 at once our pattern of service and our inspiration4 ,nay1 the cross of ,jesus will be in the midst of heaven itself1 the centre towards which the circles of redeemed saints will bow1 and round which the ceaseless ,alleluia will roll2 for what is the ,lamb in the midst of the throne 7,rev4 vii4 #ag7 but the cross transfigured1 and the ,lamb eternally enthroned8 ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,first ,,lord',s ,,day4 ,,st4 ,,luke xxiv4 ,the ,sabbath came and went over the grave of its ,lord1 and silence reigned in ,joseph's garden1 broken only by the mailed sentinels1 who laughed and chatted by the sealed sepulchre4 ,as to the disciples1 this high day is a dies non to them1 for the curtain of a deep silence hides them from our view4 ,did they go up to the ,temple to join in the ,psalm1 how ,his mercy endureth for ever8 ,scarcely3 their thoughts were transfixed to the cross1 which haunted them like a horrid dream2 its rude dark wood had stunned them for awhile1 as it broke down their faith and shattered all their hopes4 ,but if the constellation of the ,apostles passes into temporary eclipse1 with no beam of inspired light falling upon them1 the women are not thus hidden1 for we read1 ,and on the ,sabbath day they rested1 according to the commandment4 ,it is true it is but a negative attitude that is portrayed1 but it is an exceedingly beautiful one4 ,it is ,love waiting upon ,duty4 ,the voices of their grief are not allowed to become so excessive and clamorous as to drown the ,divine voice1 speaking through the ages1 ,remember that thou keep holy the ,sabbath day2 and even the fragrant offerings of their devotion are set aside1 that they may keep inviolate the ,sabbath rest4 ,but if the spices of the women are the spikenard and myrrh of a mingled love and grief1 they are at the same time a tacit admission of their error4 ,they prove conclusively that the women1 at any rate1 had no thought of a resurrection4 ,it appears strange to us that such should be the case1 after the frequent references ,jesus made to ,his death and rising again4 ,but evidently the disciples attached to these sayings of ,jesus one of those deeper1 farther-off meanings which were so characteristic of ,his speech1 interpreting in some mysterious spiritual sense what was intended to be read in a strict literalness4 ,at present nothing could be farther from their thoughts than a resurrection2 it had not even occurred to them as a possible thing2 and instead of being something to which they were ready to give a credulous assent1 or a myth which came all shaped and winged out of their own heated imaginings1 it was something altogether foreign to their thoughts1 and which1 when it did occur1 only by many infallible proofs was recognized and admitted into their hearts as truth4 ,and so the very spices the women prepare for the embalming are a silent but a fragrant testimony to the reality of the ,resurrection4 ,they show the drift of the disciples' thought1 that when the stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre it shut in to the darkness1 and buried1 all their hopes4 ,the only ,easter they knew1 or even dreamed of1 was that first and final ,easter of the last day4 ,as soon as the restraint of the ,sabbath was over1 the women turned again to their labour of love1 preparing the ointment and spices for the embalming1 and coming with the early dawn to the sepulchre4 ,though it was yet dark1 as ,st4 ,john tells us1 they did not anticipate any difficulty from the city gates1 for these were left open both by night and day during the ,passover feast2 but the thought did occur to them on the way as to how they should roll back the stone1 a task for which they had not prepared1 and which was evidently beyond their unaided strength4 ,their question1 however1 had been answered in anticipation1 for when they reached the garden the stone was rolled away1 and the sepulchre all exposed4 ,surprised and startled by the discovery1 their surprise deepened into consternation as passing within the sepulchre1 they found that the body of ,jesus1 on which they had come to perform the last kind offices of affection1 had disappeared4 ,and how8 could there be more than one solution of the enigma8 ,the enemies of ,jesus had surely laid violent hands upon the tomb1 rifling it of the precious dust they sorrowfully had committed to its keeping1 reserving it for fresh indignities4 ,st4 ,john supplements the narrative of our ,evangelist1 telling how the ,magdalene1 slipping out from the rest1 ran back to the city to announce1 in half-hysterical speech1 ,they have taken away the ,lord out of the tomb1 and we know not where they have laid ,him2 for though ,st4 ,john names but the ,magdalene1 the we implies that she was but one of a group of ministering women1 a group that she had abruptly left4 ,the rest lingered by the tomb perplexed1 with reason blinded by the whirling clouds of doubt1 when suddenly--the behold indicates a swift surprise--two men stood by them in dazzling apparel4 ,in speaking of them as two men probably our ,evangelist only intended to call attention to the humanness of their form1 as in verse #bc he speaks of the appearance as a vision of angels4 ,it will be observed1 however1 that in the ,new ,testament the two words men and angels are used interchangeably2 as in ,st4 ,luke vii4 #bd1 ,rev4 xxii4 #h1 where the angels are evidently men1 while in ,mark xvi4 #e1 and again in the verse before us1 the so-called men are angels4 ,but does not this interchangeable use of the words imply a close relation between the two orders of being8 and is it not possible that in the eternal ripenings and evolutions of heaven a perfected humanity may pass up into the angelic ranks8 ,at any rate1 we do know that when angels have appeared on earth there has been a strange humanness about them4 ,they have not even had the fictitious wings which poetry has woven for them2 they have nearly always appeared wearing the human face divine1 and speaking with the tones and in the tongues of men1 as if it were their native speech4 ,but if their form is earthly1 their dress is heavenly4 ,their garments flash and glitter like the robes of the transfigured ,christ2 and awed by the supernatural portent1 the women bow down their faces to the earth4 ,why1 asked the angels1 seek ye the living among the dead8 ,he is not here1 but is risen3 remember how ,he spake unto you when ,he was yet in ,galilee1 saying that the ,son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men1 and be crucified1 and the third day rise again4 ,even the angels are not allowed to disclose the secret of ,his resurrection life1 or to tell where ,he may be found1 but they announce the fact that they are not at liberty to explain4 ,he is not here2 ,he is risen1 is the ,gospel of the angels1 a ,gospel whose prelude they themselves have heard1 but1 alas6 forgotten2 and since ,heaven does not reveal what by searching we ourselves may find out1 the angels throw them back upon their own recollections1 recalling the words ,jesus ,himself had spoken1 and which1 had they been understood and remembered1 would have lighted up the empty sepulchre and have solved the great mystery4 ,and how much we lose because we do not remember1 or if remembering1 we do not believe6 ,divine words have been spoken1 and spoken to us1 but to our ear1 dulled by unbelief1 they have come as empty sound1 all inarticulate1 and we have said it was some thunder in the sky or the voices of a passing wind4 ,how many promises1 which1 like the harps of ,god1 would have made even our wildernesses vocal1 have we hung up1 sad and silent1 on the willows of the strange lands6 ,if we only remembered the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 if they became to us real and eternally true1 instead of being the unreal voices of a dream1 those words would be1 not the distant lamps of ,heaven1 but near at hand1 lighting up all dark places1 because throwing their light within1 turning even the graves of our buried hopes into sanctuaries of joy and praise6 ,and so the women1 instead of embalming their ,lord1 carried their spices back unused4 ,not unused1 however1 for in the spices and ointments the ,living ,one did not need their own names were embalmed1 a fragrant memory4 ,coming to the tomb1 as they thought1 to do homage to a dead ,christ1 the ,magdalene1 and ,mary1 and ,johanna1 and ,salome found a ,christ who had conquered death1 and at the same time found an immortality for themselves2 for the fragrance of their thought1 which was not permitted to ripen into deeds1 has filled the whole world4 ,returning to the city1 whither the ,magdalene had outrun them1 they announced to the rest1 as she had done to ,peter and ,john1 the fact of the empty grave2 but they completed the story with the narrative of the angelic vision and the statement that ,jesus had risen4 ,so little1 however1 were the disciples predisposed to receive the tidings of a resurrection1 they would not admit the fact even when attested by at least four witnesses1 but set it down as idle1 silly talk1 something which was not only void of truth1 but void of sense4 ,only ,peter and ,john of the ,apostles1 as far as we know1 visited the sepulchre1 and even they doubted1 though they found the tomb empty and the linen clothes carefully wrapped up4 ,they believed that the body had disappeared1 but1 as ,st4 ,john tells us1 as yet they knew not the ,scripture1 that ,he must rise again from the dead 7,st4 ,john xx4 #i72 and as they leave the empty grave to return to their own home1 they only wondered at that which was come to pass4 ,it was an enigma they could not solve2 and though the ,easter morning had now fully broke1 the day which should light all days1 as it drew to itself the honours and songs of the ,sabbath1 yet to the minds and hearts of the ,apostles it was yet dark2 the glory of the ,lord had not yet risen upon them4 ,and now comes one of those beautiful pictures1 peculiar to ,st4 ,luke1 as he lights up the ,judan hills with a soft afterglow1 an afterglow which at the same time is the aurora of a new dawn4 ,it was in the afternoon of that first ,lord's day1 when two disciples set out from ,jerusalem for ,emmaus1 a village1 probably the modern ,khamasa1 sixty furlongs from the city4 ,who the two disciples were we cannot say1 for one is unnamed1 while the other bears a name1 ,cleopas1 we do not meet with elsewhere1 though its ,greek origin would lead us to infer that he was some ,gentile proselyte who had attached himself to ,jesus4 ,as to the second1 we have not even the clue of an obscure name with which to identify him1 and in this somewhat strange anonymity some expositors have thought they detected the shadow of the ,evangelist1 ,luke1 himself4 ,the supposition is not an impossible one2 for though ,st4 ,luke was not an eye-witness from the beginning1 he might have witnessed some of the closing scenes of the ,divine life2 while the very minuteness of detail which characterizes his story would almost show that if not himself a participant1 he was closely related to those who were2 but had ,st4 ,luke himself been the favoured one1 it is scarcely likely that he would have omitted this personal testimony when speaking of the many infallible proofs of ,his resurrection4 ,whoever the two might be1 it is certain that they enjoyed the esteem and confidence of the disciples1 having free access1 even at untimely hours1 to the ,apostolic circle1 while the fact that ,jesus ,himself sought their company1 and selected them to such honours1 shows the high place which was accorded to them in the ,divine regard4 ,we are not apprised of the object of their journey2 indeed1 they themselves seem to have lost sight of that in the gleams of glory which1 all unexpected1 fell across their path4 ,it is not unlikely that it was connected with recent events2 for now that the central ,sun1 around whom their lives revolved1 has disappeared1 will not those lives necessarily take new directions1 or drift back into the old orbits8 ,but whatever their purposes might be1 their thoughts are retrospective rather than prospective2 for while their faces are set towards ,emmaus1 and their feet are steadily measuring off the furlongs of the journey1 their thoughts are lingering behind1 clinging to the dark crest of ,calvary1 as the cloud-pennon clings to the ,alpine peak4 ,they can speak but of one theme1 these things which have happened3 the ,one whom they took to be the ,christ1 to whom their hearts had been so strangely drawn2 ,his character1 miracles1 and words2 the ignominious ,death1 in which that ,life1 with all their hopes1 was quenched2 and then the strange tidings which had been brought by the women1 as to how they had found the grave empty1 and how they had seen a vision of angels4 ,the word questioned together generally implies a difference of opinion1 and refers to the cross-questioning of disputants2 but in this case it probably referred only to the innumerable questions the report of the ,resurrection would raise in their minds1 the honest doubts and difficulties with which they felt themselves compelled to grapple4 ,it was while they were discussing these new problems1 walking leisurely along the road--for men walk heavily when weighted at the heart--a ,stranger overtook and joined them1 asking1 after the usual salutation1 which would not be omitted1 ,what communications are these that ye have one with another1 as ye walk8 ,the very form of the question would help to disguise the familiar voice1 while the changed form of which ,st4 ,mark speaks would somewhat mask the familiar features2 but at the same time it would appear that there was a supernatural holding of their eyes1 as if a dusky veil were wrapped about the ,stranger4 ,his question startled them1 even as a voice from another world1 as1 indeed1 it seemed2 and stopping suddenly1 they turned their sad faces to the ,stranger in a momentary and silent astonishment1 a silence which ,cleopas broke by asking1 ,dost thou alone sojourn in ,jerusalem1 and not know the things which are come to pass there in these days8 a double question1 to which the stranger replied with the brief interrogative1 ,what things8 ,it needed no more than that solitary word to unseal the fountain of their lips1 for the clouds which had broken so wildly and darkly over ,calvary had filled their hearts with an intense and bitter grief1 which longed for expression1 even for the poor relief of words4 ,and so they break in together with their answer 7the pronoun is changed now71 ,concerning ,jesus of ,nazareth1 which was a ,prophet mighty in deed and word before ,god and all the people3 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered ,him up to be condemned to death1 and crucified ,him4 ,but we hoped that it was ,he which should redeem ,israel4 ,yea1 and beside all this1 it is now the third day since these things came to pass4 ,moreover certain women of our company amazed us1 having been early at the tomb2 and when they found not ,his body1 they came1 saying1 that they had also seen a vision of angels1 which said that ,he was alive4 ,and certain of them that were with us went to the tomb1 and found it even so as the women had said3 but ,him they saw not4 ,it is the impetuous language of intense feeling1 in which hope and despair strike alternate chords4 ,in the first strain ,jesus of ,nazareth is lifted high2 ,he is a ,prophet mighty in word and deed2 then ,he is stricken down1 condemned to death1 and crucified4 ,again1 hope speaks1 recalling the bright dream of a redemption for ,israel2 but having spoken that word1 ,hope herself goes aside to weep by the grave where her ,redeemer was hurriedly buried4 ,still again is the glimmer of a new light1 as the women bring home the message of the angels2 but still again the light sets in darkness1 a gloom which neither the eyes of ,reason nor of ,faith could as yet pierce2 for ,him they saw not marks the totality of the eclipse1 pointing to a void of darkness1 a firmament without a sun or star4 ,but incidentally1 in the swift current of their speech1 we catch a reflection of the ,christ as ,he appeared to their minds4 ,he was indeed a ,prophet1 second to none1 and in their hope ,he was more1 for ,he was the ,redeemer of ,israel4 ,it is evident the disciples had not yet grasped the full purport of the ,messianic mission4 ,their thought was hazy1 obscure1 like the vision of men walking in a mist4 ,the ,hebrew dream of a temporal sovereignty seems to have been a prevailing1 perhaps the prevailing force in their minds1 the attraction which drew and cheered them on4 ,but their ,redeemer was but a local1 temporal one1 who will restore the kingdom to ,israel2 ,he was not yet the ,redeemer of the world1 who should save ,his people from their sins4 ,the regeneration1 as they fondly called it1 the new creation1 was purely national1 when out of the chaos of ,roman irruptions their ,hebrew paradise will come4 ,for one thing1 the disciples were too near the ,divine life to see its just and large proportions4 ,they must stand back from it the distance of a ,pentecost2 they must look on it through their lenses of flame1 before they can take in the profound meaning of that ,life1 or the awful mystery of that ,death4 ,at present their vision is out of focus1 and all they can see is the blurred and shadowy outline of the reality1 the temporal rather than the spiritual1 a redeemed nationality rather than a redeemed and regenerated humanity4 ,the risen ,jesus1 for such the ,stranger was1 though they knew it not1 listened to their requiem patiently and wonderingly1 glad to find within their hearts such deep and genuine love1 which even the cross and the grave had not been able to extinguish4 ,the men themselves were true1 even though their views were somewhat warped--the refractions of their ,hebrew atmosphere4 ,and ,jesus leads them in thought to those shining uplands of truth2 as it were1 spurring them on1 by a sharp though kind rebuke1 to the heights where ,divine thoughts and purposes move on to their fulfilment4 ,o foolish men1 ,he said1 and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken6 ,behoved it not the ,christ to suffer these things1 and to enter into ,his glory8 ,they thought ,he was some stranger in ,jerusalem1 yet ,he knows their prophets better than themselves2 and hark1 ,he puts in a word they had feared to use4 ,they only called ,him ,jesus of ,nazareth2 they did not give ,him that higher title of the ,christ which they had freely used before4 ,no2 for the cross had rudely shattered and broken that golden censer1 in which they had been wont to burn a royal incense4 ,but here the ,stranger recasts their broken1 golden word1 burning its sweet1 ,divine incense even in presence of the cross1 calling the ,crucified the ,christ6 ,verily1 this ,stranger has more faith than they2 and they still their garrulous lips1 which speak so randomly1 to hear the new and august ,teacher1 whose voice was an echo of the ,truth1 if not the ,truth itself6 ,and beginning from ,moses and from all the prophets1 ,he interpreted to them in all the ,scriptures the things concerning ,himself4 ,it will be observed that our ,evangelist uses a peculiar word in speaking of this ,divine exposition4 ,he calls it an interpretation1 a word used in the ,new ,testament only in the sense of translating from one language to another1 from the unknown to the known tongue4 ,and such1 indeed1 it was2 for they had read the ,scriptures but in part1 and so misread them4 ,they had thrown upon those ,scriptures the projections of their own hopes and illusions2 while other ,scriptures1 those relating to the sufferings of ,christ1 were set back1 out of sight1 or if heard at all1 they were only the voice of an unknown tongue1 a vox et preterea nihil4 ,so ,jesus interprets to them the voices of this unknown tongue4 ,beginning at ,moses1 ,he shows1 from the types1 the prophecies1 and the ,psalms1 how that the ,christ must suffer and die1 ere the glories of ,his kingdom can begin2 that the cross and the grave both lay in the path of the ,redeemer1 as the bitter and prickly calyx out of which the glories should unfold themselves4 ,and thus1 opening their ,scriptures1 putting in the crimson lens of the blood1 as well as the chromatic lens of the ,messianic glory1 the disciples find the cross all transfigured1 inwoven in ,god's eternal purpose of redemption2 while the sufferings of ,christ1 at which they had stumbled before1 they now see were part of the eternal plan of mercy1 a ,divine ought1 a great necessity4 ,they had now reached ,emmaus1 the limit of their journey1 but the two disciples cannot lose the company of ,one whose words have opened to them a new and a bright world2 and though ,he was evidently going on farther1 they constrained ,him to abide with them1 as it was towards evening and the day was far spent4 ,and ,he went in to tarry with them1 though not for long4 ,sitting down to meat1 the ,stranger ,guest1 without any apology1 takes the place of the host1 and blessing the bread1 ,he breaks and gives to them4 ,was it the uplifted face threw them back on the old1 familiar days8 or did they read the nail-mark in ,his hand8 ,we do not know2 but in an instant the veil in which ,he had enfolded ,himself was withdrawn1 and they knew ,him3 it was the ,lord ,himself1 the risen ,jesus6 ,in a moment the hush of a great awe fell upon them1 and before they had time to embrace ,him whom they had loved so passionately1 indeed before their lips could frame an exclamation of surprise1 ,he had vanished2 ,he became invisible to them1 as it reads1 passing out of their sight like a dissolving cloud4 ,and when they did recover themselves it was not to speak ,his name--there was no need of that--but to say one to another1 ,was not our heart burning within1 us while ,he spake to us in the way1 while ,he opened to us the ,scriptures8 ,it was to them a bright ,apocalypse1 the ,revelation of ,jesus ,christ1 who was dead1 and is alive for evermore2 and all-forgetful of their errand1 and though it is evening1 they leave ,emmaus at once1 their winged feet not heeding the sixty furlongs now1 as they haste to ,jerusalem to announce to the eleven1 and to the rest1 that ,jesus has indeed arisen1 and has appeared unto them4 ,returning to ,jerusalem1 they go direct to the well-known trysting-place1 where they find the ,apostles 7the eleven as the band was now called1 though1 as ,st4 ,john informs us1 ,thomas was not present7 and others gathered for their evening meal1 and speaking of another and later appearance of ,jesus to ,simon1 which must have occurred during their absence from the city2 and they add to the growing wonder by telling of their evening adventure1 and how ,jesus was known of them in breaking of bread4 ,but while they discussed the subject--for the majority were yet in doubt as to the reality of the appearances--,jesus ,himself stood before them1 passing through the fastened door2 for the same fear that shut the door would securely lock it4 ,though giving to them the old-time salutation1 ,peace be to you1 it did not calm the unrest and agitation of their soul2 the chill of a great fear fell upon them1 as the spectral ,shadow1 as they thought it2 stood before them4 ,why are ye troubled8 asks ,jesus1 and wherefore do reasonings arise in your hearts8 for they fairly trembled with fear1 as the word would imply4 ,see ,my hands and ,my feet1 that it is ,i ,myself3 handle ,me1 and see2 for a spirit hath not flesh and bones1 as ye behold ,me having4 ,he then extended ,his hands1 drew back ,his robe from ,his feet1 and1 as ,st4 ,john says1 uncovered ,his side1 that they might see the wounds of the nails and the spear1 and that by these visible1 tangible proofs they might be convinced of the reality of ,his ,resurrection body4 ,it was enough2 their hearts in an instant swung round from an extreme of fear to an extreme of joy1 a sort of wild joy1 in which ,reason for the moment became confused1 and ,faith bewildered4 ,but while the heavenly trance is yet upon them ,jesus recalls them to earthly things1 asking if they have any meat2 and when they give ,him a piece of a broiled fish1 some of the remnants of their own repast1 ,he takes and eats before them all2 not that now ,he needed the sustenance of earthly food1 in ,his resurrection life1 but that by this simple act ,he might put another seal upon ,his true humanity4 ,it was a kind of sacrament1 showing forth ,his oneness with ,his own2 that on the farther side of the grave1 in ,his exaltation1 as on this1 in ,his humiliation1 ,he was still the ,son of man1 interested in all things1 even the commonplaces1 of humanity4 ,the interview was not for long1 for the risen ,christ dwelt apart from ,his disciples1 coming to them at uncertain times and only for brief spaces4 ,he lingers1 however1 now1 to explain to the eleven1 as before to the two1 the great mystery of the ,redemption4 ,he opens their minds1 that the truth may pass within4 ,gathering up the lamps of prophecy suspended through the ,scriptures1 ,he turns their varying lights upon ,himself1 the ,,me of whom they testify4 ,he shows them how it is written in their law that the ,christ must suffer1 the ,christ must die1 the ,christ must rise again the third day1 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in ,his name unto all the nations1 beginning from ,jerusalem4 ,and then ,he gave to these preachers of repentance and remission the promise of which the ,book of the ,acts is a fulfilment and enlargement1 the promise of the ,father1 which is the gift of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,it was the prophecy of the ,pentecost1 the first rustle of the mighty rushing wind1 that ,divine breath which comes to all who will receive it4 ,our ,evangelist passes in silence other appearances of the ,resurrection ,life1 those forty days in which1 by ,his frequent manifestations1 ,he was training ,his disciples to trust in ,his unseen ,presence4 ,he only in a few closing words tells of the ,ascension2 how1 near ,bethany1 ,he was parted from them1 and taken up into heaven1 throwing down benedictions from ,his uplifted hands even as ,he went2 and how the disciples returned to ,jerusalem1 not sorrowing1 as men bereaved1 but with great joy1 having learned now to endure and rejoice as seeing ,him who is invisible1 the unseen but ever-present ,christ4 ,that ,st4 ,luke omits the other ,resurrection appearances is probably because he intended to insert them in his prelude to the ,acts of the ,apostles1 which he does1 as he joins his second treatise to the first4 ,nor is it altogether an incidental coincidence that as he writes his later story he begins at ,jerusalem1 lingering in the upper room which was the wind-rocked cradle of the ,church1 and inserting as key-words of the new story these four words from the old3 ,repentance1 ,remission1 ,promise1 ,power4 ,the two books are thus one1 a seamless robe1 woven for the living ,christ1 the one giving us the ,christ of the ,humiliation1 the other the ,christ of the ,exaltation1 who speaks now from the upper heavens1 and whose power is the power of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,and was it altogether undesigned that our ,evangelist1 omitting other appearances of the forty days1 yet throws such a wealth of interest and of colouring into that first ,easter day1 filling it up from its early dawn to its late evening8 ,we think not4 ,he is writing to and for the ,gentiles1 whose ,sabbaths are not on the last but on the first day of the week1 and he stays to picture for us that first ,lord's day1 the day chosen by the ,lord of the ,sabbath for this high consecration4 ,and as the ,holy ,church throughout all the world keeps her ,sabbaths now1 her anthems and songs are a sweet incense burned by the door of the empty sepulchre2 for1 ,the light which threw the glory of the ,sabbath into the shade was the glory of the ,risen ,lord4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible4 ,,first ,,series4 ,colossians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 ,st4 ,mark4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 the ,bishop of ,derry4 ,genesis4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 #a ,samuel4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 #b ,samuel4 ,by the same ,author4 ,hebrews4 ,by ,principal ,t4 ,c4 ,,edwards1 ,d4,d4 ,,second ,,series4 ,galatians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,isaiah ,i4--,,xxxix4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,book of ,revelation4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #a ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john4 ,by the ,most ,rev4 the ,archbishop of ,armagh4 ,,third ,,series4 ,judges and ,ruth4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,jeremiah4 ,by the ,rev4 ,c4 ,j4 ,,ball1 ,m4,a4 ,isaiah ,,xl4--,,lxvi4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,st4 ,matthew4 ,by the ,rev4 ,j4 ,,monro ,,gibson1 ,d4,d4 ,exodus4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 the ,bishop of ,derry4 ,st4 ,luke4 ,by the ,rev4 ,h4 ,,burton1 ,m4,a4 ,,fourth ,,series4 ,ecclesiastes4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,samuel ,,cox1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,jude4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,proverbs4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,f4 ,,horton1 ,d4,d4 ,leviticus4 ,by the ,rev4 ,s4 ,h4 ,,kellogg1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,,fifth ,,series4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 #a and #b ,thessalonians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,book of ,job4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,ephesians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,sixth ,,series4 #a ,kings4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,philippians4 ,by ,principal ,,rainy1 ,d4,d4 ,ezra1 ,nehemiah1 ,esther4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,joshua4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,peter4 ,by ,prof4 ,,rawson ,,lumby1 ,d4,d4 ,,seventh ,,series4 #b ,kings4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,romans4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 ,h4 ,c4 ,g4 ,,moule1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,books of ,chronicles4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,bennett1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 #b ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,numbers4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,iii4 ,,eighth ,,series4 ,daniel4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,the ,book of ,jeremiah4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,bennett1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 ,deuteronomy4 ,by ,prof4 ,,andrew ,,harper1 ,b4,d4 ,the ,song of ,solomon and ,lamentations4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,ezekiel4 ,by ,prof4 ,,john ,,skinner1 ,m4,a4 ,the ,books of the ,twelve ,prophets4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,two ,vols4 ,,index4 ,acts1 the1 and the ,gospel1 #dae4 ,adoration of the shepherds1 #fg4 ,advent1 the1 long1 delayed1 #ag4 the music of the1 #bi4 ,agony1 the1 and the ,transfiguration1 #cfe4 ,angels and men1 #djb4 ,anointing1 the1 of the feet1 #bji4 ,antioch1 #c1 #d4 ,apostleship1 the1 instituted1 #aij4 ,apostles1 the1 sent forth1 #bfi4 ,augustus ,csar1 #fb4 ,authority1 set under1 #bjf4 ,baptism1 the1 of ,jesus1 #ahi4 ,beatitudes1 the ,mount of1 #aie4 ,being1 more than doing1 #cch4 ,benedictus1 the1 #db1 #dc4 ,bethany1 #cjg4 ,bethlehem ,ephratah1 #fa1 #fb4 ,bethsaida1 #aeg4 ,julias1 #bga4 ,betrayer1 the1 #cgh4 ,blind1 the1 sight for1 #ach1 #aci4 ,blindness1 spiritual1 #adj4 ,body1 the spiritual1 #cef4 ,bread enough and to spare1 #cbd4 ,brotherhood1 the1 of man1 #cjd4 ,business and religion1 #bcg4 ,caiaphas1 #chc1 #chg4 ,calling1 the1 of the four1 #afb4 ,cana1 #fd1 #aca4 and the desert-place1 #bhj4 ,capernaum1 #fe1 #aca1 #bjc4 ,cares1 the1 of life1 #bce4 ,carlyle1 #cb4 ,casual disciples1 #bcd4 ,centurion1 faith of the1 #aie4 humility of the1 #bjd4 ,centurions1 the three1 #bjj4 ,character1 in the kingdom of heaven1 #bde4 and circumstance1 #ccg4 makes destiny1 #ceg4 ,childhood consecrated1 #he4 ,christ1 the transfigured1 #bhc4 suffering1 #daj4 ,christianity1 the rapid spread of1 #h4 ,chronology of ,new ,testament vague1 #af4 ,circumcision1 the rite of1 #hc4 ,citizenship in the new kingdom1 #bde1 #bdh4 ,cleopas1 #dje4 ,coifi and his parable1 #ceb4 ,common things made sacred1 #ge4 ,concerning prayer1 #agg4 ,conduct1 character in motion1 #ccg4 ,court of the women1 #dg4 ,creed1 a1 not a ,christ1 #aee4 ,cross1 the foreshadow of the1 #bhb4 the1 the central thought of heaven1 #bia4 ,cup1 the1 of the ,agony1 #cfh4 of sorrow transfigured1 #cge4 ,death1 foreign to the sinless life1 #bhe4 an exodus1 #bhh4 ,debtors1 the two1 #baf4 ,decision of character1 #afg4 ,demonology1 #aec1 #aee4 ,depart from me1 ,o lord1 #agb4 ,departed1 the1 interested in earthly things1 #bij4 ,destiny1 eternal1 #cfc4 ,disciples1 the three candidate1 #bdf1 #bdg4 sleeping1 #cgb1 #cha4 misunderstand ,christ's mission1 #dji4 ,divided energies1 #bce4 ,dorner1 ,dr41 #cea4 ,drachma1 the lost1 #cci4 ,draught1 the1 of fishes1 #afi4 ,duties owing to the ,state1 #cdi4 ,eastern mind poetic1 #ca4 ,eat1 drink1 and be merry1 #ceh4 ,elder brother1 the1 #cbi4 ,elizabeth1 #bj1 #cd4 song of1 #bj1 #cf1 #cg4 ,emmaus1 the walk to1 #dje4 the1 apocalypse1 #daa4 ,eschatology1 the1 of ,st4 ,luke1 #ceb4 ,ethics1 the1 of ,st4 ,luke1 #ccf1 #cea4 ,ethical1 the1 compass1 #cdb4 ,evolution1 not revolution1 #agj4 ,ewald1 #ij4 ,faith1 the secret of victory1 #abg4 ,farrar1 ,archdeacon1 #ahg1 #bae4 ,fast1 the forty days'1 #aaj4 ,fasting and prayer1 #aaa4 ,fatherhood1 the1 of ,god1 #agi4 ,forgiveness1 the joy of1 #bag4 to follow repentance1 #cdf4 ,gabriel and the ,virgin ,mary1 #ee4 ,gethsemane1 #aia1 #bhd1 #bif1 #cfd4 ,give ye them to eat1 #bgd4 ,giving1 #bjb1 #cdh4 ,godet1 ,professor1 #bbc1 #bif1 #cce4 ,golden rule1 the1 #cjc4 ,good tidings to the poor1 #acf4 part1 the1 #cab4 ,gospel1 the1 of the ,old ,testament1 #acd4 liberty1 #adb4 ,gospels1 the four1 a unity1 #a4 ,grave1 the1 not our goal1 #ced4 ,growth of the kingdom1 #bea4 ,gulf1 the great1 #cfc4 ,healing1 miracles of1 #bee4 ,hearers1 not doers1 #bbf4 ,heaven in the ,old ,testament1 #agh4 near and real to ,jesus1 #ahi4 and hell1 #cfa4 ,hebraisms in ,st4 ,luke1 #ae4 ,hermon1 ,mount1 #bhb4 ,herod1 king of ,juda1 #ah4 the ,tetrarch1 #bgj4 ,jesus before1 #cib4 ,herodias1 daughter of1 #ajc4 ,holy ,spirit1 full of the1 #ajh4 ,home associations1 #hb4 and the synagogue1 #adi4 ,hope and despair1 #djh4 ,housebuilders1 the1 #cei4 ,humanity and nationality1 #e4 ,humility1 #cdb4 ,hundredfold1 the1 increase1 #bci4 ,incarnation1 the1 #dh4 ,inn1 the1 of ,bethlehem1 #gf4 ,chimham1 #gg4 ,inspiration1 the personal element in1 #b1 #aj4 work of the ,holy ,spirit1 #ab1 #ac4 ,jesus1 baptism of1 #ig4 returns to ,nazareth1 #abh4 preaches in the synagogue1 #acb4 no pessimist1 #acf4 and the ,fatherhood of ,god1 #acf4 a ,lover of freedom1 #adc4 the ,king1 #bdd4 knowledge of1 #bfd4 compassion of1 #bff4 power of1 #bfg4 offered ,himself1 #cha4 appears to the eleven1 #dab4 ,jews1 the1 and the ,samaritans1 #cja4 ,joachim and ,anna1 #ec4 ,john the ,baptist1 a ,nazarite1 #be4 his mission foretold1 #ha4 withdraws to the desert1 #hh4 his manifestation1 #hi4 effect of his ministry1 #ib4 secret of his success1 #ic4 his wavering faith1 #ajj4 belongs to the old dispensation1 #ajb4 ,joseph1 #ej4 ,judaism and spiritual life1 #ba4 ,judas ,iscariot1 #cgh4 ,judging others1 #cci4 ,khamasa1 the modern ,emmaus1 #dje4 ,kingdom1 the1 of heaven1 #bda4 the keys of the1 #bdd4 the1 and its citizens1 #bde4 the growth of the1 #bea4 the1 not of this world1 #beb4 ,lamb1 the1 of ,god1 #ajj4 ,larger hope1 the1 #cfa4 ,law1 the1 exacting1 unforgiving1 #bbj4 of love1 the1 supreme1 #cch4 ,leaven1 the1 hid in the meal1 #beb4 ,leper1 ,jesus touches the1 #bei4 ,life1 the1 which now is1 #ccf4 ,little things1 the ,divine care for1 #bgh4 ,loan1 the1 of the three loaves1 #ahf4 ,loaves1 the miracle of the1 #bfi4 ,lord's ,day1 the first1 #djj4 ,losing all1 to gain all1 #age4 ,lost and found1 #cag4 ,love in action and love at rest1 #cjg4 the all-embracing duty1 #cch4 of country1 #cej4 ,loving the sinner1 #cbd4 our enemies1 #cdc4 ,luke1 ,st41 and humanity1 #d4 his ,gentile sympathies1 #d1 #e4 his profession1 #f1 #g4 reasons for writing his ,gospel1 #i4 ,magnificat1 the1 #ci4 ,malchus1 #chb4 ,mariolatry1 #eb4 ,marriage in the after-life1 #cee4 ,martha of ,bethany1 #cji4 ,mary the listener1 #caj4 anoints the feet of ,jesus1 #cad4 ,miracles1 natural and necessary1 #adh4 ,miracle1 a1 of a new order1 #afi1 #bgi4 ,misery1 the1 of sin1 #ccc4 ,money1 the love of1 #cdh1 #cgi4 ,moses and ,elijah1 #bhf4 ,mustard seed1 a grain of1 #beb4 ,my soul is exceeding sorrowful1 #cfg4 ,nature1 the kingdom of1 #bdc4 ,nazareth1 #cg1 #ej4 ,needle's eye1 the1 #bdf4 ,neighbour1 my1 #bif4 ,ninety and nine1 the1 just persons1 #cce4 ,numbered among the transgressors1 #cif4 ,nunc ,dimittis1 #dd4 ,oaths and curses1 #chd4 ,obedience1 in the ,christian life1 #afh4 ,obedience to parents1 #cdi4 ,order1 ,heaven's love of1 #bgg4 ,orpheus and his lyre1 #cga4 ,papias1 #ee4 ,passover1 an extemporised1 #bhj4 the1 #cgg4 ,paternoster1 a parabolic1 #cbb4 ,peter1 the faith of1 #afg4 ,peter's wife's mother1 #aeg4 denial1 #chc4 lack of moral courage1 #chf4 ,pharisee1 the1 and the publican1 #aha1 #bej4 ,pharisees1 the teaching of the1 #bjj4 the1 reject both ,jesus and ,john1 #bji4 ,philip the evangelist1 #bdg4 ,phillips ,brooks1 #cae4 ,pilate1 ,jesus before1 #cij4 pleads for ,jesus1 #cic4 character of1 #cid4 ,pity1 the ,divine1 #bgf4 ,pleasures1 the1 of life1 #bch4 and pains of the after-life1 #ceg4 ,poor1 the1 in spirit1 #bdi4 and the proud in spirit1 #bej4 ,prayer and healing1 #aei4 character1 a condition of1 #aha4 the ,lord's1 #ahb4 wide realm of1 #ahe4 importunity in1 #ahf4 habitual with ,jesus1 #ahi1 #aid4 of ,jesus for ,simon1 #aic4 answered1 but not granted1 #cgd4 ,pride condemned1 #cda4 ,priest1 the1 and ,levite1 #bih4 ,priesthood1 friendly to ,jesus1 #bii4 ,principles1 evolved but not created1 #ccg4 ,prodigal son1 the1 #cba4 ,promise1 the1 of the ,father1 #dad4 ,prophets of the old dispensation1 #ace4 ,psalms1 the1 of the ,advent1 #cc4 the four1 one song1 #de4 ,quarantania1 the1 #aaj4 ,receiving and giving1 #cae4 ,regeneration not reform1 #ccg4 ,religion1 little more than form1 #adi4 ,religiousness not always religion1 #cjj4 ,religious1 the1 instinct1 #agg4 ,repentant1 ,heaven's joy over the1 #ccd4 ,resurrection life1 the1 #bhe4 ,return1 the1 of the prodigal1 #cbe4 ,riches1 the pursuit after1 #bcg4 ,rich man1 the1 and ,lazarus1 #cei4 ,sabbath1 a1 in ,galilee1 #adh4 the1 question1 #aej4 and the ,lords ,day1 #dae4 ,sacrament1 the new1 #cgj4 ,sacred sites obscure1 #fh4 ,samaritan1 the good1 #bid4 his thoughtful sympathy1 #cjb4 ,sceptre1 the departed1 #ia4 ,scriptures1 the misread1 #daj4 ,sea1 the1 is ,his1 #aga4 ,seed1 the way-side1 #bbg4 the1 on the rocks1 #bcj4 amid the thorns1 #bce4 in the good ground1 #bch4 ,self-sacrifice1 the beauty of1 #cje4 ,servant1 the1 of the centurion1 #aif4 ,sheep1 the lost1 #cah4 ,shepherds1 the1 and the angels1 #fi4 character of the1 #gc4 ,sight for the soul1 #cjf4 ,silence1 four centuries of1 #ai4 ,simon the ,pharisee1 #baa4 a seeker after truth1 #bab4 the ,cyrenean1 #cie4 ,sin1 confessed1 then forgiven1 #cbh4 the ,divine grief over1 #ccj4 to be rebuked1 #cde4 ,sinners1 hope for1 #bbj4 ,sisters1 the two1 #cjf4 ,son1 a1 with a servant's heart1 #ccj4 ,sower1 parable of the1 #bbe4 ,spices for the embalming1 #dja4 ,spikenard and tears1 #baf4 ,stier1 #bah4 ,sympathy in sorrow1 #cfh4 ,synagogue1 the1 at ,capernaum1 #aea4 ,talents1 parable of the1 #cei4 ,taxing1 the1 #fb4 ,temptation1 the1 #aje4 ,testimony1 value of personal1 #bja4 ,testing times1 #bcc4 ,theophilus1 #g4 ,thief1 the penitent1 #cig4 ,tower1 the1 of the flock1 #fh4 ,transfiguration1 the1 #aia1 #bha4 ,trial1 the mock1 #chh4 ,ulysses and the sirens1 #bbi4 ,unclean devil1 the1 #aeb4 ,unity1 the1 of the ,godhead1 #agh4 ,unjust judge1 the1 #ahg4 ,unquiet heart1 the1 #cae4 ,vacillation1 a bar to heavenly citizenship1 #bdf4 ,valley1 the1 of the shadow1 #ced4 ,vindictive feelings disallowed1 #cdd4 ,virgin-conception1 the1 a familiar thought1 #ej4 ,vision1 the double1 #ada4 ,voice1 the human1 and the ,divine ,word1 #bja4 ,watch1 the1 in ,gethsemane1 #cfd4 ,wayside1 the1 may become fruitful1 #bcj4 ,wealth1 its place in the new kingdom1 #bde4 the true use of1 #cdf4 peculiar dangers of1 #cdg4 to be held in trust1 #cdh4 consecrated1 #cdh4 ,welcome home1 the1 #cbh4 ,will1 submission to the ,father's1 #cge4 ,woman1 a1 of the city1 #bac4 ,words1 the1 of ,jesus1 the ,word of ,god1 #afd4 ,divine1 forgotten1 #djc4 ,work and worship1 #ee1 #gd4 ,worlds beyond the world1 #cec4 ,worship1 the heart in1 #aej4 counterfeit1 #bbh4 ,wrong not to be condoned1 #cde4agh ,zacharias1 #bj4 in the holy place1 #bb4 prayer of1 #bc4 the angel's message to1 #bc4 asks for a sign1 #bf4 and the ,benidictus1 #bh4 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,minor typographical errors and inconsistencies have been silently normalized4 ,hyphenation is inconsistent4 ,the list of the ,expositor's ,bible ,series has been moved from the beginning to the end of the book4