Full text of "A harmonized exposition of the four Gospels"

A HARMONIZED
EXPOSITION

OF THE

FOUR GOSPELS

REV. A. E. BREEN, Ph. D., D. D,

AUTHOR OF

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO HOLY SCRIPTURE
A DIARY OF MY LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND

REVISED EDITION

"And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole
inhabited earth for a testimony unto all the nations ; and then shall
the end COMIC." Matt. XXIV. 14

ROCHESTER, N. Y.

JOHN P. SMITH PRINTING COMPANY
1908

APR . i

Roclicstf). N. } .. fitly 2

CONTENTS
OF THE SECOND VOLUME

PAGES

MATT. XII. i 8; MARK II. 2328; LUKE VI. 15.
The plucking of the ears of corn on the Sabbath Mercy

and not. Sacrifice The Precedent of David r 21

MATT. XII. 914; MARK III. r 6; LUKE VI 6 n.
The healing in the synagogue on the Sabbath of the man with the

withered hand 21 30

MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712.

Jesus goes down to the Sea of Gennesarct The fulfilment of
Isaiah XLII. i 4 The demons confess the Divinity of
Jesus 31 45

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 1319; LUKE VI. 1216.
Jesus goes about through the cities and villages teaching and

healing The calling of the twelve Apostles 45 69

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721.
The Beatitudes 6998

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI .2226.
Jesus proclaims the Apostles to be the Light of the world, and

the Salt of the earth 9 s 120

MATT. V. 1316.
Yc arc the Salt of the Earth The City set on a Hill 120 130

MATT. V. 1720.
The sanctity and eternity of the New Law True Righteousness 130 138

MATT. V. 2126.

The sin of anger 138 T 5

MATT. V. 2732.

The sin of lustful thoughts The indissolubility of marriage,

except in the case of adultery 150 155

MATT. V. 3337.

The teaching &lt;&gt;f Jesus regarding oaths 155 -161

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737.
The love- of enemies The pardoning of offenses The giving

of alms i 62 i () i

MATT VI 1-4
Alms to IK- done in secret iqi i&lt;)6

MATT. VI. 515.
Thr !&gt;r&lt;&gt;i&gt;rr Tiiodr of prayer The Lord s Prayer irjfi -225

MATT. VI. 1 6 1 8.
The doetrine of fasting

MATT. VI, 1921.
Christ teaehes to lay up treasures in Heaven

MATT VI. 2223.
The lamp of the l&gt;ody is the eye

MATT. VI. 21
Ye cannot serve (iod and Mammon

MATT. VI. 2534.
He not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ve shall

drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on 241 256

MATT. VII. i -6; LV KK VI. 37 -42.

The mde in the brother s eye Cast not pearls before swine 256 270

MATT VII. 7 i i ; LCKF. XI. 5 13.

Ask and ye shall receive 270 270

MATT. VII. 12 -14.

All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do

unto you. even so do ye also unto t lit m The narn &gt;w gate 280 28.)

MATT VII. 15 23; Ll KK VI. 4346.

The tret. is known by its Irnit 284 202

MATT. VII 2429; Ll KK VI. 47 -49.
The house built upon the rock, and the house built upon the sand 203 270

MATT VIII. 5 13: Ll KK VII i -10.

The healing of she Centurion s servant at Capharnaum 297 316

Ll KK VII 11 17.

The widow s son at Nairn is raised up from the dead 316 324

M ATT . X I . i 1 9 : L U K E VI 1 . 1 83 5 .

Jesus testimony concerning John the Baptist 324 356

Ll KK VII. 3650.

The- sinful woman anoints the feet of Jesus in Simon the Pharisee s

house --Tin- parable of the two debtors The woman is

forgiven by Jesus 356 370

MATT. XIII. 123; MARK IV. 125; Ll KK VIII. i .8.
The parable of the sower 370 .407

MARK IV. 2620.

The intrinsic power of growth of the kingdom of Heaven - 408 412

MATT. XIII. 2443 ; MARK IV. 3034.
The parable of the tares among the wheat The parable of the

mustard seed The parable of the leaven - 412 432

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6.

The parable of the treasure hidden in the field The parable
of the pearl of great price The parable of the net The
judgment The carpenter s Son The prophet without
honor in his own country - - 432 449

MATT. XII. 4650; MARK III. 3135; LUKE VIII. 1921.
The Mother of Christ, and his disciples come to see him - 449 4^

MATT. VIII. 18, 2327; MARK IV. 3541; LUKE V1I1. 2225.
The stilling of the tempest - 455 465

MATT. VIII. 2834; MARK V. 120; LUKE VIII. 2639.
Jesus visits the country of the Gerascnes He heals certain

demoniacs - 465 478

MATT. IX. 1826; MARK V. 2143; LUKE VIII. 4056.

The healing of the woman afflicted with the How of blood The

raising to life of Jairus daughter - - 478 496

MATT. IX. 2734.
The healing of two blind men, and of a demoniac - 496 500

MATT. X. 542; MARK VI. 7 13; LUKE IX. i 6.
First mission of the. twelve disciples - - 500 534

MATT. XIV. 1 12; MARK VI. 1429, LUKE IX. 79.
The beheading of John the Baptist - - - ^34 544

MATT. XIV. 13 21 ; MARK VI. 30 44; LUKE IX ; 1017. JOHN VI. 1-13
Tlie first multiplication of the loaves - - 544 561

MATT. XIV. 2236; MARK VI. 4556; JOHN VI. 1421.
Christ walks upon the waters Peter goes to meet him 561 573

JOHN VI. 2247.
Christ the Bread of Life - 573 588

JOHN VI. 4859.

The Eucharist 588 614

JOHN VI. 6071.
The; Eucharist continued Many of the disciples leave the

following of Jesus - 614 623

MATT. XV. 120; MARK VII. 123.

Christ condemns the hypocrisy, and formalism of the Pharisees 623 643

MATT. XV. 21 28; MARK VII. 2430.
The expulsion of the demon from the daughter of the Syro-

Phocnician woman - - 643 652

PAOES

MATT. XV. 293, . MARK VII. 3137.
The healing of the dunil), of the maimed, of the lanu-, and of the

lilind Kphphatha - 652 660

MATT. XV. 3239; MARK VIII. 1-10.
The second multiplication of the loaves - (&gt;(&gt;o (&gt;(&gt;(&gt;

MATT XVI. i 12; MARK VIII. 11 21

Jesus and his disciples cross the Lake of ( icr.ncsarct . and the

disciples forget to take bread - - (&gt;(&gt;(&gt; &lt;&gt;--

MARK VIII. 22 26.

Tin healing of tht. 1 Mind man at Hethsaida (&gt;-- -dXj

MATT. XVI. .3 20; MARK VIII. 27 -30; LL KK IX. iS j,.

Si. I rter confesses the DhinitV of lesus Christ at Ca-sarea

I hilipjii --Christ tounds his Church upon IVtcr OSj 717

An Exposition of the Four Gospels

MATT. XII. 1-8. MARK II. 23-28.

1. Ev 7.1VO) 7(7) 7.7. .p&lt;j) 7ZC- 23. Kat VV70 7.J70V V 70tq

i^elvacav 7. at f]p;av70 7tAAeiv -7 a- rjpcav70 ocoiroielv 7iAAov7^ TOJS

yux&lt;; y.at e Oteiv. C7axjac.

2. Ot f^aptcalot t8o v7cs etzov 24. Kat ot ^aptcatot iXeyov
a J7(o: Ico j ot ^.aOr^at oj 7:01- aiJ7(I): "ISe 7t icotouctv TGI? ua66actv,

OJ tV O J 7. I^C7tV -OttV V Sa&&a7(p. OJ7. eC"7tV;

3. et^v aj70t^: OUT. 25. Kat e Xeyev auToIq: Ouce-
aveyvo)7 7t ezotr^ev 6 Aajsto, 07 e 7:07 e aveyvw7 7t ezotT)aev AauetS
-tva-v 7.at ot ^7 a J7oD; 07 -/petav eV/ev 7,at e^st vacsv au7oc

7.at ot ^7 au70 j;

4. 11(7)^ etafjAOev t^ 7ov 0:7,0 v 26. Etc7Y]A6V e!&lt;; 7ov ot7,ov 70
70 00 j xat 70 j; ap70 jq 7f ( q -poOl- 0o j 7:t A6taOap 7ou Apxtspewc,
jto; e cpayev, o oux. e^bv tjv aJ7(7) /.7.t 7ouq ap7ouq 7^q TrpoOlcrswi; e^a-
tpayelv ouos 70tq ^7 a^70 j, t JXTJ yev, ouq OUT. g^ecmv ^ayetv t ^.TJ
7olq tpjctv ^.6vot&gt;;; 70 jq tepelc, 7,at eBor/.ev 7.7.; 70tq ~ jv

a J7(7) ouatv;

5. "II o j /. aveyvo)7e ev 7(7) vo ^w 27. Kat e Xeyev au7olc: To
07i 70!^ ja56actv ot lepels V7(7&gt; tp(7) ad66aTOV eta 7ov avOpo)7:ov lylveTO,
70 ja667.7ov ^6r J XoQctv 7.at avaf7tot 7.at 0^7 6 avOpw-o; eta 70 ^a66a7ov.

et-tv ;

6. Aly(.) C J jJLtv 071 70J tepoj

J.t loV "7tV (i)0.

7. Et oi yvw7.t7 7t sr7tv :
EXeo? OeAo) 7.7.1 o j Ouirlav, O JT. av

(i)

(1) Gnsp. II.

MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE V. 1-5

S. Kjp .o-; yic srT-.v -.&gt;.
J 6 1 ioc 70 j ivOcoj-oj.

1. At that season Jesus \vent
on the sabbath day through the
cornfields; and his disciples were
hungry, and began to pluck ears
of corn, and to eat.

2. But the Pharisees, when
they saw it, said unto him: He-
hold, thy disciples do that which
is not lawful to do upon the sab
bath.

3- Hut he said unto them:
Have ye not read what David
did, when he was hungry, and
they that were with him.

4. How he entered into the
house of Ciod, and did cat the
loaves of proposition, which it
was not lawful for him to cat,
neither for them that were with
ham, but only for the- priests

5. Or have ye not read in the
law, how that on the sabbath
day the priests in the temple
profane the sabbath, and are
guiltless?

6. Hut I say unto you: That
a greater being than the temple
is here.

7. Hut if ye had known what
this meaneth: I desire mercy,
and not sacrifice, ye would not
have condemned the guiltless.

8. For the Son of man is lord
of the sabbath.

28. T!r- KJCCOC kz- .v 6 Vio,-
70 J ivOpoVrroj y.xl 70 u -266270 y.

23. And it came to pass, that
he was going on the sabbath day
through the cornfields; and his
disciples began, as they went, to
pluck the ears of corn.

24. And the Pharisees said
unto him: Behold, why do they
on the sabbath day that which
is not lawful

25. And he said unto them:
Did ye never read what David
did, when he had need, and was
hungry, he, and they that were
with him 3

26. How he entered into the
house of God when Abiathar was
high priest, and did eat the loaves
of proposition, which it is not
lawful to eat save for the priests,
and gave also to them that were
with him 5

27. And he said unto them:
The sabbath was made for man,
and not man for the sabbath:

28. So that the Son of man
is lord even of the sabbath.

MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II 23-28; LUKE V. 1-5

LUKE VI. 15.

2x7 to
sjOat au-
v.AAov ol

TO L/C; a7a-

1. Now it came to pass on i. Eylve70 Be Iv
the second first sabbath, that he (Beu7epo7:p(o70)) Bu-opeL
was going through the corn- -bv B .a s-opf^wv, y.al i
fields; and his disciples plucked

the ears of corn, and did eat,
rubbing them in their hands.

2. But certain of the Phari
sees said: Why do ye that
which is not lawful to do on the
sabbath day?

3 . And Jesus answering them
said: Have ye not read even
this, what David did, when he
was hungry, he, and they that
were with him?

4. How he entered into the 4. Q? efoi
house of God, and did take and @eoj, x.at 70 L
eat the loaves of proposition, ceo^ XaSwv eq
and gave also to them that were

with him ; which is not lawful to
eat save for the priests alone ?

?. And he said unto them: 5. Kat IXeyev aikoi?: Kupi6&lt;;

, -y..\

the Son of man is lord of the lortv 7ou ea5cx7ou o 1 coc 7011 av-

sabbath. GpoWou.

In the second verse of Matthew C, D, L, A, 13, and 124
add auToik. In the fourth verse, ^ and B have tyayov.
This is endorsed by Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort. C. D,
and other authorities have the singular tyaye. In the
same verse, B, D, 13 and 124 have the singular relative o.
This is also found in many cursive MSS., and is approved by
Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort. Many codices and versions
have oi/9, in conformity with the texts of Mark and Luke.

In the sixth verse of Matthew, C, L, and A have ftet^y,
but the larger number of authorities have pel^ov.

In the twenty-third verse of Mark we find the reading
TrapaTTopeveo-Oat, in ^, A, L, T, A, II, et al. The other variants
of Mark are unimportant.

Ttvs; Be 7wv 4&gt;apt&lt;ja((ov sc-

T( zo .sl73 o or/. iHc^tv 70!^

3. Kal azo/.p .Gcl^ 7:pb; aJTOuq
elrsv 6 Ir^-oGs: OuBI -rod-ro ave-
yvoKS, 8 ITTO^JSV Aauet B, OTS
Izstvajsv au-roq y.al oc JXST au^ou;

et; 7ov o!x.ov TOJJ
TOJ? TY]&lt;; zpoOi-
y.al ISwxsv TOtq

y.c-: auToD, oG? or/. IcscrTtv ^ayscv
st y.7) ^ovouqtou? tspsls;

4 MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE V. 1-5

In the first verse of Luke, ^, B, L, et al. omit the reading
SevrepoTrptory. It is also rejected by the Coptic, Peshitto and
Ethiopian versions. \Vestcott and Hort place the term in the
margin. \Yilke, Bleek, Holtzman, Volkmar, Meyer, \Yeissand
Tregelles reject it. Alford and Lachmann consider it doubtful.
It is found, however, in the greatest number of codices, and is
quite generally endorsed by the Fathers and by Tischendorf.
In the second verse of Luke many codices add 7ruieli&gt;.

In the fourth verse, Band D omit the initial w&lt;?. In the
same verse, B, C*, L, X, et al. have \a{3(oi : the other author
ities have e\a/3e /an .

In the essentials of the fact the parallelism is clearly
maintained, but every Evangelist has certain details proper to
himself. One of these details is the designation of time in
Luke. According to the aforesaid Evangelist, the event took
place 1 on the second-first Sabbath (ei&gt; aa^^d-a) BevrepoTrpwTat) .
Such a designation of time is not found elsewhere in the Holy
Scriptures. \Ye can not know its exact import, and must limit
ourselves to con lectures. The term is omitted in the codices
of the Vatican, Mt. Sinai, in Codex Regius L of Paris, and in
numerous minuscule codiees; it is not found in the Coptic,
Peshitto, Syriac and Ethiopian versions. The critics \Yestcott
and Hort, though not rejecting the reading, place it in the
margin. But by far the greater number of codices and author
ities defend the reading. Weighing the critical data, we are
led to the judgment that the obscurity of the word caused its
omission from a certain number of codices; but its presence in
so many others clearly proves that it was in the original of
Luke. \\ e believe therct&lt; &gt;re that the genuine ness of the passage
cannot be reasonably doubted. Tin- data of tradition are so
discrepant that it is profitless to review them. This truth is
clear, that the text tixes the event on a certain Sabbath-day
that was called second-first, on account of its relation to some
starting point of enumeration. We shall be aided in determin
ing the day by some notice of the Jewish feasts. It must have
been at that time of the year when the harvest was ripening,
but not yet gathered. Xow the Hebrews began their sacred
year with the Pasch. This began on the evening of the four
teenth dav of the month called A bib. Abib means an ear of

MATT. XII. 1-8: MARK II. 23-28; LUKE V. 1-5

corn; and the month was so named, because then the fruit-
bearing part of the cereal plants appeared. After the Baby
lonian Captivity, this month was called Nisan. According to
the Rabbis, it began on the new moon of March, and its dura
tion was thirty days. Now the fifteenth day of this month
was the greatest feast in the Jewish calendar. It was the
Sabbath by excellence. On the evening preceding, the Paschal
lamb was eaten, and the following day was solemn and holy;
no servile work was to be done in it. Levit. XXIII. 7. This
was the first-first Sabbath, and all the subsequent feasts were
fixed in reference to it. On the day following the great Sab
bath of the fifteenth day of Abib, the Jews were bidden to
present a sheaf of the firstfruits of the corn to the priest, who
should offer it to the Lord by elevating it towards the four
points of the compass. Now from this day, the Hebrews were
bidden enumerate seven full weeks to the feast of the Pentecost,
which was the second great feast in the Jewish calendar. It is
called Pentecost, from the Greek UevrijicovTy [^epa], the
fiftieth day. In the Hebrew books of the Old Testament it is
not called by that designation, but it is called the Feast of
Weeks, since it occurred on the first day after a week of weeks
after the Passover. Exod. XXXIV. 22. It is also called the
Feast of the Firstfruits of the Harvest, [Exod. XXIII. 16],
because it was at the wheat harvest.

The third feast of importance in the religious polity of the
Jews was the first day of the seventh month, called in Hebrew
Tishri, corresponding to our month of September. This
month is called by some the Sabbatical month, on account of
the feasts occurring in it. The first day was a memorial feast
celebrated with blowing of trumpets. It was scarcely of more
solemnity than an ordinary Sabbath, servile work being pro
hibited therein, and a holocaust prescribed. Leviticus XXIII.
24,25. But in that same month, beginning with the evening
of the ninth day, and lasting till the evening of the tenth day,
was the solemn Day of Atonement. This was a day of great
solemnity; servile work was prohibited, and every soul that
did not afflict itself on that day lost its right to be counted in
the people of the Lord. Lev. XXIII. 27-32.

6 MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, or month of
Tishri, began the Feast of Tabernacles, and lasted through eight
days. The first day was a Sabbath of rest, and the eighth was
also to be thus observed. All the produce of the fields was
collected at this time, and the sacrifices were grander than at
any other feast. They began the first day with a sacrifice of
thirteen bullocks, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, and a
goat. The same number of rams and lambs, and the goat
were sacrificed on every one of the seven consecutive days of
the feast, but the bullocks were one less in number on every
successive clay ; so that during the seven days seventy bullocks,
fourteen rams, ninety-eight lambs, and seven goats were sacri
ficed. On the octave, one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs
were sacrificed, and the day was a Sabbath of rest. These
were the great Mosaic feasts of the Jews. Other feasts came
in later, in commemoration of events in the subsequent history
of the Jews, but of these we shall speak in their proper place.
\\ ith these data before us, we think to see our way to a solution
of this most difficult passage. We are fully convinced that the
feast mentioned by St. Luke is called the second-first Sabbath
in reference to the Great Sabbath of the Pasch, the first-first
Sabbath. Now we saw that from the first Sabbath of the
Pasch seven full weeks were to be counted till the Feast of the
Tabernacles, which was to be celebrated the day following the
seventh Sabbath. Ordinarily these Sabbaths intervening
between the Passover and Pentecost would have been desig
nated first, second, third, etc., even to the seventh; but this
would conflict with the place and rank of the Paschal Sabbath,
which was the first of all Sabbaths. Therefore did they call
them the second-first [SevrtpoTrpuTov], second-second [Setrrepo-
Sevrepov], second-third [SevrcporpiTov], and so on down to
the second seventh. The feast, therefore, mentioned by St.
Luke is the first Sabbath following the Sabbath of the Passover,
and was thus called because it was the first of a series; while
at the same time, it was second in reference to the great Sab
bath. This opinion has been adopted by Petavius, Pagi, Lamy,
Calmet, Schanz, Joseph Scaliger, Casaubonus, Drusius, Light-
foot, Toynard, Schoettgen, Schleusner, Kuinoel, Schott,
Xeander, Luebkert, De Wette, Weiss, Wiinsche, and Eder-

MATT. XII. 1-8 ; MARK II. 23-28 ; LUKE VI. 1-5 7

sheim. Knabenbauer pronounces no judgment on the passage.
Maldonatus opposes the opinion, but we shall see that his
opinion is based upon false data, He asserts that at that point
of time no corn was ripe. This argument is immediately dis-
proven by the fact that on the day following the great Sabbath
of the Pasch, the first sheaf of the corn was offered by the priest
in the temple, To be sure, at that date the harvest proper was
not ripe. The wheat harvest was just fifty days later, at the
Feast of Weeks, but on the day following the Pasch some cer
tain cereal was mature, and of this the sheaf was taken to be of-
ered in the temple. The great mistake of Maldonatus is to mis
take this offering of the sheaf for the sacrifice of the firstfruits
of the harvest at the Feast of Weeks. We are not merely con
jecturing here. We have Scriptural proof for our assertion. In
the sixteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, ninth verse, the date of
numbering the seven weeks which separated the Passover from
the Feast of Pentecost is spoken of as follows : "Begin to num
ber the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put
the sickle to the corn." Now not even Maldonatus will deny
that the seven weeks were counted from the Sabbath of the
Pasch. Therefore at the Pasch they began to put the sickle to
the corn. The corn could not be eaten in any form till the
harvest had been thus solemnly opened by this sacrificial act.
Levit. XXIII. 15. The harvest of some of the earliest of the
cereals began then, and the grain harvest was continued during
the fifty days of the Pentecostal season. Of this early grain,
the Apostles plucked some ears, and rubbing them in their
hand, they ate the kernels. In the text of Mark, the phrase
rip^avro oSoTroielv has given rise to some strange opinions.
To explain why Mark explicitly mentions the beginning of the
action, Schanz and Meyer conjecture that the protest came
from the Pharisees as soon as the action began. It is more
probable that Mark wishes to note that the action was not a
sudden movement of all the disciples. Hunger forced one or
another of them to pluck an ear of the corn . They saw that the
Master reproved them not, and others followed their example.
Regarding the oSoTroteiv the discussion has been greater.
The first meaning of the term in the active voice is to make or
level a road, viam sterner e. Some have drawn from such

.MATT. XII. i 8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

signification of the word that the disciples went before the
Lord, and beat down the stubble, and removed the obstructions.
Some rationalists have asserted that they went before him int&lt; &gt;
the field of grain, and opened up a path by tearing out the grain.
The absurdity of this position is apparent. The action would
have been foolishly useless, attended with great labor, and
unjust t&lt; &gt; the possessor of the field. The Pharisees could justly
protest against such an action, and the Lord could not
defend it. \Ve conclude therefore that Mark uses the active
voice of the o&o-rroLelv for the middle voice, in which the
classic signification of the term is itcr faccrc, to make one s
way. In the uncial codices ^, A, L, T, A, II, and several
minuscule codices we 1 find Trapa-rropeveaBaL instead of the Siatro
peveadai of the received text. \\apa-7Topevea6aL has the mean
ing to pass along by the side of a thing; whereas Sunropeveo-fftn
signifies to pass through the thing itself. Il is probable
that the Lord and his followers passed along a way which.
skirted fields of ripening grain; and that from the bordering
grain the disciples plucked a few heads. The Last was not,
and is not to this day, a land of carriage roads. The largest
centers of population were connected by mere camel paths,
and the action of the disciples could have been done as they
traveled over a path which passed through fields of grain.

Matthew tells us that the motive which impelled the dis
ciples to pluck the ears of corn was hunger. Although the
Lord imposed not on his followers the official fasts of the Phari
sees, nevertheless, the present passage gives evidence that their
lives were austere and poor, and that the service of the Master
led them at times through want and hunger. Certainly it was
not an ordinary degree of hunger that impelled them to appease
the stomach s craving by the raw ears of corn.

In the text of Luke we read that the protest of the Phari
sees was directed to the disciples themselves; while the other
two synoptists record it as addressed to Jesus in person. The
main truth of the event is not bound to these details. The
Evangelists are concordant in the substance of the fact, and
every detail also is true. The obvious sense of the parallel
passage as relates to the address of the protest is that there
were certain Pharisees in the company of Jesus and his dis-

MATT. XII. 1-8: MARK II. 23-28: LUKE VI. 1-5 9

ciples. These seeing the act of the disciples, immediately took
issue with them regarding its legality. The future teachers of
the world and pillars of the Church, at that period of their
lives, were unable to cope with these wily sophists, and the
Master ahvays came to their defense with the enunciation of
some grand truth, which stopped the mouths of the traducers,
while it also taught the world the truth. What defense the
disciples made on this occasion, is not written. It was unim
portant. But then the sectaries come to Jesus, and lay
before him the accusation. All the Evangelists have given his
answer, because in that consisted the settlement of the whole
issue. Of the preceding details, Luke only mentions the reproof
made to the individual Apostles; the subsequent bringing of
the accusation to the notice of the Lord he leaves to be inferred.
The other two writers omit the preceding detail, and give only
that which is most important, the protest to Jesus, and his
answer.

The plucking of the heads of grain would not have been
unlawful on any other day even by Pharisaic law. In Deu
teronomy, XXIII. 24,25, we read: "When thou comest into
thy neighbor s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes, thy
fill at thine own pleasure ; but thou shalt not put any in thy
vessel. When thou comest into the standing corn of thy
neighbor, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand;
but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor s standing
corn." The law was too explicit here to permit of Pharisaic
obscuration. But they had loaded down the Sabbath with a
dreary mass of absurd casuistry. And in all these wearisome
details there was nothing of anything spiritual, nothing of the
higher aim of the worship for which the day was made. We
may come at the nature of Pharisaic thought through the Tal
mud. To be sure, in the days of Christ, the teachers of Israel
may not have held the extreme views of the Talmudists, but
still the Talmud is the embodiment of those results which
Pharisaic thought finally accomplished. In Appendix XVII.
to his II. Vol. of the Life of Christ, Edersheim has collected
some curious data from the Talmuds respecting Sabbath
observance.

io MATT. XII. i 8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

In the Mishnic chapter on the Sabbath we are taught that
if a beggar stretched forth his hand into the house of a house
holder, and took anything out, he was guilty of Sabbath-
breaking, because he took something from a private into a
public place. Whereas, if the person within the house drew
thus an object into the house, the violation was not main
tained, since the object was brought into a private place; the
precept of maintaining rest being more strict in regard to public
than private places. Upon this chapter, the Talmudists have
written lengthy, spiritless discussions as to what constituted
a private place ; and they invented cunning devices for making
public places private. A woman is forbidden in the Mishna
to wear her ornaments on the Sabbath. A camel may not go
forth wearing a bell, as it was reputed the carrying of a burden.
A cow might not go forth with a strap about her horns. A
sheep could not go forth having some grass in its mouth, since
they considered the bite of grass in the sheep s mouth a bur
den, which the sheep could not carry on the Sabbath. The
Mishna explains the principal works not permitted on the
Sabbath. These they call the HlDN^D HUN- They

T " T

are thirty-nine in number. Among these is to break two
threads, or to sew two stitches. Again, they judged it a Sab
bath violation to carry as much hay or straw as a cow would
take at a mouthful, or as much grain as a lamb would take at a
mouth ful. By the same law, a man might not carry a swallow
of milk in a vase, or a smaller quantity of oil or honey on the
Sabbath. lie might not carry a strip of paper with writing on
it. A man might not raise a stone to throw at a bird or beast.
A man might not bear anything in either hand or upon his
shoulder, since that was the ordinary mode of carrying bur
dens; but a man could carry a burden with his foot or his mouth
or his ear, or his hair, or in his belt, or in his shoe, because this
was not the ordinary mode of carrying burdens. A man might
not write two letters that could be construed together, nor
could lie tie a knot in the cord with which he led the camel.
In the ordinances of the Mishna among the works for
bidden on the Sabbath are the following: To lead an animal
to water with his covering on; to kill vermin ; to light a fire;
to extinguish a light: to move a chair by dragging it; to

MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28: LUKE IV. 1-5 n

wear an easily removed ornament, as a necklace, a ring, or a
pin; to pluck out a hair, or wear in public false hair; to wear
shoes studded with nails; to go in public with false teeth or
a gold plug in one s tooth; to tie a knot; to undo a knot; to
take two stitches; to write two letters; to pluck a blade of
grass, etc. No surgical operations might be performed, no
bones set, and no remedies might be given to the sick which
would benefit the sick, except that a woman might be assisted
to give birth to her child. If a hen laid an egg on the Sab
bath it was forbidden to eat it. No burden of the size of a
dried fig might be carried. To reap the grain was one of the
thirty-nine works which were forbidden on the Sabbath, and
on this the Pharisees based their protest.

It was by design that the Lord placed these events on the
Sabbath. The errors of the Pharisaic teaching reached their
culminating point in the observance of the Lord s day, and the
Lord made out of this the great test-case where the external
ritualism of the old order and the spiritual worship of the New
Law should meet and decide the great issue. The basis of the
Lord s defense of the action of the disciples is that they were
hungry, but in the defense, the principle is sustained that a
reasonable necessity exempts from the observance of the
positive precepts of God. Now in this regard, not all laws are
equal. There are law T s which a man may not break in whatso
ever necessity, such as the laws of nature, or the law of God re
specting the things w r hich are intrinsically evil. Thus a man
may not in any necessity take innocent life, or deny God, or
blaspheme God s name, or commit adultery, or lie, or the like.
There are other laws called positive laws, either divine or hu
man, which admit of causes excusing from their observance.
And one of such is the law of rest upon the Sabbath, the law of
fasting, of abstinence and the like. Now in these laws there is
verified this truth that, though a man be free from the law by
necessity, still it is a greater act of religion to observe it even
in the necessity. Thus severe labor forms a just cause for
non-observance of the precept of fasting, still it is more religious
to observe the precept, even in the necessity, provided it may
be without injury to health, or prejudice to duties to be per
formed. But the Pharisees stood not for the law of perfection,

12 MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE V. 1-5

as thus explained. First, because they condemned an action
as unlawful which necessity made licit ; but principally, because
they misinterpreted the end of the law, and made of it an end,
whereas it should have been only a means. In their interpre
tation, the mind rested simply on the material observance, and
consequently never reached upward to God. God repudiates
every agency that keeps men from him, and the Pharisees
strict observance was odious to him, because it did not lead men
to God.

As the Pharisees based their charge upon the statutes of the
Law, the Lord refutes them by appealing to the well-known
event in the life of David, and also to the command to the
priests to sacrifice on the Sabbath. The Lord so couches his
answer that it expresses surprise that these professedly zealous
exponents of the Law should have been ignorant of the lesson
contained in these Scriptural data. The first fact is narrated
in the I. Book of Samuel, Chapter XXI, i. When Saul sought
the life of David he fled from the face of Saul, and came to
Nob, where the Ark of the Covenant was then preserved. The
text of Samuel declares that the priest at that time was Achime-
lech, and places the act of David entirely under Achimelech,
whereas Mark refers it to the time of Abiathar the high priest.
One of the sons of Achimelech was called Abiathar. When Saul
slew Achimelech and his line for the help given David, Abia
thar lied to David, and afterwards succeeded to the priesthood
under David. The son also of Abiathar was called Achimelech,
II. Sam. VIII. 17; I. Chron. XVIII. 6. This has led some to
conjecture that all these individuals bore the two names Abia
thar and Achimelech, and that the same individual is by Mark
called Abiathar who is called Achimelech in I. Samuel. We
prefer however the following solution. Abiathar played a
considerable part in the history of David the king. He was
much better known to the Jews than the obscure Achimelech.
Now although at the time of David s flight to Nob, Achimelech,
Abiathar s father, held the official post of priest, Abiathar was
associated with him in the functions of the office, and most
probably he was more active than the aged Achimelech. The
fact therefore did occur in the days of Abiathar, and he could
be called high priest, apxiepe vs, in the same manner that

MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5 13

Annas and Caiphas are both called apx^pelt by Luke. To
justify the expression of Mark, "e-rrl A/3ta #ap rov apxie-
/oo?," we must believe that at the very time of David s
coming to Nob, Abiathar was the high priest. Now we believe
that this is rightly explained by making him high priest by
association with his father. Though we hold this to be the
more probable opinion, we must in justice to the theme give
some notice to some other opinions. We can not consistently
with faith entertain the opinion of Keil and Weiss who explain
the antilogy by the supposition that through defect of memory
Mark placed Abiathar for Achimelech. Schegg and Schanz
believe that Mark relates the event as it was popularly under
stood by the Jews. The opinion of Schegg and Schanz would
be in substance that from the subsequent priesthood of Abia
thar under David, and from the fact that he fled from the
slaughter of the priests who were slain by command of Saul,
that a popular error arose, in which Achimelech was dropped
out of the narrative, and the priesthood of Abiathar was
extended back into the period of David s flight. They find no
incongruity in assuming that the Lord corrected not this
erroneous detail, for nothing depended thereon. To us, how
ever, it seems repugnant to our conception of the Lord, and of
divine inspiration.

Finally, it could perhaps be maintained as a probable
opinion that there was at the time of David s flight one Abia
thar holding the post of high priest, of whom no mention is
found in the books of Samuel. In this opinion, Achimelech,
who gave the bread to David, would be a subordinate priest
exercising his functions under Abiathar. And likewise in this
opinion, we know not in what degree of kinship Achimelech
stood to Abiathar. Likewise the subsequent cutting off of the
family of Achimelech and the escape of Abiathar, son of Achi
melech, would have naught to do with the history of the high
priest Abiathar. This opinion receives some corroboration
from the fact that Achimelech is only called a priest in the
books of Samuel ; whereas Abiathar is by Mark called a high
priest The expression of Mark does not demand that Abia
thar the high priest have any personal connection with the
event. It simply locates the event in the epoch of his high

i 4 MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

priesthood. We believe that this opinion is probable, and
these several probable opinions vindicate Mark s narrative
from the charge of historical inaccuracy.

For a clear understanding of the present passage \ve must
examine the event in David s life which the Lord here cites.
David iled in haste from Saul and came to Nob, to Achimelech
the priest of God. And Achimelech wondered that he came
alone. It was not usual that a man of David s dignity should
journey without a retinue. Thereupon David withholds from
Achimelech the real motive of his flight, and feigns that he is
on secret business of the king, which suffered no delay, and
which c i &gt;uld not be communicated to any one. David has been
accused of lying in his answer to Achimelech, but we believe
no such charge can be proven against him. There was no
wrongful deception of the priest; for he had no right to know
that David fled from the face of Saul. The right that David
had to food to sustain life and to security took precedence of
the right which the priest would have in ordinary conversa
tion to receive a statement of the facts.

From the fact that David came to Achimelech alone, a
difficulty has arisen. The three evangelists speak of retainers
being with David, who also ate of the holy bread. In exam
ining the event of David s flight as chronicled for us in I. Sam
uel XX. and XXL, we find that he certainly appeared alone
before Achimelech. \Ve find, moreover, no indication of fol
lowers with David, except in his answer to Achimelech, I.
Sam. XXI. 2: "And David said unto Achimelech the priest:
The king has commanded me a business, and hath said unto
me: Let no man know anything of the business about which
I send thee, and what I have commanded thee. And I have
stationed young men in certain appointed places." David has
again been censured by commentators for this statement-
But we justify him by the principle that we have adopted,
that the essence of a lie is deception, and deception is not found
in these cases. It was a prudent withholding of fact, which the
other had no right to know, and the substitution therefor of
matter which caused no evil to the person addressed. Hum-
melaur defends David s action on the principle of mental
restriction. The Jesuit theologians first formulated this prin-

MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5 15

ciple, and it has been quite generally adopted by Catholic
theologians. They arrive at the same results as we, but we
believe that our principle appeals more to the natural instinct
of truthfulness in man s nature. It is important for us to
defend David s action from imputation of falsehood; else the
proving force of the Lord s words is lost. If David obtained
the loaves of the priest by lying, the Jews justly could have
responded: "The authority of David avails not, for he also,
in the same event, deceived the priest of God."

It must be borne in mind here that the Lord brings forth
the action of David as an example of that which is lawful.
The point is not that the priest gave him the bread. The
priest is only connected with the event to designate the time.
The Lord s line of argument is as follows: David was a man
whom the Jews honored second to Abraham. His heart was
according to the heart of the Lord, and the Lord protected his
whole life by a most special providence. Now excepting the
adultery with Bathsheba and the command to slay Uriah, the
words and acts of David recorded in the Scripture are
exemplary. The Scripture openly reprehends the great sin of
David, but it speaks of his other acts and his words as of a man
acting under the immediate influence of Heaven ; and the eat
ing of the loaves of proposition is so described in Scripture as to
show us that it was the means which a special Providence made-
use of to feed his hunger. He was an inspired agent, and both
his words and the important events of his life, written in
Scripture, and bearing the implicit approbation of the writer of
such Scripture, are for our instruction. Hence the Lord draws
from it the legitimate conclusion that David s action is a
precedent in the right application of the law. Now some
have thought that David was in fact unattended, and that his
mention of the servants stationed at certain posts was also an
invention of his own mind, In such interpretation the words
of the Lord would give us much difficulty; for he speaks of
David s attendants being hungry and eating the holy bread.
The whole argument falls flat if we say that David s attend
ants did not in reality exist. For thus the Lord would have
erred in the substance of the fact, and a weighty element would
be lost out of the narrative.

16 MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

We believe that David drew with him a few trusty fol
lowers in his flight, and in order not to attract- attention, as
he went to the priest, he appointed them to different stated
places, and went up to the priest alone. In fact, the quantity
of bread asked for, five loaves, proves that he asked for bread
for his followers. Moreover, the Lord makes a point of the
fact that the retainers of David ate of the bread In fact, if
only David ate of it, one might weaken the Lord s citation by
saying that David was an extraordinary man, the anointed of
God, and though not a priest, still, by the sacred unction,
taken out of the ranks of the common laity; so that not the
necessity, but the exalted character of David entitled him to
eat the holy bread. But when the Lord avouches that the com
mon soldiers, whose lives are not always the best, ate of the holy
bread, the argument became conclusive, that the necessity
exempted them from the law.

The- law respecting the holy bread of the temple is pro
mulgated in Leviticus, XXIV. 5 -9. The loaves were twelve
in number, made of fine flour. Every loaf contained two-
tenths of an epha, hence every loaf would have in itself some
what more than six English pounds of Hour. They were
arranged in two piles, six in a pile on a table, two cubits long,
a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height, made of
precious wood and overlaid with gold. This bread is some
times called in Hebrew *.j uZn^, the bread of the pres
ence, because it was set before the face of the Lord. -Ex. XXV.
30; XXXV. 13; XXXIX. 36. In II. Chron. XIII. n, it is
called Cu 1 ? fd&gt;2, ordo sen ilispositio panis, an order
ing of the bread, because the mode of offering it was to arrange
it in a stated manner be-fore the Lord. In II. Chron. IV. 19,
the Septuagint renders the Q^j^ 12 H 1 " - uprot Tr/jotfeereoK,
panes propositions, that is, bread arranged before the face of
the Lord as an offering. This is the usual appellation of this
sacrifice in the Xew Testament; hence the Catholic English
version calls them the bread of proposition. The protest-
ant versions, imitating the version of Luther, call them the
shewbread. They could be called, bread of the presence.

MATT. XII. i-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5 17

The priests were commanded to arrange the bread on the
table on the Sabbath, and to renew it every Sabbath. The
loaves which had been removed, they were commanded to eat
in the temple itself. It was this bread, thus removed to give
place to the fresh loaves, that the priest gave to David.

In the fourth verse of the Greek of Matthew there is a
variant in relation to the number of the verb which predicates
of David the eating of the bread. The Vulgate has the verb in
the singular, "comedit." In this it follows the greater number
of Greek authorities, which uniformly have e&lt;j&gt;aye. The
plural form tyajov is found in the Vatican and Sinaitic codices
and is defended by Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort. Knaben-
bauer also considers it the more probable reading. The chief
argument for the plural reading seems to be that it was the
intention of the Lord to affirm that the attendants also ate the
bread. This proves nothing. From the fact that the hunger
of the attendants is mentioned immediately before, and in the
same verse mention is made of the prohibition against the
eating of the bread by them, it is plainly implied by Matthew
that they ate. As David went alone to the temple, the writer
places the verb of going thither in the singular, and the con
struction would be harsh to place the next verb in the plural.
Moreover both Mark and Luke have the verb in the singular.
It is very probable that the Lord actually made mention of the
eating of the bread by David, and of his giving it to his attend
ants, as Mark and Luke relate. Matthew has mentioned
directly the first fact, and has left the giving of the bread to be
inferred from the context. We cannot therefore consider the
plural tyayov as a probable reading. The second example
cited by the Lord is more simple in its history. By the com
mand of God to Moses, expressed in Numbers, XXVIII. 3-10,
two sacrifices were offered on the Sabbath. First there was the
perpetual daily sacrifice of one lamb and a tenth part of an
epha of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of oil in
the morning and the same in the evening. This never varied :
it was the perpetual sacrifice. But on the Sabbath day, over
and above this perpetual sacrifice, there was commanded a
sacrifice of two yearling lambs and a proportionate quantity
of flour and oil. Now all the necessary labor for offering the

(2) Cos p. II.

MATT. XII. i-S: MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

sacrifice was done by the priests on the Sabbath. The victims
were killed, and skinned, the flesh was cut up,- the wood was
placed on the fire, and the fire was maintained. In assertin^

&gt;

that the priests thus violated the Sabbath, the Lord uses the
word violate in its material sense, that is, that they did that
which in other circumstances would have been a violation of
the Sabbath rest. That the priests were without blame in this
action is evident from the fact that the Lord commanded that
which necessitated labor. It was a proof taken from their
own law that the object of the Sabbath was something higher
than the mere cessation from labor. The Sabbath rest was
ordained to put man into a condition to worship God, and the
great aim of the Sabbath was the worship of God, and all
activity that promoted that aim was good and is good. In the
same way the Sabbath rest stood not in the way of the high
offices of mercy. God can never be pleased with mere forms
and lifeless ceremony. He is God of truth, and looks into the
essence of things; and it is the spirit of man that he would come
into communication with. The universal and faithful observ
ance of a Sabbath rest is good; it is a public recognition of a
Supreme Being; it is a proper condition for worship. But
higher than the condition, there is something which never
change s, the eternal bond between God and man, brought into
prominence by worship, and acts of mercy, and love of God and
of the neighbor. The argument of Christ drawn from the action
of the priests on the Sabbath is in substance as follows: "The
Sabbath is to draw man to God ; and the service of the temple,
inasmuch as it is for God, justifies the activity necessary for the
conducting of divine worship; but standing in this place, &&amp;gt;8e,
is a being greater than the temple. The temple is a mere
material edifice of stone, and marble, and silver, and gold,
wherein the majesty of the Lord is transiently shown, but I
who stand here am the co-equal Son of that same Yahveh,
whose glory at times fills the temple; and in me dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Coloss. II. 9. Those
who now pluck those ears of corn are hungry, because they
have persevered with me, and the act is good, because it is
connected with mv service."

MATT. XII. 1-8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5 19

In the sixth verse of Matthew there is a variant. C, L,
and A, have ^etfav, the masculine form of the comparative.
This is followed by the Vulgate, according to which we should
render it: "But I say unto you that one greater than the
temple is here." The greater number of codices have pelfrv,
the neuter comparative, according to which we should render
the passage: "But I say unto you that a greater being than
the temple is here." The latter is undoubtedly the true read
ing. Though the being indicated by such neuter form is
Christ, such truth is more forcibly expressed in Greek by the
neuter form. The other reading probably arose from the
thought that the neuter form left the identity of Christ too
indefinite.

The action of the disciples would have been lawful in
hunger from whatever cause; it was doubly lawful from the
fact that their necessity had come from their adhesion to the
Lord. This whole argument of Christ is based on the truth
that he was the Son of God. In all Christ s teachings, the
grand truth of the divine Sonship of Christ remains a leading
idea. It was the first act in the creation of the new universe,
the basis of man s hold on the new life that opened up to him
in Christ.

The conflict between the life of Christ and Pharisaic
teaching centered on certain cardinal truths, so that in many
events of his life the same truth is the point at issue. Hence,
we find the Lord repeating certain truths to decide similar
issues. The attitude of the Pharisees towards his disciples was
against the grand quality of mercy, and he opposes to it the
utterance of their own prophet Hosea, VI. 6: "I will have
mercy and not sacrifice." This same sentence was uttered by
Christ on a former occasion, Matt. IX. 13, when he was accused
of consorting with sinners. In our exegesis of that event we
have explained the sense of the prophet s words. Israel had
become unfeeling towards God and towards man; the best
things in man, mercy and love, were banished from their
breasts. As land lying waste and untilled becomes wild and
savage, so the heart of man, separated from the gentle influ
ences of Heaven, becomes hard and cruel.

MATT. XII. i 8; MARK II. 23-28; LUKE VI. 1-5

In the twenty-seventh verse, Mark alone has recorded a
statement of the Lord, in which he condenses the main truth
respecting Sabbath rest. The Sabbath is for man, and not
man for the Sabbath. The error of Pharisaic teaching was to
lose sight of the end for which the Sabbath was ordained, and
to constitute the end of the Sabbath in the rest itself. They
did not this expressly. In the Mishnic treatise Mechilta on
Exodus, XXXI. 13, it is stated : "The Sabbath is handed over
to you; not ye are handed over to the Sabbath." But the
logical outcome of their teaching resulted in inverting the
order, and in making man the means, and the Sabbath rest
the end.

Catholic interpreters are unanimous in recognizing in the
ordinance of Sabbath rest both a temporal and a spiritual end.
The Sabbath is made for man that man might have a day of
rest from his labor, that mind and body might put away pre
occupation and toil, and enjoy needful rest, and have time
for the higher things of life. The wisdom of this beneficent
design is evident in society. On that day, families are united,
and weary toilers are allowed to enjoy the love and peace of
their homes. The legislation of man should, as far as possible
by human statute, preserve this God -given blessing of rest
from the encroachment of human greed.

The second object of the Sabbath is the worshipful service
of God, which the rest facilitates. This, of course, is the
greater purpose of the Lord s day, and that activity which is
ordered to promote this is good and holy. Nothing can ever
take precedence of the worship on that day. There is nothing
better than the service of God, but many causes may dispense
from the rest from labor.

The three parallel passages close with the solemn affirma
tion of the Lord that he, in his incarnate form as Son of man,
is Lord of the Sabbath.

The Lord loves to speak of himself as the Son of man.
The greatest event in the history of man was when the Son of
God became the Son of man. It was the opening of a new era,
in which man was lifted from one plane of being into a higher
and better world. The Lord keeps this truth in the fore
ground by frequently calling himself the Son of man.

MATT. XII. 9 14; MARK III. i 6

It is lawful for a man to do what he will with his own.
Therefore the Lord in virtue of being Lord of the Sabbath
could modify or change at will the Sabbath ordinance. This
truth alone would have justified the disciples. Jesus could only
be Lord of the Sabbath by being equal in authority to God.
No inferior can assert himself lord of the law of a superior.
To be lord of any law, one must have equal or superior power
to that of the original legislator. Hence in laying claim to
dominion over Yahveh s statute, Christ again affirms his
Divinity. Even one who receives not Christ must acknowl
edge that Christ proves his point in his discussion, and yet we
find recorded no confession of the truth on the part of the
Pharisees. It is a frightful example of human malice, that in
all the grand expositions of truth and deeds of virtue recorded
in the life of Jesus, we find no trace of any honest recognition
of these on the part of the Pharisees.

MATT. XII. 9-14.

9. Kal ^.STa^a? exslOsv f,X0v
t? TT)V ffuvaywytjv a jvwv.

10. Kal tooj avOpwTroq X e P a
iy/ov rjpav. Kal eiCYjpwnqffav auTOv

y-1 &gt;j^*- -^.^ Cd

pazsuctv; "va xa^yopr^w^v

MARK III. 1-6.

i. Kal c&lt;rr)X0ev zaX .v eiq JLiva-

x.al TQV Ixsc avOpwxoq ls r i"

2. Kai xapSTiqpo JV a^TOv et TOt
ja^ajt Ospazsujct au-ubv, Yva x.a

ii. 5s cl^sv aJToIq: T;g 3. Kal Xeyec TO) avOpwzw TC!
:at eq Ojxwv avOpw^roq oq scei TYJV yslpa S/OVTC qr]pav: "Eyscp;
oSaTov ev, xal lav I^Lzlcry] TOUTO s:c; 70 ^.sjov.
[q cra^aciv ?? ^oOuvov, ouy v l
iai a JTO xal eypet;

12. FIojo) ojv C .acplpEt av6po)7:oq 4- Kal Xsyst KUTOI?: hj&gt;,JT .\
zcoSatou; OJ-TS ;STIV TOIC ca^a- Tolq adt^acrcv dyaOoxoi^aat, f ( xaxo-

ol cs ejttozwv.

13. TOTS Xsyei TW avOpwzw: 5. Kai r^

EXTSIVOV cjou TY]V "/slpa. Kal Iqe-- ^ST opyf|q, uuXXuicou^evo? ezl

MATT. XII. 914; MARK III. 1-6

n 2 A AY;. TCJ avOpwzti): "ExTstvov TT;V 7clpa.

SalOl CTU^OJAtOV k A3tOV X3-r 2^TOJ SJOj; ;AT3 -7WV 1 1 fd) C13VMV CU^ioj-

ozwc ajTGv a~OAsrw- .v. Xtov ectcojv xa^ aJTOJ, o-wc

9. And he departed tlierce,
and \vent into their synagogiic:

10. And behold, a man hav
ing a withered hand. And
they asked him, saying: Is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day that they might accuse
him.

1. And he entered again
into the synagogue; and there
was a man there who had his
hand withered.

2. And they watched him,
whether he would heal him on
the Sabbath day; that they
might accuse him.

ii. And he said unto them:
What man shall there be of
you, that shall have one sheep,
and if this fall into a pit on
the Sabbath day, will he not
lav hold on it, and lift it out

3. Aral he saith unto the
man that had his hand with
ered: Arise (ind stand forth
in the midst.

12. How much then is a
man of more value than a
sheep! Wherefore it is lawful
to do good on the Sabbath
dav.

i^. Then saith he to the
man: Stretch forth thy hand.
And he stretched it forth; and
it was restored whole, as the
other.

4. And he saith unto them:
Is it lawful on the Sabbath day
to do good, or to do harm" to
save a life, or to kill? But
they held their peace.

5. And when he had looked
round about on them with
anger, being grieved at the
hardening of their heart, he
saith unto the man: Stretch
forth thy hand. And he
stretched it forth: and his
hand was restored.

MATT. XII. 914; MARK III. i 6; LUKE VI. 6 n 23

14. But the Pharisees went 6. And the Pharisees went
out, and took counsel against out, and straightway with the
him, how they might destroy Herodians took counsel against
hi in. him, how they might destroy

him.

LUKE VI. 6-1 1.

6. And it came to pass on 6. EysvsTO oHv eilpcp ca&Sa-ro)

another Sabbath, that he en- sbeXOetv OCJTOV cl; TYJV s jvayor/v

tered into the synagogue and y.al stcasy.eiv, y.al TJV avOpw7:o; I/si

taught: and there was a man y.al r, /sip ajTO j TJ cscta TJV ;r,pa.
there, and his right hand was
withered.

7. And the scribes and the
Pharisees watched him, whether
he would heal on the Sabbath;
that they might find how to
accuse him.

7. Ilaper^po JVTO ci aikbv o!
ypa^ jXaTS^ y.al o ; . ( I&gt;api:;a!c ., ei sv
7(p ~a6&a7(o OepaTceuuet, Vva s jpw c

8. But he knew their 8. AJTO; Bluest TOJ; ctaXoyi-

thoughts; and he said to the crucj; auTtov, elzsv cs 7(0 avcpl ^co

man that had his hand with- 3r,pav r/ov:t TYJV xelpa: "Eyetps

ered: Rise up, and stand forth -/.a! c-TjOi el; TO ^JLSCOV, y.al avac-raq

in the midst. And he arose ^TTJ.
and stood forth.

9. And Jesus said unto 9. Elrev cl 6 Ir,-cj? ^:pb; aj-
them: I ask you: Is it lawful Touq: EzspwTW jjxa?, e( I^SCTIV TW
on the Sabbath to do good, or c-a&Scho ayaOozotf^at r, y.ay.o^oii}-
to do harm? to save a life, or rai, bv/rp sweat r, azoAeiai;

to destroy it?

10. And he looked round
about on them all, and said
unto him: Stretch forth thy
hand. And he did so: and his
hand was restored.

I0 _ a zspi

a j TO uc, slrsv auTw: "Ey.TStvov TTJV
y^-pa -ou: 6 cl ITTOIT^SV y.al a^sxa-
"^z-.yfir, r t yelp auToQ.

ii. But they were filled
with madness; and communed
one with another what they
might do to Jesus.

n. AUTO! Ss lnX^a
y.al otsAaAouv Tcpoq a
av zo .TjCaisv TW Ir,joQ.

avotaq

24 MATT. XII. 9-14; MARK III. 1-6; LUKE VI. 6-n.

The general plan of Jesus teaching \vas to visit the
synagogues on the Sabbath, and there teach the people. Ho\v
long after the event of the plucking of the ears of corn till this
second Sabbath scene, we can not say. The extremely accurate
St. Luke informs us that it \vas on a following Sabbath, and
that Jesus had entered the synagague to teach. And there was
in the synagogue a man with a withered hand. St. Luke also
informs us that it was his right hand, by which the need of the
man, and the greatness of the benefit are emphasized. The
presence of the man in the synagogue has been variously
explained. Some 1 have thought it was a concocted move on
the part of the Pharisees to provoke Jesus to an act whence
they might bring charges against him of Sabbath-breaking.
The preceding fact of the plucking of the ears of corn was not
satisfactory t&lt; &gt; them, because Jesus was not directly implicated.
They cared nothing for his band of followers, well knowing
that the disciples influence was nothing, without their head.
They n&lt; &gt;w pl&lt; &gt;t and devise means to ol &gt;tain s&lt; &gt;mc direct act up&lt; &gt;n
which to impeach Jesus. Others maintain that the man came
thither without any special design, but only in compliance with
the religious observance of his people. Xo decisive opinion
can be given in this matter.

The malady of the man s right hand was paralysis of the
nerve power, and the member had become withered and lifeless.
Mark and Luke- say naught of any question addressed to Jesus
on the legality of healing on the Sabbath, but only of a fixing
of their observation upon him. But Matthew explicitly
declares that they addressed to Jesus a direct question. \Ve
may picture to ourselves the scene in the synagogue. Christ is
in a conspicuous place, and the gaze of all is upon him. Xear
by is the man with the withered hand. Then eagerly bending
forward are the dark, repulsive faces of the Pharisees, expressive
of falseness, malice, and cunning. They draw attention to the
withered hand; and, taking occasion thence, they interrogate
the Lord whether in general the principle could be defended
that it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. Their motive was
not to know the truth of the issue, but to commit Christ to
some word or deed which could be produced in evidence of
Sabbath-breaking. The Ral &gt;binic teaching on Sabbath-healing

MATT. XII. 9-14; MARK III. 1-6; LUKE VI. 6-n. 25

is not very clear. In the Mishnic treatise on the Sabbath, Chap.
XIV. 4, it is stated that one suffering from the toothache might
not take into them a little vinegar on the Sabbath, as this was
to employ the vinegar as medicine, but one might swallow a
morsel of bread dipped in vinegar, as this was an act of eating,
and if the healing happened per accidens, it was not a violation
of the Sabbath. Neither could a man bathe his members with
wine and vinegar in disease, but only with the oil of roses.
Some of the later Talmudists have defended that, in danger of
death, it was allowable to apply remedies on the Sabbath, but
whether such modification existed in the time of Christ or not,
can not be stated with certainty.

In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we ever find a grand contrast
between good and evil, truth and falseness; Christ stands for
good and truth, and his opponents for the opposites; and one
grand effect of the reading is to make us love the good and

do it.

By his divine power of comprehension of the thoughts of

man s soul, Christ knew the secret motives of the Pharisees
question. St. Luke alone calls attention to this fact. It is one
of the arguments for the Divinity of Christ, much valued by
Luke. We have never doubted this truth, but the mere
admission of the truth is not sufficient to draw from the truth
all that it means to us. In the present narrative, its force is to
prove that Christ was God ; to us in our daily lives, it imports
that the true judge of our lives and our work is Christ. The
perpetual realization that Christ is looking in upon our soul,
and taking note of all its thoughts, impulses, and feelings,
should establish a close union between Christ and us ; it should
move us to try to create something there that he could judge

good.

In Christ s relations with the Pharisees, we find an admir
able prudence, which effected that their unholy purposes
always defeated themselves, and recoiled on the authors. He
would finish his work, instruct his school, and found his Church,
before he would deliver himself up to them. Up to the time
when he consented to be delivered up, in his conflict with
them, there is evident on his side the mighty power of God,
and on their side the helplessness of evil battling against the
power of God.

26 MATT. XII. 9-14; MARK III. 1-6: LUKE VI. 6-n.

Knowing that their purposes were evil, the Lord responds
not directly, but shows forth the truth of the -issue by two
questions, so formulated that no obscurity remains as to his
teaching ; while the Pharisees remained baffled in their attempt
to obtain from him a statement that might be used against him.

The Lord turns to the afflicted man, and bids him stand
forth in the midst, that all might see and judge of that which
was done. Then turning to them, with the noble courage of
a man who stood for truth, he reduces to silence his opponents
by the power of his sublime teaching. The man is standing in
the midst, and Jesus probably has arisen, and he addresses to
them the question: "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath
days, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?"

It is ever characteristic of falsehood to shirk a direct
meeting with an issue. It will shuffle, and hedge, and maintain
a non-committal silence. Truth cowers from no man s gaze,
fears no man s questioning. From the consciousness of their
falseness and evil purposes, they were timid, fearing that they
would be forced to an admission of the truth. Hence they held
their peace. There are natures so unjust and mean, that the
greater and nobler a man is, the more bitter becomes their
opposition to him. So it was with the Pharisees. The mighty
power of the truths of Jesus teaching, and the sublime
goodness of his character only intensified the Pharisees envy
and hatred of him.

It is not easy to come at the specific import of the Lord s
first question, or to determine its appositeness to the theme in
question. Certainly it is not lawful on the Lord s Day to do
all work which could be denominated good. It is a good work
to build a church, or asylum for the poor, or for the fatherless
child ; but this would not justify one to set aside the Sabbath,
when engaged in such enterprises. It is good to procure food
and other necessaries for the dependent portion of society; but
in ordinary cases, these works should be set aside on the
Sabbath. The good therefore of which the Lord speaks is the
present alleviation of human misery, the showing of mercy in
distress. This was the good which he wrought for the man
with the withered hand. This is always good ; it is one of the
grandest elements in the soul of man. Every means, not

MATT. XII. 9-14; MARK III. 1-6; LUKE VI. 6-u. 27

intrinsically evil, is good when ordered thereto. A man may
be oblivious of systems of set rules, and positive precepts, when
engaged in a w^ork of mercy. The Saviour s argument was
conclusive. God esteems love and mercy first of all man can
do ; therefore he could not prohibit these for a mere ordinance
which he prized much less.

More obscurity exists in the other horn of the dilemma.
The omission of good is not always the commission of evil.
Had Christ refused to heal this man, it would not, in itself
considered, have been evil ; but had he refrained from healing
him from their principle, that such an act of mercy were
forbidden on the Sabbath, it would have been evil; because it
would have dishonored God by eliminating from his law its
soul, and substituting therefor a mere ritual observance.

The Lord next shows them the unreasonableness of their
position, by comparing their attitude towards man with their
attitude towards the beast. ^Yhatever be the subsequent
teaching of the Rabbis on this subject, it is certain that Christ
appealed to a fact, when he said that, if a man s beast were in
danger of death on the Sabbath, they would take measures to
take it out of such danger on the Sabbath. It was a second
proof that their teaching was inconsistent, hard, and without
mercy. They would relieve the beast, because their prop
erty-interests were affected. They cared naught to relieve hu
man misery, because no selfish interest was subserved thereby.
And throughout the history of mankind, it is verified that
human life is cheapened by the greed of getting. Again, the
falseness of their sophistry is well brought out by this homely
example. They were willing to indulge in these vain theories
for others, but they never allowed the conclusion to touch them
in their possessions. But with the Lord it was otherwise. He
had no interest on earth save the souls of men. The stricken
man was his sheep, and in need. He was Christ s property, and
Christ took away his affliction on the Sabbath. No one ever
set such a high value on human life as Christ. He saw all that
there was in human life ; he knew his Father s love for man ; and
he himself loved man with a love beyond human comprehen
sion. He saw the high destiny to which man had been elevated ;
he set the right value on immortal souls. From the fact that

MATT. XII. 9-14; MARK III. 1-6: LUKE VI. 6-n.

the Saviour here speaks of one sheep, Trpofiarov ev, some have
ordered the argument thus: If a man has but one sheep, he
could be presumed to be more solicitous for this sole possession
than if he had many ; and therefore he would move more
readily to its rescue on the Sabbath. This is plainly erroneous.
The Lord takes the one sheep, in order to show how slight a
property-consideration moved them to dispense with the strict
rest of the Sabbath. It required not a flock of sheep to form, in
practical life, a dispensing cause from the Sabbath law; one
solitary sheep sufficed ; and yet they forbade to show mercy to
suffering man on that day. One reason why their sophistry on
the Sabbath ordinance was so displeasing to Jesus was that
they forbade mercy in the name of his Father s law.

The argument of Christ seems at first sight to admit of an
exception. Could not the Pharisees have responded: "The
sheep is in danger of death; and if the man were in similar
danger, it were lawful to move to his rescue; but it is not so.
It is not necessary that this chronic disability should be healed
to-day. " Hut the plan of Christ s argument is not so. It is as
follows: The law of the Sabbath cedes to a consideration of
the value of one sheep s life. Could God hold the value of a
member of the human body cheaper than the life of a sheep 5
In his action and in his teaching, Christ has here established
the principle of action for all men in similar issues. Mercy
takes precedence of all the positive precepts of God. All the
legislation of God tends towards the grand scope of worshipful
love and absolute trust in God, and tender merciful love of the
neighbor.

The Lord finished speaking, and paused for an answer.
The assemblage was mute. They could not deny what he
had said; and dishonesty and envy prevented them from
acknowledging the truth. The eyes of the Lord passed from
face to face, looking for some answer to his question: " he
looked about upon them all." He saw the hardness of their
hearts, which resisted the clearest demonstrations of truth and
the grandest evidences of goodness. A feeling of noble anger
surged up in his soul, and was reflected in his face. It was the
anger of God against sin. It was accompanied by a feeling of
deep pain and sorrow that the creatures whom he had come to

MATT. XII. 9-14; MARK III. 1-6; LUKE VI. 6-n. 29

redeem were so base and false. Thus does the Lord always
regard man and his sins. An infinite eternal hatred exists
between God and that which is evil ; but his love for his creature
endures even through sin ; and God is always unwilling to lose

a human soul.

The mystery of human incredulity is the saddest element
in the history of man. Physical pain, distress, disease, poverty,
and every other ill lose their terrors when relieved by faith,
hope, and love. But when a man obstinately repels the truth,
hardens his heart, settles down and walls himself around in the
midst of his errors and misery, and from out a barren, cheerless
existence looks forward to a blank, the spectacle is dreadful.
This was a motive of deep sorrow for the Redeemer. This
incredulous tenor of life generates a hard, selfish, defiant temper
of mind . The potentiality of good in the man is not developed ,
the life is never lighted up by the light of supernatural hope,
the man becomes afraid of his thoughts, and in terror recalls
the mind from any meditation on death, and eternity. And so
the life drifts aimlessly on, till the deadening of sensation
modifies the terrors of a hopeless death. And yet this is the
state of very many of the children of men.

St. Matthew informs us that the answer which the Phari
sees were unwilling to give, the Lord pronounced himself : "It
is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. " The Sabbath is a day
set apart for God ; and certainly it is lawful thereon to do that
which God prizes above all other human acts. Then Jesus
turned to the stricken man, and said: "Stretch forth thy
hand. " And he stretched it forth, and it was made whole like
as the other. The healing preceded the stretching forth; or
rather, as the man s will moved the acius imperatus, the power
of Jesus gave to the withered member the energy to obey the
act of the will ; so that the very stretching forth of the member
was the evidence of its healing. The Lord had confirmed his
teaching by the actual showing of mercy ; and yet he had not
broken the Sabbath, even in their mode of observance. He
had employed no remedy, nor touch, nor outward application ;
but had healed the man^ as God called the universe into being
by his word. Their stupid casuistry had not contemplated
formulating rules respecting the activity which operated as
doth the pow r er of God.

30 MATT. XII. 9-14: MARK III 1-6; LUKE VI. 6-n.

The Pharisees were confounded in everything. The
sublime truth of his teaching, the clear evidence of his power
confounded them, but produced no conviction. Baffled rage
and a wild thirst for Jesus blood took possession of them, and
they straightway took counsel against him how they might
destroy him. So wild was their fury that Luke calls it avoia.
madness. The intensity of their hate was proportioned to their
discomfiture, and that had been great.

There was in Palestine at this epoch many different parties.
Formerly their platforms had only differed in religious issues;
but, since the cessation of Jewish autonomy, political issues had
entered into the different schools, and, in fact, had formed new
parties. One of this latter class was the party of the Herodians.
It is not evident that they were differentiated by any distinctive
religious principles; but in political life they stood for the
Herodian dynasty and for the supremacy of Rome. No people
complacently accepts the domination of a foreigner. And in
no people in the history of man was the nationalistic tendency
stronger than in the Jew. Their natural innate instinct
towards self-government had been developed by their peculiar
institutions, and by that division that existed between them
and the Gentile nations. They were unquiet in their vassalage
to Rome, and the national aspiration of their hearts was not
crushed even by the destruction of Jerusalem. It remains in
the Jew even to-day, and he looks forward to the restoration
of Israel. This was one of the things that stood in the
Messiah s way: he promised nothing to this wild longing, and
they repulsed him and his promises in which they had no
interest. Now the family of Herod had naught in common
with this Jewish love of country. It was a foreign dynasty,
kept in power by flattering and bribing the power of Rome.
But money and power will always create for a man adherents,
and so the Herodian dynasty had its political party called
Herodians. They were powerful, not from their numerical
strength, but because they had back of them the power of the
state. Of course, these were detested by every true Jew.
Neither was there anything in common between them and the
Pharisees; but still so strong was the hatred against Jesus, that
they were willing to invoke the aid of this party to crush him.

MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12 31

MATT. XII. 15-21 MARK III. 7-12.

15. ok Iv]"ojc yvojc dv- 7. Kat 6 Ir^oD? jji.7a 7tov [j.a-
ycosr.jsv exeTGcV xat ly/.oXouOr.jav Or,7(I)v aikoCi dvsyo ipr.crsv TCOOC 7Y]v

/ v * i &lt; i / r * r J

aiJ7(I&gt; TJoXXot xat sfkpd-euJiV aj7ouc OdXaaiav, xat TroXu ^XfjOo? dxo
r;dv7a^. 7YJg FaXtXata; i^y.oXouOr^cV, xat

ccTzb 7YJC loDCafac.

1 6. Kat S7;e7fu.r / ~ev aJ7otc t va

8. Kat cbrb IcpocroXu;j.(ov, y.at

17. "Iva 7:XY]pcoOf) 70 pr/Jb ctd f ^- ISo^aia^y.al Trepav^oO

TJ^ r ,. ^ r , r , ^.,^j:- rM lopSdvou xat xspt Tupovxat StSwva

AJL^^AlOJ &gt;,OJ j.uuyf^.OU /c^OVwO^. *

TXYjQoq 7:0X0, dxouovTS? ora 7:0 ist,

18. loo-i 6 7:at; ;j.ou, ov yjpkt-a. ^ 6ov ^P^ a :&gt;:&lt;5v -
6 dyaTrjTO*; ^.ou ov SJCOXT^SV r t &gt; J~/j t

[j.ou: 6^(70) 70 TVEujxa [j.ou IT; aJ7ov . 9. Kat etzsv 7otc ^aOr^ac^ au7ou
xat xpt tv 7otc eOva tv ETcayyfiXet. Yva T;Xotdpta Trpo xap7of) aj7w,

Sta 7ov b yXov, Yva ;XY; 0Xt5wjtv aiirov

19. OJx Iptcjst ouol xpauydjst,

-"..^...u, TT - -

IO. llOAAO jC

7TjV cpwvr^v au70J.

9n K^fyir.v r-iv-p-rri icvrv a kov7at, ocrot Etvov jxaJ7iya;.

-^vj. XVgCAWv .OV C7 J V . c pt JL J-w VO / -

oj xa7sdit xat Xfvov tufo^svov ou

c Sljst, cVoc av IxSdXy] su vt y.oq 7Tjv n. Kat 7a Trv j;j.a7a 7a dxd-
xpfatv. 0ap7a, 07av aJ7ov IGscopouv Trpoae-

7:17:70 v aJ70), xat Ixpa^ov Xsyovra,
21. Kal 7w 6vo;j.a7t aj7oG 10 vr, o T r c T ^ Ytbc 70 u 0eoii.

12. Kat T;oXXd Izs7taa au70tc
Yva [JLY] aj7ov ^avspbv -jcotTQJWcrtv.

15. And Jesus perceiving it 7. And Jesus with his dis-
withdrew from thence: and ciples withdrew to the sea:
many followed him; and he and a great multitude from
healed them all, Galilee followed: and from

Judaea,

1 6. And charged them that

they should not make him 8. And from Jerusalem,
known: and from Idumea, and beyond

Jordan, and about Tyre and

17. That it might be ful- Sidon, a great multitude, hear-
filled which was spoken by ing what great things he did,
Isaiah the prophet, saying: came unto him.

MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712

1 8. Behold, my servant
whom I have chosen ; my be
loved in whom my soul is well
pleased: I will put my spirit
upon him, and he shall declare
judgment to the Gentiles.

19. Me shall not strive, nor
cry aloud; neither shall any
one hear his voice in the streets.

20. A bruised reed shall he
not break, and smoking flax
shall he not quench, till he
send forth judgment unto
victory.

21. And in his name shall
the Gentiles hope.

9. And he spoke to his
disciples, that a little boat
should wait on him because of
the crowd, lest they should
throng him:

10. For he had healed many
insomuch that as many as
had plagues pressed upon him
that they might touch him.

11. And the unclean spirits,
whensoever they beheld him,
fell down before him, and cried,
saying: Thou art the Son of
God.

12. And he charged them
much that they should not
make him known.

A slight variant occurs in the fifteenth verse of Matthew,
where 1 many codices have o ^Xot TTO\\OI. ^ and B omit the o^Xoi.
^. B. C and I), introduce the seventeenth verse by iva: the
other authorities employ OTTOK. \Ye find oi&gt; v8oKrj&lt;rev in the
eighteenth verse in ^*, A, 115, and 244; many other authori
ties have cis ov.

In the seventh verse of the text &lt; &gt;f Mark, r)fco\ov0T)(Tv is
placed after TnX/Xam? in A, B. L, P. T, II. et ul. Such is the
order also of the Coptic, Syriac and Gothic versions. It is
after \ov8aias in A, C. A. and 238. Such order of the words
is also followed by the Vulgate, and is approved by Tisch-
endorf. In the eight verse many authorities insert the plural 01
before Tre pav. In the same verse we find the reading atcova-av-
T6? in many authorities; but we find aKovovres in fr$, B and A.
The Vulgate, Coptic, Ethiopia, and Gothic versions follow
the latter reading, and it has the endorsement of Tischcndorf.

Knowing that the Herodians would move Herod Antipas
to seize him, the Lord withdrew from the centers of population,
and went with his disciples down by the Sea of Gennesaret.

MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12 33

As the hour was not come for him to be delivered up, he
prudently withdrew from danger ; for rashly to court danger is
not zeal nor fortitude. The elements were finely blended
in Christ; he had all the virtues in an absolutely perfect
proportion .

The multitudes which assembled about Jesus by the sea
are here divided into two classes. First, there were many from
Galilee and from Juda?a, who actually followed him down to
the sea. Many of these had been witnesses of his miracles, had
heard his words, and perhaps some had even received benefits
from him. Then there were others who, hearing of his fame,
w T hich was now spread abroad through the land, and hearing
that he had retreated to the sea, they journeyed thither from
Jerusalem, from Idumea, from Perea across the Jordan, and
from the coast cities of Tyre and Sidon. Thus it results that a
vast multitude from all points of the compass flocked thither to
see the great works of Jesus. Although Jerusalem was a city
of Judaea, still its importance entitled it to a particular mention
in the enumeration .

The Idumeans \vere descended from Esau, who from his
color was called Dl"lK. the red. They originally dwelt along

the trans jordanic belt opposite to the inheritance of Jacob. By
one of those migratory movements, common in ancient history,
a portion of this race fixed their abode on the extreme southern
limits of Judaea in the tribe of Simeon, and from them this
territory was called Idumea. Herod the Great was of this
region and race. Although originally not included in the
Jewish people, they had been subjugated by Hyrcanus, son of
Simon of the Maccabean family [f about 106 B. C.]. They
accepted, as a condition upon which they might retain their
lands, that they should become circumcised, and embrace the
other Jew r ish institutions. Representatives of this people came
to visit Jesus at the Sea of Gennesaret.

The motives that drew T the vast assemblage together were
by no means supernatural. They were led by their senses.
Man is ever eager to lay down his load of bodily suffering; and
some of the multitude came to be healed. Man will eagerly
press forward through difficulty, toil, and danger to receive

(3) Gosp. II.

34 MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12

something that will better his wordly interests. Rarely is
such activity shown in the pilgrim s progress towards Heaven.
Man is more eager to escape from the ills of the body than
from the ills of the soul; he would rather throw off bodily
disease than sin. In our days men have found a land of gold,
in a far off, fro/en land. To reach it man must pass over
mountain trails, through snow and ice. Death is in the way,
men are starving and freezing to death away from home and
country in that strange wild land. But. there is gold there,
and the eager multitudes press on, drawn by the powerful
motive of temporal gain. And beyond the horizon of mortal
life lies a land better than gold, and he who loses his life in the
effort to reach that land shall find it again: man s wealth in
that land is proportioned to the hunger and thirst of the soul,
and tin- greatness of the endeavor to attain it; and yet it is a
busy age, but how little of the world s thought and the world s
work is bent on seeking the kingdom of God \Ve are con
tinually complaining of hard times, of scarcity of employment,
of the conditions of man s status in this world. Is anybody
thinking, or writing, or troubling himself about the low status
of the faith of the world? of the scarcity of goodness, and
of worship of God in spirit and in truth Kvery man knows
that lie will not live here forever; but by far the greater
number of men live just as if they were to live here always.

And so a great gathering assembled about Christ by the

sea, not because he taught them of Heaven, of Redemption, of

the love of God; but because he bettered their earthly lot.

And Christ took that which was human and weak, and raised

it to that which was divine. He healed every infirmity, and

dn )ve &gt;ut the &lt;lem&lt; &gt;ns ; theivl &gt;v t&lt; &gt; draw the people to have faith

in him, so that he might teach them wherein consist man s

destiny and his duty. The Lord was away from the Pharisees,

and among the people. His great heart was moved by their

ignorance of God and by their misery. He gave free scope to

his healing power, and those who touched him were healed. Hut

at times the press became so great that it became dangerous.

\Ye find in the life of Jesus that he acted as a man, whenever

human agency w&lt; &gt;uld accomplish the desired effects. He never

appealed to his divine power, except where its exercise was

MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712 35

needed to promote good. So here he takes a human precaution.
He bade the disciples have ready at hand a boat, so that, when
the press was too great, he might withdraw into the boat. The
mode of expression shows that it was not only for once that the
boat was to be held in readiness, but that it was a continued
precaution. The whole narration shows the greatness of his
fame, the greatness and veracity of his miracles, and the
clearness of the evidence that he was the Son of God. The
Evangelist Mark lays especial stress on the healing of the
demoniacs. He was writing for the Gentile world, and the
power of Jesus was aptly proven to his hearers by the fact that
Jesus was supreme over the demons.

The confession of the demons here forms a clear testimony
of the Divinity of Jesus. It was not uttered through any
reverence for Jesus, or wish to benefit him. It was a wild burst
of demoniacal fury and terror, wrung from those spirits of evil,
as they crouched in abject fear before the recognized power of
Jesus. They had no wish to strengthen the proofs of Christ s
Divinity; but awe and fear forced from them this wild cry,
which by the high providence of God defeated Satan s purposes,
and promoted the cause of Jesus. It is evident that when the
Evangelist says that the unclean spirits fell down before him,
he intends that the persons possessed fell down thus before him.
In such facts of possession, the powers of the man became
completely dominated by the demon, so that the evil spirit
moved the members of the human body at will. It was as if
the demon had taken to himself a body. Hence the action is
ascribed to the real actor, the evil spirit. It was not worship
that moved the demons to fall down before Christ. It was the
majesty of God, clearly recognized in Jesus. That same pow
er causes the demons to tremble in Hell. The demons were
simply forced by the awful presence of God in Jesus to fall
prostrate.

The presence of evil in the universe of God is a fearful
mystery. The existence of Satan among the creatures of God
is hard to understand. How dark and dismal must be the city
of woe over which Satan rules, and where God is feared and
hated! And multitudes are walking the earth, with never a
thought for their destiny, who are not removed one hour of
time from that hopeless land of woe.

3 6 MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12

The full and detailed account of the event is received from
Mark, but Matthew has authentically testified that in this event
was fulfilled the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah XLII. 1-4.
The Septuagint version of the first verse of this passage is thus
rendered by Walton : " Jacob puer meus, assumam eum : Israel
electus meus, suscepit eum anima mea. " Here the Septuagint
is defective. The Messianic character of the passage is obscured
by its application to the race of Jacob. In many things the
chosen people were types of the Messiah, but not here. In the
Hebrew text there is no mention of the chosen people, and all
things persuade us to see in it a direct Messianic testimony
without the intervention of type. In fact, the Rabbi Abarbanel
declares that they who do not interpret the passage of Christ
are smitten with blindness. As it is an important Messianic
testimony, it will not be amiss to examine it more closely. In
the Hebrew it stands thus: "Behold my servant, whom I
uphold ; my chosen in whom my soul delighteth : I have put
my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the
nations. He shall not cry, nor lift up nor cause his voice to be
heard in the street. The bruised reed he shall not break, and
the dimly burning wick he shall not quench: he shall bring
forth judgment in truth. Pie shall not fail nor grow weak,
till he have set judgment in the earth ; and the isles shall wait
for his law." The Targum of Jonathan, and the Peshitto
Syriac are substantially in accord with this version of the
Hebrew.

St. Matthew lias not literally rendered the Hebrew, but has
given us the sense. The application of the prophecy to this
special event in Christ s life is evident from the sense of the
prophecy. It outlines in a general way the characteristics of
Christ s life. From the prophecy, we find these to be power,
peace, meekness, and mercy, and the teaching of the Gentiles.
His power was shown in his wonderful works; his peace and
meekness in the fact that he withdrew from the cities out into
the peaceful plains by the sea, offering no opposition to his
enemies, nor justification of himself. His mercy and tenderness
appear from the fact that he healed every infirmity, and
banished the demons. St. Matthew reproduces the sense, but,
as the original is fuller and clearer, we shall comment it as it

MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12 37

stands in the original Hebrew, and, at the same time, harmonize
the sense of Matthew with the sense of Isaiah. The introductory
particle calls attention to the magnitude of the revelation
contained in the following words. The Messiah is called the
servant of his Father, not to imply essential inferiority, but
because the Word took upon himself the form of a slave, to do
his Father s will. In the prophecy, the human nature is
especially brought out, and the things predicated are what the
Word wrought in his Incarnation. The term "H^i my servant,

calls especial attention to the fact that all the resources of the
human nature of Christ were spent in accomplishing the will
of the Father. He was the servant of God, not merely because
he was appointed to do a certain commission of God, but
because he put his human life into the actual service of God.
In the next clause : " whom I uphold, " there is declared the
influence of the Divinity on the human nature and work of
Christ. The hypostatic union is not clearly revealed here ; but
men are prepared for it, by being taught that the power back
of Christ was the power of God. This mighty power working
through the humanity of Christ wrought those great works
\vhich redeemed the world, proved his Divinity, and established
the kingdom of God on earth.

The next clause : " - my chosen in whom my soul
delighteth, " is very beautiful. Jesus was the elect and beloved
of God in every sense. Election, as man uses the term, carries
with it the sense of comparison with other things, and
preference over them. This, of course, only applies to Christ s
human nature. The prophecy speaks of the Christ as he
appeared to man. They saw a man, and the Prophet tells them
how great was this man. The human nature of Christ w r as
elected by God, and was exalted over all other creatures.
Although we never divide Jesus Christ, still we must recognize
that his human nature was a perfect man, the most perfect of
men, and as such it was subject to the election of God. The
human nature of Christ by a perfect use of its human reason,
and free will executed the will of God, and thus became the
object of the love of God. In this way, the act of divine love
which had from all eternity rested on the Word, was extended

38 MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 7 -12

to the elect humanity of Christ, \vhich had no existence before
it became the flesh of the Word. The Word, therefore, as a
man among men was the elect above all men, and, in this form,
he worked out every design of the divine plan. This love of
the Father for the humanity of Jesus brings the Father nearer
to us through Jesus. The distance between God and man is
infinite, but it has been bridged over, in a certain sense, by the
great mystery of the Incarnation.

The next clause is: " I have put my Spirit upon him. "
The Greek of Matthew here speaks of the giving of the Spirit
as a future event. The variant is readily explained. The
prophet is speaking of the whole event as it appeared to him in
the ideal order of prophecy. In this order, he speaks of the
Messiah as already /;; actn. In prophetic vision, often things
separated by long ages are represented as actually existing.
But Matthew views the event as it was fulfilled in the actual
order of real being, and thus brings out the concept of futurity
which the event demanded, when taken out of the ideal order.
The declaration of God imported that the man Jesus moved in
the power and in the Spirit of God. The affirmation that the
Spirit of God was upon one, could be made of any special
communication of the Divinity. It affirmed that God was with
the man ; and, of itself, it would leave indeterminate the exact
mode of the communication. It was an invitation to men to
listen to a man s message, because it was sent by the authority
of God. Now these things were common to Christ and the
prophets. But the mode 1 of communication of the Divinity to
Christ was ineffably greater than was given to them. The
truths of the New Law were too vast to be enunciated in one
proposition. We have need to look at Christ from many
points, and divide up the great revelation, to come at a clear
knowledge of what he was in himself, and what he is to us.
Human comprehension is a very little thing compared to the
infinite truths of God . Hence, although from this sole passage,
Christ is not differentiated from the prophets and holy men of
God, it is a means of arriving at his true natures. For this
declaration makes him a Prophet, and authorizes him to speak
in God s name; and if we listen to him as such, he will tell us
all we need to know. The phrase actually did express in truth

MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712 39

and in the mind of Christ that he was God. We only arrive at
its full import after the knowledge of other divine teaching.

Isaiah esteems much this mode of speaking of the Lord.
In Chap. XI. 2, he declares that the Spirjt of the Lord shall
rest upon the Christ ; and in Chap. LXI. he places in the mouth
of the Lord that famous prophecy which the Lord expounded
at Nazareth: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me."

" He shall bring forth judgment to the nations. The key
to the understanding of this clause consists in the possession
of the real sense of the word * , judgment. In the present
predication, the term is of great comprehension. The mighty
mind of God moving the inspired agent placed in the term a
great truth, which our little minds have difficulty to seize in
its fulness. The term in its first signification means
either the act of judging in any issue, or the sentence of the
judge. This certainly is not the main signification here. The
second signification is "jus, quod justmn, legitimum, legibus
cousentaneum est. " This is the chief sense of the term as used
here. It was the announcement that Christ would promulgate
the great law of the Gospel to all the races of men. That great
law embraced all that man was called to believe, and to do ; it
covered everything in man s universe, ordering all to be
conformable to the divine idea. Moreover, it formed the
criterion and law of judgment in God s sentence of human life.
It was, in a word, the whole system of supernatural truth, both
as it related to man s present life, forming his law of belief and
duty, and as it related to his future destiny, being the basis of
the sentence of God. Christ promulgated this law to the
Gentiles, first by instituting an economy which embraced them ;
secondly, by placing in the world a system of truths announcing
salvation to Jew and to Gentile; and, thirdly, by founding a
teaching body which should teach all men.

" He shall not cry out, nor lift up (his voice), nor cause his
voice to be heard in the street." The verb pj^ here signifies
noise, confusion, wrangling, and contentious disputing. This
is also the sense of ep(& as here employed by St. Matthew.
God s action in the universe is characterized by peace and
tranquil order. He achieves his mighty purposes without

40 MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712

noise, violence, or confusion. The idea of haste, excitement, or
contention is so contrary to the conception of a divinity that
the pagans represented their deities as placid amid the
convulsions of nature. Thus Virgil represents Neptune as
thrusting forth his "placidum caput " in the dreadful storm
excited l&gt;y Juno s wrath, .^neid I. 126. God is patient,
because he is eternal ; he is serene, because he is almighty.
Noise and contention in an intellectual agent always show
forth defect, and limitation of power. God, who has the
absolute power over all things, can not be troubled concerning
the event of things. This peace of God is well brought out in
the vision of Kliah. I. Kings, XIX. u -12: "And he [God]
said [to Kliah | : Go forth and stand upon the mount before
the Lord. And behold the Lord passeth by, and a great and
strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks
before the Lord. Hut the Lord was not in the wind: and
after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the
earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord
was not in the lire. And after the fire a soft, gentle voice.
And when Kliah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle,
and coming forth, stood in the entrance to the cave. And,
behold, there came a voice unto him saying: What dost thou
here, Kliah?"

The tenor of Christ s life and actions was like that of his
Heavenly Father. He possessed the fulness of the power of
the Divinity, and he was sure of the success of his work. His
works we re the effect of inevitable power working through
meekness and that beautiful calm which we always find in the
divine life. It was the peace and meekness of power, not of
weakness, \\here God is, there is always peace: where he is
not, there are chaotic- disorder and the clamor of Sodom. Now
Christ s way is always the best way. The more God -like a
man becomes, the more will that holy peace and calm invest
his life; the more will he shrink away from the clamor of the
discordant world. Conformity to Christ in this will develop in
man the gospel of non-resistance.

It is to be observed that in the Hebrew the term &$ "&gt; from

has no explicit object. Sonic supply the term "personam,"

MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12 41

and they believe the sense to be that the Lord will show no
distinction of persons in his dealings with humanity. This
opinion disagrees with the context, The proper object to
supply is "his voice, " by which the sense becomes as one with
w T hat precedes, and with what follows. It was the prophetic
warrant that Christ should not be a noisy agitator. He would
bring men to his way of thinking, not by noisy street canvassing,
but by the silent, calm power of his truths, and the evidence
of his works. Christ s life was active and intense, but it was
a dignified, serene activity like the activity of his Father.

"The bruised reed he shall not break, and the dimly
burning wick he shall not quench." The reed is by nature
tender and easily broken. It is for this reason often taken as
an example of a being that easily fails before opposition. Now
when it has been shaken and bruised by the wind, it is a fit
type of a man crushed and discouraged by sin and misery. A
reed in such a condition is of no appreciable worth in the
possessions of man. No man cares aught for it. And so it is
with man. Christ seeks to save those w r hom sin and misfortune
have brought to that point where no man cares aught for them.
Down into the depths of human misery and crime, where men
are hardened by cold selfishness and a world s scorn, comes the
message from Heaven, and finds an echo in the human
conscience, and arouses man to hope and to rise. The phrase
is a beautiful metaphor, in which the bruised reed represents
the sinner. Some have applied the metaphor to the Jewish
people, and have thereby restricted its legitimate sense. It
applies to every man. By its truth we declare that no man
can say : "I have travelled so far away from the Lord, that I
can not go back." No man can say : "The world cares naught
for me, my life is valueless; and God is against me. " Lift up
thy heart, O bruised reed. God is against thy sin, but not
against thee ; he has mercy, forgiveness, Heaven for thee, in
return for earnest repentance, and a purpose of amendment.
When the winds of an unjust and hard world have bruised the
reed, and it lies scorned and unthought of in its misery, there is
one hope that the Lord Jesus is at hand, not to crush the poor
prostrate reed, but to raise it up, and protect it, and give it
strength to stand and to live.

4^ MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712

The next metaphor is of similar import. It is taken from
an object in the ordinary life of the Hebrew people. Their
lamps were of olive oil, with wicks of flax. The feeble flame
of the wick of a lamp which needs replenishing is a good
example of the faint flickering of the light of faith and love in
the human heart. And Christ repels not even this. The
tenderness and mercy of Christ will go down to any depth of
human misery, will have compassion on all man s weakness, if
man will admit him. The simile of the dying flame is apt. It
gives no light, has no vigor, is useless, and unsightly, and is
close to extinction. So it is with the weak, unprofitable
Christian. His life shines not before men unto the glory &lt;.f
God. I lis soul has no vig&lt; &gt;r, no positiveness in it. There is no
profit in his life for the eternal things of Got]. All is dark in
his life, except a mere faint flickering of the light of Christ;
and although Christ stands ready to replenish the lamp, too
often the winds of passion blow it out entirely, and then the
soul is in the darkness of spiritual death. Let a man ask
himself: Is tin- lamp burning brightly in my soul, or is the ilame
dying? And if it be faint and elose to death, let him arouse
himself from lethargy, and throw himself on Christ, who does
not extinguish the feebly burning flax.

" He shall bring forth judgment in truth." The grandest
thing that one can say of a man is that he is true; the grandest
thing that can be said of a man s work is that it is true, true
in the full comprehension of the term; true in the sense that
the Holy Ghost here predicated it of tin- achievement of Christ.
Truth is the correspondence of part to part in the universe, and
of the whole universe to God. Falsehood steals away the world
from God; truth holds it eternally fixed to him. If the world
moved in truth, it would move towards God. Every infraction
of the great law of God is an infraction of truth. Christ gave
the law of God to the world according to truth. The truth of
his message superseded the weak types and provisional statutes
of the Old Law, and dispelled the errors of paganism in the
Gentile world. It placed God in his right relations to the
w&lt; &gt;rld, and taught the world to render to him what was his due.

" 1 le shall not fail, nor grow weak, till he have set judgment
in the earth." This member predicts the absolute success of

MATT. XII. 1521; MARK III. 712 43

Christ s work. He should be contradicted, and he should give
place to his opponents. He should be meek and lowly; he
should shrink away from noisy demonstration and strife ; but
he should not fail. There was working through him that awful
inevitable power of God, which can not fail. Preserving the
grand order of the beings of God, Christ only relied on his
human nature for the things that were of its province. In the
execution of the higher things, he relied on the divine power.
However great be the temporary contradictions and defeats, in
the end, the cause of God always triumphs. It does this by
ways and means unlike those of men. So the cause of Christ
triumphed even through his seeming defeat and overthrow by
his enemies, when he died on the cross. So shall every man
succeed who relies on the power of God to do God s work. It
is not by reliance on our human methods and force that we
succeed in great enterprises for God. God wishes that a man
be active and tenacious of purpose ; but unless all be based on
the divine power, the grandest efforts will be abortive, and that
which seems success will not in reality be such. Moreover
when we have trusted in the divine power to do some work for
God, and have met with seeming defeat, we may be sure that in
the grand working out of the divine plan, the work is a success.
The passage in Matthew is in form of expression much
different from that of the original of the Prophet. The sense,
however, is the same. They both place before the mind the
leading thought that Christ should succeed in giving to the
world the great law of God. Matthew speaks of it as a victory
in combat ; the Prophet describes it as the non-failing in the
object of his life. It is curious to note that the same verb HrC
is affirmed of the flax and denied of Christ. Of course, the
flame of the flax in reality meant the presence of the divine in
man. When spoken of man, the flame was dim and dying
because the divine influence was feeble ; the concept of the ..ame
verb is denied of Christ, because in him dwelt the fulness of the
Godhead. The grand achievement of Christ s life, his victory
and his legacy to man is Redemption and his law. The status
of man in the scale of being as viewed by God is the part which
man has in that "judgment" which Christ placed on earth.

44 MATT. XII. 15 21; MARK III. 7 12.

Judgment here means the truth of the Gospel of Christ, which
established justice and right in all the affairs of men.

"And the isles shall wait for his law." The first
discrepancy that here exists between Matthew and Isaiah is
that Matthew has explained the metaphor of the prophet. The
Hebrews were wont to speak of the great world lying outside of
the land which they had explored as the "Isles of the Gentiles."
It is evident therefore that the Prophet here employs a
metonymy, using the place for the inhabitant. Matthew
dispenses with the figure, and makes the sense bolder. The
words of the Prophet do not declare that the pagan nations
were expecting Christ with a well-formed idea of the event, and
an intelligent hope that he should come. Poor humanity was
immersed in ignorance, and while they had naught to content
the eternal yearnings of the human heart, they knew no hope.
Some of the grander spirits of those ages penetrated, in some
degree, the darkness, and expressed a belief in some greater
revelation of God to man than had yet been given, lout they had
not a clear conception of how this should be. The coming of
Christ, as a definite event, was looked forward to only by Israel.
The Prophet s words were not intended to change the attitude
of pagan thought before Christ s coming, but rather to form a
source of proof to all men of every age to whom the message
should come, that the Law of Christ was for all men.

Another divergency exists between Matthew and Isaiah;
for where the prophet declares that the Gentiles "shall wait for
his law;" Matthew says that they "shall hope in his name.
The only real difference is in the use of Christ s name by
Matthew for Christ s lau- of the prophet. The term ^iT
signifies the looking forward to a thing with hope, and Matthew
brings out the chief concept of the term. The prophet s words
simply predict that the event will come when the Gentile
nations will turn to Christ, and place their faith and their hope
in his law. Matthew exercises his right as an inspired agent to
use freely a preceding revelation, but still both expressions are
reducible to the same central sense. To look forward to and
hope in Christ s name is to look forward to and hope in Christ
himself. To hope in Christ is to hope in all that he stands for,

MATT. IX. 35-38, X. 1-4; MARK III. 13-19 45

all that he is to us. Now what Christ is to us is embodied in
his law. Christ and his law are identical in their relations to
human life, for the knowledge and observance of his law simply
bring Christ into our lives. It is immaterial, therefore,
whether we speak of Christ or his law in their relation to
human life, for his law is the means of binding up our lives
with Christ.

MATT. IX. 35-38. MARK III. 13-19.

35. Kal zsptijyev 6 Ir^oj; Ta; 13. Kal avaSatvsi Et; TO opo;,
-6~AEt; xacra; xat Ta; /(-V^a; ctca?- /al zpocr/aAEtTat o : J; JjOeXsv aJTo;:
x(ov iv Tai; sjvaytoyat; aJTwv xat /at aTrfjAOov ~~b; aJTOv.
y.fjC j jCO)v TO E jayysAiov TT,; ^a t-
AEta; /al 6pa7rJO)v Tiacav vo-ov

Es^AayyvtcOir) -^pl auTcov OTt f^av
i-xjA filvot xal ;

zpo&aTa ixf, r/ovTa

37. TOTE Ar. Et TO!; ;.

aJTOj: O ^cv OcCt^ j.o; -OAJC, ot
c spyatat oXtyot.

38. AsTjOr^TE oJv TOJ Kjptoj
TOJ Oiptj fXoO, OTCW; ExcdtAT) lpYTa&lt;;

X. i. Kal Trpo-y-aAccd^Evo; 14, Kal ETTO^-EV Btoosxa, oj;

TOJ; c(ocE/a ^afj^Tas aJTOj sowxsv /^l a-orTOAOj; (ov6 j.acrV, Vva o jjt

aJTOi; Ecoj^fav TrvEJ^aTCov a/a6ap- ^r^ aJTOj, /al tva azo-TEAA n au-

T(ov (V)aT /6aAAi aJTZ /al OEca- T0 jq /^pj^^Etv,

zEJEtv 7:arav vo-ov y.al -arav ^.a- , , , , ,.

it. Kat eVEtv Eco jrtav E/ca/.-
Aa/tav. , ^

, AE .V Ta cat^-ovta.

2. Twv CE co )Cxa a^ojToAwvTa

ovd-^aTa "tv Ta:Ta: ZCOKOC Hiacov 16. Kal iTcotTirsv TOJ; owcr/.a

6 Asyd ^Evo; HETCO; /al Avocsa? /al E-^^/EV ovo j.a TW Strove,

6 acEAcpb; aJ-rrO. llkpov.

3. KarB.&gt;.(.)to;oTOJ ZcCEcafoj 17. Kal la/wtov TOV Zs6s2a:ou
y.al lo)dvvr ( ; 6 xcEAtpb? aJTOJ, ^t- xal IwavvYjv TOV aceXobv TOJ la-
At~7:o; xal BapOoAo^aloc, Ou^zq xo j&ou: xal i^sOrjxsv aJToI; ovoaa
y.al MaTOa-o; 6 TSAWVTJC, la/ojco; Boavecyi;, o i Ttv, 1 tot ^povrfj;.
6 TOJ AA&lt;paio j xal aooatoq.

MATT. IX. 3538; X. 14: MARK III. 13 19

1 8. I\V; Avdpiav, y.y.\ &lt;I ) i&gt;. .--ov,

7.x\ (-)(,)jLiv y.al liy.ocov TV/ 70 ^
AXiatoj, y.a- &lt;-)a::a:ov. -/.a: ^: j.r,)-/a
7v/ KavavaTov.

4. X j.(,v -; Kavzva-o: y.a: loj- 19. Ka: IoJ:av 1 r/.a;u,V), o,-

35. And Jesus went about 13. And he goeth up into
all the cities and the villages, the mountain, and calleth unto
teaching in their synagogues, him whom he himself would
and preaching the Gospel of and they went unto him.

the kingdom, and healing all
manner of disease and all
manner of sickness.

36. But when he saw the
multitudes, he was moved with
compassion for them, because
they were distressed and scat
tered, as sheep not having a
shepherd.

37. Then saith he unto his
disciples: The harvest truly
is plenteous, but the laborers
are few.

38. Pray ye therefore tin-
Lord of the harvest, that he
send forth laborers into his
harvest.

X. i. And he called unto I4 . And he appointed

him his twelve disciples, and twelve, that they might be with

gave them authority over un- him, and that he might send

clean spirits, to cast them out, them forth to preach,
and to heal all manner of

disease and all menner of 15. And to have authoritv

sickness.

to cast out devils:

MATT. IX. 35, X. 1-4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 4?

he sur-

2. Now the names of the
twelve Apostles are these : The
first, Simon, who is called
Peter, and Andrew his brother;
James the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother;

3. Philip, and Bartholo
mew; Thomas, and Matthew
the publican; James the son
of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

1 6. And Simon
named Peter;

17. And James the son of
Zebedee, and John the brother
of James; and them he sur-
named Boanerges, which is,
Sons of thunder:

1 8. And Andre w, and Phil
ip, and Bartholomew, and Mat
thew, and Thomas, and James
the son of Alphaeus, and Thad-
dseus, and Simon the Cananaean,

4 . Simon the Cananaean, 19. And Judas Iscariot, who
and Judas Iscariot, who also also betrayed him.
betrayed him.

LUKE VI. 12-16.

12. And it came to pass in 12.

these days, that he went out -raj^a^

into the mountain to pray; and 7:po7S j;

he continued all night in prayer sv TYJ r,\
to God.

ysvcTO cs v -rat; ipai;
XOsIv OC-JTOV el; TO opo;
: y.al TQV Btavux-tspsuwv

n TOJ SOU.

13. And when it was day, 13. Kal 0-73 iysvo f/jipa,
he called his disciples: and he zpo-c?a&gt;vY]-sv TOJ; ^a6r,-ac
chose from them twelve, whom ya v , -/.X ;ayLvo^ az aJ^wv

also he named Apostles; o

14. Simon, whom he also
named Peter, and Andrew his
brother, and James and John,
and Philip and Bartholomew,

- ov y.at

ov, y.ai Avopsav TOV
, -/.at Ia/.(.)bov y.al
(Xt-^ov y.al BapOoXo^alov

15.

And

Matthew and I5 . Kf. MaOOa-ov y.at Bwaav,

y.a j.

Thomas, and James the son of lax.wcov
Alphseus, and Simon who was -/./AOJ J.SVOV
called the Zealot,

16. And Judas the brother 16. Kal lojsav
of James, and Judas Iscariot iojcav Ir/.a: .oVj, oq eysvsto
who was the traitor. corr,;.

y.a

48 MATT. IX. .^s-X. 4: MARK III. 13-19: LUKE VI. 12-16

In the thirty-sixth verse, though some good authorities
have eprjfievoi^the greater number have eppi^pevoi, which appears
in N, B and T as eptn/j.ej&gt;oi. In the third verse of the tenth
chapter of Matthew, Tischendorf places Ae/3/3ato9 in place of
on the authority of I). \Ve find the reading:
6 7ritc\i]8eis (")a&gt;aio? in C 2 , K, F, G, K, L,
M. S, U, V, X, T, A, II ; and this reading is followed by the
Synac, Armenian, and ICthiopian versions. In the fourth verse
^, 1C, F, (i, et al. have the reading Kai azuVr;?, but B, C, D, and
L, have Kavavalos.

In the fourteenth verse of Mark, the clause: oi)&lt;? real cnroa--
TO XOUS wvo^aaev is found in fc$, B and A; it is retained by
the Coptic and ICthiopian versions. In the fifteenth verse
ol Mark, we find the clause 1 : Bepcnrcvfiv rav voaov^ in A, C, I),
P, r, II et al. This reading is followed by the Vulgate, Syriac,
Armenian, and (iothic versions. It is not found in fcs, B, ( *,
L, and A. Tischendorf, \\ estcott and Hort reject it. In the
sixteenth verse, the clause: ttai cTroi tjcrev roiW So&gt;e/ca, which
is omittrd in the Vulgate, is found in {&lt;, B, C *, and A. It
also has the approval of Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort.

The Lord was the- (iood Shepherd, and he has given in his
life a grand and perfect example of what a shepherd of men
should be. First, his life was ever active in his work; his
thought and his powers of body were put into the great business
of building up the kingdom of God. His method also was
perfect. He waited not that the people should come to him
seeking salvation ; he went in search of them; not alone in the
cities, but out in the- small villages, out into the fields, and
wherever man is found. Then also he was merciful and kind
to all. He had compassion on every ill ; his works added force
to his words. The mercy shown to the body was but a means
of reaching the soul. A man will open up his soul to a man
who convinces him that he is willing and able to help him.
As we come to the knowledge of these facts in the life of Jesus,
we may hear his voice coming to us in the power of the Holy
Ghost : " G&lt; &gt; ye and do likewise. " If man s life ever becomes
so busy or so noisy that he can not hear that voice, then is
his estate wretched indeed. One cannot follow Jesus unless
he hear his voice, and the clamor of the world can shut out
that voice.

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 49

In this mission of teaching and mercy, Jesus took with him
his disciples to mould them by his influence, that they might
be able to carry on the work after him. The divine plan
contemplates the generality of mankind as sheep to be cared
for by shepherds. This was the plan of God from the beginning,
and it ever shall be.

As the Lord journeyed through that Eastern land, and saw
the wretched condition of his people through the wickedness
of those first shepherds, he was filled with compassion for the
people. The Evangelist declares that the sheep were ea-Kv\^evoL.
This participle is derived from &lt;r/cuAAo&gt;, to rend, to mangle, to
tear. In its metaphorical sense it means to harass, to trouble.
The simile is founded on a fact of Eastern life. It required the
perpetual vigilance of the shepherd to ward off the attacks of
the wolves, and save the flocks from their depredations. The
change in our customs and modes of life has weakened the force
of the figure; and to realize its full force and application, we
must go back in spirit to the modes of life of that people. The
evil that befel the flock which was neglected was that the w r olf
came and harassed and rent the sheep of the fold. So it was
in the metaphorical sense with the people of God. Those who
should have fed them the spiritual food of truth and
righteousness were false to their trust. They fed them on error,
and filched from them their possessions. They abandoned
them to the wolves of error and ignorance ; and thus were they
mangled and torn. The baseness of the teachers of Israel is
thus set forth by Micah III. 1-3, 5; 11-12: "And I said:
Hear, O ye princes of Jacob, and ye chiefs of the house of
Israel ; is it not your part to know judgment, you that hate the
good and love the evil ; that with violence pluck off their skins
from them, and their flesh from their bones? who have eaten
the flesh of my people, and have flayed their skin from off
them; and have broken and chopped their bones as for the
kettle and as flesh in the midst of the pot. " "Thus saith the
Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err : that
bite with their teeth and preach peace : and if a man give not
something into their mouth, they prepare war against him."
"Her princes have judged for bribes, and her priests have
taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money; yet will

(4) Gosp. II.

50 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4: MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

they lean upon the Lord and say: Is not the Lord among us
no evil can come upon us. Therefore because of you Zion shall
l&gt;e ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall he as a heap of
stones, and the mountain of the temple as the high places of
the forests."

The \vonls of L/ekiel arc equally forcible : "Woe unto the
shepherds of Israel \vho feed themselves! Should not the
shepherds feed the slice])? Ye eat the fat and ye clothe you
with the wool, ye kill the fatlings: but ye feed not the sheep.
The diseased ye have not strengthened, neither have ye
healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that
which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which
was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost;
but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them; and
they were scattered, because there was no shepherd. . . .
Therefore, ye shepherds hear the word of the Lord. . . . Be
hold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep
at their hand." Kzek. XXXIV. 2 -10.

The Kvangelist also dec-lares that the sheep were eppipnevoi.
This participle from pitnta properly means to cast out, to throw
away, waste, to throw about. The figure is forcible. Under
the faithless, negligent shepherd, the sheep strayed away from
the told and became hunted and knocked about, a stray,
homeless wanderer, with no one to claim it, or care for it.
What a powerful mode of representing the man who has lost
tlie key to the mystery of life? There is no such wretched
being in the universe as man living without a knowledge of his
Creator and his end. That wretchedness is not relieved by
gold, fame, or power. Human life is ordained by God to move
towards one goal, and if it move s away from that goal, it is a
wretched failure. The consideration crimes before us here,
what a dreadful thing it is for a shepherd of God to prove
faithless to his sacred trust? The dearest thing that God has in
all this world is the souls of men. For these possessions he
paid the price of the blood of his Son; and he has decreed to
entrust this possession to men to guard it and bring it to him.
All is great about it. The trust is great, the responsibility is
great, the labor is great, the reward is great, or the punishment
is great. If we wish to know how terrible is the punishment of

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 51

the faithless shepherd, let us give ear to the prophet Ezechiel
III. 17 : " Son of man, I have made thee a watchman over the
house of Israel : and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth,
and shalt tell it to them from me. If when I say to the
wicked : Thou shalt surely die, thou declare it not to him, nor
speak to him that he may be converted from his wicked way
and live ; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but I
will require his blood at thy hand." And again in Verse 20:
"Moreover, if the just man shall turn away from his justice,
and shall commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before
him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning;
he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done
shall not be remembered, but I will require his blood at thy
hand." What a terrible thing to be charged by the angry
Judge with the blood of those for whom he died ? And if this be
true of the merely negligent shepherd, how much more does it
avail of the shepherd who by direct scandal or positive
co-operation leads souls down to hell ? How will the shepherd
respond in judgment, who has perhaps led innocence astray,
and made use of the trust reposed in his character to wreck the
lives entrusted to his care?

It is true that in the New Law the power of God is not
bound to the second causes in such way that its action is
absolutely dependent on them. The issue is shrouded in
mystery, but we know that the omnipotence of God triumphs
over the weakness of the second agent, and saves by the intrin
sic po\ver of Sacraments, even when the shepherd unworthily
administers them. But this lessens not the responsibility;
because God wishes to bind the world to himself through his
shepherds; and although strong minds and pure hearts may
endure through the neglect or the scandal, there are others who
perish for lack of that help that God destined should come to
them through his representatives. Why it is so, we can not
tell, but it is so, and it is terrible, that there are souls that will
be saved, if the shepherd be faithful, and lost, if he be false
to his trust.

As the Lord witnessed by personal experience the sad
condition of the world made desolate by the faithlessness of
those first teachers, he is moved straightwav to found a new

;2 MATT. IX. ^5 ^- 4J MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

school of teachers. He does not change the method of dealing
with the world. It has ever been and ever will be God s
method of teaching the world to employ oral teaching. A
reflection upon the nature of human life will justify the
wisdom of this method. God has not created mankind as
absolutely independent beings, with no need of each other for
the maintenance of their lives. I le is the auth&lt; &gt;r &lt; &gt;f order in the
social body, and he moves man to organization in society and
in religion. Men are members of an organized body. Now,
therefore, it is essentially opposed to God s dealings with a body
pohtic that he should establish absolutely independent relations
with every individual in the affairs of religion. There is
certainly personal communication between God and the
individual, but it does not supersede the appointed teaching
authority i" the organized body. In conformity with man s
composite nature, the organization furnishes man the means to
come into personal communication with God. Xor would it be
sufficient to place in the possession of that organized body a
code of Scriptures. The message of Christ is for the poor and
illiterate, as well as for the learned; it is for busy toilers, who
have not time nor philosophical depth to draw the meaning
from the written instrument. Wherefore Christ both taught
man, and commanded that he should be taught, by the living
voice. And experience confirms this position. Kven to-day,
in these days of enlightenment, how few of the worshippers
of God have drawn their religion directly out of the Bible."
The Bible is the code of God, grand and true; but it has need
of those who shall devote their lives to expound it to the people.
It is the living voice of the patient nun teaching catechism in
the school, of the priest in church and school, of the bishops
in the councils, of the Pope from the throne of Peter, that
teaches the world with the aid of the Spirit even to the
end of time. Around the throne of God are gathered
legions of elect souls brought thither by oral teaching who
never read one line of the Bible.

The selection of the Apostolic College was a decisive event
in the Lord s work, and for it he prepares by prayer.

Looking out upon the whole world, and taking a grand
comprehensive view of human life, Jesus turns to the men whom

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 53

he had associated with himself in his labors, and addresses them
thus: "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few.
Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that he send forth
laborers into the harvest. " The harvest field is mankind, with
its great possibilities of faith and love of God, waiting to be
developed and brought home to God. The plan of God con
templates not the gathering of this harvest by the sole direct
influence of God in the human soul, as some of our day believe.
If such were the case, why the need of laborers? God does
work directly in the souls of men, but in so doing, he does not
supersede the work of the teacher. He decreed to gather his
world-harvest of souls by means of laborers, by means of men
authorized to work for his cause. The laborers were few,
because they who had been sent to plough and sow and reap
those fields of God had been faithless ; and the world presented
the aspect of a great harvest field perishing for the want of a
man to put forth his hand and gather it in. Such is the w r orld
in its relations to God. All that he receives out of it is the
grain which the power of the sunshine of his grace fructifies,
and the rain of his indwelling spirit irrigates, and the zealous
industry of his laborers cares for, and gathers, and separates
from the cockle, and offers to God the Father, here called the
Lord of the harvest . The labor of the husbandman would avail
naught without the sunshine and the rain ; but neither do the
sunshine and the rain operate independently of the laborer:
the influence of God and the industry of man combine to save
the human harvest of the world.

But all good works begin from God, and end in God. The
Apostles must be taught where to look for strength in the great
enterprise which was now to be given to them. God is to be
petitioned for light to know the good and strength to do it, and
therefore Christ invites the disciples to petition God to send the
laborers into the field. It is the constant error of man to bring
too much into prominence his own part in the deeds that he
would do ; to rely on the intensity of personal endeavor, to the
obscuring of God s part. The arm of the Lord is not shortened ;
it does not fatigue him to show power. Human endeavor
should be intense; in these days there is not enough of the
intensity of the Baptist; but human endeavor should begin

54 MATT. IX. 35 -X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

\vith prayer; should be rooted in prayer; and should give to
the p&lt;nver of God its proper place in the achievements of
man.

Christ never says: "Go"; he says: "Come." So here, after
bidding his disciples pray, he repaired into the mountain top,
to go before them in prayer as an example. In every perfect
work of man, God must have a part, and prayer is the means of
bringing God into our work.

The Lake of Gennesaret is an extinct crater in the midst of
mountains; and up into one of these, Christ repaired and spent
the night in prayer. There is something about the top of a
mountain conducive to higher aspirations. The altitude, the
removal from the clamor of the world, the purer air, and the
being alone witli God. impress the soul with religious feelings.
In prayer a man should, as far as possible, sever himself from
earth, and come close to Heaven. The very elevation above
the lower strata of atmosphere conduces to this. But did
Christ, who enioyed in his humanity the beatific vision, need
thus to pray. lie needed it not for himself, but we needed it.
Christ lived for us, acted for us, prayed for us, died for us.
Christ is our m&lt; &gt;del in every perfect work; he is our model in
prayer, and his prayer is like everything else in the life of
Christ, transcendent. It was on that occasion one long ecstatic
union of the human mind of Christ with his Heavenly Father.
In that prayer he recommended to his Father his work, the
foundation of his Church, the selection of his Apostles, and man
whom he was to redeem. How grand and beautiful is the
mystery, when the court of Heaven looked down on him in
whom all things were created, in human form, there on the
lonely mountain top absorbed in prayer for mankind! The
lesson for man is that the work of God is promoted by prayer
and activity combined. Enterprises of great moment are
brought to successful issues by very weak agents by the power
of prayer. "More things are wrought by prayer than this
world dreams c if. " A man errs who believes that he satisfies by
activity for the lack of prayer in his life. When a man is too
busy to pray, his life is disordered. In prayer, we recognize
what God s place is in human endeavor; we receive divine
power in exchange for human thoughts.

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 55

And when morning was come, he called together his band
of disciples, and called unto him w T hom he would. St. Mark is
careful to mention Christ s free choice of the Apostles. By this
is affirmed that the Apostles entered into the holy calling not
by ambition, nor any human art, but because they were called
as Aaron was called. With full knowledge of all things, the
Lord knew that what he did there must be renewed many times
in the history of his Church. He established the law by which
it should be done. It was directed by prayer, and the choice
was uninfluenced by human motive. Had such affairs ever
since been conducted in that holy manner, many dark pages in
the Church s history would not have been written.

And he chose twelve. As the first chosen people was
propagated from twelve tribal chiefs, so the people of the New
Alliance were spiritually begotten by twelve Fathers. The
analogy rests on the authority of Paul, I. Cor. IV. 15: " For if
you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet ye have not
many fathers ; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through
the Gospel. " Gal. IV. 19 : " My little children, of whom I am
in labor again until Christ be formed in you. Philemon I . i o :
" I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in
my chains." By the power of God those twelve formed the
new people of God. From them the hosts of Christ s true
worshippers were propagated in every land, not by carnal
descent but by the birth of the new creation in man. This
spiritual kinship bound them to the Apostles ; and that birth
which can not trace its origin back to the Apostles is spurious.
The action of Christ in choosing these twelve men, and his
counsels and commands to them show plainly that he consid
ered them the foundation of an organization which should be
essentially bound to them by direct succession; so much so,
that they themselves could be said to endure even to the
final consummation of the world. Now, therefore, apostolic
succession is an absolute essential and diacritic note of the
Church of Christ. And it is only the Roman Catholic Church
that can trace her pedigree back to Peter and to his associates ;
the births of other creeds are laid in fornication and dishonor.
The Lord gave to these men the name of Apostles, thereby
designating what manner of life they should lead. They were

56 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

from aTroo-reXA&j, to send off, despatch on some
sen-ice. They were to be messengers, ambassadors from the
court of Heaven, and from the King of kings to the children of
men. The mustard seed grew till it became a tree ; and so that
original band was destined to grow to vast proportions. The
twelve have passed away, and millions have taken their place;
but the law of their life is the same; they are messengers of
God, ambassadors of Christ, to speak in his name even unto the
end of time.

The power of miracles was needed in that period of the
Church s life to arrest the attention of men, and cause them to
listen to the message of the Apostles. The Church had not yet
become conspicuous in the world, so that every man could find
her. Therefore did Jesus equip these same ambassadors with
the power to heal infirmity and to cast out demons. That
power was given, not to change the conditions of man s earthly
life, but to lead to supernatural faith. It remains in the Church
to-day, and ever will remain, to be used when its exercise will
strengthen the grasp of mortals on the kingdom of God.

The first name which appears in the Catalogue of the
Apostles is Simon IVu-r. Concerning the name of Peter, we
have seen its signification, and the circumstances of the giving
of the name in John I. 42. Later on we shall see why the Lord
gave this name to Simon. Mark and Luke speak of the event
as though the name of Peter were given to the prince of the
Apostles at this particular time. To bring this into accord
with the aforementioned passage of John, some suppose that
Jesus repeated what he had said on that preceding occasion.
This is very probable. The giving of the name was a
foreshadowing of a mighty commission to be given to Simon,
and it seems certain that in the actual organization of the
apostolic college, the Lord should renew the prophetic
declaration of Simon s province in the Church, by the giving of
this significant name. Again, others hold that in virtue of the
first bestowal of the name of Peter recorded by St. John, the
Lord commonly addressed Simon as Peter, and that therefore
he addressed him as Peter in the present instance. The words
of Mark and Luke form no objection to this opinion. They
had not yet informed us of the cognomen Peter; and hence

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 57

without heed to chronology, they record the substantial fact at
this juncture, where the personality of the Apostle is brought
into especial prominence.

We also see that in all the catalogues, Peter is placed first.
It is a part of the cumulative evidence of Peter s place in the
Scriptures. Matthew even takes thought to add the numeral
7T/3&JT09. Since the days of the Apostles, Catholics have held
that his place in the catalogue signifies his place in the Church ;
that it is in virtue of his primacy in the Church that he is
always placed at the head of the Apostolic College, and for
the same reason Matthew calls him the first. Of course, the
proof stands not alone, but gains strength from the many other
evidences of Peter s pre-emience. In fact, no other cause can
be reasonably assigned for the term the first, here given by
Matthew to Peter. He was not the first called, since he was
brought to Christ by Andrew and John. He is not the first by
mere coincidence, because while the order of the other Apostles
is varied, Peter always retains first place. Moreover, Matthew
is not speaking of the order of the selection of the twelve, but
merely recording their names; and yet he gives to Peter that
significant epithet, "the first." Plain evidence forces us to
make the term equal to "the head."

In the catalogues of Matthew and Luke, the Apostle
Andrew occupies the second place, but in Mark and also in
Acts, I. 13, he is placed after the sons of Zebedee. The
difference is merely accidental, since Andrew is always placed
among the four greater Apostles, those who stood closest to
the Lord.

We have seen the circumstances of Andrew s calling,
Matt. IV. 18; Mark I. 16; Luke V. 2. At that time, Andrew
was really constituted an Apostle; but in the present text that
first appointment was confirmed to him and to the others
previously chosen, and the official list of the twelve was closed.

Outside of the brief Gospel data but little is known of St.
Andrew. The acts of his martyrdom are apocryphal and
legendary. Probable data record that he preached the Gospel .
in the Greek colonies Heraclea, Sinope, Trapezontos, and
Nicephorus, along the western coast of the Black Sea, and
thence passed into Scythia. He returned thence to Jerusalem

58 [MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

through Xeoco?sarea and Samosata. In a second journey, he
penetrated to Constantinople, passed into Greece, and was
crucified at Patras in Achaia.

1 he calling of John the Evangelist and his brother James,
called the Greater, is recorded in Mark I. 1920 and parallel
passages. \Ve have here only to affirm of them, as we have
said of Andrew, that their election was re-confirmed in the
complete official list. The etymology of the term fioavepye s, or
tfoainjpyes, is very &lt; &gt;bscure. As the Evangelist has explained its
significance, the sense of the passage is in nowise involved in
the etymological obscurity. Many derive the epithet from the
two words C J^~*j The rendering of the sclicra mobile by

oa is not uncommon in Greek. The principal difficulty in this
opinion is that C 3"^ does not mean thunder, but the tumult of

a crowd. To obviate this difficulty some have thought to
substitute C &gt;"^ t "r C JH. The sense of &gt;H is that of violent

movement, hence it can be applied to an earthquake. The
proper Hebrew word for the thunder is D^~1- Hence Jerome

ventured the opinion that the correct reading should be
Benereem. Most probably the term in Mark is an attempt to
reproduce the Aramaic form of this term. Hut it is far more
profitable to consider the qualities in these men, which drew
from tlie Lord this epithet. It was certainly a term of
commendation, based on the passionate ardor of these grand
spirits. They were souls filled with tire. Sometimes this fiery
ardor was ill advised, as when they desired to call down the fire
of heaven upon the Samaritan village, which refused to harbor
the Master. Luke IX. 54. Hut when the Holy Ghost had
moulded their hearts of fire to the ways of God, the natural
ardor of their temperament became transformed to a mighty
zeal to s] &gt;read the kingdom of God. The zeal of James made
him hateful to Herod Agrippa, and Herod caused James to be
beheaded by the sword. Acts XII. 2. The other Son of
thunder is better known to us. Christian art has, in some
degree obscured the real character of this man. He is usually
represented as a beardless youth, with a calm, mild face, with
something of a virginal timidity in the tender eyes. The two

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 50

things that art has aimed to reproduce is that John was a
virgin, and especially loved by Jesus. To invest him with that
loveliness, painters give to him something of the grace of
woman. But how different is the St. John of the Gospel ! Of
all the Apostles, John has the most power and sublimity. Like
the lightning he opens the heavens, and records the awful
message of the genesis of the Word. There is a mighty power
in everything which he has written. He was intolerant of
heresy, and on the testimony of Polycarp, we know that he ran
from the bath in which he found Cerinthus the heretic. Finally,
in the grand visions of the Apocalypse; in the vision of him
who was as the sun, and held the keys of hell and death ; in the
vision of the throne of God ; in the vision of the sealed book
opened by the Lamb; in the vision of the four horses, and
death and hell following the pale horse; in the vision of the
darkening of the sun, the stars falling from heaven, and the
departure of the heavens as a scroll is rolled together; in the
vision of the movement of the mountains and islands, and
the voice of men crying to the mountains to hide them from
the face of God and the wrath of the Lamb ; in the vision of
the multitude which no man could number, clothed with white
robes, praising the Lamb ; in the vision of the rain of hail and
fire and blood ; in the vision of the opening of the bottomless
pit, and the coming forth of the terrible horses, in form like
locusts, with tails like scorpions ; in the vision of the woman
clothed with the sun, and of the dragon, and the war in Heaven,
and the seven vials of wrath ; in the vision of the fall of Babylon
and the triumph of the Lamb, in these does the mighty
soul of this son of thunder reveal itself. And all that
grand ardor of his nature concentrated itself in one great act of
love of God ; and when age had weakened his body, and he was
close to that Heaven which he had so beautifully described, his
parting injunction to his disciples was: "My little children,
love one another." This is the right use to make of the
faculties of nature and gifts of whatever kind; develop them,
and then reduce them all into one grand act of love of God.

The Apostles may be divided into three groups of four in a
group. Peter, James, John, and Andrew compose the first
group. They were admitted to closer relations with Jesus than

60 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

the others. They were the only ones present at the raising to
life of Juirus daughter; the only ones at the Transfiguration;
the only ones at the agony of the Saviour.

The second group opens with Philip, who always occupies
the fifth place. He also was called in John I. 43, but his
commission is confirmed in the present event. But little is
known of his life. In the old Martyrology of St. Jerome, we
find the following datum for the first of May: "Xatalis S.
Philippi Apostoli in civitate Hierapoli, Provincial Asia?." In the
same Martyrology, his feast is associated with that of James,
the brother of the Lord. The Martyrologium of Yen. Bede
confirms the same. Florus, the celebrated deacon of the
Church of Lyon in the ninth century, adds to the data of Bede
that Philip suffered Martyrdom in Phrygia, and was buried
there with his daughters. Usuardus, the celebrated Benedic
tine monk of the ninth century, disciple of Alcuin, in his
Martyrology has the following: "Xatale Apostolorum Philippi
et Jacobi, ex quibus Philippus postquam Scythiam ad fid em
Christi convcrtisset apud Hierapolim Asia? civitatem glorioso
fine quievit." The Roman Martyrology adds that he was
placed on a cross, and stoned. Many authorities state that he
combated the Ebionite heresy in Asia, and Maurolycus states
that he was stoned by the Ebionites. The Greeks honor St.
Philip on the i4th of November. In the celebrated Menology
published by authority of Basil Porphyrogenitus, we find this
testimony: "Philip, one of the twelve Apostles, born at
Bethsaida in Galilee, became famous for his miracles after the
ascension of Christ. Under the Emperor Trajan, he set out for
Hierapolis with his seven daughters, Marianne his sister, and
Bartholomew the Apostle. Here by zealous preaching of the
word of Jesus Christ, he converted from the vanity of idolatry a
vast multitude of Gentiles, who together with Nicanora, the
wife of the Proconsul, one of the chief men, were giving divine
worship to a serpent. Hereupon, by order of the Proconsul,
Philip and Bartholomew were suspended by the feet from a
high wall. At the prayer of Philip, the earth opened, and
swallowed the pagans, the Proconsul, the serpent and its priests.
But by the singular benefit of God, except the Proconsul the
author of the slaughter of the saints, and the serpent, all again

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 61

emerged into the open air. Bartholomew was freed, but Philip
died in that same torment." See Euseb. III. 31. Rufinus
confirms the statement of Eusebius. Thus he writes in Hist.
Eccles. III. 31 : "Philip was one of the Apostles who went to
sleep at Hierapolis, as also his two daughters who remained
virgins to extreme old age ; another of his daughters, filled with
the Holy Ghost, abode at Ephesus." Nicephorus Callistus and
St. Jerome endorse the same testimony. Clement of Alexandria
also enumerates Philip among the Apostles who were married
and had children. Some confusion has arisen also from the
confounding of Philip the deacon and his daughters, with
Philip the Apostle and his daughters.

The acts of Philip are apocryphal, and merit little faith.
Still we may be reasonably sure that Philip was married ; that
he preached the faith in Scythia, and there met his death by
martyrdom. Baronius places his martyrdom in the year 54,
under Claudius. St. Hippolyte places Philip s martyrdom
under Domitian, \vho reigned from 81 to 96. The latter
opinion has far more probability, and we should place Philip s
death about the year 87.

The next name in the apostolic catalogue is Bartholomew.
The name is a patronymic, composed of the Aramaic terms "12

Bar, son, and * 7H, Tholmai. Modern exegetes have, with

reason, identified this man with Nathanael, whose calling is
recorded by St. John, I. 45. The account of John evidently
supposes some friendship existing between Nathanael and
Philip ; for Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus. Now the words
of Jesus to Nathanael on that occasion certainly imply that
Nathanael was called to the apostolate; and if he be not
Bartholomew, there is no place for him. Moreover, as he is
always associated by the Evangelists with St. Philip, this would
be readily explained on the supposition that he is Nathanael.
Finally, Bartholomew must have had another name, for it is
impossible that a man should only be known by his patronymic.
We believe, therefore, that the two names refer to the same
individual, and we refer the reader to the passage of St. John
for the scanty data \vhich history furnishes us of the Apostle.
In temper, he seems to have been a plain, blunt, honest man ;
no enthusiast, but a calm, meditative nature.

62 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

Matthew is associated with Thomas. It is a curious fact,
that the Apostles are joined in pairs in these catalogues. It
was perhaps owing to the fact that they had been associated in
some way before coming to the Lord, and he wisely sent them
to labor in pairs. In the other catalogues, Matthew always
precedes St. Thomas, but in the catalogue written by St.
Matthew himself, he places himself after St. Thomas, and gives
himself the designation of the publican, which is never added
by the others. This is due to the admirable humility of the
man. All that we are able to state of his life has been said in
commenting the passage of Luke, V. 27-38. The name

Thomas is derived from the Hebrew DlNH or DlNp, the twin.

T :

Hence, according to John II. 16, he was called 8181^09, the twin.

The character of St. Thomas, as revealed to us in the new
Testament, is that of a matter-of-fact man; not gifted with
much imagination, a man who experienced much difficulty in
grasping the supernatural; and who was slow to believe in
unseen realities. There was a wisdom in the choice of such a
man ; for it convinces us that there was evidence enough in the
origin of Christianity to force conviction even in this doubting
heart. The data of his subsequent life are meager, and
uncertain. The general tenor of early tradition connects him
with Edessa, and with Parthia. Euseb. III. i. Sophronius,
in an Appendix to the "De Yiris Illustribus" of St. Jerome,
says that St. Thomas preached the Gospel to the Parthians,
Medes, Persians. Carmanians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and
Magians, and that lie died at Calamina in India. This is the
basis of the Apocryphal acts of Thomas, and also of the Roman
Breviary. The name of India in early literature is a vague
term for the East. Hence, this term does not specify the seat
of Thomas labors. When Vasco de Gama and Pedro de Cabral
reached India in 1500, they found a well organized Christian
Church, which claimed St. Thomas as its founder. The
Christians of that place are even now called the Christians of
St. Thomas. The district occupied by these people was part of
Malabar, on the western side of the southern extremity of India,
between the ninth and twelfth parallels of north latitude.

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 63

The manner of Thomas death is generally placed to have
been by martyrdom, although Clement of Alexandria cites the
gnostic Heracleon to the effect that Thomas died a natural
death. Strom. IV. 9.

The next name in the list of Apostles is James, the son of
Alphaeus. This man is called James the Less in Mark XV. 40,
where his mother is mentioned as Mary. In his Epistle to
Galatians, I. 19, Paul speaks of one James, the brother of the
Lord. There is also one of the Catholic Epistles written by
James. Now there is an opinion which makes James, the
brother of the Lord and author of this Epistle, distinct from
James the Less. Some scattering data are found in early
tradition for this position. The celebrated Bollandist P.
Henschen adopted this theory; and it has been defended by-
Richard Simon, Zaccaria, Vincenzi, Danko, and Schegg. But
we are convinced by solid arguments that one and the same per
son is designated as James, the brother of the Lord, and writer
of the Epistle, and James the Less, son of Alphaeus and Maty.

Our first and greatest argument is drawn from the words
of St. Paul, Gal. I. 19. It was in his mind to prove to them
that he had not received his Gospel and commission to preach
from men, even from the Apostles; and for this reason he
affirms that while at Jerusalem he saw no other Apostle, ex
cept James the brother of the Lord : But other of the Apostles
saw I none, save James the Lord s brother." Evidently, there
fore, Paul makes James the brother of the Lord an Apostle.
Now if he be not James the Less, there is no place for him in
the catalogue. Certain protestants, who are opposed to our
opinion, endeavor to enfeeble this argument by contending that
Paul uses the word Apostle here in a wide sense to include any
preacher of the Lord. But the general line of Paul s argument
in the Epistle disproves this.

Again, James the Less, Joseph or Joses, Simon, and Jude,
have as mother Mary, who is called by St. John, XIX. 25, the
sister of the mother of Jesus, and wife of Clopas. The word
Clopas, is but a more aspirated pronunciation of the Hebrew
i)^n&gt; which in a less aspirated mode of pronunciation becomes
Alphaeus. This is conceded now by many modern exegetes.

64 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

But even if this were denied, the identity of the two men is
not disproven ; for the same individual may have borne two
names.

The kinship between James the Less and the Lord may be
explained in various ways. Eusebius in Hist. Eccles. III. 13,
adduces the testimony of Hegesippus that Clopas and St.
Joseph were brothers, which would make the Lord and James
the Less cousins german. St. John, XIX. 25, affirms that Mary
the wife of Clopas was the sister of the Blessed Virgin, which
would equally justify the appellation, "the brothers of the
Lord. " Either of the opinions is sufficient to explain the Scrip
tural phrase, "the brothers of the Lord," and the ignorant
calumny that it meant uterine brothers must be abandoned.

James the Less became the first bishop of Jerusalem. In
the council of Jerusalem, he sustained Peter in removing the
ritual ordinances from the Gentiles. His life and death are
thus described from the testimony of Hegesippus by Eusebius,
II. 23: "But the Jews, after Paul had appealed to Caesar, and
had been sent by Festus to Rome, frustrated in their hope of
entrapping him by the snares they had laid, turned themselves
against James, the brother of the Lord, to \vhom the episcopal
seat at Jerusalem was committed by the Apostles. The follow
ing were their nefarious measures also against him. Conducting
him into a public place, they demanded that he should renounce
the faith of Christ before all the people : but contrary to the
sentiments of all, with a firm voice, and much beyond their
expectation, he declared himself fully before the whole mul
titude, and confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God,
Saviour and Lord. Unable to bear any longer the testimony of
the man, who, on account of his elevated virtue and piety was
deemed the most just of men, they seized the opportunity of
licentiousness afforded by the prevailing anarchy, and slew
him. "

In the catalogues of Matthew and Mark, Thadda?us is the
tenth Apostle. In St. Luke, he is called Judas, the brother of
James, and he is placed in the eleventh place. For the reading
QaB&alos of Matthew, Tischendorf read Ae/3/3aZo?, which is the
reading of Codex Bezae. The reading "Thaddaeus who is called
Lebbaeus" has the authority of Codices C 2 , E, F, G, K, L, M,

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 65

S, U, V, X, F, A, n, both Syriac versions, and of the Armenian
and the Ethiopian. This is a probable reading, and Lightfoot
derives this name from Lebba, a city near Mt. Carmel by the
sea. That the genitive la/cwfiov, which qualifies the name
lovSav in Luke makes Jude the brother of James is evident.
The Apostle Jude wrote an Epistle in which he calls himself
the brother of James. It seems probable that so great was the
fame of James the Less in the Church at Jerusalem, that persons
were distinguished by their relation to him. Hence though the
genitive case placed after the name of a person usually desig
nates the parent, in this case it refers Jude to his celebrated
brother, to distinguish him from Judas the traitor. Moreover,
James and Joseph [Joses] and Simon and Jude are by Matthew
[XIII. 55] [cfr. Mark VI. 3] called the brothers of the Lord.
Now as Mary the sister of the Mother of God was the mother
of James the Less and Joseph, she must have been the mother
of Jude and Simon also ; hence it is quite probable that James
the Less and Jude were brothers.

The life of Jude is hidden in obscurity. An opinion was
advanced by some that he labored in Africa, but this is rejected
by the Bollandists. Joseph Assemani records in his Bibliotheca
Orientalis that the Syrians and Chaldeans reckon Thaddaeus or
Adaeus among their apostles. Jerome also asserts [Ad Cap. X.
Matt.] that Jude the brother of James brought the Gospel to
Edessa, to Abgar, of Osrhoena. This is also the consta nt
tradition of the Greek Church, as the Bollandists prove. Many
Latin writers also are in accord with it. Some have extended
his labors even to Russia, but this has little proof. All the old
liturgies and martyrologies record the martyrdom of St. Jude.
In the Greek Menology, on the igth day of June, we find re
corded that the Apostle Jude, after preaching in Mesopotamia,
came to the city Arat, and was there crucified, and pierced with
darts. In the Menologium of Mena, the place of his martyrdom
is assigned as Arara. In a spurious work of St. Hippolyte,
Beyrouth is given as the place of his martyrdom.

Associated with St. Jude is Simon the Zealot. By Matthew
and Mark, he is called the Canaanite. There are two different
readings of this epithet in the Greek of Matthew. Many
codices, among which are codices ^, E, F, G, read

(5) Gosp. II.

66 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

the codices B, C, D, L, read Kavavalos. Luke has explained the
signification of this epithet by calling Simon frXan-ifr, the
Zealot. Hence, whatever be the decision regarding the Greek
reading of the term, we know that it does not signify a resident
of the land of Canaan, as Kavavalos usually signifies. Neither
is it derived from the village of Cana, as some have supposed;
but it is derived from the Aramaic ]Nj, from Hebrew NJ.
meaning to be rilled with emulation and zeal in any issue.
Hence the term employed by Luke is an exact translation of
the term. To explain the reason that Simon is thus termed
we find two leading opinions. The first is advanced by
Lightfoot, and received by Kdersheim and others, that Simon
1 vl&lt; nged t&lt; &gt; the Jewish party kn&lt; &gt;\vn as the Zealots. Josephus
describes the horrid designs and practices of this faction in War
IV. }, g, is- M- They were tierce socialists, who, under name
of zeal for the law, wrought all manner of atrocities. Of
course, Simon could have been called out of this sect, as
Matthew had been from the office of publican, but the account
docs not seem to warrant this. The second opinion, therefore,
seems more probable that Simon was called the Zealot, from a
peculiar zeal in Jewish observances before his call. Such was
the zeal of Phinehas. Num. XXV. n. Paul also calls himself
a zealot in the traditions of his Fathers [Gal. I. M[: ""&lt;! J arnt&gt;s
declared that there were great numbers of Jews at Jerusalem,
who had believed, and were zealots for the Law. Acts XXI.
20. As the cognomen was a title of honor, it is nearly always
attributed to this Simon. In the Roman Martyrology, the
veneration of St. Simon the Zealot is associated with that of St.
Jude, and placed on the 2Sth of October. Baronius, in his
notes to the Roman Breviary, records the opinions of those who
believe that this association comes from an erroneous read
ing of the Codex; and they believe that the true reading should
be: "Xatalis Beati Apostoli Simonis, qui et Judas vocatur.
The Bollandists reject this conjecture ; first, on the ground that
in such case, St. Jude would have no day in the Latin Church;
secondly, the old Martyrology of St. Jerome distinguishes these
men. For the Kalends of July it has the following notice:
"In Persia, Passio Sanctorum Apostolorum Simonis Canana?i et

MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16 67

Judas Zelotis." In the Greek Church, their feasts are separate ;
St. Simon being venerated on the loth of May, and Jude on the
1 9th of June. It seems quite evident that Jerome confounded
St. Simon with St. Jude. In his Commentary on the Epistle
to the Galatians, II. 4, he says: "We read of the eminent
zeal of the Apostle Judas; not the traitor, but of him who,
on account of his great zeal, was called the Zealot."
Again, in his treatise defending the perpetual virginity of the
Blessed Virgin against Helvidius, 13, he says: "Judas the
Zealot in another Gospel is called Thaddasus." The testimony
of Sophronius, a writer of the first century, as found in the "De
Viris Illustribus" of Jerome, has the following: "Simon
Cananaeus, cognomento Judas, frater Jacobi Episcopi, qui et
successit illi in Episcopatum post obitum Jacobi, cognomento
justi, vixit annos viginti supra centum; crucifixus autem sub
Trajano Imperatore, nata persecutione gravi, dormivit." But
the error in this tradition is evident, for the data of the New
Testament clearly establish a distinction batween Simon the
Zealot and Jude. Though contrary to the opinion of the
Bollandists, it seems probable that Simon was the brother of
James and Jude, and consequently one of those called the
brothers of the Lord. Less is known of Simon the Zealot than
of any one of the other Apostles. The general drift of tradi
tion makes Egypt and Persia the places of his apostolic labors,
and Persia the place of his martyrdom.

The last name in all catalogues is Judas Iscariot. The
placing of the particle x-ai before his name in the catalogues of
Matthew and Mark has a peculiar intensifying force. It
expresses the horror that the Evangelists feel at the act of this
one of their number. It also calls attention to the contrast
between the kind, honorable treatment of Judas at the hands
of Jesus, and the frightful malice of the deed in return. One
of the saddest things in the New Testament is the fall of Judas.
With evidence of great sorrow the Evangelists speak of him
briefly. Thus also do the apostles of subsequent times pre
serve a certain mournful silence concerning those who have
gone in the way of Judas.

Concerning the etymology of Iscariot many opinions have
been advanced. Lightfoot, derives the name from

68 MATT. IX. 35 X. 4; MARK III. 13-19; LUKE VI. 12-16

According to the Rabbis, this term signified the leathern
girdle or apron worn by tanners, and hence Lightfoot
believes that Judas was thus called from the pocket in his
girdle, in which he kept the money, or from the fact that he
was a tanner.

An opinion which is now received by many derives the
epithet from the Hebrew words pV"^p C ^N, the man of
Kerioth. Kerioth is a village in the tribe of Judah, mentioned
in Joshua, XV. 25. Others derive the name from *"C fc-
the name of one of the twelve tribes. It is true some
changes have been wrought in the root as it passed into the
Greek epithet, but similar changes are always seen in like
derivations. This opinion was hinted at by Jerome [Maid, in
h. 1.], and the opinion is confirmed by other data. From Acts
II. 7, it appears that the Apostles at that time were all Gali
leans. They were called to the Apostolate in Galilee, hence
it seems probable that Judas was also of Galilee. Now
placing him of the tribe of Issachar makes him a Galilean,
whereas Kerioth was in Judah.

As Judas is one of the central figures in the events of the
passion of Jesus, later we shall see more of him. We have only
to touch here why the Lord chose this man, knowing that he
was to be a traitor. Of the dispositions of heart of Judas at the
time of his election, \ V e know nothing. He may have been
good or bad. God alone knows; but the question at issue is
why Jesus foreknowing the treason which this man would
commit chose him for the Apostolate. This question is allied
to many others which are all bound up in the deep mystery of
God s prescience, his permission of evil, and man s free will.
God created the angels, knowing that they would fall; he
created Adam, knowing that he would fall; he creates the
reprobates whom he foreknows will be damned ; he chose Judas
whom he foreknew would be a devil. There is the mystery.
But there was a providence ruling the calling of Judas. He
made use of his free will to choose damnation instead of life ;
and God made use of his free choice to work the redemption of
man through the death of his eternal Son. And again, Judas

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21.

stands there the eternal proof that the defection of the second
asrent shatters not the structure of the rock-built Church.

Jesus chose poor and untutored men to found his Church, to
show to the world that it was upheld not by human power,
but by the power of his Spirit; he chose Judas to show that,
even when those in the high places fall, the divine agency of
salvation operating through these agencies remains unim
paired. Thus faith is confirmed by the treason of Judas.
Christ foreknew that in the long ages through which the Church
should endure, some of his chosen ones would betray him.
Hence, to show men that such betrayal in nowise affected the
divine power located in the Church for the salvation of men,
he chose to allow this man to enter even among his twelve
first representatives. It was a lesson to man to look beyond
the creature to the power which never fails, though some
through whom it works have gone in the way of the first
traitor.

MATT. V. i-io.

i. Io(ov sk TO jq 07X0 j
c!^ TO opoc, 7. at 7.aO(7avTo?
7:o;rrXOov ot aOfTal CTJTOJ.

LUKE VI. 17-21.

17. Kat y.aracag JJLST: OTJTWV
e jTrj e^t TO^OU zsctvou, 7.at 67X0 q
TTOA jc; [j/aOr^wv auToD, 7.al TuXfjOog
TroXu TOJ Xaou arb zajYjc; T?)? lou-
cafa^ 7.at IspoujaXf/jX xal Tf;s
xapaXtou Tupou 7. at Stooivoc;, o?
r^XOov a-/.oj"at a JTOJ 7. at caOfjvat

(27:0 7(I)V VOJWV a JTWV.

1 8. Kal ot IvoxXou^cvot azo
^vsujxaTwv ay,a6apT(ov lOepaxsuovio.

, . i Q. Kat zaq o ovAOs -r,TOU

5. May.apiot o: ^sastc, OTJ a jTot .

, , azTcjlJat ajToo, OTt Suvajxi? xac

2. Kat dvotcaq TO crro^a aJTOU
Icfcar/.sv ajTO jc Xsywv:

3. May.dptot ol ^7or/o: TG&gt;

zvcU jXaTt, oTt aJTwv IjTtv T t art-
Xsta TCOV odpav(I&gt;v.

4. Ma/.acto . o ; . TcevOoDvrs? OT .

6. Ma/.apcoc ol TTS .VWVTS? 7. at
ct ^wvTcC TY;V Six.acojuvrjv, OTt auTot

20. Iva:

TO? eTTOCpa? TO J

a JTOj eXsysv: Ma/.aptot ot TUTW/O

7. May.apiot o! IXsr^ovsc;, OTI ort uasTepa sjTtv r t ^aariXeta TO
Tot IXsYiOr^ovTat. sou.

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17-21

r/.ap .ot o ; . xaOafo: 7f; y.ap- 21. Mz/jcp .o-. oi zs .vwv7; &gt;:&gt;,
:JTOt 7ov HHOV v&gt; jV 7a:. 07- /oc73:rO-r;r7i r )3. Ma/i-o: oi

1. And seeing tlie multi
tudes, lie went ii]) into the
mountain: and when he had
sat down, his disciples came
unto him:

2. And he opened his
mouth and taught them, say
ing;

3. Blessed are the poor in
spirit: for theirs is the king
dom of Heaven.

4. Blessed are they that
mourn: for they shall be com
forted.

5. Blessed arc the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth.

C). Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after right
eousness- for they shall be
tilled.

7. Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy.

8. Blessed are the pure in
heart: for they shall see God.

9. Blessed are the peace
makers: for they shall be called
sons of Gods.

17. And he came down with
them, and stood on a level
place, and a great multitude of
his disciples, and a great num
ber of the people from all
Judc ca and Jerusalem, and the
sea coast of Tyre and Sidon,
who came to hear him, and
to be- healed of their diseases;

i S. And they that were
troubled with unclean spirits
were healed.

19. And all the multitude
sought to touch him: for
power came forth from him,
and healed then: all.

20. And he lifted up his
eyes on his disciples, and said:
Blessed are ye poor: for yours
is the kingdom of God.

21. Blessed are ye that
hunger now: for ye shall be
rilled. Blessed are ye that weep
now: for ye shall laugh.

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE. VI. 17 21 71

10. Blessed are they that
have been persecuted for right
eousness sake: for theirs is
the kingdom of Heaven.

In the first verse of Matthew, Tischendorf edits the text,
7rpoa-fi\Bov avTw. The avra) is omitted by Code x B, and is
considered doubtful by Westcott and Hort. The beatitude
concerning the meek is placed in the fourth verse by Tischen
dorf and such is the reading of D. Such order is also sustained
by the Vulgate, by the Syriac of Cureton, and by Clement of
Alexandria, Origen, Ammonius, Eusebius, Gregory of Nyssa,
Basil, Hilary, Jerome, et al. But the order is transposed, and
the beatitude concerning those who mourn is placed first in ^,
B, C, E, K, M, S, U, V, T, A, II, et al. Such order is also
followed by the Peshitto, Coptic, Armenian, and Ethiopian
versions, and it is endorsed by Chrysostom, Tertullian, and by
the crtics Westcott and Hort. In the ninth verse of Matthew
avroi is omitted by fr$, C, D, and by Tischendorf.

In the seventeenth verse of Luke the reading 6 ^Xo? TroXw
is found in K, B, L, i and 1 18. Such reading is followed by the
Peshitto Syriac, and is endorsed by Tischendorf, Westcott and
Hort.

Though some have denied that these te"xts are parallel, yet
we believe that the context proves them to be so. The text of
Matthew is fuller than that of Luke, but such variations are
often discovered in parallel texts. Both texts have the same
general argument, the same beginning, the same ending. And
in both Evangelists, we find that after the discourse, Jesus came
down to Capharnaum, and healed the centurion s son. More
absurd still is the theory of those who believe the sermon on
the mount to be made up of sayings of the Lord uttered at
various times, and here woven together by the Evangelists. It
is true that the Lord did teach some of these truths at various
times in his life; but all things point to the fact that here
solemnly and ex professo he promulgated the great ethical code
of the spiritual life. The verses from seventeen to nineteen
inclusively of Luke have been explained in the events which
preceded the call of the Apostles. In making one and the same
the passage in Matthew 7 and Luke, we find a difficulty in this

72 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721

that, according to Matthew, the Lord ascended into a mountain
to deliver his discourse, whereas according to Luke, he came
down out of the mountain into the plain. To harmonize these
accounts, we shall first set forth what seems to have been the
real order of the events, and then we shall endeavor to find that
same order in the two Evangelists. Clearly from the preceding
data, we find that the Lord bade his disciples pray that the Lord
of the harvest might send laborers into his field, and that then
he withdrew from them, and went up into a mountain to pray.
All seems to warrant that the disciples spent that same night
on the mountain slope, not far from the Lord. Thus on the
night preceding Calvary, he bade Peter, Andrew, James, and
John pray, and then withdrew a little from them to pray alone.
The prayer on the mount seems to have been in some respects
similar. And in the morning, Jesus came to the disciples, and
chose the twelve, and, with these twelve and the other disciples,
he came down from the higher portions of the mount to the
point where the multitudes were waiting.

The traditions of the East place the event on the slope of
the mountain which is called by the Arabs Koroun Hattin, the
Horns of Hatti}i. It is so called from the two extremities of
the elevation which rise to a slightly greater altitude, which
a vivid Eastern imagination likens to the horns of a beast. The
mount itself rises to the northwest of the Lake of Gennesaret,
to the altitude of ab&lt; nit fifty metres above the plain below. It
was on this site that the famous battle was fought in 1187,
which put an end t&lt; &gt; the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. Guy de
Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, was encamped here, when the
Crusaders were surrounded by the hordes of Salah-ed-Din, and
cut to pieces. The mountain top stretches out into a beautiful
plateau bounded at its extremities by the two elevations called
the horns, and here is the traditional site of the sermon on the
mount, and it is called the Mount of the Beatitudes. Luke
has followed the Lord up from the crowds into the mountain;
Luke records the event of the calling of tri3 Apostles; and
Luke records the Lord s descent again to the multitude.
Matthew hastening to come at the discourse itself, passes over
the night on the mount and the election of the twelve, and con
nects the going up into the mount with the great discourse

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 73

delivered on its side. The point of departure is the same, and
the conclusion is the same ; only there is a considerable lacuna
in Matthew. The peculiar expression in St. Matthew: "And
opening his mouth," is only the Hebrew form of expression to
denote the beginning of a grave and important discourse. The
address was delivered immediately to the disciples, though it
was intended for the multitudes, and, in fact, for all men in
all ages. But the Lord had now formed his school, and it
was his design to teach the world through them. Hence
Luke writes: "And lifting up his eyes upon his disciples, he
said," etc.

The Lord was seated during the discourse, as we learn
from St. Matthew. Pondering over the great problems which
rule human destiny, his eyes had been cast down. He raises
them, and fixes them upon the disciples, to communicate to
them these great thoughts. They were spoken for the world,
and through the Apostles they have come to us, and they have
in them the grand science of eternal life.

In the discourse, the Lord does not divide the "blessed"
up into different classes, but brings out in concrete form the
temper of mind and the great virtues of the real servant of God.
The signification of paicdpioi, blessed, as used here by the Lord
is of men who possess the real good. The human heart
naturally aspires to happiness. The whole course of humanity s
thought and endeavor is after good, either real or fancied. The
world stands before man and calls one way to the acquisition of
good ; the Lord Jesus calls in an opposite direction. Hence, in
the very opening of his discourse, he directs the aspirations of
man to the real good.

The signification of "poor" here is not merely that of men
who are not avaricious, but of men who hold the world and
creatures at their real worth ; and for whom Heaven is a reality.
There is a difference in the text in the use of the term "poor."
Matthew employs the terms inw^ol ry Trvev/jLart, the poor in
spirit, whereas Luke has only TTTW^OI. Inasmuch as we believe
that one and the same discourse is recorded by both men, we
must hold that the same idea is contained in the terms used by
both Evangelists. The Hebrew term used by Matthew may

- 4 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721

have been u"j&gt;. which the Greek translator rendered 7r7a&gt; X oi
no jrvev/jiaTi. We have only therefore to bring out the
specific force of the word "poor."

In classic Greek TTTW^O? meant a beggar, one who crouches
and appeals for alms. In later Greek, it came to mean in
^eneral a poor man. The possession of property is of itself an
indifferent tiling. There are poor men and rich men in hell;
poor men and rich men in Heaven. Therefore certainly Christ
did n&lt; &gt;t pr&lt; &gt;claim a man 1 &gt;lessed simply because he was a pauper.
On the other hand, \ve are far from believing that the Lord put
into this term the idea of humility; the term employed must
refer to the non-possession of wealth. Xow God is a spirit and
must be worshipped and served in spirit. Therefore the grand
and central idea of the term is the spirit of renunciation of the
goods of earth., which idea should be in men s minds. God
would dethrone the god of wealth from the mind of man, and
reign there himself. Therefore the spirit of renunciation is the
essence of this beatitude. It may be found in a man who
actually possesses many possessions, but it is rarely so. Money
begets the love &lt; &gt;f money, and the greed of getting fastens itself
on the possessor of property. And in no age is this truer than
in our day. It is an age &lt; .f lawless independence of thought, ot
confidence in material things, of love of mere sensuous beauty,
of aversion to pain and self-denial, of belief in physical means
to remedy the world, without the forgiveness of sins and the
regenerating grace of God. As these agencies especially &lt; &gt;perate
in the actual possessor of wealth, the Lord, in a certain measure,
identifies the actually poor man with the man poor in spirit.
In all the beatitudes, there is a strong contrast between the
actual state of man and its future reward. So here to those who
have no possessions here on earth is promised the greatest of
possessions, the kingdom of Heaven. Now it is well to get an
exact idea of the state of man which Christ here beatifies, and
then tend towards it with the soul s best energy. It is natural
to man to wish to possess something, to attach something to
himself that he can call his own. That tendency shapes his
life. If he constitute the object of that natural tendency in
money and what money represents, he ranges himself in the

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721 75

opposite class to those mentioned in the first beatitude. No
matter if he actually possess nothing, his mind is taken from
God and the things of Heaven, and given to creatures, which he
desires to have, and as far as God is concerned, he is with the
rich. Of course, the actual possession of that which he craves
would confirm him in his love of creatures, and bind him farther
still away from God.

But if a man directs that natural tendency and wish to
possess something to the acquisition of the inheritance of
Heaven ; if he considers goods and possessions of earth as
transitory things, to be prudently used in accomplishing the
deeds of virtue ; if he esteems himself to be worth what he is
worth before God ; if he esteems the attachment to wealth a
fetter to the feet of the Heavenly pilgrim; if he considers
human life an exodus through a country that is not his, and in
which he builds no permanent habitation, but only tents for
rest in the way ; if his face is towards the Land of Promise, and
his eyes fixed upon that city which is from above, then is he
in the class here beatified by Christ, even though he possess
wealth. But in the great majority of cases, if he possesses
wealth, he will not be of that temper of mind just described.
Wealth creates wide-spreading interests, and the soul that is
taken up with these issues ordinarily does not give to God that
portion of human life which is God s due. Possessions are mere
accoutrements, and the tendency of wealth is to identify the
accoutrements with the man. Man leaves the accoutrements
at the grave, "there are no pockets in shrouds" and God
receives only the man freed from these appendages, and often a
very poor man from out of rich accoutrements. You can not
thrust gold into God s hands. This beatitude does not conflict
with thrift and industry, and honest traffic. To labor and save,
to provide a respectable position in society for one s self and
dependents, is a virtue, and compatible with this beatitude,
provided the goods of earth be held in their true worth. But it
is more perfect, like St. Francis, to renounce all possessions, and
live in perfect detachment from creatures. That is the highest
perfection of the beatitude ; clown from that extend the degrees
of the virtue until we come to the man who begins to settle
down in the things of earth. There the line of demarcation

7 6 MATT. V. i 10; LTKK VI. 1721

begins, and continues down to the man who clutches his bonds
and bills, and pressing them to his lips says: "These are my
god." Neither would the well-being of society be endangered,
if all men became as St. Francis. The creation of fancied needs
would be taken away, and the earth would give all her children
food and raiment.

It is harder to be poor n&lt; &gt;w than in former times; the
contrast is greater. The wild wish of all to stand on the same
plane engenders a disc&lt; &gt;ntent unkin &gt;wn in the earlier ages of the
world. Man s lite on earth is e\vr and ever brought into more
prominence, with a resulting adverse reaction on the life of the
spirit. As material comforts multiply, and money s power is
increased, man fastens himself more than ever to the passing
things; "the better tilings" appease not this growing hunger of
the human heart. The love of God, and the eternity of life are
not half as real to such as "that money will buy money s worth,
and that pleasure is pleasant"; and the gospel of Mammon
operates against the (iospel of Christ; and fools are lured to
death by the glitter of gold. Other ages may have had more
corruption than ours, but there never was an age colder
and more selfish; there never was an age in which there was
so much reflected in man s life the error that man s life begins
and ends here. The mind of man has been active from the
beginning in making this world a comfortable place to live
in; he has succeeded, and now it is hard to quit it all, and go.

Christ addresses these beatitudes to his disciples in the
vocative case, because he took them as living representatives of
the doctrine he taught, and they had even then left all things
and followed him.

The second beatitude in the fifth verse of St. Matthew s
text corresponds to the second part of verse twenty-one in the
text of Luke. The world calls happy those who have its goods,
who enjoy its joys, who are free from its pains. It is the hap
piness which the eye of the world sees, and approves, because it
looks n&lt; &gt;t 1 ey&lt; &gt;nd the present life. But that worldly enjoyment
is subversive of the reign of Christ in a man. When a man
possesses much of the world in any form, the world is very apt
to possess a corresponding part of the man; and God is ex
cluded. Success, power, riches, pleasure are the prices paid by

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 77

the world for the souls of men. Wolsey turned to God only
when he fell ; Napoleon forgot God at Austerlitz ; he came back
to God at St. Helena. Worldly joy dulls the spiritual sense in
man, and fastens him to the earth. God has established but
one way to the perfection of life, and that is by conformity to
the life of Christ, and Christ was a man of sorrows. Those who
are borne on by the current of worldly pleasure live on the out
side of their lives ; they live only in the passing moment, and
forget God. But the man of God must be a man of thought,
must be a man who is ever striving to do his share of life. And
such a man must mourn. He must mourn that he is a mem
ber of a fallen race, which can only be redeemed by suffering;
he must mourn that the land has been accursed for sin, and that
the thought of man is prone to evil from his youth ; he must
mourn that he is an exile in a land of sin, where the clamor of
sin ascends daily before God ; he must mourn in thought of the
price of redemption paid by Jesus to redeem him; he must
mourn at the state of man invaded by temptation and the
consequences of sin ; he must mourn for his offences against God,
for man s ingratitude; in a word, a man filled with the right
thoughts of Heaven must mourn that he is still a creature of
earth, and that he can only reach a better state through death,
whose thought is always bitter. But this mourning is by no
means melancholy and low-spiritedness. It is simply that
religious soberness of mind which places in just proportions
what man s life is, and what it is to be. This religious
mourning must not be confounded with that earthly grief over
the loss of some earthly good, or the non -possession of some
worldly possessions. The mourning of the beatitude is that of
the Blessed Virgin, from her close association with her divine
Son; it is the grief of St. Paul in his lonely voyages for the
cause of Christ, in his prison, and his grief for his people; it is
that of the saints who hid their lives with the Redeemer and
lived his life. This religious sorrow is lit up by the divine
sustaining hope, and thus there is mingled with it a happiness
truer and better than any creature can give. The saints of
God are always cheerful and happy, but their joy is centered in
a good not yet attained ; and this very looking forward to the
object of their lives engenders a certain sad realization of the

;S MATT. V. i 10; LUKK VI. 1721

sorrows of their present lot. \Ve judge also that there are
included in this elass those chosen souls whom Go d has tried by
affliction and pain in this world, and who have borne it with
calm resignation.

In the biographies of the elect of God sorrow and affliction
have always played a large part. In fact, the Lord has mapped
out such, a life for his elect. The woman in the Apocalypse,
being with child, cried travailing in birth; and in pain to be
delivered. Thus in affliction does the Church beget her children.
To all such is promised a consolation which surpasseth all
knf &gt;wledge. The perfect fulfilment of this promise is in Heaven,
as it is stated in the Apocalypse XXI. 4 : "And God shall wipe
away every tear from their eves; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain : for the former things are passed away." And Isaiah
saith: "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort
you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." But this perfect
fulfilment in Heaven does not prevent a certain participation
of the divine comforting even in this life. And in the first
place the sustaining and comforting grace of God is always
available. The source of sorrow may be allowed to endure, but
this consolation of grace so fortifies the mind that it can rejoice
as Paul rejoice i in many tribulations. \Ve might truthfully
say that the certain hope of the inheritance in the kingdom of
Heaven is the earthly phase of the consolation here promised;
the fruition of that highest good is the consummation of that
consolation in Heaven. When, therefore in prophecy, Christ
is predicted as a consoler, it is to be understood that the present
consolation consists in his promises, which he will fulfill in
Heaven. Mary, the Mother of God, mourned when she stood
beneath the cross: a sword pierced heart. She is comforted
now by the- eternal presence of God to whom she is closest of
all creatures.

Of course, this best gift can only be perceived by those,
who have the kingdom of Heaven within them.

At times also the Providence of God, acting in conformity
with his high wisdom, consoles even by taking away the causes
of human sorrow, but this is not the main thought. There is

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21. 79

nothing on earth of such worth that it could justify these
solemn words of Christ.

In Matthew s list the third beatitude has regard to the
meek, the -rrpads. This term seems to correspond to the
D^ljy of the Hebrew. This word always conveys the idea of

affliction, trial and oppression, and of a gentle, meek toleration
of these evils. From the nature of human life, the man who
would be meek and gentle, must practice non-resistance to evil.
In the clash of interests, and the strife for the goods of earth,
the rights will be invaded of the one who will not contend to
repel by similar means the encroachments of greed ; and hence
the word rightly includes in its sense the meaning of meek
long-suffering of evil.

As a nation we are not characterized by this virtue. We
are all more or less influenced by the drift of popular thought,
which holds that it is characteristic of a noble, brave soul to
revenge every offense and repel every adversary. This is the
code of the world, especially of our world. An American is
born with the idea that he holds no dependence on God or man.
Here also is the code of Christ opposed to that of the world.
Meekness opposes to the "whips and scorns of time, the
oppressor s wrong, the proud man s contumely," gentleness and
patience. But meekness is of still grander import. It fortifies
the mind, even in prosperity, to gentle forbearance; to the
pardoning of personal insults ; to the mild, courteous exercise of
power; to tender condescension to those of inferior station.
And even in afflictions that come not from our fellow mortals
but from the higher powers it bends the heart to patience, and
to cheerful resignation. It moves men to endure the difficult
qualities of soul in those of different temperament and tastes.
It enables a man to bear a wrong patiently; to endure to be
misunderstood and undervalued ; it expels the cruel thought of
revenge from the soul, and breaks down the barriers which
hinder the entrance of the Spirit of God in the soul.

These virtues are not found alone. We can not find a man
possessing in an eminent degree one of these beatific virtues,
but devoid of the others. They are allied and interwoven, so
that one merges into another; in fact, they are but different
manifestations of the one grand virtue of godliness.

8o MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21

We may gather from clear passages of Scripture the
importance \vhich God gives to the virtue of meekness. In
Ps. XXV. 9, [Vulg. XXIV.] the Lord promises a special
providence to the meek : "The meek will he guide in judgment :
and the meek will he teach his way." Again in Ps. LXXVI. 9,
[Vulg. LXXV.], it is declared that "God will arise in judgment
to save all the meek in the land." In Ps. CXLVII. 6, [Vulg.
CXLVI.]: "The Lord lifteth up the meek; he casteth the
wicked down to the ground." Psalm CXLIX. 4 declares "that
the Lord will exalt the meek unto Salvation." In Ps. XXXVII.
1 1 [Vulg. XXXVI.] it is declared, "that the meek shall inherit
the earth, and shall delight in the abundance of peace." In
Ps. XXII. 20, it is said: "The meek shall eat, and be
satisfied." Isaiah XL 4, thus proclaims the special regard
that the Redeemer hath for the meek: "But with righteous
ness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the
meek of the earth," etc. And according to Zephaniah s
prophecy, IX. 9, "the Lord came to Sion, meek and riding
upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

By meekness a man says to God : "I am weak and poor,
do thou answer for me." It is a true cry, and it enlists the
power of God in our behalf. All the promises of the New Law
find their adequate fulfilment in Heaven. So here the land
that is promised to the meek is not any temporal possession, but
the richness of the inheritance of Christ. In the Old Law
virtue was encouraged by temporal concessions from God, and
in that economy the land promised was Palestine. But this
was only a type of the better promises made to us by Christ;
and in that perfect code, all things tend towards Heaven for
their perfect fulfilment. But this permits also that the arm of
the Lord should be extended at times to help the meek even in
this life. God does never give his best gifts to his saints in
this life; but, at times, when his wisdom judges it opportune,
he stretches forth his hand even to those of the Church militant,
but the fulness of the promise is an inheritance in the abiding
city of Christ. The opposition between the ways of God and
the ways of the world is observable also in this beatitude.
The worldling is forever contending lest some one will violate
his rights, and take from him that which he claims as his own ;

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721 81

he contends with others, and strives to exclude them from some
coveted possession. The meek man does none of these, but
suffers patiently even the invasion of his rights, and clamors
not when by unjust methods he is excluded from place or
possession. In a worldly sense it would seem that he was
losing all ; but God is there, and will give him back for the
things which in meekness he renounced, a rich inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ. The endeavor to acquire this virtue
will bring with it the other virtues. In one detail of life the
specific exercise of one virtue will be called for; in another
detail, the exercise of another; the aspiration of man should
embrace them all ; so that when his summons comes, he may
stand before his God vested in all these virtues, one of the
noblest works of God . Appropriate to this theme are the words
of St. Chromatius: "Man can not be meek, unless he first
become poor in spirit. Out of riches and worldly cares arise
lawsuits, quarrels, contentions, hatred, bitterness without end;
and amid these, how can the mind be meek and gentle, except
it cut off by renunciation the causes of anger and strife? The
sea becomes not calm, unless the winds cease; a fire cannot be
extinguised that is fed with inflammable material ; thus the
mind will not become meek and peaceful, unless those things
which disturb it are cut off. Well therefore does the Lord join
state to state ; for the poor in Spirit thence begin to be meek."

The fourth beatitude in the sixth verse of Matthew
seems to correspond to the first sentence of the twenty-
first verse of Luke. The Lord was not certainly speaking of
mere natural hunger in Luke, but of that hunger which has a
religious basis. Now if we give a religious motive to the words
of St. Luke they become of like import to those of St. Matthew.
Hence as Matthew has the fuller expression of the truth, we
shall fix our minds on the exposition of his words.

One of the mightiest propensities ot man is the desire for
food and drink. As these are necessary for the conservation of
the individual, nature proclaims her need by a powerful
impelling force, which in its different manifestations is the
strongest incentive to human action. Here this natural
propensity is used in . a metaphorical sense to denote the
intensity of man s longing for that disposition of soul that

(6) Gosp. II.

82 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21

makes man a friend of God, and gives him a right to an in
heritance with Christ. The object of the hunger and thirst
here can in nowise be natural bread and drink, as Maldonatus
has led many to believe. The Greek construction makes the
btKaiocrvvi] the direct object of TreLvwv-res and L^WVT&. Hence
the thing meant by Sucatoo-vvi) must be the object of the
hungering and the thirsting. Xo\v SiKaiocrvvri in Scriptural use,
means the state of righteousness. It means the possession of
the qualities which God demands in the soul of man. Hence it
signifies that faith, hope and charity be lodged deep in the
breast, that the man be free from mortal sin, and in a state of
grace. As the soul of man becomes purified and informed by
the grace of God, a great longing springs up in the soul to
possess supernatural wealth. The things of earth reveal
themselves to such a soul in their true littleness. The divine
within man will not be satisfied with such husks. It longs to
be something truly good and great; and to possess something
that is really good. That which is really good is righteousness
here, and the vision of God hereafter; hence there arises that
hunger which Christ here beatifies. By development, this
can come to absorb all the energies of a man s being; and then
a man will say with Paul: "I live now, not I, but Christ
livcth in me." This supernatural hunger is not in those
men who aim at doing only what is necessary; and who try
to find out how little will be enough; who thirst not for the
living God, but for the prizes of this life; and who are scanty
in supernatural acts. Hut it is of those who feed on the
thought of the Lord and his reward ; who see him in all things;
and amid the cares, interests, and pursuits of this life, reserve
the best part of their hearts for him, as a sanctuary where the
profane world has never entered. The hunger and thirst
after righteousness is not different from the hunger and thirst
after the fruition of God, for they both proceed from one
motive, viz., the love of God, drawing the desires of men away
from baser things, and fixing them on the real good. Such a
mighty yearning was in the heart of the Psalmist, when he
cried: "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when
shall I come and appear before my God? "- Ps. XLII. 2. And
" O God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thec : my

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 83

soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land, where no water is .... My soul folio weth hard
after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. " Ps. LXIII.

The various events of such a man s life are weighed and
ordered only in their relation to the supernatural life. At least ,
that is the perfect state of such a life, and the lower degrees arc
ranged in the measure that they approach that grand ideal.
The human heart fashioned by its Creator must have in it
aspirations which rise above the things of earth. In the man
beatified in this class, all these aspirations are developed
and fixed on their proper object ; they form a grand purpose
of life, an incentive to action. This begets an interest in one s
real destiny; the man feels that he is called to be something,
and to do something. The taste of this food is sweet, it
sharpens the hunger ; and thus the supernatural hunger grows ;
the taste for baser food is dulled; we feel that we possess
something of immense value; we wish more of it; we are
willing to do hard things to come a little closer. With every
degree of progress, the hunger for this grand perfection of
our being grows. And therefore say the Scriptures of God;
"They that eat me shall yet hunger: and they that drink me
shall yet thirst. " Eccli. XXIV. 29.

The man hungering for righteousness is in strong contrast
to the ordinary man of the world of our day. Even for the
believer, in these days, Heaven is somewhat of an abstraction.
Every day the w r orld moves farther aw r ay from the supernatural.
Society is but faintly sensible of the great truth, that man has
but one duty in this life, that is to prepare for eternity. The
positive effort of life is given to securing wordly advantage;
religion often receives merely a negative part in our thoughts
and deeds. When our hearts are not in our work, and we are
but carried on with the stream of the world, continuing in the
Church because we find ourselves there, observing religious
ordinances simply because we are used to them, we are not
hungering and thirsting after righteousness. But the man who
is hungering and thirsting after righteousness is moved to
positive deeds, not spasmodically, but daily. His religion is
not of routine, but an abiding personal religion, which regulates
his thoughts, words, and deeds, according to the law of God.

4 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721

And those chosen souls, who keep themselves from the lusts of
the world, who live in the perpetual realization and desire of
the great life of man, when they are met by some great
temptation to overcome, or something hard to do, they have
a source of energy from which to draw.

The road which leads to life everlasting is, in the main, a
difficult one. To continue persistently therein, one needs a
strong and earnest desire to attain that state into which the
road leads. If that desire be a mere matter of routine, one will
be easily diverted from the straight and narrow path by
sensible goods scattered along its borders. A man, moving
along in the Christian way, without this intensity of desire, will
do the easy things of religion well enough, but will fail when
confronted with the greater temptations, or when called to
perform some act that entails a sacrifice. Wherefore the Lord
judged it wise to set right this fundamental desire; for
"unumquemque trah.it sua cupido. " Actual hunger of the
body will often come into the lives of those who are hungering
and thirsting after righteousness. First, there will be the
voluntary hunger and thirst of those who chastise their bodies
and bring them into subjection by abstinence from that which
the belly craves. Then there will be the hunger which follows
as a natural consequence upon the renunciation of worldly
goods. And to all these it is promised that they shall be filled.
The actual possession of the sn;!niu hcintm will content the
eternal longings of tin- human soul made in the image and
likeness of God, and then will be fulfilled that which is written :
"They shall be filled with the fatness of thy house; and thou
shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure " Ps
XXXVI. 8.

The fifth beatitude in the seventh verse of Matthew
corresponds to the thirty-sixth verse of the VI. Chapter of
Luke. The quality of mercy grows out of the love of the
neighbor; it is, in fact, but a special manifestation of love. It
is a tender, compassionate movement of the heart, in which the
actual or impending suffering of our fellow being is taken into
the heart, and made a motive of forgiveness or benevolence.

Mercy has always been regarded as one of the grandest
attributes of man. This attribute is manifested in two special

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 85

ways. First it moves a man to forgiveness of injuries and
offenses, when the power is given him to exact punishment for
them. No man can be God-like without being merciful, for
mercy is above all the other attributes of God. " And the Lord
passed by before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord
God, merciful, and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin. " Exod. XXXIV. 6, 7.
" But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness. "- Nehem. IX. 17.
" For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to
anger and of great kindness. " Jonah IV. 2. "And David
said unto God, 1 am in a great strait : Let me fall now into the
hand of the Lord, for very great are his mercies." I. Chron.
XXI. 13. " Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may
live, for thy law is my delight. " Ps. CXIX. 77. "The Lord
is gracious, and full of compassion ; slow to anger, and of great
mercy. The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are
over all his works. "Ps. CXLV. 8, 9. "It is of the Lord s
mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions
fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy
faithfulness. " Lamentations III. 22. "O give thanks unto
the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. "-
I. Chron. XVI. 34. The chief theme of the Psalms is the
multitude of the mercies of the Lord. "All the ways of the
Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep his covenant and
his testimonies. "- - Ps. XXV. 10. "For thy mercy is great
even unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. " Ps.
LVII. 10. "For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and
thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. " Ps. CVIII. 4. Every
one of the tw r enty-six verses of the one hundred and thirty-sixth
psalm closes with the declaration : " for his mercy endureth
forever." Again the Psalmist declares: " I will sing of the
mercies of the Lord forever. " Ps. LXXXIX. i.

The Psalmist has exhausted the power of language to extol
the mercies of the Lord. He has made them higher than the
heavens, and as enduring as eternity.

Now the perfection of man is in becoming like his Creator.
He was made in God s likeness, and bidden become perfect,

86 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 1721

even as God is perfect. We have seen what place mercy lias
among the attributes of God ; let it have a corresponding place
among man s qualities of soul.

The second manifestation of mercy is in relieving suffering.
God wishes all humanity to IK? bound together by bonds of love
and brotherhood. Xo\v this is impossible, unless man is moved
to compassionate and relieve human suffering. It is onlv a
narrow, selfish heart that can look on unmoved at the sad
spectacle of human misery and distress. The truly Christian
heart is always a large heart, a heart of large sympathies. If
we could place a goodly number of such men throughout the
world in the different place s of human life, the whole life of
man would be bettered and raised. For one strong good man
exerts his influence upon those of a considerable radius about
him.

A powerful inducement m be merciful is laid down in the
beatitude. A proportion is proclaimed between our dealings
with our fellow mortals, and God s dealings with us: the
merciful shall obtain mercy. Nowhere is this proportion more
:oreibly enunciated than by St. James, II. 13: "For judg
ment without mercy to him that hath not shown mercy; and
mercy exalteth itself above judgment. " It is plainly there said
that God will deal with man after the manner in which man
has dealt with his fellow man. Even more, the second member
says that the mercy that a man shall have done in life will
enter in, and turn away the judgment of God due for other
transgress:. &gt;ns. And yet the judgment of God remains true, for
the worth of mercy is so great before God that it turns away his
indignation; it draws down his richest graces; and finally, in
the marvellous ways of God s dealing with the soul, it succeeds
in actually triumphing over the judgments of God. Let,
therefore, the man who shuts up his heart from his suffering
brother, and looks on unmoved at the sorrows of man,
remember, thus shall the Lord deal with him in that dread day,
when we shall all need mercy. In many ways is this grand
precept broken. It is broken by every hard and selfish thought
that harbors in the heart of man. It is broken whenever
human misery is made the means of personal advantage or
gratification of revenge. It is broken when we fail to do what

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 87

is in our power to relieve the wide-spread suffering in our land.
And this relief should tend to relieve both the moral and
physical ills of mankind. It is broken by him who, in
remembrance of an offense, hardens his heart against a man in
need ; it is broken by the man who squeezes his large percentage
of profit out of half -paid operatives ; it is broken by the man
who takes the price of bread from the drunkard and his family,
and deals out therefor the drunkard s bowl. It is the lusts
of the world that choke up the avenues to mercy; for when
a man rises above the earth, and begins to breathe that purer,
spiritual atmosphere, there come into his heart softenings from
Heaven, and his heart expands to receive God, and to pity
humanity for the love of God. Of course, it needs not be said
that the proportion between the mercy which God will show
and the mercy which man shows, is the proportion of analogy.
As God s nature is above that of man, and God s power above
the power of man, so will God s retribution be above the
comprehension of man. Neither is that blessed retribution
restricted to the future life of man ; it is participated even here
in rich graces, visible and invisible benefits, and God s
comforting love, even in this life, A man should make the
practical resolve from these considerations to show mercy in
large degree to every man ; to grow in mercy, and to make his
life serviceable to others.

The sixth beatitude in the eighth verse of Matthew has no |
explicit parallel in Luke. Men differ in explaining the sense ,
of these words. Schegg and others interpret them of the
specific virtue of chastity. St. Augustine, Bede, Rhabanus
Maurus, Chrysostom, Menocchi, Lamy, Schanz and Maldonatus
understand by the cleanness of heart, the simplicity of heart of
those who are innocent and guileless. But by far the greater
number of authorities interpret the words of the generic virtue
of freedom from grievous sin. This is the opinion adopted by
all the Fathers and writers, except the few cited for the
aforesaid opinions; and, indeed, it is practically certain. All
sin is a defilement, a staining of the heart. The affection for
sin defiles and renders foul the desires. It was a defect of
Pharisaic teaching to limit all religion to outer religion. Now
the religion of Christ is pre-eminently an inner religion. This

88 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17

-21

religion calls for the cleaning out from the heart of man of
every species of pollution. This is based on .Christ s clear
teaching. " But those things which proceed out of the mouth
come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out
of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the
things which defile a man." -Matt. XV. 18 20. Rut to sav
that a man is clean of heart, says more than that merely
these crimes are not in his life. It says that they are not in
his affections; that his mind has a horror of them; that it
shrinks away fn &gt;m any approach to them. It says that a man s
heart is right before God; that his thoughts are upon things
pleasing to God; that his desires are upright and honorable.
Christ is commending here that inner love of everything pure
and good which refines the heart; which causes it to loathe
moral defilement ; so that. not only is sin shunned for fear of the
punishment, but because it conflicts with the refined spiritual
tastes of the heart. To these is premised the vision of God.
As in the other beatitudes, so here this fulfilment is perfected
in Heaven, but yet it finds a partial verification here. As we
are pleased to be in the society of people of refined and virtuous
thoughts, so the Creator draws near to those pure souls who
keep themselves unspotted from the world. He makes his
presence known not by sensible vision, but by subtle, wondrous
revelations t&lt;&gt; the soul. \Ve know by that mysterious inner
consciousness that he is near, and that we are in his love. By
this cleanness of heart, the spiritual perception of the soul is
fortified ; it can not unlock the mysteries, but it sees enough of
God s ways to draw it to have faith in him. and to love him.
In tact, there is a direct proportion between the cleanness of
heart and the spiritual understanding of the soul. The greater
the cleanness of the heart, the more penetrating the vision, both
in this life and in the life to come. Kvery moral defilement is a
disease weakening the powers of the soul. Now the soul that
is gross and carnal in its thoughts and desires is especially
weakened in its spiritual vision, so that in the words of Paul:
"The animal man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God ;
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them
because they are spiritually discerned. " I. Cor. II. Hence it

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 89

was the intention of Christ to proclaim the affinity that exists
between clean, refined hearts and the pure essence of God.
That quality of their being binds them nearer to God in this
life and in eternity. That quality raises man in the scale of
being; it removes him farther from the life of the brute, and
closer to the life of the angel; and insures to him a closer
personal society of God. When a man, therefore, feels that
God has receded from him, and that his hold on the
supernatural is slipping away from him, it is vain to appeal to
the mere power of intellect to find God again. Let man purify
his heart, and God will come back to him, and bring with him
faith, hope, and love. And again, it is vain for a man who is
seeking Christ to expect to bring himself by the mere force of
intellect into the true fold. If man would set about and purge
his heart from all uncleanness ; and then humble himself, and
ask for faith, the Father would draw him to Christ.

God loves peace. One of the chief characteristics of the
kingdom of the Messiah is peace. Whatever violates peace
violates the order of the universe. The harmony of all things
with each other, and of the whole with God is peace. The state
of Heaven is peace; the state of hell is eternal discord and
chaotic disorder. Now the state of Heaven is always in some
degree reflected in the lives of the truly good ; hence does the
Saviour commend the peacemakers. In many places in Holy
Scripture, God is called the God of Peace. Peace is the
normal condition of God and of all his creatures. When
peace is banished from anything, it is in a state of fever. Its
faculties are impaired, and it can not give that glory to God
that was intended in its creation. The preservation of a state
so essential to the well-being of all things, is an important
factor in God s Providence over the universe. Thus saith
Paul: "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,
as in all the churches of the saints." I. Cor. XIV. 33. God is
the author of peace, and those who move with him will be
authors of peace. They will carry out on earth the designs of
God. This unanimity of purpose and action will produce a
likeness of nature, so that they shall merit to be called like to
God, the sons of God. For as God operates to preserve peace in

QO MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21

the universe, so they in their several spheres restore and pre
serve peace. All the elect are the sons of God, and it is not
the intention of the writer to classify by themselves the
peacemakers, but to represent vividly the excellence of the
virtue by placing after it that particular phase of the state
of the elect to which peacemaking corresponds in nature.

The (ireek term is not eipijvitcoi, but eipjjvLTroioi, the
peacemakers. Therefore it imports more than mere existence
in a peaceful state; although that is good, and included. But
the term means an active endeavor to put down discord and
contentions, and reduce all tilings to peace. On a clear serene
day, we can see a great way up into Heaven s blue, but when
the sky is overcast, and the storm rages, and the elements are
in contention, that clearer view of Heaven is shut out. So it is
in the soul of man, peace keeps down all tumult, that man may
hear the voice of God ; peace clears the moral atmosphere, that
the vision of the eye may stretch upward to God. Strife
undoes it all, and shuts out the influence of Heaven from man s
life. This peace is not to be- confounded with apathy, and
moral stagnate &gt;n. It is a peace that is at the same time active ;
that takes a keen interest in everything that affects the better
life of man; it is a peace that is tranquil in believing, because
it has come at certainty through the grace of God and the
obedience of faith. It is a peace like to the peace of the Son of
God, intense in action, but gentle, unobtrusive. Great effects
are not produced by noise and contention. The action of
God should be the norm of all action, and God moves all
things in peace.

X&lt; iw G&lt; id desires peace in every department of human life ;
peace in the home, peace in society, peace in the Church, peace
in the State. Every man is invited to pr&lt; &gt;mote that peace in a
degree commensurate with the place which he fills in the world.
But it is especially in the domestic and social relations of man
that the blessing &lt;&gt;f peacemaking is intended here by the Lord.
"An even, unvaried life is the lot of most men, made up of
commonplace events, commonplace interests, and we are apt to
despise it, and get tired of it, and to long to see the world."
We think such a life affords no great opportunity for bringing
out the grand ideals of Christ. "To rise up, and go through

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 91

the same duties, and then to rest again, day after day, to pass
week after week, beginning with mass on Sunday, and then to
our worldly tasks, so to continue till year follows year, and
we gradually get old, an unvaried life like this is apt to seem
unprofitable to us, when we dwell upon the thought of it.
Many indeed there are who do not think at all ; but live in their
round of employments, in the dull routine of their circumscribed
lives, without care about God and religion, driven on by the
natural course of things in a dull irrational way like the beasts
that perish. " But the man who feels that he has a soul, and a
work to do, and a reward to be gained, greater or less, according
as he improves the talents committed to him, then he is
naturally moved to be anxious to do something unusual, and he
asks: What must I do to please God? " Sometimes he is
led to think he ought to be useful on a large scale, and goes out
of his line of life, that he may be doing something worth doing,
as he considers it. The life of the Blessed Virgin, and the lives
of the Saints assure us that we need not give up our usual
manner of life in order to serve God ; that the most humble
and quietest station is acceptable to Him, if improved daily,
nay, affords means for maturing the highest Christian
character. "

Now indeed there is danger that the uneventfulness of life,
and the monotone of life may engender spiritual insensibility.
Men s souls are influenced by that which exists around them,
and full often w ? e find that men s souls have become like their
environment, dull and small. This, of course, comes from
looking at the world with worldly eyes, and from a lack of
soul -culture. The way to change it is not to take the man out
of his way of life, but to bring into his soul the true idea of the
truly good and great things of life. The true greatness of
human life is not the magnitude of worldly achievement;
indeed that is in reality a mere bauble, deceptive and worthless.
The true greatness of human life does not consist in the depth
and range of intellectual perceptions; for what is all the
knowledge of all men compared to the knowledge of God?
But the greatness of human life consists in the bringing of
Heaven into the life of man; it consists in suffering and

92 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21

humilation for a moral end ; it consists in making the great
end of life tilings which the world reputes as of no worth,
reputes as the foolishness of the Cross.

This being so, it is possible for a man to make his life
sublime in the narrowest environment. God s estimate of
things is the exact reverse of the world s estimate. The things
which the world esteems great, God esteems little; and the
things which the world esteems little, God esteems great. And
God s estimate is the only true one. Thus a man working for
the world may logically complain of the narrowness of his life,
but in working for Heaven, the position in life is indifferent.
The materials for eminent sanctity are in every Christian life.
There is good to be done in every life, and God asks that man
take it up and do it.

So the man who would long to enroll himself among the
Lord s peacemakers needs not go outside his line of life. Let
him preserve peace in his home; and, amid the thousand
natural shocks that domestic life is subject to, let him by
counsel and command, by deed and noble example, promote
peace. This will often require strong moral courage, to bear
the asperities of the various members of the household. God
does not exact of us that we effect the disarmament of Europe,
but he does ask of us, that we establish the peace of God in the
circle of our daily lives.

Xow the great disturbers of domestic peace are stiffness in
maintaining our own opinion, selfish attention to our wants and
comforts, obstinacy in following our own will, and lack of
fortitude to bear trials with patience. It is nobler in the mind
to suffer with equanimity the troubles of ordinary life than to
rush to death in battle. Such evenness of temper shows a soul
that is in possession of itself, and having the right appreciation
of virtue. The peacemaker will not only preserve peace amid
the asperities of life, but he will promote it in others. People
often quarrel, and become divided by misunderstanding.
Something happens, is misconstrued, and both parties feel
indignant. This indignation prevents them from coming
together to obtain a right understanding of the matter. The
paths of their lives diverge. It is easy thereafter for each to see
the other s actions in their worst light. And thus the breach

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 93

widens, and the bond of perfection is sadly broken. Now if the
peacemaker comes upon the scene, with a wise counsel and
prudent appeal to the better elements of both, he is able to take
away the error, and bring back these lives again into harmony.
There is much potentiality for good in man that continually
goes to waste for the lack of some kind counselor to bring it

into act.

Again, there is merit before God for the peaceful
disposition of the heart, even though occasion were wanting
for it to manifest itself in outward action. Man judges of the
properties of things from the nature of the actions which come
under the observation of human faculties. One judges of man s
heart from his external actions ; man can not read the heart
itself. But with God it is otherwise. God weighs in their just
value the dispositions of the heart ; he knows the potential good
in us, and the potential evil; he knows our fortitude in
standing fast in virtue, even before we are tried ; and he knows
our weakness, even while we are in a present state of virtue.
And so it is with the virtue of peacemaking. If the whole
interior man is in a state of peace with man and with nature,
this is the fulfilment of the beatitude, even though no great
occasion present itself for calling forth this quality of soul.

And again, in the ordinary neighborly intercourse of man
with man, the peacemaker has a fruitful field. Much of the
evil of human society is caused by the litigious spirit in man.
This is especially true in Americans. We are over-jealous of
our personal rights and liberties. Often is it verified that the
real motive in a litis-contestation is simply the gratification of
a vindicated right. If the litigants were asked for an opinion
on the excellence of the beatitudes, they would readily assent to
the beautiful doctrine, but the truth is assented to without
making any due impression on the heart. What society needs
is not more courts and lawyers, but more peacemakers.

As we study the great ethical code of these beatitudes, and
then look out upon the world, and see such a faint reflection of
it in the ordinary life of man, we might be tempted to think
that the message of the Lord had been too sublime for man, and
had failed by having contemplated an ideal man, and not man
as he is. This would be to mistake the scope of the Gospel.

94 MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21

Christ never promised to reform the world as the \vorld. He
offered to reform man by taking him out of the world. For
this cause Paul saith : "For our citizenship (7ro\irev/j.a} is in
Heaven; from whence we look also for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ." Phil. III. 20. It is vain therefore to look for
the grand ideal of Christ in the man of the world. Look for
him in those chosen souls who keep aloof from the spirit of the
world. These souls will never constitute the great bulk of
mankind. It is a mystery that the spirit of the world has the
main , and God has the few.

Carlyle called it a tragedy that one man should (He
ignorant, who had capacity for knowledge. Is it not a greater
tragedy that a man having capacity for God and immortal life
should he like a beast, sleeping the sleep of the world, and
while the "body stands so broad, and brawny, the soul should
lie blinded, dwarfed, stupefied, almost annihilated "

Of course, these beatitudes have their degrees. In some
degree they must be found in every soul that shall see salvation ;
in their fullest degree they are found only in a few grander
spirits, who follow Christ more closely, and who continually
look upward, and discern their celestial home

Man should be ever conscious that within him is a
Promethus bound, struggling to be free. The divine in man
is hemmed in, and fettered by this solid flesh of ours. "For
the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly
habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many
things." Wisdom. IX. 15. And the result is that many men
"live as though man were but a patent digester; and the belly
with its adjuncts were the grand reality." In such men, we
find not the fulfilment of the ideal of the beatitudes. Let him
therefore- who aspires to bring into his life this great teaching,
not waste his time in bootless sighing for impossible things; let
him apply the code at once to the ordinary affairs of domestic
and social life. Hast thou in thy own home by kind word and
patient yielding, and prudent counsel, stilled the tempest of
hearts, and calmed the rising passions of wrath and discord;
Thy deed is known in Heaven; thou art a peacemaker of
Christ. Hast thou come between thy contending neighbors
with kindlv offices of charitv and reconciliation Hast thou

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 95

driven out the spirit of hatred and revenge from the meanest
human bosom? Hast thou in any measure, or in any way made
men hate each other less, and love each other more &gt; Hast thou
when reviled, offended, and wronged, kept thy soul in a state of
peace, being content to commit thy cause to God who knoweth
the secrets of hearts? If thou hast done this, or if thou wilt do
this, be of good cheer; thou art enrolled in the army of Christ
under the standard of the Cross.

The opportunities of peacemaking meet us at every step
of life s journey. Every life has its storms, and needs its
peacemakers. And they to whom strength of mind, and
talents, and education have been given should use these gifts to
smooth the rough and crooked ways in the lives of those who
have received less.

A valuable office of the peacemaker may be illustrated as

follows : Some friend or acquaintance comes to us, and relates

something received from a fellow mortal which has moved him

to indignation. The nature of the thing received may be

various, calling for various treatment. In the first place, it

may be a positive certain injustice and wrong. In such case,

there is no profit in trying to convince the person that the thing

is justifiable. He knows that it is not, and whatever effect our

counsel might have upon him for the moment, the remembrance

of the wrong would surge up, and cancel it soon afterward.

The first thing therefore to do is to induce the person to a cool

review of the fact in all its bearings, being careful to show the

person that you are not eager to weaken his side of the question.

Such treatment begets confidence, and the person will reveal

all that is necessary for a true understanding of the case.

In such dispassionate review of a fact, many things will

come out, which, when explained properly, will lessen the

anger of the contestant. The next thing to consider is the

subjective state of the person; whether he will stand the

perfection of the law which is of counsel, or whether the most

to be hoped is the preservation of that which binds under

precept ; and the advice given will vary accordingly. Then we

must examine whether the state of the case, permits a recourse

to law. There are, of course, cases where the injustice is great

and plain, but circumstances make a recourse to judicial

96 MATT. V. i- 10; LUKE VI. 17 21

settlement profitless to the individual. In such cases, such
procedure is to be dissuaded ; for the gratification of the spirit
&lt; &gt;f revenge may never be made the motive of a suit in law. In
such cases, the weakness of human law will still intensify the
person s anger, and the only availing motive to calm the
distressed soul is to induce him to lay his cause before God, the
true Judge of man. It is marvellous how this thought will
temper the wild thirst for the avenging of injuries. The mind
wracked by the flaws and errors, and delays in human law can
be made to rest calmly on the knowledge that God s justice is
sure, and his judgments true. It is a maddening thought that
no one can be made t&lt;&gt; see the justice of a man s cause. To
impress on such a one that God sees the justice of it, and that
in his own time-, he will render full justice, takes away the
madness from a mind in which God holds a place. But in
a ease which calls for a process of law to render justice, it
will be the office of the peacemaker to keep the mind from
hatred and thoughts of revenge, even while justice is sought
in the courts. This will be, of course, difficult, especially
in rude minds.

A state of hatred in the mind is often due to a certain
confusion of the person of the offender with the act of offense.
The oliense is evil, and no power can make us love it; and we
are apt to look at offender and offense "sub uno respect u."
What we really should do, and move others to do, is to look
back of the offense to the person of the man bearing the image
of God in his soul, for whom Heaven was made, and Christ was
born. Hut in the great majority of cases, we shall find that the
gravity of the offense exists only in the imagination of the
offended. In these eases, we have only to show forth the true
nature of the action, moving the offended person to a benign
interpretation of all doubtful features of the same, and bringing
into strong relief the redeeming features. Of course, all must
have a basis of truth ; f&lt; &gt;r if we overdo the plea for the offender,
our whole argument will be doubted and rejected. And
throughout it all, the leading thought must be that we are not
called to love the personal qualities of man, nor man in himself
considered, but as he is a creature of God ; that is, we are called
to include him in that grand act of love that centers in God.

MATT. V. i 10; LUKE VI. 17 21 97

A frequent source of bitterness and strife among mortals is
the circulation of damaging reports. In this class of evils often
the effect produced is much greater than enters into the mind
of the one who circulates the report. As the nature of a thing
is brought into stronger relief and better known by some
examination of its opposite, so we may come at a better
knowledge of the value of peacemaking by some reflections on
the phase of trouble -making known as detraction. The
detractor is the exact opposite of the peacemaker. As the
microbes and bacilli spread disease, so the evil tongue spreads
discontent, contention, and strife in communities. God is the
author of peace, and the peacemakers are his agents; Satan is
the author of hate and strife, and the detractors are his agents.
Back and forth they operate between individuals and families,
and pour the poison of hell into hearts ; and foster the worst
passions of the human breast. Always the worst is transmitted,
and the imagination is called in to dress up the report, and
make it startling. Detraction is pre-eminently the vice of
people of low intellectual status, and its ravages are especially
prevalent in the homes of the common people.

The duty of the peacemaker regarding these reports is
manifold, yet plain. In the first place, it is his duty, when an
evil report comes to him, to work that which in him lies to
suppress it, and to endeavor to impress the detractor with the
baseness of his action in circulating the report. But it is
especially with the injured party that the office of the
peacemaker is effective. Some one comes to us and relates that
a certain person has circulated an evil report about him. The
heart is swollen with resentment and anger. Now many a one
will make answer: "Yes, I heard that, and such and such
other things that the same individual said of you. " But the
peacemaker begins softly to speak of good things which the
aforesaid individual has said of the offended party ; of certain
neighborly acts rendered ; of evidences known to himself of the
esteem in w r hich the offended party is held by the aforesaid
neighbor. Then the magnitude of the offense is reduced to its
proper dimensions, the palliating features, are brought out, the
lack of malice, and the thoughtlessness of the utterance;
perhaps also it will be possible to insist on the uncertainty of

(7) Gosp. II.

98 MATT. V. n 16; LUKK VI. 22 26

the information. But even in the case of the blackest and
most malicious detraction or calumny, there is always the
example of Christ to which to appeal to soften all offended
hearts.

Joining the tenth verse of Matthew with the preceding,
some have contended that there are here promulgated eight
beatitudes. This is the more common opinion, and is embodied
in catechetical instructions among English Catholics. Tostatus
and others limit the number to seven, chiefly because the
reward here indicated is not specifically different from that in
the first beatitude. The whole discussion is vain. The idea ot
numeratii &gt;n was certainly not in the Lord s mind. Neither was
it his purpose so to individualize these beatitudes that they
might be numbered as distinct quotations. He had not in
mind to give seven truths, or eight truths, but all truth; and
naturally these truths intertwine and merge into one another.
The numeration is a human invention to aid the mind to seize
and retain the doctrine, and we believe that the number eight
serves best for the purpose. As the doctrine of the tenth verse
of Matthew is expanded and developed in the subsequent
verses, we shall expound its sense in the exposition of the
following texts.

MATT. V. 11-16. LUKE VI. 22-26.

22. Mzxii-i! z"z, OTZV ). .-r-

//. v j.oJ. -/.ciX(.)r .v TO o voj.a j jKov &lt; ,&gt;; -ovr^o

c Vi /.X TOj V OJ TOJ iv )C(. )rOJ.

12. XX-CHT: y.z: i-;a/./. .ir ( ), 23. Xipr/:; sv s-/.s(&gt;rj "fi V, J -^?

OT; o ;j.;r ( )o: yj.O)V -o/.J-: iv TO:^ y.a: T-/. .:TT ( rzTS : i:oj yap, 6 :j.;rOo^
oJcavo-;: OJTJ,),; -;ip ;:-(,);xv TO!-; VJ.( -OAJ; iv TO ojcavfo: -/.aTa

13. Vj.l; STT: TO 2X2; TTC 24. H&gt;,T;V oCa- C;j.:v TO;: rXoj-

;f,;: siv ck TO iiXa: :j.&lt;i&gt;c:r/ )f;, =v crfo:;, OT: J.T.Z-/Z-Z rr,v zapay.Xr^tv
T-ivt iX .rOr,-STa . ; ; oJ:sv iT/js: j;x(ov.

Tt, Si (XT) ^XTjOJV c ^O) y.XTX-XTSiT Ja .
J7TO TWV iv JC(. )~(oV.

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26

14. V:j.c!c SJTS TO cpwc ToC 25. O jac J:JL:V, o: SULZC-AT^^S-

xoj;j.oj: OJ cuvaTat TTOACC y.pjcf,vac vot vjv, OTC 7: .va~T: O jal ol ye-
Izavw GCOJ^ y.ctalvr,. AoJVTcC vjv, OTC 7rv9rjjT xac xXaj-

15. OJ:3 y.aloj- .v Ajy^vov y.al

iOlajcv aJTov JTO TOV [Jtoctov, SCAA
TT! Tr ; v Xu/vfav, y.al Xi^zst Tra^cv
O:.; ev rr; oiy.ca.

1 6. O JTcoc Aa;jiOa7w TO 9(0;
jjL(Lv I jizpOjSev TCOV avGpwicwv,
TCGJI; t cwjiv L^.(ov Ta /.a A a spya y.al
ocaTtostv TOV 7:aT3a jjxov TOV sv

26. OJal OTav j;o.x^
stzw tv zavTs^ oc avOpwzot, y.aTa

7a y.j -.y. yap ST:O(OJV TO!.; Osucozpo
$r~3. .^ o: TraTlps; aJTCov.

ii. Blessed are ye when
men shall reproach you, and
persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceed
ing glad: for great is your
reward in Heaven: for so per
secuted they the prophets which
were before you.

13. Ye are the salt of the
earth: but if the salt have lost
its savor, wherewith shall it be
salted? it is thenceforth good
for nothing, but to be cast out
and trodden under foot of men

14. Ye are the light of the
world. A city set on a hill
cannot be hid.

15. Neither do men light
a lamp, and put it under the
bushel, but on the stand; and
it shineth unto all that are in
the house.

22. Blessed are ye, when
men shall hate you, and when
they shall reject you from
them, and reproach you, and
cast out your name as evil,
for the Son of man s sake.

23. Rejoice in that day, and
leap for joy: for behold your
reward is great in Heaven: for
in the same manner did their
fathers unto the prophets.

24. But woe unto you that
are rich! for ye have received
vour consolation.

25. Woe unto you, ye that
are full now! for ye shall
hunger. Woe unto you, ye
that laugh now! for ye shall
mourn and weep.

26. Woe unto you, when
all men shall speak well of
you! for in the same manner
did their fathers to the false
prophets.

ioo MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26

1 6. Even so let your light
shine before men, that they
may see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is
in Heaven.

In the eleventh verse of Matthew, p^^a is added after
-novripov in C, E, K, M, S, U, V, F, A and II. It is also found
in the Syriac versions, and is endorsed by Origen. In the
thirteenth verse of Matthew, we find the reading fi\iiBev in
$&lt;, B, C, i, 33, and in some codices of the Philoxenian Syriac.
The greater number of authorities favor the reading ft\r)6f)vai.

In the twenty-fifth verse of Luke, vvv is added after
^7T7r\7)a/j,e]&gt;oL in ^, B, L, O, R, X, A, and Z. In the
twenty-sixth verse, most of the authorities add -rraWe? before

Ol liv6p(D7TOL.

In the life of man there are two contrary forces forever in
action. Both are powerful, both have their motives, and both
have their followers. Between these forces there is an essential
enmity. The one is the spirit of the world, which makes man
a creature of the earth; shapes his life in conformity with the
ideas which regulate the life of worldings; makes him a
/vrvcmj griitii to the powerful ones of earth. The other is the
Spirit of (rod, which moves man to renunciation of earthly
goods; which moves man to despise the false philosophy, and
the false principles of the earthly man for (rod and truth.

These two spirits divide humanity into earthly men and
heavenly men ; and between these two classes there is a conflict.
The power of the earth, and the fat of the earth have always
been chiefly in the hands of the earthly class. Such things
constitute the prize that the spirit of the world gives in return
for the service of immortal souls, and many follow. This
spirit comes close to us; it is entrenched in every department
of human life; it makes use of all the show and pomp, and
pageantry. It labors in every plane of man s life to eliminate
the supernatural, and enthrone the natural. Man is by nature
a fallen being; and to follow the spirit of the world, all that he
has to do is to give up, and flow with the mighty tide of human
life. To go with the Spirit of God means renunciation and
combat; it means to do things that nobody else is doing; it

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26. 101

means to do at every step what man naturally hates to do ; it

means to cast our lot with the few, and forego comfort and ease,

and to make our future mode of being, of which we know so

little, more real than this sensible warm life which we love.

Hence it is verified that the many and the powerful are arrayed

on the side of the spirit of the world, and these have always

persecuted those who followed not the world s mode of thinking

and the world s mode of doing. This has been the history of

man from the beginning. The impious Cain slew the pious

Abel. Abraham was compelled to go out from his own people

and from his own possessions in order to serve God. The

unfaithful Ishmael harassed Isaac ; the impious Esau hated

and sought to kill Jacob. The brethren of Joseph conspired

against his life. Pharaoh and his hosts oppressed Israel; the

Israelites themselves turned against Moses ; Saul sought the life

of David. The persecution of the early prophets maybe learned

from the soliloquy of Eliah : "And he said: I have been very

zealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of

Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars,

and slain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am

left, and they seek my life to take it away." I. [III]. Kings,

XIX. 14. It was no light persecution that drew from the man

of God such a bitter plaint. The prophet Micah prophesied

the truth to the impious Ahab, and was therefore smitten in

the face, and cast into prison, sorely afflicted and reserved for

death. Jeremiah prophesied the truth to the princes of Israel,

and because he would not fill them with false, vain hopes, they

smote him, and cast him into prison. They sought power

from the King to kill him: "Then they took Jeremiah and

cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech,

that was in the court of the prison : and they let down

Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water,

but mire; so Jeremiah sank in the mire." Jer. XXXVIII. 6.

It is a well founded tradition with Jews and early Fathers

that Jeremiah was sawn in twain by a saw by command of

the impious Manasseh.

Of the persecutions of the saints of the Old Law Paul
discourses in Hebrews, XI. 37-38: "They were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the

102 MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26

sword : they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins ;

being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom- the world was

not worthy. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains; in

dens and caves of the earth."

A terrible persecution fell upon the faithful of Israel under

the SeleucidcT. Now Christ looking forward, and foreseeing
that the life of his Church w&lt; add be in persecution, animated
his followers to fortitude and perseverance by the example of
the heroes of old. As his discourse was primarily intended for
his Apostles and disciples, he brings into especial prominence
what the lives of the prophets had been. They were called to
succeed into the place of the prophets, to make head against
the same spirit of the world, to speak God s truth fearlessly;
and they were to expect the same treatment at the hands of
the world. And they received it. The story of the first three
centuries tells of the mighty conflict between the exponents of
the la\v of Christ and the spirit of the world. The Christians
were hated by men; the name of Christian was an emblem of
rejiroach and reviling. And those heroe,s of old actually did
rejoice, and were glad in the midst of persecution; for they
looked forward to Christ and his reward.

The qualification that the Evangelists record here is plain.
Luke says that the persecution must be for Christ s sake; and
Matthew says that, to be meritorious, it must be falsely put
upon us. To suffer persecution for crime places not a man in
this blessed elass. These evils must, as Matthew says, be borne
tor the sake of righteousness, which he afterwards explains to
be borne for the sake of the Lord. Hence St. Peter saith :
"But let n&lt; me &lt; &gt;f y&lt; &gt;u suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an
evil-doer, or as a busy-body in other men s matters. But if any
man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed ; but let him
glorify God for this cause." I. Pet. IV. 15-16.

It is evident that Christ is here not merely exhorting to
perseverance through persecution, but predicting a state which,
in various degrees, has always been the life of the Church.

Some explain the name of which Christ speaks, in saying
that men would cast out their name as evil, to mean not the
proper name of the individual, but the name of Christian, by
which his followers were to be known. Though this is

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 2226 103

supported by the authority of able commentators, we prefer to
understand thereby the individual name of the several ones.
The name of a man is a symbol of the man, and its hearing
calls up an idea of the man in the human mind. Christ
signified that so intense would be the world s hatred, that any
symbol that called up the idea of his followers in the minds of
their persecutors would be hated, and its very sound would stir
the soul with deep disgust. This opinion includes the former;
for it says that every appellation by w r hich men would desig
nate his followers would be hated by men.

The Lord not only exhorts to patience in these trials and
persecutions, but even bids them rejoice and be glad. Now
these words plainly mean that Christ s followers should be more
pleased to receive persecution than to receive its opposite.
This is impossible for the natural man. It is impossible for
the indifferently good man. And yet it is the only logical
position for a Christian.

The error with many Christians is that they never receive
into their souls the fullness of the truths of Christianity. They
receive a certain smattering of half understood truths, and hold
feebly to these, at the same time that they go largely with the
world. The world has no difficulty in placing its inducements
before men; they are in our own corrupt nature, and in
everything we see; but Heaven s inducements only reveal
themselves to the soul that has purified itself from the grosser
things of earth ; and hence they are often neglected and ignored.
Now the Christian code demands things of a man that he will
not do without an inducement; and Christ holds out this
inducement in the great reward in Heaven.

Erroneous theorists have attacked the goodness of actions
done for reward. In fact, the doctrine of the service of God for
hope of reward is almost exclusively a Catholic tenet. That
the doctrine is supported by clear Scriptural authority, is
sufficiently proven from this passage, but we have cumulative
evidence for the same doctrine in the Psalter, in Paul s Epistles
and in other portions of Scripture. Man has an obligation to
pay heed to all the Lord s words, and very often in Scripture is
the hope of reward held out as an inducement for man s service.
It would be absurd to hold out to man this hope, if it were

104 MATT. V. ri 16; LUKE VI. 22 26

wrong for man to make of it a motive of action. And in the
present text, and in many other declarations of. the Lord, the
hope of reward is made the very foundation of man s Christian
life. Catholic commentators cite in proof of the Catholic
doctrine verse 112 of Ps. CXIX. [Vulg. CXVIIL] which stands
thus in the Vulgate: "Inclinavi cor meum ad faciendas
justificationes tuas in a?ternum propter retributionem." The
Hebrew original does not justify this reading. According to
the aforesaid original, it should read: "I have inclined my
heart to perform thy statutes forever, even unto the end."
Hence, there is no proving force in the arguments drawn from
the Vulgate reading of this text. But we do not need this text.
The great hope that animated Paul in his great life was the
hope of reward. He tills his hearers with that same great hope.
He appeals to the example of "Moses who esteemed the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,
for IK- looked forward unto the recompense of a reward."
Heb. XJ. 26.

The err&lt; &gt;r of th&lt; &gt;se wlv reject the service that looks forward
unto a reward is that they falsely believe that the respect of a
reward detracts from the love of God. This is not so; for God
himself is the essence of that reward. God has prepared a
blessed state of existence for man, in which man is to enjoy the
vision of God, and a state of transcendental happiness with
God. It is God s will that man should strive to attain this, and
God holds it before man amid the heavy sorrows of earth.
The appreciation of tVlicity, which is God s gift, detracts nothing
from the giver, but intensifies our love for the Supreme Good;
for the reason that he is good to us. To endeavor to love God,
even though he were oblivious of us, and had nothing for us, is
to endeavor to conceive an impossible concept. God would
deny his nature, if he were not good to the being into whom he
had placed a capability and longings for the vision of God.
And any thought that contemplates changing the nature of
God is impossible and vain. Man is asked to love God, as
he is the Supreme Good and rewarder of man. In this concept,
God and his reward are combined in the same order that
they exist in his own divine nature ; and the act is possible
and good. Any other conception is impossible to man and

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26 105

a vanity. It would be as reasonable to ask one s self, if one
would be willing to go to hell to avoid sin. The concept
deserves no answer, because it implies a contradiction, and
is unthinkable.

The second term here used by Luke to express joy in
persecution is a-tapTrja-cne from a-Kiprdw, which properly means
to spring, to leap, to bound. It indicates a great degree of joy,
which is often manifested by such movements. The true life
of the Christian can not be understood by the world. These
are especially the days of half men and half Christians, and not
much heed is paid to this divine exhortation. Man would
rejoice in such manner, if he made a million, or received a high
office, or rose to fame. These are the realities of earth, and the
earthly man rejoices in their possession. Now faith makes the
possessions of Heaven equally real to the heavenly man, and he
rejoices in their possession. As the very pushing forward to
the things of God involves a persecution, and as persecution is
the best test that we have broken away from the spirit of the
world, and are following the Spirit of God, so does the Christian
rejoice in persecution, to which is attached a corresponding
reward. This is only possible for the man who lives in Heaven,
and who counts his wealth by what he has stored up there,
and rejoices in its accumulation. Filled with this spirit,
Peter and John, when beaten for the cause of Christ, "went
forth from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were
accounted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Acts, V. 41.
Sustained by the same hope, the martyrs went forth intrepidly
and gladly to die for Christ.

The prophecy contained in the words of Christ was literally
fulfilled in the lives of the Apostles, and of all his first followers.
It has been fulfilled ever since in the life of the Church, and in
greater or less degree in the lives of her individual members.
The peace which came to the Church under Constantine was
soon after broken by Julian the Apostate. He was succeeded
by the Arians, who enlisted the po\ver of the State against the
members of the true faith. As the Church spread to other
lands, she encountered the opposition of the spirit of the world,
and the words of Christ were fulfilled in the lives of her teachers
and her children. The mighty wave of Islamism swept over

io6 MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22-26

the East, and setting in Westward threatened to submerge
Christianity. The Church was allowed to suffer but not to
die. And then the great Apostasy broke out, and mar
shalled all the elements peculiarly worldly against the old
Church. Protestantism rejects "blessings, and absolutions, the
intercession of Saints, the grace of the Sacraments; and in great
measure the pr&lt; Aspect of the future life. Protestantism essays
to make a man respectable, and leave him on earth. It is the
religion of the worldly-minded. It casts out the real presence,
because it is too supernatural. Protestantism is Pelagian; it
appeals to the native pride in man, it falls back on the heathen
virtues of our original nature. It places respectability above
faith, and refinement above the law of God." The protestant
with "closed affections, and haughty reserve, and dreariness
\vithm, falls back upon his worldly integrity, honor, energy,
prudence, and perseverance " Protestantism makes the most
of the natural man; and the world has rewarded it. Prot
estantism has the wealth, and the power, and the refinement,
and it looks down with pity and disdain on the ignorance and
vulgarity of the Catholic Church. The world persecutes not
protestantism, because protestantism is but a refined form of
the spirit of the w&lt; .rid. "This life he .Ids &lt; ut prizes to merit and
exertion. Men rise above all their fellows ; they gain fame and
honors, wealth and power, which we call worldly goods."
Protestantism approves these. It fosters the thought that
the natural man may follow society with its social ranks, and
aims, and pursuits, and pleasures, and prizes, and still serve
Christ. Hence it gathers under its standard those who shrink-
away from an intensely supernatural religion. The words of
Christ have been ever true of the position of the Church with
the world. They are true to-day. In every country in the
world, the Church suffers the invasion of her rights/ and an
oppression by the w&lt; -rldly forces. In most cases, her members
are chiefly of the despised class. The pride of intellect insults
her, and laughs at her ordinances; the power of the State
wrongs her; the influence of wealth and worldly position is
pitted against her. The forms of persecution change, but the
fixed enmity between the Church and the world s forces, in some
form, endures. Now when a man would leave the world s

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 2226 107

camp, and go over to the Church, he must do more than merely
assent to some truth that he had formerly not received. He
must change his whole life. This is a hard thing to do. Hence
full conversions are not frequent. Protestantism allows to a
man the pride of intellect ; he may follow his own bent in re
ligion . Catholicity demands the obedience of faith to mysteries
and to authority. "Protestant refinement teaches a man
to politely seek his own; Catholic refinement moves to
renunciation."

But it is not alone in the great life of the Church that
persecution prevails, it must be also in the lives of individuals.
In some form or other those who follow the principles of Christ
must incur the persecution of the world. The words of Christ
are corroborated by the words of Paul : "Yea and all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." -II. Tim.
III. 1 2 . In order to keep in harmony with the world, one must
use the world s methods, and as these are forbidden to the
Christian, there arises a conflict. The spirit of the world,
acting in the first ages, hunted the Christians to death; the
spirit of the world, acting in England and Ireland, tore from
the people property, civil rights, and even life itself. The
spirit of the world, in our own country, wrongs the Catholic
people, and discriminates against them in some of the blessings
which should be insured by every form of government. Per
secution is the criterion by which a man is known as Christ s.

But a man may say: "I hold fast to Christ, and I
experience no persecution . True , but let him look closer, and
he shall find that it is because he is forever making compromises
with the spirit of the world. "We fall into the many con
ventional modes of wrong-doing so easily. They do not shock
the moral sense of the community; we come to move in
the thought of the world. One after the other, we surrender
principles of Christ s faith, and adopt the easier theories of the
world, till our religion becomes the religion of the day, and this
entails no persecution. The religion of the day takes the
brighter side of the Gospel, its tidings of comfort, its precepts
of love; all darker, deeper views of man s condition being
comparatively forgotten. This is the religion natural to a
civilized age, and well has Satan dressed and completed it into

loS MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 2226

an idol of truth. As the reason is cultivated, the taste formed,
the affections and sentiments refined, a general decency and
grace will, of course, spread over the face of society quite
independently of the influence &lt; &gt;f Revelati&lt; &gt;n. That beauty and
delicacy f thought, which is so attractive in books, then
extends to the conduct of life, to all we have, all we do, all we
are. Our manners arc courteous; we avoid giving pain or
offense. The love of the beautiful and the rule of expediency
supersede conscience, and the sin which is out ot taste is
avoided. The awful mysteriousness of religion, the inflexible
justice and wrath of Cixl are explained away out of religion.
Everything is bright and cheerful. Religion is pleasant and
easy, benevolence is the chief virtue."

To prevent the religion of the day f n &gt;m becoming dull, it
must receive modifications from the ever accommodating dis
coveries of science. Preaching must be alii c. The religion
of the day has no place for St. John of old preaching: "My
little children, love one another." "Hence excitements are
eagerly s&lt; &gt;ught &lt; ait and rewarded. New &lt; &gt;bjects in religion, new
systems and plans, new doctrines, new preachers, are necessary
to satisfy that craving which the so-called spread of knowledge
has created." NOW this religion of the day is Satan s coun
terfeit of the religion of Christ. "It has no true fear of God,
no hatred of sin, no humility, no change of heart, no firm
adherence to doctrinal truth. It is a religion which cultivates
the intellect without disciplining the heart. The men of the
day have IK &gt;t g&lt; &gt;ne t&lt; the auth&lt; &gt;rity &lt; &gt;f ( i- &gt;d t&lt; &gt; seek what religion
is, but they have made a religion of their own, after the manner
of what they thought religion ought to be." Man s duty is not
sought in the will of God. but in what the canons of society
call elegant. The whole theory of the fall of man and the
necessity of grace, of the wrath &lt; &gt;f ( i&lt; &gt;d, and the eternity of hell
has become unpopular, and it is set aside. Man is invited to
have large views on human nature, to insist on the brotherhood
of man. The world has fallen into what St. Bernard calls
a "maledicta securitas," a "cold, self-wise, self-sufficient
tranquility." Deep contrition for sin is not a feature of the
religion of the day. Sins are forgotten, and conscience sleeps.
Such, in part, is the shallow creed of the day, popular because it

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26 109

puts no obstacle in the way of following the prizes of this life,
but rather heightens the enjoyment of the present visible sys
tem of things. On the stage of human life we see believer and
unbeliever move side by side ; we see them engage in the divers
affairs of human life ; and we should never be able to tell who
was the Christian, and who the unbeliever from their conduct
of life. The Christian weakly holds to those elements of his
creed which do not conflict with his worldly interests ; it is first
the world and success in life, and then religion in a mild form
for leisure moments. The world persecutes no such man. But
when a man, like the Baptist of old, squares everything with
the law of Christ, then no matter what his station in life, the
world will persecute him. If he be a laborer, the world in the
form of the secret society will persecute him to force him into
their ranks, that he may be able to sell his labor. It will
persecute him in hatred of his faith, and call his intensity of
faith bigotry. It will persecute him in his observance of the
precepts of the Church, and call it superstition. He will lose
many advantages that the spirit of the world holds out, because
they can only be attained by the sacrifice of principles that he
will not let go. The spirit of the world laughs at the father of
a large family, and calls him a fool because he will not subvert
one of the basic laws of the universe. The toiler who will not
engage in the obscene conversation of his fellows is unpopular.
If he is wronged, and adopts the non-resistance of the Gospel,
he is dubbed a coward. Men wrong him, because he will not
strike back, nor appeal to the arm of the law. It is a
strong man who has the moral courage to kneel down and say
morning or evening prayer when observed. The man in
business must lie and cheat in a hundred conventional ways or
suffer in competition with those whose law is the spirit of the
world. The professional man is moved in multifarious ways to
make compromises with the spirit of the world.

The words of Christ do not signify that in the life of the
Christian there should be ever present an actual persecution,
but that the trend of the world is opposed to the trend of the
life of the Church and her children, and that their opposing
interests and purposes will always more or less clash. It is
easy to see the verification in the life of the Church. In the

no MATT. V. 11 -16; LUKE VI. 2226

lives of her individual members, there will be times in which
the persecution takes not on a specific form, but in every life
which passes through the ordinary span of earthly existence,
and adheres closely to the principles of belief and conduct of
Christ, there will be times of actual persecution suffered for
Christ s high law, and the more active the elements that
separate the Christian s life from the life of the world, the more
exposed is he to the fiercer attack of the spirit of the world in
its Protean forms.

St. Luke balances the doctrine by placing in antithesis the
destiny of the worldly man. He proclaims woe to the rich, to
th&lt; &gt;se that are filled, to those that laugh, and to those who have
the praises of men. The words are not to be taken in their
bald literalism, but in the light of the context, and according to
the analogy of faith. In proclaiming woe to the rich, Christ is
simply completing and c&lt; &gt;rroborating the first beatitude. When
a proposition is true, its contrary must be false. The doctrine
of the first beatitude is true; it denominates the elect of God;
hence its contrary must denominate those who are not the elect
of (iod, and their destiny is proclaimed in the woe addressed to
them. What Christ here condemns is not man s possession of
property, but property s possession of man. He condemns not
the philanthropic, charitable rich man whom we may conceive
in our thoughts, but the concrete rich man as we find him, and
as every age has found him. It has been well said of man that
he is "a vulture flying through this world, and looking for
something to eat, and shrieking dolefully because carrion
enough is not given him." The possibility is in man s nature
to have riches and not trust in them, to consider the goods of
the world as intrusted to man s stewardship, to be wisely
applied to relieve suffering, and promote the welfare of society.
Upon such a rich man the denunciation falls not. But where
shall we find such a rich man Considering man s nature as he
is, there is a close connection between the having of wealth and
the trusting in wealth, and hence the terrible words of the
Saviour mean that the possession of wealth is a calamity to the
Christian, and that its general tendency is inconsistent with
the state of salvation.

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26 in

The state of the Christian in its highest form consists in
renunciation; its middle form adapted to ordinary Christian
life is expressed by Solomon: "Give me neither riches nor
poverty; but supply me with that which is needful and
sufficient." And in the following verse, Solomon gives the
reason: "Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say: who is the
Lord ; or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God
in vain. " For the man of strong faith and great love of God,
the state of voluntary poverty is the best, but for the man who
lives in the middle plane of the Christian life, sufficient property
for comfortable livelihood affords the best state for Christian
life. To strive by honorable means to have this, does not place
man in the class condemned here by Christ ; at the same time
that the higher state is held out to those who are strong enough
to bear it. When a man is in great poverty, he is apt to
become sullen and discouraged. A certain feeling of moral
irresponsibility is apt to come upon him, and he may become
oblivious of the dignity of his manhood. He will not think of
Heaven, while his children are ragged, his home cold, and he
and his family hungry. Hence, while teaching the great spirit
of renunciation to all, we have need to inculcate thrift and
frugality to those of the humbler walks of life, not as a slight
evil that we must tolerate while living here, but as a positive
virtue befitting their state of life. Therefore the spirit of
poverty must pervade all Christians, and even those who are
exhorted to save their earnings are to be taught their transitory
character. The words of Christ invite to a state which insures
the highest moral development of man, which ranges between
strict renunciation and the possession of a competence. The
rich man who serves God well is an exception to his class, and
as an exception, he emerges from the woe pronounced against
the rich by Christ. It is very difficult to be this exceptional
rich man. So difficult indeed is it to possess wealth, and hold
our course Heavenward, that the Lord in another place uttered
these dreadful words : " Verily I say unto you that a rich man
shall hardly enter into the kingdom of Heaven. " And again:
" I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God." Matt. XIX. 23, 24.

112 MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 2226

The whole tenor of the Xew Testament is in praise of
poverty, and in condemnation of riches. St. James indeed
declares that the election of God regards the poor : " Hath not
God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the
kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?"
When we see certain people of wealth leading
respectable lives, and faithfully attending divine worship, and
engaging in philanthropic work; and see on the other hand the
vulgarity, and the narrowness of soul, and the coarse tastes, and
perhaps the coarser sins into which poverty has plunged a man,
we may be disposed to believe that the words of the Lord must
be taken with a certain latitude, and that perhaps all that was
intended was a general counsel against excessive covetousness
and avarice. This is erroneous. In commending poverty, the
Lord had regard to the state considered in itself, and he by no
means commended all who might be in that state. Hut" the
state itself is consistent with the law of the Gospel; and in
itself, it offers no obstacle to the perfect law. If sins are
committed in poverty, they are not committed as a resultant of
the state itself. Of course, the vast majority of the world s
population is poor, and the elect are few, so that a man may not
fall back on his mere poverty as a title to salvation ; but he can
regard such state as in itself consistent with the highest
perfection. \, , w as regards the state of the wealthy, the very
state is a hindrance to the service of God. A man in such a
state must continually battle against a powerful tendency of the
most deadly character, which springs from the very state itself.
If outward respectability were religion, then it would be well
with the rich, but God is the searcher of hearts. The vices of
the poor appear to all ; we judge according to appearance, and
we condemn them. Gold hides the vices of the rich. Wealth
becomes a substitute in man s heart for God, and we see it not.
Riches generate a haughtiness that extends even to man s re
lations to God. Riches increase the love of this life, and the
Lord says if a man love this life, he shall lose it. Riches exalt
a man, inflate his heart, and fill him with a notion of his own
power and security. The evil of riches consists not so much in
the commission of low vulgar sins which shock society, as in
the cold, haughty barrenness of heart which repels God. The

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26 113

Christian law demands humility of heart, and how will the rich
man have humility, to whom riches open every door? who by
the power of riches wins the admiration and obsequiousness of
the people? who is received everywhere with great consid
eration and respect? who is heard with deference, and obeyed
with promptitude ? who knows not what it is to be opposed ?
There is no greater obstacle to the entrance of God into the
soul of man than that cold, proud self-sufficiency that
comes of wealth. Christ demands that the great business of
life should be religion. The rich man spreads himself out in
many pursuits, and occupations. There is politics, there are
the enjoyments of social life, there is power, and the fascination
of business; and among all these, there may be a little bit of
religion. Everything in the rich man s life tends to make the
present visible order of things more real and delectable, and the
unseen God and his world unreal. Hence does Paul admonish
Timothy : " But they that will be rich fall into temptation and
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is
the root of all evil ; which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. "-I. Tim. VI. 9-10. And Solomon saith: "He that
trusteth in his riches shall fall. "- Prov. I. 22.

To serve God, a man must break with the world. Now
every object that man sets his heart on short of God retards his
progress towards God. Riches multiply these objects. Who
can have riches and not love them? and we cannot love God
and Mammon. Riches give to a man a false conception of his
life, and of his relations to God. The true state of fallen man
is that he is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked. But the rich man feels within himself: I am rich,
and increased with goods, and am in need of nothing.
Wealth encircles a man, and hems him in by many agencies
that shut out Heaven, that make him proud, and that minister
to his worst inclinations. Therefore does God say to man by
the mouth of Jeremiah: " I spoke to thee in the day of thy
prosperity, and thou saidst : I will not hear. " -Jer. XXII 2 1 .

Just as soon as a man begins to go after riches as the great
business of life, God begins to die out of his soul. It can not

(S) Gosp. II.

1J 4 MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 2226

be otherwise. Christ has said that we can not serve God and
Mammon, the god of riches. Where a man s treasure is, there
is his heart. Riches are the treasure of a man upon earth, and
man takes his heart from God and gives it to them.

\\ ith the accumulation of riches comes an ever increasing
love of money-getting and business. A man finds that he can
think of nothing else. Everything else seems Hat and unreal,
save gain. To protect his possessions, he will adopt the
world s code of business. Me will employ the world s many
conventional deceits and prevarications in the details of his
business. The world says that success in life is to make
money; Christ says that success in life is to renounce all things
and follow him. The rich man chooses the advice of the
world. Man is inclined by nature to live by sense; and riches
intensify it. Man is called by God to live by faith; and riches
prevent it. Riches make a man love excessively this visible
state of things. Hence doth the Scriptures say: " O Death,
how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man who hath peace
in his possessions To a man that is at rest, and whose ways
are prosperous in all things, and who is yet able to take meat 1 "
-Eccli. XLI. i, 2.

The power that riches give a man makes him intolerant of
the doctrines of Christianity. His opinions are llattered by
tlie world; he feels self-confident; he will treat with God on a
business basis. "He falls into the heresy of attempting sal
vation on larger lines than Christ authorized." He mistakes
his accoutrements for a part of his being; he is full of the pride
of life. He sees that the world worships what he possesses;
and as this is the only world of which he knows aught, he
rejoices in riches as an end ; and here is one of the great errors
of lite. The rich man may retain some affiliation to the
Church or to some sect. He is treated with consideration in
the Church. Imperceptibly lie is tilled with the belief that
God will deal with him on the same basis. Riches exaggerate
the importance of the world and self. They give a man a
footing to stand on, and draw him away from dependence on
God. They fill him with pride, and make him less receptive of
divine truth, less responsive to Christian practice. We find the

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26 115

rich at theatres, balls, banquets, and in the marts of business ;
we find few of them at the confessional, or kneeling to receive
the ashes of penance on their brows.

Riches give a man his own way in the world, and he
extends it to the things of God. Human nature shrinks from
humiliation; and riches intensify this repugnance. Riches
move a man to self-complacency and self -approbation. The
rich man relies upon himself, and rests contented with himself.
The world is a great respecter of persons, and its worship
of the rich man obscures in him the true conception of human
life. He struts forth upon the stage of life as a chief actor,
the world applauds, his heart is puffed up, and he forgets God.

There is a special significance in these words of the Lord :
"Ye have received your consolation." It is like in sense to
those words which the Lord puts in the mouth of Abraham:
"Son remember that thou didst receive good things in thy life
time, and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is comforted,
and thou art tormented. " It is the mysterious dispensation of
God to permit full often those who serve the world to receive a
large portion of its goods. It may be that there are certain
good qualities and deeds in the lives of such men, which not
being of a nature to merit supernatural good, are compensated
by temporal prosperity. We see in all countries that the wealth
and power of the earth are more in the possession of non-
Catholics.

Catholic and non-Catholic emigrant came to this land on
equal footing. The Catholic was as well endowed with ability
to labor as his non -Catholic neighbor, and he labored more.
But yet the land and the fulness thereof is in the hands of
non-Catholics. One sees a ruling of Providence here, permit
ting the world s worshippers to receive their reward here.

The being full and laughing spoken of in the thirty-fifth
verse of Luke do not constitute specific states of life. They are
mere resultants of the general state of being rich, and they more
graphically describe the tenor of the life of the rich. They are
full with the goods of the world, secure behind worldly power,
and the soul and its higher life is forgotten.

&lt;j o

The satisfying of every bodily want works a great enerva
tion of the spiritual side of our nature. The fearful hard
ships, cold, and death in the Alps kept not back Hannibal s

u6 MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26

soldiers from the rich plains of Italy. But the comforts of
Capua vanquished them. So it is with the Christian. The
pampering of the body distorts the man s nature, and draws
him closer to the plane of the beast ; whereas it should be the
aim of his life to get the beast out of him. Paul chastised his
body, and brought it into subjection, lest he should become a
reprobate, and those that are full, indulge the body, which
therefore holds the mastery. This fulness signifies the
ascendency of matter over spirit. The world grows into the
heart of the full man, and eats it away. We see all about us
perfectly materialized lives, well fed, and well clothed,
independent of everybody, and oblivious of God.

Those who laugh are those, who having the substance of

this world, take into their hearts the friv -lous thought and the

vain pleasures of the day. The problem of human life demands

soberness, thoughtfulness, sorrow and suffering. But these

men have no thought of the deeper part of man s life. They

surround themselves by a false world. The entire thought of

this false world is vain and deceitful. New pleasures are

continually sought for the cloyed senses. The better elements

in man s nature become dwarfed and stupefied. An intense

selfishness comes over the man. The mighty attraction of the

sensible world has weakened his interest in a spiritual Heaven.

A thought of death, or eternity, or God can not struggle

through the thick wall of vain pleasures and pursuits. There

is no time for reflection ; the man s mind is always occupied by

worthless issues. It is impossible that God should have his

rightful place in such a soul. This is the curse of this age.

Men are full, and laughing, and indulging in vain theories, and

setting up worldly creeds in religion. The material life of man

has advanced immensely during the last half century, but his

spiritual life has gone backwards. Our people do not know

their religion, and do IK t care to know it. Imperceptibly they

assimilate much of the false thought round about them, and

become weak in faith. The natural world is always with us;

we only come into relations with the supernatural world by

positive ef fort.

Most men live amid the superficialities and shows of the
world, never thinking of the divine idea in man s life. And in

MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26 117

it all there is a nameless unrest ; the soul sent into this world to
struggle for the One Good will not be at rest while its powers
are being wasted in filling the belly with meat.

If man s life were to end here, there is no period of the
world s history in which it were pleasanter to live than in the
present. And the evil lies in the fact that men in general live
just as if this life were "the be-all and end-all here." They
grow attached to this life, they praise its progress, they have
no other life but this ; their religion is a mere dead name ; all
the vitality of their being is expended on things w T hose duration
is measured by time. Now as no medicine will effect a cure,
unless the cause of the malady be removed, so there is no hope
of making a man religious until the cause of his irreligiousness
is taken away. It is vain to work on the surface of a man s
life, and endeavor to make a man religious by agencies that
only affect what might be called the outside of a man s life. A
man must probe into the inmost soul, and dislodge the idol
of this world. It is fearful to contemplate the number of
nominally religious men, whose service of this world is an
intense living reality; and whose service of Christ is a farce.
Such men are incapable of making any real sacrifices for
Christ. If the world offers any considerable prize for deserting
Christ, they straightway desert him. They think the world s
thoughts, and live the world s life; and fall into a certain
spiritual lethargy, in which there is no vivid apprehension or
any wish for anything that is above the range of the senses.

Our young men start in life with the idea that the chief
aim in life is success in this material w r orld. Man s relations to
God are either set aside altogether or crowded into a corner.
We measure everything by the standard of the material world.
Christ has placed in contrast here the two sides of our life, and
pronounced the sentence of both. The whole plan of the
Lord s argument here is laid in antitheses. There is a contrast
between the mode of life of the elect here and their life
hereafter; and the thought is strengthened by the specific
contrast. Such specific contrast is now established between
the present pleasure of the reprobate and his future misery.
It is not the sense that only the rich reprobate will suffer the
miseries here specified ; but that feature of reprobation is taken

n8 MATT. V. n 16; LUKE VI. 22 26

\vhich specifically contrasts with their present lot, to heighten
the effect of the terrible words. It is a teaching of Cath* &gt;lic
theology that, in the pain of sense in hell, man will suffer
especially in those things in which he sinned while on earth:
and this truth, in a general form, is also included in the sense
of the present passage.

Christ also pronounces a woe, against those of whom men
speak well. We must explain this passage according to the
analogy of the whole argumentation. The mere fact that men
speak well of a man is not an evidence of evil life. In fact,
Christ bids his followers so live that men will be forced to
speak well of them. And truly the man of sterling virtue will
have the favorable testimony of his community, even in this
degenerate age. The fair speaking of men, which Christ here
reprobates, is the approbation bestowed on men by the spirit
of the world. It denotes the opposite of the persecution
promised to the elect of God. It is that popularity that is
obtained by the sacrifice of some of the principles of true
religion. It is that aura popular is that will come to a man
who winks at the vices and errors of the time. If a man should
arise and tell the American people that their laws contravened
the laws of God, and that the better life of man was stifled by
the nature of our life, he would be laughed to scorn, and men
would rejoice that he had no power to enforce his opinions.
But let some fellow arise and apotheosize our Godless
materialism, and press and people applaud. Recently in
England the representative of our nation proclaimed his idea
of a noble nature to be one "who was sufficiently conscious of
fallibility to be tolerant of all opinions; who has a faith too
wide for doctrine, and a benevolence untrammeled by creed."
The words are blasphemous, but the people of two continents
honor the man for the utterance. The clamor of the world
will be in favor of its own heroes, and against those who oppose
its principles. When the prophets of old announced to the
impious kings of Israel and Judah the wrath of God and the
impending chastisement, they received prisons and death; the
false prophets flattered their vanity, and received honors.
John the Baptist would have escaped the sword of Herod, had
he winked at Herod s incestuous union. The spirit of the world

MATT. V. 1316 119

has always spoken evil of the Church; it applauds the false
sects. The English language is deeply infected with hatred of
the Church and her principles. In large part the press of the
world is anti-Catholic. The law-making power in the world is
largely anti-Catholic. "The priests of the Church are driven
into exile, as being inimical to the state. Her allegiance to
authority is decried as unpatriotic. Now when the spirit of
the world, which so persecutes the Church, speaks well of a
man, it is an evident sign that the distinction between the
tenor of his thoughts and deeds and those of the world is not
sharply drawn. The Church has had to deplore in every age
the defection of her weak children, who have sacrificed Catholic
principles for the favor of the spirit of the world."

Whether in high or low place, the man who stands squarely
on the Catholic platform will encounter the opposition of the
spirit of the world. The man who will keep his Catholicity in
the background, and temper it to meet the exigencies of the
times, will not meet this opposition, and will fall under the
head here spoken of by Christ. The truth of this passage is
not an isolated member, but forms a feature of the general
argument.

MATT. V. 1316.

13. Ye are the salt of the 13. 1 V-eIq srrk -.b aXa; TTJC

earth: but if the salt have lost vf^ : lav ok TO a A a? t^wpavOf], ev

its savor, wherewith shall it be T(V. aXic6r,creTai; sfq OJCEV i--/^zi

salted? it is thenceforth good ETC, e! JXT) Xr ( Osv s3w xa-roreaTetaOai

for nothing, but to be cast out j-rrb TWV
and trodden under foot of men.

14. Ye are the light of the 14. Yyis^ I-TS
world. A city set on a hill /.G-UO J: od ciivxrat
cannot be hid. sxivw opou? xs .alvr].

15. Neither do men light a 15. O Jcl /.aiou-iv Air/vov y.a
lamp, and put it under the aOsa-tv OCJTOV uzb ibv ^G C .OV, aXX
bushel, but on the stand; and &lt;bc: TTJV Au-/v(av, y.al

it shineth unto all that are in Tolq ev 77) oixfa.
the house.

120 MATT. V. 13 16

1 6. Even so let your light 16. ()JT&lt;O; Aaj/I/ia,) TO co&gt;,:

shine before men, that they Juuov suLzpojOsv TWV ivOpM-cov.

may see your good works, and oz(o; Tcwr-.v j;j.o&gt;v Ta y.a/.a spy* xa:

glorify your Father who is in co3:b(orcv TOV IlaT^pa Juuov TOV

Heaven. ev TO:; oJpavo-c.

It is plain that the address here is to the Apostles and
disciples in their capacity as teachers of mankind. The whole
discourse was first for them, and for the world through them.
In the foregoing passage, where the Lord directly addresses the
rich, he had not in mind any of his disciples. It was an
oratorical form of speech, in which a principle is attacked by an
apostrophe to its exponents. But in the present passage, the
discourse is a personal address, and is only verified in Christ s
teachers. No greater thing can be said of a man than that he
is the salt of the earth. Salt has two principal effects. It gives
savor to food, and it preserves organic matter from corruption.
Now in the moral order the legates of Christ accomplish these
two effects in the nations of the earth. The world was without
the knowledge of God, and without faith. It was like unsalted
food, having no savor for its Creator. The legates of Christ
gave it knowledge of God, and salted it by faith. They did
this in the beginning by diffusing throughout the land the
Message of Christ. They gradually formed themselves into a
great system, a great organism, and this has kept alive the
faith of Christ ever since. To them every man must come
for salt, that God may be pleased with the savor of his soul.
Here again we see the design of Christ to teach the world by
commissioned men, having authority to teach in his name.

Salt preserves from corruption; and the teachers of the
New Law were to save men from the moral corruption of sin by
preaching the word, by instructing the young, by administering
the sacraments; in a word, by employing every remedy left
on earth by Christ for the destruction of sin. He gave into
their hands his doctrine, his sacraments, his commission. In
declaring them to be the salt of the earth, the universality of
Christ s kingdom is proclaimed. They were to operate among
all the nations of the earth, and salt them with Christ s doctrine
and moral code.

MATT V. 1316 121

It is a true adage: "Corruptio optimi pessima"; hence
the Lord places in contrast to their high function in the world,
the terrible effect of their defection. Salt is a first principle in
its line of action. Its properties of salting and preserving come
from the nature that God has given it, and these properties can
not be given by any second cause. It is vain to object against
the argument of Christ that the conditional sentence involves a
contradiction : salt can not lose its savor. An argument may
conclude, even though the conditional premise be an impossibil
ity For instance, we can say: "If God ceased to exist, all
creation would cease to exist." The conclusion is just, and
illustrates how essentially creatures depend on God . Therefore
this impossible conditional here has a just conclusion. The
corruption of salt would be irremediable. And as it has no
other uses in human life, it would be cast out as an inert,
worthless element. The natural fact is not based on technical
knowledge. The Saviour chose one of the simplest facts in
ordinary life to serve as an illustration of a high truth in the
moral order. There is no waste of nerve power to seize the
sensible illustration. The Saviour wished not that the mind
should rest there, but that it should immediately seize the
metaphorical sense, which relates to man s life.

The apostolic body is also a first principle in its order of
causality. If it should fail, there is no power on earth by
which it could be restored. The souls of men are as dependent
on it as meat is upon salt. There is nothing higher than it,
except God himself. God could have devised other agencies to
administer religion to men, but he has not done so. The power
of the Spirit operates in the souls of men, but its ordinary
method is to work through the medium of that apostolic body.
Their work is to give that which by nature men have not, and
to preserve them from corruption to which by nature they
are prone. Men were not expected to receive their religion by
private inspiration, or from the written word. They were to
be salted by the salt of the earth. And the salt of the earth
was not to be salted by any other agency. The Lord Jesus was
to go back to his Father, and leave them supreme upon earth ;
and leave all men dependent on them. If they failed, the
present plan of redemption would fail. Men can err, and come

122 MATT. V. 13 16

back to the source, and be re-salted ; but if the source fail, there
is no further remedy on earth. The truth is expressed in a
metaphor, and we must not look for a metaphysical exactness
in its application. The plain sense is that the Apostles and
their successors are the first principle in the human agency that
God employs to work the salvation of men ; and the nature of
their calling renders a failure on their part of terrible conse
quence. As a body they could not fail. God placed an element
of infallibility in their head, and in the entire body united to the
head; but as mere individuals they could fail, and some have
failed. To illustrate this point, let us in spirit set out with
Paul on his first journey. He was the salt of the earth, going
to give savor to the Gentiles. Let us suppose that at that
juncture he failed, and denied Christ. The great Churches
of Corinth, of Thessalonica, &lt;&gt;f Philippi, of Galatia, of Ephesus,
and of Colossus would never have 1 &gt;een. The fate of multitudes
rested on the fidelity of Paul ; the fate of many rests upon every
proper successor of the Apostles. God could send an angel to
do the work that man fails in, but he does not so. It is true
that the faithlessness of one of the band is in part made good
by the fidelity of another legate of the Lord ; but this does not
change the nature of the defection in itself considered. Moreover
there are evil effects which follow the failure of a legate of
Christ which can never be taken away.

The world has passed through some changes since that
time. The teaching power of the Church then only consisted
of those few individuals. The dependence of the world upon
one of those few was greater than it is to-day upon any
individual. Hence the evil effects would have been greater
had any one of them been false to his calling in his apostolic
career. The Church has now grown to such proportions, and
her elements are so ordered, that, if the individual legate errs,
his failure is in part made good by the great life of the Church,
but the nature of his act is the same. The divine vitality of
the adult Church, in a measure, neutralizes the effects of the
wound inflicted ; but the individual becomes salt without savor,
and those souls, who stand in the especial need of salt, corrupt
and die. Every member of the priesthood of Christ is a portion
of the salt of the earth. From the moment that the care of

MATT. .1316 123

souls is committed to him, he stands to them in the relation of
salt to food. One of his people may fall away, and the general
body suffers no special evil results. But if he fail, the whole
body suffers. The evil that results can only be properly judged
by God who sees the proper condition of the soul s life. The
strong are weakened, the weak fall away, and a great enervation
invades the general body. Now it is not the intention of the
Lord to cut off the possibility of penance to the unfaithful
legate. Christ speaks only of the effects produced by the
legate while actually unfaithful to his calling, and no figure
could express it better than the salt without its savor.

The terrible condition of the fallen legate is well expressed
by the unprofitableness of salt without its savor. It has no
proper uses. The corruption in the vegetable and animal
kingdoms does not render absolutely worthless the thing
affected. Its corruption is a change, by which its elements
dissolve to unite in other compounds. Organic compounds rot,
and form manure, which supports new forms of life. But the
moral corruption of the legate of God renders him, as such, an
absolutely worthless creature of God, and no good results follow
to redeem, in any measure, his fall.

This is yet more forcibly expressed in another discourse of
the Lord, recorded by St. Luke in the thirty-fourth and thirty-
fifth verses of the XIV. Chapter of his Gospel: "Salt is good:
but if the salt have lost is savor, wherewith shall it be salted ?
It is not fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast
it out."

The contrast between the state of fidelity and the fallen
state of the legate of Christ is terrible. In his faithful state, we
see him a heavenly leader among men. While men are given
to necessary worldly issues, he is interceding to God for them.
He is filling his soul with divine truths, "till it thrills in every
nerve of him, and pulses in every drop of his blood," and then
he comes among them, and imparts to them the truth which
has passed through his own heart, and lives in him. He is an
angel of life

But on the other hand the fallen legate lies in his dishonor.
He may preserve his outward respectability, according to the
world s pattern, but before God, his life is foul and unprofitable.

I2 4 MATT. V. 1316

There is not a sadder sight in all the universe than the salt
of the earth which has lost its savor. The high powers given
him remain inert. He may still cling to his place, and exclude
the profitable agent. A common man can fall, and go down to
hell, and draw no one with him. Not so the priest of God.
He is appointed to administer to human souls that without
which they shall perish, and his failure, whether through inertia
or positive deed, affects many lives. Therefore there is nothing
grander or better on earth than the faithful legate; nothing
baser or more unprofitable than the unfaithful one.

So necessary was it that the teachers of mankind should
value the high functions that they were to perform in the
world, that the Lord enforces the lesson of this first figure by a
second of equal force, which especially relates to their office
as teachers. They are the light of the world. God illumines
the material earth by the luminaries of heaven. Earth is
dependent on them for its light. If they withhold it, the earth
is dark. God could have given light to earth in other ways,
but he has established this way. In like manner, God illumines
the moral world by teachers. They are the luminaries of
the spiritual world of men. Christ is the essential light of the
world; his legates are the avenues by which light comes to
man. If the legates withold their light, the world becomes
dark.

One of the worst evils of the world of that day was the
moral darkness of paganism. These lights of the world were
to dispel that darkness, and they did it. The darkness of
materialism now hangs like a pall over thu civilized world, and
this is harder to be dispelled. The teachers of mankind are less
intense now, and hearts are less receptive of truth. What the
world needs is more light; not the false light that makes objects
appear in false proportions, but the pure light of Heaven, that
shows man his duty and his destiny. The world was recovered
from the darkness, of paganism by those few luminaries. The
luminaries have now been greatly multiplied. If they all shone
with the intensity of the first Apostles, even this Stygian
darkness must give place to light. Again, we must "call
attention to the fact that the divine idea of religion is not that
every man should illumine himself by independent dealing with

MATT. V. 13 16 125

God himself, but that some men should teach, and others should
be taught. This idea prevails only in the Catholic Church.
At every step, one finds a contradiction between protestantism
and the Scriptures. The time is coming when the issue will
not be between protestantism and Catholicity, but between
no-religion and Catholicity.

The relevance of the city on the hill to the present theme
is not immediately evident. Without doubt, the city on the
hill is the Church of Christ. This is clearly evidenced by the
words of Isaiah, II. 2, and Micah, IV. i : "And it shall come to
pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord s house shall
be established in the top of the mourftains, and shall be exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." The
location of the city on the hill is an easy figure to convey the
truth that the Church of Christ was destined to be visible and
conspicuous in the world. The Church consists of various
elements. There are elements of organization as a human
society, and these are visible. There is its form of government
and there are its representatives of authority. There are its
rites, its sacrifice, and the outward signs of its sacraments ; all
these are visible. Then there are the spiritual effects w r hich are
operated by God in the souls of the Church s members through
the Church, and these are not visible. Some of the truths of
Christ have reference to these invisible effects, and some relate
to the external organization of the Church. The present text
refers to the visibility of the Church, and to such visibility
that all must see it. It has impressed its character on every
page of history; and the best achievements of man have been
moulded by its thought. Now Christ intended that it should
thus come forth before the eyes of men, and lay its truths
before every man, that he might accept them, and be saved.
From all quarters of the earth, man may lift up his eyes and
see the city upon the hill. It is a beautiful figure, more express
ive to an Oriental mind. The usual site for villages in that
land was some elevation. And the w T eary traveller can look a
great way through the clear atmosphere and see in the distance
the cluster of human habitations on the hill top.

Christ s Apostles were the chief factors in that first city
on the hill. As the city grew, their successors were multiplied,

126 MATT. V. 13. 1 6

but the design of Christ does not change regarding them.
From the fact that they were to be the active guiding element
in the city upon the hill, Christ destined that they should not
live for themselves. Their lives belonged to humanity. Men
were to look to them for words of doctrine and deeds of example.
The eyes of all were to be directed to them, and their words were
to be like to those of the Son of God. They were to stand high
above the sordid issues of earth, spiritualized men, set up to
enter far into the mysteries of the spiritual world, and reveal
its truths to men. There is a native tendency in cultivated
men to love mystery, to desire to go into some realm of thought
where only a tew enter. There they create associations with
those grander souls who wander through strange seas of thought.
In the legate of Christ, this tendency should be totally aimed at
the spiritual world. He should merge his whole life into its
realities. He should study its manifestations, and the agencies
that hinder its presence in the souls of men. He will study
psychology, to see wherein the human soul shuts itself out
from its proper life.

The Lord enforces this figure by another. No man lights
a candle, and hides its light under a bushel. In Luke, VIII. 16,
he expresses the same thought in slightly different form : "No
man when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel,
or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it upon a candlestick
that they who enter in may see the light. " The whole sense of
the argument is to impress upon Christ s representatives that
they are called to labor for others. Christ made them lumi
naries and the object of a luminary is to give light to others.
A common man might say: "Let the great world go its ways,
I shall hold aloof, and save my own soul." But the Apostle
can not say thus. He is to save his own soul by the salvation
of others. Not that his individual sanctification is to be
neglected in the official care of others. He is to believe the
truths, and do the truths, and thereby make others believe them
and do them. As the agencies of teaching have multiplied, the
obligation touches not in equal degree every legate of Christ ;
but there must always be some proper Apostles, and these must
follow the plan of apostolic life as laid down by Christ. In
fact, the great plan of the eternal priesthood of Christ regards

MATT. V. 13 16 127

the sanctification of the people through its agency; and that
priest s life is poorly lived, which does not directly or indirectly
promote that end. The great defect in many a legate of Christ
is failure to appreciate what his mission is. He is the light
of the earth. All over the earth there is darkness, and he is
the light to dispel it. The enterprise is difficult. Human
hearts are cold, and hard, and unfaithful. His environments
invite him to that which is pleasant and comfortable. If he
shrinks from the work, he is hiding his light under a bushel,
and must account to his master for its misuse. God expects
more of his legate than a mere non-commission of crime; he
expects an activity that will impress the souls of men. If
all the lights which God has placed in the world were shining
with the luminosity of St. Paul, much of the present darkness
must needs give place to light. And how shall man send
this light into the souls of others? Not by merely saying
in a cold, formal way: "There is salvation, and there are
the conditions: take it or leave it: if you wish to go to
hell, it is no business of mine." Not so; but by pleading,
by praying, by exhorting, by helping, and by encouraging,
shall the light of the world light up the dull dark souls of men.
Christ fled from human recognition of his good works. It
is a great principle of his teaching that man shall not do his
good works before men. And here he instructs the guides of
men to let their light so shine before men, that men may see
their good works. There is no conflict here, but varied
manifestations of the same great truth. In the first place, the
express teaching of Christ and the analogy of faith make it
absolutely certain that the desire for human recognition for our
selves in any work whatsoever is a defect. Therefore we must
make the present text of Scripture conform to this evident
principle position of doctrine. Christ in this text impresses
upon them the important truth that the nature of their calling
places them before men. Men are commanded to look to them
for truth and guidance both by word and example. They are
to hide their personality, but not their good works. They are
called to realize that the whole course of their actions should
influence favorably the lives of others. The motive of it all is
expressed by Christ, not that men should glorify them, but that

MATT. V. 13 16

they should glorify God. This is the right order of life. A
legate of Christ should feel that his life, with its intense
activities and power of good, should be before the people. He
is not a man to shut himself up in a selfish way, and never look
out of doors at the great tide of life that rolls onward towards
two eternities. His part of life is to come into close sympathy
with the struggling mass of humanity; to know their lives from
personal contact. If a man were to appear upon any public
stage, and read Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, or any great
drama in a cold perfunctory way, the effect on the hearers
would be nothing. Rut when the actor becomes oblivious of
his own personality, and for a time lives the very life of his
heroes; when he projects himself into their very existences,
and not merely speaks their words, but acts their lives, and
feels their mighty passions, then he carries us with him, and
dry dead f&lt; rms become living breathing realities. So it is with
the light ot the world. He absolves not his conscience by the
mere official recital of the message of redemption. He must
act it. He must speak the thoughts which he feels. The
legate of Christ is called t&lt; &gt; live again the life &lt; &gt;f Christ. When
man sins or suffers, he can not say: "What is that to me?"
Nothing affecting the proper life of man can be indifferent to
him. His time, his thoughts, his energies, belong to the great
cause ot Christ. And let no man be disconcerted by the non-
appearance of present results. Good deeds are eternal seeds,
sown in the great field of time, and their fruit is secure, even
though it take centuries of years to mature. Every noble
thought, every sp&lt; &gt;ken truth, and g. .&lt; &gt;d \v&lt; &gt;rk makes the universe
better.

The truths of Christ are absolute, and in themselves
considered, apply to every period and condition of human life.
But the conditions of man s life and the psychological status of
the world have greatly changed since the deliverance of Christ s
message. Hence the application of the eternal truth will vary
somewhat, in accordance with these changed conditions. In
that age, the Gentile world was in darkness, but men were not
filled with the presumption of material progress. The hearts
of men were open to the truth; and they gave ear to the
message of salvation. But now no man can draw men as they

MATT. V. 13 16 129

were drawn then. The Gospel is an old story, and the men of
to-day wish for new things. A cold indifference has settled
upon the people, and their independence demands to be let
alone. We can not invade the ordinary walks of life with our
message as did the Apostles. We should bring derision upon
our cause, and be turned away as meddlers. We must work by
new methods, but always with the eternal consciousness that we
are still the light of the world. Darkness has entrenched itself
behind new defenses, and we must find new means to take
the positions. The general diffusion of superficial knowledge
has made men presumptions and wise in their own conceits.
The legate of Christ can not pare down the old truths to make
them acceptable to the prurient tastes of these days; but in
presenting these truths to men, he must employ fitting counter
methods to cope with the world s methods. The w r orld is
active, the exponents of error are active, and the legate of
Christ can not move along in an easy, comfortable way, and
hope either to hold the present following, or increase its
strength. There is demanded in the legate of Christ intense
manhood, intense soul-life. The world gives much now to
refinement and culture ; the legate of Christ can only transfer
this worldly idolatry to a supernatural object by meeting it on
its own plane, with all that is best of refinement and culture
in his soul. Strong faith may endure the shock of seeing a
rude, coarse man standing forth as the teacher of mankind ; but
the weaker member will stagger, and the unbeliever will harden
his heart, and justify his unbelief by the repulsiveness of the
exponent of Christianity. Not that we w^ould substitute
refinement for faith, but the legate of Christ should be the most
polite and refined of men, and make of this an agency to
gain the confidence and respect of souls for the purpose of
bringing Christ into them. He has only one aim in life,
and that is to make the world believe Christ s words, and
keep his commandments, and if he goes through life with that
single aim coupled with intense action, he will light up many
lives, and men will see it, and glorify God by believing and by
doing. In putting his message before men, let him make use of
the modes of dealing with the people that our manners and
customs justify, with the perpetual realization that he is a light

(9) Cosp. II.

MATT. V. 17

-20

set up for the people to see and follow. And his aim should be
that the people should see his light but not himself. There is
a class of works which God wishes to be performed before the
people, and there is a class of works to be performed in secret.
The legate of Christ is a public man, and men will see his
deeds, and be either helped by their example, or injured by
their weakness. The man is not to parade his virtues, but,
with the humility of truth, reproduce the life of Christ before
the gaze of men. And his motive should be that men should be
brought nearer to God by the power of teaching and the power
of example. And he will hide away self as much as possible,
and rejoice that his deeds are producing fruit, while he is
forgotten. The man goes before the people in doctrine and in
deed; but the intention of the mind is fixed on the glory of
G&lt; .(1 that may ensue, and not on self. And from the good deeds
done in secret a light shall also g&lt;&gt; forth in the Lord s own
time, and in the Lord s way. and men will be guided to life
by the enhanced beauty of the hidden deed.

I 7

17. Think not that I came 17. Mf, ^ J. .TT-.Z 071 r;XOov
to destroy the Law or the y.3C7zX:r;r. 7ov VO JLOV r, 70 jc ~^zr r
Prophets: I came not to de- -.2;: ojy. r,X )ov /.y.-.zt.j-y. . iXXi

stroy, but to fulfill. -Xr ( pora ..

18. For verily I say unto 18. A;j.r,v yip X!y&lt;,&gt; j;j/v, so.;
you: Till Heaven and earth Sv TapsXOT] 6 oJpavo; xa- T; yf r
pass away, one yod or one tittle IM-Z Iv T; :j.:a -/.spaia o J ;j.f ( raplX )^
shall in no wise pass away from aro 70 j VVJLOJ, siuc av -iv7a ylvr;7a ..
the law, till all things be accom
plished.

19. Whosoever therefore 19. "0; livojv XJTT, ;j.: av 7&lt;ov
shall break one of these least lv7oXwv 70J7(ov 7wv IXa-/!r7(ov y.al
commandments, and shall teach stciqr, oj7(o; 7

men so, shall be called least in */j.--

the kingdom of Heaven: but rtov

whosoever shall do and teach cic.

them, he shall be called great in 7f;
the kinsrdom of Heaven.

MATT. V. 17 20 131

20. For I say unto you, that 20. Alyw yap u^tv, OTC lav ^.TJ

except your righteousness shall zsptcrcrsujfl 6^-wv T; Siy.aiojuvrj zXslov

exceed the righteousness of the TWV ypa^xrscov xal &lt;f&gt;apccja(a)v

scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in ou [XTJ sbsXGr^s et; rr;v ^a-cXslav

no wise enter into the kingdom TCOV oupavwv.
of Heaven.

The phrase, "Think not " denotes that the Lord aimed the
present words against some existing persuasion that had come
into the minds of the people. The evolution of the new order
out of the old was an important issue for the men of that day.
It was a work of God, too grand to be readily comprehended by
the little minds of men. It is ever thus. The compass of the
human mind is limited, and the truths of God are infinite, hence
the difficulty to properly receive these truths into our souls. If
men were willing to keep the truths in their hearts, and wait for
the full manifestation in the vision of God, all would be well.
The basis of faith is sufficiently clear, and man s duty is plain.
But proud man is presumptious, and ever vainly striving
to bring God down to man s level of comprehension. Hence
the oracle of divine truth labors under disadvantages. The
religious element in man is never on the surface, and the
greater part of human life is lived on the surface. The voice
of God is never to the outer man, but only to the inner man.
Man is too much concerned with his outer man. The world
speaks to the outer man, the senses move the outer man. The
world sees the outer man. All things tend to make a man
oblivious of the inner man. Men ever endeavor to satisfy the
obligation of religion by an outer religion. But the attempt is
vain. God speaks only to the inner man, and the soul s life is
inward. Christ found the same condition of things. He
appealed to the deeper element in man ; his enemies appealed
to that which was on the surface. He could be understood
only by the thoughtful, reflecting mind ; they were understood
by the mob. Now the opponents of Christ made use of this
condition of things to block his work. They represented to the
popular mind that Christ was against Moses; that he con
templated the overthrow of the Mosaic code. To set right
the minds of men on this point, Christ gave utterance to these
present words. The Mosaic code was the embryo of the perfect

132 MATT. V. 17 20.

law of Christ. There was in it certain eternal principles of
supernatural faith and morality, and these Christ retained.
The prophets brought these principles into prominence, and
kept alive Israel s great hope of the Messiah. But as in the
embryo, when it passes into a more perfect state of life, certain
elements are cast oil, so it was with Israel s Law. Its complex
ritual observances were necessary for the period of its lower
state &lt;&gt;f development; they were a mere time-vesture, not the
substance. As it passed into its perfect state through Christ,
it laid aside these. It lost its earthliness, and became elevated
into a spiritual law. Now this twofold character of the Old
Law gives rise to expressions of Scripture which seem contra
dictory. When we hear St. Paul discoursing of the weakness
of the Law; of its uselessness and abrogation, we must un
derstand this of that larval outer-growth, assumed for the
peculiar conditions of its first stages of life. And when
Christ assures us of the endurance of the Law, we understand
the embodiment of its substance in the law of the spirit. In
many ways, Christ perk-cted this element of the Law. The
Old Law taught man the existence and unity of God; Christ
expanded this into the doctrine of the Trinity, and gave man a
fuller knowledge of the attributes of God and the sonship of all
men through Christ. The doctrine of the future state of man
was dim in the Old Code; Christ made it clear to us. The
fulness of the doctrine of God s love for man, of merit, of grace
and redemption, only came with Christ. Moreover, the Law
laid down precepts of man s duty, but it left man unaided to
perform it; Christ gives power t&lt; do that which he commands.
The Old Law taught the necessity and the mode of sacrificial
worship of God; Christ perfected the weakness of the burnt
offering into the infinite oblation of himself.

The force of verse eighteen is to corroborate the preceding
statement, and it is strengthened by the a^v with which it
opens. By the "heaven" and "earth" of this verse, the LOR]
means the whole visible universe. By the "passing" of these,
the Lord means not their annihilation. The Lord created
things that they might continue to exist ; and he will annihilate
none of his creatures. He is the plenitude of being; and it is
in accordance with his will to fill the awful void with beines.

MATT. V. 17 20 133

The end of nature, which men speak of, is not her end, but her
change. Of this great change, Paul speaks to the Romans,
VIII. 19-21: "For the earnest expectation of the creation
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the
creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; because
the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. "
And Peter saith: "Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. " II. Pet. III. 13. Of the nature of this change
we know very little. It certainly does not contemplate the
reconstruction of the numberless creatures in the vegetable and
animal kingdoms, which have been formed out of matter, and
have reverted into matter; but it means that the great sub
stratum of nature, of which such creatures were but different
manifestations will endure, and in a changed state will serve
man in his incorruptible state.

It is the intention of the Lord to affirm the endurance of
the Law as long as time should be. Clearly and forcibly he
states his position on the subject which divided Jewish opinions.
The types of the Old Law should not be annulled, but should be
raised to a higher order of truth in their fulfilment. The
promises of God to man were maintained in Christ ; the moral
element of the Old Code was perfected and explained; the
Messianic prophecies were fulfilled; thus all things were
fulfilled.

In the time of Christ, the Hebrew language was written
in that form of writing which came in with the Babylonian
Captivity. With some slight modifications, it is the mode of
writing adopted to-day. In that script, the letter yod is the
smallest of the letters. It is not unlikely that in the language
of the people, any small part of the Law was figuratively spoken
of as a yod. Hence, in the present statement of the Lord, yod
stands for the minutest particle of the written deposit. It is
interesting to note the discussions that have existed among the
Gemarists concerning this letter yod. These traditions show the
spirit of adoration of the smallest element of the text w r hich
prevailed among the Jews, and which Christ endeavored to
guide aright in the present passage.

134 MATT V. 17 20

There is some uncertainty regarding the element of the
text which Christ designates as the tcepaia, which the Vulgate
renders "apex, " and the English " tittle. The proper sense of
Ktpata is a little horn. It seems that the Lord designates bv

this term that little point which projects from some of the
Hebrew letters found on coins of the second and first century
B. C.

This is a smaller part of the text than even the yod
and the uniting of it to the yod gives to the statement the force
of a short climax. The Pharisees boasted that they stood for
the maintenance of the Law. The Lord makes answer that he
also stood to maintain the same, even to its least element. The
language of the Lord is very forcible. It affirms the compre
hension of every minute part, and gives to the whole an
endurance coexistent with time itself. It is evident that the
Lord is not speaking of such absolute endurance of the mere
material text. Many yods and many nepaia have perished
trom the text. Whole words and sentences have been
corrupted. Xo Scriptural text in the world in any language
exists absolutely free from textual errors. It is not of the
material element of the Law that Christ speaks. He took a
concrete illustration from the material text to present clearly
to human minds the eternal endurance of the soul of the Law.
God gave a message by Moses and the prophets to man in the
Old Law. It was partial and preparatory; a participation of
divine truth, partly clearly expressed, as in the decalogue,
partly couched in types and symbols. This communication of
divine truth was the object of Christ s veneration. It was the
substance of the Old Code, eternal and unchanging, like to God
who gave it.

In Christ there was an intense reverence for everything
divine. The Law was divine, and was for him the holiest
thing in all the world. The Pharisees paid a formal reverence
to the mere letter and outward body of the Law. Christ s
reverence was fhr the substantial truths of the spirit of the
Law, which he perfected and perpetuated.

The nineteenth verse continues the same line of argument.
It is, however, one of the difficult verses of the Gospel. The
general line of the Lord s argument is plain. To set forth the
permanence and holiness of the Law Christ defines the power

MATT. V. 17 20 135

and sanction of its least element. The deduction is plain and
easy to any mind. If the least part is so sacred and inviolable,
a fortiori the greater portions must be so. The Lord s words
contemplate the attitude of teachers towards the Law. We
need scarcely repeat that by the Law Christ means those
eternal truths underlying the ritual observances and the types.
He has delivered his own position regarding these ; he reinforces
it by setting forth what are the obligations of other teachers
regarding the same. Here again the plan of the argument is
a fortiori. Christ begins by establishing a severe penalty upon
the one who shall violate a greater command. He joins
teaching with doing, because his intention is to establish the
sanctity of the Law by the obligations of the teacher. It is
vain to restrict the Saviour s \vords to the truths of the old Law.
He is speaking without restrictions of that part of the Old Law
which endures in the New 7 , and therefore his words apply to the
truths of God in both dispensations.

Knabenbauer holds that the sense of the \vay is to
abrogate, to render null and void; and he interprets the
Saviour s words to contain an inhibition to change or annul any
substantial part of the Law. Though this sense is certainly
included, we believe that the sense of the words is still more
comprehensive. The act of breaking therein spoken of is any
violation, whether by abrogation or transgression; and the
condemned teaching is that which would in any way effect that
the least part of the eternal law of God to man should not be
observed. The argument is in substance: "Ye accuse me of
setting aside the law of God to man, but so far is this untrue
that I say to you that any teacher among men who shall so do
in the least part, becomes liable to the penalty which I here
establish. " Neither is it necessary to particularize what are
those least commandments of the Lord. The Lord is arguing
for the sanctity of the Law by way of illustration, and this does
not necessitate that in his mind or in ours there should be a
specific idea of the greater and least elements of the Law.
Nothing is more vain than to endeavor to point out those
elements of the Law which the Lord denominated the least
commandments. When St. Paul says that "the foolishness of
God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger

i3 6 MATT. V. 1720

than men," it would be vain to inquire what constituted the
foolishness and weakness of God. So in the present instance,
the Lord simply argues a fortiori for the endurance and sanctity
of the Law from that which is verified in the violation of its
least part.

The final difficulty of the passage consists in establishing
the exact estate of him wh&lt; &gt; shall be called least in the kingdom
of Heaven. The traditional and scientific data on this passage
are very unsatisfactory. Some of the greatest of commentators
have- explained the passage to signify that by the designation
ot least, the Lord meant that such a one should have no part
in the triumphant Church. Others again believe that by the
kingdom of Heaven the Lord is here speaking of the Church
(n earth; and they assign to the &lt; .tie whom the Lord calls
least, the lowest place in the militant Church. In all the
teaching of the Lord, \ve find that the particular truth on which
lie wishes the mind to rest is brought out with clearness. In
this passage the central truth is by no means uncertain. It is
that the Law is holy, and the least violation of it entails a
penalty. Xow in expressing this clear truth, Christ made use
of a figure of speech called by the grammarians paronomasia.
He plays on the word t X&gt;o-T09, in saying that the violator of
the least commandment will be the least in the kingdom of
Heaven. He does not fix the exact estate of the man; he
purposely left a certain vagueness in that ; for he is not passing
strict judgment on the works of men, but only inculcating the
sanctity of the Law. Hence there is not in the words the
judgment of the degree of malice of the act, nor the specific
punishment rendered therefor. It is an elegant rhetorical
figure to express that God is angry with the man who in any
way deprives of effect any element of God s Law to man.
It is probable that by the kingdom of Heaven in this context,
Christ means the earthly phase of the Church s life. To express
the penalty for the violation of the least part of the enduring
elements of the Law, he ranks the violator of the Law in the
lowest place in the Church. The thought of the Lord goes no
further than this. It is not a question of salvation or repro
bation, but simply that any violation of God s law dishonors
the soldier of Christ, and places him in the lowest rank.

MATT. V. 17 20 137

The exposition of this member renders the sense of the
following member of the sentence very easy. Conversely, in
that same stage of the Church, he who keeps the whole Law,
and teaches others so to do, shall be in honor. One of the most
honorable occupations of man is that of teaching truth,
especially the higher truths which hold the key to man s life.
Christ exhorts us first to action; because no man can, in the
proper sense of the word, be a teacher of divine truths, unless he
has first taken them into his heart of heart, and made them
motives of his life. A man may perfunctorily pronounce words :
but to sway men, he must feel what he says, and live what he
says. In this, and in this alone, consists the greatness of man ;
to shape all the acts of his life in accordance with the great
truths of God, to know these truths, to love them, and wish to
know them. By such thoughts and such acts, the man s
nature becomes purer, and his life instead of being a farce, is the
development of a divine idea. There is ever present to the true
Christian a realization that there is a divine la\v for all his
actions. He reverences it, and his morality is founded on su-
pernaturalism. That sacred law regulates his secret thoughts,
his words, and outward actions. A certain social morality may
be built on naturalism, but it does not move the inner nature of
man. It cannot apply to all human acts, nor will it sustain a
man in great temptation. Whatever of real supernatural good
there is in the world, is the product of the law of God. Now
when the faithful observer of this holy law extends his influence
even to the teaching of others to do what he is doing, he
multiplies his virtues by diffusing them in others. There is no
benefactor of mankind like to him who increases in man the
right knowledge of his Creator and his Creator s law.

The twentieth verse is a sort of preamble to the extended
comparison between the Pharisaic interpretation of the Law
and Christ s interpretation, which is expounded in the following
verses. Christ urges the case against his opponents by turning
the tables upon them. They had accused him of setting aside
the Law of Moses; he now arraigns them on the same charge,
and shows that by mere outward observance of dry forms, they
had obscured and neglected the deeper reality which was the
substance of the Law. With strong emphasis, therefore, he

i }3 MATT. V. 21 20

declares to his ft &gt;llowers that they must he more observant of
the Law than its first custodians, to obtain the effect for which
the Law was ordained, The principle that "finis legis non
cadit sub precept &gt;" avails not of the law of God. He legislates
for the spirit and consciences of men; and unless his law enters
there, and becomes a motive ot action, man s service is nothing.
This was what the disciples were invited to do.

MATT. V. 21-20.

21. Ye have heard that it 21. \\-/.^ jzy.-.-. OT: iz:ihr t TO:-
\vas said to them of old time: ip/z-o:.: oJ iovsJrs .c: o; : 5v co-
Thou shah not kill; and whoso-, vsJrT; svo //,.: iz-.y.: TT; y.z : .zt:.

ever shall kill shall be in dan^t r
of the judgment:

22. Hut I say unto you: that 22. !&gt;&lt; ,&gt; Ik &gt;.-;&lt;,) JJL-V OT: -ic
every one who is an^ r ry with his o op-;i lvJ-voc TO~) aCiXso) aJTOJ
brother shall be in danger &lt;&gt;t the ^ /. r -&gt;~ iz-.z 1 . ~f t -/.z -.z-j.: 5; $ zv -?-T;
judgment; and whosoever shall TW a5eX;(7j aj-roi poxa, evo/o; e^Tat
say to liis broth.er: Raea, shall TO) rjv:p:( : ): o: : av E IZT; r j.(op,
be in danger ni the e&gt;uneil; and i-^ /f^ iz-.z 1 . =!: TT ( V y^vvav TO j
\vhosoevershallsay: Thou fool, ~^po -;.

shall be in danger of the hell
of lire.

2}. If therefore thou art 23. Kiv oJv -por;pr ( c TO cw-

offerin^ thy ^ift at the altar, po v roj - TO )jr .arTT ( p .ov -/.ic/.s:

and there rememberest that thy JLVT^ ;^; OT: 6 iciX^o c roj /: T:

brother hath au^ht against thee. /-ZTi ro ^,

24. Leave there thy ;4ift -4- Acs; /. TO topo v roj

before the altar, and go thy way ; j.-po : &lt;/ TOJ Ojr:arTT ( pioj v.a;

first be reconciled to thy brother, J -av- ~P( )TOV, c:aXXi- ; r ( Ot TO)

and then come and mi er th iBcXs(I) rou, xat TOTS eXOwv-o-ss

)

v r

25. A^ree with thine adver- 25. "1-0: EJVOOJV TO) avT .c:x.o&gt;

sary quickly, while thou art &gt; &gt; ~x /.J, ^ (i) ^ ^^ ^ - *-. ZJTOJ

with him in the way; lest haply iv TTJ ocw, ^ TOTS r -apasu o

the adversary deliver thee to the ivT-cY/.o; T(O xpiTfj /.a: 6 xp-.TT;; TO&gt;

judge, and the judge deliver thee ^,?^Ti y - a - -^ r J " Azy -V
to the officer, and thou be cast
into prison.

MATT V. 21 26 139

26. Verily I say unto thee: 26. A^T]v Xr/co croc, QJ ^75

Thou shalt by no means come !;eX(h); exelOev, ewq av dzoBwq TOV

out thence, till thou have paid e-yjzTov xocpavTYjv.
the last farthing.

In the twenty-second verse, there is an important variant
in the codices and the versions. The greater number of codices
and authorities add el/cr/ after the opyL&pevo? rw a8e\&lt;&lt;u avrov.
This also is followed by the King James Bible, which renders
the passage: "Who is angry with his brother without cause,"
etc. Among the codices which bear this reading are the
uncials E, K, L, M, S, U, V, T, A*, and II. It is adopted by the
Vetus Itala, by all the Syriac versions, the Coptic, Armenian
and Gothic versions, by Eusebius, Cyril, Chrysostom, Cyprian,
and Lucifer. It is found also in three codices of the Vulgate,
viz., Bigotianus, Egertonensis, and Oxoniensis. Nevertheless,
it seems from internal and external evidence that the addita-
nientum is spurious. In the first place, it weakens the expres
sion, as though there could be cases where anger against the
brother is justifiable. It is justifiable to feel moved by right
eous indignation against the wrong that a brother man does ; this
is not anger against the brother. What the Lord had in mind
was the feeling of anger and revenge, which arises from personal
motives against our fellow man, and this is never lawful. The
Saviour s words, therefore, are of universal application. It
would seem that lack of discernment to distinguish properly
what is anger against a brother moved the insertion of the
restrictive adverb.

The authorities against the reading are fewer but weighty.
Jerome is against it, and declares that it was not found in
many of the Old Greek codices. Augustine corroborates
Jerome s statement. The term is rejected by Origen and Basil ;
and it is not found in any of the four great codices. The
Ethiopian version and the best codices of the Vulgate also omit
it.

In the twenty-first verse, some have believed that Christ
contrasts his teaching with the Pharisaic interpretation of the
Mosaic Law. But the intrinsic evidence moves us to hold that
Christ here compares his complete law with the partial enact
ment of Moses. To the ancient men of Israel it was said on Mt.

140 MATT. V. 21 26

Sinai: "Thou shalt not kill." Though said by God through
Moses to those ancients, it was said for all men of all time. Nor
was the command unknown to man before Sinai s legislation.
From the beginning, the Almighty had forbidden the shedding
of human blood. The blood of the slaughtered Abel cried
to the Creator from the earth. To Noah. God said: "At the
hand of every man s brother will I require the life of man.
Whosoever sheddeth man s blood, by man shall his blood be
shed." Gen. IV. 5-6. But on Sinai the Law was codified,
enlarged, and s&lt; &gt;lemnly promulgated. The penalty " he shall
be guilty of the judgment - " which Christ mentions, does not
exist in express terms in the Mosaic code. Here again Schegg,
Bisping, Weiss and others believe that this penalty was a
statute of the doctors of the Law. But it seems to be a sub
stantial element of the Law itself. In the Mosaic legislation
provision was made for judges who should have jurisdiction
in cases of infringement of the Mosaic code, which regulated
all the departments of man s life: "Judges and officers shalt
thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord God giveth
thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people
with just judgment. " Dent. XVI. 18. These judges took
cognizance of all crimes committed against the Law. The
Law was simple and plain, the modes and customs of life were
simple: the Law had not been weakened by an endless mass of
technicalities, and was not impeded by the complexity of its
own nature. Now as the crime was prohibited, and the
tribunal established, it resulted directly from the Law itself
that the judgment followed upon the infraction of the Law. It
was a principle of the people s life. The mind of the people
always associated the two things, the infraction of the Law
and the condemnation by the judges. In fact, only the first
member of the verse is comprised in that which was strictly
said to those of old. The Lord s declaration would be in
substance: "Ye have heard that God spoke to your fore
fathers saying: Thou shalt not kill. In your polity built
upon that legislation, it hath been a principle, that he who
slayeth his fellowman shall be guilty of the judgment of the
judges. "

MATT. V. 21 26 141

Attention should be given to H/covcrare, "ye have heard.
It manifests that the ordinary mode of communicating the
Law to the people was by the teachers. No other mode would
be fit for that Law or for the New Law.

Now this enactment of the Law was good ; the sanction
was good. But it did not go far enough. It aimed to preserve
the public order and peace of the people; but it did not
sufficiently purify the heart. For the rude people, to whom
it was applied, it was all that they could bear. The Law
waited for Christ to perfect it. And he does so by endorsing
the first substance, and enlarging it, and giving it spiritual
life. The letter of the Old Law forbade the shedding of blood,
and Christ extends its scope to forbid all anger against the
brother. The Old Law dealt chiefly with external acts. Christ
perfects it by declaring that the thought of the mind impelling
the man to the external act is equal before God to the act
itself. The form of expression employed by Christ shows the
sovereign authority with which he spoke. He was humble and
meek, but he was absolute in the exercise of his judiciary
power, because truth demanded it. He was God, and when
acting as God, he used terms to denote the absoluteness of his
power. As we have said before, anger against our fellow man
is never lawful. Anger is an inordinate desire of revenge ; it
is the aversion of the mind from an object which we truly or
falsely apprehend to have in some way injured us or threatened
evil to us. In it we can distinguish the first natural motive of
our nature, which tends to repel opposing agencies. This is
simply the natural shock which precedes any full act of the will.
There is the consequent voluntary assent of the will to the
movement of passion, and this includes, in some degree,
revenge. In fact, anger has been defined by some as the desire
of revenge. Anger differs from hatred. Hatred is a settled
state of the mind, anger is an actual surge of passion. A
settled hatred may burst into anger by some small exciting
cause or anything that recalls the wrong received. The words
of the Lord exclude all forms of voluntary anger, and he
classifies it under the head of murder, of which it is a certain
participation.

MATT. V. 21 26

Sinai: "Thou shall not kill." Though said by God through
Moses to those ancients, it was said for all men of all time. Xor
was the command unknown to man before Sinai s legislation.
From the beginning, the Almighty had forbidden the shedding
of human blood. The blood of the slaughtered Abel cried
to the Creator from the earth. To Noah, God said: "At the
hand of every man s brother will I require the life of man.
Whosoever sheddeth man s blond, by man shall his blood be
shed. "Gen. IV. 5-6. But on Sinai the Law was codified,
enlarged, and solemnly pn &gt;mulgated. The penalty " he shall
be guilty of the judgment - " which Christ mentions, does not
exist in express terms in the Mosaic code. Here again Schegg,
Bisping, Weiss and others believe that this penalty was a
statute of the doctors of the Law. But it seems to be a sub
stantial element of the Law itself. In the Mosaic legislation
provision was made for judges who should have jurisdiction
in cases of infringement of the Mosaic code, which regulated
all the departments of man s life: "Judges and officers shalt
thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord God giveth
thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people
with just judgment. " Deut. XVI. 18. These judges took
cognizance of all crimes committed against the Law. The
Law was simple and plain, the modes and customs of life were
simple: the Law had not been weakened by an endless mass of
technicalities, and was not impeded by the complexity of its
own nature. Now as the crime was prohibited, and the
tribunal established, it resulted directly from the Law itself
that the judgment followed upon the infraction of the Law. It
was a principle of the people s life. The mind of the people
always associated the two things, the infraction of the Law
and the condemnation by the judges. In fact, only the first
member of the verse is comprised in that which was strictly
said to those of old. The Lord s declaration would be in
substance: "Ye have heard that God spoke to your fore
fathers saying: Thou shalt not kill. In your polity built
upon that legislation, it hath been a principle, that he who
slayeth his fellowman shall be guilty of the judgment of the
judges. "

MATT. V. 21 26 141

Attention should be given to H/covo-are, "ye have heard.
It manifests that the ordinary mode of communicating the
Law to the people was by the teachers. No other mode would
be fit for that Law or for the New Law.

Now this enactment of the Law was good ; the sanction

was good. But it did not go far enough. It aimed to preserve

the public order and peace of the people; but it did not

sufficiently purify the heart. For the rude people, to whom

it was applied, it was all that they could bear. The Law

waited for Christ to perfect it. And he does so by endorsing

the first substance, and enlarging it, and giving it spiritual

life. The letter of the Old Law forbade the shedding of blood,

and Christ extends its scope to forbid all anger against the

brother. The Old Law dealt chiefly with external acts. Christ

perfects it by declaring that the thought of the mind impelling

the man to the external act is equal before God to the act

itself. The form of expression employed by Christ shows the

sovereign authority with which he spoke. He was humble and

meek, but he was absolute in the exercise of his judiciary

power, because truth demanded it. He was God, and when

acting as God, he used terms to denote the absoluteness of his

power. As we have said before, anger against our fellow man

is never lawful. Anger is an inordinate desire of revenge ; it

is the aversion of the mind from an object which we truly or

falsely apprehend to have in some way injured us or threatened

evil to us. In it we can distinguish the first natural motive of

our nature, which tends to repel opposing agencies. This is

simply the natural shock w T hich precedes any full act of the will.

There is the consequent voluntary assent of the will to the

movement of passion, and this includes, in some degree,

revenge. In fact, anger has been defined by some as the desire

of revenge. Anger differs from hatred. Hatred is a settled

state of the mind, anger is an actual surge of passion. A

settled hatred may burst into anger by some small exciting

cause or anything that recalls the wrong received. The words

of the Lord exclude all forms of voluntary anger, and he

classifies it under the head of murder, of which it is a certain

participation.

144 MATT. V. 21 26

Of the same nature but in excessive degree is the next case
illustrated by the Lord. Outside the walls of Jerusalem, in a
southerly direction, lies an arid, barren valley. It is the
valley of Hinnom, the CUJT&r-i, or more properly Cu""]2
fcTj the valley of the son of Hinnom. Concerning its etymol
ogy, two opinions exist. Some derive its name from its owner,
the son of Hinnom; while others believe that its name signifies
the vale of sighs and groans.

One of the grossest forms of the Canaanitish religion was
the worship of Moloch. The religion of those early Eastern
pagans appealed to the sentiments of sensuality and terror.
The impure rites of Ashtoreth, the Astarte of the Greeks,
gratified the sensual appetite; while the cruel cult of Moloch
inspired terror. Moloch was but another form of Baal, the god
ot the sun and &lt; if the forces of nature. We find but few images
of Moloch, and the manner of his worship is very obscure.
It is only from the Bible that we learn that the Jews
worshipped Moloch by human sacrifices. Various representa
tions of human sacrifices have been found on Assyrian
monuments, but that the God was Moloch has not been
determined.

The Jews became infected with this form of idolatry, and
it is generally believed that under the impious kings of Judah,
the idol of Moloch stood in the vale of Hinnom. According to
the Rabbis, it was of brass, with a hollow r interior. The body
was that of a man seated with outstretched arms. The head
was in form like that of a bull. To this idol the Jews offered
their infants. The brazen image was heated by a fire from
within to a great heat and the infant was placed in the
outstretched arms, and quickly cremated. The Rabbis add
that, during the burning of the infants, tambours were beaten,
that the parents might not be moved by those dreadful cries.
No other ancient authority has been found to corroborate
this statement of the Rabbis.

Now of the site of the idol, and the cremation of the
infants, we are assured by clear Scriptural testimony. In
Leviticus the Lord spoke unto Moses: "Whosoever of the
children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that

MATT. V. 21 26 145

giveth his seed unto Moloch he shall surely be put to death;
the people of the Lord shall stone him with stones. " Lev. XX.
That the mode of offering the infant was cremation, is also
assured by Scriptural testimony. Josiah "defiled Topheth
which is in the vale of the son of Hinnom, that no man might
offer his son or daughter by fire to Moloch. " II. [IV] Kings,
XXIII. 10. This testimony is valuable in establishing the site
of the idolatry in the vale of the son of Hinnom. The radical
signification of Topheth is tyinpanizatio, the playing of tam
bourines; and it is the opinion of many that the place was
thus named from the playing of these instruments to drown the
cries of the burning babes. As Moloch was only a special form
of the god Baal, the prophets often speak of his worship as the
worship of Baal. Thus Jeremiah speaks: "They have also
built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for
burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke,
neither came it into my mind. Therefore the days shall come,
saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Topheth,
nor The Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but The Valley of
Slaughter. " Jer. XIX. 6.

This does away with the opinion of some, that the human
sacrifice to Moloch was a mere fire-baptism, a mere passing
through a way flanked by fire, as Yahveh passed between the
segments of the slaughtered animals. Gen. XV. 17.

Aside from the intrinsic weakness of this opinion, it is
disproved by the positive statement of the prophet that they
cremated their seed to the god. There remains then only an
uncertainty as to the mode of cremation. The opinion of the
Rabbis has been mentioned, which places the infants in the
outstretched arms of the incandescent idol. According to
Fagi, quoted by Calmet, the hollow interior of the idol was
divided into seven sections, which opened like an oven. The
first w r as for the offering of flour ; the second for the offering of
a dove; the third for an ewe; the fourth for a ram; the fifth
for a young bullock; the sixth for an ox; the seventh for an
infant. Others hold that the infant was thrown into a fire
kindled in front of the statue.

On account of the horrid rites performed in this valley it
came to be synonymous for a place of horror ; hence its name is

(10) Gosp. II-

M r &gt; MATT. V. 2126

frequently employed by the Lord to signify the place of eternal
punishment. Sometimes the Lord uses the term Gehenna
alone; again, he calls it the Gehenna of fire. Gehenna denotes
the awful state of separation from God; the fire signifies the
pain of sense of the damned.

Here it may he remarked that the English versions weakly
render all these members by translating the ei/o^o? of the Greek
by to he in danger of the successive penalties. The proper
sense of eVo^o? in the context is to be liable to a penalty. The
Lord declares that such acts render a man liable to the several
penalties there enumerated.

One of the most opprobrious epithets among the Hebrew
people was that of S 2j of which the Lord treats in the third
member. Right reason dictates that man should estimate in
the highest place the g&lt; &gt;&lt; &gt;ds &lt; &gt;f greatest w&lt; &gt;rth. Now among the
go, K!S of greatest worth in man, nothing is above his intellect
and reas &gt;n. Therefore this epithet is especially injurious, since
it directly attacks these faculties of his being. Hence the Lord
says that for such offence human tribunals are inadequate, and
the only fit punishment is the infernal pit itself. There is
danger here that the Lord s words be taken too literally. He is
not here, in the capacity of a judge, drawing up a strict penal
code, in which a graded system of punishment is established for
offenses of varying gravity. He is not distinguishing between
venial and mortal sins, nor establishing the existence of
purgatory. He is simply by easy figures and modes of
expression establishing that he who violates the love of his
fellow man by grave internal hatred, or by opprobrious epithet,
transgresses the law of God, and is liable to God s punishment,
even to the punishment of Gehenna itself.

It is not strange that the Lord s words should be thus
forcible. The whole law of God is reducible to the love of God
and the neighbor. The anger and the epithets spoken of by
Christ evince a state of mind in which there is no love of the
neighbor, and this state of mind renders a man subject to the
penalty of God, even the greatest. It would be to take the
Lord s words too literally to condemn every man of grievous
transgression that calls another a fool. Such a term may be

MATT. V. 21 26 147

uttered in a slight degree of anger, and though in such case
sinful, the offense may be venial. The Lord s words only
declare that it is not only by injuring a man in his life that we
become liable to the punishment of God, but also by injuring
him in his honor and dignity as a man, and by anger against
him. The term fool is taken to represent a very high degree of
contumely, and this is a deadly sin. Neither is it necessary to
use the term fool, in order to fall under the, sentence of Christ.
It is taken to represent every highly injurious epithet cast upon
our brother. While avoiding an excessive literal sense of the
Lord s words it must be conceded that we are very remiss in
this iron age regarding the love of the brother. In the world s
code there is no love of our fellow man. All about us men are
following the code of the world, and imperceptibly we are
drawn to accept more or less of it. Our horror of things is
diminished from the fact that they are usual. The words of
Christ should awake men from this torpor to a keen realization
of the perfection of life that Christ demands in his followers.

In the twenty-third and twenty-fourth verse, the theme
of love of neighbor is illustrated by another easy figure. A
man, who has in some way injured his fellow man, brings an
offering to sacrifice at the altar of God. The act is good, an
important act, and very pleasing to God. But even when he
comes to the altar to offer the gift, if the man s conscience tells
him that his brother has received evil at his hands, he is bidden
leave the offering and first be reconciled to the brother. The
teaching here is very well adapted to the simple intellects of
the people addressed. The deep sense of these words establish
that no matter what act we would do for God, he will not accept
it, as long as hatred of the brother lurks in our heart, or the
injury of the neighbor remains unredressed. It establishes
the imperative duty before all other duties of righting any
wrong done to the neighbor. That a man already come to the
altar of God to offer sacrifice should be obliged to leave the
very altar itself, and go and first perform some other act, shows
clearly to the rudest mind the imperative duty of such act.
The words of the Lord put the reconciliation with the neighbor
before the worship of God, for there can be no real worship of
God, if the heart is not right towards our brother. It is hard

148 MATT. V. 21 20

for ( &gt;ur proud nature to seek a reconciliation with a man whom
we dislike, and whom we have injured; but the law of God
commands it. Many would perhaps cease from actual per
petration of the wrong, but they shrink from the humiliation
of a reconciliation. But the words of Christ demand recon
ciliation, a redress of wrongs, an apology for insults, and a
restitution of goods or honor.

The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses contain a
parable in which human prudence in worldly affairs is taken
as an illustration of that higher wisdom which regulates the
interests of the soul. The conception of the parable supposes
that the adversary is a man who has been wronged by the
person addressed in the discourse. Otherwise there would
not exist the fear that the adversary might deliver such person
to be cast into prison. The wrong has been done, and the
adversary has not yet arrived at the tribunal to seek judicial
redress. \&lt;&gt;w, humanly speaking, a wise counsel would be
to etiect an extra-judicial settlement of the affair. The
neighbor can be moved to pity, to mercy, and to forgiveness
ol the oiiense. But the law knows no pity, no forgiveness,
only justice. The law is not to be moved by tears, or by
prayers; its nature is to exact what is due, even to the last
farthing. The "quadrans" was the fourth part of the Roman
as. The as was first a copper coin of twelve ounces. By
successive reductions, it was finally reduced to one-half ounce.
Hence, the fourth part of a half ounce of copper was taken by
the Lord as the measure of the inexorable justice of the law.
The Lord spoke of law as it existed in those days. It was
certainly better to seek a reconciliation at the hands of the
injured one, in whom the tender feelings of mercy and
forgiveness would have place, than to bear the rigor of the
stern, exact justice of the law. The Lord speaks of the
administration of justice, as it is dispensed on earth by means
of judge, and bailiff, and prison. It may be that through the
teachings of Israel s sages this counsel was already familiar
to the people. At all events, it was a truth of daily life, and
all men could see its applicability.

Xow the Lord applies this wise counsel to the higher
order of moral truth. A man has injured his brother. If the

MATT. V. 21 26 149

offender be powerful, or wily, he may elude human justice;
but above all is God, the judge of man. In some way, that
crime must be atoned. The order of the universe has been
violated by the injustice, and it must be restored. It can be
restored in two ways. It is restored when the offender deals
with the offended brother, and makes such satisfaction that
cancels the wrong done. This is the easier way. In it pity,
mercy, human forgiveness have place, and God ratines all, and
the bond of perfection is restored again between man and man.
There is another way, but it is the harder way. This second
way is by the justice of God, which must come in to effect what
man refused to do voluntarily. In this second way there is no
room for mercy and forgiveness; for man rejected these by
refusing to seek pardon from his offended brother. There is
nothing left him, therefore, but the rigor of justice, stern and
terrible. As we can not form a just conception of the malice
of sin, so we can not rightly conceive the terrible weight of
God s avenging justice. The Lord was gentle and merciful in
his teachings, but whenever he spoke of the justice of God, his
words become stern and terrible . In this life , God s forbearance
and mercy are supreme. He waits, forgives, and graciously
assists us here. He allows himself to be reviled, denied,
despised and blasphemed, and he withholds his avenging
justice. But with death, this order changes. Then justice
and retribution have place. The Lord, with his perfect
comprehension of these mighty truths, counsels to make use
of the easier method.

It is vain to seek anything more in the parable. In all
parables there are elements which pertain only to the natural
fact. So here it is vain to seek the application of "the officer, "
and other details, in the higher order of truth represented in the
metaphorical passage. Equally absurd is it to seek an
endorsement of purgatory in this passage. Some have thought
to infer from the words that Christ supposed a state after
judgment where man might satisfy infinite justice, and pass
thence. And this state could be no other than purgatory.
This is evidently not the sense of the Lord s teachings. He
does not specify the exact effect of God s judgment, whether it
place the offender in purgatory or hell; but he simply says

150 MATT. V. 27 32

that as human law deals rigorously with the man who refuses
to make amends for the offense done his brother, so the justice
of God will exact a penalty in the rigor of justice from any one
who deals thus with his fellow man. If we have done any man
wrong, we must either satisfy his just demands, or satisfy the
infinite justice of God. In our selfishness, and in our pride, and
in our greed, how often we trespass on the rights of our
neighbor? The wrong done us we remember and magnify,
but our offenses against others we soon forget. We do this
because the Gospel is not the guide of our life.

MATT. V. 27-32.

27. Ye have heard that it 27. IIxojraTc OTI Ippr/fr; : Oj
was said: Thou shalt not ^.o ./sjret;.

commit adultery:

28. But I say unto you, 28. Kyo&gt; :s A 7(0 j;x:v OT . -i;
that every one that looketh on o ^AE-MV yjvaiy.a ::pb^ TO EztOjuiTj-ai
a woman to lust after her hath aJTYJv, TJCY; E^ot /EurEv a^Tr;/ EV TT,
committed adultery with her xapcfa sajToj.

already in his heart.

29. And if thy right eye 29. Et cs. 6 6^
causeth thee to stumble-, pluck ce;to? -xavtaX^e:
it out, and cast it from thee; /-a: ^aXs azb -oJ: r
for it is profitable for thee that * i-o Xr^Tat v TWV
one of thy members should H-" / " AOV "^ -iT&gt;^.a
perish, and not thy whole body 7vvav.

be cast into hell.

30. And if thy right hand 3- Ka! ei r t C;-.a roj y_:p
causeth thee to stumble, cut it -xavBaXcIet -, exxo-yov aJTr ( v xal
off, and cast it from thee: for ^^XE a-o joi: z j ^zifz . yap sot Yva
it is profitable for thee that azoXr^ai iv TWV JXSAWV -oj xal ^Y;
one of thy members should j w "" &gt; "wxa ^oj el; 7vvav
perish, and not thy whole body azeXOfi.

go into hell.

31. It was said also: AVho- 3 1 - Epp^Qr, C 5; av d-oA

soever shall put away his wife, V T uvotlxa aiToi, COTOJ aJ

let him give her a writing of azo
divorcement:

MATT. V. 27 32 151

32. But I say unto you, 32. Eyw Be Xeyo) yjji.lv OTC

that every one that putteth za; 6 cbroXywv TT^V yuvar/.a aJTou

away his wife, saving for the -rcapsx-cbq XoyouTcopveia? rcoiet ayrrjv

cause of fornication, maketh aor/suOf^va ., -/.at 6 aTroXeXuaevirjv

her an adulteress: and whoso- you^-a? ^cr/S-ra ..
ever shall marry her that is put
away committeth adultery.

The rot? apxaiois in this text has only the support of L, M,
and A of the uncial codices, of a few minuscule codices, and of
the Peshitto and Vulgate among the versions. It is a very
doubtful reading, but its omission or retention does not
substantially alter the sense of the text. In the thirtieth verse,
we find the reading (3\r)0y efc yeevvav in E, G, K, L, M, S, U,
V, T, A, et al.

In the thirty-second verse, instead of the 6 cnroXvwv of
our text, D, E, G, S, U and V have o&lt;? av cnroXvcrr).

A great divergency exists among the codices regarding the
last member of the thirty-second verse. D and some others
omit it. N, E, K, L, M, et al., have ical eav (nro\e\v^vr]V
70/^0-77. Tischendorf adopts this reading: but Westcott and
Hort inclose the passage in parentheses as doubtful.

In Exodus, XX. 14, the commandment was given by
Yahveh through Moses to man: "Thou shall not commit
adultery. The mere letter of the law forbade the carnal union
of man and woman, outside of lawful marriage. It is by no
means limited to an unlawful union \vhich violates the marriage
contract. The word ^&O of the original Hebrew signifies any

- T

unlawful carnal union. Under the head of adultery are also
included all acts which partake of the nature of illicit carnal
union. Christ spiritualizes this law by declaring that not only
the external act, but any voluntary conception of it, which is
consented to in the mind, constitutes an adultery in the heart
of man. This is a classic text to prove the unlawfulness of
morose sensual delectation. By the word woman is represented
any individual of the human female sex. Now the only thing
for us to elucidate here is the exact act of the mind that the
Saviour specifies here as the looking upon a woman to lust
after her.

152 MATT. V. 27 32

It is evident that the looking, here condemned by Christ,
is not the mere fixing of the eyes upon a creature of God. It
is the making of the woman an object of the mind to the
gratification of the carnal appetite. The Lord s teaching is
spiritual, and the spirit of it carries more than the mere words
state. He speaks of looking upon a woman, but thereby it is
not stated that to sin it is necessary to actually see the woman
with corporal eyes. A concrete example is chosen to inculcate
that an internal consent to any unclean mental creation is a
defilement of the heart, like in nature to the defilement that
comes by the outward act.

In this we are aided by the ethical principle that it is
unlawful to desire what it is unlawful to use and enjoy.
Therefore every voluntary desire of such a relation with
woman, which if acted would be unlawful, is forbidden by the
words of Christ. The affection of the will is twofold. There
is a real purpose and intention of obtaining a coveted good,
and this is called an efficacious desire. This is the formal
element of a human act, and constitutes one moral whole with
the external act. This desire, of course, is subject to the same
law that regulates the external act, and applied to the theme
in treatment; even the Pharisees must have acknowledged that
such intention was forbidden by the commandment against
adultery. But there is another affection of the will, which is
properly called morose delectation. This consists in a mere
complacence in the thought of an illicit object, without the
intention of obtaining it. It is called morose from Latin mora,
not solely on account of the time which it endures, for it may be
committed in a moment of time. But it is called morose from
the fact that the mind rests in such contemplation after the
intellect has adverted to the malice of the contemplated act
or object, and also because very often the contemplation
continues for some period of time.

Now although the words of the Saviour reprobate all
internal acts of lust, they aim especially at this species of
mental conceptions. And although the mere words speak only
of the lusting after a woman, the spirit of his teaching extends
the truth to every internal delighting in any impure object. It
thus results that deliberate voluntary consent of the mind to

MATT. V. 27 -32 153

delight in the contemplation of any unlawful sexual object is a
mortal sin. But two things are required. The object must be
unlawful, and the act of the mind must be free and deliberate.

It is not difficult to see the reason of this prohibition.
The sexual faculty in man is ordained for the propagation of
the race. The propagation of the race is regulated by certain
fundamental laws. Any disorder in these important laws is
an attack upon the essential order of man s life. Now the
Author of nature, to insure the preservation of the species,
has given to man a strong propensity to exercise the act of
generation: and there is attached thereto intense delight.
But in the forbidden thought, man by the power of imagination
represents this object as present in the ideal order, and thus
induces a commotion of nature, which is a disordered act,
because it is not ordained to a proper end. There is in it a
certain frustration of nature s designs, inasmuch as the delight
is in a measure experienced, without the end for which such
delight was ordained ; and moreover, that which is essentially
evil is made the object of man s delight. Moreover, by such
contemplation a psychologic change is wrought in the man.
His animal nature is excited, and obtains the ascendency.
There is affected a blunting in all the finer spiritual powers of
his being. There is in man a continual conflict between the
animal powers and the spiritual powers, and the lust of the
flesh raises the animal, and depresses the spiritual. Finally,
there is something mysterious in the sanctity of purity of soul
and the sinfulness of the opposite vice. In that awful primal
mystery by which mankind became a fallen race, the sin of the
flesh was involved more than we know; and in our re -entrance
through Christ on our lost estate, our struggling against this
disorder of our being is a necessary condition of salvation.

In the twenty-eight and twenty-ninth verses, the Lord
promulgates the necessity of breaking away from the proximate
occasions of sin. It may be that the theme was suggested by
the foregoing doctrine, inasmuch as the love of woman is often
such occasion of sin. Now it often happens that a man, who
in his heart hates the sin he commits, falls into such sin, because
he is attached to some object that is the occasion of that sin.
In the estimation of men, among the organs of sense the most

i54 MATT. V. 27- 32

excellent are the hand and the eye. Also the right member is
ahvays considered as the most valuable. Xow these two
members, so dear to man, are taken as symbols of any object
about which man s heart has grown. And the Saviour says
that if that loved object scandalize man, that is, dnu\s him
into sin, let him sever his connection therewith and cast it
from him. Every word is full of meaning. Not only is the
man to break this attachment to the object, but he is to repel
the object, and establish a moral distance between himself and
such object, that it may not fasten itself again upon him.
That the Lord s w&lt; axis here are metaphorical is plainly evident.
But some vainly endeavor to specify what particular thing is
meant by the right eye, and what by the right hand. No
particular thing is meant by either. The Lord simply by the
powerful figure declares that if there be anything which draws
a man into sin, and if the man hold it dear as his right hand or
eye, he is to cut it off and cast it from him. It is hard to do
this. The Lord had a human heart, and he knew how the
human heart clings to the thing it loves. Hence to move a
man to this necessary renunciation the Lord puts before him
the fear of hell.

When man gives up S &gt;me object of his affections, he feels
the sense of loss. Hut the Lord says it is better to suffer this
loss than to retain the object, and be thereby cast into hell. It
requires an incentive even as strong as the fear of hell to avert,
man from a sinful love.

The illustration employed by the Lord is very beautiful.
The simplest mind readily realizes how dear to man is such a
member of the human body. It is taken as a concrete
representation of the created things which a man loves most.
The human heart is not to attach itself to anything which
demands sin as the price of its possession. This creature may
be riches, power, fame, or a human creature ; love is strong,
but what God commands he gives power to fulfill. A combat
is demanded by God of man, that a man may prove himself
worthy of Heaven. "But God is faithful who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation make a way of escape, that ye may be able to
endure it. " I. Cor. X. 13. In the mighty conflict of the

MATT. V. 3337

forces which war for possession of man s soul these words are
man s absolute trust. Christ knew the mighty power which
creatures exert on man s heart. He arms him for the conflict,
and presents to him the motive which is most potent with
many men.

Now the w r ords of the Lord apply to every occasion of sin,
but it seems that he aimed them especially at sinful sexual love.
In the history of mankind that love has ruined multitudes.
All the other passions are weak, when compared to this. It
blinds a man, and fills him with a consuming flame, nil sapit
amanti. He has interest in nothing but the coveted object.
In the wretched state of such a man, there is nothing that will
move him more efficaciously than the fear of hell.

The thirty-first and thirty-second verses contain one of
the most difficult passages of the Gospel. As the theme is
treated more fully in Matthew XIX. 3 et seqq., to which
passage parallel texts in Mark and Luke correspond, we reserve
our exposition for that place.

MATT. V. 33-37.

33. Again, ye have heard
that it was said to them of old
time: Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, but shalt perform unto
the Lord thine oaths:

33. HiXiv TJxou;&lt;r;e OTC tpp

role ccp-/a(o .;: OUT. I- .opy.^r
azocco-s .c BET (I&gt; Kupfw TOJ; opx

34. But I say unto you:
Swear not at all; neither by
the Heaven, for it is the throne
of God;

35. Nor by the earth, for
it is the footstool of his feet;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the
city of the great King.

36. Neither shalt thou
swear by thy head, for thou
canst not make one hair white
or black.

34. Eyoj Be Xsyw j^-Iv JAY] oao-

-at OAOK, [ATjTc V 7U&gt; OJpOCVO), 071

OpOVO? ESTIV TOJ 00 J,

35. MTJTE ev rfj yf) &lt;&gt; t u~ozo-

B .GV ~T .V TWV 7UOGWV GC jToO, (J^TE

si; lepoCToXujxa, OTC 7:oAt; e-Ttv
70 u asdXo

36. Mr^e ev ty x.?aXf] cou
iosTc OTI oj 86vasai xtav 7f"/a

i^6 MATT. Y. T.T. 77

OO Of

37. But let your speech 37. "Ez~z

be: Yea, yea; Xay, nay: and va- va:, o j o J :

whatsoever is more than these 37. 70 j TTOVY, coj srriv.
is of evil.

In Leviticus, XIX. 12, the words of Yahveh are written:
"And ye shall not swear by my name falsely; so that thou
profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord." The Lord
now perfects this law by deducing therefrom the law of
reverence for God and all God s creatures, and the law of holy
moderation in the Christian s conversation. The Saviour is
here explaining the nature and spirit of the New Law, not
measuring the exact degree of malice of a particular act; hence
his teaching contains counsel and precept, undistinguished in
the C( &gt;nstituti&lt; &gt;n &lt; &gt;f the perfect law &lt; &gt;f man. \Ve must distinguish
the precept from the counsel, on account of man s weakness;
but in studying the nature and spirit of the teaching of Christ,
it is well at times to view it as a whole in its grand spiritual
perfection.

It appears from the Talmud and other authorities that
the Jews made use of frequent oaths. It appears that they
considered an oath lawful, if what was attested was true, or
what was promised was fulfilled. Hence they had a system
of greater and less oaths, which they used frequently in the
different affairs of everyday life.

In dealing with oaths, we may consider them as they
relate to God and to other things. In general an oath is a
solemn attestation or imprecation in support of a declaration,
promise, or vow, by means of an appeal to some personage or
object regarded by the person swearing as high and holy.
When the authority of God is invoked, an oath is a reverent
appeal to God in corrobation of what one says or promises.
Now the literalism of the Jewish teachers recognized not in the
law respecting oaths the necessity of reverence for God and
holy things. The truth of the assertion or promise was alone
regarded. The New Law of Christ inculcates the spirit of
reverence towards God and holy things. The name of God
is holy, and the sanctity of God is assailed when his name and
authority are rashly invoked in the ordinary affairs of life.

MATT. V. 3337 157

The Lord is directly attacking an abuse, but his teaching is
universal in application. An oath is an act of religion, but the
Jews never penetrated to the spirit of reverence which should
pervade it. They were content to escape the condemnation of
the mere letter.

In the first member of his declaration, the Lord in genere
forbids oaths. The Pelagians, Anabaptists, Wiclefites and
other heretics endeavored to prove from this text the unlaw
fulness of all oaths. That this sense is false, is proven from the
Epistles of Paul, from the analogy of faith, and from the
teaching and practice of the Church.

The words of Paul to the Romans, I. 19, contain an oath.
He takes oath again in II. Cor. I. 23: "Moreover I call God
for a witness upon my soul that to spare you I came not as
yet to Corinth. " Again, in Galatians, I. 20, he takes oath
saying: "Now the things which I write unto you, behold
before God, I lie not. " Hence theologians rightly teach that
it is of faith that under proper conditions an oath is lawful.

That an oath be lawful, what is attested must be true, just,
and lawful; the cause must be sufficiently grave, and the act
must proceed discreetly, prudently, and reverently. To main
tain the ends of justice, it is permitted by public authority
to take life. This is not countermanded by the command:
Thou shalt not kill. So in the present case, the Lord had not
in mind to forbid legal and necessary oath-taking, but only the
irreverent spirit of the literalism of the Jews, that carried the
oath into all the petty affairs of life, on the assumption that all
was lawful, if the attested fact was true and the sworn promise
was maintained. The question of oaths is treated by the Lord
not solely on account of the disorder in the act itself, but to
illustrate a new and broader mode of interpreting God s law.

Having regulated, in the first member, the issue regarding
oaths, whose formal element was the appeal to the authority
of the Deity, he, in the second place, discourages the minor
oaths which had become common among the Jewish people.
The bare letter of the Law said naught concerning these oaths,
and the teachers of Israel restricted the Law to that which the
bare letter stated.

158 MATT. V. 3337

The attitude of the teachers of Israel on this point appears
again from Matt. XXIII. 16: "Woe unto you, blind guides,
who say: Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing;
but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a
debtor. "

It is the general teaching of the Church that an oath is
constituted by the invocation of the more noble of God s
creatures, in which his majesty and truth in a special manner
are reflected. This is also true of things in an eminent manner
consecrated to God s service. It is for moralists to examine
and weigh the different formulas, and the objective and
subjective conditions to be verified. One can never seize the
substance of the Xew Law by mere attention to the casuistic
measurement of sins. Such scientific knowledge is good, but
more than that is needed. The Saviour did more than place
before man the grosser crimes and their punishments. He
called man to be perfect, and gave him the truths whereby to
effect the command. I lence, there are the finer elements in his
teaching that apply to the man who is d( &gt;ing more than merely
avoiding hell.

Though the Saviour specifies only Heaven, earth, and one s
head here, he includes in these all the sublime creatures of
God, which may be made the object of an oath. Xow in these
matters the moralist asks what is mortal, and is but slightly
concerned with what is in a less degree sinful. But Christ
pointed out what was wrong and opposed to the spirit of the
Gospel.

To take oath by Heaven without a proportionate and just
cause is wrong, because Heaven bears the special relation to
God of being his throne. Of course, the manners and customs
of the people must be taken into account in weighing the
malice of such an action. The common people usually do not
advert to this special relation to God in the more eminent of
his creatures, and therefore in their case, on account of the
subjective condition of their minds, the formula is not an oath.
But the Saviour spoke of the act in se, and as it disagrees with
the spirit of the New Law.

The spirit of reverence for the Creator forbids also an oath
by the earth, since it is designated by God himself as his

MATT. V. 33 37 T 59

footstool: "Thus saith the Lord: The Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool." Is. LXVI. i. Among the
articles of furniture of a human habitation, the footstool holds
a vile and menial place. Now when we look upon the earth
with all its natural powers and beauty, and consider that it
is only in the lowest rank of God s creatures, we are awed by
the infinite majesty of him who can rightly call such a relatively
mighty creature his footstool.

The people of that day recognized the formal relation of
the earth to its Creator. This relation gave to the earth a
certain sacredness, which disposed it as the object of appeal of
an oath. And yet they felt themselves free in using these oaths
indiscriminately, since no express prohibition of them existed.
It was one of the many points where the narrowness of the
letter was superseded by the breadth of the spiritual law.

Another oath common to the Jews was an oath by the holy
city of Jerusalem. The human mind seeks a certain element
of holiness in the object by which it corroborates a statement.
Now in the Old Law, this element resided in Jerusalem. It
had been selected by God as the place where his glory should
dwell, and as a type of Heaven itself. Hence, in the estimation
of the men of that age, it was a holy object. And this city,
sub formali respectu sanctitatis suaz, was taken as the formal
constituent of frequent and rash oaths, on the assumption that
they thereby broke no divine law.

The divergency between the law of the letter and the law
of the spirit is well brought out in the whole passage. One of
the fundamental principles of a religious temper of mind is a
reverence for everything that is related to God and his worship.
In fact the religious man will continually elicit reverential
thoughts of God from the evidences of God s act in creation.

Finally, the Lord forbids the act of taking oath by one s
head. The Lord is illustrating the grand heights of reverence
to which the New Law leads man. The Lord looked at
the issue from his standpoint. He was the man of perfect
discernment in the things of the soul s life. He grasped
comprehensively the whole life of the soul, and he could note
and set forth every imperfection in human thought, intention,
and act. To confirm a statement by an oath by one s head

i oo MATT. V. 3337

&gt;s against the right order of things for several reasons. First,
this kind of oath is called an imprecation, in which one makes
of such member a solemn pledge of the truth of a statement.
And the constituting of such a pledge supposes the absolute
dominion of the member in the person swearing, and this is
false. Man has not such dominion over his members. He
can not change the laws of nature regarding his life or his
members. That dominion belongs to God. Of course, the
Lord is speaking to people who interpreted such formula as a
solemn oath, although they flippantly used it. Hence the deep
philosophical reflections of the Lord apply to them. With us
such formula of oath does not exist, and its utterance would
be considered a jest.

In saying that no man can make one hair white or black,
he understands this &lt; &gt;f a change by affecting the laws of nature.
The Lord thereby impresses upon them a deep sense of God s
ownership of men.

Finally the Lord lays down what should be the method
of affirming or denying for the Christian. The only emphasis
that the Lord allows is the repetition of the affirmative or
m-gative particle.

The Lord here lays down not an absolute precept, whose
infraction would be a mortal sin, but the grand law of perfec
tion, whose infraction is a defect. He is placing before us a
grand ideal to guide us in our communications with our fellow-
men. The intercourse of Christians should be characterized
by the spirit of moderation and reverence. In fact, not the
bare letter but the spirit of that passage in the discourse of
Christ should regulate all our conversations and dealings with
our fellow men.

There is much divergency of opinion regarding the exact
entity that is meant by the Troz^po? in the final clause. Many
interpret it of moral evil in general, and explain the passage
that all oaths participate in some degree of the evil principle.
Of course, the Lord is not speaking of oaths justified by some
legal or other just cause. They believe therefore that the Lord
placed all these flippant and unnecessary oaths in one great
class, and the class is evil, and he leaves indeterminate the
grade of evil that they severally possess. The second opinion

MATT. V. 3337 161

differs from the first only in this, that Satan himself is
understood by the 7701/77/30 ?. Satan is not a passive
personification of evil, but an active agent who conducts with
great skill a warfare, and marshals under his standard every
evil force in the universe. Everything that is opposed in any
degree to that which is good in that same degree makes for
Satan. He sets in motion those currents of thought and
movements which weaken the supernatural in man, and debase
man s life. Not only does he act on the individual by personal
suggestion and incitation, but he is operative in all those
general movements of the world s thought and action which
are opposed to righteousness. The Lord was dealing with one
such issue. He points out the falseness of the persuasion of
the teachers of Israel ; gives the reasons for his own position ;
and closes by establishing the grand norm of Christian life in
the discourse of man to man. Now it matters not whether we
understand by the Tro^r/joo ?, evil in general, or Satan the head
and promoter of evil. In fact, the comprehensive concept of
evil includes all the evil forces of the world, together with
their head, conceived as one complex principle of all evil.
After having in general forbidden all oaths, the Lord extends
the issue, and declares that everything that violates the calm,
sober, reverential tenor of human speech is of the nature of
such evil principle.

The grand ideal of perfect human life is not a vulgar
conception, consisting in mere exemption from grave sin. It
is the right development of all the powers that go to the
building up of human life. It is that fine adjustment and
equipoise of all the powers of intellect and will, and a vital
growth in all those fine elements, "which can not be known
without careful soul study, nor attained without a fine love of
high ideals, and a sustained discipline of our whole nature.
Christ in person is the perfect model of all this perfection,
and his words and example are the guide for the part that we
may attain of it.

(11) Gosp. II.

1 62 MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 27 37

MATT. V. 38-48; LUKE VI. 27-37.

38. IIxo JTXTS OT: sppr,0r ( : 27. AX// 6yuv Xeyw TO;

o ?OaX;jibv dv7l OyOaX;j.oj xal osov7a axououjcv, Ayazi7 TOJ^ r/Opo:/

39. Eyco 5s Xsyd) J ^v JJLT; 28. EJXoysi7 706; xatapto;jLs-
ivT .rrtjva . TO) ZOVY;P&lt;O, aXX 0-7 .^ vou; J^i^, rpoaeuxe^Qe ^sf " (i)V
rs pa-i ^,; . sU 7T;v Es;-.iv r .ayova err; psxiov7a&gt;v j;j.a;.

joj r7pl yov aJ7(;&gt; x.a! 7T ( v aXXr,v.

29. T (;) 7 J7T70V7( JS ert 7T)V

r-.^Yciva ripsxi xal 7Tjv aXXr^v: xal

irb 70 J alpov70^ ~OLI 70 i;xa7tov,
/.a I 7ov y/.7wva ^T; xwXujfl.;.

40. Kai 7(;&gt; OiXovT-i roi xp-.O^va-.
xal 7ov x .70)va roj XaSs-v a;s; aJ70)
xa: 70 i;j.a7 .ov.

41. Kzl or7 .; " ayyaps jJSt
jxtXiov sv, J -ays (JL37 aj70J GJO.

42. T(;&gt; a!7oJv7 ", 26;, xal 7ov 30. IIav7i a!70Jv7t TS 6f5ou:
OsXovTi a-b -oj SavsiraTOz . ^f, xal izb 70 J aipo&gt;7o; 72 -i [XT]
d-o-pa?^;. az2i7i.

43. IlxvJrrrc 07-. sppT/r ( :

ayazT,rs .; 7ov rXr.-iov -oj xal tJLi V 31. Kal xaOco; OIXs7c tva zot-

~=\^ 7ov r/Opov roj. w tv j (jL:v oi avGpwzot, (xal i/ ^ets)

,,, ,-,, - , - zo-.s:7 aJ70i^ O.JLOCO^.

44. Eyw 23 Asyd) ja .v, aya-

ri7 70 u&lt;; IvOpouq 6^.(I&gt;v (uX

1.2. Kai t ayarra7 70 j; aya-
, , ,

-wv 2c; ^,J-2,-, zoca j ^ .v xpt; SJTIV;

, % \

x. , r - xal vap oi a p JLap7to/.oi 70 j^ aya-

XpOJEUVEjOs (j-cp 70)V ZT,pa&gt;,OV-

.1 , . . , - s- , 7T(I)V7a; aj7oj; ayaztortv.

7wv J ^a; "/.a:) jzsp 7ojv ota&gt;xov7G&gt;v

j^xi;.

33. Kal vap lav dyaOozoc^7

45- "0o? ysv^Os uiol 70. TO , ; iva0oro[ ^ VTa; GjJL5 . f ;,,

na7pb; ^cov 70, sv 70:; o.pavo:,, .^ ^ .^^ xa , Q . ^ apt( , )Xo ;

07. 7bv r-Xcov a,70, avacreXXei ^ a /,. ^^-.^
zovT^pou? xal ayaOoj; xa-. ^psy.st
Izl C .xatosj,- xal aor/.o j;. ^ 4 j^^, i 2V Savd^s zap wv

46. Eav yap ayazr ( rr,t 70 j; sXz ^srs Xa6stv, zo:a i;xtv -/apt?;

ayazwv7a; Jaa;, -r-va J.-.rObv r/7s; xal a;j.ap70)Xol i^apTuXot? Savet-

ouyl xal ot 7Xwva . 70 a J70 zoto jj .v ; ^oustv, ?va azoAaooj- .v 7a taa.

MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 27 37 163

47. Ka! lav djTcdjTjjOs TOU; 35. OX^v dyaxohre toil? e^Opou?

53X90 u; u jj-wv ^ovov, T! Zpic:c7bv u^xwv, xa! dyaOo7:otclT xa! Savst ^STS
)CtT; ojy_! xa! ot lOvtxot TO aijib ^Slv dxeXirt^ovTe?, xa! gj-rat 6

TToXu;, xa! IjcjOc uco!

48. "EjsjOs ouv u;j.t; TcXs .ot IT:! TOLI; dr/apf-Tou; xa! Tovv-pou;.

to; 6 HaTTip ujitov 6 oupavco; TlXsco;

|__, v 36. rfvj6c or/.7 !p^.ov;, xaOwc

6 na7Tjp U^ld)V OtXTtj

37. Ka! JJLT] Xp(v=T, Xa! O j JJLT]

xpt6f]7: xa! ^LT] otxa^T, xa! o J [j.r t
StxajOfirs: azoXusTc xal dzoXu-

38. Ye have heard that it 27. But I say unto you
was said: An eye for an eye, who hear: Love your enemies,
and a tooth for a tooth: do good to them that hate

you,

28. Bless them that curse
you, pray for them that despite-
fully use you.

39. But I say unto you: 29. To him that smiteth
Resist not him that is evil; thee on the one cheek offer
but whosoever smiteth thee also the other; and from him
on thy right cheek, turn to that taketh away thy cloak

him the other also.

40. And if any man would
go to law with thee, and take
away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also.

41. And whosoever shall
compel thee to go one mile,
go with him two.

withhold not thy coat also.

42. Give to him that asketh 30. Give to every one that

thee, and from him that would asketh thee; and of him that

borrow of thee, turn not thou taketh away thy goods ask

away. them not again.

164

MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 2737

31. And as ye would that
men should do to you, do ye
also to them likewise.

32. And if ye love them
that love you, what reward have
ye 5 for even sinners love those
that love them.

33. And if ye do good to
them that do good to you, what
reward have ye? for even sinners
do the same.

34. And if ye lend to them
of whom ye hope to receive
what reward "have ye? even,
sinners lend to sinners, to
receive again as much.

35. But love your enemies,
ami do them good, and lend,
never despairing; and your
reward shall be great, and
ye shall be sons of the Most
High: for he is kind toward
the unthankful and evil.

36. Be ye merciful, even as
your Father is merciful.

37. And judge not, and ye
shall not be judged: and con
demn not, and ye shall not be
condemned: release and ye
shall be released:

These words do not contain absolute literal precepts.
They, as far as words can avail, portray the genius of the
perfect nature of the New Dispensation. It is difficult to
adequately clothe in words the high nature of the New Law.
It has heights on heights of perfection, which can not be
described by words, but only perceived by the spiritual insight
of the man purified by having passed through the first degrees
of soul-cleansing.

43. Ye have heard that it
was said: Thou shalt love thy
neighbor. and hate thine
enemy :

44. But I say unto you:
Love your enemies, and pray
for them that persecute you;

45. That ye may be sons
of your Father who is in
Heaven: for he maketh his sun
to rise on the evil and the good,
and sendeth rain on the just
and the unjust.

46. For if ye love them
that love you, what reward
have ye? do not even the pub
licans the same

47. And if ye salute your
brethren only, what do ye more
than others? do not even the
Gentiles the same

48. Ye therefore shall be
perfect, as your heavenly Father
is perfect.

MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 27 37 165

As a norm of Christian life the Lord here represents the
high and perfect ideal of the Gospel of non-resistance. The
Lord taught us the absolute precepts of the Law, and then sets
forth the perfect ideal to which the soul should aspire. His
message would be incomplete, if it left the soul merely in its
middle course, above sin, but yet not God -like. Hence the close
of this chapter is one grand appeal to the soul to aspire after
the highest ideals of perfection. We shall look in vain for the
fulfilment of these words in the life of men of the world. In
fact, their perfect observance is only found in the perfect saint.
They contain the supreme bound of human perfection; but
their spirit must in some measure move all those who follow
Christ.

In inspecting these parallel passages, we first note that
Matthew alone draws a comparison between the old and new
orders of truth, whereas Luke enunciates only the perfect law
of the New Covenant. The reason is obvious. Matthew wrote
for Israel, to whom it was useful to show the evolution of the
new order out of the old. The Jews were attached to that
which of old had been given them, and it was necessary to
move them upward, not by reprobating the old, but by showing
the greater comprehensiveness of the new. Luke wrote for a
more universal end. His Gospel had the spirit of Paul s
preaching. Luke presented his truths to the whole world
made up of all the races of men. Wherefore his conception of
the truth and his forms of expression fit this universal end.
The great Gentile world had no communication of divine truth.
They had no position to which to cling; and hence, without
adverting to the partial law that had preceded, Luke presents
the law of the Gospel as an independent communication of
truth. This difference in mode of presentation of the same
truth is also observable in the fact that, where Matthew uses
the word edvttcoi, Luke substitutes the term a^apT(a\oi. To
the Jewish mind the eOvi/cos, the Gentile, was a synonym for a
godless man, and an abomination. Such conception was true
then. Hence St. Matthew could rightly employ the term to
signify one who recognized no supernatural law or reward.
But the advent of Christ changed the condition of the world;
and no longer was the name Gentile synonymous with the

i66 MATT. V. 38- 48; LUKE VI. 27 37.

unbeliever. St. Luke, therefore, modifies the expression to
fit his universal scope, and employs the word, sinner, to signify
him who lives not for any supernatural ends. It seems quite
probable that Christ employed the term used by Matthew, as
being more forcible for his immediate hearers. The term is
only used by him by way of illustration, and the substantial
sense of the passage is in no way affected by Luke s
modification.

There are some important variants in the text of Matthew.
The first occurs in the Vulgate rendering of the thirty-ninth
verse. In the Greek text of the Vatican and Sinaitic codices,
we find paTTt&i, the present tense of the verb to strike.
Tischendorf, \Vestcott and Hort endorse this reading. It
agrees with Luke, and is undoubtedly the true reading. A
number of Greek codices have paTriaei, the future, and this the
Vulgate has followed in rendering the verb pcrcusscrit.

Another variant occurs in the forty-first verse of Matthew.
In Beza s codex this verse closes as follows: vTra^e per UVTOV
en a XXa &vo. The greater number of codices of the
Vulgate follow this reading. But the great authority of the
Vatican codex and other great Greek codices plainly establish
the reading: inrayt ^er avrov Bvo, which we have followed
in the version. The present reading of the Vulgate destroys
the harmony of conception of the entire argument. There is
a certain grace in the plan of argument, if we follow the Greek
text. The things are arranged in pairs. If one cheek is
smitten, turn the other: if one garment is taken, freely give
the other; and the harmony of plan would demand: If thou be
forced to go one mile, go freely another. This harmony is
broken, if we follow the Vulgate reading.

A very important variant appears in the forty-fourth
verse. In the Vatican and Sinaitic codices the proposition has
only two members ajmrare ToC&lt;? %@pov&lt;; vpatv, teal Trpoacv^eaOe
vTrep TWV 8to)Kovro)v v/j.as. Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort
endorse this reading. It has the support of the Coptic version,
of Cureton s Syriac version, of three minuscule codices, and of
Theophylactus, Origen, Irenaeusand Cyprian. Another reading

inserts the members, ev\oyelT rot/? KcnapwfjLevovs O^ta?, tca\a)S

rot? f^iaovaiv u/xa?, between the two members found in

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 167

the Vatican codex. This reading has the authority of codices
D, E, K, L, M, S, U, A, II, and others; of several codices of
the Vetus Itala, of the Gothic, Peshitto, Armenian, Ethiopian
versions, and of several Fathers.

At the close of the verse the order of the words differs
in the different codices. We are not aware that the order
followed by the Vulgate exists in any Greek codex. In the
Vatican and Sinaitic codices the series of words v-rrep r&v e-rrr,-
pea&vrtov vnfc icai is omitted, while in the codices which defend
the aforesaid members these words are inserted immediately
after the Trpoaevx^Oe. Though the weight of intrinsic
authority gives to these readings a certain degree of probability,
it is more probable that they were brought into the text from
the Gospel of Luke. They all exist in the parallel text of Luke,
and we know that it is of frequent occurrence, that passages
have been transcribed from one Evangelist into the text of
another, as though the writer were moved by the persuasion
that in the discourses of the Lord the Evangelists should agree
in everything.

In the forty-sixth verse, the future tense of %, efcre,
is found in D, and in a few other authorities. The Vulgate
translation is built on this reading. The weight of authority
and the context persuade us that the present tense should stand
in this place. The reading adopted by the Vulgate may have
arisen from the fact that this reward is a future thing. But
this conception is not obscured by using the present tense;
for by the figure of metonymy of cause and effect, the reward,
which is the effect, and a future thing, is identified with its
cause, the right acquired by Christian action, which is a present

reality.

In verse forty-seven, the codices E, K, L, M, S, U, A, II,
and some few other authorities support the reading &lt;J&gt;i\ow,
but the high authority of N, B, D, and Z, and of the versions
render the reading a8eA&lt;ov? certain. On the authority of the
Vatican and Sinaitic codices, we also read eQvucoi in the same
verse, which reading is followed by the Vulgate. The same
codices which defended the reading &lt;j&gt;t\ow, support xeWat
instead of e6vuco(, and the Peshitto follows their reading. It is
probable that the variant arose from an erroneous attempt to

i68 MATT. V. 38-48; LUKE VI. 2737

make the term used by Matthew in the forty-seventh verse
identical with that used in the forty-sixth verse. It is far
more reasonable to suppose that, in the discourse of the Lord,
the two different terms were used for the grace of diction.

In Exodus, XXI. 24, the lex talionis was enunciated as
follows: "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot
for foot. In Leviticus, XXIV. 20, it is repeated in the same
terms. Finally in Deuteronomy, XIX. 21, we read: "And
thine eye shall not pity; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. " The lex talionis was not
restricted to the Hebrew people. Such law existed among the
ancient Greeks and Romans, and they traced its origin back to
the fabled Rhadamanthus. It was one of the statutes of the
twelve tabk-s. The interpretation of this law as given us by
Josephus is as follows: "He that maimeth any one, let him
undergo the like himself, and he deprived of the same member
of which he hath deprived the other, unless he that is maimed
will accept of money instead of it, for the law makes the
sufferer the judge of the value of what he hath suffered, and
permits him to estimate, unless he will be more severe."
Antiq. IV. VIII. 35.

Many believe that the words of the Jewish law in this
passage are to be interpreted metaphorically. They believe
the sense of the law to be that he who inflicted a personal injury
upon a neighbor should be punished by a line, which in the
judgment of the judge should be held equal to the injury
inflicted. They shrink from the conception of men proceeding
to pull out a man s tooth, or pluck out his eye, or cut off his
hand or foot, as a punishment for crime. We rind no record
of any such execution in the history of the Old Testament.
But then why preface a statement by the solemn formula,
thine eye shall not pity, if there was only a question of a
pecuniary fine? The code of Aristotle recognized an actual
forfeiture of a bodily member in like case. Again, in Deu
teronomy the enunciation of the law begins by the statute
of life for life. Every one understands this literally. How
absurd then to twist the next members, which are closely
united to the first, and promulgated in the most solemn way,
into a mere fine? We believe therefore that, in the case of

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 169

injury of life or limb, the Mosaic law held the offender to the
forfeiture of the same in his own person. Therefore it gave the
judges the right to condemn such a criminal to be deprived of
life or limb. It is nothing that such a conception of justice
should conflict with our notions of justice. Society was then
in a ruder state. The object of the law was not to satisfy the
vindictive tendency in man, but to eliminate crime by the
severity of justice. The execution of the sentence was not by
private authority, but by the organized tribunal of judges.
Moreover, it may have been that the actual execution of the
sentence was rarely or never effected in Israel. Without doubt,
murders were committed in that people, and punished by life
for life, but the crime of depriving a man of a member is not
a usual crime in any people. The severity of the punishment,
and the strange nature of the crime may have caused the crime
to be unknown in Israel. Again, it may have been that the
judges were empowered to change the punishment into some
work of satisfaction in favor of the injured party, and at his
request. What we vindicate for the words of the law is that
they sanction an actual forfeiture of life for life, and limb for
limb. Such sense of the words existed in the popular mind,
and was contemplated in the w T riter s mind. This true and
literal conception of the sense of the words formed the value
of the law in preventing all bodily injuries.

In contrast to this statute of the Law, the Lord places the
Christian s norm of conduct. Under the three heads of injury
to the body, injury to property, and injury to honor and liberty
the Lord understands every species of injury receivable from
the neighbor. Now it must be borne in mind that the Lord is
not laying down principles of criminal and civil jurisprudence.
He does not therein condemn human laws which provide a
system of punishment for crime. The laws of society must
be framed to meet the exigencies of a sinful world. They
contemplate unregenerate man, as he is under the sway of
natural motives. But the doctrine of Christ here propounded
is a clear call to the spiritual man. The Christian must live
in a world governed by other laws than these. He must
observe human laws, and preserve the social order. But in
his inner heart, there is another law unknown to the world,

170 MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 27 37

though clearly enunciated; impossible to the world, though
wise and beautiful. Man can not live the life of the world,
and observe that inner law. The more man is imbued with the
thought of the world, the more impossible will this sublime
code appear. It condenses a world of thought into a few brief
sentences. The fulness of the soul of Christianity is there
portrayed. These words establish the grand ideal of Christian
toleration of injuries. Such ideals are the hope of the world.
They head us in the direction of the supernatural in motive and
act. Xo man can raise that ideal higher. Few, very few
attain to its fulness, but it benefits even those who come short
of its utmost bound. It forms a point towards which to strive.
Every effort in its direction makes for the kingdom of God.
All that it proposes is intrinsically possible, and the higher
man rises in the scale of being, the closer will he come to that
perfect law of human life. Perhaps there is no passage in the
Gospel where the contrast between the life of the world and the
life of the Christian is more strikingly p&lt; &gt;rtrayed. The contrast
between the spirit of the Old Law and the spirit of the New
appears in this. The perfect observer of the Old Law placed
his ideal in a conformity with the statutes of the Law. He
never aspired to anything more perfect than faithful observance
of the Law. That law regulated all the affairs of human life.
It never contemplated the heights of spiritual perfection of the
New. But the Christian, living under the laws of man to
regulate social order, recognizes a higher law, to the observance
of which no human tribunal coerces him. That law does not
conflict with human statutes, but it forms a secret law of the
spirit received only by the spiritual man, and followed only by
him. The great, busy, noisy world goes on its way oblivious of
the deep sense of these words, but the few of God s perfect ones
keep them in their hearts as a motive of conduct that the world
knows not of. A man may conceive his duty more narrowly,
and escape reprobation, without reproducing in his life the
fulness of the perfection here proposed. From the minimum
required to keep a man out of hell to the highest bound of
human perfection there are many degrees. The Lord stands at
the top, and invites us to the highest; and if the aspiration is

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 171

fixed there, the achievement will be something, and the words
will have a profitable effect even though the summit be not
reached.

The term TTO 1/77/00 ? in the clause: "resist not him that is
evil," signifies the character of one who unjustly injures the
person, property, or fame of the one addressed in the discourse.
The Lord first enunciates the broad fundamental principle of
non-resistance to evil, and then proceeds to illustrate it by
concrete illustrations.

Knowing perfectly the nature of the human mind, the
Lord did not propose his doctrines as abstract principles,
but employed parables and concrete examples. He takes,
therefore, a blow upon the cheek as an example of bodily insult
and injury. The example is aptly chosen, since it is an action
that the natural bent of human nature is quick to resent, and
it has been received of old in the code of the w T orld as sufficient
provocation for a quarrel. It is not the pain or the lesion
inflicted that moves the irascible in man, but the insult which
human nature feels in receiving such blow. Now, of course,
the specific act is made a head under which is included every
species of insult and injury.

Some have found a difficulty in the fact that Matthew
speaks of a blow upon the right cheek. In Luke we find no
designation of the particular cheek. Of course the substance
of the proposition is simply, if smitten on one cheek turn the
other. But in explaining the detail of the right cheek, as
mentioned by Matthew, we are led to the following reflections.
A blow is usually delivered with the right hand, and a blow
thus delivered would not light on the right cheek, but on the
left. Discarding certain improbable opinions, which have been
advanced in solution of this, we are led to the following
conclusions. The right side of the body and the right members
are usually mentioned in statements where a side of the human
body, or a member is used for illustration. Now it is certain
that the Lord simply followed the custom of human speech
in giving priority to the right member. In the words of
Maldonatus : "Non caedendi sed loquendi usum Christus secutus
est. " It is only a mind filled with a spirit of equivocation
that will find anything incongruous in this statement of St.

1 72 MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 27 37

Matthew. The .proper object for the mind to rest on is that a
blow has been received on the cheek, and the right cheek is
mentioned, in accordance with the general priority of the right
member, without adverting to the exact mode of delivering the
blow. Moreover, if the person delivering the blow be not
directly in front, but standing at the right side, as frequently
happens, the blow with the right hand would light upon the
right cheek. But it seems that no thought was given by the
speaker to the mode of delivering the blow. There is a
beautiful antithesis in the contrast of the New Law with
the Old. The Old Law said: Like punishment for like in
jury. The perfection of the Xew Law says: Seek not thy
vindication, but offer thyself to receive another injury from
him who has smitten thee. The words give man the perfect
spiritual law in his dealings with man. In this and the
following sentences, the Lord stops at no half measures. It is
as though he f&lt; &gt;r a moment lost sight of selfish man, engrossed
with his own interests, and looking aloft, contemplated man on
the highest plane on which he can stand. Xow the spirit of
these words should be the spirit of the Christian s life. The
changed customs of people will only modify the details.
Prudence also will regulate the deeds of a life which moves in
this spirit. The conscience of man can always have recourse
to these sublime words to be certified whether the spirit of
Christ rules the conduct of man. They are not for the forum
of the world; they are too perfect for the vulgar life. They
are paradoxical to the worldly sense. Indeed, men have gone
so far as to assert that this code, if put into effect, would
subvert society by removing all restraint from the wicked.
This view is founded on a misconception. These high counsels
of Christ are n&lt; &gt;t intended to take the place of human law. A
certain divine Providence rules in human society, and prevents
that the wide-spread wickedness of man should subvert all law
and order. But within society s system of laws is this higher
law, which regulates acts which are above the domain of human
law. No danger will ever come to society from this grand
Gospel of non-resistance. But the more of this spirit that
pervades society, the nobler and better will be the life of man.

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 i?3

It may never be verified in our lives that we be struck on
the cheek by any man, but it will be oft verified that we are
called to submit to actions of the class of which this is taken
as a representative. The words exhort us to perfect forgiveness
of injuries, to disarm wrath by the power of meekness.

By reflection we can form in our minds an idea of the
disposition of mind that would be in the mind of the man, who
having received a blow on the cheek, would in perfect meekness
turn the other. That disposition of mind should be the object
of our aspirations, prayers and efforts, and if the disposition
be strongly fixed there, the application of it to the various
events of life will follow logically. But the enterprise is a
difficult one. All the propensities of crude nature rise up
against the counsel of Christ. A mightier power of the super
natural must rise up and put down the "old nature." When
ever the follower of Christ receives a personal insult or injury,
filled with the spirit of these words, let him say : This is a
blow on the cheek, and my duty is plain. It may safely be left
to the conscience and judgment of each follower of Christ to
determine the mode in which to turn the other cheek.

The spirit of these words moved Christ in his own life.
In Isaiah he says: "I gave my "back to the strikers, and my
cheeks to them who plucked out the hair; I hid not my face
from shame and spitting." Is. L. 6. And again: "He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." -Is. LIII. 7.
Some allege Paul s action in Acts, XXIII. 3, as contrary
to the spirit of these words of Jesus. There, when the high
priest Ananias gave order that they that stood by him should
smite Paul on the mouth, Paul made answer: "God shall
smite thee, thou whited wall." In answer to this, we must
observe that Paul s words were not moved by the personal
injury done to him. It was a denunciation of the perfidy and
wickedness of the high priest. Moreover the stroke given to
Paul was in hatred of the doctrine that he taught; and inter
preting the high priest s treatment of him as a manifestation
of his hatred of Christ, Paul is moved to indignation against
the false and impious man.

174 MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737

In that address St. Paul endeavors to arouse the high
priest to a consciousness of the injustice which moved him to
cause St. Paul to be struck. The address \vas aimed to
denounce the wicked act itself, and not to avenge a personal
injury. The spirit of forgiveness moves not a man to be
supine and indifferent to evil ; but it enlarges a man s heart to
prompt mercy toward one who has aimed an injury at himself.

Paul had not finished his work, and he resorted to legiti
mate means to escape from his accusers, that he might further
testify of Christ in Rome. Moreover, when Paul demanded
his rights as a Roman citizen, he was not departing from the
spirit of the law. There, it was not a question of revenging a
personal injury, but of availing himself of legitimate means to
prolong his life and liberty to labor for Christ. The words of
Christ do not inculcate the renunciation of one s rights before
the tribunals, but the patient bearing of wrongs received from
our fellow men.

The next example of Christ contemplates a case where a
man endeavors by unjust means to deprive us of some posses
sion, even a very necessary possession, and the counsel of Christ
is to repay such injustice by a voluntary surrender of another
such necessary possession. The ordinary raiment of people of
ancient times consisted of the tunic and cloak. The tunic
was the universal garment for both sexes. It was in form like
a long shirt. In women it always reached to the feet. As
worn by men, it sometimes extended t&lt; &gt; the feet, and sometimes
was a little shorter. Its loose folds were usually gathered
about the lions by a girdle. With the Hebrews it was usually
made of wool or linen, and was the immediate covering of the
body. The cloak was an outer covering worn at the approach
of evening, or at other times as a protection against the cold.
A man s raiment might well be considered as the last thing that
he would be willing to part with. Indeed the Law protected
a man in the possession of this, even against the obligation of a
pledge. In Exodus, XXII. 26, it is written: "If thou take
thy neighbor s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it to him
by that the sun goeth down. For that is his only covering, his
raiment for his skin. In what shall he sleep:* And it shall
come to pass that, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear;

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 27 37 175

for I am gracious." It is therefore with design that the Lord
specifies the tunic and the raiment. It is to prove that the
spirit of renunciation should be universal, and stop at nothing,
not even the most necessary thing. The example supposes
that the contention of the one claiming the garment is unjust.
If the follower of Christ were bidden give the one garment to
such a claimant, the act would seem to us sublime. Such a
man might say : I have at least left to me a cloak to cover my
nakedness, and protect me from the cold. But the words of
Christ bid him give the cloak also, and retain nothing. It is
the absolutely perfect degree of cession of our rights, the per
fect degree of detachment from the world.

How the grandest things that we have ever done in this
spirit sink into insignificance when compared to this high
standard? And yet the fulfilment of the counsel to the letter
is possible, and the best thing that man can do. It is said of
St. Francis of Assisi, that after renouncing his right to his
father s property, St. Francis restored to him also the gar
ments that he wore. The thing seems hard to us, because we
look at it from such a low plane. No man can be a perfect
saint in one thing and a sinner in everything else. If we, by
patient discipline and prayer, could lift ourselves into the plane
from which Christ surveyed things, our vision would be cor
rected. Had he told us that the perfect fulfilment of this
counsel were actually required in order to gain eternal life, we
might shudder. It is not so. It is a high and heavenly ideal of
human perfection, fixed high, as an object of aspiration and
activity. It is not an ordinary canon of human conduct, to be
put in practice like a casuistic decision of moral theology, but
a high ideal towards which to rise; and every step towards
it is a step upwards to a broader and nobler plane of human
life.

Christ s conception of human life is that of a toilsome
journey upwards from the low and sordid plane of the world s
life, through various degrees, even to the high plane of per
fection. He has legislated for all the degrees, and to lead us
on in that upward journey, he has placed at the top these
examples of perfection.

MATT. V. 58 48; LUKE VI. 25-

-37

There is a slight variance between Matthew and Luke in
the mode in which they conceive the cession of the garments.
Of course, the order of ceding them is not essential, and the
proposition of the Lord regarded not the order, but the act of
surrender of both garments. Matthew seems to contemplate
a man clad in his tunic. Let us for composition of place,
locate the scene in the man s abode. His hard and grasping
neighbor comes to take away even the tunic from his back.
Ar.d the man is bidden to cede the garment, and to put forth
his hand and take also his necessary cloak and give with it.

Luke on the other hand seems to take for example a man
clad in tunic anil cloak. For such an example, the composi
tion of place may be the same or otherwise. The aforesaid
unfeeling neighbor presses a suit to take away the cloak, and
the follower of Christ gives it. and then voluntarily divests
himself of his tunic, and gives that too. The ordering of the
action is logical in both cases, but the original conception is
slightly different in detail.

It is not the mere letter of this sublime counsel that Christ
contemplated. In plain illustrations he has established the
supreme norm of self-denial. By this teaching he calls us to
the spirit of renunciation and mercy. A man may follow the
spirit of that divine teaching even to the heroic degree, and
give all.

The spirit of these words should fix itself in the Christian
as a disposition of soul regulating his attachment to his wordly
goods. A selfish insisting on our rights, of whatever nature,
is strongly opposed to the spirit of Christ s law. It is needless
to add that Christ supp&lt; &gt;ses that the act of renunciation should
not leave in the mind any bitterness or contempt. It should
proceed in perfect charity and serenity of mind.

In the various religions and philosophies of the world
there is nothing like to this. Such sublime philosophy could
only come from Heaven. Its value is not limited to the per
fect. Its spirit, in some degree, pervades all the followers of
Christ, and makes them less selfish.

The third example proposed by Christ is founded in a
usage unknown in our life. As it was strange to the Gentile
world, it has been omitted by St. Luke. To secure celerity in

MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 2737. 177

their public couriers, the kings of Persia empowered these
couriers to impress into their service men, beasts, and boats
when need required. These couriers transmitted the royal
edicts and letters throughout the Persian Empire. The
system was organized by means of relays of mounted men, and
one courier handed the message to the other mounted courier,
so that the course was unbroken. The royal messages were
called in Persian a^l&l engare, "writings, " hence the Greek
term ayyaptixa, and the angariare of the Latin Vulgate. These
couriers are mentioned in Esther, VIII. 10-14. The Persian
domination introduced the usage into Palestine, and it w r as
extremely odious to the people. In the peace proposals which
Demetrius Soter sent to Jonathan, it was promised that the
beasts of the Jews should not be impressed for public service.
Jos. Antiq., XIII. II. 3. This testimony establishes the fact
that the usage continued under the Seleucidas, and that it was
odious to the Jewish people. The term is used three times in
the New Testament; in the present passage, and again in
Matthew, XXVII. 32, and in Mark, XV. 21, where the Jews
constrain Simon of Cyrene to bear the cross of the Saviour. It
is probable that the usage gave rise to abuses, wherein the more
powerful ones exacted unjust service from the weaker members
of the Jewish commonwealth, and it seems to be this to which
the Lord has reference. The example is different, but the
doctrine is the same. It is the application of the gospel of
non-resistance and renunciation to a fact of life, wherein one s
right to liberty and honor has been invaded. All that has
been said of the preceding examples applies to this also, and
the Lord takes the most hated violation of man s rights as an
example, in order to raise the standard of Christian meekness
and charity.

Wherever human society exists, there social inequality
exists. Now the proper attitude of the Christian towards his
brother in distress is outlined here by Christ. In keeping with
the general tenor of the discourse, he has set forth the highest
degree of charitable giving. Give to every one whom need
prompts to ask. You may do less, and absolve your soul from
sin, but you can not do more. There is nothing conceivable
above the counsel of Christ. In its fullest degree it leads to no

(12) Gosp. II.

178 MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 27 37

absurdity. It shuts out all calculating on the personal priva
tion that may result from such giving. It reserves nothing
to self; for the perfect Christian has nothing here. His heart
is attached to nothing but God, virtue and Heaven. With
a noble indifference, he lives above the things of earth. With
him human want always outweighs his private advantage.
The grasp of the Christian is firm on the things of Heaven ,
light on the things of earth. What a sublime rebuke is in
these words against our modern Christian, who lives in aitlu-
ence, and either gives nothing to the poor, or doles out grudg
ingly some insignificant offering to those who suffer want

Some interpret the universality of the counsel, Give to
every one that asketh of thee, in this wise: that we should not
regard the person &lt;&gt;f the one asking, whether he be friend or
enemy, one in favor or out of favor, but that we should only
have regard to his need. The force of the universal proposition
seems to be that we stop at no consideration whatever, while
we have anything t&lt; &gt; give, and a man is in need. Some restrict
their charity by the consideration that they have already done
a certain amount; others by the consideration that they or
their families.are not in as g&lt; &gt; .&lt;; e&lt; -ndition as they desire ; others
by the consideration that the state should support the poor;
&lt; &gt;thers 1 y the c&lt; &gt;nsiderati&lt; &gt;n that the p&lt; &gt;&lt; &gt;r are ind&lt; dent &lt; &gt;r vicious.
Of course, prudence is the guide in the exercise of all virtues
It would not be following the spirit of this sublime doctrine to
blindly give aid to one whom the very aid would confirm in
idleness^ or drunkenness. But where human want exists in
such a manner that it has a claim on charity, then the universal
proposition of Christ excludes every consideration of self, and
prompts a man forthwith to relieve the need, being nobly
oblivious of his own inconvenience.

Luke s account has some factors omitted by Matthew
With the counsel to give to every one who asketh, Luke joins
another counsel, "and of him that ta-keth away thy goods ask
them not again." The full sense of these words is the renun
ciation of the right of restitution by the Christian whose
property has been unjustly taken away. To be sure, a man
may without sin demand the restitution of such property, but it
is more perfect to renounce this right. The words of the Lord

&lt; &gt;

MATT. V. 38 48; LUKE VI. 27 37 179

contain no impossible Utopian philosophy, but the perfect law
of charity and indifference to sordid issues. Injustice is not
thereby encouraged to the harm of the social law. Forsooth
we might imagine a metaphysical case, in which a wicked man,
taking advantage of the universal adoption of this principle of
renunciation might amass wealth by injustice, and live securely
by the immunity guaranteed him by this law. But in such
case the counsel would no longer hold, for the repression of
crime would be a just motive to proceed against such offender;
and therefore the Christian would move not with the desire to
have his property again, but for the protection of the public
good. Moreover, in applying these counsels, we are not to
consider the metaphysical man, but the historical man, as he
is found in the midst of society. We shall find that society
was never injured by the number of saints who practiced the
perfection of Christ s law. The counsel regards the act in se,
and establishes that it is nobler to surrender a right to prop
erty than to claim it. It is often verified in society that in
some way a man is deprived of some portion of his goods which
are held or have been appropriated by another. By recourse to
a suit at law this property might be recovered. The Christian
has such a right, but there is also proposed to him the higher
law of action, to renounce his claim. The counsel goes against
every worldly instinct in man. The goods of the world look
big in our eyes. But seen from that standpoint whence Christ
viewed the world, they are but as straw and rags. We may not
be able to rise to the supreme height of this counsel, but some
of its spirit should come into our lives, to temper our excessive
attachment to our rights and to our property.

In the next sentence, Luke s text contains a practical
canon of universal application to regulate our dealings with
others: "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye
also to them likewise." This passage appears in Matthew in
Chap. VII. 12. The ordering of the discourse is the proper
w T ork of the Evangelists themselves, and in such ordering, Luke
excels. Though his account of the discourse is briefer, he has
ordered the chief elements in logical sequence, and a glance at
the context of the passage, as it appears in the two Evangelists,
will convince one that Luke has introduced the passage in the

i8o MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737

right place. The counsel is not confined to the New Law.
When the elder Tobias believed death to be imminent, among
the counsels which he gave his son was this: "That which
thou art unwilling another should do to thee, see that thou
doest not to another." The counsel is sublimely plain. It
requires no difficult mental operation to put ourselves in the
neighbor s place. It is but another expression of the great
truth: "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." It is no
abstract principle, but a concrete law comprehensible by the
rudest mind. The natural love of man for himself and for his
good is strong; this unerring canon makes that the measure of
man s treatment of his neighbor. If that canon were adopted,
all strife would cease, all injustice would cease. When the
human heart is filled with ill-will or hatred towards a fellow-
being, all things that come from the hated individual are
displeasing. A man thus disposed might be led to reason thus :
The law of Christ enjoins that we should do unto others as we
would that men should do unto us. It is well. I wish that
my enemy should not do me any offices of kindness. My
hatred makes odious to me all things that come from him. I
wish that he keep out of my sight, and in &gt;uble me not, therefore
I will treat him in like manner. This is fallacious. The
precept of Christ is, that we do unto every man, even our
enemy, as we would that every man should do unto us. There
is no right minded man who is willing that all men should
avoid him, and withhold all offices of kindness from him.

All the phil* -sf &gt;] &gt;h y &lt; &gt;f man s dealings with man is condensed
into that one simple sentence. It is applicable to all the
departments of human life, to all the grades of society, and
to every species of human act. By its use we are readily
brought to the realizati&lt; &gt;n of even the most delicate wrong done
to a neighbor. It is the ultimate criterion of justice and charity
between man and man. The principle itself only contains a
method &gt;f practical judgment of conduct. The degree of malice
of an infraction of the precept must be judged by the nature

of the act.

Another office that the Christian is bidden perform, is

to lend to a person in need.

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 181

To lend may be taken in two senses. First, it may mean
to give the temporary use of a thing without compensation, on
the condition that the thing itself, or its equivalent in kind, be
returned. Secondly, it may mean to grant for temporary use,
on condition of receiving a compensation for the use of the
thing, and ultimately the thing itself or its value. In this
second sense, money is put at interest. In the Law of Moses,
the first mode of lending was commanded, and the second mode
was forbidden. In Exodus, XXII. 25, we read: "If thou
lend money to any of my people with thee that is poor, thou
shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon
him usury." And again in Leviticus, XXV. 35-37 : "And if
thy brother shall have become poor, and his hand fail with thee,
then thou shalt relieve him ; as a stranger and a sojourner shall
he live with thee. Take thou no usury of him or increase ; but
fear thy God: that thy brother may live w r ith thee. Thou
shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor give him thy
victuals for increase." This law only had regard to the lend
ing to an Israelite. The Law allow r ed an Israelite to exact
usury from a Gentile. In Deuteronomy, XXIII. 20, it is
written : "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but
unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury."

The law of Christ substantially modified this legislation.
It broke down the racial distinction between brother and
stranger, and established the universal brotherhood of man.
Now Matthew conceives the matter of lending, as it regarded
the Israelites themselves. He says naught of usury. It seems
quite probable that the pars prohibens of this law was observed
with more fidelity by Israel than the pars prcecipiens. There
is no natural incentive to lend to a man without interest.
Hence those, whom the law explicitly forbade to take interest
for a loan, may well be believed to have often turned aside from
such a pleader. The words of Matthew are singularly expres
sive to signify the way in which a man declines the troublesome
suit of another.

Luke treats the issue in a different manner. He looked at
a broader world than did St. Matthew.

Now Luke contemplates a case where the request of a loan
comes from a man who is in such circumstances that little or

i8 2 MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737.

no hope appears that he will be able to pay back the principal.
Luke seems to prescind from the subject of interest, and to
consider only the aspect of payment of the borrowed goods.
The T a i &lt; &lt;&gt;f the thirty-fourth verse of Luke plainly
indicates this. He does not say by way of illustration that
sinners lend to sinners to receive interest, but to receive -a
tea, as much, in return. Luke says that such lending
springs from no supernatural motive, and is entitled to no
supernatural reward. The force of the x &gt; of the thirty-
fourth verse is supernatural merit with God. The reasoning
of Luke is very plain. To lend money on good security &gt;
the intention that it shall be safely returned is not a work of
charity, but a business transaction, inspired by a mere natural
motive. The conception of the Christian life in the mind of
the Lord is that of a life regulated by supernatural motives.
Hence the Christian is exhorted to a supernatural love of man ;
and as regards the matter of lending, he is exhorted to lend
where there is n&lt; &gt; h&lt; &gt;pe &lt; &lt;f a return &lt; &gt;f the principal.

To some persons these words appear to have no practical
signification. They put them aside as containing some my;
terious sense with which they are not concerned. To be sure,
the spirit of the words is more profitable than the mere letter.
The letter was influenced somewhat by the popular modes of
thought and expression, and the peculiar circumstances of the
time the spirit is influenced by nothing, and is eternal.

By a perverse way of looking at this sublime doctnne, we
can make it appear ridiculous. Let us suppose, for example,
that a man by thrift has acquired a competence for his family.
He becomes moved by the present text of Scripture, and begins
to lend to every one that approaches him, never questioning
the borrower s honesty or ability to repay. The unworthy
take advantage of this. The man is soon reduced to poverty,
and his family are destitute. Is this the proper effect of -
Gospel of Christ We answer, Xo. Scriptural language must
be interpreted by its own proper norm. It is unlike all other
forms of expression. It often establishes laws of conduct
all men by proposing the supreme degree of the several virtues
as a grand high aim towards which to aspire and labor,
utmost bound of perfection in the virtue of detachment from

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 183

the world is to give all, and possess nothing. This grand truth
must be the guiding spirit in man s relations to earthly goods.
That spirit never changes, but the actual application of the
great truth to practical usage is subject to various modifica
tions, resulting from the way of life of every man. Prudence
regulates this and every other virtue. The spirit of the words,
first of all lessens man s grasp on the things of earth. The
spirit of the words corrects man s intention, so that he makes of
such goods not an end of human life but a transitory means.
They contemplate a case where a man has something which he
can lend, and where the petitioner is in real need. In sub
stance, Christ says: "If thou hast the goods of this world,
and thy needy brother cometh to thee, asking a loan, turn not
away from him for the reason that his security is not good."
Many a time a poor man, who could offer no security to the
money-lenders has been able to save his home by the kind
office of some one who guided his life in the spirit of these
words.

There is some difficulty in the thirty-fifth verse caused by
Luke s strange use of the verb a7r\7ri&iv. The classic sense of
the term is twofold. When used with a direct accusative, it
signifies to cause one to despair, and this is its general sense in
classic writers and in the Septuagint. Thus it is used in Eccli.
XXII. 26; XXVII. 24, II. Maccab. IX. 18. Many codices of
the Vetus Itala and of the Vulgate have the reading nihil
Jesperantes, founded upon this sense of the verb, and this sense
is defended by Schegg, Schanz, Pillion, Wetstein, Meyer,
Grimm and others. The sense is apt. The reason which would
move a man not to give, in the case proposed, is the absence of
the hope of receiving the equivalent back again. Now the
Lord says : Let not this absence of hope move you ; give the
loan to the needy one, for you can not lose it ; the Lord himself
will be your remunerator. No man needs despair of the secur
ity of a loan, when the Lord becomes the surety. The Syriac
takes the transitive sense of the verb, and translates it : Thou
shalt not cut off the hope of a man . " To obtain such sense from
the Greek, the ^rj8ev must be changed to /x^SeW, w 7 hich is
found in no Greek codex.

184 MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737

The sense of the Vulgate seeks its justification in a peculiar
use of the word a-rr^-rr^etv . This verb is made up of the prepo
sition a-rro and eXiri&tv. Now the expression eXtrifav cnro
Ti/ os- would mean to hope for something from a person.
Those who defend the sense of the Vulgate believe that Luke
retained the sense of this expression in compounding the verb
with the preposition. There are precedents for such use of
compound verbs in classic writers. It must be conceded that
the great commentators and critics stand for this sense of the
expression. It is supported by Toleti, Jansenius, Lucas of
Bruges, Cajetan, Cornelius a Lapide. Calmet, Bisping, Grotius,
Castalius, Casaubonus, Bengel.Rosenmiiller, Kuinoel, DeWette,
Ewald, Bleek, Keil and others.

From the sense of the Vulgate many theologians have
tried to draw a precept against receiving interest for money.
It is not given us at this time to enter into the vexed question
of usury. Suffice it for our present purpose to point out, that
Luke in this place does not contemplate the case of interest for
money, but the granting of a loan in such circumstances wherein
a man would have no hope of a return of the equivalent of the
loan. The preceding context and the words themselves plainly
evince this. His words are to give, expecting nothing in
return. What right have we to interpret that nothing to
signify no interest ? But they say thus enunciated the d&lt; -ctrine
would be too difficult. It w&lt; &gt;uld be too difficult were it placed
upon man as a precept, but it is also a sublime counsel, con
taining the supreme degree of charity in lending.

The remaining verses of the passage inculcate the perfec
tion of the love of enemies. In Matthew we find this perfect
law of charity contrasted with the Old Law: "Ye have heard
that it hath been said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and
hate thine enemy." In Leviticus, XIX, 18, the love of the
neighbor is commanded: "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people ; but thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord." The word
signifying neighbor in the original is JH- Now with the

Hebrews this term was never applied to any man but an
Israelite. It signified that relation between man and man

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 185

which was founded on the consideration that they formed one
people. Hence by this precept, no general love of brotherhood
of man was established. Brotherhood among the Jews was
founded on the fact that they had Abraham as a common
father.

The second part of the citation of Christ, "and thou shalt
hate thine enemy," is not found in express terms in the Old
Law. Hence in the second member, some commentators
believe the contrast to be not between Christ s law and the
Old Code, but between Christ s law and Pharisaic teaching.
To a superficial reader this is the easier view, but a deeper view
of the passage convinces us that Christ is here not correcting
the falsity of Pharisaic teaching, but perfecting the weakness
of the Law itself. Israel formed a unique people in an idola
trous world. Superstition and crime had so affected the men
of that age that by God s own statement the cup of malice was
full, and he decreed to destroy the dwellers of Canaan by the
hand of the Israelites. Hence the Israelites were taught by
God himself to look with horror and abomination upon the
surrounding tribes. An exception was made in the case of the
Edomites on account of the brotherhood of Jacob and Esau
the father of Edom, and in the case of the Egyptians, in grati
tude for the favors given to Joseph and his brethren by
Pharaoh: "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy
brother : thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian ; because thou wast
a stranger in his land. "- Deut. XXIII. 7. The very manner
in which this exception is stated, evinces that the intent of the
Law was that they should abhor the other tribes and nations.
In Exodus, XVII. 14, the Israelites are bidden to wage eternal
warfare with Amalek; and in Deuteronomy, XXV. 19, Moses
commanded: "Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God
hath given thee rest from all thy enemies round about, in the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to
possess it, thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek,
from under Heaven; thou shalt not forget it." In Exodus,
XXIII. 22, God declares that he himself will be an enemy to
the enemies of Israel ; and in the same chapter, they are com
manded to exterminate all the idolatrous tribes from the land .
In Numbers, XXV. 17, Israel is commanded to vex the

i86 MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737

Midianites, and smite them. In Deuteronomy, VII. 2, the
Lord gives this terrible command: "And when the Lord thy
God shall deliver them (the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and
the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites) before thee, thou shalt smite them
and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with
them, n&lt; -r "show mercy unto them. " Moreover we have seen,
Deut. XXIII. 19, that the Jew who was forbidden to receive
usury from one of his race, might exact it from the foreigner.
Now the Jewish world was narrow; they were surrounded by
tribes whom the Law bade them abhor and destroy. Hence,
taking these to be understood by the name of enemy, the Law
itself "bade them hate their enemies. Of course, the Law con
templated only those tribes who by their idolatry had become
hateful to God himself, and it is not wrong to hate what is
hateful to God. The object of the Law in establishing this
hatred and abomination of the idolatrous tribes in Israel was
to preserve Israel from the infection of idolatry. The whole
history of the Jews shows how prone they were to adopt the
worst superstitions of the surrounding peoples. Hence the
Lord says in Exodus, XXIII. 33: ; They shall not dwell in
thy land, lest they make thee sin against me. The universal
charity that we extend to all men, was by the Jew only given to
one of his own nation, and this was based on the Law itself.
They were commanded to hate the pagan tribes, and the motive
( )f this hatred was the idolatry and crimes of these tribes.

Neither can we say that it is repugnant to our ideas of God
that he should command the hatred of man. By the moral
conditions of their life, these peoples had forfeited their rights
to be considered as men. They were reprobate, and the hatred
of Israel for them was founded on their reprobation by God.

"Certo i piangea, poggiato ad un de rocchi
Del duro scoglio, si che la mia scorta
Mi disse: Ancor se tu degli altri sciocchi?

Oui vive la pieta quando e ben morta.
Chi e piu scellerato di colui
Che al giudizio divin passion porta?

Inferno, XX. 25-30.

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737 187

It would be incompatible with the nature of God to bid a
man hate another for a private offense, or to hate a man who
had not been reprobated by God. One of the grandest effects
of the Incarnation is the universal brotherhood of all men.
This is not a mere name. It means the conferring upon man
of something which he did not have before, the establishing
between man and man of relations which did not exist before.
Hence it banished the law of hatred of the foreigner, for now
there is no foreigner, the new code is for every nation and every
man. Therefore we believe that Christ contrasts his teaching
with the teaching of the Law itself, and that he has abolished
the distinction between neighbor and stranger, which certainly
existed in the Old Law, by extending the lines of the new
chosen people to include all the children of Adam.

In opposition to the given interpretation of this sentence,
some allege the words of Exodus, XXIII. 4: "If thou meet
thine enemy s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt bring it
back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee
lying under his burden, thou shalt not pass by, thou shalt
surely help with him . They allege also the words of Proverbs
XXV. 21 : "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink." These texts
are taken by our opponents to prove that the love of the enemy
existed in the Old Law.

Now we may remark that, were it thus, the Gospel in this
matter would contain nothing more perfect than the Old Law,
which would certainly be against the general line of Christ s
argument. Hence we believe that both of these passages refer
only to the treatment that one Israelite should receive at the
hands of another. Enemy, in these passages, does not signify a
member of the pagan nations, the hatred of whom was founded
on an abhorrence of their idolatry. It signified an Israelite
against whom the man was angered for some private cause.
It is simply a quaint concrete way of commanding the Israelites
to put away hatred for one another, and to extend to one of
their race who had injured them the offices of charity in dis
tress. The alleged text of Exodus is cleared up by Deuter
onomy, XXII. i : "Thou shalt not see thy brother s [

/ o/

188 MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI.

ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them ; thou
shalt by all means, bring them again unto thy brother." The
Hebrew term here properly means, the collateral kinship.
It was extended by the Jew to those of his race, but no

farther.

We would not say that the Old Law inculcated the univer
sal hatred of all men not belonging to the chosen people; but
to preserve them in the worship of Yahveh, it commanded the
hatred of the surrounding tribes. In this respect it was a
local temporary law, adapted to the peculiar environment of
the Jew. It was not fit to become the universal law of man.
Christ substituted for it the universal law of love for every man,
by breaking down the distinction between Jew and Gentile,
and offering salvation to every man.

The law of Christ could not be given to the world till the
mighty change was wrought in the life of man that was effected
by the Redemption. Such interpretation of the passage is in
harmony with the whole tenor of the discourse, wherein the
contrast has uniformly been between the Old Law and the law
of Christ ; it makes the words of Christ really mean something.

Taking now the full discourse, as it is found in both
Evangelists, we find the expression of man s love for man.
Here also the words contain both precept and counsel. To love
one s enemies by a positive act of love is of precept. That is
to say, it is not sufficient to exercise the mere negative act of
not wishing evil to our neighbor, but one must exercise the
positive act of wishing good to the enemy. This is of precept,
and comes directly from the Saviour s words, but the words do
not stop here, they go up into the heights.

To treat first of the love of enemy that is of precept, we
are led to the following conclusions. One of the chief defects
of dealing with enemies is that men regard the enemy qua
talcm, and thus considered, it is impossible to love an enemy.
That element in the man which has made the man our enemy
exists in our apprehension as an evil thing, and it is metaphy
sically impossible for evil to be the object of an act of love.
Man must rise above the consideration of that element, and
regard the man as a creature of God ; and then appeal to the
love of God existing in one s heart, and aided by God s grace

MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 27 37 189

he can love the enemy. It is thus possible to love an enemy
thus considered, even while the propensity of crude nature
impels in the opposite direction.

Another defect which hinders the right treatment of
enemies is that men endeavor to do for natural motives that
which is only possible by supernatural motives. Many lives
are supernaturally aimless, rarely or never moved to action
by a supernatural motive. Now the Lord forcibly illustrates
the worthlessness of that love that is founded on a mere
naturalism. To love one that loves you, and to benefit one
that benefits you, are mere natural acts. They are performed
by the infidel and the sinner, and are the mere propensity of
crude nature. Such acts, done for merely natural motives,
entitle a man to no supernatural reward. Of course, the
Christian can love even his friends with the right kind of
dilection and thereby acquire merit; but the Lord means to
say that, when a man restricts the love of neighbor to those
naturally lovable, it is a sign that his love is not supernatural,
and hence not entitled to the remuneration of supernatural
love.

One of the great defects of human conduct is the absence
of the supernatural motive. The demon of unbelief has even
moved men in our day to despise the supernatural motive of
human acts. Some proclaim that it makes man s noblest
achievements mercenary, and debases man. This is a wild
cry of pride, which is like to the pride of Satan himself. It
will never be believed or felt by one who has not substituted
self for God as the object of adoration. But Christians who
yet hold to the supernatural motive do not appeal to that
motive enough. To be able readily to appeal to it, the whole
conception of human life must be formed and fashioned by
life s supernatural hopes. There must be an ever-conscious
realization that the Christian is called to do something more
than the ordinary respectable man of society. And yet it is
to the shame of Christians that we often find purer and better
conduct from people of the world, who found all their actions
on mere naturalism, than we find from the so-called followers
of Christ. It convinces us sternly of the truth that not they

i 9 o MATT. V. 3848; LUKE VI. 2737

who enroll their names in the census of the Catholic denom
ination are Christ s, but they who are moved in all things
by Christ s spirit.

Now in the treatment of adversaries, we may be sure that
the first impulse that comes to us, after receiving offense or
injury, is not founded on the supernatural. It will be the
movement of crude nature to pay like for like. The sources
of the supernatural are in Heaven, and only available by
reflecti&lt; &gt;n and the repression of the law of the members. If the
soul has been filled with the spirit of Christ s words, their power
will assert itself, and the man can rise above nature, and per
form the act of forgiveness and love which naturally is impos
sible; but the sad fact is too often verified that an offense or
injury converts a man into an unreflecting being, guided
neither by reason nor faith, but only by passion. And the
error even prevails among men to consider this hatred of
enemies as a s&lt; &gt;rt &lt; .f grand passion, a s &gt;rt of indication of great
ness of soul, whereas it indicates a narrow, cowardly, weak
soul. A magnanimous soul has the moral courage to rise
above personal wrongs, and overcome evil by good.

After enunciating the general principle of love of enemies,
the Lord specifies some of the most positive ways in which the
neighbor may offend us, and he opposes to every one its
contrary virtue. It is not the Lord s intent to make a com
plete enumeration of all the ways in which we may receive
wrong from the neighbor, but to illustrate the doctrine by the
force of some concrete specifications. Blessing is opposed to
cursing, benefits are opposed to hate, and prayer is opposed to
insults and persecution. The discourse is made more pointed
and forcible by bidding us do good to a man in the very species
of acts in which we have suffered evil. The words of the Lord
proceed to a climax, for there is no finer or tenderer act of love
for a man than to petition Heaven to send its blessings upon
him. If a man could only say in truth, I go by these words,
I live by these words, then certainly it were well with him.
They are plain; every man can understand them, but yet few

do them.

The hatred of enemies must not be confounded with a
certain antipathy felt for certain individuals whose native

MATT. VI. 14 19 l

quality and disposition are displeasing. Considering the
Lord s words as they contain a precept, one is not obliged per
se to any acts of special friendship for such a one, provided
that in the mind there is the disposition to extend to such
person the offices of charity in case of the person s need. The
force of the precept only extends to the general acts of good
will, but the perfection of doctrine goes higher; it regards not
the natural amiability of the subject, but only the love of God,
which includes all men.

The Saviour proposes as the model of this charity the
infinite perfection of our Father in Heaven. Not that it is in
the power of the Christian to equal the perfection of God, but
man is advised to make the perfections of God the model of
his imitation. In the general providence of the universe, God
discriminates not against those who offend Him. He warms
them with his sun, and fructifies the seed in their fields by its
beneficent heat ; he irrigates their fields, and fills their wells
with the rain from heaven. And man is bidden to become
like to God in attribute and act, that he may be worthy to be
called his son. That which is asked is hard, but that which is
promised is great, the sonship of God, founded on the likeness
of our sanctified being to the high nature of God.

MATT. VI. 14.

i. Take heed that ye do i. ITporr/c-rs TYJV 8ix,aioauvr)v

not your righteousness before u^wv [J.TJ TTOISCV iarpojOcv TWV dv-

men, to be seen of them: else Opwzwv r.^h: TO (kaOfjvai aj-rol;,

ye have no reward with your e! cl SJLT, ys, ^t-Obv OJT. 73" Trapi

Father who is in Heaven. rw Ox:p: 6;j.a&gt;v TW Iv tol; ojp-

2. When therefore thou 2. "Cbacv ouv zocfj;;

doest alms, sound not a trumpet ;J.TJ aaX^tJY]; e^pocrOsv cou, t ojTs

before thee, as the hypocrites ol u-o/.p-.-ral zotolJjiv Iv Talc crjva

do in the synagogues and in ywyac; y.al Iv TOC!^ pu^at?, o^co

the streets, that they may have Bo^a-Ow-tv ozo -rtov avOpwrwv: d^r;

glory of men. Verily I say Xlyw u;j.tv: azr/ou^tv TOV ^-tj6o

unto you: They have received aJTWv.
their reward.

192

MATT. VI. i 4.

3. But when thou cloest 3. -oj zz -o-.o^v-oc sXr^j-o-
alms, let not thy left hand ~jvr ( v J.Y; yvwtw r, ip-.rrspi roj T:
know what thy right hand -o-.s: r t csH-.i roj.

doeth.

4. That thine alms may be 4- "Ozw; ?) roj r, jXrr ( u.c-jvr, sv
in secret: and thy Father TCJ y.pj"(T&gt; v.al 6 Or:r ( p roj o p/.s-
who stvth in secret shall -( &gt; ~&lt;&gt; y.pj-Tto i-occors . -o:.
recompense thec.

There is &lt;&gt;ne important variant in the first verse of this
text. Where the Vulgate reads justitiam, we find in codices
E, K, L, M, S, U, Z, A, n, and others the reading eXeij/Aoo-urjjv.
Tischendnrf informs us that in the original text of the Sinaitic
Codex there had existed the reading SiKaioavvvv, but that
later hands had erased it, and corrupted it. ^ixatoavi^v is
also the reading of the Vatican Codex. The Syriac and Ethio
pian texts edited by Walton defend the reading cXeijuoavvw
and it is followed by the King James translation, and by the
Gothic, Armenian, Persian, and Arabic translations. The
Vulgate reading may be regarded as certain. It has the great
authority of the Vatican and Sinaitic codices, and is corrobo
rated by the following critical considerations. Had the original
text bome the term \eij^offvvijv, no one would have thought
of changing it to the m&lt; &gt;re difficult reading Sueaioffvvrjv. \\ hereas
on the other hand, a difficulty existed in interpreting this latter
term. Primarily, it means an abstract virtue or quality of
the mind, and as it seemed incongruous to construe it with the
rroiflv, the transcribers rendered the passage easier to their
minds by substituting the term eXe^fiotrvv^v. The Revised
Version of Oxford agrees with the Vulgate. The whole incon
gruity vanishes when we understand by the Bticaioavvrjv works
of righteousness in general, which the Lord afterwards specifies
in three classes: alms, prayer, and fasting.

Christ treats first of alms-giving, to which the present
passage is devoted. These three works have the highest com
mendation in Scripture. By prayer we praise and love God;
by alms we show mercy and love to the neighbor; and by fast
ing we subdue the flesh, and exalt the spirit. Hence old Tobias
saith : "Prayer with fasting and alms is better than to lay up
treasures of gold."

MATT. VI. i 4. 193

Now the Lord lays down the general canon that if a man
do his good works to be seen by men, they have no reward
from God. The argument is very simple. The man who
proposes in the execution of an act to secure to himself the
praises of men, is entitled to only that at which he aims. He
receives this, and there his reward stops. He gave nothing to
God. Why should he receive aught from God? God will not
reward an act that excludes himself. Christ speaks not so
much of the sinfulness of such manner of acting, but of its
worthlessness. The act is good in itself, and \vould seem to
men to merit the commendation of God; but it is spoiled by
the wrong intention which moved it. And in this consists the
hypocrisy of the act. Hypocrisy is the simulation of feigning
to be what one is not ; and the man who performs good works to
be seen by men, feigns that he is doing them for God; and in
this is the lie, that is hateful to God. As this was the prime
vice of the Pharisees, the Lord cites them as an example of it.

The opening word of the passage Trpoo-e^ere, take heed,
advises us that the issue needs careful study to preserve the
purity of our motives. The desire of human recognition and
praise is a stealthy, subtle foe. It flows directly from pride and
the disordered love of self, which are deeply rooted in our nature.
If we allow ourselves to conduct our lives without self-examina
tion, pride will surely encroach on all our good \vorks, and
blight them. It is insidious and deadly, because where it
fastens itself the man may vainly believe that he is doing
great deeds for God, whereas he is doing nothing. It is so
secret that it may be in a man, and he be unconscious of it.
A man can only keep it out of his life by that close attention
and study which the Lord exhorts, and by thoughtful examina
tion of all man s motives of action. The perfect Christian
moves through life in a continual restraint of all the propensities
of his nature.

An act may be done principally for virtue s right motive,
and have the concomitant motive of the desire of human
recognition. In such case, the work is defective, but not
totally worthless. It is saved from complete loss, simply
because the deadly blight has not infected its whole nature.
But it is defective in the measure that the desire to be recog-

13) Gosp. II.

194 MATT. VI. i 4

nized by men shares in it. Such a work is like an infirm man.
He is not dead, nor is he well, but afflicted with a sickness that
has a wide range, from slight indisposition even to sickness unto
death. Now as a man is not content simply to avoid death,
and be exempt from grave disease, but wishes to be well and
sound in every member and faculty, so the Christian should not
limit himself to s*ve a part of the work for God. He should
sedulously purify the work from all dross, and offer the pure
gold to God. Oh, the pity of it, to debase the high nature of
these works of righteousness, and sell them for the breath and
mouth-honor of mortals!

It is not strange that God hates hypocrisy, and that the
whole life of Christ is one sublime lesson against hypocrisy s
leaven. Hypocrisy is a lie. and a robbery of what belongs to
God. Of course, we are speaking of works which in outward
seeming and profession of their authors are done for God.
Should we wt &gt;nder that such works are an abomination to God 5
If a false friend came to us, hiding the thoughts of a false heart
under the guise of profuse professions of friendship, if we could
penetrate the mask, would not the hollow acts of such a one
disgust us? And God, who sees the secrets of all hearts, turns
away from such falsity.

There is no evidence that the Jews literally heralded the
giving of alms by the sound of trumpets Hence the second
verse is to be taken metaphorically.

In the synagogues, the alms were collected on all Sabbaths,
and distributed to the poor in the evening. Besides these there
were collectors who went from door to door, collecting food
for the poor. The Levitical law also established that the
gleanings of the fields, and the grain in the angles of fields
should be for the poor. Private charity was also given to the
poor in the streets. Now those who affected sanctity of life, in
divers ways attracted the observation of men when they gave
these alms in synagogues and on the streets. This is what the
Lord calls the sounding of a trumpet to attract the attention of
men.

The modes and customs of peoples change, but the laws of
right and wrong never change. The means of putting our
selves before the notice of men are multiplied now. The press

MATT. VI. i 4 195

is a ready trumpet of those who seek the observation of men.
Wherefore we know that any charity that seeks the observation
and praise of men falls under the judgment of Christ, expressed
in this verse. No matter how great is the amount devoted to
the alleviation of human want, if the motive be public recogni
tion, such recognition is its only reward. If the intention of
the giver be to avoid such publicity, and if public recognition
comes unsought, then the recognition avails nothing against
the excellence of the work.

There will be times when it will be impossible to avoid
observation in the performance of good works, but it will be
always in our power to keep our intention right, and to be
moved in nothing by the notice that we can not avoid. But
even then the perfect Christian will feel a certain regret at
being thus known. The act is too sacred to be thus rudely
dragged into the vulgar arena. "The violet of charity blooms
in hidden nooks, and its charm is inseparable from its
secretiveness. "

The expression of the Lord in the third verse is figurative.
The instrument of giving is usually the right hand. By a
figure of speech we may personify the left hand as a witness
standing By, and witnessing the deed. Now the Lord would
have us so careful to avoid the observation of men in the per
formance of such a good work as is charity, that the left hand
so closely present, if it had eyes, could not behold the deed.
The force of language can go no further. It is a beautiful and
powerful appeal to us to shun the gaze of men in the perform
ance of our good deeds. The mere withholding from seeking
to be known by men is not enough; positive effort must be
exerted to hide the good deed. Alms-giving is taken as an
example, since it is a work most exposed to this defect of
seeking after the recognition of men.

Finally, the Lord declares that these deeds of virtue should
be an affair solely between God and the soul. God s recogni
tion, and God s reward should be alone sought. It should be
a part of that interior life that the soul lives with God, and thus
the work is rendered in a measure worthy to be offered to God,
and its reward will not fail. It is a consoling thought to rest
on the certainty that all the good that we have done, and which

196 MATT. VI. 5 15

the world knows not of, and rewards not, is known to God, and
rewarded for that special reason that it is unknown to the
world. The poor human heart seeks some being in whom to
confide such things; it finds the proper being in C^od.

Instinctively we feel that the longing for human recogni
tion is an alloy in the fine gold of our good works. We feel
that our ideal has been lowered ; that we have gone back
wards, anil debused our soul s life. We have accepted the
favor of the world f&lt; &gt;r the love of God ; The world is too close
to us: it requires no striving to realize its presence. But our
weak faith does not bring God sufficiently into our realization,
that his judgment be all that we long for.

In codices E, K, L, M, S, U, a, b, c, f, g, h, q, in the
Peshitto, Gothic, Armenian, Ethiopian, and other versions, in
the works of Chrysostom, and some other Fathers, we find at
the end of this fourth verse, the terms ev ry (fravepy, in a peri o.
The King James version has adopted this reading, rendering
the passage: " and thy Father which seeth in secret, himself
shall reward thee openly. " In this reading, the sense would be
that God would proclaim the hidden deeds of virtue in the
&lt; lorv -f the saints. But such addition is not found in N, B, I),

Z, i, 22, 1 08, 209. It is not found in the Syriac of Cureton, nor
in the Coptic versions; Cyprian, Jerome, Chromatius, and
Augustine rejected it. Augustine testifies that it was not
found in many Greek codices which he had seen. The weight
of authority is in favor of the Vulgate reading, with which the
Revised Version of Oxford agrees.

MATT. VI. 515.

5. And when ye pray, ye 5. Kal otav -porsj/r^Os, oJx.
shall not be as the hypocrites: srsrOs u&gt;; oi J-o-/.p .T3c(, ov. S-.AOJ- .V
for they love to stand and pray k\ T2 7 .; -jvzycoyzu x.al iv 72:; y(ovi-
in the synagogues and in the ai; TU&gt;V -/.acTS .wv -T(OTS; zpoceu-
corners of the streets, that they /-Oat, OZOK cavwr-.v -rot; avOpwzo 1 .;.
may be seen of men. Verily A j/r;v Asyoj yj.lv izr/o j-cv TOV
I say unto you: They have -ju-Oov aJTwv.

received their reward.

6. But thou, when thou 6. Hj cs o-rxv "P^- XTi- eV-e/.Os
prayest, enter into thine inner E;; TO Ta^tslov -oj -/.a! /.Asba; TTJV

MATT. VI. 5 15

197

7. po sj/oj-svo . 3 JXT; y.--&lt;3.-
XoyrjTfjTS cor-sp oc uxoxpcrac, Bo-
y.o QJIV yap 07: Iv -ryj zoXuXoy fa a JTWV

chamber, and having shut thy Oupav sou zpossu^at TW Oa^p: sou

door, pray to thy Father who 7&lt;I&gt; Iv TOJ xpu-tw, xal 6 HaT^p sou

is in secret, and thy Father 6 ^Xlzwv Iv TW xpu^-ro) droowsct

who seeth in secret shall re- sot.
compense thee.

7. And in praying use not
vain repetitions, as the Gen
tiles do: for they think that
they shall be heard for their
much speaking.

8. Be not therefore like
unto them: for your Father
knoweth what things ye have
need of, before ye ask him.

9. After this manner there
fore pray ye: Our Father who
art in Heaven, Hallowed be
thy name.

10. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, as in Heaven,
so on earth.

8. MTJ ojv 6^otwOfj7 ajTotc,
o!8sv yap 6 0sb^ 6 HaTYip UJJLWV,
wv 7psiav IXSTS, rpb TOU u^a;
a(T7i-a . aJTOv.

9. Outwc; ojv ^poc7suy_-0s
ujJLsIc : ITaTcp ^awv 6 Iv TO!; ou-
pavoT?, aycaj0r ( 7to 70 ovo^a sou.

10. TW T; artea con,

yew, Or, TO* TO OcATjjxi cou &lt;1&gt;? sv ou-
pav(L y.al i~\ yrjq.

11. Give us this day our
daily bread.

12. And forgive us our
debts, as we also have forgiven
our debtors.

13. And bring us not into
temptation, but deliver us from
evil.

11. Tbv apTOV r^tov TOV Iztou-
rcov ob; rj juv sr^spov.

12. Kal a^sq r^Iv Ta o^scXr^aTa
iK xal r^sl? d^iy/.aasv TOU

Kal

dXXa pjiat

14. For if ye forgive men 14. Eav yap afr^s TO!? &lt;r
their trespasses, your heavenly rotq zd TrapazTw^aTa aurojv, depose
Father will also forgive you. xal u;a.Iv 6 ITaT^p u^wv 6 oupavtoc.

15. But if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither
will your Father forgive your
trespasses.

15. Eav
dvOpco-otq ta -r
oucs 6 rTaTr

[XTJ &lt;?r t ~s. ^olc

198 MATT. VI. 515

In the fifth verse, codices tf, B, Z, i, 22,^118 exhibit the
plural form of the verb, Trpoo-ei^o-fle. Our Vulgate follows
this reading, and the Old Italian, Gothic, Sahidic, Bohairic,
Ethiopian, Armenian and Oxford versions support it. This
reading is endorsed by Origen, Chrysostom and Augustine, by
Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and is practically certain.
The singular form Trpoa-evxv is found in D, E, K, L, M, S, U,
A, n, and seme others, and is supported by the Peshitto and
Curet&lt; &gt;n s Syriac. This reading is f&lt; &gt;11&lt; &gt;wed by the King James
version. The authorities which support the addition ev -^
favepy in the fourth verse, support it also in the sixth verse.

In the twelfth verse, the codices N, B, Z, exhibit the first
aonst form of the verb cufriTjiu, a^xa^ev. Origen, Gregory
of Nyssa, and Basil support this reading, and it is by far the
more probable one.

The most important variant has place in the thirteenth
verse. After the petition for deliverance from evil, a certain
doxol- gy is added in many authorities. This additamentum is
as follows in Greek: "On (rov eanv 77 /Sao-tWa teal 77 8vva^ &gt;cai
^ 8oa ek TOW atwi/a? a^v. The King James translation is
built upon this reading, and renders the passage: "For thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen."
It is a curious fact that the Vulgate retains the sole Amen, and
rejects the rest. This additamentum is found in codices E, G,
K, L, M, S, U, V, A, II. It is found in codices f, g, q of the
Vetus Itala, in all the Syriac versions, and in the Ethiopian,
Armenian and Gothic versions. It is also endorsed by Chrys
ostom and some other Fathers. Nevertheless it is certain that
the entire passage including the Amen is spurious. The whole
passage including the Amen is rejected by Tischendorf, Westcott
and Hort. It is omitted in codices N, B, D, Z, and several
of the minuscule codices. In several minuscule codices, we
find the reading on the margin, or written in red, to denote
that it was a mere liturgical response. Scholia are also found
in several codices to the effect that the passage was not found
in other codices. It is not found in codices, a, b, c, ff 1 , g 2 , 1, of
the Vetus Itala. It is not found in the Coptic version, and the

MATT. VI. 515

revised protestant version rejects it. It is not found in the
works of Origen, Cyprian, Maximus, Caesarius, Tertullian,
Hilary, Chromatius, Juvencus, and Augustine.

The reading originated in the liturgical use that was made
of this passage in the early Church. This is attested by the
testimonies of Caesarius and Euthymius, and it is rendered more
probable by the existence of other like examples. The spirit
of the words differentiates them from the speech of Christ, and
gives to them a distinctively liturgical character.

At the end of the fourteenth verse, the ra Trapa-mu^aTa
vntov, which forms the basis of the delicta vestra of the Vulgate
has but very slight authority, and can not be considered a
probable reading. At the end of the conditional clause in the
fifteenth verse, the words TO, 7rapa7rTa)fiaTa avrwv are inserted
in codices B, E, G, K, L, M, S, U, V, A, II. They are also
found in some codices of the Vetus Itala, in Cureton s Syriac,
and in the Sahidic, Bohairic and Gothic. Tischendorf rejects
them on the authority of K, D, i, 118, 209, codices a, c, fF,
g 1 , h, k, 1, the Peshitto, and St. Augustine. But these latter
variants are of slight importance, since the sense demands that
the words be expressed or understood in both cases.

Coming now 7 to the exposition of the text, we find that the
Lord, in the first two verses, condemns ostentation in prayer.
He applies to the act of prayer the same doctrine that he had
laid down for alms. This ostentation in prayer w r as more
characteristic of that age than of ours. The honor of the
people w r as obtained in those days by attention to the outward
forms of religion, and men will always be drawn by that which
brings them honor or profit. The defect of our time is rather
that men are now ashamed to have any man see them pray.

At morning and evening the Jews recited three passages
taken from the Law T . The first was from Deuteronomy, VI.
4-9. The second w 7 as from Deuteronomy, XI. 13-21; and
the third was from Numbers, XV. 37-41. From the opening-
word in Deuteronomy, VI. 4, y?2 , "hear," this office of

devotion was called tfee Shema. In the morning they recited
tw r o prayers before the Shema and one after it. In the evening,
they recited tw T o prayers before the Shema and two after it.

200

MATT. VI. s is

Thus the whole number of the prayers was the mystic number
seven. Although strictly the passages from the Law were the
Siicma, usage prevailed to speak sometimes of those and the
prayers collectively as the Siicma. The strictest observation
is exacted by the Mishna in the recital of the Siicma. A work
man might recite the Siicma on a scaffold or on the wall. A
man seated upon a beast was obliged to descend if possible;
otherwise he was to turn his face towards the holy city, and
recite it with composure of mind. While reciting the Shcma
a man might not interrupt it by a salutation, except in case of a
personage entitled to great honor, or in case of salutation of a
man who was feared.

But besides the Siicma, there was a c&lt; implex series of other
prayers for eating and drinking and for the various events of
the day.

Now all these prayers were, in the case of the Pharisees,
vitiated by hollow hypocritical outward formalism. Hence
they affected to pray long prayers in the synagogues and in the
&lt; pen places where the streets crossed, and where a multitude
wi &gt;uld be gathered from the various streets.

The usual attitude in prayer was to stand. Of itself the
attitude of standing to pray would not be reprehensible. But
the Pharisees took this attitude for the end to make themselves
conspicuous to the public gaze, and receive the favor of the
populace. If a man moved about through the public way \vith
recollected mind in prayer, he would escape observation.
But when one was seen to stand immovable, with face turned
t&lt; &gt;wards the temple, the people knew that the man was praying,
and he received in consequence a great respect from all.

The Talmud records such prayers. The Jerusalem Talmud
has the following : "I observed the Rabbi Jannai, standing and
praying in the street of Trippor, and repeating an additional
prayer at each of the four comers." There was no interior
religion in these hypocrites. In them religion never penetrated
to the inner nature of man.

Now hypocrisy does not take that particular form in our
clays, but it is by no means banished from the earth. Too
many are very willing that their good deeds be known and
applauded by men. Very few there are who study to keep all

MATT. VI. 5 15 201

the good deeds which they may accomplish in secret. It is not
in the fact that men see the good work that the defect lies ; the
good work fails when the motive is that it might be seen by
men. There is more of this poison in us than we know. It
may not be made a means of cloaking moral rottenness in us,
as was the case in the Pharisees, but it is always base, and false,
and hateful to God.

The Lord opposes to the Pharisaic method of prayer the
Christian s rule. By these words the Saviour does not condemn
public prayer. The nature of man and his relations to his
Creator demand public prayer. In the Acts of the Apostles
and other documents, we find that public prayer was a great
feature of early Christian life. Here then we are to take the
spirit of the words. In a simple concrete form the Lord
declares that in prayer we are to shut out the world, and let our
spirit commune with a spiritual God. It is only when religious
belief and practice is thus spiritualized that it becomes alive.
The conditions favorable to prayer are seclusion from the
world, and the intention of adoring God. To repair to the
seclusion of one s inner chamber for the purpose of adoring God
manifests a right disposition of mind. The Saviour s words
lead us to this disposition of mind, and then we are to carry it
into effect in all our acts of worship. The place is nothing,
but the disposition of mind must be the formal element of all
prayer, whether public or private. The Lord s words primarily
bid us shut out the world s recognition of the good work, but
the spirit of his teaching may rightly be extended to the shut
ting out of the distractions of the world also.

The great mercy and condescension of God is made evident
in the sixth verse. Man should consider it a mercy that he is
allowed to speak to God, and present to him his petitions. And
yet the words of Christ make God the debtor, and declare
prompt payment to the petitioner. These words, by the
inducement of the divine promise, draw us into the -inner
spiritual world, wherein the soul develops its high powers,
and lives its proper life with God.

Prayer is a speaking to God, and in order to be a rational
act the mind must direct itself to God, and recollect itself in
him. Now although God is everywhere and in all things, we

202 MATT. VI. 5 15

become not conscious of his being except by spiritual recollec
tion. The lips may utter the name of God in the formulas of
prayer, and address to him words, but if the inmost soul is not
in the act, there is no prayer. This spiritual power of man s
soul often lies dormant, and becomes enfeebled by long disuse.
The habits of a man s thoughts shape his character. When
the soul fastens itself to the things of time, the spiritual world
grows continually fainter. God becomes an unknown God.
Ik-ing rapt in worldly studies, we grow strangers to God. God
receives no thought, no soul-worship. It seems that a great
part of the prayers of men is worthless, because they never
have developed their spiritual life. Men move along in a
routine, and do the pleasant things of religion, but the energy
of their being and the intensity of their thoughts are given to
the world. Weakness of faith is the real cause of such spiritual
failures.

The seventh verse is aimed against a false and superstitious
conception of the Deity, which does not now prevail in the
Christian world. The heathen worshippers believed that they
could move their gods by eloquence, and by a prolix and able
presentation of their claims. Christ characterizes their mode
of prayer as TO ficmo\oyelv. The word is not found in classic
authors, and it is difficult to determine its precise signification.
It has been rendered "to use vain repetitions," but such sense
seems to be too restricted. Some derive it from a certain
stammerer named Battus in Herodotus IV. 155. Others believe
it to have originated from the poet Bathus, mentioned by
Suidas, who composed long, stupid and tautological hymns. It
is far more probable that the term originated **-ra ^{^(TLV rf/?
(^CO^T)?, meaning primarily to stammer, and from this came the
derived meaning to talk much to no purpose. Hence we
believe the sense predicated here by the Lord to be a futile,
inane verU sity in prayer.

Commentators find a specimen &lt; .f this ficnroXoyelv in the
prayer of the priests of Baal, I [III.] Kings, XVIII. 26 : "And
they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed
it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until
noon saying: O, Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor
anv that answered. And they leaped upon the altar that was

MATT. VI. 5 15 203

made. And it came to pass at noon, that Eliah mocked them,
and said : Cry aloud, for he is a god, either he is talking, or he
is hunting, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth,
and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut them
selves after their manner, with knives and lancets till the blood
gushed upon them."

The error of this mode of worship was that it mistook the
nature of God. God knows the secrets of the heart, and there
is no need of this stress, as though he were a being that must
be drawn away from his occupations or amusements by the
persistence of studied forms of expression. Moreover, this
Gentile method of worship placed the moving power of prayer
in the eloquence and persistence of the appeal. It supposed
that knowledge could be given to the Deity which he did not
possess before, and that he could be moved as a mutable being.
This is illustrated by the passage in Terence, Heaut. VI. 6:

"Ohe! jam desine deos, uxor, gratulando obtundere,
Tuam esse inventam gnatam ; nisi illos tuo ex ingenio judicas,
Ut nil credas intelligere, nisi idem dictum est centies. "

NOW T the Lord reproves not insistence in prayer. His
example and words exhort us to pray always. Neither does he
condemn repetitions of the same prayer. On the night of his
capture, he prayed three times, repeating the same prayer.
Matt. XXVI. 44. But what Christ condemns is the placing of
the value of the prayer in the prolixity of the words. What
God desires in prayer is not to be informed of anything; he
knows all things. What he desires is the faith, and love, and
trust of the heart ; and words are only valuable as expressions
of these inner creations. In fact, he has no need of w^ords at
all, but they have place in man s worship, inasmuch as they
help the nature of man to give to God the worship of the heart.
Christian worship therefore possesses its power not in the
material words, but in the acts of the mind and heart which
God knows independently of the w T ords by which they are
expressed. We are not therefore to teach God anything, but
we are to bend all the energies of our nature to move an omnis
cient Being to have mercy on us, to love us, and to give us the
necessary graces.

204 MATT. VI. 5 15

The power of a prayer is not measured by the number or
l&gt;eauty of the words, but by the interior acts of the soul, of
which it is an expression. God cannot be persuaded by the
force of words, or the skill of logic to do a thing, but he can be
moved by the interior acts of the soul. The Gentile places the
power of the prayer in the force of the words themselves ; Christ
bids us place it in the fervor of the faith and love of the soul.

But why should God, who knows our needs, wish to be
petitioned by us" Not to be taught by us, or persuaded by us,
but to receive the testimony of our faith, hope, and love. In
prayer and petition to God, our nature fulfills the proper end
fur which it was created. It is true, God knows our thoughts
and affections before we utter them, but the very utterance
is a worshipful act, and pleasing to God. Prayer and petition
may be sent up to Heaven by thoughts without words, but
never by "words without thoughts.

Having put down the vain Gentile method of prayer, the
Lord propounds the grand norm and pattern of all prayer.
The Lord s prayer fulfills a twofold function for us. It is in
itself a complete and perfect prayer, the best of all prayers, and
has in itself an intrinsic power which no words of human com
position can ever have. The Lord bade us pray thus, and we
are perfectly obedient when we respect his own divine words.
It is also a norm and exemplar according to which all our
prayers ought to be framed. The Lord never willed that this
should be the sole formula of prayer. He himself prayed dif
ferent forms of prayer. But he willed that this should be the
grand norm of prayer, and establish the lines upon which all
prayer should proceed. There is in it no ostentatious rhetoric,
no fiarroXoyia, but a heavenly simplicity and religious calm.

Many theologians analyze the Lord s Prayer into the
opening invocation and seven petitions. The invocation is
plain: "Our Father, who art in Heaven." The petitions
follow in this order : i. " Hallowed be thy name." 2. "Thy
Kingdom come." 3. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven. 4. "Give us this day our daily bread." 5. "And
forgive us our trespasses, as we have forgiven them that tres
pass against us. " 6. " And lead us not into temptation, " 7.
"But deliver us from evil."

MATT. VI. 5 15 205

The first three members are not properly petitions. They
are more properly acts of adoration of God.

It is to be noticed that the Heavenly Father is called OUR
Father, and that the form of expression is in the plural number
of the first person throughout. Christ in addressing the Father
in his own personal communications with him, speaks of him
as MY Father. The singular personal pronoun betokens the
incommunicable sonship of Christ by the act of generation.
But our sonship conies to us not by nature, but through the
Incarnation and Redemption. It is not natural: it is an inef
fable adoptive sonship. Now by this sonship all men are
brothers, and the Lord teaches us by the very form of expres
sion to associate our fellow men in our prayers and petitions to
Heaven. Through Christ the faithful are all incorporated into
one body, and this model prayer teaches us that we should
consider ourselves members of a common body. At the out
set, Christ teaches us that we are to make our prayers to God
as our Father.

One of the effects of the Redemption is the bringing into
prominence of the motive of God as a Father. Through Christ
we acquire a relation to God which justifies this term. God
was sometimes called Father in the Old Law. Thus Isaiah
says : " Verily, thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth
us not, and Israel acknowledge us not : thou, O Lord, art our
Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting." Is.
LXIII. 16. And again: "But now, O Lord, thou art our
Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are
the work of thy hand. "- Is. LXIV. 8. But these are prophetic
utterances placed in the mouth of the Church that was to be,
and they only predict the future relation. In Deuteronomy,
XXXIII. 6, Moses declares unto Israel that Yahveh has been to
them a Father. But such fatherhood was only a type of the
perfect fatherhood through Christ. The people of old were
never taught to address the God of Heaven by the loving name
of Father. Neither is this relation founded only on the act of
creation and conservation, but more properly on regeneration
through Christ. Hence St. John declares : " But as many as
received him, to them he gave the right to become children,
even to them who believe in his name. " John 1 . 1 2.

206 MATT. VI. 5 15.

The Old Law was the law of fear, and the Most High kept
before Israel the attributes of his power. They knew him as
Lord. The New Law is the law of love, and while we recognize
God s power, we draw closer to him, and call him our Father.
Thus it is written in the Epistle to Romans, VIII. 15: "For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but
ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba,
Father. " The very term Father, applied to God, carries in it
a great truth. It brings him closer to us than any other term.
It imports that we have for God that tender childlike love and
trust, which he prizes more than aught else in man. There is
no love so unselfish, no love so enduring, no love so ingenuous
as the parent s love. By the laws of analogy this natural bond
is taken to illustrate the blessed relation in which God stands
to man, whom he loves. The clause "who art in Heaven,"
is not t&lt;&gt; be understood as if God s infinite essence were in
cluded, or his presence circumscribed and confined in a definite
place, for he fills Heaven and earth, and the immensity of
the universe. But he is said to be in Heaven, because there
is the special manifestation of his presence and his power and
glory. Heaven imports a state of being in which God reigns
supreme; in which no evil is found; in which God s elect
angels and saints are raised to their most perfect state of being,
and enjoy the presence of God face to face. Hence Aristotle
says that the persuasion is innate in all peoples that the Deity
is in Heaven. Moreover, by the mention of God s throne we
are impressed by the high nature of God, and moved thereby
to reverence; and we are moved also to raise the goal of our
hopes above the perishing earth, and place it with God.

The appellation "Father" which Christ taught us to
address to God is a message of God s great love of us. The
love of God likens itself to a father s love to show its providence,
its mercy, its ever-watchful care, its secure protection. That
tender name banishes all cold reserve between God and man.
As the child looks to the parent for even-thing, so should we
look to receive all from God. In the father s protection the
child rests secure, and infinitely more should we confide in
God s almighty care. As the father s love moves him to
instruct and discipline the child, so God in mercy chastens us

MATT. VI. 5 15 207

that we may be more worthy of love, and more capable of
happiness. It is not that God loves us less that he allows us
to drink the cup of sorrow, but because by the cross man
mounts to a higher grade of being, and refines his soul from
baser dross. What an incomprehensible mystery that God
should offer man the exalted dignity of sonship? Sad and
awful is the reflection that man thus raised to sonship of God,
does like Esau, despise his birthright for the mean things of
earth. God s love of man is reflected in the heavens and in
the earth. God s love of man brought the material universe
into being. The sun, the moon and the stars send down upon
the earth the smile of God s love. The myriad forms of life
on earth, the beneficent course of seasons, the fecundity and
beauty of nature, all are effects of God s everlasting love.
God s love is the cause of creation, of Redemption, and of
grace. " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life. " John III. 16. And in the
midst of this immensity of God s love ungrateful man stands
cold and ungrateful; and turns from God to God s enemy
sin.

Many believe that the first person of the Blessed Trinity is
signified here by the name of Father. It seems far more prob
able that the name regards the Deity as one in substance, and
threefold in person. The fatherhood of God is founded in a
relation to man which regards the three persons, and the per
fect form of prayer must include the Trinity.

In the sentence: "Hallowed be thy name," the term
"name" signifies the essence of God himself as manifested to
us, and apprehended by our thoughts and words, and it is the
medium by which we think or speak of a thing. It is the ideal
representation of a thing. The name of a thing embodies a
notion or conception of the thing, fixes such conception, and
makes it subject to record and recall for common use in the
processes and interchange of thought. Hence the mind, w r hile
using the name as representing the thing, properly centers its
conceptions in the thing itself.

The true sense of dyid^eiv in this context, as given by
Schleusner, is pie et sancte aliquem colere et venerari.

208 MATT. VI. 5 15

By the declaration, "Hallowed be thy name" we express
the soul s intent to give proper glory and honor to God, and we
pray that God may be thus honored by all his creatures. We
contemplate therein the perfect idea of God s worship which
we wish to render to him, and wish that all men may likewise
render him.

The glory of God is the object of creation, the end of the
universe. Hence this properly occupies the first place in the
prayer. The object of that member is not to petition God to
effect this result. In truth, it is not a petition at all. It is
rather a professi* &gt;n that the first object of our thoughts, desires,
and purposes is the honor and glory of God. It proclaims at
once that we wish this as the first thing in life; and this wish
has a grand directing influence in all the ends we aim at. M&lt; &gt;re-
over, it declares that by positive effort in our own lives, in our
thoughts, our words, and our deeds, we shall give to God
his due worship, and promote his honor and glory in all
things.

In the second member there is some divergency of opinion
regarding the precise sense of "thy kingdom." God has abso
lute dominion over all creatures of the universe, and in this
sense, his reign is capable of no amplification. But God lias
another kingdom in relation to man, and it is of this that these
words treat. S &gt;me believe that thereby is meant the spiritual
reign of God in our souls by grace. For this opinion Cajetan
is cited. Lamy interprets the term of the Church of Christ.
Several Fathers and commentators apply the words to the
second advent of Christ; while others refer them to the Beatific
Visi- &gt;n. It seems that all these &lt; -pinions take a narrow view &lt; &gt;f
the issue. They fix the mind on what is only a part of the
entity called here the kingdom of Heaven. The kingdom of
Heaven here means the union of man with God. By praying
that it may come, we express a desire that it may l&gt;e amplified,
and enroll ever and ever more of the sons of men in its organ
ization. It includes all those realities mentioned in the afore
said opinions and more. It has various elements and stages of
existence. Its members on earth are all who are regenerated
through Christ. Its consummation shall consist when all the

MATT. VI. 5 15 209

elect shall be gathered in to the beatific reign of God. It
comprises every force of righteousness that makes for God,
faith, and love, and grace, and good works.

In praying that this kingdom may come, we pray for the
dilatation of its various elements in ways fitting to their natures
Such a proposition contemplates the growth and diffusion of
those righteous forces that put down evil, and win souls to God.
The establishment of that great kingdom is the end of the crea
tion of man. It is the end of the Incarnation ; in fact, it is the
end of all that God has done and does for man.

Such a vital interest should hold a chief place in our
desires and deeds. To build up that kingdom, and increase
its membership, should be a leading purpose in our lives. By
this member we unite our desires with the great design of God,
and we offer him the forces of our nature to promote that great
end. By this member we open up our souls to the action of
God, and we entreat an increase in those elements which con
stitute the reign of God in our souls. We show an interest in
the things that are dear to God.

Now that kingdom is amplified every time evil is dethroned
in a human soul, and the reign of righteousness is established
there. It is amplified by the spread of faith through the world.
The man who brings a man nearer to Christ in any way acts
in the spirit of these words. The Jews looked for the coming
of a kingdom which accorded with their carnal views. Christ
teaches his followers to look for a kingdom of a wondrous
spiritual nature, vast and eternal. That vast kingdom will
finally totally consist in Heaven. It now exists in Heaven, in
Purgatory, and on earth. The kingdom of Heaven has come
into all the souls of the elect who are now with God. These
belong permanently to God, and are confirmed in grace so that
their state can not change.

The kingdom of God has also come into every soul \vho has
departed this life in peace with God, even though that soul be
still detained in a state of purgation. These souls also are
confirmed to God so that they can never be lost to God s
kingdom. They have not come to the Beatific Vision, but
they have passed into such a blessed state that they can never
turn away from God.

(14) Gosp. II.

2 10

MATT. VI. ; -i

The kingdom of Heaven has come into every soul on earth
that is in a state of grace. This number continually varies.
By sin some leave it; by conversion from sin anil by faith in
God others are added. It is especially to this part of the
kingdom that the petition applies. By it we pray that this
number be augmented. We pray that men may come to a
saving knowledge of salvation through Christ; that men may
abancL -n sin and turn t&lt; . God ; and that the number of the elect
may grow greater through faith, love, and grace.

This petition tills the heroic missionaries with zeal and
courage to give their lives for the salvation of souls. It is the
first principle in all apostolic zeal.

In the part of that kingdom that is now in Heaven the
reign of God is marred by no disturbing agency ot evil. The
will of God there holds perfect sway, and all the angels and
1 ilessed elect m&lt; &gt;ve in 1 &gt;ve t&lt; &gt; execute that will. ( )f c&lt; nirse. they
find not the impediments of c&gt; &gt;rrupt nature in this perfect
execution, for they have put on incorruption. Therefore
( . 1 s will moves Heaven not by constraint, but those higher
intelligences find their blessedness in doing that which God
wills. Neither d&lt; &gt;es the d&lt; &gt;ing &lt; &gt;f that will in I leaven entail trial,
renunciation, and sutYering; for tliey have passed above tliese.
But the part of the kingdom yet on earth, offers an obedience
which makes its norm of imitati -n the perfect doing of the will
of God as it is d&lt; &gt;r.e in Heaven.

There is a will of God ruling in the world which theologians
call the absolute will of God, or the roliiutas bcucplaciti. This
is in nowise dependent on second causes, and hence it always
has its fulfilment. Of this the Psalmist declares: "But our
God is in the Heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased." Ps. CXV. 3. [Vulg. CXIII. ; v ] And Isaiah saith:
"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Now
the creature can not alter this will, but his attitude towards it
should be that of perfect accord and joyous acquiescence.
There is another respect of the will of God toward man which
theologians denominate the preceptive will, or the voluntas
signi. By this will God wishes certain things to be done
through the co-operation of man s free will. This will may be
thwarted bv man s voluntary disobedience. Now it is of this

MATT. VI. 5 15 211

will that the present member of the Lord s prayer chiefly treats.
Hence, in this member of the prayer, we place our wills in
perfect accord with the will of God. We also profess that we
wish that God s will may be obeyed on earth after the manner
that it is in Heaven. Of course, human nature, in its earthly
period, will never attain to a perfect equality in obedience with
the celestial beings, but the manner in which the angels and
saints in Heaven obey should be the model of our imitation.

The first application of the prayer is in our own lives.
The fact that we long to see God s will obeyed on earth shows a
rectitude of heart and a love of God that are eminently pleasing
to him. The perfect fulfilment of this profession demands
unquestioning obedience. God s ways are not our ways, and
he assigns no causes for his mysterious ways. It is not for us
to question why God wills anything ; but being assured that it is
the will of God, that should be the motive of perfect obedience.
And we should move to do the will of God not with sorrow and
reluctance, but gladly and eagerly. It is easy to do the will
of God, when it is in accord with our natural inclinations. But
when it calls to renunciation, and to trial, and to suffering,
perfect obedience is rarely found.

These words are often on the lips of every Christian ; their
profession is to make the life of the pilgrim Christian a counter
part of the life of the angels and blessed in Heaven. And yet,
in daily life we see few concerned in accomplishing the perfect
will of God. The words become for many a mere form, whose
real meaning they have never seized. Even some of those who
do advert to their sense, conceive them as a general reflection on
the world, whereas their primary accomplishment should be
the dedication of our own personal wills to God, to render to
him an obedience that shall stop at nothing. Jesus Christ set
us an example of the perfect fulfilment of these words, when in
the shadow of the cross, he prayed : "Father, if thou be willing
remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will but thine
be done." Luke, XXII. 42.

In all holy men we find this resignation to the will of God.
The highest manifestation was found in the life of Christ. To
do the Father s will was the supreme motive which shaped his
whole life: "For I am come down from Heaven, not to do

2 1 2 MATT. VI. 5 is

my &gt;\vn will, 1ml the will &lt; &gt;f him that sent me." -John VI. 38.

Like- to this was the mind of the Mother of (iod when she
deelared : "Heho d the handmaid of the Lord; lie it unto me
according to thy word." Christ deelares: "For whosoever
shall do the will of my Father, who is in Heaven, he is my
!&gt;rotherand sister and mother."-- Matt. XII. 50.

Every man should seek but one thing in life, the will of
( M il. All that is eontrary to the will of (iod is evil ; all that is
acc&lt; &gt;rd ing to the will &lt; &gt;f (io&lt;l is good, absolutely good. The will
f (iod is mereiful, loving, informed by infinite wisdom. In its
workings infinite wisdom and infinite love combine to lead a
man ever upwards to a higher and happier state of being. The
will of (iod is mysterious; it may lead a man through the- path
of sorrow and pain; but the certain knowledge that all this
suffering is but the means that infinite 1 &lt;ve must use to prepare
man for eternal happiness should make of suffering itself a
delight. When a man gives himself totally to do the will of
(iod, he enters on the secure path of holiness. If he persist in
thai holv determination, and put his resolution into act, he
must become one of the saints of (iod. (iod may try him in
rder to perfect him; but (iod has sufficiently revealed himself
to merit an absolute trust in the midst of the darkest night of
human s&lt; .rn &gt;w.

After having rendered to (iod fitting worship, and having
] laced the will and the forces of our nature in perfect accord
with the divine will, the prayer proceeds to direct petitions to
(iod for the necessaries of body and soul. The first petition is
for bread.

A celebrated question has arisen here regarding the desig
nation of this bread. The Lord s prayer, in a slightly more
compendious form, is found again in Luke XI. 3. In both
texts the bread is designated as o a pro? o f-rriovcrios. The
term eVioucno? is rendered in the Vulgate translation of St.
Matthew sitpcrsHbstiiiitiiilis; while the same term occurring in
Luke XI. 3, is by the Vulgate rendered quotidimms. The term
supirsubstiiiiliulis in Matthew s text is the work of St. Jerome.
The Rheims-Douay edition, which follows the Vulgate in every
thing, translates the term in Matthew by siipcrsubstaiitia!, in

MATT. VI. 5 15 213

Luke by daily. The protestant versions render the form uni
formly daily, though the Revised Edition prints as a marginal
reading: "bread for the coming day." The term daily prevails
in the popular form of the prayer in the English tongue.

That the word daily has place in the sentence is evidenced
by the text of Luke, wherein the phrase TO icaO ijfj-epav,
day by day, is added over and above the ITTIOVO-IOS. Hence,
while admitting that the sense of the words is a petition for
daily bread, we proceed to examine what is the real sense of the
term eViouo-io?.

Concerning the sense of this term, Jerome is not consistent.
In liis Commentary on the Epistle to Titus, he emphatically
denies that the words signify material bread ; " Far be it from
us, who are commanded to take no thought for the morrow, to
believe that we are bidden to ask in the Lord s prayer for that
bread which is in a brief time digested, and is cast out into the
privy." He interprets it of the Lord, who calls himself the
bread of life. Ambrose and some other authorities have also
supported this view. That such opinion is false, rests on con
vincing data. It is a canon of Scriptural exegesis to adhere
to the literal sense, unless a grave and evident reason moves us
to abandon it. Now here, though the context and the words
themselves persuade us to accept the plain literal sense, this
opinion departs from it, and brings in one of the boldest of
metaphors. Moreover, if such were the sense, it would be
absurd to represent it by the cnj^epov of Matthew and the TO
KU$ rjuepav as a daily necessity. Finally, according to that
opinion, in the model of prayer, which should be simple and
adapted to the intelligence of the humblest mind, the Lord
would have introduced a figure out of keeping with its context,
and unintelligible to the average mind.

Of course, by a pious accommodation the sense can be
extended to include spiritual graces and blessings, but it seems
evident that such was not the sense of the Lord in formulating
the petition. The words are interpreted of material bread )
designed to sustain the body, by Chrysostom, Gregory of
Nyssa, Basil, Theophylactus, Euthymius, Tostatus, Maldon-
atus, Toleti, Calmet, Knabenbauer, and by nearly all modern
interpreters.

2i4 MATT. VI. 5 15

Cajetan objected against such exposition of the words that
it places the needs of the body before those of the soul. This
is false, since in the three preceding members, the soul s
interests are saved. There the soul gives homage to God, and
sets itself in right relations to him, and in the member, "thy
kingdom come," in its broad comprehensive sense, the graces
&lt; &gt;f God are asked to come into our souls. Moreover, even were
it as they represent, the defense of Maldonatus would save us:
" Respondeo Christum non tarn ordinem dignitatis rerum quam
natural 1 et infirmitatis nostne sequi voluisse: natura prius vult
vivere, deinde bene vivere. " By this prayer Christ also con
sults the soul s interest, inasmuch as he tempers the desire
( f getting, limiting it to the daily necessities, which man thereby
recognizes as coming to him from the bounty of God.

It is well known that in Scriptural usage bread is taken to
signify the body s food of whatever nature. Thus in Genesis,
III. 19: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till
thou return unto the ground ." Again in Genesis, XXXIX.
6 : " And he left all that he had in Joseph s hand, and he knew
not aught he had, save the bread which he did eat." Hence
it is clear that the petition is for the body s daily sustenance
of fo&lt; d.

To speak now &lt; &gt;f those who hold positive opinions on the
t -&lt;oi;cno9, we find two leading opinions. Some derive the term
from eTTei^i, to conic upon, to conic after, to succeed. The com-
p &gt;und is made up &lt; &gt;f eVi and ttjut, to conic or go. Now we find
the present participle of this verb joined to rjpepa used to
signify the morrow. Thus it is used in Acts, VII. 26: "And
the next day [T?? re {-covcry I l^tpa] he showed himself unto
them as they strove, etc. " The advocates of the first opinion
derive the sense of eV&lt;ouo-io&lt;&gt; from the sense of the participle in
the passage in the Acts, and interpret it to mean food for the
morrow, so that the petition would be : " Give us this day our
bread for the morrow. " Interpreted thus, this petition would
cut off all excessive solicitude for the future necessities of life,
and would place the soul s trust in the Providence of God for
the needs of the coming day. St. Jerome declared that he had
found the term rendered in the Nazarene Gospel by ^HiO

T T

which corresponds to the crastinus of the Latin. Knabenbauer

MATT. VI. 5 15 215

defends this sense, and he cites in support of it the Bohairic
and Sahidic versions. It is also defended by Rosenmiiller.

In designating the morrow as 17 eTnova-a f)/j.epa the
literal sense is the coming day. This is perfectly congruous as
applied to the day, for the day is conceived as an entity which
comes in the inevitable course of time. But in order to show
the impossibility of thus qualifying our daily sustenance, we
need only give to the terms their true sense. Who would say :
"Give us this day our coming bread?"

The participle eVtouo-a does not in the former enunciation
lose its basic meaning of coming: it can only be interpreted
as the morrow by the understanding of ^e/oo, that is, the
coming day. Now in order to get the sense of " for the morrow
from eTTLovatos we must consider it an adjective derived from
e-TTLovaa. This seems contrary to the laws of language, and
precedents are not found to warrant it.

Another opinion derives the term from eW and oiWa,
substance. Theophylactus has explained it accurately to be
tt/aro? 7ri rfj ovaia ical o-v&Tdcrei TJ/JLWV aura/a/CT/?, the bread which
is sufficient for our maintenance and support. Thus it corre
sponds to the prayer of Agur, Proverbs XXX. 8: feed me
with food that is needful for me [ra 8eovra ical ra av-r apices. "]
Hence we believe that the dpros eVtoiWo? is victus substantial,
scu victus vitcB nostrcc sustentandie et alendce sufficiens ac
uecessarius. The analogy of the Greek tongue justifies this
etymology. Thus we have eVtX^io? from eVi and XTJVO S,
relating to a wine-vat or the vintage ; eTrira^o? from eVi and
ra&lt;o&lt;? relating to a tomb.

Objection has been made that in the composition of eVi
and ovffia the i would be elided, so that the form would result
in eVoixnos. But we have evidences in classical Greek that
this does not always occur. Thus we have en-te^ ?, eVt^ai/o?,
e7ribp*o&lt;&gt;, eTTtovpos and others.

Now, in adopting this opinion, we need in nowise change
the wording of the Lord s Prayer. The terms daily bread
mean directly that which we here defend to be the sense of
trpro? eTTiovcrios, namely the necessary food day by day for
the maintenance of the body. The prayer is simple, yet sub
lime. It asks not for wealth or luxuries, but for the substance

216 MATT. VI. 5 15

necessary to support life. It brings the Providence of God
intimately into our daily lives. It recognizes all as coming
from God, and tempers the solicitude for the things of the body
by a benign trust in God. It is exactly in line with that other
declaration of the Saviour, where he bids them be not solicitous
for what they should eat. It accords with the admonition of
St. Paul to Timothy I. VI. 8 : " And having food and raiment,
let us therewith be content." It is a grand act of religion to
recognize every day man s dependence on God for the fruits of
the earth.. The fact thai a man has the substance of this
world does not render this prayer less apposite. By it man
recognizes God as the giver of that which he possesses; he
prays fora continuance of God s blessings; and he establishes
the right relation between himself and the goods of the earth.
They are not in man s absolute dominion, that he may foster
his pride therein, but they are gifts of God, and man s hold on
them is simply to satisfy the necessities of the body.

The next petition has reference to the maintenance of the
soul s life. One of the necessary conditions of the supernat
ural life of the soul is God s forgiveness of sin. This need is
universal; all men are sinners, and need the mercy of God.
Hence in the model of all man s prayers, there is placed the
petition for this great need of man. Sin is called a debt, 6&lt;f&gt;ti \;;-
/ia, whereby we are brought to a realization of the real nature
of sin. That by ofaiXrinara the Lord means sins, is evident
from the text itself and from the parallel passage of Luke
XI. 4, where the term a^apriai is used.

By the fact of creation and by God s subsequent benefits,
man owes to God obedience, service, worship and love. This
is a positive obligation, the first of all obligations. By sin man
breaks that contract, and becomes a bankrupt before God.
That debt he alone can never pay. It must be forgiven him,
and is forgiven him through Christ. God could forgive him
without any payment, but God has not willed to do so. It is
one of the mysterious ways of God to exact payment of that
obligation, and this payment has been made, and is made by
the merits of Christ. The system seems strange to the world,
but it is God s way. We could not pay the obligation, and we
have not paid it. Our justification is free as relates to us, but

MATT. VI. 5 15 217

as relates to Christ, it was obtained by full payment. Now all
that we can do is to dispose our souls by the aid of the free
grace of God, and ask the forgiveness which we need. And
this member of the prayer frames the petition. It brings also
before man s mind the consciousness that he is a sinner stand
ing in need of daily forgiveness. The very forms of expression
of the prayer suppose its daily recital. It is designed for the
sanctification of every day.

It was one of the errors of the Pelagians to hold that man
could live absolutely free from sin. That the Blessed Virgin
so lived, Catholic faith holds. As relates to all other men,
we have the definition of the Council of Trent: " If any man
shall say, that a man being once justified can through his whole
life avoid all sins, even venial sins, except by the special privi
lege of God, as the Church holds concerning the Blessed Virgin,
let him be anathema. " -De Justificatione, Can. XXIII. It
is in the absolute power of God to thus preserve a creature,
but except the Mother of God, we know of no one with whom
he has thus dealt. The Lord s prayer contemplates the ordi
nary course of human life, and thus considered, the prayer is
necessary for sinner and saint.

Man never realizes fully the true nature of the infection of
sin in the soul and man s dependence on grace. The Pelagian
principles flatter human pride, and appeal to the natural man.

That the present petition should be applicable to man, it
is not necessary that, at its recital, he stand convicted of unfor-
given sins. It suffices that a sin has at some time come into
man s life; nay, more; it suffices that man lives in a nature in
which sin is a daily possibility.

That which is called here debts is called in the English
Catholic form of this prayer a trespass. The word trespass
weakens not the original word debt, but accurately specifies it.
The debt is not a financial obligation, which the Lord s prayer
moves to cancel, but a voluntary transgression of law, which
constitutes a sin against God, and in the relations of man to
man, it constitutes an injury or offense. Now in asking for the
remission of our sins, the prayer lays down the condition on
w r hich God may be moved to grant it. The reading of the first
aorist a^tca^v is to be preferred in the second member of

218 MATT. VI. 5 15

this verse, and instructs that in the very act of asking the
pardon of God, we should be rightly disposed in forgiveness of
every one that has offended or injured us. It was this passage
which Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote :

" we d&lt; &gt; pray f&lt; &gt;r mercy,

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy. "

The text establishes the great importance of forgiveness of
injuries, inasmuch as it is made a factor in our daily prayer,
and the condition of God s mercy t&lt;&gt; us. Thus of forgiveness
s] &gt;eaketh the S&lt; -n &lt; -f Sirach : " F&lt; .rgive thy neighl &gt;&lt; &gt;r, if he hath
hurt thee, and then shall thy sins be forgiven thee, when thou
prayest." Fccli. XXVIII. 2.

That forgiveness of the neighbor is a necessary condition
of God s forgiveness of us is amply evidenced by these texts.
Moreover, the plain proof exists in these and other data of
inspiration that the forgiveness of the neighbor is the measure
of our forgiveness by God. The form of expression of the text
in Matthew supports such sense, and this sense is confirmed by
Matthew, VII. 2: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye
shall be judged : and with what measure ye measure, it shall be
measured t&lt;&gt; you again."

It would seem, from a consideration of the nature of God
and &lt; -f his relation to man, that it would be sufficient for God to
express his will to be obeyed; that the knowledge that God
wished a thing would be a motive strong enough to move man
to act; and yet the Almighty must needs plead, exhort, and
threaten to move a man to do an act of mercy towards his own
kind. Therefore besides being a necessary condition and
moving cause of God s forgiveness, our forgiveness of injuries
is the measure of God s dealings with us. In the words of St.
Augustine, we enter into a compact with God, that he forgive
us as we forgive others.

The measurement, however, proceeds according to anal
ogy. As the nature of God is exalted above bur nature and our
comprehension, so is his goodness toward us exalted above our
mercy to others. God acts towards us according to his trans
cendent nature and attributes, and with that high action our

MATT. VI. 5 15 219

best achievement can not come into comparison. Woe to us,
if God limited his mercy and goodness to us to the absolute
measure of what he found in us. We do not ask in the Lord s
prayer that he so deal with us. But our treatment of others is
the measure of God s dealing with us, in this sense, that the
more perfectly we shall have followed the law of mercy in
dealing with all men, the greater will be God s mercy and favor
to us. The nature of God s action remains transcendently
above man s action, and yet the degrees of perfection in our
performance of the law of duty, according to the analogy
between God and creatures, causes corresponding degrees in
God s favorable judgment of us.

The Lord s prayer closes with a petition for preservation
from temptation and evil. In praying that God lead us not
into temptation, we do not imply that God leads any man into
temptation. St. James has given us a clear declaration on this
point: " Let no man say when he is tempted: I am tempted
of God: for God is cnreipao-Tos in evil, neither tempteth he
any man: but every man is tempted by his own lust and
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sin; and sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death."
James, I. 13-15. But inasmuch as nothing can take place in
the universe except by God s action or permission, the things
which occur by the permission of God are often referred to God
as their cause.

We speak here of temptation proper, w^hich may be defined
as that which entices to sin, and exposes to the danger of sin.
God makes trial of a man s faith and virtue. Thus he made
trial of the faith of Abraham by positive act : " And it came to
pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham and said
unto him : Abraham ; and he said : Behold, here I am. And
he said : Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah ; and offer him there for a
burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee
of." Gen. XXII. 1-2. The Lord did not thereby entice
Abraham to evil, but essayed his faith.

It is compatible with God s dealings with man to move
upon him such test. In such manner it is declared in Wisdom,
III. 5, that God tempts the just. Of such temptation it is

220 MATT. VI. 5 15

\vrittcn in Deuteronomy, XIII. 3: "Thou shall not hearken
unto the words of that prophet or unto that dreamer of dreams :
for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether ye love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. "
Corporal suffering, affliction and trial, loss of property, disease,
persecution, and other ills are also called temptations. Thus
St. Paul was tempted, and Tobias: "And because thou wert
pleasing to God, it was necessary that temptation should test
thee. " -Tob. XII. 13. It is of this temptation that St. James
speaks : " My brethren, count it all j&lt; &gt;y when ye fall into divers
temptations; knowing this that the trying of your faith li orkcth
patience." James. I. 2-3. And of this temptation he speak-
eth again in the twelfth verse: "Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the
crown of life, which the Lord hath premised to them that love
him." Now God mav, be the positive cause of all such temp
tations, as St. Paul saith : "For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
Heb. XII. 6. The Lord s prayer is not aimed to secure exemp
tion from such temptation.

Hut there is another species of temptation which has as
cause the forces of evil in the universe. Some of these forces
are within us, the lust of the ilesh, the disordered movements of
the passions.- in a word, "the law of the members." These
inner incentives to sin are moved to action by certain external
causes of various nature, and the whole is subject to the action
of the arch-tempter Satan. Xow such temptation is an evil
thing, which every man should desire to avoid. A man may
lawfully desire the temptation of trial, persecution, pain,
poverty, and the like, but we are t&lt; &gt; fly fn &gt;m the evil temptation
as from a positive danger. It is true that the Christian passing
through the evil temptatu &gt;ns unscathed acquires thereby merit,
but no man should desire such an essay. When we rightly
measure the power of evil and the weakness of our own nature,
we are persuaded that unaided we can nut cope with the mighty
forces that oppose us. This is not cowardice, but a proper and
wise estimate of the nature of human life. If God should with
hold his hand, and allow the evil temptation to come upon us
unrestrained, who should be saved Hence these words move

MATT. VI. 515 221

a man to mistrust himself, to put aside accursed security ; they
move man to a proper estimate of his needs, and to recognize
the source of his strength.

The proper object of this petition is first that God may
avert temptation. God may, in his wisdom, see where the very
presence of temptation may benefit man, but such vision is not
given to man, and man s duty is by all possible means to escape
from evil temptation. Such is the command of Christ to us in
Matthew XXVI. 41 : " Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation ; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. "
Christ does not restrict the petition to ask that w r e fall not in
temptation, but he exhorts us to pray that temptation come
not upon us We are weaker than w 7 e know, and though we
stand now, perhaps it is because God in mercy kept back temp
tations which would have borne us away.

Another object of this petition is to seek help from God to
stand fast in temptation. God s dealings with man in tempta
tion are outlined by St. Paul, I. Cor. X. 13: "There hath no
temptation taken you, but such as man can bear; but God is
faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able ; but will with temptation also make the way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it. " Hence, in the present peti
tion of the Lord s prayer, we daily invest our lives with the
saving protection of God ; we place the issue in his hands.
With truthful humility, we acknowledge our weakness and
dependence. We leave to God to judge and determine the
mode in which he will deal with the temptation; we simply
implore his help in the ways which his wisdom shall determine.

This help will come to us from God in various ways. At
times it will be a direct intervention of God to prevent the
attack of temptation; again it will be a spiritual force com
municated to the soul, by which it is strengthened to combat
successfully; and again it will be a tempering of the onslaught
of Satan, and of the rebellion of the flesh, to keep it within
our pow r er to resist.

We do not know the multifarious ways in which the power
of God shields us from temptation, and sustains us in tempta
tion. It is not necessary for us to know just how he is operat
ing. Infinite wisdom regulates that. The ultimate object of

222

MATT. VI. 515

our desire and our petition is to save ourselves from falling in
temptation. We pray for this ultimate result by asking God
to keep us nut of temptation, for \ve know our weakness. And
the full sense of that petition is that God may avert temptation,
temper temptation, aid us in temptation, in the ways that he
judges shall lie g&gt; "1 f&gt; &gt;r us ; that by his aid we may stand before
him without crime.

S&lt; -me consider the next petiti- m : " Deliver us from evil, "
as a positive form of that which is sought in the foregoing
petition. A proposition is strengthened by being first intro
duced by the negation of its c mtrary, and then propounded in
its positive form. Thus of the Eucharist, Christ declares first
that: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God, and drink
his blood, ye shall have no life in you:" which he straightway
enforces by the positive declaration: "He that eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise
him up at the last day." -John, VI. 53~54- Such was the
mind of Jansenius &lt;&gt;n this passage.

But it seems that the petition, "deliver us from evil,"
includes more than deliverance from temptation. It includes
deliverance from falling in evil temptations, but it does not
stop here, but extends to every evil which troubles the life of
man .

To render the sense of the pn &gt;p&lt; &gt;sitin clear we must first
determine what is meant by the word "evil. As the term
occurs in the Greek text in an oblique case, we can not deter
mine from the text whether it be the masculine or neuter form
of the term. Maldonatus interprets the term of the devil, and
cites in support of his opinion Tertullian, Chrysostom and his
followers, Theophylactus and Euthymius. According to
Knabenbauer, Gregory of Xyssa, Chromatius, Faber Stapu-
lensis, and of moderns, Bisping and Schanz support this
opinion.

King James version agreed with the Vulgate in inter
preting the term of evil in general. The Revised Edition of
Oxford changed the translation, rendering the passage, "deliver
us from the evil one." The revisers however give the old
reading, "deliver us from evil, " in the margin.

MATT. VI. 5 15 223

There seems to be no sufficient motive to restrict the term
to the sole signification of the devil.

As he is evil, and the source of much of man s evil, it
certainly includes him, but we believe that it goes farther, and
signifies every thing that has the nature or relation of evil.
Knabenbauer defends this view, and cites in support of it St.
Cyprian, Augustine, the author of the Opus Imperfectum, Bede,
Paschasius, Bruno, St. Thomas, Albertus Magnus, Cajetan,
Salmeron, Jansenius, Barradius, Suarez, Sylveira, Lamy,
Arnoldi, Reischl, Pillion; and among protestants, Ewald,
Tholuck, Kamphausen, Keil, Mansel, Weiss and others.

The intrinsic evidence also favors this view. The petition
is for deliverance from evil, evil in general, evil in all its forms,
evil as the popular mind apprehends it. Why should we,
without any warrant, restrict this to the personal devil?

In the Old Testament 6 Tro^pd? is never used to desig
nate the devil.

The words of St. Cyprian are apposite here: "After all
these things, at the close of the prayer there is a clause briefly
recapitulating all our petitions and prayers. For at the end
we say, 1 but deliver us from evil, contemplating therein all
the evils that the tempter operates against us in this world;
from which evils we have a safe and sure protection if God
delivers us; if God gives help to those who implore it. When
we say, deliver us from evil, we need ask for nothing more,
since we implore the protection of God against evil. When
God s protection is obtained, we stand secure and safe against
all that the devil and the world can do. For what should
man fear in this world, when God protects him?"

Cajetan declares: "In this petition we pray that our
mortal life, our health, goods, and everything else whether
good or bad should not become for us a spiritual evil, which is
the only absolute evil."

Suarez explains it as follows : "It was fitting that Christ
should teach us that we should seek from God deliverance from
all these evils (war, pestilence, and famine, and the like), for he
alone can deliver us from them, and he does it when it advan
tages us; for such condition is included in the petition, and

224 MATT. VI. 5 15

needs not be expressed. After that we have asked for the
necessary goods of this life, we likewise ask for deliverance
from the contrary evils."

It is true, that Christ uses the term 6 TTOI^O? in Matthew
XIII. 19, to signify the evil spirit ; but there the context plainly
demands such sense of the term. We freely concede that the
term can and does signify the devil, but we believe that the
present text is weakened by limiting it solely to Satan. He is
included as prince of the universe of evil, but we pray for
deliverance from the entire universe of evil. Every moral evil
makes for Satan ; hence those who interpret the term of the
devil must needs see included there all those evil forces whose
tendency is to draw man tn the service of the evil one. Y\ e
see in the petiti&lt; &gt;n a prayer f&lt; &gt;r deliverance from all evil univers
ally considered.

The character of the causes which affect the life of man is
either good or evil. In the preceding petitions man prays for
good. The proper comprehension of those petitions includes
all good, even temporal good, asked for in the petition for daily
bread. The prayer is balanced by the petition for deliverance
from all evil. The term evil naturally calls up in the mind of
man the idea of evil in general. Hence the term applies to
both moral and physical evil. Of course, the only absolute
evil is moral evil; physical evils may be blessings in disguise.
But still it is not incompatible with the spirit of the Gospel to
pray for exemption from physical evil. The Church has the
Spirit of God, and she prays to be delivered from war, pesti
lence, famine, sickness and from the other ills. That prayer is
acceptable to God which places all the events of man s life
under the Providence of God. Jesus himself prayed to be
exempted from the crucifixion. In this petition, therefore, we
pray that God may preserve us from everything which the
human mind naturally considers as evil, which object includes
the evil of the moral and the physical worlds.

In the great life of the Church, multitudes are forever
sending up petitions for deliverance from physical evils. Will
any man say that these are in error? that their prayer is not
rightly framed? But the Lord s Prayer is the model of all
prayer, and therefore if it omitted this object of man s prayer,

MATT. VI. 16 18 225

it would be wanting in one of man s great needs. God earn
estly asks to be allowed to come into human life thus inti
mately ; that we recognize every good as coming from him ; and
that we fly to him in every need. Certainly he who came forth
from the eternal Trinity to teach man how to pray, w y ould not
have overlooked that important relation of divine Providence
to man which consists in saving man from physical evil.

We have before stated that the Amen pertains not to the
words of Christ, but is a mere liturgical response.

Few things are so hard for human nature to do as to for
give offenses and injuries. It is equally certain that it is an
indispensible condition for salvation. In wisdom, therefore,
Christ lays greater stress on this point of the prayer, setting
forth the respective effects of forgiveness and non-forgiveness
of injuries. Of course, the fourteenth and fifteenth verses are
to be understood suppositis supponendis. They do not mean
that the forgiveness of injuries constitutes the sole duty of man,
and that its observance alone insures Heaven to man, and its
transgression hell. The nature of such propositions is that
they are universal in the negative sense, and limited in their
affirmative sense. Hence these propositions establish a con-
ditio sine qua non of salvation ; while they promise in their
affirmative sense that our forgiveness of others will move God
to show all mercy to us that is compatible with God s truth and
justice. The thought is expressed in that form to secure the
force of the antithesis. God takes cognizance of our act, and
makes of it a motive of his action, to the effect that he shows
the greatest mercy to the man who has been most generous in
his forgiveness of his fellow men.

MATT. VI. 16-18.

1 6. Moreover when ye fast, 16. "O^av os VT^TCJTJTS, y.r t

be not, as the hypocrites, of a ylvesOs wq ol j-or.ptTat cry.jOpwzoi:

sad countenance: for they dis- acpavf-.ojsi yip 72 Trcorco-a iau-rwv

figure their faces, that they orw? spavw-cv Tolq avOpwxotq vr r

may be seen of men to fast. STSUOVTS?: i^f ( v Alyw ujjuv, aTE-

Verily I say unto you: They x ou " tv 7 ^v ^"Qov aO-rwv.
have received their reward.

(15) Gosp. II.

226 MATT. VI. 16 18

17. But thou, when them 17. !/ *k vr,"3j(,&gt;v zt.z . lx .
fastest, anoint thy head, and - r JJ TT ( V y.c;a/,r ( v y.al TO Tporwrov
wash thy face; TOJ vM-a-. :

18. That thou be not seen 18. "C)r(oc ^f, cavf,; vr ( T7J(i)v
of men to fast, but of thy -rol.: ivOpo-o .;, i/.Xi TO liar::
Father who is in secret: and -ou TW iv ?o&gt; xp^alw, xal 6 Ilxrr,;
thy Father , who seeth in roj 6 pXs-ojv sv TO) y.pjiato i-o-
secret, shall recompense thee. :(. );T. re/..

Fasting is included among the duties of religion both in
the Old Law and in the New. One of the proofs that protes
tantism is not of God is that it has eliminated this work from
the duties of man. In the Old Law one yearly solemn fast was
appointed: "And this shall be a statute for ever with you;
that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye
shall afflict your souls, etc. " Lev. XVI. 29. But besides this,
there were public fasts in times of calamity and war, and
private fasts, which were especially practised by the Pharisees,
to establish themselves in the esteem of the people. These
fasts formed an element in a homogeneous system of outward
religious observances, in which God had been eliminated, and
superseded by dry forms.

On the solemn fast, Pharisaic teaching forbade to eat, to
drink, to wash the body or any portion thereof, to anoint
one s self, or put on the sandals. The Jews in fasting also
smeared their faces with ashes. They contented themselves
with these outward austerities. This smearing of the face with
ashes, and an affected expression of penitence is that to
which the Lord refers in saying that the hypocrites disfigure
their faces. The Greek term employed in this passage is
a&lt;f&gt;aviova-tv, which is very inadequately rendered by the
cxtcrminant of the Vulgate. The basic signification of a$avi&Lv
is to make unseen. Hence the derived meanings of to make
away with, to raze to the ground, to erase (writing), to darken,
obscure, tarnish. In the present predication, it undoubtedly
means to disfigure the features of the human countenance by
the outward signs of penance.

The outward sign of penance was not in itself bad. The
Lord had often commanded public penance. The men of

MATT. VI. 16 18 227

Nineveh placated the Lord by doing penance in sackcloth and
ashes. But it was the motive which vitiated the penance of
the Pharisees. There was no interior penance, and therefore
the outward indication was a lie. The human face is beautiful
when animated by the soul, but when the soul has departed,
the face becomes ghastly and repulsive. So with these external
acts of penance. They were a body without a soul. It was a
mere smearing of the face without a change of heart. They
did their acts for men, and that motive so changed the nature
of the act that it had nothing for God, and received nothing
from God. Accommodating his language to the customs of
the people of that day, the Lord establishes the right law of
fasting. The formal element of everything done for God must
be interior. So the Lord bids that in our fastings we keep our
work from the notice of men.

In sorrow and mourning the men of old washed not their
faces, nor anointed themselves with oil, but in joy and festive
rejoicing they did both. So David, when his fast was over,
"arose from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and
changed his apparel." I. Sam. XII. 20. The Jews also
anointed themselves with oil as a customary preliminary for
appearance in public.

Now the Lord s bidding in the present instance reflects the
customs of his times, but it is broader than its mere letter. In
a Hebrew phrase, he propounds the law of fasting to be to
make it an affair between God and the soul, and by a joyous
countenance, and proper care of the person to keep from the
knowledge of men what the soul is doing for God. The central
thought of the passage might be tersely expressed as follows :
Make not the judgment of the world and the approbation of
men the motive of your good work, and shun such marks of
austerity as would draw upon your work the notice of men.
The spirit of these words is not aimed to move a man to con
form to the vain, thoughtless, pleasure -seeking spirit of the
world. An air of religious seriousness at all times, and a with
drawal from worldly pleasures in seasons commemorative of
Christ s sufferings are edifying to men, and pleasing to God.
But these things must not be as an outer cloak to an unchas-
tened heart.

228 MATT. VI. 19 21

Neither is it opposed to the spirit of Christ s teaching that
the faithful kneel before the altar of God, and receive the ashes
of penance on their heads. In the first place, this is a common
practice of all the children of the Church, and thus affords no
ground for affected sanctity. It is an act of obedience, highly
honorable to Christ, by which \ve make open profession that we
believe in his Redemption through suffering, and this outward
sign is given us to move us to the interior penance of the heart,
as the formal element in our observance of corporal works of
mortification. The outward sign is a very little thing, the sign
of our Captain, but through it the voice of God speaks to our
souls through the Church, bidding us purify our hearts by that
penance which God alone sees and rewards. No man ever
knelt and received that sign with the end thereby to glorify
himself 1 &gt;v reputed sanctity. All receive it as a mere symbol of
a reality which is to be acquired by an unostentatious following
of the law of chastisement of the flesh.

MATT. VI. 19-21.

19. Lay not up for your- 19. Mr, ^rajpflsTs j-j.1; Or r
selves treasures upon the earth, rrj:o^ ir.\ rr,; -;f,; ozoj rf,c -/.y.1
where moth and rust doth eon- pp^r;; iiavflst xal OZGJ -/. t.ir.-.y. .
sume. and where thieves break ::op Jo jr:v y.y.\ y./.ET-rojr .v.
through and steal :

20. Rut lay up for your- 20. Hr^ajpfle Ik j^ .v Or r
selves treasures in Heaven, rajpoj; ev oJpav&lt;;&gt; OTTOJ oj rr,&lt;;
where neither moth nor rust o^s ppw*:-; i^avflci xal ozou
doth consume, and where -/./J-Tat oJ :topj-~o jrtv c/J:
thieves do not break through y.AJ-TOjrtv.

nor steal:

21. For where thy treasure 21. "0-oj yap kz-.w o Or^aupoc;
is. there Avill thy heart be also. roj, EXE: s ai r /.zcc:a roj.

It is vain to seek a close logical nexus between the present
theme and the foregoing. The great themes of the Sermon on
the Mount are unified only on the broad basis of the Christian s
law of conduct. Hence Christ passes from one principle to
another within the plane of that great law.

MATT. VI. 19 21 229

One of the mighty forces of human life is the lust of riches.
What its ravages have been in our nation s life is ably set forth
by Dr. Hale : " Beloved America, child of the world s old age,
she has come, clad in the splendor of her youth, magnificent
in her colossal materialism; but unfurnished in the serious,
nobler, and more necessary things to the days when the
burden of life must rest upon her, and her people arise and face
the tremendous issues, in whose midst nations meet their
destiny. A people of great mental keenness, energetic, swift ;
undeniably a vulgar people, with sordid, mercenary, contemp
tible ways of living, but as undeniably brave, capable of great
deeds of nobleness. God has given us this great continent,
and he has brought here upon it to its present stage this vast
society and life, intricate, complex, full of wrong and full of
promise, and he has led us to this wonderful hour of crisis.
No man can describe this people or measure its
characteristics, as no man (yet manifest among us) can inter
pret the signification, or guess the end of the mighty movement
which is passing before our eyes. That we are at this moment
a fallen nation, an apostate people, enslaved by a gluttonous
materialism, and (that we are) a disappointment to our God,
an awakening conscience among us bears witness. " Rev.
Wm. B. Hale, LL. D., in Arena, March, 1898.

God has given to man, powers of body and mind, and there
is in man a natural propensity to expend these in the acquisi
tion of some possession. The movement of life is not towards
inertia, but towards action and achievement. Now the great
defect is that those mighty powers are expended upon things
which only serve the corruptible nature of man, and benefit
in nowise the higher interests of human life.

The Lord wishes not to eliminate from man the tendency
to exercise his powers on something, but he directs to an object
worthy of those high powers.

The treasures of earth are various, comprised under the
great head of riches and possessions. The Lord dissuades a
man from following these by the consideration of their caducity.
In the reasoning of the Lord, all worldly goods are subject to
moth, rust, and thieves.

230 MATT. VI. ig 21

Some difficult exists here in ascertaining the exact sense

f /dpwem, which the English translations render rust. The
basic signification of the term is an act of eating; hence it is
often used to signify the thing eaten, food. Knabenbauer
applies it to signify the corruption that comes upon the fruits
of the earth. The common opinion explains the term of the
rust of metals. It may be that the tfpaxns is to be taken in
a large sense f&lt; &gt;r the eating away of earthly treasures by teinpiis
t ./ii.v rcrnm. The thought is well expressed by Ovid in Lib.
XV. Metam. 234:

" Tempus edax re rum, tuque invidiosa vetustas,
&lt; hnnia destruitis: vitiataque dentibus o?vi
Paulatim lenta consumitis omnia morte. "

Another defect that earthly possessions are subject to, is
the depredations of thieves. The Lord keeps the argument in
a very humble plane. He properly contemplates the case of a
breaking in of thieves, and the carrying off of a man s goods.
In that age and country, the great world of commerce and
business was not developed as it is with us. Trusts, and stocks,
and bonds were unknown. The question which presented
itself to &lt; &gt;ne win &gt; had acquired m&lt; &gt;ney in th&lt; &gt;se days was n&lt; &gt;t h&lt; &gt;w
to make a safe investment but how to preserve his money safe.
Of course, there was some borrowing of money on interest, but
on a very primitive scale. But even in our vast world of busi
ness the argument of Christ holds good. There is no absolute
security in business. Now Christ exhorts man to Spend his
life in pursuit of the better things, which are not subject to the
aforesaid vicissitudes. The words of Christ here mean more
than the mere letter imp&lt; &gt;rts. He speaks of the moth and the
tfpaio-is and the thieves not in the intention that these be
the only considerations which move a man to indifference
towards worldly goods. But it is an easy figure to teach men
the diversity in nature between the two kinds of possessions.
The moth, the fipuffis, and thieves simply signify that all the
goods of this earth are corruptible and uncertain, and that
they can not be accounted a permanent possession. They
are creatures of time, and will change and pass with time. "It
is fearful how we stand enveloped, deep-sunk in that mystery

MATT. VI. 19 21 231

of time ; and are all sons of time, fashioned and woven out of
time ; and on us, and on all that we have, or see, or do is
written: Rest not, continue not. Forward to thy doom."

The real reason intended by Christ to draw our hearts
away from the pursuit of worldly things is not that such goods
are merely subject to casualties and accidents, but that they
are corruptible, and that they pass with time. And the vicis
situdes enumerated are only adduced to show how base and
worthless is the nature of the things for which a man gives his
soul. And conversely, Heaven s goods are not asserted to
transcend earthly goods only in that they are exempt from
these vicissitudes, but this exemption is stated to draw men s
minds to the high consideration that these goods are immutable,
incorruptible, and eternal.

What a gigantic loss of human energy is daily wasted in
this great busy world ? And all because man will not receive
the message of those words. When we contrast the careful
thought, the eager longing, the intense and sustained effort,
which Christians themselves give to the advancement of
worldly interests, with the thoughtlessness, the supine indo
lence, carelessness of futurity, and slothful inertia which char
acterize their religious life, we are filled with wonderment.

In this easy concrete example Christ establishes the
unchanging nature and eternity of Heaven s possessions. No
man who believes in Heaven at all doubts of the high nature
of its constituents. No man ever imagined that his riches
would serve him after death. And yet man longs for the
things of earth, feels sad when he is without these, satisfied
when he has them. The possession of them makes man in a
measure inaccessible to religious influence. It makes the
possessor self-satisfied, self -conceited, and resentful of inter
ference. The explanation of this perversion of man s powers
to follow after the things of earth lies chiefly in the fact that
Heaven is not sufficiently a reality to us. The senses make
the goods of earth real to us, the things which are eternal are
not seen ; and faith is not intense enough to make their motive
power equal to that of the transient things of earth.

Beautiful are the lines of Dante, as in poetic fancy he
stood in the eighth heaven and looked down on this earth :

232 MATT. VI. 19 21

"Col viso ritnrnai per tutte quante
Le sette spore, e vidi questo globo
Tal, ch io sorrisi del suo vil sembiante ;
E quel consiglio per migliore approbo
Che 1 lia per men&lt;&gt;; e chi ad altro pensa
Chiamar si puote veramente probo. "

Par. XXII. 133-138.

Another truth of great importance is established by the
words of Christ, that dilTerent degrees in man s future life in
Heaven correspond to grades of excellence in man s good \\-orks
here on earth. As on earth greater thrift and industrious labor
place some above others in worldly possessions, so it is in
Heaven. Of course, in transferring the comparison to Heaven,
we must relieve it of all that is imperfect. A man may labor
for tlie goods of earth, and fail, and lose his labor; he can not
lose a tittle in laboring for Heaven. A man may labor for the
world, and be unappreciated, and wronged of that which is his;
in laboring for Heaven, his wages are absolutely sure. It is
this absolute security and eternal endurance of these posses
sions that Christ holds out here to us to invite us to follow after
them. Hence Christ addresses to man a message through these
words and says: "Heaven is opened up to thy endeavor.
There is innate in thee a desire to possess something; behold, I
point ( &gt;ut the proper object t&lt; &gt;\vard which t&lt; &gt; direct that activity.
Here thou mayest accumulate eternal wealth, which no power
can change or take from th.ee. Dost thou desire to become
rich, and raise thyself to eminence? Do so, but in the proper
order of things. Not only are the goods to which I call thee
sure and enduring, but thy success is assured, if thou labor.
And the more thou laborest, the more everlasting riches are
prepared for thee."

Instead then of regarding Heaven as a cold abstraction, we
should regard it as the shrewd business man regards his banks
and his stocks, his bonds and his lands. If we could once
transfer to our spiritual life the intensity and energy of busi
ness, what a tidal wave would sweep over the world, in the
direction of righteousness? And yet the greater value of our
eternal interests should move us in far greater degree.

MATT. VI. 22 23 233

In the twenty-first verse, the Lord assigns the reason of
his preceding exhortation. The sentence of that verse may
have been a proverb among the people. It is a condensed truth
which explains a whole world of thought and human exper
ience. Man s heart will be where his treasurers are, and where
man s heart is, thitherward will be the trend of his life. Man
can not constitute his treasure upon earth, and follow Christ
towards Heaven. Man s treasure is the things he loves, the
things which he wishes to hold and possess Now the nature
of man is such that this treasure operates on man as the force
of gravitation upon bodies. In this place the sentence of
Augustine is pertinent : " Amor meus pondus meum ; ubiamo,
ibi feror. " Man, in his proper development, will set his heart
upon some treasure, and on the choice of that treasure depends
the character of his life. If that treasure is upon earth, it will
impress upon man that peculiar character of worldliness which
is so prevalent in our age. The remedy must be radical. It
can consist in nothing save the making of the treasures of
Heaven a reality in our lives, the great living reality for which
we live and labor.

MATT. VI. 22-23.

22. The lamp of the body 22. AU/VO; toG sioixatoq

is the eye: if therefore thine Istcv 6 ocpOaAjxo q crou: lav ouv fj 6

eye be single, thy whole body d?OaAy.6g aou azAouq, OAOV to crto;j.a

shall be full of light. jou cw-rctvbv e jtat.

23. But if thine eye be 23. "Eav Be 6 ocpGaA^oq aou

evil, thy whole body shall be rovYjpbq jj, OAOV TO adv^a aou cr/.o-

full of darkness. If therefore tscvbv e jtai. Et ouv to 9&lt;I&gt;; to sv

the light that is in thee be jol jx.otoq ejttv, to axoto^ zojov;
darkness, how great is the
darkness?

In the twenty-second verse the omission of the pronouns
is supported by the authority of the Greek codices, the old
versions, and of many codices of the Vulgate. It is undoubt
edly the true reading. The sentence lays down a general
proposition; the light of every body is the eye. This would be
weakened by the restrictive force of the pronouns.

2 , 4 MATT. VI. 22 23

In the same verse the Vulgate renders the a-rrXoh by
simplex. It is uncertain what sense it attributes to it. The
term simplex can be taken in a physical or a moral sense, but it
is certain that the Saviour here intended the physical sense.
And the same is true of its opposite the irovrjpo* of the next
verse. It signifies a physical ailment of the organ of

vision.

The language of the Lord in this passage is metaphorical,
but to understand its full force, \ve must first explain the
natural basis &lt; &gt;f the metapb r. The eve is the light of the body,
inasmuch as by its p. &gt;wer &lt; &gt;f visi&lt; &gt;n it puts us in communication
with external nature. It is thus also the guide of the body.
It guides the feet in their movements, and guides the hands;
and. in a word, the eve by its power of vision leads the man
in all his external acts. Consequently a defect in the eye
reacts upon the whole body. If it is sound and healthy,
uTrXow, the whole body receives light thence to perform its
functions; while if it be diseased, TTOI/^O ?, its defective action
is felt by the wh&lt; &gt;le b&lt; &gt;dy. 1 fence the L&lt; &gt;rd applies this natural
truth in a metaphorical sense to the nv&gt;ral Hfe of man. The
eye enlightens and directs the body, and there is a correspond
ing faculty in the soul which directs the moral life of man.
That interior directing act is the joint act of the reason ^ and
will. It is the act of the reason judging of the nature of things,
and directing the soul to its proper good, and it is the act of
the will, which m&lt; ves to the attainment &lt; f that good. The act
therefore includes judgment and desire, and the faculties
exercising in union this act are called by the Saviour the heart.
This great act leads human life. The empire of the mind is
chiefly with the intellect, but yet the will must move with it;
otherwise a man might apprehend the real good, and commend
it, but through defect of will, follow baser things. Now if
this great act of the faculties of man becomes so darkened that
it leaves man s chief good, and follows after the things of earth,
it will set the course of human life wrong, even in its source.
There is a mutual influence exercised by will upon intellect, and
by intellect upon will, and when the riches of this world become
the chief object of the desires, the intellect is in darkness. The

MATT. VI. 22 23 235

moral darkness thickens in man s soul ; those faculties which
should have guided him are diseased; and man, though created
for Heaven, settles down to enjoy the carrion of the earth.

The material light which is a necessary condition for
human activity is applied to the body s use through the eye.
If the eye be defective, the light fails, not through any defect
in the light itself, but through the defect in the very member
of the human body that should have administered light to all
the body s members. So in the spiritual order God graciously
gives light that man may know and receive the truth. This
light comes through the Son of God who is "the light which
Hghteth every man that cometh into this world." That light
came to the Jews, and they received it not. Now when the
soul of man hardens itself against the light itself; when it
sins agains t the light, and impugns the known truth, it commits
the awful sin against the Holy Ghost, and places itself in that
state mentioned by Christ as the state of the evil eye, when the
light itself becomes darkness. That the soul should exercise its
spiritual activities to do the will of God, it must have light ; but
if it shut out the light by the very faculty ordained by God for
receiving the light, inevitably a great spiritual darkness must
follow. No condition can be conceived more terrible than this.
Man thus cuts off the very source and first principle of grace.
It is not a mere shutting out of the light, but it is the ruin of
the source through which light comes ; therefore as the source
of light fails, Christ declares that the light itself becomes
darkness.

The great aim of Christ is to set the course of human life
in the right direction by establishing in its proper place the
right object of man s desires and love. This act of the faculties
is intended by God to be the motive power of man s action, to
be the leading power of his life, and when that is vitiated, being
diverted from its proper object, how great shall the darkness
and disorder of man s nature be? The desire of the heart is
like a fountain where all lines of action have their source. The
influence of that fountain should be to counteract the many
agencies of corruption to which its streams are liable, by
constantly pouring in its clear pure flood, but when the fountain
itself is vitiated all is lost.

2 $6 MATT. VI. 24

MATT. VI. 24.

24. Xo man can serve two 24. OJis:.; cjvaTa . Z j~\ /.j pi-
masters: for either he will hate o-.c CO^ASJS-.V: Y, -;ip TOV k va ;j. .rr,; .
the one, and love the other; or y.al TOV STSCOV iyz-r,::; ., r, vo;
else he will hold to one, and ivOi^ a-. y.a: TO; hipoj y.aTZfpivr;-
despise the other. Ye cannot rr. : o- cjvarOs Hsw COJ/ASJS-.V
serve God and Mammon. -/.z

The entire passage is of the same ten&lt; &gt;r. In the twenty-
fourth verse the L&lt;&gt;nl attacks the position of those who endeavor
to reconcile the service of God with the lust of riches and the
pursuit &lt; f the g&lt; &gt;&lt; &gt;ds of this life. T &gt; the preceding argument of
Christ, the exception might have been urged, that a man might
have his heart both in the treasures of Heaven and those of
earth, desiring and seeking the go. &gt;ds of earth for his present
period of existence, at the same time giving thought to the
higher things for the future. Now by the present declaration
the Lord proclaims that to be impossible.

In human life man is placed at the f&lt; &gt;rk of two roads. He
can not travel both these roads at once; he must elect one.
There are two masters of human life, and their respective
service differs as to these two roads. To serve a master, in the
present phraseology of the Lord, is to devote all the powers of
one s being to the interest of such a master, to follow him as a
soldier &lt;1&lt; &gt;es his captain. How can a man follow and serve thus
two masters who lead by different roads Now at the fork of
these roads Christ stands, and says to man: "You can not
serve the world and me; you must choose one and leave the
other."

The rectitude of that election is for the soul what the
light of the eyes is for the body. If that choice be a real will,
and not a mere velleity. it will impress a real character on man s
life, and will shape it after the nature of the master it serves.

That no man can serve two masters is a general proposi
tion, admitting no exception. To assail it, one must needs
attack the first principle of contradiction, and assert that a
thing may be and not be at the same time. But it is not so
clear that the service of one master involves the hate and
contempt of the other. To explain this, we must recognize that

MATT. VI. 24 237

the terms ^icrdv and Kara^povelv are used here to express
the same idea. They are used here in a peculiar Scriptural
sense. In such predication, they mean simply to love one
thing less than another. They are frequently used in this sense
to express the relinquishing of one object for the election of the
other. When two motives present themselves to man, of which
he can only attain one, the act of election of one involves the
rejection of the other, and this act of rejection is called by the
Lord to hate or despise. In like manner, Christ commands
man to hate his father, mother, brother and sister.

The term Mammon is only found in Scripture in the dis
courses of our Lord. Some believe that it is derived from the
Hebrew 7*DCOQ. thesaurus, from root JDCO. to store away.
At all events, it is certain that in the Aramaic tongue it signified
the god of riches ; and riches are here personified in the term.
St. Augustine testifies that in the Punic tongue Mammon was
the god of riches.

Two mighty forces operate on man, the service of God and
the service of Mammon. All the natural motives are mar
shalled on the side of Mammon; the motives which operate
for God are in the supernatural order, and are only available
through faith.

Surely a man may use Mammon s goods, and serve God ;
but he cannot serve Mammon and also serve God. " Imperat
aut servit regina pecunia cuique." The saying of Rama
Krishna well illustrates this point: "A boat may stay in the
water, but the water should not stay in the boat. An aspirant
may live in the world, but the world should not live in him. "

To serve God is to make God the chief good of our lives,
to seek in God the motive which shapes the course of our lives,
to subordinate to God s love and service every other interest
which may come into our lives. That supreme motive stands
as the great law and guiding principle in all that the true serv
ant of God aims at, and in all that he does, so that the
product of the days of his life is such that he can offer it to God
as the result of his service.

Of course, there will be an indefinite range of degree in
that service. In everything where human effort is expended

238 MATT. VI. 24

we find different degrees of intensity; but there must be in all,
even the least, a general conformity to the foregoing principles,
or else there is no service.

Hence all of human life that is not a positive service of
God is wasted. Here again the range extends from mere non-
acquisition, through waste of time and opportunity, to positive
sin. Some waste much and save a little of their lives for the
sen-ice of God; others waste all. Few, very few, develop for
God all the rich possibilities of human life.

To give that service to God, one must swim against the
current. The world never has served, and never will serve
G&lt;&gt;d. One hears the world s voices all about. It is only In-
breaking away from the world s course of thought and action
that one can hear the voice of God inly speaking, and follow
him whither he leadeth.

To serve Mammon is to intrude the U&gt;ve of worldly posses
sions into our lives as our chief good; to make property the
ruling aim of our lives. Few men will explicitly declare such
to be the ruling motive of their lives. For the most part, men
serve Mammon without being conscious that they have dedi
cated the powers of their being to him. It is easy to serve him,
for he draws in the direction of the current of the world. His
incentives appeal to the senses, and sensible things readily

move us.

St. Chrysostom declares: "Understand not those men
tioned here to be the rich, but those who serve riches: Job
was rich, but he served not Mammon. He had riches and
retained them; but he was the master, not the slave, of

riches."

In the Opus Impcrfcctum the auth&lt; &gt;r says : "It is one thing
to have riches ; it is an&lt; &gt;ther thing t&lt; &gt; serve riches. If thou hast
riches and riches make thee neither proud nor unjust; if thou
give to the needy according to thy means thou art the master,
not the slave, of thy riches ; for thy riches possess thee not, but
thou possessest thy riches." In the words of the Psalmist,
"If riches increase, set not your heart thereon." Ps. LXII. 10.
[Vulg. LXI.]

MATT. VI. 24 239

The enormous power of riches in human life has always
been recognized. Petronius made Jove himself subject to their

power :

"Quid vis nummis praesentibus opta,

Et veniet ; clausum possidet area Jovem. "

The condition of our own times is mirrored in the fol
lowing lines :

"Nunc Vulgus superos vix putat esse deos;
Nimirum ingenti congesta pecunia cura
Est deus ; humanas nunc regit ilia vices. "

In the II. letter to Caesar, " De Republica Ordinanda, " the
author, who is supposed by some to have been Sallust, thus
discourses of the power of money: " Sed multo maximum
bonum patriae, civibus, tibi, liberis, postremo humanae genti
pepereris si STUDIUM PECUXI^; aut sustuleris, aut, quod res
feret, minueris. Aliter, neque, privata res, neque publica, neque
domi, neque militias regi potest. Nam ubi cupido divitiarum
invasit; neque disciplina, neque artes bonae, neque ingenium
ullum satis pollet, quin animus magis aut minus mature pos
tremo tamen succumbit. . . . Postremo ubi divitiae clares
habentur, ibi omnia bona villa sunt, fides, probitas, pudor,
pudicitia. Nam ad virtutem una et ardua via est, ad pecuniam
qua cuique lubet nititur; et mails et bonis rebus ea creatur.
. Ceterum avaritia bellua fera, immanis, intoleranda
est: quo intendit, oppida, agros, fana atque domos vastat;
divina cum humanis permiscet : neque exercitus, neque moenia
obstant quo minus vi sua penetret."

It is impossible to lay down the same rule for all. There
are chosen souls called to a life of perfect renunciation, but all
cannot hear this call. Others are to serve God in the world,
and for them the great question is how to use the world without
abusing it. The words of Christ doubtless mean that, in the
measure in which we serve Mammon, in that same measure do
we steal away our service from God.

The encroachment of Mammon in some does not absorb
the whole life ; in others it does ; so that a life may be infected
with Mammon s service, and yet not be totally taken from God.
But wherever the chief aim of life is the love of bustle and

240 MATT. VI. 24

management, the desire of gain, the aiming at influence and
importance, that life is given up to the service of Mammon, in
one form or other, to the exclusion of all deep, all holy, all
calm, all reverent thoughts. Such a man s heart is in the
concerns of the world, the things of God have lost their savor
fur him. Such a man may be saved in some way, but his
salvation must rest upon some other basis than the service of
God. The devil daily buys souls for money which he could not
have by any other means. With the love of money he makes
men irreligious, and then they are opened up to the ravages
of other sins.

As we are dealing with a theme of tremendous importance
it behooves us to be accurate in just what we mean by the
sen-ice of Mammon. As we have before stated, there is a
lawful use of Mammon, which is not service. It is not to serve
Mammon to acquire property, to engage in business, to give
time and thought and labor to an honest gainful occupation or
business. It is more pefect to renounce all, and follow Christ,
but all men can not follow that degree of perfection. But it is
to serve Mammon to hold this world so near and close to us
that it leaves no room for any other world. It is to serve Mam
mon, when the supreme object of our thoughts, affections, and
endeavors is worldly success and prosperity. Man s life is
moved to service by the apprehension and desire of some good.
Now God demands to be man s chief good in this life, as he is
to be his supreme good hereafter. He leaves to Mammon a
subordinate place, and if the subordination be just and proper
God may be served through the pursuit and possession of
worldly goods. But if we invert the order, and make the great
business of life the pursuit of riches, we then serve Mammon.

But we must distinguish between the sensible love and the
appreciative love. The sensible love is that which springs
from our nature acting under the empire of the senses; the
appreciative love is founded on the cool judgment of the
intellect. To illustrate, we feel more sensible grief at the loss
of a dear kinsman or friend than at the loss of righteousness by
sin. But yet the appreciation of righteousness is greater,
though it moves us less sensibly. So also the interest in worldly
affairs may move our sensible nature more forcibly, and yet

MATT. VI. 25 34 241

leave the appreciative love to God, as the supreme good of the
soul. Wherever therefore God and his law are held supreme
in the appreciative love of the soul, the man is not serving
Mammon, even though his sensible interest in worldly pursuits
is strong.

It is possible that the higher intellectual appreciation
should grow so strong that it will purify and refine the sensible
love, so that even the sensible love will be trained to fasten
itself to the supreme good. This is perfection, and the aim of
life should be towards it. The opposite is often verified, that
the lower love being continually developed assumes the
ascendency, absorbs all the thought, all the love, and all the
energy of man s being. To serve Mammon is to love the world
with an intense love, and cling to its goods. This dulls the
supernatural appetite. The world assumes the position of a
god in the man s life ; man s taste is educated to love it, and no
other, and it supplants God himself in the soul.

It is vain then to endeavor to move ordinary men to perfect
renunciation. Such of course is the best in se, but all cannot
bear it. What should be insisted on is to preserve the right
relation between the two orders of goods, even in the pursuit of
temporal goods, and endeavor to restrain the overweening
influence of the prizes of the world.

MATT. VI. 25-34.

25. Therefore I say unto 25. A;a TOJTO AEVU

you: Be not anxious for your ^ept^vaTe TTJ 6uyji j^d&gt;v TC

life, what ye shall eat, or what r, TC TCIYJ-TS, {iT)3e TU&gt; s

ye shall drink; nor yet for TC IvoucYjcOe: ou^t TJ

your body, what ye shall put EJTIV TT,&lt;; Tcexpjq y.cd TO cco^a TOJ

on. -Is not the life more than SVCJ^GCTO?;
the food, and the body than
the raiment?

26. Behold the birds of the 26. E^SXs^aTe EC? t

heaven, that they sow not, ~oj oupocvou, GTI QJ cricsicouctv ouos

neither do they reap, nor gather Oscuo jctv odes auvayouatv sec

into barns; and your heavenly a7coOiQ/.a&lt;; /.ac 6 Ilarrjp TQJUOV 6 ou-

Father feedeth them. Are not cavco? -rpicpsc ocj-ra: oi-/ j^scq JJLOIAAOV

ye of much more value than oca^spsTs aj-cwv;
they ?

(16) Gosp. II.

242 MATT. VI. 2534

27. And which of you by 27. Tic :e s; Jao&gt;v

being anxious can add one cjvxra- -porrOs-va: i-&gt;. TT;V r;X .y.;av

cubit unto his stature 5 XJTOJ ^V/. JV v2 ;

28. And why are ye anxious 28. Ka! zspl sviy.j.a-ro-: T! |xs-
concerning raiment Consider p-.Lj.vi7s; /.aT^dtOcT; ti y.plva TOJ
the lilies of the field, how they iypo: -co; aJ;avojj-.v: oJ y.o^ .oJJtv
grow; they toil not, neither do oJ:s vr/)ojr:v:

they spin:

29. Yet I say unto you, 29. Aiyo) is J:j.Iv or oj:s
that even Solomon in all his XOAO:J.O&gt;V iv zaiT] tf; ;6;y; aJToJ
glory was not arrayed like one TrsptsciXsTO c o-; sv TO^TCOV.

of these.

30. But if God doth so 30. Iv :s tov y/Jp ov toJ iypoj
clothe the grass of the field, TT/J^COV ov:a y.al zjptov 3:^ y./lcavov
\vhieh to-day is, and to-morrow ia/./.vxsvjv 6 &lt;-&gt;oc o J-(.&gt;^ i^cptiv-
is c ast into the oven, shall he v^nv, oJ zo/./,(;i Jj.i;, OA -YOZITTO . ;
not much more clothe you,

ye of little faith

31. Be not therefore anx- 31. Mr; ojv jj.sc . j.vrirr^z &gt;.i-
ious, saying: What shall we YOVTE.;: T- ^7(0^:7 T- - ; . rsptcaXto-
eat 3 or, What shall we drink 3 ;j.; )a;

or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed?

32. For after all these 3 2 - Hivra V^? T2j " 2 ri ^ ()VY 1
things do the Gentiles seek; 3- .lr / To^T .v : oi:sv yip o IlaTTjp
for your heavenly Father ^-&lt; r ^ o^piv.o; o r. X?T)^ S "^jaov
knoweth that ye have need of iravTwv.

all these things.

33. But seek ye first his 33- /^TS-TS i ^PWTOV TT;V st-
righteousness, and his king- -/.z .orjvr^v y.z! TT;V ^r .Xsizv aJToJ
dom; and all these things shall *. * &gt; * " iv 2 -po-TsOr-js-rai
be added unto you. J i J -- v -

34. Be not therefore anxious 34. Mr; QJV ^z&gt;.-.j.yr l -r l -i st^
for the morrow: for the morroxv rr,v a jptov: T; yip ajp .ov ijLs

will be anxious for itself. iajtf,^: ipy.cTov TT] r/JLspa r;

Sufficient unto the day is the ZJTT,.;.
evil thereof.

MATT. VI. 25 34 243

Many Greek codices, the Peshitto and Syro-hexaplar
Syriac, and some other authorities insert the clause fj rl TrirjTe,
and what ye shall drink, in the twenty-fifth verse. More
are against it, among whom the Sinaitic Codex and Tischendorf .
It is admitted into the protestant translations, but remains a
doubtful reading. In the thirty-second verse, it is certain
that the Vulgate has omitted the term ovpdvios, heavenly,
qualifying the Harr/p, which all the Greek codices support.

In Verse thirty-three, the codices B and ^ read as follows :
^relre 8e Trpotrov rrjv BiKacocrvvrjv Kal rrjv f3acri\iav avrov KT\. }
"seek ye first his righteousness and his kingdom," etc. This is
endorsed by Eusebius, Tischendorf, Westcott, and Hort, and is
undoubtedly the true reading. The codices E, G, K, L, M, S,
U, A, II, add rot) eov, which is also found in the Syriac
versions, and in some of the Fathers. It was very probably
inserted there in an effort to give greater clearness to the
passage.

In Verse thirty-four, codices E, K, M, U, IT, have ra eaurr)?,
the things of itself.

In this passage, the Lord first lays down a leading proposi
tion, and then proceeds to maintain it by divers arguments.
The proposition is: "Be not solicitous for your life, what
ye shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on." Life
here means the natural life of man, which needs meat and drink
for its sustenance. The two great natural needs of man are
food and raiment. These are the universal incentives to labor,
and the Saviour intends here to moderate the Christian s
pursuit of these.

The term here employed to designate the act forbidden by
Christ is /Aept^i/aV In the New Testament, this term is taken
to signify that anxious care and study which is given to the
great aim in life. It signifies that which occupies the thoughts,
and whose motive power influences the general course of life.
Now in Christ s teaching, that which occupies our thought
and which influences our lives should not be an anxious solici
tude for what we shall eat, or what we shall put on. The
Lord s argument is a fortiori. Food and raiment are the most
necessary temporal goods, and if man be restrained from
solicitude for these, a fortiori the restraint will apply to other
worldly objects.

244 MATT. VI. 2534

There is a nexus between this doctrine and the foregoing.
The solicitude in this passage corresponds to the serving of
Mammon, in the preceding verse. Lest it might come into the
mind of man to think that the conditions of human life were
such that he must serve Mammon to live, the Lord confirms
his former statement by the present argument. The funda
mental reason assigned to prove that man should not be
solicitous for the necessities of life is that the Providence of
God is pledged to care for man. The first argument to prove
this proceeds as follows.

The principle of life itself is greater than the food which
sustains it, and the body is greater than the raiment which
warms it. God gave the principle of life and the body, and
therefore he will provide for their needs. The leading truth in
the entire passage is that there is a divine Providence ruling in
human affairs, which is able to provide for man s wants. The
next argument is based on the same principle. Among all
the creatures of the animal kingdom of nature, none show
greater freedom from toil and care than the birds of the air.
They tly about in an unbounded freedom under the broad
expanse of heaven, with the whole boundless air as their
d&lt; .main. They seem t &gt; spurn the earth for their purer element.
They provide nothing, hoard nothing. When they are hungry
they fly to food, and fly away again. And the general provi
dence of God provides that they have food. The love which
God has for these creatures cannot be compared to that which
he has for man. He made them and all other things in this
world for man. He is only the Creator of these; he is the
Father of man. He gave to man his own image and likeness;
he ^ave him an immortal soul capable of immortality, capable
of knowing and loving God himself. Nay more, the Word
became incarnate for man. Certainly therefore that Provi
dence which provides for the birds of the air that have no
power to know or love God, that die and are no more, wil.
provide for the being which he has raised to such a dignity, and
for whom he has done so much.

But man might say: The argument does not conclude;
it is true that the birds give no labor to provide food, and yet
are fed, but the universe presents another face to man. It has

MATT. VI. 2534 245

been cursed for man, and his sentence passed in Eden: "In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return
unto the ground." Gen. III. 19. And Paul says to the Thes-
salonians, II. III. 10; "For verily when we were with you, this
we commanded you, that if any man would not work neither
should he eat." Paul, though called by God to be an instru
ment of salvation to the Gentiles, labored by night with his
hands that he might have bread.

In response to these things, let a man know that the end
of Christ s present teaching is not to relieve man from labor, or
from clue provision for the future. A perverse sense of these
words invaded a certain monastic body in the days of St.
Augustine. They held themselves by these words to be exempt
from all labor, and they devoted themselves to prayer only.
Hence they were called Euchitas from ev^rf a prayer. Against
them St. Augustine wrote his work "De Opere Monachorum."
What the Lord wishes to eliminate from human life is not labor
and providence, but that anxious solicitude which distrusts
God s providence, and claims such an undue portion of man s
thoughts that man becomes enslaved to it, and not free to con
template, or achieve any high and good work. Man s cheerful
labor and thrift, coupled with the providence of God, will
support a man without that excessive care and fearful appre
hension which invade many minds. God will do this in the
manner which he shall elect. Not always by direct miracles,
but working unobservedly through second causes. God s
providence is not pledged to give us riches and luxury, nor to
supply the deficit which wasteful modes of living cause. In
this materialistic age, we are so far removed from the mode of
life contemplated by Christ for his followers, that his doctrine
seems almost impossible. Verily, it is irreconcilable with
modern theories, and the more we conform to the worldly way
of thinking and living, the harder will it be to receive Christ s
doctrine, and do it. God s providence works in such wonder
ful ways that, even while receiving its benefits, we are prone
to be oblivious of the source whence they come.

The twenty-seventh verse has given rise to many different
opinions. The general plan of Christ s argument demands
that the act here spoken of be a little thing compared to some-

j 4 6 MATT. VI. 2534

thing greater. In Luke, XII. 25, the same sentence is found,
and the Lord calls it a little thing: "If ye then be not able to
do that which is least, why are ye anxious for the rest?"

The cubit is a measure of length corresponding to the
length of the forearm of a man. The measure was thus not
based upon a fixed standard, and consequently varied among
different peoples. The Egyptian royal cubit was 20.62 +
inches. This is sufficiently evidenced by the nilometer at
Elephantine, by measurements of the great pyramid, by many
cubit rods, and by measurements given in papyri and elsewhere.
This ancient cubit rod seems to have been equal to a Hebrew
cubit and a handbreadth. In Ezekiel, XLIII. 13, we read:
"And these are the measures of the altar by cubits (cubit rods) :
the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth."

The Hebrew cubit consisted of twenty-four digits, or six
handbreadth, or two spans. If the cubit rod of the ancient
world was seven handbreadths, and was equal to 20.62 - inches
then the Hebrew cubit will be 17.679 + inches. With some
variation in the decimal this number has been accepted by
many archaeologists. Colonel Warren assigns a length of
21 inches to the Hebrew cubit; while Captain Conder makes
its length 16 inches. Now it seems incongruous that Christ
should designate the addition of such a measure to a man s
stature as a little thing. And we must bear in mind that the
whole force and cogency of the illustration fail, if the concept of
the relative littleness of the act be not prominently brought out.
If he had said: "Who can, by being solicitous, add the mill
ionth part of an inch to his stature?" we, at once, could have
seen the force of the illustration. Forced by these considera
tions, some seek strange meanings for the terms of the sacred

text.

The Greek term which is rendered in English by stature is
fiXiicia. The classical and Scriptural sense of the term is the
stature of the body. It may also mean the period of life when
the body attains its full growth. Thus it is used in John, IX.
2I , 23: "_he is of age. rfKiiciav e x , ask him." [Cfr. Eph.
IV n.l In Hebrews, XI. n, it is used simply of a person s

O -1

time of life.

MATT. VI. 2534 247

Knabenbauer interprets rj\iicia in the present passage to
mean the duration of life. He cites in support of such opinion
Arnoldi, Schegg, Reischl, Schanz, Fillion, Keil, and others.
According to this opinion, the meaning would be that no man
can add a cubit to the duration of his life. They imagine
human life as likened by the Lord to an entity having exten
sion. Now a cubit would be a very small unit in comparison
to what we naturally call up in our minds as the lineal extension
of a full human life. The aim is always to justify the force of
Christ s argument by the relative smallness of the act specified
by him.

This opinion is entirely modern. To defend it, they give
to 7T77%w a strange unheard of meaning. As a precedent,
they allege the expression Tr^uto? %poVo?, found in one of
the fragments of Mimnermus, an elegiac poet of Greece, con
temporary of Solon. But this isolated example can not form a
precedent for their interpretation. Granting its genuineness,
it occurs in an elegiac poet, who is allowed to use words in
strange, unusual senses. It seems highly improbable that Luke
who wrote his Gospel in the original Greek, would employ a
term in a popular discourse of Christ, in a sense unknown in
prose Greek, and rare and exceptional in poetic Greek, in the
present sentence where ambiguity would inevitably result, and
where it w r ould require the researches of such a linguist as
Lobeck to find a rare instance in some old Greek poet. The
term TTT^I"? w r as a word of daily use in the life of the Greek
people, and the popular mind would inevitably refer it here to a
measure of the stature of the body. Moreover we believe that
the T77X 1 "? is a translation of the term ilft^ used by Christ.

T ~

Now the use of this term for a measure of duration is abso
lutely unknown. We believe therefore that we must refer
Christ s words to the stature of the human body.

To justify his use of a measure of such length in such an
illustration, we believe that the entity at which he aimed was
not the size of the measure, but the impossibility of making any
addition to our stature. The cubit was chosen inasmuch as it
was a well-known measure. No thought was given to its
exact extension, since the object on which he wished the human

248 MATT. VI. 2534

mind to rest was not the length of the measure, but the inability
of man to add anything to his height. The selection of a meas
ure was a merely indifferent thing. Christ is not denying to
man a degree of such power corresponding to this definite
measure. Man can not add a cubit, nor the millionth part of
a hair s breadth to his stature. The word cubit might be
suppressed in the words of Christ, and not detract from their
message. The substance is this: "Who of you by being
solicitous can add aught to his stature " The selection of any
measure of the human body, whose addition would not destroy
the proportions of the human body, sufficed to illustrate the
truth by a concrete instance. In fact, it seems that the selec
tion of the cubit was especially forcible. It led the mind
readily to the main truth that a man can not increase his
height, and it easily gave rise to this reflection: Verily not a
cubit, nor even a part of the estimation of a hair can I add to
my stature. The force of the words is intensified by the
thought that the limitations of man s power over his being are
greater than the w&lt; mis of Christ express.

Christ calls such addition a little thing, compared to the
life of man with its tremendous interests. It is not of vital
importance to man whether he be a little taller or a little
shorter. Neither in the judgment of the world nor in the
judgment of God, is man s place in the scale of being fixed by
his stature. Xw Christ dissuades from anxious worldly
solicitude by pointing out its futility. If man turns away from
God man can do nothing to improve his condition. He has no
power over the physi &gt;1 &gt;gical laws that govern his being. Man
can neither change his stature, nor escape suffering and death.
He is moved on by the awful, inevitable course of nature, and
can win nothing good for his real being. Christ therefore
discourages anxious care for created things by the thought of
their insufficiency to better the estate of man. To add a cubit
to man s stature would be a slight thing compared to liberation
from death. The illustration used by Christ is apt to bring to
man s consciousness how helpless man is to change the inevit
able course of nature. By the laws of his being, man s per
fection can only come from God, and man wastes his life in
trying to secure good contrary to the will of God. And the

MATT. VI. 2534 249

Lord argues a fortiori that man cannot effect that greater
work, inasmuch as he can not produce a less effect. By being
solicitous for the things that are eternal, man can essentially
better his estate ; he can raise himself to a higher degree of
eternal glory.

Some form of ^eptfjivdw is used throughout to express the
condition of human life in which an undue amount of thought
and energy is bestowed on worldly issues.

In pointing out the inability of man to add aught to his
stature, Jesus has in mind to teach man the proper order
between the action of man and divine Providence. The sphere
of man s activity is circumscribed. He is sent into this world
by a higher power, and he is maintained in his being by that
higher power. The greatest error of man s life is to become
oblivious of his dependence on God s power. Now the only
really great effects that man can achieve must be by working
with the great Cause which gave him being. Activity in this
line includes an absolute trust in God, and is not condemned
in the present discourse of the Lord. But when a man becomes
oblivious of God, and endeavors by the force of anxious thought
and effort to make himself something great, independently of
God, the Saviour s words apply. Let man bestow all the
frantic effort of which human nature is capable on the enter
prise ; let him give thought and labor by day and by night to
the issue; and what can he accomplish? If he succeeds, it is
because the providence of God has included his unworthy self
in its beneficent economy. Man sins daily by attributing to
himself the effect which a benign Providence works for him.

Man is not sent into the world to battle as best he may
with the blind forces of nature. A particular Providence
follows every man. If God gave man over to provide for him
self, human life would soon end. Man is unable to live his
life on earth, without the providential care of God. Christ s
words tend to impress on man man s need and the source of
his help.

Again , the words of Christ represent worldly achievement
in its just proportions. Let a man give every resource of his
being to the acquisition of temporal goods ; let him succeed ; let
him have boundless wealth in all its forms ; and has he added a

250 MATT. VI. 25 34

cubit to his stature"" Has he added anything to the real value
of his lifer Xo. He has invested himself with a certain
number of accidental appendages; and at death they take him
out of these, and bun* him away from the sight of men. He
has spent his life in going after vanities; and at its end he finds
himself unfurnished with any thing of value. The inevitable
results of every life that spends its energies in the pursuit of
these vain objects is a failure.

The effect which the words of Christ should have upon us
is to make us move serenely in our course of life, doing the
things that our hands find to do, and "casting all our care upon
God; for he careth for us." This will temper that devouring
worry and care, which hardens the nature of man and stifles
all nobler impulses. It will not stop human progress, nor
make man s life listless and aimless; but it will put a serene
order in it, and direct human energy to something worthy of
the high nature of man.

The next illustration regards man s raiment. Some have
thought that the term xpivov is used here in a generic sense to
mean any wild flower. Such interpretation is unwarranted,
and weakens the force of the illustration. The lily was styled
by the ancients the tiv6os ar ^o^v. What can compare
to the purity of its whiteness" To make his words more
forcible, the Lord takes for example the wild lily of the field.
Upon it no care of man has ever been bestowed. Being an
insensate creature, it bestowed no labor on its beauty. It
grew, and unfolded its white petals by the power of God work
ing through nature. It is not a product of chance. It reveals
a divine idea, which gave it its beauty. It is a product of the
eternal ideas of God, and of the providence of God, which
preserves its being. It is of little worth compared to man. It
is but the creature of a day. It blossoms, fades, and dies, and
is no more. It withers on its stalk, and men collect its dried
stalk, and make of it a fire to cook food. Men will certainly
admit that the providence of God includes that passing flower ;
and if so, will it be oblivious of the being for whom the flower
was created? The Lord makes nature speak and tell man of
God and his attributes.

MATT. VI. 25 34 251

How these words assure us of an all-ruling Providence
which watches over us? What safety we feel in the protecting
care of that Almighty power !

The splendor of Solomon s state was never surpassed by
mortal man. When the Queen of Sheba came to visit him,
witnessing his splendor, "there was no more spirit in her." In
the providence of God this earthly splendor was permitted as a
type of the glory of the Messiah. On the minds of the Jews the
memory of that reign was deeply impressed, and with that
splendor they associated the Messiah. Great was the dis
appointment when the son of an artisan came in the Messiah s
name.

The message of Christ in all its fullness contemplates
sanctity as the state of man. The application of Christ s law
to the life of man will be possible in the measure in which man
has entered into the state of sanctity. But even to the man in
the lowest degree of the Christian life Christ s words are appli
cable. They establish for man the divine certainty that he
should take account of a loving Providence in his thought and
labor for the maintenance of his life. God may not send a
raven to bring him a daily portion of bread; God may not
exempt him from hunger and suffering; God may allow him
and those he loves to perish with hunger ; but not even then is
God to be less trusted. Doubtless, in the history of the world,
many Christians who believed and trusted in the Lord died of
hunger and exposure, but not one of them was abandoned by
an ever-watchful Providence. These sufferings were permitted
by God in his mysterious ways to perfect and sanctify those
souls. It is a mere mercenary trust to hold to God when the
mouth is filled with bread, and leave him when we are hungry.
The providence of God was close to Job when he was rotting
in the ashes.

The high import of the present passage establishes a great
truth, and calls for a corresponding disposition of soul. The
great truth is that man is held by God in great value, and that
he is kept by God in a tender fatherly keeping. The Heavenly
Father knows the needs of all his creatures, and provides for
them, not scantily but bountifully. God knows man s needs

252 MATT. VI. 25 34

better than man knows them himself. God comes intimately
into human life, not as a cold stern being of power, but a loving
Father.

Our vision is limited, \ve see only our present life and its
needs; God s vision is infinite, and he sees man s present and
his future, and the proportions and relations between these two
states of life. There are needs in that awful future life to
pr&lt; &gt;m&lt; &gt;te which God must sacrifice the advantages and comforts
of the present life of man. Can God be said to have withdrawn
himself from us, when he withholds earthly benefits that he
may thereby insure t&lt;&gt; us eternal things

God tries our faith by seeming to stand aloof in our afflic
tions. Hut no man is fit for Heaven who has not been tried.
True faith does not covet comforts; it does not bargain with
God to serve him pleasantly. The true Christian is not a
coward fleeing before the face of pain, and longing for the flesh-
pots of Egypt, if he chance to be hungry in the desert. Hence
the disposition of soul that these words should generate is an
absolute trust that God careth for us in all things. \Ve should
repose on that trust, not a repose that engenders unthriftiness
and improvidence, but a repose which brings God into human
thought and labor as an ever present reality.

Some give themselves up to anxious care, as though they
were thrown on their own resources, and there were no God in
the universe. This is an evidence of that weak faith which the
Lord reproves. The Christian should formulate the plan of his
life upon the basis that God is ever present, and ever mindful
of man s needs, even though he work no miracles to prove such
truth. God asks of man faith, and diligence in the duties of
his state of life. If these are given in just measure, God will
do the rest. If, notwithstanding that these are given by the
Christian, he finds himself unprovided with the necessaries of
life, let him take it as an indication that God wishes to purify
him by suffering; and let him trust on, and if God take the
lives of those he loves, even before his eyes, let him say : "Thy
will be done." Whenever man is unfed, or unclothed, or house
less, it is not because God is not what Christ here represents
him to be. It is because we have repelled him by the weakness

MATT. VI. 25 34 253

of our faith or by the sinfulness of our lives, or because God is
leading us through the hard path of trial and suffering to the
real good.

But how few are satisfied with the portion of earth s goods
which suffices for the needs of our life ? They wish for luxuries
and comforts. It would be irony, if God gave his beloved
riches, and then said: "Blessed are the poor." When our
hearts grow cold and earthly, God seems to us to be in nothing
concerned with man s life, but this erroneous judgment is based
on our defective subjective state.

These words of Christ apply to all the ranks and con
ditions of life in proper degree. They apply to the man whose
duty it is to toil for the daily bread for himself and family:
they apply to the professional man, the man of business, and
the religious. They are the warrant of the man who renounces
every visible means of support, and throws himself on the
providence of God. So did the Apostles, and God maintained
Christ s promise. Christ s martyrs suffered, and were put to
death, not because God was oblivious of them, but because he
had elected that they should drink the chalice that the
Redeemer had drunk.

To move his followers to live his teachings, the Lord
instances the manner of life of the heathens. It was before
the light had gone out to the nations of the earth, and the term
of the comparison was just. The great Gentile world was
enveloped in ignorance, and the gods they worshipped had
given them no law of life. They knew not the existence of a
divine Providence. Now it w r ould be a great shame to the
Christian if he, with his clear knowledge, should order his life
as they did. The Lord supposes that Christian life shall not
consist in a sterile acceptance of a system of truths, but that it
shall be a living reality, in which faith is an intense motive
power impressing a character upon thought, word and deed.
A man should ask himself : Whence have the acts of my life
their character? If he can truthfully say: From my faith,
it is well with him.

In the thirty-third verse the Lord draws the consequences
from the entire argument. Following the order of the Vatican

254 MATT. VI. 25 34

Codex, the interpretation is plain: "Seek ye first the right
eousness of God and his kingdom, and all these things shall be
added to you." The righteousness of God is the state of the
soul which is united to God, and informed by God s sanctifying
grace. It is the product of man s co-operation with the grace
of G&lt; &gt;d. It incorporates a man as a living member in the great
kingdom of God, gives him fellowship with the Church in
Heaven, and places his soul under the influence of those divine
forces that operate through the organized body of the Church
on earth. Hence the two terms are joined here, and righteous
ness is placed as a condition for entrance into that great creation
of God. NOW righteousness should be the soul s first aim. It
should be the supreme end of all man s thoughts, and of all
man s lab* &gt;r. When that supreme aim is held high above every
other interest, and the man moves resolutely to its attainment,
God is pledged for the result. The right order of life is estab
lished, and God will act with man to provide what he needs.
The number of such souls is not large in the world, and yet a
representation of them is always found in the Church. And
God s providence tenderly watches over them, and they will
tell y&lt; &gt;u that in strange and wonderful ways they have received
the effects of a bountiful Providence. And God tries them at
times, lest there might be danger that they serve God only in
the hope of the good things of earth. But the proper disposi
tion of the soul which has the testimony of conscience that it is
what God wills it to be, is an absolute trust, that establishes
serenity and peace in the soul, and makes labor reposeful.

In looking at the condition of the world, one would think
that no such message was ever delivered to man. There is
much activity, and much thought, and keen calculation and
weighing of issues, but how little of it is for God 5 The portion
of God is little, and Mammon s part is great. In many lives
there is no conflict of interests, because God is not represented
in such lives ; but even in the lives of believers, in the conflict of
the opposite interests, how rarely it is that God s righteousness
and his kingdom are first, and other things held in second
place: 1 The world suppla nts Christ, and says: "Seek first
success and possessions, and give to religion that portion of
vour leisure which shall be comfortable."

MATT. VI. 2534. 255

The kingdom of God in this passage should be interpreted
in the manner explained in the Lord s prayer.

The thirty-fourth verse contains a philosophic argument
against borrowing trouble. The science of Christian life and
the science of right philosophy are in perfect accord. Hence
the Lord avails himself of a philosophical reflection to corrobo
rate his present position. The perfect Christian life will consist
in a harmonious adjustment of all issues; hence it will be
religious and philosophical. The reasoning of the thirty-fourth
verse would be true and valuable to human life, even if man
had never been redeemed, or if man s life were its own end.
But yet its import is greater in the light of the message of
Christ.

The perfect law of man should teach man how to live. It
should teach how and what to believe ; how to control instincts
and desires; and how to order the daily actions of life. To
perform that high function, the perfect law taught by Christ
rightly makes use of natural truths in their proper sphere of
bearing upon human life. Over and above being a distrust of
God, anxiety and trouble of mind for the morrow is a sin
against philosophy. To provide in season for future needs is a
moral virtue. This is commanded in Scripture. Joseph did
thus in Egypt ; and Solomon advises man to take a lesson from
the ant : "Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways and
be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth
her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."
-Prov. VI. 68. [Cfr. XXX. 25.]

The lack of the virtue of providence is one of the lament
able defects of our proletariat. It conduces not to religion,
but to degrading indigency, moral irresponsibility, and igno
rance. It is wise and religious to take thought for the morrow,
but thought and labor should be immune from that devouring,
distrustful anxiety, which preoccupies the mind, and excludes
the service of God. The philosophical reason for this is that
such anxious solicitude doubles the trouble, and misery, and
care of the future day, without in any wise bettering the future.
Present labor, wise and prudent thought and calculation will
ward off trouble, and lessen the morrow s load of care. But
that state of mind which the Lord expresses by the

2?6 MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42

simply reaches fonvard into the future, and transfers into our
present life by anticipation evils both real and imaginary, and
makes us suffer the real one twice, and the imagined ones
needlessly : and all this to no purpose ; for by its very nature, it
is inefficacious to change the coming events.

The Lord shows his love for man in teaching him this
right phil&lt; &gt;sophy of life. But in addition to the natural distress
occasioned by this state of mind, there is a greater evil in its
effect on the religious element in man. When that excessive
anxious care invades the life of man, it preoccupies him, and
renders his state like that of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. It
becomes a s&lt; &gt;rt &lt; f mental disease, and unfits the man for healthy
thought and action. The whole man is in a state of unnatural
tension, and man loses interest in everything that has not a
direct bearing on the chief object of his thoughts. In such a
state, the right service of God is an impossiblity. The fever of
unrest has unbalanced the man, and worldly preoccupation
banishes religi&lt; &gt;us calm and religious thought.

Every day has its duties to be d&lt; aie, and even* day has its
sufferings t&lt; &gt; be 1 &gt;&lt; .me. Healthy lab &gt;r, and proper forethought
exclude not the service of God, and are not condemned. The
L &gt;rd holds the pulse of humanity, and prescribes a sure remedy
for the great malady of the world.

The bad effects of brooding over future evils cannot be
adequately estimated. Such course of thought makes the
mind a blank as regards religious issues. It leads to irritability,
sullen despair, and even to suicide. When a man so loves the
goods of this world, that fear that he may lose them thus preys
on his mind he is serving Mamnv &gt;n.

MATT. VII. 1-6. LUKE VI. 37-42.

1. Mr, /.::&gt;" "va :j.r ( y.p .OrTS. 37. Kal ^ y.c(v7, y.al oJ ^r t

y.p .Of," : y.al ar; c .y.a lcTS, y.al oJ ;j.r,
: .y.a~Or7E : azoAJE7 y.al azoAu-

2. Ev oj yap y.pt;j.aT . y.p:v7 38. A::OTE, y.al coOr ^jsTat Juuv:
xptOr ( ae"6e yal EV &lt;o fi.7pw ^cTpEl" ;ji7pov y.aXbv, zazis ^lvov, zzzx-
jjieTpr/^ stai jjjilv. ASJ J.SVOV, jzspiy. /uvvo jjLSvov :&lt;.)7ou" .v

EtC 70V y.&ATTGV i*^.d)V, 0) yap ^JL7p(i)

^ETcslTc, (av7i) jX7pr / Or r37a . JJLIV.

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42 257

39. EI-Ev os xocl zapatoXrjV
aJToIg: MrjTt cjvaTat Tj^Xo? TU-
(pAov ocYjysTv; oj^t ajxipoTEpot stg

fiO OjVOV EJXZEC O JVTOtt J

40. O JX c sTIV H,a0Y]TYj&lt;; JZEp

TOV ctccbxaXov: xaTTjp-rta^svog CE
zaq C JTOCC (oq 6 cicd~xaXo&lt;; ajTOj.

3- Tl ^AZ .C TO xdp^O? TO 41. Tt C pXeTCE^ TO xdpffO?

v T(p 6&lt;fOaX;jLip TOJ acsXcoj cou, TO sv Tip otOaXfjuo TOJ aceX^oD aou,
TT^V C Iv TO) aw osOaXtxio coxov oj TT]V OE coxov TT;V Iv TW tcfio o^OaX-
xaTavoelq; JJLOJ QJ xaTavosig;

zioq spE .q T(p acA9(p coj : 42. Hcoq cjvacat Xsystv Tip

a ? ? Ex6o:Xio TO xdpipoq EX TOJ dtce/upycou: ABeXfl, %? ex6dXa)

6?eA^ou coj, xal tcoj r^ coxbq iv T0 y .i ?? oq TO Iv Tip ocpOaX^ip JQJ,

T(p 6cp6aXuLio cou. ~,%

TJV V TW Oca O) ZO J COX.OV

5. iTcoxpita, sxcaAE xptoiov ou PASTCWV; UTcoxptTa, exoaAe x(

EX TOJ o^OaX ^oj coj TT ( V coxov, xat T t v -oy.bv EX TOJ ofOaX-^oj cou, xai

TOTE CtOcbXs^E^ x63CA^V TO xdptpog "GTE C .atXI ^Eiq TO xdpcpo? TO EV Tip

EX TOJ 6tt6aXL).oj TOJ acsXcoj *oj. osfOaXacp TOJ aBsXcpou coj

6. Mr) cd)T TO ay.ov TOT?

^.YJCE ^CXAETE TOJq [Jiapvapfca*;

i ^xxpoaOev TWV y_o:pwv, ^TCOTE xa-
Ta-aTrjC-ojscv aJTOjq sv Tolq zoclv
CZJTWV xai cTpacVTc p^ciocrtv j ^ac.

1. Judge not, that ye be 3y . And j udge not&gt; and ye
not judged. shall not be j udged: and con _

demn not, and ye shall not be
condemned: release, and ye
shall be released.

2. For with what judgment 38. Give, and it shall be
ye judge, ye shall be judged: given unto you; good measure,
and with what measure ye pressed down, shaken together,
measure, it shall be measured running over, shall they give
unto you. into your bosom. For with

what measure ye mete it shall
be measured to you again.

39. And he spoke also a
parable unto them: Can the

( 17) Gosp. II.

2 5 8

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI.

blind guide the blind? shall
they not both fall into a pit 3

40. The disciple is not
above his master: but every
one when he is perfected shall
be as his master.

41. And why beholdest
thou the mote that is in thy
brother s eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine
own eye 5

42. Or how canst thou say
to thy brother: Brother, let
me cast out the mote that is in
thine eye, when thou thyself
beholdest not the beam that is
in thine own eye? Thou hypo
crite, cast out first the beam
out of thine own eye, and then
shalt thou see clearly to cast
out the mote that is in thy
brother s eve.

3. And why beholdest thou
the mote that is in thy brother s
eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye?

4. Or how wilt thou say to
thy brother: Let me cast out
the mote out of thine eye; and
lo, the beam is in thine own
eye ?

5. Thou hypocrite, cast out
first the beam out of thine own
eye; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote
out of thy brother s eye.

6. Give not that which is
holy unto the dogs, neither
cast your pearls before the
swine, lest haply they trample
them under their feet, and turn
and rend you.

With the exception of the sixth verse of Matthew, the
passage of Luke contains the substantial truths of Matthew s
narrative, in greater fullness, and supplies some important
elements omitted by Matthew. We shall therefore treat the
account of Luke as the basis of the Commentary, and add to it
the explanation of the sixth verse of Matthew.

Human nature has a determined proclivity to pass censori
ous judgment on the human acts of men. Men are prone to
put the worst construction on the doubtful actions of their
fellow men, and to condemn a man according to their own
standard of judgment. This is forbidden by God for many
reasons. First, man is incapable of judging truthfully of the
deeds of his neighbor. To judge of human acts, the judge
must know the motives that moved the action ; these are in the

MATT. VII. i 9; LUKE VI. 3742 259

heart of man, and often are not manifest to any one save God.
Therefore does Paul say : "Therefore judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of
hearts, and then shall every man have his praise from God."
I. Cor. IV. 5.

The difficulty of judging a man was recently illustrated
by the following incident. A man high in favor with Pope
Leo XIII., through certain questions of Church policy fell
from the Pope s favor. The venerable pontiff was so far
changed towards him that he considered him a dangerous man,
a man to be avoided, a man whose opinions might lead others
astray. Now the man thus out of favor had formerly occupied
a post of importance. He had several under him, and one of
these, one whom he had especially favored and befriended,
was chosen to succeed him. The man thus appointed in place
of the other waited on Pope Leo XIII. and in that interview
was cautioned against any association, social or official, with
his former superior and friend. Vital interest moved him to
accept the post; he could not disobey the Pope, who was
acting according to his conscience. He feared to tell his
friend the Pope s command, as it seemed to be given privately,
and also he feared the moral effect which such knowledge
might cause. There was but one thing to do, avoid his former
friend, exclude him from everything, refuse him recognition,
cut off all visits to their common friends, and wait until the
misunderstanding was cleared up. And in the mercy of God
it was cleared up, and that same man received from Pope Leo
XIII. the exhortation to cultivate the friendship of the man
whom he was for a season compelled to avoid. What were
the thoughts of the man thus cruelly treated? Did he judge
his younger friend base, ungrateful, time-serving? This is
known to God, but certainly this page of history related to
the writer by one of the chief actors proves the impossibility
of judging our fellow men.

Moreover by judging a man, we arrogate to ourselves a
power which God by right claims for himself. As this is an
important precept in the moral life of man, it is good to fix as
far as we may the specific act here condemned by Christ.

260 MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42

Certainly the Lord refers not to forensic judgments passed upon
persons by the proper authority. Neither does the Lord bid us
refuse to accept the evidence of clearly proven facts. In such
case, we do not judge the man, but the evidence of his deeds
condemns him.

We must note here that the additional proposition used by
Luke: "Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned," is
only explanatory of the preceding concept. To judge and to
condemn are of synonymous import, and the use of the second
term brings out in greater relief the act of judging which is
forbidden. That which is here forbidden by Christ is that hard,
censorious quality of the mind which proceeds straightway to
pass sentence of condemnation upon the doubtful issues of our
neighbor s conduct. If the issue is evident, it does not need
our judgment, but the case contemplated by Christ is where
some human act exists, which is in appearance bad, and which
is involved in a certain element of uncertainty. The greater
number of human acts are of this nature. It is forbidden by
Christ to a man to pass unfavorable sentence on such act. To
judge thus is rash, arrogant, and uncharitable. It betokens
the man of little mind, and of harsh, unfeeling temper. The
man of large, finely tempered mind is always deeply conscious
of the limitations of his intellect and of his own infirmities.
The smaller a man s mind is, the more ready will he be to pass
ready judgment on all matters, and to be pulled up with his
own ideas. To pass ready judgment on the deeds of men
evidences the mind of a man who always stays on the surface of
things, lacking the depth to see through the deeds of men ; of
one who measures the universe by the small measure of it that
is in his puny mind. It is a sorely disgusting sight when such a
being usurps the prerogative of judge of men.

The Lord s words refer chiefly to the passing of judgment
upon the acts of individuals. But the defect of judgment is
not restricted to this alone. It consists also in that proclivity
to pass judgment on questions of political economy, of Church
polity, on questions regarding the duties and obligations of
rulers in Church and state, on the philosophy of history, and
other matters of great moment This is a striking character
istic of our age ; it is a sin against wisdom, and against God. In

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42 261

the true man, self-possession takes the place of self-conceit,
introspection the place of pedantry, and charity the place of
censorious judgment.

Even when the evidence of facts, or the process of the law,
condemns a man, charity should be displayed in our attitude
towards the guilty man. We should not speak of his fall gloat
ingly, exultingly, but regretfully, and while we endorse society s
right to protect itself, we should feel that there are elements
in the affair which only God can judge, and a feeling of pity
and sympathy should mingle with the sternness of justice.

Even the judge in the tribunal of man, in the actual
passing of the sentence, should forbear to judge in the sense
here meant. The judgment here indicated means the fixing of
the degree of malice of a human act. Now that degree is
known only to God. Society has a right to proceed on the
evidence of facts, and pass judgment, but the judgment does
not essay to fix the man s state in the forum of God. The
judge in the courts of man should feel deeply conscious of this.
It should be a strong characteristic of every Christian. It
applies to every rank in life. It is one of the leading qualities
of the religious man. It applies to the little deeds and to the
great deeds of our neighbor s conduct. It is an evidence of that
refinement of soul of the man perfected by the ennobling power
of the doctrine of Christ. This is the true culture which
despises the low vulgarity of temerarious judgments as some
thing unworthy of a refined spirit. The man who takes from
the spirit of these words the directing law of his life, will be
aided by the spirit of God to make its right application to the
individual acts of his life.

To move man to maintain this high law, Christ announces
to him its great consequences in God s judgment of man.

Verily Christ does not mean that any man shall escape
God s judgment. God will judge every man, but Christ means
by his words that the tenor of man s dealings with his fellow
man will establish the tenor of God s retribution.

A duty cognate to that of forbearance in judgment is that
of forgiveness of injuries, which has been fully treated in the
commentary on the Lord s prayer.

262 MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42

The thirty-eighth verse of Luke is one of the finest texts in
the holy Scriptures to declare the bounty of God in rewarding
acts of charity and mercy. The metaphor is taken from the
measuring of the corn. Four degrees of the fullness of a meas
ure of wheat are mentioned. The first is the good measure,
when the bushel is well filled up to the brim. By pressing
down the grain with the hands the interstices between the
kernels are nam &gt;wed, and m&lt; &gt;re grain may be put on. Then by
shaking the bushel the mass becomes still more compressed,
all- &gt;wing of further addition of corn. There is but one way left
to increase its capacity, to heap the grain upon the bushel till
it runs &lt; &gt;ver. Such is the measure with winch God measures out
the reward to the elect for their merits. Christ applies it here
to the theme of which he is treating, inasmuch as that virtue
is esj&gt;ecially pleasing to God, and must be found in every one
of the elect. Large and certain wages are an inducement to
faithful labor in the fields of human labor. Why should they
be less so in the harvest field of God?

Insistence on the material words might find a difficulty in
the fact that, after declaring such bountiful mode of dealing of
G&lt;&gt;d towards us, he says at the same time that it shall be
measured to us in the same measure that we measure to others.
We must know therefore that the parity existing between our
dealings with man and God s dealings with us is not of degree
but of general tenor. Paul gives the key to the situation : "He
who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who
soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."-- II. Cor. IX. 6.
ll we have been hard, and unforgiving, and close with our
neighbors, it shall be taken into account in the judgment of
G"d upon our lives. F&lt;&gt;r God, though all powerful, cannot
make the judgment &lt; &gt;f &gt;ur lives. We make that judgment ; we
are writing it every day, and God must pass sentence in truth
according to the tenor &lt; &gt;f our lives. So that the man who has
shut up his heart from his fellow man, can not receive the
bounteous measure of God. But to the generous giver and
faithful servant the full measure is given. For the charity and
mercy of the creature is rewarded by a corresponding tenor in
God s action, which, in its infinite mode of being, infinitely

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE IV. 37 42 263

transcends the nature of the creature s act. A proportion of
analogy exists between act and act, while the modes of being of
the two acts are infinitely disparate.

It is vain to object that the comparison is defective, for the
reason that, according to its wording, God must needs judge us
rashly and unjustly, if we shall have thus judged men. The
words of Christ truly make the tenor of our judgments of men
the measure of God s judgment of us, but the obvious sense of
the words clearly declares that the comparison only holds as
regards the severity of the two judgments. Mercy shall
encompass the man who has show T n mercy ; and judgment with
out mercy to him who has not shown mercy.

The thirty -ninth verse of St. Luke has a parallel in Mat
thew, but not in the present context. It is found in Matthew

XI. 14-

The Lord continually illustrates his doctrine by contrast
ing it with the tenets and practices of the Pharisees. The social
organization of the world in those days was such that men
followed teachers in everything. Christ recognized this, and
made use of that means to teach the world . He was met at the
outset by a difficulty. The people were addicted to the Phari
sees, and these hypocrites alienated the people from Christ.
Now for the Pharisees Christ was to substitute the apostolic
body. But the new T teachers were to be warned against the
qualities which made the Pharisees a curse to Israel. There
fore to the multitude assembled Christ taught both what the
present teachers were, and what the proper teacher should be.
To avail aught, a teacher must be believed and followed. If
that teacher leads by the wrong path, his disciples will follow
him. To illustrate this the Lord uses a very plain simile. If
a blind man leads a blind man, both fall into a pit. If the
person led had the use of vision, he could make use of his eyes to
save himself from the fall ; but when blind, he puts his trust in
the guide, and falls with him. The figure only sets forth what
the natural effect of such an event would be. God may inter
pose in some way, and save the follower from the pit, but this
would not be due to the action of the guide. All the causality
of that leadership naturally tends to lead the follower into
danger and ruin . Now the application of this is obvious. The

264 MATT. VII. i 6 ; LUKE VI. 3742

people were blind in this sense that they gave themselves up to
the secular affairs of life, and looked to the priest to stand
between God and them, and hand down to them God s law, and
teach them how to do it. God himself had ordained such to be
the function of the teacher in Israel. "For the priest s lips
shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek it at his mouth; for
he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." -Muluchi II. 7.

Christ s illustration contains a reproach of the people as
well as of their teachers. Though, the crime of the Jewish
people was not as great as that of their leaders, yet the people
also sinned against the light. By the mission of St. John the
Baptist, and by Christ s own preaching and wonderful works,
surilcient evidence was given to the Jewish people to bring
them to accept the Messiah. The people remained blind
through willful abuse of the light. The people preferred to
follow their false guides, because these false guides flattered
their national pride, and pandered to their low ideas of religion.
Christ isued a call to spiritual life and to spiritual treasures;
and the Jewish people rejected the call because they coveted
worldly things. Wilfully therefore closing their eyes to the
light they became spiritually blind, and followed their false
leaders into that sad ruin that has since come upon that race.
God ordained that the people should be led by religious guides,
but these arc- fallible agents, and are not to be obeyed when
the clearest evidence shows us that they are traitors to God.
God never bade us put an absolute trust in men. He has told
us to use the ministry of men, and to honor and obey them ;
but there is always provision made for the failure of the
human agent. We are to trust the Church absolutely, be
cause she can not fail: her infallibility and indefectibility rest
not on men, but on God himself. Infallibility is vested in her
head in his office of universal teacher; this prerogative was not
given to Israel s priesthood. Had the Jewish people there
fore corresponded to Christ s graces, they would have turned
from their false teachers to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And this is also verified in the case of the heretical sects: the
leaders have the greater sin ; but the people who follow them
are also blameworthy, for there is evidence enough in the
world to bring them from error to truth.

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 3742 265

The blindness of the Pharisees was a moral blindness
consisting in many things. They were inaccessible to the
idea of the true nature of religion. Instead of drawing from
the Scriptures their true message, they built up a system of
mere outward observances, which they especially adapted to
their own advantage. They were mere sophists and casuists
in a gross and material system of forms and ceremonies.

The Lord s description of the baneful effects of a false
teacher was not only delivered in reference to the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were pointed out by way of illustration, but the
doctrine is a universal message to the world on the effects of
bad teaching.

Verse forty is a corroboration of the foregoing verse. The
effect of a teacher is to make the disciple like himself in thought
and principle. Men who follow a teacher become like him, and
accept his principles. Christ illustrated his truths by the
conditions of life as he found them. In those days, men would
follow a leader, and all representatives of thought had their
disciples. Now that at which the disciple aimed was to become
like the master. That was his perfection, the point at which
he aimed. Therefore the defects of the master were trans
mitted to the disciple, and hence the evil effect of the false
teacher was of the greatest consequence. Christ w r as about to
commit the world to the means of oral teaching to give the
world the law of life, and it was well to impress on all the
importance of the province of the teacher.

A difficulty exists to find the logical nexus between verses
forty-one and forty-two of Luke and the preceding. Endeavor
ing to establish such nexus, some have interpreted the sense of
these two verses to be a qualification of the teacher. In their
opinion, he who would reprove vice in others must himself be
blameless, must make rigid self-examination a condition for the
moderation of another s conduct. This view seems to narrow
the passage to the sole specific application to teachers. Now
that it is one of the qualifications of a teacher of morality
there is no doubt; but from its context in Matthew, and its
native sense, it seems to be intended by Christ as a universal
canon of Christian conduct. Matthew was an ear-witness of
this wonderful discourse, and his account, in the main, is by

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42

far the fuller. There is nothing in Matthew s account that
would persuade us that the passage was meant specifically for
teachers. The only thing in Luke that favors such a view is
the similitude immediately preceding. But we can harmonize
Luke with Matthew by taking a broad view of the Saviour s
plan. In the entire passage, the Lord teaches a universal truth
of Christian conduct, which he illustrates by comparison with
the theories and mode of conduct of the Pharisees. In the
similitude of Luke, therefore, he brings out in especial clearness
the defects &lt; &gt;f the Pharisees. The broader the grasp of truth in
a mind, the more will the religious truths be related. When
our Lord taught man, the whole world of moral truth was
bef &gt;re him.

Having therefore determined that this passage contains a
truth equally applicable t&lt;&gt; all conditions of human life, we now
set about to know its meaning. The Lord by a powerful
metaphor makes a religious application of a truth that has
always been recognized in the philosophy of human life.

To see in their worst light the deeds of others, and pass
unfavorable judgment thereon is the seeing of the mote in the
brother s eye. The natural form of the simile illustrates
forcibly that habit of mind which exaggerates the defects of
others. The term eVt/AeTre^ of the Greek text has a special
energy. It conveys the idea of a close, searching scrutiny.
\Ve are lynx-eyed in &lt; &gt;ur examinations of another s life ; nothing
escapes our scrutiny. The least failing is magnified, and con
demned. But when it is a question of self-examination, not
only are we not lynx-eyed but we do not even advert (Karavodo})
to the existence of grave defects, which to the smaller defects
observed in the neighbor bear the proportion of a beam to a
mote, an atom which floats in the sunbeams.

Philosophers and poets have inveighed against this pro
clivity of human nature. Horace declares:

"Cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis,
Cur in amicorum vitiis tam cernis acutum,
Guam aut aquila aut serpens Epidaurius?

Hor. Sat. I. III. 25.

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42 267

Seneca says: "Papulas observatis alienas, ipsi obsiti
pluribus ulceribus. Hoc tale est, quale, si quis pulcherimorum
corporum nsevos, aut verrucas derideat quem vera scabies
depascitur." De Vita Beata, 27. Thus also Cicero says:
Proprium est stultitias aliorum vitia ceniere ; oblivisci
suorum."- Tusc. Quaest. III. 30.

It is great hyprocrisy to show zeal in wishing to admonish
the brother, and to correct his faults, while greater vices infect
ourselves, to eradicate which we give no care. Persons thus
affected are unfit to exercise fraternal correction. When they
have turned their eyes in upon their own soul, and have diag
nosed properly its diseases, and have applied effective cures,
then will they acquire that temper of mind requisite to deal
with the defects of the neighbor.

This is a Protean malady. Its degrees of sinfulness
depend on the gravity of the issue at stake, but it is a general
tendency that is foolish and disgusting to God. It disposes the
mind to all the kindred sins against charity ; it engenders pride,
self -righteousness, and presumption; and removes the man
very far from the true temper of a Christian mind. The defect
of self-examination consists not so much in a failure to detect
grave and heinous sins, but in a failure to become conscious of
defects in our traits of character.

In judging man s life, God takes into account more than
mere heinous sin. He must take into account the moral
qualities of man s life, its fruits, its general effects on those
whom it has influenced. Not alone therefore the sin that we
commit or avoid makes us what we are, but all our qualities,
traits and characteristics. Now in almost every mortal there
is defect in self-examination in regard to these moral qualities,
and in few is there that fine consideration for others which is
the essence of refined charity. By nature it is easy to detect
the defective qualities of others. Crude nature will do this
readily, but crude nature does not invite us to self-examination.
To do this we must appeal to a high motive, and force ourselves
to do a disagreeable duty. Neither will our defects reveal
themselves by one mere act of self-examination. Self-exam
ination must be a study, one of the main studies of a man s life.
Of course, the study will not cure the disease, but only give

2 6S MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 3742

the knowledge of the presence and nature of the disease. Self-
discipline must proceed upon this knowledge to cure the moral
malady. The discovery therefore of a reprehensible quality
in a neighbor or friend should not move us immediately to
condemn him, but rather should move us to a rigid examina
tion of self, to know if we have not also similar qualities, which
seem so monstrous in others.

There is not a close connection between the sixth verse of
Matthew and that which precedes and follows. The discourse
contains practical laws of Christian conduct, and that broad
basis is the motive of its unification. The verse contains a
metaphor in which the knowledge of God and of holy things
is called a holy thing. It is called also a pearl, to indicate its
pure elevated character and its great worth. Hence we believe
that they err who hold that two different entities are signified
bv the holy thing and the pearl. One and the same entity,
namely the holy message of God, is therein signified by the
force of the metaphorical sense of the two terms.

In like manner, one class of men is represented by the dogs
and the swine. The instincts of both these animals are pro
verbially low. The dog will readily eat rotting carrion, and
the hog is satisfied to eat swill, and roll itself in the mud.

The dogs and swine are those who are immersed in the
lusts of the world and of the flesh. Our great poet has said
"wisdom to the vile seems vile." This is still more true when
applied to the high wisdom of God. To these carnal minded
men the holy mysteries of God and his sacraments seem foolish.
It is evident that the latter part of the verse applies only to
the action of the swine. The hog is a concrete type of stolid
sensuality. It has its function in the great universe, and
corresponds to the divine idea. To find the qualities of a hog
in the animal itself is good; but when the high nature of man
descends from its proper plane of being, and becomes like the
swine, great is the disappointment of God.

The basis of the metaphor is very true to fact. The great
instinct of the hog is to seek food. It has none of the finer
traits of the nobler animals. Everything that will not fill its
belly is trampled under its feet. The recompense, which it

MATT. VII. i 6; LUKE VI. 37 42 269

would be liable to return to the one who threw pearls before it
would be to bite him if it were able. The part that the dog
plays in the metaphor is less than that of the hog.

Now by this figurative language the Lord instructed his
followers how they should bear themselves in treating of the
truths of religion with men. It is a precept of universal appli
cation, laid down as a practical law of conduct for all his
followers. The wise Siracida declares: "Where there is no
hearing, pour not out words." The Lord s teaching is to the
same purpose, but it is deeper. The teachers of the New Law
were commanded to preach the Gospel to every man, and no
fear of personal danger, insult, or inconvenience restrained them
from fulfilling that mission. But, at the same time, they and
all Christians are forbidden to cast the pearls before the swine.
The harmony of these two truths is founded on the following
considerations. The law of Christ consists of various truths.
These can not be presented to a man all at once; he enters
gradually into a logical system, which leads him up into the
heights. The early Church understood this well, and delivered
not the doctrina arcana to the catechumens till they were
prepared by previous teaching and probation . Now the deeper
mysteries are especially signified here under the figure of a holy
thing and of pearls. Every man is thereby commanded to
refrain from presenting the holy themes of religion to such
individuals who would despise and insult them.

There are times and places where to bring in the holy
themes of religion would be to no purpose, and where they
would only receive scorn and ridicule, and their exponents
outrage and insult. The doctrine of the existence of God, the
necessity of redemption, repentance, and the power of Christ
are themes which may be presented at proper times and under
proper conditions to every man. But they are not to be
dragged into the gutter, nor presented at such times and places
that they serve only as an excitement to sacrilegious insult.
And when a man gives evidence that he is not accessible to
these great basic truths, the more delicate mysteries are not to
be spoken of in his presence. It is a part of the prudence of
the serpent not to expose the holy things of the New Law to
insult by inopportunely presenting them to carnal minded men.

270 MATT. VII. 711; LUKE XI. 5 13

It would be grave folly to essay to treat of the real presence in
the Eucharist, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and
Mary s intercession, of the doctrine of indulgences, and Extreme
Unction to carnal minded, godless, and irreverent men.

Religion is therefore to be presented to every man, but in
such a manner that \\ill preserve to it a certain reverence.
Prudence must be shown as to fitness of times and places,
and judgment must be shown in the mode of presentation to
individuals. Such admonition \vas more important in the
early ages of the Church, when the message had to be presented
to men who were in complete ignorance of Christ, but it still has
value in regulating our attitude towards every man in relation
to the mysteries of faith.

MATT. VII. 7-1 1 LUKE XI. 5-13.

5. Ka: el-sv zp^ XJTOJ^: Y .-

aTov ^eaovuxTiou, xz: et~f]
: I tAS, xpvov JJLOC Tps:^ ap-

?tAo; [JLOU rapsys-
6s; JJLS, xa: oJx. Iy v (o

7. Kixsivo; srojOev izoxpiOsl
eTzf; : Mr, ^o: y.o^oj^ Trips/e: TJ:T
7; Ojpa xe/.Xcta ., xa: -y. r.Z .t 1 .
^LOJ JXST euLoS ei- rr ( v XOC T^V SITIV
vajTa-; coJvai -oc.

8. Aeyw O ^Iv, e: xal ou i(. )Ts:
JToJ avaa^ eta TO slvai 9 !Xov
jTOj, ici ys -:T;V ivatis .av aJTOJ

7. AiTsi-Ti xai coOr ( 7Ta . J;JL:V, 9. Kayd) ojxlv Xeyw: A:TS:-:,

TslTc xal eJpr^cTS, xpojTS xal xal coOr^sTat 6^.:v, ^Telts, xal
^sTjC . j^iv. eJp^TcTs: xpo jT y.al avocyTQjetat

ujxtv.

MATT. VII. 711; LUKE XI. 5 13 271

8. Ilaq yap 6 atT(I&gt;v Xa;a.6dvet, 10. Fix; yip d aicwv Xacjitdvst,
xat 6 grjTwv ejptcrxet xat TW xpouov-rt xat d ^Y]7&lt;I&gt;v ejcbxst, xat TW xpou-
dvotysTac. ovrt dvotysTat.

9. "H TC S SSTIV ! u^jul&gt;v avOpwxoc; n. Tt va cs 1^ JJJLGJV ai-nfcet
ov atTTj-st d utbq autou apiov, [JLTJ rbv irarlpa d utbq aprov, ^ XtfJov
Xt 6ov STTtctoast auroJ; ertow-st aJtw; }) xat t^Ouv, [JLT] dvtt

t^Ojoq 6ytv ajTo IxtSwaet;

10. "H xat t ^Buv acTTj-st, p;

o&lt;ptv Iztctocrst auTO); 12. *H xat atT^ist wdv, IxtBw-

jt auTw axopzfov;

11. Et GJV u^slq rovYjpot ov-rsq 13. E! G JV u^stq xovr,oot
otcaTS cojjLa~a aya6d Stcovat tot? uzdp^ovTsq a tcars odjiaTa d^aBi
T^/.votc; G ^cov, xojw jxaXXov d IlaTYip Btoovat TO!^ Tlxvotq U^LWV, TCOJW
j fiwv o ev TOJ&lt;; oupavotq SoSast dya6a (xaXXov d HaTfjp d 1^ o^pavoj Swjst
Totq atTOj-tv a jrdv; OveujJia "Aytov TO!? atTO jJtv aurdv;

5 And he said unto them:
Who of you shall have a
friend, and go unto him at mid
night and say to him: Friend
lend me three loaves;

6. For a friend of mine is
come to me from a journey,
and I have nothing to set be
fore him;

7. And he from within
shall answer and say: Trouble
me not: the door is now shut,
and my children are with me
in bed; I cannot rise and give
thee.

8. I say unto you: Though
he will not rise and give him,
because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity he
will arise and give him as
many as he needeth.

272

MATT. VII

1 1 ; LUKE XI. 5 13

7. Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:

S. For every one that asketh
recciveth; and he that seeketh
rindeth ; and to him that kn&lt;xk-
eth it shall be opened.

g. Or what man is there of
YOU who, if his son shall ask
him for a loaf, will give him
a stone

10. Or if he shall ask for a
fish, will give him a serpent?

ii. If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts
unto your children , how much
more shall your Father who is
in Heaven give good things to
them that ask him?

9. And I say unto you:
Ask, and it shall be given you:
seek, and he shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto
you.

10. For every one that ask
eth receivcth; and he that
seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be
opened

i i . And of which of you
that is a father shall his son
ask a loaf, and he give him a
stone or a fish, and he for a
fish give him a serpent

12. Or if he shall ask

egg. will
scorpion ?

he give him

i v v If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask him?

One of the chief duties of a Christian is to petition God
for what he needs. Man is a poor necessitous creature; and it
is of prime importance that he recognize this, and have recourse
to the proper source of help. All men are necessitous. Some
may be provided with temporal goods but man has other
needs, the needs of his soul ; if left alone, he can not provide for
these. Christ therefore teaches us here the two great qualifica
tions of petition. These are faith and perseverance.

The passage in Luke contains an illustration of the virtue
of perseverance. The parable is homely and simple. It is
founded on the customs of Eastern life. The needy friend
comes to his friend at midnight seeking assistance. The hour
is untimely, the house is closed, the children are asleep, and
will be awakened if the parent arises. He gives a rather harsh

MATT. VII. 7 u; LUKE XL 5 13 273

refusal, laying on the other the imputation of being trouble
some. But the other persists even to the point of impudence,
avaiSeta, and the other to exempt himself from the annoyance
of the persistent appeal, arises and satisfies his petition.

No other philosopher ever presented his theories under
such simple figures. The message of God was for the poor and
the humble ; it did not need the persuasive power of human
words to lend it efficacy. Its power came from God, and it
appears grander by the simplicity of the mode of presentation.
The sense of the parable is to teach us the value of persistence
in prayer. We should imitate the man who came at midnight
seeking bread. God often defers his hearing to test our faith
and constancy. Then should we show a sort of holy importun
ity, a sort of dogged persistence in pleading. God wishes to be
importuned; he is more ready to give than we are to receive,
but our welfare demands that God try our faith by seeming
to withhold the object of our pleading.

The Lord now r applies the sense of the parable to our
relations to God. He bids us ask, and he promises that
we shall receive. His bidding makes the law of our duty.
His promise constitutes the basis of our firmest hope and
consolation.

The great motive power in all that God has said to us, or
done for us, is the love of God for us. This comes out forcibly
here where Christ presses upon us his gifts, and exhausts the
power of language to induce us to accept them.

It is a false habit of mind to look upon the world as a hard
place, in which one must shift for himself. The false philosophy
of man endeavors to prove that men are duped to attribute to
divine Providence that which natural causes bring about. A
voice of the world comes to us from the victory in battle that
God is on the side of the strongest battalions. Another says;
"Trust in God, and keep your powder dry." "Thus do the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing." "And
He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall
have them in derision." Ps. II. i, 4.

By the three w^ays in which the Lord bids us present our
petition, he emphasizes the duty that we have to employ the
energy of our being in petitioning relief from Heaven.

08) Gosp. II

274

MATT. VII. 7 n; LUKE XI. 5 i

The promises of creatures leave a certain doubt in our
minds, due t&lt; &gt; t\v&lt; &gt; causes. First these promises are not the act
of an absolutely infallible being, and therefore we are not
absolutely sure of their truth. Secondly, they are not the act
of an omnipotent being, and therefore \ve are not absolutely
sure of the possibility of the agent to fulfill the promise. But,
in the present instance, all doubt is excluded by the attributes
of the being who makes the promise. An absolutely infallible,
all-powerful being makes here a promise. The consequence
follows inevitably, that he will maintain what he promises.
And that promise affects every man ; pledges that God will give
man all that he petitions. The promise of God has two condi
tions requisite for its fulfilment. One is expressed ; the other is
understood. The condition expressed is that we should ask
God for what we need : the second condition is that the matter
we pray for must be acceptable to God s will. Now through
defect &lt;&gt;f both these conditions man s petitions are often not
answered. As to the defect of the first condition, St. James
says: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he
that wavereth is like a surge of the sea, driven with the wind
and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive
anvthing of the Lord." A wave of the sea has no stability
resident in itself. It pursues IK &gt; definite course, but yields itself
alwavs to the prevailing force. So it is with the man of weak
faith. If he is with God, it is by accident. If contrary forces
come upon him, they will bear him away.

Now God sees not alone the actual good and evil of our
lives, but also the potential good and evil. He knows what is
in man, and an inconstant state of man can not give God much
gl&lt; ry. The mere listless utterance of forms of petition is not to
ask in the sense here demanded 1 &gt;y Christ. The petition should
proceed from a faith that staggers at nothing, and with an
earnestness that brings into action all the energies of man, and
with a perseverance that stops only at death.

And in this perseverance man is encouraged by the parable
of Luke. For if the dogged and unabashed insistence of the
importunate pleader moved the cold and selfish heart of the

MATT. VII. 7 n; LUKE XL 5 13 275

man to grant him all that he needed, in far greater degree will
our petitions move God, whose love for us no creature can
measure.

People complain that God seems so much farther away
from the world now than in former days, and that Christ has
withdrawn his spirit from the Church. The change is not with
God, but with ourselves, who by our wavering faith repel God.
God holds at a great price, that holy importunity and persist
ence in appeal which is not moved to petulance and despair if
not heard at once, but which will not cease till it be heard,
even though it be through a lifetime. We should not demand
that God hear us in our time, but in his own time.

A grand example of persistence in prayer is furnished us
by the example of Jacob, who wrestled with the angel, even to
the morn, and would not let him go till he had blessed him.
So we must wrestle with God in prayer, and not let him go till
the night of our misery passes, and the dawn of hope comes on,
and God blesses us.

The second defect in our petition is that the matter for
which we pray is not in accordance with the will of God. God s
will in relation to us is founded on his infinite wisdom, by which
he sees the things which are good for us. Therefore his will is
always beneficent. God wills that his glory shall be promoted
by us, but in such way that our highest good shall be insured
thereby. The good at which the will of God aims is man s
own good. There is not an element of selfishness in God s will.
In making the will of God the supreme end of our lives, we
simply elect that infinite wisdom shall choose for us the highest
good.

People who are not conversant with the ways of the law,
give over their business affairs to an attorney, and follow his
advice; men not skilled in medicine entrust their lives to a
physician, and take from his hands bitter medicines, of whose
nature they know nothing. They are content to use the science
of these professional men in defect of their own knowledge.
And shall man refuse to put equal trust in God in the vital
issues of human life ? St. James explains why our petitions are
unheard. "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that
ye may spend it in your pleasures." IV. 3. Man esteems

276 MATT. VII. 7 n; LUKE XI. 5 13

and loves his life, its successes and honors, present health, and
prosperity. These are good, and proper matter for petition.
But attachment to them ceases to be good, when they are held
in excessive esteem. We are too prone to limit our petitions to
these goods only, and to measure God s response by material
results.

In the Old Law, God upheld the faith of a crude weak
people by the pr&lt; &gt;mise &gt;f riches for service. Abraham had vast
wealth; Isaac s fields produced a hundredfold; and Joseph
was made lord of the wealth of Egypt. But in the New Law,
man enters on a higher plane of life. In return for service,
God pr&lt; &gt;mises not to the saints of the New Law lands and cattle
and g&lt; ld, but persecution, the hatred of the world, and afflic
tion. It is his wish that we petition him in affliction, and for
a sufficiency of temporal goods, but never with the idea that
this is the principal good.

The fruition of God s best gifts is not given here. To
pray with earnestness only for the things of our present life,
and to feel disappointment because God does not give us
worldly benefits, is an evidence that we set a very low estimate
on our true inheritance. We should realize therefore that we
own something that we can not perceive by the natural facul
ties, that our movement into that inheritance should be
characterized by appreciation, earnestness, and action. Let
one s whole life be a constant appeal to Heaven for every good,
with proper dispositions of soul, but leave to God the election
of the gift. God may not give what we ask, but he will always
give that which is good.

We love t&lt; &gt; see vigor and activity in every living organism.
Faith is a living creation in the soul, and the earnestness and
persistence with which we send our petitions to Heaven betok
en its vigor and its life, and greatly please God.

Now if this proposition means anything, it means that
benefits are bestowed on those who properly ask for them, that
are not given under other conditions. It means also that it is
greatly pleasing to God that we should direct to him our peti
tions. Unlike earthly benefactors, he never becomes annoyed
at our importunities; but the more persistent we are, the more
gracious he is to us. The power of prayer partakes in a certain

MATT. VII. 7 n; LUKE XI. 5 13 277

measure of the omnipotence of God. And God s wisdom
supplies the defects in our petitions, and always gives us real
good, although our dull minds may not perceive it. The
loving parent often shows his love most when he refuses the
request of the child. So God in infinite love is often constrained
to deny us what we ask, in order to promote our higher
interests.

The Lord enforces his teaching by an appeal to the natural
propensity of the parent to give benefits to the child. The
force of the illustration presupposes that the love of God for
man is exalted above the natural love of parent for the child.
God has given sufficient evidence by \vord and deed that he
loves man. He can not teach man the measure of his love,
because man s mind is incapable now of seizing such truth.
But we could rightly form the following conclusion : As God s
nature is exalted above the nature of man, so is his love for man
exalted above the natural love of man for his child. The Lord
loves to liken his love to the love of the parent for the child. In
Isaiah he says: "Can a woman forget her suckling child, that
she should not have compassion on the child of her womb?
Yea they may forget, yet I will not forget thee."- Is. XLIX.
15. In the evidence of such existing love, the argument of the
Lord here is most convincing.

The Vulgate translation of the eleventh verse of Luke is
certainly erroneous. The concordant authority of the Greek
codices establishes to a certainty that the translation should be :
"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he
give him a stone?" There is much grace of speech in all these
propositions. To draw a graceful contrast in these statements
the objects contrasted must be in one respect most like, and in
another respect most dissimilar. They must be like in out
ward appearance and size; they must be essentially unlike in
nature and use. Now a stone resembles in size, color, and
outward appearance a loaf of bread ; and a serpent resembles a
fish. Many species of scorpions exist in nature. It is an
anthropod, from two to eight inches in length, resembling a
small, flat lobster. It has long powerful chelate pedipalps and
a long flexible abdomen capable of being curled up over the
back, and terminating in a deadly poisonous sting. It is only

278 MATT VII. 7 n; LUKE XI. 5 13

found in hot climes. It was one of the most feared and hated
of all creeping things. The scorpion bears no close resemblance
to an egg, but it is a small animal, and if its flesh were edible, it
would be in quantity about equal to the meat of an egg.

The Lord appeals to human experience to confirm this
great truth, that love of whatever kind moves a being to do
good t tile loved object.

Let us represent to ourselves a good loving father and his
son. Tlie father has provision for the needs of the child. The
child comes to him, and asks him for an article of food. The
simile supposes that the child needs the food. The request is
properly made, and it is good for the child to have the matter
asked for. It is inconceivable that a loving father should
refuse this food to the child, or tantalize him by giving him a
useless or noxious object instead of the article of food. Such
giving is an act of goodness, and is found in the creature who
is not essentially good. Much more therefore will such act of
goodness be found in God who is essential goodness itself.

There is s&lt; me difficulty in determining the sense in which
Christ called human nature bad. The entity of human nature,
as it was created by God, is good. Certainly therefore Christ is
not asserting that man is essentially bad. But in this sense is
he bad. He exists in a defectible nature, and in comparison
to the infinite good of God s essence, every creature may be
called imperfect. This may have been the sense in which our
Lord spoke. Again, in such declarations as these the speaker
does not eonsider the metaphysical man, but the man of his
tory, the man as he is found in human society. In such sense,
man com] tared in perfection to his Creator may rightly be
called bad. He exists in a nature which has fallen from the
estate in which God founded it; he is subject to disordered
passions, to intense selfishness, greed and fleshly lusts; the best
of his kind offend God by various sins; the greater part of the
race abandon the service of God. Is it strange therefore that,
looking at man as he is, and contrasting him to the infinite
essence of God, Christ should have called man evil?

The application of the similitude to man s relations to God
is obvious. Man needs something, and comes to God seeking
it. The matter is conformable to God s will, and therefore, it

MATT. VII. 7 n; LUKE XI. 5 13 279

is good for man to have it. The petition is rightly made ; God
is able to give it. The only cause therefore which could under
lie a refusal on the part of God would be defect of love. But
no man having knowledge of God will impute to him defect of
love for man. God is pledged for the relief of our needs properly
laid before him in petition. He wishes for our petitions, not
that he is ignorant of our necessities, but that he wishes for our
faith and love, evidenced by our asking for help. It is not to
say that God does nothing in the line of his special providence
for us without our asking. Verily he does many things for us
ungrateful creatures, even when we are too cold and oblivious
of him to ask for what we need, but he does still more, much
more, for the faithful and persistent pleader.

How explain therefore the seeming delay of God in hearing
our prayers ? how explain the hope that starts up feverishly at
the prospect of relief, and sickens at the long delay? The
explanation is outlined by the thirteenth verse of St. Luke.
The gift which man needs most, and which God delays not to
give is his Holy Spirit, The function of the Holy Ghost in our
lives is well described by St. Paul, Rom. VIII. 26 : "Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what
we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit himself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
When God gives us his Holy Spirit, he makes adequate provis
ion for all our needs. The Spirit of God operates in that higher
order of being in which man s spiritual interests are placed.
He enriches our souls, even while w r e clamor for the husks of
earth. And yet we feel little gratitude at the certainty held out
to us that the Holy Ghost will come with his rich spiritual gifts
into our souls at our asking. We would prefer the mess of
pottage of Esau to the benediction of Jacob. And we murmur
and complain like wanton children because God operates to
insure our estate in Heaven in preference to the baser things of
earth, which our godless generation unduly prizes. God at
times extends his hand, and takes away a deep sorrow, or gives
some temporal gift, but it is not his highest gift to man ; and it
is only given when it does not conflict with man s spiritual
interests.

3 . " .V

280 MATT. VII. 12 14

MATT. VII. 1214.

12. All things therefore 12. IlivTX GJV o ja iv Oi /.r ( 73
whatsoever ye would that men Yvz -o .o&gt;- .v j-j/v o ; . avOco-o ., oJ7o&gt;;
should do unto you. even so y.z\ -j-j.il: r. r j .il-t y.j-. r j\:: 0-70:
do ye also unto them: for this yip i .v o vvj.o; -/.a: o . -covf.7a r ..

is the La\v and the Prophets.

13. Enter ye in by the 13. E::iXOa7 c i
narrow gate: for wide is the -J/.Y;;, 07-. r/.z7:a r ;
gate, and broad is the way pj/tococ f ( 6:0; f, ir;r
that leadeth to destruction, and i - /. 3 -.xv -/.a- -o/
many be they that enter in -/VJ.EVV. : r . Zv7f^.
thereby.

14. How narrow is the gate. 14. Tf :: "vf, f ( -JAY; y.a: 73-
and straitened the way. that O/. .j.^.ivr r 0:04 f ( aziyo jrac sic 7r ( v
leadeth unto life, a!id lew be Ifor;/. v.al o"/. !-;o . cir;v o: Jpir/.ov73:
they that find it a^rr/.

Tlie twelfth verse &lt;.f Matthew has already been exp-)unded
in Luke VI. 31. In one short clear proposition, the Lord
condenses the law of obligations which we have to our fellow
men. It is the Law and the Prophets. That is, it is the sum
of the Mosaic Law and of the subsequent Holy Books, as regards
&lt;air conduct towards our neighbor. The common instincts of
humanity endorse the divine teaching in this matter. It is
eminently reasonable, eminently practical. It is the highest
wisdom in the simplest words. It can be impressed on the
rudest minds, and appeals to the inborn sense of right in man.
It points out that man can always appeal to his own conscience
and find there a safe and sure criterion for acts towards the
neighbor.

The Lord likens human life to a journey along a definite
way. In that part of the discourse which has preceded, Christ
set forth the law of man s duty; he now exhorts man to put
into act the doctrine that he has received. In speaking of the
gate and the way, his intention is not to establish two elements
in man s journey, but to assist the mind to a vivid picture of
two modes of human life.

The present characterization of human life and its destiny
is terrible but true. To soften the sense of the Lord s words,

MATT. VII. 12 14 281

some have imagined that he only spoke of the moral conditions
of the world of his time, when the chosen people had drifted
from God, and the new message had not yet reached the world.
Such restriction of the Lord s words to the special conditions
then prevailing is plainly absurd. The context and the general
character of Christ s mode of teaching, plainly evidence that the
words contain a characterization of human life. The sense of
the words dispel the illusion that a man can drift along with
loose ideas on religion, living the life of the world, and reach
eternal life. Man must choose a definite mode of religious
living, and prosecute it with the view to attain to eternal life.

The Lord first describes the way of living of the world. It
is broad and easy. It appeals to crude nature ; it involves no
restraint. We go on in it without moral effort, following
natural motives. It is pleasant to the natural man. There are
no fierce combats against the lusts of the flesh and against the
world, no renunciation, no chastisement of the flesh. Of
course, it has in it none of those deeper joys that come from the
consciousness of duty nobly performed, but the thoughtless
multitudes, who live on the surface of things, reck not at the
absence of these. Such careless life is easy, and demands no
deep thought, no sacrifices, and its motives can be apprehended
by the senses. Moreover, the multitudes are there. The
people whom we meet in social converse are there. The public
thought of the day is a voice from that broad path, and invites
us to travel therein. Popular men, successful men are there.
We are drawn by the tide towards the same broad road. It is
hard to stand aloof, and follow a hard and unpopular law of
conduct, when all about us men are moving in another
direction.

The poor Christian lives in the midst of a world which by
the testimony of John, IV. 19, "lieth wholly in wickedness."
The moral atmosphere is filled with false philosophy and vain
theories. And many a man, who has resisted for a time, ends
by going with the crowd. And thus the great stream of human
ity rolls onward through that terrible road, forgetful of God,
forgetful of Heaven. Generation after generation passes on,
and perishes, and no word of God is sufficient to arrest the
dreadful procession.

282 MATT. VII. 1214

Opposed to this broad and thronged way is the narrow
gate and straitened way that lead to life. Here again the use
of the gate and the way is synonymous, and the terms merely
strengthen each other in the metaphorical expression of the
difficulty of the way &lt; &gt;f righte* msness. The Lord is not describ
ing an entity in rcrum natnra, nor does he lead our minds to
discuss the exact arrangement of the gate and the road. The
great f&lt; rce of the figure does not lie in the narrowness of the
gate, n&lt; &gt;r the narr&lt; &gt;wness &lt; &gt;f the way, but in its difficulty.

There is an important variant in the fourteenth verse.
The variant arises from two different readings of the opening
word in the Greek text. Tischendorf, \Vestcott, and Hort
approve the reading OT/, the causal conjunction, which
would correspond to Latin c t nia. This reading is adopted by
the protestant English translations. Such reading is also
found in codices {s and B, but in both cases it is a correction
of the second hand. It is found in Codex X, in Codex M, and in
the Sahidic, Bohairic, and Armenian versions. However a large
number of codices support the reading TI\ and it is found in
many versions, and in the w&lt; &gt;rks &lt; if St. Kphrem and St. Cyprian.
It is endorsed by the Vulgate, and came thence into the
Roman Catholic version. This reading is critically preferable
both by its extrinsic authority, and its conformity with the
canons of criticism. TV is the more difficult reading, and it is
easily seen how the sciolists is perplexity substituted therefor
tin- easier reading on. Moreover, the reading cm, renders
the discourse of the Lord languid and tautological; for he had
before declared that the gate of life was narrow. We believe
therefore that the reading rt is to be retained, and we consider
the sentence exclamatory in character. Tt corresponds to the
Hebrew ,"!. and is used in a sense where tu? would be used in

classic Greek. Similar renderings of M^ ^re found in the

Septuagint. Cfr. II. Sam. VI. 20; Ps. III. i; Cant. I. 10;
VII. 6.

As the Lord views the two ways of human life, the terrible
truth of the difficulty of righteousness, and the fewness of the
elect elicits from him this earnest exclamation. As we have
said before Christ was there reflecting on the wav of human life

MATT. VII. 12 14 283

throughout all its ages. His words are borne out by fact both
as regards nations and as regards individuals. In the case of
nations, a nation is not rated by whether the institutions of
God are upheld in her realm, or whether her people obey God;
but she is rated by her revenues, her army and her navy. And
in human society, observation shows plainly what a small
portion of humanity profess a definite belief in Christ and his
law, and only a part of these retain that living faith which
reflects itself in the character of a man s life. To find in human
society the man who with definite aim is moving along in the
narrow path is not the rule but the exception.

Now it is expedient for man to keep these two truths in
mind in his progress in the law of Christ, that it is a narrow
and difficult path, and that the elect are few. One succeeds
much better in an undertaking when he has counted the cost,
and has moved the mind to the proper preparation for that
which is to be expected. Of course, the difficulties of that way
will only be felt by those who are doers of the \vord. The
more one goes with the world, the more does he lessen these
difficulties. To move faithfully in the narrow w r ay of Christ,
one must in large degree oppose all the thought of the world,
which comes to us in multifarious and powerful agencies ; he
must oppose popular theories, which appeal to the proud
aspirations of a people ; he must oppose the perverse movements
of his own nature. It is hard to do this, and often the error
prevails that one is doing it w 7 hen he is not. A perpetual
vigilance must be kept up, or one will unconsciously fall into
the easier way of doing as the rest do. The very nature of the
Christian life is such that one must go somewhat deeply into it
to find its real nature, and to find something that will sustain a
man in his combat with the spirit of the world. Now these are
not days of deep religious thinking. Hence the call of the
world assembles its myriads, and the call of Christ collects the
few T .

No mystery is more sad than that the Redemption of
Christ will be unavailing for the far greater part of mankind.
Put away, therefore, the fatal error that salvation is easy to
achieve. Such error breaks down the distinction between the
Christian and the man of the world ; and while it leaves a man

284 MATT. VII. 1523; LUKE VI. 4346

nominally in the ranks of Christ, it renders him without relig
ious character. The narrow way is not found without earnest
seeking; whereas the br&lt; &gt;ad way of the world otters itself to all.
In the narrow way we can not walk without continual restraint
and patient effort; the very impetus of unredeemed nature
bears us on in the broad way. Moreover, man is an imitative
animal, and it is easier to imitate the multitudes of the world
than the few of Christ. X&lt;&gt;w as the prudent mariner often
consults his compass to get his bearings in the pathless ocean,
so the Christian should often by proper thought and self-
examination certify himself that he is in the narrow and difticult
way that leads to life.

MATT. VII. i; -2V LUKE VI. 4346.

IT-.V-; c/ovra:
Zr.v -:O:^TOV, b

10. \- r j (&gt; y. J. .~t &gt; a.Tov 4;. () y; I-- .-, ::v:;ov y.a/.ov

i-;v(. ):3; ! ): XJTOJ.;: ). ( ^i- - -- -oio^v y.y;-ov rxzcv/: oJ: -i/. .v

j tv a-o i/.avi(.iv :Ta,^/.a: r, civ;cov razpov 7:0:0 Jv y.ap-ov y.aXov.

^ -P- ^- "- ^ y - 2: 44 . "Ey.x-ov r i ? :iv:;ov ix.

17. ( JTM: ~iv :iv;:ov i-;a i ,v TOJ Iclo j y.acTro j Y .v^ry.sTa . : o J yip

iS.

/.-.: -. ; rroj.a a^TOj.

rar:-.v y.rj .j ;i-:-. TO ya iov: y.a ~ovr ( :o; sy.

19. II/v *|v:cov J.r zoio.v 7- V^ : ~:p- "3j;j.2To; y.a:::a^ &gt;.a-
y.a;-ov y.x/.v/ iy.y.ozTiTy. /.a: r.:

z .i, \\j r .i, ^ .z^t*^J~l~z . i .~ TTV
^a- .Xsiav T(i oJpzvti) 1 /. i/./. d -o .ov
r jj Il^TCOC :j.oj TO&gt; :

MATT. VII. 1523; LUKE VI. 4346.

285

22. IloAAol IcoGjtV [JLOt V

ey.stvy] 7fj VjJ-i??: Kucts, Kucts,

OJ 7Ct) CCO OVOJJUXTt lTCpO&lt;pY)TSUaa jJL6V,

/.a! TO) ~co ovo^aTi cat j.6v.a Ics6a-
y.al 7 &lt;I) "co 6vo:jia7 . 5uvaaet&lt;;

23. Iva! COTS o^oAoyrfcto auToIq
07: oJ:l7:o7S lyvcov j;j.xg, aTCO^w-
pchs a^ s ^oj o! Ipya^d^evoi 7r,v
dvo^fav.

15. Beware of false proph
ets, who come to you in sheep s
clothing, but inwardly are
ravening wolves.

16. By their fruits ye shall
know them. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles?

17. Even so every good
tree bringeth forth good fruit;
but the corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit.

1 8. A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, neither
can a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit.

19. Every tree that bring
eth not forth good fruit is
hewn down, and cast into the
fire.

20. Therefore by their fruits
ye shall know them.

21. Not every one that
saith unto me; Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom
of Heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my Father who
is in Heaven.

43. For there is no good
tree that bringeth forth corrupt
fruit; nor again a corrupt tree
that bringeth forth good fruit.

44. For each tree is known
by its own fruit. For of
thorns men do not gather figs,
nor of a bramble bush gather
they grapes.

45. The good man out of
the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is
good; and the evil man out of
the evil treasure bringeth forth
that which is evil: for out of
the abundance of the heart his
mouth speaketh.

46. And why call ye me:
Lord, Lord, and do not the

things which I say?

2 86

MATT. VII. 1523; LUKE VI. 4346

22. Many will say to me in
that day: Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy by thy name,
and by thy name cast out
devils, and by thy name do
many mighty works 1

23. And then will I profess
unto them: I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity.

I he Lord directs his teaching in the present passage to
wo chief objects. First, he directly attacks the Pharisees,
and secondly, he shows the vanity of religious profession with
out God-like dispositions. By the false prophets he directly
means the Pharisees. Of course, as his words contain a truth,
and truth is eternal, his words apply to men of all ages, of the
character of the Pharisees, but Christ aimed his words in the
first part of the passage chiefly at the Pharisees. The figure is
very forcible. To understand it fully, we must liken the com
munity to a flock of sheep. Now the wolf introduces himself
thither under the skin and semblance of a sheep. The power
&lt;&gt;t the figure does not demand that such fact could be verified
in rcntm natura, but it demands that such idea be conceivable.
It is easy to conceive and needless to state what ravages a
wolf thus introduced into a flock of sheep would do.

In applying the metaphor to human life, we must know
that a bland religious exterior is the sheep s clothing, under
which the wicked man insinuates himself into the trust and
favor of the faithful. In calling these wolves ravening, the
Lord is not pointing out any particular kind of wolf, but
portraying the general nature of the wolf. By means of an
affected piety the Pharisees secured themselves in the reverence
of the people, and they made use of this religious esteem to
filch from the people their substance. Moreover, they kept the
people in ignorance of the great import of the Law, and led
them away from Christ. Now in order to deliver the people
from these hypocrites, it was necessary to unmask the
Pharisees.

MATT. VII. 15 23; LUKE VI. 43 46 287

The fifteenth verse of Matthew is one of the masterpieces
of Christ to describe the character and methods of these secta
ries. Inasmuch as it primarily related to the special conditions
of the Jewish people, it has been omitted by Luke.

Now it must be borne in mind that the Lord is not here
laying down a criterion by which we may distinguish the true
doctrine from the false by the character of the teacher. For in
Matthew, XXIII. 2, 3, Christ says regarding the doctrine of
these same Pharisees : "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses
seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you, that observe and
do : but do not ye after their works : for they say, and do not."
Therefore it was the pernicious example of the Pharisees con
cerning which Christ cautioned his followers.

Of course, the Pharisees erred in not receiving Christ as
the Messiah, and they misled the people in moving them to
reject him. But Christ had especial regard to the law of moral
precepts in telling the people to do all the Pharisees bade. The
people were dependent on the Pharisees for the interpretation
of the moral precepts of the Mosaic Law till the New Covenant
should be promulgated.

It would be a very mischievous error, if by misinterpreting
the present passage we made the criterion of true doctrine the
character of its teachers. It would make the divine element of
the Church absolutely dependent on the human element. In
certain cases it may happen that the exponent of the true faith
may be a low, base, venal fellow, and even a criminal; while
the teacher of the false sect may be blameless in his life, and
given to every good work. The lives of some of those who have
sat in the chair of Peter were stained by the foulest crimes, and
were a scandal to the people, and yet they were the chief
representatives on earth of the true doctrine. We believe,
therefore, that Christ here simply cautions them against the
pernicious influence of bad men, and gives them a sure rule to
distinguish a bad man.

Here the argument broadens, and becomes world-wide in
its application. Hence this part has been recorded by Luke.

There is no conflict between the present teaching and the
precept forbidding to judge. In this present argument the
Lord simply bids us accept the evidence of facts to safeguard

288

MATT. VII. 15 23; LUKE VI. 43-

us against the seductive influence of wily bad men. The
precept of not judging is not intended to shield and protect
hypocrites and seducers. It chiefly regards the defects and
errors of those who, though they step aside from the path of
right, yet aspire after the good. But the present argument
also furnishes a means of judging of our own religious status,
and in this respect its sense is most valuable. It establishes
that man s standing before God is not determined by what he
pn&gt;]&gt;&lt; ist s to be, or what he seems to be, but by what he is.

The nature of the fruit of a tree certifies us of the nature
of the tree. The Saviour chose for his illustration the tig tree
and the vine, because they were indigenous to the East, and
well known to the people. Xow it is a physical impossibility
that the useful fruits &lt; &gt;f the fig tree and the vine should be b&lt; .me
by the worthless thorn-bush and the thistle. The thorn-bush
and the thistle may be in the orchard or the vineyard; they
may have the same fertility of soil and the same care as the
got.,] trees, but they will only bear thorns and thistles, because
it is their nature so to bear. The end of these worthless
growths is to be cut down and burned.

The moral application of this simile to the life of man is
very valuable. The real moral nature of man is not manifested
by profession of Christianity, nor by affiliation with a church,
nor by certain routine observances of religion. Man s real
moral standing is manifested solely by his deeds, and these
form the basis of the judgment of God. The man whose deeds
are evil, in the awful scrutiny of God, will be cut down, and
cast into the fire. Religious profession is good and necessary;
reception of the Sacraments, and attendance at worship are
necessary; but all these are means to an end. They are or
dained for the sanctification of the nature of man; and if they
fail to do that, they are of no avail; not through their own
intrinsic defect, but through man s voluntary worthlessness.

Of course, the simile is applied to man in a moral sense.
The thorn -bush and the vine are by physical impossibility
unable to change their nature ; and also the profitable fruit tree
in like manner can not change its nature. But man can change
his moral nature. The bad can become good, and the good,
bad. Man receives certain endowments and dispositions by

MATT. VII. 1523; LUKE VI. 4346 289

heredity, but these do not place a man under a moral impossi
bility to change them. Hence the force of the Lord s example
is in this that the kingdom of God in a man is not an external
initiation into a religious body ; but it is a change of heart, a
sanctification of the inner nature of man. Good works are not
the result of merely turning one s attention and energy to do
one thing rather than another. They are products of the real
nature of the man, and if that nature be not inly sanctified,
these deeds will not be good.

It is not to say that a good man, with nature refined and
ennobled by the natural and supernatural motives, may not
step aside, and fall into sin. Though he may by that act
forfeit the love of God, and render himself liable to eternal
damnation, yet he does not thereby change and violate his
nature, so that his whole character becomes changed. Nemo
extemplo nequissimus. And on the other hand, a man of base,
depraved nature may under certain conditions do a deed of
goodness, and still remain of the same general character. The
Lord s words do not mean that every individual act of the
sanctified nature is good, nor that every deed of the unre
deemed nature is bad. He is establishing a moral criterion for
gauging a man s life, and the nature of the theme demands that
it is not to be used as a mathematical measure. We can not
determine the moral tenor of a man s life by one act, nor by an
insufficient number of acts. We must consider the deeds of a
man s life in the manner that they establish a character. The
stronger and more pronounced that character, the greater is
the moral certainty that the man s acts will be in conformity
with it.

In the twenty-first verse of Matthew, the repetition of the
Lord s name in the compellation denotes profuse external
profession, and the sense of the verse is that no matter how
great the religious profession may be, it is vain without the
essential sanctification of the man s nature. Religious pro
fession is a necessary requisite, and therefore only those whose
inner nature is out of keeping with the religious profession fall
under the denunciation of Christ. To say: Lord, Lord, is
good ; but it is rendered hypocritical and vain when the life
does not correspond with the profession.

(19) Gosp. II.

290 MATT. VII. 15 -23; LUKI-: VI. 43 46

X&lt;&gt;w adequate judgment can not be passed &lt;&gt;n the fruit of
a tree, till it has ripened, and is being gathered by the lord of
the orchard. So it is only in the day of judgment that the
fruits of man s life receive their definitive judgment. In that
awful day all shams and unsubstantial appearances will vanish.,
and only realities will remain. Then if a man be found to have
fruit, it will be because his nature was inwardly sanctified.
There may have been defects and falls in his life, as some of the
fruit falls from the best tree, but such falls were redeemed by
true inward penitence, and the predominant force in his life
made for righteousness. Therefore it is not the name of the
tree, nor the orchard in which it grows, that determines the
value of the tree, but its fruit determines the tree s value.

The import of these words is a reproach to many. It is a
reproach to those who profess religion, and act according to the
motives of the world ; a reproach to those who make religion a
thing for Sunday only, who wear religion like a suit of fine
clothes, covering a foul and deformed body. It is a reproach
to those who think they undo the effects of a long period of
sin by a rapid half-incoherent confession, leading to no change
of life. Usually when such men conic back, if they ever do
conic back, after a long period, one finds the record several
degrees worse than on the preceding date. And this is because

man s nature was never moved in its depths from the old
way to the way of righteousness. To reform a nature vitiated
by sin is not an affair that can be lightly done by dropping into
the confessional, and, stammering out a dreary recital of sin.

Penance is a change of soul, or it is nothing. Let a man
therefore- realize that religion is the cultivation of his inward
nature. It is an enterprise to which he must give more than
the few moments that the many give to religious issues. It is
his life s work.

It is a sad fact that on many so-called Christians religion
sits lightly. The commission of a mortal sin will be a rare
thing in the life of a man who is permeated with the spirit of
the Gospel.

Although the Lord simply gives here a safe rule for judging
the religious status of a man, nevertheless a pari we may take
a large view of history, and detect the true Church of Christ by

MATT. VII. 15 23; LUKE VI. 4346 291

its results. It is thus true that the eminent sanctity of many
thousands of her children is an evidence of the divine commis
sion of the Church. She is a moral person, and by her fruits
she is known. She represents a divine power, and where there
is such a power there will be effects. Many of her children
have proven false to her, and many will prove false ; but the
characteristic note of her sanctity will always remain, because
her constitution and character are holy, and she must produce
like fruit.

The closing verses of the passage represents an interview
between the Supreme Judge and many of the class of whom he
has here spoken. In order to catch the full import of these
important words, we must imagine ourselves present at the
scene, and consider the plea of the accused, and the sentence
of the Judge.

The time is the day of judgment. The accused opens his
case by a profuse profession of faith, and then enters his plea :
He has prophesied; he has cast out devils; and he has done
many wonderful w r orks in the name of Christ.

At this point a serious difficulty engages our attention.
Prophecy, the casting out of demons, and the working of these
wonderful works are effects of the extraordinary power of God.
One of the reasons that such power was conferred upon men
was to evince their divine commission. For such reason Christ
made use of his divine power to prove that he was the Son of
God. The prophets of old received this power, and the Apostles
received the same, for the purpose of drawing men to accept
Christ s doctrine. In the early ages of the Church these mani
festations of divine power were called the charismata, or gratice
gratis data, and their purpose was the edification of the faithful.
When the status of the Church became such in the world that
he who had a mind to seek for her could find her, these charis
mata in large measure ceased. The teaching power of the
Church is now so great that she needs not miracles to support
her claims.

But now the difficulty arises, that these men, who are
declared reprobate by the Judge, lay claim to have worked
these miracles in his name. Can therefore an evil man possess
these charismata, and work these great works in the name of

292 MATT. VII. 1523; LUKE VI. 43 46

Christ r In the first place, it is certain that no man can exercise
such p&lt; &gt;wer to inculcate false doctrines. Were such to happen,
G&lt; -(I \v&lt; &gt;uld alL )\v the extraordinary exercise of his divine power
to be used to induce the people into error. Hence it is certain
that these ciuiri^nnitd could only be used to promote the cause
of Christ. It is not therefore in faith or doctrine that those
here mentioned erred, but in the moral government of their
lives. Xo\v it appears from Paul s epistles that some of those
who received these charismata were reprehensible in conduct;
for he chastises them for their envy of one another, and reproves
their ambition to possess those gifts which would make them
conspicuous before men.

\Ve believe it possible that a man, possessing this extra
ordinary power, should fail in the inward sanctity of his life.
The Lord chooses some representative reprobates of this class
to illustrate the truth that it is vain to profess faith it one
works iniquity. The force of the Lord s words is not confined
to those of this special class. He chooses them as fit repre
sentatives of the great class who profess religion but are devoid
of inward sanctity. His argument proceeds a fortiori. If
faith and profession even to the extent of miracle-working will
avail naught t&lt;&gt; the man who has not sanctified his nature, a
fcrtiori the weaker faith and less positive profession will be
pr&lt; ifhless t &gt; that large mass &lt; &gt;f men wh&lt; &gt; are Christians in name
&lt; &gt;nly.

There is a str&lt; &lt;ng resemblance between the present teaching
of Jesus and that of Paul to the Corinthians I. XIII. 2: "And
though I have prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all
knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." These truths
establish with terrible certainty that there is nothing that will
count for aught in that dreadful day but the living faith, which
sanctifies the inner man and becomes an enduring principle of
gc ,( -a w. ,rks. This is vital religi&lt; &gt;n ; all else is mere pretence and
a sham. Religious profession and the externals of religion do
not divide the world into the blessed and the reprobate. In
order to receive eternal life, man must believe and do.

MATT. VII. 24 29

MATT. VII. 24-29.

24. TLzq ojv o Ttq a/oust ^.ou
TOU? Xoyou? TOUTOIK;, /.at zocet
a JTou?, ojj.ouoOYj S rat dvcpt 9povt^.w
o-Ttg ar/.oiojrrj-cV a JToG TT]V otxtav
lict TT,V TTSTpav.

25. Kat y.aTscY] r; (ipoy^, y.at
Tj/.Oov ot TCOTa^ot, y.at ezvsujav o t
avs;j.ot, /.at -rrpojszsjav TYJ oty.ta
ly.stvfi, y.at or/, ezs-sv: TsOe^s/a-
WTO yap ezt TT;V Tlrpav.

26. Kat zaq 6 dy.ouojv JJLOJ TQJC
Xoyojc -rouTO jq, y.at ^.r,

TO j?, o^otwOrjuSTat dvopt

STTt 7T ( V

27. Kat y.aTsc^ r ( ^poyji, "/-at
fjX0ov ot -^OTa^ot, y.at ezvsujav ot
avs:j.ot, y.at 7rpojs/.o0av T^ oty.ta
ly.ctvyj, y.at IT:JV: y.at T)V TQ

LUKE VI. 47 49 293

LUKE VI. 47-49.

47. Ha;; 6 IP^JJLSV

y.at d/.ouwv ^JLOU TWV Xoywv, y.at

zotcJJv aJTOj;, uroSst^w j ^tv Ttvt
I Ttv o;j.oto-;.

vn or/.t av, 8^ i-y.aOsv y.at
eiaOuvsv, y.at lOr]y.V Oc^lXtov ert
rr ( v zltpav: zAYj^^upiQc; os ysvo-

^.SVr]^, 7rpO~SpY]CV ZOTajJLO^ TTj

oty.ta exstvf), y.at oux c j/ujsv cra-
Asjcrat auTi^v, ota TO y.aXwq ot/.o-

co;jLtj6at auTTQv.

49- O ck d/.ouiaq, y.at ^Y]
xoiiQja?, ojxotog IJTCV dvOpcoTuw ot-
y.oco jjLTjcravTt oty.fav 57:1 TTJV yf/v
people; Os jjisAtoj: 7; zpojepTj^sv
6 zora^LOi;: y.at euOj? auvlxeasv,
y.at eyevsTO TO p^y^a Tr t q otxt a?

28. Kat eysvsTO o-s ITSASJCV
6 IrjTO jc TOJC; AOYOU? TOUTOJ^,
l^swATQajovTO ot o/Xot erl TJ] ctcayjj

29. Hv yap ctca-y.wv a JTO jq
i^oucjfav eywv, y.at ojy w? ot
tq au-rwv.

24. Every one therefore who
heareth these words of mine,
and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man who built
his house upon the rock ;

25. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell not: for
it was founded upon the
rock.

47. Every one that cometh
unto me, and heareth my
words, and doeth them, I will
shew you to whom he is like:

48. He is like a man build
ing a house, who digged and
w r ent deep, and laid a founda
tion upon the rock: and when
a flood arose, the stream broke
against that house, and could

294

MATT. VII. 24 29; LUKE VI. 4749

not shake it, because it had
been well builded.

49. But he that heareth
and doeth not, is like a man
that built a house upon the
earth without a foundation;
against which the stream broke,
and straightway it fell in; and
the ruin of that house was
great.

26. And every one that
heareth these words of mine,
and doeth them not. shall be
likened unto a foolish man,
who built his house upon the
sand:

27. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and smote upon
that house; and it fell: and
great was the fall thereof.

28. And it came to pass,
when Jesus ended these words,
the multitudes were astonished
at his teaching:

29. For he taught them as
one having authority, and not
as their scribes.

A textual variant of some importance occurs in the twenty-
fourth verse &lt; &gt;f Matthew. The Codices N, B, and Z read
6/uoto)&lt;?r)o-Ta&lt;, which is rendered in the Vulgate by assinula-
bitur. Tischendorf, Westcott, and Hort approve this reading.
The Roman Catholic version follows this reading, and renders
it: "shall be like," etc. It has also some patristic support.
Hut the reading endorsed by the greater number of codices,
Fathers, and versions is 6/iota&gt;o-a&gt; airrov. This reading is
adopted by the English protestant versions, being rendered:
"I will liken him," etc. The proofs are vastly in favor of this
second reading. It renders the statement of Christ more
forcible. Again, it would be hard to conceive how the second
reading ever found place in the codices as an interpolation,
since it renders the sentence anacoluthic, and is the more
difficult to construe. The probable fact is that the reading
6/jioiwaw avrov was changed to o/AOioj^o-ercu, in order to make
the twenty-fourth verse accord with the twenty-sixth.

In the forty-eighth verse of Luke there is also a slight
variant. The greater number of Greek codices render the
causal clause, with which the verse terminates, Te0e/*e\ia&gt;To

MATT. VII. 2429; LUKE VI. 47 49 2 95

yap e-rrl T^V verpav, which is followed by the Vulgate
and all versions except the Coptic and Revised Version of
Oxford. The codices N, B, L, Z, 33, 157, and the^ Coptic
and Oxford versions support the reading &a TO /caXw? olKo&o^el-
aBai avr^v, "because it was well built." The variant does not
change the sense. The received reading gives the specific cause
of the house s firmness, while the second reading assigns only a
generic one. It is impossible and unnecessary to decide which
is the true reading.

The Lord closes his great sermon by a beautiful similitude,
by which he impresses upon men s minds the necessity of doing
the word which they receive.

The civilized world is divided as regards the Gospel of
Christ into two great classes. First there are the many who do
not profess to receive Christ s teachings or to follow his law.
Then there are the professors of Christianity. We may rightly
place in the first category the heretics, for they do not hear
Christ aright. We consider therefore in the second class only
those who, at least in name, are in the salvific economy of
Christ. Now it is only to these that the closing similitude
pertains. The Lord s words divide this class into wise men and
fools. The right ordering of human life is the highest wisdom ;
and the misuse of life is the greatest folly. The Lord likens
the conduct of Christian life to the building of a house. We
need spend little time in explaining the natural basis of the
similitude. The first element of strength in a building is the
solidity of the foundations. To obtain this solidity the prudent
builder digs down, and lays the foundation upon the rock.
The storms of the Orient are very violent. The house will be
exposed to violent storms of wind and rain and inundations.
Now in such commotions of nature the house upon the solid
foundation will stand, and the house built upon unstable earth

will fall.

One house may look as fair as another. In the calm, t
dwellers in the unstable house may feel secure and self-con
tented. The cause which differentiates these two buildings is
hidden; it requires the test of the storm to prove which has
solidity and which has not.

296 MATT. VII. 24 29; LUKE XI. 47 49

The application of the truth, to human life is plain and
forcible. The religious status of a man at any given moment
is a house which he has built by the acts of his life in co-operat
ing with the action of God. If he has hearkened to the message
of Christ, and assimilated its truths, and made them a part of
himself; if he moves in the acts of his life in the spirit of the
Gospel; if the law of God is the great vital motive force of his
life; if in all things, he fears God, then he has dug dee]), and
laid his foundation upon a rock. On the other hand, the man
wh&lt; holds t&lt; Christ with a si &gt;rt of velleity ; win &gt; would like to be
good, if it were not difficult ; who aspires weakly after the good,
but does the evil ; who gives ear to Christ &lt; m Sunday, and to the
world on Monday and the rest of the week; who is dull and
torpid in religion, and intense in business, this is the man
who builds on the sand. He has no definite purpose in his
religious life, he is not moved by the Spirit of God. In the acts
of his life there is not reflected the evidences of a vital knowl
edge of God.

The rain and the Hoods and the winds emblemize the forces
of the world, which act in opposition to the law of God. They
act upon both lives. Their impetus is terrible. They roar,
and surge, and beat upon the respective individuals, and one
falls ; the superficial Christian falls ; and then is verified the great
fall spoken of by Christ, the terrible tragedy of the wreck of a
human life.

Under the track of the ships that cross the great ocean, a
white line- of human bones cover the bottom of the ocean, of
those wh&lt; &gt; have g &gt;ne down in shipwreck and in death by disease
on that voyage. Si &gt; in the voyage of life, the way is marked by
the ghastly evidences of the myriads who walked foolishly,
and perished by the way. But the sturdy Christian, strong
in the Spirit of God resident within him, defies the adverse
forces of the world, and marches on "through the fever of life,
through wearinesses and sicknesses, fightings and despondings,
langour and fretfulness, struggling and succeeding through all
the chances and changes of this troubled, unhealthy state,
through death, to the white throne of God, and the Beatific-
Vision."

MATT. VIII. 513; LUKE VII. i 10 297

The foundation on which the moral edifice of a man s life
is built is his character. Many things enter into the constitu
tion of a man s character. Heredity, education, environment,
habits of life are the great factors. We cannot change heredity ;
it is a mysterious element with which only God can rightly
deal in the judgment. Environment is a contingent thing
parti} 7 under our control and partly without it. We can not
control our environment during childhood, and even in adult
life there may be circumstances which tie us to certain unfavor
able surroundings. A man s early education may have been
neglected, and his habits may have become perverted during
his early years, and at the full evolution of reason a man may
find himself handicapped in the race. A certain manner of
thinking and a manner of acting have been developed in him.
But by the power of free will and God s grace even such a one
may move upwards towards the goal of true manhood. Every
virtuous thought, every deed of virtue strengthens the founda
tion. The man must be in earnest. He must be prepared for
trial, struggle, and renunciation. He is not alone in the work:
God gives grace richly to a man who is striving after righteous
ness. By sober reflection on the duty of human life, the man
comes to formulate certain principles of right conduct. His
deeds of virtue are thus not mere accidents; they are the
methodical result of fixed principles A sturdiness of character
develops in the man. Moral courage grows in him. His whole
life grows nobler, a moral healthiness pervades his whole being ;
the house is being built on the rock. The man is not a Chris
tian to suit the occasion ; but a Christian by principle, a Chris
tian in all the affairs of life. The storms of life come to all, but
they find such a man immovable in the storm, for he rests on a
foundation too deep for storms to move.

MATT. VIII. 5-13. LUKE VII. i-io.

5. Iv -cXOov-roc cs aJ70j sic i. Er.\ ok ezXpr, p(o-v rav-ra
Ka?apvaoj:j., ^po-^XOsv aJ7w kv.y.- 72 p-r];jLa-:a ocj-rou etc -rac, cr/.oac TOJ
TOVTap/oc 7:apa-/.aXwv aj-zov, Xaou, sbfjXOsv et; Kacpapvaou;j..

6. Kal Asywv: Kupts, 6 Trace 2. ExaTOvrapxou 31 Ttvoq SoC-
[j.ou (Ls&XrjTa . iv 7Y) or/.fa zapaXurt- Xoc y.r/.GK e/ojv, -fj^sXXsv rsXsuTav,
/.b:, os .vwc ^a-av.^6;j.cvoc.. oc, Y)v ajrw IVT .;J.OC.

298 MATT. VIII. 513; LUKE VII. i 10

3. Axoj-a; B ~pl TOJ Trro:,
2::::T .Av rpo^ ajTO-v ::p"6 jTpo jc
Tor/ loucatwv, p;,)T(ov aJTOv o-(o&gt;
&gt;, )( )&gt; ::a:r&lt;i &gt;rT) TOV :OJAOV aJTOj.

4. ( )! -s rapaYvo ;j.vo: -poc
TOV Irrojv, zapcxaXo jv aJTOV rrou-
ca:V&gt;-;. AS-OVTC : OT: ac .b.: :&gt;,

5. Aya-5: yi? "^ sOvoc T/J-W
f.z\ TTV r jvi (iJ&gt; ^^"^ )xo2oJLr

o . , , -x, . . .

8. A-o-/.p: ) .c C o sx.aTO /rap- ,.

-, - , ..... C .

70-- E:T ( : KJ::, o ./. -.j.: r/.avoc T

- , , , . .- . K

:va j.0 j .,-0 TT ( V rT - "r ( v .r/, f )T); : .

/OVTOC -O TTC oxla-, -J. vV

. . , . ;

JC & r/.aTOVTapyr. ; AV(,)V ajTv o:

,.., ,
., -J.T, -/.JAAO J, : oj v io ixavoc

.,.,,
, :va j-o TT.V -T r.v a.0 j tr-

7. A .o oJ: sjiajTOv T-citora
-po.; ~k A ) ; .V: aXX !- AOY&lt;;),
/. j.\ : .^lr~&lt;.&lt;&gt; 6 -xic J.OJ.

(). Ky.\ Y^? ^ , &lt; iv ip .-o; sij.t 8. Kal Y^P ^V * ivOpcoro; stJit

izo i; . j::av Tarrousvo;, /&lt;&gt; j- J~o ;oj::av T2-:o ;j.vo-:, /(, ^z

j.auTC,v ^Tp^T .ocac: /.a: Xr/t.) TOJ- i^aJTOv rTCZTUoTac : xai Ar/o) TOJ-

TW, IIopJrrT ., xal -op^rra-. : Tto, IIop J&lt;Jr ( T:, /.a-. -opjTa:, xal

&gt;at a&gt;. &gt;.(;&gt;, "Kf/o J xa: J py.^a-., aXXo), "Hpy.o J, xal sp/.cTa:, xal

/a: T&lt;j) coyA(o J.OJ, IIo;V ( rov TO ^TO COJAM :J.OJ, IIo:r ( rov TOJTO,

xal ^O .t. xa: -o: r ..

10. Axojra-: C 6 IT ( -OJ^ 9. Axo j-a; C Ta JTa 6 Ir ( roJc,
Oaj Jia-v, xal -&gt; TO:; axoXoj- iOayjarsv aJTo v, xal TTpacl; T(j)
(Joj- .v, Aj-r ( v AY&lt;o JJL:V -ap o J- axoAOjOo JVT: aJT(o o /Af;) -izev,
Cvl TorajTT// -f-T .v &gt; TOJ J-paf,A \i-n&lt;&gt; I J. .v, oJC &gt; T(;&gt; Irpaf ( A TO-

jpov. rajTT ( v -!-T;V Jpov.

11. .\Y(.) C J JLtV, OT1 -OAAol

a-o avaTOA(ov xal sjr j.(ov r^our-.v,
xal avaxA .Or^ovTa: J.Ta A6paia
xal Ijaax xal Iaxw6 V Tf ; pa--.A:a
Ttiiv oJcavwv.

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10

299

12. Ot ce utol -.r^ ^actAetac,
e/6Air;6r,covTat etc TO C/OTOC TO
ecwTSpov: e/ct set at 6 y.XauO^oq
/at 6 ppuy[J.oc. TCOV OOOVTWV.

13. Kat slTtsv 6 Ir^-ojc TW
r/aTovrap/Tj : "Y^aye, o;c E^t cTeu-
cac, ysvTjOTiTW cot: /at taOr] 6 xatq

EV T^ Copa E/EIVT).

5. And when he was entered
into Capharnaum, there came
unto him a Centurion, beseech
ing him,

6. And saying: Lord, my
servant lieth in the house sick
of the palsy, grievously tor
mented.

7. And he saith unto him:
I will come and heal him.

8. And the Centurion an
swered and said: Lord, I am
not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof: but only
say the word, and my servant
shall be healed.

10. , Kat uxocrrps iavTeq stc TOV
lxov, 01 ze^Oevre? supovTOV SoDXov

1. After he had ended all
his sayings in the ears of the
people, he entered into Caphar
naum.

2. And a certain Centu
rion s servant, who was dear
unto him, was sick and at the
point of death.

3. And when he heard con
cerning Jesus, he sent unto
him elders of the Jews, asking
him that he would come and

save his servant.

4. And they, when they
came to Jesus, besought him
earnestly, saying: He is worthy
that thou shouldest do this for
him:

5. For he loveth our nation,
and himself built us our syna
gogue.

6. And Jesus went with
them. And when he was now
not far from the house, the
Centurion sent friends to him,
saying unto him: Lord, trouble
not thyself: for I am not
worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof:

;oo

MATT. VIII

13; LUKE VII. i 10

7. Wherefore neither
thought I myself worthy to
come unto thee: but say the
word, and my servant shall be
healed.

8. For I also am a man set
under authority, having under
myself soldiers: and I say to
this one: Go, and he goeth;
and to another: Come, and he
cometh; and to my servant.
Do this, and he doeth it.

9. And when Jesus heard
these things, he marvelled at
him. and turned and said unto
the multitude that followed
him: I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no.
not in Israel.

9. For I also am a man
under authority, having under
myself soldiers: and I say to
this one: Go, and he goeth;
and to another: Come, and he
cometh; and to my servant;
Do this, and he doeth it.

ro. And when Jesus heard
it, he marvelled, and said to
them that followed: Verily I
say unto you, I have not found
so great faith, no, not in Israel.

11. And I say unto you,
that many shall come from the
east and west, and shall sit
down with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jac&lt;&gt;!&gt;, in the king
dom of Heaven:

12. Hut the sons of tin-
kingdom shall he cast forth
into the outer darkness: there
shall l&gt;e the weeping and
gnashing of teeth.

13. And Jesus said unto
the Centurion: Go thy way; as
thou hast believed, so be it
done unto thee. And the ser
vant was healed in that hour.

In the ninth verse of the text of Matthew, racra-o^evo^ is
omitted in many codices, and in the Syriac, Armenian, Ethio
pian, and Gothic versions. It is found in {&lt; and B, and in
many codices of the Vetus Itala. It is probable that the term
was interpolated here from the text of Luke.

10. And they that wera
sent, returning to the house,
found the servant whole.

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10 301

In the tenth verse, we find the reading trap ovSevi in B
and in some cursive MSS. This reading is followed by the
Sahidic, Bohairic, Syriac, and Ethiopian versions. In Verse
twelve, Tischendorf approves the reading e%e\evo-ovTai, of N*.
This reading is also followed by the Syriac versions. The
reading K/3\rj0i)a-ovrai has the authority of the other Greek
codices, and of the Vulgate, Sahidic, Bohairic, and Gothic ver
sions. In the thirteenth verse of Matthew, in ^*, C, E, M, U,
X, et al., an additamentum is found very similar to Luke
VII. 10.

In the first verse of the text of Luke we find the reading
eVet^ in A, B, C*, X, and n. It is endorsed by Tischendorf,
Westcott and Hort. The other authorities support e^ei Be.
In Verse seven of Luke B and L support the reading iaOij-ra).
This is approved by Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort. Some
other authorities support the reading iaOrjcreTai.

In the tenth verse of Luke, the greater number of authori
ties qualify the term &ov\ov by the term ao-Oevovvra. Such
term is omitted from N, B, and L, and from the Coptic, from
the Sinaitic MSS. of Syriac Gospels, and from the Jerusalem
Syriac. It is also rejected by Tischendorf, Westcott and
Hort.

Though there are certain points of divergency in these two
passages, it is evident from the broad general identity of theme,
that they both deal with one and the same event. The place,
the persons, the faith and humility of the centurion, and the
action of Jesus are the same in both cases. We have first,
therefore, to review the event in all its elements, and then pass
to the consideration of the moral lessons deducible from it.

The city of Capharnaum was at the date of the event
under the government of Herod Antipas ; and a detachment of
soldiers were stationed in the city. The Centurion held a
command in this military body. He was a Gentile, as plainly
appears by many proofs in the account. The ancients of the
Jews, in presenting the Centurion s petition, call attention to
the fact that he loved their nation, and had built their syna
gogue ; and Jesus himself contrasts the faith of the Centurion
with the faith of Israel. These facts render it certain that the
Centurion was a Gentile. At the same time, he must have been

302 MATT. VIII. 513; LUKE VII. i 10

a believer in the true God. The fact that he favored the Jewish
nation, and had built their synagogue, proves that he held in
reverence the God of Israel. He may not have been a real
proselyte. In fact, it seems from the account that he was not,
in the official sense, a proselyte to Judaism, but he certainly
believed in Yahveh and in Christ. We must remember that
God never abandoned the world or any portion of it; and in
the wondrous ways of God s mercy and grace there was a way
open even during the night of paganism for a good man to
enter into proper relations with the one true God.

This Centurion must have been a good man. He had
heard of the miracles of Christ, and believed that Christ was
sent by God. Of course, it is not to 1x3 thought that the
Centurion knew all the doctrine of the Incarnation and the
Trinity at that time, but his heart was right, and he accepted
Christ as the representative of the Most High.

And this Centurion had a servant who was dear to him.
The relations existing between master and servant in those
days can scarcely be understood by our people. In those days
the master sometimes was as a father to the servant.

The Greek term ijne\\ev reXevrav signifies that death was
naturally inevitable. And the Centurion, in his great sorrow
at his loss, thinks of the great Prophet of the Most High who is
actually in Capharnaum. The Centurion may have heard of
the cure of the leper, of the cure of the demonized man in the
synagogue, of the cure of the paralytic let down through the
roof. Even tidings may have reached him of the cure of the
man in Jerusalem, at the Pool of Bethesda.

But how shall he approach the great Prophet? The
Centurion is an alien. What right has he to receive anything
from the Prophet of the Jews? Then he thinks of leading men
among the Jews who are friendly to him. He will ask them to
intercede for him with the great Prophet; that through con
sideration for them, the Christ may have mercy on the infirm
servant.

The ancients of the Jews, eager to perform a kind office for
the benefactor of their race, go readily, and with great earnest
ness address a petition to the Christ, to come down and heal
the Centurion s servant.

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10 303

It must be noted at this juncture that the Centurion did
not express a wish, or entertain a hope, that Jesus Christ would
come in person to his dwelling. We must hold this, or his
subsequent words and action involve a contradiction. But the
ancients of the Jews, in their eagerness to procure for him the
benefit, directly asked Jesus to come to the domicile of the sick
man.

At this point a grave difficulty confronts us, to make the
account of Luke accord in substance with the account of Mat
thew. Indeed, so weighty is this difficulty that some have
judged that the two Evangelists do not treat of the same event.

The chief point of divergency between the Evangelists is
in the fact that Matthew declares that the Centurion himself
approached Jesus, and asked of him the cure of his servant ;
whereas Luke informs us that the Centurion, reputing himself
unworthy to approach Jesus, sent a delegation of the ancients
of the Jews to ask the benefit from Jesus.

The writers of the New Testament in describing words or
events are only concordant in the substance of the narration.
They used their human faculties in acquiring their data, and
relied upon their memory to reproduce what they had seen and
heard. Now the Holy Ghost by the divine influence of inspira
tion did not put the words ready made into their mouths, nor
exempt their human faculties from the limitations proper to
their nature. Divine inspiration effected that they all in their
own words and manner of speech should communicate the
substance of the message. In this they could not err. Mat
thew, Mark, Luke and Paul describe the institution of the
Blessed Sacrament, and every one differs from the others in the
words, though they agree in the substantial truth. They were
perfectly free in the choice of words, and the arrangement of
the details, provided that they conveyed the basic truth which
it was the mind of God to deliver to man. So in the present
instance, the substantial truths of the narration are the petition
of the Centurion, his humility and faith, and the effect wrought
by Jesus. These are given us in substance by both writers,
although Luke is the more accurate in describing the details.
We shall see that at some juncture of the event, the Centurion
spoke face to face with Jesus and manifested the grand qualities

^04 MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10

&lt;&gt;f humility, and faith which won the commendation and the
benefit from Jesus. It is also true that a petition was directed
to Jesus from the Centurion. Matthew takes these data and
succinctly groups them together, being mainly intent to bring
out the dogmatic and moral import of the event. Luke, in
conformity with his general plan expressed in his proem, is
careful to give the order of succession of the details of the
event.

Inasmuch as the substance of Matthew s account is in
Luke, together with a more accurate statement of details, we
shall follow point by point the text of Luke.

Jesus had granted the petition of the Jews who came to
plead for the Centurion s servant, and he was returning with
them, when tidings were brought to the Centurion that the
great Prophet was coming to his house. And the Centurion is
troubled at this, reputing himself unworthy of such a great
honor. Hastily summoning some of his friends, he goes out to
meet Jesus, to declare that he had not asked a personal visit
from him. The account of Luke seems to imply that the
Centurion s words were delivered to Jesus by the Centurion s
friends, and there is recorded in Luke no personal address of
Jesus to the Centurion. But Matthew s account gives such
prominence to the Centurion s declaration to Jesus, and also
brings out in such strong relief the address of Jesus to the
Centurion, that we are forced to believe that a personal inter
view took place between Jesus and the Centurion, while Jesus
was on his way to the bedside of the sick man. The order of
events seems to be that the Centurion himself accompanied the
second delegation of friends who went to meet Jesus. The
Centurion feeling unworthy personally to approach Jesus
employs the friendly offices of the Jews to declare his will to
the Christ. But in the affair it is brought about in some way
that Jesus and the Centuri&lt; &gt;n meet face to face, and the texts of
both Evangelists record the words of the interview that took
place between them. These words constitute the grand leading
theme of the whole event, and it is with these that we have
now mainly to deal.

The first proposition of the Centurion expresses a deep
sense of humility. No soul can be acceptable to God without

MATT. VIII. 513; LUKE VII. i 10 305

this virtue. It disposes the soul to receive the operation of
divine grace, and its defect shuts the way of access to God in
the soul. The defect of humility lost Heaven to the angels.
Humility is wisdom. It is the wise recognition of the nature
of the creature and the nature of the Creator, and the fixed
relations that exist between them. Humility is not opposed
to greatness of soul, but it is opposed to falsehood and pomp
ous self-conceit. It is not humility to try to convince one s
self that one has not gifts of body or mind which really exist.
It is not against humility to rejoice in the consciousness of the
possession of such gifts. It is humility to recognize that,
though these attributes of one s being may seem great to
human eyes, compared to the attributes of God, they are noth
ing. It is humility to recognize that what we can not under
stand is not therefore false ; to recognize that our intellects are
limited, and God s truth is infinite. Thousands are going away
from Christ, and staying away from Christ for the reason that
a defect of humility moves them to reject that which they can
not understand. Perhaps unconsciously to themselves they
have given to their finite intellects an equality with the infinite
God. No man thus minded can come at the truth or hold to
the truth: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the
humble."

It is not against humility to love one s self; man must love
himself. But it is against humility to love one s self exclu
sively; to lay claim to a pre-eminence that is an usurpation.
Pride is a terrible sin; because it assails in a measure the
sovereignty of God, and attacks the plan of God. Humility
moves a man to accept cheerfully the wise decrees of God.
Humility is truth; pride is falsehood. It is not the object of
humility to abase us; it is to raise us. The true elevation,
the essential, eternal elevation is the elevation of merit, the
elevation of virtue.

Nobility of origin, intellectual power, wealth, are nothing
before God. What is the birth of a creature of earth before
God who made the angels? What is genius before God who is
infinite mind ? who comprehends eternity and infinity ? What
is wealth before God who made the world ? Evidently nothing.
Whatever we have of good, and whatever goodness may be in

(20) Gosp. II.

306 MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10

us came to us from God. Hence does St. Paul say: " and
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst
receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received
it?" I. Cor. IV. 7.

Humility stills the wild passion of egotism in man, and
s&lt; &gt;bers him, s&lt; &gt; that he- can hear the voice of God. So great was
the world s need of humility that "Christ Jesus, being in the
form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equal
to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,
being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death,
yea, the death of the cross."

This is the grand model of humility. Xo being could be
higher; no being could descend so low. If humility entails
renunciation, think of the grand renunciation of the 1 Son of
GI ul . H&lt; &gt;w eagerly we clutch at every right, honor, &lt; &gt;r privilege
which we think due us from any title? And yet the Son of
G&lt; &gt;d who had the right as man to the In &gt;n&lt;&gt;r due the Son of God,
laid aside this right, and died naked on a cross between two
crucified thieves, mocked and insulted by the lowest rabble of
Jerusalem. If any man takes from us the least honor or ad
vantage how we resent it? And Jesus voluntarily emptied
himself of the glory of his Father, yea, and did thus to teach us
the great lesson nf humility. Jesus invites us to follow him,
and the following of him implies the doing of the things that
he did, and he was supremely humble.

The Lord Jesus possessed an essential inherent right to be
honored, as man, as the co-equal Son of God. He could have
asserted this right, and could have justly received this honor.
And he made himself the lowest of all. \Ve have no essential
right to anything. We are essentially dependent, dependent
on God for the very act that holds our being from falling into
the awful void of absolute nothingness, and we would be
proud. It is no condescension on our part to be humble, for we
have nothing absolutely our own; we exist only by the good
pleasure of God.

This conception of humility needs not destroy grand
aspirations. There is a greatness for the creature, which may
be lawfully sought after and possessed. We are only forbidden

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10 307

to long for a greatness that is founded on falsehood and usurpa
tion. The greatness of truth, of moral goodness, the greatness
which God judges to be greatness is open to us. We have an
infinite world of achievements open to us, where we may realize
all the best longings of human nature. The achievements of
that world will bear the scrutiny of God, the test of eternity.
No limit is set to the heights to which we may ascend. There
are no disappointments in that world, no fallacious hopes. We
shall inevitably receive that for which we have labored, and the
greatness of the prize will be proportioned to the greatness of
the endeavor.

It is good to have grand aspirations ; it is good to reach up
to something grand and noble. Pride distorts this reaching up
of the soul, and directs it to the false, ephemeral baubles of this
world; humility simply directs the soul s course aright, and
makes it fasten itself to a good worthy of the high nature of
man. Pride is the vice of mean, superficial souls. Truly great
men are always humble. Great wisdom and knowledge open
a man s mind to realize what he is, what nature is, and what
the God of nature is. They impress on a man s soul how lim
ited are his attributes in comparison to what is in nature and
above nature.

It is said of Socrates that he went forth one morning from
his tent, seated himself, and became absorbed in thought. The
sun rose and set. The voices of a thousand men encompassed
him. The horsemen filed past into the plain; the hum and
bustle of an army resounded through the day. But the sage
moved not. And when the philosophers of Greece bade him
speak, after the long meditation, he answered them: "What
do ye know r ?"

Yea, children of men, what do ye know? Ye have passed
over the seas ; ye bring over the submissive surface of the deep
the wealth of many lands. Ye have tracked the stars, and ye
write down beforehand their occupations, their disappearance
and their return. The earth trembles at the shock of your
engines of war; the lightning s subtle force is your servant.
This knowledge and these achievements seem mighty to man,
but do they solve the enigma of human life? What do you
know of yourself? of your destiny? of eternity? of whence we

308 MATT. VIII. 513; LUKE VII. i 10

have come, and whither we are going? Every man who relies
on reason, stops here, and can go no farther. It is the limit
of human intelligence.

But is it therefore all dark By no means; not by the
light of unaided reason ; not by the sages of Greece ; but by the
light which descended from Sinai and from Calvary, and by the
word which came from on high through the shepherds of Israel,
has the mystery of human life been cleared up as far as the
nature of our present life demands.

Finally, the virtue of humility ought greatly to be practised
on account of the promises of God to the humble, and God s
denunciations of the pr&lt; &gt;ud. Christ says by the mouth of Luke
XIV. 18: " who humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Again bv Matthew XVIII. 4: "Whosoever shall humble him-

r* 1

self as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom
of Heaven." Eternal greatness is directly proportionate to
earthly humility. The inspired author of the Book of the
Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach thus says XXXV. 21 : "The
prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds."
Solomon saith, Prov. XXIX. 23: "A man s pride shall bring
him low; but the humble man shall obtain honor." The Holy
Ghost speaks by the mouth of Judith, IX. 16: - nor from
the beginning have the proud been acceptable to thee: but
the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased
thee." St. Peter saith, I. V. 5: Yea, all of you, gird your
selves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Humble your
selves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time." Humility brings God near; pride
drives him away.

After the created humanity of Jesus Christ, the most
perfect of God s creatures is the Mother of God ; and she stands
before the w&lt; &gt;rld matchless in her humility, and gives expression
to the greatness of this virtue in her everlasting canticle : "He
hath put down princes from their thrones, and hath exalted
them of low degree."

Thus we shall ever find it. Those who have most cause
to glory, are least inclined to do it. This may be illustrated by
a simple example. If we look upon a field of ripened grain,

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10 309

we shall see certain heads standing stiffly upright and others
drooping low. On examination we shall find that the drooping
heads contain fine plump kernels of grain, and many of them,
while the heads that thrust themselves ambitiously above the
others contain only chaff, or a few shrunken and shriveled
kernels.

Solomon declares, Prov. XL 2, that "with the humble is
wisdom," and [Prov. XV. 33] that "before honor goeth humil
ity." The Lord has promised to humble the proud, and
exalt the humble, and he will do it. The saints of God have
all been humble, and the greatest saints have been the most
humble. Humility is an evidence that a man has a mind large
enough to rise above the vainglory and pomp of the world,
and apprehend the true and immutable glory which God is
willing to give to his creature. The wisest of the Greeks
acknowledged that his title to be called a wise man lay in the
fact that he knew that he knew nothing.

The great question now to be addressed to our soul is:
Are we humble? "Humility is one of the most difficult of
virtues, both to attain and to ascertain. It lies close upon the
heart itself, and its tests are exceedingly delicate and subtle."
The ancients had not the idea, and had no word to express it.
The term "humilitas" with the Latin people was a term of
reproach. Many counterfeit humility. They affect a low
position, while they cherish an idea of their own importance.
They will condescend to an inferior, because it is an evidence
of good breeding, and the eye of man will approve it. It is
modesty, a winning virtue, a gracious charm of deportment.
It inspires propriety in deportment, refinement in conduct. It
is perfectly compatible with pride, for there is no interior
abdication of what pride may move a man to repute himself to
be. True humility is to relinquish in our very heart of heart
the false idea of the importance of self ; not relinquish the idea
of the importance of self, but the false idea of the importance
and prerogatives of self ; to feel our true rank and place in the
scale of being.

But greater than the humility manifested by the Cen
turion s words is the faith of his soul by them revealed. The
Lord Jesus had consented to go down to his house, and was, in

uo MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10

fact, on the way thither when the Centurion meets him, and
says in effect : "Why shouldest thou go to my house? The
infinitude of thy power is not subject to space. Thou needest
not go to the place where the effect is to be wrought, for thy
power filleth the universe. I come at a partial realization of
thy power by contrasting it with mine. I am a man clothed
with a little authority, a mere subaltern in the army. My
power is subordinate, limited, small. But yet I am obeyed by
my soldiers and servants. But thou art the sovereign Lord of
Heaven and earth. Above thee there is no higher power, and
with thee is all power. And as I, poor, weak man, can com
mand and obtain obedience, much more canst thou command
the universe and all its forces, and be obeyed."

The words convey one of the finest expressions of faith
ever uttered . Jesus was a reader of hearts, and he saw that the
words were a true expression of the man s thought, and turning
to the throngs that followed him Jesus openly proclaimed that
the faith of this alien was greater than he had found in Israel

The Lord here compares like with like. Hence there is
no question of comparing the faith of the centurion with the
faith of the Blessed Virgin. Hers was greater. No mere
creature of earth can rightly be compared to her in any perfec-
ti&lt; m. By her matchless prerogative of Mother of God, she, in a
certain sense, left the plane of ordinary creatures; and when
men are compared with men she is exempt and raised above
the subjects of comparison. The Lord therefore merely says
that in his public life among the chosen people of God he had
found no faith so firm and absolute as that possessed and pro
claimed by the Centurion.

Both Evangelists concur in declaring that Jesus wondered,
eBav^aaev, at the sublime faith of the Centurion. Wonder is a
feeling arising from the perception of something new, strange
and unknown. Preceding knowledge of anything precludes
wonder thereat. Now as Christ possessed all knowledge, it, at
first sight, seems strange that he should wonder at this faith.
But we must remember that the men who wrote down this
event had not the intention to employ dialectical subtleties.
They wrote plain words, according to the vulgar conception of
things. What they wished to say was that the look, words, and

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10 311

general bearing of Jesus indicated surprise. Neither does this
indicate simulation in Jesus. The event in very truth was of
a nature to cause wonder. The faith was marvellous, and the
man was an alien. The divine harmony between the divine
and human natures in the person of Jesus Christ allowed the
human nature to act naturally, and acting naturally it mar
velled at the actual existence of a truth that by infused knowl
edge was already known by the soul of Christ. It is not
enough to say that this is hard to understand ; it is impossible
to understand. It is a part of the mystery of the Incarnation.
Jesus now utters a terrible prophecy. The faith of the
Centurion w T as a noble specimen of the faith which the cause of
Christ was to receive among the Gentile nations. And as the
Lord by his omniscience looked dow r n through the ages of time,
he saw and foretold the formation of the Church throughout
the Gentile world, and the reprobation of the Jews.

The designation of the Orient and the Occident as the
places whence the many should come to sit in the kingdom of
Heaven simply means the nations of the earth in contradis
tinction to the chosen people whose proper land was Palestine.
Yahveh founded in Abraham and his seed the chosen
people of the first alliance. Abraham by his great faith merited
to be considered the father of all believers. His son Isaac and
grandson Jacob were also faithful to the covenant of Yahveh,
and the promises made to Abraham were confirmed to them.
To them was promised an inheritance, and after centuries of
waiting it was given. But this earthly inheritance was only a
type of the everlasting inheritance which these were to receive.
It is true, that at the time that Christ spoke, not even these
holy patriarchs had been admitted to the Beatific Vision, for
Christ w T as the firstborn of the dead. But these fathers of
Israel were entitled to Heaven, and their detention in Limbo
could not have been a state of punishment. They simply had
to wait for Christ to open the way to Heaven. Hence Christ
speaks of them as though they were already in Heaven. His
words canonize these three holy men. It was a forcible way to
address a Jew. They gloried in their Abrahamic origin, while
they were totally deficient in that which made Abraham the
"friend of God." And Jesus says to them: "By faith the

312 MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VIII. i 10

nations of the world shall become the children of Abraham, as
Isaac himself was begotten not by the way of human genera
tion, but by a miracle wrought in virtue of faith. Ami ye who
glory in that ye are of the seed of Abraham, ye who by birth
had a right to the kingdom of God, ye by unbelief shall lose
that right, and ye shall be cast into hell, where shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth."

It is certain that the Lord here speaks of hell. He repre
sents the kingdom of Heaven under the figure of a banquet
where the elect of all the nations of the earth sit with the holy
patriarchs of Israel. Outside is dark and horrid. And the
children of Israel, who would enter that banquet, are cast forth
into the night of eternal death. And the figure represents that
torth trom that awful darkness come weeping and gnashing of
teeth. The weeping indicates the pain of that existence; the
gnashing of the teeth denotes the despair of the damned.

Awful words, eternity! hell! \Ve shall reserve for a
future place in our work to treat fully of hell; we shall here
speak only of the exemplary less&lt; &gt;n of the faith of the Centurion.
It obtained its object. The Centurion had shown great faith in
believing that the physical presence of Jesus was not necessary
to work the desired effect. Jesus rewards such faith bv healing
the sick man in the specific way expressed by the Centurion.
Jesus went not down to the place where the sick man lay, but
spoke the word, and they who had come out from the house
of the Centurion, going back, found that the servant was healed
in the hour in which Jesus had spoken the word.

Jesus makes the faith of the Centurion the measure of the
effect: as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."
This sentence of Jesus is also aimed to teach a grand moral
lesson. God deals with us as he finds the heart. He gives
redemption gratis; he gives graces gratis; but he must have
some return for these benefits; and the degree of our co-opera
tion will be the measure of God s rewards. Knowing this, why
are we content with so little of what God loves in the human
soul ? Why care we not more to grow in faith ? for as we have
believed, so will it be done to us. If our faith has been scanty
and poor, the reward of God will be proportionate.

MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10 313

There is some profit in comparing this Centurion s conduct
with the conduct of that king s officer whose son was healed at
Capharnaum. John IV. 46-54. The Centurion was anxious
to relieve Jesus of the necessity of going to the sick man,
declaring that it would suffice if Jesus would command the
illness to depart from the absent man; the king s officer is
importunate in a demand that Jesus should come down quickly.
The king s officer had less faith than the Centurion. He
believed in a measure, but his faith did not reach the grandeur
of conceiving Jesus as the absolute Lord of the universe,
obeyed by the mighty forces of all nature, as a man in authority
is obeyed by his servants. Jesus granted the request in both
cases ; but his treatment of both men is different. To the king s
officer he revealed the weakness of his faith, when he declared.
"Unless ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe" ; whereas
he extols the faith of the Centurion above that of all the people
of Israel. Christ worked both miracles; but that in favor of
the king s officer was for the purpose of strengthening a weak,
imperfect faith ; while the cure of the Centurion s servant was a
reward of a perfect faith.

No other virtue has received in the Gospels the encomiums
and promises given to faith. This is just and right. Faith is
life, supernatural life. The other virtues are vital acts pro
ceeding from the vital principle, faith. It would be as possible
for a corpse to walk, or speak, or think, as for a man devoid of
faith to please God and merit Heaven. Hence does St. Paul
say that "without faith it is impossible to please God." And
the prophet says: "The just man shall live by faith." Faith
is not the whole of the spiritual life ; but it is the vital principle
on which all the spiritual life is built. Now in the living organ
ism we find that where the vital spirits abound, there is much
energy, an ability, and a disposition to act. So it is with the
soul. Where faith is strong, good deeds will abound. Love
will be strong ; because faith makes of God and Heaven a living

thought. It is true that a man can have within him a strong
principle of life, and yet waste his life. He can have the power
to act, and yet sit down lazily and do nothing. So it is with
faith. A man can waste his supernatural life. Such would be
the man who believed, and yet did not execute the good deeds

314 MATT. VIII. 5 13; LUKE VII. i 10

which are necessary for salvation. Hence it is an article of
Catholic doctrine that faith can exist without the other ele
ments of righteousness; but the proposition is not convertible.
A man can not live in the supernatural order without faith.

Faith being such an excellent thing, it is one of the strange
mysteries of this curious existence of ours that we give no
more attention to have faith, and to preserve faith. A great
cause of lack of faith is voluntary ignorance. Faith can not be
had without a certain application of the mind. Few of us give
serious thought to know G&lt; &gt;d as we may best apprehend him in
this w&lt; &gt;rld. With the many, the few elementary truths instilled
into the mind in early childhood are all the religious capital
that they p&lt; &gt;ssess. With this slight provision they go out upon
the great sea of the world s life, to be buffeted by the waves of
falsehood and sin, and soon there is discoverable in them
evidence that the principles of the world have invaded their
soul. The world of the soul becomes an abstraction. Faith
teaches that the great thought of human life should be: God
is: and I am. But they substitute the falsehood; Matter is;
and pleasure is pleasant. Faith teaches that everything that
comes to an end is worthless to the human soul, because the
soul can not come to an end ; and these worldly Christians in all
things give precedence to the concerns of this life. Faith
teaches that a few years hence all things to which we now give
time and thought and labor shall have passed like the baseless
fabric of a dream, and we shall be alone before God, and before
us eternity ; and these men cling to the prizes of this present life,
as th&lt; &gt;ugh they were the supreme g&lt; &gt;od. When we contrast the
service which the world receives with the service which God
receives, we wonder how God can be pleased with his people.
O Christian, is there any leading theme of your life which
receives so little living thought as the God who created you?
You perhaps attend divine worship on Sunday, and you say
prayers; but is there a soul-communion between God and you?
Do you live with a consciousness that you are always in the
divine presence Do you not perhaps like Israel honor God
only with your lips or perhaps like the Athenians, build an
altar to the unknown God? Your grandest attribute is mind.
Without that you were as the beast of the field. The noblest

MATT. VIII. 513; LUKE VII. i 10 315

act of the mind is to know God, and yet you know him not.
You prefer the low plane, where you and the brute meet on a
common level, to the estate of angels. The poor savage of this
land gave to the white explorers purest gold in exchange for
painted tinsel and hollow glass: and you do worse; you give
God, Heaven, eternal life, for the transient things which pass
like snow before the face of the sun.

Men live as though this world were the grand reality, and
their religion only a dream, or an untruth. The thoughts of
such men will be what Plato calls mortal thoughts : they will
be bounded by the horizon.

The world was always the enemy of the elect; but its
prevalence has grown greatly since the thought and labor of
man have invented so many things that increase sensible
pleasure. And we who are commanded to hate this reprobate
world, really love it, and live its life, while we weakly hold to
Christ at the same time. We have no faith or a very weak
faith, because our w T ay of life generates in our souls conditions
which render a being incapable of faith. Faith is not of our
making. It is God s best gift to man; but we have control of
the conditions which foster it or exclude it.

And these defects are found in Catholics. Of the condi
tion of non-Catholics, let one of their own teachers make the
arraignment. "For a very large class," he says, "the Church
furnishes opportunity for a pleasant social life, which is in no
way different from the social life of amiable intelligent people
out of the Church ; that is, there is nothing distinctively relig
ious about it. For this class all the barriers and distinctions
between the Church and the Godless world have been removed.
Church work for them, in all its forms, is a kind of sacred
amusement. Public w r orship, with its pulpit oratory, and
modern Church music is an aesthetic entertainment. They
have developed a religion which is not religious. They have
learned how to be Christians, according to their meaning,
without self-denial, or any abridgment of the pleasures, pur
suits, or ambitions of people who acknowledge no religious
obligations. . . . They do not believe the creeds which they

316 LUKE VII. n 17

subscribe to when they join the Church, and generally make no
secret afterward of their doubt, or disbelief respecting various
fundamental doctrines of Christianity."

Such religion can move a man to no act of self-renuncia
tion. They practice religion simply because it heightens the
enjoyment of this life. Morality and social propriety add to
the refined pleasures of this life ; and thus they content them
selves with the natural order, having no thought or desire
of a supernatural order. As the means of physical enjoyment
and social comfort increase, the thought and desire of the
supernatural dies out of society, and the world of the senses
absorbs all man s thought. Such is the world in which we
live, a perverse world, a dangerous world. And from Heaven
comes the warning voice of Paul: "And be not fashioned
according to this world."

Faith enters into the life of man like the purest sunlight
amidst the mist and fogs of this low land. And when it is
strong and right it lights up man s whole life, banishes the
gloom of sorrow and death, and emancipates man from the
serfdom of matter.

Very wisely the Church in her liturgy places the noble
words of the Centurion in the mouth of the believing Christian
who receives under the forms of bread and wine the glorified
body and blood of the Incarnate God. Happy the Christian
who, while he utters these weirds, conceives in his heart the
faith and humility of the Centurion.

LUKE VII. 1117.

11. And it came to pass 11. Kal eysv=Ti iv to) s^fj-,
soon afterwards, that he went ezopsjOr, zl: TOAIV y.aXoujxsvTjv
to a city called Xaim; and his Xatv, y.x\ ryvszopsjovto aj-rw oi
disciples went with him, and a jj.zOr,7a: aJTOJ, y.xl o/Xo; TTOAJ;.
great multitude.

12. Now when he drew 12. Q- ck r^-".-^ ~f t TTJAY]
near to the gate of the city, T f ( c -OASW;, y.z\ (Sou, e=sxo;j.r;To
behold, there was carried out TsOvr ( xw^ jxovoycvr,; &gt;j A- TTJ ^7 pi
one that was dead, the only aJro J, y.x\ aJ rr, f,v 7J,pa: y.a- o/Xo;
son of his mother, and she was T f^ -OASO^ [y.avo; r,v juv aJrfj.

a widow: and much people of
the citv was with her.

LUKE VII. ii 17

13. And when the Lord
saw her, he had compassion on
her, and said unto her: Weep
not.

14. And he came nigh and
touched the bier: and the
bearers stood stiil. And he
said: Young man, I say unto
thee: Arise.

13. Ka! ic(ov OCJTYJV 6 Kupio?
^Aay/vtsOrj kr, aJTfj, xa! ei^sv
tfi: Mr, y.Aals.

14.

copoG: o!
Ka! elzev:

Ka! Tro-sXOiov

Neavtaxe, ao

15- And he that was dead 15- K u exaOwev 6 vsxpo-, -/.a!
sat up, and began to speak. TJP^ZTO XaXstv: xa! Bwxsv aj-rbv
And he gave him to his mother. TYJ ^yjipl OCUTOU.

1 6. And fear took hold on 16. "EXocSev os 9060; Ttavcac,
all: and they glorified God, *i soocalov TOV 0sbv, XeyovTS*:
saying: A great prophet is Q t *pG9iprj; ^lya; YJvepOr, sv r^iv,
arisen among us: and God *" ^" eTteaxe^ato 6 0oq ibv Xabv
hath visited his people. aj-rcQ.

17. And this report went *7- Kal IcYjXOev 6 Xoyo; OUTO?
forth concerning him in the ^ o"^T) 71 lou^ai a zsp! aJ^oD, xa!
whole of Judasa, and all the ^T) TJ weptxwpo).

region round about.

In the eleventh verse we find the reading ev TO&gt; e^rj&lt;s in A,
B, E, F, G, H, L, R, U, V, X, T, A, A, et al. N*, C, D, K, M,
S, II, et al. have eV -rrj e|^?. Though the second reading has in
its favor the authority of the Syriac, Gothic, Armenian and
Ethiopian versions, we are persuaded, from intrinsic and extrin
sic evidence, that the first reading is to be preferred. In the
eleventh verse many codices add Ifcavor. it is omitted by K,
B, D, F, L, and Z.

The name of the city, near w/hose gates this event took
place, is written in the Greek text NcuV. No such city is
mentioned in the Old Testament. It seems more probable that
the name of the city was D^}7J from 0^3, signifying that

T ~ T

which is beautiful. The site of the city must have been in
Galilee : all the preceding and subsequent narration deals with
the Saviour s work in Galilee. The tradition of the East
assigns as the site of this miracle a little village at the foot of the

318 LUKE VII. n 17

northern slope of the little Hermon. The village is distant
from Nazareth a journey of about two hours and a quarter on
horseback. It consists of a few wretched huts of semi-savage

creatures. The Franciscans have erected here a chapel upon
the traditional site of the miracle.

\Ye have now to examine the miracle in all its bearings, to
determine its full significance, and the motives which the Lord
had in view in performing it.

In the first place, let us examine the circumstances of the
miracle. It is in a public place before the gates of the city.
Doubtless the city of Nairn of that day was far different from
the Nairn of to-day. Great multitudes of the city were in the
funeral cortege; for the hearts of the people were moved with
pity for the widow bereft of her only son. Many disciples of
the Lord were there also. The man was dead. Many had
seen him die ; multitudes had seen him after death. The usages
and customs of the Jews had been observed in his obsequies.
They had mourned over him, prepared him for burial, and now
they were on the way to bury him. The Lord had not been in
the city; he came upon the procession by chance; there could
have been n&lt; &gt; collusion with intent to defraud.

The multitudes following the corpse and the disciples of
the Lord were competent witnesses of the fact. It is certain
that in the divine wisdom it was so disposed that this great
number of witnesses should be present at the miracle ; for it was
to be one of the great proofs of the Divinity of Christ, and there
fore it must be incontestal &gt;le. By divine prevision the Saviour
so regulated his action that the event, which happened by
chance as far as depended on second causes, was by him
ordained to a definite object.

Then we must look at the circumstances that invest the
objects of Christ s merciful acti&lt; &gt;n. It is a scene well calculated
to evoke in man the feeling of pity and compassion. In fact, it
seems that the singularly sad character of the event caused to
assemble such a large portion of the city s inhabitants. The
only son of a widow was dead. Surely that weeping woman
was an object of pity. Helpless, aged, and alone, she was left
to drag out her years, pining over her buried hopes.

LUKE VII. ii 17 319

Death at all times is sad and terrible, but there are times
when attendant circumstances make it doubly so; and the
death of this widow s son was certainly one of the saddest of
deaths.

In all the Lord s miracles there is a grand natural fitness in
the subjects chosen. While ordaining the actions to prove his
Divinity, he, at the same time, chose to act at such times,
when men might see the eminent wisdom and mercy displayed
in the effects wrought. This event was of a nature to move
men to the feeling of mercy; and the Lord of the universe
stood there with a human heart filled with the highest possible
degree of the feelings of love and mercy. With him was power
over life and death. By exercising his power he could take
away the widow s grief, and, at the same time, give conclusive
proof to the world that he was the Son of God. Of course, the
last mentioned motive was principal, but it co-operated har
moniously with the promptings of the Lord s supereminent
mercy.

The Lord s words are not like the words of men. The
words of men are often hollow, meaningless, uttered for effect.
Or even if they are honestly and sincerely uttered, they can
console no deep sorrow, for they have not back of them the
power to execute the wish expressed. But when the Lord says :
" Weep not, " he conveys to the person addressed the consola
tion that the cause of sorrow is abolished. Not to all who
follow him does he address these words of consolation by direct
message, but to all the elect he has promised such effect to be
wrought in that better future estate which awaits them:
"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither
shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat : for the Lamb
who is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and
shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life; and God
shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. "- Apoc. St. John,
VII. 16.

There are souls destined to wait even till that time before
the Lord shall comfort them; but the comforting is inevitable,
if one remains faithful to Christ. Such an effect is well worth
the waiting for a lifetime to obtain.

3 2 LUKE VII. 11 17

And Jesus placed his hand gently on the shrouded form
lying on the bier. The unusual majesty of his divine presence
caused the bearers to stop. All eyes were turned on Jesus.
Many of that assemblage had heard before of the works of the
great prophet of Xazareth, but he had not hitherto raised any
dead.

It must be borne in mind that the Jews, in the time of
Christ, used no sarcophagus or coffin in the burial of the dead.
The cadaver was embalmed, and invested with its winding-
sheet. It was then placed on the bier, a pall was laid over it,
and thus it was borne to the place of burial.

When the funeral cortege was come to the opening of the
excavation or cave, the pall was removed, and the body,
enveloped in its winding-sheet, was introduced into the tomb,
and laid on one of the ledges or in one of the oven-shaped
openings in the walls of the tomb. It was arranged decently
in the grave, the bearers withdrew, and a stone was rolled upon
the opening, closing it up. The body was soon decomposed;
its elements returned to nature, and the white bones were left
on the ledge. Into many of these caves one may enter now,
and see these bleached and crumbling bones, which have lain
there for indefinite generations. See A Diary of My Life in
the Holy Laud.

"W hat a splendid preparation for a miracle! The occasion,
the subject, and the circumstances were fitting. The witnesses
were there, and the theme was such that the act would leave a
lasting impression on their minds.

Jesus directly addresses the prostrate form of the youth :
Young man, I say to thee : Arise. And he that was dead sat
up, and began to speak."

The Evangelist is careful to declare that the widow s son
spoke; thereby to give evidence that he was restored to the
actual possession of all his powers of body and mind. And
Jesus delivered him to his awe-stricken mother. The miracle
had its legitimate effect. The people recognized that Jesus
acted in the power of God, and the report was spread abroad
through all the country round about. But that was not the

LUKE VII. ii 17 321

only effect. The fact and its lesson have been operating in the
world ever since. They remain for all the generations of men
an absolute proof that Jesus is the Son of God.

How lightly the words sound on our lips! We learned it
in childhood; we have never questioned it. We profess it in
the creed every morning and every evening. But how few of
us realize what such truth really imports to us? Jesus is the
Son of God, and he is also the Son of Mary, and he is my
Brother; he is the Son of God, and he has lived the life o man.
It was good that God should give to the world the laws of
righteousness ; but it \vas better that God should live the per
fect life of righteousness before the eyes of men, that the
abstract law might be backed by its concrete reflection in the
life of the perfect man. This Jesus did ; not in a station high
and unattainable to the mass of the people, but do\vn on the
plane of the poor, in the stable at Bethlehem, in the artisan s
workshop at Nazareth, in the wilderness with the wild beasts,
eating a piece of bread at the well of Samaria, in the humble
homes of the poor, preaching to poor peasants, and sharing
their life. And he has asked us to follow him. He has not
merely given us a system of commands to execute, but he has
given us his divine life for a model of all that is good in human
life. As the loving mother first tastes of the food that she
administers to her babe, to see if it be in every way fit for the
delicate being which she loves, so Jesus has first experienced
all the weight and the bitterness of the things to be borne by
his followers.

The magnetism of Napoleon made men oblivious of
danger, careless of life, patient amid fearful hardships, intensely
energetic in action. And what was Napoleon ? and what could
he give his followers? A cruel, unscrupulous, ambitious man,
upholding no moral principle ; a man who left the starved and
frozen bodies of his devoted followers strewn along the plains of
Russia in that dreadful retreat from Moscow. And our leader
is the Son of God, absolutely good, infinitely lovable, absolutely
veracious, infinitely powerful. By every motive that ought to
sway mind and heart he has merited our love of him, and devo
tion to his cause. His cause is infinitely just, infinitely merci
ful ; it is the cause of all that is good against all that is wrong,

(21) Gosp. II.

322 LUKE VII. n 17

Christ can not fail, for he has the power that made the universe
and I can not fail, if I follow him. I must suffer some things,

it is true; because I am following a leader who carries a cross,
and who conquers by the cross; and I am invited to do like
wise. I can not fail; and every suffering is a victory under
the standard of Jesus.

Christ has made to his followers brilliant promises. The
mind of man is mighty in conception. Its range is vast. It
can sweep across time and space, and create infinite creations
in the ideal order; and yet : " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard
nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath
prepared for them that love him. " I. Cor. II. Q.

If a man were to say: The inheritance of the followers of
Christ, as set forth in the doctrine of Christ, is too grand to be
credible, he would err; but yet his statement would be reason
able. But that a man should hold with firm faith what Christ
is, and what Christ has promised to his followers, and yet
remain indifferent and cold in his religious life, and live the life
of the world, giving to the world the substance of his time and
thought, and to religion the scraps and odd ends, this is
indeed a strange and fatal folly that has deeply invaded the
lives of men. How many days have we spent of which we
must truthfully say that in them we have not thought any
thing, or said anything, or done anything that made for Christ?
We receive the doctrine of Christ early in life; we may never
reject it, but we stow it away as a kind of sacred relic, and we
live the life of the world, as though our hopes were in nowise
different from those of the pagan.

Another lesson which may legitimately be drawn from the
present account is the immense benefit of the power of Jesus in
its relation to us. Human life has many needs, and is exposed
to many dangers. The attainment of the kingdom of Heaven
is a grand and arduous achievement. Many strong agencies
are operating against us. The world is a strong opposing
agency, Satan is a powerful adversary, and we are impeded by
the perverse law of our own members. We can not succeed
without help, and that help must come from Heaven through
the Son of God. If we fail, we lose everything; and if we win
we gain everything. It may be decided within a day what our

LUKE VII. ii 17 323

eternity shall be. For every one of us this tremendous issue is
pending. Every day we see around about us men dying, who
have lost the aim of life, who have lost all. And what are we
doing? living the life of the world, advocating the false views
of an apostate world s philosophy, planning and scheming for
property or position, gratifying the senses, serving Mammon or
Belial. And we could have for the asking the friendship, the
help, the protection of the Son of God. Verily we are worse
than the base Indian who " throws a pearl away richer than all
his tribe."

At our disposal is an infinite power, the power of the Son
of God, the power that raised the widow s son, the power that
made Heaven and earth. If I dispose myself so that power
can work for me, I am saved, no being can prevent my salva
tion ; and my salvation means endless life and happiness above
the power of thought in Heaven; and yet I am thinking of
other things, and am a stranger to the Son of God, who died for
me.

Finally, as the widow s son died, and was borne out to
burial, so must I die, and be borne on that last sad journey. I
can not hope that the Son of God will meet my funeral cortege,
and say to me: Arise. Many widows sons died in Judaea
while Christ was on earth, but to only one did he say: Arise.
Christ s object was not merely to prolong a human life, or to
take away human sorrow. His object was to prove that he was
the Son of God, that by that truth the \vorld might be saved.
For this supreme scope, he selected a few fit subjects on which
to operate, and the widow s son was one of these. I can not
expect a miraculous return to this life, but there will come a
day when I shall hear his voice, " for the hour cometh in which
all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth. " John V. 28. I shall arise at his voice more essentially
than did the widow s son at Nairn; for the widow s son arose,
only to be preserved in life for some time longer, and then to
die ; but I shall arise to die no more. Shall I arise unto the
resurrection of life or unto the resurrection of judgment?
What am I doing now to insure the resurrection of life? O ye

324 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

mortals, who love life, why prize ye not everlasting life? Ye,
whose hearts are so fixed to a few brief years of a troubled ,
careworn life, can ye not fasten your hearts to that blessed life
in which sorrow, pain, and death shall have no part?

MATT. XI. 1-19. LUKE VII. 18-35.

I. Ka; i^EViTO OT; ETEASrEV 6 iS. Kai azr/; yEt A3V 1(02 , VY)

\r t z r j~j~ ctatzrrwv -ot; ccocsxa ua- o: [AaOr^at aj-roJ zspt zav7(ov TOJ-
OTJTZ:; aJroJ ^Ts6r; /.:&lt;)&gt; TOJ TC.JV.
ctSarxEtv xa: 7.rj:-E .v Jv -z\: -i-

2. () :; Ic.iivvTc ixojrz; ev 19. Kal Trpo xaAe Xfisvo^ GJ

) CC-^U.ITT; pi(.&gt; -ri spyaTOj Xp .rTOj T .vi; TCOV ^aO^TCov aJtoJ 6 Iwivvr
B .i tiitv uaO^-rwv a^-roJ, Ezsa^iV zpoc TOV Kjpiov, Ay&lt;&lt;

1^ i p/OJ.VO-:, f, TpOV T.^

3. K:-sv a^T&lt;;&gt;: li^ : 6 sp/o- 20.

psc-T .rTr,.: zrTtAv T;;j-2;c -poc

~S, /.;(.)&gt;: Xj 1 p/0 JLVO; fj

aX/.ov -por :ox.wjLv ;

21. Kv jy.civT; TT; (V&gt;p2 ( Jpi-
-jrv -OA/.OJ; azo vortov xa: ^a-
rTiydJV xa: zvsujxaTWV -o /^pwv,
y.a: tJiXo:; -OAAO:; i afraTO

22 - 3t zoxisi;

I(, ; iv/t) 5 XXOJETS xal ^AE- oiiv/n 5 etSrrs xal TjxouraTe:

_ eT . TU^AOl aV26A7:OLirtV, 7/OAO! Zpt-

-aTo:rtv, AST: pot xaOapClovTat, xat

5. T^ AO- iv26"A-ojrtv xal y. ( .. ? o: ixojourtv, vsxpot r^fpov-ra:,

/(,)Aol zEpt^a-ro^tv, AS:: pot xaOa- --o}//^! J2YT / - -. r - VTa ..
pilovTai xa; xw^ot axououatv xat
VEX ot icfovrat xa; ZTI.J/OI

6. Ka; jxaxczp .o; srTtv oc 5v (J.T; 23. Ka: ^axapto; srTtv, 5; ea
avcaAtrfii^ ev i^o: . JLT; rxavcaAtr6fj ev l^oi.

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35 325

7. TOUTWV Be xopuo;xvo)v T)p- 24. A7:X66vTcov Be TWV ay-
caTO 6 IrjJoGc; Xsystv Tot? oyXot? ylXwv Icoavvou, TJptaTO Xeystv Trpb?
xspt Iwavvou: Tt l3r,XOaT st^ TOI^ oy.Xoue xspl Iwavvou: Tt
TTJV eprjixov Osa-a-6ac : xaXa ^ov 6rb liY)X6aT et? TT)V e pr^

avl^ou craXsudyisvov; xaXa[j.ov uzb avl^ou

8. AXXa T lcT;X6aT iBstv; 25. AXXa Tt I^XOate (Sstv;
avOpwrov Iv ^aXaxoIc r/jX^tsr^evo v avOpwzov Iv [xaXaxotq ([xaTt oi? TJ J.-

t3ou . Ta [xaXaxa ^opoOvTS? Iv 9t" t xlvov; (Sou, ot Iv t^aTtcJixw Iv-

TO!C SaitXetotc sbt v.

V" w *l "rTJ"/

tOlv; vat Xlyw u^xlv xat zpt"6- icpo^^-Tjv; vat, Xlyto ujxtv, xat

10. OJTO; l-Ttv xept ou ylypa- 27. OUTO; IrTiv, xspt ou yl-
TTat: Icou lyw drroJTsXXw TOV ypazTat: iBou, axocn:IXX(o TOV
awsXov [xou Trpo zpojw^ou jou oq ayysXov ^xou zpo rpoatoxou sou,
xaTar/.ua- f . TY;V ocov jou ;xzpo- oc; xatadxeuaaei TYJV 6B6v sou I;x-
-Olv cjou. xpoaOlv aou.

11. A iJ.T;v Xsyw j;xlv, oux lyr r 28. Alyw 6;a.tv, [xet ^wv Iv ysv-
yspTat Iv ysvvTjTOtq yuvatxwv IXECUOV vr^Tot? yuvatxwv Iwavvou ouBt?
Iwavvou TO G f/azTtjTO G : 6 B jxt- s~Ttv: o jxtxpoTSpo? sv Tfj pajt-

vwv ^xEt^wv aiJToG |JT(V.

12. Axo Be T(I&gt;v TJ^Epwv I(o- 29. Kal xa; 6 Xabq dxoujac,
avvou ToG ^azTt ToG sox; apTt r^ xat ot TsXwvat, IBtxafwjav TOV 0edv,
piajtXsta TWV oupavwv ^ita^Tat xat ^azTuOlvTSC TO ^axTta ^.a Iwavvou.

13. IIavTc yap ot xpo9f ( Tat 3- Ot B 4&gt;aptcatot xat ot
xat 6 voj,oq sax; Iwavvou Ixpo9r r vo[xt /.ol TTJV @ouXrjv ToG 0oG r-Oe-

14. Kat t 6IXT Bl^ajOat,
aGTo; STTIV IlXca; 6 jxIXXojv p-

16. Ttvt Be 6 jXotw O) TTJV ysvsav 31. Tfvt oGv o^otwjco TOJC av-

TauTY)v; 6ao(a I Ttv xatBtotg xaOr;- Op(ozo!jq TT^ ysvca? TauTr y q; xat

[xlvotq Iv Tatq dyopat?, a xpo^w- Ttvt trtv o jXoiot;

VOJVTa TOtC TpOtC,

326

MATT. XL i 19; LUKE VII. 1835

17. Aeyou-iv: II JX
7.y.\ o Jy. wsasGe, e

18. il/J)v yip I(,
ecMov J.r,7 T:!V(.JV, /at

Aa .J-OV .OV / ..

19. H/.Ocv 6 Vic; T
-oj rOi(.)V, xal -:v&lt;ov y.al

fj.v J J.iv 32. "Oj-otot !- .v Tra .cfo .c TO;;

r ( vr;ra J.v iv iyopz xaOr/jXsvo .c, xa: ^po fw-

vojrtv aXXiQAO .c, a Xsysi : IlJXr,-

E6pr ( vr,-aj.ev xa: oix i-/.\zJ-x-z.

&lt; ,-. ^r-z 33- KXr ( X jfJ3v yip Icoavvr,;

.yojr .v: 6 ^2-7 r ."7T;;, J.T) srOltov ap7ov J.T ( 7

zlwov olvov, xa: Ay7: Aa .jxo-

; iv ipco- 34. EXiQAuOsv 6 Vib; 70 J av-

2~b ~3!V7(i)V 7(I)V 7XV(JV aJ7fj&lt;;.

1. And it came to pass, 18. And the disciples of
when Jesus had made an end John told him of all these
of commanding his twelve dis- things.

ciples, he departed thence to
teach and preach in their
cities.

2. Now when John heard 19. And John calling unto
in the prison the works of the him two of his disciples sent
Christ, he sent by his disciples, them to the Lord, saying:

Art thou he that cometh, or
look we for another?

and said unto him:

3. Art thou he that cometh?
or look we for another?

20. And when the men
were come unto him, they said:
John the Baptist hath sent us
unto thee, saying: Art thou
he that cometh, or look we for
another?

21. In that hour he cured
many of diseases and plagues
and evil spirits; and on many
that were blind he bestow r ed
sight.

MATT. XL 119; LUKE VII. 1835

3 2 7

4. And Jesus answered and
said unto them: Go your way
and tell John the things which
ye do hear and see:

5. The blind receive their
sight, and the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf
hear, and the dead are raised
up, and the poor have good
tidings preached to them.

6. And blessed is he, who
soever shall find no occasion
of stumbling in me.

7. And as these went their
way, Jesus began to say unto
the multitudes concerning
John, What went ye out into
the wilderness to behold? a
reed shaken with the wind?

22. And he answered and
said unto them: Go your way
and tell John what things ye
have seen and heard; the blind
receive their sight, the lame
w T alk, the lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are
raised up, the poor have good
tidings preached to them.

23. And blessed is he, who
soever shall find no occasion
of stumbling in me.

24. And when the mes
sengers of John were departed
he began to say unto the mul
titudes concerning John, What
went ye out into the wilderness
to behold? a reed shaken with
the wind?

8. But what went ye out 25. But what went ye out
for to see? a man clothed in to see? a man clothed in soft
soft raiment? Behold, they raiment? Behold, they who
that wear soft raiment are in are gorgeously apparelled, and
kings houses. live delicately, are in kings

courts.

9. But what went ye out
to see? a prophet? Yea, I say
unto you, and much more than
a prophet.

10. This is he, of whom it
is written: Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, who
shall prepare thy way before
thee.

26. But what went ye out
to see? a prophet? Yea, I say
unto you, and much more than
a prophet.

27. This is he of whom it
is written: Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, who
shall prepare thy way before
thee.

ii. Verily I say unto you: 28. I say unto you: Among
Among them that are born of them that are born of w r omen
women there hath not arisen a there is none greater than John:

328

MATT. XI. 1 19; LUKE VII. 1835

greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the

yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater

kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.
than he.

12. And from the days of
John the Baptist until now the
kingdom of Heaven suttereth
violence, and men of violence
take it by force.

13. For all the Prophets
and the Law prophesied until
John.

14. And if ye are willing
to receive it, this is Ehah.
who is to come.

15. He that hath ears f&gt;
hear, let him hear.

1 6. But whereunto shall I
liken this generation It is
like unto children sitting in
the market-places, who call
unto their fellows,

17. And say: We piped
unto you, and ye did not dance;
we wailed, and ye did not
mourn.

1 8. For John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they
sav: He hath a devil.

19. The Son of man came
eating and drinking, and they
say: Behold, a gluttonous
man, and a winebibber, a friend
of publicans and sinners! And
wisdom is justified by her
children.

29. And all the people
when they heard, and the pub
licans, justified God, being bap
tized with the baptism of John.

30. But the Pharisees and
the lawyers rejected for them
selves the counsel of God. being
not baptixed of him.

31. Whereunto then shall
I liken the men of this genera
tion, and to what are they like?

32. They are like unto
children that sit in the market
place, and call one to another;
who say: We piped unto
you, and ye did not dance; we
wailed, and ye did not weep.

33. For John the Baptist is
come eating no bread nor
drinking wine; and ye say:
He hath a devil.

34. The Son of man is
come eating and drinking; and
ye say: Behold, a gluttonous
man, and a winebibber, a friend
of publicans and sinners!

35. And wisdom is justified
of all her children.

MATT. XL i 19; LUKE VII. 1835 3 2 9

There is an important variant in the second verse of the
text of Matthew. N, B, C*, D, P, Z, A ; 33, 124 have Bia TUV
^adrirwv. This is approved by Tischendorf , Westcott, and Hort.
It is also followed by the Syriac, Armenian and Gothic versions.
We find the reading 8vo TWV ^aOrjrwv in C 3 , E, F, G, K,
L, M, S, U, V, X, T, n, et al. This reading is followed by
some of the codices of the Vetus Itala, and by the Vulgate,
Coptic, and Ethiopian versions. Now we know from the
parallel passage of Luke VII. 19, that the disciples sent by John
the Baptist to Christ were two. But still we believe that the
original reading of Matthew was Bid, for the following reason.
If in the beginning the reading Bvo had stood in Matthew, no
sciolist would have changed it. There would have been no
motive to change the plain and concordant reading Svo into
the harsh reading Bid. But on the other hand, it is easy to
see how the copyists seeing the harsh idiom &a, and perceiving
that it differed from Luke, corrected the fancied error, and
made the texts agree. It is evident that the use of Bid in this
sentence is a Hebraism.

In the eighth verse of Matthew we find ^a\aicol^ inariois
in C, E, F, G, K, L, M, P, S, U, V, X, T, A, n, et al. This
reading is followed by the Syriac versions, and by the Coptic,
Armenian, Ethiopian, and Gothic versions. !/UITIOI&lt;? is
omitted by ^, B, D, Z, and 47, and this reading is followed by
many codices of the Vetus Itala, by the Vulgate, and some
Fathers. It is a matter of no importance, since the term must
be understood where it is not expressed.

In the ninth verse the order of the two terms is Trpo^rrjv
IBelv in ^*, B, Z. Origen and Chrysostom approve this
reading, as also the critics Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort.
In all the other authorities the order of the two terms is re
versed, and their reading agrees with the parallel passage
of Luke.

In the tenth verse ydp is omitted by ^, B, D, Z; it is
expressed by all the other uncial codices. The other authori
ties are about equally divided for and against it.

In the fifteenth verse B, D, 32 and K omit a/coveiv.
Tischendorf, Westcott, and Hort also omit it. The other
authorities all retain it, and it is found in the parallel passages
of Mark and Luke.

33 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

In the sixteenth verse of Matthew, D has ev -ry ayopa.
This reading is followed by the Vetus Itala, Vulgate, Syriac,
Armenian, Ethiopian and Gothic versions. The plural ayopals
is found in B, fc&lt;, Z, et al. In many codices we find in the same
verse the reading TOI? ere pois : in G, S, U, V, we find TCH?
era/poi?, which is followed by the Vulgate, Syriac, Armenian,
and Ethiopian versions.

In the second member of the seventeenth verse many
codices insert vplv, but it is omitted by {^, B, D, and Z.

In the nineteenth verse of Matthew a very important
variant exists. The reading epytav is found in N, B*, and
i 24. It is followed by the Coptic and Peshitto versions, and is
endorsed by Tischendorf. B 2 , and nearly all the other uncial
codices have -TCKVUIV, which is followed by the Vulgate, the
Syriac of Cureton, the Gothic, the Ethiopian, and the best
codices of the Armenian. This reading is also endorsed by
Origen, Chrysostom, and other Fathers. We shall give our
opinion of the various readings in the exegesis of the verse.

In the nineteenth verse of the text of Luke, B, L, R, and Z
have -rrpbs rbv Kvpiov; the others have TT/W TOV Irjeovv. In
the same verse, B, L, R, and Z have e-repov, where the others
have a\\ov.

In the twenty-eighth verse of Luke, A, E, G, H, S, U, V,
F, A, A, et al., add Trpo^r/;?, and /3a7ni&lt;nov. The Vulgate,
Peshitto, and Gothic versions follow this reading. In the
thirty-second verse of Luke B, N*, and i have the reading
aXeyei. This is endorsed by Westcott and Hort. The other
codices have Xeyo/ Te? or xal \eyovcriv.

The status of things which these passages of Scripture
describe is plainly this. John is in prison by order of Herod
Antipas. His earthly career is over. As we shall read later
on, he will be murdered in that same prison, to please the whim
of a dancing girl. We are firmly persuaded that it had been
revealed to John that he was not to go forth from his prison
alive. St. Paul s approaching death was revealed to Paul ; and
we read that such revelation was made to very many other
saints, and we believe a jortiori that it would be made to that
exceedingly noble type of sainted manhood, John the Baptist.
Moved by this prophetic knowledge, John is mainly concerned

MATT. XL i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35 331

to affiliate his followers to the Christ, for whom he had been the
herald. While things are thus with the Baptist, Jesus is
conducting an intensely active career of preaching and miracle-
working in the cities of Galilee. These cities are called in the
text of Matthew "their cities"; and the pronoun plainly refers
not to the disciples, but to the men of Galilee.

It is evident from the text, and also from Mark, VI. 21,
that John was not kept close prisoner. His disciples were
permitted to visit him, and from these he learns of the great
works of the Lamb of God, whom he had baptized in the Jordan.
Thereupon John elects two of his disciples, and sends them to
Jesus to ask of him a plain definitive statement concerning his
Divinity: "Art thou he that is to come, or are we to look for
another?"

Very fitly is the Messiah called "he that is to come, o
epxdpevos." This term finds a scriptural basis in Genesis
XLIX. 10; Ezechiel XXI. 27; Ps. CXVIII. 26, etc. For cen
turies God s predestined ones had looked forward to that
coming one as the sole comforting hope in a world given over
to sin and to death.

We come now to the main point at issue: What was
John s motive in sending his disciples to ask Jesus the aforesaid
question? This is one of the very difficult questions of the
Gospels. A great deal has been written upon it, most of which
it is neither pleasant nor profitable to examine. We shall
therefore only take up and examine some of the leading
opinions.

It was the opinion of Tertullian that John had fallen into
a state of doubt concerning the character of Jesus, and that in
the perplexity of his doubt, he sent this embassy to seek greater
evidence from Jesus. Lamy and Mansel adopt this opinion.
The common opinion of protestant commentators is that John
was sorely tried by temptations against faith during his long
imprisonment; and they believe that the sending of the em
bassy is an evidence of his wavering. They point to the
precedent of Moses, who after the grandest manifestations of
God s existence and power, after having conversed with
Yahveh on Sinai, even Moses doubted in the striking of the
rock in the desert. Schegg and Schanz, though they speak
guardedly, seem to incline to this opinion.

332 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

We deem it our first duty to refute this opinion, which
seems to us false and pernicious, and which robs John of all the
glory which by all proofs is the Baptist s due. John was a man
sent by God to give testimony of the light ; of what worth was
his testimony, if he himself doubted 5 The Spirit of God told
him that Jesus was the Christ, and the revelation had been
confirmed by the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a
dove at the baptism of Christ. On former occasions, when the
disciples of John discussed with him the character of Jesus,
there is no accent of doubt in his words, as he declares that
Jesus is the bridegroom, and he himself only the friend of the
bridegroom. And, moreover, the occasion that prompted
John to send the embassy to Jesus was the intelligence of Jesus
wonderful works, which had come to John in prison, and which
was certainly of a nature to confirm his existing faith. Finally,
the eulogy of John by Jesus himself, uttered after the departure
of the embassy, would be absurd, if John had doubted. For
doubt in the mind of John, after the evidence accorded him,
would have been grievous sin ; and Jesus could not have praised
so highly any man who, at the very m&lt; &gt;ment of receiving the
praise, had given evidence of the most terrible doubt.

The doubt of Moses furnishes no reasonable foundation for
the aforesaid opinion. It is true that Moses was moved by
some degree of doubt in striking the rock at the waters of
Meribah. For this doubt he was not permitted to enter the
Promised Land, but died in the Mountains of Moab. But in
the first place, the doubt of Moses did not regard the existence
of God, nor the existence of God s attributes. But seeing the
widespread iniquity of his people, Moses feared that perhaps
Yahveh might not exercise his power in a miraculous way to
give drink to an unbelieving people. It was one of those
peculiar conditions of the mind which is compatible with full
faith in all the essentials of religion. And Moses punishment
was in reality slight. He fulfilled his mission, and God took
him before his entry into the Promised Land ; but he saw that
land, and knew that he had fulfilled his mission. His taking
off before entering the land was a mere trifle. He had lived
the full span of man s life, and he was not rejected by God.

MATT. XI. 119; LUKE VII. 1835 333

Moses is a type of the Old Law; Palestine is a type of
Heaven; Joshua is a type of Jesus the Redeemer. The Old
Law conducted the chosen seed through the dreary desert of the
centuries of paganism that preceded the Redemption, but it
could not bring man into a full possession of life. It stopped
at the entrance to Heaven, and the second Joshua brought man
through baptism, of which the Jordan is the type, into the
inheritance of the sons of God.

Now the case of John is different. Had he entertained the
doubt of which they speak, he would have been guilty of a
doubt which attacks the very foundation of the New Covenant ;
he would have been guilty of a doubt that would have rendered
his mission abortive ; for he was a voice sent by God to testify
to men that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God; and if the
voice itself became uncertain, how should it beget faith in
others, while itself doubted? Wherefore we conclude that
every attempt to expound the passage must admit as a first
principle that John the Baptist was not moved by any personal
doubt concerning the Messiahship of Jesus Christ.

There remains but one way to explain the action of John ;
and to comprehend it fully ; let us in spirit place ourselves in
the prison with John. Disciples have just come to him, and
they relate the mighty works of Jesus of Nazareth. They have
not John s faith; they are perplexed to know what manner of
man this prophet of Galilee is, who is eclipsing the glory of their
master. There was always a certain party spirit in many of
the disciples of John, which moved them to look with disfavor
on the growing fame of Jesus.

Now John s career was practically over, and he knew it.
He had been sent to draw men to Jesus, and he had fulfilled his
mission well. His great aim now is to confirm his disciples in
the following of Christ before leaving them. And he deliber
ates within himself how he may best accomplish that end. It
is not enough that he knows that Jesus is the Son of God, he
must make his followers firmly believe it. He has told them
many a time and oft that such is the truth, but still they doubt.
Perhaps they complain that Jesus has not clearly declared
himself to be the Son of God. And John judges it best to send
representatives of his followers to Jesus that they may have a
definite proof that Jesus is the Christ.

334 MATT. XI. 1 19; LUKE VII. 1835

John was not acquainted with all the designs of Jesus.
They were but little together in life. The veil of mystery that
enshrouded the life of the Son of God was only partially lifted
to John. John himself had evidence enough for his own per
sonal faith, but he wished for more for his followers. He knew
that to men sent to Jesus in his name, Jesus would disclose all
that was necessary. If he said to them that Jesus was the
Christ, his words, it is true, would have the weight of a testi
mony ; but when we consider the infinite distance that separates
earth from Heaven, and that this great distance is bridged over

o o

by faith alone, we must realize what strong supports that
bridge must have. John could speak and testify to the truth
but the testimony of Christ "backed by the sensible and true
avouch" of the disciples eyes would be stronger; and John
simply sends them to the greater source of truth. John s
action is the action of a man absolutely sure of the issue; it is
the action of a man impatient of the weakness of words to con
vey a truth, which possessed him, and which he would deliver
to the whole world. In a word, we may conceive of the ques
tion being addressed to John by his disciples : "Is this Prophet
of Galilee the promised Messiah?" And John answers : "Go to
him in my name ; see him, hear him ; see his works, and ye shall
nevermore doubt." Finally, the action of John was providen
tial, for it produced one more proof in that series of proofs upon
which the faith of the world rests.

We have next to deal with the conduct of Jesus towards
John s disciples. The more accurate synoptist Luke tells us
that Jesus at the very time of the coming of the embassy had
wrought many miracles of healing of all manner of human ills.
Christ based the authenticity of his mission, and his claim to
the Sonship of God, not merely upon words. Any man can
speak words. His words were good, for no man ever spoke as
he did speak, but he asked not the faith of the world on the
strength of words alone. He told the world plainly who he
was, and his mission, and then he confirmed his claim by works
which no man, nor no spirit can do, unless God be with him.
Hence to the embassy of John he replies not by words, but asks
them to receive the testimony of his deeds. Christ says to the
disciples of John: "Go and relate to John what you have

MATT. XL 119; LUKE VII. 1835 335

heard and seen." What they had seen related to the works of
which they had been present witnesses ; what they had heard
related to the things testified to by others who had been eye
witnesses of them. It is quite probable that the Lord raised
no dead to life before the eyes of these disciples; it is quite
probable that no lepers were healed in their sight; but these
deeds were done at other times, before many witnesses, and the
knowledge of the deeds could be received from many fide digni
witnesses.

In Isaiah, XXXV. 5, 6, it had been prophesied that by
the power of the Messiah "the eyes of the blind should be
opened, and the ears of the deaf should be unstopped," that
"the lame should leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb
sing." By the proving force of his works Jesus proved to the
embassy of John that he was the Christ of prophecy.

Man desires to know truth, and labors to know truth. He
will spend years of close persevering study to acquire the
knowledge of a foreign tongue, or of the science of law or
medicine, or of civil engineering. But many will not give an
hour of serious, honest thought to learn aught of redemption
through Jesus Christ.

Three truths are paramount in the life of man : That God
the Creator exists : That the soul is immortal and destined for
eternal life: And that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Much is dark and obscure in the life of man, but these truths
are not obscure. Doubt which attacks these is wicked. The
former two are confirmed by the third. It is the one eternal
basic truth around which to aggregate and locate all high
truths. No voice which has come to us from above is as clear,
and certain as that of Jesus, and he has told us enough so that
by the aid of faith we may follow him into life.

Moreover, Jesus points out to the embassy of John the
Baptist not alone the proofs of his mission, which had already
been given, but the whole series of his wondrous works. Some
of these they saw ; of some they heard from others ; more they
would witness, and hear of afterward. What they saw and
heard were sufficient to hold them in faith till the subsequent
miracles should confirm them in the belief that Jesus was the
Son of God. Hence it is not necessary that Jesus at that time

33 6 MATT. XI. i 10; LUKE VII. 18 35

should have raised any dead. It was simply necessary 7 that his
deeds should attest the residence in him of a power that could
raise the dead, and that this power should at some time accom
plish such effect. Jesus wished them simply to bear witness
to the tenor of his public life, all of which they could not then
know, but of which enough could be known to judge of the
character of the whole.

It is singularly moving that the Lord Jesus should wish
the character of his life to be judged from his relations to the
poor and afflicted. What a lesson to the proud egotism of the
world! Misery may so invade the life of man that every
avenue of hope may be stopped save &lt;&gt;iie. The most wretched
of humanity, if he be turned awav from sin, mav look straight

- o

up to Heaven, and see in the merciful Redeemer his friend, a
friend not oblivious of the pain and sorrow of the poor, but
holding the best gifts in his hand to be given in a better exist
ence, after the purifying fire of tribulation shall have purged
away what was base alloy, and shall have left the pure gold.
But on the contrary, how sad is the condition of the afflicted
man who believes not? The present world has turned against
him. No vision of the future world sustains him; life becomes
for him an insupportable burden. What is it to live, when
hope is dead? Truth moves not the intelligence; the heart is
hard and without feeling. With a blank, fixed stare the de
spairing man looks out upon a greedy, unfeeling world.
Human voices sound hollow in his ears; no friend consoles
him. A sense of infinite abandonment seizes upon him. And
then the journals the next morning tell of one who died by his
own hand. And this phase of life grows apace: as unbelief
and discontent fasten themselves upon the people.

Faith and love of God afford sure comfort in the deepest
human sorrow. To the righteous man comes that sweet
message from Heaven :

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Though he goeth on his way weeping, bearing forth

the seed ;

He shall come again with joy, bringing his sheaves."
-Ps. CXXVI. 5, 6. [Vulg. CXXV].

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35 337

One of the most fatal mistakes is to seek from man s
present life what it is not ordained by God to give. Alan s
present life is not a resting and an enjoyment : it is a painful
journey to life, and peace, and happiness. It is a day s hard
labor, a preparation by fire for a better existence. In tears
and labor we are sowing the seed ; the joy of the harvest comes
not here. The hard labor of the day will be ended, the harvest
of our lives will be reaped, when the Master calls us home to
eternal life in his kingdom. Hence to divert our attention from
the end of our lives ; to fix our interest on transitory things ;
giving them a value which they have not, is supreme folly.
Such mistaken aim causes those bitter, hopeless regrets to the
man who is summoned to leave forever the things which he has
loved. A voice from hell comes to us through the Holy Ghost
making known the eternal remorse of those who live for this
world: "Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and
the light of justice hath not shined unto us, and the sun of
understanding hath not risen upon us. We wearied ourselves
in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked
through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not
known. What hath pride profited us? Or what advantage
have boastful riches brought us? All those things are passed
away like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on, and as a
ship that passeth through the waves : whereof when it is gone
by, the trace cannot be found, nor the path of its keel in the
waters : or as when a bird flieth through the air, of w r hose pas
sage no mark can be found, but only the sound of the wings
beating the light air, and parting it by the force of her flight ;
she moved her wings and hath flown through, and there is no
mark afterward found of her way : or as when an arrow is shot
at a mark, the cleft air presently cometh together again so that
the passage thereof is not known : so we also being born, forth
with ceased to be ; and have been able to show no mark of
power, but we are consumed in our wickedness. Such things
as these the sinners said in hell. For the hope of the wicked is
as dust w r hich is blown aw y ay with the wind, and as a thin foam
which is dispersed by the storm ; and a smoke that is scattered
abroad by the wind ; and as the remembrance of a guest of one
day that passeth by."- Wisdom V. 6-15.

22) Gosp. II

338 MATT. XI. 19; LUKE VII. 1835

It is a dreadful message : it is substantially what the rich
glutton asked Abraham to do, to send one from hell to testify to
his kindred. But the voice obtains a limited hearing, and
many will not realize that "our time is as the passing of a
shadow, and there is no going back of our end : for it is fast
sealed and no man returneth." Ibid. II. 5.

The next element in the discourse that claims our atten
tion is the statement of Jesus : "Blessed is he who shall find no
occasion of stumbling in me." The greatest failure in life is
the failure to apprehend Christ for what he is, and the failure
to shape one s life by that knowledge. Christ came with the
intention of saving humanity, and with the power necessary
to accomplish such result. A conspiracy of opposing causes
may work the defeat of a man s projects in everything else, save
in salvation. Here a man can not fail, except by his own fault-
That fault may exist in many different forms. A man may
openly protest that he wants to believe, but can not. He
deceives himself. He is holding something in his heart which
excludes faith, and he has not the obedience of faith. Christ
never abandons humanity. He is in the world to-day to do
the same thing that he worked f&lt; &gt;r during the years of his mortal
life on earth. The same causes oppose him. Man judges by
the external show of things. The world makes use of this
characteristic of human souls to lead the poor dupes astray.
Now mere appearances were against Christ. He professed to
be the Son of God, and yet he was a man with a man s natural
needs and necessities. He was born of poor parents in a
humble station; he was a poor artisan s son. These facts
caused many to find an occasion of stumbling in him. And
many did refuse to believe in him, because they knew his hum
ble origin. But more than all this, the occasion of the stumbling
would be the period of his sufferings. It is unnecessary to
state that the stumbling signifies doubt or unbelief in Christ s
real Messianic character. The Apostles persevered in some
kind of trust in the Messiahship of Jesus until the tragedy of
Calvary was being enacted, and then was fulfilled the predic
tion of the Lord : "All ye shall be moved to stumble in me this
night." The failure to apprehend the character of Jesus in his
career of self-abasement was the great evil to which mortals

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 1835 339

were prone ; and with terrible emphasis does Jesus declare that
blessed is the man who is so strong that he will not stagger at
the "foolishness of the cross."

The spirit that moved man thus to stagger was the spirit
of the world. It is not dead. It fails to see the sublime
grandeur of God s action in the humble life of the Church. It
longs for heroes who are great in the eyes of the world. It
moves a man to judge by outward appearances. Men filled
with this spirit would follow Jesus, while he drew from all men
admiration by his signs and miracles, but when he was mocked
as a fool, and beaten, and crucified, then they fled from him.

Christ is identified with his Church ; his life is her life. If
it were fashionable to belong to the Church, if the glory reserved
for the Church Triumphant were given to the Church Militant,
men would readily come into her fold. In fact, men have
invented a certain counterfeit fashion of religion which is
popular; it is a people s religion, an age s religion, and for that
very reason to be distrusted. The rank and the intelligence,
the station and the opulence of the country are professedly with
this false fashion of religion. A man may go with it without
self-denial or any personal abiding faith. It condemns law
lessness and vulgarity ; but in it there is nothing of the super
natural, no renunciation of the world. It is a cold soulless
worldliness in its most insidious form. The Catholic Church
is not popular. Men try to proclaim that there will be finally a
great popular going over to the Church. It is vain to hope for
such event. The spirit of the world is not changing its char
acter ; the spirit of the world and the spirit of the Church are
essentially opposed. Oft where men imagine that a popular
movement is setting in towards the Church, the reality is that
in individual cases the spirit of the world has so invaded the
Church that the sharp lines of distinction between the Church
and the world are obscured, and men draw closer to the Church,
because they imagine that she is not opposed to their worldly
ideas. The Church of Christ must go through the phase of
Christ s mortal life of humiliation, and blessed is the man who
finds not occasion of stumbling in her. Men have composed
and dressed out what is the mere natural product of the human
heart and called it religion, the religion of the day. They have

340 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

given this product a general coloring taken from Christianity.
They use words and make professions in the language of
Scripture. But this is not the religion of Christ. It is a
pleasant and easy religion ; all the terrors of guilt and pros
pective punishment are eliminated. But this is not the
religion of Christ, \vhich says : "Narrow is the gate and strait
ened the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it."
and we must "strive t&lt;&gt; enter in at the narrow gate."

Multitudes were present when the embassy came from the
Baptist. His question and Jesus answer were of a nature to
move them to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. The mes
sengers from John now take their departure, and then Jesus,
turning to the assembled multitudes, in glowing terms praises
his great precursor, while he rebukes the people for their sterile
admiration of John. He would not speak the praises of John
in the hearing of John s disciples, for that would have the
semblance of adulation; but when they are gone, he gives
utterance to the finest expressions of praise that words can
express.

It is a well known fact that very many went out to the
Jordan to hear John. A great popular movement was excited
by his preaching. It was a novel thing to go out and see this
man who had lived his life in the desert, who was so austere
and unworldly, who spoke such impassioned words. It ap
pealed to the natural feeling of curiosity in man. It became
a fashic -n in Israel to be a f&lt; Mower of John. But the defect was
that in the great mass of those who went to hear John there was
no depth &lt; &gt;f religi&lt; &gt;us c&lt; evictions. They listened to John while
it pleased their fancy to do so, but they would not accept the
Messiah of whom John was the herald. Therefore the main
intention of Jesus in the following discourse is to reprehend the
people for their sinful folly in showing so much activity in the
great movement of John, and yet rejecting the logical and
inevitable consequence to which that movement was ordered.

The Lord Jesus takes for granted that the people had been
drawn to the Jordan by the intense desire to see the Baptist.
In the second place, he very forcibly portrays the greatness of
John. The substance of the argumentation is simple: "Ye
have seen John ; ye have seen that he is no creature of human

MATT. XI. i 16; LUKE VII. 18 35 341

favor, no worldling; but a man of God. Yea, and I, who have
the power to speak even to the heart of man, so that deception
is impossible, tell you that he is the legate of the Most High ;
that his words are the words of God by the medium of human
speech. And John testifies that I am the Messiah, the Son of
God ; and ye will not receive it."

In the first question of Jesus: " What went ye out into
the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind?"
Knabenbauer believes that the reed must be taken literally.
Along the banks of the Jordan the reed was not an uncommon
sight, and he believes that in sarcastic irony the Lord Jesus
chides their profitless journey, as though it were as vain in
effect as the idle journey of a man who had no greater object in
going out than to witness a reed bending itself before the face
of the wind. Schegg endorses this opinion. The common
opinion of other writers accepts the w r ords of the Lord in a
metaphorical sense. The reed is a tall slender plant, very
pliant, and bending readily in the direction of the wind, at the
least breath of wind that acts upon it. It will move as readily
in one direction as another, provided only the slightest wind
blow toward that quarter. Hence it is taken as a symbol of
inconstant, wavering, shifting souls, who can be easily moved
in their purposes and conduct by the force of peculiar in
fluences. While the wind blows from a certain quarter, they
readily go with it ; and if the wind changes its course, they
change theirs.

John was not such a man. Neither does the interrogative
sentence of Christ imply that such idea of John s character had
at any time possessed men s minds. It is simply a forcible
form of speech to assert the firm, constant, intrepid character
of the Baptist. John merited in the fullest degree the epithet
of "tenax propositi." He was a fit man to present to men the
call of God "to do penance, for the kingdom of Heaven is at
hand."

There are not many men in any age like the Baptist.
When there is a great work to be done by God through human
agents, God finds fitting ones to do it. He carefully selects his
agent, and he gives grace commensurate to the task. Thus he
called Abraham to be the founder of his chosen people ; thus

342 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

he called Moses to be his lawgiver; thus he called the Blessed
Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son ; and thus he called
John the Baptist.

A most important work was committed to John. The
vital interests involved made it necessary that a man be chosen
who should do his work well; and God, who knows the hearts
of all men, raised up a man equal to the need. And John most
faithfully performed the work which he was called to do.
There was no disappointment to God in John s work. And the
men who rejected the testimony of John, did so because their
hearts were evil.

We must remember that all the grandeur of the Baptist is
a direct proof of Jesus claim to be the Son of God. John was a
witness whom men ought to trust, and he has testified clearly.
The intention of the second interrogatory sentence of Christ is
to bring out in strong relief the penitential and unworldly life
of J"hn.

The form of the question presupposes that by common
consent of both speaker and hearers a negative answer has been
rendered to the first question.

One of the chief ways in which the spirit of the world mani
fests itself is the use of fine apparel, and luxurious ways of
living. John s raiment and food stand in strong contrast to
what worldly men seek after. With telling emphasis the Lord
asserts that a man imbued with the spirit of the world would
not seek the wilderness as a habitation. We do not hold it as
probable that the Lord here alluded specifically to the palace of
Antipas. He is simply contrasting the pomp and pageantry of
the world with the severe austerity of the Baptist. The spirit
of the world surrounds itself with comforts, and shrinks from
renunciation and mortification of the flesh ; but John turned his
back on the world and its lusts; and the spiritual side of his
nature waxed strong, in its freedom from the enfeebling fetters
of worldly interests. It is not necessary here to describe again
the manner of John s life in the wilderness. His life has been
fully described in our commentary on Matthew, III. 4, 5.

In both these questions, the Lord employs that form of
speech by which a statement is strengthened by introducing a
question concerning that which one wishes to deny of a subject,

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35 343

in such a way that the necessity of the negative reply is implied
in the discourse, and assumed by the speaker. Having now
brought out some of the grand characteristics of John, he pro
ceeds by a climax to the third interrogatory sentence, which
expects an affirmative answer which he himself gives, and then
strengthens it by asserting that John is something more than
a prophet.

The first point to clear up here is in what sense John may
be called a prophet. We have seen, John I. 23-25, that John
disclaimed to be a prophet ; and yet Christ clearly says that he
is not only a prophet, but the greatest of the prophets. The
function of a prophet in Israel was to to be the spokesman of
Yahveh to his people. He was usually gifted with knowledge
of future events, and of things hidden from human minds. He
was supreme over priest and king in dealing with the Most
High.

We have seen in our commentary of John, I. 23-25, that
the Pharisees asked John whether he were the great Prophet
for whom Israel had long w r aited. As this expected Prophet
was none other than the Messiah John denied that he were such
prophet. Neither was John a prophet of future events, but one
sent to announce a present event.

John did not belong to the series of prophets. The
prophets predicted future events; John did nothing of this.
His work was unique. He had received a message from God,
not that the Messiah \vas to come, but that he was already on
earth, and his sole function was to prepare for his entrance on
the stage of public life, and to bear witness to the truth that
Jesus was the Son of God.

But Jesus in his present affirmation accepts the word
prophet in its highest sense, as an authorized legate of God, as
a man commissioned by God to speak in God s name, and
execute his designs among men. John was all of this, and by
the exaltedness of the office which he fulfilled for Yahveh, he
w r as greater than the other prophets.

The words of the Lord in the tenth verse of Matthew are
taken from Malachi III. i . The original reads thus : "Behold,
I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me."

,U4 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

The Lord adapts the prophetic words to the present theme by
making them the direct utterance of the Eternal Father to his
divine Son.

John the Baptist is the messenger of the Most High, sent
by God for one great aim, to go before his Christ to prepare for
his coming. As no decisive event of history can be compared
to the Incarnation, so the sublimity of John s character is
sought from the importance of the office entrusted to him by

God.

The eleventh verse of Matthew, which corresponds to the
twenty-eighth verse of Luke, is difficult to interpret. In the
passage John is compared with all mankind, and it is declared
that there is not any greater than he. There is no specific
class designated by the phrase: - them that are born of

woman." It is simply an emphatic Hebrew phrase to desig
nate humanity.

The first point t&lt;&gt; be determined is the basis of the com
parison; that is t&lt;&gt; say, what entity forms the foundation of
John s exaltedness among those born of woman. Some have
judged this to be the personal sanctity of John the Baptist.
This is the opinion of Maldonatus, who cites many Fathers as
its defenders, and criticizes as heretical the contrary opinion.
The advocates of this opinion exempt Christ and his Blessed
Mother from the comparison. Maldonatus declares that John
is only compared with the saints of the Old Law; whereas
Christ and his Virgin Mother pertain to the Xew Law. Augus
tine declares that the words of Christ do not deny that any
saint of the Old Law is equal to John in sanctity, but simply
make John second to none of them.

St. Jerome also is of like opinion: "Christ did not prefer
John before all other prophets, patriarchs, and men, but made
the others not superior to John: for it does not follow, if none
are greater than John, that he is greater than the others; but it
is asserted that John has an equality with the others."

It seems more probable, however, that Christ did not
make the basis of the comparison the personal sanctity of John,
but the dignity of the office which John was called by God to
perform.

MATT. XI. 119; LUKE VII. 18 35 345

Many proofs exist of the eminent sanctity of John. He
was conceived by miracle, sanctified in his mother s womb, and
his greatness before the Lord was foretold by inspired utter
ance. His life was most unworldly and holy, and Jesus cer
tainly in the general tenor of all his remarks concerning him
implies that John is a great saint. But it does not seem that,
in the present instance, Christ s argumentation is based on the
personal sanctity of the Baptist.

John pertained to the Old Law. He was the grandest
voice in that first alliance. The prophets of old had spoken
great prophecies of the Christ. They had told of his coming;
of his sufferings; and of his glory. They had upheld the faith
and hope of the men of that day in the coming Redeemer. But
to John was given a far greater office. To him was given the
sublime message to tell the children of men, not that their
Redeemer was coming, but that he was come. He was chosen
to baptize the Son of God; to point him out to the people,
saying: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin
of the world."

In corroboration of the opinion which we here adopt, some
adduce proof from the parallel passage of St. Luke, VII. 28,
where some authorities have the reading: "Among them that
are born of women there is no greater prophet than John."
This reading is found in A, and D, and is adopted by the
Vulgate, Syriac and Armenian versions. It has also good
patristic authority, and is defended by Tischendorf. Of
course, if the reading were authentic, it would strengthen our
opinion; since in that case, John would only be compared with
the preceding prophets, and the inference would be natural that
the Lord is not comparing the personal qualities of John with
those of the preceding prophets, but affirming the greatness of
the event which the Lord was working through John. The
greatness of a prophet was ahvays measured not by the personal
sanctity of his life but by the message of his w r ords, and the
power of his deeds. No prophet had ever delivered so great a
message as did John in bearing witness to the Son of God, and
no preceding prophet did such a great work as did John in
preparing the people for the public appearance of the Son of
God.

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

We must admit that the doubtfulness of the reading of St.
Luke takes somewhat from the proof thence drawn; but yet
Christ is certainly comparing John with men of like character,
and his mention of John as more than a prophet naturally
implies that he had them in mind in making the comparison.
Hence we believe that the Lord identifies John with his mission ;
and that he declares that the movement of John was the most
important event in the world s history up to that point.
Though John s superiority over the preceding prophets is not
explicitly affirmed here, we iudge that it is implied by the
context and general plan of the argument.

The second member of the proposition of the Lord is not
less difficult than the first. It is again a question of compari-
s&lt; &gt;n, and two difficulties confn &gt;nt us. First, it is not clear whom
Christ means by the "lesser in the kingdom of Heaven"; and
secondly, it is difficult to determine the basis of the comparison.

St. Augustine gave it as his opinion that the kingdom of
Heaven in the present passage meant the universality of the
angels; and he believed that the lesser one in that kingdom,
spoken of by the Lord, meant the least of the angels. Hence
he would interpret it that the least of the angels in Heaven is
greater than John the Baptist. This opinion has no proba
bility. There would be no point in the Lord s argument if he
made such a comparison.

Bede and Jerome believe that the Lord is comparing John
with the saints in Heaven. This opinion is open to the same
objection as the opinion of Augustine, and moreover, it does
not seem to be true that the least of the blessed is greater than
John, especially as at that time none of the saints had yet
entered the state of the Beatific Vision.

Much more probable is the opinion which interprets the
words of Christ to be a comparison between the Old and New
Testaments. John is taken as the grandest representative of
the Old Testament, and is compared with a lesser in dignity in
the New Covenant established by Christ; and the surpassing
excellence of the New Testament is affirmed by the declaration
that this lesser representative is greater than the greatest
representative of the Old Testament. The least son is greater
than the greatest slave : the first law was the law of fear and

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35 347

bondage ; the law of Christ is the law of love and sonship. This
opinion in its best form does not compare the personal sanctity
of John with the sanctity of the aforesaid lesser one of the New
Alliance. This opinion is supported by good authority. St.
Cyril of Alexandria, Tostatus, Toleti, Maldonatus, Calmet,
Bisping, Schegg, Reischl, Grimm, Schanz, and Pillion advocate
it. Among modern protestants Keil, Weiss, Mansel and others
are cited in support of it.

The kingdom of Heaven here mentioned is the New Testa
ment, the new salvific order of things established by Christ, in
its most universal concept. Hence it embraces all the beings,
and modes of being, and forces of that grand new order. This
great new creation is contrasted with the Old Testament, which
found its highest degree of perfection in John, who pointed out
to the w r orld its Redeemer. The first alliance did not save men ;
it merely led men to the coming Redeemer; and it found its
fulfilment when its greatest representative announced the ful
filment of centuries of prophetic utterances.

Now when Christ entered upon the labors of his public
life, John \vas at the zenith of his glory; and Christ was one
who stood in the midst of the people, and whom they knew
not. As the Baptist himself declared, Christ was to increase,
while he himself was to decrease. At the moment therefore of
Christ s interview with the embassy of John, Christ stood
lower in glory and fame with the people than did John.

We must here remark that the Greek term /-u/cpoVepo? in
the text, being the comparative degree of the adjective, evi
dently imports a comparison between some being in the king
dom of Christ and St. John the Baptist; that it does not say
that such person is the least in the kingdom of Heaven ; but only
that in comparison with the Baptist, such a one is lesser than
he. Hence by this analysis it is plainly evident that the Lord s
statement means that there is some one existing in the new
order of things, who in the estimation of men was inferior to
John, but who in reality was greater. This being can be no
other than the Lord Jesus himself. He was in the kingdom of
Christ, because he was its Creator. His creation was destined to
succeed the movement of John as the daylight succeeds the
dawn, or as the perfect picture of the painter is wrought upon

348 MATT. XI. 119; LUKE VII. 1835

the lines of the rough sketch. All the greatness predicated in
the present passage of John was his in virtue of the relation that
he bare to the Christ ; a fortiori therefore Christ himself was
greater than his precursor. And yet in the estimation of men
he was lesser.

It is a veiled manner of speaking, but with Christ such is
the usual manner of speaking of himself. A certain veil of
mystery must invest his life until he should arise from the dead.
It requires the after light of the grand consummation of Christ s
resurrection to reveal the full significance of Christ s words and
deeds. The Lord was accustomed to speak of himself in com
parison with Israel s heroes, and declare his greatness over
them. Thus he compares himself with Jonah and with Solomon
in Matthew, XII. 41, 42. It was good to teach men this truth,
for men can not know too well the exaltedness of the character
of the Redeemer.

Our opinion is not deficient in extrinsic authority. It has
for advocates Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Euthymius, the
Opus Imperfectum, Bruno, Faber Stapulensis, Cajetan,
Jansenius, Barradius, Sylveira; and among protestants,
Arnoldi. Though this opinion was not adopted by Suarez, he
judged it very probable.

The twelfth and thirteenth verses of Matthew furnish
matter for widely divergent opinions. Parallel verses exist in
St. Luke. XVI. 16. The order of the verses in Luke seems to be
preferable : "The Law and the Prophets were until John : from
that time the Gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and
every man entereth violently into it." One can see at a glance
that Luke s presentation is clearer.

The first member of the present verse of Luke, which
corresponds to the thirteenth verse of Matthew s text, makes
known that at the advent of the Baptist, God adopted a new
method of dealing with the world. His communication to the
world hitherto had been the Law of Moses, and the subsequent
inspired writings here specified under the general head of "the
Prophets." These spoke of the kingdom of Heaven as a future
thing; something that a man could not obtain present posses
sion of, but for which he was bidden to hope. The Lord lays
stress on the specific sense of the verb Trpo^rjreveLv, "to predict

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35 349

future things." He thereby calls attention to the difference
between the two testaments. The first testament was an
economy of types and promises; the kingdom of Christ is the
fulfilment of all, and the actual reality. The kingdom of Christ
was properly inaugurated by John, when he pointed to the Son
of God, and declared to the world that Christ was to take away
the world s sin.

Hence it follows logically that man s religious obligation
was different after that great event from w T hat it had been be
fore. In the days of prophecy, a man was right before God if
he held firmly to the hope of a coming Messiah ; but now that
such Messiah has come and founded his kingdom, man s duty
is to enter into that kingdom. Christ describes the manner of
entry into that kingdom by a bold figurative use of language.
He says that from the days of John the kingdom of Heaven
suffers violence, and the men of violence take it by force. The
passive voice of the Greek verb /3taerai, which we render to
suffer violence, more properly means to be carried by force or
assault. The Lord is speaking of the gaining of a kingdom,
and he employs military terms to describe the achievement.
In the history of the world many kingdoms have been obtained
by armed force, and men of might have seized them. It is an
easy truth to understand. The Lord employs this well-known
fact in human affairs to illustrate the manner of a man s entry
into the kingdom of Heaven. Of course the language is figura
tive. In saying that from the days of John the kingdom of
Heaven suffers violence, he means to say that since such
event, it existed on earth, capable of being obtained by the as
sault of the men of violence. And such men were from that day
conducting this assault, and thereby entering into possession
of the kingdom. We must now explain the bold metaphors.
The assault which takes the kingdom of Heaven is the effect
of spiritual activity. Heaven is not for drones and sluggards.
Its possession is a great achievement requiring thought and
action. The men of violence are men of strong faith, of
tenacity of purpose in the service of God; positive men, men
of religious principles, men whose faith is bound up with their
lives, men who have put on Jesus Christ, and whose lives are
conformed to his divine life. There is no truer conception of

350 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 1835

the Christian life than that it is a warfare requiring in the super
natural order that courage, energy, and endurance that
characterize the good soldier in the wars of men.

Now the opposing forces which render an assault necessary
do not come from the kingdom for whose possession we are
fighting. They are foes of the kingdom and of us, and they
endeavor to block our way thither. The devil is always there,
and always active ; the spirit of the world is there, the lust of
the flesh is there, the vainglory of life is there, pleasure is there ;
and all these foes must be vanquished, that we may gain posses
sion of the kingdom of Christ: and they must be kept down by
valiant fighting, while we are in this phase of the kingdom s
existence, else they would soon retake it, and cast us out.

It is a powerful plea for spiritual activity. A kingdom
awaits man s conquest. A kingdom of whose greatness the
mind of man can form no adequate idea, whose glory surpasses
the power of the thought of man, can be obtained by man s
activity. The achievement is possible; nay more, is certain if
man will do what in him lies. Man knows the way, and the
method by which to make the successful assault. In the
assault he will be helped by God who created the kingdom,
and if he be faithful, lie can not fail. All that is required of
man is honest, faithful thought and energetic action ; and yet
how cold man remains how little the appeal of Christ moves
him? and how easily man turns aside from the great achieve
ment to waste the energies of his life on creatures of a day 5
Behold the deeds of Alexander, Hannibal, Julius Crcsar, and
Napoleon! And what have they gained by that great expense
of energy? the empty echo of their names on the lips of
mortals. How much truer and better is the life of St. Paul, or
St. John the Baptist, or St. John the Evangelist; in fact, of any
of the saints of God? The present text of Scripture should
stimulate us to emulate the heroes of God, and give to the
acquisition of the kingdom of Heaven the best thought and
energy of our being. Very little of real good is ever accom
plished without a preceding struggle with the powers of evil.
The present text should be a perpetual admonition that in
order to be good citizens of the kingdom of Christ, there is need
that we put on the armor of righteousness, and engage in a

MATT. XI. 119; LUKE VII. 1835 351

determined warfare against the powers of darkness. The
power of the world is mighty. Pleasure is pleasant; money is
alluring ; love of life is strong. All these forces are continually
acting. If we allow ourselves to drift, we shall go with them.
We must therefore put away apathy and spiritual indolence,
and take the kingdom by a holy violence ; by the holy violence
of persistent prayer; by the holy violence of unwavering
faith ; by the holy violence of the subjugation of our passions,
by the holy violence of renunciation and self-denial; by the
holy violence of forcing ourselves to take up our cross, and
follow Jesus into his kingdom.

The Lord Jesus invited to this holy violence when he
declared that "he that hateth his life shall find it" ; that, "If any
man cometh unto me and hateth not his own father, and mother
and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yea and his
own life also, he cannot be my disciple."- Luke XIV. 26.
Here are enumerated the created objects that a man loves
most. The climax is life itself. It is not without doing vio
lence to the propensities of our nature that we place above all
these things the love of God. It is by the holy violence that
wins Heaven that a man leaves the pleasures offered by the
world, and takes up the cross, and follows our Lord. The
Apostles and the martyrs of God took Heaven by this holy
violence. The sturdy soldiers of Christ in every age have risen
by it to the eternal glory of the elect. It is the characteristic
of men of Christian character, of men who never barter prin
ciple for advantage, of men who have a divine purpose in life,
of men who in all things seek first the kingdom of God.

In Malachi, IV. 5, it is written: "Behold, I will send you
Eliah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord
come." In virtue of that promise Israel expected that Eliah
should come before the advent of the Messiah. So, for in
stance when John declared that he was preparing for the
Messiah, they asked him if he were Eliah. There seems not to
have been a clear idea in the minds of the people of the first
and second coming of the Messiah. Hence it was a cause of
perplexity in considering the claims of Jesus that Eliah had
not yet come.

352 MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 18 35

To meet this objection Christ declares that the Eliah of the
first coming had come. By the modifying clause: "And if ye
are willing to receive it," the Lord plainly indicates that he is
not speaking in the literal sense, but figuratively. In sub
stance he says : "What Eliah the prophet will be to me at my
second coming, this is the Baptist to me now. The Baptist is a
type * if the real Eliah, and for all intents and purposes he fulfills
for you all that the real Eliah would do, were he to come in
person."

There was a great similarity in character and tenor of life
between Eliah and John Baptist. Both were men of stern,
unilinching devotion to duty, and noble contempt of the world.
Both lived in the desert; both were girded with a leathern
girdle. Both boldly rebuked a sinful generation. Eliah was
forced into exile, because he sternly opposed the impiety of
Ahab and Jezebel: J"hn was imprisoned and beheaded be
cause he rebuked Herod Antipas for his incestuous adultery
with Herodias. It is a beautiful use of language to call John
the Eliah of the first coming of Jesus Christ.

St. Luke relates for us the words of Jesus in which he
points to the honesty and faith of the people, who readily
received John s baptism ; and t &gt; the hyp&lt; &gt;crisy and obstinacy of
the Pharisees, and scribes or lawyers, who rejected the clear
call of God. Great indeed was the sin of those leaders in Israel.
It was a sin without any palliating circumstances; a sin of cold,
hypocritical malice, a diabolical impugning of the known truth.
This is the first clear testimony given us to prove that the
Pharisees did not receive the baptism of John, They were
even wrse in their attitude towards Christ. They rejected
him, and moved the people by falsehood and every artifice to
demand his death.

The fifteenth verse of Matthew contains a usual formula
of Christ t&lt; &gt; arouse his hearers to a realization of the importance
of his message. The truths in the present instance delivered
by Christ were very important; and he endeavors by this
exhortation to move his hearers to receive this important
teaching.

The Lord next proceeds to reprehend the stubborn per-
verseness and incorrigible obstinacy of the people of Israel,

MATT. XI. i 19; LUKE VII. 1835 353

by a comparison with the play of children. It was a fact of
everyday experience that the children of any district of a city
would assemble in the open space called the market place, and
engage in play. The Lord contemplates a scene where there
is among the children a dissension over the play. Some of the
children are contrary, and will not play at anything suggested
by the others. We fully believe that the reading T&lt;H? erepois
is the true reading in Matthew s text. The children are di
vided into two classes: the children who are willing to play at
anything that will please the ethers, and these others who are
contrary, and will not play at anything. A common form of
play among the children was to represent some important
event in human life, such as a wedding festivity or a funeral.
Now the scene represented by Christ is where the children who
wish to play have endeavored to induce their playmates to
take part in a play-wedding. This fails. They then run
through the gamut of forms of children s play until they come
to a form in character directly opposed to that first suggested,
and still their playmates are obstinate, and will not play.
We believe that the Lord s mention of the two forms of amuse
ment so opposite in character implies that the children have
exhausted their ingenuity to find some play that the others
will accept. The scene well illustrates the hatefulness and
obstinacy of the children who will not play. When the first
form of play was suggested, they might be excused from wish
ing to engage in it for the reason that they were not in a mood
for such joyous affair; but when they refuse to play anything,
even the direct opposite of the play first suggested, it is an
evidence that they refuse to play through mere perversity of
disposition.

It is a simile taken from the play of children, but it is a
powerful analysis of the obstinate infidelity of the Jews. The
interrogation with which the simile is introduced indicates the
indignation of the Lord \vho, as it w r ere, looks about for some
form of human speech capable of describing the hypocritical,
unreasoning malice of the scribes and Pharisees.

The great characteristics of John s religious movement
were austerity and penance. Human nature is hardly capable
of greater austerity and penitential way of life than these

(2.3) Gosp. II

354 MATT. XI. 1 19; LUKE VII. 1835

practised by John. He invited men to do likewise. His dis
ciples fasted much, and held aloof from banquets. John was
the last of the legates of the Old Law. which was the law of
severity and fear, and his movement partook of the tenor of the
covenant which had preceded. He came to an unredeemed
world immersed in sin, proclaiming the necessity of repentance
and works of satisfaction in preparation for the new life which
should come with Christ. And the base Pharisees strove to
create the impression that John s rigors of life were due to a
fanaticism produced by the obsession of an evil spirit. The
present text of Matthew is the only place in Scripture which
certifies us that the Pharisees actually laid on the Baptist the
calumny of having a devil. Only a small part has been trans
mitted to us of the momentous events out of which was born
Christianity.

The genius of the New Dispensati* &gt;n is love and gentleness.
It admits the elements of mortification of the llesh and peni
tential works, but the conception it has of God is different from
that which Israel held. This new conception of God has a
true basis, for the world is now redeemed.

Therefore Christ, the founder of the New Law, reflected in
his relations with the people the genius of the Xew Law.
fasted much, and spent whole nights on the mountain in prayer ;
but he laid no heavy burdens on his followers. He went into
their h&lt; &gt;mes, ate with them, and drank with them. The ordin
ary life of man will never be spent in the desert, as was the life
of John; and Christ wished to live the ordinary life of man, to
show man how to live it. Moreover, while he was with man,
he wished to draw man to love him and his law by revealing
the beaut v of love, which is alone sufficient.

\gain Christ went after his lost sheep wherever he found
the wanderer. He repulsed n&lt; &gt;t the poor sinful outcast, against
whom everv hand was raised. He mingled with the people,
lived their life, healed their sick, forgave their sins, and drew
them to 1, &gt;ve the beauty of the King and his kingdom.

Now the same hypocrites, who calumniated John for his
austerity, blamed Christ for not being like John. The com
parison with the children in the market place is perfect
Pharisees stand convicted in the judgment of every honest
man of a perfidy and malice having no parallel in history.

MATT. XL 119; LUKE VII. 1835 355

It is vain to seek in the description of the children in the
market place the element that corresponds to Christ, and that
which corresponds to John. Persons are not compared to
persons, but event is compared to event; and thus considered,
the comparison is perfect. No possible argument or evidence
would have won over the opposition to the cause of Christ.
They rejected Christ, because they impugned the known truth.

The concluding member of the Lord s present statement:
" and wisdom is justified by her children," is one of the
obscure passages of the Gospels. The obscurity is heightened
by the variant in Matthew where ^ and B* have epywv, while
the other authorities have TCKVCDV. The first reading is followed
by the Coptic and Syriac versions, and approved by Tischen-
dorf. But the parallel text of Luke without a variant has
reKvwv, the context demands refcvwv, and the best authorities
approve it.

In the first place, the context absolutely demands that the
words be a sort of conclusion of the argument of the verse.
There must therefore be a close nexus between them and that
which precedes. We believe therefore that the wisdom here
spoken of means the wisdom of God reflected in God s treatment
of the Jewish people. The action of God is simply the actual
expression of the eternal wisdom which made the universe.
We believe, secondly, that the children of Israel are here called
the children of wisdom. Not in the sense that they possessed
the higher wisdom, but because they were the adoptive children
of God, his firstborn, whom the divine Wisdom had chosen to
be the most favored of all his creatures. Christ could have
said: "The divine action towards Israel is justified by the
conduct of God s firstborn." But the form employed by him
says more in fewer words. It calls to their minds the great
truth that the things that God does are effects of that mighty
wisdom which gave to the universe its being, and rules it. We
immediately see the sense of the passage and its appositeness
here. Israel was to be punished by God with a fearful punish
ment. God was to turn away from her, and leave her desolate ;
but she could not blame him. The wisdom of God reflected in
such action was justified by the conduct of his children. For

.-6 LUKE VII. 36 5

he sent his message in many ways; he spoke by his prophets,
by St. John the Baptist, and most clearly of all by the mouth
of his Son. They rejected all; there was nothing more to be
done, but to leave them in their blindness, and desolation.

LUKE VII. 36-50.

}(). And one of the Phan- 36. Hp&lt;, .7x :E 7-.; a-/Tov 7&lt;,v

sees desired him that he would I*pirai&lt;.&gt;v, :vx cayr, J.S7 aj70,,

eat with him. And he entered /.* ebeXO^v si; 7ov OIT.OV 70, l&gt;a-

mto the Pharisee s house, and p-.rzioj 7.aT=7./.iOr r
sat down to meat.

37. And behold, a woman 37. Ka: ECOJ yyvj r ( 7-.; f,v EV
who was in the city, a sinner; -r t ro/.r. aj.ap70)Ao;, 7. a-. CTT-.YVO ./ra
and when she knew that he GTI xorray-etTai ev ^ oixiat Tou^*a-
was sitting at meat in the Phar- p::a:oj, y.oj.:rara aAa:a~pov jxupoj,
isee s house, she brought an

alabaster cruse of ointment.

38. And standing behind 38. Kal -ara ozbc,., -apa
at his feet, weeping, she began TOJ; -o:a; XJTOJ /.Xaiouja, 70::
to wet his feet with her tears, :iy.pjrtv t;p;aTO pps/stv 70J; -o-
and wiped them with the hair ca; XJTOJ, y.a! 7a:; ()p .;-.v 7r ( :
of her head, and kissed his y.;a/.f ( ; aJ f,; s;enajrsv, /ai
feet, and anointed them with y.27Ev &gt;. . 70JC -o:a; aj7oj 7. a
the ointment. Y)A5i?e

^0. Now when the Phar- 39.

isee who had bidden him saw y . a/ .r- :

it, he spake within himself, Xr-; ( ,,v

saying: This man, if he were -.&gt; (.*=

a pro]&gt;het. would have per- f (T .- ^--r-:a . aj7oJ, 071 ijjLapTw-

ceived who and what manner - t ^- r- t . v .
of woman this is who toucheth
him. that she is a sinner.

40. And Jesus answering 40. Ka: a7T07.p-.OjU o J T i^ J --
said unto him: Simon. I have sl-sv -700; aj-rov: St-^wv, ly." aot
somewhat to say unto thee. -. . E:-:V: O ss: AiB&nuxXe, eixs,
And he saith: Master say on. cr^iv.

41. A certain lender had 41. AJO -/pcO^stAkat r,-av
two debtors; the one owed five cavsirrf, T-.V(: 6 i; axpstXev or,va-
hundred pence, and the other p-.a Tsvray.osia, 6 c 7po; -ev-

fiftV. 7T,7.0V7a,

LUKE VII. 36 50

357

42. When they had not
wherewith to pay, he forgave
them both. Which of them
therefore will love him most?

44- And turning to the
woman, he said unto Simon:
Seest thou this woman? I
entered into thine house, thou
gavest me no water for my
feet: but she hath wetted my
feet with her tears, and wiped
them with her hair.

45. Thou gavest me no
kiss; but she, since the time I
came in, hath not ceased to
kiss my feet.

46. My head with oil thou
didst not anoint: but she hath
anointed my feet with oint
ment.

47. Wherefore I say unto
thee: Her sins, which are
many, are forgiven; for she
loved much: but to whom little
is forgiven, the same loveth
little.

48. And he said unto her:
Thy sins are forgiven.

49. And they that sat at
meat with him began to say
within themselves: Who is this
that even forgiveth sins?

42. MY]

coOvat,
oJv a J7G)v

43. Simon answered and 43.

said: He, I suppose, to whom YzoX

he forgave the most. And he ey.apb

said unto him: Thou hast Owe; !
rightly judged.

44-

cy ; ov7o&gt;v au7G)&gt; azo-
TTAcIov ay a~rjJ3 . aJ70v ;

oy.p .Ostq Sljxwv sixsv:

GJ, 071 GJ 70 xXstOV
OS S:Z3V a J7G&gt;: Op-

crrpacpc .c; rpo&lt;; TYJV

yuval/.a, 7w trove i?r, : XlTTctq
TxJrTjv TTJV yuva!7.a; s-TfJAOov joy
si? TY;V oixt av: jew? ^o- e?:l rocag
o J -/ - Bw/.ac;: au7^ 6s 70;; caxpujtv
s 6ps;sv ;o.oj TOU; xooa;, /.a: 7al^

45. &lt;

a r J7Yj ce,

46.

QJX. T

jj.ot oux. scwx.aq:
; sijfjXOov, ou otsXtxsv

au7 s

47. Ou 7-iptv, Xe-
G)V7at at ayiapTtat au
07t rjyazYjjcV TTOAJ:
a9t7at, dXcyov aya

r co jot
7fj&lt;; at

xa.

A ? -

roXXat,
: oXtyov

48.

EI~v cs
ajxxp7!at.

49. Kal f,p;av7o
vot Xeystv sv sa j7ol
IJT .V, oc /.at aaTt

35 8 LUKE VII. 3 6 5

;o. And he said unto the 50. E:-=v tk -~bc TT,V -.-jvaV/.a:
woman: Thy faith hath saved f, -!" .; roj rsrwv.lv zz: -ocsJoj
thee; &lt;, r o in peace. ^ s .-VV-

In Verse thirty-nine, B and Z add the article 6 before
Trpo^rJTT,?. In Verse forty-second, many authorities add enre
before ir\elov, but it is omitted in N, B, D. L, Z, and in the
Vulgate, Svnac, Coptic, and Ethiopian versions.

"in the forty-fourth verse rf;&lt;? *e&lt;J&gt;a\f;s is inserted after

e p & v in E, F, G. H, M, s, u, v, r, A, A, e t ai.

We have first to explain some critical data relating to the
account, and then enter into the deep signification of the event

itself.

Some have thought that the same event is described here
which is found in Matthew XXVI. 6; in Mark XIV. 3; and
in John XII. i. This is especially the rationalistic view, and
is defended by Schleiermacher, Ewald, Bleek, Holtzman,
Schenkel, and \Veizsaeker. They allege the similarity of the
accounts and especially that in all accounts the man s name is
Simon. The three elements therefore common in the accounts
are the name of the host Simon, the feast, and the anointing.

We are firmly persuaded that Luke relates an entirely
different event. The event related by the other three Evangel
ists took place in Bethany ; while the present event is clearly a
part of the Galilean ministry. The Simon mentioned by the
other three writers is called the leper; while the Simon of Luke s
account is called the Pharisee. The woman spoken of by
Matthew, Mark and John anoints both the head and feet of
Jesus; in Luke s accounts she anoints the feet of Jesus. John
informs us that the woman in Bethany was Man-, the sister of
Martha, and we are firmly convinced that the sister of Lazarus
was never a public sinner. There are many other points of
dissimilarity which will appear more clearly when we shall
comment the passage in the three aforesaid Evangelists.

It was not an unusual thing for Jesus to enter the houses of
the people, and sit at meat with them. It was a means of
coming close to man, in order to teach him the great tidings of
redemption and life. Hence he accepted the Pharisee s invita
tion, and came and sat at table with him.

LUKE VII. 3650 359

The motive of the Pharisee in inviting Jesus seems not to
have been to honor him. There is nothing in the whole
account which betokens any honesty of heart in this Simon.
Most probably his invitation was part of a concerted movement
on the part of the Pharisees to entrap Jesus.

In accordance with the customs of the East, the Lord
reclined on a couch while partaking of the banquet. His feet
were either bare, or only covered with sandals which left the
upper portion of the feet uncovered. In his reclining position,
his feet also rested upon the couch.

A woman now enters, and approaches the couch of Jesus.
She is a woman of evil life.

Some have held that this woman is called a sinner in a
general sense, inasmuch as she was not zealous in the observ
ance of the ritual law. Such opinion is untenable, The Holy
Scriptures never specifically term a woman a sinner, unless
she be infected with the peculiar sin of impurity.

This woman was known to Simon the host as a woman of
ill fame. She holds a small cruse of perfumed ointment in her
hand. This is called in the Gospel an alabaster cruse. The
Oriental alabaster is composed chiefly of carbonate of lime, and
is found in deposits of stalactites or stalagmites. Certain
species of it are very beautiful, and these were employed to
make statues, urns, vases, and especially vases for perfume.
Pliny speaks of these: "Some call this stone alabastrites, and
they make of it vases for perfume; because it is believed to
preserve the perfume from all corruption." Hist. Nat.
XXXVI 12. But from the frequent use of this stone in the
manufacture of vases and unguents, the word a\d/3ao-Tpov came
to mean in general any small vessel for holding perfumes and
unguents. Thus we have in English the word alabastrum
signifying in general such vase. These alabastra might be of
glass or other material. Hence it is not clear from the Gospel
of what material the vase was wrought.

The modes and customs of the East made it possible for
this woman to gain admission to the banquet without being
invited thither. The account implies that the woman had
been seeking an occasion to come to Jesus, and found it at last
when she ascertained that he sat at meat with Simon the
Pharisee.

;/;o LUKE VII. 3650

She is humble. She approaches not the face of Jesus ; but
going back of his couch, she bows her head upon his feet, and
bathes those sacred feet with copious tears of sorrow for her
sins.

The clause in the thirty-eighth verse, "standing behind at
his feet," does not mean that the woman stood erect while per
forming such actions. It only establishes the fact that she
approached and stood at Jesus s feet, before she began the
series of actions herein described.

An exceedingly touching feature of the event is the fact
that the weeping woman wiped her tears from the feet of Jesus
\vith the flowing trusses of her hair. It was an act of oreat

tenderness, of intense love. Oh, the power of love! It is
stronger than sin, death, and hell. Before its sublime power
sin vanishes like the shades of night before the face of the sun.
Conceive the rational creature, if possible, invested with every
other attribute proper to its nature. But if love be wanting,
it is a disappointment to its Creator.

Alter the first wild paroxysm of penitential grief had
somewhat subsided, the woman kissed again and again Jesus
feet, and then anointed them with the perfumed unguent.

I lie Greek term Ka-racfuXeu} employed, here means more
than merely to kiss. The genius of the English tongue can
not properly express it. Kara is intensifying, and the com
pound means t&lt;&gt; kiss much, to kiss tenderly, to caress.

The woman gives evidence that she possesses humility,
contrition, and love, and these three virtues never fail to move
the Lord God. She is humble; for she does not deem herself
worthy to stand in the presence of Jesus, but goes behind his
couch, and bows her head at his feet. It would have been a
fitting act to kiss his sacred hands; but she kisses his feet.
Again, the unguent would have been proper to anoint Jesus
head; but she deems herself unworthv to do au^ht else than

- iT!&gt;

bow herself low at his feet, and weep for her sins, and testify by
these subsequent acts her intense love. What a lesson for us
who have sinned, and who do so much less to obtain the pardon
of God How her intense, earnest change of heart contrasts
with our listless, perfunctory confessions, which move us not so
much as our employments and our pleasures? Many have

LUKE VII. 36 50 361

sinned like the woman of the Gospel, but few have repented
like her. As the world grows older, the hearts of men grow
colder. Deep repentance presupposes strong faith, and that
quality of mind is not easy to find. The proper persuasion of
mind for a sinner is that the only aim and purpose in life for
him is repentance ; repentance that becomes a dominant force ;
repentance that lives, and acts, and shapes a life. Such
repentance will redeem a life from the lowest depths of degra
dation; but it is rare. We find in the majority of cases in
dealing with great sinners that their knowledge of the Christian
religion is very elementary-. A vague notion that there is a
God, a Heaven and a hell ; that there is an obligation to go to
confession and Holy Communion; the shattered fragments of
a few prayers clinging to the mind, this is the religious equip
ment of many a man. And in such souls the call of Jesus
produces no such effects as it did in the soul of this penitent
woman. Her fineness of feeling, her absolute faith, and her
great sorrow and love are all absent from such souls.

The Pharisee now shows the narrow mean spirit of his
sect. He had witnessed the w r onderful conduct of the woman.
It would seem of a nature to move any heart. True, the
woman was stained with foulest sin ; but he had read Ezekiel ;
"Again, when I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die,
if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right ;
if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he hath taken
by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity ;
he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he
hath committed shall be remembered against him. "-XX XIII.
14-16. The woman had surely turned from her sin, with a
broken, humble heart, and yet the Pharisee would not have her
live. The Law said that he who touches an unclean thing is
rendered unclean thereby. The sinful woman was an unclean
thing, and the letter of the Law, as interpreted by the Pharisees,
demanded that Jesus should repel the sinner from him. This
was the cold official Pharisaical religion ; a cold, dead formalism,
holding out no hope to the crushed and bleeding heart, an
nouncing no tidings of mercy to the fallen, awakening no senti
ment of love in human hearts. The Law itself was imperfect,

-62 LUKE VII. 36 50

and Pharisaic interpretation had perverted it until all the
grand attributes of God were hidden behind the barrier of
the mean, heartless creations of the Pharisaic body.

It was a prerogative of a prophet to know hidden things.
His intellectual vision could pierce the future, could tell the
issue when life and death strove for the mastery in the life of
man. He was not omniscient; but was endowed with such
extraordinary vision that he could rightly fulfill his mission as
legate f the Most High. Therefore the Pharisee reasons
within himself, that if Jesus were the legate &lt; &gt;f G&lt; &gt;d, he would be
able to divine the character of the woman who was clinging to

his feet.

It is to be noted here that the only thought in Simon s
mind is to determine whether or not his guest be ./ prophet. If
we follow the reading of B and Z, we must read the prophet.
It must be observed here that the Messiah himself is sometimes
culled a prophet in the Old Testament. A notable example is
in Deuteronomy XVIII. 15. Hence the Jews waited fora great
prophet who should be the Messiah, and should restore all
things in Israel s p&lt; &gt;lity. \Vheref&lt; &gt;re, if we adopt the reading of
these two codices, we must interpret that Simon had in mind
the Messiah in his judgment of Jesus action. If the reading of
the other codices be accepted, then the reasoning of Simon
would only regard the character of Jesus considered as a
prophet in general.

The judgment of the Pharisee as regarded a prophet s
power to know the character of one who came to him under
such circumstances was true and logical; but he erred in his
idea of what the Messiah should do to such a sinner recognized
in her true character.

The Lord now gives evidence to Simon himself that he is
a prophet ; f&lt; &gt;r he reads and lays bare before Simon the thought
of Simon s soul before it has been uttered. Simon had uttered
no word, but had only spoken within himself; and the Lord
reads his thoughts, and answers their objection. The Lord
Jesus made frequent use of his power as KapBioy^ar^. The
manifestation of his power to know the hearts of men proved
his Divinity, and at the same time impressed on the minds of
the generations of men that all thoughts are laid bare and open
to his gaze.

LUKE VII. 36 50 363

We come now to the most difficult part of the account, the
parable of Jesus. The chief element of difficulty in the account
is the application of the parable of the two debtors to illustrate
the present case of the woman. In the case of the two debtors,
the cause of the greater love of one of them was the fact that
he had been forgiven a greater debt ; \vhereas in the case of the
woman her great love was the cause of the Lord s full forgive
ness of her great debt of sin. It would not be profitable to
review all the different opinions which have been proposed
to explain this point. It has been a source of contention
between Catholic theologians and the Calvinists, who try to
deduce therefrom that the justification of man by grace pre
scinds from any act of preceding love or contrition, and that
justification causes love in the manner that the forgiveness of
the heavier debtor caused his subsequent act of love.

That all things may be made clear, we judge it best to
begin by establishing what is clear in the verse, and then we
shall attempt the explanation of the obscure elements, aided by
the light of what is clear in the verse and by the analogy of
faith.

The Lord, in the first place, heightens the grandeur of the
woman s conduct by contrasting it act by act with the treat
ment that he had received at the hands of the Pharisee. Simon
had invited Jesus to his table, but he had not exhibited to him
any marks of special love. He had not offered him water to
bathe his feet, which was a customary act of hospitality when a
guest was come to one s house. We read that Abraham did
thus for the celestial beings entertained by him by the oaks
of Mamre, Gen. XVIII. 4 ; thus did Lot for these guests at their
coming to his house at Sodom, Gen. XIX. 2 ; thus did Jesus
also for his disciples before the Last Supper.

There is a beautiful antithesis here between the act of the
Pharisee, and the act of the woman. The Pharisee had not
felt moved to do the small service of providing water to bathe
his guest s feet, but the woman had bathed them with tears of
love and sonxnv for sin.

The kiss of peace was also an office of hospitality to the
guest. This had also been neglected by Simon; but the
woman had repeatedly and with great tenderness kissed the
feet of Simon s divine guest.

364 LUKE VII. 30 50

It was also a custom with Oriental peoples to anoint the
heads of the guests with oil, as they sat at table. This custom
is alluded to in Psalm twenty-second, fifth verse. This, of
course, was not done for every guest, but was a mark of special
h&lt;&gt;nor to one whom the host might wish to honor. Here again
the antithesis is especially strong. Simon had failed to testify
his love, inasmuch as he did not anoint the licad of Jesus
with mere oil; but the woman anointed his feet with precious
ointment.

The analysis and comparison of the conduct of the Pharisee
and the woman are grand and beautiful. The woman is repre
sented as having in large degree even. quality ever asked by
God in order to obtain forgiveness, and naught remained to
be done except to declare her forgiven; and this the divine
Lord did in words full of hope to even penitent sinner: "Thy
sins are forgiven. "

Xo man had ever employed such language before in Israel.
There had been many great legates of God in Israel from Moses
to J.-hn the Baptist, but none of them ever, in his own name,
declared unto man that his sins were forgiven. That was an
act like to creation itself, demanding the awful power of
Yahveh himself.

The guests at Simon s table wondered that any man
should declare an effect which only God can work. But they,
at that time, failed to comprehend that Jesus spoke those
words, and operated that effect, for the reason that he was the
co-equal, co-eternal Sun of God. The world has realized since
that time how Jesus could speak thus, and no man who knows
aught of the character of the Son of God, wonders now that
Jesus should have uttered such a declaration.

The magnetic power of the personality of Jesus restrained
the guests from giving utterance to their thoughts. They were
filled with admiration, and wondered within themselves con
cerning the character of Jesus, but they were silent ; and
Jesus dismissed the woman with the comforting corroboration
of his former declaration : " Thy faith hath made thee whole.

There is no contradiction here in the fact that Jesus here
attributes to the causality of faith what he had formerly
asserted to be the effect of love. Divine faith and divine love

LUKE VII. 36 50 365

are not two independent acts. Faith is the basis of every act
of supernatural goodness in the soul. It is true, faith can exist
without supernatural love, but such love can not exist without
faith . Faith is the principle of supernatural life ; and divine
love is a vital act proceeding from a soul living by faith. Hence
it is rightly said that the just man lives by faith. Now 7 in the
case of the woman, her faith was the cause of her love. By
faith she perceived the real character of Jesus, and this moved
her to love him, and to come to him, humbling herself in the
sight of all, to ask mercy at his hands. The central truth of
the whole account is the power of love to obtain forgiveness
from God; and the Lord s approval of the woman s faith
simply establishes the truth that faith and love are related as
cause and effect. Both faith and love were combined in one
moral cause, which obtained forgiveness from Jesus; and the
Lord Jesus represents the two acts as identical in causality.

We can now state with certainty that the love of the
woman, in the sense already explained, was the cause of her
forgiveness. Calvin s horrid theory finds no endorsement here.
The obscurity of the parable can not outweigh the clear declara
tion of Jesus: "Her sins which are many are forgiven; for
she loved much." This is not to say that sins are not forgiven
except in virtue of a love like to that of this woman. This
would render the way of salvation too difficult for poor weak
man. There is an imperfect act of the mind of man called
attrition. This is conceived in the mind by the consideration
of the heinousness of sin and by consideration of the fear of
hell and of other punishments. And if this act excludes the
will to sin, and includes the hope of forgiveness, we hold that
it will dispose the soul so that the grace of the sacrament of
penance will justify the man thus contrite. This doctrine is
based upon the teaching of the Council of Trent, Sess. XIV. 4,
and is the common opinion of Catholic theologians. It is true,
that the opinion is not a definition of faith, and there are some
theologians who demand that there be in this attrition some
act of love of God. The acts of the soul of man are so subtle
that the analysis of them is extremely difficult. Certainly in
many cases, when the soul turns away from sin, and turns to
God, the leading motive is the fear of God s punishments

366 LUKE VII. 3650

Luther declared that this act of man moving through the
motive of fear, made a man a hypocrite, and more a sinner than
before. The Council of Trent unequivocally condemned this
opinion of the apostate, and declared that such act was a gift
of the Holy Ghost, and that it disposed a man to obtain pardon
of G&lt;&gt;d in the sacrament of penance. At the same time, the
Council did not define whether there was not required some
act of love coupled with this useful act of fear. The issue is
undecided by any decree of the Church, but the opinion assert
ing the sufficiency of the attrition which has for its motive fear,
is an opinion which a man may hold and teach.

Of course, when Catholic teachers propound this doctrine
it is not with a view to move the faithful to rely on the suffi
ciency of this act, and to make no effort to move their souls
to any higher act. The aforesaid opinion is simply a scientific
attempt to fix the minimum required by God, before he will
take away the eternal punishment due to sin. It is an attempt
to consider how far the mercy of God will condescend t&lt;&gt; supply
for the weakness of man. Poor weak mortals are comforted
and encouraged by knowing that the turning away from sin
through fear is good. They can more readily proceed thence
to some act of appreciative love of God; not that grand and
perfect act of love which existed in the soul of the woman in
the Gospel, but some lesser degree of the act of love which is
the fulfilment of the law of God.

In fact, it seems that no man can turn away from sin
because he fears the punishment of God, form the firm purpose
not to sin in future, and hope for pardon of God, without con
ceiving in his soul some degree of the appreciative love of God.
In the first place, he must have faith; "for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that seek after him." Now, though the great motive in the
sinner s change of soul may be fear of God s punishments,
nevertheless, in the very act of turning away from sin, there
will be a certain movement of the soul towards God, which we
call an act of the appreciative love of God.

It is evident that the act of the woman and the testimony
of Christ concerning it can not be used to support the opinion
which demands an equal act of love of God as a necessary-
disposition of soul in order to obtain forgiveness.

LUKE VII. 36 50 367

In the first place, the woman was justified outside of the
sacrament of penance, and all Catholics are agreed that outside
of the sacrament of penance the act of perfect contrition would
be required, which is an act of sorrow because one has lost the
friendship of God. Perfect contrition is born of perfect love,
and perfect love is the love of God above all things on account
of his own infinite perfection. This justified the woman, and it
justifies every creature that ever brings it into being in his
soul, without the aid of the sacramental absolution; although
now since the institution of the sacrament, the intention of
receiving the sacrament must be included in the act of love.

But now another question arises out of the account. Is it
necessary, in order to obtain justification outside of the sacra
ment of penance, to have the intensity of love of this woman,
who by the Lord s own testimony loved mucli? This has been
asserted by Peter Soto and other theologians. But we believe
that the opposite opinion is to be held. We believe that the
act of contrition, which proceeds from the love of God above
all things for his own sake, justifies in the manner before
explained, without demanding any special degree of intensity
of this love. The best modern authority for our opinion is
Palmieri, De Pcenit. Thesis XXIV.

In response to the difficulty sought from the present case
of the woman, who was thus forgiven, because she loved much,
it is evident that in the woman s case it was historically true
that she was forgiven much, because she had loved much, but
Christ s words do not mean that such degree was necessary to
obtain the remission of sins. Such degree of intensity of love
is necessary to obtain all that the woman obtained; but she
received more than the mere remission of the eternal punish
ment due for her sins. She received a remission of the temporal
punishment due for her sins commensurate to the perfection
of her love; and this may have been a total remission of all.
She received a large measure of God s grace; she rose high in
the friendship of God ; and all this is spoken of by Christ as the
much that had been forgiven her, because she had loved much.
From the mere taking away of the guilt of mortal sin out of the
soul to the supreme limit of God s operations in the human soul
God s actions range through many degrees; and the more

368 LUKE VII. 3650

perfect the act of contrition, the more absolutely does it destroy
sin and sin s consequences, and unite the soul to God. The
woman s act was far more perfect than the minimum required
to justify a sinner outside of the sacrament.

There is l&gt;ut one more element in the account which needs
explanation, the application of the parable of the two debtors to
the general theme &lt; &gt;f the passage. Now the context, the act of
the w&lt;-man, Christ s judgment thereon, and the effects that it
obtained fr&lt;m Christ, give evidence that the Lord wished to
teach bv the whole event that love destroys sin, and establishes
in the soul the friendship of God. The parable of the two
debtors is a general introduction to the main teaching. The
parable is not to be taken in an absolute sense, but in a moral
sense. If the debtor who was forgiven the heavier debt were
base and ungrateful, he would love his benefactor less than
the other. But the Lord conceives the issue in the sense of
what ought to happen, morally speaking, among men in such
a case.

It cannot be that the Lord wished to teach by the para
ble that in his dealings with men it is usually verified that those
who are forgiven the greater debt love God more than those
who have never offended God so deeply, and who have there
fore a smaller debt to be forgiven. Usually the love of God
grows in the soul bv the purifying, refining influence of virtue,
while sin coarsens the soul, blunts its finer powers, and makes
it more difficult for it to apprehend and to love God. The
more holy the soul becomes, the more does the horror of sin
increase ; and the love of God grows in the same ratio.

Wherefore we believe that the Lord wished to illustrate by
the two insolvent debtors a specific phenomenon that occurs in
the life of humanity. The debtor who owed five hundred
pence, and who was forgiven, represents the class of great
sinners who are really repentant. King David belonged to
this class, the woman in the present passage belonged to it, the
penitent thief belonged to it. The hearts of these are pierced
through with blessed repentance, and the gratitude that they
feel in return for God s merciful pardon generates in their hearts
a strong tender love of God. The great sinners who experience
this soul-change in all its perfection are few, but there are

LUKE VII. 36 50 369

some. These love God very much, because the continual
remembrance of his gracious mercy in forgiving their heavy
offenses keeps love alive in their souls.

It is an aphorism that "omnis comparatio claudicat."
Even among the similes of our Lord some are more forcible
than others. The general application of the present simile will
be made clearer by a consideration of its specific application to
Simon the Pharisee and to the sinful woman. They were two
debtors unto God. Though it is not declared just how they
stood in the sight of God, certainly Simon believed himself
more righteous that the sinful woman. In the parable Jesus
allows the supposition to stand that Simon is less sinful. And
now the great point of the parable comes in. The Lord does
more for the greater sinner than for the one who is assumed to
have sinned less. The Lord was not asked by Simon to for
give his sins, and therefore did not bestow on him the great
benefit given the woman. The fact that Simon had received
less than the woman is illustrated by likening Simon to the
debtor to whom a creditor forgave fifty pence. As the Phari
see and the woman stood there before the Lord, the woman
loved the Lord more. Her love was the cause of her forgive
ness, and it was also the effect of her forgiveness. Surely she
who had loved much before her forgiveness, loved more after
the merciful Lord had added another great motive of love.
The Lord points to her grateful love and compares it to the
Pharisee s lesser love. The Lord then clearly tells why he for
gave more to the woman. He forgave her because she loved
much. The main truth is this: that love destroys sin and
brings a sinner into a better relation with God than is that of
the man who may have sinned less, but who fails in love.
This is not to diminish the horror or lessen the realization of
sin s evil nature. In general those who love God most sin least.
Sin injures the spiritual powers of a man s nature; it coarsens
the soul, and blunts spiritual perception. Sin is an essential
evil, the only absolute evil in the universe. Every man
should condemn that false theory that lessens the realization
of the evil of sin by a maudlin sentimentality.

The present teaching is a message of hope to the sinner,
declaring what may be accomplished by penitential love. It is

&lt;24) Gosp. II

3jo MATT. XIII. 12;,: MARK IV. 125

a condemnation of hypocrisy and self-righteousness, \vhich
prevent a man from seeing himself as God sees him. It is a
terrible message to those cold, hearted mortals, who may live
worldly, respectable lives, but who have little or no love of
God in their hearts. Weighed in the balance with these the
poor outcast honestly returning to God through repentance
and love is more acceptable to God. A loving father desires
that his children be virtuous, and that they love him; but his
heart would be more comforted by the sincere return of a
prodigal who loved him, than by the officially correct conduct
of a cold, unfeeling, thankless child. So God s creature can
offer him nothing better than love, nothing that will take the
place of love. NO created mind can comprehend God s love
for his creature, and this love demands love in return.

There is a grand lesson in the passage for every man. It
should serve to arouse cold worldly-wise people whose lives are
fairly respectable, but whose hearts are void of love, to what an
extent their lives are a disappointment to G . :.

The passage contains a grand message of hope to the
repenting sinner. It shows him the grand things that are yet
possible to him by means of repentance and love. It exhibits
a grand true type of repentance to all men, and convinces us
how poor often our own repentance is. Up &gt;rtrays the Lord
Jesus in his grand characteristics of truth and mercy, and it
represents the love of God in its true value.

MATT. XIII. 1-23. MARK IV. 1-25.

i. Kv rr, r ( ;j.3px r/.sivr; iccXO^v : . Kz- -i/. .v r;p;aTO C .ii-y.s .v

^ Tr,ro:: -rf,; oixla; r/.i ( &gt;r ( TO za:i -api rr,v &lt;)i/,2"r/: 7.2- rjviy a .
-r ( v Oa/.arrav. -co; aJTOv oy./.o: n/.s ; ."o;, (.";

-.-&gt; a&gt;ov -- ", -\ r/.oiov ijLcivT
- r

-.-&gt; a
ksr. sjvT ( y/h;rav -co, y.j. r ^

- - ^v T Oa&gt;i- T/ : x.al z.; o O-/AO;

3. Kal sAiXvsv a^o-; wAA3 2. Ka&lt; i:i: X rx3v a :-:oi;
iv -sapafeoAal; A^VUV: Hoi e^A- -acaco&gt;.a-; roA/.A, ^.al rAeyev ay-

3. Axoysts: fcoj, s^/.Osv 6

MATT. XIII. 123; MARK IV. 125

4. Kal Iv 7(I&gt; -TTStpstv aj7ov a 4. Kal Iylvs70 Iv 7W crTrstpstv,
[XSV 7:37v 7:apa 7r,v oeov, y.al IX- 8 IJLSV ST^JSV 7:apa 7Y)v oeov, xal ^X6sv
06v7a 7a 7:s7stvd xatefaysv aJ7a. 7a Tcststva, y.al xa7s:payv OCUTO.

5. "AXXa cs 7:3-3v errt 7a 7:3- 5. Kal aXXo STTS-SV i~\ 70 7-3-
7po )or ; b zoj ojy. slysv YYJV 7:oXXr / v, 7pwi3^, y.al OT:OJ oux stysv yy]v
y.al J63coc; |3av373tXav eta 70 {JLTJ T^oXX^v, y.al sjQjc; i^avltetXsv, eta
Iytv ^a6o? 7YJc yf-c. 70 ^.f ; eystv paOo? 7f^ yf ( c.

6. HXtoj es dva7tXav7o? 6. Kal 073 aveTsiXev 6 Y]Xtoq
|y.aD^.a7o )0r^ y.al eta 70 [ju] ystv |y.aj^.a7tj6 - r]-av, y.al eta 70 JXTJ iystv
pf : lav Icr^pavO^. pt^av, IcrjpavOrj.

7. "AXXa es IT^ SV IT:! 7ac; 7. Kal aXXo izsc7v etq 7ac
davOa^, y.al dvlevpav at axavOat, axdvOa^, y.al dvler^-av at axavGat,
y.al a7:l7:vt;av au7a. y.al j jv7:vtcav aj7o xal xapirbv QJX

eew/.cv.

8. "AXXa es ETTS-SV 7:1 7Y]v yf;v 8. Kal aXXa ITTSJSV etc; 7Y]v yfjV
7r;v xaX^v, y.al leteou xap7:dv, 8 ^.sv TYJV xaXr,v, xal leteou xap7:bv ava-
Ixa7ov, o es lT^y.ov7a, o es 7ptd- 6afvov7a xal a jSavojXcva, xal Ifspsv
xov7a. Eic; 7ptdy.ov7a, xal Iv Ii;r j xov7a, xal

iv y.a7ov.

9. I"/tov d)7a, dxou7w. 9. Kal i/xsysv: "0; lyst W7a

dxo6ctv,

10. Kal rpoTX06v7; of jxa- 10. Kal 073 lylv70 xa7a ^ova;,
:7at stzav aJ703: A .a 7t Iv 7:a?a- TCWTWV aj7ov ot zsst aJ70v civ 7o!^

11. cs a7:oxpt6st&lt;; slzsv aj- ii. Kal s Xsysv a j7ot;: Y^xiv
70!?: "07t 6 jjttv cleo7at yvwvat 7a 70 ^ jj7r,ptov eseo7at 7f;^ ^ajtXsfa?
jjL jj7ripta 7r ( c; ^/aj .Astaq 7wv ojpa- 70 j 0soj, sx.fvot&lt;; es 70tc; IcwOsv
vwv, Ixstvot^ es ou eleo7at. Iv 7:apao5oXa^ 7a 7:dv7a yfvs7at.

12. Oj7tq yap iyet, coOr ( -37at 12. "Iva ^Xl7:ov73c; ^Xs7:o)-t,
a j7co, y.a r . 7:30 . Jsu JTj 37at i oc"7t^ xat U.TJ too) tv, xat axojov73c; ay.ou~
es ojy. / ., xal o iyst dpOr j 7S7at cocrt, xal ^JLT, ^uvtwjtv, ^7:073 ITCI-

13. A .a 70J70 Iv 7:apa6oXatq 13. Kal Xlyst ajtotq: Oux
a^7ot^ XaXto, O7t ^XsxovT&lt;; oj pXI- o tca73 7r y v 7:apa6oXf j v 7au7T)v; y.al
T:OJ-IV, xal axoi/ov7&lt;; QJX dxououJtv, 7:0)^ ~d-ac; 7aq 7:apacoXa&gt;; yvojJcjBs.

14. Kal dva7:Xr / po j7at aJ7o:;
TJ r;pocpTi7ta H-atoj, r t Xlyoj-a:

37- MATT. XIII. i 23; MARK IV. i 25

y.al p/J-ovTE-: ^ASVSTS, y.al oJ ar (
:CT;T.

15. KTa /JvOr, Yip r, y.ap::a
TOJ Xaoj TOJTOJ, y.al TO:; (orlv .:.a-
p( &gt;; v/.oj av, y.al TO!/; oViaAj.0 j;

TO:; oV)aAj.o 7 ..:, y.al TO:; corlv axoj-
rcor .v, y.al TT; y.apdia -JXOT .V, y.al
Z .rTpsyd)T .v, y.a: iaioua 1 . aJTOjc.
1 6. V JKOV CE j.a/.ap:o . oi oi-
Oa/. Jio:, OT 1 . p/,-Ojr .v, y.a: Ta (oTa,
OT: ay.o-0j-:v.

17. A LAV Y a ? /-^Y (l) ^ r 1 - - - J ~ -

~OAAO: 7:po:f;-:a: y.a: ::y.a:o: i~t-
Ojj-^-av :: 7 .v a ^ASZ^TS, y.a: oJx.
1 dav, y.al ay.oira 1 . a ay.ojT, y.al
oJy. fy.ijj-Ts.

18. Vj.s 7 .; oJv ay.oJraTS TT/ 14. (J c~:pwv TOV AOY&V ;~;:-
~apa:oAT 1 v TOJ -z:pav-or. ps:.

19. Ilavroc ay.ojov-ro; TOV AOYOV 15. ( )j70t C e:-:v oi ~apa :!,&gt;
TT,C par f .A:a;, y.al i&gt;.r t -JV.&gt;TO;, 6:ov, o -oj --ipTa . 6 AOYOC, o t
c py_E7a: o -ovr^poc, y.al ap-al: TO OTav ay.ojrwrtv, sJOj^ py_Tat 6
i r-apLJievov ev TT, y.ap::a aJTOj, HaTava;, y.al aVfst TOV Xoy c v TOV
O^TO C CT:V o -apa TT ( V o:ov r~ap:;. EJzapjxevov : ; aJTOj;.

20. (J cs -! Ta zsTfcoCT] ~za- 1 6. Kal OJTO: -!"tv OJLOU.X; o!
psl;, O^TO^ -T:V o TOV Xoyov ay.oJ(.&gt;v, Izl Ti -cTpfocrj --itpo ^iVO ., oT OTKV
y.al EJOjc ^LETa /apac Xa^tavwv ay.ojrw-t TOV Aoyov, jQj; ixeTa

21. ()jy. r/t E pilav $ v sajTto, 17. Kal or/, e^oj-tv pflav ev
czA/.i zpory.atpo^ i-T .v, Y vo r IL ^ v 7 i? JajTo .c, aX/.i zposy.atpo: sirtv, eka
C ()A:0(o^ fj cttoY^LOj c:a TOV Xoyov, Y 3 ^^^^ OAI ]/OJ^ f^ ctwYixo J -ti
^OjC ry.avca/.il.cTat. TOV Aoyov, cJOjq cxavcaAilovtat.

22. O Ee el? Tie axavOac r~a- 18. Kal aXXot ei-iv ol :? Taq
psi c, OJTO? JTtv 6 TOV Xoyov ay.ojwv, axavOa; "~ .pO Jivoi, OJTO: :;iv ol
y.al r t LJ.pt^.va TOJ a:wvoc, y.al r t a- TOV Aoyov ay.oj"avTC,

TrdTr^ TOJ ZAOJTOJ j^zvivsi TOV Jg _ Kal a: ^pt^vat TOJ a:d)vo ? ,
Aoyov, xal ixap-o; Yivs-rat. yy) ^ ^^ TQ - ^OJTOU, xal at

-pl Ti A0t~i iz .0y^.:a ( . !-zopej-
6^-Evat cu^xviyouatv TOV XOYOV, xal
axazo; ^ 73 -

MATT. XIII. i 23; MARK IV. 125

373

23. el IT:: rr,v y.aXf,v yf ( v 20. Kal lx.s:vo: sb .v o! IT:: TY;V

a"i:ap:s, oijToq |JT:V 6 TQV Xoyov yf ( v TY;V y.aXf,v "apcv:^, O"T:V^

axouwv y.al cjv:s:?, Sq or/ y.apzo- dxououatv TOY Xoyov, y.al zapaos-

cpopl, y.al 7:o f .ct, o [j.sv exxrov, o cs yovTa:, y.al y,apzo90pO jj:v ev Tpt-

s^^y.ovTa o Bs Tptaxovra. axovTa, y.al 3r//.ov7a y.al iy.atov.

21. Kal iXsysv aJ7oI;: 7 0":t
^Tt Ipy^cTa: 6 Xijy^vo?, Yva j~b TOV
[jLootov TcOfj T) 6zb -7r;v y.Xtvtjv; ojy
\ va IT:! 7Y]v Xuyvfav TcBfj ;

22. OJ yap IJTCV XOUZTOV, lav
^.f; Yva 9avsptoOfi: o jos lysvs-ro
airoxpuipov, aX// Yva ^avcpwOfj.

23. ET 7 .^ s xs: w-a a-/,oj:v,

24. Kal sXsysv ajTo:?: BXI-

zT T: axousts: Iv a&gt; ^.l-rpoj ^JLS-
7piT3, [jLstpTQB^JsTat 6ij.lv y.al
TCoareOrO STai L;J.!V.

25. c; yap /,3 .,

Tw, y.al 8^ oJx. "/. ., y.al o I /s:

1. On that day Jesus went
out of the house, and sat by
the sea side.

2. And there were gathered
unto him great multitudes, so
that he entered into a boat, and
sat; and all the multitude
stood on the beach.

3. And he spake to them
many things in parables, say
ing: Behold, the sower went
forth to sow:

1. And again he began to
teach by the sea side. And
there is gathered unto him a
very great multitude, so that
he entered into a boat, and sat
in the sea; and all the multi
tude were by the sea on the
land.

2. And he taught them
many things in parables, and
said unto them in his teach
ing:

3. Hearken: Behold the
sower went forth to sow:

4. And as he sowed, some 4. And it came to pass, as

seeds fell by the way side, and he sowed, some seed . fell by

the birds came and devoured the way side, and the birds

them: came and devoured it.

374

MATT. XIII. 123; MARK IV. i-

5. And others fell upon the
rocky places, where they had
not much earth: and straight
way they sprang up, because
they had no deepness of earth:

6. And when the sun was
risen, they were scorched; and
because they had no root, they
withered away.

7. And others fell upon the
thorns; and the thorns grew
up, and choked them:

S. And others fell upon the
good ground, and yielded fruit,
some a hundredfold, some sixty.
some thirtv.

9. He that hath ears, let
him hear.

10. And the disciples came,
and said unto him: Why
speakest thou unto them in
parables?

11. And he answered and
said unto them: Unto you it
is given to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of Heaven, but
to them it is not given.

12. For whosoever hath, to
him shall be given, and he
shall have abundance: but
whosoever hath not, from him
shall be taken away even that
which he hath.

5. And other ell on the
rocky ground, where it had not
much earth; and straightway
it sprang up, because it had no
deepness of earth:

6. And when the sun was
risen, it was scorched; and be
cause it had no root, it with
ered away.

7. And other fell among
the thorns, and the thorns
grew up, and choked it, and it
yielded no fruit.

3. And others fell into the
good ground, and yielded fruit
growing up and increasing
and brought forth, thirtyfold,
and sixtyfold, and a hundred
fold.

9. And he said: Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear.

10. And when he was alone,
they that were about him with
the twelve asked of him the
parables.

11. And he said unto them:
Unto you is given the mystery
of the kingdom of God: but
unto them that are without,
all things are done in par
ables:

12. That seeing they may
see, and not perceive; and
hearing they may hear, and
not understand; lest haply
they should turn again, and it
should be forgiven them.

I speak to 13. And he saith unto
them in parables; because see- them: Know ye not this par-

1 3 . Therefore

MATT. XIII. 123; MARK IV. 125

375

ing they see not, and hearing
they hear not, neither do they
understand.

14. And unto them is ful
filled the prophecy of Isaiah,
which saith: By hearing ye
shall hear, and shall in no wise
understand; and seeing ye
shall in no wise perceive:

15. For this people s heart
is waxed gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing, and their
eyes they have closed; lest
haply they should perceive
with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with
their heart, and should turn
again, and I should heal them.

1 6. But blessed are your
eyes, for they see; and your
ears, for they hear.

17. For verily I say unto
you, that many prophets and
righteous men desired to see
the things which ye see, and
saw them not; and to hear
the things which ye hear, and
heard them not.

1 8. Hear then ye the par
able of the sower.

19. "When any one heareth
the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not, then
cometh the evil one, and
snatcheth away that which
hath been sown in his heart.
This is he that was sown by
the way side.

20. And he that was sown
upon the rocky places, this is

able? and how shall ye know
all the parables?

14. The sower soweth the
word.

15. And these are they by
the way side, where the word
is sown; and when they have
heard, straightway cometh
Satan, and taketh away the
word which hath been sown in
them.

1 6. And these in like man
ner are they that are sown

376

MATT. XIII. i 23; MARK IV. 125

he that heareth the \vord, and
straightway with joy receiv-
eth it;

21. Yet he hath not root
in himself, but endureth for a
while ; and when tribulation
or persecution ariseth because
of the word, straightway he
stumbleth.

22. And he that was sown
among the thorns, this is he
that heareth the word; and the
care of the world, and the de-
ceitfulness of riches, choke the
word, and he becometh un
fruitful.

23. And he that was sown
upon the good ground, this i&gt;
he that heareth the word, and
understandeth it; who verily
beareth fruit, and bringeth
forth, some a hundredfold,
some sixtv. some thirty.

upon the rocky places, who,
when they have heard the
word, straightway receive it
with joy;

17. And they have no root
in themselves, but endure for
a while; then, when tribula
tion or persecution ariseth be
cause of the word, straightway
they stumble.

iS. And others are they

that are sown among the

thorns; these are they that
have heard the word.

19. And the cares of the
world, and the deceitfulness
of riches, and the lusts of other
things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruit
ful.

20. And those are the} that
were sown upon the good
ground; such as hear the word,
and accept it, and bear fruit,
thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a
hundredfold.

21. And he said unto them;
Is the lamp brought to be put
under the bushel, or under the
bed, and not to be put on the
stand?

22. For there is nothing
hid, save that it should be
manifested; neither was any
thing made secret, but that it
should come to light.

23. If any man hath ears
to hear, let him hear.

LUKE VIII. i 18

377

24. And he said unto them:
Take heed what ye hear: with
what measure ye measure, it
shall be measured unto you:
and more shall be given
unto you.

25. For he that hath, to
him shall be given: and he
that hath not, from him shall
be taken away even that which
he hath.

LUKE VIII. i 18.

i. And it came to pass i, Kxl eysvrro Iv TW y.aOscf^,

soon afterwards, that he went xal ajTo? ccwssjsv /.XT a TTOAIV y.al

about through cities and vil- y.w^v, /.YJOUWV y.xc sJxyycXc^o-

lages, preaching and bringing u-svo?, TT ( V ^xcriXsj xv TOJ 0soG, y.al

the good tidings of the king- oi ciocsy.a -jv XJTOX
dom of God, and with him the
twelve,

2. Kxl

TIVS-, a

And certain women

who had been healed of evil T0e pores U|Jievat drb TVSJ^CZTWV zo-
spirits and infirmities, Mary vqpwv xal ajOsvsiwv, Mapfa, T;
that was called Magdalene, y.a/.ojuisvY; MayoaAYjvrj, dcp ^q
from whom seven devils had
gone out,

ca .j.v.a a

3. And Joanna the wife of 3- Kxl lojavva, yuvf,

Chuza, Herod s steward, and ITCITPOTCOU Hpwcoj, xal Soujavva,

Susanna, and many others, "/! T=pat zo/.Aaf, a cTtvs

who ministered unto them of a^Totq dr:b 7tl&gt;v U7:apx6v:wv
their substance.

4- SimovTOc; C o/Xou xoXXou,

^wv y.a-a zoXtv IxtTroc
?b; airov, slrsv oti T

4. And when a great mul-
titude came together, and they
of every city resorted unto him,
he spoke by a parable:

5. The sower went forth to 5. E;f,XOev 6 crzstpojv TOJ j^si-
sow his seed: and as he sowed, pxt TOV axdpov a jToiJ, y.al ev TGJ
some fell by the way side; and -Tcfpstv CXJTOV, a jxev ITS-SV Trapi

LUKE VIII. i 18

it was trodden under foot, and TT;V 6:ov, /.:

the birds of the heaven de- -T .vi TO j &gt;,
voxnxd it.

6. And other fell on the 6 - K*!
rock; and as soon as it t, r rew, -Tpav, y.al
it withered away, because it M r /- :v }

had no moisture.

7. And other fell amidst ~. \\-j.\
the th.orns; and the thorns TWV sr/.avOo
ijrew with it, and choked it. iy.av la: a-

8. And other fell into the S. \\z\
L;OI id ground, and ^ r rev,\ and 7v/ TV/ 27:
brought forth fruit a hundred- y.xp-ov r/.a-
fold. As he said these things, Ar;&lt;ov, ;&lt;, &gt;/;
he cried: He that hath ears E:V , ix.o JETD.
to hear, let him hear.

9. And his disciples asked &lt;). K-TJCI. ITOJV :E aJTV/ oi JLX-
him what this parable mi^ht be. Ir-z: a^TOJ: Tl; aJ T^ :^ -a:acoAr r

10. And he said: Unto 10. () :s :-/: Vj.iv ::oTac
you it is L, r iven to know the 7 /o)va . Ti j. J rTr,c &gt; .a TT; :a: .A:a;
mysteries of the kingdom of "o^ (-^o^, TO:; : AO:T:O!; v -apa-
God: but to the rest in par- co&gt;.a ; .c, r/a I :AS-OVT; af, p/J-for .v,
ables; that seeing they may / * i /.OJOV7^ J.Y; rjv.cor .v.

not see. and hearing they may
not understand.

11. Xow th.e parable is tins: 11. "ErT-.v C ^ J T^ T; -apaco/.r, :
The seed is the word of (iod. &lt; ) ;-o :o~ TT:V o A07o; TOJ WEOJ.

12. And those by the way 12. ( )i ;? -aci TT,V o:ov :r;v
side are they that have heard; oi iy.o JTXVTE;, SITX izyz-y. . o i .i-
then comc th the devil, and COAOC, /.a: a : p: TOV Ao 7ov a~o TT ( ;
taketh away the word from y.-j.zz :-j.z XJTOJV, Vvz ar ( --.TTS J:avT-r
their heart, that they may not roiOojr-.v.

believe and be saved.

13. And those on the rock : ~ ; T ^ ~"p^-;, o:
are they which, when they OTav ^^oj^or-.v, j.Ta 7.202; :"/ov-
have heard, receive the word "^ TV/ / -", ov y - ;z - ^-"^ ? -^2v ojy.
with joy; and these have no "/.oj .v, o: -co; y.x-.cov --.rTE^ojr .v
root, who for a while be- 7 - a V / - X ? : J "E-.CX^ J.OJ -j.z .z~^-y. ..
lieve, and in time of tempta
tion fall awav.

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 379

14. To c et&lt;;7a&lt;; ay.avOa; ZSJGV,
ouTot t"tv ot axouaavTe?, y.at

VWV TO J ^tO J ZOpSUO flSVOt " JU~vf-
YOVTat, /.at OJ TA COCOJ~tV.

15. Tb V TY) y.aAY] yf), OJTOi

;iv o tTtvq V /.apcta y.aAY] y.at
a0Y] ay.oj"avT; TOV Aoyov y.yr.krf^-
7tv, y.at y.aczovoco j"tv iv :

1 6. O JCcl; ce AJ-/VOV
Aj^TS . aJToy -y.s jst, TJ j
lvrv TtOr .v XAA s-1

14. And that which fell
among the thorns, these are
they that have heard, and as
they go on their way they are
choked with cares and riches
and pleasures of this life, and
bring no fruit to perfection.

15. And that in the good
ground, these are such as in an
honest and good heart, having
heard the word, hold it fast,
and bring forth fruit with
patience.

1 6. And no man, when he
hath lighted a lamp, covereth
it with a vessel, or putteth it
under a bed; but putteth it on
a stand, that they who enter
in may see the light.

17. For nothing is hid, that
shall not be made manifest;
nor anything secret, that shall
not be known and come to
light.

1 8. Take heed therefore
how ye hear: for whosoever
hath, to him shall be given;
and whosoever hath not, from
him shall be taken away even
that which he thinketh he
hath.

In all the Greek codices except B, we find the preposition
ex or a-n-o before T?}? olxiai in the first verse of Matthew.
In the second verse of the same, we find the article TO before
-rrXolov in many codices, but it is omitted by N, B, C, L, and Z.

In Verse four, B is the only uncial codex that has e\0ovra,
the others have rj\6ov. In this same verse E*, K, M, II, et al.
add ovpavov, which is followed by the Vulgate, the Syriac of
Cureton, the Armenian and the Ethiopian versions.

17. OJ

oJ savspbv
y.pu:;ov, o
cpavepbv s/v6

yap esTi

d::6-

18.

TrsTi ov zw;

oq av yip s yj),

au-rw, y.at

y.at o coy.st

380 MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18

In the sixth verse Tischendorf, Westcott, and Hort read

eKav/JLariaOrj instead of eKavn-a-rutOri,

Many authorities add CLKOVZLV in the ninth verse, but it is
omitted by N, B, L, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort.

In the fourteenth verse E, F, G, M, U, V, F, et ah have
aKovarjre and /SXei/r^re.

In the eighteenth verse, B has cnreipav-os , but most of the
codices have (nreipovro^ . In Verse twenty-two the greater
number of codices add TOVTOV after aiwvos. In Verse twenty-
three ^, B, and D, have awieis : the other codices have crwiwv.

In the fourth verso of Mark, D, G, and M add TOV oupavov.
In Verse six ^ and D have ra TrerpiaBrj. In Verse eleven,
yvayvai is omitted in N, B, C*, L, A, K, n, et al. At the end
of Verse twelve, TO. a^ap-n ^ara is added in A, D, A, n,etal.
Such reading is followed by the Vulgate, Syriac and Coptic
versions. In the twentieth verse, Tischendorf approves ev
before Tpidtfovra, t^rjKovTa, and efcardv on the authority of
E, F, G, H, K, M. U, V, and n. Other authorities read ?,
and others read ev. In the twenty-second verse ri is inserted
before Kpv-rrrov in N, A, C, E, F, G. L, S, V, and A. It is
omitted in B, D, H, K, M, U, et al. In the same verse, we find
eav fj.rj iva in ^, B, and A. In others the reading o tav ^
exists. At the end of this verse many codices have ei&
favtpov \@T) \vhere B has (jxusepwdy .

In the third verse of St. Luke, the great majority of the
codices have the plural aurols after SLTIKOVOW. ^, A, L, M, X,
and n have avrw.

The years of our Lord s public life were an active career of
preaching. He did not wait for the people to come to him, but
went out through the cities and villages, that is to say, wherever
the people were to be found; and he taught them the great
doctrine of the New Testament, and confirmed his teaching by
miracles. At this time the twelve Apostles accompanied him,
and they trusted the providence of God to provide for them the
necessaries of life.

Maintenance was at this time provided by certain pious
women who went with the company of our Lord and his
Apostles throughout Galilee. By this tenor of life the Lord
gives evidence that "though he was rich, yet for our sakes he

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 381

became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich."
II. Cor. VIII. 9. He also spared the poor people of the
small villages the expense of entertaining him and his followers,
and gave to these good w r omen an occasion to practise a great
act of charity. The custom of allowing women to minister to
their needs was afterwards employed by many of the Apostles,
although Paul dispensed with such service. I. Cor. IX. 5.

St. Luke mentions three of these pious women, Mary
Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuza, and Susanna. Of
Susanna \ve know T nothing more than this bare mention.
Joanna the wife of Chuza is mentioned again by St. Luke,
XXIV. 10, as being one of the women who followed Jesus out
of Galilee, and who was one of the witnesses of the Resurrec
tion. It has been conjectured by Schegg and Godet that
Chuza was the officer of Herod Antipas, whose son Jesus healed
at Capharnaum. Nothing certain is known. It is evident
that she was a woman of high social station, and she was
pleased to devote a part of her means to provide for Jesus and
his Apostles during their career of preaching.

Much more interest centers in the first woman mentioned
by Luke, Mary that was called Magdalene.

The surname Magdalene given to this woman undoubtedly
comes from her residence in Magdala, a small hamlet on the
western shore of the Lake of Gennesaret. The ruins of the
small village are now called El-Medjdel. See A Diary of My
Life in the Holy Land.

In the Latin Church, Mary Magdalene is identified with
the woman who had been a sinner, and who anointed our
Lord s feet as he sat at meat in the house of Simon the Pharisee.
The same traditional opinion makes her also the sister of
Martha and Lazarus of Bethany. The Roman Breviary
assigns the Gospel of Luke concerning the event in the house of
Simon the Pharisee, to be read on the feast of Mary Magdalene,
and Augustine s homily thereon endorses fully that persuasion.
On the feast of Martha, we read that Martha, Mary, Lazarus,
and many other Christians were seized by the Jews, and placed
in a ship without sails or oars, and committed to the mercy of
the waves of the Mediterranean . By a miracle of divine power,
they came safely to Marseilles, and Lazarus became bishop

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18

of that city. The account declares that Mary \vithdre\v into
the desert where she lived a holy life of contemplation for more
than thirty years. Marseilles claims to have her relics. This
account is approved by the Roman Martyrology, and by John
Sollerius in the Acta Sanctorum (Ad diem 22 Julii).

Now in order that we may enter with proper dispositions
of mind into the discussion of this question, we must first
premise that the question in nowise pertains to any matter of
faith or morals. It is a mere matter of biographical history.
The Breviary and Martyrology in these matters of history are
not infallible, and should be subjected to the same critical tests
as other historical records. The prayers of the Breviary and
Missal in honor of saints are based upon the historical accounts
of the two books, and add nothing to the authority of such
accounts. Hence the consensus of Fathers and doctors in the
Church, if such were verified, in such questions as these avails
only what their documents and proofs are worth.

The great consensus of opinion, in the Western Church is
to make Mary Magdalene the converted sinner, and identify
her with the sister of Lazarus. But such unanimity by no
means exists in the Greek Church. The learned Bollandist
Sollerius is forced t&lt;&gt; admit that many Greek writers deny the
Western tradition, and they assert that after the death ot
Jesus, Mary Magdalene came to Ephesus and lived with St.
John. In questions of Holy Scripture there is no Father in the
Universal Church of Christ that is possessed of the critical
acumen and sound judgment of Chrysostom, and he declares in
his eighty-first homily on Matthew that the sister of Lazarus is
distinct from the sinner who anointed the feet of Jesus in the
house of Simon the Pharisee.

The best opinion in all tradition seems to be that of Theo-
phylactus: "Many inquire how many women anointed our
Lord with ointment. Some say there were two; one who is
mentioned by John, who was the sister of Lazarus, and another
mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I believe with those
who assert that there were three: one who was the sister of
Lazarus, and who is mentioned by St. John; another who
anointed our Lord two days before the Pasch, mentioned by
Matthew and Mark; and this third one, whose anointing of

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 383

Jesus is mentioned by Luke." Acta Sanct. V. Julii. This was
also the opinion of Origen, and it is the common opinion of the
Greek menologies.

We have cited these authorities to show that there is no
real consensus of Catholic tradition on the subject, and that the
field is open for critical research.

We shall not at this time finish the question of Mary
Magdalene. Later on, when dealing with the events of Jesus
life at Bethany, we shall examine the question whether or not
the Magdalene be the sister of Lazarus and Martha ; but in the
treatment of the present text, we have in mind to prove two
things :

1. We believe that Mary Magdalene is not the woman
mentioned in Luke, VII. 37.

2. We believe that there is no valid evidence in the
Scriptures that Mary Magdalene was a woman of sin, before her
conversion to the Lord.

The second proposition is new and strange; but a close,
conscientious examination of the data of the Scriptures per
suades us that the popular idea of this woman is erroneous.

The defense of the first proposition is easier. We have
seen that our opinion in this proposition is held by Theophy-
lactus and Origen; and, in fact, that it is the common opinion
in the Greek Church. A valid argument in support of it can be
drawn from the text of Luke itself. Luke wrote in the days
when Magdalene was famous on account of the events con
nected with Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre. Now it seems
incredible that Luke should omit to mention the name of the
chief actor in the great event in the house of the Pharisee, if
she had been Mary Magdalene. Certain it is that a woman,
who had been so closely associated with the Blessed Virgin
Mary and St. John at the foot of the cross, and who had been
so highly favored by the risen Lord, would be personally known
to the accurate historian Luke, who of all the Evangelists is
most careful to mention every historical fact and detail that
will make the account fuller and more credible. Such a man
would not pass over in silence the identity of the actor in such
an important event, had it been a woman who plays such an
important part as that of Magdalene in the New Testament.

,^8 4 MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18

And when we turn to examine the proofs of our opponents, not
a shred of any proof exists, except a mass of the sayings of
men, who repeat what others have said before them without
any critical examination thereof.

But the first proposition which we have above laid down
will be corroborated by our defense of the second.

We confess a certain feeling of timidity and sadness in
setting out to overthrow an opinion which we learned in our
childhood, which has formed the theme of moralists and paint
ers for centuries, and which seems to have held undisputed
possession in the Latin Church from time immemorial. But as
the surge&lt; &gt;n must not be restrained by sentiment from probing
a wound, or cutting off a diseased member, so we must enter
upon a calm, dispassionate examination of this celebrated case.

The first proof in support of our opinion is from the
Scriptures, anil can be enunciated as follows: There is no
passage in the Holy Scriptures that asserts or implies that
Mary Magdalene was ever a woman of sin. We take for
granted that the passage in Luke relating to the woman who
anointed the feet of Jesus be excluded ; for there is absolutely
no evidence to prove that the Magdalene be that woman ; and
there is a valid argument which we have already adduced
against it. Having excluded that text, the only texts that
could with any show of probability be adduced against our
position is the text of Luke VIII. 2, wherein it is stated that
seven devils had gone out of Magdalene, and the text of Mark,
XVI. 9.

Of course, it is not our intention to prove that Mary
Magdalene was absolutely sinless. She was a sinner in that
general sense in which we are all sinners ; but it is our intent to
prove that she was not that immoral woman, that famous
converted harlot that tradition has made her.

The text of Luke asserts that seven devils had gone out of
her, and the text of Mark asserts that Jesus cast these seven
devils out of her. The advocates of the opposite opinion be
lieve that the residence of those seven evil spirits in the woman
indicates a condition of great sinfulness, and this is the only
real basis of the almost universal popular persuasion concerning
this woman.

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. i-iS 385

Now it is true that in Matthew XII. 43, and Luke XL 24,
Christ speaks of the going out of the unclean spirit out of a
man, when he means the man s conversion from sin; but we
believe from the context in the passages relating to Mary
Magdalene that the going out of the devils from her denotes her
liberation, not from great sin, but from demoniacal possession.
In fact, the text of Luke clearly affirms this. It is therein
stated that the women who followed Jesus had been healed of
evil spirits and infirmities. Certainly to be healed of an evil
spirit means to be delivered from demoniacal possession. But
Luke continuing in the same place, specifies some of those very
women, and among these is Mary Magdalene. Even Knaben-
bauer admits that from this text of Luke no certain argument
can be drawn for the traditional opinion of the Magdalene s
antecedent sinful life. But the text of Mark must be inter
preted in the light of the clearer text of Luke ; and hence every
Scriptural support is taken from the aforesaid traditional
opinion.

When we turn to examine the traditional data in favor of
the opinion which we are endeavoring to refute, w r e grant that
the tradition is strong in the West. The tradition also in the
Greek Church, through it differs from the Latin tradition in
some points of the history, is quite consentient in regard to the
sinful character of the Magdalene s life before her conversion.

However we find a fine testimony in support of our thesis
in the First Homily of Saint Modestus, abbot of the Monastery
of St. Theodosius, and afterward Patriarch of Jerusalem in 632,
A. D. This testimony is cited by Photius, and is as follows:
"Rightly therefore did the Lord elect Magdalene, out of whom
he had cast seven devils, that he might by her expel the prince
of sin from men. History says that this Magdalene, out of
whom the Lord cast seven devils, was a virgin ; and her martyr
dom is recorded, wherein it is said that on account of her
virginity and eminent purity she appeared to her executioners
like pure crystal. After the death of Our Blessed Lady, the
Mother of God, Magdalene went to Ephesus to the beloved
disciple, where she finished her apostolic career by martyrdom.
To her last breath she would not be separated from John the

(25) Gosp. II.

386 MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. i-iS

Evangelist and Virgin." Acta Sanct. 1. c. Though this testi
mony stands alone, it outweighs the authority of many Latin
writers. It is the testimony of a prudent, able, and holy man,
who was conversant with the traditions of Jerusalem where
the tradition regarding the Magdalene would be more accu
rately preserved than in the West. It is a painful fact that
many of the Western Fathers readily accepted many incredible
legends, simply because they formed apt illustrations of moral
doctrine. Now the theme of a repentant harlot, meriting by
her sincere repentance such singular marks of love as those
bestowed on Magdalene, readily appealed to Christian senti
ment, and large use was made of it in moral treatises, without
ever examining on what basis it stood. There was no point of
doctrine or morals at stake, hence the infallible magisterium of
the Church could not be invoked to safeguard the current of
popular opinion in this matter: no one questioned the legend,
and so it has stood to this day.

Now in justice to the truth of history, and in justice to the
common rights of humanity, no woman, even though she may
have lived two thousand years ago, should be represented as
ha vine been at anv time immoral, unless there be adequate

and certain proofs to support the charge. Of course, such
false persuasion does not affect the glory and happiness of the
saint in Heaven, for the glory of the saints is not dependent on
the opinions of earth. They are honored, and have a right to
be honored, by us, but this communion of saints is not of such
nature that an erroneous persuasion of mortals would rob a
saint of any degree of glory that is the saint s due. But the
cause of truth and justice among men demands that we impute
no such grave charge to any human being without sufficient
warrant. And what is the basis upon which the popular
conception of the Magdalene rests? A confessedly erroneous
exegesis of the text of Luke, a baseless conjecture that Mary
Magdalene is the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus in
Simon the Pharisee s house, and the opinions of men who never
examined the question ex profcsso, and who cite no authority
for their opinions. Even the learned Sollerius, who certainly
makes a strong presentation of the data in favor of the tradi
tional opinion, really has nothing but the obiter dicta of the

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 387

Fathers, the pronouncement of the Sorbonne, and the legends
of the French writers, who argue in the affair after the manner
of Cicero pro domo sua. Any jury of just men, after hearing
both sides of the evidence in a case like that of Magdalene,
would render a verdict of acquittal without leaving the
jury-box.

It might be asked: "Why would God permit that such a
false and injurious persuasion should exist in the minds of the
Christian people for so many ages?" It seems that God leaves
the world much to its own resources in the matter of history
and biography. The Church has ever paid her honor to
Magdalene as a saint, and God did not deem it necessary to
work a miracle to correct the critical error which confounded
her with the woman of sin in the house of Simon the Pharisee.

No man could rightly attack any matter pertaining to
faith or morals which was so widely believed by the Christian
people ; but the identity of the Magdalene is a matter of critical
history, and must be decided independently of the infallible
magisterium of the Church.

We believe that another proof of our thesis is the fact
that, in all the history of the Magdalene recorded in the holy
Scriptures, there is never a mention of her sinfulness, or of her
repentance. There is mention of her love, of her fidelity, of
Jesus love for her; but not an intimation that she had ever
been a fallen woman. Moreover the part that Mary Magdalene
takes in the great events in the Gospel does not comport well
with the idea that she had formerly been a public sinner. The
sin of which tradition makes Magdalene guilty is that peculiar
sin of woman, that, even after it is forgiven, will bring a blush
of shame to the woman s cheek. It is true, by the grace of God
such a degree of penitential love is possible that the sin would
be completely obliterated; but such repentance does not
obliterate its remembrance among men. It seems that the
woman, whose shame the people of Jerusalem knew, could
scarcely with propriety follow Jesus as an inseparable com
panion, minister to his needs, and to the needs of the Apostles,
occupy the position of Magdalene in the events of the execution
of the death sentence, and finally figure in that wonderful
interview recorded by the Evangelists between the risen Lord

3 88 MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18

and Magdalene. It would seem that a repentance, such as that
of the popular Magdalene is supposed to have been, would
move her to a certain retirement away from the eyes of men who
were witnesses of her shame.

\Ve adduce this last reflection with a certain degree of
timidity. G&lt; )d knows best what is fitting in all these matters ;
and if it were clearly proven that the Magdalene were a con
verted harlot, we would, with willing heart, acknowledge that
her conduct was guided by a wisdom higher than ours; but in
defect of any such certainty, it seems not irreverent to make
use of such consideration to still more exalt the glory of one of
the saints of God. We believe therefore that from a sober
consideration of the available data, it appears that the Mag
dalene was not a converted harlot, but a healed demoniac,
who in gratitude followed the Lord, even till he arose from

the dead.

This question will be examined more fully in the course

of this work.

We have now to deal with the parable proper, and the
treatment will be easy, for the Lord himself has made the moral
application of it to human life.

Capharnaum was the center of Jesus Galilean ministry.
Capharnaum was built on the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret.
On a certain day Jesus went forth from his abode in Caphar
naum, and walked down by the lakeside. A large multitude
was soon gathered about him, so that the press of the crowd
made speaking difficult. Jesus therefore entered into a small
boat, and sat down. The people arranged themselves along
the shore of the lake, and then Jesus taught them his doctrine
by means of various parables, the first of which is the parable
of the sower. This parable powerfully illustrates the com
bination of causes which effect the ruin or the success of man s
eternal life. The parables of the New Testament are brief
narratives founded on real scenes and events such as occur in
nature, and human life, each having a moral or religious
application.

To understand the event in human life on which this
parable is founded, let us go back in spirit to the primitive
methods of agriculture that existed in the days of the Lord.

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 389

There were in those days no grain-drills, but the seed was sown
broadcast by the hand of man on the field, and covered by sub
sequent plowing. Let us stand in spirit by the side of the
ideal field upon which the sower of the parable is operating.
It borders upon the highway, and is not divided from the road
by any obstruction. The sower fills a sack, which hangs sus
pended from his shoulder, with grain and walks in a straight
line through the field scattering the grain in a uniform manner
over a certain narrow strip of land by the sweep of his hand.
Now as he approaches any road which borders, or intersects the
field, the shower of grain cast by his hand laps over, and a
portion of it falls on the hard bed of the beaten road. The
portion of the grain thus falling is trodden under foot by those
who pass, the plow does not cover it, and hence it is readily
found by the wild birds, and devoured by them. Again, in
such a field there are certain parts where the surface rock is
covered with a shallow covering of soil. The sower scatters the
grain with a uniform movement, and hence certain portions of
it fall on these parts where the rock is but merely hidden by the
soil. There is scarcely enough of soil for the plow to cover
the grain, and hence not having much earth to penetrate, the
blade soon appears, for the fitting conditions for germination
are all present. But when the plant begins to thrust down its
roots it encounters the hard rock, and the plant withers away
for defect of soil.

In another portion of the field the grain falls from the
sower s hand on ground having depth of soil, and fertility but
in that soil lie hidden the seeds of the thistle. The same causes
effect the germination of the grain and of the thistles ; but these
latter being of ranker growth soon choke the growing grain.
We who live in a more temperate clime, have but a faint idea
of the rank growth of the Oriental thistle, but suffice it to say
that where it obtains full sway it would render the profitable
growth of any cereal an impossibility.

And finally some grain falls from the sower s hand on good
ground, and this grows to perfection, and yields a good harvest ;
but even here there are various degrees of perfection : some of
the ground yields thirty measures for one measure sown ; other
parts yield sixty; and still other parts a hundred.

390

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18

It may seem to some incredible that a hundred bushels of
grain could be obtained from the sowing of one ; but in Genesis,
XXVI. 12, it is stated that Isaac sowed in the land of Gerar,
and obtained in the same year a hundredfold.

Of course, under ordinary circumstances the portion of the
grain that would be lost on unprofitable soil would be much
less than the part that would fall upon good ground, but this
proportion has nothing to do with the relative numbers of the
good and the bad members of humanity.

o "

Jesus next calls attention to the very great importance of
the doctrine here pn &gt;mulgated in the customary formula : "He
that hath ears to hear let him hear."

Up to this time the Lord had not made large use of the
parable in his teachings. The Sermon on the Mount is made
up of plain precepts not involved in any allegorical setting.
But now there was need that he should speak more clearly
of his kingdom. This kingdom should not be perfectly estab
lished until after Christ s death and resurrection, and it could
not be understood fully till after that event. Hence a certain
portion of Christ s doctrine must be delivered to the world in
the form of alleg &gt;ries, which his Apostles and his Church would
afterwards xeplain to the generations of men. The necessity
of thus concealing these mysteries existed especially on
account of the character of the Jewish people.

The Apostles are surprised at the change in the methods of
the Master, and when they are alone with him, they ask him
why he employs the parable in his teaching of the people.

In answering their question, Jesus makes use of a prophecy
of Isaiah. Wherefore we shall first examine what was the sense
of the original prophecy, and then endeavor to see what is its
present application.

The prophecy exists in Isaiah VI. 9, 10, and reads as
follows in the original: "And he said: Go, and tell this
people: Hear ye continually, but understand not; and see ye
continually, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people
fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes : lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart
understand, and they turn again, and be healed."

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 391

Besides the passages in the Gospels under treatment, the
Isaianic prophecy is employed in Acts XXVIII. 26, and by
Paul in the Epistle to the Romans XI. 8, to describe God s
attitude towards the Jewish people . Hence it is important that
we should, as far as possible, determine the exact import of the
prophecy.

In the first place, it describes the degenerate character of
the Jewish people, and secondly, it announces God s treatment
of such apostate people. We are aided to an understanding of
the passage under consideration by comparing it with Isaiah
II. 6, 8: "For thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of
Jacob, because they are filled with soothsayers like the Philis
tines, and they make covenants with the children of aliens.
. . . Their land also is full of idols ; they worship the work of
their own hands, that which their own ringers have made."
The Jews became thus degenerate by an abuse of God s favors
to them. They were blessed by Yahveh above all the other
peoples of the earth. Their prophets were the clear oracles of
the living God. The Most High fought their battles, and
blessed their fields. But in basest ingratitude they turned
away from Yahveh, and preferred the false gods of the
heathens. And then God in punishment of their impiety
turned aAvay from them, or more properly from the reprobate
portion, and permitted a certain awful blindness of the heart,
which has characterized this people ever since. This is what
is meant when the prophet is bidden make the heart of the
people fat, and shut their eyes. The words of the prophecy are
not to be interpreted too literally. It is not affirmed that God
positively by direct causality produced that blindness of heart
and spiritual insensibility. God is never the direct cause of any
such effect. But when a creature has maliciously, and perti
naciously abused God s grace, God permits what St. Paul calls
[Rom. XL 8] a spirit of stupor to fix itself on the soul, and
then the message of God is not understood or loved by such a
soul. The imperative mood used by the prophet: "Hear ye,
and understand not," is a forcible way of asserting that such
fact will be verified in the history of the people. It is a fre
quent form of prophetic diction to express some certain future
fact by the employment of the imperative mood. In Acts

392 MATT. XIII. 1-25; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. i-iS

XXVIII. 26, Paul employs the prophecy of Isaiah, and he uses
the future tense instead of the imperative, conclusively indi
cating thereby that the message of God to Isaiah, though
expressed in the imperative mood, means the verification of
a future event \vhichGodforesa\vandpermitted.

In like manner, when God bids the prophet: "Make the
heart of this people fat, and make their cars heavy, and shut
their eyes," it is equivalent to the saying: "Announce to this
people, that as they have al &gt;used my grace, I will now withdraw
my Spirit from them, so that a spiritual blindness shall come
upon them, in such a manner that they shall see my works and
hear my words, but they will not receive the great lesson which
these works and words are intended to convey. They will not
have understanding of these, because they have rejected the
light, and the light is consequently withdrawn from them, and
they are left in the darkness, which they have chosen instead of
the light." There is a fearful signification in the antithetical
affirmations of the prophet Isaiah: "Hear, but understand
not ; see. but perceive not." They represent the state of a man
who has before him the evidences of religion, but whose soul is
in such a state of spiritual insensibility that it regards these
evidences with a blank stare.

The closing words of the prophecy do not signify that
God is unwilling that the healing of his people should be effected
but the words den&lt; &gt;te the nature of the effect which the spiritual
condition of Israel prevented from being wrought.

The Lord quotes the prophecy not literally, but in sub
stance. It is evident that the pr&lt; &gt;phet did not refer specifically
to the times of the Messiah in predicting God s attitude towards
Israel. Neither does the Lord, in asserting that the prophecy
of Isaiah is fulfilled, imply such fact. Isaiah spoke of condi
tions which existed in his own time, and which conditions
revealed the perverse character of the Jewish people, and Jesus
simply says: "That which was verified in the days of Isaiah
respecting your hard-hearted resistance of the grace of God, is
verified again in my day, and my treatment of you in conse
quence will be like to that which by the mouth of the Prophet
the God of Israel declared to vou."

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 393

The character of the Jewish people was such, that Jesus
knew that they would not receive the doctrine of the kingdom
of Heaven. They cared naught for a spiritual kingdom. Their
hearts were coarse and dull. They were only prepared to hear
of a worldly kingdom. Wherefore the Lord Jesus adopted by
necessity the plan of delivering his message under such a veil
of mystery that the carnal minded Israel should not penetrate
the meaning; but the teaching of Jesus was of such a nature,
that when his Church should take her place in the world, these
truths would be understood by her and taught to every man.

But the Apostles were not like the rest of Israel. It is
true that they were weak, often slow to believe, and with a
limited grasp of the spiritual world ; but they were not so hard
and faithless as the rest of their race. Hence the Lord Jesus
admitted them into a deeper insight into the great truths of his
kingdom. They were to be the founders of his Church, the
hope of the world ; wherefore he explains the parable to these ;
and they kept the explanation in their hearts, and after the
glorification of the Master, they taught it to the people, and
wrote it for us.

Had the people of Israel been of like disposition, the Lord
would have treated them as he did his chosen band, but the
people of Israel by their unbelieving hearts made it impossible
for Jesus to open up the truths of the kingdom to them. Hence
he consigned the clearest truths of his kingdom in parables, and
gave the key of these to the Apostles and to his Church.

Jesus manner of dealing with the Jewish people and with
his Apostles is illustrated by an aphorism taken from practical
life. It happens that a man places in the hands of certain
stewards certain goods, which they are profitably to employ for
the master s benefit. On the day of reckoning he finds some
who have been exceedingly faithful in advancing his interests,
while others have been unprofitable. Wherefore the master
takes from the unprofitable steward whatever is in his hands,
and gives it into the hands of the one who has earned such trust
by the fidelity with which he has administered the first trust.
This is spoken of as taking from him that hath not, and giving
to him that hath ; for the reason that the unprofitable steward
has no fruits of industry; while the faithful steward has these.

394 MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. i-iS

The seeming paradox of taking from him that hatli not heightens
the force of the expression. It seems to have been an aphorism
among the people ; and Christ employs it here to describe the
character of God s retribution of man s work. It was true in its
application to the Jews. God gave them a rich inheritance,
and they as a pe&lt; &gt;ple gave him no returns. We need not rely on
human opinions to assert this: listen to Isaiah: "My well-be
loved had a vineyard in a very fertile hill ; and he digged it, and
gathered &lt; &gt;ut the st&lt; &gt;nes there f , and planted it with the choicest
vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a
winepress therein : and he looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhab
itants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge I pray you betwixt
me and my vineyard. \\ hat c&lt; &gt;uld have been done more to my
vineyard that I have n&lt; &gt;t done in it ? Wherefore, when I looked
that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I
will break down the fence thereof, and it shall be trodden down ;
and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed, but there
shall come up briers and thistles; I will also command the
clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the
Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the
plant of his delight." Is. V. 1-7. Behold the crime of Israel,
and its punishment. And the Lord turned from Israel to the
Gentile Church, and the returns have been better.

Though Christ s teaching treats of the deepest mysteries,
it is most simple and clear. It does not explain the mys
teries: for these can not be explained here. But it makes
clear to man the great principles of faith and the law of conduct
in a manner that the rudest mind may understand.

Before the great message received its fulfilment by the
Resurrection of Jesus, there were certain things that were not
understood, not even by the Apostles. The Gospel tells of
many things which were hidden until our Lord rose from the
dead. None of these truths were lost by their temporary ob
scurity. The truths were providentially preserved, and when
the message was complete they were understood and delivered
to us that we might believe and through faith be saved. As in

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18 395

the light that came to the world through the Resurrection we
read the parables of Jesus, w r e can not conceive more fitting
presentations of religious truth. They contain the highest wis
dom uttered in the beautiful simplicity of familiar illustrations.
The lilies of the field, the birds of the air, the rain and the winds
of heaven, the harvest fields, the laborer s wages, the love of
kindred, the leavening of the bread, the shepherd s keeping of
his sheep, the common occupations and customs of the people,
even the housewife s sweeping of the floor, are made to teach
man the high truths of God, and of our destiny. Were the
choice given us, we would not that these parables be changed
for any other method of teaching. And yet they were a sealed
message to the Pharisees. It is a true saying that there are
none so blind as those who will not see. The false hearted
Jews would have rejected Christ s message in any manner in
which he presented it. Christ saw their false hearts, and he
chose a manner of delivering his truths which should readily
be understood by every one w r ho was honest w T ith God, and who
sought the truth, but w r hich would puzzle and confound those
whose souls were false, and who hated the light. God wished
every man to come to a knowledge of the truth, but the per
verted hearts of the Jews repelled the light.

These passages of Holy Writ also establish the nature of
God s judgment of the lives of individuals. God has given
to all of us talents which we are to use in useful spiritual indus
try ; and woe to the one who in the accounting will be found to
have misused his talents!

In the sixteenth verse of Matthew Jesus openly testifies
that the Apostles were accessible to the truths of the kingdom
of Heaven . Their eyes saw and their ears heard ; that is to say,
their souls perceived the nature of the new life with Jesus. Of
course, the, Apostles had not a full grasp of the great new
creation, but they were docile and honest, and Jesus foresaw
the day when they should reform the whole world by the power
of his doctrine. And the Lord proclaims that the Apostles are
indeed happy in receiving from Jesus own lips the great glad
tidings of redemption, of being eye-witnesses of Jesus won
derful works. Ages of patriarchs and prophets had gone
down to death, looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.

396 MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18

As St. Paul says: "These all died in faith, not having received
the promised things, but having seen them and greeted them
afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pil
grims on the earth." Mark the intense joy expressed in the
canticle of Simeon because his eyes had seen the infant Christ
\vhn was burn t&lt;&gt; redeem the world. An equal desire and hope
were entertained by the holy men of Israel, but the fulfilment
was deferred. And now that hoped-for Messiah was with the
Apostles, their leader, their teacher, their friend. And they
were allowed to come very close to him, to live with him, and
to become filled with his doctrine from close personal associa
tion. Certainly the Apostles were blessed in such a great gift
of God.

And not only they, but the whole world was blessed by
that event. Even the m&lt; &gt;st appreciative &lt; &gt;f the si &gt;ns of men will
never fully realize the greatness &lt; &gt;f God s gift to humanity when
he sent his Son to redeem the world. How closely humanity
is bound to its Creator in the fact that a human nature and the
infinite nature of the Deity are united in one person, who
walked our eartli and lived among us!

From the tenth verse of Mark we learn that some of Jesus
disciples were with the twelve Apostles when they obtained
from Jesus the explanation of the parable of the sower.

The thirteenth verse of Mark docs not really contain any
chiding of the Apostles and of the disciples by Jesus. The
parable of the sower is in reality easy to understand. There
are many tilings in the teaching of Jesus more difficult to under
stand. And the Apostles were to receive the whole doctrine
and teach it to others. Hence Jesus in the present interroga
tions calls the attention of the Apostles to their weakness in
comparison with the greatness of the communication of divine
truth that he was about to give the world. Wherefore the
remark of Jesus was intended to move the Apostles to a realiza
tion of their natural insufficiency, in order that they might seek
aid from God in the great commission given to them.

\Ve come now to the explanation of the parable proper.
Here our task will be easy, since the Lord has himself fully
explained the same. We shall therefore only endeavor to
describe those who, in our own days, correspond to the several
classes mentioned in the parable.

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. i-iS 397

The class represented by the seed which fell by the way
side are those whose souls are not receptive of the truths of the
kingdom of Heaven. They give no time or thought to such
matters; they are occupied with other matters. The seed,
which is the doctrine of Christianity, can not enter into the
hard soil of their souls. They occupy their time with employ
ments, business, social pleasures, the enjoyment of the present
order of things. They may not have formally rejected Christ,
but neither have they formally accepted him. Perhaps at
times an alarming thought of the swift passage of human life,
and of the unknown beyond steals into their souls, and startles
them for a moment; but it soon gives place to some practical
thought of the world, and the worldly tenor of life is resumed.
These men are all about us ; they fill our streets ; they carry on
the main bulk of the mighty volume of business of our country.
The tact and ability that many of them show in acquiring the
goods of this world are wonderful; but when it comes to the
great questions of eternity, judgment, Heaven, and God, their
minds are a blank. They can not look upon the future life and
the rewards of righteousness as realities. If there were prom
ised them a heaven of grand residences on fashionable streets
with large beautiful lawns in front ; a heaven of fine horses
and carriages and liveried servants ; a heaven of gilt-edged
stocks and bonds, mortgages, bank accounts and lands ; and if
they could see this and see others enjoying such happiness,
O, then they would move with all energy to attain that which
appealed to their senses. But the high nature of the kingdom
promised by Christ has no attractiveness for an unspiritual
man. He lacks the temper of mind to appreciate such a state
of life. His tastes are w r orldly. The thought of leaving this
world even for Heaven is not a pleasing hope. In the great
human comedy, it is grimly amusing to see the care and the fore
thought and the labor that these poor worldlings put into their
worldly affairs. How they count their profits with intense
satisfaction! And we must not understand that only the rich
belong to this class. It is made up of all the ranks of life; a
mighty host of unreflecting, foolish, worldly men, who never
think of the needs and the destiny of the soul within them
which differentiates them from the brute creation. It is a hard

398 MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18

class to reach with the message of Christ ; for the use they make
of their souls renders them as though they had no soul at all.
Mere ignorance of Christ might be overcome; but with them it
is ignorance combined with a lack of all desire to know the
great message. No force in the mode of presentation will
overcome this deadly torpor. Their souls have shrunk by the
force of their cold, hard lives, and they perish as did the seed
which fell by the wayside.

The next class is represented by the seed which fell upon
the slight covering of soil on the surfaces of the rocks. It is
easy to detect this class. They are superficial, shallow men,
who have not the stability of character to endure the trials and
hardships incident to the Christian life. Unlike the preceding
class, these men are willing to receive Christ. They accept his
law, and for a time show fervor and love of God. But then
the time that tries men s souls comes upon them; the time
when men have need of perseverance ; and then they waver
and fall.

The ordinary Christian life is exposed to many dangers.
The peculiarly irreligious character of popular thought wars
against faith, and exposes the poor Christian to the danger of
unbelief. The force of old vicious habits steals upon him, and
draws him to the old ways of sin. The drift of the world
reaches out, and endeavors to draw him with it. The first
fervor wears away, and the dreary battle of life begins, demand
ing constancy of mind and firmness of purpose; and then the
sentimental part of religion vanishes, and the stern hard reality
of walking in the narrow and difficult path remains. And then
begin the failures. Every man who has had any experience in
apostolic work knows of these sad failures. He has witnessed
the poor penitent at the confessional, drawn thither perhaps
by the occasion of some mission, or other extraordinary means.
He has seen him go forth on the next morning after Holy
Communion, and he has shuddered at the thought of what he
would have to encounter in this sinful world. And too often
he receives the sad news that the history of the man s life is
like to that of the seed sown on the rocky places. Very often
such souls succeed well enough when placed in a helpful en
vironment. They need a prop, the helpful counsel and example

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 399

of others. But if perchance they should be thrown on their
own resources, if the Church be far away or badly adminis
tered ; or if the preaching be poor, then they grow remiss and
drift away.

We are treating the question from a purely Catholic stand
point; for the words of Christ contemplate not many churches,
but one indefectible Church, and these poor superficial souls by
receiving the word for a time, thereby become members of the
Catholic Church. The defect in their lives is a lack of spiritual
resources, a lack of vitality of the spiritual life, the inner life.
There is also a defect of a proper recognition of what the world
really is.

If we were forced to live in a region infected with the most
contagious of diseases, among people whom it was death to
approach, what care we would employ to hold aloof from any
contact with anything infected! How carefully we would
employ every precaution and remedy against the disease!

And behold, our souls are living in a world whose spirit it
is death to imbibe ; a world whose every touch is infectious and
deadly; and yet we love it, and live its life, and our souls are
sick with the fever of the lust of this world. Men are greatly
influenced by the conduct of those around about them, and the
great mass of humanity are going with the world.

Hence it is sad to note that even with people who rank
as good Catholics, their worldly life is much more real and
intense than their spiritual life. You will find them, in fact,
without any perceptible interior life; respectable people, and
fairly correct in routine fulfilment of church obligations, but
with souls enervated by spiritual drought.

Now the natural constitution of our different dispositions
is a thing over which we have no control. One by nature will
have more depth and stability of character than another. Such
natural trait is good, and enables a man to stand firm under
a heavy press of opposition. Hence, since grace perfects
nature, the natural force of character aids a man in his religious
life. In the unequal distribution of natural endowments, some
have received more, and some have received less. It is God s
work, and we cannot question his wisdom and his justice. In
the judgment of human lives, he will take into account what

400 MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18

each one received and what fruits each has gathered. But in
the present treatise, we are solely bent on discoverine what

remedy to propose for the man of shallow, unstable char
acter.

Salvation is not the achievement of natural causes. No
man can do anything good without the grace of God. Hence
the grace of God must be invoked to supply the defect of
natural character. The man who is lacking in force of char
acter must seek aid from God, by persistent prayer. He must
recognize his need, and employ every means to deepen his
spiritual life. And this can be done, and God is ready to do it,
if the proper dispositions are developed in the human soul.
The spiritual life will grow in any soul, if it receives proper
care. This gr&lt; &gt;wth is the deepening &lt; &gt;f the s &gt;il ; and as it deep
ens, tlie seed ilourishes, and the man s life assumes a real
definite religious character.

It must be remarked here that men of naturally deep
resourceful characters may be spiritually shallow and incon
stant. The depth of the soil of a man s soul, in regard to his
religious status, is simply the depth in which his nature has
been penetrated by his religious convictions. And the great
business of life is to make that soil deeper. It is made deeper
by pious reflection, by prayer, real vital prayer, by the frequent
thought oi God, and by the love of God. Nothing will deepen
it more than to withraw from the world for a time, and come
into the temple of God, and there talk with him in real soul-
conversation. There is not enough of this; we are too lousy;
even our attendance at obligatory worship is often merely
official, a part of the feverish unrest of our lives.

What we need therefore is a better development of the
kingdom of God within us, a growth in vital piety, a closer
soul-communion with God, more thought bestowed on what it
really means to be a Christian, a deepening of our spiritual life,
less love of this life and more love of eternal life, so that the
soil of our souls may be deep enough to bear a bounteous
harvest for the Lord.

The next class is represented by the seed which, after it
had sprung up, was choked by the thistles. This class is easy to

MATT. XIII. 1-23 ; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. 1-18 401
recognize in society. They are the men out of whose souls

o -

religion is crowded by the loye of riches and the cares of the
world .

AVe must remark here that the Lord does not intend by the
present parable to classify men in distinct classes ; but only to
describe vividly the different agencies that war against the
spirit. Hence the causes mentioned in this third instance may
produce that hardness of heart described in the first division of
the parable, and they may produce that superficial grasp of
religion mentioned in the second place. Presentations of
moral truth are not to be treated like mathematical formulas.
The Lord only wished to point out some leading characteristics
of men in regard to their religious life, and to give their causes.

AVe have here to deal with men who have made formal
profession of the Christian religion. This formal profession is
indicated by the fact that the seed is received into the ground.
These men also continue in the Church ; for it is not said by the
Evangelists that the plant dies, but, as the very accurate Luke
puts it, they bring no fruit to perfection. Just as we have seen
in fields where the weeds grow thick and rank, the useful plant
is there, but stunted and weak, and devoid of profitable fruit.

The causes which choke the growth of the seed are not
exactly the same in the three Evangelists. Matthew describes
them as " the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches."
Mark calls them "the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of
riches, and the lusts of other tilings." Luke enumerates
"the cares and riches and pleasures cf this life." But the three
in substance agree ; for the care of the world in its widest
acceptation includes the pleasures of this life, and the lusts of
other things. Mark and Luke are somewhat more explicit than
Matthew. By this third part of the parable the Lord Jesus
\vished to affirm the in-jurious effects on a man s religious life of
an excessive seeking after the goods of this world, and an exces
sive love of the enjoyment of these. Under these general
headings the Lord intends to group all those things which
form the object of man s worldly endeavor. The two loves in
man s soul are directly antagonistic : the more a man loves this
world, the more will he bend his soul s energies to possess much
of it; and consequently the less will he love Heaven, and the

C26) Gosp. II.

402 MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. i-iS

less will he endeavor to attain it. God s idea is that we should
love this world in very small degree; or better yet, not at all,
and love Heaven with all our heart; and we reverse the order,
and love Heaven very little or not at all, and make an idol of
this world. Let a man ask himself: What is it in my life
that obtains the main part of my thought and activity? I rise
in the m&lt; &gt;rning with mind and body refreshed by slumber. My
mind begins to think, and my body to act; and so they con
tinue till the time of retiring. And I lie down to sleep, for I
have done a day s work. And for what have I labored? Is it
not for these very things that choke the good seed in my soul s
life I was put into the world to pass through it as the
Hebrews passed through the wilderness. I am bidden to build
here only tents for a temporary sojourn; and to set my heart
on nothing that I see here. And instead I erect palaces, and
settle down in them, and surround myself with all the encum
brances of this world that I can grasp, and I become oblivious
of my inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. The issue can be
illustrated b\\an easy figure. Conceive a traveler engaged in a
journey on foot to a far-off land. As he journeys along, objects
attract his attention by the wayside. He stops to examine
them, and he finds that he loves them. He begins to collect
and store them. He still believes that he can do this and yet
reach his destination in time. But day by day he grows more
eager to acquire these wayside objects, and the desire to reach
his destination grows fainter, until finally he finds that the
possible time within which he could make the journey has
elapsed, and he is left to die in the plain, mocked by the
possession of objects which can serve him no longer.

It is to be noted that the Evangelists speak of the deceit-
fulness of riches. Riches are deceitful in many ways. They
are deceitful because they seem to be what they are not, and
move men to believe that their possession insures happiness ;
whereas they multiply care and drive peace from the mind;
and full oft the man who has given his life to attain them must
confess that their use is flat, stale, and unprofitable. They are
deceitful, because they invite a man to go after them, and yet
they elude his grasp ; and again when possessed they often slip
away from a man.

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. i-iS

But most of all, they are deceitful, because they move man
to believe them a real good, and to relinquish the quest of the
one only Good to go after them, and to seek in them a happi
ness that they can not give. No siren s song is as irresistible as
their invitation, and who can estimate the multitudes that
have been shipwrecked by following that invitation ?

The overweening love of this world grows in the heart like
the weeds in the sown field. Weeds will grow without any
care or cultivation, but the profitable plant must have both.
So it is with the love of the world, we take to it naturally. The
weeds and the useful plant may grow side by side in the field,
but if the weeds predominate, the useful plant will bring no
fruit to perfection; and the weeds will predominate unless
restrained by vigorous effort. So in man s life, a man may
have this world in his heart, and yet profess to be a Christian;
but if he really serves that world, which it is so easy to love, he
will be found with nothing of consequence stored up for etern
ity. Again, even though weeds growing in a sown field may
not choke entirely the useful plant ; yet every weed that grows
there takes something from the crop. So it is in man s rela
tions to the world; every movement of his soul towards this
world enfeebles just so much the heavenly aspirations and
achievements of his life. The excessive love of the goods of
this world crowd out of the soul of man the right thought and
desire of the other life.

The excessive love of riches causes many surprises, when
we come to examine closely the lives of Christians. We find
in the Christian community men of prominence, professional
men or business men, or the like; they move in respectable
circles, occupy desirable pews in the church; all seems fair on
the exterior. But by some chance we are admitted to an inside
view of their lives ; and there we find the fearful price that they
have paid for the competency or the wealth which they enjoy.
There we find the record of the lawyer s excessive fees, his
acquisition of property without any just title by the tricks and
technicalities of the lav, 7 ; there we find the record of the poli
tician s bribe-taking, and the abuse of his office to further his
own interests; there we find the record of the sharp practices
and conventional dishonest methods of the man of business;

404 MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-25 ; LUKE VIII. i-iS

there we find the rec&lt; inl of the unjust possession of inheritances
by heirs, who made use of the technicalities of law to gain
possess:* &gt;n of pr&lt; &gt;perty against the clearly revealed wishes of the
deceased owners; there 1 we will f.nd the record of fraudulent
claims against governments, corporations, and individuals,
fraudulent and excessive damage suits; there we will find, the
record of money obtained by adulterating the articles of com
merce; and various other records which contravene the prin
ciples of iustice. And so much attached are these men to the
possessions which have been acquired by these dishonest deeds
that no persuasion can move them to relinquish their hold on
them. Their property gives them a cert a i 11 prominence; they
beci m&lt; arrogant arid proud, and thus they live and thus they
die.

Manifold are the ways in which worldly cares and worldly
pleasures enfeeble the soul s spirituality. The very pursuit of
these develop in the- soul a certain taste which counteracts the
spiritual taste. Our appetites move us to eat the 1 food which
we like; and thus the soul habituated to things worldly has an
appetite mainly or totally for these. A missionary records
that he once visited on Christmas day a rural pastor who had
received a large Christmas collection. The missionary found
the pastor seated before a table on which the collection was
heaped up, and the pastor was enjoying it by constantly run
ning his hands through it, and piling it up, and as it settled
down, piling it up again. It was pleasant to the sight, and to
the touch. The currency, the glittering silver, and the yellow
gold,- all was his; he could not get it near enough to him;
every available 1 sense 1 was employed to heighten the joy &lt; if its
p&lt; &gt;ssessi&lt; &gt;n.

The Lord s service that day consisted of a few per
functory remarks, a mere introduction to the collection, a
hurried Mass, and then with outstretched hand a personal can
vass of God s people for that for which Judas Iscariot sold the
Lord Jesus Christ.

Worldly cares and pleasures also choke the spiritual life by
their demands on a mini s time. Many become oblivious of
the great aim of human life simply through lack of time.
The man goes to Church with mind preoccupied by worldly

MATT. XIII. 1-23; MARK IV. 1-2^; LUKE VIII. 1-18

4 5

interests ; he puts off reception of sacraments, and other duties
through lack of time; lie becomes habituated to a worldly
manner of thinking and of acting, so that things of the spiritual
world seem strange and unreal. Worldly success moves such
a man to a certain pride and independence which are inimical
to the religion of the cross. Worldly failure embitters him, and
fills him with a certain cynicism. His soul is bitter and cold,
and it will be hard for such a man to follow the principles of
strict honesty.

Finally worldly cares move a man to deeds of injustice.
In order to win in a world which adopts unjust methods the
man will be tempted to adopt the prevailing methods. The
man may not commit larceny as civil statute defines: there are
many ways to scant justice and escape punishment in this
world; but in the judgment of God hidden things will be
brought to light, and strict justice will be measured out to every
man, It is remarkable how the consciences of men grow
callous in the undisturbed possession of ill-gotten goods. A
man will not rise higher than his ideals, and the love of the
riches and pleasures of the world lower man s ideals, and set the
course of his life in a wrong direction

It is easy to describe the fourth class mentioned by Christ ;
they are the righteous followers of Christ. They are not all
equal in sanctity: some produce thirty-fold, some sixtyfold, and
some a hundredfold. It is not necessary to describe the ele
ments that make up their lives, nor the things that they have
overcome. The whole body of the Gospels is aimed to teach
men how to live. Hence throughout every page of the sacred
deposit we shall find descriptions of their lives, and the means
by which they produce the harvest for the Lord.

Inasmuch as there are various degrees of perfection in the
lives of these righteous ones, we should not be content merely
to enroll ourselves in their number: we should strive for the
sixtyfold and even for the hundredfold.

In the texts of Mark and Luke the parable of the sower is
followed by certain statements not found in Matthew. The
first of these regards the lighted lamp, which is not to be placed
in hiding under a vessel or under a bed. This simile seems to
have been to Jesus a favorite method of illustrating moral truth.

4 o6 MATT. XIII. 1-23: MARK IV 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18

It occurs again in Luke XI. 33, and in Matthew V. 15. In the
aforesaid text of Matthew, it indicates the duty of the Apostles
to preach the truths of the kingdom of Heaven to the whole
world. In the present instance the illustration is cognate.
Jesus Christ was the essential light of the world. His doctrine
was an emanation of that essential light, and its mission was to
illumine the world. The method adopted by Christ to propa
gate that doctrine was the teaching of the apostolic body.
Here therefore he tells them that, though he veils the truths of
the kingdom of Heaven now for a brief time from the multi
tudes, yet they are destined to be clearly presented to all man
kind. The Lord frequently adverts to this design. He had
come into the world to light it up. During the period of his
mortal life, the nature of his mission was such that the lull,
clear message could not be presented to men then. But his
chosen legates were taught the truths, and they were to be his
lamps in the world ; and by this present exhortation he encour
ages them to fulfill the office for which they were chosen.

In the twenty-fourth verse of Mark, there is a comparison
which in other portions of the Gospels is employed to express
the truth that God makes the measure of our mercy and for
giveness of others the norm of his mercy to us. But here the
context plainly demonstrates that it can not be used in that
sense. The conclusion of the whole passage both in Mark and
Luke is in form of enunciation exactly similar to the twelfth
verse of Matthew, which, as we have explained, illustrated
God s dealings with the Jews. Nevertheless we believe that
the passage in Mark and Luke does n&lt; it relate t&lt; &gt; the Jews but to
the Apostles themselves; and in general to the legates of the
New Law. It seems that the Lord used the illustration twice in
the present teaching; once in relation to the Jews, and secondly
to illustrate how God would deal with his representatives in the
New Alliance. Wherefore we believe that when, as recorded
by St. Mark, Jesus declares that "with what measure ye
measure, it shall be measured unto you," he means to affirm to
the Apostles and their successors that the measure of the
attentive study with which they heard his doctrine, and the
zeal and energy with which they afterwards preached it to the
world would be the measure of God s retribution unto them.

MATT. XIII. 1-23. MARK IV. 1-25; LUKE VIII. 1-18 407

Then follows the other illustration naturally. The people of
the first law were stewards, and had been unfaithful in the
stewardship. And the Lord took from them the capital which
had been given them, and gave it to another people, from
whom he was to receive the interest that the first stewards had
failed to accumulate. In the present application of the com
parison Christ warns the legates of the New Law that their fate
shall be similar, if they in like manner prove unfaithful.

It seems that in the eighteenth verse, Luke has weakened
the force of his expression by endeavoring to take away the
paradox. In the other tw r o Evangelists the proposition stands :
" and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away
even that \vhich he hath." But Luke modifies it thus:
whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that
which he seemeth to have." It seems, at first sight, a contra
diction in terms to say that there is taken away from a man a
thing which he has not ; and we believe that Luke has endeav
ored to avoid this seeming contradiction by inserting the term
seemeth. But Luke in endeavoring to avoid one seeming
paradox has fallen into a greater. How can there be taken
away from a man a thing which he seemeth to have, and hath
not? This question is entirely independent of inspiration.
The substantial idea of Christ is expressed by all three. There
is only a difference in precision of style ; and in the present
instance we prefer the statements of Matthew and Mark.

As Ave have explained above, the phrase seems to have
been a Hebrew aphorism, and was rendered forcible by the very
fact of its seeming paradox. In the illustration Christ desig
nates as the man w T ho hath not the man w r ho has not employed
what God gave in a proper way, and consequently has not that
which, in virtue of what he has received, he ought to have.
From such a one is to be taken that which was entrusted to him,
which has been unfruitful in his hands. The illustration cen
ters in one great truth, that their works follow the dead into
the judgment, and the rewards of God are apportioned accord
ing to men s works. As men sow thus shall the) 7 reap: as our
days pass one by one we are shaping our eternal destiny, and
the total of the record of our days shall determine God s judg
ment.

408 MARK IV. 26 29

MARK IV. 26-29.

20. And he said: So is 26. Ka; s /^ysv: ()JTO&gt;; l~:v

the kingdom of God, as if a T; \~J.- ~.L-. .~J. 70 J ("hoi, ( .&gt;-: ivO^.j-oz

man should cast seed upon the .^aXf, 7ov r-ocov |-: 7r ( _; yf,.:.
earth;

27. And should sleep and 27. I\a:
rise night and day. and the vjy.7a y.a:
seed should spring up and ^y.--y. /.%:
,^ro\v, he knoweth not how. aJ7o:.

28. Th.e earth beareth fruit 28. AJ7oy.i7r / r ( yr,
of herself; tirst the blade, then rP 3 ^ ~P &gt;"^v y_o:7ov, 3:77
tiie ear, th.en the full eorn in

the- ear.

2&lt;;. Hut \vhen the fruit is
ripe, strai^lUway he putteth
forth tlie sic kle, bec ause the
harvest is e&lt;me.

In tlic twenty-ei^lith verse, we find the reading
crtro? in I and I). Tliis reading is also approved by Tisch-
endorf. II\?//3/; al~ov is found in ^, A, C 2 , L, A, II, et al.
This reading is approved by \Yestcott and Ilort.

This short jxirable is recorded only by Mark. Its import
is historical rather than moral. There are two chief opinions
regarding the. explanati* &gt;n &lt; &gt;f tlu- ] viral &gt;le. The first is presented
by Knubenbauer. According to him the sower is Christ, and
the sec d is bis personal teaching. After sowing this seed, lie
ascended into Heaven, and allowed the seed to grow without
bis visible supervision. And it did grow, and waxed strong;
and lie will come again at the last day to reap the harvest.
There are many tilings which militate against this theory. It
seems to remove Christ too far from the Church, to liken him to
the man who sowed seed in a field, and paid no more heed to it
until the time of the harvest. The Lord says himself that he
will be with the Church all days, and this parable, in the sense
of Knabenbauer, would make the Church grow of itself inde
pendently of Christ. But most of all, the parable plainly
denotes that the seed sown in the field by the sower grew to
maturity as a result of causes that did not come from the
sower, "the earth beareth fruit of itself"; but no part of the

MARK IV. 26 29 409

Church grows or exercises any vital act except through the
causality that comes into her from her invisible head who is
organically connected with his mystic body.

Wherefore we must adopt another explanation of this
singular little parable. \Ye believe that the sower is the
legate of Christ, who sows the seed of the Gospel in the hearts
of men.

In order to realize in its fullness the illustration, let us
examine for a moment the natural basis of the parable. A man
plows and harrows a field, and sows therein wheat. When he
has finished the seeding, he goes away and attends to other
things. He perhaps does not think of that field for the next
month or two months. He gives labor to his ordinary employ
ments by day and sleeps by night, and leaves his field to the
course of nature. And all this time effects are being wrought
in the field. The moisture and heat of the soil cause the seed
to germinate ; the fertility of the soil coupled with other natural
causes produce the gradual growth and maturation of the grain ;
and the husbandman has no further influence upon the plant
till the grain is ripened and ready for the sickle. So it is with
the propagation of the Gospel of Christ. The chosen mes
senger sows the seed of the Gospel of Christ in human hearts.
His causality stops there. Of course, other external ministra
tions, such as the administration of the Sacraments, and the
continued exhortation of preaching are not excluded but in
the interior soul of man effects are being produced in which the
sower has no part.

The seed falls upon the souls of men, and the sower and
the men who represent the field separate. The sower does not
know what effects are being produced in the hearts of those
who have heard him. The sower goes away, and does not even
know those who have heard him. He may never see them
again. He goes forth to sow other fields, and leaves the seed to
be acted upon by other causes.

The seed is received into the souls of men. Then begin
secret hidden causes to operate in the soul. They are hidden
from the observation of men. The grace of God, the co-opera
tion of the will of man, divine inspirations, interior combats,
repressed temptations, acts of interior faith and love, all these

410 MARK IV. 26 29

act on the seed, away from the observation and thought of the
sower; and gradually, like the development of the cereal, the
Christian life of the individual and the corporate life of the
Church grow and produce the fruit for which Christ gave his
life, and founded his Church. It is a grand illustration of the
divine life of the Church, which comes to her from the resident
Holy Ghost within her, and which does not depend on human
causality.

The same truth is illustrated by St. Paul, I. Cor. III. 6, 7 :
"I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So
then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that
watereth ; but God that giveth the increase."

X&lt;&gt;w there is just one objection to our explanation of the
G&lt; spel. And it is that the parable seems to imply that it is the
sower who reaps the ripened grain; and certainly the reaper is
the Lord. In parables it is not necessary to find a correspond
ence in likeness between every element of the natural event and
the illustrated religious truth. It suffices that as a whole the
scene or event in nature or human life serve to illustrate some
moral or religious truth. The natural event contemplated in
this present parable makes the sower the same who reaps the
grain; but the illustrative element in the parable is the fact
that the kingdom of God grows in man s soul in the same man
ner that the grain gr&lt; &gt;ws in the soil. And the harvesting of the
grain is only mentioned to show that the hidden causes in the
soul of men carry the growth of the plant even to its maturity,
unobserved by men.

Now it would be a perverse use of this parable to draw
from it that all that the apostolic man has to do is to present
the message of salvation to men, and let it work. There is
need "to preach the word, to be instant in season and out of
season; to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering
and teaching." There is need of zeal and unremitting labor
with the people ; there is need that a man become the good
shepherd and give his life for his sheep; that he go in search of
the strayed one into the storm and the night, and labor to bring
the strayed one home ; but in all these labors the apostolic man
should realize that there are co-operating with him unseen
divine agencies, upon whose causality the soul s conversion,

MARK IV. 2629 41 1

the soul s life, and the soul s growth in holiness depend. With
out those agencies man s labor is lost ; and compared to these
agencies, the power of man s best labor is little. The laborer
seeking to save souls should deeply realize the necessity of the
co-operation of these divine agencies. He should attribute the
effects mainly to these; he should increase these by earnest
petition in his prayers* and he should rely on these, when the
work seems hard or even hopeless . When the people seem cold
and unspiritual, when the children seem stupid and ignorant;
when in the confessional sinners seem coarse, hard, and im
penitent ; what consolation it is to know that the apostolic man
is not alone 9 The unseen divine forces are at work; and
though the fruits may not be immediately visible, there is cause
to hope that they may come in time ?

There is also a lesson of encouragement in the parable for
ministers of Christ whose natural endowments are limited.
Though left to themselves they are weak, with the divine forces
they can accomplish great things. Some of the greatest results
in the history of God s Church have been accomplished by men
of meagre attainments, Witness a Henry Suso, a Cure d Ars,
and in our own times a Father Drumgoole. If the man of few
intellectual talents supplements his earnest work by prayer and
pious petition for God s help, the divine agencies will give the
increase.

Finally , it is a consolation, when one has tried to expound
some text of Scripture for the people, and after the expenditure
of his best efforts, the presentation has seemed dry and com
monplace it is a consolation to know that the cause does not
depend on man s human words; and that the power of God
may even make of his weak words an instrument to work
wondrous effects.

This was once forcibly illustrated to the writer by a per
sonal experience related to him by a well-known parish priest.
The aforesaid worthy priest was only of mediocre ability. On
a certain Sunday, the morning had been unusually busy.
Confessions had kept him late at his post the night before. He
must preach at High Mass. The day was warm ; the homily
seemed dry. But it was the Master s work, and it must be
done. He knelt at the altar, and asked the aid of the Holy

412 MATT. XIII. 24 -30; MARK IV. 3034

Ghost. and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and then
went before the people. He tried to do his best. He spoke
only simple, plain truths, things that had been heard many
times bef&lt; &gt;re. I)&lt; aibtless some wh&lt; &gt; looked f&lt; &gt;r sensati&lt; malism in
preaching were disappointed. After the disci airse the preacher
himself iVlt sad, and disappointed. He went into his house,
and the work of his ministry seemed to him almost insupport
able. But consolation came. A short time afterwards, he
was in his confessional, and there came to him a woman whose
wl le life had been a succession ot deeds of shame and vio
lence. And the woman s soul was moved to its depths by deep
repentance. Hers was no mere perfunctory act, but a total
change of heart. The conversion was so extraordinary that
the priest asked her what particular cause had effected such
a great change, and he was surprised to know that it was his
very sermon that had caused him so much discouragement.
And he res&lt; Ived then, after he had done his best in the exer
cise of Ins ministry, never to teel discouragement. \Ve believe
that these cases are frequent; and they should encourage us all
to put f &gt;rth i air best effort, and then cheerfully leave the result

to ( ii id .

MATT. XIII. 24-30

24. Ai parable set he 24. "A /./.vy, -acxco/.rv T.-J.ZZ-

beforc them, saying: The Or/x.sv aJTo:;, Xiyo&gt;v: Llj.o .oVJr, r t

kingdom of Heaven is likened
unto a man that sowed good

seed in his field: ^TO

25. But while men slept, 2

his enemy came and sowed iv Jp(. )-ojc, r,XO=v aJ-roJ o i/Opo .:,

tares also among the wheat, y.z: z-z~r.z .zz^ l:-.2v.a ivi y.irov

and went away. TOJ z(-. r jj. y.y.\ azTJ/Ocv.

26. But when the blade 26. "()~z cHcAi-T^-sv o "/op o;
sprang up. and brought forth v.z! y.aczov iTrorr^sv, TOT; z^y.Y^
fruit, then ap]&gt;eared tlie tares v.al ~.y. -. . lav.x.

also.

27. And the servants of the 27. Hpo-cAOovTcs -2 o! coJ/.oi
householder came and said TOJ ol /.ocsjzo o j SCTTOV aO-rw: Kupts,
unto him: Sir, didst thou not oJ/l -/./AOV -~ip;j.a k rzs .car iv T&lt;;&gt;
sow good seed in thy field? ~o&gt; iy? :*; w50sv o5v e ^et ^u.avia;
whence then hath it tares?

MATT. XIII. 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34

28. And he said unto them: 28. cs S ^YJ aJTo!;: E/Opo;
An enemy hath done this. And avOpwro; TOJTO l-ofr^sv. 01 zk
the servants say unto him: aJTco Xsyoj- .v: tHXs:; oJv d-iX-
Wilt thou then that we go and OOVTS; -jXXIrorj.sv a JTa ;

gather them up?

29. But he saith: Nay; 29. cl CYJJ .V, GJ, ^ZOTS
lest haply while ye gather up cuXXIyovTs; Ta I -l^v.a, |y.pi^u&gt;JY)T
the tares, ye root up the wheat a^a aJTo!; TOV -!TOV.

with them.

until the harvest: and in the coTspa s co; TOJ OSC .T^.OJ, y.al Iv

time of the harvest I will say y.atpcp TOJ Osp .^oj lew TO!; (hpt-

to the reapers: Gather up first cTa!;: ^jXXIraTs ^CCOTOV T^ I .l.dvta,

the tares, and bind them in y.al cr^xr; xj-.y. si; clraa;, TOO?

bundles to burn them: but TO y.aTX/.aj-a r . aJTic: TOV c SCTOV

gather the wheat into my barn. jjviysT sir TT,V a7:oOr,7.r ( v -j.oj.

MATT. XIII. 31-35. MARK IV. 30-34.

30. Kal k Xsysv: Ilcor o j.ou^r o-
^.sv TTjV v J3c- .Xc(av TOJ HSOJ; r ( Iv

O +. r i\ ^ " r * ^ * f O

Y) paj .Acfa TCOV oJcavcov y.oxxw c r .- ov ::dv7wv TCOV rzsc j.aTcov TCOV s~i

vdzswq, ov Xa6wv avOccozo; c"stpcv Tf ( ; yf ( q.
Iv TO) dypw aJTOJ.

32. "0 ar/.poTspov ^.Iv IrT .v 32. Kal OTav --apf,, ava6a(v= .,
zdvTwv TCOV crzep^d^ov, OTav cs y.al yivsTat [j.sVlov TTXVTCOV TCOV Xa-
ajrr/)Y), ^.suov TCOV Xa/.avcov |-T(V, ^avcov, y.al T:O . . y.Xdoouq ^sya/.o jr,
y.al y(vTai clvopov, COJTS IXOsIv C OCTTS BuvaaGat 6zb TT ( V sy.tav a J70J
TX 7:TS .va TOJ o jpavoj, y.al y.aTa- Ta TCS7tva TOJ ojpavoj y.aTajy.rjVoiv.
sy.Yjvojv Iv TO!; y.Xdco .; aJTOJ.

33. "AXXr^v zaca6oXY]v IXa- 33. Kal TO .ajTai; -acaco/.a!;
Xr^sv aJTo!;: O ^ofa I Tlv Y; f-a- i:oXXa!; IXaXr. aJToi; TOV Xo yov,
ciXsca TWV o jpavc7)v I.JLJ.Y], r ( v Xacoj^a y.aOioc YjcjvavTO dy.o J .v.

yuvYj IvIy.puOsv si; dXsiipou craTa
Tp(a, c w; oO I luacoOY] o Xov.

34. TajTa -rravTa IXdXYj-sv 34. Kal y/o cl; -apaSoX-?;; oJy.
o Ir^oj; Iv TcapaSoXatq TO!; IXdXc . KJTO!;, /.XT tctav c; TO:;
o^Xo .c, y.al 7.copl; ^apaioXfj; o JBIv cc(o r .; u.aO^Ta!; IzlXusv ::avTa.

MATT XIII. 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34

co AT,;.

30. And he said: How
shall we liken the kingdom of
God? or in what parable shall
we set it forth?

31. Another parable set he 31. It is like a grain of

before them. saying: The mustard seed, which, when it

kingdom of Heaven is like is sown upon the earth, though

unto a grain of mustard seed, it be less than all the seeds

which a man took, and sowed that are upon the earth,
in his field:

32. Which indeed is less
than all seeds; but when it is
grown, it is greater than the
herbs, and becometh a tree, so
that the birds of the heaven
come and lodge in the branches
thereof.

33. Another parable spoke
he unto them: The kingdom
of Heaven is like unto leaven,
which a woman took, and hid
in three measures of meal, till
it was all leavened.

34. All these things spoke
Jesus in parables unto the mul
titudes; and without a parable
spoke he nothing unto them:

35. That it might be ful
filled which was spoken by the
prophet, saying: I will open
my mouth in parables; I will
utter things hidden from the
foundation of the world.

32. Yet when it is sown,
groweth up, and becometh
greater than all the herbs, arid
putteth out great branches; so
that the birds of the Heaven
can lodge under the shadow
thereof.

33. And with many such
parables spoke he the word
unto them, as they were able
to hear it:

34. And without a parable
spoke he not unto them: but
privately to his own disciples
he expounded all things.

MATT. XIII 2443; MARK IV.

-34

415

36. Then he left the mul
titudes, and went into the
house and his disciples came
unto him, saying: Explain
unto us the parable of the tares
of the field.

37. And he answered and
said: He that soweth the good
seed is the Son of man;

38. And the field is the
world; and the good seed, these
are the sons of the kingdom;
and the tares are the sons of
the evil one;

39. And the enemy that
sowed them is the devil; and
the harvest is the end of the
world; and the reapers are
angels.

40. As therefore the tares
are gathered up and burned
with fire; so shall it be in the
end of the world.

41. The Son of man shall
send forth his angels, and they
shall gather out of his king
dom all things that cause
stumbling, and them that do
iniquity,

42. And shall cast them
into the furnace of fire: there
shall be the weeping and gnash
ing of teeth.

43. Then shall the right
eous shine forth as the sun in
the kingdom of their Father.
He that hath ears, let him
hear.

MATT. XIII. 36-43.

36. T07 dbct? 70J^ o /AO j;,

f/JJav tq 7/jv oty.tav y.at -porfjAOov
aJ7o-&gt; ot [x0Y)Tat aJ70j Ayov7c:
Atarcbrjrov r/atv 7r,v -apacoAT;v 7(Lv
O. lavtcov 70J arpoj.

-j- O - r/-rv

37- vj ^c azo
&lt;jTTtpo)v 70 y.aXbv
Ytoq 70 j avOpcoTTOi

38. Ocsavp,
70 cs y.aAov crzspjj
utot 7Y;c ^a7tAta:

tJtV Ot UtOt 70J r.r.

39- c! I-/0
pac aJ7a, 6 ctacoAo,:: 6 ok.
auvrlXsta atwvo? l"7tv, ot

sl^sv:

a, 77tV 6

crtv
oJ70 . e

"7tv CTT:=-

*.k Oepi-

4O.

OJV C P U

77 at v

uv7Ata 70 j ad)vo;.

4 1 - AxosreXei o Yto? 70 j
avOpo jTro j 70 j; ayYSAouc; aJ70j,
y.at auAXe^ouatv I/. TT^ ^ar-.Asfa;
aJ7oj 7:iv7a 7a crxdcvsccAa, xal TOJ?

42. Kat ^aXoC

7Y)V y.a:jLtVOV 70 J TJJpo q:

6 y.AauO^oq y.at 6 ^

43. To7 ot ctxatot

!7tV, OJ^ 6 YJAtO^, V 7YJ J

IIa7CO!; aJ7(I)v. O
ay.oLi70).

a70 jq

7&lt;I&gt;v

4i() MATT. XIII 2443: MARK IV. 3034

In the twenty-fourth verse of Matthew s text we rind the
reading a-rr^ipai -i in ^, B, M, X, A and II. Such reading
is followed by the Coptic, Syriac, and many codices of the
Vetus Itala. ^Treipui -ri appears in C, 1\ I ., P, G, Iv, L, S,
U, V, T, et al. In Verse twenty-live all the uncial codices have
tcnrtipe, exce])t $&lt; and B, which have eVeWe/^e. In the
same verse all the codices except B insert &ov\oi. In the
same verse ^, B. C and I) have \e~jo vcnv. The other authori
ties have e TT or. In the thirtieth verse B and D have toN :
the 1 i ther ci dices have ^XP 1 -

In the text of Matthew, in the thirty-second verse, the
reading "rrav-wv TWV \a^dvo)v is tound in Iv and II, and in
about eighty other uncial codices. Such reading is coniorm-
able \&lt; Mark s text, and is \&lt; &gt;11&lt; &gt;wed by the Vulgate. Syriac. and
Ethiopian v&lt; rsions. In Verse thirty-three, ^, C, h. M. U. and
X, add -VV In Verse thirty-four, the reading oiVer is
found in K :!: , B, C, M, A. et al. This reading is followed by the
PI. ill Xenian Syriac, and Armenian versi nis. and is end &gt;rsed 1 &gt;y
the critics Tischendorf, Westcott, and Ilort. OiV is found in
N D, E, P. C,, K, h. S, V. V, X, T, II. et al. This reading is
followed by the Vulgate, the IVshitto, and Cureton s Syriac.

At the end of \\-rse thirty-five in Matthew, ^ . B&gt;, i. and
22 have AT&lt;/Ta/^oXr/v. This is approved by Tischendorf, \\est-
cott and Ilort. The great majority of the authorities add

KOC7 fJ.(lV.

In the text of Mark, in the thirtieth verse, the first term of

the words of Christ is -in in A, A, II. et al. This reading is

pted by the Vulgate, Syriac. Armenian, Ethiopian, and

Gothic versions. Hw? stands in ^s. B. C. h. A, et ah, and

reading is accepted by Tischendorf, Westcott, and Ilort.
In Verse thirty-four, B has Ki x^P 1 ^ ul ln &lt;- "tlier authori
ties have Xropi ? Be.

In \ erse Thirty-six of Matthew s text many codices add
o I;/ao09: it is not added in ^. B, and its omission is endorsed
by Tischendorf. Westcott, and Ilort. In the same verse
fcs* and B have Biacrd^ijaov, which is approved by Westcott
and Ilort; the other authorities support fypdaov. In Verse
thirty-seven, J&lt;, B and D omit airroi? : the other codices uni
formly insert it. In Verse thirty-nine, B is alone in placing the

MATT XIII. 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 417

after e x$po &lt;?. All the other codices and critics place
the ear iv immediately preceding 6 8id(3o\os. This latter
order of the words seems to be preferable. In the forty-third
verse, ^* and B omit atcoveiv, but the term is found in
nearly all the other uncial codices, and is accepted by the Coptic
and Syriac versions.

The order of the events here seems to have been that
Jesus proposed to the people on this particular occasion several
parables, and when he had withdrawn from the multitudes,
and was alone with his disciples, he explained the parable of
the cockle and the wheat.

The weed here mentioned by the Lord has never been
accurately identified. It has been called tare, darnel, cockle,
and bastard wheat. We are familiar with a weed which is
usually found in wheat fields, and as it is impossible to deter
mine the exact weed mentioned by Christ, we may use the
cockle of our American wheat fields as an illustration. The
stalk of the cockle does not much resemble the wheat. But it
flourishes under the conditions proper for wheat ; and its seeds
are about the size and weight of kernels of wheat ; and hence it
is very difficult to separate it from the wheat. Some have
alleged that our American cockle could not have been the weed
alluded to by Christ, for the reason that it would be easy to
distinguish the young plant of the cockle from the wheat ;
whereas they say that the parable seems to imply that the
weed could not be distinguished from the wheat till the forma
tion of the fruit. Those who argue thus take a false view of the
parable. A field of wheat is not a field through which we walk
and examine the individual plants. We stand by its border,
and look across its green surface. If there were some plants of
cockle close to the edge of the field where we stand, we could
recognize them ; but through the field the distinctions between
cockle and wheat are all lost in the great green mass. Some
careful farmers do walk through the green field of wheat, and
look for the presence therein of cockle; some seek it out, and
pull it up. But this does not weaken the illustrative force of
the parable. The Lord accepts a common event in husbandry ;

(27) Gosp. II.

418 MATT. XIII. 24 -43: MARK IV. 3034

the ordinary thing that happens in human life is that the cockle
growing with the wheat is allowed to grow till the haryest, and
is then separated and destroyed.

The cockle grows to about the same height as the wheat,
and has a yery characteristic purple flower. Xow the (lowering
of the plant is the first act in its fruit-bearing; hence from the
period of its flowering till the ripening of its seeds, the cockle
is yery c mspicuous.

It is eyident that it was at the flowering period that the
servants come to the master, and inform him of the presence
of the cockle, and offer to pull it up. Their offer is introduced
here for the sole purpose of illustrating the master s answer;
such offer has no bearing on the moral import of the parable.
To walk through a field of wheat that is heading, and pull
the cockle out of it, would evidently seriously damage the
wheat. But as the reaping in the Kast was done by sickles, it
would be a simple process for the harvesters to gather out the
stalks of cockle before binding up the wheat.

The cockle being an extremely -[X micious weed, the only
proper disposition to make of it is to burn it, to save the ground
from the infection of its seed.

In saying that "the kingdom of Heaven is likened to a
man," etc., the Lord in substance says: "That which hap
pens in a field, wherein is stealthily sown cockle after the
sowing of good seed, happens also in a higher sense in the
kingdom of Heaven."

We come now to the moral application of the parable, and
aided by the Lord s own interpretation, this will be easy to
make.

The Lord explains only the greater features of the parable,
leaving the attendant facts to be inferred. For instance, the
command of the master not to pull out the cockle is not directly
explained by Christ, but its symbolic signification can be
plainly inferred.

The present passage is called the parable of the tares or
cockle; by which designation we are taught that its main
object is to illustrate why it is that Christ has not brought all
men to his following by his redemption of the world. It is a
thing difficult to explain that in a. world which God loved to

MATT. XIII. 2443; MARK IV. 3034 419

the extent that he gave his only Son to die for its redemption,
there should be so many who know not, and love not Christ.
Some might wonder why the message of redemption was not
clearer, that men might be forced to accept it. This present
parable is the clearest word that has been spoken concerning
the deep and gloomy mystery.

The field of God is the world. The term world is here
used to denote the universality of mankind ; at least a universal
ity conterminous with the extent to which Christ s doctrine
shall be presented to men. The world belongs to God by the
most essential titles. He created it out of nothing ; he preserves
it in its being ; he redeemed it ; he pours blessings upon it daily.

And the son of God, who is at the same time the Son of
man, came forth from his eternal Father into the world, and
sowed good seed. This good seed radically is the great truth of
salvation ; but inasmuch as these truths produce the good men
who are called the sons of the kingdom, therefore Christ calls
these good men the seed in the maturity of its fruit.

We must guard against an excessive literalism in explain
ing this figurative language. The natural constitution of the
children of the kingdom of Heaven does not differ from that of
evil men, as the nature of the tares or cockle differs from wheat.
Moreover, the beings of the evil men do not come from Satan,
as the cockle came from the enemy: good men and bad men,
and all things, considered in their essences, come from God,
More should not be sought from a parable than is intended to
be conveyed; and a figurative presentation of a moral truth
differs from the enunciation of a mathematical demonstration.

We must also be careful to distinguish between the seed as
it is sown by Christ, and the seed w r hich has grown to maturity
and produced fruit. As it is sown into the \vorld, it comprises
every word of truth, every element of grace; in a word, every
good agency that comes from God and operates in the world.
The parable contemplates only the world after its redemption.
Christ sows the seed in many w r ays. He sowed the seed by his
divine life and personal teaching; he sowed the seed by the
foundation of the Church ; he sows the seed by the graces which
flow from him to men through the Church ; he sows the seed by

420 MATT. XIII 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34

remaining with the Church all days even to the end of the
world. And the fruit of all this seeding is the sons of the
kingdom.

But there is another agent operating in human life: an
agent whose aims and purposes are directly against Christ and
against man. This is the devil, the prince of evil, the enemy
of all good. And he is active; "he goes about like a roaring
lion seeking whom he may devour." He also is sowing seed;
not openly :

"Vice is a monster of such hideous mien,
That to be hated needs but to be seen."

But he operates stealthily, secretly. Many interpreters
have taught that the fact that the enemy sowed the bad seed
while men slept signifies that evils happen in the Church through
the negligence of pastors; and that, the faithful fall into sin
through lack of vigilance.

We shall examine these opinions separately; and as re
gards the first, we do not believe that it is contemplated in
the parable.

In the first place there is no evidence that the householder
administered any rebuke, when discovery was made of what
had been done by the enemy while men were asleep. Again.
Christ was vigilant, and yet Satan sowed his seed in the soul of
Judas, even while the traitor was under the personal influence
of Christ. Paul was vigilant, and yet many scandals crept into
the churches which were under his immediate supervision.
The first Apostles were vigilant, and yet heresies invaded the
world even in the Apostles time.

As for the second opinion, which makes the lack of vigil
ance on the part of the faithful responsible for Satan s invasion
of their own souls, this is a truth. The faithful are exhorted to
watch and pray that they enter not into temptation. This
truth is certainly not excluded from the parable, but we do not
think that it is mainly contemplated therein. It seems to us
that if the parable were intended to convey a moral truth of
such importance, Christ would have called attention to it in
his interpretation of the parable. Moreover there is no natural
similarity between this fact, and the scene from nature. The

MATT. XIII 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 421

parable implies that the deed of the enemy was done while the
servants of the householder were asleep ; and yet these are not
the ones that received hurt. Wherefore we believe that this
feature of the parable is introduced simply to illustrate that the
devil works secretly, stealthily; that he watches opportunities
when he can escape observation.

Of course, it follows that since the character of this enemy
is such we must prepare ourselves to resist such secret attack.
We are not sufficiently conscious of the presence of Satan as an
active force in the world. In the present decrepitude of faith
among practical men, the devil shares the fate of the other
supernatural entities. And inasmuch as this trend of thought
promotes Satan s designs, he strives to foster it by keeping
himself well hid.

In the old days, when superstition and idolatry were the
crimes to w r hich men were prone, Satan made himself more
manifest in the affairs of men. He is not less active now, but
he has changed his methods.

The present parable also confirms the truth that the Lord
is not the author of any moral evil in the universe. He sows
good seed ; he secures to that good seed the proper conditions
for its growth and fruitfulness ; there is in the world enough of
good agencies operating to save the world. There is a great
mystery in the fact that God permits Satan to operate in the
world. But how real Satan s operations are brought out by
the illustration? Who can doubt the great part which Satan
has in the affairs of the world? Who can doubt that there are
men in whom the seed of Satan is producing such fruit that they
are called the sons of the evil one? Yea, men exchange the
inheritance of the sons of God for the sonship of Satan.

In many ways men receive the seed of Satan into their
souls. They receive such seed by receiving false doctrine ; they
receive such seed by yielding to temptation ; they receive such
seed by every wicked thought, word, and deed of their lives;
and when the seed grows it gives a character to their lives, and
the men themselves are therefore called the seed of Satan.

The servants of the householder have no counterpart in the
symbolic sense of the parable ; and their offer to go and pull up
the cockle has no moral application. The servants and their

422 MATT. XIII. 2443; MARK IV. 3034

offer are intn duced into the parable to bring out in clear relief
the householder s answer; and this answer is a main feature in
the spiritual sense of the parable.

The householder commanded that both wheat and cockle
be allowed to grow until the harvest. So does God deal with
the children of men. There is no separation here. The evil
men exist intermingled with the elect of God. Some whose
crimes are enormous are known to men ; but no human discern
ment can make the accurate and complete classification. Both
classes receive the common blessings ot God. God s forbear
ance often generates in the soul of the evil man a sense of
security, and &lt;&gt;f false tranquillity. The evil man succeeds
as we ll as his pious neighbor; yea, oftentimes better. He may
have heard of judgment and hell, but he has felt no hurt there -
from; they are far-off, vague thoughts, that always keep in a
nebulous indetiniteness. This life with its teeming activities is
so engrossing, so pleasant. This life appeals so to the 1 present
nature of man; whereas to enjoy the fruition of the other life
one must pass through that strange "variety of untried being."
The spiritual prospect possesses small interest for worldly men ;
and they hold to the present; and thus the great promiscuous
mass of humanity lives its life: the good and the evil men exist
side by side , and no discrimination is made till the judgment
day, and then is wrought the final separation for all eternity,
just what instrumentality the angels shall exercise in that great
act, we can not know: the mention of them here is simply to
add vividness and force to the figure.

Hence, let no man wonder that he finds bad men in the
Church of Christ. The Church is in a special manner the field
of God, but Satan is allowed to sow his cockle even here; and
he does sow it here, and it grows, and God allows it to remain
even to the end of time. But then in that grand new order of
things, all evil shall be banished from the perfect kingdom of
Christ, and it shall be one eternal reign of all the good with the
One Essential Eternal Good.

There is a clear promulgation of the doctrine of hell in the
declaration of Christ, that all the evil ones shall be cast out of
the kingdom into the furnace of fire, where there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the usual expression

MATT. XIII. 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 423

of Christ to describe eternal damnation. We have before
explained the import of the proposition. We shall reserve for
a future chapter to explain the doctrine of hell ; but we must
say in passing that these repeated terrible denunciations would
be a deception and a jugglery with words, unless the state of
hell was endless suffering.

There is also in the present passage a forcible description
of the glory of the elect in Heaven. In the speech of every land
the brightness of a luminous body is used to describe the glory
of an intelligent being. Undoubtedly the glory of the trans
figured Lord on the Mount transcended human speech ; but the
inspired writers, who have transmitted to us an account of the
event, can compare the glory to nothing but the light of the
sun. The sun is the greatest luminary of which we have any
sensible cognition and hence is aptly used to describe trans-
scendent glory. And the Lord Jesus promises this glory to his
elect.

Men have made promises to men and thereby have moved
them to risk everything; to undergo the most terrible hard
ships and labors; and full oft leader and follower have failed,
and have been left to die amid the wreck of broken hopes and
disappointed ambition.

And yet what can man promise to man equal to what
Tesus has promised to his followers? Eternal life; not that
fitful fever that we at present have, but the fullness of life ; life
not subject to death, nor to any infirmity or ill, life in a higher
sense than man can conceive ; and possessions, the possession of
the Supreme Good, the contentment of every desire, and a glory
like the brightness of the sun, and all will never pass; all will
be eternal, this is the veracious promise of Christ.

And you believe it, O Christian ; you can not refuse to
believe it. It has the testimony of the Son of the living God ;
it has the testimony of the Spirit of God in your heart ; and
yet it does not move you as your worldly interests move you.
You speak the name of Heaven with cold, unfeeling lips; you
think but little of it ; your thoughts and your love are down
here fastened to the corruptible things of this earth. The
earth, where you live a mere embryonic life, has your thoughts
and your interests ; and the high estate which is prepared for

424 MATT. XIII. 2443: MARK IV. 30 34

how wise is St. Paul in declaring that &lt; &gt;ur citizenship should be
in Heaven: Heaven is our true country; we have no abiding
habitation here ; every purely worldly thought and act is a loss.
\Ye are f &gt;&lt; &gt;ls, if \\ e fix &lt; .ur hearts in any degree on anything but
God and I leaven.

The obiect of Christ s present teaching is to declare the
great expansion of (Christianity from its humble beginnings,
and its great vital penetrating force by which it permeated the
entire civili/ed world, and reformed the character of every
department &lt; &gt;f human life.

It is difficult to identify the plant here called mustard.
Some believe it to be the sal:\h{ora Ineliea or Persica, the
mustard tree, which sometimes grows to the height of twenty-
five feet. Hut this opinion seems improbable tor the reason
that the plant is compared to other herbs , and it would be
inconuTii ; us to institute a comparison between trees and herbs.
Hence we believe with those who identify the plant as the
sina^is m gra, the l&gt;laek umstafil, which in Palestine 1 in those
days is said to have attained an altitude 1 of from eight to twelve
feet. Neither ; s this opinion weakened by the 1 assertion oi
Christ that the plant becomes a tree] for though it belongs to
the genus of herbs, its great height over the rest of the herbs
justifies its being called a tree. It is said that the seeds of the
tree 1 are readily eaten by the small birds as food; hence it
doubtless was a familiar sight to see these smaller birds scat
tered about through the branches of these great herbs, pro
tected from the sun s rays by the leafy shade.

It must be borne in mind that these comparisons are
popular expressions, wherein a mathematical exactness is not
to be sought. Maldonatus declares that in Spain he had often
seen mustard stalks of such size that they served for fuel for
the large 1 bread-ovens.

There is a slight difficulty in the account caused by the
statement of Christ that the mustard seed is less than all the
seals; or as Mark nuts it, less than all the seeds that arc upon

MATT. XIII 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 425

the earth. Now botanists declare that the seed of the poppy,
rue, herb sage, and other herbs is smaller than the mustard
seed .

Various solutions have been proposed. Some claim that
Christ took a seed which in common parlance was considered
as the least of the herb seeds in that country. Others claim
that the expression, less than all seeds, is equivalent to saying
that it is among the smallest of seeds; and they say truly that
the mustard seed was a proverbial term among the Hebrews to
describe a very small quantity of matter. Another opinion
asserts that the mustard seed is the smallest seed proportion
ately, that is to say, there is no seed in nature so small which
produces a plant which can stand in any comparison to the
mustard plant.

Still another opinion attempts to solve the difficulty by the
following considerations. The mustard seed is not compared
to the seed of all herbs, but to the seeds of the \d-^ava. The
Xd^avov corresponds to the Hebrew p*T, and to the Latin

T 7

"olus" or "holus." The proper signification of this term in

English is a kitchen herb, a vegetable. Now it is not the
Lord s intention to assert that nowhere in the world, or even in
Syria, was there a smaller seed of a garden plant, but that the
mustard seed was smaller than all the common seeds of the
plants which the people cultivated in their gardens for their
food. The Lord made use of the common concepts of the
people to illustrate his doctrine; and it would be absurd to
submit his statements to dialectic subtilties. We believe that
this last opinion fully solves the difficulty, and that it is the
most acceptable of all. And in this regard, we believe that
Matthew s presentation of the parable is better than Mark s,
and that it reveals the meaning of the Lord more clearly; for
in Mark the comparison seems to be with all plants in general,
whereas in Matthew it is clear that he is only speaking of the
kitchen herbs.

The moral application of this parable is very simple. The
kingdom of God in this place signifies the Church of Christ,
which began on earth by a very humble beginning. It was
founded by a poor artisan s son, who was born in a stable, lived

426 MATT. XIII. 24 43: MARK IV. 30 34

without a place to lay his head, and died on a cross. Those
\vhm the Founder appointed to carry on his work after him
were not philosophers or princes, but poor ignorant fishermen.
They had no worldly power on which to rely. Their doctrine
was not popular. It was against the world, and the men of the
world hated and despised it. It appealed to nothing that made
it acceptable to worldly men. It taught men to renounce this
world which we see, and touch, and use, and love, for a world
which no man hath seen, and which men had to accept on
faith. It asked men to renounce their popular traditions and
customs, to cease to follow after earthly glory and pleasure, to
hold in contempt wealth, and world power, to love an unseen
reality more than life itself. It taught men that the virtue of
humility, which the pagan world did not have in its vocabu
laries, was better than pride: that it was better to receive a
blow and not resist than to vanquish an enemy. It taught the
strange parad"X that a man must love the very man who
injuries him, and that a man must return good for evil. And
such a religion triumphed.

There is nowhere in the history of man any event which
bears any resemblance to the subjugation of the world by the
Gospel of Christ. There is no event where there is such a vast
disproportion between the 1 causes and the effects. Greece was
mighty; Greek civili/ation and culture were grand and sub
lime: Greece has passed away and what effect has it wrought
upon the world that endures? Rome was mighty; it brought
the known world under its empire by the power of its arms and
the wisdom of its institutions. And its glory to-day is a his
torical reminiscence, and men are not affected by that glory
that has faded. And the religion of Christ was the little pebble
compared to the Colossus of gold, and silver, and brass, and
iron and clay. Vet the dust of the Colossus is no longer dis
cernible, on the face of the earth; while the pebble has grown,
into a mountain, and has filled the whole earth. The religion of
Christ had no worldly art, or culture, or power; and yet it con
verted the world; and in all the changes of popular thought
during nearly twenty centuries, it has lost none of its essential
elements. Everything else in the life of man has undergone
substantial changes, but the religion of Christ remains

MATT. XIII. 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 427

unchanged and unchanging throughout all ages. This is the
great historical miracle to prove the divinity of the religion
of Christ. Its humble beginnings are supplemented by divine
power ; the source of its power and its undying life is in Heaven ;
and while it operates on earth, it receives perpetual vitality,
and irresistible efficacy from its Founder in Heaven.

There is a similarity between the present parable and the
passage of Ezekiel XVII. 23. Both passages by similar figures
represent the humble origin, and marvellous growth of the
Church of Christ.

Now there can be no essential change in the Church s
method of life and growth. She can. it is true, adapt herself
to new conditions of society, and new forms of government ; but
she can not lose her distinguishing characteristics. She must
always be the humble creation, which is opposed to worldly
greatness, and which grows by divine power, and triumphs,
even when in the eyes of men of the w r orld she appears to be
vanquished. The spirit of the world loves "pride, fullness of
bread, and prosperous ease," and relies on the power of gold
and of armies. The Church of Christ loves humility, poverty,
renunciation, and the chastisement of the flesh; and relies on
divine power. The world shall fail, and pass as a decaying
vesture; but the Church can not fail, but shall continue her
mission, till she has collected all the elect into her higher realm ;
and then she shall exist as the bride of the Lamb forever.

The second parable illustrates the penetrating efficacy of
the Church. The measure spoken of in this parable is the
Hebrew seah. Its equivalent in our dry measure is about a
peck and a half, being slightly less. Much has been written in
explanation of the fact that the Lord speaks of three seahs.
Chrysostom, Euthymius, Thomas, and Cajetan believe that the
number three signifies the universe; St. Hilary saw therein the
Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel; St. Ambrose agrees with
Hilary; Bruno, Faber, Jansenius, and a Lapide believe that the
three parts of the world Europe, Asia, and Africa were thereby
signified. Of course America was then unknown. Theophy-
lactus, Bede, and Rhabanus Maurus understand by the three
measures three powers of the soul. St. Jerome, Paschasius and

428 .MATT. XIII. 2443; MARK IV. 3034

Dionysius also refer the mystic number to the various con-
stitutents of man s being. These strange opinions were an
outcome of that excessive mysticism that strove to find spirit
ual meanings in everything in the Scriptures. The plain truth
is that Christ spoke of three seahs, because such a quantity of
flour was the amount usually taken for a good-sized batch of
Sarah made ready three measures of tine meal for the
angels at Mamre. Gen. XVIII. 6; Gideon made unleavened
cakes of an ephah, or three seahs of meal for the angel of the
Lord. Judges VI. 19; Hannah, the mother of Samuel, took the
same quantity of meal as an offering to the Lord, when her
child was weaned. Hence, we can readily see why the Lord
for tin- sake of definiteness chose tin s particular number. The
labors ot others have forced us to give this prominence to this
question, lest we seem careless of any matter. We are per
suaded that tlu- Lord gave no great thought to these details,
but employed such terms that would U&gt; easily understood,
and give a naturalness to the illustration. And the defect of
many has been to spend much time on these mere details, and
pass over the substance .

Pile process of making bread is a simple one. The Hour is
wet with water, and the leaven or yeast is inserted into the
paste , and the mass is allowed to stand. Imperceptibly the
leaven operates until it has thoroughly impregnated the whole
The leaven is a small quantity of matter compared to
the mass of the paste; but so powerful is its action that noise
lessly and without sign it permeates the mass, and effects a
chemical change throughout.

And so it was with the Gospel of Christ. It was a message
from Heaven thrown into the great throbbing mass of human-
Xof a men dead word, conceived by a human brain, and
spoken by human lips, but the word of life, the word of God,
having in itself an intrinsic life and efficacy by which it entered
into the souls of men. The men who transmitted it might die,
and pass away ; but the word lived and transformed the natures
of men ; and these in turn being thus leavened transmitted it to
others, until it spread through the world, and transformed it,
and made it Christian.

MATT. XIII. 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 429

Men tried to stop it ; strong men, having back of them the
power of mighty states. And they mulcted and exiled, and
imprisoned, and tortured, and slew the adherents of this strange
new doctrine ; and still it grew, and worked itself into every
rank and condition in society, until it impregnated even the
rulers of states, and transformed the laws, and made the states
Christian.

Thus the word of Christ operated, and thus it operates.
In hidden, secret ways it is working in the souls of men. It
does not change the nature of every man; neither does the
parable intend to assert this. The parable only illustrates the
mode of Christianity s action, and its spread through the world.
We speak it in the ears of men, and go our way, and the word
begins to operate. If the man harden not his heart, it will
transform him from a dead mass of gross materialism to a being
endowed with spiritual life. Even he may become an agent of
leavening others with the good leaven of God s word. And
that leaven is spreading its operations through the world ; and
the end shall not come till it shall have extended its operation
to every race of men.

It is probable that Jesus on this occasion spoke many other
parables that are not recorded here. Matthew has omitted
one that Mark records; and Mark has omitted two that are
recorded by Matthew; wherefore we believe that both have
omitted some that are never recorded. The reason why Jesus
spoke in parables to the multitudes has already been explained ;
but the statement of Matthew and Mark, "that without par
ables he did not speak to them," needs some explanation. St.
Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Euthymius, Maldonatus, Kna-
benbauer and others believe that it is here meant that on this
particular occasion the Lord did not speak to the people
except in parables. They seem moved to take this view from
the fact that the Lord on subsequent occasions not always
employed the parable in his teaching.

It is to be observed here that the Evangelists have grouped
together a series of parables, the largest series that is recorded
in the Gospels. It seems that the aforesaid phrase of Matthew
and Mark should be extended even beyond this present teach
ing. While it is not necessary thereby absolutely to exclude

430 MATT. XIII. 2443: MARK IV. 30 34

all teaching without parables, the Evangelists express that the
general method of our Lord in dealing with the Jews was to
employ parables to express religious truths. This is confirmed
by the intrinsic evidence of the Gospels. Parables were a
main factor in all the public teaching of the Lord from this time
forth.

It is nevertheless true that the Evangelists statement
touching the parables would be proper and true if there was a
period of our Lord s ministry in which he made such use of
parables.

Mark throws a side light on this question by the clause,
" as they were able to hear it." He means to indicate
thereby that Jesus suited his discourse to the character of his
hearers. If there were among them honest-hearted and docile
men, they might not obtain the full meaning of the parable
then, but they could perceive that it was a call to righteousness,
and they could keep the rest in their hearts, and they would
not to have to wait long; for the light of the Resurrection wns
soon to burst upon the world, and then all things would be
made as clear as the guidance of man s life demands.

But the men of false hard hearts received nothing from
the parable; and it was not fitting that they should. The
delicate nature of the truths therein contained must be, for the
present, hid from these, and it was hid in parables.

As St. Mark says, the Lord expounded all things privately
to his disciples. It was a prudent economy. The promoters
of great enterprises confide in a few trusted ones, and keep
their plans from the rest of the public until the enterprise is
mature, and ready for the knowledge of the public. The
f ( &gt;undation of Christianity was the greatest event in the history
of the world, and its nature was such that it could not be
wholly revealed to the people at large, until the Crucifixion and
Resurrection. Those who formed the school of Christ were
allowed to enter into the great event that was evolving. They
had to be taught all things as clearly as they could comprehend ;
for after Jesus Christ had fulfilled his mission on earth, and had
entered into his kingdom, the apostles of Christ were to unfold,
and explain and promulgate the great message of salvation.

MATT. XIII 24 43; MARK IV. 30 34 431

We have now to explain the thirty-fifth verse of Matthew,
in which he declares that by the character of Jesus discourses
there was fulfilled that which was spoken by the mouth of the
prophet .

It must be observed here that some of the old authorities
support the reading "the prophet Isaiah." Such reading is
found in ^*, i, 13, 124, and 253. Eusebius, Jerome and others
declare that such reading was found in some of the Codices;
but Eusebius affirms that it was not found in the accurate
copies; and Jerome declares that it was added by unskillful
sciolists. Jerome conjectured that the original term \vas Asaph
but the examination of the codices fails to reveal the presence
of this term in any codex. It is a strange fact that Tischen-
clorf defends the reading "Isaiah."

It seems to be generally accepted by the interpreters that
the passage of Scripture alluded to here by the Evangelist
Matthew is the second verse of the seventy-eighth Psalm,
which according to the Vulgate is the seventy-seventh. The
verse stands thus in the Hebrew : "I will open my mouth in a
parable ; I will utter dark sayings of old ;" or still more literally :
"I will open my mouth in a proverb; I will utter enigmas of
old."

Now the title of the seventy-eighth Psalm attributes its
authorship to Asaph. According to II. Chronicles, XXIX. 30,
there was a seer of that name, w r hose words were used in the
worship in the temple. The titles of the Psalms from LXXIII.
to LXXXIII. inclusively attribute them to Asaph.

The common opinion of interpreters is that, inasmuch as
Asaph was a seer or prophet, he is spoken of under this char
acter by Matthew, even when quotation is made from one of
his psalms. But not all the difficulty ends here. The evident
meaning of Asaph in making this prefatory statement was not
that he would veil deep truths under the veil of parables, but
that he would discourse of God s wonderful dealings with
Israel in grave sentences and comparisons. The prophet-
psalmist simply calls attention to the gravity of the argument
of his psalm.

A probable solution of this difficulty is proposed by
Maldonatus. He believes that the Evangelist applies the

432 MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

words of Asaph to Christ by a species of accommodation.
Asaph and Christ were two teachers speaking to Israel of the
things of God. Asaph outlined the character of his solemn
discourse by declaring that he would open his mouth in par
ables. Now that sentence uttered by Asaph of his psalm
and without any thought of Christ, finds another fulfilment in
Christ s teaching. It is fulfilled in Christ s teaching, not that
this teaching was therein prophesied, but for the reason that
Christ s teaching had such a character that the same sentence
could be said of it.

The I^ord Jesus in his discourse to the people fulfilled in a
deeper, truer sense what Asaph proclaimed that he would do in
his psalm. In grave, dee]) sentences Asaph discoursed of the
mighty works of Yahveh in Egvpt, in the Exodus, and in
Palestine. To understand Asaph s discourse, one must kno\v
intimately Israel s history fn &gt;m of old. It would be an enigma
t&lt; ) &lt; me wh&lt; &gt; knew not the great events of that history. In like
manner Christ discourses of God s future dealings with his new
people. And his discourse is enigmatical to those who have
not the key. And in the mysterious action of the Holy Ghost
upon the soul of the inspired psalmist, it may have been that
Asaph was moved to utter a statement containing a sense
which he knew not ; a sense hidden to the men of that day, and
finally cleared up by Him who was the fulfilment of all

prophecy.

MATT. XIII. 44-5 2 -

44. The kingdom of Heaven 44- Ojiota eaTiv ^ ac?iXefa TWV
is like unto a treasure hidden oupavwv Or^aupw xexp-j^evw ev TW

in the field; which a man a-rpw, 5v 6 J? ( " V ^Of^roq expj^sv,

found, and hid; and in his joy xai azb rf,; -/api&lt;; aJ-roO icravst,

he goeth and selleth all that xal *wXet o-a e/si, xal a-fopa-.si,

he hath, and buyeth that field, tbv avpbv exelvov.

45. Again, the kingdom of 45- n aXiv fyoca irrlv TJ asi
Heaven is like unto a man that Xsia TWV o-jpavwv e-^opw

is a merchant seeking goodly xaXou? ^apYapi-ca.;:

p ear l s - 46. IvJptov ck sva Tuo

46. And having found one
pearl of great price, he went
and sold all that he had, and
bought it.

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

433

47. Again, the kingdom of
Heaven is like unto a net, that
was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind:

48. Which, when it was
rilled, they drew up on the
beach; and they sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels,
but the bad they cast away.

49. So shall it be in the
end of the world: the angels
shall come forth, and sever the
wicked from among the right
eous,

50. And shall cast them
into the furnace of fire; there
shall be the weeping and
gnashing of teeth.

51. Have ye understood all
these things? They say unto
him: Yea.

52. And he said unto them:
Therefore every scribe who
hath been made a disciple to
the kingdom of Heaven is like
unto a man that is a house
holder, who bringeth forth
out of his treasure things new
and old.

MATT. XIII. 53-58.

47. HaXtv 6[JLo(a SJTCV T]
Xefa TWV ojpavwv cayTQV
sic; 7Y]v OaAacsav, xat ex. TravTo

48. "Hv, ote I^

^aaavTSs IT:! TOV afytaAov, xal xaOf-
aavte?, auvlXsqav TOC xaXa etq ayy/],
7a cs ca-rcpa e^w e^aAov.

49. OJ TM? s i3t . sv Tyj auvTe-
Xefa TO attbvoq: EqsAeuaovcat ot
SyyeXoij xa! dcpoptouatv -rouq 7uovr r
po js; ex jjiejoj TCOV C .xaJwv,

50. Kat ^aXouaiv aJTout; stq
TT]V xaaivov TOJ rupoq, Ixsl latca
6 xXajO^b? xa! 6 ^puy^b^ TWV

OCOVTWV.

51.

uTw: Nat.

52. 3s s!-&gt; auToI;: Aia

^ acieia TWV oupavwv,
SGTtv dvO PWT: (o olxoBea^OTf],
Ix^dXXst Ix TOJ Orjaaupou
xaiva xa!

MARK VI. 1-6.

53- K* - eysv7o, 07 e 7sXav i. Kal cfjXOv Xt6v xal

54. Kal sXOwv si? 7T]v TcaTptSa
aiiTO j, $io"aaxV au70j&lt;; ev TTJ auva-
ya&gt;yf) a JTCov, toj7 Ix^XifcssjOai
au7oi)&lt;;, xa! Xeysiv: IIoOsv 7067(0
YJ socpc a aj7Y], xa! at

Tat t^ TTJV za-rpica aiToij, xa axo-
XouQoQatv auTw of [xaOr^a! au-rou.

2. Ka! ycvojjilvoj
fjpqaTo SiSaffxetv v Tf
Kal icoXXol axouovreq Ics-ATjj-ov
TO Xlyovces. II60V TOUT to TauTa
xa! T(&lt;; r; ao9 !a ^ SoOeTaa TOUTW
xal B jvayieic; TotajTac eta TWV /i
pwv a JTOJ yivov-rat;

(28) Gosp. II.

434 MATT. XIII. 4458: MARK VI. i 6

55. Ouy OJTO: 3 .v 6 TOJ ^. ()j-.

oc: oy_ r, j/r^p ^JTO
A37S-77 . M^v.ij., 7. a: o! icsACo
3JtoJ H .M :o.r, 7.al Itorr,:;. x.a
l.i j.d)v, 7.a: lo jcac;

3- "/ r j j~ r j~ 3" .V TS7.Td)V,

6 j .oc TT; M^iac y.x\ xBsAsb^

50. Kal ai ic3Aca\ aJTOJ oJyl 4- 1^*1 3).3 ; 3v ajTO .c o Ir^oOc

T. J.Z~J. . T.Z J^ T^j.i; 3:riv; ~o )3v oJv OT:, O Jx, s~ .v -po^r^r,; aT . J.o: 3 .

TOJ70) -.-J.j-.-J. T.T.-.-J. . )?, i&gt; ^, 7T27p:C . i JTOj 7.7.1 3V TOi;

"jyyjviT .v ^JTOJ 7.^1 lv Tfi o //.!:*

auro j,

i- - -x - , - _ i - . &lt; :i ,.._. -...; _.,-- v ,

57. K^ r . 3r/.2vca/. . -OVTO 3v 5- lw - J/ - -- j/ ^-- - x --- -O .r-^ 1 .

5 v And it ranu- to pass,
wlu ii Jc svis had linisiu d tlu St 1
]&gt;aral)lfS. hf drjiartc d tlirncc.

54. And coming into his
own country he taught tin-in
in tlirir syna^o;4U(.\ insomuch
that thi V wc-iv astonishi il, and
said: Whrnt-i 1 hath this man
tin s wisdom, and these mighty
works

55. Is not this the carpen
ter s son is not his mother
called Mary? and his brethren,
James, and Joseph, and Simon,
and Judas?

56. And his sisters, are
they not all with us? Whence

1. And he went out from
thence; and he cometh into his
own country; and his disciples

follow him.

2. And when the Sabbath
was come, he bejran to teach
in the syna^o^ue: and many
hearing him were astonished,
saying. Whence hath this man
these things" and, What is the
wisdom that is u iven unto this
man, and n-l/nt nn&lt;ni such
mighty works wrought by his
hands?

3. Is not this the carpenter,
the son of Mary, and brother of
James, and Joses, and Judas,
and Simon? and are not his
sisters here with us? And they
were offended in him.

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6 435

then hath this man all these 4. And Jesus said unto them,
things? A prophet is not without hon

our, save in his own country,
and among his own kin, and in
his own house.

57. And they were made to 5. And he could there do no
stumble in him. But Jesus said mighty work, save that he laid
unto them: A prophet is not his hands upon a few sick folk,
without honor, save in his own and healed them.

country, and in his own house.

58. And he did not many 6. And he marvelled because
mighty works there because of of their unbelief. And he went
their unbelief. rou nd about the villages teach
ing.

These two parables are very plain in character, and yet
their lesson is a very important one. The first parable presents
to us a man who by chance discovers a treasure hidden in a
field. He is not the possessor of the field; and therefore he
covers over the treasure, and goes and. sells all that he possesses
and buys the field that he may have the treasure . The employ
ment of the term O^avpo^ denotes the great value of the
thing found.

Opinons differ as to the translation of the clause a-rro -n}?
%apa? avTov. Some consider the pronoun avrov as the
subjective genitive, and translate it "in his joy." Thus the
Revised Bible of Oxford, and many modern writers. The
Vulgate considers it as the objective genitive denoting the
cause of the joy. This sense is admitted on the margin of the
Revised Edition, and seems to be the more probable sense.
The parable does not occupy itself with the question of the
lawfulness of the man s act. Even an unjust act can be made
the basis of the illustration of a parable. The unrighteous
steward was very dishonest, and yet the Lord would have men
take a lesson from his shrewd provision for the future.

Nevertheless we are disposed to examine whether the act
of this man could be considered just. A treasure is an ancient
deposit of money or a precious thing, of which no record is
extant, and whose original owner no longer exists. The Jewish
law evidently awarded such things to the finder. In the

436 MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

Mishna [Cod. Sec. DC Damnis II. 4] it is laid down: "If a
man buys fruit of another, or if a man send a man fruits, and
he to whom the fruits are sent finds in them money, the money
is his."

According to the natural law a treasure is no part of the
field in which it lies, and hence it follows the law of all things
which have no owner; they become the property of the one
wh&lt;&gt; finds them first. The various codes of the world have
enacted laws which govern these matters, anil these laws bind
in conscience; but it seems quite evident that the Hebrew law
touching this thing was the law of nature itself, and it is of
such a conception of the affair that Christ speaks. It seems
strange that the Roman law should have modified the natural
law on this point, as to give one-half of the treasure to the
owner of the field. Still, if the Roman law were the accepted
law of a country, no man could iustly do as this man did ; but
considering the laws of that country where the scene is laid, he
acted iustly.

Now, in the moral application of the parable, three great
thoughts are illustrated by it: the hidden character of Heaven,
the value of Heaven, and its exclusive character.

AVe do not hold with some that the parable tends to prove
that some men are brought into the kingdom ot Heaven as it
were by chance or accident. Christ has promised that they
who seek shall find; he has not given any promise that men
shall by chance stumble on the kingdom of Heaven. This
feature is useful in the natural event ; but it has no counterpart
in the moral order.

The hidden character of the kingdom of Heaven is illus
trated by the hidden treasure in the field. It is true that the
kingdom of Heaven is spoken of as the city on the hill, as being
the conspicuous object to which all the Gentiles come; but still
that does not rob it of a certain hidden character. The real
nature of that great kingdom floes not reveal itself to the mere
vulgar observers. Even such a grand spirit as that of St. Paul
sees it but dimly. The kingdom of Heaven exists on earth, in
Purgatory, and in Heaven. The two states that exist in the
supernatural world certainly are hidden, and require the cul
tivation of spiritual discernment to be apprehended. The

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6 437

kingdom of God on earth is a mighty organization having in
her possession her divine credentials. But the superficial ob
server looks upon that institution, and fails to realize what it
stands for. That institution has power to work divine effects,
but the effects are invisible. That institution performs upon a
man her solemn initiatory rite of Baptism, by which the soul
is revivified with the principle of spiritual life ; but we hear
only a verbal formulary, and witness only the pouring on
of water. The great effect is hidden. The believer knows by
faith that the divine effect is there ; but the unbeliever turns
away as from an idle ceremony. And even few of the believers
realize in any considerable degree the wondrous effect.

There on the judgment seat that institution authorizes a
man to sit, and in the name of Christ to absolve from sin
repentant sinners, but no man can perceive by his senses that
effect. It belongs to another world, the hidden world of the
soul. Man has powers that can by the help of God s grace
mount up to that world, not by vision, but by faith. These
powers only come into use by spiritual reflection. Hence we
regret in our days the increasing decadence of meditation.
Mysticism and meditation are decried on the plea that they are
not adapted to our practical age, and thus the devil finds in
the practical character of our times a means to catch men.

The priest stands at the altar, and re-enacts the awful
tragedy of Calvary. Jesus Christ in human form comes there,
and is lifted up in the priest s hands for the adoration of men.
Outside the temple wherein that act is operated, multitudes of
men are walking, talking, sitting, working, playing, caring no
more for the scene within than though it were the idle play of
children. Within the church, if it be Sunday, perhaps a vast
throng of worshippers are assembled. Some read their prayer
books, others pray some prayer from memory, others sit idly
and wait for the end. Who realizes what is being done? That
which it seen is not very remarkable : it is an old ceremony,
seen so often that the element of novelty is wanting to center
the interest. Even a priest will be found to go through it
mechanically, distractedly, never realizing what is the nature
of the act which he performs.

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

This may be illustrated in a practical way. The Holy
Mass is the highest act of man s worship. In spiritual value to
man it outweighs everything else. Now let us suppose that
the precept of the Church commanding men to hear Mass on
Sundays were annulled, what percentage of those who now
go to church would, in the event of the annulment of the com
mand, still be found there? We are frightened by the reflec
tion. There is only one explanation : men do not comprehend
the nature and value of a Mass. Xo man of sane mind would
throw away a treasure so great, if he knew its true nature. It
is a hidden treasure.

A man lies dying. A physician is called, and pronounces
that the man cannot live; he prescribes some physic to assuage
the sufferings of the agony? A courier is despatched post haste
for a priest. He comes, and after hearing the dying man s
confession, and absolving him, lie administers the sacrament of
Extreme Unction. The physician remains and witnesses the
ceremony. The priest anoints the chief organs of sense with
a little oil, and utters a short formula of prayers; nothing more.
Xo effect is visible. The film of death gathers in the dying
eyes; lie uasps a few times, and dies. Perhaps the man was
one whose life was most necessary to his family, and to the
community. And yet physician and priest stand there equally
helpless in the hush and mastery of death. Perhaps that
priest has been brought there from a long distance, at great
inconvenience. If he c&lt; &gt;uld stay the hands of death, the physi
cian would acknowledge his powers; but he has seemingly
wrought nothing. The physician goes away musing upon the
strength of ancient superstitions. And yet, perhaps the priest
by the power of the Sacraments which he administered has not
only stayed the hand of death, but has raised the dead soul to
life. This effect is in an unseen order of being, and men do not
observe it.

Thus it is with the nature and powers of the kingdom of
Christ. As an existing being it is evident in the world. It is
visible, and presents the motives of credibility to all men, but
its inner spiritual nature cannot unfold itself to the senses of
men, or to their superficial thoughts.

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6 439

The next consideration that is illustrated by the parable is
the great value of the kingdom of Heaven. Closely affined to
this consideration is the thought of the exclusive character of
the kingdom. Both considerations may be considered under
one head. The man sells all that he has in order to possess the
field of the treasure. That is the wisest act of a man s life, to
give up all for the kingdom of Heaven. There is no rashness
in such an act; it is simply the highest degree of perfection.
Christ has asked us to do this : the treasure is worth the renun
ciation. It was the realization of this truth that moved Paul to
exclaim : "Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I
counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to
be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord ; for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him."
Philipp. III. 7-9.

The kingdom of Heaven is the only real treasure; earthly
things are only apparent treasures. Earthly things will grow
old, and we shall grow old in the midst of them. They will
leave us, and we finally shall leave them altogether. Then,
when about to leave the world, how bitter will be the regret that
we have lived here as though we were to live here always ?

In the parable it is laid down that the man who wished to
acquire the field of the treasure sold all in order to possess it.
This is equivalent to saying that he could have the field for no
less price than all that he possessed. We have not given up all
that we possess, and yet we expect the treasure of the kingdom
of Heaven. It would make the way to Heaven too hard for
weak humanity, to demand of every man the actual renuncia
tion of every possession. Here the great leading truth is
illustrated by the grandest example. It is well to hold in front
of man a grand ideal. If a man aims to attain the actual degree
of perfection embodied in the exemplar, he outstrips his fellow-
men, and stands among the heroes. All men must move in the
spirit of this man in the parable. They must prize the king
dom of Heaven above every other object ; they must in the dis
position of the mind be prepared, if necessary, to give up every
thing for that kingdom. In the following-out of this great
truth, there will be various degrees of perfection. It is sad that

440 MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

most men never pass beyond the very lowest decrees. Few
there are who push back the sordid world, and with purified
spiritual perception look aloft to the enduring things of God,
and push upward to the grand goal of unworldliness and
holiness.

And where is our gladness in our treasure to correspond
to the joy of the man in the parable? The joy of that man was
born ot tlie realization of the great worth of the treasure which
he had found. Our lives are barren of spiritual joy, because we
do nt realize the value of our inheritance. This realization
should reflect itself in all the acts of a man s life. His prayers
should be regarded as something valuable, something demand
ing the best effort of his mind, something that occupies a real
place among the issues of his life. Then there should be a
certain order in the man s life. His confessions should be fre
quent and earnest, his attendance at mass prompt and faithful,
his interest in church work active. The great aim of all should
be spiritual development, the building up of a spiritual estate.
The world at large is not doing this. In its accomplishment a
man should expect no encouragement, no approval from his
contemporaries. A man must live a portion of his life within
himself, in the world of the soul, seeking only the approval of
God, and awaiting God s time for the reward of his actions.
Such a man will be overlooked, brushed aside by the multitudes
who struggle on to the goal of worldly prosperity; if his life is
bound up with God it will not be understood by the great mass
of men. The inherent loveliness of moral goodness may force
men to offer a passing eulogy to such a man ; but rarely will this
be verified, unless the man in some way compromises with the
false thought and false ideals of the day. The predominant
trend of human life is to drift away from the spiritual life, and
to magnify the importance of the issues of this present life.
The real exponent of the spiritual speaks a language which the
world does not know.

Happy the man, therefore, who hangs not on the favor of
the vain world; who has a resource within himself; who needs
not, and expects not, the notice and approbation of the votaries
of this world to uphold him in the ends at which he aims. It
has been well said that wise men are patient. The defect with

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6 441

our life is that we covet the notice of men; we wish for the
returns of our life s work here. It is not easy to renounce the
things that the world seeks after and enjoys. It is not easy to
be silent and wait in that inner world, that makes a man a
stranger, even amidst the clamorous throngs of men. But it is
there that man works out his true destiny. When a man s
hands are already full of objects, they can not grasp another
object ; and when a man s soul is full of this world, it can not
grasp the kingdom of Heaven.

The moral import of the parable of the pearl of great price
is almost identical with that of the treasure hidden in the field.
In both cases men sell all that they have to possess the object.
The pearl has also the great value and the exclusive character
of the treasure in the field. Religion is not one of many aims
of a man s life ; it is the sole supreme aim, which gives the right
orientation to the whole tenor of a man s life. The more a
man withdraws from everything else, and devotes himself
exclusively to religion, the more he enhances the value of his
proper life.

There are in the parable of the pearl some special features
that illustrate some important characteristics of the Christian s
life. The man is seeking goodly pearls, when he finds the pearl
of great price. This establishes the obligation upon all men of
seeking the end of man. First of all questions that should be
solved in the life of man is : Why are we living? What is the
end of man? Many things present themselves as objects of
man s endeavor; but there is but one pearl of great price whose
value and beauty appeal to spiritual men. In the parable
perhaps multitudes of men had looked at the pearl, and had
turned aside to gaudier objects. They had not the insight, the
educated taste to judge the value of the pearl. And so it is in
the world of the soul, men do not educate their souls to ap
praise their inheritance. It does not reveal its real merit like
the vulgar issues of this world. Men pass this pearl by in their
arduous pursuit of fortune. There is but one way to come at
the true value and beauty of this pearl, and that is to educate
and refine the spiritual taste, and thus bring it up to the plane
of this high object. The sensual man, and the coarse slave of
this world will not find the pearl of great price. It is not mean

44- 1 MATT. XIII. 44 -58; MARK VI. i 6

cl&lt; &gt;thes, or the hands soiled and roughened by labor that pla
man !&lt;&gt;\v down in the seale of manhood, but it is the coarse
soul, \vhieh is often found amidst the greatest wealth. In fact,
we often find that the pride and haughtiness of wealth form
the m&lt; &gt;st effective barrier against the Spirit of God. In wealth,
the soul lays itself out upon many objects; it has a world right
in its grasp which it loves, and whose cares distract it. It is
not seeking after the pearl of the kingdom of Heaven. It is
hard, amidst the engrossing cares of wealth, to develop in the
soul that spiritual character that turns a man to the exclusive
search after the pearl of great price.

It is a great defect in our Christian lite that we rarely
apprehend the kingdom of Heaven as a treasure. The instinct
is within us to acquire something, to have possessions. \\ e
l M&gt;k at the goods &lt;&gt;f this world, and they invite our effort.
I nose who have them seem to be happy, and those who have
them not seem to be unhappy. The treasures in Heaven are
seen by no man: society does not recognize them; the very
thought of passing to the actual enjoyment of them is mixed
with, the disagreeable thought of death. Hence it is so much
easier to direct our energies to worldly tilings. When we
c&lt; insider the- nature- of the object, men should seek the kingdom
of Heaven with far greater zeal than they pursue temporal
issues; and yet it is not so; it never lias been so. A mighty
transformation would be wrought in society, i! men would
strive to acquire sanctity with the intensity of purpose and
industry with which they strive to gain riches.

The object of the man of this world is real to him; he
sees it ; he studies its nature, and knows its worth. Heaven is
not real enough to us. We might acquire the richest treasures
of Heaven, and society would not notice us. This helps to
render more rem&lt; &gt;te and unreal the thought &lt; &gt;f Heaven. In the
ordinary life of man there is little to remind him of Heaven.
The men win essay to speak &lt; if the issues of life rarely rise above
the man s present life. They may proclaim that education has
to deal with the spirits of men, and not with their fortunes;
but they consider that spirit of man not as an heir of a super-

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6 443

natural world, but as the part of man that admits of culture
and refinement; that raises man out of the vulgar strata of
society.

If we are desirous to possess the pearl of great price, we
must set out on a journey alone ; we must abandon, at the out
set, the idea that men will understand us, or pay much heed to
us. We must in meditation and spiritual discipline educate
our souls to love the better things; we must be prepared to
wait. When we witness the power and importance of men of
wealth, Ave should console ourselves with the reflection that our
possessions are of a higher order, and infinitely more enduring.
The true conception of the kingdom of Heaven as a possession
will not fix itself in the mind at once and without effort ; it is
the result of study and spiritual culture. By such effort man
really emerges from the vulgar tide, and tastes the sweetness of
a closer approach to the Source of all goodness. With every
step upward, the soul s view groivs larger, the taste is still more
refined, the appreciation of the value of Heaven grows more
intense. In all the great throbbing life of man, it is only this
upward spiritual effort that is worth anything. Why, there
fore, waste our lives in pursuing shadows ? Every other posses
sion, save the pearl of great price, will crumble into dust in the
test of death : the pearl of great price is the only possession, is
the only wealth which we can take with us into eternity. If
we have it not, we are absolutely poor, even though we pos
sess the whole world.

There is one characteristic of the kingdom of Heaven
that can not be represented by the pearl in the parable. That
pearl had a fixed value. But our subjective possession of the
kingdom of Heaven varies. It always represents the sum
total of the merits of a man s life. Hence with our growth in
holiness, our pearl grows in value. Objectively it is infinite ;
we never can exhaust it. In our spiritual life there are ahvays
new worlds to conquer, new possessions to obtain. O how
wonderful is the destiny of man, and how little it receives of
his thought! It would seem that man could think of nothing
else save that; and lo, he thinks of all things else but that.

444 MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

Christ s presentation of the great issue is good; the succession
of preachers who present these truths to man never fails; the
defect lies in the cold, hard worldly heart of man.

( hit of mystery &lt; &gt;ur souls have come; into mystery they go.
A great missionary and a chief of a pagan nation once sat in
conference in the chief s hall. A bird ile\v in through the open
\vindo\v, and passing through the room tle\v out and away into
boundless air. And the man of God turned to the chief
and spoke: "Such, () Chief, is thy passage through this life
into eternity ; and I am sent by the living God to tell thee of
thy soul s life in that everlasting life into which it passes.
The chief listened, obeyed, and believed; but the men of our
day will not listen or think. They are all occupied with the
little porti &gt;n of their lives which is allotted to earth. Xo man
ever yet tound happiness bv pursuing the goods of this world;
n.o man can tail to find eternal happiness if he pursue after
Heaven, and yet the folly of worldliness remains. Hut the
love of riches gets the better ot every other consideration, and
tlie pearl of great price is passed by for the apples of Sodom.
The parable of the drag-net cast into the sea illustrates the
fact that good and evil men are in the Church of God. The
fisherman casts his drag-net into the sea, and hauls up what
ever it encloses. He can not select the fish in such a manner
his net will only take good fish. But after the net is
drawn up, then the selection is made. The sea represents the
world ; the drag-net is the Gospel of God operating through the
organized Church. Xow the great call goes out from Christ to
all men; the Church opens her doors to all who will enter; but
not by their mere presence in the Church are they fit to be
taken into Heaven. Among the multitudes who have been
taken into the Church of Christ there will always be an element
to correspond to the bad fish which the fishermen cast away.
The Church is often blamed for the deeds of these evil men.
The present parable is her justification. The Church has not
the right to cast these men out of her communion. At times,
for grave public crimes, the Church does deprive a man of her
communion; but in her external forum the Church does not
judge the consciences of men. That separation of the wicked
from the good is left for the angels to do at the command of

MATT. XIII. 4458; MARK VI. i 6

God, in the judgment. The Church opens her doors to the
righteous and the sinner ; she prays for both ; she administers
her sacraments to both. In doubt, she always inclines to
mercy, and admits to Christian burial the dead sinner, if the
faintest indication can be found that he did not give open
evidence of final impenitence. What is beyond this she leaves
to the judgment of God. It is often with sad misgivings that
the priest pronounces over the dead body the form of absolu
tion authorized by the Church, or blesses the body as it is
lowered into the grave.

The Church labors for the whole body, but she does not do
the assorting. She authorizes her ministers to sit in secret
judgment, and judge the consciences of men, but the result of
that examination is not for the knowledge of men, not for use
in any way in the external forum. Moreover, often the judge
in the tribunal of penance is unable to judge the true condition
of the soul. He cannot see the souls of men ; he is dependent
on the penitent s recital of facts; and even granting that these
are truthfully and completely stated, the judge can not be
certain that the proper dispositions are in the soul of the
penitent.

The Church therefore does not separate her children here ;
she labors for all, and leaves it for the great judgment of God
to declare who is good and destined for Heaven, and who is
evil and destined for hell.

Every objection that men bring against the Church of
Christ can be answered by the truth here enunciated. All these
objections contemplate the human element in the Church. The
divine principles of her doctrine and her moral code have also
been attacked, but this attack is inspired by unbelief, and the
very attack is an evidence of the truth of the Church. Men
put aside the Church of Christ, because they wanted a Church
of free thought. They are now convinced that this was an
illusion; they see that subjective faith can not exist without
objective faith. The fides qua creditur can not live without a
fides qua creditur. Men are growing tired of beating the air,
and groping after shadows ; they are tired of rationalized, senti
mentalized protestantism, and the everlasting hunger for
religion moves them to desire again Christian unity and a

446 MATT. XIII. 44-58: MARK VI. i -6

formal creed. Religion was founded by a definite creed; it
grew and converted the world by a formal creed; and those
who have rejected the definite creed of the one true Church of
Christ have become dead branches of the tree.

Hut when men &lt; &gt;l&gt;iect that there have been evil men in the
Church the charge is true. They were predicted by Christ.
They have been found in the mass of the people, and among
the ministers of Christ. They have climbed into the highest
posts; they have done evil deeds; but they have not perverted
the d&lt; &gt;ctrine of the Church ; they have n&lt; &gt;t made void her sacra
ments, nor contaminated her moral code. Their presence in
the Church is not an argument against the Church; for it is not
the human element in the Church that demands men s faith
and that alTords salvation. They are instruments, ministers
of a great power; but there is a higher power above them
which preserves the Church through; every tiling. It is there
fore sheer ignorance to reject the Church on account of the
corruption that has been found in her ministers. There never
was an age in which the Church had not her saints among her
ministers and among her people; there never was an age in
which she did not fulfill her mission of saving men. Notwith
standing the weakness of some of her members, hers is a
glorious history. Her impress is on everything good in civil
ization, and those who reject her claims enjoy the benefits
which she has vouchsafed to society. Let not men judge her
by her unworthy sons; judge her by her doctrines and by her
moral code and by the countless multitudes of her saints in
every age.

The rejection of the wicked by Ciod is of a character to
strike terror into the heart of sinful man; but the message is
aggravated 1 &gt;y the statement that tin &gt;se who are rejected will be
cast into the furnace of fire.

We have already written something on the theme of hell.
A fuller treatment of the sad truth will be given in our Corn-
men tan* on the judgment of God, as described in the twenty-
fifth chapter of Matthew. It is worthy of note that in Mat
thew s Gospel this is Christ s fifth reference to the doctrine of

MATT. XIII. 4458: MARK VI - J 6 447

hell. The other references are V. 29, VIII. 12, X. 28, and
XII. 32. Such frequent and emphatic declarations of the
doctrine attest its truth and importance.

Jesus Christ was the Teacher of teachers. The truths by
him delivered to the Apostles were to be transmitted by them
to the generations of men. Some of these truths were to be
understood by the Apostles immediately ; other truths were to
unfold themselves in the light of subsequent events. These
parables were a plain statement of the nature of the kingdom
of Heaven, and of man s duty; they were intended to be
understood at once. Hence the Saviour, in the character of a
perfect Master, asks them if they understood the parables.
Whenever there was need of it, Jesus explained his parables
in private to the Apostles. He was forming them to be the
teachers of mankind, and hence they must first understand the
doctrine.

In the present instance the Apostles promptly answer,
Yes. Thereupon Jesus declares to them what shall be their
function in the kingdom of Heaven. The Old Law had its
scribes who explained the Law to the people ; the Apostles were
to exercise a corresponding office in the Church of Christ. He
exhorts them to make ample provision for this work by likening
their provision to the rich storehouse of a householder. From
this well-filled store the householder brings forth, as occasion
requires, things new and old. In some things freshness is a
desirable quality ; in other things age adds to the value. Thus
the spouse in the Canticle of Canticles declares :

"At our doors are all manner of precious fruits new and old,
Which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. "--VII. 13.

We shall not undertake to specify what things were old,
and what things were new. A man who can, at will, bring
forth things old and new is taken as a representative possessor
of a goodly storehouse. And when the illustration is applied
to the moral order, it outlines the duty of the scribe of the New
Law, to be well versed in the doctrines of Christ, so that from
the abundance of his heart his mouth may speak words of truth
and edification. It is not intended that we should seek in the
doctrines of the New Law what are the old things, and what the

44 MATT. 44-58: XIII. MARK VI. i 6

new. That is not the point of the illustration. Christ merely
exhorts to have a well stocked mind, t&lt;&gt; be a ready scribe in all
things that pertain to the Law of Christ. This should be the
exclusive labor of the scribe s life; he should be ever studying
the kingdom of Heaven, and equipping his mind to present it
well to men. Much reading of the Scriptures of God will do
much in filling the mind of the minister of the New Law; the
stud\ ot the doctrines of the Church in her approved authors
must have a large part in the man s equipment. The scribe
ot the Xew Law must be a student of truth in its widest accep
tation; lu- must be a man of intellectual and moral vitality,
and then that which he brings forth for the people will have the
charm of life about it. He- will establish a bond of sympathy
between himself and the people; he will transmit to them some
thing ot his i iwn intense belief.

All these parables of the Lord were spoken down in
Capharnaum. At their conclusion, Jesus went up to Xazareth
and taught there. From the similarity of the present account
to the text of St. Luke IV. lO 24, many believe that the two
accounts describe one event. This has the best extrinsic
authority, and is certainly very probable. The same motives
actuate the people, and the 1 same results are verified. Even if
we grant that there were two events, we must admit that they
were of the most similar character, and what has been said in
regard to the aforesaid passage of Luke in Volume I.
is also applicable here. The townspeople of Xazareth could
not understand how the humble son of the artisan Joseph had
acquired his great power and wisdom. There was nothing
remarkable in his origin, as they iudged things. They knew
his mother Mary; they knew his kinsmen, and his kinswomen.
They were ordinary people among the poor citizens of Xazareth.
This consideration held them back from acknowledging the
true character of Jesus Christ, and this justified the Evangelist s
declaration that they were made to stumble in Jesus. They
heard his wonderful words, and heard of his mighty works, but
the faith that these evidences should have begotten stumbled
and fell on reflection that Jesus was in his human origin the son
of a poor woman of Xazareth, the kinsman of their neighbors.

MATT. XII. 46-50; MARK III. 31-35; LUKE VIII. 19-21 449

From the fact that St. Joseph is not said to be among them
the tradition is justified that at this juncture he was dead.

There is also evidence in this account that St. Joseph was
a carpenter. He is called here a re/cTWf, and the ordinary,
signification of this term is a carpenter. Cajetan and Maldon-
atus believe that the term may denote a blacksmith, bronze-
smith, or carpenter. Hilary asserts that St. Joseph was a
blacksmith.

In Mark, Jesus himself is called a re/crav, a carpenter.
Celsus alleged this against Jesus as a reproach, and in his
answer Origen [C. Cels. VI. 34] denied that Jesus is thus called
in the Gospels. This passage must have escaped his notice, or
he must have accepted another reading of the text. It cer
tainly is highly probable that St. Joseph was a carpenter, and
that Jesus labored in the same occupation. How labor is
honored by the life of Jesus! How sad that the laborer at
his work does not think of the Lord himself who was also
a laborer, instead of thinking of sinful themes, and disgracing
his labor by discontent, dishonesty, profanity, and obscenity!

MATT. XII. 46-50. MARK III. 31-33

46. Ev. aJTOj AaAoJvTo; Tolq 31. Kal cV/ovrat r t y.TjTTjp aJTOu
o^/Aotq, icoj r t J.Vjr^p y.al ot dcsAcpol y.al ot dcsAcol auTOj, y.al scco CTY^-
auTQj t-Tiy/. .~av ;co, ^TOUVTS? XOVTS? dicscTeiXav 7cpo&lt;; GCUTO V,
aJTO) AaAYjaat. xaXouvrs? auTov.

47. (EtTJSv cs Tt^ aJT(b: Icou, 3 2 - K X - IxaOujTO ~pl auTov
YJ fJ-T^Yjp soj y.al ot acA r of "ou ;co X A ?&gt; 7 - a - Asyoujtv auTtp: Icou,

irrry.a tv, IrTor/Ts; jot AaAf at). ^ M 77 ]? c orj 7 - aV - - dcAcot sou

48. cs d^oy.p .0l^, tzsv TW 33. Kal dzoy.ptOslq au-rolq,

JJLOU, y.al T(V^ eiclv ot dcAoot ^.ou; ot dSsXcpot;

49. Kal -/.Ttva^ TT;V y_lpa 34. riept6Xe^d^svo(; TOUC; -^ept
auTou 7:1 TOJ? ^.aOrjTai; a JTou, tzV : auTbv y. j/.Aw y.aOrj ^lvous, Xsyst,

50. L/cJTi&lt;5 Y^? ^ % ^ 7:otYjjYj TO 35- ^^ ^ ^ toiYjCYj ^a USAYJIXGCTOC
0AY]^a TOJ IlaTpoq r ^ou TOJ Iv TOJ 0ou, oJTOc; dcsAcos ^JLOU, y.al
oupavol?, KUTO&lt;; ;j.ou dcA Y bc, y.al doeXfJ), y.al ^.r ( TT;p sj^tv.

(29) Gosp. II.

450 MATT. XII. 46-50; MARK III. 31-35 ; LUKE VIII. 19-21

40. While he was yet
speaking to the multitudes,
behold, his mother and his
brethren stood without, seek
ing to speak to him.

47. And one said unto him,
Behold, thy mother and thy
brethren stand without, seek
ing to speak to thee.

4S. But he answered and
said unto him that told him:
Who is my mother? and who
are my brethren

49. And he stretched forth
his hand towards his disciples,
and said: Behold, my mother
and my brethren!

50. For whosoever shall do
the will of my Father who is in
Heaven, he is my brother, and
sister, and mother.

LUKE VIII

31. And there come his
mother and